SRPG | Chapter 2.7

Hwanyoung pulled up Aeer’s official website on his second monitor and searched for ‘Gerras’ in the announcement board.

[Update Notice] In three weeks, the Ancient God ‘Gerras’ will descend!

The announcement had been posted exactly a week ago. Hwanyoung quickly scrolled through the details with his mouse wheel.

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There wasn’t much to it. A new dungeon would be added in three weeks. Clearing the dungeon would drop certain items at random. Collecting and combining those specific items would allow players to summon the new raid monster, Gerras.

“It’s exactly the same as Markosias.”

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What the hell was going on? He’d quit for a year, and the raid mechanics were still the same.

“If this isn’t a dead game, why is development so slow…?”

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Anyway, to sum it up, Hyoppang’s guild was preparing to be the first across the server to clear Gerras once the update dropped.

Hwanyoung was starting to understand why Hyoppang had been tailing him and keeping an eye on him. He was probably making sure no unexpected variables interfered with their preparations for Gerras.

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‘There are always spies lurking around.’

If a spy infiltrating the guild simply stirred up trouble or quietly leaked useful information, that was still manageable.

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But if a newbie-acting spy deliberately provoked conflicts with other guilds, leading to a full-blown guild war, things would get complicated.

‘Kick them out, and they go around crying about being ostracized… But if you get caught up in guild wars, it messes up the First Clear schedule.’

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Back when Hwanyoung was still playing, he had experienced something similar. He hadn’t been a guild master, so he had taken a step back from the drama, but it hadn’t exactly been a fun time.

‘Hyoppang’s a great guild master.’

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He even personally scouted out new players to see if they would be a threat to the guild… Hwanyoung looked at Hyoppang with eyes full of admiration.

“This is how a true guild master should be.”

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Hwanyoung fully understood Hyoppang’s actions and acknowledged them. In his heart, he recognized Hyoppang as a real guild leader.

[Party] lIlllIIl: I completely understand what you’re saying.
[Party] lIlllIIl: I also empathize with Hyoppang’s actions on many levels.
[Party] lIlllIIl: It’s only natural to be extra cautious before a major event.
[Party] Hyoppang: ㅠㅠ
[Party] Hyoppang: Thank you for understanding.

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Their conversation wrapped up on a heartwarming note. If this had been real life instead of a game, they probably would have shaken hands, exchanging smiles of trust.

But Gudok wasn’t having it.

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[Party] Gudok: I’M NOT DONE TALKING YET!!!!!! Gudok still needs to clear his grievances!! ( >д<)
[Party] Hyoppang: Kim Gudok.
[Party] Hyoppang: Stop.
[Party] Gudok: No!!!!
[Party] Hyoppang: Just drop it and let’s go back.
[Party] Hyoppang: If you quietly leave now, I won’t hold your little ‘slave bread’ stunt against you…

Hyoppang suddenly switched to the cold, indifferent tone of a drama’s male lead.

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But Gudok was too much of an attention-seeker to play along. Instead of listening, he kept rambling about whatever he wanted to say.

[Party] Gudok: Slave-nim.
[Party] Gudok: At least you should listen to my grievances (›´-`‹ ) huh?
[Party] lIlllIIl: Me? All of a sudden?
[Party] Gudok: Yes!!!!

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There was no way out of it. Hwanyoung used the ‘agreement’ emote. The dark, brooding vampire gave a respectful nod.

[Party] Gudok: This happened about a week ago.
[Party] Gudok: That day, an announcement was posted on the Aeer Online official board about a new raid monster update.
[Party] Gudok: Excited about the new content, the pure and innocent Aeer Online player, Kim Gudok, was overjoyed.
[Party] Gudok: But then…

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Gudok’s tone suddenly shifted to that of a serious investigative journalism host.

[Party] Gudok: From that day on, Hyoppang, the guild master, began to restrict Gudok’s fun-filled Aeer life.
[Party] Hyoppang: Ha… Gudok, just stop…
[Party] Gudok: From that moment, Gudok was reduced to a state where he couldn’t even join a public party, let alone be ‘slave bread.’
[Party] Gudok: Under Hyoppang’s oppressive rule, Gudok began to wither away day by day.
[Party] Gudok: His hands and feet started trembling from dopamine withdrawal. Gudok doesn’t smoke or drink, so it became harder and harder to endure.
[Party] Gudok: Slave-nim, don’t just listen, react a little (›´-`‹ )
[Party] lIlllIIl: Ah… yes.
[Party] lIlllIIl: That must have been really tough for you… yeah.

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The one who truly had it rough wasn’t Gudok—it was Hyoppang. But Hwanyoung decided not to point that out. After all, his “master” was Gudok.

[Party] Gudok: Anyway, after living like that!
[Party] Gudok: I secretly hosted a slave bread session after a whole week!!!! But then!!!! Hyoppang was hiding and suddenly poof! He popped out and grabbed Gudok!!!
[Party] Gudok: ( >д<)( >д<)( >д<) Bad Hyoppang! Bad guild master!
[Party] Gudok: Slave-nim, you’re bad too! How could you snitch on Gudok to Hyoppang???
[Party] Gudok: A slave shouldn’t betray their master!!!! Bad sl-@{ve!! ( >д<)
[Party] Gudok: But! Even though you’re a bad slave-nim, I can still embrace you! Because Gudok is a kind master!
[Party] Gudok: Kyah! (๑>ω<๑)! Ah~

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Gudok was clearly mashing his keyboard in desperation, resulting in a chaotic mess of typos. But his message was still understandable.

“So basically…”

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At the end of the day, everything was Gudok’s fault.

“…Now I completely get why Hyoppang was so hell-bent on catching him.”

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For the amount of text Gudok had spammed, the actual information was laughably minimal. The only new thing Hwanyoung learned was that Gudok didn’t drink or smoke.

“Instead of drinking or smoking, he spends his time being an attention-seeker in a game…”

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Drinking and smoking versus being a gaming attention-seeker.

“…That’s a tough choice.”

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Hwanyoung thought it over and decided on the latter. Alcohol and cigarettes were bad for your health, but being an attention-seeker in a game didn’t exactly harm your health.

It did raise other people’s stress levels, but… other people’s stress wasn’t his problem.

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“He’s annoyingly clever for an attention-seeker.”

Just as Hwanyoung chuckled and muttered to himself in amusement, a massive rabbit beastman standing beside him suddenly pulled out the axe strapped to his back.

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Hyoppang’s character was already huge, but wielding an axe just as massive made him look incredibly intimidating—even in a game.

[Party] Hyoppang: Ha… I’m sorry, newbie-nim. Gudok is just always like this…

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…Wasn’t the usual phrase, “he’s not usually like this”?

[Party] Gudok: Anyway!! The conclusion is that Hyoppang is evil!! (ꐦ ¯−¯) (ꐦ ¯−¯) (ꐦ ¯−¯)
[Party] Gudok: Is this First Clear for Gerras really that important?!?
[Party] Gudok: Important enough to ban Gudok’s secret hobby?!
[Party] lIlllIIl: Master-nim, I apologize for interrupting.
[Party] lIlllIIl: But to be honest, I don’t believe what you were doing qualifies as a secret hobby.
[Party] Gudok: (・_・) ?…? ???
[Party] lIlllIIl: If anything… wasn’t it way too public of a hobby?

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Even thinking back on it, there was nothing secret about Gudok’s slave bread. He had openly recruited participants in the server-wide chat, where literally everyone online could see.

“Come one, come all! The grand Slave Bread Show, hosted by Gudok!”

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That was the vibe Hwanyoung had gotten just from reading the chat logs.

[Party] Gudok: (;° ロ°)
[Party] Gudok: Th-th-that… well… t-that’s true, but…
[Party] Gudok: But if I actually recruited slaves in secret, I’d get arrested….
[Party] Gudok: Gudok is a law-abiding citizen… (›´-`‹ )

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…Wasn’t the act of recruiting slaves illegal to begin with?

Even in Aeer Online’s game world, Karon Continent, slavery was against the law.

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[Party] Hyoppang: Ha…

Gudok’s nonsense finally forced a weary sigh out of Hyoppang.

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According to Hwanyoung’s Unofficial Annoyance Ranking, if “Aha” was the #1 phrase that overworked employees used when they had nothing to say, then “Ha…” was the #1 phrase used by employees who were absolutely done with everything.

[Party] Hyoppang: Kim Gudok.
[Party] Hyoppang: I really didn’t want to resort to this method.
[Party] Gudok: Huh? (・_・)
[Party] Hyoppang: But if you cross the line, you have to face the consequences.
[Party] Gudok: Gudok didn’t do anything wrong!!! ( >д<)
[Party] Hyoppang: …Is that so?

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Hyoppang slipped back into his cold, drama-leading-man tone.

At this point, wasn’t he just as much of a roleplay addict as Gudok?

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But once again, Hwanyoung chose not to type out his real thoughts in chat.

[Party] Hyoppang: Then take your punishment and reflect.
[Party] Hyoppang: Think hard about what you did to Hyoppang.

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A crackling white bolt of lightning struck down on Gudok’s head.

It was a guild master skill.

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<System: ‘Gudok’ has been silenced by the Guild Master.>

The Guild Master’s Silence skill did exactly what its name suggested—it temporarily muted a guild member’s chat.

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Depending on the guild master’s settings, the mute could last anywhere from 1 minute to 2 hours.

Since it directly affected gameplay, it could only be used on members of the guild. On top of that, it had a weekly cooldown, meaning it could only be used once per week.

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And yet, Hyoppang had used such a valuable skill just to shut Gudok up for the sake of Hwanyoung’s peace of mind…

Hyoppang truly was a righteous guild master. Hwanyoung was deeply moved.

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“If all guild masters were like this, the RPG gaming world would be so much cleaner.”

Meanwhile, Gudok—now silenced—had a giant question mark floating above his head. It was the ‘Confused’ emote.

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Then, more emotes began to flash above him.

‘Frustrated.’ ‘Angry.’ ‘Resentful.’ ‘Warning.’

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But that was all he could do. With his chat disabled, Gudok couldn’t say a single word.

All he could do was furiously spam emotes above his head like a toddler throwing a silent tantrum.

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[Party] Hyoppang: Now that Gudok’s finally shut up…
[Party] Hyoppang: Shall we have an adult conversation? ^^?

The giant rabbit beastman’s red eyes gleamed as he stared at Hwanyoung. Under the strange pressure, Hwanyoung instinctively swallowed dryly.

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[Party] lIlllIIl: When you say “adult conversation”… what exactly do you mean…?
[Party] Hyoppang: I might as well just tell you everything.

Hwanyoung quickly used the ‘Refuse’ emote.

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[Party] lIlllIIl: No need, I’m good.
[Party] lIlllIIl: I’d rather remain a mere passing newbie vampire.
[Party] Hyoppang: ^^
[Party] Hyoppang: ^^Oh? Now you say that?

Whoosh! Whoosh!

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Hyoppang’s massive axe sliced dangerously close to the vampire’s nose.

He was starting to feel less like a male lead in a drama and more like a protagonist in a noir film.

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[Party] lIlllIIl: No, really, I’m fine.
[Party] lIlllIIl: I’ll take this secret to my grave.
[Party] Hyoppang: ^^ You’ve come this far, how can you back out now?
[Party] Hyoppang: Barcode-nim, you’re on this ship with us now.
[Party] Hyoppang: Even if you were a spy from another guild, there’s no going back. ^^

Wait, what? Spy?

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That was ridiculous—he wasn’t a spy or anything.

Hwanyoung was just a pure newbie. Well… maybe not entirely pure—he was a returning veteran.

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But still, a newbie nonetheless.

Just as he was about to defend his innocence, Eco Cup Discount 300 returned from his respawn at the village.

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The goat beastman, his bent horns still intact, clutched his staff as he dashed toward Hyoppang and Hwanyoung.

[General] Eco Cup Discount 300: LOLOLOLOL KIM GUDOK GOT MUTED LOLOLOLOLOL
[General] Eco Cup Discount 300: KYAAAAA AHAHAHAHAAACKKK LOL LOL KIM GUDOK CAN’T TYPE LOLOLOL

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Gudok furiously flung magic cards and daggers at Eco Cup Discount. But despite his full-powered assault, all his attacks dealt only 1 damage.

[General] Eco Cup Discount 300: LOL there’s a 30-minute cooldown for PvP between the same characters, right? Aeer Online is such a god-tier game, huh?
[General] Eco Cup Discount 300: Even if Kim Gudok was Jeff Mathis’s cousin’s nephew, the rules are the rules, right? Can’t kill me for another hour!
[General] Eco Cup Discount 300: Lol can’t kill me~ Go ahead and throw 2,500 cards and daggers, see if I die LMAO

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Wow. That was annoying. Or, well, in this case, since it was chat spam—eye-burning.

[General] Eco Cup Discount 300: LOL Vampire-nim, invite me back to the party.

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Hwanyoung re-invited Eco Cup to the party. Now that they were on the same team, Gudok’s attacks wouldn’t even deal 1 damage anymore.

[Party] Eco Cup Discount 300: LOL you don’t have any Enemy Talismans left, do you?
[Party] Eco Cup Discount 300: Now that we’re in a party, you can’t even deal 1 damage, huh?
[Party] Eco Cup Discount 300: Who told you to waste your Enemy Talismans like an idiot? LOL. No more left, right? Nyah nyah nyah~

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Hyoppang skillfully ignored Eco Cup’s taunts and continued speaking to Hwanyoung.