By Zephyria 
“……but.”
“Yes?”
“…I said.”
“What?”
Kwon Mi-eon was being so serious that Mo Yeon-hu felt embarrassed to be honest. After hesitating with a slightly sheepish expression, Mo Yeon-hu finally confessed.
“I’m a person in a game…”
“A game?”
Kwon Mi-eon paused, then asked back.
“Someone who plays a game called you at this hour?”
Seeing the look of utter incomprehension on his face, Mo Yeon-hu hurriedly added.
“You know, for some people, a game is a second life.”
“…….”
“It’s true….”
Under Kwon Mi-eon’s gaze, which looked as if he were observing a strange creature, Mo Yeon-hu found himself continuing to make excuses.
“Anyway, it’s important… I have to turn on the game now. I have to finish today’s quota. I was asked to do quite a few things.”
Kwon Mi-eon seemed speechless for a moment, but soon frowned.
“Even if it’s a game… at this hour? Just because you agreed to help doesn’t mean you have to follow everything unconditionally. Don’t you have a life of your own, Hyung? That person is really strange.”
Even knowing it was a game, Kwon Mi-eon continued to grumble, sounding appalled.
“Yeah, right. Sure.”
However, Mo Yeon-hu wasn’t listening anymore.
“I’ll just turn on my computer first.”
His heart was already burning with anxiety. Mo Yeon-hu slipped into the computer room and immediately powered on the PC. Of course, Kwon Mi-eon followed him in.
“So, is this why you’ve been too busy with this game to be in touch lately? I mean, Hyung, you have your own life, and above all, you’ve lost weight and your health is suffering. I don’t know what game it is, but why don’t you just quit?”
Kwon Mi-eon chattered incessantly until the moment the game launched. Naturally, Mo Yeon-hu didn’t properly hear a single word.
‘Does Miu not know yet?’
As he anxiously looked back and forth between his phone screen and the computer, the welcome message for Zombie Village finally appeared as if greeting him.
Welcome back, Survivor!
“…Zombie Village?”
Kwon Mi-eon murmured from behind.
‘Right, he’s Ms. Mi-yeong’s cousin. I wonder if he knows it?’
Mo Yeon-hu glanced sideways to see Kwon Mi-eon with his eyes fixed on the screen.
‘Surely Kwon Mi-eon doesn’t play this game too? Will my identity be revealed?’
Then again, since he was family with Ms. Mi-yeong, it was possible that Kwon Mi-eon played the same game. Mo Yeon-hu looked up at him to gauge his reaction and blinked.
“……Kwon Mi-eon?”
Why has he turned so pale?
He felt like he had never seen Kwon Mi-eon’s face like this before. He wasn’t just pale; he looked as if he might collapse at any moment.
“Kwon Mi-eon?”
When he called him again, the other man slowly looked toward Mo Yeon-hu without answering.
“You… play this, Hyung?”
He pointed to the screen where Zombie Village was running.
Feeling that his attitude had suddenly become strange, Mo Yeon-hu tilted his head.
“Yeah. Zombie Village. Do you know it?”
“No. Not at all.”
He cut him off so sharply and decisively that Mo Yeon-hu felt awkwardly embarrassed. I guess not.
‘He said he liked games before, and he seemed close with Ms. Mi-yeong, so I thought maybe he played the same game, but I guess not. What a relief.’
On one hand, he felt relieved. If Kwon Mi-eon knew nothing about Zombie Village, he could play the game or talk about it comfortably without worrying about being caught by Mi-yeong.
‘But he must really like games. He’s staring so intently.’
Kwon Mi-eon was staring piercingly at the screen, which didn’t have much going on.
“……Is this your character, Hyung?”
At the end of his gaze stood 0momo0, Mo Yeon-hu’s character, wearing a robe.
“Yep!”
“Why?”
“Huh?”
“Why… would Hyung……”
“Why? What do you mean?”
Mo Yeon-hu blinked at Kwon Mi-eon, who was just muttering “why” as if he had lost his mind. Then, as if suddenly snapping back to his senses, Kwon Mi-eon said in a startled voice.
“Ah… no. I mean, it’s cute.”
“Really? Want me to show you some things?!”
Anyone who plays games feels great when someone shows interest in their character! Beaming with a bright smile, Mo Yeon-hu began to chatter, failing to notice Kwon Mi-eon’s stiff expression.
“This is me, and my job is a necromancer.”
With a flourish, Mo Yeon-hu moved his character.
“This is my Skeleton. The skeleton I control.”
He spun the character around to show the Skeleton sticking close to his side.
“It really… is.”
“Totally cute, right? It was a bit creepy at first, but I grew fond of it after looking at it for a while.”
Since he seemed interested in the Skeleton, Mo Yeon-hu showed him some interactions. For example, tickling it or patting its head.
“I bought all these gems and clothes to dress it up, see? If I do this, it even pulls out a staff. Isn’t it hilarious? It has a sword too! But when it uses a skill, it grows huge and becomes super cool!”
Mo Yeon-hu, completely absorbed in bragging about his Skeleton, failed to notice.
“It is… cool.”
That Kwon Mi-eon was becoming increasingly pallid with every response.
“……Since when did you start playing this game?”
“Ah, not that long ago. I just happened to start it.”
“How so?”
“I just started it because I was bored. I saw a lot of ads.”
No matter how little Kwon Mi-eon knew about Zombie Village, he couldn’t exactly say he secretly started the game because he had a crush on his cousin, Mi-yeong. So, he gave a vague excuse.
“Hyung. Then, where is the person who called you?”
“The person who called me? Ah! The one you said was rude and mean for calling me at this hour!”
Kwon Mi-eon flinched slightly.
“I didn’t say they were mean.”
“Yeah, yeah. A piece of human trash who’s old enough to know better but can’t do anything on their own!”
Every time Mo Yeon-hu smiled and spoke thoughtlessly, recalling all the criticisms Kwon Mi-eon had poured out, Kwon Mi-eon’s lips parted and closed repeatedly.
“I should check anyway. One second.”
It seemed they hadn’t logged in yet, but he opened the friends list. Since Miu was his only friend, naturally, only one person appeared.
Friend List
Miu (Offline)
“Ah, they haven’t logged in yet.”
The moment he saw this, Kwon Mi-eon became as pale as if he had been bleached.
“Thank goodness. That was almost a disaster.”
Mo Yeon-hu, oblivious to this as well, continued to chatter. Kwon Mi-eon asked him in a voice more rigid than usual.
“Why would it be a disaster?”
“Ah, because if they don’t log in, that person will definitely kill me.”
“Kill… you? It’s a game, how could they do that? Maybe they were just threatening you?”
“No way. No chance. You just haven’t seen how bloodthirsty they are.”
“What kind of person are they?”
“Well… ah, now is not the time. I’ll talk while I move to the coordinates.”
This was the first time he had spoken about the game in such detail to someone. Mo Yeon-hu talked excitedly while moving his character.
Perhaps because some of the alcohol was still in his system, he momentarily forgot that the other person was Mi-yeong’s cousin and began explaining with enthusiasm.
“That person is incredibly good at the game! When they shoot a gun, they hit every single thing they aim at. They’re so cool, and their leadership is no joke. They’re the leader of the Alliance I joined!”
As Mo Yeon-hu asked if that wasn’t amazing, Kwon Mi-eon’s expression became strange.
“They’re cool?”
“Yeah. Super. That’s why I fell for them and started following them around.”
What was it? Suddenly, Kwon Mi-eon began to cough violently, as if he had suddenly choked on something.
Mo Yeon-hu wondered if he should get him another glass of water, but it was difficult since he had already left the Alliance Territory and was moving toward the coordinates.
“Want more water?”
“I’m… cough… fine…. But what do you mean you’re following them around?”
Even while coughing, Kwon Mi-eon stubbornly tried to continue the conversation. Since he said he was fine, Mo Yeon-hu didn’t push further and spoke while driving the Bike.
“Yeah. At the cafe… no.”
Kwon Mi-eon was a better listener than expected. Because he kept naturally steering the conversation forward, Mo Yeon-hu, who was already bad at lying, almost mentioned Kang Mi-yeong several times.
“Cafe?”
“We first met in a field with a great atmosphere, like a cafe.”
“The atmosphere was great?”
“Yeah.”
Having wittily diverted the topic, Mo Yeon-hu described that day.
“I was being shaken down for money, and they appeared coolly and saved me. If that person hadn’t saved me, I probably would have just died in the street. Actually, the game felt weird back then, so I was thinking of quitting.”
“You were thinking of quitting?”
“Yeah. It was too hard, so I was going to quit, but after seeing Mi…u, I wanted to play more.”
He almost said Ms. Mi-yeong. Fortunately, when he glanced at Kwon Mi-eon, he didn’t seem to be thinking of anything in particular.
“…Looking at how you talk, that person must have been really cool.”
“Yeah. Totally.”
Thinking back, they really were cool.
Now he knows that resurrection items used in the field aren’t that expensive, but back then, when he knew nothing, they had stopped him from losing millions of won in cold hard cash.
“I’m telling you, I’ve never seen anyone play a game that well in my life. They play so coolly.”
Mo Yeon-hu, lost in reminiscence of Miu’s exploits, turned his head to see the reaction and froze.
“But why is your face so red?”