“It’s a bit chilly.”
If I had known it would be this cold already, I should have dressed a little more warmly.
But as long as I kept pushing the wheels of my wheelchair, it didn’t feel as cold.
That was one of the reasons I didn’t use an electric wheelchair.
I couldn’t use my legs, but I still wanted to walk on my own.
…Honestly, the real reasons were that it was cheaper, lighter, and I had the freedom to go where I wanted, but still, that was a reason too.
Suddenly, I felt a vibration from my smartphone in my pocket.
I pulled it out.
‘Mom?’
At last, a fully charged phone.
Her number was displayed on the screen.
I answered the call.
“Son.”
“Uh, Mom.”
“Did you eat lunch?”
“Yeah, but what’s up?”
Of course, parents don’t necessarily need a reason to call their kids.
“I just wanted to see how you’re doing these days.”
“What’s with that? I’m doing fine. No need to worry.”
Really.
I was quite busy these days with studying coding and English.
I was still considering whether to bring my wheelchair to the university since it was quite inconvenient.
“Yeah, I believe in my son. But are you outside? I can hear the road noise.”
“Yeah, I stepped out for a bit. Being at home was getting a bit stifling.”
“Sure, get some fresh air sometimes. Just don’t go too far. It’s dangerous.”
“Yeah, of course.”
Truthfully, I had gone a little farther than intended.
I hadn’t planned to come this far, but it seemed I was a bit excited about going out for the first time in a while.
“Well then, I’ll hang up. Take care, son.”
“Yeah, you too, Mom.”
I hung up, still holding my smartphone, and looked ahead.
There was the Han River flowing.
For some reason, I felt a sense of déjà vu, but it was probably just a coincidence.
‘Originally, this was almost where it would have all ended for me.’
I placed my hand on the railing.
It was higher than I thought it would be.
I could have jumped over if I wanted to, but there was no reason to do so.
‘I thought I’d never stand again.’
Just a month ago, I was completely broken.
I had been too scared to take a single step, shrinking back in fear of failure.
Like a coward, I was trying to prove myself through a game character.
But…
‘I won’t go back again.’
Of course, falling is quite painful.
But it’s wrong to refuse to run just because you’re afraid of falling.
Though I was still sitting in a wheelchair now, I was different from the person I was a month ago sitting at the computer.
Because I had ultimately managed to stand again.
‘In a way, it was all thanks to Allen Pleuk.’
Thanks to him, I had managed to stand again, and I occasionally checked on Allen’s progress afterwards.
But the frequency gradually decreased.
‘He seems to have hit a stable trajectory, anyway.’
Of course, that was relatively speaking for Allen Pleuk.
Ultimately, it was uncertain whether he would ever reach the ending of his story that no one had seen.
However, since I could no longer help him, I decided to focus on my own life.
So, I hadn’t logged into Hundred Braves for the past two weeks.
Because of that…
‘What’s that?’
A truck stopped right in front of me.
It had the slogan written on it.
“Condemning the irresponsible termination of Hundred Braves service.”
I had no idea about the termination of Hundred Braves service.
‘What the hell…’
I pulled out my phone and searched for ‘HunB’.
A news article appeared at the top.
“‘Hundred Braves’ service terminated after a week of inspection.”
What on earth does this mean?
I closed the portal window and opened the Hundred Braves app.
‘If that’s true…’
I felt like, no, I actually would be very disappointed.
I hadn’t seen the end of Allen Pleuk yet.
In a way, he was a character I had briefly identified with.
So, I was still cheering for him and wanted to see how it ended.
‘Please…’
I desperately tried to deny reality.
Of course, I knew that since I saw the article, there was no way I could connect.
But still, I had to check for myself.
[Welcome back to HnD_Drayb*Z!]
There was a possibility like this.
‘I can connect?’
There was some noise, but I definitely had connected.
Moreover, the interface that popped up was Allen’s.
The location was Hailen’s Hero Academy.
‘Did the trial just end?’
Checking characters during the trial was impossible.
So, I waited for Allen Pleuk to appear on the screen.
And finally, he appeared on the screen.
As I checked last, he was disguised with black hair.
‘Should I say it’s a relief?’
There was still some noise, but I could tell it was Allen Pleuk.
But the question was, why was I the only one able to connect to Hundred Braves?
‘What should I do?’
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