Game is up for player after he fails to pay

A computer game addict got a taste of the real world when he was reported to police Thursday for allegedly playing an online game nonstop for 438 hours and 38 minutes at an Internet cafe without paying for it.

The 22-year-old man, identified only as Mr. Jin, began playing Lineage 2, a new online role-playing game, on Nov. 29 at an Internet cafe near his home in Seoul, and remained there for 18 days.

While he was at the Internet cafe, he ate instant noodles that were sold there 24 hours a day or ordered Chinese noodles from an outside restaurant when he was hungry, and only slept for a short time when he was tired, while the game was still running, police said. The Internet cafe's owner filed a complaint with police when Mr. Jin allegedly refused to pay for playing the game and for the food he ate there. He owed 452,500 won ($380).

Police said Mr. Jin never set foot outside the Internet cafe and went to the bathroom as little as possible, never washing himself. "He smelled so bad it was difficult to investigate him," said a police officer.

"I wanted to play Internet games so much. I wish I could just play games without having to think of anything else," Mr. Jin told police.