Chapter 83

“My name is not Yong Yong . ”

Now what’s this now, straight out of the blue .

“Hey, Yong Yong, would you like to eat a hotdog?”

“Yes!”

It seemed Yong Yong was happy about the thought of eating hotdogs . He smiled adorably for a moment, but then he suddenly put up a stern face and yelled again,

“My name is not Yong Yong!”

[I knew this would happen . ]

The clone bastard was sitting next to me . He tried to get on my nerve, but I ignored it .

“Yong Yong . If your name is not Yong Yong, then who is Yong Yong?”

“It’s not Yong Yong!”

Ugh .

Well then, that Benedictus… Raocones what not… Are you talking about that?

“My name is Benedictus Raylisia Piakhan Raokones Nafplion Nistiamat Karusearin Valakas Shyanso Karuddanthes Nesaria the Third . ”

That’s a super long name, yet you had no difficulty pronouncing each and every syllable . I think my Yong Yong could be a news anchor when he grows up .

You didn’t get tongue twisted . You didn’t smudge any of the pronunciations either . Have you been practicing?

[It seems he had been doing it before sleeping every night . ]

Ah, he really was practising .

“That’s right . My Yong Yong’s name is Benedictus Raylisia Piakhan Raokones Nass Timat Karusearin Shyanso Karuddanthes Nesaria the Third . ”

“No! It’s Benedictus Raylisia Piakhan Raokones Nafplion Nistiamat Karusearin Valakas Shyanso Karuddanthes Nesaria the Third!”

Which part did I get wrong?

I can’t even figure that out .

“Of course, of course . You are right . ”

How else am I supposed to console him?

[Just memorize the Benedict-whatever name . Won’t that be faster?]

I don’t want to do that .

“Yong Yong . Do you know what your daddy’s name is?”

“I know . Daddy’s name is Daddy!”

“No . Daddy’s name is Lee Ho-jae . ”

Yong Yong’s large eyes started to panic .

“That cannot be… It’s Daddy…”

“My name is Lee Ho-jae, Yong Yong . Daddy is a title that a son calls the parent by . ”

“A title?”

“Yes . Of the parents, man is Daddy, and woman is Mommy . ”

Yong Yong tried mumbling the words Daddy and Mommy . It seemed he deep in contemplation .

“So, my Yong Yong, your name is Benedictus Raylisia Piakhan Raokones Nafplion Nis Tiamat Karusearin Valakas Shyanso Karuddanthes Nesaria the Third… However, I am calling you Yong Yong as a nickname . ”

“Is that why you call me that?”

“That’s right . ”

It seemed Yong Yong was satisfied with the answer . He smiled adorably again .

He smiles so photogenically .

While I had the chance, I nudged a fairy worm in Yong Yong’s mouth .

Fortunately, he didn’t complain . Instead, Yong Yong chewed the worm and swallowed it .

Oh my, you are eating well .

Yong Yong, even if it is something as simple as watching you eat deliciously, these things brings smiles to your Daddy .

“Daddy . ”

“What is it, Yong Yong?”

“Then who is Mommy?”

It was an unexpected question . My face, which was smiling, was now petrified in horror .

[That ruined it . You just activated a trap card . ]

Hey, help me .

[How am I supposed to help in this situation? You want me to pretend to be the Mommy? You already told him that a female parent is the Mommy?]

Hey, clone bastard…

[What, original bastard . ]

You, do YOU want to try sex change operation?

[PR Note: I used all caps on “you” above because I don’t have any other method of making him emphasize these words and it sounds too casual if I left it as it was]

[You crazy bastard . ]

* * *

In the end, I told Yong Yong that his Mommy will come when he grows up a little longer . I cleverly placed hotdogs and pizza on top of the lie to turn away Yong Yong’s interest in the subject .

[Have more excuses prepared for the future or try making a female homunculus . ]

If possible, I would prefer not to make an intelligent being .

If my symptoms of schizophrenia act up again, then that could be a serious problem .

Especially when I even have Yong Yong now…

[Well, that’s true . ]

Yong Yong was sitting at the table and noisily munching on pizza . I wiped the cheese from below Yong Yong’s chin as I looked around .

This was a family restaurant that the clone bastard, Yong Yong and I built a few days ago .

I could still smell the paint from the wall, but I didn’t bother to erase the smell from the wall using magic .

The paint was harmless to the body to begin with . Also, it wasn’t like there was paint in existence that could harm me, the clone bastard or Yong Yong .

Although it was not a pleasant smell, it somehow made me feel like a normal person in society .

The scenery definitely had changed .

I can see the world in different color .

It’s a good thing .

I stroke Yong Yong’s head once and brought out this month’s newspaper from the inventory .

The clone bastard saw me do this, and he also brought out a book .

It was a book that I wrote by recalling a fantasy novel that I read back in school days .

It had been 20 years since I read the book . Of course, it would normally be impossible to write it all down from memory without getting anything wrong .

However, I could remember things from my past at will, even the ones that I thought I forgot due to passage of time .

As a reward for babysitting Yong Yong while I restored half-destroyed residential area, I allowed the clone bastard to stay and I wrote the novels for him to read based on the memories of what I read in the past before I entered the Tutorial .

Yong Yong addressed the clone bastard as uncle and followed him as well .

I was concerned that Yong Yong might find this confusing because the clone bastard looked exactly like me . However, Yong Yong used mana to identify the differences between me and the clone and distinguished us apart .

It had been a while since Yong Yong, my clone bastard and I have started spending days like a family .

Also, what I had been thinking lately is…

[Oh my, you sure are sensitive . ]

Ugh, this god damn telepathy .

Do you really have to intrude in my private life?

“You think I’m hearing them because I want to? Yong Yong, eat up . ”

The clone bastard gave another slice of pizza to Yong Yong before returning to reading the book .

Ugh that rascal .

I should just read the newspaper .

[Kim Min-hyuk, former leader of the Order of Vigilance, is forming a new Awakened Warriors Clan?]

Um…

I thought this rascal would go to the Blue House, but he is making a clan…

[TL: Blue House is Korea’s version of White House . ]

Well, I’m sure he will do well .

Kim Min-hyuk is one of the two people who know about my plan .

He even promised that he will have things prepared for my plan . The Awakened Warriors Clan must be also related to that .

This is different from what I heard before, but if he changed his mind after seeing the situation in the outside world, then I trust his judgement .

I’m sure he will handle things well on his own .

[A newly developing rivalry in Hell Difficulty? Brian from America and Lee Yun-hye from Korea . Their similarities and differences?]

Brian from America was a Hell Difficulty player who was known to have cleared the 31stFloor .

The 31st Floor is not an easily cleared . He is one amazing guy .

Now that he cleared 31st Floor, he cannot return to the 30th Floor’s residential area .

It means he must charge toward the 60th Floor no matter what .

Alone .

I’m sure he probably knows what this means . After all, he is a player who got past the 30th Floor in the Hell Difficulty .

I am not sure if this will give him courage or make him reckless .

Lee Yun-hye had been receiving much attention lately from the outside world .

She seems to be compared to me more often than to Brian .

She was called the second Lee Ho-jae or given a title with a similar idea .

Personally, if I am to compare Brian and Lee Yun-hye, I would evaluate her more highly than Brian .

Even the newspapers are assessing her to be superior to Brian despite the fact that she was at a lower floor .

Of course, that’s how it should be . After all, I was the one who guided her .

She is practically my successor .

Also, I don’t think she has an objection to being called my successor .

To be fair, Lee Yun-hye has a negative side too . Although her progress is very steady, her clearing speed is very slow .

[That’s still pretty fast . ]

If you consider the power she has, it is actually on the slow side .

She grew up to as a dual-class warrior that merges the archer and spell caster . She even mastered hidden skills and developed ways to use them when the method of obtaining them were completely unknown .

She uses potions like water . Even in a slightly dangerous stage, she carries a lot of expendable items .

She now has over twenty summon spirits and monsters .

She even has two Power Skills .

However, she is still only at the 13th Floor .

Does that make sense?

Honestly, she should be at 40th Floor by now .

[Not everyone is like us . ]

Frustration was slowly creeping up on me . Yong Yong seemed to read my emotions . He stopped eating pizza and looked at me .

I told him it was nothing and redirected his attention to the pizza .

I think I should eat some pizza too .

[Lee Jun-suk, 90th Floor: Big Bro, were you looking for me? I was on my way to the 91stFloor, so I didn’t get to see the message . ]

I put the pizza down again .

I left Yong Yong in my clone bastard’s care and left the family restaurant .

I contacted Lee Jun-suk because, as Park Jung-ah said before, I wanted to try convincing him that it was time for him to go to the outside world .

It has been a very long time since he started his isolated training at the 90th Floor .

Now, the time he spent at the 90th Floor exceeded the time he spent going from the First Floor to the 89th Floor .

Isn’t it really about time you returned to the outside world?

There are families and friends waiting outside for him, and he even has a contract with the Korean government .

Actually, in the outside world now, the media have been yapping about a conspiracy theory on Lee Jun-suk . They claimed that the Hard Difficulty player named Lee Jun-suk died a long time ago and that the Order of Vigilance is hiding this for the their own benefit .

Now, it is really time for him to go .

Repeatedly, I told him that it was time to go for ten minutes .

[Lee Jun-suk, 90th Floor: Is that so… Is it really time for me to return?]

[Lee Ho-jae, 60th Floor: That’s right you rascal . Please go back to the outside world . Other than the NPCs, the only first-year members who still remain in the Tutorial are just you and me . Aren’t you sick of this place?]

As for me, I would like to leave the Tutorial, but I cannot .

In the past, I felt that he and I were similar when he stayed at a residential area for the sake of growth . I was sympathetic toward him .

He made me feel better . I was thankful as well .

However, now, it really was time for him to return to the outside world .

Lee Jun-suk was silent for a moment . He then sent me a message that detracted from the topic .

[Lee Jun-suk, 90th Floor: Big Bro, I thought I was the main character . I think I’ve been living that way . ]

Was that the reason why?

I already know well enough about his goals and the things that he had been agonizing over .

[Lee Jun-suk, 90th Floor: Big Bro… You and I… We are very different, right?]

Of course .

Fundamentally, you and I cannot even be compared .

[Lee Jun-suk, 90th Floor: In that case… what if you made comparison based on your former self when I met you in person before?]

[Lee Ho-jae, 60th Floor: As of now, you are a little stronger in comparison to my former self . ]

Lee Jun-suk paused for a long time again .

[Lee Jun-suk, 90th Floor: When I got to the residential area and learned that the effectiveness of training in this place is not adjusted based on the difficulty, I thought about this . ]

[Lee Ho-jae, 60th Floor: What did you think about?]

[Lee Jun-suk, 90th Floor: I thought that, if I stayed at a residential area and continued to grow for a long time, I might be able to catch up to you someday . However… As the time went by, the gap in our abilities only widened . ]

That’s unfortunate .

[Lee Jun-suk, 90th Floor: Big Bro . In your case, it’s probably difficult to expect any more growth at the 61st Floor . It’s the same here for me . There is nothing for me to gain at the 91st Floor now . The only thing I can still do is train by myself at the residential area . I know that there is no growth acceleration effect at the residential area, but… I wonder why…]

It’s a sad story to hear .

Lee Jun-suk probably isn’t asking me these questions because he doesn’t know .

He knows the answers, but he just does not want to acknowledge them .

People always treated me like an outlier .

They didn’t even try to compare themselves to me .

Because of this, I always welcomed Lee Jun-suk, and I was thankful .

He saw me like a normal person like him and tried hard to catch up to me .

At first, he probably thought that the differences between us was due to the fact that I entered the Tutorial a few rounds before him .

He probably still believed that up to around 40th Round .

After that, he probably thought that it was the difference in the difficulty .

He probably continued to believe that for another 40 Rounds while I got stuck at this residential area .

The next reason could be found not in me but Lee Jun-suk .

After his long pause, he sent me a response as if he organized his thoughts .

[Lee Jun-suk, 90th Floor: Big Bro, I’ll go back to the outside world in the next round . ]

I don’t know what to tell him now .

Based on personal experience, I knew that it will become a huge scar for him if I said anything to console him in a situation like this . I just kept my mouth shut .

Now that I think about it, something like this has not happened ever since I stopped being a professional gamer .

Ever since I gained power in Tutorial, Lee Jun-suk was the only one who would seriously consider me as a rival .

There may have been others who were qualified to stand next to me, but they didn’t bother revealing themselves .

[Lee Jun-suk, 90th Floor: Big Bro, I’ll be leaving the Tutorial first . I’ll wait for you, so you have to clear the Tutorial and return too . ]

[Lee Ho-jae, 60th Floor: Yes . See you at the outside . ]

Other than that, I couldn’t say anything else .

The good memories we shared, my gratitude, apologies, how I enjoyed his friendship…

I had many things to say, but I only had a few words that I could actually tell him .

If we get another chance to talk before he leaves the Tutorial, then I hope that I’ll be able to ease up and give him my heartfelt farewells .

Of the five bracelets on my arm, one of them made a cracking noise and shattered .

These were the safety devices I made after I half destroyed the residential area .

In the past, this was not a problem for me since I lived alone . However, now that I had Yong Yong, I had a need to be careful with my power .

I think I should go make another safety device .

Even if it is bothersome, I should maintain five of them .

I suddenly got worried about the clone bastard .

He probably got the shock from my emotion too .

I quickly entered the family restaurant . The first thing I saw immediately was the clone bastard crying in unsightly manner and Yong Yong consoling that pathetic clone bastard .

“[I… Iruril… Uuuuhurrrrrrng…]”

[TL: Iruril is a beautiful female elf character from Dragon Raja, a famous Korean fantasy novel by Lee Young-do that started the fantasy novel boom in Korea . ]

Ah, that lunatic…

What is he doing with my face .

“[The book… The book is over… The Autumn of Magic is over… Uhuhuhunghuk…]”

* * *

Concerned, Yong Yong was still looking at the clone bastard . Yong Yong was licking his hand . I had Yong Yong sit on my lap and asked the clone bastard .

“Was the book that sad?”

“It’s a masterpiece… Amazing masterpiece! The author is a genius! Even Shakespeare cannot be compared to him . ”

“But you never read Shakespeare before . ”

[TL: Clone bastard, I totally agree with you . ]

[PR: Damn right it’s better than Shakespeare . ]

The clone bastard completely ignored what I just said and continued yapping away .

“Hey . Is there another work by this author? Hey, there are, right? There must be, right? You read it, right? Write it too, please . ”

“There is one, but…”

“Hey, do I have to get on my knees and beg? Should I? Should I take my clothes off and prostrate?”

Take clothes off? Why? Are you a pervert? Stop it already, you lunatic . What do you think you are doing? Don’t you see you are in front of a child?

“Just wait a day . I’ll write you a story about a bird that died quickly . ”

“What’s that about? A journal about a bird?”

“It’s a masterpiece on the level of a nuclear explosion, so just shut up and wait . ”

[TL: The author is talking about “The Bird that Drinks Tears” and “The Bird that Drinks Blood,’ both written by Lee Young-do . ]

[PR: I feel like I should read Lee Young-do’s works now . ]