GBAS 5

“If I had just quit, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Hyunwoo muttered as he looked around the guild room. Although it wasn’t his first time there, scanning his surroundings had become a recent habit.

Even though there was no sign of anyone else, Hyunwoo took each step cautiously. His large frame looked anything but threatening; his movements were closer to pathetic than cautious.

After making a full circle around the spacious guild room to confirm that no one was there, Hyunwoo finally displayed the friend list window with a more relaxed expression.

After double-checking that the offline symbol was next to the nickname of the person he had favorited to keep at the top of his friend list, Hyunwoo finally shrugged his stiff shoulders and headed towards the storage room with light steps.

“Hum hum~”

Hyunwoo hummed a tune as he arrived at the storage room, where a gleaming door appeared before him.

I need to get this done quickly and get out before anyone comes. Just as he was about to pull the doorknob of the storage room, Hyunwoo caught sight of his reflection on the smooth surface and suddenly thought of a question.

Doesn’t this look too pathetic?

His next thought was this:

No, he said he was fine with it. How long are you going to keep this up? Be confident. Confident…

…Wait.

“Huh, confident?”

Hyunwoo muttered and suddenly kicked the door in front of him. Perhaps the terrible guild master had put protective measures in place everywhere, because a yellow pop-up window appeared the moment his toe touched the door.

[Warning! Do not damage public property!]

“Ouch!”

This crazy game. Hyunwoo yelled, unable to bear the surging pain, clutching his foot and collapsing to the floor.

Yeah, it’s better to be in pain. How dare you even think of acting shameless after only a few days? You should have some shame.

“Why should I be confident? You deserve the pain, you idiot. Crazy bastard…”

He was right. No matter how many times he thought about that incident, from beginning to end, it was his fault. Hyunwoo, vividly recalling a scene from the unfolding memories of that day, buried his face in his knees and muttered.

“…Yeah. It was an accident, an accident.”

It was better for everyone to think of it that way.

After sitting in the same position for a while, Hyunwoo suddenly lifted his head. Staying like this wouldn’t solve anything. Hyunwoo shook his head, trying to ignore the recurring thoughts, and got up.

Entering the storage room, Hyunwoo grabbed potions from a drawer near the door and picked out buff items that would be useful in battle from the boxes stacked neatly below his waist.

It was then, as he looked around inside the storage room for items to aid in supplementary healing, that it happened.

Thud-!

Perhaps because he had leaned on the lower part of the furniture, a worn-out herb pouch tumbled from the tilted shelf, which creaked.

Hyunwoo stared blankly at the herb pouches that had rolled down onto his head, under his feet, and even under the drawer.

“…Why is nothing going right?”

He stared for a while, then turned around and was about to leave the storage room when he stopped. He turned back and took in the scattered items on the floor.

He knew. Just cleaning them up wouldn’t solve the problem. Sometimes, he had to face things head-on to put an end to them.

Finally, after cleaning up all the spilled items, Hyunwoo walked out of the storage room.

Although it took a little longer because he had to clean up the mess he made at the end, thanks to the fact that the items he was looking for had rolled out along with the others, he was able to easily gather everything he needed.

If only life always went this smoothly.

“Sigh.”

Just as he sighed out of habit, something bumped into Hyunwoo’s forehead.

“…Hello?”

It was a familiar voice. It was so familiar that he felt like he had just heard it a moment ago, which was… an eerily familiar, creepy déjà vu that painted Hyunwoo’s face with shock.

Slowly raising his head as if it might creak, Hyunwoo was startled as if he had seen a ghost and shouted at the person standing in front of him.

“Ahh!”

He wasn’t there before? I didn’t hear him come in?

The person who appeared before him was the one and only bard of the <Chain> guild, Baek Jooin.

He was the one who had set off a nuclear bomb in Hyunwoo’s usually calm mind.

Hyunwoo, who had no way of knowing that Jooin had entered while he was lost in thought organizing the storage room, stammered as he looked back and forth between the name floating above Jooin’s head and his smooth face.

“When, why, I mean…why are you here?”

The person in front of him, Baek Jooin, answered in his usual calm tone.

“I just came in. Are you here to practice?”

After finishing his sentence, Jooin tilted his head as he looked up at Hyunwoo. From Jooin’s perspective, Hyunwoo’s behavior was bound to be puzzling. That day, Hyunwoo had clearly said that he was also fine.

Hyunwoo, malfunctioning again, let out an awkward laugh.

“Aha, ha, haha.”

Then, looking at the guitar case Jooin was carrying, he continued.

“Y-you came here to practice.”

“Yes.”

“Work h-hard.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll, I’ll be going now.”

Jooin nodded and replied to every word Hyunwoo said, looking meek as ever.

But Hyunwoo knew. He knew that that composed face was a lie.

After saying he would leave, Hyunwoo bowed his head and quickly fled through the guild room door. Jooin’s gaze lingered on Hyunwoo’s back as he ran out in a daze.

👾🎮

Isn’t it always like that? Even if you’re in the same class, there’s a clear difference between ‘classmates’ and ‘friends.’

Similarly, even in a small guild of about 20 people who seemed to get along well, there were awkward relationships. That was the case between Baek Jooin and Jeon Hyunwoo.

Were they awkward from the start? Not really.

Hyunwoo, who joined the guild following Jujumeeting, Han Jiwoo, liked ‘Jooin’ from the beginning, who had joined a little earlier. He liked that he could conceptually duo with him since his nickname had ‘slave’ in it, and he was very satisfied that Jooin was a support class, not a tank or dealer.

What he liked the most was Jooin’s appearance. Then and now, Jooin in the game exuded a calm, model student vibe. To put it nicely, he seemed like a model student, and to put it bluntly, he seemed like a loner without any friends.

Perhaps that was why. Hyunwoo, a born insider who had never been anything other than a class officer for a total of 12 years, found Jooin impossible to ignore.

The thought that he had to take care of Jooin sprouted in his unconscious, and Hyunwoo, who judged that he had somehow gained the upper hand in their relationship without even realizing it, started to treat him more comfortably. Even though Jooin was a year older, his naive impression seemed innocent, so Hyunwoo acted like a life mentor even over trivial matters more than once.

He spent a month following Jooin around, trying to dissuade him from playing the electric guitar, which didn’t suit him, when he should be playing the harp as a bard in a medieval-themed game. When Jooin actually picked up the guitar and showed off his impressive playing skills, Hyunwoo followed him around for several months out of curiosity.

Thanks to Jooin’s consistent performances on the central stage, when he earned the ‘Headliner’ title, which only the top bards could achieve, Hyunwoo rejoiced as if it were his own achievement. Afterwards, he even volunteered to be Jooin’s manager, scheduling his in-game performances.

Since they were always together, they became known in the community as ‘Slave and Master,’ the title Hyunwoo had always wanted.

<The Frontier> Inven Free Board

202*-01-18 13:09 Views 3,168 Recommendations 2

Author: SmallBigFeet

[HOT/Chat] Slave and Master.jpg

(Screenshot)

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Anyone seen these guys?

Lololoollololol

The slave keeps talking back to the master, isn’t this a coup?

List | Comments(17)

MoneyGrabber : hahahahahahhahhhahah

└ MoneyGrabber : They’re funny, but I can’t believe he’s got guys like that in his party, and it’s not funny at all.

└ Salty : Having them ezr;;; He must think supports are treated the same as before.

CherryOnTop : So funny lol Where did you see them?

└ SmallBigFeet : They’re always in the village, near the square stage?

└ CherryOnTop : Thanks, thanks.

EightyNineEightyFive : Lololoololol the slave’s way of talking is hilarious.

└ Ddoidda : But the master looks completely unaffected.

└ EightyNineEightyFive : That’s even funnierㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

FiveLuckyBags: That manager messing around is my laugh button lol

SavingIsHabit : But Master is really good at guitar

└ Typical: Agree. Isn’t this guy in a band?

└ SeventhDrawer: Probably?

—See more comments

It was after the first guild meetup that the two, who had even exchanged numbers and shared trivial jokes, became awkward… It was at the first guild meetup that Hyunwoo’s attitude toward Jooin began to change.

👾🎮

Ding-!

The venue for Hyunwoo’s first-ever offline meetup was an old Korean barbecue restaurant with separate rooms.

“Wait a minute.”

“What?”

“Shouldn’t we bring something when we come to a place like this?”

“Ugh, just shut up.”

First time gaming, first time at a meetup. Hyunwoo, trying to hide his awkwardness, followed Jiwoo inside, where many people were already gathered.

“Oh! You’re Jujumeeting and…NationalSlaveshow, right?”

A friendly-looking guy approached them, calling out their nicknames, and until they sat down in the empty seats behind him, Hyunwoo was busy scanning the faces of the people in the room.

Where is he?

Hyunwoo kept rolling his eyes, even as he took off his coat and placed it on the chair. He soon noticed that name tags were placed in front of everyone.

I knew it. I figured he’d be late.

Outsiders must feel uncomfortable in places like this. He was needlessly worrying and glancing at Jooin’s empty seat when someone raised their hand and said,

“Hey, is the server busy? Can someone get me some water here!”

It seemed like they had pressed the call button several times, but the server hadn’t come, probably because it was a busy dinner time. Someone thirsty shot Hyunwoo, who was sitting near the door, a pleading look, and Hyunwoo got up and headed to the drinks refrigerator he had seen near the counter.

“Will two be enough?”

Hyunwoo held two cool water bottles and, after some thought, decided to hold one and grab another. Just as he reached into the refrigerator for one that had been kept colder for longer—

Ding-.

The glass door, covered in blurry fingerprints, slid open, and a cold-looking man entered the restaurant along with a gust of cold air.

It was literally midwinter. A biting cold wind was blowing outside, but the unruly man with shoulder-length hair wasn’t fazed by the cold, wearing a leather jacket, ripped black jeans, and black work boots.

He frowned at the bothersome smell of cigarettes wafting from the man. Then, his eyes met those of the man, who was looking around the restaurant as if searching for someone.