Playing the Long-Awaited Game.
Playing the Long-Awaited Game.
I sat in front of the computer, staring at nothing but the Maple Leaf Game exchange.
-"Boss, what level are you?"
"30."
-"Huh? Still? I'm 150, you know?"
"Just wait... I'll show you what a real power-up looks like... I'm... Taebaek's Kang Han-seong... I'm not dead yet."
-"I knew you could only use your fists, boss. Since when did you start using your head...?"
"...?"
At the suddenly frigid atmosphere and my reaction, Park Ji-hoon spoke gravely.
-"I apologize. I seem to have crossed a line."
"Haah... What's the point of waiting around forever until the items I listed sell? Let's just go grind..."
-"Good thinking. I looked into it, and they say that class hunts fastest in Pig Village."
"Let's do that."
I started grinding in one spot for a long time.
"Oh... I'm hitting 5,000 damage now."
-"Already? Guess that class really is strong~"
Just then, another user came up and started grinding.
When someone else was occupying a spot and I took it, the other person would naturally type the chat they'd been having.
That's what I thought the rule was, set by the players who enjoy this game.
(Prince Siyu) - ?? spot taken.
But the other person wasn't natural at all, and reacted very ominously.
(Passing Bystander 12) - ?? What the hell? What a fucking prick. Piss off—this spot's mine now.
The suddenly frigid atmosphere. This person called 'Passing Bystander' had something different from an ordinary person.
Momentarily confused by that user's words, I typed in chat.
(Prince Siyu) - ...?... Yeah, enjoy your meal...
Avoiding shit is the best course of action, the optimal choice.
If I'd done anything wrong, it was getting curious at the novelty of that talking turd and striking up a conversation.
(Passing Bystander 12) - you talk so fucking obnoxiously. It's pissing me off.
"Oh..."
In any situation, the impatient one makes the move.
Utterly dumbfounded by the situation, I switched channels.
But contrary to what I expected, that filthy little shit must have needed me badly too.
(Passing Bystander 12) - where are you going? lol. Wow, what a spineless moron.
"Oh..."
-"Is something wrong?"
I told Ji-hoon the situation up to now.
-"Ahh? Leave it to me. I will... handle this piece of ...... personally, Boss."
Ji-hoon, who couldn't bring himself to curse, probably because his parents were home or something.
Still, I switched channels thinking there was no way that filthy piece of shit would follow us all the way, but shit was shit after all.
That filthy bastard must have absolutely nothing better to do.
At the unending filthiness, I tried to wash my hands of it and get out quickly.
(Prince Siyu) - Sorry about earlier.
(Passing Bystander 12) - caught on fast, huh?
I could feel a vein throbbing in my forehead, but what could I do right now?
Still, I did screenshot everything that bastard had said so far.
And I just wrote down the ID in a notepad, for when I'd have the power to clean up that shit.
Then Park Ji-hoon came over to help, took over the grinding spot while typing out curses with his slow typing.
(Passing Bystander 12) - what? your friend? birds of a feather, fucking hilarious lol
Being lumped in the same category as Park Ji-hoon made me want to curse, but I held it in.
(Passing Bystander 12) - Level 150? A lowbie with no gear—your damage is pathetic, lol.
The user who'd been spewing curses for a while suddenly left.
At last, the shit had vanished from before our eyes.
With the shit gone, we congratulated each other.
"Now that's dependable."
-"This is who I am, Boss... You're finally acknowledging me."
And not long after, another character appeared, who looked like a fairly high-level user, and our expressions started to sour.
Because the username was (Passing Bystander 2).
(Passing Bystander 2) - hey? you losers?
The 'Passing Bystander' used the most basic attack skill.
But the aftermath of that basic attack skill was anything but.
Endlessly stretching out was an incredible amount of damage; just a glance told me it was in the hundreds of millions, and every monster visible on the map died at once.
Ji-hoon was using his skills beside me, but his pitiful damage only showed in the hundred-thousands.
"....."
-"....."
As we stared wordlessly at the screen filled with damage, that shitstain of a user started talking excitedly.
(Passing Bystander 2) - lol? where'd you go? why'd you both get so quiet?
At the overwhelming gap, when we said nothing, the chat continued.
(Passing Bystander 2) - losers, acting tough lololol gtfo it's my spot, you little brats. quit gaming and go beg your mom for more tit.
(Passing Bystander 2) - pissed? why so quiet lololol
For the first time since being born into this body, genuine murderous intent began boiling up inside me.
"Ah....."
-"Boss! Hold it in! We're still eight years old!!! Committing murder at eight years old—!!!"
"Shut it..."
-"Yes..."
At the rising killing intent, I quickly started racking my brain.
First thing, I picked up my phone and recorded all the chat logs, the username, and the character.
"One month... I'll surpass him in one month..."
-"....."
Without caring about anything else, I carefully went outside.
Dad had his headset on, absorbed in music work.
After spotting Dad's phone, I secretly took it and spent one million won.
"Definitely... one month..."
Now fully obsessed, I began buying and selling huge quantities of items using the data I'd been collecting.
I hoarded everything from high-demand items even when they brought little profit to extremely expensive ones.
My mind raced, and just as I began earning an overwhelming amount of money unlike before.....
The aftermath came for me.
"Kim Si-yoon!!!!!"
My headset torn off, I was dragged down from my chair by Dad...
And Park Ji-hoon, both family and a subordinate I'd raised, got a vivid live feed of Dad scolding me in real time.
"Aaaaaah! Daddy!!!"
The second time in my life I got hit by Dad's dust-covered switch.
My delicate skin only amplified the pain, and both arms I held up started aching as if they would fall, but...
I couldn't forget 'Passing Bystander' in my head.
When Dad saw my face blazing up with vows of even more meticulous revenge fueled by the pain, he got even angrier.
"Kim Si-yoon! What kind of expression is that!"
At Dad's yell, flustered, I relaxed my expression.
"Huh? It wasn't at you, Dad..."
Dad caught on from my expression that it wasn't a lie.
"Then what is it?"
I glanced at my phone.
When Dad handed me the phone, I shuffled over to him on my knees and showed him the phone.
Dad, who'd been staring at the phone for a long while, paused for a moment.
Considering Dad's reading speed, it felt like he'd stopped at the part about Mom.
Dad had realized that his daughter was being verbally abused.
"...Put your hands down."
"Yeah..."
"...Do you know who it is?"
"No..."
Dad got up from his seat without a word and tried to call somewhere.
Probably a lawyer from JSM.
Seeing Dad like that, I quickly spoke.
"One month is enough... and I'll take revenge myself."
Dad glanced at me, then put his phone in his pocket, nodded slightly, and went out.
After that, whenever I came back from school, the level of my character, which I hadn't even touched, had been shooting up day by day.
At school, I was secretly checking the Maple Leaf Game market prices on my phone.
With starting capital of 1.3 million won, the gold had more than doubled in just three days.
"B-Boss... I'm getting a little scared now... Earning 1.3 million won in three days..."
"Still far off. I have to catch that motherfucker... I need another 30 million won for that."
"....."
I sighed, looking at my little wallet.
"If only my card had direct access... I'd just whale it..."
"You're... sinking 30 million... into a game...?"
"...?"
I recalled our old financial situation for a moment.
Long ago, I remembered taking the 100,000 won I'd earned from action-squad activities and buying meat for Jae-hyeong and Park Gi, whom I'd picked up off the street.
The memory of buying meat for Jae-hyeong and Park Gi for the first time... The days of buying them booze that was 200 won a bottle and drinking it while giggling still feel so vivid.
At the workshop, we'd ordered eight bowls of jjajangmyeon for 4,000 won and the three of us had devoured it all.
After reminiscing about the past for a moment, I spoke to Ji-hoon.
"Do you know how much the computer you're using costs?"
Park Ji-hoon thought about his computer for a moment.
"....."
"From what I know, with those specs, it's worth 3 million won."
"W-what!?"
"This elementary school here, the kids you see around—they charge ten million won per brat per year."
"Whaaat!?"
"The brand of the backpack you carry, the cheapest one is 500,000 won."
"!!!!!"
Just like in the past, he'd paid no attention to his surroundings; he still didn't seem to grasp exactly how prices had changed from the old days.
Park Ji-hoon suddenly looked at his own bag.
"Good heavens... This bag... It's... It's competing with my... my annual salary...?"
He carefully lifted the backpack he usually tossed around carelessly.
I told Park Ji-hoon, who didn't even know his own family's financial state.
"Your dad, Mr. Park Jeong-ho, has a contract that says 21 billion won for four years."
"!!!!!"
Like a death sentence, I spoke to Park Ji-hoon, whose eyes were about to roll back.
"You're a gold-spoon kid."
"T... Twenty-one billion...? I... I was born with a gold spoon?"
I nodded, and whispered into the ear of Ji-hoon, who'd just become aware of reality.
"Now that you're gonna spend cash anyway, invest in me, and hand over some of that allowance you got."
"Are you... shaking me down right now?"
I stared at Ji-hoon, who was narrowing his already small eyes even more.
I might not have been famous among little kids, but among older people I was a superstar.
Even the Seoul Private Elementary School uniform brand I'm wearing right now, I'm the lead model.
I'm attending school on a scholarship for free, and not just modeling—I also absolutely crushed the entrance exam scores at number one.
For a good while, brats who were smitten with my looks kept confessing their love and trying to get me to promise them my future.
But because of my continual rejections, only my image was getting worse.
Time passed, and I'd made quite a lot of money in the Maple Leaf Game.
"Passing Bystander, you son of a bitch... I'll get you for sure."
Park Ji-hoon covered his face with both hands as if mortified.
"...My mom chased me out of the house with my clothes stripped off..."
"Still, your help was huge... I'll multiply it and pay you back double..."
Ji-hoon shuddered, as if yesterday's memory had come back to him.
"So how much is it now?"
"It's at exactly 1,500% of what you invested."
"?! Already?"
I spoke, shrugging.
"It's still not enough... I deliberately created all eight characters the account allows."
He looked at me like he was hearing something interesting.
"And on each one, I filled up the max gold a character can hold."
"Good heavens..."
"Not yet... That damage... That's definitely damage from slotting eight or more legendary items."
"If it's eight, can't you just buy them?"
"No... Can't be satisfied with just that..."
Thanks to Dad's grinding, my character's level had already hit 220.
I knelt down and faced Dad.
"Father."
"Yes."
"I have generated a 1,600% return on the invested amount."
"Oh... That's incredible."
The invested amount Dad knew about was 1.3 million won.
I pointed with my finger at the 'Passing Bystander' character tacked up on the wall.
"I will never forgive him!"
"That's right! That's my daughter!"
I looked at Dad, who was getting into the little act.
"Well, I'm gonna go swimming with Da-yeon today."
"Okay. What about dinner?"
"Da-yeon's mom said she'd make it."
"Okay, have fun playing~"
"Yeah."
Dad zipped up the rash guard I was wearing.
I gave Dad a casual wave goodbye, then went out the door and knocked.
"Da-yeon~"
"Si-yoon!!"
I smiled and greeted Da-yeon in Japanese.
"久しぶり~ (Long time no see~)"
"久しぶりね! (It has been a while!)"
Definitely, eight-year-old Da-yeon didn't wear clothes that were only childish and cute anymore.
Both my and Da-yeon's limbs were stretching out long, our proportions starting to change, giving off a child model feel.
Da-yeon could now swim without a kickboard.
I watched her with the proud satisfaction of a godfather.