'I Am SOLO' Season 15 Jeong-suk quit drinking but fell into gaming and was scammed

Jeong-suk from 'I Am SOLO' Season 15 revealed her recent status, showing that she has immersed herself in gaming instead of reducing her alcohol consumption. While staying up all night and even skipping meals to raise her character, her game account was hacked, causing her to lose the assets she had painstakingly collected. The scale of the loss amounts to 300 million meso in game money, which is worth approximately 300,000 to 400,000 won in cash. Combined with a situation in reality where she has not received about 10 million won, Jeong-suk expressed, "It was so frustrating." She confessed that the repeated losses even within the game brought back the frustrations of her real life.

Jeong-suk shared her recent feelings in the video titled 'When a person with excessive concentration plays games... / Founder's reality,' which was released on the YouTube channel 'Lucy Insight' on the 12th. She revealed that she had been struggling emotionally, stating, "Actually, I've been a bit depressed. I've gone through a time of chaos," as several things overlapped to cause her mental distress. In particular, mentioning her appearance on a marriage clinic broadcast, she explained, "Since I appeared without my parents-in-law's permission, the elders were quite surprised, and there was some explanation and reflection regarding that." She said she went through a complicated time facing unexpected situations related to her family after appearing on the broadcast.

There has also been a change in her drinking habits. Jeong-suk shared, "I have quit drinking a lot. I am drinking almost just the appropriate amount." Instead, what she newly fell into was the online game 'MapleStory Planet.' She revealed that she became so absorbed in the fun of raising a cute character and the sense of achievement from leveling up that her character reached level 151 before she knew it. Although she is filling the leisure time created after reducing alcohol with gaming, she said the degree of immersion was strong enough to surprise even herself.

The character Jeong-suk chose is a Bishop, which plays a role in helping other users. She explained the reason she fell into the game, saying, "I like helping others, so I do it, and it's so much fun." She confessed that because she stayed up all night and even skipped meals to play the game, she lost 3kg. Fortunately, her husband also enjoys the same game, so they are raising characters together. She said her husband takes on the role of a pirate character responsible for attacking, while Jeong-suk plays a supporting role next to him, applying disadvantageous effects to opponents to coordinate their teamwork.

However, it was not all joy. Jeong-suk revealed that while she was spending money on the game and diligently collecting assets, she experienced her account being compromised. She explained, "I spent about 200,000 won on in-game purchases and worked hard to collect money, but my account was hacked and 300 million meso was stolen," adding, "300 million meso is about 300,000 to 400,000 won." As the game money she had invested real money and time into collecting disappeared in an instant, the sense of emptiness was great. While saying, "I feel very bad," Jeong-suk shared that she has started to collect assets step by step again.

However, the lost game money did not feel like a simple loss within the game. Jeong-suk confessed, "It felt too much like my reality." She stated that she had money due to her recently but had not received about 10 million won, meaning she was already in a distressing situation due to financial issues in reality. When the money she was supposed to receive in reality did not come in, and even the assets she had painstakingly collected in the game disappeared, a sense of frustration rushed in all at once. As the loss in the game overlapped with the financial stress in reality, the emotional impact also grew.

Jeong-suk expressed her complicated feelings, saying, "Living so desperately like this." She said she instead gritted her teeth and became even more focused on raising her character's level, but at some point, a sense of futility washed over her. She confessed, "I leveled up even more doggedly, but I hit a moment of reality check. I suddenly became depressed." It seems that while levels rise in the game as much as one's effort, the fact that there are problems in reality that cannot be solved by effort alone felt even more vivid.

Jeong-suk gained recognition by appearing in the 2023 ENA and SBS Plus entertainment program 'I Am SOLO' Season 15, and later appeared in 'I Am SOLO, Love Continues.' She held her wedding this May, and drew attention when her fiancé was involved in a transfer dating controversy before the wedding. Sharing her daily life of reducing alcohol and falling into a new hobby, Jeong-suk revealed her current worries by honestly disclosing the hacking of her game account and the unpaid money issues in reality. The story, which began as a simple gaming episode, led to the fatigue and emptiness felt in the face of a reality where things do not go as planned even with effort, drawing empathy.

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