Trip to the U.S. (2)
Trip to the U.S. (2)
...What the hell is up with these people?
Why are they sitting in front of my door with such determined expressions?
The middle-aged man who spotted me stood up.
"Are you perhaps Seo Do-hyeon-ssi?"
"Yes? Oh, yes."
As if he had known me all along, he pulled a business card from his inner pocket.
"I apologize for the late-night intrusion. I am Baek Ha-woon, the executive director of Baekseong Group. I am Harin's father."
The attendant next to him also introduced herself.
"I am Yoo Seol. I serve as the young lady's attendant."
Ah, Harin-nuna's....
Then he must be the previous owner of this house.
I heard he cut ties with Harin-nuna a while ago, so why is he here suddenly in the middle of the night?
No, that's not the issue.
"...Why are you sitting here instead of going inside?"
Harin-nuna's father replied.
"One cannot simply enter without the homeowner's permission. Isn't Do-hyeon-ssi the owner of this house now?"
"...Ah."
It was a more decent reason than I expected.
Some people just barge in and start taking a bath right away.
Since it was dark out, I decided to let them in.
"Let's go inside and talk, at least."
"Let's do that."
"Oh, and please speak comfortably. You're my elder."
"...Then I shall do so."
Harin-nuna's father took a seat in the corner of the living room sofa.
Yoo Seol-ssi stood silently beside him.
"I suppose it's because I lived here since Harin was born. It still feels like my home and is quite comfortable."
"...."
"By the way, there's some dust piled up in the house. Harin-ah, have you been cleaning?"
"Dad, please."
"If you're living off someone else, you should do the housework. I saw trash piled up over there, so go take it out."
Harin-nuna, ignoring his words lightly, approached me.
I sent her a look asking what on earth was going on.
"They've been in front since the daytime. They said they had to see your face."
"...Me?"
What is this? I've never seen this person in my life, so what connection could I have with him?
Or is it that?
Did he find out I'm trying to make Harin-nuna my concubine and come to eliminate me...?
Suddenly, my gaze fell on the mail sitting on the table.
It seems Harin-nuna had picked up the mail that arrived during the day.
"Yes, the reason I came to find you is."
"...."
My gaze kept drifting away.
"...If it's urgent, go ahead and read it first."
"Ah, excuse me."
As expected, it was a package from the embassy.
I tore it open, and damn it.
"Did you apply for a U.S. Visa?"
"...Yes."
"It's a rejection, which is actually perfect. I have something to say that includes that as well."
Harin-nuna's father paused for a moment before speaking.
"I'll get straight to the point. Baekseong Group suspects that you are a possessor of a Mythic-grade trait."
"...Yes?"
Suddenly?
*
Baek Ha-woon is a daughter-fool.
He might have thought he was hiding it thoroughly, but everyone around him knows it.
"...No matter how I think about it, I'm anxious."
Following the chairman's order, Baek Ha-woon had kicked Harin out of the house.
But worried that his daughter might be getting deceived by a bad man, he ordered his attendant, Yoo Seol, to keep her under surveillance.
The information Yoo Seol brought back was astonishing.
"She's still living in that house?"
"Yes. And you'll be even more surprised if you find out who the owner of that house is."
Attached to the personal information she handed over was a photo of a familiar face.
"...This student is."
Seo Do-hyeon.
The man Baek Ha-rin once called her first friend.
He knew him because he had helped from the shadows at his daughter's request when he was involved in a murder case.
Considering his character, he was a man he could at least feel relieved about, but.
"The owner of the new house is Seo Do-hyeon. The young lady is currently living with him."
Baek Ha-woon tilted his head.
"That doesn't make sense, does it?"
Ha-woon had already perfectly grasped his family situation six years ago.
Do-hyeon definitely shouldn't have had that level of wealth.
"Did he run a business for six years?"
"Here is the next document."
For the past few months, Yoo Seol had been continuously tracking Do-hyeon according to Harin's orders.
When Harin was abroad for a while, she finally succeeded in finding him.
It was when he was running around trying to save his friend with everything he had.
"Lee Yun-seo, she has an incurable disease...."
Ha-woon read the relevant data.
Which hospital Yun-seo was admitted to.
Even where Do-hyeon had tried to borrow money, even resorting to a Private Loan.
"It's not even a month ago; it was only a few weeks ago. Up until this point, Seo Do-hyeon's level of wealth was exactly what we knew it to be. However."
Just around the time Yoo Seol was about to make contact with Do-hyeon.
"Suddenly, from somewhere, a massive amount of funds flowed into his account."
A huge sum exceeding tens of billions had come to Do-hyeon.
"...Did he win the lottery or something?"
"No."
The money came through Phantastia's exchange system.
"He earned a massive amount of money overnight in Phantastia. And since it's possible to exchange it, it's not like he committed any criminal acts either."
"...."
Ha-woon's expression darkened.
"According to additional investigations, the date Seo Do-hyeon disappeared from sight was two and a half years ago. Up until then, he was struggling with all his might to find a job."
"Two and a half years would be roughly 1000 days."
"Yes, and 1000 days is."
"...A Secondary unique trait, then."
"The timing matches."
His daughter who left home brought back a big catch.
"I speculate that Seo Do-hyeon awakened a Mythic-grade trait as his Secondary unique trait."
There is no trait among the Legendary-grade that can generate such a large sum of money overnight.
An out-of-spec trait.
Ha-woon stood up.
"I need to meet him as soon as possible."
"I will cancel all of tomorrow's schedule."
*
'Ah... yes?'
I get how they found out, but.
Is that something that makes the atmosphere this serious?
Everyone except me has a grave expression right now.
Even Harin-nuna is the same.
It feels like I'm being subjected to a super fun Hidden Camera prank.
A sense of tension hangs in the house.
"...Look. It is true that I awakened a Mythic-grade trait."
If the information spreads, it's news big enough to make headlines and get interviews.
Because it's that popular of a game.
But I don't know if this is a matter serious enough for an executive of a large corporation to abandon his entire schedule and meet me as a top priority.
And I don't know if it's worth coming all the way here, breaking the promise he made to his daughter that he wouldn't look for her for a year.
"Isn't this about a game? Why would a large corporation...."
I heard Baekseong Group was doing some business in Phantastia, but is it because of that?
Harin-nuna's father asked.
"Do you really think that is just a simple game?"
"Isn't it?"
His gaze turned to Nuna for a moment.
"...I heard this from Dad today, too."
Nuna let out a faint sigh.
"Do you want a boring, pedantic explanation or a short, concise one?"
"Uh... the short one."
"It is a game, yes. But there's no one on Earth who made that game."
...What are you talking about?
"Then what, the game just suddenly popped into existence on its own?"
"Yeah."
"Does that make sense?"
"Do-hyeon-ah. Then do you think your trait makes sense?"
Harin-nuna is the only one here who knows the detailed information about my trait.
Probability Manipulation.
A seriously fraudulent ability that can shake the in-game economy.
Considering that Phantastia is having a huge impact on the global economy.
With just one whim of mine, I could trigger an economic crisis in an entire country.
Even though I possessed it, I did think it was strange.
In a world where if a single probability manipulation incident happens in a computer online game, the company gets cursed at nationwide.
The #1 blockbuster game gives that power not to themselves, but to a single individual user?
"It doesn't make sense, does it."
It was a part that had always bothered me deeply.
While I was enjoying life with infinite Ssal-money, it kept weighing on my mind.
Why doesn't this get patched?
At least a penalty like a daily limit of 3 times would be worth adding, right?
The moment my trait becomes known to the world, it's a given that there would be a nationwide boycott and the developer would get cursed at heavily.
"No developer in the world would create such a trait. Phantastia is the same. There might be traits like 99% damage reduction, but your trait is."
Harin-nuna says cautiously.
"...That trait shouldn't exist. If it were a game, that is."
I asked back.
"So you're saying Phantastia isn't a game? Because of my trait?"
Actually, Phantastia conspiracy theories have been circulating for a long time.
Photorealistic graphics, overwhelming scale, artificial intelligence that acts just like a human.
Even just before I went to prison, virtual reality games were at best things like VR chat.
The fact that such a blockbuster game was suddenly released to the market was itself unrealistic.
No beta test, or no investment received.
Not from a famous company, but from an unknown one.
A blockbuster that appeared suddenly without even word-of-mouth.
Because of this, conspiracy theories that Phantastia is not a game were frequently discussed in various media.
It was a topic that always came up whenever I watched TV.
Some said not to talk nonsense about fantasy.
And others said it was a story with enough possibility.
Of course, Yun-seo and I didn't think about it at all.
We were busy making a living day by day, so what did it matter if it was a game or another world?
Yoo Seol-ssi handed over the tablet she was holding.
"For detailed information, please read this document."
Strange Stories Regarding Phantastia
[ Baekseong Group Top Secret ]
Strictly prohibit leakage to civilians other than the blood relatives of Baekseong Group and trusted personnel.
...Top secret.
"...Is it okay for me to read this?"
Harin-nuna's father nodded.
I read the sentences slowly.
Suddenly, virtual reality game consoles began to be sold on shopping sites around the world.
People who bought them out of curiosity left continuous rave reviews.
Rumors spread, and the game consoles began to be sold in countless numbers.
Overwhelming technology.
It is impossible for any existing large corporation to build this level of virtual reality.
Not only the governments of each country but also various companies began to dig into the information of the game company.
However, even with the country's intelligence power and massive money, they couldn't find a single thing.
The building that was supposed to be the headquarters didn't exist.
A production factory couldn't be found either.
The game consoles were suddenly generated somewhere and being supplied to each household.
And the profits generated from that were disappearing from the face of the Earth entirely.
A state of emergency was declared in each country.
They tried to block the site domains and prevent the purchase of the game consoles.
However, an unknown site appeared that even the government couldn't shut down.
And the popularity and fame that had already spread globally could not be turned back.
Daily life and Phantastia became inseparable in less than a month.
Accordingly, the top officials of each country gathered in one place for a secret meeting.
What is the identity of the game that appeared like a ghost story one day?
What on earth is causing chaos on Earth?
It was an unprecedented event, and a complete mystery.
The governments of each country decided to get their stories straight.
To create a virtual company and disguise that company as the game developer.
They also virtually created a production factory, pretending that they were not violating any laws.
And behind the scenes, they continued a thorough investigation into the game.
Phantastia can no longer be stopped.
Because it was clear that the moment this secret leaked to the world, chaos unprecedented in history would occur.
Of course, it's not information to be hidden forever.
Several public enterprises, private companies, and religious organizations, not state agencies, noticed the fact.
It is impossible to ■■ all those countless people.
The government kept their mouths shut on the condition of giving special privileges to each organization.
And they are also borrowing their power to dig into the secrets of Phantastia.
Also, the very few people who spread the secret as a conspiracy theory on the internet were ■■.......
"That's enough."
Yoo Seol-ssi snatched the tablet back.