Chapter 2 – My Childhood Friend is Different than I Expected 

“Who are you…?” I asked while snapping out of drowsiness.

Was I still half asleep? Why was a female stranger sitting on top of me while I was sleeping?

When I stirred from my slumber, what my eyes saw and what my head processed lagged significantly.

The lady, whose name I didn’t know, had a slightly bad disposition when she spoke.

“So that’s how you’re going to play? I’m definitely not going to wake you up five minutes later. You’ll be in big trouble if you’re late for the entrance ceremony! Hurry up and get ready!”

“Wait, I asked who you are?”

“So you’re playing dumb?”

No, I’m not. I’m asking who you are.

We were not on the same page.

I looked around in frustration.

The walls were painted a sky blue, and tons of books were crammed in a study desk.

It looked like a typical house of a male student.

Ah.

The following thoughts came to my mind.

This is not my room.

That fact was enough to shock me.

“Forget your name, what’s mine?”

“Did you sleep on the wrong side of the bed? What else could it be besides Han Sijoon?”

Han Sijoon.

That was indeed my name, but everything else around me has changed.

Only then, did I recall the previous evening.

I know I created a V. AGE character and fell asleep on my desk just last night…

No way. Don’t tell me, it’s…?

An uneasy thought crossed my mind.

A woman with black hair. She spoke to me like we had been close friends for ten years. She even woke me up like a childhood friend who grew up together for a long time.

“Wait, are you feeling sick anywhere…?”

She gave me a worried look.

I don’t even know your name, so why are you looking at me like that?

It made my heart twinge for some reason.

At that moment, small memories began to play out in my head.

The memory of my preschool years where I was holding a child’s hand while crying.

The memory of my elementary school years where the child protected me from bullies in the hospital.

The memory of my middle school years where I walked with a schoolgirl while inhaling the fresh spring air.

The child from my memories resembled the woman in front of me a lot.

“Yoo Hayeon.”

“What is it? Are you hurting somewhere…?”

“No. I just wanted to say your name.”

She was my childhood friend, “Yoo Hayeon.”

Furthermore, she was among one of the only 10 S-Rank heroes in V. AGE.

[The Childhood Friend of the S-Rank Hero]

This was the background I set for my character in the game.

Since I had enough fortitude, I could calmly assess the situation.

I’m inside V. AGE. 

A game.

And…

I became the childhood friend to the woman who would become a S-Rank in the future.

This meant one thing.

I’m doomed.

I concealed the despair, which was forming inside of me, and spoke to Hayeon.

“Can you leave right now?”

I wanted to be alone.

Magic 0.

Physical ability, almost 0.

For a day where my dismal stats dawned upon me, the sun shone freaking bright outside the window.

***

“Haa…”

How did I fall into this world? 

No matter how much I contemplated, the only thing that came out was a deep sigh.

I couldn’t taste the flavor of the rolled omelet in my mouth.

While I was picking at my food, I heard a middle-aged woman in her 40s speak.

“…It makes you not want to cook for him. Isn’t that right, Hayeon?”

“Of course, ma’am. The food you make is so delicious. It’s always so tasty!”

Hayeon giggled as she chatted with the mother of Han Sijoon from “this world.”

The kindness she displayed was on another level than from when she woke me up. She looked no different than a traitor who threw someone off a bus.

She calls this tasty?

The side dishes that were prepared were kimchi stew, rolled omelet, and a variety of other food. However, the taste was beyond unimaginable. 

The woman must not have added salt because the rolled omelet was abysmally bland. As for the kimchi stew, it was like she put the kimchi in the water since only the taste of the red chili flakes lingered in my mouth.

This was not the food I knew…

I put down my chopsticks, quietly saying,  “Thank you for the meal.”

“You only had a bite?”

“…I don’t have an appetite.”

I couldn’t eat any more.

This was not a meal…

My memories may have merged with Han Sijoon’s from this world, but my taste buds were perfectly intact.

Even if it was cooked by my mother, the taste couldn’t be overlooked. Right?

The lack of expression on my father’s face as he ate silently seemed to answer my question.

This was not for humans to eat.

I quietly prayed for the meal to be over with.

***

I waited for the meal to end.

Like Hayeon said, today was the entrance ceremony. I wore the school uniform and headed to the main stage of V. AGE, “The Hero Academy.”

…Do I have to go?

Don’t give me that. Put on your uniform already.

A black jacket, a red necktie, a black vest, and a white dress shirt. It was the Hero Academy’s achromatic school uniform.

I didn’t want to drag my feeble body there, but I had no choice but to obey her. It was probably safer to go there anyway.

The Fate of the Villain.

It was not a fate that was in the good category of fates.

I was literally destined to become a villain. For example, it was a type of negative fate where I could get kidnapped by an unidentified organization, and my body subjected to medical experiments.

It would have been a different story if I had the power to protect the people around me, but I was basically a walking tree now.

I inhaled and exhaled, and repeated that cycle.

Because I was a tree without magic, I needed a forest to protect me from being mowed down.

That forest was Yoo Hayeon, the one who would become the S-Rank hero at the academy.

Before I had daydreamed about dating my childhood friend, but now, my number one priority was survival.

Stay away from the threat of the “villain” at the academy and build up as much strength as possible.

Although I had fallen into the world of a game, I was able to be calm and arrive at that conclusion because my fortitude was 8.

But how did he qualify for the academy with this body?

That was the only question that remained.

I stood in front of the doorway to the house.

“Have a safe trip, son.”

“Take care of yourself.”

Students had to live in the dormitory when they entered the academy, so this was probably the last time I would see them.

Them, who were not my real parents.

However, this body remembered and replied sincerely.

“I’ll see you later.”

Although I didn’t want to see them at all, I promised them I would.

I was conflicted about not being swept by my fate and also giving my word as the son.

Wasn’t it the child’s duty to say something at the end?

Hayeon, who did not know how I felt, wrapped her arms around my neck and shouted cheerfully.

“We’ll be off, ma’am, mister! I’ll take good care of him, so don’t worry!”

Who’s taking care of who?

From my memories, Yoo Hayeon was not the type of person that could help others. She was egotistical and selfish, the seeds of her S-Rank nature were visible. If she didn’t like something she would poke at me and express her frustration. Yet to others, she would pretend to giggle and act like a kind and pure child.

Seeing that past shattered my ideals of a childhood friend.

“My childhood friend is a fraud.” I said in my head while looking at the back of her head as we made towards the academy. 

“What, you got something to say?”

“…No.”

So she didn’t become an S-Rank for nothing.

Hayeon eyed me suspiciously as if she had heard me talk badly about her.

She observed me intently, before abruptly pulling my hand.

“We’re late, idiot. Hurry up and follow me.”

“I’m not a child.”

“Well, you still are in my eyes.”

Hayeon snorted and walked while holding my hand.

If I had to nitpick, I was indeed old. But I didn’t want to bring it up so I just followed her.

Her hands were as warm and small as ever.

 ***

The background of V. AGE was modeled after Earth. It shared similarities to Korea, where I used to live.

There existed monsters, and dangerous and powerful people.

Evil emerged from the gate.

The gates were classified from F to S depending on the amount of magic those beings emitted.

Ordinary citizens could conquer a F-Rank if they combined forces and an E-Rank could be easily cleared if one could use magic. However, the difficulty rose exponentially starting from rank D. In order to clear the gate, people had to enter it and break the gate’s core. The gates under D-Rank were constructed on a flat ground or a simple structure.

Then what about D-Rank and above?

Labyrinths, mountains, seas, ruins. There were specific terrains from that point onwards. In order to clear those gates, specially trained individuals needed to be present.

That was why the “Hero Academy” was created. It was also the association’s effort to protect ordinary citizens.

That wasn’t all though.

Although the association appeared decent, it belonged to an atrocious group.

It’s no wonder I started with destroying the association when I played the game.

The Hero Association was an institution that was basically as useless as the villains.

“What are you brooding about?”

“Huh?”

As I recalled the backstory of V. AGE, I didn’t detect the gaze next to me.

Hayeon was staring at me with her black piercing eyes.

I roughly brushed it off.

“Nothing much. I was staring out the window, spacing out.”

“Hmm. Really? What’s outside?”

“Buildings and people.”

Those weren’t visible to the eye. The train, which was powered by magic, was moving quickly. The view from the train’s window passed instantaneously and could not be chased with the eye.

Hayeon fixed her hair and glared at me as if she didn’t like my apathetic response.

“You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you.”

“What?”

“How long do you think I’ve known you for? You think I wouldn’t notice?” 

Her eyes were as still as the calm before a storm.

“Tell me, right now. What are you hiding?” Her tone was icy cold.

She emitted a scary aura.

As expected…

There was no getting past her.

She must’ve sensed something quite off with her childhood friend.