MIT 31

Clang, bang.

Whirr-.

“Come in.”

This is Director Gil’s Electronic Store, my second visit today. Joo-oh meticulously took in the odds and ends he had missed last time.

It’s an impressive place, even after revisiting. In the game, Director Gil was an NPC who would spout fixed lines like, “You’ve come,” or “Take a look around,” when you approached within a certain radius, but now he’s leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

Casually holding a crushed cigarette butt in his mouth, flicking the ash with his fingertip whenever it looked like it would fall.

“You really drag him around everywhere, huh?”

Director Gil muttered. He was talking about Joo-oh.

‘Really?’ Did he hear something somewhere? Mu-hae casually nodded his head and entered his house.

Joo-oh naturally followed him, trotting along and meeting Director Gil’s eyes.

The old man’s face was etched with the hardships of the years. The past version of him in the flashback was a surprisingly noble and vibrant young man.

A lot must have happened to turn that figure into this one. Even though the story of this game had more than one or two flaws, as he had repeated to himself several times, Joo-oh loved the world of La Vida Blue.

He didn’t know how he had come to be so attached, but he just liked it. Enough to leave it on all the time and stare blankly at it.

‘Was that so?’

Even though he didn’t remember the past, the fact that he loved this game was deeply engraved in his heart.

It wasn’t so much that he tried not to forget, but rather that it felt like it was imprinted somewhere in his subconscious so that he could never forget.

“You sit there.”

As he was about to cross the threshold, Mu-hae abruptly pointed to a sofa in a corner of the Electronic Store.

Director Gil silently watched the scene.

“Can’t I go inside the house too?”

“No.”

“Are you going to be long?”

Joo-oh swallowed hard at the unexpected eviction notice.

Not knowing what to do, he turned his head this way and that, looking around, and met the emotionless man’s eyes again.

Ah. Director Gil doesn’t want me to. This house belongs to Director Gil.

He doesn’t want to blather about the main story, the story of the perpetrators, in front of just anyone.

He knew he couldn’t help it, but he felt a little sad for no reason. Joo-oh loved them and knew all the circumstances like the back of his hand, but strictly speaking, he was an outsider.

Originally, the character ‘Joo-oh’ wasn’t in the story. When he thought about it, it was amazing that Jin Mu-hae had accepted Joo-oh, whatever the reason.

‘He was a bit of an outsider originally, for sure.’

Unlike other mercenaries who formed teams to carry out large-scale requests, Jin Mu-hae was a voluntary loner mercenary who only took on missions of a difficulty he could handle alone.

This was a natural setting given the game’s lack of multiplayer, but Joo-oh was a little uneasy about it.

That’s why he proved his usefulness, even going so far as to disobey the order to stay put.

In case he would cast Joo-oh out like a habit and return to being alone.

“I’ll be quiet, so…”

Mu-hae, whom he glanced at while muttering, looked annoyed. If he were alone with Mu-hae, he would tear his shoes or something, but it seemed that he wasn’t the decision-maker today.

So Joo-oh sent a look full of expectation and earnestness to Director Gil. The man, who had just finished smoking a cigarette and threw it into the trash can in the corner, noticed the piercing gaze and hardened his expression.

“I’ll give you this.”

He rummaged through his inside pocket, brought up his Inventory, and took out an item he had stored there.

A green plastic piece. A square body with fur sprouting in all directions and two round eyes, it was Tinkle Friends ‘Teterong’.

It wasn’t Joo-oh’s favorite, and he already had two duplicates, so he could give one as a Gift.

The character figure, which was still warm from being held tightly in his hand before being put in the Inventory, dropped onto Director Gil’s palm.

“……”

Director Gil gestured to Mu-hae. Mu-hae sighed and replied to the look that asked what it was.

“It’s from a cereal box. He’s always eating…”

‘You should say it’s his favorite!’

Joo-oh became anxious, worried that his sincerity might be underestimated.

“Teterong can also use magic and is a friend of good luck.”

“……”

“If you hold it in your hand and make a wish, it’ll grant it haphazardly.”

“What do you mean haphazardly?”

“Not all of it. It listens roughly.”

That’s what the item description said. Mu-hae, who couldn’t stand the awkward silence, added a word and then squeezed his eyes shut.

“Okay. Tell him to come in.”

Director Gil, unable to watch any longer, gestured towards the door. Only then did Joo-oh smile brightly and rush into the house.

He wanted to settle down before they changed their minds.

Whirr.

Joo-oh pulled out an old dining table chair and quickly sat down.

Jin Mu-hae and Director Gil would sit on the sofa with the tea table and talk. If he stayed this far away, he wouldn’t be a nuisance.

“Did you bring that?”

“Yes. But why this…”

Mu-hae took out a handle about a hand span long. It was a weapon with a blade that would pop out when the safety was released and the button was pressed.

Director Gil silently took it and pulled out a chisel-shaped rod from his back pocket as if he had prepared it in advance.

Then, crack, clang-.

He pried open the tightly closed handle and split the knife in half. A part inside fell out with a metallic sound as it rolled across the floor.

“Mu-hae. Do you remember what the first knife you brought looked like?”

“…Roughly.”

“Did you check what was newly attached?”

“Well, I don’t know. It looks like everything but the blade has been changed.”

Director Gil picked up the blade and threw it onto the tea table, then rummaged through the inside of the handle with his fingertips.

There was a faint sound like something was leaking.

“There’s a rechargeable battery inside, this. For Blue Energy storage.”

“In this small space?”

“Because there was a small but efficient storage.”

“That…”

“Isn’t it expensive? It’s expensive. The price doubles every time the size is reduced by 10 percent. It’s more expensive than what’s in your gun.”

Mu-hae’s expression changed subtly. He looked like he was wondering why something like that was in such a cheap knife.

“Seong-jo gave it to me. I was talking about your knife while drinking, and he suddenly told me to use this.”

Director Gil held up a multifaceted crystal between his index finger and thumb.

It was an object that looked like a jewel at a glance, with a lot of processing.

“You didn’t know, until then. That your dad kept having this.”

“…It seems like it was used for ‘that incident’.”

“Similar. Not exactly.”

Tsk. Director Gil clicked his tongue briefly. He had a more bitter mouth, similar to the way Jin Mu-hae usually did.

“To be honest, I don’t think he would have put anything in here, but you never know.”

“What was it used for?”

“I’ll charge it for you, so take a look yourself.”

Director Gil turned away, avoiding a detailed explanation. His eyes met Joo-oh’s again as he headed to the workshop.

Joo-oh shook the purple plastic piece and mouthed.

‘Friend.’

“Oh, geez.”

A brief smile crossed his dry face.

Director Gil really only charged the crystal and then sent them out.

The crystal, only the size of a finger joint, emitted a subtle blue light.

“Pretty.”

At Joo-oh’s words, Jin Mu-hae only raised his eyebrows. He didn’t answer, but I guess that means it’s pretty.

Joo-oh, who thought as he pleased, sat on Jin Mu-hae’s bed and hummed the La Vida Blue OST.

Blue Energy is usually processed and used as electricity, but it can also be used as energy itself through a special method.

Of course, the latter has less energy loss. Nevertheless, the former method is routinely adopted because Blue Energy is abundant anyway. And because ‘Giseok’, which acts as a battery, is naturally rare and heavy.

“Because it’s a luxury item.”

“Yeah. Pretty.”

In this world, Giseok is treated like precious metals such as gold or opal, despite its unique function.

The crystal that Jin Mu-hae is holding now was also processed so that it could be used as an accessory.

It was a different dimension from the heavy, unsightly battery in his gun.

Dark brown eyes were staring at the Giseok with conviction. Jin Mu-hae’s mouth was tightly shut, but Joo-oh could hear his monologue in the game.

‘If he has something like this and made me collect 200,000 Deal, then there must be something.’

Like that narration, this Giseok is an item for this quest.

It is not explained why Jin Seong-jo had something like this, or how he left evidence in such a place, but Jin Mu-hae finds a hint related to the ‘beacon’ here.

The radius of the areas that can be traveled in the game also widens from this point. The red-light district, the light and darkness of the outskirts of the residential area, the slums, opens.

I remember being able to see various scenes there in the later part of the game… but let’s skip that for now.

It would be incredibly fun if I could accompany Jin Mu-hae on his quest to find the blueprint.

Joo-oh waited a long time for Mu-hae’s guess, shaking his legs to the tune of the humming.