NOVEL NEXT Chapter 76
After all the commotion had finally settled, peace returned.
The wording may sound grandiose, but truthfully, it was simply a return to normalcy.
Before I move on, there’s one point I’d like to touch upon: first off, I didn’t suffer any particular losses from this controversy.
In fact, I might have even gained from it.
Even though I was at the forefront of the controversy and went through all the hardship, the result was an influx of countless new users.
Considering that every game company considers attracting new users their top priority, it was an advantage that money couldn’t buy.
Of course, as a consequence, there were groups at places like Bluebird and elsewhere who were angered by our game—but I wasn’t particularly interested in focusing on such waste, so I simply ignored it.
As for Justice, which had been at the center of the controversy, I suppose they avoided the worst of it.
Although some damage was inevitable due to their position at the heart of the controversy, they managed to prevent user defections through appropriate responses.
This was no small feat, as the third Team Leader’s response was incredibly swift after the incident with Lee Seo.
It seemed they realized that it wasn’t the time to be stubborn after facing such a major issue.
First off, the dubbing work by voice actress Lee Ji-yeon, which had been the center of the Nita dubbing controversy, was discarded.
Moreover, the illustrations done by Park Lee-seo—originally Nonomi—were all set to be scrapped as they were scheduled for rework.
In addition to this, they planned sincere apologies through live broadcasts and distributed generous compensation packages to make amends.
The handling was so clean that, from my perspective, it was impressive, and public sentiment naturally improved significantly.
For example, the ranks of PC room users who were floating between 30th and 40th place climbed to 15th and are now aiming to break into the top 10.
Because of these results, the third Team Leader’s attitude towards me has also changed drastically compared to the past—it’s almost like a complete reversal.
Whereas their tone used to be subtly aggressive, likely due to some inferiority complex, now they treat me almost as respectfully as they do Director Jo, which…
is more than a little burdensome.
At any rate, we survived the storm of gender conflict.
Of course, there were many places—such as the webtoon industry—that were affected by our controversies, but they’ll manage.
***
Now that all the controversies have come to a close, it’s time to dedicate ourselves entirely to preparing for the offline event just three weeks away.
Or rather, it’s time we should be dedicating ourselves entirely—but my health issue has come to haunt me instead.
Yerin was the first to notice the change in my condition.
While we were holding discussions on the list of illustrations to be displayed on the triangular structure that’s a signature of the Olympic stadium…
Yerin looked at me and asked,
“Senior, are you feeling unwell?”
“Uh? Why?”
“You have a redness on your face, and you seem weak. Don’t you have a fever?”
“I didn’t feel any symptoms when I came to work.”
“Is that so? Just a moment.”
After my response, she placed one hand on her forehead and the other on mine, checking for a fever.
Still uncertain, she said,
“I think you do have a fever, but I’m not entirely sure… Please visit a hospital at lunchtime.”
I nodded in agreement with Yerin’s advice.
After the meeting with Yerin ended, and I returned from visiting several event management companies as part of my external schedule, I started to show symptoms in earnest.
A headache was followed by fever and chills.
My body began to shiver uncontrollably, and I immediately understood what condition I was in.
This was the sign of the flu.
And not just any case of it—this was definite.
Ever since I was young, I’ve experienced the flu periodically as if it were a chronic illness. I’ve tried to manage it thoroughly, but with no cases in the past few years, I had relaxed my vigilance too much, and it now seemed to have erupted in full force.
Moreover, with ongoing offline event preparations and the gender conflict issues, I had been pulling all-nighters like they were daily meals…
My sigh was heavy with regret as I used up one of my annual leave days.
Since I didn’t want to risk the HR team nagging me to use my annual leave, I decided to use it instead of a sick day.
After confirming with the HR team that my annual leave had been applied, I gathered the necessary work documents to take home before leaving the office.
I sent a message to the directors advising them to contact me if anything came up—and then decided to visit the hospital first.
***
“Flu.”
As expected, the doctor’s diagnosis confirmed that it was the flu.
“Isn’t the flu circulating right now? Did you not get the flu shot?”
In response to the doctor’s question, I could only give an apologetic smile.
“I’ve been a bit busy lately…”
“Regardless, even if you don’t feel the symptoms now, your temperature has exceeded 38 degrees. I recommend you get an injection and IV fluids. What do you think?”
“I’ll take both.”
“Yes, once you’re done with the examination, please follow the nurse’s instructions. Nurse Kim!”
“Yes!”
In came the nurse, summoned by the doctor,
“Give this patient a fever-reducing injection and start an IV.”
Following the nurse, I received both the fever-reducing injection and the IV drip. After purchasing ingredients for porridge, I returned home, having spent about two hours.
“I might as well tidy things up while the medication is still taking effect…”
I placed the ingredients for porridge in the refrigerator, changed into my pajamas, and got into bed.
As I lay there, appreciating the warmth of the electric blanket, I began to feel a slight sentimental nostalgia.
“Therefore, this is why it’s said that the saddest moment when living alone is when you’re sick…”
I’m not usually someone who fears loneliness, but feeling unwell seemed to be affecting my thoughts.
Just as I was wallowing in such feelings,
My smartphone rang.
Upon answering the call, a familiar voice on the other end of the line greeted me.
“Senior, I didn’t see you at the office—did you take a sick day off?”
“Huh? Oh, before coming to work, I sent a message asking everyone to contact me if anything came up.”
“It didn’t come through.”
“Seems I must not have sent it properly while I was feeling under the weather. Yerin, could you please inform the others? Let them know to get in touch if anything happens.”
“Hey, wouldn’t it be better to just rest and not worry about work right now?”
“I just feel uneasy.”
“I understand… Senior, please get some good rest, and I’ll visit this evening.”
“No, don’t push yourself; it would be a disaster for the event preparations if anyone else fell ill. Take care of yourself.”
After much persuasion, I finally ended the call with Yerin.
“I guess arguing like that has driven away the loneliness.”
Casually tossing my smartphone aside, I looked over at the work documents still in the bag on the floor.
“Should I take a quick look…?”
“I’m unwell—what’s there to look at? I need to sleep.”
Deciding to trust my future self to handle anything urgent, I closed my eyes.
Despite my concerns about not being able to sleep easily during the day, the medication’s effects quickly lulled me into a deep, dreamless slumber.
***
How many hours had I slept?
Thanks to the medication, I enjoyed one of my best sleeps in a long time. But the knock on the door brought me back from that deep slumber.
“Who is it…?”
Worried if I had only imagined the sound in the quiet room,
“Knock knock knock!”
The knock sounded again, prompting me to quickly get out of bed and head to the door.
Looking through the intercom at the visitor outside, a familiar figure came into view.
Standing there was Su-yeon, with her brunette wavy hair reaching about 150 cm in height and neatly dressed in a suit.
Upon identifying the visitor, I quickly opened the door. Su-yeon entered with a basket of fruit in her hand, greeting me with a smile.
“Our Department Head looks like half of themselves. Were you asleep?”
“Yes, I had just taken some medicine and was resting.”
“So I woke a sleeping patient? I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. I was about to wake up anyway.”
“Nice try, but here, take this.”
With an apologetic look, Su-yeon handed me the basket of fruit.
It was heavier than I expected.
The basket held a variety of fruits thoughtfully selected for their benefits against colds and the flu.
Su-yeon then retrieved a couple of apples from the fruit basket and asked,
“Ho-jin, go back to bed. I’ll peel these apples for you. Do you have a knife at home?”
“I do… but I can do it myself.”
“That’s fine, I’m not going to overwork you.”
Even after trying to argue a few more times, Su-yeon’s refusal left me no choice but to nod and return to bed.
As I lay on the mattress and looked toward the kitchen, I saw Su-yeon diligently peeling the apples.
In a half-dazed state due to the flu and the medication, I observed her movements when suddenly,
Su-yeon approached holding a plate of peeled apples.
“Why are you staring so blankly?”
“No, I wasn’t…”
“Is it because you have a fever? Let me check.”
Setting the plate on the desk, Su-yeon came over and reached out her hand just like Yerin did that morning.
Without giving me time to react, she placed her hand on my forehead.
“It doesn’t seem too bad, but you’re still a little warm. You’ve taken the medication, right?”
I managed to nod in response to Su-yeon’s question.
Taking a piece of apple with a fork, Su-yeon extended it toward me.
“Try this.”
“I’ll do it myself.”
“Just eat.”
Reluctantly, I accepted the piece of apple she offered and took a bite. The sweet and tangy flavor of the apple hit my mouth.
“Delicious…”
Seeing my face, Su-yeon looked pleased and said,
“I’m glad it tastes good.”
“Yeah, I didn’t have much appetite, but now…”
“Eat some more. There’s plenty.”
While saying this, Su-yeon suddenly had a thought and looked at me apologetically.
“Ho-jin.”
“Yes?”
“I’m really sorry about this, but could we talk about work briefly?”