LS 17

Thanks to Dohee’s golden pickaxe, or maybe because the newbie managed to mine a few more ores with that gloomy old wooden one, the mining quest wrapped up faster than expected.

[System] Party member GOingSupporter187 has reached Mining Skill Lv.3!

[Party] AssaGo: Yo, your mining level went up

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Whoa, thank you!

[Party] AssaGo: LMAO, it’s all thanks to me, you know that, right?

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Yes…! Totally! 8ㅅ8

Whatever the case, watching this tiny little newbie slowly level up one skill at a time was, honestly, pretty satisfying.
Dohee decided to wait until they were a bit higher level before recommending any avatars. Whether bought with cash or gold, all avatars came with a bonus to base HP, so by the time someone hit level 50, avatars weren’t just optional, they were basically mandatory.

When that time came, he’d definitely ditch this pathetic newbie look and transform them into something respectable. As soon as he hit the “complete” button for the weekly quest and claimed the reward, the newbie started tidying up their pickaxe. Dohee glanced at the clock. It had just hit 5:00 AM on the dot.

[Party] GOingSupporter187: AssaGo-nim!

[Party] GOingSupporter187: The premium carry was lightning-fast again today! ㅎㅁㅎ

…Do they even know what they’re saying right now? Dohee shook his head. Whatever. Not even worth it anymore. The time spent dragging this newbie around felt both short and long. But in that span, Dohee had come to one very clear realization, just one.
You have to let go of expectations. If you don’t, you’ll shred your own nerves to pieces.

[Party] AssaGo: LMAOOOO as long as you’re grateful, that’s enough

[Party] AssaGo: Done for the night?

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Yeah! I think the boss will be here soon, so I’m gonna clean up and head home… 8ㅅ8

[Party] GOingSupporter187: I was thinking of playing a bit more

[Party] GOingSupporter187: But I’m too tired todayㅠㅡㅠ… I’ve got prep for my other part-time job too…

[Party] AssaGo: ? You’ve got two jobs?

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Yep!

[Party] AssaGo: What’s the other one?

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Oh, it’s tutoring…!

[Party] AssaGo: Tutoring? Isn’t that for smart people? lol

[Party] AssaGo: Guess Knockoff is secretly a genius, huh

[Party] GOingSupporter187: I’m not a knockoff…! ㅠㅡㅠ

[Party] AssaGo: LOOOOOL okay okay

Watching the newbie get ready to log off, a question suddenly popped into Dohee’s head.

[Party] AssaGo: Oh yeah

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Yeah?

[Party] AssaGo: Why aren’t you in a guild? You don’t have one, right?

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Oh…! There’s a guild-joining guide quest, but… ㅠ

[Party] GOingSupporter187: When I checked the guild list, there were so many guilds… 8ㅅ8

[Party] GOingSupporter187: I didn’t know which to join… Do I really have to join one?

[Party] AssaGo: It’s not required, but it’s good for newbies

[Party] AssaGo: You get weekly guild points, and

[Party] AssaGo: You can buy stuff from the guild shop with those points

[Party] AssaGo: It’s kinda useless at high level, but

[Party] AssaGo: Up until around level 120, it’s super helpful, great for saving gold

[Party] AssaGo: Plus there’s other guild content too

[Party] AssaGo: So really, there’s no downside to joining

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Oh really…? 8ㅅ8 I’ll look into it… Thank you!

That “I’ll look into it” had never sounded more unreliable. What if they ended up joining some weird-ass guild and got dragged around or, worse, bullied by trashy players? They barely knew how to play and had zero social radar, what if they got burned and quit the game altogether?

Compared to jerks like ZoomZoomZoom from the other day, those would be the nice ones. In big games like this, the player base was massive, and the bigger the crowd, the higher the weirdo count. It’d be one thing if they quit because they weren’t having fun or didn’t like the support class, but if this bright-eyed little sapling of a character got trampled and withered by other people?

Dohee didn’t think long.

[Party] AssaGo: If you don’t have anywhere to go, wanna join our guild?

[Party] AssaGo: Technically it’s level 100+ only, but I already talked to the guildmaster

Well, he hadn’t actually talked to Yeohoo about it, but it wasn’t like anyone in Human was gonna throw a fit. Yeohoo, Yeojin, the rest of them, they weren’t the type to make a fuss over someone new joining.

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Huh… I can?

[Party] GOingSupporter187: I don’t really know how to do anything though… I don’t wanna be a burden…ㅠㅡㅠ

At least he knew he didn’t know anything. That was a good start.

[Party] AssaGo: It’s fine

[Party] AssaGo: Being nice to newbies is just standard practice

[Party] AssaGo: You just ran into a weirdo right off the bat

[Party] AssaGo: Normally people are chill, they’ll teach you all sorts of stuff

[Party] AssaGo: I was the same way when I was a newbie too

Of course, it was a lie. Baek Dohee had been a natural gamer from the very beginning. Still, maybe the lie had some effect, because the kid hesitated and asked:

[Party] GOingSupporter187: You weren’t good at games either, AssaGo!?

[Party] AssaGo: LOL yeah

[Party] GOingSupporter187: That’s wild… Ah, I really have to go now!

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Please add me to the guild next time I log in! Thank you (–)(__)(–) ¹emoticon supposed to represent a deep bow of gratitude or apology. But I don’t see it

Where did he even dig up those outdated emoticons…? Before Dohee could say anything, the newbie’s character vanished right before his eyes. He mined absentmindedly and calmly made a mental note to inform Yeohoo. It didn’t take long to decide.

After leaving a short message for Baek Yeohoo, Dohee swung his pickaxe again. The ringing clangs echoed crisply from his speakers.

💎

“So what, you’re just… announcing this unilaterally now?”

Yeohoo’s question pulled Dohee out of his thoughts.

“Basically.”

“You’re not planning to dump that newbie in the guild and then log off for good, right?”

“Who knows.”

“…What? You have zero conscience.”

“Even if I did quit, wouldn’t you or Yeojin or someone else help out and show him the ropes?”

“Did you launch your sense of responsibility into another galaxy or what? You seriously think that newbie can hold their own?”

“Well, they’re pretty good at following instructions.”

“Oh~ really?”

“They’re not totally brainless. And since we don’t have any supports in the guild, I figured we could raise this one right and bring them to raids. Might be worth it.”

“Everyone in the guild’s already overgeared though. We don’t exactly need a support.”

“Excuse me? You really wanna say that in front of someone whose main is literally a support?”

“My bad.”

The apology came faster than light. Without even a pause, Yeohoo apologized immediately. Not that it changed anything. Dohee quietly buried his annoyance, what was he supposed to do about the current SoG meta? Yeohoo continued, eyeing Dohee’s expression carefully.

“Well, since it’s your recommendation, and if you say they’re alright, I doubt anyone will object.”

“They might even like them.”

“Also true. There are tons of players, but it’s hard to find decent newbies. Everyone might just trip over themselves trying to help them, and end up bullying them all at once.”

Dohee instantly frowned at Yeohoo’s teasing.

“No.”

“Right, that could happen–wait. No?”

“No. I’m the one who’s going to tease them. I’m the one who’s going to mess with them. You guys just be nice.”

“Who even are you?”

“Sounds like your inner voice slipped out there, Mr. Baek Yeohoo.”

“Oops, my bad.”

He shrugged with exaggerated innocence.

“But doesn’t everyone in the guild already know you’re GoingSupporter? What if someone slips and the newbie figures out you and AssaGo are the same person? What if some clueless support main starts blabbering? Then what?”

It was a fair question. Dohee folded his arms and hummed.

“Well, I’ll just have to shut them up ahead of time.”

“Yeah…?”

“Yeah.”

“How?”

In response, Dohee shrugged exactly the way Yeohoo had just done a moment ago.

“Power, my dear cousin,”

“…Power?”

“Exists to be used.”

“…???”

“And in games, whoever’s strongest wins.”

Yeohu gave up trying to understand what was going on in his cousin’s head. He stared at Dohee’s cryptic expression, then decided to drop it.

“…Whatever. Do what you want. Let the guild know too. I don’t really care either way.”

“Sounds good.”

Just as Dohee replied, the keypad lock at the door beeped with a cheerful chime.

“Oh, must be Baek Yeojin.”

Regardless of how Knockoff’s guild invitation turned out, for now it was time for AssaGo to knock out the rest of this week’s raid runs.

• 1
  emoticon supposed to represent a deep bow of gratitude or apology. But I don’t see it