Editor: Tide, Rektsatan,

[Park Jung-ah]

“I want to go!” Yong-yong raised his hand and shouted.

As soon as I explained about the Earth zone, Yong-yong showed a keen interest.

There wouldn’t be any problem for Yong-yong to go to the Earth zone. After all, large-scale conferences took place there, and people from different planets would wander, but in the end, they were a minority. The Earth zone’s public area was half-empty, and the number of participants attending the conference or otherworldly visitors did not amount to many.

Instead, the Earth zone was probably safer than the Korean. There were only a few groups of people in the Earth zone, so in case of an accident, the damage would be minimal.

Hochi tried to control an excited Yong-yong, who was bouncing with his hands up.

“Yong-yong, there’ll be people from different places there, it may be dangerous,” Hochi persuaded.

“I’m gonna catch Aunty!”

I couldn’t help but flinch. While looking around as if nothing was wrong, I met Baek Sung-woong’s eyes, who avoided my gaze.

I tried to mask my embarrassment and asked Yong-yong what he meant. Fortunately, the ‘Aunty’ Yong-yong mentioned was Lee Yeon-hee, who came to the tent yesterday, and not me. I didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

The age gap between Lee Yeon-hee and me is… Let’s not think about it.

I was a little sad because I thought I might look like an old lady to Yong-yong.

“What do you mean, Yong-yong? I can’t believe you’re going to catch Lee Yeon-hee!” Hochi asked Yong Yong Yong in awe.

Yong-yong explained his thoughts to me, saying he would catch Lee Yeon-hee himself since she would not have recovered from the blow she had suffered yesterday. Yong-yong somehow looked proud. Maybe he thought it was a good plan.

Hochi was, of course, astonished, and so was I.

Yong-yong’s decision was grounded on two reasons. The first was the speculation that Lee Yeon-hee may not have recovered yet. The second was that it would be done on the way to other servers.

Of course, his points made sense, but I was surprised that such a young child had decided to catch his opponent as soon as the conditions were established.

Is there a problem with that child’s emotional capacity? I knew it was none of my business, but I was still worried.

Hochi struggled to withhold Yong-yong, who was eager to catch Lee Yeon-hee. I was bringing out snacks, toys, surprise gifts, and all sorts of conciliatory items from the market, but they didn’t seem to subdue Yong-yong.

“Dad will hate it. He might scold you,” Hochi said.

“Huh? No. Dad’s going to like it.”

“Oh- Will he?”

It was self-evident who the two of them were talking about. If Yong-yong had problems with education, it was clear who the culprit was.

“Then, Uncle hates it! I refuse to let you go!”

Seeing Hochi’s desperate efforts, I thought I should help him.

“Yong-yong, even if you go to the Earth Zone, you won’t find Lee Yeon-hee. You don’t know what server Lee Yeon-hee went to.”

We didn’t even know precisely how many other planets participated in the Tournament. It was questionable how Lee Yeon-hee entered the different server’s zone without permission. The inter-dimensional portal was closed, and without the consent from both sides, the portal was not operational. Lee Yeon-hee may not have known people from other servers, but we couldn’t figure out where she went since the portal closed shortly after her departure.

“I can figure that out,” Yong-yong pointed at himself and said. He had a proud look on his face again.

Before I questioned Yong-yong about his ability, I glanced at Hochi, who nodded quietly.

It’s true?

“But, you wouldn’t be able to go if you can’t open a portal on that planet?”

“I can open that too,” Yong-yong announced again with a smug look.

I looked at Hochi, and he nodded this time as well.

“Then shall we go catch her together?”

* * * * * *

[Lee Hochi]

I didn’t know Park Jung-ah would betray me here.

When Park Jung-ah found out that Yong-yong could visit Lee Yeon-hee, she immediately changed her stance. It was decided that some Order of Vigilance members would follow Yong-yong and clean up any mess he made. That option was comparatively better than Yong-yong falling into another planet and causing an accident by himself, but it still was not the right decision. The right choice was not to send Yong-yong at all.

Fortunately, just as I thought it would be hard to stop Yong-yong from being stubborn, Ho-jae intervened, making it clear to Yong-yong not to visit Lee Yeon-hee. Yong-yong was confused by Ho-jae’s words. Yong-yong had been taught that if he had an enemy, he should end them neatly, and if the enemy did not recover from his first attack, he should not miss the opportunity to strike again.

Ho-jae explained that Lee Yeon-hee was the enemy who would revisit him. I couldn’t understand Ho-jae’s logic, but Yong-yong accepted it.

I decided to put off going to the Earth Zone for next time, and first meet people who wanted to meet me. The first person I met was probably a government official in the South Korean government.

“Hello?”

The official who came to the room was quite different than I expected. First of all, he was much younger than I thought he would be. I had imagined a bald man with a small potbelly and thin hair would arrive. Why aren’t there people like that from the National Assembly on TV? Of course, I had never seen a TV or National Assembly, but I was expecting someone like that to come.

However, the man who came was youthful and handsome and seemed to be a little picky at a relatively young age. It brought me back to real life with a sharp kick.

“The Korean government will use every possible means to sign a contract that will benefit you. Of course, on the premise that you clear the Tutorial.”

“Oh, yes…”

Despite his fresh appearance, the government official drawled on and on about dull topics. I didn’t expect the interview to be spectacular, but this guy’s words were horrendously slow.

He first spoke of the contract and laid out a roundabout critique of the Awakened fighting with the Korean Government. Next, he bragged about himself.

Really. I was not kidding, the man bragged about himself in front of me.

He talked about how successful he was, his job in the civil service community, and the treatment he had outside of the Tutorial. When he explained the contract, I was annoyed by his blatant way of showing off, but I didn’t know it would end up like this.

Listening to constant boasts that I didn’t care about was more annoying than I thought it’d be. I was glad that I left Yong-yong with Baek Sung-woong. We had to send him back on the pretext of tiredness, with a promise to continue our conversation by drinking together next time. I was mentally tired.

“He was a strange man.”

Park Jung-ah nodded at my words.

“I don’t think he’s capable enough to be there.”

Park Jung-ah nodded again. “He’s not capable. Rather, he is incompetent and bothers the people around him. But.”

“But?”

“This is how it has been in the Tutorial. He’s a civil servant, and he delivered the right message to the Order of Vigilance. He’s the bridge between the Tutorial and the outside government, that’s how much weight he’s got.”

Park Jung-ah added, “There has always been a person like that before.” She also said, “Maybe a separate line of government officials came into the tutorial from outside.”

It was a surprise to me, but at the same time, I was wholeheartedly disinterested in the topic.

Park Jung-ah, who seemed to sense my boredom, asked if she should continue the conference tomorrow. I thought for a moment and replied that I would like to go on. Of course, it wasn’t a pleasant interview, but I tried to delude myself into thinking that this was also a person-to-person experience.

Park Jung-ah decided to head back. Afterward, I decided to talk to Ho-jae.

[What?]

“What do you think of him?”

[Why are you picking at people? Huh?]

What do you mean picking at people?

However, it was also not right to actively refute his question.

The government official, who deluded himself into thinking he was superior, evoked a sense of discomfort within me. On top of his unpleasant attitude, his own ability achieved none of what he boasted about. I didn’t think it was right to brag about himself.

It may not be something I cared about because it was his opinion, but I felt it’s not a good idea to reveal it openly. It was not that it was wrong, it was just a little unpleasant even to the eyes of a total stranger.

[Yes, it is.]

“Is that so?”

[He does it because it’s easier than winning everything with his own ability. He’ll do whatever it takes to increase his status and honor. Even good luck could become his ability.]

Was that so? I didn’t really feel it. Of course, the memories I had may be biased.

Ho-jae used to be a professional gamer who lived on his own. After entering the Tutorial, he got what he wanted through sheer effort and by taking advantage of any opportunity he got. The memories I had conditioned me to think that things could only be achieved through effort.

[The more effortless and meaningless the victory is, the more ruthless society tends to be towards the victor. That’s the difference between inside and outside the Tutorial. If it’s a society where it’s hard to reverse their status with ability, it’s better if one starts with a rank set from the beginning.]

“Isn’t Korea a capitalist country?”

[Yeah, because there’s a hierarchy. When the hierarchy crumbles and the cycle disappears, there’ll be nothing different. Oh, it might already have changed a bit these days. There will be the Awakened too. It’ll become more of a mess.]

I thought for a moment. I organized my thoughts several times, but it was a fact that neither touched nor interested me. It sounded irrelevant to me.

I could see that I was living in a different world from people that was not just separated by spacial difference. We were different, socially and emotionally. So I questioned, “What do you want to do when you go outside?”

I wondered how Ho-jae looked at others and their society. I had a mountain load of things I wanted to do when I go outside. I wanted to see exciting books, movies, and dramas in real life, visit a theater or an amusement park. Whether it be a pleasant or unpleasant experience, I still wanted to meet many people.

But did Ho-jae think the same?

[Well…]

“What do you mean by ‘well’? Don’t you have something you want to do, something you want to see? You must have a wish.”

[No, I don’t have any.]

“Not even one?”

Ho-jae answered in a slightly shaky voice, [Uhh… I don’t really want to do anything even if I go back to Earth.]

< Tournament Chapter (12) > End

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