He Is That Guy

Sunday. The last day of the preliminaries.
Only one match remained—our fight against the server’s #2 guild, Restraint. I did one final gear check.
My assigned position was the northern gate of the city. Same as the OneHeartOneMind guild, most of our members were gathered at the north gate since it was the closest to the center.
[Guild] TheHunter: Let’s goooo
[Guild] TheHunter: I finally get to see Sword Princess hehe
[Guild] Hwa So-un: Why are you so obsessed with her anyway?
[Guild] TheHunter: She’s just so damn cool
[Guild] Drink Some Water: Wasn’t she ranked #1 Reaper?
[Guild] Haereun: That’s right
[Guild] GeojeojulgeJalsaga: Bet a ton of people started playing Assassin just ‘cause of her LOL

Reaper—what most players just called "Assassin"—was one of those classes that was difficult and lacked raw power.
Unlike the Chain Blader or Dark Mage, which were hard to play but rewarding, Reaper’s skill set was just a tangled mess of clunky, overdesigned crap. And it didn’t even offer the kind of damage that made up for that frustration.
Everyone agreed it was a garbage class.
And yet, Sword Princess reached #1 with it—universally recognized. That meant she had to be insanely good.
[Guild] I’m Lagginggg: Staeric, what’s your rank again?
[Guild] ManaOing: Was it 3rd? Or 4th?
[Guild] Staeric: I’ll admit it, Sword Princess is damn good
[Guild] TheHunter: I hope she accepts my friend request this time ㅠㅠ
[Guild] Park Seungjin99: You like her that much, huh?
[Guild] Park Seungjin99: Then why don’t you play Reaper?
[Guild] TheHunter: Why would I play a dogshit class??
[Guild] Haereun: LOLOLOLOL
[Guild] Park Seungjin99: Respect the boundary between fanboy and main class, got it;;
[Guild] SseSseSsehajago: Some things are just prettier from a distance...
[Guild] Mocha Bread: Man out here fangirling Reaper but plays easy-mode Warlord himselfㅠㅠ
[Guild] Marinated Crab, Slurp: No wonder Sword Princess won’t accept your friend request lmao
[Guild] TheHunter: I am a Sword Princess fan, BUT
[Guild] TheHunter: Friend her and switch to Reaper vs Don’t friend her and keep my comfy class
[Guild] TheHunter: Easy pick: the latter
[Guild] Drink Some Water: Wow. Ruthless LOL
[Guild] Hwa So-un: But honestly… valid~
[Guild] Hunting Madman: People who main Assassin must be perverts or something
[Guild] Haereun: Staeric, you've just been called a perv
[Guild] Staeric: lol
[Guild] Staeric: Look at everyone agreeing with Hunter—
[Guild] Staeric: They all play Warlord, Lancer, or Infighter. This is pissing me off
[Guild] Park Seungjin99: LMAOOOOO
[Guild] Monster Born of Capitalism: For real tho LOLOLOLOL
[Guild] Haereun: Easy-mode classes, all of ‘em LOL
[Guild] Hwa So-un: If you’re jealous, just roll Lancer~
[Guild] Marinated Crab, Slurp: But real talk?
[Guild] Marinated Crab, Slurp: If I had cracked mechanics, I might’ve tried Reaper too…
[Guild] Marinated Crab, Slurp: The sheer style is on par with Chain Blader
[Guild] I’m Lagginggg: Facts
[Guild] I’m Lagginggg: Though let’s be real, I’d end up rage-quitting once my damage hit rock bottom LOL
[Guild] Mocha Bread: Still, Staeric’s badass af when he’s slicing necks in prelims LOL
[Guild] Hunting Madman: Yeah like, if Guildmaster is flashy and cool as hell
[Guild] Hunting Madman: Then Reaper is pure assassin vibes
[Guild] Hunting Madman: Even the black, edgy skill effects are fire
[Guild] ManaOing: If the skill kit wasn’t so busted, the player count would be 10x higher by now
[Guild] GeojeojulgeJalsaga: All that considered, Sword Princess must be legit cracked at this game

Watching guild chat go nuts while we waited for the match to start, I couldn’t help getting curious about this Reaper main—Sword Princess.
I turned my camera, wondering if she was standing among the Restraint guild members in the enemy resurrection zone, waiting for the match like us.
But I didn’t see her.

‘Now that I think about it, none of the top guildmasters share classes.’
Yu Chae was Chain Blader, Sword Princess was Reaper, Sangdanghan was ranked 12th in Warlord, and Unyum was 5th in Berserker.
The newly added class, Dark Mage, didn’t have a ranking yet. Class rankings were determined by the annual tournament, so the Dark Mage tab was still empty.

To be top in your class and part of the #2 guild?
‘This might actually be dangerous.’
Even Yu Chae, who rarely gives compliments, admitted she was the most dangerous opponent. So this match could go down very differently from everything we’ve faced so far.

I was trying to run through Reaper’s skillset in my head, strategizing how to position myself during the fight—when I kept getting pings from whispers.
[Whisper] Yu Chae: Hyung, hyung!
[Whisper] Yu Chae: Look at this
[Whisper] Yu Chae: It’s sooo cute! ㅎㅅㅎ
Even without clicking the link, I already knew what it was.
This guy again…

[Whisper] I’m So Sleepy: The match starts in under 10 minutes
[Whisper] I’m So Sleepy: Why are you sending me dog videos
[Whisper] Yu Chae: It’s only 7 minutes long!
[Whisper] Yu Chae: It’s a retriever puppy—your favorite..ㅜㅡㅜ
Yesterday, I casually mentioned I liked watching dog videos when I was bored. Since then, Yu Chae had been flooding me with links.
He didn’t just send them and leave it at that—he kept asking if it was cute, or pestering me about why I liked dogs. It was exhausting.
I sighed... and clicked the link anyway. It’s not like the dog video had done anything wrong.

Yip! Yelp! Woof! Wah!
[Whisper] I’m So Sleepy: You’re the guildmaster. You seriously think it’s okay to slack off right before a match?
[Whisper] Yu Chae: ㅜ.ㅜ
The dog bounced around yapping on my secondary monitor while I scolded him.
Unbelievable—how could someone have this little sense of urgency?

[Whisper] I’m So Sleepy: What if we lose and they take the city?
[Whisper] Yu Chae: They won’t..
[Whisper] Yu Chae: Everyone besides their guildmaster is trash at the game!
The puppy rolled across the floor, dragging a stuffed toy twice its size in its mouth. Cute.
[Whisper] I’m So Sleepy: Still, they’re rank 2. Probably better than most guilds.
[Whisper] Yu Chae: True, but
[Whisper] Yu Chae: Do you hate losing that much?

[Whisper] Yu Chae: Even without the capital city, it doesn’t affect the game that much
The puppy let go of the toy and started tugging on a curtain, then flopped over backwards. Dammit. Too cute.
[Whisper] I’m So Sleepy: If we’d never had it, maybe.
[Whisper] I’m So Sleepy: But losing what was ours? That feels like shit.
[Whisper] I’m So Sleepy: If we can win, we should.
[Whisper] Yu Chae: Hm.

The moment the puppy heard its owner call, it dropped the curtain and scampered off.
[Whisper] Yu Chae: If it would ruin your mood
[Whisper] Yu Chae: Then I’ll do my best ㅎㅡㅎ♥
...Seriously adorable. Wait. No. Hold on.
I think I just had a really bad thought.

I couldn’t focus anymore, so I turned off the video. I’d watch the rest later.
[Whisper] I’m So Sleepy: Good.
[Whisper] I’m So Sleepy: If we lose the city because you were goofing around with me
[Whisper] I’m So Sleepy: I’m divorcing you the day after our wedding.
[Whisper] Yu Chae: ?

[Whisper] Yu Chae: Divorce??
[Whisper] Yu Chae: We’re not even married yet and you’re talking about divorce??
[Whisper] I’m So Sleepy: It wasn’t part of the bet that I couldn’t divorce you

[Whisper] Yu Chae: ㅡㅡ????
[Whisper] Yu Chae: Wow...
[Whisper] Yu Chae: Hyung, I hate to say it but

[Whisper] Yu Chae: That’s seriously annoying
[Whisper] I’m So Sleepy: You think you’re annoyed?
Guess the word “divorce” really hit him hard. He was reacting more intensely than ever.

[Whisper] Yu Chae: ㅜㅡㅜ..
[Whisper] Yu Chae: ㅠㅡㅜ.....
[Whisper] I’m So Sleepy: What
[Whisper] Yu Chae: I’m mad...
Even as he sulked, the match officially started.
Light faded from the resurrection zone as Restraint guild members charged forward.
Our guild met them head-on—and at the front of our line was Yu Chae, swinging his chains like a man possessed.

Shing, ching! Crackle! BOOM!
All kinds of effect sounds exploded as the chains tore through, dropping Restraint players one by one.
[Guild] Mocha Bread: ?
[Guild] Mocha Bread: What the hell?
[Guild] Hunting Madman: Huh
[Guild] Drink Some ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ Water: Why’s that bastard suddenly trying so hard?
[Guild] Staeric: Seriously though
[Guild] Hunting Madman: I’m legit shook right now LOL
[Guild] ManaOing: If the guildmaster goes this hard, I can’t half-ass it either
[Guild] SseSseSsehajago: Fr ㅜ
Watching Yu Chae go wild, I scratched my head awkwardly.

Yeah, I poked him on purpose to light a fire under his ass, but this was too effective.
At this rate, if we actually divorced, he’d probably wreck me in PvP like that.
Terrifying.