Stalkerizing

[The battle is starting!]

[May the blessing of the god Athena be with you.]

The message on the central screen disappeared, replaced by a five-second countdown.

[General] SpinachTrumpet: Whoa, a Warlock in this bracket??

[General] SpinachTrumpet: Free win, thx lol

And of course, there were always people who just had to taunt in those short moments. This guy thought that just because he was up against a Demon Summoner, he had a guaranteed win. As if he were some perfectly balanced, privileged aristocrat from birth. These people always assumed that facing a Warlock meant their victory rate was automatically 100%.

“XX.”

Had they all gone through some kind of indoctrination? The sheer overconfidence—bordering on arrogance—made Sa-yoon click his tongue.

[[Battle] In response to the Contractor ‘Chasa’s’ call, the high-rank demon Bine is summoned.]

It wouldn’t take long for them to realize their misjudgment. Sa-yoon silently summoned his creature. A black serpent rose from the magic circle on the ground, writhing like a tornado.

His opponent was a Guardian, a pure tank wielding a lance and shield. Relying on his durability, the enemy charged in with terrifying momentum right from the start.

When a melee dealer and a ranged dealer face off, maintaining distance is key—because a melee fighter can’t attack unless they get close.

In this situation, as a Warlock—a ranged dealer—Sa-yoon’s natural course of action should have been to create distance. But instead of retreating, he stood his ground and faced his opponent head-on.

[Battle] Enemy ‘SpinachTrumpet’ uses White Shield. A barrier is generated for 3 seconds.

The moment he saw the enemy’s skill appear in the battle log, Sa-yoon immediately activated his prepared skill.

[Battle] Using Blessing Theft. Removes 1 buff from the enemy.

The skill hit its mark—perfect timing. The opponent, caught off guard by the sudden loss of his defensive buff, hesitated for a moment.

Just one second.

But that was more than enough. Seizing that brief hesitation, Sa-yoon unleashed a barrage of Warlock skills.

[General] SpinachTrumpet: Ah fuck

The ground beneath SpinachTrumpet began to glow. Black smoke rose from his armor, followed by wisps of red and purple, engulfing him completely.

These were the effects of the Demon Summoner’s curse. The debuffs were as follows:

Reduced movement speed
Reduced attack speed
Reduced defense
Bleeding
Burn

Even just one or two of these debuffs were a pain to deal with, but now he was covered in them. Realizing his predicament, SpinachTrumpet faltered and tried to back away to get out of range.

But with movement speed reduced, there was no escape—no matter how hard he ran, he was still in the palm of Sa-yoon’s hand. Every time his summoned creature bit down on the enemy with its massive jaws, Sa-yoon felt a deep sense of satisfaction.

[General] SpinachTrumpet: My skill build is fucked

And finally, the ultimate compliment left his opponent’s mouth. Translated, it meant: “Your skill setup is unexpectedly powerful, and I am completely helpless.”

Sa-yoon let out a small chuckle at the quick surrender. But he wasn’t about to let someone who had insulted his class off that easily.

At his command, the black serpent coiled tightly around the enemy, binding him in place. It slithered in circles, looping around and around like a ritual dance, while its damage-over-time skills continued to chip away at him.

Technically, Sa-yoon could have just stood still and spammed his skills. But he deliberately put in the extra effort—jumping, spinning, weaving around his trapped opponent—for one reason only.

This was much more effective at pissing people off.

[General] SpinachTrumpet: Fucking dizzying, stop jumping around.

[General] Chasa: ^^

Since he was bound in place, the only way to keep up was by constantly rotating his screen. Right now, SpinachTrumpet was frantically spinning his camera in full 360-degree turns.

[General] SpinachTrumpet: Fucking annoying playstyle.

[General] Chasa: Thanks for the free win. ^^

[General] SpinachTrumpet: No wonder you play Warlock.

[General] SpinachTrumpet: Without your debuffs, you’re fucking worthless.

A flood of compliments poured in from the enemy.

[General] Chasa: Thanks, thanks.

Sa-yoon half-heartedly typed back, more focused on toying with his opponent.

Finally, SpinachTrumpet broke free from the slow effect and immediately activated a movement speed buff.

[Battle] Using Blessing Theft. Removes 1 buff from the enemy.

“…Is he an idiot?”

As soon as Sa-yoon removed the buff, he followed up with a root effect, locking the enemy in place again.

This time, instead of simply keeping his distance, Sa-yoon weaved in and out of the enemy’s attack range, taunting him.

With his movement sealed, SpinachTrumpet swung his lance wildly, frustration evident in every strike. Sa-yoon, who had been teasingly stepping into range, quickly retreated. The thrill of it was just as exciting as the “rice-and-barley” chase games he used to play in school.

[General] Chasa: Oops.

[General] SpinachTrumpet: Typical Warlock scum.

[General] SpinachTrumpet: Playing Warlock must’ve completely ruined your personality.

[General] Chasa: Yep, everything you say is absolutely right. ^^

Divine was an MMORPG that had been live for two years now.

And in those two years, despite multiple balance patches, Warlocks had never once been favored.

The path he had chosen turned out to be a road of suffering, but through sheer force of will, he had reached enlightenment. Sa-yoon absentmindedly tapped away at his keyboard.

He had expected his opponent to be skilled, considering how confidently he assumed victory from the start. But this was just boring. A fight was only fun when it was evenly matched.

Playing with small fry had gotten dull—maybe it was time to finish this.

[General] SpinachTrumpet: Even your demon looks like absolute shit—so fucking ugly.

…What the fuck?

Sa-yoon’s eyes narrowed, the way a parent’s would when someone insulted their child right in front of them.

Still, only amateurs would lose their cool over such an obvious provocation. Checking his debuff timers, he timed his response perfectly.

[General] Chasa: Your damage is so weak I can’t even feel it. Can you at least land a hit before talking?

Hook, line, and sinker.

SpinachTrumpet took the bait, his movements becoming predictable. Sa-yoon lured him in, letting him close the distance before cycling through stun, root, and movement speed reduction effects. None of the debuffs would kill him—but they would drive him insane.

Enraged, the enemy kept charging at him, only to get cursed again and again.

“Well, at least he’s persistent.”

It had already been two minutes. In a one-on-one battle, two minutes was a long time. If you hadn’t landed a single hit by then, it was probably time to give up.

Just as Sa-yoon was about to wrap things up and create some distance—

[Whisper] killer12345: 0

[Whisper] killer12345: 0

[Whisper] killer12345: o

[Whisper] killer12345: 0

[Whisper] killer12345: 0

The chat window, which had been sitting in the corner, suddenly started flooding with messages at rapid speed.

‘killer12345 has sent you a friend request.’
Would you like to accept?

[Yes/No]

As the flood of whispers poured in, a popup window suddenly appeared, causing Sa-yoon’s character to come to an abrupt stop while moving backward.

“Ah, fuck.”

He frantically slammed the ESC key to decline and tried to retreat. But in that short moment, SpinachTrumpet had already closed the distance.

‘killer12345’ has sent you a friend request.
Would you like to accept?
[Yes/No]

ESC.

‘killer12345’ has sent you a friend request.
Would you like to accept?
[Yes/No]

ESC.

The popup notifications kept pouring in as if the system was glitching. Since Divine prioritized popups, whenever a window appeared, all skill and movement inputs became unresponsive.

[General] SpinachTrumpet: Lmao, what happened to all that flexing?

At the same time, Sa-yoon got caught in the enemy’s stun skill, his character frozen in place. The Warlock, who had been slapping on debuffs left and right just moments ago, was now completely immobilized. Sensing something was wrong, SpinachTrumpet seized the opportunity and attacked more aggressively, rapidly turning the tide of battle.

‘killer12345’ has sent you a friend request.
Would you like to accept?
[Yes/No]

“Ah, fuck!”

Every time he tried to move, the message popped up, momentarily disabling his controls. Sa-yoon’s face twisted in rage at this blatant harassment—it was practically a terror attack.

As a Demon Summoner, he was a mage. That meant paper-thin defenses and a fragile health bar.

To make matters worse, SpinachTrumpet had barely used any of his skills, meaning he still had his ultimate ability fully charged.

Sa-yoon could do nothing but watch helplessly as the massive attack rained down on him.

[You have died.]

[You have been defeated.]

[You have lost 14 Battlefield Points. Your ranking has dropped.]

And right over the defeat message—

‘killer12345’ has sent you a friend request.
Would you like to accept?
[Yes/No]

This was some serious fucking bullshit.

[General] SpinachTrumpet: Lmao, all that movement for nothing. What a scrub.