He Is That Guy

The moment the respawn zone opened, Danghani charged straight at me.
He was fast, but not so fast I couldn’t react. I was about to use an evasion skill when Yu Chae cut in front of me and deflected Danghani’s skill with a counter.
“Hyung, go.”

Perfect timing. I gladly took the opportunity he gave me and dashed past Danghani, heading straight for the opposite side where a swarm of Fever Guild members had gathered.
Chojeonyeok Guild has gained 10 points!
Chojeonyeok Guild has gained 10 points!

Fever Guild has gained 10 points!
Chojeonyeok Guild has gained 10 points!
Nearly 80 users were packed into one area, turning everything into utter chaos in seconds. Trying to pick out a single character in that mess was far harder than expected.

Thankfully, Muljom and SseSseSsehajago spotted the newbie before I did and called it out.
“One o’clock! But they just disappeared!”
“They’re at three now.”

“On my way.”
I immediately shifted my screen and moved toward the 3 o’clock direction SseSseSsehajago pointed out. Using my evasion skills without hesitation, I got there as fast as I could—and finally, I spotted the nickname I’d been looking for.
‘MelodyCode. That’s her.’

A male avatar with deep navy hair was swinging the staff I wanted so badly—blue gemstone embedded in its head, gleaming brighter than I remembered. Fever must’ve upgraded it. The gem glowed more brilliantly than the last time I saw it.
One of our guildmates who had been fighting MelodyCode died just then, leaving an opening. I used my D-skill deliberately to make my presence known.
[All] MelodyCode: ??

Noticing the AoE at her feet, she reflexively triggered an evasion skill and threw a confused message in [All]. I ignored it and launched into my standard combo.
She had just used her evasion, so she had no way to avoid my snare skill. As expected, it landed clean, and my follow-up skills dropped her HP to 10% in an instant.
Still, she dodged my final W-skill with a well-timed control input—she wasn’t a bad player. Flustered from the surprise attack, she quickly regained her footing and countered with a D-skill of her own. I watched it with mild disinterest.
‘How obvious.’

Slow my movement with an AoE, then chain a snare or attack skill. Pretty standard.
That left me with two possible reactions. If she went for a snare, I’d use evasion. If she attacked, I’d dodge with control.
Her character raised her staff toward me—classic wind-up animation for an R-skill. I predicted the trajectory and dodged right. Sure enough, she cast the skill to her left.

After easily avoiding the blow, she suddenly threw out a snare. I’d expected that too—slipping in an evasion right after my dodge to escape unscathed. The whole exchange took less than two seconds.
In Dark Mage versus Dark Mage fights, the snare skill was everything. Whoever landed it first usually won. That’s how critical it was.
‘Which means…’

Since I dodged her snare, I had the clear upper hand. She seemed to know it too—she didn’t even try to avoid my Q-skill and took it head-on. Probably figured it was better to die and respawn with full health than cling to her last sliver of HP.
Chojeonyeok Guild has gained 10 points!
MelodyCode went down, and our gauge crept up a bit more. ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ Still under halfway, but not a situation we could relax in.

“I got the kill, but the staff didn’t drop. I’m going to keep targeting MelodyCode.”
“We’ll back you up.”
Muljom moved in closer as he spoke. Since Yu Chae couldn’t reach me, blocked by Danghani and other Fever members, Muljom, SseSseSsehajago, and Haereun stuck close and headed toward the enemy’s respawn zone with me.

We cleared out a few stragglers on the way, and right as we reached the respawn zone, MelodyCode emerged. She hesitated for a moment when she spotted me, then quickly raised her staff.
Too bad for her—the skill gap between us was too wide for that to matter. And I had the perfect support squad for this: Muljom, a pure tank, and Haereun, a healer, both clearing the way so I could focus purely on the fight.
‘Even if her gear’s better than mine, the skill gap is too big to bridge.’

MelodyCode, full HP, saw my slightly depleted health bar and seemed to steel herself, launching the first attack. She still didn’t recklessly throw out her snare, but that didn’t change much.
If neither of us used snares, it came down to non-targeted skills—which meant a battle of control. After our first clash, I’d already read her level. I dodged everything with machine precision.
‘She favors left-side casts, doesn’t chain movement with skills, and doesn’t know the optimal skill order.’

PvP games like this were always part mechanics, part mind games. And mind games meant habits—and habits were easy to read.
MelodyCode wasn’t a bad player. Actually, she was pretty decent. If this were Hiore instead of Zenoris, she’d easily be a Platinum-tier player—Diamond if she got lucky.
Which is exactly why... she couldn’t beat me.

Even without using snares, the HP difference grew wider. She started full, I started at 80%. But as she kept taking hits, her health dropped to 30%. Maybe the pressure got to her, because she started making mistakes.
I saw her burn her evasion skill—immediately, I hit her with the snare I’d been saving. My E-W-Q combo landed clean, and her character crumpled.
No staff drop this time either.

[All] MelodyCode: ;
Killed by the same person twice, MelodyCode sent a single sweat emoji and walked back into the respawn zone. I checked the clock—only two minutes had passed. Not bad.
Haereun cast a wide-range heal and patched me up a bit. Soon enough, MelodyCode came back out again. This time she was closer, so I casually strolled toward her.

When she saw me, she instantly opened chat.
[All] MelodyCode: ?
[All] MelodyCode: What is this?

No need to reply. I fired off an E-skill right away. She didn’t react in time and got snared. Follow-up combo. Third kill.
This time I shaved 30 seconds off—only took a minute and a half.
[All] MelodyCode: ????

Leaving a trail of question marks, she vanished into the respawn zone again. A minute later, she crept out cautiously.
Probably waited for me to move away.
Too bad for her—she was my only target. I wasn’t going anywhere. Seeing me again, MelodyCode finally snapped.

[All] MelodyCode: Okay seriously
[All] MelodyCode: What is this;;
Still not saying anything. If I started chatting too, someone else might catch on that I was targeting her for the drop. Better to keep quiet and keep killing.

She didn’t just take it lying down this time. I could tell she was actually pissed—focused harder, dodged better. Still didn’t last two minutes.
After dying a couple more times, she finally couldn’t take it and whispered me.
[Whisper] MelodyCode: Um hello

[Whisper] MelodyCode: f1ck this is driving me insane
[Whisper] MelodyCode: At least tell me why you’re doing this
‘Didn’t Sudal say she was supposed to be the nice one?’

I scratched my cheek, remembering what Sudal had told us over Discord. But yeah… even nice people would be cussing by now.
Still, whisper or not, nothing changed. If she realized I was after the staff and unequipped it, the whole plan was shot.
And our gauge was already over 60%. With so many players brawling at the West Gate, the meter was filling way faster than expected. The window was closing.

I ignored the whisper and went in for another kill. Before I could finish, MelodyCode messaged me again.
[Whisper] MelodyCode: Hello???
[Whisper] MelodyCode: Are you waiting for me to drop an item or something?

Damn. Good at the game and has decent intuition. I clicked my tongue and typed back.
[Whisper] JeoJolryeoyo: Just practicing since we’re both dark mages lol
[Whisper] MelodyCode: Don’t BS me lol

[Whisper] MelodyCode: Your gear’s garbage and you know it lmao;;
“……”
I glanced at my character.

The ragged gray robe looked like a pile of scraps. The brown staff I was holding had no ornamentation, basically just a stick.
Okay yeah. That is pretty garbage.
Especially compared to the sparkling blue-gem staff she was swinging around—the one that used to be mine.

Thinking about it ticked me off all over again.
[Whisper] JeoJolryeoyo: So what if it’s shiny
[Whisper] JeoJolryeoyo: Still losing to a guy with garbage gear

[Whisper] MelodyCode: I admit you’re better
[Whisper] MelodyCode: But that’s not the point
[Whisper] MelodyCode: Do you want the staff?

[Whisper] JeoJolryeoyo: ??
[Whisper] MelodyCode: I’ll drop it
[Whisper] MelodyCode: Just tell me if you want it

I frowned. Instead of being happy, the offer made me feel gross.
‘What is this attitude like she’s trying to get rid of trash?’
Right—didn’t she get forced to take the staff from Danghani? Still, dropping a valuable weapon to some random dude she barely knows?

Felt… off.
Could be a trap. I needed more info.
[Whisper] JeoJolryeoyo: Nah

[Whisper] JeoJolryeoyo: If you change your mind, I’m the one who gets flamed, not you
[Whisper] MelodyCode: What lol
[Whisper] MelodyCode: You scared?

[Whisper] JeoJolryeoyo: I’ll just keep killing you
[Whisper] JeoJolryeoyo: And take the drop like normal lol
[Whisper] MelodyCode: ;;

[Whisper] MelodyCode: Picking up drops in Selection Matches is frowned on, you know
[Whisper] JeoJolryeoyo: Yeah, I’m a frowned-on player
This chat was starting to feel like a waste of time. Better to just stick with what I was doing. I hit her with another combo. As soon as it landed, she started whispering frantically again.

[Whisper] MelodyCode: ffs
[Whisper] MelodyCode: Wait
[Whisper] MelodyCode: I’m not done talking

[Whisper] JeoJolryeoyo: What
[Whisper] MelodyCode: I’ll drop the staff next time I die
[Whisper] MelodyCode: Just pick it up and end this

[Whisper] MelodyCode: Fever’s gonna win anyway
[Whisper] JeoJolryeoyo: ? lol
[Whisper] JeoJolryeoyo: What makes you think Fever’s winning?

[Whisper] MelodyCode: You guys don’t even know what’s going on here
[Whisper] MelodyCode: I’m telling you, it’s already over. Fever’s gonna win this
A chill crept down my spine.

It wasn’t just trash talk—her certainty was too confident, too absolute. Something about it didn’t sit right.
[Whisper] JeoJolryeoyo: What are you doing?
[Whisper] MelodyCode: You want the staff or not?

[Whisper] JeoJolryeoyo: I’ll take care of it
[Whisper] JeoJolryeoyo: Just tell me what Fever’s doing
[Whisper] MelodyCode: Have you

[Whisper] MelodyCode: checked the positions of our elemental mages?
Elemental mages? Why them—?
‘…Wait. No way.’

The West Gate. Narrow alleys. Forty players. No visual on the Fever elemental mages.
The conclusion hit me all at once, and I shouted:
“Kim Yuchae!”

“Guh—uh, y-yeah?!”
Yu Chae gasped in surprise at my sudden call, his voice trembling.