At Jung Ha-rin's words, the entire room fell silent almost instantly.
Just moments ago, the chatter was so lively it almost seemed out of place now.
However, everyone’s expressions remained excited as ever.
After all, the hottest topic right now was Eternal World.
It would be unusual not to be playing Eternal World at this point.
But somehow, if it were Seong...
“He probably doesn’t play, right?”
“Didn’t he barely play games even before he went to the army?”
“Yeah, when I asked him to go to the PC room, he turned me down.”
“That’s because he probably didn’t like you, Cheol-min.”
“Ah?! That’s a secret! Why are you telling him, Jae-min?!”
“What a jerk, seriously...”
“Anyway, I’m curious.”
Would Seong play Eternal World?
After all, it was a game that came out just when Seong went into the army.
It wouldn’t be surprising if he started after his discharge.
The group gathered here were all players of Eternal World too.
At this point, it felt like their club wasn’t just a web novel reading group, but more of an Eternal World club.
Though, there were certainly other clubs that had a similar focus.
But here, it was pretty extreme.
They would all gather and hunt in the game together.
“Should we ask him?”
“Sounds good. You ask him.”
“Me? Can we just do rock-paper-scissors to decide?”
“Are you serious? You can’t even ask that?”
“Then Cheol-min, you ask him.”
“...Not easy.”
“Not easy, huh? Look at you guys.”
They were joking and talking loudly.
Then, Lee Sujeong, looking excited, spoke.
“It’d be nice if Seong played. If he just started, he could join us.”
“We’ve been playing for a while now, but we have Ha-rin, so it’s fine, right?”
“True.”
“Ha-rin’s a pro.”
Everyone acknowledged Jung Ha-rin’s skills.
She was an epic-tier class player, while everyone else was either normal or rare-tier.
It was hard not to recognize her skills.
Though they had all just started and were only in the 50s after finishing their second class change, they had progressed quite quickly considering it had only been a month.
It was definitely thanks to Ha-rin’s talent.
Speaking of Ha-rin’s abilities, the issue from yesterday came to mind, and Cheol-min brought it up.
“Hey, did you see the change in the #1 ranking for the Past Fortress yesterday?”
“Oh! I saw it. Wait, wasn’t the #1 user Seong?”
“Yeah, yeah. I saw it too.”
“Really???”
If they hadn’t heard yet, Seo Yu-jin asked, and Song Jae-min nodded.
The topic shifted, and Jung Ha-rin’s previously proud expression slightly faltered.
But it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.
What really mattered was whether the Seong they knew was the same Seong in the game.
Seo Yu-jin, after a moment, checked her phone and confirmed the user’s nickname was indeed Seong.
“Wow!!! It’s really him!!?”
“We’ve been living a lie, huh? It’s really Seong?”
“But do you think it’s really the Seong we know...?”
“I don’t think so. Seong’s discharge was probably this week, right?”
“Well, then it’s probably not him.”
Finally, Jung Ha-rin spoke, and everyone nodded in agreement.
It didn’t make sense that he could reach level 50 so quickly if he had just discharged this week.
Even if he had played before, he had been in the army, so it would have been impossible to reach this point by just using his leave time.
It was probably just another person with the same name.
As they chatted about this, Seo Yu-jin awkwardly smiled, looking disappointed.
“Should we ask him anyway?”
“Pfft, it’s not easy to ask if he plays Eternal World, but to ask if he’s the Seong we know? That’s another thing.”
“True. But Cheol-min, you should just ask him! You’re the one who brought it up~”
“Hey!! When did I?!”
Like any group of twenty-two-year-olds, they were chatting away.
Jung Ha-rin, however, seemed a little detached, giving off a slightly indifferent expression.
She had decent skills and quite a bit of luck.
She had chosen this path after getting an epic-tier class, and she was now thinking of heading towards the guild side of things.
After all, guilds these days were treated almost like large corporations.
She had the talent for it, and it seemed like a good option for her future.
The compensation was good, and it was far better than working a regular job.
She hadn’t joined a guild yet, but she could probably join a decent one.
‘They say it’s harder to get into guilds than to get into big corporations these days.’
Though hanging out with her friends was fun, she couldn’t help but think that it might be time to consider her future.
‘Hmm, if Seong played, he might fit in with us too.’
She had some fond feelings for Seong, of course.
It was a job he could potentially excel at.
But she hadn’t really thought that far.
After all, she had never met anyone better than herself at Eternal World.
She had become the proverbial frog in the well.
As everyone was lost in their chatter and thoughts, the door to the café opened, and a young man who seemed to have hurriedly entered appeared.
He had a short haircut, clearly just discharged from the military.
With a handsome, delicate face, and strikingly good looks, it was Seong.
“Seong! Over here!”
“Ah? Everyone’s already here? I guess I’m a little early.”
Looking at the time, it was actually slightly earlier than expected.
Yet everyone was already there.
Seong gave an apologetic smile.
The others quickly waved their hands, shaking their heads.
“No, no! We got here early!”
“Right, right. You’re not late!”
“We just happened to gather early.”
Seong nodded as he acknowledged their words.
Since they were the only customers in the café, Seong didn’t immediately sit down.
He needed to order first.
“I’ll go order a drink.”
As Seong walked to the counter, everyone fell quiet.
The atmosphere, which had been lively just moments ago, was now completely different.
Everyone seemed unsure of what to say, and they were all wondering if Seong would be comfortable.
Even Jung Ha-rin, who had been so confident, became quiet.
When Seong came back with his drink, he looked around, noticing the silence.
“...?”
Hadn’t it been noisy a moment ago?
Was it not?
The atmosphere, which had been lively just moments ago, felt starkly different now.
Seong wondered if he had interrupted something by joining in.
If that was the case, it made him feel a bit apologetic.
Breaking the silence, Seong decided to speak up first.
"What were you all talking about?"
The group hesitated, unsure of how to respond, until Lee Cheol-min cleared his throat and spoke up with determination.
"We were, uh, talking about Eternal World!"
"Oh? Eternal World?" Seong’s casual reaction immediately brightened the group’s faces.
He knew about the game! While they didn’t yet have the courage to ask if he played it, even his awareness of the game felt like a small victory.
The group silently applauded Cheol-min for his bravery, and Seong nodded thoughtfully before speaking again.
"Wow, so it really is popular these days. Are you guys playing too?"
It was a natural question, and everyone eagerly nodded their heads. After all, the entire club was playing Eternal World.
"Yeah, yeah! We’ve been going around as a party together."
"We bicker sometimes, but thanks to Ha-rin’s skills, we’re doing great!"
"That’s right! Ha-rin even has an epic-tier class!"
"She might even get into a major guild one day!"
"Ahem, well, I’m not sure about that..."
As the group’s chatter burst forth, the topic inevitably centered around Jung Ha-rin. She was the pride of their party.
Perhaps buoyed by their praise, Ha-rin spoke modestly but maintained a dignified demeanor, as if silently asking for Seong’s opinion.
However, Seong’s response was indifferent.
"I see."
His lukewarm reaction made the group pause.
Why? Wasn’t it impressive?
Or was it because...
‘Does Seong not know about this stuff?’
‘Maybe he hasn’t played Eternal World?’
‘That’s possible.’
‘What do we do now?’
‘Does he really not know?’
The group suddenly felt unsure. They worried they might have brought up a topic Seong wasn’t familiar with.
While Seong wasn’t the type to feel left out, it still felt awkward.
Just as they were floundering, Seong spoke lightly.
"I’ve only started recently, so I guess I wouldn’t know much. Epic-tier sounds like it’s pretty high, right?"
"Ah! You only started recently?"
"Then it makes sense you wouldn’t know!"
"It’s higher than rare-tier—so much higher that rare-tier can’t even compare!"
"Yeah, yeah, exactly!"
"Ahem."
The group collectively sighed in relief. At least Seong was playing.
As the others explained, Seong nodded and glanced at Ha-rin.
‘Epic-tier is high, sure.’
To Seong, who had seen epic-tier classes frequently from the start and was in the Rapid Guild, where epic-tier was the minimum standard, his perspective had shifted.
Still, epic-tier was decent and practical.
‘Even corpse explosion is rare-tier.’
With that thought, he moved on.
"So, what levels are you all at?"
"Oh, us? We’ve been playing for about a month, maybe a month and a half, and we’re all around level 50."
"Yeah, we’ve all finished our second class change."
"Thanks to Ha-rin, our hunts have been efficient, so we leveled up quickly. Normally, it’s not this fast."
"We’re definitely ahead of the curve."
Even Ha-rin joined the conversation, and for the first time, Seong’s face showed visible confusion.
Was that considered fast?
He genuinely didn’t understand.
‘Wasn’t this supposed to be a fast-leveling game?’
Today marked Seong’s fourth day in Eternal World. His current level was 75, even after losing two levels to transcend Barfur.
Of course, Seong was abnormal—a complete monster—and this party’s pace was actually impressive.
Ordinary players forming a party would typically struggle to reach level 40 within two months.
So, in context, they were fast.
But by Seong’s standards, they were slower than snails.
"...?"
"Huh?"
The group looked puzzled by Seong’s expression.
Why did he look so perplexed?
As they debated whether to ask, their hesitation was broken by the ever-reliable Lee Cheol-min.
"Seong, what about you?"
"Me? Oh, you mean my level?"
"Yeah, and do you play with anyone?"
Read latest chapters at freёweɓnovel.com Only.
The others couldn’t help but look at Cheol-min with newfound respect.
He was speaking so casually to Seong!
Meanwhile, sitting next to Cheol-min, Song Jae-min noticed him nervously wiping his sweat-drenched hands on his pants.
Despite his nerves, Cheol-min’s question prompted Seong to nod.
"I’m in a guild, actually. Do you know the Rapid Guild?"
"......?"
"......???"
"......Huh?"
"Wait, where?"
"......What???"
The shock was especially evident on Ha-rin’s face.
The Rapid Guild? Could he possibly mean that Rapid Guild?
The third-ranked guild, home to the single-ranker Yuna?
No way.
With doubt written all over his face, Cheol-min stammered out a question.
"You mean... where Yuna is... that third-ranked...?"
"Yeah, that’s the one."
"H-huh?!?!?"
"Are you serious?!?!"
"No way!!!"
"W-wait, Rapid Guild?! Seriously?!"
Even Jung Ha-rin’s composed demeanor crumbled.
And then, an overwhelming wave of embarrassment hit her.
Had she just bragged about her skills to a member of the Rapid Guild?
It was one thing to show off, but doing it in front of someone from that guild felt absurd.
As Ha-rin’s face turned a deep red, the group silently connected the dots.
Earlier, they had mentioned that the #1 player in the Past Fortress leaderboard was named Seong.
Could it be...?
No, that couldn’t be right.
But the thought lingered, and eventually, Jae-min hesitantly asked.
"Then... does that mean... the #1 in the Past Fortress is... you, Seong?"
"Huh? Oh, uh... I think I was told not to mention it, but I think the video’s going up today."
"Wow..."
Seong didn’t explicitly confirm it, but his words and demeanor gave it away.
The group stared at him in stunned silence, swallowing hard.
At that moment, Cheol-min’s phone buzzed with a notification.
Everyone, still dazed, instinctively turned to look.
With trembling hands, Cheol-min held up his phone to show them.
On the screen was:
[The Demon King of Rapid, Past Fortress]
The latest video from the Rapid Guild had gone live, showcasing the Past Fortress raid.
And a quick glance confirmed it—this was a genuine clear video.
Jung Ha-rin suddenly stood up and approached Seong.
Was she upset? Embarrassed? No one could tell.
Too shocked to react, the others watched blankly as she pulled something out of her bag and...
"C-could I get your autograph, please?"
It was an autograph request.