PAID

The month-long offseason between Astria Online’s expansion packs passed by tediously.

With more things to do in the real world and fewer tasks left in the game, my playtime had dwindled. These days, I’d log in just long enough to complete the daily quests before quickly logging back out. The only time I spent any significant hours in the game was on the weekly reset day to clear raid dungeons with my team.

Today’s schedule, however, was firmly rooted in reality.

A visit to Seoul Regenerative Hospital.

But today wasn’t for my treatment.

“Interviews, TV appearances, commercial shoots. Ugh, why do people keep bothering our Suelbi? They didn’t care at all before the tournament.”

“Don’t be too harsh.”

I gently chided Kris, though the unspoken subtext of “but they do pay us, don’t they?” lingered in my tone.

Still, Kris wasn’t wrong.

Since the Heavenly Martial Arts Tournament, interview requests had flooded in from all directions. Maybe it was because my story—a physically disabled person who reached the pinnacle of a virtual reality competition—had struck a chord with people. Even Hana Games, the company behind Astria Online, seemed eager to turn the tournament into a full-blown eSports franchise.

Who knows? Maybe I’d end up debuting as a professional Astria Online player, like those famous AOS (Arena of Strategy) players who transitioned seamlessly into the VR era.

Kris, sighing heavily, walked ahead of me as I followed in my wheelchair.@@novelbin@@

The hospital hallway was quiet in the midday light, devoid of people save for the occasional passing nurse.

I decided this was a good moment to bring up something that had been bothering me.

“Unnie, why are we still sleeping in separate rooms?”

“Uh… uh?”

“I need an explanation today.”

Ever since the day of the massage incident, Kris had declared we should sleep in separate rooms. She hadn’t explained why, no matter how many times I asked.