“Don’t pay attention to me.”
“How could I not? I’m literally demonstrating what flirting is right now.”
The more they talked, the more exhausting it became—for him, at least. Sa Shin-jae didn’t bother responding and instead turned on his phone screen. He tapped the familiar Divine icon, and the official website opened immediately, displaying a new announcement.
〈Autumn Vibes! Golden Helmet Siege Event Announcement〉
As soon as Shin-jae read the title, he swiftly closed the screen.
“You’re really surprising.”
“Honestly, I thought you’d never even played Minesweeper.”
Shin-jae ignored the comment. But Cha Sa-yoon kept talking, undeterred by the lack of response. It was a mystery how someone could carry a conversation so effortlessly on their own.
Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to tell him to shut up. The last time he’d tried, Sa-yoon had responded with, ‘Oh? You want me to shut up, Shin-jae? Do you like it when I’m quiet? Should I shut up just for you?’—practically spitting out a rap verse in the process.
Cha Sa-yoon was just naturally loud. The best way to deal with him was to avoid provoking him altogether.
“I think I like how well you listen to me.”
The problem was, hornets didn’t need provocation to sting first.
“Are you insane?”
“Why? Being obnoxiously oblivious is my charm, isn’t it? Hm?”
As Sa Shin-jae looked at that infuriatingly grinning face, he thought to himself.
No matter how he looked at it, he really hated this guy.
***
[You have died.]
“Ah.”
Staring at the gray-toned screen, Sa-yoon hastily slammed his keyboard.
[Party] Chasa: Sorry, I zoned out for a second.
Because of Sa-yoon’s mistake, Midas was repeatedly raising his hand, turning the entire party into golden statues. Once everyone had died, Midas nonchalantly turned around and plopped onto his golden throne as if nothing had happened.
[Party] a10235044: LOL
[Party] a10235044: People make mistakes sometimes :)!
[Party] GegulGegulFrog: I don’t like agreeing with Inseong, but since you’re the sub-tank, I’ll let it slide. o 人 Q
[Party] Chasa: I’m gonna go get some water.
After respawning, Sa-yoon was hit with the “Resurrection Adjustment” debuff. It was a death penalty effect—reviving with only 30% HP and mana, while movement speed remained reduced for a set period.
Seeing that he still had 1 minute and 52 seconds left, Sa-yoon stepped away. He figured he might as well wash his face while he was at it.
[Party] Shokrates: Why is the reaction so different from when I made a mistake? 〒
[Party] a10235044: Who do you think you’re comparing yourself to
[Party] a10235044: Yo
[Party] Freedeal: Are Jeon-gi and Chasa the same to you?
[Party] Oath’s Vow: Jeon-gi already uses up all my patience just by showing up late ^^
[Party] Shokrates: Wait, so I say one thing, and three people jump down my throat?..
[Party] Shokrates: And what, just adding ‘yo’ at the end makes it okay for the guild leader to scold me? 〒
[Party] Shokrates: At this point, can’t we just accept that my playtime is my playtime? Like, Jeon-gi Time, but Korean Time~
[Party] Freedeal: If you’re human, act like one and say something reasonable, huh?
[Party] Chasa: I’m back.
Even after washing his face and bringing back some water, the penalty still hadn’t worn off. That was because before Sa-yoon’s mistake, Shokrates had already caused a total wipe with his own blunder.
The “Resurrection Adjustment” debuff kept stacking with every death, prolonging its duration until a Priest in the capital could purify it.
[Whisper] a10235044: Hyung, are you busy these days?
Sa-yoon, mid-yawn, glanced at the chat. It was a whisper from 44.
[Whisper] Chasa: o.o?
[Whisper] a10235044: What are you preparing for these days?
“Huh?”
[Whisper] Chasa: Preparing for what? The update?
[Whisper] a10235044: Job change.
“Oh.”
Right, he’d told this guy he was thirty-six. No wonder he was thinking that way.
[Whisper] a10235044: You just seem really busy lately.
At Korea University, students with excellent grades from the previous semester were allowed to take up to 23 credits, while those on academic probation were limited to 15.
Since Sa-yoon had just returned from a leave of absence, he maxed out at 23 credits. It had been possible thanks to the grades he secured back when everyone else was too clueless to care in their freshman year.
Now, things were bound to get rough, so he figured it was best to load up on credits while he still could. His strategy was simple: focus on school while at school, then focus on gaming at home. A flawless plan.
Except, an unforeseen variable had thrown itself into the mix.
Right after a grueling schedule packed with nonstop lectures, he’d go straight to the theater club’s lounge to deal with a rude junior clinging to him. Then, he’d game until dawn before cramming in assignments.
Naturally, his gaming time had taken a hit.
Of course, by his standards. A normal person wouldn’t consider sacrificing sleep for gaming to be “cutting back.”
Still, it was only manageable because the season was nearing its end. His most important battlefield ranking had already been parked safely within the top tier.
All that was left was coasting through dungeons and daily quests—things he could do with his eyes closed—while waiting for the new update.
“Two weeks from now, though? Yeah, that’s not happening.”
Sa-yoon sighed and glanced to the side. His half-finished assignment and empty coffee cans were scattered across the desk.
[Party] Chasa: Sorry, I haven’t been getting much sleep lately.
[Party] a10235044: Is the job change stress getting to you? 〒
Thanks to Sa Shin-jae forcing his way into his carefully structured schedule, Sa-yoon was running on a serious sleep deficit. Just the other day, he’d run into Yeon-hee by chance, and she’d been startled by how dark the circles under his eyes had gotten.
Even the wipe just now had been because he zoned out. The others had laughed it off when he apologized and blamed it on exhaustion, but his sluggish reflexes were undeniable.
[Party] a10235044: You said you couldn’t play in the mornings on weekends either.
[Party] a10235044: I figured you were going to the library or something.
That was because the theater club had scheduled additional rehearsals over the weekends. When Sa-yoon first heard about it, he cursed them out, but in the end, he still squeezed out whatever time he had left and showed up.
The official reason was to finish filming before midterms so they could get post-production done early, but the real reason? Sa Shin-jae.
Sa-yoon knew full well that this was an unproductive waste of time. His assignments were piling up by the week, and his lectures were progressing at full speed.
And yet, he couldn’t stop. Some might call it stupid pride, but if he didn’t at least get a single damn apology out of Sa Shin-jae, he knew that every single night before falling asleep, he’d hear that infuriating comment replaying in his head.
And so, here he was, experiencing an involuntary seven-day workweek for the first time in his life. A disaster of his own making.
[Party] a10235044: Did you see the siege event announcement?
When the notification popped up earlier, he’d been too busy messing with Sa Shin-jae to check it properly. He’d planned to read it on the way home, but instead, he passed out on the bus. Then, as soon as he got home, he logged straight into the game.
At the mention of the announcement, he suddenly recalled how Sa Shin-jae had hurriedly snatched up his phone in panic earlier.
“That was kinda weird, now that I think about it.”
When Divine was at its peak, Sa-yoon had been on a leave of absence, stuck recovering from knee surgery and rehab.
He’d heard about it secondhand—friends of friends played, but he’d never actually met someone who was really into the game before.
“I wonder what class he plays.”
He definitely wasn’t the healer type. And considering how much he hated being in the spotlight, he didn’t seem like a tank either.
“That only leaves a damage dealer.”
But for some reason, Sa Shin-jae playing a class that fights with his fists was impossible to picture. So that ruled out melee fighters.
Deceptive on the outside, dark and brooding on the inside… Sneaking around in the shadows and ambushing enemies. A Demon Hunter suited him perfectly.
[Whisper] a10235044: Hyung?
[Whisper] Chasa: Nah I’ll check after we finish this.
[Whisper] a10235044: If you haven’t seen it yet, want me to send the link?
The sudden whisper snapped Sa-yoon out of his thoughts, making him realize he hadn’t responded.
Come to think of it, 44 was a Demon Hunter. Yeah, not every Demon Hunter player was an irredeemable trash human being…
The next thing that naturally came to mind was the server.
“No way… we’re not on the same server, right?”
What if they’d already run into each other…?
Not too long ago, a post had made it to the best board about a guy who found out his blind date played on the same server. The whole thing sounded like a story straight out of a radio segment, but in the end, they actually started dating. The post wrapped up with a thought-provoking conclusion—you never know who you might run into in-game.
“Yeah, right. As if.”
Cygnus was infamous for being the smallest, most deserted server out of the eight.
Was he the type to keep up his fake politeness even in-game? Or maybe, on the contrary, guys like him took full advantage of anonymity to go completely feral.
[Party] Oath’s Vow: Is everyone ready?
[Party] Chasa: Yep.
Unaware that he had just pieced together the entire truth, Sa-yoon joined the battle.
After pushing through the dungeon on sheer willpower, he parked his character at the crafting station and pulled up the event announcement.
Not a single second would be wasted.
