Chapter 1 – Can’t Resist the Childhood Friend 

“Which setting would be good…”

Click.

I scrolled down with the mouse, carefully inputting the settings of the character I was going to play.

“My name will be the same.”

[Han Sijoon]

[Male]

While I was navigating the academy-style RPG game, V. AGE, I typed my own name onto the character window.

It was to increase my immersion when playing games.

This RPG game, commonly referred to as the “Villain’s Era.” It was on another level from other games in terms of player immersion.

For starters, there were endless options to choose from when it came to the character’s backgrounds, initial skills, and fate.

If you wanted to play for the story, you might opt to become the son of a good household.

If you wanted to play for powerups, you might max your skills.

The episodes would flow through a fate system.

V. AGE boasted about the scope of their character customization. Numerous settings were put directly into the players’ hands which in turn increased their immersion level to the highest degree.

That was one of the reasons I got addicted to the game and how I had 2,000 hours in playtime.

“I can’t stand this concept.“

The concept I was referring to was called “The Pro’s End.”

I was creating my 127th character for a new concept.

Numerous character backstories passed by in front of me.

[An Ordinary Household]

[The Son of the Final Boss]

[A-Rank Hero’s Disciple]

[Genderbending as a Girl]

[Grew up Alone in an Alleyway]

…

Hmm.

Hundreds of titles passed by, but I already played through most of them, so nothing particularly stood out.

“Huh? Did it update?”

As I was watching the moving letters with disinterest, a title I had never seen appeared.

[Childhood Friend of an S-Rank]

For someone like me who thoroughly read through each backstory in order to get a high-quality concept, this was one that didn’t exist before.

Apparently, the game had stopped updating for a long time.

Fascinated by encountering a new story, I navigated the mouse cursor to it.

[A male student and childhood friend of a female student, who was destined to become a S-Rank Hero]

A childhood friend.

On top of that, “S-Rank Hero,” only about 10 of these existed in the game.

I knew this rarity should’ve dropped for me by now, so it was a very enticing option.

“There’s nothing to think about.”

Click.

I picked and put the story into the basket like I would do for shopping.

“What the, why is this so expensive?“

Even though V. AGE boasted about the scope of its flexibility, not everything was permitted.

When you created a character, you had to adjust the settings so that it didn’t end up as a hack.

The total cost points was usually 10, but in the case of the S-Rank, it cost 15.

The price was considerably burdensome for the creation of a character.

“There’s no other way.”

I had no choice but to deduct my fate stat. 

I couldn’t let this scenario go, because…

“Aren’t childhood friends the best?”

The childhood friends I’d see in clips of videos were very attractive.

She would wake me up every morning, we’d go to school together, experience puberty, realize we’re in love, then get married…

Such was every man’s romantic dream. 

That was my childhood friend.

If this wasn’t the jackpot, what is?

I could lose a few stats for romance, right?

I moved the mouse to the stat window.

 [Strength 5]

 [Agility 5]

 [Stamina 5]

 [Magic 5]

 [Fortitude 5]

12 was the maximum it could go, with 5 being the average stat figure of an academy student. 

However, at this rate, I wouldn’t be able to select this story.

“It’s all for the sake of my childhood friend, take it well, my stats.”

In order for my romance to bloom, I began to brutally butcher my status window.

 [Strength 2]

 [Agility 3]

 [Stamina 2]

 [Magic 0]

 [Fortitude 8]

With a total decrease of 13 points and a total increase of 3 points in stats, the difference in the stat change came out to be 10, costing about 0.4 per unit.

That was how I was able to lower the four costs of the stats.

“It can’t be helped…“

My stats were horrendous, but it’d more than suffice for the sake of my childhood friend.

Since physical abilities were an absolute must, I invested into strength, agility, and stamina as much as I could. I had to be able to move after all.

Fortitude was a given. If your will power was low, events wouldn’t appear, and you wouldn’t be far from your demise.

I’m so scared!

If the character you built up all this time perished due to their lack of fortitude, thereby losing his composure and saying that in his final moments, you had to raise the will power.

I remembered all the time I put into cultivating that character… The trauma was still haunting me.

Then what would happen if you had zero magic?

I was in the situation where I had to reduce my cost to hit 10.

If I reduced too much of my physical abilities, I’d be bound to a wheelchair. So the stat I removed was magic. 

I’d never started out without any magic before.

It’s questionable if things would even proceed like normal.

“It’s just a game anyway. If it works, good, if it doesn’t, whatever.”

It didn’t matter if I restarted. Besides I had an S-Rank for a childhood friend, who would likely protect me.

It’s a no-brainer for me to believe that.

“Now then for the last one…”

What should I do with this?

For the final part, I checked the “fate” selection window.

[The Fate of the Victim]

[The Fate of the Protagonist]

[The Fate of the Destitute]

…

These were the episodes from the fates given to me, it was either I might be forced to sacrifice something, or I alone would succeed in my endeavors.

Most were positive fates, meaning they would unfortunately add 1 to the total cost.

The current cost was 11.

There was 1 cost point to remove.

I had to choose a fate with a demerit.

“Haa… What’s there to choose? Not genderbending, definitely not [The Fate of the Robbed].”

No matter how much I scoured, there didn’t appear to be any suitable fates.

I read through the screen more carefully.

“There must be at least one…”

Found it.

A fate with an ordinary episode.

I put it in the settings.

[The Fate of the Villain]

The fate of being misunderstood as the villain, such was the one I chose. 

Would I even be able to make a childhood friend with this…

Unable to contain my excitement, I clicked on the character creation button.

Click.

Click.

What the? Why can’t I click it?

Despite my endless clicking, the character creation window remained as is.

Why won’t it work?

I know I met all the conditions…

Ah.

I noticed the words above the character creation window.

[Total cost 10.5]

…Was it a stealth patch?

I could’ve sworn, the villain episode would deduct it by 1?

As soon as my joy dissipated, a sense of urgency came up.

I had long since been scrupulous.

How long are you going to stare at the creation window for?

I wanted to meet my childhood friend quickly since it’s a romance.

“Add one more fate.”

Up to three fates were allowed, which ranged from conflicting to non-overlapping ones.

I chose the fate that reduced half a cost point.

“I choose [The Fate of the Playboy].”

I’ve rarely selected the playboy’s fate since it didn’t end well.

You’ve been poking around too much.

I literally used to prod around and seduce the talented characters.

Of course, the ending was my demise.

I was stabbed to death by the heroine. 

But this time, it was different.

“I should be fine as long as I don’t flirt with others while I’m a playboy.”

I’m sure I’ll have a gorgeous S-Rank childhood friend anyway. 

It didn’t matter since I could simply go against fate.

I clicked to create the character, just matching the 10 cost point.

[Character Creation Complete. Do you want to start the game?]

[Y/N]

Yes, obviously. My childhood friend is waiting for me.

I stared at the monitor, pressing the Y, eagerly waiting for the game to load.

[Loading…]

The gauge for the loading window was rising.

It climbed up then disappeared like a mirage.

What’s going on? Why isn’t the game starting?

It was too late to worry about that.

With my last glance, I read the words left on the monitor screen.

[I beseech you to save her.]

Before I knew it, only the words remained on the loading window before I had quietly vanished.

 ***

The house was busier than expected in the morning.

There was a woman preparing a meal for four.

There was a man preparing to go to work.

As well as other workers to be thankful for.

Feeling awkward sitting still by herself, she asked the auntie who was rolling the eggs.

“Is there anything I can help you with, ma’am?”

“Hm, not really… Then, can you go and wake up my son?”

“Yes! Leave it to me!” She briskly answered, and walked toward the closed room.

“What time does he think school began? Is he still asleep? This is just…”

She was seething inside, but she naturally composed herself.

Hold it in. Hold it in.

She knew she should be understanding since he wasn’t feeling well. 

Yoo Hayeon burst open the doors as she thought about the guy, who was born with a weak constitution.

“I won’t bother with knocking, okay?”

Since Hayeon never knocked, she entered the room and found “Han Sijoon” who was still in dreamland.

“Whew, what would he do without me? He’d always be late for school.”

Just as expected, he really needed me, was what she thought.

Hayeon looked at Sijoon’s face, who was sleeping under the blanket.

Although had no baby fat, he still stirred up one’s protective instincts with his slender appearance.

Hayeon was his childhood friend, but she had to admit the obvious.

“He’s handsome. In a bad way.”

He looked like the type to attract women.

Hayeon began to play her antics when she saw him.

“…It’s your fault for waking up late, you know?”

She climbed on top of Sijoon’s lying body and shouted his name loudly.

“Wake up! Han Sijoon!!”

“What? What the?”

It was a typical morning greeting from a childhood friend. 

His eyes were full of confusion when he woke up.

“W-Who are you?”

Sijoon had been sitting in front of the monitor just moments ago.

What he saw when opened his eyes was an unfamiliar lady sitting on top of him.

Translator’s Notes: 

I had to elaborate much more than the Korean text did because of how vague their explanation was. It can still be confusing, so here’s a visual representation of the math and numerical values.

 [Strength 5] →  [Strength 2] = ↓3

 [Agility 5] →  [Agility 3] = ↓2

 [Stamina 5] →  [Stamina 2] = ↓3

 [Magic 5] →  [Magic 0] = ↓5

 [Fortitude 5] →  [Fortitude 8] = ↑3

Total Decrease in Stats:

↓13

Total Increase in Stats:

↑3

Cost = Difference In Total Change in Stats

↓13 – ↑3 = 10 

5 Stats x 5 = 25 

10/25 = 0.4 per unit cost

Cost = 10

Positive Fate = +1 to the Cost

Negative Fate = -1 to the Cost

Some fates can cost 0.5.