Chapter 109

As Theo comforted the sobbing Bingie and tried to explain the situation, a commotion broke out near the entrance of the guild house. Then, someone shouted.

“Excuse me, someone named Father is here looking for you.”

Startled by the unexpected arrival, Theo turned around. At the same time, Father stepped inside, her brow furrowing the moment she spotted “Jurz” standing next to Theo. The fierce glint in her eyes suggested she was ready to pounce at any second.

The Edom guild members looked at Theo as if asking if they knew each other. Theo stepped between Father and Bingie before she could charge and asked.

“What are you doing here?”

Narrowing her eyes at Theo’s seemingly protective stance over Jurz, Father replied, “I came because I figured you’d be here.” She then jerked her chin toward Jurz and added, “So?”

Theo shook his head at the question, which was loaded with hidden meaning.

“It’s not Jurz. They used a Shuffle Ring to swap appearances.”

Father made a confused face, looking back and forth between Theo and the user who looked like Jurz before asking in an annoyed tone.

“Then where’s the real Jurz?”

Theo couldn’t answer. Instead, he looked at the person most likely to have the answer—the player who had first opened the door. Following Theo’s gaze, Father looked at them too. The player stared blankly at the two of them for a moment, then snapped out of it and looked around the guild house.

“…Huh?”

An empty exclamation escaped them. Reacting to the player’s response, Bingie also scanned the room and let out a similar sound.

“Huh? Where did he go?”

The two couldn’t hide their confusion as they searched the interior, and the rest of the Edom guild members began to look around as well.

“He was definitely just here.”

Bingie muttered blankly, and the player who had opened the door raised their voice to ask the others.

“Has anyone seen Jurz hyung?”

At the question, the Edom guild members looked at each other with bewildered expressions. Just as they were wondering how a person who was there seconds ago could vanish without a trace, one player raised their hand.

“He went out the back door when that person charged at Bingie hyung.”

It was an unexpected answer. The player and Bingie both repeated, “The back door?” and headed somewhere, with Theo and Father trailing close behind. They led them to a small door tucked away in a corner of the interior. It was clearly the guild’s back exit.

Opening the door revealed a small backyard surrounded by semi-oval masonry. However, the yard was completely empty—not even a shadow remained. Only a wooden gate that hadn’t been fully closed creaked as it swayed in the wind.

Putting their hollow disappointment aside, Theo and Father returned inside the guild house to explain to the Edom members exactly why they were looking for Jurz.

After hearing the whole story, the Edom guild members didn’t believe them at first. They suspected the two newcomers and placed full trust in Jurz, insisting he wouldn’t do such a thing. However, once Theo showed them the post on the growth forum and his own equipment, their faces turned pale with shock. They offered sincere apologies and promised full support until Jurz was found.

The Edom members offered to persuade Jurz to apologize, but Theo declined their goodwill. He stated that he would go to Jurz’s residence and meet him personally.

He needed the guild members to stay quiet and act as if they knew nothing so that Jurz might let his guard down even a little. Theo obtained a photo of Jurz’s current appearance and his home address from the Edom members, then requested that Bingie accompany them.

If he and Father went alone, there was a nine-out-of-ten chance he wouldn’t open the door.

“Three days ago… that matches up with when the Shuffle Rings were first released. This bastard intended to hide using a Shuffle Ring from the start.”

Father grumbled as they walked toward Jurz’s house. Theo looked up at her—well, at himself, technically, since she was using his appearance. It felt surreal. Walking side-by-side with his own likeness, and having to look up at his own face.

Seeing himself through someone else’s eyes made him curious. Even though Blaine wouldn’t have to look up at him, was this how Blaine felt when looking at him? A feeling where every single action catches the eye and commands attention.

While he was inexplicably thinking only of Blaine while following Bingie, the guide stopped and pointed ahead.

“It’s right there.”

Theo and Father both looked up simultaneously, following Bingie’s finger to the house. It was a quiet, single-story home.

Theo told Bingie to lure Jurz out of the house while he and Father hid nearby to watch. Jurz might not answer for anyone else, but he might respond to the call of Bingie, who had suffered for wearing Jurz’s customization.

Bingie stood in front of Jurz’s house and glanced back at Theo and Father. The two, now properly hidden, gave a nod of approval. Bingie then knocked on the door and called out for Jurz.

Bingie waited for an answer, but there was no response. After knocking a few more times, he tilted his head and gripped the doorknob. Then, he ran back to where Theo and Father were hiding.

“I don’t think he’s home.”

“He’s not?”

Theo and Father asked back in disbelief. They had assumed his residence would be the safest place to hide, but he wasn’t there? It was absurd. Bingie, nodding while keeping an eye on their reactions, hesitated before asking cautiously.

“Just in case, should I ask them where they are?”

Theo pondered for a moment. Would a guy who abandoned his own home and ran away actually answer? No matter how he looked at it, the answer was ‘no.’ He let out a sigh and was about to shake his head when Father suddenly cut in.

“Why make it complicated? Let’s just designate them for Disciplinary and summon them. I’ll talk to their guild master.”

Theo’s eyes widened. Disciplinary Designation! There was that option. However, Bingie looked back and forth between the two of them with a troubled expression, appearing flustered.

“Ah… what should we do? Our guild level is too low…”

“Don’t tell me… you don’t have Disciplinary Designation?”

“No…”

Bingie answered in a voice that was barely a crawl. Father stared at Bingie, her mouth hanging open, then placed her hands on her hips and looked up at the sky, letting out a heavy, lamenting sigh.

“This is driving me crazy…”

The three of them returned to the Edom guild house for the time being. They sat around a circular table in a corner of the guild house to devise a plan, but no brilliant ideas came to mind. Father, resting her chin on her hand and tapping the innocent table, spoke to Theo.

“First, let’s get that post taken down. It won’t do you any good if it keeps spreading.”

Theo nodded silently and pulled up his system window. He entered the game’s growth forum, only to have his hand freeze mid-air.

“What is this…?”

At his dazed murmur, Father also accessed the growth forum. Her eyes snapped wide. The growth forum was a place meant for exchanging or debating growth methods. Yet, the entire first page was now plastered with posts that had nothing to do with growth.

Every single one of them was an exposé detailing Jurz’s unethical behavior. The authors were mostly familiar names: Noquia, Marco, Blaine, Mandako, Bastard Kid, Holanghee, Aslan, and others.

Theo and Father, staring blankly at the page full of accusations, hurriedly searched for the original post Jurz had uploaded. When Theo had first found it, there were only about thirty comments; now, there were over a thousand.

Theo rushed to check the comments. Every single one was condemning Jurz. He saw names from the Father and the Guest Guild, names from the YesYesu Guild, and names of people he knew only through mutual acquaintances.

It was the collective network of the guild members, reaching even the most distant relatives. They say everyone is connected by just three degrees of separation, and that seemed to be true—even total strangers were joining in to defend him and bash Jurz.

Theo reported the post with a sense of bewilderment. As soon as he did, the post was immediately hidden. It wasn’t just a matter of fast processing; it meant the post had already received a massive number of reports.

Now that the issue with the post was resolved, all that remained was catching Jurz. The Edom members tried to persuade Jurz through guild chat and sent him whispers, but Jurz remained silent.

It was hard to tell if he was scared or just acting bold. If he were scared, he’d be easier to handle.

After thinking for a moment, Father looked for the owner of the customization Jurz was currently wearing. One of the Edom members raised their hand, and Father walked up to them.

“Your name?”

“It’s FireflyLamp… people call me Firefly.”

Because of the Shuffle Ring, they looked like a man, but the voice was female.

“Well, Firefly, would you be okay with discarding that customization?”

“Huh? Which one… the one Jurz took from me?”

“Yes.”

“Why…?”

“I’m going to make that appearance public. No matter how well he hides, he’ll be forced to show himself within a few days.”

“What?”

“Since that appearance belongs to you and not Jurz, I felt I needed your permission. We’ll help you create a new customization once this situation is settled.”

FireflyLamp bit her lip nervously. It wasn’t an appealing suggestion, but the atmosphere made it difficult to refuse. Cursing Jurz inwardly, FireflyLamp eventually nodded. Father expressed her thanks and then sought out the guild master of Edom.

A female player named Carlotta stepped out from among the members. Father gave her a brief greeting before stating her business.

“Before we go public with Jurz’s photo, I’d like to form an alliance with the Edom Guild.”

Carlotta’s eyes widened at the unexpected proposal. “Excuse me?”

“We are going to take turns monitoring Jurz’s house and this guild house until he shows up. We can’t keep sending visit requests every time, so form an alliance so we can come and go freely. Also, this means we’ll be watching you openly to make sure you don’t take Jurz’s side and backstab us.”

The Edom guild members, including Carlotta, stood there with their mouths agape at Father’s bold demand. Theo was also inwardly shocked. If he had said those words while looking the way he did, the Edom members might have reacted with fierce hostility. But right now, no one dared to object.

Even if their appearances were swapped, he was still himself and Father was still Father; yet, he felt once again just how different the two of them really were.