Chapter 106

The reality was so unbelievable that Yeonhoo felt his vision go yellow.

Miu was Kwon Mieon?

How had he not noticed?

Self-reproach surged through him, though if he really thought about it, it would have been difficult to figure out.

Kwon Mieon in real life sometimes acted strangely, but for the most part, he was mild-mannered and constantly clung to Yeonhoo.

But Miu in the game?

Their personalities are way too different!

Miu had an icy personality where every word seemed to carry a barb. There was no way Yeonhoo could have imagined they were the same person.

But what good would analyzing that do now?

The damage was already done, and there was a far more urgent problem.

Then I... did all that stuff to Kwon Mieon this whole time?

Everything he had ever done to Miu in the game flashed before his eyes like a panorama.

[(Global) 0momo0: you made me fall for you first so why are you pretending otherwise now!!!]

[(Global) 0momo0: ME TOO!!!]

[(Global) 0momo0: if you werent so cute and baby-rabbit-like i wouldnt have done this!!!!]

[(Global) 0momo0: i rly rly rly like you so whyyyyyㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

Me, repeatedly confessing my feelings to Miu—no, Kwon Mieon....

[(Alliance) 0momo0: ur seriously so freaking pretty and cute]

[(Alliance) 0momo0: im talking about Miu ur literally the prettiest cutest tiniest baby rabbit >_<]

Me, faithfully calling Kwon Mieon a baby rabbit every chance I got....

[(CH03) 0momo0: hi..]

[(CH03) 0momo0: miu]

Me, getting so excited and overwhelmed at the thought of speaking casually to Kwon Mieon that I practically treated it like an honor....

[(CH03) 0momo0: then]

[(CH03) 0momo0: maybe......]

[(CH03) 0momo0: could you call me Yeonhoo?]

Me, shamelessly coaxing a fully grown adult man like Kwon Mieon into calling me Yeonhoo....

[(CH03) 0momo0: id do anything for you hahaha]

Had he really been doing all of that to Kwon Mieon this entire time?

Yeonhoo stood frozen, his face drained white, before suddenly swaying.

“Um...?”

“......”

“Are you okay?”

Kang Miyoung looked worried and flustered as Yeonhoo suddenly fell silent, turned deathly pale, and staggered.

“Are you feeling sick?”

At the gentle voice, Yeonhoo lifted his head.

Her face was filled entirely with concern.

Once, Miyoung showing him that much attention would have made him feel like he owned the whole world.

Right now, he did not even have the mental room to appreciate it.

Miu is Kwon Mieon. Miu is Kwon Mieon. Miu is... Kwon Mieon....

Still pale, Yeonhoo held out his card.

“I’m fine. Just... ring me up first.”

“Oh, okay!”

Remembering that they had gotten sidetracked after he started ordering earlier, Yeonhoo paid for the coffee.

“Here’s your receipt. I’ll get that ready for you right away!”

“You don’t have to.”

Yeonhoo shook his head.

He did not want a latte. He did not want to drink anything at all.

But it also felt strange to come all the way to the café at this hour and simply walk back out.

When Kang Miyoung stared at him in confusion, Yeonhoo added an explanation.

“Something urgent came up, so I think I need to leave right away. You can have whatever you want with that. If you don’t want anything, give it to another customer.”

Kang Miyoung’s eyes widened.

Yeonhoo bowed apologetically and started backing away.

“What? Wait. Then I can just refund—”

“I have to go. Sorry.”

“Wait!”

Kang Miyoung called after him in surprise, but Yeonhoo did not turn around.

He left the building so quickly it was as though he had never entered the café at all.

Click. Slam!

“Ah.”

The moment he opened the car door and collapsed into the driver’s seat, all the strength drained out of his body.

He pressed his forehead against the steering wheel and breathed hard.

“This is insane. How does this even make sense...?”

He was confused.

Every moment he thought he had spent happily gaming with Ms. Miyoung had actually been spent with Kwon Mieon.

Was that Kwon Mieon’s phone I saw back then?

He remembered it vividly: Zombie Village running on a phone sitting on the café counter, the player nickname displayed as Miu.

So why....

Charging....

Come to think of it, the phone had been plugged into a charger.

It was common enough for someone to leave their phone charging at a café, and the two of them were family.

But that’s weird. Miu and Kwon Mieon had different numbers.

Yeonhoo, who had been roughly raking his fingers through his hair, suddenly lifted his head.

Then he searched through his phone contacts.

Sure enough, the numbers saved under “myYoung♥” and “Kwon Mieon” were clearly different.

If they had been the same, he would have noticed when saving them.

How...? Wait. Didn’t Kwon Mieon have two phones last time?

It had been when Yeonhoo met Kwon Mieon at the café early in the morning.

Yeonhoo had been distracted by the sudden alert that the <47> alliance was under attack, but now that he thought back on it, Kwon Mieon had also received something like a call and checked his phone.

“Sorry. Just a second, Yeonhoo.”

Another phone.

That one must’ve gotten the same alliance-raid alert I did! Damn it, I should’ve realized it then...! If I’d figured it out back then, I could’ve avoided leaving behind all that endless cringe material!

Yeonhoo groaned in despair, banging his head against the steering wheel again and clawing at his hair.

But why did Kwon Mieon tell me he didn’t play games?

The more Yeonhoo thought about it, the stranger Kwon Mieon’s behavior seemed.

“You play this, Yeonhoo?”

“Yeah. Zombie Village. You know it?”

“No. Not at all.”

He had definitely said that.

He had said he did not know Zombie Village.

He had stared at the monitor like he was seeing it for the first time, so Yeonhoo had explained his (Necromancer) character to him and had even shown him Miu on his Friend List.

How could he lie that smoothly? Why did he fool me?

Yeonhoo could not understand it.

There had been no reason to lie in the first place, and Kwon Mieon had had countless opportunities to reveal who he was.

So why had he kept quiet until the very end?

Since when had he known that Yeonhoo was 0momo0?

Did he know from the very beginning and mess with me on purpose?

Had he deliberately worked Yeonhoo to the bone with all those tasks under the excuse that he was a spy?

Had he made him sign that bizarre slave contract on purpose too?

If so, then every time Yeonhoo called him a baby rabbit, every time he begged him to call him Yeonhoo....

He must’ve thought it was hilarious.

The thought of Kwon Mieon cackling behind his screen made Yeonhoo’s eyes sharpen.

But if he really had deceived him just for that reason....

“...That’s your character, Yeonhoo?”

“Yeah!”

“Why? Why is... your....”

He had seemed genuinely surprised when he saw Yeonhoo’s character at his apartment.

Then had that been when he figured it out?

I don’t know. I don’t know what the hell is going on.

Yeonhoo let out a long sigh.

His thoughts returned to the beginning.

Kwon Mieon was Miu.

And Miu had known that 0momo0 was Mo Yeonhoo....

But regardless of anything else, Yeonhoo....

...I don’t like this.

He did not feel good about it.

They had played together for so long.

They even knew each other offline.

And yet Kwon Mieon had kept his mouth shut all the way to the end.

I thought we were pretty close. In the game and in real life.

The moment the thought crossed his mind, Yeonhoo froze.

His eyes widened.

“...Hurt?”

I’m hurt?

Because of Kwon Mieon?

That guy who had kept pestering him with burdensome messages under the excuse of being his friend?

No. I’m just embarrassed. I’m only upset because I’m embarrassed about misunderstanding everything.

Yeonhoo denied his own feelings.

Anyone would be mortified in his position.

He had believed the other person was a woman, asked them to call him Yeonhoo, sometimes treated them like an older woman he would happily give everything to....

And now he found out the person on the other end had been some grown man.

Of course he was dying of embarrassment.

But why do I feel so... bad?

Being humiliated was one thing.

But why did his mood sink further the more he thought about it?

Yeonhoo stared blankly through the car window, confusion written all over his face.

Ding.

His phone chimed in the silent car.

The three syllables that appeared in the message preview belonged to the person he least wanted to face in the entire world right now.

<img alt="comment.png" src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302049594/epub/images/Images/comment.png"/> Kwon Mieon now

What are you doing today, Yeonhoo?

Speak of the devil.

His message had arrived with almost supernatural timing.

As Yeonhoo glared at the screen, another one came in.

<img alt="comment.png" src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302049594/epub/images/Images/comment.png"/> Kwon Mieon now

I have something to tell you. Want to meet for a bit?

“Seriously... am I an idiot?”

Yeonhoo stared at the message preview, then dropped his head.

Now that he knew the truth, he could practically hear a certain voice behind every message.

“You even text exactly the same.”

Kwon Mieon was Miu.

Even the tiny, grain-of-rice-sized doubt he had desperately clung to until the end disappeared completely.

Yeonhoo let out one hollow laugh after another.