Back to the Old World
Morning light began to seep through the gaps in the curtains of a modest apartment. There wasn't much furniture inside. Just a sofa, a wardrobe, a few simple shelves, and a high-end computer setup that stood out more than anything else in the room. A gaming headset lay on the desk, while a comfortable-looking gaming chair still faced a massive fifty-two-inch monitor.
The monitor was still on even as morning arrived.
Beep... beep... beep...!
The digital alarm beside the bed went off.
Reina opened her eyes.
Several seconds passed before she noticed the sunlight already filling her room.
“Damn it... I'm late for work!”
She immediately jumped out of bed in a hurry. Her hair was still a mess after staying up late the previous night to play an online game she had just installed.
Even as she hurried to get ready, her thoughts kept returning to the game.
“That game really does feel familiar. It's almost exactly like the one I used to play. They just improved the resolution...”
Cosmia Online.
The name was different, but nearly everything about it reminded Reina of an MMORPG that had once been a huge part of her childhood.
Kosmik Online.
As someone who had always been more comfortable spending time alone, the world of games had once given Reina another place where she could express herself. It was there that she had created an identity she continued to use even now.
XOXO.
There was no special meaning behind the name. Reina had chosen it as a child simply because it was easy to type and remember. But as the years passed, the name became an identity she used in almost every game she played.
Including Cosmia Online.
Despite leaving a little late, Reina managed to arrive at school just before her class began.
She had barely reached the classroom door when she overheard several students talking inside.
“Have you guys heard about that classic game that just came out?”
“Of course. I installed it last night, but it wasn't that interesting. I ended up uninstalling it.”
“Yeah. It doesn't even have VR support. My hand actually got tired from having to move the mouse.”
Several students laughed.
Standing outside the door, Reina immediately recognized the game they were talking about.
Cosmia Online.
“That's exactly the kind of game I've been looking for.”
One student's comment made several of his classmates turn toward him.
Rian seemed far more enthusiastic than the others.
“I read some old gaming magazines before. Games like that used to be really popular.”
“What's so interesting about them?”
“A lot of things.”
Rian began explaining enthusiastically.
“Apparently, Cosmia Online is a remake of an old game, but it's being developed by a different developer. The original game was called Kosmik Online.”
Reina stopped in her tracks for a moment.
Rian continued.
“There was even an article about a legendary player from the old game. Their character was named XOXO. Apparently, they used to be one of the highest-level and highest-ranked players on the server.”
Reina froze outside the door.
XOXO?
For a moment, she thought she had misheard him.
Several students who hadn't been interested before began gathering around Rian's desk.
“What made that game different?”
“The Item Mall didn't directly sell powerful weapons or equipment. Most gear had to be dropped by monsters or crafted by the players themselves. Only then could players trade it with each other.”
“So you had to gather the materials yourself?”
“Yeah. You couldn't just pay money to get good weapons and equipment.”
The system sounded strange to most of them. In an era when many games offered all kinds of conveniences through transactions, a system that forced players to hunt for materials, craft equipment, and trade it among themselves felt almost foreign.
And yet, that very strangeness slowly began to pique their interest.
“Everyone.”
A woman's voice suddenly came from the front of the classroom.
Their conversation immediately stopped.
Reina stood there with a book in her hand.
“Return to your seats. Class is about to begin.”
“Yes, Ma'am!”
The students quickly returned to their desks.
Reina walked toward the teacher's desk as though she hadn't heard a single word of their conversation.
However, one thing still occupied her thoughts.
The legendary player XOXO?
The corner of her lips almost curled into a smile.
She never imagined that a name she had randomly come up with as a child would still be recorded in a gaming magazine decades later.
The lunch break finally arrived.
The students poured out toward the cafeteria while Reina returned to the teachers' room. After sitting down at her desk, she took out her phone and opened the official Cosmia Online website.
A new announcement was displayed prominently on the homepage.
SERVER UPDATE
Main Quest: Cosmia History
Reina stared at the announcement.
“They've only just released the game, and there's already an update...”
However, it wasn't the update itself that caught Reina's attention.
“Cosmia History?”
She recognized the name of that quest.
“Even the quest name is exactly the same as before. Only the name of the world is different.”
More and more things were convincing her that Cosmia Online really was based on Kosmik Online.
“You're still interested in playing games?”
A man's voice suddenly came from behind her.
Startled, Reina quickly turned around.
Tanaka, the school's physical education teacher, was standing not far from her desk. He had been interested in Reina for quite some time, though she had never shown much interest in return.
“So?” Reina looked at him. “Is there something wrong with that?”
Tanaka immediately raised both hands.
“T-that's not what I meant.”
Reina gave him a puzzled look.
Tanaka hesitated for a few moments before finally gathering his courage.
“I mean... instead of spending your time playing games, have you ever thought about dating someone?”
Reina fell silent.
Tanaka smiled awkwardly.
“I was just thinking that maybe we could go out sometime.”
Reina turned her attention back to her phone.
“I can date anyone I want inside a game without having to deal with the kind of commitment that comes with real life.”
Tanaka chuckled.
“Games have features like that? But wouldn't that just be virtual dating?”
Reina didn't answer immediately.
After a moment, her expression changed slightly.
“I met someone in a game once.”
Tanaka stopped laughing.
“We were pretty close. At first, we just played together. Then our relationship developed to the point where we eventually decided to meet in real life.”
“And then?”
“It turned out he already had a partner.”
Tanaka fell silent.
Reina said it without much change in her expression, as though she were simply recounting something that had happened a long time ago.
“After that, I realized that relationships inside games and relationships in real life are two different things. Since then, I haven't been particularly interested in going through something like that again.”
For the first time, Tanaka learned one of the reasons Reina always avoided conversations about relationships.
He didn't try to comfort her or press her for more details.
Instead, Tanaka pulled over a chair beside Reina's desk.
“Then... how about I play that game with you?”
Reina turned toward him.
“You play games?”
“Of course.”
Tanaka answered with complete confidence.
“Super Mario. Tetris.”
Reina stared at him blankly.
“Never mind. Forget I asked.”
Tanaka laughed.
“I'm kidding. I used to play Kosmik Online too.”
Reina, who had been about to return her attention to her phone, immediately looked at him again.
“You played Kosmik Online?”
The change in her expression was so obvious that even Tanaka was surprised.
“Yeah. Why?”
“Which server?”
Tanaka told her the name of the server he had played on back then.
Reina fell silent.
“That was my server too.”
“Seriously?”
What had begun as casual small talk gradually turned into a long conversation. They reminisced about the cities, monsters, quests, equipment, and all kinds of experiences they had gone through in Kosmik Online.
Unlike Reina, however, Tanaka had only been a casual player who played the game in his spare time. He had never cared much about rankings, competition between players, or the famous names known throughout the server. Because of that, the name XOXO—once known as one of the game's legendary players—meant absolutely nothing to him.
Reina didn't feel any need to mention it either.
To Tanaka, who Reina had once been in Kosmik Online wasn't important. The chance to talk with her for so long, discover something they both enjoyed, and perhaps even play alongside her was already more than enough.
Without either of them realizing it, for the first time since they had begun working at the same school, Reina and Tanaka spent so much time talking about something they both genuinely enjoyed.
Meanwhile, discussions about Cosmia Online were still going on in the school cafeteria.
Several students who had previously dismissed the game as boring were beginning to change their minds. Reviews of Cosmia Online had started appearing across various channels run by professional gamers. Many described it as a retro MMORPG that offered a different experience in an era dominated by VRMMOs.
Its gameplay system, which didn't rely too heavily on transactions to obtain powerful equipment, was also beginning to attract attention.
Among those students were four friends who regularly played online games together.
Rian, Mina, Yukio, and Hana.
“I'm playing it tonight,” Rian said.
“Me too,” Mina replied.
Yukio nodded. “If we really have to make our own equipment, that actually sounds pretty interesting.”
Hana, who had been listening quietly, finally agreed as well.
And so, the four of them decided to try Cosmia Online together.
What they didn't know was that, on that very same night, two of their teachers would also enter that world.
There was no need to argue over which server to choose.
For now, Cosmia Online only had a single server. A second server wasn't scheduled to open until the following month.
And so, without any of them planning it, Reina, Tanaka, Rian, Mina, Yukio, and Hana would soon find themselves in the same world.
But there, Reina wouldn't be their teacher.
Tanaka wouldn't be their physical education teacher.
And none of them would know each other by the names they normally used at school.
In the world of Cosmia, Reina was known by only one name.
XOXO.