Chapter 2: 1

EP.1 1. The 10th regression – 01

 

“The way I see it, there aren’t any true gamers in the world these days.”

“… What bullshit are you spouting again?”

“Hey, just shut up and listen first. Cause when kids these days simply call it a ‘game’ and act all arrogant, I often get upset.”

As he said that, Seol Hajin guzzled the drink that was placed in front of him. 

“Based on my standards, this game is part of the art genre. It’s not just a simple story, the control, level design, convenience, and even the gaining of lingering feelings after the ending, it’s a work of art that can impress people. Looking at it from this perspective alone, it is no different to a movie.”

“So, what.”

“So, what I’m saying is, in the eyes of a true gamer like myself, those guys in the gaming café who scream and yell that I’ve stolen their CS1 or throw millions of dollars at mobile games for scraps of data don’t deserve to be called gamers. I don’t know about anything else but there’s no feeling in such games, no emotion and ultimately no happiness.”

“Woow, how very philosophical. So, what great game then does our resident professor Seol Hajin play for you to lump the general majority together and criticise them like that?”

“At least, we don’t handle low-quality games, right.”

Seol Hajin bobbing the soju2 glass from side to side and as if giving advice with an arrogant attitude, started to get drunk. 

“Hyunseong, what are these things called games? If we strip away all the fancy words and look at the essence, aren’t they here to help us escape our complicated daily lives even for just a moment?  However, games these days don’t have any business ethics. When playing games like that, it may be fun for a moment but if you look at it based on the outcome, there’s nothing left.”

“Hajin, I don’t know much about anything else but there’s one thing I do get.”

“What’s that?”

“The fact that since you’re talking all this nonsense, no one is approaching us.”

As he said that, Lee Hyunseong lifted his chin and looked around them. 

It was quite a wide and fancy bar which gave off an overall noisy atmosphere since it was currently packed with people. 

Next to them was a table with 4~5 people, men, and women, seated and having a conversation, however, rather unsatisfyingly, at this table there were only two dingy men, Seol Hajin, and Lee Hyunseong, sipping alcohol.

“Even though I tried my utmost and attended the general course meeting3 after getting discharged4, to think, I would be in this situation throwing back a few beers while talking with a nutjob about some nonsense topic.”

“I should be the one saying that, you idiot.”

Like that, the two, who had been exchanging warm remarks towards each other, ended up making eye contact with the girl that had been making a toast on the opposite table. 

The girl that had unfortunately locked eyes with them put a grinning smile on her face, picked up her glass and, walked softly over to Seol Hajin and Lee Hyunseong’s table.  

“Hello guys. Are you enjoying the general course meeting?”

Even if a girl had joined the table that reeked of singleness, the boys’ expression did not change. Because they knew very well the reason why a popular girl that was just laughing it up with the cool kids would come over and sit at a table of losers.

“You really don’t have to go out of your way for us. We know that you’re really busy as the student representative Jieun.”

As such. The only reason why she would bring her glass and come over to this table when everyone else had been avoiding it, was because she took on the role of this semester’s direct student rep. 

Fyi, she was also the person who invited these two friendless losers to this meeting. If she had not asked them to ‘please’ attend the meeting via the communication network, they wouldn’t have known that there would be an afterparty here today. 

‘You never know, perhaps, at this very moment, she is regretting inviting us.’

She may have just invited us here out of sympathy or she could have just mentioned it out of courtesy, but without reading the room we said we’d attend and she’s now conflicted about it.

Ah… why did I ask those two to come to the meeting? Thanks to them I can’t even enjoy my drink. And they kind of smell funny. That smell won’t rub off on us will it?

Anyway, because of pity I sat with the losers and made conversation but unintentionally ended up inviting them and they really showed up. If it were me, I would have read the room and not showed up. I didn’t think they would be so bold. 

How annoying. Can I not tell them that we’ll pay for their taxi so could they go back home? They’re not talking to us anyway so what would it matter if they went home a bit earlier. 

Should I? Them sitting here so tactlessly was also bothering me a bit anyway.  

Since I’m the student rep, I should say something. But I really don’t want to talk to those people. 

Yeah, since that’s your boyfriend, you say it. 

Nah, that’s YOUR boyfriend. 

Then, let’s decide fairly using Rock, Paper, Scissors. The losing person will have to talk to them. 

…Well, you never know, the cool kids probably have conversations like this without the losers knowing. Actually, I’m 99% sure they do. Because the ‘senses’ that have steadily grown for 6 years in elementary school, 3 years in middle school and 3 years in high school were in the middle of warning me. 

They say gazelles in the savannah that have survived countless surprise attacks from predators for long time are scarily sensitive to all kinds of threats. 

This is similar to that. 

The instinct that has allowed them to survive in the middle of a class full of bullies for over as many as 12 years, was whispering in their ears. That girl in front of them, different to them, was a cool kid deep to her bones. 

“By the way, what were you guys talking about so intensely? From over there, it slightly sounded like it was about some game or something.”

Seeing Lee Jieun smile showing her dimples as she spoke, Seol Hajin and Lee Hyunseong exchanged a glance. 

Perhaps, if they were really tactless, they would have entertained that girl with the good-looking face bringing up the topic of ‘games’. 

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What, even though the distance between this table and that table is quite far, she had been listening to everything we were saying about games and stuff? But aren’t the cool kids originally not interested in games and don’t find them fun?

Don’t tell me, as a cool kid, she secretly has a hobby of gaming that no one knows about?  And in order to have a conversation about games with us, she went out of her way to pick up her glass and come all the way here?

Ah, I see. 

She was actually the kind of girl that can have a conversation with me well. In that case, it should be okay to expect a good vibe with her today, right? Could the vibe from today continue on until tomorrow, and possibly even develop into a good relationship?

 Could we maybe even end up dating5? Then would tomorrow be our day 1? Maybe we could even end up getting married? If that’s the case, how many kids would she want? I want enough kids to fill a baseball team, would she think the same? 

While roughly repeating this kind of delusion, I was to end up accidentally tactlessly confessing such feelings, ‘ah… I’m sorry. I never thought of it that way. Could we maybe just stay in this current senior junior relationship? It’s not that I don’t like you, it’s just that I don’t have any plans to date someone right now.’ A rejection of this kind would probably come flying out6.  

“It was nothing really. We were just having a lame conversation because there’s two guys here and there’s nothing much to talk about.”

They say girls tend to ‘pretend’ to be interested so Seol Hajin and Lee Hyunseong tried to change the subject but unfortunately, Jieun was not that easy an opponent. 

“Not at all. Actually, I’m also gaming a bit lately. I thought maybe you two seniors might also have been talking about that game so.”

“What game?”

“Ragnarök. Have you heard of it?” 

It’s a game I know. Rather, there’s no way I wouldn’t know this game in the first place.

Ragnarök. Released this year, it’s a mobile game that is receiving high level recognition and is creating a buzz.   

Even though it was a casual game released exclusively on mobile for popularity, due to its deep storyline and charming characters, it’s a legendary game that boasts a degree of freedom and a number one rank in sales worldwide on its first day, that won’t fall short even when compared to AAA games7. 

Matching its popularity, there were not only adverts on portal sites relating to Ragnarök but also on buses and trains so if you are Korean person with 20/20 vision, there’s no way you would not have known about Ragnarök.

‘Still, it’s not a game I play.’

At the same time, it was a game that Seol Hajin paid no attention to, let alone had any interest in. 

The reason was simple. It was because no matter how good, outstanding it was and how much high praise it received publicly as a game, it was still at best a ‘mobile game’. 

In Seol Hajin’s opinion, mobile games were not games. In his eyes, mobile games were merely children’s playgrounds masquerading as games. 

Since the game has to target a large unspecified majority, they can’t add a lot of distinct elements and since the play has to be seamless even on a smart phone, a lot of compromises have to be made including with resolution and graphics. Also, because players have to be able to clear levels using only their fingers most mobile games are simple in nature. 

Traditionally with games, one has to die countless times until they become familiar with the game controls and, even until one can clear the game it’s so complicated that learning even half of all the game commands is borderline impossible. Putting in at least thousands of hours for you to feel like ‘ah, I’ve finally escaped the noob8 stage!’ is what a serious game is, isn’t it?

To Seol Hajin, who had fallen into the superiority mindset of steam9 and console gaming, people who play ‘mobile games’ are all ignorant and are pretty much silly primitive beings. 

‘Once you realise what true gaming is, you’ll never look at such games ever again.’

However, Seol Hajin was also very well aware. How difficult a task it is for the almighty and ignorant public to realise what ‘true games’ are.

You’d understand very well just by flicking through a history book. How much oppression and persecution did wise men who tried to explain and deliver the truth quickly to the public get in the past?

This was the same as that. In order to truly play a game, you have to have the optimal settings, and purchase the game and, once you’ve made some time and space to play the game, there may be a few connection issues, however, with mobile games, those kinds of annoyances don’t exist. 

You just have to press your finger a few times and the game automatically connects, and mobile games that automatically hunt by pressing your finger a few more times may be the most suitable entertainment for the modern person who are busy struggling in daily life and don’t have much freedom. 

To be distracted by overwhelming convenience and overwhelming simplicity, that you can't really enjoy the game and to think that just merely pressing a button is entertainment. That in itself is proof of the uneasy darkness hiding behind today’s society-

“Jieun, you’ve also played Ragnarök?”

“Yeah, a friend recommended it so I tried playing it and found it interesting. I even lost track of time following the storyline.”

Looking at Lee Jieun laugh brightly as she spoke, Seol Hajin, without knowing why, spoke bluntly.

“Is it really that fun? I honestly couldn’t tell if it would be fun even after seeing the ad.”

Lee Jieun was completely unaware that Seol Hajin’s words were tinged with the elitism and superiority of the thought that ‘there’s no way mobile games that are tantamount to cyber gambling would be fun’. 

“Yes, to be honest, I usually don’t enjoy gaming but this game was quite fun. Do you seniors play Ragnarök by any chance?”

“Oh? Um well. I’m playing a different game so I’m busy.”

“Really? In that case, do you wanna give it a go? If you have any plans of playing it let me know. Okay?”

“Let you know? Why?”

In that moment, Seol Hajin’s heart ended up fluttering. Don’t girls usually consider guys who game unsatisfactory? However, why is Lee Jieun trying to come onto me and asking me to contact her? 

Don’t tell me, she’s interested in me? Nah, no way. We’ve only exchanged greetings here and there so there’s no way she’s interested in me.

What’s going on right now then? Don’t girls usually not give any attention to guys they aren’t interested in no matter what the guy does? In that case, does that mean that her even asking to game together is some kind of signal? Is that it?

“Ah… I was just wondering if you could add my ID to the recommendation list if you’re going to sign up. Because that way, I can get 500 diamonds for free.”

“…..”

The reason was so understandable that I couldn’t help but nod. 

Well, you can’t help it, it is 500 diamonds.   1 T/N: CS (creep score), refers to how many minions and jungle monsters a player kills in the popular game League of Legends.↩
2 T/N: Soju – a type of distilled alcohol with a varying alcohol percentage (12% - 50%), I assume the type they are drinking here is on the lower end.↩
3 T/N: General Course Meeting – a meeting done at the beginning of the semester before official courses start that usually culminates in everyone heading out for drinks to get to know their course mates.↩
4 T/N: Discharged from compulsory military service that all able-bodied Korean men have to attend.↩
5 T/N: Getting a little ahead of ourselves here aren’t we.↩
6 T/N: He had a whole relationship in the space of minutes. What a skill.↩
7 T/N: AAA Games: a classification used within the video gaming industry to signify high-budget, high-profile games that are typically produced and distributed by large, well-known publishers.↩
8 T/N: Noob: Used to refer to beginner/newbie players of any game..↩
9 T/N: Steam: An online gaming platform.↩

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