Chapter 243: An Unexpected Connection (1)

Happy Orphanage. That was the name of the location written in the text message sent by Han Jung-Woo’s father.

Might as well strike while the iron is hot.

As soon as he received the message, he called the orphanage to speak with the director and set up a visit.

“

Whew

, I’m nervous.”

The orphanage was located about thirty minutes away from his home by taxi.

I didn’t know there was an orphanage here.

The neighborhood was one of those commonly called a poor hillside village, filled with hills and uphill roads. It took another ten minutes of going up a hill to finally reach the entrance of Happy Orphanage.

“

Hm?

” Han Jung-Woo slightly tilted his head as he looked at the entrance.

Why is the gate of this orphanage so luxurious?

The gate was overly elegant, completely out of place for a poor hillside village. And that wasn’t all. When he stepped through the gate, he was greeted by a luxurious lawn covering a spacious yard.

“

Huh...?

”

Something felt very different from what he had imagined.

At that moment, children playing in the yard noticed Han Jung-Woo and ran toward him with quick steps.

“Hello!”

The children bowed politely as they greeted him.

Given the time being early afternoon, they appeared to be mostly preschool-aged kids.

The kids are so cheerful too... This feels so different from when I used to volunteer.

“

Oh

, are you by chance Mr. Han Jung-Woo, the donor who called earlier?”

Hearing a voice, Han Jung-Woo turned his head and saw a man who looked innocent approaching him.

“Yes, that’s me.”

“I thought you sounded young over the phone, but you’re even younger than I expected. I’m Kim Hyun-Sik, the director of Happy Orphanage.”

It was fairly common for young donors to provide temporary support, often motivated by a momentary sense of pity or to build their resumes. However, Kim Hyun-Sik showed no sign of disappointment in Han Jung-Woo’s youthful appearance, and instead, his face was lit with a warm smile of joy.

“Let’s head inside and talk.”

After finishing his sentence, Kim Hyun-Sik crouched down to the children’s eye level and gently patted their heads.

“I’ll be talking to this gentleman for a while, so stay here and keep playing.”

“Okay!”

“Got it!”

The children cheerfully responded like little chicks and resumed running around the yard.

Leading Han Jung-Woo to the director’s office, Kim Hyun-Sik handed him a glass of orange juice.

“The children seem to really love you,” Han Jung-Woo said.

“

Haha

... It’s nothing remarkable. Those kids have very few adults in the world they can trust and rely on, so it’s only natural.”

There were certainly orphanage directors out there who couldn’t even handle that natural responsibility properly.

“But this orphanage feels a bit different from what I imagined.”

“

Ah,

the facilities are very nice, aren’t they?” Kim Hyun-Sik scratched his head with an embarrassed expression.

Indeed, the facilities at Happy Orphanage were impressive. Even by Han Jung-Woo’s standards, who had volunteered at many orphanages, it was easily among the top three.

“To tell you the truth, one of the children who grew up here started earning money through some game or something and has been supporting the orphanage a lot.”

"A game?"

When thinking of games that recently made money, only

MID Online

came to mind.

"Yes. I’m not very familiar with games myself, but you might know about it. That child stands out so much... Come to think of it, she mentioned dropping by today. She should be arriving soon."

Just as Kim Hyun-Sik glanced at the clock, the door to the director’s office opened.

At the same time, Kim Hyun-Sik sprang to his feet and greeted the visitor with a cheerful voice. "There you are! We were just talking about you—must be a mind reader to show up now!"

"Talking about me?"

Hmm?

The soft, relaxed voice that came from behind was a woman’s. But for some reason, Han Jung-Woo furrowed his brow, feeling an odd sense of familiarity with the voice.

"Who’s this?" the woman asked.

"

Oh

, this gentleman called earlier about wanting to make a donation."

"I’ve told you before not to accept any more donations. If they’re weird people like last time, the kids might get hurt again."

"Well... still, I feel bad always relying on you. It feels shameless."

"You’re the one who raised me until I went to college. Don’t say things like that."

Speaking firmly, the woman walked slowly into the room and took a seat across from Han Jung-Woo. The moment their eyes met, both of their eyes widened in surprise.

"

Oh!

"

"

Huh?!

"

As soon as the woman recognized Han Jung-Woo’s face, she froze as if she had been turned to stone. After a brief pause, she panicked, grabbed a newspaper from the table, and threw it over her head.

"... Ha-Rin, what are you doing in front of our donor?" Kim Hyun-Sik tilted his head, puzzled as he watched her incomprehensible behavior.

***

Realizing that the two were not strangers, Kim Hyun-Sik suddenly claimed he had an urgent matter to attend to and left the room.

In the awkward silence that followed, Han Jung-Woo was the first to speak.

"I never imagined I’d run into you in a place like this."

"... Me neither."

Yoo Ha-Rin. He never thought he would meet her in real life, let alone in such an unexpected manner. Although he didn’t show it, his mind was as overwhelmed as hers.

We’re not exactly close enough to chat outside the game, but...

The awkward atmosphere was created by Kim Hyun-Sik’s unnecessary consideration.

Unable to bear the weight of the silence, Han Jung-Woo finally said again, "You seem to support Happy Orphanage quite a lot."

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"

Oh

, yes. I grew up here."

"I see."

The air turned awkward once more. But perhaps gaining courage by their brief exchange, Yoo Ha-Rin lowered the newspaper she had been hiding under, peeking out over the top with just her eyes visible.

"So... why have you decided to make a donation?"

"I wanted to help kids in need."

"Are you also from an orphanage?"

"No, I’m not."

Yoo Ha-Rin was at a loss for words after Han Jung-Woo’s brief response and fidgeted nervously. In the game, she always presented a cool image, but in reality, she seemed much clumsier than expected.

"Thank you for wanting to make a donation, but I’ll have to politely decline."

"Alright, I understand."

Han Jung-Woo didn’t insist and quickly backed off. Even though she had dropped to second place in the rankings because of him, she was undoubtedly earning an income that most people couldn’t even imagine.

If she’s fully committed to supporting Happy Orphanage, they likely don’t need help from anyone else.

Having concluded his thoughts, Han Jung-Woo scratched the back of his head with an awkward expression.

"Well, I guess I’ll have to look for another place to donate to."

"Do you really want to donate that badly?"

"It’s nice if someone can become happy because of me.”

The sense of fulfillment that came from genuinely making someone happy was something that those who hadn’t experienced it would find hard to understand.

"

Mm

..."

Contemplating something serious in response to Han Jung-Woo’s words, Yoo Ha-Rin neatly folded the newspaper and placed it on the table.

Wow.

Han Jung-Woo unconsciously gaped at her fully revealed face. It wasn’t the first time he had seen her face. In fact, he had seen her twice in the game before.

But I figured she must have boosted her Charm stats or customized her appearance.

That wasn’t the case. The natural vibrancy and liveliness that the game’s graphics couldn’t capture only enhanced her beauty even more.

"Then how about this?" Hesitantly, Yoo Ha-Rin began speaking, nervously crumpling the edges of the newspaper. "E-every Tuesday, I come to the orphanage to play with the kids."

"Alright..."

"If you genuinely want to help... could you come to the orphanage once a week with me and spend time playing with the kids instead of offering financial help?"

"With the kids?"

"Yes. They’re at an age where they need to grow, but there aren’t enough adults they can rely on."

"Adults they can rely on,

huh

..." After a moment of thought, Han Jung-Woo nodded. "Alright. Supporting others isn’t only about financial aid."

Of course, supporting financially might have been easier and more convenient. He wouldn’t have to take the time to visit the orphanage, saving both effort and time.

But there’s something I learned from MID Online.

Doing good deeds wasn’t for oneself. It was about considering the needs of others and acting with empathy. That was what true benevolence was.

If what the kids need is an adult they can depend on...

Then he would strive to become that person.

Seeing Han Jung-Woo’s resolute nod, Yoo Ha-Rin smiled brightly. In that moment, it felt as though the room brightened, like flowers blooming in springtime.

"Thank you so much! The kids will love it, and they’re all such bright, sweet children. I’m sure you’ll enjoy spending time with them."

As Yoo Ha-Rin smiled brightly, filled with excitement, Han Jung-Woo found himself smiling without realizing it.

I thought she had a non-affectionate image, but I was completely wrong.

He silently reflected on his mistake of making such an unfair assumption about someone so cheerful.

***

Having promised to visit the orphanage every Tuesday afternoon, Han Jung-Woo returned home.

[Then I’ll see you next Tuesday.]

Yoo Ha-Rin’s phone number was now saved in his contacts. No matter how many times he stared at it, it still felt surreal.

She was a player I admired, someone I thought I could only ever see in videos.

Someone he never imagined having the slightest connection with had not only met him in real life but had even exchanged phone numbers with him. The reality of it all was still hard to believe, but that moment of awe didn’t last long.

Han Jung-Woo quickly logged into the game to focus on his main work.

"

Hmm

. The concept of a territory,

huh,

" Kai muttered to himself, stroking his chin.

He had learned detailed information about the benefits of upgrading territory ranks from Kang Min-Gu.

In the community, most people claim that upgrading a territory grade is pointless and just costs a lot of money, but that’s not true. If you can upgrade it, you absolutely should.

Once a territory was promoted to rank A and became a city, the tax revenue increased significantly. Additionally, the happiness of the residents improved, which naturally attracted new settlers. It was a so-called infinite virtuous cycle.

"

Hm

. Then what concepts should I set for the other territories?"

After a brief moment of contemplation, Kai lightly clapped his hands.

"As a cleric, it’s only proper to seek the wisdom of God when faced with a dilemma. Shadow Shift."

With a now-familiar sensation of his body floating, the scenery around him changed in the blink of an eye. Arriving at the Celestial Garden, the sight that greeted Kai was...

"

Tsk

, get those things out of here. I told you I don’t eat sweet stuff."

"You don’t have to eat them. Just say you ate them with me if my envoy happens to ask—just in case, you know? That’s all I’m asking."

"

Sigh

, I feel bad for the humans who worship a god like you."

"

Hehe

, this is delicious."

There was one hopeless god, happily eating from a table piled high with snacks and candy alone, and a muscular man, looking at her pathetically. He was a dwarf characterized by his noble-looking, white hair and beard, which were so long they nearly brushed the ground, and had a soft appearance.

"

Hm?

"

Unlike Helik, who was completely distracted by the snacks, the dwarf sensed the presence of someone nearby and turned his head. The moment he spotted Kai, he shot up to his feet.

"

Oh!

Who do we have here? It’s the one who saved my children!"

"I, the Apostle of the Solarian Church, Kai, greets the Earth God, Horn. And..."

"

Hiccup!

"

Helik, her cheeks stuffed full of snacks, slowly turned her head. Her large eyes, filled with fear, began to well up with tears.

"And greetings to our Solarian God, who broke her promise and now can never snack again."

"

Waaaaaahhhh!

"

Tears poured out like a waterfall from Helik's large eyes, flowing straight into her mouth and making the once-crispy snacks turn soggy.