Chapter 46
With less than two weeks left until exams, unlike Kwon-ju whose results weren’t particularly important, Ji-won was feeling the pressure. His login time gradually decreased until he was barely showing his face. When Kwon-ju informed him about New World guild changing its master, Ji-won expressed regret about not being able to chat in real-time. Despite that, he didn’t make special time to log in just to have casual conversations.
Knowing that Ji-won was the type to focus when necessary, Kwon-ju refrained from saying he wanted to meet in the game. However, despite having managed to study and breathe just fine during three years of not seeing each other, including his retake year, Kwon-ju hadn’t expected it would be this difficult not being able to meet. If he had never known Ji-won, it might have been different, but after seeing his face and keeping in touch daily, being suddenly separated made him feel like an addict, his hands almost trembling.
Kwon-ju took a deep breath of the April air, which still carried a slight chill, and slung his bag over his shoulder as he stood up. Since Ji-won had said they couldn’t have lunch together for a while, he planned to go home during his long break between classes. Though Ji-won surely had his own life and couldn’t always eat with him, Kwon-ju couldn’t help feeling disappointed.
“Jang Kwon-ju!”
Just as he was about to leave the building, Kwon-ju instinctively turned his head at the voice calling his name loudly. It was one of the classmates he had exchanged contacts with during the MT. He was twenty-four, back from military service, if Kwon-ju remembered correctly. After accurately recalling this information, Kwon-ju asked with his eyes what the matter was, and Gi-yeong, who was standing behind, asked:
“Want to have lunch with us?”
“…Why?”
“I heard Ji-won hyung can’t eat with you for a while.”
How did he know that? Gi-yeong smiled at the handsome friend looking at him with a strangely guarded expression, and pointed outside with his thumb.
“Let’s go.”
Before Kwon-ju knew it, he was sitting at a table with classmates whose names he barely knew. I just want to eat alone. But he couldn’t rudely dismiss all the connections Ji-won had worked hard to establish for him. He didn’t mind if rumors spread about him having a nasty personality or being ill-mannered—it wouldn’t be the first time—but he didn’t want such talk reaching Ji-won’s ears.
After forcing a smile and engaging with the classmates for less than five minutes, Kwon-ju felt a twitch at the corner of his lips. His energy for social interaction was completely drained. As his word count dropped dramatically, Gi-yeong suddenly addressed him.
“You seem really close with Ji-won hyung.”
“Why do you ask?”
“Just saying. It’s weird that a guy with so many friends only hangs out with you.”
Kwon-ju had no immunity to such comments. Whenever he heard that Ji-won took good care of him or treated him specially, his thoughts drifted in strange directions and created expectations. Of course, this was his own gloomy secret that he never revealed.
“Isn’t that hyung really nice? Handsome and with a good personality too.”
As Ji-won became the topic, the classmates at the table each added their own remarks. Among them, the comment that a good personality comes from a handsome face really resonated deep in Kwon-ju’s heart.
Seeing that everyone here knew Ji-won, it seemed that while it appeared he only hung out with Kwon-ju, Ji-won had actually established ideal relationships with everyone. Indeed, when they walked together, many people greeted him. Kwon-ju felt grateful that none of those acquaintances played the game with him. Otherwise, there probably wouldn’t have been space for him to get involved.
But it didn’t take long to realize that was just his own wishful thinking. It began that very evening when he logged in intending to hunt a little, saw Ji-won unexpectedly online at the guild headquarters, and rushed over to take a seat.
[Ppojjo: I can’t participate in the war this week ㅠ]
[Chelling: Why ㅠㅠ]
[Ppojjo: Going to see my baby♡]
[HolyKnightKnight: Ppojjo-nim, are you going to see your child?]
Ji-won, who already knew who Ppojjo meant by “my baby,” nearly spit the coffee he was drinking onto his open textbook at Kwon-ju’s sudden question. It was even funnier because Kwon-ju wasn’t joking but genuinely didn’t know.
[Ppojjo: Ahh nooo ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Ppojjo: Not a biological son, but a son born from my heart…..]
[Watermelon Doctor: Guild master’s in the Discord profile pic]
[Watermelon Doctor: Sasa-nim can see him if you join too]
[Ppojjo: Yang Ye-jun, mind your business^^]
Even after the name was mentioned, Kwon-ju still seemed confused, so Ji-won explained that Ppojjo was going to an idol concert for a group the guild members liked. Finally understanding, Kwon-ju wondered if Ppojjo called him “son” because he was young enough to be his child, so he searched the name on Google, only to face pictures of a robust adult male older than himself. Unable to make sense of it, he scrolled up and down, when Ji-won mentioned a nickname he’d never heard before.
[Hando: If Ppojjo-nim doesn’t come]
[Hando: I’ll call Jung-hoon]
[Chelling: Still not kicked? Inactive for over 30 days;]
[Ddajimalgot: Over two months I think ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
Who is Jung-hoon? Kwon-ju opened the guild member list, thinking it must be someone using their real name as a nickname, as he’d seen several times before. But after checking twice, he couldn’t find it. Was his eyesight failing?
[Ppojjo: Let’s revoke vice guild master position ㅎㅎ]
At the mention of vice guild master, Kwon-ju went “Ah” and sorted the guild members by rank. Just two names below Ji-won’s character had different colored nicknames: Ppojjo and Shinmyung.
If they said “Do,” then is Jung-hoon his real name? But Kwon-ju had never seen Ji-won call guild members by their real names. Though they might discuss jobs, age, or regions, they didn’t seem like a guild where people used real names.
However, observing the conversation, he could guess why they knew the real name. This must be the YouTuber who was like the guild’s mascot, whom he’d heard mentioned a few times. Since many YouTubers used their real names, it wasn’t strange that everyone knew it.
[Hando: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Seems he’s completely stopped gaming while traveling]
[Hando: Though he probably took his laptop]
Suddenly, something buried in his memory surfaced. Wasn’t this the… person who interrupted his stream to brag when “hyung” got accepted to university? Back then, Kwon-ju had only thought of Ji-won as just another guild master passing through, so he hadn’t given it much thought.
Were they just close in the game? But would someone normally congratulate a university acceptance on stream? All sorts of thoughts began spinning in his head.
[Chelling: It feels reassuring when vice guild master logs in^^]
[Ddajimalgot: —Return of the Strongest Ranger—]
After hesitating, Kwon-ju decided to look just once. He opened YouTube and typed “Shinmyung” in the search bar. Shinmyung Arc Serenity, Shinmyung mukbang, Shinmyung character build, Shinmyung reaction… Seeing the stream of related searches, it seemed the claim about him being quite famous was true.
As soon as he entered the channel, the large face that appeared gave off a familiar feeling, like a close friend. Something about him seemed approachable. It was like an unwritten law that in high school classrooms, kids who looked like this always had the most friends and were the loudest.
Following the dates of uploaded videos, he found an archive from around when Ji-won was accepted to university. Just clicking on this felt too creepy. But feeling he’d already gone too far, Kwon-ju hesitantly clicked on the video.
There was not a hint of awkwardness as he ate his lunch box with his right hand while typing on the keyboard at a steady pace with his left. All while fluently reading viewer comments. Just a brief listen made it clear. He really is Ji-won hyung’s friend. Watching him speak without hesitation, it seemed like there really was some kind of DNA unique to people like this.
“Yo, this is insane. Truly insane. Guys, guys. He just got into Sewon University through additional admissions. Wow, crazy bastard. I knew he would do it.”
Congratulatory messages scrolled by so quickly on the right side of the screen that they were hard to follow. As he’d thought before, the players of this game seemed really kind-hearted. Even congratulating someone they’d never seen on university admission.
“No, he cut off gaming and just quietly studied, and he finally made it. Ah, I’m not happy because I need someone to create content with. It’s real.”
After watching the entire video, Kwon-ju could clearly tell. The two were actually close friends in real life. Looking at a few more videos, he could see that this person was also very skilled at controlling the game. That would be natural since gaming was his job, but even considering that, his skills were impressive.
A gaming friend from much longer ago. A friend who had watched Ji-won grow up, when he was much smaller than when Kwon-ju first met him. Since he seemed to be an expert, he would definitely be more helpful than Kwon-ju in PVP.
Judging by his long absence from the game and lack of recent videos, it seemed like he was taking a break due to some circumstances. So when this person returns…
[HolyKnightKnight>>Chelling: Chelling-nim, could you practice PVP with me?]
[Chelling>>HolyKnightKnight: Huh? Now?]
[HolyKnightKnight>>Chelling: I’ll give you the item you said you needed before]
[Chelling>>HolyKnightKnight: Hyung-nim where are you???]
[Chelling>>HolyKnightKnight: I’ll escort you to the training ground in your channel^^]
Having bribed Chelling with an item, Kwon-ju solemnly clicked the training ground entrance button. It seemed he needed to practice until he could feel like he was playing as Ji-won’s equal, not just as someone being taught, even while doing all sorts of content together.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
