SRPG | Chapter 2.2

If a critical hit had triggered, he would’ve been dead for sure.

Watching Gudok blatantly lie without even moistening his lips, Hwanyoung chuckled and typed.

[General] lIlllIIl: Hmm… I’m not sure…
[General] lIlllIIl: The so-called Protector of Aeer—attacking a newbie who hasn’t even hit max level yet?
[General] lIlllIIl: Where has the pride of Nix gone? Are veteran players just going around killing newbies now?
[General] Gudok: AAAAHHH NOOOO!!!
[General] lIlllIIl: With your actions just now, you have disgraced the honor of Nix. Master, you have tainted the pride of Nix.
[General] Gudok: No… no… that’s not true….
[General] Gudok: Gudok isn’t a bad person… (›´-`‹ )

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Gudok’s character collapsed forward into an OTL position.

His fluffy raccoon tail drooped sadly to the ground.

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Hwanyoung smirked and carefully strung together words Gudok would like.

[General] lIlllIIl: Master, this is no time to be lying there like that.
[General] lIlllIIl: You just have to prove to me that you are truly the Protector of Aeer.
[General] Gudok: Huh…? (›´-`‹ )?
[General] lIlllIIl: So that I can trust and follow you,
[General] lIlllIIl: You need to give me absolute belief and conviction.

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Ever since yesterday, Hwanyoung had noticed—

Gudok really liked words that sounded grand and noble.

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The moment he started calling himself Protector of Aeer, Hwanyoung had sensed it.

If he just threw together some dramatic, elementary school boy power fantasy-style words—

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[General] Gudok: Belief!
[General] Gudok: Conviction!
[General] Gudok: (✧∇✧)

As expected, Gudok immediately reacted to the words “belief” and “conviction.” His round raccoon ears perked up through his wheat-colored hair.

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[General] Gudok: If I give you my belief and conviction, Slave-nim will dote on me!? (✧∇✧)!
[General] lIlllIIl: Of course.
[General] Gudok: How do I give it? I’ll do my best!
[General] lIlllIIl: It’s simple.

Hwanyoung cut straight to the chase like a hawk snatching its prey.

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[General] lIlllIIl: Help me level up.
[General] Gudok: Huh? (✧∇✧)?
[General] Gudok: Huh… (✧∇✧)…?

Who knew a chat message could look so dazed? Hwanyoung kept the conversation going with a smiling face.

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[General] lIlllIIl: Master, you said you would show me strong belief and conviction, right?
[General] Gudok: ? (・_・) Yeah, I did… but… that means leveling up?
[General] lIlllIIl: Yes, that’s correct.
[General] Gudok: ….?
[General] Gudok: Something… something feels off…

Before Gudok could fully process the situation, Hwanyoung swiftly cut him off. This was a conversation where, if any logical counterarguments followed (obviously), Hwanyoung would lose.

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[General] lIlllIIl: Master, Master!
[General] lIlllIIl: Follow me!
[General] lIlllIIl: I’ll show you something fun.

Hwanyoung swayed playfully in front of Gudok’s character. A pitch-black vampire scattering soft pink sparkles as he seduces a small, cute raccoon beastman.

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“…This kinda feels like I’m doing something bad.”

No, wait. It is bad, isn’t it?

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But if everything went according to plan, Gudok wouldn’t be at a total loss either.

Hwanyoung led Gudok deeper and deeper into Snow Ice Cave.

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7th floor, 8th floor… 12th floor, 15th floor.

Even as Gudok spammed “?” in chat, he still followed Hwanyoung like a lost puppy.

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[General] Gudok: How far are we going?? Why are we going so deep?? (;° ロ°)
[General] Gudok: There’s no one here!
[General] lIlllIIl: Yes, that’s right.
[General] lIlllIIl: Not many people take the time to descend all the way to the bottom of Snow Ice Cave.

Saying that, Hwanyoung recalled a memory from the past.

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‘Even when leveling up, I never really came down this far…’

The reason he had once ventured to the very lowest floor of Snow Ice Cave was simply to have some alone time. And by sheer coincidence, he had found a clue about something there…

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[General] Gudok: Gasp, no way.

At that moment, Gudok suddenly froze in place and used the “fear” emote. His plump raccoon tail trembled violently.

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[General] Gudok: NO WAY!!!!!!

Now what kind of nonsense was he about to spout?

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Hwanyoung, now fully entertained by Gudok’s ridiculous thoughts, glanced at the chat while continuing to move his character.

[General] Gudok: In the deepest part of the Snow Ice Cave, where no one else is around…
[General] Gudok: Slave-nim and Master are about to have a steamy, secret playtime!?! (✧∇✧)

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“Oh, he caught on fast.”

He wasn’t exactly wrong. A Master and Slave engaging in play, deep within a cold, deserted cave.

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Technically speaking… it wasn’t incorrect.

Hwanyoung answered him truthfully.

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[General] lIlllIIl: Yes, that’s correct.
[General] Gudok: …Huh?
[General] lIlllIIl: You’re quite sharp, Master.
[General] Gudok: ??? ? ???

Gudok responded with a series of utterly dumbfounded chat messages.

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[General] Gudok: …For real?
[General] lIlllIIl: Yes, for real.
[General] Gudok: …………Seriously, seriously?
[General] lIlllIIl: Yes.

Gudok’s character came to a complete stop, frozen in place.

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It seemed like he had taken real psychic damage from Hwanyoung’s words.

“…Maybe I should stop teasing him now.”

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Hwanyoung chuckled as he stared at Gudok’s motionless character.

This was the same guy who openly looked for slave bread partners in the server chat.

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So why was he freezing up over something like this?

Hwanyoung absentmindedly moved his mouse cursor and playfully poked at Gudok’s character.

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…Wait.

Now that he was looking closely, Gudok’s character seemed different from yesterday.

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Hwanyoung narrowed his eyes. His light brown pupils scanned Gudok’s avatar sharply.

The outfit was still the same—a fluttery, adorable raincoat. But the effects floating around him had changed since their first meeting.

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“…He put on everything I gave him.”

Gudok was wearing all the avatar items Hwanyoung had sent him through the in-game mail.

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The rainbow. The whiskers. The blush. Everything.

Behind the raccoon beastman’s back, a rainbow shimmered faintly—the exact same design as the one floating behind Hwanyoung.

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Whenever Gudok’s character moved, a soft yellow sparkle scattered from the rainbow.

It was just like the pink sparkle effect that trailed behind Hwanyoung, except in a different color.

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Hwanyoung scrolled in with the mouse wheel, zooming in on Gudok’s avatar.

He could now clearly see the tiny white cat whiskers sticking out beside Gudok’s nose… and the faint red blush on his cheeks.

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“…It actually suits him really well.”

Since all the avatar pieces were cutesy and playful, they matched perfectly with Gudok’s raccoon beastman character.

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With a satisfied expression, Hwanyoung admired his adorably upgraded Master as he typed into chat.

[General] lIlllIIl: Now you understand why I sent you three avatars yesterday, don’t you, Master?
[General] lIlllIIl: Our secret playtime.
[General] lIlllIIl: I dressed you up exactly to my taste for that moment.

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Of course, it was a joke. The real reason Hwanyoung had given Gudok those avatars was simple—he was grateful that Gudok had helped him with the promotion dungeon.

100% pure. No ulterior motives whatsoever.

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‘…He wouldn’t actually believe that, right?’

Not even Gudok would be that gullible. No way. Hwanyoung waited for his reply.

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[General] Gudok: …For real?

“Oh, seriously.” Hwanyoung let out another chuckle. He’s really buying this?

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“You’re so blatantly adorable, it’s hilarious.”

Hwanyoung sent a party invitation to Gudok.

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[General] lIlllIIl: Master.
[General] lIlllIIl: Allow me to show you a ★whole new world★.
[General] lIlllIIl: A ★thrilling★ and ★unbelievable★ experience.
[General] lIlllIIl: @Snow Ice Cave #Lowest Floor@ A ★safe$%playground★ you can trust!

Hmm, perfect. Hwanyoung admired his own message. There was no way Gudok wouldn’t take the bait after that. Absolutely not.

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‘If he still refuses after this, I’ll just give up.’

But the target was Gudok. 100% chance he would accept.

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From what Hwanyoung had observed, Gudok was a full-blown dopamine addict.

Just yesterday, he got dragged around by Hyoppang, yet here he was, back again, sniffing around for fun.

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The type of person who couldn’t resist the slightest hint of excitement—a mix of childish curiosity and petty stubbornness in equal parts.

“If that was all, I would’ve just played along a little and left it at that…”

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But surprisingly, Gudok had common sense. He also knew basic manners—which was impressive for someone who constantly drew attention to himself.

Hwanyoung liked that about him.

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That’s why he hadn’t pushed Gudok away, why he had brought him this deep into the dungeon.

Because he truly did plan to show him something fun.

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[General] lIlllIIl: Master.
[General] lIlllIIl: Would you like to experience something thrilling and extraordinary with me?
[General] Gudok: Thrilling… extraordinary…

Gudok spun around Hwanyoung’s character in circles, scattering bright yellow sparkles everywhere.

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A moment later, a whisper message arrived.

[Whisper] Gudok: Uh, but…
[Whisper] Gudok: You’re not actually a pervert… right?

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Ah, for real. This was too much.

Hwanyoung burst into laughter and quickly replied.

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[Whisper] lIlllIIl: No, of course not. LMAO.
[Whisper] lIlllIIl: I sent the party invite because I genuinely want to show you something fun. No worries.
[Whisper] lIlllIIl: What I said just now was a joke.
[Whisper] lIlllIIl: I figured you’d enjoy this kind of teasing, so I played along.

[Whisper] Gudok: Ah…
[Whisper] Gudok: I-I’m not that kind of person though…

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Gudok suddenly deflated.

Hwanyoung could practically see the sad little “(›´-`‹ )” emoji hovering at the end of his sentence.

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[Whisper] lIlllIIl: LOL
[Whisper] lIlllIIl: It’s really nothing weird, don’t worry.
[Whisper] Gudok: Mmm…

Gudok’s fur bristled as he eyed Hwanyoung suspiciously.

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Hwanyoung found this reaction completely reasonable.

After all, if you wanted to maintain a long-term attention-seeking career, you had to know how to instantly cut off any creeps.

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It was a survival skill.

Still, since he had no bad intentions, Hwanyoung tried to reassure him in the kindest tone possible.

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[Whisper] lIlllIIl: If you really don’t trust me, you can take a look first and decide.

…Okay, now he was definitely starting to feel like a bad person.

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But really—Hwanyoung genuinely meant it when he said he wanted to show Gudok something fun.

[Whisper] lIlllIIl: If you don’t like it, you can put a bounty on me and expose me on the forums.
[Whisper] lIlllIIl: You even have our whisper logs, so you can report me to the admins if needed.

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Hwanyoung put his life on the line—or, well, his vampire character’s life.

That seemed to finally lower Gudok’s guard.

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[General] Gudok: Slave-nim’s life is now in Gudok’s hands… (/ω＼)

Gudok switched back to general chat, dropping his cautious act in an instant.

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The paranoid raccoon was gone, replaced by the attention-seeking raccoon once more.

[General] Gudok: Gudok now holds Slave-nim’s life in his hands!
[General] Gudok: Gudok’s heart is racing like crazy!!!!
[General] Gudok: KYAAAH (๑>ω<๑)(๑>ω<๑)(๑>ω<๑)(๑>ω<๑)!!!

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<System: ‘Gudok’ has joined the party.>

A cheerful ding sounded as the party was formed.

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For a moment, Hwanyoung felt like he had successfully tamed a cat. It was as if a soft, warm feline head had gently nudged against his palm.

…Well, in this case, it was a raccoon beastman, but the cuteness remained the same.

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“Alright, time to get started.”

Now that his raccoon Master had stepped right into his hands, he couldn’t afford to disappoint him. Hwanyoung was fully prepared to share everything he knew.

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Switching the chat to party chat, he began typing.

[Party] lIlllIIl: The timing is perfect.
[Party] lIlllIIl: Let’s begin.
[Party] lIlllIIl: This is a gift I prepared just for you, Master. (♥)

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Hwanyoung walked to the edge of the cave and pulled out a crafting table he had stashed in his inventory. Then, he started throwing in various junk items he had been hoarding, hammering away at the crafting interface.

[Party] Gudok: ??
[Party] Gudok: Slave-nim, why are you suddenly crafting here? (・・)?
[Party] Gudok: If you craft anywhere other than an Alchemist’s Shop, the success rate gets cut in half!! (・・)?

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Hwanyoung knew that.

But this particular craft had to be done here—it was the only place where it was possible.

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<System: ‘lIlllIIl’ is attempting a special craft.>
<System: ‘lIlllIIl’ has failed the special craft.>
<System: ‘lIlllIIl’ is attempting a special craft.>
<System: ‘lIlllIIl’ has failed the special craft.>
<System: ‘lIlllIIl’ is attempting a special craft.>
<System: ‘lIlllIIl’ has failed the special craft.>
<System: ‘lIlllIIl’ is attempting a special craft.>
<System: ‘lIlllIIl’ has successfully completed the special craft.>

‘Got it.’

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Hwanyoung had brought plenty of extra materials, just in case.

But to succeed in only four tries? His luck was surprisingly good today.

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[Party] Gudok: ? ?? ??

Gudok spammed question marks as he circled around Hwanyoung in confusion.

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[Party] Gudok: What the heck? (・・)?
[Party] Gudok: Did my party member just successfully craft a special item…? (・・)?