[Guild] TodayIsSunday: for low levels
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: Atre set is the go-to, right?
[Guild] Maha: yeah
[Guild] rxrx78: probably
[Guild] rxrx78: base stats are decent
[Guild] rxrx78: if you just upgrade it a bit per level it’s usable
[Guild] Maha: but not the weapon
[Guild] Maha: armor only
After clearing the tower dungeon safely, the first thing I did was dig around for gear to give Ilhwiilbi.
This lunatic—sure, gear doesn’t matter much before max level, but how are you running around in stuff barely wearable at level 10?
Problem was, I wasn’t the type to raise alts, and for the past year I’d been too busy preparing for guild wars against Heunjeok to know what low-level players even used.
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: then what weapon do they use?
This was exactly what guilds were for. Luckily, ours was full of perfect walking databases—guys who wasted their time raising alts whenever they got bored.
[Guild] TurnTheLightsOn: who’s it for?
[Guild] TurnTheLightsOn: you raising an alt?
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: nah
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: a tracker
[Guild] Maha: lol
[Guild] GoodWeather: Ilhwiilbi is a tracker, right?
[Guild] Ryupe: oh? this is totally...
[Guild] Astaroth: wait
[Guild] Astaroth: you’re buying it for that newbie??
[Guild] Yeoyeorang: if it’s low-level tracker, anything with atk speed 3+ is fine
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: thx
[Guild] Maha: if you’re going that far
[Guild] Maha: just bring him into the guild
[Guild] Maha: what even is this
[Guild] rxrx78: fr you keep meeting him in secret
[Guild] rxrx78: just recruit him and date openly
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: noㅡㅡ
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: it’s because he’s wearing garbage gear
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: there’s a limit and he crossed it
[Guild] MovieIsSoSo: at that point
[Guild] MovieIsSoSo: couldn’t you just buy something from the shop and toss it to him
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: are you insane?
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: if I give him that, Heunjeok’s gonna laugh his ass off;;
[Guild] Maha: what a pointless pride
[Guild] MovieIsSoSo: ohhh so you’re going all in on Ilhwiilbi = Heunjeok? LMAO
[Guild] Ryupe: if Sunday says so, what can we do
[Guild] GoodWeather: hmm
[Guild] GoodWeather: I still don’t think so tho
[Guild] Maha: same
[Guild] IOnlyHave6000Won: but if Ilhwiilbi ≠ Heunjeok then what?
[Guild] IOnlyHave6000Won: if he is Heunjeok it’s break-even
[Guild] IOnlyHave6000Won: but if not...
[Guild] Maha: then you just embarrass yourself and that’s it
‘If Ilhwiilbi isn’t Heunjeok….’
I thought about it for a second, then shook my head and opened the auction house.
There was no way. The feeling I got in that raid dungeon was still too vivid.
When I tested whether Ilhwiilbi was Heunjeok, he’d tested me too—whether I could recognize him. The way he treated me, his gameplay, even his thought process. No matter how I looked at it, Ilhwiilbi was Heunjeok.
‘Also, there’s only one psycho who acts like that toward me.’
Shaking off the unease, I started browsing seriously. Atre set, right. Weapon should be a dagger with attack speed… ah, right.
[Party] TodayIsSunday: what level are you now
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: huh?
Ilhwiilbi, who had been quietly sitting next to me while I talked in guild chat and browsed the auction house, answered right away.
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: I’m 72 now
Wasn’t he in the 60s before? Guess he got a decent chunk of EXP from the tower.
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: are you buying me gear?
Sharp where it doesn’t matter.
I was planning to, but I didn’t feel like admitting it, so I ignored him and kept searching. Maybe because I didn’t respond, Ilhwiilbi suddenly started chattering excitedly.
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: why?
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: you feel bad seeing me get hit?
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: if you’re buying anyway get me something good
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: there’s something I wanted to buy later
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: get me that
[Party] TodayIsSunday: ;;
[Party] TodayIsSunday: shameless as hell
[Party] TodayIsSunday: what is itㅡㅡ
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: lol
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: Eclipse R-version +7 daggerㅎㅎ
Eclipse R-version dagger? +7?
I searched for it and frowned.
[Party] TodayIsSunday: this is max-level gear
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: yeah I marked it for when I hit max^.^~
[Party] TodayIsSunday: are you insane LMAO
You’re running around in rags and asking me to buy you endgame gear? And it was expensive too.
[Party] TodayIsSunday: don’t tell me you skipped buying gear
[Party] TodayIsSunday: just to get this at max level
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: no way
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: I just didn’t buy anything cuz it’s annoying rn
[Party] TodayIsSunday: then buy it yourself when you hit max, idiot
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: if you’re buying anyway just get that one
Seriously, what confidence is he running on?
Wait… what if he’s not Heunjeok and just some scammer pretending to be him to rip me off?
[Party] TodayIsSunday: you can’t even equip it before max level
[Party] TodayIsSunday: just wear the Atre set
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: aww 😭😭
Ignoring his fake whining, I was just about to buy the Atre set when—
A bright red system message exploded across the top of the screen.
[Server] NoFuture: The guild master of Another, Heunjeok, has safely returned after one month!^^
[Server] NoFuture: The Another guild, which had been inactive, will now resume activitiesㅎ
“…What?”
[Server] NoFuture: Guild applications open starting tomorrow~
“What?”
I stared blankly at the message.
Another is resuming? Heunjeok returned after a month?
“What the hell—?!”
I shot to my feet, grabbing the monitor, staring at the screen—but the message didn’t change.
What kind of bullshit is this? Heunjeok is back? Ilhwiilbi is right next to me—what the hell is this supposed to mean?!
[Guild] Yeoyeorang: ????
[Guild] IOnlyHave6000Won: what the **??
[Guild] Yeoyeorang: did you guys see that broadcast?
[Guild] Astaroth: my eyes aren’t messing with me, right?
[Guild] Astaroth: Heunjeok??
[Guild] rxrx78: ?
[Guild] Maha: says Heunjeok came back
[Guild] Maha: thought Ilhwiilbi was him?
[Guild] MovieIsSoSo: wait what the hell????
[Guild] TurnTheLightsOn: NoFuture<- he’s Another’s vice master right?
[Guild] GoodWeather: yeah he became guild master after Heunjeok deleted his account
[Guild] Astaroth: damn..
[Guild] Astaroth: so did he really come back?
Just like me, everyone in the guild was confused.
While I stood there stunned, Maha quickly dug up more info and continued.
[Guild] Maha: checked guild info
[Guild] Maha: Heunjeok is listed as guild master again
[Guild] Maha: NoFuture got demoted back to vice
[Guild] GoodWeather: holy shit...
[Guild] Sky004: damn
Snapping back to my senses, I quickly opened the guild info window and searched for “Another.”
And sure enough—
Guild Master: heunJeok
‘Then… who the hell is Ilhwiilbi?’
As I scrolled down the window, Ilhwiilbi—standing right next to me—came into view.
So… he’s really not Heunjeok?
Did I get it wrong?
My thoughts tangled into a mess. I couldn’t believe this was all just my misunderstanding.
While I stood there, stunned, Ilhwiilbi spoke.
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: hmm what
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: Oil?
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: I think I need to go check something
[Party] Ilhwiilbi: wait a sec
“Wait—what….”
“I’ll check,” he said—and then he left the party.
No—his character disappeared entirely.
I sat there for a moment, hands on the keyboard, staring blankly. Then the anger surged up all at once, making my body tremble.
“This bastard… did he just run?”
A hollow laugh slipped out.
He knew full well I thought he was Heunjeok—and he just vanished without a single explanation.
The irritation burned hot in my chest as I pressed hard against my furrowed brow.
Calm down. Losing my temper wouldn’t change anything. He was already gone, and this wasn’t the kind of situation where I could just sit there spacing out.
‘No matter how I think about it, something’s off. If Ilhwiilbi isn’t Heunjeok, there’s too much that doesn’t make sense.’
Forcing myself to settle, I replayed our first meeting.
He was getting PK’d—I helped him. And he talked to me like we’d known each other forever. It was basically picking a fight, but still.
Everything after that only made sense if he was Heunjeok. The way he knew exactly how to provoke me, how to get a reaction.
The more I thought about it, the more certain I became.
“God, this is driving me insane.”
It frustrated me—still believing Ilhwiilbi was Heunjeok even after he disappeared without explanation.
Letting out a long sigh, I reopened the guild info window I’d pushed aside earlier.
“…Huh?”
Something was different.
Something in Another’s guild info—something that hadn’t been there before.