LS 3

There are all kinds of people in the world. And Baek Dohee was, more often than not, the kind of person who stood in the center of it all, soaking up the spotlight. Dohee himself knew that very well. From early childhood through his military service and into adulthood, he had always been used to people watching him, to being in the middle of things. He didn’t know exactly what it was about him that drew people in, but at some point, he stopped trying to figure it out. Overthinking just gave him a headache.

Either way, Baek Dohee lived the life of a hot potato, loved by many, envied by many, hated by many, and always under scrutiny. Even for someone like him, this was a pretty novel experience.

Seriously, how could someone copy his nickname this badly?

When Sword of God first launched in open beta, the number of available classes was far smaller than it is now. Sure, multiple large updates since then have added new classes, but back then, there weren’t even seven to choose from. Among them, the Support class had a small but dedicated following. Even in the beta, and even now, the number of Support users was among the lowest. The class was difficult to play, required a lot of love to raise, and in return offered little recognition or performance.

GoingSupport.

That was the nickname Dohee had chosen back during the open beta, when he first picked the Support class. After a long and winding road, that name eventually made it into the top ranks on the game’s official website. Back in his days as a dedicated Sword of God streamer, Dohee had gained so much popularity that most users automatically associated the word “Support” with “GoingSupport.” And vice versa.

Lowest player count. Other classes had dozens of max-level users, but for Supporter, fewer than ten people had ever hit the cap. And among them, the very first to do it, and to stream it all, was GoingSupport. It was only natural he drew attention. Before he knew it, he had become the face of the Support class (not that he ever agreed to that), constantly dragged into drama and gossip.

Dohee had always met just as many people who liked him as those who hated him. Even when he streamed as GoingSupport, there were tons of people who copied his skill trees, his builds, his avatar color schemes, even his hotkeys. But this? This was the first time he’d seen someone copy his name this badly.

GOingSupport187? Not even “GOING,” not “Going,” not “GoingSupport,” but “GOingSupport187”? And what was with the “187” at the end? It reeked of cringe. And weirdly, it got under his skin.

Dohee, still in stealth mode, sent the guy a party invite. If they were in the same party, they could share rabbit kills, and Dohee could also buff him with support skills.

[System] AssGo has sent a party invitation to GOingSupport187.

[System] GOingSupport187 has declined the party invitation.

…?

It had been a long time since someone refused one of his party invites. Dohee pulled himself together and sent a private message. He had invited the guy out of nowhere, so maybe he rejected it just because he didn’t recognize him.

[Whisper to GOingSupport187]: Hey, accept the invite.

[Whisper to GOingSupport187]: I’m just trying to help.

[General] GOingSupport187: Who are you… 8ㅅ8

This dumbass newbie…

Dohee instinctively slapped his forehead. What the hell is this kid doing? If someone whispers to you, you reply in whisper. Why the hell was he typing in general chat?

[Whisper to GOingSupport187]: ??? Why are you responding in general chat lol, this is driving me nuts

[General] ZoomZoomZoom: ? What’s this guy even saying? LOL Who am I? I’m ZoomZoomZoom~ Don’t you have eyes~? lolol

[General] suablingg: lol this is gold

I’m gonna lose it.

[Whisper to GOingSupport187]: Just accept the party invite, come on

[System] AssGo has sent a party invitation to GOingSupport187.

[System] GOingSupport187 has declined the party invitation.

[Whisper to GOingSupport187]: ?? I said I’m trying to help you

[Whisper to GOingSupport187]: That guy’s gonna tail you all day and ruin your questing

[Whisper to GOingSupport187]: Why are you refusing?

[General] GOingSupport187: You don’t need to go out of your way for me… 8ㅅ8 I’ll be fine

He wasn’t lying, Dohee’s vision actually spun for a second. He felt lightheaded.

[Whisper to GOingSupport187]: Do you seriously not know how to whisper?

[General] GOingSupport187: How do you do that…?

[General] ZoomZoomZoom: lol ??? What’s he on about? Who are you even talking to???

And in the middle of all this chaos, the idiot newbie just stood there, getting all his rabbits stolen by ZoomZoomZoom. Dohee clutched at his chest. It felt like swallowing ten sweet potatoes whole.

Finally, Dohee disabled his stealth, walked up to GOingSupport187, and used his fastest movement skill to sweep up all the nearby rabbits before ZoomZoomZoom could touch them.

[General] ZoomZoomZoom: ? Who are you

[General] AssGo: Who the hell are you? Why’re you picking on a peaceful newbie?

[General] ZoomZoomZoom: What’s it to you lol?? Just go on your way

[General] ZoomZoomZoom: Honestly, it’s better to crush Supporter dreams early. You agree, right?

[General] ZoomZoomZoom: Better off dropping Support and rerolling DPS lol

Hey, buddy. That’s real offensive to Support mains. Dohee furiously hammered the keyboard.

He was already in a foul mood. This just made it worse.

[General] AssGo: That’s his decision to make

[General] AssGo: You really aren’t embarrassed? You’re barely leveled and already picking on newbies?

[General] ZoomZoomZoom: Again, what’s it to you lol

[General] GOingSupport187: Please don’t fight because of me… 8ㅅ8

[General] ZoomZoomZoom: Shut up. Who even are you?

[General] AssGo: I’m his friend.

[General] GOingSupport187: …No you’re not… ㅠㅡㅠ

No sense of timing at all. Dohee thumped his chest again. A glass of cold water sounded like the only cure for this.

[General] ZoomZoomZoom: See? Not even friends lol

[General] AssGo: Friend or not, you need to move on

[General] AssGo: Don’t you have better things to do?

[General] ZoomZoomZoom: I can do what I want here

Exactly. So go do it somewhere else and leave this little Support bud to grow in peace.

Dohee was about to unleash a full keyboard barrage, but someone cut in.

[General] suablingg: Whoa

[General] suablingg: This is my first time seeing AssGo in person

[General] suablingg: Can I ask something? I’m a Dark Assassin too, can you show me a skill combo??

[General] suablingg: Dang, why’s a celeb like you on a map like this

[General] suablingg: Are you two actually friends? Thought he was a noob, didn’t know he had a max-level buddy…

[General] suablingg: Your hair dye is gorgeous btwㅠㅠ can you share the color code?

[General] GOingSupport187: We’re not friends… ㅠㅡㅠ

[General] ZoomZoomZoom: ? What the hell is happening? Who even are you??

[General] suablingg: He’s a top-ranked Dark Assassin on our server;;; probably top 5 across all servers

[General] suablingg: Whoa this feels like seeing a celebrity lol

[General] GOingSupport187: Please don’t fight… 8ㅅ8 I just wanna finish my quest…

Pure chaos. Feeling his temple throb, Dohee sent ZoomZoomZoom a whisper. If he didn’t vent this somewhere, he was going to snap.

[Whisper to ZoomZoomZoom]: If I see you on a PVP map, I’m gonna beat the shit out of you.

[Whisper from ZoomZoomZoom]: ?

[Whisper to ZoomZoomZoom]: Stop harassing newbies and get lost. This is your warning.

[Whisper to ZoomZoomZoom]: Just because you’re high-level doesn’t mean you’re untouchable.

[Whisper to ZoomZoomZoom]: You’re a Hunter, right? Don’t go acting tough when you’re PVP trash.

[Whisper to ZoomZoomZoom]: Watch your back out there.

[Whisper from ZoomZoomZoom]: ??

[Whisper to ZoomZoomZoom]: I said piss off.

[General] ZoomZoomZoom: If you’re actually friends, tell him to drop Support and roll Dark Assassin lol

[General] ZoomZoomZoom: That’s what real friends do lmao

[General] ZoomZoomZoom: Trying to intimidate people just ‘cause you’re maxed. How’re we supposed to enjoy the game lol

[General] ZoomZoomZoom: Yo newbie, reroll Assassin while you still can. Don’t say I didn’t warn you

Before Dohee could even respond, the guy tore a teleport scroll and vanished from sight. What the hell was that? The guy who had been stealing rabbits from a newbie was now crying about being intimidated?

/locate ZoomZoomZoom

[System] Unable to locate player ‘ZoomZoomZoom’.

Looks like he either hopped to another kingdom or logged out. Dohee snorted. If that’s not “bully the weak, run from the strong,” what is? No pride at all.

[General] suablingg: Ugh he left; I wanted to step in but the level gap was too big

[General] suablingg: Don’t worry about it, Support-san

[General] suablingg: This game’s full of weirdos lol

[General] suablingg: Dude ran the moment AssGo showed up lol

[General] GOingSupport187: I need to finish my quest now…

[General] suablingg: Got it, want help?

[General] GOingSupporter187: It’s okay… 8ㅅ8

Watching the newbie determinedly swing his dagger at rabbits, Dohee pulled his hand off the mouse. It wasn’t like he expected a thank you or anything. But something about that back, like he didn’t even exist, left him with a weird pit in his stomach.

And suablingg wouldn’t stop talking.

Dohee showed them a quick skill rotation to shut them up, then looked around, the newbie had already chased rabbits all the way to the edge of the map.

[General] AssGo: Ask your questions later.

[General] suablingg: Really?? Can I DM you anytime??

[General] AssGo: Yeah.

[General] suablingg: Thank you so much!!

Yeah, you’re getting blocked.

Adding one more name to his blocklist, Dohee brushed suablingg off and moved toward the newbie, who was now busily rabbit-hunting again.

[Whisper to GOingSupport187]: Hey.

[General] GOingSupport187: Yes?

[Whisper to GOingSupport187]: …Type /whisper AssGo to send a private message

[General] GOingSupporter187: …like this? /whisper AssGo?

I’m gonna lose my mind.

Dohee clutched his forehead again. The dizziness was real.