Bamboo Forest Manager

After having the beef bone soup with Seo Yerin, we were out walking for a while.

Actually, to be entirely honest, I was trying to go home, but Seo Yerin just followed me without saying anything.

At first I thought about just telling her to head home, but that felt like I was kicking her out.

“Do you have anything urgent to do?”

I casually asked if she had other plans. Someone like Seo Yerin would usually have some other plans, right?

She is very popular and has a pleasant disposition too, after all.

“None, I don’t have any plans. It’s usually time for my lectures now.”

But the words she said weighed on my heart, almost making me sick enough to throw up the beef soup I had.

“D-did you skip class on purpose?”

I asked shocked but she just fidgeted with her fingers and said,

“Y-yes, I came here because I heard you were here.”

It wasn’t like I had to worry about Seo Yerin’s grades, but the fact that she skipped a lecture to meet me felt a bit hard for me.

I felt like I would be guilty if I just sent her away now.

‘Is she fidgeting like that to make me feel guilty or something?’

The way she was fiddling with her fingers like a hamster somehow made her seem more pitiful.

In reality, if I just sent her away now, she would be an insane person who skipped her class just to eat a regular meal.

‘Haa, but what is there for me to do with her…’

I thought there would be nothing, but then this one thing caught my eye.

A PC café.

It was a street where many college students living in the studio apartments resided, so naturally there were many places to hang out.

“You said you play LOF, right?”

Recalling what I heard during the last lecture, I mentioned it and Seo Yerin also looked at the PC café and nodded.

“Let’s go.”

So, oddly, I ended up going to a PC café with Seo Yerin.

Looking at the time, it was 4 p.m. now.

Since I was supposed to meet Choi Yiseo at 6 p.m., two hours seemed like the perfect amount of time to play games.

As we entered the café, the gazes of the many guys who were using the computers naturally turned to Seo Yerin.

I couldn’t help but wonder if they were always this good at multitasking, given that they just curse at each other and focus on their games, whenever I walked in before.

‘Is she always going around giving off this vibe?’

I hesitated, feeling a little burdened at the intense gazes she was drawing to us.

“What is it?”

Seo Yerin, the focus of all the attention, asked me.

‘No, it’s not that she’s acting like this doesn’t matter to her.’

She was just used to it.

To stares from people around.

Just by entering the PC café, people started staring at us, whispering about her appearance and evaluations could be heard.

“……”

Honestly, it was the first time I felt bad for her. I understood again why Seo Yerin was active under the pseudonym of Anonymous69.

“I like the corner seats.”

“Ah, me too.”

Seo Yerin immediately responded to my words, so I deliberately gave her the seat next to the wall and sat beside her.

“Woah, look at that face.”

“Go talk to her.”

“Have you lost it? She’s here with her boyfriend.”

“Those types of girls end up being celebrities, right?”

Even as I turned on the PC, the mumbling wouldn’t stop. I could hear all they said which meant that Seo Yerin must have too.

But she acted like nothing was wrong and turned on LOF.

“Woojin, what’s your ID?”

I simply turned my head slightly to her question and took down the headset hanging on the wall and handed it to her.

“Put this on.”

“…But am I not sitting right next to you? Why use the mic?”

“Uh, I always wear one when I play games.”

No.

To be honest, I don’t like wearing headphones that much. But it was better to just put this on now than listen to the talks floating around.

I am not Seo Yerin’s boyfriend, so I have no reason to protect her, nor am I good at fighting just because I work out or have guts.

So, I’ll just ignore it.

With that in mind, when I offered the headset again, she looked at me blankly for a moment and then nodded with a strange smile.

“A gaming expert huh?”

With a bit of humor in her voice.

Although it was a bit odd to be sitting next to each other and talking through the headset mic, we eventually logged into the game.

“ID?”

I responded indifferently to Seo Yerin’s repeated question.

“Legeput.”

“Legeput?”

“It’s an abbreviation for ‘legendary genius supporter’.”

It was originally a professional player’s ID, but I just followed suit and made something similar.

“What about you?”

I sneak a peek at her screen.

The ID of a top laner situated in the Splendid Bronze 4 Tier.

“…Did you win your lane?”

As I mumble, Seo Yerin clenched her fist and nodded, making a gesture as if showing off her biceps.

“I mostly win my lane.”

“Woah.”

I don’t really want to play together anymore.

That’s usually something people say when they blame others, implying that won but the game was lost because of others.

Seeing my expression, Seo Yerin pouted.

“What? I’m telling the truth.”

“Fine, let’s just play.”

Since I’m in Silver and she’s in Bronze, we can queue for ranked games.

We immediately started one.

I chose a so cold grab type character among the supports, one which pulls the opponent right in front.

Seo Yerin’s chosen character was this hairy barbarian, swinging two axes with a bare torso.

‘That doesn’t even suit her.’

Does she know how it looks for her to be playing a character with that face?

Honestly, it was hard to imagine.

Anyway, the game started.

At the 3-minute mark exactly.

-First Blood!

Seo Yerin split the opposing character in half and secured first blood.

“Just trust me.”

Seo Yerin declared confidently.

A smile formed on her lips, the happiest I had seen her for the day.

The game continued from there.

Seo Yerin smoothly sailed through the game, killing her lane opponent five times in the lane battle.

“Yah, all of them are gone, back off.”

The problem started after that.

Even though I clearly briefed her, Seo Yerin stubbornly kept hitting the tower and was eventually killed by the opposing ranged dealer.

A money shower.

The opponent has fortified with items bought with Seo Yerin’s feeding money.

-Opponent: Lol

It was just that one line, but Seo Yerin bit her lip, trying to type something in response.

“Ah.”

Even when she pressed enter, Seo Yerin’s message didn’t appear, and she just let out a slight exclamation.

Wondering what was going on, I checked.

-Due to accumulated reports, the chat has been banned for the next five games.

“You got banned from chat?”

I was shocked as I said it out loud, and Seo Yerin mumbled, shrinking back.

“I-I was just the martyr.”

“You must have really wanted to say something harsh.”

The game ended in defeat just like that.

Seo Yerin, who had dominated the lane, ended up losing because she continued with the 1:5.

“Sigh.”

As she looked at the defeat on screen, Seo Yerin seemed to lose her spirit and slumped back into the chair mumbling.

“Support difference.”

“What the fuck…!”

Wondering whether to yank out the keyboard cable and smack her on the head, or to pull out the monitor cable and smack her on the head at her taunt.

I was about to curse and say something.

But Seo Yerin just blamed me with her words and was grinning, saying it was fun.

“It is my first time playing with a friend.”

“……”

“Ah. It was fun. Real fun.”

“I didn’t find it fun at all.”

“Hehe, sorry. I got too excited playing together and just did this.”

“Haa.”

‘Can’t spit on a smiling face’ is what they say. Seeing Seo Yerin happy and saying she had fun made me think I shouldn’t get too heated about the game.

“You could do it with the others too. You’d be happy if the boys you’re close with asked you to join, right?”

When I said that, Seo Yerin scratched her cheek with a smirk.

“Usually, they just ask me to go eat or drink.”

“You could suggest it then.”

“Then people around me would say that I’m seducing them? There could be more rumors of me dating them.”

“Uh.”

This wasn’t normal paranoia.

The strange emotions displayed on her expression had come from experience.

It could have been that in her high school, or in the first semester that such a thing happened.

I thought I should offer her some comfort, but I didn’t have the words to say it, and we weren’t that close.

“Press ready, let’s play the game.”

With those words, Seo Yerin also smiled and looked back at the screen.

By the time we played about three rounds, we began to sync.

Through an odd duo of top and support, we weren’t doing badly.

Especially from the second game, since Seo Yerin began to follow my lead, we managed to win.

“Yah! They are taking the dragon! Can you come here?”

“I don’t have teleport!”

“Wonderful, you brat. While the enemy top comes over whenever they are bored, you won’t even show your face here!”

“Stop fighting and back off! I’m pushing for the inhibitor!”

But our team got wiped out trying to take on an unnecessary fight; I was the only one left, trying to escape.

“Block them from getting home! I’ll try to end this!”

Suddenly, Seo Yerin, having both Ghost and Flash, started to push the tower.

I wonder if she is insane, but then her axe skills were no joke.

And following my order, she would immediately risk her life to cut off the enemy’s return.

One pulls, another hits, and another cuts off the return, intending to kill.

“Ah.”

I sigh in regret as I see my character turned into nothing.

I managed to stop three, but two eventually made it back.

Just when I thought the game would end with Seo Yerin’s death as well.

-Enemy killed!

-Double Kill!

The sound of victory rang out in my ears.

Surprisingly, Seo Yerin took the heads of the returning enemy.

Achieving the remarkable feat of taking down one with each axe. Seo Yerin then completely destroyed the enemy’s base.

“Uh, uh?”

What appeared on the screen were letters that spelt ‘Victory’.

Seo Yerin and I looked at each other at the same time. The adrenaline which surged in an instant exceeded the lethal dose, and we both took off our headsets and shouted.

“Generalllll!”

“That’s meeee!”

Even if you act like a fool for 54 minutes and 30 seconds in a 55-minute game, being good for just 30 seconds can instantly make you a general.

As I joyfully danced around with General Seo, the General looked pleased, took her shoes off and climbed onto the chair with both hands raised to enjoy this victory.

“General, general! General!”

“Me! It’s me! I am General Seo Yerin! That’s me!”

We were forgetting that we were in a PC café and enjoyed the movement.

“Ah, for real?”

Then a chilly voice came from behind us. It was definitely autumn, so the air was cool and I thought it had to be the air conditioner.

As I slowly turned my head there was this familiar voice.

There stood Choi Yiseo, with one hand on her hip, looking at me, displeased.

Dressed head to toe in her workout attire, no less.

With a feeling of disbelief, I stopped praising the general and checked the time display on the computer.

[6:24]

“……”

I stared at the clock and then sighed as I told Seo Yerin.

“Yerin, that’s why I said we should’ve stopped 20 minutes before.”