TGMND 67

The eagerly awaited next Sunday arrived. The map was vibrant due to the people gathered in front of the event NPC. They were all there to watch the Isis Siege Battle. Each one of them had flashy name tag effects. Some even jumped around and gave buffs to Yeo-woon, wearing the same black cloak as him.

[Global] GaintDwarf: Look at that cloak, makes me wanna beat him up in the Guild zone.

[Global] Hamsters: Clearly a mad cult

Yeo-woon didn’t care what others said. They were just blind to its greatness. He used an emoticon to raise his fist above his head towards another user in a black cloak. This emoticon was one he hastily bought right after starting Illusion, similar to the one used in the Little Forest game to express gratitude and respect to opponents.

[Global] Worthless39800won: What a waste

The black cloak group also raised their fists above their heads following Yeo-woon. Amidst the nostalgic MMO atmosphere he hadn’t felt in a while, Yeo-woon was a bit moved.

[Guild] ParkRoach: What’s up, Neuta has so many friends.

[Guild] CatMeowMeowMeow: I wouldn’t want to be friends with someone like that.

[Guild] ParkRoach: I’m sure everyone paid for that cloak.

“Tsk tsk.”

Yeo-woon hoped that someday his Guild members would appreciate the true value of the cloak. It was then that a white-haired Moon Fairy flew up among the people, using an emoticon to give a thumbs-down above Yeo-woon’s head.

“…?”

[Global] SpadeQueen: Oh hello!

[Global] SpadeQueen: My Guild is all here, haha;;

The user named SpadeQueen had the Guild tag [Melody] over its head. It was the name of the Guild Poseidon would be facing today. The strange guy circling above Yeo-woon and the black cloak group with the same Guild name…Sunset?

[Global] Captain Poseidon: We’re all here too. Let’s have a good game today^^

As the crowd swarmed around him, Captain Poseidon stepped forward, and a user named Sunset leaped to the ground and used an emoji. “Mee too!” the character’s cheerful voice shouted. The chat was silent for a moment as the melodious Guild Master replied informally to a polite statement.

[Global] SpadeQueen: I’m sorry about that

[Global] SpadeQueen: Our Guild master can’t speak today… ㅠㅠ

[Global] Captain Poseidon: Ah yes… I know.

…Because they also have one on their side. Yeo-woon didn’t say anything, he just watched Earth Star come and go like a fly. Just watching felt like good eye exercise.

[Global] SpadeQueen: He got chat-banned due to accumulated reports;;

The chat-banned Sunset sniffled.

[Global] SpadeQueen: He is really sadㅜㅜ

Sunset nodded. Then immediately, he used an emoticon, spreading his hands to the sides, lowering his posture, and bowing his head slightly.

[Global] SpadeQueen: He says, “Nice to meet you!”

Sunset nodded twice.

[Global] SpadeQueen: My interpretation matches perfectly haha

Sunset nodded once. Surprisingly, the conversation was going smoothly.

[Guild] neutaaaa: What the hell;

But honestly, it was funny. Yeo-woon shook with laughter. On the first week when they fought the Romanus Guild, there were no greetings and they just went straight into the game… Yeo-woon’s eyes, who had always been a solo player, sparkled. Amazing! Is this the charm of Guild content?

Likewise, the chat-banned Earth Star used an emoticon of holding his belly and laughing out loud. Sunset, seemingly happy to see this, pointed at Earth Star and then at himself.

[Global] SpadeQueen: He says, “You too?”

Sunset immediately nodded. It meant the interpretation was correct.

Suddenly, Earth Star started banging the ground and crying loudly. Sunset then lay down and started crying loudly, following him. He was saying he was too sad because he couldn’t chat. SpadeQueen continued interpreting needlessly.

[Global] Halloween Eggplant: What is it, a conversation between mermaids?

[Global] Seol-yeong: Mermaids lololol damn so funnyㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

The two people who lost their voices could still communicate perfectly with just emoticons. Yeo-woon closed his eyes, feeling like he might lose all strength in his hands from laughing too much. He felt like he might suffocate from laughing so hard.

[Guild] ParkRoach: What’s with him? A translator?

[Guild] Wandu Wandya: Oh my God, I’m going to faint from laughing so hard.

[Guild] al0ha: So they can chat even when banned…

Was there any emoticon these two didn’t have? Yeo-woon thought Earth Star was the only one collecting emoticons, but it seemed Sunset was no slouch either.

While Earth Star and Sunset were engaged in an emoji relay, Captain Poseidon began signing up to join the siege. Spectators began to join the viewing channel one by one, and the screen flickered as the loading window popped up to fetch the map information.

*** 

Yeo-woon had practiced hard, even carving out time from his busy schedule. Even when he couldn’t log in due to a cold, he watched videos provided by Earth Star and read reviews from other Guilds, taking notes. He started by reading posts on the strategy board about the mechanics of the capture battle system and memorized which units were time-efficient.

‘The hero is a close-range single-target damage dealer, and if you utilize their trait of skill combos well, you can one-shot mage-type jobs with low health…’

As that sentence popped into his head, Yeo-woon felt his heart race with excitement. If he played well, he too could take on an important role. The hero was a class that dealt damage by quickly landing multiple weak attacks, contrasting with the knight-spear who delivered consistent damage. In other words, if Yeo-woon could land the attack properly, he might contribute even more than Earth Star.

[Guild] ParkRoach: Ah been waiting forever

[Guild] al0ha: Someone’s got a total potato computer

One of the members of Guild Melody was still loading, so there was some time before the game could start. All participants needed to be fully connected before the game would begin. Yeo-woon swallowed nervously and relaxed his tense hands.

His hands were itching to show off the skills he had built up over the week. Isis was the biggest city, and with the finals taking place there, an alert had popped up saying that the spectator channel was already full even before the game began. If he performed well here, he would look really cool. Yeo-woon, lost in hopeful thoughts, practiced combo moves in the air.

[Guild] Wandu Wandya: Neuta-nim

[Guild] Wandu Wandya: Earth Star seems to have something to say…^^; (damn)

[Guild] ParkRoach: Oh, shut up lol

Earth Star was flitting around in front of him, using a series of emoticons. Yeo-woon realized this belatedly after seeing the chat.

“What the heck?”

[Guild] neutaaaa: ??

The chat banned Earth Star seemed delighted as if his message had finally gotten through when Yeo-woon replied with two question marks. He jumped up and down in joy.

Earth Star used three emoticons in succession. First, he pointed to his own face with his finger. The second was an emoticon pointing at Yeo-woon’s character while winking. The last one was the “fighting” emoticon that Yeo-woon had used for the cloak squad.

Earth Star clenched his fist and raised it above his head with a confident expression. Seeing him repeatedly use these three emoticons, it seemed he wanted Yeo-woon to understand what he was saying. Yeo-woon stared blankly at the screen and tried to interpret his message.

[Guild] neutaaaa: Me you fist

[Guild] neutaaaa: Do you want to fight me?

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Oh god…

Earth Star shook his head in disbelief and stomped his foot in place. Yeo-woon initially thought he was picking a fight, but apparently, that wasn’t the case. Yeo-woon racked his brain further, but understanding someone through emoticons alone wasn’t a skill everyone had.

[Guild] neutaaaa: What are you saying;; Say it in words

Or talk in private chat… Yeo-woon’s indifferent words made Earth Star angry. He crossed his arms in an X in front of his chest and used the emote of pulling his hair. Why was he acting like that all of a sudden? Yeo-woon stared at the monitor with cold eyes.

[Guild] neutaaaa: Headache?

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Seems like he’s frustrated because he can’t speak lol lol

Earth Star nodded as if that was the right answer. He held up a perfect score sign above his head. Fireworks went off above Halloween Eggplant’s head. Earth Star then showed a zero score sign to Yeo-woon. That guy… Not understanding his words wasn’t a big deal, but it left Yeo-woon feeling oddly peeved.

Earth Star alternated between the three emotes he had used first again. ‘Me, you+wink, fist.’ No matter how Yeo-woon looked at it, the only interpretation he could think of was “I will wink at you while punching you.”

[Guild] CatMeowMeowMeow: Ah I got it

[Guild] CatMeowMeowMeow: Earth Star is saying he’ll protect Neuta, right? Something like that?

That was the correct answer. Earth Star gave CatMeowMeowMeow a perfect score this time. CatMeowMeowMeow said, “Haha,” and Earth Star gave him five perfect score emojis. Then he turned to look straight at Yeo-woon and twirled his finger around his head. Yeo-woon could understand this one.

“So you’re calling me a fool. This chatterbox who can’t even speak…”

Yeo-woon raised his fists above his head in faint anger. For the Cloak squad, it was a sign of respect, but for Earth Star, it meant let’s fight. Earth Star tilted his head and displayed a question mark above his head.

[Guild] neutaaaa: Don’t talk to me^^ㅗ

Earth Star didn’t even listen to Yeo-woon. He followed Yeo-woon closely, sending a barrage of question marks. Yeo-woon found himself trapped in a question mark hell.

[Guild] neutaaaa: If you keep talking to me, I’m going to report you

[Guild] al0ha: Lololololol, but Earth Star has not actually talked to you yet?

[Guild] CatMeowMeowMeow: Yep, lololol

[Guild] neutaaaa: True

[Guild] neutaaaa: Very true

[Guild] neutaaaa: ㅡㅡ

[Guild] al0ha: Sorry

[Guild] Wandu Wandya: Why is Neuta acting like that?

[Guild] ParkRoach: He’s blackened, OMG.