Chapter 105

...The alliance board?

(Alliance) 0momo0: Why would Miu leave his bank account there?

(Whisper) Opening: long story short some alliance member scammed us ages ago so we made them post a public confession

(Whisper) Opening: check the comments and miu dropped his account number lol

Yeonhoo did not quite understand, but it seemed he first needed to find the post Opening was talking about. Still looking uneasy, he opened the alliance board.

[<47> Alliance] Welcome to the <47> Alliance Board!

A long list of posts appeared beneath the greeting. Most were announcements from the officers or informational posts left by alliance members.

[Alliance Notice] Siege War Reward Distribution GuideShinJadu

[Alliance Strategy] Rules for Responding to Hostile AlliancesShinJadu

[Tip] New Recipes from the Latest UpdateBBQ

[Alliance Notice] Gathering Site RelocationMiu

[Tip] Alliance Territory Layout ChangesGoodLuck

[Alliance Event] Where to Spend Alliance PointsShinJadu

Yeonhoo slowly scanned the posts.

At first, at least.

Before long, the mouse wheel that had been turning at a leisurely pace began moving in sharp, impatient bursts. Then one particular title caught his eye.

[Public Shaming] imsorryiscammedyouchenha88

That must be the post Opening mentioned.

The moment he clicked the title, a short loading screen appeared, followed by an apology.

[Alliance Member Post] imsorryiscammedyouchenha88

im sorry i scammed people for loot

i skimmed items off the stuff miu told me to buy

i also embezzled the gold we saved up for alliance purchases

and also......

They stole a lot.

In essence, it was an apology for exploiting loopholes in the alliance system to secretly siphon off portions of the gold donated by alliance members, along with alliance funds.

After a long, rambling apology, the actual point appeared at the end: they promised to repay everything in gold as soon as possible.

There was one comment beneath it.

Comments

Miu

Forget it. Just transfer the money here XX3813-913-912

It was Miu.

(Whisper) Opening: found it?? lol

(Whisper) Opening: try making a transfer with that. the name should pop up lmao

It really did seem to be Miu’s account.

“......”

Yeonhoo reread the snickering messages, then stared at the screen again.

Opening was hardly someone he considered trustworthy, so he did not believe them completely. Using someone’s personal information behind their back was not exactly honorable, either.

But...

Why can’t I stop thinking about it...?

He could not simply dismiss what Opening had said.

Did some part of me already suspect that Miu might not be Ms. Miyoung?

There had been subtle inconsistencies throughout their time playing together.

Miu had a foul mouth, unlike Ms. Miyoung. Ms. Miyoung was warm toward everyone, while Miu was cold and trusted no one. Miu was cynical about everything and had even tried to use other people.

No. People don’t have to act exactly the same all the time.

Yet despite what he told himself, Yeonhoo’s hands were already moving with steady purpose. He opened his banking app, selected the transfer option, and entered Miu’s account number.

I’m only making sure. It’ll obviously say Kang Miyoung. This is her account, after all. Of course it’ll—

But the thought came to an abrupt halt.

To Kwon Mieon

XX Bank XX3813-913-912

How much would you like to send?

22.gif 0 won

“Kwon Mieon?”

Yeonhoo froze at the three syllables.

No. That could happen.

They were family. The world was dangerous these days. Maybe she had posted Kwon Mieon’s account instead of her own.

So Miu was still Ms. Miyoung.

She had to be.

And yet...

Yeonhoo stared at the screen, his expression sinking.

Could Kwon Mieon be Miu?

He scoffed at the thought the instant it surfaced.

Impossible.

“You play this, Yeonhoo?”

“Yeah. I’ve been playing Zombie Village. You know it?”

“No. Not at all.”

Kwon Mieon said he knew nothing about this game.

So there was no way he could be Miu.

...But what if he is?

What if Kwon Mieon had known everything and merely pretended not to?

No. That makes no sense.

What would he even gain from going that far?

Yeonhoo knew he was making increasingly absurd assumptions, yet the ominous feeling blooming in the corner of his mind refused to fade.

(Whisper) Opening: did it show??

(Whisper) Opening: kinda sounds like a guy’s name right? lol

(Whisper) Opening: im telling you the leader is a dude

(Whisper) Opening: still dont believe me? call him

(Whisper) Opening: his voice dropped like @forever ago hes old as f,uck lmaoooo

Opening’s ornate avatar reacted to the flood of laughter, giggling in place.

Yeonhoo stared blankly at it.

Instead of replying, he shut down the game at once.

It’ll be better to confirm it myself.

But anxiety, once it had taken root, was not so easily shaken.

Unable to hide his agitation, Yeonhoo snatched up his car keys and rose from his seat.

*****

Business Hours

Sunday AM 9:00–PM 11:00

Weekdays AM 8:00–PM 11:00

Saturday AM 9:00–PM 11:00

“Am I an idiot...?”

It was six in the morning, and the sun had barely risen.

Of course the café was not open.

Yeonhoo parked across the street, bounced his leg restlessly, checked the time, and fell into thought.

Kwon Mieon. Kang Miyoung... Miu.

The names tangled together in his mind.

His thoughts were a mess.

The mere possibility that Kwon Mieon might be Miu was chilling. It made his skin crawl.

And yet...

Doesn’t it actually fit?

Strangely, it did not feel wrong.

If Kwon Mieon really was Miu, there was not much about it that seemed out of place...

No. Impossible. It can’t be true.

It could not.

It absolutely could not.

Because if it was, then Yeonhoo had spent all this time acting cute, fawning, and shamelessly flirting with Kwon Mieon.

“...It’s Ms. Miyoung.”

After nearly an hour of anxiously bouncing his leg inside the car, Yeonhoo had gone pale from replaying everything that had happened.

Then, at last, he saw Miyoung approaching from the distance.

She took out her keys, unlocked the café, and turned on the lights.

Waiting for it to open felt like an eternity.

Time dragged on as Yeonhoo fought to suppress the pounding of his heart.

Finally, the café opened.

Chime!

“Welcome!”

Even then, walking inside was no easy task.

Yeonhoo hesitated several times before finally forcing himself through the door.

Her cheerful voice. Her radiant face. Her gentle smile.

Kang Miyoung was the kind of person who brightened your mood just by looking at her.

She lifted her head and met Yeonhoo’s eyes. Her already round eyes widened further.

“Oh! Hello! It’s been such a long time.”

She greeted her regular with genuine delight.

But something felt strange.

What is this?

Before, merely seeing her face had filled him with helpless happiness.

Now, somehow, she felt more distant than she used to.

“Hello.”

Yeonhoo forced himself to ignore the bad feeling and returned the greeting.

“It really has been a while! Have you been doing well? Oh! Right. I should take your order first. Sorry... I was just so happy to see you again.”

Kang Miyoung smiled warmly and stepped behind the register.

“What would you like?”

Yeonhoo parted his lips.

He had not come here to order anything.

He had rushed over because he had a mountain of questions.

But how am I supposed to bring this up? Ask whether the person I’ve been playing with is really her?

Now that he was actually looking at her, the words caught in his throat.

“I’ll just have a hot vanilla latte, plea—huh?”

Thinking it would be easier to order first, Yeonhoo began speaking out of habit, then stopped.

His gaze had fixed on one spot.

Ms. Miyoung’s phone?

A phone was tucked into her apron.

Was her case always that flashy?

He could not remember the exact model of the phone he had seen before, but the case was definitely different.

He was sure it had been simple.

The one tucked into her apron now was covered in...

Flowers?

It was filled with clumsily drawn flowers, with a bizarrely distorted girl wedged between them.

“Oh? Were you looking at this? Pretty, isn’t it?”

Following Yeonhoo’s gaze, Kang Miyoung spoke brightly.

“Ah, yes... Your phone case is nice.”

“My niece drew me! She did a good job, right?!”

Miyoung proudly showed off the hearts, flowers, and awkward little character that clearly bore a child’s touch.

Did she change it?

It was not the kind of design anyone could easily forget after seeing once, yet Yeonhoo had never seen it before.

“Did you get a new case recently?”

“Huh? No! I’ve been using this forever. Maybe two years now?”

“Oh, really... Wait, what?”

Two years?

Two whole years?

A few months ago, the phone sitting on the counter had been running Zombie Village. It had a simple case, and the player’s nickname had been Miu.

Then what did I see back then?

Yeonhoo’s thoughts descended into chaos.

He stared blankly into space, then snapped his head toward Kang Miyoung.

“Do you... like games?”

“What?”

“Games.”

Miyoung tilted her head, confused by the sudden question from someone who normally never struck up conversations with her.

Then she gave a bashful smile.

“I love games!”

Relief washed over Yeonhoo.

Oh, thank God.

So Ms. Miyoung really did play games after all—

“I really love killing time with puzzle games. Sudoku, nonograms, things like that?”

...She did?

Puzzle what?

Seeing his confusion, Kang Miyoung turned on her phone and showed him the screen.

A colorful puzzle game was running.

Where’s Zombie Village?

The brutal battlefield Yeonhoo was searching for was nowhere to be seen.

As he stared at the screen in bewilderment, Miyoung assumed he liked those kinds of games too and began chatting enthusiastically.

“Do you like games too? My cousin loves them.”

Cousin.

The moment she mentioned the word that referred to Kwon Mieon, the person who had been weighing on his mind all morning, Yeonhoo flinched.

Apparently unaware of his reaction, Miyoung continued.

“I saw him playing one recently. It did look pretty fun. He played it on both his computer and his phone, and there were these weird monsters in it. What was it called again...?”

Yeonhoo’s hand curled into a fist.

Somehow, he felt as though he already knew what she was about to say.

“Zombie Village!”

Only then could Yeonhoo deny it no longer.

He squeezed his eyes shut and bit down hard on his trembling lip.

“Kwon Mieon looked like he was having so much fun playing it!”

Miu was Kwon Mieon.

Fuuuck!