Stalkerizing

[Whisper] a10235044: Hyung!

[Whisper] Chasa: Hiyo hiyo

[‘a10235044’ has invited you to the party. Would you like to accept?]

[‘Chasa’ has joined the party.]

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: We’ve been waiting. We’ll serve you properly.

[Party] Freedeal: Welcome, Chasa-nim!

[Party] Oath’s Vow: Hello, haha.

[Party] Chasa: Hello.

As Temporary Nick mentioned, Sa-yoon ended up forming a party with their group and running dungeons together. Logging in, he was immediately greeted and sent a party invite right away.

Whenever he logged in, he was invited to the pre-formed party. Once everyone was gathered, they would head into the dungeon. It was incredibly convenient—nothing like the old days when he had to wander around searching for a party.

The tavern party on the first day had been a bit chaotic and clumsy, but in a way, it was fun. Sa-yoon actually liked that kind of lively noise.

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: So, Jeon-gi-nim—

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: When—

[‘Shokrates’ has joined the party.]

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: Oh, you’re here.

[Party] Freedeal: Jeon-gi-nim, when are you ever gonna show up on time? Hahahaha.

[Party] Shokrates: The protagonist always makes a late entrance.

[Party] Freedeal: If Furple wasn’t on a business trip, we’d have kicked you out right away…

[Party] Oath’s Vow: Should we start recruiting from tomorrow, then?

[Party] Shokrates: I was wrong ㅠㅠ

[Party] Shokrates: Where are we heading today??

[Party] a10235044: Tavern, Prison, Garden.

[Party] Shokrates: Oh, another jam-packed schedule today~

Seeing Shokrates join, Sa-yoon reeled in his fishing rod. Unlike a few days ago, he now had to make time for fishing like this, or he wouldn’t have enough Cataloa.

When he arrived at the dungeon entrance, he saw the party members gathered in a small cluster. In just a few days, he had grown familiar with them—but their guild name had changed.

“Sa-shin?”

Even on a backwater server, a popular game like this meant that most decent guild names were already taken. They must’ve spent quite a bit to get that one.

[Party] Chasa: You changed your guild name?

[Party] a10235044: Yeah, haha.

[Party] Shokrates: Huh? When did we change it?

[Party] Freedeal: Before you got here. ^^

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: Think we’ll get to see Jeon-gi-nim show up on time before the year ends? Possible or impossible?

[Party] Freedeal: Haha, impossible, obviously.

[Party] Shokrates: Hey, I’ve improved a lot, okay? ㅠㅠ

[Party] Oath’s Vow: Well, yeah, that’s true.

[Party] Oath’s Vow: Back when we were running fixed parties for the full clear challenges, you used to show up four hours late, lol.

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: You guys actually waited four hours? That’s saint-like patience.

[Party] Oath’s Vow: At first, we called him. But after realizing he always had his phone on silent…

[Party] Oath’s Vow: We just started without him, and he’d eventually show up.

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: Keeping your phone on silent means you have zero commitment to being on time, don’t you think?

[Party] Shokrates: I actually have a vibration allergy, ㅠ please be understanding.

Shokrates suddenly stood up straight, clasped his hands together, and bent forward slightly. It was a gesture of prayer—one that would have looked solemn under normal circumstances.

But after the previous conversation, it just reminded everyone of those attention-seekers on social media.

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: That’s infuriating;;

[Party] Shokrates: If you’re going to criticize me, please include a nice greeting too!

[Party] Freedeal: Damn, how did Oath-nim even tolerate this? ㅠ

[Party] Oath’s Vow: Actually, I didn’t.

[Party] Shokrates: Yeah, we fought like hell~

[Party] Oath’s Vow: Jeon-gi-nim got kicked out of the guild over it, but somehow, after all this time, we ended up here together again.

[Party] Shokrates: That’s why you should always treat people well! You never know when or where you’ll meet them again! ㅇㅅㅇ!

[Party] Oath’s Vow: True, lol.

That didn’t seem like the right takeaway.

[Party] Freedeal: I joined because the guild recruitment literally said ‘a gathering of lunatics,’ and damn, they weren’t lying.

[Party] Freedeal: Speaking of which, let’s try recruiting our promising talent, Chasa-nim. ^^

[Party] Chasa: Haha.

[Party] Chasa: I prefer playing solo.

[Party] Freedeal: It’s actually more convenient if you join a guild, ㅠㅠ.

[Party] Freedeal: Plus, in this harsh world, you get a sense of belonging.

[Party] Chasa: I like drifting around, that’s just my style.

[Party] Shokrates: LMAO, look at that wall.

[Party] Freedeal: Who gave the habitual latecomer speaking privileges?

[Party] Shokrates: Hng, ㅠㅠ.

[Party] Freedeal: Just to confirm—you’re in a one-person guild, right?

[Party] Freedeal: No matter how wild we get, we don’t poach people from proper guilds.

[Party] Chasa: Yeah, it’s a solo guild, haha.

[Party] Freedeal: If you’re attached to the name because it matches your nickname, we can always switch over to yours!

[Party] Chasa: …

[Party] Chasa: Didn’t you guys spend money to buy your guild name?

[Party] Freedeal: Not my money, so it’s fine. ^^!

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: Wait, you matched your guild name with your nickname??

At Freedeal’s words, a tiny character came hopping over, bouncing up and down in front of Sa-yoon.

Completely lost in the frog-themed aesthetic, GegulGegulFrog was wearing the frog hat released in last summer’s seasonal event. However, they didn’t seem to have gotten the matching outfit, so instead, they had dyed all their armor green. It was a pretty rough approximation of the intended look.

It was always better to have a full set. Did he still have any spare pieces in storage? Sa-yoon was trying to recall when—

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: Oh, I was the only one who didn’t notice the guild name.

[Party] Freedeal: Didn’t you set it to display?

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: Nope! I like things clean and simple!

The information displayed beneath a character’s name could be adjusted in the settings. By default, it showed the guild name, but players who frequently participated in PvP often set it to display their title instead. This was so they could keep track of the stat bonuses attached to their titles.

GegulGegulFrog finally noticed the guild name and burst out laughing.

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: Oh, Chasa! I just saw it, LOL. Is this fate?

Fate, my ass.

Having played this game since the open beta, Sa-yoon had been in several guilds over the years. But the downsides always outweighed the benefits. Eventually, he settled into the ease and comfort of a one-person guild.

[Party] Oath’s Vow: If you’re all done chatting, let’s get going. ^^

[Party] Freedeal: Ah, but Chasa-nim, what about your guild? ㅠ?

[Party] Chasa: Moving out. ^^

[Dionysus’s Tavern has appeared.]

As Oath, the tank, disappeared, a system message announced the dungeon’s opening. Freedeal, who had been whining moments ago, also vanished into the dungeon.

[Party] Oath’s Vow: Having a Warlock around for Midas is so nice.

[Party] Oath’s Vow: If I had known earlier, I would’ve made someone raise one…

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: It’s the fact that Oath-nim is dead serious about that that makes it so crazy.

[Party] Shokrates: Fr, fr.

[Party] Oath’s Vow: Oh!

[Party] Oath’s Vow:

[‘Dionysus’ Blessed Robe Gloves’ has been obtained.]

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: How many of those have we gotten now? Hahahaha.

“Just let me get one good drop today.”

Re-rolling options was harder than expected. As GegulGegulFrog pointed out, it wasn’t that armor wasn’t dropping—it just wasn’t useful.

Here’s what Sa-yoon had managed to get over the past few days: Strength Increase, Evasion Increase, Mana Increase.

Except for the last one, none of these stats belonged on a robe.

Like, what the hell was a Warlock supposed to do with Strength? It’s not like he was going to start punching people. They must’ve boosted the drop rate while also raising the chances of useless sub-options.

It was no different from stores jacking up the original price before a sale to make it look like a discount. A scam, plain and simple.

How the hell had everyone else managed to get a full set with perfect options? Sa-yoon suddenly felt a newfound sense of awe toward his party members. He wasn’t even some casual player—he was about as deep in the game as one could get. The only difference was that he ran dungeons a bit less frequently.

[Party] Shokrates: Wait a sec.

[Party] Shokrates: You’re about to reveal the options?

[Party] Chasa: Yeah.

[Party] Shokrates: Ok ok. 

[‘Dionysus’ Blessed Robe Gloves’ options will now be revealed.]

[Party] Shokrates: I’m rubbing my hands together in front of my monitor right now.

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: Does that actually work?

[Party] Shokrates: Of course. I got full perfect options doing this.

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: Ok, I’m sending good luck beams too.

Not getting the right items was nothing new, but still, everyone acted just as frustrated as if it were happening to them. Aside from the fact that they were all slightly unhinged, they were actually pretty good people.

“Come on, please this time…”

For some reason, whenever he unlocked an item’s options, his upper body instinctively leaned away from the monitor, and he squinted one eye. A nervous habit.

A crisp sound effect rang out as the locked icon vanished. Slowly, he moved his mouse over the item.

Sa-yoon, whose knowledge of the game was beyond extensive—practically toxic waste levels of deep—immediately frowned as he read the options.