“I now present you our guess for tonight’s show, everyone please welcome….Lee Hyun!” Shin Hye Min said as she, her voice rang out throughout the studio.
Applause rang in from all corners of the studio. Quietly making his way through the backstage, Lee Hyun, soaked all the attention he was receiving. Occasionally waving his hands to his fans in the audience like a famous celebrity would.
Kang Jin Cheol watched from the back stage along with Jin Hyuna and a few bodyguards. They accompanied Lee Hyun wherever he went these days. It was not just to be able to support him at a moment’s notice but also to protect Lee Hyun’s life. With a billion dollars at stake there was no knowing who would move to crush Lee Hyun just to fulfill their greed. The world is a cruel place and a single moment of carelessness could be fatal….
”but did Lee Hyun really need the safety?” Kang Jin wondered.
Lee Hyun was martial artist in real life as well, having been part of the first mixed martial artist team in the Olympics, it was really worth asking how many would dare to do bodily harm to him? It was however Jin Hyuna’s persistent insistence that Lee Hyun and Kang Jin had no choice but to accept the protection being provided.
Kang Jin secretly waved to Shin Hye Min as their eyes met. It was good to see familiar faces once again. After they stopped playing Royal Road, it became harder and harder for them to meet in real life. It was almost as if the universe was mysteriously pulling them apart. Responsibilities, jobs something or the other would come up. Kang Jin and Shin Hye would still get to meet since their work was in the same industry but the others drifted away. The one who drifted away the furthest was Lee Hyun. Lee Hyun was so absorbed in his own world that Kang Jin and the others would often wonder if the glorious adventures they had been part of were only a dream.
Everyone knew that Lee Hyun had never once forgotten them, however, him being him, he probably moved on to the next game. Lee Hyun’s life could be summarized as a busy one. He always had something or the other to do. His strict self-imposed discipline meant there was very little time that he wasted. Catching up with friends would take second priority to adventures in a VR game.
But the Lee Hyun right now in front of Shin Hye Min completely different from the one Kang Jin Cheol remembered. Here was Lee Hyun sitting in front of Shin Hye Min taking an interview, waving his hands to the audience, being as sociable as ever. Which was the real Lee Hyun? Or was this part of Lee Hyun’s grand scheme into making Elementarem Vim famous? There were questions everywhere to be asked but Kang Jin Cheol could only make guesses. He had after all entrusted the future of Unicorn Corp to Lee Hyun, so there was nothing else for him to do but to trust his decision, his VR mentor, and his friend Lee Hyun…..
Lee Hyun struggled with the glaring lights of the studio. Having always been locked away inside dark rooms, his skin was white like a vampire’s. His skin had forgotten the harshness of sunlight as it sizzled under the glare of the studio’s halogen lamps. His unease was hidden away by a wrinkly grin he wore on his face.
It was his unchanging grin that worried Jin Hyuna the most. She had been watching Lee Hyun from the day she met him. How he always overly exerted himself while wearing that veil of a fake smile. For Jin Hyuna, Lee Hyun reminded her of her own grandfather. She believed that all men of that age should be resting at home not working harder than the younger generation. Lee Hyun’s indomitable strength frustrated her. His existence was going against her stereotypical image of old men.
If it weren’t for this unhealthy obsession she had, she would have never discovered the death threats that Lee Hyun had kept a secret from everyone. Disguised as fan mail, one would have thought some old timers were sending novelty handwritten mails to their idols. Fortunately, Jin Hyuna being very thorough with her job snuck a peek into one of these mails. To her utter shock, she had discovered a death threat. Since then she has been vigilant to ensure Lee Hyun’s safety.
What were his reasons of hiding the truth from everyone? Jin Hyuna would ponder. It frustrated and disgusted her more that the man she once looked up to would selfishly burden himself with all the problems of the world. Lee Hyun’s non reliance was either born out of great kindness and thoughtfulness or his lack of trust in his friends….or maybe he was too proud to ask for help? Either way she had decided not to confront Lee Hyun about this and solve the problem on her own. ‘If he refuses to ask for her help then I shall just force it upon him.’
With the applause dying down, Shin Hye Min spoke, “Well that was quite a welcome!”
Lee Hyun just smiled back to the audience. His grin was wide enough to reveal his shiny new dentures.
Shin Hye continued to speak, “It has been what 20 years since your last large audience?”
Lee Hyun nodded. “I guess so, depending whether you would count giving lectures to students as a public audience?”
“WE LOVE YOU PROFESSOR!” shouted a middle aged woman in the audience. Her friends beside her giggled away in their ‘We love Lee Hyun’ shirts. Lee Hyun was their hero, his tenure as a professor in pro-gaming changed the way players thought of tactics in games. From mindlessly approaching adventures, players became more objective. Simply putting it, Lee Hyun was a pioneer in pro-gaming.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Shin Hye Min smiled as well, a sixty something year old man receiving an open confession…Lee Hyun still was charming and attractive to some.
“Now I understand you haven’t given any personal interviews to any other media houses yet and KMC Media is the first one.”
“Yes, KMC Media is indeed the first house to interview me.” Lee Hyun emphasized on the name. He had to thank the patronage he was receiving from KMC Media. It was all thanks to their marketing and hyping that Royal Road 2 as some had dubbed it became as popular as it did. Turning up for this interview, even though it was really uncomfortable, was Lee Hyun’s way of saying thanks.
“We have so many questions to ask you! I know you must be really tired after spending the entire day at work, but our audience and many of your fans would like to know more about Elementarem Vim.” Shin Hye Min pulled up a tablet displaying questions from the audience and viewers.
“Yes, Please do. By all means ask away.”
“Alright, the first question is from me. Why now? Why did you return to VR gaming after all these years?” Shin Hye Min asked. Her voice to a perceptive ear was slightly choked with a scent of guilt.
Kang Jin Cheol knew where this question was directed. He too was curious to know why did Lee Hyun return to the world of VR gaming now and not sooner? Without doubt, there must have been countless game developers who must have approached Lee Hyun to develop games or universities trying to recruit him on an honorary post. Yet, here is Lee Hyun, CEO of Unicorn Corp after twenty years…Kang Jin Cheol was sure that his offer wasn’t even on par with the lowest offers made to Lee Hyun. So money was never really the motivation…then was it the challenge? Did Lee Hyun accept this for the challenge? Or was it because he was able to move on from what happened twenty years ago?
Shin Hye Min too also had to know why now, after all these years was Lee Hyun back. Was he really able to break free from the chains that tied him down for so long? Or was it because a friend requested him?
Lee Hyun smiled too felt the depth of the question. His precious friends still cared for him and wanted to know if he was alright. However, there was not much he was willing to say right now. He had one option to refuse to answer this question and mellow in the controversy for not answering such a simple question. He also had the option to fake the reply, hurt his friends’ feeling for not answering the truth but save the host some face. Both options would only deepen their concern for him. Given their interfering nature it was without doubt they would snoop around. Jin Hyuna was enough to handle for the moment, having his friends interfere would only add to the complications. The truth was what Lee Hyun wanted to keep everyone away from….Lee Hyun smiled at Shin Hye Min, she really did put him in a pinch here. However, if this was the best she could do, then she would have to try much harder.
“Because I love royal road.” Replied Lee Hyun.
Shin Hye Min suspiciously eyed Lee Hyun. Over years, she could discern lies from the truth. Lee Hyun was dodging her question.
“Kang Jin Cheol informed me of a position available at Unicorn Corp and to sum it up, I had been waiting for such an opportunity. I simply took it.”
Shin Hye Min and Kang Jin Cheol stood unconvinced.
“I did thinking of taking up offers from other developers much before this and I am sure I would have if this didn’t come along. There were also some universities trying to recruit me, but I think the world has moved much ahead to have me teach the young ones anything. An honorary post sounded too boring, so I avoided those. I guess you could say it was my mood and destiny that came into play. I just liked what Kang Jin Cheol offered me and I guess I wanted to play a challenging game one last time with you all.” As he said this, he gestured the ‘you all’ to the audience (indicating he wished to play with the audience).
The audience laughed away, an old man just challenged them. No one noticed that the deeper meaning in what Lee Hyun spoke with the exception of Shin Hye and Kang Jin who now grew more concerned. Both of them picked up on the shred of truth masked away in the bundle of distractions.
“To play a challenging game one last time...” Muttered Kang Jin Cheol under his breath…..
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Authors Note:
1. I never really left....I was taking a nap.
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Connect to Royal Road – Elementarem Vim next Chapter?YesNo
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