A stiff pain throbbed at the back of my neck, and a fever surged through me. A mix of helplessness and rage tangled violently in my chest — the kind of feeling you get when you face a lunatic way out of your control.
"Sigh…"
With both hands covering my face, I let out a deep sigh before barely managing to raise my head. As expected, the chat window on the monitor looked like a nuclear bomb had gone off — total chaos.
[Global] FamousForAssassination: Sleepy bro is the traitor?
[Global] TurbulentYouth: Wow, this guy's a legendary dumbass.
[Global] CountryLover123: @@@@Breaking news) EarlyEvening guild master outed as a gay bastard@@@@
[Global] lczzzz: So what's the situation??
[Global] lczzzz: That Sleepy dude betrayed us?
[Global] Rodean: Not quite.
[Global] HotSauce: Going from the #1 guild to the #15 isn't betrayal, it's just being a chump.
[Global] LittleMore: Then what's with the tantrum?
[Global] CocoTori: It's not about betrayal or whatever — he just picked a guild war and went full psycho lol
[Global] Angeumo: LOL bring Sleepy back, come on! lmaooo
[Global] JoaGanda: Gay out! Gay out! Gay out! Gay out!
[Global] MelonMusk: What the hell is happening lmaoooo
The endless stream of global chat gave me a headache, so I quickly switched to the guild chat tab.
[Guild] KyokoKyoko: Lol… what even is this?
[Guild] Beecher: Is the "Sleepy bro" the EarlyEvening GM mentioned really you, SleepyYo?
[Guild] JjangHoon: Who else would it be;
[Guild] ThePowerOfChicken: I wish someone would explain all this
[Guild] ThePowerOfChicken: I can't make sense of anything;;
[Guild] SeolJiHye: So basically Sleepy used to be in EarlyEvening
[Guild] SeolJiHye: And Yuchae apparently bullied him a bit
[Guild] SeolJiHye: So he left and joined our guild…
[Guild] PpoPpaBam: Yeah; Guild Master explained it yesterday
[Guild] PpoPpaBam: He left after telling them in advance, but EarlyEvening's throwing a tantrum
[Guild] KyokoKyoko: Seriously wtf is this bullshit
[Guild] WoonYum: ㅠㅠ Calm down, everyone
[Guild] WoonYum: Right now, Yuchae isn't responding to private chats at all
"…"
Fuck… the only words I could spit out were curses. Feeling like a massive nuisance, I quietly typed into the chat.
[Guild] SleepyYo: I'm sorry
[Guild] SleepyYo: I told them I'd leave in a week, and then I did
[Guild] SleepyYo: I didn't think it would blow up like this
[Guild] WoonYum: No no, it's fine
[Guild] SeolJiHye: Yeah, this isn't your fault at all, Sleepy
[Guild] SeolJiHye: You didn't even stay for months lol it was just a week
[Guild] PpoPpaBam: Then it must be that — EarlyEvening
[Guild] PpoPpaBam: Is flipping out because of the prelims?
[Guild] Beecher: Yeah, I heard Sleepy's got good mechanics
[Guild] Beecher: So they probably wanted to keep him
[Guild] JjangHoon: Whatever the reason, gatekeeping is scummy;
I was about to apologize again when an unfamiliar word stopped me.
"Prelims? What's that supposed to mean?"
[Whisper] SoESo: Yo, you good?
[Whisper] SoESo: What the hell is going on LOL
I was curious, but the guild chat was too tense for me to ask casually. Just as I was debating, Kim Dae-seok (SoESo) whispered me.
[Whisper] SleepyYo: Hey, what's this "prelims" thing?
[Whisper] SoESo: Oh, that… um…
[Whisper] SleepyYo: ?
His sketchy response made me narrow my eyes.
What is it that he can't even explain properly? But before I could press further, a giant red system message popped up.
[Server] Yuchae: Stop whispering me and please kick SleepyYo ASAP^^
[Server] Yuchae: And just in case — anyone who leaves OneHeartOneMind and joins another guild? I'll slap a guild war on them too, so don't be stupid
[Global] KimBarkBark: Damn
[Global] MelonMusk: Whoa
[Global] Shittororo: That dude's lost his damn mind LOLLLLLL
[Global] ParkManChoon: Whoa
[Global] LoveNeneChicken: Straight up declared war for touching his bottom line lol
[Global] BunnyBunnyYum: Bottom line, seriously? That's ancient gamer slang lol
[Global] FirstPayBonus: This is what the #1 guild does? Epic power move…
[Global] PowerLevelScanner: This guild is a national embarrassment
That son of a bitch…
Trying to hold down my irritation, I opened up the friend list.
[Guild] SleepyYo: I'll just
[Guild] SleepyYo: Add him and try talking it out
This had gone too far. I didn't even want to dream of sending a friend request to that Yuchae bastard, but leaving it all to WoonYum (the guild master) didn't sit right either.
Fuck, fuck. I muttered curses like a rap while typing Yuchae's username into the friend request window.
· Yuchae
But no matter how long I waited after sending the request, his nickname never showed as online.
"No way, is that bastard—?"
A wave of anxiety hit me. Just in case, I tried whispering him.
[Whisper] SleepyYo: Hey
[Whisper] SleepyYo: You seriously wanna die?
If someone's offline, whispering them brings up a message. Which means — this bastard didn't log out. He's just ignoring my friend request.
[Whisper] SleepyYo: Accept my request
[Whisper] SleepyYo: Don't ghost me, you mf…
Grinding my teeth, I kept whispering, when suddenly, another server-wide message popped up.
[Server] Yuchae: SleepyYo, stop whispering me. My ears are an erogenous zone so they're trembling rnㅠ
[Server] Yuchae: I won't accept any whispers or friend requests until you leave that guild, sorry boohooㅜㅡㅜ
[Global] Aurel: Oh wow;
[Global] kwon: LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOO
[Global] BlueGreenBird: This guy really is a new level of crazy lol
[Global] Taegangyi: Bro wtf that's major TMI
[Guild] WoonYum: Holy…
[Guild] Beecher: What is wrong with that guy????
[Guild] PpoPpaBam: At this point… it's just funny now… lol
Bang!
Unable to hold back my rage at this dogshit chat, I finally slammed my fist down on the keyboard. This was already the second time my 250,000-won gaming keyboard had taken a beating since I started playing Zenoris. Once again, it lit up in flashy colors, like it was mocking me.
Letting out a heavy, frustrated breath, I opened the Zenoris website and went straight to the payment page. I bought five "Mega Loudspeakers" for 6,900 won each and poured all my pent-up emotions into the following message:
[Server] SleepyYo: Accept my friend request right now, you fucking bastard
[Global] YongChanGang: Woah woah woah woah
[Global] UseSamsungPlz: LOL what the heck
[Global] NitrogenGeorgia: Sleepy bro has entered the arena LOL
[Global] BlueChopper: Dude's name just screams pushover lol
[Global] snstmsns: They're having a couple's fight on global chat;
[Global] JillPpuhgi: Idiots
[Global] RoyalDumplings: Holy shit this is killing me, I'm dying of laughter LOLLL
[Global] WhatAmIHearing: Are you two comedians by any chance?
[Global] RedLarva: Please I'm begging you, release server transfer tickets
[Whisper] SoESo: Dude… did you seriously buy that thing??
I kept the friend list open, staring at the screen, but there was no sign of him accepting the request — just more messages via Loudspeaker.
[Server] Yuchae: BroooㅜI really do wanna accept your friend request, but I can't until you leave that guildㅜㅜ
[Server] Yuchae: Can't you understand? But don't doubt my love, okay… I really do wanna accept you back, so please come hoooomeㅜㅡㅜ
[Global] IWantToBeRich: Fuck!! You fucker!! Fuck!!
[Global] JunAi: Ughhhughhggh
[Global] TakeItIDon'tWantIt: Fuck me, why am I seeing this in server chat and not just guild chat? My life is a joke.
[Global] kan123: Stop this dumbassery you f-ing weirdo
[Global] KimuDeokBae: How do I block server chat, someone please tell me
[Global] FullRoll: Why do these dickheads talk so damn much? Just settle it with a char delete match or something
[Global] NeoCrash: Char delete match let's go let's go let's go let's go
[Global] NeoCrash: Char delete match let's go let's go let's go let's go
[Global] CocoTori: Hello? Can the guild leader take control of their members pls;;
[Global] Haeren: Sorry, our guild leader's kinda… yeah
[Global] HarpyJang: This chat is actual garbage-tier, wow
The sheer absurdity of Yuchae's server-wide messages caused global chat to spiral into chaos. Meanwhile, the guild chat went dead silent like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water on it. Trying to steady my fraying sanity, I used my second loudspeaker.
[Server] SleepyYo: You're the one who ruined everything, and you think I'm just gonna come back 'cause you tell me to? I told you a week in advance I was leaving — why are you throwing a fit now?
[Server] Yuchae: Exactly, and that's why I'm working so hard to get you back
[Server] Yuchae: But calling it a "fit" is just mean… I just wanted to go on raids together again and be friends like before…
[Server] Yuchae: I hate you!ㅜㅡㅜ
H-Hate…? Did that bastard just say he hates me? What the actual fuck — is this really a message typed out by a 23-year-old dude?
[Global] Forty: LOLLL he said "I hate you! ><"
[Global] cobb990: Honestly I should just quit this game, take care y'all
[Global] RoyalDumplings: I feel like I'm losing my mind
[Global] SooSeokMoon: You can turn off server chat in settings, FYI
[Global] FeelTheDifference: Thank you ;;
[Global] MelonMusk: ? What the hell I just came back from lunch and they're still going at it? lol
[Global] RaccoonRaccoonKun: Wait I missed it, why's Yuchae being like this now? Why's he suddenly saying he "hates" him???;;
[Global] TWICEJihyoFan: Means he really wants that newbie back~
Even though the weather wasn't hot, I was burning up with rage. I tilted my head back, taking ragged breaths as the fury hit its limit.
[Server] SleepyYo: Are you seriously screwing with me right now?
[Server] Yuchae: No? I'm not joking. Just leave that guild already
[Server] SleepyYo: Even if I leave, what makes you think I'd go back to your guild?
[Server] Yuchae: That's okay. I already know you've got a cold personality hehe
[Server] Yuchae: I'll win you over again!! Just wait!!
"Sigh…"
Biting my lower lip and bowing my head, I typed out a question into the loudspeaker — something I had wanted to ask for a while now.
[Server] SleepyYo: Where do you live?