*clang*Seojoon dropped his bowl onto the table as he watched the TV with a dumbfounded look.
"Seojoon-Ah.... you spilled all your food."
"I-I"m sorry mom."
Seojoon hurriedly cleaned up the unintentional mess he had made all the while staring at the screen with wide eyes.
"-the first ever multiplayer main story quest has been revealed!" Said the all time favorite reporter Poppy Smoria on the news. "And this multiplayer quest was provided by no other being than our recently trending, Seojoon!"
The screen switched away from Poppy and cut into a scene from the game.
The sky was decorated in a swirl of orange and red as a handsome man stared into the sky with a sad and self deprecating look. Even Seojoon, who knew that the handsome man was him, felt his heart twinge just by watching on as a bystander.
"Are you okay?"
The handsome man gave them a wry smile that made it seem as if the entire world cry. "I"m perfectly fine. I just feel a little defeated right now. Nothing to big."
It was clear that the man was not okay.
"May I ask why, Seojoon-sama?" Said the girl with a soothing voice.
"Well you see-" said the man as his eyes switched from the sky to the streets of the capital. It seemed as though the view of watching children beg brought onto him a great discomfort and pain. "I want to help these homeless kids and provide them with food. And it saddens me to think about how there are so many people walking around yet n.o.body even tries to help them."
The man let out a bitter laugh. "I guess no one would want to help dirty homeless children like them. What would they gain from it? Nothing." The way the man spoke expressed a feeling of defeat and disappointment so perfectly that guilt was unconsciously summoned from within the depths of the human heart, warming even the coldest person.
"May I ask why you are so desperate on helping these children?"
".... a while ago, I saw a little boy begging for food," the man said while gazing up into the sky once more. The orange glow painted his face, enhancing the sadness that was apparent in his handsome face. "He just suddenly appeared out of nowhere, blocking us from walking forward any further. We gave him a couple of coins to go feed himself and expected him to leave immediately when the boy continued to stay."
"Was the amount of money that you gave him not enough?"
The man shook his head. "It was enough for one little boy, but the little boy didn"t want to take care of himself only. You see, far away hidden in a dark alleyway were two little girls, even younger than the little boy in front of me. The little boy didn"t want to take care of himself only but also his younger sisters."
The man looked down from the sky and stared into the girl"s eyes.
"In what civilized society should a little child take on the role of an adult? What would happen if we continued to ignore the child"s plea for help?"
The man closed his eyes for a moment before getting up from the floor and did a couple of light stretches before addressing the girl.
".... If you don"t want to waste your money on helping the children, you don"t have to. I won"t force you to. I understand what I"m doing is most likely futile and pointless. Sorry for wasting your time."
"Oh no, I would love to help. I.... I feel a personal connection with the children who are suffering right now. Even if you didn"t ask, I would still help them. I understand how hard it is."
The man let out a small chuckle. "Thank you for your kindness and for talking with me. I"ll take my leave now. It was a meaningful talk that we had going on between us."
"...I am honored. Please have a good night Seojoon-sama."
The man nodded and made his way in a slow and sorrowful manner. Just as the last bit of the man"s back disappeared from view, a screen popped in front of the view.
[Cruelty of the World (Main Story Quest)
Listening to the words of a man who has seen to much cruelty, you now have a choice. To act out on your emotions and heart or ignore it or continue on with you life. Help out the children without homes in your own way. You may share this quest with others.
0/1 act of kindness towards the homeless children
Reward: depends on the magnitude of the kind act]
The screen switched back to Poppy who was busy wiping a tear from her face. ".... you saw what I saw folks. All of you gamers out there, let us succ.u.mb to our emotions and fight against the cruelties of the world. The word of the week is.... kindness. Good bye and have a great day."
As the news report ended and changed into a black screen, Seojoon noticed a few words at the bottom of the screen.
[This video was provided by one of the gamers who first receive the quest. Her name remains confidential at her request.]
Seojoon"s face went abruptly red as he slowly sank into his seat while wishing he could disappear. He had accomplished his goal in finding a way to convince people to help the kids but....
"....that was h.e.l.la cringe."