"...?"
Silence fell over the hall where all the guild members had gathered.
Surely, until just before I entered, they were chatting quite noisily.
Though I'm not sensitive to other people's emotions, I can roughly tell what they're thinking by looking at their eyes.
On their faces, undisguisable signs of surprise had appeared.
Hmm. What could it be because of?
My appearance? They've all seen it often. These days you can see it in ads or YouTube videos too.
Is it my legs after all?
I controlled the emotion that was about to sink a little.
Lee Seulbi, don't ruin this good atmosphere with personal feelings.
Today's me is Rain from the Astria continent.
Everyone came to meet Rain, right?
How does Rain act when dealing with close people?
Smiling brightly, whimpering and making a crying face, puffing her cheeks a bit to show displeasure, walking with light tapping steps. Ah, the last one isn't possible.
Should I just smile for now?
I put on a small smile with a touch of playfulness.
"Why is it so quiet? Hee. I'm here."
Puhah-!
The suffocating silence and atmosphere were released along with the breath everyone had been holding.
The hall quickly became noisy.
"Wow, is it real? Is it the real Rain-nim?"
"Then would it be a fake Rain?"
"Rain-nim! Wow...! You're really pretty!"
"Heh, you've seen her a lot in videos too."
Today's me is strong.
I decided to use only Rain's strength of expressing her emotions well to close people, and Lee Seulbi's strength of knowing how to deal with people in a somewhat adult manner.
I raised the corners of my mouth a bit more and smiled with my eyes a little more.
"Kyaah...! It's exactly the same but different...! She's moving! She's fidgeting in real life! The feeling is completely different!"
"Haah...! She smiled at me! What should I do?"
Red Hot Chicken and Full Moon, the two women, let out shrill screams in front of me and their eyes became dreamy.
Chris and Bae Merong cleared their throats and approached, standing on my left and right.
"A-ahem! You understand, right? Our Rain is for viewing only!"
"Ahem, ahem! Unnies, you need to restrain yourselves!"
"Chris unnie, Bae Merong unnie. It's okay today."
Whirr.
I moved the wheelchair forward a little.
Then I approached Red Hot Chicken and Full Moon, stretched out both hands, and held one of their hands each.
"Ahhh...!"
"Khak!"
The two women clutched their chests with their hands that weren't held by me.
"Ah, aah! Rain!"
"Oh my, oh my! Look at this!"
Chris and Bae Merong were startled and grabbed my arms from both sides. It seems they wanted to appeal that they were closer to me.
I smiled brightly surrounded by the four unnies squealing.
It feels good to have many unnies around.
I shook hands fairly with the male guild members one by one too.
Though they didn't show as intense reactions as the female guild members, they all shook hands with me looking embarrassed or with fatherly smiles.
I looked up at the two lumps in front of me and exclaimed in admiration.
"Oh, Mr. Hopkins and Mr. Gandal have good bodies in real life too."
"Uhahah, to perform the role of reliable Fighters in Astria Online, we exercise hard here too!"
The two giants laughing heartily were clearly recognizable as the Red-White guild's reliable Fighter duo. Their appearances were slightly different, maybe because of character customization.
And two young men with slightly sly faces grinning, Rangers Disappointing and Ko Seungwoo. Behind them, Yeon Minah and Top Fishing Catch were visible.
"I was really surprised. With exotic looks and rare hair color, it was like seeing the pinnacle of customization possible with current technology. I just can't believe the Rain-nim in front of my eyes now is real."
"Right? Haah, Rain-nim could really be a celebrity."
"U-um."
I scratched my face.
Compliments about appearance always feel strange no matter how often I hear them.
If I hadn't lost the will to live and lived in seclusion, maybe I could have made a living using this appearance somehow.
In a way, could this be considered a gift too?
The female users gathered together and started chatting animatedly. Judging by the fact that I heard the name Rain several times, it seemed their main topic was about me.
The male users sat around me and started listening to my 'Introduction to Resistance Studies' lecture.
"...So, the usual combat stance is very important from the start. The form of invincibility skills differs slightly for each class, but there's 'Backward Evasion' which is a common invincibility skill for all classes, right? Though it's said to be instant, there are subtle differences in activation speed depending on leg spacing and posture."
"Ooh...!"
"I see, it's the difference between skills flowing out smoothly and coming out after taking that posture!"
"Yes. This applies not only to invincibility skills, but to all dealing skills. Hit rate, critical damage, activation speed. You can benefit in every aspect. It will be very helpful if you get used to naturally taking skill activation postures in your body normally."
"Hmm, for Backward Evasion, is it taking a stance like this first? Should the leg spacing be about this much when dealing damage normally too?"
I chuckled looking at Disappointing who had taken a ridiculous stance.
"That's not it, here, look. ...Eh."
Wobble.
"Uh... uhh!"
"Huk!"
Crash!
I hurriedly grabbed the wheelchair that had tilted slightly forward.
Oops, right.
My legs don't move here.
I felt like I had completely become Rain today.
"...?"
Why did everyone go silent?
Feeling the awkward silence, I raised my head slightly.
The guild members gathered around had already stood up from their seats.
They were taking ambiguous poses, as if about to stretch out their arms in a half-risen posture.
"..."
A strange emotion started welling up in my chest.
Ticklish.
What is this?
"...Hup."
Clang.
I lowered the rear wheel of the wheelchair, returning to the original position.
And I tilted the wheelchair slightly again.
This time to the left.
Wobble.
Crash!
"Ah, aah!"
"Uhhh!"
Everyone got startled and stood up from their seats again.
I suddenly came to my senses, having been consumed by the strange emotion striking my chest.
"Hah!"
Startled by the feeling of momentarily not being myself, I made a slightly cowed expression. And apologized to everyone around.
"S-sorry."
"Ah, no! What are you sorry for, Rain-nim!"
"It's okay! B-be careful!"
Lee Seulbi, what did you just do?
What is this contradictory emotion?
Did something happen to my head for a moment?
Anyway this is a dangerous emotion.
"Whew."
I took a deep breath while stroking my chest.
Cherni approached me who was alone for a moment.
"It's fortunate the guild members look cheerful."
"Right? I'm having fun too."
Who knew meeting people and talking could be this enjoyable.
All the guild members who had started eating in earnest had bright faces.
I stared at Cherni who had come close.
He scratched his head and spoke with difficulty.
"Um, well. You were great today."
"What was?"
"Others might not know, but I do, right? Your previous appearance."
"Ah."
The shell named Lee Seulbi who went around exuding a gloomy atmosphere.
It would be fair to say that essentially only Cherni knows that appearance now.
"A-ahem. So, I hope you'll always stay bright. The atmosphere becoming like this today. It's because you smiled. ...Aah! Is this the right way to say it!"
Looking at Cherni who was vigorously scratching his head as if he had said something very embarrassing, I tilted my head.
And soon realized.
"..."
When I smiled and acted friendly, Chris unnie was happy too.
When I was immersed in fragments of the past with blank eyes, Chris unnie was restless too.
Not just Chris, but all the few people around me were like that.
They were also strongly affected by my emotions.
That's how it was.
The guild members I met today all faced me with smiling faces.
Because my past self was dead, everyone looked with eyes seeing something gloomy and pitiful.
It didn't matter what my body was like.
The cheap sympathy and pity in their eyes that I hated, I had created it.
"A-anyway have fun today! Ahem, I need to take care of senior Deathly Death a bit more. Look, when left alone he's creating an atmosphere by himself at the window again?"
"Hehe."
I bowed my head towards Cherni's retreating back.
Thank you, Cherni oppa.
And I covered my face slightly.
Calling him oppa even inwardly is still a bit embarrassing.
This is all because of the ghost of my past life. I can call unnies unnie though.
And soon, as if following Cherni who had left, footsteps were heard.
Click click.
The person who revived the dead Lee Seulbi.
The person who created new connections around Lee Seulbi.
The person who is coloring this familiar yet unfamiliar grey world together with me.
The footsteps of that kind person.
It's always like this.
When she approaches, my body reacts automatically.
Just as she is affected by my emotions, my emotions are affected by her too.
When she smiles, my heart becomes fluffy like cotton candy.
When she hugs me, it feels like I've entered the warmest blanket in the world.
When I hear her voice, my heart tickles like listening to a pleasant song, and every time she strokes my head, my heart pounds like a little bird.
If my legs moved, I might have hopped up and down.
The red-haired woman approached my side and smiled brightly.
"Rain, are you having fun? Let's eat too?"
"Yes, I want to eat something delicious quickly."