Chapter 5
[Guild] Hwanseong: Sunnyah, you don’t know where to go, do you?
[Guild] Sunnyah: Gasp 😭 Yeah…….
[Guild] Kim Sooki: Whoa ♡♡ You really must be new to games.
Hwanseong told me not to bother switching between the game window and the Dacode window, and just keep the Dacode one open. Just as he said, once I had only the Dacode window open, messages started popping up in its chat panel.
<Hwanseong: Sunnyah, you see all the categories on the left, right?>
<Yoon Haeah: Yeees……😭>
<Kim Sooki: Dang, first time seeing someone enter Dacode with their real name lol>
<Hoeh: Why are you so confrontational?>
<Itsa: Not the first time either, just ignore them haha ^-^!!>
<Kim Sooki: ♡♡♡♡Hey>
Even though people I assumed were Hoeh and Itsa started roasting Kim Sooki in the chat, kind-hearted Sooki still responded with love. Ignoring all three, Hwanseong continued to help me.
<Hwanseong: Scroll down through the categories on the left—do you see something called “Seagull’s Mighty Cry” under Voice Chat?>
<Yoon Haeah: Uh… Just a sec 😭>
I quickly scrolled down with my mouse wheel.
“Seagull’s Mighty Cry… Seagull’s Mighty…”
The name was a little weird, but eventually I found “Seagull’s Mighty Cry” after scrolling diligently. Each user had a profile picture, and aside from Cheonmadeje, the other four guild members were there.
<Yoon Haeah: I found it!>
<Hwanseong: Then just click it to enter.>
Hwanseong spoke like someone from a variety show saying, “This is what clicking looks like.”
Of course, I knew how to click.
The problem was…
“Where the heck is the enter button?”
No matter how much I looked, there wasn’t a button that even remotely resembled an entry option.
So how did those four get into Seagull’s Mighty Cry?
<Yoon Haeah: I found it, but I don’t know how to enter…….>
<Kim Sooki: Wait, is this for real? You really don’t know how to get in? You’re not pretending to be a computer dummy? For real? I’m seriously respectin’ you now.>
<Yoon Haeah: What do you mean?>
Even though I didn’t game, I understood that much. Suddenly, Kim Sooki started praising me, saying he respected me.
<Kim Sooki: …….>
<Kim Sooki: ♡♡ Ha… whatever…….>
It sounded a bit sarcastic, but given the hearts, it probably wasn’t. Thinking that way made me feel like I was the one being sarcastic.
Feeling guilty toward Sooki, I responded with sincerity.
<Yoon Haeah: Sooki, you seem like a really nice person haha>
<Hoeh: ?>
<Itsa: =ㅂ=?>
But as soon as I posted that, both Hoeh and Itsa responded with confused messages. Then Sooki, apparently pleased, started spamming even more hearts.
<Kim Sooki: ♡♡ What are you saying? Ah ♡♡ Are you being sarcastic? ♡♡♡♡♡♡!!>
But maybe embarrassed, he asked if I was being sarcastic.
“Wow, kinda shy, huh…”
I smiled awkwardly and typed:
<Yoon Haeah: No……! I really do think you’re a nice person, Sooki haha…….>
<Hoeh: lol>
<Itsa: Sunnyah, you’re a bit more outgoing than I expected… =ㅂ=b>
<Kim Sooki: Ah, everyone ♡♡…… ♡♡>
Sometimes Sooki’s overuse of hearts made his sentences a little incoherent, but I could mostly understand. I figured he meant something like “Ah, I love you all…” or something like that. His shyness showed in these kinds of moments.
But suddenly, Hwanseong said something strange.
<Hwanseong: Sunnyah, I’ve got a better personality than that guy.>
<Kim Sooki: ♡♡ What even is this>
<Itsa: Hwanseong-hyung’s… lost it… omg…….>
Despite Itsa’s comment, Hwanseong continued speaking unfazed.
<Hwanseong: You saw it in the dungeon earlier, right? He’s got a terrible personality. You barely even know Kim Sooki—what’s so nice about him?>
<Kim Sooki: Hey, ♡♡ you’re the one with the worst ♡♡ personality.>
<Itsa: Preach, preach!!>
<Kim Sooki: You ignore everyone unless they talk to you, total selfish king.>
<Itsa: Preach! I second that emotion!>
<Hwanseong: Sunnyah, I’ll treat you better. Don’t talk to Sooki.>
I had no idea why the conversation took this turn. I just stared blankly at the fast-moving chat, unsure of what to say.
“I still don’t know how to get into Seagull’s Cry though…”
And why were they even typing all this out if they were already in voice chat?
<Hoeh: Sunnyah>
<Yoon Haeah: Yes?>
In the middle of all this, Hoeh suddenly called me.
<Hoeh: Do you see that the message where Seagull’s Cry used to be has changed?>
<Yoon Haeah: Ohh… yes!>
Sure enough, the weird “Seagull’s Mighty Cry” name was gone and had been replaced with:
‘Sunnyah-nim ■ <- Click the square next to this -Hoeh-’
Just like the message said, I clicked the black square and suddenly a loud chorus of voices blasted through my speakers.
‘Oh, I guess I just needed to click the Seagull’s Cry message earlier to join.’
Startled by the volume, I quickly turned it down. The others were talking about the same stuff in voice that they were chatting about just now.
“Welcome, Sunnyah. This is Hoeh.”
The conversation halted thanks to Hoeh’s greeting.
I quickly responded, flustered.
“Ah, uh, hello……!”
“Whoa, when did you join, Sunnyah? Oh, I’m Itsa~”
A bright voice, matching the playful tone of their chats.
‘I thought Itsa was a girl, but he’s a guy, huh.’
Then, a deeper voice than the previous two chimed in. Even deeper than Hoeh’s voice.
“Yoon Haeah.”
“Yes?”
Unlike the others, he used my real name. Even though I had set it as my nickname on Dacode, everyone else in the game called me Sunnyah. Only this guy used my real name, which made me flinch.
“Hwanseong-hyung, even if you know her real name, you should call her by her nickname. What if Sunnyah is older than you?”
“Oh, right.”
Hwanseong gave a half-hearted reply to Itsa.
But still…
‘Why does that voice sound so familiar?’
I took my hands off the keyboard and started thinking. I was sure I had heard that voice before—but when?
Or maybe I was just imagining things…
Still, the way he called my name in that deep voice… I was sure I’d heard it before.
Unable to figure it out, I gave up.
The only one left was Kim Sooki, but strangely, he hadn’t said anything. I assumed he’d have a gentle voice to match his kind personality, so I felt disappointed.
“Ah… um, hello Sooki.”
I gathered my courage and greeted him first. But there was no reply from him.
Instead, Itsa’s voice came through the speakers.
“Sooki-hyung’s mic is broken right now, so he can only chat.”
Just as he said, I looked back at the chat window.
<Kim Sooki: How many times are we gonna say hello?>
<Kim Sooki: Anyway, now that you’re here, let’s get along.>
<Kim Sooki: And my voice is expensive lol>
<Hoeh: Absolute clown LMAO>
Seeing his message made me even more disappointed. So without thinking, I spoke from the heart.
“I really wanted to hear your voice, Sooki. What a shame…”
The moment I said that, the once-busy Dacode call fell into an awkward silence.
The one who broke it was Hwanseong.
“What do you want to hear that bastard’s voice for?”
“…Huh?”
His voice lowered in a slightly unpleasant tone, and I even felt a little scared.
“First it was his great personality, now you wanna hear his voice—what’s going on?”
“I mean… I was just curious…”
“What’s there to be curious about that bastard for?”
What’s his problem all of a sudden?
It wasn’t just me—It seemed the others thought the same.
“You sound like a jealous husband.”
“For real. Also, we literally just met—why are you suddenly speaking informally?”
<Kim Sooki: Then I’ll speak informally too lol>
“You’ve already been doing that from the start, hyung.”
<Kim Sooki: So aggressive;;>
Listening to Itsa, that analogy seemed spot-on—like a possessive husband…
But it seemed like that word stuck with Hwanseong.
“‘Husband’…”
“You know I didn’t mean it literally, right? Hyung, don’t get mad.”
“‘Husband’…”
“….”
“…Husband.”
It seemed Itsa started to sense something was off and switched to chat:
<Itsa: What’s wrong with him……?;;; Creepy>
<Kim Sooki: That guy ♡♡♡—you never know when he’ll explode>
<Itsa: Honestly scarier than almost dying from low heals while I’m DPSing 😭>
<Kim Sooki: You’ve never even died, drama queen>
<Itsa: It’s a figure of speech 😩 why so serious?>
<Kim Sooki: ♡♡♡♡Ya>
Hwanseong’s unexpectedly intense tone seemed to tense up the whole room. Trying to ease the mood, I cautiously spoke.
“Hwanseong… Itsa didn’t mean it that way, so don’t get too mad.”
“What? I’m not mad.”
“Huh?”
“Hmm?”
“…Huh?”
<Kim Sooki: Huh?>
One by one, me, Itsa, and Hoeh all voiced our confusion.
“I’m not mad at all. I’m actually feeling great.”
“Why…?”
“They said I sound like a husband.”
“…….”
<Kim Sooki: Are we sure he didn’t get hacked?>
