By Zephyria 
“Newlyweds?”
Mo Yeon-hu doubted his own ears. He stared at the other man with wide eyes in sheer absurdity, but Kwon Mi-eon’s expression was chillingly calm.
“Yes. Newlyweds.”
“No, why on earth are you and I suddenly pretending to be newlyweds…?”
Besides, I’m a man. And you’re a man too. The rebuttal rose right up to his throat.
“Hyung, don’t you know about cover identities? When you do undercover investigations like this, you start by establishing a solid identity before going in.”
“Why? We could just say we’re friends.”
“If we say we’re just friends, there will be restrictions on our range of movement. But if we’re a couple—especially newlyweds—no one will think it’s strange if the two of us stick together 24 hours a day. It cuts off suspicion at the source.”
No matter how much he listened to it, it sounded like bullshit…
“I don’t think that’s right.”
Why would two men disguise themselves as newlyweds? And there was no need to stick together 24 hours a day. When he rejected the idea with disgust, Kwon Mi-eon stared at him blankly before nodding.
“Fine, if you say so.”
He looked clearly disappointed, but since Mo Yeon-hu’s attitude was so firm, he seemed to step back.
“Anyway, let’s just play the game. Oh, but I’m curious—can’t we just spend money to buy skip tickets and raise our levels first? If our levels are high, they’ll probably raise our rank faster.”
“You can’t. You know those skills they require? Things like cart movement speed or construction facility skills. Those absolutely won’t go up even if you use paid skip tickets.”
“I guess buying skip tickets doesn’t raise farming or gathering levels…”
“Exactly.”
Ultimately, this meant that to enter the ‘interior,’ the core of this Alliance, they would have to endure those tedious repetitive quests without any shortcuts.
“Then let’s raise our skill levels as quickly as possible and get into the interior.”
“I agree, but I think it would be better to fill up the skill experience while acting like beginners during the quests.”
“Why? Isn’t it better to just be fast and good at it?”
“If you look at the chat window, there are some Alliance Members who observe the newcomers. I think if we’re too good, we might stand out and make them wary.”
At those words, Mo Yeon-hu scrolled through the chat window.
(Alliance) Jyumjom: Wow, BbIn-nim is really good at facilities. I’ve never seen anyone place cannons so perfectly without a single mistake lol. Have you played games like this before?
(Alliance) BbIn: Uh.. no.. I just pressed it and it worked.
(Alliance) Jyumjom: Oh lol. I think you have a talent.
(Alliance) Jyumjom: You’re really good lol.
It wasn’t certain, but as Kwon Mi-eon suspected, it seemed a few Alliance Members were approaching beginners to strike up conversations or asking various things under the guise of helping.
“You’re right. We should be careful.”
“Well… anyway, let’s work hard.”
Nodding, Kwon Mi-eon attempted to move his character to start the quest. Watching his back, Mo Yeon-hu’s lips parted because of something he had wanted to ask for a while.
‘What happened to Opening?’
On the last day he had logged into the game as 0momo0, he had informed Kwon Mi-eon about Opening’s strange behavior, so he was curious about how he had handled it…
“Hyung? Do you have something to say?”
“Uh, no. This is the cart zone, right?”
“Yes. Everyone is getting their carts from over there.”
Since he had stubbornly denied being 0momo0, he couldn’t bring up that topic.
‘Ah, if only I had my phone.’
If his phone were intact, he would have secretly searched the community, but since his new phone wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow, there was no other way for now.
‘…But maybe I can see the Alliance Member list?’
If it wasn’t his own Alliance, it would be hard to see detailed information, but the thought suddenly occurred to him that he might at least be able to see the member list.
“There’s a guide here. The way to raise the carting skill level is…”
Just then, Kwon Mi-eon began explaining while keeping his eyes on the signpost. Thinking this was his chance, Mo Yeon-hu quickly opened the Alliance search window.
‘47, 47, 47… Oh, it works.’
Fortunately, although the servers were different, he could check the information for the 47 Alliance on the X-1211 Server through the ranking page.
‘Opening… let’s see….’
He scanned the list, scrolling down endlessly. Since 47 had few members, he should have been able to find them quickly. However.
‘…They’re gone.’
Opening’s name was nowhere to be found on the list. It was as if they had been kicked out!
No matter how many times he checked, the other Alliance Members were still there, but only Opening’s nickname had vanished.
‘Wow, thank goodness. I felt really uneasy.’
The image of Opening measuring distances was still vivid in his mind. Of course, it could have been a misunderstanding, but the sight of them walking alone in the dead of night when no one else was around had been eerie, so the thought of them remaining in 47 had made him uncomfortable.
‘Anyway, they seemed like an old member; he must have really kicked them out after hearing what I said.’
Did that mean he trusted someone who had just joined more than Opening? Strangely, a warm feeling swelled in a corner of his heart. The fact that while Miu in the game always seemed disgusted by him, there had been a solid trust toward 0momo0 beneath the surface…
“Hyung, what are you looking at?”
“Uh, uh-huh?!”
Click! Realizing Kwon Mi-eon had approached him, Mo Yeon-hu roughly closed the search window. Fortunately, because he moved quickly, it seemed Kwon Mi-eon hadn’t seen it. Mo Yeon-hu replied with a clumsy smile.
“…Th-ah, uh. I didn’t quite understand even after you explained it, so I was trying to look at the guide myself! Just a second! I think I should start with this. This is the….”
“The ‘Get Close to the Forest’ quest.”
“Yeah, that one!”
“It’s a quest where you deliver Alliance resources to various places in the forest. The more you repeat it, the more porter skill points you accumulate.”
“I’ll take the quest. Did you get yours?”
“Yes. Shall we go then?”
…Wow, that was a close one.
Having barely escaped the crisis, Mo Yeon-hu and Kwon Mi-eon grabbed their carts and left through the Alliance castle gates.
‘Look at all these people.’
The front of the gate was already crowded with users pulling carts. In fact, if one ignored the fact that <System Error> was suspicious, it was practically a volunteer organization. They gave skip tickets and gold just for going back and forth to fill up skill points.
‘And he said they give equipment later. And gems?’
Who wouldn’t do this? Even he would have jumped at the chance.
“How far are we going today?”
“Shall we aim for L7 as a light start?”
“…Do you not know what ‘light’ means?”
Kwon Mi-eon’s goal was far too high. They were currently L10; just how many skills did he have to max out to reach L7!
“How can we do all that today? No way. Let’s do a little today and continue tomorrow….”
“Ah, Hyung, is it perhaps that?”
At that moment, Kwon Mi-eon let out a small chuckle and spoke as if he understood.
“Are you holding back because you want to play the game with me longer and for more days? Instead of doing a lot today, you want to see me tomorrow, and the day after, and keep going….”
“Let’s just leave now. Let’s finish quickly. I guess it’ll be a breeze.”
As if he had never been disgusted, Mo Yeon-hu pressed his lips tight and began pushing the cart. Kwon Mi-eon smiled slightly at him, then glanced at the phone screen lying next to his mouse as it vibrated softly.
Zombie Village Now
(Warning) Alliance Attack Notification
Zombie Village Now
(Notification) An attack is currently underway on the Alliance Master’s Alliance!
Zombie Village Now
(Group) GoodLuck: As you mentioned, every night the terrain (See more)
Zombie Village Now
(Group) Shin Jadu: Alliance Master, there was an attack yesterday too, but (See more)
The urgent situation of the 47 Alliance was being uploaded in real-time, filling the screen, but Kwon Mi-eon turned his head back to the monitor as if nothing were happening.
Unlike the crazily vibrating phone, the game screen was peaceful. Watching the diligently moving users and the items pouring out of the carts, Kwon Mi-eon spoke.
“Hyung, what do you think the goal is?”
“…Huh? What?”
It was an abrupt question. Mo Yeon-hu asked back in confusion at the words spoken without any context, but Kwon Mi-eon simply shrugged as if it were nothing.
“Nothing. Let’s just go, quickly.”
❮Kwon Mi-eon⠇
Text Message-SMS
Month XX Day XX 12:45 PM
I’ve parked. Come out.
Yup!
Text Message-SMS
Month XX Day XX 11:32 AM
Hyung, now.
Uh, hold on a sec, I’m looking for something.
Okay.
I’ll be out right away!!
Text Message-SMS
Month XX Day XX 10:01 AM
Did you eat breakfast? I brought some.
Love it, love it. I’m coming down now.
Text Message-SMS
(Today) 09:20 AM
Hyung, I—
I’m already here.
Haha, okay.
And so, time flew by. At first, he would oversleep and only log into the game around a late lunch, but at some point, he began to feel that time was a waste and started moving it earlier and earlier, until he became completely accustomed to the routine of eating breakfast with Kwon Mi-eon and playing the game.
‘Thanks to that, I made it this far.’
Mo Yeon-hu looked at the screen with pride. Do you know the requirements for being good at a game? Of course, gold is gold, but the most important resource, in a way, is…
“Wow, we’re almost at L4! This is crazy!”
A heavy backside and time.