Arena Antics and Real-Life Reunions

Days passed since forming the raid group with PatchNote and YearRound.

We decided to recruit new members later, but YearRound joined RunawayTrain Guild, and after several *Iskaria* runs, everyone geared up decently.
What a wild week.

“Guess I’ll hit the arena today.”

Since the PVP ranking system dropped, I’d been grinding it casually, but my rank was stuck.
No raid group today, so time to climb.
Humming, I logged in and headed to the arena.

[Guild/Beta: Yo, SoonToDie ㅎㅇ]

[Guild/Beta: Whatcha up to?]

[Guild/DontOrderMe: PVP.]

[Guild/Beta: ?]

[Guild/OneHitForTheLord: Didn’t you say no PK?]

[Guild/DontOrderMe: Typo, I meant PVP, ranking grind.]

[Guild/Beta: Oh… don’t meet me in there…]

[Guild/DontOrderMe: lol]

If we meet, you’re dead. Cleanly dead.
Grinning, I entered the arena.

It’s morning on a weekend, so matchmaking was slow.
With so few players, it took at least a minute to find a match.
PVP’s less popular than PVE in this game—can’t help it.

Loading finished, I entered the arena and chuckled at the opponent’s name.
Well, look at that.

[All/Transparent: Damn it.]

[All/DontOrderMe: Who’s this? So transparent, I can’t see the Transparent!]

[All/Transparent: Look at this guy’s trash talk ;]

[All/DontOrderMe: Got owned, huh? Beaten once already, right?]

[All/DontOrderMe: You’re already dead.]

“Meeting like this? Hilarious.”

Who’d have thought I’d run into Transparent here?
Laughing aloud, I gripped my mouse and keyboard, focusing on PVP.

Wonder how much he’s improved.
Let’s test him with the old trick.

I opened with a level-1 cancel, locking down Transparent’s movement.
Even post-coffin Berserker, the level-1 cancel wasn’t patched—timing’s tricky, few use Berserkers, and other classes have similar skills.

[All/Transparent: This jerk’s playing dirty again ;;;;]

[All/DontOrderMe: Mad? Do it yourself.]

[All/DontOrderMe: Oh, brain too transparent to know how? My bad ;;]

He dodged my taunts with angry moves.
Seems he studied Berserkers—backstepping my level-1 cancels, retreating, then re-engaging.
This guy’s gotten better.

“Still not enough.”

Scratching my neck, I stunned him, chained combos, and kept the pressure on.
His paper-thin character crumpled fast.
Watching my character’s victory pose, I grinned and threw one last jab.

[All/DontOrderMe: Transparent, living up to the name! So invisible, so’s his skill!]

[All/Transparent: This **** really **** **]

[All/DontOrderMe: Come back stronger.]

So fun.
His every reaction was gold—never gets old.

If he’d muted, I’d be bored.
Transparent’s keeping me entertained.
Chuckling alone, I looked up at the next match ping and burst out laughing.

“Pfft! Hahaha!”

[All/Transparent: Goddamn **]

[All/DontOrderMe: lolololololol]

[All/DontOrderMe: Two free wins, thx]

Perfect.
Free wins are the best!
I matched Transparent five times in a row.
He started cursing hard, then quieted, and by the last match, he just played silently and left.

“Was I too harsh?”

PVP’s like that, though.
Not like I PK’d him like before, so it’s fine, right?

—

(5)

Stretching my stiff body from gaming, my phone buzzed like crazy.
What’s this? No one should be texting.
Checking, I saw messages from one person.

[MoonYoungNohm: Yo]

[MoonYoungNohm: Yo]

[MoonYoungNohm: Yo]

The buzzing made me think it was a call, but it was just texts.
‘MoonYoungNohm’—Moon Youngyoon, a college friend.
Living nearby and super nosy, we got close somehow.
Tilting my head at his aggressive texts, I picked up my phone.

[Y]

[MoonYoungNohm: Why so slow?]

[MoonYoungNohm: I got a problem ㅠ]

[So annoying]

[MoonYoungNohm: Jerk]

Too annoying to deal with.
I need to eat and game.
I’d ignore him, but he’s a close friend—one of my few from college.
Suppressing my hunger and irritation, I replied once.

[What]

[MoonYoungNohm: Thinking of quitting gaming…]

[So annoying]

[MoonYoungNohm: Jerk]

Over this nonsense, I closed the chat and set my phone down.
Then a call came through.
What’s his deal, so persistent?
Human or leech?
I rejected the call six times.
I gave up—he’d show up at my place if I turned my phone off.

“Keep it under 20 words.”

– What’s a jobless guy so busy for? Come drink.

“Drinking in broad daylight? Pass. I’m not dealing with your drunken whining.”

– That’s all our friendship’s worth?! It’s 6 PM, you idiot!

“Oh.”

Putting him on speaker, I half-listened to his chatter.
I’m not talkative, so why are my friends such chatterboxes?
Machine guns take more breaks.
Lying on my bed, chin propped, I nearly dislocated my jaw at one word.

– I play this game, Freesia? Kinda a veteran.

“…What game?”

– Freesia. Dying game, heard of it?

Heard of it?
I’m a veteran of that dying game.
Youngyoon and I usually talked assignments, so we knew we gamed but not what games.
Didn’t see the need to game together—meeting IRL was enough.

I was the one who said no gaming together.
Nine times out of ten, he’d drag me to a PC café post-lecture.
I just want to game quietly.

“Why Freesia?”

– Curious? Come out.

“Listen to your whining? Just kill me.”

– Who said I’d get drunk? If you got drunk first! Huh? No chance of that! Kaak! Ptoo!

“Ugh, gross. Hanging up.”

– Bro, I’ll buy samgyeopsal, just come! That BBQ place by the station! 20 minutes or I’m storming your place!

That’s worse.
Shoving my phone in my pocket, I grabbed my coat.
It’s cold—why meet outside?

Opening the window, I saw snow falling.
Ground’s gonna be a mess.
Can’t we drink over voice chat instead?

Youngyoon, despite his looks, keeps his word.
If I don’t show in 20 minutes, he’ll invade.

And when he does, my place turns into a warzone—not a metaphor.
He’d mess up my tiny room so bad I’d need a full cleanup.
Cleaning’s worse than going out.

“Hey! Over here!”

“…Can’t we drink online?”

“Man, you need fresh air! That’s why you’re so pale! Vitamin D deficiency!”

No sun with these clouds.
It’s as gloomy as my curtained room—what’s the difference?

My face soured at his nonsense, but Youngyoon, unfazed, slung an arm over my shoulder and dragged me into the BBQ place.
The warm interior prickled my skin compared to the cold outside.

Scratching my thigh, he smacked my hand and glared.
Why the stink-eye?

Sitting near a heater, he ordered, cracked open soju, and sighed dramatically.
How serious is this talk if he’s sighing?

Wasn’t it about gaming?
Pouring soju, he spoke slowly.

“Keep losing in PVP…”

—