Chapter 4: Quest (4)
Chapter 4: Quest (4)
The rewards for the quests I’d completed so far hadn’t been particularly diverse.
In fact, they gave out cash so exclusively that I wondered if there was even a point in specifying it as "cash" anymore.
However, the amounts varied every time. I’d begun to suspect that the payout was influenced not only by the difficulty of the quest but also by my own personal preferences.
In FPS games, which I enjoyed, the rewards for quests I found easy were meager.
Conversely, in horror games—a genre I didn't particularly care for—the rewards were quite generous, even for relatively simple tasks.
Even though I was bad at them, the most I’d ever gotten was 150,000 won.
Because of this, I had reached a tentative conclusion: the difficulty and the reward of these quests were somewhat proportional.
[Sleep in the same bed as your eldest sister, Kang Yu-dam.]
[Reward: 1,000,000 won]
At least, that was my conclusion until this very moment.
The high-value quest reward floating before my eyes was the largest I had ever seen.
Considering the most I’d ever received for a single quest was 600,000 won, this felt almost excessive.
But was the quest difficult?
Not at all.
I hadn't fully grasped what kind of game this was yet, but as long as "sleep" was a mechanic, I doubted it would be hard to access.
Sleep is usually a basic function, and basic functions aren't meant to be difficult.
And yet, they were giving me this much just for sharing a bed with my sister?
It was only natural for me to be suspicious. At least, that’s what I thought.
"Jin-ah, something just appeared in front of me..."
My sister didn't share my skepticism. She pointed into the air in front of her as if to say, Look at this.
"It says I should enjoy the game with you for a day... is that okay? I have to go out this evening."
"You don't have to worry about that. Time flows much faster inside this game."
"Really? That’s a relief..."
She let out a sigh of relief, a silly smile on her face. I reflexively tried to keep my eyes from drifting downward.
"Oh, stop it. I'm your sister, there's no need to be so shy."
She didn't seem bothered at all, but for me, it was an exercise in futility.
The clothes the game had automatically dressed us in were incredibly tight.
The contours of our bodies were clearly visible, and the dim, ambient light left us with nowhere to hide.
And setting aside the fact that she was family, my sister’s body was at a level where it was difficult to look away.
Then again, considering the number of bastards who constantly hit on her via social media, I suppose it made sense.
I cleared my throat and spoke up.
"I got a quest too. It’s different from yours, but this is my first time doing a co-op quest with someone else."
"Oh, really? I thought you would have tried it with Min-i..."
"With Kang Yu-min? Why would I want to do that?"
"Now, now. She’s still your sister."
As if you two don't get along anyway, she muttered. I pretended not to hear her, and she let out a soft giggle.
"So, what are we supposed to do in this game?"
She asked, naturally assuming I would know. I looked around, searching for an answer.
The scenery was bleak. It was a space devoid of furniture or even trash—completely lacking any sense of being lived in.
There were doors in front of and behind us, but they looked like airlocks you’d see in a sci-fi movie.
Combined with the tight suits we were wearing...
"It’s a sci-fi survival game. You know, like that movie we saw about surviving on Mars."
"The one with Matt Damon?"
"Yeah, yeah. That one. I think it’ll be something like that."
Perhaps because my answer wasn't definitive, she tilted her head.
"Don't you know this game well?"
"Well, a different game is assigned every time I log in. Since I'm on the QA team, I don't get to choose."
"Ah... so this is Jin-i's first time playing this one too?"
For some reason, she looked pleased. Was she excited about sharing a new experience with me?
"That's right."
"Okay, let's make sure we survive! We have to get back to Earth!"
She even started humming as she took the lead. Perhaps because we were both equally clueless, she felt emboldened to act. The fact that she wasn't familiar with gaming didn't matter much, as the virtual reality was so similar to real life that her lack of experience wasn't a handicap.
She opened the door ahead of us without a hint of fear. If anything, she seemed to view this as an opportunity to show off her cool side to me.
The environment even seemed optimized for her.
It was full of what you might call physical puzzles. The early tutorial seemed designed to help us adapt to the unique movements of low gravity.
The process of collecting necessary tools and moving forward was built around that.
And in that department, I couldn't hold a candle to her.
My sister had done ballet until high school and had even competed in competitions every year.
I could only watch in a daze as she moved freely through the low-gravity environment, overcoming obstacles with light, elegant motions.
"Jin-ah, over here! Over here!"
She placed her hand on a platform on the wall, flipped her body, kicked off the edge of a second platform with her toes, spun gracefully, and landed on a third.
Even ignoring the suggestive outfit, it was a mesmerizing display of athleticism.
At the same time, it was something completely impossible for me.
"Keep going! I'm rooting for you!"
In the end, I had to take the direct approach: jumping from the first platform, grabbing the second to climb up, and then crawling onto the third.
How on earth does she do that? We’re siblings, so our genetics should be similar, right?
But there was no point in questioning it. I cleared the tutorial with her, and we acquired various tools along the way.
Fortunately, the game didn't seem overly difficult or technical.
"This is..."
"It’s like a 3D printer. We can use the built-in printing function to make things from pre-loaded blueprints, or if we have enough resources, we can shape them however we want."
"That's amazing. It would be great to have something like this at home."
Beyond the portable, high-output 3D printer she was seriously eyeing, there were all sorts of resources to help us through the early stages.
"Oh? My watch is blinking."
"Where? Let me see... Ah, this is hunger, and this is thirst. This one must be fatigue."
"Hmm, interesting. So, do we have to cook something to eat?"
In the "family-friendly" games I’d played before, I’d actually felt hunger and thirst, but this game was different.
Hunger, thirst, and fatigue weren't actually felt by the body; they could only be checked via the watch on our wrists.
I had been worried that if a violent or erotic game came up, she would find it hard to handle or tell me not to play it, but that didn't seem to be the case here.
She was the type to scold me severely if she ever found porn on my computer, so I had been secretly walking on eggshells, but the game proceeded smoothly.
"According to the watch, it's about time to sleep. What should we do?"
After our journey, we realized it was time to end the day.
We hadn't even properly left the starting area yet, and we still weren't sure if we were on a space station or part of a terraforming base like the ones in movies.
With our newly acquired backpacks filled with scavenged resources and food, we decided to call it a night in a large area that looked like an old cafeteria.
"Well... should we set up a bed, some defenses, and maybe some walls before we sleep?"
No hostile creatures had appeared yet, but every game needs its challenges.
A good game always has hurdles, enemies, and traps.
Unless this was a game about investigating how this space base fell into ruin through the story, I figured the most dangerous time would be right after the first night.
I just hoped it wasn't a horror game. That wouldn't be fun, and my sister wouldn't like it either.
"Let's do that. As for defenses... I don't know anything about that, so I'll leave it to Sergeant Kang Yu-jin!"
She chuckled and patted my butt. I flinched in surprise but tried to act indifferent as I got to work.
I built walls in the middle of the cafeteria, leaving two entrances.
I installed a door on one and a primitive latch to lock it, while the other got a standard swinging door.
I wondered if more defenses were necessary, but I decided to be safe.
I placed obstacles on both sides of the cafeteria entrance and set up some primitive tripwires that would be easy to stumble over.
"...Reminds me of Alien."
Even then, I felt uneasy and kept moving busily.
Only after adding a crude defensive barrier to the vent in the ceiling—forcing anything coming through to break it first—did I return to my sister.
She had already finished her tasks and was waiting for me.
"How is it? I tried my best to decorate."
She stood with her hands on her hips, looking adorably proud of herself. I gave her a thumbs-up.
"It's great. As expected of a shopping mall CEO."
"That has nothing to do with this!"
She laughed at my joke, looking genuinely happy.
She knew she had done a good job.
In fact, the bedroom was at a level I could never have achieved myself.
Even considering it was a temporary base, it was impressive.
The bed was perfectly positioned, and the cooking facilities were neatly arranged without being cluttered. A dining table and chairs added a sense of comfort.
She really had a great sense of style. It was the kind of intuition typical of her—someone who was good at everything she put her mind to.
I was truly impressed as I ate with her and then lay down on the bed.
"It's fun discovering recipes. I like that."
She smiled contentedly as she looked at her watch.
As she said, the recipes were hidden, but there was a certain joy in guessing what a dish would become based on the ingredients and then successfully creating it.
While there wasn't a strict nutritional balance, different ingredients provided different buffs.
If the constant genre-shifting I’d experienced was indeed due to QA testing, then this was surely the "main" game—the true family-friendly experience.
I could be wrong, but that’s how it felt for now.
"The only downside is that there was only one type of bed and not enough resources to build two..."
If I hadn't wasted resources building useless things on the vents out of paranoia, we could have had two beds.
But she disagreed.
"Oh, what's there to be disappointed about? I'm happy to sleep with Jin-ah for the first time in a while."
She smiled.
"We used to do this often when we were little."
We didn't do it much these days. Naturally, we were all adults now, except for Yuri, who was a high school senior.
Even for family, it was rare for adults to share a bed. I knew that, and I could hear the deep sense of longing and regret in her voice.
Because she had a strong sense of family and responsibility, she felt sad that the family wasn't as close-knit as it used to be.
It was hard for me to just sit there and watch her feel that way.
"...Should we sleep together like this more often in real life too?"
Of course, it wasn't easy for me either.
I wasn’t some beast who viewed the sister who’d practically raised me as a woman.
But my eldest sister’s body was so overwhelming that it threatened to demolish my common sense and sense of shame.
Even now, I kept my eyes fixed on the ceiling.
Even a glimpse from the corner of my eye was more than I dared to handle.
Her full chest rising and falling as she lay on the bed, her slender waist, and her firm thighs brushing against the sheets.
Even the pleasant, soft scent—faintly like milk—tickled the tip of my nose.
If she weren't my blood relative but someone I was dating, we would have crossed the line long ago from all these stimuli.
Fortunately, I was a decent human being, and I could endure it as duty required.
I’d probably have to lock my door and spend some time alone once the game was over, though.
At least I wouldn't do anything disrespectful to her. I smiled and closed my eyes for a moment.
"Really? I—"
She stopped mid-sentence. I slowly opened my eyes and looked at her.
She was staring at me, her eyes wide with surprise. The look in her usually gentle eyes was closer to pure shock.
Did something appear? Is it an enemy...?
"Um, Jin-ah."
"Yeah?"
"This... 'Quest,' is it? Did the company send this?"
I blinked.
I didn't know exactly what was happening, but I knew I shouldn't say yes.
She must have received some strange quest, just like the one I got. I weighed her gaze and her perception of the situation before telling a lie.
Or perhaps, it was a truth even I didn't fully know.
"Well, they said the AI in the game automatically reads the player's brainwaves and constructs quests based on what they desire most. Why?"
As I said it, it sounded plausible. I hadn't realized it myself, but lying in the same bed as her didn't feel bad, did it?
Of course, I could be wrong, but I thought it would be better for her to believe that.
"...I see."
Fortunately, she accepted it. Her trembling pupils gradually steadied, and her gaze lingered in the air for a moment.
Soon, a serious expression clouded her beautiful face.
"So that's why this quest..."
What kind of quest could it possibly be?
I was too afraid to ask.
[! Quest Complete!]
[Sleep in the same bed as your eldest sister, Kang Yu-dam.]
[Reward: 1,000,000 won]