TAHR Ch 9

The macro was set to post the advertisement every 30 minutes. If it had posted to the general chat before, he would have corrected it immediately, but since this was the first time the macro had run, he naturally hadn’t noticed the mistake.

So he stated just the facts, nothing more, nothing less. He was at fault, but it wasn’t a mistake that warranted groveling and explaining every single detail.

He explained it was an accident, not intentional, and he apologized. He believed the other person would understand. These kinds of mishaps happened occasionally. It was absurd that he was the one making this mistake, but he was human, after all. Even monkeys fall from trees; this wasn’t such a big deal.

However, the response he received was completely unexpected.

[General] Dambi: Settings were wrong.

[General] Dambi: LOLOLOLOLOLOL

[General] Dambi: That’s a lame excuse.

[General] Dambi: Don’t bother if you’re going to make up stories.

[General] Mollamolla: No, really;

[General] Dambi: Stop acting.

[General] Dambi: You’re sh*t at it.

Jaein frowned at Dambi’s sudden accusations and insults. Sh*t at what?

Even if he had been teased, was this level of outburst really necessary? Did this warrant such insults? He had apologized and explained, but Dambi was the one who refused to believe him. Why resort to insults right away?

Unable to comprehend Dambi’s behavior, Jaein ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

“Should I argue back?”

He wanted to retort immediately, but since it started with his mistake, he held back. It seemed like Dambi was misunderstanding something, and it would be better to clear that up first.

[General] Mollamolla: Why would I look for someone in that situation?

[General] Dambi: That’s my line.

[General] Dambi: You think it’s funny to mock me by pretending to look for someone?

[General] Dambi: If I respond to that ad, am I supposed to feel like a penniless, broke-a** loser?

[General] Mollamolla: ?

[General] Mollamolla: What are you talking about?

Jaein laughed in disbelief.

“What is this, a persecution complex?” he thought. “How could anyone interpret this as a malicious prank meant to belittle them?”

No matter how he thought about it, Dambi’s reaction was abnormal. They were incredibly aggressive, as if they had been subjected to countless similar taunts. Or maybe they were deliberately provoking him, looking for a fight. These days, there were many players who relieved stress in strange ways.

He scrutinized Dambi’s messages, wondering if that was the case, when a thought suddenly struck him.

“Wait… is it because the reward is too high?”

On second thought, offering such a large sum might seem unbelievable, leading to a misunderstanding. That would explain the “broke-a** loser” comment.

Indeed, who would spend that much gold to find someone? And since they weren’t from the same server, it was natural for them not to know what kind of person he was.

It seemed Dambi hadn’t seen his original server advertisement. He decided to explain again and try to clear up the misunderstanding. They say third time’s the charm. He wasn’t giving up yet.

[General] Mollamolla: You seem to doubt it because of the amount,

[General] Mollamolla: But I’m really looking for someone, okay?

[General] Dambi: Really?

[General] Dambi: Then why advertise it in general chat?

[General] Mollamolla: I told you,

[General] Mollamolla: The macro settings were wrong.

[General] Mollamolla: I thought it was set to server chat, but it was general.

[General] Dambi: You never posted the ad before, and you’re just realizing it was wrong now?

[General] Dambi: Got any better excuses?

“Wow, wow… wow.”

Jaein sighed repeatedly in frustration. Explaining was useless; Dambi had no intention of believing him, and it was making him furious.

[General] Mollamolla: WTF I’m going crazy LOLOLOLOL

[General] Mollamolla: You don’t have trust issues, you have human-phobia.

[General] Dambi: I have a phobia of people like you.

[General] Mollamolla: What did I even do?

[General] Dambi: You’re the worst of the worst.

[General] Mollamolla: ?????

The worst of the worst? Confused by the unprecedented situation, Jaein was taken aback as Dambi continued their attacks.

[General] Dambi: Give it up already.

[General] Dambi: I’ve seen so many crazy a**holes like you, it’s getting old.

[General] Mollamolla: What? Crazy? Old?

[General] Dambi: Why? Does “crazy” bother you?

[General] Dambi: Want me to call you something else?

[General] Dambi: How about ♡♡♡?

[General] Dambi: Oh, my bad.

[General] Dambi: How about motherf*cker? Lol. Suits you better.

Despite being the one who made the initial mistake, Jaein’s anger flared. Not only was he called crazy, but now he was being cursed at. And what was with that condescending tone?

“Wow, seriously. This is driving me insane.”

He had always tried to be a courteous player, and having that denied made him feel incredibly disgusted. This was the first time he’d been treated like this, the first time he’d encountered someone so unreasonable, and his blood pressure skyrocketed.

Jaein ran a hand through his heated hair and aggressively hammered at his keyboard.

[General] Mollamolla: That’s you, not me.

[General] Mollamolla: Deaf motherf*cking psycho.

[General] Mollamolla: Do you even think before you speak? Can you even read? I don’t know what world you live in, but stop bothering people and live alone. Okay?

[General] Mollamolla: And if you’re going to mock someone, at least do it right.

[General] Mollamolla: Like, follow them around, steal their monsters, and then ask if they want to buy it for 10,000 gold.

[General] Mollamolla: And I’d just take the money.

[General] Mollamolla: Mocking with an ad, what the f*ck…

It was a low-blow provocation he would never actually do, meant to truly piss Dambi off.

Of course, there were occasional transactions where players sold monsters they had claimed. But that was a legitimate trade. Doing this to someone who had lost in a field competition was nothing but mockery and completely unsportsmanlike.

“Damn it, if you’re going to piss someone off, at least do it right. Don’t you think?”

If Dambi wasn’t trying to blatantly mess with him, a single “lol” in general chat would have sufficed. That alone would have been enough; why go to such lengths to annoy him?

Fuming, he waited, wondering what Dambi would say next. He hoped they had finally come to their senses. After a long while, Dambi finally responded.

[General] Dambi: Done it often, have you?

[General] Mollamolla: Done what?

[General] Dambi: Following people around, stealing monsters, and selling them for money, or pretending to sell and then taking it all.

[General] Dambi: You rattled that off so smoothly, it’s a little unsettling lol.

[General] Mollamolla: No, WTF.

[General] Dambi: There are always a**holes like this everywhere.

“Oh… this bastard, seriously.”

Jaein’s vision darkened with uncontainable rage.

He had only given examples! What did they mean, “done it often?” That was the kind of thing the Lipsal Guild did. He wasn’t a saint, but he wasn’t a socially inept lunatic either. It seemed he had encountered a genuine psycho.

Jaein laughed hysterically, feeling a mixture of emptiness and absurdity. He had been arguing with someone who was completely unreasonable. What was he trying to achieve?

If he had spent this time roaming the field, he might have tamed another monster.

The more he thought about it, the more he regretted the wasted time and emotions he had poured into this exchange. He didn’t want to care anymore, whether Dambi understood or not.

“I’m done with this.”

Mentally adding a large “X” over Dambi’s name, Jaein typed halfheartedly.

[General] Mollamolla: If I deal with you again, I’m the crazy one.

[General] Mollamolla: Let’s not cross paths again.

Coming to this unfamiliar field only to be treated like this… He would have to get used to this place eventually, but he hadn’t even collected all the Conimons in his usual hunting grounds yet. He resolved to avoid this area for a while.

Jaein opened his map to take a portal to the Plains of Ebeshan. Just as he was about to click…

The familiar sight of a monster respawning caught his eye.