Chapter 21 – Anecdotal – The Story of a Nuclear and Goldsmith (1)

This story is in the third person and tells the story of a person who becomes a player for the main character, Yuzu.

===================

“I’m tired…”

The man stretched in front of the PC and rubbed his eyes.
The sun was already rising outside the window.
It is natural for him to change his life from day to night.
But strangely, when the dawn was bright, I felt tired.

“Still, I was fine 10 years ago…”

The man lit a cigarette and sighed.
10 years ago, I could stay up all night for two nights… No, was it not 10 years ago, but 20 years ago…?

These days, it’s like a habit to talk about how it was in the past and how it is these days.
Does he mean that he is old enough? At heart, I still feel like a teenager.
The man smokes a cigarette in his room and is lost in his thoughts.

*

The man’s name is Kang Kyung-cheol. He is a man about to forty who wants to be in his thirties forever.
He was more famous under the name ‘Eden Castle Knight Commander’ or ‘Eden’ than his real name Kang Gyeong-cheol.

Eden.
It is the character name he uses in a game he has been playing for over 20 years.

He is Kang Kyung-chul, who has loved to play since he was a child. He fell in love with an online game called ‘Renies’, which was released when he was in middle school. His closeness with his family was weak, so he considered the members in the game more like family.

Around that time, his grandmother, who had cared for him when he was little, passed away.
Her grandmother cherished her youngest grandson, Gyeong-cheol, as her baby. Of course, that was also a story from when he was young, and after becoming a middle school student, Kyung-chul had hardly even seen his grandmother’s face.

To Kyung-chul, her grandmother left a building as her legacy. A building worth 20 billion in downtown Seoul.

Her relatives were clamoring, but her grandmother had already completed all her inheritance work through a lawyer during her lifetime. Kang Kyung-chul was confused and received the inheritance documents from the lawyer in charge.

If that had been her grandmother’s legacy, it would have escalated into an ugly court battle between her relatives, no matter how far the proceedings went.
However, even excluding the building Kyung-chul received, there were many properties left by his grandmother, a real estate conglomerate. A fortune that could be obtained by fighting.

That’s how Gyeong-cheol sat down and became a high school student building owner. He is the owner of a 20 billion building with monthly rent of 4,000.

“Isn’t this something I don’t have to study anymore?”

Kyung-chul calmly said something that her grandmother would have lamented if she heard it.
And Kyung-cheol was going to drop out of high school calmly, but with the agreement with his parents, he only graduated from high school. He instead under the condition that once he graduates from high school he will no longer be touched.

After graduating from high school as promised, Kyung-cheol devoted all his time to Renise.
Money management, building management, tax management, etc., All of the troublesome tasks were handled by experts as long as he gave money. Kyung-chul only checked the money deposited and withdrawn every month, and the rest of the time he was able to focus only on the game.

*

20 years passed like that.
He naturally became estranged from his family as well and stopped contacting his friends.
The only important people to him are his characters and members in the game.

“Tired…”

A change came to him as well.
That’s just ‘fatigue’.

For 20 years, I have no regrets for having walked the life of Renise alone.
But he didn’t do anything like exercise, and he didn’t eat or sleep regularly.
Sit in front of the PC in the same posture and move only the mouse. It was natural for the body to churn.

“Do I really have to fold it now…”

Renee is not as popular as it used to be.
It’s not like he’s as passionate as he used to be.
Now, almost wet with inertia, he was playing games like running a workshop.

Reigning as a strong player in the game doesn’t just mean being praised by people and playing the role of king. They also have to do hunting, which is like a tedious routine and work every day. It is like a swan floating gracefully on the lake struggling hard at the bottom of the lake.
The stress of colliding with other knights is not normal. As much as he defended his position as the strongest, he had many allies, but he also made many enemies. It was a daily struggle not to lose, not to destroy the reputation that had been built up until now.

But now that too is exhausted.
Come to think of it, lately, when I take a shower, it seems that a lot of my hair is falling out. I can’t confirm because I’m afraid, but maybe hair loss is progressing on myself.

“…Let’s check it out for a while, shall we?”

As a test, Kyung-chul decided to take a picture of his crown with his smartphone, which was right next to him.

…And on that day, the news that the leader of Eden Castle had stopped playing was spread throughout Reniz.

*

“There’s nothing to see. Fuck.”

Kyung-chul muttered while lying on the sofa and changing the TV channels with the remote control.
He gave up the game he had been playing for 20 years, but he had no other hobbies.
No sports, no reading, no movies, no TV, no hobbies.

The only hobby I could say was gaming, but I didn’t think I could keep up with the new games these days. In the game world, several generations have already passed since Renies, and games of a kind that were previously unimaginable are becoming popular. If Gyeong-cheol got involved in such a game, it was clear that he would be treated badly and kicked out in an instant.

Then, a TV commercial caught his eye.

‘The Ultimate Autonomous Mobile MMORPG’.

“No matter how much the times have changed, there are all kinds of strange things. Or are all games these days like that?”

If you look at the advertisement, the player just watches and follows the story that the character creates without any manipulation.

“Can you call that a game?”

At first, Kyung-cheol laughed at the advertisement.
It was his creed that the game was to be played, not watched. He couldn’t understand the thoughts of people watching others play games on the Internet.

But with nothing else to do, he decided to install the game on his phone.
It was because there was absolutely nothing to do.
If it’s not fun, I’ll even curse at you with the ID of the leader of Eden Castle.
As famous as the name is, it may be quite a topic.

When the exceptionally long download was over and the game was launched, character making began.
Gender = Let’s choose a man Next it was time to choose a job.

Gyeong-cheol has been living as a knight in Reniz for 20 years.
But he had a wish that others did not know.

For a knight specializing in close combat, archers who shoot and run away were the most pissed off cockroaches in the world. In particular, when a group of people was attacked by a shop assistant, they had no choice but to run away.
Even Kyung-cheol promised several times, “If I am born again, I will make my character an archer.”

So, Gyeong-cheol chose an archer this time.

“Choose your character’s personality?”

After choosing a job, the things that came out were not naming or customizing the appearance. It was like a psychological test.

For example,

Q. What if you see injustice?
1. I can’t stand it. I am on the side of justice!
2. Look at the situation and move to the benefit.
3. The annoying thing is the specification.
4. If it is a beauty, he will save it.
5. Committing injustice together.

“Is this… Number 4?”

Gyeong-cheol hesitated between the 4th and the 5th.
Of course not in real life, but this is a game. So, choose the one that seems to be fun.
However, I did not want to become a criminal even in the game, so I chose number 4.

Q. What do I need?
1. Money
2. Honor
3. Strength
4. Power
5. Woman

After thinking about it for a long time, Kyung-chul chose number 5.

The first four were all obtained while playing Renise.
However, such Gyeong-cheol had no luck with women.

*

Kyung-chul actually has a history of divorce.
Five years ago, after seeing the good in the face of parents’ hard work, he reached the goal of marriage with the person he met.

She had never imagined of marrying her until then, but most of all, she understood that she was playing the game herself, and started Leniz together.
She is 8 years old or younger, beautiful, homely, and understanding enough to play games with. She thought that she could only play games and that she was too much for him.
When he succeeded in proposing to her, Kyung-cheol was happier than anyone else in the world.

… But her wife changed her mind in less than a year after her marriage.
She filed for divorce because she had a child in her belly, but her husband did not take care of her family and only played games.

She herself explained that her job was like a game, and that she had already taken into account the woman, but the lawyer in charge said there was no chance.

In the end, Kyung-chul had no choice but to stamp under unfavorable conditions.
She is still sending child support for a child she has never seen.
Now that I think about it, she wasn’t even sure that she was really my child.
But now there is no way to check.

Q. What are your thoughts on dating?
1. I will love and marry only one person for the rest of my life.
2. I love everyone as much as I can.
3. I’m not sure yet.
4. I am not very interested in dating.
5. I won’t date for the rest of my life.

As soon as Kyung-cheol read the contents, he tried to choose number 5.
But, for some reason, her hand didn’t move.

He was obviously fed up with dating and marriage. She thought all women were swindlers.

However, Gyeong-cheol realized the happiness of being in love for a while. When he thought about getting married, he was genuinely immersed in happiness.

“…Why am I taking this so seriously?”

Kyung-cheol frowned.
He himself did not know. It’s just a matter of choosing a character’s personality in a game to take a quick look at. Even so, there was a self who was seriously thinking about it.

Recently, Kyung-chul, who has been tearing his hair out due to the lack of charcoal, faces his true innermost heart that he wants to fall in love without wanting to in the game, as much as he failed in marriage.

He bit his lip and pressed number two.

*

After that, after selecting a total of 20 propensities, the moment when the game finally seemed to start.

“Are these really a joke?”

The message [Please wait until the character is created 6:07:25] Appeared on the screen.
Which game in the world takes six hours to create a character? Renies, a game 20 years ago, was also something to laugh about.

Kyung-chul cursed, but decided to set the alarm and go to sleep for 6 hours.
If it was normal, I would have thrown it, but even if I threw it, there was nothing else to do, and it was a waste of time to think about the character’s tendency for 30 minutes.

Gyung-chul fell asleep while promising that she would curse at her even if she hired a part-time job if she wasn’t having fun.

…And after 6 hours, the long-awaited opening video finally started.

“Let’s see if the wait is worthwhile.”

The video begins with four boys and girls riding in a cart pulled by an ox.
Kyung-cheol’s character is Yuzu. The other 2 girls and 1 boy were Yuzu’s childhood friends. All lines spoken by each person were voiced, and the thoughts and monologues of the main characters were displayed as subtitles.

“Hahang. Indeed, is that so?”

Kyung-chul, who watched the video for a while, could see the relationship between these four people at a glance.
Yuzu, the main character, is dating Rei, who is the same age as her, and she has been oblivious to Jin’s affection for her younger girl than him. And it was the composition of these four people that a boy named Kun was looking at these three people sadly.
Obtuse protagonist. Two girls who like the main character. And the boy who burns with jealousy when he sees it.

“Hey~. It’s a relief that the unpopular guy next to me isn’t my character. If that was me, I would have been hurt in real life.”

Kyung-cheol was sweeping his stomach like that. He was fortunate to have chosen his options well.
On the other hand, I also wondered who made that character choose which choice to become that character.

In fact, in the world, characters who choose female characters and deliberately lead them to exploits, or draw aggro by doing garbage, were popular, but Kyung-chul, who was a dark man in the Internet situation, had no way to know.

However, such a comfortable development was only for a while, and things began to turn strangely from the moment I arrived at my destination and received a job.
Somehow, the archer Kyung-cheol chose would be the strongest, but in this game, he was considered the weakest.
Of course, I know that the treatment of each job is different in each game. But is the balance messed up enough to be treated like a pariah?

Even in the lottery that followed with such doubts, Yuzu pulled the jackpot, but Kyung-chul didn’t worry too much. After all, you can get game items as long as you have money.
Renies also had a random item lottery from a few years ago, so she was well aware of the light iron lottery lottery. Pulling is just pulling until it comes out.

However, the only one who thinks so easily is Gyeong-cheol. The atmosphere gradually grew serious.

“Haha~ I’m so fucking stupid.”

Kyung-chul had never been treated poorly anywhere. Both in-game and out-of-game. Even the enemies on the warring side paid their respects to the leader of Aden Castle.

So being despised by Kun was both very fresh and painful.

“By the way, I’m a young laborer, Shiki…”

From his mouth came naturally a human frame.

Then, a situation occurred in which oil was poured into a boiling pot.

“What the fuck! Do I have no money or Gao?!”

Kyung-chul had been pressing the payment button less than an hour after starting the game he had ignored so much.
However, an unexpected trap caught his ankle.

[Payment method not registered.]

He had never played a single mobile game before. He was only single-minded on one side of Leniz.
Therefore, it is natural that the in-game payment method is not registered on his mobile phone.

Kyung-chul finally figured out how to register the payment method by googling.
But this time, while he was scrambling to find his credit card again, the relationship between the characters in the game had already deteriorated. The credit card was found, but their relationship was supposed to be irretrievable.

Kyung-chul stared blankly at the screen with the card in his hand.

In the screen, Yuzu was walking alone on the street.
The proud boy gritted his teeth and tried to hold back tears.
And when she saw Yuzu’s weakened appearance, she overlapped with herself at the time she was abandoned by her ex-wife.

“Haa…Threuble.”

The sadness of being betrayed by someone you trusted for unreasonable reasons. There was no way Kyung-cheol would know that.

…More than anything, the guilt was no joke.
This situation could have been prevented if I had been able to pay on time.
However, the woman he loved left because he, the player, neglected to prepare.

Have you ever tasted a painful failure by neglecting to prepare for a large-scale raid?
It is the same this time. This is the result of underestimating it as a phone game and starting it without even preparing to play.
Kyung-chul, like Yuzu, was lying on the bed and was frustrated.

And then, Yuzu’s voice was heard on the phone.

“Look who… Who will quit!”

Kyung-cheol looked at the screen in surprise.
The corners of Yuzu’s eyes were red, but the life in her pupils was not lost. Even though she lost everything, she was full of will to get back up.

“Yes. I will become a Hunter. And I will succeed. I will succeed as if to show off to those who abandoned me! So I will tell you what is really valuable! I will tell you out loud that you are wrong!”

Kyung-chul unknowingly clenched his fists.

“That’s it, Yuzu! Well thought out! If you’re a man, you should succeed enough that the woman you broke up with will cry and regret it!”

He is Kyung-chul, who leaves the things he couldn’t achieve to Yuzu.
And he belatedly pressed the payment button.

“Uh?”

Even Kyung-cheol could tell that Yuzu was surprised to see her payment window pop up.

He is Kyung-cheol, who is not familiar with mobile games yet. He just paid for the special products he was guiding in the shop by pressing them one after another.
Even so, it was a great pleasure for Yuzu.

“Haha, haha, ahahahahaha!”
“Fuhahaha! Go! Yuzu! Pull out the legendary weapon!”
“I’m rich! I’m rich! Ahahahaha!”
“Uhahahaha!”

Kyung-chul laughed madly along with Yuzu on the screen.
When he failed to draw, he was disappointed along with it.
Lastly, he rejoiced together when he succeeded in drawing.
I was so happy that I impulsively spent close to 3 million won.

And there is one more important fact that Kyung-cheol was overlooking. Sexual intercourse between characters was banned in this game.

The world has changed in the 20 years that Kyung-cheol has been banging his head against Renise. No one is arguing about the human rights of virtual characters anymore.
Videos featuring people are still illegal, but in the case of games, cartoons, and animated characters, anything is possible with just a 19-karat gold ticket. It was unimaginable until 20 years ago, when Kyung-chul was still young.

“Oh oh…”

It’s been a long time since the world has changed, but it was a new world for Kyung-cheol, who didn’t know anything.

Maria. Oh maria
It’s a simple beauty, but it felt more realistic because it was rather simple.
Through Maria, Kyung-cheol was able to regain her long-forgotten feelings of love.
The wounds left by his ex-wife had already disappeared. That was something that even the counselor I hired with expensive money couldn’t do it.

Gyeong-chul gave Yuzu another charge with a heart of gratitude. That’s worth 3.6 million won.
Kyung-cheol couldn’t understand the people who watched the game through internet broadcasting, but now I think I can understand why they are so enthusiastic about the broadcast and why they shoot star balloons with their own money.