Chapter 14

Hochi (1)

“Something like that happened? It’s kind of interesting.”

Lee Yeon-hee, who was listening to what I was talking about, said.

I asked what was interesting.

“That he had a friend like that.”

Oh, was that what I was talking about?

Of course, that’s interesting.

That Hojae had a friend.

It was even more surprising than if one day, all of a sudden, he said, ‘I’m a god.’

To be honest, I wasn’t really surprised when Hojae got out.

Maybe it’s just because I was thinking that it wouldn’t be strange if he did that and became a god.

Rather, it would have been more strange to not be a god.

“I think he got along well with that Lizardman.”

It certainly was strange.

Although Hojae had values ​​that could be very problematic in society.

There were many similarities with the values ​​of the Lizardman, who were simply ignorant, liked to fight, and liked to be strong.

And.

“I think it’s more about being able to empathize and understand each other than our personality.”

Perhaps in that sense, he felt a sense of camaraderie with the Lizardman Iddy and became closer to her.

I think that was the case.

Hojae is a person who can endure loneliness well.

But he wasn’t terribly lonely, and he wasn’t terribly free from loneliness either.

As soon as he entered the tutorial, he became isolated, maybe even before he got into the Tutorial.

He hasn’t been able to seek empathy and understanding from others since he retired from professional gaming, perhaps even before that.

He had people cheering from afar, but no one was standing by.

He didn’t even have colleagues.

The teammates saw Hojae only as an out-of-the-ordinary monster, an incomparable genius.

His opponents saw Hojae only as an enemy to be defeated.

The presence of fans cheering for him only made him more obsessive about winning.

I think that a lot would have changed if there was even one person who was by Hojae’s side at that time.

Of course, if that was the case, Hojae might not have become a god.

But when comparing becoming a god through that process and not becoming a god without that process.

I think it’s a much happier life not being a god.

So whenever I think of Hojae’s family, I feel a little sad.

If they protected Hojae.

But they couldn’t, and whenever Hojae tried to avoid his family story and ignore it, I could only watch with pity.

Maybe it’s a good thing they’re already dead.

Anyway, Hojae was cut off from people and had to stand alone for too long.

And Iddy was the only person who could fill that loneliness.

“Still, I can’t believe he’s trying to destroy the tutorial because of a friend he met on a stage. It’s a little weird, but it’s cool.”

“Right?”

I think so too.

Maybe it’s because I was born in a tutorial, Hojae’s goal of destroying the tutorial for the people in it feels cool.

Compared to other challengers who say that it’s a meaningless world that resets every time, and abuse people in the tutorial, I don’t think Hojae is a bad guy, although he is a bit crooked.

“Tell me another story.”

Lee Yeon-hee said.

Recently, whenever I meet Lee Yeon-hee on the 61st floor, I tell her stories of Earth.

Today, strangely, the topic of Hojae came up.

Lee Yeon-hee knew quite well what Ho-jae was going through in the tutorial.

She says she’s been scouring the tutorial community’s old records.

But she didn’t know what Hojae was going through on the stages.

By the way, I was a little nervous about telling the story of Hojae to others.

I think Hojae will get angry later.

Or just embarrassed.

I wanted to see it, but I was also afraid of the aftermath.

“How about you? Do you have any memorable stages?”

I asked Lee Yeon-hee in reverse.

“Me?”

“Uh-huh.”

All the tutorials I remember are memories recorded during Hojae’s time.

I wondered what other people would have experienced and how differently they would have seen it.

“Well, I don’t have many memories of the stages because I struggled day by day with the homework Uncle gave me. Oh, but I still remember that place. The 16th floor. You know?”

I know

A stage where doppelgangers and chatty knights and miscellaneous extras appear.

It was a very special stage.

I remember that the atmosphere itself was a little different from other stages.

It was one of the few stages that Hojae remembered as a pleasant experience.

“Ah, that stage was hell.”

* * *

The topic of conversation quickly passed through Hojae and tutorials, and continued to the current state of the Earth.

The Earth was in an ambiguous situation, neither good nor bad.

There are no crazy gods invading Earth, and the gates full of monsters in the middle of the city no longer open.

It would have seemed very peaceful just hearing this, but it really wasn’t.

In the areas near the gates where the gates were opened, living things began to become beasts.

From passing birds and stray cats to flying insects.

Even humans are said to become demons.

The exact cause and pattern have not been identified yet.

Compared to the days when the gates were open, it is not at a dangerous level.

However, due to the fact that it occurred without warning, the damage to the general public was quite large.

This issue is now one of the most trivial issues on Earth.

The bigger problem was, rather, the Awakened who had to deal with such an event.

There were too many Awakened left on Earth.

Most of the Awakened people with too much power became unemployed.

Although they were wary of beasts, the work has significantly decreased compared to the days when there were gates that had to be attacked all the time.

Such Awakeneds were used in national conflicts.

Although a full-fledged clash has not yet occurred, people are publicly speaking in the news that a world war involving the Awakeneds is about to happen soon.

The gap between the Awakened and the non-Awakened is also deepening.

Non-Awakeneds, who make up most of the population and are in fact supporting the splendid daily life of the Awakened, began to feel uncomfortable with the fact that the Awakened wield extra-legal power and authority while just fooling around.

Confronted with the psychology of rewards unique to the Awakened, it is causing various social problems.

Finally. Hojae is gone.

This has also become a big social problem.

Of course, externally, Hojae had been dead for a long time, and he had the ‘setting’ to return to Earth through resurrection whenever there was a crisis.

As this guy disappears, the religious system of the Lee Ho-jae Faith is collapsing.

Although I had the authority to operate the system.

It has become difficult to pay ‘reward’, which is a core function of the system.

Lee Ho-jae Faith’s compensation was entirely covered by Lee Ho-jae’s ability.

Rewards such as sending down punishment, giving simple abilities, or summoning guardians.

It all relied on Hojae’s ability to pay all of that in real time.

I didn’t have that kind of omnipotence.

In addition, the same was true for item-type rewards such as potions, which accounted for most of the rewards.

There was a limit to the quantity of items.

It was never meant to be infinite.

To solve these problems, we are preparing a plan to gather the Awakened and send them on an expedition to another world.

If we can successfully explore the world beyond through the inter-dimensional portal.

Therefore, if inter-dimensional exchange is activated, it is expected that several problems can be solved at the same time.

On the contrary, it may be more of an annoyance.

Anyway, because of these things, the Earth has been busy every day lately.

To solve the governments of each country that do not want to release the Awakened even on the brink of death.

Recruiting manpower and investment funds.

“One thing I know for sure.”

Lee Yeon-hee said abruptly.

“Hmm?”

“It’s that Uncle is a really different person from Hojae. You’re not really a normal alter ego.”

… … you realized that now?

I was a little upset.

Even when we met at the competition, Lee Yeon-hee did not understand that I was a different person even though I was Hojae’s alter ego.

“It’s because I also use an alter ego. However, my alter ego is really me. It is the concept of a separate body that shares a single consciousness. An alter ego with a separate self-consciousness.”

Lee Yeon-hee looked at me with academic eyes.

I got a little goosebumps.

It reminds me of Hojae’s eyes when he was experimenting with me in the past.

“Then what should I call you? It’s a little odd to just call Uncle an alter ego.”

“Hochi.”

“Hochi?”

“It’s my name.”

Lee Yeon-hee laughed and said it was fun.

“I heard he called you that, but that was a name, not a nickname?”

I told her of an anecdote that Hojae made up the name of a character named Hoochi Nedval and his name roughly.

He is a very indifferent guy.

Actually, I wanted to have a grand name like Yong-yong.

“Then Uncle Hochi…”

What do you mean Uncle!

I was furious.

How old am I?

I am even younger than Lee Yeon-hee.

I’m way younger!

“Ah, anyway, what exactly is the relationship between the two of you?”

Relationship?

My relationship with Hojae?

Well, what should I explain?

“I don’t know what Hojae will think, but I think of Hojae like a parent.”

Because I learned everything from Hojae.

Even though I was forced to learn things I didn’t want to learn.

Even if Hojae doesn’t have to explain it in words, there are many things I learned from his memories.

“It’s similar to me in that respect. I learned it from him too. It’s only in the tutorial.”

It certainly was.

Me and Lee Yeon-hee had something in common which was that we learned from Ho-jae.

Perhaps I know more clearly than Lee Yeon-hee.

Lee Yeon-hee was like a little sibling who suddenly appeared one day.

That’s unnecessarily outstanding.

To me, who was judged as a failure and buried in the ruins of the 61st floor, the existence of Lee Yeon-hee, who appeared like Hojae’s savior one day, was really embarrassing.

Whenever Lee Yeon-hee went up one level, I saw Hojae regaining vitality and hope, and I felt a sense of shame, and also felt a sense of entitlement and inferiority.

It’s an old story.

I now feel only a little bit of regret, a sense of debt, and gratitude to Lee Yeon-hee.

Thanks to Lee Yeon-hee, Hojae found his hope again, and his relationship with me became close, so I could say that Lee Yeon-hee was a benefactor to me.

“By the way.”

Lee Yeon-hee said.

“You talk a lot more than I thought.”

“Uh…….”

I was embarrassed.

At Lee Yeon-hee’s sudden words.

Lee Yeon-hee laughed again.

Did she make fun of me?

Lee Yeon-hee asked me what was so embarrassing because she couldn’t think of what to say.

“Are you interested in me?”

“Uh… uh?”