Kijoo was working at a cafe part-time, with customers lining up at the cashier. She was busy making coffee and manning the cash register.
Damn, there are only two people on today's shift?
"Dan, is it really just the two of us on the morning shift?"
"Yeah, it looks like everyone else is sick, we really have to work twice as hard today."
Wow, what a disaster!
Kijoo was rushing to make a matcha latte. As she was pouring the matcha into her latte cup, she suddenly bumped her elbow against the edge of the table, wincing in pain.
"Ugh—"
Dan quickly helps Kijoo to pour out the matcha.
"There's a band-aid in the cash register drawer, just put it on."
"I'm fine, don't worry."
"Your elbow is grazed."
"It's just a graze, we have to take care of the customers now."
"Yes, you're right,"
The atmosphere was busy as customers kept coming in, especially since Kijoo and Dan were the only ones on the morning shift that day. Kijoo had ignored her scraped elbow for hours, which worried Dan. While Kijoo was busy washing the dirty dishes, Dan approached her from behind with a band-aid and applied it to Kijoo's elbow.
"Huh? Thanks, but I think it's fine now."
"It's obviously still scraped, so it's better to cover it with a band-aid,"
Dan carefully applied it to Kijoo's elbow. Dan was always concerned about his coworkers, especially Kijoo, who always shared the same shift as him.
"I swear, if my salary stays the same at the end of the month, I'm going to complain."
Dan laughed.
"Just hoping, you know our boss rarely gives us more, even if we only have two people working."
Kijoo sighed, then wiped her hands with a handkerchief.
"Luckily, my work partner is you."
Dan raised his eyebrows in amusement.
"What's going on? It's rare for you to say something like that."
Kijoo laughed, then nudged Dan's side with her elbow.
"I'm just glad you're always my reliable shift partner."
Dan grinned slightly, then acted arrogant.
"Did you just find out? I'm reliable in everything, haha!"
Kijoo laughed with him. Dan was someone who easily adapted to both people and the opposite gender. Despite his playboy-like appearance, he was a man who took responsibility for his duties. Kijoo returned to serving coffee to customers, eavesdropping as two customers were busy discussing something.
"I've lost that game so many times, damn it! I've already lost almost 1 million won!"
"But you won't stop playing it anyway!"
"It's so exciting, damn it. No one has even reached the top rank yet!"
Kijoo turned to them, seemingly eavesdropping on their discussion about the game.
"Two days ago, I saw someone nicknamed 'JK' reach the top rank, but then he dropped back down. He was the first person to reach rank 2! Even ordinary people can only reach rank 3!"
"Crazy, I want to be friends with that person."
"He always plays alone, never collaborates with anyone."
"Wow, he's really arrogant."
Hearing that, Kijoo was confused. What's the fun in it? Games were a useless hobby. She even played once with his younger brother, but she didn't play anymore because she didn't understand where the fun was. Kijoo sat at the cashier, waiting for customers to arrive, and asked Dan, who was making coffee.
"Do you know what they're talking about regarding that game?"
"You don't know? It's quite a famous game."
"Ah, I don't really like games."
Dan raised his eyebrows in confusion, but also a little interested.
"You could say it's a crazy game, though."
"Why?"
"That game is known for being quite difficult, and rumor has it that only one person has reached rank 2, but they only lasted a day. It's also quite expensive, though surprisingly, it's addictive. You know the game 'Minecraft,' right?"
"Oh, yeah, I know that."
"It's similar to that, but the difference is the game's more fantasy-like. So if you manage to reach the top 3 in rank and survive for three days, you'll earn around 1 million won from the game's owner."
"1 million? That's crazy!"
Dan laughed, then continued. "Many people try that game to achieve that achievement, but unfortunately, many of their money is drained just buying character skins and constantly reviving."
"Crazy man, it's just a regular game."
"You should try it. Who knows, someone like you might get addicted to it too."
"I don't want to, and I never will."
"You're very persistent, yes, but there's some truth to that. It's better not to try it if you don't want to get addicted."
Kijoo gave Dan a sharp glance, then let out an annoyed chuckle.
"It's using up my laptop's storage space too."
Kijoo took off her apron, folded it, and put it under the cash register drawer.
"My shift's over. I think Senior Naeeon is coming."
"Ah, okay. Be careful on the way,"
Kijoo bowed her head to Dan, symbolizing goodbye. She opened the shop door. The sound of the bell above the door echoed throughout the room, then Kijoo left the shop.
Stupid, I should have asked Dan what the game was called first.
Kijoo sighed, tying her hair back in a messy bun. She walked along the zebra cross, enjoying the cool autumn air. Around her, many young couples sat under the seasonal trees, enjoying themselves, and she clearly wasn't interested in anything romantic. Kijoo went to an ice cream shop on the side of the road and sat on a swing, watching the children play tag under the fallen leaves.
"Oh, I forgot. Haeon must be looking for me."
Kijoo grabbed her phone from her bag and called Haeon while licking her vanilla ice cream. Before she could even glance at it, Haeon quickly picked it up.
"Hey, Kijoo! Damn it, help me out here!"
"Why? It's your own shop, too."
"You have time, right? Help me out here, ugh! I'm working with a lazy partner, my brain's about to explode!"
"Busy, I'll just do it later."
"Hey, you said you'd help yesterday—"
Pip
Kijoo sighed, finished her ice cream, and stood up. The little boy running around in the park suddenly tripped over a rock, and he winced. Kijoo grinned slightly at his antics.
"I better get back to the apartment."
***
Kijoo lay on her bed, holding her phone and listening to her favorite song in her right ear bud. The pouring rain of the night made her feel really comfortable lying in bed now. Her shoulder-length hair spread out behind the pillow, and Kijoo was searching for the game title Dan had been talking about this morning.
"What's it called? It's kind of like 'Minecraft,' right?"
Kijoo paused. Her deep blue eyes stared at one of the videos discussing the game, 'Dungeon.'
"Ah, the game looks pretty ordinary."
But then, she was clearly curious about the game. She stood up from her bed and walked over to her desk. Kijoo immediately took her laptop from her bag and placed it on her desk. She sat down in her gaming chair and opened it. Kijoo opened the Microsoft Store app and searched for the game 'Dungeon.'
"Here it is."
She pressed the download button and read the game's synopsis.
"7 GB? That's crazy, I'm going to uninstall it again after this."
Kijoo removed the earbud from her right ear and, while waiting for the download to finish, began to think about her childhood. She used to play with her little brother who was such a big fan of action games. Since Kijoo preferred studying, she was never really interested in playing games with him. Whenever her little brother asked her to play a game with him, she initially declined. Although when her little brother begged, she couldn't refuse. One time, they sat in the living room and played together on the couch. Surprisingly, Kijoo won against her little brother, yet she still found the game boring. She didn't know where the fun was.
Your download was complete.
"Okay, let's try it."
Kijoo adjusted her sitting position and clipped her side hair back with a hair clip. She started playing the game, her deep blue eyes suddenly widening in surprise. The game's animation was so beautiful, she thought to herself.
Damn, why am I only just discovering this now?
She started logging into her account, then realized she was asked to create a nickname.
"Nickname? Hmm… what should I call it? I don't really know…"
Kijoo remembered one of her favorite toys she'd been wanting to buy since she was little. When she went to college, she finally got her hands on one called 'Fugo', a chicken shaped toy. Kijoo gave it that nickname. Then she chooses her character. She thought, Should I just use a boy character? The outfit is pretty cool. Kijoo used a boy character with a black shirt, a sword, an MP41, cargo pants, and a layered black haircut.
I'm cool too. So arrogant.
Kijoo started playing the game.
Welcome to the Dungeon world, Fugo!
< MIYA > Hi! I'm Miya, the Servant from Dungeon world! Here, I'll help you survive this game! First, you have to find as many bricks as possible to build a decent shelter. In this way, you have to dig a lot of soil in the north, but you also have to avoid the attacks of spirits! You can attack them by throwing the poison air potion that is already available in your bag! There are various preparations such as 3 poison air potions, a digging tool, 100 bullets for your weapon, and other medical equipment! For more details, you have to look for it in this Dungeon world! ^>^
Okay, first I have to dig for bricks in the north.
Kijoo started walking her character north, shovel in hand. She only saw a shady forest, and could imagine the feel of cold air. Kijoo started digging about 10 cm deep, and then she found 3 bricks.
You get 5 Bricks!
Good luck! You get 10 bricks and 5 bonus bricks!
"Wow, that's crazy. I got 20 in just one play."
< MIYA > Congratulations! With that many bricks, you can start building a shelter! Let me give you a little hint: for a safe shelter, you can start building south. The downside is, it will be difficult to find bricks there, though there are all kinds of food. The distance from Neos City to Helios can cost 250 out of 1,000 energy.
Wait, what is Neo Helios? the North?
Kijoo looked at the map above next to the game settings.
North: Neo, symbol of wind
South: Helios, symbol of clouds
West: Dawn, symbol of lightning
East: Grimshaw, symbol of stars
Okay, I'll memorize this eventually.
Going south? < Yes > < No >
She clicked < Yes >
Arriving at Helios, Kijoo built her simple house. 3 left, 3 right, 3 back, and 2 for the front.
This isn't enough.
Kijoo pressed the help button on the bottom right.
< MIYA > Hi! Need some help?
Kijoo finally opened her chat.
< FUGO > How can I get more bricks without spending another 250 energy to go north?
< MIYA > You can buy them at our shop! One bag contains 10 bricks of 10 Odds.
Crap, do I have to pay? So I have to top up frequently?
< MIYA > We have a discount for those of you who want to top up! To get 100 Odds, you have to pay 5,000 won. Our shop has everything you need. But there are also free items like water and toiletries.
"Really? There's even a bath in this game?"
Kijoo sighed, her mouse moving to the top up button.
Congratulations! You got a bonus black turtleneck sweater!
"Ah, lucky I'm topping up now."
Her eyes returned to her laptop screen, then she went back to building the house.
"Finally, my humble house is finished. Do I need a mattress to sleep in too?"
Kijoo returned to the store and looked at the mattress prices. There were spring beds, brick beds, and fluffy beds. She ended up buying the fluffy bed, which cost 15 odd.
"A shower too, huh?"
Kijoo sighed. There were still many items she had to buy. A toilet, a shower, a door, a roof, and so on.
"No wonder people say this game is expensive, huh."
Kijoo finally designed her simple house. For more than 10 minutes, she spent about 50 odd furnishing everything while arranging the layout of the house.
"Phew, it's finally done. Now what should I do?"
Suddenly, another member joined the server. She's a little taken aback.
"Someone else? Is this a public server?"
Kijoo checked the settings, it was public. If it were a private server, would that mean paying 30 Odds? Hmm, I guess it could happen anytime.
< KEYNX > Hey! New player?
Kijoo raised her eyebrows in confusion, when suddenly that person started talking to her.
< FUGO > Yeah, just today.
< KEYNX > Want to join me exploring? I can teach you too.
< FUGO > But, won't exploring use up energy?
Suddenly, she received a notification.
You received 500 energy from KEYNX! Your energy is now 1300 EP, more than normal!
Damn, i just met and already got a gift of EP.
< FUGO > Thank you, but this is too much.
< KEYNX > It's okay, so your character won't have to take a sudden break later.
< FUGO > Okay, where are we going now?
< KEYNX > We're going to hunt animals to the north. If we successfully defeat an animal, we usually get a bonus potion or a better reward.
< FUGO > Are the animals we'll be hunting appropriate for our difficulty level and level?
< KEYNX > Yes, if the difficulty level is medium or hard, we usually get a higher bonus.
< FUGO > Let's hurry there.