Debt

,Hiyat!’

Kwajik!

I wield the Dragonslaying Sword – Black Flame, piercing the head of the giant Imoogi.

That powerful strike completely blew away the remaining stamina of that bastard.

Kung-!

The moment the large Imoogi fell, I let out a long sigh.

I was really glad that the monsters in the level 85 dungeon were judged to be of the Dragon race.

The [Dragonslaying Sword – Black Flame] in my hand felt heavy.

,Woah!’

,Wow… you really caught it.’

,It’s hard even with a party…’

,As expected, World Items are different.’

After the battle was all over, the party members who came late said with admiration.

I held out my hand to them and said.

,Give it to me!’

,Ah, yes.’

,I have to give it to you.’

200 gold per person.

In that way, I was able to get 800 gold from a total of 4 people.

I was working as a bus driver in the level 85 dungeon to pay back the gold I borrowed from Helena.

The passengers who received the gold ran to the fallen Imoogi and began to loot the items.

I watched the scene and sat down at the entrance to the boss room.

After obtaining the Dragonslaying Sword – Black Flame, I was able to solo level 85 dungeons, though it was touch-and-go.

Each game is a war. The sharply burning, keen senses lasted for a long time, and I felt like my head would explode.

,Thank you for your hard work!’

,I’ll be on my way.’

The passengers who took the items leave the party.

Left alone, I stared blankly at the Imoogi’s corpse.

The gold I borrowed to buy the Dragonslaying Sword was 195,000 gold.

I access the trading site to check the current gold price.

Rumors began to circulate that it would be integrated with the global server, and the price of gold was gradually rising.

The most recently traded gold price was 550 won per gold.

In other words, I owed Helena over 100 million won.

Late regret flooded in like a tide.

As if representing the blackening inside, the breath flowing from my mouth scattered as black smoke.

What the hell was I thinking to borrow such a large sum of money so readily?

I sighed again, recalling Helena’s bright smile.

I grabbed my head and thought. It’s not an amount I can’t pay back.

I collect gold from the raid gold pots that rotate every week, and sell the various alchemy materials that I can get from the weekly quests.

It’s hard to find customers, but if I also work as a level 85 bus driver, which I occasionally get, I think I’ll be able to collect gold by the end of this season.

Of course, there was a condition that I had to do field farming from time to time.

I won’t have time to sleep. I have to cut down on eating time.

I have to give up studying and playing.

It was clear that I would have to devote all my time to the game except for sleeping.

I couldn’t just stand here blankly.

I jumped up from my seat and left the dungeon.

The level 85 dungeon bus driver earned a lot compared to the time spent, but it was not easy to find passengers.

Because of that, I had to go out into the field and do other farming during my free time.

But.

Helena-[Yeon-ah. What are you doing?]

Helena was the problem. After lending me the gold, Helena suddenly started spending more time logged into the game.

Helena, who had been logged in for a long time, naturally looked for me, her friend. A lot, too.

It’s a question from a precious friend. I even borrowed gold, so my heart was heavy.

I couldn’t not answer.

Yeon-[Eung. I’m about to start farming in the field now.]

Helena-[I see… you won’t have time…]

To be honest, I didn’t have time. Even in this moment, I had to collect even one more gold to get out of debt as quickly as possible.

But Helena held my bond.

I couldn’t go against her.

Yeon-[No! I have a lot of time now!]

Helena-[Really? Then I’ll use a summons. Can you come right away?]

Yeon-[Eung!]

Along with the answer, a message pops up asking if I will respond to Helena’s summons.

I let out a small sigh and responded to the summons.

With a large pillar of light, my body begins to fly away.

The place I arrived at was in front of a large waterfall.

The towering cliffs, the waterfall pouring down below, and the trees growing between the cliffs created an incredibly wonderful landscape.

Shwaaaaa-!

,I’ve been waiting.’

My mind, which had been taken away by the waterfall, returns.

I moved my stiff gaze and looked at Helena.

Wearing a red robe, she was looking at me and showing a bright smile, as always.

Her face in reality and in the game were different, but that smile was the same.

I smiled awkwardly and waved to Helena.

,Isn’t it amazing here?’

Helena said that and turned her body towards the waterfall.

Looking at her back, I thought. I didn’t have time to appreciate such scenery right now.

Time is flowing even at this moment. I felt like cold sweat would flow down my back due to the terrible anxiety.

,Yeon-ah?’

,Ah, eung. It’s really amazing!’

I answered Helena’s question a beat late.

,Right? Now, let’s go further inside.’

Helena said that and held out her hand to me.

It’s the same as that time. She held out her hand when she lent me gold.

The cause was with me, but the moment I took her hand, I incurred debt.

For some reason, I felt like it would happen again now, so I couldn’t bring myself to take her hand.

,Come here.’

But, unlike before, Helena reached out and grabbed my hand first.

As if claiming ownership of me.

Helena wandered deep into the waterfall with me.

The two of us rode on a Wind Walker together and climbed high rocky mountains, and we also slid down the falling waterfall.

It was an impossible game in reality, but it was possible in Deron.

Time flows. Even while I’m doing this, someone must have picked the expensive herbs that bloomed in the field.

30 gold per piece. It’s expensive because the regen time is long…

,Yeon-ah! Come here!’

,Ah, eung!’

I shook my head and ran towards Helena.

It’s a place to have a good time with friends. It was rude to be thinking about other things.

2 hours.

It was the time I spent with Helena at the waterfall.

,I had fun today!’

,Are you leaving?’

,Yeah, I have to stop here today. My next schedule is packed.’

Even at the moment of ending the game, Helena looked at me with a look of regret.

,Goodbye. See you at school tomorrow!’

I waved to Helena, who was scattering with light.

The moment Helena logged out, I immediately turned around and summoned Bbyak.

,Come out!’

,Bbyaaaak!’

Bbyak, who spread its huge wings, quickly flew into the sky as if knowing my urgent heart.

,Quickly! Quickly!’

I needed gold.

A lot.

***

I farmed gold all day and came out of the capsule.

6:30 AM. It was time to get ready to go to school.

I rubbed my tired eyes and left the room.

I dragged my weakly swaying body to the bathroom. I felt like I would fall asleep with my eyes closed, but I never fell down.

I had to endure with superhuman mental strength.

After showering and drying my hair, I came out to the living room and started eating.

The breakfast prepared on the table was already being destroyed by Harang’s hands.

,You…’

Harang, who was burying his head and eating, looked surprised at my appearance.

It seems he noticed my red, bloodshot eyes.

I rubbed my eyes and answered.

,Oh. Hi.’

It was none of his business anyway.

I moved the chopsticks in my hand weakly, pushing food into my mouth.

To be honest, I don’t even know what I’m eating. I couldn’t taste it.

That’s enough.

I got up from my seat and said.

,I’m off.’

,Aren’t you going to eat more?’

,I’ll get fat.’

I dragged my tired body and went to school.

As the distance between school and home was close, I was able to arrive at school quickly.

I arrived on time. Even though I walked half asleep, I didn’t get lost.

As expected, I was amazing.

I staggered up the stairs to the classroom, and Sohee, who was always the first to arrive, greeted me as usual.

,Hayeon-ah.’

,Ah, Sohee-ya.’

,Did you play games late?’

I put down my bag and nodded to Sohee’s question.

To earn the insufficient gold, I had to reduce my sleeping time.

,Are you tired?’

,Eung…’

,Then shall we go to the nurse’s office?’

I was waiting for those words. The situation of sleeping at school itself was absurd, but I had no other choice.

I was so glad that Sohee had the key to the nurse’s office.

Sohee held my hand tightly and headed to the nurse’s office.

Following behind Sohee, I stared blankly at her hair.

It swayed slowly, like a fox’s tail.

Arriving in front of the nurse’s office, Sohee took out the key from her pocket and opened the door to the nurse’s office.

Looking at that, I think. Where the hell is the school nurse?

If you look at the list of faculty members in the school, there was definitely a school nurse.

However, no one attending this school had ever seen the school nurse. It was truly a mysterious thing.

,Come on in.’

,Uh…’

The moment I entered the nurse’s office with Sohee, my gaze flew to one place and was fixed.

It’s a bed. It was a big bed. It wasn’t a bed that would be in a normal nurse’s office, but a very luxurious bed.

The neatly folded blanket and pillow on top of it also looked expensive.

I stand there blankly, looking at Sohee’s back.

She began to prepare a place for me to lie down. She spread out the folded blanket and fiddled with the pillow.

All preparations were completed.

Sohee looked at me and tapped the bed as if telling me to lie down quickly.

The soft blanket tempts me. It felt like it was reaching out to me, telling me to lie down right now.

,Li, lie down?’

,Yeah, lie down.’

I took off the indoor shoes I was wearing and carefully crawled onto the bed.

The soft touch of the blanket begins to release the strength in my body.

,Eueueut…’

I couldn’t even get to the pillow.

I just collapsed in the middle of the bed.

That’s how tired I was.

,Do you feel good?’

,I feel good…’

,Will you be able to sleep well?’

,Eueung…’

I answered Sohee’s question and buried my face in the blanket.

The end of the word was blurred and scattered vaguely.

,I’ll lock the door. Text me when you wake up?’

,Eueung…’

With those words, Sohee got up from her seat and left the nurse’s office.

Left alone, until just before falling asleep, I moved my legs, which were wearing white stockings, back and forth, feeling the soft touch of the blanket.