He Is That Guy

Of course, it wasn’t as globally successful as HOL, but Zenoris was still a solid title. Two years after launch, it was consistently ranked between second and fourth place on the charts.
Just the fact that it had trended thanks to a new class said it all. I hadn’t touched any progression-based games in ages because I’d been glued to HOL, so the thought alone made my fingers itch. I was actually °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° a little excited.

RPGs were better than AOS games when it came to immersion anyway. The time and money you invested showed. Smiling in anticipation, I hit the “Start Game” button.
Cheerful, upbeat music played as the loading screen appeared. First up was server selection—and in games like this, the most populated servers were always the best.
I pulled out my phone. I already knew who to ask for help.

—What do you want?
The moment he picked up, he got straight to the point. Kim Daeseok. A friend I’d known since high school, now attending the same university as me. Skipping pleasantries, I cut right to the chase.
“What server are you on?”

—What server?
“Zenoris. Which server are you playing on?”
—Why the hell are you asking that? Don’t tell me you’re actually playing Zenoris?

Daeseok had been bugging me to try Zenoris with him ever since it launched. Realizing what I meant, he dropped his deadpan tone and practically shouted into the phone.
—No way. You're serious? If you're messing with me, I'm gonna kill you!
“I’m literally staring at the server screen. You’ve got ten seconds to tell me or I’m closing the game and uninstalling. Ten, nine…”

—Rotel! Rotel! Goddamn it—you and your attitude, Yoo Jihan.
“Is Rotel the most popular one?”
—Yeah. It dominates. No question—go Rotel.

Rotel, huh? I double-clicked the central server name—and bam, hit with a queue. Guess it really was the popular one.
—Okay okay, I’m logging in too. Send me your nickname on KakaoTalk.
“Sure.”

—I’ll carry your noob ass…
I hung up on him before he could finish and turned my attention back to the screen. Just as the queue ended, I was brought to the character creation page.
No point customizing anything too much without shelling out cash first. I picked some plain brown hair and a reasonably average face, then moved on.
Class? Obviously, I picked Mage. Only way to unlock Dark Mage as a second-tier class.

All that was left was the nickname.
“A nickname, huh…”
Nothing came to mind. In a popular game like this, anything decent was probably already taken…

After thinking for a while, I got lazy and just reused the name from my HOL main account. Thankfully, it went through without any issues.
[jeojolryeoyo] (I’mSoSleepy)
Can’t believe no one’s grabbed this cute-ass nickname yet… Feeling pleased, I sent the name to Kim Daeseok on KakaoTalk and logged into the server with my new character.

[Two thousand years ago, as the world was born…]
An opening cinematic started up, but I hit ESC repeatedly and skipped straight to the tutorial. Just as I was wrapping up the beginner quests, I received a friend request.
[soeso: Yo, channel 12, let’s go]

Predictably, it was Kim Daeseok. What the hell kind of nickname is soeso? Anyway, I switched to channel 12, and sure enough, the guy standing in the city square spotted me and ran over.
[Global] soeso: yo lol
[Global] soeso: what’s with that name lol
[Global] soeso: that’s one weirdass name lmao
He immediately went after my nickname. I frowned and examined his character. Twin blonde pigtails, frilly pink dress—a female avatar, no less.

[Global] jeojolryeoyo: It’s better than yours; you look like an actual freak
[Global] jeojolryeoyo: The hell even is soeso?
[Global] jeojolryeoyo: You cross-playing now? Damn embarrassing, dude
I typed out my thoughts without filtering, and he panicked, quickly inviting me to a party.
[Party] soeso: Are you rapping in swear words?
[Party] soeso: And what’s wrong with a female character?
[Party] soeso: A dude playing a male character is even creepier, tbh

[Party] jeojolryeoyo: Whatever.
[Party] jeojolryeoyo: Here, buy me this.
I pasted the link I’d bookmarked earlier. A newbie starter pack. There were a few options, but the most expensive one was clearly the best.
[Party] soeso: What’s this? You actually trying to play for real?

His tone shifted, half confused, half impressed. Well, I hadn’t touched an RPG since high school, so his reaction was fair.
[Party] jeojolryeoyo: Yeah, so buy it.
It wouldn’t have the same cutthroat thrill as AOS or FPS, but RPGs had their own appeal. Fewer trolls rage-quitting mid-run, for one.

[Party] soeso: lol okay
Without hesitation, he gifted me the ₩35,000 starter pack. His family was loaded anyway.
[Party] jeojolryeoyo: thx
[Party] soeso: np. Ask me if you need help with anything.

With that, the party disbanded. Most early quests were solo anyway.
I opened the starter pack and organized the items neatly, then brought up a Zenoris guide on my secondary monitor. It was time to play for real.
 

****
[Whisper] soeso: you insane bastard;
On my tenth day in the game, after hitting level 200 and completing my first class change, Kim Daeseok finally whispered me that line. For context, the level cap in Zenoris is 250.

I had 50 levels to go, but the real grind was just beginning. Up to now, I’d managed everything solo, but starting from level 210, raid dungeons would make that impossible.
I’ll need a guild.
Even with guides, I'd still mess up or get lost. Raiding with total strangers felt like I'd just be dragging the team down.

What I needed was a guild where they knew I was a newbie—and were willing to help. Thankfully, I had an old-timer like Daeseok to lean on.
[Whisper] jeojolryeoyo: Yo, Daeseok
[Whisper] soeso: Yeah?
[Whisper] jeojolryeoyo: Your guild any good?
[Whisper] jeojolryeoyo: I think I need one for raids.
[Whisper] soeso: Ah, good point.
[Whisper] soeso: Already raid time? You really are nuts, lol
[Whisper] soeso: But we’re not recruiting right now. Bit awkward timing.

[Whisper] jeojolryeoyo: …What.
That, I hadn’t expected. I frantically typed back.
[Whisper] jeojolryeoyo: That’s just great.
[Whisper] soeso: srry lol
[Whisper] soeso: Hey, another allied guild is recruiting. Wanna try there?
[Whisper] jeojolryeoyo: Nah, I’ll find one myself.
[Whisper] soeso: Aww come on, don’t be salty lol

I wasn’t salty. Just smirked at my screen and opened the guild list. Since I couldn’t join Daeseok’s, I’d just pick one on my own.
After shortlisting a few promising options and closing the window, I noticed another whisper from him.
[Whisper] soeso: EveningGlow << that one. Server’s #1 guild.
[Whisper] soeso: Honestly, someone at your noob level wouldn’t normally get in…
[Whisper] soeso: But it’s their once-a-year recruitment period.
[Whisper] soeso: I know their vice guild master pretty well.
[Whisper] soeso: I’ll put in a good word. Join this one.
[Whisper] soeso: We’re tight with them anyway, so it’s basically the same thing.

Server’s #1 guild?
I reopened the guild list. Sure enough, right at the top on page one was a listing for EveningGlow.
[1. EveningGlow | Guild Level: Grand | Members: 172 | Guild Master: Yoo Chae]

Not bad. Being #1 had its charm.
[Whisper] jeojolryeoyo: You sure I can get in?
[Whisper] soeso: Totally. Not joking.
[Whisper] soeso: Vice guild master’s online. Messaging her now. Hold tight.
[Whisper] soeso: She does more than the guild leader, so her approval’s all that matters.
Well, nepotism or not—if it got me into a decent guild, I wasn’t about to complain.

[Whisper] jeojolryeoyo: Cool.
While I waited for their chat to finish, I browsed the auction house. I wasn’t buying anything yet since I was still leveling, but once I hit cap, I’d need to gear up properly.
I was doing mental math while scrolling through listings when Daeseok messaged again.

[Whisper] soeso: Yoo Jihan!
[Whisper] jeojolryeoyo: Yeah?
[Whisper] soeso: You’re not in a dungeon, right?
[Whisper] soeso: Vice GM wants to meet you. You up for it?
Meet? Like… an interview?
It felt a bit excessive for a game, but thinking back, even HOL clans usually required a quick chat with an admin before joining.

Honestly, with all the lunatics out there these days, I couldn’t blame them for doing some vetting. After a moment of thought, I replied:
[Whisper] jeojolryeoyo: Sure. Let’s go.