Translator: She.Wee
Chapter 12
At 7 AM, Seong-hyun, who had arrived early at school because he was on duty, stopped by the teachers’ office to retrieve the key to his classroom. Year 2, Class 7… the key to Class 7 wasn’t in its place. Did someone arrive before me? He left the teachers’ office nonchalantly and walked up to his classroom.
“Kyungsoo?”
To his surprise, rather than the class president or one of the sports team members as he expected, it was Kim Kyungsoo, who was sprawled out in the lit classroom, a student notorious for being late as if it were a habit.
“Is that really you, Kyungsoo?”
“……”
“Kim Kyungsoo! What’s going on?”
Seong-hyun rubbed Kyungsoo’s name off the chalkboard, which was listed under “Late Students.” Since Kyungsoo’s name was rarely not on the board, it hadn’t been erased even during cleaning. Seong-hyun was surprised not only that Kyungsoo wasn’t late, but that he had arrived before 7 AM, and kept mumbling about it.
“Shut up….”
“Why the fuck should I?”
“I said, it’s noisy.”
Kyungsoo mumbled in a hoarse voice. Seong-hyun ignored it and continued to talk to Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo, who had been lying face down on the desk with his face buried in his arms, suddenly lifted his head in irritation due to Seong-hyun’s persistence.
“Fuck, can’t you just let me sleep!”
“What’s wrong with your eyes?”
“…I don’t know.”
The area under Kyungsoo’s eyes was dark, and his eyes were slightly unfocused. He definitely didn’t look like someone who had a good night’s sleep.
“Alright, just sleep then!”
Seong-hyun grabbed Kyungsoo’s head and placed it back on the desk. Kyungsoo let out a long sigh, as if he didn’t even have the energy to get angry, and soon fell into a deep sleep.
***
It still felt like a dream. If I close my eyes tightly and then open them, will I go back to the moment before I went to bed last night?
“……”
Of course not. No matter how much I wished, everything that happened last night was real, and there was no escaping it. So, I ended up…
“…Dick Grabbing”
“Fuck!”
Kyungsoo suddenly cursed, causing Tae-yeol, who was watching him in a daze, to frown.
“Fuck? …Why are you suddenly swearing? Have you lost it?”
“What did you just say?”
“What, chilli japchae? It’s today’s lunch menu.”
“…Oh, sorry.”
Chili Japchae… It wasn’t dic…? Kyungsoo’s pupils trembled slightly. The reason he reacted so sensitively to that word replayed in his mind, and he wanted to die. The thought of what had happened last night, the feeling of it writhing in his hand, made his head ache.
“There’s nothing good to eat. We’re not goats, so how can we live on just greens? Isn’t the principal embezzling funds?”
“I don’t know….”
Kyungsoo spent the entire day in a daze. When asked to read a poem during Korean class, he opened the wrong English textbook, and while staring out the window, he let out deep sighs repeatedly. During the music class recorder performance test, he played with a melancholic melody that earned him an A, despite his half-hearted effort. The whole day, unless there was a test or a teacher specifically woke him up, Kyungsoo slept with his head down.
Do-young, who had been watching Kyungsoo with concern, cautiously asked.
“Did you get dumped or something?”
“Dumped….”
Dumped? What was being dumped again…? Kyungsoo, who was muttering stupidly to himself, suddenly widened his eyes as the meaning of the word dawned on him. Seeing this reaction, Do-young seemed to interpret it as confirmation.
“Oh, Kyungsoo….” He muttered with sympathy, looking at Kyungsoo with pity. No, that’s not it! As Kyungsoo hurriedly responded, Tae-yeol tapped him on the shoulder.
“Don’t comfort me!”
Kyungsoo jerked his shoulder away.
“Comfort? No, it’s just that I think you got a text.”
“……”
“I heard the vibration.”
Kyungsoo looked down at his pocket, where his phone was bulging out. He needed to check the community reactions after the drama last night and was curious about what happened next….
“Aren’t you going to check?”
“Hold on.”
Kyungsoo shut his mouth and reached into his pocket. His hand grasped the cold, hard phone. All he had to do was take it out and check the contents. It was an easy task. But what if it’s a message from Cheon Noeul? He was afraid of that possibility.
“Do you remember last night?”
“……”
Thud.
Before he could finish reading the message, his phone slipped from his hand and fell to the floor. He was so startled that his grip failed. Kyungsoo quickly came to his senses and picked up the phone.
“Oppa, we were hot last night. Come over ^^♡ 10,000 won instant cash bonus★ ☞ www.****.**”
“……”
You worthless fucking bastard, if you send me such fucking bullshit again… Kyungsoo cursed under his breath as he blocked the unknown number as spam. The other messages were all useless. The guild chat was full of scolding for his sudden absence, and there were links to some forum posts. But there wasn’t a single message or missed call from Noeul.
“……”
Am I the only one who’s bothered by this? Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, lost in thought.
After what happened early that morning, Noeul had fallen asleep with a smile on his face. The look of relief illuminated by the light was something Kyungsoo felt he wouldn’t forget even after a month. In contrast, Kyungsoo couldn’t sleep for a single second.
At 5 AM, the rain stopped, and the wind calmed. He spent his time watching the clock hands move by the minute. After listening to Noeul’s breathing for about another hour, Kyungsoo quietly got up as soon as the clock struck six, hastily put on his dried uniform, and slung his bag over his shoulder. Just as he was about to leave, he heard Noeul stir in the room as if he was about to wake up. Without looking back, Kyungsoo opened the door and ran downstairs, heading straight to school.
“Kyungsoo, did something really happen to you?”
“…Did something happen?”
Yeah, something did happen. Kyungsoo swallowed back the words he was about to say and averted his gaze.
“Did you really get rejected?”
“That’s not it.”
Kyungsoo answered firmly but didn’t elaborate on what had happened. The two continued to bombard him with questions as if trying to pry out the truth.
‘I can’t tell them that I… with a guy who’s a year younger….’
He kept his mouth shut, forcing himself to remain silent. When asked how he felt thinking about what happened yesterday, Kyungsoo quietly stood there and thought for a moment.
“It’s fucked up….”
There was no other way to describe how he felt.
「Cheon Noeul: Hyung, see you after school.」
At that moment, his phone screen lit up with a preview of a message. This time, it wasn’t spam, and it wasn’t from someone else—it was indeed from Cheon Noeul. …But why does he want to see me? Is he going to explain what happened yesterday? The more he thought about it, the more his head hurt. With so many worries, he couldn’t even eat properly.
Eventually, Kyungsoo felt so nauseous that he had to go to the school infirmary to get some medicine.
***
Noeul was waiting at the school’s back gate. The moment their eyes met, Kyungsoo wanted to run away, but he had a feeling it would be pointless. With no other choice, he reluctantly approached. Noeul smiled brightly as Kyungsoo, with a sour expression, came up to him.
“Let’s go.”
“……?”
Go? Go where? Noeul started walking in step with Kyungsoo. Without thinking, Kyungsoo followed him, his eyes darting around. Are we going to a café to talk? …What kind of conversation needs to be had in a specific place? Lost in thought, Kyungsoo realized only after walking for a while that they were headed to Noeul’s house and stopped in his tracks.
“Cheon Noeul, hold on. Where are we going?”
“To my house.”
“……?”
Ah, so we’re going to talk about it at home? Well, discussing ‘last night’ on the street might be risky if someone sees us. Once Kyungsoo arrived at Noeul’s house, he turned on the computer and sat down in front of it, just like the day before. Even as he logged into the game, Kyungsoo was on edge, waiting for Noeul to bring up the topic. But instead, Noeul was just making small talk, asking if it was a bit chilly today, without mentioning anything about ‘last night.’
“What are you trying to do?”
“Huh?”
“Hey, just say it already.”
“Say what?”
“……?”
The counter-question left Kyungsoo at a loss for words. He had assumed that once they met face-to-face, Cheon Noeul would bring up what happened yesterday. He had only been worried about the situation itself and hadn’t thought about what Noeul might say.
“…Apologize or something.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry! …But why?”
“Why are you apologizing if you don’t even know why?”
Kyungsoo rubbed his forehead as if he was going mad. Noeul stared blankly at him, not caring about Kyungsoo’s inner turmoil, and then suddenly let out an “Ah!” as he smiled sheepishly.
“Hyung, are you seriously bothered by what happened last night?”
Kyungsoo’s mind froze. Noeul spoke so casually that Kyungsoo felt as if he was the one overreacting.
“What? Me?”
“It could happen.”
“……?”
“I’m okay.”
Kyungsoo was completely lost in this conversation. He’s okay? It could happen? Is that something that brat should be saying?
“Hey, Cheon Noeul.”
“I was a bit surprised, and it was kind of embarrassing. But since you did it while you were half-asleep, I won’t make a big deal out of it.”
Noeul lowered his gaze with a benevolent smile, as if he were doing Kyungsoo a favor. Feeling the control slipping away, Kyungsoo shook his head.
“Th-that’s not it. I apologized for that yesterday.”
“Oh? You did?”
“I did! Wait, but that’s not what I wanted to talk about!”
“Okay, let’s say you did. But I’m really fine….”
“No! I’m not fine!”
Whether it was fine or not was for Kyungsoo to decide. He raised his voice, and Noeul looked at him with a mixture of admiration. Kyungsoo couldn’t read what was going on in Noeul’s head, but he frowned and finally got to the point.
“We need to clear this up. It bothered me all day.”
“You thought about me… all day…?”
Without realizing it, Kyungsoo glanced down at Noeul’s lower body before quickly turning his head away, embarrassed. His neck grew hot just thinking about what happened yesterday. He ran his hand over the back of his neck and muttered under his breath.
“Hey, normally… it doesn’t just… get hard when someone touches it, right? Especially when you’re half-asleep.”
“What are you talking about? Of course, it would… if you touch it like that….”
“I got it!”
Kyungsoo cut Noeul off before he could finish his sentence.
“Still, did I really need to… take care of that for you?”
Kyungsoo grimaced, clearly uncomfortable even just thinking about it.
“But you said you’d take responsibility….”
“…Didn’t you say you… liked me?”
“Yes, probably?”
“Sorry, but I don’t like you. Not at all.”
At Kyungsoo’s firm words, Noeul looked at him and then weakly lowered his head. Seeing the shadow fall across Noeul’s gentle face made Kyungsoo feel like a criminal. He had only wanted to reject him early on to avoid giving him false hope.
Suddenly, the thought of the Legendary Item Confirmation Coupon flashed through Kyungsoo’s mind. What if this brat gets upset and doesn’t give it to me? He realized he needed to console the downcast Cheon Noeul. However, before Kyungsoo could say anything, Noeul spoke first.
“Then, do you have someone else you like?”
“No? I don’t like anyone.”
“So, there’s no one.”
“…Yeah, not yet.”
If he had to explain, that was the truth. Kyungsoo chose his words carefully. It wasn’t as if he felt pathetic or miserable for not having a girlfriend. Besides, it wasn’t like he had never dated before, so he was fine with it.
Noeul stayed silent for a moment, quietly gazing into Kyungsoo’s eyes, then twisted his lips. Was that the kind of look a predator would give in a documentary? The sudden chill made Kyungsoo frown even more, as if he was determined not to lose.
“I thought this was fine as it was….”
“What do you mean by ‘as it was’?”
“Just as it sounds. I thought our current relationship was fine.”
“What do you mean by ‘current relationship’?”
“…But now that I think about it, it feels oddly unpleasant. …It’s really annoying.”
Noeul blinked slowly, muttering as if wondering what he should do. It seemed like he was speaking just loud enough for Kyungsoo to hear, but Kyungsoo couldn’t make sense of what he was saying. He just watched Noeul in silence. After a brief pause, Noeul seemed to reach a conclusion and spoke clearly.
“Then you should just like me too, hyung.”
“Cough!”
The shocking statement made Kyungsoo choke. He turned his head and started coughing.
“I only date women! Since when did our country become so liberal? I’m not into guys!”
“Huh? I never asked you to date me.”
“What do you mean? You said you liked me.”
“Yes. So, now all you have to do is like me too, hyung.”
“…What?”
“You said you don’t like anyone right now. Right?”
“Damn it, this is creeping me out. No way.”
Kyungsoo shook his head. Noeul suddenly grabbed Kyungsoo’s hand. Startled, Kyungsoo shook it off and tried to run to the front door, only to be blocked by Noeul. As Noeul slowly approached, matching Kyungsoo’s retreat, Kyungsoo felt dizzy. He quickly turned around and dashed into Noeul’s room, slamming the door shut behind him.
“Come out.”
The sound of knocking on the door made Kyungsoo feel like he was in a horror movie. He quickly scrolled through his recent call list and dialed a random number. At the same time, he threw open the window beside him. Looking down, his head spun. Kyungsoo had a mild fear of heights. Even if he didn’t, nobody in their right mind would jump out of a window from this height.
-Hello?
“Do-young, I’m on the… 10th floor right now.”
…Suddenly? Where’s the 10th floor?
If it had been the second floor, he might have considered jumping, but there was no way he could manage from the 10th floor. The wind ruffled Kyungsoo’s bangs.
“Would I die if I jumped from here?”
-…What?!
No matter how he looked at it, he doubted he would escape with just a few broken bones. But the only way out seemed to be through the window. It wasn’t like in the movies, where people climbed down the side of a building. The door kept rattling, then stopped, and Kyungsoo heard hurried footsteps on the other side, as if Noeul was looking for a key.
-Kim Kyungsoo, you crazy bastard! Why would you jump? Of course, you’d die if you jumped from the 10th floor, what kind of question is that?
“I’m not the crazy one.”
“Hyung, open the door.”
The sound of jangling keys reached Kyungsoo’s ears. He gulped. The crazy one is that brat! Kyungsoo swallowed hard. On the other end of the line, Do-young urgently called out his name.
-Kyungsoo, no! Is this about what you mentioned earlier? Is it that serious? Just stop thinking extreme thoughts and think about your parents!
“I did….”
-So now you don’t want to jump anymore?
“No, this is the only way. Save me.”
-Ah! Fuck, where the fuck are you? Tell me quickly!
“The 10th floor….”
As he muttered numbly, he heard the sound of a key sliding into the lock and turning uselessly. In less than a minute, he would be caught. He had fled in a panic, but getting out of the room seemed impossible. Kyungsoo began to ponder if this was what it felt like to have a short time left to live.
-Hey! Don’t hang up, and don’t jump either! Kyungsoo, you can’t die! There are people who would be sad if you died….
“…What are you talking about? I’m not going to die.”
-…You’re not going to die?
“What are you saying? Why would I die? Did you eat something weird?”
-…
Click. The sound of the correct key turning in the lock echoed in the room. Kyungsoo turned around and saw Noeul pouting as he stared at him. From the phone, loud shouts erupted. Are you crazy, do you want to die, wear a mouthguard tomorrow, and other assorted curses….
“Ah, okay. Sorry. …Yeah, I’m sorry I scared you. No… it was just in the recent call list. …Yeah, sorry. Don’t be mad. My bad.”
As Kyungsoo listened quietly, Noeul approached him and sat on the bed. When the call finally ended, Kyungsoo found himself face to face with the one who had caused all this trouble.
“Why did you run away like a coward?”
“Coward? Anyone in this situation would….”
“I wouldn’t.”
“Fine, you’re so great.”
Kyungsoo’s sarcasm was genuine. Unfortunately, since he was inside Cheon Noeul’s house, there was no escaping the fact that he was like a rat trapped in a barrel from the start. As his tension eased, Kyungsoo felt his mind go blank. He let out a long sigh, and Noeul’s smile deepened.
“Then, hyung, how about making a bet with me?”
“Fuck off. I won’t do it, not even if I die.”
“You’re afraid you’ll lose.”
“….”
That bastard. The tone sounded like he was deliberately picking a fight, causing Kyungsoo to clench his fists tightly.
“Are you scared you’ll lose, hyung?”
It was clear. This was nothing but provocation.
“I said I’m not doing it.”
“Is it because you think you’ll start liking me if we do it for a year?”
“No, it’s because I don’t have the courage to meet you for a whole year.”
“The fact that you even said that means you’ve already lost.”
“Talking to you makes me feel like I’m losing my mind. You’re really strange, you know that?”
“I wouldn’t know. Besides, you’re the first person to say that to me.”
In Kyungsoo’s mind, a typical shoujo manga protagonist’s line flashed by: ‘Heh, you’re the first one to say something like that to me.’ In those mangas, all the female leads inevitably got entangled with playboy male leads and ended up with disastrous love stories.
“…If I win, you have to promise to stay away from me.”
I should be fine. There’s no way I’d start liking a guy. If I win, I won’t have to deal with this annoying guy in the game or in real life. Kyungsoo thought this carelessly and stepped into an irrecoverable quagmire.
“I promise.”
“We must not even accidentally cross paths. Never.”
“Alright, if you win, hyung. But if you avoid me during the bet, I’ll extend the period.”
“….”
I really don’t like that. Kyungsoo frowned slightly and lowered his gaze.
“At least hear me out. It’s really nothing much. If you start avoiding it before knowing what it is, nothing will get done.”
“….”
It definitely sounded like a strange bet. But he was curious about what Noeul had to say. Kyungsoo tilted his head, signaling for Noeul to go ahead and talk. As Noeul began speaking, Kyungsoo, who had intended to listen casually and then refuse, found his eyes gradually widening.
“What kind of crazy talk is this…? This only benefits you.”
The content of the bet that Noeul proposed was this: within a certain period, Noeul would make Kyungsoo fall for him. Naturally, Kyungsoo shook his head in disbelief and distanced himself.
“I know. Of course, I’ll win.”
“No way that’ll happen.”
“It sounds like you’re not confident.”
Noeul smiled mischievously. The teasing attitude made Kyungsoo’s blood boil. Not confident? No way! Kyungsoo was confident he could beat Noeul in any game or bet. He was strong in such competitions, and he had a competitive streak.
“Let’s do it! Until when?”
“Hmm, a year.”
“Oh, no way. …Then I won’t do it.”
“What if I say no?”
“You’ve already made up your mind to do it.”
“….”
“Promise?”
Noeul extended his pinky finger. Taken by surprise, Kyungsoo linked pinkies with him and sealed the promise with a thumb stamp. That night, Kyungsoo dreamed of a leash being put around his neck. And the person holding the leash was none other than Cheon Noeul. No matter how hard he tried to run away, whenever he turned around, Noeul was there, smiling brightly at the same distance as before. When he woke up, his entire body was drenched in sweat. It was one of the creepiest dreams of his life.
Kyungsoo scrolled through the accumulated comments, especially the ones that had received the most responses. It seemed that Pae Wang hadn’t deleted his character but had instead shamelessly posted a recruitment notice for guild members.
—
Title: Attention! Doom is recruiting again, newbies, beware, you’ll get backstabbed if you join.
Author: The Warrior’s War / Warrior
Content: TL;DR – It’s the ultimate trash guild LOL, search for 27288191 reasons why not to join. Please upvote so everyone can see this.
Also, as a bonus, there’s another one called “Failure is the Mother of Success” LOL, both guilds get randomly shanked in the guild zone, newbies, beware.
(4 comments have been registered.)
Comment 1: Why would a newbie come here, dumbass?
└ True LOL
└ They might, I’m a newbie.
└Said the rotter who’s been around forever.
I kind of expected this…. Kyungsoo wondered when Doom would cool off and start picking fights again. Within a month, he was sure to find another person to latch onto and make a fuss. If there were an award for “Most Consistent Behaviour” Doom would surely sweep from grand prize to honorable mention.
—
Title: Today’s Character Deletion Bet PVP Live .avi
Author: Ji9star / Knight Spear
Content: (Video)
GG, GG.
(189 comments have been registered.)
Comment 1: First!
Comment 2: Thanks, hehe.
Comment 3: ?? Winning a group PvP by playing it like a solo match….
└ 22222
└ Who was it in last year’s siege battle? This reminds me of that guild, completely disorganized, haha.
└ Healer is the shit, constantly keeping everyone alive.
– Why did KingSaver even level up? LOL, getting completely wrecked here.
└ It’s not KingSaver’s fault, they just ran into the wrong opponent.
└ Did you see KingSaver’s panic? LOL, moving like “Why is this even working?!”
– Is Night Spear always this agile? Moving so quickly!
└ It’s like a mosquito in my room, can’t catch it for two days, damn.
└ Normally not this fast.
└ Earth Star? That guy’s obsessed with speed.
– I almost feel bad for King1. How does he keep picking fights with these people…
└ Nah, all four of them are just really good at dodging, haha.
– Anyone thinking of leveling a Berserker? That pull skill is insane. You could probably dominate a hunting ground with just that, right? Maybe even solo holy water quests.
└ Soloing, haha, with a Berserker? Haha, good luck.
└ Here’s my prediction: A week later, this guy will post: “Why didn’t anyone warn me?”
└ Go ahead and try it, LOL. Here’s a tip from someone who’s leveled one: Pros: It’s underused, so it’s never been nerfed. Cons: It’s super hard, so you won’t be able to play it well (100% guaranteed). Balance is a mess. Dodge rate is awful. Every time you use a skill, you lose half your HP (not even the ultimate). So, combos are hard to pull off. You need at least an A-rank pet because your HP is tiny. It’s so underused that it never gets buffed. Plus, it’s known as the “abandoned class” by the devs. Good luck!
└ But hey, it’s got some pros, LOL.
└ Let us know how it goes.
└ You’re crazy, LOL. Not gonna do it! You listed a million cons, and now you want a review? Thanks for the heads up.
– Wait, did they just break through that barrier?
└ LOL, I just tried it with a friend—if you go behind it, the barrier doesn’t work!
└ Wow, that’s amazing, haha. That’s why they were dodging like that. Must’ve been some kind of experiment!
└ They’ll definitely patch that next week, LOL. Honestly, it’s an OP skill… it’s about time they nerf it. Devs, if you’re reading this, please adjust the rear defense on Light Barrier and lower its destruction value. It’s way too hard to break!
└ How did no one figure this out until now…??
└ Who would think of going behind a barrier, especially with KingSaver around?
Damn, I’m a KingSaver main, and I’m pissed they’re going to nerf it. All people are talking about on the boards is nerfing the barrier.
– Why isn’t anyone talking about ThousandSunsets? Let me be the first then… Doesn’t that look like a fake ThousandSunsets to you? The ThousandSunsets I know only does weak attacks (because they’re fast, according to him) and does vertical jumps to avoid mobs (because it lures them in). But this fake Cheon Noeul is moving differently, not just dodging but also cutting down everyone in sight. People are melting, literally.
└ What nonsense…? That’s ThousandSunsets, though. Oh, wow… it’s Warrior’s ThousandSunsets.
└ ???????
└ ??????????????
– It’s a smurf.
└ 222
└ Definitely a smurf… probably Meowie playing instead.
└ If it’s Meowie, we should forgive it. It’s cute, after all.
– Guys, go back and watch the beginning of the video while only reading the chat, haha. They were doing so well, then suddenly in the last part, the hero dies, and ThousandSunsets just sits there. It’s because true love arrived… “I’ll only kill the hero^^,” and then they just sat beside them even when others rushed in, haha.
└ Did the hero kill Meowie or something?
└ Yep, hahaha.
└ But it’s crazy how he got the kill on the hero right after respawn. Their HP is massive.
└ If it’s a smurf, maybe ThousandSunsets was sitting there typing while waiting for the Meowie to finish?
└ Who knows, I’m not ThousandSunsets.
└ LOL
└ LOL
└ What does “LOL” mean? Can’t find it online.
└ It’s short for “ThousandSunsets’s downfall,” haha. Poseidon guild members say it all the time. [T/N:Not sure about his one.]
– Burp, that was delicious.
└ You’re dead to ThousandSunsets now.
– tmi: After that, ThousandSunsets proposed to Meowie.
└ And then?
└ Why do you ask? Of course, it was rejected.
└ ThousandSunsets’s downfall… (TT)
└ (TT)….
└ ಥ‿ಥ
– I don’t care about character deletion battles anymore, LOL. The most pressing questions now are:
1. Does Cheon Noeul have a cat?
2. Is the cat smart?
3. How did they train it?
4. What’s the cat’s name?
5. Cat photos = ‘ㅈ’=
└ You just want to see the cat.
└ Meow♥
T/N: Guys I’m back! My exams are finally over!!!
If you like my work then please support me by buying me a ko-fi. Seriously it’ll mean a LOT to me.
