Dusk (BL Light Novel)

That didn’t mean he could beat me. Even the General Commander of the Folded-Ear Tribe, a Divine Knight, usually lost to me in duels. There’s no way Gang Jaegyung would be better than that. If he were, he should’ve changed classes to Divine Knight instead of staying a military medic.
What Gang Jaegyung was thinking was something only death could reveal, so as long as he insisted on Divine Knight, there was no chance I’d hear the reason today. With a half-resigned sigh, I pressed down on my keyboard.
[General] Honeybread: 45th Base

It was time to move after gathering all the Sunset-Catchers’ flower stalks. The Moonlight Rooters were at the 45th Base, so I casually threw out a line telling Gang Jaegyung to come if he was coming. As before, the blob of light checked the chat and disappeared.
Once the light blob vanished, we too rushed toward the base. It was located just a bit north on the map.
Being the closest to the Folded-Ear Tribe’s base, there were always a ton of Folded-Ear players around, and it was a prime spot for solo skirmishes to escalate into chaotic zergs. It wasn’t rare for the base to get completely overrun. Gathering materials in a place like that required way more caution and vigilance than just catching Sunset-Catchers.

We started by taking down Folded-Ear players who, like us, had come in a party to gather materials. There’s an unspoken rule that you don’t mess with players already gathering at the 45th Base, but who cares? Survival of the fittest—stronger players get to eat more, that’s the law.
With Romantic, I swung my sword and axe, clearing out the area around the 45th Base. While we fought, a few Via Tribe players tried to shamelessly snatch some Moonlight Rooters, but the Folded-Ears apparently couldn’t stand that either and would occasionally throw skills at them to interrupt their gathering. Thanks to that, Romantic wiped out the Folded-Ears and ended up monopolizing several Moonlight Rooters.
But even our rampage had limits. Without a healer, our health was draining fast. I was a tank, after all—even chugging potions barely restored anything. So while waiting for the Moonlight Rooters to respawn, we lit a 30-minute bonfire inside the 45th Base and sat down. It cost a bit, but it restored HP quickly, so I always carried a few.

Since the effect applied to players of the same tribe, Via Tribe players nearby started to slowly gather around the bonfire. Then they naturally began chatting among themselves. Watching the peaceful scene while regaining HP, I eventually overheard them talking about Retaking a Class.
[General] WakalIsTasty: Can’t do military medic today
[General] WakalIsTasty: Heard he’s streaming Divine Knight

[General] WakalIsTasty: Said he’s studying Divine Knight lol
A guy who puts on a General Commander tag and roams around in PvP with beginner-level control of a class just to "study Divine Knight"? That’s a first. Voluntarily becoming a walking reputation dispenser—how cute. He’s going to bleed for a while trying to recover the rep he’s losing today.
[General] moralhey: Doesn’t Retaking a Class kinda know Divine Knight stuff?
[General] moralhey: Honeybread, have you watched the stream?
[General] Honeybread: n n;
[General] Honeybread: Why the hell can’t he play medic?
[General] aloneConquest: He didn’t say lol

...This feels bad. Like he’s hiding something. It’s not like this game breaks your gear when you enhance it, so gear loss wouldn’t stop him from playing. What possible reason is there for not using the military medic class?
["I’ll make you want to come see me right away."]
Gang Jaegyung’s message came to mind, and my unease only deepened. Of all days, tomorrow had to be Friday—territory battle day...

What the hell is he planning, sealing away the medic class? No—before that, what’s the benefit of sealing a class in the first place? Hiding stats? Did he remove all his expensive stat-engraved PvP gear and reattach new ones? It’s the most plausible theory, but thinking about the cost, it doesn’t add up. The idea that a rest period makes you stronger? That’s even more nonsense.
Ugh. It’s really nagging at me. What the hell is he up to?
[Guild] RomanticCat: Respawned, gogogo
[Guild] Honeybread: ok

[General] Honeybread: We're off, bye
[General] moralhey: ㅠ bye
[General] aloneConquest: good bey,,

[General] WakalIsTasty: bbbb
After a short wait, the Moonlight Rooters respawned. Not wanting to be a second late and have someone else steal them, I shut down my thoughts and moved fast to secure a spot and start gathering.
By the time I was collecting the third one, it was eerily quiet. No Folded-Ear players in sight—not something you expect from the 45th Base. Normally, at least one or two would’ve shown up by now.

Maybe they’re forming a party. If they’re assembling one just because of the General Commander title, that’s going to be a pain. If more Via players join and it turns into a zerg, gathering here will get rough. Maybe I should wrap up and head somewhere else...
When a General Commander or Supreme Commander is killed, the reputation reward is way higher than killing lower ranks. So if I stay put in one spot too long, my position gets revealed and people start swarming in. There used to be parties dedicated solely to hunting down commanders like me. These days, the rep gain from killing commanders has been nerfed, so those parties are rarer, but that doesn’t mean it’s all quiet now.
Not seeing any Folded-Ear players at all probably meant they were forming a party.

[Guild] Honeybread: How many left?
[Guild] RomanticCat: Still 7
[Guild] Honeybread: We should pull back and come back later?
[Guild] RomanticCat: ok
[Guild] RomanticCat: Let’s finish this last one first
[Guild] Honeybread: ok ok
While finishing the remaining gather, I checked the minimap and saw a Folded-Ear player toddling over again.
High chance that’s Retaking a Class. I turned my screen and—yup, of course it was.

Should I kill him again and tell him to come to the 44th Base next time? I was preparing to smack him around when a better idea struck me.
Beating up a baby Divine Knight like Gang Jaegyung wasn’t even fun. You could find baby Divine Knights crawling all over the fields—no thrill in that. But for some reason, Gang Jaegyung had zero intention of giving up on Divine Knight today.
Then... couldn’t I just show up as a baby medic too?

Not sure if it’d make for a proper fight, but it’d be more fun if we played on the same level. People might think we’re a couple of dumbasses putting on a comedy act, but whatever. As long as we’re having fun, that’s what counts.
There was one problem, though. Even if I brought out the medic class right now, Gang Jaegyung’s sorry-ass performance would frustrate me to death. He’s always been bad with stuff he’s unfamiliar with, but still—how could someone be this clueless while constantly fighting Divine Knights? And the number one player on the server, at that!
So I added one more step to the plan.

[Guild] Honeybread: I’m taking him with me
[Guild] RomanticCat: Huh? Who?
[Guild] Honeybread: Retaking a Class

While typing that, I used a skill with a similar animation to the capture skill on Gang Jaegyung, who had just entered range, to fake him out. He instinctively used Shield Block—and I immediately used the real capture skill. Before he could dodge, he got caught and dragged over to me.
After stunning Retaking a Class again, I opened the map to check the direction—northeast, toward the 44th Base. That place had quite a few players too, not sure if Gang Jaegyung could survive. Worst case, I’d cover for him.
He’d been in a battle stance like he was ready to fight me, but since I didn’t do anything after stunning him, he stood still, confused. Gotta say, his instincts were sharp.

*[General] Honeybread: 8253 (hurry up and come)
[Guild] RomanticCat: What are you taking him for?
I told Gang Jaegyung to follow me and answered Romantic’s question.

[Guild] Honeybread: Divine Knight boot camp
Before we have fun with the medic class, /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ I needed to fix that mess of a person first.
Romantic typed a question mark in chat, then started laughing. I left him behind and headed northeast, glancing back now and then to check if Gang Jaegyung was following. The guy was suspicious, trailing hesitantly behind.

I jumped up and hassled him until he finally picked up the pace. The moment our battle state cleared, we ran straight toward the 44th Base.
We almost ran into trouble when some Via Tribe players showed up on the way...
[General] Honeybread: Don’t kill him

[General] Honeybread: He’s my pet
I sent that into the chat. They looked confused for a moment but then laughed and let him pass. There was still some decency left in this world.
Near the 44th Base, in the mossy rock clefts where the Mossrock Splitleaf grows, the terrain was lusher and damper than other places. The dense tree cover blocked sunlight, creating small pools.

I stopped in a nice, atmospheric spot. Romantic casually went off to gather Mossrock Splitleaf, and Gang Jaegyung stood blankly beside me.
How was I supposed to turn this guy into a functioning human being? Well, first things first—I’d start by teaching him the one thing that frustrated me most: how to block with his shield.