The Settlement Quest

"Uh... we've got a show tomorrow, so we'll get going."

"Huh? Unnie, we have a show?"

"Shh. Out."

"Ah... goodbye. See you next time..."

The air had gone awkward, and the three members of Lovely slipped out of the house.

"..."

Even so, Lim Sarang couldn't lift her head. I scratched at my hair and tried to put my thoughts in order. So I'm her ideal type? My face? Am I actually good-looking?

Not long ago I'd heard Windy go on about some system or other and say she'd be touching my face up a little. Remembering that, it made a certain kind of sense. Standards of beauty are never the same for everyone — a face that's handsome to one person can be merely all right to another. Windy had told me she'd chosen a face close to the ideal according to the tastes of pretty Korean women in the top 0.01 percent, or something like that. And Lim Sarang, it was no exaggeration to say, sat in the 0.01 percent of even that 0.01 percent. Maybe that was why the face had ended up being one she liked, too. Windy hadn't said she'd change it all that much, either, so perhaps my original features were already near enough to what Lim Sarang wanted.

The tangle in my head refused to come undone.

"Um..."

"Yes?"

Before I could speak, Lim Sarang went first, careful and quiet.

"Please don't worry about it too much. I mean it exactly the way it sounds — your face is just so my type, Siwoo... I'd only ever imagined it. That I'd like a man with a face like this. And the first time I saw your stream, it was exactly the face I'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠only ever pictured..."

"Ah. So that's why you've been watching so much!"

"No, no. It wasn't only because of that... Watching you pull five-stars, and watching you play, was fun too."

"Well, I'm honored."

The shyness in the way she said it set me at ease instead. I doubted any man alive would have felt otherwise. It wasn't quite the same as a woman this beautiful telling me she liked me, but my looks had landed dead center on her taste. My shoulders came up, and confidence rose to fill them.

"You're my ideal type too, though, Sarang. So we're each other's type!"

"...Yes."

"Then let's get closer, while we're at it. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠truth is, I hesitated. I wanted to, but you're a celebrity... I was afraid that trying to get close might end up hurting you."

"Oh — no! I wanted us to be close too."

"Anyway..."

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. If she'd been drawn to me as a man, she would have mentioned my personality, or something else, instead of saying my face was her type. I didn't let my heart race ahead. Honestly, I was more drawn to Lim Sarang's looks and figure myself. I hadn't spent enough time with her yet to feel anything you could call rational.

Or had I? The more I sat with it, the more I thought I liked her personality, too. Either way, we'd arrived at a relationship where getting closer was perfectly aboveboard, and for now that was enough to satisfy me.

And then the next problem occurred to me.

"I'm a dead man tomorrow..."

"...I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have brought the members."

"Nah, that's not it. Thanks to you we actually got a housewarming mood going, and the truth game, too..."

"..."

This time the awkward silence didn't last. We met each other's eyes and smiled.

"Shall we clean up together?"

"Ah, no need. If you pay, this house cleans itself. There's an automatic function."

"Whoa. I'd only ever heard about it. So it really works."

"It's a game, after all."

It was the first moment I knew more about Haven than Lim Sarang did, and I couldn't help standing a little taller. But once the talk turned to the game, something odd occurred to me.

"But it's a game — why did you go to the bathroom earlier?"

"Pfft. We actually talked about that earlier, too."

"Really?"

"Yes. Haven doesn't have bodily functions at all, but that doesn't mean you can't. Outside combat zones, if you focus and will it, it comes out as water."

"Ah."

"Isn't it amazing?"

"This game really does have every strange thing imaginable."

"That's why I like it."

Looking at Haven, Lim Sarang's eyes held a genuine, unguarded affection.

"I know this sounds like a complaint from someone with a full stomach, but celebrity life has a lot of hard parts. There are times it feels like I'm living a life that isn't mine — I don't know how else to put it. Our group, at least, gets to work according to each of our personalities, but an idol is a product, when it comes down to it. So we tend to steer clear of anything the fans might not like."

I nodded. I'd never lived a life like that, but even a rough pass over the schedule didn't sound like something a human being ought to be doing. A whole day spent being looked at by other people. How exhausting that must be. Even I got tired streaming only half a day.

"In Haven I can do whatever I want, comfortably. Go where I feel like going. Sleep when I feel like sleeping. I can breathe a little."

"I'll hang out with you. Stream off. No pressure."

"I'd like that."

I wrapped the night up thinking it had been a housewarming I'd come away from with quite a lot. The stream was off, the guests were gone, and all that remained was saying goodbye to Lim Sarang.

"Oh. It's already past three..."

"Yes..."

"You must've missed the last train. There is a spare room, though..."

"..."

"Haha. Right — it's a game. Get home safe!"

"Yes. See you next time! I'll enjoy the stream."

Watching Lim Sarang leave the house, I logged out of the game as well.

I consider myself a positive person. Before I met Windy I was the most negative human being on earth, but once the money showed up, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠turned surprisingly positive. It had been a housewarming stream, and still, the moment word got out that Lim Sarang and Lovely were on, a hundred and fifty thousand people were watching — and right in front of all of them, I'd been publicly branded as her ideal type. Looks ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and all. I'd handed those furious viewers the gift of an ended stream and shut the game off, and I wasn't the least bit afraid, nor worried about the fallout.

"Hehe."

If anything, it made me laugh. I slept the sweetest sleep of my life, woke up, and turned the game back on with an easy heart. Viewers surged in as if they'd been waiting.

Yesterday's final chat, still scrolling up like magic. I ignored it just enough and offered a greeting.

"Good morning, everyone~"

"What are you people saying? That's the kind of talk that gets you in serious trouble. Sarang is an idol. Keep it up and I'll sue you and garnish your IQ."

We weren't officially dating or anything, so there was no need to sweat it. Acting as if I had a guilty spot would only look stranger. In reality, nothing between Lim Sarang and me had changed. Her saying I was her type didn't mean we'd agreed to do anything about it. We could just go on the way we were. A meal now and then. A trip, maybe...

"All right, all right. Everybody quit bothering Sarang while she quietly plays Haven, and let's get back to the game's story."

I steamrolled past the viewers who sensed something was off. Of course, I couldn't let it pass for nothing.

"I'm asking this as a favor. So in return!"

"Soon. Four-star. I'm going into the SS Doom War. With a special option."

Honestly, I hadn't been planning to pull a four-star yet. I figured my specs were already more than enough. But I thought it would take at least this much to drag so many people's attention somewhere else. And I was curious.

"I'm curious what kind of four-star SS special option will come out, too. Honestly, I did think speccing up my unique options right this moment was overkill. Still — a level 11 five-star ought to be soloed too, right?"

"Well, a few inquiries have come in about level 11 five-star accessories, too, I think. While I'm at it, I'll lock my spec-up plan for the level 11 bracket in at about that level."

Tossing out empty promises as I went, I was relieved that the talk about Lim Sarang had more or less faded. Today, I decided, I'd take care of the basic things I was supposed to do once I got to Haven.

"I didn't know this, but apparently when you first start the game you can receive a Settlement Quest? They say you have to clear that before the quests pop for the content that unlocks as you level..."

The settlement quest was nothing grand. It existed for users who owned nothing at all: the User Management Bureau gave you a quest, and if you came back having finished it, you received a simple weapon or a piece of armor, and some money. Even a quest that amounted to very little gave experience, and it served to make growth a little easier through the stretch up to around level 10. As I'd just said, you also had to clear it as a baseline before you could enjoy the new growth content that unlocked one piece at a time from level 11 on. So I went to receive it.

At level 12.

The User Management Bureau was inside the Industrial District, too.

"You've come... to receive the settlement quest?"

The employee looked at me with an utterly dumbfounded expression. From the perspective of an NPC — a resident of this place — it was probably a little absurd.

"Hmm... you own a home?"

"Yes... I bought it a few days ago. Does that mean I can't take the quest?"

"..."

The employee thought for a moment, then put a call through to somewhere.

"You also have a record of already clearing through the level 1 five-star dungeon..."

"Yes..."

"And your items, as well..."

"...Yes."

Brow furrowed, he searched something with great concentration. Then a message popped up.

"There. You've completed them."

"...What?"

Just like that, the quests were finished in a few clicks.