The Mouse He Couldn't Let Go
"Haa…"
Hyunwoo let out a long breath and closed the community page.
He knew he was a burden. Stripped of every excuse, the player he was now did not have starter-roster skill. He was dead weight to his teammates and a millstone around his fans' necks.
And yet he could not retire. In his own estimation, his form had not fallen that far. If his mechanics had truly crumbled into something pitiful beside what they once were, he would have announced his retirement long ago. But if he could just get that mouse — a new one, that was all — he was certain he could play the way he used to.
That was why he could not bring himself to let go of the thread.
That was when a text arrived from his agent.
"You've got to be kidding me."
It had been one of the last places he'd still been holding out hope for. In the end, they simply hadn't bothered to correct a listing that had been sitting online forever.
The mouse Hyunwoo had been hunting so desperately was the X348, a model from a company called NewX.
When it first came out, he had been a rookie pro, and he had spent a steep 150,000 won on it — no small sum at the time. That X348 had walked with him all the way from nobody to the emperor of Legend of Valhalla.
A mouse that hadn't so much as flinched after years of use had, a year ago, finally reached the end of its life. At the time, he hadn't thought much of it. It was a shame to lose a companion he'd had for so long, but he figured he would just buy the same model again.
And then he couldn't find an X348 in stock. No matter how hard he looked.
Even discontinued mice — like Company L's G1, which countless people had been using for years — could still be tracked down without much trouble. But the X348 had never been sold online. It had only ever been offered in tiny quantities in physical stores, almost like sample stock.
And the decisive problem: NewX, the company that had manufactured and distributed the X348, had gone under two years ago.
He had posted on social media for years. He had torn through the used market. The X348 could not be found.
It wasn't that he hadn't tried to adapt to other mice. Highly rated mice. Mice other pros swore by. Even custom-made mice. There wasn't a mouse he hadn't tried. And still, not a single one sat right in Hyunwoo's hand.
If I'd just bought a few extras back then, none of this would be happening…
He turned the broken X348 over in his fingers and let out another sigh — and that was when a staff member from the front desk stepped into the room.
"Hyunwoo. It's time to go."
"Sorry? Did I have something today?"
"Did you forget? You have a commercial shoot today."
"Ah…"
Now that she mentioned it, he seemed to remember hearing about it about a month ago. Regardless of his current form, he was still an icon of Legend of Valhalla, and he shot several commercials a year.
"I'm sorry. I'll get ready right away."
"We'll be waiting downstairs. Please come down as soon as you can."
Hyunwoo hurried to get ready. Once the commercial aired, the abuse would be predictable — he's not even practicing, he's off shooting ads again. But a contract was a contract. There was no walking away from it now.
"Hah… this is suffocating…"
Hyunwoo arrived on set, sat through makeup, and was waiting for filming to begin when someone stepped into the waiting room.
A stunning beauty with feline features — and a face Hyunwoo knew perfectly well.
"Rake. I'm Choi Seo-ah. We'll be shooting together today. It's a pleasure."
Seo-ah offered a bright smile and her hand. Hyunwoo forced a smile of his own and shook it.
"Likewise. Looking forward to it."
A short while later, Seo-ah and Hyunwoo's monitor commercial shoot got underway.
The director praised Seo-ah more than once.
"Oh, Seo-ah. Your eyes are fantastic today!"
"Thank you!"
The director turned to Hyunwoo and spoke as gently as he could.
"Um… Hyunwoo, let's try brightening up the face a little!"
"Ah — yes. I'm sorry."
Filming resumed. Hyunwoo's expression stayed awkward, but he wasn't an actor, and there was only so much the director could say about it.
A little more time passed, and at last the word came from behind the camera.
"Cut! Seo-ah! Last time we shot together you looked exhausted, but today you look like you're in great condition."
"Ahaha. I recently got rid of a pretty big worry. The stress is gone, and I've been sleeping like a rock."
"That so? Glad to hear it. Anyway, let's take a short break and then shoot the next cut. Fifteen minutes, everyone."
The lights went down. People drifted off for water, or the restroom, or a moment to breathe.
"Hah…"
Hyunwoo sank onto a small chair at the edge of the set and let out a sigh. He would have rather spent even this sliver of time practicing, but the man he was now no longer occupied a position where he could do whatever he pleased.
That was when something cold touched his neck.
"Ah—!"
He jerked around. Seo-ah was standing there with a water bottle in her hand.
"Here. Drink this."
"Ah — thank you…"
She stood beside his chair, taking a sip of her own, and asked, "Rake, is something bothering you? Your expression didn't look good the whole shoot. I hope it's not that you're uncomfortable with me?"
Hyunwoo was still a man. There was no world in which a beauty like Seo-ah would make him uncomfortable. If his face had been that dark, it was because his heart had been uneasy for a long time now.
"I'm sorry. It's not that. I've just been stressing a lot over my recent results…"
"Your results? I don't know the game that well, but when people say Legend of Valhalla, they mean you, Rake. You're Seo Hyun-woo, the Emperor of Valhalla, aren't you?"
Emperor, huh…
The man he was now felt less like an emperor than a king who had already been deposed. Hyunwoo gave an awkward little laugh.
"Ahaha… yes. Thank you."
As if on cue, the director's voice carried across the set.
"All right, everyone, let's get rolling again."
Seo-ah smiled at him.
"Rake, we're starting. Come on!"
Hyunwoo forced a smile onto his face and rose from the chair.
"Cut! All right, everyone, that's a wrap. Great work."
Hah…
With the commercial finally over, Hyunwoo headed back to the dorm. A DM landed in his socials on the way. On any other day he would have ignored it — but when he actually looked at the notification, it was from someone he had never expected.
Why is she…
They had followed each other after the shoot, yes, but that had been the usual courtesy. It hadn't meant anything.
"What is this…"
Hyunwoo sent a careful reply.
A mouse…?
Pinned at the top of Hyunwoo's profile for the past year was a post saying he was looking for an X348. A flicker of hope he had no business feeling stirred in his chest.
Please…
The reply that came a moment later betrayed that hope completely.
He didn't even have time to be disappointed. Seo-ah sent another message immediately.
Someone who's good at making things…?
Irritation rolled through him. It wasn't as if he hadn't already gone looking for handmade-mouse artisans. The results had been identical every time. Those so-called custom, handcrafted mice were no different from any other commercial-grade product. In his hand, they were just one more uncomfortable mouse.
Seo-ah was pushing this hard because she was already a devoted believer in Kang Cheolwoo. She wanted even a few more people to know what he could do — and she wanted, in whatever small way she could, to repay him.
……?
He couldn't understand why she was making such a fuss.
They'll all be the same anyway…
And yet, on the other side of that thought, a thread of curiosity stirred. A celebrity — and not just any celebrity, but an actress whose star was rising fast — recommending a workshop this fiercely. It would have been stranger not to wonder.
……
A moment later, another DM arrived.
As it happened, a week-long league break started tomorrow.
It's not like I have anything else to do…
At this rate, retirement was the next step anyway.
Maybe I should go once. Even if I'm being played…
Hyunwoo sent a reply.
"Now then."
I brought the hammer down on the finished Japanese kitchen knife, just as it was.
CLANG!!!
A remarkably clear note rang out. Yet the blade the hammer had struck didn't bear a single mark.
Perfect.
At this level, the quality was beyond reproach. Word of the workshop had been spreading among chefs lately, and making knives had become the main line of work. The prices were in a different universe from an ordinary blade, but once the rumor got out that a knife from the All-Around Workshop was in a class of its own, commissions had started coming in from all over.
"I'll wrap this up and send it out…"
Then I checked the time. Courier pickup was already over. And it was Friday — if I shipped it now, it wouldn't arrive until next week.
Might as well deliver it myself. I could use a drive anyway.
Perhaps because I had spent a hundred years trapped on the lonely heights of Mount Olympus, driving had become a rather enjoyable hobby of mine.
Once I'd made up my mind, it was time to move. I packed the knife, killed the lights, and was heading for the door when someone pushed it open and stepped inside.
"Um… excuse me. Are you closed for the day?"
Hm…?
I knew that face. I had definitely seen it somewhere before. Then a memory from a recent night of drinking flashed through me.
Ah…!
It was the pro gamer Se-hyeon had been watching that night — Rake, from Legend of Valhalla.
I set the knife box aside and spoke.
"No, we're still open. You're Rake, aren't you? From Legend of Valhalla."
Being recognized seemed to embarrass him. He gave an awkward little laugh.
"Ahaha… yes, that's me."
"Please, have a seat. I'll get you a cup of coffee."
I turned the workshop lights back on, mixed a cup of instant coffee, and handed it to him. Then I sat down across from him and asked,
"What brings you here?"
He hesitated, fumbling for a moment, and then he said it plainly.
"It's nothing else, I just… I'd like to commission a mouse."