HFS 20

…How have I managed to survive all this time? A chill ran up and down Cheong-hyeon’s spine. At the same time, he realized that his mindset had become different from others. He had completely adapted to Seo Hee-won’s way of treating him like a dog, making it impossible for him to function normally in other parties.

Cheong-hyeon ended up being kicked from the party without clearing the boss.

Facing the reality that the only party he could join was Seo Hee-won’s, Cheong-hyeon trembled with shame and anger. He wrote an email to Seo Hee-won, determined to get revenge. Somehow, he had to make Seo Hee-won equally dependent on his damage output.

Seo Hee-won had been getting furious whenever he saw Ittorang lately. Ittorang had good judgment. He would boldly enter situations where he could receive stable healing, considering the healer’s skill cooldown times, and would deal damage. When healing was on cooldown, he would handle mobs or bosses without overextending.

In other words, he knew exactly when to strike and when to retreat. Beyond that, he had good control, good sense, and an unspoken understanding…He was the first dealer with skills that met Seo Hee-won’s standards since he started gaming. If there was one infuriating thing about Ittorang, it was that he was shameless enough to take advantage of any leeway given to him.

It had been that way since their first Mystic Mine party. Perhaps because Ittorang had changed his equipment and his health was weaker than usual, at first he was very cautious, carefully avoiding getting hit while hunting diligently.

Satisfied with his performance, Seo Hee-won provided consistent healing, but gradually Ittorang became lax, stupidly standing still to deal damage regardless of whether he got hit or not, which must’ve been very irritating to the other player. And then, oblivious to others’ feelings, he had the nerve to say that gaming was comfortable thanks to the healer.

As soon as Seo Hee-won cut off healing, Ittorang snapped back to attention and cleared mobs even faster than before. Ittorang was the type who performed better under pressure.

The same thing happened recently in dungeons. When they first started coordinating, his quick movements made Seo Hee-won think he’d made the right choice all along bringing him into the guild.

But again, after receiving benefits like the Mystic Mine or Creation Skin, he started to get sloppy once given some leeway. While Seo Hee-won was willing to overlook minor delays, watching him make impulsive moves by rushing ahead of the tank was infuriating, pushing Seo Hee-won to the absolute limit of his patience.

Especially lately, as soon as his resurrection cooldown reset, he would frustratingly rush toward the boss. It was incomprehensible why he would waste a resurrection skill on such pathetic behavior when it might be needed in a truly critical situation.

Though he hadn’t made any major mistakes yet, this behavior couldn’t continue. Just when Seo Hee-won was getting ready to address it, Ittorang ran alone at the boss when he should have retreated, causing an accident where he simply died.

Thinking this was the perfect opportunity, Seo Hee-won scolded him for a bit, only for Ittorang to completely leave the party and run away. It was so absurd that he couldn’t even handle those few words of criticism, making Seo Hee-won realize, “I guess I’ve been quite generous with Ittorang all this time.”

“Hah…”

Seo Hee-won sighed deeply and disbanded the remaining party members. Given how things had turned out, it wouldn’t be bad for Ittorang to join another party and taste the bitter reality.

He would painfully realize how grateful he should be to raid with a healer like himself, and then come crawling back to Seo Hee-won’s party. When that time came, Seo Hee-won would properly discipline him. With that thought in mind, Seo Hee-won checked Ittorang’s location.

After struggling to find a party for a long time and finally entering a dungeon, he was now at the dungeon entrance. Since Seo Hee-won had seen him enter the dungeon about 30 minutes ago, he couldn’t have cleared it already—the party must have disbanded. Seo Hee-won waited conspicuously in a visible spot in the town near Ittorang. It should be about time for him to come to apologize.

Why isn’t he coming?

He checked Ittorang’s location again. He was in a town close by. He was probably too proud to apologize right away, thought Seo Hee-won, deciding that he, being the more magnanimous one, would wait a little longer. As waiting became tedious, he opened his inbox out of boredom, but it was empty. Wondering what Ittorang was up to at the moment, he tried to check his location again, but Ittorang was still offline.

He just turns off the game? When he should be begging for forgiveness right now?

Dark attribute assassins were particularly difficult to heal. Even with full health, they easily fell into critical condition, and maintaining them below half health for maximum efficiency required intense concentration from Seo Hee-won.

There was no way Ittorang could have found a healer in a public party as skilled as himself, and the damage-hungry Ittorang would never be satisfied with a healer who mindlessly filled his health bar. Ittorang should naturally return to Seo Hee-won’s party. Thinking he might be trying to contact him through a messaging app, Seo Hee-won clutched his phone and waited, but no messages came.

…He couldn’t have cleared it without me.

Though convinced this was impossible, as the wait grew longer, his doubts only increased.

Surely not…really?

Is he crazy? Something wrong with his head? How stupid must he be to abandon a healer like me and crawl into a public party?

After all I’ve done for him too!

Overwhelmed by an indescribable sense of betrayal, Seo Hee-won trembled with rage. He immediately gathered guild members and started the Sea King raid they had been saving for when Ittorang returned. He filled Ittorang’s empty spot with a random recruit.

[Party] Tiramisush: What about Ittorang?? Shouldn’t we stick together?

[Party] Seohee1: If you miss him that much, go follow him out^^

[Party] Jimni: Don’t take your anger out on others.

[Party] Tiramisush: ㅠㅅㅠ……

The first dealer he recruited was kicked out of the party within 10 minutes of starting the boss fight. The Sea King was a boss that required killing many mobs, and this dealer’s speed was significantly slower compared to Ittorang’s. Though Seo Hee-won tried to be patient despite his dissatisfaction, he couldn’t tolerate how the dealer repeatedly misunderstood instructions, causing their coordination to fail.

Eventually, Seo Hee-won picked up his damage-dealing weapon, something he hadn’t done even once recently. He kicked out the second dealer within 5 minutes. There wasn’t anything particularly wrong with them, but he found it irritating how they would frantically run for healing whenever their health dropped even slightly.

But it wasn’t just that…he simply disliked everything about them. He kept comparing every little detail with Ittorang. Ittorang might play tricks, but his damage output was good—when mobs gathered near the healer, Ittorang would immediately come to clear them; Ittorang instinctively knew what to do without being told…

“The way they deal damage. Hah…”

It was so frustrating he felt like he could burst. Meanwhile, every time he used a skill, the Creation effect sparkled brilliantly. It annoyingly kept reminding him of Ittorang. As Seo Hee-won’s harassment of dealers became worse than usual, Jimni, who couldn’t bear to watch anymore, spoke up:

[Guild] Jimni: Augh, if you’re going to complain about every little thing, just bring Ittorang back.

To suggest that he should bring Ittorang back…that was…that was too much of a blow to his pride. Seo Hee-won eventually disbanded the party again and collapsed on the sofa.

Thanks to taking deep breaths to cool his hot head, he managed to resist the urge to open the messaging app and rage at Ittorang, demanding to know where he was and what he was doing.

Seo Hee-won thought calmly. Given his own state, there was no way Ittorang could have successfully completed the boss raid. He would wait until midnight. If there was no contact by then, and if by some impossible chance Ittorang had cleared the boss, he would get revenge somehow.

With that determination in mind, Seo Hee-won glared daggers at the clock as if he wanted to kill it. While waiting for Ittorang, Seo Hee-won tried to do other things but couldn’t concentrate. Even during exercise, he kept checking his phone, and while eating, he was distracted checking whether Ittorang had logged into the game or if there was any incoming email. The sluggish time passed, and finally, it was midnight, but there was not a single message from Ittorang.

…I’ll wait thirty more minutes.

As the self-imposed thirty minutes were coming to an end, and Seo Hee-won was carefully deliberating whether to wait 10 more minutes or 30, Ittorang finally logged back into the game and immediately started the Sea King raid.

While relieved that he hadn’t cleared the boss, anxiety rose about what would happen if he did clear it this time. If Ittorang cleared the Sea King and left permanently for public parties, Seo Hee-won would have to endure boss raids with incompetent melee dealers.

Just as Seo Hee-won was contemplating the biggest dilemma of his life—whether to send Ittorang a whisper telling him to leave the party immediately—Ittorang left the dungeon and moved to town. It was clearly insufficient time to clear the boss, meaning the party must have disbanded partway through.

Seo Hee-won hurriedly moved to the guild room. He paced needlessly in front of the guild storage, repeatedly opening and closing his inventory. Just as Seo Hee-won’s patience was about to run out, an email finally arrived in his inbox.