“Find me quickly? Fuck, who are you ordering around!”
Bang! Dohae violently struck down his left hand that was gripping the mirror. More precisely, he’d aimed at the middle finger wearing the ring. The mirror cracked with a snap and fell along with blood.
Byun Taehui, who woke up from the commotion, knocked on the bathroom door asking what was wrong. Dohae threw a single “fuck off” toward the outside and gritted his teeth.
‘I need to find out where Noh Pyeonghwa got this ring too.’
The memory had disappeared, but traces might remain. Dohae clenched his fist, eyes shining full of murderous intent. Red blood stained the sink.
*
Pyeonghwa was currently being harassed by two men. One of them was an enemy who had inflicted an indelible wound on Pyeonghwa…
[Kim Chunsik: Report]
[Sorry overslept issue self-cancelled class]
[Kim Chunsik: Ha fuck]
[Really can’t get upㅠ Will definitely go tomorrow]
[Kim Chunsik: If you’re just flapping your mouth I’ll kill you]
[Loyalty loyalty]
Hwaaam. Pyeonghwa yawned drowsily and sent a rough reply. Although he’d hacked the school server and figured out all his classmates’ course schedules, for Pyeonghwa who slept around sunrise, attending morning classes was like plucking stars from the sky.
Jangmak University was in the countryside, requiring an hour’s train ride from Yongsan Station. Even if he woke up around lunchtime, got ready and left, he could barely catch only the very last lecture.
“As long as I find him within 2 weeks… This body is busy saving the world…”
Pyeonghwa muttered while hugging his pillow. He was living too complacent a life compared to his given mission, but how else could he try harder? He’d gathered 100,000 points and lowered the apocalypse probability by 5%, so he’d done enough.
“Yeah, if the world ends, it ends… It’s not like I’m dying alone… If we all die together, that’s fucking great…”
Pyeonghwa was currently fallen into nihilism. It was because he’d raised his mental power stat too much in a short period.
Not long ago, the day he went to school and returned riding in Do Dohae’s car. Pyeonghwa took a break without any notice because the dizziness wouldn’t subside.
Then comments started appearing asking if he’d already changed now that he’d gained some popularity and earned some money. People seized the opportunity to complain about things that had been bothering them. They disliked this, disliked that, found this unfun, found that unfun, blah blah blah…
In fact, the bigger the channel grew, the more viewers there were telling him what to do. Normally Pyeonghwa wouldn’t have cared much, but that day he couldn’t hold back his surge of anger and posted on the channel community.
[404NotPax: Losers just fucking flapping their gumsㅋㅋㅋ The bastards who run their mouths never donate. At least pay money before talking. Freeloader teacher list-> @ahnkyoung @kim_last_kim @saaaaakkk @min_hoyo @hunhunboy]
Because he captured subscribers’ IDs, there was an uproar saying ‘Pax did Pax things again.’ The captured subscribers posted long unsubscription messages saying they were disappointed, and since some of them had been consistent donors, the controversy intensified. A whole chunk of subscribers left, but thanks to that, aggro points rolled in nicely.
The next day, Pyeonghwa tilted his head, not understanding his own behavior. It wasn’t something to get that angry about, so why did he blow up? It seemed meeting Do Dohae had been a big mental blow. Pyeonghwa poured all his points into the mental power stat for mental protection.
“Uuugh…”
He’d been in a zombie-like state ever since. His body would adapt over time and gradually get better, but not right now.
Fortunately, when he logged into the game, he became fine, perhaps because stats were limited. Pyeonghwa shouted at viewers demanding an apology, “You… you… you crazy bastards, you’re the ones who were wrong first!” and avoided it by covering his ears with both hands saying “Yeah, can’t hear you. Aaaaaaaah.”
In fact, almost no one expected good character from Pax, a former malicious commenter. Subscribers only left for exactly one day due to the controversy, and from the next day, it drew an upward curve again.
“Do Dohae, Kim Chunsik… they’re all going to die anyway, so what’s there to fear…?”
Pyeonghwa found his past self pathetic for being frightened in front of Dohae. If he thought of him as someone who would die anyway, he wasn’t scary at all. He’d agreed to do the task so he’d do it, but he had no intention of moving swiftly. He’d roughly humor him and dawdle like this, then put on a brief spurt at the end…
[Kim Chunsik: What’s your family heirloom]
“Ugh, starting again. Isn’t he busy? He has two commercial shoots today…”
Do Dohae asked about things other than business from time to time. The day before yesterday he investigated whether there were high-ranking Hunters in the family, yesterday he told him to recall any stories related to rings or jewels, and today he asks what the family heirloom is.
Even the word family felt awkward, and heirloom was even more ridiculous. Only people like Do Dohae had splendid families; the Noh family was only Noh Baram and Noh Pyeonghwa.
[Our family heirloom is… me Noh Pyeonghwa><]
Pyeonghwa went through the trouble of sending a reply, but it only showed as read. Really, why ignore me after asking first? Anyway, Do Dohae was inherently unlikeable as a human.
“Kim Chunsik even has a pretty girlfriend…”
Pyeonghwa pursed his lips and logged into the anonymous chat app. ‘DdoHaeNuna’s’ replies had been very slow for the past few days. Pyeonghwa firmly suppressed the childish desire to cling to her who said she’d gotten very busy. If he acted like when he was nineteen, he felt like he’d remain forever just a close younger brother. Now he was also a twenty-year-old adult, so he’d approach her as a mature man!
“That’s right! I’ll buy a ring and confess!”
Pyeonghwa began rummaging through the general store. Since she was four years older, he had to show unexpected charm. If he gifted an expensive and flashy ring, she’d be shocked at his unexpected wealth.
But even looking at items far exceeding his budget, he wasn’t quite drawn to them. His standards had risen after seeing the ‘Ring of Eternity,’ but all memories related to it didn’t remain in Pyeonghwa’s head.
<For protection! Luxury pearl hairpin
Grade: Epic
When worn, hair becomes smooth as silk and doesn’t tangle even without brushing.
When the wearer’s life is threatened, automatically protects vital points once and immediately breaks.
Price: 205AP>
Pyeonghwa purchased a hairpin instead of a ring. He liked that it was for protection, and since “luxury” was stamped right in the name, it seemed like it would be her taste.
Since there was no suitable item, he’d have to go with quantity over quality. Pyeonghwa decided to buy one gift per day until the day he met her.
As Pyeonghwa was examining the elegant hairpin this way and that, his phone vibrated. Pyeonghwa checked his phone with an excited heart, wondering if it was a message from her.
[Yoon Gyeom: The weather is so nice today, Pyeonghwa^^ (photo) Training camp again today~ Looks fun, right? Player registration is possible until mid-April, so contact me if you change your mind. I’m not pressuring you. It’s fine to just stay as good hyung and dongsaeng^^ I’m going to Jangmak University to lecture next week, do you like kalguksu by any chance?]
“Ugh.”
The other of the two men tormenting Pyeonghwa was Yoon Gyeom. The texts Yoon Gyeom sent every day were long messages close to letters. Pyeonghwa got tired of reading and just sent him a thumbs up.
“Crazy, why do they talk so much?”
Pyeonghwa, who pressed back, stuck out his tongue seeing the freshman group chat had +999 new messages. Since it was a room for conveying announcements, it usually wasn’t this chatty. Pyeonghwa entered the group chat to check what had happened.
“Yoon Gyeom is coming to give a special lecture?”
The announcement sent by the department representative stated that Luckys coach Yoon Gyeom would be giving a special lecture next Wednesday at 3 PM, and since it would be reflected in attendance, everyone must participate.
“This is it!”
Whatever wind was blowing that made Yoon Gyeom lecture in front of people, it was an opportunity to check all freshmen at once without needing to go to school multiple times.
Next Wednesday would be exactly 2 weeks since his promise with Do Dohae. Pyeonghwa screenshot the announcement and sent it to Do Dohae.
[Hyung-nim, are you free this dayㅎㅎ]
[Kim Chunsik: Late]
[Special lecture ends at 5, what time will you arriveㅎㅎ]
[Kim Chunsik: 8]
[I’ll hold that bastard thereㅎㅎ]
[Kim Chunsik: ok]
Perhaps because he was in the middle of commercial shooting, Do Dohae answered in short responses. Pyeonghwa thought his texting style somehow resembled ‘DdoHaeNuna’ then shook his head vigorously. He couldn’t taint his lovely her with Do Dohae.
Pyeonghwa entered the chat with Yoon Gyeom. For Pyeonghwa, who was basically a loner, he needed his help to hold onto a classmate he wasn’t close with until 8 PM.
[I like kalguksu]
[Yoon Gyeom: Let’s eat together after the lecture^^]
[Ok can I bring friends?]
[Yoon Gyeom: Bring them~ I’m curious since they’re Pyeonghwa’s friendsㅎㅎ]
[Alcohol ok too?]
[Yoon Gyeom: Kalguksu goes with makgeolli~^^ Do you drink well, Pyeonghwa?]
[Yesㅋㅋ]
He’d never drunk alcohol, but since he’d raised his mental power stat a ton, he thought he’d hold up well.
“What’s the point of living this diligently… Life isn’t about living but dying…”
Pyeonghwa, who finished all preparations, fell back into nihilism and drooped. Fortunately, Pyeonghwa regained his original condition the morning of Yoon Gyeom’s special lecture.
