By Zephyria #5 Sunset (2)
As soon as the territory war results were announced, a flag bearing the guild emblem was hung on the roof of Isis Spire. The losers had nothing to say, and the Failure Mangs scattered in all directions the moment the game ended.
[Whisper] Green apple juice: Congratulationns!^0^♡
“…….”
Perhaps because he’d heard something strange earlier, Green apple juice’s words started sounding like a sturdy man’s voice. The emoticons no longer looked cute. Instead, they were frightening. Kyung-soo replied vaguely with ‘thx thx’ and then ignored all her subsequent messages with a glazed look.
[Whisper] Sunset: Hyung
“…….”
Hyung? All of a sudden?
“Is this guy insane?”
After staring at the single character Sunset had sent for a while, Kyung-soo furrowed his brow and typed, ‘?Me?’. Just then, Cheon No-eul, who had mysteriously sensed the game was over, called.
“Oh, right, it just ended. I’ll get dressed and come out.”
-……Hyung.
“Hey, where should we meet? Have you eaten?”
-No, I haven’t eaten yet. But, um….
“Then let’s eat first when we meet. I’m hungry.”
-Hyung, wait a second. I have something to say….
“To me? What is it?”
-I told you earlier.
Earlier? Kyung-soo frowned, remembering No-eul hadn’t read the message. Other than that, he hadn’t spoken to the guy today.
“What?”
Instead of an answer, he heard the sound of keyboard typing.
[Whisper] Sunset: I said I have a confession to makeㅠㅠ
“…….”
Kyung-soo tilted his head, alternating his gaze between the dark phone screen and the monitor. Sunset was hopping up and down in place. As if insisting it was really him. His mind froze momentarily, and no thoughts came.
You’re Sunset? Cheon No-eul is Sunset….
“…Oh. Really?”
-…….
“I see.”
At the bland reaction, No-eul seemed at a loss for words, and no sound came from the receiver. Kyung-soo glanced around as if looking for something and asked quietly,
“So where are you now?”
-Why… why aren’t you surprised?
“Should I be surprised? Why are you being ridiculous even though I’m believing you?”
-So you don’t believe me?
“I believe you.”
-Just wait a second.
A few mouse click sounds followed. Soon, the starry sound of summoning a Legendary Pet came through both the phone receiver and the speakers.
‘Meow Meow♡’
A black cat pet appeared next to Sunset. It was one of the Legendary Pet types. Nya Nya♡ stretched, opening its cute mouth wide in a yawn. Sharp fangs appeared and then disappeared again. Nya Nya♡ spun around chasing its own tail next to No-eul♡, then plopped down beside him and started nodding off sleepily. No-eul♡ just blinked his calm, black-bean-like eyes.
[Global] Ji9star: Whoa, Sunset-nim… a Legendary Pet?????
[Global] Seol-yeong: The pet’s name lolololololololololololololololololololol
[Global] neutaaaa: Ack lolololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololol
[Global] Spade Queen: Ah, holy sh1t the pet’s name lolololololololololololololololololololol
-See?
“…….”
Yeah, I saw. You little shit. The corner of Kyung-soo’s mouth trembled and twitched upward. He had one more reason to kill the guy.
-I didn’t mean to deceive you from the start, it’s just… it’s a long story. Last year….
The longer the call went on, the higher the chance the guy would run away. Kyung-soo cut him off calmly.
“No, just come out first. I’m starving to death.”
-……Are you mad?
“Listen to my voice. Do I sound mad?”
-No!
No, my ass. You’re so dead.
Kyung-soo roughly threw on his outerwear and answered all of No-eul’s muttering softly, as if to reassure him. After saying he was going to the bathroom and hanging up, Kyung-soo shoved his phone in his pocket and flung the shoe cabinet door wide open.
“Where’s the hammer….”
Five minutes before the meeting time, No-eul sat on a park bench, craning his neck and looking around. He occasionally glanced at his phone. Kyung-soo watched him secretly from behind, fiddling with a baseball bat in his fingertips.
No-eul would sometimes look at his phone and grin happily, or hum a tune and fidget with his feet. He looked utterly trivial, so blissfully unaware of what was about to happen to him.
That guy I thought was nothing special was Sunset? That handful of a guy, Cheon No-eul, who died and revived dozens, hundreds of times a day, who fell off cliffs when told to go up, who died from brushing past a snail? He clearly seemed completely clueless…. Was it all an act?
“…….”
Cute. Kyung-soo decided on bloody revenge. He laughed soundlessly, his shoulders shaking.
Earlier, Kyung-soo, having lost his reason, opened the front door with the hammer in hand and immediately made eye contact with the man from the house across. Seeing the man’s bewildered expression, Kyung-soo’s reason returned, and he gently set the hammer down in the entryway. Even he thought the image of chasing No-eul with a hammer was too horror-movie-like. He never intended to smash No-eul’s head in anyway, and he didn’t want to set foot in a police station yet. His plan was to scare the guy a bit, make him whine, and then get him to confess his wrongdoings, so he brought out the cute baseball bat that had been gathering dust in his room.
Should I run and grab him by the scruff? Or sneak up and call his name? He pondered how to approach No-eul without being detected and prevent him from running away. Just then, as he was looking around, his eyes met No-eul’s, who had spotted him.
“Hyung, you’re he….”
No-eul, looking as happy as could be, smiled with crinkled eyes and raised his hand in a wave. But he couldn’t even finish his sentence before his gaze dropped. His bright face turned pale upon seeing the baseball bat in Kyung-soo’s hand.
“…….”
Kyung-soo grinned crookedly as if to reassure him. But to No-eul, it must have looked more like the face of a grim reaper than a smile of comfort. No-eul gulped audibly and took a hesitant step backward. Then he turned around and started running.
“Hey! Where do you think you’re going!”
“I’m sorry!!”
Even smiling hadn’t been enough to reassure the guy, it seemed. Kyung-soo gripped the baseball bat tightly and quickly gave chase. No-eul was as quick as a mountain rabbit, but Kyung-soo was confident in his stamina. The sight of No-eul running along the path and Kyung-soo chasing him with a bat wasn’t exactly common. People out enjoying the rare sunny Sunday followed them with their eyes, bewildered.
“I’m really sorry!”
“You know? Then tell me what you did wrong!”
“I know! I’ll tell you everything!”
“I don’t need it!!”
“Please stop chasing me with that weird thi… Huh?”
He chased the guy relentlessly until the cool weather felt stifling. His breath rose to his throat. Cold air circled his lungs and rushed out. His side ached. No-eul seemed to be in a similar state, as his pace slowed slightly. Seeing No-eul just barely out of reach made him feel so impatient his fingertips tingled.
Kyung-soo threw the baseball bat with all his might towards No-eul, who had changed course onto the grass. The bat spun through the air and struck No-eul squarely on the head.
Thwack!
No-eul’s legs buckled, and he lost his balance. The baseball bat, which had played its part in catching him, was discarded carelessly.
“Argh!”
“Fuck, got you!”
“Haksaaeng!!”
Kyung-soo pounced on the falling No-eul. He grabbed his hair first. Kyung-soo climbed on top of him to prevent escape and wiped the sweat from his own forehead with his sleeve. No-eul had turned pale, his eyes squeezed shut.
It was the police who separated Kyung-soo from No-eul. Sweat beaded on the police officer’s forehead too; it was unclear how long he’d been following them. Kyung-soo, who hadn’t noticed anyone following him in his pursuit of No-eul, was bewildered. He was subdued in an instant, completely unaware of what was happening. Another police officer who had been running behind approached No-eul, who was lying on the grass, and asked seriously.
“Are you okay?”
“…I’m fine, so hyung, please let go of my hand first.”
“Huh?”
“I said don’t hold my hand.”
No-eul answered sulkily. His gaze was fixed on Kyung-soo’s wrists, which were being restrained by the other officer. Kyung-soo grew anxious, thinking this crazy guy might talk back to the police. The officer released Kyung-soo. The moment he was free, Kyung-soo rolled his eyes, thinking of an excuse.
“We were just playing tag!”
“Tag? With a weapon?”
The taller of the two officers sneered, pointing at the baseball bat.
“They say kids these days are scary…”
“Don’t even say it. It’s different from our time.”
“It’s not a weapon…”
Kyung-soo muttered, looking at the baseball bat that had rolled away. Compared to the hammer he’d initially intended to bring out, it was a child’s toy.
“Actually, it’s a birthday beating.”
“Now he’s making excuses.”
“It’s not an excuse! Right? I haven’t even hit him yet!”
“But I got hit…”
No-eul recited softly, rubbing the back of his head. When Kyung-soo glared at him, he promptly shut his mouth.
“Yet?”
“Tsk…. They say school violence is serious these days, and in broad daylight…”
School violence? Kyung-soo’s mouth fell open in indignation. The one who’d done wrong in the first place wasn’t him, but Cheon No-eul.
“Ah, no. It’s not! Hey, what are you doing? Admit it! It’s your birthday today!”
“……My birthday?”
No-eul asked back. The corner of Kyung-soo’s mouth, which he’d forced into a smile, trembled. His face was pleading. No-eul blinked his pale eyes and asked,
“Uh… Hyung. What’s. The date today?”
“It’s December 1st. Your birthday!”
“Wow. It’s true. It is my birthday!”
“Hey you little shit, happy birthday!”
Kyung-soo gave No-eul an artificial hug and secretly let out a short sigh. The two officers scolded them, telling them not to play such pranks again, and left, glancing back at them repeatedly.
“…You really shouldn’t try acting.”
Kyung-soo, completely drained, lay down flat on the grass.
“Hyung, you too.”
“I was a bit better.”
“No, you were weird too.”
Kyung-soo looked up at the hand fussing with his hair as if to say ‘what do you want me to do about it?’, and No-eul started meticulously fixing his hair with great enthusiasm. Even the guy doing that had his bangs clumped and stuck to his white forehead. It wasn’t the time to be fixing his hair.
“Get off.”
When Kyung-soo slapped his hand away, No-eul sullenly drooped the corners of his eyes. Seeing that expression on the guy’s face made Kyung-soo feel like trash.
“Are you okay?”
“Do I look okay?”
Kyung-soo retorted sharply on purpose. No-eul then became sullen, like a scolded puppy with droopy ears.
“No…”
“See, why did you run? Ah, my stomach hurts.”
“…I thought I’d die if I got hit. I was prepared to take one hit, but I didn’t think hyung would bring out a weapon…”
Kyung-soo blinked and answered sarcastically.
“Stop exaggerating. What kind of weapon is this? I held back from bringing a hammer.”
“A hammer……”
No-eul bit his lower lip tightly and started watching Kyung-soo’s expression. Bringing the bat instead of the hammer was definitely a very good decision. If he’d really thrown a hammer, No-eul’s head would have been smashed, and he’d have been caught for sure.
Thinking back, Sunset was definitely quiet at first, but as time went on, he became talkative and started making jokes. And considering that from some point on, he started showing he had feelings for him, even earning the title of ‘Cat Concubine’, hitting him one more time wouldn’t be enough to vent his anger. He just thought it was the law of crazy person conservation. Just when one Cheon No-eul weirdo seemed to disappear, another strange guy appeared.
“To think it wasn’t multiple weirdos, but one weirdo…”
As Kyung-soo muttered in disbelief, No-eul’s knees came into his view. Red liquid was seeping through the jeans. He unconsciously poked No-eul’s knees a few times. No-eul made a pained sound and frowned.
“Ow, that hurts.”
“…….”
Bloody revenge was one thing, but Kyung-soo hadn’t actually expected No-eul to get hurt. He gasped sharply. When he suddenly sat up, No-eul blinked in confusion. Kyung-soo commanded with a grave expression.
“Get up and try walking.”
“Now?”
No-eul got up and walked stiffly. Fortunately, his gait seemed fine. Must have just scraped it a bit. Just as Kyung-soo was about to look up in relief, No-eul suddenly plopped down. Is it because of me! Kyung-soo’s heart plummeted with a thud.
“There’s a pebble…”
“What’s wrong!”
“…Huh? In my shoe…”
“Does your head hurt? Or are you dizzy?”
“…….”
“Let me see.”
Kyung-soo cupped the confused No-eul’s cheeks with both hands. Then he felt around the back of his head with his fingers, checking for any lumps. His fingers combed through his hair, probing everywhere. From the excessively close breathing, No-eul’s earlobes gradually grew hot.
“This won’t do. Let’s see the movie another time.”
“Huh? Why?!”
At the thunderbolt-like statement, No-eul made a tearful face as he answered. But Kyung-soo seemed to have no intention of changing his mind. It would be a disaster if he suddenly got dizzy and collapsed in the dark movie theater. It seemed better to take him home and monitor his condition.
“Want a piggyback?”
“……?”
“If you don’t like that, I can carry you.”
“Gasp, really?”
No-eul covered his cheeks with his hands, his face reddening. Seeing his shy appearance, Kyung-soo suddenly felt displeased, dropped his outstretched arms, and changed his mind.
“Never mind. I’ll just help you walk. If you feel dizzy, lean on me. And… if you feel like you’re dying, say something.”
“Okay.”
“Ah, no. If you feel dizzy! Not now, damn it!”
“Yesss……. But where are we going?”
“Your place.”
“…….”
No-eul’s heartbeat suddenly quickened. Kyung-soo, who had been walking in silence, suddenly got irritated again and deliberately stepped hard on No-eul’s foot.
“You need to prepare to confess everything once we get to your place.”
“I could do it now…”
“If I hit you here, the police will come again.”
“…….”
No-eul glanced at the baseball bat held tightly in Kyung-soo’s hand and pressed his lips together tightly. Thinking that it was originally supposed to be a hammer made his knees go weak.
*
The moment Kyung-soo stepped into the entryway, he threw off the arm he had draped over No-eul’s shoulder and said,
“Take off your pants.”
“Ye, yes?!”
If his knees were injured, he needed to take off his pants to treat the wounds, right? Kyung-soo looked at No-eul, who was so surprised he was even hiccupping, with puzzlement.
“Why? I said take them off.”
“Re, really take them off?”
“What else are you going to do?”
No-eul fiddled with his ear and grinned bashfully.
“But it’s too fast…”
“Fast?”
“I, I’m not against it, it’s just a bit sudden…”
“…….”
Kyung-soo, who had been staring stupidly at No-eul’s rapidly reddening face, recoiled in shock and shouted.
“What the hell are you talking about, you crazy bastard! I need to see your injury, so go change into comfortable pants and come out!”
Finally realizing No-eul had been having strange thoughts, Kyung-soo shoved him into his room. The doorknob rattled immediately as if he tried to come right out. But since Kyung-soo was holding the outside knob tightly, the guy soon gave up and quietly changed his clothes inside. A few minutes later, No-eul came out of his room wearing comfortable pants, looking sullen.
“…….”
Blood was caked on his white knees, and the sight was more pitiful than expected. It was surprising that both knees were like this and he had been pretending to be fine. Luckily, washing them under running water made them look a bit better, but as the scabs came off, the barely-stopped blood started oozing out again.
When he brought the cotton swab soaked in disinfectant near the tattered wound, No-eul squeezed his eyes shut, as if it stung. Guilt and remorse gnawed at Kyung-soo.
“Um… are you okay? …Does it hurt a lot?”
Kyung-soo looked up at No-eul with a sorry expression, still holding his calf. But No-eul answered brightly with a nonchalant face.
“If you give it a kiss, it’ll get bett…”
Bullshit. He’s clearly still not in his right mind. Kyung-soo unceremoniously plopped the cotton swab onto the wound. He could feel No-eul letting out a silent scream, but it was probably all an act.
“Done.”
After slathering ointment thickly on both knees, he laid No-eul down on his bed. No-eul obediently lay down on the bed as Kyung-soo guided him, tightly holding Kyung-soo’s hand and asking,
“Why the bed? You’re not… planning to assault me, are you?”
“…….”
He’s even more out of his mind today…. Kyung-soo went blank, remembering the baseball bat he’d tossed in the entryway. He should know that wouldn’t happen normally, but seeing the guy spouting nonsense since earlier, it suddenly occurred to him.
Come to think of it, I think I heard a thud earlier. Could it be that Cheon No-eul hit his head wrong and went a little crazy? He brushed No-eul’s hair back and answered in a kind tone.
“I’ve been hearing you say strange things since earlier, but I would never do that even in my dreams.”
“……”
“Wake up from your dream.”
Rather than comforting No-eul, Kyung-soo chose to change the subject. Originally, he came out today to interrogate No-eul. It was a bit disappointing that he couldn’t see the movie that opened the day before yesterday… but this comes first.
“Cheon No-eul.”
When Kyung-soo suddenly called his name, No-eul opened his eyes wide and answered.
“Yes?”
“Sunset bastard.”
“……Yes.”
Even though his pupils were shaking all over the place, the sight of him obediently answering again made me chuckle. Even if Cheon No-eul is the same guy as Sunset, ultimately they’re both Cheon No-eul. That pathetic Cheon No-eul who has both knees scraped and is lying helplessly on the bed.
“Why did you lie? And for several months at that.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Do you want to die?”
No-eul’s eyelids trembled. Answer me, do you want to die? Kyung-soo brushed his hair aside and threatened his life once more.
“When was the first time you saw me? When I power-leveled Cheon No-eul… I mean, you? I don’t even remember…”
“Ah, no. The first time was when I was hunting mushrooms… At that time, Cat-nim, I mean Kyung-soo hyung… you killed me. You thought I was a mushroom. That’s how I first knew.”
Kyung-soo’s head went numb whenever he heard the word “mushroom” now. It was clear that he knew nothing back then. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have hunted Sunset.
“…Right, that happened. So was this for revenge?”
“No! That was just for a moment, really just a moment! And I even tried waiting with determination, but hyung was stronger so I couldn’t handle… Anyway, I don’t do things like revenge now. How could I do that to hyung…”
No-eul, who was flustered, trailed off at the end of his words. If it wasn’t revenge, there was no answer as to why No-eul had been following him around. If he had known him since the Sunset days, it had been quite a long time.
“Why did you follow me around?”
“Because you were cool and I wanted to become friends with hyung.”
“…Oh? You thought I was cool?”
“Yes!”
“So you even put a bounty on me?”
“Hehe…”
“Don’t laugh. So what did you want to do after becoming friends?”
“……Get married?”
No-eul’s eyes sparkled brightly.
“Stop joking.”
Kyung-soo flicked his forehead. No-eul, who got hit on the forehead, instantly grabbed Kyung-soo’s hands. Kyung-soo, who had fallen on top of him unintentionally, sat up again. He had even interlocked their fingers, making it impossible to easily pull his hands away, and was looking up at Kyung-soo with an innocent face.
“Let go.”
“Because I might get hit again.”
“Then just don’t say things that deserve to be hit.”
“I’ll try. But I can’t let go of your hands.”
“…Fine, do whatever you want.”
The only thing he learned from knowing No-eul was how to give up quickly.
“By the way, you didn’t know your face was in the official website interview video, right? When you reached max level with that Valkyrie.”
“What?”
That can’t be… He clearly saw with his own eyes that they filmed it so his face wouldn’t show. He even checked the video.
“It’s been edited now. I sent a hundred inquiries! Did I do well? I even got a one-week writing ban because of duplicate questions.”
“…You’re boasting.”
Absurdly, No-eul’s eyes sparkled as if asking for praise. Putting aside that he deceived him, he had no intention of letting it slide. Kyung-soo thought about what would make No-eul suffer the most and came up with a good method.
“You, tell others that you’re Sunset. Whether you write on the free board or spread it through server mic, confess the truth.”
“……Yes?”
No-eul, who usually didn’t get flustered easily, opened his mouth slightly and asked again.
“Why? Isn’t it enough that only hyung knows…”
“Only I need to know? Why?”
“Because I just need to be able to play games with hyung anyway.”
“Well, isn’t that your own circumstance?”
“And people don’t know me. They probably forgot who I am, right? They probably don’t even know I’m gone?”
“Why wouldn’t they know? They all know. People keep asking me where Cheon No-eul went, even people I’m seeing for the first time? Asking if I’m quitting now that I’ve looked down on Cheon No-eul… Fuck, I wondered why I had to listen to that.”
When Kyung-soo smiled bitterly, No-eul instead got angry and shouted.
“Who the hell is that bastard? Why should hyung quit because of that!”
“…Anyway, you’re really a Named. Though in a bad way… How do you deceive people so perfectly? Pretending to be that bad must be difficult too. How did you do it? Did you bring up a virtual keyboard and only use the mouse?”
“…That’s a secret. If I tell you that too, I think hyung will really kill me.”
His voice got smaller toward the end. What on earth could it be? Kyung-soo thought about how No-eul might have pretended to be bad from his standards. Did he only use one hand to control? Or did he pretend to lag on purpose? But it wasn’t really something he was that curious about, so he soon erased it from his mind.
“Ah, can’t you just not say it? I’m not bored anymore so I won’t do things like bomb terrorism.”
That sounded like he would do it if he got bored.
“What’s that?”
“Hyung…”
“You need to talk for me to have fun. Didn’t you create a new account and cause all that trouble to have fun after getting banned? And you even stole my items and ate them. ……You must have had real fun. Right? You had quite the guts.”
“…….”
“So let me have some fun too.”
Kyung-soo giggled and looked toward the door.
“Right. Since I thought of it, want to do it now? Should I turn on the computer?”
“No, I’ll do it after hyung leaves…”
No-eul hesitated as if he really didn’t want to. He’ll do it after I leave? Kyung-soo shook off the interlocked hands and hopped off the bed.
“Then I want to leave now.”
“…Yes?”
Then a gurgling sound came from his stomach. Ah, Kyung-soo made a strange sound and instinctively looked down at his stomach. As soon as No-eul heard that sound, he got up from the bed following Kyung-soo.
“Let’s have dinner before you go…”
No-eul, who was about to enter the kitchen, grabbed the doorframe and staggered. What is this guy with a head injury doing! Kyung-soo approached him, grabbed him by the collar, and told him not to overdo it. No-eul laughed weakly.
“If I don’t do this, hyung will go straight home, won’t you…”
“If you collapse, it’ll all be my fault! Are you really okay?”
“I’m fine. I won’t say hyung killed me. Ah… I’m dizzy…”
“Cheon No-eul! Snap out of it!”
Kyung-soo held No-eul’s shoulders and thought about what to do in this situation.
“Let’s just order something. So… lie down.”
“Then let’s watch a movie together on the laptop in the room.”
“…….”
Right, it might be better to just keep him quietly seated in the room. Cheon No-eul also seemed very disappointed that he couldn’t see the movie today. Kyung-soo pretended to think for a moment before answering.
“What movie should we watch?”
*
The game was buzzing for days with news that a user had achieved max level in a new class for the first time since the second major update. That user’s class was Valkyrie. That Valkyrie with the title ‘The Class GM Abandoned’. Users who chose Valkyrie as their final class would test the class efficiency, swear, and then often go raise new characters. To that extent, the Valkyrie class had poor efficiency.
The fact that bazooka recoil was implemented in the actual in-game mechanics, designed to receive recoil damage with every attack, contributed to Valkyrie’s downfall. By the time users were trying to use Valkyrie properly, another new class, Hero, appeared. Because of this, Valkyrie didn’t even get a separate balance patch, and the recoil damage remained as is. A class abandoned by GM and shunned by users. That was Valkyrie.
[Guild] supercool: You know that famous Valkyrie… I heard they went to F Company headquarters for an interview
[Guild] Aslehn: So jealous lol Then Pudding must have seen them tooㅠㅠ
[Guild] supercool: Hopeless…
The Valkyrie ranker who became the talk of the town listed their name on the first page of the individual rankings. Videos of them playing in the field spread through the free board and community, and the Valkyrie ‘Catmeowmeow’ from the main server finally became famous.
[Guild] Spade Queen: Ah Catmeowmeow? lol I should check them out later
[Guild] Aslehn: Why? Watch now… The post was written by Pudding ha… So cuteㅠ
[Guild] Spade Queen: What exactly is cute about them….
But despite his fame, to No-eul at that time, he was just a passing name. Although he seemed to have occasionally seen them passing through fields since they were similar in level, they weren’t a playing character and never particularly picked fights, so they didn’t leave a strong impression.
[Guild] Spade Queen: But is Catmeowmeow a former volunteer? Earlier they gathered newbies and gave them a bus ride lol
[Guild] Sunset: Wasted effort
[Guild] Spade Queen: Why wasted effort? They just seemed kind
[Guild] Sunset: If favors keep coming, they’ll think you’re Dooly, why don’t you know that?
[Guild] Seol-yeong: So funny lol You talk as if it’s from experience, do you know what a favor is?
[Guild] anamato: As if it’s experience lol Our guild master would never help anyone, right?
‘anamato has been demoted to Untouchable.’
[Guild] anamato: …? Don’t tell me there is? A time you helped?
[Guild] Sunset: No….
[Guild] anamato: Then what’s my crime…?
[Guild] Sunset: Right away~ The crime of touching my feelings…ㅠㅠ Anyone for Milky Way
[Guild] Spade Queen: Me
[Guild] Seol-yeong: I’ll go later
[Guild] anamato: ㅠㅠBut why are our guild’s rank names like this… Other servers have things like Waaah>Teenager>Adult, so cute, but why are ours… The sense….
[Guild] Sunset: I made them…(o^▽^o)
[Guild] anamato: I love them so much!!!!
[Guild] Sunset: I’m glad you like them^^
[Guild] anamato: lol bye!
[Guild] anamato: Ah, it’s a typo of ‘h’. I use eagle typing so ‘oh’\n\n[Guild] supercool: Right Aslehn, do you know this? According to that Valkyrie, GM Pudding is a man
[Guild] Spade Queen: Ah for real? lol
[Guild] Aslehn: ? They’re super cute, why are they a man? Don’t talk nonsense
[Guild] Sunset: lol Flower Rabbit hyung was also a net okama, but who was it that sucked up to him saying his way of talking was cute….
[Guild] supercool: Flower Rabbit hyung lol
[Guild] Aslehn: Don’t bring up that bastardㅠㅠ Nobody knew except you, right
[Guild] Seol-yeong: You should speak properly! Guild Master didn’t know either, you just went along with it!!!!!
Flower Rabbit was a male user who pretended to be a woman, causing discord among guild members and subtly borrowing money and items. And Aslehn was the guild’s first victim and ex-husband.
As far as No-eul knew, actual female users didn’t use exaggerated aegyo like Flower Rabbit. Even if there were, it was very rare. As soon as No-eul thought that the Flower Rabbit behind the monitor was probably a man, he put his thoughts into action without any plan. It was true that thanks to that, Flower Rabbit became very withdrawn.
[Guild] Sunset: “Ah my little bunny couldn’t do that, you Sunset bastard why are you doing this… It’s too much really…There there, pat pat….”
[Guild] Seol-yeong: lol fucking identical lol
[Guild] Aslehn: Ah fuck fuck fuck fuck
[Guild] Sunset: “My baby is still a child…!ㅠㅠㅠ♡
[Guild] Spade Queen: lol Flower Rabbit: Hmph brotherㅜ♡ (husky male voice)
[Guild] Seol-yeong: (Opp…pa…♡ Tapping keyboard while shaving mustache)
[Guild] anamato: Mustache lol
[Guild] Aslehn: Aghaghaghaghaghagh!!!!!!
After being exposed as male by Sunset, Flower Rabbit deleted their account and disappeared forever.
[Guild] Seol-yeong: Let’s say Flower Rabbit was like that.
[Guild] Seol-yeong: But GM Pudding’s character is male from the start, why didn’t you know?
[Guild] Aslehn: Seol-yeong, you knew?????? Then why didn’t you say anything to me?
[Guild] Seol-yeong: I just thought you liked men now?
[Guild] Aslehn: ?
[Guild] Seol-yeong: ??
[Guild] Aslehn: Why is it like this… Am I that open-minded…??
[Guild] Aslehn: I just thought my Pudding chose a male character because they wanted to be bald like Seol-yeong……
[Guild] Seol-yeong: lol
[Guild] Aslehn: Pudding… I fucking loved you…ㅠ goot…bay…☆
[Guild] Spade Queen: lol Hyung, are you kind of a dick connoisseur?
[Guild] Aslehn: ? Accept PVP right now, where are you going? lol
[Guild] Spade Queen: My weapon broke so I can’t todayㅠㅠ
[Guild] Seol-yeong: Living my life and seeing someone who stans a GM for the first time Can I send a one-on-one inquiry to Uncle Pudding?
[Guild] Aslehn: They ignore those inquiries, you know? They probably won’t read it;;”
[Guild] Seol-yeong: You can attract attention with the title Sunset told me
[Guild] Spade Queen: What is it??
[Guild] Seol-yeong: I have no cash but cash items keep getting boughtㅠㅠ
[Guild] Seol-yeong: If you use this as the title, they say you get a response within half a day lol
[Guild] Spade Queen: lol
After the atmosphere stirred once, No-eul completely forgot about the Valkyrie ranker. He was the type to pay no attention to people he wasn’t interested in from the start, and he was busy collecting items to attach sparkly effects to ‘Archangel Wings’.
And one early morning several months later, No-eul was collecting event items that occasionally appeared in the exclusively occupied guild zone while wearing a mushroom hat. Then a blue dot flashed on the minimap. He wondered if some fearless bastard was entering his territory. As soon as he pressed the Tap key to switch his mount to a weapon and descended, an incident occurred.
‘You have died. Would you like to resurrect at the nearest village?’
[Guild] Sunset: …?
[Guild] Spade Queen: Why
No-eul, who only knew how to kill passersby and never thought he would die, naturally didn’t have a resurrection item. Because of that, realizing he couldn’t resurrect without death penalty, he let out a hollow laugh. His inventory was full of event items collected all morning, money not deposited in storage, and star fragments and moon fragments he had been collecting all week.
[Guild] Sunset: I died
[Guild] Spade Queen: lol Nonsense be~gin~!
[Guild] Seol-yeong: If you’re sleepy, go to sleep….
[Guild] Sunset: I’m serious
[Guild] Spade Queen: Today’s nonsense is quite novel
[Guild] Sunset: Fuck no or I’ll delete my account lol Come see^^;
Shortly after, Melody guild members gathered in one place to check if those words were true. They crowded around No-eul, who was lying face down on the ground.
[Guild] Seol-yeong: Omg it’s real oppa… Guild Master is dead
[Guild] Spade Queen: For real?? Ah I can’t go right now, send some screenshots
[Guild] Seol-yeong: Could it be that justice was served?^ㅅ^
[Guild] Seol-yeong: May the deceased… rest in peace…. Action~Beam~!!!!~!!
Seol-yeong shot an energy wave from his hand. The beam stretched long to its maximum range before sparkling and disappearing.
[Guild] anamato: lol
[Guild] Sunset: Laughing?
[Guild] anamato: Ah no,,,, Can’t I even,,,, laugh as I please,,,,! Anyway,,! I’m Untouchable,,, so,, TB lol
The guy who killed No-eul in an instant while passing by appeared again the next day, gathered guild members together, exploded them, and moved to the next map.
[Guild] Seol-yeong: What was that just now? I was up there but suddenly got pulled here… Is it a bug?
[Guild] Sunset: I was right, wasn’t I? It was that bastard yesterday too
[Guild] Spade Queen: That guy just now was Catmeowmeow, right? It’s a Valkyrie class skill fuck Yesterday after getting betrayed by newbies, did they turn dark;
[Guild] Sunset: Did their personality break…?
[Guild] supercool: ?
[Guild] Aslehn: ?
[Guild] Spade Queen: ? That’s not something you should say
[Guild] Spade Queen: Didn’t they come to get revenge on you?
[Guild] Sunset: Don’t remember
[Guild] Spade Queen: Of course, I don’t expect you to lol If we list all the bastards you killed, it would be longer than the Tripitaka Koreana^^;
[Guild] Sunset: It’s not that much but I’m embarrassed^^
[Guild] Seol-yeong: Truly an enormous psycho…
[Guild] Spade Queen: lol Killing and then why bother with greetings?
[Guild] Sunset: It was nice meeting you haha
[Guild] Seol-yeong: After hearing the reason, it’s even more hopeless….
[Guild] anamato: LOL, if I were him, I’d take revenge tooㅋ Just accept it since it’s your own faultㅋㅋ
[Guild] Sunset: Isn’t it good to use the map that the GM Pudding made for PVP? What’s the problem?
[Guild] Spade Queen: Yeah, yeah, you’re right! .o0(But why is he so pissed off….
[Guild] Aslehn: Hahaha
[Guild] Seol-yeong: Haha Your empathy is the best, seriously
[Guild] Sunset: Thanks thanks hehe
No-eul spent the night feeling unpleasant because he couldn’t even touch Catmeowmeow. Catmeowmeow appeared in the guild zone at least once every dawn and indiscriminately slaughtered Melody, who was sitting everywhere. He appeared in an instant, got the kill, and moved on to the next map, and even ‘Sunset’ had a hard time stopping him. Even when the guild members, fully armed and determined, waited for him at the portal entrance and rushed at him all at once, the result was the same. They were entangled in that damn job skill and died without even being able to lift a finger.
It was near the end of the gathering event that they found the criteria for his attacks from his macro-like, accurate, and swift movements. There were dozens of victims from Melody alone, but since the guild leader was even worse, they didn’t say anything to the outside world. They weren’t in a position to complain.
[Guild] Sunset: Take off your hat for a second
[Guild] Aslehn: What hat?
[Guild] Seol-yeong: Mushroom hat?
As he said, everyone took off their mushroom hats, which increased the gathering probability, and waited quietly. Catmeowmeow, who appeared through the left portal, passed through the guild zone this time without causing any harm.
[Guild] Spade Queen: What the…?
What they had suspected was correct.
[Guild] Sunset: LOL, so I was the mushroom
Catmeowmeow was attacking after seeing the fancy mushroom hat. This was confirmed through several subsequent experiments.
[Guild] anamato: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋSo, Cat-nim is playing the game while sleeping, and no one has been able to properly deal with him?lolololㅋㅋ Seriously, this is ridiculousㅋlolololㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Guild] Sunset: I’m going to catch him for sure
[Guild] Seol-yeong: lololollolololㅋSo he was coming to pick mushroomsㅋlololollolololㅋ
The next day, rumors spread within the guild, and Catmeowmeow, who had been called Valkyrie or Cat-nim something, was now being called a mushroom picker.
Meanwhile, No-eul was burning with a competitive spirit for the first time in a while. It was the first time there was someone he couldn’t beat even when he was determined and rushed in. Moreover, his ability to react even unconsciously was quite good.
[Guild] Spade Queen: Since he’s stronger than you, isn’t the mushroom picker your ideal type?lololol Get married
[Guild] Aslehn: What’s your ideal type?
[Guild] Sunset: Definitely not you
[Guild] Aslehn: Sibal, I told you not to call me a dick discriminator
[Guild] Sunset: I never said that….
[Guild] anamato: Hahaha, he must have felt guilty.
[Guild] Seol-yeong: Hahaha.
[Guild] Spade Queen: He has to be good at the game (stronger than him), kind, and have a face he likes.
[Guild] Aslehn: lol, why would anyone kind meet Sunset?
[Guild] Seol-yeong: They probably went extinct in the Cretaceous period.
[Guild] Spade Queen: Agreed.
[Guild] Sunset: Maybe they’re enduring extinction.
[Guild] Aslehn: How can you endure extinction? Just marry the mushroom picker
[Guild] Sunset: Why would I marry a man when I’m not you…^^;
[Guild] Aslehn: I’m notㅠㅠㅠㅠ
[Guild] anamato: Oh, the mushroom picker is here
At those words, No-eul put on a mushroom hat to welcome him and jumped down using his skills. The guild members climbed to the highest point on the map and started jumping up and down to avoid being within the Valkyrie’s job skill range.
Even with the Moon Fairy’s speed reduction debuff, the Valkyrie didn’t even blink. He jumped out of the Moon Fairy’s attack range with a double jump and fired a Bazooka at No-eul’s torso from behind.
‘You have died. Would you like to revive in the nearest town?’
[Guild] Spade Queen: What happened?lolololㅋㅋ
[Guild] Sunset: What is he, really….
No-eul, who had been waiting alone with a mushroom hat, determined to catch and kill the guy for revenge, was brutally killed once again. He never managed to beat the problematic Valkyrie even once until the event ended.
‘You have died. Would you like to revive in the nearest town?’
Why, why can’t I beat him? He’s just a Valkyrie. My personal PVP ranking is higher. Why do I keep losing?
‘You have died. Would you like to revive in the nearest town?’
“…….”
As the days went by, No-eul became more and more determined. He searched the community for the guy’s play style, but there was too little information. He read all the eyewitness accounts.
Catmeowmeow is a ranker but often appears near low-level dungeons. If you linger in front of the dungeon, he’ll include you in the party and is generous and kind to newbies. There were many posts saying they had seen his good deeds, but occasionally there were posts mixed with curses. ‘I asked him to run the Four Gods raid, but he said he was busy today and wouldn’t help. His attitude changed after I did my first job change. He told me to pay him.’ were some of the complaints. He chuckled at the posts that took help too much for granted.
This is why you shouldn’t help anyone. If kindness continues, they’ll think it’s a right. No-eul, who had never helped anyone in his life, was frowning as he thought of the Valkyrie.
He tried to PVP with Catmeowmeow, who was passing by. He was ignored. He became more determined. He tried to PVP. He was ignored again. He rushed at him when he appeared in the guild zone during the day. The result was the same.
[Global] Catmeowmeow: Whoaㅡㅡ;
‘You have died. Would you like to revive in the nearest town?’
[Global] Captain Poseidon: What’s going on?
[Global] Catmeowmeow: I don’t know, ptooey
[Guild] Seol-yeong: Ptooeyㅋlololollolololㅋㅋ
[Guild] Sunset: Ah, I’m so pissed off, what is he really?
[Guild] Spade Queen: Someone stronger than youㅋ
After the event ended, he didn’t even show his face in the guild zone. He spent all day imagining catching and killing Catmeowmeow and even experimented on other guys, but he himself didn’t even show a strand of hair in the guild zone. As the days went by, No-eul could see himself becoming obsessed with the guy named Catmeowmeow.
No-eul, who had been thinking about how to catch and kill Catmeowmeow all along, got up when a thought suddenly flashed through his mind. There was an interview video he had taken when it was a big deal a while ago. Why didn’t he think of that? He definitely said he had filmed a video of him playing, so if he did it right, he might be able to find a way to beat him.
Title: ★Illusion’s First Valkyrie Conqueror!★ Meet the Valkyrie Ranker♡
Writer: GM Pudding
Content: Adventurers, hello! This is GM Pudding~! Are you having a fun adventure today too?
Valkyrie, who uses Bazookas and chains as her main weapons, aren’t you interested? I hope you are! Because today is~! Drum roll…! We interviewed the first max-level Valkyrie!>_<
It’s a job that was in the spotlight during the first update with its cute standby motion, unique job skills, and flashy skill effects, right? Especially! It’s a job that’s especially powerful when dealing with multiple enemies!!
So today, we met the Valkyrie ranker who reached max level for the first time after the 3rd job update! We’ve prepared a video and Q&A consisting of questions you’re curious about and GM Pudding’s personal questions! ^ㅁ^
Then please join us♡
(Video)
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(This is a post where you cannot leave comments.)
He skimmed through the boring questions and perfunctory answers, then scrolled back up and replayed the video.
The voice was distorted, and the video, which was filmed only from the neck down, was about 10 minutes long. It also showed him using the Valkyrie character directly. With the thought of beating that bastard, No-eul, with a belligerent face, watched the video carefully without skipping even a second, and at some point, his eyes widened.
He rewound the video by 10 seconds. And as soon as it reached 7 minutes and 38 seconds, he pressed the space bar to pause the video.
“…….”
Just before the loading screen to the one-on-one PVP with the GM Pudding appeared, Catmeowmeow’s face was very faintly reflected on the blacked-out screen.
“…….”
No-eul’s pupils trembled slightly. He turned the video back and forth, carefully looking at the faint face that could never become clearer. He wanted to have him. His head, which had been filled with the thought of beating him, began to be filled with other thoughts.
[Guild] Sunset: Does anyone know where Catmeowmeow is right now?
[Guild] Aslehn: I think I saw him a while ago on the way to the Milky Way, why?
[Guild] Sunset: I’m going to add him as a friend
They say all beginnings start with friendship. He didn’t even think about being rejected from the start.
[Guild] Aslehn: ???
[Guild] Aslehn: The mushroom picker is going to be your friend?
[Guild] Spade Queen: LOL, just get married, that’s faster
[Guild] Seol-yeong: Then what did the mushroom picker do wrongㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Guild] anamato: Are you going to kill him as soon as you become friends?
It seemed like no one was taking No-eul’s words seriously.
[Guild] Spade Queen: He’s not going to accept your friend request if you suddenly send it
[Guild] Sunset: I guess, he even ignored PVP…ㅠㅠ
[Guild] anamato: ??? Why are you asking for PVP when you want to be friends…?
[Guild] Sunset: Then what should I do?
[Guild] Seol-yeong: Just do what you’ve been doing, seriously….
[Guild] Spade Queen: No, are you crazyㅠㅠ? Then he’ll kill him first
[Guild] Seol-yeong: ㅋㅋThe mushroom picker is stronger anyway, so you can’t kill him
[Guild] Sunset: Anyway, after I make him a friend, I’ll bring him into the guild
[Guild] Spade Queen: Why?
[Guild] Sunset: And from now on, face reveals are mandatory for new members
No-eul stared blankly at the face in the paused video. He wondered if it was a scene that came out due to the angle and coincidence, or if he really looked like that, and his blood was rushing quickly. Come to think of it, even Catmeowmeow’s in-game customization seemed to resemble him a little. No-eul searched for his nickname on the free bulletin board and dragged the captured images to his desktop and saved them.
[Whisper] Spade Queen: Hey, what’s going on??? Is there another Net Okama in the guild? Who is that crazy bastard, who is it, Sibal
He sent her a captured photo of the video via messenger. Thanks to No-eul, who was always chanting about his ideal type, even though it was faint, Min-jae seemed to have noticed as soon as he received the photo. As soon as the number 1 next to the photo disappeared, No-eul called him without saying a word.
-Hey. With that photo that you can’t even see well…!
“So you’re saying you’ll find out.”
-Then are you filming Flower Rabbit 2?
“If he really looks like that, even I’m okay with him.”
-You crazy bastard. You were going to kill him, and now this.
Just a moment ago, he was wondering, ‘Why is that Valkyrie stronger than me? How can I catch and kill that Sibal bastard?’, but now he was only thinking, ‘How can I see that person’s real face?’
[Guild] Aslehn: It’s good to bring him in… but he’s Poseidon, will Poseidon be okay with that…?
[Guild] Seol-yeong: No way… even if he comes as a Sub Character, he’ll get beaten up for being in two guilds….
[Guild] Sunset: I’ll talk to them well^^
[Guild] Seol-yeong: I’m worried….
His solemn determination was in vain. Exactly two days later, Melody lost its guild master for a long period of time due to GM Pudding’s hammer.
No-eul, who had lost interest in the game because his account was blocked, was forcibly dragged to a PC cafe by Min-jae. Min-jae created a warrior character for him on a newly created account. When No-eul saw that the nickname was Cheon No-eul, he smacked Min-jae on the back.
“Ah, why! No one knows it’s your name!”
“Moon Fairy is pretty, why are you raising a warrior?”
“Why are you raising a Moon Fairy, it’s trash?”
“But why do you always lose to trash?”
“Shut up and raise a warrior. It’s the strongest… oh, it’s the mushroom picker.”
“Where?”
No-eul skipped all the beginner guides and entered the starting village. Catmeowmeow was walking back and forth through the Oak Tree Forest map, where users under level 20 were hunting, with a goldfish poop trailing behind him.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking pictures.”
“…….”
Cat-nim jumping, Cat-nim climbing a ladder, Cat-nim hunting, Cat-nim eating fruit…. No-eul followed him and took screenshots diligently. Min-jae sighed as he watched No-eul doing useless things instead of leveling up.
[Global] Catmeowmeow: Charisma Cheon No-eul
No-eul took a sharp breath. He was even more surprised because he had never even imagined that he would talk to him, a beginner character with nothing.
“What’s wrong?”
“Cat-nim talked to me.”
“Since when was he Cat-nim?”
No-eul captured this glorious moment. He was a little confused about himself. But he was more curious about what the hell Catmeowmeow was doing, so he didn’t run away.
[Global] Catmeowmeow: ??
[Global] Cheon No-eul: Yes?
‘Catmeowmeow has invited you to a party. Would you like to accept?’
What is this again? No-eul clicked the accept button in a daze. There were two more party members besides No-eul and Catmeowmeow.
[Party] Catmeowmeow: Are you both new? You’ve been wandering around since earlier
[Party] Cheon No-eul: Ah… yes
[Party] Charisma: ㅠㅠThe path is too difficultㅠ
“What’s so difficult?”
The Oak Tree Forest was a very simple map, so there was no reason to get lost.
[Party] Catmeowmeow: This place is a bit complicated for a beginner map
But Catmeowmeow was sympathizing with him rather than scolding him. For some reason, he felt like he was being robbed of him by that guy, even though he had never had him.
[Party] Catmeowmeow: Anyway, I’m just Power-leveling my friend… so if the hunting grounds overlap, you can clear the quests faster
“…….”
Is he talking to me right now? No-eul was stunned by the beginner treatment he was experiencing for the first time in his life. He had never given anyone a ride on a bus, and he had never been on a bus that someone else was giving him a ride on. Moreover, Catmeowmeow was seeing him for the first time today, but he didn’t understand why he was offering to help him first.
“…….[Party] Earth Goat: Hey, 30 slimes left
[Party] Catmeowmeow: Okay
“Hey, Jung Min-jae.”
“What again!”
“He’s Power-leveling me.”
“What crazy bastard? Ah, …why?”
“I don’t know either.”
Whether he was kind or just nosy. Min-jae, who saw that the party leader was Catmeowmeow, blabbered in the guild chat that the mushroom picker was giving Sunset a ride on the bus.
“Cheon No-eul, can I come watch?”
“If I see even a single consonant of Melody in the Oak Tree Forest, you’re all dead.”
“Hey… are you kidding?”
“Try it once. I’m curious to see what happens too.”
“I’ll tell them all to go.”
Min-jae seemed busy sending back the guild members who were coming to watch or had already moved to the front.
[Party] Charisma: I still have two wild dogs left…ㅠㅠ
“…You can just kill them yourself.”
[Party] Catmeowmeow: I’ll go~
“…….”
He had seen a post saying that he had been backstabbed by newbies a while ago, but he still hadn’t come to his senses. This was just a pushover. Catmeowmeow asked No-eul and Charisma every time what kind of monsters were left and how many.
Unlike No-eul, who only answered the necessary information, Charisma seemed to be completely new to the game and wandered around and got lost. He even asked what the wave effect above Catmeowmeow’s head was. Catmeowmeow took more care of and looked after Charisma.
No-eul was annoyed by Charisma, who had monopolized his attention. He wanted to take Charisma to the guild zone once he got a little used to the game and plotted an evil scheme in his mind.
[Party] Catmeowmeow: Ah, I’m going to turn it off~ I’m going home
[Party] Charisma: Thank you so muchㅠㅠ
[Party] Cheon No-eul: lol Good work~
After Catmeowmeow left the game, Charisma asked No-eul if he wanted to hunt together. But instead of answering, No-eul left the party. At that time, he heard voices talking across the street.
“How is it? Is it worth it? Let’s do it together, huh?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think RPGs are for me. Why are you trying to drag me in? You have Han Do-young. You evil bastard.”
“Sibal, Han Do-young quit the game because of some crazy bastard. He was my only game friend….”
“But why is your nickname like that?”
“Yeah, Earth Goat is more fucked up.”
“What’s Catmeowmeow? What were you thinking when you made it?”
“It’s Meowmeow. Did you think of a nickname while making it? I just made it as my fingers moved.”
“That’s why you’re like that.”
Meowmeow? No-eul stood up without realizing it. And he felt the face he had always pictured in his mind become a reality, standing right before him. The real Meowmeow was moving right before his eyes. He looked even better in person than he did faintly in the video. As if tired, he made a sharp expression, rubbed his eyes, and yawned. It was fascinating to see his cat-like sharp eyes blink. The way his dark pupils rolled around was amazing. Sensing No-eul’s gaze staring intently at his face with wide eyes, he frowned and glared at No-eul with all his might.
“What are you looking at, you punk.”
“…….”
Meowmeow muttered with half-closed eyes. But far from looking away, No-eul stared even more piercingly at his face. Meowmeow swept his hand down his face and fled the PC bang as if running away.
No-eul, who belatedly tried to follow him, barely collected himself and plopped back down into the chair. This isn’t a coincidence, it’s fate. To think he lives so close…. The first words Cat-nim said to me were, ‘What are you looking at, you punk.’ Those words kept swirling in my head. What are you looking at you punk, what are you looking at you punk…. I wondered how they could sound so divine. Min-jae, who belatedly noticed No-eul standing there dazed and frozen, asked.
“What are you doing?”
An angel? No-eul muttered blankly.
“…If it were an item, I would have bought it right away.”
“Buy what? Want me to lend you money?”
“A person….”
“Sorry.”
Unfortunately, he wasn’t an item that you could just get because you wanted it. No-eul thought of ways to talk to him in his head. Since he was just a beginner, the barrier to becoming friends seemed lower. No-eul decided to set his goal a bit higher.
“I’m going to marry Cat-nim.”
“……Mushroom Picker? Why all of a sudden?”
“He’s cute.”
“Are you okay? Did you get high on something at your part-time job?”
“Hey, send me the money I left with you.”
“Why all of a sudden?”
“He’s so fucking cute…. Since I seem to like noobs, I should practice playing with my keyboard upside down.”
“……?”
Min-jae could no longer follow No-eul’s train of thought. No, from the start, even though they were friends, he was someone Min-jae couldn’t understand. Once No-eul set his mind on something, he had to achieve it no matter what. Even things that seemed impossible were all accomplished when you looked back after some time had passed.
No-eul really turned his keyboard upside down and started moving his character. The character ‘Cheon No-eul’ stuttered, moving left and right, before falling off a cliff and dying. No-eul looked at his character and smiled contentedly.
No-eul joined beginner parties a few times and followed Meowmeow around. But each time, Meowmeow treated him as if he were seeing him for the first time.
But that was fine. Because thinking that he was separating public and private matters made him seem even cooler. While No-eul was unilaterally increasing his sense of intimacy like that, an incident occurred.
[Whisper] Aslehn: Nim-nim, are you waiting for Mushroom Picker today too?
[Whisper] Cheon No-eul: yy
[Whisper] Aslehn: That guy Mushroom Picker is at the Aquarium right now kkk Don’t wait, he’s not going there today today
For No-eul, it was truly a bolt from the blue. After waiting for Meowmeow all day, the only news that came to him was bad news.
[Whisper] Aslehn: And seems like you won’t need to wait for a while kkkkkk
[Whisper] Cheon No-eul: Why? What is Cat-nim doing right now?
[Whisper] Aslehn: Poseidon is playing at the Aquarium right now, I saw Mushroom Picker talking in the main chat a while ago
[Whisper] Cheon No-eul: yy
[Whisper] Aslehn: The guild master there asked if he wasn’t going to help his friend today
[Whisper] Aslehn: His friend has long since moved on to another game… Seems like some newbie regularly started shit with Mushroom Picker
[Whisper] Cheon No-eul: kk? Who is it?
[Whisper] Aslehn: Dunno Anyway so now he says even if he dies, he won’t carry newbies anymore kkkkk He even swore he was a dog (woof woof) if he goes to do free volunteer work again kkkkk?
“…….”
No-eul froze for a moment, then opened the homepage free board and typed ‘Meowmeow’ into the search bar and hit enter. Sure enough, there was a post written yesterday. The guy who wrote it was saying that Meowmeow had no sense of responsibility. And in the comments, there were idiots agreeing with that, all nicknames No-eul had seen a few times. They were even users that Meowmeow had just kindly helped out.
No way. Saying he won’t help anyone now, he must have said it in a fit of anger, right? If I wait a bit longer, he’ll come, right? Like that, No-eul didn’t go out into the fields for three whole days and silently waited for Meowmeow in front of the village monument.
“…He’s not here today either.”
“What is?”
“I’m going home.”
“What? If you were going to do that, why did you come?”
He also stamped his attendance daily at the PC bang where he first saw him. But after that first day, Meowmeow never appeared. It was all because of those bastards. As he trudged out of the PC bang, irritation suddenly surged up. It didn’t take more than a few minutes to decide on revenge and put it into action.
Those bastards were doing their clique thing in main chat in front of the Nike Shrine. No-eul deliberately loitered around there, subtly interfering with their hunting, and as a result, he got to hear inquiries about his parents’ well-being several times.
[Party] Seol-yeong: Got the screenshot, now what?
[Party] Cheon No-eul: Customer Support > Help > 1:1 Inquiry > Report > Report User for Profanity/Bad Manners (Select Category)
[Party] Cheon No-eul: Please upload the chat log and take a print screen. Attach the image as is without modification; make the title provocative and the report details as detailed as possible. If you can’t do it, I’ll write it all for you ㅇㅅㅇ~
[Party] Seol-yeong: I’m lazy, you write it for me
[Party] Aslehn: I’m busy breathing
[Party] supercool: I’m too lazy to write even though I’m not busy
[Party] Spade Queen: Write mine too pls
[Party] Cheon No-eul: ㅗ
[Party] Seol-yeong: Dementia at such a young age… If you can’t write it, just say so. ㅠㅠ
[Party] Aslehn: If you don’t write it, I won’t even report it. ㅅㄱ
[Party] Cheon No-eul: It’s a typo. ㅎ호ㅗㅗ
[Party] Cheon No-eul: I’ll write it on Guild Talk and send it, so each of you claim one. ^^
Soon after, No-eul wrote and sent ten reports. And No-eul, who had been personally insulted, wrote enough to fill two sides of A4 paper for his own report.
‘Title: My Parents Are Alive.’
The content was so poignant it could make a stranger cry.
[Party] Aslehn: Writing King Sunset-nim, I reported too
[Party] Seol-yeong: Me too kkkkkk As expected, you’re amazing… I have experience sending server mics….
As a result, the reported user’s nickname could be seen in the regular notice a week later. They were banned from accessing the game for a month due to ‘malicious defamation and profanity.’
But even though the bastards who harassed Meowmeow were gone, he didn’t return to the beginner village. In the end, No-eul decided to go find him himself, leveled up, and completed his first job change. When he finally encountered Meowmeow in the snail room of the Aquarium, No-eul’s heart felt like it was soaring through the sky.
So happy, he ended up following him around, and even Meowmeow, who had been minding his own business, stopped firmly in his tracks.
[Global] Meowmeow: Do I know you? -_-
“……?”
He had joined his party over ten times. He had even called his name, Cheon No-eul-nim, several times….
[Global] Meowmeow: Who are you? Why do you keep following me?
But hearing him say he didn’t know him was a huge shock. It meant his presence was that insignificant. After staring blankly at Meowmeow for a while, No-eul made a big decision. To firmly imprint his presence on him. Whether it was for good or bad, it was better than him not remembering at all.
Receiving no answer from No-eul, Meowmeow seemed to decide to avoid him and teleported away to a place No-eul couldn’t follow.
As soon as he disappeared before his eyes, No-eul went to the cash shop and bought a server mic.
[Server] Cheon No-eul: Will reward anyone who reports the location of -nim via whisper
[Whisper] Donkatsu Powder: Mermaid’s Breath 3 ggggg
[Whisper] Madonna: Nim-nim, how much do you pay for a report?
[Whisper] Meowmeow: Who is this fffk;
[Whisper] Aslehn: Do you pay if I report him too? h
[Whisper] astonishing: Can I kill him if I see him?
[Whisper] Cheon No-eul: Is that allowed?
[Whisper] Spade Queen: What are you doing now kkkkkk Even putting a bounty kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
And so, it took a full month of chasing Meowmeow with all his might, doing his very best with his upside-down keyboard, until Meowmeow couldn’t take it anymore and suggested a real-life meetup.
[Server] Meowmeow: Cheon No-eul you son of a bbbitch, let’s meet up for real this time kkkk number pls
The moment he saw what he said on the server mic, No-eul’s mind went blank. A real-life meetup… that means meeting in person, right? No-eul covered his mouth like someone who had just received a marriage proposal, tears welling up in his eyes. Finally. His efforts had borne fruit. No-eul somehow managed to set a date with Meowmeow.
And that night, too excited to even sleep a wink, No-eul went to school the next day in a daze. That day, he received three warnings for leaving early.
The promised Friday arrived. No-eul was busy from the morning, paying more attention to his appearance than usual. He even thought about putting his hair up and ironed his school uniform stiffly. After finishing his preparations, No-eul headed to school.
Will Cat-nim remember me? He told me to look at him with that angelic face…. Probably not, right?
As soon as school was out, No-eul rushed to the meeting place. There was still an hour left until the promised time, but waiting for him wasn’t boring at all.
He glanced around at the footsteps of people passing by, pricked up his ears at similar voices, and even stole glances at people with head shapes similar to the back of his head he’d only seen once. He saw Cat-nim in all the people who looked the same.
Just after hanging up the phone and looking around, Meowmeow was there. Among the stationary people, he alone seemed to be moving. As No-eul approached closer, he stiffly raised his head.
“Cat-nim.”
“…….”
Kim Kyung-soo. That’s what was written on the blue name tag. He was wearing a uniform from a nearby high school. How could a uniform look so neat and suit him so well…. His dark pupils, staring straight at me, trembled here and there. As he tried to back away awkwardly, No-eul asked again.
“Meow Meow?”
Hello, are you perhaps Meowmeow-nim? What he meant to say got shortened too much due to excessive nervousness. Then, his ears turned bright red. What came back to me, who was about to ask why he was like that, wasn’t an answer but a fist.
No-eul, who was hit squarely on the chin without any defense, blinked as he watched Meowmeow walk away without even looking back. And so, he learned that Meowmeow gets very shy if you actually call him by his nickname.
From that day on, No-eul began to get properly entangled with Meowmeow. No, with Kyung-soo. The day he accidentally joined Poseidon, he was a bit surprised but quickly adapted. In Melody, they excitedly started an impeachment movement, saying the guild master was dual-guilding.
Kyung-soo found No-eul annoying, but perhaps due to his personality, he couldn’t just brush him off rudely, and No-eul took advantage of that trait of his.
Also, Kyung-soo had a competitive spirit as strong as No-eul’s. No, perhaps even stronger. If he stimulated that competitive spirit, No-eul could quickly get what he wanted. But something was lacking. Even when he got it, it didn’t feel like he had everything.
Since it’s come to this, I wish Kyung-soo hyung would like me too.
To have him completely, this alone wasn’t enough. The closer he got to him, the more greedy he became.
*
As for taste…. The movie Cheon No-eul picked was disgustingly boring. Thinking he’d picked a very family-friendly and peaceful movie, unlike his usual self, it turned out to be incredibly tedious after all.
The only thing that stuck in my memory was that the supporting male actor’s eye color resembled No-eul’s. Every time the hazel-colored pupils were shown largely on the screen, I glanced at No-eul. Then No-eul would return the same bewildered gaze. When our eyes met, I scolded him, asking what he was looking at. Instead of sulking, No-eul wriggled the corners of his mouth, looking very pleased. He was an incomprehensible guy.
Alternating between eating the delivered food, watching the movie, and answering No-eul’s questions, Kyung-soo ended up dozing off before he knew it.
“Are you awake?”
Kyung-soo, who had been lying sideways on the bed, opened his eyes and found No-eul lying face-to-face with him, right in front of his nose. He smiled sweetly, as if he were melting.
“……Did you sleep too?”
“I was appreciating.”
Appreciating? The movie had ended long ago.
“What?”
“I even took pictures to cherish for a long time. They came out really well, want to see?”
Saying that, No-eul showed him his phone screen. It was filled with pictures of me sleeping, my cheek squished.
“Can I use this as my wallpaper?”
“…….”
Why would you want that…? Kyung-soo frowned awkwardly. But I shouldn’t try to understand that guy Cheon No-eul. I’m a human and he’s Cheon No-eul. I should just shut up.
Kyung-soo lifted his head and checked the digital clock on the desk. Quite a lot of time had passed.
“Ugh, I dozed off….”
“You didn’t just doze off, you were completely asleep.”
“…….”
No wonder I feel somewhat refreshed…. The window was dark, as if the sun had set. As he got up, gathering his things, No-eul asked regretfully.
“Are you leaving already?”
“What do you mean already, it’s ten o’clock. But where’s my phone? Did you hide it?”
“Why would I….”
He felt around under the blanket, but it didn’t appear. No-eul held out his own phone and said.
“Call it.”
“Ah, right.”
Kyung-soo entered his own number on the keypad. With each digit added, the suggested recipient changed, but after entering it all, the saved name was strange.
‘Ch–kk’
“…….”
Why is the name like this. Lately, the frequency of being called that had decreased, and I almost forgot about it, but to be reminded like this…. I was so grateful for No-eul’s kindness that I clenched my fist.
“No-eul-ah.”
“Yes?”
“You’ve lived too long, haven’t you?”
“…I’m sorry. But for what?”
No-eul still hadn’t grasped what the problem was. When I pointed at the ‘Ch–kk’ part on the screen with my finger, the guy tilted his head. No-eul picked up Kyung-soo’s phone, which had fallen between the bed and the wall, and showed it to Kyung-soo.
“Hyung, you saved mine similarly too.”
“…….”
‘Ch–’
“But that’s Cheon No-eul! My name is fucking gone without a trace, what’s similar about that? Change it and save it right now.”
No-eul frowned as if troubled.
“Then change my name too. Write No-eul and add a heart for me. Not an empty heart, a full heart!”
“Are you crazy? I’ll change it to a single dot. Give it here.”
“A dot? Sigh…. Then I can’t give this to you.”
No-eul hid Kyung-soo’s phone behind his back, saying he could never compromise on the name. After arguing back and forth for a while, the two found a compromise by saving each other’s names without the surname, concisely. When he showed the saved name written as ‘No-eul’, No-eul finally regained his composure.
“Hyung, if I add a heart here….”
“If I see it, you’ll get hit.”
“Then I just have to not get caught.”
Despite saying he wouldn’t get caught, No-eul fiddled with his phone right in front of Kyung-soo and edited the name. Completely drained, Kyung-soo gave up on No-eul. His throat hurt from shouting so much.
“Make sure you keep your promise about writing on the free board. I’m sparing your life for that reason, so write it according to the five Ws and one H. Definitely.”
“Yes….”
No-eul awkwardly pulled up the corners of his mouth and handed Kyung-soo his baseball bat.
“I’m going. Don’t come out, you’ll probably feel dizzy….”
“……Hyung!”
His shoulders jerked at the loud voice. Kyung-soo clutched his startled chest and turned around.
“Ah, shit, you scared me.”
“When are we meeting next time…?”
“Why are you asking me that?”
It’s not like you only come when you feel like it anyway. As Kyung-soo answered indifferently, No-eul gulped and asked cautiously.
“You’re not going to block me or anything…. or say we won’t meet again…. You won’t do that, right?”
“……?”
“Please don’t.”
He had eyes as pitiful as a puppy in the rain. I was dumbfounded, wondering why the hell he was suddenly acting so sentimental.
“What are you talking about? You said it was a year, right? You even wrote up some kind of oath or contract. Don’t you remember?”
“Ah…?”
“You wrote all the details yourself and now you’re pretending you don’t remember. I won’t block you until next year. I’m not going to lose by avoiding you first. Would I lose to someone like you?”
To make him fall in love with me within a year was such a ridiculous idea. It was already a bet I had won. I could guarantee it even if we bet for ten years, not just next year. Kyung-soo scoffed at No-eul’s blank expression and turned away again.
“Kyung-soo hyung.”
“Ah, what is it now—”
No-eul lowered his head and gave him a quick kiss on the corner of his lips. It happened so fast that I didn’t even realize what had happened. My grip loosened, and the baseball bat rolled to the floor with a thud. No-eul picked it up again, placed it in Kyung-soo’s hand, and opened the door for him.
“Sweet dreams.”
No-eul smiled, his eyes crinkling. Not even a proper goodbye, just ‘sweet dreams.’ Wasn’t that too cheesy for a farewell?
“…Yeah, you too.”
Kyung-soo forced the door shut. The lips that had brushed against the corner of his left lip felt hot. He scratched his cheek and muttered.
That bastard, doesn’t he have a cold…?
*
Title: Anyone Seen Someone Reset Their Skills and Reallocate During a Siege?
Writer: SunflowerC/Knight Spear
Content: ※Warning: Post Written After Watching the Isis Battle※
I saw it.
Sunset bastard did that crazy shit.
When he switched weapons with the orb, I wondered what he was doing, but it was all part of the plan…^^
“But I… bugs are… too unfair….”I know, but I didn’t want to use them…””Using bugs isn’t fun…^^”
“Damn it, but Cat-nim keeps getting hit in front of me….” Pisses me offㅋㅋ”
Sunset said all of that.
lololollololol
Double kill? Triple kill? Quadra kill? Penta kill?
lololollolololㅋㅋㅋNo? Who cares about combo kills… He just took them all. He killed almost a hundred Failure Mangs all by himself. Using the Bubble Bubble stacking skill bug, haha. Who even uses Bubble Bubble; it’s a skill that even beginners skip, haha. I acknowledge his guts for switching weapons and resetting his skills when he was losing just to use one bug.
Result = Won;
Ah, this isn’t a Sunset bastard sales post, so if you praise Sunset in my post, you’re dead.
(24 Comments)
-Seeing that he said he didn’t want to use it, it seems like he knows a few more?ㅋㅋㅋ
└Is he only aware of Wizard bugs? It seems like it would have been useful even after job changing to Wizard, so why did he pick Moon Fairy?
└That’s because Sunset said Moon Fairy is prettyㅋlolololㅋㅋ He’s strong enough that it was okay even if he picked Moon Fairy
└Yeah, of courseㅋㅋ It seems like he kept it as a hidden weapon
└Rather than a hidden weapon, it seems like he really didn’t want to use bugs? That’s why he kept holding back until he was getting rekt and even reset his skillsㅋㅋㅋㅋ Honestly, the Failure Mangs Guild Master used a bug first. It would be weirder if he wasn’t pissed in that situation. I’m not Sunset;
-You didn’t need to add the last part; no one would have praised him anyway hahaha
-It’s amazing that he had the mindset to reset his skills in that situation; I could never be like Sunset even if I died
└So coolㅠㅠ
└Cool? Get out of my post right now;
-In Sunset’s last words, is ‘Cat-nim’ that Catmeowmeow? Valkyrie? Where did Cheon No-eul go?
└Ah, is that that Catmeowmeow? Come to think of it, he was allied with Poseidon, right?
└They say Cheon No-eul quit
└ㄴㄴNo, he didn’t quit! Cheon No-eul’s legendary pet appeared right before the Isis battle today
└Is clinging to Catmeowmeow a mandatory course for weirdos? Sunset must be in a desperate one-sided love… Poor Valkyrie.
Title: What is the Sky Doing
Writer: GodControlCheolsoo/Gunner
Content: Not taking away that bastard… This is proof that there is no god… Aigo… I’m so dumbfounded that I haven’t been able to eat all day, so I won’t accept any rebuttals^^ Because I also got caught and forced into PVP when Cheon No-eul massacred Gunners^^,,,
Actually, I was too embarrassed to write about it in detail on the Free Board haha… I still remember it… It comes up in my dreams sometimes.
That day (the Gunner massacre day), I was passing through the village to organize my items when some bastard challenged me to PVP. Out of the blue… And that wasㅋlolololㅋㅋ Cheon No-eulㅋㅋㅋ I couldn’t not know himㅋㅋㅋ He was always in the popular posts, how could I not know himㅋㅋㅋㅋ? Honestly, I admit I accepted to try and raise my win rate.
Still, it’s embarrassing, right? It’s not normal to challenge someone to PVP when you’ve never met themㅋㅋㅋ So I typed ‘??’ in the chat. But do you know what Cheon No-eul saidㅋㅋㅋㅋ?
lololollololol
‘Who are you’ he said….
lololollololollolololㅋ….
Who are youㅋㅋㅋ
Who are you???
Who are you???????????
Damn, that’s my lineㅠㅜ????????
Hehehe, the rest is as you know. I got completely wrecked^^! My win rate dropped because of him, and I was too embarrassed to tell anyoneㅋㅋㅋ
I got so much shit from the Gunners on the Free Board for losing to Cheon No-eul and dropping in the rankings, so all those bastards who made fun of me back then, come outㅠㅠ Apologize right nowㅠ Would you have been able to winㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ I’m relieved that it was Sunsetㅋㅋ
P.S ) Buff the poor Gunners… They’re unusable because their attack speed is too slow!
(42 Comments)
-Why are all the Free Board posts like this? Why is everyone angryㅠㅠ? Why am I the only one who doesn’t knowㅠㅠ? What is itㅠ
└Cheon No-eul (ㅂㅅ)=Sunset (ㅅㅂ)
└Go read the #1 hot post right nowㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ The writer is Sunset, and the title is ‘Tada! Introducing My Sub Character ^^’
└Tada my ass
-Sorry for making fun of you;;;
└Is ‘sorry’ enough?
└Then what more do you want me to do?
└Say it one more time
└Sorry for making fun of you back then, haha. Let’s make up.
-I was holding back from saying anything in Sunset’s post because I thought I’d get stabbed on the street, haha. The background music he put on, seriously, is he crazy? Hahaha! As soon as I opened the post, bam bam ba ba ba ba bam!!!!! came on and I was so surprised;
└That 10 brat’s title was already clickbait, but the content is even worse….
└There’s BGM too? I didn’t know because I’m on my phone….
└You can hear the BGM on your phone if you turn on the PC version. Go back in and watch it, haha. The song is really well chosen for no reason, haha.
└If you look closely, there’s a glitter effect in the background, haha.
└It’s true; the effect is more flashy than a 4-star card coming out in that terrible gacha game I used to play;
└How do you even put that in?
└I don’t knowㅋㅋㅋ He was doing something with html; ask the Sunset bastard
-There was someone who predicted that Cheon No-eul was Sunset a long time ago; does anyone have that link? I’m going to borrow their lottery numbers
└www.illusions2.net/board_1871229
└ Thanks!!
Title: Guys, I Found Something Huge; I Think Cheon No-eul is Sunset;;;
Writer: Saru/Dark Knight
Content: Don’t think it’s bullshit; please just look at it onceㅠ No one in the guild believes me, so I came to the Free Board… First of all, the reason I think so is because I was talking shit about the Sunset bastard with a friend, and we got to the point where we said, ‘There’s no way Sunset just quit the game like that; he definitely made another account and is playing.’ But I happened to see the video that Poseidon posted on the Free Board the other day….
(Video)
Compare it to this. This is a Sunset gameplay video I posted a while ago, but aren’t the movements similar?? Jumping left and right + inflicting paralysis and going backwards with a backflip to stab….
Why did someone who was always a bad player suddenly get good…? But when I think about it, I’ve never seen Cheon No-eul use skills or dodge before. It seemed like he had no intention of dodging at all, but now that I think about it, I think I know why. There’s no point in raising a new character when he can just return as Sunset, right?
Think about it in terms of timing; the Cheon No-eul account was created right after Sunset got banned;;; The puzzle pieces fit together perfectly, so I was so creeped out that I couldn’t sleep last night
Anyway, this is just my guess, and you could just think, ‘Oh, Cheon No-eul suddenly got good? Ah, I guess he learned by watching Sunset’s videos…’ and just move on. But look at this
(Picture)
(Picture)
ㅋㅋㅋㅋDefinite, right???;;; + See, I was right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(184 Comments)
-Came for the pilgrimage
-How did you know this… Set up a fortune-telling mat
-Please let me do well on my exam (__)
-Please let me win the lottery this week….
-Teacher, I came for the pilgrimage; please let our Latte live with me for a long, long time
-Please let only me do well, not anyone else, just me!
Title: The Most Respectable Person in This Situation
Writer: HarryMione/Wizard
Content: Catmeowmeow
(88 Comments)
-Honestly, Catmeowmeow is the biggest victim lol I wonder if he’s going to quit the game
└Wow If he quits, isn’t Sunset going to go on another massacre?Everyone knew that he was often with Catmeowmeow after he came back. I thought Catmeowmeow had him on a leash, but now the bastard holding that leash is gone. He’s going to run wild.
We’re screwed….
└Should we start a fundraising campaign? To tell him not to quitㅠㅠ
-Thinking about how he’s been tormented by both Sunsets all this time just makes me laughㅋlololol Is his mental okay? Is he really going to quit?lolololㅋㅋ
-Isn’t Catmeowmeow going to show up? I want to hear his thoughts
-I should have known from the start when that guy was throwing money around like crazy to play bounty hunter even though he wasn’t even level 100…; I just thought he was a rich fool, but he was a rich Sunset bastard haha Ah, I’m so shockedㅠㅠ
└He got another legendary pet yesterday haha
└I’m so jealous damn
-I have an exam tomorrow, but I’m trapped on the Free Board hahahahahaㅠ
└Me too hahahahaha I gave up
└I’m just going to study while going to school tomorrow^^!lololol
-What’s Catmeowmeow’s charm? Besides being Sunset’s pick
└I don’t know, he’s kind though
└There’s a rumor that Buddha was reincarnated
└That person completed all my quests when I was a newbieㅠㅜ
└Hey, being Sunset’s pick isn’t a charm; it’s a curse
-Haha, I’d kill myself if I were him
└Hey, if you kill yourself, it’ll transfer to someone else; what kind of misfortune is that for that person;
└Ah, that’s right; Cat-nim, may you live a long and healthy life! Sunset, may you live a long and sickly life~!