High-End Game (2)
High-End Game (2)
Yoon Seo-ah recalled the man who had dared to knock on the door of a woman living alone late the other night.
With a vitamin drink in his hand out of nowhere, warning her about floor noise in a polite but bloodthirsty manner — that man from Room 603.
Honestly, at first she thought he was crazy. A guy in this harsh world, and at midnight, knocking on someone else's door? He must have had his guts hanging out of his belly for sure.
But at this very moment. The crazy one wasn't that guy, but herself, who was in no position to badmouth others.
She had stayed up all night gaming, fallen asleep as if passing out, and when she groggily opened her eyes, the phone clock had already crossed the river that could never be crossed back.
[ 10:45 ]
'...Fuck!'
Time to wash her hair? A luxury. Even washing her face would be a blessing. Yoon Seo-ah roughly did a cat's wash and threw on an outer coat. She covered her greasy hair by pulling a hat down firmly.
She burst out the front door and repeatedly smashed the elevator button.
She prayed it would go nonstop to the first floor, but.
Ding—
Cruelly, the elevator stopped at the floor right below, the 6th floor.
The door slid open, revealing a familiar silhouette.
'Ah.'
It was the man from Room 603.
He seemed to be heading to school too, wearing a backpack. Their eyes met dead-on, but Yoon Seo-ah only awkwardly nodded her head.
'I look like a mess right now.'
Exchanging greetings with sleep crust barely wiped off is an act of abandoning one's human dignity. I pushed my hat down deeper and stared only at the floor.
'First floor... please hurry...'
Just as I was stamping my feet in impatience, the arrival chime for the first floor rang.
As soon as the doors opened, Yoon Seo-ah ran for her life. It was an explosive sprint born from the experience of a female university student who had completed military service, having once clocked 6 seconds in the 50-meter dash back in the day.
.
.
.
Arrived at the lecture hall. Safe.
Her heart felt like it would explode. While enduring the pain of her lungs tearing, she scanned the lecture hall, but the premium back seats had already been snatched up by the diligent ones.
No choice. She plopped down in an ambiguous middle seat where the professor's spit wouldn't fly but she could still half-heartedly follow along.
"Pant... pant..."
As she lay face-down on the desk catching her breath, she sensed someone nearby.
She turned her head slightly and saw that same guy from Room 603.
'...Same school, and even the same class, huh.'
The world sure is small. Of all seats, why did he have to sit right next to her?
Soon the professor entered, and attendance check began.
"Yoon Seo-ah."
"Yes..."
Her voice answering the professor's call had zero energy. After mustering her soul for that answer, Yoon Seo-ah was instantly drained, and she face-planted onto the desk, passing out.
She didn't even hear the lecture content. She just drooled while dreaming of getting a pentakill in dreamland.
.
.
.
Tap, tap.
"Hey... wake up..."
Someone shook her shoulder.
She groggily opened her eyes, vision blurry. Around her, unfamiliar female students were loitering like a folding screen, and the one who shook her awake was the guy from Room 603 next to her.
'Ugh...'
Her head was foggy. She slowly turned her head to assess the situation.
'Hmmmmmm....'
The burdensome stares of the girls blocking her front. And the strangely urgent expression on Room 603's face.
'Hmmmmmm....'
She dazedly looked around like a computer loading. Her brain was still booting up.
1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds.
'...I get the gist.'
Even half-asleep, she could roughly figure it out. The girls were being annoying, so the guy woke up the sleeping person to use as a shield. He wants to be saved, right?
Situation assessed. But that wasn't Yoon Seo-ah's problem. Right now, only one thing mattered to her.
With a cracked voice, she instinctively spat out her first words.
"Ah... I'm hungry..."
.
.
.
And so, she ended up getting a meal out of the blue. The menu was cheese cutlet. It tasted even better because someone else was paying.
Once her stomach was somewhat full, the Room 603 guy wiped his mouth with a napkin and casually asked.
"What games do you play?"
"Uhm..."
She paused for a moment. Her gaze unconsciously wandered through the air.
Should she be honest? Say she likes... Storm of Time and Space? No. There's no need to advertise herself as a trash game player on first meeting.
Besides, when a citizen of South Korea says they play that game, the looks people give are anything but ordinary. Going incognito is an essential virtue for smooth social life.
"...Rel."
She picked the safest answer.
"Ah, Rel?"
"Yeah. You?"
Yoon Seo-ah asked half-heartedly while drinking water. It was bound to be Rel or Battle Grid anyway.
But the guy looked straight into her eyes and answered very clearly.
"Storm of Time and Space."
"......Pfft."
The water she was drinking nearly came back out through her nostrils. What? What did he just say?
"Oh, seriously?!"
Her voice unknowingly rose. To encounter this rare endangered species in real life, and right from the junior living downstairs.
"...Yes. Well, that's how it is. Since barely anyone plays it, more people don't know about it."
The guy scratched the back of his head awkwardly. At that lonely yet steadfast attitude, Yoon Seo-ah opened her mouth solemnly.
"No. I play it too."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Since there are too few players, I usually play other games... but the roots are Storm of Time and Space."
Happy to have found a comrade, she fumbled for her phone. This community is small, so they have to help each other out.
"Give me your BattleTag. I'll add you."
"Ah... okay."
The guy took her phone and input the ID with familiar hand movements. And the moment she checked the returned screen.
[ TimundoNaeGyehoek#13... ]
"......"
Yoon Seo-ah's eyes narrowed. It was a far too familiar ID.
Just yesterday at dawn, that user she had been gaming with.
'Wow.'
The world is small, they say, but Storm of Time and Space is even smaller.
Wait. Then that means this guy knew who she was from my chat yesterday, right?
'...Ah, whatever.'
Thinking about it gave her a headache. It was a bit embarrassing, but she couldn't be bothered to call him out on it. She decided to just pretend not to know for now. Stormers don't dwell on trivial things.
"Let's play together later. Give me a ride."
"I'll try my best."
And so they parted ways coolly in front of the restaurant.
.
.
.
All afternoon classes were over. She was drained from enduring the professor's sweet lullaby attack with a clear mind.
As she dragged her tired body along like a zombie, she sensed someone behind her. Glancing, it was Room 603.
Their eyes met.
"Oh, senior."
The guy raised his hand first in greeting. He had a male student wearing drab glasses beside him.
"Going?"
"Yeah."
She naturally joined them. She could see Room 603's friend's eyes go wide as he whispered to the guy.
'Hey, who is this? Do you know each other?'
Yoon Seo-ah didn't bother answering and just walked forward. She couldn't be bothered to open her mouth, and she was curious how the guy would introduce her.
"Ah."
Room 603 answered nonchalantly.
"Our neighborhood neighbor."
"Neighbor?"
"Yeah. Lives upstairs."
She listened to his straightforward answer while thinking.
'...Really peculiar.'
Usually, guys her age either stutter because they're scared of women, or they know their worth and are arrogantly proud with their noses in the air. But this guy showed no sign of either.
Suddenly, the Room 603 junior asked.
"Going straight to gaming when you get home?"
"Yeah. Of course."
She replied indifferently while pulling out one earbud. Then, suddenly remembering something, she added.
"Oh, right."
"Yes?"
"Looking at your BattleTag, I saw that Dark Knight playing with me yesterday was you."
"......"
The guy flinched. So he did know. He had seen her at the restaurant earlier but deliberately didn't acknowledge it and let it slide.
Yoon Seo-ah smirked and looked at him.
"Go home, wash up, and come straight online. We're gaming."
"Sounds good."
.
.
.
As soon as she got home, she turned on the computer. She played one round of Storm of Time and Space, but she was already getting sick of it. As expected, trash taste is only a delicacy when eaten occasionally; it's not fit for a staple.
[Party] Baramjeomuneundal: High-class Watch let's go
In the end, Yoon Seo-ah coaxed the guy into booting up High-class Watch. She was curious how he'd do in an FPS.
[ King's Row : Attack ]
Hero selection ended, and the heavy doors opened.
[Team] Baramjeomuneundal: Let's go!
Yoon Seo-ah pressed the jump pack without hesitation. The giant gorilla cut through London's night sky and flew behind the A-point statue.
'I'll play this round brain-off.'
Upon landing, she generated a bubble (barrier). Then left-click hold. Zzzzap.
Bang—!
Ta-da-da-da-dang—!
[ Warning! Critical damage! ]
The screen border instantly turned blood-red. The enemy healer, cowboy, and pig all looked at her simultaneously as if they'd made a pact. Anti-heal plus flashbang. Even Buddha couldn't survive this.
'Ah, I'm dead.'
Jump pack cooldown 3 seconds. Just as she was about to let go, thinking she was dead.
Tu-du-du-du-du—
A cheerful pulse rifle sound came from behind.
[ TimundoNaeGyehoek ➢ Brave Sparrow ]
[ TimundoNaeGyehoek ➢ Righteous Pigeon ]
The kill log on the upper right shot up instantly. The enemy team DPS who had been focusing her evaporated.
Living up to their nicknames, they fell like a sparrow and a pigeon.
'?'
She grabbed a health pack and turned around. Room 603's Soldier was standing dumbly in the middle of the main street.
'He's actually pretty good at shooting.'
[ Point secured! ]
[ Payload movement started ]
The payload started moving. She got on top of the payload and watched the front.
But Room 603's position was ridiculous. In the middle of the road with no cover, he was walking around like a tourist visiting London, gawking.
'Aish...'
His aim was fine. But his positioning was really shitty. He's gonna get headshot like that.
Sure enough.
Bang!
A sharp crack echoed from the 2nd floor.
[ Hidden Master ➢ TimundoNaeGyehoek ]
The Soldier didn't even get to scream before collapsing on the ground. Hidden Master indeed, he really was hiding and shooting.
'Figures.'
Tsking, she was defending the front when she saw the respawned Soldier running over. But he wasn't coming straight; he ducked into a side alley.
'What's he doing?'
A moment later. Behind the enemy sniper on the 2nd floor of the enemy backline, who was happily free-firing while zoomed in, a familiar soldier uncle appeared.
[ Helix Rocket + Melee Attack ]
Boom! Thwack!
[ TimundoNaeGyehoek ➢ Hidden Master ]
The enemy sniper died mysteriously. So far so good. He successfully assassinated.
But then.
The Soldier in the screen climbed onto the enemy DPS's corpse and started doing something weird.
Crouch (Ctrl). Stand up. Crouch. Stand up. Crouch. Stand up.
A dazzling exercise of squatting. It was teabagging.
'Wow...'
Doing that kind of greasy behavior while playing with someone he knows, and a senior at that? I reassessed my downstairs neighbor's character.
Just then.
"Charge!!!"
From around the corner, the enemy team's hammer grandpa, whose nickname was already bloodthirsty, came rushing with his rocket boosters on. The Soldier, who was absorbed in teabagging, didn't seem to think about looking back.
Kwaaang!
The Soldier crumpled like a sheet of paper and slammed into the wall.
[ ChargingTruck ➢ TimundoNaeGyehoek ]
[All] Hidden Master : lololololol
[All] ChargingTruck : Justice served ^^7
[All] Baramjeomuneundal : lololololol
The chat became a sea of laughter. Karma. Instant execution.
Yoon Seo-ah almost dropped her mouse from laughing.
After that, they played a few more rounds. Win or lose didn't matter. It was just funny.
[ Victory! ]
[ Play of the Game: TimundoNaeGyehoek ]
She turned off the game and returned to the lobby.
[Party] TimundoNaeGyehoek: FPS been a while but it was fun
[Party] Baramjeomuneundal: yeah let's play again later it was fun
She thought while typing. Good aim, good sense of humor. Above all, being together meant she wouldn't be bored.
[Party] Baramjeomuneundal: gg gn see you tomorrow
She turned off the game and flopped onto the bed. Staring blankly at the ceiling, she let out a small laugh.
'Fun.'
Truly, the enjoyment of a game changes depending on whether you have someone to play with.
Actually, her situation is kind of funny.
Usually, people enlist after finishing their second year, or before that, if they're lucky enough to catch a guy and ride the 'exemption tech' — that's the norm.
But me, with some kind of bravado, I went off alone right after finishing my first year.
Thanks to that, when I came back from the military, all the faces I knew at school were gone.
My peers had already become 4th-year fossils or graduated, or left to become mothers of children, so there was no way they'd still be at school.
My already narrow human relationships were shattered, and all that's left is a dogshit life with only games.
Well, it's not like I had friends in the first place, so it's not like it's a new blow now.
Still, always looking at the gloomy gray friend list and grinding solo queue, then laughing and gaming with the downstairs junior — it feels strange.
Truly, the casual mode where you throw together is much more fun than the stressful rank you play alone.
'Well, now that I have a duo, it's more comfortable.'
Honestly, I don't care whether that person is male or female. In this community, what's more important than gender is whether you "pull your weight."
I'm just happy that after a long time, I've found a "gaming buddy" who clicks.