Chapter 20

Even through the monitor screen, I could feel the awkward tension in the air, so I clenched and unclenched the hand holding the mouse for no reason.

'…What is this?'

I didn't even do anything wrong—so why do I feel so self-conscious?

Apparently sensing the same icy atmosphere, Kim Daeseok sent me a whisper.

[Whisper] atchu-gatchu-itchu: Dude ㄷㄷ
[Whisper] atchu-gatchu-itchu: What's going on right now??
[Whisper] atchu-gatchu-itchu: Am I screwed?

Screwed? What do you mean, screwed? I let out a hollow laugh and typed.

[Whisper] so-sleepy: chill
[Whisper] so-sleepy: just shut up and sit tight

All we were doing was chatting like friends—what's the big deal?

[All Chat] so-sleepy: hey
[All Chat] so-sleepy: not doing anything in particular

[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: Ahh, I see~ hehe ^.^
[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: What about the person next to you?

[All Chat] so-sleepy: a friend

[All Chat] let's_go_witcher: ㄷㄷ
[All Chat] buzzy_bee: A friend, huh… ㄷㄷ
[All Chat] whatdoyoubean: Who chats like that with a friend...
[All Chat] suwon_special_city: If that's a friend, I guess I've got none…

[All Chat] let's_go_witcher: fr
[All Chat] buzzy_bee: wow I've been outcasted

[All Chat] so-sleepy: lol seriously, we're just friends;

I meant it sincerely, but no one seemed to believe me. I don't get why everyone assumes that just because a character's female, the player must be a girl too.

This won't do. I was about to explain that, despite his nickname and appearance, this guy is actually a burly dude inside—but before I could, cottoncandy_fox's character had slid up close and clung to me, asking:

[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: hehe, a friend
[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: So you're friends~
[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: But why isn't your friend
[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: saying anything? ^.^

[All Chat] atchu-gatchu-itchu: Ahㅜㅜ
[All Chat] atchu-gatchu-itchu: So-sleepy told me to stay quiet…

[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: lol?

[All Chat] atchu-gatchu-itchu: ㄷㄷ..

[Whisper] atchu-gatchu-itchu: Yo, I think she's actually Yuchae
[Whisper] atchu-gatchu-itchu: She's scary af

To be fair, Kim Daeseok and Yuchae weren't complete strangers. Their guilds—EveningPath and OneMindOneHeart—were on friendly terms, so they had at least seen each other's nicknames in passing a few times.

'Of all times to run into each other, why with a side character now? Unreal.'

[All Chat] so-sleepy: Okay, that's enough.

Being stuck between atchu-gatchu-itchu and cottoncandy_fox was absolutely miserable. Grown men playing as girls, what the hell is wrong with them? It was seriously annoying.

[All Chat] atchu-gatchu-itchu: I didn't even do anythingㅠ
[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: You're too mean
[All Chat] so-sleepy: What is?

[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: ㅜㅡㅜ….

Then, cottoncandy_fox suddenly pulled out a fancy-looking lyra, as if to show off. It glimmered gold, clearly an expensive weapon.

Seeing that, Kim Daeseok freaked out and shot me a flurry of whispers.

[Whisper] atchu-gatchu-itchu: Look at that, holy sh*t
[Whisper] atchu-gatchu-itchu: She's totally trying to assert dominance, right?
[Whisper] atchu-gatchu-itchu: This is insane

[Whisper] so-sleepy: Daeseok, shut up already

[Whisper] atchu-gatchu-itchu: okayㅎ
[Whisper] atchu-gatchu-itchu: Isn't it almost raid time anyway?
[Whisper] atchu-gatchu-itchu: I'm scared, I'm gonna dip

Good. Please leave. If even one person disappears, maybe this mess will calm down a bit.

[All Chat] atchu-gatchu-itchu: Aight, I'm out~
[All Chat] atchu-gatchu-itchu: Go so-sleepy raid, good luck ^3^~!

[All Chat] so-sleepy: ?

Is he nuts? What kind of goodbye was that?

Before I could even scold him, Kim Daeseok had already logged out. As atchu-gatchu-itchu's character vanished, the raid members who had been loitering at the dungeon entrance cautiously started to approach.

'They're probably blowing up the party chat right now.'

I didn't even have to look. At this point, screw loyalty—outing atchu-gatchu-itchu as a guy might help salvage my image a bit.

[All Chat] so-sleepy: lol
[All Chat] so-sleepy: He was just messing around

[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: so-sleepy oppa…
[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: Don't you love girls a bit too much?

"..."

I had been just about to type that he was actually a guy—but stopped myself.

That cheeky brat… My lips curled into a smirk.

[All Chat] so-sleepy: Of course I love girls—I'm a guy~^^
[All Chat] so-sleepy: And you're a girl too, aren't you, Fox? hehe

[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: But oppa, you seem a bit too into itㅠ.ㅜ

[All Chat] so-sleepy: Too much?
[All Chat] so-sleepy: That's kinda rude to say, don't you think? ^^;
[All Chat] so-sleepy: I'm not that easy, you know~

[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: You really look easy though? lol

[All Chat] so-sleepy: Then try seducing me, Fox
[All Chat] so-sleepy: I told you, let's hop on Discord? hehe

[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: I don't have a mic! ㅜㅡㅜ

[All Chat] so-sleepy: Then how about a phone call?

[All Chat] so-sleepy: Call me ^^
[All Chat] so-sleepy: 010
[All Chat] so-sleepy: 3256

As soon as I gave out my actual phone number, cottoncandy_fox freaked out and hurriedly scrolled the chat up to bury it.

[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: m
[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: m
[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: m
[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: m
[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: m
[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: m
[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: m
[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: m
[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: Oppa, are you crazy?
[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: Why are you dropping your number like that?
[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: This is public chat;

So dramatic over nothing. It's my number—I can do what I want with it.

[All Chat] so-sleepy: You said you didn't have a mic, so I gave you my phone number, haha
[All Chat] so-sleepy: You have a phone, right?

[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: A phone call?
[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: Do you want to call me, oppa?

[All Chat] so-sleepy: Of course~
[All Chat] so-sleepy: This oppa is super curious about your voice hehe

He had zero intention of actually calling. What a phony.

I smirked to myself, waiting for her reply. After a pause, cottoncandy_fox hesitantly responded:

[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: But, um
[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: Is that really your phone number??

[All Chat] so-sleepy: Yeah

[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: I see~ hehe
[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: Let's call next time! _
[All Chat] cottoncandy_fox: We have a raid to do now! >ㅡ<

'…What the?'

It wasn't surprising she tried to change the subject to the raid, but the fact that she seemed in a much better mood than earlier gave me pause.

She's just such a weirdo—constantly flipping moods. I can't keep up.

[All Chat] suwon_special_city: hehe...
[All Chat] suwon_special_city: If you're done chatting,
[All Chat] suwon_special_city: maybe join the party now?

[All Chat] whatdoyoubean: That concludes today's episode of Love and War

[All Chat] buzzy_bee: This group is hilarious

[All Chat] so-sleepy: ? lol;

I clicked on the party invite floating over cottoncandy_fox's character, and she immediately started typing.

[Party] cottoncandy_fox: so-sleepy oppa~
[Party] cottoncandy_fox: Look at this move hee~
[Party] cottoncandy_fox: o(≧∇≦o) (o≧∇≦)o
[Party] cottoncandy_fox: Cute, right? lol
[Party] cottoncandy_fox: o(≧∇≦o) (o≧∇≦)o
[Party] cottoncandy_fox: o(≧∇≦o) (o≧∇≦)o

[Party] so-sleepy: Looks like a fox^^
[Party] cottoncandy_fox: hehe
[Party] cottoncandy_fox: So you mean I'm cute? ^ㅡ^

Cute, my ass… But weirdly enough, her constant "oppa" attacks didn't really bother me like yesterday. Was that okay?

'Am I getting used to this already? That's not good.'

Maybe I need to find a new way to mess with her. I thought this would last at least a week…

[Party] cottoncandy_fox: so-sleepy oppa! o(≧∇≦o)
[Party] cottoncandy_fox: (o≧∇≦)o Fighting!

[Party] so-sleepy: lol..

[Party] let's_go_witcher: Um,
[Party] let's_go_witcher: Sorry to interrupt your lovefest
[Party] let's_go_witcher: But can we, uh, actually start now?

[Party] so-sleepy: gogo

Without needing further explanation, let's_go_witcher selected Hell Mode and hit Enter.

The screen changed, and after a brief loading time, the dungeon interior appeared—streams of lava flowing, bright red flames shooting up everywhere.

The environment was completely different now that we were in the final difficulty tier. It was obviously harder than Normal or Hard, but the patterns were mostly the same—still manageable.

<You receive a buff from Buffer cottoncandy_fox! Casting speed increased.>
<You receive a buff from Buffer cottoncandy_fox! Mana regen increased.>

Even before monsters appeared, cottoncandy_fox started circling around and buffing me. The buffs were stronger than before—it must be the new lyra.

'Why would she use such an expensive weapon on a side character?'

Same with all those items she gave me back in the guild. Does she just have that much money?

Spending loads of cash on RPGs isn't unusual, so I shouldn't be surprised—but this felt a bit pathetic.

Like, it's not even for her main character. She's pouring money into a side account and giving items to someone she's known less than a week. Doesn't she think it's a waste?

[Party] cottoncandy_fox: so-sleepy oppa >ㅡ<
[Party] cottoncandy_fox: I changed Foxie's weapon~
[Party] cottoncandy_fox: So I can give oppa better buffs! >.<

Right on cue, she brought up the lyra herself. Good for you.

I typed with a bored expression.

[Party] so-sleepy: Wow, haha
[Party] so-sleepy: You're the only one who cares about me, Fox~ ^^

[Party] cottoncandy_fox: Hehe

[Party] suwon_special_city: lol guys, monsters are here now ㅡㅡ
[Party] whatdoyoubean: Stop flirting!
[Party] buzzy_bee: Some of us here have never dated, please be considerate..

[Party] whatdoyoubean: fr?

[Party] suwon_special_city: shut your mouth

[Party] whatdoyoubean: LMAO 😂😂😂
[Party] whatdoyoubean: 😂😂😂😂😂

[Party] buzzy_bee: I didn't even say anything yet, why you popping off?? ;;ㅠㅠ

[Party] suwon_special_city: you little sh*t

[Party] whatdoyoubean: 😂😂😂😂😂

Seems like not just cottoncandy_fox, but the other party members were starting to get used to my tone too. The conversation was flowing naturally now.

Damn, maybe I really do need to come up with a new strategy. While I thought it over, I launched a skill at the incoming monsters.