Installation is finally complete. The blue logo appeared on the screen. [Heroes: Arena of the Storm].
This fcking game. Even before launching it, a savory smell of sht seems to vibrate out of the monitor.
I already want to close the game and press the uninstall button.
I didn't have an account, so I made a new one. Tutorial? That kind of thing is for beta males. I skipped it lightly, and without delay, swiped my card to buy a hero. Capitalism is the best, after all.
As soon as I logged in, what caught my eye was the game lobby chat window. That place was, then and now, in this world or that world, an unchanging pandemonium.
[1. General] MoonWaningInWind: 72-year-old Grandpa Kim Yi-nam's last Taz'dingo bet on his life 1/5 [1. General] HiddenTroll: ✌😝✌ ✌😝✌ ✌😝✌ [1. General] ChurchIsInEnglish: Ah f^^ck aren't they deleting that f*cking black bastard [1. General] MoonWaningInWind: 85-year-old Grandma Im Young-ja's National Pension bet on Mercenary Camp bribe 1/5
. . .
"Huh..."
Why is it that even if the genders are switched, not a single bastard in this Vortex is sane. Is there a Law of Conservation of R*tards or something?
As expected, the only normal person in this zone is me.
I clicked my tongue pathetically and placed my hands on the keyboard.
Clack. Clack-clack.
[1. General] TeamLuckIsMyPlan: 67-year-old Grandma Kim Mal-sook's last Crucible of Frenzy bet on her life. feat Park Chul-nam 1/5
Enter. Click—
Ding-
[MoonWaningInWind] whispers: You wanna duo g? To [MoonWaningInWind]: Gg give invite
The invite was immediate. Ding.
[MoonWaningInWind invited you to a party.]
I pressed accept without hesitation, and as soon as we entered the pick screen, I declared sharply.
[Party] TeamLuckIsMyPlan: Playing Dark Templar
— I shall follow you...
The gloomy dialogue of the Dark Templar flowed out of the speakers. Stealth, Assassination, Blink. For a lone wolf like me, there is no character more perfect than this. Whether my teammates sh*t the bed or have diarrhea, I just need to carry and blow up the game.
But then.
[Party] MoonWaningInWind: Playing Raven Prophet
Ah. Is this bastard a troll?
There is a reason why the Raven Prophet is called science, no, the synonym for a troll pick in the Vortex.
First, hitting skills is dirty hard. If your fingers get twisted, you become a sparrow converging to 0 damage.
Second, Portals. There are tons of drivers who open the door meant to save teammates right in the middle of the enemy lines, delivering allies straight to the afterlife.
Third, crucially, I have never seen a sane guy among those who pick Raven Prophet in this Quick Match queue.
[Party] TeamLuckIsMyPlan: Lock in ready gg
But whatever, doesn't matter. Not my business. It's a dead game anyway, as long as I enjoy it.
[Party] MoonWaningInWind: Gg
Thung!
With the Raven Prophet's ready sound, the timer at the top of the screen started spinning.
—Let the game begi...
In that short moment the match was found, I stared at the monitor and muttered grimly. Praying that Raven is at least a human being.
. . .
5 minutes later.
"This fcking shtty dead game."
Curses popped out automatically. No, what kind of game takes over 5 minutes to find a match for Quick Match, not even Ranked? It's enough time to pour water in cup ramen, cook it, eat it, and clean up.
The text [Estimated Wait Time: 120 Seconds] on the screen seemed to be mocking me. As expected, Frost's method of calculating time cannot be trusted.
"I'm deleting this right after this match. F*ck, for real."
I can't waste my precious life looking at this kind of waiting screen.
Just one match really, and I'm going into the control panel and pressing the uninstall button without lingering attachment. If I play Vortex again, I'm not a human but a son of a b*tch (dog).
Kwang-!
At that moment, the screen transitioned with a loud sound effect.
[Match Found]
Caught one.
. . .
[ VICTORY! ]
The victory text filling the screen. Thrilling. I play Vortex for this taste.
As soon as the Level 20 talent 'Dawn' was taken, I became a veritable blender.
Scratching with shadow power, resetting cooldowns completely with Dawn and pouring it again. W, Blink, [1], Q, Auto-attack, R, Reset, Booger again, Q, Blink... I pounded the keyboard as if to break it.
The enemy dealers must have been looking at a black and white screen the moment my booger grazed them. Even I think it was kinda sick.
And what was unexpected was that Raven. The guy named 'MoonWaningInWind' or whatever. I was preparing to curse him out thinking he was a troll, but he was better than I thought, no, quite good.
His sense of shielding me to match my entry timing was almost pro-level.
Where did the guy go who was foaming at the mouth just a moment ago saying he'd delete the game and if he played again he'd be a dog not a human?
Dunno. That bastard died. Woof woof. Bark bark. I decided to become a dog.
The dopamine of victory pickled my brain. I tapped the chat window as if possessed.
[Party] TeamLuckIsMyPlan: Rdyrdyrdyrdyrdyrdyrdy
"Just one more game. Just one."
As a result, I ran 3 more games straight after that.
All wins. 4 consecutive wins. Dopamine waltzed through my brain fluid, but coldly calculating, it was a losing business.
Because the queue wait time was longer than the gameplay time. I wasted a total of 30 minutes just waiting for matches.
But we won, so it's fine.
[Party] MoonWaningInWind: I'm going now [Party] MoonWaningInWind: Friend add g?
[Party] TeamLuckIsMyPlan: Okok
Ding.
[ 'MoonWaningInWind' sent a friend request. ]
I pressed the accept button. To think the first friend I made in this desolate and still unfamiliar Reverse World is a Vortex Duo whose face I don't even know. Life is truly unpredictable.
[Party] MoonWaningInWind: Bye bye play again next time [Party] TeamLuckIsMyPlan: Gj bye bye
The party disbanded. I stared intently at the Vortex icon on the desktop. Just a while ago I was going to go into the control panel and delete it right away.
"······."
Hold for now. I should postpone deletion for next time. I'll delete it when the winning streak breaks.
Before I knew it, it was getting dark outside the window. Time for dinner.
Beep beep beep beep- Clack.
The sound of the door lock unlocking was heard from the entrance. The timing is breathtaking. Looks like Mom is home.
I got up from the chair and went out to the living room. As a son, I should go out to greet her at least.
"Welcome home."
My name is Go Young-sook. An ordinary Korean office worker and mother with two daughters and one son.
My title is Manager at a small-to-medium enterprise. Honestly speaking, there's no big issue with making a living.
Thanks to giving birth to my precious, precious son, Jin-hyuk, the support funds the country plugs in every month are quite substantial. Others envy me saying I won the lottery, that my life bloomed because I bore a son.
But I have no intention of relying on that money. I wanted to support my children with my own strength. That way, the children and I can be proud.
Today too, I finished work that was like a war and opened the front door, exhausted. It was a return home no different from usual.
Naturally, I thought the house would be quiet. Ji-hye would be in her room, and my son Jin-hyuk... well, there wouldn't even be a sign of him as usual.
He's a child who doesn't even open his door when it's meal time, so I always left food on a tray in front of his door and he would secretly take it and eat while I was asleep. It's been ages since I saw his face.
But then.
"Welcome home!"
"Hup...!"
I stopped taking off my shoes and gasped. I thought my heart was going to drop.
Standing in front of me was clearly my son, Jin-hyuk. But... is that the child I knew?
He was a child who was afraid to even come out of his room. A guy who answered with a crawling voice without even being able to make proper eye contact with me.
But now my son is spreading his arms wide and walking out confidently to welcome me. His gait, posture, expression. Everything was unfamiliar.
"Uh, uh.. Yeah.. I'm home."
My words came out wrong. Jin-hyuk snatched the grocery bag from my hand, which had frozen in embarrassment.
"Give it here. Must be heavy."
"Uh..?"
I had my load taken away in a daze. The guy slammed the load down on the dining table and asked nonchalantly.
"How was work today? Nothing special happened?"
"Uh... It was okay...."
I stared intently at my son's face.
Just what on earth happened this afternoon. When I got the contact from Ji-hye, I thought it might be puberty, but this isn't on the level of puberty. The person has changed too much.
Did he perhaps suffer something terrible outside and get shocked? I suddenly got scared.
"Um, Jin-hyuk-ah. Did something really happen to you today?"
"No? Nothing special happened? Why?"
Jin-hyuk tilted his head as if he really didn't know. That nonchalant expression. It's too natural to be acting.
"Is.. that so? If there is ever anything difficult, tell Mom anytime.."
"...Yes?"
The guy reacted as if he couldn't understand my worry. Then he peeked inside the grocery bag and changed the subject.
"That aside, what's the menu for dinner tonight?"
"Ah.. Right. Is there anything Jin-hyuk wants to eat?"
Let's move on for now. I have to feed him. How long has it been since we ate looking at each other's faces instead of leaving it in front of the door.
"What about you, Mom?"
"I'm fine. You kids choose what you want to eat."
Then Jin-hyuk suddenly turned his head toward the living room.
"Wait a minute... Hey! Seol Ji-hye! Mom's here! Come out!"
"...?!"
My eyes went wide. Hey? Come out? Did Jin-hyuk just yell at Ji-hye right now? The kid who used to hide under the blanket if Ji-hye even knocked on the door?
Click. The room door opened and Ji-hye came out hesitantly.
"Wel, Welcome home...?"
Ji-hye stuck next to me like a hamster that was thoroughly scared. We exchanged secret glances.
'Seol Ji-hye, why is your brother suddenly acting like that?'
'Would I know...? I'm scared to death too...'
My daughter's eyes were shaking as if an earthquake happened too.
"Hey, is there anything you want to eat?"
Jin-hyuk asked, jerking his chin. Ji-hye answered in a fright.
"M, Me? N, No.. What about Brother?"
"No.. Do all the women in this house have decision paralysis..."
Jin-hyuk frowned, then pretended to ponder for a moment.
"Hmm... How about chicken today?"
Chicken? It's the first time Jin-hyuk suggested eating chicken first. It was a menu he always avoided saying he hated greasy things and it made his stomach upset. Even the child who was afraid of the delivery man coming wants to order delivery food?
When we stood blankly unable to answer, Jin-hyuk looked at us alternately and asked.
"Why is everyone looking so reluctant? You hate chicken? Gonna eat something else?"
"Ah, no! Let's order. It's been a while."
I nodded hurriedly. My son has changed. And very bizarrely at that. I don't know if it's good or bad yet...