‘Even if I feel sorry, I still can’t…’
The better a guy Haesal was, the less Yeonjun wanted to let him know how he was doing now, having turned into an ordinary adult.
He wanted to remain, forever, as a memory from youth and a legend he would never meet again.
That was the last encouragement a washed-up adult could offer.
The era when Ignis was a legend had passed, and now it was time for new players, for the new rankers and Nameds who had looked at the Ignis of that time and admired him, to become legends instead.
‘Why am I even thinking something this embarrassing and self-conscious?’
Yeonjun tried to calm the heat rising in his face and forced himself to move the mouse and enter the coordinates into the chat window.
[Party/Ignis: Calvadonia Strait (coordinates)]
[Party/DoHaesal: Yep!!]
And the moment Haesal hopped up onto the white bird he had summoned, it took off at a speed that could not even be compared to Yeonjun’s outdated old flying pet.
From far away, it had looked like some kind of pigeon… maybe?
But seen up close, its neck was actually fairly long.
The characters themselves were not that different in height or build, but because Yeonjun’s character had a rather sturdy feel to him, sitting astride the tiny pet summoned to match Haesal’s frame made it look oddly like animal abuse.
It was enough to make him feel as though the neck of the white bird, whether it was a goose or a swan, was trembling.
[Party/DoHaesal: I’ll move the map toward the coordinates you gave me!]
[Party/Ignis: Yes, thank you]
Right after Yeonjun’s short thanks went up, the screen changed along with a system notice.
[System: You will move locations together with the summoner of the pet you are riding.]
When the screen darkened and then brightened again, a Mediterranean-style coastline came into view.
The exotic scenery, something you could enjoy without even going overseas, made Yeonjun look around here and there across the map.
While Haesal had set auto-move and they were flying toward the coordinates without any manual control, Haesal was busy hammering the screenshot key over and over at regular intervals.
‘Ignis-hyung rode my pet with me…!’
By the way the controls worked, the one who got on the pet first sat in the front of the saddle, and the one who boarded afterward sat in the back.
That meant Ignis’s character had its arms wrapped firmly around Haesal’s waist.
Of course, they were not real people, only game characters.
But the fact that, instead of him embracing Ignis, it was Ignis embracing him made Haein clench his fists tightly just to keep from losing his mind.
And while around eighty new screenshots were added to Haein’s Ignis collection like that, the goose safely landed at the designated spot.
[Party/Ignis: I looked up a guide, so you can just do it comfortably like before]
[Party/DoHaesal: Yes!!!]
[Party/DoHaesal: I’ll work hard!!!]
No, you really don’t have to work that hard.
Yeonjun forced himself to ignore the uncomfortable feeling that he was exploiting high-end labor and stood in front of the cave, right-clicking the portal.
[Move to Hecate’s Cave]
[System: Would you like to move to Hecate’s Cave?]
[Yes]/[No]
When Yeonjun clicked Yes, the screen soon changed.
Accompanied by a tense-looking cutscene, it was a quest where they swept through the scene of the group that had tried to frame Esmeralda and Austin and steal Esmeralda’s property.
Before the battle started, Yeonjun quickly typed.
[Party/Ignis: Haesal-nim]
[Party/DoHaesal: Yes!]
[Party/Ignis: You don’t need to buff me, so just deal damage comfortably]
What are you talking about?
For me to deal damage, I have to receive Ignis-hyung’s damage through synergy.
Not understanding right away, Haein sent a question mark.
[Party/DoHaesal: What?]
[Party/Ignis: Ah]
[Party/Ignis: I meant you don’t need to help me maintain stacks]
[Party/DoHaesal: Ahh, okay yep]
At Ignis-hyung’s quick refusal, Haein nodded and moved, but still cast the basic synergy buff.
[System: <Blessing Wind>]
[Party/DoHaesal: Even so, I’ll at least give you the basic synergy]
[Party/Ignis: Yes, thank you]
At the end of that short exchange, the brawl began at once, and Yeonjun raised the long blade toward the endless flood of bandits rushing in.
Even if he was only known as a fake, he did not want to make an embarrassing scene by showing skill unworthy of the name.
Since he had boasted, or half-boasted, that Haesal did not need to help him maintain stacks, he absolutely could not let the stacks drop.
[System: <Ignition Blade>]
When Yeonjun fired an AoE at the enemies crowded together, the long blade moved as dazzlingly as a sword dance and flames surged upward.
Even Haesal, who was nearby, got the Burn buff applied to him, and in an instant the mobs began getting cut down.
[Ignition: Stage 3]
Checking the maintenance timer as it ticked down second by second, Yeonjun swung the greatsword without a moment’s rest.
Of course he had no time to spare.
With the altered damage cycle, he missed the proper timing now and then, but thank God, he never let the stack drop.
By the time Yeonjun let out a long breath and, relieved, confirmed the telepathic message saying he had succeeded in exterminating the enemies, not even ten minutes had passed.
‘The guide said if you solo it, you need to budget at least thirty minutes, but that ended quickly.’
He thought it had said that with two players, since the number of enemies increased somewhat, it still took around twenty minutes.
Even if SH was called a supporter rather than a dealer, a ranker was still a ranker.
Haesal’s DPS, coming right up under the heels of a fully buffed pure DPS Flammer, even though Yeonjun was still just before max level, gave Yeonjun a slight chill.
I thought he was just good at movement.
If his aim in a non-targeting game was this crisp and accurate too, then he was truly a perfect synergy dealer with nothing more to ask for.
If he himself could output damage on the level of most pure DPS classes, then wouldn’t that mean with a real pure DPS he could almost make them produce DPS on the level of an inhuman player?
Turning away from the sudden pounding of his heart, Yeonjun quickly shook his head.
‘Well… it’s got nothing to do with me…’
No matter how outstanding a synergy dealer Haesal was, it had nothing at all to do with Yeonjun.
Because Haesal’s true value would only reveal itself in high-end content, and Yeonjun had no intention of setting foot in high-end content again.
Ha… if I’d met him exactly eleven years ago, I would have absolutely seated him in the guild and never let him go.
Tragically, far too much time had passed since the days when Yeonjun had flown around dominating raids and PvP alike.
Life was all about timing, after all, so what could be done?
Even as he smacked his lips in regret, Yeonjun upgraded his evaluation of Haesal from “a player who’s good at the game and is burdensomely nice” to “a player I would have sat down as my pair DPS on the spot if I’d met him eleven years ago.”
And the more regret Yeonjun felt, the more he thought that this was not where Haesal ought to be, helping with his main quest progression.
He should be out there doing PvP.
He should be running raids.
Why are you wasting your time here scrubbing a newbie clean?
Before he could start feeling any more pointless excitement, Yeonjun decided to send Haesal back quickly.
[Party/Ignis: Thank you for helping me]
[Party/Ignis: I’ll be going now]
[Party/DoHaesal: Ah]
The moment they exited the quest dungeon and Yeonjun prepared to log off, Haesal’s ear tips kept fluttering, as though he was disappointed.
[Party/DoHaesal: Do you really have to go already ㅠㅠ?]
Yes…
Yeonjun checked the time with hollow eyes.
It was already past 12:30, so a good office worker needed to start cutting things off now if he wanted to wake up tomorrow morning refreshed and not exhausted.
To the point that he sincerely found himself impressed, wondering what kind of trick Manager Saekyeonpil had used to play games until dawn back in the day, around ten years ago.
[Party/Ignis: Yes]
[Party/Ignis: If I have anything to ask of you tomorrow too,]
[Party/DoHaesal: Yes please contact me anytimeeㅛ!!!!]
Why was he in such a rush?
At the chat message, where he had hit Enter before he could even fix the typo and wound up attaching something that looked like double middle fingers, Yeonjun burst out laughing.
Haesal hurriedly corrected the misunderstanding.
[Party/DoHaesal: Huh]
[Party/DoHaesal: The ㅛ was a typo ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
Smiling, Yeonjun typed back.
[Party/Ignis: Yes, I know]
[Party/Ignis: Thank you so much for today]
[Party/Ignis: See you tomorrow]
[Party/DoHaesal: Yep, have a good night!!!!!!]
With Haesal’s energetic send-off, Yeonjun logged out and returned to reality.
Just because he had briefly run around with a player who was good at the game, it seemed he had momentarily felt as though he had gone back to the old days.
But the bleak little studio apartment, so dreary it barely even looked like a place where a person lived, was Yeonjun’s reality.
The one large fish tank decorating a corner of the room was about the only thing proving this was not some dystopian space.
‘I wish I’d met him when I was really into games.’
Since Haesal himself had said he was on the younger side, he would have been even younger back then.
Elementary school or middle school, maybe.
Yeonjun briefly sketched out an imaginary younger Haesal in his head, then snorted.
What kind of idiot thought am I even having?
He needed to hurry and go to sleep, before he started harboring the even stupider hope of reenacting Saekyeonpil.
While Yeonjun was dragging himself around getting ready for bed like that, Haein, unable to contain his joy in the end, threw himself onto the bed once again and flailed wildly.
Then he sat bolt upright again and slowly savored the hundreds of screenshots he had taken one by one, just to reassure himself that what had happened today was reality and not a dream.
[Austin (Ignis): Will you marry me?]
This is insane.
I can’t believe this isn’t a dream.
Along with his own character standing neatly beside Ignis, who was dressed in a gallant black formal suit.
There had been so many happy things today that it was enough to make him wonder whether he might just die like this.
What calmed Haein’s excitement was a phone call from Suyeong, who lived downstairs.
“…Huh? What?”
When Haein picked up the phone without much thought, Suyeong’s irritated voice rang out.
— “Are you insane? What the hell are you doing, suddenly stomping around like an elementary schooler with a motor strapped on?”
That was not what mattered right now.
In fact, the timing was perfect.
To make himself feel that what had just happened was not a dream, Haein grabbed onto Suyeong and started pouring it all out in exhausting detail.
A twenty-year-old in love was never in his right mind, and Haein was no different.
While Suyeong suffered through Haein’s one-sided love story, the danger both Haein and Yeonjun had vaguely sensed was, little by little, drawing closer to the two of them.
Leave a Reply