The Identity Behind XOXO
The journey back to Belio City, which had been relaxed only moments ago, suddenly became awkward.
No one said a word.
Rian, Mina, Yukio, and Hana exchanged glances several times before looking toward XOXO, who was walking ahead of them.
One name kept running through their minds.
Reina.
Tanaka had said it loud and clear.
Reina finally stopped.
She let out a long sigh, then turned to face her four students.
“All right... I suppose there’s no point hiding it anymore.”
The four immediately focused their attention on her.
“We’re not simply playing a game anymore. Somehow, we’re actually living inside the world we once knew as Cosmia Online.”
Reina looked at each of them in turn.
“So before you start jumping to conclusions, I’d better explain everything.”
Rian looked the most serious.
Reina continued.
“I really am the XOXO you were talking about, Riz.”
Rian’s eyes widened.
“The original XOXO?”
“Yes.”
“The player from Cosmic Online?”
Reina nodded.
“I wasn’t the best player like that article you read claimed. My level was certainly among the higher ones at the time, but that wasn’t the only reason the name XOXO became well known.”
Reina paused.
“I was the leader of the only guild that ever managed to complete Cosmic Online’s Main Quest.”
The four students fell silent.
Rian looked the most shocked. But after staring at XOXO for a moment, his expression gradually shifted to curiosity.
“Wow... I didn’t know there were still people our age who played classic games like that. Your name even sounds like our teacher’s.”
Tanaka immediately turned toward him.
Reina said nothing.
Rian innocently continued.
“Were the Cosmic Online servers even still running when you played it?”
Tanaka began to look uncomfortable.
“Riz... maybe you should—”
“I’m not your age!”
Reina’s voice silenced everyone.
Rian blinked.
Reina pointed at herself in irritation.
“I’m your teacher!”
Silence.
Several seconds passed.
“Reina Hanuka!”
Rian’s face instantly went pale.
Mina covered her mouth.
Hana’s eyes widened, while Yukio stood completely motionless as though he had just taken the strongest attack a Mostro could possibly unleash.
“M-Ma’am...?”
Reina crossed her arms.
“Yes.”
“Ms. Reina?”
“Yes.”
“Our teacher?”
“How many times do I have to say it?”
All four froze.
Rian slowly looked XOXO up and down.
The blue-haired Rogue who had saved them yesterday, taught them how to level up, organized their party formation, and seemed to know nearly every mechanic in Cosmia...
was their own teacher.
“No way...”
“What do you mean, ‘no way’?”
Rian immediately straightened his posture.
“Nothing, Ma’am!”
The change in his attitude was so sudden that Tanaka nearly burst out laughing.
Reina then explained why she had hidden her identity.
Ever since overhearing their conversation about Cosmia Online in class, Reina had already known that several of her students were interested in playing the game. When she later encountered them inside Cosmia, she had felt awkward admitting that she was XOXO.
After all, she had always kept her life as a teacher completely separate from her life as a gamer.
But things had changed.
They could no longer turn off their computers and return to their separate lives.
They were now trapped in the same world, facing the same dangers, with no idea whether they could ever return to Earth.
“That’s why I’ve been helping you,” Reina said. “At school, you’re my students. I can’t just let you run around doing whatever you want in a place like this.”
The four students fell silent.
Reina then raised a hand and pointed at someone.
“And one more thing.”
Standing nearby, Tanaka suddenly had a bad feeling.
“Look at him.”
Everyone turned toward Taka.
“He’s your PE teacher.”
Rian looked as though all the strength had left his legs.
“WHAT?!”
Yukio pointed at Taka.
“Mr. Tanaka?”
Tanaka scratched his head awkwardly.
“Yeah...”
“Seriously?”
Tanaka sighed.
“Forget it. Like Ms. Reina said, there’s no point hiding it anymore.”
Rian looked at Reina.
Then at Tanaka.
Then back at Reina.
Two people they had always known as their teachers were now in the same party as them.
But the reaction Reina had been worried about never came.
Instead—
“Thank goodness!”
Mina broke into a wide smile.
Reina looked slightly surprised.
“Thank goodness?”
“At least there are people we know here, Ma’am.”
Hana nodded.
“She’s right. I’ve been thinking about my family back home since yesterday. I was scared too, because I had no idea what we were supposed to do.”
She looked at Reina and Tanaka.
“But at least now we know we’re not alone.”
Yukio smiled as well.
“Besides, Ms. Reina knows so much about this world.”
Rian, who had been the most argumentative of them all, now looked more excited than anyone.
“And our teacher turns out to be the original XOXO!”
Reina sighed.
She wasn’t sure whether she should feel relieved or even more embarrassed.
From that moment on, the way they addressed each other changed.
There was no more XOXO or Taka whenever the six of them spoke in private.
To the four students, they were once again Ms. Reina and Mr. Tanaka.
“Ms. Reina!”
Hana suddenly raised her hand.
“What is it?”
“What if we create a guild?”
Reina stopped walking.
Rian, Mina, and Yukio immediately turned toward Hana.
“A guild?”
“Yeah. We already have a party. If we meet other players who seem like a good fit later, we could invite them to join us.”
Rian’s eyes immediately lit up.
“That’s a great idea!”
“Then Ms. Reina should be the guild leader,” Mina said.
“Of course!” Yukio agreed. “Ms. Reina understands this game better than any of us.”
Tanaka smiled faintly.
Reina, on the other hand, seemed to grow more enthusiastic the moment the conversation shifted toward guilds.
“Creating a guild isn’t that easy.”
The four students immediately focused on her.
“The character who wants to establish the guild has to reach Level 80.”
Their smiles began to fade.
“On top of that, we need 2,000,000 coins.”
Yukio’s eyes widened.
“Two million?”
“And one Diamond.”
Rian frowned.
“There’s more?”
“Of course.”
Reina smiled.
“The prospective guild leader also has to complete a seven-stage trial. Each stage has Mostro of different levels and difficulty.”
Silence.
Then—
“WHAAAT?!”
All four shouted almost simultaneously.
Tanaka covered one ear.
“Don’t shout so loudly.”
Rian, however, only became more excited.
“Then we need to start leveling right away!”
He pointed toward Belio City, which was beginning to come into view in the distance.
“We’ll finish the Turnip quest, then put the next quest on hold for a while.”
Reina raised an eyebrow.
“We’ll focus on leveling until Ms. Reina can create a guild!”
“Exactly!” Yukio joined in enthusiastically. “We’re already stuck in this world. There’s no guarantee we’ll find a way home anytime soon. We have to do something.”
He then turned toward Tanaka.
“Right, Mr. Tanaka?”
Tanaka gave an awkward smile.
“Yeah... I suppose so.”
He didn’t sound particularly convincing.
Unlike Reina, who understood nearly every mechanic in this world, Tanaka wasn’t all that different from the students. He had only played Cosmic Online casually for entertainment and had never bothered to study its systems in depth.
Now he had somehow been dragged into that very world alongside a veteran player and four increasingly enthusiastic teenagers.
All Tanaka could do was follow along.
Reina looked at her four students.
For some reason, the sight stirred something within her that she hadn’t felt in a very long time.
Back when she still played Cosmic Online, she had also traveled alongside people she knew only by their character names. They hunted together, searched for equipment, tackled difficult quests, and eventually built a guild together.
Reina had been much younger back then.
Yet the excitement she felt now was strangely familiar.
The difference was that the people walking beside her this time weren’t merely names behind computer screens.
They were her students.
And a PE teacher who had somehow been dragged along with them.
Reina smiled.
“All right.”
The four students immediately looked at her.
“We’ll return to Belio City and finish the beggar’s quest first.”
She paused.
“After that, I’ll show you how a classic MMORPG is really played.”
Rian grinned.
Yukio clenched his fist excitedly.
Hana and Mina exchanged eager glances.
“Be prepared,” Reina continued. “If you’re serious about creating a guild, the road to Level 80 won’t be easy.”
“Yes, Ms. Reina!”
Their voices rang out almost in unison.
Reina laughed softly before continuing toward Belio City.
Behind them, Tanaka could only shake his head.
Just a few days ago, they had all been living ordinary lives. Reina had been teaching in a classroom, Tanaka had been out on the sports field, and the four teenagers had simply been students at their school.
Now, they were walking together as a single party through a world that had once existed only beyond a computer screen.
They still didn’t know how to return home.
They didn’t know what had brought them to Cosmia in the first place.
They didn’t even know what awaited them after completing the Main Quest.
But at least, for now, they had found something they could do together.
Level up.
Gather coins.
Obtain a Diamond.
Complete the seven-stage trial.
And create a guild.