Episode 58
The petite female director greeted us with a bright smile.
“Hello! You’re Honey Bun and Retake, right? I’m so relieved—and so happy—that the two of you, who are so hot these days, came together. It’s truly a pleasure to meet you. I’m Chae Eunji, the general director.”
Kang Jegyeong and I bent slightly at the waist and shook her hand in turn. She was extremely small compared to us.
“How can both of you be so tall and handsome? This is going to be broadcast live on IGN too. Are you sure it’s okay for your faces to be shown? We don’t plan on doing too many close-ups, but… as I mentioned before, photos of your faces could spread online.”
The director made a fuss as she guided us onto the stage, then asked worriedly. Since it was something I had already agonized over before deciding, I nodded right away, and Kang Jegyeong answered with a smiling gaze that he didn’t mind either.
“It’d be a waste to give up when I’m officially having an IRL showdown with Honey Bun just because my face will be shown, wouldn’t it?”
“Ahahaha! Right, right. Still, it couldn’t have been an easy choice, so thank you very much.”
At Kang Jegyeong’s words, the director laughed heartily and led us to the PCs we would be using during the match. She explained that, facing the electronic display, the seat on the left was for Kang Jegyeong and the one on the right was for me, then first walked over to the computer on the left and had Kang Jegyeong sit down. The Dusk official website was open on the monitor, and she said he just had to log in there and save his ID and password.
With white, slender hands that didn’t look like they belonged to someone who ran around outside, Kang Jegyeong typed in alternating letters and numbers without making a single typo. Every time his fingers moved as if playing the piano, the bones and raised tendons on the backs of his hands popped out. Even so, they weren’t hands that made him look thin.
Since someone else had come earlier and saved their ID, we confirmed which ID was Kang Jegyeong’s, then crossed the center of the stage and arrived at the computer on the right. When it was my turn, I entered my ID on the homepage just like Kang Jegyeong had.
Kang Jegyeong, who had been quietly watching from beside me, tapped my forearm and spoke in a playful tone.
“Your ID is Gonyanyannyang?”
“You just had to read that, huh.”
Looks like he wanted to nitpick my ID, but at least Gonyanyannyang was cute. Unlike his sirforce. At first, I’d thought sirforce was an English word with some meaning. When I mulled it over and realized it was “sir. force, Kang Je-gyeong,” I was dumbfounded.
“It’s definitely read as Gonyanyannyang, right? Try reading your ID out loud.”
“That’s right. Gonya-nya… Ah.”
I was about to read out Gonyanyannyang by following the spelling without thinking, but then I realized Kang Jegyeong’s scheme and shut my mouth. When I sat in the chair and glared at him, Kang Jegyeong laughed loosely and said it was a shame.
I made a tsk sound, tucked in my lips, and struck his thigh with my fist. Since I hit him with my knuckles, it made a light chap sound, but his thigh was so hard that my hand hurt instead.
“Ah, that hurts.”
He said it hurt, but the corners of his mouth kept creeping up. He didn’t even pretend to rub his thigh. I shook out the hand I had used to hit him and stood up.
After bickering and exchanging light punches, we got off the stage and approached the director waiting for us. The director, who had been busily rummaging through a basket placed below the stage, took out something with a cord attached and handed it to us, then explained various things one by one.
“Originally, we were going to run the matches in the order of Divine Knight and Medic, Warrior and Priest, and finally Assassin, but we thought it would be better to move Divine Knight and Medic to the end, so the two of you will be competing last.”
Leaving my recognition aside, she said Retake was a streamer, so they had inevitably pushed us to the end. I didn’t mind, so I was just nodding along when a thought suddenly flashed through my mind, and I abruptly grew serious.
I was faster at adapting to new things, but Kang Jegyeong was faster at learning new things. What that meant was, unlike me, who couldn’t play in the arena myself and had no chance to adapt first, Kang Jegyeong had the opportunity to master the new map and rules while watching other people’s matches.
I’d probably just stupidly stand there with my mouth hanging open, watching the other rankers’ mechanics, and then get destroyed. This put me at a disadvantage…
“And when you first come up onto the stage, you’ll briefly introduce yourselves, and we’ll also have a short interview. Even if I call it an interview, it’s nothing special, so you don’t have to be nervous. We’ll just ask roughly why you chose that class, whether there’s a particular reason you chose your nickname, that sort of thing, and then go straight into preparing for the match. Of course, since it’s being broadcast live, profanity is absolutely! forbidden.”
Because a sense of crisis had hit me and I was thinking about something else, I was letting the director’s words go in one ear and out the other, but the emphasis on profanity being absolutely forbidden snapped me back to attention.
Right. No swearing. While I was silently agreeing, Kang Jegyeong suddenly butted in.
“You heard her, Bun-nim.”
What’s he saying? Does he think I’m some foul-mouthed bastard?
“Is this the time to worry about me? Who was it who got pissed at an NPC and flipped them off again?”
“That’s my finger doing that.”
“Did you plant a wiretap in my room? You’re talking like someone who’s heard me swear out loud before.”
“You’re really good at it.”
Unbelievable…
“Ah… Did you hear me cursing you out?”
“You were swearing up a storm because I’m good at the game.”
“You didn’t hear a single thing.”
“Ahahaha! It seems like the two of you met for the first time today, but you get along really well.”
The director handed us name tags with our nicknames written on them and laughed heartily. I received the name tag and looked at the front; inside the transparent plastic name tag was a beautifully designed piece of paper with the nickname “Honey Bun” printed on it.
“When you enter, don’t wait in line. Just show this and come right in. And… Retake, one of our staff will come get you around the time it ends. You can move with them then and prepare for the signing event. We’ve prepared the paper and pens, so you don’t need to bring anything separately. Just make sure you have your own belongings and follow them.”
While I was looking over the name tag, the topic of the signing event came up. Once Retake’s participation was confirmed, a notice went up saying there would even be a signing event after the event ended, and tickets that already had fierce competition sold like hotcakes. Thanks to Mun Seonhwa, who had whined over KakaoTalk about missing the seat she wanted because her mouse slipped once, I indirectly remembered how intense the ticketing had been.
Come to think of it, after arriving, I only sent Kang Jegyeong a KakaoTalk message. I hadn’t contacted Mun Seonhwa to say I was here. Belatedly remembering that friend of mine, I took out my phone and turned on the screen. Sure enough, I already had KakaoTalk messages, texts, and even three missed calls.
[Mun Seonhwa]
You here? 11:53
Where?
Where? 12:01
It’s way past when you should’ve arrived
Did you meet Retake??
You said you’d tell me
how it went ffs
I’m so damn curious~~~ 12:05
where 12:09
w
h
e
r
e
?
…
Not only the KakaoTalk messages but even my texts were plastered with shorthand asking where I was. I hurriedly tapped the keypad with both hands and sent a reply.
[Me]
I arrived and went to the 13th floor
Met Retake
Was talking so I just saw this 12:27
As soon as I sent the KakaoTalk message, the 1 disappeared. Had he been waiting for me to contact him all this time? Feeling a little sorry, I smoothed down the back of my hair along the grain.
Soon after, a call came in from Mun Seonhwa.
“Uh…”
— “Where are you right now?”
From the surrounding noise mixed in with Mun Seonhwa’s voice as he asked without preamble, I could tell just how many people were outside. At this point, it would be more accurate to say it wasn’t noise heard through Mun Seonhwa’s voice, but Mun Seonhwa’s voice heard through noise.
“I’m inside the arena now to get ready for the match.”
I explained just enough for him to understand and looked around. While I’d been on my phone, it seemed the signing event talk had ended; the director gave me only a slight nod in greeting before running toward the stage.
Kang Jegyeong, who had been standing beside her, smiled prettily when our eyes met. What’s he so happy about, smiling like that all the time? For no reason, I felt embarrassed, so I avoided the eyes I’d been meeting and fiddled with the name tag with the hand not holding my phone.
— “What about Retake? Is he with you?”
“Yeah.”
— “What’s he like? What does he look like? Did you meet him and walk around together? Hurry up and tell me the story, fuck, I’m so damn curious. I’m with Solo right now too, and the two of us are dying of curiosity.”
I just said he was right next to me, so how was I supposed to spill the story? Anyway, if the Solo Mun Seonhwa was talking about was the Soloist from our guild, had he ever said he was coming to the event?
“I’ll tell you that later. Where are you right now?”
Mun Seonhwa muttered something in dissatisfaction, apparently upset he couldn’t hear about Retake, then grumbled that he was at the goods shop on the eleventh floor. Then his voice quickly brightened, and he started chattering, asking if I knew what he had prepared. Whatever he had prepared was none of my business, so I let it go in one ear and focused on the fact that he was at the goods shop.
If it was the goods shop, it would be crowded, but there would be a lot to look at while walking around with Kang Jegyeong, so it didn’t seem bad. With my uncle and Mun Seonhwa there too, he’d probably be less nervous.
I suddenly grabbed Kang Jegyeong’s wrist and pulled. Since I was holding the name tag, I only grabbed him with three fingers, but his wrist was slender enough that I could almost wrap around it.
Kang Jegyeong seemed surprised by my sudden action, his eyes going round, but he obediently let himself be dragged along. If I hadn’t been on the phone, he looked like he would have been making a racket like a chirping sparrow.
“I’ll be there soon. Buy my lunch and wait.”
— “Ah, okay. Anything?”
“Yeah, anything. Oh, buy enough for three.”
— “Three? Not two? Why? Ah, holy shit! Hey, don’t tell me!”
My ears were ringing, so I quickly pressed the end-call button. It seemed like KakaoTalk messages were coming in, but I’d be seeing him anyway, so I ignored them and shoved my phone back into my pocket. Then I opened my mouth to Kang Jegyeong, who was openly wearing a curious expression.