Ye Uwon was absentmindedly staring at the chat when he noticed that people were crowding around him and talking about Dragon Knights. He blinked.
“Sure, some people do find Dragon Knights kind of fascinating.”
Ye Uwon knew why. The class was so rare that it was hard to even see one, and the visual design stood out a lot more than other classes. Their builds were unusually large, and their skin shifted colors constantly due to dragon scales, making them feel distinctly out of place.
Still, it hadn’t been this big of a deal before.
“Well, I didn’t really go into town that often.”
Until now, he had only played with Kim Heeyeon’s friends, so he’d rarely wandered around on his own. It was possible he just hadn’t noticed this kind of reaction before.
Either way, as he scrolled back up and read through the chat, Ye Uwon blinked and thought,
“Was it really that hard to play? I always thought it was a fun class.”
That player named Mandumangdu wasn’t exactly wrong. It was definitely a tricky class—but Ye Uwon liked it.
Saving teammates when they were about to die, influencing the outcome of the entire party—that was fun for him.
“I did originally pick it to back up Kim Heeyeon, but I got attached.”
She was the reason he’d chosen the class in the first place. He used to always play DPS in every game, but Kim Heeyeon—now his ex-girlfriend—insisted on playing DPS herself, so Ye Uwon chose a tank to support her.
Sure, he could’ve picked a healer, but healing just didn’t feel fun to him.
(Normal) YeUbeomjeol: It’s manageable. I think it’s fun.
And once he actually started leveling it, he found it so fun that he spent money on it and leveled it to max.
That’s why, when Ye Uwon said it was fun, he really meant it.
(Normal) HealPleaseIDK: ?????
(Normal) Mandumangdu: ????
(Normal) KINGKING3: ??????????PERVERT?
He didn’t expect to get nothing but question marks in response.
“Why does everyone act like this class is cursed? Did something happen?”
They were looking at Dragon Knights like some kind of pest in the chat. At this point, he had no choice but to check for himself.
Ye Uwon minimized the game window for a moment and opened the class board.
And right away, he saw the latest post was from ten days ago—and most of the posts had titles like “I’m quitting.” His jaw dropped.
Subject: Fellow Dragon Knights, I’m sorry. I’m quitting.
Ye Uwon clicked on the most recent post without hesitation.
(Community Board) (Category: Dragon Knight)
Title: Fellow Dragon Knights, I’m sorry. I’m quitting.
(Image)
Level 160... Dragon Knight proof
“They always make me take all the aggro in raids 😭
And if I lose aggro even by accident, they absolutely ream me 😭
(I’m human too, fuck—how the hell am I supposed to calculate aggro cooldowns perfectly when they can even cancel?)
I have to cover for teammates' mistakes and apply the party-wide damage-increase debuff on the boss...
(Sure, fine, I’ll manage that somehow... BUT FUCKING HELL, they expect me to dodge every single party wipe mechanic on foot with no movement skill? LOL)
Let’s be real—when we’re doing a first run, I’m also learning the fight. But if I miss aggro because I’m focusing on mechanics, it’s all my fault 😭
Also, gear options for Dragon Knights are the rarest in the whole market, so they’re the most expensive LOL...
(I’ve seen a lot, but a class that’s expensive because no one sells the gear? Fuck this shit.)
More than anything… in every raid, this class is basically a leech. I swear it’s giving me a mental breakdown. I can’t do this anymore. I should’ve just played healer or something.
I listed all my gear on the market. It’s cheap. If anyone wants it, go ahead.
I’m making a new character—a Guardian—and living a new life.
Sorry, comrades.”
👍 7 likes
Comments
🥉 aoid:
Escaping is a sign of intelligence. Hope your reincarnation is a happy one...
Author reply:
😭 Yeah. I admit it.
🥉 Oipungjak:
No one even checks this board anymore, lol. (Sincerely, a non-Dragon Knight)
🥈 8293:
You poor soul. Upvoted out of pity.
🥉 VHLJQFE:
While Guardians got like 132,568,123,987 updates, Dragon Knights got maybe one—maybe.
Even if the class has a high skill ceiling, what’s the point?
The process of getting to that ceiling is a fucking needle’s eye.
And this patch? It completely wrecked even that narrow path. Fuck.
🥉 O0dㅇ:
Honestly, yeah, Dragon Knights are next-level useful when they’re good...
But they’ve got so many downsides too.
That one guy could screw up the whole party, so I’m scared to even invite them.
🥈 ParkingPacking:
Facts. If a Dragon Knight messes up and delays the wipe mechanic, we gotta recalculate the whole strat. Screws with the pattern.
🥇 UAU:
Yup. Totally valid to quit.
Once you hit level 160+, you have to spend real money.
No reason to invest that much in a garbage-tier class.
“So they fucked up another update, huh.”
All the Dragon Knight players had ever wanted was for the class to live up to the “knight” part of its name—like other classes, they just wanted better movement and maybe a bit more damage. But with no mobility skills and way too many responsibilities compared to other classes, even the few remaining players seemed to have completely abandoned it.
“Hmm…”
Ye Uwon leaned back in his chair like he was debating something.
His motivation suddenly dipped. Even a casual search for “Dragon Knight” was filled with posts saying it was the number one class to instantly filter out in a party. Its reputation had apparently crashed straight through the floor.
And with this level of stigma, there was a high chance people wouldn’t let him join a raid at all.
“But making a new account and starting over sounds like a pain. I’d rather just quit the game entirely than go through that. I’ll try applying to a party once. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll just log off.”
With that, Ye Uwon switched the chat tab to [Party Recruitment].
[Wilt Rose (3/6)] NadaRamabaSa: ccccjusthereforrosecolorcccc
[Wilt Rose (2/6)] doas: anyone for Rose? first-time run
[Maestro (5/6)] IngongTears: need 1 more for Maestro, we go when u join
[Wilt Rose (4/6)] WhiteMintDoggo: 😭😭anyone help me with Rose trial plz (healer needed)
[Wilt Rose (3/6)] Ohaji: looking to decapitate the flowerboi, invite healer tyty
.
.
.
Ye Uwon kept scrolling. Most of the parties were recruiting for Wilt Rose, a boss from the previous season. Probably because the new Apostle, Maestro, was in the ultra-high-level range, parties for him were rare.
“Wilt Rose… that was the Apostle with the rotting rose for a head.”
He wasn’t an easy boss. The fight required a lot of teamwork, with coordinated mechanics and tons of wipe conditions that could be triggered by even the tiniest mistakes. Not really beginner-friendly content.
“Still… maybe Wilt Rose is doable for a comeback.”
Just as he was deciding to aim for Wilt Rose, something suddenly exploded in the party chat. Ye Uwon’s eyes widened.
SpiritHasArrivedBowDown: @Gisekki what the fuck gives you the right to pull politics?
SpiritHasArrivedBowDown: @Gisekki LOL when we’re short on healers and a Spirit Priest shows up, you should be fucking grateful
[Wilt Rose (3/6)] doas: anyone for Rose? first-timer here
SpiritHasArrivedBowDown: @Gisekki you’re seriously being a petty bitch about gear? I’m reporting you to the Spirit Association
While browsing the recruitment window, a random user suddenly popped up between party listings and started yelling.
It was considered bad etiquette to start talking in the recruitment channel like that. But sometimes, people fought here anyway.
“SpiritHasArrivedBowDown?”
He was flaming another user by tagging them directly. Judging by the name, he was definitely a Spirit Priest.
Spirit Priest.
The class considered pretty much royalty among healers in this game.
The character design was gorgeous, the abilities were strong as hell. They could heal, deal decent DPS, and even buff the party’s defense—making them top-tier among all healer classes.
And because of that, there were actually a decent number of them around…
“Still not enough, though.”
In any game, healers were always in short supply. You needed at least one or two in every six-man party.
The problem was the attitude of the Spirit Priests.
(Normal) Vanguard: Ugh, here we go again.
(Normal) MosantaJa: Oh, that class again...?
(Normal) Vanguard: Shhh...
Spirit Priests were so organized they even had their own association.
Which, on the surface, didn’t seem like a bad thing. Members of the association shared tons of info and perks with each other. From the outside, it just looked like a tight-knit community.
But in practice, it was basically a dictatorship.
Spirit Priests didn’t join any guilds except the Association. Or more accurately—they couldn’t unless they had the Association Leader’s permission.
And if a Spirit Priest tried to break away from that?
“They’d get blocked from crafting gear.”
You could pretty much call their career over at that point.