Did I skip too many steps in the middle? Well, whatever. Since I needed to explain it better, I started by opening a party window first.
[All] TodayIsSunday: first
[All] TodayIsSunday: come here
Even if there weren’t any players nearby, using all-chat was risky. When it came to anything related to Heunjeok, I didn’t really want anyone else overhearing if I could help it.
[All] Ilhwiilbi: okaaay
He’d been prickly just a second ago, but maybe his mood had improved already, because Ilhwiilbi joined the party right away. Good. Much better.
[Party] TodayIsSunday: look closely
[Party] TodayIsSunday: this is a really rare pet
[Party] TodayIsSunday: only one person on the whole server has this pet
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: ooh~
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: definitely worth calling me all the way over just to flex haha
[Party] TodayIsSunday: ㅡㅡ
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: lmao
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: so?
[Party] TodayIsSunday: so
‘Wait, what am I even supposed to say?’
I’d suddenly shown him this cat that Heunjeok knew very well, hoping to gauge his reaction, but… no matter how I looked at it, this felt like a complete failure.
‘…Ugh, what a pain. Whatever.’
Why was I even using this much brainpower on something so stupidly simple? Getting fed up, I just went straight for the point.
[Party] TodayIsSunday: you’re Heunjeok, right?
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: ????
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: huh??
Maybe that was too direct, but since I’d already blurted it out, I just shoved forward recklessly.
[Party] TodayIsSunday: no?
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: that’s way too random
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: we were talking about the pet
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: why are you suddenly asking that?
[Party] TodayIsSunday: what, people can ask random stuff
[Party] TodayIsSunday: does something like this need a reason?
[Party] TodayIsSunday: so is it yes or no
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: who knows?
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: what do you think?
This bastard was pulling his usual crap again. Seriously, he had never once made anything easy.
[Party] TodayIsSunday: if you’re Heunjeok I’ll let you into the guild
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: oh really?
[Party] TodayIsSunday: yeah
[Party] TodayIsSunday: I need to drag a rude little bastard like you into my guild
[Party] TodayIsSunday: and work you to death
[Party] TodayIsSunday: make you call me guild master
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: that’s so childish lmaoooooo
[Party] TodayIsSunday: like I care if it’s childish
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: lmaoooooooo
Apparently finding this hysterical, Ilhwiilbi snickered for a while before replying in a much softer tone than before.
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: yep that’s right
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: I’m Heunjeok
[Party] TodayIsSunday: ?
[Party] TodayIsSunday: you’re admitting it that easily?
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: you said you’d let Heunjeok join the guild
“……”
I let out a sigh and pressed a hand to my forehead. Had I smeared honey all over my guild or something? Why was he so obsessed with joining?
[Party] TodayIsSunday: actually I lied
[Party] TodayIsSunday: gonna block you right now
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: I lied too
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: I’m not Heunjeok lol
[Party] TodayIsSunday: lmao ffs
At this rate, this could go on all day and never end. No one messed with me like this except Heunjeok, so I was sure Ilhwiilbi was his alt, but all I had was suspicion, no hard proof.
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: then how about this, Oil
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: what if we do it like this?
[Party] TodayIsSunday: ?
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: if you’re curious whether I’m Heunjeok or not
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: why not put me in the guild and gather evidence?
[Party] TodayIsSunday: lmaoooo what??
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: it’s a totally great idea, right? right?
[Party] TodayIsSunday: that’s a totally shit idea
At this rate I’d be up all night. Rather than dragging out this pointless conversation, it’d be better to start phase two. I summoned a horse mount that two people could ride.
[Party] TodayIsSunday: get on
Ilhwiilbi stared at the horse for a moment, then obediently climbed on. Weird. He was listening way too well today.
[Party] TodayIsSunday: evidence, whatever
[Party] TodayIsSunday: I can find it without the guild
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: how?
[Party] TodayIsSunday: just go first
After climbing up behind Ilhwiilbi, I headed toward the destination I’d already picked out.
***
Maha, who’d come at my call, clicked his tongue the moment he saw the scene spread out in front of him.
[Party] Maha: every time you do stuff like this
[Party] Maha: why do I end up feeling embarrassed
[Party] TodayIsSunday: what?
The place I’d brought Ilhwiilbi to was the wine cellar map where the weakest field boss monster spawned.
It appeared constantly in every channel, and because it reset within ten minutes of dying, it was one of the easiest field bosses in the game to find. The quest for it usually popped around level 80, so for someone around level 60 like Ilhwiilbi, it should’ve been a perfectly reasonable opponent.
‘That is, if this Ilhwiilbi really is Heunjeok’s alt.’
Mm. Letting out a satisfied little hum, I watched Ilhwiilbi stand face-to-face with the witch-shaped boss monster.
At that moment, Maha—dragged here as my witness—apparently couldn’t hold it in anymore, and sent a guild chat message where Ilhwiilbi wouldn’t see.
[Guild] Maha: wait but does this really count as evidence?
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: when that bastard had a bounty on him last time
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: you saw him dodge every attack and run away
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: that’s not newbie skill
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: gotta watch him fight mobs and see how good his control really is
[Guild] MovieIsSoSo: what are you two doing?
[Guild] Maha: I get what you mean
[Guild] Maha: but…
Maha trailed off awkwardly.
WHAM!
Perfect timing—Ilhwiilbi got smacked by the monster’s attack and went flying, slamming into the ground.
“……”
[Guild] Maha: wow he actually sucks
For a second I thought I’d typed that.
‘What the hell, why is he this bad?’
If he couldn’t even dodge that, how was he planning to survive in this brutal online world?
Once he got hit once, he completely lost the attack pattern. Ilhwiilbi got smacked nonstop, bouncing all over the place.
What was he, a rubber ball?
His HP started dropping in huge chunks, and eventually his character let out a dying groan and collapsed. I stared blankly at his HP bar, now pitch black from being completely drained.
[Guild] Maha: keep this up
[Guild] Maha: and you’re gonna get reported as some rotten veteran bullying a newbie
[Guild] MovieIsSoSo: what’s going on???
[Guild] Sky004: if it’s Sunday-nim then valid lol
[Guild] GoodWeather: what are you doing right now?
Ugh, what report? I’m telling you, this bastard is not a newbie.
Feeling unfairly accused, I ran over and quickly hit revive on Ilhwiilbi.
[Party] TodayIsSunday: it’s way too obvious
[Party] TodayIsSunday: stop acting already;;;
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: I’m not acting 😭😭
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: how am I supposed to kill that
[Party] TodayIsSunday: why can’t you?
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: my damage doesn’t go through
[Party] TodayIsSunday: damage my ass, you were just getting hit nonstop
God, this was frustrating. I tossed Ilhwiilbi a full-heal HP potion and equipped my weapon.
As soon as the freshly revived Ilhwiilbi got back up, the boss monster prowling nearby charged at us again. I shoved him behind me and swung my staff wide.
CRACK.
With a sound like smashing a pumpkin, the monster took the blow to the head, staggering as its HP chunked down hard. Even though it was technically a field boss, it was so weak I didn’t even need skills.
A couple more swings of the staff later, the monster couldn’t endure the damage and dropped dead.
A boss defeat message appeared, and the whole party got EXP.
Didn’t matter much for me and Maha since we were already max level, but for Ilhwiilbi, who still had a bit of a level gap with the boss, it was probably pretty solid EXP.
As I stared at the monster’s body crumbling into ash, I fell into thought.
‘Was this monster too strong?’
I’d only come here to check his skill, but I hadn’t expected his damage to be this nonexistent. This was already the weakest field boss there was. Maybe a dungeon would be better instead?
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: anyone know a good dungeon for around lvl 60?
[Guild] Yeoyeorang: Eiffel Raid?
[Guild] Yeoyeorang: they patched it last time so the exp is really good
I see. As expected, the guild members who spent all day leveling alts knew this stuff better than I did.
If it was Eiffel, that was the dungeon on the North Continent, right? A little far, but it didn’t matter since we’d just hop via the city save point anyway.
[Guild] GoodWeather: why a lvl 60 dungeon?
[Guild] GoodWeather: raising an alt?
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: nah
[Guild] Maha: not raising an alt
[Guild] Maha: more like raising a newbie
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: what are you talking about
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: I’m trying to figure out if he’s Heunjeok’s alt
[Guild] Maha: you’re literally power-leveling him your ass off right now lmaooo
[Guild] Maha: why did you even call me here ffs
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: you need to stand nearby and gather evidence too ㅡㅡ
[Guild] GoodWeather: omg I wanna come too
[Guild] rxrx78: me too
[Guild] MeowMeowRawr: you’re power-leveling Ilhwiilbi??
[Guild] MeowMeowRawr: kitty wants in too~><
[Guild] MovieIsSoSo: me too 33333
[Guild] Sky004: first-come-first-served is insane lmaooo
Ignoring my guild members, who as always did whatever they wanted instead of listening to me, I summoned the horse again.
[Party] TodayIsSunday: get on, changing locations
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: where are we going now?
[Party] TodayIsSunday: yeah
Even with my half-hearted reply, Ilhwiilbi climbed right onto the horse.
There was no way this bastard also thought I was power-leveling him, right?
Carrying that suspicious thought with me, I moved us to the city on the North Continent.