Chapter 29: First Major Update
Ring. Ring.
I jolted awake to the sound of the alarm, my body heavy with exhaustion.
I had stayed up late again last night, grinding through skeletons on the sixth floor underground.
“Ugh…”
“Doun-ah, playing games until late makes you tired. Wake up quickly or you’ll be late for class.”
“Uh… Go ahead, Su-min. I’ll follow right after.”
I sent Su-min off first, splashed some water on my face, and headed to school.
I barely made it into the classroom just before the first period began.
After finishing the first period with a tired face, when the break finally came.
Na-eun approached.
Is it another Hero story?
Since returning to middle school, my past memories had been a great help.
But this time, I wished I had never known the future.
If I hadn’t known that Na-eun would one day live a successful life,
I could have simply enjoyed playing the Hero game with her and had fun.
Because I knew her future, I had no choice but to push her away.
I didn’t want to drag her into the Hero game and ruin her bright future.
“Doun-ah, I leveled up to 10.”
10 levels?
I was surprised.
How had she reached 10 so quickly?
Did Na-eun have incredible gaming talent?
I was internally stunned, but kept my expression neutral.
“I got a job too. I’m a priest!”
Priest.
It was the perfect class for our party.
Both for completing the party composition and for clearing the skeleton warriors, archers, and mages on the seventh floor underground.
But… Na-eun was a priest?
“I see.”
I answered coldly.
Indifferently, as if uninterested…
“Doun-ah, I told you I’m a priest.”
“Yeah.”
“Nothing else to say?”
“Uh…”
Na-eun returned to her seat with a disappointed expression.
A guilty feeling stirred in my chest, but there was nothing I could do. It was for her future.
After the fourth period class ended.
Shorter classes than middle school meant more free time.
When all the students were preparing to head to the cafeteria.
Creak.
The homeroom teacher entered.
“Everyone, sit down.”
The teacher stopped the students rushing toward the cafeteria.
“There will be an entrance exam next week.”
“What!?”
“An exam!?”
“Yes, I mentioned it on the first day, but Forest High School assigns class times based on grades.”
I had heard it from the beginning.
I took out the printer I received on the first day.
I had read the content multiple times, but read it again.
1) 4th period (top 20% grades)
2) 6th period (top 40% grades)
3) 8th period (top 60% grades)
4) The rest are required for study-related clubs
“Class numbers are determined by entrance exam scores. Everyone, prepare diligently.”
“Yes…”
“An exam, huh…”
“We just entered high school not long ago…”
Students all expressed disappointment and went down to the cafeteria.
I was about to pack my things and leave the classroom when the teacher called me.
“Doun-ah.”
“Yes?”
“You applied for the club opening this time, right?”
“Yes.”
I had applied for the game club opening.
Because there was no game club before.
“After lunch today, go to the meeting room with your friends. There, we’ll have a simple interview.”
“Understood. Teacher.”
An interview…
I thought it wouldn’t be easy.
It was about creating a game club in high school.
Especially at Forest High School, which valued club activities and allocated a lot of time for them, it was a more important issue.
While eating lunch, I was pondering what to say.
The important thing was to tell them that simply knowing about the Hero game for fun wasn’t enough.
“Doun-ah.”
“Na-eun, why?”
“Can I come to the club opening interview too?”
“No…”
Before I could finish, Eunhye interrupted.
“Na-eun has to go too. She’s been wanting to join the game club.”
“That’s…”
I had no justification to refuse Na-eun’s club membership.
But I couldn’t say that Na-eun would graduate from South Korea’s top prestigious university and live a socially successful life in the future.
“Sigh… Let’s go together.”
“Great!”
“Thanks, Doun-ah!”
**
After eating lunch,
with Eunhye and Na-eun, we headed to the meeting room.
Before that, I had brought some necessary items from the dormitory.
In the meeting room, five teachers were sitting like interviewers.
“Please sit in front of Lee Doun student. The students who came with you too.”
“Yes, teacher.”
“Yes.”
The atmosphere inside the meeting room was heavier than I expected.
After all, it was natural.
Because I had applied to create a game club within the school.
The teachers probably didn’t like it.
“Lee Doun student, no matter how much Forest High School supports students’ dreams, isn’t creating a game club too much?”
Before I could answer, another teacher took over.
“Hmph, that’s right. This is nothing more than saying we’ll play games during club time.”
Knock. Knock.
“Everyone, please be quiet. Let’s first hear from Lee Doun student. Lee Doun student.”
“Yes, teacher.”
“Is your dream to be a pro gamer?”
Pro gamer…
It was ambiguous.
Because pro gamer carried a strong feeling of being like an athlete, active in a specific game.
“My dream is different from being a pro gamer. I just want to make gaming my job.”
“Oh…”
The teachers sitting in front looked at each other and shook their heads simultaneously.
“So, it means gaming becomes a job. How is that possible?”
“I’m playing the Hero game. In there, I can cash out game currency.”
When several teachers showed expressions of doubt, one teacher spoke up.
“I’ve heard. There was news about a game allowing cashing out of game currency.”
“Hmph! Lee Doun student! Gaming is difficult to become a stable job. If game currency becomes money, the game company will directly receive cash and sell game currency.”
The teacher whose expression was worst from the beginning said.
“Normal games are like that. Normal games receive cash for selling not just game currency, but all sellable items like game items.”
“Hmph! That’s right!”
The teacher nodded deeply.
“But, the Hero game is different. They have declared full free-to-play for the game. Whether game currency or items, they don’t receive cash and sell them. Rather…”
“Oh!! How can we believe what the game company says. If they eventually become money, they’ll sell it.”
There was no proper rebuttal for this.
Even 20 years from now, Human Games would not sell game currency or items receiving cash.
That was something I knew because I had regressed, and at the moment, I couldn’t prove it.
How to say it…
In the end, it seemed the issue was the game company’s profit.
“Human Games makes money in another way. Instead of helping smooth transactions when cashing out game currency, they receive a commission fee.”
“How much do they receive? A commission fee?”
“0.1%.”
0.1% was an ambiguous number.
Receiving 1 won as fee for 1000 won transaction.
To get 10,000 won to the game company, you needed to trade 10 million won.
Depending on how you thought about it, the fee could be large or small.
The teacher seemed to think it was small.
The expression got worse and worse.
“With that amount, will the game company be satisfied? If they print data into game currency and receive cash, they’ll earn much more money, right?”
“In the future, they will create and sell dedicated game machines for the Hero game. Of course, the game machines will be sold for money.”
“Hmph…”
The atmosphere was still negative.
I pulled out the trump card I had prepared in advance.
“Teachers, please look at this bank statement.”
I stood up and presented the bank statement to the teachers.
The teachers looked at the statement and showed surprised expressions.
“No way… Is this the amount earned from the game sent by Human Games?”
“Correct.”
8.2 million won from selling game currency.
2.7 million won from cashing out the ring obtained from the game.
Total over 1 billion won.
The bank statement passed from one teacher’s hand to another, and everyone who checked the amount showed surprised expressions.
The atmosphere in the meeting room changed.
The teachers’ expressions that were negative changed.
The teacher’s attitude of casually listening became serious.
At that moment.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
“Hmph!!! Games won’t last long!”
The teacher most negative about the game slammed the desk hard with his hand and stood up from his seat.
“Lee Doun student! As time passes, excessive currency supply in the game will cause the economy to collapse.
Also, severe power inflation will destroy the in-game balance.”
The teacher seemed to have played games in the past.
His words were correct.
If the game lasted long, there would be a lot of currency in the game, and at some point, one item would exceed 100 million won.
“The Hero game is different. Unlike other games, game currency is not supplied nearly infinitely.”
I swallowed dryly because my throat was parched and continued.
“The currency in the Hero game is limited.
The game company cannot increase the currency volume as they wish.
To create gold coins, you have to mine gold in the game.
It is not a system that prints currency like copying data.”
I stopped talking again and swallowed dry saliva.
It seemed because I had spoken too much suddenly.
The teacher sitting in front stood up and gave me a water bottle.
“Thank you, teacher.”
“Haha. Drink up. I also got interested in Lee Doun student’s words.”
“Yes.”
Cool water went down, moistening my throat.
“You mentioned power inflation, but that problem is even easier.”
“Easier!?”
What caused power inflation in the game?
The biggest reason was the system where you revived even after death.
Because you revived even after death,
if time was given, the game character would become stronger.
Conversely, if the character was deleted when they died in the game?
“If you die in the Hero game, the character is deleted.”
“What!? Then…”
The teacher seemed to understand the meaning of character deletion and sat down silently.
Of course, the teacher’s expression was not good.
He glared at me, who kept rebutting his words.
“Haha. It seems everyone has finished asking questions. Lee Doun student, you did well. You may go now.”
“Thank you, teacher.”
I stood up from the chair and bowed deeply towards the teachers sitting in front.
“Tsk tsk. Kids these days. In the end, they’re trying to make easy money by playing games…”
In the quiet meeting room after the interview, the teacher’s monologue was particularly loud.
Enough for everyone inside to hear, not just me.
I sat back down in my seat.
“Teacher.”
“What is it? Did my words reach you? I don’t think you’re thinking it’s wrong.”
“What do you think the future jobs will be like?”
“What? Are you asking me!?”
The teacher’s tone rose.
“As machines develop further, jobs involving physical labor will decrease.”
“Hmph. That’s obvious, isn’t it.”
It was a fact everyone knew.
Many factories were already making products with machines’ power rather than human power.
“Will jobs in mental labor continue? I don’t think so. As AI develops, not only physical labor jobs but also mental labor jobs will decrease.”
AI continued to develop.
From chess to go.
Humans could not beat AI.
The fields where AI achieved greater results than humans were increasing.
Knock. Knock.
“So, is gaming the answer for Lee Doun student? Oh… Tsk tsk.”
“Yes, it is the answer.”
The face of the teacher talking to me became even more furrowed,
and the other teachers watched the conversation with interest.
Na-eun and Eunhye sitting next to me too.