A New Beginning

Six in the morning. Too early to be heading to school.

Kim Eunhye appeared.

"Uh…"

"Hey."

"Were you… waiting for me?"

"No."

I said it while packing the school supplies I'd spread across the ground into my bag. Kim Eunhye's eyes still held a flicker of suspicion.

I slung my bag over my shoulder and stood.

"I live here. Do you live here too?"

I asked as if I didn't already know. At that, Kim Eunhye gave a small nod and started toward school.

"Let's walk together…"

I fell into step beside her. She didn't say a word.

"Don't you… find me weird?"

"What's weird about you?"

Burn scars might have been fair game for middle-school mockery, but to someone who had already lived past thirty, they looked entirely different. Seeing Kim Eunhye hidden behind that oversized mask, I just felt sorry for her.

Maybe it was my reaction. She said nothing as she walked beside me.

Silence. An awkward silence settled between us, thick and stubborn. I needed to say something — anything — but my mind went white, and not a single thought would come.

Step. Step.

Step. Step.

"So… um…"

I opened my mouth and closed it again, the sounds barely more than a breath. By the time I managed even that, we had reached the school gate, and we went our separate ways.

Ding-dong. Ding-dong.

"Yes! We're done!"

"PC bang after this?"

"I'm in! Let's go!"

The moment class ended, students poured out of the building like a receding tide. I packed my things at a leisurely pace. Eunhye would be coming out late anyway.

Even taking my time, I still beat her. She emerged even later than I had, and we walked out through the school gate together without a word.

Step. Step.

Step. Step.

A silence almost too heavy to bear wrapped itself around us. I needed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to say something, but still nothing came to mind.

What do girls even talk about? Makeup, maybe?

No — Eunhye probably doesn't wear makeup.

Whoa. Good thing I didn't bring up makeup.

While I was busy running every possible disaster through my head, we arrived at the apartment complex and stepped into the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠elevator together. Walking side by side on the street had been hard enough. The elevator was worse.

Inside, even the air itself seemed to have stopped moving. I snuck a glance at Eunhye through the elevator mirror.

Ah…

I hadn't noticed while we were walking, both of us staring straight ahead — but she was just as awkward as I was. Her hands wouldn't stay still. They wandered restlessly: clasping together, picking at her uniform, hitching her bag higher on her shoulder.

Ding.

The elevator arrived. The doors slid open, and the air that had gone cold and still inside began to move again.

"See you…"

I stepped out and raised a hand in an awkward little wave.

"Yeah."

That last goodbye was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the entirety of our conversation. The elevator doors closed, and I stuffed my waving hand into my pocket. My fingers found the texture of the thirty-thousand-won bill I'd been fidgeting with all day.

I'd originally planned to ask her to get tteokbokki on the way home. Instead I'd spent the entire walk worrying about how to say it, and then we were already saying goodbye.

"Is something wrong with me…?"

I had never been this bad at talking to people. After the Cyber Sleuths exposed my identity and I spent years hiding from the world, dealing with other human beings had gotten even harder.

"Hah…"

"Oppa! You're home!? Why are you sighing the second you walk in?"

"It's nothing."

Family. Talking to family was easy. After I'd lost my job at the conglomerate, the only people I'd spoken to for years were Mom and my little sister — even if it was only a handful of times a month.

"Hyemi. Want some tteokbokki?"

"For real!?"

"Yeah. Hang on — I'll go buy some."

"I'm coming with you, Oppa!"

I bought fifteen thousand won worth of tteokbokki, kimbap, and sundae. The remaining fifteen thousand I tucked carefully back into my pocket, saved for the day I finally got the chance to eat with Eunhye.

"Oppa. This tteokbokki is insanely good."

"Yeah, it is."

"The kimbap is amazing too!!"

Hyemi stuffed a piece of kimbap dripping with tteokbokki sauce into her mouth and let out a moan of pure delight.

"Hyemi, don't talk with your mouth full."

"Huh? Why are you talking like a grown-up?"

"Like what?"

"What do you mean, like what? You're doing a whole adult impression. Your mental age is younger than mine, hehe."

"That's… fair."

I knew she was joking. A serious answer slipped out anyway, because she wasn't wrong. In middle school, and later even in my thirties, I had always been mentally far behind my little sister.

"Sorry."

Hyemi startled and apologized at once.

"I was just kidding."

"Ah! I knew something felt weird all of a sudden!"

She polished off the remaining kimbap in record time and started cleaning up. I tried to help, but she waved me off so earnestly that I gave up and went to my room.

My personality… was this going to be all right?

When I became a university student, I started to feel that something was off about me. I was different from ordinary people — gloomy, and hopelessly bad with others. I only understood why later.

Puberty. The years when a person's mind takes shape. I had spent those years living under school violence. Maybe that was it — maybe spending the season when a self is supposed to form trapped inside harassment and fear was what did it. It was as if a hole had been torn through my emotions. My personality had come out wrong.

Then the Cyber Sleuths leaked my personal information, and what was already broken got worse.

"Hah… I've got a lot to do. Fix my personality, get revenge on Kim Juho, take care of my family…"

I steeled myself and turned on the computer. To play Hero. If I wanted my family's happiness — and that was the first priority, always — then succeeding in Hero wasn't optional. It was essential.

I took the quest and went to collect rabbit pelts.

This damn realism…

If this were reality, it would actually make sense. In the real world, mastering rabbit hunting in a single day, wolf hunting in a single day, and orc hunting in a week would be absurd. Jumping to the next stage that fast was only possible because this was a game.

Even so. Herowas a game, wasn't it? Why did they make it like this?

I spent another day grinding rabbit pelts.

My level hadn't moved, but the endless grinding had piled up money. Converted to in-game value, about forty-five thousand won.

Later on, Hero's currency would be treated as equal to real-world money — or even more valuable. There would be an exchange rate that got adjusted in between, the way currencies are, but you would always be able to convert it into real cash.

"So in two days I've made forty-five thousand won."

One in the morning. I logged off early.

Tomorrow, too — I wanted to walk to school with Kim Eunhye.

This time I didn't scatter school supplies across the ground. No clumsy acting. I just waited for Kim Eunhye.

"Uh…"

"Hey."

"Were you waiting?"

"Yeah. Figured we could walk to school together."

That was the entirety of our conversation this morning. That was fine. We were both just bad at talking. If we kept walking to and from school together, we'd get closer eventually. This was only the third time, but even I could feel the awkwardness starting to fade.

The tedious school day ended, and it was time to go home. I packed my bag slowly and headed out.

And then—

"Doun."

Lee Naeun. I ran into her in the hallway.

She would be beautiful in the future, too, but even as a middle schooler she was pretty. I had fallen for that face, and I had tried to protect her from Kim Juho's gang. The result had been school violence.

In middle school, and in high school, I had never regretted what I'd done back then. I had loved her.

What I regretted was the moment she refused to help me.

When everyone was pointing fingers, when they said I was just jealous of a classmate who'd made it, I contacted her. Please, I asked. Testify for me. Tell them about Kim Juho's violence.

She refused. Said she didn't remember.

The betrayal I felt in that moment…

"Doun. What are you thinking about? Want to get tteokbokki together?"

It had been like this in the past, too. I had gone to the snack shop with Lee Naeun a few times. I had been happy — just being together, just sitting across from her and eating, had been enough.

"Sorry."

"Huh? Is something wrong?"

I don't want to get close to her.

"I'm sorry. I have to go."

I shoved my things into my bag and ran home as if I were fleeing.

"Hah— hah—"

"Oppa. Is someone chasing you? What's going on?"

Hyemi. If Lee Naeun was the nightmare of my past, my little sister was its blessing. After living through the future, the way I looked at people had changed. I could see, with perfect clarity, who actually mattered.

"Hah— hah— Hyemi. Want something tasty?"

I got the words out between breaths.

"Huh? Oppa, drink some water first."

She brought a bottle from the fridge.

Gulp. Gulp. The cold water went down, and I looked at her.

"Let's get tteokbokki!"

I spent the remaining fifteen thousand won in my pocket on Hyemi, too.

"Tteokbokki is the best!!"

Tteokbokki, sundae, and fried snacks — this time I bought the fried stuff instead of kimbap. With sauce smeared around her mouth, Hyemi kept letting out little gasps of delight.

"I love this so, so much!!"

Could something really make her that happy? Even after we'd finished eating, she hummed to herself, bouncing around the room.

This life, I was going to buy her lots of good food. Not just tteokbokki — even the expensive stuff. And for that, I needed to grind. In the game.

After we ate, I went to my room and logged into Hero.

I selected the first option.

The options had gotten harder — maybe I'd built up some trust. I ignored the second one and tapped the first.

Deer? How was I supposed to hunt something that dangerous? If I died by accident, I'd have to raise my character from scratch. I'd have to grind house-cleaning all over again. I'd have to gather rabbit pelts all over again. Every coin I'd saved so far would be gone.

Once a bank for players was built in the future, I could deposit it there — but no such company existed yet. Death meant game over. Leaving the money with an NPC was useless, too. If I died and created a new character, they wouldn't recognize me.

"Maybe I should make a friend and leave it with them."

That was a gamble as well. What if that friend died? The moment they did, the money would vanish with them. All things considered, rabbit hunting was the right call for me right now.

"This is so boring. I wish someone would carry me."

If I could buy paid items the way you could in other games, I would have found a way to get money from Mom and used it. But Hero was completely free-to-play. There was no payment window at all. Even when they implemented perfect virtual reality in the future, it was still completely free. Of course, you still had to buy the access device.

"Ah… I wanted to make it to one silver coin before bed. Shame."

One in the morning. I lay down in bed. I thought of my empty pocket.

How was I going to get closer to Kim Eunhye? I'd planned to buy her tteokbokki and win her over that way. Should I ask Mom for more money? If we had something in common, it would be easier to get close…

Sleep crashed over me, and the thoughts stopped.

Beep. Beep.

I woke up early. She and I did have something in common.

I ate breakfast in a hurry and left the house. Kim Eunhye went to and from school at consistent times. Knowing that, I barely had to wait today.

"Hey. Sorry I left first yesterday."

We hadn't promised to meet. And yet I apologized — as if walking to and from school together were a given. As if I ought to be sorry enough to apologize whenever we couldn't.

"No… ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it's fine."

On the way to school, I carefully brought it up.

"Eunhye."

"Yeah?"

"Do you know the game Hero?"

Her eyes went round. She knew it.

It had been half a gamble. I didn't know when Kim Eunhye had started playing Hero.

"You play that game?"

"Yeah!"

Perfect.

She was going to become the strongest swordsman among players in the future. If she helped me in the early game, deer hunting would be possible right away.

"Eunhye, how long have you been playing Hero?"

"I… it's been a few months."

"Really? That's great!"

If she'd been leveling for a few months, she'd have the funds to kit me out with basic gear. Of course, I wasn't planning to take it for free. I could buy her good food in return, or if she wanted, I was willing to give her cash. Money invested in Hero wasn't something I would ever regret spending.