What Do You Think about Living With a Gaming Addict Girlfriend and Having Pure Love?

Chapter 17: KimPokDaughter’s Adventure (3)

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The cafe.

This place is a dungeon.

Crowded with people, busy employees,

Customers all dressed in business attire, employee IDs hanging around their necks.

Here, I’m an outsider, in my worn-out t-shirt and hoodie.

I might be a high-ranking player in Billion Saga, but here, I’m a level 1 noob, precariously taking my first steps with a wooden stick.

I’m a little scared, but it’s okay.

Just like at school or the orphanage, if I just keep pushing through, this moment will pass.

It doesn’t matter if people whisper about me or think I’m strange.

This isn’t my world anyway.

But…

It feels strange.

Why do I feel so at ease in the middle of this dungeon?

I hear a gentle voice.

“Espresso is the base coffee. Depending on what you mix with it, it becomes a different coffee.”

Assistant Manager Kwon is diligently explaining the menu next to me.

He’s a strange person.

If someone says they don’t know how to order, wouldn’t you normally… order for them?

I’d be grateful if someone taught me, but who would bother explaining all these menu items?

But the assistant manager chose the complicated path without hesitation.

Did he read my mind?

But, if it’s coffee, it’s just coffee, what’s this espresso thing? Is it some legendary coffee?

“Ah, espresso is coffee brewed with steam. There are various theories about its meaning, so let’s just think of it as a cool Italian word.”

See? Strange, right?

There it is again.

I definitely didn’t say anything out loud.

I just thought about it in my head.

But how did he answer without me even asking?

Have I been cooped up in my room for so long that I’ve forgotten how to think without speaking?

Or… can he read my mind?

The cafe is noisy.

Employees are shouting, people are rushing off as soon as their coffees are ready.

Countless people brush past us in line, and new people keep coming in.

Amidst this flow, we’re like a lone island.

A coffee lecture at such a busy time, it’s a strange situation.

But I feel at ease.

It’s probably because of the assistant manager.

Dressed sharply in a suit, he stands close beside me, making me feel like I belong here.

When someone is about to bump into me, he naturally guides me out of the way.

Thanks to him, I feel a sense of security, like I can just stand here and do nothing.

Armor, positioning… is he a tank?

I came here to sell my illustrations.

But my attention is completely focused on him.

The first coffee I ever tasted had a smooth foam, but the flavor…

Ugh…

Terrible.

Astringent, bitter, rough, like someone intentionally ruined the taste of milk.

But since the assistant manager kindly explained it to me, I had to drink at least half of it.

“Artist.”

Suddenly, the assistant manager called out to me.

I was startled. Did my thoughts leak out again?

“Yes, Assistant Manager!”

“Do you see that bottle on the shelf?”

“Yes, yes, I see it.”

“That’s syrup. Try adding two pumps.”

Wow.

Did you see that?

Did I say my thoughts out loud just now?

No, right?

But how is this happening?

Assistant Manager Kwon is a truly strange person.

The cake he bought me was delicious, but I couldn’t taste it properly.

I’m secretly observing him now.

He’s sitting across from me, looking out the window.

His work is done since he’s seen my illustrations.

Now he’s waiting for me to finish my cake.

That’s probably why he’s not looking at me.

So I can eat comfortably without feeling self-conscious.

Now I understand.

As I observe him, I’ve figured out why he keeps reading my thoughts.

I can feel it.

From his half-closed eyes, his loosely resting chin, the hand supporting his jaw, his swaying bangs…

I feel his intense focus on me.

My gaze, my gestures, my smiles, my tilted head, my hesitant words…

He’s picking up on all the signals I’m sending and figuring out my thoughts.

He’s concentrating on me with all his affection.

There are dark circles under his eyes.

Is he not sleeping well? Or is he overworked?

Even with those tired eyes, he’s willingly focusing all his attention on me.

This… this is Sung-Hyeon’s technique.

I thought there was only one person in the world who could use this magic.

Could it be… that the person in front of me is KwonSungHyeonFighter?

Haha, no way, right? That can’t be.

Korea is so big.

I’ve never left Seoul, but even Seoul is so vast that I couldn’t explore it all in a lifetime.

What are the chances of meeting Sung-Hyeon specifically in this vast land?

Slightly higher than 0%, right?

So, how about this?

What if there are actually many people like Sung-Hyeon in this world, full of affection!

Like the assistant manager.

Then it makes sense that I’ve met two of them!

I wish that were true.

Because if there were many people like Sung-Hyeon in the world, I could live like a normal person.

Maybe I’m not broken; maybe I’ve just had bad luck with people.

But, I was wrong.

“I *am* KwonSungHyeonFighter. How long are you going to take to figure it out?”

As expected.

I’m not a normal person.

Sung-Hyeon is just special, and I happened to meet such a special person twice.

It’s statistically improbable, but it makes more sense.

There’s no way someone like him is common, right?

Then… is this impossible probability… fate?

“It’s a fucking bug.”

“A fucking bug, huh.”

Sung-Hyeon called this incredible coincidence a “fucking bug.”

But I knew.

This wasn’t a bug or fate, but balance.

Incredibly strong bosses usually have hidden weaknesses.

Weak monsters that can be defeated in one hit often travel in hordes.

Monsters, characters, items… everything has its own balance.

It’s the same for me!

I’m a defective product, designed to have affection for only one person.

So, in return, that one person was delivered right in front of me.

Against all odds.

I had a hunch who did it.

At the orphanage, we always prayed before meals.

The kids would close their eyes tight and focus on their prayers, talking to Jesus.

I never prayed.

I didn’t have any wishes.

*Please raise the price of gold.*

*Please make the landlady forget about this month’s rent.*

Even if I were Jesus, I wouldn’t grant such wishes.

But now, facing this moment, I finally understood.

Why they prayed so fervently.

Can you believe it?

That this is reality.

Sung-Hyeon is right in front of me.

If I could experience a coincidence like this even once in my life by praying diligently,

I would pray for the rest of my life.

I decided to blackmail Sung-Hyeon into drinking with me.

When I drink, everything in the world disappears.

The noisy men at the next table, the ringing phones, the loud cheers… they all vanish, and only Sung-Hyeon and I remain.

[How could we meet like this?]

[Remember that time we…?]

[Right, that was so much fun.]

[You saw my figure for the first time, right? Do you still have yours? I want to see it.]

[We worked so hard preparing for the tournament.]

[Yeah, we stayed up all night, heehee.]

[Hey, we’ll still be playing together in ten years, right?]

[Of course.]

Time flew by without us noticing.

A dreamlike moment.

I wish it could last forever, but I knew it wouldn’t.

This sparkling moment, like always, slowly approached its logout time.

“Sung-Hyeon, can you get home okay?”

“Yeah…”

“Then… I’ll go?”

“Yeah…”

“See you tomorrow. Heehee, you’re really off tomorrow, right? I’m going to play games all day.”

“Yeah…”

I waved for a long time before turning away.

I was happy, even if just for a short while.

The fact that I, Park Da-Hye, could briefly blend into the daily life of KwonSungHyeonFighter, a respectable member of society, sent shivers down my spine.

This would probably never happen again.

Just making ends meet was a struggle for me; meeting someone in real life was a luxury.

Even that was only possible because of Billion Saga.  If it weren’t for Sung-Hyeon and Billion Saga, I would have been dead a long time ago.

So, just seeing Sung-Hyeon in Billion Saga was more than enough.

He was the person who saved my life, so I wouldn’t be greedy.

We were given different lives.

So, I would neatly fold away my feelings,

and bravely…

Sigh…

I could do it.

Don’t cry.

Be strong.

That’s when it happened.

Something hot like lava grabbed my hand.

I turned around, and Sung-Hyeon was standing there.

“Sung-Hyeon, uh…”

I was flustered.

His face…

Sung-Hyeon’s face as he held my hand…

It wasn’t the face of the composed, respectable Sung-Hyeon, the model employee from a moment ago.

Now, his face was smeared with tears and snot,

like a ten-year-old boy who didn’t know what to do with his overflowing emotions.

What was I supposed to do?

I’d barely held back my tears,

but now they were flowing.

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—–CROW—– 

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