Chirp. Chirp.
The chirping of crickets echoed across the playground beside a large academy. School was over, and most students were heading for their after-school lessons, while others were already on their way home.
"Say it again." The low growl of a young boy's voice silenced the crickets. His fists were bloodied, and his handsome face was cold. "I dare you to say my dad is dead again."
The boy he held by the collar trembled, too scared to speak. Earlier that evening, after school, he had tried to pick on one of the quiet boys, the kind girls usually liked. He had found out that the boy's father was a well-known man who was now in a coma and that his mother wasn't even Korean. Even with his three friends backing him up, they had been utterly destroyed.
The young boy glanced briefly at the three bloodied figures lying unconscious but not dead on the ground. Monster. That was the only word that fit.
Tears welled up in the bully's eyes as he began to cry. "I'm sorry! Please forgive us! It was just a mistake, a stupid joke!"
The handsome boy stared at him for a moment, slowly loosening his grip on the collar. Then, as if remembering the insult again, his hand tightened and he slammed his fist forward, knocking out one of the boy's teeth.
The boy crumpled to the ground, bloody and beaten, while his attacker just stood there, staring up at the clouds. Tears started rolling down his cheeks too.
He wiped at them with his sleeve, but they wouldn't stop. "Dad," he whispered through the tears, his hands clutching the hem of his shirt, "you're not dead, right?"
"Suho!"
The young boy, Suho Park, turned his head toward the voice. The moment he saw who it was, his tears flowed freely.
"Mommy!"
The woman was tall, around six feet, with brown skin, a striking face, and long braids. Her athletic build could make anyone look twice. The Caribbean wrestling queen, Anika Park.
Anika glanced at the bloodied children her son had left behind. Instead of shouting, she smiled softly. "Did they try to bully you, baby?"
Suho shook his head, trying to stop his tears. "No, but…" he whimpered, "they said Dad was dead."
Anika pulled her son into a tight hug, her expression hardening. "Don't worry. Nothing will happen to Daddy. You believe Mommy, right?"
Suho nodded quickly. Anika held him for a long moment before leading him to their car parked nearby. Once he was inside, the parents of the other kids arrived, and she gave them a piece of her mind. When they refused to listen to reason, she kindly introduced their jaws to her elbow, paid their hospital bill, and went back to the car.
Suho wiped his tears and watched his mom as she beat up the parents a little and walked up to the car like she was some kind of superhero, or maybe a villain. He couldn't really tell.
The ride home was silent except for the sounds of car horns, engines, and the faint chatter from the streets. Suho sat beside his mom in the driver's seat, hugging himself tightly, his eyes still red from crying.
"Mom," he finally said, breaking the quiet, "is Dad really dead? I'm not a kid anymore. I want to know the truth."
Anika glanced at him, a warm smile spreading across her face. "No, baby. Your dad, my husband, isn't dead."
Taking a sharp turn, she continued, "Besides, have you forgotten who your dad is? The strongest man alive and the…" She trailed off and turned to Suho, whose face was now glowing.
He grinned, showing his small white teeth. "The greatest programmer!"
She laughed, ruffling his hair playfully. "That's right. Those peasants won't understand how great our Daddy is."
Suho's face brightened as he echoed her words. "Peasants!"
Anika chuckled softly and shouted too, "Peasants!"
Suho laughed loudly at her imitation. "Mom sounds like a frog."
"Hey, you little rascal! How can you talk to your mom like that?"
Ignoring her mock anger, Suho turned to her with sparkling eyes. "Mom, let's get junk food from Mrs. Sung!"
Anika placed a hand under her chin, pretending to think hard, though she had already decided. "Alright then, let's treat ourselves."
"Yeah! Chicken and rice! With a bit of soju!"
"No soju for you, little twelve-year-old."
"Aww… just a sip, so I can get tipsy like in the movies Uncle shows me."
"What is that idiot showing you to watch? I'll have to deal with him later."
Anika turned on the music as their white car sped off into the horizon. They were a normal family of two, no, of three. One of them just wasn't there at the moment. But they believed he'd be back soon.
Years passed in the blink of an eye, and the little twelve-year-old grew into a man, or at least, a full-grown adult.
Throughout the years from middle school to high school, Suho had only one dream: to become a programmer like his father, the national legend who led Korea through many ups and downs, Gamin Park.
Because of that, he struggled a lot in high school. He formed his own study group, got into plenty of fights, and worked tirelessly just so he could enter a university. After much effort, he did. It wasn't the best university, but it was still something. It was his first step toward understanding the art of programming that his father had once mastered.
You might ask, why was the son of a genius struggling to get into a top university? Well, let's just say he inherited quite a lot from his mom. He didn't have her skin tone, and he still looked Korean, but he was her replica in every other way: bad at school, incredibly strong and athletic, and almost too handsome for his own good. His mother had once won Miss World, after all.
Because of that, Suho was extremely popular with the girls and had been scouted countless times by idol companies and modeling agencies that promised him instant debuts. Even national sports teams wanted him. But Suho only wanted one thing: to learn programming so his father would be proud once he woke up from his coma.
"Suho Park!" The sharp voice of a lecturer rang through the descending seats of the large classroom as all eyes turned toward a boy sitting in the center, wearing glasses and focusing on his notes. It was almost impossible to miss him. Even if you didn't look at his face or height, you could tell who he was by how many girls sat around him.
The young man, with a messy two-block haircut, raised his head toward the teacher, who looked visibly angry.
"Yes, sir," he answered, standing up.
The professor didn't waste a second before lashing out. "Don't 'sir' me! How can someone be this dumb?! The questions were so easy that even a child could solve them! Didn't they teach you sine, cosine, and logarithms in high school?!"
Suho scratched his neck and looked down at the problem on his textbook. Every answer he had written was wrong. He raised his gaze to the man standing at the podium, which made the professor flinch slightly. "I'll try my best, sir."
The professor cleared his throat. "You'd better."
The whole class had been giggling through the exchange. When Suho sat down, the girls around him began comforting him, but he ignored them.
'Why can't I solve this?!'
None of the math made sense. Wasn't math supposed to be about numbers? Why were there letters everywhere? And why did logarithms have different bases, log10, log2, log-whatever?
He ran a hand through his hair. "Come on, brain, you can do it."
Before he knew it, the bell rang, marking the end of class. All he could do was sigh, stand up, and leave.
'How did Dad even do this?' Every day, the place his father had reached in the world seemed to drift farther away. But that didn't make him sad. Instead, it motivated him. He had a crazy goal to rise from nothing, and the underdog always won.
Outside, Suho sat under the hallway window, staring at the trees beyond campus. The air was cool, and everyone was going about their day. Just as he began to relax, something cold touched his cheek, a drink can.
Suho looked up and saw her. A senior. Short red hair, sharp gray eyes, and a face pretty enough to make any guy lose his mind.
"Rough day?" she muttered, handing him one of the drinks before sitting beside him.
"Yes, I guess," he replied, not really recognizing her.
"Computer Science, right?" she asked. "What's a freshman doing out here?"
He shrugged. "Classes are over, and I don't want to go home yet since I failed my tests."
She laughed, brushing her hair from her eyes. "Is that so?" Then she leaned closer, pressing her chest against his arm. "Want Noona to teach you? I'm pretty good at computer science myself… and a few other things. You could come over to my place."
Suho glanced at her and took another sip of the drink. 'Does she really know computer science?' He knew better than to judge people by appearances, but girls had used this tactic on him so many times that he was used to it.
'As long as she can teach me something.' He nodded. "Okay, let's go."
The senior smiled brightly and linked her arm with his.
The dorm she led him to was only a few minutes from campus. After they arrived, the sounds of moans, kisses, and the creaking of the bed filled the room for more than an hour.
When it was over, they both sat on the floor with their feet under a small table. The senior's hair was messy, and she was wearing the oversized polo shirt Suho had worn to class. Suho, on the other hand, was shirtless, his toned body glistening slightly with sweat.
The senior sighed, rubbing her temples. "Suho, I don't know how to say this, but you're really dumb, you know that?"
Suho lowered his gaze. "Yeah, I've been told that a lot."
She tapped a pen against her lips. "You're really good at sports. Why not go pro? You could be an idol or a model. With that body, you could get a rich woman to sponsor your whole life. I could even become that. So why go this far?"
Suho stayed silent for a long moment before replying in a softer tone. "I have a dream."
The girl raised an eyebrow as he continued, "I want to be known as a legendary programmer, just like my dad."
She blinked, then burst into laughter. "You're so cute, Suho. I just want to lock you up and keep you forever." She nodded, smiling. "I get it."
Her gaze met his again. "Then let me help you. But for that," she spread her legs slightly, smirking, "you have to pay too."
Suho tilted his head. "I thought you said you were sore."
"I am," she said, grinning, "but it's a sweet sore."
Suho's expression didn't change. He stood up, grabbed his bag, and said calmly, "I'm too busy for that. Maybe next time."
The senior pouted. "Okay, call me before you come. I wouldn't want my boyfriend to catch me with you."
Suho waved as he walked out of the apartment. "Another bust."
It was frustrating. The heavens had given him everything except the one thing he truly wanted.
'I thought she might actually teach me something… but I guess that was a waste this time too.'
He was about to leave the apartment complex when his phone buzzed. It was a message from his mom, telling him to come home. She said she might have found a way for him to achieve his dream.
Above the message was a screenshot from a sleek website that read:
The game that will change, shape, and shake the world. A VR like no other. Not just full immersion, but transmigration at its finest.
GAME OF THE GODS – AETHER ONLINE
Let your dreams shine and your fantasies become reality.
"Who's trying to scam Mom this time?" he muttered.
Unbeknownst to Suho, this screenshot would become the spark that would change his entire life.