Chapter 15

He thought it would go like this: So it was you giving me gifts? Oh, you really helped me out. I got good use out of them. Some warm, wholesome conversation between the two of them.

Stay calm.

Yeonhoo forced himself to settle down anyway.

He hadn’t imagined anything like this, not even once—but he had always been prepared for what he’d say if Miyoung ever asked him why he was giving her gifts.

(Global) 0momo0: d-do you remember helping me before??? i was about to get shaken down when i didn’t know anything and you saved me, Miu...

(Global) 0momo0: so i was so grateful back then i wanted to pay you back so i kept following you... T_T

(Global) Miu: Then what you’re really trying to say to me is?

I’m interested in you, Miu.

Yeonhoo, who’d been typing proudly, suddenly hesitated—and then deleted the whole thing. Even he thought it sounded way too intense.

(Global) 0momo0: i was wondering if i could maybe join your alliance!

Just talking about the alliance felt like it would be less burdensome.

(Global) Miu: Alliance?

(Global) Miu: <47>?

(Global) 0momo0: yes! i’m such a huge fan of <47> T_T T_T T_T T_T T_T you’re so strong and it looks so cool and i wanted to get in but applications are blocked... T_T

(Global) 0momo0: so... i was giving you gifts and i figured once we got a little closer i’d bring it up!!

(Global) Miu: So your goal was getting into the alliance.

But... wasn’t his tone kind of icy?

Like—if it wasn’t for the alliance, you wouldn’t have given me gifts or followed me around at all. That sharp kind of edge.

Am I imagining it?

If they were on voice chat, if Yeonhoo could see his face, he could at least probe for intent, get a feel for what the other person meant. But with no expression and no tone, it was hard.

Right as he was thinking that, Miu said:

(Global) Miu: Weren’t you a newbie back then

(Global) Miu: Your level and gear are insane now

Suddenly he’s complimenting my level and gear?

And it didn’t even feel like a normal compliment. It was... weird.

(Global) 0momo0: yeah! i worked so hard to raise my level and i really grinded out my gear!! you’ve got a good eye!!

The more he turned it over in his head, the more it felt like Miyoung really did have an eye for things—and that made him happy.

(Global) Miu: It’s so good I thought you stripped it off your main

(Global) 0momo0: oh no this is my main! it’s my main gear!

(Global) Miu: LOL

Yeonhoo had been clueless about prices, so he’d basically just bought anything that kept getting bid up to the top at the auction house.

Which meant each piece of gear was absurdly expensive, but....

(Global) 0momo0: if you need anything i can give you my gear??

(Global) Miu: LOL? n-no

Does Miyoung want it that badly? Then I’ll just give it to her and buy it again. Whatever.

Nothing he gave Miyoung ever felt like a waste.

So, without even knowing that different classes couldn’t equip it, he started taking off his clothes one by one to hand them over.

And when the necromancer’s cloak came off—revealing the smooth bald head underneath—Miu stopped him in a panic.

(Global) Miu: it’s fine it’s fine

(Global) Miu: put it back on. hurry.

(Global) 0momo0: huh why

(Global) Miu: hurry

(Global) 0momo0: ok

Because Miu hurried him to put it back on after seeing that gleaming bald head and that brutal-looking face, 0momo0 managed to hide it again.

Miu kept his gaze fixed on the character like he was appraising Yeonhoo, and stayed silent for a while.

And then—finally—he typed something Yeonhoo couldn’t understand at all.

(Global) Miu: This is getting boring. Want to stop messing around now?

Click.

Miu tightened his aim on 0momo0, snapping back into a combat stance that had loosened since he wasn’t using any skills.

The atmosphere turned murderous again, and Yeonhoo—who’d thought everything was going smoothly—parted his lips without a sound.

(Global) Miu: If you don’t want to die, tell me the truth.

(Global) Miu: Who sent you?

Yeonhoo was so shocked he couldn’t do anything. He didn’t even understand what it meant—he reread the chat over and over.

What... what did I do?

Why is it suddenly like this? Weren’t we fine just a second ago?

And even while he froze, the chat kept coming.

(Global) Miu: Things have been noisy lately. On that side.

(Global) Miu: You were trying to get into our alliance too, steal info, and use it in Siege War, weren’t you?

Watching Miu talk like 0momo0 was some kind of elite spy, Yeonhoo realized this had gone off the rails in a truly insane direction.

(Global) 0momo0: no i’m n-not

(Global) 0momo0: why would you think that T_T T_T ;;

(Global) Miu: Look at your specs.

(Global) Miu: Back then I saw you and everything was level 1, so I figured you were a real newbie and let it go, but now it’s weird.

(Global) Miu: How is your Base Level 45 in just a few days?? And what’s with your class level? LOL

Miu’s argument wasn’t wrong.

Base leveling was content the developers designed to make players spend time. You had to pour resources into it like a bottomless pit for months before Level 45 was even possible.

(Global) Miu: Who helped you with that kind of devotion?

(Global) Miu: Without someone backing you, that’s not easy.

0momo0’s growth rate was too fast.

So of course Miu thought Yeonhoo had gotten help from someone—someone trying to send him in as a spy to infiltrate the alliance.

(Global) 0momo0: i really started this game for the first time this month

(Global) 0momo0: i don’t even have an alliance for r-real

Yeonhoo was nowhere near a spy, so he denied it.

But it didn’t matter.

(Global) Miu: Interesting.

(Global) Miu: I didn’t think you were the type who’d be good at lying.

And what was he supposed to do about that?

Miu already looked basically convinced.

I’m not!

Yeonhoo felt wronged. If he actually had some powerful backer or a friend helping him like Miu assumed, it wouldn’t have been this hard.

Of course... it wasn’t like he’d gotten no help at all. Yeonhoo had gotten help.

From something.

(Global) 0momo0: n-no!! it’s not like that i just topped up and raised it T_T

From money.

But Miu clearly didn’t believe him.

(Global) Miu: That’s at least several thousand.

(Global) Miu: And you haven’t even been playing that long—who dumps several thousand into a game that’s a dead-end progression trap like this?

(Global) Miu: And you expect me to believe that LOL

It was spiraling into an absolute worst-case scenario.

(Global) Miu: So be honest. Where are you from?

(Global) Miu: This is an alt anyway, right? If you tell me your main and what alliance you belong to, I’ll let you live going forward. So talk.

Miu had decided, completely, that he was a spy from some other alliance—and was demanding he “confess” a main character and an alliance that didn’t even exist.

I don’t have an alliance—what am I supposed to say!

Yeonhoo felt like he was going insane.

And at the same time...

(Global) Miu: Not talking, huh.

Something surged up in his throat.

(Global) Miu: You mean you’re fine with wrecking your whole life on this server because it’s an alt, right?

He was furious. He was humiliated. He was wronged.

All those days he’d clung to the game like a maniac, forgetting night and day, just to get into <47>. All those moments he’d hunted down guides nonstop even though he didn’t understand the game. All the times he’d bounced between the auction house and the shop, heart pounding with excitement, trying to pick out gifts for Miu.

(Global) Miu: I’m letting this go just this once, so don’t show up in front of me again.

(Global) Miu: From now on, the second I see you, I’ll kill you and strip you clean.

And when Miu made it clear he was done with him—done for good—Yeonhoo finally exploded.

(Global) 0momo0: FINE!!! I!!!

(Global) 0momo0: i gave you gifts and followed you around!!! topped up and raised my level and tried to join your alliance, all of it!!!

(Global) 0momo0: ALL OF IT!!!

(Global) 0momo0: ALL!!!

(Global) 0momo0: I DID IT BECAUSE I LIKE YOU!!!1!11

He threw out his last desperate flail.

(Global) 0momo0: i really like you so i wanted to be in the same alliance but what was i supposed to do!!!1!!!!

After he shouted it, Yeonhoo squeezed his eyes shut.