Chapter 1

I’d carefully washed up to make myself presentable, but because of the hot weather, my military uniform was soaked with sweat.

It was so hot that I had probably started to smell a little rank.

Despite that, I opened the door with the brightest expression possible.

“I’m home.”

The house was tidy.

The living room seemed to be sparkling; I’d never seen it this neat or clean before, and it smelled nice.

It was the faint scent of acacia incense.

I was familiar with it because it was my dongsaeng’s favourite fragrance.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

I was definitely in time to meet my brother.

Right up until then, he had been cleaning, and he’d even contacted me.

I frowned and looked around the house.

The design of the house was very simple.

Two bedrooms, one living room, and one bathroom.

It was a fairly old apartment, but thanks to continued maintenance and care, it seemed cozy.

I had bought this apartment before enlisting.

I would rest here whenever I had leave from duty, and now it was also the home of my dongsaeng while he attended college.

It was a small home but it was comfortable.

I opened the door of the larger of the two bedrooms and entered.

Wooooooo.

A familiar object whirring gently came into view.

It was a small capsule that allowed you to play virtual reality games.

It was a state-of-the-art model, quite different from the old-fashioned capsule I had used two years ago.

……. Wasn’t this normally pretty expensive?

Beyond that, the shape seemed somewhat unusual.

At the bedside next to the capsule, there was a strange-looking monitor with text speedily scrolling across the screen.

First, I should call my brother.

I pressed the call button at the bottom of the capsule.

This was the only means of communication which could be used externally to contact users within the game.

About ten seconds after I pressed the button, my brother opened the capsule and got out.

“Ah, what is it, Hyung. Call ahead when you come!”

“Do I need to call ahead when it’s my home?”

“Just wait a minute.”

My dongsaeng said this then entered the capsule again, this time coming out after 30 seconds had passed.

He smiled as he turned off the capsule.

“Hyung, you really got discharged!”

“Now it’s your turn to go.”

“Ey! I haven’t received my draft notice yet! Besides, is the army really needed these days? You’re out now. Ugh, you smell like a Gunbari.”

Should I hit him?

Seeing him act so coyly, I felt feverish.

But I should be magnanimous.

Today was my discharge.

“And what are you doing? Gaming? Without making any money? Did you pay the maintenance fee this month?”

“What the – what kind of discharged soldier starts to nag as soon as he gets home?”

“Did you pay for maintenance?”

“Of course I paid! Who do you think I am?”

“What do you think, a jobless man who only plays games at home.”

“……I can’t. I was planning on showing you later, but I can’t deal with Hyung’s nagging.”

Saying that, he led me to the smaller bedroom.

Inside, there was a gaming capsule similar to my dongsaeng’s.

I sighed as soon as I saw it, then looked at my dongsaeng and said:

“Did game capsules get cheaper while I wasn’t paying attention? Like, was there some kind of bargain discount?”

“No! It’s because there was a new model released last month.”

“Are you out of your mind?”

“Listen, Hyung.”

My dongsaeng rushed to open his mouth to prevent me from putting him in his place.

“These are both capsules the manufacturer gave me which are specially designed for my body, that’s all. Your dongsaeng prepared it for his Hyung.”

What?

“What are you saying? Be honest. Whose card did you use…..”

“I’m telling the truth!”

“I haven’t used it, so you can return it and get a refund.”

“Hyung, listen to me first, then decide.”

“……..Hoooo.”

After being discharged, I came home feeling pretty good, but instead my dongsaeng had just been increasing my blood pressure.

I took a deep breath while looking at my dongsaeng.

If any crap spewed out of his mouth, I was going to shut it right away with my fist.

He looked at my clenched fist and said, with a voice that trembled slightly:

“I’m streaming! I’m pretty famous!”

“……… Streaming?”

“Yes! The manufacturer sponsored me so that I would promote it while I was on air. Why don’t you believe me?”

Why don’t you believe me?

I’d rather trust a dog than believe my brother.

Gunbari is a term used to refer to Korean military personnel. According to Google, it’s normally fine if used from one soldier to another but if a civilian uses it, it’s pretty offensive.