Chapter 8: The Week of Forced Growth

[Whisper] MachoKing: This is why I didn’t want to tell you.
[Whisper] MachoKing: I quit my job this year and I’m job hunting again.
[Whisper] MachoKing: And yeah, I’m thirty-four.
[Whisper] MachoKing: If I had a job, I wouldn’t be playing Odin at this hour.
[Whisper] MachoKing: Believe it or don’t. I don’t care.

Then he used the “sit” emote and plopped MachoKing right onto the ground.
Go ahead, kill me.
His shameless “cut my belly open if you want” attitude seemed to work, because after a brief pause, the chat resumed.

[Whisper] Seohyun: …Seriously?
[Whisper] MachoKing: If you don’t wanna believe it, don’t.
[Whisper] Seohyun: What the hell lol stop lying, hyung lolol

Where did he even find a place this deserted?
In the dense forest where their characters were facing off, a few small animals wandered through.
Kyungheon glanced at a rabbit hopping behind Seohyun, then looked back as new messages popped up.

[Whisper] Seohyun: Someone like you is older than me?
[Whisper] MachoKing: Someone like me?
[Whisper] Seohyun: I mean… you know.

Then Seohyun began giving unsolicited “reviews” of MachoKing.

[Whisper] Seohyun: Why is an elf dressed like a hobo?
[Whisper] Seohyun: Your race is elf but your job is basically miner.
[Whisper] Seohyun: What even is your identity?

The game Odin’s Boundary had three races: humans, elves, and giants.
Players could choose any race, then raise that character in any class, and once reaching certain levels, could reincarnate into new jobs.

You could raise whatever character you wanted however you wanted—one of the game’s biggest draws.

…On the other hand, MachoKing really had no identity at all.
Elves were specialized in bows and magic, sure—
but Kyungheon wasn’t interested in either.

Even though the account was set as archer, the path he wanted was something else entirely.

[Whisper] MachoKing: I’m that.
[Whisper] Seohyun: ?
A brief moment of productive conversation made Kyungheon type faster.

[Whisper] MachoKing: Tank.
[Whisper] MachoKing: I said I’m a tank.

Seohyun was speechless for a second before replying ruthlessly:

[Whisper] Seohyun: Get a grip.

**

[Odin’s Boundary / Free Board]

[Author: kk]
[Title: Can Elves Tank?]

Hello. My race is elf and my job is archer.
Is tanking impossible?
Honestly I hate long-range bow stuff.
Since elves are fast, I wanna tank instead.
My friend keeps cussing at me saying wake the hell up.
This bastard says I should play melee-cleric instead.
Is tanking REALLY impossible?

[Comments]

• Your teammates will shit blood;;
  ⌎222 lol just dodge-tank instead of using a shield
  ⌎Close the coffin lid yourself before you get in
  ⌎Elves already depend on team synergy lmao tank? Are you insane
  ⌎22 elves need good team for burst. Just go ranged pls

• One hit to the elf’s hair and you drop dead

⌎You’ll die before writing your will

• “High movement speed = tank” is the funniest thing I’ve ever heard

• Isn’t it too cruel to force an elf into a tank class

⌎If you’re born elf, just focus on DPS
⌎Yeah yeah elves should melt tanks, not be tanks

“…Then what the hell am I supposed to make him do?”

The post he uploaded ten minutes ago had tons of replies, and not a single one took his side.
Kyungheon had wanted some wisdom to help secure MachoKing’s future, but after reading everyone laughing at him, he sighed heavily.

[Whisper] Seohyun: Get your shit together and decide by next week.
[Whisper] Seohyun: Actually there’s nothing to decide.
[Whisper] Seohyun: You were already playing archer.
[Whisper] Seohyun: Too late to change. You can’t change.
[Whisper] Seohyun: lol you didn’t even read the tutorial, did you.

His grand ambition—max level dream, future tank—was crushed.
Seohyun told him to shut up and keep playing archer.
That had been a week ago.
Kyungheon said no, Seohyun mocked him for skipping the tutorial, Kyungheon retorted asking if the tutorial taught players to scam newbies.
Both swore they’d never talk again.

Then Seohyun sobered up first and said he’d help—so just stick with the bow.
It wasn’t a suggestion; it was borderline a threat.

[Whisper] Seohyun: Quit the nonsense and just do damage quietly.
[Whisper] Seohyun: A hobo-looking guy like you? Tanking? Please.
[Whisper] Seohyun: You think you can tank just because people yell “tank tank” at raids and you wanna join in?

[Whisper] MachoKing: Are you done talking?
[Whisper] Seohyun: Do I look done?
[Whisper] Seohyun: You can’t even tell melee and ranged apart—how would you tank?
[Whisper] Seohyun: Is your dream to die in a suicide charge?

Reading the spite dripping from every line, Kyungheon almost preferred when Seohyun used to annoy him asking for friend requests.
Each message had enough toxicity to make him shudder.

Still, Seohyun gave him a one-week grace period.
And dragged him everywhere.

Dragged—not guided.
Kyungheon’s opinion meant nothing.
They clashed constantly.

Seohyun insisted MachoKing wear every item Seohyun gave him, head to toe.
They were all overleveled and too good for MachoKing—
yet Kyungheon still struggled to kill even one monster.

He fumbled hotkeys, and every time he did, Seohyun’s whispers exploded like rapid fire.

[Whisper] Seohyun: I told you—if you can’t memorize hotkeys, label your keyboard.
[Whisper] Seohyun: Look forward, not at me.
[Whisper] Seohyun: The mob’s right there. Are you not gonna kill it? GOGOGOGO don’t walk RUN
[Whisper] Seohyun: If you come back without XP, you’re dead, hyung.

Every single mistake triggered another barrage of verbal assault.

But thanks to that, MachoKing had grown remarkably in a week.
The new and improved MachoKing.

All thanks to his max-level “friend,” though Kyungheon found himself missing the quiet days mining alone.

“Our MachoKing’s spirit is too good for just shooting arrows…”

Booting his laptop, Kyungheon pondered MachoKing’s career path.
When MachoKing used to be “Ruru,” the original owner, Cha Jongwoon, had raised him as an archer.
So naturally, the highest stats were all bow-related.

Probably why Jongwoon recommended the bow in the first place.
And Seohyun—who refused to let him pursue anything else—became more obvious by the day.

Do something you’re good at.
Don’t be greedy.
Like some Spartan coach, Seohyun pushed Kyungheon into adapting to the world of Odin and wouldn’t compromise on MachoKing’s job.

<Welcome to Odin’s Boundary! May Balder’s blessing shine upon you today!>

The familiar melody greeted him, but Kyungheon simply opened the map with a dull face.
Click. Click.
He headed to Valkyrie Village and accepted a new quest from the guard: kill two monsters terrorizing the locals.

Monsters that used to scare him were now trivial.

“Pathetic,” he muttered.

Just minutes after logging in and taking the quest, an alert popped up—Seohyun had logged in.
The chat notification rising on his screen drained the light from Kyungheon’s eyes.

How bad would today be?

His original goal was simple: refill the gear Seohyun made him lose, spend some time gaming, and pass the remaining days of his hospital stay peacefully.
And that stay was almost over—he was being discharged in two days.

A heavy dread settled on his face.

Once his thoughts finished sorting themselves out, the final “task” walked straight toward him.
Right then, the chat popped up:

[Whisper] Seohyun: So?
[Whisper] Seohyun: Did you decide?

Logging in and immediately finding Kyungheon, Seohyun walked to stand beside MachoKing.
His red hair fluttered gently as if blowing in the wind.
A picturesque scene—
if Kyungheon didn’t know exactly what kind of bastard controlled that character.

Seohyun was an early-generation player.
He’d rolled around in this game for ten years, reincarnated multiple times, gotten bored, bullied newbies for entertainment, and eventually made friends with MachoKing.
Kyungheon said it was kidnapping; Seohyun insisted he “picked him up.”

Both shuddered at the sheer mismatch of expectations.
Yet Kyungheon still accepted all of Seohyun’s gifts.
And Seohyun—

[Whisper] Seohyun: If I picked you up, I’m responsible for you.

—said things Kyungheon would never understand, sticking to MachoKing’s side.

Still, the important thing was:
Seohyun genuinely invested effort into settling MachoKing into the game,
and Kyungheon, though grinding his teeth, was somehow keeping up.

[Whisper] MachoKing: Yeah.
[Whisper] MachoKing: I decided.

He let a passing monster walk by untouched and typed again.

[Whisper] MachoKing: I’ll use the bow.
[Whisper] MachoKing: From now on, call me “MajuMong.” (“Master Bowdream / Bow Mongrel”—a ridiculous wordplay)