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Yoo Joonghyuk sighed heavily and deeply, Miah looked at him for a few seconds before turning her gaze back to the car window without saying a single word.
Today was not one of his best days.
Miah had applied to a university in a place outside the country, he supported her, however it is never easy to let go of family.
And worse, his only family.
In addition, the video game company Minosoft had contacted the Supreme King to test its most innovative and new project called Ways Of Survive.
A 3D game with unimpressive graphics that abused combat mechanics and relied entirely on a completely unoriginal statistics system..
Of course, being a company barely recognized nationally, the popularity of the video game was lower than expected. By stroke of luck and sheer coincidence, an employee desperate to save his only source of income ran into Joonghyuk in the subway on his way home on January 12th, managing to strike up a negligible conversation, and after some maneuvering, he succeeded in convincing Joonghyuk to try the video game.
Normally Joonghyuk would not accept such a vague contract as the one Minosoft presented to him, but the popular video games of the moment were not a real challenge and all the ones he really liked had been completed in their entirety a couple of weeks ago.
He needed new content, and what better option than to do the honors of burying the company by playing its video game that didn’t stand out at all among the thousands of games he had played before?
In the morning, that same day, he had gone to formally establish the contract agreement, but a person, whose face he does't remember at all, approached him and handed him a medium-sized completely sealed box.
—This is part of the video game, I recommend you handle it very carefully. After all, how could you not finish the game with something as cute as this?
And before Joonghyuk could respond, that person, who he swore had wings on their back, disappeared from his sight, leaving him with the package that had nothing to do with its weight compared to its height.
Surprised, he just took the package and quickly brought it to his car to pick up Miah, who was waiting for him with her bags to take the flight to her temporary student home.
—Take care
Joonghyuk said goodbye, looking at Miah with barely visible affection.
—I will definitely do it Oppa! —Miah smiled somewhat happily while she joyfully hugged her brother— I will return for summer vacation.
And so, Miah boarded her flight, leaving her brother in the middle of the airport aisle with a slight feeling of emptiness.
Joonghyuk stared at the package once he closed the door of the now one-person apartment, snorted, reached for a box cutter, and carefully opened the box.
Inside it, there was an exaggerated amount of bubble wrap covering a small device the size of a retractable Nokia, oval-shaped, in dark and whitish colors, with the latter being the most predominant.
She looked at him with an arched eyebrow in disbelief.
He took the device out with some confusion and found a button on the back.
However, when he pressed it, nothing happened. He tried pressing again, but the button he had pressed before was nowhere to be found.
Frowning, he left the device on the table and the package was compressed and placed in the empty room of the apartment.
He glanced at the clock for a moment; it was almost time for the Live.He turned on the lights, the monitor and plugged in his headphones.
He huffed and started the Live.
*Starting Transmission*
DragonFlame999: A new transmission has started!
AngelicDemon32: What is our king going to play today?
LCP864: I’ve heard he’s going to try the game from Minosoft...
LRCU12: Hello my king!, How handsome you look today!
SpaceOnMind: Minosoft? Wasn’t that a company almost bankrupt?
Joonghyuk limited himself to running the game without saying a word to his followers, however, the screen went black, the donations that had started ringing from the very beginning disappeared, and the chat momentarily vanished from the screen before everything reset itself in a rather orderly manner.
<<You have logged in>>
<<Welcome, Incarnation of Seoul>>
<<Please, customize your avatar>>
The game displayed a blue box, it looked really good compared to the graphics they had shown him this morning within the company, and for which, for obvious reasons, he had very low expectations of the game.
As directed, he moved his mouse with excellent precision and ended up with an appearance that was too close to his face and body.
<<Have you finished customizing your avatar??>>
<Yes> <No>
<<Please, welcome your new companion!>>
The screen remained still, Joonghyuk thought it might be a game error, however, a slight movement on his table caught his attention; it was the small egg-shaped device, and it was vibrating.
He took the device in his hands and on the screen, almost as large as the device, an egg was reflected.
<<This is a travel egg>>
He explained the game while the egg on the screen trembled and flickered. Joonghyuk could catch out of the corner of his eye how his followers were eagerly watching, barely commenting as they saw Joonghyuk holding what looked like a white bird's egg from their perspective..
<<In a few moments you will see it hatch, from it will come a creature called Tamagochi that will accompany you throughout your journey>>
<<There are some things you should know about your companion before starting your adventure>>
Joonghyuk looked at the screen for a few moments and decided for once to read the instructions of a video game. The device that held the egg only contained a button, however, it seemed to react to the movements of the hand. That was an interesting mechanic that he couldn't overlook.
<Skip> <Continue>
<<Your companion will start off the size of a foot, but as you progress through the game's scenarios, it will grow and become more powerful.>>
<<Your companion will be there when things get dangerous and will give you advice if you ever get lost.>>
<<The screen where you can see the egg of your future companion is called Gochi; this will be your companion's home, and you will need to let it rest from time to time to avoid putting both yourself and it in danger.>>
<<It needs to eat, sleep, and exercise, oh, and it loves to be with its companion <3.>>
<<Each player has an exclusive companion that no one else has, not just in appearance, each Tamagochi has a unique personality and preferences, discover your companion's likes to increase affinity.>>
Joonghyuk felt a curiosity about the game's last message, however, he got a little distracted when he saw the egg hatch, and out came a set of small white cloths that soon revealed a chibi-style human lying on what resembled the floor of a house.
<<If you don't take care of it properly, it can die or disappear, and you'll have to restart the game. Remember, without a partner, it's impossible to reach the end.>>
Joonghyuk instinctively nodded at the screen, feeling embarrassed seconds later for having been seen by his audience, he shook his head a bit and observed in detail the little one who wasn't waking up in his new device which the game called 'Gochi'.
The little one slightly opened his eyes, pulled some of the whitish fabrics, and curled up in them while the loading screen of his PC displayed a single message.
<<Main Stage 0# has arrived!>>
<<Main Stage 0#: A new beginning
Category: Main
Difficulty: ???
Clear conditions:
- Take care of and get to know your partner before starting the adventure
- Find a way to gain affinity with your partner before starting your adventure
Time limit: None
Reward: Your partner's efficiency will increase based on the outcomes of the stage (Currently, efficiency is at 0)
Failure: You will start the next stage without a partner
Notes:Please, do not let that Tamagochi die, This Gochi is special; if you accidentally kill it, the future games will change in unexpected ways.>>