Chapter 219

〈 Chapter 220 〉 Fifth Trial (2)

*

‘I found it.’

While rummaging through Sung Yoo-rang’s inbox, I came across an email exchanged with the operator of Hundred Braves.

‘But…’

The most recent email.

The contents were quite concerning.

‘So it wasn’t just an excuse to avoid a crisis?’

The subject line read, “Additional Settings for Your Attention.”

And true to the title, it contained additional details related to the destruction of Hundred Braves.

‘I wonder how Sung Yoo-rang received this.’

That email, which had arrived last night, had already been opened.

Which meant Sung Yoo-rang had read it.

‘Of course, this is a space within the trials.’

It was still a virtual space.

So I shouldn’t assume that the exact same situation was happening on Earth.

‘But I should still meet with those operators at some point.’

How should I send the email?

When it came to actually reaching out to arrange a meeting, I started to hesitate.

Should I reveal that I’m Allen Pleuk?

Or would it be better to pretend to be Sung Yoo-rang?

‘Hmm.’

There’s really no reason to gamble in an uncertain situation.

‘Then…’

I ended up sending the email while pretending to be Sung Yoo-rang.

It was a request to meet the operators directly.

After reading it over one more time, I hit the send button.

– Email sent.

Now the only thing left to do was wait for a reply.

‘By the way, tomorrow is the weekend…’

I wonder if I’ll get a reply over the weekend?

I wasn’t sure.

‘Well, I should probably get some sleep.’

As I lost track of time pondering what to write in the email, it grew late.

Just then, while I was getting ready for bed.

Brrr

My smartphone vibrated.

‘Who is it? Could it be a reply at this hour?’

Holding my breath, I checked my phone and tilted my head in confusion.

It wasn’t a reply from the operators.

[Message received.]

Miss Mint Lemon: Are you still awake? 😀

It was Miss Mint Lemon.

I quickly replied to her.

– Yes. What’s up?

To which she responded almost instantly.

Miss Mint Lemon: I was wondering if you have time tomorrow!

– Huh? What about the broadcast?

Miss Mint Lemon: Tomorrow is the weekend! You came to the studio on Saturday last time too…

Ah, it seemed they didn’t broadcast on weekends.

Honestly, I had never really paid attention to weekends while living as Allen Pleuk, so it was a somewhat unfamiliar concept.

– Oh, right. So when shall we meet tomorrow?

Miss Mint Lemon: Let’s meet for dinner! I know a delicious place, heh heh…

Dinner, huh…

Miss Mint Lemon: If you’re free, I can drive by your house!

That would be great.

‘But…’

What if the meeting with the operators is scheduled for dinner tomorrow?

I felt a little anxious, but thinking about Sung Yoo-rang made it hard to turn down the invitation from Miss Mint Lemon.

– Alright! See you for dinner tomorrow!

A cheerful emoji flew back to me.

I sent a quick emoji reply and then went to bed.

*

In the night, I received another reply.

Not from Miss Mint Lemon, but from the operators of Hundred Braves.

[Hello. The 100 Heroes, this is the operator of Hundred Braves.]

– We have confirmed your email expressing a desire to meet in person. However, due to internal company policies, it is prohibited for staff to meet with outsiders. Therefore, a direct meeting with Sung Yoo-rang seems unlikely. However, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us via email.

In short, it was a rejection email.

‘Well, I expected it to some extent.’

They had always pushed a mysterious concept.

Even the media had never met with the operators directly.

‘What could they possibly gain from meeting with Sung Yoo-rang?’

Of course, there was nothing stopping me from asking questions via email.

But I felt I wouldn’t get the answers I truly needed.

Ultimately, there was only one remaining option.

‘Perhaps as Allen Pleuk, it might be different.’

I started to draft another email.

This time, I would reveal that I was Allen Pleuk.

‘Sung Yoo-rang might feel a little left out, but…’

It’s possible I might be treated like a crazy person.

But then again, this is a trial space.

Really, it doesn’t matter what I do here.

Send.

Once again, I hit the send button and leaned back against my chair.

“Haah…”

I refreshed the inbox a few times, but no immediate reply came.

In the quiet room, time just kept flowing.

There was still quite a while left until my meeting with Miss Mint Lemon.

‘What should I do?’

I kind of wanted to check on Allen’s situation a bit more.

But watching alone without even turning on the broadcast felt a bit unsettling.

‘Then should I just study instead as Sung Yoo-rang?’

From what I learned from his schedule, it seemed like he invested his weekends and evenings in studying.

Of course, since this is a trial, did I really need to study in his place?

‘But I’m curious.’

I was curious about what he was studying.

It shouldn’t matter if it’s just for a short while.

‘Let’s see…’

Looking at the schedule on his desktop.

– Solve step-by-step programming problems at Heukjoon.

Programming.

That seemed to suit him pretty well, considering he had some mobility issues.

‘It might be fun too.’

Why not? Those programmers tapping away on a black screen with lines of code flying by… pretty cool, right?

“…”

Not really cool.

In fact, I had no clue what this was even about.

I managed to grasp input and output, but… class, pointer… what are those?

Dynamic programming? What’s dynamic about it, I wondered.

After skipping ahead a bit, I found myself facing a disaster, reminiscent of the first time I watched Libero’s swordsmanship.

‘This is… better left to Sung Yoo-rang.’

Just as I was resigning myself and started closing the tabs.

Suddenly, I noticed a bookmark I had left open that caught my eye.

‘Speaking of which…’

It seemed Sung Yoo-rang was also interested in swordsmanship, separate from his programming studies.

There were plenty of resources he had gathered, from Western swordsmanship classes to martial arts settings.

This was probably all thanks to me.

‘Swordsmanship, huh…’

Now I was a bit curious.

Maybe Earth’s swordsmanship has some different aspects to it.

Among them…

‘Kendo.’

That would probably be the most accessible in Korea.

Making that judgment, I began to search for reputable kendo dojos.

It would be tough for Sung Yoo-rang to practice kendo directly, but observing should be possible.

‘This looks okay, and this one too…’

After narrowing down my options, I decided to contact them one by one.

Since they were well-known dojos, it would be best to reach out first rather than showing up unannounced.

Thankfully, very few places turned me down for observation.

‘Nice.’

Of course, if I had a meeting with the operators, that would take precedence, but just the thought of seeing swordsmanship on Earth made my heart flutter.

‘Then…’

Just as I was about to check how much time was left before my meeting with Miss Mint Lemon.

‘Huh?’

I felt a presence from the curtain.

‘What was that?’

Being on the first floor, I could generally sense the presence of people walking outside.

But the presence just now felt a little off.

I wheeled myself over to the curtain.

‘Could it be Miss Mint Lemon arrived already?’

But there was still a bit of time left before our meeting.

I peeked slightly aside the curtain, feeling curious.

But…

‘No one is there?’

To be precise, there seemed to be no suspicious individuals.

Just people bustling about busy on the street.

At that moment.

Brrr

My smartphone vibrated again.

‘Who is it?’

I picked up my phone to check the notification.

It was from Miss Mint Lemon.

[Message received.]

Miss Mint Lemon: I just arrived! I’m in front of your house, so please come out!

With that, I checked outside again, and sure enough, I saw her car pulled over at the roadside.

– Yes, I’ll be right out.

After replying, I hurriedly slipped on my coat and left the house.

‘But what was that presence just now?’

Something felt off.

‘Was it just my imagination?’

*

The restaurant that Miss Mint Lemon recommended, which she claimed was delicious.

Her words turned out to be true.

‘As expected, Earth’s food tastes great.’

No matter how good Miss Weiss was at cooking, the ingredients were from Earth’s refined variety, which tasted better.

Although, the food at the restaurant seemed to lack the soul compared to Miss Weiss’s cooking.

But that didn’t matter…

“It’s delicious.”

Good food is good food.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Seeing me like this, Miss Mint Lemon smiled.

“Did you spend all day studying programming at home again?”

“Yes, I did.”

It’s hard to say if I actually did it well.

But not knowing that, she reacted slightly exaggeratedly.

“That’s amazing. I’m usually too tired on weekends to do anything but sleep, you know… But what about being a streamer? Have you thought of it at all?”

“A streamer?”

“Yes, I’ve been watching you for a while, and you seem to do pretty well for an ordinary person.”

“Me? But I don’t have that much wit…”

To clarify, I meant the Sung Yoo-rang I know.

“Still, the viewers seem to really enjoy it! Although it’s basically just the viewers teasing you, but that’s still a form of talent!”

Talent… Really?

I wasn’t sure, but I couldn’t decide Sung Yoo-rang’s future.

“However, I’ve never really considered becoming a streamer.”

“It’s totally fine! I never thought I’d be a streamer either. But somehow, since becoming one, I’ve been quite satisfied.”

She appeared truly happy saying that.

With that much enthusiasm, maybe I should consider it.

“Okay, I’ll think about it some more.”

“Hehe…”

She smiled with satisfaction.

Her smile somehow resembled Elsie’s.

I couldn’t help but wonder… is she really not Elsie?

“Elsie.”

Suddenly feeling uneasy, I called out her name, but she didn’t respond immediately.

All I got was a delayed response.

“What was that you just said?”

For reference, she didn’t know that Elsie was the nickname of Ershiarah.

“Oh, nothing, I just remembered something from my studies today.”

“Ah, then I suppose I wouldn’t know what that is.”

After saying that, she suddenly seemed to recall something.

“Then, are you just going to study at home again tomorrow?”

“No, not exactly…”

“Why? Just asking out of curiosity.”

I planned on stopping by the kendo dojo, which operated on weekends.

‘Should I tell her?’

Well, it wouldn’t matter.

Sung Yoo-rang had been interested in swordsmanship anyway.

Of course, that was because of me.

“I’m thinking of checking out a kendo dojo. I’ve developed a bit of interest after seeing Allen.”

“Kendo?”

Her eyes sparked at that.

“That sounds like it would be fun! I’ve never been either. Would it be alright if I drove you there?”

Of course, that would be fine.

It wasn’t like it wasn’t okay; in fact, it would be quite helpful since the dojo was pretty far.

But…

Something was holding me back.

Especially that strange presence I felt earlier.

It hadn’t been apparent after meeting her, yet it still lingered in my mind.

‘What if it was something dangerous…’

It might put Miss Mint Lemon in danger.

And even if this is a trial space, I didn’t like the sound of that.

However…

‘Turning her down feels a bit rude.’

On seeing those twinkling eyes of hers, I felt left with no choice but to agree.

“Yes, that sounds good.”

There shouldn’t be any problems.

After all, this place is a world closely resembling Earth, and the safety is reliable in the heart of Seoul.

Besides, I was just going to watch some swordsmanship.

It shouldn’t be anything special.

*