Chapter 20

A rainy night.

“Yeonhoo, what’s up with your face? Did you drink yesterday?”

“Oh my god, baby, your face is ashen.”

Yeonhoo’s eyes narrowed at the soft white hand that naturally reached up to pat his hair.

“Noonaaa.”

Despite his dark complexion, Yeonhoo’s eyes were full of life, sparkling. At the bright, innocent look that somehow still seemed worn-out, Seo Jeyeon laughed like he was so cute she could die, but Taemin looked disgusted.

“Ugh, you’re adorable. I seriously don’t know who’s gonna snatch Yeonhoo up. I feel like I’ll cry if he gets married.”

“Probably not you, for starters.”

“Taemin, wanna shut up?”

“What is it about him you even like?”

“A refreshing face, unlike yours?”

“Fuck.”

They’d known each other forever, so he and Seo Jeyeon were close like real siblings. When Yeonhoo smiled brightly at her teasing, Taemin reached out and pinched his nose.

“Hey, what’re you smiling for.”

“Ah!”

“No, seriously—why have you been ignoring my calls and disappearing? If noona hadn’t dragged you out today, you wouldn’t have shown up, right? God, seriously, Yeonhoo— you ignore me like it’s your fucking job!”

“Yeonhoo, is something going on?”

At the worried expressions on the Seo siblings’ faces, Yeonhoo cleared his throat and straightened his posture.

What had he been doing that he couldn’t even answer their messages?

Was something going on?

Yeah. Something very important.

“I’ve been busy spending time with someone I like.”

Even if it was inside a game.

“What?”

He’d swallowed the rest of the sentence, so the two of them stared at him in shock.

With the dark circles under his eyes and that dirt-colored pallor, he looked like he’d been suffering, not like things were going well... and yet, his eyes were weirdly bright, like it might actually be real.

“Yeonhoo, are you still on that Love Quest Across Thirty Thousand Miles?”

“Noona, don’t even start. He’s the same as always. So that means your current love is—”

“Miyoung.”

“Yeah, that Miyoung.”

“Fuck.”

“...Miyoung.”

Taemin fired questions rapid-fire.

“So you were really busy because of Miyoung? Tell me. I’m dying of curiosity.”

“Yeah, I wanna hear your dating story—got anything? What kind of person is she?”

The Seo siblings, who knew about Yeonhoo’s endless parade of unrequited crushes, asked in disbelief. Looking at them, Yeonhoo smiled, proud.

“Our Miyoung?”

Just thinking of Miyoung made him grin like he was genuinely happy.

“Something happened recently, so we’ve been spending a lot of time together... and she’s got a lot of unexpected sides.”

The second he pictured her, his eyes crinkled with love and his lips curved up so much it made even the two watching him feel better.

“First of all, she’s insanely baby-rabbit. Like, I swear you could hear little hop-hop sounds when she walks. Small and compact, and really round.”

“Oh, so she’s super cute? But what do you mean, unexpected sides?”

“She’s insanely....”

“Insanely?”

“...good at making people do things.”

“...Huh?”

“What?”

For a moment, the siblings couldn’t control their expressions. But Yeonhoo, who had no idea what their reactions meant, kept talking excitedly.

“Like, she works people hard in a really... capable way?”

What the hell does that mean.

Is that a compliment? Or an insult?

Without noticing the siblings freezing up, Yeonhoo looked back over the past few days.

After he joined the alliance, “prove you’re not a spy” hadn’t been an empty threat—Miyoung had shown it with actions. Like she was testing whether he really liked her, she kept assigning him tasks, over and over.

(Alliance) Miu: I think you can go to the farm today.

(Alliance) Miu: For this one, you can bring it back by tomorrow.

(Alliance) Miu: And there’s a raft too, so freshwater fish as well.

Yeonhoo had had no idea there were this many things to gather in the game.

Later, he found out Zombie Village’s other nickname was Cook Village. The detail put into food was insane, so you had to supply ingredients like a maniac.

Does this even make sense?

Yesterday he’d been a fisherman. The day before that, a lumberjack. Today, a miner.

Honestly, it wasn’t easy. How many gathering skills could a beginner like Yeonhoo have learned?

On top of that, the necromancer he’d picked had slower movement speed than other classes, so it wasn’t a character suited for gathering.

I’m tired.

He’d never done anything this grueling in real life, either. And right when he was getting worn down, Miyoung showed up like she could smell it.

(Alliance) Miu: Are you okay?

(Alliance) Miu: You’re sleepy, right.

(Alliance) Miu: Should we stop here?

Three whole lines worrying about him.

And what was Yeonhoo supposed to do about that? With his unrequited-love lens glued firmly over his eyes, the way Miu hovered in front of him looked like an angel, so he couldn’t help but shout no.

(Alliance) 0momo0: I’M NOT SLEEPY AT ALL!!! I can do it!!!

Then Miyoung rewarded him, like he’d done well.

(Alliance) Miu: haha

He said “haha.” “Haha.”

She laughed....

If Miyoung laughed for him, the energy that had vanished came flooding right back.

I mined all the titanium today....

...He’d literally come straight from the quarry at dawn after mining copper until he could fill a whole box. Anyway, for the last few days he’d spent all day in alliance territory doing every kind of labor there was.

“Making people do stuff is seriously the best. I love it.”

One little “thank you” from Miu, and Yeonhoo could do anything, so he smiled wide. Listening quietly, the siblings’ expressions got weird.

They met each other’s eyes—Did he always have that kind of thing going on? Noona, did you know? / How would I know that?—but Yeonhoo had no clue.

And as the misunderstanding deepened, the finishing blow came flying in.

“...Any other good points?”

When Seo Jeyeon asked with a strange look, Yeonhoo nodded like, obviously.

“She’s powerful, and her skills are amazing.”

“Powerful... what?”

Seo Jeyeon’s eyes wavered. Taemin flinched too, glancing at his sister. Yeonhoo didn’t notice them exchanging looks again—he just remembered.

How cool Miyoung had been in the game. There was a reason she was the leader and ranked #1.

(Alliance) Miu: A wave popped.

(Alliance) ShinJadu: It’s kinda close to our coordinates. Use the cannon?

(Alliance) GoodLuck: Okay~ checking cannon loaded~

(Alliance) Miu: nah, save it.

(Alliance) Miu: I hate the outer wall taking damage, so I’ll go handle it.

When a zombie wave hit near alliance territory, Miu went out alone, sniper rifle in hand.

Seeing that, Yeonhoo even stopped chopping wood and ran out of the lumber site.

(Alliance) 0momo0: Shouldn’t we help her???? T_T T_T T_T

If anything, it felt like they should be helping the one saying that. Wearing a grimy work outfit whose durability had been chewed up from chopping wood, Yeonhoo hovered near the main gate.

If I go, I’ll just be dead weight!

He wanted to rush out and help right away, but he’d only ever been carried and gathered—there was nothing he could do.

Unlike Yeonhoo, who was anxious, the alliance members found him fascinating. One by one, people who’d been watching 0momo0 with oddly fixed attention started admiring him.

(Alliance) FUNK: first time I’ve seen someone worry about this, it’s refreshing

(Alliance) CheersInMyEyes: LOLLLLLLLLLLLLL for real

(Alliance) 1Poop1: it’s seriously refreshing as fuck LOLLLLL

Cold. So these people really were heartless.

While Yeonhoo fretted all by himself about whether fragile Miyoung would survive—

(Alliance) 0momo0: ???

(Alliance) 0momo0: Th-that was... possible???

(Alliance) 0momo0: No—

Not long after, he couldn’t hide his shock.

Because Miu had built a tower alone in the middle of the field and was rapidly filling the kill log against a countless swarm of zombies.

(Notification) Miu’s bombardment sweeps away the infected zombie horde!

(Notification) Miu’s critical shot! The skull of the giant zombie “Berserk Crusher” shatters into pieces!

(Notification) Miu has obtained a “Chain Kill Bonus.” (+Alliance Shared EXP 1,200)

A drone cutting through empty air like it owned the sky—and bullets that didn’t waste a single shot.

Headshots every time, zombies’ faces exploding nonstop, and the movement that dodged the giant zombie that got too close to the tower.

“Noona, he’s just... a person.”

And when he watched him use blades, bombs, and guns all at once, aiming for weak points and finishing a zombie off in just a few exchanges—

“He’s a total queen.......”

His knees almost buckled on their own.