The Fifth Balance Game

Just before I stepped inside, Hayun called me back.

She leaned in close, lips nearly brushing my ear, like she was about to share a secret.

"Are you… having an affair?"

"What??!"

Where the hell had that come from?

I spun around, half-expecting to find her grinning—some dumb joke. Instead, her face was more serious than I'd ever seen it. She wasn't the type to spring something like this out of nowhere for a laugh.

"I've never had an affair in my life. Why would you even ask that?"

It was so absurd I couldn't even get properly indignant. I just wanted to know how she'd landed on that idea.

"I… I saw everything earlier."

"Saw what?"

"You got out of this super expensive-looking car, and she… she grabbed your butt."

"Ah."

So she'd seen the boss drop me off. Still—an affair?

Well…

Thinking about it, I could see how it might look that way.

"She could just be my girlfriend, you know."

"Uh… she looked like a total ajumma."

"She's not that old, okay? You only saw her from far away."

Calling the boss—who treated me so well—an ajumma. I didn't know her exact age, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and sure, from twenty-year-old Hayun's perspective she might look older. But among every ajumma I knew, the boss was hands down the prettiest.

"Wait—if she's your boss…"

Thwack—!

"Ow…! You're trying to shut me up with violence now that I've caught you!!"

"You've been reading way too many comics."

Clearly all those manhwa had warped her imagination into the most extreme plotlines possible.

"Hiiing… then what is it?!"

"She's the owner of the café where I work. Today was especially busy, so she gave me a ride home as a thank-you for working hard."

"Oh~… then—then why did she grab your butt!!"

"She has a nephew. She just slips up like that sometimes."

"That doesn't even make sense!!"

Thwack—!

"It can happen. And use formal speech."

Whether she was upset about getting flicked twice or still convinced her suspicions were right, her eyes were starting to well up.

"I can slip up t—"

"Ah-ah."

Hayun's hand shot toward my backside. She must have been about to "accidentally" grab me the same way—but after getting caught so many times already, my reflexes were sharp.

"Ugh…!"

"Why are you the one getting all worked up?"

"I was trying to teach you that you can't just let every 'accident' slide!!"

"Aigoo~ enough already. More importantly—you're always sucking on that Vita-stick and reading comics. When do you actually study?"

I steered the conversation away before she could dig any deeper into the boss. Besides, I'd been wondering whether she was keeping up with schoolwork at all.

"I study the rest of the time!"

"Yeah? So how were your June mock exam scores?"

"Grade two…"

"Oh? Better than I expected."

A grade two in June was solid enough to have a real shot. All I ever saw was her goofing off, so I'd assumed the worst—but maybe she actually put in the work when I wasn't looking.

"Grade two… except for Korean and math."

"What?"

That was a ridiculous thing to say. Leaving out the two most important subjects and only counting English and the electives made the whole number basically meaningless.

"What grades did you get in Korean and math?"

"Four and three."

"Math's whatever, but Korean is a four?"

"Yes…"

"R-right… I'm gonna head in."

If she'd completely tanked, I might have had something to say. But this awkward middle ground left me with nothing. The whole conversation had gotten weird, so I decided to make a quick exit.

"Oppa… could you maybe tutor me a little…?"

"What?"

"Please…"

Out of nowhere, Hayun was asking me to teach her. I thought about it for a second—and still couldn't find a single reason to say yes. It wasn't like I wanted money for it, and she didn't seem like she'd pay me anyway. More importantly, it'd been three years since I'd taken the CSAT. I barely remembered any of it.

"I've forgotten everything. Why don't you look into a hagwon instead?"

"Fiiine…"

"Hang in there."

It was a shame, but even if I tried to help, I wouldn't be much use. And honestly, I just didn't feel like it.

I fled the conversation and slipped inside the house.

Sunday rolled around again.

Lately it felt like my entire life orbited around Sundays. The Balance Game had reshaped so much of my existence that I didn't really have a choice.

Some of those changes had been positive. Not all of them, though.

So far, two of the outcomes had been negative. Roughly fifty-fifty. One of those hadn't even been a permanent penalty, and I'd gotten a separate reward for it. In the end, only one out of four choices had gone truly bad.

Still, the thought lingered: one wrong pick and everything I'd gained so far could become irrelevant. My whole life could collapse.

Something like [Lower-Body Paralysis vs. Upper-Body Paralysis].

The odds of an option that catastrophic weren't zero.

That was why, after taking a permanent penalty on the fourth choice, I'd seriously considered quitting the Balance Game for the first time.

I messaged KokoaTalk over and over. No reply. Ever.

I doubted I was locked in for life—but it clearly wasn't something I could just walk away from whenever I felt like it.

Learning that had left me in a pretty deep hole for a while. Even so, there were reasons to stay optimistic.

For one, whoever was running this seemed… well-disposed toward me, for reasons I still didn't understand. They went out of their way to slip me extra benefits. And they clearly enjoyed watching me pick options and play the game out.

Sure, maybe they just got a kick out of throwing nightmare choices at me. But the fact that they kept trying to give me something extra made it feel more like they were rooting for me—enjoying the show as a fan, not a sadist.

The risk wasn't gone. But I couldn't quit right now either.

Which meant I had to choose carefully. More importantly, I needed to keep stacking abilities that could cancel out any future penalties—whether those abilities came from the options themselves or from the bonus rewards.

Tense, but resolved to walk away with something good this time, I waited for the KokoaTalk message.

They'd said extra benefits weren't guaranteed every round—but starting with this choice, the possibility was on the table. And since this was the first one after the update, I was betting they'd give me one for sure.

11:59

"Hoo…"

12:00

KokoaTalk!

The notification chimed the second the clock hit noon. I tapped it immediately.

Today's message was longer than usual.

Normally I would have jumped straight to the Balance Game options, but the mention of so many new additions made me read carefully from the top.

Oh…

Three updates.

First: personalized options tailored to me. I had a rough idea what that meant, but I'd need to see one in action to really get it.

Second and third were both features I'd been wishing for. I'd always rushed my decisions just in case there was a hidden time limit—and it turned out there really was one. They just hadn't been showing it. They still wouldn't say what happened if you failed to choose, but the mere existence of a timer made it clear there was some kind of penalty.

The most important change ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was the one about bonus rewards.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I'd lucked into figuring out Taste Alteration on my own, but some abilities might be completely invisible unless you knew they existed. A description was essential. And since this round was supposed to come with a bonus reward, I needed to choose carefully.

Today's options:

[Above-Average Talents in Multiple Fields vs. One Exceptional Talent]

It almost felt like they were making up for last time—padding the offer a little. No matter which one I picked, the outcome was pure gain for me.

The way they'd fretted over last round being too harsh, the relief that I'd chosen the better option, and now this pair of generous choices… it all supported the theory that they were genuinely well-disposed toward me.

00 : 51 : 12

Still plenty of time. It looked like I'd been given a full hour—even thirty minutes would have been more than enough.

Confirming I had room to breathe, I settled in and started thinking properly.

Above-average talents versus one exceptional talent.

How exceptional is "exceptional," though?

"Above average" probably meant competent enough to clear the basics, but not good enough to draw real praise.

Tap-tap-tap—

I typed "exceptional" into the search bar and read the definition.

Even with the definition in front of me, it was hard to get a real feel for it.

Maybe compare them against each other.

This was a Balance Game. The two sides were supposed to be hard to choose between—that was the whole point. So whatever benefit came with being multi-talented across many fields, the other option had to match it… with just a single talent.

And I was going to keep earning more benefits from future Balance Games ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠anyway.

More than anything—being a jack-of-all-trades was fine, but mastering one character was where the real romance and cool factor lived.

If I was going to end up with transcendent abilities either way, I was going full romance build.

I finished deliberating fast and hit send on KokoaTalk.

No sudden flash of enlightenment. No surge of newfound genius. Nothing happened at all.

"Huh?"

I had no idea what my exceptional talent even was.