Dusk (BL Light Novel)

After that, Gang Jaegyung went quiet. I half-expected a message from him at dawn, but he must’ve been really sulking, because not a single word came through all day.
Not that I gave a damn.

[System] You have settled 1 <+7 Faded Necklace of the Ancient Cleric>.
[System] You spent 218,398 Amber.
[System] You have settled 1 <+9 Faded Ring of the Ancient Cleric>.
[System] You spent 129,997 Amber.
[System] You have settled 1 <+9 Faded Ring of the Ancient Cleric>.
[System] You spent 135,200 Amber.
I’d never once lost sleep over not getting a reply from someone, and really, even now, it wasn’t me who should be feeling the absence—it was Gang Jaegyung. All I had to do was keep playing and wait around for him to show up whenever he got over himself.
I finished farming through the Trading Post and walked over to a nearby storage NPC to open the guild vault. I’d only organized things using auto-sort, so the place was a mess, but digging through the clutter brought up some enhancement stones I’d stashed ages ago. Back when I finished my own gear enhancements, I left them in the vault for guildmates to use freely. Everyone said they felt too guilty to use them even though I told them to help themselves, but judging by the dwindling stack, they’d been dipping into them bit by bit whenever they needed a boost.

If it runs out, I’ll just buy more. I closed the storage and started enhancing the pieces of gear I’d just bought—the ones that weren’t fully upgraded yet. None of it was for me. Every last item was headed straight into Gang Jaegyung’s greedy mouth.
He probably hated how I was giving Gonyanyanya more recognition, but since there was no way to act out using his Retaking a Class character, he’d clearly realized the only option was logging in as Gonyanyanya2 again. So I was going to wrap him up in well-enhanced, stat-stuffed, flashy gear and treat him like some precious little treasure, just to really get under his skin.
To do that, I was prepping the kind of gear that’s nice to have but not worth spending on because you’ll be swapping it out soon anyway. Running a few dungeons and handing over some freebies—that’s the kind of thing you’d do for a random newbie you run into. If I wanted it to look like I was seriously pampering a new player, this was the bare minimum.

Pleased with my genius plan, I glanced at the in-game clock. Yesterday, he’d shown up around 3 p.m., so now that it was already past 2:30, I figured he might be logging in soon. Gang Jaegyung was a creature of habit.
I sat there enhancing gear, then checked my inventory, then the time, then looked at the stats of the stuff I planned to give him, then the time again, then skimmed the party finder with no intention of joining anything, then checked the clock again, then opened the friends list and confirmed Gonyanyanya hadn’t logged in yet…
I just kept staring at the monitor, mind blank, waiting for Gang Jaegyung.
Couldn’t even go out to kill any Jeojajok mobs—if he showed up while I was out in the field, it wouldn’t seem like I’d been waiting the whole time…

Slouched forward, head practically touching the desk, I ended up just watching the characters move around on the screen when a single line popped up in the chatbox.
I instantly straightened up.
[System] Your friend Gonyanyanya2 has logged in.

Just as expected, Gang Jaegyung showed up right before 3 p.m. You’re in the palm of my hand, bastard.
[Whisper] Honeybread >> Gonyanyanya2: Hey
As soon as ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ I saw him log in, I greeted him. After a short pause, a whisper popped up in response.

[Whisper] Gonyanyanya2 >> Honeybread: Hello!
[Whisper] Gonyanyanya2 >> Honeybread: You’re on early again, just like yesterday, hehe
Trying to act casual, laughing it off like nothing had happened. But I knew he’d logged out under the excuse of work and fully intended to ghost me. From where I stood, that nonchalant attitude was downright laughable.
[Whisper] Honeybread >> Gonyanyanya2: Logged in just to see you

I opened my friends list to check his location. Out in the field. Right, he logged out at the dungeon yesterday, so he probably got teleported to the entrance.
[Whisper] Honeybread >> Gonyanyanya2: Come to the base
I summoned him to the base without hesitation. There didn’t seem to be any hiccups at Base 42, because Gang Jaegyung came back without protest. When he spotted my character, he trotted up to the return stone. I immediately initiated a trade.

[System] You have requested a trade with Gonyanyanya2.
[System] Gonyanyanya2 has declined the trade.
What the hell is this guy’s problem with accepting stuff?
[Whisper] Honeybread >> Gonyanyanya2: —.—

[System] You have requested a trade with Gonyanyanya2.
[Whisper] Gonyanyanya2 >> Honeybread: Why...? ㅜ
[Whisper] Honeybread >> Gonyanyanya2: I want double the money I gave you back.
[Whisper] Gonyanyanya2 >> Honeybread: ㅠㅜ?ㅜ?
Only after I threw in something aggressive did Gang Jaegyung accept the trade. As soon as the window opened, I started dropping in the items I’d farmed. I resisted the urge to hit the auto-sort button out of habit and instead carefully pulled each piece from my inventory in the order I’d organized them.

Of course, the whispers came flying in immediately.
[Whisper] Gonyanyanya2 >> Honeybread: What is all this?
[Whisper] Honeybread >> Gonyanyanya2: You’re almost max level. It’s a gift.
I sent him a petting emote as I stared at the glittering icons of fully-enhanced gear. He didn’t reject the attention outright—he never did, not when it was aimed at Gonyanyanya instead of Retaking a Class. He went quiet for a bit, like he was trying to find the right words, then finally sent me another message.
[Whisper] Gonyanyanya2 >> Honeybread: As far as I know, the main quest gives you supply gear at max level, so there’s no real need to farm dungeon sets. Why are you giving me these upgraded pieces? They’re expensive, and I’ll be replacing them soon anyway…
[Whisper] Gonyanyanya2 >> Honeybread: You really don’t need to go this far.

Exactly what I expected. I thought about how to twist the knife just a little deeper as I typed.
[Whisper] Honeybread >> Gonyanyanya2: I handpicked these this morning comparing stats just for you.
[Whisper] Honeybread >> Gonyanyanya2: ㅇㅅㅇ…
[Whisper] Gonyanyanya2 >> Honeybread: The quest gear is honestly enough for me…
[Whisper] Honeybread >> Gonyanyanya2: And you know that how?
[Whisper] Honeybread >> Gonyanyanya2: You talk like someone who’s actually received it before.
A little jab, and Gang Jaegyung hesitated.

[Whisper] Gonyanyanya2 >> Honeybread: That’s not it…ㅠ
[Whisper] Gonyanyanya2 >> Honeybread: It’s just… when you say I’m doing well, it makes me feel like I can manage, even with mediocre gear…
[Whisper] Honeybread >> Gonyanyanya2: Then with good gear, you’ll be unstoppable.
[Whisper] Honeybread >> Gonyanyanya2: ㄱ
I wiggled my character side to side, watching to see what he’d say next. He stayed silent for a bit, then another whisper came in.

[Whisper] Gonyanyanya2 >> Honeybread: No matter what I say, you’re going to make me take it anyway, right?
Has he finally accepted it?
[Whisper] Honeybread >> Gonyanyanya2: You’re pretty sharp, lol
[Whisper] Gonyanyanya2 >> Honeybread: Okay, then I’ll really just take this.
[Whisper] Gonyanyanya2 >> Honeybread: Even if you try to give me more later, I won’t accept it. I’ll repay you for this someday.

Will that day ever come? Was he planning to keep using this character long-term, or would he pay me back after I found out it was him? Whatever. It didn’t matter. All I wanted right now was to get this gear into Gang Jaegyung’s hands.
Still, it was a bit of a letdown that he said he wouldn’t accept anything else. I’d even gone out of my way to buy buff food and scrolls, wrapped them up (in-game items that allow temporarily trading no-trade gear)…
Before he could click “Accept,” I frantically threw the food and scrolls into the trade window too.

[Whisper] Gonyanyanya2 >> Honeybread: Honeybread…;;
[Whisper] Honeybread >> Gonyanyanya2: hehe
[Whisper] Honeybread >> Gonyanyanya2: I bought them for you, it'd be a waste not to use them.
[Whisper] Honeybread >> Gonyanyanya2: This is really the last of it.
With that final assurance, Gang Jaegyung hesitated, then accepted the trade filled with gear and extras. It reminded me of that day I shattered his pride during his livestream—he used to insist he’d never accept big donations, but I shoved a hundred-thousand won into his hands anyway.
His character’s appearance started to shift as he tried on the gear I’d given him. It was all dungeon loot from high-level content, so it looked pretty decent. He still had the awkward vibe of a newbie without a glamour set, but the new look made his level obvious.

[System] You have invited Gonyanyanya2 to your party.
[Party] Gonyanyanya2 has joined the party.
[Party] Honeybread: What do you wanna do?
I sent the invite and asked. I figured he might want to run another dungeon to prove Retaking a Class was superior to Gonyanyanya, but the response wasn’t what I expected.
[Party] Gonyanyanya2: I want to push through the main quest.
[Party] Gonyanyanya2: I think finishing it will get me to max level.
Doing the main quest in the Atelierna region meant heading into the field—where PvP was always on. It didn’t matter if your level was high or low, or whether you had good gear or didn’t even want to fight. Once you stepped into the field, you had to be ready to die.

And PvP? That was Retaking a Class’s main content.
I could already guess what Gang Jaegyung was planning.