Chapter 31

Contrary to everyone’s expectation that it would be over soon, it was suddenly already eight in the morning.

(Sniper) Miu: Exactly.

(Sniper) Miu: Everyone’s been making more mistakes too.

At that point, it was only natural that the try party had started turning into a party wandering through hell.

(Gunner) 1Poop1: Everyone~!?!?~!

(Medic) ShinJadu: Ev..ery..one.. haha

(Grinder) FUNK: thisisunfairthisisunfairaaah

At the word everyone, the alliance members all flinched while simultaneously going into convulsions of injustice.

(Medic) ShinJadu: This is really humiliating.. and honestly really embarrassing to say... but... could I maybe.. go sleep a little..?

(Grinder) FUNK: honestlyagoodideaineedtosleeprightnowtoo

(Gunner) 1Poop1: Please save me..?

The alliance members knew when pride was appropriate, and when it absolutely was not.

(Sniper) Miu: Let’s stop.

Miu, too, seemed to have decided it was better to take a break this time, because he immediately hit stop.

Would you like to stop the <Sky Terror> dungeon?

Current accepted members: (4/5)

YES

NO

And the instant the stop window came up, four people hit agree faster than anyone else could.

(Grinder) FUNK: finallygettingoutfinally

(Gunner) 1Poop1: LOL look how fast the vote filled up; haha

(Gunner) 1Poop1: You guys tired?

(Grinder) FUNK: yes

(Grinder) FUNK: butwaitwhoisthelastone

But unlike how quickly the count rose, the final person still had not pressed it.

(Medic) ShinJadu: Miu, could you press it?

(Grinder) FUNK: ahourleaderstillhunguponthepromiseagainhuh

(Gunner) 1Poop1: Promise or whatever just spare us this once...

Naturally, the party members assumed it was Miu.

(Sniper) Miu: I already did.

But it was not Miu.

(Gunner) 1Poop1: Huh? whatthehell

(Grinder) FUNK: ifitsnotMiuthenwho

(Medic) ShinJadu: Huh...?

(Grinder) FUNK: no waysurely

The alliance members, who had been making a scene begging for a break, all whipped their heads around at the same time—and froze.

That was right. Come to think of it, there had been one person who had not said a single word the whole time they’d been talking about whether to stop or not. Namely—

Wow, I really don’t want this to end.

0momo0. Mo Yeonhoo.

Unlike the exhausted people around him, his face was more alive than anyone else’s right now. He was not just being polite. He genuinely regretted it.

Is gaming normally like this? This is insanely fun.

Even though he was usually the type who got sleepy very easily, somehow while he was gaming he was not sleepy at all, like he was being sucked right through the monitor.

This is completely different from playing alone!

This was nothing like gathering materials alone and wandering around the field. How was he even supposed to explain this feeling of moving toward one goal together with teammates?

(Medic) ShinJadu: Momo??

(Grinder) FUNK: maybeheisafk

(Gunner) 1Poop1: Bathroom?

(Grinder) FUNK: couldbe

Because of that, part of him wanted to whine and ask to keep going, but the other party members looked tired unlike him, and more than anything, Yeonhoo knew perfectly well that they were helping him right now.

(Sniper) Miu: Where’d the aspiring human go?

(Necromancer) 0momo0: Ahh I’m right here!!!!! Sorry!!!! I’ll press it right away!

He had at least enough sense not to stubbornly insist on doing more here.

<Sky Terror> dungeon stopped.

The moment he quickly hit stop, it immediately shifted to the loading screen. Not long after, the party members returned to the alliance territory where they had been before entering the dungeon.

(Medic) ShinJadu: Wow haha.. the sun haha is up haha

(Grinder) FUNK: thesunisfuckingbright

(Gunner) 1Poop1: for real itsfuckinggleaming

Zombie Village synced real-world time with in-game time. It had definitely been pitch dark when they left, yet now the party members stared in horror at the bright sun hanging in the sky.

Yeonhoo, too, admired the suddenly brightened screen, then slyly glanced toward the window.

(Necromancer) 0momo0: It really is morning!!!

In the game and in real life, it had both become morning before they realized it.

I totally lost track of time. Because it was so fun.

Why were raids this fun? Would the day ever come when he got tired of them? Even while everyone else looked like they had no idea what to do with themselves from sheer exhaustion, his eyes were sparkling.

(Medic) ShinJadu: Wow T_T now that it’s over I’m suddenly insanely tired

(Medic) ShinJadu: Should we all hurry and go rest now~~

(Grinder) FUNK: yeahimseriouslysodyingwithsleepnow

(Gunner) 1Poop1: I’m so fucking sleepy T_T

(Medic) ShinJadu: But.. Miu?

(Gunner) 1Poop1: Huh?? what?

(Medic) ShinJadu: Oh? maybe he’s afk

As soon as they came out of the dungeon, Miu too seemed to have stepped away for a moment, because there was no response from him. It was strange that he had suddenly disappeared, but everyone was so exhausted that the mood was already settling into let’s just go get some rest.

(Necromancer) 0momo0: Thank you so much for going to the dungeon with me!!!!!!

(Grinder) FUNK: LOL thenimgoingtosleepnowgoodworkeveryone

(Medic) ShinJadu: You all worked so hard~ good job~

(Gunner) 1Poop1: fuckinggoodworkgoodwork~

Maybe they really were that sleepy; after giving 0momo0, who was using a bobbing-off interaction, a vague little wave, the alliance members quickly logged out.

In an instant the party disbanded, and now only Miu and 0momo0 remained.

I’m not sleepy, though.

Yeonhoo thought maybe he should log out too, but it seemed he was not as sleepy as he had expected, and he just sat there blinking.

Was it because all that adrenaline exploded while I was gaming?

He had not known raids were this fun.

I’m not sleepy anyway, so maybe I should look up more necromancer guides.

It was fun, seeing himself gradually improve as he played. Because, in his own opinion, he could feel his gun accuracy slowly getting better the more he played.

And toward the end, I wasn’t even triggering wipes anymore, and I stayed alive longer!

Also, near the very end, the party members had actually been dying more than Yeonhoo had, so his survival rate had become pretty decent.

Maybe raid guides matter, but character control is the real key!

Yeonhoo, who by now was starting to get seriously invested in the game, was just about to log off too, when—

Huh?

His eyes caught sight of Miu, who had been standing still all this time, suddenly moving. It looked like he had gone somewhere, because he had seemed AFK until just now, and Yeonhoo’s gaze followed him as he abruptly began walking.

(Alliance) 0momo0: Miu, weren’t you going to sleep???

Miu gave no answer after seeing Yeonhoo’s chat, but it did not seem like he was AFK. The words <Mobile> immediately appeared above Miu’s head.

Apparently he had shut off the computer and logged back in on his phone.

Gathering? Guard duty? Decorating?

Those were pretty much the only things you could do on mobile. He was briefly puzzled, but then he remembered Miyoung’s café part-time job and let out a sigh.

Ah, he must be leaving it on mobile because he’s going to work...

Because of him, Miu had gamed late into the night and now had to go straight to work. Feeling guilty for no reason, Yeonhoo hurried over and glued himself to Miu’s side.

He’s moving.

Miu stayed still for a few minutes, then started moving.

(Alliance) 0momo0: T_T

(Alliance) 0momo0: Aren’t you tired???

Miu glanced over at the 0momo0 stuck to his side, then kept walking where he had been going.

(Alliance) 0momo0: Miu Miu!!!

(Alliance) 0momo0: Where are you going???

(Alliance) 0momo0: What are you going to do right now???

No matter how much Yeonhoo talked to him, Miu just kept walking without answering. After a long while of silent walking, Miu arrived at the lumber site. Seeing that, Yeonhoo realized he was planning to chop wood.

Ah, right. Tomorrow’s building repair day!

The old buildings in the alliance naturally lost durability over time, so they had to be repaired on a regular basis. That was why, earlier in chat, people had said they should probably raise all the durability tomorrow.

And they had said that rather than buying wood and using that, it was overwhelmingly better—both in quality of wood and in efficiency—to have a worker with high skill chop the trees personally.

This is exactly the sense of responsibility you’d expect from the leader of alliance <47>! He’s so cool!

It looked like Ms. Miyoung was personally trying to gather the materials. Watching Miu head off to cut wood even though he had to be tired, Yeonhoo’s eyes sparkled.

(Alliance) 0momo0: I’ll come help too!!!

Bouncing along, Yeonhoo quickly latched onto Miu’s side. Miu glanced at 0momo0, but then, as if nothing had happened, passed right by him and started chopping at the trees as soon as he reached the lumber site.

Thunk, thunk!

The sound of each of them chopping trees echoed through the lumber site. With no chat at all, the only thing that rang out was the little dinging notification that wood had been harvested. Yeonhoo snuck a glance toward Miu.

Is he really okay...

He had stayed up all night helping him play the game, and now, as if that were not enough, even while on his way to the café for work, he was carrying the °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° heavy responsibility of being alliance leader on his back and preparing building repairs too.

My baby rabbit, what am I supposed to do with you?

Watching Miu’s profile with aching fondness as he neatly swung his axe with those cute, tiny, rabbit-like hands, Yeonhoo placed his hands on the keyboard.