Chapter 4: “Did You Deceive Me?”

Back when I was in the military, there was an incident.

We were told to wait a bit since work was about to begin, but there was a junior who couldn’t stand the wait and started playing a rhythm game on his phone.

Using that as an excuse, I chewed him out thoroughly.

For reference, he was a public service worker at a city office.

Anyway, the military is the military.

Now, the reason I’m bringing up this story is simple.

“I specifically told you not to do anything and just stay still…”

“I’m in the middle of a game right now, so hold on. It’s a really important moment.”

Honestly, I don’t understand why people play games like that.

Games should be something you can stop whenever you want, so you can enjoy them moderately.

But I couldn’t just unplug the computer, so I sat down in a chair.

‘When is this going to end?’

I hoped it would finish as quickly as possible.

With that hope, I stared at the screen that Yeram was so focused on.

I’ve never played League of Legends myself, but since I’ve watched Yeram play it enough times, I could tell roughly what was going on by looking at the numbers in the top right corner.

“0 kills, 4 deaths, 1 assist. You’re feeding pretty hard, little sister.”

It was embarrassing to think this was my sister.

There should be some good gaming genes running through our family.

“Keep working on it.”

“No, I’ve told you many times, it’s not that I’m bad. My teammates just can’t keep up with my level.”

“Mm, sure, sure. You’re always right.”

Normally, I would have argued back, but I decided not to today.

It would only delay the time until the game ended.

“By the way, what’s the name of the character you’re playing, since you’re doing so badly?”

“I’m not doing badly.”

“Let’s say you’re not. What’s the character’s name?”

“Nidalee.”

“I have no idea who that is.”

The only champions I knew from League of Legends were Master Yi and Blitzcrank.

You can’t help but learn a few things, even if you don’t want to, just by being around the gaming community.

With so many people playing League, it just gets engraved in your brain.

“This character’s really difficult. That’s why I have 4 deaths.”

“I see.”

No one forced her to play a difficult character, but oh well.

I didn’t get it, but I just nodded without thinking too much.

A little while later,

“Ugh… seriously. My team was so bad.”

Yeram sighed as she ended the game.

I immediately approached her and began my interrogation.

“Where did you get the money to buy coffee?”

“Coffee? You give me allowance, don’t you?”

“The café owner remembered you. Doesn’t that mean you go there almost every day?”

At my words, Yeram thought for a moment and then said,

“I don’t spend money on anything else. And sometimes I get treated by others.”

I give Yeram an allowance of about 200,000 won a month.

Since coffee costs 2,500 won…

After doing some genius-level calculations, I figured that if she didn’t spend money elsewhere, she could drink coffee like that without any issue.

But anyway.

“You really don’t spend it anywhere else?”

“Yeah, there’s nowhere else to spend it.”

“Oh…”

Honestly, I found her words really admirable.

I give her 200,000 won a month, and yet she says she has nowhere to spend it.

To think I even doubted such a little sister.

I couldn’t have been more embarrassed.

“I’m truly moved by you. Because of that, I’ll increase your allowance starting now.”

It was a dramatic raise after two whole years.

When I said that, the expression of Yeram, who claimed she had nowhere to spend money, changed a little.

Well, no one would complain about getting more money.

“5,000 won raise. I’m being generous.”

That was a huge allowance increase.

Whether the global economy was in a recession or a boom, her allowance had always stayed the same, so raising it by 5,000 won was a big deal.

“Wow, that’s so stingy.”

“Then don’t take it.”

“No, no, that’s not it.”

With 5,000 won, she could spend five hours at a PC bang with her friends.

Thinking about how generous I was, I transferred 5,000 won to Yeram.

“Alright, I just transferred it, so use your money wisely.”

“Okay.”

After resolving the small misunderstanding about the coffee, I returned to my seat.

With work done, playing my favourite soccer game sounded like a good idea.

But first, the community.

“I’ve barely logged in today.”

Usually, I spend a good five or six hours on community activities, but today, I had barely logged in.

Proud of my self-control, I logged into the community.

[Efreet Gallery]

Efreet Gallery.

It’s a place where various users gather to talk about all sorts of things.

It’s not that famous of a gallery, but people who know, know it.

I came across this “Efreet Gallery” while looking for game information, and it turned out to be surprisingly fun.

So, I ended up settling there.

Then, I had a question.

Despite the gallery being called “Efreet Gallery,” there wasn’t any discussion about Efreet at all.

Rumour has it that the word “Efreet” has several meanings, and the gallery’s original purpose was to talk about those meanings.

Well, now it’s just a place for socializing.

[Posted by: UnveilLondon’sSecret]
[Title: Just finished my cafe part-time job today…]

[Content: (Photo) (Photo) (Photo) Is working part-time at a café always this hard? It’s so tough, I feel like going ‘off the rails’…]

Looking back now, it was indeed really hard.

Maybe that’s why I started feeling like I wanted to ‘go off the rails.’

Just as I was thinking that, comments began to roll in.

Ding-

As usual, a bunch of comments were piling up.

Although the number of people visiting the gallery each day isn’t high compared to other galleries, there are a lot of regulars.

It would be accurate to describe them as “one person doing the work of a hundred.”

Maybe that’s why I had memorized almost all the regular usernames of people active in the gallery.

L: Hey, don’t go off the rails.

L: Why are you trying to walk such a tough path..?

ᄂ: Well, because it’s fun…

ᄂ: I admit it, it’s fun, haha.

L-hwanhee: You? Working? Hmm…

Looking at the comments, some people were questioning the fact that I was doing anything productive.

To be precise, it wasn’t ‘people,’ but just one person.

By the way, this person—at their age, they’re still hanging out in this gallery.

‘I think they’re around 29 years old.’

I’m not sure about their gender, but it’s probably a woman.

From the posts they’ve written, there are a lot of hints suggesting they’re female.

Of course, in this world, being a ‘woman’ doesn’t really offer any particular advantage.

‘Not that I plan on revealing my gender.’

If people found out I was a ‘man,’ it would restrict my activities in the community.

It’s not like the community as a whole is calling for the extermination of men or anything, but the users act like panting dogs, coming after you in a creepy way.

As I was cringing at the thought…

L-hwanhee: By the way, hey.

ᄂ-hwanhee: Are you only doing part-time work these days?

ᄂ-hwanhee: What games are you playing?

Hwanhee, posting another comment.

Maybe it’s because we’ve known each other for a long time, but they ask me about personal stuff like this without hesitation.

ᄂ-UnveilLondon’sSecret: Just living day to day.

ᄂ-UnveilLondon’sSecret: Playing Red Dead Redemption these days.

ᄂ-UnveilLondon’sSecret: It’s fun.

It’s a game set in the Western era, and it’s really fun.

It’s one of the games I’ve been enjoying a lot lately.

That’s why I sometimes promote the game in the gallery.

Well, even without me promoting it, it’s a really famous game, but there could still be people who haven’t played it yet.

Just as I was thinking that…

ᄂ-hwanhee: Oh, that game’s fun.

ᄂ-hwanhee: But by the way…

ᄂ-hwanhee: Haven’t you gone to the military yet?

A sudden attack with a military question.

But I handled it smoothly.

I had expected that sooner or later someone in the gallery would ask me that question.

“CH…”

“Why bring up the military all of a sudden?”

As I was muttering to myself, wondering how to answer, I accidentally caught Yera’s attention.

So, I made up a response on the spot.

“Oh, just saying. You’re going to have to go to the military, you know.”

“What the heck, why mention that now?”

“If you don’t want to go, just say so. I’d be willing to cut off your arm for you, with great care.”

“That’s a bit much.”

I’ve heard that some people go to such extreme measures to avoid the military.

Thinking about that, I started typing my reply.

ᄂ-UnveilLondon’sSecret: I do kinda want to go to the military.

ᄂ-UnveilLondon’sSecret: But I’m going as a public service worker.

ᄂ-UnveilLondon’sSecret: Haha.

I used the public service worker card.

After all, most people don’t know the details about public service workers.

‘What can you do about it?’

If they reply with that, then there’s nothing more to say.

It’s like a checkmate move.

A little while later…

ᄂ-hwanhee: Oh, I’m a public service worker too.

ᄂ-hwanhee: Where are you assigned?

What the hell.

Didn’t you say you completed full military service?