CHAPTER 49…………..
He was speaking as if he were truly envious of Nyangmongie, who lives under his wife’s thumb. His tone wasn’t teasing or sarcastic.
From Hwansung’s voice, I could hear the raw envy, almost like he was dying of it, and also a sense of disbelief that Nyangmongie would even complain about such a situation.
[Guild] Kim Sooki: Bro, maybe you didn’t realize since you’ve only been in the group chat without really playing the game, but for us, this has always been normal.
[Guild] Nyangmongie: Ah… Hwansung’s condition is worse than I thought, so, uh… yeah. (⊙_⊙)
[Guild] Nyangmongie: Sunya-nim.
“Huh?”
Suddenly, Nyangmongie called me.
[Guild] Nyangmongie: Congratulations on your liberation. For real.
“……?”
For some reason, Nyangmongie once again congratulated me on being freed from Hwansung. Maybe he thought that since I was “married” in-game, I was the one balancing Hwansung out?
But listening to Hwansung, he sounded like he wanted to be tied down. And hearing Nyangmongie, it sounded like I was the one being tied down by Hwansung. Honestly, it was confusing.
And if following me around, looking after me, and sticking close to me counts as being tied down—then truthfully, I don’t ever want to be freed from that…
“I’ve gotten too used to the comfort Hwansung gives me…”
I was already worrying about how I’d get through the game while Hwansung was away on raid duty.
Then, a pop-up appeared in the bottom-right corner of the screen.
[You have received a trade request from Hwansung.]
[Accept / Decline]
What’s this?
He’s given me more than a few items through trades already. Ever since the Divine Oath, I was always hesitant to click Accept, because I never knew what expensive thing he’d send this time.
But if I clicked Decline, he’d just keep sending requests until I accepted. So, reluctantly, I clicked Accept.
The moment I did, as if he had been waiting, Hwansung began loading items into the trade window.
“What are all these?”
“Take them.”
At least explain what they are before I accept them… I still hadn’t even fulfilled all three wishes I promised him in exchange for the Divine Oath.
[Guild] Kim Sooki: What is it? What’d you get this time?
They weren’t quite as valuable as the Divine Oath, but close enough. No wonder Sooki sounded curious after hearing the trade notification. But since I didn’t really know what the items were, I just fumbled, “Uh… um…”
Hwansung answered for me.
“Just survival kits.”
[Guild] Kim Sooki: Survival kits?
What he’d given me were potions and revival items.
In this game, potions barely restored any HP and had ridiculously long cooldowns, making them nearly useless. Revival items couldn’t even be used in dungeons or raids, only in the field. Still, for me, they were invaluable—anything that raised my survival chance mattered.
And according to Hwansung, there wouldn’t be any dungeons for a while after the Isidore arc. That meant I’d mostly be questing in the field. For me, revival items were a godsend.
Truly, a survival kit.
On top of that, he even sent me some gear.
Since he had already outfitted me with equipment a few days ago, I wondered why he was sending more. Then I realized—because I had always relied on him tanking and stuck all my stat points into offense, I was actually more fragile than other tanks my level. He must have prepared high-defense gear just for me, knowing I’d be on my own.
[Guild] Kim Sooki: Ha… he really is devoted ♡♡;;
“H… Hwansung-nim…”
Before I knew it, I called out to him in a moved voice. I hadn’t expected him to prepare so much for me before leaving.
“I’ve set you up this well, so you won’t need any healing from other healers, right?”
“Wouldn’t that be the case?”
He muttered almost to himself, his voice carrying a strangely dark edge. But I was too touched by his thoughtfulness to care.
[Guild] Nyangmongie: Revival items? Like the ‘Phoenix Heart’? That was only released at game launch, so there shouldn’t be many left in circulation.
[Guild] Kim Sooki: He probably swept them up again with money♡♡
[Guild] Nyangmongie: Ah! Speaking of money♡♡, I should take a look at that famous Divine Oath before the raid starts (⸝⸝>ᴗ•⸝⸝)
Then Nyangmongie came over in front of me, fussing and flailing as he inspected me.
“Does he really have to inspect me like that?”
His character was tall and slender. The way he fidgeted and danced around in front of me made him look like one of those inflatable tube men in front of a shop.
That was when I noticed something.
“Nyangmongie-nim, what’s that earring?”
As his character’s movements shook it, I saw a simple but stylish little silver hoop earring.
[Guild] Nyangmongie: ( °ᗝ° )??
[Guild] Nyangmongie: Oh, this earring?? You can buy it with PC café points.
PC café points…
“Those are the points you can only get by playing from a PC café, right?”
Yu-chan had told me before that that was the only reason he went to PC cafés.
[Guild] Nyangmongie: You just need to play about 10 hours at a PC café to get it. It’s quick, lol.
Quick?
Ten hours didn’t sound “quick” at all. My interest in the earring instantly cooled.
Noticing this, Hwansung immediately said he’d find me something with a similar design.
[Guild] Nyangmongie: PC café point items are all non-tradable, so you HAVE to go to a café!! (๑╹ᆺ╹)
[Guild] Nyangmongie: Which means even money♡♡-loving Hwansung can’t get them!!
The next day, except for Hoe-nim, the guild members all logged in before update time, waiting. The moment the clock struck, they entered the new raid.
They invited me into the group call too, but everyone was so focused that I didn’t want to get in the way. I decided to play solo instead.
Because of that, the only updates I got from the raid were through chat—since Sooki still didn’t have a mic, and Nyangmongie had his muted because of his kids.
[Guild] Nyangmongie: ?
[Guild] Nyangmongie: Wait, isn’t the blue-marked person supposed to go to 2 o’clock?
[Guild] Kim Sooki: No, we need to handle 3 o’clock first. A tower spawned there.
[Guild] Nyangmongie: Ahh, okay okay.
Hours passed, and they were still complaining how hard this raid was. Progress was slower than expected. Meanwhile, my solo time kept growing.
Hwansung had said that after Isidore, there wouldn’t be dungeons for a while, so I wouldn’t need other healers. But reality was…
“My main quest is moving faster than their raid.”
I had expected them to clear the raid before I opened the next dungeon. But they were still stuck in trial runs.
Until finally—
[Dungeon ‘Hall of the Abyss’ has been unlocked.]
So the dungeon opened. Hwansung probably hadn’t expected it to unlock while he was away.
“I guess the guild members aren’t done yet.”
I checked chat—sure enough, no sign of a clear.
[Guild] Cheonma Daeje: What are you all doing?
[Guild] Kim Sooki: Ah;;
[Guild] Jankyung: ……^^
[Guild] Nyangmongie: Sorry……
[Guild] Hwansung: Focus, bro.
The longer the attempts dragged on, the more drained they all sounded. Only occasional fragments of chat appeared between them.
And each time someone made a mistake, the tension rose higher. If I asked them when they’d clear it, in this mood…
“Sooki-nim might kill me.”
So what should I do? Just wait around, not knowing when they’d clear?
I minimized the game and opened another window. The PC café timer.
This time, it was post-paid.
I hadn’t planned on coming, but the thought of that earring kept nagging at me, so here I was at a PC café.
But to earn points, it had to be a “Dereso-affiliated” PC café.
“How picky…”
That meant I had to come to the same place where I’d met Yu-chan last time.
And sitting around waiting for the guild to clear was just wasting my café fees. Besides, if I didn’t clear this dungeon, there was nothing else to do.
In the end, the conclusion was clear:
I had no choice but to go into the dungeon alone, without Hwansung or the guild.
