KYB Ch 36

There was a cooldown on summoning the golem. The moment the golem melted down and turned back into dirt, Ye Woo-won kicked off the ground and moved straight toward the Alchemist who had been controlling it. Kisekki had already marked the coordinates, making it easy to find.

— “One hit on the sniper.”

He swung his long scythe, striking the Sniper. At this point, one more hit would kill him.

“The Alchemist is moving.”

—“The one here also running away.”

While the Sniper was fleeing to recover health, the Alchemist Ye Woo-won had been chasing was also running away. Since his class relied on summoned golems, he likely wanted to avoid a 1v1 against a tank like Yewoo Beomjeol.

—“I’ll keep chasing.”

Both of them moved swiftly through the forest terrain, weaving between trees as they pursued their targets. Soon, at the edge of Ye Woo-won’s vision, a swamp appeared.

‘A swamp in the middle of the forest.’

Ye Woo-won narrowed his eyes.

“I’ll herd them toward the center.”

—“Herd them into the coordinates I marked.”

Their thoughts aligned perfectly. Like shepherds approaching from different angles, the two drove the enemy toward the swamp.

Rustle!

With nowhere left to run, the opposing players fell straight into the swamp. The moment Ye Woo-won saw it, Kisekki raised his scythe to summon his undead, while Ye Woo-won hurled his greatsword forward.

With a cold slicing sound, the flag floated up over the swamp.

Their movements were smooth and fluid, allowing them to swiftly take both the Sniper’s and the Alchemist’s heads. Of course, they had no time to linger near the corpses.

Grabbing the flags quickly, they brought them back to their base and repositioned for the next fight.

“Ah, what do you mean ‘something big.’ Damn, seriously, can’t you talk a little nicer? Ah!! What the hell is this?! You queued without me?!”

Sometime during all this, the student had returned to the seat next to him.

Even though the student filled the mic with loud noises, Ye Woo-won didn’t turn his mic off, nor did Kisekki scold him for being noisy. They were too focused on the game.

—“I put a debuff on the Sniper. Hit him a few times and he’ll die.”

“I’ll pressure the Sniper. Coordinates— ah, found him.”

Ye Woo-won leapt through the top of the forest canopy toward the Sniper who kept hiding between trees.

“I’ll take another flag.”

When the Dragon Knight used his skill, a dark aura spread around him. Looking like a reaper risen straight from the underworld, he delivered the finishing blow to the Sniper.

Ye Woo-won smiled faintly at the dying Sniper’s final words.

It was the highest of compliments.

During the entire Territory War, there was no small talk between the two. Every word exchanged was about enemy positions or enemy status. But after two rounds of intense focus—

All that remained was the overwhelming rush of fun and victory. Ye Woo-won stared at the victory screen, then stretched lightly and placed his hand back on the mouse.

—“Next.”

“Let’s do the next round.”

Both had already hit “ready” faster than they spoke. And so one match, two matches, three matches…

Endlessly. The two were so engrossed that they didn’t see the guild chat at all.

They had no idea that the long-standing newest member, Yewoo Beomjeol, might finally be escaping his position as the guild’s newest one.

---

Wearing a light T-shirt, brushing back his sleek black hair with his hand, his expression looked a little sleepy. But unlike that face, Ye Woo-won’s long fingers were busy moving his mouse.

Ye Woo-won glanced at the alert and then checked his score.

It was an overwhelming win for Ye Woo-won, and honestly, even if he didn’t move forward and just hid, he’d still win easily.

‘We win, huh.’

Thinking that, Ye Woo-won roamed the map freely.

Just a week ago, he’d been fumbling around unfamiliar terrain, but now he looked nothing like that. He slipped his large body behind tree roots with practiced ease—as if it were his natural habitat, almost like a squirrel.

Rustle. He heard footsteps stepping on leaves. But Yewoo Beomjeol didn’t move. As if he already knew who it was, the Dragon Knight simply looked upward. Standing there like a long shadow was the Necromancer.

—“Now you know how to use tricks.”

At the same time, a low, lazy voice with a hint of laughter brushed his ear. At first, that deep voice had felt awkward, but not anymore.

“Ah, sorry.”

—“You’re not sorry at all.”

Laughing in disbelief, the Necromancer squeezed himself into the tiny hiding spot.

‘Why is he really coming into this cramped place?’

Yewoo Beomjeol’s character quietly looked at the small, pale face of the Necromancer close beside him.

—“What are you looking at.”

…Of course, the response wasn’t pleasant, but Kisekki didn’t leave the hiding spot either.

In the past, Kisekki hated it when their avatars even brushed against each other. But now he was close enough to see every detail of the Necromancer’s avatar model.

‘Well, we’ve pretty much been stuck together lately.’

The situation suddenly felt strange to Ye Woo-won. Just a week ago, something like this would’ve been unimaginable.

‘We really did get closer through Territory Wars.’

A week had passed since his first Territory War, and in that time, Ye Woo-won was personally experiencing what people meant when they said late passion hits the hardest. The more he played Territory War, the more fun it became—fun every time, fun even without a break, fun no matter how many times he jumped in.

He played every day, and somehow, he always ended up playing with Kisekki.

‘We really didn’t take a break.’

Looking at their private chat history showed exactly how they’d been spending their days. And that wasn’t the only sign.

—“You’re doing something else, right?”

“Ah— no.”

—“You are.”

They had gotten so used to each other that they could guess what the other was doing without looking.

It made sense—they stayed in a private voice room every day.

Even today, they had already been talking for over four hours, yet Ye Woo-won didn’t think it was long at all.

In the beginning, they easily talked for more than ten hours—completely consumed by Territory War.

‘We even ended up using a private voice room just for the two of us.’

The voice room inside Territory War sometimes disconnected. To avoid those interruptions, they naturally began using a private in-game voice channel just for the two of them.

‘But… do people normally talk this much while gaming?’

Originally, Ye Woo-won didn’t like long calls. He preferred focusing alone. And as far as he knew, Kisekki was the same. He was famous for never using voice chat.

‘But now…’

Now, playing Territory War without a voice call felt awkward. As Ye Woo-won marveled at the change, the Territory War ended.

Well… it didn’t matter as long as it was fun.

Seeing the results screen, Ye Woo-won stopped thinking and grinned.

It was an easy win. A two-win sweep, ending before the third round even began.

At first, that victory screen had been exhilarating—pure catharsis. But after a week of constant wins, the thrill had faded a little. Still exciting, just… not as earth-shattering.

‘It’s because I’ve seen it enough times.’

He was becoming a Territory War veteran. By now, he had memorized even the fine details of most maps.

“Thanks to you, Kisekki-nim, I’ve really improved, haven’t I?”

Every win, Ye Woo-won credited to Kisekki. After all, they had been playing duos the whole time.

—“What improvement.”

Of course, the reply and Kisekki’s action were always the same.

—“You still need more practice. Don’t get cocky.”

Kisekki answered bluntly and immediately sent him another Territory War invite. Ye Woo-won was used to all of it by now.

TL’s Note:
I love how their chat is just getting shorter, to the extent it was actually just an abbreviation like ㅊㄷ (invite), ㄱㄱ (go go), ㅈㄹㅈ ㄱ (territory war, go/call?). (╥ᴗ╥) Our couple has reached a mutual understanding that they no longer need to converse in full sentences.

Btw… the other guild name: Konggarutteok is actually a Korean snack. The literal translation will be Rice Cake Coated in Roasted Soybean Powder. It looks like this.