By Zephyria 
‘Ugh, this nickname is seriously weird!’
Mo Yeon-hu glared at the screen, fighting the urge to hit the leave button right then and there. Meanwhile, Kwon Mi-eon hummed a little tune as he selected the server.
“Let’s go to Eden.”
Eden? I’ve heard that somewhere…
‘Ah, I think I saw it on YouTube, saying it’s a recommended server for beginners.’
Kwon Mi-eon was being very thorough, as if he were determined to play the part of a novice.
“Haven’t you picked a server yet?”
Kwon Mi-eon leaned in closer to Mo Yeon-hu, who was standing still in thought, and asked with a curious look.
“Hyung, you wanted to go to that server, didn’t you?”
His voice was meaningful. At those words, Mo Yeon-hu looked at the screen with a bewildered expression and froze.
X-1211
“You should have just told me. Shall we go there?”
Once again, out of habit, he had almost clicked the X server where his main character, 0momo0, belonged.
“I clicked it by mistake!”
He recoiled in disgust and quickly moved the mouse cursor to Eden.
“Ah, is it so much like home that you click it unconsciously?”
“I told you it wasn’t!”
He’s doing this on purpose! While they bickered, their characters were transported to the Town.
Welcome, Survivor!
The screen was filled with all sorts of tutorial and quest notifications for the new arrivals.
‘Do I have to do all of this? It’ll take quite a while.’
Mo Yeon-hu wanted to use a skip ticket to get past the main quest, but he kept his mouth shut, mindful of Kwon Mi-eon. It would look suspicious if someone claiming to be new to the game knew about the existence of skip tickets.
“Now, what should I do…?”
The problem was that Mo Yeon-hu had never actually pushed through a main quest properly. In the past, he had spent his time messing around with sub-quests before eventually buying skip tickets.
“There’s a character over there who looks like a beggar.”
“Vegas?”
“Yes. Him. We just need to go to him.”
Following Kwon Mi-eon’s explanation, Mo Yeon-hu shifted his gaze to find the NPC, Vegas, standing in front of a pile of scrap metal and wooden planks that looked hastily stacked on one side of the town, waving his hand toward Mo Yeon-hu.
Vegas: Hey, don’t just stand there staring! Please help me… Will you help us protect this flimsy fortress?
As he approached, the quest list popped up in the top right corner.
📜 Main Quest: Makeshift Defense Line
A town that turned into a living hell overnight! Neighbors who exchanged greetings until yesterday now charge at you, bleeding. People have begun to call these grotesque beings the Infected, patients, or ‘zombies’…
Everything is still chaotic, but to survive, you must first fend off the immediate threat. Help the townspeople repair the walls and find clues to uncover the truth behind this tragedy!
Objective:
Repair the collapsed wall (0/5): Fill the gaps in the outer wall using the materials provided by Vegas.
Defeat approaching enemies (0/15): Defeat the low-grade Infected swarming in with the noise.
Reward:
Worn Work Boots (Effect: Movement Speed +5%)
‘Oh, I guess this is the lore of Zombie Village.’
Mo Yeon-hu found himself interested in the story, which seemed more engaging than he expected. While playing the game previously, he had been too busy dealing with the ‘initiation’ on the X server to actually push through the story.
“Shall we go then?”
But then again, how fun could it really be? Mo Yeon-hu tried to snap himself back to reality.
After all, his goal was to play the game with Kwon Mi-eon and naturally make him forget what he had done, or erase all evidence that 0momo0 was him.
So, no matter how fun the game seemed, I…
“Hyung, you seem to be enjoying this.”
I…!
“Ah, no, I’m not.”
“You’re smiling, Hyung.”
“You’re seeing things.”
What is this, why is it so fun?
For starters, the story was surprisingly detailed and even touching. But above all, the Mechanic class was way more fun than he expected.
The Mechanic was a very simple character. By using skills with the basic gun attached to the arm to fill the energy bar, the character transforms into a form covered in a massive gun and mechanical devices. And while this transformation looked cool…
‘It’s strong!’
How could a character’s damage output be this high?! It was on a completely different level from the Necromancer. Unlike the Necromancer, who had to struggle to deal damage by pressing all sorts of skill keys, the Mechanic’s attacks landed with satisfying power. Mo Yeon-hu’s eyes sparkled, forgetting the situation for a moment. Of course, he immediately pretended otherwise.
‘He really is enjoying it.’
Kwon Mi-eon didn’t miss a single detail of Mo Yeon-hu’s reaction.
At the start of the game, he had a sullen face. To anyone, he looked like someone who had been dragged along by force and was plotting how to quit the game and run away at any moment, but that wasn’t the case now.
“Wow, look at this!”
His sparkling eyes seemed to have no intention of letting go of the mouse.
“Aren’t we really fast? We’ve already come this far!”
Just as Mo Yeon-hu said, the two were clearing quests and dungeons at an incredibly rapid pace.
“I guess I’m pretty strong. Right?”
On the surface, it looked like Mo Yeon-hu was doing everything. This was because his position was the Dealer, while Kwon Mi-eon’s position was the Supporter.
“I killed it in one hit again! Did you see that?!”
Moreover, every shot he fired seemed to hit the mark, sending bosses crashing down with their eyes rolling back. Mo Yeon-hu, bouncing in his seat, looked truly happy. Kwon Mi-eon let out a small chuckle.
“I guess so. You’re really strong, Hyung.”
“Yeah. I think we can try Hard Mode next time.”
“Shall we go right now?”
At those words, Mo Yeon-hu’s body practically fidgeted with excitement. Anyone could see he was looking forward to it, but he cleared his throat and asked tentatively.
“…Really? But can I actually do it?”
Despite the obvious eagerness to leave immediately, he played hard to get, which made Kwon Mi-eon smile as he replied.
“Of course.”
“Umm… but it’s my first time…”
“You’re incredibly strong, Hyung.”
“Tha-that is true.”
The corners of Mo Yeon-hu’s mouth twitched. Kwon Mi-eon felt a laugh bubbling up and pressed his cheek to hold it back.
Did Mo Yeon-hu know? That Kwon Mi-eon spent more time looking at Mo Yeon-hu’s chatting profile than at the screen.
And another fact was…
(Notification) Mi-yeong-is-not-me has fired 〈Bullet of Mercy〉 at Naojik. The target’s health is restored and damage taken is reduced.
(Notification) Mi-yeong-is-not-me has activated 〈Overture: Throb of the Scales〉. Party attack power increases by 10%.
(Notification) Mi-yeong-is-not-me has designated Naojik as a protected target. Natural recovery speed increases by 15%.
Kwon Mi-eon had been frantically pouring heals and buffs into Mo Yeon-hu this entire time.
His buffs were perfect. Since the Arbiter had so many skills and the conditions for using them were quite tricky, he struggled a bit at first, but it took less than an hour to adapt.
Before long, he was perfectly timing every single buff for Mo Yeon-hu without a single mistake, ensuring that Mo Yeon-hu never lacked a buff for a second.
“We already cleared it. Daebak.”
As a result, even when Mo Yeon-hu fired his gun clumsily, the monsters were sent to their graves after just one hit, allowing them to easily clear the Hard Mode dungeon.
Of course, Mo Yeon-hu was unaware of this. This was because the supporter buff notifications were disabled, which was exactly what Kwon Mi-eon had intended.
“Wow, Hyung, you’re amazing. This dungeon has quite a few monsters and is tricky, so I didn’t expect it to end this quickly.”
Mo Yeon-hu was incredibly weak to praise. Kwon Mi-eon gave him all the credit and showered him with compliments.
“Because you’re so good, I’m having such an easy time with the game. Why is Zombie Village so fun? Is it because you’re carrying me, Hyung?”
“……H-hem. I’m not that great.”
He turned his head slightly to hide his expression, but he couldn’t hide the way his protruding cheeks twitched.
“I’m juuuust a little bit good. A little bit.”
And yet, while he pressed down on the corners of his mouth to stop them from curling up in joy, his eyes were completely melting with happiness…
“But… I guess I’m really good at dodging. My health barely dropped. And I guess my accuracy was good since they died in one hit, hem. So, Kwon Mi-eon, just trust me. Hyung will protect you.”
“…….”
Completely unaware that he was comfortably shooting guns inside a cozy nest built by someone else, he was telling him to trust him and that he’d take responsibility.
“Kwon Mi-eon, let’s do other quests quickly. Huh? What are you doing?”
“…….”
“Why are you crossing your legs? That’s bad for your waist. Kwon Mi-eon? Huh? Aren’t we playing?”
How much longer could he just sit there and watch?