1. Childhood Friends Can't Hold Back
1. Childhood Friends Can't Hold Back
1. Childhood Friends Can't Hold Back
"What background should I pick..."
Scroll.
I rolled the mouse wheel and carefully adjusted the settings for the character I was about to play.
"Keep the name the same."
[Han Si-jun]
[Male]
I typed my own name into the character window like I always did when playing the academy-style RPG V. AGE.
It was my way of boosting immersion.
V. AGE, also known as the "Age of Villains," was on a completely different level from other games when it came to immersion.
For starters, you got to decide your character's upbringing, initial ability scores, and fates however you wanted.
If you wanted a privileged playthrough, you could be the son of a wealthy family.
If you wanted a power fantasy, you could max out your stats.
The storyline was shaped by the Fate System.
V. AGE boasted insane freedom in character customization.
That freedom meant you could personally craft every setting detail, which jacked up the immersion to its absolute peak.
It was one of the reasons I could sink two thousand hours into the game, and what hooked me in the first place.
"You just can't resist a good concept."
Concept roleplay, the so-called endgame for veteran players.
I was currently creating my 127th character for a brand-new concept.
Countless background options scrolled before my eyes.
[Ordinary Family]
[Child of the Final Boss]
[Disciple of an A-rank Hero]
[TS into a Girl]
[Grew Up Alone in the Back Alley]
...
Hmm.
Hundreds of settings scrolled by, but I'd already played through most of them, so nothing sparked my interest.
"Huh? Did they update?"
Just as my bored eyes were glossing over the text, a setting I'd never seen before jumped out at me.
[S-rank Childhood Friend]
This was a setting that hadn't existed when I'd meticulously combed through the options for concept runs.
The game had stopped updating ages ago, hadn't it?
Mesmerized by the unfamiliar option, I moved my mouse cursor over it.
[A male student who has lived as the childhood friend of a female student destined to become an S-rank Hero.]
A childhood friend.
And not just any childhood friend, but one of the roughly ten S-rank Heroes in the game.
With my pool of concepts running dry, this premise seriously appealed to me.
"No need to think it over."
Click.
I dropped the S-rank Childhood Friend background into my cart.
"Wait, why is the cost so high?"
V. AGE flaunted extreme freedom, but not everything was allowed.
When creating a character, you had to adjust things so you didn't end up with an absurdly overpowered build.
The total cost of backgrounds, stats, and fates had to add up to exactly 10, and the S-rank Childhood Friend background cost a whopping 15 points.
A number that seriously strained the Character Creation budget.
"No helping it."
I'd just have to take a penalty on my stats and fates.
Giving up this childhood friend was out of the question.
Because...
"Childhood friends are the best, right?"
Every childhood friend I'd ever seen in media was absurdly charming.
They wake you up in the morning, go to school together, realize they're in love as puberty hits, and eventually get married...
It's the ultimate romance trope every guy dreams of.
That's a childhood friend.
What could possibly be better?
For the sake of that romance, I could easily sacrifice a few stat points.
I moved my mouse to the stat selection window.
[Strength 5]
[Agility 5]
[Stamina 5]
[Mana 5]
[Will 5]
On a scale where the maximum was 12, a score of 5 represented the average stats of an academy student.
But if I stuck with this, I wouldn't be able to afford the childhood friend.
"This is for my childhood friend, dear stats. Take it with grace."
For my romance fantasy, the Status Window was butchered without mercy.
[Strength 2]
[Agility 3]
[Stamina 2]
[Mana 0]
[Will 8]
I dropped a total of 13 points across my stats and raised one by 3, netting a total reduction of 10 points.
Each point was worth 0.4 in cost.
That let me shave off 4 cost points.
"...I had no choice."
It was a miserable stat spread, but it was a small price to pay for my very own childhood friend.
Physical ability was absolutely essential, so I invested as much as I could into Strength, Agility, and Stamina.
I still needed to be able to move, after all.
Will goes without saying.
If your Will is low, certain events won't trigger, and death gets way too close.
'I'm so scared...!'
After seeing a message that a character you lovingly raised died from panic due to insufficient Will, you can't help but crank that stat up.
I poured so much affection into raising them...
That trauma still hasn't faded.
But...
What exactly happens if I have no Mana?
In a situation where I had to cut 10 points from my stats, I couldn't afford to lower physical ability unless I wanted to be wheelchair-bound. The stat I ended up gutting for the sake of physical freedom was Mana.
I'd never started the game with zero mana before.
I wasn't even sure if this would work.
"It's just a game. If it works, great. If not, whatever."
I could always restart.
Besides, I had an S-rank childhood friend, didn't I?
She might even protect me.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
"Alright, that leaves 1..."
Where to put it?
I checked the fate selection window one last time.
[Victim's Fate]
[Protagonist's Fate]
[Ruinous Fate]
...
Fates determined the episodes that would unfold for my character.
You might be forced to endure sacrifices, or the spotlight might shine on you alone.
Most of them were positive fates.
Unfortunately, they all required at least 1 more cost point.
My current cost was already 11.
I only had 1 point left to spare.
I had to pick a negative fate.
"Haa... what's there. Not [TS Fate], and [Stolen Fate]? Absolutely not that one."
No matter how I looked, there weren't any decent fates that fit.
I scanned the screen with even greater care.
"There's gotta be at least one..."
Found it.
A fate with a somewhat normal episode attached.
I slotted it into the settings window.
[Villain's Fate]
A fate where you get mistaken for a villain or caught up in such misunderstandings. That was the fate I chose.
With this, I finally get a childhood friend too...
Unable to contain my excitement, I clicked the Character Creation button.
Click.
Click.
What the hell.
Why isn't it working?
Even after clicking the mouse repeatedly, the Character Creation Window stayed frozen in place.
Why wasn't it going through?
I had clearly met all the requirements...
Ah.
The text above the creation window caught my eye.
[Total Cost 10.5]
...Was this a stealth patch?
I could've sworn Villain's Fate only cost 1.
The anticipation drained out of me in an instant, replaced by a growing sense of urgency.
My patience had been spent long ago.
How long was I supposed to keep staring at the Character Creation screen?
I wanted to meet my childhood friend as soon as possible.
That was my romance fantasy, after all.
"I'll add another fate."
The Fate System allowed up to three fates, as long as they didn't conflict or overlap.
So I picked a fate that reduced the cost by 0.5.
"[Womanizer's Fate]. You're the one."
I'd rarely used Womanizer's Fate.
Because it never ended well.
'You mingled with too many people.'
Literally, I would go around poking and flirting with capable characters.
The ending was death.
Stabbed to death by the heroines.
But this time, things were different.
"Even if the fate is Womanizer, what if I just don't flirt?"
I'd have a stunningly beautiful S-rank childhood friend anyway, so what did it matter?
Fates could be defied.
With my total cost perfectly balanced at 10, I immediately clicked to create the character.
[Character Creation Complete. Start the game?]
[Y/N]
Obviously yes.
My handcrafted childhood friend was waiting for me, after all.
With my eyes glued to the monitor, I pressed Y and waited patiently for the game to load.
[Loading...]
The progress bar in the loading screen rose like a mirage, then vanished.
Why?
Why didn't the game start?
By the time I began to wonder, it was already too late.
Han Si-jun stared at the monitor, his gaze lingering.
[Please, save her.]
Before he knew it, the loading screen had faded to black, leaving only those words behind in silence.
***
A family home in the early morning was busier than you'd expect.
A lady preparing breakfast for four.
A man getting ready for work.
People she was grateful for.
Feeling awkward just sitting around doing nothing, the girl spoke to the woman who was rolling omelets.
"Auntie, is there anything I can help with?"
"Hmm, not really... Would you mind going to wake up my son?"
"Of course! Leave it to me!"
The girl answered brightly, then marched off towards the firmly closed bedroom.
'What time does school start, and he's still asleep? This is just...'
Frustration bubbled up inside her, but she calmed herself with sheer willpower.
She would hold it in, just hold it in.
He wasn't well. She had to understand.
Thinking of him and how frail he'd been since he was young, Yu Ha-yeon slid the door open. Clunk.
"I'm coming in, okay?"
They were close enough to skip knocking, so Yu Ha-yeon opened the door and found Han Si-jun still lost in dreamland.
"Ugh, he'd be doomed without me. He'd probably be late for school every single day."
See? He really did need her.
Yu Ha-yeon gazed at Han Si-jun's sleeping face, tucked snugly under the blanket.
His cheeks weren't full, but his delicate features stirred protective instincts.
Yu Ha-yeon was his childhood friend, but she had to admit the obvious.
"He's handsome. Annoyingly so."
A face that felt like it would attract way too many girls.
Seeing him like that, a mischievous impulse wriggled in Yu Ha-yeon's heart.
"...It's your own fault for sleeping late."
Yu Ha-yeon climbed right on top of Han Si-jun's prone body and shouted his name.
"Wake up...! Han Si-jun!!"
"Wh-what...?"
A classic childhood-friend morning greeting.
His eyes, just roused from sleep, were filled with confusion.
"Wh-Who are you...?"
Han Si-jun, who had been sitting in front of his monitor just moments ago,
opened his eyes to find an unfamiliar woman sitting directly on top of him.