“Thank you for the food.”
As Seung-ho put the dish in the sink, his mother questioned him with an odd tone.
“Seung-ho, have you grown?”
“Y-you must be seeing things. How could I grow in just one day?”
Seung-ho gave an evasive answer and hurried back to his room.
“Whew.”
Since he grew 6 cm in two days, it would have been weird if his family hadn’t noticed. Still, it was a relief that they weren’t measuring his height or interrogating him.
“Aaah~.”
Seung-ho flopped onto his bed. It was time for today’s highlight - to distribute points. Others would have seen him pawing at midair, but there was a half-transparent pane in front of Seung-ho’s eyes.
STAT MENU:
Name: Choi Seung-ho
Career: High School Student
Height: 168 cm (+ -)
Weight: 95 kg (+ -)
Strength: 5 (+ -)
Agility: 3 (+ -)
Stamina: 2 (+ -)
Intelligence: 7 (+ -)
Appearance: - (+ -)
Charm: - (+ -)
---
Available points: 7
‘I’m proud just looking at it.’
When he thought about how much he’d grown today, he became anxious to grow more then and there - but it was a given that those who knew him would become suspicious. If he just waited a day, it would be break, so it wasn’t a bad idea to change slowly over the vacation.
‘Now, should I raise my appearance?’
If he thought about it, the attribute that would be most unnoticeable when he raised the stats would be appearance. He was this ugly, so wasn’t it obvious that there would be no effect?
‘It’s at a negative anyway, so how much would it go up by even if I did increase it?’
After thinking about it all day, he came to the conclusion that as his appearance increased, making him better looking, so would his charm. He wasn’t sure, but no matter who looked at it, the fact was that pretty person were more favored.
Determined, Seung-ho opened his eyes fiercely and put his finger on the plus sign next to ‘Appearance." His face with that expression was so ugly that it was actually admirable.
‘Please let it at least become 0!’
It was an earnest plea. With a nervous finger, he pressed the plus b.u.t.ton seven times.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
‘s.h.i.t.’
p.i.s.sed off, Seung-ho slammed his fist down on the mattress.
‘How can it still be at negative?’
Dejection and shame swarmed him. He knew he was ugly, to this extent? Together with the points from yesterday, he’d invested a total of 9 points. With that amount, he could have become 177 cm tall.
If he only knew how much the negative was, he wouldn’t have been this disappointed. However, there was not a hint of that information.
‘But this is better than nothing. I still have hope.’
He’d used that word ‘hope’ so many times today that he’d lost count.
Seung-ho let out a deep breath and went through the events of that day. First, he told the school bullies to stop and ran away, and then he met some couple in the science lab and fled like h.e.l.l was chasing him.
‘Right!’
At the thought of the couple, he burst up from the bed. He’d forgotten about it due to running fl.u.s.tered out of the lab and then being pummeled by the bullies.
‘Please be saved.’
With a desperate plea, he took out his phone and went into the gallery. The first thing he saw was a black screen with a playback b.u.t.ton. It was the sign of a video.
‘Yes! ~.”!’
His heart immediately started thumping hard. He closed the door while holding onto the door handle, just in case his parents came in. That way it was soundless.
He then plugged his earbuds into the jack and sat against the headboard with a reverent heart.
‘Replay.’
“W-who’s there!”
It was only for a moment, but the screen was fixed. Due to the sound of recording the video the awkward situation was recorded.
“Aaack!”
The female student jumped up from the bed and adjusted her clothes with both hands as if to hide her underclothing. The male was fastening his belt.
Soon after, the girl hid her face in her knees, and the guy faltered into a standing position.
“S-sorry!”
The screen flipped as Seung-ho’s voice was heard, and the video ended. It was an incredibly shorter recording then he’d thought. But still, he’d recovered something.
‘PInk bra.’
Seung-ho giggled to himself and replayed the video again. He wanted to see if there was more he could uncover.
‘Huh?’
Having discovered something, he continuously replayed the short 10-second clip.
1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours.
Low Battery.
Seung-ho approached the outlet and plugged in the charger with trembling hands.
“Aaack!”
He paused the video exactly when the girl was closing her blouse and expanded the scene.
Undeniable green nametag. She was a second year like Seung-ho.
However, her name was hard to see due to the dark. If he guessed at the dimly showing characters, he would say that the surname was “Han” or “Ahn.” The second part of the name could be “Ye” or “Hye.” The last part was covered by her arm so that he couldn’t see it at all.
He could think of only one name when he looked at this.
“Han Ye-hee.”
As well as being Seung-ho’s first love, she was the female student that he had been crushing on for the past two years. She was in the same cla.s.s and was delicate, elegant, and graceful.
Seung-ho knew that she had a boyfriend, but hadn’t known that things were to this degree. No, he wanted to believe that it still wasn’t.
‘There’s no way Ye-hee would do that.’
He thought that he’d seen the nametag wrong due to the darkness. However, the voice was undeniably hers. Besides, if he thought about the a.s.sumed owner of the voice, there was no other student that matched it.
‘There’s no way.’
He kept replaying the video to find evidence that it wasn’t her, but the more he watched, the more the certainty that it was her grew in his heart.
‘Let’s just sleep. There’s absolutely no way.’
Seung-ho threw his phone onto the desk and laid in bed. He didn’t forget to silently unlock the door that he’d locked, just in case his parents came in.
‘My Ye-hee is pure.’
He got under the covers while attempting to console himself, but the pink bra kept popping up in his mind. He fell asleep a long while later, tossing and turning.
“...which is how Balhae inherited the spirit of Goguryeo and became a newly founded country.”
Ye-hee answered clearly and sat back down. The history teacher gave her a thumbs up.
“Ha, as expected, Ye-hee. Perfect answer. Now, we’ll end the lesson here. Have fun in the next cla.s.s.”
“Okay~”
Even those who’d fallen asleep were in a lively mood at the news that cla.s.s was over, but Seung-ho was gazing at Ye-hee with a sullen expression.
‘Ye-hee couldn’t have done it, could she?’
He’d been worrying since yesterday. However, he couldn’t exactly ask her directly. Seung-ho could only keep sighing.
“Ah, I told you to stop breathing, Ug-Face!”
“S-sorry.”
His partner, as if she’d been waiting for break time, pushed her desk and sat far away. It was almost touching the desks of the students next to them. Seung-ho thought that his partner would have preferred sitting with them.
Burble
That was the signal for an emergency p.o.o.p. It felt like something was fiercely crowding toward his lower belly. This wasn’t normal. Seung-ho stood up, got his toilet paper, and went to the 5th floor.
The 5th floor was 3rd-year territory. However, the national college entrance exams were over, so n.o.body had bothered coming to school - and thus the area was empty.
If he’d gotten caught using the downstairs bathroom, the bullies would have sprayed him with a hose or splashed him with a water bucket, so this place was perfect for his peace of mind.
As soon as he arrived, he wiped the toilet seat and sat down.
Dung-do-ruru kung-du-roro
“Ha..”
Seung-ho let out a relieved sigh and flushed the toilet.
He felt on top of the world. Honestly, with this sense of freedom, he could understand his ancestors feeling when they celebrated the National Liberation Day.
“I’m telling you; it’s the truth.”
“Crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d, look at him lying.”
“No, I’d just laid her down on the mattress when we heard ‘Look over here!’ out of nowhere.”
“Okay, okay. Just hand over the lighter.”
“Ha, you still don’t believe me.”
Smoke floated upwards, following a ‘chiik’ sound.
“Huh? Is someone taking a s.h.i.t?”
“It doesn’t smell, though.”
Seung-ho patted down his chest. He usually flushed immediately after doing his business, so he wouldn’t get caught by the bullies. There was no smell thanks to that.
“The door’s locked here, though.”
One bully pounded on the door. Immediately, Seung-ho flinched and held his breath. If he got caught, he would get beaten up again.
“It might just be broken. Is someone in there?”
Seung-ho covered his mouth so his breathing wouldn’t be overheard.
“See, there’s no one.”
“Yeah?”
There was a total of 3 voices loudly chattering back and forth.
‘Break time is almost over - how long are they going to be out there?’
“Ah, right. Gun-woo, do you want me to introduce you to a girl?”
“What introduction? I told you that I have Ye-hee.”
“Wow. You almost got filmed yesterday and didn’t break up?”
Of course. Would we break up over such a thing? Besides, she’s going to come over later today.”
Strength sapped out of Seung-ho’s arm, and he let it dangle defeatedly. At the same time, his ‘place’ also became sullen and limp like his arm.
‘It was really Ye-hee?’
Park Gun-woo was Ye-hee’s boyfriend.
When he first heard that the two were dating, he tortured himself with thoughts of, ‘Why on earth is she dating a bullying b.a.s.t.a.r.d like him?’
Still, he became relieved when they dated without a hitch. ‘Even though they were holding hands, they wouldn’t have kissed.’
But what he just heard was too shocking.
The stars of the video he’d seen yesterday were Park Gun-woo and Han Ye-hee, and if he scrutinized the contents of their conversation, they’d already done it. There was definitely a part that said, “We haven’t done it for a week.”
‘Son of a b.i.t.c.h.’
That internal yell was directed at Park Gun-woo. He believed that Park Gun-woo had tempted Han Ye-hee, who was a pure and kind girl.
But there was nothing Seung-ho could do. Things were bad to the point where he was lucky not to get beaten up if he pa.s.sed them.
“Let’s go; next period is the homeroom teacher.”
“Ah, I want to skip.”
“School ends in 2 periods, what are you talking about? Just sleep.”
“Good point.”
As the three sets of footsteps faded away, sorrow suddenly surged forth.
‘Ye-hee - my only idol Ye-hee -’
Tears covered his vision.
“H-uck..”
He didn’t want to cry, but tears flowed forth anyway. His heart ached worse then when he was getting beaten up.
He’d gotten used to the punching and kicking, but he was still new to injuries of the heart. He’d thought that he’d built up a tolerance due to being called ugly, but it seemed that he had a limit with that word.
It’d been a moment where love had been love had been brutally broken in Seung-ho’s mind.
“I’m home.”
He tossed his bag on the desk and collapsed into bed.
“Ye-hee…”
Sudden tears obstructed his eyesight. Seung-ho’s first love had been destroyed that day. It was a fact that he couldn’t deny no matter how many times he thought about it.
Tears glistened in his eyes and as a teardrop fell, a transparent panel appeared before his eyes.
QUEST:
Let’s take revenge against Han Ye-hee, who played with your feelings.
Release the video that you secretly took, along with their personal information, on the Internet.
Reward: 20 points
“N-no way!”
Seung-ho instinctively yelled out loud. It was an impossible quest. Unlike the others, it was criminal.
‘But they’re rewarding that many points.’
A whopping 20 points. No matter how ugly Seung-ho was, he’d be able to turn his appearance into a plus with that many points.
Ring ring
“Aack!”
Crash
He fell off the bed at the sudden bell sound. It was embarra.s.sing to call a man someone who had that much fear.
‘Manager? What does he want this late?’
Seung-ho respectfully picked up the phone.
“Yes, h.e.l.lo?”
“Ah, Mr. Seung-ho. You do remember that you’re working overnight every night starting today, right?”
“Yes, I remember.”
“As expected. You always work hard. Thank you.”
“Not at all. I’m working hard thanks to you.”
“Well, then. Keep up the good work.”
“Good bye.”
Seung-ho hung up and got back up on his bed.
“Yaaaaawn.”
Night shift. Duty from 11 PM to 8 AM. He was to work the graveyard shift from today to the end of vacation. The amount he would earn during break made him feel like he could breathe again.
When he’d applied here and there for part time jobs, he’d gotten rejected due to his looks; it was due to the kind manager’s consideration that he was able to work at the convenience store. If he hadn’t gotten this job, he wouldn’t have been able to get pocket money, what with him being part of a single-parent family, and would have suffered quite a bit.
‘I need to go independent soon, like big sister.’
It wasn’t a huge success, but his sister had settled down some and was paying the rent for the house that Seung-ho was living in. If it weren"t for her, Seung-ho and his mother would probably have been on the streets.
‘Why did that human we call dad have to get addicted to gambling and accrue such debts?’
Seung-ho shook his head and chased his thoughts away. Thinking those kinds of thoughts would not yield good feedback. It was better to forget about it and sleep.
‘I’ll set the alarm and then sleep.’
Seung-ho set the alarm on his phone like always and went to sleep.
“That will be 3,600 won.”
“Thank you. Have a good day!”
That was the third time just today. The customer said goodbye and left. If it were like usual, most customers would have frowned and taken the change as if disgusted when he offered it, but today there were no such people.
‘Is it really because of my appearance?’
Seung-ho’s appearance that was reflected in the mirror was definitely different from yesterday. The repugnant acne scars had disappeared and the level of pimples fell to “a bit much.”
The fact that he was ugly remained unchanged, but he felt in his skin that he had gotten away from having others be taken aback at hi.
‘I’m happy but sad, and sad but happy.’
He was sad for his past but was happy at the fact that his present was getting better.
At the same time, the quest haunted his mind. It was a whopping 20 points. Honestly, he didn’t know about turning handsome, but with that amount of points, he could get rid of all his acne problems at the very least.
‘But still. It’s illegal.’
To be frank, he knew a way that he wouldn’t get caught. If he logged in as a nonmember at a PC cafe, he just needed to spread the relevant clip and get out.
20 points.
‘If I think about it, there’s nothing that Han Ye-hee has done for me. She’s just laughed when I get bullied.’
As time flowed by, his heart leaned towards circulating the video. He didn’t know whether or not Han Ye-hee was taking remedial cla.s.ses during the break, but he would feel less guilty since he didn’t have a reason to see her for a month.
‘Yeah, it’s honestly not R-rated if I’m nitpicking about it, and even if I posted this online, it wouldn’t be noticeable.’
Ding-dong
“Welcome!”
“Me; it’s me.”
Su-ah smiled brightly and waved. Jin Su-ah. She was the weekday morning employee. Seung-ho didn’t have much reason to see her since he worked nights on the weekends, but they saw each other sometimes when they covered for other workers.
“Your skin has gotten better. I’m jealous.”
“It’s nothing, haha.”
There weren’t many people who treated Seung-ho so openly. Since such a person complimented Seung-ho on his skin, he only got more greedy.
‘Only 9 points makes this much of a difference; if it were 20 points…!’
Nople High School’s Han X-hee leaked!
Failed while trying to film Nople High School’s 2nd years Han Ye-X, Park Gun-X (definitely not Park Gun-woo) doing that, haha.
You can see the girl’s nametag on her uniform if you look closely, hehe.
[Video]
He just had to press the upload b.u.t.ton here. He had purposely worn a hat from home deep on his head and sat in a corner seat. Despite that, he surveyed his surroundings a few times before placing his cursor on the “Upload” b.u.t.ton.
“Good bye, my first love. I’m sorry.”
Seung-ho squeezed his eyes shut and clicked the b.u.t.ton. At the same time, the video was posted on the CD Inside Internal Baseball Forum.
Countless comments instantly started flowing in. Even if the clip were to be deleted quickly, many others would have downloaded and spread it.
Not only did he use a guest account, but he’d gotten rid of the part where his voice was heard and anonymised the file. He could never get caught.
QUEST COMPLETE!
You succeeded in getting revenge against Han Ye-hee. She will not be able to get out from a devastated life for a time.
Reward: 20 points
As he looked at the risen panel, joy rather than regret for Ye-hee rose up in him.
‘Awesome!’
Not wasting any time, Seung-ho quickly stepped out of the PC cafe with an uneasy heart and returned home.