ALL NOVEL 06.
06.
I thought the packages that arrived that day were more interior decorations, but when my brother returned home, he sat me down and unpacked each box while saying incredible things.
“Hyung, look. This is a home baking set. Since you’re good at everything hands-on, I bought one level above beginner. And this is a knitting set that can make one sweater. I added an extra ball of yarn just in case. This is fishing gear. Let’s go catch a 9kg red sea bream together later. This is an adult drawing book and coloring book. This is a clay modeling set. And this is like a diary where you can write three questions and answers per day…”
It seemed my brother wasn’t happy with my listlessness and had decided to give me homework.
Understanding my brother’s intentions in carefully selecting various hobby items, I didn’t refuse outright and tried each one a bit.
But nothing really appealed to me.
Although I had made countless bar snacks while working at the beer house, baking was a first for me, but I felt no sense of accomplishment and it just felt like work. Knitting, drawing books, and coloring books, which involve sitting still and repeating the same actions, weren’t fun either. They reminded me of the repetitive work I did while living at factories. Clay modeling just made me think of mixing cement, souring my mood, and I could only write in the diary for three days because I couldn’t be honest.
The worst was fishing.
We went fishing at the river on the weekend morning, but for someone like me suffering from severe misanthropy, it was truly the worst activity. It was nice and quiet at first, but… Why are they handling fish so roughly when they’re not even going to eat them? Why are they smoking in non-smoking areas? Why are they spitting everywhere and throwing trash into the water?
I have a lot of anger, get irritated easily, and am sensitive. But I usually just curse inwardly or beat my chest alone, rarely threatening others. Unless a car sticks its nose out at a green pedestrian crossing, that is.
However, that day, seeing people throwing their food waste and disposables into the river after eating ramen made me so angry and pissed off that I rushed at them immediately. I have to take a hit first before throwing a punch. So I picked a fight and waited, but those bastards wouldn’t hit me.
My brother said my eyes looked crazed at that time. They probably didn’t touch me because I looked like a crazy, uneducated thug showing off arm tattoos.
After everything I tried that week failed, Monday came again. My brother went to school, and I could finally be glued to the bed, just blinking my eyes.
As I was lying still as usual, my phone vibrated.
When my brother left, it was 8:40 AM, but when I looked at the screen, it was 5:50 PM, which surprised me a bit.
The caller was, of course, Jin.
I touched the speaker and tossed the phone casually.
“Yeah.”
– Hyung, where are you?
“At home.”
– Not in bed again, I hope.
“Probably am.”
– I really can’t go a single day without nagging. Okay, you might not like all the hobby items I bought. But at least, you know? There are many places in the house like in front of the dining table, the living room sofa, or the study desk. Why are you in bed every time I call? Do you know what time it is?
“5:50.”
– That’s not what I’m asking!
My brother screamed. If it wasn’t on speakerphone, it would have hurt my ears, but I had anticipated this and put it on speaker.
“Why did you call? Are you going to be late today?”
– Do you just think all my words are nagging and want to hang up quickly?
“Koreans should just quickly get to the point. I didn’t raise you to be a time-waster.”
– Haaaaaah…
My brother sighed deeply. It must have been nearly 30 seconds.
– There’s a laptop on the desk in my room.
“You want me to bring it? Your lectures are over for today.”
– That’s the desktop laptop for use at home. When you open the laptop, it should turn on immediately without needing to press any buttons. In the middle of the desktop, there’s a game called ‘Forest Effect’. I’ve already done the installation and registration, and I’ll send you the ID and password via KakaoTalk. Please log in and level up a bit. Start from character creation. The server is Luna server.
“Game? Did you just say game?”
– It’s an online game that hit number one as soon as it was released and has maintained the top spot for 4 years now. Just level up to 50 for me.
Jin spoke without taking a breath. I was so dumbfounded I couldn’t even manage a hollow laugh.
Whether it’s ranked first or hundredth, whether it’s level 50 or 5, you’re asking me to play a game?
I tolerated baking and knitting, and now you’re pushing games on me?
“Jin. You know I don’t do games. Only losers who live pathetic lives play games. Don’t play games either. Do you want to become a trash addict who can’t distinguish reality from games? Don’t you know how lottery winners ruin their lives? Do you want to end up as a homeless person on the streets after squandering everything on gambling and entertainment?”
– …I know. I know games are bad, and I know you don’t play games, but this is a lecture assignment, so I have no choice. The assignment is to level up a character to 50.
I furrowed my brow and glared at the phone, even though I couldn’t see the video.
“Shouldn’t you seriously complain to the professor about that? What kind of crazy bastard gives such an assignment? Games are completely useless, what if some students get addicted? What’s the name of the lecture?”
– That’s what I’m saying. If you really can’t do it, I’ll just level up in my spare time. I feel bad for asking you to play a game. How could I ask you to do something that pollutes your mind?
Jin’s words suddenly made me feel a sense of crisis.
I thought that my brother, not being as resolute as me, might actually get addicted if he starts playing the game.
Game addiction… It’s a terrifying word. I imagined the image of shut-ins living disconnected from society, with dark circles reaching their chins and skin clinging to their bones. And I imagined Jin becoming one of them.
I’m confident I won’t get addicted to games, but Jin isn’t.
“No, I’ll do it. When do I need to get to level 50 by?”
– Are you really okay with this?
“Yeah, I have nothing else to do, so it’s better if I do it.”
– Thank you. Just reach level 50 within a month, and I’ll send you the ID and password now!
As soon as the call ended, a message arrived.
[My brother] ID hajin011 Password 011hajin
[My brother] Sorry for asking you to do something difficult like game leveling 🙁
[My brother] I might be late today because of a group meeting and drinks
[Me] Okay, don’t drink too much.
[My brother] Okay!! Make sure you eat dinner, hyung
[Me] You too.
I forced my listless body to get up.
Although I extremely despise games, it was better than home baking or knitting. The part that was better was that it wasn’t left to my discretion, but I had to forcibly reach level 50. It’s strange that I feel more at ease when I have to forcibly follow something like this.
Forest Effect
‘Season 2 The Typhoon Blows’
When I double-clicked the icon, a game logo with grand background music and flashy effects appeared.
After a brief video of a cliff with fierce winds, the login screen popped up. Not being familiar with keyboards, I struggled to input my brother’s ID and password.
After logging in, I was blank for a moment. What should I do now? I would know if I had played games before… I played games with friends on consoles when I was young, but this is my first time playing a keyboard and mouse game since Minesweeper.
As I was just moving the mouse around aimlessly, I remembered my brother saying to start with character creation.
There was a square box labeled ‘Create Character’ in the center left, so I clicked it and the screen changed.
[Select Race]
[
Western Continent ‘Sojisis Empire’
Homeland of the Sword King ‘Sojis’, the hegemon of the continent that maintained peace for a thousand years.
Unique Ability – Wield excellent swordsmanship with the legacy left by Sojis.
Southern Continent ‘Golden Ainis Empire’
A country of commerce and trade with distribution networks spread all over the world.
Unique Ability – Speak multiple languages and possess excellent gathering, crafting, and production abilities.
Northern Continent ‘Haldeon Empire’
The country of ice that unified the harsh northern continent based on robust strength.
Unique Ability – Wield greatswords larger than their bodies to annihilate monsters.
Eastern Continent ‘Mir Empire’
A mysterious country that aided humans from the darkness during the Human-Demon War.
Unique Ability – Freely manipulate mysterious Taoist arts and an unknown substance called ‘Gi’.
What’s with all these words?
I guess I just need to know that there are basically 4 human empires, 4 fairy races, and 4 beastkin races.
When I clicked on ‘Check Jobs’ on the right, 16 appeared this time. Paladin, White Mage, Summoner, Curse Mage, Martial Artist, Alchemist…
The characters caught my eye with their flashy effects. Even I, who have an aversion to games, was momentarily captivated. This is why people say games are like drugs.
I need to make sure Jin and Da-bin can’t even approach this game. And I should delete it right after hitting level 50. Such dangerous things shouldn’t be within my brother’s reach.
From what I can see, it seems that all races can choose one of all jobs after reaching a certain level, and then learn that job’s skills. Each race also has unique skills.
For example, if you choose the Sojisis Empire with excellent swordsmanship as your race, and later choose mage as your job, you can have both race skills related to swords and long-range magic skills.
Without thinking too much, I clicked ‘Random Selection’. I have no idea if level 50 is low or high, but they must have made it possible to reach regardless.
And the race that came up was…