HSF 8

Tiramisush, who called Cheong-hyeon a student, was a party member who joined him for boss raids. While Cheong-hyeon hadn’t explicitly revealed his exact age in the guild, he hadn’t gone out of his way to hide it either, so those who raided with him generally assumed he was a college student. Tiramisush clearly knew Cheong-hyeon was in college but persistently tried to get him to admit it himself.

After exchanging brief greetings, Cheong-hyeon’s eyes moved to the mailbox at the bottom of the screen. A red light was on, indicating mail had arrived overnight.

Inbox

From: Lucky

I was about to throw these away, but you seem to be working hard to collect gold 😉 It’s not much, but go ahead and sell them at the auction house!

Mermaid’s Breath x20

Torn Wing x20

Dying Ember x20

Traces of Seal x20

Mud Lump x30

“Huh…”

A scornful laugh escaped Cheong-hyeon’s lips as he checked his mail. The items Lucky sent were common junk that dropped from dungeons, and selling them at the auction house wouldn’t even fetch 100,000 gold. They were items most players found too bothersome to sell and just tossed to the ground as if they were worthless trash. Furthermore, mud lumps were practically garbage that sold for just 1 gold at shops.

This was clearly provocation disguised as goodwill. It was obvious why this mail was sent to him rather than to Capybara, who had made the controversial comment, or Seohee1, who had been openly abrasive. Capybara wouldn’t be affected, and Lucky didn’t dare confront Seohee1. Cheong-hyeon immediately began composing a response message.

Outbox

To: Lucky

Please sell these and send me the gold hehe~

Mermaid’s Breath x20

Torn Wing x20

Dying Ember x20

Traces of Seal x20

Mud Lump x50

After sending back the items with even more mud lumps added, Cheong-hyeon, thoroughly irritated, opened the guild window and resumed his search for a new guild. He was willing to lower his standards and consider guilds with lower levels. In the meantime, Tiramisush, who had moved to the same village where Cheong-hyeon was standing, hovered nearby. When Cheong-hyeon, obsessed with finding a guild, didn’t pay attention, Tiramisush sent whispers.

[Whisper] Tiramisush: Student ㅇㅅㅇ

[Whisper] Tiramisush: How long will you draw this line?

[Whisper] Tiramisush: Between us?

[To Tiramisush]: What kind of relationship do we have?

[Whisper] Tiramisush: We’re in the same boat >ㅅ

[To Tiramisush]: Are we?

Cheong-hyeon tilted his head to one side slightly at the incomprehensible message. Tiramisush was generally very outgoing and even brazen, acting friendly toward Cheong-hyeon, but they weren’t close enough to be considered “in the same boat.”

[Whisper] Tiramisush: Ah, you don’t know yet?

[Whisper] Tiramisush: I’m also moving to Seohee1’s guild!

[To Tiramisush]: Seohee1’s guild?

[To Tiramisush]: Is Seohee1 changing guilds?

This information seemed to come out of nowhere. Cheong-hyeon wondered how someone with Seo Hee-won’s temperament could manage to join another group, while also questioning how he was able to get ahold of this information.

[Whisper] Tiramisush: Huh?

[Whisper] Tiramisush: A Sh**

[Whisper] Tiramisush: *Aren’t you going too?

[Whisper] Tiramisush: I heard you’re doing fixed Mystic Mine runs with Seohee1ㅊ

Apparently, Tiramisush had mistakenly thought Cheong-hyeon was following Seo Hee-won to a new guild. While using fixed Mystic Mine parties as the basis for this assumption didn’t make much sense, it was good information for Cheong-hyeon. If even someone like Seo Hee-won was leaving Seven for another guild, it must be quite a good one.

[Whisper] Tiramisush: Please keep what I said a secret.

[Whisper] Tiramisush: We’re at least that close, right? ㅠㅠ!!!!!!!

[To Tiramisush]: So I have leverage over you now? ㅎㅅㅎ

When Cheong-hyeon didn’t readily agree, Tiramisush used the crying animation, pounding the ground with his fists. Seeing the character with a white rabbit hairband and a carrot weapon sobbing pitifully was almost heartbreaking.

[Whisper] Tiramisush: If this gets out I can’t follow the guildㅠㅅㅠ

[Whisper] Tiramisush: I’ll have to stay in Seven foreverㅠ!

[To Tiramisush]: Where are you moving to?

[Whisper] Tiramisush: ㅇxㅇ…

[To Tiramisush]: I’ll have to ask Seohee1.

Tiramisush, who had been sobbing and pounding the ground, finally opened up.

[Whisper] Tiramisush: This is really a secret…

[To Tiramisush]: I’m good at keeping secrets.

[Whisper] Tiramisush: Seohee1…

[Whisper] Tiramisush: Bought a high-level guild

[Whisper] Tiramisush: And is going to be the guild master or deputy there ㅎㅅㅠ

[To Tiramisush]: So selling his own guild

[To Tiramisush]: Thanks for the good info^^

[Whisper] Tiramisush: This is a real-life secret.

[Whisper] Tiramisush: You can’t tell anyone.

[To Tiramisush]: Okay^^

[Whisper] Tiramisush: Hey, I’m not usually someone who uses emoticons like this.

Having learned unexpected information, Cheong-hyeon found himself in a dilemma. Between the openly unpleasant Seo Hee-won and the passive-aggressive Lucky, he slightly preferred the more straightforward Seo Hee-won, but wasn’t sure if he would invite him to his guild. After all, their conversation just yesterday hadn’t been particularly friendly…Cheong-hyeon decided to keep looking for other guilds and only ask Seo Hee-won as a last resort.

[Guild] Jimni: Ittorang.

[Guild] Jimni: Are you busy right now?

[Guild] Ittorang: No, I’m not busy!

While Cheong-hyeon was accepting Jimni’s party invitation, Tiramisush, who had been throwing a tantrum with all sorts of crying animations nearby, became even more frantic.

[Whisper] Tiramisush: ??? Why is she calling you suddenly?

[Whisper] Tiramisush: It’s not too early, is it???

[Whisper] Tiramisush: TraitortraitorBETRAYER

[Whisper] Tiramisush: Liar.

[To Tiramisush]: No, calm down;;;

[To Tiramisush]: I didn’t say anything

[To Tiramisush]: But

[To Tiramisush]: From your reaction, I can tell Jimni is changing guilds too^^

[Whisper] Tiramisush: Ah ㅎ

[Whisper] Tiramisush: That’s a secret too ㅇ.

It was worrying how careless and transparent this person could be.

[Party] Jimni: Can you come over here for a sec?

Almost simultaneously with Jimni’s chat, a popup window appeared.

Jimni is requesting your help.

Accept | Decline

It was a guild skill that allowed summoning guild members to one’s location. After clicking accept, the map changed—to the Forest Untouched by Light where Cheong-hyeon had been stuck for about two hours yesterday. In the middle of the field stood Jimni, surrounded by seven Hungry Wolf special mobs.

[Party] Ittorang: What is this?

[Party] Jimni: I just happened to stop by and found these.

[Party] Jimni: Go ahead and kill them, Ittorangㅎㅎ!

[Party] Ittorang: How could 7 special mobs coincidentally gather in one place?

At most, one special mob might spawn by chance. Unless someone had been hunting in the same spot to deliberately summon them, it was impossible for so many special mobs to randomly appear in one place. Clearly, Jimni had been grinding to help Cheong-hyeon get his special ring.

[Party] Jimni: I know right, strange things happen in this world.

[Party] Jimni: Just kill them first.

As Jimni shamelessly insisted while casting shields on him, Cheong-hyeon reluctantly killed the special mobs. Considering he had killed only 12 special mobs during his two-hour hunting session yesterday, it looked like Jimni must have been hunting here for over an hour.

[Party] Jimni: Did anything drop? Like a legendary special ring?

[Party] Ittorang: No, nothing of that sort…

A ring that might drop after killing 3,000 special mobs wasn’t going to appear after just seven. While Cheong-hyeon appreciated Jimni’s help and felt bad about it, he had no intention of repeating this meaningless labor, even with assistance. Just as he was about to firmly decline, perhaps sounding a bit cold, another popup window appeared on the screen.

Seohee1 is requesting your help.

Accept | Decline

After a moment’s hesitation, Cheong-hyeon clicked accept. Predictably, the location he was transported to had Seo Hee-won surrounded by special mobs. Expecting this situation, he silently began hunting, and Seo Hee-won naturally cast buffs on him.

With Jimni following as well, two pairs of eyes were now watching Cheong-hyeon intently. As the approximately ten special mobs decreased one by one, the subtle pressure began to build. If they killed all of them with nothing to show for it, the situation would become awkward for everyone. Hoping desperately for something—anything—to drop, he killed the last special mob.

You have acquired a Darkness-Immersed Ring.

[Party] Ittorang: I got a ring!

[Party] Jimni: What grade is it??

Although Cheong-hyeon knew a legendary grade wouldn’t drop on the first try, he couldn’t help feeling hopeful. He even made an impossible wish to Game Director Park Geun-myung, promising to play the game more diligently.

‘If this is legendary, I’ll seriously be Seo Hee-won’s DPS slave.’

With that thought, he opened his inventory to find the special ring surrounded by a green glow. In BioGod, items had unique colors for each grade, and green indicated a rare grade. It was a useless ring, two levels below the epic grade he already possessed.