Clickety-clack…
In the darkness, a brightly glowing monitor was shining. And a girl was sitting in front of it.
Outside, pitch-black darkness was closing in. Normally, the room should have been quiet with only the sound of breathing, but the sound of keyboard typing echoed loudly.
As if she couldn’t tolerate any distractions, the girl was completely absorbed in her computer, as if being sucked into the monitor.
Clickety-clack…
The sound of the keyboard echoing in the room didn’t subside.
—
“Hey, Hana~”
As usual, Bora entered Hana’s room right after coming to work. It was close to 9 o’clock, so Hana should have already been awake.
But unexpectedly, Hana was still lying in bed, asleep. She wasn’t usually one to sleep in, so it was strange.
Worried that something might be wrong, Bora approached the sleeping Hana. If she was sick, they’d need to quickly go to the hospital inside the building.
But when Bora touched Hana’s forehead, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong. The room always maintained the perfect temperature thanks to the heater and air conditioner, and since Hana rarely went outside, she wasn’t likely to catch a cold in the chilly weather.
“Hana, aren’t you getting up?”
Bora was getting impatient. She needed to feed Hana breakfast. It was important for a growing child to eat on time. Plus, Bora had skipped her own breakfast to eat with Hana.
As Bora gently stroked Hana’s head, Hana groaned and woke up.
“Bora, you’re here…?”
“Hana, are you feeling sick? You look so weak.”
At Bora’s words, Hana suddenly sat up in bed. She then raised both arms to show that she was perfectly fine.
“Bora, I’m strong! Nothing’s wrong with me.”
“Then let’s go eat. Change out of your pajamas.”
Bora said this and brought over Hana’s clothes. Today’s outfit was a simple hoodie with a chick face on it and a cute pleated skirt.
It was a secret that Bora spent more time thinking about Hana’s outfits than her own. Coordinating Hana’s clothes was her biggest concern when getting ready for work.
Hana, being young, didn’t have much fashion sense. She usually preferred clothes with weird characters on them and outright refused to wear skirts. Of course, even if she protested, she’d eventually grumble and put the skirt on.
“Mm…”
Hana, still half-asleep, shook her hair and got out of bed. Dark circles were heavily under her eyes.
Bora took Hana’s hand and led her to the bathroom. Hana was still short, so she had to stand on a step stool to use the sink.
Swoosh…
Bora ran her hand under the water flowing from the sink and then used the water in her palm to wash Hana’s face.
“Sniff!”
“Sniff!”
Hana’s runny nose was washed away by the water. After washing her face, it was time for her hair. Hana’s hair was more important than anything, so Bora carefully began washing it with a level of caution far beyond what she’d shown earlier.
After washing Hana’s hair, Bora brought over the hairdryer and began drying it meticulously. But as she dried it, Hana started nodding off, her head bobbing up and down.
“Why are you so out of it today, Hana?”
Bora said, looking at Hana, who was as limp as a sick chicken. As Bora had said, Hana seemed completely sleep-deprived.
Should they change the bed? But it hadn’t been that long since they last changed it, so that probably wasn’t the issue…
Hana, who had been nodding off, finally seemed to wake up a bit when Bora took her hand and led her down to the restaurant. Bora sat Hana down and went to get the food tray.
When Hana started eating the crispy pork cutlet, some life returned to her eyes. Seeing this, Bora thought that Hana must have had a restless night.
Bora kept thinking that… until Hana’s credit card bill arrived.
—
As soon as I finished studying, I rushed over and turned on the computer. The expensive components inside the tower roared to life with a loud noise.
I entered my ID and password and logged into the game. A character dressed in a flashy avatar greeted me.
“Wow!”
I had no idea how much money I’d spent trying to get this avatar. But it was worth it. As I walked around the village, other players recognized the avatar and started talking to me.
Feeling a sense of superiority, I strolled around the village. Truly, in online games, spending money was the answer. But as soon as I started hunting, I quickly hit a wall.
In Icarus, while the avatar’s abilities were important for boosting a character’s stats, it wasn’t everything…
First of all, I was much more influenced by the specs of the basic equipment. The equipment I’m wearing now was just the basic stuff given out in events.
In other words, compared to the equipment top rankers are wearing, mine might as well be trash. Right now, my character is just a pretty face with only hidden avatars equipped.
Normally, I would’ve just let it slide, but since my character bears the name “Hana Haru Bora,” it had to be the best on the entire server.
There were three ways to upgrade Icarus equipment. First, you could strengthen it by entrusting it to a blacksmith. Second, there was a cube sold in the cash shop that randomly determined additional stats. Lastly, there was the Miracle Cube, which determined another set of stats beneath the additional ones…
It was a blatant money-sucking scheme born from the developers’ firm belief in milking gamers dry. So, newbies who just started the game often ended up quitting after endlessly rolling cubes.
These quitters were confused whether they came to hunt monsters or to play a gacha game.
But I was invincible with my check card. I casually entered the cash shop and started buying cubes endlessly, planning to use them until I hit the card’s limit.
“Should I start streaming?”
I’ve always enjoyed watching internet streams. So, being a streamer was something I aspired to. I had tried streaming before but gave up after hitting a record high of only five viewers.
But maybe now would be a good time to try again? With unlimited time and almost unlimited money, the conditions weren’t bad.
With that thought, I started streaming while playing Icarus, reviving old memories. Hunting monsters was important, but first, I needed to adjust my stats using cubes.
With dozens of pieces of equipment to adjust using cubes, I had to start quickly.
—
Online games, by nature, have communication channels for discussing the game. It’s better to use collective intelligence to gather information.
Thus, Icarus, the most popular MMORPG in South Korea, also had its own gallery for discussions.
– Running lolololol
– Is warrior good these days?
– Mages are too weak.
However, posts that aligned with the gallery’s original purpose were rare. Unless it was the day of an update, it was inevitable.
In a game meant for relaxation, gamers became like rabbits, living day-to-day in the game, only taking breaks to sleep. Soon after updates, content would dry up, leaving nothing to talk about.
But amidst the flood of random posts, a peculiar one appeared.
– Yo, is this the admin’s alt account?
It was a common troll post, so I didn’t pay much attention. But out of boredom, some clicked on it, and the content was anything but ordinary.
[I only watch Icarus streams, but there’s this crazy guy who’s been rolling cubes for three days straight. Must be loaded, huh?]
Rolling a cube cost 3,000 won. Only big streamers with time to spare would roll cubes all day. For the average person, even an hour of cube rolling was a stretch. One press of the spacebar, and 3,000 won vanished.
If there was a guarantee of getting the desired option, people might spend money rolling cubes. But this game was ruthless. Some got the best options after spending tens of thousands, while others spent millions without even getting close to what they wanted.
But this streamer was different. Even in the replay, it was clear: they hunted for only an hour and spent the rest of the time rolling cubes.
And they went as far as rerolling until they got the most extreme option, 36% attack power, which is considered the pinnacle in Icarus.
Most players settle for 30% or 33%, the main stats. If gamers saw this stream, they’d be shocked by the extravagance.
Getting 30% or 33% was already a nightmare in terms of probability, so viewers were inevitably stunned by this no-cam, no-mic streamer’s reckless spending.
