Chapter 40

Gang Hwa-won showed me how to play League of Eternity, an Eloi game. The game itself was quite intriguing, but I didn’t feel drawn enough to play it myself.

As I watched Hwa-won finish a light game, I muttered to myself.

“It doesn’t look as fun as I thought.”

“Not really?”

“It looks difficult. In the novel, the protagonist seems to defeat enemies so easily.”

“Well, that’s just a novel. Do you want to try it? You need to create an account first, but other than that, you can’t do anything else.”

“No, thanks. I don’t think this is for me.”

Seeing that I wasn’t very interested, Hwa-won stopped suggesting the game without hesitation. Given the time, Hwa-won also had to head home.

“It might be convenient to stay over, but there’s no bed or blanket.”

“Right. I should order some online. Even if there’s no bed, I definitely need a blanket and a pillow.”

“Well, I’m off then. See you on the weekend.”

“Weekend is tomorrow.”

“Yes, exactly.”

Hwa-won continued to say silly things as he left the house. I felt like the house was a bit empty with him suddenly gone. The emptiness was indeed accurate, but it still felt strange.

Days passed, and a week went by. I had a tutoring session with Jae-Ah again on Tuesday, and by Friday, it was time for another session.

“Hey, come to the bottom! It’s definitely a dive angle now.”

“Then I won’t grow. I got jungled earlier, so I need to eat some jungle now.”

“Who do you think you are, talking so much when you’re a bronze rank?”

“Oh, says the guy who’s barely diamond? How much of a difference could it make, you spoon?”

“I’m diamond 1. Is that a joke?”

“Bronze, silver, and gold are all the same, anyway. If you’ve been a diamond for so long at that age, then I, being younger, likely have more potential.”

For some reason, these guys were fighting over my place playing Eloi duos.

Hwa-won was using my computer, while Jae-Ah was gaming on the laptop I borrowed from Hwa-won, both sitting at the same desk.

The situation was as follows: During the last tutoring session, Jae-Ah stayed behind instead of going home, and they had dinner together. After some conversation, Jae-Ah and Hwa-won became friends and ended up teaming up.

Then today, after the tutoring session ended, they suddenly settled down and started gaming without any regard for me.

I watched them with a sense of disappointment.

Before starting the game, the two were getting along jovially like brothers, but as soon as the game started, they began bickering. Using strange words like “spoon” and “butcher,” they fought like elementary school kids, which was just… foolish.

While I could understand Jae-Ah’s behavior, it was hard to believe that Hwa-won, at that age, would want to act like that.

In the end, it seemed that their first game together ended in victory. After battling each other fiercely, they won and congratulated each other as if they had never fought at all.

“Wow, this is incredible. Hyung, this is no joke. If we just play a little longer, we might actually reach master!”

“Hey, you’re not exactly talent material for platinum! If you keep playing with me, you’ll hit diamond in no time.”

It appeared that only I found this ridiculous situation foolish. Even though I was a man, there were times when I couldn’t understand the foolishness of such guys.

“So, is that it now?”

I asked with annoyance after watching the two play so boringly for too long.

“Well, we won a game, and food will arrive soon, so should we end it here?”

“Sure, why not.”

The two quit the game right then. If they had played one more game, I might have lost my mind, so it was a relief.

“Now hand over my laptop.”

“Hey, it’s my laptop! When did it become yours?”

“Still, regardless.”

“Are you upset we played without you? You should have been writing instead.”

“No, how am I supposed to write when you two have taken over both the laptop and the computer?”

“True.”

As the nonsense ended and the pizza I ordered arrived, the three of us sat down to eat. Even while eating, the two continued their gaming discussion. I’m not the type to feel out of place in situations like this, but it annoyed me slightly that they only talked among themselves.

That said, I couldn’t very well say, “Don’t talk about other things in front of me!” so I had no choice but to listen.

Since it was three of us eating, I specifically ordered a large pizza, but I could only manage to eat one slice. I helplessly watched as they ate the rest.

They suddenly looked at me while chatting.

“Hmmm….”

“Hmmm….”

Seeing them both gaze at me with half-closed eyes, it seemed they had some strange idea again.

“Do you want to try that game?”

“I said I’m not very interested.”

“Who knows? You might like it if you try.”

“Why are you suddenly saying this?”

“You looked a bit pitiful, so I thought I’d invite you to join.”

“What are you on about?”

Who on earth made a pitiful face? I felt slightly offended by their nonsensical chatter.

“But really, it is a bit sad. If you just frown slightly, you look terribly pitiful.”

“This damn face of mine.”

“But seriously, it’s really fun if you try it. Just give it a little shot. Besides, I heard you haven’t been writing much these days.”

Hmm… If you put it that way, I guess I can’t help it. My interest had long since faded, but considering the level of encouragement, it would be courteous to join in a bit.

After Hwa-won and Jae-Ah finished all the pizza, I sat at the desk. I was able to create an account using my new resident registration number without issues. I was a bit worried, but fortunately, it went well. I named my nickname “Snow Country,” simply translating my name to English.

Although it was a game I had reluctantly joined…

“This isn’t fun at all.”

“What fun do you expect playing against a computer? It’ll get interesting when you meet real players later.”

“No, this is too hard. The game has over 100 characters.”

“You’ll get used to it as you play.”

The game was not at all to my liking.

It was challenging, and there was too much to memorize. Is it even normal to have to study while playing a game?

“What kind of guy never plays games and just lives?”

“You’re a complete natural monument.”

“Shut up.”

I spent nearly two hours with these two annoying commentators, finally managing to play a decent game.

After learning how to play and trying a few rounds, the game turned out to be somewhat enjoyable. I didn’t know if I had any talent, but at least I wasn’t so bad that I would lose against a computer.

“This is manageable.”

“Hmmm, strange.”

“What’s strange?”

“It’s supposed to be a rule that if you have TS syndrome, you should be good at games. But you seem to learn slower than expected.”

“Do you want a beating?”

Jae-Ah, who writes such stories, might consider it a joke, but I found it merely pathetic. Does he think reality is like a novel?

“That’s fiction, and normally, when someone becomes a woman, it’s natural for them to actually be worse at games. How can a woman be good at games?”

“That’s a line that denies the existence of 50 million TS writers and readers. Be careful.”

“Seriously, are there really 50 million of them?”

It’s impossible for all the people of South Korea to watch that stuff.

“Anyway, does that mean you can’t play games now because you’re a woman?”

“I’m playing this game for the first time today.”

“Wasn’t it because you naturally couldn’t play well that you haven’t played games at all?”

“…That’s not true.”

“Well, that could be it. Not being good isn’t a crime.”

Jae-Ah started provoking me annoyingly. No, I just hadn’t had the opportunity. I can no longer prove it, but if I were a guy, I would definitely have played much better than either platinum or diamond. Just thinking about it seemed obvious.

“If it were the old me, I would be much better than you guys!”

“Now you’re gonna say that because you can’t prove it?”

Now Hwa-won joined in on mocking me. Slightly heated, I raised my voice.

“Of course, because I’m smarter than you!”

“What’s your reasoning for saying that?”

“You haven’t debuted, but I have. Jae-Ah, I’m currently teaching you, so I’m obviously smarter.”

It was pretty weak reasoning but not wrong. I knew it was a childish argument, which made my face turn a bit red. Hwa-won had a look of disgust, while Jae-Ah countered.

“I didn’t fail to debut; I just didn’t try. I’ve already made around 30 million won.”

However, the one hit by that rebuttal wasn’t me, but rather Hwa-won.

“What? You earned 30 million? How?”

“Jae-Ah writes web novels. Apparently, she made 30 million with that.”

“No way… Should I try writing web novels too?”

Hwa-won muttered with a defeated expression. Considering that guy had made virtually zero money from writing, it was understandable.

“Well, since it’s the first day, I can’t assess skill based on that.”

Once Hwa-won was affected, Jae-Ah shifted the conversation back to gaming, perhaps realizing she had been somewhat joking.

“Then you can prove it by playing games together from now on.”

“Why does it lead there?”

“But isn’t it more fun? It would be way more enjoyable together.”

Jae-Ah looked a bit earnest. Why did she want me to play this game so badly? Surely there are other friends she could play with besides me.

“It’s because she doesn’t have any friends. So, please join her.”

“Don’t you have any friends?”

“Why does it go there?”

Seeing her get angry might have been the truth. But I wondered how Hwa-won found that out.

“I heard it when we swapped contacts and chatted on Tuesday.”

I hadn’t heard that yet even after meeting her first. Anyway, in the end, was it all stemming from loneliness? It felt foolish. Then again, it wasn’t strange for someone refusing to go to school.

“Oh dear, our Jae-Ah must be lonely without friends.”

I teased Jae-Ah intentionally, speaking in a childish voice and tiptoeing to pat her head. But for some reason, she turned bright red and stepped back without a word.

“Hey, why are you getting serious like that? It’s just a joke.”

“I mean, I’m in high school, so why are you patting my head?”

“It’s just a joke, a joke. Fine, I’ll play some games with you.”

Well, after all, she was sort of like a disciple. Asking me to play games with her wasn’t such a hard request, so it wasn’t too difficult to join in once in a while.

Although Jae-Ah still had a reddened face, her expression seemed a bit happier.