18. My Buff is a Drug
18. My Buff is a Drug
"When you're raiding, like when we took down that earth golem yesterday, there are times when a ranged dealer is absolutely necessary. Yesterday, Hye-yong somehow managed to fill that gap, but we can't keep asking him — a buffer — to also pull double duty as the ranged dealer. We definitely need to find a new one."
She wasn't wrong.
They really did need a ranged dealer.
A cute girl, preferably.
Hye-yong didn't bother mentioning that he was perfectly capable of handling the ranged dealer role himself.
Being in the same party and raiding together every day was pretty much the perfect setup for getting closer to people.
Recruiting a ranged dealer meant a new relationship, better buff performance, and improved personal safety.
Plus, getting close to a cute girl was just a nice bonus.
'Normally that'd be a pipe dream, but I've got my exclusive buffs going for me.'
Exclusive buffs!
They felt like a cheat code for getting friendly with people.
Who wouldn't like a Blessing Mage who handed out exclusive buffs that perfectly boosted the exact stats they needed?
Honestly, in a situation where you were raiding together every day, Hye-yong figured that whoever joined, it was only a matter of time.
"But how do we even find one? Would anyone even want to join our party...?"
Choi Ah-young jumped right on Seo Ha-yoon's comment.
"That's exactly the problem. A ranged dealer who'd actually be willing to join our party. Where do we even find one? That's why I suggested we all meet up. Do any of you know someone you could bring in?"
The café fell completely silent.
Only the gentle strains of classical music filled the air.
There it was.
Every single person here was a social outcast.
Choi Ah-young had a few acquaintances, sure, but none of them would ever dream of joining a dumpster fire of a party like this one.
The fact that all of her so-called acquaintances had already given her the cold shoulder was precisely why she was sitting here right now.
'To an outsider, our party must look like the textbook definition of pathetic.'
With Hye-yong's abilities and Choi Ah-young's base specs, you could argue they had a bit of power now, but when it came to recruiting, the real deciding factor was "perception."
The party's reputation!
Just look at the visible specs of the current members.
Choi Hye-yong — F
Chae Hwa-ra — F
Seo Ha-yoon — F
Choi Ah-young — D
Even a stray dog passing by would probably laugh at them.
If this were the beginning of the first semester, it might have been understandable.
Back then, everyone started at F.
But to still be like this near the end of the second semester was basically proof that this party was a collection of the absolute bottom of the barrel.
'Sorry, guys. I'm the sinner here. The ultimate sinner.'
The victims of his half-assed character settings!
The reason Seo Ha-yoon and Chae Hwa-ra were still F-rank was probably because their traits and stats had barely seen any growth at all.
It was easy enough to paper over the narrative cracks by just saying "they lacked talent."
Normally, when someone puts in the effort but sees no results, they conclude they just don't have the talent and give up.
But Seo Ha-yoon and Chae Hwa-ra couldn't do that.
Whether they'd gritted their teeth and endured because getting expelled was simply not an option, or whether they'd given up and just drifted through the motions, they were forced to keep hanging on.
In order to participate in the tutorial battle alongside the player character!
These two had genuinely made it this far without a single shred of hope.
'Han Geon-hu was the same, probably, but who gives a shit about him.'
All of this was the setup Hye-yong had written.
Wasn't the whole appeal of a growth story the climb from rock bottom?
So, about five months after enrollment, he'd kicked off the story with this hopeless party as the starting point.
Why did a party this hopeless still exist after five whole months?
Hye-yong had never once bothered to think about what these characters had been doing or how they'd survived during those five months after enrollment. He'd tossed the narrative plausibility out the window and told it to go fuck itself.
And this was the result!
He'd be lying if he said he felt no guilt whatsoever.
'Still, it's a relief that their stats and traits have been developing pretty well lately.'
He couldn't pinpoint the exact correlation, but he suspected it might be because Hye-yong — who was practically the player himself — had arrived, fought the tutorial battle, and actually kicked off the story.
In the game, Seo Ha-yoon, Chae Hwa-ra, and Han Geon-hu were all immediate dead weight, and you could recruit better companions anytime, so players just didn't use them. But if you kept them in your party, they'd level up and gain stats perfectly normally.
Some veteran players even did concept runs with their starting companions all the way to the end.
Though, of course, even those players usually assassinated Han Geon-hu and Choi Hyeong to get rid of them first, then proceeded as a party of four.
'The story was designed so that after the tutorial, you weren't forced to do it — all for the sake of player freedom. I'll progress it later, once I've done everything I can.'
For now, Hye-yong had no desire to leave this facility.
He was really glad he hadn't set the main chapter story to forced progression.
"We're not going to get anyone to join our party through normal recruitment. That means we have to pound the pavement and ask around ourselves... But even if we do, will we find anyone? It feels pretty hopeless."
Choi Ah-young complained of a faint headache.
"Hah. We can't just stop raiding until Geon-hu recovers. And I'd rather not keep only picking F-rank raids... Besides, there's no guarantee he'll be fully recovered in a week, either."
It was that much of a headache-inducing issue.
There was a reason someone like Han Geon-hu had been this party's only ranged dealer.
'I need to secure someone new for good, so that even when Han Geon-hu recovers, he won't be able to come back!'
Full brainpower engaged!
Hye-yong raked through his memory, sorting through every scrap of setting detail he could recall about the characters he had created and added.
'A suitable friend. Isn't there someone suitable...?'
A cute girl who was a ranged dealer and would actually be willing to join this party.
He racked his brains, but no one came to mind.
It was because he'd nuked the party's image into the gutter so thoroughly.
He could think of plenty of people, but none of them seemed likely to join this trainwreck.
Everyone except Chae Hwa-ra — who was diligently forking pieces of cake into her mouth — sank into a long, troubled silence.
"Uhm..."
It was Seo Ha-yoon who broke the quiet.
Ah-yeong and Hye-yong's gazes bored into Ha-yoon.
"G-guys! D-don't stare at me like that! It m-makes me nervous and I stutter even more!"
Seo Ha-yoon turned her head and waved her hands frantically in front of her face.
"Ah, sorry."
"Sorry. Relax, just relax."
Letting out a sigh at Ah-yeong and Hye-yong's apologies, Seo Ha-yoon slowly opened her mouth.
"W-well, there is one person... A friend who's in a similar situation to me. She's an E-rank archer. She said she was going to drop out after this semester, so I didn't mention her before... but if we persuade her well, she might join our party."
"What's her name?"
"Na Hee-yeon."
"Ah, I know of her. I feel like I haven't seen her around lately... Why's she dropping out?"
"She thinks she has absolutely no talent... She says if she stays here any longer, her self-esteem will be completely destroyed. We got close by lamenting our situations together."
Listening to Ah-yeong and Ha-yoon's conversation, Hye-yong gave a mental round of applause.
'That's exactly the kind of recruit we're looking for.'
The name alone confirmed she was female.
Na Hee-yeon wasn't a character Hye-yong had specifically inserted.
Did he really seem like the type of guy who would've bothered to think up a friend character for Seo Ha-yoon back then?
It was just that a lot of the people around him who he'd gotten close to happened to be characters he'd created. The facility was full of people who weren't.
According to Bwitgwitgak, they were spirits that received personalities and bodies as the world was constructed.
Results slotted into the established world-building.
"Can you persuade her?"
"Somehow. If I ask her to just help out until Geon-hu recovers, she'll probably agree. She said she's not dropping out until this semester ends, after all."
Uh-uh. That wasn't how this was going to go.
Hye-yong resolved that he would definitely make Hee-yeon stay in the facility.
'If I observe her for a couple of days, whip up an exclusive buff for her, apply it, and then slowly ramp up its performance while sweet-talking her into not dropping out... wouldn't she at least put it on hold?'
He'd never even seen her face, but his mind was already overflowing with schemes to lure her in.
"Well then, I think we've done all we can here. How about we go grab some lunch together?"
"Ooh! This body desires to taste the pork neck steak from the student cafeteria today!"
Chae Hwa-ra had already demolished three slices of cake and was apparently still hungry.
The four of them ate lunch and then parted ways.
Seo Ha-yoon said she was going to pack up some desserts and go persuade Na Hee-yeon.
If Na Hee-yeon joined, that would make it four girls and one guy in the party.
The fact that he would be the sole guy in that mix was, more than anything, a thrilling prospect.
'Then I guess I'll rest a bit too before heading over to Baek Yun-seo.'
He'd just had that thought and immediately lay down on his bed after lunch.
BWEE-REEK!
'Now who is it.'
[ Bwitgwitgak : Creator! Something terrible has happened! ]
That was not good news at all.
'Jesus, what kind of headache-inducing bullshit is it this time?'
[ Choi Hye-yong : What! What is it! ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : It's an anomaly we never imagined! The Virus micro-dust particles are gathering toward you, Creator! ]
Bwitgwitgak : ( emoji of a blonde female character panicking and fidgeting )
[ Choi Hye-yong : How am I supposed to know what that means if you just say it like that. Explain it so I can actually understand. ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : Well, you see! ]
Bwitgwitgak began their explanation.
[ Bwitgwitgak : I'm keeping my eyes wide open, come rain or shine, to suppress the Virus! Cerberus guarding the gates of hell on a three-shift rotation couldn't guard more diligently than I do! I was guarding diligently today too, and that's when I discovered something strange! ]
That strange thing they'd discovered was residue of the Virus, as fine as micro-dust.
Apparently, Bwitgwitgak was throwing everything they had into suppressing the Virus, but it wasn't a 100% perfect seal.
Occasionally, tiny particles as fine as dust managed to slip through their power and escape.
But because they were too small to affect the world, they'd apparently been left alone.
They weren't enough of a threat to warrant the resources to block them individually anyway.
[ Bwitgwitgak : The Virus micro-dust, which I believed had absolutely no influence, is now gathering toward wherever your presence reaches, Creator! ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : I don't really understand how it's happening either! It seems like some unknowable change occurred when you came here, Creator! ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : Since I can't tell what's going on, the only thing I can say is... please be careful! Take care of yourself! ]
Bwitgwitgak : ( emoji of a blonde female character clasping her hands in earnest prayer )
What the hell was this, a bolt from the blue?
[ Choi Hye-yong : Hey, there's gotta be some kind of guess you can make, right? Give me your take at least. ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : Hmm... Judging by the speed it's gathering, it doesn't look like anything's going to happen right this moment. I'll try to take whatever measures I can anywhere within my reach. ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : If something happens that looks blatantly suspicious, please contact me immediately! ]
'Even if you say "suspicious"...'
If they just said "suspicious," the range was way too broad.
[ Choi Hye-yong : Can you at least tell me how it'll seem suspicious? ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : First, if you witness it, it'll feel like an anomaly, a sense of dissonance, something that shouldn't be there. You'll definitely get that feeling. Because that's the nature of the Virus! ]
Anomaly, sense of dissonance, something that shouldn't be there.
They were all rather chilling words.
[ Bwitgwitgak : I'll dig into it more and contact you again! ]
'If you're gonna block it, at least do a decent job of it.'
Hye-yong let out a sigh.
'Haah, fine. They say they're giving it everything they've got. What can I do.'
He found himself mulling over the words Bwitgwitgak had used.
Anomaly, sense of dissonance, something that shouldn't be there...
Just what kind of bizarre thing was going to come looking for him?
'I better hope it's nothing serious.'
For now, he'd focus on what he needed to do.
He finished his firearms training with Baek Yun-seo and returned to his room.
'I wonder how it went with Seo Ha-yoon. She probably pulled it off, right?'
His next schedule was working out with Ah-yeong at 8.
'Ha, workout time is already creeping up.'
The idea of working out with Choi Ah-young was, in itself, pretty heart-fluttering, but the suffering he'd endured had long since crushed that flutter.
Still, what choice did he have?
'I made up my mind... so I'll see it through. If I don't go, she'll just storm into my room anyway.'
Even if it was tough, if he gritted his teeth and stuck with it, good results would follow.
Knowing that was what allowed Hye-yong's flimsy willpower to keep him from running away.
BWEE-REEK!
His terminal rang.
Had Bwitgwitgak figured something out?
[ Bwitgwitgak : Look around you carefully, Creator. ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : The Seeds of Recognition you planted have temporarily ceased all function. ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : It seems an anomaly caused by the Virus has occurred somewhere near you. ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : The Seeds of Recognition likely won't function again until you resolve it. You have to find it and deal with it somehow. ]
'What?'
Seeing how Bwitgwitgak's usual hyper chat style had turned dead serious, it seemed this was a situation that called for seriousness.
He turned off the screen and looked around.
He was inside Hye-yong's room.
Had the Virus anomaly occurred somewhere in here?
Or maybe a wider range?
BWEE-REEK!
His terminal rang again.
He thought it might be Bwitgwitgak with new information, but it wasn't.
[ Seo Ha-yoon : Guys. ]
It was Seo Ha-yoon messaging in the party chat.
It was probably news about the ranged dealer, but that didn't seem important right now.
[ Seo Ha-yoon : ( Photo ) ]
'A photo?'
He checked what kind of photo it was immediately.
"W-what the."
The uploaded photo showed the area of a person's neck.
It was probably a photo Seo Ha-yoon had taken of her own neck and posted.
But if it were just an ordinary neck photo, Hye-yong wouldn't have had any reason to be shocked.
What shocked Hye-yong was that Seo Ha-yoon's neck clearly bore vivid marks — like someone had forcibly strangled her.