Stalkerizing

[Party] Chasa: HunterIsMyCalling?

[Party] NoHealsIfYouBeg: Guess they’re AFK.

[Party] ZeroCola: What do we do?

If they had time to queue up and then go AFK, why not just do something else instead? Why bother coming in just to mess things up for the other five players?

There were all kinds of lunatics in the world. Watching the idle damage dealer, Sa-yoon clicked his tongue.

[Party] Chasa: The other team might have an AFK too.

[Party] Chasa: Our five-man comp is fine.

[Party] Chasa: Since it’s the Lava map, as long as their healer is missing or they only have one, we should be able to push through.

Blazing Altar was a map where the entire floor was covered in lava, except for a few safe zones here and there. Because of the constant damage over time, healers were absolutely crucial.

Luckily, their party had two healers, so that wasn’t a concern.

[Party] ZeroCola: Alright, let’s give it a shot.

[Party] Chasa: If we start getting overwhelmed, don’t engage head-on—dive in instead.

[Party] PotionArtist: Got it!

[Party] NoHealsIfYouBeg: Okay, good luck.

Aside from the one AFK player, the party seemed eager.

[The battle has begun. Seize the crown!]

[You take 154 damage from the lava.]

As soon as the battle alert popped up and they stepped out of the entrance, the damage notification followed.

[Artisan Kirash is roaming the northern alleyway.]

Three minutes in, the system announced Kirash’s appearance. This was the point in the match where teams typically split into three groups.

[Party] a10235044: I’ll go with Chasa.

[Party] ZeroCola: Wait, what…?

Once again, the temp-named player insisted on sticking with Chasa.

[Party] Chasa: No, not happening.

[Party] Chasa: That would leave both healers together.

[Party] PotionArtist: I can go alone, it’s fine~

Like hell it was fine. The ideal split was Tank-Heal-DPS-Heal-DPS, not Tank-DPS-DPS-Heal-Heal or Tank-Heal-DPS-DPS-Heal.

But no matter how much they explained, the temp-named player wouldn’t budge. They clung to Chasa’s side, repeating the same thing over and over.

[Party] a10235044: No, I want to go with you.

Why were they being so stubborn? With their high mobility and escape skills, it made the most sense for a hunter to solo this section. Everything had been going smoothly until now, and suddenly they were hitting a snag.

Just as Sa-yoon clicked his tongue—

[Whisper] a10235044: I’m scared to go alone ㅜㅜ

That made him pause. He quickly deleted the message he was typing.

For a moment, he’d been too focused on winning and had forgotten—their teammate was still a teenager who probably wore a school uniform.

Yeah… if everyone else was grouped up and they were the only one sent off alone, of course they’d feel uneasy.

[Party] Chasa: I’ll solo mid, then.

[Whisper] a10235044: No way!

[Party] a10235044: I’m going mid.

Then, without warning, the temp-named player bolted down the path, activating Sprint and vanishing in an instant.

What happened to being scared…?

[Party] Chasa: We’re moving in too.

Sa-yoon, still staring blankly at where they had disappeared, quickly typed out the message and moved forward. He had no idea what caused the sudden change of heart, but at least the issue was resolved.

[Party] Chasa: Here.

He spotted an enemy slipping behind a rock and pinged the alert before immediately rushing in to attack. The enemy, seeing him, charged forward as well.

Chasa cursed one enemy to send them to the opposite side of the battlefield, then stacked debuffs on another DPS. By the time they even got close to him, they were already dead.

[Due to the lava, you have taken 154 damage.]

[Party] Chasa: ?

The lava damage was ticking down steadily, but there was no healing. Puzzled by his unfilled health bar, Chasa glanced back—only to see the priest, who was supposed to support him with health potions and debuff potions, just standing there, tossing bottles aimlessly at nothing.

Meanwhile, the swordmaster, having broken free from a curse, was now charging straight at him.

[Party] Chasa: Potion?

To be honest, losing in a one-on-one fight at this level was harder than winning. After effortlessly dealing with the swordmaster, Chasa called out to his teammate once more, but there was no response from the priest, who was busy throwing the game along with their potions.

[You have died.]

[You have lost 150 points.]

[Would you like to respawn at your base?]

Mages had naturally low health, and even with potions, there was a limit to how much sustained lava damage he could endure. Since he hadn’t died at the hands of an enemy, he didn’t lose additional points, but it still left a bad taste in his mouth.

[Party] PotionArtist: Ah, sry sry ㅠㅠ

[Party] PotionArtist: My cat was blocking the screen ㅜㅜ

The priest suddenly came back to life as soon as Chasa died. That explained the radio silence. If their cat wouldn’t move, what could they do? Understanding the struggles of pet owners, Sayoon let it slide.

Since there was a death penalty anyway, Sayoon chose to run back from the starting base rather than respawning immediately in the heat of battle.

However, something strange was happening at the starting point.

[Party] Chasa: HunterIsMyCalling?

The hunter, who had been AFK since the start, was no longer in the base but instead standing in the middle of the road.

Why were they down here? If they had just returned from being AFK, they should either be regrouping with the team or at least saying something in chat.

But HunterIsMyCalling was motionless again, showing no response whatsoever.

Tilting his head in confusion, Sayoon resumed his journey to rejoin the party, only to run into four enemy players in a narrow path and die instantly. With the lava damage stacking on top of their combined attacks, there was no way he could have survived.

“Huh?”

Upon respawning back at the base, he noticed that the hunter was back in their original position. That’s when Sayoon finally checked the scoreboard.

He was the only one who had died, yet 300 points had vanished.

What the hell? Did they try to leave, die, and then go AFK again?

Feeling an odd sense of unease, Sayoon pushed the thought aside and headed back onto the battlefield.

When he finally reunited with the priest,, the moment an enemy appeared, they threw a mix of debuff potions and healing potions at Chasa in an 8:2 ratio—before getting themselves killed alongside him.

They probably thought it wouldn’t be obvious, but to someone like Sayoon, who had spent countless hours fighting on these battlefields, their intentional sabotage was glaringly clear.

Tsk. Clicking his tongue in irritation, Sayoon let go of his keyboard just as his character collapsed, the screen fading to grayscale.

[You have died.]

[You have lost 150 points.]

[Would you like to respawn at your base?]

Upon respawning again, HunterIsMyCalling’s position had advanced forward.

What was this, a horror movie?

Watching his teammate only move when he wasn’t looking, Sayoon suddenly came to a realization.

“So that’s why there haven’t been any lunatics in this bracket yet.”

There were players who deliberately threw games to ensure their team lost. These people were called ‘match-fixers.’

Well, this was screwed. In any other map, it might’ve been manageable, but in a lava-based battlefield, having two match-fixers on your team made winning nearly impossible. The best thing to do now was to conserve energy and wait for the enemy to wrap things up quickly.

[Whisper] a10235044: Hyung, where did you die?

[Whisper] a10235044: Let’s group up and go together.

[Whisper] Chasa: Nah.

[Whisper] Chasa: The hunter and the priest are throwing.

HunterIsMyCalling had never actually been AFK from the start. And as for PotionArtist’s so-called cat?

Sayoon wasn’t even sure if it existed.

[Party] PotionArtist: lol?

[Party] PotionArtist: I told you, my cat was blocking the screen.

[Party] PotionArtist: Fucking hell, you don’t listen.

[Party] PotionArtist: Go ahead, report me~ lol

[Party] PotionArtist: Where’s the proof that I was throwing?

Suddenly, PotionArtist started talking to themselves in the party chat. Judging from the context, they were probably responding to a whisper someone had sent them. Sayoon had a pretty good idea who it was.

[Whisper] Chasa: You didn’t actually curse at them, right?

[Whisper] a10235044: Nah.

[Whisper] a10235044: I just asked if they were throwing ㅜㅜ

[Whisper] a10235044: lol, they’re denying it.

Of course, they would. Match-fixing was considered a reportable offense.

The problem was that proving it was difficult. Unless someone outright admitted, Yeah, I’m throwing on purpose, even if you reported them, it rarely led to any real consequences.

[Party] PotionArtist: The greatest achievement of your life—winning a battleground match.

People like that were impossible to deal with. Their only goal was to make the team lose, so whether you tried to reason with them or got angry, it wouldn’t change a thing.

[Whisper] Chasa: Don’t engage.

[Whisper] Chasa: People like that thrive on attention.

It wasn’t just to comfort 44. It was the truth. The number one rule when dealing with trolls was simple: don’t feed them.

[Whisper] Chasa: 44.

[Whisper] Chasa: You’re still reading my messages, right?

[Whisper] Chasa: Just come over here and play with me.

There was no reply.

Growing uneasy at the silence, Sayoon sent another whisper—just as a system message popped up.

[a10235044 has died.]