Even while he kept admiring Haesal the whole time, he himself had been the same.
He was not aware at all that he too had succeeded in perfectly killing every monster before it could hit him, and had therefore not been hit even once.
And on the other side of the monitor, while the screen darkened for a moment and the location changed, Haein had to pour all his strength into restraining himself so he would not slam his desk again.
‘Ignis-hyung… it doesn’t seem like it’s time for you to log off yet.’
He could not let this chance go when it had come like this.
This time too, Haein went with all or nothing.
Holding onto a faint conviction that even if he got rejected, things could not get any worse from here, he quickly asked Ignis.
[Party/DoHaesal: Oh right, hyung]
[Party/DoHaesal: By any chance, do you have the messenger app installed?]
At the appearance of a word he had not expected at all, Yeonjun tilted his head.
The messenger app?
Did he mean KakaoTalk, Facebook Messenger, Line, something like that?
Yeonjun’s brows twitched for a moment before he answered.
[Party/Ignis: Which one?]
[Party/DoHaesal: ?]
Then, as if to say that was not it, Haesal immediately asked back.
[Party/DoHaesal: No no, not KakaoTalk or Line or anything like that]
[Party/DoHaesal: Open Messenger]
[Party/Ignis: Ah]
Right, there was something like that.
Yeonjun did know, in broad strokes, that it was a free messenger compatible with all games provided by Open Games and linked to the games.
It was just that testing it had not been his department, and it had not existed back when Yeonjun had been actively gaming, so he had never used it and had simply forgotten.
[Party/Ignis: No, I didn’t know if I’d need it]
Of course.
A messenger app was only useful if you had someone to exchange messages or calls with, was it not?
Up until now, the whispers and mail he had exchanged with Haesal were the entirety of Yeonjun’s social activity since returning.
[Party/DoHaesal: Ah]
[Party/DoHaesal: Then would you maybe like to install it?]
[Party/DoHaesal: If you link it with the game, it has all kinds of functions]
[Party/DoHaesal: So it’ll make playing a lot more convenient for you]
When Yeonjun did not answer right away that he would try installing it, and instead hesitated, Haesal quickly added on.
[Party/DoHaesal: Even if I leave myself set to logout]
[Party/DoHaesal: Open Messenger still gives notifications the whole time like regular KakaoTalk]
[Party/DoHaesal: So when you need help like now]
[Party/DoHaesal: You can just send me a message instead of mailing me!]
[Party/Ignis: Hm…]
When Yeonjun reacted lukewarmly, the rabbit man with the gentle-looking face filling the screen started busily flapping his ears and listing the benefits of Open Messenger.
[Party/DoHaesal: If you register the messenger, they even give you exclusive cosmetic items]
[Party/DoHaesal: And the basic sending fee gets discounted too]
[Party/DoHaesal: Bank fees get reduced too]
[Party/DoHaesal: You can use the market board without logging in]
[Party/DoHaesal: You can manage mail and your inventory too!]
[Party/DoHaesal: It even lets you plant, harvest, and manage housing crops!]
Looking at Haesal rattling off lines that would make anyone think he was some NPC promoting Open Messenger, Yeonjun let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.
Sure, he got that it was good, but he could not understand why Haesal was promoting it this hard to him.
Was he really that concerned about a newbie?
He was about to hit max level soon, so he was not even really a newbie anymore.
[Party/Ignis: Alright, I’ll install it slowly sometime]
[Party/DoHaesal: !]
At the hard-won OK sign, Haesal’s rabbit ears once again perked straight up toward the sky.
The reason he was pushing this so desperately… it had to be because he was going to bring up joining the guild again, right?
When a veteran player took care of a newbie this much, that was still the only reason that came to mind.
Yeonjun drew the line clearly.
[Party/Ignis: Even so, I’m not joining the guild]
At the sudden declaration of non-guild affiliation, Haein was somewhat puzzled, but it was fine anyway.
Of course, as long as he was still constantly watching the mood even now, he could not go around messaging first over and over even if they had a messenger.
Still, given Yeonjun’s login times so regular they had long since passed regular and become so small, just having a way to contact him even when he was not logged in was an enormous step forward.
[Party/DoHaesal: Yep yep, that’s okay!!!]
[Party/DoHaesal: Install it whenever you feel like it!]
[Party/DoHaesal: You can check how to link it here at (link)]
Was he treating him not like a returnee, but like some digitally helpless elderly person?
He did not need to explain it that thoroughly, but Haesal seemed about ready to volunteer as his installation guide if left alone, so Yeonjun cut him off.
[Party/Ignis: I’ll do it now, so hold on a sec]
[Party/Ignis: Wait a moment]
When Yeonjun picked up his phone and wriggled around installing the messenger, then entered the Open ID for logging in, a page came up asking him to select which game to link.
[Please select the game to link with Open Messenger.]
[□ Erha Online]
[□ Black Continent]
[□ Yggdrasil]
[□ Moir Heroic Chronicle]
[□ Soul Weapon Fighter]
All the Open Games titles Yeonjun had once tried were lined up in a row.
They were games that had somehow survived through ten years of time.
‘I feel like I played quite a few more than just these.’
As for the ones that were not there… they had probably failed to endure the years and reached end-of-service.
He had really played a lot.
Before Yeonjun could even sink into the memories welling up fresh, his mouth, which had been starting to curve upward, stopped at the sight of a game title he did not particularly want to see.
[□ Snowy Racing]
Link it?
Snorting right away, Yeonjun selected only Erha Online, then writhed for a moment in misery at the fact that he still had work tomorrow before lifting his head and finishing the linking process.
[Please set your main character.]
[Recommended]
[□ Flammer Lv.139 Ignis]
Yeah, well, what else was he supposed to choose.
There was not exactly any other option.
Yeonjun checked it without much thought and moved on, and then the messenger friends list popped up.
Apparently it had pulled in the list of users who were already mutual friends on the existing account and also had messenger linking enabled.
[Registered Friends]
[Dohaen]
[- Erha Online Online]
[Gyunasseu]
[GwakDupal]
[NN]
[On Break]
[Doesn’t Log In]
[Free Man]
[.]
Though there were not even ten people, the list was full of nicknames he had never seen before, so it seemed they did not simply carry over the in-game character names as-is.
Well, since there were more than one or two games that could be linked, maybe that was only natural.
Yeonjun poked around the interface here and there, then suddenly became afraid of what exactly his own nickname had been set as.
What was my Open unified account nickname again?
When he hurried to check, luckily, since the last time he had managed the account had already been after he was twenty, it was not some embarrassingly cringey nickname.
[Sung Yeonjun]
That was right.
At twenty, Yeonjun had not even cared enough to change the default nickname that had been set as his real name.
If he had engaged even a little in official community activity, he would have been horrified every time he posted and saw his real name pop up, going, Ugh, why is my real name here, and changed it immediately.
But at the time Yeonjun had maintained a kind of mystique for the sake of protecting his personal life, and thanks to that, he had ended up protecting his own information.
‘At least it’s a relief it wasn’t anything weird…’
Yeonjun quickly changed the nickname to [Ignis] and then returned to the game.
[Party/Ignis: I linked it]
[Party/Ignis: Are you Dohaen, Haesal-nim?]
Even looking at it while doing backward rolls, it certainly looked that way.
Still, since there could always be some mistake, he asked just to confirm, and the rabbit man on the screen flapped his ears and nodded.
[Party/DoHaesal: Ah yep yep, that’s me!]
[Party/DoHaesal: From now on too, if there’s ever anything you need]
[Party/DoHaesal: Whether it’s messenger or whispers, feel free to contact me anytime!]
At that, the steel-walled Ignis calmly drew the line again.
[Party/Ignis: You probably have plenty of your own things to do too, Haesal-nim. Your own play comes first]
[Party/Ignis: I appreciate the thought alone]
No, you do not have to accept only the thought!
There was no way anything else could matter when Ignis-hyung himself was the driving force behind his play.
If Ignis called for him, he could throw even a guild siege battle aside and come running out.
Before Ignis could take one more step and declare he was leaving, Haein quickly clung to his pant leg.
[Party/DoHaesal: No, I have lots of time, so it’s okay!]
[Party/DoHaesal: By any chance, is there]
[Party/DoHaesal: nothing else you want to do today?]
As Haein made his eyes sparkle as if begging him to make use of the fact that he had been called out, Yeonjun felt a little burdened.
Calling the rank one SH player over as an RP dungeon shuttle already felt a bit awkward, so what could he possibly ask of him?
Just as Yeonjun was running refusal simulations in his head, he remembered that the next quest dungeon did allow multiplayer entry.
If he finished up to there and then slept today, it seemed like tomorrow would be mostly nothing but going back and forth as an NPC errand shuttle, and then it would soon be the final chapter.
It did not seem like a bad idea to clear through the combat content while the opportunity was there.
And thanks to Haesal’s help a little earlier, he had some time left too.
[Party/Ignis: Hm..]
After hesitating for a moment, Yeonjun read a strategy tip saying that if he tried to clear the upcoming combat content alone, it would take a long time, and made up his mind.
[Party/DoHaesal: !]
[Party/Ignis: Then could I ask you to help just until the next quest dungeon?]
[Party/DoHaesal: Yes!!!]
[Party/DoHaesal: If you ping the coordinates, I’ll taxi you over!]
Seeing Haesal perk his ears as if he had been waiting for that, so visibly delighted, Yeonjun’s heart once again grew ticklish.
He was grateful, embarrassed, and at the same time sorry.
He was deceiving a kid who was so purely happy just to be able to help him.
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