Dusk (BL Light Novel)

As expected, the field war ended in a Viajok victory. Some chased after the fleeing Jeojajok players, while the rest killed the representative NPC occupying Base 44, reclaiming it temporarily. The NPC had a lot of HP, so it took some time, but since it wasn't a field boss with gimmicks, we could kill it smoothly.
The Viajok NPCs that were originally supposed to be stationed at Base 44 returned. I felt proud for keeping my promise to Gang Jaegyung to help him push his quest.

[General] Cheongnyeom: Who’s Gonyanyanya? That healing was insane.
One of the players from the war showed interest in Gang Jaegyung.
And since it was said in general chat, visible to everyone, the others who had also been curious about Gang Jaegyung started approaching and striking up conversation.

[General] Baekgu Kimbeom: fr... is this an alt? What’s the main character’s name?
[General] Gonyanyanya2: This is my main
He tells lies without even wetting his finger first. Well, among his Viajok characters, it is the main, so it’s not totally a lie.

[General] Cheongnyeom: This is your main?
[General] Cheongnyeom: Are you a newbie??
[General] Abyssal Meow: For real?
[General] Baekgu Kimbeom: cap;;

[Party] Gonyanyanya2: Did I do well?
Even with the general chat going crazy, Gang Jaegyung asked me for praise. He’s waiting for me to go “You’re totally Retaking a Class,” isn’t he?
[Party] Honeybread: Is that really your main?

[Party] Gonyanyanya2: heh heh
This time, instead of insisting he’s a real newbie, he just giggled and trailed off. He seemed to be very much looking forward to how I’d react.
I stayed still, pretending to doubt him. I had to show some suspicion at least once, or Gang Jaegyung would think it was weird. This kind of reaction was unavoidable.

[General] Cheongnyeom: I watch Retaking’s streams a lot
[General] Cheongnyeom: Newbie totally watches his streams 100%
[General] Cheongnyeom: or donated 100k won to him

[General] Abyssal Meow: fr;
[General] Cheongnyeom: Healing timing is just like Retaking
[General] Cheongnyeom: Think you’re gonna die? Heal lands. Really think you’re gonna die? Heal lands again

[General] Baekgu Kimbeom: Don’t even need to donate tbh
Gang Jaegyung’s heal timing was perfect enough that even others noticed. He rotated skills exactly like Retaking a Class. So much so, you’d be convinced he was watching his stream. Otherwise, how could it be that identical? Not just similar skill rotation—identical. He didn’t even pretend to be a newbie.
It was surprisingly too much like Retaking—a real endgame player style—so if I didn’t show suspicion, that would’ve seemed weirder. Now how could I shift this so people stopped suspecting Gonyanyanya was Retaking while still giving Gonyanyanya all the praise?

This was tough.
I figured I could use the fact that Retaking was the most famous healer in Dusk and had tons of videos—people tried to imitate him all the time…
[General] Baekgu Kimbeom: lol

[General] Baekgu Kimbeom: what if it's actually Retaking?
[General] Abyssal Meow: ?lolololol
[General] Cheongnyeom: lmaooooooo
[General] Cheongnyeom: plausible tho;

[General] Baekgu Kimbeom: A new face popping up next to Honeybread?
[General] Baekgu Kimbeom: smells like him lol
[General] Baekgu Kimbeom: What does Retaking’s boyfriend think?

…Huh.
Wait, wait. This is…
I caught the thought flashing by and quickly got my mind in gear. And I came up with a good idea. This is it. This’ll work.

I memorized Baekgu Kimbeom’s username and typed a reply to the question aimed at me.
[General] Honeybread: lol nah I don’t think so
[General] Honeybread: the healing is Retaking-style tho

[General] Honeybread: but it’s not like people like that don’t exist
[General] Honeybread: just comes down to whether they succeed or fail...
[General] Honeybread: if you lead field wars, you see a lot of people who play like Retaking

[General] Honeybread: I just think Gonya’s got a natural knack for jo-class and good instincts
[General] Abyssal Meow: but like how can they be this good?
[General] Honeybread: maybe they just think the same as Retaking?

[General] Honeybread: genius recognizes genius or whatever
Time for the rapid-fire.
[General] Honeybread: but like honestly if Gonya really was Retaking?

[General] Honeybread: I’d be pissed
[General] Cheongnyeom: huh?
[General] Abyssal Meow: huh? why?

I imagined Gang Jaegyung reading my messages with a weird look on his face and continued.
[General] Honeybread: I was hyped ‘cause we had a good jo-class newbie
[General] Honeybread: and it turns out it’s Retaking?

[General] Honeybread: hmm;
[General] Honeybread: maybe if he said from the start “I’m Retaking” it’d be different
[General] Honeybread: but he faked being a total noob the whole time

[General] Honeybread: and then says he’s Retaking?
[General] Honeybread: that’d piss me off tbh
[General] Honeybread: like think about it lol

[General] Honeybread: we were like “aww so cute” ‘cause he was clumsy
[General] Honeybread: and “whoa so talented” ‘cause he was a prodigy newbie
[General] Honeybread: and that was all just an act to trick us?

[General] Honeybread: isn’t that kinda scammy?
[General] Honeybread: imagining him laughing at us behind the screen makes me legit feel like shit
[General] Honeybread: yeah I’d be pissed af

[General] Baekgu Kimbeom: damn
[General] Abyssal Meow: tbh yeah… that would be shady
Right now I was giving Gang Jaegyung a preview of what the future would look like. A warning. That I do kinda suspect him, and if he turns out to be Retaking, this is how I’ll react. So hopefully—he’s not.

Gang Jaegyung stayed quiet. Not that there was much to say here, but if he weren’t actually Retaking, he would’ve jumped up and denied it by now. The fact that he’s silent means he is Retaking.
I wonder what he’s thinking right now. I really hope his brain’s scrambled.
[General] Baekgu Kimbeom: I’m getting chills lol

[General] Baekgu Kimbeom: what if Gonya is Retaking
[General] Honeybread: no way lol
[General] Abyssal Meow: better not be... lol

[General] Cheongnyeom: Gonya, you’re not Retaking, right?;
Cheongnyeom’s message made Gonyanyanya hesitate for a moment.
[General] Honeybread: right?

[General] Honeybread: heh
And finally, after everyone had waited, two short messages slowly appeared in the chat window.
[General] Gonyanyanya2: I’m not

[General] Gonyanyanya2: hehe
With that reply, Gonyanyanya could no longer be the same person as Retaking a Class. All the affection ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) and attention Gonya was getting was now purely Gonya’s.
[General] Honeybread: hehe

[General] Honeybread: so cute
I win, you little shit.
[General] Cheongnyeom: fr not?

[General] Cheongnyeom: you’re just saying that ‘cause of Honeybread?
[General] Gonyanyanya2: I’m really not hehe
[General] Abyssal Meow: really felt like Retaking though

[General] Baekgu Kimbeom: srsly
[General] Gonyanyanya2: it’s ‘cause I watched Retaking’s vids hehe
Gang Jaegyung kept denying it over and over so people wouldn’t keep suspecting. If he’d come clean and apologized, that would’ve been boring—thank god he didn’t.

[General] Honeybread: Retaking only uploads war footage, never tutorials
[General] Honeybread: if you’re this good just from watching that
[General] Honeybread: your future’s set

[General] Baekgu Kimbeom: you know a lot
[General] Baekgu Kimbeom: you watch Retaking vids a lot, huh?
[General] Honeybread: stfu

[General] Baekgu Kimbeom: lolololololololol
[General] Abyssal Meow: LMAOOOOOOOO
While I threw skill effects at Baekgu for talking out of turn, Gang Jaegyung quietly sent a message in party chat.

[Party] Gonyanyanya2: I’m gonna go push main quests and head to my part-time job now
Running away again.
But I had no grounds to stop him. You can’t ask someone to stay and game when they have work. So instead of clinging, I decided to make the most of this situation.

[Party] Honeybread: You have to work?
[Party] Gonyanyanya2: Yeah… hehe
[Party] Honeybread: If you quit and just play, I could pay you

[Party] Honeybread: like, just like you’re working
[Party] Honeybread: what about earning money through the game?
Up to now, it felt like I was just being nice to a newbie. But this time, I came on strong—like I genuinely wanted to support Gonyanyanya’s gameplay.

For the average player, this would be tempting. Getting paid to play freely. Of course, they might wonder “why go this far?” but if I added conditions like not asking for personal info, it’d be a satisfying offer. They might even feel flattered—like, am I really that good at games?
That is, if it were anyone but Gang Jaegyung.