"I'm back."
"Oppa, you're home? You're late today. You must've drunk a lot?"
"You knew?"
"Suho oppa told me. Anyway, you worked hard. Did you have some hangover food?"
When he came home, his younger sister, Lee Ji-hye, welcomed Lee Ji-han.
Unlike the blunt and taciturn Ji-han, Ji-hye was sociable and considerate, worrying over her brother who, for the first time, had gotten drunk.
"Ah, I think I'll be fine. I'm just a little tired right now. I'll try to sleep a little more first."
"You'll upset your stomach."
"It's fine, really. Ji-hye, did you eat?"
"Me? Of course, I always eat well."
"You didn't stay up all night again, did you?"
"Mm, it's fine. I've finished most of the work I was given. And sleep? I can always catch up later."
"Still…"
"You're about to tell me it's bad for my health, right? Then oppa, you can sleep on my behalf. Go on, no nagging, just get a good rest."
Ji-hye knew very well that her brother was an ascetic, almost workaholic kind of person.
So when she heard that he'd been fired from his company, and then heard him say he would, for the first time, go out to drink with a friend—she had been utterly shocked.
"Rest well, oppa."
The way her brother always carried a sense of debt toward his family had always made her uncomfortable, but seeing Ji-han's expression relax just a little somehow made her own heart feel lighter.
"If your stomach hurts or flips, let me know. Mom said to just order some delivery food."
"Got it, Ji-hye. You take care of yourself too."
With that, Ji-han closed the door and curled up on his bed.
All he had done was avoid company politics, yet he faced sudden dismissal, his first night drinking with a friend, and then even a full-dive VR game.
It all felt so surreal, almost dreamlike.
'…Well, it was fun.'
But the price of the capsule… and the question of whether he could even afford to spend time gaming at home.
Inevitably, his thoughts turned a bit dark.
'That's a problem too, but… I'll need to look for another job.'
An idiot whose only skill was gymnastics—something he could no longer even do.
Could he really step out into society again?
With that unease, Ji-han drifted into a deep sleep.
…
…
…
Rrrring, rrrring.
The default ringtone he hadn't even bothered to change jolted Ji-han awake about three hours later.
Clutching his pounding head, he picked up the phone.
"Hello."
From the other end came a loud, hyped-up voice that starkly contrasted with his own groggy, hoarse tone.
"Hey, you crazy bastard!"
"…Kim Suho, what."
"Where the hell are you right now!"
"I came home and was sleeping, why."
"Do you even realize the mess you made? Damn! Even if I forgot to turn off the stream—!"
At Suho's voice, Ji-han snapped awake.
Had he made some mistake?
But when he played Zero Ground that morning, nothing had seemed out of the ordinary…
"Uh, sorry. I don't know what mistake I made but—"
"I started streaming and the chat was all screaming to bring you back! I checked the community, and it's chaos in there because of you!"
"Streaming? Uh, Suho, calm down first."
"Calm down? Do I sound like I can calm down? You crazy bastard! You—!"
Suho's agitated voice.
And at the end of it—
"You lunatic! How the hell are you so good at this game, and why didn't you ever say a word to me? And using my account to take missions? From a big-name streamer like Kim Ppong-tta, no less!?"
It was half a curse, half a compliment.
"…Huh?"
"The community's going insane! You didn't even customize your character, so now your real face is out there. A good-looking guy who's also good at games? Your gifs are everywhere now! Damn, I've brought home a golden goose!"
He had only just woken up, but Ji-han's feelings tangled into something complicated.
"So… Suho. That's a compliment, right?"
"Of course it is! I started streaming just now and had to shut it off immediately! As soon as I went live, everyone was screaming for me to bring you back. Then they started bombarding me with donations—!"
"Didn't you once say a streamer has to lick the feet of their donators—"
"Damn it, that's not the point! They said they'll keep spamming donations unless I bring you back! It started at 1,000 won, now it's going up in 10,000 won chunks! I was so scared I shut the stream down!"
For the first time, Suho's voice carried actual fear—threatened not with words, but with money.
The same guy who once boasted: Hey, if viewers throw money at me, I'll just gratefully take it, no matter how much.
But now that money was hammering him, he sounded closer to begging.
"Ji-han, hey. I'm scared, man. What do I do? Do I have to bring you?"
"So this… is a good thing? Right now?"
"Good? It's amazing! I've never gotten this much attention in my whole streaming life! Even Kim Ppong-tta is saying he wants a collab, and he's asking around about you!"
He's looking for material?
That phrase sent a shiver down Ji-han's spine.
"I'm coming to get you. My phone's blowing up with alerts telling me to bring you. You said you're home, right? I'll drive over. Don't go anywhere. Just wait, okay? Please, just stay put."
"…So I can play the game again?"
He just wanted to feel that excitement again.
It was a pure, innocent thought.
"Game? Forget the game, this is money! If you just keep this up, you'll be set for life! You could become a streamer yourself! You'd make a fortune! Enough to pay back all the debt you owe your parents, your sister—every cent, with interest!"
Suho's words were a little greedy, but—paying back his debts.
That phrase, something Ji-han had dreamed of all his life, was enough to strike his heart.
"Suho… yeah. I'll wait."
"Okay, I'll be there soon. Just wait. No, go wash up first. Did you get some hangover food?"
"Uh? No?"
"They say cheeseburgers are good for hangovers. Our golden-egg-laying goose, I'll even bring you food. Just sit tight, please. Got it? Answer?"
"Uh, yeah. Got it."
Click.
It felt like a storm had blown through.
Ji-han stared blankly at his phone for a while, then finally dragged himself to the bathroom to wash his face.
"Here you go, Ji-han. No—Ji-han nim. Eat this. And let me buckle your seatbelt for you."
"No, I can do that myself."
Suho was being excessively solicitous.
For a guy who was more like a bad friend than a good one, this was bizarre behavior—something completely outside Ji-han's memory of him. It only made his feelings more complicated.
"So what kind of mess is this exactly?"
"Here, just watch this."
Thud.
Suho tossed him his phone.
"Hm?"
"Kim Ppong-tta's livestream. Seriously, what the hell did you do this morning?"
"I played the game."
"No, I know that… I already knew my friend was a genius since your competition days, but this is insane."
"Hm?"
On the phone screen, footage of that morning's Zero Ground session was playing.
"Everyone, do you see this? I analyzed it a bit. This newbie, this monster—I think he must've been an athlete. Don't know which sport though."
[We already figured that out, genius.]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Calling that 'analysis'?]
[Ppong-tta, stop pretending you know stuffㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
"I'm not pretending! Zero Ground is based on players' actual body data. Just look at him. He's clearly ex-athlete material. But which sport? I'm not sure."
[What kind of sport makes you move like that?]
[Well, not baseball.]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋRight, not baseballㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Who mentioned baseball? Now I'm mad for no reasonㅋㅋ]
[He dodged like crazy—maybe some kind of martial art?]
"I thought martial arts too, but maybe not. Look how fast he runs. Could be short-distance track. Here, look at the footage again. The Zero Ground map is a 1:1 scale to reality, right? Let's say the distance between us was about 50 meters."
Ppong-tta hit play again.
On screen, Ji-han came charging toward him like a beast.
"There. Did you see that?"
[5 seconds?]
[?????]
[Looked just under 50m, but 5 seconds?]
[Map has obstacles, trees and all—so it's more than 50m effectively]
[Still, he ran almost in a straight lineㅋㅋ]
[World record for 50m is 5.56 seconds, right?]
"If he were a sprinter, it'd be rare to find someone this fast. Definitely."
[Right, someone like that wouldn't be gaming, he'd be on the national team.]
"Exactly. So here's my theory: considering that explosive speed, and the combat skills he showed in the final zone…"
Ppong-tta sipped water, then spoke gravely.
"…He might be an American football player. From the NFL, the land of monsters."
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ What nonsenseㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Ppong-tta, fold up your fortune-telling mat. Definitely not football.]
[Those guys are busier than national athletes.]
[With their training schedule, when would they have time for games?]
"Hey, listen! Loads of athletes train with VR these days!"
[Sure, but they wouldn't be playing games for fun.]
"Fine, fine. Then let's just ask him directly."
[??? You can contact him???]
[Didn't the stream shut down and he disappeared?]
[There was a short stream just now, looked like the original account holder.]
[He didn't know what was going on either.]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋHis confused face was hilarious when fans flooded in.]
[Yeah, anyone would be startledㅋㅋ]
[Hey, streamer, you made it. Keep bringing your friend.]
"No, I haven't contacted him yet. But how about this—I'll put a bounty on him. For anyone watching, find this guy, nickname 'Lee Ji-han,' who appeared on the Unlimited Channel. Bring him back alive or dead. Tell him Kim Ppong-tta is looking for him. Whoever does gets a skin plus a gift card."
[And thus began the Era of Lee Ji-han.]
[Lee Ji-han! Lee Ji-han! Lee Ji-han!]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋWhat's the gift card worth, at least 100,000 won right?]
[Unlimited Channel?? Damn, I'm logging full-time from todayㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
"NFL my ass. Don't you know gymnastics? My buddy Lee Ji-han broke all the unofficial domestic records. They don't even know."
Suho let out a bitter little laugh. His face showed regret.
But Ji-han's attention was scattered everywhere else.
"So, Suho, this means…"
"Yeah, your insane physical skills blew people away. The community's buzzing too—like, who's this guy? First time seeing him. Is he hacking? No, not hacking. Saw him live, he's just a monster. Stuff like that."
"…So I can't play the game anymore?"
There was disappointment in his voice.
Disappointment at possibly being unable to return to that exciting world.
"I brought you here because things are urgent. But… yeah. You'll get sniped a lot."
"Sniped?"
"Yeah. When I go live and queue, people will try to match into our games. And now there's even a bounty on you. …Damn, what do we do."
"Hmm. Wait a second."
Ji-han fell silent, thinking deeply.
Then he looked at Suho with a gentle smile.
"You told me before, right? The more viewers a stream has, the better?"
"Yeah?"
"Then let's do something of our own."
"Huh? Like what?"
Ji-han instinctively knew.
At this moment, he knew exactly how the stream should go.
"Wouldn't a game of tag be fun?"
Seeing that smile, for the first time, Suho felt genuinely afraid of his foolish childhood friend.
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