A Drunken Friend and a New Alt

Even though Transparency’s image had been severely damaged by constantly getting thrashed by me, he was still known as a user with good control in the game.

Perhaps because of that, as news of Transparency roaming the village spread, his acquaintances nearby started posting in general chat.

[All/Cleopatra_Is_Pissed: Transparency LOLOLOLOL. Following a newbie again LOLOL.]

[All/IsHeATruePlayer: That bastarrrd is persisssstent as hell, but so pathetic;]

[All/IsHeATruePlayer: The newbie’s going to get scared and run away;]

[All/Transparency: Ah LOL; you guys go wash your feet and go to sleep LOL;]

[All/Cleopatra_Is_Pissed: SIR!!!11 RUN AWAY!!!1 That bastarrrd is a newbie pervert!!]

[All/MiraculousEnergy: He’s a newbie fanatic!!! Run away!!!!!!]

‘That much?’

It seemed everything he had said while drinking was true.

You know, that thing about the guild newbie who came to challenge me to a duel after I PK’d him.

I stared at Transparency’s character with a peculiar look and typed in chat.

[All/InappropriateNickname: I know.]

[All/Cleopatra_Is_Pissed: LOLOLOLOL. How famous do you have to be for even a newbie to know?]

[All/Transparency: What are you talking aboutㅡㅡ He’s my friend, you know?? LOL.]

[All/Cleopatra_Is_Pissed: The one who got drunk last time.]

[All/Cleopatra_Is_Pissed: That friend who said he’d kill SoonToDie instead of you?]

Cleopatra_Is_Pissed’s chat message left me dumbfounded.

‘Seriously, did he go around telling other people that too?’
‘This is driving me crazy.’

He might be my friend, but he really was a bastard who pulled all sorts of stunts.

‘I’m SoonToDie, so how could I PK myself and win?’

Even if I ran two computers simultaneously, I only had two hands for control, so it was impossible to play games that required both keyboard and mouse at the same time.

‘What the hell am I supposed to do about this?’

[All/Cleopatra_Is_Pissed: When will the newbie grow up and kill SoonToDieㅠㅠ]

[All/IsHeATruePlayer: Because he met the wrong friendㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

[All/IsHeATruePlayer: Hurry up and run awayㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

I want to too.

I want to escape before being crushed by the disaster I brought upon myself.

I typed in chat, following my train of thought.

[All/InappropriateNickname: Should I….]

[All/Transparency: Hul…]

[All/Transparency: I even bought you meat….]

[All/InappropriateNickname: What are you talking about?]

[All/InappropriateNickname: You got drunk and passed out, so I paid, remember?]

‘Who is he to say he bought me something?’

Since we mainly drank alcohol when we went for meat, the cost of the meat itself wasn’t much.

The problem was that he alone had drunk so much that the alcohol bill alone came out to tens of thousands of won.

‘What a useless bastard.’

[All/Transparency: I did… that…?]

[All/InappropriateNickname: Yes, you bastard.]

[All/Transparency: I’ll pay you back….]

[All/InappropriateNickname: It’s fine.]

[All/Transparency: As expected LOL. What’s so good about friends anyway LOL.]

[All/Cleopatra_Is_Pissed: I’m pissed off and dying LOLOLOL. Someone take that LOL key off his keyboard.]

‘My thoughts exactly.’
‘Should I go to Moon Young-yoon’s house later and pull out the ‘k’ key from his keyboard?’

While I was seriously contemplating this, a party invite from Transparency flew in.

I sighed deeply and accepted the party, then tilted my head sideways, seeing someone other than Transparency was present.

[Party/InappropriateNickname: Hello.]

[Party/InappropriateNickname: Someone else was here.]

[Party/SoulThresher: Hello.]

‘This person has an incredible nickname, huh?’

‘SoulThresher.’
‘Did his own soul get threshed, or does he intend to thresh other people’s souls?’

As I let out an exclamation of admiration at the unusual nickname, I then saw Transparency’s chat and stiffened.

‘So, what did he say?’

[Party/Transparency: This is the guild newbie who got PK’d by the SoonToDie I told you about LOL;]

[Party/Transparency: He’s leveled up a bit and is now 90, but back then, he wasn’t even level 10 LOL;]

[Party/InappropriateNickname: Uh… okay…]

‘I don’t remember a nickname like that, but if he says so, then it must be.’

The period during which I went around PK-ing was short, but at that time, many users played the newly released Gunner class, so the number of kills exceeded double digits, and I didn’t usually remember the nicknames of those I killed, so it didn’t stick in my mind.

‘You were a newbie. My apologies.’

[Party/SoulThresher: It’s okay hehe.]

[Party/SoulThresher: That person said I was a newbie, so he killed me for a million gold.]

‘So I did kill him then.’

If they were an alt, I killed them without question. If they were a newbie, I gave them gold, then killed them.

I would tell them that since they were a newbie and probably didn’t have much money, they should use it to repair their gear.
The situation was already funny, but SoulThresher’s next chat was even more absurd.

[Party/SoulThresher: I’m steadily gathering it, getting my gear, and then I’ll go kill him.]

[Party/InappropriateNickname: A person who stands out from an early age, I see.]

I admired his calm yet scathing chat.

‘Do people usually think like that?’
‘Don’t they just shrug it off as a bad experience?’
‘Am I the weird one, or is he?’

He said that since he was a Gunner and got PK’d, he wanted to kill SoonToDie with a Gunner, the class SoonToDie hated.

He was truly an amazing person in many ways.

[Party/Transparency: Let’s go to a dungeon now LOL.]

[Party/Transparency: What level is Inappropriate? LOL.]

[Party/InappropriateNickname: ‘Inappropriate’ my ass;; Can’t you stop with the LOLs? I really want to kill you.]

[Party/Transparency: Why LOL? It’s good LOL.]

‘Haha, you bastard.’
‘What a drama queen.’
‘It’s a good thing there’s no keyboard in real life.’

If I saw that behavior in real life, that day… I’d die, probably.
Because I’m weak.

[Party/Transparency: But your level is pretty high, huh? LOL. 32?]

[Party/Transparency: You didn’t start today, did you? LOL.]

My fingertips trembled slightly at Transparency’s chat.

‘What should I answer?’

After the Berserker received an extreme nerf, I was so annoyed that I briefly tried a Battle Mage, which was said to have good performance.

It didn’t suit my hands at all, so I quit quickly.

The level I reached was 32.

It was a level difficult for a beginner to achieve in one day, but considering I had quit in the middle, it wasn’t bad.

[Party/InappropriateNickname: I told you I tried it once before.]

[Party/Transparency: Hul LOL.]

[Party/Transparency: Why don’t I remember LOL;]

[Party/Transparency: You should have called me when you were leveling LOL. I would have given you a bus ride LOL.]

[Party/InappropriateNickname: You didn’t say you were playing Frisia.]

[Party/SoulThresher: I’ve seen you before.]

[Party/InappropriateNickname: Me?]

‘Where?’

This character was one I barely used before abandoning it.

I knew all the dungeon mechanics, so I hadn’t done any party play, so we shouldn’t have met, right?

I waited for SoulThresher’s chat with a stiff expression.

‘No way, does he know I’m SoonToDie?’

[Party/SoulThresher: Didn’t you run a dungeon a few days ago?]

[Party/SoulThresher: Random matching.]

[Party/InappropriateNickname: ?]

‘What is he talking about?’

[Party/InappropriateNickname: I think you’re mistaken me for someone else.]

[Party/InappropriateNickname: I haven’t played for months, and I just logged in after a long time, so there’s no way you’d know me, right?]

[Party/SoulThresher: Ah.]

In the first place, it was absurd to say he had seen a character I briefly played months ago and then quit.

SoulThresher said he was a newbie when I was actively PK-ing Gunners, so he had only started playing the game about a month ago, hadn’t he?

I picked at the keyboard, my heart filled with a vague unease.

My instincts screamed at me to get out of here.

[Party/InappropriateNickname: First of all,]

[Party/InappropriateNickname: The level difference is too great, so playing together might be a bit difficult.]

[Party/InappropriateNickname: Let’s play after I level up a bit more.]

[Party/SoulThresher: I’m fine hehehe.]

[Party/Transparency: Eh, just play together. I’ll carry you LOL.]

‘Uh, no thanks.’
‘What could be more humiliating than leveling up with Transparency’s carry?’
‘It would probably be slower than me soloing dungeons anyway.’

While Transparency and I bickered, SoulThresher sent a message saying he’d see us again next time and then immediately left the party.

I looked at the party window, where only the two of us remained, and asked Transparency.

[Party/InappropriateNickname: Is that person really a newbie?]

[Party/Transparency: Yes LOL. Why? LOL.]

[Party/InappropriateNickname: Because he doesn’t seem like a newbie.]

‘Why do I feel the scent of a familiar veteran player from a strange newbie?’

I quietly took in the chat I had with SoulThresher, then soon erased the thought of him from my mind.

‘Well, it’s none of my business.’

‘Transparency will handle it.’

(3)

I stared blankly, lost in thought.

My gaze was fixed on the monitor screen, but my mind was completely empty.

Clack-clack-clack, the sound of typing echoed in the room, creating an annoying noise, but I couldn’t hear it through my headphones.

“‘F-ck… why do I have to do this crap?’”

It was annoying that I had to level up a low-level character again, leaving my main, DontOrderMe, which was practically my main character, just to satisfy Moon Young-yoon and send him off.

‘Do I really have to go this far?’

Even if I told him I was SoonToDie, the fact that he was my university classmate wouldn’t disappear, so would he really try to kill me?

‘Just because I lost in a game?’

‘It’s too likely, so I have nothing to say.’

That guy might actually do it.
Well, not literally kill me, but wouldn’t he grab me by the collar and shake me violently?

‘It’s better to just be shaken.’

I gritted my teeth, looking at InappropriateNickname, who was only dishing out minuscule damage, then slowly closed my eyes.

‘I really can’t do this anymore.’

I fundamentally disliked boredom.

The reason I was so engrossed in games was that new updates constantly brought new content to enjoy.

I opened my eyes again, pulled out my phone, and called Moon Young-yoon.