LS 71

[System] Guild member ‘AssaGo’ has logged in.

[System] Guild member ‘GOingSupporter187’ has logged in.

[Guild] SoftRiceCake: Oh, AssaGo, look who’s finally online before noon, lol.

[Guild] SoftRiceCake: Even if it’s only two minutes before 12, hahaha.

[Guild] Oreckthat: AssaGo-chan, hewwo~ ~(＾◇^)/

[Guild] SiblingSpicyNoodle: ** How ancient is that greeting?ㅡㅡ;;

[Guild] Oreckthat: Whether it’s “hewwo” or “hi” or “hello”…

[Guild] Oreckthat: Now Oreckthat is saddies…… •́︿•̀｡

[Guild] SiblingSpicyNoodle: Please do get sad;;;

[Guild] Tando: Welcome, AssaGo! Hehe

[Guild] AssaGo: Hi

[Guild] GOingSupporter187: Hello!!! ㅎㅅㅎ

[Guild] SiblingSpicyNoodle: ????? LOL First time seeing IngSupp at this hour

[Guild] SiblingSpicyNoodle: Is it really you? LOL

[Guild] SoftRiceCake: AssaGo is nailing this double-role play LOL

[Guild] AssaGo: You idiots, it’s really him

[Guild] GOingSupporter187: 8ㅅ8… It really is me…ㅠㅡㅠ

[Guild] Tando: Haha, it’s just that you rarely log in before noon ^^ Everyone’s excited~

[Guild] SiblingSpicyNoodle: Shut up;; It’s not my fault the sun rose in the east;;

[Guild] Tando: The sun always rises in the east ^^

[Guild] SiblingSpicyNoodle: Ah ** typo;;

[Guild] Tando: Okay, sweat-guy~ㅎㅎ

[Guild] SoftRiceCake: LOL you can’t even break even nowㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Guild] Tando: Anyway, you two logged in together? Are you doing hidden quests together? ㅎㅎ

[Guild] AssaGo: He’s at my place

[Guild] SoftRiceCake: Holy crap, LOL When did you two get that far???

[Guild] AssaGo: You crazy? LOL

[Guild] AssaGo: We’re just starting hidden quests now

Inside the apartment, the scent of kimchi stew still lingered. He’d opened all the windows, but kimchi was truly formidable. Moonhyuk really had eaten two bowls of rice, though. Watching him empty both bowls made Dohee forget the annoyance of cooking so early in the morning. Not that Dohee really noticed if the food went into his mouth or his nose. He’d been too distracted stealing glances at Kwon Moonhyuk. If he was being completely honest, Moonhyuk looked far more delicious than the stew. The moment that thought crossed his mind, Dohee mentally chastised himself.

‘You’ve completely lost it, huh?’

They’d gone to bed pretty late, yet when Dohee opened his eyes, Moonhyuk was already sitting blankly at the kitchen table. Knowing Moonhyuk was in the house made Dohee’s sleep shallow, and he woke up earlier than usual. Yet, when he stepped into the living room, Moonhyuk didn’t look sleepy at all. In fact, he’d already showered and sat quietly with slightly damp hair, looking at his phone. When asked what he was doing, he simply said, “Reading news articles.” Online news articles.

A man whose morning routine involved showering and reading news articles online…? Dohee had never met anyone like that before. This guy was genuinely the most unique character he’d ever encountered. Dohee was speechless for a moment.

When asked if he’d slept well, Moonhyuk replied shyly, saying he’d slept so deeply he couldn’t remember anything. He’d praised the mattress repeatedly, blushing as he described how fluffy and comfortable it was. Dohee had scoffed lightly, he was glad Moonhyuk had slept so well, but he couldn’t help feeling slightly cheated.

—“Um… did you sleep well?”

When Moonhyuk cautiously asked him back, Dohee had just nodded silently. Sleep well, my ass. Who in their right mind could sleep soundly knowing another guy was sleeping right next door? But Dohee forced a relaxed smile. If he showed even a hint of discomfort, this coward might bolt out the door and never step foot in the building again.

[Guild] Tando: Oh, by the way, did you know the prelude quest is up now? ㅎㅎ

[Guild] SoftRiceCake: The crazy devs did emergency maintenance at 7 AM LOL

[Guild] PrettyHealerHyung: Welcome, you two!! I was bored because of the sudden maintenanceㅠㅠㅠㅋㅋ

[Guild] SoftRiceCake: How are you even up that early LOL

[Guild] PrettyHealerHyung: My body’s still adjusted to morning classes…ㅠㅠㅠ

[Guild] SoftRiceCake: Damn, you scare me sometimes, I bet you even have good grades

[Guild] PrettyHealerHyung: Hehe…

[Guild] SoftRiceCake: Wait, are you laughing? Laughing at me?

[Guild] PrettyHealerHyung: LOL hehehe

[Guild] Tando: I bet PrettyHealerHyung’s grades really are good ㅎㅎ

Apparently, they’d released the prelude quests after an emergency maintenance that morning. Hearing it was actually out, after weeks of rumors, felt strangely surreal. The Demon Hunter Raid really was approaching.

[Guild] AssaGo: Did everyone do the prelude quest already?

[Guild] PrettyHealerHyung: I haven’t yet, had to run an errand for my momㅠㅠㅠ

[Guild] SiblingSpicyNoodle: Me neither. Wanna upgrade my weapon first but the mats are freaking expensive. Why isn’t Daeyoung online?

[Guild] SiblingSpicyNoodle: He’s never here when I need him. Who has Kim Daeyoung’s number??ㅡㅡ;;

[Guild] Tando: Want me to lend you some? ㅎㅎ

[Guild] SiblingSpicyNoodle: ?? You have some??? ** Why say this now ** AH!!!! How many do you have???

[Guild] Tando: Two~*^^*

[Guild] SiblingSpicyNoodle: Damn, if I had one more, I could enhance right now. Mail pls

[Guild] Tando: Pay me back with two ^^

[Guild] SiblingSpicyNoodle: ?? I’ll pay gold;; Been farming raids for a month straight

[Guild] Tando: Then no lending ㅎㅎ

[Guild] SiblingSpicyNoodle: ??? Wtf is this psycho?

[Guild] SoftRiceCake: Ah~ harmony as usual LOL

[Guild] AssaGo: Noodle, you still don’t have max enhance? LOL

[Guild] SiblingSpicyNoodle: ……..

[Guild] Tando: Max level but not max enhance? That’s so cold-hearted ㅎㅎ

[Guild] SiblingSpicyNoodle: Ah ** Stupid SoGod!!!! Why is RNG always against me???

[Guild] Tando: Maybe if you had a kinder heart ㅎㅎ

[Guild] Oreckthat: But Tando’s luck is way too good~ unfair~(•̥́_•ૅू˳)

[Guild] AssaGo: LOL Took me around 14 tries too

[Guild] SoftRiceCake: Damn, AssaGo wasted tons of money too LOL

[Guild] AssaGo: Prices were way higher back then. Good luck tho

[Guild] SiblingSpicyNoodle: …Already at my 7th try…

“Prelude quest…?”

Dohee heard Moonhyuk, who was sitting next to him, mumble under his breath. He turned his head slightly to look at Moonhyuk. To think he could see him just by turning his head, maybe today would be a good day after all.

“Before the Demon Hunter raid update goes live, there’s something called a prelude quest that comes out first. It’s a prerequisite quest, and you have to complete it all before you can enter the raid. We’ll need to do it too. Whenever a new raid drops, the prelude quest always comes first, and while you’re doing it, you can get raid hints or even entry items sometimes.”

“Oh… so, um… should we do the prelude quest today, then? Do that first?”

Moonhyuk blinked. His eyes sparkled like glass. So pretty. Dohee let out a small laugh and shook his head.

“No?”

“Then…?”

“It’s not something we have to rush to do, and prelude quests are usually pretty short, so they go by quickly. You’ve got a hidden quest that’s more urgent, so let’s knock out today’s dailies first, then go do the hidden quest.”

“Oh, okay!”

He nodded enthusiastically. After chatting over breakfast, maybe he was starting to feel more at ease, he seemed to be using honorifics a lot less now. Or maybe that was just Dohee’s imagination? Either way, it didn’t really matter. There was no need to rush. As long as they got more comfortable over time, as long as things gradually eased up, that was good enough.

As Moonhyuk tore a Ladenska return scroll to go gather Dawn Roses, he asked Dohee another question.

“By the way… that enhancement Noodle-nim was talking about…?”

“Hm?”

“The weapon enhancement?”

“Oh, right. You’ll need to do it too.”

“Uh…?”

“Level cap is 150 now, right?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“But the gear only goes up to the level 140 set.”

“Huh?”

“The 150 set hasn’t been released yet. So you can’t craft anything beyond 140. Once you hit 140, everyone crafts the level 140 set and switches over to that. Starting from level 140 weapons, you can start enhancing them. The materials are pretty rare, and they’re expensive too. Some people even say SoGod really starts at level 140.”

“Wow…”

“But you’ve still got a ways to go. From level 135, the EXP curve ramps up exponentially, and it’s hard to power-level by getting carried like this.”

“Then I really do have a long way to go…”

His voice drooped a little. Even though he’d caught every ride he could and zoomed up to level 125, it seemed he was already getting greedy for more.

“Why? You wanna hit max level?”

“Yeah…”

“You’ve got a ways to go, hyung. But if you keep at it steadily, you’ll get there. I’ll help you with crafting gear.”

Hearing that, Moonhyuk’s eyes sparkled again as he nodded eagerly. Seriously, he was just too cute. He hadn’t changed much from those newbie days when he couldn’t even equip a proper set weapon, yet here he was, already chasing max level. He was growing fast, sure, but to Dohee, Moonhyuk still seemed like a freshly sprouted bud. He sometimes wondered when this kid would finally grow up–but at the same time, he had a strange feeling that when Moonhyuk did finally get used to everything in SoGod, it might actually make him feel a little… lonely.