Stalkerizing

[Server] Oath’s Vow: Recruiting Defense Battle Command Group (Link)

[Server] Oath’s Vow: Defense Battle Command Voice-On

https://voiceon.com/invite/divine_sygnus

[Server] Oath’s Vow: Recruiting Defense Battle Command Group (Link)

[Server] Oath’s Vow: Defense Battle Command Voice-On

https://voiceon.com/invite/divine_sygnu

[Server] Oath’s Vow: Recruiting Defense Battle Command Group (Link)

[Server] Oath’s Vow: Defense Battle Command Voice-On

https://voiceon.com/invite/divine_sygnus

30 minutes until the defense battle. Thanks to the continuously posted recruitment messages, people were pouring in in real-time. The number of players who had joined Oath’s Vow’s defense battle channel had exceeded 200.

[‘EggplantFace’ has joined the channel! Welcome them!]

[‘ProteinShake’ has joined the channel! Welcome them!]

[EggplantFace] Hello.

[ProteinShake] Heya heya!

[Midori] Whoa, why are there so many people?

[TittyPoto] Uh, how does this work? Do we just listen to the voice chat? Will there be text commands too?

[Nawal] Can you guys hear me? Why isn’t my mic working? Where do I check the settings?

[TittyPoto] I pressed the mic button, but it won’t turn on. Does anyone know why?

[HealYou] Never seen a siege battle led through voice chat before.

[GegulGegulFrog] Huh? Then how else are you supposed to command? How do you even manage everything through text in the middle of a defense battle? ㅇㅅㅇ

[GegulGegulFrog] You’d have to command, use skills, activate stone slates, and type all at once—how the hell?

[HealYou] Why are you getting all worked up—

[GegulGegulFrog] Shiva = Four-armed Indian god.

[HealYou] Oh, got it.

[Lucerne] Other servers have always done it through voice. Ours was just trash until now, lol.

With so many people, there were just as many questions, and with multiple people answering at once, the chat was overflowing with redundant messages.

This was the first time a defense battle in Cygnus was being conducted through a voice channel. Most people were on board with the idea, but a few seemed uncomfortable with it.

Sa-yoon was among the latter. He felt an inexplicable sweat forming on his palms, causing him to clench and unclench his hands over the keyboard and mouse repeatedly.

He wouldn’t mess this up… right? He had been playing since the open beta, but this was his first time taking on the role of a commander.

After the strategy meeting, he had memorized everything—the attack timings of the divine entity appearing in the defense battle, its attack patterns, the precise moments to activate stone slates. And yet, unease churned in his gut.

On top of that, midterms were approaching, and the flood of assignments had left him averaging barely three hours of sleep per night. His major was already notorious for its heavy workload, but this semester had been especially brutal. Damn professors always seemed to think their class was the only one students were taking, acting as if they were the sole source of assignments in existence. Maybe becoming a professor required some kind of equivalent exchange, where one had to trade away their sense of reality in return for knowledge.

Either way, the moment the defense battle ended, he would have to dive straight back into his assignments. The exhaustion gnawing at him was relentless. He pressed his fingertips against his dry, aching eyes, and a weary sigh slipped from his lips.

“Haaah.”

[Five-StarCider] Oh, who just sighed?

Oath: Ah, can the newcomers hear me? Only I and Commander Chasa will have our mics on. Please follow orders properly. Once the defense battle is over, this channel will be closed. Gather at the standby location at least 20 minutes before the battle.

The crisp, no-nonsense briefing exuded experience. The same message was then posted in the Voice-On chat and pinned at the top, immediately silencing the relentless flood of question marks from the inquisitive masses.

As a newbie commander, there was nothing specific Sa-yoon had to do for now.

[Guild] Chasa: But why close the channel? Wouldn’t it be better to just leave it up so we can use it next time?

There didn’t seem to be a real reason to shut it down. Rather than creating and deleting the channel every time they had a defense battle, then spamming the server chat with a new URL, keeping it open seemed like the more efficient choice.

[Guild] Oath: Ah.

[Guild] Oath: A rotting channel is the fastest way to turn this place into a dead server. 🙂

It made so much sense that a figurative lightbulb flicked on above Sa-yoon’s head. He nodded in agreement at the perfectly logical explanation.

Oath: 20 minutes until the defense battle. Please gather at the standby location.

[Squad] Vice Commander – Oath’s Vow: 20 minutes until the defense battle.

[Squad] Vice Commander – Oath’s Vow: (Location) (Location) (Location) gogoogoogoogoogoogoogoo

After the voice announcement, a clean and concise notice was immediately posted in the vice commander chat as well. The organization was on another level compared to the usual chaotic noise, and people followed along without confusion.

[You dealt 1,708 damage to the statue!]

Sa-yoon had been practicing his skill rotation on the statue until the very last moment. Upon receiving the summon, he exited the training arena. And that was when he ran into his stalker.

[‘Killer’ has sent a message to ‘Chasa.’]

Sa-yoon had just left the solo practice mode. Since Killer couldn’t follow him in, they had been standing like a stone statue at the entrance, waiting for him to come out. The moment they spotted Chasa, they immediately used an emote. No five-minute grace period, nothing.

[General] Chasa: What.

In the end, Killer never bought a headset. Since Sa-yoon lacked experience, the role of vice commander was more crucial than ever, and naturally, he couldn’t assign the position to someone who couldn’t use voice chat.

But Killer threw a fit, refusing to back down. Threatening to block someone might work once or twice, but against a stubborn brat who had long since outgrown that kind of intimidation, it was useless.

Killer kept pushing and whining until Sa-yoon ended up blocking them for the second time.

Just when it seemed like their reputation might recover a little, they’d go and ruin it themselves. If that was a skill, Killer had definitely mastered it.

[‘Killer’ has sent a message to ‘Chasa.’]

So that pathetic emote was basically Killer’s way of begging Sa-yoon to unblock them so they could talk.

Here we go again. Even if he did unblock them, they’d just start whining about getting the vice commander role. There were only 20 minutes left until the defense battle, and even if Killer miraculously turned on their mic right now, there was no reason to replace Oath, who was already doing an incredible job.

Sa-yoon, long accustomed to Killer’s tantrums, simply walked past them.

[‘Killer’ sobs pitifully at ‘Chasa.’]

A massive man trailed behind him, making sorrowful sounds like a kicked puppy. Was he planning to stick around and whine the entire defense battle?

Sacrificing an entire siege just to protest being blocked? That was an obvious loss, no matter how you looked at it.

But then again, this was Killer—a lunatic who had already suffered massive losses and changed servers because of it.

A headache crept up, and Sa-yoon pressed his fingers against his temples. How was it possible for a person to show zero growth?

[General] Chasa: For the love of god, stop.

[General] Chasa: You’re not getting vice commander, and I’m not unblocking you.

[Guild] furple: Killer again? LMAO.

[Guild] GegulGegulFrog: Honestly, I think he knows exactly what he’s doing.

…That so?

[‘Killer’ sobs pitifully at ‘Chasa.’]

[Guild] GegulGegulFrog: Inseong says he’s got nothing left to lose. ㅇㅅㅇ

And the ones with nothing to lose are always the scariest.

[‘Chasa’ has expelled ‘Killer’ from the squad.]

[Guild] GegulGegulFrog: Squad ban, LMAO!

[Guild] Freedeal: LMAO, saw that coming. RIP.

[Guild] Oath’s Vow: Consistently picking the bad ending every time is honestly a talent in itself.

[Guild] GegulGegulFrog: Bet Inseong’s never gotten a true ending in a dating sim before!

[Guild] GegulGegulFrog: ? Wait, I wasn’t saying I actually played dating sims. I mean, I could try one if I wanted to! That was a low blow, man. T_T

[Guild] Freedeal: You know how people say your name determines your fate? Gegul, your reputation’s sinking fast.

[Guild] GegulGegulFrog: Wow no matter how much Chasa isn’t paying attention, you can’t just insult a guild member like that. T_T

[Guild] Chasa: If you wanna get kicked from the guild too, keep talking.

But honestly, Sa-yoon had nothing left to lose either. He had already let his stalker into the guild—what else could possibly go wrong?

Leaving Killer sprawled on the ground, he turned away. But before he could take more than a few steps, Killer quickly scrambled up and scurried after him.

[Guild] Chasa: Dude, go your own way.

[‘Killer’ has sent a message to ‘Chasa.’]

[Guild] Freedeal: Inseong says he promises to behave and is asking for an invite back. LMAO.

[Guild] Chasa: Do I really have to?

[Guild] Freedeal: Well, they do say hate the player, not the DPS. ^^

There were only 15 minutes left before the defense battle. The squad consisted of six parties with a total of 34 players online. Sa-yoon knew how carefully Oath had assigned people based on their class and combat power, so it wasn’t like they could just swap out a DPS last minute.

With a sigh, Sa-yoon begrudgingly sent Killer another invite. And just as they were heading toward the rally point—

[Server] WhiteNoise: ☆☆☆ Recruiting for Main Defense Battle Squad ☆☆☆ (Link)

It was WhiteNoise, Noize’s vice guild master.

[Guild] GegulGegulFrog: What the hell? Are they insane? Why are they making a separate squad? It’s not like they’re just forming their own party.

[Guild] Freedeal: Main. Squad. LMAO. Guess their English skills aren’t the best.

[Guild] furple: Oh yeah, did that delete character or bust guy actually go through with it?

[Guild] Freedeal: Yeah, I checked for about a week, but they were totally inactive. Now their character doesn’t show up in searches.

[Guild] GegulGegulFrog: Maybe they transferred servers?

[Guild] GegulGegulFrog: Ohh, Inseong, sharp thinking.

[Guild] Oath’s Vow: Still, them recruiting separately feels kinda ominous.

[Guild] Chasa: But they’re gonna keep playing on this server, right? No way they’d actually go and ruin things.

And yet, that no way turned out to be reality.