Stalkerizing

[‘a10235044’ has died.]

[You lost 150 points.]

The temporary-nick character, who had respawned at the starting point, briskly walked over and plopped down next to Chasa.

[Whisper] a10235044: okay

[Whisper] a10235044: Not engaging.

[Whisper] Chasa: Good, good.

Fortunately, the temp-nick understood after just one explanation. Unlike someone back home.

Such an obedient kid.

Sa-yoon’s eyes grew distant as he stared at the garishly bright peacock. The more he looked at it, the more his eyes adjusted. Maybe it wasn’t completely unbearable to look at after all.

[‘ZeroCola’ has died.]

[You lost 150 points.]

[‘NoHealsIfYouBeg’ has died.]

[You lost 150 points.]

[Party] NoHealsIfYouBeg: Fuck.

[Party] NoHealsIfYouBeg: I was fucking healing like crazy, and they threw the match? Lol

[Party] NoHealsIfYouBeg: Fucking trash, if you wanna lose, why even queue for 6v6?

[Party] NoHealsIfYouBeg: Reported.

[Party] PotionArtist: I told you it’s not match-throwing? lol

[‘PotionArtist’ has died.]

[You lost 150 points.]

[Party] ZeroCola: Ha…

[‘ZeroCola’ has left the battleground.]

It was absolute chaos.

The priest, realizing it was a throw match, spammed the party chat with curses, the tank rage quit, and the exposed priest blatantly ran to the enemy team to get themselves killed, handing over points like a gift.

As it should be.

Humans were creatures of forgetfulness, doomed to repeat the same mistakes.

Sa-yoon’s brief contemplation of humanity’s patterns was interrupted by the loud ringing of his phone. It was an alarm he’d set earlier.

Come to think of it, he’d been playing nonstop for three hours since waking up without eating anything. Since he was definitely going to be drinking on an empty stomach later, he needed to fill up a bit beforehand.

[Defeat!]

[Due to your loss, you have lost 77 battleground points. Your ranking has dropped.]

He washed some tomatoes that were teetering on the edge between fresh and spoiled, chopped them up, and generously sprinkled sugar over them before returning to his desk—only to find the match had already ended.

He was used to seeing the chat window flooded with purple messages by now.

[Whisper] a10235044: Hyung.

[Whisper] a10235044: ???

[Whisper] a10235044: Why aren’t you accepting the party invite?

[Whisper] a10235044: Where’d you go again?

[Whisper] a10235044: You afk all the time.

[Whisper] Chasa: Nah, nah.

[Whisper] Chasa: I’m stopping here for today.

Tomatoes were best with sugar. Ignoring concerns about nutrient destruction, Sa-yoon indulged in the simple pleasure of a sweet snack while rejecting the party invite.

[Whisper] a10235044: Is it because we lost?

[Whisper] a10235044: I’ll help you get your points back. ㅜㅜ

[Whisper] Chasa: It’s not that.

[Whisper] Chasa: I have plans, so I need to go out.

[Whisper] a10235044: Then what time will you be back?

The fact that he automatically assumed Sa-yoon would log back in just because he had plans—now that was peak gaming addiction. The future of Korea’s gaming industry was still bright.

Of course, Sa-yoon was planning to log back in later.

But as he looked at their chat, a question popped into his mind.

Wait… does this guy want to keep playing together?

It seemed like temp-nick liked him. But for the life of him, Sa-yoon had no idea why.

[Whisper] a10235044: You’re not coming today?

[Whisper] Chasa: No, I am, but—

He figured the meeting would take about three hours, but like all drinking gatherings, no one ever really knew when they would end.

Besides, he’d never scheduled a specific time to meet someone in-game before. The situation was unfamiliar, and Sa-yoon fell silent for a moment.

[Whisper] Chasa: I’ll be on in the evening

[Whisper] Chasa: Don’t wait, just play with your friends lol

[Whisper] Chasa: If our schedules match later, we can play together

[Whisper] a10235044: ?

[Whisper] a10235044: I don’t have friends

For someone who transferred servers just to play with a friend, that was a pretty adorable lie. There had to be a reason they were so insistent on playing with a “warlock.”

[Whisper] a10235044: We have to go to the battlegrounds together

[Whisper] a10235044: And the dungeons

[Whisper] a10235044: And the siege war

“Oh, siege war.”

The reason revealed itself soon enough.

Warlocks had a skill called Khimaris’ Encouragement, which increased allies’ attack speed by 100% for ten seconds. Naturally, an attack speed buff was a massive advantage in siege battles.

Even players who normally shunned warlocks would desperately search for one as siege time approached, just to buy that buff.

This probably meant that temporary nick’s group didn’t have a warlock. Well, to be fair, this class was brutal for young students to play.

[Whisper] Chasa: I don’t sell buffs

[Whisper] a10235044: If you play with me, I guarantee you six insignias

[Whisper] Chasa: lol no, I’m good

Siege rewards were based on individual contributions per class. Since warlocks were rare, even playing solo would earn him the rewards temporary nick mentioned.

In fact, spending time buffing allies instead of dealing damage would only lower his contribution score. Buffs given to allies didn’t count toward contribution points.

Unlike healers, who had to split their kill points due to lacking damage, there was no reason for him to take that risk.

As soon as Sa-yoon firmly refused, the flood of whispers came to an abrupt stop. Now that the plan to use him as a buff shuttle had failed, temporary nick was bound to leave without further fuss.

Even with sugar-soaked tomatoes in his mouth, everything felt strangely bitter.

 [‘a10235044’ has sent you a friend request.
Accept?
Yes / No]

Instead of a farewell, a friend request popped up. Sa-yoon frowned at the notification.

[Whisper] a10235044: Alright then

[Whisper] a10235044: Let’s play together for something other than siege war

This guy… what exactly was their deal?

[Whisper] Chasa: I have no money

[Whisper] a10235044: Huh?

That was, of course, a lie.

[Whisper] Chasa: I can’t run dungeons, so my gear sucks

[Whisper] a10235044: ?? Why can’t you run dungeons?

[Whisper] Chasa: I get rejected at interviews because I’m a warlock

Beneath his flashy cosmetic outfit, Sa-yoon was fully decked out in maxed-out, crafted armor, yet he typed without a shred of guilt.

[Whisper] Chasa: Also, I’m a guy. Finished my military service.

With that, he threw in a final truth bomb.

Translation: Don’t try to scam me because I have no money, don’t try to use me as a damage mule because my gear is bad, and don’t start dreaming weird shit because I’m not a girl.

[Whisper] a10235044: Do you need armor?

[Whisper] a10235044: Where? Dionysus?

[Whisper] a10235044: Want to run a dungeon with me when you get on tonight?

[Whisper] a10235044: How much money do you need?

But temporary nick wasn’t an easy opponent. Whether they were actually naïve or genuinely planning to give him money, they even sent a trade request.

In the end, Sa-yoon got straight to the point.

[Whisper] Chasa: Why do you want to play with me?

[Whisper] a10235044: Do I need a reason for that? Can’t we just play together?

Of course. Nothing in this world came without a reason—especially not kindness toward a warlock. And definitely not from someone he’d just met today.

[Whisper] Chasa: Most people avoid warlocks.

[Whisper] a10235044: I like warlocks.

[Whisper] a10235044: Also, why are you suddenly using formal speech again? ㅠㅠ It makes us feel distant…

Was that true?

In a game where some people played just to lose on purpose, it wasn’t completely impossible that out of the massive player base, at least one person genuinely liked warlocks… right?

[Whisper] a10235044: You can just gear up one piece at a time.

[Whisper] a10235044: From now on, just run dungeons with me.

[Whisper] a10235044: So accept my friend request already.

As he hesitated, another friend request popped up.

They weren’t after his money, didn’t plan to use him as a buff shuttle, and weren’t mistaking him for a girl.

With no real reason to refuse, Sa-yoon ended up making a half-promise to log in before ten.

He had lost far more points than his effort warranted, and his ranking had plummeted, but… he didn’t feel bad.

His nearly empty friend list now had one more name glowing green, marked as online.