“……Huh? What do you mean? I just handed over the Goldmess Egg and everyone was released, weren’t they?”
─Enter—no, Seongheon hyung somehow found out about the Demolition Guild hideout and got there first while they were being released, and occupied it. The sub-guild masters who were freed from prison had all their weapons and armor completely stripped, so they had nothing left. So they went straight to the hideout to use the guild warehouse, and the Black guys who were waiting there caught them all and imprisoned them again, apparently?
“At the Demolition Guild hideout? I don’t even know where that is!”
─There must have been a traitor inside the Demolition Guild. I heard only people at sub-guild master level and above knew about that place.
“Wait, Dongwoo-ya. Send me the link to that forum.”
It didn’t make sense logically. One of the sub-guild masters who had just been imprisoned told them about their own hideout and got imprisoned again? I thought it made no sense unless they quit the game.
Ding.
When I clicked the link Dongwoo sent via message, I was immediately redirected to that post.
■Title: Quitting Demolition Guild in Order of Intelligence
■Author: Control
Look at those Demolition Guild guys imprisoned again, tsk tsk. Just quit the game, you guys.
(JustCaughtGuysScreenshot1.jpeg)
(JustCaughtGuysScreenshot2.jpeg)
(JustCaughtGuysScreenshot3.jpeg)
[Comments]
Gimbugakssi: Shudder
Milkmurderer: Demolition is getting completely pulverized
Attentionseekingaggro: But what about Keyboard Cleaning?
↳dfefwe: KeyClean just made the trade at the auction house and disappeared
↳Attentionseekingaggro: So they only lost the Goldmess Egg. Must be crying
Duruchigichikichakachoco: Is Keyboard Cleaning crying?
↳FANSQUAD: Not crying. I saw them
↳Professorihaveaquestion: This bastard says they saw them when they’ve never even met
Minseongseu: There must have been a traitor, right? Someone must have told them about the Demolition hideout?
↳Howdoyoudo: But the guild master wasn’t caught?
↳Divaiter: Not caught
↳Gimbugakssi: I bet my 3 packs of gimbugak that the Demolition guild master is the culprit
.
.
.
Their comments were full of Conan-like speculation about the traitor.
I didn’t want to believe it, but Ssapseonbi wasn’t among those imprisoned. While I felt relieved, I wondered why he hadn’t even left a comment on this controversial forum post or written anything.
With a strange feeling, I typed ‘Ssapseonbi’ into the author search tab, but all his past posts had been completely deleted.
“No…… that can’t be.”
Since I needed to hear from the person themselves, I calmly opened the messenger app on my phone. I entered the open chat room I was in with Ssapseonbi and urgently messaged him.
[Keyboard Cleaning: Ssapseonbi-nim, what happened?]
“Huh? Why isn’t he reading it?”
[Keyboard Cleaning: Were you imprisoned too, Seonbi-nim?]
Suddenly, people’s comments and Dongwoo’s words came to mind.
The statement that there must have been a traitor inside the Demolition Guild.
……Don’t tell me the traitor was Ssapseonbi? Come to think of it, it was strange that he hadn’t sent me a message when something like this happened.
I couldn’t believe that the person I’d trusted for the past few weeks had backstabbed me like this. We’d just been talking in the game moments ago—I denied reality, insisting it couldn’t be.
I frantically checked the chat room user information, but ‘Ssapseonbi’ had already left. And instead of Ssapseonbi, someone else had entered the chat room.
“……En…… ter?”
It was written as ‘Enter’ in English, so it took me a few seconds to recognize it.
Ding.
Just as I was panicking while clutching my phone, a new message appeared in the chat room.
[Enter: Hey, does the back of your head sting?]
‘How did Seongheon hyung get into this chat room……’
Seeing that message made me more convinced by the speculative comments that Ssapseonbi was the traitor. Because if it wasn’t Ssapseonbi, there was no one else who could have invited Enter to this private chat room.
Before I could even acknowledge that, Seongheon hyung sent another message.
[Enter: Tsk tsk, that’s why I told you to hand it directly to me]
I recalled what Seongheon hyung had whispered to me in the game earlier. [You ignore me and you’ll get hit hard in the back of the head, got it?] What hyung had said was a real warning.
“Ah, so that’s why……”
[Keyboard Cleaning: How did you?]
[Enter: Did you think that Seonbi bastard wouldn’t betray you?]
[Enter: He was pretty easy to talk to, you know? When I told him I’d give him money if he successfully got the egg back, he spilled everything about the hideout?]
[Enter: If you’d just handed it over, I wouldn’t have had to do that shit twice]
[Enter: And I saw the screenshot you handed over of our hideout, it was done with Alt’s sub-character, right?]
[Enter: There’s no trace of logging in from anywhere else recently]
[Enter: You go to the same school as us or live nearby, don’t you? Think I can’t catch you?]
[Enter: Anyway, when I catch you, know that you’re really gonna get it from me]
I was so scared I almost politely asked, ‘How are you going to punish me?’
He even handed over screenshots!! Ssapseonbi really delivered a major betrayal. It was lucky we maintained anonymity through open chat—if I’d made phone calls because exchanging messages was cumbersome, it would have been a real disaster.
No matter how kindly Seongheon hyung treats me, if he found out I did this kind of betrayal, he wouldn’t just let it slide. He might really transform into a tiger.
“I think I’m really gonna get severely punished……”
I racked my brain thinking about the possibility of getting caught.
‘How would he even find me?’
Thinking about it carefully, the possibility of getting caught was slim.
If Seongheon hyung was really going to catch me, wouldn’t he secretly track me down instead of threatening me like this? Because he’s the type who does things when he really means to.
Imagining myself getting caught by Seongheon hyung and getting cursed out in every way made me shudder.
“I need to stay calm. No need to be scared for no reason. If I’m scared, I’ll get caught.”
I was encouraging myself as if hypnotizing myself.
Ding. Ding.
But every time a message came from Seongheon hyung, the courage I’d built up went somewhere, and I fidgeted restlessly like a stagnant pond.
[Enter: If we run into each other on the street, don’t avoid my eyes.]
[Enter: If you avoid them, I’ll know it’s you.]
Unable to endure any longer, I frantically left that chat room. With a feeling of ‘what do I do,’ I paced around the room and even practiced my poker face while looking at the mirror on the wall.
“I feel like I’m gonna be scared every time I see Seongheon hyung from now on—how can I not avoid his eyes?”
I should avoid running into him as much as possible until this matter dies down. I only started seeing the hyungs frequently recently—even two months ago, there wasn’t much chance of running into them. So I tried to dismiss it carelessly, telling myself not to worry in advance.
* * *
Contrary to my firm resolution, that night I had a nightmare about getting caught by Seongheon hyung, and in the end, I couldn’t help but be anxious that the dream might become reality.
Would I really get caught like this? I spent each day anxiously, but even after a week passed, nothing happened. Mysteriously, even Seongheon hyung’s contact completely stopped and things passed quietly.
Taking this opportunity to clean things up around me step by step, the following week I even set a breakup quote on my profile pretending to have broken up with Dongmi and stayed quiet as a mouse.
I thought my existence would naturally be forgotten like flowing water, but a few days after I posted the breakup quote on my profile, the hyungs suddenly barged into my house.
“Daeyoung-ah.”
“Long time no see, Kkakdugi.”
“Hey. Did you make rice?”
Saturday afternoon—my parents had gone to visit relatives, so I was trying to enjoy my solo life when the hyungs suddenly barged in carrying pork belly and beef. I was very happy about the meat, but not happy about the hyungs.
“Huh? Why, why at my house…… suddenly……”
Seongheon hyung placed the meat packs and alcohol on our dining table, then approached right in front of me. Then, like a snare, he made a circle with his arms and naturally draped them around my neck before meeting my gaze.
“I said let’s come here because I missed Daeyoung.”
Maybe because his arm circumference was big enough to wrap around my entire shoulders? I tensed up as if caught in a trap.
The eyes looking down at me as Seongheon hyung tilted his head diagonally were so affectionate, but until recently, I had been cursed out and threatened by Enter.
「Don’t avoid my eyes. If you avoid them, I’ll know it’s you.」
Flinch.
The words Seongheon hyung had said flashed through my mind, and I opened my eyes even wider to meet his gaze. When our eyes met, hyung smiled brightly, then lowered his arm from my neck and grabbed both my hands firmly.
“Daeyoung-ah, I thought you’d break up with Dongmi soon because of her eating habits. Look, your hands are this rough—you must have had such a hard time.”
I just didn’t apply hand cream because it was bothersome, but Seongheon hyung thought my hands had become rough from making rice balls and smiled while tracing my knuckles.
It seemed like he was comforting me, but why was hyung’s expression so bright? The more hyung smiled brightly, the more my worries grew. I began to wonder if, just as Dongmi said, he really wanted me to become an old bachelor.
As our gazes unexpectedly lingered like a staring contest, Gangjin hyung, who was passing by, smacked Seongheon hyung’s back hard!
“Hey, stop slacking off and go outside to light the charcoal. Kkakdugi, you wash the lettuce and perilla leaves.”
As if annoyed at being interrupted, Seongheon hyung glared at Gangjin hyung.
“What about you?”
“I have to make doenjang-jjigae.”
“What about the steamed eggs?”
“I’ll make them, so if you want to eat, hurry up and go do it.”
Only then did Seongheon hyung let go of my hands, reluctantly stepping away.
But hyung didn’t immediately go out to light the fire—he followed behind me as I headed to the sink, and instead of me, he reached out and turned on the water for me as I held the vegetables. I started washing cheongyang peppers, intending to avoid hyung’s gaze.
Even though I wasn’t looking at him, Seongheon hyung kept his eyes on me without looking away, gradually making things difficult. I shouldn’t avoid hyung’s eyes, but my head timidly tilted down like a turtle hiding in its shell.
“Daeyoung-ah.”
“Hm?”
“Should I wash them?”
“No, hyung should go outside and light the charcoal.”
“I can do that after I help with this. Unlike Dongmi, I won’t let a single drop of water touch your hands.”
“But you just turned on the water……”
“And I bought One Plus Plus Korean beef to comfort you. Did I do well?”
“Huh? ……Yeah, thanks.”
“I’ll grill the meat deliciously for Daeyoung and we should talk a lot since it’s been a while.”
“……”
“I’ll treat you even better from now on.”
While washing the cheongyang peppers that curved like Seongheon hyung’s eyes, I awkwardly answered, “Mmhm.”
