And that evening.

Dohwa, who was currently struggling with an incredibly unkind assignment from an otherwise kind professor, suddenly lifted his head at the sound of a ringing phone.

When he checked the caller ID, it was Won.

Answering the phone with a questioning face, Won simply left a brief message.

— Look at the monitor, Peachy.

“Why the monitor… Ah, you called me over.”

— Yeah. Hanging up.

“Ah.”

Won hung up the line before Dohwa could even say another word. There wasn’t a single chance to hold him on the call.

Dohwa stared blankly down at his phone after the call ended so abruptly, then slowly turned his head.

On the monitor, the guild members were actively making a huge fuss about  offline meetup’ and ‘IRL.’

As he tilted his head, wondering exactly what was going on, Won posted in the chat.

[Guild] Won: We shouldn’t just talk amongst ourselves; we should talk with Peach too.

[Guild] Won: Peach. You know Betting Bad is doing a special collab with a cafe this time, right?

“Ah, that’s exactly what hyung said today.”

Dohwa nodded as he recalled the sudden news Won had surprisingly delivered while they were eating dinner earlier.

[Guild] Peach: Yes

[Guild] Cherry Coke: Anyway, so we’re seriously thinking of having an IRL meetup.

[Guild] Peach: IRL?

[Guild] Cherry Coke: Meeting as actual humans, not just polygons.

[Guild] Non-Tanking Tank: Pardon…? T_T What exactly is that…

[Guild] FastAndPissedOff: Wow, really… that’s certainly a unique explanation…

[Guild] 21st Century No Yeah: I honestly don’t think it would be easy to explain it that way even if you actively tried…

[Guild] Professor Execution: She really pulled it off.

[Guild] Cherry Coke: Thanks for the great compliments, you complete dimwits.

Dohwa fell deep into thought, habitually ignoring the guild members who had naturally already started bickering.

“It means actually meeting in reality. Not as game characters, but person to person.”

While Won was away in the military, the guild members had practically raised Dohwa as if they were co-parenting a child.

Although they mercilessly teased him every single day, whenever Dohwa came back after getting badly beaten up somewhere, they would immediately carry out meticulous, brutal revenge like the absolute stars of the personal affairs board they truly were. And when he was simply too afraid of causing trouble for random strangers to go on a raid, they would happily gather all their ranker acquaintances and run it directly with him.

He knew deep down they were genuinely good people. But…

“I’ve never actually seen them in person, so it’s still so unfamiliar… The idea that they’re living, breathing people and not just game characters is kind of awkward.”

Dohwa scratched his cheek aimlessly, then jumped in surprise when he noticed the guild members had entirely stopped fighting and were now staring intently at him on the screen.

[Guild] Peach: Wh-what’s up? Why are you all suddenly staring?

As soon as Dohwa posted the chat, the guild members began to slowly creep toward his character.

Having suffered far more than enough in the past, Dohwa frantically scrambled away the very moment he saw the guild members gathering around him.

He desperately fled directly to the side of Won, whom the guild members definitely didn’t dare to attack recklessly.

Having quietly watched the entire scene, Won posted in the chat with a somewhat displeased tone.

[Guild] Won: Just how much have you guys actively bullied the kid that he’s terrified like this?

[Guild] Cherry Coke: Tsk! When did we ever bully him!!

[Guild] 21st Century No Yeah: Sure, we always casually asked, ‘Our baby, exactly how big was your damage? Shall we carefully check the damage meter?’ but!

[Guild] FastAndPissedOff: And when he actually got beaten up somewhere, we brutally scolded the guy who did it and then loudly bragged about our youngest in the comments after it hit the personal affairs board, but!!

[Guild] Professor Execution: We did actively tease him, saying, ‘If you mess up your skill rotation again, shall we go back and grind the level 10 beginner dungeon again with hyung?’ but!!

[Guild] Cherry Coke: And when he just didn’t listen and acted out, we’d aggressively sneak him off to the pvp training ground, blast some damn exciting music, and absolutely beat him up, but!!

[Guild] Nana’s True Wife: Nevr bullied

[Guild] Non-Tanking Tank: Ah… can you please… leave me entirely out of this…

[Guild] Won: Everyone, gather ’round right now.

[Guild] Non-Tanking Tank: Too late… T_T

Looking at it exactly that way, it honestly didn’t seem like joint parenting; it seemed more like active collective bullying.

While Dohwa was momentarily rendered completely speechless, Won mercilessly tore into the guild members.

After being severely verbally pummeled by Won for a very long time, the guild members crawled pathetically on the floor in pure agony.

[Guild] Cherry Coke: F♡♡♡♡ck… that bastard’s constant nagging has gotten so much worse.

[Guild] FastAndPissedOff: I honestly think my ears are bleeding right now…

[Guild] Won: We’re actively chatting; what do you even mean ‘ears’? Should I physically call you and tell you verbally too?

[Guild] FastAndPissedOff: OK, now I actively think my eyes are bleeding. So please, just completely stop.

[Guild] Non-Tanking Tank: It’s genuinely been years since I’ve been nagged like this, and now my stomach feels a bit sick…

OTL

[Guild] Professor Execution: Guys… guys…

[Guild] Professor Execution: For a terrifying second, I honestly think I saw exact traces of the Professor in Won… guys…

[Guild] Cherry Coke: By the way, where exactly did True Wife go? Did she seriously just bail alone?

[Guild] Nana’s True Wife: Ah sorry. I actively can’t read more than exactly 3 lines.

[Guild] Nana’s True Wife: I was trying to read. I’m completely done reading now.

A very long, heavy silence immediately followed Nana’s True Wife’s words. Even the faint sound of the ambient wind in the game felt incredibly chilly.

Cherry Coke finally ended the heavy silence with a quick chat and a cheerful notification sound.

[Guild] Cherry Coke: Looking deeply at the BeBe (Betting Bed) world-view, the illiteracy rate was always serious, but it’s actually genuinely serious.

[Guild] Professor Execution: ? Does that actually apply to the active users too??

[Guild] Cherry Coke: Looking closely at True Wife, it definitely seems exactly so.

Dohwa unconsciously closed his eyes tight at a conversation that genuinely seemed to actively make one stupider just by passively watching it.

And Won, who had the exact same thought as Dohwa, shuddered visibly and shouted quickly in the guild chat window.

[Guild] Won: Seriously. Please stop it, I genuinely feel like I’m getting actively stupider the more I see this.

[Guild] Cherry Coke: What exactly do you mean ‘getting stupider’!

[Guild] Nana’s True Wife: Excuuuse me!!

[Guild] FastAndPissedOff: Excuse, excuse, excuse! ‘Excuuuse’ isn’t even a real word.

[Guild] Cherry Coke: Sh♡t! I honestly think I actually got a bit stupider just now? Active stupidity really is highly contagious.

[Guild] Cherry Coke: For a terrible second I almost actively went ‘Yeah, excuuuse me!!’ lol

[Guild] Professor Execution: How exactly did True Wife even get into an actual college? Did my strict professor just let her right in? Her absolute stupidity is incredibly similar to the professor’s.

[Guild] Cherry Coke: A brilliant one-shot, two-kill insult that actively curses both the professor and True Wife entirely at once.

[Guild] FastAndPissedOff: Anyone actively watching would easily think you spent your entire life just learning how to curse.

[Guild] Professor Execution: The professor is incredibly good at cursing. It’s almost like he earned his entire professorship simply through cursing.

Dohwa watched the trivial, chaotic conversation silently, resting his chin comfortably on one hand. A small, genuine laugh escaped him unconsciously.

He really did deeply like these people…

“I really like them.”

Dohwa paused, having spoken the heartfelt words aloud entirely without realizing it.

In the monitor, the guild members were still happily chatting away about this and that, and Dohwa was quietly watching it all from safely outside the screen.

He might actually be deeply disappointed when they finally meet. Because they might be far too different from their colorful game personas.

Still, just once…

[Guild] Peach: If we do actually meet, when exactly are we meeting?

As if actively waiting for him to finally say that, Won answered immediately.

[Guild] Won: There’s still a very long way to go. It’s next month. About exactly 3 weeks left, I think.

For some strange reason, he felt exactly as if he could easily hear Won’s smooth voice through the calm text chat.

After hesitating for a brief moment with his lips slightly parting, Dohwa slowly moved his fingers over the keys.

[Guild] Peach: Shall we actually meet? I honestly think it’ll be really fun.

[Guild] Won: Do you genuinely want to meet?

Won spoke exactly as if he would actively meet them only if Dohwa truly wanted to. At those particular words, Dohwa answered quickly, as if completely possessed.

[Guild] Peach: Yess!!

Immediately following Dohwa’s eager answer, the guild members chatted incredibly rapidly.

Since it was an official collaboration with a fairly large brand, there were many active cafe locations. Excited conversations flew back and forth quickly about exactly which specific cafe to meet at and at what precise time.

As a highly chaotic result, the final conclusion was to actively meet very early in the morning for a dedicated cafe ‘open run,’ then have a nice lunch, go to another cafe, have a big dinner, and then naturally go to yet another cafe again.

Won was utterly bewildered, actively asking exactly what kind of absolute nonsense that schedule was, but he immediately shut his mouth tight when he saw that Dohwa genuinely liked the idea.

Since the entire guild consisted solely of busy office workers and tired students—except for FastAndPissedOff, who was the only freelancer—the final meeting day was naturally and easily set for the upcoming weekend.

[Guild] Cherry Coke: Exactly how long has it been since our very last offline meeting?

[Guild] 21st Century No Yeah: Won basically deserted us.

[Guild] 21st Century No Yeah: Ah, that was very long before his enlistment…

[Guild] Non-Tanking Tank: It’s definitely been well over 2 entire years.

[Guild] Cherry Coke: Everyone must’ve actively aged like absolutely crazy.

The older guild members loudly and actively protested at that harsh comment, and Dohwa simply laughed brightly while watching the chaos unfold.

He really did deeply like these people.