He Is That Guy

“So, you hit max level yesterday?”
“Yeah.”

I answered as I lifted the stack of books with one hand. Working at the bookstore for over a month now, carrying this much wasn’t hard anymore.
“You did it running raids with that EveningGlow guild master?”
“Yeah. Move.”

I lightly shoved Kim Daeseok, who was blocking my way, and walked over to the display shelves. As I started lining up the books neatly, Daeseok kept running his mouth beside me.
“Hey, Yoo Jihan. It’s impressive you hit max level in just a month and a half, but… you sure this is okay?”
“What is?”

“I get that you need to use EveningGlow to get your staff back, but still…”
What bullshit is he going to spit out now? I turned to him, eyes cold and expression dead.
“Doesn’t it feel kinda sketchy?”

“What part?”
“I mean, think about it! That bastard threw a damn tantrum when you left the guild, right? There’s no guarantee he’ll act any different after you get your staff back.”
“So?”

“So Yoo Chae has some kind of plan. Obviously.”
A plan? Yoo Chae has a plan…?
His words made me think back to what happened in Zenoris yesterday. Right after I hit max level and cleared the raid dungeon, Yoo Chae came bouncing over and spammed chat like crazy.

 
[Party] Yoo Chae: Hyung, hyung!
[Party] Yoo Chae: Congrats on hitting max level!! ㅎㅡㅎ

[Party] Yoo Chae: You know I helped you so much, right?
[Party] ImSoSleepy: yeah
[Party] Yoo Chae: How’s the totem?
[Party] Yoo Chae: Is it good?

[Party] ImSoSleepy: yeah, it’s nice
[Party] Yoo Chae: >_<♥
 

“……”
A plan, my ass. He was so stupidly cheerful I almost felt bad for him.
He looked happier than if he had hit max level himself. I snorted and shook my head.

“There’s no way, so quit talking nonsense.”
“Sigh… Yoo Jihan. You really don’t get it after all that?”
Daeseok sighed deeply and threw his massive arm over my shoulder. And what the hell is this bastard doing showing up to my workplace with this crap?

“Quit bugging me and get lost.”
“How could you say something so hurtful? I’ve got plans later, I’m just killing time ‘til then. Anyway, listen to me.”
Yeah, sure, using someone’s job as your personal lounge.

“He stalked you all over the game playing netkama, you really think he’s not scheming something? That guy’s got a nasty reputation, you know.”
“He’s not that bad.”
I brushed his arm off casually.

“He’s just got no manners, does whatever he wants, and is stubborn as hell.”
“…Isn’t that literally a bad personality?”
I tilted my head at Daeseok’s baffled reaction. Dunno. Calling it just a bad personality didn’t feel right.

‘Hmm… there’s a word for this…’
I was sure there was a better way to describe it, but I couldn’t recall. Daeseok kept talking while I stayed lost in thought.
“Point is, be careful.”

“Yeah, yeah.”
Forget Yoo Chae or whatever, I had more important things to ask. Since I ran into Daeseok anyway, I brought it up.
“I wanna practice skill combos. Got any good ways?”

“Skill combos?”
He looked confused at first, then his face lit up like he understood.
“Oh, you rolled Dark Mage, right?”

Dark Mage, the new class added in this Zenoris patch. I remembered the first promo video I saw when I started the game.
In most RPGs, mages are similar — long skill cooldowns, low defense, but high damage and AoE.
Dark Mage flipped that base concept completely. It’s like a mix between a mage and an assassin, with extremely clear pros and cons.

Unlike standard mages, Dark Mages don’t have AoE or ult skills. But they’ve got short cooldowns and a unique hidden mechanic called “Stack.”
“Stack” is a passive skill that builds up automatically when you attack enemies. The more stacks you build, the higher your damage skyrockets. The trick is stacking quickly and detonating it for massive burst damage.
‘It’s all about control.’

The faster your hands are, the better you chain skills, the quicker your stacks go up — and so does your DPS. How well you use the class depends entirely on your skill. It’s exactly the kind of playstyle I excel at.
So I needed practice. Ideally with a solid sparring partner.
“Then you should hit up the Arena.”

“Arena, huh…”
“Public matches are chaos, won’t help much… but setting up private duels wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
Meaning, team up with friends for PVP scrims. Not a bad suggestion for something off the top of his head.

‘I’ll ask the guild group chat after my shift ends.’
[DrinkWaterPlz: Skill practice in Arena?]
[DrinkWaterPlz: Sounds good??]

When I casually brought up Arena PVP in the guild chat, thankfully, people seemed down.
[DrinkWaterPlz: Everyone needs]
[DrinkWaterPlz: To practice for prelims anywayㅋㅋ]

[MochaBbangBbang: My hands are rusty, we gotta do this]
[ManaIsDryGuy: Arena’s hella fun]
[ManaIsDryGuy: Let’s go today?]

[ImSoSleepy: let’s go]
[Haerun: count me in]
[LaggingLikeHell: I’m good after 9 PM]

[TheHunter: How many people online rn? (emote)]
[Haerun: Around 50]
[Haerun: If you subtract AFK and raids, dunno how many]

[Hwaseoun: I’m in (emote)]
[ParkSeungjin99: Me too]
[DrinkWaterPlz: We can get at least 8 easy]

[ㅇㅇ: Hyung]
[ㅇㅇ: When are you coming?]
Unlike everyone else who set their Zenoris nickname properly, Yoo Chae used lazy consonant initials for his name. He pinged me.

[ImSoSleepy: I’m going to the gym]
[ImSoSleepy: I’ll be on in two hours]
[ㅇㅇ: You work out?]

[ImSoSleepy: Just weight training]
[ㅇㅇ: Whoa..]
[ㅇㅇ: I wanna watch]

[ImSoSleepy: ?]
[ImSoSleepy: Watch what?]
[ㅇㅇ: You working out]

[ImSoSleepy: ?]
[DrinkWaterPlz: ..?]
[Haerun: ?]

[ParkSeungjin99: wtf..]
[ㅇㅇ: ??]
[ㅇㅇ: Wait]

[ㅇㅇ: I didn’t mean it like that]
“….”
Freakin’ lunatic… I quietly turned off my phone and stuffed it back in my jacket pocket.

After finishing my workout and washing up at home, I booted up my PC. A few light stretches to loosen my shoulders and fingers, then I logged into Zenoris. The game BGM played as I spawned in front of Hurdian Dungeon.
[Guild] Let’sTripleJump: hey hey
[Guild] Hwaseoun: Sleepy-hyung hi~

[Guild] LaggingLikeHell: h2
[Guild] DoraHeeImnida: Helloㅎㅎ
[Guild] ImSoSleepy: hey

I greeted the guild, checked the event page and login rewards, when I saw a familiar character sprinting over.
[Global] Yoo Chae: Hyung
[Global] Yoo Chae: Hyung, hyung!

Must’ve known where I was since I logged out right after the raid yesterday. Even though his character’s face was blank, he somehow looked ridiculously happy — weirdly impressive.
Yoo Chae opened a party invite. The moment I joined, chat exploded.
[Party] Yoo Chae: Hyung

[Party] Yoo Chae: How was work??
[Party] Yoo Chae: Do you always work out after your shift?
[Party] Yoo Chae: What do you do at the gym?

His energy was off the charts today. Watching him spam excited messages, I got this weird déjà vu feeling and pulled my hands off the keyboard, rubbing my chin in thought.
Earlier too… every time I saw Yoo Chae, it felt like I was on the verge of remembering something.
[Party] Yoo Chae: Do you need any items?

[Party] Yoo Chae: You hit max level, time to upgrade your gear!ㅎ.ㅎ
“Ah.”
The ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) chat jogged my memory. I finally realized what he reminded me of, the fog in my brain lifting.

[Party] ImSoSleepy: You’re totally like that thing
[Party] Yoo Chae: Huh?
[Party] ImSoSleepy: A disaster of a puppy

I’d seen a video on YouTube once. This hyper little puppy that caused nonstop chaos, wrecking everything… but when the owner showed up, it whined and wagged its tail all innocent.
‘The resemblance is unreal now that I think about it.’
Knocking over flower pots, chewing the sofa, then flopping over in front of the owner panting. Exactly like Yoo Chae.

[Party] Yoo Chae: Me?
[Party] Yoo Chae: I’m like a puppy?
Of course, he conveniently skipped the “disaster” part. Well… he did act puppy-like, so I agreed bluntly.

[Party] ImSoSleepy: yeah
[Party] Yoo Chae: I’m cute then?
[Party] ImSoSleepy: ?

[Party] ImSoSleepy: Never said that
[Party] Yoo Chae: You said I’m like a puppy
[Party] Yoo Chae: Puppies are cuteㅋㅋㅋ

[Party] ImSoSleepy: That’s not what I meant;
[Party] Yoo Chae: ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Party] Yoo Chae: You said I’m cuteㅋㅋㅋ

[Party] ImSoSleepy: Shut up and queue Arena
[Party] Yoo Chae: ㅎㅡㅎ
Grinning like an idiot, Yoo Chae scrolled the chat. We headed to the Arena, grouped with the waiting guildmates, and entered the lobby.

[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: We got 12
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: So two teams of 6
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: How should we split it?

[Party] Hwaseoun: Divide by guild master and DrinkWater, maybe?
[Party] MochaBbang: Nah that ruins balance
[Party] ParkSeungjin99: Yeah

[Party] ParkSeungjin99: You gotta balance tanks and DPS too
[Party] MeLostInHunt: Shouldn’t we split the two newbies up?
The guild debated team balance before 6v6 PVP. Fair teams weren’t easy to set.

Watching everyone argue, Yoo Chae spoke up.
[Party] Yoo Chae: Put me and Sleepy-hyung as team captains
[Party] Yoo Chae: Divide from there

[Party] Yoo Chae: It’ll balance out
[Party] ImSoSleepy: ?
[Party] ParkSeungjin99: Huh?

[Party] Yoo Chae: You said you wanna practice your combos
[Party] Yoo Chae: You’ll get better practice if I’m on the enemy team
[Party] MochaBbang: Yikes

“Hm…”
Can’t deny, that bastard’s good at the game. He’d make a great sparring partner, no reason to refuse.
But I’m still a freshly max-leveled newbie. He’s a top-tier player. Fighting barehanded was suicide.

[Party] ImSoSleepy: Okay
[Party] ImSoSleepy: But I want something too
[Party] Yoo Chae: What?

[Party] ImSoSleepy: I’m taking Rahee
Meaning DoraHee had to be on my team. Healers were nice, but if I had to pick between a buffer and healer, buffer won every time. DoraHee had solid game sense — perfect teammate.
[Party] Yoo Chae: ?

[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: Oh..
[Party] Haerun: ?
[Party] Hwaseoun: Damn

[Party] TheHunter: ?
Why’s the vibe like this? Was I too blunt demanding the buffer? Feeling awkward, I fiddled with the hard earring in my ear, then saw DoraHee’s message.
[Party] DoraHeeImnida: ㅎㅎ

[Party] DoraHeeImnida: I’m fine with thatㅎㅎ
[Party] Yoo Chae: ㅋㅋ?