1 Jan 2030
Ahhh…
Ring!! Ring!!
The doorbell rang. My food delivery had arrived. I opened the door and took the package.
I thought it was just the delivery, but what greeted me was a cute little boy, maybe around 150 cm tall, holding the food bag. He looked at me like I was about to devour him alive.
Ah, right… I forgot.
My hair was a total mess, I'm around 190 cm tall, and I looked unkempt and sloppy as usual.
"Th… thanks for ordering with us!!!!"
The poor guy sounded panicked. I took the food from his trembling hands. His were noticeably small compared to mine.
He slowly backed away, then turned and practically sprinted from my doorstep. I just went back inside, shut the door, and opened the packet.
Just a simple Tex Chicken combo. I ate quickly to kill the hunger.
This house only has me and my mother. She works long hours to cover our daily expenses, so she has no time to cook. For laundry and cleaning, we hire a part-time helper.
We're not poor. I'm still in school, she only has one child, and expenses aren't that high. She's a divorced woman who's now fully independent.
It's not that no one wants her. It's just that they're scared of me. They think I'll kill them if they ever hurt her by accident. Honestly, though? I don't care that much about her life. As long as she's happy, that's enough for me.
"Should I play the game now?"
There's this popular MMORPG called Wisdom of Qurt. It has 5 million registered players, with around 1 million online during peak hours.
I'm not a pro by any means. My skills are below average at best. It's not a PC or mobile game. It's a next-gen VR title that uses a full-body capsule system. You just lie inside, put on the headset, and control everything with voice commands or simple gestures.
Honestly, I'm not even that into gaming. I only kept playing for a year because of that one girl. She used to log in at the same time as me. These days, she's probably a well-known pro player.
I still remember grinding together, dying together. Sometimes she wanted to quit, and I'd encourage her. We became friends.
But it didn't take long before she found someone else who could carry her much better.
After all, we never met in real life.
In the game, my character wasn't handsome like most players'. Everyone else used face-scan avatars. Mine was just a goblin.
As usual, I logged in because she had been looking for me.
I respawned in the Town of Qurd, the main safe zone where players trade, join guilds, or just chill.
We had our usual meetup spot, a bar in town. I pushed open the door and scanned the room.
There she was: a beautiful avatar with long blonde hair and innocent eyes, slumped over a table in the far corner, looking utterly miserable.
I didn't want to bother her, so I simply sat across from her in silence. It should have been a sweet moment, but a goblin sitting with a gorgeous woman just made the whole scene look absurd.
I stayed quiet, waiting for her to notice me.
Eventually, she lifted her head. Her face was streaked with virtual tears.
I don't like prying into other people's problems, even friends, so I didn't ask anything. To break the awkward silence, I just said,
"Hi?"
She cried even harder.
"Did your boyfriend yell at you again?"
Her boyfriend, Max, was a hardcore gamer. Popular, skilled, but infamous for his short temper. Sometimes he took his anger out on others, even her.
"Maybe I should call him…"
"System. Call Max."
Beep… beep… beep…
"Hello, Max. As usual… she's here."
"Is that Rin?" Max replied.
But then a woman's voice cut in from his side:
"Baby, who's calling?"
"Wait… I'll come. Thanks for looking after her, Shin."
I ended the call and waited.
A while later, Max rushed in and hurried over to Rin.
"Sorry, babe… are you crying?"
He gently stroked her head, trying to comfort her. My job here was done, so I stood up quietly.
"System. Logout."
Three Hours Later
I climbed out of the VR capsule and went to the bathroom to splash cold water on my face. There was this uneasy feeling in my chest. Not exactly pain, but something bitter and heavy.
Was it because he cheated? Or because she cried?
I wasn't anyone important. Just a bystander. I had no right to interfere.
Then I heard the front door open. Mom was home from work.
"Honeeeyyy!!! Where are you?"
I walked to the living room. There she stood.
"Mom, I'm not your lover. Just call me by my name."
The "cute girl" in front of me was my mother. All 143 cm of her. (Don't ask how someone so tiny gave birth to a giant like me.) People often mistake her for my little sister.
She stretched out her arms, pouting.
"Heeee, carry me now~!"
I picked her up and patted her back. At home she acted like a spoiled child, but outside she could switch to full mature-adult mode in seconds.
"Mom, you're 37. Isn't it time to grow up?"
She stuck out her tongue.
"Waaahhh! My son doesn't love me anymore! Should I just die? Where's the knife? I should kill myself!"
She squirmed in my arms, pretending to escape, but I held her tighter.
"Sorry… sorry, I was joking. How am I supposed to get a girlfriend when you're like this, Mom?"
Suddenly she froze. Her small hands gripped my face tightly, her expression turning dark.
Who's the bitch trying to take you away from me?
I quickly set her down and walked upstairs, leaving her standing alone in the living room.
That question… I still don't dare answer it.
That was terrifying.
Ding! A message notification popped up on my phone.
It was a guild announcement:
"To all members: We're having an in-person meetup this Saturday for our guild's 1-year anniversary. Hope everyone can make it!"
I didn't really care. I'm a homebody who only leaves the house for school, so the idea felt exhausting.
Ding! Another notification. This time it was from Rin. Asking, almost pleading, that I come. I left it on seen without replying.
I looked at myself in the mirror. How could someone who looks like a creep even show up? And that's why my school friends nicknamed me "NTR MC." I still don't know exactly why, but it never really made me angry.
They even used me to scare girls at school, and the nickname stuck ever since.
Sorry, Rin… I don't think I'll go…
Ding! Another message came in…