MAX 9

[Party] HanJiHo98: Ah no no no

[Party] HanJiHo98: Backup please

Quickly typing out the chat, Han Jiho hid himself among the gaps of the collapsed debris.

After that, he changed his fire mode from full-auto to 3-round burst and right-clicked to turn on his scope. In the meantime, cogus, who was hiding behind cover on the opposite side, began the briefing.

【cogus】 [They’re swarming toward the ruins.]

【cogus】 [Looks like about three of them are coming. How about your side?]

【JunkCollectionMaster】 [One guy keeps poking around here. I don’t see the others. Guess they all went over there.]

【cogus】 [Grab the energy first. We’ll pull the aggro.]

At that low voice, Han Jiho wore a smirk of satisfaction.

As expected.

He had only said one word asking for backup, but cogus had perfectly grasped his intention.

[Party] EchoThief: Got it

[Party] EchoThief: Be careful not to let the newbie-nim die ㅡㅡ

[Party] cogus: K

The footsteps began to get closer and closer.

Han Jiho, who was quietly listening, moved in a crouched position as soon as he heard the sound split to the left and right. The radar had already turned red as if to signal that enemies were nearby.

Then, perhaps having spotted something, the enemy’s footsteps stopped for a moment, and Han Jiho did not miss that chance.

As he quickly rounded the cover, he saw an enemy standing with his back turned. It looked like he was trying to obtain the energy right in front of him.

The white crosshair stuck to the enemy’s head like a magnet.

Belatedly, the enemy turned around upon hearing Han Jiho approaching, but it was already too late. The trigger was pulled in an instant.

Tu-du-dung!

《You have defeated GirlfriendWanted.》

HanJiHo98 ▶ GirlfriendWanted

The enemy collapsed without even being able to resist the bullets fired in 3-round bursts.

【1Jiho】 [Oh, good good! 98-nim, you’re good!]

[Server] GirlfriendWanted: No, fk [Server] GirlfriendWanted: Are you kidding me [Server] EchoThief: I’m kidding you twice [Server] GirlfriendWanted: Fk, are you a crazy motherfker [Server] EchoThief: Don’t swear, you motherfking bastard

Immediately after, a ping placed by the hidden cogus appeared.

《cogus signals that an enemy is here.》

The radar was also dyed in red.

Han Jiho, who quickly acquired the 15-point energy floating before his eyes, threw a grenade behind the area where the ping was placed and simultaneously dashed forward.

There were probably two enemies left. He intended to kill them all before reinforcements swarmed in.

As for energy, well, the other teammates would gather it on their own.

At some point, the thought of needing to gather energy had vanished without a trace. Having active as a healer and supporter for a long time, the instinct of a killer—no, a dealer—which he hadn’t particularly suppressed, was egging Han Jiho on.

After all, isn’t the best heal and the best support simply killing all the enemies so that no one gets hurt in the first place?

《You have defeated Roo-ral-loo.》

《You have defeated PleaseSaveMe.》

HanJiHo98 ▶ Roo-ral-loo

HanJiHo98 ▶ PleaseSaveMe

Just like that, the three enemies who had swarmed into the ruins were shot through the head without being able to resist. It was truly instantaneous.

[Party] WrigglingDdorak: Ohhhhhh~~~~~ Carry~~~~~

[Party] WrigglingDdorak: Newbie-nim, are you really a newbie? lolol

[Party] HanJiHo98: Yes lolol

[Party] EchoThief: No, if 98-nim is a newbie, then what the hell am I?

【1Jiho】 [A thief.]

[Party] EchoThief: 1Jiho, do you wanna die?

[Party] 1Jiho: ( . )

[Party] EchoThief: Throw away that pathetic emoticon

[Party] HanJiHo98: llllllll

[Party] HanJiHo98: Thanks

[Party] HanJiHo98: cogus-nim, thanks for the pings too

[Party] cogus: hhhh

【cogus】 [Please feel free to call me Chaehyun.]

The moment that low voice, tinged with a hint of a smile, said those words, screams that weren’t quite screams erupted from all directions.

【JunkCollectionMaster】 [Ugh, fk, I seriously almost puked.]

【1Jiho】 [I’m going to go to the hospital for a bit. I keep hearing auditory hallucinations.]

[Party] WrigglingDdorak: Ah fffffffffffkkkkkkkkkk

[Party] EchoThief: Did that bastard drink cooking oil for dinner?

[Party] EchoThief: For real, no lie, I want to eat kimchi right now

[Party] WrigglingDdorak: Someone try to kick him out

[Party] EchoThief: 98-nim, is your stomach okay? You didn’t go to throw up, did you?

[Party] HanJiHo98: llllllll

[Party] HanJiHo98: Yep yep, I’m okay

【cogus】 [I’ll keep backing you up from behind.]

The party members’ reactions were quite intense, but cogus—that is, Chaehyun—didn’t even care. It seemed like he had no interest at all. He was a person with strong mental fortitude in many ways.

Anyway, it was just thankful that he would continue to provide backup. Han Jiho decided to trust Chaehyun and roam the map with a relaxed mind. Real combat was the best way to memorize a map.

《You have defeated EnergyVampire.》

《You have defeated GirlfriendWanted.》

《10-streak kill achieved!》

《Achievement [You Are Already Dead] unlocked.》

HanJiHo98 ▶ EnergyVampire

HanJiHo98 ▶ GirlfriendWanted

cogus ▶ Roo-ral-loo

And so, the kill log went up without rest.

Chaehyun or other party members appeared occasionally, but most of them belonged to Han Jiho. It was the result of slaughtering enemies while playing stealthily near their respawn area.

Because of that, the teammates who were busy marveling at his skill at first were now silent and focused on gathering energy. It was a completely different situation from the beginning when they told Han Jiho that he just needed to pick up energy.

Thanks to that, the score difference with the enemy team soon exceeded 100 points.

There were now about 5 minutes left. According to Chaehyun’s explanation, it was almost time for the 2x energy event and for the Cataclysm Energy—worth 30 points each—to appear.

Han Jiho, who reloaded his bullets while checking the time, approached Chaehyun and cast a heal skill. His health had been in a state where more than half was gone from the engagement that happened a while ago.

Han Jiho felt deep gratitude toward Chaehyun.

For his sake, as someone who didn’t know the map well yet, he had been faithfully fulfilling his promise to back him up by pinging in his stead to cover blind spots, securing vision, or cutting off enemy escape routes to provide assist kills.

It was a level of meticulous care that he hadn’t easily experienced even in Xeno-Force, where position divisions were distinct.

‘As expected, this is why people play healers.’

Han Jiho, filled with the thrill of dealing damage that completely contradicted his words, thought so. He had completely forgotten the fact that he was a supporter.

It was understandable, because unlike Xeno-Force, Echo of Eternity did not have prominent position divisions between Tank, DPS, and Heal. This was because the classes’ skills and characteristics were not fixed to perform only a specific position.

【cogus】 [You are really good.]

At Chaehyun’s gentle voice, which was once again tinged with a smile, the party members clamored again. Han Jiho let out a chuckle at JunkCollectionMaster’s long sigh.

【JunkCollectionMaster】 [Ha…]

【1Jiho】 [My stomach is so greasy I feel like I’m going to die. I don’t even have kimchi at home.]

【JunkCollectionMaster】 [Eat a yellow pickled radish or something.]

【1Jiho】 [Hyung. How can I have pickled radish when I don’t even have kimchi. Ah, speaking of pickled radish makes me want to eat kimbap.]

[Party] EchoThief: Ah fk, do I really have to mute him

[Party] WrigglingDdorak: ?

[Party] WrigglingDdorak: You still haven’t?

[Party] WrigglingDdorak: I did it ages ago lllll

[Party] EchoThief: llllllll

[Party] EchoThief: I should just do it too

Hmm, is it that much?

Han Jiho tilted his head and looked at Chaehyun’s character standing next to him.

Just how did he usually act for the party members to be that disgusted? As someone who had met Chaehyun less than a day ago, there was no way for him to know. To him, it just sounded pleasant.

While chatting for a bit like that, a notification popped up saying an event zone had been created. The area where the zone was created was the Central Square located in the middle of the map.

【1Jiho】 [Alright! Gazua!]

【JunkCollectionMaster】 [You’re going to get your head popped again.]

He could see JunkCollectionMaster, who clicked his tongue, moving behind Wriggling and 1Jiho in the distance. EchoThief was running all over the map, saying he would eat the energy respawning until then.

[Server] EnergyVampire: Ah f

[Server] EnergyVampire: k

In the meantime, a kill log even went up. Seeing that, it seemed there was an enemy team member who had the same thought as EchoThief.

Chaehyun, who was next to him, asked Han Jiho. It was a voice that made his ears feel ticklish no matter how many times he heard it.

【cogus】 [98-nim. You’re going to slip off to the side, right?]

[Party] HanJiHo98: ;;;

[Party] HanJiHo98: How did you know

[Party] cogus: hh

【cogus】 [Let’s go.]

It felt as if they were communicating through telepathy.

Was I such an obvious person? Han Jiho, who briefly reflected on himself, entered the side path he had been eyeing all along. Since he had roughly memorized the structure of the map by now, his movements were bold.

He had advanced without hindrance and had just entered the alleyway connected to the side gate of the square.

A kill log of an enemy he hadn’t seen before popped up out of the blue, and simultaneously, the bewildered voices of JunkCollectionMaster and 1Jiho were heard.