“Sensorineural olfactory disorder… you say?”
“Yes, it appears to be accompanied by a loss of taste as well.”
It was like a bolt from the blue.
Irim was on the verge of opening his own restaurant.
He had built up experience by participating in various cooking competitions across the country, always securing at least a small prize.
Just when he felt ready to open his own Korean restaurant, the accident happened.
It was a week ago, in the early dawn.
While driving back from a friend’s father’s funeral, he collided head-on with a truck driven by a drowsy driver.
It was a miracle he survived.
But the price was the loss of his sense of smell and taste.
At first, he thought it was a temporary aftereffect of the accident.
It wasn’t.
Today, he received a death sentence as a chef.
“Is… treatment possible?”
“It depends on the severity, but for now, we recommend undergoing the suggested treatment and monitoring your progress.”
For a brief moment, the doctor’s words gave him a sliver of hope.
But a year later, with no improvement, he had to stop his visits to the hospital.
The building he had leased for the restaurant had already been handed over to someone else.
Unable to cook, Irim’s life no longer held any meaning.
Holed up in his room, he drowned his meaningless days in alcohol.
Since he couldn’t taste, the liquor went down like water.
He hadn’t relied solely on hospital treatments for the past year.
He had tirelessly tried to regain his lost senses of smell and taste on his own.
But it was all in vain.
If only he had parents to comfort or scold him, he might have pulled himself together sooner and found another path.
Irim had no family.
He had no memory of his father.
He had lived with his mother until, at the age of four, he was abandoned in some unknown place and ended up in an orphanage.
Growing up in the orphanage, he started working part-time at restaurants as soon as he was old enough.
That’s when he developed a passion for cooking and worked hard to become a chef.
Eventually, he became the head chef at a fairly large restaurant, steadily saving money to buy a small house.
It was modest, but it had a small yard, like a dream come true.
He had achieved decent results in national cooking competitions and was ready to open his own restaurant when everything fell apart.
Now, he had nearly spent all the money he had saved.
But Irim couldn’t muster the will to work.
His disheveled hair and untrimmed, bushy beard made him look even more haggard.
Last night, he drank until dawn and fell asleep.
When he opened his eyes, the sun was high in the sky.
Irim stared vacantly at the television, which he had left on while sleeping.
The TV was playing an ad for a virtual reality game called Real, set to launch in two days.
“Virtual reality game Real! In this beautiful and fantastical world, all sorts of events are unfolding. Did you know that tens of millions of users worldwide have already pre-registered to join this incredible world?”
The popular idol Yuria, dressed like a wizard from a fantasy game, smiled as she spoke.
Behind her, footage of a virtual reality game that looked like the real world played.
“In Real, everything in everyday life is possible. Do you really need to defeat a demon king? Just do what you love and enjoy yourself. Will you join us, brave hero?”
With Yuria’s farewell, the advertisement ended.
At that moment, a faint spark of life flickered in Irim’s dazed eyes.
“Everything in everyday life… is possible?”
Irim slowly rose to his feet.