TGMND 68

Yeo-woon kicked the air in annoyance but didn’t hit anyone. The guild members just floated ‘ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ’ laughing emotes above their heads at Yeo-woon’s wild kicks. Even amid that, Earth Star kept being a nuisance. If only he could confiscate all his emoticons… and get him to stop talking to him. People who couldn’t understand words were so tiring.

“I warned you that I would report you if you kept this up….”

Yeo-woon was a man of his word. Moreover, unlike before when he didn’t know anything, he now knew how to report in-game misconduct. He quietly found the report and bug report function, right-clicked on Earth Star, and secretly reported him for “spamming messages.” He wasn’t sure if spamming emoticons would be handled, but…

Well, if it doesn’t work, then whatever…

[Guild] CatMeowMeowMeow: Haha, Neuta-nim, you do understand when you’re being insulted, though.

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Seriously, you don’t understand anything else, but you get that, lol.

[Guild] ParkRoach: #hate_relations #chat_ban_guy

[Guild] neutaaaa: ㅡㅡ;;;

Chat ban guy, my foot. Yeo-woon scoffed. Meanwhile, Earth Star continued to spam emoticons enthusiastically. Yeo-woon ignored the cheerful character voices, noting that the last guild member of Melody had finally managed to connect.

[Global] SpadeQueen: Ah sorry suddenly the connection was unstable so I reconnected hehe

No matter what, how could loading take this long… It was inexplicable unless they were playing on wifi from some remote mountain valley.

‘Guild PvP Siege Mode (Isis Battle) has started. Please build your castle within the time limit!’

Once all guild members joined the channel and loading was complete, each faction’s territory appeared at opposite ends of the map with the Isis village as the background. They had to build castles and auxiliary buildings, and after the set time, the real siege battle where they could attack each other would begin.

Small bricks the size of a character’s hand began floating around the map. The guild members went to their designated spots and started breaking bricks as they had practiced. Yeo-woon noticed Earth Star just standing still instead of heading to his assigned position, which made him suspicious. Just then, the Holblue app installed on his computer pinged.

「Earth: No, what I meant was, don’t hastily go ahead and die like last time, hyung!! Stick to the wall when KingSaber sets up the barrier and just manage your health!! Did you understand what I was saying??? Did you?」

“…Is that what he was trying to say?”

Yeo-woon thought he was just randomly spamming emoticons, but they all had a meaning. Not only had Yeo-woon not understood, but he hadn’t even realized there was meaning behind them until now. But it seemed none of the other guild members had understood either. This was because Earth Star overused emoticons regularly. So, it wasn’t Yeo-woon’s fault; it was all because of Earth Star.

「Earth: I’ll take care of the enemies coming at you, so just don’t run out ahead of the barrier! >_<」

「Earth: Seriously, not being able to chat is driving me crazy. I hope the person who reported me gets banned forever. ㅗㅗㅗㅗㅗㅗ」

「That’s a bit too harsh, don’t you think?」

Yeo-woon, who had just reported Earth Star, snapped back.

「Earth: ?」

The clueless Earth Star just left a question mark and started jumping over Yeo-woon’s head. He stepped on the obstacle platforms set up by Captain Poseidon, who was managing the overall game and began breaking the top bricks. Yeo-woon blankly watched as Earth Star thoroughly cleared his area without leaving a single brick. Despite being annoying and overly talkative, Earth Star’s gameplay sense was excellent enough to overlook those flaws. That much was undeniable.

[Guild] CatMeowMeowMeow: Cockroach

[Guild] ParkRoach: ㅗ

[Guild] CatMeowMeowMeow: ParkRoach…

[Guild] ParkRoach: Yes

[Guild] CatMeowMeowMeow: Could you stay behind me and buff me as soon as the gate opens?

[Guild] ParkRoach: Ok, ok

[Guild] CatMeowMeowMeow: I’ll be rushing to the front line without worrying about you, so try to survive on your own

[Guild] ParkRoach: Lol treating me like a healer for real…

[Guild] ParkRoach: But you won’t hide behind me like certain someone, right Cat?

[Guild] CatMeowMeowMeow: lol lol lol lol yep

[Guild] neutaaaa: Ouch, ㅠ

The idle Yeo-woon was unexpectedly verbally hit without understanding why

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: lol lol lol lol

[Guild] al0ha: lol lol lol lol lol lol

Last time, he had accidentally hidden behind ParkRoach to recover his health, resulting in both of them dying. They were still teasing him about that. Stupid cockroach… He vowed never to make the same mistake again.

‘One minute before the battle begins. Get ready for battle!’

A solemn song played. It was a time when they could no longer construct auxiliary buildings or spawn combat robot units.

‘Warriors, destroy the enemy’s fortress and capture the territory. Find and destroy the power source in the enemy’s command post within their fortress to ensure victory for your side.’

The Guild members split up into parties according to the pre-determined divisions.

[Guild] CatMeowMeowMeowi: HallowFiveLetter-nim, come set up the barrier quickly.

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: My name is Halloween Eggplant which is 5 letters too;

[Guild] CatMeowMeowMeow: Oh

CatMeowMeowMeow shrugged off Halloween Eggplant’s words. Beside them, Earth Star could be seen frantically breaking bricks, while CatMeowMeowMeow stood near the city walls with KingSaber Halloween Eggplant, who would cast the defense barrier, and ParkRoach to heal and buff shuttle.

‘Thirty seconds before the start of the battle. Everyone please remain at your assigned positions and await further orders.’

A countdown clock was displayed at the center top of the monitor. It meant there were only 30 seconds left until the gate opened. Though Yeo-woon had thought about just standing here to defend the castle, for some reason he felt it was time for him to take the lead this time.

Yeo-woon was determined to protect ParkRoach this time. It was a kind of honor restoration. As Yeo-woon began to pace in front of the gate, ParkRoach raised a question mark above his head.

[Guild] ParkRoach: Ah, looks like the newbie is trying to follow me.

[Guild] neutaaaa: Me?

[Guild] ParkRoach: Hahaha, going to hastily hide behind my low-health bar again? ^^

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: “hastily,” hahaha lol lol

[Guild] CatMeowMeowMeow: lol lol lol lol

[Guild] neutaaaa: Be quiet, please

[Guild] ParkRoach: (Yes~)

[Guild] Captain Poseidon: Cockroach, this is a warning. No teasing Neuta-nim.

[Guild] neutaaaa: You heard him, cockroach.

[Guild] CatMeowMeowMeow: lol lol lol cockroach lol

Perhaps because he still felt a bit sorry for Yeo-woon due to Earth Star before, Captain Poseidon often took Yeo-woon’s side. Not always, but most of the time…

[Guild] ParkRoach: Isn’t there a rule against deliberately mispronouncing nicknames to insult someone?

[Guild] Captain Poseidon: There isn’t

[Guild] ParkRoach: Then make one

[Guild] Captain Poseidon: No

[Guild] ParkRoach: Just do whatever you want T.T

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: It’s funny how ParkRoach always complains; he named himself that lol

[Guild] ParkRoach: You don’t understand my feelings at all. ㅡㅡ;;

Why would anyone want to understand a cockroach’s feelings?

“…Calling me a newbie. I’ll make you take back those words.”

Yeo-woon pretended it was a mistake and kicked ParkRoach few times before re-equipping his weapon. ParkRoach didn’t care about him, though.

When Yeo-woon joined the frontline party, Earth Star, who had been flying behind, swiftly came and clung tightly to Yeo-woon’s side. He raised his fist above his head.

“…”

When Earth Star did it, it always seemed like he was threatening to punch. However, there was no need to refuse his help. Yeo-woon gloomily used the raised fist emote in response. After getting attention, Earth Star’s expression brightened as he laughed holding his stomach, and used noisy emotes repeatedly. Yeo-woon decided not to react to him anymore.

The Poseidon guild had systematically practiced dividing into teams to break through. The Isis map was divided into four areas based on landmarks. The team Yeo-woon was in was called the ‘Area 1 Party.’

Area 1 was closest to the enemy castle, while Area 4 was the castle their side had to defend. Captain Poseidon divided the guild members into four parties according to their assigned areas and devised a strategy of having them leave the gate in sequence with time gaps.

Usually, the strong controllers like Earth Star were mostly in the frontline attack party, while healers were split up with one or two assigned to each party. And Yeo-woon seemed to be treated as someone who could just slip into any party without anyone saying anything.

‘The battle has begun!’

The trumpet sounded. Halloween Eggplant the KingSaber dashed out first as soon as the gate opened. Carrying a large shield, he ran ahead to protect the frontline, followed by CatMeowMeowMeow, Yeo-woon, and ParkRoach.

Earth Star used aerial dashing, erratic jump skills, and strange movement skills to rush ahead. And whenever he went off-screen, he would stop briefly to wait for the Area 1 party. If that’s what he was going to do, he shouldn’t have gone ahead. Yeo-woon shook his head.

As they passed the central stone tower landmark of Isis, the sounds of supply stations launching firebombs and rocks, and combat support robots scrambling around were deafening, there was no sound coming from Melody’s side.

“Is their supply station level low? Why can’t we hear anything?”

Yeo-woon tilted his head in confusion.

As soon as they crossed the central row, dozens of Melody guild members could be seen charging towards them, led by a KingSaber with a massive shield. It seemed they were about to clash, so Yeo-woon tensed and prepared a skill with a stun effect.

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Huh? Where are they all going? Lol

[Guild] neutaaaa: ?

Melody had no intention of stopping Poseidon’s Area 1 party at all. They stepped on the installed obstacle platforms, went over the top, and lightly passed over Yeo-woon’s group. He wondered why they were passing without a fight, but Yeo-woon continued to charge forward since Halloween Eggplant wasn’t stopping.

“…What are they up to?”

Yeo-woon muttered to himself. The area near Melody’s castle was empty. The only two remaining Guild members had been killed in one fell swoop by CatMeowMeowMeow and Earth Star.