Netkama Punch!!!

Sesam finally hit max level. And I was the first one to congratulate her. We were hunting together, so I was the one who first saw the wing-shaped effect float above her character’s head.

[Clan/Party/Whisper]
CHeejae: Congrats on hitting max level, Sesam noona. O_O!
I even deliberately announced her level-up in clan chat just so everyone could celebrate her. It was a gesture of pure goodwill. I mean, might as well give her a chance to show off, right?
[Clan/Party/Whisper]
PSesam: Yeah.

But Sesam only gave me a lukewarm response and didn’t say anything else. I thought she’d be at least a little happy—it was a level she’d worked damn hard to reach. I figured maybe she was just tired after grinding for so long, so I didn’t push it.
[Clan/Party/Whisper]
CYeou: Wow, that was so fast!
CYeou: Congratulations, haha
CUrara: Congratulations! ^_^
CSesam: Thank you so much! I'm crying!
Turns out, she was just being cold to me again.

Sesam replied to every single clanmate’s congratulatory message and got all chummy with them. But to me—the guy who’d been grinding with her the entire time—she didn’t say a single word before abruptly leaving the party.
[Clan/Party/Whisper]
CHeejae: ??
[Clan/Party/Whisper]
CSesam: Gasp, so much mail… I'm tearing up!

From the looks of it, she’d dashed off to check her mail in town.
[Clan/Party/Whisper]
CYeou: I sent the hat I’d been saving, haha
CSesam: Oh my god, Yeou-nim, thank you......
CSesam: Is it cute?
CYeou: It suits you really well, haha

Wearing the wide-brimmed white hat that Yeou had apparently gifted her, Sesam used the [Dance] emote for (as far as ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) I remember) the first time ever. Then she went off to have a great ol' time laughing and playing around with Yeou.
“This noona seriously has a split personality or what?”
She acted like a totally normal player when hanging out with the clan, so why the hell was she always so cold to me?

Seething with frustration, I sent Sesam a [Party Invite]. But she flat-out rejected it and kept playing with Yeou. I mean, if someone sends you an invite, shouldn't you at least ask why? The way she just outright ignored me made my blood boil.
[Clan/Party/Whisper]
P/Party Invite: Sesam
P/Party Invite: Sesam
P/Party Invite: Sesam
P/Party Invite: Sesam
P/Party Invite: Sesam
P/Party Invite: Sesam
So I used a chat macro to spam party invites endlessly. In the end, Sesam rejoined my party within seconds.

[Clan/Party/Whisper]
PSesam: You crazy bastard
PSesam: Why the hell are you spamming invites like a lunatic
I wanted to snap back, “Then why the hell are you only being a bitch to me?” but held back.
[Clan/Party/Whisper]
PHeejae: Noona, what kind of gifts did you get for hitting max level? O_O
Instead, I asked what she’d received, curious why she was acting so overly sweet to everyone. After a moment of annoyed silence, Sesam actually answered pretty honestly. Guess the invite spam had rattled her enough.

[Clan/Party/Whisper]
PSesam: Whitehat, potion cookies, high-tier cloak box... and, uh, a duck boat?
It wasn’t bad, but frankly, by my standards, those were all cheap-ass items. Watching her get all giddy over gifts that didn’t even break 100–200 million gold was just baffling.
“Noona, you picked the wrong line to stand in…”

Shouldn’t she be buttering up me, the clan master, more than these other losers? Even if all the [Degeuldegeul] scrubs pooled their money together, they’d still be poorer than me. I couldn’t tell if Sesam was just stupid or if she hated me so much that she didn’t even want to try. Then again, if she did hate me, that made her even more stupid.
“If it were me, I’d cozy up to someone I hated, bleed him dry, then dump him. Just saying…”
I mean, whether or not I’d let it happen is a separate matter. Still, why was this noona so blatantly biased? She’s three years older than me, but acting like a toddler.

Then suddenly, while I was still fuming, I got a [Trade Request]. It was from Sesam.
I clicked [Accept], confused. She filled the trade window with a ton of [Potion Cookies]—stuff I wouldn’t eat even if I were dying. Then she packed in a bunch of crafting mats for protective charms and whatnot.
I was just about to type [?], wondering if she was seriously flexing this junk, when—

‘Sesam’ has clicked [Complete Trade].
Clicking [Complete Trade] will finalize the transaction.
She was giving it all to me.
And underneath all that, she’d added [4,233,412,573 gold].

Before I could even process it, I clicked [Complete Trade] and received everything. And then she whispered:
[Clan/Party/Whisper]
PHeejae: ???
PSesam: It's the carry fee for all the help you gave.
PSesam: It’s my entire fortune so don’t bitch about it being too little –_–

And then, without waiting for a reply, she just logged off.
“…….”
I sat there, stunned.

Back when we were in a party, I had nagged her to upgrade her gear by buying some decent items. No matter how skilled you are, in a game like this, gear matters a lot.
I even went as far as begging clanmates for hand-me-downs to get her somewhat equipped. But even that had its limits. Sesam knew that. She always lingered around the auction house after dungeon runs. I never asked what she was doing, but it was obvious—she was window-shopping.
[Clan/Party/Whisper]
PHeejae: Why do you always just look and never buy? Are you broke or something? ㅇ.ㅇ

I’d tease her about it whenever she annoyed me. Once I realized she hated being called poor, I started doing it at least once a day.
Then, when she finally leveled up enough to farm in the gold-generating dungeon, she started running it daily. I figured she was grinding cash to upgrade her gear.
So then…

“What the hell…?”
I never expected her to just hand over all the gold she worked so hard to earn. And I knew that 4.2 billion was about what it’d take her three full weeks of dungeon grinding to amass.
“I didn’t even ask for money… I just…”

I just wanted her to be a little nicer to me, too.
Annoyed, I tried to send it all back. But then a strange sense of spite kicked in. I opened the auction house and searched Spirit Healer gear, sorted by price.
Right at the top was the item Sim Woohyun always cussed about:

[Holy Pendant of the High Elf +9]
Amazing stats, but it was listed for 60 billion.
[Clan/Party/Whisper]
FUrara: F*cking scammer merchant doesn’t haggle at all.
FUrara: Who the hell would buy that? No matter how good the stats are, 60 billion for a pendant??

I remembered what Sim Woohyun had said, but I was already pulling 60 billion out of storage. I don’t even know why. I just… wanted to show that noona who thought 4.2 billion was enough to rattle someone.
“Haa… Why the hell did I actually buy it?”
Regret hit right after the purchase. Still, I sent it to Sesam through mail. And the moment I did, my stomach started twisting and I began sweating. I shut down the game and flopped into bed.

‘Heejae… thank you so much…’
And of course, I ended up taking a nap and dreaming like a damn fool. In the dream, Sesam noona—wearing her white hat and that pendant—was acting all cutesy. I was following her around like a lovesick idiot, tossing gold in the air like confetti.
When I woke up, I knew exactly why I’d had that dumbass dream. I felt like crap. Still, I was dying to know what Sesam would say when she got the pendant.

Noona, when are you logging in?
I couldn’t hold it in. I messaged her, cheeks burning. I’d felt feverish since I woke up, probably coming down with something. But even sick, I waited, clinging to the hope that Sesam noona would log in and reach out.
She’s gonna be so touched, right?

Once again, I was wrong.
She sent the pendant back and got pissed instead. Even when I said it was a max-level gift like the others had sent, she flat-out refused it.
[Clan/Party/Whisper]
PSesam: I said I’m not taking it.
PSesam: You saying this is all I’m worth because I suck?

If I were in better condition, I probably could’ve brushed it off. But I was already feeling like crap, and having her throw shade like that just killed my mood. I used my illness as an excuse and rage-logged.
Giving someone a 60 billion gift… only to get cussed out.
I f*cking did that.

“Goddammit, f*cking embarrassing.”
I was so mortified I kicked my blanket. Sim Woohyun, you piece of shit. You said what? That noona likes me? If I hadn’t listened to your dumbass…
“Haa…”

Face down on the bed, I punched the pillow once more. I closed my eyes as a fever started creeping up fast.
And somehow, I felt even worse after sleeping it off. I hadn’t eaten, but I was puking. The day was turning into complete shit.
‘Today’s just full of bullshit, huh.’

That’s what I thought as I drifted into unconsciousness.
But I was wrong. Today wasn’t just full of bullshit.
Sesam:
Hey, answer me
You sleeping?

Turns out, it was actually the luckiest day of all.
Because if my appendix hadn’t burst, I might’ve seriously fallen for Kim Seyoung’s crap.