Chapter 100: At a Loss
Yi-An disconnected from the server. He slumped down onto the ground out of nausea and retched. He could feel stomach acid rising in his throat, but he forced himself to swallow it. The lining that ran from his esophagus to his organs throbbed with a burning sensation.
The boundary between reality and fantasy was really blurry now.
He had sought the Temple of the Fallen God as Gordon had advised and met a mysterious being named Phymon. He was then sucked into a world of darkness, where Phymon interrogated him about the white star on his forehead.
After all that, Yi-An was tossed into a world of ashes and met a woman, who claimed to have created Elder Lord and was the system that observed all of Elder Lord.
Was this true? Or was this just a joke played by an elaborate virtual reality system?
He didn’t know.
Yi-An wiped his mouth and left his room.
He then stood in front of his bathroom sink and splashed cold water onto his face to clear his mind. His reflection in the mirror looked exhausted. He gazed into his eyes.
Yi-An had seen countless white stars in a dark blue sky in a world covered in ashes. It was a graveyard of everything that was withering away.
The stars had to carry on until they lost all of their light and became undetectable celestial bodies as dark as the color of his eyes.
Old memories came alive and disrupted his thoughts.
“Raven, I envy your black eyes.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s the color of mourning. They seem to be consoling the victims even as you carry out your mission. Look at me. How frustrating must it be for them to see my eyes before they die?”
Her eyes had been an endlessly deep and clear blue.
Yi-An touched his forehead and then placed his forehead against the mirror’s cold surface. He went over his thoughts.
‘Now, let’s assume several hypotheses and continue the experiments. Let’s assume that Elder Lord is real. Elder Lord isn’t a game but a pathway to another world. Then, what did I experience there?
‘I became an orc. Not just any orc warrior, but an orc in pursuit of his principles. And Grom, whom the orcs thought was just another orc in their world, was actually Hyun-Chul, and he betrayed them. Orcs died.
‘There were victims in Arnin. Residents of Chesswood died. Everyone in Quantes, Shakhan, and the north were all breathing, living creatures. All of the desperate cries and suffering faces actually exist.’
Yi-An closed his eyes. His thoughts cleared up a bit after he confined his vision to the darkness, but somehow, he became even more confused. He opened his eyes again and wetted the skin below his eyes. The feeling of the cold water cooled his head a bit.
Then he heard someone opening the door from outside.
“Oppa, I’m here.”
Hearing Yi-Yoo’s voice awakened Yi-An. It reminded him that he was in reality.
He went out to the living room and saw Yi-Yoo emptying her bags in a rush inside her room.
“I’m surprised you aren’t playing games today. Did you quit being a game addict?” Yi-Yoo asked, seemingly in a good mood.
She packed her things into her bag and checked her make-up in the mirror again. Yi-Yoo was getting ready to go back out.
“Are you planning to go back to playing Elder Lord?” asked Yi-An.
“Huh? Ah, yeah, no, not really.”
“Don’t do it,” warned Yi-An.
“...?” Yi-Yoo tilted her head curiously.
After that, Yi-An went back to his room to change. His appearance was disheveled, so he hastily washed his face and put on comfortable clothes to go outside.
He didn’t want to be at home, but he didn’t know where to go. Yi-An didn’t really want to go to the café. He walked around aimlessly until he noticed a sign for a gym on the sidewalk. It was good to work up a sweat at such a time when it was hard to sort through his thoughts. Yi-An decided to head to Baek Han-Ho's gym.
When Yi-An arrived, Baek Han-Ho was sitting in the office of his gym. Yi-An greeted Baek Han-Ho with a sloppy nod. Baek Han-Ho raised an eyebrow at the sudden visit and sloppy attitude, but he didn’t say anything.
Yi-An changed into the gym clothes that were provided to all the gym members.
“Can I use this?” asked Yi-An.
“Yeah, sure,” replied Baek Han-Ho.
Yi-An wrapped bandages around his hands and put on a pair of boxing gloves. Members of the gym were stretching and warming up around him. Some were lifting weights, practicing crossfit, or punching the sandbag. There weren’t many people because it was still early in the day.
Yi-An stood in front of a sandbag in the corner. His eyes bore into its black leather surface. The sandbag caved in a bit at his eye-level as if someone had just used it. He straightened it out with the palm of his hands and then caressed the newly flat surface of the sandbag.
There had been a point in his life when he used to punch sandbags until he collapsed from exhaustion. Yi-An couldn’t remember the last time he had done that. He took a trip down memory lane until he arrived at the training ground in Orcrox.
Yi-An silently approached the sandbag and then exerted all of his energy in a sudden snap. His fist repeatedly struck the sandbag, and a pleasant striking sound rang throughout the gym. Each time the sandbag shook, all of the gym members’ eyes drew toward him. They admired Yi-An's skill. He was practicing the epitome of a snap punch.
“Don’t drop your chin! Look forward! Look at your enemy!” Lenox had said.
Yi-An’s punches grew stronger.
“No one cares that you are struggling! Get rid of your weakness!”
The sandbag shook.
“You are supposed to feel pain. You shouldn’t be comfortable! Swing your sword! Louder!”
With a wham, the sandbag flew backward and drew a semicircle. The intense sound of the strike drew all of the members’ attention toward him yet again. It sounded as if the sandbag might burst from the force of the punches. Yi-An let the sandbag that circled back to him hit his body as he calmed his breath.
Then Baek Han-Ho suddenly appeared by his side.
“What are you doing?” asked Baek Han-Ho.
“Master,” said Yi-An.
“Did something happen?” asked Baek Han-Ho while tilting his head.
He was surprised to see Yi-An like this because he usually didn’t reveal his emotions. Yi-An hadn’t cried even when he lost his parents and was left to fend for himself and Yi-Yoo. Even when he was beating up someone, Yi-An’s face was always calm. Back when he left the country to join the foreign troops, he simply smiled and waved his hand as if he were going on a picnic.
Despite that, Yi-An was visibly angry right now.
“It’s nothing,” replied Yi-An.
“Hm...” Baek Han-Ho caressed his chin. “Why don’t you come inside my office for some coffee?”
***
The office was decorated luxuriously in a way that suited Baek Han-Ho. He was a man who valued himself and enjoyed treating himself to nice things. At the center of the room were wooden tables and chairs where he could have meetings with staff members.
The two men sat across each other.
Baek Han-Ho brought out two cups of coffee. He used to dislike coffee, but he could now brew coffee on his own to his liking.
“Master,” said Yi-An.
Baek Han-Ho, who was about to take a sip of his coffee, glanced over at Yi-An.
Yi-An continued, “By any chance, maybe...”
He proceeded to ask Baek Han-Ho about Elder Lord and whether he had ever considered the possibility that it could be a real world and not just a game. Nevertheless, Baek Han-Ho completely rejected that line of thought as if he didn’t even consider it.
“I think you played too much Elder Lord. You are starting to refer to a game as reality,” said Baek Han-Ho.
“Maybe.”
“What do you mean, maybe? I can’t let you live like this.”
“Huh?”
“You’re thinking such nonsense even though you are a perfectly fine young man because you spend all your time playing games. Do you want me to introduce you to a nice lady?”
“Master, that’s not it... I’m just asking you to imagine it...”
“Shut up! I was wondering what was up with you ‘cause you were acting strange,” Baek Han-Ho said and laughed.
Yi-An lowered his eyes.
Baek Han-Ho was someone who had a rich imagination and was always open-minded, yet he refused to even entertain such a thought.
‘Is it because of that woman’s powers?’
Yi-An tried several times to steer the conversation in that direction, but Baek Han-Ho rebuffed his attempts or laughed them off. It was not even possible to have a conversation about how the world of Elder Lord could be another dimension. After that, Yi-An just made some small talk with Baek Han-Ho.
Then, Yi-An checked his cell phone when he received a message.
[What a surprise to hear from you. What’s up?]
It was Ji Ha-Yeon. Yi-An had reached out to her to hang out. He knew that the Elder Saga Corporation was affiliated with the Myeongsong Group, so his first thought after disconnecting from the server had been to meet up with her and talk. She could know something.
Baek Han-Ho glanced over at Yi-An’s screen while he was replying to Ji Ha-Yeon.
“Ohh, you already have a lady you are flirting with,” Baek Han-Ho commented.
It felt strange for Yi-An to hear Baek Han-Ho talk about flirting and relationships.
“Do you even know what flirting is?” asked Yi-An.
“Dude, I have to keep up with these things to hang out with young members of the gym.”
“Anyway, it’s not like that. I’m leaving,” said Yi-An abruptly.
While Yi-An was leaving to use the shower facilities, Baek Han-Ho called out to him and advised, “Don’t mention Elder Lord or games in front of her. Women don’t like things like that.”
Yi-An ignored him. He entered a shower stall and washed the sweat off his body.
After that, he left the gym. He got in his car and drove to a cafe near Ji Ha-Yeon’s workplace. Ji Ha-Yeon texted Yi-An and made a big deal about how she was super busy but specifically made time for him. However, Yi-An didn’t respond. He didn’t have the peace of mind to respond to every little message.
[Did you just leave me on read?]
Another message popped up on Yi-An’s screen when he was sitting at the café they were supposed to meet. Nevertheless, he didn’t open the message; he just flipped his phone over so that the screen was facing the table.
Right then...
“Wow. Oh, my gosh. I just saw everything. I saw you read the notification on your phone and then flip it over pretending you didn’t see it,” Ji Ha-Yeon’s voice rang out behind him.
Yi-An no longer cared for pretenses.
He was bold in his response and said, “So what?”
“What, did you decide to finally reveal your true self? You weren’t like this before.”
“...”
Ji Ha-Yeon seemed happy with his response as she sat down across from him. As usual, her beauty lit up her surroundings. She had dark, lustrous curls that bounced around as if she had just left a salon.
“So, what’s going on?” she asked with a smile.
Yi-An went straight to the point. “It’s about Elder Lord.”
“Oh, my. It’s about work.”
“How is it run?” questioned Yi-An.
“And about the company’s confidential information at that.”
“Do you know anything about Albino, Elder Lord’s core system?”
“Hmm...” Ji Ha-Yeon gave a weak smile. “Are you a corporate spy?”
“Just curious,” replied Yi-An.
“Well, I’m quite surprised, but I will answer your question. My answer is I don’t know. I don’t know everything. The Elder Saga Corporation takes care of Albino on its own, and it’s confidential. Why are you asking about this? Did you run into a bug while playing the game?”
Yi-An looked at Ji Ha-Yeon, who had a clueless expression on her face, and sighed. He had thought of it as a simple matter and approached the issue too hastily. While feeling regretful about meeting up with Ji Ha-Yeon, Yi-An took a sip of the espresso that he’d ordered.
“It’s nothing,” said Yi-An.
The espresso was bitter. It was quite good. The bitter taste cleared his mind. He decided to briefly set aside the things that had been bogging down on his mind. It didn’t matter whether Elder Lord was real or not. He could have murdered other beings, but there was no way to prove whether it was real or another dimension. It was fine to look the other way because Earth was the world that he was living in.
Yi-An had a sister, Baek Han-Ho, and Café Reason. Additionally, he was currently drinking coffee and talking with Ji Ha-Yeon, whom he had met a long time ago by chance. This was his world. It was enough to think of Elder Lord as a passing dream.
After thinking about it like that, he felt relieved and smiled.
“Huh, why are you smiling?” asked Ji Ha-Yeon.
“Sorry for taking up your time with this matter.”
“I feel like you are hiding yourself again. I don’t like it...” Ji Ha-Yeon voiced with a frown.
Yi-An couldn’t help but laugh.
“If you are sorry, then do me a favor,” Ji Ha-Yeon said.
“If it’s something I can do, then sure.”
“Hmm... Can you stop talking to me so formally? You are older than me.”
Yi-An checked his phone. Han Yeo-Ri was whining again.
Yi-An nodded. “Yeah. Sure.”
***
Yi-An consoled Ji Ha-Yeon before she had to leave for work. Then he headed toward Café Reason. Although he hadn’t managed to get the answers that he wanted, his mind felt clearer. He realized he just had to stop playing Elder Lord. Yi-An decided to quit the game.
He was worried about Tiyo and Anor, but they could take care of themselves. He didn’t want to rack his brains about this matter any longer. What mattered to him was this world, not the world of Elder Lord. In the first place, Yi-An had started playing the game for Yi-Yoo. He would protect his sister, Café Reason, and people within his circle. That was enough.
Yi-An got out of the car to head to the bakery that Han Yeo-Ri liked and bought her a few things to eat. He could already see her whining and smiling simultaneously as she took a bite out of the bread. Then, she would use Yoo Soo-Yeon as an excuse to ask for a raise. A smile came to Yi-An’s lips as he imagined the scene.
Yi-An’s pleasant thoughts were interrupted by someone shouting, “Oh, my. What’s that?”
Suddenly, the giant screen installed on the building in front of Yi-An flickered. More and more people began stopping in front of it. Yi-An raised his head to look and saw that Elder Lord’s scenery was on the screen.
“Wow, that’s amazing,” said a pedestrian.
Yi-An agreed.
The screen displayed a scene of devastating ruins and heaps of corpses. It was a continuous stream of blurred bodies and gore.
-The Heaven and Earth Clan has wreaked havoc on the province of Adillore. They remain unchallenged in their bold pursuits after winning the war against the Metatron guild.
-It’s the work of player Rommell, also known as Choi Han-Sung, who has joined hands with the human kingdom. The Heaven and Earth Clan has recently accepted a large-scale clan quest. Each time they annihilate a southern province in the continent, they receive tremendous rewards.
-They are unstoppable. Choi Han-Sung builds mountains with the corpses of enemies.
Then, they displayed a map of Elder Lord with the Heaven and Earth Clan’s trajectory on it. They were charging toward the northern part of the continent. The map displayed their victories with star symbols on the cities and villages they destroyed. The horrors reaped by the clan were made into a video and played on the screen. The slogan ‘Choi Han-Sung, the eye of the storm sweeping through Elder Lord’ appeared.
-Recently, the reputation of South Koreans has risen significantly in the Elder Lord community with the rise of the Heaven and Earth Clan.
-In the past, South Koreans made a name for themselves as a country strong in eSports. There’s speculation that Korea will enjoy another heyday through Elder Lord.
-Personally, I’m very proud of them. Player Choi Han-Sung and the Heaven and Earth Clan are raising national prestige.
“So cool,” muttered a passerby watching the screen.
Yi-An looked at him. The passerby’s face was flush with excitement.
“He’s the best,” the passerby muttered some more.
Yi-An looked at the screen again and saw the devastated battlefields. The names of the annihilated regions were displayed in order. The program showed quoted snippets from Choi Han-Sung’s interview. Choi Han-Sung said that each time he killed someone, his achievement score and rewards increased exponentially.
The goal of the Heaven and Earth Clan was to become the best. They wanted to become so powerful that no one could catch up to them. Even right at this moment, they were continuing their battles in Elder Lord and overpowering their enemies.
The commentators were busy analyzing Choi Han-Sung and the Heaven and Earth Clan, but they stopped to make an announcement.
-Breaking news! A large-scale quest was announced to the whole system. Cases like this are extremely rare.
-We received news about Hunter Shakhan opening up the north recently. Everyone has been curious about the northern region, but today, the mystery has been solved.
-A system message popped up today that the crazy orc chieftain in the northern region is preparing for a war to lead the continent to destruction.
-Is this the beginning of a mainstreaming-worthy quest?
-The orc chieftain has declared war on the entire northern region to invade the continent. I don’t know much about the situation in the northern region, but I think a bloody war is about to begin in the continent. According to the system, the northern region is already at war. I heard it’s crazy over there.
-I’m so excited. Some opinions have been surfacing lately that the game had grown stagnant, but the system has completely overturned those concerns. As expected, the Elder Saga Corporation doesn’t let us down.
Yi-An remained where he stood while people passed him by. He continued to stand there even as the crowds of people changed and moved past him. His face was expressionless.
People stood at many crossroads throughout their lives. A spur of a moment could change a person’s life forever. Could Yi-An look back on what he did and say what he did was right? Where did those paths lead?
Yi-An didn’t know. He was at a total loss.
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