Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Picture Diary
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“I’ll be back.”
“Please come back safe, dear husband.”
“Cut the nonsense and do some stretching. We’ll game as soon as I get back.”
“Hehe, got it. Hurry back! No, take it slow and easy!”
“I’ll take it slow and easy real quick.”
“Hehe, love how you get me. See you~.”
Having someone see me off feels kinda weird.
I whipped up a simple breakfast for Dahye and headed out to the goshiwon.
I’ve moved so often it’s like eating rice—second nature.
A single goshiwon room won’t have more than five cardboard boxes of stuff, tops.
Less once I toss the worn-out clothes and trash.
I’ll knock it out quick and be home by 3 p.m. at the latest.
Then it’s full-day gaming mode with Dahye.
Lately, I can’t figure out why the game’s so damn fun.
Used to be I’d log in just to heal up chatting with Pokttal, but now playing together with Dahye is pure bliss.
Doing 2v2 PvP right next to each other ramps up the immersion big time.
My home PC setup’s leveled up her skills too.
If our win rate keeps climbing like this, I might even crack the rankings soon.
Man, it’d be perfect if the Dual Tournament fired up again right now.
How epic would that be.
Just picturing a tournament crammed in the room with Dahye ekekking away has me grinning like an idiot.
Light of my life, fire in my loins. My sin, my soul—Billion Saga.
What’s happiness if not this?
Makes me grateful all over again to be born a total gamer.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ To wrap up the move by 3, I need hands and a car.
So I roped in a helper who’s got both time and wheels.
Time to ring up today’s helper.
[What.]
“Hyung, you can make it by 2, right?”
[Could, but too lazy. Thinking nap instead.]
“A guildmate’s in a bind—lend a hand?”
[Show some respect... so sleepy.]
“Oh great Guild Master, save this wretched lowly guild member.”
[Gonna sleep.]
“Ah, quit screwing around and help out.”
[I’ll be on time. Grab coffee.]
“The cafe owner buying coffee?”
[You’re a game company drone playing someone else’s game.]
“Fair.”
[Later.]
Truth is, he’s the only guy in the neighborhood I can call.
Kang Wonseok / 35 / self-employed.
Our guild master, runs a cafe-slash-bar.
I skip offline meets, so no real-life guild buds, but he’s different.
We’ve been grinding part-time gigs together since our early twenties, stubborn as hell.
He’s the one who got me into Billion Saga.
Hyung hands the shop off to part-timers daytime and crashes, perfect for gigs like this.
Sure, I get dragged around whenever he needs something, but hitting him up like this reminds me gaming was the right call.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ [Renaissance Goshiwon.]
Gulp.
Never thought I’d end up back here.
I knocked on the firmly shut goshiwon door, and out came a lady in her fifties from the office.
Dahye said she’d called ahead, but why’s the owner beaming like that? Even clapping as she hustled over.
“Ah, you must be Dahye’s guardian?”
“Hello, ma’am. That’s me. Moving out today.”
“Phew, seeing the guardian puts my mind at ease. Smart move. You have no idea how worried I was.”
“Worried?”
“You bet~ Always scarfing instant noodles, never stepping out. I was half-scared I’d be hauling out a corpse. But now with you here, I’m relieved. Dahye doing okay?”
“Yeah, she’s good. No more worries. Feeding her proper meals now, and time to get her exercising.”
“Good, good—that age needs someone looking out. All the stuff going today?”
“Yep, clearing it all out. Oh, here—drinks and fruit. Sorry for all the trouble Dahye caused.”
I handed over the drink set and little fruit basket I’d picked up on the way.
Dahye’s officially my live-in now.
Wish I could track down her folks and say hi, but they’re gone.
Least I could do was give a proper thank-you to the goshiwon owner who put up with her.
“Lordy, with family like you, why’d she tough it out alone like that? I worried for nothing... Take your time with the stuff. Told the others it might get noisy, so no sweat.”
“Thanks.”
Grabbed the key she’d been holding and stepped into Dahye’s room.
Shut the door.
Thud.
The lady’s footsteps faded—no sound at all now.
Sun’s high outside, but in here, it’s just harsh fluorescent glow.
One thin door away, yet totally cut off from the world.
Sigh.
That room again.
Dahye’s room—the one that turned my stomach on first sight.
Bed piled high with laundry, desk buried in ramen cups and empty lunch boxes.
No wonder the owner fretted.
Sitting in that office, she’d see every move.
How often did Dahye even leave this room? Bathroom’s outside—maybe ten times a day?
Just for ramen water or laundry?
Least she hit the convenience store now and then for some air.
But Pokttal’s login patterns? Evenings glued to that desk, obvious as day.
Chatting with me, raiding dungeons, PvP, laughing and yapping—all while parked right there.
Perched on the bed edge, scanning the room, I swear I see Dahye’s shadow.
Dahye curled up tight on that rat-shit bed, catnapping.
Dahye toeing the light switch to kick off her morning.
And now, clear as anything, her silhouette hunched at the PC, grinding away.
Up with the sun, rubbing sleepy eyes, plops down and stays till dinner.
Then night falls, and she’s beaming messages my way.
All eight years we spent together.
Was that silhouette smiling the whole time?
Hard to picture.
God, I hope so.
Eh, whatever.
No point moping—time to clean.
The real Dahye’s back home right now, grunting like an old granny while stretching.
No need to get hung up on a past without me.
Let’s get to it.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Three trash bags and three boxes later, the room’s bare in a flash.
Trash swept up for sorting later.
Clothes packed into the boxes first.
All her wardrobe crammed in the desk’s three tiny drawers: ratty tees, pants, a coat so threadbare it’s criminal.
Probably trash ’em all later, but pack for now.
Tucked away her precious laptop and mouse, then bubble-wrapped the figure.
She’d threatened to kill me if it chipped even a bit.
Picturing her waving that tiny pebble fist in my face cracks me up.
No need for threats.
This figure’s precious as life to me too.
Figure packed last—only one drawer left.
The lone one with a locked padlock and code.
Could call Dahye to open it and call the move done...
But something tells me I’ve got the combo.
Six digits.
Click—click—click—click—
Click.
Clunk!
Bingo.
Same as the Billion Saga shared warehouse code.
I use it for all my PC stuff too—gamer solidarity hits different.
What’s inside?
Only this one locked? Gotta be something dear.
Should ask Dahye if it’s cool to peek, but nah—opening it.
Asked her a bunch on the way over.
Nothing I can’t see, she said.
Here goes.
Creak.
‘Spring notebook?’
Just one thick notebook inside.
Expected bankbook or contracts—not a damn notebook?
‘Why lock this? Diary maybe? Nah... she’d have mentioned it.’
I flipped the cover without thinking.
And on the first page, a drawing: two little rings, scribbled text below.
[Soul Binding Ring]
[First item I got with Kwon Seonghyeon Fighter. Why’d he use it on me?]
Next page.
Second page: tiny dagger sketch and text.
[Hogdon Skinner.]
[Kwon Seonghyeon Fighter showed me how to skin with it. Made 4000 gold.]
Next page.
And the next.
Page after page of drawings and notes.
Each flip stirs up dusty memories like smoke.
‘Right, that item. Hehe, takes me back.’
Every sketch was a rare we scored or traded—me and Pokttal.
She logged them all.
Starting from the day we met.
First pages stiff and factual.
Then Dahye’s feelings start bleeding in.
[Rowin King’s Secret Coffin Key]
[Insane! Found the secret room key with Kwon Seonghyeon Fighter today! Tomorrow’s gonna rock. Wish it was 6 p.m. already!]
[Old Spirit Root]
[Stuck in dungeon 4 hours for this ㅠㅠ Hope Seonghyeon didn’t get bored.]
Brain numb, I kept turning pages on the bed.
No thoughts, just burned through hundreds of pages.
Finally shut the last one.
And I smiled.
Now I get it.
Pokttal’s eight years were packed with smiles.
Even those three months locked in this goshiwon.
Relief washes over me.
That desk silhouette turns, flashes a cheeky grin my way.
Seeing it, I know—gaming was the best damn choice.
Third time I’ve thought that today.
The cheesecake I bought her the day we met was long moldy.
Hey, I kidnapped her that same day—no helping it.
So I’ll swing by with a fresh one.
Size 6, the biggest they got.
And tonight, hug Dahye extra tight.
For real, just today.
Damn, why the tears.
Am I getting old?
I wiped my eyes with Dahye’s blanket when a voice hit from the door.
“Holy shit, what’s this crap. You in menopause or what?”
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