GBAS 15

[General] ssolid: Huh

He was the one who had asked for it, yet it was unbelievable that the party was already full. ssolid blinked his eyes and rambled incoherently.

[General] ssolid: No

[General] ssolid: This isn’t right, I’m the one who suggested it

[General] ssolid: You have to kick one person out and add me, that’s what’s right

His face turning bright red, ssolid eventually couldn’t contain his anger and stomped his foot, his face crumpling. His arrows were aimed at the onlookers who had been in the same boat as him.

‘After I went out on a limb and took the lead, you shamelessly just take the scraps?’

The more he thought about it, the more outrageous it was.

Huffing, ssolid met the eyes of each person who had now gathered around, giving them a pointed look.

Get out on your own!

But they just awkwardly avoided his gaze. Their movements were perfectly in sync, as if they had received an order from somewhere.

[General] ssolid: Wow, how could you

It was only natural. Since no one would turn down a bus driver they finally met (and a famously skilled one at that).

After glaring at the people who were all staring at the floor as if something was there, ssolid whipped his head around. There was no other way. There were only two ways to adjust the party size.

‘If they won’t leave on their own…’

ssolid looked up at the man in front of him and said.

[General] ssolid: Hey

[General] ssolid: They all look pretty shameless

[General] ssolid: Can’t you just kick someone out?

[General] ssolid: I’m seriously so dumbfounded;;

Despite his earnest appeal, pointing at the people behind him, the party leader replied with the same smirking face.

[General] Jeonguk-noye-jarang: Huh?

This wasn’t right.

Unfortunately, ssolid was greatly mistaken.

[General] ssolid: You have to make a spot for me hehe

The mistake of thinking there would be a spot for him in this party, or that there had been one at some point.

[General] Jeonguk-noye-jarang: Why?

He still had that smirking face.

What is this. Momentarily dumbfounded, ssolid managed to close his jaw, which had unknowingly dropped open, and stammered.

[General] ssolid: I mean, I was the one who suggested we party

[General] ssolid: I’m the one who told you

[General] ssolid: So you should party with me

[General] ssolid: You have to let me in too…

A maddeningly leisurely voice cut through ssolid’s increasingly agitated tone.

[General] Jeonguk-noye-jarang: Hmmm

The man, who had brought a finger to his chin, continued.

[General] Jeonguk-noye-jarang: Do I have to?

👾🎮

How dare he act like such a jerk.

He had seen and learned a lot from those around him, so he had some expertise in that area himself, but as he’d said, he was currently in hiding. If it weren’t for that, he could have dragged him off somewhere for a hellish 1-on-1 PvP match. That part was a little disappointing.

The punk sat there and whined for a good while after that, but getting rid of him was easier than expected. People, tired of his whining, started giving him pointed looks one by one.

When he still didn’t leave easily, someone must have sent him a whisper, because his final appearance—turning deathly pale before vanishing at the speed of light—was still a little funny to think back on.

After the brief commotion passed and he was alone again, Hyunwoo looked back and forth between the party member list on the left side of the screen and the chat window.

[Your summon ‘Frost (Frost Wolf)’ has defeated ‘White Grizzly Bear Sheriff’! +2,980xp (Party Bonus 5% +149xp)]

[Your summon ‘Frost (Frost Wolf)’ has obtained ‘White Bear Hide’ x1.]

[Your summon ‘Frost (Frost Wolf)’ has obtained ‘Large Chunk of Meat’ x3.]

Watching Frost enjoy the hunt with sparkling eyes, Hyunwoo let out a small sigh.

“…Huu.”

A fire raged inside him as he watched the creature, who was happily rolling in the snow regardless of whether Jooin’s insides were rotting away or not. He’d rather have raised a cow. Dark shadows had already gathered under his eyes.

Still, he was thankful that, thanks to the creature, he was at least doing some simple repetitive labor. If he had just been sitting still, he would have been thinking the same obvious thoughts again.

Hyunwoo swallowed back the sigh that was about to escape out of habit and looked around to see if any monsters had aggroed onto him.

Passing through the knee-deep snow, he saw the spot where a monster had fallen. Where a boar the size of a cart had been just a moment ago, a neatly prepared chunk of meat now lay.

As Hyunwoo stood in front of it and picked up the large chunk of meat at his feet, the item turned into a small preview icon and was absorbed into his inventory.

[Obtained ‘Large Meat’ x2.]

This was the very reason he had chosen this hunting ground.

To feed his partner, who whined about being hungry at all hours, he needed meat dropped from large monsters like bears or boars.

After spoiling it a few times in the beginning by giving it personally dried jerky, its palate had become unnecessarily refined, and it had grown into an ill-mannered wolf that wouldn’t even glance at the summoner-exclusive feed sold at general stores.

He could give it the meat as is, but if he used the drying racks in the nearby winter village to dry it, he could extend its shelf life. Perhaps due to a setting where nutrients were condensed, there was also a difference in the recovery stats per item, so even if it was a hassle, he usually made sure to do that extra step.

‘This much should be enough to stop for now.’

Hyunwoo looked back at where Frost had been and scratched his cheek with a troubled expression.

“Jeez.”

The creature, which had already moved to a new spot, still seemed to be overflowing with energy. With a premonition that it would be running around for a good while longer, Hyunwoo pondered for a moment before throwing his body onto the snowfield. The back of his body, buried in the snow, gradually grew cooler.

As he lay there looking up at the gray sky, small snowflakes began to land on his face one by one. In reality, more snow would pile on top of this, but this was a game. The snow flurried, but it did not accumulate.

Should I just sleep like this? Just as he was about to close his eyes, the face of someone he had momentarily forgotten flashed past.

It was, without fail, Baek Jooin.

His thoughts drifted that way again. Recalling what Baek Jooin’s expression had looked like when he’d run into him a little while ago, Hyunwoo even tried to remember if his own voice had sounded strange when he answered his questions, before raising his hands to cover his face.

“This is insane, seriously.”

Why on earth?

No matter how he thought about it, it was strange.

He wasn’t running, just lying still. Yet the heart-pounding sensation that made his whole body feel like it was pulsating just from thinking about it.

“Why the hell would they implement something like this. Fuck…”

His mind was a chaotic mess from his heart pounding so hard it made his ears ring.

The day the offline meeting ended, Hyunwoo, who had been so out of it he couldn’t even remember how he’d gotten home, had thrown down his things and jumped straight into the capsule.

It was a decision he’d made thinking that at least in here, the sensations would be less intense than in reality. But those damn developers rarely did things by halves.

Another scene flashed before Hyunwoo’s eyes.

This time, it was Baek Jooin’s face from that night, illuminated by the moonlight coming through the window. His disheveled hair, his damp forehead, the heated breaths that flowed from between his parted lips, all came pouring in, overwhelming his senses.

He couldn’t get a grip on himself because of the memories of that day that surfaced without warning.

He took several deep breaths of the cold air to calm himself, but it was no use. Moving the forearm that was covering his face, Hyunwoo lay spread-eagled, closed his eyes, and muttered.

“You really are a piece of trash…”

The person he was referring to was, of course, himself.

He was devastated to have thrown away his first time, which he had protected even from all the girlfriends he’d dated until now, and he was embarrassed by himself for getting aroused just by recalling such a scene. At the same time, in a corner of his conscience, a sense of guilt toward Baek Jooin also bloomed.

What on earth happened that day?

No matter how much the person involved told him not to worry about it, they had engaged in such intimate skinship; shouldn’t he say something? Thoughts like that came to him countless times.

No, that’s not it.

‘How many times do I have to say it’s fine. It’s not like this is the first or second time something like this has happened.’

Baek Jooin had definitely said that. So he should just forget it and live on pretending not to know…

“Aaaargh! How can I do that, how!”

As his limbs thrashed violently, clumps of accumulated snow flew in all directions.

Huu.

Thinking of Baek Jooin, who had spoken as if sex was no big deal, made his stomach churn with anger again.

“What on earth do you do in your daily life to be so nonchalant about it.”

Within Hyunwoo, the prejudice against Baek Jooin, and against rock band guitarists, was growing stronger by the day. What was certain was that this prejudice was not a good one.