Dusk (BL Light Novel)

“Didn’t you lose a lot of weight during last year’s health checkup? And now it’s not just the fat; you’re losing muscle too. Look at your hair, all dry and lifeless. (Well, to be fair, that’s because I bleached it a million times and turned it into a mop… / Do you want to talk back?) At this rate, you’re going to end up malnourished.”
The nagging never ended.
This was always the moment I regretted it. Should have taken it easy, should have eaten properly… Then I wouldn’t be getting this earful. And at some point, I even started blaming Gang Jaegyung. If he hadn’t pulled that ridiculous stunt, I could’ve played the game moderately, gone to work out, and had a proper meal.

“I’m really worried about you. You need some kind of routine, or else it’s going to mess up your mental health. You’re not going outside, you’re not getting any sunlight, you’re not even seeing a therapist. Are you really going to keep living like this?”
“I’ll eat well.”
“You say it so easily.”

“Well, at least I’m saying it.”
“Try doing it instead of just saying it.”
And with that, I got two solid smacks on both forearms. Still, she seemed to calm down a bit after venting her frustration.

Seizing the opportunity, I grabbed my sister’s hand and started pressing it gently, as if giving her a massage, while responding with a playful tone.
“I’ll make sure to eat well, just like you said.”
“Oh, you sly little snake. Go and heat up your food already.”

She called me a snake, but she ruffled my hair before heading upstairs. Looked like she’d finally cooled off. Thank god. If things had gone worse, she could’ve completely cut off the internet like last time, so I had to keep my head down as much as possible.
I picked up the black cat plushie that was always lying around in the same spot and grabbed my phone before heading to the living room. My sister had gone up to the second floor, so she was probably getting ready to shower.
I walked to the dining table, picked up the bowl with the lid still on, and brought it to the microwave. I was too lazy to heat up everything, so I decided to just warm up the soup. While the microwave whirred, I set the plushie down on the chair across from me, like it was a dinner guest, and waited until the microwave beeped.

I placed the steaming bowl of soup on the table and started eating. From the moment I began, the only thought in my mind was, “Hurry up and finish so you can go back to gaming.” Yeah, it was a total gaming addict mentality, but I had no appetite, and eating without some kind of distraction was just boring.
I stuffed my mouth with a spoonful of braised potatoes, stir-fried anchovies, bean sprouts, and kimchi, chewing mechanically. The number of side dishes far outweighed the amount of rice, and I felt overwhelmed just looking at it all.
Maybe I should put on a video while eating to pass the time. As I chewed on my food like ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) it was a chore, my phone, which I’d placed on the table, vibrated. I glanced at the screen.

It was a message from Gang Jaegyung.
Guess his stream ended. I reluctantly picked up the phone while still chewing.
[Gang Jaegyung]
What are you doing? 02:14
[Me]
Eating 02:14

[Gang Jaegyung]
At this hour? 02:14
[Me]
Yeah
Didn’t eat earlier 02:15
[Gang Jaegyung]
Why didn’t you eat? 02:15

[Me]
Because you were throwing a fit 02:15
While waiting for Gang Jaegyung’s reply, I kept shoveling food into my mouth.
[Gang Jaegyung]
I threw a fit during the day, so why are you blaming me?
I was calm in the evening. 02:15

[Me]
Sure.
Calmly taking over 45 points. 02:15
[Gang Jaegyung]
You could’ve eaten dinner first, lol 02:15
[Me]
If I had,
We’d have lost the point and gotten a penalty. 02:15

[Gang Jaegyung]
Haha
I deliberately went for it during dinner time. What a shame. 02:15
[Me]
Lol, ridiculous. 02:15
Cheeky bastard. I muttered to myself, still chewing.

[Gang Jaegyung]
If you’re eating this late, when are you planning to sleep? 02:16
[Me]
Eventually. 02:16
[Gang Jaegyung]
I’m prepping to crush you in today’s conquest.
Don’t show up in bad condition. 02:16

Oh, really.
I stuck the spoon in my mouth and typed back with both hands.
[Me]
You? Lol
Crush me? Lol 02:16

[Gang Jaegyung]
Haha
Since you gave me such a good opportunity yesterday, it should be easier.
(Emoji) 02:16
“……?”
What did I give him? A kill?

I sent a question mark in response, but all I got was a cutesy bunny emoji grinning ear to ear. Gang Jaegyung didn’t bother answering my question.
[Gang Jaegyung]
Think about when we should meet up.
The sooner, the better.
Today would be nice too… 02:16
[Me]
No reason to meet. 02:17

[Gang Jaegyung]
You’ll see. 02:17
[Me]
Quit with the third-rate villain lines. 02:17
[Gang Jaegyung]
Lolololololol 02:17

Whatever he found so hilarious, Gang Jaegyung dropped a line of “kekekeke” before going radio silent. Maybe he’d gone to bed. Whatever he was so cocky about, it was getting on my nerves.
I clicked my tongue in annoyance, dropped my phone back on the table, and shoveled in the remaining bites of rice.
Why was he so damn confident? I couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling. Finishing the last bits of the side dishes, I took the empty plates to the sink, still lost in thought. It was probably related to the fact that I didn’t use the medical officer class yesterday, but I couldn’t figure out how.

After rinsing my mouth, I grabbed the plushie and my phone and headed back to my room. Even while brushing my teeth, I kept replaying yesterday’s events, but nothing clicked.
Whatever. It’ll work itself out.
As usual, I sat down at my desk, waiting for my stomach to settle.

***
TIP - Priest’s Commander Skill - Restores the health of all allies within the same field to 100% and generates a shield proportional to the caster’s defense.
Every Friday evening, there is a conquest battle. This content determines the area size controlled by Jeojajok and Viajok factions. Each week, they take turns attacking and defending, and the faction that successfully attacks or defends claims the amount of land proportional to their success, expanding their dominant territory.

And what do they do with the land they acquire? On weekends, resource points appear across the field, allowing the faction with more territory to collect them more abundantly and efficiently. The more resource points a faction gathers, the more influence they gain over the market rates for that week.
This economic system affects every in-game transaction, from equipment enhancement costs, transaction fees, revival healing costs, to teleportation statue fees.
The amount of Amber spent while playing the game far exceeds what players expect. Especially the transaction fees. Between buying doping items and various potions necessary for dungeons and field missions, the Amber spent in a month could easily amount to several tens of dollars in value.

When one faction gains too much dominance and the market rates can no longer be lowered, a buff and penalty system is implemented. However, this doesn’t apply to our server, where the population and power balance between the factions are relatively even. Bottom line: Friday’s conquest battle is one of the most crucial events in Dusk.
The defending side builds walls in advance using resources provided by their faction’s crafting specialists. The durability of these walls depends on the grade of materials used. Behind the walls, the general users and allied forces wait for the attack. Meanwhile, the attacking side has 30 minutes to destroy the “Trace of Sunlight/Moonlight” objects that appear on the field and claim the land.
To put it simply, the defenders protect the objects from behind the walls, and the attackers must break through the walls and destroy the objects. If one side wipes out the other, the winning side claims the land.

This week, it was Viajok’s turn to defend. Starting two weeks ago, we’d been gradually regaining the territory we had lost in previous battles. And if we played our cards right this time, we could finally overcome the slight disadvantage we’d been facing against the Retaking a Class buff and expand Viajok’s territory while lowering the market rates.
This was the crucial one. I repeated that to myself as I carefully organized the party.
Given how critical the conquest battle was, the responsibility of the alliance commander was heavier than ever. Everything, from forming the party to strategizing and issuing orders, fell squarely on my shoulders. Every move I made would determine Viajok’s influence and the market rates for the entire week.

Other crafters also managed attack squads and assisted in issuing orders, but the overall strategy and flow of the battle fell to me, the alliance commander. One wrong move, one delayed order, and we’d end up in an unrecoverable position.
On top of that, once you enter the battlefield, dying even once means you can’t re-enter for the remainder of the time limit. Whether it was the front line or the rear guard, if either side collapsed, the battle was as good as over unless a miracle happened.
There was a lot of pressure, but it was a responsibility I’d been carrying for so long that I didn’t even remember when or how it was first handed to me. It just flowed naturally, and now it was mine.

Having done it for so long, I took pride in it. And because the opponent this time was Gang Jaegyung, I was even more confident. Whatever scheme he was cooking up, I was determined to render it utterly useless.
[Whisper] Long-Haired Zhang >> Honeybread: Commander
A new whisper notification popped up. I was about to switch to another party, but I stopped and glanced over at the message.

[Whisper] Long-Haired Zhang >> Honeybread: I’m sniping their side
[Whisper] Long-Haired Zhang >> Honeybread: Looks like their Commander has switched to the Accuracy Set — the purple effect on his weapon is a giveaway.
[Whisper] Long-Haired Zhang >> Honeybread: Level 2

…Purple effect? Accuracy Set?
Could he really have switched out his engravings?