Psychological Counselor Shin Ara.
The moment she received Victoria's call, she bolted out of the Counseling Center without a second thought.
For years, Victoria had been tormented by a vicious stalker, suffering from severe depression.
The fact that Victoria had reached out first meant something terrible had likely happened.
Still, as a psychological counselor, Shin Ara couldn't help but cling to a sliver of hope.
When Victoria suddenly stopped contacting her, Shin Ara had feared she might have made a drastic choice. But now, here she was, seeking help to improve her life.
For someone battling depression, the support of loved ones is paramount.
Shin Ara was determined to do anything for Victoria, her very first client.
I just hope it's not something too serious...
Fortunately, Victoria's apartment wasn't far from the Counseling Center.
It was practically close enough to trip and fall right to her doorstep, so even though Shin Ara had sprinted through the rain without an umbrella, she barely got wet.
Half-expectant, half-anxious, she pressed the doorbell of Victoria's studio apartment.
The chime rang once, and the front door slowly creaked open.
"A-are you the counselor...?"
As the frail voice spoke, a stack of flyers wedged in the door crack tumbled to the floor.
This was clear evidence that Victoria hadn't left her apartment in a very long time, and Shin Ara's expression darkened slightly as she glanced at the flyers.
However, showing a negative reaction in front of a client was strictly unprofessional.
Quickly remembering her professional duty, she forced a bright smile and greeted Victoria warmly.
"Yes! It feels like ages since we last saw each other! Do you know how worried I've been?"
As she greeted Victoria, she noticed that she hadn't changed at all.
Her porcelain doll-like features remained as adorable as ever, but her frail frame, which looked like it could topple with a mere touch, was unchanged as well.
Her poor appetite was obvious, and the dark circles under her eyes suggested insomnia.
She immediately recognized that Victoria's depression had worsened significantly.
"First, may I come inside? I brought cupcakes—let's eat them together."
"Ah, yes... come in..."
With a rather hesitant invitation, she was allowed to enter the house.
Victoria's one-room apartment, which Shin Ara was visiting for the first time, was more desolate and chilly than she had expected.
I thought she was an aspiring actress, Shin Ara mused, but this doesn't look like a woman's room at all.
In fact, the state-of-the-art VR headset in the corner made it resemble a professional gamer's practice room more than anything else.
But everyone has their own tastes, Shin Ara reminded herself. It's best not to comment.
Determined to maintain a positive attitude, Shin Ara casually pulled out the snacks she had brought.
"These are cupcakes," she said, "and this is a matcha latte. It was too much for me to eat alone, and then Victoria contacted me! I couldn't throw away these gifts, so would you mind sharing them with me?"
"C-can I... eat some?"
"Of course! I'd be delighted if you joined me."
"Then... I'll gratefully accept."
Shin Ara swiftly set up the tea table as if she were in her own home.
Victoria, who had been hesitant, found herself sitting down and nibbling on a cupcake.
As expected, she seemed to have been starving for a while, obediently accepting everything offered to her.
Though she occasionally glanced around nervously, her cheeks puffed out adorably as she ate, which helped Shin Ara relax a bit.
"Shall we continue our consultation while we eat?"
Sharing the sweet treats seemed to have created a warmer atmosphere between them.
With that, Shin Ara subtly steered the conversation toward her main purpose for being there.
Truth be told, she was quite confident in her ability to treat depression.
At the Counseling Center, she had inexplicably been assigned only couples therapy cases, which left her, a 25-year-old single woman, feeling perpetually depressed throughout her workdays.
Moreover, Victoria was her very first client.
Having known Victoria for so long, Shin Ara was intimately familiar with her pain.
"So... should I just start talking now?"
"Yes! Please speak freely and comfortably, without any pressure!"
And so began the psychological counseling session with Victoria Chernakoshka.
Determined not to miss even the slightest clue, Shin Ara focused intently on Victoria's frail voice.
As the consultation progressed, the conversation took an odd turn.
It took less than ten minutes to completely shatter Shin Ara's confidence.
"So... you're saying you were possessed by a war game and returned after four years?"
"Yes... that's right."
"And... what about the stalker issue? Are you still worried about that?"
"Yes, I am... I'm afraid we might hurt each other if we run into each other..."
Something was off.
It wasn't just that her depression had worsened; it seemed to have evolved.
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Having been possessed by a war game and fought in battles for years, she now suffered from partial amnesia and severe PTSD.
If the listener hadn't been a psychological counselor, such an absurd statement would have been dismissed as a lie.
What on earth happened to her?
But seeing Victoria's trembling, anxious reaction, Shin Ara didn't think she was lying.
No. As a psychological counselor, dismissing a client's concerns as nonsense would violate her professional ethics.
Shin Ara gazed steadily at Victoria, who sat across from her.
Victoria's dejected posture, like a rain-soaked cat, seemed to instinctively evoke maternal instincts in anyone who saw her.
If I were doing couples counseling right now, I feel like I could offer genuine empathy.
Shin Ara couldn't help but believe Victoria's words, moved by the deep-seated pity rising from her heart.
"I can only imagine how difficult this must have been for you. Thank you for reaching out for counseling. Let's try a different approach from what we've been doing so far. Your case seems a bit unique, Victoria."
"Y-you believe me? Honestly, it sounds completely absurd, doesn't it?"
"I was a little surprised, but there's no reason to doubt you. You wouldn't lie to me, would you, Victoria?"
"No... you're right..."
Victoria's expression brightened slightly at the assurance that her claims would be taken seriously.
Shin Ara let out a relieved breath and began formulating a plan in her mind.
Naturally, PTSD was a type of mental illness, so she was familiar with basic care methods.
However, she had never encountered a PTSD patient suffering from war trauma, which left her momentarily flustered.
Moreover, any mental illness related to gaming required her utmost caution.
The commercial success of VR games had been built on the collapse of psychiatry.
In the modern era, linking gaming to mental illness could genuinely get you stoned in the streets.
Gamers worldwide, fearing a halt to VR game development, had long since buried those who claimed VR games increased human violence.
Can I resolve this quietly on my own?
Even if it meant touching the gamers' raw nerve, she couldn't abandon Victoria.
Ignoring the small, adorable girl before her would be worse than changing professions.
She would treat Victoria's mental illness with her own hands, no matter what.
Shin Ara began to burn with renewed determination, embracing her destiny as a psychological counselor.
"Ms. Victoria, it appears you're currently suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. It's commonly referred to as PTSD. Have you heard of it?"
"Huh? Yes... I've heard of it."
"This might be difficult to hear, but I need to be honest with you. The only way to treat PTSD is to confront and overcome your trauma. Even then, a complete cure is rare; we can only aim for improvement."
"Confront my trauma?"
"It's a painful truth, but it's necessary. Is there anything you remember particularly vividly from your time on the battlefield? I know it's difficult to recall, but please tell me if you can."
Having steeled her resolve, Shin Ara immediately began Victoria's treatment.
Having excelled academically in university, her treatment approach was textbook-perfect.
However, after hearing Victoria's words, her condition seemed far more precarious than Shin Ara had anticipated.
The melancholy in Victoria's eyes had vanished, replaced by an unsettling emptiness, and the atmosphere around her had grown chillingly tense.
She was likely reliving the horrific memories she had buried deep within her mind.
It felt as though Shin Ara was standing before someone who had experienced hell itself, and even after witnessing countless mental illnesses, she couldn't help but feel a knot of anxiety tighten in her chest.
"The memories from the battlefield... there are so many, I don't know where to begin..."
"Don't feel pressured. You can take your time and tell me everything slowly."
Finally, Victoria's tightly closed lips parted.
And with the words that followed, Shin Ara couldn't suppress her shock.
"Have you ever heard of a Panzerfaust? It's an anti-tank weapon, like an RPG. One day, one of my squadmates captured one. He started fiddling with it alone, trying to figure out how to use it. The other comrades were curious too, so they didn't stop him."
"Comrades... Yes, please continue."
"The launch happened in an instant. Before I could even warn him, the warhead shot off into the distance. It was incredibly fortunate that he had his back turned. Otherwise, our own tank might have been destroyed."
"So, no one was hurt? That's a relief."
"No. Too many comrades were injured. Anti-tank weapons have a massive backblast. The comrades behind him were all blown to pieces."
"..."
"Blood and flesh rained down like rain. Those guys who always complained about the cold... strangely, the blood that drenched us that day felt scalding hot."
Victoria shuddered, as if reliving the sensation.
Shin Ara was speechless, overwhelmed by the horror of the story.
But Victoria's recollection wasn't over.
Huddling even tighter, she buried her face in her knees and continued.
"Speaking of the cold... that reminds me of something else. One day, it was so freezing that I was desperately searching for anything to cover myself with. Honestly, the cold was more terrifying than the German soldiers."
"...I see."
"Then I spotted a discarded military uniform by the roadside. It was filthy, mired in mud, but I figured I could wash it roughly and use it as a blanket. So I reached out to grab it."
"The situation must have been incredibly dire..."
"Yes. But when I pulled the clothes out of the mud, they were much heavier than I expected. Upon closer inspection, I noticed something that looked like an arm attached, and sometimes when I lifted just the top, the pants would come with it too."
"..."
"It turned out they were corpses. Corpses flattened countless times by tank treads. I still remember the face of one of them. Even though it was just skin, it looked like it had died in agony... that face skin hanging from my arm... Ugh."
"Vi-Victoria?!"
Victoria, who had been speaking, suddenly stood up and rushed to the bathroom.
She began violently vomiting everything in her stomach.
Shin Ara, startled, hurried after her but could only watch helplessly.
Shin Ara simply chose to believe Victoria, dismissing the last lingering doubts in her mind.
"I-I'm so sorry... I suddenly felt sick to my stomach..."
"There's no need to apologize... You haven't done anything wrong..."
"Do I... do I need to keep talking?"
"No... it's okay now. I'm sorry for making you relive those painful memories."
Victoria's trauma was far more severe than Shin Ara had anticipated. If left unaddressed, it seemed likely to worsen her health.
Shin Ara gently patted Victoria's small, fragile back as she glanced out of the bathroom. In the corner of the studio apartment, a state-of-the-art VR device gleamed obliviously.
Treating PTSD begins with confronting the trauma. It seemed they were past the point of being picky about methods.