HFS 11

It was a time-consuming process, but they had no other choice because if news of the guild change leaked to untrustworthy people, it would cause problems. They had originally planned to approach Cheong-hyeon after becoming closer, but thanks to him bringing it up first, they were able to save some time.

[Party] Jimni: We haven’t been running with Capybara for a few days

[Party] Jimni: But seeing how he’s helped us with the legendary special ring farming once in a while

[Party] Jimni: Do you think we should recruit him now?

They had gathered on a small meadow-like map near the town to discuss how to bring Capybara along when a character suddenly emerged from the edge of the map. It turned out to be Tiramisush, wearing black rabbit ears and black sunglasses today. As he walked toward Cheong-hyeon, he noticed Seo Hee-won and Jimni and stopped in his tracks.

[General] Tiramisush: Huh.

[General] Tiramisush: The three of you…are together…ㅎㅅㅎ..

A moment of silence followed, each for their own reasons. Tiramisush had committed a sin, Seo Hee-won and Jimni were reminded of his forgotten offense, and Cheong-hyeon had nothing particular to say.

After glancing around nervously, Tiramisush settled in a corner of the meadow and used the repentance animation. Seo Hee-won stood in front of Tiramisush, who was quietly kneeling before him with both hands raised.

[General] Seohee1: One

[General] Tiramisush: ㅠㅅㅠ Be careful…

[General] Seohee1: Two

[General] Tiramisush: With my words…

[General] Seohee1: One

[General] Tiramisush: Be careful!

[General] Seohee1: Two

[General] Tiramisush: With my words!ㅠㅠ!

[General] Seohee1: I’m letting it slide because things worked out.

[General] Seohee1: But I won’t overlook it a second time.

[General] Tiramisush: Hmph.

The drooping rabbit ears looked quite pitiful during the scolding, but after staying subdued for about 30 seconds, Tiramisush quietly got up and approached Cheong-hyeon. By then, he had received a party invitation from Jimni.

[Party] Tiramisush: Traitor…

[Party] Ittorang: I didn’t deliberately tell them.

[Party] Ittorang: No, you’re right, it was my fault…

[Party] Tiramisush: I was going to persuade you to change guilds with us today.

[Party] Tiramisush: Wanted to make it a perfect crimeㅠㅅㅠ

His black suit and sunglasses had seemed like he was playing spy, but apparently there was a purpose to his outfit. Though Tiramisush had revealed the secret to Cheong-hyeon, if he moved to the same guild, it would no longer be leaking secrets to an outsider but sharing information with an ally.

He seemed to properly grasp his own guilt, having been hiding from Seo Hee-won until today when he finally thought of a solution and sought out Cheong-hyeon…though he was quite late. Cheong-hyeon silently used the patting animation to comfort him.

The main objective—recruiting Capybara to the guild—was ultimately successful. When Jimni first brought it up, Capybara hesitated, but after asking “Is Ittorang moving too?” and receiving an affirmative answer, he decided to join them.

True to his fire mage nature, Capybara wore a red wizard hat matching his red robe and began rolling sideways. It seemed to be his go-to animation whenever he was happy. When Cheong-hyeon copied his side-rolling animation, Capybara bounced around excitedly.

[Party] Jimni: Everyone who’s agreed to change guilds is online right now. Shall we all gather?

[Party] Seohee1: Call them over so we can decide on a guild name today.

As Jimni called the others, two more people appeared on the small map. As previously mentioned, they were Heekkom and Marachip.

[General] Marachip: Wow~hello everyone!!

[General] Heekkom: Helloㅎㅎ

Marachip seemed sociable, immediately starting conversations with people he was meeting for the first time, while Heekkom appeared somewhat awkward and fell silent after greeting. Whether she was shy or uncomfortable around Cheong-hyeon because of Akhaeng’s nonsense wasn’t clear, but the atmosphere became heavy as a result.

The guild they were about to join would inevitably be different from Seven. Since they were a small group of like-minded people wanting to break away, they couldn’t just casually receive guild benefits and join boss parties like before. They would become a tighter-knit group—or as Tiramisush had put it, players who were now “in the same boat.”

Bringing up Akhaeng was too sensitive, and asking about age or names seemed too forward. After considering his options, Cheong-hyeon attempted to converse with Heekkom about class balance.

[General] Ittorang: How was the balance patch for water mages?

[General] Heekkom: Ice Sphere got buffed this timeㅎㅎㅎ

[General] Heekkom: I kept filing reports about the Water Shield bug ㅠ

[General] Heekkom: They finally fixed it.

[General] Ittorang: Ah, Water Shield.

[General] Ittorang: Fire mages always joke that it’s just “water” and not a shield.

[General] Heekkom: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Yeah, exactlyㅠ

Fortunately, the response was positive. While they shared the same class, divided into two attributes, there was a culture of taking pride in one’s attribute and playfully dismissing the other. Among mages, the conflict between water and fire factions was particularly intense.

[General] Ittorang: Doom Slayer got a slight buff too.

[General] Ittorang: Main Slayer got nerfed, but Main Slayer is still betterㅎㅎ………

[General] Heekkom: ㅠㅠ That Akhaeng bastard should just quit, Main Slayer needs to be completely ruined.

[General] Ittorang: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[General] Ittorang: You went through a lot because of Akhaeng…

[General] Heekkom: Yes…

[General] Heekkom: It seems you suffered quite a bit too.

Nothing brings people together like a common enemy. Having instantly formed a bond, the two began pouring out their grievances against Akhaeng and Lucky.

[General] Heekkom: The guild master is seriously incompetent…and shows blatant favoritismㅠ

[General] Ittorang: I think I just fell out of Lucky’s favorㅎㅎ..

[General] Ittorang: I even received an email recently.

[General] Heekkom: What kind of email?

Cheong-hyeon explained the incident at Mystic Mine and the email he received from Lucky.

[General] Jimni: Wasn’t it Seohee1  who started that argument??

[General] Ittorang: That’s right, Seohee1  was the one who provoked him but I got targetedㅠㅠ!

[General] Ittorang: He sent me a pile of garbage via email and told me to sell it at the auction houseㅜㅜ!

[General] Heekkom: Wow…that’s definitely treating someone like a beggar.

[General] Seohee1: Wait.

Cheong-hyeon, who had been pretending to cry, quickly stopped Seo Hee-won. Based on previous experience, he knew his “Wait” meant he was about to pick a fight with someone and wanted them to wait.

[General] Ittorang: No no

[General] Ittorang: It’s really okay.

[General] Ittorang: I handled it cleanly.

[General] Jimni: How did you do it?

[General] Jimni: Ittorang is actually quite sensitiveㅜㅜ

[General] Seohee1: ?

[General] Ittorang: I added more trash and sent it back asking for gold insteadㅎㅎ

[General] Seohee1: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Look at that.

[General] Seohee1: You’re better at irritating people than I am.

[General] Ittorang: ;;

Somehow, that came across as an insulting compliment.

[General] Tiramisush: I’m disappointed in Lucky. He only said nice things to me.

[General] Heekkom: He does seem nice to people he likes.

[General] Heekkom: But were you two close? What did he say?

[General] Tiramisush: That he envies my carefree lifestyle.

[General] Tiramisush: Kind of a compliment I guess ㅇ,

That wasn’t actually a compliment…Rather than explaining the truth to Tiramisush, Cheong-hyeon used the praising animation. His character gently patted the head of the crouching Tiramisush. It seemed better to preserve the innocent garden of thoughts in this person’s mind. As Tiramisush quietly accepted the gesture, he suddenly asked a question.

[General] Tiramisush: By the way, Student Ittorang

[General] Tiramisush: How old are you really? ㅇㅅㅇ

[General] Ittorang: Don’t you already kind of know?

[General] Tiramisush: Around fifth grade?

[General] Ittorang: ㅋㅋ Sure.

[General] Tiramisush: Why did your ***** come so early?

[General] Tiramisush: voice

[General] Tiramisush: change

[General] Tiramisush: ㅠㅅㅠ unfair

Seeing the suddenly filtered chat, Seo Hee-won began threatening to kick Tiramisush out of the guild if he continued with obscene messages. To change the subject and save Tiramisush, Cheong-hyeon quickly revealed his age.

[General] Ittorang: I’m twenty-three.

[General] Tiramisush: Hey, we’re friends then~~~~

[General] Heekkom: Oh, I’m 23 tooㅎㅎ

Tiramisush circled around Cheong-hyeon and Heekkom, declaring they were friends. He naturally dropped formal speech and bombarded them with questions about their majors, where they lived, their names, and more. After deflecting Tiramisush’s many questions, Cheong-hyeon turned to ask Seohee-won. He suddenly became curious about the age of this annoying person.

[General] Ittorang: How old are you, Seohee1?

[General] Seohee1: What would you do with that information?^^

[General] Jimni: Seohee1 and I are 21!

[General] Seohee1: ㅡㅡ

[Whisper] Tiramisush: Young punk has no manners -ㅅ-

Cheong-hyeon grinned broadly, strongly agreeing with Tiramisush’s whisper. His eyes sparkled with mischief.

So he’s younger than me?

No matter how times had changed, South Korea was still a Confucian society. Cheong-hyeon resolved to show this annoying person the full extent of what an older person could do in terms of being condescending.