A little while later, just around the time Farming Theory seemed to be packing up his chair before Yeonjun did and leaving, another guild member immediately flew in and switched places with Farming Theory.
[System: Fang bows his head to Ignis in greeting.]
After first lightly smashing his head into the ground, he did not fish like his predecessor (Farming Theory) had.
Instead, he crafted nonstop. It looked as if he was making consumables, probably potions or food.
Chik, chik, chiiik.
The sound effect of crafting items rang out calmly like background noise, and Yeonjun tilted his head as he looked at the Yeonhwa guild members watching him from an awkward distance.
What are they doing? Was this their way of taking revenge because he had run off without even saying thank you after they went to the trouble of helping him with the final chapter raid?
But to twist his thoughts that far, they were not exactly doing anything strange. They were merely staying quietly near Ignis, asserting their presence as they held their places.
As if they were waiting for Yeonjun to react first. The field was, in any case, a space open to everyone, so Yeonjun had no right to tell them not to loiter here.
At the appearance of users who followed him whenever he moved and quietly did their own thing, Yeonjun was dumbfounded.
As if anyone would care about that! Yeonjun clicked his tongue.
And exactly one week later, Yeonjun admitted his defeat. It bothered him. It was starting to bother him enough that his stomach itched.
What on earth for? For what purpose?
After irritably logging off, Yeonjun gripped the phone in his hand. Should he contact him and ask what the hell this was?
No, if he did that and only heard another apology, there would be no point.
But it also irritated him to leave the guild members alone as they rotated around him, guarding his side as if someone had assigned a person for each day of the week.
‘…I should tell him to stop doing useless things.’
Yeonjun let out a light sigh, opened Open Messenger, and tapped away at the keyboard to send a message.
[Ignis] Haesal-nim. 10:31 PM
Meanwhile, ever since Haein had come home after class, he had become buried in watching the videos Ignis-nim had permitted him to watch.
Except for the times Suyeong came upstairs, kicked him in the butt, and dragged him into attack and defense wars, his daily routine had become lying sprawled on the bed without even logging in.
Haein could not recover from the shock of being rejected by Ignis-nim, who had been the greatest goal, purpose, and object of admiration in his life.
He could not even dare feel displeased at the fact that he had been rejected.
Instead, he had entered a digging-himself-into-a-hole mode of, ‘How dare I bother Ignis-nim? I’m trash.’
So when he saw the notification pop up on his phone screen, he naturally thought it was an illusion.
“……?”
The guild bastards really are doing all kinds of things to drag me into the game. Thinking it was obviously a similar impersonation nickname, Haein tapped the notification icon that had appeared at the top, and the previous conversation history with Ignis-nim loaded in a row.
“?”
What is this? Why? Haein, who had been curled up on the bed like a half-dried squid, sprang upright.
“?????”
When Haein startled and checked his phone, it really was a message from Ignis-nim. Even if its contents were not very positive.
[Ignis] When I asked you not to contact me, I didn’t mean only that you personally shouldn’t contact me. 10:32 PM
“…???”
Unable to understand what on earth was happening, Haein stared down at the screen with a dumbfounded expression, then barely came to his senses and asked back in return.
[Dohyun] What?? 10:32 PM
‘What did I… what did I do?’
Except for the absolute minimum necessary times, he had logged off and spent all his time lying on the bed with a stupid expression.
Sometimes the guild members had tried to tempt him into logging in quickly, saying they had real-time screenshots of Ignis-nim, but it was a picture of rice cake he could not eat anyway.
He had checked the images and pressed save within one second, but then he had shaken his head, thinking it was all pointless now.
What was the point of following Ignis-nim around when he hated him so much anyway? The person he had admired so much had gotten that angry because of him, so what kind of useless nonsense had he been doing all this time?
All along, Haein had been escaping straight into his blankets because his reason, which said, ‘You must not take an interest in Ignis-nim’, and his feelings, which said, ‘But isn’t it okay as long as I only cheer him on?’ kept clashing.
Then Ignis’s short messages were cut off in quick succession.
[Ignis] If you’re going to have guild members loiter around like this, 10:33 PM
[Ignis] Then you might as well just come yourself. 10:33 PM
[Ignis] Don’t make several people tired. 10:34 PM
At Yeonjun’s message, which was stained with contempt, Haein’s eyes widened. The long-winded explanation attached before it did not even enter his eyes.
Come yourself.
Come yourself.
Come yourself.
The image of a saintly halo shining brightly behind the head of Ignis-nim’s black cat beastman character shimmered before his eyes.
Ignis-nim said other people were tired? He told me to come? Ignis-nim… forgave me?
At that logic with its completely broken structure, it felt as if a lightbulb had flashed on in Haein’s head.
The surroundings, which had felt like a dark and gloomy storm all this time, seemed to clear of storm clouds in an instant and turn into a sunny midday.
Haein was so shocked that he nearly dropped his phone, then barely managed to clutch it with both hands and reply.
[Dohyun] Can I appear in front of you, hyung? 10:34 PM
At Haein’s completely unexpected reply, Yeonjun doubted his own eyes.
No, when did I ever say not to loiter in front of me?
He had meant not to send mail, send whispers, contact him casually, or send daily check-in messages like, Did you log in? You came a little late today. What time are you leaving?
In the first place, he did not own the entire game field, so he did not even have the right to tell him not to come.
Of course, if Haein really came, he would have avoided him. Still, it was absurd enough that he had vanished completely after Yeonjun said he was uncomfortable, and on top of that, as if he were trying to provoke someone, he kept sending guild members to surveil him, then asked whether he could appear.
[Ignis] No, that’s not what I meant. 10:35 PM
At Yeonjun’s correction, Haein felt his mood plummet vertically again like a roller coaster.
[Dohyun] Ah ㅠㅠㅠ So I can’t. I’m sorry. 10:36 PM
At Haein’s quick apology, Yeonjun grew anxious. Looking at Haesal made him feel strange. No, really, who am I? The fact that telling someone not to come see him could be a punishment was unbearably embarrassing. Really, who was he? The days when Yeonjun could control the entire server had ended long ago.
To everyone else, a washed-up Named should have been nothing more than disposable gossip they could hate and throw away. He could not understand why Haesal was following him around this desperately.
[Ignis] To begin with, I only go around fields, so what right do I have to stop you from coming? 10:37 PM
[Ignis] Just don’t send guild members like you are doing now. 10:37 PM
I sent guild members? Haein realized there had been some kind of misunderstanding, but that was not what mattered right now.
[Dohyun] Then can I go see you, hyung? 10:38 PM
When Haein fired a straight shot without the slightest addition, subtraction, or detour, Yeonjun’s head rang with pain.
No, it was not as if he was reciting words to a brick wall, so why was communication not working? Why go this far?
Before Yeonjun could find the answer to his question, Haein hurriedly got up and turned on his computer.
[Dohyun] I’ll log in now. 10:39 PM
[Dohyun] If you’re uncomfortable, hyung, I really won’t do anything. 10:39 PM
[Dohyun] You can just think of me as something like a tree planted on the map. 10:40 PM
What is he even saying? A tree planted on the map does not have the castle lord title, and it also is not sitting in the number one spot in the damage ranking.
‘Why are you following me around the field when you should be going to do raids and PvP right now?’ Yeonjun screamed automatically inside.
[Ignis] That’s something for you to decide on your own, Haesal-nim. 10:43 PM
[Ignis] I won’t care what you do, Haesal-nim, so know that. 10:43 PM
What came back to Yeonjun’s irritated message was Haein’s reply, with his momentum not dampened in the slightest.
[Dohyun] Yes!!!! 10:43 PM
[Dohyun] I’m really sorryㅠㅠㅠ and thank you for allowing me ㅠㅠㅠㅠ 10:44 PM
Who on earth allowed what? An ominous feeling flashed through Yeonjun’s mind, that he had gotten badly caught by something just as persistent as Chief Joo.
Meanwhile, Haein, with an expression that had recovered just a little, calmed his pounding heart and stared at the character selection screen.
The way he had been doing things until now had not earned Ignis-nim’s heart. He had to change his method somehow. If he reversed his thinking, Ignis-nim must also want something from this game.
Before other guilds noticed Ignis-nim’s return and started making a fuss, Haein had to be the first to find out what that was.
After barely going around the entire field and finding the bridge where Ignis was sitting, Haein did nothing and simply stood beside him, staring at Ignis.
He fully understood Ignis-nim’s wishes, but even so, was it remotely reasonable for someone with that level of skill to only fish? It was absolutely not something he could just stand by and watch.
‘Ignis-nim… Ignis-nim, you absolutely have to return…’
Even from a utilitarian perspective for the sake of the entire server, that was right. It was the moment when a crooked little spark was lit inside Haein’s chest.
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