Chapter 3: The pretty girl whose life was ruined(3)
Normally, Fridays are packed. There are daily quests to grind and weekly dungeons that reset. You don’t have to clear weekly dungeons on Friday, but that’s when parties are easiest to find.
Plus, with the new region out, I need to keep up with the story quests. That’s what worries me most.
Daily and weekly quests are routine; I can do them on autopilot. But story quests? They demand focus.
I can’t put them off, either. Maintenance already delayed things today, so if I think, “I’ll start tomorrow,” I’ll fall behind.
It’s tough, but I’ve got to push now to stay ahead.
Arksha Online has an activity gauge system. It doesn’t matter for field hunting, but dungeons consume it.
The gauge refills weekly and daily, so I’ve got a decent amount today. I plan to burn through some key daily quests, then dump the rest into weekly dungeons.
Dailies are quick. Including my three farming alts, I can wrap them up in an hour. My keyboard and mouse move furiously as I take down field bosses.
The field’s pretty empty. Everyone’s probably checking out the new region.
…Hopefully.
It’s not like the game’s dead and there are no players, right?
「Myuk: Yo」
「(Whisper) Myuk: Heyy」
I’m chewing my lip, working on my second alt, when a whisper pops up. I reply casually. Good thing it seems like not everyone has ditched Arksha Online.
The whisper’s from an old game friend. They’re as much of a gaming nut as I am, so we often help each other out. It sounds transactional, but… it’s a good connection in its own way.
「Myuk: Been to Apallan?」
Apallan’s the new region. The name’s kinda meh. Just don’t like it.
「(Whisper) Myuk: Nah, gonna go later」
「Myuk: Running weeklies?」
「(Whisper) Myuk: Clearing dailies first, then weeklies」
「Myuk: Wanna do Piane together?」
「(Whisper) Myuk: Sure」
Piane is short for Piane’s Hideout. Other weekly dungeons are fine solo or with random parties, but Piane’s Hideout is high-end content, so you need a decent party.
Nice. It’s not a spur-of-the-moment plan. When we’re both online, we usually hit these dungeons together.
「(Whisper) Myuk: Channel 34, let’s go」
「Myuk: Cool, anyone else you calling?」
I check my friends list. I don’t have many friends registered, but only this one’s online right now.
The game’s not dead… right?
「(Whisper) Myuk: Nope, no one else」
At the dungeon entrance NPC on Channel 34, I spot a familiar nickname at the edge of my screen: Myuk. Hard to type in chat, but not bad to say out loud.
Piane’s Hideout isn’t new to me. I know it like the back of my hand. I set the party title to “Piane 2 clears, 3.5k power, DPS/support,” and applications flood in. As long as their gear isn’t totally weird, I accept and start. Two clears because the dungeon has a weekly entry limit of two.
Sure, it’s high-end content, but it doesn’t require insane skill or feel like you’re fighting living monsters.
Arksha Online is just a K-RPG. It’s not about immersive action or precise role-playing like main tank, off-tank, melee DPS, ranged DPS, healer, or buffer.
Can’t be helped. An eight-year-old game’s graphics won’t rival the latest AAA titles, and splitting roles that finely makes party recruitment a nightmare.
Not sure they even have the chops to balance all that.
「(Party)oksususuyum: Cooldowns?」
「(Party)NoHealEatPots: 30」
We mow through trash mobs and mid-bosses with raw damage, reaching the boss room. Everyone’s experienced, so no extra chatter’s needed.
Just check the support’s ultimate cooldown and enter the boss room.
Thirty seconds later, we’re in.
The boss, naturally, is Piane. Lore-wise, an old dark mage researching chimeras, but I don’t care about the details. I’ve got the drop table memorized, though.
It’s not a tough fight. Dump all ultimates in phase one, and it’s over. There used to be a tricky pattern midway through phase one, but with endgame gear, skipping it’s the norm.
Phase two’s even easier—just dodge the magic circles. Phase three is just beating a weakened Piane like a punching bag.
As expected, our party clears it effortlessly, and as party leader, I hit re-challenge.
You might think, “Without endgame gear, you can’t skip phase one, right?”
Yup. But who cares? In K-RPGs, to beat a boss, you need gear from that boss. Maybe not when it first drops, but now that it’s been milked dry, that’s just how it is.
Still, these games have their charm. Steady updates and socializing with all sorts of people… well, the former’s gone to hell, and the latter feels like another world to me. But this old-school, pay-to-win game with dated graphics isn’t all bad.
The biggest perk?
「(Party)Myuk: Yo, grats grats grats grats」
「(Party)NoHealEatPots: Grats」
「(Party)DangGasoso: Congrats」
You can sell expensive items.
「IcePunch: Thanks~」
Amazingly, I got Piane’s Spellbook!
It’s not that great an item, but back in the day, it went for 4 billion silver. Even now, it’s probably worth about 500 million.
Still, I’m kinda pissed. Six party members, and only three are chatting? One guy’s been silent the whole time, fine, but oksususuyum… Corn was chatting nonstop, and now not a single “grats”?
I push the irritation aside, leave the party, and head to the next weekly dungeon when Corn speaks up.
「(Party)oksususuyum: Yo, I’ll buy it」
My bad, I misjudged. A real VIP.
Piane’s Spellbook isn’t worthless, but with the new region out, it’ll eventually get sidelined. Only a few classes can use it, and selling it might take days.
This is a generous offer.
「(Party)IcePunch: How much?」
「(Party)oksususuyumcha: 500 mil, quick deal, cool?」
“Quick deal” means no haggling. I was ready to bail if they pulled some “pay first” nonsense, but this is legit.
I toss in a cute emote to agree and accept the trade. My character hops, making a big circle with both arms. Whoever this is, their outfit’s a work of art.
Wait, it’s not Corn?
「(Trade)Myuk: ?? That’s going up in price」
Huh?
「(Trade)IcePunch: What?」
「(Trade)Myuk: No dark spellbook drops in Apallan」
「(Trade)IcePunch: For real?」
「(Trade)Myuk: Just hold onto it for now」
Before I can reply, Myuk closes the 1:1 trade window.
I don’t hesitate. They wouldn’t lie to me about this. We’ve been gaming together forever—c’mon.
「(Party)Myuk: Sorry, my friend was gonna buy it if it dropped」
「(Party)oksususuyum: ;;」
K-RPGs have weird customs. In Arksha Online, backing out of a trade is considered bad manners. It’s not like you’ll get plastered on some drama board, but it’s not a good look either.
Guess they were looking out for that.
「(Party)Myuk: Thanks」
「(Party)oksususuyum: Thx」
They both leave the party. I do too, heading to another weekly dungeon while whispering Myuk.
「(Whisper)Myuk: How much did it go up?」
「Myuk: Like 800 mil now?」
「(Whisper)Myuk: Holy crap」
My body’s trembling for two reasons: joy and sorrow.
Joy, because money! 800 million silver, even with the crashed market, is over 50,000 won. Enough for 36 instant rice packs, 24 water bottles, and kimchi.
Sorrow, because I almost sold it for 500 million.
「Myuk: You not keeping up with the game lately? How’d you not know this?」
「(Whisper)Myuk: It’s not that…」
「Myuk: Don’t quit, I’ll be lonely」
「Myuk: 8ㅅ8」
I laugh at the outdated emoticon. Since becoming a woman, my emotions feel more intense.
They were already intense, though.
「(Whisper)Myuk: It’s not that…」
「(Whisper)Myuk: Life’s just been a bit messy」
「Myuk: ??」
「Myuk: You’re unemployed, though」
Ugh, how do I explain this?
「(Whisper)Myuk: Yeah, my life’s kinda screwed」
「Myuk: ??」
「Myuk: ?????」
Whatever, let it be.
I just finished the last weekly dungeon. There’s more to do, but it’s too late to deal with new players—they’d be suspicious. Time to hop on my alt.
「(Whisper)Myuk: So I’m gonna play netkama with my alt」
「Myuk: What」
「Myuk: What’re you talking about」
I log off like I’m fleeing.
Uh, tomorrow’s me can explain. Probably. I collapse onto my bed. My eyes hurt.
In the black screen of my powered-off monitor, my green eyes faintly reflect. Maybe it’s exhaustion, but they look a bit droopy.
Wait, I said netkama. But I’m a woman now.
Even if my body’s changed, my mind hasn’t caught up. Not that it’d change overnight—that’d be weird—but it’s surprising.
I thought I’d adapt quickly. There’s not much to adapt to.
Who am I in reality? Or who was I?
I always thought my real-world identity was vague. A shut-in glued to the internet—what kind of identity is that?
So when my body became female, I didn’t think much of it. Just some annoying expenses piling up, but nothing to dwell on.
I figured nothing would change. Man or woman, black eyes or green—what’s it matter? To someone who doesn’t go outside or meet anyone, it’s a meaningless shift.
But maybe not.