Chapter 31: Life of a shut-in

Two hours ago.

A place where the light could never hope to reach. Inside one such room, a woman smashed the keys on the keyboard. Her round glasses reflected the massacre happening on the screen. The one-twenty combo chain was still increasing despite her opponent flying with an empty HP bar. Only the time limit stopped her from breaking her record of a 399 combo.

“Take this, you sucker. I dare you to PK me again,” she said with a twisted smirk.

Her shimmering blue eyes went to the clock. Eleven in the night. Just thinking about sleeping made her yawn. She tucked a strand of her aquamarine hair behind her ear and sipped on her coffee.

“Why do humans need to sleep?”

She picked her smartphone and scrolled through her feed. “Let’s see, people falling sick, nothing new… a VRMMO coming out, great! Heaven Chalice dying… big F... Thanks for accompanying me through the tough times.”

The classic game led her to the young streamer. If it weren’t for him, she would still be sulking over her grandmother’s death. Sometimes the strangest things helped get over the increasing stress.

“And he stopped streaming…”

Why would he do that? He was so popular on the platform… is he sick? Something else happened? Her questions were unanswered until she stumbled upon a post from the very same guy.

“Holy—”

“Joanna,” the voice was followed by a knock on the door. “Are you free?”

Joanna’s gaze darted to the door. She pressed the shut down and turned on the lights. “Pa, you can come in.”

Pushing open the door, her father shuffled inside with a wide smile on his sharp face. After her mother divorced him for being too indulging in his gambling hobbies, he had turned his life around. She still couldn’t believe this man used to be that drunkard. He deserved another chance just for that alone. Despite all his efforts to overcome his demons, her mother even refused to see his face. He was handsome enough to easily get another woman, but he still clung to her mother.

“Why don't we go outside tomorrow?”

‘Going outside…’

Joanna peered out of the window. The twinkling lights of the city dazzled her eyes. She hadn’t stepped outside for the better part of the month. It might be the time to resume her job. Attending patients after losing a loved one took a toll on her heart, so she had paused her duty. The chairman was quite the nice woman for letting her leave at a moment’s notice.

“Don’t worry about me, Pa. I was about to resume my job. I can’t stay cooped up in this room forever.”

Her father nodded as sparkling tears rose in his eyes. “Well done…”

It was hard to see a man spill happy tears over something trivial. He was just like this, even a television show could make him laugh merrily or cry like a maiden.

“Sheesh. Now let me sleep.”

Ethan was about to go online!

“Okay, okay. Don’t stay up too late playing games.

Joanna got up and pushed him out of the room. She returned to her pc and logged onto the stream, which had just started.

“He looks kinda hot in glasses.”

Then the usual chat shenanigans started. People madly supported the man, praising him to no limits.

‘What can I say, I’m one of them.’

A black-haired girl came and sat by Ethan’s side. She was Asian, and beautiful by every standard. Her eyes looking at Ethan were filled with sweetness. Joanna felt a bitter feeling wash over her.

‘His girlfriend?’

Of course, she’d have one. He was a handsome guy with supernatural charm. How odd it’d be to have no significant half at his age? Not everyone was like her, who waited till their mid-twenties, dreaming of the day their perfect half falls on their lap.

She typed her question in the chat.

Chizurux: Girlfriend?

Ethan gave an awkward smile. The girl introduced herself as his stepsister.

‘That answers their different features.’

The chaotic chat calmed down. Joanna also joined the chaos, trying to gain Ethan’s attention. He was too absorbed in the game. She finally got her opportunity when Ethan started a draw for his party.

‘I won?’

She blinked her eyes rapidly as a wide smile crept to her face.

“Hey, Chizurux, hope I’m not pronouncing it wrong,” Ethan said with his usual smile that made her heart flutter.

“I don’t care though,” she muttered.

“Tell me your IGN.”

Joanna typed ‘Chizurux’ in less time than it took to read the message. She launched the RPG, thanking her high-speed SSD for loading everything at lightning speed. Ethan already sent a friend request, which she accepted.

‘Sheesh. What am I getting so excited for? It’s just a game. It’s not fitting for someone of my age!’

Despite scolding herself, she accepted the party invite.

LastDragonEthan—a Dragon Warrior, Thepreciousbeauty111—an Elven Mage, and CuteImouto—a Human Priest. Joanna’s thief class fit right in with this team.

“Mio, your IGN,” Ethan whispered. “It’s strange.”

Mio cutely tilted her head. “What is wrong with it, Onii-sama? Am I not cute for you?”

“You’re cute. There is no denying that, but you look like a narcissist when you use it as your name.”

Joanna found her melting at their wholesome interactions. Yes, this was what she needed in her life. A loving pair of siblings.

“Chizuru, do you mind if I call you that?” Ethan asked.

Joanna replied with ‘Yes’ in the party chat.

“Everyone here is at max level, so let’s enter the nightmare-level dungeon. Chizuru, can you talk? It’ll be very hard to clear it without proper coordination.”

Joanna looked at her headphones and shook her head. The feature-packed model had a built-in voice changer and everything a gamer could ask for.

‘I can’t. I can’t. It’s too embarrassing to talk in front of thousands of people. I—what if I said something strange?’

Chizurux: Sorry, I don’t have one.

Ethan shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. Let’s just enjoy the grind.”

“Enjoy… yeah, I should do that.”