God-Tier Enhancement Chapter 327: Episode 327A Family-Like Atmosphere (2)

Chapter 327: Episode 327_A Family-Like Atmosphere (2)

3.

Han Simin harbored no particular resentnt toward his family, nor did he plan on never seeing them again.

Why would he?

They were the people who had brought him into this world and raised him until he was twenty.

He had never once thought their parenting style was wrong. In fact, he believed it was thanks to their upbringing that he had learned to be tenacious and eventually beco rich.

Naturally, if he ever married and had children, he intended to raise them the sa way.

It was such a rational, convenient, and realistic thod.

They had given birth to him, so they took responsibility for his food, shelter, and education until he turned twenty. Then, as an adult, he was expected to venture out into the world on his own.

If they gave him an allowance, great. If not, he would learn to be independent.

Once he beca an adult, they left him to his own devices.

In Simin’s case, his parents had offered to support him through college, and he had even enrolled. But he’d thrown that blessing away the mont he was discharged from the army.

In any case, a child raised that way learns to adapt rather than resent their circumstances.

They know their parents won’t ultimately bail them out, so they figure out how to stand on their own two feet.

How ideal was that?

“Yeseul.”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t know if it’ll ever happen, but if we get married, would you be on board with my philosophy on raising kids?”

Of course, such an approach required both parents to be in agreent.

While perceptions in modern society had shifted, it was still rare for parents to willingly choose such a difficult path for their children in this harsh world.

This was the kind of topic that, if not discussed beforehand, could lead to more than a simple marital spat—it could lead to disaster. It had to be checked in advance.

Like debt.

At his words, Kang Yeseul nodded brightly.

“Of course. I only need you. We don’t even have to have kids, but if we do, we have to raise them like you. That way, they’ll grow up to be capable enough to pay off a two-million-dollar debt from co-signing a bad loan.”

“...If you’re two million dollars in debt, how do you pay that back? Jumping into the Han River would be faster.”

That was Han Simin’s mindset.

And it was to him that a producer he’d recently made a good deal with reached out.

He answered, half-expecting an offer for an All-Star Match sequel or so other show. What he heard instead was completely out of the blue.

—“Mr. Simin, a young woman ca to the station saying she’s your younger sister. Her na is Yeori, and...well, from the way she talks, it doesn’t sound like she’s making it up.”

“Ah!”

It was unexpected, but it wasn’t an unwelco call.

Han Simin, who had been playing 『Fantastic World』, imdiately logged out of his capsule.

“I’m going to go et my sister.”

“Your sister? You have a sister?”

“I told you once, a long ti ago.”

“You did, but I don’t think you’ve ever talked about your family since I t you.”

“Why would I need to talk about family when I’m playing a ga?”

“Okay, see you later.”

It was a surprising revelation, even for Specialist.

Even though they had t in a ga, they had been stuck together for over a year. It was only natural that they’d talk about all sorts of things, and family stories were bound to co up.

Of course, back when she and Simin had been hunting twenty hours a day, Specialist had brought up various topics, including her own family situation.

They were stories she had no reason to hide, but at the sa ti, they were stories she had only told because it was him.

When it had been his turn, however, the dark expression on his face had made her stop asking.

It had been more than enough to cause a misunderstanding.

His expression, his circumstances.

The dogged life Simin led.

The way he threw himself at money as if his life depended on it.

The endless days of tedious grinding, when he would bring up stories about goat droppings from three years ago just to pass the ti, yet never once ntioned his family.

Those misunderstandings were shattered in an instant.

“Thank god. Honestly, I thought Simin was all alone,” Yeseul said with a sigh of relief.

“He said he was going to see his sister, right?” Hyeonsu asked.

“Yeah. He said while he’s out, he’ll stop by and say hi to his parents, too. Said it’s been a while.”

“Wow. I really did misunderstand.”

“Then why did he get so serious every ti family ca up?”

They fell silent.

They couldn’t figure it out without him there to ask.

*

“That little brat Yeori...”

As he left his apartnt, a wave of emotion washed over Han Simin.

The reason he grew serious and quiet whenever family ca up—the thing Specialist was so curious about—was nothing special.

He simply got lost in reminiscence.

’Co to think of it, it’s been years since I left ho.’

He had called his parents fairly often for a while after moving out.

They just never picked up.

Then, when he could barely afford his phone bill, let alone rent, he’d gotten rid of his phone altogether. By the ti he finally got a new one, he’d changed his number without a second thought, and just like that, contact was cut off.

Of course, he could have reached out if he’d really wanted to.

But he hadn’t.

It wasn’t out of so pointless resolve, like, ’I’ll show up looking successful and dignified soday.’

He had just been too tired and too strapped for cash.

The word “independence” ant sothing entirely different from the days when he had been scraping by on an allowance under his parents’ roof.

There had been plenty of monts when he’d thought, ’Those were the good old days, when my parents were taking care of .’ But the more those thoughts ca, the more he forced them out of his mind and threw himself into Enhancent to make money. Naturally, the mories had faded.

It didn’t seem like his parents had made any great effort to track down their son, either.

Then he’d started playing 『Fantastic World』, and after that, he was so busy he barely slept three hours a night. The word “contact” didn’t even have room to enter his mind.

So many things had been out of sync.

But his sister’s call was a chance for him to realize just how much had changed.

“It’s about ti I went to see my parents.”

In a way, he had achieved his goal.

He had beco rich.

He had no other goals.

Back when he was twenty, his parents had never once asked him to get married or give them grandchildren.

In any case, he could now face them with his head held high.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t been confident when he left ho, but there was a difference between baseless confidence and the composure of soone who had actually achieved sothing.

If he could, he would have loved to drive over in the expensive foreign car sitting in his parking garage, but unfortunately, his driving skills were still abysmal.

He consoled himself by stuffing his wallet full of crisp $50 bills and headed to the eting place.

*

In Han Yeori’s mind, Han Simin was an idol.

If everyone who knew him could have seen her adoration, and then seen how well she had turned out, they would have undoubtedly asked, ’Why on earth?’ and tried desperately to dissuade her for the sake of her future. But even so, Han Yeori looked up to her brother.

A “realistic” brother-sister relationship?

Maybe for him, but not for her.

She had always followed her brother, who was seven years older, and her taste in n was shaped by the maturity she couldn’t find in boys her own age.

Of course, it was less maturity and more the seriousness with which he chased money.

The deepest mory she had of him, the scene most firmly etched in her mind, was this:

—“Brother, brother!”

—“What.”

—“I want to work as hard as you do!”

—“You should, kid. Mom and Dad aren’t going to go easy on you just because you’re a girl. Study hard and make a lot of money.”

—“Okay! Then what should I do?”

—“What do you an, what?”

—“I’ll do whatever you decide for !”

—“I’m barely managing my own life. Figure it out yourself.”

—“Hmph.”

—“I can’t do it for you. If you really want to live well, study hard and beco a judge, a lawyer, or a teacher. They say those are cushy jobs.”

The words Simin had tossed out without a thought were what had driven her to study.

It wasn’t blind faith, more like she had simply accepted the advice of her childhood idol.

Thanks to that, she had studied hard and grown into a model student, a rarity among high school seniors who didn’t go near virtual reality.

Now, at another crossroads in her life, she was eting him again.

Her future self might have told her present self to run, but ignorant of that, Han Yeori sat in a café, trying to calm her pounding heart as she waited.

She’d never had romantic feelings for her brother.

But Simin, who had practically raised her in place of their working parents, was like a tall, mysterious benefactor to her—a complicated and hard-to-define figure.

“Brother!”

’What should I say when I see him?’

’He’ll be happy to see , right?’

’Just as I thought. My brother made it, no matter what he did. Now I can cast aside any doubt and just trust his words and study hard.’

Even after years apart, she recognized him at once and stood up, waving happily.

It was a packed café in the middle of Myeong-dong on a weekend afternoon, but she didn’t hesitate.

Naturally, everyone’s attention turned toward her.

It wasn’t because of the noise.

“Whoa...she’s gorgeous.”

“That uniform is...a little small.”

A sweet voice that tickled the ears, and looks that captured everyone’s gaze.

Simultaneously, all eyes turned toward the entrance of the café.

In a place where you could see a beautiful woman on every corner, one who shone more brilliantly than the rest had appeared, greeting her “brother” with such a radiant smile. Who could that man be?

At the end of their gaze stood a man.

His brows were furrowed, his head tilted.

“...Who are you?”

Han Simin.

After a mont of deliberation, a single sentence popped out of his mouth.

*

It wasn’t that he didn’t know it was Han Yeori.

He had co here to et her, and he knew her personality well enough to expect such an enthusiastic greeting, even after years apart.

Even so, he had to ask. No matter how he dug through his mories, he couldn’t find the face of the young woman welcoming him.

“Did you get plastic surgery?”

“Huh? Who in our family would get plastic surgery?”

“Ah. Right.”

So, after ordering drinks and sitting down, he asked her straight out.

Girls got prettier as they grew up, but this was a transformation on the level of plastic surgery.

Of course, his attitude toward his little sister hadn’t changed.

“You’ve grown a lot. Are Mom and Dad doing well?”

“Yeah. Sotis they wonder what you’re up to.”

“Uh-huh. Don’t lie.”

“Hehe. And I’ve been studying hard, just like you said. I’m going to study hard, beco a civil servant, and make lots of money!”

“Eh?”

She acted cute, just as she used to, and he listened with a bored expression, barely paying attention—until he heard her naive words. Then he uncrossed his legs and stared at her in surprise.

“I told you to study? To make lots of money?”

“Yeah!”

He was speechless.

Naturally, he had no mory of that.

He had probably just said whatever to get her off his back.

And even now, he didn’t feel the need to correct her.

Whatever she did for a living was her choice.

However, seeing that his little sister’s looks—which did nothing for him—could easily make other n’s hearts race, his words changed slightly.

“Who makes money by studying these days? Yeori, want to play a ga with ?”

The devil’s whisper did not discriminate, not even for family.

*