LS 45

Yeohoo

My dad just suddenly showed upㅠㅠ fml

8:45 PM

Hey, just come later. If you show up too, it’s gonna be three times the nagging.

8:52 PM

Reading Yeohoo’s rapid-fire messages, Dohee cleanly turned on his heel at the front door of the twins’ apartment.

Seriously? Why’d he have to show up now? Why not earlier…?

He figured their dad had probably dropped by because it was the new year, just to check in. Hearing that his uncle, who rarely visited, had shown up was what finally made Dohee realize: Oh right. I’m a year older now.

There was nothing to do about it.

If he went in now, he’d just get nagged to death and probably be forced to eat a second dinner on top of the one he’d already had.

He sent back a quick message: Let me know when your dad leaves.

Then naturally changed direction and headed to a nearby internet café.

It was an awkward time. Maybe I’ll just kill some time in SoGod. Thinking that, Dohee pulled out his phone. The thought crossed his mind, I wonder if Knockoff’s online?

Me

Hey

A reply came quickly.

Knockoff

Yes!?!

Me

I’m about to log in for a bit, do you happen to have the game running?

Knockoff

Ah… yes!!! I’m at work right now, but Noodle said they’d carry me, so I just left myself logged in!

Me

Yeah? Are you busy?

Knockoff

Uh, no! Not really busy at all right now!

Knockoff

If you log in, I can play a bit with you. The coworker I’m with is just watching a drama next to me… hehe. The cafe is running just fine.

Dohee snorted softly and replied with a grin.

Me

Then I’ll let you know when I’m connected.

Knockoff

Okay!

Ding-dong

He pushed open the door to the now-familiar internet cafe.

It was the one with the good-looking part-timer. If you’re gonna game anyway, may as well get a little eye candy. Win-win, right?

Who was winning and who was the “candy,” he wasn’t sure. But Dohee strolled in without a care.

“Welcome~”

A female staffer greeted him with a high-pitched voice.

Seeing the big guy next to her jump up in surprise made Dohee almost laugh.

That slight bow of his head was starting to feel familiar.

Yeah, I figured he’d be here.

Probably hard to spot him during the day, but Dohee had figured he usually worked evenings.

Dohee took seat 77, logged in as a guest.

He didn’t visit often enough to bother signing up, but lately he’d been thinking about registering, might as well have a login if he was going to keep popping in now and then.

He decided to hold off on ordering his usual iced Americano.

First priority was logging into SoGod, he had no idea when Knockoff might get pulled back to work.

Since he’d logged off in front of the NPC Myeonghan that morning, his character was still standing in the middle of Ladenska Marketplace.

[Guild] GOingSupporter187: Oh! AssaGo-nim, hello…!

[Guild] SiblingSpicyNoodle: hihi

[Guild] Tando: Deputy Guildmaster, we’re carrying IngSupp right now~ hehe

[Guild] SiblingSpicyNoodle: I was grinding just a moment ago but now Tando’s taken over lol

[Guild] Tando: I’m way better than Noodle, right^^ Holy Wizard’s AOE is perfect for grinding ^^

[Guild] Tando: Can’t even compare to some Striker or whatever, am I right? hehe

[Guild] SiblingSpicyNoodle: ** The hell did you just say you little **

[Guild] SiblingSpicyNoodle: Tando you little ** I swear to god I’ll drag your *** to the Striker Alliance and end you

[Guild] Tando: Oh no~ I’m sooo scaredㅋㅋ

[Guild] Tando: What is that, the National Striker Association? ㅋㅋ

[Guild] Tando: Does Striker even have an association? Feels more like a club hehe

[Guild] Tando: No way there’s enough of you for a full association~

[Guild] SiblingSpicyNoodle: mdsfkjladsgjkadsf *** I swear I’ll **** and **** you someday

[Guild] Tando: Wow, guild chat’s extra spicy tonight ^^

Guild’s running great…

Dohee smirked. He had no right to laugh at Knockoff for saying the internet cafe was running well.

Ignoring the chaos, Dohee typed calmly.

[Guild] AssaGo: Knockoff, come here. Leave party, let’s go.

[Guild] Tando: See ya, IngSupp~^^

[Guild] SoftRiceCake: lmfao this is gold. Like IngSupp’s not even a keychain, but AssaGo’s just got him dangling around

[Guild] SoftRiceCake: The way everyone just hands him over without a fuss is killing me hahahaha

[System] AssaGo has invited GOingSupporter187 to the party.

[System] GOingSupporter187 has accepted the party invitation.

The now-familiar party join sound was oddly satisfying.

And before Dohee could even say anything, Knockoff beat him to it.

[Party] GOingSupporter187: AssaGo-nim!

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Um… 8ㅅ8 Are you at Ladenska Marketplace right now!?

[Party] AssaGo: Yeah. Come here so we can finish that quest.

[Party] GOingSupporter187: O-okay! One sec!

Soon, Knockoff’s character appeared right in front of him.

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Um… AssaGo-nim… ㅠㅡㅠ

[Party] AssaGo: ??? What’d you do?

[Party] GOingSupporter187: N-no! I didn’t do anything! It’s just… after you logged off yesterday…

[Party] AssaGo: Uh-huh.

[Party] GOingSupporter187: I couldn’t sleep, so…

[Party] GOingSupporter187: That Myeonghan quest… the one about finding the keepsakes?

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Turns out if you solve a few clues and bounce around the map, you can actually find them.

[Party] GOingSupporter187: And they’re tradable!

[Party] GOingSupporter187: So I thought… maybe if I collected them ahead of time, we could finish it faster…

[Party] GOingSupporter187: So I just… already found them all…! I wanted to help Myeonghan quickly…

[Party] AssaGo: You did the whole quest by yourself?

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Y-yeah…! I’m sorry… 8ㅅ8

Why are you sorry for that? If anything, that’s a huge win for me.

Dohee blinked slowly, fingers tapping on the keys.

[Party] AssaGo: What are you apologizing for lmao

[Party] AssaGo: So you found both the ring and scarf?

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Yep yep! Found both…!!!

[Party] AssaGo: Then let’s trade.

Knockoff opened a trade window.

Myeonghan’s father’s scarf appeared in the window, apparently, the quest was designed so the two players could trade and each complete the task by turning one in.

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Let’s go return them to Myeonghan right away… 8ㅅ8

[Party] AssaGo: Didn’t it take forever to do this?

Dohee moved his character toward Myeonghan and asked as he walked. Knockoff’s avatar bounced happily, spamming the joy emote.

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Nope! I was just… really happy…!

[Party] GOingSupporter187: That I could find them quickly… Myeonghan really wanted them back… ㅠㅡㅠ

There it is again. The over-immersion.

Dohee thought about giving him a hard time, but seeing Knockoff enjoy the game so purely, it wasn’t such a bad thing.

They both interacted with Myeonghan at the same time.

The quest popup appeared.

[NPC] Myeonghan: Wow, you found them this quickly?

I’ll cherish them so I never lose them again.

Thank you both, AssaGo and GOingSupporter187.

These were precious mementos of my parents, and I was desperate to find them again…

Oh, and I have something to give you two. It’s nothing fancy, my parents ran a clothing shop, and I’ve taken it over. I made these myself as a small gift for you both. I hope you’ll accept them.

[Accept]

Once they clicked the Accept button, the quest complete popup appeared.

<Event Quest>

Filled with Love!

NPC Myeonghan has prepared a heartfelt gift for AssaGo and GOingSupporter187.

You have received the ‘Guardian of Love’ title.

This title can be applied to all characters on your account. The Sweet Achele Set is a couple avatar and can only be claimed once per player.

Please make your selection carefully.

! Note

▷ The bracelet included in the Sweet Achele Set will be engraved with your partner’s nickname. Once claimed, it cannot be undone. Please be cautious.

Dohee blinked as he read the notice.

…What?