A Game That Doesn't Exist
Mari was utterly dumbfounded by his exclamation. Surely not that polite, handsome Demian? A man who could have any beautiful woman he wanted?
"I-it could just be someone with the same name!"
A regressor who traveled ten years back in time to save humanity, one of the strongest awakened beings in the world—a lolicon?! In her shock and horror, Mari desperately clung to the same-name theory, and Yunjae nodded in frantic agreement.
"R-right? That has to be it, right?"
"...Yeah. It has to be."
While the two of them prayed with all their might that their suspicions were wrong, Eriel pointed toward the Blast Guild Headquarters.
"I want to go see Daddy."
"Yes, of course. I suppose my little rebellion has to end now too..."
A rebellion of about an hour! Playing a dramatic game of house with a five-year-old girl could certainly qualify as a rebellion of sorts.
"Eriel wants to play with Mister tomorrow too!"
"Ah! Tomorrow might be difficult, Eriel!"
"I'm gonna wait in the park until Mister comes!"
"Ah! You can't do that!"
Still, weren't they both incredibly adorable? Yunjae, who spoke so politely even to a child, and the relentlessly stubborn little Eriel.
But why does this kid look so familiar?
Mari stared intently at Eriel before finally asking, "By the way, what's your dad's name?"
Eriel stared back at her with wide, unblinking eyes.
"Ryu Taejun."
"To think Eriel is actually Taejun's daughter."
"But why did he name her Eriel?"
Even after they clocked out of work, the topic dominated their conversation.
"Taejun is originally Korean-American. His ex-wife is Chinese-American too. She has a Korean name, Ryu Taerin, but I guess she prefers Eriel."
At Akemi's explanation—having just returned from her business trip to Japan—Mari and Yunjae nodded, realizing that was a detail they hadn't considered.
"If it's true, Demian is a real scumbag. How could he do that to a fifteen-year-old..."
While nothing was officially confirmed yet, the history of animosity between their respective guilds made it highly likely that she was indeed the one. Taejun was an incredibly rational man; he wouldn't hold a grudge against Demian for no reason. And even if he weren't, any father would find it impossible to tolerate a man his own age dating his teenage daughter.
"But maybe we shouldn't blame Demian entirely!" Akemi chimed in with a counterargument.
"Why not?"
"Eriel has been strictly groomed by Taejun her whole life, so she probably hit puberty and rebelled. She's already this stubborn at five, so imagine her at fifteen! She definitely did everything she was told not to do! And people always fall in love harder when they're rebelling!"
Perhaps this whole situation was simply the byproduct of Eriel's teenage rebellion! As Akemi offered this surprisingly deep analysis,
"We haven't heard Demian's side of the story yet, so I think it's best not to jump to conclusions too quickly!" Yunjae urged, advocating for caution. "We can always curse him out after we hear him!"
Mari burst out laughing at his follow-up. "So you're still planning to curse him out anyway!"
"Ah! But fifteen is really pushing it! I mean, sure, dating a girlfriend in a school uniform is a classic fantasy, but..."
"You jerk, don't tell me you—!"
"Ah! I'm perfectly satisfied with just cosplay!"
At his shameless declaration,
"You know, you're surprisingly dirty-minded." Mari grumbled, her face flushing as she briefly imagined herself in a school uniform.
"Ah! I was thinking of a perfectly wholesome relationship! Why are you looking at me like that?!"
"Eee~? Mari! School uniforms are super cute!" Akemi chimed in, providing cover fire for Yunjae. True to her Gothic Lolita style, she was wearing a sailor-style school uniform today.
Mari shrugged. "Well, it suits you, at least."
"I bet it would look great on Mari too! What do you think?"
"Ah! A blonde in a school uniform!"
"W-what?! If you imagine anything weird, you're dead!"
Flustered by Mari's defensive snapping, Yunjae blushed and quickly tried to change the subject. "A-anyway, while a large age gap is fine, dating a minor is a bit much."
A classic move from the ultimate introvert to deflect the attention!
"So you're saying it's fine if Eriel meets Demian when she's twenty?"
"Of course!"
"Isn't that just a calculated excuse so that you, a seventy-something-year-old, can date someone in their twenties?"
"Ah! How did you—!"
As his true intentions were laid bare, Yunjae's face turned bright red, making Mari burst into laughter. "See! I told you you're dirty-minded!"
"But almost everyone my age is either dead or bedridden! And surely a little fantasy like that is harmless! It's not like it'll ever happen anyway!"
Mari chuckled at his defense—that since it would never happen, there was no harm in dreaming big. "You know, you're incredibly popular. Forget women in their twenties, you could probably date a teenager if you wanted to. Actually, you're probably even more popular with teenagers."
Yunjae had already become a celebrity, not just within the company but everywhere he went. Honestly, with his appearance, it would have been harder for him not to be famous. His delicate, pretty-boy charm was highly appealing to women. Feeling a sudden pang of jealousy, Mari pouted, prompting Yunjae to offer an awkward smile.
"Ah! Actually, I've always been rather popular!"
"Eee~? Look at that confidence!"
"Ah! But it's true! I went to an arts high school, so almost all my friends were girls, and I was a b-boy!"
"I guess that makes sense."
Both Mari and Akemi found themselves nodding in agreement. A pale, delicate, pretty face. An incredibly kind, gentle personality. On top of that, he could dance. It would have been a miracle if he wasn't popular in that kind of environment.
"Then why did you never date anyone?"
A natural question arose. Why on earth was a guy like him a seventy-seven-year-old virgin who had never been in a relationship? He might have been sucked into Mamon Saga at twenty, but since he went to an arts high school, he should have had plenty of time to date during his teenage years.
"Well, when you're young, you don't really know any better. Kids tease you for hanging out with girls, and then you grow older and realize you can't even get a girl to look at you. That's usually when the regret kicks in."
Mari looked at him, slightly skeptical. "...Is there really a case where you can't even meet girls?"
"There are way more people like that around us than you think, Mari. People who can't even strike up a conversation, let alone meet someone."
At Akemi's deadpan remark, Mari nodded blankly. "Well, I guess... that could be true..."
"Anyway, back then, I was too busy worrying about making a living to think about dating. I just assumed I'd get a girlfriend eventually."
"Worrying about making a living?"
"Ah, yes. My family wasn't very well-off..."
Remembering the old, run-down neighborhood where Yunjae used to live, Mari nodded in understanding.
"Besides, when I was in high school, I majored in Korean traditional dance. There were only three boys in the entire department, including me. The rest were all girls. It was actually hard to find any guys around."
Perhaps his slightly feminine way of speaking was a byproduct of that environment.
"Hmm."
"And even before that, I was always surrounded by women. But then..."
Yunjae had truly never expected that he would spend the next fifty-seven years completely alone inside a video game.
"...I ended up like this."
Hearing the tragic tale of a man who was practically forced into a lifetime of solitude despite being in an environment where it should have been impossible to remain single, Mari couldn't help herself.
"Pfft!" She burst into laughter.
"Ah! I really had no idea things would turn out this way! I actually received quite a few confessions back then! I was confessed to over a hundred times before I graduated!"
"Honestly, I would have confessed to you too."
It was a tragic story, yet undeniably hilarious. As Mari giggled at his indignation,
"But there's something I'm curious about!" Akemi said, lifting a piece of fishcake from her bowl.
"Ah! If you hold it vertically like that, it'll drip, Akemi!" Yunjae quickly pulled out a tissue and held it under her hand.
"Hehe, thanks! Anyway, if you were a b-boy, how are you so skinny, Yunjae? Aren't b-boys usually super muscular?"
But he was, after all, the owner of the username "Slender Forearms." True to his claim that it wasn't just his forearms, his entire build was exceptionally delicate and slender.
"Ah, I didn't specialize in power moves. Since I did Korean traditional dance, I eventually transitioned into locking and popping. And my body type just doesn't build muscle easily, so I never really bulked up."
"Ah, I see."
"But I do have abs!"
At that, Akemi narrowed her eyes and looked at Mari. "Mari, you've seen them, right?"
They were currently sitting in an izakaya after work, sharing a meal and a few drinks.
"Pfft!"
Mari, who had been taking a sip of sake, spat it out at Akemi's question. As she fell into a fit of coughing, Yunjae frantically pulled out more tissues.
"Ah! Mari!"
"You dummy! Why on earth would I have seen them?!"
"Eee~? But you live together! And Yunjae saw you before too!"
"Ah! That was—!"
Recalling the frantic misunderstanding from last Sunday, Yunjae's face flushed crimson. Whoosh! Mari's face burned just as hot as the memory rushed back to her.
"T-there's no way! We're just living together to save money..."
Seeing her so flustered, Yunjae also looked incredibly awkward.
"She's right, Akemi. There's no way Mari would ever look at a guy like me..."
Mari's expression softened into a complicated mix of embarrassment and guilt. "...Y-yeah."
But that wasn't it at all. In reality, she felt like she was the one who was sorely lacking. "But..."
Just as Mari was about to say something,
"Actually, you're right! Unless someone makes the first move on Yunjae, nothing will ever happen! Keep that in mind, Mari!" Akemi cut her off.
"Keep what in mind, you dummy?!"
"Ah, Akemi!"
"Eee~? You'd better not let your guard down! I'm just waiting for the right moment to strike!" Akemi teased, openly hinting at her own intentions.
"I-in that case, I shall wait with an open mind!" Yunjae stammered.
"You jerk! You were actually hoping for it?!"
"Ah! A man can dream, Mari!"
While Mari fumed at his honest confession, Akemi clapped her hands together.
"Oh, right! I actually went to Akihabara to look for Mamon Saga!"
"Mamon Saga?"
Just hearing the name made Yunjae's face twist in disgust. Akemi tilted her head. "But there was no such game anywhere."
"Pardon?"
"I thought maybe it was because of the Portal Incident, but even when I asked the hardcore gamers in Akihabara, none of them had ever heard of it. They only knew of a game called Amon Saga."
As a gaming enthusiast herself, Akemi had been deeply intrigued by Mamon Saga, the game Yunjae claimed to have been trapped in. Given the chaos of the Portal Incident, she figured a game from fifty-seven years ago might be impossible to buy, but she at least expected to find some record of it. Yet, contrary to her expectations, even the most obsessive otaku who prided themselves on knowing every game in existence had absolutely no knowledge of Mamon Saga.
"Maybe it just wasn't very popular?"
"I don't know. But if it's a game featuring the exact same monsters that are currently pouring out of the portals, you'd think someone would know about it."
"Hmm..."
"Well, maybe we just haven't found it yet! It might be a North American game, so I asked my friend Joe who lives in the US to look into it. He said he'd let me know!"
Yunjae nodded blankly at Akemi's words. He had never even considered trying to look for Mamon Saga again. But based on what she was saying, did that mean Mamon Saga was a game that had never existed in the first place?
"...It is strange. The monsters coming out of the portals now are the exact same ones from Mamon Saga. If anyone else had played it, there's no way the game would be completely unknown."
"That's why I wanted to try playing it myself. But there was no trace of it in Japan."
At her confirmation, not only Yunjae but Mari also looked deeply unsettled.
If that's the case, then what is going on?
If it was a game that didn't exist in this world, how were they supposed to make sense of this? Yunjae already knew everything about the monsters crossing over through the portals, and he had effortlessly eliminated Kadmus and Halles, the entities destined to bring about the end of humanity.
"There has to be a major connection between our current situation and that game," Mari muttered.
The game world he had lived in, and the monsters from that very world now invading Earth. It was impossible to dismiss it as a mere coincidence.
"..."
Yunjae seemed lost in thought. For once, his expression was unreadable. After a moment, he nodded and spoke up.
"Well, it's all in the past anyway. Besides, I'm much more excited to see what kind of work we'll be assigned next!"
Indeed, it was all in the past. It was also something he didn't fully understand. Seeing that he didn't want to dwell on it, Mari nodded in agreement.
"Well, they did say it would be more active than standard desk work."
"Really?"
"What if it's babysitting? Like, taking care of Eriel!"
At Akemi's suggestion, both Mari and Yunjae stiffened and slowly turned their heads to look at her.
"That would certainly be... a lot more active than desk work..."
"Manager, is there anything we can help with...?"
"Ah, no, it's fine. You've both worked hard enough lately, so please, just rest."
Following Taejun's intervention, the atmosphere in the office had shifted drastically. While assigning tasks to Yunjae made everyone's lives incredibly easy, it also carried the very real risk of getting fired. Once that realization spread from the Marketing Department to the Support Part, everyone began handling their own workloads with fierce independence.
"Okay..."
Though Yunjae understood the situation perfectly, he couldn't help but feel a bit anxious. When he slumped back to his desk, looking thoroughly dejected because he wanted more work, Mari let out a soft chuckle.
"I thought you said this is just what being an office assistant is like anyway."
"But I was hoping for a hectic, bustling office environment where a little romance could blossom..."
"You jerk, are you seriously still obsessed with finding romance?!"
"Ah! Just once before I die!"
At this point, his obsession was no longer surprising.
"If you're that bored, why don't you go see Eriel?"
"But we're on the clock. Besides, I doubt she's actually waiting outside for me. Wouldn't she just come find me directly?"
After all, her father was the Guild Leader.
"True."
Instead of waiting, she would probably just storm the building. In any case, they were both operating under the assumption that their next assignment would be babysitting Eriel.
"If you really have nothing to do, take a look at this."
Mari slid a document toward him.
"What is this?"
"It's basically a performance evaluation report. It compiles all the complaints and compliments regarding how the guild members handle their missions. I think the Support Part uses this to rank and grade the hunters."
"Ah, I see. I didn't know we had something like this."