# Chapter 2
“You know it well! That’s fortunate.”
Fortunate? Wonyoung really felt a headache coming on and pressed his forehead. Was this truly a dream coming from his own mind?
He knew what BL meant purely because he vaguely remembered hearing it somewhere. These days, with terms like “bromance” and whatnot, he often saw men being paired together in various media. But beyond that, he didn’t know what BL was short for or even what a BL game entailed exactly.
“So I have to play a game where men date each other?”
“Yes, as the protagonist, Player-nim will…”
The system rattled on with explanations, but they didn’t register in Wonyoung’s ears. The BL genre wasn’t the problem. Whether his partner was male or female, Wonyoung had absolutely no intention of engaging in romance in a dream when he hadn’t even done so in reality. Especially not with virtual characters.
Moreover, if this game was created by someone like him who knew little about BL, it would surely be a mess. He couldn’t even imagine what strange things might appear once the actual game started.
No, above all, he wanted to know why he was having such a dream. What thought process had manifested this? Whatever it was, this was enough. Couldn’t he just wake up now and go prepare for his PT?
And then, in the next moment, the situation changed drastically.
Though not in the direction he hoped.
The system, unaware that he was barely listening to its explanations, suddenly bounced up and down excitedly and said:
“Then we’ll end the tutorial here. Now, let’s go meet the handsome men who are waiting for you, Player-nim!”
“What? No, I’m still…”
“All together now: CUTE LOVE START!”
“Wait…!”
As the system shouted the slogan, the previously white space around him began to collapse. Wonyoung, momentarily flustered, grabbed the system’s body.
“What are you doing! You said we had to shout the slogan to start!”
“Oh? I just did that. Didn’t you hear?”
“You told ME to shout it!”
In that moment, Wonyoung yelled in irritation, but unfortunately, he couldn’t hear the system’s response.
If only he could just wake up from this dream now.
With that wish, Wonyoung’s vision turned black.
* * *
Beep beep beep— Beep beep beep—
With the excessively honest alarm sound, Wonyoung slowly opened his eyes. Maybe it was his mood, but the ceiling seemed yellower than usual as it greeted him.
For a moment, while rubbing his face to clear away the lingering drowsiness, he suddenly made a short “ah” sound.
‘That nightmare.’
He really had a nightmare. A dog of a dream.
But the irritation only lasted briefly; his consciousness quickly shifted to the PT he had scheduled today. After all, dreams were just dreams, and reality was more important.
He had already perfectly memorized all the materials and scripts, but it would still be good to review them once more before starting. Wonyoung exhaled a short breath and lightly raised himself up. And immediately made a dumbfounded expression.
“Huh?”
It was because of the unfamiliar space surrounding him.
A cramped room barely fitting one bed, worn-out furniture, yellowed wallpaper, and even cold air coming through a palm-sized window gap. It was completely different from the 26-pyeong luxury officetel where he had been living.
Looking around at what seemed like a home built with poverty rather than cement, Wonyoung suddenly got up from his bed thinking “no way.” Entering the extremely narrow bathroom while bumping his head on the doorframe, sure enough.
A face he had never seen before was reflected in the mirror.
“…”
Large, gentle eyes with voluminous curly hair. A small, delicate nose and mouth. His appearance resembled a small dog with fluffy fur. He also looked like an idol who often appeared on TV. Of course, it was an appearance about 1 billion light years away from Wonyoung’s original look.
“What kind of appearance…”
Wonyoung was unconsciously muttering while looking at the slender shoulders and waist that made him wonder if he had been folded in half, when the fragile voice that perfectly matched his appearance made him feel incredibly dejected.
Despite his heavy heart, he understood his situation quite quickly.
He clearly hadn’t woken up from that nightmare yet.
He briefly considered methods like pinching his cheeks or hitting his head, but Wonyoung’s reasoning led him to conclude that if he were going to wake up, he would have already done so without resorting to such actions. At least for now, he sincerely didn’t want to do something so foolish.
Nevertheless, he carefully opened his mouth, just in case.
“System-ssi?”
Then, with a “pop,” a glowing sphere appeared before his eyes. It wasn’t welcome, but he felt somewhat relieved.
“Yes, did you call me, Player-nim?”
“…So you’ve finally dragged me into the game?”
However, hearing that vaguely slick way of speaking made him feel belated dissatisfaction, causing his words to come out unpleasantly. Fortunately or unfortunately, the system’s head—or body—remained smooth and unbothered.
“That’s right. From now on, Player-nim will play the game as the protagonist Rae.”
“Rae? Is that this simple-minded guy’s name? And who is the protagonist?”
“Oh my… First, could you try saying ‘Status Window’?”
Following the system’s instructions, a crude, semi-transparent yellow window appeared before Wonyoung’s eyes.
“…”
Seeing the end-of-century aesthetic design and the ominous font displayed on it, Wonyoung seriously wanted to say something about this game’s UI.
After briefly glancing at the system, Wonyoung ultimately, like a mature citizen, held back and turned his attention to the contents of the status window.
Narae (23)
Health: 30
Status: Healthy(●’◡’●)
???
000/999
???
000/999
???
000/999
However, the remarkably modest and sloppy amount of information naturally made Wonyoung’s voice sound displeased.
“…Health aside, what is that status? And what are those question marks below?”
“Information about the characters you can pursue and their affection ratings will be unlocked after the first meeting event with each character.”
“Affection? It goes up to 999? Does the game end when I max them all out? How do I meet these characters to pursue?”
As questions poured out like a waterfall, the system suddenly responded in a stiff tone different from before.
“We do not provide separate explanations for content included in the tutorial.”
“Tutorial?”
“The basic guide about the game that was conducted before the game started.”
“When did we…”
Wonyoung was about to argue when he had done such a thing, but suddenly remembered the system’s rambling before the game started and frowned. Was that supposed to be the tutorial? It didn’t seem like much was said.
The certain thing was that Wonyoung’s memory contained almost nothing of what the system had mumbled at that time.
“I understand for now.”
All of this would end once he woke up from the dream anyway. Wonyoung stopped asking questions, thinking it would only give him a headache if he delved too deeply.
“Then please enjoy the world of ‘Is Being Abangsu Also a Sin?’!”
The system, as if nothing had happened, shouted in that tactlessly energetic tone and then, just as it had appeared, disappeared with a “pop.” Wonyoung didn’t feel like seeing that impudent glowing sphere again, so he didn’t try to hold it back.
Left alone, Wonyoung looked at the still unfamiliar face and thought.
‘Now what am I supposed to do?’
Ultimately, he would have to wait to wake up from the dream, but he couldn’t just have a staring contest with this puppy-like face forever. In fact, it would be nice if he could review his PT materials during this time… but it seemed he hadn’t brought them into the dream.
But then, as if reading Wonyoung’s thoughts, an end-of-century design notification window appeared before him.
[※Mission Alert※]
Goal: Make your body and mind refreshed with a shower.
Reward: Clean body
“What is this now? A mission?”
The content of the mission was somewhat odd, but it seemed that what he had to do as a player was conveyed through missions. Since he had been wondering what to do anyway, Wonyoung decided to simply follow the mission.
If he just did as he was told, he would eventually wake up from the dream too.
However, what he overlooked was that even something as simple as washing oneself wasn’t easy in this tiny house.
In fact, Wonyoung had felt the vibrating poverty since the moment he opened his eyes, so he was somewhat prepared. He didn’t expect a bathtub, and even if there was no shower booth, he thought it would be fine as long as there was a showerhead.
But having to adjust the water temperature by turning both cold and hot water knobs was too much. Were there still homes like this?
Moreover, the water temperature that he managed to set with difficulty would turn cold after a short time, and if he turned the faucet just a little, it would become hot enough to scald his skin. Wonyoung had to shower feeling like a frozen samgyetang being thawed.
When he finally managed to finish washing and came out, a notification appeared.
[※Mission Complete! Reward has been given.※]
Reward my ass. A clean body as a reward? This was nothing short of a scam.
Eventually, as Wonyoung looked around for clothes to wear, he found a clothing rack on one side instead of a wardrobe. He sighed at the fact that there wasn’t even a wardrobe, but in reality, if he were to put a wardrobe in this palm-sized room, he would probably have to sleep inside it.
Among the clothes hanging on the rack, there wasn’t a single one to Wonyoung’s taste, and they all seemed too large for his body, as if they had been picked up from somewhere. After much deliberation, he finally settled on wearing a gray hoodie with black jeans, the most modest option.
It was a somewhat unfamiliar style for Wonyoung, who had only worn perfectly fitted suits until now, but it suited the puppy-like appearance very well. The only annoyance was the sleeves that kept falling down no matter how many times he rolled them up.
With nothing else to do, Wonyoung unconsciously stood in front of the mirror again. The unfamiliar face in the mirror stared back at him. His cheeks were slightly flushed even though it wasn’t particularly hot. Even to himself, he looked cute.
