The incoming ghosts began attacking the users indiscriminately.
“Ah! What the hell? Aaaah!”
Bori Noona, pushed forward by the crowd, swung her club wildly through the air as a ghost approached. Surprisingly, the specters backed off and avoided our group entirely.
“…Huh?”
The chaos surrounding us suddenly felt distant—as if we were just awkwardly standing in the eye of the storm.
“What’s going on? Is there some kind of barrier around us?”
The group turned to look at Kessler with puzzled expressions. The look said: is this a dev buff?
“We’re legacy accounts, that’s why.”
“Ah! That makes sense. Woo-rim and Juwon, too…”
“No, all our team members. Probably just not me. Let’s just say… the ghosts won’t mess with the seasoned ones.”
It wasn’t a stat officially recorded, but ghosts, having existed for ages, could sense the depth of time. Their souls carried an innate ability to distinguish the strong from the weak.
Even if it didn’t show on me, having logged in with a new account, the ghosts could instinctively pick up on the stats of our team members who were using their old accounts.
“For example, if there’s one guy with strength 10 and another with 12, the ghosts will go for the 10. Easier prey from their point of view.”
In practice, the users who were getting devoured first were mostly the ‘lookducks’ and ‘fun gamers’—those who spent the day customizing their character’s outfit and sightseeing. Fighters who had done focused training were generally lower on the hit list.
“Don’t just stand there gawking! Help me!!”
One user, his shoulder halfway bitten off by a ghost, was screaming at the top of his lungs.
“If you give me your chicken comb, I’ll help.”
At Kebab’s offer, the user furiously tore off his chicken comb and threw it over. His flesh had already been ripped off in chunks—he was seconds from death.
“This item—I got it after a whole day of taking care of chickens and chicks while everyone else was sightseeing!!”
“I know. That’s exactly why I asked for it.”
Kebab carefully pocketed the chicken comb, then pulled out a few forks he had swiped from the illusion buffet and jabbed them into the ghost’s back.
The ghost let out a screech as black, inky shadow-blood gushed out from the wounds. It tried to retaliate, furious at having its meal interrupted, but Jung Da-hoon’s couple had already pinned down its limbs, leaving it thrashing helplessly.
– SKEEEEEEEEK!
We grabbed the limbs of the shadowy ghost and ripped them apart as if performing a public execution.
“Gasp! Me too, please help me too!! I’ll give you two Jewel Ices!!”
We rescued about three users with similar methods.
“Phew, thank you so much.”
“You guys are seriously ghost hunters.”
After weaving through the battlefield a few more times, dispatching ghosts and corpses tangled together, the quest ended.
The first survival quest, <Screams in a Godless World>, has ended.
“Moooom… I can’t do this game… it’s too scary…”
Some users burst into tears. Everything had been implemented so realistically, it shattered their mental fortitude.
“Stop crying and go into the settings. Change the options… set it to like, age 15 or something.”
“Y-y-yep…”
Just as things started to settle down—
To the one who lost a comrade…
“Huh? What’s with this voice?”
There’s no time to mourn. Recruit a new squad member for the journey ahead. Maximum of 5 people per group.
– Squad Mode has been disabled.
– Form a party and invite a new squad member.
“But no one on our team died. Why is it disabling?”
“Exactly. This system does whatever the hell it wants.”
While Bori and Kebab exchanged banter, the surrounding area started to buzz with activity.
“Got one open spot here! Looking for a healer!! Just one!! We have a Special Class@@@”
“Looking for two people!! Special Class players or anyone on a Special Class quest, welcome!!”
Like us, full five-member squads made up entirely of friends were rare. Most were formed through a mix of one or two friends and random matchmaking.
People dissatisfied with their teams quickly set off in search of new connections.
“We’re staying as we are, right?”
“Obviously.”
[Loudspeaker]: Squad matchmaking! If you’re solo, line up here. Two-person parties over there. Three-person parties here. Four-persons here.
Someone stepped up and began actively organizing the chaotic crowd. That guy was probably this server’s ‘PeeledGarlicUnpeeledGarlic’ role.
[Loudspeaker]: Cleanup Skeletons, please start with this area. Thank you.
“Well, there’s no reason for us to stick around anymore. Good job, everyone.”
“Then let’s go.”
“Are you two leaving already?”
Kebab looked at Kessler and me with a twinge of regret.
“We have to go.”
“What, did you leave the gas on in the honeymoon suite or something?”
“Yeah. There’s a fire.”
To Bori Noona’s teasing, Kessler replied with a straight face and interlaced his fingers with mine.
“Let’s go.”
The fire was in his dick, and the place it was about to spread to… was my ass.
***
After completely extinguishing the lingering fire from that aerial stunt earlier, we were sprawled on the bed.
A leader vote will now be conducted anonymously. Please vote for the player in your squad who you believe demonstrates the strongest leadership qualities.
1) You
2) Kessler
3) Bori
4) Jung Da-hoon
5) KebabGudasaai
What the hell is this? Leader, huh… Well, definitely not Kessler… I scanned through the choices, deliberating, while sneaking a look at Kessler’s screen to see who he picked.
But as soon as the vote screen popped up, Kessler tapped his own name without even a second’s hesitation.
“…You think you can be leader?”
“What do you mean? I’m already a general manager at work.”
Now that he mentioned it, it was true. Kessler was the leader at his team—no, his company.
“Do you want to be?”
When he nodded, I picked him without thinking twice.
“Just trust me and follow along, baby fox.”
Then a few moments later, the results were announced.
Player ‘Yeo Woo-rim’ has been elected as the squad leader.
“?”
Kessler and I had both voted for Kessler, so that meant the remaining team members had all voted for me.
Kessler, who had wanted to appear like a dependable leader in front of me, stared blankly at the result. His tail, which had been happily wagging, came to a sudden halt.
“A married couple’s one team. Let’s just share the role.”
“Yeah, that works.”
I quickly nodded at his suggestion. He kept a neutral expression, but the unspoken question lingered.
“So I wasn’t good enough?”
“No, our Juwon is plenty cool and reliable. I just happen to be a pro gamer, and I already act as team captain in our squad, so I guess it just felt natural for them to pick me.”
“Got it.”
“But what’s the next quest, I wonder? Do you think it’ll be the same as during alpha?”
I quickly changed the subject. But even Kessler didn’t know for sure. The difficulty and balance of each quest were predetermined, but which quest actually played out was decided by a high-intelligence AI—its algorithm tailored specifically to each squad.
“Maybe something team-related?”
“Probably.”
Kessler continued decorating our honeymoon suite, where we’d now be living together. The place was filled with photos of baby foxes, and then he picked up a camera.
“Look over here, Mr. Baby Fox.”
“Hey, take the photo when I’m dressed, would you?”
Click. Click. Click.
He then placed the newest photo at the center.
“You’ve got such a good eye for aesthetics. If you posted this on Today’s Home, it’d rake in a ton of likes.”
That was another part of Kessler’s charm. He looked like someone who couldn’t care less about decorating, yet he quietly paid attention to layout and detail.
He was like that back when he was a Castle Lord too. Even when placing the fox pool in his room, he’d arranged the space perfectly—neat, stylish, clean separation.
“How about a guy who’s good at both work and domestic stuff?”
“That’s hot.”
“Hehe.”
There was only one right answer, and all I had to do was say it. I gave him a quick thumbs-up, and his tail, which had paused earlier, started wagging again in that soft, happy sway.
***
It was a bright, blazing afternoon. On the way back from afternoon practice, I checked my backlog of KakaoTalk messages.
Jung Da-hoon
Ohh, I’m just about to hit my job change!
Jang Bori
I finished my job change too heh
Haru
What’s your class?
Haru
Ugh––feeling seriously left out here
You five having fun?
Haru
Zzzzap zzzzap
Kim Teolbo
Yeah yeah, Noona, stop raging and just log in already…
After scrolling through the group chat made up of beta server veterans, I made up my mind.
“Today, I’m seriously gonna focus and raise my stats.”
Jung Da-hoon was someone who only worked three days a week. Kebab and Bori Noona were unemployed, living on benefits. Kessler and I, on the other hand, had packed schedules as full-time workers.
Especially for me, the daily commute between Seoul and Ilsan was brutal. Even though I tried to sidestep rush hour, just getting to and from work took at least two hours on the road every day—leaving barely any time for gaming.
“Should I just move to Seoul?”
The thought seriously crossed my mind. In a game where grinding is your capital and source of power, not having enough time was a fatal flaw.
And lately, since my address had been leaked in bits and pieces, fans had started showing up and taking proof shots in front of my house. That was becoming another headache.
Maybe I should ask Kessler to release a portable gaming device while he’s at it.
“I’m home.”
I shuffled in like a dad getting back from work, kicking my shoes off haphazardly by the entrance. Kessler came trotting over like an excited pup.
“You’re back?”
He opened his arms slightly, and I couldn’t pretend not to notice, so I walked over and hugged him. Immediately, he leaned in and sniffed at my face.
“Do I smell good?”
“Yeah.”
“I figured. I sprayed some cologne before I came in.”
Ever since I started living with this guy, a bunch of small habits had changed. I showered more often than I used to, and I started wearing cologne regularly too. It became second nature—he always tried to get a whiff of me whenever he had the chance.
“Ah, the bathroom…”
I started taking off my shirt, planning to shower while I was at it. Kessler followed me in. So I grabbed the showerhead I had turned on to adjust the temperature, swung it toward him, and sprayed him with water.
“Hehe.”
“Why are you the one laughing when I’m the one who splashed you?”
“I just can’t help it.”
Still smiling, he took the showerhead, checked the temperature, and adjusted it. He already knew what water temp I liked best.
“I’ll wash you.”
