“ShutUp! Watch out!”
ShutUp, who had been quietly holding my hands, rolled sideways and narrowly avoided the water prison. All at once, everyone shot resentful glares at SunlightAngel.
“Hey! You idiot!”
“Who brought that guy?!”
“Haah. This is why newbies…”
Each of them had something to say. As if offering an excuse, SunlightAngel started babbling about why he had saved ShutUp.
“I owe him my life.”
“Then what about me!?”
Didn’t I do things for you too? The staff you’re holding and that robe—you got those from me. But he was only blushing at ShutUp.
Don’t tell me…
“Is that the Psychic who saved you in the beginner zone?”
“Yes.”
And then I saw him wave at ShutUp. ShutUp gave a faint smirk, like he’d never encountered someone like this before.
That’s right. Because of a newbie we’d just met, we’d missed our chance to take ShutUp down—and now we were all about to die. I tried suggesting we link again, but ShutUp just scoffed.
“What, so you can betray me again?”
Now ShutUp was looking down at us from midair with an expression that said there would be no mercy. Above his head, he was summoning an electric sphere so massive it seemed to fill the entire space.
For some reason, a random thought crossed my mind… Maybe the Earth is about that size.
When you face something unreal, your brain comes up with ridiculous thoughts. Like—so this is how I become electric fried chicken. Electric fried chicken goes great with beer.
ShutUp swung his arm wide toward us. A blinding white light swallowed my vision—and when I opened my eyes, we had all been thrown out of the dungeon.
<<You have died. Your level has decreased by ‘1’.>>
<<‘Heart Staff’ has been lost.>>
As expected, ShutUp showed no mercy. I hadn’t really liked the Heart Staff much anyway, so whatever—but losing a level hurt like hell.
Looking around, Human and Moment still had their weapons. Human had dropped his belt, and Moment said he’d lost his gloves. And SunlightAngel, who had almost nothing to lose as a newbie, seemed to have lost his robe—standing there in nothing but pants. Honestly, I wanted to snatch that wooden staff out of his hands and snap it in half. Under the glare from the three of us, SunlightAngel bowed his head deeply.
“I’m sorry…”
“You think saying sorry fixes this?”
It was the first time I’d seen Human angry. Moment ignored the apology altogether and walked straight toward me.
“Link with me.”
Looking at his pitiful expression, I remembered what ShutUp had warned me before—that I should never link with anyone else.
Who the hell is he to tell me what to do?
“Fine. Let’s hold hands.”
I reached out to grab his hand, but suddenly I felt my collar seized, and my body jerked backward.
“Where do you think you’re grabbing?”
As soon as ShutUp appeared near us, SunlightAngel’s gloomy expression brightened, and he moved to stand beside him. ShutUp gave him a short thank-you and even praised him. SunlightAngel’s face turned red again.
ShutUp opened a portal and tried to shove me into it.
Shrring—
Moment’s Fire Ring sliced past ShutUp’s neck. It was close enough to nearly take his head clean off.
“I was first.”
“He’s my partner.”
“That last one ended in a draw. Want a rematch here?”
“Says the guy who just died to me.”
People were starting to gather, sensing a second round about to break out. This was seriously humiliating. I didn’t want to deal with this kind of scene anymore, so I hurriedly wedged myself between them.
“Stop! Don’t fight.”
Why were they fighting over me anyway? In real life, I wasn’t popular at all—but in this game, my CH stat was ridiculously high, so I kept attracting this kind of pointless attention. Today, ShutUp was especially irritating—both in-game and in real life.
“ShutUp… would it be okay if I link with you?”
SunlightAngel timidly raised his hand and spoke. ShutUp looked him up and down—the half-naked SunlightAngel standing beside him.
“No thanks.”
After saying that, he turned back to me. Clutching at straws, I threw out a proposal.
“ShutUp. If you match with SunlightAngel and it doesn’t go over 80 percent, I’ll link with you willingly.”
Moment leaned over and whispered that I should lower it to 70 percent. But ShutUp ignored him and looked at me as if spitting the words out.
“If it doesn’t go over 80 percent, you’ll follow me without complaining?”
“…Yeah.”
“Don’t go back on your word.”
I just wanted to buy time—or shift some of the attention off me and onto SunlightAngel. I wanted to prove that it wasn’t just me who wanted to be ShutUp’s partner—that there were other male characters too.
SunlightAngel stepped forward, eyes shining with anticipation. ShutUp faced him but didn’t meet his gaze—he only interlocked fingers with him.
<<…3. 2. 1.>>
With everyone watching, a message appeared between them.
<<Matching Result.>>
The moment it popped up, ShutUp released his hand.
Some people snickered and pointed at them. Someone kinder handed SunlightAngel a spare robe. Now properly dressed, SunlightAngel stared at the percentage displayed in the center of the screen. ShutUp, meanwhile, looked indifferent, as if he expected nothing.
<<…70… 72… 74…>>
But the result was completely unexpected.
Once it soared past 70 percent, ShutUp’s expression twisted. Moment’s face brightened, and SunlightAngel gaped in ecstasy.
<<Matching Result: 87%>>
“Whoa! No way! Congratulations!”
I grabbed both of SunlightAngel’s hands and expressed exaggerated shock at the result.
People around us began murmuring. Some complained that only ShutUp ever got high matching results—calling it user discrimination. Others openly compared me and SunlightAngel, saying that with 87 percent, ShutUp might as well switch Guides.
The only one uncomfortable with this result was ShutUp. Instead of looking threatened as a partner, I felt oddly relieved—and that seemed to irritate him even more. His face crumpled like something was boiling inside him.
Unable to endure the whispers, ShutUp quickly formed a party with SunlightAngel, grabbed me by the back of the neck, and took a portal. Moment shouted that I’d promised to link with him and demanded to know where I thought I was going—but for now, following ShutUp was the only way to quiet the crowd. Otherwise, the forums would explode with rumors about some gay love triangle drama, and we’d go viral again.
<<Moving to ‘Lake Leviathan’.>>
We arrived at a pavilion located in the middle of a lake. When had he even set this as a Warp point…? I’d thought it was just an ordinary lake—but beneath the clear water, I could see a long shadow.
“If you go too close to the water, it’ll eat you.”
It didn’t sound like a joke. The long shadow was faint, like a cloud reflected on the surface—but I could see it gliding against the current, bubbles rising around it.
The moment I saw that, I stood squarely in the center of the pavilion.
“If you two are going to link, then why drag me here?”
“You… What if I link with him and then dump you?”
After telling me to stay in the center, ShutUp casually perched himself on the railing bench. It was the perfect spot for something in the lake to pop up and bite him.
“Well… that’s up to you, isn’t it? If you want to change partners, then change.”
ShutUp maintained a cold, mocking smile as he stared at me. His expression clearly said, You’re rejecting me?
And underneath that was the unspoken: After I even bought you Relax with real money? You think you can reject me?
The tension between us turned sour, and SunlightAngel hurried over to plead with him.
“I’ll just go back. Please don’t fight. I’m satisfied just knowing our matching rate was this high.”
ShutUp had been glaring at me like he wanted to devour me—but when he looked at SunlightAngel clinging to his arm, his gaze softened.
I was about to say, No, I’ll go instead—but ShutUp was faster.
“Yeah. That wouldn’t be bad.”
“Right, ShutUp. You should be with someone who likes you. Linking with a guy… honestly, it’s kind of unpleasant for me.”
“Unpleasant to link with me?”
“Well, yeah.”
In three quick strides, ShutUp closed the distance. He stood so close his shadow fell across my face.
“So… I’m unpleasant?”
When couples break up, they say cruel things to leave no lingering attachment. Right now felt exactly like that kind of moment. Since there was already a Guide ready to take my place, I decided to push harder.
“Yeah. You are. It’s super uncomfortable. Creepy, even. My mood tanks. After linking with you, I have bad dreams. I even get indigestion the next day at lunch.”
ShutUp’s expression twisted even further. Maybe I’d gone too far.
“For someone who finds it unpleasant, you sure moaned a lot. You were grinding your hips and going ‘ah, ah,’ weren’t you?”
“Th-that’s just the game setting… It’s not my will…”
His eyes shimmered with blue light, clearly furious. ShutUp dropped a Return Scroll at my feet.
“Fine. Get lost.”
It was what I’d wanted to hear all along. Yet strangely, it felt like I’d been dumped—both in-game and in real life. Maybe that’s why I felt the need to define things more clearly.
“Fine. Since we’re at it, dissolve the partner contract too.”
Half-turning away, ShutUp tilted his lips in a crooked smile.
“You won’t regret saying that?”
“Why would I?”
“Yeah? Fine then.”
<<‘ShutUp’ has dissolved the partner contract.>>
Wow. Fast bastard.
After confirming the dissolution, I picked up the Return Scroll to use it—but suddenly, I felt my collar grabbed again.
“That was a courtesy I gave you as my partner. Right now, you’re just some stranger. No reason to go easy.”
And with that, he hurled me straight out of the pavilion.
I couldn’t resist the force. Like a stone, I flew and plunged into the water.
“Ghk—! Hff—!”
Being underwater felt suffocating—but I could still breathe. In real life, I can’t even open my eyes in a pool, but in the game, I could.
Though it was a lake, it felt like a deep, quiet ocean. I began swimming upward slowly—when I saw a long dragon-like tail.
“…!”
As I’ve said countless times, this game reflects reality far too well. The thing turned its head toward me—it looked like an eel… but with an obscene number of teeth.
Shaaak—!
The moment it saw me, it churned the water and rushed at me in an instant. It moved like a snake swimming underwater.
I tried to swim away, but I could barely dodge like drifting debris. When I turned my head slightly, I saw its jaws gape wide—and as I squeezed my eyes shut in terror, I felt my entire body constrict violently. Blood bloomed into the water around me. Something like my lower half slowly sank beneath the lake.
Just like that, I was torn apart and killed by some unidentified lake creature.
Because ShutUp had thrown me in.
As my vision drifted toward the lakebed, I saw someone looking down at me.
ShutUp was watching me get ripped to pieces—with a satisfied smile on his face.
