“Choose.”
ShutUp tilted his head toward something, gesturing for me to look.
The place he’d brought me to was a storage room lined wall to wall with weapons and items. Shimmering equipment glittered across the floor and along the walls. When I stepped closer and placed my palm against one of them, a notification confirmed they were Guide-exclusive items. From weapons to armor to accessories—there was nothing missing.
“Take however much equals the ring’s value. Then you won’t have any complaints, right?”
I swallowed hard and reached to pick something up when I heard Human snickering softly behind me.
…This isn’t some kind of scam, is it?
You develop instincts after working in society long enough. Whenever someone says, “I’m giving this to you at a loss,” you’re supposed to be suspicious first. These days, people won’t even give up a chicken drumstick for family. In other words, no one willingly makes a losing deal for someone else.
“Not interested. Not this stuff.”
I answered flatly.
Truthfully, I wanted the items so badly I could taste it. That crimson-glowing cloak alone—if I walked around wearing that, I might even meet a nice Psychic lady. These days people even get married after meeting in games… My useless thoughts trailed on until ShutUp slammed the storage door shut.
The abrupt motion made me flinch.
“Then what?”
His eyes were brimming with irritation. Maybe because he used electricity, but it looked like lightning might shoot out of his eyes at any moment.
“Hmm… let me think about it.”
It wasn’t that I was intimidated by someone five years younger. In games, higher level equals hyung. While I rolled my eyes around pretending to consider my options, a whisper panel popped up in the upper-left corner.
I thought it might be Han-woo, but it was from Human. He was standing right next to me—why whisper?
[Human: Tell him you’ll only do it if he becomes your partner. You’re a Guide, hyung. If you catch a Psychic like him, you’ll level up fast.]
[Human: Don’t reply. Just insist it’s partner or nothing.]
Hmm…
Pretending to look elsewhere, I checked the whisper. Opportunities to get carried by a high-level player like that didn’t come often.
This might be my chance.
A Guide can hunt monsters far below their own level, and each kill fills their gauge just like a Psychic’s. Solo hunting is inefficient, and compared to a Psychic’s wide-area magic, a Guide’s skills are more supportive in nature. So no matter what, forming a party with a Psychic was the most efficient way to level.
Which meant if I secured a ranker Psychic like him, I could level up quickly.
“Hey, ShutUp.”
He crossed his arms and tilted his chin, as if telling me to speak. Meeting his arrogant downward gaze, I made my demand boldly.
“Be my partner. I’m a Guide.”
“…You serious? When I link, I don’t go easy.”
He asked again if I wouldn’t regret it. Instead of answering, I nodded repeatedly and held my ground.
ShutUp clenched and unclenched his fist several times, sparks crackling between his fingers. A faint burning sound sizzled in the air. He kept repeating the motion, channeling power.
“What are you doing? Trying to threaten me?”
When I took a step back, Human explained from the side.
“He’s filling his gauge. To try matching. To see if the two of you can link.”
“Ah.”
“But if your matching rate is under fifty percent, there’s no point in partnering. You know that, right?”
I didn’t fully understand everything Human explained, but I nodded anyway. I stood there with a solemn expression while ShutUp looked at me like I was a nuisance.
“If it’s below seventy percent, I’m not accepting it. Got it?”
“Fine. Just hurry up and do the matching thing.”
At worst, I’d break even. If it came out under seventy percent, I planned to sweep that glittering storage clean up to the ring’s value.
“Done.”
Not long after, ShutUp walked slowly toward me. A notification appeared in the center of the screen.
<<The Psychic ‘ShutUp’ has proposed matching. [Accept / Decline]>>
I hesitated, glancing at Human. He gave me an okay sign with his fingers.
Fine. They said ShutUp wasn’t the type to lie. I trusted it and pressed [Accept].
The text disappeared from the center of the screen, revealing ShutUp standing in front of me. Suddenly, he interlocked his fingers with both of my hands.
His hands are big. Just like that guy’s.
A countdown voice began, and during it, ShutUp and I locked eyes. I hated how Psychics were always taller than Guides. He merely rolled his eyes downward, looking at me arrogantly. Not to be outdone, I lifted my chin as high as I could to match his gaze.
<<…3. 2. 1.>>
The moment the countdown ended, our joined hands were roughly flung apart.
Honestly, being partners with someone like him? I was against it. Neither of us seemed particularly hopeful. We both averted our gazes, waiting for the result.
<<Matching Result.>>
Large letters appeared in the center of the screen. Then they shifted into numbers, steadily climbing.
When it passed forty percent, ShutUp let out a mocking “Heh.” When it passed fifty percent, I figured maybe everyone gets at least fifty.
But when it exceeded seventy percent, Human’s eyes widened. ShutUp, who had been looking away, turned his gaze back to me. Once it passed eighty percent, his mouth even fell slightly open.
If it goes over eighty percent, and neither person has a partner, they’re automatically assigned.
Suddenly, a ding sounded, and at the top panel appeared <<Partner: ShutUp.>> before disappearing again. A small heart icon appeared next to my name.
The number kept climbing as if it had no intention of stopping. My heart pounded like it was about to burst. Human, who had been sitting and watching, now stood up.
Then fireworks exploded across the screen, and a congratulatory message appeared.
<<Ranked #1 in Matching! 91% Partner Pair Born! Congratulations!>>
A male–male partner pair taking first place?!
I wondered if the developers had messed up the programming. Or maybe they’d deliberately set it up so male×male combinations could never normally reach those numbers.
“…Huh?”
Even ShutUp blinked in disbelief.
Ninety-one percent was practically fate. To put it in perspective, less than five percent of all partner pairs exceeded eighty percent. Rumor had it that when a pair exceeded ninety percent, their character names and appearances were displayed across the village like massive banners. And until now, no one on this server had surpassed ninety.
At that moment, whispers flooded in from all directions. In the lower-left chat window, [LOL] scrolled upward at the speed of light. The village must’ve already seen the banner.
“Whoa! Congrats! Heh—hey, Jun. Ah, I shouldn’t laugh.”
“Shut up.”
ShutUp had probably assumed it would barely pass fifty percent at best. He’d likely planned to carry me for a bit, then remove me as partner later.
But ninety-one percent? Even I’d never scored ninety-one points at karaoke. Staring at the number and the flood of whispers, I was dazed. I couldn’t tell whether this was something to celebrate or panic over.
[TenWonLife: Wow, you hit the lottery. How’d you get that with ShutUp?]
[GuideToLife: ★GAY COUPLE BORN★]
[GuideWithADildo: Jealous]
Just then, a character named [Enlistment]—probably a guild member—came up to the second floor and locked eyes with me. He pointed back and forth between ShutUp and me before speaking to Human.
“Oh, so you really became partners. GentleTouch? Who’s that? Someone I know?”
“Nope. Newbie.”
“Weren’t we only accepting real-life friends?”
“Yeah. Something came up.”
In Blood Planet, guilds—like parties—were limited to a maximum of four members. It was to prevent power imbalance and stop guild-wide massacres of players. In other words, fights were meant to be 4:4.
Human nagged Enlistment to change his nickname. Enlistment shot back that he’d change it to [Discharge] after finishing the military.
“Just looking at your name makes me depressed.”
“Wanna enlist together?”
Meanwhile, ShutUp and I weren’t just partners—we’d become the server’s number-one gay couple.
Something shattered somewhere behind us, followed by a curse. Then ShutUp disconnected; at the top partner status window, it changed to [OFF].
“Guess he logged off out of frustration.”
Like he’s the only one frustrated. I’m just as stunned.
I stood there blankly while Enlistment and Human each offered their congratulations. Human studied me for a moment, then asked if I wanted to go hunting.
“No, I’m mentally exhausted today…”
They didn’t press further and left to go hunting.
After they were gone, I took advantage of the empty room and walked over to the guild storage. I tried touching it, wondering if I could open it—but it didn’t budge.
What a waste.
Before logging out, I organized my thoughts.
Should I level up quickly, farm items in high-level hunting grounds, and sell them? Or use the capital to raise a Psychic character instead?
Now that I had a goal, the situation didn’t seem entirely bad. Things did feel like they were getting more tangled by the minute—but I brushed it off, thinking it couldn’t be that big of a deal.
