Chapter 61
The “GOAL” display on the scoreboard behind the basketball hoop hadn’t disappeared. Wooseok lightly tossed the ball into the moving hoop and glanced at Beodeul beside him.
“You’re good at this, hyung.”
“I’m not good at other games, so this is all I played when I came with friends.”
The balls Beodeul threw went precisely into the hoop. Even to Wooseok, Beodeul’s skill was impressive.
‘He wasn’t just showing confidence for nothing.’
After thinking for a moment, Wooseok suddenly made a proposal to Beodeul.
“Should we make a bet?”
“A bet?”
Beodeul looked at Wooseok after successfully scoring another basket. Meanwhile, the ball Wooseok threw spun around the rim before sliding out. Despite this, Wooseok only smiled meaningfully.
The time limit was about to end, and the next round was about to begin.
“Yes. Based on our scores at the end of this round.”
“Hmm…”
Currently, Beodeul was slightly ahead on the scoreboard. It was a bet where Wooseok was starting at a disadvantage.
“Wouldn’t it be better to start from the beginning then?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Beodeul looked more uncertain at Wooseok’s unconcerned attitude. But Wooseok truly didn’t care. What he needed wasn’t victory but the bet itself.
‘At first, I got dragged in because hyung provoked me in an unexpected way…’
Now that they were actually competing, seeing Beodeul neatly throwing the ball, he realized that winning or losing wasn’t important. This was an opportunity.
“Still, even if you make all your shots in the next round, it’ll be hard to narrow the score gap that’s already there.”
“That’s assuming you make all of yours too, hyung.”
“I’m definitely confident about that.”
Beodeul laughed, unusually boastful. Then with an expression as if he’d realized something, he said:
“So you’re confident too, then.”
Wooseok didn’t answer and just shrugged. There was no need to reveal that this was a situation where he’d be fine whether he won or lost.
“I thought so. You didn’t seem like someone who would make a bet you’d lose.”
“Actually, I think I’d be okay with losing to you, hyung.”
As Wooseok said this, the new round began, and balls came rumbling down. Beodeul erased his ambiguous gaze and immediately started throwing balls. Wooseok also concentrated and carefully threw his balls.
“So what if you win the bet?”
Wooseok, who had been glancing at the rising score, smiled at Beodeul’s question.
“A wish might be too cliché? How about the right to ask any question?”
“Sure, that sounds good. But let’s make it a best two out of three with two more games. Games that are in this arcade.”
A bet Beodeul would win anyway, so why bother? Unable to understand Beodeul’s intention, Wooseok hesitated but then readily agreed.
“Okay. Then you choose the games, hyung.”
“You think you can win no matter what?”
“How did you know?”
Ting! Beodeul’s ball hit the rim and bounced out. Wooseok chuckled and threw his last ball. It went in easily just as time ran out. With Beodeul’s last mistake, the result was a tie. It was a draw.
“This means the match will be decided by the other two games.”
Beodeul looked at the scoreboard with disappointment as Wooseok led him away from the basketball game.
“Should we try that one?”
What Beodeul pointed to was a game machine that no one was using in the crowded arcade. Seeing the cute dinosaur blowing bubbles, Wooseok understood why.
“I can’t believe this is still here.”
“Have you played it before?”
“There’s no game I haven’t played since I was young. Sit here, hyung.”
The two sat side by side and gripped the joysticks.
“Should we say the first one to die loses?”
“Do we only have one life?”
“No. Let’s say the one who uses all three lives loses.”
“Alright.”
The result was obvious. After a while, Beodeul, who had been eliminated at the fifth map, blankly let go of his hands and watched Wooseok play.
“You’re good at this…”
“I made some mistakes since it’s been a while.”
“You only died once though?”
Wooseok, who had easily cleared the tenth map, let go of the joystick and stood up.
“Aren’t you going to continue?”
“It must be boring for you to just watch, hyung. Let’s play something else.”
“No, it’s fun.”
Wooseok smiled as Beodeul couldn’t take his eyes off the game screen.
“Do you want to try the rest of it, hyung?”
“Me? I’ll just die right away.”
“I’ll help you from the side.”
The two swapped places and battled with the small dinosaur they’d become immersed in.
“Should I go up and catch it?”
“Hyung, wait. Don’t go that way—”
So engrossed in the game, Wooseok even grabbed Beodeul’s hands impulsively. When he realized this later, he was so startled that he couldn’t look at Beodeul’s hands for a while.
“Ah, I’m trapped…”
When the character lost its last life and fell on the nineteenth map, Beodeul was quite disappointed.
“You still held out for quite a while. Right?”
“Huh? Oh, yes.”
“That’s because you gave such good instructions from the side. You explain things well.”
Feeling like he might make an awkward smile, Wooseok quickly turned away and asked:
“What do you want to play for the last one?”
“Hmm…”
As Beodeul looked around the arcade, his eyes discovered something and sparkled mischievously. Not seeing this, Wooseok flinched at his next words.
“Wooseok, are you a good singer too?”
“…What? Hyung, you don’t mean…”
“The karaoke machine is in the arcade, so it counts, right?”
“Isn’t that stretching the definition of a game a bit?”
“Since we’ll determine the winner by score, couldn’t it be considered a game?”
“Hyung…”
Beodeul burst out laughing at Wooseok’s pleading tone.
“You’re not confident in singing?”
“This provocation won’t work, hyung. I don’t have a competitive spirit for that.”
“That’s too bad. I wanted to hear you sing… Then let’s do that one.”
This time, Beodeul chose a game where you shoot zombies with guns. While waiting for the game to load after inserting bills, Beodeul looked quite confident.
“Are you good at this?”
“Hm? No. But I did get leave from the military for my marksmanship, so I might be decent.”
“That’s just military pride, hyung. And this is probably very different from that shooting.”
“Oh… is it?”
Beodeul seemed taken aback but soon calmly started learning the controls.
“This seems a bit difficult since you need to use your feet too.”
“Just follow the rhythm, hyung.”
Contrary to concerns, Beodeul was quite good at this game too. But his opponent was Shin Wooseok, so being “quite good” wasn’t enough.
Wooseok defeated the last zombie and immediately recorded a high rank with his short play time. Watching this, Beodeul realized his opponent was unbeatable and acknowledged his defeat.
“I lost.”
“If we had ended with basketball, you would have won, hyung.”
“It’s fine. You seem to have more things you want to ask than I do.”
“Ah, that’s right. Since the winner gets to ask anything…”
Wooseok trailed off, made eye contact with Beodeul briefly, and then smiled meaningfully.
“Can I save it for later?”
“You’re not going to ask now?”
“No. I’ll use it later.”
“What do you want to ask that you’re doing this?”
Despite Beodeul’s curiosity, Wooseok had no intention of asking right away.
“Let’s go now, hyung.”
Even as they left the arcade, Wooseok had no regrets. After all, they could just play together again on SOG when they got home.
## Chapter 16: What’s the Secret?
By now, Girmu was just 3 levels away from reaching level 140. Wooseok was more delighted than anyone about his progress and was preparing a gift of his own.
‘If I leave hyung alone, he’ll try to get it by himself.’
There was a reason for celebrating level 140 rather than the max level of 150. It was because 140 was the required level to wear the ultimate equipment that Girmu had been desperately waiting for.
From experience, Wooseok sensed that if he left Girmu to his own devices, something irreversible would happen. So, he planned to make his move before the other side could prepare anything.
“This much material should be enough…”
While Girmu was hunting, Sinu’s inventory was filled with crafting materials from all kinds of life skill grinding. By taking these to a legendary craftsman player, there was a slim 1% chance of crafting the accessory item that Wooseok was aiming for.
[Whisper/FreeMiumUser] Sinu: Can you craft now?
[Whisper/Sinu] FreeMiumUser: yy?
[Whisper/Sinu] FreeMiumUser: giri forest hut go go
[Whisper/FreeMiumUser] Sinu: ok
But just as Wooseok was about to click the teleport scroll, something that shouldn’t have happened occurred.
[Whisper/Sinu] Girmu: Sinu-nim I got it
[Whisper/Sinu] Girmu: (Pendant of Destruction)
[Whisper/Sinu] Girmu: This is what you mentioned before, right? hehe
“Why is that happening now…”
Wooseok checked the link Girmu had sent and let out a sigh. It was already perfectly crafted with gems set in it, flawless to the point that there was nothing to improve—an accessory that truly deserved the word “ultimate.”
And it was one of the “Destruction” equipment items that even the wealthiest players rarely released. In other words, an item where the price was whatever the seller asked.
[Whisper/FreeMiumUser] Sinu: w8
[Whisper/Sinu] FreeMiumUser: ???
[Whisper/FreeMiumUser] Sinu: stopping by central city
[Whisper/Sinu] FreeMiumUser: ok
Wooseok immediately moved to the Central City to find Girmu. Without having to look around, Girmu was already at the center of the commotion.
[General] RoyalFamily: wow who was wearing this before ㄷㄷ
[General] Hwasan: the secondary options are crazy
[General] Dodam: the price must have been evil… how much did you buy it for;
[General] Baekdu: lolololol Sinu’s here
[General] Maeil: Sinu-nim seems to have rushed over…lololololololol
[General] SaltySalt: ;;;;; what on earth did Sinu say to make Gireum-nim cause such a major incident??
My thoughts exactly. Wooseok wanted to ask Girmu more than anyone: where did you get that and how much did you pay for it!
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
