Chapter 3
I thought I had said I was going to quit the game, so I scrolled up with my mouse wheel to check the chat log.
I definitely mentioned I was quitting. But despite that, I received a guild invitation.
[Whisper] Sunnyah: Uhㅠㅠ… I’m pretty sure I said I was quitting the gameㅠ
[Whisper] Hwansung: But we cleared the dungeon thanks to me. So just accept it.
[Whisper] Hwansung: Also—
A character holding a weapon that didn’t match the beginner village appeared next to my character.
A familiar, glowing weapon—and those black hair and red eyes I saw in the dungeon… it was Hwansung.
[Whisper] Hwansung: I’ll follow you through all the dungeons from now on, so don’t quit. If you go with someone else instead, I’ll die.
Why is this guy suddenly talking about love…?
And normally in situations like this, isn’t it “I’ll kill you if you go with someone else”? Why is he saying he’ll die?
[Whisper] Sunnyah: Please don’t dieㅠ
[Whisper] Hwansung: So just accept the invite
[Whisper] Sunnyah: Uh, okay okay…ㅠ But I’m really bad at this game
[Whisper] Hwansung: I already experienced that plenty in the last run
I was torn.
I had hit level 20, so I could quit Theresso now. But… it felt rude to keep rejecting someone who had helped me from start to finish in the dungeon.
I thought about it carefully. It’s not real life, and there’s no way for him to contact me unless I log in, so maybe I could play a bit longer before quitting…
I moved the mouse and hovered the cursor over the window. Then I clicked the “Yes” button.
[Sunnyah has joined the guild “V3”.]
As soon as I joined the guild, “V3” appeared in bold under my nickname, just like Hwansung’s. Then a flood of green-text chat began to scroll up.
[Guild] ItsaHyung: Oh!! It’s the tank from earlier!!
[Guild] ChunmaDaeje: Hm? A new guildmate? Who are you?
Uh-oh… I should probably reply, but how do I change to the guild chat?
Now that I think about it, everyone used party chat in the dungeon earlier, but didn’t I talk in general chat the whole time? Still, they understood me even though I used general chat, so I guess it’ll work again this time?
[General] Sunnyah: I joined through Hwansung’s introduction…!
[Guild] Hwansung: People can’t see general chat unless they’re near you. Type ‘/guild’ before your message.
[General] Sunnyah: Gasp… okay okay!!
Why was my face heating up over something like this? If this were real life, it’d be like shouting into empty air.
I fanned my face with my hand to cool off, then started typing again.
[Guild] Sunnyah: Hello! I joined through Hwansung’s introduction…!
[Guild] ChunmaDaeje: That crazy master introduced you…?
Crazy master? Is he talking about Hwansung?
[Guild] Sunnyah: If you mean Hwansung, then yes…! My name’s Haeya, hehe… Nice to meet you!
[Guild] ChunmaDaeje: Hm? But your name is Sunnyah.
[Guild] Sunnyah: Ah, that was a slip…! It’s Sunnyah, reallyㅠㅠ!!
Oh no… I wrote my real name without thinking. The last time I used the nickname “Sunnyah” was in a class message board back in high school, so I guess I’m still not used to typing it.
But come to think of it, this guy’s way of talking is weird. “Guildmate,” “master”—he sounds like he’s from a martial arts novel or something.
I didn’t know how to respond, so I was just going “uh…” awkwardly when Hwansung’s character approached mine and used an emote.
[Hwansung is hugging Sunnyah.]
Hwansung’s character started hugging mine.
[Whisper] Hwansung: Now you can’t quit the game
Was that… possessiveness? Or am I just imagining things?
The angelic image I had of Hwansung suddenly felt like it had devil wings behind it.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Sunnyah?”
As usual, Lee Hwansung logged into Theresso to do his daily quests. He queued for a random dungeon with some guildmates. It matched them with a dungeon for beginners, one so easy it was nicknamed “The Relic of Boredom” or “The Sleep Relic.”
As expected, when they got matched with “The Cold Relic,” a dungeon only beginners enter, a message popped up in the guild chat that only guildmates could see.
[Guild] ItsaHyung: Snore snore~~!!
[Guild] KimSooki: What’s wrong with you?
[Guild] ItsaHyung: We got Sleep Relic =ㅂㅠ
[Guild] KimSooki: lol rip
But what caught Hwansung’s attention wasn’t the boring dungeon—it was the tank’s nickname.
“Sunnyah.”
It was a name that could be considered common or uncommon, depending on how you looked at it. But to Lee Hwansung, it was special.
It was the nickname used by Yoon Haeya, the girl he had a painful crush on back in school.
But that naive, easily duped Haeya playing a game? It seemed unlikely.
Hwansung figured it was just a coincidence. But then he saw the clumsy chat between the DPS and Sunnyah, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t shake the memory of Yoon Haeya.
Hwansung fell into a bit of confusion.
Is it really Haeya? No way, she wouldn’t play a game.
But if it is her… The way she talks, always using “ㅠㅠ,” and the way she frustrates people… it all screams Yoon Haeya.
A flood of thoughts overwhelmed him.
But it wasn’t enough to be sure.
Then Sunnyah’s message came up, dragging Hwansung out of his thoughts:
[General] Sunnyah: I’m sorry… I just started today, and I didn’t realize I was a tank… I think I should leave…
Hwansung instinctively felt that if this person—who reminded him of Yoon Haeya—left now, she would never log in again.
So he started typing faster than ever before.
[Party] Hwansung: I’m the healer anyway, and I’ll take care of you, so just relax and let’s go
As soon as he sent that, ItsaHyung’s message popped up in the guild chat:
[Guild] ItsaHyung: ?
[Guild] KimSooki: Something happen?
[Guild] ItsaHyung: Hwansung-hyung is suddenly being super nice to the newbie tank;; o_o…?
[Guild] KimSooki: ?
Chaos quickly erupted in the guild chat.
[Guild] KimSooki: Hacker!!! Whoever you are, get off Hwansung’s account right now
[Guild] ItsaHyung: Yeah! Hyung’s broke anyway, there’s nothing to steal! Just log out already =ㅂ=!!
[Guild] KimSooki: Huh? Hwansung’s actually rich
[Guild] ItsaHyung: Ah;; bro, read the room;;
[Guild] KimSooki: Oh
Hwansung ignored the guild chat and focused solely on making sure Sunnyah didn’t quit the dungeon. It was almost like he promised her money for clearing it or something—he gently encouraged her, slowly guiding her forward.
Any other healer would’ve rage-quit by now, given her terrible skills, but Hwansung barely attacked and never let the party wipe, keeping her healed the whole time.
After the clear, Hwansung wondered how to ask for a friend request… but Sunnyah had already thanked them and logged out.
So he logged out too—fast. He quickly sent a whisper and looked her up.
Sunnyah had been sent back to the beginner village after finishing the dungeon. Hwansung teleported there immediately and rushed to where she might be.
When he found her wearing the same tattered noob outfit from earlier, he felt relieved. As expected, the person who seemed like Haeya was saying the game was too hard and trying to quit.
“That won’t do. You might really be Yoon Haeya.”
Hwansung knew a simple friend request wouldn’t be enough.
Theresso was the kind of game where the more connections and obligations you had, the harder it was to quit. He figured he should at least get her into the guild and then slowly find out if she really was Haeya.
But at this point… he was already almost sure.
“Her way of speaking… and how she drives people crazy… it’s just too Haeya.”
Hwansung frowned at his monitor. It was exactly like the Yoon Haeya he remembered.
Considering how he used to watch Haeya all day in class, it would be weirder not to recognize her. And his instincts were already screaming that Sunnyah was Yoon Haeya.
[Whisper] Hwansung: I’ll follow you through all the dungeons from now on, so don’t quit. If you go with someone else instead, I’ll die.
Just imagining Haeya getting healed by some other guy made him feel gross. At this point, getting matched with “The Cold Relic,” which he hadn’t seen since early questing days, felt like fate.
Just like he remembered—Haeya was bad at refusing. After a bit of coaxing, Sunnyah joined the guild.
And not long after, she wrote:
[Guild] Sunnyah: If you mean Hwansung, then yes…! I’m Haeya, hehe… Nice to meet you!
That message confirmed Hwansung’s suspicion.
The V3 Guild was a famous elite guild in Theresso, known by anyone who had done raids. They only accepted close acquaintances—and even then, the member count rarely changed.
V3 was so well-known that more people recognized them than not. Made up of veteran players, it was the first time a total newbie like Sunnyah had joined.
So when one player saw the obviously new Sunnyah standing with Hwansung, the famous healer, with the “V3” guild tag, they couldn’t help but take a screenshot.
[Title: Looks like V3 just got a new guild member?]
