By Zephyria #2 Private Tutoring 2
Zzzzz.
‘Again?’
Kyung-soo regretted giving No-eul his number. He regretted it to the bone. Cheon No-eul was sending him messages all the time.
Last night, he asked, ‘Did you get home safe?What is that?’ like a mother would. Then, he informed him of his current cleanliness, saying, ‘I just took a shower!’ and even told him whether or not he had insomnia, saying, ‘I can’t sleepㅠㅠ.’ Of course, Kyung-soo ignored all the texts Cheon No-eul sent and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He hadn’t done anything in particular, but he was too mentally exhausted because of Cheon No-eul.
「Halloween Eggplant: ;; Did anyone see the post on the Free Board yesterday?」
During class, Kyung-soo took his phone out of his pocket when he heard a short vibration. Unexpectedly, it wasn’t Cheon No-eul who had sent the message. Kyung-soo looked around. The seventh period was self-study time. The music teacher had scribbled ‘Self-study’ on the blackboard and left, not coming back, and the kids were either burying their heads on their desks and sleeping or playing Gomoku on their notebooks. As soon as Kyung-soo realized no one was watching, he openly took his phone out onto his desk and opened the chat room.
「WanduWandya: ?? What is it? Is someone fighting again??」
「Halloween Eggplant: It would be even better if that were the caseㅋㅋ」
「Halloween Eggplant: www.illusions2.net/board_18191209」
Everyone was reading the messages at the same time, the numbers next to the messages quickly disappearing. Kyung-soo immediately clicked on the link that was posted. The loading was slow because he was using the Wi-Fi that someone had secretly turned on in the school’s computer lab. A familiar Free Board window from the game’s website popped up.
Title: Gunners, come in (Regarding the Channel 3 Massacre)
“……”
As soon as Kyung-soo saw the title, he knew what it was about without even reading the content. Even though it was posted in the early morning, there were many comments.
Author: Dohyunzzang123/Gunner
Content: Gunners, don’t even go near Rainbow Hall in Channel 3 for the time being…ㅠ I’m seriously warning you for your own goodㅋㅋㅋ There’s a sociopath in Channel 3 who’s just hunting down Gunners
↓
(Video)
Wasn’t this bastard trash? I was trying to raise my win rate a bit…ㅋㅋ I’m too embarrassed to even say this, but I got crushedㅠㅠ Another guy said he relentlessly chases you until you accept the PVP
Now, all you bastards who said Cheon No-eul has Terrible Control, come out^^
“He even filmed a video in the meantime?”
Kyung-soo muttered quietly, lowering the volume to the minimum and playing the video. The video seemed to stutter because the Wi-Fi was slow, but it was definitely Kyung-soo’s gameplay. The pattern of changing direction instantly with movement skills and then using skills was his. But the comment section, unaware of this, was full of confusion. Most of them couldn’t believe it, saying, ‘Is that Cheon No-eul?’ It was impossible, considering he was the type to get aggroed and die even to incredibly slow monsters, but he was using skills as naturally as if he was used to it. There were also many opinions that said, ‘Isn’t he using a proxy?’
‘Correct….’
But there was no need to add the words ‘That’s me’ there. The Ruin would definitely have heard about it, so it was better to make those bastards tremble with anxiety. Kyung-soo pressed the back key a few times to return to the chat room.
“Ji9star: Wow, hahaha! If a dog stays in a school for three years, it can recite a poem!”
“neutaaaa: That’s not it, haha! It’s supposed to recite a poem, not study well.”
“Ji9star: I didn’t know because I’m not a school dog; as long as the meaning gets across…”
“neutaaaa: Idiot~”
“ParkRoaches: Ruin is screwed, haha! He must be so scared. He wanted to do a Character Deletion Bet, trusting only in Cheon No-eul’s skills…””Me: No, no, that’s me”
After Kyung-soo’s words, nothing was posted in the chat room for a while.
“ParkRoaches: We were the ones who were screwed.”
Kyung-soo, who was about to laugh with ‘hahaha,’ erased all the consonants he had typed into the chat window after some thought.
「Me: Still, haven’t I gotten a little better than before??」
「Halloween Eggplant: ??」
「Ji9star: ??????」
「ParkRoaches: ?? Are you taking Cheon No-eul’s side right now?」
「Me: No, he at least dodges when someone hits him nowㅋㅋ」
「Ji9star: ?? That’s just a filter… It’s really the same
neutaaaa: D-1 until the Character Deletion Bet
ParkRoaches: It was fun while it lasted…」
“……”
He had never seriously thought he would lose, so he had been able to brush it off as a joke until now, but the thought that the PVP match was tomorrow made him feel a little anxious. Kyung-soo tore a page from a notebook he used as a sketchbook.
“Hey. Pen, please.”
Kyung-soo took a pen from Tae-yeol’s pencil case, who was folding a heart shape out of gum wrapper in the back seat. He wrote ‘Goal’ in large letters at the top of the paper.
Make the Ruin Guild Master delete his character!
- Failure Mangs Party Members: Gunner, Healer, King Saber, Hero
Gunner – Character Deletion, Ranged
Healer – Bald, Must kill first
King Saber – The guy who puts up the defense barrier. Tanker
Hero – Short-range dealer (Combo is so annoying, must block)
Now that he wrote it down, their team didn’t have a tanker? There were two short-range dealers, Kyung-soo was a ranged dealer, and ParkRoaches was a healer. This was because he had Cheon No-eul job change to a dealer instead of a tanker class.
But Kyung-soo decided not to worry too much about the position distribution. After all, no matter what job it was, Cheon No-eul would probably not even use 3% of it well.
How did he end up on the same team as this guy…. Kyung-soo drew a long line in the middle and started planning a strategy.
- Strategy A
Park Cheon No-eul in a corner and protect him. To reduce meaningless deaths.
Pros – Doesn’t get in the way.
Cons – Since Cheon No-eul isn’t there, the three of them have to face four opponents. The healer can get focused on.
Discarded. This wouldn’t work. It was better to protect the healer in the long run. It was the same life, but the healer was at least helpful.
- Strategy B
Make Cheon No-eul keep using the skills that go left and right from his spot
Pros – He uses skills
Cons – He’ll probably die right away….
This was also discarded. Kyung-soo drew a large X on the text.
- Strategy C
Break through the barrier with movement skills and combo… No, how would he do that damn it
‘Discard, discard, discard! All discarded, you just stay still! Just don’t die!’
He closed his eyes and simulated it in his head several times, but he couldn’t find a way.
‘They set up the members to their advantage from the start.’
The King Saber class could create a barrier of light in front of him, reducing the damage of special attacks by 50%. In other words, no matter how strong the attacks were, if the King Saber put up a barrier, it would be useless.
But Cheon No-eul was a Blaze, a dual blades class. Ironically, the two warrior classes were each other’s natural enemies. If he just used what he had told him yesterday, the Blaze’s ‘Charge’ trait could render the opponent’s barrier useless for about 1.5 seconds. It might feel like a short time, but that was enough time to pull the guys in and kill them all at once.
‘But the problem is whether he can do it….’
While he was scribbling Cheon No-eul’s name on the paper with a pen and worrying, the bell rang to signal the end of class. The class president got up groggily, erased the blackboard, and woke up the kids to start cleaning. Kyung-soo held a broom in one hand and pretended to clean.
Zzzzz.
「Cheon No-eul: Kyung-soo hyung, our school is over!”Cheon No-eul: I was on duty, but I left the classroom key with a friend. Did I do well?”?」
He had been worrying about him for an hour, but he didn’t seem worried at all. He was so carefree.
Me: What a hassle
Cheon No-eul: I’ll be there soon, I’ll wait at the main gate!」
How did I end up being someone who meets Cheon No-eul after school? Where did it go wrong? If it wasn’t for the legendary pet, he wouldn’t even talk to him and would run away through the back gate. He was the type to get tired just by talking to him through texts.
“Kim Kyung-soo, you don’t have anything to do, right?”
“Me? I’m cleaning. Can’t you see?”
Kyung-soo held up the broom. But the class president had seen him sighing while looking at his phone instead of sweeping the floor.
“Ah-young is on duty, but she can’t go down because she has a cast on right now? Empty the trash cans.”
“No.”
“You know I can issue a penalty card during cleaning time, right?”
“……”
Kyung-soo, who had succumbed to power, trudged down the stairs with two trash cans. As Kyung-soo was about to go out to the schoolyard and throw away the recyclable waste, he heard someone calling his name and raised his head.
“Hyung, why are you coming out here?”
“……?”
“I knew it.”
This was the back gate, didn’t he say he would wait at the main gate? Kyung-soo looked at Cheon No-eul in bewilderment. He was leaning against the back gate fence with a sulky expression.
“You were trying to run away, weren’t you.”
“What?”
Now that he realized it, the guy in the other school’s uniform was subtly attracting attention. That’s how schools are. If it’s a stranger belonging to another group, they observe them first. Because of that, Kyung-soo was receiving the students’ attention with his whole body and looked at No-eul with anxious eyes.
“I came here just in case… You’re really too much…. I wondered why you weren’t replying.”
“……”
“I told you so many times that I’d be waiting at the main gate….”
As No-eul looked down at the ground with a tearful face, nameless first-year students passed by, looking at Kyung-soo like he was trash. That senior must have scammed him out of money…. Trash. Kyung-soo’s expression soured at the whispering.
“What the hell are you talking about? I never tried to run away. I came out to empty the trash!”
At those words, No-eul finally noticed the trash cans in Kyung-soo’s hands.
“How can I believe that?”
“……?”
Kyung-soo held up the trash cans. The sound of the full plastic bottles and glass clattering was loud.
“How do I know you didn’t bring that out as a disguise!”
“Who the hell carries a trash can to disguise themselves!”
“You could!”
“I don’t!”
Kyung-soo shouted loudly, unable to hide his bewilderment. But No-eul didn’t seem to like it, pursing his lips into a straight line.
“…Then give me your phone. I’ll hold it to prevent you from running away.”
“I’m not running away, why would I run away.”
“Then give it to me. …It doesn’t matter if you’re not going to run away.”
After all, his phone was locked, so he couldn’t see inside. Kyung-soo took his phone out of his pocket and placed it on the palm of his hand. His back tingled as he turned around and went to empty the trash.
As soon as the after-school meeting was over, Kyung-soo ran out of the classroom first and got his phone back. Fortunately, it seemed like he hadn’t seen inside because it was locked. But as he carefully examined the phone to see if anything had changed, he found No-eul’s number in the call history.
‘1 missed call, Cheon No-eul’
Kyung-soo turned to look at No-eul, who was walking next to him with a happy face, and said.
“Why did you call?”
“Ah, there was something I wanted to check.”
Was he worried that he might have given him someone else’s phone? Kyung-soo was sullen, but he brushed off No-eul’s words. The place No-eul took Kyung-soo to wasn’t a PC cafe, but an officetel.
“Come in.”
“…Why?”
“Don’t worry. There are two computers.”
“That’s not what I meant… Never mind.”
No-eul tilted his head as he swallowed the words he was about to say. He hadn’t even known the guy for long, but he was already seeing his house. One computer was installed in the living room, and the other was a laptop. No-eul went into his room, took out the laptop, and came out. There were two rooms, but there was no sign of life in the house.
“Do you live alone?”
“Yes, my parents are busy.”
“……”
Kyung-soo felt a sense of kinship. His studio wasn’t as big as this, but he still felt sorry for him living alone. Kyung-soo’s parents had moved to the countryside a year ago. But Kyung-soo had to live separately because his mother insisted that he continue to attend school where he was. Getting a room and living alone wasn’t as fun as he thought it would be. Kyung-soo realized for the first time that dust accumulated so easily on the floor when he lived alone.
‘So that’s why this guy is so clingy, he’s lonely. I can understand….’
No-eul’s face turned slightly red at Kyung-soo’s pitiful gaze. He turned on the computer, placed the laptop next to it, brought a dining table chair, and sat there.
“Hyung, here.”
Kyung-soo took off his bag and sat in the computer chair as he tapped the seat next to him, telling him to sit down. No-eul entered the laptop password, and the wallpaper on the turned-on monitor was all black. No-eul paused for a moment and quickly changed the wallpaper to the default setting.
Something was bothering him in his pocket as he sat down. He rummaged through his pants pocket and took out a crumpled piece of paper, and No-eul stared at it.
“…What is it?”
When he unfolded the paper, it was the trace of his worries during self-study time. Kyung-soo looked around and asked.
“Where’s your trash can?”
“Are you going to throw it away? Give it to me.”
No-eul took the paper and unfolded it. He didn’t know why he was reading it so hard when there was nothing special. While the game start window was loading, No-eul inserted the paper between the glass of the computer desk. He thought he was asking for it to throw it away….
“Hey, throw it away. It’s trash.”
“No. It’s mine now.”
It didn’t matter if he had it or not since it wasn’t necessary and there were no sensitive words written on it, but it felt somehow uncomfortable. But he didn’t hate it enough to take it away by force.
‘Catmeowmeow has logged into the game!’
[Guild] al0ha: hihi
[Guild] Catmeowmeow: hi
[Guild] Ji9star: hihi
‘Cheon No-eul has logged into the game!’
[Guild] Cheon No-eul: Hello^^/
[Guild] Ji9star: Timing…?
[Guild] Catmeowmeow: You’re cornering me again.
[Guild] Ji9star: You’re welcome. I’m shy.
[Guild] neutaaaa: Hahaha.
Kyung-soo moved his fingers on the keyboard as if showing off his fast typing skills. And he completed the sentence faster than anyone else and pressed the Enter key.
[Guild] Catmeowmeow: If you call me Cheon No-eul, three generations will be cursed with baldness and buy black hair spray together
[Guild] Ji9star: Ch
[Guild] neutaaaa: Cheon No-eul
[Guild] Ji9star: I was so surprised I deleted everything
[Guild] neutaaaa: Ah shit
[Guild] neutaaaa: I’m screwed;
[Guild] Cheon No-eul: lololollololol
[Guild] ParkRoaches: lolololㅋㅋㅋNew is bald
[Guild] Ji9star: Ugh
[Guild] neutaaaa: No;;
‘ParkRoaches has invited you to the party. Do you want to accept?’
The same window appeared on No-eul’s monitor. There were a total of four party members, including Kyung-soo and No-eul. It was the same party members who would be going out for the 4v4 PVP tomorrow.
“Ah, take out the emoticons from the quick slot.”
“No.”
Cheon No-eul, who had moved next to Kyung-soo in Isis Village, used ‘Acting Cute’ to rub against ‘Catmeowmeow.’ Kyung-soo stood silently without saying anything, and Cheon No-eul circled around Kyung-soo, using ‘Dancing’ and ‘Acting Cute’ alternately.
[Guild] ParkRoaches: Ah, I’m so pissed
[Guild] Catmeowmeow: Me too
[Guild] ParkRoaches: (middle finger)
Two guild members who witnessed the scene sent a vowel meaning the middle finger in a row.
[Guild] Ji9star: Why?
[Guild] Catmeowmeow: Why do you think?
[Guild] Cheon No-eul: Hahaha ♡
[Guild] ParkRoaches: You’ll know if you come… -_-
[Guild] Ji9star: I see… I really don’t want to go haha
“But why did you invite me to the party?””
“It’s probably a practice match. We said we’d make a plan today.”
“Ah.”
As Kyung-soo said, four other guild members besides the four party members gathered in front of the auction house in Isis Village.
‘The party leader has been changed to Catmeowmeow.
[Guild] Ji9star: I don’t think we need to connect Hall Blue today. It’s not 8v8, so it won’t be that complicated??
[Guild] Ji9star: Ah, no, do we have to because of Cheon No-eul?
“Do we have to connect? Hyung will tell me, right?”
“……”
[Guild] Catmeowmeow: He says it’s okay.
[Guild] Cheon No-eul: Yes, it’s okay! O_O!
[Guild] Ji9star: What is this, a spokesperson lol
The opposing four-person party consisted of Halloween Eggplant, al0ha, neutaaaa, and WanduWandya. All eight entered the arena together and equipped their weapons in front of the NPC in charge of the multi-vs-multi PVP.
The sound of clicks as several people simultaneously switched their equipment from movement items to weapons was quite a spectacle. Among the guild members with their flashy effects and colorful fashion items, Cheon No-eul, wearing his simple armor, looked relatively shabby.
[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Cat-nim is applying for participation
[Guild] Catmeowmeow: ok
Kyung-soo spoke to the burly, blonde NPC. He familiarly pressed the number on the keyboard to select multi-PVP, and a selection window popped up.
‘You have selected a practice 4-person PVP match. Practice matches do not affect your arena ranking.’
‘Please select a map.’
One-on-one PVP takes place on a random map, but in the case of multi-PVP, you could select the map. Jungle, Desert, Ruined City, Field. You could choose one of the four maps.
“Hyung, jungle.”
“You want to do jungle?”
“They’ll probably pick jungle again tomorrow too.”
“Why?”
“Just because.”
No-eul smiled meaningfully. His hunches were not to be trusted. The jungle had an excessively bumpy floor and obstacles floating in the air, making both attack and defense difficult. The field was too boring with its straight floor and no floating platforms, and the desert or ruined city were the most preferred maps for users, with obstacles and platforms located everywhere.
‘You have selected the jungle map.’
Let’s just try them all one by one. After all, no one came here to play just one game. They were the kind of people who wouldn’t feel at ease until they had played at least ten rounds.
‘Moving to the jungle. Good luck.’
The text ‘0:30’ appeared at the top. It was time for the party members to get buffs before officially entering.
[Party] ParkRoaches: I’ll cast blessings.
ParkRoaches, holding a magic book half his size, cast buff and blessing skills. Each time a buff was applied, a small icon appeared below the quick slots.
[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: It’s boring to just play, shall we make a bet?
[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: How about the person with the lowest contribution rate from the losing team after 10 rounds gets their head shaved?
[Guild] Ji9star: You seem uneasy… usually the person who suggests the bet loses;
[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: No way lol
[Guild] Catmeowmeow: But isn’t there already a bald guy on that team?
[Guild] neutaaaa: Damn
[Guild] Ji9star: Bald guys aren’t attractive…. If neutaaaa loses, we have to break upㅠ
[Guild] Cheon No-eul: I like bets! O_O!
[Guild] ParkRoaches: As long as it’s not me hehe
ParkRoaches, having applied all the buffs, excitedly blew bubbles left and right. Kyung-soo also loosened his fingers before entering the game.
[Party] Ji9star: I’ll take down the Vice Guild Master
[Party] Cheon No-eul: No, no, I’ll take down Halloween
“Huh?””
Kyung-soo glanced sideways. Then, with a distrustful look, he stared intently at No-eul’s profile.
[Party] ParkRoaches: ???
[Party] Cheon No-eul: Ji9star has a lot of movement skills, so please take care of the other dealers
[Party] Ji9star: ????
“I’m the only one who can break through King Saber anyway. Hyung is an area dealer, so there’s no need to specifically target one person, and Ji9star, instead of a tanker, it’ll be easier for you to take on other ranged dealers or snipe the healer.”
“Ah, well….
“It’s just a practice match anyway.”
That was the standard strategy, but it was a conclusion reached without expecting Cheon No-eul to be of any help in the first place. If you don’t eliminate King Saber early on, attacks won’t land properly….
“…If we lose, you’re getting your head shaved.”
In terms of contribution rate, Cheon No-eul would probably be the lowest. That was what he was worried about, but No-eul smiled and replied.
“It’s okay.”
“…….
[Party] Catmeowmeow: Let’s just try it as is, it’s just a practice match anyway
[Party] Ji9star: Yes~
[Party] ParkRoaches: Haha yes
[Party] Cheon No-eul: O_O
But could he really do it? Not trusting him at all, Kyung-soo pressed his lips tightly and stared at the monitor. When 30 seconds turned to 0, the clock turned backwards and changed to ‘8:00’.
READY… FIGHT!
Kyung-soo’s party started from the bottom left, and the opposing party started from the bottom right. In less than 10 seconds, Halloween Eggplant deployed a semi-transparent barrier.
‘The Barrier of Light is activated!’
[Party] Ji9star: Hwiryap
Ji9star went up onto the platform. He was planning to cross the barrier and invade the enemy camp. To stop him, the opposing sorcerer al0ha simultaneously jumped onto the upper platform.
“He’s doing that again.”
“Doing what?”
“Ji9star. Flying around all over the place….”
The standard strategy was to stay together in one place to make it easier for the healer to heal, but Ji9star often acted alone, saying, ‘Why learn movement skills if you’re going to do that?’ Everyone was so used to it that no one said anything. His play style was just unique.
‘Dancing Chain!’
Kyung-soo’s character swung a long iron chain whip. The HP of the three people in front was simultaneously reduced, and they were afflicted with poison. A green outline appeared on the bodies of the three people, and faint poisonous smoke swirled around them.
However, when the opposing healer cast a blessing again, all the status ailments were completely recovered. It was frustrating that the status ailments didn’t work and the damage was only halved.
“Cheon No-eul. You remember registering your movement skill yesterday, right?”
“Yes. But I don’t have enough BP yet….”
BP (Battle Points) gradually increases when you hit an opponent. Kyung-soo used skills in quick succession and glanced at No-eul’s screen.
“Tell me when it’s full. When we break through the barrier.”
“Yes.”[Party] Ji9star: ss
‘1 KILL!”‘
In the meantime, Ji9star killed al0ha and jumped into the enemy camp. With the sorcerer who was dropping meteorites from the sky dead, the fixed damage disappeared, making it even easier.
“Hyung, my BP is all….”
‘Beast’s Punishment!’
The wolf summoned by neutaaaa’s skill scratched Cheon No-eul at length.
‘Cheon No-eul has died. 10 seconds until revival….’
“…….”
“…was full.”
Kyung-soo completely abandoned his expectations for No-eul and burst into laughter. Cheon No-eul was dead, but the rate at which the opponent’s HP was decreasing did not slow down. It was proof that he was not helping at all.
[Party] Ji9star: lolololㅋ Cheon No-eul, are you sleeping?H
[Party] Cheon No-eul: I’m analyzing! O_O!
[Party] ParkRoaches: Analyzing lololollolololㅋ
“Cough.”
What analysis? Kyung-soo couldn’t help but laugh at the novel excuse. And feeling No-eul’s gaze from the side, he quickly shut his mouth as if he had never laughed and focused only on breaking the barrier.
[Party] ParkRoaches: Say goodbye to your hair^^
[Party] Cheon No-eul: Hehe I don’t want to T_T
I’m an idiot for trusting him even for a moment…. Now the only person he could trust was Ji9star.
[Party] Catmeowmeow: Ji9star, take down WanduWandya first
[Party] Ji9star: Roger
The sorcerer who had revived from where he died returned to his camp and used a binding skill on Ji9star. A person bound for 3 seconds could not move or jump up from that spot.
[Party] Ji9star: Slow
[Party] WanduWandya: Damn
He dodged it.
Although his damage wasn’t great, there was a reason why Ji9star was ranked #1 as the ‘most annoying guy during PVP’ in the guild. He was incredibly good at getting out of these attacks, so it would be frustrating for the opponent. The Knight Spear, who picked on healers, and the sorcerer, who tried to protect his healer, engaged in battle.
‘The Barrier of Light has been 50% destroyed.’
At that moment, Cheon No-eul, who would nullify the barrier, revived….
‘Fire Blast!’
‘Cheon No-eul has died. 10 seconds until revival….’
…and died again. He didn’t even attack this time, he just jumped up and got hit while digging the bumpy ground with a shovel.
[Party] ParkRoaches: I really tried to save himㅠㅠ That human crawled into the flames to get hit
[Party] Cheon No-eul: ㅇㅅㅇ?
[Party] ParkRoaches: Aish
[Party] Catmeowmeow: lololollolololㅋㅋ….
[Party] Ji9star: Hahaha At least I don’t have to worry about getting my hair pulled even if I lose^^ Thank you, thank you so much haha
LOSE….
In the end, they lost three games in a row. The first game was understandable, but the second and third games were incredibly frustrating. There was no way to break through the King Saber’s barrier. Halloween Eggplant was quite happy, as the skill had been buffed in the last patch.
[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Hahaha Valkyrie☆isn’t that great Hahaha So weak, so weak Hahaha
[Guild] Catmeowmeow: I’ll crush you into a star shape next round haha
[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: lol I’m so scared
[Guild] WanduWandya: Hahaha
[Guild] ParkRoaches: Hahaha
[Guild] neutaaaa: Why are you laughing when you’re not even on our side?
[Guild] ParkRoaches: Because it’s funnyㅋ
[Guild] ParkRoaches: Shaving your head… or getting your character deleted… it’s not me^^ Fighting!
[Guild] Cheon No-eul: You’re witty haha
[Guild] Catmeowmeow: ;
[Guild] Ji9star: Hahahahahaha Ah, the crazy filtering haha It’s been so long since I’ve seen that hahahahaha
[Guild] al0ha: hahahaha
‘You’re in the way.’
I wish he would just stay in the back and do nothing.
“Kyung-soo hyung.”
Kyung-soo didn’t even acknowledge him and familiarly applied for participation to the NPC.
‘You have selected the jungle map.’
‘Moving to the jungle. Good luck.’
“Just throw this round once. Don’t feel pressured.”
“…Pressured?”
“Yes, like me!”
Kyung-soo let out a hollow laugh.
“You’re not throwing, are you? Why are you pretending to throw when that’s your usual skill?”
“…There are still seven rounds left.”
‘1 KILL!’
‘Ji9star has died. 10 seconds until revival….’
As soon as he entered the enemy camp, Ji9star was directly hit by the sorcerer’s flames instead of killing the healer and died.
[Party] Ji9star: I think I’m too slow. Should I get a speed puzzle and enhance it….
[Party] Catmeowmeow: Ugh
[Party] Ji9star: Well, it’s too late by tomorrowㅠㅅㅠ
There was no hope. Even when he tried to pull the enemies in the back with his job skill, the hook bounced off the barrier.
“Damn it, why is it so invincible?”
If they were going to do a balance patch, they should have lowered the Valkyrie skill cooldown a little. The King Saber’s barrier was so obstructive that it gave him a headache.
“The barrier has a weakness, though.”
“What is it?”
“Me!”
Kyung-soo, hearing Cheon No-eul’s beaming reply, pressed the skill shortcut with one hand and answered.
“You’re our weakness, not theirs.”
“…….”
“Then why did you confidently say you’d take on the tanker?”
“Because I’m the only one who can.”
‘Cheon No-eul has died. 10 seconds until revival….’
“…….”
Frustrating. You’re the only one who can? Why are you so sure of that? Why!
“Don’t you trust me?”
“Would you trust you if you were me?”
Kyung-soo zigzagged up the map like Ji9star and used the ‘Hooking Star’ skill in the air.
[Party] ParkRoaches: What’s going on??
[Party] ParkRoaches: Where is everyone going?
ParkRoaches hesitated a bit and then jumped up after Kyung-soo.
[Party] ParkRoaches: You don’t know how precious healers are; How dare you abandon Lord Roach…?
‘2 KILL!’
‘3 KILL!’
ParkRoaches was soon hit by the opponent’s attack and died. In that way, Kyung-soo’s team sacrificed the healer and poured attacks that obliquely bypassed the barrier. The opposing healer and Music Lord fell. And Kyung-soo himself was hit by the King Saber’s heavy iron mace and died.
While Kyung-soo was waiting to revive, Cheon No-eul, who had revived, avoided their attacks and jumped onto the platform, hanging onto the vines. No one chased No-eul because he was not a threat to the opponent. As No-eul left his footprints all over the narrow map, he muttered.
“Hyung, why aren’t you using the terrain? You followed me well when we were together.”
“Terrain?”
“Yes…. I don’t know why you’re only fighting on the ground.”
“……?”
“Why do you think I told you to choose the jungle map? What are you saving the platforms for?”
It was always the people who couldn’t play the game who gave advice like that. It was absurd.
“Hey, I’d do that in a one-on-one, but you’ll get cursed at if you do that in a multi-PVP. It’s hard to heal….”
“Who’s cursing? Bring them here.”
“What’s the point of bringing them here when you’re the one who’s dying? And the jungle map is the only one with a lot of platforms.”
“We’re going to do jungle.”
“Why are you so sure? The Ruin kids might choose a different map.”
“I have a friend in there, and they’ve decided on jungle.”
“……Is that so?”
No-eul nodded excitedly.
“Hyung, and healing the party members is the healer’s job, so it’s none of our business. If they can’t do it, we can just curse at them.”
[Party] ParkRoaches: lololollolololㅋAh, so annoying!
[Party] Ji9star: It’s a ruined game, so I’m throwing lol
[Party] ParkRoaches: It’s not like you’re throwing, you always do that;
[Party] Ji9star: haha lol
Ji9star went to the top of the map, fell, and used a skill. Then he took fall damage and was immediately killed by the opponent’s attack.
[Party] ParkRoaches: I don’t know, I’m throwing tooㅡㅡ
ParkRoaches also used debuff and curse skills and jumped upwards.
[Party] Cheon No-eul: Hehe
At that, Cheon No-eul also fell from the vines and went behind the barrier.
[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Ah, wtfㅋlolololㅋ This is really a mess
When Halloween Eggplant turned around, the barrier also turned to the other side. However, the party members were on the other side of the barrier. It was an opportunity.
‘Dancing Knife!’
‘5 KILL!’
‘6 KILL!’
‘7 KILL!’
Three consecutive kills. By Cheon No-eul, no less.
‘Cheon No-eul has begun a merciless slaughter!’
Cheon No-eul used any skill and swung his knife indiscriminately. ParkRoaches stopped clinging to the opposing Music Lord to apply debuffs, went up one level, and began to heal Cheon No-eul.
“…….”
At first glance, it seemed like he was using skills without any rules, but upon closer inspection, that wasn’t the case. Just like the pattern Kyung-soo used yesterday, he turned his weapon to block incoming attacks and mixed in appropriate movement skills to face Halloween Eggplant.
Just in case, Kyung-soo went down and used the job skill ‘Pull’ from behind Halloween Eggplant.
[Party] ParkRoaches: ????
“What? The barrier doesn’t work on the other side…?”
Before he could turn around again, Kyung-soo used a skill… a chain wrapped around a large bomb swirled and ensnared Halloween Eggplant.
‘The Barrier of Light is nullified for 2 seconds!’
At that moment, Cheon No-eul linked movement and attack, brushed past Halloween Eggplant’s waist, and came over to Kyung-soo’s side, and the bomb exploded with a bang.
‘6 KILL!’
Halloween Eggplant died for the first time.
[Guild] Catmeowmeow: ☆
[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: …?
After that, it was smooth sailing. Thanks to the large logs and bumpy ground on the jungle floor, long-range straight attacks did not work.
Recalling the experience of beating up Cheon No-eul as he ran away within the map, the complex jungle map was not difficult. Unlike a multi-PVP, he used movement skills to follow only the sorcerer and Music Lord, taking their lives as soon as they revived.
As Cheon No-eul had said when he started the first game, he destroyed the barrier as soon as Halloween Eggplant revived. Then Kyung-soo pulled them all in with his hook at once, and the opponent could only repeat dying without being able to use their strength.
’22 KILL!’
’23 KILL!’
[Party] Ji9star: Who are you…? Where did Cheon No-eul go….
Kyung-soo was also unfamiliar with it. It was definitely Cheon No-eul, not someone else…. He even proudly took second place in contribution rate.
*
[Server] Catmeowmeow: Go to the makeup shop in Isis Village <3ch>
When Kyung-soo shouted only the coordinates to the entire server, people began gathering inside the makeup shop without even knowing why.
[Whisper] Raymi: ???
[Whisper] Halloween Eggplant: ……? Excuse me, Cat-nim;;;;;;;
[Whisper] AimingOzim: Dude, what is that?
[Whisper] Hakase: Do we get something if we go?
“Kyung-soo hyung… Please block everyone sending you whispers.”
No-eul whispered in a gloomy voice. Kyung-soo naturally brushed off his words.
“Then I’d have to start with you.”
As people wearing various costumes started entering one by one, the nicknames overlapped to the point where it became impossible to tell who was who.
[Server] Ji9star: Poseidon Sub Guild Master ★Head Shaving Ceremony★ Come and see >ㅁ< Playing in Channel 3 ♡
[Server] WanduWandya: Channel 3 Isis Village >>>Makeup Shop<<< Take the portal next to the auction house^^
[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Hey you guys
[Server] Ji9star: Ba(d)r 0iya7i◆ Enjoy without regrets. New concept octopus style trend in progress#$ Hair completely shaved☆ Hope many attend.^^**
[Guild] WanduWandya: lololololololololololololol
[Guild] neutaaaa: lolololololololol
[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: This is unbelievable
[Guild] ParkRoaches: Right, who started this lol
[Guild] Cheon No-eul: Right, right!
[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: ** That root of all evil
[Guild] Catmeowmeow: Right, who started this heh
[Guild] ParkRoaches: Right, who started this heh
[Guild] al0ha: Right, who started this heh
[Guild] WanduWandya: Right, who started this heh
[Guild] Ji9star: Thought I had lag lol
Kyung-soo’s party, who had barely won the last match by just one kill, narrowly escaped punishment. All King Saber did was put up barriers and only attacked when someone got close. But even finding the weakness of those barriers meant Halloween Eggplant’s contribution rate was only about 10%. As a result, he was sentenced to the bald head style.
“Cheon No…”
“Yes?”
“Cheon No-eul.”
Even though it was his real name clearly printed on his school ID, just hearing it called gave him chills. Perhaps because he used the same name in the game, it felt no different from being called ‘Cat-nim’.
“Yes?”
“Why did you suddenly get so good?”
“You taught me yesterday. I got used to it.”
“Don’t joke. There’s no way you could pick it up that quickly. You.”
No-eul blinked. Tilting his head slightly with a puzzled expression couldn’t have looked more disgusting. The game character ‘Cheon No-eul’ moved as naturally as if No-eul himself were controlling it. All the guild members who had played with him were puzzled. Because Kyung-soo had also participated in the PVP, they knew he wasn’t controlling it for him.
[Global] Ji9star: Everyone please step back, it might be contagious if you get close
[Global] Raveurina: lolololololololololol
[Global] Halloween Eggplant: ;;What about respect for the Sub Guild Master?
[Global] Catmeowmeow: lol what; 30 seconds left
[Global] Halloween Eggplant: T_T….
Since they had decided to change the hairstyle at exactly 10 o’clock, they watched the clock showing seconds and counted down. When there were 10 seconds left, all the users inside the makeup shop joined in for the countdown.
When the clock struck, the guild members set off event fireworks toward Halloween Eggplant as promised. Sparkling glitter scattered in the air. The salon machine that had been tightly gripping Halloween Eggplant’s head wriggled for a while before popping off with a bang. The silver wind-swept hair was gone without a trace, leaving only a pale bald head like a boiled egg. Even the cynical-looking half-closed blue-gray eyes seemed faintly blurred.
[Global] Cheon No-eul: lololololtch tch
[Global] neutaaaa: lolololololololololol
[Global] Ji9star: lolololololololololol
[Global] Raymi: lolololololololololol
[Global] asdfzxcv: lolololololololololol
Halloween Eggplant quickly left the makeup shop, and users followed him out while using the consecutive forehead-slapping motion emoticons. Everyone seemed to be having fun. Only No-eul, Kyung-soo, and a few users who couldn’t follow them out remained in the makeup shop.
Kyung-soo challenged No-eul to a one-on-one PVP.
“…Did I do something wrong again?”
“No, just accept it first.”
No-eul thought for a moment before clicking the accept button. But the guy who had been rampaging across the battlefield just moments ago was nowhere to be found – No-eul stepped on floating debris in the ruined city map while avoiding Kyung-soo. It didn’t seem like the same person.
“What are you doing? Quickly swap your weapon.”
“I don’t want to fight you, hyung. I just want us to get along well.”
Kyung-soo couldn’t understand No-eul at all. Just because he sat right next to him and taught him for ten matches, did that terrible sense get fixed in an instant? Impossible.
“Are you going to be like this tomorrow too?”
“No, tomorrow I’ll work hard…”
“You’ll work hard tomorrow? So you’re saying you’ll just mess around when you’re with me, is that it?”
At those words, No-eul flinched and turned to look at Kyung-soo.
“Ah, no! It’s not like that!”
As if surprised by Kyung-soo’s words, the flustered No-eul stammered as he spoke.
“Your character looks too much like you, hyung…”
No-eul muttered as if making an excuse. Kyung-soo’s interpretation of No-eul came crashing down in his mind. The worst Terrible Control in Illusion history, unprecedented. A stalker who suddenly appeared one day and followed me around putting bounties on me. When I threatened to meet in real life, instead of apologizing, he immediately said ‘great’ and rushed at me. …But he might not be bad at games. His skills could improve this much in a short period, but if that’s the case, he couldn’t have had no sense from the beginning.
‘…Then what the hell is this bastard up to?’
At that moment, No-eul swapped to the spaceship he’d been riding as a weapon and began rushing toward Kyung-soo. It seemed he finally had the mind to do it properly. Considering class matchups, No-eul as a short-range dealer had a significant advantage. Every time No-eul’s attacks hit Kyung-soo’s character, his shoulders flinched, and even though Kyung-soo ultimately won, No-eul let out a long sigh and trembled violently.
Putting on a show, really.
Kyung-soo looked at No-eul’s act with disgust. No-eul covered his face with his hands and looked at Kyung-soo with teary eyes. Kyung-soo left the noisy guild chat room filled with news about the Sub Guild Master’s head shaving and checked the time. It would probably be eleven by the time he got home. He closed the game and abruptly stood up from his chair.
“It’s late, I’m going home now.”
“But it’s raining outside…”
True to his words, raindrops had already formed on the windowpane. The road was completely wet but it didn’t seem to be raining heavily.
“Do you want to stay over?”
Kyung-soo snorted. It wasn’t like his home was that far, and he wasn’t shameless enough to sleep at the house of someone he’d only met in real life less than a week ago.
“Do you have an umbrella?”
“No. I left it all at school.”
“Then it’s fine.”
“Hyung, the rain isn’t very good these days. It contains dust, so you might catch a skin disease.”
“It’s not like it’s pouring or anything.”
Kyung-soo picked up his discarded bag and put on his shoes. No-eul, who had absentmindedly followed Kyung-soo down to the first floor, caught the still drizzling rain in his palm and looked back at Kyung-soo.
“You’ll get completely soaked…”
“It’s fine.”
Kyung-soo lifted his bag over his head.
“What are you doing with the bag? Even if it’s waterproof, that’s not right!”
“It’s not waterproof? And I meant it’s fine because there’s nothing in it.”
Kyung-soo shook the bag over his head. The completely empty bag flapped weakly. No-eul seemed at a loss for words, his mouth slightly agape. Leaving him like that, Kyung-soo sprinted all the way home through the wet streets.
It was strange. It was clearly just a drizzle, and it didn’t even feel like it was hitting him… but by the time he arrived home, his entire body was soaked through.
*
Kyung-soo had been continuously scanning the community to see if anyone had mentioned the weakness of King Saber’s ‘Light Barrier’ skill. Please let no one know… Unlike yesterday, today’s match is a single game. Do-young spoke to Kyung-soo, who had been shaking his leg the entire time.
“Why are you so fidgety today?”
“I have a Character Deletion Bet today. Illusion…”
“What? You’re still playing that game?”
“Do you want to play again too? A new class came out last month… It’s really fucking boring.”
“If it’s boring, why play…? I quit after getting PK’d by some crazy guy in the event map last time. He stole all my items.”
Ah, ‘that’ incident. It was an event worthy of going down in Illusion history. In a bad way. Users protested en masse back then, it was chaos.
“Games are a waste of life. Take my advice, you. Don’t try to hit on Han Do-young.”
“Bullshit. You’re just saying that because you can’t do it yourself.”
“……”
Kwon Tae-yeol put his arm around Do-young’s shoulder as he mocked him and said they had somewhere to go, practically dragging him out of the classroom. Obviously going to the snack bar…. While scrolling through the latest posts, Kyung-soo found one that seemed related to today’s PVP.
Title: Found an amazing fashion shop bug!! I bought all pets with this as F2P!!
Author: Hakase/Wizard
Content: Sorry for the clickbait it’s fake hehe
Respected GMs, I have something to say today, could you please create a spectator mode like in Siege Warfare? (For those who don’t know the situation, search for Character Deletion Bet and click on the one with the most comments and go check it out. It’s fucking hilarious lololololol)
It’s the day the Ruin Guild Master gets his character deleted, but I really want to see him get completely wrecked and go bald^^ Ah honestly, don’t you GMs want to see it too T_T Their playstyle is so dirty and I hated seeing them always playing bully from the rooftops, so this is great hehe
(26 comments have been posted.)
-Came thinking it was a great tip, but gave a like and recommendation and left
-Ah it’s already fucking hilarious! They started the fight first and they proposed the Character Deletion Bet, so it’s twice as fun! lol
-Heyheyheyhey honestly, if you have a conscience, I’ll sponsor anyone who broadcasts this T_T
└222
└33333
└4444444
-Are you underestimating Cheon No-eul too much? Ruin trusted him enough to bet character deletion…. Those bastards are so sneaky, they wouldn’t propose a Character Deletion Bet without having some confidence
└Agreed
└Agreed It’s practically 3:5 PVP Cheon No-eul is practically spy-level lololol
└But he completed all 3rd class advancements? They took him around in Poseidon and gave him carries lolololol At this point, it makes sense his skills would have improved somewhat
└If that were the case, would he have become famous for being Terrible Control?
└Oh dear, he just became a high-level noob, dumbass…. Cheon No-eul died from falling in the Aquarium three days ago…. It’s not easy to die from falling there….
└Aqua lolololololololololololololololololol
└No, thinking about how he slaughtered gunners, Poseidon has a good chance of winning yes yes
└Ch- I heard that was account sharing?
└The account sharing thing is just speculation no one knows for sure x
└Of course it’s account sharing dumbass
-No transferring all items to Sub Characters before deletion lololololol Honestly, let’s keep what needs to be kept lolololololol
└lololol total cheapskate^^
└Server’s biggest cheapskate Paewang will probably check his mailbox immediately after seeing this comment lol
└Not gonna go lololol How much did he spend on this game lololololol Bet my wrist he won’t delete even if he loses lol
Reading this post reminded him again of Cheon No-eul’s skills.
‘Which one is the real one? Skills so terrible he couldn’t do it even if you told him to? Or the skills to break through barriers without being told, stick one-on-one to the healer, and skillfully provide care from the opposing dealer?’
Whichever one it was, both were equally creepy. There weren’t just one or two things he was curious about. Among them, he was most curious about why he was following him around. He thought simply that it might be because his ranking was high, or that Cheon No-eul was interested in Valkyrie, but he ultimately chose Blaze as his class. Then since the server’s number one was Blaze, he could just follow him instead. He wasn’t raising a Valkyrie, nor was he planning to raise one in the future… Why on earth?
He didn’t think he’d get a proper answer even if he asked Cheon No-eul. He just kept thinking, and thinking again.
*
Rain poured down as if a hole had been torn in the sky. The raindrops were much heavier compared to yesterday. Fortunately, since he checked the weather forecast this morning, he was able to bring an umbrella. There would be no need to return home soaked through like yesterday.
“Hyung, here.”
No-eul held out a cocoa with a marshmallow floating in it. The marshmallow was shaped like a cat peeking out from between two paws.
“It’s really cute…”
“Thank you.”
No-eul placed his hand on the back of his neck, looking embarrassed.
“……Not you.”
He thought it would be too precious to eat, but the cat quickly melted away. Holding the hot cocoa in his mouth naturally made him feel happy.
“An acquaintance sent me a cookie set, would you like some of that too?”
“Maybe.”
Cheon No-eul was still annoying, but the food he offered was innocent, so he’d force himself to eat it. Kyung-soo found himself humming and wiggling his fingers without realizing it.
There was one hour left until the promised time. The Failure Mangs guild members engaged in childish psychological warfare through server mics or whispers. Kyung-soo ignored them and sat at the table in the living room, picking up the heart-shaped cookies No-eul had brought on a heart-shaped plate.
[Whisper] Spade Queen: No-eul No-eul I’ll only use 200 million I crashed during round of 16
“You got a whisper.”
At those words, No-eul turned his head to glance at the monitor and shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t know. You can ignore it.”
[Whisper] Spade Queen: Actually already used it^^ I’ll fill it in for you later love you hehe
“Isn’t that the quiz friend you mentioned before? I feel like I’ve seen that nickname a lot somewhere…”
“…Never mind that, you have powder on the corner of your mouth, hyung.”
At the hand approaching as if to brush off the powder, Kyung-soo flinched in surprise and roughly wiped the area under his nose with his palm. Swishswishswish! At the violent movement as if washing his face, No-eul quietly lowered the hand he had raised onto his knee.
“It’s gone now, right?”
Kyung-soo twisted his lips. No-eul smiled bitterly as if genuinely disappointed he couldn’t brush off his face.
Time passed quickly. Spectators and Failure Mangs guild members had lined up beside Kyung-soo and No-eul, who were waiting in the arena beforehand. They passed the time by hitting the practice straw dummies placed in the arena.
[Global] Paewang1: Is everyone here?
[Global] Iove: Thought you’d run away lol
[Guild] Ji9star: [Breaking News] Love got hair implanted lololololololol Seems he got hurt T_T Made fun of for being bald lolololololololololol
Iove, unlike last week, had black bobbed hair that reached his shoulders.
[Guild] Catmeowmeow: lolololololololololololololol
[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Can I get mine implanted again too?
[Guild] Cheon No-eul: No^^
[Global] Transparent Human: Why is no one answering? Scared and went AFK?
[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Fake Love is… enviable… How long do I have to live with this hair? I don’t feel like playing the game anymore.
[Guild] Catmeowmeow: Until we get tired of it.
[Guild] ParkRoaches: lolololololololololololololSo funny acting all confident and then getting hair implanted lololololol Must have really bothered him T_T T_T T_T
[Global] Paewang1: Hey scared huh lolololololol Answer
[Global] BlueKim: lololololololololSo scared your fingers all stiffened~
Since guild chat is only visible to guild members, it made sense that it looked like no one was saying anything. That’s when it happened. Cheon No-eul dashed through the air and flew, simultaneously swinging two swords at the stacked practice straw dummies.
Perfect!
The number ‘600000’ appeared in red text. It was damage unimaginable for the previous Cheon No-eul. If it were around 500,000, he’d be considered a decent dealer. But for it to be Cheon No-eul of all people dealing over 600,000 damage – this must have been an unexpected development for Ruin.
[Global] Cheon No-eul: Speechless, I see… Go ahead and chatter some more -_-!
[Global] Paewang1: I was never speechless? Hurry up and apply.
[Party] Ji9star: lololololololololololSo funny I don’t know what to do lololololololololMy hands lost all strength lolololololololol
To the spectators, it clearly looked like Paewang1 was throwing a tantrum alone before suddenly calming down. When laughter and comments about whether he had multiple personalities popped up from various places, Paewang1 urged them to apply for the match again.
[Global] Paewang1: As I said before, if we win, we will post an apology on the entire server and Free Board. And we demand a clean character deletion.
[Global] Catmeowmeow: O
[Global] Transparent Human: Look at the way he answers;
[Global] Ji9star: My kid is usually taciturn^^
Kyung-soo, the party leader, searched for the pre-registered ‘Paewang1 and 3 others’ party and applied to join the battle. As No-eul had assured, the map was Jungle. 30 seconds before the game started, he looked out the window while receiving buffs from the healer.
“The rain isn’t stopping….”
“They said it’ll keep coming until tomorrow morning?”
“……”
Then gym class will be self-study tomorrow too. Kyung-soo didn’t bother to hide his dissatisfaction as he loosened his hands.
[Party] ParkRoaches: Are you guys gonna fall for it again?
[Party] Ji9star: Of course, duh
[Party] Catmeowmeow: Yes, yes
[Party] ParkRoaches: What the heck haha
[Party] Ji9star: ?? I’m recording this, gonna upload it after it’s over
[Party] ParkRoaches: Everyone fighting!^//^
Ji9star flew around in the air like a fly, as if loosening his hands. 10 seconds left until the game started. The emoticon was still not removed from No-eul’s quick slot, but he had a rare serious expression on his face.
[Party] Catmeowmeow: Ji9star, please only target the Hero and Healer, your compatibility with the Gunner isn’t good
[Party] Ji9star: Okay
[Party] Catmeowmeow: Cheon No-eul, you just need to break through the King Saber’s barrier, so deal with the Gunner
[Party] Cheon No-eul: Yes!!
No-eul typed in the chat and simultaneously answered, dragging out the words, “Yesss.”
[Party] Ji9star: Cheon No-eul is so unfamiliarㅋㅋㅋㅋ Why are you suddenly so good? Who are you really….
[Party] ParkRoaches: Then who will protect the cute Healer?
[Party] Catmeowmeow: The not-so-cute Healer, try to survive on your own^^ Hwaiting
[Party] ParkRoaches: lolololㅋㅋ?
READY… FIGHT!
Just do as well as we did in yesterday’s practice game. The game started, and 8 minutes began to count down in reverse. The Failure Mangs gathered together, set up a barrier, and began to advance forward.
[Global] Iove: What???
They couldn’t have imagined that Poseidon would scatter and rise upwards. Cheon No-eul needed to charge up some Battle Points to break through the barrier. Even the Healer, who usually quietly received protection and healed, was hopping around, moving from vine to foothold, and the opponents seemed to be in disarray.
[Party] Ji9star: I’m going first~
Ji9star aimed his spear downwards from the very top and dropped into their camp. Cheon No-eul followed him down, and Kyung-soo sniped the King Saber from one level above. He tried to approach from behind and pull him, but he failed to use the skill because he quickly changed direction.
[Global] Iove: Ah, shi
‘1 kill![Global] Ji9star: Baldy deleted ss
[Global] Iove: ㅡㅡ
After the Healer Iove died, the Gunner Paewang1 jumped up. Paewang1, who came up to the space right next to Kyung-soo, widened his arms and gathered energy.
[Party] Catmeowmeow: Haha, ParkRoaches, one level higher
[Party] ParkRoaches: Yes, yes
‘Spin Tornado!’
Are all Gunners like this? He had no skill in using skills at all. He was supposedly a guild master, yet he used a skill with a long charge time in PVP.
“Ah, mistake….”
Cheon No-eul was dead.
“……?”
[Party] ParkRoaches: lololollololol
[Party] Ji9star: …???????? Why did you jump in there????
[Party] Cheon No-eul: Mistake…hehe
Cheon No-eul, who had jumped up while Paewang1 was rotating and spraying bullets left and right, was hit by his ultimate move and fell to his death. ParkRoaches gave Paewang1 a ‘speed reduction’ and ‘evasion reduction’ debuff.
‘2 KILL!’
Ji9star jumped up slightly and hit him twice with a basic attack, and the HP that had been halved by using Spin Tornado was completely depleted. As soon as the Gunner fell, the Healer Iove revived, and Kyung-soo used a movement skill to approach him and quickly kill him again.
[Global] Iove: Fers
[Global] Transparent Human: How can you kill someone right away, no manners
[Global] Catmeowmeow: lol sorry
[Global] Ji9star: Looking for manners in PVP That’s why you always get your ass kicked
[Global] Paewang1: lol We’ll see;
[Party] Ji9star: But what is Cheon No-eul?? I can’t figure you out
[Party] Cheon No-eul: ??
[Party] Ji9star: You suddenly seem a bit good… but when it’s important, you jump into the fire yourself, you’re like a moth
[Global] Transparent Human: Doesn’t know how scary a Hero isㅋㅋㅋ
The Hero, who had stubbornly maintained his life despite Ji9star being constantly attached to him, began to use skills. Ji9star dodged the attacks like a rat and jumped upwards. Once a short-range dealer Hero starts using combos, it becomes difficult because it blocks all other attacks and no one can approach him.
“Hyung, lure him upwards.”
“Who?”
“The Hero. …Just a moment.”
[Party] Cheon No-eul: ParkRoaches, get ready for Spell of Hell
[Party] ParkRoaches: ?? Spell of Hell?
[Party] Cheon No-eul: Yes
[Party] ParkRoaches: Wait, gotta register it
[Party] Cheon No-eul: When I tell you, shoot it at the Hero
[Party] Ji9star: Ah, I got itㅋㅋㅋ Okay, then I’ll block the Healer
[Party] Catmeowmeow: ????
“Am I the only one who doesn’t know?”
Instead of coming down to the floor, Poseidon was moving around, and not only the Hero but also the revived Gunner began to rise upwards.
“What’s Spell of Hell?”
“Spell of Hell is a legendary skill for mages that can stun an opponent for a very short time.”
“What’s that? I’ve never heard of it?”
“It’s good for blocking combos, but you probably didn’t know because it’s not usually used. It’s not very efficient normally.”
Kyung-soo felt his pride hurt by the thought that Cheon No-eul knew something he didn’t. You’d have to raise a mage to know.
‘The Barrier of Light is nullified for 2 seconds!’
As soon as Cheon No-eul revived, he took advantage of the opponent’s scattered formation and destroyed the barrier.
‘3 KILL!’
He went straight down and took the King Saber’s life. The King Saber, who revived 10 seconds later, no longer used the Barrier of Light skill. He probably thought that there was no point in putting up a shield since his party members were scattered anyway.
‘Death Chain!’
Kyung-soo used a skill to entwine the Hero with bright red chains and pull him up.
‘Spell of Hell!’
The Hero fell into a stunned state for a short time. Because he attacked late, the Hero, whose HP had been halved, used his ultimate move.
‘Shadow of Grotesque Voice!’
The shadow drawn on the floor instantly transformed into a monster and swallowed Kyung-soo. The shadow mumbled with its mouth and spat him out with a ‘ptoo’ sound, and Kyung-soo’s eyes turned into X’s as he sprawled on the floor.
[Global] Transparent Human: Burp, good eats
[Global] BlueKim: Hahaha
[Party] Cheon No-eul: Hahaha, son of a b1tch Hahaha
[Party] ParkRoaches: Hahaha Wow, I’ve never seen you curse before
[Party] Cheon No-eul: I’m only gonna mess up the Hero
[Party] Ji9star: Hahaha
[Party] Catmeowmeow: Don’t do it….
[Party] ParkRoaches: lololollololol
Cheon No-eul kept his promises amazingly well only at times like this. After the Hero died, he would either sit quietly in that spot or charge up his energy, and when he revived again after 10 seconds, he would use ‘stun-knockback skill-stun-knockback skill’ and thoroughly attack only the Hero. In the end, Ji9star and Kyung-soo had no choice but to deal with the remaining three.
[Global] Transparent Human: Shibal;
[Global] Paewang1: Hey, you’re using a proxy, aren’t youㅋlololol
[Global] Cheon No-eul: Does it feel good to comfort yourself? Just say you lost!
‘27 KILL!’
‘WIN!’
With Cheon No-eul wielding Dual Blades as the last move, the game result window popped up with a cheerful trumpet sound.
‘+Guild Points 100’
‘+Experience 300000’
‘+500000 Bell’
When they came out of the arena again, the guild members and spectators who had been waiting asked about the results.
[Global] Paewang1: …….
The Failure Mangs party members disconnected.
“They ran away. I thought they would.”
“They’ll come back.”
At that moment, Cheon No-eul knelt down on one knee.
‘Cheon No-eul has requested a courtship! Do you accept?’
“Hey!”
“I saw there were three left. I thought I should use them up quickly.”
‘No.’
‘You have rejected the courtship. The confession event buff is activated for 10 minutes.’
‘Minimum attack power increased by 5%’
[Global] Cheon No-eul: ㅠㅠ
[Global] Ji9star: lololollololol
[Global] CookieFlavoredCottonCandy: What is thisㅋlololollololollolololㅋ
[Global] Halloween Eggplant: Shibal so funnyㅋlololollolololㅋ
“Too bad….”
“Yeah, not really.”
Kyung-soo also pressed Esc to end the connection. As he picked up his bag and grabbed the umbrella he had placed in the shoe rack, No-eul belatedly turned around.
“Are you leaving?”
“Yeah.”
“Why? You didn’t teach me anything today. I hired you, hyung… Isn’t that a breach of contract?”
“Contract what? Don’t talk nonsense. When will the item lock be lifted?”
“It’ll take two weeks, I told you. I’ve already applied.”
No-eul followed him out to see Kyung-soo off as he had yesterday. When they came out to the lobby, they could see the trees outside swaying like crazy.
“……”
Kyung-soo’s pupils trembled.
Why is the wind like that? It takes 20 minutes to get to the bus stop from here, and he didn’t bring enough money to call a taxi today. Kyung-soo gave a nod to No-eul, who was waving his hand, and opened his umbrella. And as he ran out like yesterday, the umbrella suddenly turned inside out due to the wind blowing in the opposite direction.
“Eek!”
Cheon No-eul’s laughter was heard over Kyung-soo’s scream. To show such a sight to him, he wanted to die of shame. Even if he closed the umbrella again, it didn’t return to its original shape, and only the umbrella ribs were bent. Because of the wind, the rain was falling sideways. Kyung-soo tried to walk with the umbrella turned inside out like a trumpet in front of him, but his hand slipped and he dropped the umbrella.
“Ah, no!”
By the time he picked up the umbrella that had been blown away in the opposite direction, his whole body was soaked in the rain. In the end, Kyung-soo ran back under the office building.
“Huff… huff….”
No-eul laughed while holding his stomach for a long time, wiped away the tears that had leaked out, and took Kyung-soo’s soaked umbrella. The umbrella, which had not listened to him, returned to its original shape when it went into his hands.
“Go up. I told you, you could just sleep over.”
“…….”
Lend me some taxi fare. His pride as an older brother by a year didn’t allow him to say that.
When will the wind die down? Kyung-soo sat by the window the whole time, blankly staring at the swaying trees. It had already been an hour.
“You look like a puppy who wants to go for a walk when you’re like that.”
“What, a dog?”
“Kyung-soo-yah, you can’t go out today because the weather is bad.”
Kyung-soo was somewhat shocked by the way he muttered so kindly, as if he were treating a small animal. So, is he… calling me a son of a b1tch right now?
“Do you want to get your ass beat?”
“No. Hyung, but are you really not going to take off your clothes?”
“…….”
After showering and shaking his wet hair, No-eul quietly sat next to Kyung-soo.
“I told you, you’ll catch a cold.”
“I haven’t caught one since elementary school.”
Kyung-soo already had a tight grip on the damp towel and kept his mouth shut. There was no way the wet clothes would dry even if he wiped them with a towel. As a result, his lips were gradually turning pale.
“I have to sleep now too so I can go to school tomorrow.”
“Go to sleep first. I’ll leave as soon as the rain stops.”
“……I can’t.”
No-eul seemed to have finally given up.
“…Ugh, ugh!”
Kyung-soo was suddenly pulled upwards, making a strange noise. No-eul put his hands under Kyung-soo’s armpits and lifted him up, then strode towards the bathroom.
“Let go, shibal! I, it tickles! Ugh! Ahaha!”
“It tickles? This?”
No-eul, who had moved Kyung-soo in front of the open bathroom door, slightly moved the hand he had under his armpit as if to check again. Kyung-soo shook his head frantically, wriggling. By the time he barely escaped from No-eul’s grasp, he was already inside the bathroom.
“……?”
“Call me after you shower.”
The bathroom door closed. Flustered, Kyung-soo grabbed the doorknob and turned it to open the door, but No-eul was standing in front of the door. He pushed Kyung-soo back into the bathroom. He was probably planning to stay like that until he heard the sound of water.
“Then I have to shower.”
He didn’t want to waste unnecessary energy. He took off his damp school uniform and entered the shower booth, which still had the scent of No-eul because he had showered there. It had an uncharacteristically sweet scent. Fruit scent? What is it? Kyung-soo turned on the warm water and sniffed, but stopped smelling it after he thought he seemed like a pervert.
The identity of the sweet scent was body wash. The body wash that a boy living alone used was grapefruit scented. He was about to think it didn’t suit him, but when he thought of his face, he strangely agreed that it suited him. He felt like his whole body was permeated with a sweet smell. When he thought about it after showering, he didn’t have any clothes. While he was thinking about whether he should pick up his wet school uniform again, No-eul knocked on the door.
“Hyung, I’ll leave the clothes in front of the door.”
At those words, Kyung-soo immediately threw the door open. He made eye contact with No-eul, who was about to put the clothes on the floor.
“…….”
“What are you looking at.”
Their hands brushed as he took the clothes from his hand. It was a new pair of underwear, long pants, and a white t-shirt. The pants were a bit long. Kyung-soo felt an unknown sense of defeat. It’s not that my legs are short. That bastard is unnecessarily tall! He tried to comfort himself. As he came out of the bathroom, No-eul held out his hand as if asking for the wet school uniform.
“If you wash it today, it won’t dry by tomorrow morning, so just dry it as it is and sleep.”
“…….”
Since he only had two school uniforms anyway, this was all he had besides the one that was in the washing machine at home. If he had known this would happen, he would have taken off his clothes earlier. He had been shivering for an hour for nothing. Embarrassed, Kyung-soo nodded.
Cheon No-eul’s room was empty. The desk was neat without a single scattered item, and there wasn’t even a single photo. That’s why it felt a bit boring. The furniture in his room consisted of a bookshelf, a desk, and a bed that seemed quite large for one person to sleep in.
Kyung-soo thought of his own studio apartment, which was a 30-minute walk from here. He lived alone just like him, and there was no one to clean up, but compared to Cheon No-eul’s room, his room was a garbage dump. Kyung-soo decided to clean his room as soon as he went home tomorrow.
“…Where do I sleep?”
“In the bed.”
“There aren’t two beds, are there?”
“There are two pillows.”
“Oh, yeah. …Okay. That’s a relief.”
No-eul turned off all the lights in the bathroom and living room and came into the room. It wasn’t like he had never slept at a friend’s house before, but he had never shared a blanket in the same bed. No-eul turned on the auxiliary light and approached the bed, pulling back the blanket.
“Aren’t you turning off the light?”
“No, I have nightmares if it’s completely dark.”
No-eul lay down on the bed first and stared at Kyung-soo. He can’t sleep without light? He’s like a kid. Kyung-soo picked up the pillow next to No-eul and quietly took his place. No-eul chattered in a pleasant voice next to him until he went to sleep. If he answered insincerely, he would even laugh, making his throat vibrate.
Kyung-soo squeezed his eyes shut and recalled the day. …I wish it was a dream. Why did the umbrella have to break today? Why did the wind have to blow so hard today? Why didn’t I bring taxi fare today…. It was a day full of regrets.
“……Hngh, hyung.”
What is it? Kyung-soo suddenly opened his eyes at the groaning sound nearby.
…It’s probably nothing. Kyung-soo thought nonchalantly and closed his eyes again. Sleep came over him again. He had a habit of hugging a pillow as big as his body to sleep. If he didn’t have that, he had to hug the blanket to sleep. Kyung-soo readjusted the pillow, which felt warm today.
“Ugh, ugh.”
“What?”
Another groan was heard. He was wide awake. The surroundings were brighter than usual. Only then did Kyung-soo realize that this wasn’t his room, and that what he was hugging was Cheon No-eul’s body. He was startled and backed away.
Cheon No-eul, illuminated by the orange light, had a slightly stiff expression. His pupils were shaking wildly, and he couldn’t make eye contact, unlike usual. Kyung-soo quickly looked at No-eul’s head, shoulders, chest… everywhere, and was able to find one strange thing.
“…What the f?”
“Hyung, that’s too much….”
No-eul covered his face with his hands and mumbled. It was hard to tell if it was because of the lighting or if his face was genuinely red. In any case, Cheon No-eul seemed embarrassed to Kyung-soo.
“Is it because of me?”
“Hyung touched me…”
No-eul said in a trembling voice. Kyung-soo blinked. No-eul’s crotch was bulging.
“I did?”
“Yes…”
Filthy! Kyung-soo asked, his hands trembling. No-eul, still with his head down, only glanced up at Kyung-soo. Kyung-soo didn’t remember. No, he wasn’t even aware of it in the first place. If he were in his right mind, there’s no way he would touch someone else’s… there!
“Hyung, what do I do?”
“Are you a baby?”
“No.”
“Right? So, take care of it yourself.”
“……”
Kyung-soo didn’t get an answer for a while, so he ended up apologizing.
“S-sorry. I didn’t mean to touch you. I have rough sleeping habits…”
“…Okay. Then I’ll take care of it and sleep. Hyung, you go to sleep first.”
No-eul said sullenly. Kyung-soo lay back down and squeezed his eyes shut. I want to wash my hands. Of course, I didn’t touch it, but I still want to wash them. Kyung-soo tried to fall asleep, counting sheep in his head. One sheep, two sheep, three sheep….
“Hng, uh…”
“……”
He couldn’t fall asleep. There was no way he could. Right behind him, a crazy bastard was moaning. He should have gone to the bathroom, but the vivid sounds in 3D surround sound completely chased away his sleep.
“Kyung-soo hyung…”
Kyung-soo jumped up and took a deep breath.
“Do you like me? Why the fuck are you calling my name like that!”
“…I think so?”
“……?”
“I think I like you?”
“……I see. Carry on.”
Kyung-soo said that and turned his back. His mind went blank. He couldn’t sleep anymore, but he squeezed his eyes shut and pretended to sleep. It was the same way he dealt with nightmares. If he kept his eyes closed, he would eventually fall asleep again, and he wouldn’t feel the panting breath of the guy behind him.
“Hyung, hyuuung…”
“……”
“Kyung-soo hyung…”
“Ah, what!”
Kyung-soo shouted, jumping up. Why is the embarrassment all mine? Shame filled him to the top of his head.
“At least go to the bathroom!”
“But this is my room?”
“……”
He wasn’t wrong.
“And it’s all because of hyung…. This is really too much.”
“……”
He had nothing to say about that. Who knew that what he was groping in his sleep wasn’t a pillow but the guy’s thing. From Cheon No-eul’s point of view, he was sleeping soundly and then woke up being harassed.
‘He even said he likes me.’
It was a slip of the tongue, but he didn’t expect to get a positive answer. Well, people can end up liking the same man. I made him talk about his feelings on the spur of the moment… I’m sorry about that.
“……”
Still, it’s not normal to openly call his name and do that in front of the person he likes. Kyung-soo found it difficult to look at No-eul’s face or his lower body, so he looked down at the blanket, hoping that No-eul would suggest his own solution.
“It’s because of me, right? Are you sure?”
“Then do you think I would suddenly wake up and be like this if I was sleeping fine?”
He was right. It was his sleeping habits that caused this, so he had nothing more to say. Kyung-soo spoke carefully in a subdued tone.
“…Sorry. What do you want me to do?”
“Will you do it?”
“Yeah. Should I leave?”
No-eul shook his head. And suddenly, he grabbed Kyung-soo’s wrist. No-eul brought Kyung-soo’s hand over and smiled.
“Hyung, take care of it.”
“……”
Take care of what? Kyung-soo’s mouth opened slightly. He couldn’t move his hand recklessly. Kyung-soo blinked slowly for a while, then turned his gaze to what he had been trying not to look at.
“You fucking bastard, what is this.”
“What do you think?”
“……”
No way, he was hiding something like this? His hand reflexively tightened. Then No-eul let out a small, flushed moan. Kyung-soo squeezed his eyes shut.
…Please let this be a dream.