Chapter 143: Half-Time
Yi-An stared out the window of a cafe as a stream of people passed by. They wore lightweight clothes, signaling the arrival of summer.
His mind was wandering, so it took him a second to realize that someone was sitting across from him. Yi-An greeted her.
“Hello.”
“What are you looking at? You didn’t even realize I was here.”
“Just...”
He just stared at Ji Ha-Yeon who tilted her head questioningly at him.
Even in the world of Elder Lord, where people could customize their appearances, she had a beauty that was hard to emulate.
He enjoyed looking at her.
“The lighting here is nice, right?”
She smiled and pointed at her face. The sunlight seeped in through the window and lit up her face.
“This is the best spot in the cafe... What?! I can’t believe you like mint chocolate. Eww, you have bad taste even though you own a cafe.”
“All the more reason to expand my taste buds.”
“But still...not mint chocolate. Do you usually drink this?”
Yi-An took a sip of his mint chocolate frappuccino and asked, “So any updates on the thing I asked for?”
“You are blatantly changing the topic. Well, whatever.”
She reached into her bag and pulled out a few documents.
As Yi-An skimmed over the contents of the document, his expression subtly changed. They didn’t have anything particularly useful. They were about Albino and Myeongsong Group’s attempts to investigate it.
Myeongsong Group tried to scan Albino’s internal system to understand it better but everything came out blank. They were unable to even speculate how it was constructed because they didn’t know what substance the surface was made out of, and it didn’t have any visible joints.
It seemed like an object that had dropped out of outer space.
Without any findings, Myeongsong Group delegated research about Albino to Senior Researcher Park Ju-Jin and took their hands off the matter.
The only useful information was the personal details of those related to Albino, not on the system itself.
The key figure was Yoo Jae-Han.
“It was quite unexpected that Yoo Jae-Han suddenly planned to create Albino. He was initially in a completely different department.”
“Different department?”
“He wasn’t involved in computers or games beforehand. He was a physicist.”
“A physicist making games?”
“Although physicists sometimes participate in game development, it’s rare for them to plan and produce their own project. No, it’s actually unprecedented. But he was such a genius that no one thought it was weird when he did something unexpected. It was still surprising though.”
Yi-An looked at the photo in the document. The man had a pensive look with an inexplicably melancholy gaze. He felt as if he had seen those eyes before.
The documents had information on his personality and an analysis about his private life.
Yi-An glanced over at Ji Ha-Yeon, who tilted her head and looked back at him flirtatiously. If she had been attempting to look cute, she would have succeeded, but Yi-An felt repelled by her effort.
He continued reading the document.
[He has a pessimistic personality. He studied religion in his youth but became absorbed in physics after feeling the limitations of religion... (omitted).]
It was fine until this point.
[Although his relationships with women are normal, it stands out that he never stays single. When he was twenty-three, he dated Kim Yi-Na (who was twenty-two at the time). After they dated for seven months, she dumped him because he was too uncaring. At the end of the year, he started dating university professor Yanagisawa Yoko (thirty-one) and maintained a good relationship for a while... After a year-long hiatus, he started dating a blonde woman he met in San Francisco named Cabrina... (omitted).]
[His dietary preferences change frequently. He preferred a natural, plant-based diet when he was into religion, but after he became more worldly, he disregarded his health by binge-eating and enjoying a carnivorous diet. He frequently smokes and drinks. Every morning, he eats fried eggs... (omitted).]
[He has a habit of drinking apple juice every morning. Thanks to that, he doesn’t have any digestive issues. He doesn’t have constipation and has a tendency to get diarrhea after drinking caffeinated beverages... (omitted).]
The report was at the level of stalking.
“How did you find out information like this?” asked Yi-An.
“We pay special attention to key talents. There’s always a way.”
There was a time when Myeongsong Group’s excessive control of its members became an issue on the news, but it was for a reason.
Yi-An said in passing, “Don’t investigate me further.”
“Yes, we’ve gathered enough...huh?”
Ji Ha-Yeon, who had been replying by reflex, realized what he meant and widened her eyes in surprise.
“I know you’ve already investigated me, but stop.”
“Ah, that’s...”
“I don’t like people who lie.”
“That’s...”
Ji Ha-Yeon dropped her head.
“Yes...”
She fiddled with her fingers and warily eyed Yi-An.
Yi-An grinned and flipped to the next page.
“Gordon? Who’s Gordon?”
Not much stood out about him. He followed Yoo Jae-Han around and visited the research lab with him.
Of course Yi-An was familiar with the name Gordon from Elder Lord. The mysterious man he had met at Chesswood was named Gordon. He seemed to know the truth about Elder Lord.
Yi-An had headed to the Temple of the Fallen God per his suggestion and met the Ashen God there.
Yi-An felt as if he could be related somehow, but he was unable to make any speculations with the information provided.
“Well, it’s a common name,” he muttered to himself.
But a sentence at the end of Yoo Jae-Han’s investigation records caught his eye.
[From this point on, we were unable to continue following him because his senses became sharper.]
“What does this mean?” asked Yi-An.
“Just as it says. Even though the investigators tried to be discreet, Yoo Jae-Han caught onto what was going on and prevented further investigations. He even followed one of the investigators and threatened him...”
“When was this?”
“Hmm...around when he came up with the idea for Albino and submitted the proposal for the development of Elder Lord.”
“Is that so?”
As someone who knew the truth about Elder Lord, Yi-An couldn’t just dismiss those words, especially the phrase, “his senses became sharper.”
The one who made the game was an unknown being who called herself a god.
In the world of Elder Lord, people could strengthen themselves through skills and special abilities. Yi-An could even detect a single leaf falling in the distance when he was Crockta.
If this was a being who could even affect reality, then perhaps she had imparted some of her powers to Yoo Jae-Han. Had Yoo Jae-Han met the Ashen God right then?
“Are you just going to sit out here on this nice day?”
“What else should I be doing?”
“Let’s grab a meal together. Gosh, you already finished your mint chocolate frappuccino. Is it actually good?”
Before Yi-An could say no, Ji Ha-Yeon quickly added, “I will tell you something else if you will dine with me.”
“...”
“I’m only telling you even though it’s top secret information. But it’s fine if you aren’t interested. It’s top secret anyway.”
Yi-An nodded. “I was planning to have a meal with you anyway, but even better if you are giving me top secret information.”
“Wait a sec.”
“Let’s go.”
“Really? You were planning to grab a meal with me anyway?”
“Maybe.”
“Hey!”
They got up from their seats, and Ji Ha-Yeon followed after Yi-An and exited the cafe.
Ji Ha-Yeon’s bodyguard and executive secretary who had been observing them from a distance smiled contentedly.
“Miss has a side like that...hahaha, it’s good to be young.”
He had been by her side for a long time, but she had never been like most young people. He always lamented the fact that she didn’t have opportunities to form romantic relationships because of the restrictions of Myeongsong Group.
But she was finally enjoying her youth.
“But...”
He furrowed his eyebrows.
“Why does it have to be him?”
When Ji Ha-Yeon was kidnapped, Myeongsong Group was in dire straits. A bunch of people were fired or demoted because they had been unable to resolve the situation.
When they thought there weren’t any methods left to rescue her, the U.S. special forces unit contacted Chairman Ji Eun-Chul and requested various privileges and investments in exchange for rescuing Ji Ha-Yeon.
Ji Eun-Chul, who cherished his daughter, accepted the demands, and the situation was resolved in less than a day.
They were a special foreign unit composed of talents scouted from all over the world and trained to be dispatched to the most dangerous places.
Their level of security was so high that if they failed a mission, then they wouldn’t even be recorded in military registers to guarantee utmost secrecy.
And that man, known as Raven, was notorious even within the special unit.
The amount of blood his hands had reaped would be enough to film a gore movie.
“Interesting.”
He had already acquired sufficient information about Raven, or Jung Yi-An. He knew that Jung Yi-An had jumped in the front lines for his younger sister and wasn’t a bad person. The more he learned about him, the more curious he became.
He picked up his phone.
“Hey, it’s me.”
Of course, his job was to protect Ji Ha-Yeon. He couldn’t leave the slightest threat unattended. His eyes shone fiercely as he said, “Miss is heading to her usual Korean restaurant. You know she doesn’t like fish, right? Make sure the chef knows about all of her preferences. If anyone interrupts her meal with the gentleman, they will die. Make sure they prepare the meal with the utmost care and exclude anything that is hard to eat from the menu. Reserve the rooms next to her and keep them empty. Add something mint chocolate flavored for dessert since her guest likes it.”
Miss, good luck!’
***
Yi-An raised his muzzle and aligned the front sight with the rear sight.
‘Slow down your breathing. While standing completely still, lightly pull the trigger. Pierce the center of your target like a water droplet creating ripples on a calm lake.’
His fingers trembled.
Bang!
The pistol of his BB gun flew and struck a plushie, but it stood up again like a roly-poly toy.
It was the Magic Goblin plushie that was super popular these days. It was a character that appeared in many Elder Lord role-players’ videos and received attention for its unique speech and behavior.
And Yi-An was failing to hunt it down.
“You said you are good with guns,” complained Yi-Yoo. “I’m so disappointed.”
Yi-An wanted to point out how ridiculously resilient the plushie was, but he kept his mouth shut. He didn’t like making excuses. He strategized until he succeeded.
He aimed his BB gun where the plushie touched the platform and continued striking the same spot.
The Magic Goblin plushie shook with each shot and then twirled and dropped to the ground.
“...!” The owner’s expression changed after witnessing the Magic Goblin collapse.
“It was securely glued to its spot,” said Yi-An with a grin.
The owner looked back and forth between Yi-An and the plushie before handing over the plushie. He had an expression of utter disbelief on his face.
“How did you do it?” asked the owner.
Yi-An didn’t hide his excitement and eagerly replied, “Focused fire!”
The trick was to target one spot!
The owner nodded, awe-struck. “Indeed!”
Yi-An grinned and left the shooting range with the Magic Goblin plushie in hand. They merged with the crowd in the streets.
“What, I thought you were giving it to me?”
“Why would I give it to you?”
“Didn’t you get it for me?”
“No?”
“Wow...”
Yi-Yoo let go of Yi-An’s arm.
Yi-An teased her and then handed her the magic goblin plushie. Yi-Yoo had to hug the plushie because it was quite large. She laughed with delight as she pulled on the magic goblin’s ear.
“What did you talk about earlier?” asked Yi-Yoo.
“Huh?”
“You mentioned you grabbed a meal with the pretty unni.”
“Ahh.”
Yi-An recalled what had happened earlier. The information she gave in exchange for having a meal with her was unexpected because it wasn’t about Albino or Yoo Jae-Han. It was about the rumored drugs and illegal capsules.
***
In Elder Lord, a player’s skills were determined by their assimilation rate. Thus, people researched various methods to raise assimilation rates aside from a player further immersing in the game. People began to look outside the world of Elder Lord to achieve higher rates, with one of the proposed methods being drug use.
Through drugs, a player was put in a comatose state with only their consciousness intact. With their body in a coma, a player’s mind became much more strongly connected to the world of Elder Lord and could rapidly increase their assimilation rates compared to other players.
But the practice was illegal, and it had many side effects and risks.
It was reported to Eldersaga Corporation that some players were using drugs to gain an advantage in Elder Lord.
Some even illegally modified capsules to provide sustenance to the body, so the player wouldn’t die. Then, the player would continue living in Elder Lord without waking up, and their assimilation rates naturally rose. Although they could become a high-ranking player, no one knew the kind of side effects that would occur once the drug was discontinued.
“Why would they go to such lengths?” asked Yi-An.
Ji Ha-Yeon replied with a laugh. “Cause there’s money on the line.”
Yi-An became silent. He had also leapt into the battlefield for the sake of money.
Although they didn’t obtain clear evidence of these illegal activities yet, the Myeongsong Group was cooperating with the government to investigate these matters.
There were even criminals who entered contracts with players and forcefully bound their consciousness to Elder Lord until they were able to collect their payments.
“Oppa, you play Elder Lord, right? Be careful. Don’t get too immersed in the game,” warned Ji Ha-Yeon.
***
“Oppa?” called out Yi-Yoo.
“Yeah?”
“What are you thinking about? Are you thinking about the unni?”
“Yes, but not because of the kind of reason you are thinking of.”
“Hmm...”
Yi-An shook his head. It wasn’t the time to get bogged down by trivial thoughts. He should focus on his sister since they haven’t gone out together in a while.
“Look at that,” said Yi-Yoo as she grabbed Yi-An’s arms and pointed at the screen in the middle of the street.
“Ah, that?”
“What do you think about it?”
“Of course I...”
A trending video was playing on the screen with a figure familiar and unfamiliar to Yi-An at the same time.
It was White Knight Andre.
– As a knight who upholds justice, I want to make an important announcement today.
He looked at the viewers and smiled.
– I declare Crockta, the fake hero who wears a mask of justice and disrupts Elder Lord, as my enemy.
In the background, corpses of bandits were sprawled behind him. He pointed at them.
– I will commence my hunt today and as soon as I find him...
He raised his longsword.
– I will immediately kill him with this sword. I will make sure there will be no more ladies who will tremble in fear because of that orc.
At the end of the bandit slaughter video Andre recently uploaded, he declared war against Crockta.
The Elder Lord community was buzzing with excitement thanks to Andre.
A man passing by Yi-An and Yi-Yoo muttered, “Fucking crazy.”
Then, a woman following behind him said, “So cool.”
Their reactions were polar opposites.
Suddenly, Yi-An met eyes with Yi-Yoo. They shrugged and turned away from the screen. Then, at the same time they said:
“Fucking crazy.”
“So cool.”
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