Actually, there was no legal issue with the video Da-yeon uploaded.
Because at the beginning, sharing videos was allowed while playing Wagal.
But still, I couldn’t deny the guilt of sucking up view counts through someone else’s video without permission.
“Well…”
“It’s just a joke. I’ll forgive you since you gave me candy.”
Na-me smiled.
Thanks to that, more people started visiting the broadcast.
“What? You’re streaming, kid?”
“Wow, what? Let’s look it up quickly! What’s your channel name? Can I find it on V-tube?”
“Wait, you’re NoName…?”
“Who’s NoName? Are they famous?”
“You don’t know NoName?”
One of the four guys was turning pale, just like Woo Da-yeon.
He didn’t know the main avatar, but he was among the viewers who were well aware of NoName’s exploits in Wagal.
Still, Hee-jin stood there in a daze, confused.
“What’s going on? Is there something I don’t know again?”
knock knock-
Two knocks rang through the noisy room.
Professor Chun peered in, waving his hand as silence fell instantly in the lab.
“Na-me, would you pack up and come out?”
clatter-
Na-me hurriedly gathered her things and said goodbye.
“My age shouldn’t be disclosed carelessly. It’s still a secret.”
*
I thought they would throw harder problems at me since I kept solving the issues, but sadly, they seemed to underestimate my abilities.
My mental math was quick, so back in the days when I worked at the Magic Tower, I often put on such shows. Memories!
And age…
I would have to reveal it someday, but that brought up many issues.
First, explaining what I’ve done for the past seven years.
Should I call this an explanation or a revelation? It was ambiguous.
If I’m going to do it, it would be best to do it when the most attention was focused.
I thought it would be a huge deal, yet the public’s reaction could be lukewarm in the Republic of Korea.
In a world cluttered with sensational news, I thought that maybe being just one person wouldn’t matter much.
Even if I gathered the courage to reveal something, I didn’t want to end up like the common scenario where interest wanes in a month or two and no one remembers.
Some people belittle such characteristics of Koreans as boiling pot mentality, but I saw it differently.
In the 2050s, sad murder cases, traffic accidents, and their victims continued to appear not only in Korea but from all around the world.
It was impossible to focus on every one of those incidents, so inevitably, they ended up forgotten.
While pondering how and when to blow the whistle, I realized I had reached the meeting room.
Professor Chun and a Korean who seemed to be around his age stood up.
“Hello, miss! I’m Robert Kim. Nice to meet you.”
Correction: Judging by his accent, he was definitely an American.
I shook his hand and sat next to Professor Chun, resting my arms on the cold glass tabletop. I wasn’t used to dangling my feet off the ground while sitting.
“Are the kids playing well?”
“What are you talking about? I was the one who entertained them.”
“Haha, they’re even harder to control than Na-me. Oh, let me introduce you. This is my friend Robert Kim, and Robert, this is my daughter Na-me.”
“The translation magic is pretty impersonal, so I’ll awkwardly give Korean a try. Nice to meet you again.”
“Same here.”
A chubby uncle smiled warmly.
By the time they arrived, it seemed the conversation had mostly wrapped up, with no lengthy introductions needed.
“Actually, it’s nothing special. I came to confirm if Kyujin’s daughter is genuinely sick, not just a rumor. Normally solid potions aren’t ready for commercialization yet, but he insisted I come to New Jersey!”
“Really?”
“More than that, I found it fascinating that Kyujin has a daughter! I won at rock-paper-scissors four times in a row to get the chance for a work trip to Korea!”
He animatedly recounted his time in America in his clumsy Korean.
“Well! Now that we met, isn’t everything settled? I’ll attach the necessary documents when I leave later.”
“Hey, don’t be so mean! I sat on the plane for hours…”
Robert, who had a back-and-forth with Professor Chun, eventually surrendered and left the building.
“You’re lucky to have such a cute daughter, Kyujin!”
“You should hurry and pressure your son to give you a granddaughter.”
“Ha! Jason declared himself a DINK, so it’s not that easy!”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“Well, Na-me, I’m leaving! Bye-bye! Oh, this is a gift because I heard you like sweets!”
I waved goodbye as he took a taxi away.
“My friend works at Johnson & Johnson. He may look like that, but his brain is amazing,” Professor Chun mumbled. Well, he did seem smart.
Dressed in a shabby checkered shirt, the type worn by engineers, he definitely had the real deal vibe.
“Are you feeling okay? No issues like heart pain?”
“Honestly, without the doctor’s diagnosis, I wouldn’t even know I’m sick.”
“Well, if you have any problems at all, tell me right away. Also, there might soon be good news regarding the EDMD treatment from the pharmaceutical company.”
“That’s great to hear.”
“Right? Fortunately, I’ve been researching that area for several years. We’ll definitely find a cure.”
Although he spoke hopefully, he still seemed worried about me.
To be fair, heart failure is a major cause of death for muscle dystrophy, and once it develops, it’s game over.
The gift Robert gave me was none other than Ferrero Rocher chocolate.
Along with that, Professor Chun showed me a small container with black pills inside.
“This is a sample of the solid potion. What do you think?”
“Wait, you want me to swallow this?”
“You can chew it, but then it’s practically the same as taking it as a liquid, isn’t it?”
It looked at least twice the size of a giant Omega-3 supplement!
If I swallowed that wrong, I’d choke.
“Can I just have one?”
I took out my tumbler from my bag and alternated between examining the pill and the tumbler.
A pungent smell was rising, and it felt like I had to swallow it quickly.
gulp!
gulp-
‘Ah damn. This is why chocolate…’
Though it was still a hundred times better than liquid potions, that brief moment when it touched my tongue made my head tingle.
I gulped the pill down naturally and washed it down with water.
I felt an unpleasant scratch in my throat from the pill.
Finally, after soothing my tongue with the Ferrero Rocher, I could think rationally again.
“This is… intensely unpleasant.”
“But you only need to take it three times a day.”
“Three times a day… Even that is a huge improvement.”
At least, I wouldn’t have to run to the bathroom as often anymore.
“I’ll take you home, so let’s head to the parking lot now.”
“Oh, I can go by myself.”
“They say a shower is coming soon, and you didn’t bring an umbrella, right? We can get there quickly by car, so hop in.”
Is there really a shower in this weather? I could see small dark clouds far away, but it didn’t look like it would pour.
Still, since Professor Chun seemed bored, I didn’t argue and sat in the passenger seat.
“Isn’t it a bit too excessive to work so hard during research year?”
“Should I just skip tomorrow and take Na-me to an amusement park instead?”
“Hey, you know I don’t really like walking.”
Since I didn’t have much energy, I felt most stable and happiest when lying down.
“What about a movie?”
“Movies aren’t bad.”
“Great! Then tomorrow will be a date with Na-me, so I’ll clear all my plans!”
“Are you telling me to skip the academy tomorrow? We have midterms coming up!”
“Honestly, you’re fine with it, right?”
“Of course.”
Liking my academy friends is different from liking the academy itself.
Humans naturally feel a sense of stagnation coming from routine.
Since I go to the academy every day, missing a day or two felt refreshing. Sorry, Yuna, I’ll treat you to something delicious later.
The traffic that had been blocked earlier was now wide open.
Raindrops began to patter on the car’s windshield. So it really is going to rain.
The sun hid behind the black clouds, and the background turned gloomy in an instant.
It seemed I would have to postpone my date with Adella a bit because tomorrow would be rainy all day.
“Hey, Professor.”
“Yes?”
“How long have you been friends with Mr. Robert?”
“Ah, Robert? Let me think… Oh, about 25 years?”
“That’s pretty much a lifelong friend.”
“Haha, I guess so.”
“Is there a secret to maintaining friendships for so long?”
Listening to Robert’s words, it seemed Professor Chun knew many people in America.
What’s it like to stay in touch without gaps for decades?
I felt a bit envious.
“Well, it’s important to be honest with each other. That’s probably the most important thing.”
Honesty.
“I don’t quite understand. I think it’s essential to keep some things appropriately hidden to maintain a comfortable relationship.”
Showing vulnerabilities feels like lowering oneself and revealing weaknesses.
Friendship can only exist when both parties are on equal footing; if one side is too overwhelming, the sustainability of that relationship becomes questionable.
“I haven’t lived very long either, but after over 50 years of life, I feel that those who try too hard to hide things may seem attractive at first but will eventually create uncomfortable gaps between each other.”
“What should we do then?”
“Now, you have to decide. Will you maintain the gap and keep the relationship, or will you risk drifting apart to make an effort to get closer? But this isn’t necessarily true for every relationship. With 10 billion people in the world, there are that many different kinds of relationships.”
In the end, it brought me back to square one.
After all, it’s only natural that there’s no universal logic that can explain all human relationships.
What logic is applied in the relationships between me, my academy friends, my internet viewers, and Professor Chun?
Professor Chun, who had been silent for a moment, wore a warm smile.
“I hope that one day we can freely talk to each other without any pretense.”
He asked nothing and expected nothing.
Sometimes, just the fact that someone is there is reassuring.
Were all parents meant to be that way for their children? I didn’t know.
‘Professor Chun, don’t you ever wonder how I was before I got to the orphanage?’
I almost said it.
I wanted to probe that gap, so I slightly parted my lips, but—
crack!
“Oh wow! The rain stopped, and now lightning strikes out of a clear sky. The weather in Korea isn’t what it used to be.”
The bad weather made me close my mouth again.
“Na-me, I think I just heard a notification sound on your phone. Was it drowned out by the thunder?”
“I’ll check.”
I rarely got texts or calls on my phone.
[Seoul Central Serious Crimes Investigation Unit
No. 2051-00628
To: Cheon Sae-min, No Na-me
Subject: Notification of Resumed Investigation Processing Results
We inform you that a decision has been made regarding the incident related to you, and we wish for your swift recovery from the damage.
Contents: No prosecution
Reason: This matter has already been prosecuted regarding the same case.
You can review the attached records of the resumed investigation (full text and summary).
※Regulation 2, Clause 6 on the scope of crimes under investigation by the prosecutor
※Disaster and Safety Management Basic Act Article 3, Clause 1, Item 2]
‘Ah damn.’
It wasn’t the time to talk yet.
Yeah, not yet.
“It was nothing much.”
“Oh really? Are there still spam texts these days?”
“Professor Chun… By the way, can I participate in a tournament?”
“A tournament? What kind of tournament?”
“A game tournament.”
Let’s blow this thing up!
