Parallel World: Ultra Low-Cost Korea (1)

Chapter 80. Parallel World – Ultra Low-Cost Korea (1) 16-1

Friday, late evening. The sky had already darkened. It was the final day of the school festival. Taeyoung and I were each at our computers in the dorm room, our backs turned to one another as we sat at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠our desks. From behind me, Taeyoung’s voice drifted over.

“Hyung, aren’t you going to check out the festival today?”

“Huh? Not really feeling it…”

I was wearing a light tracksuit—definitely not dressed for going out. Yesterday I’d gone to the festival with Taeyoung, but that was only because my favorite girl group, 4S, was performing. More precisely, I’d wanted to see Seol-hee, my favorite member of 4S. We’d caught their amazing show, and afterward I’d even won Seol-hee herself as a prize by hitting the target with an air rifle. Thanks to that, I’d received some very special fan service. Even now, the memory of her beautiful body riding on top of me, moving in waves, was still vivid. But today was different. It was the last day of the university festival, and none of the female idols or singers performing caught my interest. There were supposedly some fairly famous rappers and male idols, but none of that appealed to me. So instead, Taeyoung and I had holed up in our room playing games all day. Thanks to the festival, all classes had been canceled, giving us unlimited time to game.

Taeyoung spoke up again, sounding a little wistful. “Still, isn’t it a waste? It’s the last day and you’re just going to spend it gaming.”

“It’s fine. There’s nothing worth seeing anyway.”

I answered without a shred of regret. Today, I’d chosen games over the festival. But after playing all day, I was starting to feel tired. I pushed my chair back a little, stretched both arms overhead, and let out a big yawn.

“Ugh~ Gaming for this long really wears you out.”

After stretching, I flopped straight onto my bed. The soft, fluffy feeling of sinking into the mattress was deeply satisfying. The sheets and blanket had been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠washed in the machine yesterday and dried this morning, so they felt especially fresh and clean against my skin. Of course, there had been a very good reason I’d thrown the bedding into the wash yesterday—Seol-hee. After spending that dreamlike time with my favorite idol on this very bed, the sheets and blanket had been damp in several places. Her bodily fluids had soaked into the fabric, and the center was especially wet from the clear liquid that had burst from her plump sex. Once she left, I’d naturally had no choice but to run everything through the washer. That meant sleeping without sheets or a blanket last night, but today the freshly laundered bedding felt wonderful.

‘Haa… I’m getting sleepy.’

I felt myself sinking deeper into the soft, fluffy blanket. And whether it was just my imagination or not, I could almost swear Seol-hee’s scent still lingered on it.

‘Maybe I should just take a nap…’

My mind was slowly drifting off inside the plush bedding when a thought suddenly crossed my head.

‘Ah. Come to think of it…’

Still lying down, I slipped my hand into the pocket of my tracksuit pants. Thinking about Seol-hee while buried in the blanket had reminded me of the random box I’d gotten after spending time with her yesterday. The moment the thought hit me, my hand went straight into my pocket. My fingertips brushed against the familiar plastic surface. I pulled the box out without hesitation. Now I was lying on the bed, holding the random box up with both hands. In the past I might have worried about Taeyoung seeing it, but I didn’t anymore. Quest-related items were completely undetectable to other people. Even if I pulled out lube or spray cans from my pocket and used them, the women never paid any attention to what was in my hands. That meant I could open the random box right here in the dorm room without a single worry.

I rolled onto my side so the contents wouldn’t spill onto my face when I opened it. Applying a little pressure to the seam, the plastic box split open easily, revealing what was inside.

‘Huh?’

The item that came out was a rectangular, fairly wide paper box. Printed on it were the words:

[Placebo Pills]

Placebo… I’d heard the term before. It was famous for the “placebo effect”—when people were told a pill with no actual effect was real medicine, they sometimes experienced real results. I’d heard it was used in drug trials as a control group. I couldn’t quite figure out what kind of pill this was supposed to be. And strangely, it felt like I’d seen something like it before.

‘Did I see it in a reward window once…?’

The memory wouldn’t come. Maybe I was confusing it with the paper boxes you get when buying painkillers at a pharmacy. It was a thin, wide paper box about the size of my palm. Usually these held eight to twelve individually packaged pills. The back was covered in foil, and the front was often clear plastic. I placed my hand on the item to check its description.

‘What the hell is this…’

The item description was bizarre. It wasn’t particularly interesting. Besides, during quests I could usually finish inside without any issues—my partners rarely cared. ‘Hmm… there were times when they did worry about contraception.’

Come to think of it, when I’d altered Professor Kim Byung-yoon’s common sense, I’d given Cha Eun-ju—Cha Eunyung’s older sister—birth control pills before having sex with her. It had been lucky the pills were already in the professor’s office. Back then Cha Eun-ju had been quite concerned about contraception. Without those pills, I would’ve had to waste time buying condoms or actual birth control.

‘Strictly speaking, though… this isn’t really a placebo effect…’

I tucked the “Placebo Pills” into my pocket and sank back into the freshly cleaned bed. Soon the soft, comfortable feeling wrapped around my entire body.

‘Maybe I really should just sleep…’

I was genuinely starting to doze off. I’d already played plenty of games today, so falling asleep ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like this wouldn’t be so bad…

‘…Huh?’

Just then, a strange sound came from outside the window.

—Pewng~ Bang. Pop-pop.

Something flying and bursting. The faint popping sounds caught my attention. Taeyoung, who had also heard them, suddenly remembered and exclaimed excitedly.

“Ah! That’s right! There’s a fireworks display tonight!”

He jumped up from his computer and hurried over to the dorm window, throwing it open. Through the open window, we could see fireworks exploding and lighting up the pitch-black night sky. Drawn by the sounds and lights, I sat up in bed, climbed out, and moved to the chair at my desk. Before I knew it, I had spun the chair around so my back was to the computer and I was facing the window.

—Pewng~ Pop. Bang.

Red, blue, green—stars of every color were falling from the night sky.

‘Pretty…’

I’d never gone out of my way to watch fireworks before. At most I’d seen them on the news or in videos, but seeing them in person like this was more impressive than I’d expected. The colorful bursts scattering across the dark sky weren’t so much flames as clusters of small glowing orbs spreading outward. The patterns were just as varied as the colors. It was genuinely captivating.

I watched the fireworks for a while. The dorm window turned out to be a surprisingly good spot. Taeyoung, standing beside me and also gazing at the display, spoke up.

“Whoa~ That’s awesome, right?”

“Yeah… it really is. Nicer than I thought.”

When I glanced over, Taeyoung was watching the fireworks with a pleased expression.

—Pewng~ Bang. Pop.

While enjoying the show, Taeyoung suddenly laughed playfully and said, “Man, this is worth blowing through some tuition money.”

“Huh?”

I turned to him, puzzled by the sudden mention of tuition. “Why are you bringing up tuition all of a sudden?”

“What? It’s a pretty famous joke. They say the university festival fireworks are just tuition money going up in flames.”

‘Tuition, huh…’

I looked back at the night sky where the festival fireworks continued to bloom. The beautiful, multicolored bursts spreading across the darkness. Calling them my tuition money was funny, but strangely it also felt wasteful. One semester’s tuition for the business department at our school was about 3.5 million won. For some people that might not be a big deal, but for me it carried a strange sense of pressure. Every semester I took out a student loan to pay it. I hadn’t even taken my first step into society yet, and I was already racking up 3.5 million won in debt each term.

—Pewng~ Pop. Bang.

The beautiful lights filling the night sky filled my vision.

‘Whoa… so that’s where my tuition went.’

Then something important occurred to me.

‘Come to think of it, today’s the day my part-time pay gets deposited.’

I worked a part-time job at the student support center. Today was payday. I immediately pulled out my phone and opened the banking app. Checking my account balance, I saw 352,524 won.

‘Whew… even 350,000 won feels tight.’

350,000 won. That was what I earned from a month of part-time work. After living expenses, there was usually almost nothing left. So on the morning payday hit, my account often ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had only a few thousand won remaining. The balance showed a little over 350,000 won, confirming the deposit had gone through. On a whim, I asked Taeyoung, “How much do you think the fireworks cost?”

“Fireworks?”

—Pewng~ Bang. Pop.

Taeyoung looked up at the festival sky and answered, “Probably a few hundred million won? Maybe around 350 million? I’m not sure.”

“Whoa… they’re really burning through the tuition money.”

350,000,000 won. That was a hundred times my tuition and a thousand times my part-time pay. The thought made me mutter without thinking.

“Damn. If they just gave me the money they’re spending on fireworks, I’d have no wishes left. That’s a thousand times my part-time wage…”

“Hehe. Hyung, I think that sometimes too. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was some kind of computer error and my pay got deposited a thousand times over for once?”

—Pewng~ Bang. Pop.

My eyes stayed fixed on the beautiful fireworks painting the night sky. Listening to Taeyoung, my fantasy started to feel more concrete. Yeah… it wouldn’t be so bad if there was a computer error one day and my pay got deposited a thousand times over…

Just then—

‘…Huh?’