NOVEL WEB Chapter 1
I’m ugly.
And I mean, really ugly.
“Hey, I’m sorry, but could you not come near me?”
I first heard those words when I was five, at daycare.
“Uwaaaah! Teacher, I don’t want to be paired with Dong-hoo!”
A girl cried because she didn’t want to sit next to me when I was six in kindergarten.
“Hey you, don’t come near me or I’ll actually kill you.”
In first grade, I was threatened for simply getting too close.
In middle school, a girl cried because our eyes met.
High school? Don’t even get me started.
University? Let’s just say it was a disaster.
“I get it.”
Even I think my appearance is horrendous.
They say even a hedgehog finds its babies cute, but I never had that luxury.
My self-esteem plummeted, and I started to shrink away.
But I didn’t just sit idle.
I tried exercising for so-called ‘self-care’ and picked up various hobbies.
“But what good does that do?”
In the end, the most important thing about first impressions is your face.
Features that invoke disgust won’t get you any compliments.
Still, I didn’t give up.
Eventually, I realized.
“My looks are really hopeless.”
Making jokes about my appearance? You need to be a likeably ugly person for that.
How can you make someone laugh when they just look at you and feel disgusted?
Have you ever had someone scowl at you the second you met their gaze?
I have.
Every moment felt like a deduction from my appearance.
The results always spiraled into unspeakable worst-case scenarios.
“Where did it all go wrong?”
Sigh.
What’s the problem? With those thoughts, I booted up the internet again.
The only place I can hide my appearance.
A safe world where I can express myself only in front of a keyboard.
Tap-tap-tap, wheeeeeeng.
As soon as I opened the game, the loading screen briefly darkened the screen.
In that moment, my reflection flashed before me.
The phrase “love yourself” didn’t come to mind at all.
I considered plastic surgery at one point, but the quotes were crazy.
How in my twenties am I supposed to save up millions?
On top of that, having to get the whole face done?
“That’s just too scary.”
In times like this, it’s best to just play some games.
It was the right choice.
“Should I try a new character or something?”
The game I typically play is set in modern times and features customizable characters.
That’s because here I can become the ideal ‘me’ I’ve always dreamed of.
In that regard, [Sims – Real Life] was the ultimate game.
Especially because I could set everything from the protagonist’s appearance to their background.
If I just count the hours played, it’s over 50,000.
[Sims – Real Life] was practically my life.
“What kind of life should I live today?”
On the screen, the image of a newborn baby appears.
And below that, four choices naturally pop up.
[1. The life of a lavish third-generation chaebol]
[2. The life of a moderately privileged silver spoon]
[3. A life with nothing, but also no debts]
[4. A life of abject poverty with nothing but despair]
Normally, I’d always pick option 1.
It’s like playing with cheat codes in the game.
But today, I wanted to do something different.
Option 3.
The home environment that is closest to my current situation.
As soon as I selected that, the customization screen came up right away.
After the background, the next thing to decide is the appearance.
Based on this, the spectrum of talents available changes.
“Absolutely the best.”
Tall, with long limbs, proportions and muscle definition at a perfect level.
Not to mention my facial features, and I don’t gain weight easily, plus my hair doesn’t fall out.
A look that everyone, regardless of East or West, would love.
My countless hours of customization skill made my character seem like it was sculpted by the gods.
Moreover…
[Charm is set to maximum.]
[Physical abilities are set to maximum.]
[You acquire the perk ‘Thousand Faces.’ Everyone who sees you will perceive your appearance as their ideal type.]
[You acquire the perk ‘Thousand Talents.’ Everything you do will come easily, and you learn effortlessly.]
[You acquire the perk ‘Smooth Sailing.’ Life will unfold easily.]
Sucking down all those overpowered perks like a pro!
Normally, I wouldn’t act this way.
Given that my background is already good, adding perks would be too cheat-like.
But today, for some reason, it felt like I was getting more and more immersed in the game.
I thought it would be nice if this character were my life.
As soon as I finished with customization and selecting perks, the screen moved to the next phase.
[The child born in an ordinary family was anything but ordinary.]
[It was basic to hear whispers of being a genius, and they always had talents that astonished everyone.]
[However, such talents couldn’t bloom due to an ordinary family background.]
[But your talents are always ready to blossom.]
[When will you let these talents flourish?]
[0. Infancy]
[0. Infancy]
[1. Childhood]
[2. Boyhood]
[3. Youth]
[4. Middle age]
[5. Old age]
This is where you can say the real game begins.
The starting point of the game splits based on which point you choose.
As you go back, the previous stories are replaced by options just like this.
Normally, I would have picked youth to skip the annoying parts—but—
“I really want to go back to my childhood today.”
[You have selected Infancy.]
I felt an irresistible urge to play this character right from the beginning.
[Please name your character.]
The name is obviously Kim Donghu. That’s my name.
I’ve never tried anything like this before.
So it feels like my life, not just any other life.
“I want to experience living like this at least once.”
[Will you play like this?]
Without hesitation, I pressed the start button.
+++++
Wobble wobble.
At five years old, I was about to graduate from kindergarten.
The heating was on blast to endure the late cold snap, making the kindergarten nice and toasty.
“Hey, can you come a little closer?”
“Why? We’re close enough already.”
“Uh, no, I just thought… it feels warm and nice when we’re together.”
“Really? I don’t like being hot.”
“…Okay, but don’t move away any further.”
“Okay.”
A girl tried to snuggle up to the boy but failed, resulting in a sad face.
At the same time, there was a strangely coy look on her face, showing her pride despite her young age.
“Come on, I’m a child actor. Can’t you just be nice to me?”
“Why should I?”
“…Profit…uh, waaah!”
In a fit of anger, she tried to speak again but got rejected harshly.
The girl burst into tears.
“Whoa, Donghu, stop making the girl cry.”
The kindergarten teacher, looking exasperated, hugged the girl and comforted her.
“How can you make a girl cry so easily?”
“She’s asking for ridiculous things.”
“True, but Su-Jin isn’t normally like this… geez.”
The kindergarten teacher glanced at the boy called Donghu with a complicated expression.
‘How is he this good-looking?’
In all her years as a kindergarten teacher, she had never seen such a handsome kid.
To put it bluntly, he could steal the spotlight from any active child actor.
There was a reason for that high-nosed child actor, Kim Su-Jin, to be flustered.
Moreover, that wasn’t the only problem.
“Hey, stop crying, it’s loud.”
“Huh? Huh?”
“I’ll hold your hand, so just stop fussing.”
“…Sniff, snuffle… okay… teacher, please let me down. I want to hold Donghu’s hand.”
“I want to hold Donghoo’s hand.”
“Uh, really?”
That strong male spirit couldn’t possibly belong to a five-year-old.
His way of speaking, cleverly mixing whip and carrot, made no sense.
Right now, Su-Jin isn’t crying anymore and is laughing because they held hands.
In a situation where someone’s just good-looking, it would normally be whatever.
But the instincts of someone who’s lived a long life were blaring a bright red warning light.
‘What is this child trying to become when they grow up?’
With that appearance, charm, and seemingly all-around talent.
Could it be that something extraordinary is coming out of Rainbow Kindergarten?
Suddenly, such a thought crossed my mind.
+++++
Life has been reset.
‘Does this even make sense?’
Not just a reset, but a reset based on [Sims – The Real Life].
Everything was the same except for one thing.
‘My face.’
The customization and various perks I poured my heart into were perfectly reflected.
It wasn’t just my face.
Things like appearance and aura had changed 180 degrees.
Once that happened, the attitude of those around me also changed.
The kindergarten teacher, who had never once stood by my side.
Still wasn’t on my side, but the difference in her attitude was huge.
‘What happened?’
Why did it turn out like this?
When life resets, what should I do first? Buy land? Bitcoin? Stocks?
Countless thoughts raced through my mind, but there wasn’t much a five-year-old could do.
The only thing I could manage was.
“Dad, I think Korea will reach the semifinals in the upcoming World Cup.”
Recommending the World Cup miracle Toto to Dad when I get home.
The point was to not just say this once, but to keep saying it until he listens.
I had to start drilling it into him before the World Cup began to increase the chances of him hearing me.
‘It’s better to make some money with this.’
In the first place, just because I regressed doesn’t mean I had the talent to earn billions like other protagonists.
Those people were prepared, while I had just done a random reset.
‘But I can still change my life.’
Starting from the nursery, all the way to the time I played the game.
For me, the one thing I lacked despite countless efforts was appearance.
How far could I soar if that was filled?
I was looking forward to the days when I could find out.
And the first step toward that was precisely.
“…Can you hold my hand again later?”
“Why should I?”
Building a strong connection with child actor Kim Su-Jin.