Netkama Punch!!!

“What?”
I was so shocked by those words that I completely forgot my decision not to log in and immediately connected to [Arcadia]. No, I had no choice but to.
‘So that’s what Sim Woohyun meant earlier?’

Welcome to Arcadia, a world full of adventure.
I clenched my teeth and waited impatiently for the loading to finish. Then I entered the clan room...
Clan Whisper – Normal Party

CBakibug: Hi, Clan Master!
CBakibug: ......ㅠㅠ Why aren’t you saying hi back? You hate me after the offline meetup, don’t you?
CSesam: Huh? No, it’s not like that...

CSesam: And why am I the Clan Master;;
CBakibug: Well... ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) Urara said you’re the new Clan Master now... Was that a lie ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
CSesam: Sorry, I have no idea what you’re talking about;;

And just like that, Bakibug greeted me as “Clan Master.” Judging from the atmosphere, it seemed like everyone already knew. And the one who spread the rumor was... almost certainly Sim Woohyun.
‘So the two of them planned this together?’
Dumbfounded, I tried to whisper Shin Heejae to ask what the hell this was about—but then I remembered he was streaming right now. So I decided to message Sim Woohyun first. I was just about to send him a whisper when—

‘Heenyang’ has invited you to join the party.
Accept / Decline
Of course, Heenyang invited me first, like some damn psychic. I had no choice but to accept.

Clan Whisper – Normal Party
PHeenyang: Noona ㅇ.ㅇ
PSesam: Hey
PSesam: Why the hell are you giving up Clan Master?

PSesam: No, wait
PSesam: Why the hell are you giving it to me?
PSesam: When did I ever say I wanted to be Clan Master??

Since things had already gotten this far, I decided I might as well get to the bottom of his intentions. But Shin Heejae stayed silent—maybe because he hadn’t expected me to ask so directly, or maybe because he was still gathering his thoughts.
Except... he was too silent. Just when my patience was running out, his voice came from my phone—it was his stream.
“Guys, something urgent came up. I’ll turn the stream back on tomorrow. Bye.”

Click. The live broadcast ended abruptly.
And right after that, Heenyang messaged me again.
Clan Whisper – Normal Party
PHeenyang: You know ㅇ_ㅇ

PSesam: What?
PHeenyang: You did say I should give you Clan Master ㅇ.ㅇ
PHeenyang: You even tricked me because you were pissed at the clan... Why’re you acting all innocent now ㅇ.ㅇ?

My hands shook as I stared at the screen, speechless.
“That was back then, and now is—fuck! What kind of bastard talks like this to someone he says he likes?!”
Well, okay, he always talked like this. It was only in the past few days that he had been acting unusually tame. I knew that, but I could still feel the heat rising in my face.

Clan Whisper – Normal Party
PSesam: I don’t need it anymore! You should’ve given it to me when I wanted it, fuck
PSesam: Even if you give it now, I’m not taking it middle finger

PHeenyang: People say noona’s heart is like a reed...ㅇ_ㅇ
PSesam: Bullshit, seriously
PSesam: Do you think I’m gonna date you just because you do this??

PHeenyang: You kinda hoped I would, right? haha
Does this bastard not have even a shred of shame? No instinct to hide his obvious, transparent schemes?
“Ha…”

I let out a hollow laugh and typed back.
Clan Whisper – Normal Party
PSesam: I don’t want to get stressed causing drama for no reason

PSesam: I just want to play the game quietly
PHeenyang: You can play quietly as Clan Master
PSesam: You think other people will just stay quiet??

PHeenyang: The others said they’re fine with it
PSesam: ?
PHeenyang: The clan members, ㅇ.ㅇ

I paused, then quickly figured out what he meant.
Of course. Shin Heejae had the strongest influence in the clan, and Sim Woohyun came right after him. If the two of them agreed, who would dare oppose it?
Besides, as I’d seen during the offline meetup, most of the remaining members were lone-wolf players. As long as it didn’t inconvenience them, they’d probably just shrug and say it was fine.

‘Even when Heejae and I were… doing stuff together, no one even looked our way.’
I fanned my flushed face with my hand, but my thoughts stayed cold.
Still, a big clan like [Degeuldegeul] wouldn’t keep things confined to internal chatter. It would definitely end up on the free board or in player gossip...

I really didn’t want people talking about me and Shin Heejae. Unlike when I wanted to get him immortalized on Namuwiki, my feelings had changed.
Clan Whisper – Normal Party
PSesam: Shut up and just stay Clan Master yourself

PHeenyang: But if I give it to you, noona said she’d fall for me right away ㅠ
PSesam: Was that Sim Woohyun? Break off with him
PHeenyang: omg How’d you know?

PSesam: You only have that one friend
PHeenyang: What are you saying haha He’s not a friend, there are levels haha
PHeenyang: The only man I need is noona, though...heh

PSesam: Moron
Right after that, Shin Heejae called me.
I hesitated for a second when I saw his name flash on the screen, but then decided to pick up—if only to curse him out properly. I slid my thumb over the green button.

“Hey, Seyoung.”
As expected, the first thing I heard was his rude, casual tone. But for some reason, hearing that cheerful voice made all the insults I had prepared just vanish from my mind, leaving me blank.
“...What.”

I tried to sound curt, but I found myself fidgeting, plucking at the mouse cord with my thumb. He stayed silent for a moment, as if just listening to my breathing, then suddenly dropped a bomb.
“I’ll be at your place by eight. Wanna go for a drive?”
“Huh?”

“I was gonna make today’s meetup a condition for handing over Clan Master... but...”
“...”
“Seyoung’s too dense, so I had no choice.”

“What the hell…”
“Don’t wanna? If you don’t... hmm, well, think about it again, noona~”
His voice stayed teasing, full of laughter, as if sure I wouldn’t refuse—or didn’t mind even if I did.

But for me, it wasn’t something I could brush off as a joke. I’d thought staying apart meant not seeing each other for at least a week.
And yet...
“...E-eight o’clock?”

“Yeah.”
I was startled by how quickly my mood shot up, like I’d just had coffee.
I jumped to my feet, glancing around for a clock before spotting the one at the bottom of my computer screen. 6:20. Plenty of time to wash up and get ready.

“Three, two, one. Time to argue is over, right? We’re meeting, right?”
His ridiculous tone almost made me cancel on the spot, but I held it in.
“...Fine. Come.”

In the end, I agreed to his drive, my voice barely above a whisper. I knew full well it was practically a date.
Shin Heejae laughed weirdly on the other end. I’d never heard him laugh like that before. But he quickly cleared his throat, regaining composure, and asked:
“Noona, did you eat yet?”

I looked at the lone dumpling on my desk, picked it up, and tossed it into the sink as I answered.
“No. I didn’t.”
“Knew it. I made a reservation. Usually you’d be eating ramen around this time. Breaks my heart.”

He started rambling happily, clearly in a great mood. I frowned and muttered:
“...Are you teasing me?”
He kept giggling as he answered.

“Nope. Noona, let’s eat meat today. Not that garbage place in Cheongdam—somewhere actually good.”
“...”
“Wear something pretty and wait, okay?”

“Bullsh—”
Before I could swear more, he hung up. Despite how one-sided the conversation had been, I didn’t feel as annoyed as usual.
Although… one new problem had popped up.

“...Something pretty?”
Because all the clothes on my hanger were either dark navy or black.