Chapter 328: Episode 328_A Family-Like Atmosphere (3)
4.
There was no awkwardness, despite it being his first time home in years.
They were family.
Especially the Han Simin family.
The apartment building was familiar, even after so long.
The hallway, the elevator, the floor his body selected on its own, the door that opened, the keypad his hand reached for first.
He punched in the six-digit code, and the door opened with a sound that was different from his own place, yet just as familiar.
Unlike Simin, who didn’t give a damn about the boiler or the air conditioner and only adjusted the temperature inside his capsule, a cool breeze rushed out, announcing that summer was just around the corner.
And before he knew it, the words slipped out.
“I’m home.”
He shivered and clapped a hand over his mouth the moment he heard himself.
“Wow, after four years away, the first thing you say when you walk in is I’m home? That gave me chills,” Yeori teased.
What came next was even more chilling.
“You’re here?”
“Oh? Son, long time no see.”
Simin stood there, stunned.
Han Simin’s warm, harmonious family was living proof that he hadn’t just dropped out of the sky.
*
“Wow. Your son comes home for the first time in four years, and you serve him rabbit food instead of meat?”
“If you don’t want to eat it, then don’t, Son.”
“...Sigh.”
“Mom, Dad, it’s been a long time since we all ate together, hasn’t it?”
“Not since our dear son here walked out, saying he was going to be a gamer.”
“Father, if I recall, I was practically kicked out.”
“Ahem. Who gets kicked out of this house? Once you turn twenty, you’re an independent adult anyway.”
“Ha. You two really haven’t changed.”
It had been a long time since he’d experienced such a truly familial atmosphere.
This nerve-wracking dinner table.
He was more tense now than when he’d been a private in the army, carefully reading the room with every bite.
Yet at the same time, a smile tugged at his lips.
They were the same as ever.
That was why returning with his head held high was worth it, and why it was now time to show them why he had come.
In the past, he would never have dared to complain about the food.
But now, he decided to try.
This wasn’t the petty whining of a son who had just come home after a long time.
“Mother, I want to eat meat.”
“Go buy some yourself.”
“No, I mean the meat you cook, Mom.”
“Listen to him. Just because he shows up after all this time, he thinks he can forget the rules of this house and—”
“Your son has returned a success.”
He set a white envelope on the table.
It was no ordinary white envelope.
At a glance, it looked like it had gorged itself; it was stuffed so full it was bursting at the seams.
A golden light leaked from the opening.
The contents weren’t just green; they were gold.
Naturally, all eyes locked onto him.
There wasn’t a parent in the world who wouldn’t understand what that meant.
The silence that followed, however, was because this was a development none of them had expected.
Han Simin broke that silence and drove the point home.
“Your son has returned a success. I feel like eating meat.”
Not one envelope, but two.
One for each of them.
Still holding her envelope, Han Simin’s mother quietly rose from her seat.
A benevolent smile had already blossomed at the corners of her mouth.
“Son, how did you know I already had meat marinating?”
5.
Han Simin was frugal.
He spent money when he had to, but unless it was absolutely necessary, he hated parting with it and preferred to save.
When it came to his parents, however, he spent freely.
“Mom, that building over there is mine.”
“I love you, son.”
“Father, your car’s getting a bit old. Let’s get you a new one.”
There wasn’t a hint of hesitation in his spending.
He had become so wealthy that even if he donated hundreds of thousands of dollars on a whim—thinking of it as tossing change to a beggar on the street—his bank balance would barely notice.
There was no way he would begrudge spending his hard-earned money on the parents who had raised him.
Besides, it wasn’t as if he was just throwing money away.
He felt proud.
It was as if he had finally fulfilled the very reason he had once sworn to become rich.
“What about me?” his sister asked.
“You? You, punk. Go earn it yourself.”
“Okay.”
“Studying is useless these days. It’s all about charm and talent now. From what I can see, Yeori, you’ve got more than enough to make it big. I’ll help you, so let’s do this together, alright?”
“Okay.”
“You trust me, right?”
“Of course!”
On top of everything, he had successfully roped in the little sister he hadn’t seen in ages.
The happy Han family spent a cozy, affectionate time together.
All on Han Simin’s dime.
*
Even after reuniting with his family, Han Simin’s daily life didn’t change much.
His parents still had little interest in their independent son, and they had agreed that he would simply send them an allowance every month.
If one thing had changed, it was that Han Yeori had decided to log into the game on weekends.
Even that hardly mattered to Han Simin. Despite the arrival of a so-called age of peace, he couldn’t care less. He had resumed his grind with Specialist, wandering the continent, enhancing his ring, and trying to figure out how to use it.
He had coaxed his sister into playing the game, but he had no intention of immediately boosting her and power-leveling her.
In any case, Han Yeori was just going to be a pretty face for his stream.
He already had two beauties, Kang Yeseul and Jeong Seolah, but when it came to on-camera talent, the more the merrier.
Besides, unlike Kang Yeseul and Jeong Seolah, who were outsiders, Han Yeori was family.
It wasn’t about the bond of blood; it was about her being easier to work to the bone.
That was why he had no plans to carry her, even after she started the game.
’Once she’s strong enough to roam the continent on her own, I’ll bring her in and we can start our business together.’
Whenever that might be.
For now, he told Specialist about his plan.
“My little sister will be joining the guild later.”
“You said you were bringing her on because she’s pretty. Is that true?”
“It’s nice when family streams together, you know.”
“I can’t wait to meet her. To think she’s your family, Simin.”
“Is she a money-grubber too?”
“Hey, come on. That’s a bit harsh.”
“Ah. Sorry. Was that too blunt?”
Fortunately, there was no major pushback.
If anything, they were more excited than not.
And so, the family affair that had briefly interrupted Han Simin’s peace concluded as nothing more than a minor episode.
Because the hell of ring enhancement had begun.
As soon as the weekend arrived, Han Yeori lay down in her newly purchased capsule.
Normally, she would have gone to school for self-study with the few other remaining students, but her determination to follow her brother and make money helped her change her habits and routines in an instant.
’I need to make lots of money like him, too.’
Having grown up watching Han Simin more closely than anyone, she had seen his dogged persistence firsthand. At the same time, she had witnessed up close just how hard it was for a person to strike out on their own with nothing.
Furthermore, she remembered her parents’ expressions even more vividly than Simin did when they had sent him off without a backward glance.
’Maybe, if he were really on the verge of starving to death, they might have helped.’
But such hopeful optimism was impossible.
’Well, you never know. If things truly came to that, if I reached the point of thinking, There really is no place for me in this world, and my feet started carrying me somewhere they shouldn’t, then maybe they would help.’
But that was a thought she could never act on.
So whether it was studying or something else, as long as it could make her money, she didn’t care.
The moment she saw her brother return, flaunting the success he’d found through a game, that resolve only grew stronger.
What did social status or any of that matter?
The number one priority was to eat well and live well.
In that, Han Yeori’s mindset was no different from Han Simin’s.
So she readily accepted his advice.
“How do I change this?”
She couldn’t alter her real-world appearance.
Not that she needed to; she was already pretty.
Even so, Yeori changed her hair and eye color to give herself a more exotic feel—a look that was somehow Eastern and Western at the same time, yet also looked like it belonged on the continent.
All of it was at Han Simin’s instruction.
It wasn’t that he knew exactly what he was doing.
He had simply taken the impressions he’d gathered from the countless beauties he’d seen—from Specialist all the way to Epia—and combined them into a set of directions for her.
And so, Han Yeori began the game.
She appeared in a city and immediately set out to find a class.
Han Simin hadn’t recommended a specific one.
"Just pick whatever looks like it’ll cost the least money."
He had no intention of giving her much help, and Yeori herself had no desire to be carried on her brother’s back.
Her goal was to learn how to make money.
So she quickly chose the Warrior class at the job agency and headed out of the city.
She had spawned in a remote territory of a minor kingdom, so there were almost no other players.
It was one of those rare starter cities where you were more likely to see a monster than another User.
No, it was practically a ghost town; it was rare to even see another player, let alone one who might stop and stare at her pretty face.
In that desolate place, Han Yeori walked endlessly.
Han Simin had told her to just kill rabbits or squirrels near the city, but for someone playing a game for the first time in her life, such things barely registered.
“Wow. It’s beautiful.”
Han Simin had seen this world as nothing more than the damned belly of the bloodless, tearless bastard BetaGo, a place to slaughter monsters for money. But Yeori was, after all, a sensitive nieen-year-old girl. She couldn’t help but marvel at this beautiful virtual reality that felt like another world entirely.
Rather than hunting, she immersed herself in scenery she could never see in Korea. She savored the lingering mood as she walked through a forest thick with trees, breathing in the fresh air.
And then she came across it.
“Ugh.”
“Huh?”
A person—something she hadn’t even seen near the city.
At some point, she had wandered so far that the city, which hadn’t been that large to begin with, was completely hidden by the tall trees. Whether by luck or not, no monsters had appeared yet, but it felt like something could pop out at any moment.
She wasn’t exactly afraid.
It was just that the girl, lost in the moment, had snapped back to reality.
’I came too far.’
Before starting the game, she had carefully read the warnings, so she knew that dying wasn’t a big deal.
But she also knew there was nothing good about it.
So she immediately turned around.
She had seen enough of the scenery; now it was time to start hunting, level up quickly, join her brother, and make lots of money.
“Uuugh.”
The groan that shattered her resolve rang out again.
Inevitably, Yeori’s gaze turned toward the sound.
There, an old man with a white beard lay collapsed, his body covered in blood.
He was wearing a robe with the hood pulled up.
A small sigh escaped Yeori’s lips.
From a young age, she had seen and felt the bitter taste of society.
Even though this was her first time playing a game, she had a rough idea of what was happening.
That groan was probably a plea for help.
“Oh, honestly.”
Rationally, she had no reason to help.
This was a game, she was only level one, and even if she did help, they would both die if they ran into a monster.
She had no idea how to save an old man who was bleeding so profusely.
And just by looking at him, the shabby old man in a single worn robe didn’t seem like he could offer any kind of reward.
She made a quick calculation. Taking after her brother, Han Yeori quickly came to a decision.
Her footsteps turned away, coldly.
But she had only taken a few steps before she turned back.
’Ugh. Seriously. I shouldn’t be doing this.’
She had learned her mindset from watching Han Simin, but one thing set her apart from him.
She was kind.
“Grandpa, have some water.”
Yeori held out the only bottle of water and piece of bread she had.
*
Reviews
All reviews (0)