Cinderella

As soon as she left her room, she headed straight for the living room. Sweat clung to her forehead, trickling down her face. Taking a shower would've been the logical next step, but right now, her hunger was overwhelming. She needed food.

When she opened the door and entered the living room, she was greeted by the sight of a boy devouring pizza with both hands, barely pausing to breathe.

Harang. That punk was stuffing his face with pizza without even offering a slice to his little sister.

A sudden surge of anger bubbled up from deep within her.

"Hey."

"..."

"Why are you eating alone?"

Did he think he was the only one with a mouth? With his face stuffed full of pizza, Harang's eyes bulged in surprise, unable to form a coherent response.

Without hesitation, she sat down beside him. The pizza was still half uneaten, and since it had cooled a bit, there would be no reason for him to complain if she took her share.

As she reached for a slice, Harang flinched next to her.

It was a different world, and different gender, but the same Harang. Both shared a love for the same foods.

And sure enough, the pizza he had ordered was her favorite—potato pizza.

The simple, rich flavor of it brought back memories.

As she chewed, a thought came to her. Harang was eighteen, right? He should have no problem helping with middle school-level homework.

"Hey."

"...What?"

"Help me study."

Harang, who had just lifted a cup of cola to his lips, froze in place. His mouth hung open in shock as if the request itself had blown his mind.

"Study. Help me," she repeated.

There was no embarrassment in asking. After all, it was like asking a version of herself. There was no reason to feel awkward about it.

If things kept going like this, her grades would plummet, and her mom would be disappointed.

She needed to play the part of the perfect daughter.

"Study? Are you out of your mind?"

"Are you going to help me or not?" she demanded, narrowing her eyes at him.

With a resigned sigh, Harang nodded. He had no choice but to comply.

After all, she had leverage over him. It was only fair that he help her out.

"Fine."

"But... I was going to play a game..."

"You're not playing it if I can't either," she shot back, glaring at him to ensure he wouldn't run off to the capsule.

She quickly ran to her room and brought out her textbooks. The main issue was math; the other subjects she could somewhat manage on her own.

"Ugh..." Harang sighed dramatically, clearly feeling sorry for himself.

Still, he had no choice but to sit beside her and go over the math problems with her.

* * * *

Meanwhile, a video was uploaded to the guild chat of the [Shing Shing] guild.

[JiMin20/Lunaris Priest: Guys, isn't this some kind of cheat?]

[JiMin20/Lunaris Priest: [Video File] Please check this out]

[JiMin20/Lunaris Priest: Seriously, how can someone kill three people in under a minute? This is ridiculous]

Yerin, who had been idly scrolling through her phone, sighed deeply.

The guild had grown significantly, and with its growth came an influx of new members. But as the guild grew, it attracted all kinds of people, many of whom rubbed her the wrong way.

Some members, particularly those brought in through distant connections, carried themselves with an air of arrogance simply because they were part of a well-known guild. Yerin hated this behavior.

Even when she had tried to correct them, the respect lasted only briefly before they went back to their old habits.

It was as if they saw her as nothing more than a figurehead guild leader, someone to be ignored because of her limited involvement due to real-life obligations.

Jimin was one of those problematic members. His complaints were nothing new, and this issue would likely blow over soon enough.

Nevertheless, Yerin clicked on the video file he had uploaded.

It started predictably, with her guild members picking a fight with a solo player.

Their behavior was familiar—picking a fight with a lone player, trying to claim territory or dominance.

[2 minutes]

The video was just over a minute long.

What did she mean by '2 minutes'? Yerin wondered as she focused on the video.

The character on screen had a cute appearance, small and childlike—more fitting for a mage or healer than a melee fighter.

Yet, there she was, wielding a massive Highlander sword over her shoulder. Her annoyed expression gave off a strange charm, a contrast that intrigued Yerin.

A flag dropped between the players. The girl, Yeon, had initiated a duel with a penalty on the line.

[1 minute]

No other party members were visible on Yeon's side. She was clearly a solo player.

Yerin's guild members accepted the duel, and that's when things got strange.

The girl moved in a blur, closing the distance to the priest and decapitating him within seconds.

The camera shook, indicating it had been recorded from the priest's first-person perspective. Even in death, the camera continued to capture the action.

The girl didn't stop. After dodging an attack from one of the swordsmen, she counterattacked and took him down in a single blow.

In total, it had been only 4 seconds—2 seconds to close the distance and 2 more to eliminate both the priest and the swordsman.

The speed was unreal.

A small whisper escaped Yerin's lips.

"Impossible"

This was beyond normal reaction time. Even in a game designed around heightened reflexes, this was almost like predicting the future.

The video continued. The final opponent was a tank, someone Yerin remembered as a decent player but annoyingly persistent with women. Even when players didn't reveal their real-life genders, he somehow sniffed it out and made things uncomfortable.

There wasn't much time left in the video.

It was clear the duel had been decided quickly.

The girl moved fluidly, twisting her blade's trajectory after it bounced off the tank's shield.

Thud!

The sword shot into the air like a horn, a move reminiscent of a charging bull.

She hadn't been caught off guard. Without hesitation, she brought the sword down, piercing through the tank's helmet.

And that was the end.

The girl casually swung her sword as if to shake off the blood, then rested it on her shoulder.

The chat in the guild exploded after watching the video.

Many had already downloaded and shared it. The guild [Shing Shing] had 300 members, and someone had already posted the clip to the Deren Online Gallery.

[Deren Online Gallery]

[Does this look like a cheat?

(Video)

Saw this in the guild chat, looks kinda suspicious. Is it even possible to react that fast?]

[Comments]

[Is it Shing Shing again?]

ㄴ[Shing Shing gets no sympathy.]

[Lol, Shing Shing got wrecked!]

[It looks like a cheat. No way someone reacts that fast.]

ㄴ[There are no cheats in Deren, dude.]

[Shing Shing deserves it.]

[Why is Shing Shing so trashy? They always complain.]

ㄴ[They just never learn.]

[Yo, where did they get that character customization? I want it.]

[That character is so cute.]

[Damn, they're really good.]

ㄴ[This has to be staged. No one can be that fast.]

 ㄴ[This player might be a pro? Look at that reaction time.]

If the video had been posted by someone other than a Shing Shing member, the gallery might have reacted differently.

But since it was them, the post didn't get much attention.

The guild's reputation had already been tainted by repeated bad behavior, leading most users to block them outright.

However, one thing did stand out:

A screenshot of Yeon's character mid-Charge was being used by some users as their profile image.

* * * *

Time flowed uneventfully until P.E. class rolled around.

In the large gymnasium, the P.E. teacher, uninterested in the lesson, tossed a ball to the boys and then retreated to a corner to sit on the sofa.

The students seemed used to this. The boys quickly divided into groups to play soccer, dodgeball, or basketball, while the less athletically inclined sat in small clusters, chatting.

Hayeon was no different, sitting quietly next to Sohee.

The conversation topics among middle school girls slowly chipped away at her sanity—makeup, clothes, gossiping about boys, and their favorite celebrities.

As a used-to-be adult corporation slave who didn't have any friends and mostly forgot her school days, She had no connection to any of this.

All she could do was nod awkwardly and fiddle with her phone.

"Hayeon!"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Why've your texts been so short lately?"

Sohee's pointed question hit her hard.

She had been responding to her friends out of obligation, but trying to act like the old Seo Hayeon had been exhausting.

"Uh, just..."

"Just what?"

"Just... trying to change things up," she mumbled.

"Change things up...?"

Hayeon glanced around, gauging their reactions.

The girls around them suddenly burst into laughter.

What was so funny?

"Hayeon... you're saying you're changing your settings?"

Their shoulders shook with giggles.

It wasn't a great feeling.

This is serious. I really do need to change settings to fit into this life!

"Y-yeah, I'm changing my settings... just go with that."

Thankfully, Hayeon's friends nodded in agreement.

They thought it was just a cute joke.

Well, at least they're not pressing the issue anymore.

Suddenly, something triggered in Hayeon's hyper-aware senses.

A sharp feeling, like the one she got in the game when danger was approaching.

It was as if she could predict what was about to happen.

Something was coming—fast.

Even though this was reality, her body responded on instinct.

She knew, without a doubt, that she could stop it.

It was a ball.

A hard soccer ball.

Glancing to the side, she saw a group of boys looking horrified as the ball sped toward her.

Her hand was too small to catch it.

And she couldn't use both hands—her phone was in her left.

So she'd use her fist.

Her hand balled into a fist, and she drew her arm back.

Like someone preparing for a punching machine game, her body twisted, transferring energy from her legs to her hips, and from her hips to her shoulders.

Bam!

Her punch met the ball with a satisfying impact. A sharp pain spread through her hand, which was now reddened.

The ball bounced on the floor, and she calmly kicked it back to the boys.

Everything happened smoothly.

Her friends, who had been watching, sat there, wide-eyed.

"W-what...?"

"Hayeon, did you change your settings to be a prince or something?"

It was unbelievable that such a move was even possible in real life.

Hayeon flashed a confident smile and casually stuffed her hands into her pockets.

There's no need to let them know that punch actually stung.

"Hayeon, that was so cool..."

She could feel the admiration from her friends.

This is starting to get a little awkward...

"Let me see your hand."

Sohee was by her side in an instant.

Before Hayeon could stop her, she pulled her hand out of her pocket, revealing the red mark left from the impact.

Her friends' eyes widened as they saw the bruise forming on her knuckles.

"Stop making such a fuss over it."

It felt strange to have so much attention on her.

Before Hayeon could pull her hand back, Sohee was already applying ointment from a small tube she'd pulled from her pocket.

When middle school students carry this kind of stuff?

Sohee's gentle fingers spread the cool ointment over her knuckles, soothing the pain.

"Thanks for saving us," she whispered, her voice soft.

A cute cat-patterned band-aid followed, carefully placed over the bruise.

"Hayeon's face is turning red!"

Hurriedly, she turned away.

It's just hot, that's all.

"I-I'm going to the bathroom!"

She quickly excused herself, walking away while trying to ignore the laughter trailing behind her.