Chapter 36: The Game of Choices

Gajunsik is a big player on V-TV.

Last month, his average viewers were 56,000.

His channel had a scale that made you question whether it was even a personal broadcast.

There are many advantages to being a broadcaster.

Diligence, gaming skills, eloquence, strong opinions, and so on.

The talents that captivate people are varied, and among these, Gajunsik possessed diligence.

Diligence. At first glance, this might not seem like much, but it was quite powerful.

For example, think of an author who writes two chapters a day but only publishes one, keeping 39 chapters in reserve.

Hmm, the example is wrong. This doesn’t really relate to diligence.

Anyway.

Gajunsik took a break every two weeks. In effect, he only rested twice a month.

On top of that, he broadcasted at least 12 hours a day.

He had been maintaining this lifestyle for several years.

Most people would find it hard to keep up.

Of course, some people hearing only this might think,

“If I do that too, I could become like Gajunsik and try broadcasting?”

It’s a big misconception.

Gajunsik’s strength is indeed his diligence.

But that’s not all.

Gajunsik is a professional. And professionals… basically have to carry ‘entertainment’ with them.

It’s such a fundamental part of the job that I didn’t mention it until now. All the big corporations that survive in this industry are highly entertaining.

Having been a major player for several years, Gajunsik provided entertainment to his viewers through immersion.

He would show such deep immersion that you’d think, “Does he seriously believe this is real?”—but it wasn’t acting; it was genuine, and that’s why it was truly a talent.

Gajunsik’s area of expertise was, of course, games with a storyline.

Among them, ‘visual novels’ were his specialty.

Gajunsik installed the game sent to him by email and wore an expectant expression.

The games made by Han Yurim, Excel Busters and Fantasy Life, were good games after a long time.

Specifically, they were great for M-Tube.

Big-name live streamers like Gajunsik tend to have relatively lower views on M-Tube.

This is because the expectations of live stream viewers and M-Tube viewers are subtly different.

In contrast, big M-Tube channels tend to have lower live stream viewership, so the balance is always maintained.

Well, even if Gajunsik’s M-Tube views were relatively low, they were still guaranteed to reach several hundred thousand…

Excel Busters and Fantasy Life videos had surpassed a million views in no time.

Fantasy Life was even aiming for 2 million, which was like a bonus hit.

It wasn’t for nothing that Gajunsik eagerly jumped on the opportunity even though it wasn’t an advertisement.

Already, Gajunsik had a thumbnail ready in his mind.

He was going to insert the view counts of Excel Busters and Fantasy Life videos, and the title would be simple: “The First Work of the Creator of Fantasy Life!”

It was already guaranteed to hit a million views.

After indulging in some happy thoughts, it was already 7 PM.

7 PM. It was the time when office workers who had finished work arrived home, took a shower, and began to put on their VR headsets.

It was Gajunsik’s regular broadcast time.

As soon as the broadcast started, viewers quickly started pouring in.

Five minutes later, when the number of viewers reached 30,000, Gajunsik turned on both his camera and microphone.

“Hello, everyone.”

The chat exploded.

Gajunsik quickly skimmed through the messages and casually spoke. It was impossible to read the chat at this point.

They talked about food, recently met broadcasters, e-sports, and even the League’s schedule, including how the Busan Marines were already in last place halfway through the season.

Two hours passed in the blink of an eye.

Having recorded enough content for a just-chatting segment for M-Tube, Gajunsik decided to start the main content.

“You all know Fantasy Life, right?”

It’s doing really well lately.

It even made it into the VR store’s monthly ranking.

Monthly ranking?

“This is such a hit content. Just look at the views.”

Gajunsik played his M-Tube, showing the view counts for Excel Busters and Fantasy Life.

112 million and 193 million, respectively.

Since the videos had only been up for less than a month, they were only going to rise more.

Fantasy Life is pretty fun.

I also bought it and tried it.

There’s a popular mode where you just craft, no combat.

Han Yurim couldn’t handle the purposeless building because it was boring, but if everyone felt that way, Minecraft would never have become the only indie game in the market.

A well-designed combat system is a tiring element for some people.

Because of this, not everyone played Fantasy Life the way Han Yurim intended.

The Wave Removal mode. This was the most popular mode in Fantasy Life.

The strength of Fantasy Life wasn’t just in combat.

With its vibrant AI that felt almost human and a variety of bases with different concepts, it was perfect for enjoying everyday play.

As such, Fantasy Life gathered users who didn’t like tower defense and now ranked high in the monthly rankings.

Its game mechanics were so hardcore that it would be difficult to grow in popularity any further, but for Han Yurim, this was already more than satisfying.

Gajunsik turned off M-Tube and spoke up.

“I decided to try the new game by the creator of Fantasy Life.”

A new game? I haven’t heard anything about that.

“Of course, it’s an unreleased game. It’s kind of like a beta test.”

With that, Gajunsik launched the game he had already installed.

The lively opening played.

Viewers, who were caught off guard by the sudden development, quickly flooded the chat with messages.

Most of them were along the lines of ‘This looks so cringy.’

But despite the chat, the viewer count and chat speed shot up rapidly.

It was so steep that even Gajunsik was slightly surprised.

Pretending not to like it, but secretly enjoying it.

The title appeared.

Even a Repeat Student Needs Love

Gajunsik spoke.

“The genre is visual novel, and as for the content, I have no idea. Based on the title, I guess the protagonist is a repeat student?”

If they’re a repeat student, they should just study, haha.

It’s a bit unusual for a repeat student to be the protagonist in a visual novel.

“There are more people who date during their repeat year than you’d imagine. I ended up repeating three years myself.”

Remembering the old days, Gajunsik began the game.

“Six years of elementary school, three years of middle school, and three years of high school—today, the result of twelve years of effort is determined.

Twelve years. A single aspirant could become a veteran in that time.

The result of that period is decided in just nine hours, which is incredibly cruel.”

As soon as Gajunsik read the monologue, he quickly made his evaluation.

“Classic case of pre-senior-year high school syndrome.

Feeling that it’s unfair to have everything decided by one test.

But you all know, the college entrance exam is about as fair as it gets, right?”

You’ll miss school once you start working, haha.

“Still, I get it.

Everyone puts in a lot of effort.

But the college entrance exam tries to gauge it all in one go, doesn’t it? Realistically, I don’t think there’s a more ideal way than the college entrance exam, but I can understand the frustration.”

Already mentally back in high school, Gajunsik recalled his own feelings at the time.

He’d felt the same way—putting in the effort, but the results didn’t come through.

Surely, the protagonist felt the same way.

Fully immersed in the character, Gajunsik pressed the virtual Enter key.

The text appeared.

The results are in.

Korean: 1
English: 4
Math: 6
Social Ethics: 5
Ethics: 5

The score I received from school felt too pitiful to be the product of twelve years of effort.

“Pitiful? Well, of course it’s pitiful. He probably spent all his time sleeping in class.”

Gajunsik erupted in frustration.

The viewers were the same.
14655 LOL haha

And yet, Korean got a grade 1 again.

“There’s always that one person, right? The one who doesn’t study but always gets a grade 1 in Korean. And as you all know, those people don’t study at all.”

In disbelief, Gajunsik shook his head.

“Honestly, this guy’s better off going to university with these grades. Going to a cram school would just be a waste of time.”

Gajunsik himself had repeated a year. His Korean score hadn’t improved until the very end, and he had compromised, settling for a slightly lower-tier university than the top three in South Korea.

At least with that, he wouldn’t have to worry about being outclassed by someone with a better academic background in Korea. He was in a position where he could offer study advice to the protagonist.

“If he goes to a cram school, do you know what he’ll be doing? Studying? After twelve years of not studying, is he really going to start now? I’m telling you, he’ll probably just get high rank in Eternal World. Or end up as a top RPG player. That’s why VR cafés are so popular in Noryangjin.”

With conviction, Gajunsik continued the game.

Should I focus on work or study? After much thought, I made my decision. I’ll try again. My parents were against it, but I had some savings. I could manage for about a year on my own.

The screen changed, and the protagonist appeared.

Surprisingly, the protagonist was studying.

Gajunsik scratched his cheek awkwardly.

“Now, if it’s with your own money, that’s different. You know, it’s hard to waste your own money, right?”

I had never studied so desperately before. I couldn’t believe I now wanted good grades. Looking back, I felt embarrassed. There were about 11 months left until the entrance exam. I would push myself without resting for that long. Even if I failed the exam again, I believed that this experience would be helpful someday.

Gajunsik felt unexpectedly moved. Being in his thirties, it was the time when female hormones were coming into play.

“The kid still turned out to be a decent person. Even though his parents opposed it, he decided to repeat on his own money, and he’s clearly objective.”

Just as Gajunsik was satisfied with the protagonist’s personality, which was more likable than he had expected,

The game, which had previously been just text, switched to a VR game.

The perspective changed. A view that could only be seen from the back of the classroom filled Gajunsik’s field of vision.

The bell rang, and the instructor who had been lecturing left the classroom. At the same time, the classroom became appropriately noisy.

“Wow. The immersion is insane.”

For a moment, Gajunsik felt as though he had returned to his time as a repeat student.

The detail of the background sounds, especially the voices, was mind-blowing.

Listening closely, it was clear that people were actually having conversations.

And the dialogue wasn’t repetitive either.

Curious to see how far it would go, Gajunsik kept watching, unsure of the end.

Han Yurim’s games are unique. The level of detail put into such elements is crazy.

Is this really a game made by a single developer? Sometimes I doubt it.

Excited by the high quality of the game, Gajunsik tried to recall as many memories as he could.

“He’s listening to a lecture? This must be a repeat student cram school.

Based on the break time atmosphere, it’s not a tough place.

Well, it makes sense. Since he’s paying with his own money, he probably couldn’t afford to go to a good place.”

Gajunsik got up from his seat. Druruk. The chair slid back with him.

The realistic physics engine piqued Gajunsik’s curiosity.

He nudged the desk beside him. Clunk. The subtle heaviness he felt in his hand startled him. It felt incredibly realistic.

“Han Yurim really nailed the understanding of the auxiliary equipment, didn’t she?”

Even though a VR headset could function perfectly fine with just the glasses, humans are never satisfied. Many people felt it was still lacking.

That’s why various auxiliary VR equipment was released.

Gajunsik, for instance, was wearing VR-specific gloves, which made him feel like he had fully entered the game.

What if he lifted the desk? Curious, Gajunsik gently picked it up.

“There’s no sense of weight, but… how should I put it? It gives the sensation of lifting something. This is impressive.”

“Muttering to yourself? Your head must be aching. I don’t know why you’re sitting here, but could you please move aside soon?”

A voice suddenly called out, and Gajunsik turned his body.

A woman in black Gothic attire, with an umbrella that suited her well, was staring up at him.

Her hair was golden, and her eyes were blue.

And…

She was an elementary school student.

Gajunsik was startled.

Why is there an elementary school student in a cram school?