Chapter 143 (1/2)
In a bustling house in the early morning...
This was the small apartment where Choi Jeonghyun lived with his daughter Seohui. Seohui’s toys and dolls were scattered around and Choi Jeonghyun was having a hectic morning trying to send Seohui to a daycare center.
“Seohui, there are some vegetables left. Shouldn’t you finish it?”
“Don’t wanna! Disgusting!”
“Eat more and become stronger. Ah~”
“Seohui is strong! I won’t eat this.”
Choi Jeonghyun forcibly pushed the spoonful of vegetables into Seohui’s mouth. Seohui’s cheeks puffed up as she gulped them down. The corners of Jeonghyun’s mouth rose naturally.
“Now it is time to go to the daycare center?”
“Yep! Let’s go~”
They held hands and walked to the side of the road where the children’s daycare center bus would arrive. He could see the yellow bus coming this way. The Sun Kids Daycare Center. It was the name of Seohui’s daycare center.
“Hello, Seohui’s father.”
“Yes, hello.”
“Hi, Seohui! Have you been well?
“Yep! Fish-nim, have you been well?”
“It’s Teacher-nim, not Fish-nim. Hoho.” (Fish and Teacher use the same characters but reversed. So Fish is saengseon and Teacher is seonsaeng)
Seohui still had a difficult time saying ‘Teacher-nim.’ She had been sent to kindergarten since she was 4 years old but he sometimes felt sorry since he missed the important time to teach her Hangul. She was now five years old, almost six. From now on, she would be taught at the daycare center. Then it would be better...
He always felt sorry for Seohui. Filling her mother’s vacancy wasn’t easy.
“Daddy, bye!”
Seohui waved her hand and Jeonghyun smiled and waved back. The bus moved away and he returned home. Then he buried his face into the couch and started thinking.
‘I did a good job today in the battle to get Seohui ready.’
“It is tiring to be a father. Sigh.”
He cleaned up the taekwondo field that had been in use the past weekend. In fact, it was shameful to say it was ‘in use.’ There were only four children. The facilities were poor and the seats were in a corner, so there was no business. At first, it went well but it had cooled off a year later.
“Sigh. Why is it like this?”
He was lying down on the sofa and making all types of complaints when there was the ringing of a door.
“Who is it?”
He pressed the intercom to check and saw a familiar logo. It was the logo of Union, who had developed the popular Arkstar game.
“Ah, that’s right. I told them to come in the morning.”
Jeonghyun had the most free time in the morning so he told them to come in the morning. However, the panting installation technicians seemed a bit uncomfortable.
“Phew. Have strength. It seems I’m not the only one who is having it hard. It is hard for everyone.”
Choi Jeonghyun opened the front door.
* * *
The moment the capsule was installed, Choi Jeonghyun connected to Arkstar. He had already done a preliminary investigation so he was able to clear the tutorial quickly. In fact, he used to like games so he scoured fan sites throughout the day to find information.
[Your heavenly star is Monarch of Kind Patience.]
[Your fitness stat has increased by 2.]
“Hrmm. Monarch of Kind Patience. Obviously, this is a heavenly star that fits close-range classes. Still, fitness is something that is inseparable from me.”
The advantages were clear. Fitness. The sturdy body inherited from his father meant he mastered many types of martial arts—taekwondo, aikido, judo, jiu-jitsu, etc. Of course, he wasn’t the same now as he used to be. He had stopped exercising for a while after falling into a gambling debt.
As a child, his father actively cheered him on when Jeonghyun said he would take the road of sports but his mother had been opposed to it. His other siblings disapproved but they supported him like their father. Choi Jeonghyun hadn’t forgotten his gratitude for that time.
“Hah. Father is right. This type of place...”
His father had definitely told him to choose the Orca Kingdom. He didn’t say where to go after that but Jeonghyun decided to give it a try. He sent a message to his father via Katok that he was in the Orca Kingdom but his father hadn’t replied yet. Perhaps his father was busy.
[The tutorial has ended.]
[Going to the beginning village of ‘Mulan.’]
[Welcome to the virtual reality world of Arkstar.]
[I wish ‘Seohui’s Papa’ all the best.]
In this world, his name was Seohui’s Papa. If he was asked why he took this name, it was because he was Seohui’s father. This reason was enough. The world brightened and he heard a sound. It felt real when he saw people of so many races. In fact, he had felt it in the tutorial but he really thought it was a masterpiece.
“This is a level that can be called a whole new Earth.”
He waved his fists and kicked the air.
“Kukuk, look at that person. I guess he’s a rookie who just started.”
“Hey, don’t you remember the old days? You did the same thing.”
“Ah, when did I do that?”
“Don’t you remember?”
“This jerk.”
Some people laughed at him but Choi Jeonghyun didn’t care. In fact, he had been accustomed to such ridiculing gazes for a long time. He wasn’t that smart and he was a gambling addict who got a divorce.
‘Damn. If only it wasn’t for gambling.’
Gambling made him lose many things. A peaceful home, his job, money, peace of mind, etc. However, he also obtained many things. Blame, contempt, attention from the people around him, and most importantly—
“Phew. I have to pay off the debts quickly. I don’t have time for this.”
To this day, he had been living without the help of his family. This was Choi Jeonghyun’s last shred of pride. The only thing left was his determination to start from scratch and raise Seohui. Of course, he only recently changed the method to a racetrack.
“Cough. I was told that if I went to someone called Philos, I can get a quest and rent a weapon.”
Choi Jeonghyun stepped toward the garrison’s barracks. Suddenly, a voice was heard from behind him.
“Aren’t you Jeonghyun?”
He turned his head to see a familiar face. He was so surprised that he sucked in a breath.
“Uncle Muyeol? No, why are you here?”
“That is what I want to say.”
* * *
Today, they headed to the place where Mulan’s guard captain was located. It felt good to see the group growing. Park Muyeol walked with Choi Jeonghyun and told his story. It turned out he was also going to see Philos.
“Yes. Has Seohui grown bigger?”
”Of course. She is five years old now, she grew up a lot. Haha.”
“Hahaha. She is really cute. I suddenly want to see her.”
The last time was when she was four years old. Seohui would cry whenever she saw Park Muyeol’s face. It was because he looked scary. In any case, he couldn’t even hug her more than a few times back then. He didn’t know if it would be the case now.
“I will send you a photo through Katok.”