ALL NOVEL 13.
13.
Da-bin briefly made eye contact with Jin and then smiled sweetly.
“I already have a level 50 character that I raised before, so I’m planning to submit that one.”
“You played this game too?”
“Yes, a while ago. Haha. Hey, Ha Jin. The meat is burning. Flip it quickly.”
“Huh? Oh. Yeah. Turn down the heat a bit.”
They soon focused on the meat on the grill. These two have good appetites, easily eating enough for five people. Looking at the appetizing meat, I felt like having a drink and casually raised my hand.
“Owner, one bottle of soju here…”
“Owner, one bottle of soda instead of soju, please.”
Da-bin and Jin wouldn’t even let me drink.
As they ate the meat, they chatted about campus life and friends, while I just listened.
“Eunji asked for a blind date. How about Yu Min-su?”
“Isn’t that guy too flirty?”
“Eunji is flirty too.”
“Right. That’s why she should date someone who isn’t flirty. They should balance each other out.”
“I see. Then how about Choi Jin-sik?”
“Choi Jin-sik is kinda seeing someone.”
“Kwon Je-beom?”
“Da-bin. Let’s not touch Kwon Je-beom… If we set up a girlfriend for such a big shot, we’ll get terrorized by gamers all over Korea. Even if I’m your boyfriend, I can’t protect you.”
“Then how about Oppa Ha-un?”
“…Was my brother your goal all along? Did you build up to this?”
“Yes.”
“Our hyung is off-limits. He has no interest in dating.”
“Why are you answering for him? Oppa, how about Eunji? You’ve seen her once before, right? Short hair, cute and lively.”
Da-bin looked at me with sparkling eyes. On the other hand, Jin’s face soured as if he’d bitten into something unpleasant. I didn’t feel it was worth responding, but I answered anyway.
“I don’t know who that is, I have no interest in dating, and especially not your friend.”
“Why? Eunji has a great personality. She’s very bright. Laughs a lot. She’d be perfect to balance out oppa who’s always indifferent and apathetic.”
“Just from hearing about her, I don’t think we’d get along.”
“It’s really hard to figure out your type, oppa. How about guys, by any chance?”
“Hey.”
“Ha Jin, you stay out of this. I’m asking oppa, why do you keep answering?”
“Because you’re asking ridiculous things.”
“What’s ridiculous about it in an age where same-sex marriage is common?”
“Whether it’s same-sex or opposite-sex, I’m telling you our hyung doesn’t like anyone!”
“You never know. It’s not like you know everything about oppa.”
“Hey, you two.”
I spoke calmly.
“Let me tell you, men and women are the same to me.”
“Ah…! Does that mean same-sex is possible too?”
“It means neither same-sex nor opposite-sex is possible… I don’t like people. Da-bin… No matter who you introduce, unless you’re confident that it won’t just fuel my misanthropy even more, there’s no hope. I’m already getting angry just thinking about facing someone.”
“You, you get angry just imagining it?”
“Yes. I’m already feeling sick thinking about the stress of having a conversation.”
“Ah…”
Da-bin sighed. To be honest, I’m starting to get a little irritated with Da-bin too.
But… Da-bin knows well that I suffer from extreme misanthropy and distrust in humans. That’s why she’s trying to introduce someone to me.
Knowing her intention, I didn’t get angry.
I get angry at almost anything, no matter how trivial, to the point where I barely have a standard for anger, but if the intention is clearly good, I don’t get angry.
“Okay. I’ll give up, so don’t get stressed in advance, oppa.”
“Alright.”
“Check your stress level now.”
“Why go that far.”
“Quickly.”
The two of them put their heads together and looked at my wrist. The stress level was almost at the end of the red zone on the right. The stress from playing the game probably accounts for 90% of it.
“I’m sorry, oppa…”
“No, it’s okay. I was already a bit stressed, not because of you.”
“That’s just it… Oppa is always stressed about something, and I…”
“……”
“See? I told you our hyung just doesn’t like people, whether they’re men or women. I know our hyung best.”
Da-bin’s boyfriend spoke teasingly to her dejected face, instead of comforting her. Da-bin immediately gave him a fierce look.
“Kim Ha Jin. You should try to get over your brother complex from now on. What are you going to do if oppa gets a lover later? And if you really care about oppa, you should be thinking of ways to help him meet a good person. Is it right to feel proud about this?”
“I wasn’t feeling proud. Of course I’d be totally happy if there was someone who cared for our hyung. But, if you want to introduce someone to our hyung, you must consult with me first. No exceptions, whether it’s a man or a woman.”
“Then you’ll just cut everyone off.”
“No, I won’t. If they meet my standards, I’ll okay it.”
Da-bin snorted.
“What are your standards?”
“Raised by loving parents, good at their job and earns a lot of money, healthy, and someone who won’t get angry even if hyung loses all his money gambling, but instead says, ‘It’s okay. You must be shocked, rest at home. I’ll earn a lot of money and make you a new gambling fund.'”
“That’s absurd…”
For once, I sympathize with Da-bin.
I decided to take Jin’s words as an indirect suggestion that I should live alone for the rest of my life.
“You’re so picky, but surprisingly you don’t care about looks?”
“It’s so obvious I didn’t mention it. Of course, they should be up to hyung’s standards. They should be someone who receives at least three business cards while walking down the street.”
“Oppa, get away from your brother quickly. This bastard is semi-cultish. You need to escape.”
“It doesn’t matter. I have no intention of dating anyway.”
“I feel like I’m the only normal one at this table. Owner, one more soda please!”
Da-bin gulped down the soda and then screamed that her nose was burning. Jin quickly pulled out some tissues and patted her shoulder.
I ate a piece of meat with a small smile.
It felt like the stress from the game was dissipating a little.
*
The next day, after sending my brother to school, I sat in front of my laptop. Please let there be no people. Please let no one pay attention to me. I entered while praying inwardly, and thankfully it was quiet. I guess games should be started on weekday mornings.
Instead of the still-floating cemetery quest, I did other quests to build up the experience points I had lost.
I could enter the clock tower dungeon again, so I went back in there too. Now that I had succeeded once, I didn’t die this time.
After finishing my warm-up, I challenged the cemetery dungeon again but failed.
After a few attempts, I could read the ghosts’ attack patterns and didn’t die easily, but the fact that magic didn’t work on them was fatal as I couldn’t kill the ghosts. Since neither my life nor the ghosts’ lives were decreasing, the dungeon wouldn’t end.
Gold kept going out for repair costs…
I let go of the mouse.
It’s starting to get a bit tedious.
Games are indeed not fun.
My prediction was right. I knew games would be this boring.
As I was looking at the game screen with boredom, I got a call from my brother. It was already lunchtime.
– What are you doing, hyung? In bed?
“I’m playing the game. Do you need something?”
– Ah… No. It’s nothing. I just called to remind you not to forget to eat. What level are you?
“9.”
– What? You said you were 9 yesterday too.
“It’s not easy to level up. The dungeon clearing is a bit…”
– What dungeon is it?
“It’s the cemetery dungeon, but it’s just frustrating and not fun. As expected, games aren’t worth playing. I knew they’d be boring.”
– Cemetery dungeon…
“Don’t worry. I’ll somehow get you to level 50, so just make sure you eat well.”
– Okay, hyung. I have a club meeting today, so I’ll be a bit late.
“Alright. Don’t drink too much. And if seniors try to force you to drink, what did I tell you to do? With the soju bottle, hit their heads-“
– Ah, hyung. I got it. I got it, so just focus on your game.
My brother quickly hung up.
So far, Jin has never come home drunk, so I shouldn’t worry. Since I’ve shown him many times how ugly I get when drunk and making a scene, Jin seems to be restraining himself early on. Indeed, an older brother is a mirror for the younger.
And being such a tall guy with a solid build, even seniors probably can’t force him to drink…
It will be different from me.
Suddenly I felt like smoking, but I resisted because I was too lazy to go out.
Instead, I went out to the balcony to get some fresh air and then came back.
[Whisper/Beombiga: .]
[Whisper/Beombiga: Hello. Are you having any difficulties with gameplay?]
Surprisingly, there was another whisper from that strange person.
Unlike that English nickname Gchang or whatever, who talks publicly where everyone can see, whispering privately is definitely less burdensome.
After some thought, I typed:
[Whisper to Beombiga: The cemetery dungeon]
As I was about to write that it’s difficult to clear, a reply came immediately.
[Whisper/Beombiga: It’s hard for Teisia to do alone. But you want to solo, right?]
[Whisper to Beombiga: Yes]
[Whisper/Beombiga: Just a moment.]
After waiting for about a minute, a window popped up.
[You have received mail from Beombiga.
Please check your mailbox.]
[Whisper/Beombiga: I just sent you some equipment via mail. Try equipping these and hitting them.]
Ah, mail. I’ve been deleting mails from unknown people without properly reading them, but I should check this one from Beombiga.
I quickly ran to town to check. One mail from Beombiga. And a few mails from unknown people. The game is unnecessarily realistic in this aspect, with spam mail coming in. As I was deleting all the spam, I noticed a familiar name.