TWKH Ch 19

/Whisper received from Noona’s Mortar: NoonaNoona Are you here? haha I collected 100 gold ores as you askedㅎㅅㅎ

/Whisper received from Noona’s Mortar: Can you show me the picture now?ㅎㅎ

A suspicious character with a dubious username was whispering to Shin Jehyun, asking for a picture. Baekyung, who was beside him, saw the person calling him Noona, but Shin Jehyun was more concerned about his sister’s safety than his own pride.

The word Noona didn’t even register. Mortar? Among men, mortar often referred to the male genitalia. How dare someone with such a vulgar nickname ask our Jehee for a picture? Jehyun frowned and replied.

/Whisper sent to Noona’s Mortar: Are you crazy? Get lost.

Whisper received from Noona’s Mortar: lol Noona, don’t be like that. You promised meㅠㅠ

Whisper received from Noona’s Mortar: Are you shy? Haang.. Step on me.

Is this bastard insane?! Jehyun was on the verge of losing his temper at the reply.

“…Who is it?”

Baekyung’s voice brought him back to reality.

Baekyung was tilting his head slightly, looking at the screen. When Jehyun glanced at him, his expression was quite serious. Maybe even a bit displeased.

Why did I friend such a jerk… Regaining his composure, Jehyun realized that introducing Caplet had already failed and quickly exited the game. He vowed to log back in after Baekyung left and curse out the crazy person.

As the server countdown to shutdown reached 10 seconds, he explained to Baekyung.

“I don’t know! Because I’m playing a female character, I keep getting whispers from guys like that. I replied a few times out of disbelief, and now they think they have a chance.”

“Oh, so it’s not an online romance?”

The response sent chills down his spine. Online romance? Jehyun turned to Baekyung with a bewildered expression at the unfamiliar term.

“Online romance…? Do I look like someone who would do that? If I were to date, I’d do it for real, not online.”

“Right?”

When he firmly denied it, Baekyung smiled as if he had expected that answer. Unlike before, this time he seemed pleased, so Jehyun mumbled while watching his reaction.

“I’m not a netkama¹ …”

“I know.”

Baekyung smiled brightly and added.

“But even if you were a netkama, you’d be cute. If you called me ‘honey’ and asked me to buy you something, I’d buy you everything.”

“…Are you already drunk?”

“No, it’s just fun.”

Ha Baekyung burst into laughter and shook his head as he answered. Netkama, what a terrible word. Jehyun made a disgusted face and confirmed the game had shut down before helping Baekyung up.

Trying to ease his wariness about the game by logging into Later was not a good choice. Since it wasn’t his account, unexpected things like this could happen. Jehyun decided to just drink and naturally bring up Caplet as he led him back to the living room.

But before Jehyun could say anything, Baekyung spoke first.

“I also played Later briefly at the beginning of the year, but I didn’t find it fun. You don’t remember me mentioning it before, do you, Sunbae?”

“You played Later…?”

He couldn’t recall the memory, so it felt like hearing it for the first time. When Jehyun asked with a surprised expression, Baekyung nodded with a smile.

“Yes, I mentioned it when we met with Seo Eunjae Sunbae. Anyway, it took up too much time, so I decided not to play anymore.”

“I see…”

He felt a surge of self-blame. He should have approached Ha Baekyung when he was playing Later, but why did he drink so much…

It felt like being rejected before even confessing. Shin Jehyun had a conscience. He couldn’t suggest playing the time-consuming game Caplet to someone who stayed up until 2 AM writing reports.

Nothing is going right. Jehyun sighed inwardly and handed Baekyung a beer glass from the table.

“Let’s just drink. Or, should we play PlayStation?”

“Sounds good.”

Baekyung smiled sweetly as he took the glass from Jehyun. He looked like an angel.

Indeed, only someone with a twisted personality like Habaek would play a crappy game like Caplet. He needed someone kind and obedient like Baekyung, but he couldn’t tarnish Baekyung’s diligent life with Caplet, so Jehyun swallowed his words.

“Lick it, Ha Baekyung.”

Or should I say it that way? Baekyung shook his head, imagining Jehyun staring down at him with a cold expression. It was enough to witness such a scene later with his own eyes. He didn’t want to entertain disrespectful thoughts about Shin Jehyun. To erase the persistent image, he closed his eyes tightly and turned his gaze to the monitor.

[Guild] Healer: Ha.

[Guild] Healer: Anyone awakened their weapon yet?

[Guild] Healer: I saved up to try it 10 times, but I’ve already failed 5 times, dammit.

Just then, an alert rang as the guild chat updated. It seemed the healer, who had been gathering materials for a while, was finally attempting to awaken their weapon.

Baekyung’s two daggers, which he had been awakening and enhancing whenever he gathered the necessary materials, were now both at awakened +2 enhancement. Considering the four successful enhancements after awakening, he had been relatively lucky given the low odds.

However, feeling no need to respond, Baekyung prepared for the battlefield. Just then, as if the healer had checked his gear, they suddenly called him out.

[Guild] Healer: Habaek.

[Guild] Healer: Where did you awaken your gear, Habaek? Any tips for a good spot?

[Guild] Healer: Don’t ignore me.

[Guild] Contempt: Hm, ㅡ_ㅡ.

[Guild] Contempt: Shall I share my special spot? ㅎㅅㅎ

[Guild] SpellChecker: Contempt, what’s your enhancement level?

[Guild] Healer: Did you awaken it already?

Awakening materials could only be obtained in Overload. Thus, the first-clear raid party in the guild, which cleared the dungeon twice a week after its appearance, had the most awakening attempts.

But had Contempt awakened their weapon before? Curious, Baekyung tilted his head and typed ‘/inspect Contempt’ to check their gear. Contempt’s equipment consisted of a full set of Mallorca gear at +15 enhancement, but strangely, their weapon was missing—it seemed they had unequipped it.

[Guild] Habaek: Link your weapon.

Curious about its enhancement level, he asked, but no reply came. Baekyung narrowed his eyes.

[Guild] SpellChecker: Wow, already +7? That’s insane.

[Guild] Contempt: ㅡ_ㅡ?

[Guild] SpellChecker: Where did you awaken it? Share your tips, please.

[Guild] Healer: +7? Did you enhance it there? Capitol guild flagpole?

[Guild] Contempt: ㅇㅅㅇ…

[Guild] Contempt: ㅎㅅㅎ Yup, that’s the spot.

[Guild] EvenIfYouDieIt’sYourHeal: Whoa, I’m enhancing my wand too. Let’s go together, lol.

+7? Baekyung had cleared every Overload with Contempt so far. With the materials they gathered, he himself had managed around 16 enhancement attempts, which should be similar for Contempt. Achieving +7 already would mean an exceptionally high success rate.

The awakening chance was 50%, and enhancement started at 40% from +1, decreasing to less than 20% for +7. Statistically, it didn’t make sense for Contempt to have achieved it. Growing suspicious, Baekyung inspected Contempt’s gear again, but their weapon slot remained empty. Something seemed off.

[Guild] Healer: Alright, if it works, I’ll tip you. Thanks.

Whether it was faith or lack of thought, the healer quickly believed Contempt’s claim and headed to Capitol. Baekyung, bewildered, stared at the guild info window showing the healer’s location, then followed them to Capitol.

Healer expresses their gratitude.

Healer expresses their gratitude.

Healer expresses their gratitude.

A man speaks with his chest: ?? What are you doing there?

Healer: Don’t talk to me; you’ll jinx it.

Healer expresses their gratitude.

Healer expresses their gratitude.

YeonwooIsAnAngel: Looks like they’re performing a ritual for enhancement, lol.

Healer expresses their gratitude.

KimchiRiceAndEgg: Oh.

KimchiRiceAndEgg: Anyone want to bet on Healer’s enhancement success/failure? Whisper me.

[Guild] SpellChecker: LMAO.

[Guild] Contempt: ;ㅅ;…

The healer climbed to the top of the two-story guild house and repeatedly bowed towards the sky as if performing 108 prostrations, using the /gratitude emote over and over. At one point, they set off nine fireworks, a summer festival event item, and fell silent. It seemed they were attempting an enhancement.

Watching this, Baekyung discreetly whispered Matgom.

[Whisper to SpellChecker]: Is Contempt really at +7?

[Whisper from SpellChecker]: Nope, they haven’t even awakened yet, lol.

[Whisper from SpellChecker]: This is hilarious, lolol.

If the healer failed their enhancement and the truth came out, Contempt would likely endure a week of teasing. Baekyung clicked his tongue, looking at Matgom with a mix of exasperation and amusement for egging Contempt on. Just then, the healer’s character slumped their shoulders and wiped away tears. It was the failure animation for awakening.

[Guild] Healer: Damn, it doesn’t work.

[Guild] Healer: Is this really the right spot?

After just one failure, they already seemed flustered. But failing six times at a 50% chance was indeed quite unlucky. Feeling a bit sorry, Baekyung glanced at the chat window as Contempt finally replied.

[Guild] Contempt: It’s… the right spot… ;ㅅ;

[Guild] Healer: Lol, but why are you sweating so much? ;;;

[Guild] EvenIfYouDieIt’sYourHeal: ㅠㅠ I failed too… How do you get to level 13?ㅠ

[Guild] EvenIfYouDieIt’sYourHeal: The reinforcement rate is already at 5%ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

[Guild] Boss12MoreHours: If it’s at 5%, you’re almost there. Aim for 10%.

[Guild] Boss12MoreHours: Starting from level 13, think of it as needing 10% reinforcement to be comfortable.

[Guild] Healer: Yeah, starting from 10% is the way to go.

[Guild] Healer: Why isn’t Contempt answering?

[Guild] Healer: Show your weapon.

It seemed like Healer quickly realized he had been tricked. One would think they should have verified properly from the start, but Matgom’s loud claim that it was level 7 likely kept them from doubting it was a lie.

[Guild] Healer: No response? You have 5 seconds.

[Guild] Sangjae: I don’t think it was level 7 lol.

[Guild] Healer: You dare deceive your guild leader? 4

[Guild] Healer: Deducting 2 seconds for disrespect, 1

[Guild] Contempt: I…

[Guild] Healer: Yes, explain yourself.

[Guild] Contempt: I never said it was level 7… ;ㅅ;

[Guild] Healer: ?

[Guild] Contempt: Matgom said it!!!!!!!!!!!11

[Guild] Boss12MoreHours: Right lol.

Guild member Contempt has logged off.

[Guild] Healer: Hey

[Guild] Healer: Matgom, didn’t you say it was level 7???

With Healer’s intimidating presence, Contempt fled the game. Healer immediately turned his attention to Matgom. But Matgom wasn’t as naive as Contempt.

[Guild] Healer: I’ve been desperately grinding for materials to attempt awakening, and you’re wasting my time?

[Guild] SpellChecker: Contempt wasted materials there, so I thought you would succeed.

[Guild] Healer: Ah~

[Guild] SpellChecker: I recommended it based on my calculations.

[Guild] Healer: Recommendation? Is this really a recommendation? If it was genuine, wouldn’t you have told the truth? Think with your conscience.

[Guild] Healer: Wait, so Contempt hasn’t even managed an awakening here?

[Guild] Boss12MoreHours: Didn’t you know? lol.

[Guild] Healer: So, you led me to this jinxed place full of bad vibes?

EvenIfYouDieIt’sYourHeal has successfully reinforced a +15 Mallorca wand.

[Guild] EvenIfYouDieIt’sYourHeal: Wow.

At that moment, Healer was silently fuming. The message indicating Nitath, who was beside Jehyun, had successfully reinforced appeared. It had been level 12, and now it seemed to have succeeded continuously.

[Guild] Boss12MoreHours: Congrats, Nitath.

[Guild] SpellChecker: Look at that.

[Guild] SpellChecker: If you kept awakening and reinforcing, that +3 level would have been the guild leader’s.

[Guild] EvenIfYouDieIt’sYourHeal: Wow, Matgom’s words were trueㅠㅠ.

[Guild] EvenIfYouDieIt’sYourHeal: Succeeding at the guild leader’s expenseㅠㅠㅠ Thank you.

[Guild] Healer: Congratulations…

[Guild] SpellChecker: You need to reinforce where others keep failing to get that luck.

[Guild] Healer: lol

[Guild] Healer: I don’t believe in pseudoscience.

Healer had no more chat messages after that. Many messages congratulated Nitath’s reinforcement. Ignoring the chat, Baekyung moved to the storage to attempt his own reinforcement. Since Healer had failed six times, he figured he could achieve level 3.

As he was heading to the storage, a player on a small motorbike started following him. It was Healer.

Habaek: ?

Healer: ?

When asked if he needed anything, the same answer came back. Baekyung squinted his eyes and gathered his materials before heading out of the Capitol Castle.

Near the Capitol Castle, there was a place called Hero’s Hill. A long time ago, it was where the remains of legendary heroes from the past were enshrined. Now, the engravings on their tombstones were so weathered that even their names couldn’t be discerned, but the residents of Caplet revered Hero’s Hill and respected them. Baekyung always reinforced his items there.

Ha Baekyung wasn’t someone who believed in religion or divine entities, but in Caplet, it was different. Although it was just a bunch of data, there was something mysterious about this game.

Even rational Baekyung became a superstitious believer in Caplet. He was convinced that if he purified his body and mind at Hero’s Hill and attempted reinforcement, the success rate was significantly higher.

Upon reaching the entrance of the hill, Baekyung typed ‘/walk’ to disable the running mode, allowing Habaek to walk slowly. He noticed Healer, who had been following him on a small motorbike, dismounting his mount. Baekyung sighed and spoke to him.

Habaek: Stalking me now?

Healer: Just passing by;

Healer: Overly self-conscious;;

Despite having openly followed him from the Capitol, Healer didn’t even make an effort to lie convincingly.

Habaek: Yeah, then keep passing by.

Healer: lol, are you going for reinforcement now?

Healer: Where do you do it? Tell me.

Habaek: Why should I?

Habaek: Do it where you always do.

Any veteran player of Caplet would have at least one personal reinforcement spot. It was natural for these irrational folks to cling to superstitions. However, Healer’s response wasn’t fitting.

Healer: I can’t go even if I want to. It’s a Weather Inscription Stone spot.

“Ah.”

In the Countess server, the Active Guild had owned the Weather Castle for years. So, they had made the Weather Inscription Stone their special spot, but after the server merge, the Weather Castle now belonged to the current owner, Jicheonwang.

Losing his special spot, no wonder Healer had desperately gone to Contempt’s supposed spot without proper verification. Finding this amusing, Baekyung twisted his lips into a smile and replied.

Habaek: Ask someone else.

Habaek: Why come to me?

Healer: You have the highest reinforcement success rate…

Since Baekyung had reinforced both his daggers to +2, considering the awakenings, he had succeeded a total of 6 times.

As expected. Healer wouldn’t have wandered over for no reason. After inspecting the gear of all guild members, he had run to the one with the highest success rate, fawning like a fox. Feeling playful, Baekyung typed.

Habaek: Call me Hyung, then I might think about it.

Healer: Hyung, please tell meㅠㅠ

Habaek: No pride?

Healer: Should I call you Dad?

Without hesitation, Healer called him Hyung. When Baekyung questioned his pride, Healer upped the ante by calling him Dad. Just like before, he seemed to have no pride when it came to gaining benefits. Baekyung chuckled and teased him.

Habaek: Even a reinforcement weapon has pride.

Habaek: It doesn’t come to you because you ask for it so easily.

Healer: Yes, I’m easy, Hyung, so please tell meㅂ.

Habaek: Something seems off.

Healer: What? I don’t see anything wrongㅠㅠ.

Habaek: lol

Healer: You know I respect you, right?

Healer: Habaek is the best♥

The effort was commendable. Though he knew Healer was someone obsessed with specs, he didn’t expect him to suck up to him like this. Suddenly, an old memory surfaced in Baekyung’s mind.

Baekyung, or Habaek, first met Healer before he joined the guild “500 won per hour at the Active PC room.”

It was a time when he had given up swimming upon hearing that he needed over a year of rehabilitation and that he could never return to his former state. In despair, Ha Jaekyung introduced him to Caplet, where he encountered a new world.

[Whisper] to Healer: Hey thereㅎㅎ Want to join our guild?ㅎㅎ

[Whisper] to Healer: Are you AFK?

It was during Caplet’s open beta. The healer’s control in a low-level dungeon was exceptional. He displayed such perfect skill usage that it reminded Baekyung of his swimming idol.

Smitten by the control, Baekyung sent multiple whispers to Healer, persistently like a suitor.

[Whisper] to Healer: Did you block me?ㅠㅠ

[Whisper] to Healer: You’re really good; I want to play with you.

[Whisper] to Healer: I’m 16 years old. If you’re okay with it, let’s party. I’m really good.

Despite the embarrassment of being ignored, Baekyung was young and pure. Like many kids his age, he admired good gamers.

To show his quick reaction time, he even highlighted his young age to Healer, but Healer didn’t reply to his whispers for days.

At first, Baekyung thought he was just bad at chatting, but seeing him chat actively in public chat, that wasn’t the case.

[Whisper] to Healer: Why do you ignore only my messages?

[Whisper] to Healer: Lol, that’s too much.

It only took a week for admiration to turn into dissatisfaction, and dissatisfaction into resentment.

[Whisper] to Healer: Fine, I won’t play with you.

[Whisper] to Healer: I don’t want to play either.

[Whisper] to Healer: I didn’t want to in the first place, just asked out of courtesy.

Healer has been blocked.

After that, Baekyung would grumble and pick fights whenever he saw Healer. Despite disliking and finding Healer annoying, the reason he couldn’t ignore him was frustratingly because there was no better player than Healer in the Countess server.

With the only healer he liked being in a rival guild, his gaming life was dramatic. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Baekyung had enjoyed Caplet purely thanks to Healer being his running mate.

Healer: Hyung, I’ve gone this far, please tell me.

Healer: Doesn’t it make you feel bad that the guild leader hasn’t managed to awaken yet?

Healer: Don’t you have even a grain of sympathy?

Reflecting on the past made the current reversed situation amusing. Unlike the naive 16-year-old Baekyung, Healer’s tone was quite insincere, but that man was probably gritting his teeth while saying it.

Feeling generous due to his efforts, Baekyung decided to show some mercy.

Habaek: I pity you, so I’ll show you once.

Habaek: Follow me.

Habaek: It’s a sacred place, so don’t run, walk.

Healer: Yes, Hyung.

Healer responded quickly. Watching him, Baekyung was reminded of a feral cat that stopped growling at the sight of a snack. Quite amusing indeed.

Capitol Weather Jicheonwang was bet on less than expected

The odds weren’t bad ^^ㅋ burp

Comments (4)

Anonymous1: Ah ㅆㅂ so jealousㅠㅠㅠ lost 3k fuckㅠ

Anonymous2: Last month I bet on defense on Sunday because the siege was dumb on Saturday and now thisㅠㅠㅠ

Anonymous3: Bragging about gambling???

└ How much did you lose?

But why is Jicheonwang fighting?

They took both castles, shouldn’t it be a festival?ㅇㅅㅇ

Why are they losing it?

Comments (5)

Anonymous1: Seems like there’s trouble between both

└ Spell it out

Anonymous2: They have been shielding like crazy haha

└ Ureok shielding a slut?

└ Yeomra and Gangrimlollollollol

Want to know the situation with ㄱㄹ and Yeomra?

1. Help doesn’t really get involved in guild managementㅇㅇ It’s just a bunch of friends. Elka and Yeomra were the vice guild leaders, but after the server merge, Elka did nothing but guild quest and was offline for a while, so Yeomra took over guild management.
2. Yeomra is known for running a guild poorly on Malbruk server. He doesn’t do anything personally, but he lets his guild members behave badly and tells others to start a guild war if they don’t like itㅇㅇ If they win, they’ll apologize.
3. Last month during the siege, there was an issue because Yeomra insisted on destroying the castle without engraving it and said he would expel anyone caught engraving. They lost two castles, and some people from the Four Heavenly Kings guild left, making the atmosphere terrible (they stayed because f1~4 and the guild members were very close, so it was awkward for others to leave too? Anyway, this guild is really just a social guild…).
4. Then Elka returned and decided to lead the guild war this time. They suggested rotating leadership since Yeomra did it last month? Before the siege, Elka told the guild members not to talk in world chat (basically targeting the noisy members).
5. But honestly, “don’t chat in world chat” means don’t create trouble with other guilds?? But Gangrim was causing trouble and swearing at other players in public chat (posted on the forum).

Elka told him to stop, and Gangrim complained that Elka was over-managing by saying it only applied to war chat.

1. Elka ignored it and after the siege on Sunday, expelled Gangrim from the guildㄷㄷ Probably worried the noisy members might leave if he expelled him on Saturday and they wouldn’t win on Sunday.
2. Then Yeomra tried to talk to Elka, but Gangrim came to Elka’s stream, cursed with donations, and caused chaos. Elka also cursed back on the stream; it was the first time I saw him that angry.
3. So now Gangrim is expelled, but Yeomra keeps trying to reinstate him, making the atmosphere terrible…

Post self-destructs in 1 minute

Comments (20)

Anonymous1: If only that bastard Gangrim wasn’t there, they’d recover 50% of their reputation; they should just kick him out.

Anonymous2: Why does Yeomra shield ㄱㄹ? Are they dating?

└ Both are men

└ Men can date too

└ Seems like a power struggle. If they are expelled, it looks like Elka wins.

└ Probably a power struggle. Yeomra doesn’t care

Anonymous3: Yeomra tried to eat the server easily by absorbing the Four Heavenly Kings, and now he’s disgracedlol Even if the atmosphere is terrible, Yeomra will eventually lose. Splitting from the Four Heavenly Kings would be a loss for them

└ He tried to monopolize the server like he did on Malbruk by merging with the Four Heavenly Kings because Elka’s party is good in war and rankings, thinking it would be easy if they combined.

└ But the reality is? Elka’s party plays separately, the main members are friendly players who enjoy the game and hang out with f1~4, leisurely running Mayo for an hour.

└ If they had properly recruited new users and raised them as an elite war guild, they might have matched Countess over time. Trying to go the easy route backfired.

└ Thanks to Elka, they took both castles, but so what? Elka would never set taxes at 100% and monopolize. Those guys would never beat Countess even if they died and came back to life.

└ Is your guild Countess?

└ Judging by what you know, you must be from Hell. I can guess where you are without you saying.

Anonymous4: Can someone summarize this in 3 lines?

└ Elka and Gangrim used to date but broke up; Yeomra is jealous and expelled Gangrim, trying to hit on Elka ㄷㄷ

Anonymous5: I get the gist, but why does Help seem so funny? Why did they merge the guilds?

└ Really curious. At least, by merging Nungdong and Jangji, they could take the personal crown regularly.. Why did Help think of merging?

└ Rumor has it Yeomra liked the name and thought it would look cool if listed as vice-guild leader (heard from several sources).

└ This seems too far-fetched; surely no one would be that shallow?

└ If that’s true, Help’s frontal lobe must be missing.

* * *

The winner of the April siege was Jicheonwang. They successfully engraved Capitol Castle on Saturday thanks to Gangrim, and engraved it again on Sunday.

After Jicheonwang took both castles, the server chat exploded. Some users demanded a patch for an engraving system that favors larger groups, while others accused those users of being from Countess and Sunshine Kindergarten. Amid this chaos, there were users boasting about their gambling winnings and those exposing internal issues within Jicheonwang. The server chat remained noisy for quite a while.

This continued until Saturday afternoon, amidst various accusations and fights.

Having successfully awakened at Habaek’s spot with the information he reluctantly obtained, Jehyun stayed up late browsing posts and fell asleep past midnight. He woke up late, ate, and placed a cup of lemonade in front of his monitor before logging into Caplet.

“Welcome to Caplet, the land of eternity!

A foreboding feeling surrounds you.

The blessing of Hero Arnea envelops you.

[Area] Entering Capitol area channel.

You have 1 unread mail in your mailbox.

[Guild] EvenIfYouDieIt’sYourHeal: Welcome~~~

[Guild] EvenIfYouDieIt’sYourHeal: Guild leader, aren’t you reinforcing again??? ><

[Guild] NamAneedMoney: Hi

[Guild] Boss12MoreHours: Welcome

[Guild] Healer: Hello

[Guild] Healer: Nitath, didn’t expect this from you. Why are you so cruel?

After quickly greeting, Jehyun lowered his gaze to the glowing mail icon in the corner of his screen. Hmm, he let out a brief sigh and opened the mailbox with an expressionless face.

『To. Healer

Sent by mail since you weren’t here.

Attached item: Gold (54,042,780)

From. KimchiRiceAndEgg』

The calculations seemed to be finally done, contrary to his worries about being shortchanged. The mail contained about 2.7 times the amount of money he bet during the siege.

The profit wasn’t bad. Though it stung a bit that Jicheonwang actually took both castles, he didn’t mind since he could just take them back in next month’s siege. This money was to be used to overthrow Jicheonwang, so there was no guilt involved.

Steeped in capitalist ideals, Jehyun took the money straight to the trading house.

With the update of Overload Helkaras and the promise of new dungeons once the raid was cleared, the chances were high that armor or armor awakening materials would drop, now that awakening weapons were already in the game. New crafting armor recipes would surely appear as well. In preparation for that day, Jehyun kept collecting regular reinforcement stones.

After the awakening announcement, a player called anchovy_required bought up all the reinforcement stones, causing prices to skyrocket tenfold. Although the update allowing awakening reinforcement with account-bound stones alleviated the demand for regular reinforcement stones from those already at +15, the price still remained nearly five times higher than before, as +15 was required for awakening.

The impact of a single person’s hoarding on a small game market was enormous. Anti-monopoly laws should apply to Caplet as well. Cursing inwardly, Jehyun begrudgingly purchased anchovy_required’s overpriced stones.

purespear has joined the guild.

Chingdao407 has joined the guild.

[Guild] purespear: Hello, I’m new ><ㅎㅎ This pseudo-pro gamer greets you>ㅅ<

While organizing his inventory, the guild join messages and a greeting caught Jehyun’s attention. A newbie? Jehyun glanced at the chat window and greeted purespear.

[Guild] Healer: Welcome~

[Guild] Contempt: ㅇㅅㅇ Welcome.. What’s your speedrun time?

[Guild] purespear: Helloㅎㅅㅎ It’s 183>

[Guild] Healer: Lol, that’s high. Looking forward to playing together.

[Guild] Chingdao407: Hate your manner of speech.

[Guild] Healer: ?

[Guild] purespear: Don’t start a fightㅠㅠ

A sudden message made Jehyun frown. Chingdao was Habaek. Is he still pretending to be a Chinese player? Frowning, he assumed Habaek was criticizing his speech and prepared to argue.

[Guild] Chingdao407: Just join the party.

But something felt off. Wasn’t he talking to me? Jehyun opened the guild info window. The level 1 priest purespear wasn’t what he expected. Chingdao407 was also level 1, and both were at the starting point together.

Narrowing his eyes, Jehyun watched as both purespear and Habaek leveled up together without saying another word. Jehyun whispered to Boss.

[Whisper] to Boss12MoreHours: Noona, who is purespear?

[Whisper] from Boss12MoreHours: Huh?

[Whisper] from Boss12MoreHours: Don’t know, seems like Habaek invited him?

[Whisper] to Boss12MoreHours: Oh, Habaek invited him?

[Whisper] from Boss12MoreHours: Yeah.

[Whisper] from Boss12MoreHours: Hey Jehyun, should we recruit a few more guild members? Fill up to 20? I’ll be out briefly.

A friend of Habaek? How does this guy have so many friends in this crappy game? Does he feed them? Jehyun frowned, recalling his recent failed attempt to entice Baekyung to Caplet, and began discussing recruiting efforts with Boss.

After handing over the guild master position to Jehyun, Sangjae hadn’t been involved in guild matters. Most decisions were up to Jehyun, with Boss, who had the most free time and spent the most time in the game, often making suggestions that Jehyun would discuss and implement.

Concluding to recruit up to a 4-party roster with Boss, Jehyun continued with daily quests and battlefield runs. Before starting rank grinding, he created an alt character.

Lately, he had been leveling alts with Habaek. But Habaek, who was supposed to be his damage dealer, was leveling up with purespear in silence. Swinging his wand alone to defeat quest monsters felt oddly lonely.

What they say is true, you can’t find what you need when you need it, Jehyun thought, frowning in dissatisfaction.

Level up!

Guild member FreshPriest has reached level 21.

New quest available.

Guild member purespear has reached level 42.

Guild member Chingdao407 has reached level 42.

[Guild] Contempt: Hmm ㅇㅅㅇ

[Guild] Contempt: Love and War…

[Guild] EvenIfYouDieIt’sYourHeal: What??

[Guild] Contempt: Keep it to yourself.. ㅣㅅㅇ

[Guild] EvenIfYouDieIt’sYourHeal: Oh my, what is it?

[Guild] Contempt: (whispering) Our guild couple seems to have broken up..ㄷㄷ

[Guild] Contempt: (whispering) Looks like someone switched partners..;ㅅ;

[Guild] EvenIfYouDieIt’sYourHeal: No way, oh my

[Guild] EvenIfYouDieIt’sYourHeal: (whispering) But who are the couple?

[Guild] FreshPriest: Shut up

[Guild] Contempt: Yes;ㅅ;?

[Guild] FreshPriest: Shut up

[Guild] Contempt: ㅠㅅㅠ.. Behold the dictatorship of our guild leader, everyone..

Jehyun glared at the guild info with a displeased expression. It seemed Habaek and purespear had created their characters just over an hour apart, yet their leveling speed was twice as fast as Jehyun’s. Normally, there should be about a 10-level difference, but the gap was twice that. It was because Habaek was insanely good at dealing damage.

That should have been my spot. Jehyun muttered to himself as he watched the priest purespear quickly leveling up with Habaek’s help.

Illya: Hey, FreshPriest. Did you hear? There’s a couple in the neighboring village who were inseparable, but recently the husband had a change of heart. And the woman he’s seeing now looks really strange. People who saw her said she emits a pale light from above her head, like a fallen spirit! Isn’t that suspicious?

[Option 1: What’s suspicious about that? He’s probably bald. Just give me the promised reward.]

[Option 2: That’s really strange. A person emitting light…. I’ll look into it.]

Coincidentally, the quest he was on was about a cheating husband. Jehyun glared at the options with an annoyed look and eventually chose option 2.

This quest was part of the main questline leading to the Sanctuary of Spirits. He had skipped it when leveling with Habaek, but when leveling alone, pushing the main quest was faster than grinding monsters, so he couldn’t ignore it.

Illya: Will you do that? Then I’ll write you a letter of introduction. Give it to the vigilante in the neighboring village, and they’ll tell you more.

NPC Illya said, handing Jehyun a letter of introduction. Jehyun rode to the neighboring village on the default 180-speed trash horse.

The neighboring village was where people who lost their homes to the Raptor Legion had settled. Despite the passage of time, the village was still disorganized due to the war, and it was there that the couple Illya mentioned lived.

Anyway, Jehyun had done this quest over a hundred times, almost weekly, before the server merge, so he knew all the details. As Illya said, the husband had a big problem. Enchanted by a fallen spirit, he was not only draining his own energy to offer to the spirit but also capturing vagrants from the village to hand over.

The man’s original wife knew all of this but couldn’t tell anyone. She feared the rough vigilantes of the village would kill her enchanted husband.

Jasmine: Please, save my husband…. Sob….

Normally, Jehyun would have clicked his tongue at Jasmine, but today he couldn’t empathize with her emotions. Save him? Cheaters deserve to be beaten.

Jehyun found Jasmine’s husband, Lavenda, and beat him with the purification rod obtained during the quest. Why get enchanted by a spirit and cheat on your wife? Pathetic bastard. He didn’t forget to curse him. After finishing the quest, he had only gained one level.

Since the server merge, Jehyun had been leveling alts with Habaek. Spending 10 hours together, even if 9 of those hours were spent bickering, Habaek was great for leveling alts. Their banter made time fly, and the synergy between a low-level priest and a thief made leveling much faster.

Having grown accustomed to fast and fun alt leveling with Habaek, Jehyun now found soloing main quests torturous. He stopped leveling FreshPriest at level 23 and let go of the mouse. He didn’t feel like continuing.

That’s when Sangjae suggested doing the weekly quest.

[Guild] Sangjae: Anyone for weekly quest extermination?

[Guild] NamAneedHeal: Me

[Guild] FreshPriest: I’ll go too

[Guild] EvenIfYouDieIt’sYourHeal: Me too!

[Guild] Sangjae: Gaebaek coming for weekly quest extermination??

[Guild] Chingdao407: Busy

[Guild] FreshPriest: Contempt not coming?

[Guild] Contempt: Making a PPT…

[Guild] FreshPriest: ? Is the assignment more important now?

[Guild] Contempt: I-I’ll come ㅠㅅㅠ..

Jehyun quickly logged out and logged back in as Healer. As soon as the screen loaded, he received a party invite from Sangjae.

Joined the party.

[Party] Sangjae: Starting matchmaking right away.

[Party] Healer: Contempt, send me your email address. I’ll send the PPT form.

[Party] Contempt: Oh..ㅇ0ㅇ..

[Party] Contempt: Turning heartbreak into charity, huh..;ㅅ; Sent it now.

[Party] Healer: Now I don’t want to send it.

[Party] Contempt: I’ll shut up.. ㅠxㅠ

[Party matchmaking estimated wait time: 52 minutes 13 seconds]

The wait time was shorter than usual. Jehyun checked the guild info after changing his items.

There were quite a few people online since it was Saturday afternoon. It seemed like most of his guild members, except for a few, didn’t have normal lives.

Jehyun thought it was a good thing and studied Korean political history from his textbook while waiting for the matchmaking.

Healer has joined the raid.

Sangjae has joined the raid.

Sangjae has been appointed as Raid Leader.

NamAneedHeal has joined the raid.

MonthlyReaper has joined the raid.

About an hour later, the party matchmaking was complete. Since the longest-existing character in the raid took the raid leader position, Sangjae was the leader this time. He had said he raised this character from the closed beta to the open beta, just like Boss.

[Party] Sangjae: Guild leader, take the raid?

Not confident in leading, Sangjae asked Jehyun if he wanted to take the raid leader position. Jehyun was about to type “Sure” when he noticed the raid member list. There were two Jicheonwang guild members, including Yeomra.

[Raid] Hexxa: Oh, enemies meet in extermination, huh? lol

[Raid] NAMisaJinhyuk: Damn, this lineup is crazylollollol

[Raid] Sangjae: Hello, Jicheonwang members^^?

[Raid] Yeomra: lol

[Raid] Yeomra: Hi^^

[Raid] MonthlyReaper: Transfer the raid to Yeomra.

The greeting exchanged between the vice guild leaders felt like a psychological battle. Then there was silence. Everyone seemed to be watching the situation.

Jehyun frowned with a troubled expression. Handing over the raid to Yeomra wouldn’t look good. It would give the impression he wasn’t confident. On the other hand, if he took the raid and lost, he didn’t know how much they’d laugh at him.

Meeting as enemies would be clean, but being on the same side was tricky. Jehyun glared at Yeomra’s username and greeted in the raid chat.

[Raid] Healer: Hello

[Raid] Healer: I’ll take the raid^^ Looking forward to working with you.

[Party] Sangjae: Okay

Healer has been granted Raid Leader authority.

[Raid] Yeomra: lol

[Raid] Yeomra: Make sure we clear the weekly quest in one go haha

[Raid Leader Notice] Healer: Don’t worry.

[Raid Leader Notice] Healer: Adjusting parties.

Jehyun calmly adjusted the parties. There weren’t many familiar names in the opposing raid. It meant most were there for the weekly quest rather than being extermination veterans. The opposing raid leader wasn’t a well-known player either, so Jehyun wasn’t too worried about winning or losing. However, not wanting to show any weakness to Yeomra, he meticulously organized the parties.

[Raid Leader Notice] Healer: 1-4 left outer, 5 left middle, 6 right middle. All attack.

[Raid Leader Notice] Healer: Anyone new to extermination?

[Raid] Yeomra: lol, I don’t like left middle.

[Raid Leader Notice] Healer: No one, right?

[Raid] Yeomra: I’ll take left outer.

The party composition was good. Having four rare swordmasters meant they could split into two airships and storm the inner fortress to break the extermination stone if they survived. However, Yeomra, assigned to the 5th party, objected.

What’s his problem? Jehyun felt his blood pressure rise as he placed his hands on the keyboard.

[Raid] EvenIfYouDieIt’sYourHeal: Wait; if the raid leader says so, isn’t it the rule of extermination?

But others stepped in before he could respond.

[Raid] Contempt: You don’t like it? What are you going to do about it ㅇㅅㅇ;

[Raid] Sangjae: Left middle probably doesn’t like you either^^;

[Raid] NamAneedHeal: Waaah~ Doesn’t like left middle~~ Yeomra doesn’t like left middle~~

Yeomra seemed taken aback by the four responses to his one comment. After a brief silence, Yeomra and MonthlyReaper laughed and started chatting.

[Raid] MonthlyReaper: lol, they say Countess healers are bootlickers. Seems true.

[Raid] MonthlyReaper: All jump in just because of one word lol.

[Raid] Yeomra: lol

[Raid] Yeomra: Sad to have no bootlickers.

But Jehyun wasn’t one to stay silent either.

[Raid Leader Notice] Healer: lol, if you don’t like it, get out.

[Raid Leader Notice] Healer: We’ll manage just fine without you^^