KYB Ch 1 – Prologue

As the noisy sounds of the PC café filled the air, the game screen lit up with brilliant effects.

‘It’s been a while.’

God of Water Veil—An MMORPG that one out of every five Koreans has played.

‘It’s been over half a year already.’

The last login date was written beneath the character’s name. Half a year wasn’t a long time in real life, but in a game, it felt like an eternity.

Half a year ago, due to sudden circumstances, I had to quit the game as if I were being kicked out.

‘It was fun, though.’

It was a shame because I’d been part of a guild then, and I had some good times there. Especially because of one particular guildmate I kept getting tangled up with — the memory made me chuckle.

‘The nickname was Kisekki, right?’

He and I hadn’t exactly gotten along from the start.

Maybe it was because he didn’t like his first impression of me. He’d opposed my joining the guild from the moment I applied.

Of course, since my role was a Tank and the guild needed one, I ended up joining anyway.

Still, he must’ve really disliked me, because every time I made a mistake, he’d worry about my fingers.

Every raid came with his delicate… feedback.

Sure, he blamed me whenever he died, but at least he’d point things out quickly so I could back him up right away.

From the perspective of Kisekki, who was a skilled player, I must’ve looked hopelessly clumsy. There were times when, if I’d been better, he wouldn’t have died — and he wasn’t wrong about that.

Of course, I knew he was just venting his frustration, but since I also knew I wasn’t good enough, I always apologized like I used to.

And after that, he wouldn’t scold me further. Although… sometimes he’d just laugh like a madman.

‘Now that I think about it…’

The more I thought, the more his past behavior — the things I’d forgotten in my busy life — began surfacing again.

At some point, he stopped nagging me altogether, even when I made mistakes.

That was all he’d say. It was a sharp contrast to when he’d constantly question my intelligence.

Had he lost interest in me? Or just given up? But that couldn’t be it. He’d still join raids and do various content with me often.

Our playtimes even started overlapping strangely. And whenever I stepped away and came back—

He’d message me the second my character moved.

Now that I think about it… he really did wait to raid with me. After that day, every Monday when the bosses reset, he’d invite me the moment I logged in.

Of course, I never got any compliments. He’d still pick fights with me whenever he was in a bad mood.

‘Still… I think we got closer, didn’t we?’

Over time, we did get closer through different circumstances. Though in the end, we grew distant again…

‘Well, I’m probably kicked from the guild by now anyway.’

I shook off that thought.

It was already half a year ago. Well, six months might not seem long in real life, but in the game, that’s like several years passing by.

While I was lost in thought, the loading finished.

I clicked on my large, heavy-built character [Yewoo Beomjeol].

‘Huh? I’m still part of the guild?’

I thought I’d have been removed after not logging in for so long, but I was still there.

While staring at the guild name above my head in confusion, the guild chat suddenly exploded.

A flood of question marks filled the chat. The nicknames of the ones spamming them weren’t unfamiliar — I’d known them since the last time I was active in the guild, six months ago.

Feeling a bit glad, I smiled slightly and typed into the chat.

Some names were new, but most were old guildmates I’d raided with before. Even if they were just online friends, being welcomed back after half a year felt… strangely moving.

Then, someone called my name and even marked my coordinates to rush over.

It was HealingJjimo who was the guild newbie from back then. I guess half a year isn’t something to take lightly — HealingJjimo, who used to be a lower level than me, had now grown into a max-level player.

Guess he’d spent a lot of money.

Blushing, he started making his character dance in front of me, glowing with the radiant effects of a max-level player. I smiled warmly, watching the cute little merfolk hop around.

To think this newbie, who used to know nothing about dancing and only knew how to spend money, has surpassed me.

I felt proud of him, but the guild chat window caught my attention.

‘It’s gone quiet.’

After that brief explosion earlier, it was now dead silent. While I was wondering about it, HealingJjimo stopped dancing and said

Before I quit the game, I had a drinking get-together with my friends. It was hastily arranged because I might be going abroad soon, and no one knew when I’d be back.

Drunk and coaxed, I’d ended up at a PC café. Everyone played different games, but I’d drunkenly launched GoWV.

Of course, it was around five in the morning then, so hardly anyone was online — the only one logged in at that time was HealingJjimo.

Half out of sentimentality, half out of drunken impulse, I gave him all my valuable beginner items and told him to stay well before logging out.

‘I was so drunk… I barely remember.’

I probably passed out on the desk right after sending over the items.

He immediately denied it. So why hadn’t he used them? As I was waiting for him to continue, just then—

The notification popped up.

The guild chat, quiet just a moment ago, filled with startled reactions.

And then, as if summoned somewhere, HealingJjimo vanished from sight.

It was when he suddenly disappeared, as if he’d fallen through the ground, that I was startled.

How did he find me? His character appeared right in front of mine. He looked exactly as he’d looked half a year ago.

Should I say it felt like it’d been a while? Just as I was about to type something, glad to see his character again for no particular reason.

What?

Seeing Kisekki use polite speech for the first time felt oddly chilling. I couldn’t bring myself to reply.

What was this coldness?

As I froze, his character stopped walking toward me — motionless.

No reply. While I frowned at the strange silence, the PC café doorbell chimed.

“Welcome.”

Sitting in the second row from the entrance, I instinctively glanced over my monitor.

The man, glancing around inside as if looking for someone, was dressed plainly — wearing a black cap and a mask.

However, his tall, towering height, the broad shoulders that couldn’t be hidden even by the black hoodie, and the small head that looked almost unreal — none of it could be called ordinary.

Even while covered up, he still drew attention.

‘Weird.’

The man’s behavior was strange.

He was moving around the place like a man possessed, scanning the seats from the entrance onward. His pace was almost a run — his long legs carried him swiftly as he checked people’s screens one by one.

The notification popped up. A whisper — from Nyamnyangi, one of my old raid partners.

As I looked at the screen in confusion, the man had already reached the row in front of me. A few people started to show discomfort at how blatantly he was staring at others’ screens, but they froze the moment they saw his size.

Who’d pick a fight with someone with that build?

While the people sitting nearby kept almost swearing under their breath, only to swallow the words back each time, my eyes met his.

“…”

Beneath the shadow cast by his cap, a pair of pale eyes — disturbingly eerie to the point of menace — were staring me down, pressing against me like a weight.

After a long silence, the man suddenly started walking straight toward me. A notification popped up again. I tore my gaze away just in time to read Nyamnyangi’s whisper.

What kind of ridiculous question was that? Of course not. We weren’t even close enough for that.

I reached for the keyboard to deny it. However, just then…

“Found you.”

A rough hand grabbed my shoulder and yanked me back.

Standing before me, as I leaned back in my seat, was the man who’d been acting suspiciously since earlier.

But strangely, this man — or rather, his voice — sounded familiar to me.

That meant this man was…

“Yewoo Beomjeol.”

No way.

“Ki… sekki?”

At that, the man’s eyes curved in amusement.

“Wow. The fuck, babe.”

He pulled his mask down.

“Don’t you know that I missed you?”

My hand went limp as I stared at Kisekki’s face — now revealed. The reason for my shock didn’t even need explaining.

‘Why? No, how?’

What was happening? Was this really Kisekki? How was he here?

My mind spun, reality blurring around me.

First of all, Kisekki and I weren’t close enough to casually throw around words like “babe” or “I missed you.” We used to bicker like rivals, eventually grew close, but in the end… I remember we drifted apart.

But what was even more bewildering was the identity of the man with the striking looks standing before me.

I knew that face. In fact, every Korean would.

This man was someone who, after starring in a single film a few years ago, had completely stepped away from the spotlight.

“Ki Se-hwa?”

He was the national actor, nicknamed “the Angel,” Ki Se-hwa.

But was “the Angel” really a fitting nickname for him? The fierce expression on Ki Se-hwa’s face, lips curling up as if he were high on adrenaline, was nothing short of demonic.

Staring at that ghostly, beautiful face, I glanced back at the game screen.

At the frozen character “Kisekki.” At the real-life “Ki Se-hwa.” My mouth slowly fell open as a single thought formed.

How the hell did things end up like this?

All I did was log back into the game.

TL’s Note:

• Kisekki > It’s a combination of the ML’s real name (Ki Se-hwa) and 개새끼 – Gaesaekki (son of a bitch).
• Dumbddaengi: Kisekki actually said something else, but closely similar to the name Bbangddaengi, so I just translated it like this
• HealingJjimo This is a hard one to translate. Jjimo is a yutnori term (I think), referring to the traditional Korean board game. It refers to the longest detour route a player must take after passing through Back-Mo (Dwit-Mo). Symbolizes the regretful situation of missing a shortcut and having to take the longest possible path instead. So, HealingJjimo more or less means a healer who always takes the long way around.
• PSS: Most of their chatting used no “period” mark. And a lot of typos. So everything is deliberate. T_T. The only one who types properly is Ye Woo-won. Just like his name’s meaning.
• You’ll also see they use a dizzying number of emojis. A lot are crying emojis ㅠㅠ (which I turned into
  😭, or sweating emoji (;), or ㅗ (to symbolize fu), or ㄷㄷ (which is a tremble emoji).