By Zephyria 
“My voice?”
“Yeah, your voice… that’s right.”
Mo Yeon-hu tilted his head, and Kim Seong-jae suddenly stood up from his seat, extending his phone.
“Guys, let’s take a picture, it’s been a while!”
A picture? Mo Yeon-hu narrowed his eyes.
“Is this because of Soo-yeon?”
“Wha, what. Hey, I’m taking it!”
It clearly seemed like a verification shot to send to his girlfriend, but both Park Taek-yoon and Mo Yeon-hu smiled as if they couldn’t resist and slightly rose from their seats to face the camera. With a click sound, Kim Seong-jae took several pictures and then bowed as if satisfied.
“Done. Thank you. Should I post this on Starsta? Tag you, Park Taek-yoon?”
“Yeeeah.”
“Mo Yeon-hu is… ah, you probably won’t anyway.”
“I’m on Starsta now.”
Naturally, Kim Seong-jae, who was about to move on, stopped short. Park Taek-yoon, standing beside him, also looked at him in surprise.
“You’re on Starsta?”
“Huh?”
It was a shocking surprise. He had said he had no interest in SNS and wouldn’t use it.
“Wow, when did you make it? You didn’t even tell us?”
“I made it a long time ago and recently revived it.”
“Whoa, when was ‘a long time ago’?”
“I used it for a few days and then deleted it, so even if I told you, you wouldn’t know.”
Since he had briefly used an account he made in Canada and then stopped, they seemed even more surprised. To his two friends who immediately asked for his ID, Mo Yeon-hu obediently let them search for it themselves.
“Wow, living long enough to see Mo Yeon-hu and Starsta mutual follows. I thought this guy would never use SNS in his life.”
“Right.”
The three immediately became mutuals. Unlike the two friends’ accounts, which were dazzling with all sorts of posts and tags from friends, Mo Yeon-hu’s account was empty.
“I’m going to post now, so will you tag yourself?”
“Yeah.”
Kim Seong-jae seemed eager to post quickly. Watching him, who seemed like a Starsta addict, Mo Yeon-hu smiled slightly and was about to sit back down in his chair when…
“Ah!”
“…Oh.”
“Are you okay?! I’m so sorry! I’ll bring you a new one…!”
Mo Yeon-hu accidentally bumped into a waiter who had approached without him noticing. The platter the waiter was carrying collided with Mo Yeon-hu’s hat, and jam-like sauce, some fruit, and crackers tumbled down onto his hat.
“I’ll also pay for the cleaning. Please let me know when you leave…”
“No, it’s my fault for suddenly moving. It’s fine.”
“Hey, are you really okay?”
“Yeah, whatever.”
“Wow, you’ll need to clean your hat.”
At Park Taek-yoon’s words, Mo Yeon-hu let out a small sigh and took off his hat. His messy hair was fully revealed. And below that, his unusually small face and pale skin, but…
“Hey, Mo… Mo Yeon-hu?”
“Yeon-hu. No.”
His friends were flustered upon seeing his face. At their urgent calls, Mo Yeon-hu blinked and looked up, then paused at the sight of the two pointing at him.
“What’s wrong with your face?”
That’s right. Mo Yeon-hu…
“What, you?? Did you become half your size?”
His already small face had become even smaller.
“Hey, what half-size…”
“And why are your under-eyes like that?”
“Did something happen? Family problems??”
Amid everyone’s surprise at seeing him, who was always carefree and had chubby cheeks, become so thin and haggard, Mo Yeon-hu floundered in confusion.
“No, I really have nothing going on. I’ve just been gaming lately… ah.”
Gaming. As soon as he said it, he stopped as if he had found the cause, and Park Taek-yoon, who had been listening to the conversation, tilted his head and asked again.
“You became like that from gaming? ……Yeon-hu, by any chance, is it that bribery game you talked about when we spoke last time?”
“Bribery?”
What’s this about now. At Kim Seong-jae’s bewildered expression, Park Taek-yoon asked if he didn’t know.
“He started a game because of someone he likes, right? He said it was hard to get into the crew that person is in, so I told him to bribe his way in and try to woo them a bit.”
“You have another crush? Wow, how many times is this now. But why didn’t you tell me?”
Kim Seong-jae shouted at Mo Yeon-hu as if feeling wronged.
“Games are my specialty!!”
“That’s right, Seong-jae met his current girlfriend in a game.”
Mo Yeon-hu rolled his eyes and glanced at Kim Seong-jae.
“Yeah… that’s true, but.”
“How’s it going?? Is that why you’ve become so haggard?”
“The bribery? Did you bribe? Hey, give us an update on the situation!”
Two pairs of curious eyes turned toward him. Holding a wine glass that had appeared out of nowhere, Mo Yeon-hu made a face as if pondering how to explain.
Of course, the barrage of questions continued in the meantime.
“What kind of person is it this time? What game is it?”
“Any progress? Did the bribery work?”
“Is she pretty? Did you get her number?”
“Have you met? Confessed??”
Even though these two had heard about Mo Yeon-hu’s crushes 45 times, they were still excitedly interested.
Knowing this, he usually obediently told them, but this time was different. He hesitated, but under his friends’ bright, eager gazes, he had no choice but to open his mouth.
“She’s pretty, kind, cool… everything’s good.”
“Wow, she’s pretty and kind and everything’s good!!”
“Hee-ya. Even cool? But?”
Despite their interested reactions, Mo Yeon-hu seemed to hesitate about something and couldn’t continue, then barely managed to speak.
“…I don’t know if we’ve become close or not.”
What? Why? His friends launched another rapid-fire barrage of questions, but he just blinked slowly and thought.
(CH03) Miu: Okay
(CH03) Miu: Well.. let’s try it
Miu.
(CH03) Miu: I’m going to work you to the bone, just wait and see
(CH03) Miu: If you try to run, I’ll strike
That day, after various twists and turns, Miu and Mo Yeon-hu eventually formed an alliance. Even though Miu warned Mo Yeon-hu, who had stepped forward to accept those ridiculous conditions, to just wait and see, he actually felt somewhat complacent about it.
(CH03) 0momo0: Where would I go leaving you behind
(CH03) 0momo0: If you’re anxious, want me to tie you up? hehe
(CH03) Miu: I kinda want to be anxious
‘Even if it’s tough, it’ll probably be similar to before, whatever!’
This is why newcomers and experienced workers are different. Having once been thoroughly rolled over, he grew more confident the more he talked with Miu, and Miu just smiled at such Mo Yeon-hu.
(CH03) Miu: kk Anyway, looking forward to it
(CH03) 0momo0: Kya!!! Informal speech!!
(CH03) Miu: Yo
(CH03) 0momo0: Older brother, is it coming??
(CH03) Miu: Ugh
And so, their spy-finding project began.
(CH03) Miu: Momo-nim, I’m going to log off now, you log off too
(CH03) 0momo0: Yeah!!
Miu first informed Mo Yeon-hu of the Core location and instructed him to observe the Alliance Territory. The task was to watch how people conversed in the Alliance Territory when Miu was absent and whether anyone approached the Core.
(CH03) Miu: Watch carefully and leave chat logs
(CH03) Miu: I heard another battlefield opened up elsewhere, so I’ll go check it out and come back
(CH03) 0momo0: Yeah!
(CH03) Miu: Just send ㅇ;
(CH03) 0momo0: Mm-hmm!!
(CH03) Miu: Ha
(CH03) Miu: Also watch the movement routes carefully
(CH03) 0momo0: But why watch movement routes, aside from conversations??
Mo Yeon-hu became puzzled at being told to watch not only conversations but also the movements of Alliance Members. Then, Miu kindly explained.
(CH03) Miu: Unless I personally disclose the coordinates, the Core is hard to find because the Alliance Territory is wide and has many structures
(CH03) Miu: So, when moving the Core, they either watch while having construction mode on together… or there’s only the method of stealing the blueprint I have
That’s right. Even for fellow Alliance Members, if they didn’t know the Core’s location, they had to run around on foot to find it!
(CH03) Miu: This time, I moved the Core after logging everyone off and didn’t even tell Shin Jadu. The spy will probably start trying to find it around now
(CH03) Miu: Since they can’t find it with construction mode, they’ll definitely move personally
(CH03) Miu: If they’re a spy, their movement route within the Alliance Territory would be a bit strange, right?
(CH03) Miu: They might go to remote places they have no reason to go to… or strangely keep circling the same area
Moreover, the Alliance Territory was vast and full of various decorative items like trees and grass, making finding the Core no easy task even from the spy’s perspective.
(CH03) 0momo0: Wow, that’s super hard!!
(CH03) Miu: Right, the opponent probably thinks so too
(CH03) 0momo0: But if it’s like this, wouldn’t it be better to just have multiple people 47 strike and swallow it up?? Why do they insist on trying to destroy the Core..
(CH03) 0momo0: Even destroying the Core is annoying, but you can just make it again anyway… Wouldn’t it be better to just keep attacking the Alliance??
A natural, reasonable question followed. Wouldn’t it be more effective to ruin the opponent by having multiple teams attack and continuously wreck the base randomly, rather than spending time finding the Core?
(CH03) Miu: Because it’s fun
To that question, Miu answered simply.
(CH03) Miu: Watching each other get divided and crumble
(CH03) Miu: That’s what they enjoy