Episode 297: The game is messy
Hong Yeon-hwa heard about a game called
I heard about it so often that it was so much fun, and I wanted to experience it for myself.
So, to change my mood, I headed to a downtown arcade on the weekend.
Even if you participate as an individual, you will be automatically assigned a teammate, but wouldn’t it be better to play a team game with people you know?
At that moment, a second-year senior I had become acquainted with caught my eye, so we formed a team and joined.
Hong Yeon-hwa’s character was a barbarian warrior, and the second-year senior’s character was a magician.
They said that it was something that was far from the player’s own job group, and it really was a melee class.
‘I’ve played all the Barbarians.’
Hong Yeon-hwa’s heart pounded with excitement.
But the excitement didn’t last long,
– Pfft pfft pfft!
Because two black shadows appeared from somewhere and stabbed me with daggers.
Hong Barian turned into a cold corpse in the blink of an eye.
I first went to that place to seek revenge, but the result was the same.
– Pfft pfft!
[Hong Barian 0K/2D/0A]
“Ouch! Again!”
Hong Yeon-hwa trembled with anger.
A second-year senior asked her a question in a casual manner.
“What should we do? Should we go somewhere else?”
“… … .”
The two assassins seem to be more skilled than them and even have a geographical advantage.
Considering these points, it would be reasonable to move to another location and finish the match.
But Hong Yeon-hwa couldn’t admit it.
‘You’re running away? Me?’
In her mind, running away was tantamount to giving up on the game itself.
What’s the point of getting 10 or 20 kills somewhere else?
We’re under those assassins anyway.
So Hong Yeon-hwa decided to try using Ogi.
“I’ll try a little more.”
“okay.”
The second-year senior smiled and nodded.
The outcome was obvious, but it didn’t matter.
She originally came to the arcade to have fun, not to win prizes, and she had a debt to Ruby Tower.
Wasting a few points is nothing.
The barbarian and the wizard found the same place for the third time.
Hong Yeon-hwa advanced through the forest, her nerves becoming even more tense.
‘Come out… … . Come out and see… … . Let’s have a go… … .’
I wonder if her wish came true.
Soon, a rustling noise arose from the opposite side.
And then two knights in thick armor appeared.
One held a greatsword, the other a sword and shield.
‘No, not you.’
Why doesn’t the assassin come out when he was asked to come out, but instead a knight comes out?
I wish they would step aside, but the knights attacked without even noticing my intentions.
Hong Yeon-hwa had no choice.
If you don’t want to die, you have no choice but to fight.
– Boohoo!
The knight who had charged ahead swung his huge greatsword.
Hong Barian narrowly avoided the greatsword attack, but did not counterattack.
Because the swordsman who followed brought a longsword.
Only after dodging until then did Hong Barian bring down his axe.
– Crunch!
However, the longsword knight did not take it lightly and barely managed to block it with his shield.
Knight A, who was about to swing his greatsword at Hong Barian, suddenly distanced himself.
– Pfft!
The next moment, a fireball falls on that spot.
It was a spell cast by a second-year senior.
While the four people were bickering like that,
– Wedge!
Two arrows flew from somewhere along with a bang, and Hongbarian and the knight each took equal hits from them.
Then, a barbarian like himself and an archer appeared.
Hong Yeon-hwa was dumbfounded.
‘No, what is it?’
Two more people are added here?
He clearly came to catch and kill the assassins, but somehow he ended up getting into a fight.
Of course, as before, there was no choice.
Two more knights came swinging with greatswords and longswords, and Hong Yeon-hwa used extreme concentration to dodge them.
– Wedge!
Arrows keep flying.
The opposing barbarians also run towards us to join the melee.
‘This is a mess, really.’
Hong Yeon-hwa let out a sigh in her heart, but swung her sword desperately.
But at that time,
– Pfft pfft!
The archer, who had been shooting from a distance, suddenly fell to the ground.
Two black silhouettes appeared briefly next to it and then disappeared.
Hong Yeon-hwa could immediately tell that the silhouettes were assassins.
‘Yeah, there’s no way they went.’
He was probably hiding somewhere and watching the situation.
And a secluded bowhunter would have been an excellent prey.
‘Wait a minute, then… … ?’
A thought flashed through Hong Yeon-hwa’s mind.
I’m in a very similar situation to that archer—
– Pfft pfft!
The wizard senior has become the assassin duo’s next prey.
Seeing that, Hong Yeon-hwa couldn’t help but let out a rave review.
“No, no matter how much you want to win. Are you really making the game messy?”
Of course, aside from the fact that the medicine was going well, he thought that was the most efficient strategy.
And there was no other way to handle it.
She was busy fighting the two knights in front of her and the barbarian.
– Pfft pfft!
The assassin duo appeared again, thrust their daggers into the barbarian’s body, and disappeared.
Now there are three left in the room.
Hong Yeon-hwa felt like she was in a desperate situation.
“Oh, I don’t know!”
Either way, I’m going to die!
Hong Barian charged forward, shouting.
– Kwaaaaah—!
And he continued to swing his axes without paying attention to the greatswords and longswords that the knights were swinging at him.
– Kwajik, kwajik, kwajik!
As a result, he suffered significant damage, but was able to send the Greatsword Knight to the goal.
[Hongbarian 1K/2D/0A]
And just as I was about to face the longsword and shield knight,
– Pfft pfft!
The assassins showed up again and wiped out the knights.
And without even thinking about hiding, he attacked me, targeting me.
Hong Yeon-hwa mustered up the last of her strength to resist, but Assassin A nonchalantly dodged her axe and struck the finishing blow.
– Crunch!
[Hongbarian 1K/3D/0A]
“Ahh… … !”
Hong Yeon-hwa absentmindedly raised one of her fists.
However, he couldn’t bring himself to throw a fire punch at the arcade machine and just grumbled and suppressed his anger.
The second-year senior asked again.
“Shall we go somewhere else now?”
“I, I… I don’t think this will work.”
Even if I don’t win, I have to catch those deadly guys at least once.
I think that way I’ll feel a little better.
The second-year senior smiled bitterly.
“Anyway, I can’t stop you. Then do it like that.”
Hong Yeon-hwa took a deep breath and made another promise.
‘Let’s just catch it once. Just once.’
As if reading his mind, the savage warrior let out a loud roar.
– Kwaaaaah—!
* * *
[Hongbarian 2K/9D/1A]
“Ugh, uh-uh… … .”
Hong Yeon-hwa was half out of her mind and was rambling.
After dying and dying over and over again, I reached 9 deaths.
Almost 3,000 points evaporated from my seat.
On the other hand, the assassin duo couldn’t even touch him, and all they did was catch and kill one tough guy.
Hong Yeon-hwa bowed her head to her second-year senior.
“sorry…….”
“No, this is all an experience.
The senior smiled kindly and asked again.
“Are you going to continue?”
“No, I’ll stop… … .”
Hong Yeon-hwa had completely lost her fighting spirit.
Since the game would be over soon anyway, there was no point in continuing.
‘Let’s eat something first… … .’
If you fill your stomach, you might feel a little better.
Hong Yeon-hwa, who was walking slowly, suddenly turned her gaze.
And I looked at the screen that appeared on the two-person seat.
On the screen, two assassins were running around nimbly, punching holes in the bodies of their enemies.
‘It’s them!’
The people who had caused him such deep despair were there.
A gray-haired boy and a blonde-haired girl.
Although she somehow thought the back of his head looked familiar, she had no recollection of that impression.
‘Let me see your face.’
Hong Yeon-hwa decided to wait until the game was over.
At best, it was something that happened in a game, so I had no intention of venting my anger, and I was just curious to see what it looked like.
Soon after, the assassin couple finished the match with an overwhelming score and slowly turned around.
Hong Yeon-hwa’s mouth opened slightly as she faced their faces.
‘uh……?’
Because it was Kim Ho and Seo Ye-in.
I thought the back of his head looked familiar, and it turned out that he had dyed his hair.
Kim Ho recognized Hong Yeon-hwa and waved her hand lightly to greet her.
“I knew it.”
“Uh, uh? Uh… … .”
Did you know I was here?
Looking back, there were quite a few things I said without thinking during the game.
If you heard it, you might have guessed it from the voice.
Hong Yeon-hwa rolled her eyes here and there as she chose her words.
“That… … was good.”
“Did we make a little mess?”
“Oh, no, that.”
Hong Yeon-hwa’s complexion turned pale.
I even heard rave reviews!
Kim Ho said with a deep sigh.
“I wanted to win so badly. I was so envious of the prizes that I just… … .”
“No, I, I didn’t mean it that way.”
Hong Yeon-hwa tried to cover it up by panicking, but Kim Ho was not satisfied and scolded the calligrapher.
“Why are you making the game so messy? He’s mad.”
“… … .”
The calligrapher looked at Hong Yeon-hwa with indifferent eyes.
Just that alone made Hong Yeon-hwa feel like her liver was shrinking.
As I got beaten up in every match, the ranking was established.
Then the calligrapher tilted his head and asked.
“… …Are you angry?”
“No? No! I’m not angry! Not even that much!”
Hong Yeon-hwa hurriedly waved her hand.
To be honest, I was pretty angry just a moment ago, but the moment I saw the two of them, my anger quickly subsided.
The calligrapher stared blankly at Hong Yeon-hwa again, then turned to Kim Ho and said a word.
“bread.”
‘bread……?’
What does that mean?
I couldn’t understand it at all because he just threw out one word out of nowhere.
On the other hand, Kim Ho seemed to think for a moment, but he seemed to understand.
And then he looked straight at Hong Yeon-hwa and said.
“Hong Yeon-hwa.”
“Uh, yeah?”
“Go buy some bread.”
“… … ?”
Hong Yeon-hwa was dazed for a moment, then felt a sudden surge of anger.
‘What? You want me to buy bread? Hey!! These guys are treating people like shuttles! I’m Hong Yeon-hwa, the promising Hong Yeon-hwa of Ruby Tower! You go buy the bread! Right now!!’
… … I only had that thought in my mind, but the words that actually came out of my mouth were,
“What kind of bread… …? Where… …?”
Then the calligrapher grabbed Kim Ho’s sleeve and shook his head.
It seems to say that that’s not what he meant.
Kim Ho also knew and told Hong Yeon Hwa.
“I’m joking.”
“ah…….”
“Let’s eat bread together.”
Then he takes out a coupon for a pastry shop and shows it to me.
A coupon that allows you to order a variety of foods in addition to bread, and is good for up to four people.
Given the reputation of this downtown bakery, it’s practically a meal ticket to a top-class restaurant.
Of course, it is a place that requires fierce competition to get, so Hong Yeon-hwa has never been inside to eat there.
The sudden good fortune made her cautious.
“Is that okay… …?”
“As long as you’re okay.”
Judging from Kim Ho and Seo Ye-in’s attitude, it seemed like the suggestion was made with very good intentions.
So Hong Yeon-hwa nodded, hesitating a little.
“……prong.”
