The Tenth Balance Game

Leaving Ajeong sprawled out behind me, I checked KokoaTalk right away.

Just as they'd previewed, the update packed quite a bit — and none of it was the kind of thing you could just skim past.

What caught my eye first, of course, was the fact that I could quit the Balance Game. I'd never actually gone looking for a way to drop out on the spot, but I'd been curious how it would work — and it turned out there simply hadn't been a method at all. Only now had that function unlocked.

And to quit, I had to pick the "Quit the Balance Game" option at a multiple-of-ten game.

"Hmm…"

No matter how I looked at it, they'd deliberately paired the quit option with something too good to pass up — a clear message not to leave.

I couldn't say exactly why, but they clearly wanted me to keep playing. Judging by their reactions so far, it was probably pure entertainment — watching me agonize and choose was the fun of it. They didn't want their little toy to stop participating, so they'd offered a choice like this. Maybe they'd even staged the whole situation just to watch me wrestle with whether to quit.

Am I getting the short end of this?

For a second I felt jerked around by them and wondered if I was making a terrible mistake — but that wasn't quite right either. Sure, I was carrying a few penalties, but beyond that I'd gained absurd abilities, money, looks, women — I was living a life where I'd basically claimed everything. Which was exactly why the thought of quitting here and being content with what I had kept floating up. And at the same time, the thought that I'd only played ten rounds and already gotten this much… maybe just ten more?

More than anything, this Balance Game felt like a free bonus stage. I'd need to check the details, but an Option Nullification Ticket was a clear, solid benefit.

I was currently sitting on two penalties: a masturbation ban and a dating ban. The masturbation ban was permanent, but living with it hadn't been that crippling — and lately even less so. The dating ban I just had to tough out for two years, though there was a real risk my relationship with Ajeong could fall apart in that window.

The time limit was exactly one day. This wasn't something I needed to rush into deciding right now. Later, once Ajeong went home and I was alone. And I also needed to think about how to use the question privilege I'd been given for the first time.

"Woohyun, what are you looking at?"

"Ah~ just a KokoaTalk message. Checking it real quick."

"Mmm… you come up here too."

At the sight of Ajeong whining so cutely, I set my phone down and went straight to the bed.

"Planning to stay in bed all day?"

"Mmm…"

"Wanna go somewhere?"

"It's too hot outside… can I use the computer?"

"Huh? Yeah, sure."

"Hup—!"

Suddenly finding her strength, Ajeong sat up and planted herself right in front of the computer desk.

"Ajeong, you're a game addict."

"Ehh~ I'm not that bad!"

The second she sat down she was already grinning ear to ear — the textbook face of an addict, even if she refused to admit it.

Click—

"Hehe… Woohyun-ah, what's this~?"

"Hm?"

Click— click—

The folder Ajeong had opened was named "Bulbul." Digging deeper and deeper through the nested folders, she finally arrived at one labeled "Do Not Delete."

"Heh heh… shall we see what we're not supposed to delete?"

Click—

"Huh? What?"

"What?"

"Why is there nothing in here?"

"I used to keep class materials from school in there. Didn't need them anymore, so I deleted them."

"…This isn't it."

"Pfft… and what exactly 'isn't it'?"

Looking like she refused to believe it, she closed the folder and started combing through the computer in earnest. I had a pretty good idea what she was hunting for — something dirty, something that would embarrass me. Unfortunately for her, there had been a time when that stuff lived in the very folder she'd just opened.

Not like I could use any of it anyway. I wiped it all…

The day I got the masturbation ban, I'd gone full Ctrl+A → Delete without a second thought. And now Ajeong was diligently searching for material ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that simply wasn't there.

"Ajeong, there's nothing like that…"

"But why… I heard all guys watch porn!!"

Squeeze, squeeze—

Masturbation bans, porn — what did any of that matter? None of it mattered.

"…Did you delete it all because of me?"

"No, I never really watched much to begin with."

"…Is there no other chair?"

"Yeah, I'll buy one before you come over next time."

There was only one chair at the computer desk, so there was nowhere for me to sit. Having given up on the porn hunt, Ajeong casually launched League of Legends.

"League again?"

"…I haven't played today."

"You gonna solo?"

"Woohyun watches the minimap."

Ajeong's talent for putting tools to use was more impressive than I'd expected.

"Got it? The second a gank or a roam comes, you tell me right away."

"I said I got it. Check their spells too."

"Okay. I'll even track their skill cooldowns, so just focus."

Surprisingly, there was a lot more I could help with than I'd thought. Broadly, it started with watching the minimap, then tracking the enemy's long-cooldown spells, all the way down to calculating short-cooldown skills. The result was that Ajeong could play an almost perfect game.

"Go in now! Flash has ten seconds left."

"Gank incoming — Kha'Zix is almost here. Peel off, now!"

"Ah… that's not how you farm CS. Poke them with a ranged auto and time it properly."

Having set the board, I piled on the coaching without a single break. And once I got going, it was so fun I couldn't stop.

"…"

"Ah, you should've Flashed."

"I pressed it but it didn't go off."

"If it didn't go off, you didn't press it."

"…"

"Woohyun-ah, come closer."

"Hm?"

I stepped up beside the chair she was sitting in.

Squeeze—

"Talk a little nicer…"

"Ah… okay."

"You really got it? Then I'll be nice to you too…"

"Yeah, yeah. Let go already…"

"Hehe…"

I'd let my guard down. To make sure I didn't get hit with the same thing twice, I took up position behind her chair. Time to pay her back in kind.

"Woohyun, did their top Teleport?"

"…"

"Does their mid still have Flash?"

Squeeeze—

"Nngh… this isn't the time! This is a crucial teamfight!"

Knead, knead.

I didn't answer — just kept my hands busy. She twisted and squirmed, but never once let go of the mouse and keyboard, enduring my touch while stubbornly playing on.

"Nngh… we have to kill that one—ahhk..!"

"Woohyun-ah… just watch for a second…"

"Ugh… hhk.."

"Please. Just let me win this one game…"

"You gonna apologize?"

"I was wrong! Forgive me!!"

"Alright. Finish it quick."

Having received a satisfactory apology, I released her. I went back to watching her game from behind.

"He doesn't have Flash. Chase."

"End it. You can end this."

She was so locked in she didn't even answer — but she could clearly still hear me, moving to my calls. And the result:

Thankfully, we won. Just imagining the blame I'd have caught if we'd lost was terrifying.

"You gonna play another?"

"…"

"Ajeong?"

Thud—

"What? What's wrong?"

She suddenly barreled into my arms, and we both toppled onto the bed together.

"Woohyun's the bad one…"

Apparently my hands had felt a little too good.

For all the fire she'd charged in with, it ended up no different from usual. Ajeong conked out almost immediately and was once again glued to the corner of the bed, fast asleep.

It had already been an hour since she dozed off. She was sleeping longer than I'd expected, so I decided to finally tackle the decision I'd put off earlier. I opened KokoaTalk again to read through everything carefully, starting with the update ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠notes.

First: the line about being able to check the detailed contents of each option. Surprisingly, there was a little ▼ mark next to each choice. Tapping it brought up a new block of text.

A function that didn't originally exist in KokoaTalk. It only reinforced my sense that these people had nothing to do with the actual app. They just used it because it was the most natural way to communicate with me — and they could freely deploy features far beyond anything KokoaTalk actually had.

"…"

I didn't think there'd ever been an update this satisfying. Everything I'd been thinking of using my question privilege for had already been explained in full.

The line that stood out most was, of course: Balance Games completed prior to membership withdrawal will not be deleted. Meaning if I quit now, my changed appearance, the money I'd gained, and the abilities I'd acquired wouldn't vanish. At the same time, the penalties — the masturbation ban, the dating ban — would stay right where they were. And the means of removing the masturbation ban would be gone for good.

Conversely, if I picked the first option, I'd keep playing the Balance Game but receive a one-time option nullification as a benefit — a single free pass against a penalty I'd already taken, or against the absolute worst case that might come later.

"At this rate… maybe just ten more…?"

I'd get another chance to quit at the twentieth option anyway. The Balance Game. It made quitting all but impossible.

I was in no position to call Ajeong a game addict.