Gaming Friend (2)
Gaming Friend (2)
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After a fierce team fight, we took the last boss. I watched the giant golem destroy the enemy core and let go of the mouse.
[Victory!]
I never knew the blue letters appearing on the screen could be so welcoming.
"Huuu."
I ran five matches in a row like that. Our coordination was perfect. The win rate was pretty good too.
[Party] Baramjeomuneundal: Ah, f*ck, that was fun.
[Party] Baramjeomuneundal: But I have to go to school tomorrow. Bye.
[Party] TimundoNaeGyehoek: Yeah, me too. Bye.
[Party] TapgolGongwon: Bye, good work.
The party disbanded, and I was left alone in the waiting room again.
I quietly pressed the exit button.
This is one of the reasons I can't quit S-Gong. The game is strangely clean.
Even the beasts who acted like fighting dogs in Rel, asking about parents' well-being and trying to annihilate each other's character, strangely become docile once they enter this Storm of Time and Space.
It's like an enlightened state, like old people in a nursing home. Rather than staking their lives on victory or defeat, they seem satisfied just wallowing together in this sh*t water.
Just look at that woman upstairs who was screaming over my head until a moment ago. Here, isn't she so quiet and easy to talk to?
In the end, Rel was the problem. The people are innocent.
I checked the clock.
2 AM.
It was really time to sleep now. As I turned off the computer, the humming sound of the fan subsided, and perfect silence found its way into the room.
I looked up at the ceiling. I couldn't hear any more thumping or screaming.
'Peaceful.'
I pulled up the blanket with a satisfied smile. I'll be able to sleep like a baby today.
But suddenly, tomorrow's schedule flashed through my mind.
Wednesday... It's a day with a f*cking lot of classes.
'...I have to hang in there.'
Even though the first class is a relatively relaxed liberal arts elective, just going to school is a torture.
It's so warm under the covers. I don't want to go out.
'I want to take Cyber Lectures too...'
Others say they attend just by clicking a mouse at home. Why do I have to climb that hill on my own two feet?
Swallowing a sigh mixed with envy and laziness, I closed my eyes.
.
.
.
Jiing.
I opened my eyes. The ceiling was familiar, and the blanket was cozy. Reflexively, I picked up my phone.
[ 10:35 ]
"...Wow, f*ck."
A curse burst out loud. I bolted upright.
It takes about 20 minutes to get to school. 10 minutes to wash up. Theoretically, it's possible. No, it's enough time to even buy something from the convenience store on the way.
However, this was a very stupid judgment made before my brain was fully awake.
[ 10:46 ]
I repeatedly pressed the elevator button while stuffing a cold triangular kimbap into my mouth.
"Hurry, hurry..."
Tting.
The door opened with a cheerful sound. I hurriedly pushed myself inside, then paused.
"......"
A familiar figure was huddled in the corner.
Messy bedhead hair sticking out in all directions. A hat pulled down low. A tracksuit jacket thrown over a stretched-out sleeveless shirt. And training pants with bulging knees.
The woman from upstairs. It was 703-ho. My comrade-in-arms who roamed the Storm of Time and Space with me until dawn yesterday.
Of course, she wouldn't know that in her wildest dreams.
Looking at her state, it was a sight to behold. Her eyes were half-closed, and she looked like someone who had left her soul buried in her pillow. Anyone could tell she had just woken up.
Well, it makes sense. Since she was running queues with me until past 2 AM, there's no way she'd be in good shape.
A strangely awkward atmosphere flowed inside the narrow elevator. After a moment, she, who had been staring blankly into space, turned her head. Our eyes met.
I swallowed the rice I was chewing and gave a slight nod.
Kku-beok.
She also nodded back reflexively. I couldn't tell if it was a reaction from being suppressed by my force yesterday or if she was just sleepy.
Tting-dong.
—1st floor.
As soon as the announcement came out, she bounced out like a spring.
Ta-da-da-dak!
Her back disappeared out of the lobby in an instant. She was fast as the wind.
'...Why is she in such a hurry?'
I wiped off the seaweed crumbs from my mouth and turned on my phone.
[ 10:50 ]
20 minutes walk to the school gate. 10 minutes left until class starts.
"......"
Huh? Wait a minute.
Only then did my brain circuits, which had been paralyzed from sleep, start functioning normally. The math didn't add up.
"...Ah, f*ck, I'm screwed."
I have to run too.
Ta-dak-ta-dak—
Wow, crazy.
Why is that woman so fast?
The fluttering hem of her tracksuit quickly moved out of my sight. They say the speed of a human with an activated survival instinct transcends imagination.
"Heo-eok, heo-eok..."
I felt like my heart was going to explode.
I can confidently say it was the most intense 10 minutes of my life.
I cautiously opened the classroom door and entered. It was the exact moment the professor was about to open the attendance sheet.
Safe. I barely survived.
However, the real disaster was something else.
"......"
The back seats.
The back seats, my soul's sanctuary and final bastion, were completely occupied.
All that remained were the front row, within spitting distance of the professor, and some awkward middle seats.
All sorts of gazes were fixed on me. A late-arriving student drenched in sweat and panting heavily.
It was the perfect look to become a spectacle.
I could hear whispering.
I tried to ignore the stares and caught my breath. Don't mind them. I am an invisible man. Everyone here is an NPC.
I braved the embarrassment and scanned for an empty seat.
'Huh?'
I saw a familiar back of a head.
The woman in the black tracksuit, with her bedhead hair roughly tucked under a hat.
It's 703-ho.
That woman went to our school?
I couldn't have imagined it just by looking at her yesterday, skillfully shifting the blame onto others while blaming the jungle for a 15-minute no-gank.
'...I guess she was good at studying.'
This is a school that's considered a prestigious university. Seeing that she made it here with that personality, it means her brain is quite sharp.
The world is truly unfair.
Well, I guess I got in by the skin of my teeth through luck.
Anyway. Where should I really sit?
I rolled my eyes to find an empty seat. The classroom was already full.
Excluding the burdensome front row where eye contact with the professor was possible, there were almost no options left.
Except for one awkward middle seat.
Just one spot.
The seat next to 703-ho.
'......'
It seemed like some girls I didn't know were gesturing to me from over there. But rather than being sandwiched between strangers, it was better to just sit there where it was spacious.
I gave a slight nod toward 703-ho and plopped down in the seat next to her.
"Heo-eok... heo-eok..."
Heavy breathing could be heard from beside me. It made sense she'd be tired after sprinting like that earlier.
Soon, attendance check began.
In alphabetical order.
Boring names passed by, and then it was the turn for the 'Y's.
"Yoon Seo-ah." "Yes..."
A crawling voice was heard from beside me.
'Yoon Seo-ah.'
So her name is Yoon Seo-ah. It doesn't match that savage personality that was shotgunning the desk last night as if the ceiling would collapse. It's a fairly normal, even pretty name.
And soon, it was my turn.
"Seol Jin-hyuk."
"Yes."
The moment I answered briefly, the air in the classroom changed subtly.
The female students sitting in the front row glanced back. I felt all sorts of gazes from the side rows and back rows concentrating on me.
'...Let's ignore it.'
It's only the 3rd day of school. It's just tiring to respond to every single one of these reactions.
A concept of mystery. Though calling it mystery is just a nice way of saying I'll thoroughly ignore everyone and go my own way.
It's a bit bothersome that I couldn't grab a mask in my rush. Well, even if I had worn one, it would have been soaked in sweat and I would've had trouble breathing. This is better.
I rationalized it to myself and looked at the blackboard.
The back of my head feels so damn stinging. It feels like a hole is being drilled into it.
I had purposely taken off my hoodie because the heat from running hadn't subsided yet. But I can't take it anymore. I have to physically block the gazes.
S-ueuk.
I hesitantly pulled my hoodie deep over my head.
'...It's hot.'
I wonder how high this school cranks up the central heating. The hot air makes it hard to breathe. I wish they'd just turn off the heater.
Just then, the professor standing at the podium tapped the microphone.
"Now, nice to meet you. I am Go Sun-ja, and I will be teaching [Understanding Modern History] for this semester."
A brief self-introduction followed, and the syllabus was displayed on the screen. Usually, the first week is an unspoken rule in college to just fill time with orientation and end early.
"Well, even though it's the first day."
The professor pushed up her glasses and pressed the remote for the beam projector.
"Since time is precious, we will start the lesson immediately."
"......"
Ah. I picked the wrong one.
Whatever, I don't care. I'll just listen. I'll listen even if it's just because the tuition is a waste.
I focused my attention, staring intently at the screen.
Saek, saek.
A rhythmic breathing sound came from right next to me. Glancing sideways, my 703-ho neighbor was completely out of it, sleeping like there was no tomorrow.
'...Let's ignore her.'
I turned my gaze back to the blackboard.
Actually, I was more curious about something else than the course content. How on earth did this world end up with a 1:9 male-to-female ratio? There must be a historical turning point.
The professor began scanning from early modern history.
Hmm. I'm not a history major, but even compared to what I heard while dozing off in high school...
'...It's the same?'
Civil revolutions, the Industrial Revolution, imperialism. The major events are identical to the history in my memory, word for word.
No. If the history is the same, why is only the gender ratio wrecked?
Actually, I did turn on the wiki as soon as I came to this world. But I only skimmed through it.
'Since the professor will spoon-feed me for a high price once I go to university anyway, do I really need to preview it beforehand?'
That was my complacent mindset. I believed my curiosity would be resolved during class.
The professor's explanation continued. Napoleon this, the Vienna System that.
It's boring. There's nothing different from what I know.
'...I guess we haven't reached the turning point yet.'
I heard the gender ratio started getting wrecked around World War I. Actually, in my original world, men were also ground down during that period due to war and conscription.
But here, it wasn't just a level of war damage; it was said to be at a level where the seeds were drying up. Did some virus go around then? Or did something get twisted at the genetic level?
'I wonder if Korea was fine since it was the colonial era back then.'
I don't know. I'm not a historian.
Anyway, if it's World War I, it's far ahead in the curriculum. It seems unlikely I'll solve that 'mystery' in today's class.
I rested my chin on my hand and killed time, staring blankly at the blackboard. I rolled my pen, swallowed yawns, and checked the clock dozens of times.
"Now, we will end today's class here."
Finally. The words I had been waiting for dropped.
The sound of books closing along with sighs of relief could be heard throughout the classroom. Amidst the students rushing out, I also packed my bag and stood up.
And.
"......"
I looked to the side.
Saek, saek.
703-ho was still in dreamland. She fell asleep as soon as the class started and hadn't moved an inch until it ended. At this point, I was tempted to put a finger under her nose to see if she had fainted.
'...Should I wake her up?'
I thought about just leaving her, but I couldn't bring myself to move. She is my neighbor, after all. And a comrade-in-arms who even ran duos with me yesterday.
It didn't seem like the right thing to do as a human being to just leave her like this.
After a moment of deliberation, I lightly tapped the corner of the desk with my finger.
Tok, tok.
No response.
I was about to tap one more time.
S-ueuk.
A dark shadow loomed over me. At the same time, a strong scent of various perfumes mixed together hit my nose.
"Excuse me."
When I looked up, three or four unfamiliar female students were blocking the front of my desk.
Eyes full of curiosity. My neck stiffened at that blatant interest.
"Are you a freshman by any chance?"
"Do you have time after class?"
"Can I get your contact information? I'd like to get to know you."
A barrage of questions poured out simultaneously. For a moment, I felt suffocated.
'...Ah, how tiring.'
Refusing also takes energy. I wanted to make up an excuse and slip away, but my escape route was blocked. I needed a justification to break through this situation.
Just then, the slumped-over 703-ho caught my eye.
'...Right.'
A good excuse was right here.
I purposely leaned toward her. As if we were originally a group, very naturally.
And I shook her shoulder with a bit more force than before.
"Hey, wake up."
Please, just wake up. Save me.
"...Uuu-eum."
Only then did a groaning sound leak out. Her cheek, which had been pressed against the desk, lifted, and her disheveled hair rose into the air.
She laboriously lifted her eyelids. Her unfocused pupils rolled slowly.
Once at me. Once at the female students standing in front of me.
"......?"
She, who was frowning as if she couldn't grasp the situation, opened her mouth with a blank face.
"...Ah."
A voice that hadn't fully woken up came out cracked.
"...I'm hungry."
That was all. Who are you, where is this, who are they. Such questions were omitted; it was a single sentence faithful to her instincts.
I cheered inwardly.
"Yeah. Let's go eat."
I packed my bag and stood up as if I had been waiting. And I gave a slight bow toward the female students who were standing there blankly.
"I'm sorry. We have a previous engagement."
The intention to refuse was clear. But without losing politeness.
I naturally followed behind the staggering Yoon Seo-ah and left the classroom.
It was when we had walked to the end of the hallway and reached a place with few people.
She, who was walking ahead of me while staggering, came to a dead stop. And she turned her hollow eyes toward me. Her staring gaze was blatant.
"Excuse me, 603-ho-nim?"
"...Ah, yes, yes."
She adjusted her hat and said nonchalantly.
"I just saved you, so buy me food."
"......What?"
A bewildered response burst out of me before I knew it.
I wondered if I had misheard, but her expression was perfectly calm. Like someone who had come to pick up luggage they had left behind.
"Do you have another class?"
"...I have a free period, but."
"Then let's go. I'm starving to death."
She turned around before even hearing my answer. Watching her back as she strode toward the cafeteria, I swallowed a hollow laugh.
'...Wow.'
She's so damn shameless.
Who was the person who woke me up by shotgunning the desk last night as if the ceiling would collapse? Even after causing that ruckus, she's boldly asking me to buy her food?
If she had a conscience, shouldn't she be the one buying the food?
But.
'...Whatever, I don't care.'
What's the point of arguing? It probably wouldn't work on someone who goes her own way like that anyway.
I let out a short sigh and followed behind her.
"...Let's go."
Yeah. I was hungry too, since I only had a triangular kimbap for breakfast.