Chapter 45

(Alliance) YoureGettingSued: Wait! You changed it this morning and it got exposed right away?!??? How is that even possible?!

(Alliance) FUNK: you moved the core this morning and it got hit immediately? Jadu did you know??

(Alliance) ShinJadu: I only saw the mail later where Miu said he moved it because it looked like the core was about to bloom..

(Alliance) Miu: Yeah, the alert came in that its bloom timing was close

(Alliance) Miu: So I moved it on <Mobile> to a spot I’d already picked out before

(Alliance) YoureGettingSued: Huh..? You can move the core on mobile too?

(Alliance) ShinJadu: Yep.. the available spots are limited, but you can move it

(Alliance) YoureGettingSued: That’s so cool!!

He had moved the core that morning?

That’s weird. I never saw Miyoung move the core...

The word morning made Yeonhoo think back to the moment Miu had suddenly gone quiet at the lumber site, but he hadn’t seen him do anything in particular then.

So he wasn’t just AFK.

Not that Yeonhoo had ever moved a core before.... Either way, he didn’t really know the details, but if they had been attacked the moment the core’s location changed, then yeah, that was obviously strange.

(Alliance) 1Poop1: Huh? that’s like right fucking before it happened

(Alliance) FUNK: if you moved it that morning how the hell did the location leak

(Alliance) ShinJadu: Exactly; there were barely any people logged on then; Miu, didn’t you move it and log off right away??

(Alliance) Miu: Yes, I moved it and logged off immediately

(Alliance) ShinJadu: Do you remember who was online then?

At that, Miu stood still for a moment as if searching his memory, then typed out two names.

(Alliance) Miu: Opening

(Alliance) Miu: MouseTrap

Right. Come to think of it, those two had been there.

It had already been strange enough that they were logged on that early, and Opening had been so flashily dressed that Yeonhoo remembered them easily. Thinking back on MouseTrap standing there beside them, he tilted his head.

They didn’t seem especially suspicious, though...

Just as he was thinking that, Miu’s character abruptly lifted his head and looked at him.

(Alliance) Miu: 0momo0

At that exact moment, everyone there looked at Mo Yeonhoo at once. Silence fell over the voice chat and the chat window alike.

With every alliance member nearby staring at him, Yeonhoo froze.

No, I mean, sure, I was there too, but...

He could feel it.

They were suspicious of him.

(Alliance) YoureGettingSued: Mm...! But Opening and MouseTrap log in a lot in the mornings anyway, don’t they?

(Alliance) FUNK: Opening is basically part of the dawn shift

(Alliance) Opening: lol yeah, this time I logged in right after work when I got the message

(Alliance) ShinJadu: And MouseTrap’s so active they’re basically on all day

(Alliance) MouseTrap: Heheh, yup, that’s true!

(Alliance) ShinJadu: Did you two see momo and Miu then?

(Alliance) MouseTrap: Ah!! Yes, yes! I even said hi!!

(Alliance) Opening: yeah I saw them

(Alliance) MouseTrap: And then I logged off right away to go eat breakfast!

(Alliance) Opening: I left mine on and went to work

(Alliance) dude: Hm..

(Alliance) GoodLuck: Mmm~~~

(Alliance) MouseTrap: But this really is weird! T_T Nothing like this has ever happened while I’ve been in the alliance

(Alliance) MouseTrap: How did the core location get exposed that fast..

(Alliance) ShinJadu: Seriously..

(Alliance) Opening: fr isn’t this the first time? at least it never happened while I’ve been around lol

(Alliance) Miu: momo

Yeonhoo flinched.

Miu was calling for him, and for some reason that alone made him tense up.

(Alliance) 0momo0: Y-yes

(Alliance) Miu: When I was in Build Mode, did you have Build Mode on too, by any chance?

Build Mode?

He’d heard of it somewhere before, but honestly, he didn’t really know....

(Alliance) Miu: momo?

Miu called him again.

Why am I sweating this much?

The mood was strange enough that Yeonhoo instinctively denied it first, saying he didn’t know.

(Alliance) 0momo0: I’m sorry, but I don’t really know what Build Mode is T_T

(Alliance) 0momo0: I don’t know when you were in Build Mode either, Miu.. and I don’t know how to use it T_T

(Alliance) GoodLuck: Aww, gotcha~

(Alliance) MyApologyLetterIsInEnglishGlobal: Well, if it’s baby, he might not know lol nosebleed, ha lol

(Alliance) MouseTrap: Huh.. really? T_T

(Alliance) 0momo0: Yes!! haha

Thankfully, everyone knew Mo Yeonhoo was a newbie, so most of them seemed ready to let it go without much suspicion, but...

(Alliance) MouseTrap: Uh, T_T... but that doesn’t seem possible.. T_T

(Alliance) 0momo0: What??

(Alliance) MouseTrap: Ah!!! I’m not saying this because I suspect you or anything, okay! I’m really really just saying it!!

As MouseTrap awkwardly started to bring it up, the atmosphere began turning strange.

(Alliance) Miu: MouseTrap, keep going

(Alliance) MouseTrap: Ah......h T_T T_T T_T

(Alliance) MouseTrap: Th-that, T_T... um... mm...

MouseTrap kept hesitating, repeating “uh” and “um” for a long time like they were watching everyone’s reactions, and Yeonhoo started feeling uneasy for no reason, but he forced himself to stay still and wait.

(Alliance) MouseTrap: It’s just, like... I don’t mean anything by this..

(Alliance) MouseTrap: But even if it’s momo... it doesn’t make sense that you wouldn’t know what Build Mode is..

And at what came next, he blinked.

(Alliance) MouseTrap: Because when you first make your base.. in the tutorial... you use Build Mode T_T;

I learned that in the tutorial? When? Ah... wait.

Come to think of it, the tutorial had a guided mode that helped you set up your base and place a few key structures. And in that mode...

There was a full view.

When you activated Build Mode, the map automatically pulled back so you could see the entire base at once. If he had Build Mode on too while Miu was moving the core... then it would have made it a lot easier to see where he was hiding it.

(Alliance) 0momo0: Ah!!! If it’s that, then I know what it is

(Alliance) 0momo0: You could use that inside alliance territory too???

But Yeonhoo swore he had never known you could use that mode inside alliance territory.

In the first place, after joining the alliance, it had never once even occurred to him to decorate a base.

All I ever did was work...

0momo0, Miu’s slave and a Miyoung-crazed guy, had never had dirt dry on his hands. For someone like him, Build Mode was a luxury.

(Alliance) Opening: Yeah, exactly, that’s why not knowing is kind of weird

(Alliance) GoodLuck: Hmmm~~~

(Alliance) YoureGettingSued: Aah...... mm...

(Alliance) MouseTrap: Ah, I-I mean of course

(Alliance) MouseTrap: I didn’t mean momo was weird!!

(Alliance) MouseTrap: I really just;; really was just saying it!!!!

As the mood turned worse, MouseTrap hurriedly stepped in to defend Yeonhoo.

(Alliance) MouseTrap: T_T T_T T_T I’m sorry, I guess I shouldn’t have brought it up

(Alliance) MouseTrap: Please forget I said anything..

(Alliance) dude: d..

(Alliance) YoureGettingSued: Oh my..

(Alliance) FUNK: mm

(Alliance) GoodLuck: Oh, come on.. it’s not like it was that big a slip~~ stuff like that happens in life~~ shoulders back~~

(Alliance) MyApologyLetterIsInEnglishGlobal: ummmm

(Alliance) MouseTrap: T_T T_T T_T I made the atmosphere super weird;;

(Alliance) MouseTrap: I feel like this is all my fault T_T T_T T_T T_T

(Alliance) YoureGettingSued: Oh, don’t say that~~ it’s okay

(Alliance) MouseTrap: But still T_T T_T noooo T_T T_T T_T

(Alliance) Opening: nah don’t worry about it that much

(Alliance) Opening: it’s the kind of situation where people could misunderstand

(Alliance) CheersInMyEyes: lmaoooooo yeah..

As MouseTrap began blaming themself, a few alliance members tried to comfort them, saying it was fine.

MouseTrap and Opening had both been logged in that morning too, just like Mo Yeonhoo had, but unlike him, the two of them had already been in the alliance for quite a while. Maybe because of that, they had somehow slipped out of suspicion.

A spy.

For a moment, Yeonhoo seriously considered whether there really was one. The core location had been changed, and then they had been raided immediately. The Siege War had broken out, and the attack had gone straight to that exact spot. So yes, information really had leaked.

Opening and MouseTrap said nothing like this had ever happened while they were around, so...

Yeonhoo thought about it seriously for a moment.

Was the culprit actually me?

It honestly felt like it only made sense if it was.