Chapter 18

[Party] That son of a bitch, seriously…

"No, fuck. Calm down…"

I quickly deleted the curse I had typed in the chat window with the backspace key and let out a hot breath.

It was too early to be certain that CottonCandyFox was Yuchae just based on their login status.

More importantly, even if I did accuse them and curse them out, if they denied it, claiming they weren't Yuchae, there wasn't much I could do. I had no solid evidence, just a gut feeling, and it was eating me up inside.

"Ha…"

Now everything finally made sense. Of course. No way would a high-level party just randomly invite a low-level player without a reason. It was all part of CottonCandyFox's plan.

And me, I joined the party without suspecting a thing like a complete idiot. God, how embarrassing. It would've been better to barge into an official party and get kicked out.

'No wonder it felt like I was getting lucky.'

I should've been more suspicious. But who the hell would've guessed that Yuchae would go as far as to bring a secondary character just to cling to me? All I got out of joining this party was…

"…A crap-ton of experience points?"

I grimaced as the answer slipped out of my mouth. Was EXP really that important after being toyed with by that bastard Yuchae? …Well, yes. It actually was important, so I couldn't argue with that.

'The EXP was sweet, though.'

So sweet it felt like my tongue would melt. Especially after grinding my ass off all week. For a gamer, what could be more important than EXP in an RPG?

"Fucking bastard, goddamn it…"

If you're going to fool me with a secondary character, at least do a good job of it. Then I could enjoy my gaming life without feeling this gross. Yuchae never does anything properly—gaming or otherwise!

Covering my face with both hands, I cursed under my breath for a while before falling into serious thought.

Should I leave the party? Or should I just turn a blind eye and keep soaking up the EXP? That asshole's the crazy one, and I'm the innocent victim here. Even if I reject him now, there's no guarantee Yuchae will give up.

"..."

I leaned all the way back in my chair and stared up at the ceiling. Honestly, there was something else I was even more curious about.

What the hell does Yuchae want from me? Why go so far as to bring a secondary character just to help me in raids? I'm sure I told him last time via message: if I see his nickname one more time, I'm quitting for good.

Thinking that far made me smirk sarcastically.

'Well, technically, I haven't seen the nickname "Yuchae."'

It's "CottonCandyFox" that's the problem. And using that shitty nickname "oppa" on top of it…

"Huh?"

At that moment, a brilliant idea flashed through my mind like lightning. I touched the corner of my lips and tilted my head.

This… might be a way to farm EXP and hit Yuchae where it hurts.

After carefully weighing my options, I broke into a wide smile. I sat upright and moved my hand to the mouse.

***

[Party] CottonCandyFox: What's wrong?ㅜ.ㅜ
[Party] CottonCandyFox: Why no reply??
[Party] CottonCandyFox: ?
[Party] WhatDoYouKongDoYou: It's really nothing serious ㄷㄷ
[Party] WatchaLet'sGo: ??
[Party] CottonCandyFox: Sleepy-oppa??
[Party] CottonCandyFox: Knock knock
[Party] BuzzyBee: Uh, did he crash?
[Party] WhatDoYouKongDoYou: Seems like it??
[Party] WhatDoYouKongDoYou: He's not moving
[Party] CottonCandyFox: ㅜㅅㅜ…
[Party] CottonCandyFox: ㅜㅜ…..
[Party] CottonCandyFox: ㅜㅡㅜ
[Party] SuwonSpecialCity: How long are we staying here?;
[Party] WatchaLet'sGo: Let's just start a run
[Party] WhatDoYouKongDoYou: Yeah, who knows when he's coming back
[Party] CottonCandyFox: No, I'm gonna wait

That last message made chills run down my spine. What once seemed like a cute character now felt like a sinister gumiho eyeing my liver.

[Party] SleepyMe: Srry srry
[Party] SleepyMe: Got a sudden phone call

As soon as I typed, CottonCandyFox, who had been standing still, immediately replied. I placed the soy milk I got from WhatDoYouKongDoYou earlier into the still-open trade window.

[Party] SleepyMe: This is to say thanks
[Party] SleepyMe: For the soy milk
[Party] CottonCandyFox: Ohh~
[Party] WatchaLet'sGo: What the heck
[Party] WatchaLet'sGo: You just threw trash at your savior;;
[Party] WhatDoYouKongDoYou: Trash? ––
[Party] WhatDoYouKongDoYou: I made that myself^^ hehe
[Party] WhatDoYouKongDoYou: Right, SleepyMe?ㅎㅎ
[Party] CottonCandyFox: ? lol
[Party] CottonCandyFox: Sleepy-oppa~
[Party] CottonCandyFox: Can I have that soy milk?ㅜㅡㅜ
[Party] CottonCandyFox: Fox wants it><
[Party] SleepyMe: Sure
[Party] WhatDoYouKongDoYou: Ah, so generous

After giving away the soy milk and receiving speed-boost shoes and a magic resistance bracelet, I equipped them immediately.

[Party] WhatDoYouKongDoYou: SleepyMe, you just took a huge loss ––
[Party] WhatDoYouKongDoYou: That soy milk is super healthy
[Party] SuwonSpecialCity: But Fox got it
[Party] SuwonSpecialCity: So I'm sure she'll enjoy it lol
[Party] CottonCandyFox: ?
[Party] CottonCandyFox: I just blended it btw lol
[Party] BuzzyBee: WTF lmaooo
[Party] WatchaLet'sGo: Oh ffs lololol
[Party] WhatDoYouKongDoYou: That's brutal LOL

I looked at the lively party chat with disinterest. Judging by how well they got along, they were probably all part of the same early-evening guild.

[Party] CottonCandyFox: So…
[Party] CottonCandyFox: Oppa, you're gonna keep playing with us, right?? ㅇㅡㅇ
[Party] CottonCandyFox: Since you got the items!! ^.^
[Party] CottonCandyFox: Can I add you as a friend~?

CottonCandyFox sent a friend request even before I had a chance to answer. There was something almost desperate about the way they did it.

<CottonCandyFox has sent a friend request. Do you want to accept? [Accept / Decline]>

I clicked "Accept" and typed in the chat:

[Party] SleepyMe: Of course, I'd love toㅎㅎ
[Party] SleepyMe: Looking forward to playing with you.

As soon as I accepted the request, CottonCandyFox started spamming happy emotes. Watching that, I let out a villainous grin.

'Go ahead, be as happy as you want.'

I'll make sure you regret ever starting this netkama act.

＊ ＊ ＊

After three days of searching, DrinkSomeWater finally found a promising newbie on the user forum and logged into Xenoris, humming to himself.

[Guild] DrinkSomeWater: Hey, Yuchae

Even if he had been given free rein, the guild master was still technically Yuchae. So DrinkSomeWater tried calling out to give a quick report. But after waiting a long time with no reply, he followed up.

[Guild] DrinkSomeWater: ??
[Guild] DrinkSomeWater: He's online though
[Guild] DrinkSomeWater: AFK?
[Guild] MochaBread: Nah
[Guild] MochaBread: Guildmaster's in the Arena right now
[Guild] MochaBread: Probably too busy wrecking people to check guild chat lol
[Guild] DrinkSomeWater: Arena??

The Arena was a giant battlefield that required purchasing special coins to enter. It was a chaotic zone where players could freely fight anyone the moment they stepped in.

It was also the only place where you could enjoy PvP without worrying about anything else.

[Guild] DrinkSomeWater: Why'd he suddenly go to the Arena?
[Guild] MochaBread: Said he's feeling like shit
[Guild] CapitalismSpawnedMonster: Yeah, went to blow off steam
[Guild] SeasonedCrabFan: Poor bastards in there are probably getting slaughtered
[Guild] SeasonedCrabFan: Rip lol
[Guild] Haerun: Lord…
[Guild] Haerun: Another hundred souls go up to heaven…
[Guild] TripleRockPaper: Lol holy shit his kill count is soaring;
[Guild] DrinkSomeWater: Something happen?
[Guild] ParkSeungjin99: Well…
[Guild] ParkSeungjin99: It's kind of a long story
[Guild] DrinkSomeWater: ??
[Guild] DrinkSomeWater: That's fine, tell me

ParkSeungjin99 slowly began explaining everything he had seen while logged in on his SuwonSpecialCity account.

＊ ＊ ＊

This was two days ago—one day after SleepyMe accepted CottonCandyFox's offer to form a long-term raid party.

[Party] CottonCandyFox: Kyaa, Sleepy-oppa >ㅅ<~~!!
[Party] CottonCandyFox: Welcome~!! ♥
[Party] SleepyMe: hey
[Party] SuwonSpecialCity: hey hey~
[Party] BuzzyBee: hai
[Party] WitcherLet'sGo: Welcome
[Party] WhatDoYouKongDoYou: Fast start let's gooo

The raid started off just like the first day—totally normal.

Yuchae, disguised as CottonCandyFox, was pouring on unbearable cutesy talk. Meanwhile, SleepyMe seemed to just respond indifferently, like before.

They cleared one raid without issue.

[Party] SleepyMe: Fox
[Party] SleepyMe: So I was thinking I'd drop the honorifics from now on
[Party] SleepyMe: That okay?

Nobody expected that message. CottonCandyFox looked absolutely overjoyed. And it made sense—this was the first time SleepyMe, who'd always kept a distance, extended a hand.

Yuchae was such a sucker for this guy, they even roped in guildmates to power-level him like a full-on slave. So it wasn't surprising they'd lose it over getting a bit closer.

[Party] CottonCandyFox: Of course! Of course!!
[Party] CottonCandyFox: Totally fine ㅇㅅㅇ!!!
[Party] SleepyMe: okay okay
[Party] CottonCandyFox: ㅠㅡㅠ ♥♥♥♥

But that's when things started to go off the rails.

For whatever reason, SleepyMe started appending "oppa" to everything he said in chat.

[Party] SleepyMe: Oppa will take care of it ^^
[Party] SleepyMe: How was oppa just now? Did well, right?
[Party] SleepyMe: Oppa likes girls who talk sweetly, y'knowㅎ
[Party] SleepyMe: Oppa knows the position now, hehe~ Fox, go to the back~
[Party] CottonCandyFox: …..