COTE : There is Something Wrong With Hikigaya - Chapter 197: Ichinose’s Weakness

Late 21st century, the acclaimed game Company Elden Throne released yet another immersive action MMORPG after a decade of silence.While the world was getting ready for this new Supermassive MMO, Dale Houston trained his body every day in preparation for its eventual worldwide release.Not because Dale wanted to get healthy or muscular, but because he saw a glimpse of the secrets hidden by the Megacorporation.All because of what he found out one year ago... This time, he wasn't here to play the game.He would find all of the secrets, things he couldn't even imagine...It wasn't about the game anymore....*Author's thoughts:So! What this is actually about?As you read in the Title, there was an old version of this work going by the same name.Because of some problems, I had to leave it alone for a few months, and after I came back I realized neither I nor my readers remembered much, so I decided to go from the start again.I'll be re-editing every single chapter I made to make a more conclusive story while also tying up loose plot points and bringing them forward as I re-reading through everything.As in the synopsis, this is an MMORPG story with a big emphasis on the real world and how the game affects reality in more than a socio-economic way, so this isn't the story about a guy playing a game and getting rich with a bit of drama.This is a story about how the game impacts the real world and vice versa.A story about a secret so big it could change society and the world... No, it will.The Mc isn't a chosen one and instead was someone who found something out of his own effort and the story progresses from that point, you can take it as he being favored by the plot, but at the very least this is a better plot initiative then the boy who survived Avada Kedavra through the power of Love... Just kidding, Harry is sick.There will be a few more explanations to help you with understanding his personality and goals better.No romance planned for at least the first 200 chapters, however, we'll have some candidates as we go by including, you could say, a Main Female lead.But there are plans for interactions with other players and side characters as we go by.The story will be divided into 2 parts, we are currently on the first part and the focus is on the game.Don't misunderstand, getting out of the game to do something in real life doesn't mean we are going through a phase, you'll know once it happens.Things may change along the way but that's how things are.The main aspect of this series is about Dale exploring this new world, Azimuth while building up his forces that will eventually become a Kingdom.At least the first part of it.

Ha Si-heon is a brilliant but obsessive Wall Street financier who has built an immense fortune driven by a fear of financial insecurity. After enduring a tragic childhood, losing his mother, and navigating financial ruin with his father during South Korea’s 1997 financial crisis, Si-heon immigrates to the U.S. He fulfills his father’s wish by becoming a doctor but finds himself drawn to the lucrative world of Wall Street.At a top hedge fund, Si-heon leverages his medical expertise to dominate biotech investments, thanks to an unusual ability to predict successful FDA drug approvals. He amasses wealth quickly, yet struggles with a pathological fear of spending money. His relentless pursuit of profit takes a dark turn when he’s diagnosed with idiopathic multicentric Castleman’s disease (iMCD), a rare, life-threatening immune disorder with no cure. His condition worsens despite aggressive chemotherapy, as the lack of research funding for this “orphan disease” leaves him without options.Just as Si-heon faces death, he miraculously awakens to find himself transported 10 years back in time, to the beginning of his career on Wall Street. Realizing he has a second chance, Si-heon is determined to not only reclaim his wealth but also amass enough money to fund a cure for iMCD. The story explores themes of greed, ambition, mortality, and redemption, as Si-heon seeks not just to survive but to redefine the meaning of his life.

Xia Ye is pressured by her mother to either land a golden rice bowl (good paying job) or find a golden turtle (rich husband).

So the stakes are high at her latest job interview. Driven by desperation, Xia Ye comes up with a devious plan to drive away the other candidate. Of course, things do not go as plan when the other candidate turns out to be her interviewer!

From Shusheng Bar:

I: “General manager, I only said I will cook but did not agree to wash the dishes.”

He: “If you don’t wash the dishes, do you expect me to wash them?”

I: “Do you know a woman is most attracted to a man who can do housework? Especially when he is wearing an apron and washing the dishes. This is the ideal image of a good man in the thinking of a majority of the women. In order to create the prefect image of a good man, I feel it is necessary for you to wash the dishes.”

He: “A man who washes the dishes is really very attractive?”

I: “Really!”

He: “Well, I will believe you this once.”

He: “Xia Ye, come into the kitchen.”

I: “Do you need me to help you with something?”

He: “Just stand there and don’t move.”

I: “…..?”

I: “If there is nothing I can help you with, I’ll go out.”

He: “Standstill!”

I: “You asked me to come in, just to….. watch you wash the dishes?”

Me: “If you don’t watch, what is the point of me washing the dishes?”

I: “…..”

He is distressed: “I fell in love with a person, but I do not know how to say to her.”

I suggested: “This is simple! Directly tell her I love you, should be all right?”

He is worried: “But …… I’m worried that she will not accept me.”

I comforted: “How can since you are such an outstanding man? There must be something wrong with her brain if she doesn’t accept you!”

He nodded: “Well, I love you!”

I: “…… Huh, there is something wrong with my brain ……”

He: “……”

I am currently re-writing the first chapters of this story. They are quite rough and bounce around a lot and I can do better. At some point, I will replace these with the better chapters.Sometime in 2024 Aethon Books will publish the first volume of this story on Amazon, KU, and audible. This will mean the story will be stubbed. I will notify people far in advance of that.In the dystopian world of the future, life is rough when you live at the bottom. Jobs are non-existent. Far too many people live in poverty, crammed into huge buildings called Habitats. With no jobs in the real world, many people can only find work online in VR worlds as servants to the very rich. And it's getting worse. The old internet is unusable and hacked to pieces. The new system needs AI to run things, but all but one of them were destroyed. The last sentient AI is ordered to create a new game world so the rich can have a playground, and the corporations that rule the world can have a new global market place. Everyone wants a piece of the new game. The guilds are competing to be the first to find the dungeons and kill the biggest monster. The corporations are claiming land and putting in their online market places. Ozzy and his friends just want a paycheck.Four friends sign five year contracts as virtual serfs in a small village, and can't go adventuring at all to gain money. They don't have many choices. They can work as a blacksmith, barmaid and shepherd for all those years....or they can cheat and find ways to take advantage of the system and carve out a section of the game world for themselves, and earn a fortune in the real world.When they give you a mop and not a sword, you have to find the loopholes and change the rules.