SRPG | Chapter 3.3

[Party] Hyoppang: There’s this mobile game called Shiny Color Stars.
[Party] Hyoppang: One of the characters in that game is named Pure Happy.
[Party] lIlllIIl: Ah… I see.

With that explanation, it all made sense.

“Ah. Just another full-fledged concept-obsessed otaku.”

[Party] HappinessWhenHealing: May the blessings of Pure Happy reach you as well…
[Party] Hyoppang: Anyway, Barcode-nim, you said you were heading to the desert today, right?

Hyoppang smoothly ignored HappinessWhenHealing’s otaku sermon and turned back to Hwanyoung.

[Party] lIlllIIl: Yeah, I’m planning to clear the underground desert.

The underground desert field was home to the Sand Warriors.

They had high attack power and durability, but in exchange, they gave tons of EXP.

“If I’m lucky, I might also get a bunch of dried herbs.”

And the best part?

The underground desert field was huge.

With such a massive map, the chances of running into another leveling party were slim.

“Can’t find a better bus ride spot than that.”

[Party] Eco Cup Extra Shot: Ooh, the desert’s nice, lolol.
[Party] Eco Cup Extra Shot: Should I just come as a warlock? Haha, I’m crazy good at killing Sand Warriors with warlock skills, lmao.
[Party] lIlllIIl: No, you’re playing healer.
[Party] Eco Cup Extra Shot: ?
[Party] Gudok: DPS is Gudok’s job! (✧∇✧)
[Party] Gudok: While Eco Cup talks, Gudok proves things with numbers!
[Party] Eco Cup Extra Shot: ???
[Party] Eco Cup Extra Shot: Wait, what? Are you two ganging up on me right now? Is this an attack? Are you showing off your couple power?!

[Party] lIlllIIl: Alright, let’s head out.
[Party] Hyoppang: I’ll use the teleport scroll!

With that, Hyoppang tore a teleport scroll.

A system message popped up.

<System: ‘Hyoppang’ has used ‘Spatial Movement Scroll (Includes Party Members).’>

The party was instantly transported to the middle of the desert.

Hwanyoung looked around at the five party members standing beside him and felt… oddly sentimental.

“I really thought I’d be playing solo after coming back…”

It wasn’t like he had anything against guilds or parties.

He just didn’t have the energy or stamina to commit to regular guild activities or a fixed party.

But this setup was perfect.

Nobody expected him to keep showing up.

Nobody demanded long-term commitment.

It was a purely temporary, no-strings-attached party.

And that, honestly, was ideal.

[Party] Hyoppang: Who’s leading the way?
[Party] lIlllIIl: I’ll do it.

Since this party was formed specifically to help Hwanyoung level up, it wouldn’t feel right to make someone else do the navigating.

He opened his “Aeer” folder and searched for “Desert Map.pdf.”

Then, he pulled up “Desert Portal Coordinates Calculator.xls.”

[Party] lIlllIIl: If we head to X23 Y199, we’ll find a portal to the eastern entrance.
[Party] lIlllIIl: Once we take that portal, we can enter through the east.

Following the coordinates, the party moved.

Soon, a system message appeared.

<System: You sense the presence of a portal leading underground.>

Hwanyoung rummaged through his inventory and pulled out “Desert Fairy Powder.” He used it immediately, and his vampire scattered a cloud of black, shimmering dust into the air.

<System: ‘Desert Fairy Powder’ illuminates the surroundings…>
<System: Portal to the underground desert has been found.>

Right in front of the party’s feet, a massive sand pit appeared.

If this wasn’t a portal leading to the underground desert, then nothing was. The thing practically screamed “Gateway to Hell.”

[Party] lIlllIIl: Entering now.

Without hesitation, Hwanyoung moved his character into the swirling sands.

One by one, the other party members followed him into the sand vortex.

<System: You have entered the eastern entrance of the underground desert.>

[Party] Hyoppang: Whoa, you found it right away?
[Party] Hyoppang: People usually get lost for ages trying to find the entrance.
[Party] lIlllIIl: Haha, there’s actually a pattern to how these portals spawn.
[Party] Hyoppang: Wait, seriously?!
[Party] lIlllIIl: Yeah, I can share the formula with you later if you’re interested.
[Party] lIlllIIl: Or should I just make a temporary Google account and share the spreadsheet?
[Party] Eco Cup Extra Shot: Damn, that’s insane LOL.
[Party] Gudok: Slave-nim is so cool! (✧∇✧)
[Party] Eco Cup Extra Shot: Bro, why are you such a high-performance slave? LOL
[Party] Gudok: Gudok’s heart is racing! (/ω＼)!
[Party] Eco Cup Extra Shot: If the slave Gudok brought is this competent, then Hyoppang has no reason to nag at him anymore, lmao.

It had been a while since Hwanyoung received so much praise. He chuckled and equipped his weapon.

“Well, not that I’ll be doing much of the damage. That’s Gudok’s job.”

His vampire still hadn’t reached third-tier job advancement, and his gear was basic-tier equipment.

Against Sand Warriors, he couldn’t even cut a single strand of their hair.

At most, he could debuff them.

He quickly adjusted his skill setup to focus on status ailments and movement reduction.

[Party] lIlllIIl: Let’s keep heading south.

The plan was to move clockwise, starting from the eastern entrance.

[Party] lIlllIIl: We’ll take down every Sand Warrior we pass by.
[Party] Gudok: Got it! (✧∇✧)
[Party] Gudok: Gudok will slice and dice everything in seconds! No worries! (๑ᵔ⩊ᵔ๑)
[Party] Eco Cup Extra Shot: LOL, if you run out of HP, just chug a potion~~

The party moved southward, following Hwanyoung’s lead.

Fighting the Sand Warriors wasn’t hard at all.

Despite his teasing, Eco Cup Extra Shot healed at the right moments, and Hyoppang locked down enemies with his crowd control skills.

As for Gudok—

He was a beast.

His pure reflexes and gamer instincts were insane.

He didn’t seem to know the Sand Warrior’s attack patterns at all, yet he dodged every single attack without fail while dealing heavy damage.

“Yeah… a magician class suits Gudok’s playstyle perfectly.”

At this rate, if he trained as a healer, he’d probably be god-tier at it too.

Lost in thought about Gudok’s healer potential, Hwanyoung continued guiding the party forward.

“Ah, the sweet taste of EXP.”

Every Sand Warrior they defeated poured experience into him.

This was the true joy of power-leveling.

And this wasn’t even an empty bus.

The bus was filled with delicious honey.

Maybe because everything was going so smoothly, the party chat grew increasingly laid-back and chatty.

[Party] Hyoppang: Feels like Gudok has changed ever since meeting Barcode-nim.
[Party] Hyoppang: Before, he used to lock himself in the arena and never come out.
[Party] Eco Cup Extra Shot: FR LMAO, back then he was basically born to be a feral mutt.
[Party] Eco Cup Extra Shot: Saying he “turned over a new leaf” is a joke.
[Party] Eco Cup Extra Shot: He was literally just born a rabid dog.
[Party] Gudok: Woof! (๑ᵔ⩊ᵔ๑)
[Party] Eco Cup Extra Shot: Bro… I didn’t mean literally…

Turned over a new leaf, born a dog, rabid dog personality…

Was Eco Cup Extra Shot a writer?

Maybe a battle rapper? His wordplay was suspiciously good.

[Party] lIlllIIl: If we happen to run into another leveling party,
[Party] lIlllIIl: I’ll change directions so we don’t interfere.

In theory, the chance of running into another leveling party was extremely low.

The underground desert was one of the largest maps in Aeer Online.

Some guilds even self-exiled here during guild wars to avoid battles.

“Even before I quit, I barely saw other parties here.”

That’s how it was supposed to be.

And yet—

”…Hm?”

Something felt off.

[Party] lIlllIIl: Hold on a second.

The party immediately stopped moving.

Shortly after, a group of eight players approached from the south.

Judging by their setup, they were another leveling party.

“Well, I guess it’s leveling season for vampires.
Meeting one party isn’t that weird.”

Since it was a one-time encounter, Hwanyoung didn’t think much of it and simply redirected his party westward instead.

And then—

They ran into another party. This time, there were even more of them. At a glance, there were at least twelve players.

“Okay. That’s weird.”

At that size, they would be way better off farming dungeons instead of leveling here.

“A twelve-man party would have way better EXP efficiency in a dungeon, not here…?”

Apparently, his party members were thinking the same thing.

The previously lively chat suddenly fell silent.

Frowning, Hwanyoung decided to try one more time.

“If this happens again, something’s definitely wrong.”

This time, he led them north instead.

And—

They ran into yet another leveling party.

[General] EventRiceEater13: Guys.
[General] EventRiceEater13: I really didn’t want to say this, but…
[General] EventRiceEater13: Have some conscience, will you?
[General] EventRiceEater13: You seriously don’t know that it’s bad manners for a max-level player with endgame gear to hog all the mobs in a leveling field?

And to top it off, the party they ran into this time even picked a fight with Hwanyoung’s party.

[Party] HappinessWhenHealing: Such small-minded people.
[Party] HappinessWhenHealing: The desert dungeon is huge. The common courtesy is to just pass by when you cross paths…

If something happens once, it’s a coincidence.

Twice, it’s a pattern.

Three times, it’s intentional.

By now, it was obvious.

Someone was deliberately sending people here to mess with Hwanyoung’s party—or more precisely, with the guild Golden Spoon Ability User.

[Party] lIlllIIl: Hold on, stopping for a sec.
[Party] Hyoppang: Got it.

The party members halted in place. Hwanyoung tapped his mouse with his fingertip, murmuring to himself.

“They’re being this obvious about it?”

And that’s when it hit him. He had completely overlooked the fact that Gudok was in their party.

Their enemy was probably provoking them on purpose, hoping to make Gudok lose it. After that, they’d use Gudok as an excuse to cling onto the Golden Spoon guild and make a scene.

‘Just like Hyoppang predicted.’

Hwanyoung rubbed his temples, thinking hard. The real problem was how to explain this to his party in the most effective way.

‘Let’s be real. In this situation, the most suspicious person is obviously me—the outsider.’

But Hwanyoung swore to the heavens that he wasn’t a spy.

He had quit the game for over a year before returning. He hadn’t contacted any of his old acquaintances. In fact, since coming back, he hadn’t even logged into his main character once.

The issue was, he had no way to prove any of that.

‘Even if I pull up my login records, they’ll just say I contacted someone through messenger or whatever. I wouldn’t have a solid defense.’

Still, just letting this slide without addressing it didn’t sit right with him.

‘I didn’t even do anything wrong.’

Any normal person would want to clear their name in this kind of situation. No one likes being falsely accused.

And that’s when it happened—Gudok slowly crept up to Hwanyoung and suddenly used the Crying emote.

[Party] lIlllIIl: …Master?

A cute raccoon-boy character collapsed onto the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.

[Party] Gudok: Even if Slave-nim really did sell us out, I’ll forgive you ｡°(´∩ω∩`)°｡
[Party] lIlllIIl: …?

“…Come on now. Shouldn’t you at least try believing me once?”

Is this all our trust amounts to, Master? What happened to all the camaraderie we built up in battle, through slave bread and the language of the body?

[Party] lIlllIIl: Ha… Master…
[Party] lIlllIIl: Is there no option where I didn’t sell you out…?
[Party] Gudok: Uuuh…(・_・)?
[Party] Gudok: But Slave-nim already has a history of selling Gudok off!! (✧∇✧)
[Party] lIlllIIl: Ah.