Author: Starving Wind | Original Source: Joara | Word Count: 3968 characters |
Translator: Anonymouss | English Source: Re:Library | Word Count: 2520 words |
Editor(s): Silva |
“Finally…”
Ha Yeon took the memory chip into her hands and stared at it with tense eyes. It was the last trace of her older brother that took her over a week to receive. Not only was the process difficult and complicated, but she had to satisfy the condition of never having created an original character in Blue Sky game1 as well as be direct blood relative to the person in question to inherit their data, meaning that most people find it too hard to inherit someone else’s character data.
Did her older brother have the foresight that this would happen, which was why he told her to only focus on studies as a student and to never touch any games? If he really did, then he must have a vision from god and was going to become a shaman that predicts the future or something… Heh.
“For instructions on how to use it, you just need to follow the instructions written here. If you have any questions please contact me through the details on my business card.”
The man from Blue Sky company headquarters who looked to be in a pretty high position handed over his business card as well as a bundle of papers to her.
“Thank you.”
If it was like the usual, Ha Yeon would give off her characteristic cold smile and not even bother taking his business card. She was as arrogant as she was beautiful after all.
But as this man was someone that helped her with things related to her older brother2, she cracked a rare smile at him as she received his business card and manual.
But that was all she did. Soon, she left the building in a hurry as she had done all she needed to do. Coming out of the Korean branch of the Blue Sky company, she went to a department store to buy the product she had been thinking of.
“I’ll choose the S tier capsule.”
“Great choice, dear customer. If you include all the options in it, it will cost an additional 2,000,000 won. Would you be okay with that?”
“Please include all the options.”
The department store clerk happily rattled off the advantages she had got from buying all the options together with the capsule, which cost just as much as buying an average car. It wasn’t like Ha Yeon wasn’t noticing that the clerk was buttering her up even more. She just needed to buy this product no matter the price, which was why she pretended not to know as she purchased the capsule.
“Would you like to pay in monthly installments?”
“Single payment please.”
“Ah! Then we’ll provide the options of the product for free.”
It was a capsule that cost more than 50 million won. And to pay all of that in a single payment made the clerk’s face lit up even more. She had brought up the monthly installment since the cost was way too high for the average citizen to pay in one lump sum. Moreover, it didn’t actually generate that much profit for the company in an instant if they chose to pay in installment.
“You can deliver it right away today, right?”
“Of course. You’ll be able to enjoy Blue Sky by this afternoon.”
The female clerk answered with a confident voice as if it was an obvious answer. After paying the huge sum of money from the cash she had withdrawn from the bank beforehand and receiving the receipt, Ha Yeon went towards the nearby restaurant.
She didn’t eat anything since she woke up as she needed to go to the Blue Sky company building first thing in the morning.
As she felt a little too lonely to eat alone, she opened up her flip phone to see if there’s anyone whom she’d like to eat together with.
“Is there none at all?”
When her household was still rich in the past, she had many friends and thought they would all be willing to support her. But just as her household began to falter and problems arised, none of them helped her out at all.
There were only people who would comfort her to try and gain any favors from them while making sure to draw the line so that no harm or responsibility could come their way.
She closed her flip phone with an annoyed expression and tossed her phone into her handbag. She stood hesitantly in the front of the restaurant entrance for a while before making her decision to step inside.
“Welcome. How many people are with you?”
As soon as she stepped in, a man in a tidy waiter uniform stepped towards her and asked her with a half goodwill smile and half business smile.
“I’m dining alone.”
“Excuse me?”
Usually, there weren’t any cases for anyone to come into the restaurant to eat alone. On top of that, seeing such a beautiful lady like her coming in alone with no one else gave the waiter such a shock that he asked again.
“I said I’m coming in alone.”
Hearing Ha Yeon’s annoyed tone, the waiter realized his mistake.
“Ah… My apologies. I was just stunned hearing that such a beautiful lady like you would be coming here to eat alone.”
“Whatever. Please just guide me to a table already.”
“Ah… Of course.”
People would usually forgive him a bit if he compliments them, but Ha Yeon just brushed him off. While thinking that beautiful girls have the worst personality, the waiter guided Ha Yeon to a table in the corner3.
Even though there were a few window-side tables that had a better view, he intentionally brought her to a corner seat as a small way of getting revenge.
However, from Ha Yeon’s point of view, his decision to do so was actually a welcome one.
Sitting alone at the table for two, Ha Yeon quietly stared at the cup of water placed in front of her in a daze.
Has it been 8 years already? To open up her feelings towards her older brother for the first time.
When she was in her sensitive teenage years, the death of her parents brought heavy wounds to her young girl’s heart. The feelings of emptiness and sadness she felt for having such dependable figures suddenly disappear was something she couldn’t describe with words.
The person who had held her on the right path when she could have faltered was not her blood-related older brother but her older brother who her parents had adopted from an orphanage.
For Ha Yeon who was in immature teenage years, to have an older brother who was willing to hear everything she wanted to talk about was truly a helpful thing to her. Sometimes she would just outright dislike him, and sometimes she would make fun of him for being a child from the orphanage4 but her older brother would never get mad at her when she did. He simply looked at her with a sad expression on his face…
That was how she acted towards him. What ultimately made her accept him as an older brother was that time when she stared into his eyes as he rescued her from her burning house despite suffering a huge burn on his back.
She still couldn’t forget that moment. She was in deep despair knowing that her life would end even though she was so young, having trouble breathing in the heated room when he appeared like a miracle to save her. On top of that, he blocked the balls of fire dropping from the ceiling with his own back, and yet still asked her if she was fine with a worried look in his eyes while withstanding immense amounts of pain.
From that moment on, while she would sometimes complain and whine to her older brother, she would make sure not to ever truly insult or make his life worse in any way.
And two years later, her parents passed away. The household became more financially troubled, and realizing that there was nothing she could do to improve the situation as a 2nd year middle school student made her fall into deeper despair.
There weren’t many ways to earn money, while it was very easy to spend. Her older brother decided to leave the university he was attending. Even though it was certain that he would gain a job at a great company if he were to complete his studies in university, her older brother nevertheless quit the university without any hesitation due to the situation of the household.
Thinking about it now, it wasn’t like the household had no money at all at that point so that if he were to push it a little bit in terms of spending, he would have been able to graduate university without many problems. However, at that time, Ha Yeon was focused on doing art so her older brother may have thought that continuing to go to university was not possible.
Aside from asking him to give her a lot of money, he was willing to do anything for her. Though it was hard for her to meet him unless it’s at night time when they sleep, her older brother never showed any sign of fatigue. Would she go down the wrong path even while seeing her older brother work so hard? No one knows. Everyone has different personality after all. But at least for her, she couldn’t do it.
Once the game called Blue Sky came out, she and her older brother were once again at a turning point. It seemed like the game Blue Sky was very compatible with her older brother, as he had ignored the conventional wisdom that it was difficult to earn money through only gaming and ended up making enough money to rival the average salary of a giant company.
Naturally, they became rich again but the time she spent together with her older brother became less and less. She didn’t like that. Since he had earned that much money, shouldn’t he leave a bit more time to spend together with her as well? She hated that her brother didn’t realize that, and didn’t like the woman that he started dating with in real life that he met through the game5.
She should have congratulated him for being able to find a girlfriend at his late age, but she couldn’t understand why she acted like that back then. But even now, if someone who had always looked her way and did their best to serve her every need were to look at someone else instead, she would still have acted the same way.
In any case, she had great grades and when she was one day away from graduating to university, her older brother lost everything.
It was the first time she saw him make such a dispirited look since his adoptive parents had passed away.
It honestly scared Ha Yeon. Seeing her older brother who was able to win against any kind of hardship break down like this made her feel more scared than knowing that the household will once again be in trouble financially. And for the first time, she watched her older brother cry. Once again she felt completely helpless. Why couldn’t she do anything for him? When will she be able help him? Feeling an overwhelming sense of shame, she despaired.
But her chance to do that never came. Her older brother collapsed, was sent to the hospital, and was diagnosed with terminal stage cancer. The probability of recovering through surgery was at 0%. Everyone around him shook their heads. They told her to give up. Even though she had done nothing for him… Her brother simply gave a sorry smile knowing that he wouldn’t be able to do anything more for her and passed away before he could incur additional costs from the hospital to burden her.
“Damn you, brother…”
She hated what he did. And was sorry to him as well. For being a burden to him and making him suffer for her…
‘Why… Why did you sign up for life insurance!?’
If he had just passed away without leaving anything behind, she may have committed suicide without needing to hesitate about it6. Though they say it is the ultimate sin to commit, to leave the world with nothing in her name may actually be a blessing instead for Ha Yeon. However, her brother may have predicted she would think that way as he had put yet another shackle on her to the world before leaving himself.
Does he even know how hard it is to live in this world alone? She had a number of foolish thoughts. She decided to waste away this money that had become a shackle to her to the world.
She went to Las Vegas. A city famous for gambling and suicides. She thought that the city known for its amazing glamour as well as its dark underbelly was a fitting place for her to spend her last moments7.
One billion won. Even though it was definitely a huge amount of money for young Ha Yeon, but to Las Vegas, it wasn’t all that much, and she thought she would end up spending all of it right away. However, when Ha Yeon left Las Vegas…
She came out with 65 billion won instead8. If it wasn’t for the money taken out for tax purposes, she would have had 100 billion won in total9. When she won the very last bet she made, the dealer’s wonderstruck words were engraved into her mind.
“Oh… My goodness. It seems that the goddess of luck is with you.”
“I don’t believe in things like luck.”
Ha Yeon replied with a cold smile back at him. If there really were a goddess of luck, then she wouldn’t have ended up alone, and her older brother wouldn’t have died.
In the end, she considered that this money was what her older brother would have wanted her to keep for herself, and when she came back to Korea she made a pledge to herself again.
‘All right. I’ll just inherit the things that my brother left behind. If I convict the ones that hurt my brother and became happy by myself, then that’s all I need to do.10‘ Ha Yeon pledged to herself that way. And today, she had taken the first steps to take action on her pledge.
“But brother… Will I be able to become happy?”
Ha Yeon consoled herself with a melancholic voice. Of course, she wouldn’t receive any reply, and she didn’t want any either.
A clear droplet of tears ran down her cheek11.
“Excuse me, it looks like you’re quite troubled about something. Is there anything I can help with?12”
A waiter who was poor at reading moods set down her meal on her table and seeing that she was drowning in sorrow, he decided to make his move on her13.
“Piss off.”
Unable to hide away his face becoming red with anger, he once again became enraged.
‘This is why pretty girls are…!’14
Footnotes:
- Robinxen: Seems like a really arbitrary restriction, can’t they just overwrite the users current data if they don’t want dual accounts?
- Robinxen: Kuudere brocon?!?!
- Silva: I can relate, beautiful girls are a pain in the arse
Robinxen: Most humans have awful personalities, cardboardcutout self inserts reign supreme! - Robinxen: My opinion has dropped by one point but since she made such a splendid turnaround I’ll let her off
- Robinxen: Plot twist! It’s the girl he stole the body of~
- Robinxen: THIS LOVE IS CONCERNINGLY DEEP!
- Silva: Oh no, Ha Yeon is becoming a gangster!
Robinxen: The depressive suicidal undertones scare me! Oi Mr-Big-Brother-Flirting-Around-With-His-Yuri-Fiancee, get your act together and protect your imouto! - Silva: Oh my, Ha Yeon is secretly a Gambling God!
Anonymouss: Yeah xDD - TN: 100 billion won is $90,700,000 USD
- Robinxen: Fuhahahaha. Subplot: Revenge of the Imouto!
- Robinxen: PROTECT!
- Robinxen: An idiot…
- Robinxen: Even worse idiot.
- Silva: Heh, piss off man, she’s out of your league~
Robinxen: As Lord Protector of Imoutos, thy shalt smite thee.