# Chapter 3
The man in the mirror was different from Heo Wonyoung in every way. The real Wonyoung would never have started his day so sloppily. The rushed shower, the ragged clothes—these were experiences he’d never had before, and it was almost laughable. Of course, his face wasn’t laughing at all.
‘Narae, was it?’
Even the name was ridiculous. Between that and the weird slogan with “CUTE” something, the game creator’s naming sense was seriously concerning. The problem was that the game creator seemed to be himself.
Could I have had some… hidden desire for cuteness that I wasn’t aware of?
♬♪♩
Shuddering at the creepy thought, Wonyoung suddenly remembered the existence of a phone as a ringtone sounded.
Looking at the phone might reveal what kind of person Narae was.
Wonyoung picked up the phone he had left on the bed. Someone was calling. Even without any prior information, since this was a dream anyway, he answered without hesitation.
“Hello.”
“Hey, Rae-ssi. You know to come by 5 o’clock today, right?”
How would I know that? As Wonyoung hesitated to answer, suddenly two elongated windows appeared before his eyes.
[Yes, of course!]
[Oh! I’m sorry! What was it again…?]
What is this?
While Wonyoung was frozen in confusion, the System appeared right on cue.
“Game tip! In some situations during gameplay, options will be presented to you, Player.”
Wonyoung wanted to argue about why he was only being told this now, but deciding that getting information was the priority, he let it slide.
“So I just need to choose one of the options?”
“Yes, exactly!”
“When you say ‘some situations,’ this doesn’t happen every time, right?”
“Correct, basically you can proceed with your own free will. However, actions that go against the protagonist’s character will incur penalties.”
“Penalties? What kind of—”
Alarmed at the mention of penalties, Wonyoung asked, but the System replied in a dry voice that sounded like it was being played from a machine.
“We do not provide separate explanations for content included in the tutorial.”
“…”
At this point, Wonyoung had a reasonable suspicion. They explain about penalties, but don’t explain the conditions under which penalties are given?
Perhaps the System was using the tutorial as an excuse to only explain what it wanted to. While he didn’t know why, judging by its subtly disrespectful attitude, it wasn’t out of the question. Wonyoung tested the System.
“System-ssi, I don’t recall receiving any explanation about penalties.”
“But I did explain it.”
“Are you certain?”
“Oh my, did I not?”
Just as I thought. Wonyoung smiled triumphantly as his suspicion was confirmed. If he pressed this issue, he might be able to hear the tutorial content he had accidentally missed!
“But that’s okay! As you progress through the game, you’ll eventually incur penalties! Then you’ll find out what they are!”
However, his sense of victory was short-lived, and Wonyoung’s face contorted at the System’s brazen behavior.
“What? What kind of irresponsible—”
“Also, if you don’t select an option within one minute, the top option will automatically be selected. Please keep this in mind. Now, I wish you a pleasant gameplay experience. That’s all from me!”
With those words, the System disappeared again, almost as if it were escaping. Though irritated by its irresponsible attitude, before Wonyoung could call the System back, an option had already been selected. This happened because one minute had passed while the System was rambling.
“Yes, of course!”
Wonyoung flinched at the answer that flowed out of his mouth regardless of his will, but the voice answering was so confident that the person on the other end of the call didn’t seem to suspect anything.
“Great, see you later then!”
“What? No, wait!”
Wonyoung tried to recover the situation belatedly, but the call had already ended. When he tried to call back, the other person didn’t answer. It was a complete disaster. He should have chosen the second option to confirm where and why they were meeting.
Wonyoung sighed. Given his personality, this situation where he knew nothing and could do nothing was extremely stressful.
‘Shouldn’t I be waking up by now?’
Just as he was thinking something close to a desperate wish, his phone briefly rang. This time it was a text message.
[Oh right, I didn’t tell you the location. Come here!]
And below was an address. Judging from the context, it seemed to be a message from the person he had just spoken with. Only then could Wonyoung breathe a sigh of relief. At least now he knew where to go.
And as if it had been waiting, a mission appeared.
[※Mission Alert※]
Objective: Head to the designated location within the appointment time.
Reward: Unlock the first character’s affection level
‘Unlock the first character’s affection level? Is that referring to the same-sex romance target?’
Information was still lacking, but that was all the more reason to just go and see what happened. Besides, Wonyoung absolutely hated breaking appointments. That was true even in dreams.
Checking the address location, it was about an hour away by bus from his home. It wasn’t particularly close, but since there was plenty of time until 5 o’clock, Wonyoung spent the time investigating Narae’s cramped house and old phone.
Of course, there was absolutely no useful information.
By the time Wonyoung had calmed his bubbling frustration, it was time to leave the house. After finishing what could hardly be called preparation, he closed the front door and was greeted by a shabby alley that matched the house. Behind him stood a semi-basement house that looked like it might collapse at any moment. It was a depressing sight in many ways.
‘It’s just a dream anyway.’
Right. Just a dream that he would soon wake up from. Having erased his gloomy thoughts, Wonyoung headed toward the bus stop with quick steps. But as time passed, he became increasingly puzzled.
The streets and people, buildings, and even the bus route map in front of him now.
Everything was too detailed and vivid to be a dream. Aren’t dreams typically flimsy and blurry somewhere? At least, Wonyoung had never had a dream that felt this real.
In fact, if he were to be suspicious, there were many things that didn’t add up. From the subject matter of a BL game, which was far from his interests, to the settings and contents of that game. There were too many concepts that couldn’t have come from his own mind.
They say dreams are illusory, but don’t they still occur within the range of what one knows?
‘If this isn’t a dream…’
The bus that arrived just then stopped his ominous imagination. Realizing that this was the bus he needed to take, he quickly got on.
Having only used his own car since graduating from high school, he fumbled briefly when tapping his fare and let out a deep sigh as soon as he sat down. They say dreams are the opposite of reality—was that why he was making careless mistakes so unlike himself?
Whatever the reason, anyone who knew Heo Wonyoung would certainly laugh at him now.
But more worrying than that was the premonition that this dream didn’t seem like it would end easily.
* * *
“Huff… huff…”
Sweat streamed down his jaw, and he was so out of breath that the sky looked yellow.
Nevertheless, Wonyoung ran with all his might up the hill, squeezing out every ounce of strength. As he ran, he thought:
He wanted to punch this scrawny body that was not suitable for running, as well as the unknown person who had set up the appointment in this kind of place.
‘Somehow I was worried that my stamina stat was only 30.’
And now it was confirmed. 30 was a poor stat, even among poor stats.
What greeted him as soon as he got off the bus—having believed he would arrive at the meeting place on time—was this hill. And as you can see, he was working hard to run up it.
‘When I get back, I’m going to start exercising immediately.’
He would train this fluttering willow branch-like body with a stamina of 30 up to 100. Wonyoung was panting and making this pledge when he suddenly realized his mistake and came to his senses.
This is all just a dream anyway. Once he wakes up, none of this matters—neither the lack of stamina nor anything else.
Yet Wonyoung found it amusing that he couldn’t let go of his perfectionist nature and was still running desperately. What was a mere mission or time commitment worth?
“Haah…”
After climbing the hill with countless complaints as fuel, Wonyoung checked the time first. Two minutes before the hour. It was close, but fortunately, the destination was right in front of him.
Looking up, he saw a brilliant building standing tall at the top of the hill. With foreign cars coming and going in front and doormen guarding the entrance, it had all the appearances of a luxury hotel.
He didn’t know why he had been called to a hotel, but thinking that something would progress if he went there, Wonyoung hurried his steps on trembling legs.
Then suddenly, a notification window popped up in front of him.
[Your stamina has fallen below half.]
“Huh?”
It seemed his damn stamina couldn’t hold out that long.
The warning window gave him a bad feeling, but right now, making it to the appointment on time was the priority.
He ran, ignoring the low stamina alert. The designated meeting place was on the third floor, but with his current stamina, it would be better to use the elevator. As he passed through the revolving door and crossed the lobby, he saw an elevator that had just arrived at the first floor with its doors opening.
He continued straight toward the elevator. And just as he was about to step inside—
“Ugh!”
With a raw scream, his fluttering willow branch-like body collapsed onto the floor.
For a moment, Wonyoung didn’t understand what had happened, but feeling the cold marble against his cheek, he finally raised his upper body with a start.
