Stalkerizing

[Party] Chasa: Yes

[Party] Chasa: I made it.

They say you can’t hide a cold or a love for fashion. As expected, once the conversation started flowing, the temporary nickname revealed his fashion-lover nature.

The fact that he had noticed Chasa’s customization was proof of that. Most players didn’t even care about how someone else’s character looked.

[Party] a10235044: That’s insanely good-looking.

[Party] a10235044: Your sense is amazing.

When is a fashion-lover happiest? When new outfits or dye packs are released? When a new background map is introduced?

Of course, all of those are exciting, but the most satisfying moment is when someone compliments your character’s appearance. Sa-yoon’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the monitor, and a flush of excitement spread across his cheeks.

You’re seriously a good guy, huh? Sa-yoon’s opinion of the temporary nickname updated once again.

[Party] a10235044: It’s hard to make it look natural like that.

“Huh?”

For all that talk, the temporary nickname’s appearance before he went invisible had been rather plain compared to his outfit. Sa-yoon had only glanced at the customization because of the flashy Taegeukgi-themed look, but he was a customization maniac—completely obsessed with character designs. He remembered it clearly. It had been ordinary.

[Party] Chasa: 44*, your customization looks great too.

As the saying goes, “kind words beget kind words,” so Sa-yoon returned the compliment. Of course, since his monitor only showed the temporary nickname, it was a white lie.

[Party] a10235044: I paid for it.

[Party] Chasa: What?

“What?”

Sa-yoon’s brows furrowed deeply. If his memory wasn’t playing tricks on him, the temporary nickname’s appearance was almost identical to the default Customization #6 provided by Divine.

[Party] a10235044: They told me to comment if I wanted to share it, so I did, and then they asked for money.

He paid for that?

In RPGs, there were players who simply weren’t interested in tweaking dozens of customization options.

For those players, Divine provided about twenty pre-made customization samples. As with all official presets, most of them had strong, quirky features that stood out too much.

However, Customization #6 was different. All its sliders were set to the middle, creating the most neutral, inoffensive face possible. That’s why most players who wanted to create their own look used #6 as a base before modifying it to their liking.

Chasa had also used #6 as a base for his character. Of course, he had altered it so much that barely any of the original remained.

To confirm his suspicion, Sa-yoon quickly opened the options menu and disabled invisibility.

The overly flashy Taegeukgi-themed* outfit reappeared.

Noticing that he was being observed, the temporary nickname turned toward Chasa. Thanks to that, his customization filled the monitor screen.

The forehead-exposing, slightly wavy Hair #37 was one of the most popular styles, along with Chasa’s own Hair #21, which had neatly arranged bangs.

His facial features were well-proportioned and classically handsome.

Overall, it was an incredibly familiar face.

“…That’s definitely the default sample.”

Of course, looking more closely, it seemed like the seller had at least a bit of conscience. The corners of the mouth had been tweaked into a slight upward tilt, and the hair length had been adjusted by about a centimeter.

But charging money for such minor edits? That was practically modern-day Bong Yi Kim Seon-dal (a legendary con artist known for selling things he didn’t own).

“Wow, I’m witnessing creative capitalism in action.”

Should he call this naïve…? Was the guy maybe really young?

A memory from two years ago suddenly surfaced.

His younger sister, Hye-yoon, now a senior in high school, had once tried to trade a limited-edition photocard on Gaji Market—only to get scammed.

When Sa-yoon asked why he had trusted a stranger and sent money without even asking for verification photos, the guy replied with an innocent face, saying it was because the seller had promised a discount for a smooth transaction.

It was a life lesson paid for with real money.

“Kids these days only study and don’t know how the real world works.”

The slightly ambiguous tone—polite yet casual—combined with the naïve decision to actually pay for a default customization made his theory even more plausible.

So that’s why he talks like this. He’s probably a middle or high schooler. A senior in high school wouldn’t be doing this, so somewhere between fourteen and seventeen?

[Party] Chasa: If you look around, plenty of people share these for free.

[Party] Chasa: Next time, just ignore anyone asking for money.

Rather than shatter his worldview with harsh truths, Sa-yoon chose to give him some advice instead.

[Party] a10235044: Okay.

The temporary nickname responded more obediently than expected.

“Ah!”

Suddenly, Sa-yoon had a realization and let out an involuntary exclamation.

Thinking of him as a kid triggered a connection in his mind.

Not long ago, he had seen his younger sister Hye-yoon’s bag covered in keychains and plushies.

“Everyone does this nowadays.”

He had asked why she couldn’t just carry one or two, and that was the answer she gave him.

“Oppa, you don’t understand fashion.”

She had even given him a pitying look for good measure.

What did she mean, don’t understand? Since when was hanging stuffed animals on a bag considered fashion?

“So that’s a trend now, huh…”

Now that he thought about it that way, the temporary nickname’s peacock-like fashion made sense.

Yeah, at that age, sometimes too much actually looked cool.

[Party] a10235044: By the way…

[Party] Chasa: Yes?

[Party] a10235044: Were you worried about me?

Well, of course he was worried. The guy had essentially paid for river water.

It wasn’t like it actually affected Sa-yoon whether he bought river water or bottled water, but after hearing about it, he couldn’t just brush it off with a simple Oh, I see.

[Party] a10235044: You were worried, right?

[Party] Chasa: No, I was just being nosy.

[Party] a10235044: Oh, okay.

The transparent way he responded was kind of amusing…

And the more they talked, the more it seemed like this guy wasn’t some scammer or an annoying player.

[Party] Chasa: By the way, did you pick that character name on purpose?

That was why. Normally, he wouldn’t have even bothered asking, but curiosity got the better of him.

[Party] a10235044: Ah.

[Party] a10235044: lol

[Party] a10235044: I transferred servers.

“Oh, right.”

Sa-yoon finally remembered reading something about that at the end of the last update notes.

Since he had no reason to switch servers, he had only skimmed through that part.

[Party] Chasa: So your name was already taken?

[Party] a10235044: Yeah.

When a player transferred servers, if someone on the new server already had their name, the newcomer’s name was automatically changed to a temporary one.

Sa-yoon felt a bit guilty for almost misjudging him. His expression grew slightly complicated.

[Party] Chasa: Isn’t there a lot of penalties for transferring?

[Party] a10235044: There are, yeah. Lol

[Party] a10235044: But I moved to play with someone. lol

With who? The question that popped into his mind was immediately answered.

“Ah, so he transferred servers to play with a friend.”

That made sense. Students were like that. Right after school, they’d rush to the PC bang in groups, line up in front of the monitors, and play games together. That was the best part. And nothing beats eating a bowl of instant jjajang ramen while gaming.

That was exactly how Sa-yoon first got into RPGs, leading him all the way here.

“Time really flies…”

Looking at the temporary nickname, his own school days felt like a distant memory. When did he get this old? He sighed, struck by the fleeting nature of time, before continuing the conversation.

[Party] Chasa: Must be tough deciding on a new nickname.

Since Divine was such a popular game, most decent character names had already been taken.

Even Sa-yoon had struggled when naming a storage alt, eventually settling on a meaningless jumble of letters, alsdjfl.

Thanks to that, he had been told multiple times in the storage area to go back to your own country.

Of course, every time that happened, he made sure to put his well-honed argument skills—honed through years of online battles—to good use.

[Party] a10235044: Nah.

[Party] a10235044: Some guy kept messaging me earlier, saying he was selling a nickname.

[Party] a10235044: So I’ll probably change it in a few days.

Now that he mentioned it, the guy would disappear every time they set up a room… Wait.

“Is he getting scammed again?”

A guy who had paid for a default character customization—could he really handle a nickname transaction properly?

The image of a school kid walking into a police station flashed through Sa-yoon’s mind. His brows instinctively furrowed.

He had planned to mind his own business this year, but… It was possible that this kid might get scammed.

Anyone in this situation would naturally feel the need to give a little advice. Telling himself that, Sa-yoon justified his actions and typed on his keyboard.

[Party] Chasa: Did you at least get proper contact info? You haven’t sent the money yet, right?

[Party] a10235044: Lol.

But instead of answering, the temporary nickname just laughed.

Notes:

*44 – short hand to refer to the name a10235044

*Taegeukgi-themed – refers to the color scheme of red, blue, white and black, based on the national flag of South Korea.