Chapter 156
After the Forge of the God raid, Do-Jin’s life changed in a big way. The biggest change of all was the sudden expansion of his social circle.
Theresa: Don’t forget we’re meeting in front of my office at one today, okay?
She had started to act much more comfortably around him. After surviving the fight together, Theresa and Do-Jin had escaped the sinking Steel Island and begun their journey back. That trip turned into three long days of drifting aimlessly across the sea. They had already been through hell together, but it was impossible not to grow even closer after being stuck on a boat for three days straight, worn out and half-dead.
God, I really don’t feel like going out, Do-Jin thought to himself.
The lunch meeting scheduled for one in the afternoon had been Theresa’s idea. She said she wanted to treat him to celebrate the successful dungeon clear.
But... I still don’t wanna go.
Do-Jin felt nothing but lazy frustration. He wanted to cancel, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Even he wasn’t cold enough to turn down a meal invitation from someone who had spent three sleepless nights stranded at sea with him.
“I’m grabbing lunch outside today,” Do-Jin said as Chun Ji-Hyun was getting ready to head to work.
She froze and looked at him like her ear wasn’t quite working right.
“What do you mean outside?” Her expression turned oddly serious as she spoke. “Do-Jin, I know virtual reality feels real sometimes, but it’s still not outside. I understand there are parks and open fields in there, but that’s all still inside the game. You get that?”
Do-Jin stared at her in silence for a long moment. He finally sighed and explained the misunderstanding. He wasn’t talking about the “outside” that existed inside a capsule. He meant the real one, the one where he would actually open the front door and step out into the world.
***
Do-Jin wanted to take a taxi, but Chun Ji-Hyun shut that down fast, insisting on driving him herself. She dropped him off in the underground parking lot, rolled down the window, and waved like she was sending her kid off to kindergarten.
“I’ll be at work, so message me if anything happens! And make sure you call me when you’re heading home.”
“Yeah.”
After giving a half-assed answer, he got on an elevator. His destination was the fifth floor, but when it stopped at the first, he stepped back to make room for whoever was getting on.
“They say it’s one of the best places in town,” a voice slipped through the doors as they opened.
The familiar tone belonged to Theresa. Seeing both her and Soso in regular clothes instead of armor and robes felt almost surreal. For the first time, it hit him that these were real people outside the game.
The two girls were talking to each other when they stepped into the elevator, and both gave him a brief glance before facing the closing doors. Neither of them recognized him right away because the hat and mask covered most of his face.
Soso obviously didn’t care, but Theresa kept sneaking glances at him with a confused look. She reached out to press the elevator button, paused when she noticed the light already on for the fifth floor, and turned to stare at Do-Jin again.
“Excuse me, are you by any chance...?”
Do-Jin took off his hat and mask. “Yeah, it’s me.”
“Oh my god!” Theresa smacked Soso’s shoulder several times in excitement. “Soso, it’s Do-Jin. It’s really him.”
“Yeah, okay.” Soso gave Do-Jin a quick glance and a small nod.
She was exactly the same here as she was in the game. She never overreacted, never went out of her way, and never pretended to care about something she didn’t. Seeing that, Do-Jin almost snorted out loud.
If anything, she looks even more intimidating in real life.
Her aura was hard to describe. It wasn’t just elegance or confidence but the kind of quiet power that made people pay attention. Theresa, on the other hand, was exactly the same as her persona in-game.
“You look exactly the same in real life, huh?” Do-Jin commented.
Just like her in-game persona, she seemed bright, cheerful, and openly excited. The tiny traces of awkwardness he could see were obviously because meeting someone in real life after only knowing them in VR was a bit weird.
“Mr. Do-Jin... I mean, Do-Jin, you really are the same too. I thought you’d look a little different.”
The elevator dinged. While they exchanged simple greetings, it arrived at the fifth floor. Soso stepped out immediately, still indifferent as usual. However, it seemed that there was a bit of excitement hiding under it all.
Theresa made an excuse for her as always. “She’s just acting like that because this place only opened recently.”
They followed her into the restaurant. The place felt like a mix between a café and a Western-style bistro.
“Order whatever you want. Lunch is on me today!” Do-Jin offered before ordering the lamb steak.
Theresa refrained from ordering anything because Soso had already ordered eight dishes.
“She always does that when she’s curious about the food... And I’m the one who ends up gaining weight because of her.” Theresa shook her head and let out a sigh.
But the truth was, whether in the game or out here in real life, Theresa was nowhere near anything close to chubby. If anything, she was on the extremely skinny side.
“This is kind of wild.” Do-Jin wrapped his hand around the cold glass that had arrived ahead of their food.
“What is?”
“Seeing people I met in the game sitting in front of me in real life. I’ve never done anything like this before.”
“Honestly, same for me,” Theresa replied.
The sound of Soso’s phone camera cut into their conversation. She looked completely locked in, so focused she might as well have forgotten they existed, and somehow that made it even funnier.
“I wish Tanto could’ve joined us,” Theresa said.
“There’s nothing much we can do. He lives in Japan,” Do-Jin replied.
“Still, we wouldn’t have cleared that dungeon without him.”
Theresa looked genuinely disappointed. She had actually gone as far as asking Tanto if she could send him a plane ticket just so he could come.
“Thanks to him, we made it. If we had wasted any more time down there, we wouldn’t have even seen the boss.”
“He’s the reason we cleared it. Everything down there was stacked against us, but he still forced the route open for us.”
Even now, thinking about that run pissed Do-Jin off a little. The path had been blocked, monsters kept swarming from behind, and the water level was rising dangerously fast. If Tanto hadn’t forced open the route and then killed himself to stop the party from wasting more time, they would have been wiped the hell out.
“We still did pretty well though,” Theresa pointed out. “We kept swinging at the boss in that messed up situation and fought our asses off because we didn’t want Tanto’s sacrifice to mean nothing. Thanks to that, we get to sit here and talk like this.”
Her face was glowing. She looked like she might start floating from how excited she was. And knowing her, that was not even an exaggeration.
When a hidden dungeon got discovered and cleared for the first time, getting one S-grade item was normal. Getting two was hitting the jackpot. However, Forge of the God had dropped four S-grade items. Although it was all Level 140 gear they could not even equip yet, it did not matter. Since everyone got to walk away with a piece, calling it a jackpot did not even cut it.
“There is nothing to worry about with Tanto. I already gave him my share too.”
“What?”
“I felt like it was the right thing to do.”
Do-Jin had handed over every piece of loot assigned to him. Tanto had refused, but Do-Jin forced them on him anyway. If he didn’t, that image of Tanto swallowing his frustration behind that transparent wall would keep crawling back into his head.
I already got more than enough after picking up the lead on a new hidden quest, anyway... Do-Jin thought.
However, Theresa frowned and raised her voice. “You should have told me! The whole party benefited from him, so why should you be the only one repaying him?”
It was not a reaction Do-Jin expected, but it didn’t throw him off either. “I was the one who brought the team together, so I should take the responsibility.”
“That’s not the point...”
Theresa pouted with disappointment, but their conversation was cut short when the food arrived. Plates of steaming lamb steak and the mountain of dishes Soso had ordered filled the table. The smell alone was enough to make his stomach growl. The food was good.
Still, something kept getting on Do-Jin’s nerves. A few men at the table nearby kept glancing over, and their eyes kept drifting toward Theresa and Soso. Do-Jin listened to Theresa’s bright chatter and watched Soso respond with her usual deadpan expression, and a thought crossed his mind.
Pretty women must get fucking exhausted living like this.
These men were not even pretending anymore. They were staring at the girls outright. Do-Jin shook his head. As one of them stood up and began walking toward them, he almost swore out loud.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
Was he actually about to hear a real-life version of “Excuse me, but if it’s okay with you...” from some random guy? It reminded him of the time in high school when a girl from the next school over had stopped him just to get his number.
As the man approached their table, his voice came out nervous and shaky. “Um...”
Theresa and Soso both turned their heads, clearly aware of him now. At this point, Do-Jin was more curious than anything. Which one of them was he walking up to? Theresa or Soso?
“I’m really sorry to interrupt while you’re eating,” the guy said, voice trembling, “but I just had to ask... are you Do-Jin?”
“What?” Do-Jin blinked, caught completely off guard.
What the hell? Why me?!
“I’m a huge fan of yours,” the man said quickly. “Me and all my friends, we love your stuff. I just wanted to say hi. Oh, and if it’s okay, maybe I could buy you something—”
He glanced down at the table and froze. The dishes already filled every inch of space. There was no room for another plate.
“A-anyway, I just really wanted to say I’m a big fan. I main mage too, actually. I’ve learned so much from watching your videos! The new one was amazing!”
He fumbled for something to hand over and eventually grabbed a napkin. “If it’s not too much, can I please get your autograph?”
A napkin autograph, seriously... Then again, it wasn’t like people carried around paper anymore.
Do-Jin sighed at the absurdity of it but signed it anyway. It was his name in neat handwriting, more like a legal signature than anything flashy.
“Thank you so much!” The guy bowed, wished them a good meal, and hurried back to his table.
Do-Jin couldn’t help but laugh. The whole thing had caught him off guard, but now he understood why Chun Ji-Hyun had nagged him so much about wearing a hat and mask.
“I know how to sign autographs too, you know. I even practiced,” Theresa muttered in a sulky voice, clearly disappointed.
Her pout made him laugh even more. Do-Jin shook off the lingering embarrassment, picked up his fork, and went back to eating. Every now and then, he’d stop to think about how different things had become, and it felt good.
My life really did change a whole lot...
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