By Zephyria 
Even while Mo Yeon-hu stared at the screen with a blank expression, the characters were practically one body.
It didn’t feel like it wasn’t an R-rated game… or rather, as if it were trying to properly demonstrate what a ‘passionate kiss’ was, it was incredibly heated. Although they were wearing hoods and the details weren’t fully visible, their noses and mouths were moving, and then…
(Notification) Mi-yeong-is-not-me has used the ‘Light Kiss’ interaction on Na Oh-jik!
…And then they were just peppering kisses all over the face!
“Why did you press that again!”
Once is one thing, but twice is too many! Feeling a sudden surge of heat in his cheeks, he startled and called out to Kwon Mi-eon, but the latter only tilted his head and asked back.
“Why, Hyung? Is there a problem?”
“You keep kissing my character…”
“I wanted to see how far the anonymity goes before it’s stripped away. We might use the ‘pull’ interaction while helping each other, so I thought I should see if the original nickname is revealed then.”
“That’s why you did it?”
“Of course.”
Kwon Mi-eon nodded.
“We have to consider various variables, don’t we?”
…Really? There were plenty of other interactions besides that, so he wondered why it had to be kissing, but looking at Kwon Mi-eon’s innocent face, there wasn’t a hint of mischief, making it seem like he wasn’t lying.
“Is that so…? Alright.”
Mo Yeon-hu was the first to wave the white flag. He gave a clumsy nod, assuming Kwon Mi-eon was telling the truth.
“Then just keep going…”
His expression was still sour, clearly showing his suspicion. Seeing this, it was only natural that Kwon Mi-eon wrinkled his nose and finally burst into laughter.
“Pfft, hahahaha, Hyung!”
Mo Yeon-hu looked dazed by the sudden laughter, then flushed deep red at the following words.
“You actually believed that?”
“…Dammit.”
See. He was playing a prank again!
‘I got fished again!’
Because Kwon Mi-eon was so good at the game, Mo Yeon-hu found himself believing him even when it seemed strange that he’d be intentionally deceiving him. However, he couldn’t shake the feeling of being wronged.
“You’re annoying.”
As Mo Yeon-hu scrunched up his face with all his might, Kwon Mi-eon leaned forward slightly, still laughing.
“Hyung, you’re really cute.”
“What’s cute about this? Are you crazy?”
Mo Yeon-hu reacted with disgust, but contrary to his sharp tone, his face was red as if it were about to explode. Kwon Mi-eon, now not giving a single glance to the screen, spoke calmly.
“This is a total scheme.”
“What kind of scheme is this? You’re just teasing—”
“A scheme because I want to kiss you.”
At those words, Mo Yeon-hu froze instantly. While he paused, wondering what he had just heard, Kwon Mi-eon added:
“Me, to Hyung.”
Mo Yeon-hu couldn’t help but turn his head toward him.
Kwon Mi-eon had completely turned his chair to face Mo Yeon-hu, and as their eyes met, he curled the corners of his lips into a bright smile as if he had been waiting.
“I’m joking.”
Mo Yeon-hu flinched at the smiling face claiming it was a joke.
‘Why do I feel so hot?’
With his face continuing to redden, Mo Yeon-hu stiffly turned back to the screen, his movements no different from a robot’s.
“Y-you, seriously stop joking around.”
Of course, that robot was clearly modeled after a terrified small animal. At the voice that clearly betrayed his fluster, Kwon Mi-eon narrowed his eyes, then lowered them as if nothing had happened.
“Well, yes…”
With a light shrug of his shoulders, Kwon Mi-eon stared back at the screen.
“Hyung.”
“What.”
“Do you want to look at the screen properly?”
Thinking he was playing another prank, Mo Yeon-hu tried to answer more sharply than before.
“If you’re going to joke again—”
“Press ‘prone’.”
“What?”
“Hurry.”
But this time was different. At the voice that sounded slightly urgent, Mo Yeon-hu made his character lie prone. As soon as they hid among the bushes, Kwon Mi-eon pulled out binoculars.
‘Is something there?’
Following suit and equipping binoculars, Mo Yeon-hu paused.
‘What? When did everyone leave?’
Just a moment ago, there were Alliance Members repeatedly moving items there, but now the place was empty.
As Mo Yeon-hu quickly scanned with the binoculars, something finally caught his eye.
“They never change, do they?”
Kwon Mi-eon let out a low laugh.
“How welcoming.”
Just like the day they first encountered them, three figures wearing the same black anonymous hoods were on the screen.
‘Wow… incredible. They really were VITA.’
Based on the circumstances, he was almost certain that VITA was a system error, but facing it like this was still a shock.
“I’ll record this.”
“Yeah, good. I’ll do it too.”
Mo Yeon-hu’s eyes sparkled as he watched the three characters walking through the empty Alliance Territory. After crossing the territory for a while, the place they stopped was, as expected, in front of the 1st Alliance’s core. It was already damaged from an attack.
‘The shapes are all different.’
The 47 Alliance’s core was shaped like a flower bud, the Animal Lovers Alliance’s core was like a glass bead, and the 1st Alliance’s core was shaped like butterfly wings. The person standing in the middle of the three reached out to the broken core.
Then, as if there was barely any durability left, the core immediately split in half, and…
“…Items really do come out of the core.”
Something that looked like a fragment was immediately sucked into the hand of the person in the middle.
“They’re gone.”
After that, the three quickly left the area. Not a single mouse remained in the now-quiet Alliance Territory, but Mo Yeon-hu’s eyes were gleaming.
“Did you record it?”
“Yes. I got it all.”
“This is huge! I want to see how it was recorded on your end too.”
Mo Yeon-hu jumped up from his seat.
Actually, since there had been no evidence, he had thought that what he saw back then might have been a mistake, but this confirmed that hidden items come out of the core. And that there was a group moving specifically to target them.
Of course, he still didn’t know why they were collecting them, so he had to find the reason.
“I knew we were right.”
Now that everything he suspected had become clear, the feeling of the thick fog lifting gave him an insane sense of catharsis.
There had been a tedious process of infiltrating to gain information and verify the reality, and it felt like there was still a long way to go, but Mo Yeon-hu, who was enjoying this moment too much, chattered away while looking at Kwon Mi-eon’s screen, where the recorded scene was playing on repeat.
“Wow, it’s captured so well! There’s still no mention on the internet about items coming out if you break a core. If we let this be known, everyone will be careful not to lose their cores, and they’ll try to find out who those people are, right?”
“…”
“Of course, since it’s more lax than expected, some might already know, but seeing as no one has spoken up, maybe we’re the first to find it? Wow, how did they take it right here, right today? But why are they taking it? What on earth are they planning to do with—”
“…”
The rapid-fire stream of words from Mo Yeon-hu could never be attributed to Na Oh-jik, who had started the game only a few days ago.
These were words that only 0momo0 could say. However, the reason Mo Yeon-hu stopped talking wasn’t because of that.
He only realized it after glancing sideways because it was unusually quiet.
“…!”
When had he gotten so close? Kwon Mi-eon’s eyes, staring intently at him as he leaned down to see the screen, were right in front of his face.
“Ah, I was just trying to see the screen…”
He had leaned in too close while trying to see how it was recorded. Mo Yeon-hu mumbled, awkwardly trying to pull himself away.
“The angle is different from mine, so I was curious… But I think you recorded the video well, it’s so clear what’s coming out of the core and who’s taking it… Ah!”
However, Mo Yeon-hu could not return to his seat.
‘What, why am I…’
Mo Yeon-hu, blinking blankly as if unable to comprehend the sudden event, widened his eyes.
‘…I’m sitting on Kwon Mi-eon’s lap?’
That was right. Along with a hand gripping his waist, he had been pulled onto Kwon Mi-eon’s lap in an instant.