Prologue
<Main Quest: World Peace!
Aaah! Destruction is right around the corner. (ToT)~~~
Gather aggro points and protect world peace! ( •̀ ω •́ )✧
Time remaining until destruction: 364d 23:59:59
Upon success: Wish fulfillment
Upon failure: World destruction
Would you like to proceed with the tutorial? Yes / No>
Ah, I want to quit.
*
The world isn’t fair. Those who are meant to succeed do, and those who aren’t don’t, no matter what they do.
Pyeonghwa crumpled up his university acceptance letter and tossed it toward the trash can in the corner. It was close, but it hit the rim of the trash can and tumbled out with a plop.
With no intention of picking it up, he leaned back in his chair and stared at the computer screen with a blank expression.
The screen was filled with the face of a man with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was a beautiful man, like a sculpture meticulously crafted by God.
When he opened his mouth, a low voice that contrasted with his angelic face tickled the ears.
—A virtual reality game? Well, I’m not really interested in games.
His leisurely manner of speaking and gently upturned lips oozed composure.
When the interviewer asked, ‘So you don’t have even the slightest interest in playing games?’ the man nodded without a moment’s hesitation.
—Because playing games doesn’t actually make you stronger in reality.
—Haha, of course that’s true. But these days, many young Hunters enjoy it as a hobby. There are people like Seol Bora-ssi who turn on personal broadcasts and play games during contract renegotiation season to raise their market value.
—Seol Bora-ssi, the A-rank Hunter from White Guild?
—Yes. I heard that Seol Bora-ssi received offers not only from Hunter guilds but also from gaming teams.
—The world really is changing fast.
—There’s still no official record of an S-rank Hunter in Korea playing <Last On>. That’s why there are so many people who want to see Dohae-ssi play!
The interviewer pointed to the real-time chat window. People were leaving comments one after another, wanting to see S-rank Hunter Do Dohae play the virtual reality game.
The man, Do Dohae, stared intently at the chat window before furrowing his brows as if troubled. When he said that people might be disappointed since he had never played games before, the chat window scrolled even faster.
—Disappointed? Haha, no way! ‘GodDohaeFan’-nim says it’s okay even if you’re not good at it, their love won’t change. ‘HayangDohaeYa’-nim says they’re a ranker and will carry you!
—Haha, thank you.
—’KimProfessorsSlave’-nim left a comment saying that they know Hunters also do virtual reality training when they train, so there’s no way you’d be bad at it.
—Yes. It’s been quite a while since we introduced virtual reality equipment for training. It wasn’t bad for learning combat sense, but…
—When you say it wasn’t bad, does that mean it’s not the best?
—Because you can’t raise your stats or skill levels in virtual reality. If you want to get stronger, actual training or real combat deployment is more effective.
—Wait, to get even stronger? You’re someone who closes most Gates solo.
—No. I’m still very lacking. Compared to my seniors…
Dohae smiled softly and trailed off. It was a smile as beautiful as a single flower.
Wow, that fake bastard… Pyeonghwa clenched his fist tightly as if trying to hold something back, then soon began shaking his leg.
After exchanging a few more words with the interviewer, Dohae talked about problems in the Hunter industry.
—The frequency of Gate occurrences increases every year, but the number of Hunters actually going out to the field keeps decreasing. That’s why Hunters like us have to develop our individual capabilities. I hope people know that many Hunters are silently working hard to continue the peace that our seniors protected in the past.
—Wow, the blood of a hero really is different! That’s right. The reason we can broadcast and play games like this is thanks to the Hunters who prevented Dungeon Breaks on the front lines, past and present! We’re truly, truly grateful.
When the interviewer bowed his head, Dohae returned the greeting, saying he was the one who was more grateful. It was an attitude where humility was ingrained in his body.
The real-time comment section was colored with nothing but praise at his appearance, indifferent to the virtual reality game that the whole world was crazy about and completely driven by a sense of duty.
God Dohae, Great Dohae, awesome, handsome, marry me…
“Fucking hell.”
A curse popped out of Pyeonghwa’s mouth. Every time Dohae appeared on broadcasts putting on airs, his insides twisted.
‘That personality-bankrupt bastard who raises his hand against a weak child…!’
Pyeonghwa, who had personally experienced Dohae’s viciousness, couldn’t just sit still. Unable to hold back any longer, his hand moved over the keyboard.
[404NotPax: He’s acting all high and mighty again lololololol This guy needs to fix his way of speaking that makes him seem so holy while treating everyone else like idiots tsk tsk Seol Bora’s been testing the waters lately to quit being a Hunter and become a pro gamer but Dohae’s bullshit probably pissed her off lolololololololololol]
As soon as Pyeonghwa’s chat appeared, question marks streamed below it. There were also people acting familiar, saying ‘That Pax bastard is here again.’
‘404NotPax’, commonly known as ‘Pax’, was a famous malicious commenter active in gaming communities. No one knew why Pax, who had been leaving hateful comments on pro gamers, suddenly shifted to S-rank Hunter Do Dohae.
It seemed the production team noticed the changed viewer reaction on-site too. Staff hurriedly approached to switch the chat window on the tablet PC in front of Dohae to a different screen, but Dohae waved his hand as if to say it was fine. Still wearing a pretty smile.
Only Pyeonghwa noticed that his brow had narrowed by 0.1mm.
[404NotPax: Because of you, Hunter Seol Bora can’t quit ㅠㅠ If she quits and goes to the gaming league, she’ll get hate comments for lacking a sense of duty ㅠㅠ]
[404NotPax: I’m a fan of Bora nuna and this is disgusting. Was that remark deliberately meant to give our nuna a hard time? Bora nuna is much older than you, you know? Dohae-ssi!! Does being S-rank mean everything?? Officially apologize and self-reflect!!]
[404NotPax: Apologize apologize apologize apologize apologize apologize apologize apologize apologize]
[Your community access has been restricted.]
The production team blocked Pyeonghwa’s ID. He was about to immediately create a new ID when the man’s interview happened to end.
Tch. Pyeonghwa leaned back in his chair again as if deflated.
A moment later, vibrations began ringing continuously from his phone, which had been carelessly thrown on the bed.
“Ah, shit.”
Pyeonghwa scratched his head roughly and approached the bed. His hand reaching for the phone was slow. He wanted to delay getting hit even a little.
Bzzt. The vibration rang again. Pyeonghwa gulped nervously and checked the message.
[DdoHaeNuna♡: Ha fuck]
Befitting Do Dohae’s zealous fan, the first message was cursing right off the bat.
[DdoHaeNuna♡: You really are hopeless]
[DdoHaeNuna♡: I told you I’d kill you if you left one more trashy comment]
[DdoHaeNuna♡: You’re climbing up endlessly because I’m being lenient]
[DdoHaeNuna♡: A shut-in loser bastard who only leaves hate comments]
Pyeonghwa sent a short reply to her, who was filled with anger.
Sry…
[DdoHaeNuna♡: ?]
[DdoHaeNuna♡: Address]
[DdoHaeNuna♡: Give me your address]
[DdoHaeNuna♡: I’ll rip your mouth open like you wanted so give me your address]
She’d been snappy but never this rough before, so she must be more than ordinarily angry today. It was because he’d broken his promise not to leave malicious comments about Dohae three times already.
But seriously, shouldn’t you get three chances? Even food that falls on the ground gets 3 seconds… Pyeonghwa felt very disappointed in her for treating Dohae’s matters as if they were her own.
“Tch, what’s so great about Dohae.”
One of only ten S-rank Hunters in South Korea, a face genius, grandson of a world hero, and nothing else to brag about except that his hobbies are donating to the socially disadvantaged and volunteering at abandoned dog centers…!
Even all that is just image-making. Pyeonghwa’s lips jutted out.
“Even if I tell her the real him, she won’t believe me anyway… Ugh, how do I calm nuna down.”
Pyeonghwa turned his eyes away from the noisy phone and looked around the room. He saw the university acceptance letter rolling around next to the trash can.
Pyeonghwa smoothed out the crumpled paper, zoomed in on the letters that said ‘Accepted’, and took a picture. As soon as he sent the photo, she who had been continuously spewing anger became quiet for a moment.
[DdoHaeNuna♡: Which university?]
The subject of the text that came much later had completely changed. It hurt his pride to answer honestly since he’d been bragging while texting with her all this time that Korea University was a piece of cake.
After worrying, Pyeonghwa typed and sent the name of ‘Korea University’, South Korea’s most prestigious university.
[DdoHaeNuna♡: lol What major?]
Flowers of laughter bloomed in her message as if she’d never been angry. Pyeonghwa grinned, thinking the real angel wasn’t Dohae but her.
He had to quickly finish apologizing while she was in a better mood. Pyeonghwa pressed the keypad rapidly and sent a long message.
