LS 7

It was the middle of the night. A little past two o’clock, and there were fewer than ten customers left in the internet café. Moonhyuk stretched as he closed the workbook and notes he’d been studying. His shoulders felt a little stiff. Since starting his part-time job at the internet café, he hadn’t been sleeping on schedule, and it seemed to be affecting his condition. During the semester, he used to go jogging in the park near his house, but even that had become difficult lately. He figured he’d pick it back up once the semester started again, he planned to quit the café job by then.

He needed money, sure, but once classes resumed, getting good grades was more important. Maintaining his scholarship was more efficient than working part-time. Still, he was considering taking another semester off.

He’d already taken a leave of absence once before. Even though he knew it was better to graduate and find a job as quickly as possible, the thought of taking one more semester off to rest a little and study lightly while doing a part-time job had crossed his mind. There was no room to relax, but Moonhyuk had already been running hard for a while. He decided to think about it more slowly. There was still time.

Several customers had logged out and left in the meantime. Grabbing a clean rag and a tray, Moonhyuk stood up.

It was true that working at a internet café was physically easier and less tiring than other jobs (though the hourly pay was lower because of that), but that didn’t mean it was always easy. There was one customer who came in almost every evening and stayed until early morning, and every time Moonhyuk cleaned that spot, he sighed involuntarily. Snack wrappers scattered everywhere, crumbs all over the keyboard, and empty drink cups stacked high despite not being finished. Even Moonhyuk, who generally didn’t care much about others, remembered that customer’s mess.

He held back another sigh and cleaned the station as thoroughly as possible, wiping down the keyboard, scrubbing with the rag, and piling all the trash onto the tray. At times like this, he’d think, “Private tutoring is definitely better.” But then, when his student’s report card came out, he’d think, “Nope, café work’s the way to go.” People are fickle like that.

The world was full of strange people. Someone who stacked half-empty cups was tame, honestly. Moonhyuk suddenly recalled the jerk he’d run into in-game yesterday. The guy picked a fight for no reason just because Moonhyuk was playing a support class, then stole all the mobs he was supposed to hunt, making it take forever to finish the quest. If someone hadn’t suddenly appeared and helped him out, he wasn’t sure he would’ve been able to complete it at all.

Moonhyuk generally hated conflict. Nobody likes it, really, but he especially preferred to avoid messy situations. He’d rather take a loss than get dragged into unnecessary drama. Honestly, if that weird player had kept bothering him, he would’ve just logged out. He didn’t want to deal with trash-talking, arguments, or reports just to keep playing.

Thinking about that made him naturally recall the person who had helped him. Their nickname was something like “Ass…?” He’d gotten a party invite out of nowhere and declined it, only to receive a whisper. At first, he’d thought, “What now? Another nosy player?” But the person turned out to be surprisingly kind and funny. Not only did they chase off the troll, they quietly watched over him as he went around catching rabbits. Watched over? They just sat there doing nothing, really… Still, let’s look at it positively.

He was a bit shocked to hear the guy was max-level. He didn’t understand how the others even knew, was there some way to check, or was he just kind of famous? Anyway, he might’ve been annoyed by people constantly asking to see his Awakening Skill, but he still showed it off without hesitation, and it was impressive. A good person, for sure.

Moonhyuk had only ever seen videos of GoingSupporter using their Awakening Skill on NuTube, but seeing it in-game was way flashier and cooler than expected. Watching dozens of rabbits get wiped out at once was surprisingly satisfying. Of course, nothing could beat GoingSupporter’s Awakening Skill, that was undeniable.

The guy had kind of a blunt way of talking, but he was clearly a good person. He’d even offered materials or gold, which startled Moonhyuk, but he didn’t seem annoyed and even sent a friend request. That actually made Moonhyuk a little happy.

The world was full of weird people, but just as many good ones. That was something he couldn’t deny. Just yesterday, hadn’t he encountered both types in the same session? He had felt bad, thinking he’d dragged the guy into unnecessary conflict, but missed the timing to apologize. Still, since the guy was a famous high-level player, he was probably strong enough to handle it. Moonhyuk reassured himself.

Back at the front desk, he tossed out the trash and shut down the computers that had finished their session. A quiet peace settled over him. Working late nights was tiring, but there was something nice about the stillness you could only experience at that hour.

He figured no more customers would come in, so Moonhyuk cautiously clicked the Sword of God icon on the desk computer. Seeing the loading screen made him unexpectedly giddy.

Before he started playing Sword of God, Moonhyuk hadn’t really understood why people were so into games. In fact, he wasn’t interested in popular things at all, sports like baseball or soccer were a total blank for him. His only real hobbies were visiting art galleries now and then, listening to music while walking around campus, or cracking open a favorite book with the windows open on a nice day.

He’d never expected that Sword of God, such a big-name game, would become part of his life.

As he stared blankly at the loading screen, a smile naturally formed on his lips. Now, he thought, he was starting to understand, at least a little, why people chose gaming out of all the hobbies out there.

The character selection screen popped up. The avatar he’d made was a pretty plain design, not straying far from the default presets. Honestly, he’d wanted to copy GoingSupporter’s character, since it looked so cool and beautiful. But no matter how much he tried tweaking things, he couldn’t pull it off, so in the end, he just chose something random from the presets. He lacked any sense for design, so customizing characters clearly wasn’t his strength.

GoingSupporter must have a great sense of aesthetics. Their character looked carefully crafted, and in their NuTube videos, they always wore stylish outfits.

In contrast, Moonhyuk’s own character looked embarrassingly basic. As he hovered over it, he hesitated. That “Ass-something” person had told him to whisper if they were online next time…Should he really send a message? Would they even be on?

He knew the guy only said that to help him. And Moonhyuk did have a lot to learn, it was true. He hadn’t even known which skills to use until that guy told him.

Now that he thought about it, that was impressive too. Do you just automatically know everything once you hit max level? Do you know other classes’ skills too?

Compared to that, he barely even understood what the Dark Assassin class was. He’d only skimmed it during class selection.

Anyway, Moonhyuk didn’t want to bother someone he’d only spoken to once by whispering them out of the blue. The guy probably hadn’t meant much by it anyway, maybe it was just something he said out of politeness. Moonhyuk quickly made up his mind. Let’s not be a bother.

Just as he selected his character and was about to enter his secondary password, the front door chimed as it opened. Moonhyuk glanced at his watch. It was a little past 2:30 a.m.
New customers at this hour were rare. Still, he stood up, he could’ve just stayed seated, but greeting whoever walked in was one of his personal habits.

“Welcome–”

He started with a quiet greeting, but his voice trailed off without meaning to. The person who walked in was so strikingly handsome and flashy that even if someone had told him it was a celebrity, he wouldn’t have been surprised.

The customer gave Moonhyuk a slight nod while adjusting the phone at his ear, then disappeared down the hallway past the desk. Moonhyuk had seen plenty of people in his life, but never anyone quite so pretty. Is it rude to call a guy pretty…?

He didn’t know what the right word was. His face was tiny, no exaggeration, probably smaller than Moonhyuk’s palm. And that hair, platinum blond so bright it almost sparkled, grabbed the eye instantly.

Most of the friends he’d seen bleach their hair ended up with straw-like messes, but this guy’s hair shone and fluttered with every step. He looked like an angel. Moonhyuk didn’t know the first thing about fashion, but even he could tell the coat the man wore looked perfect, like it was tailor-made.

He glanced down the hallway the man had disappeared into. Maybe he’s actually a celebrity? Did I just not recognize him? He didn’t watch much TV, so it was hard to say, maybe the guy was a member of some famous idol group.

Soon, the man’s voice rang out through the internet café, faint music playing in the background. Even though he sounded annoyed, Moonhyuk thought his voice was nice to listen to.

“That bastard’s asleep right now. Calls me a hundred times, drags me out here, and now he’s playing games?”

A blue light flickered on the manager computer, someone had powered on a PC. Moonhyuk snuck a glance to confirm the seat: number 77. The system notification confirmed login as a guest.

“Do I look like I’m joking? What do you mean you don’t know? If you don’t know, who does? And why the hell did he change the password? I’m serious, get ready. Starting tomorrow, that damn twin of yours? Gone. As in, no longer exists. Me? I’m at a internet café. If he doesn’t wake up in an hour, I’m gonna kill him myself and find salvation.”

A few more curses followed, then the voice cut off. Despite his angelic looks, the guy had a foul mouth.

Moonhyuk had thought he looked like a celestial being, but–Yeah, you really can’t judge people by their looks.

He quickly moved his in-game character to the center of the capital city, Ladenska, and opened the friends list.

[Dark Assassin] AssaGo– Offline

Scratching his cheek awkwardly, Moonhyuk thought: Well, yeah. It’s 2:30 a.m, of course he’s not online. I feel dumb for even wondering whether to message him.

Dding!

Right as he accepted his daily quest, a new order came from seat 77: iced Americano. As the diligent night shift worker at One Punch Internet Café, Kwon Moonhyuk rose immediately and headed to the kitchen.

He filled the cup with ice, grabbed the drink, and walked it over to seat 77.
The man hadn’t opened anything on the desktop, he was just staring at his phone. His fingers were flying across the screen.

“Iced Americano’s here.”

As he leaned down to place the drink next to the mouse, a gentle, fabric-softener-like scent drifted from the man. Moonhyuk couldn’t help but inwardly admire it. It was so nice he almost wanted to smell it again. Was that cologne?

He was caught in that daze when the man suddenly handed over his card.

“Thanks.”

After processing the payment at the desk, Moonhyuk returned the card.
The man hadn’t moved except to now hold the iced coffee in one hand.

“Here’s your card.”

“Thanks.”

Just then, the man, who hadn’t looked away from his phone once, lifted his head and looked directly at Moonhyuk.
The moment their eyes met, Moonhyuk felt like he’d been hit over the head. His mind blanked out for a second.
So much so that he didn’t even realize the man had briefly looked him up and down.

Back at the desk, sitting down, Moonhyuk once again recalled the man’s face, this time, seen up close.
It was the kind of thing that, if he said aloud, people would call him a game-addicted weirdo. But only one thought filled his head.

He hadn’t gotten a good look when the man first walked in, too far away, too brief. But now that he’d seen him up close, he couldn’t unsee it.

The man’s face looked shockingly similar to GoingSupporter’s in-game avatar, the one he’d watched over and over again on NuTube.
Not identical, no. Maybe he was just seeing things because he liked GoingSupporter so much.

Still, it had shocked him, because for a split second, it was like that character’s face had appeared over the man’s, maybe at 80% opacity.

No way… someone who looks like a game character?

Have I gone completely off the deep end over this game?

Shaking his head as he returned to the desk, Moonhyuk let out a soft sigh.

Yeah… night shifts really do wear you out.