A Lie Has Become Reality

1 – Lies Become Reality

Everyone has imagined it at least once.

‘Why was I born and what do I live for?’

How many people have clearly answered this question?

At least I haven’t come to a conclusion.

I wasn’t born because I wanted to, and I wasn’t living because I wanted to.

My reality in front of my eyes is like a challenge to me. A protruding forehead in a mirror, an irregular jawline, small eyes and a heavily slanted nose.

The corners of her eyes are densely lined with unknown black spots, and her forehead and cheeks stand out with waste and acne scars.

Is that all?

From the situation of earning a day and eating every day, to the piled up loan history.

As someone who lives because I was born, I was not strong enough to face this reality with confidence.

So I hid myself and escaped from all reality.

I couldn’t admit the reality that was placed on me.

Ignoring the reality that keeps bringing me down, I created another self and hid behind anonymity.

[Seoha: Wow, is this a picture of your brother?]

[Hot potato: ㅇㅇ]

[Seoha: Why is Jeongmo not attending with this face ㅜㅜ]

[Hot Potato: Are you coming to Seoul?]

As my fingers quench their thirst, I quickly pressed and released keys, pressed and released them again, and letters spread out on the screen.

Fake profiles and fake jobs created thanks to deepfake technology and miraculous photoshop.

I didn’t steal someone else’s photo, I just created an imaginary person, and I worked hard to give a narrative about myself…

That’s how I became the name of my favorite mobile game gallery.

If you want to deceive others, do you have to deceive yourself first?

Anyway, I seem to have a talent for this.

Because even while lying in a trance, I was fascinated by the false delusion and felt ecstasy with my whole body.

25 Years of nonsense Until I faced the biggest crisis in my life…

[Seoha: It’s very expensive here, isn’t it? Is it okay if only oppa eats delicious food?]

[Hot Potato: hahahahaha I will buy it when I come to Seoul]

[Seoha: Then I want to go this weekend! Is it too urgent? hahahahaha]

[Hot Potato: … I think you should check the schedule for this weekend first]

[Seoha: It’s okay lol It’s okay to just look at your face for a while!]

f*ck.

It was only now that I began to see the current situation.

I was just a rotten liar, but I have set up my own principles and deceived others.

Should I say that my 25-year history of lies built up like that is like a sandcastle that has never collapsed?

[Seoha: I’m going on Saturday! I’m going to see my brother, so he’s buying me food?]

It looks like it will soon be swept away by the waves and collapsed.

Should I get someone to meet me by proxy…?

It is said that money can be raised somehow, but where do you get the person with the fake profile picture created by mobilizing all the technology?

I had thoroughly avoided meeting in real life, but I thought that everything was about to collapse because I was arguing with a woman in front of a man.

She clutched her forehead in stress and closed the laptop.

“What are you doing all this…”

I lowered my head in a maddening sense of shame.

I just want to hear that I’m good-looking, so why does it suddenly come to my mind that I’ve been synthesizing and photoshopping virtual faces stitch by stitch for three hours?

I also remember looking for a fine dining restaurant because I wanted to look economically relaxed.

I’m in a situation where I’m saving even triangular gimbap right now.

A lie saved me from a life that was nothing but hell, but I was in a dilemma knowing that it was all an illusion.

The guilt that comes from deceiving someone, the ecstasy that comes from being recognized by someone.

Today, when the properly maintained balance has been broken, I decided to admit everything.

This is the sandcastle I built.

“Tomorrow··· Let’s organize everything tomorrow. Tell the truth, apologize···Leave the community···.”

‘Okay, I’ll finish everything tomorrow’

‘Profile picture should be properly handsome’

‘How did I start lying?’

‘Maybe I’m too immersed’

‘If all these lies were true…’

Muttering in a low voice, I closed my eyes, leaving behind a terrible headache.

******

“····Where the hell is this place?”

The studio I lived in, which was filled with all sorts of garbage that should be seen when I woke up and musty smell, was nowhere to be found.

What caught my eye was a gorgeous room decorated like a suite in a five-star hotel.

The soft pajama that fits snugly against the skin feels like it is slipping down when you touch it.

It was luxury pajamas and luxury bedding that I had never used in my entire life.

Looking around, the furniture is also high-end brands that I have only heard of.

Ah! Could this be a dream?

So, what is this absurd situation if not a dream? I’m relieved

I lay down with my head on the pillow again.

It’s soft and fragrant, and above all, it gently wraps your body.

I didn’t want to wake up, I pressed my body in comfort.

Is this what it feels like to be lying on a cloud?

As I was fidgeting with my toes, I suddenly felt a sense of incongruity.

Beep-

I got up from my seat.

As I circled around and grasped the situation, my gaze was naturally fixed on the full-length mirror in the corner.

“Huh…?”

It wasn’t my usual sullen voice, it was a familiar, dignified and masculine tone.

This is exactly what I used to make up with voice change when talking on the phone.

A face in a mirror?

This face is also a familiar one.

Perfect symmetry and clear contours, a high and balanced forehead, intense eyes, transparent skin without any blemishes, and a strong nose.

Because it was the face in my fake profile that was like my alter ego that I created with all my soul.

Damn it!

“…It hurts.”

One cheek was swollen and tingling, but there was an income.

“Isn’t this a dream…?”

A puzzled expression spread across my face in the mirror.

I just blankly stared at my reflection in the mirror.

I looked around again, but all I could see was the furniture, each of which seemed to cost more than all of my possessions.

I am speechless at this surreal phenomenon, but one thing seems clear.

It seems that my delusion, which I had only imagined, has become a reality.

“First of all… I need to look around.”

I opened the door in anticipation, but the space in front of me was a sight far beyond my imagination.

I didn’t say anything, so I just kept my mouth shut and walked around diligently, scanning the surroundings.

A long entrance with a dark brown marble floor finish.

Every time you walk, you feel the unique hardness and coolness of marble on the soles of your feet.

I thought the kitchen was some kind of imported kitchen showroom.

It is a bit absurd to see stainless steel kitchen furniture placed side by side.

There was another door in the corner, so I opened it and found a noticeably elevated wine cellar.

The dimly lit lights reflected off the wine and champagne bottles, creating a subtle atmosphere.

“Wow, how many bottles of Ohmane Conti and Doom Perignon alone…?”

One bottle is the price of one car.

Why do hikikomori know so much about alcohol?

If you want to pretend to be rich, there are many things you need to study about their culture.

Of course, I never even imagined that I would actually drink it.

When I went outside and went further inside, I saw a living room filled with fine furniture and artwork.

The Alpha Room is decorated like a study on a terrace built like an indoor garden, and the ceiling is so high that you have to lift your neck to see the ceiling.

From the marble dining table, which is too large to be used alone, to the indirect lighting that is everywhere.

When I entered the room next to the bedroom, there was a dressing room that was a step further.

On the wall, clothes were lined up by luxury brands that I had only heard of.

Even the watch storage box standing next to the door is a luxury brand.

Even this Orff 1834 32-hole cabinet winder would be a limited edition…

The watches inside are also luxury watches, each costing tens of thousands of won to hundreds of millions of won.

Richard Mal, Potenphillip, Castatin, Blague, Orega, Lorax…

“Huh…, I would buy a house if I sold this storage box alone?”

I just burst into laughter at this absurd situation.

All bathrooms in the house are built-in with a marble finish and even a jacuzzi bathtub that can easily accommodate two people.

How can we talk about the view of the Han River through the glass that is common to the living room and bathroom?

This crazy space is the house I will live in the future, who used to live in a quaint semi-basement studio?

My strength was drained from the absurd sense of unreality and I lay down on the sofa as if it were flowing.

I cooled my head and recalled the situation again.

First, my face was replaced with the face in a synthetically created virtual profile picture.

Second, the voice was also changed to the voice modulated voice used for chatting.

Third, the virtual space that the community claimed was my home actually became my home.

“The scary thing is that I can’t even remember all the balls I’ve played…”

Anyway, I think now is the time to put the excitement aside for a while and look back at my 25-year life full of lies.

To figure out what is happening to me right now.