“The nickname’s different.”
Originally, Heunjeok’s nickname had been ‘heunjeok.’
But the guild master shown in the info window now was ‘heunJeok.’
‘He slipped in a capital letter in the middle.’
Why? If it was really a recovered account, there’d be no reason to change the nickname.
‘Yeah… this feels off.’
Even setting aside Ilhwiilbi deceiving me, there was a real possibility that this “returned” Heunjeok wasn’t the real one either.
[Guild] Maha: wait
[Guild] Maha: looking again
[Guild] Maha: the nickname’s different
[Guild] Maha: capitalization changed
[Guild] TurnTheLightsOn: oh
[Guild] Yeoyeorang: just noticed too
[Guild] Yeoyeorang: is that really Heunjeok??
So it wasn’t just me—the others caught it too.
I rubbed my chin, thinking, then opened my friend request window and sent one to ‘heunJeok.’
But even after waiting several minutes, he didn’t accept.
So that’s how it is.
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: sent a friend request, not accepting
[Guild] Sky004: this smells fishy
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: who’s free right now
[Guild] Astaroth: me
[Guild] Sky004: here
[Guild] TurnTheLightsOn: was gonna do dailies but can wait
[Guild] rxrx78: niceeee
[Guild] Yeoyeorang: me too~
[Guild] Maha: you gonna track him?
[Guild] Maha: want me to call people from the group chat?
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: yeah
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: keep it low-key and search
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: if the nickname changed, it’s probably a new account, not the old one
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: if he hit max in a month and just joined the guild
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: he won’t be able to enter the guild hall yet
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: so he’ll be at Porpe Island where Another hangs out
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: or in crowded raid entrances or plazas
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: check those first
[Guild] Maha: LOLOL
[Guild] TurnTheLightsOn: got it
[Guild] rxrx78: heading to north continent~
If NoFuture had brought in a stand-in and staged it like Heunjeok’s return, then they’d either be introducing him to existing guild members at Porpe Island, or deliberately showing him off in crowded areas like raid entrances or city plazas.
That way, people who saw ‘heunJeok’ would assume he really came back. And even if someone later noticed the nickname difference, they could just say it changed during account deletion and recovery.
‘All of this assumes that “returned” Heunjeok isn’t the real one, though.’
Even if the guild found him, the only way to know for sure would be to talk to him directly.
Meanwhile, more guild members logged in as Maha relayed the situation in the group chat.
[Guild] LookAtOurTeamPersonality: ran here mid-assignment...
[Guild] rxrx78: isn’t it break right now?
[Guild] LookAtOurTeamPersonality: ah, busted
[Guild] Ryupe: lmao
[Guild] MeowMeowRawr: hii~
[Guild] GoodWeather: who’s taking west?
[Guild] Maha: you can go
[Guild] GoodWeather: go
I quietly watched them move efficiently and waited.
About twenty minutes later—
[Guild] GoodWeather: found him
[Guild] GoodWeather: Shutel city plaza
Just like I expected.
***
I headed straight to the location with Maha.
The others wanted to come too, but I stopped them. If things escalated into a fight, it’d get messy. Right now, the only thing that mattered was confirming whether that “Heunjeok” was the real one.
When we arrived at the central plaza of Shutel, I saw ‘heunJeok’ standing near an NPC—with NoFuture beside him.
It wasn’t intentional, but the numbers matched perfectly: just me and Maha on our side.
[Global] TodayIsSunday: why aren’t you accepting my friend request?
No need for greetings. I got straight to the point.
Only then did NoFuture react.
[Global] NoFuture: ?
[Global] TodayIsSunday: sent one to Heunjeok but you didn’t accept
[Global] TodayIsSunday: came to ask in person~
While typing casually, I checked ‘heunJeok’s gear.
It wasn’t 공개, so I couldn’t see exact stats—but visually, it looked the same as before.
Light blue hair flowing down to the waist, eastern-style outfit.
But the weapon at his waist was different.
‘Right… Heunjeok’s weapon was a limited item.’
A blade-class weapon no longer sold, with endgame stats, always glowing blue.
The one he had now didn’t glow at all.
That confirmed it—this wasn’t a restored account. It was a new one.
I took a screenshot, just in case.
[Global] TodayIsSunday: why no answer?
[Global] TodayIsSunday: you were moving just now, don’t tell me you went AFK LOLOL
[Global] NoFuture: what’s this all of a sudden?
[Global] NoFuture: picking a fight?
[Global] TodayIsSunday: picking a fight?
[Global] TodayIsSunday: I just asked a question
[Global] TodayIsSunday: want me to show you what a real fight looks like?
[Global] NoFuture: ? LOOOL
The irritation kept building.
NoFuture wasn’t the type to step in like this. He always stayed behind Heunjeok, silent, even when I argued with him.
But now? He was actively interfering—like he was trying to cover for ‘heunJeok.’
[Global] TodayIsSunday: kinda disappointing
[Global] TodayIsSunday: we played together for a year, didn’t we?
[Global] TodayIsSunday: I even sent a friend request to congratulate your return, and you ignore it
[Global] heunJeok: sry
Then—finally, the new “Heunjeok” spoke.
[Global] heunJeok: just came back a few hours ago
[Global] heunJeok: been busy with stuffㅎ
[Global] TodayIsSunday: ah~
[Global] TodayIsSunday: makes sense
[Global] TodayIsSunday: so why not accept the request?
[Global] heunJeok: why should I?
Why should he?
Reading that, I slowly curled my lips into a smile.
[Global] TodayIsSunday: fair enough
[Global] TodayIsSunday: must be busy adjusting after a month, right?
[Global] TodayIsSunday: but your gear changed?
[Global] TodayIsSunday: and your nickname’s a bit… off? LMAO
[Global] NoFuture: what does that have to do with you
[Global] NoFuture: get to the point
There he goes again.
Whatever. I already got what I needed.
[Global] TodayIsSunday: the point? kk kk
[Global] TodayIsSunday: grats on your return
[Global] heunJeok: thx
That was enough.
I messaged Maha to leave and warped to another city. He followed, then asked in guild chat.
[Guild] Maha: so?
[Guild] Maha: conclusion?
[Guild] rxrx78: kinda feels like Heunjeok?
[Guild] Astaroth: the attitude kinda matches
Everyone who saw Maha’s screenshots started giving their opinions.
I reread mine—the screenshots, the chat logs.
But no matter how many times I looked, my conclusion didn’t change.
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: not Heunjeok
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: different guy
[Guild] Maha: ?
[Guild] MovieIsSoSo: huh why?
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: I used polite speech and he didn’t react
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: the vice master interfered way too much
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: it’s completely different from how Heunjeok acts
[Guild] Sky004: yeah he barely talked
[Guild] Sky004: NoFuture answered everything
[Guild] Maha: NoFuture’s not usually like that either
[Guild] Maha: something’s off
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: if it were really Heunjeok
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: he would’ve gone off the moment I used polite speech, 100% LOLOL
[Guild] TurnTheLightsOn: LMAO
[Guild] IOnlyHave6000Won: oh I get it LMAO
[Guild] GoodWeather: fr
[Guild] GoodWeather: he would’ve nitpicked your tone immediately LOLOL
[Guild] Maha: I can see it
[Guild] Maha: so basically this Heunjeok isn’t real
[Guild] Maha: then Ilhwiilbi is the real one?
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: don’t know
[Guild] Maha: ????
[Guild] MeowMeowRawr: huh??
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: that bastard disappeared too
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: might not be him either
[Guild] Yeoyeorang: damn…
Yeah.
Total chaos.
Who the hell is the real Heunjeok?
Ilhwiilbi?
Or the ‘heunJeok’ NoFuture brought in?
Or… neither of them?
Thinking hard, I opened the friend request window again—and this time, sent one to Ilhwiilbi.
The moment that server message appeared, he disappeared.
I need to meet him again.