“Yes…?”
When Yeonjun reflexively let out a dumbfounded sound at the situation he had not expected, Chief Joo burst into a hearty laugh.
“I recommended you. I mean, they said there was no one the outfit fit, so they had to find someone tall, and our Assistant Manager Sung has a pretty good face, doesn’t he? Hm? The size seems like it’ll fit well too. How perfect is that?”
To summarize the circumstances, it was simple.
Starting this year, they had accepted volunteers from among some support staff who would work at the open festival while dressed in cosplay.
‘Who on earth would do that and why…?’
From Yeonjun’s perspective, he could not understand it at all, but apparently, for employees whose hobby was already cosplay, it was a project like a golden opportunity.
Costumes that included armor or expensive subsidiary materials could cost tens or even millions of won just to make, but since they could do it with company money, everyone had chosen the wannabe character they had always wanted to try.
Right, up to that point, it was something only the volunteers were doing, so they could just handle it themselves, couldn’t they?
That was what he thought, but the employee who had applied to be Logan, one of the most popular NPCs in Erha Online, had badly injured his leg in an accident a few days ago.
Since he had to be in a cast for at least two months, he was in a situation where he could not wear the custom-made costume they had gone to the trouble of preparing.
As it happened, that employee was nearly 180 cm tall, so the costume had also been made based on a tall build, and since it had partial armor attached, alterations were impossible too. The company could not leave a costume that had cost a considerable amount to make unused, so they had started asking around to find a tall employee who could wear it.
And after hearing the rumor, Chief Joo had recommended Yeonjun, saying there was an employee who would suit it unbelievably well.
‘Die, Chief Joo!!!!!!!’
Yeonjun swallowed a soundless scream inside and answered.
“I’m sorry, but I wear glasses…”
“Oh my! You can wear lenses. We’ll provide color contacts that match your prescription!”
At the chance to recruit one of the very few handsome men in the company as cosplay staff, the employee in charge rebutted him with her eyes sparkling.
“Contacts are a bit uncomfortable for me…”
“Then you can do it with glasses on! You’re so handsome that everyone will think even the glasses are part of the event!”
He had no idea why wearing glasses would become part of the event, but in any case, Yeonjun racked his brain to find another excuse that could let him refuse.
“I’m a bit heavier than I look…”
“What are you talking about? This is all muscle, right? I heard everything about how you go to the company fitness center at lunch!”
As the attention of the people around them gradually began to gather, Yeonjun once again wanted to run away somewhere, anywhere.
The reason he sometimes exercised at lunch really was to survive.
A person needed at least a sturdy body so they could live not with the mindset of “Let’s just die…” but with the energetic mindset of “Let’s kill!”
“No, I really don’t do cosplay…”
“It’s not that hard. It’s not like you have to role-play the character, and everyone knows you’re an employee, so you just need to help with entrance guidance like you did last year.”
“I think it’ll suit you well, so why are you holding back so much? Does Assistant Manager Sung work alone? Do you think all the other employees are being drafted because they want to do it?”
With that way of speaking that suddenly drove Yeonjun into the position of being a selfish person, there was no hole left for him to escape through, and his path to becoming cosplay staff was confirmed just like that.
After the commotion had passed, Team Leader Ahn rubbed her face dry and apologized on their behalf.
“Sorry. I couldn’t stop this one either… I did try, in my own way.”
Knowing that it was not something Team Leader Ahn needed to apologize for, Yeonjun quietly shook his head.
He had run away from the game, and now something had happened at the company that made him want to run away too.
No matter how much he writhed in pain, nothing would change.
‘I’ll definitely cut off your neck, Chief Joo.’
Grinding his teeth, Yeonjun finished his afternoon work half-dead. In the past year, there had never been a day when he craved resignation as badly as he did today.
***
When he returned home completely exhausted, the things he had run away from last night were waiting for him.
As soon as he entered the house, he washed his hands, finished showering, and was naturally about to head toward the monitor when the in-game events he had forgotten because of the shock from work came flooding back.
‘Ah…’
He had been planning to quit the game and everything.
Yeonjun flopped down on the bed, closed his eyes, and recalled Chief Joo’s thoroughly wicked smile.
‘That bastard, what’s so great that he’s grinning and laughing like that…?’
Strength entered his fists on its own, and his resentment blazed up again.
‘I really do have to blow that bastard’s head off.’
Yeonjun struggled to push himself up and checked the Open Messenger he had been ignoring all through last night. Naturally, the sender of the more than ten new messages was all Haesal.
[Dohyun] Hyung, I’m really sorry. 11:36 PM
[Dohyun] I wasn’t trying to deliberately deceive you. 11:36 PM
[Dohyun] It seemed like you had some reason you didn’t want to reveal it, hyung. 11:36 PM
[Dohyun] So I thought it wouldn’t be right to pry any further, and I couldn’t say anything. 11:37 PM
[Dohyun] I know you must have been really shocked, and I think you must be very disappointed in me, but 11:37 PM
[Dohyun] Just in case you thought I was mocking you or playing around, 11:38 PM
[Dohyun] I wanted to tell you that really isn’t true. 11:38 PM
[Dohyun] Even if you blocked me, I guess there’s nothing I can do, but ㅠㅠ 12:03 AM
[Dohyun] I’m sorry… 12:03 AM
[Dohyun] I have no intention of spreading rumors anywhere, and I’ll make sure the kids in my guild keep their mouths shut too. 12:42 AM
[Dohyun] I’m really sorry for continuing to send messages ㅠㅠㅠㅠ 8:11 AM
[Dohyun] I hope you won’t worry about it too much and will keep enjoying the game ㅠㅠ 8:11 AM
After calmly settling his startled heart and thinking about it, what he was saying was not entirely wrong.
It definitely seemed right. No, if it was obviously right, but the person himself kept saying it was not him, then unless they were going to grab each other by the collar and fight over it, there was no choice but to say, “I see,” and let it pass.
Yeonjun briefly tried thinking from Haesal’s position, then suddenly squirmed again.
No, but why is he so obsessed with me in the first place? He was not someone great enough for that kind of devotion. Maybe he had been in the past, but not now.
He was just an ordinary person with an utterly average physique, old and exhausted. Even if his equipment was terrible, the fact that he had given up first place in damage to a Crusader already proved that much.
In the old days, it would have been something a player’s pride could not tolerate. To be honest, even now, it still felt a bit that way.
He had been saying all this time that he would accept that he no longer had the skill he used to have, yet losing first place to a Crusader who was in the middle of fully setting up raid equipment bothered him this much.
Yeonjun decided even more firmly that he should not set foot anywhere near high-end content, then checked the phone he had flipped face down on the bed for a while.
Yeonjun pushed away the new messages piled up at the top, then sat down in front of the monitor with an expression gone cold.
Fine.
Since you told me not to worry about it and just play Erha, I’ll do that for you.
He knew it was pointless spite, but he did not care. Yeonjun let out a short breath, took a brief deep breath, and as soon as he stepped into the world of Erha Online, a whisper immediately flew in from Haesal.
[Whisper/DoHaesal: ㅠㅠㅠㅠ Ignis-nim, I’m really sorry.]
[Whisper/DoHaesal: I didn’t plan this because I was trying to deceive you.]
[Whisper/DoHaesal: It just seemed like you really hated being recognized ㅠㅠ]
Yeonjun turned off the whisper notification sound ringing noisily in his ears, then finished the rest of the main quest.
Judging by the chat that kept coming up, it seemed like Haesal was saying something, but once he turned off the sound effects, he did not care anymore.
After somehow managing to finish the main quest, Yeonjun opened the fish encyclopedia with a soulless expression.
There was so much content in the world to fill in. There was no reason to pay attention to some deceiver who kept stubbornly sending whispers.
‘Now that I’ve hit max level, should I start looking at the market trends?’
If he wanted to bring down someone at the chief level, factors related to currency seemed the most likely possibility.
For example, a user who kept listing enhancement items with suspiciously good options, or a user who almost monopolized and sold a specific rare item.
He quickly checked by scrolling down to see whether there were any listings that smelled fishy, then opened his mailbox, only to find that a whole pile of miscellaneous dishes had arrived from Haesal again.
[Mailbox]
[Sender] DoHaesal
[Hyung, I’m really sorry. It seems like you saw the messenger messages, but the fact that you didn’t answer means you’re very angry at me, right…? (See more)]
[Attached Item]
– 4th Anniversary Star Candy
With empty eyes, Yeonjun checked all the mail that had arrived from DoHaesal, then pressed the return button on all of it.
Enough.
Now they could each do their own thing. He could enjoy light content that a modest, exhausted office worker like himself could manage, and Haesal could stay in the world of high-end content he had originally been in without taking even a single step out of it.
As soon as Yeonjun pressed the return button, more mail came pouring in immediately. After returning all of that too, he sent a whisper to Haesal.
[Whisper/Ignis: Haesal-nim.]
[Whisper/DoHaesal: H-Huhㅠㅠ]
[Whisper/DoHaesal: Yes, yesㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
After finally, barely receiving a reply from Yeonjun, Haesal responded, filled with emotion. However, what awaited Haesal was not Yeonjun’s broad understanding and forgiveness.
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