He Is That Guy

[Yoo Chae: Yeesss]

[Yoo Chae: I like it]
…Did this guy actually understand what I said just now?
His unexpected reply made me grimace as I typed.

[ImSoSleepy: ?]
[ImSoSleepy: Like what]
[Yoo Chae: You using me!]

[Yoo Chae: Do it all you want]
[Yoo Chae: I don’t care]
[ImSoSleepy: ㅋㅋㅋ]

[ImSoSleepy: You’re unbelievable;]
[ImSoSleepy: How’d you know I’d say something]
[Yoo Chae: Seriously, anything’s fine]

Wow. This bastard really has no sense of self-preservation.
I sneered at Yoo Chae’s obedient act.
[ImSoSleepy: Then]

[ImSoSleepy: Lend me some cash]
[Yoo Chae: How much?]
How much…? Uh…

[ImSoSleepy: Like.. 100k won?]
[Yoo Chae: Send me your account]
[ImSoSleepy: ㅋㅋㅋ 200k]
[Yoo Chae: Account]

[ImSoSleepy: 500]
[Yoo Chae: Account]
“….”

Forget it. What the hell’s the point of getting into a pissing contest with a lunatic.
[ImSoSleepy: What are you doing right now]
[ImSoSleepy: If you’re not busy, let’s talk for a sec]

[Yoo Chae: Yesss yesss yesss]
[Yoo Chae: I’m totally free!!]
[ImSoSleepy: Where are you]

Since I lost the staff Yoo Chae gave me, I should at least explain the situation. But why isn’t this guy answering now?
[Yoo Chae: Hmm]
[Yoo Chae: Are you coming here, hyung?]

[ImSoSleepy: Yeah]
[Yoo Chae: Wait just an hour and I’ll come find you..ㅜㅜ]
[ImSoSleepy: ?]

[ImSoSleepy: Didn’t you say you were free?]
[Yoo Chae: I am free but]
[ImSoSleepy: Forget it if you’re busy]

[Yoo Chae: Nooo..]
[Yoo Chae: I’m not busyㅜㅡㅜ]
What the hell are you trying to say. I’m already pissed off enough as it is.

[ImSoSleepy: ㅡㅡ?]
I sent a single loaded message full of meaning, and after hesitating for a while, Yoo Chae finally replied.
[Yoo Chae: I’m at the Feroco Lighthouse..]

The Feroco Lighthouse… that was the spot I’d visited before to apply for EveningGlow. The first place I ever met Yoo Chae too.
After fully recovering the HP I lost from city respawn, I teleported straight to the Feroco Lighthouse. As the screen shifted, Feroco Island’s cheerful background music kicked in.
[Global] Yoo Chae: Hyyuuungㅎㅡㅎ

Yoo Chae’s character came sprinting toward me, panting, from near the lighthouse building. I hadn’t seen that character in a while—and CottonCandyFox’s avatar silhouette overlapped halfway on top of him. Seeing them side by side like this, yeah… their behavior’s completely identical.
[Global] DrinkWaterPlz: ??
[Global] Let’sTripleJump: Uh, what’s happening?

[Global] Haerun: Am I dreaming right now
It wasn’t just Yoo Chae by the lighthouse—other EveningGlow members were there too. Told me to wait an hour, but looks like he had guild business after all.
‘Said he was free, this bastard…’

Whatever, since I’m here, guess I’ll say hi.
[Global] ImSoSleepy: hey
[Global] Haerun: Ohh are you here to PvP Guildmaster again

[Global] Let’sTripleJump: Why do they always fight here lol
[Global] Let’sTripleJump: My curiosity is exploding rn
[Global] ImSoSleepy: nah

[Global] ImSoSleepy: not here for PvP
[Global] DrinkWaterPlz: ??
[Global] Yoo Chae: Sleepy-hyung came to see meㅎㅎㅎㅎ

[Global] ImSoSleepy: nah
[Global] Yoo Chae: ?
[Global] DrinkWaterPlz: ????

[Global] Haerun: lmfaoㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Technically, yeah, I did come to see Yoo Chae—but the guild’s involved too. Even if those guys are a deranged, toxic pack of trolls, they’re still the third-ranked guild on the server.
This isn’t some other game—this is an RPG. If I wanna kill them and get my item back, I need power too.

[Global] Yoo Chae: Hyung
[Global] Yoo Chae: You did come to see me!
[Global] Yoo Chae: There’s literally no one else here you’re friends with

[Global] Yoo Chae: You came for me, didn’t youㅜㅡㅜ!!
God, shut up already. And for the record, I’m not friends with a single person here.
[Global] DrinkWaterPlz: But seriously what’s going on

[Global] DrinkWaterPlz: Did you two make up?
[Global] ImSoSleepy: Nah
[Global] ImSoSleepy: Someone took my weapon

[Global] ImSoSleepy: I wanna get it back
[Global] DrinkWaterPlz: ?
[Global] ImSoSleepy: That’s why I reached out

[Global] Let’sTripleJump: Your weapon??
[Global] Haerun: Don’t tell me your staff?;;
[Global] DrinkWaterPlz: You lost the staff..?

Judging from their reactions, these guys already knew that staff Yoo Chae gave me was worth a fortune.
[Global] ImSoSleepy: yeah
[Global] Yoo Chae: ㅋㅋ

[Yoo Chae: Who took it?]
“Hmmm…”
I rubbed my lips awkwardly, then explained step by step.

How I went to do bonus quests, ran into Fever guild idiots, got jumped by their guild master, died, and of all things… dropped my staff.
As soon as I finished, Yoo Chae immediately typed.
[Party] Yoo Chae: Join the guild, hyung

[Party] Yoo Chae: First, hit max level
[Party] Let’sTripleJump: Goddamn I’m getting mad for real fuck
[Party] Haerun: But Guildmaster

[Party] Haerun: Unexpectedly rational response from you
[Party] Let’sTripleJump: fr thought your eyes flipped and we were getting another guild warㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Party] Haerun: Those Fever assholes deserve to get wrecked tbhㅋㅋ

[Party] Yoo Chae: Sleepy-hyung hates that kinda drama
[Party] Let’sTripleJump: damn..
[Party] ImSoSleepy: ?

[Party] ImSoSleepy: Who said you know me
[Party] Yoo Chae: I can totally handle this for you, obviously
[Party] Yoo Chae: But that’s not what you want

He’s… not wrong.
[Party] ImSoSleepy: yeah
[Party] Yoo Chae: You wanna kill them yourself, right?

Yeah… I do.
[Party] Yoo Chae: So first, let’s raid till you hit max level
That’s not pretending to know me—that bastard actually gets it. But still…

[Party] ImSoSleepy: What are you doing?
Right as I asked, Yoo Chae’s character dropped to both knees, sitting primly on the ground, and triggered a sobbing emote.
[Party] Yoo Chae: It’s because of me

[Party] Yoo Chae: Those assholes acted up because of meㅜㅡㅜsob
[Party] Yoo Chae: So I’m kneeling and begging! >.<
[Party] Let’sTripleJump: Never seen someone beg that confidently

[Party] Haerun: But why aren’t you apologizing for making him drop the itemㄷㄷ
[Party] Yoo Chae: Not my fault
[Party] Yoo Chae: The assholes who killed him are the problem

“…..”
This insufferable bastard… Even when he’s right, he says it in the most annoying way possible.
[Party] Haerun: I meanㅋㅋ

[Party] Haerun: When you first met Sleepy-nim
[Party] Haerun: You full sent that PvP too lol;
[Party] Let’sTripleJump: His pride’s still shattered from that fight

No matter how much the guild teased him, Yoo Chae stayed kneeling with stubborn dedication.
That’s when DrinkWaterPlz, who had stepped away, came back.
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: I checked

[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: Guildmaster still has the staff
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: Planning to enhance it and give it to their newbie
[Party] ImSoSleepy: Newbie?

[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: Yeah, they’re trying to join the selection tourney
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: Probably recruited the newbie for that
Sounds like the new Fever member’s another Dark Mage. Nodding to myself, a question suddenly hit me.

[Party] ImSoSleepy: But
[Party] ImSoSleepy: How’d you get that info?
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: I planted an alt in Fever
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: Been there long enough they probably think I’m one of theirsㅋㅋㅋ
Damn, even got a spy in there? That’s… impressive in a lot of ways.

[Party] Yoo Chae: Hyung
[Party] Yoo Chae: If you wanna get the staff back
[Party] Yoo Chae: Join the guild and enter the selection tourney

[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: yeah
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: We were literally mid-meeting about thatㅋㅋ
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: Perfect timing

The selection tourney, huh…
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: Not saying it lightly
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: If you don’t wanna do it, even if we start a guild war

[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: If that newbie doesn’t equip the staff we got no chance;
[Party] Yoo Chae: Selection tourney’s different from guild wars
[Party] Yoo Chae: It’s huge—pretty much every guild member has to participate

[Party] Yoo Chae: And if the newbie gets the staff, they’ll 100% show up for the tourney
[Party] Yoo Chae: That’s when you kill them
[Party] Yoo Chae: Make them cough up the staffㅋㅋ

You can only enter the selection tourney if you’ve got a fresh account, so if the Fever guild master’s definitely handing the staff to a newbie, that’s my # Nоvеlight # only shot to get it back.
[Party] Yoo Chae: Hyung, look on the bright side
[Party] Yoo Chae: They’re basically enhancing it for usㅋㅋ

[Party] Yoo Chae: Giving it right back, see?
[Party] Yoo Chae: Damn, so generous
[Party] Yoo Chae: Right?ㅎㅡㅎ

[Party] Let’sTripleJump: frㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Party] Let’sTripleJump: Free loot, hell yeah
Sounds carefree, but honestly? I agree.

The outcome’s already decided. They’re dying, I’m getting my staff back. If they enhance it in the meantime, all the better for me.
[Party] Yoo Chae: Exactly
[Party] Yoo Chae: Hurry up and join the guild!

Impatient as ever, Yoo Chae shot me a guild invite request.
I half-assed a random application, and right away, the confirmation window popped up. Guess he’d been waiting on it.
[Guild] Hwaseoun: ???

[Guild] ParkSeungjin99: Huh?
[Guild] SpicyCrabPlz: What?ㄷㄷ
[Guild] MochaBbang: Whaaat? Whaat? Whaa.aat?

[Guild] ManaIsDryGuy: Is that the Sleepy-nim I think it is??
The second I joined, the guild chat exploded with messages from the members.
Full circle, huh. Honestly kinda ridiculous, but funny too.

Chuckling to myself, I sent a greeting.
[Guild] ImSoSleepy: Hello
[Guild] ImSoSleepy: Nice to meet youㅋㅋ

[Guild] Haerun: fuckㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Guild] Hwaseoun: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Guild] DrinkWaterPlz: ㅋㅋㅋ hey hey

[Guild] TakeItIt’sFree: Ahㅋㅋ new recruit I seeㅋ
[Guild] ImSoSleepy: Yepㅋㅋ
[Guild] ParkSeungjin99: goddamn this is hilarious fuckㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Guild] ProductOfCapitalism: Okay but what the hell is this situationㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Guild] Let’sTripleJump: You can’t tell?
[Guild] Let’sTripleJump: Guildmaster and him finally.. y’know

[Guild] Haerun: Yeah… it happened
[Guild] ImSoSleepy: ?
[Guild] Yoo Chae: >///<♥

What the hell are these lunatics even saying?
[Guild] ParkSeungjin99: tf is this real life?
[Guild] Hwaseoun: Wait Sleepy-nim;;

[Guild] Hwaseoun: How’d it end up like thisㅠㅠㅠ
[Guild] SpicyCrabPlz: I believed in you..
[Guild] SpicyCrabPlz: ha….

[Guild] LaggingLikeHell: ㅋㅋ whoever bet he wouldn’t come back, pay up
[Guild] LaggingLikeHell: Send your money by mail~
[Guild] Haerun: s s s s s s s

[Guild] Hwaseoun: fuckㅠㅠ
[Guild] Let’sTripleJump: ㅋㅋㅋ s s s s s s s
[Guild] DrinkWaterPlz: s s s

[Guild] ParkSeungjin99: fuck my money
[Guild] Yoo Chae: ㅋㅋ
“……”

Yeah… maybe this was a bad idea.
It’s been five minutes since I joined EveningGlow. The crushing regret and massive wave of existential dread hit me like a truck.