Chapter 69

“My voice?”

“Yeah, your voice is... right.”

Mo Yeonhoo tilted his head in puzzlement, but Kim Seongjae suddenly shot up from his seat and stretched his phone out.

“Bastards, let’s take a picture. It’s been forever!”

A picture? Mo Yeonhoo narrowed his eyes.

“You’re doing this because of Suyeon, aren’t you?”

“Wh-what? Hey, I’m taking it!”

It was obvious at a glance that this was an authentication shot to send his girlfriend, but Park Taekyun and Mo Yeonhoo both smiled as if they had no choice and half-rose from their seats to look at the camera. After taking several shots with a click, Kim Seongjae gave a satisfied nod.

“Done. Much appreciated. I’m putting this on StarGram, okay? Should I tag Park Taekyun?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Mo Yeonhoo is... oh, right, you don’t do it anyway.”

“I do StarGram now.”

Kim Seongjae, who had naturally been about to skip over him, froze. Park Taekyun, sitting beside him, also looked at him in surprise.

“You do StarGram?”

“Huh?”

It was shocking news. He had always said he had no interest in social media and refused to use it.

“Wow, when did you make one? Without even telling us?”

“I made it a long time ago and recently revived it.”

“Whoa, how long ago?”

“I only used it for a few days and deleted it, so even if I told you, you wouldn’t know.”

Since he had also only briefly used the account he made in Canada and never told them about it, they seemed even more surprised. When both friends immediately demanded his ID, Mo Yeonhoo obediently searched it for them himself.

“Man, live long enough and you end up mutuals with Mo Yeonhoo on StarGram. I thought this bastard would never use social media in his entire life.”

“Seriously.”

The three of them followed one another right away. Unlike the other two accounts, which were flashy with all kinds of posts and tags from friends, Mo Yeonhoo’s account was bare.

“I’m posting this now, then. I’m tagging you too?”

“Yeah.”

Kim Seongjae seemed eager to upload the post as quickly as possible. Mo Yeonhoo gave a small laugh at him, looking like a StarGram addict, and was just about to sit back down in his chair when—

“Oh!”

“...Ah.”

“Are you all right?! I’m so sorry! I’ll bring you a new one...!”

Mo Yeonhoo had ended up bumping into a waiter who had somehow come close. The platter the waiter was carrying collided with his hat, and jam-like sauce, several pieces of fruit, and crackers came tumbling down over the top of Mo Yeonhoo’s hat.

“I’ll cover the cleaning fee as well. If you tell us when you leave...”

“No. I moved suddenly. It’s all right.”

“Hey, are you really okay?”

“Yeah, well.”

“Wow, you’ll have to wipe your hat, though.”

At Park Taekyun’s words, Mo Yeonhoo let out a small sigh and took off his hat. His messy hair was completely revealed. Beneath it was an especially small face, pale skin, and yet—

“Hey, Mo... Mo Yeonhoo?”

“Yeonhoo. No.”

His friends were flustered when they saw his face. At the urgent voices calling him, Mo Yeonhoo blinked and lifted his head, only to stop when both of them pointed at him.

“What happened to your face?”

That was right. Mo Yeonhoo—

“What the hell, you??? You’ve shrunk to half your size.”

His already small face had become even smaller.

“Hey, what do you mean, half...”

“And what’s with the shadows under your eyes?”

“Did something happen to you? Is it a family problem??”

The guy had always been so easygoing that at least his cheeks had stayed plump, but now he was so thin and haggard that everyone was startled. Mo Yeonhoo, flustered, mumbled vaguely.

“No, nothing really happened. I’ve just been playing games lately... ah.”

Games. The moment he said the word, he stopped as if he had found the cause. Park Taekyun, who had been listening with him, tilted his head and asked again.

“You got like that from playing games? ...Yeonhoo, don’t tell me it’s that bribery game you mentioned when you called me last time?”

“Bribery?”

What the hell was that supposed to mean? At Kim Seongjae’s baffled expression, Park Taekyun said, “You didn’t know?”

“He started a game to follow someone he likes. He said it was hard to get into the crew that person was in, so I told him to bribe his way in and try flirting a little.”

“You like someone again? Wow, what number is this now? But why didn’t you tell me?”

Kim Seongjae shouted at Mo Yeonhoo as if he felt wronged.

“Games are my area of expertise!!”

“That’s true. Seongjae met the girlfriend he’s dating now in a game.”

Mo Yeonhoo rolled his eyes, then glanced sideways at Kim Seongjae.

“Yeah... that’s true, but.”

“How’s it going?? Is that why you’re this haggard?”

“What about the bribe? Did you give the bribe? Hey, update us!”

Two pairs of curious eyes turned toward him. Holding a wineglass that had appeared at some point, Mo Yeonhoo looked as if he were wondering how he was supposed to explain this.

Of course, the bombardment of questions continued even in the meantime.

“What kind of person are they this time? What game is it?”

“Was there any progress? Did the bribe work?”

“Are they pretty? Did you get their number?”

“Did you meet? Did you confess??”

Even though these two had listened to Mo Yeonhoo’s unrequited-love stories forty-five times already, they still found them exciting.

Knowing that, he had always been the type to tell them obediently, but this time was different. He hesitated, but under his friends’ sparkling gazes, he eventually had no choice but to speak.

“They’re pretty, kind, and cool... I like everything about them.”

“Wow, pretty and kind and he likes everything!!!”

“Damn. Even cool? But?”

Despite their fascinated reactions, Mo Yeonhoo seemed stuck on something and could not continue. After a long struggle, he finally opened his mouth.

“...I don’t know if we got close or not.”

What? Why? His friends fired off another rapid barrage of questions, but he only blinked slowly and thought.

(CH03) Miu: All right

(CH03) Miu: Well.. let’s try it

Miu.

(CH03) Miu: I’m going to work you properly, so just watch

(CH03) Miu: Run if you want to run

That day, after all kinds of twists and turns, Miu and Mo Yeonhoo eventually formed an alliance. Miu had warned Mo Yeonhoo, who had stepped up to accept those ridiculous conditions, to just wait and see, but honestly, Yeonhoo had thought somewhat lightly of it.

(CH03) 0momo0: where would I go leaving you behind

(CH03) 0momo0: if you’re anxious, want to tie me down? hehe

(CH03) Miu: I want to be anxious, please

Even if it’s hard, it’ll probably be about the same as before!

This was why rookies and people with experience were different. Because he had already been rolled around properly once before, the more he talked with Miu, the more confident he became. And at that Mo Yeonhoo, Miu merely laughed.

(CH03) Miu: lol anyway looking forward to it

(CH03) 0momo0: kya!!! casual speech!!!

(CH03) Miu: yo

(CH03) 0momo0: was “big brother” a typo????

(CH03) Miu: 🖕

And so the two of them began their spy-finding project.

(CH03) Miu: Momo, I’m logging out now, so log in

(CH03) 0momo0: okay!!

First, Miu told Mo Yeonhoo the location of the core and ordered him to observe the alliance territory. His job was to watch how people talked in the alliance territory while Miu was absent, and whether anyone approached the core.

(CH03) Miu: Watch carefully and leave chats

(CH03) Miu: I’m going to look somewhere else because apparently a war broke out

(CH03) 0momo0: okay!

(CH03) Miu: Just send “yeah”;

(CH03) 0momo0: yyeahy!!!!

(CH03) Miu: Sigh

(CH03) Miu: And watch their movement paths carefully too

(CH03) 0momo0: but conversation aside, why watch their movement paths??

Mo Yeonhoo grew puzzled when Miu told him to watch not only the conversations, but also the movements of the alliance members. Then Miu kindly explained.

(CH03) Miu: The core is hard to find unless I directly disclose the coordinates. The alliance territory is wide, and there are a lot of structures too

(CH03) Miu: So the only ways are to have Build Mode open together when I move the core and see it.. or to steal the blueprint I have

That was right. Even if they belonged to the same alliance, if they did not know the core’s location, they had to run around on foot to find it!

(CH03) Miu: I moved this core after making everyone log out, and I didn’t tell ShinJadu either. The spy should start trying to find it around now too

(CH03) Miu: Since they can’t find it with Build Mode, they’re definitely going to move around personally

(CH03) Miu: If they’re the spy, their movement path inside the alliance territory will be a little strange, right?

(CH03) Miu: They might go to some out-of-the-way place they have no reason to go to.. or strangely circle only the same spots

On top of that, the alliance territory was wide, and there were all kinds of trees, grass, and other decorative objects, so finding the core would not be easy even from the spy’s perspective.

(CH03) 0momo0: wow that’s so hard!!

(CH03) Miu: Right? The other side is probably thinking the same thing

(CH03) 0momo0: but if it’s like this, wouldn’t it be better to just hit <47> with a bunch of people and gobble it up?? why are they so determined to smash the core..?

(CH03) 0momo0: even if they smash the core it’s annoying but we can make it again anyway... wouldn’t it be better to just keep hitting the alliance instead???

A reasonable question naturally followed. He thought that if the goal was to ruin the other side, having multiple teams raid and recklessly keep tearing down the base seemed more effective than spending time trying to find the core.

(CH03) Miu: Because it’s fun

Miu answered that question simply.

(CH03) Miu: Watching people turn on each other and fall apart

(CH03) Miu: That’s what’s fun for them