He Is That Guy

We got through Monday and Tuesday without incident, and at last, Wednesday arrived.
Ahead of the Selection Match against the Fever Guild, MuljomMasyeora opened a new Discord voice channel.
Participants were me, Yu Chae, SseSseSsehajago, and Haereun—the ones who knew what had happened with the Fever Guild and the stolen staff.

[MuljomMasyeora] We wait at the center
[MuljomMasyeora] and as soon as the match starts
[MuljomMasyeora] we head to the gate where that newbie with the staff shows up

[Haereun] ㅇㅋㅇㅋ
[SseSseSsehajago] But how are we supposed to recognize that newbie right away?
A valid concern. Most of the other guild members didn’t even know about the staff incident or the Fever Guild’s new recruit, so word wouldn’t have traveled far.

[MuljomMasyeora] it’s fine
[MuljomMasyeora] I figured that might be a problem so I invited someone else
Gugusudal has joined the channel -

[SseSseSsehajago] Oh?
[Haereun] Oh, hey Sudal
[Gugusudal] Heyoo~

[MuljomMasyeora] Remember when I said I planted an alt in Fever?
[MuljomMasyeora] That was Sudal lmao
[MuljomMasyeora] Sudal’s alt is in the Fever Guildㅋㅋㅋ

[Jeo Jolryeoyo] Ahh;
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] Hello
[Gugusudal] Hi thereㅋㅋ
[Gugusudal] When the match starts

[Gugusudal] I’ll confirm where the newbie goes and message it here
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] thanks
[Yu Chae] The staff.

[Yu Chae] What’s the current state of it?
I’d been wondering that myself, and thankfully Yu Chae brought it up first.
[Gugusudal] I don’t know all the details,

[Gugusudal] but it’s definitely been upgradedㅇㅇ
[Gugusudal] I heard the guildmaster did it for them
[Gugusudal] Just because the newbie’s a girlㅋㅋ He’s seriously doting on her~~

[Haereun] LOL
[SseSseSsehajago] Our thief’s at it again...
[Haereun] Honestly it’s hilarious to watch

[Haereun] Guy’s allergic to personal growthㅋㅋ
[MuljomMasyeora] Or maybe I’m misremembering
[MuljomMasyeora] Didn’t the Fever Guildmaster

[MuljomMasyeora] used to creep on some player
[MuljomMasyeora] and get publicly dragged for it?
[Haereun] Yeah, that happened

[Haereun] The player he hit on
[Haereun] Still plays, I think
[SseSseSsehajago] Dude’s like a curse on other people’s game lives, fr

[Haereun] Guildmasters are the root of all evil, I swear…
[Haereun] oh—oops;
[MuljomMasyeora] ssshitㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Jeo Jolryeoyo] lmao
[Yu Chae] lol
[Yu Chae] Maybe he wants us to steal his Contribution Points again…

[Haereun] sorry;; hehe;;
[SseSseSsehajago] Guys who act like this just because someone’s a girl—
[SseSseSsehajago] absolutely revolting

[Haereun] agreed, makes me gag ugh
[Gugusudal] lmao
[Gugusudal] The newbie’s surprisingly got a good personality though

[Gugusudal] But they don’t seem to use the community at all
[MuljomMasyeora] If they did any forum reading or post lurking
[MuljomMasyeora] they wouldn’t have joined Fever in the first placeㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[SseSseSsehajago] yepㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] Honestly, only like two out of ten players
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] actually check that kind of stuff

[Jeo Jolryeoyo] I don’t either
Unless I need something specific, like skill info or guides, I rarely ever check those boards. I don’t even glance at the gossip or general talk sections. And nowadays, even for guides, I prefer watching videos over reading posts.
[Yu Chae] Yeah

[Yu Chae] That’s how most people are
[Gugusudal] The funny thing about our thief—
[Gugusudal] He had zero interest in the newbie at firstㅋㅋㅋ

[Gugusudal] Then once she joined the guild
[Gugusudal] He added her to the group chat and invited her on Discord
[Gugusudal] Probably figured out she was a girl while helping her in a raid

[Gugusudal] And ever since then he’s gone full creep modeㅋ
[Haereun] Ah LOL
[Haereun] I can picture it perfectly

[SseSseSsehajago] just a total clown
[MuljomMasyeora] I’m starting to feel bad for the newbie…
[Gugusudal] She actually refused to take the staff at first

[Gugusudal] But he kept pushing and pushing
[Gugusudal] “It’s not expensive lol, just take it”
[Gugusudal] And when she kept saying no, he was like “you’re embarrassing me”

[Gugusudal] Then he posted about it in guild chat so everyone would see
[Gugusudal] Basically forced her to accept it
[Haereun] ?

[Haereun] What a psycho;
[SseSseSsehajago] That’s straight-up gaslighting, holy fuck, so disgusting
[MuljomMasyeora] Top-tier veteran loser manipulating a newbieㅋㅋ

[Haereun] Top-tier vets are the actual worst…
[Haereun] oh—uh
[Haereun] sorry again, Guildmaster

[Yu Chae] ? lol
[SseSseSsehajago] XDDDDDD
[Gugusudal] lolololololol

Honestly, I’d figured as much from the moment he jumped me and stole my staff—but to hear it laid out like this, he’s even more of a piece of shit than I expected.
Makes sense, I guess. If the whole server already thinks he’s insane, he’s probably not normal.
[Gugusudal] After watching him for a while,

[Gugusudal] it really makes you realize our Guildmaster’s actually a decent guy
[Haereun] yep
[Haereun] he looks like a literal saint by comparison lol

[Jeo Jolryeoyo] At worst, he’s just kinda goofy
[Yu Chae] You think I’m cute?
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] ..?

[SseSseSsehajago] ?
[MuljomMasyeora] oh fuckkkkkkkkkkkkkk
[Haereun] holy—

[Haereun] I’m getting dizzy
“Sigh…”
I lowered my head and pressed my fingers to my forehead. Every time Yu Chae said random shit like this, all I could do was sigh.

At first I thought he was trolling me. That pissed me off. But by now, I knew he was dead serious. He really asked that because he wanted to know if I thought he was cute.
[MuljomMasyeora] Anyway let’s stay on topicㅋㅋㅋ
[MuljomMasyeora] I feel bad for the newbie, but—

[MuljomMasyeora] we’ve gotta kill her until she drops the staff
[MuljomMasyeora] Sudal, what’s her IGN?
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] When I practiced against the Sharpshooter on Monday

[Jeo Jolryeoyo] He dropped the weapon on the fifth kill
[MuljomMasyeora] Hoping it’s the same this time
[Yu Chae] Drop rate on death isn’t high, though

[Yu Chae] So we’ll need some luck
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] yep
[Gugusudal] The newbie’s IGN

[Gugusudal] is MelodyCode << that’s her
[MuljomMasyeora] what a cute name lol
MelodyCode, huh. Once the match starts, I’ll need to find that name fast—gotta remember it.

[Gugusudal] I always wonder
[Gugusudal] why don’t they just add a “no-drop” setting for weapons?
[Haereun] They’d just tell you to turn off PvP lol

[Haereun] Probably think it’s too much hassle to add new items just for Selection Match-type eventsㅋㅋㅋ
[SseSseSsehajago] Classic… “Shit game.”
[MuljomMasyeora] From where we’re standing

[MuljomMasyeora] it’s free real estate
[Yu Chae] Hyung.
[Yu Chae] You’ll need to kill her as many times as possible, as fast as you can.

[Yu Chae] It’s a time attack.
Once the gauge fills, the Selection Match ends. Our other guildmates won’t know what we’re doing, so they’ll play normally—killing enemies and filling the gauge.
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] yeah

I’d already been watching gauge speeds over the past two matches, so I had a sense of the timing. It’d probably slow down a bit without Yu Chae contributing, but still manageable.
[MuljomMasyeora] Our job
[MuljomMasyeora] is to clear out anyone around the newbie

[MuljomMasyeora] so Jolrye can focus on killing her faster
[Gugusudal] Though,
[Gugusudal] That thief’ll probably be near her too

[Gugusudal] That’s what he said at the last strategy meeting
[Gugusudal] Could change at the start thoughㅇㅇ
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] okay okay

[Jeo Jolryeoyo] honestly that’s even better lol
I didn’t have any warm feelings for the Fever Guildmaster either.
If I managed to recover the staff early, I wouldn’t mind going toe-to-toe with that bastard afterward.

[MuljomMasyeora] 30 minutes to go
[MuljomMasyeora] Everyone do a final gear check
[MuljomMasyeora] Hop in voice before the match starts

[MuljomMasyeora] Sudal, message us the newbie’s location right away
[Gugusudal] Roger
[Gugusudal] My alt’s IGN is goeingmailho< btw

[Gugusudal] If you run into me, go easy~ㅋㅋ
Just like Muljom said, I repaired my equipment one last time and mentally steeled myself.
Twenty minutes before the match, we regrouped in the Discord channel—just like we’d planned. Voice comms would let us get faster and more accurate updates.

“We’ll wait at the center, then go straight to the gate Sudal tells us at 6:50.”
From 6:50, attackers can no longer move outside their respawn zone. That’s when we’ll first learn who’s positioned at which gate.
As I listened to Muljom explain, I spun the game camera slightly. Behind my character, a silver banner shimmered in the wind.

“They’ll probably come through the North Gate, right?”
“Yeah, that’s most likely.”
Muljom agreed with SseSseSsehajago’s guess.
Two minutes passed, and it was now 6:47. I stretched my fingers in anticipation of the big fight, and then a familiar voice chimed in.

“I’ll handle the mobs around you so you can focus on fighting. Once things are under control, I’ll back you up directly.”
Smooth and calm, slightly deep voice. Yu Chae.
“There’s a respawn delay after death anyway. Hyung, sound good?”

“No problem.”
I nodded without hesitation.
According to Sudal, the newbie hadn’t even wanted the staff—it was forced on her. I had no reason to feel guilty about killing her repeatedly.

The goal was the staff. Taking it back quickly by «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» killing her over and over would be good for both of us.
‘More than that…’
I was a little surprised that Yu Chae had said exactly what I was thinking. I’d known we matched well on this sort of thing, but this was almost uncanny.

“Hyung. Just focus on the staff once the match starts. I’ll do everything I can to make that possible.”
“Alright.”
And today of all days, he was talking a lot. Muljom seemed surprised too.

“Damn, what’s with you? You’re suddenly all talkative.”
“It’s an important day.”
“Ohhh~ Is that so? Suuure~”

“Pfft!”
Haereun burst out laughing at Yu Chae’s dead-serious answer. I laughed too—though mine was more of a dry chuckle.
We kept chatting like that until the clock hit 6:50. Right as the attacking team finished moving to the respawn zone, Sudal sent his message in Discord.

[Gugusudal] Guys
[Gugusudal] It’s the West Gate.