TGMND 76

For Yoon Ji-gu, university was truly a new world. Even if he skipped classes or events as he pleased, no calls were made to his parents.

What impressed him most was the time when everyone awkwardly introduced themselves. Although no one approached him first, his heart swelled with pride as the awkward atmosphere of the new semester was something he hadn’t experienced in so long.

He made friends. Although he didn’t approach anyone first, there were always people who approached him because of his appearance. However, when he opened his mouth, they often showed strange expressions as if their impression of him was broken.

Not wanting to ruin the newly gained opportunity, Yoon Ji-gu spent the first semester keeping his mouth shut as much as possible. Perhaps thanks to that, his peers would casually greet him when they ran into each other, joking, ‘Come to school more often!’ It was evidence that they were no longer afraid of him.

Although he didn’t receive the promised car, it didn’t matter. It wasn’t so bad taking the subway with friends who lived in the same direction after lectures ended. Just when he thought his university life would continue smoothly, dark clouds began to loom.

‘…?’

He saw a man walking arm in arm with a woman far ahead of him. It was the boyfriend of the senior girl who had carried him through a group project in a first-year, first-semester general education class. But while that senior had short bobbed hair, the woman walking with the man had long hair reaching her shoulder blades, swept over her left shoulder.

Could a person’s hair grow that long in just a day? Wondering if something was up, Yoon Ji-gu searched for the senior’s account and sent a message. Sure enough, there was a photo posted on her feed from yesterday, showing her cozied up with her boyfriend. It became even more confusing.

「Noona, did you break up with your boyfriend by any chance?」

「krystal_xoxo: Huh? Why so suddenly…?ㅜㅜ I’m a bit taken aback, Ji-guㅜㅜ」

What’s she talking about?

「Did you break up?」

「krystal_xoxo: No, not yet…」

「krystal_xoxo: But why do you ask? lol」

「(Photo)」

「krystal_xoxo: ?」

The photo showed the silhouettes of two people walking together. The man was putting his cap on the woman’s head, pressing it down as if finding her cute. With the red sun setting beyond the buildings, casting a soft glow, the photo’s atmosphere made them look unmistakably like a couple. The senior was silent for a while.

「krystal_xoxo: lol lol lol lol I bought him that cap」

Senior Soo-jung kept laughing with “lol lol lol lol”, even though it wasn’t a laughing matter.

「krystal_xoxo: Thanks, can I use that photo?」

What if this escalates? Yoon Ji-gu started to worry and quickly added another message.

「I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention that I took the photo….」

The man was a student council member. Moreover, he knew many juniors and seniors, so if word got out wrong, it would only be trouble for Yoon Ji-gu.

「krystal_xoxo: OK, Noona will treat you to a meal later~ Study hard for finals and let me know if you need past exam papers^^」

He was glad the senior found it helpful.

Around the time final exams were ending, Yoon Ji-gu heard that the senior and the man had broken up. The man had been dating two women simultaneously and had borrowed money from them in the hundreds of thousands of won. Moreover, he had gone on a trip with the woman he was cheating with using money borrowed from the senior, and it was revealed that he had approached other women pretending to be single, causing an uproar in the university community.

Furthermore, according to information provided by the man’s university classmate, he was a habitual offender who deliberately approached wealthy women to extort gifts and money. Stories circulated that he was trash from the start, or that he didn’t have money at home so his girlfriends helped him a lot. The incident spread to major communities through quasi-media outlets, and the man’s student number, name, and even photos were leaked, leading to nationwide criticism.

Lee Ji-hee: Ji-gu, hi! It’s Ji-hee from the same group at the welcome party~ The professor is looking for you because you didn’t come to the exam.

: I didn’t study

Lee Ji-hee: You’re not taking the final because of that? Haha

: Sleepy. Gotta sleep.

The person who took the photo that started all this wasn’t particularly interested.

Yoon Ji-gu, who hadn’t even checked his grade report showing all F’s, found out about his grades from the department group chat.

KJG: (Photo)

Yoo-hwan: Huh?

It was a photo of Yoon Ji-gu’s semester grades neatly printed and stuck on the exterior staircase railing leading from the Humanities Building wall to the 4th floor. The group chat had about 100 members. The number next to the message bubbles kept decreasing, but no one was sending a reply.

Yoo-hwan: Isn’t it because of attendance? Lol lol

「Yoon Ji-gu has left the chat.」

Yoon Ji-gu hastily left the chat room and even deleted his messenger ID before holing up at home. An academic warning letter and grade report were sent to his house. Luckily, he managed to intercept and burn them first, but over twenty more letters arrived sporadically afterward. Calling the school to complain was useless. They only replied that grade reports wouldn’t be intentionally sent multiple times.

On the day his grades were exposed to his family, Yoon Ji-gu had all the credit cards in his mother’s name that he had been using taken away. Already frustrated, losing the cards made it worse, and he lashed out in rebellion, only to get nowhere.

The harassment continued relentlessly for months. Unknown groups came to his SNS accounts, leaving relay comments with insults mixed with personal attacks. His ID even spread to illusion boards with comments like, “Using hacks and stolen photos, lol.”

After closing the account, someone ran away after scrawling red paint in front of his house. Even his older brothers, who had been laughing off the repeated grade report mailings, reacted seriously to the paint terror at home.

The family thought Yoon Ji-gu had a dangerous stalker. When asked if he could think of anyone, Yoon Ji-gu shook his head sullenly. He didn’t know who it could be or how it had come to this. Having changed his number, he lost contact with all his college peers.

When he escaped to the military and returned, things seemed better, but another strange person appeared in his life.

***

Over a year had passed. There were no more weirdos sending grade reports to his home address, but things were a bit different when he returned to gaming.

[Whisper] UsingHackMakesMeHappy: Lol lol lol Saw on the forum you’re discharged?

[Whisper] UsingHackMakesMeHappy: Why do you even live? If I were you, I’d mix pesticides into my food lol bye

[Whisper] Ji9star: Yeah, you go eat that~ You’ll melt slowly

[Whisper] Ji9star: But why are you so interested in me?

[Whisper] Ji9star: Who are you? Do you know me?

‘You can no longer send whispers. This character has been deleted.’

[Global] Ji9star: F**k

[Global] Hamster: ?Why curse at a stranger;

[Global] Ji9star: Not you

[Global] Hamster: OK;;

The number of people creating characters with weird names, cursing through whispers, and then running away increased. Moreover, strange people began joining the Poseidon guild he was in. It was exactly the same as the situation before he went to the military. They would join the guild group chat, act like trolls, get forcibly removed, and repeat, wearing out the guild members. Yoon Ji-gu, feeling self-conscious, spoke up in the guild chat.

[Guild] Ji9star: Should I just quit?ㅠㅠ…

[Guild] CatMeowMeowMeow: ? Do as you like

[Guild] Ji9star: Who are you?

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Lol lol lol Ji9star’s quite funny too…. Getting serious when you don’t get the answer you want lol

[Guild] ParkRoach: Cat just joined recently so doesn’t know what’s going onㅜㅜ Ji9star, just hang in there

[Guild] Wandu Wandya: Cat, read the room;;

[Guild] CatMeowMeowMeow: OK!ㄷㄷ

[Guild] Ji9star: But I really didn’t use hacks, I don’t know why they’re doing thisㅠㅠ

[Guild] Captain Poseidon: Ji9star, don’t dig yourself into a hole again. How is this your fault?

[Guild] Ji9star: You said this didn’t happen when I wasn’t here…ㅠ0ㅠ But since it started again when I came back to the game, it must be because of me….ㅠㅠ

[Guild] al0ha: Tsk tsk, there he goes again

[Guild] Wandu Wandya: Ji9star attention-seeking time starts!

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Cooldown must be over lol

[Guild] Halloween Eggplant: Now his whining is just like game background music lol

[Guild] Captain Poseidon: What quitting… Don’t think unnecessary things and just do your overdue quests; If you don’t max out your legend skill now, you’re just trash

[Guild] Ji9star: K lol.

[Guild] al0ha: What’s this, I brought rare items to comfort Ji9star but where did he go?

[Guild] Wandu Wandya: He’s gone to do his legendary quest.

[Guild] CatMeowMeowMeow: He just left the guild hall and passed by me

[Guild] ParkRoach: LOL He recovers so fast;

The guild members didn’t take his whining too seriously. That’s why Yoon Ji-gu felt a little less uncomfortable.

A few months later, on one particular day, he met that person.

[Party] neutaaaa: I reached level 50 in just one day, isn’t that cool

The same pattern as the guy who came in before and ruined the guild atmosphere. He had a hunch.

[Party] neutaaaa: Can’t we negotiate the level? lol

And more upgraded nonsense. Where do these guys come from, and why do they keep coming back in shifts?

“These bastards, really. What did I do so wrong!”

Yoon Ji-gu couldn’t hold back anymore and vented his frustration at the English nickname.

[Party] Ji9star: Do you like me?

[Global] Ji9star: 3ch >neutaaaa< 100 million for the person who kills fastest

That guy should experience it too. See how shitty unwanted attention feels.

He persistently followed and harassed the unfamiliar English nickname, resulting in the disaster of his guild position being lowered. Captain Poseidon scolded Yoon Ji-gu, saying that even if he had a lot to be sensitive about these days, he shouldn’t behave like this to someone who came to join the guild for the first time.

Well, who cares?

[Global] neutaaaa: Why are you doing this to me…?

Seeing him flustered was hilarious.

[Whisper] Captain Poseidon: Earth Star, wait a minute.

Honestly, even Captain Poseidon’s words didn’t sound pleasant. They’re mean to him, so why can’t he return the favor?

[Global] Ji9star: The guild master told me to show my true feelings in front of everyone

[Global] Captain Poseidon: ?

[Global] Ji9star: I’m trying to show you my true feelings ♡

If I’m going to return the favor, I’ll stick close and make them quit the game. Or maybe uncover who’s behind this. Yoon Ji-gu formed a meticulous plan in his head and became a couple with the English nickname. Honestly, he thought the guy would reject him about ten times and leave the game, but surprisingly, he accepted the couple request easily, which was unexpected.

Do they unexpectedly enjoy being harassed? I think I’ve heard that such perverts exist in the world.

‘Friend request denied.’

[Couple] Ji9star: This is really ridiculous- I gave you buffs and helped you level up

[Couple] neutaaaa: So what?

“I won’t let this go, seriously.”

Yoon Ji-gu glared at ‘neutaaaa’s character, who accepted other guild members as friends but consistently rejected his friend requests, and firmly resolved to get revenge.

But somehow, they ended up hunting together, and as he helped out this fool who didn’t even know monster affinities, he actually grew fond of him. The thought that he would definitely get revenge someday gradually faded, and he concluded that he had misunderstood Neuta. Neuta was just an idiot who knew nothing about game mechanics. But he wasn’t that sorry about it.

After all, he helped him level up a lot?

At the time, it was reasonable to misunderstand. So it was not his fault.