He Is That Guy

Yoo Chae stayed quiet for a moment after my question, then finally replied.
[Global] Yoo Chae: Wow

[Global] Yoo Chae: Hyung… I’m so touched
[Global] ImSoSleepy: ?
What the hell is this guy on about now?

As I stared coldly at the screen, that bastard Yoo Chae sent a blushing emote.
[Global] Yoo Chae: You mean…
[Global] Yoo Chae: You hope we had that kind of deep connection too… right??

[Global] Yoo Chae: I feel the same wayㅎㅡㅎ♥
“……”
My head cooled instantly as I calmly moved the mouse to send him a PVP request. Since this wasn’t a field zone but his personal farm, I had to request it to attack.

[Global] Yoo Chae: ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Global] Yoo Chae: Just kidding
Yoo Chae declined the PVP request and kept typing.

[Global] Yoo Chae: Even if we just met
[Global] Yoo Chae: We can still want to get closer and all, right?
[Global] ImSoSleepy: You’re saying

[Global] ImSoSleepy: You’re handing out expensive items just to get closer?
[Global] Yoo Chae: Exactly
That’s seriously all there is to it? You wanna get close? Based on what? You don’t even know me.

‘Something’s… off about this.’
[Global] ImSoSleepy: I’ll ask one last time
[Global] ImSoSleepy: You’re seriously saying it’s not that?
[Global] Yoo Chae: Yesssir

I still didn’t buy it, so I asked again, but the answer stayed the same.
‘Well, if he says it’s not, I can’t exactly press him any harder…’
Letting out a sigh, I rubbed the back of my neck.

Whatever. Even if I had met this Yoo Chae bastard before, what the hell does it matter now.
[Global] ImSoSleepy: ㅇㅋ got it
[Global] ImSoSleepy: But from now on

[Global] ImSoSleepy: Don’t give me expensive items
[Global] Yoo Chae: ㅜㅡㅜ?
[Global] ImSoSleepy: I get that you didn’t mean anything shady by it

[Global] ImSoSleepy: I’m saying tone it down
[Global] Yoo Chae: Tone it down…
[Global] Yoo Chae: Like how much?

[Global] ImSoSleepy: Don’t give me expensive gear
[Global] ImSoSleepy: Don’t say «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» weird, pointless crap
[Global] ImSoSleepy: Don’t embarrass me

[Global] Yoo Chae: If I do that
[Global] Yoo Chae: Will you spoil me?
Spoil him? What the hell would I spoil some dude for? But for now, saying yes will probably make life easier.

[Global] ImSoSleepy: ㅇㅇ
[Global] Yoo Chae: Got it!
[Global] Yoo Chae: I’ll try my best!

Try his best…? That’s not exactly hard to stick to though…
Still, guess I’ll cheer him on.
[Global] ImSoSleepy: ㅎㅇㅌ

[Global] Yoo Chae: Fighting! ^▽^
 
****

Time flew by, and it’d already been a week since I joined EveningGlow. Thanks to grinding raid dungeons every single day with the guild, I hit level 240.
Yoo Chae… after that serious chat at his personal farm, he’d actually improved a lot.
Sure, he still spammed emotes, acted cute, and wagged his tail every time he saw me, but at least the secret expensive gift drops had stopped.

[Guild] Yoo Chae: Hyung, want a Darkveil Cloak?
[Guild] Yoo Chae: And this one’s called a Fairy’s Four-Leaf Clover
[Guild] Yoo Chae: It boosts your luck when you hold it >ㅡ

[Guild] Yoo Chae: Both together, 6k!
[Guild] ImSoSleepy: ㄳㄳ
[Guild] LaggingLikeHell: Huh?

[Guild] LaggingLikeHell: Guildmaster’s selling that to Sleepy for 6k?
[Guild] Haerun: Nah
[Guild] Haerun: Means he’s giving him 6k worth of gear

[Guild] LaggingLikeHell: Huh
[Guild] LaggingLikeHell: Why even say the price then?
[Guild] Haerun: Cuz he got caught gifting the Luck2 Staff

[Guild] MochaBbang: Oh that got found out?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Guild] SpicyCrabPlz: Hid it longer than I thoughtㅋㅋ
[Guild] MeLostInHunt: Kinda feels like getting reimbursed by your boss;;

[Guild] ImSoSleepy: ㅋㅋ
I didn’t care if the whole guild knew Yoo Chae gave me the staff. They mostly knew already anyway.
[Guild] DrinkWaterPlz: Guys

[Guild] DrinkWaterPlz: Selection Event announcement’s up
DrinkWaterPlz, who’d been AFK, posted a link in guild chat. Clicking it brought up the Zenoris site with the Guardian Guild Selection Event page.
The event kicks off in two weeks, three hours a day for one week straight. At 7PM each night, flags appear across cities and towns. Guilds compete to guard or steal them.

[Guild] Hwaseoun: Damn, feels like we did Selection just yesterday
[Guild] Hwaseoun: Time fliesㄷㄷ
[Guild] Haerun: Facts

[Guild] ParkSeungjin99: Defense strat again?
[Guild] DrinkWaterPlz: Yup
[Guild] DrinkWaterPlz: Hold defense mainly

[Guild] DrinkWaterPlz: But if weaker guilds show up
[Guild] DrinkWaterPlz: We’ll raid other towns depending on the sitch
[Guild] ManaIsDryGuy: Sounds good

[Guild] TakeItIt’sFree: We just keep Beta safe
[Guild] TakeItIt’sFree: That alone’s profitㅋㅋㅋ
During the event, each guild gets one offensive opportunity per day. With EveningGlow guarding Veritas, we’ll have constant visitors, so focusing on defense should be enough.

While I skimmed the event page, Yoo Chae whispered me.
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: Once the event starts
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: Fever’s probably attacking day 2 or 3

[Whisper] Yoo Chae: If they don’t
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: We can split up and raid too
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: Yeah but

[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: Splitting teams gets tricky, no?
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: It’s fineㅎ.ㅎ
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: Honestly

[Whisper] Yoo Chae: We only gotta worry about GuSok
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: GuSok
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: The second-ranked guild?

[Whisper] Yoo Chae: Yeah
GuSok huh… I opened the rankings in the guild window.
[2. GuSokㅣGuild Lv: GrandㅣMembers: 82ㅣGuildmaster: BladeDancer]

Fewer people than Fever at third place, but still holding rank two. Must be solid if Yoo Chae’s this cautious.
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: Their guildmaster’s a Reaper
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: Pretty skilled too

Reaper class—dagger-wielding assassin. Fast cooldowns, +3% move speed buff, but fragile. All about player skill.
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: So basically
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: As long as GuSok raids, we watch out

[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: Everything else’s chill, yeah?
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: What about Fever?
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: ㅋㅋㅋFever

[Whisper] Yoo Chae: You seriously don’t need to worry
Third place or not, should we really be this relaxed?
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: Hyung you already fought them

[Whisper] Yoo Chae: Back when they flagged you for PK1
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: The rest of ‘em are just like that
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: Hm, alright

[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: Got it
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: ㅎㅎ
Guess I gotta trust Yoo Chae on this one. He knows better than me.

‘And honestly, if it comes down to guildmasters, I bet Yoo Chae wins.’
I didn’t know Fever’s guildmaster personally, but I had a feeling. This bastard Yoo Chae doesn’t seem like someone who loses easily.
[Guild] DrinkWaterPlz: Whether GuSok shows up or not

[Guild] DrinkWaterPlz: That’s the key
[Guild] TheHunter: Ohh I’m a BladeDancer fan
[Guild] TheHunter: Think we’ll see ‘em during Selection?

[Guild] Hwaseoun: ?
[Guild] Hwaseoun: Didn’t you see last year?
[Guild] TheHunter: I did lol

[Guild] TheHunter: Sent a friend request, got ghostedㅅㅂㅠㅠ
[Guild] Hwaseoun: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Guild] SpicyCrabPlz: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Guild] ProductOfCapitalism: That one’s scaryㄷㄷ
[Guild] ProductOfCapitalism: Bumped into ‘em in Arena once
[Guild] ProductOfCapitalism: Pulled my weapon and instantly found myself dead;

[Guild] Haerun: Seriously skilled
[Guild] ParkSeungjin99: So this is…
[Guild] ParkSeungjin99: An. As. Sas. Sin?

[Guild] DrinkWaterPlz: Dunno bout the rest
[Guild] DrinkWaterPlz: But I’ve seen Fever’s guildmaster get demolished by BladeDancer on videoㅋㅋㅋ
[Guild] ManaIsDryGuy: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ poor Danghani

[Guild] ManaIsDryGuy: Always getting wrecked~
[Guild] ManaIsDryGuy: Makes my heart acheㅋㅋ
[Guild] MochaBbang: Realㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Guild] DrinkWaterPlz: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Smiling at the chaotic guild chat, I equipped the items Yoo Chae handed over, when my phone buzzed hard from the desk.
Seeing the familiar caller ID, I picked up.

“Hey, hyung.”
—Hey, Ji Han. You busy?
“Nah, totally free.”

The call was from Seo Taeyoung. An unexpected but welcome surprise, I leaned back in my chair with a small smile.
—You doing alright?
“Of course. You?”

—I’m good too. But man, haven’t seen you in ages. You ditched HOL too. Still grinding that RPG?
His words reminded me of our last chat in HOL.
“Yeah, but been crazy busy lately.”

Feeling awkward, I scratched my head as Taeyoung laughed.
—RPGs do eat up your life. You should drop by my streams sometime. You quitting HOL for real?
“Pretty much. Been months since I last played, I’d suck bad if I went back.”

—If you suck, then how bad could it be? Bet your tier plummeted though.
“Probably down to Diamond.”
HOL drops your rank if you don’t play for two weeks. Dormant demotion system. I hadn’t logged in for like five months, so it’s probably rock bottom.

—Anyway, called to ask you something.
“What’s up?”
—Remember that old offline tournament?

“The one Sehun hyung hosted?”
That was ages ago. Kim Sehun, a first-gen HOL pro, threw a massive offline tourney after retiring.
‘The prize money wasn’t bad either.’

I grinned remembering the payout, as Taeyoung continued.
—Sehun’s running another one. He asked if you’d enter.
“Dunno… probably tough this time.”

Even non-pros better than me were everywhere now. No reason to grind practice just to enter. I’ve been out of the scene way too long.
Taeyoung seemed to get it and didn’t push.
—Yeah, figured. I’ll tell him you’re out. Been a while since you two talked anyway.

“Appreciate that.”
—Oh, and… something else…
He hesitated long enough to make it awkward. What now?

—You know my wedding’s second week of October, right?
“Yeah.”
—Back then, he wasn’t sure if he’d show so I didn’t tell you.

“Who?”
—Gammak. That punk.
Hearing that unexpected name threw me for a loop.

Gammak? You mean… LVS team’s jungler, that Gammak?
—Yeah, he said he’s coming to the wedding. Thought you might… feel weird about that. You good?