TWKH Ch1

A game infested with gaming addicts called Caplet, which became the epitome of a failed game due to terrible management and the cliché of no updates. These players are extremely competitive and especially obsessed with ranking battles against their rival guild, Mortician.

There are two ways to kill a healer, one of which is to make him taste defeat…

—

[Notice] The Eternal Song of Caplet: Server Merge Announcement.

“Finally, damn it!”

Seeing the words pop up on his phone screen with a push notification, Shin Jehyun shouted out loud. Throwing off his headset, he ran his hands through his hair and glared at the screen.

This isn’t a dream, right? Jehyun glanced at the monitor where Caplet was still running, then scrutinized his phone screen, unable to believe his eyes. His trembling hand quickly tapped the notification.

The Caplet logo, shaped like a trumpet, appeared on the small phone screen as the official website loaded. Shin Jehyun swallowed nervously and scanned the list of notices that appeared. He thought he might be dreaming, but there it was, at the very top: the server merge announcement.

“Wow, this is insane. What’s gotten into Yiyoung?”

Could it be that Ahn Yiyoung, Caplet’s admin, had finally come to his senses? Filled with anticipation, Jehyun opened the notice to see how the server merge would be handled.

[Notice] The Eternal Song of Caplet: Server Merge Announcement.

Author: GM202

Hello, this is GM202 from the Caplet operations support team.

We are here to inform you about the upcoming server merge for Caplet.

Servers to be Merged: Cullin, Maverick, Leandro, Countess

New Server Name: Raptor

The server merge will take place on March 2nd of next year.

Thank you.

But the text, which he expected to be more detailed, didn’t contain any meaningful information. Is this what they call a notice? Damn bastards… Jehyun muttered curses under his breath and bit down on a candy in frustration.

Ahn Yiyoung was utterly unhelpful. There were mountains of things they needed to clarify, like what would happen to items after the merge, how the guilds would be affected, whether the rankings in the server would be reset, and if dungeon first-clear records would be wiped. Yet, they ended the notice with just six lines.

It was early December, so there was still time until the merge in March, but Jehyun couldn’t help but feel anxious. Caplet’s admins were the type to post a detailed notice on March 1st, just a day before the merge. And if players lost items due to late preparation, they’d probably just throw up a half-hearted apology.

Jehyun glanced back at the monitor, then opened his internet browser on his phone to check the Caplet vendor. Despite being a dying game, the Caplet community already had several posts about the server merge.

Twenty-six new posts today? It’s like Caplet is having a celebration. Jehyun clicked on the top post in the general forum.

[General] Caplet is merging servers??

I can’t believe it;; What’s wrong with Ahn Yiyoung all of a sudden? Has he lost his mind?

Comments (2)

Anonymous 1: I’d believe it more if they said they wrote “merge” instead of “shutdown” by mistake.

└ Oh…

What do you mean, “oh”? Jehyun frowned and clicked on another post.

[General] Ahn Yiyoung planning to pull an exit scam?

Caplet’s Server Merge Package!

[Nickname Priority, Ranking Retention] 39,800 won

Are they trying to sell this crap?

He’ll probably embezzle and run away 😆 Embezzling is trending these days, damn it, I know what you’re up to, don’t try to pull any tricks.

What hope does this doomed game have that they’re merging servers now? 😆 They should’ve done it ages ago, pfft.

Comments (4)

Anonymous 1: Caplet’s Amazing Server Merge Package! 69,800 won

[Amazing Nickname Priority (Allows you to take a nickname even over users with normal priority), Amazing Ranking Retention (Only I keep my score while everyone else resets)] 

If it’s Ahn Yiyoung, even this nonsense is possible.

Anonymous 2: Caplet’s Spectacular Server Merge Package! (Limited Edition) 128,000 won This will probably come out too😂😂😂

Anonymous 3: Guys, this isn’t the time to bash Yiyoung… Caplet nicknames are shared across servers, so what nickname priority are you talking about ㅇㅅㅇ;;

└ Oh…

“…….”

That post had an unsettling ring of truth to it. Even though nicknames were shared across all servers, they might actually sell a ranking retention ticket. Jehyun grimaced and glared at his phone.

Speaking of Caplet, it was a control-focused, non-targeting game (where you don’t target specific enemies, but attack those within a fixed aiming area) that initially captured the hearts of many players with its flashy graphics and unique system. However, due to its terrible management, its internet cafe ranking plummeted just one year after release, turning it into a failed game.

There wasn’t a grand reason for Caplet’s failure. It was just the accumulation of small, typical incidents found in any failed game: things like collusion between GMs and players, massive inflation as a result, bugs that remained unfixed for over six months—just a series of these small, yet constant issues.

The biggest incident was when a trader, tipped off by a GM about upcoming updates, hoarded enhancement items, causing massive inflation when the server merge market opened.

At that time, attempting a single enhancement would cost around 100,000 won in cash. Veteran players who had already completed their enhancements could proceed with the new dungeon without much trouble despite the inflation, but light players, who were trying to upgrade their gear for the new dungeon, couldn’t meet the required equipment level and ended up quitting the game without even stepping into the new dungeon.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Caplet lost half its player base after that incident, yet Ahn Yiyoung didn’t even bother to post an apology. All that happened was GM747, who had leaked the update information, quietly disappeared about three months after the incident.

Despite the severe loss of players, Ahn Yiyoung, the CEO of Capitol Studio (Capes), which created Caplet, was known to be incredibly obsessed with money. Rather than fixing the situation, he simply lived up to the name of his studio by embodying the principles of capitalism.

Malik’s Mount Box, Malik’s Superb Mount Box, Malik’s Rare Mount Box, Malik’s Exquisite Mount Box, Malik’s Outstanding Mount Box… The list goes on, with countless cash items being released under slightly different names.

Ahn Yiyoung’s management of Caplet encouraged players to engage in a financial war of attrition, and the only ones who survived the flood of cash items were the so-called “cash warriors” like Shin Jehyun, who had money to burn.

In a game where a critical hit rate of 0.1%, critical hit damage of 0.01%, and skill cooldown reduction of 1.9% could make the difference between first and second place, Shin Jehyun poured all his allowance into Caplet, which allowed him to maintain the top spot in the priest rankings.

In short, Caplet was a cash racing game. If you didn’t have money, you couldn’t even get started.

Contrary to everyone’s predictions that the game wouldn’t last long, Caplet is about to enter its fifth year of service. One of the reasons this failed game has lasted four years is because Caplet is a control-focused game.

That’s right. The players who remained in Caplet were all people who, like Shin Jehyun, took pride in their gaming skills.

Caplet adopted a non-targeting system, considered the most challenging among MMORPG targeting systems, and its boss monster mechanics were complex and structurally challenging. No matter how good your gear was, without skill, you couldn’t clear dungeons.

The players who managed to clear such high-difficulty dungeons became addicted to the unique control-based gameplay that couldn’t be found in any other game, eventually dedicating their lives to Caplet. And the prime example of someone who “dedicated his life to Caplet” was none other than Shin Jehyun.

Just like worn-out shoes discarded by a vagrant, there were still players in this old, rotting, failed game. Shin Jehyun was a typical game addict who hadn’t been able to escape from Caplet since the open beta.

“Haa…”

Anyway, while this game addict, Shin Jehyun, was spacing out in the face of the monumental event that was the server merge, a fierce battle was raging on his monitor.

A heated argument had broken out over a boss monster retry (attempting the boss fight again after a party wipe), and it had been going on for more than 10 minutes.

[Party] Habaek: These days, you can’t even pull a million DPS and you dare come to the Blaze dungeon?

[Party] SeongsudongKimJinwoo: Lol, can we stop?

[Party] SeongsudongKimJinwoo: This isn’t a dungeon where you need a million DPS to clear it, so why are you blaming me?

[Party] Habaek: Why are you blaming me? I’m pulling over three million DPS, so it doesn’t make sense that we’re not doing enough damage.

[Party] SeongsudongKimJinwoo: Isn’t my DPS loss because of the priest? ㅡㅡ

Shin Jehyun was running the Blaze dungeon, “Galie’s Labyrinth,” on his alt ^[1]character to complete a quest.

During a retry due to a mechanic failure, a fight had broken out between two of the DPS players. Jehyun had thrown down his mouse and was sucking on candy when he saw the announcement, but suddenly, the conflict was dragged into his lap, making him feel extremely annoyed. He frowned deeply and placed his hands on the keyboard.

[Party] SupportPriestCho: Did I do something wrong? 😭 I’m new… I don’t know what I did, but I’m sorry…

But despite his irritated expression, the message Jehyun typed was surprisingly soft. Of course, Shin Jehyun wasn’t a newbie, and he hadn’t done anything wrong. He was just pretending to be new to smooth things over since this was the last quest he needed to complete for Guild points.

[Party] SeongsudongKimJinwoo: Haㅡㅡ Are you new?

[Party] SupportPriestCho: 😭 It’s only my third day today…

[Party] SeongsudongKimJinwoo: Did you come without watching a guide?

[Party] SeongsudongKimJinwoo: For real, I can’t stand newbies;

This is the problem when a game gets old. How many newbies have left because of the gatekeeping from these seasoned players?

Good thing I’m not really a newbie. Shin Jehyun clicked his tongue and typed “😭” in the chat window.

[Party] SeongsudongKimJinwoo: If you’re new, at least study the priest^[2]’s skillsㅡㅡ

[Party] SeongsudongKimJinwoo: You’re the reason I lost DPS, and that guy’s mad at meㅡ

SeongsudongKimJinwoo was trying to lecture Shin Jehyun, the top-ranked priest, without realizing who he was talking to. Of course, his angry words were completely baseless.

Jehyun had switched positions because he thought SeongsudongKimJinwoo wouldn’t be able to handle the puzzle mechanics. In other words, he had prevented the party from wiping due to SeongsudongKimJinwoo’s incompetence.

Jehyun had only spent about 2-3 seconds cleaning up SeongsudongKimJinwoo’s mess. Did he really think that losing that little bit of DPS was why he couldn’t pull a million?

Isn’t it more likely that it’s your fingers that are the problem, not mine?😭

Jehyun typed this out in frustration but quickly deleted it by hitting backspace.

[Party] Habaek: Lol, aren’t you tired of playing the newbie act? Lololol

Suddenly, Habaek’s mocking message appeared above the chat window, and Shin Jehyun slammed his fist on the desk. This guy has sharp instincts, doesn’t he? Jehyun silently cursed Habaek, who had seen through his disguise, while he expressionlessly placed his hands back on the keyboard.

[Party] SupportPriestCho: I don’t understand what you’re saying~~ What’s a “concept”? What’s a newbie? New Era beanie^[3]? I don’t like beanies haha

[Party] Habaek: Stop pretending, Dad 😭 Mom’s been looking for you. Why aren’t you answering her calls? 😭

[Party] SupportPriestCho: I’m not your dad? I’m an 18-year-old guy :/

[Party] Habaek: How long are you going to stay at the PC bang^[4]? 😭 Did you treat your bedsores yet?

“Ugh… This guy’s way too sharp.”

It seemed Habaek was completely certain of his identity. There was no way he could just quietly coast through this dungeon. Jehyun clicked his tongue softly and turned his screen around.

Standing in front of the final boss, Galie, was the character “Habaek,” bearing the emblem of the [Funeral Director] Guild. Habaek was the top DPS in the Caplet server “Countess,” where Shin Jehyun played. He was also the vice guild master of the [Neugdong PC Bang 500 Won Per Hour] Guild, the eternal rival of Jehyun’s guild, and the one person Jehyun hated most in Caplet.

In the Countess server of Caplet, there were two famous guilds: [Funeral Director^[5]], known as “Jangji^[6],” and [Neungdong PC Bang 500 Won Per Hour], known as “Neungdong.”

Habaek was the vice guild master of Jangji and had been competing for guild rankings with Shin Jehyun, Neugdong’s vice guild master, for four years, making him Jehyun’s archrival.

In order to gain the upper hand in the weekly guild ranking battle, it was crucial to consistently level up new characters. This was because a newly maxed-out character earned a significant amount of Guild points for clearing their first Blaze dungeon. But, of course, in a dying game like this, there were no new players, so the users involved in guild competition would raise alt characters to increase their points.

Even Neugdong and Jangji weren’t exceptions in this alt-raising competition. The problem was that Countess had the smallest population among Caplet’s four servers.

When leveling up a secondary character, you couldn’t even start a dungeon run for an entire day on the Countess server because in mid-tier Saturation Dungeons with no people around, you’d hear, “You’re from Neungdong, so get out,” or “You’re from Jangji, so scram.”

So, the secondary characters from Neungdong and Jangji would pretend to be newbies, secretly agree not to reveal their guilds, and laugh while running the Labyrinth together. But Habaek broke that unspoken rule by recognizing me, making the situation awkward.

[Guild] bohillercho: Thanks to that bastard Habaek, we can’t clear the Labyrinth. Ungrateful jerk.

Annoyed, I complained in the guild chat, but no one responded because there was no one around.

Ugh, so frustrating. Shin Jehyun grabbed a sugar-free lemon candy, crunching it in his mouth, and placed his hands on the keyboard. Thinking he couldn’t back down like this, he mechanically moved his fingers to start provoking Habaek.

[Party] bohillercho: Babe, what the hell, how could you acknowledge me without any loyalty? Just give me a ride^[7].

[Party] Habaek: There he goes again, lol.

[Party] Habaek: Sure~ I’ll give you a ride, but the fare is 1 billion. Deal?

1 billion in-game currency was equivalent to about 1 million won. Does this jerk have no conscience? Jehyun trembled in frustration as he replied.