Bla, bla, bla.
In front of my eyes, Laura is dancing.
Her legs moved exactly to the rhythm.
Intricate steps.
I was worried her legs might tangle, but soon I realized that such worries were pointless.
Why is she so precise?
It’s not that it’s unusual for soone to master choreography. People who are really good at dancing can often pick up moves just by watching them briefly.
But Laura was on a whole different level.
The angle of her legs, the exact placent of her feet.
Everything was frighteningly perfect.
“The moonlight shines, and the lanterns rise in the red-light district.”
Laura softly mumbled the lyrics.
It wasn’t perfect Japanese intonation, but the pronunciation seed quite familiar with the language.
Even Sonarim, who wasn’t familiar with the song, recognized it.
Wasn’t it a song where all sorts of 3D characters in MMD (MikuMikuDance) perform dances?
Like those dance videos that pop up now and then through algorithms.
Without a mont's hesitation, Laura stretched her arms and legs, perfectly replicating the dance.
“Is it a dream, or is it reality?”
“Let’s go, to the Pure Land of Bliss.”
Pure Land of Bliss.
According to Buddhist teachings, only those who live properly reach this place.
In Christian terms, it’s basically heaven!
Heaven…!
“Hmmm. Is this the feeling?”
As Laura’s dance continued, I lost track of ti and soon the Pure Land of Bliss mont passed.
Na-rim, dazed, was speechless, while Sora approached Laura.
“Are you really dancing this for the first ti?”
“I’ve seen the video a few tis, but this is the first ti I’m dancing it.”
“You’re dancing so well…? You could totally do this in a 3D broadcast or even a paid live broadcast.”
“Well… I don’t think it’s of a quality to show to others. I don’t think I’ll be dancing this on a broadcast…”
“Such a waste!”
Na-rim interrupted.
“It’s such a waste! Do it in a 3D broadcast or a paid live, whatever! Dance it for us in the broadcast too!”
That’s what Na-rim shouted.
What’s up with her?
The dance began.
Na-rim, Sora, and I.
The three of us.
I had planned to learn dancing from the start.
Recently, thanks to Na-rim’s help, I got introduced to a dance trainer.
And sohow, Na-rim also decided to join the dance classes.
“I think I’ve been too absorbed in gaming! As a New Year’s resolution, I need to improve myself more!”
That’s how it happened.
For so reason, Na-rim even persuaded Sora to join the dance classes.
Is she interested in Sora?
There’s this strange sense of affection toward Sora.
And it turned out Sora wasn’t completely disinterested in dancing, so she agreed to join the class too.
Since I was doing a 3D broadcast, Sora would be next.
It seed like she decided to learn dancing to prepare for the future.
So the three of us began learning dance together.
I heard that Shina also attends here, but I haven’t seen her yet.
“Didn’t Shina say she cos here too? I’ve never t her.”
“The timing is different. And we probably won’t et her. She’ll probably go to Japan after this week’s match.”
Shina is scheduled to perform at an external event called the "Badario Festival."
And after the Badario Festival, it seems like Shina won’t be dancing for a while.
“Well, it seems like I won’t et Shina.”
“Yeah, probably not!”
That’s a bit disappointing.
I wanted to et Shina at least once.
So we spent the morning attending dance classes together,
And then we had lunch together as well.
“Then, Sora, are you still staying at Laura’s place?”
“I’m planning to stay there until before Lunar New Year.”
The lunch spots change every ti, but recently we often just grab sothing light at a café.
I once suggested going to a soup restaurant, but Sora didn’t really like it.
Plus, the place was always packed, so we ended up chatting at a café, nibbling on so bread.
“Heh, I see. Hm…”
Na-rim glanced at Sora while stirring the whipped cream in her café mocha.
“Is Laura’s place nice?”
“It’s nice, but it’s a bit cold… She doesn’t mind the cold at all.”
Sora shrugged.
Sora decided to stay at our place for now.
Originally, she was supposed to go back ho after the Behemoth and Cerberus match, but it ended up like this. I didn’t mind it at all, though.
Thanks to Sora being here, the housework was going well, and recently, she had been going out often due to dance classes.
Every ti I leave, Sora helps with my hair, and she’s much better than Leon at it.
It’s probably because Sora studied beauty in school.
“I want to visit sowhere soday~.”
Na-rim said that.
After chatting at the café, we would part ways once the ti was right.
When we got back ho, Sora and I would prepare for our broadcasts.
Honestly, I didn’t have much to prepare for.
I had a few scheduled broadcasts, but they were all collaborations hosted by others, so I didn’t need to do anything extra.
So my broadcast preparation was purely personal.
I checked the newly released ga lists, looked at upcoming titles, and thought about which ga I should stream.
I also listened to a few songs and thought about which one I would sing during my 3D broadcast. That’s about it.
On the other hand, Sora was pretty busy.
Sora was preparing for her broadcast in Leon’s room, and I could occasionally hear her clearing her throat from the other side of the wall.
Since Sora mainly focused on singing, she had to do regular singing broadcasts.
But it’s a bit tiring to sing the sa songs over and over, so she’d often practice new ones around the house.
Recently, it seed like she got interested in ASMR and was looking into binaural microphones.
Also, she seed to be preparing so kind of project, though I wasn’t sure what it was yet.
Anyway, as we both prepared for our broadcasts, Sora would occasionally visit my room.
“A request for collaboration ca in.”
“If it’s about Inakika and Turtle Soup, I already heard about it.”
“No, it’s from Na-rim. She wants us to play Dungeon Seeker together… But, did Inakika contact you about it?”
Normally, I’d get a request from Na-rim to play Dungeon Seeker.
But recently, she had been contacting through Sora instead of directly.
“What’s your schedule like today?”
“I didn’t have any special plans… Wait, why are you always asking about my schedule? I’m not your manager.”
“If there’s no set schedule, accept Na-rim’s suggestion.”
And so, in the evening, we often played Dungeon Seeker together.
That’s how we spent our days.
What could be more surprising than this?
It’s not like I’ve been seeing Laura for just a day or two.
...That’s what Sora thought at one point.
“Sora! Don’t tie the rope like that!”
Na-rim shouted as she checked Sora’s harness.
“This is just a rope tied together! You could fall if you’re not careful!”
“Oh, really…”
“I’ll show you, so rember it well!”
Na-rim set up Sora’s equipnt for her.
Far in the distance, I saw Laura skillfully setting up her own gear, and Sora… started to question things.
“Wait, are we doing dungeon exploration here?”
“Yes! That’s right!”
“We’re not climbing a mountain, right?”
“It’s not mountain climbing, but we’ll do so climbing!”
“….”
Sora briefly rubbed her forehead. What was dungeon exploration again? Was it about food?
If this were a mountainous area or a deep cave, such gear might be needed. But we’re in a mansion, why would we use climbing gear…
The concept of dungeon exploration was starting to get confusing.
“You can’t just walk through the halls. There’s not much cover, and escaping is hard, so climbing the outer walls is safer.”
Well, I get the logic, but…
Who would actually do that?
It felt like being told that crossing rooftops one after another is faster than taking the bus to the destination.
“Co on, follow .”
“Ugh…”
Sora hesitated a little but followed.
She had hardly ever climbed before, but thinking back, she had done so rope work between buildings in Aserasal.
Maybe because of that, she quickly got used to it.
Once she got used to it, it wasn’t as hard as she had thought.
“Hey, Laura. We don’t have any food, though.”
“Shall we eat so rats or bugs?”
…I take that back.
It wasn’t as easy as I had imagined.
But who is she anyway? She’s Ayano Kouji Sora, leader of the EYEAI 6th generation.
Of course, there’s a lot of talk that the real leader is Aurora.
In fact, all the 6th generation mbers tend to follow Aurora’s opinions.
It just feels like Sora took on the leadership role because Aurora got tired of it.
But whatever, it was clear that Sora was the leader.
When Aurora provided direction or opinions, Sora was the one who organized and implented them.
By Aurora’s side, Sora had gone through everything, including eating weird things in Aserasal.
And recently, since Aurora received a alworm advertisent, Sora had been eating alworms as well.
Her femininity may have decreased a bit, but she adapted well to the madness.
Slurp. The bug tastes good.
Slurp. The rat tastes good.
So, the three of us did what we called extre beggar play.
Whenever the hunger gauge filled up, we’d catch spiders and rats to share,
We climbed the walls instead of walking through the halls,
And rested inside the dungeon without going back to town.
Occasionally, we’d run into mbers of Behemoth or Cerberus in the dungeon.
“Would you trade so food or items for a little more gold?”
“….”
Shina exchanged items reluctantly.
From Shina’s perspective, it was a chance to earn more gold, and from Laura’s side, she figured it was more efficient to stay in the dungeon longer instead of going to town.
So, Laura, Sora, and Na-rim were becoming more and more wild.
“...Are you out of your mind?”
And today, for the first ti, Choi Ga-ho, who joined the Dungeon Seeker collab, sighed.
The owner really doesn’t know.
“To survive here, you have to lose your mind.”
“Don’t say such weird things…”
The owner looked at her strangely.
She gave him so advice, but it was clear he didn’t get it yet.
He’s still new.
He’ll understand eventually, Sora thought.
And with that thought, she chewed on a spider leg.
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