LS 13

No…

Dohee was at a genuine loss for words. Was this even real, or just a bad joke?

He’d opened his mouth to say something, but ended up just shaking his head. His platinum hair puffed up and then fell back down. It was clearly early winter, but why was he sweating?

Leaving the window slightly open, Dohee returned to his computer and slowly tried to collect himself. This was his own fault. His curse of always wanting to help Supports, his mistake for not realizing the one he picked up was a complete, clueless newbie.

So he had to endure it.

[Party] GOingSupporter187: AssaGo-nim?

[Party] AssaGo: Yeah, I just opened the window for a sec

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Ohh ㅎㅅㅎ Did you learn all the other life skills too, AssaGo-nim?

[Party] AssaGo: You

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Yes?

[Party] AssaGo: I’m pretty sure you’re the only player in all of Sword of God who only learned gathering

[Party] GOingSupporter187: 8ㅁ8… really…?

[Party] AssaGo: You think I’m lying? Why do you think there are four life skill slots? Why do you think they let you buy all four skill books for just 1 silver?

[Party] AssaGo: Maybe the devs were handing it to you on a silver platter

[Party] AssaGo: I don’t think even NGA could’ve predicted someone would only learn gathering just because they like plants lol

[Party] GOingSupporter187: …ㅠㅡㅠ

[Party] AssaGo: What are you crying for lol I seriously can’t with this

[Party] AssaGo: Let’s head to Landenska capital first

[Party] AssaGo: You set it as your return point, right?

Please let it be set. I’m about to get a migraine.

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Yes!

At their confident reply, Dohee let out a sigh of relief.

As he tore his return scroll, he shut his eyes tightly. For some reason, they felt a little damp.

💎

They decided to save the life-skill quest for next time. After arriving at Landenska capital and buying all the life skill books from the NPC, Knockoff said they had to leave for a part-time job.

“I’ll be back tomorrow!” they’d said before logging out. For some reason, that left Dohee with a weird feeling.

Lately, he’d been seriously considering quitting Sword of God. But now, a feeble little Support who seemed helpless without him was coming back tomorrow, and the thought left him with an odd sense of duty.

If he was being honest, though, it wasn’t just duty. Running quests and hunting with that clueless newbie had been unexpectedly fun. Dohee always liked things that were fun. Whether something was enjoyable or not was the biggest factor in any decision he made.

After logging out of his AssaGo character, Dohee logged into GoingSupporter and let the character idle in the town square. That character wasn’t in a guild. In the game, if you’re in a guild, the guild name appears above your character in yellow text. GoingSupporter’s name floated alone. He’d briefly put the character in a guild, but removed it quickly, it was too annoying when people took interest in what guild you were in.

And the character was already end-spec’d, with nothing left to buy using guild points. Being guildless was just easier. Especially when it came to smashing players who picked fights.

Dohee stood up and stretched. He’d been sitting too long, and his body was starting to feel stiff. After a light stretch, he headed to the kitchen.

The apartment had three rooms, pretty spacious for someone living alone. One was a bedroom, one a dressing room, and one was a gaming room. He’d soundproofed the gaming room back when he was streaming, so with the door shut, nothing leaked out. Silence filled the apartment.

A cleaning lady came once a week, but Dohee handled everything else himself. He often cooked too, more than he ordered in. He’d cooked a lot since he was young and ended up finding it fun. Sometimes the Baek twins would barge in to drink or eat, but they didn’t come that often. Most of the time, he was alone.

He loaded his favorite capsule into the coffee machine. The smell of brewing coffee filled the house, tingling at his nose. He mixed it with cold water to make iced coffee, then plopped down into the beanbag chair in one corner of the living room. The large apartment felt unusually empty today.

His parents had rarely been home since he was a child. So naturally, he’d grown up with his uncle, alongside Baek Yeohoo and Baek Yeojin. At times, the twins felt closer than his parents ever did.
His parents were partners at a major law firm and currently oversaw a foreign branch, rarely returning to Korea.

Dohee never resented them. They’d taught him how to pursue what he wanted, the satisfaction of achieving something on his own, the freedom to choose a future without worrying about money.
Because of that, he admired them deeply for their passion and work ethic. But admiration didn’t always mean understanding.

“I’m too old to whine about this now.”

That’s what he told himself, yet sometimes… he still wanted to blame them. Even knowing he shouldn’t, sometimes he just felt like it.

He sipped his cold iced coffee.

Ever since quitting as a streamer, he’d found himself with too much free time. He stopped streaming not long after getting the server-first clear on the Corrupted Hana raid with the Xeno raid team two years ago.
Last year, he spent the whole year chasing a server-first clear on the Snowfield Witch raid. He’d created AssaGo specifically to secure a strong DPS for that, and it hadn’t been easy. Between gearing up and collecting raid info, the year had flown by.

But after clearing the Snow Witch multiple times that winter, Dohee slowly fell into a kind of burnout. Nothing felt fun. And for someone like Dohee, who lived for enjoyment, that was a huge problem.

This year had mostly been spent hitting max level on AssaGo, leveling other classes, dabbling here and there, but nothing stuck.

He tried drinking like mad, like before the army. Tried studying English, exercising, watching movies, shopping, everything. But in the end, the only thing he clung to was Sword of God.
Some might say, “Why obsess over some useless game?” But what could he do? That “useless game” was the thing that brought him the most joy in his 25 short years.

Was the game even fun anymore? If you asked, he wouldn’t know how to answer. He always said he was quitting, but deep down, even he didn’t know if he meant it. And it wasn’t like he wanted to do something else either. That was the bigger issue.

It’s not like he’d never worked. He’d done modeling gigs, part-time jobs at cafes. But even when money hit his bank account, it didn’t excite him. Earning money is supposed to feel rewarding, but for him, it didn’t. So of course it wasn’t fun.

It wasn’t even about lacking money. He’d earned a good amount already, and he’d never grown up wanting for anything. Maybe that’s why nothing else excited him? Or maybe it was the lack of fun first. He didn’t know.
Dohee had always lived by doing what he felt like. He’d never seriously thought about questions like this.

College? He went because he wanted to. He liked clothes.

He wanted to go to a good college, so he and Baek Yeohoo studied late into the night until their noses bled. On test day, he’d trembled just like everyone else. When he saw the word Accepted, he’d even teared up a little.
But he dropped out before a year had passed.

Why? Because he wanted to. He realized he didn’t like making clothes, he just liked wearing them.

The army? He went because he wanted to. Had nothing else to do, and figured he might as well go early.

Sword of God? Baek Yeohoo talked him into it, saying it was fun. And it looked fun.

He’d lived so impulsively up to now, but now… he didn’t know what he wanted.

Streaming had been genuinely fun. Probably the most fun thing he’d ever done. Dohee stared blankly out the window, mug in hand. The sky was clear, not a cloud in sight. He set the mug down with a soft click. That’s enough. There’s no point in thinking more about the past. It won’t change anything.

He grabbed his phone from where it was tossed on the table and unlocked it. Message after message. Invites to clubs, parties, drinks. He deleted all the chats without hesitation and turned off the screen.

He used to hit the club all the time before the army, hop from party to party. But now? He didn’t really feel like it. Everyday life just felt empty. Picking up that weird newbie had been the most interesting thing in a while.

Dohee flipped the phone face-down again and picked up his mug.

He headed back to the gaming room.

“At least when I’m playing, I’m not lonely.”

That was the biggest reason Baek Dohee couldn’t quit Sword of God, even though he always said he would.