KYB Ch 44

‘They laugh?’

Ye Woo-won tilted his head.

Looking at the death log, the one mocking him right now, fireinthehole, had died two more times than HealingJjimo. KwangKwangFrozenNyangiNyangi and KikikKukkuku had only died one less time than HealingJjimo. The only ones who hadn’t died even once were TwelveCentipedes and Yewoo Beomjeol.

From Ye Woo-won’s perspective, it was true HealingJjimo wasn’t skilled. But if someone died despite being eighty levels above the recommended level, the reason was obvious.

‘The DPS aren’t protecting the healer at all.’

The reason Loveron is such a nuisance from a beginner’s perspective is that it shoots feathers at the party members standing in the back and kills them first. So the DPS are supposed to turn around from time to time to protect the healer and clear the feathers, but those out-of-their-mind newbie DPS were so obsessed with dealing damage that none of them paid any attention to HealingJjimo.

Even with high levels, Melody was fragile, and the feather damage was high. That was why he got shredded like a hedgehog and died repeatedly. Yet aside from Yewoo Beomjeol, no one protected him. And even then, Yewoo Beomjeol had lowered his level to 120 to match the Try, so he had limits in what he could block.

The truth was, Ye Woo-won wasn’t bothered by comments like that. Partly because of his personality, but also because when someone insulted him, he tended to think, “Then let’s try carrying even that.”

But he was him, and HealingJjimo was HealingJjimo. The healer seemed mentally fragile. The mermaid character model stood frozen for a moment before jolting and looking toward Yewoo Beomjeol.

As expected, HealingJjimo’s mental state had collapsed. The determination he had earlier had vanished. He was completely dispirited and didn’t know what to do.

“…”

Ye Woo-won quietly looked at the screen. Staring at the utterly deflated HealingJjimo, his expression cooled sharply.

Right.

So annoying.

Ye Woo-won clicked on the guild voice room.

Ye Woo-won put on his headset.

***

Between the pitch-black blackout curtains, the faint light by the window slips in as a thin, long thread, as if to announce that it is daytime. But there was someone far too busy being soaked in the glow spilling from the monitor to care in the slightest whether it was day or night outside.

“…”

The man, wearing no shirt, sat in a large chair and stared at the monitor. Judging by the droplets forming at the ends of his damp, jet-black hair and dripping down, he must have sat down right after washing up. As if the wet hair bothered him, he brushed it back lightly with his hand. The droplets disappeared as they slipped between the tightly knit muscles.

Even though the chair wasn’t small, it felt oddly narrow once he sat in it. Leaning his large body lazily against the seat, the man exuded a cool air from his striking, elegant face. His slender eyes and long, dense lashes framed the gaze fixed on the screen. Tap, tap. With pale, delicate fingertips, he lightly tapped the desk.

“Mmm.”

While the game screen was loading, the voice he quietly let out was thick with languidness.

As if he had stayed up all night, the end of the table was cluttered with crushed caffeine drinks. With a touch of fatigue resting on his face, it seemed he had been chugging caffeinated drinks instead of water until late last night.

‘Maybe I’m a little tired.’

The man thought. It made sense. Yesterday he had…

“Seriously… what the hell. You want to do another round?”

–“Isn’t this just the beginning?”

“Are you insane?”

–“This is the last match for real.”

“You’ve said that six times.”

–“No I didn’t.”

“What do you mean no, damn it. Since earlier you’ve just—”

–“It was nine times.”

“What the fuck?”

They had gamed until dawn. He remembered the conversation and let out a short laugh. Thinking back, it was absurd enough to make his head throb.

“Do you even check the time? The sun is up.”

–“You just noticed?”

After he said they should stop because the sun was rising, what did the other guy say?

–“I saw it earlier.”

“…”

–“Wanna close your curtains? You’ll lose your gaming mood.”

He had been so stunned that he lost the ability to speak. Did this guy have no job, or was being a Dragon Knight actually his occupation? Something like that even crossed his mind.

–“Ready up?”

“You insane bastard.”

–“Thank you.”

Sometimes someone is so ridiculous you can’t even complain. He ended up pressing Ready, and only escaped when morning fully broke.

“I’m tired as hell.”

But contrary to his tone, his eyes sparkled the moment the loading finished. He immediately closed the update windows and entered the voice room.

Both were marked online. His lips twitched.

This guy really must be a full-time Dragon Knight. He casually put on his headset. Then he hit the activation button for the voice room and called Yewoo Beomjeol.

Guild chat welcomed him, but he didn’t even glance at it.

“I need to tell him we’re playing moderately today.”

Otherwise, they’d end up doing Territory War until late or running more raids. Lately, it had become routine.

“I spoil him too much and he never knows when to stop…”

Though he murmured as if steeling himself that he would only play a little today, his voice, despite the words, carried an oddly lingering hint of delight. But that enjoyment didn’t last long.

Hmm. The man tilted his head.

He checked the screen, thinking he had pressed something wrong, then tried calling again.

It was the same. Frowning, he stared at the screen as if something was off, then for now clicked on Yewoo Beomjeol’s nickname and sent a party invite.

“He’s already in a party?”

As if his mood had turned sour, the space between his brows twitched.

No matter how many times he sent it, the result was the same. After staring at the notifications, he whispered Yewoo Beomjeol.

Even when he typed in chat, no reply came back. That had never happened before.

Looking at the screen as if something was strange, he opened the guild window. Yewoo Beomjeol’s online status was written there.

‘He is in the middle of Raid?’

He glared at the window. They had been out of his mind all last week, running around Territory Wars like crazy, but they still went to every place they absolutely had to go. And of course, he and Yewoo Beomjeol had done all those raids together.

‘He went alone?’

The man narrowed his eyes. Of course, he could go alone. It wasn’t like they had promised to go together. Sure. It was possible but…

The chat pinged. Normally, he wouldn’t look, but for some reason, his eyes drifted to it.