The Landlady's Granddaughter
The Landlady's granddaughter...? The person pounding furiously on the front door turned out to be the Landlady herself.
I hadn't even guessed...
The Landlady apparently lived on the first floor of this five-story villa where Jeong Hana rented her place.
"Ah... sorry about that. I've had a cold these past few days, so I was just lying in bed."
"Aigoo, really? You should've said something! I know our Hana's the shy type, but when you're living alone and get sick, you're supposed to ask for help, you know."
She must've been worried because a grown woman hadn't left the house in over four days.
At least Jeong Hana had a good reputation—that was a relief for me.
The last thing I needed was to apologize for some interpersonal drama I had no memory of or deal with people hating my guts. That would've been a nightmare.
"Anyway... you feeling better now?"
"Ah, yeah, yeah. I'm fine now. No need to worry."
"Really? Aigoo... still, if our Hana was sick all alone, well. I can't exactly ask you to watch my granddaughter."
The Landlady shook her head and patted my back.
"Pardon? Your granddaughter?"
"Eh?"
"Ah, um... sorry, ma'am. Did I agree to help with something?"
I had no clue.
There wasn't anything specific in KakaoTalk.
I couldn't just fake knowing, so...
Time to play the illness card and ask outright.
"I was so sick... my memory's all fuzzy."
"Aigoo... did you at least buy some medicine?"
"I thought it'd be a waste to spend money on meds."
"Hmph! When you're sick, you take medicine. Even if you're young, you can't just think it'll sort itself out."
The Landlady shook her head again and patted my back once more.
"Wha—what? You really don't remember?"
"Yeah... sorry."
"Well, you see, it's about my granddaughter. She's into pro gaming or something? Anyway, she wants to do that, and I heard you were good at games, so you agreed to look after her. You really don't remember?"
"Pro gamer?"
The words out of the Landlady's mouth were beyond anything I'd imagined.
The deal between the Landlady and Jeong Hana went something like this.
The Landlady had a grown granddaughter she cherished like the apple of her eye.
...Wait, but why does this lady look so young? I figured she'd be some grandma.
Anyway! The granddaughter's name was Im Ha-rin.
Surprisingly, the girl wanted to become a pro gamer, and after hearing Jeong Hana was good at games, the Landlady had made the request—not that it was a huge bother.
In exchange for looking after Im Ha-rin, Jeong Hana got side dishes like kimchi or occasional invites to the Landlady's for dinner, saving on food costs.
"I thought sis was a goner, but you're alive."
Anyway, Im Ha-rin's first impression wasn't great.
We met in front of the convenience store near the apartment. She wore her school uniform neatly, but her vibe screamed anything but studious. Not a delinquent, but no straight-A student either.
"I wasn't feeling well."
"Yeah. Hope you stay that way."
...This kid's a bit rude, huh?
Whatever. Whether she was polite or not didn't matter.
What game did she plan to go pro in? I hadn't heard.
I'd subtly fished for info from the Landlady, but as a "grandma," she clearly had no idea about the game.
It was more like, "Aigoo! The kid wants to be some pro gamer? Just let her do it!"
"...You'll just tail me again. Can't you stop meddling for once, like Grandma asked?"
"If I'm with you, your parents won't complain, right?"
From chatting with the Landlady, I gathered Im Ha-rin's parents were dual-income, barely interested in their nearly adult daughter anymore.
"...Hah."
Im Ha-rin clicked her tongue, scratched the back of her head, and pulled 50,000 won from her wallet.
"Here, take this. Just lie to Grandma like last time."
Oh ho.
Looks like she had zero intention of actually going pro.
Not sure what went down before, but let's probe.
"Like last time?"
"You know damn well."
"Dunno if 50k's enough."
"Ah, for real..."
Im Ha-rin glared at me openly.
"What? I got my own position to think about. You live around here anyway."
The Landlady had told me that—if Im Ha-rin didn't show after waiting 10 minutes at the convenience store, drag her out since she lived nearby, even giving me the apartment address.
"What are you gonna do for 50k? Gotta know so I'm at ease too. If Grandma or your parents catch you slacking, I might get kicked out."
"No..."
"True, right? If I gotta move, I'll starve."
Im Ha-rin shot me a pissed look.
"Sis... you get sick and suddenly change personalities or what?"
"Yeah, too cheap to buy meds, so I toughed it out."
"...Huh? For real?"
Im Ha-rin looked worried for a sec, then glared again.
"Anyway... last time you took 50k and bounced."
"Almost got caught then."
"PC bang anyway—no way we get caught."
"PC bang? You seriously thinking pro gamer?"
Im Ha-rin gave a vague nod-not-nod.
"Anyway... cool? I'm heading to the PC bang, no issue, right?"
"Nah, big issue. Let's go together. Gotta have a full story if Grandma asks what we did."
Im Ha-rin pouted hard but didn't shove me off, turning toward the building with the PC bang sign.
Ah, wait—is this a problem?
I'd come straight out when the Landlady knocked earlier... no bra on...?
"Ah, why's the only seat this crap...?"
Grumbling, Im Ha-rin shoved her bag under the desk and plopped into the left end of a couple's booth.
Honestly, I wanted somewhere else too, but nothing good was open.
"So, what pro are you even doing?"
"...Pardon?"
"Lying in bed three days without meds messed up my memory."
Im Ha-rin eyed me like I was nuts.
"What pro? Only League of Legends, duh."
Ah, figured as much.
...But pro in that? No way for her.
"What've I helped you with before?"
"Sis, you remember nothing?"
I nodded coolly, and she set her smartphone on the wireless charger.
"Then I ain't telling."
"Pull your keyboard and no game for you?"
"......Sis always this savage?"
Im Ha-rin looked shocked but propped her chin.
"Nah... maybe I was always a bit hot-tempered..."
"Don't dodge. Spill."
"Just... you'd watch me game, say if I was good or not. Lie to Mom, Dad, or Grandma when they asked."
Lied for her, huh...
That's why she's spilling so easily—gotta keep stories straight from now on.
"So you got no real plans to go pro?"
"...Dunno."
"Why dunno?"
"Just..."
Click click—fiddling with the mouse pointlessly, Im Ha-rin sighed deeply.
"It's not fun."
"League of Legends? What's your tier?"
"......Haven't played lately, so Diamond."
Diamond's solid if you're good.
But at her age? Not pro level.
"Yeah? What role? Mid?"
She nodded, taking coffee from the part-timer.
"Then why not fun? Didn't you tell your parents you're going pro?"
"...Why grill me like this? You got weird since you got sick."
"Lies only work once or twice before they stick."
"Just..."
Mumbling, Im Ha-rin suddenly launched Darkwatch 2 from the desktop.
"...Gaming's more fun than studying."
Her account level looked pretty high.
Profile icon sparkled too.
"What's your tier here?"
"...Why?"
"Looks high."
"Master."
League of Legends and Darkwatch 2 tiers don't match perfectly...
Still, Master? Top tier.
"Got it. No pro dreams, just games beat studying."
Im Ha-rin didn't reply.
But my words bugged her—she closed Darkwatch 2.
"So... what? What do you want? Gonna nag like Mom and Dad?"
"Why would I? Play what you want. Gotta lie that I watched you anyway."
"...For real?"
Im Ha-rin blinked.
"No League of Legends or Darkwatch 2? No Black Survival either?"
"Yeah, whatever you want. We just sync our stories."
Pro's brutal.
League of Legends alone needs Challenger minimum.
Dunno her tier before dormancy, but she ain't that level.
"Seriously...?"
"What, scared I'll tell your parents if it's a no-rank game?"
"......Yeah. You know what they said. If you're gaming instead of studying, at least go pro."
"Pro gamer ain't that easy a fallback."
Harsh truth: her life, her call.
I ain't skilled enough to make her pro.
She ain't dying to try either.
Couldn't spout hypocrite crap like "try pro anyway" after doing it myself.
"Then I'll do this today. Everyone on Inbang's playing it. Half my class too."
"What gam—"
Humming, Im Ha-rin logged into Lost of Fantasy next to me.
"You play this too?"
"Yeah, sis. This one's actually fun. Honestly more than League of Legends."
"Yeah... I'm playing it right now too."
"......For real? Wanna party up, sis?"
Startled but begging to play together, Im Ha-rin was ultimately a cute high school girl—unlike her first impression.
And the perfect DPS.