Territory Game.
A territorial dispute game that unfolds within a designated area.
A simple game where you throw a stone at the land you want to claim and complete a mission to make that land yours.
One day, God threw a stone at our nation’s territory.
* * *
A current affairs debate held on the topic of [Why Doesn’t Korea Have an S-Rank Guide?].
“Ultimately, I believe it’s the harmful effects of rote learning education.”
“Professor Jo, finding the cause in Korean education doesn’t align with the thesis.”
“Then what does Professor Lee think is the cause?”
“Trying to find a cause is the problem. The total number of S-rank Guides worldwide is seven, belonging to six countries. This is an extremely small number, so probabilistically speaking, it’s not a number worth throwing a tantrum over, asking ‘why don’t we have any?'”
“You do know that all seven of those countries happen to be OECD member states, right? Would you also call it a coincidence that countries ranking high in the national happiness index also have high Guide ratios? When data clearly exists, you shouldn’t treat analysis as pointless.”
These were tedious debates that occurred every week.
I suppressed a yawn that was about to come out and nodded with a serious face.
Since the jib camera with the red light on was sweeping across the panel seats with a panorama cut, I gave an appropriate reaction.
As always, the debate ended by passing through discourse about national prestige and arriving at the national motto of “let’s create something from nothing.”
Without delay, I moved to the next scheduled set.
A special program organized as [Protecting Our Land 8th Anniversary Special, Esper Kim Seohyeon Special].
I was a guest on this broadcast.
“We’ve invited Lee Yesol-ssi~ Welcome! Lee Yesol-ssi, you’re also famous as Esper Kim Seohyeon’s classmate, right? During your school days, was there anything different about Esper Kim Seohyeon from others?”
“Yes, of course. Ah, one memory comes to mind. Esper Kim Seohyeon always used pencils. Everyone else used pens, but only he did. He also drew grasshoppers really well.”
I rambled on about anything. Anyway, that bastard Kim Seohyeon doesn’t watch TV.
“It’s a well-known fact that our Esper Kim Seohyeon has a straightforward side unlike his peers. This also worked as a charm, didn’t it?”
“Yes, please take a look on screen.”
Various analyses came and went. Mostly passionate overseas reactions to Kim Seohyeon’s activities or analyses of his special pre-battle routine.
“Lastly, Lee Yesol-ssi! Please give a word of encouragement to your friend Esper Kim Seohyeon, who might be watching this show.”
“Seohyeon-ah, you know I’m always cheering for you, right? The pride of the Republic of Korea, Kim Seohyeon fighting!”
The filming ended.
I satisfied my hunger with the fruit lunch box that fans of Haewon, the leader of the idol group Bohemian who appeared on the program with me, had gifted, and ended the day with a final story update on Star Star saying “I ate well! Haewon, you’re awesome as always!”
“You worked hard today, Yesol-ah.”
“Not at all.”
“You’re going straight home, right?”
“No, please drop me off at the hospital.”
“Aren’t you tired?”
“I’m dead tired.”
“Your filial piety is really first-class, first-class.”
Sitting in the back seat of the old van, I looked at the Han River along the gloomy, fading Olympic Boulevard.
All of that was land that Kim Seohyeon had protected.
[You who love the Republic of Korea are truly righteous! Thank you for your hard work over 8 years! We look forward to your continued service!]
I could also see the lengthy banners spread out in front of the National Assembly building.
Eight years.
It had already been that long since the world changed.
Time had flown by quickly.
* * *
It started on high school graduation day.
From that day onward, lands all over the world became “Territory Game-ified.”
Incidents and accidents like overlaying a VR game onto reality gruesomely reduced the population.
When a certain area of land was arbitrarily sealed off, the people trapped inside had to work through the game.
If you won the game, you lived; if you lost, you were carved out of the world along with the land.
On graduation day.
The friend I had made drinking plans with became a handful of ash that day, and I went to that friend’s funeral carrying a bottle of soju.
No one threw stones at me and Kim Seohyeon, who survived, asking why only we survived.
Because all the people who would have thrown stones had died too.
After the funeral, as if it were a perfectly logical sequence of events, I, who had been a trainee at a major entertainment company, was kicked out of the debut group.
‘Sorry, Yesol-ah. You don’t seem to be in the right mental state to debut right away either……’
The dream I’d harbored my entire life turned to nothing.
The trainees I’d prepared to debut with became a major idol group that hit a million copies in first-week sales whenever they released an album, and I was dumped into a small company like defective goods.
I did debut afterward, but when the agency building was half-destroyed by a monster attack, the group went through disbandment procedures within a few months.
Honestly, I had no motivation either. What good would success do?
Already on that day, my father had become a handful of ash and my mother had contracted Flower Sprout Disease.
Flower Sprout Disease is a stress-induced wave illness. An incurable disease where traits that couldn’t permeate the body twist like vines and grow out through the back.
[Transferring Lee Yesol photocard… bulk preferred]
[Transferring Lee Yesol photocard 0.3]
[Transferring Lee Yesol photocard 0.2……]
[Transferring Lee Yesol photocard 0.1]
After the group disbanded, the few fans I had left too. While my photocard value plummeted to new lows every day, Kim Seohyeon’s photocards soared so high they became the sky supporting the Republic of Korea.
[Buying all Kim Seohyeon Yangyang District activity collection 7.0~]
[Buying Kim Seohyeon unreleased training at 120.5]
[wtb/want to buy Kim Seohyeon poca ◠‿◠]
The Republic of Korea’s first S-rank Esper.
Supply couldn’t keep up with demand to the point that all of our country’s tier-1 photo card collectors latched onto Kim Seohyeon.
Thinking about it makes my side hurt even more.
“Aah……”
“What, Yesol-ah. Does it hurt?”
“I’m fine.”
I gave a half-hearted answer to my manager hyung’s worried voice and clutched my aching side.
Even though I should be used to this 8-year-old pain by now, this thing came in waves that increased in intensity each time.
I turned on my phone to forget the pain. I looked at the reactions to the broadcast that was live-streamed on ChickTube today.
└world_class_seohyeon: Acting so friendly all by himself lol When Kim Seohyeon never mentions Lee Yesol at all lol
└only_hyeoni: Ah Lee Yesol appearing again? Seriously such massive brain rot
└seohyeon_ah_i_love_you: For real
└x9x666: Is this person’s job being Kim Seohyeon’s classmate?
└haewon_rice_whale_rice: But Lee Yesol-nim… isn’t he the only surviving classmate from the same grade?;;; Kim Seohyeon-nim, there’s only him to hear heartwarming stories from…
└seohyeon_ah_i_love_you: We know that too, but this Lee Yesol person’s rehashing is too severe… Some things have even been revealed as lies…
My eyes slowly closed and opened.
It was all true.
The only reason I could survive in this jungle-like broadcasting industry without having any outstanding tools was solely through “spilling stories about Kim Seohyeon’s past.”
Since I was the only living witness from the same class, various broadcasts called me in due to the rarity.
As this was repeated several times, I gained the bad reputation of “making money by selling out a friend,” and as the past stories grew stale, work gradually decreased.
For 8 years now, I’d been barely sustaining my broadcasting life by appearing as an extra in dramas, a panel member on debate shows, and a guest on famous ChickTube channels.
“Ugh……”
Looking at negative comments makes my body hurt more.
Since my side hurt, even the saliva pooling in my mouth felt hot.
I recalled the words of some doctor who said wave congestion is hereditary.
‘If only this could be resolved……’
I could have earned a decent income as an Esper too.
And received coverage for my mother’s medical expenses.
‘E-rank bottom-tier Esper lol Lee Yesol lol’
Even after turning off my phone, there were comments that lingered.
I couldn’t deny that I was an eyesore to both the world and Kim Seohyeon’s fans.
I closed my eyes as another way to erase the pain. Ah, both life and heart are painful.
* * *
For once, a schedule day after a week. A text came 30 minutes before pickup.
[Yesol-ah, sorry. Hyung can’t pick you up today. The CEO urgently called for me……]
‘It’s not even a one-two day thing.’
Moreover, today was the first fixed schedule I’d gotten in a year, and it’s a text, not even a phone call. They don’t even bother with sincerity since there’s no money in it, honestly.
Starting with this company’s CEO, he was someone who should’ve been served as monster food from the get-go. And then he takes 40% of what I earn.
I had no choice but to take the bus. Since taxi fares had risen significantly from the beginning of this year, catching a taxi was a big burden on my shabby finances.
I squeezed my body onto the packed bus. I barely grabbed a handle, and of all times.
The rib on my side that had been fine all morning was starting to hurt gradually.
“Oh, Yesol-ah!”
“……Huh? Noona.”
“Why does your face look like that?! Sit here first.”
Aram noona, who had been sitting in a seat looking at her phone, was startled and gave up her seat.
“It’s okay.”
“Don’t talk back, sit!”
“Ah…… Thanks.”
I sat down shamelessly. On Aram noona’s still-lit phone screen, a video of Kim Seohyeon’s battle fancam was playing.
“You need guiding, right?”
Nod.
“Give me your hand.”
A refreshing energy pushed in through our clasped hands. The dull aching pain seemed to ease a little. It’ll only be for a moment though…….
“I almost had a big problem without noona. Do you normally commute by bus?”
“Ah, I couldn’t catch a taxi today…… Where are you going?”
“Um…… to work.”
I was still holding Aram noona’s hand.
Aram noona was from the same Cheolseon High as me, a former student council president, and my first love.
With the conviction that to become an idol I had to let go of personal feelings, I couldn’t even confess.
If I’d known it would turn out like this, I should have at least tried confessing back then.
“Ah, I have to get off now. Will you be okay alone?”
“Yes.”
“If your condition gets worse, go to the guiding center right away, okay?”
“Thank you, noona.”
“Uh…… then see you again.”
The feeling of seeing my hometown first love on a Seoul street was quite strange. It wasn’t the first time, but it was odd every time. I watched her hurriedly enter the guiding center, then smiled brightly and waved my hand.
She said she’d become a C-rank Guide. That much was a big success. To the point where I couldn’t dare reach for more…….
I gently rubbed my side, which still wouldn’t unravel even with the touch of a C-rank Guide, as if soothing it, then got off the bus.
DBS headquarters, every time I saw it, seemed so tall, like an insurmountable wall.
Standing before it, I looked as small as a red ant on a dead tree. Anyway, let’s try to cheer up.
“Hello, I’m Lee Yesol on my first day. I’ll work with all my might.”
“Your aspirations are quite resounding. Yesol-ssi, please take care of us.”
At that time, I didn’t know.
That while working with all my might, I would really end up dying.
