79.
Yoo Chae explained to me, who was so stunned that I couldn’t react.
“I think Hyung knows… It’s an overseas FPS online game called ‘Team Black’.”
I came to my senses belatedly and spoke as if nothing had happened as best as I could.
“I know. I’ve never tried it, but I’ve heard of it.”
As far as I know, Team Black was an open world FPS game in which players were divided into factions A and B, killing each other and stealing items. It was one of the games that many Korean users played due to its hard difficulty level and realistic graphics.
“I played that for a while... I came across the username ‘I’m sleepy’ in that game. He was an ill-mannered user who used abusive language in his voice and constantly used pad lip and tea bagging.”
“Hu……”
“I deliberately targeted him and killed him a few times, but from the next game onwards, he turned on T-bagging and continued to succeed in the first shot head. I thought he would do that because FPS games have such T-bagging movements.”
“You thought that bastard was me?”
“I deliberately started an argument with Hyung to find out if you were really the same person.”
A headache came over me from an unimaginable story, and I touched my forehead. Just as I doubted Yoo Chae and Chae Yoo-jeong, does it mean that Yoo Chae also doubted whether I and other game user were the same person?
“But when I fought, I realized that your skills were really good. I thought I would win easily. No, actually, if you look at it properly, it’s almost like I have it. Even though I was a higher level and had better items than Hyung, I barely managed to win.”
While holding my head and listening to his explanation, I frowned as he continued to praise my skills. I don’t know why he gets more excited and talks about how good my gaming skills are.
“Is that the end? You cleared all your doubts with just one game and skills?”
“Skill and personality. And a few days later, you had a raid with me and did a discord call. Skills, personality, and even your voice are all different, so how can I doubt you?”
“Why did you change your mind right away after hearing that I was a Hero ranker?”
“That’s… being a Hero ranker meant that, you wouldn’t have time to play other games if you think about it. Looking at the records of ‘I’m Sleepy’, who I met on Team Black, I saw that he had over 2,000 hours of play time. It is almost impossible for one person to play both games that much.”
“……”
A user I met in another game had the same username as me, and he was suspicious of me because that other person was a bad user.
Even if I were in that situation, I would definitely want to check to see if a bad user had joined the guild.
But why doesn’t this uneasy feeling go away? Is this my problem?
“I’m sorry for doubting you, Hyung. I should have told you a long time ago, but I couldn’t because I was scared that Hyung would be disappointed in me.”
The explanation continued quietly over the headset. I sighed quietly so Yoo Chae couldn’t hear and raised my head.
“It’s okay. I was a little embarrassed, but it wasn’t something I couldn’t understand.”
“At first, I made mistakes and things got weird... but as I started playing with Hyung, I got better as a person. Everything I did toward Hyung was sincere.”
“...You’re so good at saying things like that. Aren’t you embarrassed?”
“You’re my Hyung, so what’s wrong?”
“Anyway, I understand. I’m sorry I suddenly brought up something from the past that surprised you too.”
“No. To be honest, I was able to answer more comfortably because Hyung asked the question first. Um, and...”
After hesitating for a moment, Yoo Chae opened his mouth again.
“I don’t think I’ll have time to play games anymore.”
“What?”
“I have work starting next week. I’m going to be very busy, so it’s going to be difficult to play games or keep in touch.”
My mind suddenly became complicated, and I was shocked at the same time.
Something suddenly happened and you couldn’t play the game? Suddenly like this? Just today, you played Zenoris all day long?
“Still, I’m glad we resolved the misunderstanding before I quit.”
“What.. wait a minute, you’re quitting it altogether? Zenoris?”
“I will still play it when I have time, but I don’t think it will be easy. I already told you about it. Probably by tomorrow, the Gilma title will be handed over to Drink some water.”
“……”
It’s already all sorted out.
I didn’t know what to say to the other person who was ready to quit the game. Funnily enough, I felt a strange sense of betrayal.
‘I feel betrayed by the kid who quit the game because something happened.’
I’m so embarrassed that I can’t even say it out loud. The headache became much worse than before.
I barely swallowed the emotions that rose to the top of my throat, and after thinking for a while, I spit out the simplest yet sincere answer.
“......It’s a shame.”
“Me too. I can’t access the game, but I’ll contact you occasionally.”
Yoo Chae smiled brightly, unaware of what others were thinking, and greeted me with a relieved expression.
“Well, take care then, Hyung.”
***
At the end of November, as the days got colder, the amount of homework increased day by day.
It was already well past 9 p.m. While I was concentrating on my task with my back to the pitch-black window, someone tapped my shoulder.
“Yoo Ji-han, let’s take a break.”
Kim Dae-seok pointed to the hallway with his chin. After that, Eun Hae-seong was also there.
I took a drink from the vending machine and moved to the smoking area. Kim Dae-seok asked me as I opened the lid of a soda can and took out a cigarette.
“Are you okay?”
“What.”
“It seems like things haven’t been great for the past few days.”
Eun Hae-seong, who also took out a cigarette, agreed with a twinkle in his eye.
“That’s right. Do you always look like you’re frowning when you see me? If you’re going to use your face like that, give it to me.”
“The kids who used to smile and say hello whenever they saw you are now just glaring at you. Lighten up your face.”
I laughed and hastily pressed my forehead. He was definitely frowning a lot.
“My head hurts a lot these days.”
“Aren’t you overdoing it?”
“There are so many tasks. If I continue like this, I will bury myself in schoolwork.”
I couldn’t bear to agree with Eun Hae-seong’s grumbling. Because the cause of the headache was not homework.
The day after Yoo Chae spoke with me, he immediately handed over the guild master position to Drink some water and stopped logging in. Harn took over the position of guild manager.
‘You said you’d be busy starting next week.’
Yoo Chae, who left the game after saying hello on Saturday, did not come in on Sunday either. I logged into the game all day and waited for him to come in.
Contact was the same. Yoo Chae, who sent me trivial messages several times a day and whined about why I don’t read them, stopped contacting me starting on Saturday.
Out of frustration, I tried to do it myself first, but I failed every time because Yoo Chae’s voice, telling me to have a good time without any regrets, lingered in my ears.
So, I let Yoo Chae leave without being able to properly ask him questions related to ‘Chae Yoo-jeong.’
“Fuck…….”
As I exhaled the smoke from my cigarette, I once again muttered the curse word I had been repeating for four days to myself.
I don’t know why I feel so bad. It’s even more crazy because it’s so frustrating since I couldn’t solve the question that arose between ‘Yoo Chae’ and ‘Chae Yoo-jeong’.
“Your complexion doesn’t look good. Why don’t you get some rest? Seeing you still do it, I think you’ve finished it to some extent. Take it easy.”
Kim Dae-seok, who drank the entire drink in two mouth-fulls considering his size, was worried as he threw the empty can into the trash can.
Do I look that bad? For no reason, I touched my mouth with my hand.
“It’s because I have a lot to worry about, but it’s okay now.”
Sure. It was too much to think about Yoo Chae any more than this. Why are you thinking about a guy who went looking after his own business?
“I need to make a phone call.”
Eun Hae-seong stubbed out his cigarette, took out his cell phone, and left the smoking area. Kim Dae-seok, who was glaring at Eun Hae-seong’s retreating back, slowly came next to me and asked in a low voice.
“Hey, hey. Are you like this because of what had happened?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why, you know what I said last time. About the Early Evening Gilma, you asked me if he was Gamgack. Were the two really the same person? Is that why you’re like this?”
“……”
The hand holding the cigarette suddenly trembled. I remembered Chae Yoo-jeong’s voice asking me to take some time, and Yoo Chae’s voice telling me to take care.
“No... they had nothing to do with each other. I misunderstood.”
“Right? As expected. In reality, they can’t be the same person.”
Kim Dae-seok was right. It was all just my imagination.
In the past, I would have suspected that when Yoo Chae said, ‘Something happened,’ he meant becoming a professional athlete.
But now I know that’s not the case. There’s clear evidence, but I don’t have enough strength left to continue stubbornly.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I hope it gets resolved. Let’s go in now. Eun Hae-seong will follow on his own, right?”
I entered the building following Kim Dae-seok, who was stretching and making noises like an old man, and took out my cell phone to check that I had been contacted.
[Chae Yoo-jeong: Are you at school today too?]
[Chae Yoo-jeong: Have you had dinner?]
[Chae Yoo-jeong: It’s not because I want js to eat together, it’s because I’m worried!ㅜ ]
[Chae Yoo-jeong: (emoticon)]
[Chae Yoo-jeong: Are you very busy tomorrow too..?]
Among the chat rooms and small greetings, a message from Chae Yoo-jeong caught my eye.
After hesitating for a while with my hand on the screen, I ended up putting my phone back in my coat pocket without replying.
[-1]
annotation
T-bagging: This refers to cases of continuing to use attack motions even after killing an opponent in a game, or performing insulting actions such as sitting on a corpse and then standing up.
[-2]
First shot head: In a first-person shooting game, it means that the first shot fired hits the head.
BEST COMMENT:
Yoo chae is now returning to his regular job and has no time, so he quit Zeno.
As if touching a baton... Instead of being Yoo Chae, as Chae Yoo-jeong, by Yoo Ji-han's side
---
Credits:
Translator: Hoshi Miya
Editor: Meimei
Support on Kofi:
HM: mY HeArT broke when YC was like ‘I’m gonna quit Zeno’.
MM: I have no words. I understand why he did it but gee
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