『rainfall』 was, basically, a disaster that had suddenly crashed into my life. Someone who, like it or not, was decorating a page of my life, but that I wanted to break up with as fast as possible.
And that kind of guy was asking if I was going all the way with him. It felt like a shadow had fallen over my entire gaming life.
[Party]kk1234: Why are you suddenly asking something like that?
[Party]kk1234: You turned down my proposal, though
[Party]『rainfall』: You skipped the dialogue, didn’t you
With a bad feeling, 『rainfall』 went quiet for a moment. I could almost hear his sigh from beyond the monitor.
[Party]『rainfall』: This is a joint quest in a linked chain
[Party]kk1234: For real?
[Party]『rainfall』: Yeah
A linked quest line was a series of multiple quests that continued like one story. You couldn’t progress unless you cleared the previous quest, so it was easiest to form a fixed party and run them at the same time.
But you didn’t absolutely have to clear it with the people who first discovered it. You could also clear it with other people who were on the same stage of the quest.
Joint quests were different, though. The players who had been with you when you cleared the relevant quest had to be with you again when you went on to the next one, or it wouldn’t progress.
In other words, if 『rainfall』 suddenly went AFK midway through, I wouldn’t be able to progress this quest any further. The reverse was true too.
[Party]kk1234: You sure?
[Party]『rainfall』: It literally says “Gather comrades who can stay with you to the end and challenge it,” I think that’s clear enough
Classic joint-quest flavor text.
I got what 『rainfall』 meant. If I was going to do this quest, then like it or not I had to stick with 『rainfall』 to the end.
If this had popped while I was with my guildmates, I would’ve just said sure without thinking. The problem was that the other party here was 『rainfall』. Up until a few days ago he’d been chasing me around and chopping me into pieces.
We didn’t know how long this linked quest line would go, and he was saying we should stay together the whole way? The chances of something blowing up were high. Maybe we should split now and do it separately….
[Party]kk1234: Do you want to spend the rest of your life with me or what 😂
[Party]『rainfall』: If you don’t want to go to the end
『rainfall』 switched gear. That PvP-only set I was sick of seeing glowed in that creepy purple.
[Party]『rainfall』: Then it can’t be helped
[Party]kk1234: Weren’t we going all the way to the grave together? 😂
…Yeah, doing it separately was a stupid idea.
Like that thing was ever going to let me go. He’d chased me this far, and he’d even shared the quest so he could keep playing with me. There was no way I could just say, “Let’s split here.”
Even I… probably had at least that much conscience. Maybe. Either way, I was already in a state where I couldn’t hard-cut 『rainfall』 out of my life.
It’s not like the quest line was going to drag on all the way until max level. The EXP was good too, so wasn’t it better to just clear it together? Haha.
[Party]kk1234: Let’s go clear the quest then, 『rainfall』
[Party]『rainfall』: Good, wise decision
[Party]『rainfall』: Don’t get any stupid ideas before I kill you
[Party]kk1234: Yes, boss
[Party]『rainfall』: Die
[Party]kk1234: 😂😂😂
[Party]kk1234: Hey, by the way, you know what Dark-Blue Beast King is?
[Party]『rainfall』: Hold on
[Party]『rainfall』: Let’s go back to town and look it up
The area had literally just been updated today, so even for degenerates like us there was no way we had info yet. But somebody would.
At 『rainfall』’s words, I pulled out a scroll and hit the town return button. 『rainfall』 followed me and arrived in town. We moved a bit away from the swarm of people, and I immediately flipped my chat tab to [Guild].
[Guild]kk1234: Anyone know what Dark-Blue Beast King is
[Guild]Kim Mooni: Suspecting “monster”
[Guild]BlueSky: Pels Forest field boss
An answer flew back in under ten seconds.
[Guild]kk1234: Thanks, BlueSky
[Guild]Kim Mooni: Hey, what about me
[Guild]BlueSky: Conscience?
[Guild]HealiveryService: That Beast King hurts like fuck 😭 I just died from being nearby
[Guild]Kim Mooni: Trash
[Guild]HealiveryService: My damage goes in fine but it hurts just as much 😭😭
[Guild]HealiveryService: Holy Guild got the first-kill title, apparently
[Guild]Rete: Fuck
Rete, whose berserk button got mashed every time Holy Guild came up, suddenly jumped into the chat.
[Guild]DuckButtHee: I saw Holy Guild kill it 😂
[Guild]DuckButtHee: Guardian was there too, the one Rete likes?
[Guild]Rete: Shut the fuck up and follow me to the harbor
[Guild]shine..: Focus, Rete 😊
[Guild]Rete: Yes ma’am
Sounded like they were hunting together; shine.. dragged Rete away.
[Party]DuckButtHee: K, you gonna clear it?
[Party]kk1234: Yeah, picked it up as a subquest
[Party]DuckButtHee: I need it too, wanna go together??
[Party]kk1234: I’m with 『rainfall』
[Party]DuckButtHee: I don’t mind
[Party]DuckButtHee: 『rainfall』’s the one who holds a grudge against you, not me 😺👍
[Party]Kim Mooni: Facts
[Party]DuckButtHee: Honestly I’m excited
[Party]DuckButtHee: Feels like meeting a celeb
[Party]BlueSky: Get an autograph
[Party]DuckButtHee: I’ll bring back a screenshot too 😂
While I hadn’t said a single word, I’d somehow acquired a party member called DuckButtHee. With 『rainfall』 still silent, I carefully broached the subject, not sure how he’d take it.
[Party]kk1234: Hey, I don’t think just the two of us can clear this
[Party]kk1234: It’s a field boss
[Party]kk1234: Our guildie says they wanna come, you in?
[Party]『rainfall』: What class?
[Party]kk1234: Dragon Knight
Dragon Knight was DPS, 『rainfall』 was DPS, and I could tank, so what was left was a healer….
[Party]kk1234: Should we pick up a healer separately
[Party]『rainfall』: I’ll call someone
[Party]kk1234: What class
[Party]『rainfall』: Priest
If it was a Priest, that was a pure healer-type character who served as the main healer. And because it was such a noble, cash-heavy class, there were a ton of people playing it with their feet.
Before he started running around cracking my skull, 『rainfall』 had been a sucker volunteer who helped newbies. The thought that this might be one of those scrubs made a chill run down my spine.
[Party]kk1234: Their fingers are in working order, right?
[Party]『rainfall』: I don’t think they’re injured anywhere
[Party]kk1234: No, I mean do they actually know how to play
[Party]『rainfall』: They’re a ranker
[Party]kk1234: Don’t tell me you mean some “ranker” just inside your guild, right?
[Party]『rainfall』: They’re another guild’s master and a ranker by objective metrics
In that case, I had no complaints. With a four-person party, a field boss should be perfectly manageable.
[Party]kk1234: Then I’m sending the invite
[Party]『rainfall』: Do it
<‘DuckButtHee’ has been invited to the party.>
<‘DuckButtHee’ has joined the party.>
[Party]DuckButtHee: Hii~
[Party]『rainfall』: Hello
[Party]DuckButtHee: Oh, you’re in town
After checking our location on the world map, DuckButtHee turned out to be nearby and ran over quickly.
Duck showed up in a look that screamed “I dressed up to meet 『rainfall』.” The yellow raincoat and boots looked like a set with the duck hat they always wore.
<‘DuckButtHee’ greets ‘『rainfall』’.>
<‘『rainfall』’ greets ‘DuckButtHee’.>
Well, well.
Watching 『rainfall』 politely return someone’s greeting felt weird. It was like watching the vicious guard dog that had been mauling me wag its tail enthusiastically at someone else. Whether Duck knew how that made me feel or not—probably not—they hopped around excitedly.
[Party]DuckButtHee: 『rainfall』! 『rainfall』!
[Party]DuckButtHee: You’re a celeb in our guild and I’m finally meeting you like this 😺
[Party]『rainfall』: I am?
[Party]DuckButtHee: Yeah, you didn’t know?
[Party]『rainfall』: I didn’t think killing a few people would make me a celeb...
For some reason that line delighted Duck so much they spammed 😂 in the chat window.
[Whisper]DuckButtHee: I really like 『rainfall』 😺
[Whisper]kk1234: Are you insane
Duck started cracking up nonstop. Judging from how they laughed even harder at my reaction, I decided to just shut up. When I didn’t react anymore, Duck went and bounced up and down next to 『rainfall』.
[Party]DuckButtHee: 『rainfall』, 『rainfall』
[Party]DuckButtHee: Can I call you Rain?
[Party]『rainfall』: People usually shorten it to Fall
[Party]DuckButtHee: Fall 😂 Can I send you a friend request??
[Party]『rainfall』: Go ahead
What the hell is this guy?
Seeing 『rainfall』 act all sociable made my insides boil.
[Party]kk1234: Hey, DuckButtHee’s a guy
[Party]DuckButtHee: ??
[Party]DuckButtHee: I was a guy?
[Party]kk1234: No need to suck up
[Party]DuckButtHee: Uh, no??
[Party]『rainfall』: Don’t drag pure friendship through the mud
[Party]『rainfall』: You slut
[Party]DuckButtHee: “Slut” 😂😂😂
[Party]DuckButtHee: Fall, did K do something dirty to you?
[Party]『rainfall』: He suddenly came at me like “let’s get married”
[Party]DuckButtHee: Wouldn’t even do it with me
[Party]DuckButtHee: 『rainfall』, are you a guy?
[Party]『rainfall』: Yeah
Naturally, DuckButtHee dug up a piece of 『rainfall』’s personal info I hadn’t learned in a whole month.
[Party]DuckButtHee: Ahaa… so K likes guys
[Party]kk1234: The hell I do──
I mimed slashing Duck with an attack animation, and Duck just spammed 😂 in chat like this was the funniest thing in the world.
[Party]『rainfall』: They say everyone’s here
At 『rainfall』’s words, I stopped what I was doing. And soon, a system line rolled up.
<‘Guardian’ has joined the party.>
[Party]kk1234: ?
[Party]DuckButtHee: Holy shit
I rubbed my eyes, wondering if I’d seen that right.
Guardian. The guild master of Holy Guild.