Chapter 11

Chapter 11: A Slight Additional Penalty (2)

<Hero Network(Korean Server)>

-Participants: 250

-Lee Yu-jin: Where did everyone spend the points they got as rewards?

-King: I think you should save your points if you can. Who knows what’s going to happen from now on? I don’t understand spending them so recklessly.

-Parrying: From the way you’re talking, King, it sounds like you have quite a few points. Are you that 1st place guy?

-King: Don’t talk bullshit. I tremble with rage just thinking about that bastard. If it weren’t for him, I would’ve been 1st place.

-Lee Yu-jin: No, so what’s good to spend points on?

-Merlin: Ms. Lee Yu-jin, please change your Hero Name first. Most of us decided to hide our personal information if possible. It’d be bad if we got dragged into the mass media for no reason, right? Thank you for your cooperation~.

-Lee Yu-jin: Ah, sorry.

-Mightmount: King is a bit of a strange guy, but I agree about saving points.

-King: ??? Why are you talking like that? If you have a problem, say it proudly in private chat.

-Merlin: King, please restrain yourself.

“What kind of group chat is this now?”

Min-jun felt strange as he watched the chat rising on his phone screen.

Judging by the number of participants being 250.

It seemed only the top 250, which had been presented as the cutoff line among the people who had participated in the last “game,” had gathered here.

The problem was…….

-Granado: So what the hell does that 1st place guy even do?

-Mantra: There must be a ton of things you can buy with 3,000 points. I’m jealous. I only got 100 points.

‘They’re talking about me.’

People’s attention was gathering toward Min-jun.

-Shinji: Honestly, isn’t 100 points a lot too? Most people barely got double digits, lol ……bitter~~.

-Lapis: I want to save up points and buy Undiluted Elixir too. Heh.

-Sein: All nine of that person’s videos are up in Trending Videos. If you check directly, you’ll see he was deliberately catching people.

-Meirin: But if we’re being honest, it’s not like he was the only one catching people. We just have to accept it. What can we do?

-Astria: He’s just unlikeable.

-King: I’ll kill that bastard next time I see him.

-Ash: I made it that far too, but I dropped because of that person. If I’d really crossed to the center, I would’ve been in winning range. I still get pissed thinking about it.

Min-jun broke into a cold sweat.

‘Somehow, my reputation is a little…….’

There were even a few people sharpening their knives, and it was beyond simply being ominous.

Unable to keep watching, he decided to quietly join the chat.

-Liz: Since 1st place was decided by competition, I think we need to accept the results of winning and losing~! In any case, everyone here passed, didn’t you?

-Sein: There’s a limit to that too.

-Liz: Well, there’s nothing we can do about it, is there? In games, winning is all that matters.

-Liz: And it’s a game, so let’s not get too invested, everyone. We have a future, don’t we? A shining future!

-King: The way you’re talking is suspicious. Are you 1st place?

-Liz: No.

-King: Why was your response so fast? You bastard, you’re suspicious.

-Mantra: Judging by how he talks, he doesn’t seem like someone who could take 1st place.

For a moment, Min-jun got heated, but thanks to the words of the person called Mantra, he was able to escape suspicion.

The conversation continued for quite a while after that, and most of it was about how to use points and what plans to make going forward.

‘So they’re trying to avoid exposure to the outside world as much as possible.’

From what he heard, it seemed their videos were being uploaded in a form similar to internet streaming, and they were worried that information about their identities might spread.

-Merlin: For now, people just think it’s some kind of movie or game ad, so we’re planning to push it in that direction.

-Irene: But what are we supposed to do about having gaps of hours or days in reality like this?

-Merlin: There’s nothing we can do about that. Most people will have no choice but to quit their jobs, or at least take time off only when they participate.

-Merlin: We don’t know when the Hero Candidate test will begin again…….

Listening to the person called Merlin, Min-jun suddenly had a question.

‘Gaps in reality. How exactly does that work?’

Before he could ask directly, someone else asked first.

-Yu-jin: What happens to us while we’re called there? Won’t missing person reports be filed? Does anyone else know anything?

-Merlin: After gathering information from people, it felt like we were treated as if we didn’t exist in this world at all. Thanks to that, there hasn’t been anyone who’s had a problem so far.

-Se-a: I asked my husband and kids, and they didn’t even know I’d disappeared.

-Ryan: When I went to school, I wasn’t even marked absent lol. I asked the kids if I’d come to school yesterday, and they said they didn’t remember, but didn’t I come?

-Merlin: Still, those of you with jobs, please be careful. There’s no harm in being careful, so be as careful as possible. Personally, I’d like to recommend taking a leave of absence, or just quitting and coming out…….

-King: What is this, recommending resignation or something? Just tell them to decide on their own.

“Hmm.”

Min-jun stroked his chin and nodded.

When he crossed from this world to another world, did that mean other people could not even sense the gap?

It was a convenient setting.

‘Are they manipulating the range of perception itself?’

People did not even notice that he had been absent that day.

‘In other words, no one is conscious of whether I exist or not.’

While he participated in that Hero Test or whatever it was, “Do Min-jun” became a nonexistent person in reality.

At a guess, perhaps people entered a state of “Was there ever someone like that?”

Then, if Min-jun returned after the game ended?

It meant the world would be altered back into “a world where Do Min-jun existed.”

Everything would be fitted back into place and made “as if it had always been there,” naturally, as though no errors were allowed.

Did he exist?

Did he not exist?

While participating in the game, at least, he could not be said to be in either of those two states.

It was enough to say he became an unknown existence.

Because the only people who now shared the truth were the 250 Heroes remaining here.

‘What is this, Schrödinger’s cat?’

In any case, it was a beneficial story for Min-jun.

-Mantra: What am I supposed to do if I don’t earn money? I’m so poor I can’t even pay rent.

-Merlin: Just settling the Hero Tickets given as a basic reward should be more than enough to beat a monthly salary. On top of that, if you receive dividends too, that much more money piles up.

-Mantra: Ah, that’s true. Though I don’t know about people with high salaries, lol.

“Hero Tickets?”

Min-jun quickly checked the application again.

Something he had not noticed because he had been too distracted entered his eyes.

-Hero Ticket Settlement: Unchecked notifications 55

“Ah, this was here.”

What was this, that it could become more money than a monthly salary?

Without much thought, Min-jun entered the “Hero Ticket Settlement” category.

-Participation Reward: 300

-Hero Test Passing Reward: 50

-Hero Test Ranking Reward: 1,000

-Hero Ticket Dividend: 10

-Hero Ticket Dividend: 15

-…….

-Hero Ticket Dividend: 1

“Hero Ticket Dividend?”

Min-jun counted the Hero Tickets, which had gathered to around 1,500 in total, one by one. At the final item, his eyes widened.

-1,498: Cash 14,980 dollars

-Settle tickets?

-Settle/Cancel

“Huh?”

He wondered if he had seen it wrong.

A total of 14,980 won in cash…… no, 14,980 dollars in U.S. currency.

The important point was that it was not Korean won, but U.S. dollars.

“W-W-Wait.”

He hurriedly opened an exchange-rate calculator.

As of July 11, 2021…….

“E-E-Eigh…… eighteen million won…….”

He felt as if his breath would stop.

To him, who had been living on minimum living expenses of less than one million won a month, that money was an absolutely absurd fortune.

“Is this real?”

It was a huge sum of money he had never held even once in his life.

Min-jun could not calm his thudding heart.

He felt as if he understood why the participation reward alone could replace a salary. Even if this happened just once a month, how much was that?

‘This is insane profit, isn’t it?’

Yes.

This was luck.

From one to ten.

There was nothing to lose by participating in this Hero Agency or whatever it was.

At least, that was true for Min-jun.

“So they’re saying they really give this as money.”

Min-jun moved his trembling hand and pressed the “Settle” button.

-Thank you.

-Cash will be withdrawn.

“What is it this time?”

When light burst from his phone again, Min-jun flinched and stepped back.

Flutter—!

With the sound of bills shaking, 1,498 dollars appeared before his eyes, and Min-jun, frozen like stone, stood blankly for a long while.

‘……Is this real money?’

Fourteen 100-dollar bills and ninety-eight 1-dollar bills.

It was crisp new money.

In front of such an easily obtained fortune, he even began to suspect, “Could this be fake?”

‘They don’t exchange it for me separately.’

Min-jun clenched the bills in his hand and held his breath for a moment.

Until now, he had avoided something while making all kinds of excuses.

Because he had no money and no room to spare.

Because he had not felt like it.

Because his situation of living with a prosthetic leg felt miserable.

Because he simply hated it.

The thing he had been avoiding with all those excuses suddenly flashed through his mind.

“Should I…… return to school?”

University.

He felt like he might be able to go there.

It had been a very long time since he had thought this way. No, it was the first time in three years.

To that place where he remained a sophomore even at twenty-five, for some reason, he felt like he might be able to return today.

***

Ring, ring.

Before the ringtone even sounded twice, the call connected.

-Yeah, Min-jun?

“Yeah, noona. It’s me.”

The spirited voice coming from beyond the phone belonged to Do Ha-na, his older sister, who was two years older than Min-jun.

-What’s going on? You’re calling me first! Last time, you ignored every single text I sent you!

“Well, I was just busy, that’s all.”

-Why didn’t you use the gifticon? You’re not eating some weird crap somewhere again, are you?

The nagging began pouring out as soon as he called.

-Try eating cereal for all three meals again, and I’ll come straight to your house!

“I told you, I’m not. Who lives on cereal? If I kept eating that, I felt like relic beads were going to come out of my body, so I quit.”

-Then fine. Boknal is coming soon, so eat some meat. You’re so skinny that you even lose arm wrestling to your noona.

“Have you never thought that maybe you’re just too strong?”

-What are you talking about?

It was not a joke. Do Ha-na’s strength really was different from an ordinary person’s.

She was a natural-born exercise fanatic.

“Noona.”

-What?

“I’m going to go soon.”

-Huh? Go? Where do you go?

Even at this moment, Do Ha-na seemed to be doing some kind of exercise, because she was busy letting out sharp breaths.

Min-jun smiled quietly as he pictured that sight.

“It reminds me of the old days.”

-The old days?

“When you beat the older boys who stole my money into a pulp when we were kids. I suddenly remembered it.”

-Pfft! How long ago was that?

-Try touching my little brother one more time. I’ll fold your waist in half!

Do Ha-na had been like that since she was young.

After their father left the family with debt and ran away alone in the middle of the night, their mother had to become the head of the household.

When Min-jun and his younger sister Sena were left all alone in the empty house, someone had to protect the home.

Do Ha-na had done that at the age of only ten.

-No, before that, what do you mean you’re going? Where are you going?

“To school. I’m returning to university.”

-Returning?

And yet, Min-jun.

How pathetic was he?

Just because a single ankle had disappeared, he had thrown everything away and lived like this, even forgetting his family.

For something like this, he only had to live with a prosthetic leg.

He only had to be a little more embarrassed than others.

Compared to the years his older sister and mother had lived while sacrificing their lives, it was nothing.

Besides, now there was even a possibility of treating it through the game, was there not?

What more was there to fear?

-……Really?

Perhaps she had stopped exercising, because Do Ha-na’s voice sank low.

“Really.”

Min-jun clenched his fist so hard it felt like it might break, and barely forced out each word.

“I should get my head straight and live again. I can’t keep staying like this forever.”

The answer did not come immediately.

Only after he waited for a long while did a spirited voice come, along with the sound of sniffing.

-Yeah! Good thinking. That’s our little brother. When you say you’ll do something, you do it!

Hearing her voice wet with tears, Min-jun clenched his molars.

‘Things will change now.’

He would not run away anymore.

He could not keep wasting the present on being frustrated by the past.