Chapter 9
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Wouldn't It Be Okay to Have at Least One Adventure in Life?
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Tae-jin sank deep into thought. He only had two choices. It was a stark, clear-cut dilemma.
Should he play it safe, sticking close to the Gate and patiently waiting for the day he could cross it? Wait indefinitely for that uncertain moment?
Or should he take the riskier, tougher path and follow old man Richer to the Empire's capital?
'Come to think of it, just tagging along with Richer doesn't seem all that dangerous.'
Tae-jin imagined himself twenty, maybe thirty years from now, still unable to cross the Gate.
His face wrinkled and weathered, sitting there blankly staring out at the Great Plains. And by his side would stand a beautiful girl with rabbit ears.
...For a moment, he was tempted. Just picturing those rabbit ears brought a flicker of comfort to his heart.
But the chances of that bunny-eared beauty—who hadn't shown up in five long years—suddenly appearing at his side were slim to none. Tae-jin erased her from his mind.
Without the rabbit ears, his imagined future self looked like the most pathetic old man in the world.
Would there be any value in rotting away like a withered old tree?
And if he reached sixty like that, what would he regret most?
The answer was crystal clear. His thirtieth birthday. Today. Tonight would be the day that split his life in two, the magical moment that could upend everything forever.
A choice that would never come again.
'Life's too precious to just sit here doing nothing.'
What tormented Tae-jin most about life beyond the Gate wasn't the lack of internet or overseas trips.
Excluding the fact that he'd learned magic, he'd made zero progress in five whole years. That was the real agony.
The first three years of studying magic had been fine. He was making progress, bit by bit.
Richer had hyped him up as a genius, boosting his confidence sky-high. And learning magic itself had been fun and straightforward.
But the last two years, after he'd learned all he could? Simple way to put it: a life of self-destruction.
No growth, just staring blankly at the plains, fiddling with boring games day in, day out.
If those games had suited his tastes, he might've lost himself in them without noticing time pass. But Tae-jin's preference was online games.
He didn't mind stepping outside a bit, but online, he loved clashing with other players.
How fun would an RPG be if he could whale on it with billions? Every time he played console games, an inexplicable sense of deprivation hit him.
These days, he couldn't even buy DLC, let alone whale.
Money piled up, but it didn't feel real.
The amounts were so massive they lost all sense of reality. No internet banking to check balances, no casual shopping.
In this situation, stacking cash was no different from the toy money he'd gotten playing Monopoly as a kid.
Lately, he couldn't even sleep lying in bed. He wondered if this was really how to live.
It wasn't a life he'd chosen, but the uncertainty kept him tossing and turning all night.
'Staying put is boring as hell.'
He'd wasted the golden five years of his twenties.
He pictured that elf's blank expression as she talked about "crossing the Gate in search of adventure."
Back then, he'd laughed it off as childish. Now, Tae-jin understood that sentiment better than anyone.
His mind was tilting toward following Richer.
Men never fully outgrow their inner child, no matter the age. And "adventure" was the word that shook them deepest.
'Wouldn't it be okay to have at least one adventure in my life?'
Tae-jin, ever the pragmatist, decided to set practicality aside just this once.
Richer opened his eyes to find Tae-jin's face right there. He'd dragged a chair over, sitting with a hollow, exhausted look—like he hadn't slept a wink all night.
Tae-jin cut straight to it.
"Old man. I've decided. I'm coming with you."
"Your face tells me you wrestled with it hard."
"Yeah. Didn't sleep a bit."
Tae-jin let out a deep, profound sigh before plunging ahead.
"No matter how I turn it over, this feels like the path with no regrets."
Richer nodded, studying Tae-jin's face. There was faint drowsiness and haze around his eyes, but they burned clear and sharp.
As a senior in life, all he could do was nod and back the choice.
"Right. Trying something means no regrets looking back."
"Exactly. If I head out with you now, suffer like hell, come back empty-handed, and die an old man in Gate Frontier City, I won't regret it much."
Richer nodded again, and Tae-jin kept going.
"But if I stay here, safe and peaceful, growing old... I feel like I'll never actually die of old age."
"Not dying of old age? Planning immortality, then?"
Richer chuckled. But Tae-jin's expression stayed dead serious.
"No. I'll drown in regret and end up killing myself someday. I'm sick of sitting still, leaving it to others. Beyond sick— I can't take it anymore. For real."
Tae-jin's whole body shuddered as he spoke.
Old man Richer smiled broadly, wrinkles deepening around his eyes and across his face. But those lines didn't look ugly.
It was the smile of a man who'd lived a life full of regrets, now gazing at a young one choosing a different path.
"Good call. We leave in six days. Get ready."
"Got it, old man. I'll give you the money—handle the shopping for me, will you? First time traveling like this; no clue what we need."
"Sure. I'll take care of it all. Just prep your mind."
Richer laughed heartily. His face looked like a young man's fresh into adulthood.
Soon after, everyone from last night's drinking session had left. Tae-jin was alone in the house.
Having poured out his dilemma to the old man, now it was time to sleep.
He headed to the master bedroom and lay down quietly. Normally, loneliness or vague anxiety would have him tossing for thirty minutes, an hour even.
But today, his head hit the pillow, and he was out. Didn't even pull up the covers.
It was the deepest, most peaceful sleep in five years—no trace of worry.
In his dream, Tae-jin strolled leisurely through a park overlooking a lake. A perfectly serene weekend.
Waking up, Tae-jin started on what preparations he could manage. Richer would handle the basics, but support from folks around or the military would make the trip way more comfortable.
First up: Sergeant Lee Hong-cheol. The reaction wasn't great.
"You're going with old man Richer all the way to the Empire's capital?"
"Yeah."
"You know the Empire's in conflict with Kaiso Kingdom, right? And you're crossing the border anyway?"
"It's fine. Richer says he has connections in the Empire. Kaiso won't harm a Korean citizen, and the Empire side he'll handle."
Hong-cheol's face soured as he listened.
"Snap out of it and wait a bit longer here. That researcher guy was talking yesterday—said hope's on the horizon."
It hadn't been long into the conversation, but Tae-jin's face was creased in a grimace hard to look at. Hong-cheol could treat it lightly since it wasn't his wait, but it was anything but light for Tae-jin.
"That 'hope' has been the same size for five years. Hasn't budged an inch. If anything, it's shrunk. No meaningful results from all those experiments."
Hong-cheol crossed his arms, advising earnestly.
"Don't forget—this ain't Earth. Dangers everywhere, unknown. If you're caught, no diplomatic niceties to bail you out. The Gate area's Earth-like, but beyond the plains? Pure wilderness."
Tae-jin's expression was even graver than Hong-cheol's.
"Hong-cheol. If I can't get home and rot here another ten years, I'll definitely kill myself."
"You're in therapy, right? We'll up the sessions or whatever. Get a grip. Don't do something stupid."
"Dude, that's not the issue. Stress isn't the problem. It's me decaying. Not just mentally—the body's going too."
Hong-cheol paced slowly around Tae-jin as he spoke.
"So what, asking the military for help? Ride in an armored vehicle or something?"
"That'd be ideal. Talk to them for me? Might be surprised what they offer."
"Probably a no-go, but I'll pass the word. Wait here."
"Thanks, man. You're the only one. When I get home, drinks on me—big time."
"Don't need it. Just stay safe. No accidents."
Hong-cheol opposed every point, but Tae-jin didn't mind. He knew it all came from genuine worry.
Tae-jin let out a deep sigh.
Of course, the military had no intention of letting Tae-jin go easily.
If he offed himself from stress, that'd be on him and the medical team.
But if he set off somewhere and got into an accident? The military couldn't escape the blame.