This Universe Needs Old People - Chapter 98



Only Noblemtl

Apocalypse Needs Old People Episode 098

66. Player highlight video (2)

Taejeong Taese Beyonce.

His real name is Kim Tae-jeong.

Before becoming a freeloader, strictly speaking, my occupation was unemployed.

He was a national soccer player until he retired due to an unfortunate incident.

[‘Shock’ Olympic National Team Member Kim Tae-jeong, Positive Doping Test]

Doping.

The act of taking or injecting prohibited drugs to enhance athletic performance.

Kim Tae-jeong was caught in a doping test during the Olympic qualifying round.

When the first doping test came back positive, Kim Tae-jeong naturally thought something had gone wrong.

Because since becoming a professional player, Kim Tae-jeong has not even taken cold medicine recklessly, and even now that he has transferred to the Bundesliga, he has not eaten anything other than the diet that his older brother, who has helped him check his diet and correct his posture since he was young, has prepared for him.

[Kim Tae-jung, full denial of doping facts, “I have never administered any drugs”]

Therefore, Kim Tae-jeong completely denied the doping facts.

Until this time, public opinion supported Kim Tae-jung, as he was known as a soccer player who lived an upright life and was often featured in the media due to his good looks.

The coach and other national team players consoled Kim Tae-jeong, saying that it must have been due to discrimination or prejudice from the host country of the Olympics, and so they waited for the results of the second doping test.

‘The second test result was also positive…?’

[Soccer player Kim Tae-jeong, 2nd doping test results also positive… Cannot avoid punishment]

When the second test result also came back positive, he could no longer deny that he had taken the banned drug.

Kim Tae-jung was confused.

If there had been a record of having been to the hospital or taking cold medicine or something, I would have been suspicious, but he really had been living his life as usual up until the Olympic qualifiers, and he had no memory of eating anything other than the diet he had planned since Korea.

At this time, most public opinion turned away from Kim Tae-jung, and even the coach and the national team began to look at him with suspicion.

Only the players on the same team who knew well what kind of life Kim Tae-jung had led understood his grievances.

“No, does that make sense? The test results weren’t manipulated?”

Mickey Parker, who plays for the same Bundesliga club and is a member of the U.S. national team at the Olympics.

He got angry in Korean when he saw Kim Tae-jung’s luggage packed to return to Korea.

Mickey Parker, a second-generation Korean-Japanese, was the only friend Kim Tae-jung made in the Bundesliga.

“Are you really going back to Korea like this?”

“What can I do if the second test result is positive?”

“Taejung, what are you so sorry about that you doped in the Olympic qualifiers!”

That was also the reason why public opinion in Korea mostly supported Kim Tae-jung even after the results of the first test.

What kind of idiot would get caught doping in a qualifying match, let alone the Olympic final?

Even before the Olympics, Kim Tae-jeong had been playing in the Bundesliga season and had asked for the club’s understanding to play for the national team. Even though the Bundesliga randomly selects players for testing before and after games, Kim Tae-jeong was included in the random group and had to undergo testing.

If he wasn’t caught then, that means he didn’t take drugs in the Bundesliga.

How many athletes would decide to dope in the Olympics, where doping tests are more stringent than in the Bundesliga?

But there was no room for excuses since the second doping test came back positive.

Accuracy is accuracy, but when it comes to doping, once a positive result is revealed, it is considered the athlete’s fault.

Mickey Parker is also angry, but he knows better than anyone that it is very likely that illegal drugs were found in Kim Tae-jung’s blood.

“Do you have a crush on someone? Did someone put poison in your food to spite you?”

“That’s impossible. You know how thorough I am.”

“I know, that’s why it’s more frustrating! If it wasn’t given to you by someone else, then you can only say that you administered it yourself, and there’s no way you actually touched the drug!”

Kim Tae-jung also really didn’t understand that part.

I swear to God I have never tried doping, and I have never had anyone offer me any suspicious drinks.

Even at the Olympics, all I ate was the personal diet my brother prepared for me…

“I suspect your Big Brother.”

Mickey Parker’s suspicions were not without merit.

If all I ate here was food prepared by my brother, wouldn’t anyone be suspicious?

‘But there’s no way my brother would do that.’

The person who was happier than anyone else when Kim Tae-jung became a successful soccer player was his older brother.

He left the management of his income entirely to his older brother, and yet he was a transparent person who reported the budget to Kim Tae-jung in advance even when buying a single ingredient.

Even if his older brother had been embezzling money in the middle, it wouldn’t have been a good thing for Kim Tae-jung to fall so absurdly like this.

“Even if it wasn’t that person himself, it could have been an outsider who touched the ingredients or something.”

“Who the hell would hate me that much? I’ve only ever played soccer… … .”

“Don’t think too deeply about it. If you are in a situation where you are being treated unfairly right now, it means that someone has ill intentions toward you.”

Mickey Parker said in a firm tone, bringing his face close to mine as if to tell me to remember this in the future.

“Taejung, human malice is beyond imagination. Don’t forget this.”

Kim Tae-jung thought that his brother would never do that to him, but before returning to Korea, he went to see his brother and asked him if anyone had ever touched the ingredients or anything like that.

I thought it was plausible what Mickey said, that even if it wasn’t my brother putting it in himself, someone might have injected the drug into the materials my brother was managing.

But my brother replied that something like that could not happen.

“I came here and managed the materials more thoroughly than anyone else. And yet the second test came back positive… … .”

I was worried that my brother might get angry and ask if I was doubting him, but he just sat down in tears.

“I can’t believe it either, Taejung. I know better than anyone that you didn’t take any medicine or injections. It seems like it’s all my fault. If there was something wrong with the food you ate, how can I ever atone for it… .”

Kim Tae-jung, who could not ask any more questions to his brother who seemed to be more mentally unstable than he was, got on a plane with his brother and returned to Korea instead.

A few days later, he was able to confirm his disciplinary level in Korea.

[Kim Tae-jeong ‘4-year suspension’, likely to be unable to compete in World Cup]

4 year suspension.

This was shocking news to Kim Tae-jeong, who is now approaching 30 years old.

[Kim Tae-jung, who was about to retire, is his career as a player in danger due to drug use?]

In domestic public opinion, people were already calling him a ‘doping addict’ instead of his real name, ‘Kim Tae-jung’, and the interview in which he confidently answered that the first doping test was wrong was turned into a meme and was ridiculed in all sorts of ways.

Honestly, at this point I wasn’t thinking about anything.

4 year suspension?

And that’s something that wasn’t even my fault?

It didn’t feel real and I didn’t cry.

-Taejung, human malice is beyond imagination. Don’t forget this.

I just wondered who on earth hated me so much.

When the ridicule online reached its peak and YouTubers came storming into his place of living, his older brother, who he lived with, attempted suicide, leaving a note asking for forgiveness for his failure to manage the ingredients. Kim Tae-jung, who narrowly saved his brother, made up his mind.

If there is someone who hates you, it is in that person’s memory.

And to be forgotten in this world.

[Kim Tae-jeong suddenly announces retirement “I regret ending my career as a player due to drug addiction”]

When he announced his retirement, many people contacted him, but Kim Tae-jung, determined to be forgotten by the world, ignored them all.

[Mickey: Are you really going to retire?]

Of course, I didn’t respond to any calls from Mickey Parker.

The Bundesliga club was glad that Tae-Jeong had announced his retirement first, so they terminated his contract without any restrictions, and he never had to meet Mickey Parker again.

Even though I didn’t reply, Mickey Parker kept reaching out.

[Mickey: What are you going to do after you retire?]

well.

Anyway, he and his brother were not the type to spend extravagantly, so they had enough money to live without working, and even if they ran out of money, they thought they would have to work hard to survive since their limbs were in good shape.

[Mickey: I’m into Beyonce these days. Aren’t you Beyonce?]

Even though I didn’t reply, Mickey kept contacting me.

Kim Tae-jung didn’t necessarily block him.

It seemed that Mickey kept in touch to make sure that his messages were read and that Kim Tae-jung was alive.

“I’m getting married, Taejung.”

Meanwhile, my older brother, who had recovered his mental health, started a family and became independent.

In fact, they could have gotten married sooner, but Kim Tae-jung postponed the marriage until after he retired because he had to take responsibility for his own meals.

Kim Tae-jeong tried to give half of his remaining assets to his brother, but his brother strongly refused and left with only the money he had earned.

With his brother gone, Kim Tae-jung truly felt forgotten by the world.

Not quite, but almost.

[Mickey: Will you buy me a meal when I visit Korea later?]

Kim Tae-jung snickered while reading Mickey’s text.

I still think that this guy is the only one who hasn’t forgotten me, and that day, a long text message arrived.

[Mickey: I have a game I’m playing these days. Do you want to try it?]

[Mickey: I’m a freeloader with nothing to do, let’s play a game together]

There was a link attached to the message sent like that, and when I clicked on that link, I was taken to “Safe Zone: Apocalypse.”

[Mickey: If you ever start, add me as a friend]

[Mickey: My in-game nickname is ‘mikisoccer’.]

Kim Tae-jung chuckled again at the name that suited him, ‘Mikisoccer.’

‘There’s nothing to do… … .’

Kim Tae-jeong had been feeling a great sense of boredom in his life recently.

Although he had no hesitation in starting the game, Kim Tae-jung was greatly embarrassed by the first screen of ‘Apocalypse: Safe Zone’.

‘It’s all in English… … .’

I found out that the game did not have a Korean patch.

Come to think of it, Mickey, being American, had no reason to play Korean games.

Although he could speak German to some extent, he could not speak English properly, so Kim Tae-jung stuttered several times even on the start screen.

‘I should have gone to the Premier League instead of the Bundesliga… ‘

Kim Tae-jung thought to himself that he had gotten over the shock from that time without thinking.

Next, when deciding on an in-game name, I hesitated a lot.

Fortunately, player nicknames could be entered in Korean, but I was afraid that if I wrote my name as it was, players would ask why I chose a nickname like Yakjaengi.

‘Should I be like Mickey too… … .’

That’s how it was decided that ‘Taejeong Taese Beyonce’ would be the answer.

After creating the character, Kim Tae-jeong sent a friend request to ‘mikisoccer’.

Mickey immediately accepted Kim Tae-jung’s friend request.

I felt like I could already tell it was Kim Tae-jung from her nickname, ‘Taejung Taese Beyonce.’

[mikisoccer: Crazy!!]

[mikisoccer: Are you really Taejeong? Are you real? Are you alive?]

He sent a chat message excitedly, as if he didn’t know that Kim Tae-jung would actually start the game.

[mikisoccer: Why aren’t you talking?]

[mikisoccer: Are you going to ignore chat like text??]

‘I guess he kept texting me because he was worried that I might die.’

Kim Tae-jung felt very grateful to Mickey.

I felt sorry for causing you unnecessary worries.

[Beyonce: Stop texting me now because I will reply to your chats regularly]

[mikisoccer: Are you saying you won’t respond to texts?]

[Beyonce: International text messaging is expensive]

[mikisoccer: Such unemployed thoughts]

The cursor in the chat window blinked for a moment, and then Mickey continued sending messages.

[mikisoccer: I promise to keep my promise to reply to your chats regularly]

[mikisoccer: If I don’t get in touch with you, I’m really going to Korea this time]

It seemed like he was texting me casually, but I guess he was anxious because I didn’t reply.

Perhaps the offer to play a game together was an ultimatum before he flew to Korea to confirm that he was still alive.

After his brother’s suicide attempt, Kim Tae-jung understood Mickey’s feelings to some extent and answered that he would do so.

[Taejung Taese Beyonce: Okay]

[Beyonce: But how do you play this game?]

[mikisoccer: Let’s start from the candy area]

[mikisoccer: I’ll send you the strategy]

Kim Tae-jung, who entered the US Safe Zone community link that Mickey had sent, was a little confused.

‘Mickey… you only play games and not soccer?’

There was a ranking system in the community strategy posts, and strategy posts posted under the nickname of Mickey Soccer were mostly at the top.

Well, I thought it wouldn’t be difficult to play the game going forward since Mickey is such an expert at this game.

The problem is that Mickey’s strategy was written entirely in English.

‘I should have gone to the Premier League after all… … .’

However, Taejung Kim felt bad about asking Mickey to translate everything, so he started to Google Mickey’s strategy.

“… … Hey.”

I found a perfect translation in the Korean community.

‘The person who posted this is… a dopamine addict?’

At first I thought it was a dopamine addict who translated Mickey’s strategy guide and posted it.

Kim Tae-jung, who checked the upload date of the post, realized that Mickey had copied the dopamine addict’s strategy article and posted it on the American community.

‘Mickey… somehow you speak Korean well.’

Kim Tae-jung, who was wondering whether or not he should tell the dopamine addict that Mickey was plagiarizing his writing, ended up reading the dopamine addict’s strategy article from beginning to end.

For him, who had been isolated from the world, the attack of a dopamine addict came as a huge stimulus.

Kim Tae-jung is literally addicted to the dopamine given by the dopamine addict’s strategy article.

Naturally, I ended up stopping by the convenience store that the dopamine addict had posted about, and by chance, I chose a bottle of cola and had the honor of starting in the same area as the dopamine addict.

“But since my dopamine addict brother is also Korean, I thought his attitude would change if he found out that I was a ‘drug addict Kim Tae-jung’, so I kept quiet until now… … .”

… said.

Suddenly, Dopamine Addict called her in and asked, “Are you really Kim Tae-jung, a member of the national team?” Tae-jung Tae-se Beyonce confessed everything to her with her feet tingling, then looked at the Dopamine Addict’s expression.

No matter how innocent he claims to be, he cannot expect a dopamine addict to believe his wrongdoings when he is already known to be a drug addict.

Because I didn’t expect the dopamine addict’s reaction, I looked at him with concern.

The facial expressions of dopamine addicts were also unexpected.

‘Why are you making that face… … .’

A dopamine addict who listened to Kim Tae-jung’s story from beginning to end with a blank expression.

At some point, with a face filled with dopamine, he asked Kim Tae-jung.

“What is your friend’s ingame name?”