Netkama Punch!!!

The gloomy memories triggered by thoughts of Shin Heejae were just starting to resurface when a message alert went off. I already knew it was from that bastard Shin Heejae, but in the end, I couldn’t help myself—I read it anyway.

Heejae
ㅇ_ㅇ?
Still not asleep, I see ㅇ_ㅇ
“It’s because of you, you damn bastard…”

Muttering that, I rubbed my eyes and replied lazily.
Because of the spam text you sent, I woke up.
I’ll be blocking you soon, for the sake of my sweet dreams.

Heejae
<ㅇ_ㅇ>
It’s an emoticon of me offering my arm as a pillow.
There’s no better drug than a snuggle pillow, right?

Stinky Man
Heejae
Ah ㅇ.ㅇ
Didn’t think you’d actually lie down ㅇ//ㅇ;;

F*ck off
Heejae
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL
“Freaking idiot…”

Once again, Shin Heejae sent some ridiculous emoticon he must’ve picked up from who-knows-where. Like a total dork. But maybe because of what he said yesterday, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
And that was the problem.
* * *

[Party Chat – Clan Friends Only]
CHeejae: ㅇ.ㅇ Starting now
“10 seconds left.”
It was Sunday. The long-awaited Siege War day.

In the Discord channel for clan members participating in the siege, only the clan master and officers had their mics on. Everyone else had theirs muted, staying in position according to the pre-assigned roles.
And of course, Shin Heejae had his YouTube livestream running. The siege wars, which involved guilds stealing castles from each other, were massive events, and tons of players wanted to spectate.
It hadn’t even been five minutes since Heejae started the stream, and already the viewer count had hit four digits. I had his livestream running on my phone too, listening to it like background radio.

“Begin!”
Finally, the siege began.
Clan [Argo]—the enemy in this war—began charging at the castle from all directions, attacking with full force.

The siege mechanics gave a slight advantage to the defenders, but the moment [Argo]’s clan master, [Siben], activated his skill, the front gate of the castle was completely blown off.
Because the front gate had been breached so early—faster than most sieges—viewers watching the stream were getting riled up, wondering if the castle was going to be taken.
And then…

“Looks like Siben-hyung came prepared today.”
Shin Heejae spoke with his usual detached, slightly mocking tone. Even while receiving real-time updates through Discord about Siben's aggressive push, he stayed completely unfazed.
“Haa…”

Ironically, the one who was trembling with nerves as Siben approached was me.
Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t be nervous at all. Participating in a siege alongside Shin Heejae was already outrageous enough—it was all because he forced me into it. If he lost the castle, that would honestly be perfect for me.
But the problem was… my feelings had changed recently. I still hated Shin Heejae, but… maybe I didn’t just hate him anymore.

“Well, we do have to date for a month anyway… I guess I should at least pull my weight today…”
I muttered that to myself like a half-assed excuse, but deep down, I knew exactly where that excuse came from.
“Damn it… I shouldn’t have listened…”

A wave of irritation hit me, and I chugged the energy drink I had left open beside me. But even that, I set down after a few sips—since it was a one-hour siege, I couldn’t afford to need a bathroom break.
As I drank, I recalled what I knew about the [Argo] clan and the player named “Siben.”
The truth is, I was subscribed to Siben’s YouTube channel. So I knew well how Siben and Heejae were bitter rivals.

Especially because Siben always ended up either losing to Heejae or barely managing a draw. Most people considered him a tier below.
Maybe that’s why? Siben seemed to have a serious inferiority complex about Heejae. He would often try to snipe at Heejae’s actions during livestreams.
‘Honestly, even I sometimes thought HaterHyejae… might be Siben.’

The consistent troll in Heejae’s stream, “HaterHyejae,” had a writing style very similar to Siben.
Since HaterHyejae would throw tantrums in the comments on every Heejae stream that focused on control skills, Heejae’s fans would often reply mockingly with, [Siben-nim, please don’t act up here ㅠㅠ].
And I…

‘Haa…’
Up until just two days ago, I was rooting for Siben.
I used to like every one of HaterHyejae’s comments, watched Siben’s painfully boring [N O V E L I G H T] streams without skipping ads, and even turned on notifications. I was so thankful to him just for bashing Shin Heejae without holding back.

“Haa…”
And now I was sympathizing with Shin Heejae.
It was laughable. And yet, before joining the siege, I had frantically memorized Siben’s and his partner healer Yuven’s skill trees.

Maybe that’s why I was so nervous now. The thought that one mistake could ruin everything made my palms sweat as they hovered over the keyboard.
But Shin Heejae, with no awareness of the great resolve I was carrying, addressed his livestream viewers in his usual laid-back tone, with not even a trace of tension.
“Siben-hyung, didn’t you drop twenty million won on the game recently?”

The live chat window exploded in response.
LIVE Chat
● 20 million whoa
● Whoa
● Where’d he get the money??
● Rumor is he sold his house lol
● Is he homeless now?
● Sleeps in the lord’s castle?
● That’s badass whoa
● LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL
● Seeing that castle gate explode, must be true whoa
● Whoa
● Isn’t his Arjuna fully upgraded?
● Server’s #1 King Siben!
● Vic★to★ri★ous★King★Siben!
● A ☆r☆g☆o☆ Victory!
● ★☆Wishing Siben’s Glorious Victory★☆ Vic★to★ri★ous★King★Siben!
● A ☆r☆g☆o☆ Victory!
● ★☆Wishing Siben’s Glorious Victory★☆ Vic★to★ri★ous★King★Siben!
● A ☆r☆g☆o☆ Victory!
● ★☆Wishing Siben’s Glorious Victory★☆

…and on and on it went.
They were all laughing it up like it was a festival.
Then suddenly, Siben—who had been storming through the castle like a wrecking ball—froze in place. As everyone’s attention focused on him, a deafening voice echoed across the server through a high-powered broadcast system.

[Party Chat – Clan Friends Only]
ESiben: lol as if you're any better playing this game on your dead parents’ insurance money lol
Even during a siege, Siben had clearly been watching Heejae’s stream and fired a direct shot at him.

I felt a chill, like all the blood drained from my body, and turned to look at Heejae, who was lounging on the lord’s throne. Wearing a crown and slouched sideways, in that moment… he seemed to harden, like ice.
But that tension disappeared almost instantly. Heejae just laughed like it was no big deal and responded to Siben in that annoying, drawling tone of his.
“Haa… Siben-hyung, your ass must be itching again today…”

“……”
“You really are begging me to f*ck you up, huh?”