The system window, which had filled her vision, softly vanished.
Lee Jihyeon stared blankly into the empty air for a moment.
[Transcendence: Grants exceptional reaction speed in all fighting games.]
‘So fighting games were my calling.’
[Welcome to Dimension Battle Fighters!]
[To ensure smooth gameplay, the guide system will now activate.]
Instantly, her vision, previously a pure white void, plunged into darkness, and a dazzling cascade of light particles poured forth before her eyes.
As the light receded, Lee Jihyeon found herself standing at the heart of a space adorned like a colossal temple.
“Hello, new Fighter! I am Popo, your guide pixie, here to assist you on your journey!”
A fairy, no larger than her palm, appeared, fluttering excitedly as it circled around her.
“First things first, shall we create a magnificent avatar for you to use in the world of Dimension Battle Fighters?”
Popo snapped their fingers, and dozens of sliders and palettes unfurled before Lee Jihyeon’s eyes.
Height, build, facial contours, eyes, nose, mouth… every conceivable physical attribute a human could customize was laid out before her.
However, Lee Jihyeon had no inclination whatsoever to even glance at the intricate customization window.
‘What a waste of time.’
Her sole objective was to test the talent she had just acquired.
She had no time to squander on decorating an avatar.
Lee Jihyeon located a small button in the corner of the customization window.
[Synchronize Real Body Data]
“Wait! Fighter! This function reflects your real body almost exactly, so once set, it’s difficult to significantly change your appearance! Please consider carefully—”
Despite Popo’s dissuasion, Lee Jihyeon pressed the button without a moment’s hesitation.
*Shhhwaaak—!*
As a blue scanner swept up and down her body, an avatar identical to her own was swiftly completed before her eyes.
From her petite 146cm stature to her youthful face, it was a perfect replica, as if gazing into a mirror.
“Avatar creation is complete! Now, let’s head to the tutorial zone where you can learn the basics of combat—”
“No.”
Lee Jihyeon cut off Popo’s attempt to move her to the tutorial zone, mashing the [Skip Tutorial] > [Go Directly to Lobby] buttons.
“W-wait! Fighter! The tutorial is essential for adapting to the game—!”
As the urgent voice faded, her vision was once again enveloped in light.
****
How much time had passed? When she opened her eyes, Lee Jihyeon was standing in a massive plaza bustling with countless people.
This seemed to be the lobby Han Juyeon had mentioned.
Looking around, she saw a plethora of fantastical avatars.
From muscular giants to pointy-eared elves, and even beast-kin.
Amidst that flamboyant crowd, Lee Jihyeon, looking exactly as she did in reality, paradoxically stood out.
Then, in the distance, she saw a figure with pink pigtails waving their arm.
“Jihyeon! Over here, over here!”
It was Han Juyeon.
She sprinted towards Lee Jihyeon with an excited bounce in her step.
Lee Jihyeon stared intently at Han Juyeon as she approached.
Her face and hairstyle were identical to her real-life appearance.
However, there was one exception.
That is, if one overlooked her chest, which boasted an unrealistic volume incomparable to her real-life counterpart.
“Found you! You skipped the tutorial and came straight here, didn’t you? You’re so impatient!”
Han Juyeon, who had already rushed right up to her, scanned Lee Jihyeon from head to toe, her eyes sparkling.
“Wow, you used body synchronization, didn’t you? You look exactly like your real self! So cute, so cute!”
No sooner had she finished speaking than Han Juyeon nonchalantly slipped her hands under Lee Jihyeon’s armpits and effortlessly lifted her into the air.
“Kya-haha! You’re really tiny!”
As her vision suddenly elevated, Lee Jihyeon’s brow furrowed subtly.
A sigh involuntarily escaped her at Han Juyeon’s actions, holding her like a child and spinning in circles.
“…Please put me down.”
“Aw, come on~ We’re the same age! I said let’s speak casually, didn’t I? Huh? Let’s be friends, okay?”
Lee Jihyeon remained silent for a moment.
Her gaze was fixed on a particular spot.
Presently, Lee Jihyeon spoke in a low voice.
“By the way.”
“Hm?”
*Squish.*
“Your… chest has grown quite a bit.”
As Lee Jihyeon continued speaking, she grasped one of Han Juyeon’s enormous breasts with her hand.
Then, with a serious expression, she kneaded it, as if checking the texture of *chapssaltteok* (TL Note: A Korean glutinous rice cake known for its soft, chewy texture).
“…Do you not feel anything at all?”
It was a question brimming with pure curiosity.
While an ordinary person would have recoiled in horror and swatted her hand away, Han Juyeon’s reaction was entirely unexpected.
She briefly widened her eyes in surprise, then burst into a hearty laugh.
“What do you mean~ Of course I don’t feel anything! The game developers block all sensations in sensitive areas like this.”
Han Juyeon, watching Lee Jihyeon’s small hand kneading her chest, spoke with an amused air.
“But you’re really funny. It’s like a baby looking for its mother’s milk; you’re so cute being clingy!”
At those words, Lee Jihyeon’s hand movements abruptly ceased.
Without a word, she removed her hand from Han Juyeon’s chest and looked up at her with eyes that had turned chillingly cold.
“Huh?”
The temperature of the air seemed to drop several degrees in that instant.
Involuntarily, Han Juyeon relaxed her arms, which had been holding Lee Jihyeon aloft.
*Softly.*
Having been set down, Lee Jihyeon gazed up at Han Juyeon with emotionless eyes.
“A baby, you say?”
“Uh… huh? O-oh! S-sorry!”
Han Juyeon apologized, instinctively tucking her tail between her legs.
‘Why did I flinch just now?’
“A-anyway! Let’s add each other as friends first!”
Han Juyeon quickly opened her interface window and sent a friend request to Lee Jihyeon.
[You are now friends with Han Juyeon.]
“Alright! I’ll create a friendly match room right away! I’ve also turned on voice chat, so you’ll be able to hear my voice through your headset now.”
[Han Juyeon has invited you to a friendly match.]
As Lee Jihyeon pressed [Accept], the surrounding scenery transformed in an instant.
An endless bamboo forest, and in its center, an old wooden bridge.
It was a stage designed for sparring.
“So, can you hear me?”
Han Juyeon’s voice came through clearly via the headset.
“Yes.”
“First, before we start fighting seriously, you need to choose your character. Can you see the character selection window? I’ll explain everything step by step, so for now, just look through and pick any character you like.”
Dozens of holograms of unique fighters appeared before Lee Jihyeon’s eyes.
Lee Jihyeon scrolled down, quickly scanning all the characters.
Her gaze halted before the hologram of one particular character.
A man whose face was mostly concealed by a black mask, clad in a black combat suit that resembled a ninja’s attire.
At his waist, he carried a short dagger, a wakizashi, and a katana. His appearance was sleek and devoid of any superfluous details.
[Kagero / Assassin / Difficulty: ★★★★★]
“Huh? Kagero? You’re going to pick them?”
Discomfiture laced Han Juyeon’s voice as she confirmed Lee Jihyeon’s choice.
“Jihyeon, no, not that one, really. They’re famous for having the highest control difficulty among all characters in D-Bat Fighters, you know? Even hardcore veterans (TL Note: ‘Goinmul’ is a Korean slang term referring to veteran or highly skilled players who have spent a lot of time in a game, often implying they are deeply entrenched in its mechanics and community.) avoid that character… You should pick someone else…”
“I’ll take this one.”
“…Really?”
“Yes.”
At Lee Jihyeon’s resolute answer, Han Juyeon let out a deep sigh.
“…Haa, alright. I won’t stop you if you’re set on it. Then, press the start button when you’re ready.”
Simultaneously with Lee Jihyeon’s selection, both their characters were summoned to opposite ends of the wooden bridge.
‘The gameplay is exactly like what I knew.’
It was a 2.5D game where two players moved left, right, and jumped in a fixed arena, fighting in the same manner as the fighting games she was familiar with.
The only difference was the intense immersion, as if the characters before her eyes were truly alive, and she had become the character herself.
“Alright, then, I’ll tell you the basics first. Kagero… hmm… basically, you can consider them to have almost no attack combos.”
Han Juyeon’s voice was laden with perplexity.
Her character, Rivian, was clad in flamboyant red armor and possessed numerous powerful attack skills that were easy for beginners to handle.
“Kagero’s core mechanic is parrying. If you press the defense button with precise timing just before an opponent’s attack connects, you deflect the attack and gain Mind’s Eye stacks. Only by consuming those stacks can you then use attack skills.”
Truly, a character of extreme high-risk, high-reward.
Having to parry every attack with perfect timing was, for a newbie, a playstyle virtually bordering on impossible.
“First, I’ll attack lightly, so try to parry it. The timing… is right before the effect bursts. You just have to get a feel for it.”
Han Juyeon’s knightess slowly raised her sword.
[ROUND 1. FIGHT!]
As soon as the countdown ended, Han Juyeon’s knightess advanced lightly and swung her sword horizontally.
It was a basic light attack, intentionally without combos, designed for a newbie to react to.
To Lee Jihyeon’s eyes, the sword’s trajectory, the subtle twitch of muscles, everything appeared broken down frame by frame.
‘…Now.’
*Klang—!*
With a clear metallic clang, Han Juyeon’s sword was lightly deflected to the side.
Simultaneously, the text [Mind’s Eye Stack: 1] appeared in a corner of Lee Jihyeon’s vision.
“…Huh?”
Han Juyeon’s dumbfounded voice reached her ears.
“…What? Just now… you parried it perfectly? Was it a coincidence?”
Han Juyeon tilted her head, then launched a slightly faster flurry of attacks.
A basic two-hit combo, starting with an overhead slash followed by a low kick.
*Klang—! Chaeng—!*
But the result was the same.
Lee Jihyeon’s Kagero, without the slightest tremor, parried the sword and the kick in quick succession with minimal movement.
[Mind’s Eye Stack: 3]
“…No, wait a minute.”
Han Juyeon’s voice was clearly tinged with bewilderment.
“You… are you really playing for the first time? This timing is really difficult to get right…”
Instead of answering, Lee Jihyeon assumed Kagero’s basic stance.
It was a flawless posture, ready to draw the dagger from their waist.
At that sight, Han Juyeon unconsciously swallowed dryly.
Something was off. For a newbie’s movements, they were far too refined.
“Hey, hold on a second. Open your settings window. What control method are you using right now?”
It was an abrupt question, but Lee Jihyeon, without complaint, brought up a small settings window in a corner of her vision.
Upon entering the controls tab, an option was highlighted.
“…It says Full Synchronization.”
“What?! Full Synchronization?!”
Han Juyeon found herself speechless.
Full Synchronization mode.
It was a control method that synchronized physical movements with the avatar at 100%.
Naturally, for special moves or complex combos, the standard was to use Simple Controls mode, where voice commands or specific gestures were assigned as hotkeys.
Even rankers all used Simple Controls in actual combat to minimize errors.
Even she, a Diamond 1 player, had all her main skills registered to simple hand gestures or voice hotkeys.
That way was much more stable, faster, and more powerful.
But this person, who was playing the game for the first time today, had perfectly parried her attacks using the most difficult and inefficient control method?
‘No, calm down. It must be beginner’s luck.’
Han Juyeon concluded.
It was just like a bullet fired haphazardly in an FPS game landing a headshot, or a complete beginner accidentally hitting a perfect timing by mashing buttons.
Thinking that way put her mind at ease.
She didn’t want to admit that she, a Diamond 1 tier player, had flinched at a newbie who had just started the game today.
“…Hmph, you surprised me. Anyway, save Full Synchronization for later and switch to Simple Controls for now. It’s much easier.”
“I don’t want to.”
“…What?”
“This is more comfortable.”
At Lee Jihyeon’s firm reply, Han Juyeon’s brow furrowed slightly.
‘This tiny one, so stubborn…’
Her refusal to listen, despite being offered guidance, ignited a stubborn streak in Han Juyeon.
“Oh really? This is more comfortable, you say? Fine. Then I won’t hold back this time.”
Han Juyeon steeled her resolve.
Luck had its limits.
This time, she decided to crush her with pure skill and properly teach the newbie the harsh realities of fighting games.
For learning through getting hit—that was the adage of fighting games.
“Here I come!”
Han Juyeon’s knightess lowered her stance.
