Chapter 98

Chapter 98
Player Highlight Video (2)

Taejongtaesebeyonce.

Real name: Kim Tae-jung.

Prior to being possessed, his occupation was essentially that of an unemployed man. Before an ugly scandal forced his abrupt retirement, he had played as a national-team soccer player.

BREAKING NEWS
‘SHOCK’ – Olympic National Team Player Kim Tae-jung Tests Positive for Doping

Doping.

The practice of consuming or taking prohibited substances to artificially boost athletic capacity.

Kim Tae-jung had tested positive during the Olympic qualifiers. When the initial results came back, he naturally assumed it was some kind of mistake. After all, ever since turning professional, he had never even casually taken cold medicine, and even after moving to the Bundesliga, he strictly ate only the meals prepared by the hyung who had managed his diet, posture correction, and entire routine since childhood.

BREAKING NEWS
Kim Tae-jung Flatly Denies Doping: “I Have Never Taken Any Drug”

Thus, he firmly denied the allegations. Already famous as a clean athlete with an attractive image that kept him in the public eye, most of the general public still backed him at that point. His coach and fellow national team members comforted him, claiming it was either host-country bias or outright racism. Then the second test results arrived.

The second test is positive too…?

BREAKING NEWS
Soccer Player Kim Tae-jung: Second Doping Test Also Positive… Discipline Unavoidable

With a second positive result, he could no longer dispute the presence of banned substances in his system. Kim Tae-jung experienced a complete downward spiral. If there had been any hospital visits on record, or even a single cold pill, he might have had room for doubt. But right up until the Olympic qualifiers, he had lived his usual disciplined life with zero recollection of consuming anything outside the meal plan arranged back in Korea.

At that stage, public opinion largely turned against him. His coach and teammates began eyeing him with suspicion. Only the players from his own club—who witnessed his daily lifestyle firsthand—still maintained his innocence.

“No way. This can’t be right. Did they fake the results?”

Miki Parker, a fellow Bundesliga club teammate and a member of the U.S. Olympic squad, stared at the bags Kim Tae-jung had packed for his flight home and shouted in Korean. A second-generation Zainichi Korean, Miki was Tae-jung’s closest friend in the Bundesliga.

“You’re seriously just going back to Korea like this?”

“It came back positive twice. What am I supposed to do?”

“Tae-jung, what the hell would you even gain by doping in the Olympic qualifiers?”

That exact reason was why the domestic public had supported him after the first test. What kind of fool dopes for preliminary qualifiers instead of the main event and gets caught? Moreover, right up until the Olympics, Tae-jung had been in the middle of the Bundesliga season and had requested temporary leave to join the national team. The Bundesliga performed random post-match tests, and he had passed them. This meant he had been completely clean throughout the league season. Why would any player purposefully dope for the Olympics, where testing procedures were far stricter than in the Bundesliga?

However, once the second test came back positive, excuses no longer mattered. Regardless of accuracy, a positive test defaulted to the athlete’s fault. Miki was furious, yet he understood better than anyone that illegal substances had somehow entered Tae-jung’s blood.

“Did you piss somebody off? Did someone spike your food to ruin you?”

“Impossible. You know how careful I am.”

“I know! That’s why this is driving me crazy! If nobody else gave it to you, the only explanation is you took it yourself—and there’s no way you actually touched that stuff!”

Kim Tae-jung could not make sense of it either. He could swear to the heavens he never attempted to dope, and nobody had ever handed him a suspicious drink. Even during the Olympics, everything he consumed came straight from the personal meal plan prepared by his hyung…

“I don’t trust that Big Brother of yours.”

Miki’s suspicion was not entirely groundless. If the only food he ate was prepared by hyung, anyone would start to wonder.

Yet hyung would never do such a thing.

No one had rejoiced more than hyung when Tae-jung achieved success as a soccer player. Tae-jung had entrusted him with managing all of his earnings, and hyung consistently reported the budget beforehand whenever purchasing ingredients—demonstrating absolute transparency. Even if hyung had pocketed a little money on the side, watching Tae-jung crash so catastrophically would not have benefited him in any way.

“Even if he didn’t do it himself, an outsider could’ve messed with the ingredients, right?”

“Who the hell hates me enough to go that far? All I’ve ever done is play soccer…”

“Don’t overthink it. If you’re in this unjust situation right now, it means somebody out there wished you harm.”

Miki leaned in closely, his voice stern, as if wanting Tae-jung to engrave the thought into his mind forever.

“Tae-jung. Human malice is beyond imagination. Don’t forget that.”

Even so, Kim Tae-jung refused to believe hyung would ever betray him. Before heading back to Korea, he still approached hyung to ask if anyone could have tampered with the groceries. Miki’s theory—that someone might have altered the supplies hyung handled even if hyung himself remained innocent—sounded somewhat plausible.

Hyung replied that nothing of the sort could have happened.

“I managed the ingredients here more carefully than anyone. And still the second test came back positive…”

Tae-jung had worried hyung might fly into a rage over the implied accusation. Instead, hyung collapsed onto the floor in tears.

“I can’t believe it either, Tae-jung. I know better than anyone that you never took any drug or injection. I feel like this is all my fault. If there was something wrong with the food you ate, how am I ever supposed to make it up to you…”

Confronted by a man whose emotional state appeared far more shattered than his own, Tae-jung stopped questioning him. He simply boarded the plane back to Korea alongside hyung. A few days later, back in his home country, he discovered the true severity of his punishment.

BREAKING NEWS
Kim Tae-jung Suspended for Four Years; World Cup Appearance Also Unlikely

A four-year ban. For a man approaching thirty years of age, it was a devastating blow out of nowhere.

BREAKING NEWS
Kim Tae-jung, Already Nearing Retirement, Faces Career End as “Druggy”?

Domestic public opinion had already stopped using the name “Kim Tae-jung,” referring to him simply as a drug user. The interview where he had confidently declared the initial test a mistake was transformed into an internet meme used for relentless mockery.

Honestly, by that point, he felt completely numb. A four-year suspension? For something he never did? It felt entirely surreal. He could not even manage to cry.

“Tae-jung. Human malice is beyond imagination. Don’t forget that.”

The only question echoing in his mind was who on earth could possibly harbor this much hatred toward him.

When the online ridicule reached its peak and YouTubers began staking out his residence, the hyung living with him left a suicide note—blaming himself for failing to properly manage the food and begging Tae-jung for forgiveness—before attempting to take his own life. Kim Tae-jung saved him at the very last second. That harrowing moment prompted his ultimate decision.

If someone despised him that much, he would erase himself from that person’s memory entirely.

And from this world as well.

BREAKING NEWS
Kim Tae-jung Suddenly Announces Retirement: “Regret Ending My Career as a Druggy”

Following his retirement announcement, numerous individuals attempted to reach out. Having chosen to become forgotten by society, Kim Tae-jung ignored every single message.

MIKI
You actually retiring for real?

Naturally, he did not reply to Miki Parker either. Once Tae-jung declared his retirement, his Bundesliga club seemed relieved and terminated his contract with no penalties, removing any lingering reason to keep in touch with Miki.

Despite receiving no answers, Miki continued sending messages.

MIKI
What’re you gonna do after retiring?

Who could say. Neither he nor hyung lived extravagantly, leaving them with enough savings to get by without working. Should the money ever run out, he still possessed two able arms and legs—he could always resort to physical labor to survive.

MIKI
I’ve been obsessed with Beyoncé lately. You know Beyoncé?

Even in the absence of replies, Miki kept writing. Kim Tae-jung never blocked him. The continuous stream of messages seemed to be Miki’s way of verifying through “read” receipts that Tae-jung was still breathing.

“I’m getting married, Tae-jung.”

Meanwhile, hyung regained enough of his mental stability to start a family and move out. He could have married much earlier, having delayed it solely because he needed to look after Tae-jung’s strict dietary regimen until retirement. Tae-jung attempted to hand over half of his remaining wealth to hyung, but hyung adamantly refused, leaving with only the money he had earned himself.

Once hyung departed, Kim Tae-jung genuinely felt abandoned by the world.

Well, not entirely. Almost.

MIKI
If I come visit Korea later, you buying me dinner?

Reading Miki’s text, Kim Tae-jung let out a brief chuckle. He figured this fool was the only one left who still remembered him. That day, the incoming messages stretched on longer than usual.

MIKI
I’ve been playing this game lately. Wanna try?

MIKI
Jobless bum with nothing to do-let’s game together

Attached to the message was a single web link. Clicking it directed him straight to Safe Zone: Apocalypse.

MIKI
If you start, add me

MIKI
My in-game nick is ‘mikisoccer’

At the predictably childish username “mikisoccer,” Kim Tae-jung snorted once more.

Yeah… not like I have anything better to do anyway.

Lately, the crushing emptiness of daily existence had been weighing heavily on him. He felt no hesitation about jumping into a game—until the title screen of Apocalypse: Safe Zone left him staring in blank bewilderment.

It’s all in English…

There was no Korean localization patch. Come to think of it, an American like Miki would never have been playing a Korean title in the first place. Tae-jung could get by with decent German, but his English skills were atrocious, causing him to stumble even at the main menu.

Should’ve gone to the Premier League instead of the Bundesliga…

That idle reflection made him realize he had recovered somewhat from his past trauma. Choosing an in-game alias, however, caused him to hesitate for a long time. Fortunately, the game supported Hangul characters, but using his real name would invite awkward questions from other players wondering why a disgraced athlete chose that moniker.

Maybe I should name it like Miki does…

That was how “Taejongtaesebeyonce” came to be. After setting up his character, he dispatched a friend request to mikisoccer. Miki accepted instantaneously—presumably recognizing the handle as Kim Tae-jung’s the moment it appeared.

MIKISOCCER
Holy shit!!

MIKISOCCER
Is that really you, Tae-jung? For real? You’re alive?

He clearly had not anticipated Tae-jung actually joining the game, and the chat flooded with frantic excitement.

— MIKISOCCER
You bastard why aren’t you talking

— MIKISOCCER
You gonna ghost chat the same way you ghosted texts??

So all those persistent texts really stemmed from genuine terror that he might have ended up dead or worse.

Kim Tae-jung felt a profound wave of gratitude toward Miki—alongside a twinge of guilt for causing him unnecessary worry.

— TAEJONGTAESEBEYONCE
I’ll answer every chat properly from now on, so stop texting

— MIKISOCCER
So you’re saying you still won’t answer texts?

— TAEJONGTAESEBEYONCE
International text rates are expensive

— MIKISOCCER
Classic unemployed thinking

The chat cursor flickered briefly before Miki resumed typing.

— MIKISOCCER
Keep that promise about answering every chat

— MIKISOCCER
If I can’t reach you this time I’m actually flying to Korea

Miki had been chatting casually, but the prolonged silence must have genuinely terrified him. Proposing they play together was likely his final ultimatum before booking a flight just to verify Tae-jung was still among the living. After the scare with hyung’s suicide attempt, Tae-jung understood Miki’s mindset well enough to reply without pushing back.

* TAEJONGTAESEBEYONCE
Got it
* TAEJONGTAESEBEYONCE
So how do you even play this game?

MIKISOCCER
Start with the Candy Zone first

MIKISOCCER
I’ll send you the guides

Following the link Miki provided to the American Safe Zone community, Kim Tae-jung experienced a jolt of surprise.

Miki… have you just been gaming instead of playing soccer?

The community guide boards utilized a ranking system, and the vast majority of top-rated guides belonged to the user mikisoccer. This meant Miki was a seasoned veteran of the platform, making their cooperative playthrough much smoother. The catch, however, was that every single guide written by Miki was entirely in English.

I really should’ve gone to the Premier League…

Too proud to ask Miki to handle translations for him, Kim Tae-jung began plugging the guides into Google Translate.

And right then—

“……Huh.”

He stumbled upon flawless Korean translations hosted on a domestic community forum.

The uploader is… Dopamine Addict?

Initially, he assumed Dopamine Addict had simply translated Miki’s guides and republished them. Examining the posting dates closely, however, revealed that Miki had actually been stealing Dopamine Addict’s guides and uploading them onto the American boards instead.

Miki… no wonder your Korean is so good.

He debated whether to warn Dopamine Addict that Miki was hotlinking his content. Instead, he ended up devouring every single guide published by Dopamine Addict from start to finish. To a man entirely cut off from human society, those write-ups delivered a massive rush of mental stimulation. Literally hooked on the dopamine derived from Dopamine Addict’s writing, Kim Tae-jung coincidentally visited the exact convenience store mentioned in the guides—and by sheer luck, grabbed a bottle of cola, granting him the privilege of spawning in the exact same zone as Dopamine Addict himself.

“But since Dopamine Addict hyung-nim is Korean too, I figured once he found out I was ‘Druggy’ Kim Tae-jung, his attitude would shift, so I’ve been extremely cautious with my words until now…”

…was how things unfolded.

Abruptly summoned by Dopamine Addict and hit point-blank with the query, “Are you really national-team Kim Tae-jung?”, Taejongtaesebeyonce felt a searing pang of guilt; he confessed every single detail and watched Dopamine Addict’s face for an immediate reaction. No matter how much he insisted on his innocence, the world already labeled him a drug cheat.

Expecting Dopamine Addict to believe his innocence was a pipe dream. Thus, he waited anxiously for a completely unpredictable response.

The expression settling onto Dopamine Addict’s face proved just as surprising.

Why is he making that expression…

Dopamine Addict had listened through Kim Tae-jung’s entire narrative with a completely blank expression. Then, at a certain point, his face lit up with an intense wave of pure, circulating dopamine as he asked:

“What’s your friend’s in-game nick again?”