LS 37

by Nilu

When Dohee opened his eyes, it was already almost lunchtime. Wanting to shake off the lingering buzz from the alcohol, he brewed a capsule coffee and filled a cup with ice from the water dispenser. There was nothing like iced Americano to snap him awake the morning after drinking.

He pulled open the curtains and looked outside. Snow removal was underway on the road. Snow had piled up on flower beds and rooftops. It must’ve snowed more than expected overnight. And it was still falling, lightly but steadily.

Taking a sip of the Americano, Dohee stretched out with a long yawn. Finally felt alive again. He clearly remembered calling Knockoff while drunk, but the memory was blurry. Now that he was sober, he kind of regretted it. He wanted to recall what his voice sounded like, how he talked–but it all came to him as a faint haze.

Setting his coffee down, Dohee picked up his phone. There was a message from Jinhee: Did you get home okay?

He sent back the usual: Yeah, I got in fine. Let’s meet up again sometime.

There were a few alerts sitting on the GameTalk app. Probably from Knockoff. Smiling to himself, he tapped the app.

As expected, the messages were from Knockoff, but the content was… unexpected. Dohee frowned slightly as he scrolled down through the flood of texts.

Knockoff:

Good night.. 8 ㅅ 8!

Take care not to catch a cold. Your voice didn’t sound so good… ㅠ-ㅠ

I’m gonna go play the game now…

Up to this point, it was nothing unusual. Messages like that anyone could send. But then a string of messages that had come in a few hours later definitely were something else. Dohee reread them one by one.

Knockoff

I just… some people killed me over and over… 8ㅅ8. I went to a field in Yante. I guess it was a PvP zone ㅠㅡㅠ… I need to do the main quest…

Knockoff

There were other people there too, not just me, but they kept following only me and kept killing me… ㅠㅡㅠ I tried to revive in town and go back, but–

Knockoff

They camped right outside the field and just waited for me. The moment I went in, they killed me… 8ㅅ8

Knockoff

Every time I died, I kept dropping gold and gear one by one… ㅠㅡㅠ

Knockoff

Two of the gears you made for me are gone, and I lost 20,000 gold too… 8ㅅ8

I’m so, so sorry… ㅠㅡㅠ

Knockoff

It was something you made with care, AssaGo-nim… 8ㅅ8…Their levels were way too high… there was nothing I could do ㅠ-ㅠ·

Knockoff

There weren’t any guild members around either, so I kept saying, “Why are you only killing me? Please stop bullying me…” but… 8ㅅ8 They just kept chasing me… so I had no choice but to log off early ㅠㅡㅠ…

I’m sorry… I wanted to recover the gold and the gear… but I couldn’t… ㅠ-ㅠ

Knockoff

Since it was something you made for me, I thought I had to tell you… heung…

Knockoff

I’m sorry… ㅠㅡㅠ

Dohee was speechless.

Seriously? This guy was apologizing because he felt bad for losing the gear and gold Dohee gave him, not because he kept getting beaten to death by some assholes? That’s what all this rambling was for?

Knockoff really had a talent for misunderstanding things in the weirdest way. If it had been Dohee, he would’ve been fuming and cursing those bastards out for griefing him. But Knockoff just kept explaining what happened, repeating over and over that he’d lost the stuff Dohee gave him.

A vein pulsed at Dohee’s temple.

What kind of lunatics do that?

He’s just barely over level 45. A total newbie. Anyone could see he’s still wearing the “beginner adventurer” badge, practically. And someone thought it was a great idea to kill a clueless rookie without saying a word just to rob him?

Snorting, Dohee let out a sharp breath. Following someone around silently and harassing them? A lowbie from another guild, no less? Only one group came to mind immediately, it had to be those punks from Xeno Guild.

Who the hell had the balls to mess with Dohee’s sweet, clueless Knockoff?

Eyebrows raised, Dohee fired off a reply. It was past noon now, so chances were high Knockoff would reply quickly.

Gold and gear and all that, we can just make those again. There’s no need to feel sorry at all. It’s not even worth that much, and I was planning to make new gear soon anyway.

So… do you remember their usernames?

Sure enough, a reply came almost instantly.

Knockoff

Ah… yes! I took screenshots just in case! 8ㅅ8 Last time, when I… got scammed on that gear…You told me that if anyone ever bullies me or talks to me weird, I should take a screenshot right away.

Knockoff

So I took one yesterday on the spot… ㅠㅡㅠ Before I shut down the computer, I sent the pics to my phone.

Knockoff

Should I send it to you?

Okay.

Knockoff

Hold on a sec!

Aren’t you working your part-time job?

Knockoff:

photo.jpg

Ah… I’m on the bus to work right now… 8 ㅅ 8

Dohee saved the screenshot Knockoff sent. The usernames were unfamiliar, but as expected, they had the Xeno guild tag above their heads. Judging by the fact Dohee didn’t recognize them, they were probably either recent recruits or low-level nobodies he’d never have reason to run into. Suppressing the irritation rising in his throat, Dohee typed out another message.

Be safe, make lots of money.

Knockoff

Okay.

Let me know when you think you’ll be back online later.

Knockoff

Okay…! I’m sorry… 8ㅅ8

Stop apologizing. It’s seriously nothing. I’ve got 20 million gold just on my AssaGo character. It’s literally trash, stop clinging to 20,000 gold like it’s your life and go earn another 20 bucks.

Knockoff

ㅠㅡㅠ… Okay…!

Dohee completely forgot about ordering lunch. Instead, he pressed the power button on his PC. First things first, those two needed to be handled. It wasn’t just that they were bastards. Picking on a level-45 newbie, 2-on-1? Trash.

The other guild members were definitely going to flip, too. Xeno had at least three or four reckless idiots who just killed on sight. If word got out that they bullied IngSupp, the whole guild would be out for blood.

Dohee smirked.

Eye for an eye. Tooth for a tooth.

Vengeance was a dish best served immediately.

💎

[Guild Chat]

Tando: So what were their usernames again? ^^

AssaGo: BlingBling, y2kYeomisae

Tando: Looked them up. They only joined a few months ago.

SoftRiceCake: Huh? I know them. They’re the ones who chased down IngSupp and killed him? LOL

AssaGo: You know them?

SoftRiceCake: Yeah yeah. Remember I told you I 2v1’d some Xeno guys on Monk Island?

SoftRiceCake: It was those two. And I was the 1, lol.

SoftRiceCake: But seriously, those crazy bastards got their asses kicked at the Han River and went to take it out at the Nakdong? SMH¹

PrettyHealerHyung: That’s… not how the saying goes…ㅠㅠ

SiblingSpicyNoodle: Are you kidding me ** is that the issue right now? Those *** bastards are running wild again? Who are they?

SiblingSpicyNoodle: They just barely hit level 120

SiblingSpicyNoodle: Where’s all this confidence coming from?

SiblingSpicyNoodle: Are they outta their minds? Where were they, Yante?

AssaGo: Yante coastal forest field, I think? It’s a PvP zone

SoftRiceCake: I’m going for revenge today

SoftRiceCake: Who do those trash mobs think they are messing with our IngSupp? –_–

Tando: I’m coming too~ ^^

AssaGo: I’ll head in first with just the two of us, y’all hang back for now, just giving a heads-up

AssaGo: If you run into them somewhere else, just kill them on sight

AssaGo: Don’t worry about what Xeno says

SoftRiceCake: Never gave a damn from the start LOL

SiblingSpicyNoodle: Ugh, I never liked Xeno anyway. And now they’re acting like they’re gods just ’cause they got a first clear or whatever on stream?

Tando: Funny how you still watch their streams even though you hate them~ ^^

SiblingSpicyNoodle: ??? It showed up in my algorithm, OK??;;

AssaGo: Anyway, I was gonna ask Tando and Daeyoung for a favor

AssaGo: Daeyoung, you around?

YYNNXX: Yeah, I’m here

YYNNXX: What is it?

Watching the guild chat explode as expected, Dohee grinned.

2v1? That’s not the point.

Revenge only counts when it’s repaid in kind.

He began laying out the plan for Daeyoung and Tando, stuff he’d already worked out. To progress through Yante’s main story, a newbie had to go through that quest area. And since Knockoff hadn’t cleared the quest last night, those punks were probably expecting him to come back.

Which meant… they were likely camping there again.

1
Korean War, where forces were pushed back from the Han River and then fought fiercely at the Nakdong River.RiceCake probably wanted to say 강한 놈에게 지고 약한 놈에게 화풀이한다”
Lose to the strong and take it out on the weak.

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