Confessions and a Drunken Cat Lover

The ringing tone resonated in my ears, and not long after, he answered the phone.

“Didn’t expect you to answer on the first try.”

– …? Why are you picking a fight as soon as I answer?

“You, want to go for a drink?”

– Suddenly?

I heard his surprised voice over the phone.
He told me to wait a moment, then, agreeing, asked where we should meet and hung up.

‘To think he’d meet so readily.’
I never imagined it.

I pulled out the clothes I had casually spread on the drying rack and changed, finally putting on my warm long padded jacket before heading out.

The cold air that hit me immediately made me frown.

‘What was the temperature today again? Minus 1 degree, or 10 degrees? I can’t quite recall.’
Pushing my fuzzy memory aside, I slowly headed to the meeting place.

“Crazy weather…”

It was cold.
So cold my face felt like it was going to tear off.

‘If I had known, I would have dressed warmer and worn a roasted chestnut hat.’
My steps quickened with belated regret.

‘I just want to get there quickly and go inside a warm building.’

Thus, I arrived at the destination with unusually quick steps, and seeing Moon Young-yoon already there, I showed a slightly surprised expression.

“Why are you so early?”

“My house is super close to here, you know. You rarely call, so I just threw on a coat and came right out.”

“Is that so. It’s cold, let’s go inside.”

The meeting place was a samgyeopsal restaurant I had been to once before.
Honestly, other places were too far, and I didn’t want to go.

It was cold, and I was too lazy to go far.

Moon Young-yoon, who had ordered after sitting down at a suitable spot, immediately got to the point.

‘This guy is also as straightforward as me.’

“So, what’s up? Why are you suddenly suggesting drinks?”

“I’m thinking of quitting the game.”

“Nope, bullshit.”

‘This bastard?’
When I stared at Moon Young-yoon with a serious face, he snorted and told me to cut the crap.

“A gamer talks nonsense, right? If you actually quit, when school starts, I’ll be your minion.”

“You know me too well, damn it? I might have to kill you.”

“Yes, next gamer.”

“Bastard.”

Well, I wasn’t actually planning to quit.
It was merely a build-up to tell him something I had forgotten, or been too lazy, to tell him until now.

I pouted my lower lip, expressing my dissatisfaction, and Moon Young-yoon replied, telling me not to talk nonsense, as he opened a soju bottle.

I received the drink he poured into my glass and chugged it.

“Transparency.”

“Park Jungwoo-ssi, what kind of awful manners are those, calling out a nickname outside?”

“I’m SoonToDie.”

“…What?”

Moon Young-yoon blinked slowly, as if he hadn’t understood my words, then crumpled his already unattractive face and chugged a mouthful of soju.

“‘F-ck….’ You should have told me sooner.”

“You didn’t ask.”

“Even so, the moment you found out I was Transparency, you should have told me! This is a betrayal!”

He repeatedly poured soju into his glass and chugged it.

He seemed to be feeling quite raw inside.

‘I’m scared this will end up like last time.’

‘This bastard is a lost cause when he’s drunk.’

Moon Young-yoon set his glass down with a clink, buried his face in both hands, and said in a lamenting voice.

“Then I’m… an idiot who talked trash about him right to his face, after catching him….”

‘Did he just realize that?’
I subtly leaned back and corrected one thing he had missed.

“And you’re also an idiot who asked the person himself to kill the person himself.”

“Do you want to die?”

“Kill me if you can.”

I shrugged and retorted casually, and Moon Young-yoon poured alcohol into his glass and immediately drank it.

‘No, seriously, stop drinking so much. I’ll have to clean up after you.’

“Annoying, aren’t I? Follow me to the Arena.”

“Are you confident you can win?”

“Bastard…”

‘Yes, next dual blade who got thrashed by 1-pyeong.’

He chuckled and poured alcohol into my glass.
Seeing the soju, as transparent as his nickname… my stomach felt heavy.

‘Ah, maybe I shouldn’t drink it after all.’

“Relax your face. I can see everything you’re thinking.”

“Ah, caught.”

My expression wasn’t usually that easy to read, so how did he figure it out?

I grinned, clinking glasses with Moon Young-yoon.

The clear chime of glass released the twisted corner of my mouth.

“Transparency.”

“Ah, don’t call me by my nickname outside! What kind of manners are those?!”

“If you don’t have a raid team, do you want to join us?”

“Oh? A raid team?”

‘What kind of raid team?’ His eyes seemed to ask.

All this time, the guild members had formed a raid team and continued farming Iskaria.

RetirementWish had joined the raid team recently, but they were basically office workers, weren’t they?

If they found new jobs later, there was a high probability they would leave the raid team.

“Even if I don’t know the exact period, don’t you think a new raid will come out in two or three months? I want to bring one more melee DPS, want to join the raid team?”

“What are you going to do with a thrashed dual blade?”

“Ah, this bastard really holds a grudge.”

‘Petty, so petty.’
‘How are you going to live your life being so petty?’

“Hey, our raid team’s damage is insane, okay? There aren’t many raid teams that can carry this much. For a thrashed dual blade, isn’t this a total win?”

“Where did my opinion go?”

“Why should I care about your opinion? Why specifically?”

“This bastard has no conscience, huh?”

‘That conscience, I sold it off ages ago, back in the old days.’

If I had any conscience, I wouldn’t have massacred Gunners just because Altania died.

Even I thought it was truly bad manners.

‘Honestly, the users weren’t at fault, were they? The game operator was the bastard.’

In conclusion, Transparency, no, Moon Young-yoon, refused my offer.

The superficial reason was that he was already active in a raid team, but if I considered his true feelings, it was probably because he didn’t want to play with my in-game character, SoonToDie.

I brushed it off lightly, but there was a lot that had accumulated, after all.

Moon Young-yoon and I exchanged drinks and grilled samgyeopsal on the grill.
After mainly eating ramen for a while, eating greasy food made my stomach feel heavy.

‘This is why people should probably eat well regularly.’
‘…Or not. Is it because I’m eating with Transparency that my stomach feels bad?’

“Hey, something came in on your phone.”

“It’s a group chat, so just ignore it.”

“No, looking at the icon, it looks like a text message?”

‘Text message?’
It wasn’t a private message, and I didn’t have anyone who would text me.
I vaguely clinked glasses with Moon Young-yoon, then tapped my phone with my empty hand to check the message content.

[Mrs. Jung: Where are you?]

[Mrs. Jung: (Photo)]

[Mrs. Jung: Kong misses you.]

“Oh… I didn’t expect this.”

I slowly blinked and zoomed in on the photo.
It was a picture of a small cat sitting in front of the front door.

Seeing its round little head made my hands itch.

‘It’s grown quite a lot since I last saw it.’

“Why? Who is it?”

“Kong.”

“Kong? What, how can Kong send a text message?”

‘Do plants these days know how to use phones too?’

I cleanly ignored Moon Young-yoon’s nonsense, sent a reply saying I’d visit soon, then poured myself more alcohol.

‘Ignoring nonsense is always the best way to enjoy it.’
‘It’s like a special appetizer.’

“I’ll show you pictures later.”

“Kong? Really?”

“Seriously, stop with the crap. It’s just a cat. One year old.”

“What? You…!”

Moon Young-yoon slammed his glass down with a clink, then glared at me as if I were his sworn enemy.
‘What, did he hate cats?’

‘No. He shared tons of cat memes on social media.’

“How could you keep a cat god and not say a word to me? Are you even a friend?!”

“That was the problem?”

‘He was just a common online cat butler, after all.’
‘I wondered why he was acting like that.’

“Where! Show me the pictures! I want a cat too!”

“Why don’t you raise one then?”

“What are you talking about? I’m not even ready to serve a cat god, so bringing one home carelessly would be a bad thing for both me and the cat god, wouldn’t it?”

It was an unexpectedly normal statement.

I showed Moon Young-yoon the photo Mrs. Jung had sent, and he clutched my phone tightly, an emotional expression on his face.

“I’m jealous. Really jealous…. I want a cat too…. Only I… don’t have a cat….”

“Seriously, what do you want me to do about it?”

‘If you want one that badly, then you be a butler too.’

I tried my best not to look at Moon Young-yoon’s increasingly red face, as he seemed to be getting tipsy, and diligently ate the meat.

‘I have to eat everything I ordered, at least.’

‘When will I ever come out to eat meat again?’

I could bet all my money that I wouldn’t come out unless absolutely necessary. I’m quite a homebody.

(4)

Just before Moon Young-yoon completely passed out, I finished paying, then held him, swaying, and exited.
My breath misted in the cold air, and a sense of emptiness welled up.

‘I came out because I thought he’d turn into a dog if he drank any more, but he’s already become one.’

“You, you, you SoonToDie bastard! Youuu, follow me to the Arena!”

“Alright, let’s go. Let’s see who wins.”

“You think a thrashed dual blade is easy, huh?! I’ll kill you!”

“Yes, next dual blade who got knocked out by a Berserker’s 1-pyeong.”

“I really have to kill him… I really have to kill this guy!”

“Please go home. Please.”

My blood pressure surged, seeing this transparent-brained bastard grabbing me by the collar and shaking me violently.

‘If you’re going to fight, could you please do it in-game?’
‘If we fight in real life, I’m guaranteed to lose.’
‘If I had known this, I would have at least gone to the gym.’

“Transparency, let’s go home. You go to your house. I’ll go to mine.”

“No! I’m going to your house! We’re going to run until the second round there!”

“I wish he would just die…”

“Oh, oh, you can’t die. If you die, who will tell me the assignment announcements…?”

‘Go to class, you bastard.’
‘Don’t just sleep all the time.’

“But really… are you really SoonToDie…?”

“Yes, I am.”

“SoonToDie is rude… Oh, you were rude too, now that I think about it. I forgot.”

Moon Young-yoon slapped his forehead and laughed, saying he made a mistake.

‘Haha, this guy, really.’

I laughed along with him, then threw him onto the ground.