Can’t Control Be Bought With Money? 26

Chapter 26

[Party] Girmu: I had a lot of enhancement stones leftㅎㅎ

[Party] Sinu: You could have saved those for your next equipment;;

[Party] Girmu: I wanted to

[Party] Girmu: get stronger as soon as possibleㅎㅎ

[Party] Sinu: ;;;;; Did something happen??

[Party] Sinu: Did someone pick a fight with you

If something had happened, then yes, it had. Beodeul recalled the post on the free board that he had seen the night before. Sinu had summarized it for him, saying it would be resolved soon and that he didn’t need to see it, but somehow he felt like he should look at it anyway.

Girmu was just a character in a game, but seeing others judge him as incompetent made Beodeul feel strange. It wasn’t like those people were looking through Girmu to criticize him personally.

[Party] Girmu: Noㅎㅎ I’ll keep practicing my control

[Party] Girmu: But enhancing equipment can’t hurt, right?

[Party] Sinu: Um… it’s an efficiency issue. When you level up, you’ll have to switch to the next tier of equipment anyway

[Party] Girmu: Then I’ll just enhance the next equipment tooㅎㅎ

Beodeul, having fully awakened to his whale tendencies, thought: I might lack skill, but I don’t lack money.

[Party] Girmu: Efficiency is good of course… but if I’m fine with not being efficient, isn’t that okay?ㅎㅎ

[Party] Sinu: ;; Seriously, did something happen?

Beodeul was about to deny it again when he received a whisper that made him change his mind.

[Whisper/Girmu] WatchingChicken: hey

[Whisper/Girmu] WatchingChicken: looks like you didn’t block this oneㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Whisper/Girmu] WatchingChicken: ㅋㅋㅋwanna see me for a bit

[Whisper/Girmu] WatchingChicken: Tashara Plateau, channel 9

[Whisper/Girmu] WatchingChicken: be ready to get your ass kickedㅋㅋㅋ

Now he understood. Despite pretending to be dense and okay with it, he had actually been quite upset about that post and the gossip among the Dalkeum guild members. With nowhere to vent his stress, he had channeled it into enhancing his equipment, and the result…

[Party] Girmu: Actually, I tend to be a bit impatient…

[Party] Sinu: What? You, Girmu?

[Party] Girmu: Yesㅎㅎ But I think I’ll be able to feel the benefits

[Party] Girmu: of enhancing my equipment pretty soon!

Surprisingly, a way to justify his inefficient enhancements had presented itself.

[Party] Sinu: …?

[Party] Sinu: How so?

As Beodeul searched for Tashara Plateau on the continent map, he thought:

‘If my memory serves me right, this is a PK-enabled area.’

There was only one reason Beodeul knew this fact: the Dalkeum guild members had told him when they were roaming around together before.

He wasn’t so dense that he couldn’t understand the intentions of a player with a grudge inviting him to a PK zone. The reason he felt inclined to play along was simple:

‘With this equipment, would I really lose?’

The equipment he had just enhanced to +15 gleamed magnificently, and Beodeul dared to hope for victory. Of course, if it had been a dungeon that required a party, he wouldn’t have even considered this.

But one-on-one against another player? Besides control, wouldn’t equipment differences play a significant role in determining the outcome?

As a Dalkeum guild member, WatchingChicken wasn’t a player who enjoyed hunting or boss content, so the level difference with Girmu wasn’t significant. Plus, to be honest, their equipment probably wasn’t that great.

‘I’m not planning to be overconfident just because of my equipment, but still…’

He was simply making a rational assessment that he had a chance to win. Beodeul was about to send a whisper agreeing to meet WatchingChicken’s alt character when he noticed Sinu in front of him and changed his mind.

[Whisper/WatchingChicken] Girmu: I have a prior engagement

[Whisper/WatchingChicken] Girmu: I can’t right now, but could you wait a bit?

Since I already arranged to go to a dungeon with Sinu.

[Whisper/Girmu] WatchingChicken: ?

[Whisper/Girmu] WatchingChicken: ????

[Whisper/WatchingChicken] Girmu: It might take a while since we’ll be doing several tries

[Whisper/Girmu] WatchingChicken: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋare you fucking kidding me???????

Why the sudden cursing? I just said I have a prior engagement. Beodeul was about to block WatchingChicken but stopped himself. Instead, he switched the chat window to the party tab so that only party chat would be visible.

[Party] Girmu: Shall we go to the dungeon now?

[Party] Sinu: You still haven’t explained

[Party] Sinu: how you’ll feel the benefits

[Party] Girmu: Ah

[Party] Girmu: I’ll show you laterㅎㅎ

Sinu seemed puzzled but soon logged in with his alt character ‘Inu’ and sent a dungeon entry request. As Beodeul clicked the accept button and the loading began, Sinu made a meaningful comment.

[Party] Inu: When you say you’ll show me later or sometime

[Party] Inu: That’s what worries me the most

[Party] Girmu: Huh? Why?

[Party] Inu: Because your track record is quite colorful

When had he said something like that before? Beodeul thought back and sighed softly. It was probably when he first enhanced his weapon to +15. After completing the enhancement, he had sent a voice code message wanting to show it off.

[Party] Girmu: Well then I’ll show you through voice code

Just then, a voice code call request arrived from Sinu. Beodeul accepted the request and simultaneously captured the whispers from WatchingChicken to send to Sinu.

Whether Sinu had seen the capture or not, a reaction immediately came through the headset.

—What’s with this person…

“Pardon?”

—Nothing. Are you still getting whispers?

“Um… no. They stopped. Probably because I didn’t respond?”

Scrolling up in the chat window, Beodeul noticed several messages filtered with heart symbols. Those must have been censored due to profanity. After a few such messages, there was silence. Either they decided to wait or gave up because there was no response.

—Did you block them?

“Not yet.”

The “yet” implied that he would eventually do so.

—Do it now. Don’t engage with them.

Sinu’s tone wasn’t much different from usual, but Beodeul somehow felt that he was angry.

“Are you mad?”

—No. Not at you, Girmu.

“That’s a relief… Should we start the dungeon then? I’ve been practicing consistently.”

The loading had already finished, and Girmu and Sinu’s alt, Inu, were standing idly at the entrance of the dungeon. Beodeul moved Girmu around to urge Sinu, but he didn’t budge at all.

—The dungeon isn’t the issue right now… I’m going to send someone there.

“What? Who? No, please don’t.”

—They might have set up traps on the map already. Seeing how you’re trying to change the subject to the dungeon, you’re planning to go there after we finish this, aren’t you?

Wow, how did he know? Beodeul admired Sinu’s perceptiveness and typed “ㅎㅎ” in the chat.

“Are you worried I might lose?”

—…

“Oh? You’re not denying it?”

—It’s not that. Why are you laughing? This is serious.

Beodeul, who had been suppressing his laughter at Sinu’s silence, burst out laughing at those words.

“It’s just that you seem like you’d be good at PVP too, but you’re taking this much more seriously than I expected.”

—That’s because it’s not my business—

“Exactly. It’s not your business, it’s mine, and yet…”

—…I feel responsible. You’ve been going through various issues since hanging out with me, so how can I not care?

“So you’ve been thinking that way all along.”

Beodeul narrowed his eyes and nodded. Now he understood a bit better. Why Sinu had gone to such lengths to listen to his concerns.

And not just that. Sinu had worried that SaltySalt, a member of his own guild, might have made Beodeul uncomfortable, and even took retaliatory measures afterward.

—…You were testing me just now, weren’t you?

“Um, yes.”

Beodeul plainly admitted it. There was nothing to hide. It seemed pointless to conceal something that the person concerned had already figured out.

“I’ve never blamed you, so why have you been thinking that way…?”

—Any person with a conscience would feel that way. And I do have a conscience.

“Then since I don’t like you blaming yourself, I guess I shouldn’t hang out with you anymore?”

—…

“I’m joking, so lighten up…”

—How can you see my expression, Girmu?

“There’s a feeling to it, you know.”

Beodeul moved Girmu in front of Inu and used the ‘laugh’ emote. Shortly after, Inu responded with the ‘laugh’ emote as well.

It was strange. The characters were clearly laughing brightly, but somehow it felt like a forced laugh.

“It’s neither your fault nor mine, right? If someone’s attitude changes because of who I hang out with, it’s better not to keep them around for long. It’s not like you’re a serious rule-breaker.”

—…

“You’re not denying this either…?”

—Now you’re teasing me naturally.

“Haha…”

—Of course I don’t think it’s my fault that those… people are acting however they want. The problem is that they’re only targeting Girmu.

“I guess I seem like an easy target.”

—…Will you admit that so easily?

“I’m more hurt that you didn’t deny it again than by me admitting it.”

Sinu didn’t respond. Thinking this might be a topic he wanted to avoid, Beodeul deliberately changed the subject in a cheerful voice.

“Then those people are just pathetic. Don’t blame yourself for being too strong.”

—I’m starting to feel a bit sorry about being high-spec, so please stop teasing me.

“Oh, you noticed this too…”