Yesterday, I successfully completed the final difficulty level—Hell—of the Kyrant dungeon, and I was able to reach level 220 without much trouble. That meant I managed to gain 5 levels in just four days, quite an achievement.
Well, I did clear each difficulty at least twice, sometimes three times, so gaining 5 levels was reasonable. Still, considering I was stuck at level 215 for a whole week before, this pace felt pretty decent.
"Next raid dungeon is Seltern, huh."
Since I'd cleared Kyrant all the way through Hell difficulty, there was no need to go back. I'd already picked up all the Seltern-specific quests too.
Seltern had the same difficulty progression as Kyrant: Normal, Hard, then Hell. If I cleared them all, I could hit level 230 for sure.
I quietly thought to myself, assessing the party members' skill and our raid-clear speed:
"…They're actually good."
Yeah, credit where credit's due. If it weren't for CottonCandyFox and the party, I wouldn't have reached level 220 this quickly.
Plus, I'd already received over five items from CottonCandyFox. Maybe because they knew I didn't like receiving expensive gear, they always picked just the right ones—nothing too extravagant—so it was hard to refuse.
Not that I accepted everything from the start. The third time, I even told them I'd just buy it myself because it felt like too much.
But then CottonCandyFox got all serious and snapped, "Do you think raiding is a joke, Sleepy Oppa?" What kind of nonsense was that? After that, I just started accepting things without a word.
"Hmph…"
I had moved to the raid zone where the Seltern dungeon was and began checking the raid recruitment board at a relaxed pace. It never hurt to get a feel for the scene.
[Seltern / 4 Recs / 2 Tank 3 DPS 2 Support / Max Level Only] 6/7
[S D / 10 Recs / No Mid-Raid Leavers / 2-3-2] 7/7
[Peeta Normal / 3 Recs / No Tank, 3 DPS, 3 Support / Max Level Only] 6/6
[Sel / Chill Run x2 / 2 Tank 3 DPS 2 Support] 7/7
[Peeta / Hell 3rd Run / 3-3-3 / Max Level Required] 9/9
Since only Seltern and Peeta dungeons were in this zone, there weren't that many recruitment posts.
I figured I'd need one more tank for Seltern. While I rubbed my lips in thought, I reopened the messages I got earlier from CottonCandyFox.
[CottonCandyFox: Sleepy Oppa]
[CottonCandyFox: I think I can't raid todayㅠㅅㅠ!]
[CottonCandyFox: Something came up suddenly]
[CottonCandyFox: I think it'll take 3 hours;ㅡ;]
[CottonCandyFox: Let's do Seltern together tomorrow!]
[SleepyMe: Ok ok]
[CottonCandyFox: Don't join another party..]
[CottonCandyFox: Sorryㅜㅡㅜ]
[SleepyMe: It's fine, really]
[CottonCandyFox: Sobㅜㅡㅜ]
[CottonCandyFox: See you tomorrow..ㅜ.ㅜ]
They logged off right after that message, so I figured they really were busy.
Or maybe something came up with their main character, Yuchae. After all, being the master of the server's #1 guild, it's not surprising they'd be busy.
"Still, how long are they going to keep pretending to be a girl online?"
We'd need to use voice chat eventually if we were going to clear the new raid dungeon.
The more I thought about it, the more I regretted not confronting Yuchae properly when I added them as a friend the other day. If I had pinned them down and asked all my questions then, I wouldn't be second-guessing CottonCandyFox's behavior now.
"I just don't get it…"
I leaned back in my chair, arms crossed. Sure, what happened between me and Yuchae was mostly their fault, but I still accepted a lot from them. So I didn't exactly come out of it empty-handed.
To be honest… the way CottonCandyFox had helped with raids these past few days did start to melt the cold anger in my heart.
Of course, that didn't mean I was ready to forgive them for spreading my nickname all over the server. But at least I got a proper apology…
And raiding together made me feel that they hadn't done all that dumb stuff with truly bad intentions.
Now that I think about it, the whole thing was strange from the start. Picking a fight over my nickname? Sure, maybe they were just a jerk. But the way their attitude flipped right after that—it was kind of suspicious.
Back then, I was too pissed off and had just lost a 1v1 PvP, so I didn't think it through. But looking back now, there are way too many weird parts.
"…I don't know."
After groaning for a while, I sighed and brushed my bangs aside. No matter how much I racked my brain, it was pointless unless I cornered Yuchae and got answers directly.
And confronting CottonCandyFox about their gender probably wouldn't go anywhere. If anything, I'd just lose out on a raid party that gave great experience.
"Yeah. Forget all that—for now, let's just hit max level."
I went through all that stress because of Yuchae; the least I could do was get a free ride to higher levels.
I firmed my resolve and straightened my posture. Why did I even start playing Xenoris? It was to try out the new class—Dark Mage.
You could only transfer to Dark Mage after hitting max level. So technically, I still hadn't even experienced the class yet.
I turned off CottonCandyFox's messages and moved to a different area. Today's raid was a bust, but that didn't mean there weren't any quests left.
I still had five quests remaining—daily quests (a.k.a. "homework") that gave extra rewards and EXP the more you did them, plus bonus quests only available to non-max-level players.
First, I quickly finished the daily quests, then headed to the Eastern Continent for the bonus ones. My goal was to hunt Kampa, a monster that only respawns on an island in the Eastern Continent.
Maybe because it's one of the least populated areas, but even though it wasn't that late, there were only two other players on the map besides me.
Looks like they were also non-max-level players here for the bonus quests. I was about to ignore them and go after Kampa when a global message popped up.
[Global] Ganbok: Hey you, hold up
[Global] Ganbok: I'm telling you, it's true
[Global] Ganbok: Excuse me
[Global] Ganbok: You there, SleepyMe lol
I was about to pull out my staff to start hunting when the continuing messages made me frown. What now?
[Global] SleepyMe: ?
[Global] Ganbok: That *was* you, right?
[Global] Ganbok: The one who fought with those EarlyEvening guys lol
EarlyEvening guys? I closed my inventory and took a proper look at the screen. Above the name "Ganbok" was a clearly visible guild name: .
"Ah, that Fever guild."
I recalled what Kim Daeseok had told me before about guild wars. That was the guild that clashed with EarlyEvening two or three times a year like clockwork. Ranked third, if I remembered correctly.
[Global] aoko1: lolol it really *is* them
[Global] aoko1: Hey, you there
The guy next to Ganbok was also from the same Fever guild. I squinted at the chat window in silence.
"These guys… they give me a bad feeling."
My instincts—honed from years of gaming—were shouting at me: Be careful with these guys.
[Global] SleepyMe: ?
I replied casually and quietly launched the screen recording software I had prepared. As I hit the record button, the Xenoris gameplay screen started being captured in vivid detail.
[Global] aoko1: That thing you raged about in General Chat
[Global] aoko1: That wasn't staged? It was real? lol
[Global] aoko1: So it was real??
[Global] aoko1: ??? Was it??
[Global] SleepyMe: Yeah
[Global] Ganbok: That was hilarious lol
[Global] Ganbok: Always wanted to meet you haha
[Global] SleepyMe: ? lol
I watched the recording time tick by and thought blandly, So what. What's your point?
[Global] Ganbok: As you probably know
[Global] Ganbok: That bitch Yuchae has been acting like a total asshole forever
[Global] Ganbok: A lot of people hate him lol
[Global] aoko1: True lolol
[Global] aoko1: Tons of victims like you in our guild
[Global] Ganbok: That guy's absolute trash
[Global] SleepyMe: lol
And now they're running their filthy mouths. I sighed and tilted my head slowly. Honestly, this was annoying. If they didn't have anything more interesting to say, I'd rather go grind.
[Global] Ganbok: Hey
[Global] Ganbok: Are you still getting kicked out of guilds?
[Global] Ganbok: Seems like you're soloing now
[Global] aoko1: EarlyEvening did you dirty, lol what else would you do
[Global] Ganbok: Wanna join our guild? lol
[Global] Ganbok: Newbies just need to show up~
I blinked, caught off guard by the unexpected offer.
"Join their guild?"
And not just any guild—the third-ranked one, Fever, infamous for its nasty feud with EarlyEvening?
After a short pause, I gave my answer.
[Global] SleepyMe: lol
[Global] SleepyMe: Nah, I'm good
Sure, a guild invitation sounded nice. And if it's Fever, even EarlyEvening might hesitate to mess with me. But I had three reasons for refusing:
First, I didn't trust these two at all. Just a few lines of chat and suddenly I'm being invited into a top-tier guild? That's way too easy for a rank-3 guild.
Second, I had no intention of joining some unfamiliar guild just to get back at Yuchae and EarlyEvening. That would just bring me more headaches.
Lastly, I didn't want to get involved with scumbags like these.
The more I thought about it, the more shady the offer felt. My firm refusal left them visibly taken aback.
[Global] aoko1: ??
[Global] Ganbok: You're not coming?
[Global] aoko1: ? lol
[Global] SleepyMe: Yeah, not going
[Global] SleepyMe: If you're done talking crap
[Global] SleepyMe: I'm going back to hunting
[Global] Ganbok: lol
I didn't want to waste any more time. I turned around and started heading to hunt Kampa—when suddenly, a sharp blue light came flying toward my character.
"What the—?"
My body reacted faster than my brain. I dodged the attack with a quick sidestep, then swiveled the camera to look behind me.
[Global] aoko1: Holy shit
[Global] aoko1: Lucky, huh? lol
I saw them—one with a staff, the other with a spear, both drawn and ready.
"…Did they just attack me?"
Because I turned down their guild invite?
I couldn't help but laugh in disbelief.
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : http://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]