He Is That Guy

I snapped out of it only after watching the Restraint guild members getting swept away by the chain attack.

This wasn’t the time to space out. It was the perfect chance to test the damage output of my enhanced staff.
First, I used a mobility skill to close the distance to the nearest Infighter, then tried my basic combo. Infighters were DPS with decent health and defense—perfect for checking damage output.
I hit the D key to lay down a slowing field, then fired off E-W-Q-R in order. The Infighter’s HP dropped by about a third.

“Yeah, the damage definitely lands harder than before.”
If a standard combo could shave that much off an Infighter’s health, it was decent. With a better weapon and enhancements on top, it finally felt satisfying to fight again.
I was about to chase after the Infighter, who was retreating after failing to manage his HP, when I noticed someone approaching from the enemy side.

It was a female avatar—long black hair tied up in a high ponytail, wearing a sleek one-piece leather suit, half her face covered by a mask. She had short daggers glowing purple in both hands, likely buffed.
“…?”
Then suddenly, her figure vanished from view.

And the next moment, TheHunter—who’d been fighting beside me—had his HP chunked down and died on the spot.
Restraint Guild has gained 10 points!
[Guild] TheHunter: ?

[Guild] TheHunter: Ah fuck
[Guild] TheHunter: I just got killed by Sword Princess;
[Guild] Staeric: She’s at the north gate? You sure?

Sword Princess? So that was her just now? It happened so fast I didn’t catch her name.
Since TheHunter died right next to me, she had to still be nearby. As I spun the camera around with that in mind, I spotted a strange effect flying at me from the right and instantly slammed the dodge key.
Crack—! The hit sound of daggers landed, and the screen turned red. I’d dodged, but apparently not well enough—70% of my health disappeared in a blink, and a Bleed debuff kept draining the rest.

“…Hah, fuck.”
So this was the infamous Assassin ambush. Judging by that insane speed, her gear had to be tuned for mobility.
[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: ㅂㅁ Sword Princess
[Guild] Staeric: Confirmed

[Guild] Yu Chae: Confirmed
[Guild] Haereun: Confirmed
[Guild] MuljomMasyeora: You okay?

[Guild] TheHunter: Should be, Guildmaster’s here
[Guild] Haereun: She hasn’t come this far in yet
[Guild] MuljomMasyeora: Let me know if you get pushed

[Guild] MuljomMasyeora: I’ll send Dorahee
[Guild] Mokappang: As long as Hunter doesn’t die, we win lmao
[Guild] TheHunter: lol stfu
[Guild] TheHunter: I only died 'cause I was startled

[Guild] Sanyang-eMeChinnom: Jolrye dodged just fine, why didn’t you;;
[Guild] Staeric: Even a newbie survived that attack but a veteran didn’t?
[Guild] Staeric: Hm… Not a great lookㅠㅠ

I moved toward the healing field Haereun had laid down, keeping my eyes trained on Sword Princess’s location. She hesitated for a moment when she saw I was still alive, then immediately threw her daggers at me.
One of the Reaper’s non-targeted skills. I dodged the cluster of daggers that stabbed into the ground and checked my health again.
The Bleed debuff was gone, but I was still in rough shape. No idea how much longer I could hold out.

“This is bad.”
Dying wasn’t a huge deal—I’d just respawn at the revive zone—but the problem was that Haereun wasn’t far behind me. If I died without doing anything, our healer would go down in under ten seconds.
[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: Kim Yuchae

I called Yu Chae in guild chat, then used my dodge skill—barely off cooldown—to narrowly evade what looked like another targeted skill from Sword Princess.
Yu Chae saw my message and instantly understood.
[Guild] Yu Chae: Hyung

[Guild] Yu Chae: Where are you?
[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: Five o’clock
Now I just had to hold out until Yu Chae got here… but I’d already used my dodge skill, so that was unlikely.

“Click…”
I clicked my tongue and raised my staff toward Sword Princess as she charged me. Oh well. If I was going to die anyway, might as well get in some damage on the way out…
[All] TheHunter: Sword Princess!!

[All] TheHunter: Aaaaaaah
[All] Sword Princess: ?
[All] Jeo Jolryeoyo: ?

“…What the hell?”
Just as I was preparing for death, TheHunter suddenly stepped in front of me.
He’d only just respawned, and now he’d taken Sword Princess’s hit in my place, losing another 60% of his HP.

[All] Haereun: My eyes…
[All] Haereun: I just saw something cursed;;
[All] Jeo Jolryeoyo: Same;

[All] Sword Princess: Using your guildmate as a meat shield?
[All] Jeo Jolryeoyo: ??
[All] Jeo Jolryeoyo: What are you talking about

[All] Jeo Jolryeoyo: He jumped in on his own, clearly
Yu Chae showed up a moment later, saw TheHunter taking a hit meant for me, and spoke with a look of utter disgust.
[All] Yu Chae: What the hell’s he doing, trying to protect hyung?

[All] Yu Chae: That’s fucking gross..
[All] Haereun: Kinda shocking that even counts as “protecting”
With blood dripping from his Bleed debuff, TheHunter yelled at Sword Princess:

[All] TheHunter: Hi, Sword Princess!
[All] TheHunter: I’m a huge fan!!
[All] Sword Princess: thx

[All] TheHunter: Can I friend you?? Please??
Sword Princess gave a curt thank you but completely ignored the friend request. Instead, she swung her daggers again.
TheHunter, who still hadn’t received a single heal from Haereun, died less than a minute after respawning. Again.

Restraint Guild has gained 10 points!
[Guild] Haereun: Hunter
[Guild] Haereun: Stop trolling alreadyㅡㅡ

[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: You’re a traitor now?
[Guild] TheHunter: Traitor?? Come on;;
[Guild] TheHunter: I was just happy to meet Sword Princessㅜ

[Guild] MuljomMasyeora: Sigh… Staeric,
[Guild] MuljomMasyeora: Please do something
[Guild] Staeric: On my way…

So Staeric was in charge of dealing with Hunter. As I watched Yu Chae—now standing where TheHunter had died—fight Sword Princess, I asked in guild chat:
[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: If the Reaper class is that good
[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: And Staeric’s a top-ranked Reaper too

[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: Why don’t you fangirl over Staeric?
[Guild] TheHunter: Obviously
[Guild] TheHunter: Because Staeric’s a guy

[Guild] Staeric: So you’re discriminating against men?
[Guild] TheHunter: Yup, I am
[Guild] Sanyang-eMeChinnom: so fucking blunt lmaoooo

I’d only just found out that Sword Princess was a female player, but even more shocking was TheHunter’s answer.
Right. Between male users, that was the normal reaction, wasn’t it? With Yu Chae calling me “hyung” and following me around acting all clingy, I’d gotten too used to abnormal behavior.
Luckily, Staeric must’ve been nearby, because he arrived at about the same time as TheHunter’s respawn. As soon as Staeric and TheHunter got there, Yu Chae dodged Sword Princess’s attacks with practiced ease and passed her off to Staeric without hesitation.

[Whisper] Jeo Jolryeoyo: Are you allowed to just hand her off like that?
Unaware that Yu Chae had deliberately redirected the aggro, Sword Princess was now fighting Staeric and TheHunter. I sidled up to Yu Chae and asked quietly. He answered with his usual detached tone.
[Whisper] Yu Chae: What

[Whisper] Yu Chae: If it were just one of them, maybe, but there’s two of them and a healer—she won’t die easily
[Whisper] Jeo Jolryeoyo: Yeah but it’s a bad position. Shouldn’t you be helping?
[Whisper] Yu Chae: The time it takes their guildmaster to kill two people and reach the rest

[Whisper] Yu Chae: Versus the time I take randomly slaughtering everyone else—it’s not even close
Yu Chae activated another damage buff skill, spun his chain blades, and sent a sigh emote.
[Whisper] Yu Chae: If I don’t want to get divorced

[Whisper] Yu Chae: We have to win the prelims ㅜㅡㅜ
[Whisper] Yu Chae: Just gotta kill half more
That last comment made me check the gauge, and I was honestly a little surprised. The prelims had only just started, but our guild’s gauge had already passed the halfway mark.

Considering our opponent was the number two guild, that was insane. It meant Yu Chae had been going around absolutely massacring Restraint guild members.
[Whisper] Yu Chae: Control isn’t everything in a game, you know
Smirking at Sword Princess still trying her hardest against Staeric and TheHunter—unaware she'd been outplayed—Yu Chae dashed off in a blur.

And not long after, the kill log started flooding in.
Twilight Guild has gained 10 points!
Twilight Guild has gained 10 points!
Twilight Guild has gained 10 points!
Twilight Guild has gained 10 points!
“You ridiculous bastard.”

I let out a dry laugh, staring at the nonstop kill feed.
Being this dead serious over some in-game marriage… It was ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) ridiculous. And impressive, in a way.
But…

For some reason, it didn’t annoy me. It was funny—just that. Not irritating, not off-putting. If anything, I was starting to look forward to the wedding I hadn’t cared about before.
Yeah. If he likes me this much, I might as well play along. Yu Chae trailing after me nonstop didn’t feel as annoying anymore.
With the victory gauge rising smoothly, I started casting skills at other Restraint guild members too.

Marriage was supposed to be a two-player game. I couldn’t leave it all to Yu Chae.
I started killing enemies too, fast and hard, right behind him.