New Discoveries and Old Friends

After spending the entire night until dawn in the Arena playing PvP, my ranking had, at some point, entered the top 100.

When the sun was high in the sky, I got up, staggered to the bathroom, and was forced to look at my utterly haggard and pale, rotten face.

‘What sin did I commit in my past life…?’

‘Did I commit a sin in this life?’
‘Is PK-ing a sin?’
‘I did it according to the rules set within the game, didn’t I?’

I somehow felt like I should be crying, but unfortunately, my eyes were dry.

I washed my face with cold water, came out, and checked my phone.

There were no messages other than the guild group chat.

[Lee Seyoung: Are SoonToDie-nim and Transparency really real-life friends??]

[Im Hyerin: They say they’re university classmates.]

[Im Hyerin: Since SoonToDie is a university student, maybe university classmates…?]

[Lee Seyoung: LOLOLOLOL. So SoonToDie-nim was going around killing his own real-life friend…]

[Kim Hyunho: I pray in the name of the Lord. Amen.]

[Im Hyerin: What are you praying for? LOLOLOL.]

[Kim Hyunho: It has no particular meaning.]

[Jung Taewon: LOLOLOLOL. Oh dear.]

‘Funny, huh? Is my suffering funny to you?’

Of course, they didn’t know what had happened between Moon Young-yoon and me.

They didn’t know that I had listened to all sorts of baby talk while on the phone with that guy, thrown my phone, picked it up again, and then heard the sound of him retching.

‘I know, but it’s still pissing me off, isn’t it?’

[You laughing?]

[Im Hyerin: LOLOLOLOLOL. SoonToDie, are you here? Welcome ^^]

[You laughing?]

[Im Hyerin: Yup!!]

[If you make that “yup” sound one more time, I’ll send five trillion, five billion PvP challenges.]

[Im Hyerin: Y-yes? Why?]

[Lee Seyoung: LOLOLOLOL. SoonToDie-nim, why are you so pissed off…?]

‘If I were to explain that, the story would be too long, so I won’t.’

Pouting my lower lip, I put down my phone and pressed my temples, trying to shake off the fatigue.

‘I definitely fell asleep around 4 AM and woke up now, past 2 PM, so why am I so tired?’

Leaning back in my chair, I stared blankly into space.

‘What should I call this?’
‘Perhaps the feeling of being in a groggy state after pushing myself too hard.’

I yawned broadly and, out of habit, turned on my computer and logged into Frisia.
Stretching here and there to loosen my stiff body was an added bonus.

[Whisper/IsHeATruePlayer>DontOrderMe: You, what’s your relationship with Transparency?]

[Whisper/IsHeATruePlayer>DontOrderMe: Weren’t you guys on bad terms?]

‘What is this now?’

I slowly blinked at the whisper that arrived as soon as I logged in, then immediately blocked him.

It wouldn’t be difficult to answer, but why bother?
However, the one sending me whispers wasn’t just the ‘IsHeATruePlayer’ from earlier.

[Whisper/MiraculousEnergy>DontOrderMe: What did you do with Transparency yesterday?]

[Whisper/MiraculousEnergy>DontOrderMe: Did you make up?]

[Whisper/Cleopatra_Is_Pissed>DontOrderMe: When you told him to go to sleep, Transparency went to sleep, so what’s your relationship?]

[Whisper/Did_I_Get_Him>DontOrderMe: You, are you close with Transparency?]

[Whisper/MiraculousEnergy>DontOrderMe: Hey, answer me, don’t ignore.]

“Haa…”

I turned on the option to block all whispers.
And just like that, the flood of whispers disappeared.

‘Indeed, I should always keep whispers blocked.’
As soon as I decided that, a shout message popped up.

[Shout/MiraculousEnergy: He blocked me LOL;]

[Shout/IsHeATruePlayer: So what’s your relationship~~~~~]

[Shout/MiraculousEnergy: F-ck LOLOLOL. Is asking that a crime? LOLOL.]

[Shout/IsHeATruePlayer: Our Transparency isn’t like that!!]

[Shout/Cleopatra_Is_Pissed: Exactly! He’s the guy who asked his real-life friend to kill SoonToDie!!]

[Shout/Cleopatra_Is_Pissed: And such a person just let it go without fighting?!]

‘Ah, my head hurts.’
‘Why are these irrelevant third parties so nosy?’

I pressed my temples instead of my eyelids and gritted my teeth.
‘Moon Young-yoon, you bastard, I’m going to catch you and thrash you.’

[Shout/DontOrderMe: He’s my real-life friend, are you happy, you bastards?]

[Shout/UniversityTuition: ?]

[Shout/IsHeATruePlayer: Whaaat??]

‘Why are they so nosy about other people’s business? It’s infuriating.’

I irritably ruffled my hair and glared at the monitor.

‘Let’s see what they babble about now that I’ve said he’s my real-life friend.’

I unblocked whispers, and exactly one whisper arrived.

[Whisper/IsHeATruePlayer>DontOrderMe: Are you really real-life friends with Transparency?]

[Whisper/IsHeATruePlayer>DontOrderMe: No, everyone’s talking about a real-life fight and stuff.]

[Whisper/IsHeATruePlayer>DontOrderMe: I really thought it was true…]

‘Look at this bastard?’
‘Isn’t it polite to apologize before making excuses?’

In a fit of pique, I was about to hurl some insults, but I froze with a dumbfounded expression as the next whisper from IsHeATruePlayer arrived.

[Whisper/IsHeATruePlayer>DontOrderMe: I’m also real-life friends with Transparency,,,]

[Whisper/IsHeATruePlayer>DontOrderMe: Are you a classmate from our university,,?]

“What?”

‘University classmate?’
‘With Transparency, no, Moon Young-yoon, from university?’
‘Then that means he’s my classmate too…?’

My mind raced through the friends of Moon Young-yoon I knew.

[Whisper/DontOrderMe>IsHeATruePlayer: You, you bastard, who are you?]

[Whisper/IsHeATruePlayer>DontOrderMe: Choi Young-soo.]

[Whisper/DontOrderMe>IsHeATruePlayer: You’re Choi Young-soo?? You played Frisia???]

[Whisper/IsHeATruePlayer>DontOrderMe: LOLOLOLOL. For real, you were a university classmate. Who are you?]

[Whisper/DontOrderMe>IsHeATruePlayer: Park Jungwoo.]

[Whisper/IsHeATruePlayer>DontOrderMe: YOU LOLOLOLOL. Young-yoon’s mom LOLOLOLOL. Mom was SoonToDie??? LOLOLOLOL.]

[Whisper/DontOrderMe>IsHeATruePlayer: Why am I Moon Young-yoon’s mom, you bastard? Who told you that?]

[Whisper/IsHeATruePlayer>DontOrderMe: Last time LOLOLOL. When Moon Young was totally wasted, Jae-hyung told me? LOLOLOL. That Young-yoon’s mom was too weak, so he left drunk Moon Young to her LOLOLOL.]

‘That bastard spread that around.’

I remembered when Moon Young-yoon had gotten so drunk he passed out, and I had passed him off to a classmate I met nearby before going home.

I swallowed a spontaneous sigh and bit my lower lip hard, vowing that I wouldn’t let Moon Young-yoon, or that classmate, Kim Jae-hyung, get away with this.

[Whisper/DontOrderMe>IsHeATruePlayer: Don’t call me that kind of name;]

[Whisper/IsHeATruePlayer>DontOrderMe: Okay LOLOLOL. First of all, I’m sorry. I really thought you two had a real-life fight. I’ll explain to the others.]

[Whisper/DontOrderMe>IsHeATruePlayer: If another rumor spreads, then I’ll actually have a real-life fight.]

[Whisper/IsHeATruePlayer>DontOrderMe: You? LOLOLOLOL. Ah, okay LOLOLOL.]

‘This is pathetic.’

Even if I had a real-life fight, I’d be the one losing.
However, what if I thought about it this way?

Despite all this, Moon Young-yoon and I were not only on good terms, but I was also his mega best friend in our department.

I quirked one corner of my mouth into a crooked smile, pulled out my phone, and called Moon Young-yoon.

The phone rang, and soon after, Moon Young-yoon answered.

– Huh? Why?

“—You know Choi Young-soo, right?”

– Yeah, yeah. Why him?

“—Yesterday, you got drunk and caused a huge scene. In-game, too.”

– Uh… sorry…

“—I can let that slide, but after that, when I logged into the game, your acquaintances started whisper-bombing me, especially MiraculousEnergy or whatever his name is.”

– Oh? Really? But that… never mind. And then?

‘What, how bland.’
I was puzzled by Moon Young-yoon’s somehow awkward answer, but since I had to say what I needed to say, I vaguely accepted it and continued.

“—Right. Choi Young-soo is IsHeATruePlayer, right? He sent me a bomb too. You two sort them out. I’m seriously pissed off.”

Moon Young-yoon must have realized this wasn’t a joke, as he responded in what he probably considered a serious tone, given my clearly annoyed voice.

– Hey, I’m really sorry. I didn’t know they’d do that. I’ll talk to them properly.

“—Tell them properly. If it happens one more time, then they’re dead, you’re dead, and I survive.”

– You survive alone… No, alright. I’ll tell them.

The call ended, and feeling a sense of relief as if I had taken stomach medicine, I hummed a tune and continued playing the game.

‘Thrilling, fun, messing with people is the best!’

Now, it felt like no matter what blockhead tried to pick a fight, I could just shrug it off.

[Whisper/MiraculousEnergy>DontOrderMe: You’re Park Jungwoo, right?]

‘What is this now?’

I was busy PvP-ing and climbing the ranks when I glanced at the sudden whisper, ignored it, and didn’t reply.

‘My ranking is on the line right now, you know?’
‘I’m in the middle of a fight, you know?’
‘I’m a Berserker whose DPS goes to hell if I flub a skill, so I have to play with my brain fully engaged, you know?’
‘So just figure it out yourself.’