20demayo Chapter 908
Chapter 908
Player Association, Korean Branch.
About a month had passed since the Teacher's Day incident that had shaken the Korean Peninsula, and the staff at the association could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
The overtime hours had gradually decreased, and they had now reached a point where normal departure times were possible.
However, Hong Gyu-bin's overtime still showed no signs of ending.
“Team Leader, here is the updated victim status report as of today. I've also整理ed the proposed solutions you mentioned before, so please review them.”
“I assigned the整理ing of the victim status report to Employee Jeong.”
“Deputy Yoon wrote it instead. Deputy Yoon is out looking for Employee Jeong.”
Hong Gyu-bin felt a headache coming on, but he didn't show it, calmly replying with, "Thank you for your hard work."
The staff member, having submitted the report, walked away with a noticeably lighter step.
It seemed like they were anticipating a regular departure time and hoping Employee Jeong would get scolded.
The reason for the face-to-face report was probably to inform about Employee Jeong's idleness.
Hong Gyu-bin, slightly squinting due to his headache, opened the hologram and began reading the report. A sigh escaped his lips.
‘So many players have lost their strength in vain...’
The Player Association had conducted an investigation into the victims who had lost their abilities after visiting the Youth Pre-Player Support Center.
As feared, most of the victims who had lost their strength had come from the center.
Not only had they lost all their abilities, but those who had significantly weaker abilities compared to when they had initially manifested were almost impossible to count.
The reactions of those who realized they hadn’t naturally lost their powers but had been deliberately stripped of them varied greatly.
[It's a bit disappointing, but I like what I'm doing now. I do wonder how it would have been if I kept living as a player.]
[It's better than risking my life in a fight.]
[↑Do you know how much a star player makes every year? LOL It's like throwing away an unclaimed lottery ticket.]
[↑Do you think just anyone can become a star player? Even the office workers in pro teams or the association are players with weak abilities, haha.]
[Some people even hid being a player and got caught working part-time. Being a player doesn't automatically mean success, and if you're mediocre, it actually makes it harder to find a job...]
[If you're a struggling player, don't consider extreme options. Apply for support from the association. (Link)]
Some were relieved that they hadn't become players, but others were not.
Among them were some famous individuals.
Though they had lost their abilities while growing up, one had used their experience in player training to start streaming about abilities.
The content of their broadcasts included topics like strategies for other worlds, unboxing player-related merchandise, and visiting restaurants run by retired players. Although the topics varied, everything was related to players.
Currently, this streamer wasn't a player anymore, so there was little backlash compared to others, even though they had been criticized as “not doing strategies and just broadcasting.”
After Teacher's Day, this streamer’s video, broadcast on a rest day, created a huge stir.
―Since I was little, I liked players and wanted to become one. So when my ability manifested in middle school, I went to the Youth Pre-Player Support Center. Unfortunately, that’s the same center in the news now.
―Ah, don't misunderstand. There were also normal centers. Those who came from there became regular players... sigh...
―I really wanted to be a player...
As the streamer paused their words, donations with TTS (text-to-speech) began flooding in.
Since the streamer was famous, the system read out the messages sent by viewers, recreating human voices without stopping.
In terms of volume, the messages comforting the streamer in tears made up 8.
There was 1 message jokingly teasing, and 1 message that got immediately blocked by the manager for being irrelevant.
Hong Gyu-bin, watching the edited video, felt his head spin.
The sender was Jo Eui-shin.
‘Eui-shin...!’
It must be the end of the semester at Yeonggwang High, yet why was he reaching out?
A chilling thought crossed his mind—something more important than exams had happened.
Knowing Jo Eui-shin’s physical condition, Hong Gyu-bin hurriedly checked the device, fearing that he might be pushing himself too hard.
Jo Eui-shin greeted him politely and briefly addressed his concerns, brushing aside Hong Gyu-bin’s worries about his health.
[Jo Eui-shin] I'll see you when I have some time. For now, I need to study.
[Jo Eui-shin] Watch this video when you get the chance.
[Jo Eui-shin] (Video)
Jo Eui-shin attached a video as he ended the message.
The video might hold a clue about what Hong Gyu-bin needed to do.
After a brief hesitation, Hong Gyu-bin firmly decided to play the video.
As he watched it, Hong Gyu-bin’s face collapsed in disbelief.
‘Oh my god, there was such a precious video...!’
In the video, a youthful Je-gal Jae-gul was reading a poem he had written himself.
Watching his master’s former self, unable to write poetry anymore, Hong Gyu-bin lost himself in the video.
He replayed the short video multiple times, feeling a surge of emotions.
Afterward, Hong Gyu-bin reflected on his previous doubts, hesitation, and regret over the messages Jo Eui-shin had sent him.
For some reason, after this time of reflection, he felt the accumulated fatigue slowly melting away.
Just then, Deputy Yoon returned, having caught Employee Jeong, and stopped a few steps away, observing Hong Gyu-bin’s behavior before turning away.
“...I’ll report later.”
“Ah, then leave me alone!”
“Sit down.”
Deputy Yoon dragged the struggling Employee Jeong away.
Employee Jeong grumbled about standard working hours as he was dragged along, but Deputy Yoon didn’t even acknowledge it.
Just as they reached their desks, Employee Jeong spoke.
“Are you taking out your frustration because of your ex-girlfriend?”
“...”
“It seems like you broke up with her, with Park Team Leader... no, with someone named Park, right?”
Employee Jeong was an outstanding player technically, despite how he looked.
He was skilled at tracking, fighting multiple enemies, and had excellent intuition.
Employee Jeong had used that ability to catch on to sensitive details about his ex-girlfriend, skillfully provoking Deputy Yoon with the subject.
It was clear that Deputy Yoon had noticed he was reconnecting with his ex-girlfriend.
Deputy Yoon let go of Employee Jeong as if tossing him aside and said:
“You wouldn’t understand.”
Deputy Yoon recalled the image of his ex-girlfriend asking about Park’s safety with a sad face.
The more he thought about it, the more it felt like a swarm of butterflies fluttering in his head and heart.