A New Beginning

Midterm exam day.

It was easy. The questions came apart without any real thought. A few of them, scattered here and there, I wouldn't have solved if I hadn't studied with Lee Naeun... but even those weren't much.

The last day of midterms. Right through the final subject—easy. At this rate, I was going to score a hundred across the board.

The bell rang. Once every exam was over and the rest of the students started heading home, I met up with Eunhye and Lee Naeun in the classroom where we'd been studying together.

"Doun, let's check our answers."

"Huh? The teacher's going to go over the exam in class anyway."

"Still, aren't you curious?"

"Let's just forget about the tests and rest today."

I wasn't curious how many points I'd scored. I had no intention of living the way I used to. This time around, I wasn't going to grind myself down studying for a good university and a job at some conglomerate. I didn't want to waste the precious time I'd been given a second time on something like that.

That didn't mean I was going to throw my life away, either. The future still mattered. And that future was something Looking for a Hero would guarantee. One way or another, grades were not my concern in this life.

"Then! What should we do for fun now?"

Naeun stuffed her exam papers back into her bag and asked brightly.

"Hang out?"

"The exams are over—we have to hang out! Were you just going to go home?"

I had to lock my neck in place to keep it from nodding on reflex. Of course I'd planned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to go straight home once the tests were done. Extra time meant extra fox hunting, and I'd intended to put every minute of it to work.

"Uh... then what do we do?"

What did middle schoolers even do for fun? I hadn't hung out in high school either. It wasn't until university that I got dragged to a few drinking parties, and even then I never really fit in with my classmates.

"Hmm... let's go to the park!"

"The park?"

I'd been secretly hoping for something impressive, but I guess hanging out as a middle schooler didn't amount to much. Naeun looked thoroughly pleased with herself, as if she'd made an excellent choice.

Was it because of Eunhye? Going somewhere crowded would be hard with her there. The park bench we'd used as a dinner spot might have been the best option they had...

On the way to the park, we bought an armful of snacks and drinks. I walked ahead, leaving Doun behind with both hands full of bags.

"Naeun, wait up."

Doun's voice came from behind me.

"Hurry! I'll wipe down the bench."

I picked up my pace. I wanted to get the spot ready before Doun and Eunhye arrived. I sat down on the bench I'd already wiped clean and waited for them.

Doun came into view, struggling under the weight of a bag in each hand, with Eunhye walking beside him.

How had Doun gotten so close with Eunhye? Most students didn't go anywhere near her...

Come to think of it, there had been a point when Doun suddenly started feeling older. Back then—when Kim Juho had been bothering me—Doun had stepped in. I'd been watching him ever since. There was gratitude in it, and there was guilt, too. Rumors had gone around that Kim Juho was targeting Doun, and I'd told a teacher about it more than once. Nothing came of it. So this time I'd been planning to push harder. To demand they actually do something. To tell them to help him.

That had been the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠plan. And then, at some point, Doun changed.

He'd gained room to breathe. Until now, something about Doun had always been off. He didn't mix with the other kids. He walked alone. And even then, he never seemed to have any space left in himself. The Doun in front of me now... I couldn't put it into words, but he was clearly different. He'd get flustered, but he still played along with whatever I said. Sometimes the boy I'd only ever seen as younger than me felt more grown-up than I was.

Thud.

Doun set the snacks and drinks on the bench. They must have been heavier than they looked—the sound was dull and solid. He opened the bags one by one and arranged everything so it would be easy to grab.

"Eunhye, Naeun, go ahead and eat."

"Okay."

"Thanks."

I picked a piece of chocolate from the spread and put it in my mouth. Sweetness spread across my tongue, and my mood lifted with it.

I wondered if Doun had enjoyed the chocolate I'd given him. After I handed it over, I never heard whether he'd actually eaten it.

"Doun."

"What?"

"Was that chocolate I gave you any good?"

"Huh?"

Doun went rigid, his eyes darting anywhere but at me. He'd grown more mature, but a lot of the old Doun was still in there. Just like this. A laugh slipped out of me.

"Naeun, what do you do after school?"

"After school?"

He was clearly trying to change the subject, but I went along with it. It had been so long since Doun had asked me anything.

"I go to cram school..."

"That must be rough."

Doun said it with a look of genuine sympathy. The flustered boy from a moment ago was gone. He met my eyes and offered an awkward, comforting smile.

"It's not that bad. It's just what I always do... What about you? What do you do after school?"

"I play a game."

"What game?"

"Looking for a Hero."

"Huh?"

Looking for a hero, all of a sudden? The question came out before I could stop it.

"Ah. That's the name of the game. Looking for a Hero."

"Ah... that's a really weird name."

"Yeah, it is. Whoever made it has zero naming sense."

I shifted my gaze to Eunhye, sitting beside Doun, who hadn't touched a single snack. She didn't leave his side for even a moment. I found myself wondering when the two of them had gotten this close. They were so close it sparked a little jealousy.

"Eunhye, what do you do after school?"

"Looking for a Hero."

"Wait, you two play the same game?"

Eunhye nodded.

"Eunhye and I play together every day."

So that was why they were so close. I could feel a bond between them that I had no way of stepping into.

"Is it fun?"

"Not particularly."

"Then why do you play?"

"That's... just because..."

Doun mumbled his way around the answer.

"I see."

The sun was going down, so I stood up from the bench. Doun and Eunhye walked me all the way home.

The front door clicked open, and I stepped inside.

"Naeun, did you do well on the exams?"

"Yes."

"I let you skip cram school during exam period so you could study with your friends. You know what happens if you didn't do well, right?"

"Don't worry. I did well."

"Good. You worked hard, sweetheart. Get some rest."

"Okay."

I went into my room and turned on the computer. I installed Looking for a Hero. Once the install finished and I started making a character, a survey popped up.

This game was different from others. The fact that it was completely free was strange enough, but the questionnaire you had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to fill out during character creation was even stranger.

I finished creating my character and logged in.

"Pretty simple..."

I'd played a few games back in elementary school. I wasn't as busy then, so I had the occasional hour to spare. Now... I didn't have that kind of time. Today was the one day I had a sliver of it, because the exams were over.

"Do I just click the old man?"

I accepted the quest and went to hunt rabbits.

I died.

"Ah..."

The quest from the first NPC I'd met. Collect rabbit pelts. Anyone could see it was a tutorial-level task. And I'd died anyway.

The more shocking part came next. I clicked my ID to log back in—and the character I'd just created was gone.

"Whoa..."

I closed the game. I didn't particularly regret it. Starting tomorrow... I wouldn't have time to play anyway.

After walking Naeun home, I got back to the apartment.

"Oppa, what about dinner?"

"I already ate."

"Did you do well on the exams?"

"Yeah."

"Wait—you did well!?"

"Yeah."

"That doesn't make any sense! No way that's true."

I realized all over again how much closer I'd gotten with my little sister. In the past, Hyemi had never talked to me like this. She made an awkward face watching me just give a faint smile at her own words.

"Oppa. If you're hungry, eat the snacks on the table."

"Where'd the snacks come from?"

"I just bought them on the way home."

The table was covered in all kinds of snacks. I'd already eaten more than enough at the park and didn't want any, but I picked one up anyway, for her sake, and headed for my room.

"Thanks, Hyemi. I'll enjoy it."

"Mm..."

I went into my room and logged into Looking for a Hero. The exams were over, and the weekend started tomorrow.

"Time to make up for everything I couldn't do."

I'd been studying at school and playing from the evening on, but it still wasn't enough. Level the character fast, get a foothold—that foothold was money. There had been a TV program once with a Looking for a Hero player on it. The emperor had recognized him, granted him a baron's title and a territory. The money he'd made renting that land out to other players... If I wanted to get there too, I had to start power-leveling now.

I logged in and waited a moment. Seolhwa came in.

We'd been hunting nothing but foxes for a week. Even so, it was better than rabbits or deer. There ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were plenty of them, and that beat wandering around looking for something to kill.

Except.

There wasn't a single fox in sight. Had the village youths cleaned them out?

Looking for a Hero wasn't like other games. This place was a world of its own. The young men of the village went out hunting on a regular cycle—partly for meat, and partly to thin the numbers of anything that threatened the village.

Rabbits, deer, foxes—and then wolves.

We weren't ready to hunt wolves. Even in the future, Looking for a Hero was infamous for offering beginners no mercy. Low-level didn't mean easy. The hunting grounds around the village were proof enough.

Deer were far harder than rabbits. The deer themselves were stronger, but every so often a stray wolf came down from higher ground. Foxes were far harder than deer. Foxes were aggressive—they attacked on sight. With deer, you didn't have to manage distance at all. A deer wouldn't come at you just because you'd gotten close. Foxes were different. Fail to control the gap while you were already fighting one, and you'd be taking on two at once. And if a third one came running? Character death. Meaning character deletion.

And wolves? Wolves were the butchers of the beginner zone. Each one was powerful on its own, and once you stepped into their territory, they lived and fought as a pack. Call it ten times harder than hunting foxes.

Level 13. We'd outgrown the range where deer could still carry us. Foxes or wolves. Those were the only two options left.

I walked through the village clicking every NPC I could find, talking to them one by one. It was a small farming village, but there were over a hundred NPCs, and meeting them one at a time took a long while.

And then.

This was it. I'd been sure there would be people in the village looking for work. I hit option 1 with no small amount of satisfaction.

I chose 4.

Five silver... that wasn't a small sum. In real-world cash, it was worth five hundred thousand won. I hesitated at a number that large. I left the prompt open and asked Seolhwa whether she was willing to spend five silver on a full day of hunting.

The exams had just ended, and tomorrow was the start of the weekend. For today, at least, Mother wouldn't say anything about me gaming through the night.

I selected option 2 and hired five village youths in total.