Your Newbie (the Veteran) Was Insane!
After roughly taking care of dinner at the restaurant where I worked my part-time job, I stopped by the villa next door on my way home.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Coming~"
Hearing that irritating voice from inside, I readied my attack and counted down in my head.
One… two…
Creeeak!
"Three!"
Whoosh!
The crazy girl who stepped out from behind the door couldn't react in time to the sudden bag toss, and it smacked her square in the face. Convinced it was a perfect clean hit, I tried to run — but before I could even flee, I was caught.
Griiiip.
"Hey, you damn bastard of an older brother."
I was already certain I was dead. Even so, I decided to talk back.
"…I still came to bring you dinner, you know?"
"Yeah, thanks for the dinner. I appreciate it, but…"
Yeon Seoyeon rolled up her sleeves. It was too late to run. I was already a helpless little animal caught in the jaws of a vicious predator.
SMACK!
"Gyaaaaah! My baaack!"
"Who the hell told you to throw food in someone's face!?"
SMACK! SMACK!
"Hey! Stop! My back's gonna split open! I'm dying!!!"
"Yeah, just die already!!!"
"GYAAAAAAAH!"
After about ten minutes of one-sided assault at the hands of the gorilla that happened to be my little sister, I was finally able to have a proper conversation with Yeon Seoyeon.
"Who just throws food in someone's face out of nowhere?"
"When a face that terrifying comes lunging at me, throwing is the only option."
"You're dead. I swear."
"Sorry."
Once inside Yeon Seoyeon's studio, I launched straight into lecture mode.
"Seoyeon, Seoyeon, Seoyeon. Your room is filthy in a way that's just so you."
"If you came here to nag, get out."
"You asked me to bring you salad, so I came. Why are you throwing a fit? If you invited me, you should've seen this coming."
"Oh my god, you're so annoying!? Just leave already!"
This female gorilla, who bore not the slightest resemblance to my elegant and sophisticated self, was — biologically speaking, at least — my little sister. Born a year after me, but since she'd gone straight to college while I'd taken a gap year, we'd ended up in the same class year. The little shit.
She'd asked me to bring her any leftover salad since she was on a diet, so I had personally delivered it. And while I was at it, I figured I might as well throw in some nagging.
She'd never cleaned up after herself since we were kids. I didn't either, but she was on another level.
"Books go here, laptop goes here — and why is a stuffed animal on the floor?"
"Ah, stop, stop! I'll do it myself!!!"
"I'm telling Mom."
"You crazy bastard!!!"
What happened to the cute little Seoyeon who used to toddle after me going oppa, oppa? All that remained was this foul-mouthed menace who called me a crazy bastard. I was far too sad about this.
Anyway, after the chaos died down, we started cleaning the room together. If all I did was nag, I'd be a total asshole — but if I helped out too, maybe I could get away with being just a regular jerk.
We were almost done cleaning when Yeon Seoyeon suddenly tossed a question my way.
"Hey. Yeon Taeyang."
"What."
"You seeing someone these days?"
I answered offhandedly, still wiping the floor with a rag.
"No."
"Then why are you dressed like that?"
"Kim Seunghyeok said the same thing. What, is it weird?"
"Yeah, it's weird as hell. Yeon Taeyang in jeans? Not sweatpants?"
"I wear jeans sometimes, you know."
"You always said jeans were uncomfortable 'cause you've got too much useless muscle."
Useless? That was uncalled for. Do you have any idea how hard I worked for this body?
"I just felt like it."
"Oh-ho, as if you'd ever do that on your own. So? Is she pretty?"
"Way prettier than the likes of you."
"I've never once been called ugly, I'll have you know."
Objectively speaking, she might have had a point. Subjectively, though, she was the ugliest woman on the planet as far as my eyes were concerned.
Well, if we were being truly objective, both Seoyeon and I had inherited nothing but the good genes from our parents. I'd never been called ugly anywhere I'd gone, and Seoyeon was probably in the same boat. Kim Seunghyeok did like to say, every time I pulled some stupid stunt, that he'd never in his life met a guy who wasted a face this good.
Anyway.
Having finally finished wiping the floor, I tossed the rag roughly in the direction of the laundry hamper and headed for the front door.
"I'm leaving. You can handle the rest, right?"
"Yeah, bye."
"This bitch won't even come see her own brother out."
"Mm~ get lost~"
"I'm going. Gone."
"Good luck with your love life~"
She was infuriating right to the very end.
I opened the front door and was about to step outside when Yeon Seoyeon caught me.
"Ah, right. Hey."
"What."
"Two things. First, the meetup date's been set."
"Oh, when?"
"End of next month, after our midterms."
"That's a bit late."
"Jelpang-unnie's been busy lately, and the college guildies are in exam season."
"Yeah, fair enough. What's the other thing?"
"Why haven't you been logging into your main lately?"
"Elysion? I've just been doing dailies and raising an alt."
"An alt? Don't you already have a Boxer and a Spearman?"
"A third alt. I'm raising it while doing some Newdlebak."
At that, the look in Yeon Seoyeon's eyes changed.
"What!? A newbie!? A real newbie!?"
"Yeah. A brand-new, completely fresh newbie. An ultra-adorable newbie who doesn't even know what a return scroll is."
"…Ugh, that's so unfair. Introduce me too."
"Get lost, you bitch."
I slipped out the front door with Yeon Seoyeon shouting my name in outrage behind me. Times like this, she and I really did make a fine pair of siblings.
Back home, I washed up, finished getting ready for school the next day, and opened the capsule to log into Elysion Sermo.
First, thirty minutes on the main to knock out dailies. After that, I'd spend the rest of my time raising the Dual Swordsman. An hour and a half left. If I hunted hard in that window and ran extra sessions on days I didn't have work, I could match Cerial's pace.
Cerial was level 43 now — she'd gained a whole level in a single day. At this rate, she'd hit 100 before I knew it.
"Gotta catch up fast…!"
We'd agreed to level together. I couldn't fall behind.
I blazed through the quest to turn in fifty Typhon's Remnants and the one to turn in ten Poseidon's Droplets, collected every reward, and switched to my alt. Then I headed straight for the Magic Mine, where Cerial was — and that was when I saw it.
"Excuse me, would you like to party up with us?"
Some mannerless newbie-poaching bastard, right there in front of me.
Taking someone else's newbie was a serious breach of manners. The kind of offense that would justify filing a guild war — or just mindlessly PKing the guy, honestly. Even so, if the newbie in question said, I think I'll go with this person now, you just had to let them be taken.
No. Calm down. Nothing was confirmed yet. I could decide how to handle this tanned blond thug of a Boxer based on whatever garbage came out of his mouth next.
"Cerial, if you party with us, we'll take the very best care of you. We'll even give you seventy percent of all the byproducts from the hunt, so…"
Yeah, no. I'd seen enough.
This incarnation of Newdlebak, GoldenSun1234, absolutely could not tolerate a Newtora-re scene — NTR, the tragedy of one's nurtured newbie partying with another player? I was not about to let that vile Newtori criminal — NTL, the predatory act of stealing someone else's nurtured newbie — snatch our Cerial-kun.
Hearing my voice, the tanned blond thug of a Boxer started looking around.
"Uh… me?"
"Yeah. Why are you hitting on someone else's newbie?"
"Someone else's newbie…? Wait, hold on, this is a misunderstanding…"
"Misunderstanding my ass. Die, you bastard."
I drew my dual blades and dropped into stance. And then—
SHING!!!
I swept past the Boxer and carved into him, once, hard.
"Argh!? What the — why is my blood doing that!?"
"What do you think? That's what happens when you get hit by a Dual Swordsman."
"W-wait! Spare me, please!!!"
"Beg for that at the respawn zone, you villain."
"I… I'm a newbie too!!!"
……Huh?
After hearing the whole story and understanding the situation, I slammed my head into the ground in apology.
"I'm so sorry!"
"No… it's fine… haha…."
The situation was simple. The Kedalion's One-Handed Sword that Cerial was currently holding was a weapon no newbie could possibly obtain — the mark of an absolute veteran. And it looked incredibly cool, too. Simple, but striking in a way that was hard to describe.
This… Golden Yangban had seen the appearance of Kedalion's One-Handed Sword, assumed Cerial was a veteran, and wanted to party up with her for an easy hunt. On top of that — something I'd missed because my vision had gone red — there was a sprout icon next to his username, the universal mark of a newbie.
I was the idiot for missing something that basic….
"…For the record, if there's a sprout icon next to a username, that person is a newbie. Cerial has one next to hers too, see?"
"Oh, you're right…."
But that wasn't the important part. The important part was—
"Golden Yangban. So that means… you're a Boxer newbie?"
"Yes…? Uh… yes."
I'd discovered a new newbie. And not just any newbie — a ultra-rare Boxer newbie.
Taeyang was excitedly feeding Golden Yangban all sorts of useful tips. Frankly, the fact that they were both rocking the Golden Sun look made the whole scene a little ridiculous — but that wasn't what mattered right now.
What mattered was—
"If you mix weaving in between your attacks and combos…"
"Ohh… like this!?"
"Yesss~ that's exactly it!"
—that Taeyang looked like he was having an enormous amount of fun. A strange sense of crisis crept over me. A very childish jealousy, the feeling that playing with that person looked like more fun than playing with me. So I poked Taeyang in the shoulder.
"Taeyang, we should start hunting now!"
"Ah… right, of course. Well then, Yangban, hit me up later."
"Yes! Thank you so much for the tips!"
The blond thug bowed to Taeyang, then shouted one last thing at us as he left the map.
"You two! You look great together!"
It was a truly unfortunate and terribly rude thing to say. Looking great together — and with Taeyang, of all people. Taeyang and I didn't match in the slightest. Taeyang was a kind person who had helped someone like me in every way he could, material and otherwise. I was sorry that a comment like that had been directed at him because of me.
But that was that, and this was this. I stepped a little closer to Taeyang and smiled.
"Taeyang?"
"Yes…."
Whether he'd sensed my mood or not, Taeyang had become extremely polite. He'd always been polite, but this was a step beyond.
"Didn't you agree to hunt with me right now?"
"Well, that's true, but…"
"Then you should play with me a little more…!"
Please find playing with me more fun. Please put the promise you made with me first.
It was a slightly selfish thing to say, but Taeyang was an even kinder person than I had imagined. He bowed his head to me and said, "I'm sorry."
In my head, I knew I was being a selfish girl. Even now, my reason was scolding me — Yeonjae, you're the one in the wrong. Teaching a new newbie might simply have been fun for him. He might have just gotten bored of playing with me. And that would have been the most natural thing in the world.
Even so, my feelings had completely paralyzed my reason. I'd received an apology overflowing with Taeyang's consideration, and my mood still hadn't fully recovered.
So I decided to take it out on the excellent stress-relief punching bags scattered all around me.
Today's hunt was going to be very enjoyable. It absolutely would be.
Because if it wasn't, I was going to be in a truly foul mood.