Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Not Bad?
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"Everyone, get down! If you don't want to die, get on the floor now!"
"Kyaaah!"
A gang of thugs burst into the bank. Dressed in black masks, they fired shots to subdue the bank guards.
The piercing gunfire made everyone in the bank scream as they dropped to the floor, obeying the commands.
"Get down quick!"
"Gah! P-please, spare me..."
If anyone dared to act suspiciously or didn't lie flat enough, a thug would rush over, kick them, and threaten with a gun barrel. The crowd trembled in terror at the merciless robbers.
"Stuff the money in here!"
The bank tellers tearfully filled the thugs' bags, terrified that the guns might spit fire at any moment.
"Anyone who moves gets killed! Keep your heads down! Stay still!"
The bank robbers finished looting and fled in less than five minutes. After grabbing all the bags, they fired a few more shots before escaping the bank.
"Get in quick!"
And as soon as they piled into their getaway car—
Bang!
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Sh-shit, what the hell?!"
A man dropped down onto the car from above. He must have jumped from such a height that the vehicle was crushed beyond recognition.
"Shoot him! Kill him!"
The robbers instinctively fired at the man. Flames erupted from over ten gun barrels, bullets swarming toward him.
But—
"That stings a bit."
"Cr-crazy..."
Amid the hail of bullets, the man wasn't hurt at all. His black-and-blue spandex uniform was unscathed, and even the smile on his visible mouth remained intact.
Seeing a man untouched after hundreds of rounds, the robbers froze in fear.
"Now it's my turn."
With those words and a smile, the man vanished.
"Uwaaaah..."
"Spare me..."
"S-surrender..."
When the man reappeared, all the bank robbers were sprawled on the ground, groaning. Soon after, police arrived on reports and arrested them.
The man who had watched it all turned around and said,
"Don't worry. Heroes like me will keep you and Dark City safe."
"What a load of crap."
I flipped the channel at the man's sappy smile. Not even a hot girl could make me want to see that guy's grin.
"What the hell is this?"
Lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling, I muttered to myself. I couldn't wrap my head around being here.
I'm clearly Korean...
"Shit, I can't remember my name."
No matter how hard I thought, my real name wouldn't come to mind—only this character's name, Bal Jeong-nam. Everything else was there, but not my actual name. It was driving me insane.
"But..."
I sat up and looked around.
The room was massive, like twenty of my old bedrooms stitched together, filled with luxury furniture. One wall was lined with hero figurines—selling those alone would net billions.
"This is pretty nice."
Way better than my old place, which kinda pissed me off. Felt like losing to the game world or something.
But what could I do?
When I used the parent selection, I set their wealth to top 0.1%. So my in-game parents were chaebol, making me a chaebol heir. Sweet deal.
And I'd added one extra setting—
"I'm 30, so they're pushing 50... still going strong."
I muttered while glancing at the news.
The villains making headlines—High Fog and Hazel Fox—were my parents. High Fog was Dad, Hazel Fox Mom.
They'd been villains since their teens, met by chance while fleeing heroes, fell in love amid the danger, got married, had two kids, and were still active. That was their backstory.
Dad, High Fog, even had a knack for business, founding a massive corporation in Dark City that put them in the top 0.1% wealth bracket.
...That was the setup. Not super crucial, but anyway.
The key point: I was a villain and a top 0.1% chaebol kid. Chaebol life was the dream. Wait, no.
"Anyway, gotta get outta here..."
I scanned the room.
A flashy bedroom I'd never afford in real life. And this was just the start—beyond the door lay a whole new world I'd never seen.
"Hm."
I looked around again.
Then it hit me.
"Do I really need to go back?"
I had family in the real world, sure, but nothing clingy enough I'd die without them. We hadn't been close in ages.
Growing up watching my parents fight nonstop, having friends would've been weirder.
But here?
Game world or not, loaded family, and superpowers: one mastered, four unopened.
Who could take me down with this power?
No real attachments back home, no reason to struggle back.
"Not like we were that close anyway... Might as well have some fun while I'm here?"
The senses, textures, everything felt hyper-real. If not for knowing it was a game, I'd swear it was reality. Playing around before leaving didn't sound bad.
"Ah... Should've named the character something cooler."
One regret: the stupid name.
Bal Jeong-nam? Sounds like a horny bastard. 'Righteous man of Balhae'? Bullshit—Balhae fell thousands of years ago.
At least I could hide it.
"From now on, James Bal. Shit, last name Bal still sounds off. Guess I'll use aliases."
Knock knock.
"Young Master, are you in there?"
"Huh?"
Someone knocked. Who? Just started the game, only knew parents besides NPCs.
If I'm playing, might as well go all in. Didn't want half-assed fun with suspicious NPCs sniffing out my identity.
What was original me like?
Arrogant chaebol? Surprisingly humble? Or tough guy matching the build?
"Young Master?"
As I pondered, the door opened, and a burly old man with graying hair entered.
"Huh?"
'Whoa.'
I marveled inwardly at the translucent window. Nice touch for newbies. Every game needs a tutorial.
"Young Master? Are you feeling ill?"
I just stared, so Chris approached with a worried look and naturally checked my forehead for fever.
"No fever... Is something else wrong?"
"Uh... No. Just, Uncle Chris looks extra cool today. If I were a girl, I'd be smitten."
"Hoho. Is that so? Well, you've never even caught a cold since you were little."
My flattery finally got a smile from Uncle Chris. The genuine warmth in his eyes threw me off—I'd never seen that from family.
"So, what's up?"
"It's mealtime, but you hadn't come down, so I checked."
"Oh, already?"
"Hehe."
I widened my eyes like I hadn't noticed, and he chuckled, pointing to his watch. It was 10 a.m.
I shrugged.
"Time flies."
"Shall we go?"
"Sure."
I descended the stairs with Uncle Chris. Stuck in that stadium-sized room, I'd missed it—this was a mansion. A movie-style mega-mansion! Chaebol life!
Chaebols eat fancy even for breakfast, right? Couldn't wait to see what came out.
And as expected, on the table...
"...Uncle Chris, what is this?"
"Hm? It's your usual morning chicken breast salad, Young Master."
"....."
Was I a gym rat?
Guess I had a bias against chicken breast. All the negativity kept me from eating it much in real life, but this was delicious. The tangy dressing on the salad hit the spot.
"This is good. One more, Uncle Chris."
"That's your sixth bowl already. Too much isn't good."
"Blame yourself."
"Me?"
"Yeah. You make it so tasty, I can't stop."
"Hoho. Glad it suits your taste."
Uncle Chris smiled softly but cleared the bowl anyway, immune to my lip service. I rinsed my mouth with water, stood, and asked,
"Where are Dad and Mom? At work?"
"Yes. Today was Cruemora Doctor's animal gene fusion experiment, so they left early."
"Got it. See you later, Uncle."
"Yes, Young Master."
"Hmm."
As Christopher cleared the dishes, something occurred to him, and he called out to Bal Jeong-nam. But he'd already gone upstairs.
Should he follow? He shrugged and turned back.
"They're adults; they'll keep in touch."
"Wait."
Before entering my room, Uncle Chris's words popped into my head.
'Yes. Today was Cruemora Doctor's animal gene fusion experiment, so they left early.'
"Animal gene fusion experiment?"
In hero movies, scientists or doctors were always behind hero and villain origins.
Experiments birthed heroes... or villains.
"Smells like fun..."
Before diving into my main storyline, a tutorial side quest didn't sound bad.