NOVEL WEB chapter 8
While browsing the guild list in the interface, DrinkWaterPlz typed into the chat as a sudden thought occurred to her.
[Guild] DrinkWaterPlz: Come to think of it
[Guild] DrinkWaterPlz: Isn’t it tomorrow? The end of the seven-day lock?
[Guild] Hwaseoun: What is?
[Guild] Haerun: Ahhhhh
[Guild] Haerun: That’s rightㅋㅋㅋㅋ It’s been exactly a week since Sleepy joinedㅋㅋㅋ
Six days ago, the new recruit ‘I’mSoSleepy’ had joined the EveningGlow guild, and from the start, he’d been a player that caught everyone’s attention.
Not only had he shown zero hesitation when dealing with Yoo Chae’s trash personality, he’d even managed to give him a clean verbal smackdown, which naturally piqued curiosity.
[Guild] LaggingLikeHell: Damn, if he doesn’t leave, that’d be dopeㅠ
Beyond the strong first impression, ‘I’mSoSleepy’ was, in every way, a great fit for the guild. Despite being a newbie, his player control was sharp, and his combat sense was top-tier. His personality wasn’t bad either.
He didn’t draw overly firm boundaries with others or act distant, but at the same time, he never came off as pushy. If someone lent him a hand, he always expressed his thanks clearly, and he’d remember the favor and later repay it—even if just with something small.
Honestly, no one would’ve blamed a newbie for just taking handouts. But this guy? He understood support instantly and gave back even more. For veterans, it was genuinely enjoyable.
That’s why most of the guild, including Guild Master Yoo Chae, had developed a strong interest in this highly skilled new player, I’mSoSleepy.
[Guild] SpicyCrabPlz: Where the hell did we find a god-tier newbie like thatㅋㅋ
[Guild] ParkSeungjin99: For real.. makes you wanna actually mentor someone for once
[Guild] MeLostInHunt: During the Blood Dragon raid earlier
[Guild] MeLostInHunt: Guild Master came with the newbie
[Guild] MeLostInHunt: He didn’t die once and dealt solid DPS
[Guild] Let’sTripleJump: Man what was I even doing at that level;
[Guild] Let’sTripleJump: Probably getting wrecked on the Fire Lizard quest
[Guild] Haerun: Dude dodged even the Guild Master’s skills
[Guild] Haerun: Blood Dragon’s light workㅋㅋ
[Guild] ParkSeungjin99: Hey DrinkWater
[Guild] ParkSeungjin99: Preliminaries start next month, right?
[Guild] ParkSeungjin99: Are you registering Sleepy as a member?
[Guild] DrinkWaterPlz: Hm
The Guardian Guild Preliminaries.
In Zenoris, there were many towns and cities, each protected by a dedicated guardian guild.
Winning the preliminaries and becoming the city’s guardian guild granted powerful buffs and administration funds, making it one of the largest-scale guild events in the game.
The most popular and competitive city was Veritas, located at the center of the map. Since it was a hub for most players, the buffs and income were top-tier.
EveningGlow was the current guardian guild of Veritas. Once the preliminaries began, they would have to fend off every challenger guild trying to steal that title and emerge as the final winner.
[Guild] DrinkWaterPlz: Not sure
[Guild] DrinkWaterPlz: I feel like we at least need confirmation he’s not quitting the guild
To participate in the preliminaries, a guild needed at least one player who’d hit max level within the last two months. That was the real reason EveningGlow had opened recruitment for new members.
And in that context, having a skilled newbie join felt like destiny.
[Guild] DrinkWaterPlz: Yoo Chae
[Guild] DrinkWaterPlz: What do you think?
Really, he was the biggest problem. If the Guild Master weren’t such a trash human being, I’mSoSleepy probably wouldn’t be saying he wants to leave, and they’d have finished registration for the preliminaries already.
Yoo Chae responded to DrinkWater’s question with characteristic disinterest.
[Guild] Yoo Chae: Dunno
[Guild] DrinkWaterPlz: Aghㅡㅡ
[Guild] Haerun: What;;
[Guild] Haerun: After everything you’ve done for him, that’s your answer??
[Guild] MochaBbang: For real
[Guild] MochaBbang: Didn’t you even give him a Lux 2.0 Solis?
[Guild] ParkSeungjin99: A Lux’d Solis is all-time legendaryㅋㅋ
[Guild] ManaIsDryGuy: Fuck, can someone give me a god-tier item like that for free too?
[Guild] Yoo Chae: Don’t talk about weapons around hyung
[Guild] Yoo Chae: Pretty sure he doesn’t know what he got
After shutting the guild up ahead of time, Yoo Chae continued.
[Guild] Yoo Chae: And probably
[Guild] Yoo Chae: Hyung’s gonna leave
[Guild] DrinkWaterPlz: Figured as much?
[Guild] Yoo Chae: Yeah
[Guild] DrinkWaterPlz: Then should we start recruiting a new newbie?
[Guild] Yoo Chae: Nah wait
[Guild] Yoo Chae: I’ve got a plan
The guild went quiet for a moment after that. Then the murmuring began.
[Guild] MochaBbang: This has a weird vibe
[Guild] MochaBbang: Just me?ㅋㅋ;;
[Guild] TakeItIt’sFree: Are we heading for another scandal board debut?
[Guild] Haerun: Been quiet for a while, huh^^
[Guild] Hwaseoun: I’m staying out of this...
****
After finishing my shift, I did a quick workout at the gym and was heading home when I got a call from Kim Daeseok.
— Yoo Jihan. Why aren’t you logging in?
“I’m outside.”
— Oh, was today your part-time shift?
“Yeah.”
It wasn’t just work—I’d stayed out for the gym too. But I couldn’t be bothered to explain, so I gave him the short version.
I’d been shelving books at a bookstore and then worked out, so my shoulders were feeling sore. I tilted my head side to side, stretching lightly as I asked:
“Anyway, what’s up?”
— Isn’t today the day you leave the guild?
Oh, right. I’d completely forgotten with all the chaos of yesterday’s field raid.
“Yeah.”
— You’re coming to our guild right after, yeah? I already told our guild master.
I blinked and hesitated for a second.
‘I mean, I was planning on it…’
But something about answering right away made my chest feel a little tight. While I stayed quiet, Daeseok grew impatient and pressed me.
— You’re not coming?
“No, I am. Once I get home, I’ll shower and log in right away. Just wait.”
— Okie dokie.
Luckily, my place was just around the corner. I hung up and went straight into the shower. When I was done, I sat down at my computer.
‘Wait.’
As I habitually moved to launch the game, I changed my mind and went to the Zenoris homepage instead.
It seemed better to leave the guild before logging in—just in case someone greeted me in guild chat and made things awkward.
Thankfully, you could withdraw from a guild via the homepage. Without hesitation, I went to the guild management page and clicked the [Leave Guild] button next to “EveningGlow.”
[Your withdrawal has been successfully processed.]
I stared at the message on screen for a moment, then closed it. This should’ve happened ages ago. Sure, it left a bit of a bitter aftertaste when I thought about how Yoo Chae had gone out of his way for me this past week… but oh well.
Still, you could say the plan worked out pretty well. Now that I’d officially left, Yoo Chae would probably start cooling off emotionally. It’s not like we’d known each other that long anyway.
With that thought, the lingering discomfort faded. I brushed my still-damp bangs aside and launched the game.
Since I’d gone to bed early after the raid yesterday, the Dark Zone where the Black Dragon spawned was still active. Now that I was guildless, there was no guild name above my nickname, and the guild chat was grayed out and inactive.
[soeso: hey hey]
[soeso: to central city, let’s go]
[I’mSoSleepy: yeah yeah]
After replying to Daeseok’s message, I started heading toward the central city—and suddenly realized that he was the only one left on my friend list.
I’d gotten too used to guild chat to bother adding people as friends.
‘Not that I would’ve, even if I had thought about it.’
What would be the point of friending members of a guild I was about to leave? If anything, it was a relief that I hadn’t.
As I arrived at the warp point in Central City, Daeseok came running up and immediately opened a party invite. Standing next to him was the Guild Master of
[Global] soeso: invite bomb incomingggg
Didn’t expect the guild master to come in person. Still, it made things easier. As I joined the party, the guild master—WoonYoom—greeted me.
[Party] WoonYoom: Hello thereㅎㅎ
[Party] I’mSoSleepy: Hello
[Party] WoonYoom: I’ve heard a lot about you from Daeseokㅎㅎ
Since Daeseok had called him hyung, I assumed he was male, but his chat felt really neat and gentle.
[Party] I’mSoSleepy: Oh, really?
[Party] WoonYoom: Yup, he said your control is amazing
[Party] WoonYoom: I also heard about the guild stuff
He really seemed like a nice guy. Maybe that’s why EveningGlow and OneHeartOneWill got along?
WoonYoom’s character was smiling brightly—but he had a massive crimson greatsword strapped to his back. That weapon meant he was a Berserker, if I remembered right.
‘So he ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) goes around mowing down mobs with a smile like that?’
After a few casual lines of conversation, WoonYoom asked brightly:
[Party] WoonYoom: Would you like to join our guild, Sleepy?
[Party] WoonYoom: You’d be more than welcomeㅎㅎ
[Party] I’mSoSleepy: I’d be honored
Thanks to Daeseok giving him the heads-up, the process was even smoother than with EveningGlow. I replied with a few polite lines and clicked accept on WoonYoom’s invite.
[Party] WoonYoom: I already gave a quick heads-up to the guild
[Party] WoonYoom: So just relax and make yourself at home!
Right as he said that, the
[Guild] KyokoKyoko: Hello~!
[Guild] Beecher: heyooo~
[Guild] PpoppaBam: Oooh, new recruit!~><
[Guild] SeolJihye: hiii.ㅇ.ㅇ
[Guild] Jjanghoon: hey hey
[Guild] I’mSoSleepy: Hello
Ugh, back to this again… Still, they all seemed like decent people, so it wasn’t too bad.
[Guild] soeso: He’s my friendㅎ
[Guild] soeso: IRL bud~ㅎ
[Guild] Beecher: You have friends?ㅋㅋㅋ
[Guild] WoonYoom: Since Sleepy’s a new player and a newbie
[Guild] WoonYoom: Please help him out with quests and raidsㅎㅎ~
[Guild] Jjanghoon: You got it
WoonYoom’s cheerful message made me smile a little.
[Whisper] soeso: yo?
[Whisper] soeso: Vibes good?
[Whisper] I’mSoSleepy: yeah
Yeah, it felt pretty solid. They weren’t total lunatics like EveningGlow, but for playing a raising sim? That wasn’t a bad thing.
[Party] WoonYoom: What level are you now, Sleepy?
[Party] I’mSoSleepy: 212
[Party] WoonYoom: Whoa, and it hasn’t even been a month since you started Zenoris?
[Party] WoonYoom: You’re seriously fastㄷㄷ
[Party] WoonYoom: Want help with your raid quest?ㅎㅎ
[Party] soeso: let’s gooo, I’m in
[Party] I’mSoSleepy: thx thx
[Party] I’mSoSleepy: I’ve done all the dragon raids except Red
[Party] WoonYoom: Then Red it is~
[Party] I’mSoSleepy: I’ll use my scroll
Just as I opened my inventory and was about to click “Use Scroll,” a system alert suddenly popped up across the center of the screen.
[War Vote] Do you agree to proceed with war? [Yes] [No] [Hold]
“…?”
[Party] WoonYoom: ??
[Party] soeso: ?
[Guild] Jjanghoon: ?
[Guild] Beecher: What the hell?
[Guild] PpoppaBam: ?;;
[Guild] TheGreatnessOfChicken: Uh?? Guild Master, are we going to war?
[Guild] Beonggeut: All of a sudden…?