HFS 2

As Cheong-hyeon typed calmly to clear up the ridiculous misunderstanding, he started getting increasingly angry seeing Akhaeng’s vulgar messages. The absurd misunderstanding itself was just bewildering but could be resolved through conversation, so he wasn’t too upset about that. What was truly intolerable was Akhaeng cursing while using his nickname “Ittorang.”

Ittorang was the name of his beloved pet dog at his family home. The puppy had been found struggling in a ditch near his home, hence the name Ittorang. Cheong-hyeon could tolerate insults directed at himself, but he couldn’t stand the disrespect toward his loving and good-natured dog Ittorang. Gritting his teeth, Cheong-hyeon quickly typed on the keyboard.

[Guild] Ittorang: You’re the one in heat, Akhaeng^^

In truth, Akhaeng and Cheong-hyeon were never on good terms to begin with. To be precise, Akhaeng would provoke him one-sidedly, and Cheong-hyeon would ignore him.

Both were assassins in the game, but while Cheong-hyeon specialized in the darkness attribute, Akhaeng was a curse attribute assassin. According to BioGod’s official site, the darkness attribute assassin was the only class with a five-star difficulty rating, while the curse attribute assassin had just three stars, making it relatively easier. As a result, curse assassins were more popular, while darkness assassins were unpopular due to their difficulty.

When they first met in the guild, Akhaeng had boasted of his class superiority by saying, “Playing a trash class, huh? lol,” but Cheong-hyeon had simply replied, “The darkness assassin is good too haha” and moved on. Akhaeng, who had dismissed Cheong-hyeon from their first meeting for playing a “trash class,” gradually became consumed with inferiority. Cheong-hyeon’s control skills were exceptionally good, drawing attention during dungeons and boss raids, and he even had legendary-grade equipment to back up his skills.

Meanwhile, Akhaeng often failed to pull his weight despite playing the supposedly high-performing curse assassin. Although no one openly compared the two, Akhaeng sensed the guild members’ subtle disrespect and would take it out on Cheong-hyeon.

Until now, Cheong-hyeon had ignored Akhaeng’s provocations, dismissing him as a weirdo, but this time he couldn’t let it slide. He had to defend the honor of his sweet, kind, and gentle pet dog, Ittorang.

With anger fueling his thoughts, Cheong-hyeon’s mind raced as he clearly recalled the chat room conversation he had skimmed earlier. It seemed Akhaeng had been exposed as a sexual harasser on the game community and was being pressured to leave the guild by members, and now he was lashing out at Cheong-hyeon. The absurd rumor that Cheong-hyeon had been meeting female guild members was clearly spread by Akhaeng.

[Guild] Ittorang: You’re the one going around making disgusting sexual harassment comments

[Guild] Ittorang: Why are you coming after me?

[Guild] Ittorang: I get that you’re consumed with inferiority because my specs are better

[Guild] Akhaeng: What are you saying****

[Guild] Ittorang: I’ve tolerated all your petty provocations until now, haven’t I?

[Guild] Ittorang: That’s enough

[Guild] Ittorang: Why are you spreading rumors to harass people ㅠㅠ!

[Guild] Akhaeng: **** this

[Guild] Akhaeng: You on Wednesday

[Guild] Akhaeng: Drank with Heekkom **** you

[Guild] Akhaeng: Heekkom

An unpleasant feeling started creeping in. Sometime on a weekday this week, though not with Heekkom, he had indeed gone drinking with a real-life friend. How does this guy know my schedule? Thinking back, it was indeed Tuesday.

He remembered someone in the guild asking why he hadn’t logged in the day before, and he had answered that he had plans, but he couldn’t understand how Akhaeng knew such details about his vague memories.

Cheong-hyeon took a deep breath to calm himself before typing again. Getting excited and attacking each other wouldn’t solve anything. Rational beings should resolve problems through conversation.

[Guild] Ittorang: It’s true I drank on Tuesday

[Guild] Akhaeng: Finally admitting it **ㅋㅋ

[Guild] Ittorang: But I drank with my friend, not Heekkom-nim

[Guild] Akhaeng: **still lying

[Guild] Akhaeng: That day Heekkom also didn’t log in because she was drinking?

Of course, the effect of the deep breath didn’t last long.

[Guild] Ittorang: Are you an id/iot?

[Guild] Ittorang: Heekkom-nim probably drank with her own acquaintance

[Guild] Ittorang: Are you making a big d/eal just because our offline dates coincided?

[Guild] Akhaeng: So you’re saying it’s just a coincidence?

[Guild] Ittorang: Are you serious?

[Guild] Ittorang: Seriously?

[Guild] Ittorang: Of course it’s a coincidence, f***

[Guild] Ittorang: What kind of person are you

[Guild] Akhaeng: **lol

[Guild] Akhaeng: Then is this all coincidence too?

With that, Akhaeng stopped chatting and disappeared. Shortly after, more than ten photos were uploaded to the guild chat room. They were all screenshots of a notepad app filled with text. Cheong-hyeon, already feeling a bit tired of this, clicked on one of the photos.

The notepad contained dates along with the nicknames of several guild members, their login times, and logout times. Days without logins were marked as “no login,” and there were occasional additional notes like “meeting a friend” or “said going for meat,” suggesting he had recorded even casual schedules mentioned by members as they logged off.

Some of these notes were written in red, with Ittorang’s nickname and login status written below like a pair. It seemed cases where Cheong-hyeon and other guild members were both offline at the same time were marked in red.

“Crazy psycho…”

Cheong-hyeon unconsciously cursed out loud. The photos Akhaeng had presented as if they were some great discovery weren’t evidence of Cheong-hyeon meeting other guild members. They were just proof of how creepily he had been stalking guild members. As others started checking the photos, message bubbles full of question marks began appearing in the guild chat.

[General] Godongchan: ?

[General] BubbleBogle: Seriously…

[General] Aider: Crazy lol lol lol

[General] Capybara: What is this???

In that moment, Cheong-hyeon lost all will to fight.

‘How did I end up with this deranged stalker?’

He couldn’t understand why Akhaeng was obsessively targeting him and causing this commotion. Although Akhaeng had often provoked him before, this was the first time he had created and spread such an absurd rumor.

Looking at the photos again, the oldest date in these creepy notes was from a month ago. This meant Akhaeng had been watching guild members and Cheong-hyeon for at least a month, trapped in some strange delusion. Meanwhile, perhaps misinterpreting guild members’ reactions as agreement with his claims, Akhaeng excitedly continued posting in the guild chat.

[Guild] Akhaeng: lol lol lol lol

[Guild] Akhaeng: Keep denying it haha

[Guild] Akhaeng: How can all of this be coincidence?

[Guild] PuPuding: You cr1azy stalker**

[Guild] PuPuding: You’ve been keeping track of female guild members’ login times???

[Guild] PuPuding: ****

[Guild] StrongestSpirit: Akhaeng-nim, seriously…

[Guild] PuPuding: Creepy** just leave and d1e

[Guild] StrongestSpirit: That just shows their offline times overlapped

[Guild] StrongestSpirit: How is that evidence they met when they were offline

[Guild] StrongestSpirit: Please stop;;;

While Cheong-hyeon was momentarily stunned, not knowing where to begin addressing this mess, PuPuding and StrongestSpirit started expressing their anger. PuPuding, whose nickname was included in the notes, seemed particularly furious.

[Guild] Akhaeng: No I’m right**

[Guild] Akhaeng: This is so frustrating

[Guild] Ittorang: How many guild members do we have

[Guild] Ittorang: Of course when I’m not logged in

[Guild] Ittorang: Someone else will also not be logged in…

[Guild] Akhaeng: Right, right but they’re all women, coincidentally?

[Guild] PuPuding: That’s because you’ve been cr*epy

[Guild] PuPuding: Only recording women’s login times

[Guild] PuPuding: ***

Unable to counter PuPuding’s point, Akhaeng went quiet.  Meanwhile, the guild chat erupted in chaos. People began threatening to leave if Akhaeng wasn’t kicked out, but the guild master, who typically lived in the game or guild chat except when sleeping, was nowhere to be seen today.

[Guild] StrongestSpirit: Akhaeng-nim, please stop insisting and leave the guild

[Guild] StrongestSpirit: Oh, before that

[Guild] StrongestSpirit: I know you still haven’t apologized to Heekkom-nim

[Guild] StrongestSpirit: And the other victims of sexual harassment

[Guild] StrongestSpirit: And PuPuding-nim and Ittorang-nim who faced baseless suspicions…

[Guild] StrongestSpirit: There’s no end to the list of victims;;

[Guild] StrongestSpirit: Anyway, apologize first

[Guild] PuPuding: I don’t need an apology

[Guild] PuPuding: Just leave already

Honestly, Cheong-hyeon was more interested in asking a question than receiving an apology.

[Guild] Ittorang: I don’t need an apology either

[Guild] Ittorang: But I’m genuinely curious

[Guild] Ittorang: Why do you dislike me so much?