He Is That Guy

Before I even finished speaking, Yu Chae kicked off the ground and flew straight toward the enemy team.

[Guild] TheHunter: ?
Right behind him, TheHunter and Sanyang-eMeChinnom rushed to follow.
[Guild] Sanyang-eMeChinnom: Holy shibal

[Guild] Sanyang-eMeChinnom: You can’t just dash in like that by yourself;;
[Guild] TheHunter: scared the crap outta me
Sanyang-eMeChinnom took a hit meant for Yu Chae by intercepting an incoming skill with a counter, while TheHunter handled the one blocking the path.

You are receiving a buff from buffer Doraheeibnida! Defense has increased.
You are receiving a buff from buffer Doraheeibnida! Attack speed has increased.
You are receiving a buff from buffer Doraheeibnida! Health regen speed has increased.

Dorahee started buffing in sync with the battle. I nodded at the list—exactly what a melee DPS would need.
It was a battle of who could eliminate the support faster, so focusing buffs on the melee line was the optimal strategy. Like the others, Dorahee had sharp game sense.
[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: Dorahee, keep going

[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: rotate buffs around the melee DPS please
[Guild] Doraheeibnida: hehe, got it~
We’d leave HanmaumHantteut’s healer, buffer, and tank to the melee fighters like Yu Chae. We had our own job to do now.

[All] UnYum: Jolrye-nim~ long time no see~ㅎㅎ
[All] Jeo Jolryeoyo: yeah it’s been a while
[All] UnYum: I wanted to be on the same team as you for the match

[All] UnYum: but I guess we meet as enemies
I still had a good impression of UnYum, the leader of HanmaumHantteut. Even if it was because Kim Daeseok asked, he’d accepted a problematic newbie without hesitation and took care to prevent misunderstandings within the guild.
If Yu Chae hadn’t gotten involved, I might’ve stayed with HanmaumHantteut and kept playing with them. If that were the case, I’d be standing on their side now—not fighting for Chojeonyeok in this Selection Match.
[All] Jeo Jolryeoyo: That’s a shame

[All] Jeo Jolryeoyo: I’m disappointed too
I replied casually and did a quick stretch of my fingers. Whatever our history, we were enemies now.
Besides, UnYum was a Berserker. His job would obviously be to dive in and kill our healer and buffer. And as one of the players responsible for protecting them, that made him my direct opponent.

[Guild] Haereun: Aaaah
[Guild] Haereun: So scary! ><
Just as I expected, UnYum spotted Haereun and Dorahee and pulled out the twin swords strapped to his back. At the same time, his whole body flared red.

It was Rage Impact, one of the Berserker’s buff skills. It boosted attack power and the chance to apply Bleed. Even I, a ranged DPS, had to be careful not to get hit directly.
[Guild] Hwa So-un: fr
[Guild] Hwa So-un: I’m scared too

[Guild] Staeric: Berserker’s a rare class to see
Hwa So-un spun his long spear into a ready stance, and Staeric slipped on his mask. Just like us, UnYum had three guildmates backing him up.
A Sharpshooter, Warlord, and Summoner. Common enough classes. Aside from UnYum himself, they didn’t seem especially threatening.

[Guild] Staeric: I’ll try to take care of the others
[Guild] Staeric: I’ll go swoosh swoosh
[Guild] Staeric: you guys handle the Berserker lol

[Guild] Haereun: What the—
[Guild] Haereun: Shouldn’t the spear user handle this? hehe
[Guild] Hwa So-un: fuck offㅠㅠ

[Guild] Hwa So-un: I’m scared of the Berserker tooㅠㅠ
[Guild] Staeric: If you’re not a freeloader spearman, then who’s supposed to take the aggro~?
The bomb got passed to Hwa So-un—the easiest and most well-equipped option, thanks to his class and skillset. As for me, my role this time was to stay up front and make sure our buffer and healer didn’t die, so I just quietly watched.

“Ku-ku-ku, come at me!”
UnYum’s character let out a taunt and charged at us. Hwa So-un stepped in to block the incoming sword swing with his spear shaft.
「DIE, DIE!」
UnYum burst into crazed laughter and slashed wildly at Hwa So-un. Watching his character’s fluffy light-brown hair and goofy grin turn into that of a bloodthirsty maniac—it was honestly disturbing.

[All] UnYum: hehe
[All] Hwa So-un: he’s terrifying wtfㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Hwa So-un barely managed to block the bleeding debuff skill with a counter, but still ended up face-to-face with UnYum’s berserk form and began crying in the chat.

Chojeonyeok Guild has earned 10 points!
Chojeonyeok Guild has earned 10 points!
HanmaumHantteut Guild has earned 10 points!

Chojeonyeok Guild has earned 10 points!
Chojeonyeok Guild has earned 10 points!
Chojeonyeok Guild has earned 10 points!

Meanwhile, our score log kept climbing. Anyone could see our guild was overwhelmingly ahead.
I glanced up at the gauge rapidly filling in real time, then used my E skill on the Sharpshooter diving toward Dorahee.
[All] SunsuuiDae: ?

The skill froze him in place mid-charge. What’s with the question mark? I moved my fingers quickly.
I chained W—the strongest damage—then fast-cast Q and R. Hit after hit, the Sharpshooter dropped to 50% health and panicked, using a mobility skill to get away.
[All] SunsuuiDae: what the hell

[All] SunsuuiDae: I saw your janky weapon and thought you were trash
[All] SunsuuiDae: but you’re dark mage? wtf
[All] Jeo Jolryeoyo: ?

[All] Haereun: lolololol
[All] Doraheeibnida: hehe lmao
[Guild] Haereun: breaking news

[Guild] Haereun: enemy team just called Jolrye-nim
[Guild] Haereun: a trash-tier noob for having a janky weapon. Everyone’s shook...
[Guild] MuljomMasyeora: lmaooooooooo

[Guild] RereRekgollyeoyo: kekekekekekeke
[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: ffs
[Guild] Park Seungjin99: I’m dying over here lololol

[Guild] Yu Chae: Who the hell was that bastard, hyungㅡㅡ
[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: Shut up
[Guild] YangnyeomGejangJjeop: XDDDDDDDD

[Guild] MuljomMasyeora: oh fuckkkk this is killing me lol
[Guild] ManaOllingnam: please stop I’m laughing too hard ffs
[Guild] ManaOllingnam: I keep misclicking my skills LMAO

[Guild] SseSseSsehajago: what even is this match anymore lmaooo
Now that I’d become the joke of the day, I laughed bitterly and charged the Sharpshooter who started it.
As a non-target class, the Dark Mage fights best at a certain distance. But my skills were better anyway, and he was already low on HP, so I didn’t care.

‘Actually, this works out.’
I needed a test case to see how many times I could kill the same person before the gauge maxed out. I’d be fighting a PvP newbie on Wednesday—I’d have to beat him senseless till my staff broke.
I dodged the Sharpshooter’s light arrows with tight controls and used my D skill. It dropped a circular AoE on the ground—Dark Mage’s only field skill. Low damage, small radius, but it slowed enemies caught in it.

I’d practiced against Sharpshooters in the arena. Since they have tons of escape skills, there was no need to rely on crowd control.
The class’s short cooldowns let them move all over, but they were also fragile and especially weak against mid-range DPS. Basically, this was my guaranteed win.
Just like I thought, the slowed Sharpshooter couldn’t avoid my Q and R. I saw him panic and try to escape, and calmly hit him again with Q.

“Ugh…”
The Sharpshooter collapsed to the ground with a groan.
[All] SunsuuiDae: what the hell
[All] SunsuuiDae: ;;

Chojeonyeok Guild has earned 10 points!
The key to fighting someone who doesn’t know how to deal with Dark Mages? Don’t use your only CC or highest-damage skills unless you must. They’ll always save their escape for those moments.
It’s all about mind games and mechanics. I won both.

When you die in a Selection Match, you respawn after a delay—unless the gauge maxes out. Judging by the respawn time and our fill speed, I calculated I could kill him at least five more times.
[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: guys
[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: you okay over there?

[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: if it’s all good I’m gonna go kill that Sharpshooter again lol
[Guild] Haereun: damn lol
[Guild] TheHunter: yikes

[Guild] Doraheeibnida: you should be fine to go hehe
Hwa So-un had finally died while barely holding off UnYum with buffs and heals. But Staeric had seized an opening and killed UnYum, so things weren’t as dire now.
[Guild] MuljomMasyeora: it’s chill here

[Guild] MuljomMasyeora: I’ll head north to reinforce
[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: ㅇㅋㅇㅋ got it
With a skilled tank like Muljom joining the north, there was zero worry. Grinning, I gripped my shitty staff and went hunting for that Sharpshooter, SunsuuiDae.

 
****
An hour had passed since the Selection Match began. After filling our gauge, we wrapped up the match against HanmaumHantteut early.

The result was, of course, a blowout victory—over 60% margin.
[All] UnYum: haha gg
[All] UnYum: that was fun, Chojeonyeok people~~

[All] MuljomMasyeora: gg
Even in defeat, HanmaumHantteut kept a chill atmosphere. They probably knew they had little chance of winning.
Normally, with time left, we’d go after another quick-win guild. But we all chose to rest.

[All] SunsuuiDae: fuck
[All] SunsuuiDae: their dark mage is a damn pervert
The Sharpshooter I killed eight times finally lost it in chat. That meant he’d basically spent the whole match respawning only to die to me again and again.

[All] Mokappang: true
[All] Mokappang: Jolrye-nim was actually insane…
[All] Yu Chae: so coolㅎㅡㅎ

[All] TheHunter: how many kills did you get?
[All] Park Seungjin99: I stopped counting after 5 lol
[All] Sanyang-eMeChinnom: wasn’t it like 10?

[All] SunsuuiDae: it was 8, actually?
[All] ManaOllingnam: lol whether it’s 10 or 8 who cares
[All] Jeo Jolryeoyo: you started it, saying my weapon looked like trash lmao

[All] Jeo Jolryeoyo: call it karma, yeah?
[All] SunsuuiDae: ah fuck
[All] SunsuuiDae: even your tone pisses me off

Good. That was the point.
[All] SunsuuiDae: hey
[All] Jeo Jolryeoyo: ?

[All] SunsuuiDae: accept my friend request
[All] Jeo Jolryeoyo: ??
[All] Yu Chae: ?

[All] SunsuuiDae: after the match
[All] SunsuuiDae: 1v1 me
[All] Jeo Jolryeoyo: LOL

[All] Jeo Jolryeoyo: okay
It was unexpected, but I didn’t mind. Honestly, that kind of pride and persistence—I could respect it as a fellow gamer.
After I accepted the friend request, SunsuuiDae grumbled in chat for a while longer, then disappeared. Guess getting wrecked so many times had hit him harder than he expected.

[Guild] Yu Chae: that guild
[Guild] Yu Chae: really rubs me the wrong way..
[Guild] MuljomMasyeora: wow

[Guild] MuljomMasyeora: thanks for saying that in guild chat instead of global, seriously
[Guild] Park Seungjin99: for real
[Guild] Park Seungjin99: what’s gotten into you

[Guild] Yu Chae: if I said it in global
[Guild] Yu Chae: and Jolrye-hyung got mad, what would I doㅜㅡㅜ
[Guild] RereRekgollyeoyo: ;;

[Guild] Staeric: sheesh…
Yu Chae whined like a kicked puppy, ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) clearly jealous I’d added someone as a friend. I ignored him completely. The more you spoil someone like that, the worse their attitude gets.