After returning to the village, I repaired my equipment first and waited for Enlistment. Since everyone had used their own Return Scrolls, we ended up returning to different locations. Enlistment said he’d come to Velvet Town, so I sat at the fountain where I’d met Goddess earlier.
“Gentle, did you wait long?”
“Hm? No.”
“Should we head to the guild hideout first?”
I nodded at the suggestion, and the moment we entered the guild hideout through the portal, he walked up and opened a trade with me. Inside the trade window were low-level armor and weapons.
“For now, I brought stuff that was piled up in storage. Use it or sell it, and let’s split what we got earlier.”
Enlistment summoned his pet and checked the pet inventory. I glanced at him, wondering if it was really okay for just the two of us to divide everything, but he coolly said, “Jun left first,” and split the items exactly in half.
“ShutUp logged out while still poisoned—what should we do?”
“Well, he’ll probably die somewhere safe. That way we can pick up anything he drops. Don’t worry about it, he’ll handle it himself.”
As Enlistment dropped the loot we’d obtained from the lake one by one onto the wooden floor of the guild hideout, he went, “Hmm……” looking like he was thinking hard, then even placed the hairpin on the ground.
“…Huh? Isn’t this expensive? You’re giving it to me?”
“It’s usually something a Guide uses, so just take it, Gentle.”
It was a hairpin—could a male character even wear this? I picked it up and tried equipping it anyway. It was shaped like a ribbon, and honestly, I didn’t think it would suit me… but once I actually put it on, it looked surprisingly good. I checked myself in the mirror and smiled, satisfied.
Meanwhile, Enlistment, who had been watching quietly, suddenly stepped closer to me. He reached up, adjusting the hairpin I was wearing and smoothing the hair around it, saying the effect seemed pretty good.
“Oh right… Gentle, you’re a Guide.”
Enlistment’s hand, buried in my hair, gradually moved toward the back of my head. Feeling the strange shift in atmosphere, I tried to pull away, but his grip tightened around my head, dragging my face close to his in an instant.
“Can you link with me?”
Normally, someone wouldn’t be able to get any closer at this distance, but since we were in a party right now, he could move right up to me. I turned my head away, insisting we should just hold hands—please, just hands—and tried to push his face back, when suddenly my hand touched nothing.
Crash—bang!
Just as confusion set in, something collapsed with a loud noise, and Enlistment fell backward over a nearby table.
“What are you two doing?”
The one who caused it was Human, who had just logged in. In the middle of the commotion, I quickly disbanded the party, and when Enlistment noticed, he grinned as if disappointed.
“We just went to catch a Siren with Jun. I was asking Gentle to link with me.”
“That’s how you ask someone? Jun doesn’t like people messing with his Guide.”
If I kept talking with them, I felt like I might slip and call him ‘Juni’ again without realizing it.
“By the way, where’s Jun?”
Human approached me, asking if I was okay while looking for ShutUp.
“He logged out after fainting. It’s… kind of complicated.”
“We went to catch a Siren, and he fell for it completely.”
Ding—.
Right then, a message arrived from Seomun Jun.
Not as ShutUp, but as Juni.
[Can I come over to your place today, hyung?]
My breath stopped as I read the message.
My place? The question flashed through my mind, followed immediately by the contract from yesterday. Is he really planning to come? What would he even do here? Do these two even know what kind of person their friend is? I looked back and forth between Human and Enlistment with that thought in mind. Human walked toward me as I stood there frozen, hand awkwardly raised in midair.
“What’s wrong? Something happen?”
“No, I just got startled reading a message.”
Lowering my hand into a stiff, straight posture, I said I was done for today and would head out. But Enlistment clung to my pants, whining that he was disappointed about the party disbanding.
“I’ll cast Relax for you.”
I made Human and Enlistment stand side by side and cast Relax. Enlistment suggested that since things had turned out this way, the three of us should go to a dungeon without ShutUp, but honestly, I just wanted to rest.
“I haven’t even showered yet. Maybe later.”
After a quick goodbye with them, I opened the menu on the screen.
<<Logging out.>>
I disconnected and took off the helmet. I needed to check the three million won that had come in from selling the items, shower, and eat. But more than anything, I fell into deep thought about whether I should reply to Jun.
I typed [Don’t come]… then erased it. It felt too cold to reject him that bluntly. We had fought, but remembering how miserable he’d looked earlier made my resolve waver. So instead of messaging, I called him.
As the ringing continued, I suddenly got nervous and almost pressed the end button when Jun’s voice came through the phone. It was his character that had been addicted, so why did his real voice sound just as drained? He sounded heavy and limp, like a sponge soaked in water.
“If you’re going to answer like that, just stay home and sleep. Why are you saying you’ll come over?”
[Can’t I come?]
“Yeah, just rest at home. I’m kind of tired too.”
[I won’t bother you.]
“Do you… have something to say?”
[No, not really…]
“……?”
[Hyung.]
The word hyung made me remember the monster’s face from earlier—the way it had stared with desperation, hatred, and pleading at that ‘hyung.’
I realized it faintly. Jun wanted comfort by projecting someone else onto me.
Was I just a substitute for that hyung?
Being a stand-in hurt my pride. No matter what the reason was.
“Don’t come.”
[Then why did you even call? You got my hopes up.]
There was a rustling sound through the receiver, like bedsheets shifting—maybe he was lying down. Soon after, the call ended without another word. Even if saying good night felt a little embarrassing, weren’t we at least close enough to tell each other to rest well? He hung up just as coldly as he always had, both back then and now.
“Rude bastard.”
I was the one with the upper hand in this relationship, yet he still lacked the manners of someone in the weaker position. Next time we met, I decided I’d have to set him straight about that.
“What should I order…”
After hanging up, I showered and flipped through delivery menus. I felt like having some beer, so I called Jonggatjip Seasoned Chicken. Of course, seasoned chicken had to be from Jonggatjip! Instead of a free cola, I asked for an extra pickled radish and waited happily.
Then, to liven up the quiet house, I turned on the TV and put on whatever was playing. A program reporting various incidents was on, warning that voice phishing scams had been rapidly increasing lately and offering prevention tips.
Click—!
Before the chicken arrived, I cracked open a can of beer and gulped it down while watching the screen.
The story showed someone who transferred money after receiving a message from an acquaintance, only to learn later that the message itself was fake. A cyber investigation officer warned viewers not to send money based on texts alone—even if it was someone they knew—and to always confirm by phone first. A celebrity guest added that people shouldn’t lend money to others in the first place.
“That guy bragged on TV about buying a building, and now he’s acting stingy. You could lend a little. Still… people really fall for just one text like that?”
Even though I wouldn’t fall for it, I suddenly thought maybe my mom or people around me might. So I grabbed my phone and wrote a quick voice-phishing prevention note. After sending the short message to my contacts through messenger, I finally felt at ease. At the end of the message, I added: ‘I will never ask to borrow money through text.’
“Now no one around me will fall for that kind of scam, right?”
Ding-dong—.
Right on cue, the doorbell rang. The most welcome visitors in the world were delivery packages and food deliveries. I quickly flung the door open, and the delivery person stepped right inside and set the chicken down near the entrance.
“That’ll be 20,000 won.”
“The coupon’s inside, right?”
“Yes.”
While the card payment processed, I carried the chicken to the sofa table in front of the TV. Then I headed back to the door to take my card, only to see the delivery guy had taken off his shoes and come inside. Handing me the card, he said, “You’re really eating this alone?” When he took off his helmet—Roban was underneath.
“Why are you coming out of there?”
“Me? Part-time job. I do delivery work in the evenings.”
“Then shouldn’t you go finish your deliveries? Why’d you take your shoes off?”
“I’m done for today. Figured I’d rest here. Got more beer?”
Now I finally knew why Roban hadn’t logged into the game. But if he was doing delivery work, why was he driving such an expensive car? And even though it was the chicken I paid for, Roban had already started opening the packaging. He even grabbed the beer I’d been saving without hesitation.
“Kyaa—. Chicken and beer really is the best.”
“You already ate the lunchbox you took earlier, and you’re still eating?”
“I get hungry fast. Hurry up and sit down.”
If I hadn’t sold the Relax skill today, I wouldn’t have shared a table with this guy. By the time I came back with plates, Roban was already tearing into a drumstick.
Well, whatever. It’s common sense to share one each. I got up to grab another can of beer. But when I closed the fridge and came back, Roban was biting into the last remaining drumstick.
“Hey! Do you have no conscience? How can you eat both drumsticks?”
“You don’t even give drumsticks to family.”
“Am I your family?”
Talking about drumsticks reminded me of when we had baeksuk. Back then, Jun had put both drumsticks onto my plate. Maybe I should’ve eaten chicken with Jun instead of Roban. Maybe I should’ve told him to come over.
“Eat that before you go. And take that too on your way out. I was going to sell it on Secondhand World, but I just couldn’t bring myself to. I thought about giving it to a friend, but… it felt weird.”
“Why? Just use it. I’ll give it to you as a gift.”
“No thanks. It’s bad luck.”
“What, are you impotent? Or like… numb or something?”
Roban asked innocently, sauce smeared all around his mouth. When I didn’t answer, dumbfounded, he started explaining the adult products he sold.
He said if someone lost their sex drive at such a young age, it was a problem, and that humans had to satisfy their three basic desires to be happy, talking like some seasoned life mentor.
I kept my eyes on the TV and half-ignored him. Whether I listened or not, Roban launched into a long lecture, saying he had entire product series available. I just drank my beer, giving dry responses like “No,” “Yeah,” “Nah,” determined to focus on eating while he talked.
Most people would get discouraged by such lukewarm replies, but Roban didn’t show any sign of backing down. Eventually, he even waved his hand in front of my face, forcing my gaze away from the TV. I glared at him, irritation clear in my eyes.
“Ah, come on! Let me watch TV.”
“Have you ever tried Aneros?”
“Aneros? What’s that?”
“Heh… looks like our Yoo Du-seon has only walked the straight and narrow path.”
“Oh! Come to think of it, how do you know my name? You even wrote it clearly on the delivery label.”
“That kind of thing? Just dig through someone’s mailbox once and you’ll know. Don’t be so shocked over something minor.”
Then Roban added, “More importantly, I’ll tell you something even more amazing,” and continued explaining that Aneros-whatever thing.
In the end, that’s what it was—a male masturbation device. I figured those were all pretty similar anyway. What could be so special about it?
But Roban praised the Aneros nonstop, proudly saying it had opened his eyes to a second sexuality. I wasn’t easily swayed, but with him going on and on beside me, insisting it wasn’t even an orgasm from this world and that I’d consider him my savior, it was impossible not to get curious.
“Dying without knowing this is basically living only half a life. So? Want one?”
“…How much is something like that?”
I wondered if business was that bad that he was trying to sell to a neighbor, so I asked, thinking I might buy one if it was cheap.
“About 30,000 won?”
“That’s cheaper than I expected.”
The way he’d been rambling made me think it would be more expensive than the adult products he first delivered to my place. But 30,000 won? After already getting scammed out of 30,000 by that kid, it didn’t seem like a big deal.
“You can pick beginner, intermediate, or advanced, but judging by you… hmm, since it’s your first time, beginner would be best, right? For the perineum TAB shape, we’ll go with the standard type, and for the main body, I’ll give you the rib-cut shape with pleasure ridges. Of course, smallest size.”
Standard ribs, beginner level—honestly, I had no idea what he was talking about. Still, I figured buying one might finally shut him up. Otherwise, he looked like he’d keep listing every adult product he sold all night long.
