Stalkerizing

[Party] Chasa: Wouldn’t it be better to just stick together, even if it’s confusing?

[Party] a10235044: Suspense, suspense.

[Party] Shokrates: Wait, what kind of party is this? I just accepted the invite ’cause I got one.

[Party] Freedeal: It’s a group for heading to the tavern.

[Party] Shokrates: Oh.

Judging by their reactions, it seemed like they hadn’t even agreed on it beforehand. Just as Sa-yoon was about to find the right timing to excuse himself, not wanting to be a bother—

[Furple has joined the party.] 

[GegulGegulFrog has joined the party.]

Two unfamiliar usernames popped into the party chat. There hadn’t been any recruitment posts, so it was clear—these were the two who had just been kicked out.

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: No way, no fucking way.

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: They actually kicked us out and told us to change our names? Classic behavior, seriously.

[Party] Furple: Lol.

[Party] Shokrates: But Heart, why is your nickname like that? ㅠㅠ You really are a frog now. ㅜㅜ

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: ???

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: Are you trying to pick a fight with me, Shokrates?

[Party] Shokrates: Wow, excuse me, my nickname is insanely clever, okay?

[Party] Shokrates: You can immediately tell I’m an electric-type Black Mage, right???

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: Is revealing your tactics through your nickname really what you’d call clever?

[Party] Shokrates: Ugh, you just don’t understand mind games. You know when you say, “I’m throwing rock in rock-paper-scissors,” and it messes with the opponent? Same concept. Hhhhaaaaaa.

[Party] Freedeal: That’s the dumbest tactic I’ve ever heard.

[Party] Furple: All of your names are just bad. ㅜㅜ

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: Says the one with a name that sounds like it came out of nowhere.

[Party] Shokrates: I actually looked yours up online, and it autocorrected to purple. ㅜㅜ

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: Fake purple, lmao. ㅜㅜ

[Party] Furple: Nope, out of all four of us, mine’s the best.

[Party] Freedeal: And why am I suddenly being dragged into this?

Freedeal, who had been minding their own business, suddenly found themselves under attack and jumped in protest.

They were all so lively—probably because they were young. The chat scrolled endlessly, full of nonstop banter.

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: Then let’s ask a third party!

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: Chasa, out of the three of us, whose nickname is the worst?

The sudden shift in attention caught Sa-yoon off guard. Why were they asking him, of all people, when they’d just met?

[Party] Furple: Why just three? There’s four of us, including Freedeal.

[Party] Freedeal: Mine is a name I’ve always used!

[Party] Shokrates: Yeah, but… technically, yours is kinda misleading.

[Party] Freedeal: ?

[Party] Shokrates: 1. Since there’s a priest named Free, people get confused when there’s an actual Priest in the party.

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: Oh, yeah, true.

[Party] Shokrates: 2. No one knows if your name means “deal freely” or “attack the Priest.”

[Party] Freedeal: You’re an idiot who doesn’t even know how to spell the name of your so-called philosopher.

[Party] Shokrates: Hhhng, why is it always meeee ㅠㅠ

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: So, Chasa, which of us has the most dogshit name?

So much for staying quiet and letting it pass. The damn amphibian had a better memory than expected.

The chaotic party chat suddenly fell silent, as if they were all waiting for Sa-yoon’s verdict. An unspoken pressure loomed over him. But honestly, there was no point in choosing. All of their names were trash.

[Party] Chasa: Sorry, I shouldn’t have said I was confused. ㅠㅠ

Instead of picking the worst name, Sa-yoon just turned the criticism back on himself. Pretending to be softhearted, even though he was someone who smashed people’s heads in with a keyboard, made his fingers curl with secondhand embarrassment.

Picking a single person in these situations only made things more exhausting later on. That was just basic life wisdom.

The teary-eyed emoji in Sa-yoon’s message had the intended effect perfectly.

[Party] Freedeal: Oh, come on, Chasa, what are you saying?

[Party] Freedeal: If it’s confusing, just tell them to fuck off, change their names, and come back.

[Party] Freedeal: We’ve been getting confused too!

[Party] Freedeal: (Guys, agree with me, now.)

[Party] Furple: +1

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: Yeah, we kept saying random shit into the void.

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: But it still stings, you know? I ditched my rare nickname to follow the server migration, and now all the two-character names are taken.

[Party] Shokrates: Honestly, going from “Heart” to “GegulGegulFrog” is a total tier downgrade.

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: Right? I thought there’d be fewer people, so at least some good names would be left.

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: And no one’s even selling decent rare nicknames. ㅜㅜ

[Party] Shokrates: Then how about something like “Ttubwek”? No way anyone’s taken that.

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: Are you out of your damn mind?

[Party] Shokrates: ㅜㅜ

[Party] Freedeal: Frog, let’s be real here.

[Party] Freedeal: You just joined back because you thought this would be entertaining.

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: …Was it that obvious?

[Party] Freedeal: How could it not be? ㅜㅜ

[Party] Shokrates: But we couldn’t miss out on an opportunity like this!

Was this what full parties were always like? Nobody stopped at just one comment—every sentence turned into three or four.

Since they were all talking about things they already knew, Sa-yoon’s focus started slipping more and more.

So… when the hell were they actually leaving?

[Party] Freedeal: Anyway, Chasa, seriously, don’t worry about it! None of us really care about nicknames, haha.

To be fair, Sa-yoon didn’t care either. No matter how trash their usernames were, it had nothing to do with him. Besides, name change vouchers could be bought with cash, and if someone really wanted a rare nickname, they could always purchase one from a reseller like Frog had mentioned.

[Party] a10235044: That’s right, bro.

[Party] a10235044: Don’t mind them!

[Party] a10235044: Their old names were just as shitty anyway, it’s fine.

[Party] Shokrates: ?

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: ?

[Party] Furple: ?

[Party] Freedeal: Did I just… see what I think I saw?

[Party] Furple: Who’s the bro here?

[Party] a10235044: Chasa-hyung. ^^

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: Suddenly…

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: I don’t feel bad about abandoning my old nickname anymore.

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: Our dear Inseong is fascinating.

[Party] Shokrates: Dopamine overload.

“Inseong?”

Sa-yoon caught onto the word in the still rapidly scrolling chat.

From the context, it seemed like a temporary alias. Given all the talk about rare nicknames and buying usernames, it was probably the name they’d used on the previous server.

He wasn’t sure where this culture had started, but in online games, the shorter the username, the more valuable it was. Naturally, two-syllable names that actually meant something were even pricier and rarer than nonsense ones.

A name like Inseong was definitely rare enough to want back.

Now that he thought about it, was that temporary name still in touch with their reseller overseas?

He was curious, but he still wasn’t ready to trust them completely. He’d already meddled once before—if they still got scammed after that, well, that was on them.

[Party] a10235044: Where is everyone? Let’s go?

[Party] a10235044: Did we accidentally come to the dungeon entrance when our run is actually scheduled for tomorrow?

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: Innovative new form of polite speech…

As the conversation started winding down and the party prepared to enter the dungeon, Sa-yoon sent a whisper to the temporary nickname.

[Whisper] Chasa: 44.

[Whisper] a10235044: Yeah?

[Whisper] Chasa: You go ahead with your friends. I’m gonna leave.

[Whisper] a10235044: ?

[Whisper] a10235044: Huh?

[Whisper] a10235044: Why?

[Whisper] Chasa: Normally, parties only bring one mage.

[Whisper] Chasa: If I stay, that guy will have to share the loot.

He didn’t want to create an awkward situation, especially with someone he didn’t even know.

[Whisper] a10235044: Hyung, he already has all his gear. He’s just coming for fun.

[Whisper] Chasa: Fully optimized? Every piece?

[Whisper] a10235044: Every single one.

Was that even possible?

A full set—weapon plus five armor pieces, six items total. Getting every single one with maxed-out stats through random drops required an absurd amount of both money and time.

Unless they were an insanely lucky hardcore player, it was practically impossible.

[Whisper] Chasa: Come on, lol. No need to lie about it.

[Whisper] a10235044: Hold on a sec.

Since people kept running the dungeon to perfect their gear, there were barely any leftover items for sale. If someone had actually completed their entire set, they had no reason to run it again.

[Party] Shokrates: Huh? Me?