Chapter 67 : Reach the Ends of the Sky (4)

“Is someone talking about me?”

(Former) Pro Gamer.

(Current) Streamer.

Argon scratched his ear.

After negotiating with his viewers, he’d finally earned a sweet, sweet day off—starting from tomorrow at lunchtime.

He slurped the hot ramen broth, savoring the brief moment of peace.

He’d have to grind hard again starting tomorrow, but for now, he could finally relax.

Still, even on a break, his mind wasn’t completely at ease.

“But… what if—just maybe.”

A single possibility flickered through his mind.

“What if Silver Hair challenges me to a PvP match?”

He had boldly claimed he could hold off all eleven members of the CritZone Clan—and that had spread all over the community.

Thanks to that, Rookie Silver Hair vs Former Pro Argon had become a blazing hot topic online.

If Silver Hair had seen it too, it wouldn’t be strange for her to challenge him.

He recalled rewatching Rydel’s stream.

Silver Hair’s overwhelming talent, her absurd physical reflexes—they wouldn’t leave his mind.

That kind of play, from someone who’d just started VR games?

Even in his specialty game, Leannma, he didn’t see a chance of winning.

How was he supposed to beat a monster who could probably catch bullets with her teeth?

Naturally, he didn’t see any hope in Pixel War either.

“Losing isn’t the issue—if I can’t even land a single hit, then…”

Argon gave a bitter smile.

Maybe it would’ve been fine if he hadn’t been a former pro gamer.

But the title still weighed heavily on his shoulders.

Up until now, he’d maintained his image in front of viewers and other streamers.

But if Silver Hair completely crushed his soul?

He had too much to lose.

Sigh.

Argon let out a long sigh and slurped up the remaining noodles.

“I guess… there’s only one way.”

His eyes gleamed meaningfully.

Nodding to himself, Argon began refining a secret plan.

***

“Here, Seoyeno, have a drink too!”

“Th-thank you……”

Yun Hayeon handed me a can of beer she’d bought from the convenience store.

To celebrate meeting someone she called a benefactor.

I offered to pay, but she firmly waved her hands and insisted on covering it herself.

In the end, what she bought was a few cans of beer and the cheapest bag of peanuts as snacks.

Living in a gosiwon.

Considering her tight financial situation, even that might’ve been a bit of a stretch.

I felt a little bad, but it seemed better to accept her kindness for now.

Leaning against the rooftop railing, I popped open the cold beer can. 

The psshht sound spread into the night air.

“Hehe, cheers to Silver Hair-nim!”

“C-cheers…!”

Yun Hayeon took a big sip of beer and let out a satisfied smile.

Seeing that, I took a sip too.

The bitter, refreshing taste slid down my throat.

“There’s something I was curious about… That demon from the stars, right? The event boss. How did you even think to clear that with a golem?”

She asked with sparkling eyes.

It was about that time during the one-month server event when I’d cleared the boss by controlling an Aegis Golem.

“Haha, well, at first I only meant to use it to open the door, but the golem’s attack power looked insane.”

So many people had taken interest that even Argon had probably rewatched the clip.

“I figured, hey, it lets me control it—might as well try attacking. And it actually worked.”

I brushed it off lightly, but even if I explained in more detail, it would’ve been the same.

“And, and! I found it even more amazing how you won 1.5 billion at the underground gambling den! People were freaking out saying you could hear the sound… Is it true? Could you really hear the roulette wheel?”

Was it the alcohol? 

Yun Hayeon looked excited like a kid. 

A bit different from her usual image.

“How should I put it… It’s like I can sense a pattern or something? I got lucky, sure, but I could kind of hear little sounds, yeah.”

“Whoa… Then could you clean out a real casino too?”

Her eyes went wide, like she was picturing me sweeping up money in a casino.

Hmm… not likely.

I shook my head.

“Nah, real-world casinos… are way more complicated and difficult. That was just a game.”

Deep down, I did wonder—just a tiny bit, what if—but I forced myself to dismiss it.

There was no way to know if that’d actually work in real life.

“After that, I watched Argon’s stream, and he was playing Raid and Master replays… I saw a few times where he watched your plays and was totally amazed.”

Apparently, Yun Hayeon really had been keeping up with Argon’s content—she brought up all kinds of details.

“Your reflexes are crazy… If you’re that good at games, couldn’t you debut as a pro?”

I just smiled and answered what I could.

I didn’t give her the clearest answers, but she still looked satisfied.

She just seemed happy with the moment we were sharing.

And so, chatting casually about games, we emptied our cans of beer.

By the time we were nearly done with our second cans, a light, happy flush had spread across Yun Hayeon’s face.

The tired, shadowed look she usually had was gone. 

Her voice was a little more excited than usual as she said:

“Really… it’s like a dream. Meeting you today, hearing such a beautiful song, and now… that you’ll be singing that same song at a big streamer server concert…”

Her face showed genuine emotion—she was truly moved.

“Thank you so much, Seoyeno.”

At her sincere words, I felt a little embarrassed and lowered my head slightly.

“Don’t mention it. The song was really beautiful.”

“No, it was only possible because it was your voice, Seoyeno. If I—or any other singer—had sung it, it wouldn’t have been as moving.”

Yun Hayeon shook her head and continued speaking.

Her gaze drifted off somewhere into the night sky.

“When I first saw you… with your hair color and everything, I seriously thought an angel had descended. Sitting here drinking beer with you like this… it feels like a midsummer night’s dream that’ll vanish come morning.”

Her voice dropped slightly.

There was a subtle hint of loneliness that hadn’t been there a moment ago.

She looked at me again with a faint smile.

“Seoyeno…”

She paused for a moment.

The night breeze gently tousled our hair.

“I hope you don’t disappear.”

There was something in that sentence that went beyond simple gratitude.

As if she were someone who had once lost something precious.

As if she were looking at a hope she desperately wanted to hold onto.

I didn’t know what kind of past she carried,But at that moment, the emotion in her eyes was unmistakably clear.

A Letter Sent to the Sky.

That song title suddenly came to mind.

For some reason.

She had started nodding off, either from exhaustion or the alcohol, and I just watched her quietly.

***

Time was flowing quickly in the Pixel Wars streamer server.

The scheduled end date was gradually approaching.

It was about the time when preparations for the final large-scale event and the finale concert would stir up excitement.

Yoo Seoyeno and Rydel were enjoying a laid-back server life, slowly exploring content they hadn’t yet tried.

“Hey, Silver Hair.”

CritZone, along with ten other clan members.

Their expressions carried a mix of awkwardness and slight embarrassment since the Red Moon incident.

CritZone hesitantly opened his mouth.

“About last time… I’m really sorry for the sudden ambush.”

Then he suddenly held out a rather hefty-looking pouch of gold.

“Ahem. This is, uh, a token of apology. And also… a sign that we want to get along moving forward…”

Plus, they had heard from the admins that Silver Hair hadn’t reported anything.

She had essentially let them off the hook. 

This was their way of expressing thanks for that.

Yoo Seoyeno just looked at them with her wide golden eyes.

Tilt.

Her small head tilted slightly.

‘Uh… I mean, thanks, but…’

She bowed politely and accepted the pouch of gold.

Inside, she was thinking something quite different.

‘I guess they don’t realize that their penalty is boosting my EXP and gold.’

The “Mark of Betrayal” debuff placed on CritZone’s clan.

The reduced 15% of EXP and gold they were losing was being funneled directly to Yoo Seoyeno as part of a special admin policy.

Probably because she wasn’t streaming, they had no idea she was receiving this benefit.

And it seemed the admins hadn’t bothered to explain it either.

As a result, Yoo Seoyeno was essentially being tributed twice.

Well, there was no reason to tell them.

“Yes. I’ll put it to good use.”

Yoo Seoyeno replied softly, smiling shyly.

It looked like a pure smile of gratitude.

Only then did CritZone’s clan members seem relieved and retreat.

After they were gone, Rydel chuckled.

“Looks like CritZone really got hit hard. He’s straight up offering tribute.”

“Is that so?”

Yoo Seoyeno replied absentmindedly as she gave the pouch a shake.

Meanwhile, not far away, Argon had been watching the situation out of the corner of his eye.

‘Ahem. So CritZone does have some sense, after all.’

It was humiliating, sure, but at least they’d wrapped it up cleanly with an apology.

Handled late, but well enough that there wouldn’t be any bad blood lingering.

Even if he had to swallow his pride, Argon figured they managed a decent resolution.

But then.

Step, step, step.

Silver Hair, who had just been talking to CritZone’s clan members,was now walking toward him.

‘…Huh?’

Argon’s heart dropped.

Why was she coming to him?

‘No way—Is this a PvP challenge?’

An alarm went off in his head.

‘She must’ve seen the Guild Cup community post!’

There was no other reason for Yoo Seoyeno to approach him directly like this.

She was definitely coming over to settle who was stronger.

That ridiculous Ray&Ma gameplay video he’d seen before flashed through his mind like lightning.

That inhuman physicality—catching bullets with her teeth.

He glanced at Yoo Seoyeno’s expression.

Seemingly blank as usual, but her gaze was locked onto him with razor-sharp focus.

She didn’t look like she was just stopping by to say hello.

She was clearly approaching with a specific purpose.

Argon felt cold sweat trickle down his back.

It was an unexpected emergency situation, the kind he’d only feared in theory.

But even that—was something a pro should be prepared for.

Thankfully, he had a plan ready.

“Argon-nim. I have something I’d like to say.”

“Urgh…!”

Argon suddenly clutched his stomach and groaned.

His whole body trembled, and he staggered as if he were about to collapse at any moment.

“A-Are you okay, Argon-nim?”

Yoo Seoyeno looked at him with wide, concerned eyes.

“I-I think the yukhoe I ate yesterday was bad. Ugh…”

Sweat beaded on his forehead as he put on a desperate performance.

“M-My stomach… it hurts so bad… I-I need to get to the restroom… Uuugh!”

As if he had no strength left to even speak, Argon promptly logged out.

He really did look like someone suffering from acute enteritis.

“……”

It all happened so fast.

Yoo Seoyeno stood frozen, staring blankly in the direction Argon had disappeared.

‘I was just going to thank him for helping me get along with Yun Hayeon…’

PvP hadn’t even crossed her mind.

Because Yun Hayeon was a fan of Argon, their conversation had gone smoothly, and she simply came to give him a small gift in appreciation.

In Yoo Seoyeno’s hand was that little present she had intended to give him.

But suddenly, he grabbed his stomach saying he had food poisoning, and logged out.

‘He must really be in pain.’

Meanwhile.

“Yes! I’ll just say I’m unwell until the server shuts down!”

Muttering to himself in the bathroom after actually logging out for the sake of method acting, Argon.

Having successfully evaded a threat that didn’t even exist, he clenched his fist in triumph, convinced that he was truly born to be a tactician.