LG 6

#4 Melody (2)

The autumn event in the game has begun. In addition to the attendance check event, it was a method of forming a team of five and going hunting in the event map as a party. The shorter the clear time, the more points are awarded to the party, and the points are distributed equally. Since the points are added up individually, you can simply change the party each time and participate in the event hunting again.

「C-H: Did you form a Maple Party team?」

However, he had already formed a team with the guild members. After hesitating for a moment, he answered yes, and no answer came back for a long time. But Kyung-soo didn’t care whether Cheon No-eul was sulking or not. Cheon No-eul had been making excuses for being busy these days and didn’t show his face often. It was because he had registered for a new academy. Thanks to this, Kyung-soo’s name was at the top of the time attack event.

[Global] Ignite: Anyone have an empty party slotㅠㅠ?

[Global] Midnight: Oppa, come to our party! There’s one more spot open, so let anyone know.<

[Global] qwerzy: Recruiting one buffer who can amplify crit damage@@@

[Global] Winter Turkey: If you come up to the roof now, I’ll give you buffs for free

Since the event map opened every hour, users were waiting in the guild zone.

[Party] ParkRoaches: I’m going down to my hometown to see my grandma after this roundㅠ So I can’t come on the weekend

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: ok

[Party] Catmeowmeow: yes yes

[Party] Ji9star: Did anyone ask?o(╥﹏╥)o

[Party] ParkRoaches: Why is the reaction like this, damn it? No buffs for you

[Party] Ji9star: Sunset bastard gives buffsㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Party] ParkRoaches: Ah, damn it

Sunset appeared in front of the waiting users. The word Melody was clearly engraved above his head. Following him, Melody guild members, who were often seen near the dungeon, and Spade Queen appeared.

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: Melody came again todayㅋlolololㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Party] Captain Poseidon: Ah… Should we change channels?

[Party] Catmeowmeow: Channel 3 is ours, why lol

[Party] ParkRoaches: That’s right, they should move even if we move, they’re always on channel 1 hahahaha

[Party] Ji9star: O_O lol Just stay here lol He’s reformed a bit, right

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: Considering that, everyone ran away, though?

Sunset roamed around the guild zone, giving Area Blessing to an unspecified number of people. When he started playing the harp at the spot where the event map portal appeared, the users who had avoided him cautiously approached and received buffs from the edge of the skill’s reach.

[Party] ParkRoaches: Ah, he’s giving buffs again todayㅋlolololㅋ

[Party] Ji9star: Beep boop, ParkRoaches is useless again today…

[Party] ParkRoaches: I’ll give buffs excluding your star… Gather around me

[Party] Ji9star: Ee, I love speed buffs♥

[Party] Catmeowmeow: Ugh….

Kyung-soo ran and sat next to ParkRoaches, who had started giving buffs. Sunset was fluttering his large wings, still scattering musical notes around him. Sunset had made Kyung-soo temporarily rich, but something felt uneasy. Sometimes, when Jung Min-jae asked for help in the early morning, the three of them would often play the game together. But he had never done anything or talked with him alone.

Sunset, who was passing over the heads of the Poseidon party, gently landed next to Kyung-soo.

‘Archangel’s Kiss!’

He gave Kyung-soo a 10-minute buff and then flew back into the air, blending into Melody.

[Party] ParkRoaches: Cheon No-eul is offline, what a shameㅠ

[Party] Ji9star: I was sending him a whisper tooㅋㅋㅋ

[Party] Catmeowmeow: Huh? Why the hell are you sending that???? Are you crazy?

[Party] Ji9star: C-H’s is Cheon No-eul’s, but a roach is swarming around him. I’ll have to send a mail later.

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: You’re dead.

[Party] Ji9star: Hahaha. Sca. Ry. ㅠㅠ

It was really fortunate that No-eul didn’t see this scene. If he had seen it, he would have drooped his shoulders and tormented Kyung-soo all day long.

[Party] Captain Poseidon: Hmm… But why is he doing that? I don’t understand.

[Party] Ji9star: There’s a rumor that he was locked up in Illusion Headquarters for six months and received mental training for 16 hours a day

[Party] ParkRoaches: Mental trainingㅋlolololㅋ Is that why he went crazy?

[Party] Ji9star: He’s even giving a Power-leveling to newbies who don’t know who he is these daysㅋㅋㅋ Is he crazy?

[Party] Catmeowmeow: Does personality change that easily? He’s hiding it, haha.

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: Haha, yes, he’s trying to make people lower their guard and then massacre them again, hiding his claws.

Almost no one saw Sunset’s inexplicable good deeds in a positive light. Everyone, like Kyung-soo and the Poseidon guild members, was endlessly suspicious. Kyung-soo, who entered as soon as the event map opened, was able to return to the guild zone in less than 5 minutes. When he clicked on the bulletin board, Kyung-soo’s name was in the top 50 of the event. Sunset was in 18th place.

[Guild] ParkRoaches: I’m leaving nowㅠ

[Guild] Catmeowmeow: Bye

[Guild] Ji9star: Bye bye

‘ParkRoaches has left the party.’

‘ParkRoaches has logged out.’

‘Sunset has sent a friend request. Do you want to accept?’

‘You are now friends with Sunset!’

Kyung-soo, who had pressed the enter key in a daze, blinked, unable to figure out why he had suddenly sent a friend request.

[Guild] Catmeowmeow: Sunset just sent me a friend request… What is this

[Guild] al0ha: That Sunset?

[Guild] neutaaaa: Huh???? Did you accept it?

[Guild] Catmeowmeow: I pressed it by mistakeㅠㅠ

[Guild] WanduWandya: What else could it be, it’s a green light….

[Guild] WanduWandya: Ah, no? Wait a minute

[Guild] Ji9star: Don’t bother, Cat Bully is offline right nowㅠ

[Guild] neutaaaa: Ah….

[Guild] Catmeowmeow: lolololㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋYou’re deadㅋlolololㅋ

[Guild] neutaaaa: Then is that Sunset bastard a Cat Concubine??

[Guild] Ji9star: Cat Concubine hahahaha

[Guild] al0ha: Cat Concubine hahahaha

[Guild] WanduWandya: hahahaha damn hahahaha Cat Concubine hahahaha

[Guild] neutaaaa: I still haven’t forgiven that Sunset guy haha Cat-nim, that concubine is a very mean guy, please mistreat him

[Friend] Sunset: Thank you for accepting my friend request, Cat-nim~><

[Guild] Captain Poseidon: But Cat-nim has always attracted strange people haha

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Guild Master, you can’t even imagine that you’re one of them

[Guild] Captain Poseidon: Anyone want to take the position of Vice Guild Master?

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Sorry

Soon, chats teasing Kyung-soo for being caught between Cat Bully and Cat Concubine poured out. Kyung-soo, who had become accustomed to being teased thanks to Cheon No-eul for several months, cleanly ignored the guild members’ words. He didn’t want to get involved with Sunset at all. To understand the situation, it was faster to ask the person closest to him. Kyung-soo clicked on Min-jae’s ID and sent a whisper.

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: Has Sunset ever talked about me? He sent me a friend request….

[Whisper] Spade Queen: lololollololol

[Whisper] Spade Queen: You accepted it, right? About a minute ago?

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: Huh, how did you know?

[Whisper] Spade Queen: There was a guild announcement that we’re doing free logging three times today… Thank youㅎㅎ

[Whisper] Spade Queen: He said he wanted to get close to you after playing the game together that time?? So I just told him to send a friend request, sorry sorryㅋlololol

That bastard was the culprit. Kyung-soo gritted his teeth and opened the friend window. Under Sunset’s name, which was showing as online, was Cheon No-eul’s name, which was offline.

[Whisper] Spade Queen: Guild Master killed some people in the past, but he’s not that badㅋㅋ

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: He kills people but he’s not bad…?

[Whisper] Spade Queen: I have to go logging now haha just a moment

[Friend] Sunset: See you in an hour, Cat-nim~

When passing through Isis Village, there were often people who had seen Kyung-soo’s interview before and stopped him with awe-filled eyes. The guild members defined them as a kind of fan.

“……Am I just his fan?”

Even Sunset? Kyung-soo scratched the back of his neck. He moved to the NPC in front of the Isis Clock Tower and exchanged the event item Songpyeon for a Season-Limited Fashion Item. An hour later, when the guild members formed a party again and entered the guild zone, Sunset folded his Archangel Wings and set foot on the ground. The Melody guild members who had been with him had disappeared somewhere, and were nowhere to be seen in the guild zone. As Sunset approached Kyung-soo, the Poseidon guild members stepped back.

[Party] Ji9star: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋWhat’s the relationship between you two?

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: lolololㅋㅋThis is fun

[Party] Captain Poseidon: Ah, right, ParkRoaches left, didn’t he? I was wondering why there were only four people in the party.

[Global] Sunset: Hello^^

[Global] Sunset: That one healer isn’t here… If there’s an empty buffer spot, can I join?

[Global] Catmeowmeow: ??? Me?

[Global] Sunset: Yes^^

Sunset plucked the harp strings. Rainbow-colored skill effects wrapped around the bodies of those around him.

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: Min-jae, what are you doing?? Take Sunset away

Jung Min-jae didn’t answer. It was 5 minutes before the event map opened, but the disappeared Melody guild members had not returned.

[Guild] Ji9star: Breaking news

[Guild] neutaaaa: Why?

[Guild] Ji9star: [Breaking News] Sunset asks to join the party, a hot topic….

[Guild] neutaaaa: That crazy bastard, where did he leave his guildㅋㅋㅋ Don’t let him join

‘Sunset has joined the party.’

[Global] Sunset: Thank you~

[Guild] Captain Poseidon: Oh, he joined the party

[Guild] Catmeowmeow: Where did Melody go, is it too much to put a bounty on them

[Guild] WanduWandya: That’s too muchㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ If you put a bounty on Melody, isn’t that a declaration of Guild War?lolololㅋㅋ

[Guild] Ji9star: I didn’t invite him

Sunset scattered Area Blessing around him. The flashy effects made his head throb.

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: Hi hi

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Ah, I invited him

[Guild] neutaaaa: Huh?

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: ㅋㅋㅋㅋIt looked like it would be funㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

I should have known from the time he arbitrarily brought Cheon No-eul into the guild. The rabbit ‘No-eul♡’, blinking its clear eyes next to Kyung-soo’s character, came into view. Kyung-soo frowned, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu.

*

Due to the nature of the event map, which didn’t require healing, Sunset, who also had attacks, was more helpful than ParkRoaches, who only gave buffs from behind. True to the title of a job abandoned by the operator, his attack speed was slow, but his game sense seemed to be innate.

[Party] Catmeowmeow: I caught them all, why isn’t the portal opening?

[Party] Sunset: I’ll go check.

[Party] Captain Poseidon: Then isn’t there still a monster left?

At their words, the two people who were left behind simultaneously jumped up and ran to various parts of the map.

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: Huh, there’s one wolf left at the left end, I caught it

[Party] Sunset: Did it open?

[Party] Catmeowmeow: It’s still not open T_T

[Party] Catmeowmeow: Ah, it’s open! Come over

It didn’t even take a minute to beat the last boss monster. Contrary to his worries, Sunset did his part and didn’t pick on the guild members. He was so docile that it made him wonder if the Sunset people were talking about was really him. It was only after opening the reward box and receiving the points that he received a reply from Jung Min-jae.

[Whisper] Spade Queen: Ah, I’m sorry hyung, my grandfather suddenly called meㅠㅠ

Then there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t not go when an elder called him…. Kyung-soo nodded as if he understood.

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: Ah, really?Then take him away now….

There was no reply again.

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: ???

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: Hello??

[Party] Sunset: Everyone worked hard^^

[Party] Ji9star: Bye

[Party] Catmeowmeow: Bye

[Party] Captain Poseidon: Thank you for your hard work

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: Thank you for your hard work haha

Contrary to the thought that he would leave right away since his business was over, Sunset was sitting in front of the portal without leaving the party. Other Poseidon guild members also went around the event map and came out to the guild zone. They were still uncomfortable with Sunset, who was showing off his pure white figure among Poseidon.

[Guild] Ji9star: Why isn’t he leaving the party?

[Guild] neutaaaa: The consonants and vowels of Sunset are all annoying;

[Guild] Catmeowmeow: Just disband the party and create it again

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: No no, there must be a reason why he’s not leaving^^ㅎㅎ

[Guild] neutaaaa: Curiosity freak… You don’t even have a brain, but you’re so curious….

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Me?

[Guild] neutaaaa: There’s only one bald person in our guild haha

‘Catmeowmeow has been demoted to a regular guild member.’

[Guild] Catmeowmeow: Why me?

‘Catmeowmeow has been promoted to an elite guild member.’

‘neutaaaa has been demoted to an honorary guild member.’

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Because the name was attachedㅋㅋㅋ Sorry sorryㅋㅋㅋ

[Guild] Catmeowmeow: Be careful;

[Guild] neutaaaa: You must have forgotten something, Guild Master is back, you know?If you thought dictatorship would last forever, you’re so wrong~

[Guild] neutaaaa: Guild Master, the Vice Guild Master is abusing his powerㅠ_ㅠ

‘neutaaaa has been demoted to a regular guild member.’

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Guild Master said he went grocery shoppingㅋ What do you think is next?

[Guild] neutaaaa: I’m sorryㅠ I’ll write an apology….

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: I’ll forgive you since it’s your first offense

‘neutaaaa has been promoted to an elite guild member.’

[Guild] neutaaaa: Thank you hehe .o0(What the hell)

The Poseidon guild members slowly moved their steps, following a few people who were going to the guild room. Then Sunset followed behind, rising into the air and starting to follow by flying.

[Guild] neutaaaa: He’s following us, damn it, he’s like a stalker

[Guild] Ji9star: A friend said Melody went back to channel 1? Why is Sunset still here

[Guild] Catmeowmeow: If they changed channels, they left him on purpose…?

[Guild] Ji9star: They abandoned himㅋlolololㅋㅋ

[Guild] neutaaaa: Why are they doing the recycling to us;

[Guild] Catmeowmeow: Recyclingㅋlolololㅋㅋㅋ

[Guild] neutaaaa: I know, isn’t he trying to become a Cat Concubine?

Kyung-soo lost his mind and floated the guild member in the air, firing Bazooka at the sky.

[Party] Sunset: Ah

[Guild] Ji9star: He said ahㅋlolololㅋㅋ

Sunset quickly dodged the attack and sat down on the ground. neutaaaa, whose eyes had turned into Xs and had collapsed on the floor, revived with a bright light. He fled from Kyung-soo to Sunset, whom he hated so much.

[Guild] Catmeowmeow: Come out

[Guild] neutaaaa: I don’t want toㅠ

neutaaaa, who was completely overlapping with Sunset, remained motionless. Kyung-soo, who was worried about what to do, let go, thinking that if he made a mistake, he would be attacking Sunset and a second massacre might occur.

[Whisper] Spade Queen: Sorry sorry, my great-grandfather called me

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: Huh? Do you all live together?

[Whisper] Spade Queen: Yes haha

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: It’s a big family lol It must be fun with so many people

[Whisper] Spade Queen: Yes hahaha

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: Then take Sunset away now

Jung Min-jae didn’t reply even though there was a long pause. Kyung-soo wasn’t stupid enough not to know the meaning of this silence. He was clearly ignoring him on purpose. He took his cell phone from the jacket he had thrown on the bed and called Cheon No-eul.

-Hello?

“Min-jae’s number.”

-Min-jae all of a sudden? You must have gotten close….

Kyung-soo drew a line, cutting off the gloomy voice that was digging into the ground. What a troublesome guy.

“Don’t go off on a tangent. We played a few games together sometimes.”

-Why Jung Min-jae? Did something happen?

“It’s nothing. Just ask him to send his number in a text.”

-If you tell me, I can pass it on.

“Aren’t you at the academy?”

-…It’s still break time.

“Then you have to call him right away and tell him? Ah, but he’s with his grandfather, so he probably won’t answer.”

-His grandfather passed away before Jung Min-jae was even born, though?

“…Great-grandfather?”

-Never heard of him.

“Thanks. Hang up for now. And send me the number.”

-Hyung?

As soon as the call ended, Kyung-soo sent a whisper to Jung Min-jae.

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: Did you channel your grandfather?

[Whisper] Spade Queen: Huh?

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: Cheon No-eul told me everything

As expected, there was no reply. Sunset is like a ticking time bomb. Because of that, even being in the same channel felt uneasy. Just in case, he moved to channel 1, and ‘Spade Queen’ happened to be running past him. Kyung-soo used a movement skill to catch up with him and immediately knocked him down. It was over in the blink of an eye.

[Global] Spade Queen: Ackk I died

The Melody guild members who had been running ahead of him changed direction at the sound of chains slamming into the guild zone. They drew their weapons, wary of the stranger who had knocked down their Vice Guild Master. But after Jung Min-jae said something, they put away their weapons and relaxed their guard in less than 5 seconds.

[Global] Seol-yeong: Ah, it’s Mushroom Maniac, I misread and thought someone was picking a fight with oppa lol

[Global] Spade Queen: I misread too lololol go ahead first

[Global] GoldDkiwi: Come back after you’re done talking

[Global] Spade Queen: lololololol okay okay

Once the Melody gang had all disappeared through the guild room portal, Spade Queen ate a Resurrection Sigil and came back to life. Kyung-soo pointed his weapon at him.

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: You’re gonna die for real lololololol

[Global] Spade Queen: Let’s talk it out lololol

[Whisper] Spade Queen: Oh, that was global chat; No, hyung-nim, please listen to me

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: You suddenly disbanded the party, right? Are you crazy? Why did you abandon Sunset to us;;

[Whisper] Spade Queen: It wasn’t on purpose, I just wanted the two of you to get closer

[Whisper] Spade Queen: You’re being too harsh…ㅠㅠ

In Kyung-soo’s mind, Jung Min-jae was already a liar. No matter how he thought about it, there was no connection between him and Sunset. All they did was exchange a few words and play a few games in the early morning, so was he really friendly enough to suddenly ask to join the party?

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: The answer was ‘no.’ He must have just passed him on because he couldn’t handle him. Kyung-soo stared at the monitor with distrustful eyes.

[Whisper] Spade Queen: Ah, I wasn’t supposed to say this

[Whisper] Spade Queen: Our Guild Master ran into my older brother before he got banned

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow:

[Whisper] Spade Queen: It’s true lololol I’m telling you because I don’t think you’ll believe anything I say if I don’t

[Whisper] Spade Queen: If he finds out I told you, I’m dead too, so don’t ask Sunset about itㅠ He was so shocked back then that I remember it too lololol

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: Shocked?

[Whisper] Spade Queen: Yup

As if tigers appear when you talk about them, Sunset, who had followed him to the channel, appeared on the screen.

[Global] Sunset: o(╥﹏╥)o….

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: No, we never ran into each other, or I would have remembered.

[Whisper] Spade Queen: lololololol It was during the gathering event last year, in the early morning.

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: Yes?

[Whisper] Spade Queen: Wow, look at our presence, you don’t even remember lololol

If he had seen Sunset massacring people in the guild zone before that, he would have remembered for sure, but he had no memory of it at all.

[Global] Sunset: What are you doing?

[Whisper] Spade Queen: No reply, pretend you’re AFK

[Whisper] Spade Queen: Anyway, back then, our Guild Master’s hobby was massacring users and cleaning up the guild zone?

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: Cleaning?

[Whisper] Spade Queen: Cleaning up humans lololol He’d wipe out all the lingering spirits and monopolize the map

“…Hobby.”

Could that be called a hobby? He was so dumbfounded that he lost the will to even reply.

[Whisper] Spade Queen: Back then, there was a mushroom hat as a gathering item, right?

If you used the gathering skill that brought up a magnifying glass anywhere, whether it was a town or a hunting ground, event items would pop out depending on the probability. And the item that amplified the probability of those items appearing was the mushroom hat.

[Whisper] Spade Queen: Was it 3 AM? Guild Master suddenly asked in the guild chat who Catmeowmeow was

[Whisper] Spade Queen: He said that after he cleared out the channel 1 guild zone and was collecting event items, hyung suddenly dragged him to a corner and killed him? He said he couldn’t even react because of the knockback and was instantly killed.

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: Me?? What are you talking about? Am I Sunset lol

[Whisper] Spade Queen: Yeah, no one believed it lololol Guild Master has experience massacring hundreds of people, so it didn’t make sense that he died without even being able to touch you… But hyung did it again the next day. I died with him that time

[Whisper] Spade Queen: It was channel 12, and we were the only ones using the guild zone back then?? But we weren’t the only ones in the guild who had been killed by hyung lololol Guild Master was waiting to kill you, determined to take back his character, but he couldn’t even touch you….

[Whisper] Spade Queen: He always appeared in the early morning to gather mushrooms lololol There are still a lot of people who call hyung Mushroom Maniac because you die if you wear a mushroom hat lol

“……”

A faint memory flashed through his mind. Back then, Kyung-soo was so engrossed in the game that he would see the sunrise before going to bed. He remembered collecting event items with his hands moving as his body remembered, in a daze.

He also vividly remembered excitedly giving the guild members the advice, ‘There’s a bug where items are pulled in when you use the Valkyrie class skill in town.’, and everyone grumbled that there was no such thing, so he thought it was strange. He wondered why mushroom items were being pulled in by the class skill in the guild zone, but it was possible because it was a map where PVP against users was allowed….

“It wasn’t items… it was people?”

His head spun at the realization he had just come to.

[Whisper] Spade Queen: It’s a secret lololol Anyway, after that, Guild Master looked for hyung on the Free Board and said that he thought there was something that Massacre Maniacs had in common and wanted to get to know you… Back then… lol

The image of a delinquent putting his arm around his shoulder and saying, ‘Friend, let’s be friends?’ overlapped with Sunset’s character.

[Whisper] Spade Queen: Are you watching???

“……”

If it was for revenge for what happened back then, the entire Melody would have to be hostile to him, so that didn’t seem to be the case… If it was really for the purpose of ‘wanting to get to know someone with the same personality!’

“I’m… not.”

Kyung-soo denied the past. And he immediately switched characters. When he logged in with the character who was in a couple with the Guild Master, the ‘500 Day Anniversary Buff’ was applied.

[Guild] Captain Poseidon: Cat-nim? Surprise lol You suddenly left, so I thought there was a power outage.

[Guild] Ji9star: Ah, it’s Cat-nim

[Guild] Macaron Warrior: It’s already been 500 days?

[Guild] Captain Poseidon: I know, I also got an item in my mailbox.

[Guild] Macaron Warrior: Me too lololololololol You must have to log in as a couple at the same time to get it

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Cat-nim

[Guild] Macaron Warrior: Yes?

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Sunset is looking for you like crazy

[Guild] neutaaaa: Cat Concubine

[Guild] Macaron Warrior: You son of a bitch….

So I don’t want to be friends with him! Kyung-soo struggled silently and frowned. Even if he thought about it objectively, Sunset was maliciously killing people, and in his case, it wasn’t intentional. It was the most unfair thing in the world to be treated like the same person. Furthermore, he didn’t want to be called ‘the same Massacre Maniac’ as Sunset.

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: What’s your relationship? lol Not trying to start anything, I’m just curious. You guys often hang out with Dark Knight in the early morning too.

[Guild] Macaron Warrior: No, a younger sibling I recently met is the Vice Guild Master of Melody… I just want to cut ties with himㅡㅡ

[Guild] Ji9star: lololololol I was wondering lololol Cheon No-eul hasn’t been around lately, so I thought you had completely switched^^

[Guild] neutaaaa: If Cheon No-eul comes in like this, will there be a Cat Bully vs. Cat Concubine showdown? This is already so fun, I’m going to buy popcorn;;;;;

[Guild] Ji9star: But why did you come in with your Sub Character?

[Guild] Macaron Warrior: Just because haha The couple buff is nice….

[Guild] Ji9star: You’re not cutting down trees in the guild, so why do you need a couple buffs? You can just get the buff from Sunset.

[Guild] Macaron Warrior: It’s better than nothing.

[Guild] Ji9star: You can’t move event items through the mailbox, so are you going to run around collecting maple leaves with that??

[Guild] Macaron Warrior: You can move them through the warehouse lololol I need to respec my skills a bit.

[Guild] Ji9star: No, that’s not it, but if you don’t have the Valkyrie class skill, I’m going to be annoyed. Come with your Main Character. Or I won’t let you join the party.

[Guild] Macaron Warrior: Okay, thanks.

[Guild] Captain Poseidon: Then I’ll go to Cat-nim’s party.

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Me too, Ji9star-nim, sorry sorry

[Guild] neutaaaa: Honey, I’m sorry too lol

[Guild] Macaron Warrior: lol Should I let you join?

[Guild] Ji9star: Yes… ㅠThis isn’t what I wanted

Kyung-soo immediately used each of the skills of the character logged into the hunting ground and got used to them. The monsters hit by the test skills melted away, making beeping sounds.

[Whisper] Spade Queen: Hyung-nim?

[Whisper] Spade Queen: Ooh, it’s going through lololol!!!

“Eek!”

Startled, Kyung-soo pulled the chair back and hurriedly retreated. He couldn’t answer rashly. He felt like his heart was shrinking. His chest was pounding. How did he know, and so quickly? Did Melody have a guild member with an acquaintance? Kyung-soo pressed the G key to open the guild window and deduced the connections of the logged-in guild members. But all he could remember was everyone cursing Sunset together.

[Whisper] Spade Queen: No-eul told me this is your Sub Character, this is the fifth one, right hyung?

“……”

Kyung-soo had a total of three game characters in the guild. Even the guild members didn’t know about the existence of the other three characters. He suddenly remembered accidentally showing his character slots when he met Cheon No-eul to teach him how to play the game. He thought he was looking at the screen particularly carefully, but it must have been for a fleeting moment. Did he memorize all six character names in that short amount of time, and not even forget them until now?

[Whisper] Spade Queen: Ah… Cat-nim… is that not you?

[Whisper] Macaron Warrior: What the hell Don’t obsess over me

[Whisper] Spade Queen: It is you lololol

‘Spade Queen has sent you a friend request. Would you like to accept?’

‘You are now friends with Spade Queen!’

He felt strange. He realized that this was what it felt like to have your personal information exposed.

[Whisper] Spade Queen: Why are you suddenly leaving lololololol Our guild isn’t saying anything lol

[Whisper] Macaron Warrior: What, I didn’t leave because of that;

[Whisper] Spade Queen: Our Guild Master is Sunset, so revenge killing is a daily occurrence haha Right after Guild Master got banned, there were so many kills that we bought up all the Resurrection Sigils lololol

[Whisper] Macaron Warrior: I’m not leaving because of you guys, so stop explaining

[Whisper] Spade Queen: We’re not in a position to criticize Mushroom Maniac~ Guild Master was the only one who was angry back then, and even that was only at first lol

[Whisper] Macaron Warrior: He was angry? He really has no conscience

[Whisper] Spade Queen: That’s right. We’re just messing around with each other, so don’t worry too much.

[Whisper] Macaron Warrior: I’m telling you I didn’t leave because of you.

[Whisper] Macaron Warrior: And who told you to be like a mushroom in the early morning? I really didn’t know you guys were people.

[Whisper] Spade Queen: Still, our kids really like Mushroom Maniac, they say it’s like there are two Guild Masters lol.

[Whisper] Macaron Warrior: Still, comparing me to Sunset is a bit much.

[Whisper] Spade Queen: Just kidding~ lol

Still, he was really glad that the Melody guild members who had been disguised as mushrooms and killed by him didn’t take that fact too much to heart.

‘Ji9star has invited you to a party. Would you like to accept?’

[Party] Sunset: Hello~ You’re back

“What, this guy?”

Kyung-soo was a little flustered by Sunset, who recognized him as soon as he joined the party without a hint of suspicion.

[Whisper] Macaron Warrior: Did you tell Sunset my nickname?

[Whisper] Spade Queen: lololololol No?

[Whisper] Macaron Warrior: Okay

Kyung-soo decided to play dumb.

[Party] Macaron Warrior: Who are you?

[Party] Sunset: O_O?

[Party] Captain Poseidon: Ah….

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: lololololololol

[Party] Ji9star: lololololololol

[Party] Ji9star: Cat-nim… He already knowsㅠ Guild Master told him you were comingㅠㅠ

[Party] Captain Poseidon: Oh, I’m sorry; Was I not supposed to tell him?

The Guild Master, of all people, had such a proper way of speaking that it was difficult to curse at him outright. The most difficult type of person to deal with among the people he knew was the proper and kind type like the Guild Master. Kyung-soo deleted all the curses that would be processed as ‘**’ with the backspace key, leaned back in his chair, and sighed. Nothing was going his way.

[Party] Sunset: Ah, is that what it was? I’ll do it again!

[Party] Sunset: Nice to meet you haha

[Party] Macaron Warrior: Yesㅠㅠ

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: lololololololol lololol

[Party] Ji9star: Cat-nim, why are you in channel 1? Guild zone in channel 3, let’s go.

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: Whisper/Ji9star, you were supposed to hide Cat-nim’s identity.

[Party] Ji9star: Whisper/ Ah… Okay okay, I was careless.

[Party] Ji9star: Catmeowmeow. Come to channel 3 immediately

[Party] Macaron Warrior: lololol Yes f*ck

[Party] Captain Poseidon: I’m sorry lolololㅠㅠ

Somehow, this situation felt very familiar. He was sure that at first, he was respected by the guild members as a Valkyrie who dealt a lot of damage, but when he came to his senses, he was just being teased all the time. Cheon No-eul was at the beginning of that. He ended up getting entangled with Sunset because of Cheon No-eul, who ruined his cool image. Kyung-soo counted No-eul’s charges with his fingers and vowed to take thorough revenge on him.

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: Oh, daebak lol

Because he was wearing a couple ring, when he got close to the Guild Master, hearts momentarily popped up above the heads of the two characters.

[Party] Macaron Warrior: The 500-day buff is trash lololol 150 experience? I wouldn’t take it even if you gave it to me

[Party] Ji9star: No, it changes randomly every day, if you’re lucky, you can get lucky too… My option is trash today too

[Party] Captain Poseidon: I have 30% speed.

[Party] Ji9star: Lucky

[Party] Captain Poseidon: Just a moment~ I’m going to buy a permanent pet and come back

[Party] Sunset: Ah… Haha, I have something to do, so I have to leave for a while, see you next time!

‘Sunset has left the party.’

Before he could even say hello, Sunset logged out. He must have had something incredibly urgent to do.

[Party] Macaron Warrior: Then I should come back with my Main Character, I respec’d my skills for nothingㅠ

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: Did you really come with your Sub Character because of Sunset?

[Party] Macaron Warrior: lololol Yes

Being with him made him feel like he was becoming the same person. Even if they didn’t care.

[Party] Ji9star: But he was nice lololololol I guess he really turned over a new leaf haha

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: He’s nice now, after cursing so much lololololol Ji9star got items from him earlier

[Party] Ji9star: Hehe haha He gave me one with three options>< I’m going to go to a good spot and disassemble it later, I hope a speed puzzle comes out hahaha

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: It’s Cheon No-eul

[Party] Macaron Warrior: Huh?

[Global] Ji9star: Hihi

[Global] Cheon No-eul: Hi

[Whisper] Cheon No-eul: Hello older brother too haha

No-eul, who had appeared out of the blue without warning that he was logging into the game, suddenly drew his weapon.

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Cat Bully appeared in the guild zone

[Guild] neutaaaa: Jackpot lol I’m going

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Sadly, Cat-nim is busy and went out for errandsㅠ

[Guild] neutaaaa: He should’ve waited a little longer before leavingㅠㅠㅠ

neutaaaa, who has infinite affection for Cheon No-eul, moved and greeted No-eul within seconds of speaking.

[Global] neutaaaa: You should’ve come a little earlier lol

[Global] Cheon No-eul: Why?

[Global] neutaaaa: The Cat Bully spot is dangerous, you’ll lose it if you’re careless

[Global] Cheon No-eul: That’s… troubling…

[Whisper] Macaron Warrior: I told you not to make it obvious.

[Whisper] Cheon No-eul: It’s okay~ I’ve always been like this^^

He was right, so I had nothing to say. While greeting the guild members who came after to tease Kyung-soo, Captain Poseidon came back to the guild zone after finishing a trade. Heart shapes appeared and disappeared above their heads.

[Global] Ji9star: Uh

No-eul rushed at Captain Poseidon like the first day he saw him. The guild members stepped back to avoid their fight. Captain Poseidon, who didn’t even switch his weapon because he didn’t know what was going on, spammed typos unlike himself. Kyung-soo stepped between them and fed No-eul a paralysis bullet. Only then did No-eul put away his weapon.

[Global] Cheon No-eul: Ah, I lose my mind when I see hearts… I’m sorry

[Guild] Ji9star: lololol Breaking news after a long time. Cheon No-eul lost his mind after seeing the original Cat Bully, Halloween Reporter is on the scene lol

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: He’s a promising talent… I want to re-recruit him into our guild

[Guild] neutaaaa: I agree

[Guild] Macaron Warrior: I disagree;;

[Guild] Captain Poseidon: Ahㅠㅠ Why is he like that only when he sees meㅠ? I didn’t even have a revival item, I almost died….

A call came to No-eul, who should be at the academy at this time. Kyung-soo picked up the phone without hesitation.

“What are you doing? The academy?”

-It’s over? What are you doing right now, hyung?

“Playing a game?”

-I thought we were done with this conversation. You said we broke up. That’s why I’ve been quiet all this time….

“When did I?”

Kyung-soo asked back, seemingly dumbfounded. There was no reason to cancel the couple status since he would get free items or buffs as long as he maintained the relationship. The alternative he suggested was to accept his relationship application with his Main Character, ‘Catmeowmeow’.

“You’re the one who postponed the relationship application, saying you’d do it after reaching max level.”

-So, until then, I shouldn’t meet my ex-boyfriend. Am I wrong?

“Ex-boyfriend…. No, I don’t even know who that person is…. Okay, then I’ll come with my Main Character. Is that okay?”

-Yes!

No-eul, who answered brightly, didn’t hang up and let him hear his breathing. He seemed to be waiting until he saw him switch characters. When he logged in as ‘Catmeowmeow’, No-eul used every happy-looking motion emoticon and circled around him. Captain Poseidon, who barely survived just before dying, recovered his health and moved away from Cheon No-eul.

[Guild] Captain Poseidon: That crazy bastard is so hypocritical

[Guild] Catmeowmeow: I’m sorry, because of meㅠ

[Guild] Captain Poseidon: Please don’t talk to me.

[Guild] Ji9star: lololololol

[Guild] neutaaaa: Ah lololololol So funny, Love and War Illusion Edition

*

Was it after I found out why Sunset was flirting with me? The Melody guild members started greeting me when they saw me. When I asked Jung Min-jae to explain this situation right away, he just laughed. The guild members were too busy teasing him, saying that joining two guilds was forbidden. The only place I could vent this injustice was No-eul. No-eul chimed in and agreed with each word.

At first, I was so dumbfounded that I changed locations. But as time passed, the awkwardness and discomfort faded. By the end of the fall event, Kyung-soo had gotten used to it and even returned the greetings. But Sunset was still uncomfortable. Even though he no longer did heinous things.

Meanwhile, No-eul has been very busy these days and only logs into the game after midnight. The event zone is not open from midnight to 10 AM, so I could hang out with No-eul.

“Oh? You’re about to reach max level.”

Cheon No-eul only had 10 levels left to reach max level. No-eul beyond the headphones made a ticklish laugh and answered awkwardly.

-It’s a difficult section, so it doesn’t go up well from here. Yesterday, I only gained 10% of experience.

“There’s no rush. Is your equipment okay? Give me some information.”

-Information? Just a moment.

At Kyung-soo’s words, No-eul soon released ‘Character Information Disclosure’. When I hovered the mouse over the Cheon No-eul character and clicked ‘View Information’, I could see at a glance the equipment and accessories he was wearing, and the gem stones that increased his stats. The equipment and accessories were constantly matched to the level, so it wasn’t time to change them yet, but the problem was the gem stones.

(Basic) Beginner’s Strength Gem Stone

Level Limit: Lv. 1

(Basic) Beginner’s Experience Gem Stone

Level Limit: Lv. 1

Except for one, all of them were gem stones given when he first started the game. Gem stones in the shape of beads are one of the sub-equipment and are as important as combat equipment. I had forgotten about this until now….

(SS/Rare) Jelly Bear Lucky Rainbow Gem Stone

Level Limit: Lv. 200

Non-tradable Item

Set Effect: +All Stats 300 +Physical Critical 25% +Attribute Power 200

“You have really good item luck. Jelly Gem Stones don’t drop often…. There’s no scenario quest there, who did you go with?”

-With Jung Min-jae. I went there to level up right before the Ruin War.

“But other than that, everything is for beginners? What have you been doing without matching gem stones…. It’s amazing that you’re getting that damage even with beginner’s gem stones.”

-Hehe, thank you for the compliment.

“That’s not a compliment?”

-Yes.

“Let’s match Abyss Gem Stones. The Abyss with physical crit is the best for the warrior tree. It comes out of the dungeon reward box, so don’t destroy it and replace everything. I need to buy Enchant Hammers and Puzzles, but… let’s just buy them. You have a lot of money anyway… No, you’re probably a little short these days.”

-Huh? No?

“You’re busy. You always come in late at night, so you don’t have time to do quizzes.”

-Ah… Yes. But I’m still okay!

Still, thinking that I should at least match the basic gem stones, we moved to the front of the ‘Abyss of Agony’ instance dungeon.

‘Spade Queen has joined the party.’

[Party] Spade Queen: I came to… help….

[Party] Catmeowmeow: Okay

[Party] Cheon No-eul: He’ll do everything

[Party] Catmeowmeow: ??

[Party] Spade Queen: lololol what?

[Party] Cheon No-eul: Hyung, take a good restㅠㅠ♡

“Fuck.”

As I muttered a curse, I heard No-eul laughing in the headset. Even if he laughed away from the microphone, I could hear everything.

“Hey, talk with words. With words! How many times have I told you not to use hearts? Look, I’m getting goosebumps right now. Huh?”

Kyung-soo said, raising his arm that couldn’t be seen. Instead of answering, No-eul made a sound in his throat and laughed. At the same time as the sound of typing on the keyboard over the headset, the character Cheon No-eul used the ‘Kiss’ emoticon. Ugh. Kyung-soo immediately hardened his face and hung on the ladder. When his face wasn’t visible, No-eul stopped doing strange things.

[Party] Spade Queen: One more person is coming ㄱㄷㄱㄷ

‘Seol-yeong has joined the party.’

[Party] Spade Queen: Hihi

[Party] Seol-yeong: Oppa hi

Seol-yeong, who soon moved to where the party members were, was also from Melody. There was nothing awkward about No-eul talking with Melody.

[Party] Seol-yeong: Mushroom Hunter, hello too^-<☆

“I’m going to kill Sunset.”

A curse came out reflexively. It was a word said like a monologue, but No-eul swallowed his breath.

-……Should I say something? Tell him not to call you that?

“No, it’s okay, sorry. I didn’t say it to you. I meant Sunset.”

-Still….

Kyung-soo looked at No-eul again. He seemed to have a timid and weak side that he didn’t show. He was also considerate, worrying about other people’s problems as if they were his own. The more I know him, the better he seems to be….

“…….”

No, what was I thinking just now? Kyung-soo slapped his mouth, which was about to mutter nonsense.

[Party] Seol-yeong: Are you going to get all the Abyss Gem Stones today?

[Party] Cheon No-eul: Yup

[Party] Seol-yeong: Are you out of your mind? lol

[Party] Cheon No-eul: Yes lol Do you have a problem? O_O

[Party] Spade Queen: ;;Calm down

[Party] Seol-yeong: What calm down, brother, just stay still; How many times is this, and you don’t even give me an allowanceㅡㅡ

[Party] Catmeowmeow: Allowance?

[Party] Seol-yeong: Yesㅡㅡ I was summoned while doing a raid just now? I need to get 3000 per game to make ends meet

It seemed like they were misunderstanding something. No-eul was generous. Sometimes, I thought he was spending too much money.

[Party] Catmeowmeow: Hey, you have a lot of money… You were going to give her an allowance, right?

[Party] Cheon No-eul: Yesㅇㅅㅇ? Of course….

[Party] Spade Queen: Wow

[Party] Seol-yeong: Jackpot lol I just said it once lol

[Party] Spade Queen: Give me some too?

[Party] Cheon No-eul: Okay

[Party] Spade Queen: Oh…^^7

[Party] Seol-yeong: Hehe I’ll work hard…!^^77

The four arrived at the innermost dungeon on the map. It was when No-eul was changing the party settings.

[Global] Green apple juice: Excuse me…?

[Global] Seol-yeong: ?

It was a priest who had been lingering in front of the dungeon since earlier. A priest who takes the healer tree in the mage class is one of the jobs that is difficult to play solo. Unlike the Moon Fairy tree, which is an attack-type mage class, it doesn’t have any decent attack skills.

[Global] Green apple juice: Cat-nim>_ㅠ

[Global] Catmeowmeow: ??

[Global] Green apple juice: I’m sorry, but do you have a spot in your party…? Apple just needs to clear the scenario (thump)

Apple…? I paused for a moment at the act of referring to oneself in the third person. If we were close, I would have ignored it, but this was a user I was seeing for the first time today. As expected, No-eul made an ‘ugh’ sound and said.

-Why is he like that. Say you don’t want him.

“…….”

-Hyung.

“…….”

-Kyung-soo hyung?

“…….”

-Cat-nim.

I’m going to do it.

-Meow Meow. Meow Meow Meow?

“Ah, why! Are you crazy?”

-He’s a little creepy. Can’t we just do it ourselves?

[Global] Green apple juice: Apple will even heal you><

[Party] Seol-yeong: He says he’ll heal us, so cute lol

Green apple juice gave buffs to each of Kyung-soo’s party members. No-eul used attack skills as if he didn’t like her. But it wasn’t the guild zone, so no damage was done.

[Party] Seol-yeong: Why are you doing that lololololol

[Party] Cheon No-eul: I was just practicing lol

[Global] Green apple juice: ㅠ_ㅠ

“…….”

Pitiful. It must be hard to find a party match since it’s dawn. And other jobs in the 170 level range can easily level up just by doing quests, so they won’t bother to include a priest in the party. It’s not like he has a guild to give him a bus ride.

[Party] Catmeowmeow: He’s just clearing the scenario quest anyway, so just let him join

[Party] Cheon No-eul: Ah….

[Party] Catmeowmeow: He’s a newbie.

[Party] Seol-yeong: lololololololol newbie lololol

[Party] Cheon No-eul: ㅡㅡ;

[Party] Spade Queen: lololololololol I agree

[Party] Cheon No-eul: I don’t want to

[Party] Spade Queen: If it’s the Abyss scenario, how many games do we have to clear? Five games should be enough?

[Party] Seol-yeong: I don’t know… I cleared it eight million years ago, so I don’t even remember lol

[Party] Cheon No-eul: At least five gamesㅇㅇ;

There was no reason not to include him in the party. Kyung-soo wasn’t a cold-blooded person who would ignore a newbie who had no one to help him. No-eul tried to persuade Kyung-soo to just ignore him until the end, but he cleanly ignored those words.

‘Green apple juice has joined the party.’

[Global] Green apple juice: Hot! Thank you, oppas!! ㅜ0ㅜ

[Party] Seol-yeong: Just call us by our nicknames lol

[Party] Green apple juice: Okay, Seol-yeong oppa>_<

[Party] Seol-yeong: lololololololol

Why isn’t he denying it? He customized his character as a male, but I heard he was a woman.

“Cheon No-eul, you said Seol-yeong is a woman.”

-That’s right. He likes being called oppa, so just leave him alone. We’ll take care of everything. Just ignore Apple if he talks to you, okay?

“Don’t bully the newbie.”

-It’s annoying. You only like newbies.

“What are you talking about, I came to help you. If you say that one more time, I’m leaving.”

-Hut, yes.

In a party with three max-level users, a low-level dungeon was a piece of cake.

[Party] Green apple juice: Oppas are hunting so quietly ㅇㅁㅇ

[Party] Cheon No-eul: Ah, we’re in voice chat lol

[Party] Spade Queen: Yeah, voice chat is annoying lol

“Hmm?””

-Just stay quiet and watch.

[Party] Green apple juice: Oh, I seeㅠ_ㅠ Apple is bored too….

[Party] Cheon No-eul: lol Do you want to join? I’ll give you the code

[Party] Green apple juice: Apple doesn’t know how to install it because he’s a computer illiterate….

[Party] Cheon No-eul: How did you install the game then

[Party] Green apple juice: Apple is playing secretly, so my mom will scold meㅠ0ㅠ….

[Party] Spade Queen: And you don’t have a headset either

[Party] Green apple juice: Apple finds chatting easier’ㅅ’….

“Don’t do it. You’re making him uncomfortable.”

[Party] Catmeowmeow: We’re just running it for the items, so we don’t chat much. Sorry sorry, I’ll clear the scenario quickly, so don’t pick up anything.

[Party] Green apple juice: Okay~!!>_<

[Party] Seol-yeong: Cute lololololol

[Party] Green apple juice: No, you’re more lol>_<

“Cheon No-eul, there’s an item left behind.”

-It’s a mage weapon, so I didn’t pick it up. It’s low level, so it won’t sell….

“Abyss Gem Stones aren’t automatically picked up, so pick up the items as soon as they appear. We’ll enchant the options and attach them. Got it?”

-Yes. But weren’t you not raising newbies anymore?

“Yeah. How did you know that?”

A few months ago, Kyung-soo had gathered newbies who couldn’t even join guilds with level restrictions and gave them free bus rides for about two weeks. But after experiencing people who were grateful and liked it at first sending him whispers too naturally, ordering him to come to the dungeon quickly, he stopped doing it.

-I also took the bus back then.

“…….”

I had a feeling that he had been attached to me since that incident. It would have been difficult to go anywhere with that skill at first…. Only strange kids are attracted to me wherever I go. Kyung-soo firmly resolved that he would never give free rides again.

[Party] Green apple juice: Sniff… I keep falling

[Party] Seol-yeong: I think I wandered around for more than ten minutes at first lololol

[Party] Catmeowmeow: Take your time

In the Abyss map, if you fall off a cliff, you have to go to another map and climb back up. It would be easy to get lost if you don’t have a movement skill or if you’re coming for the first time.

-It’s too much…. He’s still not here.

No-eul grumbled. I couldn’t help but laugh. This was one of the maps that most people were confused about, and No-eul had a history of falling and dying dozens of times even on very simple maps.

“Who are you to say that to someone?”

-Please forget the past me. I’ve completely transformed into your type now.

“You’ve improved, though. Is that why the cute taste has disappeared?”

-Huk…. Was I cute?

No-eul gasped and muttered as if he was moved. Kyung-soo felt upset because he felt like he had lost because No-eul seemed to like it.

“No… It’s not that you’re cute, it’s that newbies are originally cute. Even if they’re good, they’re cute, and if they’re bad, I want to take care of them… But that wasn’t you, so don’t get me wrong.”

-You said I was cute earlier….

“Ah, just in case, if you pretend to be bad and fall to your death now, I’m going to break your wrist.”

-Wrist… Yes. I’ll take good care of it! But hyung, Apple isn’t a newbie either. Didn’t you see him passing through the secret passage in map 3 earlier?

“No way. He probably looked up the strategy.”

-And everyone except you saw him find the transparent platform and step on it without being told.

“……No way. Why is he pretending to be a newbie.”

There was no reason to sell a new character unless he had caused trouble on his previous one. No-eul whispered in a low voice as if plotting some scheme, saying he had a hunch, but Kyung-soo paid no mind to such words.

[Party] Seol-yeong: Where are youseong?

[Party] Green apple juice: I’m on my way to the appleㅠ_ㅠ I’m almost there…!

[Party] Green apple juice: I’m clumsyㅠㅠ I fell again….

[Party] Spade Queen: Ughhh we don’t have time….

[Party] Seol-yeong: You’re the one wasting time lol

[Party] Green apple juice: Sob…ㅠ_ㅠ

[Party] Catmeowmeow: I’ll come get you

Kyung-soo fell off the cliff. As he fell to the underground map, Green apple juice cast a buff on him and cried ‘ㅠ_ㅠ’.

[Whisper] Green apple juice: Thanks, oppa… >_<

[Party] Catmeowmeow: No problem

Once all the trash mobs were cleared, a portal opened. The moment he was about to take the portal to the upper map, Cheon No-eul plopped down from the sky.

“Huh?”

-I want to go too.

[Party] Cheon No-eul: Let’s go, take the portal.

[Party] Green apple juice: Thank you bothㅠㅠㅠ It’s because of meㅠㅠ

He went up and carefully stepped on the platforms placed like stepping stones. Green apple juice slowly followed his movements and was able to step on the final platform.

[Party] Seol-yeong: …?

[Party] Spade Queen: What are you doing lolololol

[Party] Catmeowmeow: ??

But then No-eul, who had been following along just fine until now, missed his step on the final platform and ended up going back down to the lower map. No-eul gulped and muttered the word ‘hand-stem’.

“I won’t cut it off.”

-I’ll be right there. Go on ahead…!

“Hurry up. I’ll wait.”

[Party] Seol-yeong: Let’s just go first lol

[Party] Green apple juice: But still….

[Party] Spade Queen: Lololololololol hey, can we go first? lol

[Party] Catmeowmeow: He said he’ll be right there.

[Party] Catmeowmeow: He’s just running around to gear up Cheon No-eul anyway….

The sound of keyboard tapping faintly reached his ears, as if No-eul was running hard. A few minutes later, as soon as No-eul arrived, they all moved to the boss room. The boss, the Dragon King, emitted a chilling aura and restricted the party members’ movements. But it was just a low-level boss monster. In less than a minute, the Dragon King knelt with its head bowed. A portal to the next map opened. Green apple juice was the first to take the portal and move to the next map.

‘Green apple juice nim has acquired the Abyss’s Minimum Attack Power Red Gemstone.’

[Party] Spade Queen: ???????

[Party] Seol-yeong: Huh? You already opened the box????

[Party] Cheon No-eul: ㅇㅅㅇ… lol

The reward box couldn’t be opened until everyone was present, so other party members couldn’t obtain items. It was absurd that she went to the next map first, but it was even more ridiculous that she opened the box on her own.

[Party] Catmeowmeow: ? I told you not to take any items….

[Party] Spade Queen: Cat-nim is pissed….

[Party] Cheon No-eul: Ah, I’m fine with it.

[Party] Catmeowmeow: Stay put.

[Party] Cheon No-eul: ㅠㅠ

[Party] Seol-yeong: Lolololololololololololololololololol so pathetic

[Party] Spade Queen: Lolololololololololol

[Party] Green apple juice: Ah… This is my first partyㅠ_ㅠ I didn’t know…!

Green apple juice alternated between crying emoticons and bowing emoticons.

[Whisper] Green apple juice: Heeng I’ll really be careful next timeㅠ0ㅠ

[Party] Catmeowmeow: Seriously… lol I’ll let it slide this time. Cheon No-eul is opening the last box, so nobody touch it… And don’t take any equipment itemsㅡㅡ

[Party] Cheon No-eul: Right, rightㅇㅅㅇ!

[Whisper] Green apple juice: Yesㅠ_ㅠ Thank you….

[Party] Catmeowmeow: As long as you understand.

[Party] Green apple juice: Yep….

Perhaps he was so happy that someone took his side, No-eul, whose quick slots were still full of emoticons, started acting cute. Seol-yeong, who was gaming with them for the first time, seemed to have no immunity to it, spamming ‘…….’ with tons of dots. When Cheon No-eul used a kissy emoticon, he even started cursing.

[Party] Seol-yeong: Ah fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!!!!!!!!! My eyes….

[Party] Spade Queen: You deal with it;;

-Hyung, are you really mad? That I had an item taken from me?

No-eul asked in a voice mixed with laughter. A message about resetting the instance appeared on the monitor. Was I angry? Kyung-soo, who had been blinking, told the truth.

“A little. Stealing someone else’s items is the worst thing in the world.”

-That’s right. It’s really bad.

“What the fuck are you talking about, you’re the one who stole the biggest thing. Thinking about it makes me pissed again. You got another Gallso, right? Why aren’t you using the remaining one? Do you want to die?”

-I heard the legendary pet acquisition rate goes up if you use it the day before its expiration date. I’m going to get it and have a couple pet with you, hyung!

“Who said you could?”

-Can I name it Kyung-soo Heart? I’ve always wanted to try couple nicknames too!

“Are you crazy?! Would that work?”

-There really are a lot of things that don’t work. Well, I think I’d get annoyed if someone else called you by your name too.

“Thank goodness. Then….”

-Then I’ll try to get a cat pet and name it Nya-i Heart. Oh right, Nya-i isn’t you, hyung, so don’t get the wrong idea. It’s just a cat.

“Hey, you….”

No-eul arrogantly laid down the law telling him not to get the wrong idea, mimicking his speech. Kyung-soo’s face turned red and purple. As if he could see it directly, No-eul burst out laughing.

After hearing Green apple juice’s promise to be really careful, they entered the dungeon again.

[Whisper] Green apple juice: Apple will give you heals~!^-^

But she had been whispering to him instead of using party chat since earlier. It was awkward to respond, so he just kept killing monsters while receiving heals and buffs.

[Party] Seol-yeong: Why aren’t you giving us buffs?

[Party] Spade Queen: Now that you mention it, Cat-nim has been focused on supporting you since a while ago.

[Party] Green apple juice: Hehe

[Party] Seol-yeong: For real, only giving them to Mushroom Guy lol I’m getting jealous lol

[Party] Catmeowmeow: Mushroom Guy… lol Sunset you son of a bitch

[Party] Cheon No-eul: Don’t call him that in front of Cat-nim, fuck

[Party] Seol-yeong: Lolololololololololol

[Party] Spade Queen: Lolololololololololol

[Party] Green apple juice: Yes~! Apple will go>_<

[Whisper] Green apple juice: I’ll be right back, oppa!

Was it a delusion that he sensed excitement in those words…. Kyung-soo awkwardly announced that the next portal had opened. Gemstones could also come from reward boxes, but they also had a low chance of dropping when killing monsters.

‘Green apple juice nim has acquired the Abyss’s Physical Evasion Yellow Gemstone.’

However, since they weren’t auto-acquired by pets, it was clear she had picked it up on purpose. Even after he told her not to pick them up like that and to be careful.

[Party] Green apple juice: Gasp 8ㅁ8

[Party] Seol-yeong: Ah, sir….

[Whisper] Green apple juice: It was really a mistakeㅠ0ㅠ

[Party] Spade Queen: Apple-nim, you’re so dead in front of Cat-nim now lol

[Whisper] Green apple juice: Oppa, Apple is sorryyyㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

[Party] Catmeowmeow: Stop sending whispers.

[Party] Catmeowmeow: Hand over party leader.

[Party] Cheon No-eul: Huh?

‘Party leader has been changed to Catmeowmeow nim.’

‘Green apple juice nim has left the party.’

As soon as he forcibly removed Green apple juice from the party window, the party members, except for Kyung-soo, started laughing one after another.

[Party] Seol-yeong: No way lololololol Cat-nim got you into the party, Cat-nim kicked you out.

[Party] Spade Queen: But it was kinda obvious she came to steal items from the start lol She’s been picking up equipment items here and there since earlier lolololololol

[Party] Cheon No-eul: Ah, seriously….

Was that too harsh, though? Green apple juice kept sending whispers apologizing. It got quiet after he blocked her whispers, but it might have really been a mistake. Kyung-soo scratched his cheek awkwardly, feeling belated regret.

[Party] Cheon No-eul: So thrilling lol My heart hurts so muchㅇㅅㅇ

[Party] Seol-yeong: Lololololololololololololololololololfucking lolol

[Party] Spade Queen: Lolololololololololol

After that, No-eul didn’t leave Kyung-soo’s side for a single moment. Perhaps because Melody was more active in the early morning, Seol-yeong and Spade Queen invited available guild members to the party. Squeezed between Melody members, it really felt like he was running two guilds at once, just as the Poseidon guild members said.

[Party] Seol-yeong: Today, we will be giving out part-time job money~!!!!!!

[Party] Spade Queen: Clapclapclapclapclap

[Party] supercool: It’s prepaid hehe

[Party] Cheon No-eul: Lololololfuck everyone’s crowding in….

[Party] Granny Kongkong: Ah, you don’t have to give me any, I came to see Mushroom Guy lol

[Party] Catmeowmeow: I don’t think we need to give any to that son of a bitch.

[Party] Cheon No-eul: Yep, I wasn’t planning on it anyway.

[Party] Granny Kongkong: Why?[Party] Cheon No-eul: Don’t like his skin color!

[Party] Granny Kongkong: Lololfuck it’s the same color as yours?

Even though Cheon No-eul was the only one not in the guild, he blended in well with the guild members without any sense of discord. Every time the Melody members called him Mushroom Guy, his heart ached a little, but he tried hard to act nonchalant. Instead, No-eul got angry for him. He was a little grateful that he got riled up as if it were his own problem.

“Why didn’t you join Melody? Min-jae said the sub-guild master asked to recruit you.”

-If I had been in Melody from the start, you wouldn’t have paid any attention to me, right?

“Is that so?”

-And it’s better to be guildless here. I don’t like that everyone knows when guild members log on.

I guess he doesn’t like being constrained. Well, seeing how he left right after the Ruin and Guild War ended, it did seem that way. And even if No-eul were to join Melody, he wouldn’t leave Sunset alone. If Sunset got hit, he’d chase him to the end and plant a bomb on No-eul. Then other users in the guild zone would get involved, and an era far from peace would arrive.

-Hyung! I only need Rainbow 3 and 4 gemstones left.

“Yeah, right….”

Anyway, that bastard Cheon No-eul was the problem. Kyung-soo sincerely hoped that the day would never come when Sunset and Cheon No-eul were logged in at the same time.

*

Title: [Event] The Return of Territory Conquest! Defend, VS Guild Siege War

Author: GM Pudding

Content: Hello, adventurers~! This is GM Pudding, in charge of event planning and announcements>_<

Thanks to the support of our users, we are holding the Guild Siege War again, which was popular last year. For detailed content and scenarios, please refer to the event guide page on the main homepage♡

Just like last year, we will be holding the Guild Siege War this year. Please capture strongholds for a set period of time! Capture Wars are held every Sunday, and Stronghold Wars are held on days except Sunday. On days when Capture Wars occur, you must be careful not to lose your territory, right? Participation is only possible on a guild basis. Talk to the event NPC Zened in the Guild Zone to move to the Siege War event map!

‘The Return of Territory Conquest! Defend, VS Guild Siege War’ starts at 8 PM and runs until 11 PM. Participation is possible if at least 8 guild members are online, and it ends if the fortress is destroyed and all participating guild members are incapacitated.

The guild that achieves victory in this event, held over 3 weeks, can obtain a certain percentage of profits from shops in each city. Also, the guild emblem will be engraved on the flags hung on the village roofs. (Maintained for 6 months) Guild Masters of guilds wishing to participate, please apply for participation through the event NPC by November 11th. Guild alliances are only possible with up to two guilds.

☞Go directly to the event guide page

(This is a post where comments cannot be made.)

「Halloween Eggplant: www.illusions2.net/notice/2178129」

「WanduWandya: Does the official site even have a notification feature? It’s amazing how you bring it as soon as the event drops lolololol」

「Halloween Eggplant: Nah Nah I snatched the info from the info snatcher group chat lol」

「Ji9star: Trash smell lol」

Title: ;;Is it true they’re rehashing the event? lol

Author: JudeMed

Content: Thank you!!!!!!! I was waiting for this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

Workaholic God Pudding love you… TYTY^^777

(40 comments have been registered.)

-This damn game, why is there no time to rest… I like it.

-Let’s try to withdraw some guild funds~~!!~!~!~!!

-It would be fine as permanent content….

└It’s already chaotic for 3 weeks;; what do you mean permanent? This is just right.

└Yeah lololololol permanent is overkill. The scenario keeps getting updated, you can’t just cling to guild content all the time.

-What’s the difference between Stronghold War and Capture War?

└If Capture War is the franchise headquarters, Stronghold War is the franchisee.

└Lolololololololololol look at that analogy.

└Stronghold War is fighting over one stronghold, Capture War is taking over the entire city that includes that stronghold. Think Capture War>>>>Stronghold War. Yeah.

└I agree with the above comment lololol Siege War is taking over a whole city. All the miscellaneous strongholds are contained within that one city. What applies to Stronghold War are rest areas placed around the map or small villages, medium-to-small scale strongholds. So major guilds like Seory or Poseidon don’t do Stronghold War. If you win the Capture War, you get it all! lololololol And guilds that win the Capture War can’t even register for Stronghold War!

-Ah fuck this looks fun!!!

-I want to try being in a major guild just once. I’ve only seen Capture War videos and I’m already scared lol.

└There are exceptions. Ruin did Stronghold War last year too. Weak major guilds are not included, be careful~

└They’re not a guild, they’re a club lololololol It’s rare to see someone stick around there for over a month… That’s some distant guild lol.

└Cluuuuub lololololololololololol

-I recommend newbie guilds just spectate and not participate in either. Just doing Stronghold War costs a lot of money… And major guilds will take cities like Isis or Aquarium with high user traffic anyway, so don’t go in and get your guild points stolen!

-Is this why there are so many guild recruitment posts now?

└Lololol they’re all shit small guilds.

「Captain Poseidon: Siege War, huh.」

「Ji9star: We’re taking Isis again this time, right? lol heh」

「Captain Poseidon: This year, won’t our guild member count be a little lacking to capture Isis?ㅠㅠ」

「ParkRoaches: Right, we barely won last year… So wouldn’t Aquarium be better? Isis is fucking precarious. I heard Seory is forming an alliance this time….」

「Ji9star: Huueeck; Seory too? lololololol Then Aquarium or Stadium World… Wait, Ruin will come with Failure something, right?」

「ParkRoaches: Who are they again? lol」

「WanduWandya: Hmm… lol I don’t even remember….」

「neutaaaa: Yeah Yeah Failure Mangs alliance confirmed. Looks like they’re participating in the Capture War this time, they’re showing off in Isis right now lololololololol」

「Me: Lololololol already took one out heh」

「Captain Poseidon: Right… They’re wasting their effort. They should just take one more stronghold…^^」

The guild that captured Isis, the largest city last year, was Poseidon. And they won by a mere 800 points. As a main city should be, it had high traffic and many affiliated strongholds, so capturing Isis once yielded guild funds that made the invested money worth it.

At the time, the 2nd place guild was Melody, and the 3rd place guild was Seory. But if Seory came in an alliance with another guild, it was obvious their military strength would increase enormously. So it might be better to give up on Isis from the start and aim for another city. But….

「Me: Should we form an alliance too?」

「Halloween Eggplant: ???With who」

「Me: With Melody.」

At the mention of Melody, silence fell over the group chat for a moment. No one would have thought of it. Poseidon didn’t socialize with other guilds and hadn’t recruited new members in a while, often being called a stagnant guild. So they tended to try to solve everything within the guild using only the guild members’ potential.

「WanduWandya: Right, Kkal-nim is friends with the sub-guild master there lololololol」

「Halloween Eggplant: You’re friends with the guild master too.」

「Halloween Eggplant: Sunbal even asked to be put in a party once, so whatever lol」

「Ji9star: I’m… I’m so grateful Cat-nim is in our guild… You should game like Cat-nim, keeping both a wife and a concubine….」

「Halloween Eggplant: No wonder he’s called Chair Cat lol.」

「ParkRoaches: Chair Cat lololololol Is that from Chair King? lololololololol」

It wasn’t an illusion that his nicknames were increasing one by one.

「Ji9star: I have such goosebumps right now, I literally got chicken skin all over lololololol Thinking about winning again woke me right up;」

「WanduWandya: LMAOOOOOOO Let’s go Isis~」

「al0ha: Let’s go~~~^0^」

「Ji9star: LMAOOOOOOOOOOO switch to combat mode LMAO」

The reactions were positive. Even thinking back on it, it was genius. How could I come up with the brilliant idea of forming an alliance with Melody right away? I’m undoubtedly a genius. Kyung-soo curled up the corner of his mouth, found No-eul’s number in his contacts, and asked again in the chat room.

「Me: Should I ask if they have an alliance guild?」

「neutaaaa: For the sake of victory… yeah」

「Captain Poseidon: If you could just ask if they have one, I’ll log in this afternoon and send the mail.」

「Me: Ah, to Sunbal?」

「Captain Poseidon: Yes.」

「Me: kk」

「Halloween Eggplant: LMAOOOO Of course the Cat Concubine would say ok lol」

「Me: Ptooey」

「Halloween Eggplant: Om nom nom」

「Ji9star: Eww gross」

He exited the chat room and called the number he had pre-entered. After a short ringtone, No-eul answered the phone.

“What are you doing on a weekend?”

It was noisy around him. He could even hear the sound of keyboard typing. No-eul was silent for a moment as if hesitating, then answered vaguely.

-… PC bang.

“Are you gaming? Then is Jung Min-jae with you too?”

“Working hard since morning. Put him on.”

“Fine then. I’m logging in now too.”

The computer was already on; all he had to do was enter his ID and password. The BGM from the main login screen flowed through the speakers. It sounded like No-eul dropped his phone, with a clattering noise followed by the sound of him picking it up again.

“Why? Are you hanging up?”

It was No-eul who hung up first. What’s the rush? Kyung-soo selected channel 3 and logged into the game.

‘Lord Meowmeowmeow has logged into the game.’

[Guild] Lord Meowmeowmeow: heyo

[Guild] neutaaaa: heyo

[Friend] Spade Queen: Helloo~

‘Cheon No-eul has logged into the game.’

[Friend] Lord Meowmeowmeow: What’s with you?

[Friend] Cheon No-eul: I suddenly pressed Alt+F4 and the game closed T_T

[Friend] Lord Meowmeowmeow: Suddenly?

[Friend] Spade Queen: LMAOOOOOOOOOOO Alt+F4 LMAOOOO

[Friend] Lord Meowmeowmeow: Why are you laughing?

[Friend] Spade Queen: I saw him turning it off from beside him LMAOOOO it’s funny lol

[Friend] Lord Meowmeowmeow: Ah Min-jae, I have something to ask… Melody is doing the Siege Warfare too, right?

[Friend] Cheon No-eul: Of course!

Kyung-soo blinked. No-eul probably didn’t even know what Siege Warfare was. There hadn’t been a single instance of that event since he started the game. He just seemed to be expressing his determination to participate in this new event no matter what.

[Friend] Lord Meowmeowmeow: What do you know, this is a Guild War? You can’t do it.

[Friend] Cheon No-eul: Ah….

[Friend] Spade Queen: LMAOOOOOOOOOOO noob LMAOOOO do it LMAO

[Friend] Lord Meowmeowmeow: Isis?

[Friend] Spade Queen: yep

[Friend] Lord Meowmeowmeow: Do you have an alliance guild?

[Friend] Spade Queen: As if we would? Probably no one wants to form an alliance with us LMAO because of who LMAO

[Friend] Lord Meowmeowmeow: Ah LMAO I guess so

[Friend] Cheon No-eul: LMAO….

Everything was perfect. Great! Kyung-soo pulled up the corner of his mouth, sent ‘They said they don’t have an alliance guild!’ to the guild chat room, and began his operation to coax Melody.

[Friend] Lord Meowmeowmeow: So what if….

[Friend] Lord Meowmeowmeow: …if we propose an alliance, would Sunset accept it?

[Friend] Spade Queen: Poseidon? Hold on

[Friend] Spade Queen: LMAO he says he will

[Friend] Lord Meowmeowmeow: Yeah! The Guild Master said he’ll send the mail later this evening!

[Friend] Spade Queen: yep LMAOOOOOOOOO

Feeling immensely pleased, Kyung-soo invited No-eul to a party and focused on Power-leveling him until he said he was going home and logged off.

After submitting the alliance guild application through the event NPC, an ‘Alliance Guild Alliance Room’ accessible to members of both guilds was created. It was the same map as the guild room, but the event NPC stood smiling brightly in the very center, and the Guild Emblems drawn on the flags were different. The emblems of Melody and Poseidon automatically merged, with colorful musical notes bubbling up from a wave-shaped icon.

[All] Ji9star: Helloo

[All] supercool: heyo

[All] Seol-yeong: heyo

Users began entering the Alliance Room one by one. There were Named users he’d seen coming and going in town, and also users he’d never seen before, probably those who only did raids. If you planned strategies or had conversations on a regular map, other guilds could overhear. Hence, the Alliance Room for allied guilds was opened. It was a system for the absolute worst-case scenario. Like Poseidon, Melody hadn’t accepted new members for months, so there was no need to worry about potential spies.

[All] supercool: Gasp! Guild Master, hello!!!!!

[All] Seol-yeong: Welcome!!!

[All] Aslehn: You have arrived! Please take good care of us again today!

[All] Sunset: ?

As soon as Sunset entered the Alliance Room, a line of formal greetings appeared. They were noticeably more respectful compared to the casual ‘heyo’ greetings when other users entered.

[Guild] Ji9star: …? Why are they like that? Do you always serve Guild Masters like that?

[Guild] Captain Poseidon: No way….

[Guild] WanduWandya: I don’t think they’d even act like that for a mafia boss….

[Guild] neutaaaa: Nah….

[Guild] Kongpatjwiji: Try putting yourself in their shoes LMAO I think I’d act like that too if Sunset were the Guild Master LMAO

[Guild] WanduWandya: Ah… I’m convinced.

[Guild] Ji9star: I’ve only seen the Cat Concubine version of Sunset, so seeing the Guild Master version for the first time feels awkward -_-;

[Guild] Lord Meowmeowmeow: /w stfu1

[Guild] Lord Meowmeowmeow: Must be a joke LMAO

[Guild] Ji9star: T_T

[Guild] neutaaaa: Dude, your whisper is off.

[Guild] Ji9star: This is absurd. In a 21st-century democratic nation, we can’t even call a Cat Concubine a Cat Concubine?

He had often seen Sunset joking around with the Vice Guild Master, Jung Min-jae, right beside him. The Sunset he’d gotten to know recently didn’t seem as vicious as the rumors suggested.

[All] Sunset: Is that all for your last words?

Kyung-soo, who had typed up to ‘Sunset is human too, he even jokes and pl-‘, pressed the backspace key hard and erased what he was writing.

[All] Lord Meowmeowmeow: wtf last words;

[All] Lord Meowmeowmeow: You’re the real gangster boss T_T

Upon checking, he realized it was the all chat. Sunset had turned his character’s direction and was looking at Kyung-soo. His entire body suddenly stiffened.

[All] Lord Meowmeowmeow: Ah mistake sry

After sending the words in a desperate attempt to recover, he let out a hollow laugh. To anyone watching, it was clearly a remark targeting Sunset.

[Guild] Lord Meowmeowmeow: Ah…ah…T_TT_TT_TT_TT_T

[Guild] WanduWandya: LMAOOOOOOOOOOO Please check where you’re typing before you send LMAOOOO

[Guild] Kongpatjwiji: Why do you always make mistakes with that kind of thing LMAOOOOOOOOOOO

[Guild] Lord Meowmeowmeow: What if I say it wasn’t about him??

[Guild] Ji9star: Who would believe that? Pathetic.

[Guild] Lord Meowmeowmeow: kk I’ll just stfu1 T_T

[Guild] neutaaaa: Saw your last words well…^^ Looks like Cat-nim will soon be lying dead from radiation exposure too.

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Seems like you’ll get crushed into a star shape T_T

[Guild] Captain Poseidon: Oof….

[Guild] Lord Meowmeowmeow: Ah, I’m screwed.

[Guild] Ji9star: LMAOOOOOOO last words LMAO

Whether Melody members were also gradually talking amongst themselves in guild chat, nothing appeared in the all chat for a while. Inside Poseidon, they were discussing the topic, ‘What if the Guild Master changed to Sunset?’.

[All] Seol-yeong: I have something to clarify seriously.

[All] Halloween Eggplant: Huh?

[All] Seol-yeong: LMAOOOOOOOOOOO Please correct the record that we don’t normally greet people like this LMAOOOOO

[All] Halloween Eggplant: Who?

[Guild] Ji9star: Must be the Sunset bastard.

[All] Seol-yeong: Oops… that’s a secret~! >_< (Damn it)

[Guild] Ji9star: Bingo LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[All] Spade Queen: LMAOOOOOOOOO Hey, if you write it like that, everyone will know LMAO

[All] Seol-yeong: You happy to know? If you don’t raise my rank back, I’ll reveal your real name too.

[Guild] Ji9star: Blackmailing with rank, I see… reminds me of someone.

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Hehe who?

[Guild] Ji9star: Sunset…!

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Hehe.

Shortly after, Seol-yeong started a countdown.

[All] Seol-yeong: 3

[All] Seol-yeong: 2

[All] Sunset: Raising rank.

[All] Seol-yeong: 1 Thank you.

[All] Lord Meowmeowmeow: LMAOOOOOOOOOOO Congratulations LMAO

[All] Seol-yeong: Yep hehe.

[All] Ji9star: LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO congrats congrats

[All] supercool: That’s right, it was just a joke^^ (Is this how you do it?)

[All] Seol-yeong: We still hold a bit of a personal grudge against him… So we’d appreciate it if everyone cleared up the misunderstanding… (Yes, you’re doing well.)

So it was a joke after all. For a moment, I almost got flustered thinking they normally received greetings like that. Well, why would anyone try to enforce military discipline in a mere game….

[Guild] Ji9star: Real name why?? Does anyone know Sunset’s real name?

[Guild] Lord Meowmeowmeow: As if LMAOOOOO

[Guild] Ji9star: I wonder… His real name must be really tacky, huh LMAO I wonder what it is, I’m curious.

[Guild] neutaaaa: So petty LMAO Am I the only one suddenly feeling a sense of familiarity? He’s no different from our Guild Master LMAOOOO

[Guild] Captain Poseidon: ? Calling for a vote to forcibly expel neutaaaa.

[Guild] WanduWandya: Oops….

[Guild] Ji9star: Honey, goodbye T_T

[Guild] neutaaaa: I spoke wrongly about the Vice Guild Master T_T

‘neutaaaa has been demoted to Regular Guild Member.’

[Guild] neutaaaa: LMAO fck1 T_T Guild Master, the Vice Guild Master is abusing his power T_TT_TT_TT_T

[Guild] Captain Poseidon: Power is meant to be used.

[Guild] neutaaaa: T_T

Playing around with the Vice Guild Master’s rank wasn’t a one or two-day thing; everyone considered it trivial. Amidst this, a yellow whisper message suddenly popped up among the orange guild chats.

[Whisper] Sunset: Cat-nim, you’re not misunderstanding, are you? T_T

[Whisper] Sunset: The kids were just joking around.

“…….”

Why is he explaining this to me? Kyung-soo frowned, feeling puzzled. But if he reported this straight to the guild, it was obvious they’d just brush it off and tease him, calling him Cat Concubine this and that.

[Whisper] Lord Meowmeowmeow: I was joking too, srysry

[Whisper] Sunset: That’s a relief then ^^

[All] Spade Queen: Shall we slowly start the practice game?

[All] Captain Poseidon: Yes~ Let’s have a match between the guilds first.

[All] Spade Queen: We’re probably going to win hehe.

[All] Seol-yeong: That oppie, if he acts like that and loses, it’ll be really freaking embarrassing tsk tsk.

[All] Halloween Eggplant: Seems you’re confident.

[All] Ji9star: Really? LMAO We totally wrecked you guys last year LMAO ㅇㅅㅇ

At the word ‘wrecked’, Melody laughed with ‘LMAO’. Some users even used angry emoticons, clearly properly provoked.

[All] Sunset: By a one-kill difference LMAO If we had just one more second, it would’ve been different!!

[All] Lord Meowmeowmeow: We’ll find out if we try, let’s go.

[All] Halloween Eggplant: Losers always have a lot to say, you know.

[All] Seol-yeong: Just out of personal curiosity, when is your hair coming back?

[All] Halloween Eggplant: Exactly, damn it.

Halloween Eggplant still couldn’t access the Makeup Shop. But he was trying hard to create a look that suited his baldness. Wearing a straw hat and dressed colorfully in a resort style, he flared up at even the mere mention of the letter ‘D’ for baldness.

Captain Poseidon spoke to the NPC Jeneseu, and not long after, red lights came on in the Alliance Room.

‘You have selected Practice Guild PVP Domination ver. (Isis). Points earned in practice matches will not be reflected in the guild ranking.’

‘Moving to the event map.’

Soon, after a few seconds of loading screen, a game map set against the backdrop of Illusion’s representative town, Isis, appeared.

‘Please construct the Citadel.’

If you break as many floating bricks as possible, the Citadel is built automatically. Short-range dealers targeted the ones coming up from the ground, while long-range dealers climbed the Citadel under construction and aimed for the bricks in the air. After building the Citadel, you must install Subsidiary Buildings to protect it; the key is choosing these well and deploying guild members effectively.

[Party] Lord Meowmeowmeow: What Subsidiary Buildings did we build??

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: Last year, one Hospital and two Supply Depots….

[Party] Lord Meowmeowmeow: Then how many slots are left?

[Party] Ji9star: Please leave one slot for me. I need to install obstacles too, since we have to step on them and move around.

[Party] Captain Poseidon: Don’t install too many right next to the Citadel. Melody will step on them and climb up too.

He didn’t remember well. The guild members seemed to be in the same boat. But by playing practice games, what’s needed would probably start coming back to mind.

[Party] neutaaaa: Personally, I thought last year’s Melody match was the most bullshit, but I don’t know why….

[Party] Captain Poseidon: Ah, I remember. It felt like there were dozens of Ji9stars….

[Party] Lord Meowmeowmeow: Was that so?

[Party] Ji9star: LMAOOOOOOO Yeah, everyone was Moving so much it was freaking annoying;;; But I’m the only one doing that T_TT_T

[Party] Captain Poseidon: And surprisingly, Sunset was maybe… a bit faster than Ji9star?

[Party] Ji9star: I am not the me of last year LMAO

[Party] ParkRoaches: I’ll take care of the Zone 1 buffs and heals. Dibs on mine ㅇ_< Other healers, please take the remaining spots as you see fit.

While building up the Subsidiary Buildings, he thought back to last year’s Siege Warfare. It was true that Melody had been particularly tricky. It felt hard to predict, but the detailed memories didn’t come back. It was because they were frantically responding and just killing every user they saw, only narrowly winning afterwards.

‘1 minute until battle starts. Please prepare for battle.’

The construction time for the Citadel and Subsidiary Buildings ended. Soon, a solemn BGM flowed out, and the monitor border flashed red.

‘Combatants must destroy the enemy Citadel and occupy the area. To secure victory for your side, find the command center inside the Citadel and destroy the Power Source.’

’30 seconds until battle starts. Please wait for the next command at your assigned positions.’

[Party] al0ha: Guys, are Defense Team and Attack Team the same as last year?? Do I just stand here?

[Party] neutaaaa: yep.

[Party] Ji9star: yeah.

The guild members, reviving last year’s memories, moved to their respective positions. Healers bustled about applying buffs. A shield activated in front of the fortress walls due to King Saber, and Knights Spear and Heroes like Ji9star were preparing to jump down and charge out as soon as the game started.

[Party] Lord Meowmeowmeow: Gasp Zone 2 middle is empty.

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: I was just about to say that LMAO Please send just one more defender to Zone 2.

[Party] WanduWandya: Who’s dropping out? T_TT_T We need more attackers than defenders T_TT_T

No one stepped forward rashly. Kyung-soo, who had been pacing left and right, had no choice but to volunteer and raise his hand.

[Party] Lord Meowmeowmeow: Then I’ll take Zone 2 defense as well.

[Party] Captain Poseidon: Both attack and defense? Are you sure you’ll be okay?

It wasn’t a matter of being okay or not. If he didn’t do it, a hole would appear in the defense line of the Citadel’s central section. And blocking attacks blindly isn’t proper defense.

[Party] Lord Meowmeowmeow: If I just kill them all, isn’t that defense? What….

[Party] neutaaaa: ???????

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: Huh? LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Party] WanduWandya: …….

[Party] Ji9star: O_O….

[Party] Lord Meowmeowmeow: Is offense the best defense? There’s a saying like that, you know.

[Party] Captain Poseidon: There is one, but….

[Party] Ji9star: I’m sorryㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

[Party] neutaaaa: ……ㅠ….

[Party] Catmeowmeow: Here we go again, ganging up again;

[Party] neutaaaa: Cat-nim hung out with Melody and became Sunset 2

[Party] Catmeowmeow: ????

[Party] neutaaaa: Sorry

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: lol lollol lol

Since the defense line was adequately established anyway, all that was left to do was to catch and burn the gnats that rushed to attack. The guild members were starting up again, trying to gang up on him. Kyung-soo, who was about to add an excuse, lowered the chat window at the words that there were 10 seconds left before the battle started.

‘The battle has begun!’

A loud trumpet sounded, signaling the start of the battle. The attack team, which accounted for about 70% of the guild members, rushed forward busily. The subsidiary building, Supply Depot Lv. 3, wriggled and produced flame robots and catapult robots. Support robots went out through the gate. If they arrived safely in front of the opponent’s fortress without being destroyed, they would exert great power.

[Party] Ji9star: Hahaha what is this?

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: Where do you have time to chat?

[Party] Ji9star: ?I’m already in front of the fortress

[Party] Catmeowmeow: So?

[Party] Ji9star: It’s empty here lololol The castle is empty lol

In siege PVP, it is common to divide into defense and attack teams. The ratio and team composition are free, but there was no case where not a single person was assigned to defend the castle.

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: Don’t lie

[Party] neutaaaa: It’s real, there’s no one lololol Do I smell or something?ㅠlol lollol lol

[Party] Catmeowmeow: No one? Not even one person?

[Party] Ji9star: Ah, a few people are coming back hahaha

[Party] neutaaaa: It’s Sunset, I’ll take care of him

[Party] Ji9star: Okay

‘Ji9star has begun attacking the enemy’s fortress!’

[Party] Catmeowmeow: …??

This development was impossible if there was even one person defending the castle. Considering that everyone went on the attack, there was not a single user in sight.

[Party] neutaaaa: I think the Sunset bastard planted a bomb on us just now lol lollol lol It didn’t explode, did it miss?

[Party] Ji9star: Seems like it, haha. I think they forgot how to do siege warfare, haha.

[Party] neutaaaa: Except for us two, the rest are blocking Melody in the middle.

‘Kong has died. 20 seconds until revival….[Party] Kong Red Bean Rat: You guys talk too muchㅡㅡ Destroy it quickly

When one of Poseidon’s users died, Melody’s points increased by 300. The character’s revival takes place in the hospital built as an ancillary building. It was better not to die if possible, as you had to travel a long distance again.

[Party] Ji9star: As for defense… do whatever you want^^ We’re going to break the castle lol
lol
Kyung-soo, who was nervous in front of the fortress, ran straight ahead to figure out what was going on. Halloween Eggplant, who was using ‘Wall of Light’, followed behind him. The closer he got to the middle ground, the clearer the sound of skills being used became.

‘The destruction of the enemy fortress is in progress. Current durability 80%’

Melody and Poseidon were entangled and fighting messily on the central bridge. The HP gauges under their feet were all at the bottom, to the point where no one could be singled out. Someone might know the weakness of King Saber’s ‘Wall of Light’, so he couldn’t recklessly dig into it.

‘But I can’t just do nothing.’

Kyung-soo joined the fray with a long-range attack using a Bazooka from behind the barrier set up by Halloween Eggplant. However, because all of Melody’s guild members were constantly moving like Ji9star, the actual damage dealt was minimal. At that moment, Sunset, who had been leisurely floating in the air, stretched out his arms.

‘Time Bomb, activate!’

Small clocks appeared above the heads of the Poseidons, and the clock hands spun rapidly. Then, with a pop, they exploded all at once.

‘al0ha has died. 20 seconds until revival….’

‘yolo has died. 20 seconds until revival….’

‘Enemy Sunset has begun a merciless massacre!’

‘neutaaaa has died. 20 seconds until revival….’

‘Ji9star has died. 20 seconds until revival….’

‘Honeymoon has died. 20 seconds until revival….’

‘Enemy Seol-yeong has begun a merciless massacre!’

‘Enemy Sunset’s shadow is stained with the blood of the enemy!’

In an instant, half of the dealers were swept away and killed. Since revival also takes time, losing a lot of power at once is a huge loss.

[Party] al0ha: That guy needs to have his Time Bomb banned!!!! I almost killed them allㅠㅠㅠㅜㅜㅜ

[Party] Ji9star: Huh… lol You know what? They only have a hospital as an ancillary building, that’s all they built lololol

[Party] Honeymoon: Huh? Then the rest….

[Party] Ji9star: Well, I don’t know if they poured all the remaining slots into the fortress durability… No matter how much I hit it, the gauge doesn’t decreaseㅡㅡdamn it.

[Party] neutaaaa: Hahahahaha The guy who got banned for Time Bomb is still using it so well;

[Party] WanduWandya: I almost diedㅠㅠ;

A few who barely survived the Time Bomb came behind the barrier to recover their health. However, Melody did not even bother to deal with the Wall of Light and the dealer group hiding behind it. Sunset scattered starlight and flew through the air. Then, the remaining guild members too easily stepped on the obstacles and began to jump towards Poseidon’s fortress.

“……”

The way they were all moving separately, not gathered in one place, made it seem like they were all playing individual battles rather than a team. As he gradually experienced it, his memories began to come back to him.

Last time too, Melody chose ‘charge recklessly’ rather than the ‘defend the fortress’ strategy. Melody was not just an unpredictable group, as the guild members said. That was something that could not be predicted. No matter how he looked at it, it was not a planned movement, and even so, it was too sloppy to be called a strategy. He had a strong feeling that all the guild members were moving as they pleased.

[Party] Catmeowmeow: Vice Guild Master, go back to the defense line and all the dealers go destroy the fortress

[Party] Ji9star: ㅠㅠI’ll join as soon as I revive

The surviving dealers, including the Sorcerer WanduWandya, ran towards the enemy camp. Melody, who had already left, did not particularly stop them.

‘Kong Red Bean Mouse has died. 20 seconds until revival….’

‘The destruction of the enemy fortress is in progress. Current durability 50%’

‘From 50% durability, the damage of support troops is not applied.’

From 50% fortress durability, the damage of support troops such as flame robots and catapult robots is not applied. In other words, it can only be destroyed by using skills. The supply depot had now lost its role.

[Party] Captain Poseidon: Hmm… From the next game, I think we can lower the level of the supply depot a bit. It consumes too many slots for something that’s only useful in the early stages.

Kyung-soo nodded silently. Melody seemed to lack healers, so the recovery speed was slow. The King Saber and Gunners killed Melody’s healers first. Except for Sunset, who was not within the range of the job skill, the remaining users were pulled to one place by the hook. The healers in the guild, who had been working together for a long time, filled the half-reduced HP without even being told.

Melody scattered in all directions. But they seemed to have forgotten that the Valkyrie skill range is also wide.

‘Hooking Star!’

Critical damage was dealt due to buffs and blessings. Colorful stars scattered along with the hook.

‘Enemy Spade Queen has died.’

‘Catmeowmeow has begun a merciless massacre!’

‘Enemy Seol-yeong has died.’

‘Captain Poseidon has begun a merciless massacre!’

‘Enemy Lilian has died.’

‘Enemy Aslehn has died.’

‘Catmeowmeow’s shadow is stained with the blood of the enemy!’

‘Halloween Eggplant has died. 20 seconds until revival….’

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: What kind of siege is this, it’s a brawl lololol It’s ridiculous

‘Sunset has declared Captain Poseidon as the target!’

‘Judgment of the Sky!’

As Sunset shouted the skill name, arrows of light that appeared in the air poured down. However, the other Poseidons were not harmed at all. Captain Poseidon, who was targeted, fell without even being able to use his skills due to the continuous attacks.

‘Captain Poseidon has died. 20 seconds until revival….’

[Party] Captain Poseidon: To die to a Moon Fairy is a disgrace to the family….

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: ~Disgrace to the Family Guild~

[Party] ParkRoaches: Sunset’s job is not Moon Fairy, it’s Sunset

[Party] Ji9star: Attention Everyone, you’re all forgetting something~!!!

[Party] Ji9star: We’re allied with Melodyㅋlol lollol lollol lol

[Party] Ji9star: [Breaking News] Sunset is… also an ally….

[Party] neutaaaa: That was the most chilling thing I’ve heard this year. Thank you.

[Party] Ji9star: Anyway, what I mean is

[Party] Ji9star: We won’t be pissed off, no matter what other guilds do~!!! We’re on the same side!

[Party] Catmeowmeow: lol If you make our castle empty like now, can we really not be pissed off?

[Party] neutaaaa: Empty castle lol lol

[Party] Ji9star: ….

[Party] Ji9star: No, I’m so pissed off, I take back everything I saidㅡㅡ;

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: Hahahahahaha

[Party] Catmeowmeow: Hahahahahaha

[Party] Captain Poseidon: Hahahahahaha

[Party] neutaaaa: Do you have anger issues? Hahahahahaha

Because of Melody, who just charged recklessly, Poseidon’s strategy, except for the defense line, was also rendered useless. The battle became chaotic. Melody was too busy dealing with the guild members who rushed at them rather than destroying the fortress.

[Party] Catmeowmeow: Is the Time Bomb cooldown 5 minutes?

But there was something that had been bothering him since earlier. Sunset was only giving buffs to the guild members rather than performing the role of a dealer.

[Party] neutaaaa: lol lol Huh? lol 5 minutes?lol lollol lollol lol
[Party] neutaaaa: If it was 5 minutes, he wouldn’t have gotten the Massacre Maniac title;

[Party] Catmeowmeow: Never mind….

Well, no matter how long the skill cooldown is, it wouldn’t go over minutes…. Kyung-soo stepped on the obstacles and fired a Bazooka at Sunset. Then Melody’s King Saber jumped up, activating a shield. The one-time shield was destroyed by the attack. Sunset, who was almost attacked, didn’t even counterattack, but cheerfully used an emoticon that said ‘Hello!’ and went down.

“……”

Had this happened before…? He searched his memory, feeling somewhat familiar. Kyung-soo frowned.

‘The enemy’s solid fortress has been destroyed! Destroy the power source of the command post and achieve final victory!’

‘Ji9star has discovered the command post! The shape of the power source is revealed!’

‘Catmeowmeow has died. 20 seconds until revival….’

It was Spade Queen, Jung Min-jae, who killed Kyung-soo, who had been careless.

[Global] Spade Queen: Hahaha

[Global] Seol-yeong: He’ll get hit if he keeps doing that

20 seconds, 19 seconds, 18 seconds until revival…. The numbers decreased slowly. As soon as Kyung-soo entered spectator mode, he leaned back on the chair and let out a long sigh. He was completely out of his mind. The skill effects were overlapping, and Melody and Poseidon were flying around, and even the skill speech bubbles were overlapping, so it was difficult to distinguish what was what.

At that point, Poseidon was still destroying the command post power source. Melody was only focusing on attacking, killing the dealers who were reviving and coming back to life rather than destroying the fortress. When the power source was 95% destroyed, Kyung-soo looked up at the points. The score difference was bigger than he thought.

“This won’t do….”

Even if he added up the points earned by destroying the power source, it was a score difference that he couldn’t win. He had to stop destroying the power source right away and earn points with the enemy’s deaths to win.

‘The power source of the enemy command tower has been destroyed.’

The power source was completely destroyed when he realized that it was already too late.

‘The battle has ended. PVP points are tallied.

[Party] Ji9star: Hahaha

[Party] neutaaaa: We won^0^

Poseidon, who was cheering for victory, closed their mouths only after the word ‘defeat’ was imprinted on the monitor.

[Party] al0ha: ???

[Party] Ji9star: Ah, the total points…lol lollol lol

[Party] neutaaaa: What a shitty game… We destroyed the castle, so why did they win!!

[Party] Ji9star: They beat us with an empty castle… It’s so ridiculous^-^… We even destroyed the castle and lost hahaha

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: There are people who didn’t come in today, so we didn’t do our best either;

[Party] Ji9star: But it’s an empty castleㅠㅠ We lost with attack 100 defense 0 sob It’s ridiculous

[Party] Captain Poseidon: I think we focused too much on defense. The number of guild members is not the same as Melody’s.

[Party] neutaaaa: Ughㅡㅡ Then it’s the fault of the defense team

[Party] Halloween Eggplant: Do you want to be downgraded again?

[Party] Catmeowmeow: LOL Conscientiously, the attack team that died fourteen times, come out voluntarily haha

The battle report recorded the highest number of deaths as ’14’.

[Party] neutaaaa: Fourteen times?? Who is it, I’m also like that

[Party] neutaaaa: Ah, it’s me haha

[Party] Ji9star: 14 times lol You gave away points, gave them away

[Party] neutaaaa: Alright! Let’s not blame anyone!! This is because we all did badly together~!

[Party] al0ha: lol lollol lol

When the practice game ended, all the guild members returned to the union room. When the solemn BGM of the battlefield changed to a peaceful music box sound, Melody also obediently put away their weapons like gentle sheep.

[Global] Ji9star: Who came up with the empty castle strategy?

[Global] Spade Queen: Empty castle? What’s that?

[Global] Catmeowmeow: How can you not have a single person defending?

[Global] Seol-yeong: Ah, it was empty…?Hahaha

[Global] Catmeowmeow: Who really came up with the strategy, haha

[Global] Sunset: Why

[Global] Catmeowmeow: I’m curious because it’s so innovative

[Global] Sunset: Me

[Global] Seol-yeong: Whisper/That’s all nonsense, we don’t make strategies^^

[Global] Seol-yeong: That crazy Sunset guy lowered my grade again;

[Guild] WanduWandya: Wow, amazing, Melody also calls him that crazy Sunset guy, I suddenly feel so close internally^^

[Global] Aslehn: Why would you say that

[Global] Seol-yeong: ;

[Global] Spade Queen: Hahaha We usually don’t make strategies, that’s why we didn’t build any ancillary buildings hahaha

“……”

He couldn’t even laugh at the fact that he had been miserably defeated by a guild that didn’t even make strategies. He had somewhat guessed that it wasn’t a planned movement, but it wasn’t even moving freely within a set framework.

[Global] Catmeowmeow: Then will you continue to do it without a strategy?

[Global] Sunset: No, we have to match with Poseidonㅇㅅㅇ

[Global] Seol-yeong: You mean match with Meowㅋ

[Global] Ji9star: .o0(Cat Concubine)

[Global] Catmeowmeow: Damn

[Global] Seol-yeong: Cat Concubine?

[Global] Aslehn: Cat Concubine lol? Concubine?

[Global] Seol-yeong: Hahaha

[Global] Ji9star: You know, there was a guy named Cheon No-eul who was really good at stalking with a bounty on him, that guy is a Cat Bullyㅜ

Why is Cheon No-eul being mentioned here? Now they’re not just ganging up on him within the guild, they’re even spreading strange words to other guilds.

[Global] Spade Queen: Ah lol lollol lol

[Global] Seol-yeong: Cat Concubine lololollololollololollolololㅋㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

[Global] Ji9star: Everyone’s laughing so hardㅋ Is what I said that funny? Haha (proud)

[Global] Catmeowmeow: –

[Global] Sunset: True true, it’s not that funny?

[Global] ParkRoaches: Sucker siding with him

[Global] Ji9star: Yeah, next Cat Concubine ^^

[Global] Sunset: There is no next concubine… if there was, I would have killed them

[Global] Aslehn: lololollolololㅋㅋㅋThat’s a pretty brutal joke

[Global] Sunset: Does it sound like a joke?

[Global] Aslehn: No

[Global] Halloween Eggplant: I knew I did well inviting you to that party back then ^^

[Global] al0ha: (Popcorn)

[Global] Catmeowmeow: Yeah, let’s see how far you goㅋㅋㅋ

Kyung-soo said that and pressed the tap key to switch weapons. He knew the attack wouldn’t land anyway, but he wanted it to look like a kind of threat. Clack, as he pointed the muzzle towards Poseidon, everyone jumped up onto the upper platform and sat down.

[Global] neutaaaa: lolololㅋAh, what did we do wrongㅋlololol

[Global] Ji9star: Rightㅋlolololㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Global] Catmeowmeow: You guys are the worst, damn it

[Global] Sunset: That’s right

Kyung-soo even typed ‘Shut u’, but then he thought it might be too much to tell someone he wasn’t even close to to shut up, so he erased it and conveyed his meaning with a slightly milder word.

[Global] Catmeowmeow: Sorry, but please be quiet

[Global] Sunset: Yes

[Global] supercool: I’m crying T_T T_T T_T T_T T_T T_T lololollololollolololㅋㅋㅋ Catwhatever: Cat Concubine, attend to me

[Global] Sunset: Yes, Your Majesty♡

[Global] Catmeowmeow: Damn

[Global] Seol-yeong: Damn lololollololol

[Global] Spade Queen: lololollololollololol T_T T_T T_T T_T T_T

[Global] Catmeowmeow: ㅋㅋㅋ I’m seriously asking, are you crazy?

[Global] Sunset: Nope ㅇㅅㅇ?

[Global] Catmeowmeow: Sorry, but then are you out of your mind?

[Global] Sunset: Nope nope

[Global] WanduWandya: Ah, that’s not honorific, Cat-nim is doing that againㅋlololollololollololollolololㅋㅋ

[Global] Seol-yeong: Ahㅋㅋㅋㅋ Are you crazy? Yo? lololollololol

[Global] neutaaaa: He’s doing that againㅋlololollololollolololㅋㅋ

Kyung-soo knew that Sunset was a bit of a madman, but he didn’t know he was also talented at driving people crazy, besides being crazy himself. And there’s no good that will come from getting involved with me…. I don’t like it either. Kyung-soo listlessly rested his chin on his hand and watched the chat window rapidly scroll down with only idle chatter instead of talk about practice games.

[Global] ParkRoaches: I kinda like that Melody, his reactions are goodㅋ

[Global] Ji9star: Me too

[Global] WanduWandya: I guess because I’m an attention whore, it’s so thrilling….

[Global] Aslehn: Hahahahahahahahahahaha So funny hahah

[Global] Ji9star: I’m so happy hehe I dedicate this glory to C-KK (meaning Cheon No-eul Bully)

[Global] Catmeowmeow: Haha Thanks, damn it

[Global] Seol-yeong: Hahahahahahaha Ah seriously damn hahahahahahahahaha

[Global] Aslehn: Cat-nim, then who do you like better, ♥Cat Concubine vs Cat Bully♥? If you don’t choose, Valkyrie will be nerfed

Nerfed? I don’t like either of them, what should I do…? Kyung-soo seriously pondered and chose the slightly better one.

[Global] Catmeowmeow: Cheon No-eul is better, he seems relatively nice

[Global] Aslehn: Is it the difference between burning trash and non-burning trash?

[Global] Sunset: ㅋㅋAre you calling me trash right now?Aslehn: No….

[Global] Aslehn: Damn it, my rank is screwed, I’m Untouchable now;

[Global] Sunset: O_O?

[Global] Seol-yeong: Pat pat…ㅜㅜ

[Global] Catmeowmeow: I’m just saying that if I had to choose between the two….

[Global] Sunset: Am I not nice too?

Kyung-soo unknowingly hardened his face and became serious.

[Global] Catmeowmeow: Sorry, but I don’t know anything except that you’re good at the game

[Global] Sunset: ㅠㅠ

[Global] Spade Queen: He tried so hardㅋlololollololollolololㅋㅋㅋ

[Global] Seol-yeong: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋHe says sorry but says everything he wants to sayㅋlololollolololㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Global] Aslehn: Guild Masterㅠ Close your eyesㅠㅠ

[Global] Captain Poseidon: Cheon No-eul is nice? He’s a damn crazy bastard….

[Global] Ji9star: lololollolololㅋㅋCat Bully has ruined our Guild Master’s personality…ㅠㅠ

[Global] WanduWandya: I’ve seen the Guild Master curse twice, and both times it’s because of Cheon No-eul lololollololollolololㅋ

[Global] Aslehn: Ahㅋlololollolololㅋㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

[Global] Sunset: Sorry to interrupt the fun, but something came up and I have to leave^^

[Global] Spade Queen: Huh?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ We only did one practice game??

[Global] Sunset: Do it without me. Instead, I’ll come in early tomorrow, let’s keep doing practice games in teams in the afternoon.

Sunset said that and really logged off. Even after he left, his name was mentioned dozens of times, creating a position stuck between Cheon No-eul and Sunset. When the nickname Chair Cat came out, Melody once again sent a series of laughing consonants. The teasing and Melody joining in made it even more chaotic, but as always, he minimized the chat window and ignored it.

Kyung-soo looked at the captured battle report screen and scanned to see who had killed the most people in Melody. As befitting the title of Massacre Maniac, Sunset overwhelmingly took first place. Even with a 6-month hiatus, his original skills hadn’t gone anywhere. He didn’t know how that was possible with a job called Pretty Trash, but he had a strong feeling that if he asked, he would tell him in detail.

At that moment, Kyung-soo’s phone vibrated briefly.

「C-N: Kyung-soo hyung, do you have time now?」

「Me: Now?」

「C-N: I got movie tickets!」

It felt like he could hear No-eul’s voice in the message. Kyung-soo shook his head to shake off the voice. He was probably going to tell him to come out. He was still in his school uniform, but he didn’t want to go out. Kyung-soo replied without a second thought.

「Me: Sorry, I already saw it」

「C-N: I haven’t even said what movie it is yet…ㅠㅠ」

Oops, was I too harsh? I should have listened to what movie it was and then said I saw it….

「Me: What is it?」

「C-N: Beyond Heaven!」

「Me: I saw it yesterday, sorry」

「C-N: ㅠㅠ It hasn’t even been released yet….」

“……”

He had nothing to say. When he searched the internet, it really hadn’t been released yet. It even said that it was still being filmed without a set release date. He couldn’t believe that he knew the name of such a movie and brought it up.

「C-N: I’m passing by your house soon, play with me」

「Me: Huh? At this hour? What about your academy? You said you go every weekday?”C-N: Ah, I’m not going todayㅜ I told you I got movie tickets?” Go see a movie with me」

「Me: Don’t be ridiculousㅠ What do you mean you got them… you bought them」

「C-N: Correct! To be more precise, I’m going to buy them. I’ll give you the chance to see a movie with me as a reward. Congrats congrats」

It’s not a reward, it’s a punishment.

「Me: No, if you’re lonely, interlock your left and right hands and watch. “It’ll feel like you’re holding hands, it’ll be nice”

“C-N: No, I’m downstairs, come out”

It had been a long time since he had felt this feeling of talking to someone who wouldn’t listen.

Geez, how funny, as if I’d go out just because he called? But when he came to his senses, he was wearing a hoodie over his school uniform. As soon as he turned off the computer, a phone call came at the perfect time. Instead of answering the phone, Kyung-soo went down the stairs and called out to No-eul, who was looking at his phone in front of the lobby. He raised his head and looked at him.

“What?”

“……”

No-eul stared at Kyung-soo for a long time without saying anything, then smiled brightly and replied.

“It’s been too long.”

“Really? It hasn’t been that….”

“I missed you so much.”

“Oh? Oh, is that so.”

No-eul smiled again as if he was so happy with what he said, which left Kyung-soo speechless. Let’s go quickly, he said, putting his hand on his shoulder. Kyung-soo glanced down at the hand gripping his shoulder. He didn’t bother to shake it off. Because the air had gotten a lot cooler. He felt like he could hear No-eul’s breathing very clearly as he walked side by side next to him.

“Hyung, why are you so good at these games too?”

“I don’t know? I guess I was born with it.”

Kyung-soo, who had almost never lost a game that involved money, hummed a tune at the long-awaited compliment. Every time he pressed a small button, a green dinosaur made a bubble sound and spat out bubbles. He eventually survived until all three of No-eul’s lives were exhausted. He didn’t make it to the final round, but Kyung-soo proudly stood up from his chair with a proud face, having confidently placed his name in 3rd place. No-eul hugged the doll that Kyung-soo had won for him and stood up, following him. The elementary school students who had been watching from behind snatched the empty seats and put coins into the machine.

The arcade after dinner time was filled not only with students in school uniforms but also with couples. Of course, he and Cheon No-eul were not friends or anything similar to lovers, but there was nothing he could do. He had only pointed to the arcade across the street to comfort No-eul, who was sulking because the movie he wanted to see was sold out.

“Is it fun?”

“Yes.”

“We can watch the movie next time, so cheer up.”

“Will you watch it with me? I really barely made time….”

“I’m busy these days… but…. Ah, okay. Stop pretending to cry!”

He wasn’t that happy because he had been dragged here almost forcibly, but it wasn’t so bad to see the vitality on No-eul’s face. He remembered that his face wasn’t this radiant when he first saw him, so his academic stress must be no joke. That’s why I don’t study. Kyung-soo shook his head slightly.

“Do you want to do that next time? When those people leave.”

Kyung-soo raised his head and looked at where No-eul’s fingertip was pointing.

“That… I don’t like that.”

He would have been willing to hang out, but that was a dartboard. He might throw the darts that should be thrown at the target at his face again. If he threw all ten at me, it would definitely be a spectacle. Like a zoo monkey…. Kyung-soo took a step back with a disgusted look. No-eul whispered softly as if to reassure him.

“I won’t throw them at hyung. That looks dangerous.”

“…So you were thinking of throwing them?”

The tips of the darts were not suction cups like before, but needles that stuck into the target. He might die if he got hit. He did say he wouldn’t throw them, but he was very nervous because he shouldn’t underestimate Cheon No-eul. Then No-eul proposed another bet.

“The loser tells me one secret. How about it?”

“Why are you so eager to bet whenever you see me? Do you think I’m easy?”

“I wouldn’t say eager….”

“And! If you can say it, how is that a secret?”

“…Are you not confident after all?”

“Let’s do it!”

No-eul raised the corners of his lips. As soon as the couple who were flirting instead of playing darts left, Kyung-soo ran to the target. A staff member with a listless expression told him the precautions, but Kyung-soo was already burning with competitive spirit and didn’t listen properly. He was calculating how to throw the dart so that the needle would go into the center.

No-eul waved his hand first and threw the dart. Unlike his confident attitude, the dart that No-eul threw flew and stuck in the 5-point section. Kyung-soo saw 5 recorded on the right monitor and cheered inwardly, thinking he had a chance.

“Ah, that’s too bad.”

He clicked his tongue as he looked at the dart that had stuck in the 9-point section with a small difference. Even until the fifth round, No-eul didn’t show off great skills. But he didn’t show any signs of impatience either. He suddenly thought that he might be a guy who was far from competitive spirit, unlike himself.

-Amazing! 10 points!

-7 points!

-Amazing! 10 points!

-6 points!

-Amazing! 10 points!

-You’re pretty good? 9 points!

-Amazing! 10 points!

“……”

Thanks to No-eul getting 10 points four times in a row, he was now tied in the 9th round.

“Should we throw the last round with our eyes closed?”

Kyung-soo unknowingly turned to No-eul with a fierce face.

“What the hell are you saying?”

“Why? Isn’t that more fun?”

“Are you saying you can beat me even if you do it casually? I’m never going to close my eyes!”

“What’s that…. That’s no fun. Then I won’t close them either.”

No-eul also retorted aggressively. People had gathered around them. No-eul’s name was occasionally heard. Kyung-soo swallowed hard and watched No-eul take a solemn stance to throw.

-You’re pretty good? 9 points!

“Ah….”

No-eul let out a sigh. The people watching were more disappointed than Cheon No-eul, who had thrown the dart. Now there was only one chance left. The gazes that had been on No-eul shifted to Kyung-soo. He wasn’t nervous because he was used to being a spectacle. However, he couldn’t beat him unless he got 10 points. There was no reason to win by going this far, but he couldn’t allow himself to lose.

I’m just playing for a while, just for a while. There’s no reason to be serious. Kyung-soo aimed hard at the middle of the target with a very light heart. The dart that flew from his hand as if slipping went straight towards the target. The end of the needle stuck in the very center of the target and a trumpet sound came out. Kyung-soo clenched his fist tightly and stretched it towards the sky.

-Amazing! 10 points!

-Player 2 wins!

No-eul looked at Kyung-soo, who was happy as if he had the whole world, and clicked his tongue. And he looked at the sky and muttered as if he was really disappointed.

“That’s too bad. I was going to ask what color you were wearing today if I won.”

“What color what?”

“I’ll find out about that later. Anyway, I lost, so I’ll tell you one secret.”

No-eul smiled and waved his hand. It seemed like he was telling him to bring his ear closer.

“……”

As he approached No-eul, who had lowered his head, he smiled softly in his ear and whispered in a voice that no one but Kyung-soo could hear.

“Actually, I’ve never had Terrible Control. It was all acting. ……I’m sorry.”

“……”

“And I’m actually… a huge Named.”

“…Huh?”

“And I’m also the Guild Master of a guild that hyung knows.”

“…Ah, okay.”

Kyung-soo looked up at No-eul with pitiful eyes.

“So do you know who I am now?”

No-eul was waiting for Kyung-soo’s words with a rare solemn face. Kyung-soo bit his lip and felt sorry. He hasn’t been able to play games well lately and has been studying every day, so he’s finally gone crazy. He’s developed a delusional disorder…. He firmly resolved to tell Min-jae to take care of No-eul at school when he went into the game.

“I know.”

No-eul closed his eyes tightly.

“It’s Cheon No-eul. Terrible Control Named Cheon No-eul.”

“Hyung, that’s not it… it’s two letters.”

“No-eul?”

“That’s right, but it’s also not.”

“What are you talking about? A warm iced Americano?”

“Hyung, you don’t believe me, do you?”

“Would you believe you if you were me?”

Kyung-soo waved his hand and chuckled. No-eul’s red lips twitched as if he had something to say. Oh, that’s empty over there. Kyung-soo grabbed No-eul’s arm and strode towards the gun game that had an empty seat. He grabbed a toy gun connected by a string and put it in No-eul’s hand. No-eul fiddled with the muzzle with his fingers and muttered gloomily.

“…I’ll confess again later. I don’t have the courage right now.”

“……?”

Confess? What was the one before…? He already knows that he likes him, so confessing again doesn’t seem to make much sense. But No-eul had such a solemn face, so Kyung-soo nodded with a reluctant face.

He tossed and turned all night before going to bed, thinking about Cheon No-eul. He pondered the words he had said in his head several times, but the conclusion only led to delusional disorder. A kid who was fine had such delusions overnight, stress is so scary. But what bothered him more was No-eul’s words about confessing again.

‘I’ll confess again later.’

“……”

Kyung-soo was afraid of Cheon No-eul. The fact that he had a unique way of thinking and could jump in any direction played a part, and since he didn’t care about what others thought, he had to be prepared for the possibility of him confessing in front of a crowd. Somehow, he felt that No-eul’s confession would be terrifyingly grand. The numerous proposal methods he had seen on TV flashed through his mind, making Kyung-soo even more distressed.

A path lined with yellow candles and rose petals. Colorful balloons floated everywhere. If Cheon No-eul stood in the middle of a crowd, holding a bouquet, and said, “I’ll say it properly one more time! I like you, hyung! I don’t care what anyone says! Please go out with me!” he would definitely lose his mind. From that day on, he might become a criminal who harmed someone. There would be many witnesses, so no one would be on his side. That was what he feared the most. No-eul might actually do it.

Anyway, the most important thing was that Cheon No-eul was currently not in his right mind.

The next day, as soon as he logged into the game, Kyung-soo checked his friend list. Sunset and Jung Min-jae were online. He hesitated to talk about Cheon No-eul in the friend list because he didn’t want Sunset to hear about it. Sunset was showing just as much interest in him as No-eul was. He felt like he was meeting only strange people this year. Should he get an amulet or something…?

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: hi what r u doing?

[Whisper] Spade Queen: huh? suddenly? i’m playing in the alliance room… there’s still an hour left until the practice game, right? why??

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: no it’s about cheon no-eul, i just wanted to ask u something real quick….

[Whisper] Spade Queen: ???ok i’ll be right there

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: ok come to the marchen tavern

It wasn’t going to be a long story, but it might get longer as they talked… Kyung-soo mentally rehearsed how to bring it up.

[Whisper] Spade Queen: i’m here lol

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: it’s not a big deal lol

[Whisper] Spade Queen: ??

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: how’s no-eul doing? at school i mean

[Whisper] Spade Queen: ??yes fcking

[Whisper] Spade Queen: he’s doing great why?

Hearing that made him feel even more sorry for him. It seemed like he wasn’t even telling his friends. Yesterday, he looked so happy playing that arcade game, it was pitiful. It must mean he doesn’t have much joy in his life these days.

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: take care of no-eul at school

[Whisper] Spade Queen: …? huh?

[Whisper] Spade Queen: me?

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: yeah

[Whisper] Spade Queen: lol why?;;;

[Whisper] Spade Queen: wtf why would i take care of him??????????

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: ? u’re his friend aren’t u

[Whisper] Spade Queen: yeah… well… i am his friend lol but why suddenly…??? why would i take care of him ㅠㅠ i’m not his gf or anything…;

“……”

It hit harder when Min-jae, who wasn’t even a guild member and knew the whole situation, said he was his girlfriend.

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: wtf r u gonna use that word too? u know that’s not true lol i’ll kill u lol

[Whisper] Spade Queen: lol that’s why it’s funnier lol yesterday after hyung left we had a nickname sharing session with poseidon it was so fun thank u lol

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: what nickname?

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: ah wtf don’t tell me

[Whisper] Spade Queen: no our kids are really tight-lipped… we didn’t bring it up first… halloween eggplant asked what mushroom picker was and then…^-^ wow where did he hear that from? so amazing lol

“……”

His head was spinning. That was the one thing he wanted to hide. He had just thrown another bone to the guild members who were already teasing him.

[Whisper] Spade Queen: i’m really sorry for accidentally backstabbing u hyung… i confessed to our sunset bastard earlier and got cut off once….

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: good

No wonder everyone was just laughing and not saying anything when he sent a message to the guild chat room this morning. Everyone looked so happy from early in the morning that it made his stomach hurt. They were happy because they had found something to tease him with.

[Whisper] Spade Queen: if u’re pissed hyung u can beat me up too ㅠ i’ll die once for u

But he couldn’t undo what had already happened. Preventing what would happen in the future was more urgent. Kyung-soo quickly got back to the point.

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: anyway… it’s ok

[Whisper] Spade Queen: ㅠㅠ….ㅠ…ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ… hyung r u an angel lucifer?ㅠㅠ

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: isn’t lucifer a demon?

[Whisper] Spade Queen: anyway ㅠㅠ so touching….

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: don’t change the subject and listen

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: cheon no-eul seems stressed these days because he’s going to academies

[Whisper] Spade Queen: lol? how do u know that hyung? did he say he’s stressed?

[Whisper] Spade Queen: if he did that’s all bs don’t believe him

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: no i saw him for a bit last night because he wanted to hang out.

[Whisper] Spade Queen: ?last night?lololollololollololollolololㅋ

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: his face was pale? what kind of academy is he going to that’s making him like that;

[Whisper] Spade Queen: lololollolololㅋah wtf so that’s why he leftㅋlololollololollololollolololㅋㅋ

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: yeah he called me out there….

[Whisper] Spade Queen: lol lol lol so?

“……”

That was… He was at a loss for words.

No, he likes me? And he said he’s going to confess to me again. Isn’t he really crazy?

[Whisper] Spade Queen: hurry ㅠ i’m so curious i’m getting dizzy ㅠ

He couldn’t say that because Jung Min-jae didn’t know that No-eul liked him. Of course, he wouldn’t even expect it. Because they were both guys. And there’s no way No-eul would have told him.

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: he was talking a little nonsense last night because he was tired ㅠㅠ

Nonsense. He thought he would understand with that much.

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: there’s more. he said he’s not terrible control.

[Whisper] Spade Queen: huh?

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: yeah u think it’s ridiculous too right? lol

[Whisper] Spade Queen: omg… wtf and then?

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: ah and he said he was the guild master he seems to have delusions

[Whisper] Spade Queen: lol wtf lololollololollolololㅋㅋ

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: i think he wanted to look cooler by pretending he had a sub character

[Whisper] Spade Queen: lololollololollololollolololㅋㅋㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: i guess he forgot he told me his id and password lol i saw that he doesn’t have a sub character….

[Whisper] Spade Queen: lol i know ㅠㅠ why did he do that ㅠlololollolololㅋㅋㅋ

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: he seems really tired so don’t tease him and let him sleep in class.

[Whisper] Spade Queen: sleep in class? hyung u’re a gangster… yikes….

[Whisper] Catmeowmeow: or let him sleep during break

[Whisper] Spade Queen: that bastard doesn’t sleep at school ㅠ he’s always out playing what can i do lol

[Whisper] Spade Queen: omg the guild master is calling me ok ok ok got it~!

‘Captain Poseidon has used Mass Summon. If you accept, you will be moved to the guild alliance room.’

After pressing the accept button, a short loading screen passed and he was dropped into the guild alliance room. Sunset was also using the ‘Mass Summon’ skill to gather Melody to the alliance room. It was chaotic with dozens of users gathered in one map.

[Global] Sunset: Is everyone here?

[Global] Spade Queen: Raise your hand if you’re not here lol

[Global] Sunset: No one, got it ㅇㅅㅇ

Sunset immediately spoke to the event NPC without waiting a second.

‘You have selected Practice Team PVP Domination Battle ver.(Isis). The points earned in the practice battle will not be reflected in the guild ranking.’

‘Please sit or stand! Sit for the red team, stand for the blue team.’

A number indicating the number of people appeared in the upper center of the alliance room. Kyung-soo saw Sunset standing and pressed the ctrl key to make his character sit. In the short time he went to get water, the number of people on both teams had been matched and they had moved to the event map.

‘Please build a fortress.’

Kyung-soo was mindlessly breaking bricks when he saw Sunset flying behind him and his expression hardened.

“This fly bastard…”

Sunset, who had become an ally, was flapping his large wings and bursting the falling bricks, seemingly unaware of Kyung-soo’s muttering. At the same time, he was also giving Kyung-soo buffs.

[Party] neutaaaa: i built the hospital

[Party] Ji9star: good job lol but who’s defending?

[Party] Catmeowmeow: u r

[Party] Ji9star: no

[Party] Sunset: if u kill all the attackers that’s defense ^^

“……”

Kyung-soo’s fingers froze on the keyboard because Sunset was saying exactly what he had said yesterday. He wondered if someone had told him and recalled each of the guild members who had logged in yesterday.

[Party] Ji9star: sunset is saying exactly what catmeowmeow said yesterday lol

[Party] Sunset: omg…?

[Party] Seol-yeong: really? our personality god has been saying that since last year

[Party] Ji9star: wow; destiny?

[Party] neutaaaa: destiny…☆

[Party] neutaaaa: it seems like… you’ll be the second official couple (real) in our guild

[Party] Seol-yeong: real lol who’s the first real couple?

[Party] Ji9star: that’s a bit of a sensitive issue… sunset wait a sec

[Party] Sunset:

[Party] Ji9star: close your eyes

[Party] Sunset: i closed them-_-

[Party] Ji9star: ok count to 10 and open them

[Party] Sunset: ok-_-

[Party] Seol-yeong: lol what are you doing lol i’m crying….

[Party] neutaaaa: gf♡bf

[Party] Ji9star: u can tell just by looking at catmeowmeow’s pet nickname

[Party] Seol-yeong: lololollololol

It was strange. It felt a little different than before. It sounded a bit subtle. Was it because Cheon No-eul actually liked him? What if that kid really gets hurt if he keeps getting teased like this? Kyung-soo was somewhat confused and didn’t understand why he was like this.

Was it because he met No-eul yesterday? Or was it because he was bothered by the fact that he had made the outrageous statement that he would confess to him again? He didn’t like the fact that his name was coming up in a place where No-eul wasn’t.

[Party] Catmeowmeow: no shipping ㅡㅡ if you ship I’ll get a job downgrade

[Party] Sunset: no shipping!—

[Party] Catmeowmeow: I’m really sorry but please don’t agree with them.

[Party] supercool: lol r u really sorry?

[Party] Sunset: yes ㅠㅠ

[Party] Seol-yeong: lol so many things….

[Party] Ji9star: wtf lololollolololㅋㅋㅋ

‘Battle starts in 1 minute. Prepare for battle.’

‘Combatants must destroy the enemy’s fortress and occupy the area. Find the command post inside the fortress and destroy the power source to ensure your team’s victory.’

[Party] Ji9star: buff pls

[Party] anamato: i’ll give it to u~!

[Party] supercool: come to me for the rest

[Party] neutaaaa: the rest 1 is coming~

[Party] Honeymoon: the rest 2 too lol

Kyung-soo didn’t need to go. Thanks to the buffs Sunset gave him from time to time and the ‘Archangel’s Kiss’ skill, he was already fully buffed.

But soon a big problem arose. There was no plan at all. They had been chatting so much that they didn’t have time to make a plan, and they didn’t have time to build supply depots or livestock pens.

In the end, they raised the hospital level to 3 so that the resurrection time after death was reduced to 15 seconds, and after pouring all the remaining slots into the fortress’s durability, the second practice game began.

As soon as the game started, the party members rushed towards the middle bridge. The red dots on the minimap indicate people. Kyung-soo, who was belatedly running out among them, realized that no one was left in front of the fortress and that it had become an empty castle again. But no one turned back.

As in the first practice game, the battle took place on the bridge between the castle and the castle. Taking advantage of yesterday’s experience, some guys ran towards the empty castle. Sunset calmly placed time bombs on the opponents even in the midst of the fireballs pouring down.

‘Ji9star has begun attacking the enemy’s fortress!’

‘Our fortress is under attack!’

Both teams began destroying the fortress almost simultaneously. But the opposing team had Captain Poseidon and Halloween Eggplant, who were familiar with the strategy. So of course they would have divided the attack and defense teams separately. Roles would have been divided within the team as well. Kyung-soo lowered the muzzle that had been aimed at Spade Queen. His HP was steadily decreasing, and the healer’s healing was not enough. The fortress’s durability had already decreased to 70%. This was because the castle’s durability was relatively weak due to raising the hospital level.

‘Enemy Spade Queen has declared Catmeowmeow as the target!’

Kyung-soo, who was turning around to catch the guys attacking the castle, was grabbed by the back of his neck. Spade Queen’s attacks were all poured on Kyung-soo. He didn’t have enough HP to counterattack immediately. Valkyries receive recoil damage every time they attack, so they must rise above a certain HP to be safe.

[Party] Sunset: catmeowmeow’s hp is so low; where’s the healer

[Party] anamato: lol someone followed only catmeowmeow and died ^^

[Party] Sunset: lol who; ah… i should have been the healer….

[Party] anamato: i’m holding back because it’s funny ^^

He let out a hollow laugh. He was just standing there, but why was he looking for a healer on his own…

[Party] Ji9star: ana I’m concentrating, don’t make me laugh lol

[Party] supercool: I’m going, sorry sorry

[Party] Sunset: he’s coming, hang in there a little longer

[Party] Catmeowmeow: ok

‘Time Bomb, activated!’

Sunset removed half of the enemy forces with the time bomb skill he had been holding. But it only had a slight effect on Spade Queen, who was already at full HP.

[Party] Seol-yeong: what r u doing? catmeowmeow run

There were two ways to release the target. The first was to move twice as far away as the attack range. And the second was to have them target someone else.

[Global] Sunset: u don’t have to run wait

‘Sunset has declared enemy Spade Queen as the target!’

The dark swordsman’s attack, which specializes in horizontal attacks, did not reach the Moon Fairy, who was floating alone in the air unless she jumped. Shadows rippled wherever the dark swordsman’s sword was swung. Thanks to targeting, which allows you to designate one target and concentrate your attacks, Sunset was not attacked at all. When his HP was reduced by more than half, Spade Queen turned his body to the other side.

‘Spade Queen>Catmeowmeow targeting has been released.’

[Global] Spade Queen: let’s do it? lol

[Global] Sunset: ok

‘Enemy Spade Queen has declared Sunset as the target.[Global] Spade Queen: I killed catmeowmeow yesterday too lol

[Global] Sunset: That’s right ㅇㅅㅇ… you must want to die;

The healer who arrived late quickly filled Kyung-soo’s HP. As soon as his HP was full, Kyung-soo retreated towards the fortress. Sunset and Spade Queen, who had set each other as targets, created their own world and rushed at each other. The conclusion was obvious.

‘Enemy Spade Queen has died. 20 seconds until resurrection….’

[Global] Spade Queen: yelp!!

[Global] Seol-yeong: yelp lololollololollolololㅋㅋ

I don’t know why he rushed in when he was going to lose anyway. Thanks to that, he was lucky to be alive. When he returned to the vicinity of the castle, two heroes were excitedly destroying the castle. The resurrected allies ran out without even looking at them. Thanks to that, the two enemies looked relaxed without being disturbed by anyone. The durability had already been reduced to about 20%. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the fortress collapsed.

‘Catmeowmeow has declared Miniju as the target!’

When I hooked Mini-ju, he was pulled back with the knockback effect. Through the mini-map, I could see Sunset flying through the air like a buzzing insect. When one Hero was attacked, the others didn’t just stand by. He squatted down, smiled wickedly, and raised both hands.

‘Mini-ju has died. Resurrection in 20 seconds….’

‘Shadow of Grotesque Voice!’

As one targeted Hero died, the other Hero shouted the skill name. At that moment, Sunset, who had been flying in from behind, blocked the two. He was already at the bottom of his HP. It felt like déjà vu. It was a similar situation to the previous Failure Mangs battle. The only difference was that I was the one who died back then.

The Hero’s shadow swallowed Sunset and mumbled in its mouth. With a “ptooey” sound, the shadow spat out Sunset, who was, of course, dead. I couldn’t understand why he suddenly jumped in. He was at full HP, so there was no way he would die from just one skill.

‘Sunset has died. Resurrection in 15 seconds….’

Kyung-soo used his ultimate skill, which had cooled down. With a loud bang, a large bomb popped out of the Bazooka.

‘Action Mask has died. Resurrection in 20 seconds….’

[Global] Catmeowmeow: I was at full HP, why did you run in there;;

[Global] Sunset: It’s my instinct to protect you, so I can’t help itㅠ

[Global] Sunset: I’m glad I died rather than Cat-nim getting hurt^_^

[Global] Catmeowmeow: lolololㅋㅋah please

Kyung-soo gritted his teeth. It was absurd, but funny, and the corners of his mouth twitched up. His expression must have become strange. He could tell without looking in the mirror. He didn’t seem to have this personality when he first met him, but he had changed a little from then, as if he thought they had become close. Or maybe he had been hiding this personality from the beginning….

[Global] supercool: What are you saying, it’s Melody’s shame

[Global] anamato: Shame and face….

[Global] Ji9star: I took a screenshot^0^~

[Global] Halloween Eggplant: I took a screenshot too…ㅎㅎ

[Global] WanduWandya: Me too…^^….

He could guarantee that dozens of fabricated captures combining the two characters would be uploaded to the guild chat room by evening. Kyung-soo stood at the end of the bridge and instantly took the lives of the enemies crossing over. Sunset, who resurrected 15 seconds later, was also there. As if he had memorized Kyung-soo’s attack patterns after playing a few games together, he used a speed boost buff when using movement skills, a physical attack power increase buff for normal attacks, and Archangel’s Kiss for ultimate skills.

‘Sunset has begun a merciless slaughter!’

‘Catmeowmeow has begun a merciless slaughter!’

‘Sunset’s shadow is stained with the blood of the enemy!’

‘Catmeowmeow’s shadow is stained with the blood of the enemy!’

‘Sunset has finally gone crazy!’

[Party] Ji9star: Ah, I was surprisedㅋㅋㅋㅋ Is that an automatic phrase? I thought the command was dissing Sunset

[Party] Seol-yeong: But Meow Meow and Sunset are really in sync???

[Party] neutaaaa: It’s destiny haha

[Party] Ji9star: I agree

I didn’t want to admit it, but it was true. Not the word “destiny,” but the fact that they were in sync. Sunset didn’t particularly obstruct my view or interfere with my attacks, and he compensated for any gaps, provided buffs, and played the role of support and dealer perfectly.

‘Halloween Eggplant has died. Resurrection in 20 seconds….’

[Global] Halloween Eggplant: What….

The two of them were killing the enemies as they crossed the bridge, so Halloween Eggplant came to check the situation himself, but he died in less than 5 seconds from their combined attack without even being able to use his hands.

‘The enemy’s solid fortress has been destroyed! Destroy the power source of the command center and achieve final victory!’

‘Ji9star has discovered the command center! The shape of the power source is revealed!’

‘The power source of the enemy command tower has been destroyed.’

‘The battle has ended. Calculating PVP points.’

I wondered if we just did well in this one game, so I tried the next practice game with Sunset on the same team. Sunset repeatedly put Kyung-soo in the best player spot and took second place himself.

[Global] Seol-yeong: I saw that Guild Master using Archangel’s Kiss?? for the first time today^^

[Global] supercool: Me too

[Global] Halloween Eggplant: Kiss?

[Global] Ji9star: Why are you making a fuss about one word, like you’ve never kissed beforeㅋlolololㅋㅋ

[Global] Halloween Eggplant: No, because of the skill nameㅋㅋㅋ

[Global] Spade Queen: I saw it for the first time when I went on a raid with Cat-nim last timeㅋㅋ

[Global] Seol-yeong: No, I mean;; He never uses it on me, but only on Meow Meowㅠㅠ But the skill is so pretty

[Global] Sunset: Thanks^^

[Global] Seol-yeong: I wasn’t praising the Guild Master;

‘Archangel’s Kiss!’

“…….”

This was the umpteenth buff I had received today. I didn’t like the skill name from the start. Maybe it was because my first impression of him was bad, but no matter what Sunset did, it was just absurd or funny, and I wasn’t satisfied. If I was being teased with Cheon No-eul, at least I had someone to get annoyed at, so it was better….

[Global] Ji9star: Reporting live, click-clack-click-clack!!! Catmeowmeow, how do you feel about being treated specially by Melody’s Sunset?

[Global] Ji9star: No, correction *by Sunset

[Global] Catmeowmeow: Sorry, but I don’t like it yet

[Global] Sunset: ㅇㅅㅇㅋㅋㅋㅋ Then I’ll try harderㅎㅎ

Cheon No-eul was like that, but Sunset was even more inscrutable, making him twice as uncomfortable. It was even more so because I thought he might change his mind at any moment.

Really, Cheon No-eul was much better. He at least had a cute side.

The siege is only 3 weeks. It seems long, but it will pass in an instant. I hope we can eat Isis quickly and the alliance will end.

「C-N: Are you awake?」

「Me: Nope」

At first, I hated him more than death, but now it felt like I had a younger brother, which wasn’t so bad. As soon as I sent the reply, the 1 next to the speech bubble disappeared.

“C-N: I told you before that my homeroom teacher hates me a lot”

“Me: Yeah, because of your hair color?”」

「C-N: Yesㅠㅠ I keep telling them I didn’t dye it, but really… I have so much to say, can I call you?I want to hear your voice too!」

「Me: Whatever;」

As soon as I answered the call that came as if he had been waiting for it, an excited voice called my name, ‘Kyung-soo hyung!’ I could hear the sound of cars passing by. It meant he wasn’t at home.

“Are you outside?”

-Yes. I’m going to buy it in advance for tomorrow morning. I’m going in now!

The sound of footsteps walking on the street echoed through the speaker. The sound was like a heartbeat. My mood calmed down like the dawn air. No-eul chattered on and on in a low voice, as if he was going to tell me everything that happened today. He got a little annoyed when he talked about Jung Min-jae.

-So, I came out to buy a can, and there was a cat….

“That’s the school cat. The security guard feeds it, so it lives there.”

-Really? How do you know?

“Because I graduated from that middle school.”

-Show me your graduation photo.

“Get lost.”

Maybe you have to know a person for a long time? It seems that I no longer find him just annoying.