chapter 294
294 – Scene 294# Stella
*
“Hey. What. “He doesn’t look like me at all?”
“Yes? “What?”
Sora, who was sipping her coffee across from her, tilted her head.
“What is it? It’s about a novel you wrote.”
I held the tablet in his face. There was a novel that Sora had been writing since she was in high school.
“This character called Tristan. “Where on earth did you see me making it?”
The character, Tristan Ruel Bertha, is said to have been modeled after me by her younger brother her her her. The worst villain in the story and the head of a cursed family. I’ve read the roughly written part, but I can’t see anything in common with me.
“Why? Don’t they look alike? “He has a grumpy personality and is completely like my older brother.”
“Hey… They say how kind I am. “Did they make you into such a vicious pig?”
“Wouldn’t it be similar if I gained weight? Uhuhuhu.”
Sora laughs while covering his mouth like a goblin.
Sora was probably in high school.
To be honest, when Sora first said he would show her a novel he wrote, she expected it to be a fanfiction.
Why… Isn’t there something that girls use at least once when they are students? Anyway, I was prepared and watched it, but it was not a fanfiction but a fantasy novel. It’s a fairly full-fledged fantasy novel with a wide worldview.
Although it was still in the process of being written, there were many loose ends, but it had a strange charm.
From then on, I became the novel’s only reader, giving her sister her advice of one kind or another. Oh, of course, the only advice I could give was to say what was fun and that this part was interesting and more curious.
Nevertheless, Sora accepted most of my advice and continued to create the story. Over the course of three years, settings and characters were added one by one, and now it has become incredibly vast.
In particular, Tristan is a new villain added in the process. The head of the infamous Ruelberta family and the worst villain in the story.
But according to Sora, the character was modeled after me. Where on earth are you looking?
“I don’t really know myself. Ask others. “Everyone will say he looks like Tristan?”
“Oh yeah… “You must be young.”
“Yes. Actually, I like Tristan, the villain, more than the protagonist. Peter is also a character who overcomes all kinds of adversity, but what should I say about Tristan… Should I say that the class is different? It’s like fighting against fate. “Isn’t that kind of character cool?”
I was shocked when I saw Sora speaking with sparkling eyes.
“No… Why do you say it’s so good but make the main character die? Are you a psychopath?”
“Oh my, you don’t understand because you’re a man. Basically, women are attracted to men like that. The kind of tyrant beauty that does whatever it wants, regardless of whether people criticize it or not? There’s a taste that just grabs you.”
“Yes? Tyrant… What? It’s just fucking my way.”
“Damn. You shouldn’t talk. So, how was the novel?”
I don’t understand the charm points my younger brother mentioned, but…
First of all, I should tell you what I thought after reading it.
“What… It’s fun. The setting for Tristan is also interesting… But is this all?”
“Huh. “I thought about the ending where the main character dies, but I haven’t finished writing the story yet.”
“Hmm…”
I was lost in thought as I looked at the settings about Tristan written on the tablet.
It’s so awkward. It feels a bit cringy to try to give advice about a character I am modeling.
“But seeing as the main villain has appeared, have you decided when it will be completed?”
“Well…”
Sora placed her hand on her chin and seemed to be thinking deeply.
“Because not all settings are made in detail… We have to build it step by step.”
“Really?”
“Ah, but it will still be enough to submit to the contest. “I said I could attach the rough content as a synopsis.”
Come to think of it, I thought you said you entered it into a novel contest? I don’t expect it to work out well, but if an opportunity arises, it’s okay to at least try my hand at it. If it doesn’t work out, I can just feed it. I have to support at least one younger brother.
“Jihwan’s oppa.”
“Huh?”
When I lifted her head, Sora was scratching her cheek and looking at me.
“What? “Why do you look like you want to go to the bathroom?”
“Damn! It’s not like that!”
“Then?”
Sora spoke in a low voice as if he was embarrassed.
“That… In fact, without her brother’s help, I wouldn’t have been able to write the novel this far. I don’t know if I will win the contest, but if I do… At that time, I will help “You get better.”
I was wondering what I was going to say…
Because her parents passed away at an early age, Sora is my younger sister whom I raised on my back. Maybe that’s why she felt sorry for me.
It is natural to take care of her her one and only relative her her. You don’t have to worry about that at all…
‘Still, it’s a bit special.’
I said with a grin.
“Hey. Say that after you are elected or completed. It’s cringy.”
“Ugh it’s frustrating. At least I can tell you!”
“You’re not going to leave it unfinished after winning the contest, are you?”
“Do I look like I would do something like that?”
“…”
“And… I was disappointed. “I can’t believe I followed this guy, believing he was my brother.”
“Wouldn’t you have been born first?”
“Under. Even though I’m dirty, I finish it.”
“Oh? “Did you promise?”
“So absurd. “I was planning on paying anyway, even if I didn’t make a promise to you, right?”
But when we made eye contact, we burst out laughing… Looking back, it was a happy day that will never come back.
*
“Wow?! “It’s cold!”
I sat up with a start at the cold sensation that poured down my thighs.
“Mr. Ji-hwan? What’s going on?”
“Ah… Assistant Manager, are you here? Sorry. “I guess I hit the cup while I was sleeping.”
“kk…” ” ” .”
The one clicking his tongue and shaking his head is Assistant Manager Park Se-hee. The connections I am grateful for helped me adapt to unfamiliar corporate life. She said, tapping the toes of her high heels on the floor.
“This is a familiar situation… “Don’t you spill your coffee often these days?”
“Ah… I know, right. “I need to put it away or something.”
“I don’t think that’s the problem.”
“Yes?”
“Are you sleeping at work again?”
“Ah yes. What… Is it still noticeable?”
“Aren’t you stupid for not knowing? “Go change your pants and wash your face.”
I scratched my head for no reason. Well, if you stay at the office for three days and nights, it’s not like you look bad.
As I stood in front of the bathroom mirror, I saw a homeless person standing there. An unshaven beard, slanted eyes, and messy hair. And all the fat…
It is understandable that Assistant Manager Park Se-hee looked at him with regret.
“Haha…”
When I saw my shabby appearance his, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“It’s been a while since I had a dream about you. Hey…”
Five years have already passed since the accident that changed everything for the two of us.
Sora, who herself promised that she would definitely finish the novel she was writing at the time, ultimately failed to keep her promise. It took me a year to overcome the aftereffects of the accident.
“Whoa…”
After washing my face, I realized that a lot has changed compared to then.
I don’t know how ugly I look, having gained a lot of weight over the years and my eyes becoming dirty due to chronic lack of sleep.
“I’m going to be like the real Tristan… ” .”
At this rate, I can do the Tristan cosplay that my younger brother modeled after me. Now we’re starting to look a bit alike.
When I came to my senses and left the bathroom, I started to see assistant manager Park Se-hee standing there.
“It’s a surprise… What? Without any pretense of popularity.”
“I think I’m done washing my face, so let’s go.”
“… ? “Where are you going?”
“Did you forget? “We have a team meeting today.”
“Ah… “Wasn’t it Monday today?”
“What a terrible thing. “It’s Wednesday.”
Oh yeah. You said you had an important meeting on Wednesday.
I went straight into the elevator with Assistant Manager Park.
The destination is the VIP room on the top floor of the building. Whenever there was an important meeting, we always gathered there.
“Mr. Jihwan. “Didn’t you log in too much yesterday?”
“Yes?”
“I feel like my memories come and go.”
As soon as the door closed, she immediately asked as if she was worried about me.
“Hmm… Did you do it more than 30 times? There still seem to be some side effects from multiple access. My head is pounding…”
“Ugh. It’s really hard. The only person who can access it is Ji-hwan…”
“No. Are you okay. I do it because I like it. “What?”
“It can’t continue like this. Now, let’s talk to the representative. In our company, Jihwan is the only one who doesn’t have a private life right now. So, Ji-hwan, when will you start dating and when will you get married?”
I laughed out loud when I heard the word ‘dating’. Because it was a very unexpected word for my current situation.
“Sir… What kind of relationship am I in? I’m gaining weight and my sense of jet lag is blurry due to the side effects of connection… “I’ll just be lucky if I don’t die in my name.”
“Hmm. I think it would be okay if I just lost weight…”
“Yes?”
“No.”
Ding-
The elevator stopped.
The conference room entered through the lobby had one wall made of glass, allowing a clear view of the room across from it.
I stopped in front of the glass wall for a moment.
What came into view was an entirely white space. Inside the space that looked like a sterile room, there was a bed that looked like something you would use in a hospital. And above it, a young woman was closing her eyes as if dreaming.
Okay… It would be better if I was just dreaming.
In her dream of her, the woman who was joking with me was wearing an oxygen mask and all kinds of machines, barely holding on to her fragile life that could end at any moment.
“Conch…”
It was an unfortunate accident.
Sora was on her way to a sea trip to celebrate winning her contest. We were very excited as we were going to the sea for the first time in 10 years. I even rented a car and headed directly to the sea.
However, the car we were riding in was suddenly hit by a truck that crossed the center line. In that very brief moment, I wrapped my arms around Sora who was in her passenger seat. That was my last memory of that day.
When I regained consciousness in the hospital after about a month, a reality more hellish than hell was waiting for me.
The cause of the accident was the truck driver’s drowsy driving. Just for that reason, Sora and I’s lives changed forever.
Sora, who suffered serious head injuries, was declared brain dead. She can no longer live without a ventilator.
I barely survived after undergoing several major surgeries. She said that my internal organs were almost completely destroyed in the accident, so I had no more hope of survival than her brother. But what I was able to live with… It was thanks to Sora.
-Mr. Jeong Ji-hwan. You may be shocked, but listen carefully. Some of the organs in your body were transplanted from your brother’s body.
I wanted to believe it was a lie.
-At the time, time was tight and the two were siblings, so there was no other suitable candidate. I’m sorry about what happened to your sister. But if it hadn’t happened, Mr. Jeong Ji-hwan would have died.
-Ahhh…
I screamed every day in a nightmare-like reality. I wish I had died. If she had protected her sister more properly, she might have lived. There would have been no need to remove her organs from her brother’s body.
In the intensive care unit, her sister was barely holding on to her life. She was so distressed every time she saw that sight. I attempted suicide twice at the hospital because I didn’t have the courage to see my younger brother who saved my miserable life.
I really didn’t want to live at that time. There was no reason to even live. All suicide attempts failed due to the nurses stopping them…
I was tied to the bed for a while, worried that I might attempt suicide again. Every day, I stared blankly at the ceiling, waiting for the day to die.
Then, there was someone who appeared in front of me.
“No matter what the process was, aren’t you both fortunate to be alive like this?”
“CEO Park…”
A middle-aged man puts his hand on my shoulder and rubs my shoulder in a friendly way. He was Park Jun-hyuk, the CEO of Stella, who visited me when I was in the hospital.
“Isn’t this truly an advancement in science and technology? The two people were able to survive. And the fact that we were able to preserve the world created by your sister’s rich imagination is a great achievement of science and technology. Ahahaha!”
A machine that looked like a cross between a headset and a helmet was placed on Sora’s sleeping head. That is a machine made by ‘Stella’ using BCI (Brain Computer Interface) technology. It was none other than a next-generation device that made it possible to embody the world in Sora’s head into a game.
On that day, CEO Park who appeared before me was the founder and CEO of ‘Stella’, a virtual reality game company recognized not only in Korea but also around the world.
He is attracting attention from the world’s media and the IT industry. He is a celebrity whose name and face are recognized even by people who don’t watch the news.
Suddenly, such a big man said that he was very impressed with his younger brother’s novel, which was the winner of a contest, and made a suspicious offer to me.
They will support her sister’s life-sustaining treatment for her for the rest of her life, so they ask her to hand over the world in her head to them.
I thought and thought for a long time. Should she risk her brother’s life and accept having a strange device placed on her head?
To be honest, I didn’t feel like it. In the end, to put it simply, it was no different from saying that I wanted to use Sora’s brain like a game server.
However, looking at the reality, I was not confident that my current body could cover the ever-increasing hospital bills. However, there was no place to borrow money or ask for help.
Nevertheless, he tried to refuse in the end, but Representative Park struck the final blow.
-She is currently unconscious, but your sister may regain consciousness in the game. In some cases, patients who have been declared brain dead wake up through brain stimulation.
After hearing that, I ended up accepting his offer. However, with the added condition that I also joined the company. I decided to keep an eye on what exactly he was doing to his younger brother.
“You have seen for yourself how huge and beautiful the world created by human imagination is, right? It’s completely different from a world created through programming alone. “You and your sister have made a tremendous contribution to human history.”
CEO Junhyuk Park, who said that, nodded repeatedly and looked at Sora in the room across from him. And then he looked at me and said with a grin.
“Then shall we have a meeting about the service opening schedule?”