NOVEL WEB Chapter 11: Convenience Store (1)
As they walked towards home, Ryu Won couldn’t help but stare at his older brother, unable to keep his mouth shut any longer.
“Hyung, what happened? Did you learn martial arts somewhere?”
“When would I have had time for that?”
Ryu Min had been working a part-time job to earn a living ever since he became a high school student. He had worked while going to school with the goal of at least earning his diploma, leaving no time to learn anything like martial arts.
“Then how did you do that? Those moves were incredible!”
“Did you not read the news? Players can also use their abilities in the real world.”
Ryu Min opened his inventory and pulled out Stiletto.
“Wow, where did that come from?”
He almost forgot that the system can’t be seen by others.
“As a player, I can use my abilities in real life, just like this.”
He put the dagger back in the inventory, and it disappeared like magic. Ryu Won couldn’t believe what he was seeing, but what happened at the hideout was even more unbelievable.
“My brother defeated Bae Taegyu… I can hardly believe it.”
Even middle school seniors and high school students were scared of Bae Taegyu, but Ryu Min defeated him easily, without even taking a hit.
“Do all players move like you, Hyung? How can anyone move like that?”
“My agility stat is 11.”
“Stat? Like in the game?”
Ryu Min patiently explained everything to his brother, who was still learning.
“So did you put all of your points into agility?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“What’s the average agility?”
“For an average adult, it’s about 3, and for an athlete, it’s around 10.”
Ryu Min was like a seasoned boxer in terms of agility.
“Then what happens if your agility reaches 30 or 50 as you level up?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never reached that level.”
Of course, that was a lie. Ryu Min had increased his agility to over 300 in his previous regressions.
Once you reach 300, you become a monster. At that point, you can even dodge bullets, and modern weapons are useless against you.
Only another player at your level can hope to defeat you.
From now on, there will be players causing accidents everywhere, from murder and rape to arson, kidnapping, and theft.
Some twisted players exploit their abilities for all sorts of crimes.
This is not a far-fetched tale.
It is a reality that will unfold in just a few months.
“Even inside players will kill each other,” Ryu Min thought to himself.
In their desperation to survive the rounds, some players even target each other’s lives.
“I can’t let my brother get caught up in a war between players.”
In the 10th regression, Ryu Min revealed to his brother that he was a regressor.
As a result, his brother was kidnapped just because he was a family member.
“My brother didn’t even boast about it.”
The reason was simple: the kidnapper, Jang Seok-hyun, had a rune that allowed him to read other people’s thoughts.
Afterward, Ryu Min got his revenge on Jang Seok-hyun.
He even managed to take possession of the hidden rune that he had accidentally discovered: the Rune of Inner Thoughts.
“Jang Seok-hyun. I guess I will be taking your rune again in this round.”
The Rune of Inner Thoughts was extremely useful not only for obtaining information and dealing with situations but also for identifying enemies.
It was one of the 18 essential runes on Ryu Min’s list that he needed to obtain.
“If I have that rune, my brother won’t have to worry about being kidnapped by Jang Seok-hyun anymore… but…”
Ryu Min didn’t want to reveal that he was a regressor.
“It’s my fault that my brother suffered like that.”
Even if it was just a past incident and prevented future threats, he felt hesitant about telling him the truth.
He felt sorry for his brother just for experiencing such an ordeal.
That’s why he didn’t want to reveal his identity to his younger brother anymore.
“Hyung, thank you for helping me but…”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Huh?”
“You’re worried that Bae Taegyu might report us to the police, right?”
“Well, yeah. We don’t even have enough money for medical expenses…”
“He won’t report us if he doesn’t want to die.”
Ryu Min was confident that Bae Taegyu won’t report this incident.
He had already proven that he wasn’t stupid enough to ignore such a warning in the previous regressions.
“He’ll probably just make excuses about getting hurt in a street fight. The people around him will take care of him.
Ryu Won felt relieved, knowing that Bae Taegyu wouldn’t dare to talk.
But Ryu Min didn’t care even if he did talk.
“Because he’ll shut up if we pay him off in the end.”
Although Ryu Min’s financial situation was currently dire, he wasn’t worried.
“We can always make money.”
However, his brother still seemed troubled, his face full of concern.
As they walked, Ryu Won’s mind kept circling back to the thought that anything could happen.
“After all, I don’t know what might happen in this situation, unlike my brother who has been through it multiple times,” he thought to himself.
Although Ryu Min laughed it off, saying that they had nothing to worry about because of the money, Ryu Won couldn’t help but worry about something else entirely.
“Is this really the brother that I know?”
He had only glanced at him for a moment, but he could tell that he looked the same as he had been yesterday.
He couldn’t help but recall the way his brother had ruthlessly broken someone’s finger without a second thought.
But Ryu Won wasn’t afraid of his brother’s cruelty; in fact, he found it thrilling to see Taegyu’s agony.
“The problem is that the brother I know isn’t this cold and heartless,” He mused.
Does becoming a player change a person so drastically? Or does the harsh experience of killing and being killed in the game transform them?
“I don’t know much about surviving a game like this…”
He glanced at her brother, who noticed his staring and looked back quizzically.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, it’s nothing,” He replied, relieved to see that his brother was still himself when he wasn’t fighting.
“If he’s still the same in normal life, then that’s enough,” Ryu Won thought, trying to ease his worries.
Just then, they spotted a convenience store.