Something's Really Weird Here
Something's really weird about this place...
Time does not flow at the same speed for everyone.
To some people, a single hour can stretch out like ten.
"...So when exactly does this end?"
"No idea. Apparently it's overtime again today."
"Honestly, we don't even have anything to do."
"Well, what can you do? When they say do it, you do it."
And to other people, two whole weeks can flash by in what feels like a single day.
"......"
And so the clock kept ticking.
Until just one single day remained before the Mock Siege Battle.
Overtime.
Nobody enjoys overtime.
How many people on this entire planet actually like staying late at work? Probably ninety-nine percent of all office workers despise it — and Lee Ji-na (27), an employee at the world's number one company, Nutri Company, absolutely, thoroughly loathed it.
Then give me something to actually do.
There was nothing. Nothing at all. The siege preparation work had been wrapped up ages ago, and the sum total of her duties now consisted of sitting there staring blankly at the screens under the noble banner of "user monitoring."
Occasionally she posted on the official site or compiled update notes, but honestly, that could be outsourced, or handled by any dedicated site team. The tasks assigned to Lee Ji-na of the User Management (not management — spectating) and Development (not development — just brainstorming. Decisions aren't even made on this side) team were vanishingly few.
If it was going to be like this, why had she bothered with a good university? Why had she needed her TOEIC score and that mountain of certifications?
She wanted to complain to someone, but if they found out she earned several times the salary of employees at other big corporations, they'd all just call her a fraud.
And honestly? Fair. She was living a working life so overpaid it bordered on embezzlement.
But it did give her a strange feeling, realizing that every credential she'd ever accumulated had really just been lottery tickets for the grand prize of a "golden-egg company."
"...Sigh."
She glanced around the office.
She had no idea why overtime was even required, because everyone was just goofing off under the excuse of "monitoring users." The Assistant Manager next to her, in particular, had done nothing but watch Lily's stream ever since the controversy over Lily's suspected cheats became a hot topic.
Lily...
The rising star of DeoEn.
With over 200,000 concurrent live viewers, she was now one of a tiny handful of streamers in all of Korea with no real rivals. And that wasn't all — her NewTube channel had already blown past four million subscribers, and every video she uploaded racked up a baseline of three to four million views.
Her skill was exceptional, and she knew things even Nutri's own employees didn't. That jaw-dropping character customization was still a daily topic of conversation — questions about it poured in without end.
How on earth does she make something like that?
All of this had happened in the span of barely two months.
Was something like that even possible?
She'd been following Lily's content regularly since then, but every single time she watched, it felt like she was seeing a brand-new person. How did a newbie's doppelganger turn out to be a World Boss — and how did that newbie solo it? And then that hidden class, the mysterious "?"...
"Assistant Manager."
"Lily! Lily! Lily!"
"...Assistant Manager."
"Oooh~ the way she runs them through with that spear is pure art. Any day now she'll hit level 80 and—"
Tap tap.
"Assistant Manager!"
"Wha— huh?! What? What is it?"
Lee Ji-na looked over the startled man's desk. Once spotless to the point of being empty, it was now wallpapered edge to edge with printed photos of Lily. He'd seemed so indifferent at first — how on earth had it come to this?
"...Since when exactly did you become such a hardcore fan?"
"...No, I mean. I was just watching, and? It's all user monitoring, obviously."
"That's a bit much even for user monitoring, don't you think?"
This had gone beyond monitoring and straight into sasaeng-fan territory. Though, to be fair, it wasn't only the Assistant Manager. Most of the monitors belonging to the user-monitoring team were displaying Lily's stream too.
Lee Ji-na wouldn't call herself a die-hard fan, but even she found the streams genuinely entertaining.
"Anyway, what did you need? For the record, Lily's photos come out of that printer over there. Lamination's a separate step."
"...That's not it. Remember when we asked about the '?' class, and upstairs said it would be revealed with the Great Cataclysm update?"
"I remember. What about it?"
"I was wondering... could the '?' be something angel-related?"
Ever since Lily had obtained her hidden class, she wielded a light so pale it was almost white. And there was something about her movements, the way she handled her weapon, that looked almost sacred. On top of that, Lily had once produced what looked like a pair of angel's wings during her fight against Raizaka.
"Hmm..."
The Assistant Manager, serious for the first time in ages, stroked his chin. Did he actually know something?
"So Lily got an angel class. Well, Lily is an angel, isn't she? 'Lily the Angel.' Actually has a nice ring to it."
"...I'm sorry, what?"
"What? It's not that weird, is it? There's literally an Angel Guild right there, and there are already players who've picked up light-based abilities."
It was true — nothing about it was strange. The Assistant Manager turned back to his monitor, where Lily was squaring off against a boss with her spear in hand.
Something really was different. Something on an entirely different plane from the other players who carried hidden classes.
I should dig into this a little more.
It wasn't as if she had anything better to do.
The Angel Guild.
One of the strongest guilds in all of DeoEn — a gathering of rankers who possessed the guild-exclusive buff known as Light's Grace. In particular, the seven members of the Seven Archangels each maintained a ranking within the top 100, and the territory and influence they commanded towered above every other guild without exception.
Those magnificent Seven Archangels gathered — all of them — once a month for a round-table meeting...
"They're late. Again."
Muttering to herself, Raguel — today's host and the participant in tomorrow's Mock Siege Battle — stepped into the conference hall. These accursed Archangels had not arrived on time even once. Not a single time in history.
She was grumbling furiously as she went to find her seat when, from that corner over there, something stirred.
"Oh hey. Guel's here."
"Sandalphon oppa. Where's everyone else?"
"Raid. They'll be here soon, don't worry your pretty head."
Sandalphon chuckled and flopped back onto the sofa tucked away in the corner, idly spinning a wispy gray cloud through the air. Why was it always like this? Other players and guilds probably imagined the Seven Archangels as these lofty, untouchable, god-tier rankers.
Raguel fell deep into troubled thought, but no answer came easily.
KA-BOOM!!!
The door — a door that had been built to open — went flying, and something came pouring in from outside.
"Yo!! Did you see Lily-nim's stream—"
"Why didn't you talk to Lily-nim?!"
"Everyone's here already, huh? You brats."
"Who're you calling a brat, you old-timer."
The moment they arrived, the noise level doubled. Was it truly impossible for them to walk through a door like normal human beings even one day a month?
"Looks like everyone's gathered."
Michael, the only remotely normal one, reined in the pack of Archangels as they came flooding in. Uriel, dressed in battle gear that looked like she'd just fought a war — perhaps because she had — asked,
"Raphael's mid-stream... what about Metatron?"
"No idea. His wanderlust flared up or something; he won't pick up the phone."
"You're his friend. Call him in real life."
"The lunatic blocked me."
"...Ah."
What a mess.
Raguel shook her head.
"Then let the 27th meeting of the Seven Archangels begin."
"Isn't it the 28th?"
"I thought it was the 26th?"
"You idiots! It's the 29th!"
Why were they fighting over something so utterly pointless? Worse, every single one of them was wrong. Michael glanced at the squabbling group and let out a long sigh.
"It's the 27th."
"Michael oppa. It's the 25th."
"......Then I suppose it's the 25th."
What was with these people?
Raguel resolved herself: today's meeting was going to be an absolute ordeal too.
"...And so, compared to last month, our territory has expanded by seventeen percent. We may now, in name and in fact, call ourselves the strongest guild in DeoEn."
"Insane. That's the Angel Guild for you."
"Whoever set this up — not bad. Not bad at all?"
"......"
They really were experts at polishing their own halos. Not that any of it was untrue.
Though honestly, it is impressive.
Raguel had joined late, promoted to the Seven Archangels only three months ago — and precisely because of that, she could see with clear eyes just how explosively the Angel Guild had grown. The rank-three duelist was the guild's master, and if you set aside freaks of nature like Sword God and Leo, the Angel Guild was quite simply the greatest concentration of combat power on the server.
BANG!
Uriel, who had been basking in self-congratulation, kicked back her chair and shot to her feet. Then she wheeled around toward Raguel.
"Lily!"
"Yes?"
"Have you talked to Lily-nim?!"
"...No?"
They weren't even on the same team — how was she supposed to? Raphael unnie had already been shot down once, after all.
Sandalphon chimed in.
"Right! The ten million won!"
"If she turned down ten million won, I don't know what would work. And she's earning plenty these days — I doubt she'd take money at all."
"Still, doesn't Lily-nim's whole image just fit the Seven Archangels?"
"...That part's true."
"See?"
The Archangels nodded along in agreement. Something about this felt ominous.
Then Uriel clamped both hands down on Raguel's shoulders.
"Our hope! Our Raguel! Go and charm Lily-nim into joining us!"
"...Impossible."
"Nothing is impossible! The Angel Guild always delivers!"
"Then Leo and Sword God should've been beaten ages ago."
"...Fair point."
"Mm... conceded."
"She's got us there."
Why do you keep agreeing with me?! Push back, for once!
Michael nodded gravely.
"It's certainly a difficult proposition. Leo... that girl is a monster."
"Now that you mention it, Michael, didn't you fight her once?"
"I did, Uriel. We crossed spears in a siege battle. She is, without question, strong."
The round table went abruptly silent. Michael in particular shuddered, as if reliving that day.
Wait... did I just trigger someone's PTSD?
Raguel felt a pang of guilt for no reason at all.
"Well then, Raguel. Just do your best out there."
"Right. If you win, there might be a chance."
"Yeah, yeah, exactly."
"......"
Something's really, genuinely weird about this place...