Deron

The rank reset ticket item given after the rollback patch led many wizards to the glass cannon and duck bomb builds.

There was an overall damage adjustment to both builds, but their performance was still overwhelming.

Was that why?

Friday night, two weeks after tonight’s raid started.

Finally, a raid first clear (퍼클) party was born.

Of course, it wasn’t my SquishyStickyAttackParty.

Some raid parties upload everything that shows the party’s progress on the log site to boast about their clear records.

The first clear party that was born this time also registered their progress on the log site to boast about their clear time.

I checked the dealer’s job distribution while checking the first clear party’s logs.

A total of 40 people.

Among them, 34 were wizard dealers, and those wizards were using the glass cannon build and the duck bomb build.

It was a situation I had expected when SnowMage’s build was revived with the rollback patch, but I was a little taken aback when it actually came to reality like this.

Raid first clear achievement.

Is it okay to take it like this?

Our party, SquishyStickyCow, wasn’t a hardcore party aiming for first clear, so it just ended with being simply disappointed, but the sense of loss that hardcore 레게 (rege) users who play only for raids would feel would be immense.

I was investigating the public opinion of various community sites.

I felt someone approaching from afar, and then they quickly came up to me.

A long, drawn-out shadow.

When I looked up, there was a wizard wearing a red robe.

It’s Helena.

,Yeona.’

,Ah, Helena.’

Did she handle things properly in reality?

I tilted my head and gestured to Helena.

She came and sat next to me at my gesture.

When you go near an extreme fire-type wizard, you can feel a warm warmth.

Helena is the same.

I felt warmth and coziness and leaned my head on Helena’s shoulder.

,What happened today? Your expression wasn’t good in the music room.’

,That’s…’

It’s a question I’ve already asked several times at school.

But Helena didn’t answer.

Was it a difficult question for her to answer me?

I closed my eyes and said.

,It was a difficult question to answer… I won’t ask anymore.’

Current time is 6 p.m.

There was a little time left until the raid started, but it was an ambiguous time to leave for farming somewhere.

This is the problem with high school life.

I sighed deeply.

,Ehyu…’

Should I just choose to drop out and prepare for the high school equivalency exam?

Looking back on my test scores, it seemed like a pretty good choice.

So let’s ask.

To my best friend.

,Helena. No, Sohee-ya.’

,Ah, uh?’

,Should I drop out?’

,What… what? Why?’

Helena was surprised by my question and asked back.

Was this question so surprising?

I told her calmly what I had been thinking.

,That’s… I think it’s a waste of time.’

,Time is… a waste…?’

,Yeah, look at it now. I came home from school and turned on Deron, and it’s 5 or 6 o’clock. The raid starts at 7 o’clock, so when am I supposed to farm?’

,That’s…’

,It’s such a waste of time. If I didn’t go to school, I could earn gold or increase my character’s stats at that time, right?’

,Ha-yeon-ah…’

,Of course, I’m not just trying to drop out. I’m good at studying, right? So I’ll pass high school with the high school equivalency exam and go straight to college…’

Helena listened to my words and wiped her face.

It seems like she has something frustrating, but she doesn’t say it.

I looked up at Helena and continued.

,How is it? I think this is a way to save time.’

,It’ll be hard to get into a good college if you don’t get good grades in high school…’

I’ll think about that when the time comes.

I’m cute and pretty.

Plus, I’m good at games and studying, so I can do anything.

Right now, I needed more time to play Deron.

,Hey Yeona… do you want to play more Deron?’

,Yeah.’

,Really just because of that reason?’

,Yeah.’

,Then…’

Helena sighed at my answer and slowly opened her mouth.

,The club… so our club is the VR game club, right? Right?’

,Yeah. That’s right.’

,Then let’s enter a big competition in the VR game this time. I heard that you don’t have to take classes during the competition preparation period in other places.’

,Really?’

,Yeah.’

I nodded at Helena’s words.

It’s a pretty good idea.

I have outstanding talent that is different from others.

Even if I practice the game I’m going to compete in for an hour and invest the rest of the time in Deron, I’ll be able to get pretty good results.

,Nice…! Are you sure about that?’

,I heard it personally from the teacher. I’m sure. So don’t say you’re going to drop out… I want to go to school with Yeon-i.’

I continued to have light conversations with Helena after that.

As time passed, the raid gathering time approached.

,Shall we get up now?’

,Yeah.’

Helena and I got up from our seats, holding each other’s hands as if we had agreed to it.

The height difference was considerable, so if other people saw us, they would have thought we were sisters.

I sometimes think.

What if I had a sister like Helena instead of an older brother named Hwarang?

***

Monday, 7 a.m.

I left the house, dragging my limp body.

I raided with my party members until 2 a.m., but I couldn’t catch the last boss, Lunaris.

The reason why the raid took longer than usual was because all the party members wanted it.

Deron’s weekly content is all reset at 6 a.m. on Monday.

That means today was the last day of the raid.

As it was the last day, everyone worked hard, but Lunaris didn’t give us a chance to clear it.

It’s really disappointing.

I yawned as I recalled the memories of dawn.

I entered the school building in a daze and headed to the classroom.

As I passed through the long corridor and entered the classroom, a warm scent and a warm breeze wrapped around my body.

I’m already tired, but the warm breeze is making me sleepy.

I hurried to my seat and slumped on my desk.

,Hi Sohee-ya…’

,You’re not late…’

,Yeah…’

I looked up at Sohee while lying on my desk.

Even though she raided with me until dawn, there was no sign of fatigue on her face.

Sohee looked like a frail 미소녀 (pretty girl) on the outside, but her inner stamina was amazing.

,Did you think about it?’

,That…?’

Ah…

I nodded blankly at Sohee’s words.

That refers to the game competition that our VR game club will participate in.

There were a few competitions I had in mind, but I wondered if the school would allow it.

,Which one is it?’

,First of all, VRS…’

The first one on the list was VRS.

As the most played game in Korea, there were many competitions held.

Of course, it was only an amateur competition.

,Next is this…’

Next on the candidate list were FPS games and AOS-style games.

As all of them were games with more players than Deron, big and small competitions were being held all over the region.

,That’s good.’

,Can we really participate in this? Is it really okay not to study?’

,If the school allows it…’

I leaned my head on Sohee’s arm on the desk.

VR games instead of studying at school.

If it happens as Sohee said, I won’t want anything more.

Lunch time came after the boring morning class.

I led Sohee and Ellie to the VR game club.

This was because the consent of all members was required to participate in the competition.

I got the consent of Sohee and Ellie, but I still needed the consent of one more person.

When I entered the VR game club’s classroom, I could see a clean interior that was different from before.

The faint smell of a new house, as if the floor and wallpaper had been newly laid, stimulated my sense of smell.

The biggest change was the state-of-the-art capsule.

Unlike the old one that was placed alone, the capsules placed side by side were shining as if to show off that they were new products.

,They’re over there.’

I said, looking at the capsule in the corner.

Unlike the capsules in the front, the capsule alone was emitting light.

That meant someone was inside.

There was only one person who would be stuck in the VR capsule before lunch time was over.

It was Seongshin-seonbae (senior) in the second grade.

,Heum heum…’

I cleared my throat and carefully tapped on the lid of the operating capsule.

Tongtong-

The voice I heard with a small knock was Seongshin-seonbae’s voice as expected.

[Ah… who is it…?]

,Seongshin-seonbae. Please come out for a moment.’

[Heok… it’s you guys. Just a moment…!]

About a minute passed after the answer was over.

Seongshin-seonbae opened the door of the capsule and took his body out of the capsule with an awkward smile.

,You, you guys came to play games too…’

Instead of answering, I handed him a piece of paper.

It was a consent form for all members to participate in a specific game competition.

,This is…?’

,You’ll agree, right?’

You can’t participate in the competition without the consent of all members.

If that happens, you won’t be able to skip class.

I looked up at Seongshin-seonbae with an anxious heart.

,Oh…’

Seongshin-seonbae glanced at the document and wrote his name without hesitation.

It was too futile a result, unlike what I had worried about.

But if the result is good, that’s it.

I smiled as I looked at the document containing the consent of all members.

While I was smiling like that, Seongshin-seonbae carefully opened his mouth, looking around.

,But… what competition are we going to participate in…?’

,VRS!’

Where else would it be?

I have to go to a game that I’m familiar with.

Seongshin-seonbae asked back with an unsure expression at my answer.

,V, VRS…? That sword fighting game…?’

,Yes.’

,I don’t think I can do it…’

,Why?’

,I, I can only do FPS.’

I was wondering what it was.

It doesn’t matter. Winning the competition wasn’t the goal.

I’m just using this system to skip class.

,It’s okay. It’s meaningful to participate.’

,Still, is it okay… just being embarrassed…’

It was okay to be embarrassed.

I folded the document with the consent of the members and put it in my arms.

I was going to keep it warm and submit it to the teacher after school.