[It’s absolutely filthy.]
“Hngh!”
Waking up from a shallow sleep, Adella reflexively yawned and shook off the vivid nightmare from her mind.
Living as a data entity in virtual reality is always a battle with oneself.
Adella gently rubbed her lower abdomen and pinched the stubborn fat that refused to budge.
It was morning, but she felt no hunger at all.
She recalled the days when she had happily feasted on all kinds of delicacies since crossing over to the VR world.
But at some point, she lost her appetite and started skipping meals.
She had only slept three hours after finishing the early morning broadcast, but sleep was elusive once again.
There were times in the past when she could sleep soundly all day.
But these days, she hardly felt tired, and staying up for nights on end had become the norm.
“Sniff sniff. I don’t smell bad, do I?”
Her body hardly ever got dirty, so now it was a bother to even wash up.
When there’s no necessity, humans easily become lazy.
This applied not only to the mind but also to the body.
Living with many of human’s basic desires suppressed, she suddenly feared that she might ultimately lose her humanity.
‘Even astronauts supposedly exercise regularly while out in space.’
Three meals a day, seven hours of sleep.
Adella firmly decided right then and there to start living a more disciplined life from now on.
“First, I should wash up.”
She stripped off her clothes and glanced at the wall that the beam projector illuminated.
Na-me had set up a camera connecting their reality room, worried that she might feel lonely.
Through the wall, she could see Na-me’s flat chest rising and falling as he slept in dreamland.
After staring at that wall for a while, Adella turned back toward the bathtub.
*
Beeep-!
Beeeep-!
Beep-beep-beep-!
Beep beep beep beep beep beep-!
[Cast: Circuit Reconstruction]
Biiiiing…
It was too much trouble to get my body up all the way to that distant clock, so I always turned off the alarm this way.
The spaciousness of the room was a problem in this regard.
“Hwaam…”
My day starts a little later than others, at 8 AM.
Technically speaking, it’s just when I recognize that I’m awake at exactly 8 o’clock, and it takes me a little while to reestablish my memories.
‘It’s been ages since I beheaded the Demon King, and even longer since I took care of the Emperor…’
Vivid memories of past decadence sometimes made me confuse the current date.
I closed my eyes and tried to remember what time I fell asleep yesterday.
“3 AM… Hwaam, it’s no wonder I’m tired…”
I had been so engrossed in conversation with people yesterday that I hid under the blanket and kept my phone in hand until 3 AM without Cheon noticing.
It was a bittersweet farewell, but it had been a satisfying day overall.
When I said I was leaving the ‘Lonely Na-me Room’, the fans swarmed me like a horde of zombies.
Luckily, I managed to throw them five pictures as bait and barely escaped with my life.
[Adella: Currently Online]
The green light was on in the friends list on the capsule’s side.
It was possible to check if Adella was awake by looking at her online status.
“Is she really pulling an all-nighter again?”
She was still doing her zombie game broadcast when I went to bed.
I opened the capsule entrance to check whether she had become a walking corpse, initiating automatic ventilation and disinfection.
I stepped out into the living room to awaken, spinning clockwise. The morning sunlight was gentle.
It seemed Cheon had left early for an important meeting with the Raon Clan.
Recently, he’d been spending so much time hanging out with me that he hardly worked at all.
‘Oh, right. Potion pills.’
I dashed into the kitchen and grabbed the pills from the refrigerator.
Whenever I was with Adella, my entire day’s plans would invariably go awry.
Once I entered, who knows when I’d come out again, so I took the potion beforehand and slipped back into the capsule.
“Nom.”
An invigorating sensation spread in my mouth.
Even though I took it every day, the taste made me involuntarily curse.
[Private Room]
[Na-me and Adella’s House]
Whoosh-
As soon as I opened the entrance door, a refreshing stream of water rushed in from the right.
“So you were showering? What a surprise!”
Adella, fundamentally a person equipped with the mindset of a medieval lower-class citizen, was definitely not a water-type cat.
So the constant reminders to wash up were merely to instill a habit in her for when she obtained a physical body later.
“Aaaaaah!”
A sharp scream suddenly echoed from inside the bathroom.
Hearing that sound made my heart drop into my stomach.
“What the hell is going on!”
In virtual reality, nothing structurally catastrophic could really happen.
On the flip side, it also meant that if a major problem did occur, there was zero way to solve it.
‘No way would I lose my identity due to a data collision…!’
It was impossible in an open world, but still, there’s always that slim chance of possibility.
I dashed toward the bathroom, ready to burst the door open.
“Adella!”
The modern bathroom was well-ventilated, with no sign of steam in sight.
Her apricot-colored skin glistened in a radiant sheen, her voluptuous figure highlighted by her chest and hips, and a mischievous silver tail swaying lightly.
Adella held a toothbrush tightly in both hands, frothing at the mouth as she belted out…
No, she was passionately singing.
“Waaaaah! Faster than a bullet! Terrifying scream! Huh? Kyaaaah! What’s up with you, close the door!”
“Haaah… I’m the fool for worrying.”
Something straight out of a movie was happening to me.
I stood frozen, too dumbfounded to do anything but watch.
“Hup!”
Are you feeling a bit embarrassed finally?
Peeking out from behind the shower curtain, Adella’s face was red as she sheepishly said, “Close the door, sis… I’ve finally got a chance to shower…!”
*
Adella dried her hair with a dry towel.
Water droplets splattered everywhere, hitting my face as well.
I shifted away from her, moving my butt over on the bed to keep my distance.
“Death metal? Is that what you call singing like that?”
“Hey now, it’s my taste! Respect it!”
Whirrrrr-
She swung her head back and forth, letting the hair dryer blow her mane dry.
That rock spirit or whatever was definitely consuming her soul.
“What did you do yesterday? I couldn’t reach you.”
“Oh, I was broadcasting! I’m a busy bee now!”
“Then just say that! I thought you were mad at me.”
Once Adella dried her hair, she crawled up on the bed and leaned on my shoulder.
She sniffed the air behind my ear, her cheeks rubbing against mine.
“Don’t tell me the Valpurgis idiots stuck a cat brain in her too?”
It felt like she was acting far from a civilized person.
“Ehehe. How about you, sis?”
“What about me?”
“You were peeping at my body, right? Was my chest so pretty you couldn’t help but stare? Didn’t it make you feel all fluttery inside?”
“Not at all.”
“Liar! Your eyes were shaking like a deer’s, totally giving off les vibes! Oh, I bet you didn’t know what a les was when you were younger, haha!”
“Don’t twist my words now. It was you who was embarrassed.”
It seemed she was trying to push the awkwardness onto me because she herself was feeling uncomfortable.
“I’m way past the age of assigning meaning to a pile of organic matter, you know.”
Stretch-
Continuing to respond neutrally, Adella pinched my cheek and tugged.
“Mmh…”
This silly cat giggled, and her sharp fangs peeked out just under her lips.
“Hmmm… Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to live in your body.”
“What?”
“A minor troublemaker? You’re not that type, right? In this world where everyone forgives everything, wouldn’t it be nice? I had rocks thrown at me when I stole in that hell of a world.”
“Do you think our world is like GTA? Just because the law doesn’t apply doesn’t mean there aren’t cyber vigilantes lurking around.”
“Gasp! So you’re saying I couldn’t go to the women’s bath and touch the behinds of gorgeous sisters?”
“Of course not! There wouldn’t be anyone willing to let you!”
Bathhouses are nearly impossible to find in Korea now. What are you even talking about?
Adella, her demeanor deflated like a popped balloon, dropped her head.
“Is it really okay for me to step out there and be human?”
Right now, Adella was far too exposed to stimulating and utterly hedonistic pleasures.
She was engaging in stimulating games and could easily be swept away by viewers’ donations without a strong sense of self.
What concerned me most was her living long-term in a virtual reality where she could temporarily forget her duties as a human.
As a senior who had experienced it firsthand, I guessed that in about three years, she’d experience what it was like to have a centipede crawling on the body of a prince.
I wasn’t saying she had to live like a pious monk, but instilling solid values was certainly necessary.
“Adella.”
“Sis.”
We both called out to each other simultaneously.
“Ladies first.”
“No way, you go first!”
“You know, I’ve been trying to get back to my roots lately.”
“Back to your roots?”
I couldn’t imagine she had eaten something weird.
Adella wrapped her arms around me in what looked like a back hug, though it wasn’t quite.
“The viewers in our room said they wanted to hear me use cat language. So I said, ‘Hey, good cat. What are you doing? I want to die.’ Something like that.”
“Okay. And?”
“Then suddenly, I felt so at ease, you know? I’ve been feeling a bit down lately. I have no appetite. Can’t sleep. I feel like this month is breaking a record for me. I haven’t eaten anything for over a week and barely slept for seven hours in that whole week.”
I paused briefly in thought.
In virtual reality, biofeedback from one’s body manifests in real life.
This was to ensure individuals could immediately recognize the crises in their health or safety.
But what happens to Adella, who doesn’t have a real body?
“I’ve been trying to live like a human lately. Sleeping seven hours and trying to force myself to eat what I like.”
If physiological needs are met, pleasure follows.
But Adella doesn’t possess that.
This was a serious issue warranting contemplation.
“Hey, Adella, what’s your daily routine like lately? What did you do when you didn’t sleep?”
“Huh? Me? Uhh… I streamed for about six hours, then played games for an extra four hours, plus I had content meetings with Yoon-seul and Ni-el for about two hours.”
“That still totals twelve hours.”
“Uh, uh… I took walks… I did some shopping for an hour or so! And that workbook you gave me, I study that for about two hours daily.”
“And?”
“Umm… I guess I streamed on V-Tube for around eight hours?”
“Eight hours?”
“Yep…”
[▶Adella (Yoon-seul’s Cat)]
I pulled the status window in front of me.
“Hand over your phone. No, give me your account details.”
“No way! Just wait! Privacy is a must, even for you, sis!”
“Acting like that makes this way more suspicious. Hand it over before I get angry.”
“Ack! No! No no no! It’s Adella’s!”
No matter how much she cried and fussed, she didn’t budge an inch.
[System: Run as administrator]
[Warning: This operation is being executed with admin privileges.]
[Recovering account of ‘Adella’]
[24h Screen Time Check]
[V-Tube: 7 hours 25 minutes]
“Whoa, is this why you can’t sleep? Living a life like this and you still expect sleep to come?”
“Hing…”
“Wait a sec, what’s this other stuff?”
[Metflix: 3h]
Her day was barely free.
In fact, Adella was living so actively for leisure that she barely had time to study.
This was simply upside-down priorities.
She was the one feeling like she couldn’t focus on fun due to studying.
“So you don’t want to sleep, lose your appetite and all that nonsense?”
“When did you even pay for a subscription?”
“Since you opened that bank account for me…”
“Just what were you watching? Fifty Shades of Black?”
“Ah! That’s!”
Adella hopped off the bed and blocked me from the screen.
“I’ve lived a shameful life…”
Even without needing to know the details, the giant red R-rated sticker attached meant my suspicions were confirmed.
Though Twish broadcasting was one thing, her internet usage quantities were significant too.
I shoved her away and channeled my inner Sherlock Holmes, searching through her browsing history.
Adella resigned to her fate, flopping onto the floor in defeat.
Her ears drooped back.
“I desperately want to understand what human life is like…”
“What in the world…”
[pornhub.com]
[hitomi.la]
There was no room for rebuttal.
I would pass down my verdict.
“Defendant Adella. Seven-day admission to the Giga Study dormitory. Reason: Dopamine Addiction.”
*
[Adella Ch. | Followers: 34,000]
“Ming-na, it’s nice to see you! Adella has a notification to make! I might have to return to Safari World for a week to study for my digital video editing license! So I’ll be shaking this thing like crazy! Can’t someone come save me? Pleeeeease, Lacat-mom! T____T”
There was once a private educational institution that sought to control all of South Korea by a late bloom.
They had even enveloped virtual reality, blocking every exit for brave examinees.
Adella was led away by the red-capped teaching assistants.
“Wake up, hero.”
“Heeek…! Where am I? Who am I?”
“Wake up; it’s study time.”
The tightly packed self-study room was a jail-like environment despite the spacious virtual reality.
Adella puzzled over why they’d build such a confining space and found no one to answer her curious question.
She sat straight at a desk, grasping an unfamiliar pen, reading certification books.
The squiggly writing didn’t register in her eyes like the webtoons or web novels she was used to.
Grrrling-
Her stomach growled, and she clutched her belly.
The sound echoed loud enough in her head that she walked over to the red-capped assistant to ask about lunch hour.
“Are you talking about break time? There are still four hours left.”
“F-four hours?”
It was already 8 AM.
Despite having studied with bloodshot eyes for two hours, time was crawling.
Sleepiness was starting to wash over her.
‘Wait, I thought I was feeling sleepy? So I can actually sleep!’
“Surely Na-me thought this through…”
Adella’s face lit up with a happy smile as she crossed her arms and laid down on them.
“1042nd trainee.”
“…”
“1042nd trainee, please wake up. It’s time for self-study. Nap time is not allowed.”
“Boohoo… why…?”
Before she could get a handle on what was happening, she was forced to stand up by the instructors and pick up her pen again.
Without seeing the familiar screen, her hands and feet shook, and tears streamed down. It was a clear withdrawal symptom.
One hour of lunch break.
And another five hours of self-study.
Then an hour for dinner.
Followed by five more hours of self-study.
Only then did Adella finally recall what Na-me had told her just before she entered.
[Aah- this is the life of an examinee. It’s the experience that all high school students in Korea must go through.]
Perhaps delaying her acquisition of a physical body a bit longer might not be a bad idea after all.
Adella’s current age was that of a high school senior.
