HFS 52
by Sorai“Do you come here often?”
“Occasionally, with my family. My father loves it, so we come once in a while for my parents’ birthdays or anniversaries. This is the first time I’ve come with someone other than family.”
When Lee Cheong-hyeon asked the question to focus on Seo Hee-won sitting across from him, the other man started chattering away. While listening attentively to what he was saying, maintaining eye contact and nodding, Lee Cheong-hyeon felt a strange sense of dissonance. For a moment, he found himself observing the current situation as if from a distance.
Two men at a nice restaurant taking pictures of each other, even putting their phones away to focus on one another. His chewing gradually slowed. The atmosphere felt eerily familiar, it was completely similar to a date. Even when Lee Cheong-hyeon was dating, he hadn’t spent time like this, meeting every day for meals and spending entire days together at home. He suddenly remembered Kim Min-jae’s text asking if he had a lover.
Lover…Is this similar? Lee Cheong-hyeon thought, then shook his head to dismiss such notions. A male lover? Lee Cheong-hyeon didn’t want to imagine that too deeply. Feeling uncomfortable, he needlessly blamed Seo Hee-won.
“I’ve gotten too close to you.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
Seo Hee-won tilted his head to one side at my sudden comment. Lee Cheong-hyeon nodded vaguely in agreement with a fake smile. Why did I really come here? he wondered briefly before the thought disappeared. Seeing Seo Hee-won enjoying his food, it seemed he simply wanted to eat here.
Had he been holding back from eating expensive food like this out of consideration for his financial situation? Lee Cheong-hyeon felt slightly apologetic.
“Next time, it’s my treat.”
Seo Hee-won’s eyes widened at those words.
“You want to come here with me again?”
“Yeah. Can’t do it often, but let’s come for birthdays or special occasions. Just tell me in advance. I don’t want to show up in a hoodie again.”
“It’s a promise.”
A smile gradually spread across Seo Hee-won’s nodding face. Seeing him so happy, he was glad he had asked. Lee Cheong-hyeon smiled warmly.
* * *
[Couple] [Ittorang has logged in.]
[Couple] [Seohee1 has logged in.]
Fortunately, Lee Cheong-hyeon was able to log into the game without being late. Checking the time, he had about 10 minutes to spare. Lee Cheong-hyeon checked whether he had all the buff items and switched back to the equipment he had changed while doing daily quests yesterday. Meanwhile, Seo Hee-won was leisurely sitting beside him looking at his phone.
“I think this one turned out pretty well.”
Seo Hee-won thrust his phone in front of his face. Lee Cheong-hyeon wondered what he was doing. As it turned out, he was looking at photos taken during their meal together. In the picture Seo Hee-won showed him, Lee Cheong-hyeon was grinning at the camera. He took the phone and swiped through the images. Out-of-focus photos, blurry photos, photos with his eyes closed, and tilted photos appeared in succession. Looking again at the first photo Seo Hee-won showed him, it at least resembled a proper picture compared to the others.
Lee Cheong-hyeon nodded his head and returned the phone to Seo Hee-won. Apparently planning to play around until the boss practice, Seo Hee-won placed his character sitting next to Lee Cheong-hyeon’s and just stared at the photos.
“Aren’t you going to get ready for the boss?”
“I already did that before leaving home.”
Seo Hee-won replied while keeping his eyes fixed on his phone. This was the same Seo Hee-won who, until the Shingang challenge, would maximize his time efficiency and think only about strategies. In the past, he would have watched game recordings during brief downtimes like this, so it felt a bit strange to see him distracted.
“Then do you want to watch the boss practice video recording together?”
“I already watched that yesterday.”
“If you want to clear it perfectly, you should watch it again even now.”
“You need breaks while gaming for your brain to work better. Haven’t you heard of work-life balance?”
Seo Hee-won made a face of displeasure. It was absurd that until about a month ago, he would push people without giving them a moment’s rest, and now he was preaching about work-life balance. Lee Cheong-hyeon wondered if his passion for gaming had cooled, but that didn’t seem to be the case either, since he would always come back with new clues whenever they got stuck on a strategy. Lee Cheong-hyeon shrugged his shoulders and played the recorded video alone.
Seo Hee-won, who refused to watch the video together like a lazy cat, instead interfered with Lee Cheong-hyeon watching it. If he slacked off all day, Lee Cheong-hyeon would be angry, but once the raid started, he would work hard again, so there wasn’t much he could say about it.
On the vast field, Artilens’s gaunt body was enveloped by both wings. With little health remaining, Artilens curled up and slightly floated into the air. A round, transparent membrane appeared around him, gradually becoming opaque. In this state, attacks were completely ineffective. Once the membrane became fully opaque, Artilens would use a special skill. He would absorb all life force starting from the closest area where he stood. Grass and trees withered and crumbled, an attack that eventually drained even far-away players’ life force. If Artilens disappeared into the ground after absorbing everyone’s vitality, it would result in mission failure.
“I’m dropping it now.”
Tae-young’s voice came through the voice chat app. Before Artilens could use his skill, Tae-young placed the Broken Moonlight Fragment item, which he had been holding, on the ground. Then Artilens tore through the semi-transparent membrane and rushed forward at a terrifying speed, just like when the item was first stolen. Artilens, who snatched and swallowed the Broken Moonlight Fragment, returned to his normal state.
[Finally…! My power returns!]
[Foolish humans. There will be no mercy. I will show you an endless hell!]
After finishing his dialogue, different from before, Artilens placed both hands on the ground. The floor shook violently, and pale hands suddenly shot up from below, grabbing the characters’ ankles. Everyone was dragged underground. This was just the beginning of phase 2.
Over the past two days, they had only progressed this far. Since there was still no information about phase 3, it was expected that other parties’ progress would be similar.
[Surely it will please you. My hell was learned entirely from you.]
The new location was a sealed room with walls on all sides. The narrow, dark space had only one drain and red marks scattered across the tiles. It was an eerie setting whose purpose Lee Cheong-hyeon would rather not guess. He fixed my gaze on the monitor to focus on the game, but Lee Cheong-hyeon could feel Seo Hee-won staring at him from the side.
“What?”
“Aren’t you scared today?”
“…”
It wasn’t worth responding to. Just because Lee Cheong-hyeon flinched a little once during their meetup, he treated him like a complete coward. Besides, that was just being startled by a boss that suddenly appeared and looked scary—Lee Cheong-hyeon wasn’t the type to be frightened by a slightly creepy map in an RPG game that wasn’t even meant to be scary. Seo Hee-won, undeterred by Lee Cheong-hyeon ignoring him, continued as if doing him a favor. His tone was surprisingly shameless.
“If you’re scared, I’ll let you lean on me.”
“That’s not necessary. Who gets scared during boss raids?”
“You do. Last time, you looked like you were about to cry.”
“When did I ever do that? Don’t exaggerate.”
“Ah, I really hate when people cling to me, but I’ll make a special exception for you.”
“If you’re going to keep talking nonsense, I’ll just mute my mic.”
[Party] Hyutzzi : Thx
Lee Cheong-hyeon reached out and pressed the mute button on the stand microphone placed in the center. When gaming in the same space while using separate microphones, voices would overlap. That was why only Seo Hee-won was in the voice chat room, sharing one microphone with Lee Cheong-hyeon.
“Are you really okay? Phase 2 looks pretty grim too. If you get scared later and ask for a hug, I won’t give you one.”
“…”
“Well…I guess I could hold your hand. Can’t have our DPS going on strike because he’s scared.”
“…”
“How about a healer who provides mental care too? Pretty grateful, right?”
“…”
“Too shy to speak? The mic is off and no one’s listening, so you can be honest.”
Mental care? Since when did he care about such things? He doesn’t know that he’s been the one making DPS players mentally break down all this time? Lee Cheong-hyeon’s ears were burning from Seo Hee-won’s unusual chattiness today. It seemed like Seo Hee-won had discovered a new way to torment him. Lee Cheong-hyeon let the words go in one ear and out the other while focusing on the game.
When entering Artilens’s phase 2, everyone started out trapped in solitary cells. The door had three locks, and the walls on both sides gradually moved inward. As time passed, you would die crushed between the narrowing walls, so you had to break the locks and escape. This wasn’t the time for idle chit-chat, but Seo Hee-won was still beside him, constantly demanding responses. Unable to bear it any longer, Lee Cheong-hyeon dryly played along.
“Yeah. You’re right.”
“Are you just answering because it’s annoying? Your tone sounds a bit strange…”
“No, what are you talking about? Thanks for letting me lean on you. I was so scared, but I’m glad you’re here. Only my baby can help me. So now…”
As Lee Cheong-hyeon answered with a forced smile and his best attempt at an affectionate tone, he noticed something strange and closed his mouth. The microphone placed in the center of the desk lit up and flickered whenever Lee Cheong-hyeon spoke. Seo Hee-won, who had secretly turned on the microphone, feigned innocence.