“Do you happen to have any full-option monthly rentals?”
I lowered my voice as much as possible and asked.
[…Where are you?]
“I-I’m just a customer.”
Did he recognize me? But judging by the way he responded, it didn’t quite seem like Yot Seller. Normally, he was the type to respond brightly and energetically, yet his speech felt oddly slow. Maybe because I had deliberately lowered my voice, his sounded low too, making it hard to tell if it was really him. While I debated whether I should just hang up, he asked again.
[That’s not what I meant—what area are you talking about?]
“Jamun-dong.”
[Ahh, I see. Then you can come by tomorrow, right? You lowered your voice so much I couldn’t tell who it was. You’re the one who came by earlier today, aren’t you?]
The way his voice suddenly opened up—clear and familiar—made it obvious. It was him. CandyBoy was Yot Seller, and the Yot Seller was that bastard. That guy from Golden Real Estate!
Even after learning his real name, “Yot Seller” rolled off my tongue more naturally than Park Junpyo. Maybe because “Yot” just stuck better. As he kept talking, I cut him off by saying I’d visit tomorrow and hung up. Then I handed the phone back to Roban and muttered under my breath,
“Block the number. It’s him.”
“But how did you know, Gentle?”
“Well, one thing led to another. What time is it? Ah, I’ve gotta go. You should head in too.”
I gave a rushed half-hearted wave and went into the apartment building. Seeing the time, I didn’t even have enough to sit down for a triangle kimbap, so I tore open the wrapper in front of the elevator and took a bite. By the time I finished one, I stepped into the elevator. I unwrapped a second one and bit into it as I got off on the fourth floor. While punching in the door lock code, I thumped my chest twice because the food was sticking in my throat.
As soon as I got inside, I drank water first and then started stripping off my clothes. Just from running into Roban and talking, over thirty minutes had already passed. My phone began ringing. I didn’t even need to check who it was.
“I’m going. I’m logging in, you bastard.”
I changed into something comfortable and sat on the sofa. A missed call notification had already piled up. Letting out a sigh, I put on the access device helmet.
<<Welcome to Blood Planet.>>
<<Moving to your last logout location.>>
When the screen shifted, I found myself in the guild hideout. I sent a whisper to ShutUp.
[GentleTouch: Did the poison wear off?]
[ShutUp: ㅓ]
Jun had deliberately replied with just “ㅓ.” Just like I had earlier. For now, I shoved aside the embarrassment and moved to his location.
<<Moving to ‘Fowler Free Amoeba Swamp.’>>
The moment I arrived and stood still, it felt like the ground was collapsing beneath me. Looking down, I saw thin, watery mud. But it didn’t feel like simple mud—it felt endless, as if my feet would sink without limit. When I pulled one foot free, the other sank even deeper.
It’s a swamp.
Only then did I realize what this sticky terrain was. No matter how much he might hate me, what was I supposed to do if he teleported me into a place like this without warning? I struggled irritably. What would it feel like to drown in a swamp? Once I’d sunk up to my thighs, I gave up trying to get out.
As I stood there helplessly, two arms wrapped around my chest. Someone hugged me from behind and pulled me out of the swamp.
“What are you doing? Idiot. Tsk.”
ShutUp, somehow, wasn’t sinking into the swamp at all. I was the only one who looked like I’d just finished a mudflat experience, filthy from head to toe.
“I’m sinking like crazy—what do you expect me to do?”
“What shoes are you wearing? Even level 40 ones give swamp resistance.”
“…Level 10.”
“If you’re getting power-leveled, don’t you think you’re overdoing the beggar look?”
What? A beggar? Well… I did look pretty miserable right now. Since I couldn’t argue, I just let it slide without getting angry.
Fine. I’d just stew over this in-game irritation and vent it in real life. Next time he came to the office, I’d make him mop the floors and send him out on errands far away. I entertained the thought of petty revenge for a moment.
ShutUp carefully stepped only on solid patches of ground, and I slowly followed, placing my feet exactly where his footprints were. Just as I was about to step into the next one, he stopped abruptly.
“Wait here.”
At his words, I paused and looked around. At the top of my screen, I noticed a whisper from Moment.
[Moment: Where are you going?]
[GentleTouch: The swamp. Amoeba?]
[Moment: k]
The swamp looked like a pot of boiling red bean porridge. The surface bubbled, forming blisters that popped with soft bursts. It wasn’t a fresh green like vegetation, but a murky green, as if it had swallowed and regurgitated every other color. It felt like standing over a witch’s boiling cauldron.
“What spawns here?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why did we come here?”
“Because no one else does.”
After a moment, ShutUp grabbed me and dragged me behind a crooked, twisted tree stump. After waiting there for a while, four players appeared where I had been standing earlier. I had almost no connections in this game, but I recognized all four of them.
Human, Enlistment, Yot Seller. And Goddess.
Startled, I glanced at ShutUp. No way—did he find out I got scammed on the Relax skill? Was that it? My eyes widened as I looked back and forth between them and ShutUp, until he grabbed my chin and forced me to face forward.
“Don’t come out until I tell you to. Got it?”
“Okay.”
I answered like that, but how could I miss an opportunity like this? From the looks of it, ShutUp had simply lured Yot Seller here because he didn’t like him.
How on earth had Goddess gotten roped into this? The four of them were chatting amicably. I couldn’t hear them from this distance, but I could faintly see Human pointing somewhere in the swamp, seemingly suggesting they take down some boss.
“I heard you’re really beautiful.”
“Oh my, thank you.”
Enlistment was praising Goddess with exaggerated gestures. Meanwhile, Yot Seller was watching the two of them with clear displeasure. Then Goddess generously cast the Relax skill. My stomach twisted.
That was when it happened.
I saw ShutUp walking toward them. Without warning, he struck Yot Seller from behind. Yot Seller collapsed helplessly into the swamp and was immediately hit with a binding skill that prevented him from getting up. Chains made of electricity pierced the ground, pinning him down.
“Urgh, ugh!”
Seeing him flailing face-down was almost pitiful. Goddess stepped back, and Human approached her, seemingly to reassure her. But she waved her hand as if she intended to leave instead.
This chance might never come again!
I quickly wrapped myself in a shield to prevent sinking and rushed out. Just as Goddess raised her hand—likely to teleport despite Human’s persuasion—I swiftly initiated a trade request.
As she opened her inventory, she suddenly looked at me, incredulous. When you’re in a trade request, you can’t teleport elsewhere. That old bug still worked.
“What are you now? How annoying.”
“Goddess! Wait, I need to talk to you.”
“Huh? Gentle hyung.”
At Human calling me, ShutUp abandoned Yot Seller for the moment and turned to us. I still hadn’t canceled the trade and asked Goddess,
“The Relax skill—Yot Seller bought it for you, right?”
“Why do you care about that?”
Contrary to her gentle, pure image, her words were lined with thorns. ShutUp approached, saying, “What’s going on?” Goddess sent him an innocent look.
“I told you to stay put, didn’t I?”
“Just a second. I need to ask her something.”
I asked her again if the guy lying over there had bought her the skill. The first time, she’d completely ignored me, but now that I stood beside ShutUp, she avoided the question instead.
Instead, ShutUp repeated my question.
“Why are you curious whether that bastard bought her the Relax skill?”
“That’s because…”
Facing Goddess, she finally seemed to realize that I was the one she had traded with back then. A flicker of panic crossed her face before she brazenly denied it.
“It has nothing to do with me. So cancel the trade.”
She sneered that she’d post about this threat on Byeolgram later and that she’d already screenshotted my character name. ShutUp looked at her and immediately voice-muted her to her face. Then he turned back to me, looking down.
“I asked why you’re curious.”
“…I got scammed.”
“For what?”
“Re… Relax.”
“To whom did you hand it over?”
In response to ShutUp’s question, I pointed at Goddess. She laughed as if it were ridiculous, saying she’d simply received it as a gift and didn’t know anything—so stop accusing innocent people. Standing between us, ShutUp looked baffled, while I questioned her again.
“So who gave you that gift? Just tell me that. Was it him? Yot Seller?”
Electricity flickered in ShutUp’s eyes as he turned to Goddess. He looked ready to summon his Thunder Spear and stab her. His gaze clearly said: If you don’t want to end up face-down like him, talk.
Under that pressure, Goddess finally answered obediently.
“…Fine. Yes.”
“N-no, y—!”
At that moment, Yot Seller barely lifted his head and forced the words out. Half his face was still submerged in the swamp, so his pronunciation was garbled, but it was understandable enough.
“Go-Goddess, th-that was her plan, glk!”
Yot Seller confessed desperately, and Goddess immediately clung to kind-looking Human, claiming that bastard was just trying to deny it and that she was being wronged.
But Human simply smiled and gently removed her hand from his arm.
“I don’t like hitting women. Even if it’s just a character.”
Behind her, Enlistment was emitting electricity. The same kind of chain that bound Yot Seller was coiled around Enlistment’s hand. Instead of the voice-muted ShutUp, Enlistment dealt with Goddess.
“Since you’re already in a trade, hand everything over to Mr. Gentle. Your clothes and items. Equal to the value of Relax. Now.”
“H-How does that make sense? I told you, I just received it as a gift! If you’re going to strip someone, strip that bastard!”
“We’ll strip him separately. You’ll just pay back exactly that amount and go.”
Surrounded by Human, Enlistment, and ShutUp, Goddess’s earlier arrogance crumbled, and she began to sniffle.
“…Fine. Hic.”
Still sniffling, she said she’d give it back but asked me to cancel the trade for a moment so she could organize her inventory.
At that, I pressed the cancel button. Honestly, I hadn’t planned to recover the full value of Relax. Even half would’ve been enough. Especially that winged outfit—I didn’t want to take it from her. It suited her well.
As she raised her hands and began unequipping her items, I felt a bit sorry for her. But ShutUp watched her coldly with his arms crossed. Enlistment still had electric chains wrapped tightly around his hand, and the chain touching the ground intermittently crackled—zzzt—.
When she seemed nearly done, she turned toward me. Since she was facing me, the others couldn’t see her front. She raised her hand as if to initiate a trade. But it wasn’t that. Her hand quickly dropped to the area she touched to activate skills.
Huh?
Before I could react, a flash of light burst before my eyes.
It was the [Light Sunset] skill. When mastered, anyone who sees the sudden light is blinded for ten seconds. We had all been fooled by her pitiful act. In that time, she could easily use a Return Scroll and escape.
The instant the white flash exploded before me, my first thought was—we’ve lost her. The screen remained frozen in blinding white. Then, slowly, the dim swamp crept back into view.
As expected, Goddess—who should have been standing before me—was gone.
