Chapter 57: Contextual Differences

Should I really relay this to him, or not? I was at least thankful I’d turned off View Sharing. Maybe I should just say they refused? Would this guy actually be a good influence on our guild…?

[Guild] Sephiroth: hi

What the— fck.*

“You joined the guild?!”

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t even say anything yet!”

“Your face was the literal embodiment of ‘I have permission to apply.'”

I was speechless. I knew I wasn’t great at poker-facing, but this? This guy, who usually lacked enough social tact to fill a teaspoon, claimed he read my expression to apply? No matter how I looked at it, it wasn’t that he read my face—he just took the initiative and bulldozed his way in.

“I’m telling you, it was all over your face.”

Noticing my disbelief, Sephiroth doubled down with emphasis.

[Guild] Ayron: It’s Sephiroth-nim!

[Guild] VeggieHo-ppang: Omfg omfg

[Guild] VeggieHo-ppang: He actually came

[Guild] Ris: Hello.

[Guild] VeggieHo-ppang: Hello~!

[Guild] JujiyukLim: hi hi

[Guild] Nago-Rang: Oh boy,,,,

The chat, which had been in a state of chaotic panic just moments ago, stabilized with terrifying speed once Sephiroth actually appeared. I guess no one had the guts to call him a lunatic to his face.

[Guild] NinjaBuffPls: Sephiroth-nim

[Guild] NinjaBuffPls: Nim

[Guild] Sephiroth: ?

[Guild] NinjaBuffPls: Please join the

[Guild] NinjaBuffPls: “Buff Ninjas” movement

In the midst of this, someone actually had the audacity to strike up a friendly conversation.

[Guild] Nago-Rang: Ah, Ninja-nim is actually insane ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Guild] Nago-Rang: Sorry Sep-nim, our guild’s leaky faucet is acting up again… T_T

[Guild] NinjaBuffPls: Hey, why!

[Guild] Sephiroth: Ninja

[Guild] Sephiroth: Trash-tier class

[Guild] Sephiroth: gg

[Guild] NinjaBuffPls: F*ck T_T T_T T_T T_T T_T T_T T_T

Wow, that person really has some thick skin….

[Guild] Nago-Rang: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Guild] Nago-Rang: Sep-nim knows what’s up ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Guild] PpoongPpoongLove: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Guild] PpoongPpoongLove: Is Ninja-nim crying?

[Guild] NinjaBuffPls: Fck, Ninjas are always treated like this

[Guild] NinjaBuffPls: Zelpia is out of its mind

[Guild] NinjaBuffPls: They balance everything else so well, why only Ninjas fck

[Guild] Ayron: Just give up (o_o) ㅋㅋㅋ

Thanks to NinjaBuffPls’s antics, the atmosphere in the chat became a bit more familiar. I glanced at Sephiroth, who had just branded someone’s entire class “trash-tier” in a heartbeat. He was tapping away at the air with agile fingers, likely navigating the chat UI. Noticing my gaze, he looked over.

“What.”

“Nothing, just…”

“Is your heart fluttering now that we’re in the same guild?”

“Does your tongue grow thorns if you go a single day without saying something weird?”

“Yes.”

“Cut the crap….”

I couldn’t win against his nonchalant tone. Didn’t someone once say they couldn’t win an argument because communication was impossible? Sephiroth was the textbook definition of that.

“It’s nice being in the same guild, Blue-ya.”

“Did I do something wrong to you?”

“No?”

“Then why are you calling me ‘Blue’?”

“It’s catchy.”

“Any chance you’ll stop?”

“Nope.”

Sht…*

“Blue-ya.”

I pondered how to fix that cringeworthy, embarrassing nickname, but the only answer that came to mind was ‘Give up.’ Without a sharp solution, I just looked at the right hand he held out toward me.

“Let’s get along.”

“If you want to get along, start by changing that nickname.”

“Handshake first.”

How did things end up like this? I couldn’t understand it. With a feeling of bitter resignation, I placed my hand in his. A subtle warmth was implemented in his grip. It felt as though I were holding a real hand inside that thick iron gauntlet.

<Sephiroth joined a guild>

It’s a guild called “Proud Daughters of Korea,” and they’re ranked around 13th?

Does anyone know why Sephiroth went there??

[Comments]

User 1: Sephiroth’s girlfriend is there.

└ User 2: Girlfriend?

└└ User 3: There’s a rising dangerous figure named BlueberryWhiskey. Sephiroth has been following them around lately.

└└└ User 4: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└└└ User 5: Right, the beginner zone is a mess because of them ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

User 6: Wow, he joined a guild for a girl? True love mtc.

└ User 7: Sephiroth turns out to be a romanticist.

└ User 8: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ User 9: That doesn’t suit him at all ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

User 10: I heard a rumor BlueberryWhiskey is a guy.

└ User 11: Then are they just bros with the Fanatic?

└ User 12: Maybe Sephiroth is gay.

└ User 13: Stop spreading lies. BlueberryWhiskey is a gorgeous girl. ㅋ

└└ User 14: ?? How do you know?

└└└ User 15: She’s my friend. ㅎㅎ

└└ User 16: No proof?

└└└ User 17: Don’t believe me if you don’t want to~ ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└└ User 18: Bro, is BlueberryWhiskey pretty? T_T How old is she?

└└└ User 19: She’s 20, a freshman in college ㅋ she’s been popular since high school.

└└ User 20: Wow, I want to see her in real life T_T

User 21: Wait, is this for real? Hasn’t it been over 2 years since the Fanatic was in a guild?

└ User 22: Was his old guild “Endless”?

└└ User 23: Yup, it was Endless.

└└ User 24: They’re the #1 ranked guild now.

└ User 25: Didn’t Endless put a bounty on his head when he left? Did that just fizzle out?

└└ User 26: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└└ User 27: Why do you think?

└└ User 28: No ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ It fizzled out because Endless got trashed T_T

└└└ User 29: They didn’t get trashed, they just stopped because ganging up on one person wasn’t gentlemanly.

└└└└ User 30: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└└└└ User 31: Welcome, Endless member~

└└└└ User 32: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ The more you excuse it, the more pathetic it is.

└ User 33: But why did Sephiroth leave Endless in the first place?

└└ User 34: Nobody knows. Most just assume he had a huge fight with Cielo.

└└└ User 35: Cielo?

└└└└ User 36: The guild leader of Endless.

Old emotions sometimes lose their reasons over time, weathering away until only the feeling remains and the cause is lost.

Morning sunlight poked sharply through my eyelids. The only advantage of my small studio apartment was the large window and good lighting, but even that became a downside in the mornings. I’d bought and put up blackout curtains myself, but I’d gone for the cheap ones, and they failed to do their job properly. I rolled over and squeezed my eyes shut to try and get more sleep, but the sound of water running in the neighbor’s bathroom washed away whatever drowsiness remained.

Lecture materials I’d half-heartedly looked over yesterday were scattered messily across my small desk. With sleepy eyes, I gathered them up, put them in a folder, and tossed them into my bag. It was for my “Stocks, Bonds, and Derivatives” class. Something about optimal portfolios… I’m sure I heard it in class, but not a single bit of the content remained in my head as I packed the papers away.

Well, not everything was gone. One round head I’d seen in that lecture remained vividly in my memory.

“…Today is the Stocks/Bonds/Derivatives class.”

The seniors said that the first group project would be assigned in the lecture immediately following group formation. That meant I had to meet Na Eun-hyeok and have a brief discussion about the assignment. I tapped my phone sitting on the charger, and the fingerprint unlock screen appeared. Scrolling through my messages, I saw only group chats; there were no special individual messages. I scrolled down until I found Na Eun-hyeok’s name.

Na Eun-hyeok [?]

Na Eun-hyeok [ㅋㅋ]

Na Eun-hyeok [The emoticon is cute]

Na Eun-hyeok [(´꒳`*)]

“…Ah, I want to die.”

The moment I saw that last message, a sigh escaped from the depths of my soul. Why did I use such a weird emoticon just to make a good impression? Weirdness was a separate issue from cuteness. You can be cute and weird, or boring and normal. This emoticon was the former. It was cute, sure, but way too strange for a message sent to a classmate.

Seeing the emoticon triggered another face in my mind. No, can I even call it a face? A helmet appeared. It was Sephiroth, who had stayed late last night explaining how to play 6:6 PVP. Had he said it was an emoticon his “crush” used? Every time he spammed that thing, this KakaoTalk message I’d sent to Na Eun-hyeok flashed before my eyes, making me want to curl up and die. As I remembered how much I’d cringed at every one of Sephiroth’s chats, my cheeks turned bright red.

I wish I could treat Na Eun-hyeok the way I treat Sephiroth.

I knew it was an impossible dream. Na Eun-hyeok was Na Eun-hyeok, and Sephiroth was Sephiroth. I could only treat Sephiroth the way I did because his personality was so trashy that I didn’t feel any pressure. Since how you treat someone comes from context, I couldn’t view two people with completely different contexts the same way. When Sephiroth used the emoticon, it felt like he was mocking me; when Na Eun-hyeok used it, it felt like he just used it because it was cute. The context was worlds apart.

“…We’ll probably have the group meeting later.”

I set my phone down and opened the small bathroom door. It was time to get ready.