[Guild] Yoo Chae: Hyung.
[Guild] Yoo Chae: You need Rinne Feathers, right?
[Guild] Yoo Chae: Want me to give you some??
[Guild] JeoJollyeoyo: Yeah. How many do you have?
[Guild] Yoo Chae: I've got 50.
[Guild] JeoJollyeoyo: Give me all of them.
[Guild] Yoo Chae: Haha, sure. Where are you right now?
[Guild] JeoJollyeoyo: Kelp Forest fast travel point.
It's already been four days since I joined the guild.
The first day, I was so shocked that I couldn't leave the guild that I just quit the game. The second day, I was creeped out by Yoo Chae's stalking. But by the third day, I had settled down a bit, and now, on the fourth day, I'm getting a little used to it.
[Guild] Yoo Chae: Hyung, what level are you now?
[Guild] JeoJollyeoyo: 207.
[Guild] Yoo Chae: There's an accessory you can equip at 208. Want it?
[Guild] JeoJollyeoyo: Yeah.
As soon as Yoo Chae realized I wouldn't reject his trades, his eyes lit up and he started handing out items like crazy. And I pretty much accepted everything he gave me.
I could keep refusing and hold out until I can leave the guild in a week. But even if I left, that guy's stalking wouldn't stop.
What's important isn't leaving the guild in a week—it's cutting off Yoo Chae's creepy, inexplicable interest in me. I'll take whatever he gives, but I'll never do anything for him.
People naturally have a "reciprocity instinct." If they give a lot, they expect at least a small return. And when that expectation isn't met, they get disappointed and lose interest.
I smiled as I watched Yoo Chae running around collecting items I needed while I played.
'It's going just as planned.'
Accept just enough. Ignore just enough. That way, I don't get stressed, and I still get the items. Isn't that perfect?
[Guild] Yoo Chae: Hyung, hyung!
[Guild] Yoo Chae: You're wearing +3 shoes right now, right?
[Guild] Yoo Chae: A +7 pair just went up on the auction. Want me to buy them for you?
+7? I immediately stopped killing monsters and opened the auction window. He didn't say what kind of shoes, but the price should be around the same as other +7s.
When I saw the +7 shoes listed at 800 million gold, I shook my head.
[Guild] JeoJollyeoyo: Nah.
[Guild] Yoo Chae: Why not? These are really good.
[Guild] JeoJollyeoyo: I said no.
[Guild] Yoo Chae:sniffle ㅜㅡㅜ
[Guild] JeoJollyeoyo: Just help me herd mobs in the Mud Swamp.
Of course, there's one thing I need to be careful of with this plan: don't accept super expensive items.
If I'm not careful, I'll look like a scammer who exploited some gullible fool for loot. And honestly, accepting pricey stuff makes me uncomfortable too.
So far, I've only accepted quest materials and gear that's below +5. Items above +5 tend to get a lot more expensive, probably because the risk of upgrade failure gets higher.
I checked a real-money trading site and saw that 100 million gold was about 100,000 won in cash (roughly $80). That means 800 million gold is worth 800,000 won (about $640).
'What the hell is wrong with this guy? He barely knows me and wants to give me an item worth 800,000 won?'
It's funny that I'm even thinking like this, but honestly, it's kind of pathetic. Sure, he's the leader of the top guild on the server, so it's not surprising that he has that kind of gold.
[Guild] TheHunter: What the hell am I even looking at…
[Guild] Hwasoun: Just ignore it.
[Guild] ParkSeungjin99: You can ignore that?? I'm seriously about to lose my mind, lol.
[Guild] Lerelekgirl: Same here, lol.
[Guild] DrinkWaterPlz: Can't you two just get married and use partner chat or something?
[Guild] Yoo Chae: Should we?? Hyung, wanna get married?
[Guild] JeoJollyeoyo: Would I ever??
[Guild] Yoo Chae: Yeah, you're right. I wouldn't want to propose in guild chat either.
Oh, is that so?
Over the past four days, I'd gotten somewhat used to brushing off the endless nonsense from that Yoo Chae guy, so I ignored him and checked the whisper I got from Kim Daeseok.
[Whisper] Sohaeso: Ah, I'm really sorry lololol
[Whisper] Sohaeso: I swear I'll hold your spot here
[Whisper] Sohaeso: Loyalty! Loyalty!
Kim Daeseok, who had played a major part in creating this mess, was now bowing his head and promising that once I got through this week, he'd bring me into his own guild.
The guild Kim Daeseok belonged to was called —a fairly reputable guild that consistently stayed within the top 15 rankings.
More importantly, it was one of the few guilds that still maintained relations with Chojonyeok, the number one guild on the server.
They didn't usually take in new members either, but since Kim Daeseok had unintentionally introduced a stalker to me, he explained the situation to his guild master and managed to get an agreement to bring me in.
…Well, more accurately, he was trying to get an agreement. If that fails, I guess I'll have to look for a different guild.
"Is it normally this hard to get into a decent guild?"
It's been years since I last played an RPG, and back when I played HOL, I never joined a clan, so I'm not really sure.
[Whisper] Jeojollyeoyo: I'll wait and see.
[Whisper] Sohaeso: Loyal to the end! ^^7
More important than that, though, was the raid. I had already reached level 207, so it was time to start preparing.
Most of the good quests available from level 210 onwards were raid quests that heavily emphasized party play.
Of course, it was possible to level up solo without doing raids, but it meant clearing over three times as many quests. That's why even people with poor mechanics usually participated in raid quests.
[Global] Yoo Chae: Hyung!
Responding to my request, Yoo Chae came rushing into the Hell Swamp, dragging dozens of Swamp Leeches behind him. And somehow, he'd even weakened them to the point where one area-of-effect skill would kill them all.
Swamp Leeches were known for their high defense and health, and the quest required killing 50 of them to clear, so it usually took quite a bit of time. But thanks to my overly helpful stalker, I was about to finish in under 5 minutes.
Boom—!
Screeeeech!
I dropped a Fireball right into the center of the writhing mass of Swamp Leeches. The moment it hit, all the monsters—barely clinging to life—died in a single blast, and my EXP bar shot up.
With the monster kill EXP and the quest completion EXP combined, I successfully hit level 208. Time to equip that accessory I got earlier.
[Global] Yoo Chae: That was exactly 50, right?
[Global] Jeojollyeoyo: Yup.
[Global] Yoo Chae: Did I do good?
[Global] Jeojollyeoyo: Yup.
As I replied half-heartedly while cleaning out my cluttered inventory from all the auto-looted items, Yoo Chae went quiet for a moment—then suddenly sent an emotion expression.
It was the one you get by pressing Alt+F1, with a smiling face and blushing cheeks.
He really does the most. I let out a dry chuckle, broke down the useless junk items, and closed the inventory. Yoo Chae, who had been quietly waiting, spoke again.
[Global] Yoo Chae: Do you have any more hunting quests?
[Global] Jeojollyeoyo: Go east and kill 30 Black Ghosts.
[Global] Yoo Chae: I'll come too!
[Global] Jeojollyeoyo: Wait.
Since we were already at the northern edge of the map, it was faster to use a teleport scroll to head east. I opened the party window to move together with Yoo Chae and typed in a random name before hitting the "Start Party Recruitment" button.
ㅇㅁㄹㅇㄴㅁ Party recruitment has started.
[Global] Jeojollyeoyo: Party join, let's go.
I even typed in the chat to get him to join, but Yoo Chae just stood there without moving for a while. What now?
[Global] Jeojollyeoyo: ?**
When over three minutes had passed without a response, I started wondering if Yoo Chae had stepped away without saying anything. I typed in chat again, and only then did I hear the ding of a party join notification.
Yoo Chae has joined the party.
[Party] Jeojollyeoyo: Why didn't you join right away?
[Party] Jeojollyeoyo: I'm using a scroll, okay?
Still no response. Seriously? Not wanting to waste any more time, I just used the teleport scroll. A flash filled the screen, and soon, the scenery changed.
The pitch-black swamp was bubbling like lava, and blood-rain that inflicted a bleeding debuff was pouring from the sky. Just as I pulled out a robe to block the debuff, Yoo Chae finally spoke.
[Party] Yoo Chae: I just…
[Party] Yoo Chae: Got a little startled…
[Party] Jeojollyeoyo: Startled by what?
[Party] Yoo Chae: Partying with you.
[Party] Jeojollyeoyo: What a weird thing to be surprised by;
There are plenty of things to be surprised about. It's not like this is his first party ever.
[Party] Yoo Chae: Being in a party like this… it really feels like we're on the same side.
[Party] Yoo Chae: I should've done this sooner.
[Party] Yoo Chae: I even have a title that gives buffs when I'm in a party.
[Party] Jeojollyeoyo: For real? Put it on, now.
[Party] Yoo Chae: lololol
I didn't know what he was laughing about, but Yoo Chae seemed pretty happy and promptly changed his title. His nickname, which had been , changed to , and immediately my character's health increased, and my mana recovery speed noticeably sped up.
[Party] Yoo Chae: It adds 20 HP and gives 3% bonus to recovery speed and EXP gain.
[Party] Yoo Chae: I'm not a buffer class, so I don't have that many useful buff titles.
[Party] Yoo Chae:sobbing emoji
[Party] Jeojollyeoyo: thx
So buffer classes can give buffs just by their titles, huh? I'll have to stay friendly with players who use buffer classes in the future.
[Party] Yoo Chae: Should I go round up the mobs?
[Party] Yoo Chae: Thirty Black Ghosts won't take long.
[Party] Jeojollyeoyo: Go for it
Just as he said, Yoo Chae quickly dragged 30 Black Ghosts right over to where I was. He's seriously good at this. Herding mobs is easier for some classes thanks to skills that pull enemies into one spot and deal damage.
Thanks to Yoo Chae's help, I cleared quests at a speed I'd never managed before and, just five days after hitting level 200, I reached level 210.
Now that he'd gotten a taste for partying together, Yoo Chae immediately sent another message as soon as I hit 210.
[Party] Yoo Chae: Hyung
[Party] Yoo Chae: Want me to show you how to do raids?**