Chapter 17 – The Second Desire Quest
Seo Joo-hwan, who entered the room, lay on the bed and pondered.
“It’s a university….”
Before his return, he returned to school after being discharged. His mother as well as his father encouraged him to go to college.
The university I went back to with such little expectations. Naturally, there was no such thing as a campus life full of dreams and romance.
At that time, Seo Joo-hwan was already older than his classmates and had a higher grade, but he was unable to properly form interpersonal relationships due to his introverted personality during his school days and military days.
“Hmm.”
Thinking back then, it was right that he didn’t go back to school. It would be a wise choice for him to write at least one more line at that time. However, he had to consider that the circumstances then and now were completely different.
Currently, his mind is 32 years old, and his past trauma has been overcome to some extent. In addition, Han Soo-ah’s case was meant to be stopped by him, so that’s not a reason why he doesn’t go to college.
“Ha. Difficult. Lucy, what do you think you should do?”
[I don’t have the ability to calculate the future. If necessary, it is recommended to acquire a talent such as ‘Foresight’ to raise the rank.]
“What? Haha. I didn’t mean to ask in that way. I just asked because I was curious about your thoughts.”
[… ] What do you think?]
“Yes.”
Lucy was silent for a moment. Seo Joo-hwan tries to correct his words, wondering if he asked him something wrong. Before he could speak, Lucy’s answer came back.
[Master has to go to college.]
“That, is it? Why?”
Seo Joo-hwan, who did not know that he would give such a firm answer, asked back in embarrassment. Then Lucy spoke again in a firm tone.
[Because Master has no friends.]
“… What?”
[The master who did not go to college will live in a corner of the room. Then he will spend his life without a single friend again.]
Lucy’s words that hit the bone.
Seo Joo-hwan struggled to make excuses.
“Uh, um. Wouldn’t it be? There is a bit of an age difference, but Sua is also a friend… If I finish the writing I am writing now, I will go to learn various things. He’s going to learn to sing, he’s thinking of learning an instrument or sports. Ah, since I have the boxing talent I got from Sora noona, should I learn martial arts?”
[I’m glad if you do as I said… According to the data given to me, it is said that a creature called a person is difficult to change at once. Especially if there is no external stimulus.]
“Ugh.”
Seo Joo-hwan could not easily deny this. He knows full well how difficult change can be. He’s not really a part of people who do whatever they want.
Lucy’s words continued.
[In that sense, if Master wants to live a happy life, I think he’d better go to college. And… ]
“And?”
[The owner said the other day. I will live this life the way I like it. If you really want to live the way you are, worrying about college is meaningless. You can try it once and quit if you don’t like it.]
“What?”
Seo Ju-hwan’s eyes widened. I wish Lucy would say something like that. He soon burst into giggling laughter, then grabbed his stomach and burst into laughter.
“Puhahaha! Thank you, Lucy. Thanks to him, his head is clear.”
[I’m glad that your problem has been resolved.]
“Yes. Thank you so much.”
In the end, Seo Joo-hwan made the decision to go to college. Didn’t they say, like Lucy said, live this life the way you feel? If you don’t like it while you’re in college, you can quit. He never had to be in serious trouble.
*
“Oh. Are you really going back to school?”
“Whatever choice you make, do it without regret.”
Her mother her was delighted and her father her gave her a believing pat on the shoulder of her.
“Yes. So… When I go back to school, I plan to start living on my own.”
Seo Ju-hwan’s decision was swift. He immediately looked for a room for sale. Of course, the closer to the university and the better the convenience facilities, the quicker you move out. He was already in January, so if he didn’t sign soon, he’d be stuck on the train.
“Are you going to sleep? Just stay at home.”
His mother his seemed to want him to go to school. It is a pity that he left home not long after he was discharged.
“I’m sorry, mother. I don’t have the confidence to handle the small child’s hell iron. Instead, I will come often.”
The school isn’t too far, an hour away, but traffic was a problem. Morning trains are literally hell. I didn’t want to go through hell for every morning class I had to take.
“Well. How many studios are there these days?”
While my mother felt sad, my father tried to support the living expenses. He waved his hand at Seo Jae-pil, who asked for the deposit and rent.
“I will take care of the money.”
“How much money does a guy who hasn’t even been discharged yet have?”
“You wrote it before you enlisted. There is still enough left to do. If it’s not enough, you can work part-time.”
Currently, the rate of return on the invested Bitcoin has exceeded 300%. He was thinking of signing a two-room contract, not a one-room one.
Seo Jae-pil was unaware of his son’s speed and thought of him with great respect. No matter what happened to him, his son he had changed very reliably.
On the other hand, Seo Joo-hwan knocked on the calculator.
‘Let’s subtract only the necessary amount.’
It was not yet time to resell Bitcoin in earnest. It seemed to me that it would be better to dispose of only what was necessary and prepare a separate monthly rent. There were other ways to make money besides Bitcoin.
‘Let’s keep writing instead of part-time jobs.’
Seo Joo-hwan chose writing instead of part-time job. Even so, he was a full-time writer who lived on writing before returning. He’d be better off writing than the minimum wage. He said the minimum hourly wage in 2016 was only 6,030 won.
‘If the work I’m currently serializing gets on track, I’ll make some money, right?’
Starting a few days ago, ‘Master of Possession, Moorim’s achievements’ started out well. If I get on track in earnest, I thought I would be able to achieve better results than before returning.
*
Words are so subtle that even a small word can be a blessing or a curse. It was not for nothing that there were many proverbs related to words, such as ‘Think three times before you speak’ and ‘A single word pays off a thousand-nyang debt’.
‘Cheer up.’, ‘Don’t worry.’, ‘You can do it.’
For example, words with a positive meaning can sometimes hurt the other person. When giving words of consolation to someone in a hopeless situation, it was time to think about whether the consolation was premature.
Twenty-three-year-old Seo Joo-hwan did not know that fact. So he unintentionally hurt the other person.
‘Cheer up? Hwan-i oppa, how should I be strong…?’
Han Soo-ah, who said that while shedding tears.
She had severe scars on her face and was missing one of her legs her, so she was confined to her wheelchair. At least her arms her, which were supposed to roll the wheels of her wheelchair, were not in good condition, so it was difficult to move even slightly without the help of others.
It was only natural to hear words of resentment, since I had told such a person to cheer up.
‘At that time… If only her brother had come to pick him up then….’
‘…….’
Seo Joo-hwan opened his mouth, but in the end he couldn’t speak out. I was afraid that even one word of her apology would hurt her ….
A few days after that, Han Soo-ah left a letter to her parents and her acquaintances with her, and she committed suicide. A short letter was left from Seo Ju-hwan.
‘Sorry. It’s not my brother’s fault.’
Was he still thinking about the moment he took his own life his? Han Soo-ah, who was kind by nature, couldn’t even properly resent her. Because of her, her heart her ached even more. Tears flowed from Seo Ju-hwan’s eyes as he read her letter from her. He felt guilty as if everything was his fault.
*
The alarm you set on your smartphone went off. Seo Joo-hwan, who opened his eyes at him, stared blankly at the ceiling and spat out swear words.
“Fuck.”
What happened to Han Soo-ah was the day she went to a concert with Seo Joo-hee. On her way home from her concert, Han Soo-ah caught the attention of a vicious criminal who was being reported on the news at the time.
Her culprit her took Han Soo-ah to a place where her people her were rare. Afterwards, she not only raped her, but also mutilated her body after covering her mouth her. Unfortunately, the culprit was not just a rapist, but a serial killer known for his mutilation of her.
“Fuck.”
Seo Ju-hwan’s eyes were watery as he spat out abusive language once again. The content of the dream and the memory of that day were still very vivid.
Han Soo-ah, who asked her to come out to meet her, shed tears when she said to cheer up, and Han Soo-ah, who was smiling brightly in her portrait of her.
The reason why the buried memories come to mind like this is probably because today is the very day.
Tring!
[Detected user’s intense desire.]
[The Desire Quest has been activated.]
『Save Han Soo-ah!』
▶ You regretted it over and over again.
‘If I had picked him up on time, that wouldn’t have happened.’
It was never because of you, but it is also true that you could have prevented it. That’s why your trauma deepened day by day. You cursed yourself for your bad luck, even though you didn’t blame anyone.
But you are different now.
You know the future, and you have enough abilities to save Han Soo-ah.
Stop overcoming your trauma.
▶ Achievement condition: Han Soo-ah’s safety
▶ Reward: 20,000LP
The system seemed to be cheering him on.
*
Today, as usual, I was in the middle of solving lunch at a snack bar. Han Soo-ah and Seo Ju-hee, who were sitting at a table, exchanged words with solemn faces.
“Are you ready, Sue?”
“Of course, hee.”
The two of them stretched out their arms and crossed their hands.
Seo Ae-ra, who was looking at the two, said in a disapproving tone.
“Can we not go to the concert? It’s noisy in the news these days because of a heinous criminal.”
“No, Mom! If I don’t go this time, I might never have a concert for the rest of my life!”
“Mom, I’ll be careful. I really can’t hear from anywhere else and will come right away.”
“Eh. Even now, there is news like that…”
Despite the two people’s answers, Seo Ae-ra looked at her TV as if she was anxious. The TV was dealing with a recent serial murder case in Bucheon. The identity of the perpetrator is unknown. From the scene of the incident, all that was known was that it was likely a large man.
Seo Joo-hwan, who was watching the situation, naturally overlapped his hands on the backs of the two of them.
“Don’t worry, mother. I will go with you too.”
“Oh, really?”
“… What?”
“Huh?”
Seo Joo-hee, who looks at her surprised mother with an indifferent look, and Han Soo-ah, who makes strange sound effects.
Seo Ju-hee asked questioningly with a wrinkled expression.
“What do you mean?”
“What are you talking about? It means I’m going to the concert too.”
“No! So why are you following me! Do you know who is going to the concert?”
“It’s a swing lady concert. Hey, I’m fast too.”
‘Patta’ is the name of Swing Lady’s fandom. The exact name of the fandom was bat, but because fans of the same group had a strong sense of language, Patara used a slang.
“Lie. Are you a bat?”
“There are a lot of doubts. Now, can’t you see that I even got tickets like this in the military?”
Seo Joo-hwan confidently took out a ticket from his pocket her and held it up. Still, Seo Joo-hee looks at the ticket with suspicious eyes. Finally, she took Seo Joo-hwan’s ticket and compared it with her own to confirm her authenticity of her.
After a while, Seo Joo-hee, who found out that her ticket was real, looked at Seo Joo-hwan with her newfound eyes and said,
“Aren’t you interested in celebrities?”
He calmly explained why.
“Try to be locked up in a place full of same-sex people for over a year. Are you interested in girl groups or not? And in the military, when you wake up in the morning, you play girl group songs, and in the evening, before going to bed, you listen to girl group songs.”
“OMG. It was real.”
What is real of course gourd
It’s true that I listened to girl group songs after waking up and before going to bed, but Swing Lady didn’t get much attention from the soldiers. And, to be honest, if you exclude one leader, aren’t your looks and singing skills not worthy of attention?
What he said was just an excuse to dispel Seo Ju-hee’s suspicions of her.
Then, how did you get tickets if you weren’t even a fan?
Of course, he bought a ticket. Buying a scalping ticket was the first thing Seo Ju-hwan did after he went on vacation.
Anyway, time passed…….
“Let’s go now.”
“Yes. It is expected. A concert for our swingers. Mid-sized group concerts won’t make much money.”
“But since the ticket price is high, won’t I lose money?”
Seo Joo-hwan and his two high school girls set out to watch the concert.
