Netkama Punch!!!

"You said you were going to change your nickname!"
I shouted, trembling with rage, but Shin Heejae just looked annoyed.

"Why waste 20,000 won when you're broke?"
"You little...!"
"Save it and buy Heejae some chicken."

Heejae answered cheekily and handed me my headset from its place. I didn’t want to take it, but he looked at me with a blank face and said indifferently,
"Even if you change your nickname, everyone will still recognize you."
"That’s…"

He wasn’t wrong. Hardcore players could sniff out who's who even if they switched servers. I’d figured it out by instinct myself more than once, so I had nothing to say.
Heejae, seeing that I couldn’t argue back, grabbed my trembling arm without asking and forced me into the chair before sending a party invite. I glanced between the screen and Heejae before asking,
"Seriously... you're telling me to play again?"

"Yeah. I even leveled it up to max—would be a waste not to."
"..."
You're the only one who'd care. But I didn’t say that—he seemed like he’d throw another fit. So I had no choice but to accept the party invite.

It was my first time playing with someone since I went to a PC bang with friends back in middle school… and I wasn’t excited at all.
Heejae returned all the gear I’d left behind. I started putting it on piece by piece, feeling like a prisoner locking on shackles.
That’s when it happened.

Guild Party Friend Whisper
S‘Yuna’ has logged in.
WYuna: When are you coming??

WYuna: Let’s VC
Yuna—the rich veteran player I sold my staff to—had logged in. And the moment she did, she whispered Heejae asking to voice chat.
I reflexively looked over at Heejae’s face, but even though he clearly saw her message, he was only focused on uploading ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) items into the trade window between us.
"What are you zoning out for? Take the gear."

"Huh? Oh…"
In the end, I got every accessory back too.
While I clicked and slowly equipped everything, a bright shimmer started sparkling around Heejae’s character. It was the effect when someone warps in.

And the person who appeared… was [Yuna].
It had only been a few seconds since she whispered, but apparently she couldn’t even wait that long to find Heejae. She hesitated after seeing me standing close beside him, then sent him another whisper.
Guild Party Friend Whisper

WYuna: Why’s that fucker here??
WYuna: Did you catch him?
Even though it wasn’t intentional, seeing Yuna’s message kind of pissed me off. But I’d already suspected they got chummy over the staff deal, so I tried to ignore it.

Heejae, despite hearing the whisper alerts from Yuna, was now scrolling endlessly through the [Staff] category in the auction house.
‘Why’s he ignoring her?’
I watched him in confusion, then cautiously asked after noticing the auction tab he had open.

"Hey… don’t tell me you’re buying a staff for me?"
"Yup. I’ll get one with zero transaction history this time. Once you receive it, you won’t be able to sell it."
"..."

Watching this clingy, not-cool-at-all bastard’s profile, I started to feel weird. Especially as Yuna’s whispers kept coming—I was starting to wonder what kind of relationship the two of them had.
Yuna… wasn’t she supposed to be some rich old dude? But the way she talked was so bubbly… wait, could this bastard also be gay…? No, fuck! What the hell am I thinking right now...
Guild Party Friend Whisper

WYuna: Turn on VC, Shin Heejae~~!!!
WYuna: -- I’m calling you.
And just like that, Yuna’s tone started getting clingy—exactly the same vibe Heejae used to give me back when he was being a pain in the ass. It made me feel weird.

Then, as soon as her last whisper landed, Heejae’s phone quietly lit up. The screen showed [Yuna] calling. Quick to act, she really had called immediately.
Wait, hold on…
‘They exchanged phone numbers?’

I held my breath as I watched Heejae frown and answer the call.
"What."
He picked up in a blunt tone.

"Why the hell are you ignoring my whispers, you crazy bastard!"
But the voice on the other end was a sharp, high-pitched female voice.
I was stunned to realize Yuna was a woman. Wait, didn’t the deposit info have a man’s name…? Whatever. She was known as a rich old man, so…

While I sat in shock, their conversation continued without a hitch.
"When are you coming? I’ve told you a million times to join VC."
"Not now."

"Why? Just listen even with your mic off."
"No."
"Ugh, are you gonna keep leaving me alone? I even switched servers for you…"

"I never told you to."
"Take responsibility if you seduced me~."
"……"

"You said you’d treat me well if I joined your guild!"
Heejae’s tone and expression stayed completely flat, but Yuna’s voice through the phone was constantly brimming with laughter, no matter what he said. Her words had bite, but she clearly cared about him—a lot.
And as I sat there quietly listening to it all… I started feeling seriously off. The bastard had only ghosted me for two weeks, but just what the hell had he been up to during that time?

"..."
Awkward and uncomfortable, I placed my hands on the keyboard and slowly pressed the arrow keys.
At first, I just circled around Heejae’s character, but as the call dragged on, I drifted farther and farther away. Heejae, while clearly annoyed, didn’t cut her off or anything.

Using their one-sided convo as background noise, I kept tapping the arrow keys until I ended up near the village entrance.
That’s when Heejae finally noticed I was gone. The scrolling noise from his mouse wheel through the auction categories suddenly stopped cold.
Then he turned his head all the way toward me, flipping his phone to rest behind his neck like he didn’t care what Yuna was saying anymore.

"What are you doing?"
"…Huh?"
"Mm? What’d you say?"

Even though I hadn’t done anything wrong, Heejae’s gaze made me feel like I’d pissed him off somehow. So I lowered my voice, looking away nervously.
"I didn’t do anything…"
"Who’s over there?"

"You’re the one picking out a staff, why don’t you care?"
"..."
"Don’t wander off. Come back and look."

His whining pissed me off, but in the end, I slowly walked my character back next to his. We were barely apart, yet he was acting like it was a huge deal—what the hell was wrong with him?
And then something even more ridiculous happened.
"Hey, if not now, I won’t be able to run Behemoth today. Are you coming or not?"

Yuna said, sounding colder than before. Heejae responded with his usual disinterest.
"Find another party."
"...Why can’t you go?"

"Need to put Kim Seyoung in his place."
I blurted out in shock at the sudden mention of my name.
"What? Hey, you—!"

"The netkama? Wait, he’s next to you?"
"..."
Yuna repeated my name in that sharp, chirpy voice.

"Hey! Why’d you bring him back into the guild anyway? Everyone’s talking shit about it."
My heart pounded at her words and what they implied about the current mood inside the guild.
‘The guild members… fuck, they all know…’

Heejae really had brought me back just to humiliate me. My face flushed red with shame.
But the two of them kept talking about me like I wasn’t even there. Especially that crazy bastard—he looked me straight in the eyes while I fumed, yet acted completely unbothered.
He kept nudging my chair with his foot while casually telling Yuna,

"Just go find another party for now."
"What? Hey, Shin Heejae!"
"Busy, gotta hang up."

And with that, Heejae flipped his phone screen-down and dragged my chair closer to his. Then he showed me the staff he’d picked.
[Black Maw Staff of the Behemoth]
I wanted to ask about the call just now, but I kept my mouth shut. I stared at the screen.

The base specs weren’t bad, but it didn’t catch my eye. The staff Yuna was using was way better. Even the gifts are budget versions now.
"Cool. I’ll use it well."
I answered absently, thinking just that. Heejae stared at me and suddenly said,

"But hey, the timing of you selling that staff was seriously fucking lucky."
"Huh?"
"Right after you quit, they released a new dungeon. It drops weapons."

His tone wasn’t sarcastic, so I asked,
"This is from the new dungeon?"
"Yeah."

‘Then… that means it’s too new for any enhanced versions to be on the market?’
I searched the auction house using my character and found the staff Heejae had just given me. Even without any enhancements, it was listed at 40 billion.
I looked at Heejae in shock, but he ignored my reaction and kept explaining.

"From +4 and up, Behemoth gear’s better than Atlika +9."
"Oh…"
"So, let’s build a new +9 set, yeah?"

"Huh?"
"Let’s run the dungeon with ten characters a day. Gotta get another max-level one too."