Chapter 148

In fact, there were no legal issues with the video Da Yeon uploaded.

This was because, in the early days of playing WoA, the video sharing was allowed.

However, that did not change the undeniable guilt I felt for leeching views from someone else’s video without any permission.

“That’s…”

“It’s a joke. Since I gave you candy, I’ll forgive you.”

Namé smiled.

Thanks to that, more people started coming to the broadcast.

“What are you talking about? You also broadcast, kid?”

“Wow, what? Let’s search for it quickly! What’s the channel name? Can I find it on V-Tube?”

“Wait, you’re No Name…?”

“Who’s No Name? Are they famous?”

“You don’t know No Name?”

One of the four men had a pale expression, similar to Woo Da Yeon’s.

He was someone who didn’t know the main avatar but was well aware of No Name’s activities in WoA.

Still, Hee Jin stood there, bewildered.

“What’s going on? Is there something I don’t know?”

Knock, knock—

Two knocks resonated through the noisy room.

In an instant, Professor Cheon peeked into the lab and gestured.

“Namé, could you grab your things and come out?”

With a clatter—

Namé gathered her belongings and said her goodbyes.

“My age shouldn’t be disclosed recklessly. It’s still a secret.”

* * *

I thought that if I kept solving problems, they would eventually pose me harder ones, but unfortunately, they might be underestimating my abilities.

I was quicker with mental calculations than others, and during my time working at the Magic Tower, I often showcased skills like this, but those days are just memories now.

And age…

I would have to reveal it someday, but it brought to mind many issues that would arise from it.

First, an explanation for what I had been up to for the past seven years.

It was vague whether to call this an explanation or a revelation.

Since I was at it, it would be best to draw attention when as many people as possible were focused on it.

I thought it would be a significant event, but even then, people’s reactions might be lukewarm at best in this Republic of Korea.

In a world saturated with sensational news, I felt like my story might be nothing.

Despite building up the courage to expose something, I didn’t want to fade away into obscurity after mere months where no one would remember.

Some might disparage the Korean tendency to get easily bored, but I had a different perspective.

The unfortunate murders and car accidents that continue to happen in the 2050s emerge not just in Korea but worldwide.

It’s exhausting to keep up with each incident, making it impossible to remember them all.

As I pondered when and how to make my announcement, I found myself reaching the meeting room.

Professor Cheon and a Korean who appeared to be his age stood up.

“Hello, young lady! I’m Robert Kim. Nice to meet you.”

To correct that, he sounded completely American based on his accent.

I accepted his handshake and sat next to Professor Cheon, placing my arm on the cold glass table. It’s still uncomfortable for me to sit in a chair where my feet don’t touch the floor.

“Are the kids playing well?”

“What do you mean, playing? I was actually the one playing with them.”

“Haha, those guys are even more uncontrollable than Namé. Oh, let me introduce you. This is my friend Robert Kim, and Robert, this is our daughter Namé.”

“Translation magic is too impersonal, but I’ll try my best to speak Korean. Nice to meet you again.”

“Likewise.”

The kind-faced gentleman smiled.

By the time we reached this point, it seemed like the conversation had covered everything, and there was no special lead-in to drag on.

“Actually, it’s nothing special, but I came here to check if Kyujin Chan was lying about his daughter being very sick. Originally, the solid potion wasn’t supposed to be commercialized yet, but he insisted so much that I had to come all the way to New Jersey!”

“Is that so?”

“More than that, I was fascinated that Kyujin had a daughter! I won four rounds of rock-paper-scissors in a row to get this business trip to Korea!”

He shared stories from America with his clumsy Korean.

“Well! Since we’ve met, is it all done now? I’ll attach the documents when I leave later.”

“Hey, don’t be so mean! I’ve been on a plane for hours…”

After arguing several times with Professor Cheon, Robert finally surrendered and left the building.

“You must be really happy to have such a cute daughter, Kyujin.”

“You should hurry up and pressure your son for a granddaughter.”

“Ha! Jason declared himself a DINK, so that’s not so easy!”

“That’s unfortunate.”

“Well then, Namé, I’ll be off! Bye-bye! Oh, right, this is a gift! Since I heard you like sweets, I’m sure you’ll love it!”

I waved goodbye to him as he took a taxi.

“He’s a friend working at Johnson & Johnson. He may look like that, but his brain is remarkably sharp.”

Professor Cheon muttered. He certainly did look like it.

Given he came dressed in the sloppy checkered attire symbolic of engineering schools, there was no doubt he was genuine.

“Is there anywhere you feel uncomfortable? Not your heart or anything?”

“No, honestly, I wouldn’t even know if I was sick if I didn’t get a doctor’s diagnosis.”

“Always let me know if there’s any problem, even a slight one. Also, the pharmaceutical company said we might soon have good news regarding EDMD treatment.”

“That’s great to hear.”

“Yeah, fortunately, I’ve been conducting research related to that for several years. We’ll definitely be able to cure it.”

While he spoke hopefully, he still seemed worried about me.

After all, the main cause of death in muscular dystrophy is heart failure, and once that occurs, it’s nearly game over.

The gift Robert gave was none other than Ferrero Rocher chocolates.

Along with that, Professor Cheon showed me a small container filled with black pills.

“This is a solid potion I received as a sample. What do you think?”

“Wait, you want me to swallow this?”

“You can chew it, but then it’s practically the same as taking it in liquid form, right?”

It looked at least twice the size of a massive omega-3 supplement.

If that went down wrong, it would block my esophagus.

“Can I have just one?”

I took a tumbler from my bag and compared it to the pill.

The increasingly pungent smell suggested that I needed to swallow it quickly.

“Uhp!”

Gulp—

‘Oh man. This is why I wanted chocolate.’

It was still a hundred times better than liquid potions, but the moment it touched my tongue made my head tingle.

I swallowed the pill naturally and washed it down with water.

Feeling that unpleasant scratch as the pill reached the back of my throat was not pleasant at all.

And finally soothing my tongue with Ferrero Rocher made rational thinking possible again.

“This is… intensely unpleasant.”

“But at least you only need to take it three times a day.”

“Three times a day… that’s quite an advancement already.”

It surely would reduce the number of times I’d have to rush to the bathroom.

“I’ll take you home, so let’s head to the parking lot now.”

“Oh, I could go on my own.”

“They say a rain shower is coming soon, and you didn’t even bring an umbrella, right? It won’t take long by car, so hurry up.”

A rain shower in this weather? I could see a small dark cloud off in the distance, but it didn’t seem like enough to pour rain.

Still, seeing Professor Cheon looking bored, I quietly got into the passenger seat.

“Aren’t you working hard for a research year?”

“Should I just skip tomorrow and go to an amusement park with Namé instead?”

“Eh, you know she doesn’t like walking much.”

With my body lacking energy, I felt the most comfort and happiness when lying down.

“So how about a movie?”

“I don’t mind movies.”

“Great! Then tomorrow, since it’s a date with Namé, I need to clear my whole schedule!”

“Are you going to skip the academy tomorrow too? Midterms are coming up soon!”

“Honestly, you agree with me, right?”

“Of course.”

Liking the Academy Friends and liking the Academy were two different matters.

Humans naturally feel a sense of monotony from consistency.

Since it was an academy I attended every day, taking a day or two off felt pretty good. Sorry, Yuna, I’ll buy you something delicious later.

As I had thought, the previously congested main road was now wide open.

Rain streaks started hitting the front windshield. It was really starting to rain.

The sun hid behind the dark clouds, and the background quickly became dreary.

They say it’ll rain all day tomorrow, so it seems I’d have to postpone my date with Adella.

“Excuse me, Professor.”

“Yes?”

“How long have you been friends with Robert?”

“Ah, Robert? Let me see… hmm… about 25 years?”

“That’s nearly a lifelong friendship.”

“Haha, something like that.”

“Is there a secret to maintaining such long relationships with people?”

Listening to Robert, it seemed that Professor Cheon knew several acquaintances in the U.S.

What kind of feeling was it to maintain contact for decades without losing touch?

A feeling of envy bubbled up inside me.

“Well, you know… it’s probably crucial to not have any deceit between each other, right?”

Deceit.

“I don’t quite understand. Shouldn’t there be a balance in what to conceal to keep a comfortable relationship?”

Revealing one’s flaws is equivalent to lowering oneself and exposing weaknesses.

Friendship requires equal standing; if one side becomes overly dominant, the relationship’s sustainability becomes questionable.

“I haven’t lived for very long, but after living for over 50 years, I’ve noticed that those who try to hide something may seem attractive at first, but eventually, there emerges an uncomfortable gap between them.”

“So what then?”

“Now, it’s up to you to decide whether to maintain the gap or risk the relationship by attempting to bridge it. However, this doesn’t necessarily apply to all human relationships. With 10 billion people in the world, there’s a variety of relationships.”

In the end, we were back to square one.

After all, as he said, it would be stranger if there were a universal logic that applied to all human relationships.

What kind of logic would apply between me and my Academy Friends, me and the viewers of my internet broadcasts, and between me and Professor Cheon?

As Professor Cheon remained silent for a moment, a warm smile appeared on his face.

“I hope that someday we can be open and honest with each other.”

He didn’t ask anything or make any demands.

Just the fact that someone was there for me could be a source of strength sometimes.

Were all parents originally meant to be that kind of presence for their children? I don’t quite know.

“Professor Cheon, don’t you want to know how I lived before the orphanage?”

I thought about asking that.

I slightly opened my lips to test that gap, but—

Crash!

“Oh, the rain stopped, and now there’s lightning from a clear sky. Korean weather isn’t like it used to be.”

Not wanting to talk due to the bad weather, I closed my mouth again.

“Namé, I think I just heard a text sound from your phone. Did it get drowned out by the thunder?”

“Oh, let me check.”

I rarely received texts or calls on my phone.

[Seoul Regional Serious Crime Investigation Agency

No. 2051-00628

To: Cheon Semin, No Name

Subject: Notification of Resolved Request for Re-investigation

We inform you that a decision has been made regarding the case related to you, and we wish you a swift recovery from your damage.

Content: No jurisdiction

Reason: This matter has already been charged regarding the same incident.

You can check the attached re-investigation records (full text, summary) regarding this matter.

*Based on Article 2, Section 6 of the Prosecutor’s crime investigation commencement regulations.

*Disaster and Safety Management Basic Act Article 3, Section 1, Item 2]

‘Damn it.’

It was not yet the time to speak.

Yeah, not yet.

“It was nothing important.”

“Oh really? Are there still spam texts nowadays?”

“Professor Cheon… by the way, I want to enter a competition. Can you give me permission?”

“A competition? What kind of competition?”

“A gaming competition.”

Let’s blow things wide open.