Former Hero, Solo Play Oriented-Chapter 208

I spent several days in a daze.

I forgot about my adventures on the continent of Astria and simply lay in my room, staring blankly at nothing for days on end.

Why?

It was the place I longed to return to so much.

I had resolved to say goodbye with a smile.

Chris checked on me regularly, bringing meals every day.

Even as she fed me, held me close, and gently stroked my hair with concern, I numbly accepted the food she offered without much thought.

And so, the days passed.

"......."

This morning, I opened my eyes again.

"Ugh."

Stretching out vigorously, I tried lifting the corners of my lips into a smile.

"Alright."

It worked without a hitch.

Melissa, Igraine.

Their wishes for me to live happily had reached me clearly.

Living in this haze wasn’t what they would have wanted for me.

Tock. Tap.

Still lying down, I tapped out a message on my phone.

[Unnie, I’m hungry.]

Crash! Bang! Slam!

"Haah, haah! Rain, are you okay!?"

"Why the fuss? I thought something happened to you."

I glanced at Chris with a slightly pouty expression.

"Ra-Rain!! Ohhh!"

Grab!

Chris burst into tears and hugged me tightly, her sobs muffled as I squirmed in her arms.

"Too tight."

"Ah, haha. Sorry. You said you were hungry, right? Let’s eat. I bought some delicious meat."

Chris carefully helped me move to my wheelchair, supporting me with utmost care.

But then.

"Huh...?"

There was a dull yet familiar sensation.

It came from my lower body.

I stopped Chris from lifting me further.

"Unnie, wait a second."

Still sitting on the bed, I focused intently, trying to sense something.

It wasn’t easy.

Sweat trickled down my forehead.

"Rain! What’s wrong!?"

Startled, Chris reached out to steady me, but I raised my hand to stop her.

Twitch.

Faintly.

I felt something reconnecting.

My legs.

Specifically, my toes.

Twitch.

"......!"

Chris’s eyes widened as if they were about to pop out of her head.

I beamed at her.

"They’re moving."

That morning was pure chaos.

Chris hugged me tightly and cried for what felt like ages.

Chris unnie was happy.

Even in the face of an inexplicable situation, she was genuinely overjoyed that my legs were moving.

Pat pat.

I patted her back gently, comforting her as her body trembled with sobs.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but eventually, Chris seemed to regain some composure.

"But how? They said the nerves were completely severed...! We need to go to the hospital immediately!"

Chris, who had only just calmed down, started scrambling to schedule a hospital visit, but I stopped her.

"If the hospital finds out, I think it’ll cause big trouble."

"Why?"

"The nerves are still dead. Something else is replacing them."

Having worked with this kind of power before, I recognized it.

Mana.

A force beyond the understanding of Earth’s science.

It was replacing the severed nerves.

Why this power was manifesting in Earth’s dimension was a question for another time.

"Haah... It feels like every common-sense belief I’ve held has been completely upended since I started raising you...."

Chris let out a deep breath, sinking into the bed beside me.

"It’s not complete. Maybe it’ll take time, or maybe this is the limit."

Twitch.

I cautiously wiggled my toes, feeling the faint warmth of this strange energy coursing through my body.

I had a guess about its origin.

It was the power given to me by Igraine and Melissa.

But why was it crossing dimensions, from "Drizzle Rain"—my avatar in Astria Online—to my real body, Isulbi?

Even if it was a positive change, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it might not be entirely good.

While I mulled it over, Chris was completely lost in her joy, still marveling at the fact that my lower body could move. Her tearful eyes sparkled as she touched my thighs and calves.

"Can you feel this? Really? How does it feel?"

"Uh... faint, but I can feel it."

"Huff, huff! And here...?"

"...? Eek."

Chris seemed to enter some kind of overexcited state. She kept touching my bare legs, pressing down on the soles of my feet with growing enthusiasm.

It felt weird, even if the sensation was faint!

Shivering, I stopped her.

"Unnie, stop pressing my feet."

"Oh, sorry. Whew... I just couldn’t help myself, being this happy."

Chris let out a mixed sigh of relief and excitement, her fervor finally subsiding.

I let out a sigh of my own, thankful that her "Isulbi Lower Body Exploration" hadn’t gone any further.

"If this continues to improve, it means you might walk again! Wouldn’t the hospital be able to help you?"

"...I don’t even know how to explain what’s happening. What if I end up as a test subject in some experiment because of how unprecedented this is?"

Even if they examined me, the results wouldn’t be any different than before. The fact that my lower body could move, however faintly, would just be considered bizarre.

I shuddered. Chris chuckled softly.

"Come on, it’s not like that would happen... but yeah, it could get complicated."

"Maybe after everything is settled, when I can live a normal life again, I’ll seek help from the hospital."

"After the ‘ending,’ huh? Heh."

Chris shook her head in disbelief, marveling at the absurdity of the situation.

"If this were happening in the game, I could just roll with it. But for something like this to happen in real life..."

"Right? I think it’s amazing too."

A genuine smile spread across my face.

A smile I hadn’t worn easily in real life.

Folding my hands together, I thought of them.

And I felt the warmth of their energy within me.

Igraine unnie, Melissa unnie.

"Live happily," is that what they’re telling me?

Clutching Chris’s sleeve tightly, I looked up at her, my eyes shining.

"Rain?"

"What day is it today?"

"Monday."

"The raid week reset is on Sunday... so we have six days of downtime."

"Yeah. Why?"

"Do you remember the first place we played together?"

"The Rosellia Plains. I ambushed you in the Rosellia Forest, then we headed toward the Alpharion Empire and played by the stream."

"Wow... you remember so clearly."

"Hehe."

I gaped at her, surprised she remembered. Chris gave me an awkward laugh.

I glanced at my legs, recalling the sensation of water brushing against them at that stream in the Rosellia Plains.

A world both familiar and strange.

I wanted to know more about this world.

I wanted to enjoy it.

"Unnie, I want to go to the beach with you."

"......!"

*

"Astria Online is in an uproar. The No-Name party managed to first-clear another raid."

"So Chris unnie created the raid group this time but didn’t name it, huh."

"Hmm. Anyway, the two of you are going on a trip, right? Ugh... I’m still stuck on the second boss. Sniff."

Beimelung, who had stopped by Chris’s house, wiped at her eyes with a pitiful expression while sitting next to me.

"Rain~ Are you ready to go out? We’re going to buy pretty outfits, lots of food and drinks... oh, and swimsuits too!"

Chris exhaled excitedly through her nose as she mentioned swimsuits, causing Beimelung to grimace. Laughing softly, Chris came over, hugged me, and whispered playfully.

"You’re looking forward to it too, right? You’ll get to see me in a swimsuit."

"Yes. I’m sure you’ll look amazing."

"Fufu, and I want to see you in one too."

"Sigh... fine."

Chris suddenly cupped my face, leaning in close. I found myself gazing back at her, my expression turning dazed in an instant.

Beimelung gawked at us, her jaw practically hitting the floor.

"Wh-when did the two of you get like this!?"

"Huh? We’ve always been like this."

"Don’t be ridiculous!"

"She’s right. We’ve always been this way."

"R-Rain too...!"

Chris caressed my face as she responded calmly, while I nodded with a dreamy look. Beimelung alternated between staring at us and looking like she was about to cry before letting out a long sigh.

"Fine, whatever. If Rain’s happy, then... Chris unnie, I’ll be watching you. If you make Rain cry, you’ll regret it!"

Beimelung continued to sigh, sniffle, and mutter to herself as if throwing a private tantrum.

What’s with her?

After a while of making her usual dramatic gestures, she suddenly turned serious and asked me a question.

"Rain, have you been out or met anyone in real life recently?"

"...? Not that I can recall."

"Maybe? I’m not sure."

Chris and I exchanged puzzled glances.

There was an odd tension in the air.

Beimelung hesitated, as if she were about to bring up a difficult topic, before pulling out her phone and opening a website with a concerned look.

"Look at this. After the No-Name raid first-clear became a big deal, someone posted about spotting you in real life."

[Title]

Spotted the famous ‘Azure Death King Sanctuary’ first-clear paladin, Whitey, IRL (+1594)

[Content]

Legit looked like they stepped right out of the game.

So pretty. Like a doll.

Could someone like that really exist?

It has to be them, right?

But they were in a wheelchair. Are they disabled?

"I have been going out more lately," Chris murmured, swallowing nervously.

The comment section beneath the post was flooded with various accounts from people claiming to have seen me in real life. Some seemed to have uploaded pictures, though they appeared to have been taken down since.

Thinking about it, it wasn’t surprising. A globally famous avatar from a popular game suddenly appearing in the middle of Seoul was bound to create a buzz.

I had even attended a guild meeting in person. The fact that it hadn’t gone viral sooner was probably thanks to the careful discretion of my guildmates.

Comments about my physical condition varied, but the majority expressed pity.

Chris and Beimelung glanced at me with visible concern.

I chuckled lightly.

I understood their worries.

The pitiful gazes of strangers, offering cheap sympathy.

I used to hate those eyes.

But now.

"Even if I have some limitations, being famous isn’t so bad."

It didn’t bother me anymore.

I had resolved to live proudly in this world.

And my legs would definitely heal.

Smiling brightly, I reached out and took Chris and Beimelung’s hands.

"More importantly, let’s hurry up ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) and go shopping. We need to get ready for the trip."

"B-but I can’t go on the trip...!"

Beimelung whimpered, her voice trembling.