What does it mean to have a righteous heart?
Does such a thing truly exist?
The hero could answer confidently.
"Yes, it does exist."
Because I’m showing it right now.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The guy taking the punishment now was undeniably a criminal.
"Sa... spare me... please...!"
"Quiet."
At a young age, he orchestrated bullying and physical assaults.
He relentlessly tormented his victim to the point of putting them in a coma,
yet he faced no consequences simply because he was "too young."
Does that make any sense?
Because he was young and immature, he could smash a classmate's head with a beer bottle?
He knew exactly what he was doing.
He was fully aware of the consequences.
Which is why—
Crash!
"Aaaaaagh!"
He had to pay it back in kind.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Through the natural law of the world where those who sin must receive punishment,
and through the inevitable self-correction of society.
"Urghh..."
Today, I saved one person.
"What? Is he dead? Just from foaming at the mouth?"
Luring him in was nothing.
A few shoulder bumps here, a little provocation there—it was enough.
The idiot probably doesn’t even realize he got into a fight in a spot without CCTV.
"Hoo..."
I let out a refreshing breath, slipping off my knuckles and gloves.
Judgment ends here.
By tomorrow morning, society will deal with him again.
I quickly scaled the wall to leave the alley.
"Okay! That’s a wrap!"
As if waiting for the moment, an enthusiastic "OK" signal was given.
"Wow, your acting today was phenomenal! It always is, but maybe it feels more vivid since it’s been a while?"
"It’s because of your direction."
"Haha, getting a compliment from you, Kim Donghu, makes me feel amazing."
Director Lee Seongdeok approached me with a flood of compliments.
We reviewed the footage together, pondering ways to improve the scene.
"Oh, by the way! I almost forgot."
"Yes?"
"The script for the midsection came out, and there’s a part where your input could change things."
"Me?"
"Yes."
Director Lee pulled a script from his bag.
The storyline followed the beginning closely, but one particular detail caught my eye.
"He’s throwing a ball?"
A baseball.
The protagonist, the hero, was shown using a baseball to chase down a fleeing enemy.
"We can’t use guns in our country, and swords are a no-go too... so, baseballs it is."
"I like it."
"That’s a relief. But what do you think? We could use a stunt double, or if it feels awkward, we can cut it entirely."
The director looked at me expectantly.
I scrutinized the script again before answering.
"No, I can do it. I can throw it."
I quickly confirmed my readiness.
Afterward, I used the break to retreat into the van.
Immerse.
I dove into the script.
++++
Huff. Huff. Huff.
I was out of breath.
"Are you insane? What the hell are you doing?!"
It was supposed to be another ordinary day.
I strutted around the streets with my shoulders squared,
bumping into someone weak-looking, roughing them up, and taking their money.
Among drunk idiots, the most important thing was size and tattoos.
Seeing their faces sober up at the sight of me was priceless.
So, I beat them.
And if I took a few hits back, it’d end up as a mutual fight—no arrests.
We’d just shake hands and call it even.
But—
"Don’t follow me! Stay away!"
This weird guy suddenly came up to me,
bragged about his criminal record, and acted cocky.
I decided to give him a good beating.
But...
‘How? Why?!’
He was on a different level from anyone I’d ever fought.
His face was completely covered, and his technique was flawless.
He was someone who had trained.
Knowing I couldn’t beat him, I tried to escape the alley.
Thud!
"Urk!"
Something struck me square in the back of my head.
Thanks to my usual bulk, I didn’t pass out—just stumbled.
"A... a baseball? Did you just throw a ball at me?"
He hit a moving target with a baseball?
"What the hell are you?!"
I shouted at him again, but his response was—
Thud!
A baseball smashing into my face.
Flash!
And just like that, the immersion ended.
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
A message popped up on my SIMS device.
When I saw the app’s name, I was stunned.
"Cy Young?!"
Was this app really downloading with that name?
"The script only calls for basic throwing skills."
Why was I suddenly granted the talent of a legendary player?
As I pondered, I reached a conclusion.
"Maybe it’s because I need to throw exceptionally well to make it look simple?"
An old adage came to mind:
If someone makes a task look easy,
"That person is truly skilled."
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Perhaps that’s why I was given this talent right away.
There’s a world of difference between acting like you’re throwing and actually throwing.
"This is practically a human weapon."
I chuckled, thinking about the weapons used by the hero in True Hero.
Knuckles and gloves for close combat.
Baseballs to chase down escaping criminals.
With these tools, he was essentially a hunter of men.
"I wonder how far an A-rank ability can take me."
Muttering to myself, I used the break to check my phone.
"Let’s see... YouTube it is."
The algorithm was scattered enough to offer a quick distraction.
As I searched for something to watch, a familiar title caught my eye.
"Golden Resolution: Trailer?"
"Isn’t this Kangshik’s game?"
++++
"It's real?"
I tapped the video, half-expecting it, and sure enough, it was.
The first thing that appeared when I clicked play was a chick wielding a toy sword.
The camera angle shifted, revealing a massive giant towering over the tiny chick.
It was that giant.
The one from the tutorial that ruthlessly demonstrated just how helpless the chick was—
that monstrous giant who left players feeling utterly defeated.
The two began battling shortly after.
And the scale was no joke.
It was hard to believe this was developed in 2017.
The movement in the game was on a level that seemed impossible for its time.
"...A custom engine?"
No way.
Could even a genius developer pull that off?
‘Unless they made an investment to push the boundaries even higher?’
With that thought, I focused on the video.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The giant advanced, swinging its massive hands,
while the chick dodged nimbly.
But the dodging wasn’t ordinary.
It looked more like frantic scrambling with its short little legs.
‘Everything is grim, but the chick’s vibe is so cheerful... almost hopeful.’
The mismatch somehow made the scene feel even more dire.
‘But where are the dragonfly and the others...?’
I distinctly remembered it was supposed to support multiplayer gameplay,
but those elements seemed entirely stripped away.
It looked designed as a strictly solo-playing game.
Anyway, the fight between the giant and the chick continued.
Finally, when the chick was backed into a corner—
Click.
"Huh?"
The chick, now wearing sunglasses shaped like dragonfly eyes,
pulled out a revolver styled after a dragonfly and aimed it at the giant.
Beep-beep! Chirp-chirp!
The chick chirped incomprehensibly as it pulled the trigger.
Click!
But the revolver didn’t fire.
Beep?!
Whether it was out of bullets or jammed, it misfired completely.
Boom!
At that moment, the giant’s palm slammed down,
sending the chick plummeting off a cliff.
The trailer ended there, closing with the phrase “HaPPY NoTe”
before fading to black.
"Why didn’t they tell me about this?"
If they had, I could’ve done tons of promo for them.
Feeling a bit miffed, I checked the comment section.
Predictable.
The reviews were overwhelmingly positive.
"But isn’t it too early to call this GOTY material?"
That was something I thought would come much later.
Yet the reactions were already this strong.
Something about this felt significant.
++++
To be honest, Choi Seokho wasn’t entirely thrilled about investing in Happy Note.
From the start, developing a game was nothing short of a money pit.
Even so, there was only one reason he continued to fund it without complaint.
‘Because Donghu said so.’
It was simply a leader’s command—one that, if followed, would lead to the best results.
But Seokho was an old-school guy.
He didn’t put much stock in the idea of making money from game development.
Frankly, he didn’t know much about the field either.
All he really did was invest.
As a result—
"...Is selling 50,000 copies on the first day considered a lot?"
He had no idea what state the game was in right now.