Player who Returned 10,000 years Later

The next day arrived.

“Wow…” Cha Yeon-Joo, sitting on a park bench waiting for Oh Kang-Woo, chuckled as she noticed him staggering her way. “Sheesh, it sure looks like my husband got sucked bone dry.”

“Shut it.”

“Even dried squid would have more moisture than you.”

“I said… shut up.”

Kang-Woo sat next to Yeon-Joo and covered his eyes with the back of his hand. He was exhausted as a salaryman who worked overtime for an entire week plus weekends. Each of his breaths carried extreme fatigue.

“How long did you guys do it until?”

“One.”

“Huh? 1 AM is a bit late for Seol-Ah to get in the mood, isn’t it?”

“Oh…” Yeon-Joo slurred.

She had agreed to meet Kang-Woo at 11 AM. Considering his messy hair as if he had yet to take a shower, he had likely been sucked dry by Han Seol-Ah up to the last minute.

‘If they had been at it since 1 PM yesterday, how long had they been at it?’

Yeon-Joo could understand why Kang-Woo was as dry as dried squid.

“Sheesh, that girl doesn’t know restraint once her switch gets flipped,” Yeon-Joo said as she clicked her tongue and grabbed Kang-Woo’s collar.

“What are you doing…?” Kang-Woo asked.

“Just stay still, dammit.”

Yeon-Joo pulled Kang-Woo by his collar and placed his head on her lap. Kang-Woo could feel her thighs on his cheek. He smiled and looked up at Yeon-Joo from his position commonly known as a lap pillow.

“Why a lap pillow all of a sudden?” he asked.

“What? You don’t like it?”

“I never said that.”

Yeon-Joo’s thighs were as hard as rocks than soft because she had trained her body to its absolute limit.

“It kind of feels like the pillows in a bathhouse[1].”

“Is that a compliment or a diss…?”

“A compliment, obviously.”

Kang-Woo turned his head back sideways. The sensation on his cheek honestly couldn’t be described as comfortable but he was overloaded with joy just by getting a lap pillow from his wife in a park under the warm spring sun.

“Do you like it that much?” Yeon-Joo asked.

“There’s nothing like my wife’s lap for recovering from fatigue.”

“Pfft! You’re such a troll. Get the hell off if you’re feeling better now.”

‘It’d be a bit of a waste just to get off.’

“Hmm,” Kang-Woo groaned.

“Huh? What’s up? Do you want to stay like this longer?”

Kang-Woo’s eyes shone, having thought of a wonderful idea. He puckered his lips and blew on Yeon-Joo’s thighs.

“Fuuu.”

“KYAAAAAHH! Wh-What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!”

Yeon-Joo sprang up as Kang-Woo’s breath tickled her thighs. Kang-Woo snickered after getting a better response than he had hoped.

“Y-Y-You fucking pervert…!”

“And who married this fucking pervert?”

“You…! Divorce! I want a fucking divorce!”

Kang-Woo was hit with a sudden divorce declaration from his wife on the morning of their tenth wedding anniversary.

“Do you seriously want a divorce?” he asked.

“Ah…” Only then did Yeon-Joo realize what she had said. “Ngh. W-Well…”

She bit her lip and dragged the tip of her sneaker on the park grass. She lowered her head and turned away.

“C-Cancel that… I don’t want a divorce.”

“Pfft.”

Kang-Woo couldn’t help but smile at Yeon-Joo mumbling in embarrassment with her head down.

‘My wife is too adorable.’

He could feel himself being rejuvenated.

“Is there anywhere you want to go?” he asked.

“Yeah. I’ve made a reservation somewhere awesome, so just follow me.”

“Oh, what? Where?”

“You’ll see, man.”

Yeon-Joo smiled and pulled Kang-Woo by his arm.

***

“Hey, hey! Ult! Use your ult!”

“Argh! Those fucking assholes on Bottom!”

“...”

“...”

Curses could be heard everywhere despite the interior being designed like a luxury cafe. It was filled with the sounds of clicking keyboards and mice.

“A PC room?” Kang-Woo turned to Yeon-Joo in disbelief. “This is the awesome reservation you made?”

“Ahem,” Yeon-Joo coughed as she averted her gaze from Kang-Woo. It seemed like even she knew what she had done was absurd. “Th-There’s a very good explanation for this…”

“You haven’t forgotten what day it is, right?”

They were in a PC room on their wedding anniversary— their tenth wedding anniversary, no less. Kang-Woo wondered if anyone was crazy enough to do something like this even if they were crazy about gaming.

“I-I had no choice!” Yeon-Joo shouted.

“What do you mean?”

‘Fine, let’s hear your reasoning.’

“The limited-time PC room event just happened to be today of all days!”

“...”

“I-I haven’t been able to go to the PC room at all lately because of Kang-Hyun…”

“So, what you’re saying is… you went out of your way to come to a PC room on the one day you didn’t have to worry about your children? Wow, I’m so proud of you.”

‘I can’t believe you haven’t changed in the past decade.’

“B-But this is a special PC room!” Yeon-Joo claimed.

“What’s special about it?”

“Over here!”

Yeon-Joo pulled Kang-Woo by his arm and took him to a couple’s seat in the corner of the PC room. They opened the sliding door with "Special Couple’s Seat" written on it and were met with a fairly large room with two computers next to each other. They also had a large horizontal leather couch instead of the usual gaming chairs.

“Ta-dah! We can play to our heart’s content without anyone bothering us!”

“Wow… this is pretty nice.”

Kang-Woo understood why Yeon-Joo had to make a reservation for a PC room. He had used regular couple’s seats with Yeon-Joo many times but he had never been in a separate room with couple’s seats before.

“It’s kind of like a little motel room rather than a PC room,” Kang-Woo remarked.

“Right? There’s also barely any delay in delivery! Food and drinks will be delivered almost as soon as you order!”

Kang-Woo’s exasperation slowly melted away as Yeon-Joo frantically emphasized the pros of the PC room.

“Alright, alright, fine. Let’s spend our tenth wedding anniversary in this PC room.”

“Hell yeah!” Yeon-Joo cheered as she pumped her fists.

‘I guess I should cancel my reservations in Hawaii.’

Kang-Woo had been planning on going to Hawaii again where he had his wedding with Yeon-Joo but it seemed like he would have to scratch his plans from how excitedly Yeon-Joo was turning on the PC.

“Hehe, time to get all the rest bonuses!”

‘Well, whatever. As long as my wife is happy, that’s all that matters. That aside…’

“Are you not playing that game anymore?” Kang-Woo asked.

“Huh?”

“You usually play that legends game or whatever it was called.”

“Oh, that trash game?”

“Trash game…?”

‘What makes the game trash? It didn’t seem that bad in the few times I’ve played it.’

Kang-Woo stared at Yeon-Joo with his head tilted in wonder. Yeon-Joo shook her head in disgust.

“Don’t even talk about LoL in front of me. I feel like puking when I even look at the loading screen now.”

“Then did you quit that game?”

“No, I wouldn’t say that.”

“You just said it’s trash. Why don’t you just quit, then?”

“Uhh… how should I explain this? You still crave fast food like instant ramen or tteokbokki no matter what kinds of expensive food you eat, right?”

“Yeah.”

“LoL is exactly like that.”

“...?”

Kang-Woo couldn’t understand what Yeon-Joo was talking about, probably because he wasn’t very invested in the game.

“Regardless, you don’t need to understand. I won’t be playing that game today,” said Yeon-Joo as she turned on a different game. “Dayum! Look at this skin! Damn developers, making something like this limited-time!”

Yeon-Joo grinned widely as she stared at the character. Kang-Woo left her alone and clicked on the news. He clicked on the celebrity category and saw a familiar face.

“Hmm, she’s in Australia now, huh?”

It was Echidna, who had started her world tour about a month ago. She had grown wonderfully in the past ten years. The picture showed her waving at her fans with a bright smile.

“Huh? Is that Echidna?”

“Yeah, she’s in Australia right now.”

“Man, I can’t believe that brat grew up to become a global star.”

“I’ll say.”

Kang-Woo could never have imagined it even when Echidna had said she wanted to try her shot at the idol industry.

‘I wonder how she’s doing?’

Echidna used to bawl her eyes out just from being a week apart from Kang-Woo when they first met, but she was now diligently doing her own thing, being apart from Kang-Woo and the others for over a month. Kang-Woo was proud and a little sad at the same time.

“The hell, man? Are you sure you wanna be staring at pictures of another woman on a date with your wife?” asked Yeon-Joo as she pouted.

“What do you mean? Another woman?”

“Then is Echidna a man?”

‘Touché.’

“Anyway, I’m hungry. Let’s order some food,” Yeon-Joo changed the subject as she pulled up the menu on her computer screen.

“Which instant ramen are we getting?” Kang-Woo asked.

“Why the hell do you want instant ramen on our wedding anniversary?”

“What else are we gonna get in a PC room?”

“Man, you know nothing about PC rooms these days. This place is known for its food because they have actual kitchen staff working here.”

“In a PC room…?”

“Yup.”

Kang-Woo wondered if the world had changed before he had realized it.

“Let’s order the Premium Set A and B.”

Set A was a Western-style menu with pasta, pizza, and bread, and Set B was a Korean-style menu with bibimbap and bulgogi. The sets arrived twenty minutes after ordering them in trays. Kang-Woo expressed his amazement after eating a spoonful of the Set B bibimbap with a piece of bulgogi on top.

“Wow, is this for real PC room food?”

Kang-Woo did not have his hopes up but it was almost as good if not on par with food from a popular restaurant.

“It’s good, right?” Yeon-Joo asked.

“The world sure has gotten good. I can’t believe we can have food like this in a PC room.”

“Stop being such a boomer and eat your food.”

Kang-Woo smiled as he noticed Yeon-Joo, unable to take her eyes off the screen even while eating her pasta.

‘She seriously hasn’t changed one bit since I met her.’

She was as addicted to games as a high school boy despite being the CEO of a conglomerate but stopped going to the PC rooms she loved so much because her son had told her to be more responsible as a leader.

“The hell, man? Are you sure you wanna be staring at pictures of another woman on a date with your wife?”

She was also the jealous type despite acting indifferent. Kang-Woo was well aware of all those parts about her and loved all those parts to death.

“Husband, the pasta is amazing. Try some.”

‘But if I had to say what changed about her in the past decade…’

“I don’t have a fork,” Kang-Woo remarked.

“R-Really? Then I guess I have no choice.”

Yeon-Joo’s cheeks reddened as she rolled the pasta around her fork. She got close to Kang-Woo to the point that their butts and shoulders touched.

“Hubby, say ahh~”

Yeon-Joo cautiously stuck out her fork in embarrassment.

‘She’s gotten a lot cuter.’

Kang-Woo smiled and had a mouthful of the pasta Yeon-Joo gave him.

1. The pillows in Korean bathhouses (jjimjilbang) are made of wood; they’re practically a wooden headrest. ☜