‘Yeah, bark all you want. Whether you bark or not, I’m the kind of person who only cares if money goes into the account.’
If this were before, I’d have logged out already. But now, Doyeong was a 32-year-old farmer drowning in debt. The tractor repair bill was scarier than that kind of mockery.
“Hey, Rabbit. Say something. You mute or what?”
When the Governor saw Doyeong’s lack of reaction, he raised his magic wand high, looking bored.
“What’s that item? Wow, if I tap you with this, you’d die, right? A near-loss anchovy or something?”
Whoosh!
The Governor playfully swung the wand. It wasn’t even a skill or a PK mode attack—just an empty swing through the air—but it felt like it was hitting him outside the monitor, and Doyeong flinched.
No wonder when I feel such direct threats, memories from that day keep flashing back.
Thousands of users surrounding him, hurling insults, unleashing skills in a hellish scene. No matter how good your control, if your opponents number in the dozens or hundreds, it’s a different story. The moment dazzling effects obscured the screen, his character was deleted without even a scream—a terror that hit him like a flashback.
‘They said the guy’s got good control, but it’s nothing special.’
‘Can’t you just kill him by throwing stones?’
‘Let’s try it once.’
When those memories arose, his hand slipped off the mouse.
‘I’m dead. Dead again.’
His breath caught. Cold sweat traced down his back. The pink magic wand on screen looked like a huge blade slicing at his neck.
‘No… Pumpkin Seeds….’
His trembling hand reached toward the desk drawer.
Emergency medicine. Nerve sedative.
His hand slipped, and the pill bottle dropped to the floor.
Clatter, thud.
The plastic container rolling sounded unusually loud. But an even louder noise came soon after.
Gasp, choke….
His breath came short and ragged. Through his narrowed airway, a breath mixed with harsh metallic sound escaped.
He didn’t even have the presence of mind to mute his mic. Those faint hyperventilating breaths and the sound of the falling object carried through the party voice channel, directly drilling into 0’s high-end headset. The owner of the headset, casually leaning crooked in his chair and watching, instantly narrowed his eyes.
‘What’s that?’
This was no joke. Beyond the headset was clear panic and fear that no amount of acting could fake. The Rabbit character on screen was already frozen like a statue, trembling.
The Governor, naturally boisterous, didn’t bother with such small sounds.
“Oh? What’s that? Why’s your reaction like this? Boring. You really scared? No way.”
Just as the Governor raised his magic wand again—
Clang!
0 suddenly stood up from the sofa, blocking Doyeong’s front. A metallic ringing sounded as the Governor’s character, who had even activated PK mode, was knocked unconscious.
“Huh? What the—hey, why the serious face?”
The Governor yelled in surprise, but 0 wasn’t laughing. He tapped the red chain wound around his wrist with his index finger and said coldly:
“This is mine.”
His low voice made the air in the guild hideout freeze instantly.
“I told you: it’s worth thirty million won.”
“What? I was just swinging around jokingly. Why’re you acting so stingy? I didn’t even touch you.”
“Don’t scratch it. I’m still paying in installments.”
Of course, 0 wasn’t trying to protect or help Doyeong specifically. He just didn’t like that his own thing was reacting to someone else.
Ignoring the grumbling Governor, 0 turned around and looked down at Doyeong. Then he whispered into the mic:
“Sir, don’t make weird noises. Stick close behind me.”
“……”
“You’re expensive. Gotta take care of you.”
Doyeong moved his character behind 0 and swallowed dryly. If they had turned on PK mode and gotten themselves killed, all kinds of penalties would hit, like legendary items dropping. Yet they acted on a whim just because they didn’t like each other’s vibe.
Annoying, but reassuring.
This strange relief—that’s the taste of capitalism.
While Doyeong was breathing heavily and rubbing his neck—
“Since it’s come to this, let’s talk. We’re going to be playing together for 24 hours.”
0 sat back on the sofa and offered.
“I’m 24. That dumb orc over there is the same age. The one wearing only underwear is 22.”
“Who’s the orc!! My birthday came earlier! Call me noona (older sister)!”
Twenty-four.
Doyeong let out a brief, bitter laugh. Being pushed around by these bloody kids was absolutely humiliating.
Should I tell them my age or not?
But he didn’t want to get accused of acting old or lying and being scolded by the youngsters either.
[Party] Won: …Thirty-two.
[Party] Won: So don’t cut your sentences short.
He figured there was no need to talk about age when they were only going to be together a day, but even if he was the pet for money, crossing the lines of respect would hurt his pride.
0 hesitated. A moment later, the character on screen did a motion removing the glasses. The carefully crafted character face was so clear it looked like something out of a Western painting.
“Ah…”
At the same time, 0’s voice grew strangely sticky.
“Oh… you’re an older brother type? Should’ve said so earlier.”
“……”
“I like older guys, especially ones who don’t listen.”
0 made a motion like stroking Doyeong’s Rabbit character’s head.
“Then I’ll speak politely to you. But you listen to me well, too, if you want to be treated like an older brother.”
A chill ran down Doyeong’s spine. The attempt to flip hierarchy seemed only to get the guy’s strange preferences excited.
‘Is this guy seriously crazy? Should I escape now with my pumpkin seeds or whatever?’
Tormented by a man he couldn’t read, Doyeong sighed.
‘Fine… we’ll be parting soon anyway.’
He had no strength left to type. He just wanted to turn off the game and go back to reality to touch some soil.
Moving the headset mic to his mouth, Doyeong carefully asked:
“Um… how much time is left on the handcuffs?”
Hesitating, he turned on the mic and spoke cautiously.
For three seconds, the guild ‘Money’ chat channel was silent as if the power had gone out.
0’s character on screen froze. The Governor’s orc doing a muscle flex and the Account’s insurance calculations—all stopped simultaneously.
Doyeong tapped the mic.
“Hello? Can you hear me? Is my mic broken…?”
A low but clear voice reverberated through the headset. Actually, Doyeong’s voice wasn’t simply good.
It sounded like a late-night radio DJ soothing the ears of insomniacs, fragile enough to shatter yet strangely seductive and mournful.
Despite a cheap, low-quality mic, it seemed to vibrate directly inside your brain, not your eardrums.
The first to break the silence was the Governor.
“Crazy.”
His rough voice shot up a few octaves.
“Sir, what’s with that voice? Did you coat your vocal cords with honey? No, not honey but propolis extract?”
“……Huh?”
“Wow, I got chills. Look at my traps all tensed up. Do you broadcast? Are you a VTuber? Something where you don’t show your face but get donations from your voice?”
The Governor slammed his fists on the desk in excitement while Doyeong shut his mouth tight in embarrassment.
“No, I don’t do that.”
“Come on, don’t lie. You’re a civilian with that voice? That’s a national loss! Turn on your broadcast right now, I’ll lay out a superhighway for you. Gotta have Pilates BGM playing.”
At that moment, 0, quietly listening, chuckled.
“Governor, be quiet. The headset is ringing.”
0’s voice was calm but had a hint of gloom.
This Rabbit caught my eye right away; the more I dig, the more interesting it is. Usually, when playing games like this, the user behind the character ends up buried beneath the avatar, but this Rabbit’s skill and voice made the person behind stand out even more.
0 stared intently at Doyeong’s Rabbit character on screen.
“Hyung.”
“…Yeah?”
“Your voice… is unexpected. Doesn’t really match that country bumpkin-looking Rabbit.”
Whether praise or insult was unclear. 0 made a motion resting his chin.
“You could do ASMR. Perfect tone to rob wallets of insomniacs.”
The man playing 0 glanced at the sleeping pills on his desk.
“Well…”
“But don’t do it. It would be a shame to let just anyone hear it.”
The nuance was strange. Doyeong’s ears burned as he hurried to find the mic mute button.
At that moment, the Account broke the tense atmosphere with a scream.
“Boss!!! Big problem here! This is NOT the time to be admiring voices!!”
“Why the fuss now? Did your upgrade fail?”
“No! Check personal and tip boards! The server’s flipping out right now!”
The Account frantically dropped a link into the chat window.
[Title: Hey, I checked the log of the Abyss clear. What is this? (254,801 views)]
The content was simple: a single combat log screenshot.
[System] ‘Won’ threw [Sturdy Pebble].
[System] Boss casting forcibly canceled (0.03 seconds ago)
↳ Comments (382)
Anonymous 1: 0.03 seconds? Human? lol Does that even make sense?
Anonymous 2: That was just a lucky shot. Who interrupts casting with a pebble? Damage’s only 1.
Anonymous 3: But the timing’s a masterpiece. If aimed, chills; if not, buy a lotto ticket.
Anonymous 4: Nah, the fact is Zero did everything. The Rabbit beside him’s just dead weight.
Anonymous 5: Not bad for dead weight. Is pebble meta about to skyrocket?
