Chapter 222
Chapter 222
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 222. Picking an Easy Target
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-Pinggrrr!
A big sound accompanied the wheel's spin.
It came to a stop at number 7.
[In college life, Kim Jaeheon is part of a golden couple.]
A golden couple? What the hell is that.
You need a partner first before you can be a couple or whatever.
Or maybe with one of the people here? If so, just pretend to date them or something.
I stared at Ahn Sanghyeon to ask, but he was too busy watching the wheel spinning in front of him.
[Participant Ahn Sanghyeon's wheel is spinning.]
His wheel stopped.
Number 1 appeared.
"Aja!"
He let out a joyful shout.
What the. What kind of scam role did he draw-
[In college life, Ahn Sanghyeon is an unnoticed classmate. No one pays attention no matter what he does.]
Why is he happy about that.
But ignoring my thoughts, he looked around with a delighted expression.
Then he rolled away.
"..."
What the hell is he doing.
I knew he wouldn't answer my question, but with a happy look on his face, he rolled... right into that forest and vanished.
Even amid our shock, the wheel kept spinning.
[Participant Park Ye-eun's wheel is spinning.]
"This kind of thing makes me a little nervous."
Park Ye-eun muttered,
and the wheel landed on number 5.
[In college life, Park Ye-eun is the genius maknae who entered early.]
"I'm not that smart."
Park Ye-eun muttered worriedly.
Team Leader let out a deep sigh.
"Couldn't they have just skipped me?"
The wheel spun.
Number 6 came up.
[In college life, Heo Chan is the returning student uncle.]
Team Leader just shrugged, saying nothing more.
Finally, Eirin's wheel spun.
Her wheel stopped.
"...Ah."
Eirin, who was standing near me, muttered in a shocked voice.
Her number had also stopped at 7.
[In college life, Eirin is part of a golden couple.]
"Wait, what does 'golden couple' even-"
-Click!
Something clamped onto my wrist.
"..."
"..."
It was a watch.
Where the time should have been, it just said 00, and nothing else was visible.
[0 Points]
0 points? What the hell.
As I stared at the handcuff-like thing, an explanation popped up.
[Act in line with your role to gain points.]
[Rankings will be determined by points, and higher rankings mean better real-world rewards after the game ends.]
[Conversely, lower points mean real-world penalties.]
They didn't say anything about this.
Eirin and I looked at each other in confusion.
"Do you know what a golden couple is?"
"I've only worked since joining the company. How would I know?"
Eirin sighed in response to my question.
"For now, let's just ignore this crap and live."
"Yeah. Sounds good."
I looked around.
Yoo Daon, Jang Chaeyeon, and Song Arin were watching us with strange expressions.
"...Why."
"...No reason."
Jang Chaeyeon rolled her eyes with a hum.
"Just... you two don't seem to match."
"Yeah, like beauty and the beast?"
Uncharacteristically agreeing with Jang Chaeyeon, Song Arin laughed.
"Plus, she's kinda young."
"Aren't you young too, Arin?"
Song Arin wasn't in a position to point fingers at age.
"...I've crossed the line between life and death plenty of times. In my heart, I'm totally your big sis. Wanna try calling me noona?"
"Have you finally lost it?"
I wondered if the Response Team had crossed that line as much as her, but Song Arin just shrugged.
"Anyway, don't push too hard. It'll just tire you both out if you force it. Especially for the Response Team guy."
Song Arin smiled faintly, and Yoo Daon gave an awkward smile.
Seeing that, Eirin raised one eyebrow.
"That just makes me wanna shut them up."
"Huh?"
Before I could say anything, Eirin grabbed my hand.
I felt the hard calluses.
"Sorry. Holding guns all the time means my grip isn't the softest."
"...You don't need to apologize for that."
Grabbing hands so boldly like this.
I could feel the generation gap. Back in my day, people didn't walk around holding hands like that. Had the world changed that much in just five years? Or was it because I went through college alone.
-Ding ring!
A cheerful sound came from the wristwatch.
When I looked down, the 00 had changed to 10.
Did my score go up? For doing something couple-like?
What about the others?
"You three-"
Before I could finish, Yoo Daon smiled awkwardly at Eirin.
"Um, sorry, Eirin. Jaeheon seems a bit uncomfortable."
"Uncomfortable?"
"No, uh, not really."
"He says it's fine."
"I see."
Yoo Daon smiled softly.
At the same moment,
-Ding!
A bell-like sound rang out, and my vision went black.
"...!"
When I came to, I was in a university classroom.
A professor was lecturing.
It brought back old memories, but...
What flashed in my mind wasn't nostalgia—it was a sense of crisis.
Where are the others? Eirin? The HR folks?
I hurriedly pulled the manual from my pocket.
-Flutter!
The manual opened.
[Office Manual]
[RG - How to Respond to Temptations]
1. Life throws temptations your way. Here are some rejection lines for those times.
2. [I have a fiancée back home.] Effective, but watch out for the crazies who think you can't score even with a goalkeeper.
3. [I have someone I like.] Super effective. But some nutjobs actually like that.
4. Ignore them. The best method.
5. Always remember there's a reliable person watching over you-
-Snap!
Looks like everything's fine if it's spouting nonsense.
I closed the manual and looked around.
The professor lecturing, sunlight pouring in warmly.
"..."
It's been a while. Maybe attend a class.
I jotted down what the professor said and passed some time.
Maybe because I'm used to work now, but studying quietly like this didn't seem so bad.
Back then, I just hated classes.
After the lecture ended,
-Ding ring!
The same sound rang out, and a window appeared before me.
[You're really enjoying life! Your score has increased!]
"..."
Do they give points for studying hard, and none if you don't?
But isn't that just following the right answer instead of enjoying life?
Tricky.
As I pondered, my gaze drifted out the window.
Yoo Daon was running around on the tennis court.
Dressed perfectly in a tennis skirt and all.
"..."
But her swing form was like someone who'd never seen a tennis racket before.
The amazing part was, she somehow compensated with freakish athleticism, so every ball hit properly.
Song Arin was struggling along with a huge stack of books.
Buried in them, practically.
Jang Chaeyeon was...
"..."
Blocked from view by people.
"What're you doing."
"People-watching."
Eirin, who had appeared beside me at some point, looked around.
"Is this what college life feels like?"
"It's an extremely edited version, but yeah, it captures the vibe."
"I see."
Eirin looked around.
"Not bad."
"...Regretting not living like this?"
"Huh?"
Eirin looked at me like I'd said something crazy.
"You shouldn't regret your choices. You chose to save the wronged over college life."
"...True."
"So be happy."
In the now-empty classroom, she sat in the seat next to me.
"We work hard behind the scenes so they can live like this."
She gazed out the window.
The sunlight reflected in her eyes, making them sparkle with life.
"That's enough."
"..."
I always think this, but her, Team Leader, the branch chief—they all have their quirks, but a common straight-arrow drive.
Maybe that's the criterion for picking team leaders in the Management Bureau.
-Ding!
The sound rang again, and my watch now read 20.
They count this as interaction too, huh.
"...What, you like me now?"
Eirin, checking her own watch, turned to me and smirked.
"Doesn't seem like it."
"Oh, so you don't like me?"
"No, that's not it either."
She was making it impossible to respond.
Seeing my flustered face, Eirin smirked.
"Kidding."
"..."
"Anyway, let's rack up some more points."
"Suddenly?"
"Got a good idea."
She nodded at my question, and right then.
"-ssi!"
Lost in staring out the window, I noticed Yoo Daon looking my way, shouting loudly and waving.
Doesn't she get tired? She'd been swinging that racket nonstop for an hour, yet here she was jumping around waving at me.
As I thought that,
my vision went black again.
"..."
When I opened my eyes, the eight game participants were seated around a round table.
Yoo Daon, Jang Chaeyeon, Song Arin, Eirin, and me—fine.
"...What were you up to, Team Leader?"
"Doing all the group project alone."
Team Leader answered tiredly.
The fate of a returning student who cares about GPA.
"...And you?"
"I... said one plus one is two, and the professor called me a genius and praised me."
Park Ye-eun muttered, as if it made no sense.
"I rolled around."
"I see."
Did he really keep rolling? Why?
Ahn Sanghyeon smiled, his face covered in dirt.
"Isn't it great!"
"I see."
Whatever.
In the center was a box labeled [Game of Life].
A game window appeared before us again.
[Did you enjoy your year?]
One class and one orientation?
[We planned more turns, but due to excessive immersion in the board game, many customers couldn't distinguish reality from dream, so we've reduced the turns. We apologize for the inconvenience.]
It popped up as if answering my thoughts.
[This is how it works: live your lives, earn points, and the one with the most points wins.]
Just live daily life well. Got it.
[But if it was just that, it wouldn't be fun.]
As soon as those words appeared, we all tensed.
Usually, this means an anomaly-
[We'll add some twists to your lives.]
Twists?
[Each of you will face a major obstacle or opportunity tied to your current college role.]
[Some will earn more points through this, others less.]
"..."
[Your personal obstacles will only be visible to you.]
"...Wow..."
"...I have no confidence..."
"..."
I wonder what changes everyone got.
I hope mine's easy.
With a ding-ring melody, a window appeared before me.
[Your breakup during military service. Time to get a new girlfriend.]
[They say there's no eternal love in this world. Yours ended midway through service.]
[But don't worry. Love is forgotten with new love.]
[Pick the easiest target among these and snag a new girlfriend quick.]
[However. There's a condition.]
[You must choose the girlfriend who will confess to you most easily.]
[Fail to do so, and lose 100 points.]
"..."
My world went dark.