LS 52

[Guild Chat]

Tando: IngSupp’s gotten pretty good at the game lately, haha.

YeohooHae: Yeah, agreed~ Just the other day I took AssaGo and IngSupp to do Burke.

YeohooHae: Burke’s patterns aren’t that hard, but…

YeohooHae: I don’t think they’re, like, ridiculously easy either.

YeohooHae: Still, the buffs came right on time,

YeohooHae: And they were using their debuff skills super smoothly too, lol.

SoftRiceCake: Is IngSupp finally shedding their newbie shell…? ㅠ

SoftRiceCake: Aww, kinda bittersweet, lol.

SoftRiceCake: And now they’re wearing that awesome gear AssaGo made for them too,

SoftRiceCake: Hard to believe they’re the same awkward newbie we first met~ lol

AssaGo: lolololol

AssaGo: Stop teasing.

AssaGo: And don’t butter him up like that,

AssaGo: Just so you can drag him into Demon Hunter later.

AssaGo: Wait for the actual info to drop first.

AssaGo: We don’t even know if we’ll need another support yet.

SoftRiceCake: Damn, too quick on the uptake, lol.

PrettyHealerHyung: Think we’ll get Demon Hunter details when we wake up? ㅠㅠㅠ So curious…

PrettyHealerHyung: I can’t sleep ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

YeoJinHae: Our little healer better get to bed now, cutie pie ><♥

YeoJinHae: Or you won’t grow!

PrettyHealerHyung: Ah… okay, noona! ㅠㅠㅠ But I’m not short though…

YeoJinHae: Hey now, stop talking back!

PrettyHealerHyung: ㅠ3ㅠ…

YeoJinHae: Want a kiss?

SiblingSpicyNoodle: Ugh, **Yeojin, seriously, cut that ** out already!!!

PrettyHealerHyung: lololol

SiblingSpicyNoodle: But tbh, like, even back when IngSupp hit level 50 and we took them to Krunite for the first time–

SiblingSpicyNoodle: For someone who’d never done a raid before, they picked it up really fast.

SiblingSpicyNoodle: No joke.

SiblingSpicyNoodle: I remember being surprised, like, “Wait… they’re actually good?” lol

AssaGo: I’ve been dragging him around since level 17,

AssaGo: Taught him how to use support skills properly and everything.

AssaGo: If he still couldn’t push the right buttons after all that, he’d just be stupid, wouldn’t he?

SoftRiceCake: LMAO our deputy guildmaster really raises people though, huh? ㅠ lol

SoftRiceCake: Give them some credit~!!

AssaGo: Don’t worry, he’s doing fine.

Tando: It’s just that they were totally new and didn’t really know how things worked.

Tando: Once we started explaining stuff, they picked things up quickly.

Tando: I think they’ve got pretty good game sense too, haha.

AssaGo: They’re actually smart IRL.

AssaGo: That’s probably why.

YeohooHae: Wait, being smart makes you good at games?

SiblingSpicyNoodle: But how does AssaGo even know that IngSupp is smart???

SoftRiceCake: I dunno… being smart doesn’t always mean you’re good at games, lol

YeohooHae: Right??

Tando: Yeah, it doesn’t. Noodle is good at games but…

Tando: You’re not exactly crushing it in the studying department~ ^^

SiblingSpicyNoodle: WTH WHY ARE YOU ATTACKING ME OUT OF NOWHERE YOU *!!!

Tando: Look at that, cussing over a little jab. So uncultured, lol.

Tando: You got all defensive, huh~? Admitted you’re bad at studying, huh~? lol

SiblingSpicyNoodle: FFS THIS SHITTY SOGOD I SWEAR!!!!

It was early morning, about four hours left until the scheduled server maintenance. By the time they woke up, the official announcement for the Lost Demon Hunter raid would be posted. The teaser was already out, and now all that remained was the event notice. Just thinking that they’d finally see info about the Demon Hunter they’d waited over a year for was enough to keep the guildmates up late into the night.

Knockoff had said he probably wouldn’t be able to log in until after 5 AM. Something about being slammed with a group of drunk customers.

There had been lots of speculation within the guild about the Demon Hunter’s level requirement and party size. The teaser hadn’t provided any concrete info, so all this chatter was kind of meaningless anyway. Still, it was clear the guildmates had already made up their minds, there would be a need for a support. They were all looking for ways to casually compliment Knockoff and steer the conversation toward Demon Hunter.

Dohee didn’t disagree. Truthfully, even he thought Knockoff picked things up well. Once you taught him something, he never had to ask twice. If you showed him combo A for cycling skills, he’d come back the next day asking if combo B was a viable alternative. It wasn’t that he lacked game sense, he actually had a surprising amount.

Lately, Baek Dohee had completely set aside his own spec upgrades (not that he had much left to upgrade anyway) and thrown himself into raising Knockoff as a new supporter. And honestly, it felt good seeing Knockoff getting recognition from the other guild members.

[Guild]

YeohooHae: Well, the info’s not out yet anyway,

YeohooHae: So let’s just talk again once it drops.

YeohooHae: I mean, AssaGo’s not wrong.

YeohooHae: Once the details are out, we can quickly build a party,

YeohooHae: Let whoever needs to spec up do that,

YeohooHae: Have that group run some world raids to get coordinated,

YeohooHae: Sounds better, doesn’t it??

YeohooHae: Just my two cents, lol.

Everyone agreed with YeohooHae’s plan.

Eventually, one by one, the guildmates headed to bed. Dohee, meanwhile, kept grinding with Knockoff, who had logged on around five. His thoughts were still a mess the whole time. He zoned out so much that Knockoff ended up just standing still, waiting for him multiple times.

By the time the server shut down automatically for maintenance at 7 AM, Knockoff had already leveled up again. Even as he congratulated him, Dohee’s mind was spinning.

[Party] GOingSupporter187: AssaGo-nim… you’re really not going through something today, right…? 8ㅅ8

[Party] GOingSupporter187: I was scared I annoyed you by asking to play again… ㅠㅡㅠ

[Party] AssaGo: Nah, just got a lot on my mind.

[Party] AssaGo: Nothing’s happened or anything, lol

[Party] AssaGo: Maintenance goes till 11 anyway,

[Party] AssaGo: So go get some sleep and come back later tonight.

[Party] GOingSupporter187: Okay!! I heard there’s a new WindFestival event coming too ㅎㅅㅎ!!!

[Party] GOingSupporter187: I’m excited… might be something fun again… 8ㅅ8

Yeah… don’t know if you’ll be able to do any of that fun stuff.

If it turned out that Demon Hunter did need a support, the guild would do everything in its power to boost Knockoff’s level. But first, they had to persuade him. Just the thought gave Dohee a stomachache. A system alert appeared: server shutting down for scheduled maintenance. He powered down the computer and crawled into bed. His GameTalk chat pinged.

Knockoff

I’m on my way home.

I thought it was going to snow, but it’s raining… 88

Feels kind of like sleet…? ㅠㅡㅠ

Knockoff

Since you said you like winter,

do you like snow too…? 8 ㅁ 8

Dohee saw the message and let out a small laugh. Lately, Knockoff had started talking a lot more. Since they became friends, exchanged names, and even voice chatted a few times through GameTalk, things had gotten friendlier. Even Dohee could feel it, they were closer now. They’d been sharing more little stories and chatting about their preferences. Mostly, Moonhyuk asked questions, and Dohee answered.

Moonhyuk actually turned out to be pretty chatty. Dohee didn’t mind. In fact, he liked it, how Moonhyuk would start rambling about random things unprompted.

Me

I got sick of snow in the military.

I served over in Gangwon-do, so I don’t like snow.

I’m fine just looking at it, but–

Me

I hate it piling up on the car too.

Knockoff

Gasp… You served in the military!?

Me

??? LOL Didn’t you? Why are you so surprised? Everyone goes.

Knockoff

I just… didn’t think of that… 8 ㅁ 8

Me

How exactly do you see me, LOL

Knockoff

Ah… that’s not what I meant…! ㅠㅡㅠ

That’s not what I meant! 8 ㅅ 8

I just… um… just the vibe

Me

What, do I seem like some slacker who just games all day and skipped out on the army? LOL

Knockoff

8 ㅅ 8……

Me:

You’re not even denying it, LOLLLLLL

And the more they talked, the more Dohee realized just how different they were. Their hobbies, favorite colors, movies they liked–hell, even how their drinks. When Moonhyuk said he couldn’t drink coffee because it was too bitter and preferred chocolate drinks instead, Dohee had burst out laughing.

Moonhyuk had pouted, asking if he was being teased, and Dohee had quickly assured him that wasn’t the case. The laughter came from Dohee’s own imagination, he couldn’t help it. After all, he knew what Moonhyuk looked like. Just picturing that cold, model-like face sipping from a tiny chocolate drink was too much.

Usually, good-looking guys had an image to live up to, but not Moonhyuk.
And he was so ridiculously clueless that he didn’t even realize when girls were flirting with him. Dohee hadn’t gone digging to find out, it had just come up in casual GameTalk conversations. He recalled a message exchange they’d had a few days ago. It had been so absurdly funny, he could still remember it vividly.