💔
“Jin Yimoo! Over here.”
Maybe because it was right around dinnertime, the restaurant was bustling with customers. Between the tightly packed tables, Mokha raised her hand and waved. Yimoo, who had just walked in through the door, headed toward her.
“Hey, long time no see?”
“We saw each other in-game yesterday.”
“That doesn’t count, does it?”
It had been a while since Mokha and Yimoo last met offline. They saw each other all the time in-game, so it didn’t really feel like it……
“Haven’t seen that face in a while.”
“Look who’s talking.”
Mokha and Yimoo looked completely different from the characters they had customized for themselves.
Park Mokha’s character, Americano, was a tall, sharp-featured, handsome man with thick eyebrows, striking features, and long hair. In contrast, her real-life appearance was quite the opposite—short, with curly short hair and a round, soft face that made her look much younger than her age. On top of that, the oversized knit sweater she wore made her look even more petite.
On the other hand, Jin Yimoo’s character, Limousine, had long black braided hair and slightly droopy eyes, giving off a clever impression that straddled the line between boyish and youthful manhood. Standing next to Americano, he was also noticeably shorter. This look had come about through Mokha’s strong insistence and coaching, claiming, ‘You already look like a jerk just standing there, so at least tone it down with the visuals.’
In reality, though, Yimoo was a young man with a not-so-small height in the upper 170s and sharp, fierce-looking eyes. His bright brown hair and three earrings gave him a slightly flashy look—not intentional, but it was there. You couldn’t really tell from his character’s appearance in-game, but offline, one look at his face and people often assumed he was trouble. Back in school, he was frequently mistaken for a delinquent. Fortunately, his casual clothes helped soften his sharp image a bit. He had just thrown on whatever was lying around, but still.
As soon as Yimoo sat down, Mokha called over the server and placed the order. Since they were old friends, the ordering went smoothly without needing to ask what the other wanted. Soon, the charcoal grill was brought out, and the meat arrived. As the one being treated, Yimoo naturally picked up the tongs and placed the meat on the grill. The sizzling sound instantly made his mouth water.
“So.”
“Yeah?”
“What’s with you and World Map? Why are you flirting again?”
Mokha, who had been drinking water, froze at the indifferent question. A moment of silence passed. Only the sound of meat sizzling and the bustling white noise of the restaurant filled the space. After a long pause, Mokha finally spoke.
“……Is it that obvious?”
“You went into a PvP duo together. What do you think? Isn’t that why you called me?”
That was true, but being hit with it first made Mokha feel a little unfair. She mumbled under her breath. No, I just called you because I promised to buy you meat…… That’s all…… Of course, Yimoo had already figured out Mokha’s true intentions long ago and didn’t bother responding.
“I never thought it would turn out like this.”
In the end, Mokha spilled everything that had happened. She had so much to say that her story got longer and longer the more she talked. Yimoo half-listened, filtering through it as he summarized the gist of it.
Americano had first met World Map on the update day. She had been running around doing main quests when he suddenly appeared and suggested teaming up since it looked like they were on the same quest.
Being naturally sociable, Americano agreed without much thought. They got along quite well, and she thought they had become friends. But then, she happened to overhear a conversation where World Map admitted he only partied with her to take advantage of her popularity and quest contributions. Shocked, Americano blocked him and continued her main quests, only to find out that World Map was interfering with her quest progress at every turn. That’s when she called in Limousine. After that, World Map apologized and persistently followed her around, and somehow they ended up flirting again. That was the story.
Yimoo clicked his tongue. So sharply, in fact, that a customer at the next table glanced over.
“Back to being a pushover again?”
“Shit…… So it really looks that way, huh?”
I mean, if you blocked someone, you should’ve just cut them off for good—what’s with letting them follow you around and even flirting again? As someone who was ruthlessly clear-cut when it came to relationships, Yimoo couldn’t understand it at all. Honestly, most of Mokha’s romances were like this, so it never really made sense to him.
“Who you online date isn’t really my business.”
“……”
“But I’d prefer if you didn’t go around being called a pushover in-game, too.”
While playing the game, Mokha faced tons of in-game politics and drama because of her unique presence and popularity. She didn’t go out of her way to hide it, and she didn’t exactly have a face that could be hidden, so she had no choice but to endure the backlash and keep playing.
Anyone, no matter who they are, gets hurt if negativity continues to pile on. Sure, some people have higher or lower thresholds, and some bounce back faster than others, but no one is completely immune. Yimoo knew just how vulnerable Mokha was to things like that. Honestly, as her friend, he wished she would just quit…… but if she did, she wouldn’t be Park Mokha.
Mokha let out a sigh.
“What do you want me to do if I started to like him……? It’s seriously pissing me off……”
Without a word, Yimoo held out his glass. With a clink, the sound of alcohol being swallowed followed.
“Anyway, what’s the deal with Jaheun-nim?”
After spending a while focused solely on eating, that was the topic that finally came up. What deal? It just kind of worked out. Yimoo muttered an indifferent response. Mokha frowned at the lack of effort in the answer.
“Jin Yimoo, can you put some soul into your words, please?”
“Why?”
“Honestly, I get that you might’ve been hanging around together because of the Bond or whatever, but I didn’t expect you to bring him into the clan. The rumors about Jaheun-nim are really bad, you know?”
“……Are they that bad?”
“Yeah.”
To be honest, Yimoo wasn’t someone who kept up with gossip. The fact that he had even heard the name meant it had to be pretty intense, but he didn’t know exactly what was being said or how. On the flip side, Mokha had a wide network and often picked up news about all sorts of people.
Yimoo was already curious about what kind of mess this guy had made. As the one who brought him in, of course, he was hoping things wouldn’t blow up too badly. In response to Yimoo’s question, Mokha began counting on her fingers.
“The most famous one is the <Jaju> clan incident.”
“He was in a clan?”
“Yeah. But it was a long time ago. I don’t remember it clearly either…… I think there was a fight between Jaheun-nim and someone else during a clan dungeon run over how to handle a boss mechanic. Apparently, Jaheun-nim insisted on a difficult strat just to optimize his DPS…… But the one who got stuck with the hard role was just a casual player. So that person got pissed off and made a post on the forums, and it turned into a whole mess about hardcore versus casual players. The <Jaju> clan sided with the person, saying Jaheun-nim went too far, and he ended up getting kicked out.”
DPS optimization? If there was a casual player in the mix, it’s not like they were going for the rankings. What DPS was he even trying to push? And if that mattered to him, why was he doing raids in random public parties? Didn’t he have any friends……? The only dungeon run Yimoo had ever seen Jaheun in was that first-time group with Moto and Ratan, so he really had no idea.
“After that…… he joined a clan called <Forest>.”
“He joined another one?”
“Yeah, I mean, joining a clan is usually better overall.”
True enough. Yimoo himself had made that very pitch to Jaheun a few days ago.
“<Forest> was a fairly big clan. They used to run raids regularly as a clan, but…… what was the hot item back then? Spring Festival gear? Jaheun-nim apparently tried to secure the loot for himself ahead of time by scheming behind the other members’ backs. Like threatening, bribing, swaying opinions…… That one also ended with the clan posting a public notice and kicking him out.”
“How does he even get exposed on the forums that often?”
“Right?”
It was a kind of talent, really—managing to have every single incident broadcasted like that. Maybe there used to be a tradition of publicly reporting and kicking people out through the forums? I don’t check them much, so who knows……
“After getting kicked out publicly twice like that, no decent clans would take him in anymore, and maybe his pride took a hit too, ‘cause it didn’t seem like he tried to join another. But even after that, people keep posting about how he does stuff in public parties—like stealing DPS rankings, causing drama, going on random PK sprees in the field, that sort of thing.”
“He’s super popular……”
Safe to say Jaheun wasn’t the only schemer in the game, but the fact that he alone kept making the rounds like this was kind of impressive. Total superstar behavior.
“But honestly, I think his notoriety just feeds into itself now. These days, people post exposés over the smallest things. Even when you read the chat logs and what he said wasn’t actually wrong, just the fact that it came from Jaheun-nim makes everyone go, ‘Ugh, typical toxic jerk.’ Image really is everything. You should be careful, too.”
“Why me?”
“I mean, if we compare tone of voice……”
Mokha trailed off quickly. Yimoo narrowed his eyes. What. I’m fun as hell to hang out with.
“Seriously, you must have a blessing when it comes to social luck. Our Yimoo goes around saying all kinds of awful things and still lives just fine……”
“Wanna die?”
They bickered as they mixed drinks. The beer bottle emptied quickly.
“Whether Jaheun-nim changed after going through hardship, or he’s just hiding his true nature, or there’s some other backstory—I really don’t know. But from what I’ve seen so far, he just seems like a normal, decent guy.”
Exactly. Yimoo nodded in agreement at Mokha’s words, and she gave a little chuckle.
“Well, you never know. Honestly, even if Jaheun-nim suddenly snaps and starts acting like a jerk, we’ve got Limousine on our side, so I’m not really worried. Jaheun? Who cares? We’ve got the clan leader.”
……Was that a compliment? It felt more like an insult. Or maybe I’m just too drunk to tell if that was praise? Yimoo squinted. Mokha, either oblivious or pretending not to notice his confusion, giggled and patted his shoulder.
“Don’t overthink it. Just file it under ‘good to know.’ I mean, even though I’ve heard all this stuff, I don’t really dislike Jaheun-nim. He’s good at the game.”
“He’s really good.”
“He’s cool as hell.”
That clutch carry in the dungeon? Still insane even thinking about it. And his PvP? Seriously top-tier. Yeah, I noticed during the Clan War too. His sense for timing and positioning is amazing. Like idol fans gossiping, the two murmured in admiration, refilled their drinks, and clinked their glasses.
“He’s really had a wild ride in the game, huh……”
“Living a smooth in-game life is so hard, right?”
“Most people quit games because they hit a wall with in-game relationships.”
“People get into online games because they love socializing, and then they end up quitting because of people? It’s so ironic.”
“Right? Just the other day……”
Once they got talking, it was like a dam had broken. They had endless things to say. Over the next few hours, Yimoo and Mokha refilled the meat a couple more times and went through maybe four or five more rounds of drinks, chatting late into the night. Naturally, they stuck to talking exclusively about the game the entire time—true gamer trash to the core.