CH 256

‘It’s already 10…’

Time passed by as I flipped through the channels mindlessly.

There was nothing interesting on, but I did feel very uncomfortable when I saw that Bae Jaemin had been voted as the [No. 1 popular man among women in their 20s] on some entertainment channel.

“That has to be scripted…” I glared at the Priest’s bright smile on the TV screen before turning off the TV with the remote control. My annoyance was rising because Bae Jaemin or Ryu Hyerin kept on showing up no matter what channel I turned to.

To be honest, time crept by at a snail’s pace when you were lying atop a hospital bed. Although my condition was better than before, I couldn’t really walk around independently. So, I busied myself by watching TV–though there weren’t many programs on the hospital’s networks that fit my taste–or browsing the internet on my cell phone.

There were too many channels that discussed famous Users; my insides roiled at how Bae Jaemin and Ryu Hyerin were depicted coolly. For example, on the gossip channels, people talked about the Priest’s income, his sports car, his achievements… After so many hours of this, I couldn’t help but cringe.

The people on the panel were frivolously sucking up to the Priest, so… I turned the TV off as soon as I heard the conversation going in that direction and began browsing the internet.

Unlike the TV, I could search for things that suited my interest or tastes on the Internet. After a few searches, I found a community that did, indeed, suit my tastes…

It wasn’t a particularly popular community, but this site…

[Welcome to the ‘Red Lotus Fanpage’!]

…was a Red Lotus fan cafe. 2

Red Lotus I Love You: After this sold out, that [Tower of Fuck] 3  happened… -_- There were no sales for at least a week afterwards.

└Original Poster: fuck…

…there were many rare pictures of Seo Dawon.

The post I was looking at seemed like a picture of a User’s photobook; the photo was probably taken using their cellphone camera; Seo Dawon was smiling while wearing some soft, deer horns. Though I knew that popular Users would often be in photo shoots like other celebrities…

“What the–this is too cute….”

…I didn’t realize that he would participate in photoshoots with such an adorable vibe.

Even Woo Ragi was there, just slightly out of frame with half his body out of the shot; the swordsman was wearing a Santa hat with gold bells attached. Honestly, it was so funny.

‘How much did they get paid to wear these clothes and do a photo shoot?’

I read through the praise-worthy post with an intrigued look on my face. Lackey also looked at the screen and then tilted its head when it saw the Mage.

“You’re surprised too, huh?”

[Clack Clack?]

Lackey must have also been confused by the Mage’s appearance, it kept tilting its skull. Giggling, I checked for new posts under the Seo Dawon tab before moving onto the [Free Chat] forum.

Ah, that was right; in this fan cafe, there was a separate forum where people could chat about various topics, [Free Chat]. Perhaps that was why this forum category had more posts than any other tab.

I liked this site for more than just the Seo Dawon materials. I had actually joined this fan cafe after seeing the atmosphere in the [Free Chat] forum.

Because…

[Title: Summary of ‘Today’s User’s’ 313th ‘Who You?’ interview.]

Content:

Question: You used to be a guild member, but now you’re in the leader position. What did you find different or difficult about this change?

Bae: Actually, when I was in the guild, I worked alone more than at the instruction of my team. Therefore, in the beginning, there were times when I felt overwhelmed–it was hard to catch up. I had struggled with feelings of solidarity rather than enjoying a team-play atmosphere. However, that experience seems to have helped me run [HaHae] now. (Laughs)

Question: What kind of guild will you make [HaHae] into in the future?

Bae: More than anything, I want to create a guild that values the safety of its guild members. I don’t want the [HaHae] guild members to experience all the hardships I had experienced. Above all, I believe what’s most important is the guildmaster’s sense of responsibility.

Question: Is there anything difficult about leading your guild members? How do you resolve conflicts?

Bae: I don’t talk much and I tend to listen more. I’m also trying, as much as possible, to create a horizontal hierarchical guild culture–one that feels as unoppressive as possible. We have an anonymous system called [Blind]; you can file a complaint or suggestion without ever revealing your identity.

(Omission)

I believe I was able to create this system because, when I first became a User, I struggled with adjusting to guild life and was ignorant of many things.

.

.

lolololololol

Hey, you guys seeing this?

‘I think I can lead [HaHae] well because I was a burdensome dick during the Red Lotus era?’ He’s using the Red Lotus name whenever it befits him, that fucker, and when the time comes to return the favor he just fucks them over lolol. 4

…This site was a gathering place for many Bae Jaemin haters.

The mood among the 30 comments on this post was similar to the original poster. I also saw some outright malicious abuse towards the Priest.

[Expand Comments]

>lolol I’ve always said they needed to reinvestigate the [Tower of Fuck] lololololol

└ R e a l  lolol, his grudge is so insane

└ Honestly, so suspicious. Damn.

└ If you look at what he’s doing nowadays, he’s probably done more than stab people in the back…

> It’s honestly such a talent to look like such a loser while giving an interview lolol

└ If it were me, I would have shut my mouth even if I was such a loser and the others ostracized me like that. Lolol, is he proud of that or something

└ What ostracization… lolol he was always clinging to Seo Dawon. It was just a while ago that he was benefitting from the ‘Business Gay Performance’ 5

└ If Seo Dawon was asked that kind of question he’d just laugh it off like a chad 6 Tsk Tsk. The standard is just too different. 7

└ R e a l

└ If it were Seo Dawon, he would have said, ‘It’s hard, but I smile while looking at my bank account~’

└ Lolololololololol

> If he had such a hard time, then he should have left ~ TT_TT

> He sure kept his mouth shut when he made 10 times the amount in annual salary compared to other guilds. BS lololol

> Honestly, no matter how much of an embarrassment he is, is that something a decent person would say about the deceased? He’s basically begging to be criticized for giving an interview like that.

└ The dead are silent TT_TT TT_TT

└ Our Jaemin-ie is unloyal TT_TT

> I honestly can’t believe it. TT_TT That kind of crazy loser is alive and Seo Dawon is dead…

I clicked to expand on every comment and rolled around from side to side. 8

It wasn’t just this article–reading all the other posts on the [Free Chat] forum, I could understand why the Red Lotus fans hated Bae Jaemin.

In the beginning, the members didn’t exactly reject the Priest. When all of Red Lotus members were still alive, Bae Jaemin was one of the most popular members; so, at first, there were many Red Lotus fans who were glad that at least the Priest came back alive.

However, after Bae Jaemin had returned to full capacity and mentioned Red Lotus, he had implied that the tragedy had occurred due to the rash and irresponsible behavior of the other guild members. Including Seo Dawon. Because of that, this fan cafe had been witness to several fights between the Priest’s fans and the rest of the Red Lotus fans.

Eventually, Bae Jaemin’s fans went their separate ways, and this site became a safe space of sorts. I was glad to have found this fan-cafe–this place was one of the few places where I couldn’t see the Priest at the top of the search results whenever I searched up the Red Lotus.

Thanks to that, I comfortably spent a long while scraping through the boards for rare photos and videos. But, the more I looked at these things…why did I miss the Mage more in real life?

‘I can’t even bear to look at him even if we were to see each other…’

Strangely, my body seized whenever the Mage approached me…

The sheer joy at seeing insults shot at Bae Jaemin had faded, and I quickly became gloomy again. When will Choi Kyung-sik be finished with creating that potion? Especially when finally…

‘…Seo Dawon became more honest.’

I’d gained a little confidence after the Han Kiseok fiasco; honestly, I really resent this handicap. If it weren’t for Koo Hui-seo’s business, I would have cornered the Mage, stopping him from escaping while saying all I kept inside my heart.

I checked my now-hot phone’s remaining battery life. “It’s already 1 am?”

I was honestly surprised at the time

Where did the hours go? For the last few nights, I would be unable to hold out past 11 pm and, exhausted, fall asleep while scrolling through the fan page. It was strange that I hadn’t fallen asleep when it was already 1 am.

Then, I suddenly remembered the mana stone I had swallowed during the day. “Ah, the stamina…”

Kim Olim was right. I raised up my torso and stared at the remaining mana stones placed atop the side table. “How many more do I have to eat to stay up all night?”

[Clack Clack……]

The haphazard thought of staying up and pretending to be asleep–waiting for Seo Dawon’s nightly visit–crossed my mind. Maybe I’d be able to tamp down on my shivers if I weren’t looking straight at the Mage…

“You should be asleep now.”

“Agh!!!”

However, as if someone had read my mind, I could hear a low voice from the side.

I whipped my head around in surprise; since when had Seo Dawon been standing there awkwardly in the corner of the hospital room, staring at me? The Mage slowly walked forward.

Upsettingly, my hands and feet stiffened at the sight of the Mage. Seo Dawon smiled bitterly at my paling expression.

Become a Patron!

TL: “It’s honestly such a talent to look like such a loser while giving an interview”

Honestly, what a great burn–antis are scary, ya’ll. Also, question, I know I localize more (and place the literal meaning in footnotes). Do people like that method over placing the literal meaning in the text and the localized version in the footnotes? (For example, all the slang in the chat messages in this chapter)

The site theme was a bit old-fashioned, but the number of daily visitors was still within the 3 to 4 thousand range.

Above all, unlike other forum sites, this site looked favorably upon Seo Dawon and the other guild members. I tried not to search for articles related to the Mage on most famous forum communities because of the overwhelming amount of malicious comments that broke my heart to read.

However, this place was different. The homepage showcased Seo Dawon’s face in his heydays as a User; there were many affectionately-edited uploaded videos. Also, there were more high-quality data about Red Lotus in this fan cafe than on other sites.

And, the best thing was…

[Title: Guildmaster, when was this photo taken??]

Posted by: Dawon-ieee

Content:

(Photo)

I have all the MOUs until October, but I can’t figure this one out TT_TT What’s with the fucking adorable deer horns????? I thought this was part of a Halloween pack, so I searched for it until my eyes hurt. But I can’t see it anywhere TT_TT

[See Comments]

Red Lotus I love you: This is the MOU xxYear Christmas Special Fan Block, Red Version.

└Original Poster: Damn, Is there merch as well?

Red Lotus I Love You: yeye 1 poster, 1 signed photo copy

└Original Poster: No wonder… I didn’t even see scalpers selling this at a premium TT_TT 1 플미 stands for premium. It’s a shorthand for merchandise or tickets sold at ‘premium’ by scalpers