While browsing the guild list, DrinkWater suddenly had a thought and typed in the chat.
[Guild] DrinkWater: Come to think of it—[Guild] DrinkWater: Isn't it tomorrow? The end of the one-week period?
[Guild] Hwasoun: What is?
[Guild] Haeren: Ahhhhh
[Guild] Haeren: You're right lololol It's been a week since Sleepy joined the guild lolol
Six days ago, in the early evening, a new recruit named "SoSleepy" joined the guild—a newbie who immediately drew attention in more ways than one.
He didn't shrink in the face of Yuchae's toxic behavior—if anything, he gave back just as hard, making people naturally curious about him.
[Guild] CaughtACold: Omg if he doesn't leave, that'd be so nice 😭
Aside from that strong first impression, "SoSleepy" turned out to be the kind of player who fit in well with the guild in many ways. Despite being a newbie, he had excellent control and great combat instincts. His personality wasn't bad, either.
He didn't draw excessive boundaries or act overly distant, yet also never came off as pushy or overwhelming. If someone helped him out, he always made sure to say thank you and remembered the favor—later repaying it with even the smallest of gestures.
Honestly, no one would complain if a newbie just sat back and took help. But this guy not only understood what was given to him—he showed results beyond expectations. For veteran players, helping someone like that was a joy.
Because of all that, most of the guild members—including the guild master Yuchae—ended up taking a strong interest in the skilled newcomer.
[Guild] SpicyCrabYum: Where the heck do you find a newbie that amazing lol
[Guild] ParkSeungjin99: For real... makes me actually want to teach him
[Guild] HuntCrazy: During the Blood raid earlier—[Guild] HuntCrazy: The guild leader and the newbie were in the same party[Guild] HuntCrazy: He didn't die once and did great damage
[Guild] Let'sPlayRockPaper: Man, what was I doing at that level?[Guild] Let'sPlayRockPaper: Probably getting wrecked in Fire Drake quests
[Guild] Haeren: He dodged even the guild leader's skills[Guild] Haeren: If he can do that, Blood raid's easy for him lol
[Guild] ParkSeungjin99: Hey DrinkWater[Guild] ParkSeungjin99: Selection matches are next month, right?[Guild] ParkSeungjin99: Gonna register Sleepy as a member?
[Guild] DrinkWater: Hmm…
The Guardian Guild Selection Tournament.
In Xenoris, there are several towns and cities, each with a guardian guild that protects it.
Winning the selection tournament gives a guild the right to protect a city or town, which comes with buffs and management revenue—making it one of the biggest guild events.
The most popular and competitive city is Veritas, located in the center of the map. Because of its central location and huge player traffic, it also offers the most rewards.
Currently, Early Evening is the guardian guild for Veritas. Once the tournament begins, they'll have to fight off all challengers to keep their title and benefits.
[Guild] DrinkWater: I dunno[Guild] DrinkWater: I feel like we at least need confirmation that he's not planning to leave the guild
To participate in the tournament, at least one newly max-leveled player within the last two months must be on the team. That's why Early Evening had started recruiting new members in the first place.
So in that context, a skilled newbie showing up like this felt almost like fate.
[Guild] DrinkWater: Yuchae[Guild] DrinkWater: What do you think?
Anyway, he was the biggest issue. If the guild leader didn't have such a trash personality, SoSleepy probably wouldn't even be thinking about leaving. They could've already submitted the tournament registration by now.
Yuchae replied lazily to DrinkWater's question.
[Guild] Yuchae: Dunno
[Guild] DrinkWater: Are you serious—ㅡㅡ
[Guild] Haeren: What kind of answer is that after treating him so well;;
[Guild] Mochabread: For real[Guild] Mochabread: Didn't you even give him that 2-lux slotted Solis?
[Guild] ParkSeungjin99: That Solux is honestly a legendary-tier item lol
[Guild] ManaOringGuy: Man, why won't someone give me a god-tier item like that for free
[Guild] Yuchae: Stop talking about that weapon to him[Guild] Yuchae: Pretty sure he doesn't know how expensive it is
Yuchae, clearly having warned the guild ahead of time, continued:
[Guild] Yuchae: Also, probably[Guild] Yuchae: He's gonna leave
[Guild] DrinkWater: Thought so, huh?
[Guild] Yuchae: Yeah
[Guild] DrinkWater: Then should we start looking for a new newbie?
[Guild] Yuchae: No—wait[Guild] Yuchae: I have a plan
The guild members fell into a brief silence at that vague command, then started murmuring again.
[Guild] Mochabread: This is giving me weird vibes[Guild] Mochabread: Is it just me? lol;;
[Guild] TakeItFreeLeaveWell: Are we heading for another drama thread on the forums?
[Guild] Haeren: It's been peaceful for a while, huh ^^
[Guild] Hwasoun: I'm staying out of this one…
***
After finishing my part-time job and doing a light workout at the gym, I was on my way home when I got a call from Kim Daeseok.
—"Yoo Ji-han. Why aren't you logging in?"
"I'm out."
—"Ah, working tonight?"
"Yeah."
It wasn't just work—I'd also stayed late to exercise, but I didn't feel like explaining, so I gave a vague answer.
After organizing books at the bookstore and finishing my workout, my shoulders felt heavy. I tilted my head side to side, stretching out my stiff muscles, and asked:
"Anyway, what's up?"
—"Today's the day you said you'd quit the guild, right?"
Ah, right. I'd completely forgotten because I was so caught up running field raids until just yesterday.
"Yeah."
You're joining our guild, right? I already talked to the guild master.
I blinked and hesitated for a moment.
'I do plan to...'
But for some reason, I felt too conflicted to answer right away. When I stayed quiet, Kim Daeseok impatiently pressed me again.
You're not coming?
"No, I am. I'll turn on the game right after I get home and shower, so wait for me."
Okie~
Just then, I arrived in front of my house. After hanging up, I went straight in, showered quickly, and sat in front of my computer.
'Wait.'
Out of habit, I was about to log in to the game, but I changed my mind and went to the Xenoris homepage instead.
I figured it'd be better to leave the guild before logging in. If someone suddenly greeted me in guild chat, it might get complicated.
Thankfully, I could leave the guild right from the homepage. Without hesitation, I went to the guild management page and clicked the [Leave Guild] button next to the guild name "Chojunyeok."
[You have successfully left the guild.]
I stared at the message on screen for a moment, then closed it. This should've happened a while ago. Of course, thinking of how Yuchae had surprisingly looked out for me over the past week left a bit of a sour feeling, but it couldn't be helped.
Besides, the plan had been more or less a success, hadn't it? Seeing that I ended up leaving the guild, Yuchae would probably lose any lingering feelings. We hadn't even known each other that long, anyway.
With that thought, the discomfort I'd felt eased a little. Brushing back my still-damp bangs, I logged into the game.
Since I had gone to bed early after the raid because of work yesterday, I'd logged out right after the boss. As a result, I spawned in the Dark Zone where the Black Dragon appears. My nickname floated alone above my character, with no guild name. The guild chat was greyed out and inactive.
[Soeso: hey hey]
[Soeso: central town gogogo]
[ImSoSleepy: yep]
As I replied to Kim Daeseok's message and headed to Central Town, I realized he was the only one in my friends list. I had never even thought about adding friends because guild chat had been so convenient.
'Not that I would've sent any requests even if I had thought of it.'
I was going to leave anyway—what's the point of befriending members from Chojunyeok guild? It was probably better this way.
With those pointless thoughts swirling in my head, I arrived in Central Town. Kim Daeseok was waiting at the warp point and immediately opened the party window. Standing next to him was the guild master of
[All] Soeso: Party break gogogo
I hadn't expected the guild master to come personally. Still, that meant things could move faster—no complaints. After I joined the party, the
[Party] WoonYoom: Hello~ :)
[Party] ImSoSleepy: Hello
[Party] WoonYoom: I've heard a lot about you from Daeseok~ :)
Since Daeseok called him "hyung" (older brother), I assumed he was a guy, but his chat felt really gentle and polite.
[Party] ImSoSleepy: Is that so
[Party] WoonYoom: Yep! He said your control is amazing
[Party] WoonYoom: And of course, I heard about the guild stuff too
Seems like a really nice guy. Maybe that's why they get along well with Chojunyeok?
WoonYoom's avatar had a cheerful smile, but he carried a massive crimson greatsword on his back. That weapon meant he was probably a Berserker.
'So he's walking around cutting mobs with that sword while smiling like that?'
After a few more casual lines of conversation, WoonYoom cheerfully said:
[Party] WoonYoom: Would you like to join our guild?
[Party] WoonYoom: You're absolutely welcome~ :)
[Party] ImSoSleepy: I'd be grateful, of course
Since Daeseok had already briefed him, the process was even simpler than with Chojunyeok. I typed a few words of greeting in the application message WoonYoom sent and clicked confirm.
[Party] WoonYoom: I already gave the guild members a rough intro
[Party] WoonYoom: So feel free to take it easy!
As soon as that chat message came through, the guild name
[Guild] KyokoKyoko: Hello~
[Guild] Beecher: heyoo~
[Guild] PpoppaBam: Wow, a new member~ ><
[Guild] SeolJihye: Hii .o.
[Guild] Jjanghoon: hey hey
[Guild] ImSoSleepy: Hello
Back to doing this again... Still, everyone seemed nice, so that was a relief.
[Guild] Soeso: This is my friend hehe
[Guild] Soeso: IRL friend~ hehe
[Guild] Beecher: You had friends? lol
[Guild] WoonYoom: Sleepy's a new member and a newbie
[Guild] WoonYoom: Please help them out with quests and raids~ :)
[Guild] Jjanghoon: Got it
I chuckled at WoonYoom's cheerful chat message.
[Whisper] Soeso: how is it?
[Whisper] Soeso: is the vibe okay?
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: yeah
It was actually pretty good. Of course, it didn't have the chaotic energy of Chojunyeok, but that wasn't necessary for a character development game anyway.
[Party] WoonYoom: Sleepy, what level are you right now?
[Party] ImSoSleepy: I'm level 212
[Party] WoonYoom: Whoa, hasn't it been less than a month since you started Xenoris?
[Party] WoonYoom: That's seriously fast ㄷㄷ
[Party] WoonYoom: Then should I help you with the raid quest? :)
[Party] Soeso: let's go, I'm coming too
[Party] ImSoSleepy: thanks!
[Party] ImSoSleepy: I only have the Red Dragon raid left
[Party] WoonYoom: Then let's do Red~
[Party] ImSoSleepy: I'll use my scroll
I opened my inventory and was just about to click to use a teleport scroll—when suddenly, a system notification popped up in the center of my screen.
'Chojunyeok' Guild has declared war on 'OneHeartOneMind' Guild!
A war vote is now in progress. The voting period is 3 days.
[War Vote] Do you agree to proceed with the war?[Agree] [Disagree] [Hold]
"...?"
[Party] WoonYoom: ??
[Party] Soeso: ?
[Guild] Jjanghoon: ?
[Guild] Beecher: What is this?
[Guild] PpoppaBam: ?;;
[Guild] ChickenIsGreat: Huh?? Guild master, are we at war?
[Guild] Beonggeutyi: All of a sudden..?