SIDE STORY 11
Terms used in this side story:
Korea’s age counting system – South Korea has this culture that your age increases by one on New Year’s Day, regardless of what date in the year you were born. There’s also the fact that you’ll be 1 years old already on the day you were born. So if you were born on December 31, you’ll be one years old, but a day later, January 1, you’ll suddenly be two years old.
Hongdae – a neighbourhood area in Seoul, South Korea near Hongik University. It is known for its urban arts and indie music culture, local shops, clubs, and entertainment.
Hong Yoo Hee.
20 years old, but just before 21 years old in Korea’s age counting system.
Occupation: College student.
Hobby: Playing games.
Skills: Playing games.
Likes: Playing games.
She was like Ajin, short for loner nerd, who had the routine of going to school, home, school, and home.
T/N: Ajin is a meme character in Korea. Ajin comes from the words a.s.sa (loner) + Jinta (nerd), and is a female character depicted as always wearing hoodies and jeans. She also has a routine of school, home, school, and home.
She was definitely not like that from the beginning.
Like many high school students across the country, there was a time when she had a longing for college life.
Moreover, although she was not beautifully dressed, there were many cla.s.smates and seniors who showed interest in her because of her beauty.
But almost a year after Hong Yoo Hee entered college, she had become Ajin.
The reason was simple.
‘Because I only play Legend of Heroes all day!’
The only thing she did outside of cla.s.ses was to play Legend of Heroes.
‘But it’s the college’s fault too!’
College life was different from what she had imagined.
The college professors are not much different from school teachers?
Interactions with professors?
A different level of learning from high school?
Adult entertainment that are different from children’s entertainment?
Bullsh*t.
Certainly, there were some students who had personal exchanges with the professors.
But only a few.
Very few.
Where could you find a professor who initiated relationships by actively engaging with students who sit in a corner and quietly attend cla.s.ses?
And frankly, most of the cla.s.ses were at the freshmen level where there was only introductions or reviews, so there was not much depth into it.
The school felt like it could not even teach accounting to its students.
Of course, schools and universities had different teaching objectives and directions, but from the perspective of taking cla.s.ses, that was how she felt.
And her cla.s.smates.
She thought that there would be something special when she became a college student, but it was all alcohol.
Alcohol. Alcohol. Alcohol.
She went out of curiosity at first, and was later forced to go out to drink a few times, but that was it.
There were a lot of terrible people, starting with the drunk ones and the ones who picked fights.
Drinking parties were not particularly fun.
Obviously, not all of them were like that, and there were times she had fun drinking with people, but that was only a few people, and her interactions with them gradually lessened as she did not go out to large drinking gatherings.
So in the end, all that was left was a freshman, a person like Ajin who traveled alone.
Even her outfit was the same as Ajin – hoodies and jeans.
College life seemed depressing considering all that, but not at all for her.
After all, the chatroom members of Legend of Heroes were still there.
Rather, in her early days of college, the final expansion pack of Legend of Heroes 3 made her every day exciting.
‘Was it because of that?’
Because she became immersed in Legend of Heroes.
Perhaps that was why she voluntarily became Ajin and missed out on a lot of big gatherings.
‘Well… Even in high school, if you never joined groups at the beginning of the semester, you’ll be left out for the entire year.’
The same seemed to be true for universities as people also go there.
Anyway.
If Hong Yoo Hee was asked to write down the names of her three close friends, only the chatroom members came to her mind, so she was living like Ajin, but was still happy.
“I’m going to win this time!”
Second place for 35 consecutive months.
But it will be different this time.
It will be this time.
It will be this month!
“Hehehe, I even made a bet this time too.”
The winner would be granted one wish.
There was no doubt that the cheater Outbo b*stard was just fooling around, but in fact, Hong Yoo Hee herself had also staked everything in it.
If she lost here, she did not know what that evil Outbo b*stard would make her do.
‘Even so, I don’t think he’ll make me delete my character.’
I won’t make him delete his character too.
But it’s clear that he’ll try to humiliate me or something.
Humiliation.
“Yes, I’m going to humiliate you properly.”
Because I’ll win this time, okay?
I’ll humiliate you when I win!
Hong Yoo Hee smiled as she thought of all sorts of humiliating pranks that would be good to have Outbo do.
It was to the point where her shoulders were shaking in excitement.
“Ohmigosh, ohmigosh, ahem, ahem, ohmigosh.”
Hong Yoo Hee puffed up her chest and looked at the monitor again.
Cordelia had a pretty dress as she stood in a picturesque place.
“She’s so beautiful.”
Hong Yoo Hee herself was in a situation where she only wore clothes that were highly convenient, such as hoodies and jeans outside, and sleeveless shirts and shorts at home, but not for Cordelia.
She was so devoted to dressing up Cordelia to the point that she dressed up Cordelia in clothes she herself had designed.
“If you hunted during the time you dressed her up, you would have won first place…. No, isn’t that too much?”
The anger of Hong Yoo Hee soared as she recalled the remark of Outbo, but it was only for a moment.
Because the smiling face of the angelic-looking Cordelia made her smile.
“Good night, see you tomorrow.”
Hong Yoo Hee greeted Cordelia quietly and turned off the computer. She headed to the bathroom to wash up before going to bed and lying down.
She quickly fell asleep as she had stayed up late.
***
“Oh yeah! +9! I made it to +9!”
Hong Yoo Hee jumped high as she held a huge golden wand studded with red gems.
Magician Slaughtering Wand +9.
Even though it was a weapon exclusively for wizards, the weapon was specialized against wizards. Its drop rate and enhancement rate were also low, so only 7 existed on the entire server.
But +9.
She enhanced it to +9 in one sitting.
“Ah! Awesome! So good!”
Hong Yoo Hee hugged the Magician Slaughtering Wand and even began rolling on the ground, and Cordelia, who watched her from afar, covered her red face with both hands.
‘Is this the kind of dreams you have?’
A dream of enhancing a super rare item up to +9.
Though, it was definitely something she would dream of.
It was also a pleasant dream.
But.
But.
‘Eueueu… Why am I the one who’s embarra.s.sed…’
As Jude had a.n.a.lyzed, Hong Yoo Hee and Cordelia had differences.
Not just a difference in appearance, but a difference in personality too.
But that was natural.
The two had grown in completely different environments.
‘Anyway, it seems like I’ve succeeded in getting in.’
Inside the dream of Hong Yoo Hee.
Now all that she had to do was convince Hong Yoo Hee to have a relationship with Outboxer009.
‘It won’t be easy.’
She had discussed it with Jude, and they concluded that they could not say that Outboxer009 was the oppa next door.
Because the gap between the perception of Hong Yoo Hee regarding Outboxer009 and the oppa next door was too wide.
‘So I shall first convince her that Outbo is not that bad…’
Jude a.n.a.lyzed that it would work if she narrowed the gap a bit and then go ‘Voila!’ and surprise them.
After all, it was the words of Jude who succeeded in getting Cordelia, and even Cordelia herself thought that it would work better on Hong Yoo Hee, so she adapted his plan.
“Fwoo… Okay. Let’s do it.”
Cordelia steeled her mind, lightly slapped her cheeks, and gulped.
And after a minute or so.
“Yoo Hee.”
Hong Yoo Hee was still jumping with the +9 wand, but reflexively turned at the gentle and friendly voice calling her.
And she froze.
“Co-Cordelia?”
Her favorite character stood there with a pretty smile.
She was wearing a gorgeous and beautiful dress, like that of a wedding dress.
“Yes, I am Cordelia.”
Cordelia beautifully smiled once again after revealing her angel wings of light and halo, and Hong Yoo Hee was deeply filled with admiration.
“Wow, it’s a dream. It’s a dream.”
“That’s right, it’s a dream. But it’s not a serious dream.”
As Cordelia playfully laughed, the dazed Hong Yoo Hee also laughed along her without realizing it.
“Yes, yes, it’s fine if this is just a dream. Or rather, I like it because it’s a dream? Though, is this a lucid dream since I realized that I’m dreaming in a dream? So I can do whatever I want?”
Hong Yoo Hee said all those and looked at Cordelia with a bit of a dangerous smile, and Cordelia flinched before saying.
“Y-Yoo Hee?”
“Hehehe… Cordelia…”
And a few minutes later.
“Ah, I’m so happy.”
Hong Yoo Hee was lying on the lap of Cordelia as she happily smiled, and Cordelia smiled as she stroked the hair of Hong Yoo Hee.
“Do you like it?”
“Yes, I like it. I love it.”
Cordelia somehow felt that she was being more like Jude than being herself, but she happily smiled again.
Because it seemed like it would be easier to persuade Hong Yoo Hee with this atmosphere.
“Yoo Hee.”
“Yes, Cordelia.”
“What do you think of… Outbo?”
“Eh?”
“Outbo.”
“Outboxer009?”
“Yes, Outbo.”
When Cordelia said with a smile, the face of Hong Yoo Hee immediately distorted. Hong Yoo Hee hesitated as she pursed her lips before quickly letting out complaints.
“A cheeky bald cheater and evil b*stard, a wicked man. Anyway, he’s seriously childish, evil, disrespectful… argh. Just thinking about him annoys me.”
Her reaction was more intense than expected, perhaps because they were in a dream where her emotions were fully revealed.
The fl.u.s.tered Cordelia spoke again in a soft tone, as if to appease Hong Yoo Hee.
“But you don’t hate him so much, right?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I mean, uh… A-Affection from hatred? I’m sure you’ve heard of that too?”
T/N: Affection from hatred is when you know someone for a long time, but also hate them a lot, like a childhood rival. So if you one day see them in trouble, you don’t want to help because of your hate, but also feel guilty because you still had a bond (or affection) with them in the past, even though it was based on hatred.
After all, it had already been six years since the two had known each other.
At the words of Cordelia, Hong Yoo Hee pursed her lips again before speaking in a low voice.
“Well… He’s the one I’ve known for the longest time.”
Because she knew him longer than Romantic Cat-unnie.
He was also the person she talked to the most.
Even if she included all of her real life friends, he was probably the person who had the longest friendship (?) with her.
In response to the answer of Hong Yoo Hee, Cordelia exhaled in relief and continued.
“Right? Outbo isn’t really that bad of a guy.”
And she tried to tell her some good things, but could not.
Because the eyes of Hong Yoo Hee had widened in surprise.
“Cordelia.”
“Yes?”
“How does Cordelia know that?”
Cordelia and Outbo were not related to each other.
The question sounded sharp since it came from Hong Yoo Hee, the past self of Cordelia, so the embarra.s.sed Cordelia barely opened her mouth to speak as she stuttered.
“Eh? Uh… Be-Because it’s a dream?”
I know because it’s a dream.
It was a lame excuse, but Hong Yoo Hee nodded perhaps because they were definitely in a dream or because it was the words of Cordelia, so she did not argue about it.
“Anyway, he’s not a bad guy?”
“Yes, he isn’t. Of course, as you have said, he’s a scammer, a sly person, always acts innocent, provokes you, teases you, makes you worry too much, does a lot of unreasonable stuff…”
“Wait, Wait a minute. Weren’t you just saying that he’s not a bad guy?”
When Hong Yoo Hee sat up and asked that question, Cordelia blinked her eyes and awkwardly smiled.
“O-Of course! Yes! From now on, I’ll tell you about his good parts. Yes, from now on.”
Hong Yoo Hee suspiciously stared at Cordelia clumsily giving an excuse, but soon nodded.
“Okay. Actually, I think your credibility has increased a bit now that I’ve heard those words. So what are his good parts?”
The good points of Outbo.
The good things about Jude.
Cordelia cleared her throat and began enumerating it.
“First of all, he is smart.”
“Yes, Outbo, that guy is smart.”
Hong Yoo Hee spoke in an uninterested tone, but agreed.
“And he’s good at cooking. He’s sincere, very considerate, and pays attention to the small stuff. Should I say he’s attentive? To me, he’s… I-I mean, he puts the people who are important to him first.”
Every time Cordelia spoke, her expression changed little by little.
A little gentler, a little kinder, and a little happier.
Hong Yoo Hee felt two emotions at the sight of Cordelia talking like a girl in love and had blushing cheeks.
One was ‘Cordelia is so pretty, cute, and lovely!’
The other was ‘What? Why does it feels like Cordelia is in love with Outbo? Does she know Outbo?’
“And… he’s cool. He’s handsome, has a good body, has firm muscles… and he’s really good at it.”
“Huh?”
Good at what?
What is ‘it’?
Playing games?
“T-That’s it. Something like that. Anyway, there are a lot of good things about him.”
Hong Yoo Hee tilted her head when Cordelia hastily spoke as though she was trying to fix her words, but did not question it for long.
Instead, she said something else.
“Is Outbo handsome?”
“Yes. He’s handsome. He’s cool and amazing.”
“Is he spitefully handsome? The annoying kind?”
“No, he’s not. He’s very manly. Seriously cool.”
“Hmph, is that really Outbo? Is he even comparable to the oppa next door?”
It finally came out.
The oppa next door.
Since this was a dream, Hong Yoo Hee thought according to the flow of her consciousness, and perhaps because the word ‘oppa next door’ came out, a very beautified memory was played in the mind of Hong Yoo Hee.
The oppa next door whom she saw while taking a walk along the Han River after being forcibly dragged by Romantic Cat-unnie.
He was standing on the river bank and smoking a cigarette as he watched the setting sun.
It was truly like a painting.
She could feel the unique atmosphere of a cool man who had a gloomy look as if he was suppressing a lot of sadness, and a whirlpool of emotions, though it was restrained.
What is he thinking?
If it’s the cool oppa next door, it must be something extraordinary.
Maybe it’s the death anniversary of his lover?
Or the death anniversary of a friend he had known for a long time?
Hong Yoo Hee continued her imagination as she pressed her red cheeks with her hands. On the other hand, Cordelia who saw it then repeatedly stomped her feet and covered her face with both hands.
She did not know back then, but knew now.
Outbo.
Why Kang Jin-ho was standing in the Han River with such an expression on his face.
‘Hey! He was doing that because his +9 weapon enhancement failed! Not for those other cool reasons!’
And now that she saw him, his clothes were that of an unemployed man.
No could tell that he had a fit body because he was wearing a tracksuit and slippers!
But it did not look like that to Hong Yoo Hee whose love filter was strong.
And in fact, even if one removed her love filter, it was true that Kang Jin-ho was a pretty cool guy from the outside.
He had a tall body that seemed to be in the mid-180’s, and had a well-trained body reminiscent of a sleek leopard.
In addition to that, there was a uniqueness to his slightly empty gaze filled with sadness.
“The oppa next door must have a good personality too. He’s not as rude as that grade schooler Outbo. Yes, yes. I’m sure he’s mature. He’s an adult. A real grown up. He’s completely different from Outbo. He’s incomparable to Outbo who always teases me for being second.”
The oppa next door would never even tease me.
Rather, he would comfort me.
Perhaps he would find a way to help me get first place.
He won’t bother me, and would always be nice to me.
As the delusions of Hong Yoo Hee continued to pour out, Cordelia pounded her chest as though she was going to die from frustration.
‘You ishtupid girl! That’s him! That’s him! He’s that guy! That guy!’
Her beautification of the oppa next door was more serious than Cordelia had thought.
Cordelia became worried that their plan would not go well and only fail if Hong Yoo Hee knew that the oppa next door was Outbo.
‘Eueueueu…’
That bad grade schooler Outbo.
That ugly Outbo who always made fun of her every day.
But it was also true.
Because Cordelia herself had to go through various things with Jude, and her impression of him gradually changed.
‘T-That’s right!’
I can’t back down from here.
Cordelia then spoke as she held the hand of Hong Yoo Hee who was still in her delusions.
“But think about it. There are a lot of good things about Outbo. You know those too.”
“Huh?”
“Outbo never uses family insults. You know that, right?”
“Uh… you’re right.”
“Yes, yes. He teases you, but draws the line, right? And think carefully. Isn’t he quite a good person? He may tease you in the process, but if you ask for help in the end, he will help you. If you ask him to investigate something, he’ll find it out for you.”
It was true.
Outboxer would be snorting and saying that he did not do it for her or that he did it because it was something interesting and that she did not know about it – those kind of grade schooler reactions, but it was true that Outboxer was kind to her.
“Umm… You think so?”
“That’s right, that’s right. He’s really like that. Anyway, there are a lot of good things about Outbo.”
Cordelia went on to talk about the strengths of Outboxer, and Hong Yoo Hee mostly agreed, though she tilted her head at times.
“Yes, that is why… Let’s meet him.”
“Eh?”
“Let’s meet him once. We’ve been playing games together for 6 years. Aren’t you curious about Outbo? What he would look like, and who he is?”
When Cordelia hugged the waist of Hong Yoo Hee and spoke in a subdued tone, Hong Yoo Hee slowly nodded even though she was hesitant.
She was actually curious.
Like what the h.e.l.l did that guy do.
Or what that guy looked like.
“B-But…”
She was a bit scared to see him alone.
What if she met a creepy old man?
Or a seriously bad grade schooler.
Having played with him for 6 years, she clearly knew what kind of person he was and that he was not that kind of dangerous person, but meeting him in real life was still different.
‘I think it would be awkward…’
Outbo was definitely a man.
And she would be meeting a man alone.
A guy whose age was unknown.
“N-No. I can’t. Impossible.”
Her fear outweighed her curiosity.
Hong Yoo Hee stepped back as if she was running away, Cordelia hugged her waist more tightly and said.
“No, you can do it. How about you meet in a group instead of just you two?”
“Eh? A group?”
“Yes, let’s have all the chat room members gather and have an offline meeting. You’ve met Romantic Cat-unnie before, right?”
If you’re afraid to meet him alone, how about if you meet him in a group?
Aren’t you curious about the others?
You feel safe if Romantic Cat-unnie is with you, right?
Unlike Hong Yoo Hee, Cordelia had already been completely blackened by Jude.
Her skill in sweet talking was great, so the innocent Hong Yoo Hee soon nodded her head without realizing it.
“Okay, then let’s have an offline meeting. Let’s all meet and have fun together, okay?”
“Yes, I got it. I’ll do that.”
“Yes, yes. My Yoo Hee is so nice. So cute.”
Cordelia tightly hugged Hong Yoo Hee who was shorter than her, and Hong Yoo Hee enjoyed the ultimate pleasure by burying her face on the chest of her favorite character.
And then it turned dark.
Cordelia opened her eyes to reality again and sighed first.
“Haa… It was hard.”
After wiping off the sweat on her forehead, a gla.s.s of water suddenly appeared in front of her.
“Here, cold water.”
“Thanks.”
As expected of Jude.
Cordelia drank the cold water and sighed again.
“Haa… It was hard.”
“But you succeeded, right?”
“Of course. What about you?”
“Me too. Well… To some extent.”
As Jude shrugged, Cordelia said with slightly narrowed brows.
“But Jude.”
“Yes, Cordelia.”
“Uh… Because it’s scary to meet alone, I told her to meet in an offline group meeting.”
“Yes, I did that too.”
“Eh? You too?”
“Well, I don’t think it’s right to ask the two to suddenly meet each other. We only alluded to it in a dream, but it’s hard to do such a thing in real life even though there’s no coercion. So I opted for an offline meeting, which is easier to accept and do.”
“Then are we going to organize an offline meeting? Meeting everyone in the chat room?”
“No, we won’t.”
Cordelia widened her eyes at the response of Jude.
Because she did not understand it.
“You said they’ll be meeting offline.”
“I did. And I’m thinking of actually having an offline meeting. But if we do our best to have only Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee meet, our purpose will be achieved, right?”
“Eh?”
Only the two will come?
“Yes, it’s just a matter of preventing the rest of the chat room members from coming. Well, there are many ways, such as giving hints in dreams or causing minor accidents to prevent them from going to the offline meeting on that day.”
Jude had an evil smile, and Cordelia thought of two things at the same time.
One was ‘What a wicked b*stard.’ and the other was ‘As expected of my Jude, he’s cool and reliable!’
Cordelia and Hong Yoo Hee were the same in their use of love filters.
“Anyway, let’s disguise their fateful encounter as a coincidence.”
Jude had an evil smile again, and Cordelia nodded. She replied with a bright smile.
“Yes!”
***
And three days later, on the streets of Hongdae.
Jude and Cordelia hid in a corner with cognitive impairment magic on, and stuck their heads out of the wall to see the meeting place.
“They’re here.”
Jude said and Cordelia quickly moved her eye with an excited expression.
Indeed, she could see Hong Yoo Hee walking fast.
“Oh, she’s pretty, pretty.”
She was not wearing her usual hoodie and jeans today, but a white blouse and black skirt she had never worn since she entered college. She also wore black stockings and even heeled shoes.
“Kang Jin-ho is coming too.”
A tall man was walking from the opposite direction.
One would question why two people living in the same neighborhood, and even next door neighbors, would be coming from different directions, but anyway, the two were heading towards the meeting place.
“Ah, what should I do? I feel like my heart is about to burst.”
Cordelia repeatedly stomped her feet as her face turned red, and Jude stared at such a cute Cordelia.
And it was at that moment.
“Eh?”
Hong Yoo Hee saw Kang Jin-ho, the oppa next door.