By Zephyria The man sits before a glowing monitor.
In a dark room where he can’t even tell the time of day. His gaze is fixed solely on the monitor.
Within the screen lies a world. A vibrant world, teeming with people.
If you speak, you receive an answer, and passing through the market, you hear the lively sounds of conversation.
You can buy food too. Though you can’t taste it directly, it’s filled with strange edibles he’s never tried before.
What does meat and mushroom pie taste like? And how sweet are those colorful cereals?
A whirlwind of emotions where people laugh, cry, rage, and rejoice. A place forever distant from the man’s silent space.
A sense of suffocation fills his chest. The pitch-black darkness presses down harder on his breath.
He’d like to turn on a light, but he can’t. He needs to conserve power to keep the PC running longer.
Because that’s all the man has left. If he loses even this world, he’ll have no sanctuary to rely on.
In the midst of a piercing sense of alienation, the man closes his eyes. He listens to the sounds and imagines.
That he is standing in that lively city,
The world of “La Vida Blue.”
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Static-.
“Hng.”
At dawn, Joo-oh opened his eyes with a short groan.
Something heavy was pressing down on his chest. He quickly groped around, but all he could grasp was Jin Mu-hae’s clothes, which he’d snatched the day before.
His fingertips were trembling. Joo-oh wrapped the hem of the clothes between his fingers, rubbing them as he tried to catch a scent.
“It’s not there.”
But the freshly laundered clothes only smelled of detergent. Joo-oh twitched his lips and rose from his spot.
Staggering, he opened the door and stepped out, finally catching a whiff of someone’s scent.
“Jin Mu-hae…”
Joo-oh approached the bed as if collapsing. There, Jin Mu-hae was sleeping peacefully.
In an instant, he climbed onto the mattress and burrowed into his blanket. The warmth that enveloped his body calmed his pounding heart a little.
“Jin Mu-hae.”
He knows he shouldn’t wake him, but he can’t stop calling his name. Joo-oh buried his nose in the sleeping man’s body and inhaled deeply.
The familiar, comforting, and cherished scent fills his lungs. Joo-oh rubbed his cheek against his shoulder like a spoiled child and snuggled into his embrace.
“Sleep, a little…”
Finally, Mu-hae mumbled, stirring slightly from his sleep. His voice was so welcome that Joo-oh made a whimpering sound.
“Jin Mu-hae. Hold me.”
He whispered into his ear, and a firm arm wrapped around Joo-oh’s body. He even patted his back as if telling him to go back to sleep.
His voice, his movements, were so welcome that he couldn’t help but whine. Joo-oh nodded and hugged the body pressed against his.
When their chests are pressed together like this, he feels his heart warming. His heart is originally warm since it’s inside his body, but a deeper, softer warmth flows through him.
Only then did his trembling hands stop, and a comfortable sensation spread through his limbs. Joo-oh bumped his head against the chest that rose and fell rhythmically.
“I’m going to sleep.”
“Yeah. Sleep.”
His deeply submerged voice, even his blunt reply, is so precious. He’s gotten everything he wanted, so he shouldn’t disturb him anymore.
All the anxiety from a moment ago vanished, and a deep sense of satisfaction filled him. A faint smile spread across Joo-oh’s lips.
[Would you like to view the log?]
Yes
* * *
[Day 5693]
Jin Mu-hae has changed a little
If you ask how he’s changed, I can’t exactly explain it… but something’s different.
His face and eyes are still Jin Mu-hae, but the feeling is a little different.
Yesterday, when I was going to the grocery store, Jin Mu-hae didn’t nag me about anything.
He just told me to wear a hat since it wasn’t Jaegang District. I came back late because farming hasn’t been going well lately, but he just stared at me for a long time and didn’t get angry.
Hmm. It’s good that Jin Mu-hae isn’t saying mean things. But it feels a little strange that he doesn’t ask who I’ve been meeting.
Of course, it’s easier to answer when he doesn’t ask, but still.
I even wondered if I’d done something wrong. But no matter how much I think about it, there’s nothing I’ve broken or ruined recently.
Jin Mu-hae told me not to ask people for food, so it seems like the problem isn’t me but Jin Mu-hae.
WELCOME TO LA VIDA 🙂
~Year 15, Day 218~
[Quest]
Main Quest
Tutorial (Completed)
Chapter 1 (Completed)
Chapter 2
☞ The Person Responsible for the Bygone Reform (Completed)
Scheduled Work √
DIY 777 √
Blue not Vlue √
Planned Hero √
Sewer Exploration √
One to Replace Four √
☞ Cooperation Across the Sea (In Progress)
Letter from the Past √
Golden Remnants √
The Fourth Companion
[The Fourth Companion]
His father had one more friend.
What could be the reason why the existence of a close colleague was completely erased?
Come to think of it, it’s about time Jin Mu-hae starts having a lot of thoughts.
He seems to have a lot now, but it’s going to get even more complicated in the future.
That’s how the main characters are. They always have a secret about their birth, they experience hardships, but they get a good reward for it.
It might be a little tough for Jin Mu-hae himself, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing. Because there are a lot of extras in this world who suffer all kinds of hardships and then disappear without any reward.
Compared to them, Jin Mu-hae is on a solid path to success. Especially with me by his side!
It’s sad that Jin Mu-hae is sometimes prickly… but those who possess a world must pay the price.
By doing so, they gain the qualifications of a protagonist and achieve a happy ending. That’s the ending I want.
Of course, there must be a living Joo-oh by his side. To that end, I’ve tried to follow the story as it is, but somehow give it variations.
So, how much has it changed from the original, and what’s different?
I saw a broken Small aircraft in Buckta. Jin Mu-hae’s exposure has decreased significantly, and strangely, Cheong keeps offering me deals instead of Jin Mu-hae.
Come to think of it, we went to Seogyeong City Central first! Originally, you’re supposed to visit that place for the first time in Chapter 2, but I never thought we’d enter it before then.
Thanks to that, I got to take a bath in a bubbly bathtub, and I could fill it with water and scoop it out with my hands.
The gown was soft and so nice. It would be nice if Jin Mu-hae’s house had a bathtub too. Except for the hideout in Jaegang District, Jin Mu-hae hasn’t acquired a house with that much space yet.
I want to buy one myself, but Jin Mu-hae isn’t giving me an allowance. Even when I go for a walk on Starlight Road, there are hardly any people picking fights.
Is it because it’s become reality? Unlike in the game, the guy who gets hit doesn’t come back for more.
I’ve been cutting back on snacks and jerky for a while now. We’re going to Seogyeong City soon, so will I be able to gather enough Deal by then?
* * *
[Log saved.]
Joo-oh sat on the sofa, dangling his legs, and finished the latest entry.
There’s no reward for leaving a log, but it always felt like it cleared up his hazy mind.
Even when he was wandering outside, he wrote in the log whenever he came to his senses. As it went on, it just became a list of meaningless words, but in any case, it was a last-ditch effort to maintain human intelligence.
“Jin Mu-hae. Where are you going?”
In the meantime, Jin Mu-hae was putting on his jacket. As soon as he saw the familiar red color, Joo-oh jumped up from his spot.
“Electronic Store. Something came up that needs equipment checked.”
“I’m going too.”
He gave him a disapproving look as usual, but thankfully, he didn’t tell him to stay home.
Joo-oh dashed into the study. He opened the cabinet and looked at the clothes Jin Mu-hae had bought him one by one, then quickly put on a beige T-shirt.
Director Gil liked these gentle colors more than strong colors like red or blue. Even though he wears worn-out work clothes all the time, this would look better on him.
When he came out after changing, Mu-hae gestured to his head. It seemed his hair was messed up again from rubbing against the sofa.
Joo-oh approached him and offered his head. But unexpectedly, Jin Mu-hae didn’t fix his hair.
“Do it yourself. You can do it.”
In that instant, it felt like the world shook. As Joo-oh’s face contorted in shock, he turned away.
There it is again. Jin Mu-hae is acting strange again. He’s supposed to comb his hair, fix his clothes, and interfere with everything.
Lately, he’s been strangely drawing a line. He’s been letting Joo-oh do whatever he wants as long as he doesn’t cause trouble.
He didn’t cut the meat for him, and he didn’t clean up the messy table.
But that doesn’t mean he’s distancing himself. He doesn’t push him away when he burrows into the bed or hugs him tightly.
Rather, the day before, when he asked him to touch his face, he stroked him so much that he almost purred. So, it was difficult for Joo-oh to figure out what the problem was.
Even now, as he stood there with a sulky face, Mu-hae glanced at him once. As if he wasn’t completely uninterested.
It was hard to complain outright. After all, Joo-oh is twenty-two years old, a fully grown ‘human.’
It was awkward to grumble about him not combing his hair when he’s old enough to mate with Jin Mu-hae.
‘When did this start?’
It hasn’t been long. It seems like it started after he met Olga. No matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn’t think of anything he’d done wrong at that time.
He just got hungrier. Joo-oh smacked his lips slightly and went into the bathroom.
A man with slightly sticking-out hair and a sulky face was reflected in the mirror. Joo-oh pouted and wet his hands to smooth his hair.