The Sad Story of a Duck

Due to the incident that happened today, many users left Deron.

But I could confidently say.

They’re making a mistake right now.

The director even wrote a letter and posted it.

Directly to the users, too.

He admitted his mistakes and said he would fix the wrong parts.

How can I not be moved by this?

He even gave out three limited-time purchase items per month as compensation.

As of today, I withdraw my support for Deron.

Escaping a simple support relationship, Deron and I become one.

An attack on Deron is considered an attack on me.

,Hayeon-ah, what are you working so hard on…?”

,I’m refuting the guys who are attacking me…”

Now that lunchtime is over.

Having some free time, I returned to the classroom and was diligently tapping on my phone screen.

The reason is the keyboard battle happening in the Deron Gallery.

,Attacking Hayeon-i…?”

,To be precise, they’re attacking Deron. If they quit, they should just disappear quietly, but why are they trying to enlighten people who are having fun playing?”

,En-, enlighten…?”

,It was a difficult word for Sohee-ssi, huh? The people who quit Deron first seem to have a kind of elitist mindset. They say they quit Deron early because they’re highly intelligent. But in my opinion, they’re the stupid ones. Deron is a god-tier game, so I can’t understand why they’re quitting.”

,Ah…”

,So… I’m busy right now.”

I think I was planning to go somewhere with Sohee after lunch, but something more important has come up now.

Sohee would understand.

I became the guardian of the Deron Gallery and fought against the assholes.

,Um, Hayeon-ah…”

,Yeah…”

,We were going to stop by the music room for a bit…”

,Shh. Sohee-ya, this is a very important moment.”

,Hayeon-ah…”

Why is she being like this today?

I put my hands on my hips and looked up at Sohee.

Her precious friend is about to lose a pride battle, you know.

Sohee was looking down at me with a somewhat reluctant expression.

But what can’t be done, can’t be done.

I shook my head firmly and said.

,After I finish this.”

,When will it end…”

,Probably…”

I can’t say for sure.

The enemy is constantly increasing even now.

Sohee sighed at my appearance and plopped down in the seat next to me.

I’m sorry, Sohee-ya.

But I have no choice to protect the Deron Gallery.

I said in my heart and silently tapped on my phone.

How long has it been?

The quiet inside of the classroom began to buzz, and someone walked straight towards me.

Tak- Tak- Tak-

Light and cheerful footsteps.

But the breathing coming from above was rough.

,Hek… Hek…”

,Jupiter… No. Ellie?”

,Hayeon… The Deron Gallery is under attack…”

I wondered why she came, but it seemed she was trying to tell me what she had noticed.

It was a fact I already knew, but I nodded.

,Yeah.”

,Wh-, what should we do in this kind of situation…?”

,Do you want to protect the Deron Gallery?”

,… Yeah!”

As expected.

I knew Ellie would answer that way.

I pulled the chair in front of me and placed it next to my desk.

Making a place for Ellie to sit.

Ellie cautiously sat next to me, watching my expression.

,You came at the right time, Ellie. I need your help.”

,M-, my help… Just tell me. I’ll help as much as I can…”

,We need to turn the public opinion of the Deron Gallery around.”

,Turning public opinion around… Could it be…”

,Yes. Ellie, it’s time to use everything I’ve taught you.”

,I see… Yes. There was such a method. If there are many attackers, we just need to create more guardians…”

I knew she would understand right away.

As expected of my disciple.

I looked at Ellie with a proud gaze.

,B-, but… I couldn’t bring many phones to school…!”

,How many did you bring?”

,Three…”

,That’s enough.”

Ellie nodded at my words and began to take out her phones from her pocket.

One, two, three, the total number of phones that came out was three.

Only two apps were installed on all the phones.

,Let’s start…”

,Hoo…”

Ellie and I accessed the Deron Gallery with determined expressions.

I won’t fight alone anymore.

I have a very reliable ally.

,What should we do about the featured posts…?”

,First, it would be good to post neutral opinions and push out all the negative posts.”

,Okay…!”

,Send me the link when you write a post.”

,Got it…!”

,Are you using a VPN?”

,I’m turning it on now…!”

Ellie began to tap on the three phones simultaneously with very familiar skill.

Todododok, todododok. When her small fingers tapped on the phone screen, a new post was invariably uploaded to the Deron Gallery.

The tendencies of the posts that were uploaded were all different.

Ellie was using everything I had taught her.

,Hayeon-ah… Ellie…”

I completely ignored Sohee’s stinging gaze from the side.

We are standing in the middle of a battlefield right now.

It means there’s no room to turn our eyes elsewhere.

Combining Ellie’s and my phones, there are a total of four.

It didn’t take long to push out all the negative posts that were uploaded to the Deron Gallery.

Because we were in such a hurry, there were those who noticed that manipulation had appeared, but that was it.

The time that passed was 5 minutes.

The number of featured posts that Ellie and I uploaded during that time was 10.

The total number of comments written below reached 127.

As a result, the public opinion of the gallery gradually began to change.

That’s it. It’s a success.

I wiped the sweat flowing from my forehead and looked at Ellie.

She was also looking at me as if she was feeling something.

Gaze meets gaze.

,Not bad.”

,You too.”

For some reason, I felt like I had gotten one step closer to Ellie.

***

Afternoon class time, which started after lunchtime.

Since all the urgent fires were put out, it was time to pay attention to Sohee.

But Sohee didn’t turn her head even when I called her.

She seemed to be sulking properly.

,Sohee-ya…”

,….”

,Sohee-ya…”

,…”

What should I do in this situation?

I knew very well.

A small hand reaching out onto the desk.

A soft hand with fair skin carefully covered the back of Sohee’s hand, who was sitting next to me.

Sohee flinched at first, but soon grabbed my hand and gave it strength.

,I’m sorry…”

,…”

,It was urgent… You know that too…”

,Yeah…”

Sohee’s mouth finally opened.

But her gaze was still fixed forward.

I moved my chair closer and leaned my head on Sohee’s shoulder.

I smiled quietly, feeling the faint, familiar scent.

Sohee, who likes skinship with me, likes it when I approach her first like this.

Even if she sulks for a while, she quickly gets over it if I do this.

,Hmm…”

As expected.

Sohee glanced at me and stroked my hair.

The expressionless corners of her mouth slowly rose, and a smile appeared.

It’s a success.

Sohee’s anger has subsided.

,Are you not angry anymore?”

,… I wasn’t angry…”

,I see.”

If Sohee says she wasn’t angry, then she wasn’t angry.

I nodded and burrowed further into Sohee’s arms.

I could feel the gazes of other students around me, but who cares?

It’s just normal skinship between friends.

It might be a bit of a problem that I’m doing this during class, though.

,Hayeon-ah.”

,Yeah?”

,After class…”

,You want to go see the music room?”

,Yeah…”

I nodded at Sohee’s words.

What could be so important in the music room that she wants to go so badly?

But there was no reason not to go if my friend wanted to go.

Time passed quickly, and it was the time when all the afternoon classes were over.

Today was a day without club activities, so everyone was heading home.

Except for Sohee and me.

,Let’s go.”

Sohee said.

Let’s go to the music room.

Sohee and I left the classroom.

As we passed through the hallway and stood in front of the large staircase, I frowned.

Suddenly, I don’t want to go to the music room.

I looked up at Sohee, watching her expression.

,Sohee-ya, can’t we go next time…?”

,No… We decided to go…”

It seems impossible to postpone it to the next time.

I sighed secretly and climbed the stairs with difficulty.

We arrived in front of the music room.

Sohee opened the door to the music room with a familiar gesture.

,Oh…”

I breathed heavily and looked around the inside.

As expected of a large school, the music room was also incredibly spacious.

Drums, guitars, violins, trumpets, pianos, etc.

From instruments that are commonly seen in music rooms to instruments that are usually hard to see, such as flutes, harps, and clarinets.

There was a huge amount of instruments gathered in this music room.

Sohee walked confidently to the center of the classroom.

Then she turned around and gestured to me.

As if telling me to come in quickly.

I stepped inside and thought.

The interior atmosphere was a bit dark, but I could feel a cozy feeling thanks to the subtly lit lighting.

,What did you come here for?”

,I’m just trying to find something for a bit…”

,What are you looking for?”

,… The teacher asked me to run an errand.”

,To you?”

,Yeah.”

I nodded at Sohee’s words and went to sit on a sofa nearby.

It was a luxurious-looking sofa, as if it was prepared for me.

,Hmm…”

Sohee, who had headed to the teacher’s desk in the music room, began to rummage through something inside.

It seems she found something she was asked to get from the teacher.

Then, Sohee moved her steps to the side as if she had remembered something.

,Hayeon-ah.”

,Why?”

,Do you like the sound of the piano?”

,Piano?”

,Yeah.”

I tilted my head at the question.

I don’t particularly dislike it.

But why did she ask this question?

,Do you want to listen for a bit?”

Sohee said that and went to sit in front of the piano.

The sight of a big-breasted beautiful girl slightly brushing her side hair and placing her hand on the piano was truly beautiful.

As I was staring blankly, captivated by the sight, Sohee began to play the piano.

Ting.

Dong.

Ting.

A subtly flowing melody.

While I was thinking it was quite nice to listen to, the phone screen flashed.

,Hot…”

I quickly checked the phone screen.

A new announcement had been posted on Deron’s website.

The melody that was piercing my ears is secondary.

I widened my eyes and began to read the announcement.

The content of the announcement was not much different from what the director had posted.

The Glass Cannon build and the Duck Quack build, which had received a death sentence, were revived.

Of course, the core skills of the builds were slightly nerfed.

The overall damage of [Elemental Cannon] was reduced by 30%, and the maximum number of Duck Quack toys that can be summoned was limited to 120.

It was a nerf I had expected to some extent.

I could easily accept it.

Kwaang-!

At that moment, a rough sound from the piano pierced my ears.

I was startled and raised my head.

Sohee, who was playing the piano, was staring at the piano keys with a distorted expression, as if she didn’t like something.

It seems she slammed the keys hard because there was something wrong.

I swallowed hard and opened my mouth.

,S-, Sohee-ya…?”

,Yeah…”

,Is there something wrong?”

,Wrong… No…”

,I see…”

Then what…

I lowered my head and quickly checked the rest of the announcement.