LS 48

The twins’ house was absolute chaos.

Piles of vitamins, clearly their dad’s doing, along with a few boxes of herbal medicine, and shopping bags stuffed to the brim with who-knew-what, courtesy of his shopping-hobbyist uncle.

Dohee had never once thought the twins’ place was small, but right now, the living room felt cramped.

Well, to be fair, shopping was the one thing their uncle really clicked with.

“So much stuff.”

“When the hell are we gonna clean all this up… Where the fuck is Baek Yeojin!”

The moment Yeohoo cried out in frustration, the sound of someone punching in a door code echoed through the room. The door opened, and Yeojin poked her head in.

“Dad~?”

“Dad’s already gone, you bastard!”

Yeohoo shouted, and as Yeojin stepped inside and took in the disaster of a living room, she gave an awkward laugh.

“Ah~ he left earlier than I expected~”

“Earlier than you expected~? I got lectured for two straight hours here! And I got even more shit because you didn’t show up! He was like, ‘You still out drinking these days? Going to clubs? Are you dating someone? You quit your job, so what the hell are you doing with your life!?’ Huh!?”

“You should’ve just played dumb.”

“I did play dumb, fucker!”

“Good job~ You’re the best, oppa.”

“Oh now I’m your oppa, huh…”

Yeojin walked lightly into the living room, tossed her bag onto the couch, and flopped down next to it.

Dohee had already been lounging there, so the whole couch jostled when Yeojin sat down.

“I’ve got some super fresh news today.”

At that, both Dohee and Yeohoo turned to look at him.

“…What, you bastard.”

“Stop swearing, you shithead.”

Dohee shook his head between the twins.

“Quit fighting. Do it after I leave.”

At his words, the sparks between them died down.

Yeojin, clearly excited, started to speak.

“Hey, the Demon Hunter teaser’s dropping the day after tomorrow.”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

That was unexpected.

They’d figured news related to Demon Hunter would come out during next week’s patch notes, things like level caps, preview maps, or drop tables usually got released ahead of updates.

But teasers always came out on random dates.

Sometimes they dropped earlier than the patch preview, sometimes later.

They were infamous for showing up out of nowhere, so all the guild members had been spending each day in suspense, wondering when the teaser would finally hit.

And now Yeojin just knew when it was coming? Was that even possible?

“How do you know that?” Dohee asked.

Yeojin shrugged.

“There’s just… ways. I met someone new over on NGA. They work in the SoGod dev department.

They don’t know I play SoGod, so I poked around a little and, well, they spilled everything.”

“…What are you doing these days? Isn’t that a breach of internal information?”

Yeohoo asked, sounding dumbfounded. Yeojin raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow.

“What, now I’m getting chewed out for knowing stuff? I just know a lot of people. And it’s not like he gave me confidential info. He brought it up himself, said he worked at NGA and has been dying from overwork lately because of a big project. So I asked what it was, and he said there’s this new raid launching, and he’d been stuck in overtime for weeks. I asked when it’s going live, and he said, ‘day after tomorrow.’ That’s it.”

Maybe because of her personality, Yeojin knew a lot of people.

And dhe always made friends in the most bizarre ways:

If she liked someone on the street, she’d ask for their number and actually just be friends with them (with no ulterior motives).

Or she’d strike up conversations in the subway with compliments like, “Your outfit’s really nice”, and if it weren’t for her stylish looks, Dohee would’ve bet money that someone would’ve called her a scammer.

She came back from bars or clubs with a friend list a page longer.

She’d join all sorts of meetups through social media and handpick interesting people like it was a talent.

Strangely enough, while you’d think she’d run into at least one weirdo, Yeojin had never met a bad apple.

Lately, she seemed to be going out often to meet this new NGA acquaintance.

“You really are something. Well, I guess that guy probably didn’t think you were a player either.”

Yeohoo, having forgotten all his growling from earlier, plopped onto the couch across from him.

Yeojin nodded.

“Pretending not to play SoGod almost made my hair fall out.

Apparently he’s been working overtime for two days straight making stuff for NuTube, the homepage splash page, and all that. He’s been prepping the teaser like crazy.”

“Wow… Why am I getting hyped all of a sudden?”

While Yeohoo was busy catching feelings, Dohee turned to Yeojin.

“Anything else you heard?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah. They’ve apparently been working on Demon Hunter since last winter, but it went through a ton of trial and error inside NGA. From what I heard, it’s being developed on a whole different scale, like top-tier. Graphics, voice acting, story, music, they poured effort into every single part of it.

The mechanics and patterns are supposed to be super complex and unique, which is why they kept delaying it over and over again to test everything. And since SoGod runs so many events all the time, trying to prep this in the middle of all that took even longer. But because of all that, they’re confident in the quality.

He even told me, ‘Even if you don’t play the game, at least watch the trailer later.’ He said it’s their passion project. He must’ve really meant it, once I showed the slightest interest, he started spilling everything.”

“And?”

Dohee blinked.

If the guy had spilled that much, there was no way that was all.

“Story-wise, we’re about two-thirds of the way through. Apparently this raid plays a really important role in the plot, so they put a lot of effort into it. And, what else… He said it’s in a style players have never seen before. Oh! And it’s set in a desert. He said the graphics were a nightmare to implement. Wait–now that I think about it, the Lost Demon Hunter storyline must start in Denme, right? That’s a desert map.”

“When exactly is it dropping?”

“Ah, hang on.”

Yeojin fished out her phone from her bag, checked something, then spoke up.

“Day after tomorrow. 8 p.m. sharp.

‘Please make sure to watch it, Yeojin-ssi~’–is what he said.”

“What, are you dating or something?” Yeohoo asked, sounding grumpy.

Yeojin stretched out her leg and kicked Yeohoo right in the knee. Yeohoo, who had been lazily lounging, toppled to the floor from the unexpected attack. Yeojin snorted.

“What the hell are you talking about? The guy’s ugly.”

“Ah…”

“And I’ve already got someone I’m putting effort into. So stay out of my love life, will you? Focus on dating someone decent for yourself, please?”

At Yeojin’s sharp retort, Yeohoo’s expression crumpled again.

Whatever those two were bickering about, Dohee’s attention was fully split between the Demon Hunter teaser dropping in two days… and the Knockoff he met today.

Thinking about Knockoff again gave him a strange feeling. Dohee spoke up impulsively.

“But, hey.”

“Huh?”

Yeohoo sat up straight and responded.

Dohee continued slowly.

“I’ve been kind of conflicted about something lately.”

“Yeah?”

“What is it?”

Yeohoo and Yeojin both looked at him, eyes gleaming.

They always got way too excited when someone else had a personal dilemma.

“It’s fun spending time with him. I keep wondering when he’ll show up, I start thinking about what he’s doing…He’s got a totally different personality from mine, so sometimes he’s frustrating, but it doesn’t really annoy me. Sometimes I just want to poke at him for no reason, and at first he drove me nuts, but now he’s kind of… cute? I do care… I just don’t know what this is.”

Dohee’s words made Yeojin and Yeohoo exchange a look.

Then Yeojin asked in a serious tone:

“Hey.”

“…What?”

“Is he hot? That guy?”

Dohee nodded without resistance. Yeah, the guy was ridiculously hot. He couldn’t dress to save his life, though.

“He’s definitely good-looking.”

“Big eyes, long lashes, thick eyebrows, sharp nose, full lips, nice skin? Dresses well?”

“Terrible dresser.”

“But everything else checks out?”

“Pretty much.”

Pfft–Yeojin burst out laughing, then started smacking Dohee on the shoulder with exaggerated slaps. Dohee looked over at Yeohoo as if to say, What’s her deal?

Yeohoo blinked slowly. Don’t ask me. Then Yeojin declared in a loud, satisfied voice:

“You’re fucking whipped!”

Yeohoo’s face went blank for a moment.

Who? Who’s whipped?

“…Me?”

“Yeah, you. Baek Dohee–the Baek Dohee–is totally whipped for some guy! You like spending time with him, you wonder when he’s coming, you care what he’s doing, he frustrates you but it doesn’t even bother you, you want to mess with him just to get his attention, and you think he’s cute. And what else? He’s hot, you said! You love hot people. You’re whipped, no question. But does he know? That you’re thinking about him this much?”

Dohee blinked quietly.

Me…? Whipped for Knockoff?

Me?

Baek Dohee, of all people?

“I don’t know.”

“Huh? What do you mean you don’t know?”

“He’s never even seen my face.”

Yeohoo and Yeojin’s faces twisted into the same weird expression at once.

“…What kind of bullshit is that?”

The living room, filled with boxes, fell into a stunned silence.

Dohee let out a long sigh without meaning to.

Yeah.

What kind of bullshit is this?