Became a tyrant of defense games - Episode 814
814. [True Ending] Insert A Coin
An arcade with the lights off.
This place where all the other machines have stopped working, the screens are turned off and there is silence..
In the center of a dark arcade immersed in darkness, a huge game machine emits a harsh humming noise and the machine's unique heat..
A child was sitting in front of the only powered game console in the arcade..
He wore a baggy hospital gown that didn't fit his small body, and a beanie on top of his close-shaven head. He was a boy with pale skin due to lack of exposure to sunlight..
“…….”
The child looked at the screen of the large game console..
A phrase appeared on a screen filled with crackling noise..
- CONTINUE?
Do you want to continue?
The numbers next to that phrase, as expected, are busy with noise, going back and forth between 1 and 0..
It's not clear, but it seems to be falling from 1 to 0 very slowly..
And maybe, the moment it hits 0... … the game will be over forever.
“…….”
Watching the numbers slowly falling, the boy was peaceful. Maybe it seemed like he was clueless, maybe he seemed like he had lost interest..
The boy just looked at the screen with empty eyes..
I hope the number reaches 0 quickly.
As if hoping that the phrase ‘GAME OVER’ would soon appear on this big screen..
It was then.
“I don't play that game anymore?”
A young man's voice was heard from the entrance of the arcade..
Then the young man came into the arcade with clattering footsteps..
“It's a shame we've gotten this far, so why not try one more time??”
“…….”
The boy who was sitting in front of the game console waiting for the game to be over reluctantly answered..
“I'm sick of this game.”
The boy's eyes looking at the screen contain even a trace of resentment..
“It's difficult. It's hard. It hurts. It's not even fun.”
“…….”
“I'm going to stop now.”
Jeez. Jeopuk.
The approaching footsteps stopped behind the boy..
The boy glanced back, then blinked in surprise..
“Hey, Godeok hyung.?”
He was a man who looked very similar to the classics fan I always saw on TV..
……That's what I thought, but let's face it again, it wasn't.
The appearance was completely different. Moreover, this man was wearing a unique uniform that I had never seen before..
They don't look alike at all, so why am I confused? The boy tilted his head..
“sorry. The vibe is a bit similar to someone I know... … By the way, who are you??”
The hesitating man chose his words for a moment and then,
“friend.”
I smiled shyly and answered.
“Classics fanatic… … old friend.”
“Ah, somehow.”
The boy scratched his beanie-covered head.
“Something… … Godeok and I don't look alike at all, but our impressions are similar. So you were confused..”
“ha ha ha. I hear that a lot. Me and Godeok, we look a lot alike.”
The man, laughing, pulled a chair from the game console next to him and sat down next to the boy..
“I know this classic fanatic guy well.?”
“How are you? Anyway, I'm the first viewer of his broadcast..”
“How did I come to watch that guy’s broadcast??”
The boy smiled and recalled the past.
“That brother is now a successful game broadcaster..”
“yes.”
“But back in the early days of broadcasting, I was really a beginner among beginners. The broadcast settings are a mess, and the games played are very old classics. As a result, there were no viewers..”
The boy talked excitedly about his favorite broadcaster..
“Well, since I'm just lying in the hospital, I'm bored, so I watch broadcasts here and there... … I happened to watch Godeok's broadcast. An old game broadcast with 0 viewers and no one even knew it existed..”
There the boy paused for a moment..
After a short silence, the boy spoke.
“That was the day I thought I was going to die..”
“…….”
“The treatment is difficult, the surgery is scary, I vomit while taking the medicine, and I feel sorry for my mom and dad... … One of those days when I was so sick of everything that I thought about just dying..”
The man listened silently.
“That day, I went on a broadcast that no one was watching, and just looking at the game, it was extremely difficult. However, all the lives are gone, there is only one space left, and monsters are running from all directions. I saw that and thought.”
the boy lowered his eyes.
“If this guy gets game over, I'll give up too..”
The boy's hands, tattered from too many injections, clenched into fists..
“I have to die today.”
“…….”
“however… … It broke it..”
There was a faint heat in the boy's voice..
“In the end, it was successful. It was really close to game over. I clenched my teeth and held on desperately… … I kept not giving up, eventually got to the end, beat the final boss, and watched the ending..”
“…….”
“Strangely enough, after seeing that... … The desire to die has disappeared.”
the boy said one more time.
“I wanted to live.”
The man quietly looked at the side of the boy's face..
the boy continued.
“Even after that, Godeok didn’t give up. Even difficult classic games and unpopular broadcasts... … I continued until the end. I was able to clear even the most difficult games like that. Even broadcasts that no one watched got bigger little by little..”
the boy nodded.
“I think I gained courage when I saw that..”
The boy slowly looked up and saw the large game console in front of him..
“So, I guess I've been fighting this guy forever..”
still.
- CONTINUE?
On the screen of the game console, the numbers are converging to 0..
“……Well, that's over now..”
the boy raised his hands.
“I won't do it anymore.”
“Why aren't we doing more??”
“Because there's no chance of winning..”
The boy kicked the game console with his foot wearing hospital slippers..
“I don't know how many times I've been with this bastard. But, he was always the one getting beat up and KO'd..”
“…….”
“I gained courage after seeing Godeok, got up and tried again, and got up again and tried again..”
The boy shook his head slightly..
“Not once... … I couldn't win.”
“…….”
“Even if you try to have hope, no matter how hard you take medicine and undergo surgery, the situation only gets worse. The treatment failed, the surgery failed, and my struggles failed. I said I'm working hard, but I can't escape this hell..”
A long sigh escaped the boy's mouth..
“It's always like this. No matter how hard I try, no matter how hard I try, the world takes it from me. It doesn't change at all.”
“…….”
“I'm going to stop now. I don't want to live this hard anymore.”
Come on!
The boy pushed back his chair and stood up in front of the game console..
“game over.”
declare yourself.
Just like that, to the boy who was about to turn around in front of the game console..
“Kid.”
Suddenly the man asked.
“I think this world is absurd?”
The boy was blank for a moment, then nodded..
“yes.”
“I think that even if you struggle to overcome the obstacles in front of you, life is still painful.?”
“……yes.”
Then the man grinned..
“I thought so too.”
“yes?”
“This world... … It's a hell full of pain that no one but an iron man who never fails can survive. I thought too.”
hell.
iron man.
The boy who was pondering the man's words tilted his head..
“Thought… … Does that mean you have changed your mind now??”
“any.”
The man smiled vaguely and recalled the past..
“I thought it would be over if I failed even once... … Even when I fell to the bottom, there was someone who held out a hand for me.”
“…….”
“Life is a hell full of pain, but in between, beautiful moments like wild flowers bloomed rarely but clearly..”
The man winked at the boy..
“You're someone like that, you've never had a moment like that.?”
“…….”
The boy couldn't answer right away, but he didn't deny it..
In front of the boy, the man slowly stood up to face him..
“I won't say that this world isn't hell. I won’t say that an iron man is not what this world demands. but.”
The man looked straight into the boy's eyes..
“This world is a much more beautiful hell than you think.”
“…….”
“Even for failures like us who can't become iron men... … If you don't give up, there are still opportunities.”
Then the boy growled..
“What do you want to say??”
“…….”
“What did you come to tell me?.”
The boy's voice was filled with anger..
“You don't know how hard it is for me, and I'm not going to live for you! I'm not going to get treatment for you, get surgery for you, throw up for you, or cry for you! But even if I throw it in such an irresponsible way,……!”
“A classic enthusiast asked me to tell it to you..”
The boy's eyes were wide open..
The man grinned..
“Cheer up. I'm rooting for you. ”
“…….”
“And to cheer you on, he cleared the world's hardest game while you were asleep..”
741one game over.
And the journey of the past three years.
the man remembers.
“I know why he did that?”
“……I don't know.”
“Because you saved him from hell.”
The boy's body stiffened..
The man said with confidence.
“It's because you came first and said hello to that guy who was dying alone in his own hell..”
In this hellish world, there is nothing an ordinary person, not an iron man, can do... … All we can do is reach out to each other.
And sometimes, that's enough.
Because the man believed.
“know. That's irresponsible. That I can't live for you. Because we have a hard time just dealing with our own hell. Just enduring the most difficult game each person has ever faced is overwhelming..”
“…….”
“But, just as you took courage from that friend.”
Sincerely.
“That friend also got courage from you.”
I hope this feeling is conveyed, even just a little bit..
“we want you to live.”
the man said.
“I hope you don't give up on your life's challenge and your take on the world..”
“…….”
The boy pursed his lips..
the man continued.
“There will be many difficult times for you in the future. Treatment is still arduous, and continuing life must be painful. Even if you overcome one adversity, unimaginable hardships will continue to come..”
“…….”
“Still, once again. one last time.”
The man put his hand into his pocket and took out something.…….
Flick your fingertips. threw it at the boy.
“Fight me.”
The boy caught it accidentally..
What the man threw at the boy... … It was an old coin.
As I looked down at the coin in my hand, the man grinned..
“The choice is yours.”
the man turned around.
And then, walking with long strides, I left the arcade..
“……excuse me.”
The hesitating boy shouted urgently..
“Hey there, bro! for a moment!”
At the entrance to the arcade, a man stopped..
the boy asked on the man's back.
“How do I repay this coin you lent me??”
Then the man chuckled and,
Turn around slowly.
“You're not 'paying back'.”
He raised his index finger and pointed at the boy..
Then he raised his thumb and pointed at himself..
“I 'paid back'.”
Leaving behind words that the boy could not understand.
The man opened the arcade door and disappeared outside..
“…….”
Standing there, the boy stared for a long time at the entrance to the arcade the man had left..
And then before long… … she slowly turned around.
- CONTINUE?
I approached the damn game machine that still had that phrase in my mind..
After sitting down.
I silently looked at the coin in my hand..
“……yet again.”
clenched fist with coins.
“Finally, one more time.”
- Insert A Coin
The boy pushed the coin he was holding into the slot of the game machine..
jingle…….
Immediately after the sound of a coin hitting the floor.
0The number that was infinitely close to suddenly soars. A clear new phrase appears on the crackling screen..
- Here Comes A New Challenger!
- Get Ready For The Next STAGE
A new challenger has appeared.
Get ready for the next stage.
“……Phew.”
Take a deep breath.
After opening my tightly closed eyes.
The boy's small, dry hands slowly grasped the stick of the game console.…….
- PRESS START
I pressed the start button with all my might..
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