By Zephyria 
Where is this? Red eyes wandered in the air. What was constricting his breath was clearly deep resignation and listlessness.
In contrast, his body was somehow overflowing with strength. Joo-oh, who had been idly fidgeting with his hands, soon caught the familiar scent in the air.
‘Jin Mu-hae…….’
It was Jin Mu-hae’s scent. Only then did his stopped brain slowly begin to turn.
This place is…… a shelter far from Seogyeong City. A long-abandoned space.
Joo-oh had come outside with Jin Mu-hae to look for the researcher. They had decided to stop at the second shelter and spend the night, and Mu-hae was asleep in the bed right next to him.
Slowly turning his head, he saw a figure lying quietly in the darkness. Even though his muscles were relaxed, his face was not friendly, not even as a platitude.
But Joo-oh knew. That he was armed with an insensitive expression and a stiff tone, but in fact, he was more humane than anyone else in this game.
He had played this damn game a hundred times. He didn’t remember, but he felt that fact every time.
That’s why so much data remained in his head. Jin Mu-hae’s various reactions, even his different aspects, all without exception.
Warmth spread to his fingertips. Joo-oh curled up and lay on his side.
Creak. As the rusty sound came from the bed joint, Mu-hae’s tightly closed eyelids slowly opened.
“……What are you doing awake?”
His vision would be nothing but darkness, so how did he know that he was awake?
He didn’t know, but anyway, Jin Mu-hae was very clever and quick-witted.
“Jin Mu-hae.”
“What.”
“Can I sleep with you?”
He glanced around slightly and then spoke in a locked voice.
“The bed is too small for that. Can’t you see my feet are already sticking out?”
“…….”
At Joo-oh’s silence, he sighed and swept back his hair. After a moment, he got up and got out of bed.
He rummaged through another bed for a smelly mattress and bedding, then laid it straight on the floor.
“Lie down.”
Joo-oh smiled brightly without realizing it. The strange feeling that had been making his chest stuffy until just now disappeared like snow melting.
It was like cotton candy. He had pestered Mu-hae to buy it together in Jaegang District once. It was sweet, soft, and disappeared in his mouth in an instant.
But the taste lingered for a while, and he kept laughing. Jin Mu-hae gave him all of what was left because it was too sweet, which made him even happier.
“Hug me.”
“Did you have a dream?”
How did he know this too? He didn’t say anything.
As expected, Jin Mu-hae was the best. He was stupid but smart. Joo-oh chuckled softly and quickly went down to the floor.
As the firm arms wrapped around him, even the remaining unpleasantness flew away. Joo-oh buried his nose in his arms and took a deep breath.
The dark shelter soon became quiet. Joo-oh peeked his head out and floated the system window over his shoulder.
WELCOME TO LA VIDA 🙂
~Day 15, Year 233~
[Quest]
Main Quest
Tutorial (Completed)
Chapter 1 (Completed)
Chapter 2
☞ The Person in Charge of the Bygone Reform (Completed)
Planned 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 Remains √
Fourth Companion √
The Missing Link (In Progress)
[The Missing Link]
Olga saw the researcher who survived the disaster.
Find him and uncover the traces of Solar City.
In the meantime, he had gone on several side quests helping Mu-hae, and he had also received minor requests that were not revealed when he played directly.
Nevertheless, Chapter 2 of the long story was already past the halfway point. It was a strange thing. Wasn’t it like the slow journey to the next quest felt like a blink of an eye when you looked back on it after it had passed?
‘Come to think of it, was that…… this?’
Since Joo-oh joined, changes had begun to appear in the story little by little. The main plot remained the same, but the minor parts were slightly different from what Joo-oh knew.
He had also encountered clues or events that could not be found in the game. The thought that it would eventually be linked to the main plot made his heart tingle with anticipation.
―Breaking news. Last May 22nd
Static
declared
Static- Chiiii-
The memories he saw in his dreams were too fragmentary, so he still didn’t know what he had done before he fell into this world.
But Joo-oh was sure. Everything was moving forward. The story of the game, and the moments of the past that the dream showed.
In accordance with the flowing time, Joo-oh was able to think more clearly and judge more complexly. He had been carefully hiding the changes that he was afraid Jin Mu-hae would distance himself from, but now he was starting to take them out while watching his reaction.
That must be why. The memories of the past, which had not been found even a clue for the past 15 years, were slowly returning.
‘I’ll stick close. I’ll never fall off.’
That desire had become more intense than when his head was simple. Perhaps Joo-oh had longed for this world and Jin Mu-hae even before he fell into the world of 「La Vida Blue」.
“……Sleep. Don’t wriggle.”
The voice, so low it rumbled, tickled his ear. Joo-oh nodded and buried his head in his arms again.
As expected, he wanted to stay by Jin Mu-hae’s side forever. He hadn’t found a single route to see the true ending without giving up Blue Energy.
In a world that had become reality, wouldn’t everything flow fluidly? So, Joo-oh would not give up.
“Damn it.”
They had gone through two more shelters in the morning alone. It was possible because there were no rocky mountains or rugged terrain on the way.
However, the remaining shelters would not be so easy to reach. Already, a forest path that was difficult for the bike to pass through blocked the way.
According to the information he had checked before leaving, it wasn’t this lush…….
“We’re going to go around.”
Jin Mu-hae checked the bike’s fuel and held up the GPS. Surprisingly, Joo-oh read and understood the map made up of lines at once.
“Will it take long?”
“We’ll have to run for about five hours straight.”
No matter how much Director Gil had improved the stability of the bike, his spine would hurt if he drove on such an unpaved dirt road for a long time.
But Joo-oh didn’t seem to care. Rather, he liked being stuck behind him for that long. He was simple to a fault.
“I’m glad it’s not raining.”
That’s right. There was no forecast that rain clouds were gathering nearby, but external weather information was not to be trusted in the first place.
Hearing Joo-oh’s words, his stuffy heart was relieved a little. Mu-hae also reluctantly put on a positive mind and started the bike.
“Don’t throw the used skewers anywhere.”
Aberrants roam around this area. There was no need to paint the already unfamiliar human smell with stimulating spices.
“Okay.”
Joo-oh nodded as if it were natural and put the long stick in his bag. He must have put all sorts of junk in there, how many sticky sticks did he shove in? He would have to wipe them all clean when he got back.
Swoosh-.
The faster the bike went, the louder the wind became. Even the noise of the wheels kicking up the dirt was partially covered, but somehow Mu-hae could roughly understand the words coming from behind.
“Jin Mu-hae.”
“…….”
Of course, he didn’t answer. He didn’t want to crash into a stone floor while driving a two-wheeled vehicle at a crazy speed.
Even if he didn’t agree with him, Joo-oh always said what he wanted to say.
“Is Blue bad?”
He thought he would say meaningless nonsense as usual, but he asked something unexpected. He thought for a moment what kind of change of heart it was, and he quickly found the answer.
Most of the missions he had taken Joo-oh on were carried out in the Crystal Zone. It was so dangerous that a red window popped up first when he searched the map, and the citizens of the Comfort zone were also afraid of the external environment.
So, with only his white and clean head, Blue Energy itself might seem negative. Mu-hae corrected the wrong answer without turning his head.
“This is also moving with Blue Energy.”
“Then why get rid of it?”
“Well…….”
The simple and ignorant question suddenly branched out in a complicated way. Mu-hae slowed down a little and glanced back.
Oh. He was stuck so close that only the side of his head was visible. Giving up on checking his expression, Mu-hae focused on riding the bike again.
“Nothing is completely bad and completely good. We just choose the side that has more to gain than lose.”
It was a perfunctory answer, but it sounded plausible after he said it. Humanity gained Blue Energy but lost its freedom, and even the Comfort zone, which they considered safe, might be destroyed by some variable.
Before Solar City, it was Shinkyo City, and there were more than one or two Comfort zones that had disappeared even before that.
In the end, it was a slowly dying future. The Return flight, and his father, wanted to take human life out of that zero-sum game.
“Lose?”
It seemed to be a bit of a profound story for Joo-oh, as he mumbled and asked again.
“Blue Energy.”
“If the bike doesn’t move, what will we ride?”
“Anything. Humans don’t die easily anyway.”
So wasn’t that why they quickly adapted to this world and created Comfort zones like mushrooms after rain?
The young boy had stubbornly survived in the slums and collected all 200,000 Deal.
“Oops.”
Mu-hae urgently turned the steering wheel to avoid a deeply dug puddle.
That wouldn’t do. Since it wasn’t urgent information such as an Aberrant popping out, it would be enough to get off and have the remaining conversation.
That was if he remembered it by then. Joo-oh was easily happy and quickly forgot everything.
And that was the same for Mu-hae. There was no point in holding on to bad things for a long time, and life was too complicated to live while paying attention to even the small and emotional aspects.
However, the thought of Blue Energy remained faintly in his mind.
The earth, which had become desolate from drawing energy from all kinds of fuel, and the people who were already accustomed to the efficiency of Blue Energy…….
In the end, it took six hours to reach the next shelter. Mu-hae quietly clicked his tongue and turned his stiff shoulder.
The building that finally appeared in front of him was a bit far from the shelter’s unique, meaningless design. Rather than a building, it was closer to a mass of densely overgrown vines.
“Jin Mu-hae. This place is strange.”
“I know.”
The radius of several tens of meters was also arranged like a front yard. Nameless weeds grew long up to his knees, but there was not a single obstructive tree or rock.
He could feel someone’s touch. Mu-hae put his hand behind his back and slowly walked towards the shelter.
If something strange popped out, he would immediately use the Taser. Of course, the probability was higher that it was a human than a monster, but it was never a bad idea to be careful in advance.