Chapter 16: Chaos in the Guild Chat

After finishing speaking, Kongdaenam quietly stepped back. Contrary to his earlier advice to “just go along a few times,” he made it clear he had no intention of setting a foot in this mud pit. Come to think of it, Yaongi and Palpal had quietly retreated as well.

No wonder they were called the Black-Haired Beasts.

[Whisper] Seo-hyun: You said you’d never do it when I asked.
[Whisper] Seo-hyun: So what are you doing here now?
[Whisper] Seo-hyun: Is this the solo play you were talking about?

Kyunghun, staring at the kid who had just sent his sense of betrayal flying, typed with a troubled expression.

[Whisper] MachoKing: Hey, buddy.
[Whisper] MachoKing: Seo-hyun.
[Whisper] MachoKing: I had my reasons.

[Whisper] Seo-hyun: You act all friendly when it’s inconvenient.
[Whisper] Seo-hyun: Don’t do that, it’s annoying.

[Whisper] MachoKing: Seo-hyun…
[Whisper] Seo-hyun: Seriously, just call me by my name.

[Whisper] MachoKing: My little brother, Seo-hyun…
[Whisper] Seo-hyun: Just stay quiet, please.

While the two whispered back and forth, the other guild members couldn’t understand what was being said.

[Guild] LA Kongdaenam: Excuse me, Macho.

Before Kyunghun could look at Kongdaenam, Seo-hyun pushed in.

[Whisper] Seo-hyun: You don’t need to talk to him.

His eyes darted back and forth between the two chats, completely confused.

[Guild] LA Kongdaenam: The remaining three are feeling left out right now ^^
[Whisper] Seo-hyun: What nonsense is that now?

The guild master and deputy guild master were openly hostile toward each other. Perhaps Palpal’s earlier remark that he didn’t often do guild events really meant he couldn’t handle them. Kyunghun, sighing as he scrolled back through the chaotic chat, tried to piece it all together.

[Whisper] Seo-hyun: Why are you so obsessed with gear?
[Whisper] MachoKing: I’m not—
[Whisper] Seo-hyun: Look, you came running because they said they’d give you gear.
[Whisper] MachoKing: Hey, what are you talking about?
[Whisper] MachoKing: The guild master made a fair offer.
[Whisper] Seo-hyun: What?? An offer? A fair offer?
[Whisper] Seo-hyun: And guild master? Haha, so polite with the fingers.
[Whisper] Seo-hyun: Since when have you been acting so courteous?
[Whisper] MachoKing: Y-yes, Seo-hyun…
[Whisper] Seo-hyun: Seriously, stop talking like that, it’s annoying.
[Whisper] MachoKing: Y-yes.
[Whisper] MachoKing: The guild master just made a proposal I needed.

No matter how he tried to soothe him, Seo-hyun wasn’t having it. Seconds later, two more messages popped up that grated on Kyunghun’s nerves.

[Whisper] Seo-hyun: Hey, Macho.
[Whisper] Seo-hyun: Is “free armor” really a fair offer?

Unable to hold back, Kyunghun let his fingers fall from the keyboard and rested his chin in his hand. A kid five years younger than him talking like this… what to do with him? Then it hit him: he had joined the guild because they promised him gear, and the deputy guild master was Seo-hyun?

Something about it smelled off.

Carefully trying to piece things together, Kyunghun whispered to Kongdaenam.

[Whisper] MachoKing: Guild master…
[Whisper] LA Kongdaenam: Yes, Macho ^^
[Whisper] MachoKing: Answer carefully from now on.
[Whisper] MachoKing: Isn’t this a scam?
[Whisper] LA Kongdaenam: ??
[Whisper] MachoKing: ??
[Whisper] MachoKing: Why are you putting question marks like that?
[Whisper] MachoKing: What are you doing right now?
[Whisper] MachoKing: Why is that guy the deputy guild master here?

Then the culprit couldn’t stay silent and joined the chat.

[Whisper] Seo-hyun: Who are you talking to right now?
[Whisper] MachoKing: Shut up and stay quiet for now.
[Whisper] MachoKing: Adults are talking, don’t interrupt.

Now Kyunghun roughly understood the situation. Seo-hyun had forced the guild members to go after him from behind when he didn’t intend to join, and they had managed to lure him in with the promise of gear. His patience starting to wear thin, Kyunghun confronted LA Kongdaenam.

[Guild] MachoKing: Damn it, this is a scam.
[Guild] MachoKing: I don’t need the gear, kick them out.
[Guild] MachoKing: You frauds.

Yaongi, startled by his outburst, timidly spoke.

[Guild] Yaongi: Bro, why are you so scary…ㅜ

[Guild] MachoKing: And you, wearing that skirt, why do you keep acting like this?
[Guild] MachoKing: If you want to call me “bro,” change your clothes ♡♡

With that, Yaongi quietly vanished. Palpal had been silent all along, leaving only Seo-hyun and Kongdaenam.

[Guild] MachoKing: Guild master,
[Guild] MachoKing: Kick him out immediately.
[Guild] MachoKing: Before I contact customer service.

[Guild] LA Kongdaenam: Calm down, Macho ^^
[Guild] MachoKing: So frustrating… can you stop smiling?
[Guild] LA Kongdaenam: Macho, we’re all victims here.

Kongdaenam, no longer smiling, began explaining the situation.

[Guild] LA Kongdaenam: Our guild used to always rank top in guild wars until two years ago.
[Guild] LA Kongdaenam: The deputy guild master was ranked #1 in PvP Hunter.
[Guild] LA Kongdaenam: I was #8 as a swordsman.
[Guild] LA Kongdaenam: Palpal, hiding behind that rock, once reached #15 as a dark magician.
[Guild] LA Kongdaenam: Yaongi isn’t much.

Yaongi, now calmer and in female pants, listened attentively.

[Guild] LA Kongdaenam: But our deputy guild master…
[Guild] LA Kongdaenam: Went nuts in personality.
[Guild] LA Kongdaenam: Every newbie logging in got wrecked.
[Guild] LA Kongdaenam: So the Black-Haired Beasts became public enemies.

[Guild] Yaongi: Exactly, they didn’t even bother with usㅜㅜ
[Guild] Yaongi: Members couldn’t take it and leftㅜㅜ

Palpal, who had been quietly observing, spoke up.

[Guild] Odin’s 88: The deputy guild master is at fault.
[Guild] Odin’s 88: But due to collective responsibility, we were also dragged into it.

[Guild] Seo-hyun: You guys, really something else.
[Guild] LA Kongdaenam: Look at his tone, damn it.

Kyunghun realized Kongdaenam was likely the only one who could confront Seo-hyun face-to-face.

[Guild] Seo-hyun: Don’t talk to him, I want to speak to Macho alone.

Palpal, overwhelmed, whispered to Kyunghun.

[Whisper] Odin’s 88: Did you see his personality? That’s him.

Yaongi joined in.

[Whisper] Yaongi: He got scolded for cowardice in PvP,
[Whisper] Yaongi: so he now does it all solo.
[Whisper] Yaongi: Thanks to that, we’ve been sufferingㅜㅜㅜㅜ
[Whisper] Yaongi: It was quiet for a while, so we relaxedㅜㅜㅜㅜ
[Whisper] Yaongi: But now the madness is backㅜㅜ
[Whisper] MachoKing: Madness?
[Whisper] Yaongi: PvP insanityㅜㅜㅜ
[Whisper] Yaongi: But the guild master said bringing you in would stabilize thingsㅜㅜ
[Whisper] Yaongi: So that’s why we brought youㅜㅜㅜㅜ

It seemed believable, so Kyunghun decided to ask the source directly.

[Whisper] MachoKing: Hey, Seo-hyun,
[Whisper] MachoKing: Are you insane?

[Whisper] Seo-hyun: What the hell are you talking about? Enough, bro.
[Whisper] Seo-hyun: Do you know how much I helped you?
[Whisper] Seo-hyun: And now you log in only twice a month?
[Whisper] Seo-hyun: Do you have any idea how absurd that is?

Kyunghun, watching the chat with a serious face, slowly typed.

[Whisper] MachoKing: This is bad… caught a disease with no cure.
[Whisper] MachoKing: Seo-hyun, you punk, acting out because you can’t act your age.
[Whisper] Seo-hyun: You always bring up my age.

Kyung-hun, quicker than before, typed back.

[Whisper] MachoKing: Seo-hyun, shut up for a sec.
[Whisper] Seo-hyun: Are you serious right now?

The hot-headed 24-year-old had just been shut down, so Kyunghun switched to guild chat.

[Guild] MachoKing: You all know I can’t log in often, right?
[Guild] MachoKing: I won’t be much help to the guild.

[Guild] Yaongi: Broㅜㅜㅜ Your anger’s goneㅜㅜ

[Guild] MachoKing: No, still annoyed, just holding it in.
[Guild] MachoKing: Can’t back out now anyway.

As he tried to steer the conversation toward gear, Palpal cut in quickly.

[Guild] Odin’s 88: Shall we proceed with the gift ceremony?
[Guild] LA Kongdaenam: Yes, welcome MachoKing ^^
[Guild] Yaongi: Broㅜㅜㅜㅜ

It seemed like the chaotic situation was finally calming down—until Seo-hyun whispered again.

[Whisper] Seo-hyun: Even without me,
[Whisper] Seo-hyun: You’d have survived anyway.

Still sulking. Kyunghun muttered with a disinterested look. After all, Seo-hyun had managed to get MachoKing into the guild and yet hadn’t been appeased. Kyunghun had a feeling it would be troublesome if he didn’t smooth things over—and these instincts were rarely wrong.

After pondering for a moment, he replied.

[Whisper] MachoKing: Hey,
[Whisper] MachoKing: Give me your number.

Kyung-hun, checking the gift coupons he had carefully collected, tilted his head at the unusually quiet chat.

Moments later came an unexpected reply.

[Whisper] Seo-hyun: Bro;;;
[Whisper] Seo-hyun: Are you trying to get my number now?

Crazy. Kyunghun muttered a curse under his breath. But Seo-hyun didn’t stop there.

[Whisper] Seo-hyun: Sorry, bro, not my type ㄴㄴ