Chapter 104

A chill ran down Yeonhoo’s spine.

How did she know I was here?

He had definitely hidden himself well. She must have found him while he was looking away for a moment.

(Whisper) Opening: hello? lol

This is terrifying...!

If this was not a horror movie, then what was? His heart felt ready to leap straight out of his chest. This was a hundred times scarier than Arister.

He considered simply refusing to answer and logging out, but the whispers that followed stopped him.

(Whisper) Opening: what is this;

(Whisper) Opening: was he already AFK here or something

Yes. Please, just accept that and move on.

Yeonhoo clasped his hands together and prayed.

(Whisper) Opening: no he was somewhere else

She’s sharp....

Apparently, Opening already knew where Yeonhoo had been before.

(Whisper) Opening: have u been following me this whole time?

(Whisper) Opening: hello?

(Whisper) Opening: u there???

(Whisper) Opening: hmm is he actually AFK??

Fortunately, the AFK marker was still floating over his head, and she had caught him standing perfectly still without so much as twitching. That seemed to leave Opening uncertain.

It’d be strange to start talking right away...!

Had Opening openly revealed herself searching for the core, he could have immediately pushed for her elimination.

But if she insisted she had merely been walking around, the situation would turn awkward.

And more importantly—

[(CH03) Miu: Momo our goal isnt to find the spy and immediately eliminate them]

[(CH03) Miu: once we know who they are]

Miu had said it himself.

[(CH03) Miu: were going to use them to catch the people behind them]

They had to use the spy within the alliance to reach the enemy.

We finally caught hold of the tail. If I get caught here, they’ll cut it off immediately.

If Opening realized Yeonhoo suspected her, she would stop acting. Then the lead they had worked so hard to find would become useless.

Yeonhoo swallowed dryly.

He quietly changed his status to Online, then moved his character.

(Alliance) 0momo0: wow its Opening!!!

(Alliance) 0momo0: hello!!!

(Alliance) 0momo0: I just woke up what are you doing here??

(Alliance) 0momo0: omg youre super close to me hahaha

(Alliance) 0momo0: I thought you were kissing me ><

He acted as naturally as possible, drawing out the familiar voice of the sweet, slightly dim-witted “Momo.”

(Whisper) Opening: ?;

(Whisper) Opening: what were u doing?

Opening responded immediately.

(Alliance) 0momo0: the game was already open so I came over and you were here!

(Whisper) Opening: oh

(Whisper) Opening: but hey

(Alliance) 0momo0: yes??

(Whisper) Opening: werent u up there earlier? when did u get here?

Sharp....

The more suspicious she became, the more shameless Yeonhoo knew he had to act.

(Alliance) 0momo0: huh???? I dunno..?

(Alliance) 0momo0: why am I here? im so confused

(Alliance) 0momo0: can your character move while youre AFK? whats going on??

(Whisper) Opening: ?

(Whisper) Opening: what kind of nonsense is that

(Alliance) 0momo0: but I seriously dont know why im here maybe I died and revived??

(Whisper) Opening: ??

(Alliance) 0momo0: I slept all day since yesterday afternoon.. im only eating now... wait did I fall asleep face-down on my desk and mash the keyboard or something...?

(Alliance) 0momo0: I was wondering why the chat box was full of random letters maybe I pressed something and walked here by accident

Yeonhoo typed in bewilderment while looking around.

Opening did not say anything, but her character glanced behind him.

Then, by some stroke of incredible luck—

(Whisper) Opening: u actually can walk here in a straight line from where u were earlier

A lifeline descended from heaven!

Apparently, the heavens had decided to leave him an escape route after all.

Yeonhoo barely stopped his knees from giving way as he read her message.

(Whisper) Opening: your character was behind the fence

(Whisper) Opening: maybe u really hit the keyboard in ur sleep and turned on °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° auto-walk?

(Alliance) 0momo0: omg theres an auto-walk too??

(Whisper) Opening: ;

(Whisper) Opening: p

Yeonhoo pressed P.

After confirming that his character had begun moving, he responded in apparent shock.

(Alliance) 0momo0: oh I think thats what I pressed!!! there were a bunch of keys mashed like p and [‘??? all over the keyboard!

(Alliance) 0momo0: no way pressing p really makes me walk!!!

(Alliance) 0momo0: does it stop by itself eventually???

(Whisper) Opening: sometimes?

(Whisper) Opening: if it keeps moving it wont stop but if it gets stuck in the same place it thinks it reached the destination and turns off after a few minutes

(Whisper) Opening: u seriously didnt know this either?;

(Alliance) 0momo0: no;; this is amazing;;;; wait does it work on mounts too?

(Whisper) Opening: yea

(Alliance) 0momo0: thats insane

(Alliance) 0momo0: wow!!!... this is so convenient

(Whisper) Opening: seriously how do u even play this game with a brain like that?

(Whisper) Opening: ur playing with zero efficiency

I’m not that stupid....

Of course he knew that pressing P enabled automatic movement.

But after he pretended not to, Opening believed him far more easily than he expected.

She had probably remembered how clueless 0momo0 usually was about the game, because she stopped questioning him.

(Whisper) Opening: so are u logging off now?

(Alliance) 0momo0: nope since im awake I thought id do something

(Alliance) 0momo0: what were you doing Opening?

(Whisper) Opening: gathering

(Alliance) 0momo0: lets do it together!!

Yeonhoo had not seen her gather a single thing, but Opening lied smoothly.

Miu still hasn’t replied.

Determined to at least stop her from taking any more measurements, Yeonhoo pressed closer.

(Whisper) Opening: no

(Alliance) 0momo0: oh why not

(Whisper) Opening: too much effort

Naturally, she rejected him without hesitation.

(Whisper) Opening: why do u even gather?

(Whisper) Opening: u dont have any crafting skills ur literally just gathering for no reason

For a moment, Yeonhoo forgot the situation entirely and found himself speechless.

That is an extremely good point.

In this game, farming and gathering were the most basic forms of labor and the foundation that kept an alliance running. They saved the alliance a tremendous amount of money.

But that was not why Yeonhoo did them.

Because I’m used to being worked like a slave...?

From the moment he joined the alliance, how brutally had they driven him through farming and gathering?

Afterward, sitting around doing nothing had somehow begun to feel boring, so he kept returning to those chores as a way to pass the time.

How was he supposed to explain that?

(Whisper) Opening: are u doing it so the leader will like u?

Opening happened to offer a reasonably accurate answer herself.

(Alliance) 0momo0: yes thats right

(Alliance) 0momo0: I do it because I want to be loved

Yeonhoo seized on it at once.

(Whisper) Opening: seriously?;

(Whisper) Opening: what do u even get from being loved?

(Alliance) 0momo0: it makes me happy when Miu likes me!!

(Alliance) 0momo0: so from now on im gonna work hard in secret and put everything in the warehouse under Mius name!!

(Whisper) Opening: ugh; what kind of guy wants another guy with a heart next to his name to love him

(Whisper) Opening: thats disgusting

Yeonhoo tilted his head at Opening’s revulsion.

(Alliance) 0momo0: one guy loving another guy??

(Alliance) 0momo0: Miu is a woman though?

(Whisper) Opening: what?

(Whisper) Opening: ???

(Whisper) Opening: what is this now

(Whisper) Opening: ????????

But Opening’s reaction was strange.

(Whisper) Opening: im asking just in case

(Whisper) Opening: do u seriously think Miu is a woman?

(Alliance) 0momo0: what? Miu is a woman

(Whisper) Opening: hahahahahahahahahahahaha

(Whisper) Opening: hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha did he tell u that? that hes a woman??

(Alliance) 0momo0: thats obviously—

Yeonhoo suddenly remembered Miu saying before that he was a man.

At the time, Yeonhoo had simply brushed it aside.

But Ms. Miyoung is Miu....

So Miu had to be a woman.

Yeonhoo had assumed pretending to be a man was merely part of Miu’s in-game persona.

(Whisper) Opening: nobody told u this?

(Whisper) Opening: wow this is fucking hilarious hahaha holy shit hahahahahahaha

(Whisper) Opening: im only telling u because ur seriously so fucking pitiful

(Whisper) Opening: Miu isnt actually a woman everyone except u knows

(Alliance) 0momo0: what?? no why would Miu be a man..?

(Whisper) Opening: hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha he turned his mic on ages ago and his voice was deep as hell hahahahaha

(Whisper) Opening: I heard it and so did the other alliance members hahaha

(Whisper) Opening: and how can u not tell from the way he talks in chat? hahaha are u an idiot? hahahahaha

(Whisper) Opening: so stop sucking up to him already hahaha

(Alliance) 0momo0: what have you been talking about this whole time Miu really is a woman.....

(Whisper) Opening: oh my god what am I supposed to do with this guy hahahahahahahahahaha

(Whisper) Opening: wait I know

(Whisper) Opening: hey go to the alliance board

(Whisper) Opening: if u dig around youll find Mius bank account

(Whisper) Opening: send him money hahaha his real name will show up