Chapter 19
It was just as well.
Now felt like exactly the right time. Ji-woo and Han-sol didn’t seem to need No-eul much, so there was nothing to shake her, and though No-eul had grown friendly enough with them, their absence didn’t leave her feeling terribly empty or lonely.
This was the perfect chance to return to normal.
She’d gone through all sorts of inner turmoil, but it was true she’d enjoyed spending time with those pretty girls. She’d worried what people might think, yet at the same time felt a quiet sense of superiority.
I hang out with girls this pretty. It’s not like I paid them. Sure, you guys are better-looking than me—but so what? Do you get to see girls this gorgeous even once a day?
It had been a good season. She’d learned that pretty girls didn’t automatically treat her like some insect to avoid. She’d learned they could even be casual friends for a while. Later, if someone wrinkled their nose at her face, she could recall this time and shield herself with a bitter thought: You shallow creep, only judging by looks.
That was enough. Perfect, even. If they spent more time together, things would only turn bad. No-eul might start thinking her looks weren’t really a problem. She might begin to believe maybe I’m not that unattractive, might even fool herself into thinking she was undervaluing herself—despite the ugly reflection staring back from the mirror.
And then, when Ji-woo and Han-sol inevitably drifted off in search of more exciting toys, she’d be left alone. The higher she’d been lifted, the harder the crash would hurt. She wouldn’t show it, but inside she’d rot worse than now—oozing wounds hidden behind a calm face.
If she quit now, that wouldn’t happen. It wouldn’t be them abandoning her; it would be her leaving. Then she wouldn’t be hurt. She needed to get used to living alone again. That way, if she bumped into Ji-woo and Han-sol by chance, she could greet them warmly without a trace of awkwardness.
“Are you studying this weekend?” Ji-woo asked.
Han-sol answered for her.
“She’s free. Said she finished all her assignments early so she could rest.”
No-eul said dryly, “You two always think finishing homework means you’re done studying. That’s why you’ll never improve.”
Ji-woo pouted. “If the homework’s done, it’s done.”
“Still, you’re resting this weekend, right?”
“Yeah, planning to.”
“Then let’s go to an escape room. I’ve been dying to try one.”
“No. You two go.”
“Why?” they both asked at once.
No-eul looked from one to the other and gave a disbelieving laugh. “Did you rehearse that?”
“Why won’t you come?” Han-sol pressed.
“I’m farming.”
“That’s nonsense.”
“Hey, not nonsense. One of my games is a farming sim, and it just got a 1.04 patch. I need to play.”
“What kind of random patch number is that? What even is this farming game?”
“You amateurs wouldn’t understand.”
“What’s it called?”
“Happy Farm Farm.”
“Happy Farm Farm? Sounds like some grade-school website game.”
“You have no idea—it’s a masterpiece. Anyway I’m spending the whole weekend on it.”
Ji-woo’s eyes widened. “The whole day? You’re a gaming addict. You even did that 2-night LoL binge… how do you still get such good grades?”
“I study hard so I can game guilt-free.”
“Wow, didn’t know you were such a gamer,” Han-sol said.
“Just escape-room first and play later,” Han-sol added. “We’ll get you home early.”
No-eul shook her head with an exaggerated sigh. “This is why you can’t talk gaming with non-gamers. Time in games isn’t in hours. It’s in days. Minimum a full day, often two or three. You can’t break it into less than 24 hours.”
Han-sol squinted at her.
“…What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You look… relieved,” Han-sol said. “Like since we’re hanging out together, you’re free to skip it.”
Startled, No-eul muttered, “What? I said I’m gaming.”
“You give off the vibe of a mom whose kid just started school and finally gets a break.”
“What a comparison! I’m not your mom. Anyway, I’m busy this weekend.”
Ji-woo pouted. “If No-eul’s not going, I’m not going.”
“Wow, you really are like a little kid.”
“Come on, just postpone your game.”
“I barely held back till this weekend—are you trying to kill me?”
Ji-woo whined for a long time, while Han-sol watched No-eul suspiciously. No-eul avoided her eyes and tried to placate Ji-woo.
She felt she was doing well. Staying home to play games was normal for guys, and they weren’t even dating—just friends. There was no reason to feel guilty about skipping a weekend outing.
Cauliflower’s the best value… plant forty, takes twelve days to grow, so I can get two full cycles. During the festival I’ll buy tons of strawberry seeds… but first I need sprinklers and scarecrows. For that I need iron and copper from the mines…
No-eul bit into a hot bar with her left hand, mumbling as she chewed.
“Maybe I should finish that sardine quest first…”
She checked the time: 3 p.m.
She’d been playing for six hours straight.
For the first time in a while, she felt relaxed. Hanging out with pretty girls had been fun, but it kept her on edge—constantly wondering what they were thinking, what she should say, what their words really meant, whether to act like she understood or play dumb, how others saw her. Her mind never stopped.
Alone in her room, there was nothing to worry about.
Forget girls—gaming is the best.
Everyone has a life that suits them. Let the good-looking ones show off with pretty friends. This—this calm—was what fit No-eul. Nothing was more valuable.
This is life.
In the game she owned a lavish three-story house. Fifty sprinklers watered four hundred crops each morning. The barn held ten cows; the coop, twenty chickens providing fresh milk and eggs. Crab pots dangled from the river out front, always catching something. Her storage held two hundred kegs and a hundred preserve jars to triple the value of her produce.
“Clicking these kegs is a job in itself… my index finger’s gonna bulk up,” she muttered, collecting wine and beer.
Now what?
She skimmed through strategy guides for maximum profit, but even their authors didn’t seem to know the game as well as she did. There was almost nothing the super-veteran No-eul hadn’t already mastered.
She stared at her sprawling pixel farm. Make this to earn that, get that to build this, gather this to craft that… becoming filthy rich in a 16-bit world. And after getting rich? Work to get even richer.
A sudden emptiness hit her.
Game fatigue always came eventually, but this was fast.
Why? This game had always given her lasting joy.
Bzzz.
A message from Ji-woo: a photo of her and Han-sol at the escape-room café.
That was so fun. Next time come with us!
Ten minutes later No-eul replied:
Yeah, sounds good.
We’re going for drinks now—want to join?
She considered it. After a day and a half alone, maybe an evening drink was fine. She’d proven she could enjoy herself solo. No need to refuse every invite…
…No. Not yet. She wanted this weekend completely to herself, to truly settle back into solo life. Then next week she’d feel comfortable both alone and with them.
She texted back:
Nah, I need to gather iridium to upgrade my tools.
You’re insane, came the reply.
No-eul moved her in-game character toward the village as night fell. Inside the tavern she clicked on an NPC.
Welcome. Rough day? Nothing beats a beer to restore your energy.
Another NPC:
They say the Secret Woods are blocked by giant logs. Could it be true?
Another:
Who are you? Leave me alone!
Another:
If you ever need a friend, come to Kelly’s Tavern.
“……”
By now the two of them were probably drinking. What if she’d joined? They’d be laughing, trading jokes. She’d tease Ji-woo, who’d pout adorably. Han-sol would scold her. With some drinks they’d talk about serious things they couldn’t at school—the best kind of conversation.
Maybe Ji-woo would slur that she loved them both, saying all the reasons why. Han-sol and No-eul would laugh, pretending to scold but secretly pleased.
The walk home would be cool under the setting sun. They might buy convenience-store beer for the road. Then home, falling asleep with happy memories…
No-eul stared blankly at the monitor as game time ticked on.
She no longer felt like playing. Maybe she’d just go to bed.
Bzzz.
Bzzz.
A call from Han-sol.
Had they decided to phone her mid-drink?
A bit of warmth returned to her chest. She liked knowing they thought of her. She’d have felt hurt if they’d been too busy having fun to remember her.
Their wanting to include her actually gave her strength to stay alone. She resolved to keep adapting to solo life while they still noticed her absence—better than being the only one who missed the others.
If Han-sol invited her out for drinks, she’d refuse.
She answered. “Hey, having fun?”
Hey, you buy seeds at the general store, right?
“…What?”
In Happy Farm Farm it says to buy seeds, but it won’t let me.
Ji-woo’s voice called something in the background—probably about which button to press.
I tried that button. …See? Doesn’t work. Of course I tried it.
No-eul listened to their noisy back-and-forth.
They were… playing Happy Farm Farm? Not drinking?
“What are you two doing?”
You hyped it up so much we came to a PC bang to try it.
“…Huh?”
But we can’t buy potato seeds.
“…Is your inventory full?”
…Oh wow, you’re right. We’re idiots.
From the side Ji-woo exclaimed, That was it? I’m such an idiot!
No-eul!
It was Ji-woo now. Han-sol must have handed her the phone.
“…What.”
This crow stole my parsnip!
No-eul snorted. “Oof. You’re screwed.”
I’m screwed? Han-sol, she says I’m screwed!
She laughed silently.
What do I do? Start over? I worked so hard!
“No, don’t restart. Just craft a scarecrow so the crows can’t steal crops.”
Scarecrow? That’s a thing? How?
They kept firing questions, taking turns.
When she finally checked, they’d been on the phone over ninety minutes.
She realized she’d happily answered everything, never once telling them to just look it up.
Something wasn’t going as she’d planned.
“Really? No wonder. I upgraded the watering can but it didn’t improve. Did you know that?” Ji-woo asked Han-sol.
“Of course.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
“Honestly, I didn’t know either. Cool that you have to hold the button.”
The moment they saw No-eul in person, they bombarded her with more Happy Farm Farm questions, and she answered like an AI.
“The inventory’s too small,” Han-sol said. “It fills up after a little fishing.”
“Buy a bigger bag at the shop,” No-eul said.
“What? I never saw that.”
“It’s… next to the seed counter. Click there.”
“Figures. No way the devs made it that badly. Oh, and—”
“Hold on. Enough. How long are we going to talk about this game?”
Ji-woo and Han-sol looked at her, puzzled.
“We’re going to keep talking,” Ji-woo said. “Why not?”
At that moment Hyun-soo, sitting nearby, asked, “What is this, you guys becoming farmers? What are you talking about?”
Ji-woo and Han-sol launched into an enthusiastic explanation of how amazing Happy Farm Farm was. Hyun-soo listened blankly, like someone caught by a cult, then casually downloaded the game.
The two of them became top-tier recruiters, convincing everyone around to install it.
No-eul blinked at them.
What… how did this happen?
Looking closer, Ji-woo’s eyes were bloodshot, and Han-sol had dark circles.
That dawn, No-eul woke to her phone vibrating repeatedly.
She squinted at the screen: multiple messages from both of them.
At what mine level can you find gold ore?
Will lightning kill crops?
What happens if you max out an NPC’s friendship?
Look at my farm—awesome, right?
“….”
She scrolled through their screenshots of the game and checked the time.
It was 3 a.m.
