LS 15

[Whisper] GOingSupporter187: Um… I didn’t even swear… ㅠㅡㅠ Why did I get filtered…?

[Whisper] To GOingSupporter187: LOL “si1bang”¹a way of writing the Korean swear word “시발” (shibal) using partial romanization and a number to avoid automatic censorship. gets flagged as a swear word

[Whisper] GOingSupporter187: Ah… ㅠ

[Whisper] To GOingSupporter187: LOL seriously, that’s hilarious

[Whisper] To GOingSupporter187: When did you log in?

[Whisper] GOingSupporter187: About an hour ago! But customers kept coming, so I didn’t get to do much…

[Whisper] GOingSupporter187: Still, I made my way there! Um… to Ladenska Mine? That’s where I am!

[Whisper] GOingSupporter187: I didn’t accept the weekly quest yet, was waiting to do it with you, AssaGo-nim

[Whisper] GOingSupporter187: I’ve just been quietly mining ores on my own!

Aww, how precious. He’s the bus rider, but he waited for the bus driver. How is this kid so damn endearing? Dohee almost wanted to leave him there in the mine swinging a pickaxe for the next two hours out of sheer affection.

[Whisper] To GOingSupporter187: LOL good job, wait there

Leaving that message behind, Dohee searched for Knockoff’s location.

/locate GOingSupporter187

[System] GOingSupporter187’s location is “Ladenska Mine 3.”

Great, of all places. Teleport scrolls with numbered zones always send you to zone 1. For example, using a scroll to “Ladenska Outskirts” would always drop you in Outskirts 1. To reach zones 2 or 3, you’d need to use portals.

Dohee considered teleporting to Landenska Mine 1 and walking through the portal, but then remembered, oh right, they were friends. He opened his storage and pulled out a stack of yellow teleport scrolls, the kind that let you teleport directly to a registered friend’s location. It’d been so long since he used them, he’d almost forgotten they existed.

He had AssaGo tear the shimmering yellow scroll.

A prompt window appeared. He typed in “GOingSupporter187,” and a glowing yellow portal sprang to life. Dohee clicked on it.

[System] Would you like to teleport to your friend “GOingSupporter187”?

He hit Y, and the field changed to Landenska Mine 3. As AssaGo suddenly appeared, Knockoff’s character leapt back in surprise, firing off several Support attack skills in panic. It wasn’t a PvP zone, so no damage was done, but it was still hilarious. While Dohee laughed, the newbie started typing in general chat instead of whisper.

[General] GOingSupporter187: Ah

[General] GOingSupporter187: That scared me… 8ㅅ8

[General] GOingSupporter187: When did you get here?

[General] AssaGo: LOL there’s a trick for that

[General] AssaGo: Been doing lots of pickaxing?

As he asked, Dohee opened Knockoff’s character info window out of habit. Lined up beside the life skill panel were all the beginner tools: a regular shovel, a regular pickaxe, a regular saw, and a regular hammer, just basic items sold by life skill NPCs. Somehow, it made him feel proud.

[System] AssaGo has sent a party invite to GOingSupporter187.

[System] GOingSupporter187 has accepted the party invite.

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Not much, just a bit… 8ㅅ8

[Party] AssaGo: LOL accept your life weekly quest now, we’re doing mining

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Okay, okay!

He follows instructions so well. While waiting for him to accept the weekly quest, Dohee casually typed another message.

[Party] AssaGo: Hey, when I showed up and you panicked and started using skills–

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Yes?

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Ah! Yeah ㅠㅡㅠ I was really startled… everything just flashed all of a sudden;;

[Party] GOingSupporter187: I thought maybe monsters spawned in the mine…

[Party] AssaGo: LOL well, don’t just mash random skills like that

[Party] AssaGo: Next time, press them in this order: Delete – End – Insert – Q

[Party] AssaGo: That’s the best combo when you need to spam skills fast

[Party] AssaGo: Start with Bayan’s Touch for a shield, then Enk’s Protection for self buff

[Party] AssaGo: Then Jiun’s Strike, it’s a lightning skill, so it’ll instantly shock

[Party] AssaGo: After that, use Lumithien’s Flame to finish the kill

[Party] AssaGo: And if that still doesn’t take them out, remember the Rage of Jiun skill I told you to level at 25? That’s your second-strongest, right after Flame. Use that to finish them.

While Dohee excitedly rattled off his skill combo tips, Knockoff listened quietly, and when he finished, the newbie began casting the skills in the exact order he’d described.

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Like this!?

[Party] AssaGo: Yeah, nice. Just in case you ever do PvP, that same combo works

[Party] GOingSupporter187: PvP?

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Oh, you mean PVP!?

[Party] AssaGo: Yeah, lightning debuffs still work on players too

[Party] AssaGo: Jiun’s Strike is honestly one of the best Supporter skills

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Whoa… this is so different from when I was supporting your hunting the other day… 8ㅅ8 it’s hard

[Party] AssaGo: LOL that’s what makes Supports fun. It’s complicated, yeah, but that’s the appeal

[Party] GOingSupporter187: It’s really interesting! Hang on, I want to write this down!

Watching Knockoff’s character freeze completely still, like he was off scribbling notes somewhere, made Dohee burst into real laughter. What is this kid doing, taking notes? Is he studying this game like it’s a textbook?
It was silly and ridiculous, but not in a bad way. It was honestly pretty charming. As Dohee mined a few ores, the next message popped up.

[Party] GOingSupporter187: I wrote it all down!

[Party] GOingSupporter187: But um… AssaGo-nim

[Party] AssaGo: ??

[Party] GOingSupporter187: How do you know so much about Supports? Your class is Dark Assassin, right?

[Party] GOingSupporter187: You know way more than me about the skills and combos

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Last time you explained everything too, what kind of character a Support is and all that…

[Party] GOingSupporter187: It felt like listening to an online lecture! I understood it so well

[Party] GOingSupporter187: It’s amazing… do you just end up learning all the other classes when you hit max level?

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Will I get better too once I hit max level…? 8ㅅ8 It still feels really hard right now… ㅠㅡㅠ

[Party] GOingSupporter187: I wonder if GoSupp-nim is good at other classes too… I’m curious…

Dohee instinctively swallowed. A chill ran down his spine. This–this was the problem, Baek Dohee.

Every time the topic turned to Supports, he got carried away. It was a habit. Maybe it came from his days streaming. Either way, no matter how much he complained about NGA or the game’s devs, the truth was he genuinely loved Supports. So when the subject came up, he lost control. He always ended up saying too much.

As Knockoff’s chat messages came flooding in, Dohee’s brain rapidly scanned for excuses.

Should he say he had a Support alt? As long as he didn’t say GoingSupporter, it’d be fine, right? Or would that be weird? What if the newbie asked to see it? The kid was clearly obsessed.
Maybe just say he’s played long enough to know other classes? Or maybe say he looked into Supports because they seemed fun? Say he’s a fan of GoingSupporter too? Pretend he got curious and studied their build?

…Or should he just confess that he was GoingSupporter all along? No. That’d be way too awkward for both of them.

Thoughts whipped through his head like a storm until he finally settled on the safest option.

[Party] AssaGo: LOL I was wondering whether to say anything

[Party] AssaGo: I’ve got a close friend who mains a Support

[Party] AssaGo: So I just ended up learning a lot from them

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Gasp

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Whoa!

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Seriously!?

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Your friend’s a max-level Support?

[Party] AssaGo: Yup

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Wow… that’s so cool…

[Party] GOingSupporter187: That’s amazing… so they can use the awakening skill and everything?

[Party] AssaGo: Yup, they’re max level

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Whoaaa… 8ㅅ8

Of course, that “friend” was GoingSupporter, and GoingSupporter was him. But… that didn’t really matter.

Why was this kid so amazed by something like a max level? Dohee raised a brow. Before he could even think it through, his fingers were already typing.

[Party] AssaGo: Is hitting max level really that cool and envy-worthy to you?

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  a way of writing the Korean swear word “시발” (shibal) using partial romanization and a number to avoid automatic censorship.