TGMND 24

When he accepted Motsuena’s invitation to the party and moved to the fighting arena, the three people who had come in advance and sat down got up and jumped to welcome him. Yeo-woon also said hello using a waving hand emoticon.

[Guild] Strawberry: Neu-nim, did you change jobs?

Yeo-woon wondered how Strawberry knew that his weapon had changed.

[Guild] neutaaaa: Yes haha! I just recently changed jobs.

[Guild] Motsuena: The 3rd advancement job quest was quite challenging^^

[Guild] neutaaaa: There were a lot of them, hehe. I quickly finished it with the help of someone else!

[Guild] Motsuena: You could have called me…

Motsuena used a pouty emoticon and brushed his body against him. Feeling a bit uneasy, Yeo-woon slowly stepped to the side and put a gap between Motsuena and his character.

[Guild] neutaaaa: LOL

Yeo-woon couldn’t think of anything to say, so he just laughed. Meanwhile, he tried to look into the equipment information of other guild members, but the information seemed to be blocked, so he couldn’t see the armor or weapon options. He wasn’t interested enough to even beg to open it, so he gave up. He was just curious about how others had adjusted their options.

“They’ve blocked all the information.”

The same goes for Earth Star and CatMeowMeowMeow. While most low-level players leave the equipment information view open, most players turn off the information view function after the third job change. Why, Yeo-woon wondered… Do they not like showing off their options? If it were him, he would go around bragging that he picked a good weapon. Yeo-woon shook his head because he didn’t understand them at all.

[Guild] CardCaptorCherry: Hey, but the armor isn’t supposed to be adjusted like this ㅡㅅㅡ

[Guild] CardCaptorCherry: Not charms, but use intermediate elemental stones. It’s not a good amulet!!

[Guild] neutaaaa: Oh, is an intermediate elemental stone better??

[Guild] CardCaptorCherry: Well, that’s what I think! Your thoughts may be different!

CardCaptorCherry was walking around nearby holding the same weapon as Yeo-woon. He was a Shadow Warrior who was just about to reach level 200. Ah, he had the same job as him. Yeo-woon felt close to him alone due to a sense of kinship. Yeo-woon had never done anything in earnest with his Strawberry Jam guild members, so there were still more people he didn’t know.

[Guild] Motsuena: Since it is 2v2 PVP, I thought it would be good to practice with the same job as much as possible.

[Guild] Motsuena: There are Wolfists or Valkyrie in their guild… ^^

[Guild] Motsuena: But Wolfist is not well-balanced, so you can win even if you do anything. It should be fine haha

[Guild] Motsuena: Just be careful with the aim hack.

[Guild] neutaaaa: Ah… hacks.

Those hacks… If there really were aim hacks, why didn’t the admins stop them? Perhaps they lack the ability?

[Guild] Strawberry: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Since the screen will be broadcast, they might not use the hack that day haha ​​Don’t want to get banned^^~

[Guild] CardCaptorCherry: Neu-nim, please apply. I have a private lesson at nightㅡㅅㅡ I need to play a few rounds quickly before I goㅠㅠ

[Guild] neutaaaa: Ah yes

Yeo-woon got up from where he was sitting and ran to where the NPCs were gathered. He didn’t know who was who, so he tried talking to everyone, and it wasn’t until the third time that he was able to find the right NPC. When he spoke to NPC Cain, a blond-haired man with part of his top exposed, Cain shouted loudly and offered him a choice.

[Cain] Hesitation is the most dangerous in battle. Fear not death, adventurer… So, will you apply for the mock battle?

▷ 1. Real PVP (Multiplayer)

▷ 2. Practice PVP (Multiplayer)

They said Real PVP would be reflected in the rankings, so it was not Real PVP… It must be practice. Yeo-woon clicked the ‘2. Practice PVP’ button.

[Cain] Steady training with your comrades will greatly help you in real battles. You made a good choice!

▷Practice 2-player PVP

▷Practice 4-player PVP

▷Practice 8-player PVP

‘You have chosen practice 2-player PVP. Practice battles do not affect the combat ranking.’

‘Please select a map.’

And there were a total of four options that appeared on the screen. Jungle, Desert, Ruined City, and Meadow. Yeo-woon, who didn’t really know what kind of map it was, hesitated the most at this point before deciding to ask for help.

[Guild] neutaaaa: By any chance, what map should I choose?

[Guild] Motsuena: Ruined City is fun.

[Guild] Strawberry: Meadow=Mountainous Area, Ruined City=Abandoned Underground World, Jungle=Amazon Island, Desert=Pyramid Map, they’re similar. Jungle might be a bit difficult for beginners, so choose between Desert and Ruined City.

[Guild] Motsuena: Beginner haha ​​Neu-nim, is this your first PVP? Haha

[Guild] neutaaaa: Yep-_-

[Guild] CardCaptorCherry: Um… They say the desert has sand damage, so it stings and is not good ㅡㅅㅡ Bring potions.

After eliminating one by one, there was only one choice left.

‘You have chosen the Ruined City map.’

‘Moving to the Ruined City. Good luck.’

The BGM changed shortly after the loading window appeared. As the majestic battle song transitioned to a lonely atmosphere, 30 seconds were given at the top, similar to the Time Attack. It seemed like it was preparation time to get buffs or set potions in the slot window.

[Party] Motsuena: From now on, I’ll use party chat.

[Party] Motsuena: Since it’s practice, don’t feel pressured Haha

[Party] neutaaaa: Okay okay

There wasn’t much to do for 30 seconds. The gunner Motsuena, and the shadow warrior Yeo-woon, couldn’t possibly give each other boosts because they were both dealers. Therefore, Yeo-woon changed the chat setting from guild to party after only a few self-buff skills. Talking in the guild chat would reveal their strategies to the opponent duo.

[Party] Motsuena: What we’ll do is coordinate our timing.

[Party] neutaaaa: The map is still unfamiliar to meㅠ I’ll do my best.

[Party] Motsuena: Haha

[Party] Motsuena: Since victory is determined by the combined kill count, not dying as much as possible is also a strategy^^

Motsuena gave advice while shooting guns on both sides. It seemed that PVP in Illusion wasn’t just about killing your opponent once. Victory or defeat was determined by the combined kill count… so not dying as much as possible could lead to victory.

READY… FIGHT!

After 30 seconds had passed, obstacles and map scaffolding appeared and the time changed. ‘8:00’. In 2-player PVP, you were given 8 minutes. It was not a Time Attack dungeon, so what should they do within 8 minutes? Yeo-woon had no idea what was going on, so he followed Motsuena and dashed to the right of the map.

As Motsuena fired a shot with his flat-barreled gun and jumped upward, the broken building in front of him took damage and made a dinging sound.

[Party] neutaaaa: The attack doesn’t penetrate obstacles.

[Party] Motsuena: Yep

Seeing that attacks were blocked by obstacles, Yeo-woon roughly figured out what to do. Make use of obstacles as shields. It may not be able to dodge the attack from above, but it should be possible to block the side-coming damage to some extent.

Strawberry and CardCaptorCherry, who were approaching from the right, entered the frame. Strawberry, who flew on a broomstick, jumped and flew high, while CardCaptorCherry stayed on the ground and rushed towards them with fierce momentum.

‘Windmill!’

At that moment, Motsuena, a long-range dealer, crossed over the obstacle and used a skill as soon as the two people came into range. It was a skill that allowed the character to spin around like a whirlwind and fire bullets left and right. The stamina of the short-range dealer, CardCaptorCherry, has been reduced by more than half.

‘Fastest Shot!’

The flashy skill surrounded CardCaptorCherry. Soon after, CardCaptorCherry collapsed on the field, and her figure disappeared. CardCaptorCherry, who had resurrected and appeared from behind, slid in and kicked Yeo-woon’s character just as Yeo-woon was wondering where she had gone.

‘neutaaaa has died. Resurrection in 10 seconds…’

As Yeo-woon stared at the screen for 10 seconds waiting for resurrection, it was no different from a one-on-one fight between Motsuena and Strawberry. The two people moved around the map without saying a word, attacking each other.

CardCaptorCherry seemed to be flustered as she kept getting knocked back when approaching the Gunner, and she had only chased Yeo-woon around since then. Yeo-woon died in less than 10 seconds from the combined attack of Wizard and Wolfist as soon as he was resurrected.

[Party] neutaaaa: Oh, no

CardCaptorCherry dealt a burst of damage every time Yeo-woon’s health decreased to one-fourth, causing him to die three times in a row. Even if they had the same job, the level difference was more than 20, so Yeo-woon had no choice but to endure passively. Furthermore, every time Strawberry, the Wizard, did area-of-effect damage to the entire map, slightly reducing Yeo-woon’s HP as well.

‘Lose….’

Eight minutes passed in the blink of an eye. The screen turned gray, and the word “LOSE” shattered across it. Looking at the death count, it turned out that he was the one who greatly contributed to this defeat. Yeo-woon let out a bitter laugh as he checked the number of kills and deaths.

Motsuena KILL 11 DEATH 2

Strawberry KILL 9 DEATH 3

CardCaptorCherry KILL 5 ​​DEATH 9

neutaaaa KILL 1 DEATH 12

“…?”

He only managed to kill once, and he died twelve times? It was an unbelievable result. Of course, he had killed the card-value cherry in those 8 minutes and didn’t remember getting any kills after that, but it was hard to believe that the total kill count was only one. Still, the fact that he died twelve times… It felt like looking at last month’s credit card statement and wondering if all those expenses were really his.

F*ck, what should he do? He’s so weak…

[Guild] CardCaptorCherry: I’m sorry to say this, but Neuta-nim is so weak. (I’m sorry if what I said offended you…)

[Guild] neutaaaa: No, the level difference is too bigㅡㅡ;

[Guild] Strawberry: Hahahahaha It’s okay

[Guild] Motsuena: If you play a few more games, you will improve ^^

So Yeo-woon played a few more rounds. Motsuena encouraged Yeo-woon that it was okay at first, but he gradually fell silent. And in the end, he even suggested raising the level by just 10 more. Yeo-woon’s pride was hurt. What was this, he’d become the one person who couldn’t even do his fair share.

[Party] Motsuena: Should I help you level up a bit?^^

[Party] Motsuena: But it’s a bit difficult to do it only through chat. If you’re in a situation where you can use your voice, why not do so while voice chatting?

[Party] Motsuena: But Neu-nim, how old are you?

“…!”

Yeo-woon, who was going to casually reveal his age, remembered Earth Star’s advice at that moment. The words about being careful with personal information came to his mind, and he hastily erased the numbers he had typed into the chat with the backspace key.

[Party] neutaaaa: 40 years old

[Party] Motsuena: Oh, you’re a little older than I thought.

[Party] neutaaaa: Haha yes

Party] Motsuena: Can I call you noona, then?

Noona? What’s with the noona?

[Party] neutaaaa: I’m a guy, haha.

[Party] Motsuena: Oh, it still feels awkward for you. Haha, got it, noona.

[Party] neutaaaa: I have one hanging down there… I can’t show it to you though…

[Party] Motsuena: Haha, I can feel the age in your jokes, noona.

“…”

Yeo-woon had set it as a male character in the character customization, and he didn’t even indicate that he was a girl, so he couldn’t understand why Motsuena had such misconceptions and even accepted them as facts. Was he insane?

‘neutaaaa has left the party.’

The strange feeling he felt before crawled up his skin, so Yeo-woon just left the party. Motsuena whispered several times asking if he was a burden to him, but he didn’t pay much attention to him. Anyway, he needed to level up a bit…

“…”

After hesitating for a moment, Yeo-woon saw that Earth Star was still online and decided to ask him on the chat window.

[Couple] neutaaaa: Are you busy?

[Couple] Ji9star: Busy!

[Couple] neutaaaa: You’re busy…

[Couple] Ji9star: Yes!

Yeo-woon thought Earth Star would come running right away when he called him, saying he was bored, but he rejected Yeo-woon before he could say anything. What was he doing that made him so busy all of a sudden? There was nothing Yeo-woon could do. He decided to find a party for leveling up in the party-matching window.

After that, Earth Star didn’t initiate any conversation until Yeo-woon logged off. It wasn’t until the next day that Yeo-woon found out what Earth Star had been up to all night. Earth Star’s fighting ranking had risen to third place in spite of having rubbish defensive and attack power.