"Okay, this is how you click."

"...If you don''t teach me properly, I’m going to get mad."

"Sorry."

Finally, Ha-eun''s Battle Island tutorial began.

She started from the very basics, explaining how to pick up items from the ground, tailored to Da-yeon’s complete newbie level.

She showed Da-yeon how to equip a bulletproof vest and helmet, how to attach various accessories to the gun, and how to use healing items like medkits.

Lastly, she covered how to use throwable weapons like grenades and smoke grenades.

"Be careful with grenades. They explode after 5 seconds, so don’t hold onto them."

Ha-eun provided as many detailed tips as she could, but the problem was, no matter how much Ha-eun tried, she couldn’t teach Da-yeon how to aim.

Tudududududu!

"Hey, Ha-eun. Every time I shoot, the screen shakes. Can’t you fix that?"

"Yeah. You just have to shoot while adjusting to the shake."

In FPS games like Battle Island, the most important skill, shooting, couldn''t be easily learned just from instructions.

So, Ha-eun decided to play some regular games to make things easier. After all, the reason she met with Da-yeon today was to hang out.

She wanted to enjoy the fact that she was playing Battle Island with Da-yeon.

As they boarded the Battle Island plane, Ha-eun fully accepted Da-yeon''s opinion.

"Where should we go?"

"We don’t have a specific destination, so let’s just go wherever you want."

Even when it came to choosing a place to farm for items, Ha-eun gave Da-yeon the choice.

They ended up in a small village.

"I found a shotgun. Is it any good?"

"If you hit them up close, it’s a one-shot."

"What about the Molotov?"

"Molotovs are good too."

Every time they farmed items in the village, Da-yeon asked questions about them, and Ha-eun enjoyed explaining.

Maybe this was why seasoned players liked duoing with newbies.

However, when they were farming near a house, Ha-eun sensed the presence of other players.

"There are items on the third floor, so keep farming."

She sent Da-yeon up to the top floor and started patrolling the area around the house.

Soon, she spotted other players and shot them without hesitation.

Tudadadadang─!Bang! Bang!

Unlike Diah’s Battle Island streams, which were flooded with snipers, there weren’t many snipers here.

Perhaps it was because the game matched them with other newbies of similar skill levels.

As a result, there was no player who could pose a threat to Ha-eun.

The "easy win" scene was unfolding.

However, Da-yeon, who was still busy farming, didn’t notice Ha-eun’s killing spree.

She didn’t even know how to read the kill logs.

"Hey, I keep hearing gunshots outside?"

"That’s just my gun. Don’t worry."

Soon, when Da-yeon finished farming, only corpses remained.

The problem was that Da-yeon’s farming was very strange.

"Why do you have two shotguns?"

"Well, you said shotguns are one-shots up close."

"Yeah, that’s true... but still..."

Ha-eun almost tried to correct Da-yeon’s farming choices but decided to let it go.

After all, Da-yeon wouldn’t be able to hit other players with sniper rifles, so it didn’t seem like she could do much with them.

‘Well, shotguns are fine, you just point and shoot.’

It was right after that when the poisonous gas cloud started approaching.

So, they decided to get in the car and head for a safe zone where there was no gas.

"Da-yeon, want to try driving?"

"If I drive, I’ll flip the car. You should just do it."

At some point, Da-yeon’s avatar had moved to the back seat.

So, Ha-eun ended up taking the wheel.

Dudududududud─!Bang─! Bang─!

"Die!!"Bang! Bang!Ding.

U R WINNER! CHICKEN DINNER!

Ha-eun knew very well that Da-yeon had really enjoyed the day.

The reason Da-yeon wouldn’t admit it was because of some late-found embarrassment.

After leaving the PC bang, Ha-eun quietly smiled as she saw Da-yeon bashfully trying to hide her excitement.

She didn’t tease her, though.

Later, Ha-eun got a taxi for Da-yeon, who was heading home.

"Goodbye."

After saying goodbye to Da-yeon, Ha-eun went back home.

Ha-eun felt that the goal of spending time with a friend had been achieved perfectly.

But for Da-yeon,

‘...I guess I can’t do game collaborations anymore.’

After realizing just how strong Ha-eun’s gaming skills were, Da-yeon knew she had to revise a few of her plans.

Not long after, Da-yeon’s house came into view.

"Hey, Da-yeon. What about dinner?"

"I’ll eat later. I have something urgent to do."

Passing by Da-yeon’s mother, Jeong Go-eun, Ha-eun headed straight to Da-yeon’s room.

There, Da-yeon powered on her computer and opened a text file she had been working on for weeks.

It was a character concept sheet.

Hida

Medieval WitchCalm personality & emotionsFan nickname: Hansel or GretelHobby: Eating childrenMain content: Talk / Singing

Caught up in her imagination about the character Hida, Da-yeon began to work on it.

Tap tap.

She began filling out the application form with the words "Application" written at the top.

‘Well, if you think about it, it’s just acting. I’m confident.’

While Ha-eun was an actress who matched herself to a character, Da-yeon was an actress who matched a character to herself.

So, Da-yeon believed she could perform as Hida with no awkwardness at all.

The problem was the last section of the application form.

"Hmm, a video showing the applicant’s talent..."

She went online and searched for movies or dramas Da-yeon had been a part of.

Eventually, she found a highlight video of Da-yeon and copied the link to paste it into the application form.

With that, Da-yeon’s application for Illusionary Realm’s 2nd season was sent to Ji Hye-min’s email.

Afterward, Da-yeon played a video of the "opera genius" girl she had portrayed long ago.

─────?

Opera had been one of Da-yeon’s specialties, forced upon her by the director during practice.

She hadn’t sung opera in a while, but she was still very good at it.

Soon after, Da-yeon’s eyes met Jeong Go-eun’s, who had been watching from the doorway.

"Opera? You said you’d never do it again."

"...When did I say that?"

***

"Hey, someone’s impersonating Min Da-yeon?"

"?"

"Look at this. They only put a highlight reel of Min Da-yeon for their application video."

"Who even does that..."