“…Where does this go?”
Doyeong held the HDMI cable, staring blankly at the back of the desktop. There were too many holes. One that looked similar on the top, one on the bottom. Why were the USB ports different on top and bottom, too?
“It’ll probably fit… somehow.”
He tried to push it in with force, but an annoyed voice sounded from behind him.
“Ouch.”
He turned to see Grandfather leaning against the doorframe, looking at him with a disdainful glare.
“You were about to plug it into the motherboard’s built-in port instead of the graphics card port, weren’t you.”
“…Huh? The hole matches, doesn’t it?”
“That’s why people call you a pushover! Why would you run that expensive graphics card and choose to go with the crappy mode instead!”
Grandfather stepped forward and pushed Doyeong aside.
“Move out of the way. This is frustrating.”
The speed of his hand movements was unbelievable for someone in their seventies. Grandfather quickly untangled the mess of cables and plugged the cable firmly into the correct port.
“Also, I already told you, this computer might look flashy on the outside, but inside it’s all used parts. Look at this power supply. It’s a cheap knockoff. If it blows, I’m not responsible, got it?”
“My friend said this was a top-of-the-line worth three million won….”
“Three million my foot. It’s scrap metal that’s not even worth three hundred thousand. You didn’t even realize you got scammed… tsk tsk.”
Grandfather clicked the power button with a clicking sound.
Wiiiiirrr-
With the noisy fan whirring, the desktop lit up. There was a rattling sound inside the case, but at least the screen turned on.
“All right, done. I set up the internet, so give it a try. But listen to that fan—looks like the bearing’s gone. It could stop any second now.”
After fixing the computer in a snap, Grandfather mumbled as he left the room, “Our grandson got my looks, handsome and all, but somehow everything else takes after the other side….”
Doyeong sat in the chair with a flushed face. The worn keyboard and mouse. His hand rested on the shiny keycaps where the A and D keys had worn-out inscriptions.
Feeling the cold plastic, strangely enough, it fit his hand like the handle of a sickle he used in the fields.
“…I’m selling it and getting out anyway.”
Though it was an unavoidable choice, the bitterness remained in his mouth.
Taking a deep breath, Doyeong double-clicked the Chronicle icon on the desktop.
Logging in for the first time in seven years.
Calling it a legendary return was a glorified way to put it. He was a livable farmer, bursting into the game desperate to pay his tractor’s repair fees.
Vvuuumm- Creak, screech.
The worn-out secondhand computer screamed but the login screen finally appeared.
The deafening roar from the desktop shattered the silence. The seven-year-old power supply cooler shrieked, and the hard disk sounded like a millstone grinding rocks while reading data. The room’s temperature seemed to have risen at least two degrees.
To make matters worse, the launcher’s progress bar in the middle of the screen crawled more slowly than a turtle.
[Downloading update files… (98%)]
[Time remaining: 1 minute 30 seconds]
“…I’m losing it.”
Doyeong anxiously bounced his leg. That one minute and thirty seconds had been stuck there ten minutes ago, too. Every Korean knows the cursed 99% zone.
If it stopped here, there would be no hope. He doubted this old computer could hold out.
He nudged the desktop under his desk with his toe.
“Hang in there. The owner’s in agony too.”
Five million won for the tractor repair. No, if he sold all the pumpkin seeds, fifty million won.
With that money, he could buy a new tractor for sure, and run the boiler for winter greenhouse heating without worry. He could even buy the massage chair Grandfather sang about.
With that hope, Doyeong endured the ongoing noise.
[Time remaining: 0 seconds]
[Verifying update files….]
“Done…!”
Finally, the greyed-out game start button lit up a vivid red. Doyeong swallowed dry saliva, wiped sweat off his palms on his pants, and rested his hand on the mouse.
Click.
That light click was the key unlocking Pandora’s box he had tightly sealed for seven years, illuminating a new world.
Kuuuwummm-!
A grand orchestra boomed through the old headset. The screen went black, then a magnificent logo filled the monitor.
< CHRONICLE: The New Era >
“Haa…”
With trembling hands, Doyeong opened the desk drawer. Just in case, he grabbed a spare sedative pill lying around and swallowed it dry without water. The bitter taste lingered at the back of his tongue, but that no longer mattered. His heart was pounding like it might break through his ribcage.
Seven years. Enough time for even mountains and rivers to change.
Chronicle had changed so much in the meantime it was barely recognizable.
The illustrations flashing across the loading screen were vivid enough to pop out of the display. In the past, the developers were called the “old grumpy” coders chopping graphics, but this was on another level entirely. Each drifting strand of hair, the lighting reflected on the armor, even the texture of the background.
This wasn’t a game. It was art.
But for Doyeong, it was just hell. A pretty hell.
Beneath the fairy-tale cartoon rendering hid a cruel difficulty.
Touting itself as a “healerless RPG,” all attacks had to be dodged through non-targeting mechanics requiring insane physical skill.
But because it was so fun, he couldn’t let go until the end.
The fuller the download bar grew, the more his stomach turned.
Should I force quit now? Pull the power cord? Do I remember my ID and password?
[Connecting to server: Elysium (Busy)]
But his fingers were faster than his mind. His muscles still remembered the ID and password typed daily. Tap, tap. The ENTER key echoed especially loud.
Crackle-.
The screen brightened and the character selection window appeared.
Immediately, Doyeong’s brows furrowed mercilessly.
“…Ah, right. It looked like this.”
Normally there’d be a proud warrior or noble mage standing in the center, but instead, an unkempt clump of fur was staring blankly.
[Character: 0 (Lv. 99)]
[Race: Small Beastman (Lop-ear Rabbit)]
Drooping white ears, half-closed sleepy eyes. A fragile look that seemed like it would topple if touched.
It was the smallest beastman race, the rabbit beastman, chosen by top PvP rankers to reduce hitbox as much as possible.
The outfit was even worse.
[Head: Old Straw Hat (Durability 25/100)]
[Top: Stretched Work Overalls (Defense +2)]
[Weapon: Primehoe (Legendary Grade / Sealed)]
He had quit playing, leaving the bound legendary weapons he couldn’t sell in the storage, farming instead. The hoe on his back was rusted to the point of crumbling, not shining like a legendary card or floating stone.
“This was the state I was in…”
Doyeong covered his face with his hands. But there was no time to reminisce. There was only one goal: take the pumpkin seeds out of the storage, put them up on the auction house, collect the money, and delete the account.
[Do you wish to log in?]
He pressed confirm. The loading bar crept forward slowly.
And a moment later.
“…Ugh.”
Suddenly the brightness overwhelmed his eyes, forcing him to shut them tightly.
It was too bright.
It was no longer the fairy-tale graphics of old. The sunlight poured in dazzlingly, and the swaying grass in the breeze moved terrifyingly real. The 4K remastered world seemed like it would break out of his farmer’s old monitor.
But more than awe came the harsh reality.
Clack. Clack, clack.
The screen began to stutter.
[FPS: 14]
The frame rate in the upper left corner jittered red.
It wasn’t even a busy town square. He had only logged in, yet the frames were crawling at rock bottom. The desktop’s cooler sounded like a plane taking off, shaking the desk.
“Come on, hold on. Don’t die. I haven’t done anything yet.”
Doyeong gently tapped the desktop with his foot, coaxing it.
Fortunately, the character was standing where he’d last logged out seven years ago—the entrance to his personal farm. The area was quiet. It was enough to walk to the storage and grab his items.
“Hurry, hurry…”
Doyeong moved the character forward using the unfamiliar keyboard controls, pressing W.
Half a second later, the rabbit in the screen moonwalked due to lag, then finally took one step forward.
“Argh, so frustrating. Come on, just go…”
The distance was only ten meters, but with a ten-year-old computer, it was like crossing a continent. Holding his breath, Doyeong clicking the mouse. Despite the choppy screen, the rabbit barely stopped in front of the warehouse keeper NPC.
Click.
[SYSTEM: Loading storage…]
The hourglass spun round and round. The sound of Doyeong swallowing echoed in the room. What if the data got lost? What if he’d been hacked?
A moment later, the worn wooden box UI appeared on the screen.
[Ancient Pumpkin Seed Pouch (Quantity: 5,102)]
Bro 😭 grandpa’s roasting is brutal but accurate