He Is That Guy

The new raid dungeon, Trinity.
Trinity is five floors underground, split into a mid-boss sector and a final-boss sector.
You need a magic DPS for the mid-boss and a tank to hold aggro plus melee DPS for the final boss, so you have to mix classes sensibly. Still, on the lowest difficulty—Normal—it isn’t that tight, so Water’s team split should clear it fine.
[Guild] Drink Some Water: even so this looks legit fine
[Guild] Drink Some Water: Loremha was out-of-this-world difficulty lol
[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: Loremha
[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: that was last year right?
[Guild] Haereun: yup
[Guild] Haereun: Abyss First Clear took 48 or 49 hours lol
[Guild] TheHunter: stupid hard
[Guild] TheHunter: only 8 could enter
[Guild] TheHunter: made it even tighter
[Guild] Marinated Crab, Slurp: over there the whole premise
[Guild] Marinated Crab, Slurp: was “clear that with eight ppl” lol
[Guild] DoraHeeImnida: I watched a video
[Guild] DoraHeeImnida: graphics were insane—mechanics flashy and complex..
[Guild] Drink Some Water: Dorahee, Jeo—you two should enhance more and try it later
[Guild] Drink Some Water: honestly I never went back after our First Clear lol ;
[Guild] Mocha Bread: Loremha is really…
[Guild] Mocha Bread: one of those places only “those people” go
[Guild] Monster Born of Capitalism: last year Loremha got roasted for being absurdly overtuned
[Guild] Monster Born of Capitalism: they say Trinity’s a bit easier
[Guild] ManaOing-nam: we’ll see once we’re in
[Guild] ManaOing-nam: but it’s def easier than Loremha oo
Since raids are group content, the fewer the heads and the more one-shot mechanics there are, the harder it gets by nature.
For Trinity, we don’t know the mechanics yet, but the caps are 6 for Normal and 12 for Abyss, so the tuning shouldn’t be that bad.
[Guild] Hunting Madman: Trinity has generous headcount
[Guild] Hunting Madman: we’ll die a bit till we memorize mechs
[Guild] Hunting Madman: but once we know them we can just pump DPS so it’s fine
[Guild] Drink Some Water: yup
[Guild] Drink Some Water: let’s memorize mechs before Abyss opens next week
Mechanics shift and get added by difficulty in every raid. Even so, it’s way faster to adapt in Abyss if you’ve learned the lower-difficulty patterns instead of going in blind.
Ten minutes before gates opened, Yu Chae logged in like he said he would.
[Guild] Drink Some Water: move your asses ——
[Guild] Mocha Bread: thought u weren’t coming ;;
[Guild] Haereun: Water, form parties gogo
[Yu Chae: hyung]
Ignoring guild chat entirely, Yu Chae ran up to me at the dungeon entrance and DM’d.
[Yu Chae: are we playing tomorrow too?]
[Jeo Jolryeoyo: yeah]
[Jeo Jolryeoyo: gotta memorize mechs so probably keep grinding]
[Jeo Jolryeoyo: why]
[Yu Chae: mm]
[Yu Chae: I think I’ll be a little late tomorrow]
[Yu Chae: something came up ;_;]
Something came up?
He’d said before that sometimes he’d be late or couldn’t log in because of “stuff,” but this time it hit different.
Could it be pro-Hiore stuff? If Chae Yu-jeong and Yu Chae are the same person, that’s on the table.
Even if he’s not competing right now, Chae Yu-jeong is still on a team—so there’d be things to do. Team meetings, say…
I kept it casual.
[Jeo Jolryeoyo: how late?]

[Yu Chae: a little?]
[Yu Chae: probably past 7]
[Jeo Jolryeoyo: what keeps you till 7?]
[Yu Chae: I live alone]
[Yu Chae: my family called {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} me home]
[Yu Chae: it’s kinda far so the round trip will take time sob T_T]
‘…What.’
I didn’t expect him to bring up family here.
I thought he’d throw out some other excuse and move on, but the answer was actually plausible—so it threw me off more.
[Jeo Jolryeoyo: got it ;;]
[Jeo Jolryeoyo: if it’s family calling, can’t be helped]
[Yu Chae: lololol]
[Yu Chae: I’ll tell Water separately so don’t worry]
[Yu Chae: I’ll try to come back fast ><]
[Jeo Jolryeoyo: don’t overdo it]
Is that real…? Or is he lying so I won’t doubt him?
If I were certain Chae Yu-jeong and Yu Chae were the same person, finding proof would be easier. Stuck in-between, everything just felt off.
When I’m with Chae Yu-jeong, he seems suspicious; when I’m playing with Yu Chae, he seems suspicious. I was starting to get tired. I’ve never second-guessed someone this much in my life. I’m not getting used to it.
[Party] Drink Some Water: 1 minute
[Party] Drink Some Water: get on Discord if you aren’t already
[Party] Drink Some Water: ready gogo
[Party] Jeo Jolryeoyo: roger
First, raid.
It’s Normal, so it won’t take long, but the point isn’t just clearing—we’re here to learn patterns, so we’ll be repeating this through tomorrow.
 
****
[Drink Some Water: as announced, Abyss meet-up on Saturday at 2]
[Drink Some Water: 2 p.m.]
[Mocha Bread Bread Bread: phew no need to wake up early this time]
[It’s Staeric: three days left]
[Haereun: roster unchanged, right?]
[Haereun: guildmaster in too?]
[Drink Some Water: yup]
[Drink Some Water: I’m doing it this time]
[TheHunter: we need someone]
[TheHunter: to own DPS calcs]
[TheHunter: anyone up?]
[Park Seungcon-ssi: I can hehe]
[Haereun: ?]
[Mocha Bread Bread Bread: ??]
[I’m Lagginggg: YOU can?]
[Park Seungcon-ssi: why so fucking rude ;_;]
[Park Seungcon-ssi: I’m cracked at math]
[Park Seungcon-ssi: give me a problem]
[Haereun: lololol]
[Haereun: 478 times 212?]
[Park Seungcon-ssi: 81534]
[Mocha Bread Bread Bread: ?????]
[Haereun: not even close]
[Park Seungcon-ssi: but it was fast]
[TheHunter: fuckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk]
[Hwa So-un: lmaoooooooooooo]
[ManaOing-nam: he’s insane ffs lololol]
[It’s Staeric: I’ll do it..]
[Drink Some Water: ok..;]
Past 9 p.m., I was still on campus doing a project with classmates. I took a breath, sipped coffee, and checked my phone.
“Senior, are you staying longer?”
“We’re going to head out.”
The juniors I was working with packed up and asked me. I looked up from my phone and smiled.
“I’ve got a long way to go. It’s late—get home safe.”
“Okay, we’ll head out first.”
One junior met my eyes, smiled back, and waved.
When they left, Kim Daeseok—who’d been groaning with his head in his hands—dragged his chair over to me.
“Look at you grinning ear to ear.”
“Why are you picking a fight again?”
“Be honest. You turned down Eun Haeseong’s older-girl intro for another reason, didn’t you?”
How long is he going to milk that summer-break setup. I stared at him, unimpressed, and turned away; he grabbed my arm.
“Thought so. You and Solji are going well, right?”
“Who the hell is Solji…”
“That freshman who just said bye and made intense eye contact! You don’t even know your juniors’ names?”
“What would a freshman see in a returning student? And why are you so into the juniors.”
“Seniors have to look out for juniors. Who else will?”
“We call that being a boomer now.”
Right as I flicked his hand off, my phone buzzed. The caller was Seo Tae-young.
“Boomer? How old do you think I am?!”
I left the indignant Daeseok behind and stepped into the hall to pick up.
—Hello?
“Hey, what’s up? Did you have a good trip?”
—Went great. Is now a good time?
“Yeah. Why?”
Since we’d just met at the wedding, a call from Seo Tae-young meant there was more.
As expected, he hemmed, sounding awkward.
—It’s nothing huge. But Ji-han, I heard you ran into Sensory… ahem, Chae Yu-jeong at the wedding?
“I did. Nothing happened though.”
—I know. He’s been bragging non-stop that he swapped numbers with you.
“……”
What am I supposed to say to that.
—He’s always kind of lit up when your name comes up, so I’m glad you two are getting close… but he looks a little too hyped lately, and that worries me?
“Worried? About what?”
—He must’ve had an interview scheduled recently. One of those interviews just went up and, hm…
He paused, searching for words.
—I think… it’s about you.
“What?”
—He didn’t say any names or handles, obviously, but it just… feels like you. Hard to explain. I’ll send a link—see for yourself.
A light headache bloomed. So… Chae Yu-jeong did an interview and talked about me?
‘What the hell are you doing.’
There’s never a day without an incident. I let out a long sigh.
“Send it. I’ll check and talk to him.”
—Yeah. Work it out between you two. Don’t stress too much. It’s not a lot, honestly, but you should know.
Right—if he hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have found out. I don’t browse game sites and I don’t track what Chae Yu-jeong is up to.
“Got it. Thanks for the heads-up.”
—Alright, I’ll hang up.
As soon as we disconnected, a message came in from him. I tapped the link and a game news site opened with an interview banner front and center.
[ LVS player ‘Sensory’ set to return after a one-year hiatus]
I tapped the banner. At the top of the page was a photo of Chae Yu-jeong in an LVS uniform, mid-interview.
“Heh…”
Scrolling down, I snorted when I hit the end.
Chae Yu-jeong, that little shit.