Stalkerizing

[Party] Chasa: If you search for “ThexT” here, you can check for any past scam records.

[Party] Chasa: (Link)

[Party] a10235044: I haven’t sent the money yet.

[Party] a10235044: He said he’s on a business trip overseas right now.

[Party] a10235044: We agreed to meet and trade when he gets back.

“Overseas business trip?”

Isn’t that such a cliché excuse? This clueless kid didn’t seem to realize how often people ghost transactions without any reason.

At least he didn’t make the mistake of sending the money first—that was the only relief.

[Party] Chasa: Make sure to check properly and use a secure trade.

[Party] a10235044: lololololol

[Party] a10235044: I’ve done a lot of trades!

[Party] a10235044: No worries.

How could you not worry when you paid money for a basic custom? If I just thought of him as a student, even his messages seemed innocent.

[Party] Chasa: You know how to use secure trade, right?

[Party] a10235044: Of course.

[Party] a10235044: Ready to go?

[Party] Chasa: Yeah, let’s go.

His short, consonant-heavy responses reeked of impatience. He dismissed my concerns as nagging, just like someone his age would. Still, if this were really a scam, he wouldn’t be agreeing to meet in person.

With the same anxious feeling as watching a child near water, I reminded him of the precautions one last time. Then, after getting his agreement to continue, Sa-yoon resumed the battle. He also made sure to hide his glaringly eye-catching temporary nickname.

“Wow…”

There was no time to feel nostalgic about seeing Medusa again—it melted away in an instant.

Experiencing this kind of firepower firsthand, Sa-yoon felt both exhilaration, like speeding down an open highway, and envy. Running dungeons with a high-damage hunter really did make a difference in clearing speed.

No wonder everyone only wanted black mages or hunters. What about buffing warlocks for once, you shitty game devs?

His fingers steadily pressed skills while his thoughts inevitably drifted toward the need for warlock buffs.

[This humiliation shall not be forgotten. O ruthless child of the gods…]

True to its name, the boss monster turned to stone with its final words before crumbling into dust. It was one of the cleanest and fastest clears yet.

[Party] a10235044: gg gg

Three chests appeared where Medusa had vanished. Noticing the floating nickname standing in front of the reward chests, Sa-yoon sent a message.

[Party] Chasa: Good work.

[Party] Chasa: I won’t recognize you next time.

The temporary nickname didn’t respond—probably still talking to the buyer.

Regardless of whether the nickname trade succeeded or not, he wouldn’t keep using a temporary one forever. The next time they met, Sa-yoon probably wouldn’t recognize him.

“……”

A skilled DPS player who was also friendly toward warlocks was a rare find. That was the problem—there just weren’t many like that.

“I was thinking of adding him as a friend…”

Unfortunately, the timing didn’t work out. Sa-yoon wasn’t particularly attached to in-game acquaintances, but when it came time to leave, his finger hesitated over the quit button.

The temporary nickname’s beautiful damage output and his words flashed through Sa-yoon’s mind like a montage.

His mouse, which had been hovering over “Leave Party,” quietly slid to the side.

Might as well get something done.

True to its theme as a hidden lair, Medusa’s chamber was packed with decorations that gave it a lived-in feel.

Everywhere you looked was a potential photo spot. Usually, after defeating Medusa, players just went their separate ways, so this was the first time Sa-yoon had the leisure to explore the boss room.

For someone on the run, Medusa lived quite luxuriously. A stone-carved couch, piles of gold coins and silk—who knew how she even got her hands on all that?—and statues that were presumably past victims made for the perfect background. He took plenty of screenshots.

Even then, the temporary nickname hadn’t returned.

Did he just go AFK?

If something came up and he had to step away, there was no telling when he’d be back.

A bit disappointing, but oh well. It didn’t make sense to wait around forever, so Sa-yoon left the party and hit the return button. Once the party disbanded, the system would teleport any remaining players to the dungeon entrance after a set time. That way, if the temporary nickname came back, he’d easily understand the situation.

“Ugh.”

They say making sounds like that when you stand up means you’re getting old.

Feeling his age, Sa-yoon stretched his stiff body as he walked out to the living room.

Ever since injuring his knee once, he’d gotten into the habit of stretching regularly.

Come to think of it, when was his next check-up?

Opening his calendar app to check his schedule, he bent down to finish his stretching. His palms touched the floor with ease.

Just as he was straightening up, following his usual routine—

He heard a noise from his room.

“Hm?”

At first, he thought he imagined it.

He straightened up completely and walked back to his room, only to find the chat window flooded with purple text.

[Whisper] a10235044: ?

[Whisper] a10235044: Why wouldn’t you recognize me?

[Whisper] a10235044: Hey

[Whisper] a10235044: Hey

[Whisper] a10235044: Do you have something scheduled after this?

[Whisper] a10235044: Did you go AFK again?

It was the temporary nickname.

Somehow, he had followed him and was now sitting beside Chasa’s personal shop.

Even though the character wasn’t visible, Sa-yoon felt like he was being stared at. He quickly typed a reply.

[Whisper] Chasa: You’re back.

[A10235044 has invited you to a party. Do you accept?]

Instead of replying, he sent a party invite—same as always.

What did he want to do?

Sa-yoon didn’t accept right away. As he hesitated, another whisper came through.

***

[Whisper] a10235044: Want to run King Hunt with me?

[Party] Driver: Hello.

[Party] liiiiiiiiiil: Hi there~

[Party] BeginningAndEnd: Heyo.

[Party] SteelBarsOfThePoliceStation: Hiya.

[Party] Chasa: Hello.

As soon as he entered, messages popped up one after another.

Sa-yoon quickly skimmed through them. No familiar names stood out.

Divine had not just field PvP but also dedicated battlegrounds for 1v1 and 6v6 combat.

The , named after the goddess of wisdom and war, had a ranking system based on battle points, with weekly rewards based on those rankings.

The 6v6 battleground was exactly what the temporary nickname had invited him to—King Hunt.

Its official name was The Second Trial of Athena’s Battleground, but it was too long, so players had shortened it themselves.

Sa-yoon didn’t particularly enjoy 6v6 battlegrounds—the gaming equivalent of a group project.

Random matchmaking was an even crueler system than random loot boxes. At least with loot boxes, you got an item out of it.

With bad matchmaking, all you got was a spike in blood pressure and a drop in ranking.

But with the season ending soon, he needed to push his rank up. In that sense, the temporary nickname’s suggestion was actually a good one.

[557th Chasa
999th Driver
1445th liiiiiiiiiil
3926th BeginningAndEnd
— a10235044
— SteelBarsOfThePoliceStation]

Tapping the screen revealed the rankings and roles of his teammates. Since the battle hadn’t started yet, all enemy information was still hidden behind question marks.

Two tanks, three damage dealers, one healer. Not the best, but at least they had a balanced composition.

Since the temporary nickname had transferred servers, this probably wasn’t his first time playing. But what about the lancer? Was he actually a first-timer?

A golden cursor hovered over the lancer’s name, circling a few times in thought.

[Party] liiiiiiiiiil: Uh, what’s up with this matchmaking?

[Party] Driver: Looks like someone queued as a duo?

The party members were confused after seeing the wildly inconsistent rankings.

To be fair, even Sa-yoon hadn’t expected the gaps to be this extreme. Then again, he’d never queued for 6v6 as a duo before.

Even though it was called random matchmaking, it wasn’t completely random. To maintain fairness, the system usually grouped players with similar rankings.

For duos, matchmaking was based on their average ranking. Since Chasa was relatively high-ranked and the temporary nickname had no recorded history, the party’s rankings had ended up more spread out than usual.

[Party] Driver: Hunter and Lancer, is this your first time playing King Hunt?

The Guardian, acting as the leader, checked if anyone was new.

[Party] SteelBarsOfThePoliceStation: First time for me.

[Party] a10235044: Nah.

[Party] BeginningAndEnd: Not my first time, but first time on this map lol.

Since King Hunt was a strategy-heavy mode, the difference between new and experienced players was huge.

And Koreans, by nature, tended to stay quiet unless someone directly asked them.

In that sense, the Guardian’s question was well-placed.

[Party] Driver: Lancer, do you know the King Hunt rules?

[Party] SteelBarsOfThePoliceStation: More or less.

[Party] Driver: No worries, haha. It’s not too complicated.

[Party] Driver: Since we’ve got some new players, I’ll give a quick rundown.

Driver certainly lived up to his name—he had the air of a professional.

Sa-yoon had been wondering why a tank was being so considerate, but another glance at the ranking tab answered his question.

999th place.

If they lost, Driver’s ranking would drop into the four-digit range, meaning worse seasonal rewards.

As the season end approached, maintaining rank got tougher, so he probably wanted to climb as much as possible before things got too hectic.

The three-minute prep time before the match began needed to be used wisely.

[Party] Driver: King Hunt.

[Party] Driver: We start at a random spawn in one of the four directions.

[Party] Driver: Three minutes after the match starts, a named boss spawns (you’ll get a notification).

[Party] Driver: Kill the named boss, pick up the dropped crown, and place it on the activated throne.

[Party] Driver: Kill the summoned king.

[Party] Driver: Done.