UNDERLEVELED Season 1

Chapter 25

"I understand. I'm also like that, but I do enjoy helping people."

"I was always the strongest out there. I defeated everyone until their rich relatives came and saved their asses. What made this worse is that we weren't poor either. And yet, my father allowed them to step on me because they're his business partners."

"Well, that's awful."

"I had this friend named Joshua. He had a weak heart and had to always go to the hospital. He's the one who told me stories about Arcadia. I was never interested, but I do like to imagine the beauty of the world that he was talking about."

"Oh, so you're not fond of Arcadia at the start. So, how did you became interested in Arcadia?"

"It was because of Joshua too. One day, Joshua got bullied, and I protected him. However, his condition worsened, and was sent to the hospital. Meanwhile, I was called back to the school for assaulting our rich bullies. During the meeting, I received a text that Joshua died."

"What the fuck?"

"I lost control at that time. I fought everyone, including the teachers, the principal who sided with the perpetrators, and the parents who arrived there. I was filled with hate because someone just died because of bullying, but they acted like it wasn't their fault because Joshua was the one who had a weak heart. I wreaked havoc in the school only to get shot by tasers by the police. Since one of the parents that I punched until bleeding was the brother of my father's boss, my father had enough. He abandoned me and let me go to prison."

"P-prison? What kind of life have you been living?"

"Don't worry, it's not really a prison. I was placed on detention for only a few weeks. I had a lot of brawls inside, but they were somehow winnable. They released me after a few weeks."

"A few weeks? Is that your full sentence?"

"It wasn't. Apparently, my dad's boss was satisfied that I have been abandoned by my whole family and dropped the case. I secretly tried to return to my family since I thought they only abandoned me so that the shitty people that I attacked would drop the case. But when I got home, they fucking called the police for me trespassing. I was just 18 at that time."

"That's fucked up."

"I still hoped. There are many things that they could help me secretly without anyone noticing. They could give me a credit card for me to at least live alone comfortably. They could also send me some food through couriers from time to time since they knew my new address. But none of those things happened. I was completely abandoned."

"..."

"So that I would stop relying and hoping for something to happen, I sold all of my tropies and medals, changed my surname and roamed this country to find a new apartment. And that's how I ended up here. And for some reason, I also ended up receiving Joshua's VR set that I ended up trying Arcadia. And that's how I got here. Come to think of it, what did your mother saw in me and hired me?"

"Mother? She had nothing to do with it. I was the one who suggested to you. Yeonwoo only gave us criteria that the people we should hire should be playing Arcadia to promote their company, but the rest is up to me."

"But why?"

"Because you're the only person who went back to our diner and even ordered the same dish. You think I didn't know our food was shit. I also knew it and got used to it. Seeing that you hated the food and still ate it and went back to it, I thought you're really in need of help right now."

"I appreciate your concern, but why did you start a restaurant business when you guys don't know how to cook at all?"

"This is the only way we could think of to help Yeonwoo."

"What kind of crappy solution is that?"

"Since you told me your story, I'll tell you ours. What if I told you that all of us here except for Yeonwoo was playing Arcadia."

"What?! Then add me and let's play! I need some help in leveling up!"

"Although Not anymore."

"It was all because of me. When I realized that we could get easy money by playing Arcadia, I also invited my parents to play it. We did get rich for a few months and bought a house, a car, and others. But days later, leveling up got too hard that we're losing a lot of in-game gold. At that point, my father got too desperate to recover our losses that he ended up using real-world money to boost his character. We ended up selling our house, our car, and even approached loan sharks. That's how we ended up in the slums and spent our lives running away from the debt collectors. It was because of me."

"So, we're not really that different either."

"Yeah, that's why it's was fine for me to hire you. You're just a fellow dude who also hit rock bottom. Yeonwoo found us and saved us. She paid the debt collectors and let us live in her mansion. As thanks, we opened the Chickefighter to at least pay for some of the bills."

"Come to think of it, this restaurant is not that successful either. Where are you getting the money that you are supposed to be, Erick and me?"

"We're not paying anyone."

"What? I get that you're not paying me since I'm basically hogging your family, but what about Erick?"

"He's volunteering here. You know Erick was a rich guy. You always see him parking his luxurious car in front before entering this store. He doesn't need any salary."

"Why would someone stupidly volunteer to this shitty restaurant?"

"Hmmm, take a wild guess. Let me give you a clue, he's somewhat your rival."

"Rival? Rival on being a waiter? Is he practicing in culinary school? I don't have plans to pursue this restaurant business or whatever. Tell him that."

PAK!

"Ugh!"

Jae Hwan suddenly smacked a wooden sword at Kane's head.

"What was that for?"

"I think you already digested your food. Let's start training."

"Aha! I already learned a lot!"

Kane dashed toward Jae Hwan while sidestepping to dodge his slashes. Kane waited for Jae Hwan to swing his sword down before sprinting forward. But Jae Hwan used his sword as a pole instead to jump upward and kicked Kane in the face.

PAK!

Kane quickly blocked it using his hands to protect his face.

POW!

But I didn't protect him from Jae Hwan, who smacked his hands with the wooden sword.

"Ack!"

Kane fell to the ground, wriggling in pain. Jae Hwan approached him and whispered.

"Hey, practice some more. Hehe!"

After saying, Jae Hwan ran away and went back to the mansion.

"Hey! You shit! I only lost because you unexpectedly smacked me at the start. My brain got juggled, and I felt dizzy. Hey! Come back! We're not done!"

Kane was left in the courtyard, lying on the ground, while looking at the stars. His hands had red marks from Jae Hwan's attack, but Kane was smiling.

"I'll live. I've been surviving until now. But now. I'm gonna live. I'll start living."

[LOG IN]

[WELCOME, KANE250]

[Waypoints have been found near the area of your death]

[Do you want to spawn at Miranda Town Square? – YES OR NO]

[NO]

[Pick another waypoint to spawn]

[You have chosen: Herald City Town Square]

[Do you want to spawn at Herald City Town Square? – YES OR NO]

[YES]

After 2 months of playing Arcadia, Kane was finally back to continue the tutorial segment that he skipped.