NOVEL NEXT chapter 4
4. You Gave Her Money
***
~5 years ago.
It has been five years since I started supporting [Vernon Academy!]. The game still shows no signs of being released.
“The developers of this damned game put a lot of effort into unnecessary things.”
No, cancel that. It’s not unnecessary.
Honestly, there is no ‘unreleased game’ as enjoyable as this one for being a fan.
Azel and Zena advanced from primary to middle school. A crazy detail where their favorite characters also age with real time. The worldview also expands and changes accordingly.
I’ve become an adult from high school, and they’ve gone from elementary school to middle school. The magic of a 10-year-old kid becoming a 15-year-old adolescent girl.
Damn.
That’s why I can’t cancel the subscription.
These days, they not only send pictures but also voices.
Jena’s voice that says, “I’ve been waiting for you, brother! It’s already been a month!”
And Azel’s voice asking, “Did you have a helpful day today, Joa?”
Listening to it melts my heart. They managed to find real middle school students to voice the characters. It would not be easy to imitate.
I mean, voice technology has become really good. Various TTS are available now.
“Haaa….”
Yet, still a sigh escapes.
Today is the day when messages fly in from the two.
[Azel: Hello, Joa! ㅎㅎ I’ve been curious about the meaning of the word in front of your nickname for a long time. I’ve been volunteering at the church again. The ability to heal the sick children with my own power feels like a tremendous blessing ㅎㅎ I’ve been worried because your replies have been sporadic these days. I hope you’re not ill or anything. If there’s anything wrong, I can come and heal you anytime ㅎㅎ Just like how I received your help, I’d like to be of help to other children in need. Of course, if you need my help, I’ll come running at any time! ㅎㅎ Please reply this time!] (300/300)
Even though there were mistakes, they were endearing because they were just like Azel.
I thought Azel was a geek when she was just a little kid. But contrary to her appearance, she turned out to be quite a dork, which became more evident as she matured.
Anyway.
Who could resist being moved by these kinds of messages?
Yet, lately, I had not been sending replies.
No, I couldn’t.
Early on, I earnestly wrote and sent replies. To both Azel and Jenna’s messages, I consistently filled the 200-character limit with my responses.
Three years later, the character limit was lifted to 300 characters. But ever since I realized that the sender could be a hairy-legged guy named [Vernongod], I simply couldn’t bring myself to write.
So, I didn’t send replies very often. Only when I got too immersed.
My head hurts. The conflict between ‘me, immersed in [Vernon Academy!]’ and ‘me, aware of reality’.
I ponder each time I want to send a thank-you note.
Should I respond or not?
Even though I’m paying 4000 dollars…
“Come to think of it, a voice actor could have written these messages.”
Or, worse.
“Frankly, a female employee could have written them too, maybe someone from customer management.”
I’m not exactly sure, but a cute high-rank girl from the D area, rather than a hairy-legged old man, could be writing the responses.
Whatever the case, could this be akin to the responses of popular YouTubers these days?
The money I’ve spent here in the past five years is in the hundreds of millions.
Nearly 50 million Won annually, with a monthly expenditure of 4000 dollars. Given the current exchange rate…
“If I’m being honest, with the cost of a house, they should hire a female employee to do this. Agreed?”
Vernongod would’ve probably replied, “Yes, agreed.”
I’ll have to send a reply today.
It’s not because I especially liked the photos from today featuring Azel and Jenna.
“Wow.”
They’ve undoubtedly become different from the old days.
[Azel]
Azel now entirely gives off a celebrity’s vibe. She’s somehow changed jobs to a healer, even her outfit matches her new job. She’s supposed to be aiding people in a slum as some welfare worker or something.
A teenage model for charitable organizations, smiling while dripping with sweat, assisting cunning children.
[Jenna]
Jenna has the aura of a rich man’s spoiled daughter. Her outfits look ratty even though the background’s still a mansion.
Incredibly active, it seems.
Anyway.
Jenna, who was slightly tan as a kid, now has a white as jade skin tone. It seems she’s only active indoors. This is probably a detail to align with the concept of her moving from the slums back to a mansion.
“Vernongod, this son of a gun, gets it. The attention to detail is mind-blowing.”
I initially thought crudely placing Jenna in a mansion was recklessly lacking in detail.
But seeing the subtle changes in the two over five years made it impossible not to acknowledge the detail.
The remarkable details make me change my tastes as well.
I’m even considering changing my username.
I’ve been a fan of [I Like Chesty Lolis] for five years now –
Watching my daughters grow, I feel my tastes gradually changing.
Now, it’s less about ‘loli’ and more about maturity…
No, no, it’s not like I’m feeling this way toward my own daughters.
I was looking at the pictures of the two, seriously considering changing my nickname.
But then.
“Why hasn’t Azel’s house changed at all?”
Azel’s house is still slightly shabby.
Not terribly so, but it has that middle-class feeling.
Actually, it would make sense if she moved up to the middle class after receiving my sponsorship.
However, the fact that she is my daughter + the thought, ‘If Jenna can live in a mansion, why can’t Azel?’ had a significant effect.
Well, let’s put in another 5,700 characters.
[Hey, developer, but why has Azel been living in the same house for five years? If you’ve put Jenna in a mansion, can’t you do the same with Azel? And…….]
Shortly after inserting 5,700 characters, a message arrived.
This time, [Vernon God] himself responded directly.
– Hello [I Like Chesty Lolis] user. This is Vernon God, the developer. We decided to sell goods as well as fundraise. Please check out the link attached….
(Link address)
“Is this guy out of his mind?”
He just flat out ignores my message and starts selling stuff. What goods are there to sell?
At least I clicked on the link below his message.
Then.
[Vernon God’s merch center]
A screen with that title appeared. Below it were lots of merch being sold.
But these goods were quite a departure from typical fan goods. When you think of fan merch, you might picture character figurines or T-shirts. They would also sell various items featuring character images.
However…
“This guy doesn’t know how to do business.”
Vernon God was selling things like [Vernon City Mansion] or [Latest Bicycle of Vernon Academy]. There’s not a hint of my favorite characters. It’s all models of buildings.
I sent another message, wondering if my characters would be included if I bought the house model.
[If I buy the house figure, will you include Azel’s or Jenna’s ones?]
– No. It is not an actual figure, but the owner of the Mansion in Vernon City will change.
So, he’s selling not actual figures, but virtual mansion data?
Even though the game hasn’t even been released yet.
Damn. Who then would buy this?
This is supposed to be a game for nurturing fandoms.
[Vernon City Mansion]
Owner: None
If I buy that mansion without an owner and give it to my favorite character, I guess they would adjust the setting accordingly.
“Vernon God, this bastard, is a complete madman.”
I just asked to adjust the setting a bit and he straight-up casts ‘give me money’. He’s already receiving $4000 per month in sponsorships. Is he encouraging double payments?
“Change of ownership.”
[Azel].
Double charges suck, but I want to see my girl living in a good house. So I immediately bought a mansion and changed the owner to Azel.
Now switch the worldview. Launch the game.
I gave you the money, you rascal.
***
The church that helped Azel when she was young, and is helping her now.
[Church of Vernon Charity]
Located in the slums, it worked hard to aid many poor people. Its symbolic presence was monumental for the people of the slums.
However.
Groan─
The old wooden building began to show signs of collapsing. Moreover, the recent onset of the ‘storm season’.
The church sent alarming signs amidst the successive strong gusts.
Eventually, there was no choice but to evacuate the people.
“It feels like it’s going to collapse soon.”
“Oh…!”
Many believers from the slum area had already evacuated from the church. But even so, their hearts were not entirely at ease. The Church of Vernon Charity was their sanctuary – a place just like home.
However, cruelly, the world did not even afford them the time to part from the church.
Swoosh─
A major gust blew through, and the frail, crudely-built wooden church fell apart.
Crash─
Collapsed. Literally, in an instant, the church fell apart. The dust soared due to the collapsed debris.
“Oh…!”
“Whimper….”
At the horrible scenery, someone gasped and someone else shed tears.
Azel was also there.
Azel planned to rebuild the church buildings with the credits she received from the sponsor. With his permission, if possible.
However, even disregarding the fact that getting permission was immediately impossible –
There was more than one problem.
The money she received from ‘Jo-a’ was astronomical. Forty billion credits a month for five years is 2,400 billion credits.
The remaining amount would probably be 2,399 billion.
With that money, you can rebuild a luxurious church several times over.
There was plenty of money left, but –
The problem was it would take at least three weeks to build a new church.
As for buying a new home, all real estate closes during the ‘storm season’.
No one is crazy enough to move during a storm.
Above all, whenever she uses such a large amount of money, she wanted to get permission from her sponsor ‘Jo-a’.
However, she’d have to wait a month to get his response. It’s uncertain whether he would even reply or not.
In the end, the people had nowhere safe to go to evacuate.
“If only we had one more month, no, just three more weeks….”
The issue began with the preconceived period of three weeks. It was certain that everyone would die within those three weeks.
Even the estimate of three weeks was calculated under the assumption that it would not be the hurricane season. Could buildings be erected during the hurricane season?
It was impossible.
“Lady of Mercy… you don’t have to push yourself too hard.”
Azell’s moniker was ‘Lady of Mercy’. Azell was not a real ‘Saint’.
However, she had very quickly unlocked her healing talent, which she abundantly shared in the church she had been attending since childhood.
She went from being someone who received help to someone who gave help. It’s why she began to be called so.
However, even in the current situation, it was difficult for her to provide help.
“Sister….”
“We will somehow win. As always.”
The church sister spoke as if everything would be fine, but her voice trembled.
It was difficult to endure the ‘hurricane season’ in the Vernon Kingdom without a building to block the hurricane.
The sister knew this fact well. Indeed, in other regions of the slums without a church, people would flock to the regions with churches during the hurricane season.
“We have urgently requested help from churches in other regions.”
But it was uncertain whether help would be received.
The churches at this time, like other regions, were used as safe havens, and the space was not ample.
The people knew this fact. They sensed it from the sister’s statement that she had requested for help.
“Ah…!”
“It’s the end now.”
Azell felt a tremendous guilt.
“I should have anticipated this situation in advance in preparation for a crisis….”
Why didn’t she think about the age of the church building?
She didn’t consult a construction company in advance, nor did she think about assessing real estate.
It was all her fault for not being thorough—so thought Azell.
In fact, it wasn’t her responsibility at all.
Azell felt despair.
Many poor people expressed their gratitude to her. She felt proud of that.
However, now they only looked at her with despair.
Jena always joked half-seriously, “Azell, you are too careless.” She had always just laughed it off…
But now, she couldn’t laught. The notion that she had not prepared at all for such an emergency due to her lack of thoroughness was the only thought in her head.
Blaming herself again and again.
“What should I do in situations like this, Lord Joa?”
“Lord Joa, I pray earnestly! Please help!”
The only thing Azell could do was kneel and pray like that.
Then, at that moment.
Dang, Dang—
As if really hearing Azell’s prayer, the bell rang.