Chapter 110

Father formed an alliance with the Edom Guild and began writing a post on the growth forum, attaching a photo of Jurz. She explained that Jurz—who had harmed the original creator of the growth method—had fled and his whereabouts were currently unknown, so she was releasing the photo to track him down. Along with a message asking anyone who spotted Jurz to contact Father and the Guest Guild, YesYesu, or Edom, she didn’t forget to include a request not to insult the character’s customization, as his current appearance belonged to another person swapped via a Shuffle Ring.

After uploading the post, Father informed her guild members of the situation and summoned them to Edom. A short while later, members of their guild began arriving one by one at the Edom guild house, and the small space quickly became packed.

“Hyung!”

Upon entering the Edom guild house, Blaine looked for Theo first, running over to wrap him in a tight hug. Since Holanghee’s height was shorter than Father’s, Blaine ended up looking like he was completely buried in Theo’s embrace.

It felt strange to have Blaine, who was always taller than him, fit so perfectly in his arms—even if his current outward appearance was that of Holanghee. Theo patted Blaine’s back and asked, “You’re here?” Blaine looked up with a deeply hurt expression.

“You left me behind again.”

“I was in a hurry.”

Theo spoke as if asking for understanding. Honestly, in that moment when he had lost his temper, what else could he have seen? His mind had been entirely occupied with the single thought of blowing Jurz away.

While they were huddled in a corner of the guild house chatting, a loud commotion erupted. Wondering what was happening, Theo looked over to see Blaine entering the Edom guild house. No, actually, it was Noquia.

“!”

However, her cloak was nowhere to be found. Noquia, who was entering with an air of grand majesty while exposing her back in a backless top, was promptly grabbed by Holanghee—who had followed her in—and subjected to a fierce scolding with physical discipline.

The red handprints marking her pale skin looked so painful that onlookers felt a phantom sting in their own legs. It was an ironic sight: a person who clearly looked like Blaine being beaten by Father and Holanghee almost every single day.

Theo was momentarily worried that when they eventually swapped back, the two of them might get confused and accidentally hit the real Blaine, but his train of thought was interrupted when he spotted Daize standing near the entrance.

Daize, who had been scanning the interior as if searching for someone, brightened with a wide smile the moment he made eye contact with Theo and approached.

“So this is where you were.”

Daize’s appearance had changed slightly. He had previously swapped looks with Bastard Kid via a Shuffle Ring, but now he was back to his original self, and his height had returned to normal.

Looking up at him from such a height felt new again. Part of it was because he was seeing him from Father’s eye level, which made Daize seem even taller.

While Daize hung around Theo and Blaine, acting friendly, the members of the Father and the Guest Guild exchanged pleasant greetings with the Edom members. Even though this was the place Jurz belonged to, there was no reason to be hostile since they were cooperating.

They introduced themselves and explained their swapped appearances, engaging in a few rounds of idle chatter. Once the brief introductions were finished, the Guest Guild prepared to move in earnest. First, they split their forces in half. One half would remain stationed at the Edom guild house, while the other half headed for Jurz’s residence.

Split into small teams, they hid in suitable spots and kept a close watch on Jurz’s house. Theo’s team consisted of Blaine, Daize, and Noquia. They crouched down, hiding in a nearby thicket.

“When do you think this brat will show up?”

Already bored, Noquia asked with a wide yawn. Seeing her acting so casual with Blaine’s face was incredibly awkward. Theo reached out and pushed Noquia’s chin up to close her mouth.

“Surely he’ll try to hold out for a day or two?”

Noquia let out a scoffing sound and glanced at Jurz’s house. She pulled out a lollipop, popped it in her mouth, and began scraping together the surrounding dirt.

“What are you doing?”

When Theo asked, Noquia—who was humming while piling up the dirt—poked a small twig into the top of the completed mound and spoke.

“Let’s play Dirt Stealing.”¹

Theo looked back and forth between the mound and Noquia before asking in bewilderment.

“All of a sudden?”

“There’s nothing else to do anyway. Just one round. Come on, play with me.”

Making the demand shamelessly, Noquia didn’t even wait to set an order; she reached out and scraped away half the dirt from the mound. Consequently, the twig tilted precariously.

“You’re next.”

She then boldly pointed at Theo as the next player. Theo looked at the leaning twig with a reluctant face and reached out his hand. At that moment, Blaine asked.

“What is this?”

Theo instinctively stopped his hand.

“Huh? You’ve never played this? Dirt Stealing.”

Blaine shook his head and replied, “It’s my first time seeing it,” his eyes fixed on the mound. Seeing the curiosity in Blaine’s eyes, Theo explained it step-by-step.

“We take turns taking some of the dirt. The person who makes the twig in the center fall over loses.”

Blaine looked fascinated, as if he couldn’t believe such a game existed, and Theo yielded his turn, telling him to try it first. After hesitating, Blaine carefully reached out his hand, meticulously scraping away the surrounding dirt while making sure the twig didn’t fall.

Theo and Noquia watched with bated breath, worried Blaine might knock the twig over, but Daize was watching Blaine with a somewhat sulky expression.

‘Is there really anyone who doesn’t know the Dirt Stealing game? He certainly has all sorts of ways to get attention, seriously,’ he thought.

Where Blaine’s clumsy touch had passed, the twig remained even more tilted than before. It hadn’t fallen completely, but it was certain to go down on the next turn. Only Theo and Daize remained. Naturally, Theo yielded the next turn to Daize.

“Ah…”

With a small gasp from Daize, the twig finally toppled over. It was a predictable outcome. Letting out a sharp, cackling laugh, Noquia grabbed Daize by both arms and forced him face-down. She then began rhythmically drumming on his back while chanting “Indian Bap”²

Daize’s screams soared high above the thicket. Other guild members hidden nearby poked their heads out to see what the commotion was about, but they quickly lost interest and looked away.

“How about it? One more round?”

Daize, who had been tearing up after the thorough beating his back had endured, put on a grim, determined face at Noquia’s provocation. He boldly called for a rematch.

The game repeated several times, but only Daize and the clumsy Blaine kept losing. Theo and Noquia didn’t fail a single time. Unlike the two triumphant winners, Blaine and Daize were slowly getting irritated—especially Daize, as the intensity of his penalty was notably harsher than what Blaine received.

Relentlessly reminded of the stinging pain in his back, Daize glared at the mound with burning eyes. He channeled every ounce of his soul into scraping away a portion of the dirt. He managed to leave the twig standing precariously, only for it to finally collapse during Noquia’s next turn.

Intoxicated by the thrill of victory, Daize let out a triumphant roar of celebration. He excitedly rolled up his sleeves, huffing and puffing with adrenaline.

Noquia, whose face had contorted in displeasure at her defeat, saw Daize readying himself to strike her. Her eyes subtly darted to the upper right. Then, she suddenly covered her face with both hands, acting utterly shocked.

“Wow… You’re really going to hit a girl?”

“…What?”

“You’re actual trash, aren’t you?”

“…Excuse me?”

Noquia sent him a look of silent contempt. Flustered, Daize hurriedly rolled his sleeves back down and stammered his response.

“N-no… It’s just a game…”

“You really wanted to hit me that badly… didn’t you?”

Noquia murmured with sorrowful eyes for show, even going so far as to pretend to wipe away a tear. Terrified, Daize scrambled to his feet on his knees, waving his hands frantically.

“No, no! It’s not that I wanted to hit you! It’s—it’s a game, so it’s just a penalty…!”

“To think you’d go so far as to package it as a game penalty just because you wanted to hit me so much…”

“No! That—that’s not it!”

“Fine then, hit me! I’ll gladly take it!”

With teary eyes, Noquia made a grand, tragic declaration. She pulled her cloak up and promptly lay face-down. Instead of the bewildered Daize, it was Theo who shouted, “Hey, you brat!” as he smacked her across the back.

“Stop taking off the cloak!”

“Ack! Ow, why?! He says he just has to hit me!”

“You can just take the hit! Why the cloak?! Why do you keep… why do you keep stripping it off?!”

Theo landed one smack on the word “Why” and another on “keep.” Noquia flailed under the sharp stings of his hand. “Aaagh! Theo is trying to kill me!” she screamed, trying to scramble away. However, Theo wrapped the cloak around his hand to snag her, then threw it over her head and rolled her up tight.

Having tied Noquia up like a silkworm cocoon so she couldn’t escape, Theo huffed and dusted off his hands. Daize, who had been watching the intense—well, rather one-sided—battle with interest, spoke to Blaine in a voice devoid of any hidden intent.

“By the way, Blaine, you have a really great physique.”

“Huh?”

“I didn’t realize it before because of the cloak, but I was honestly shocked when Noquia first took it off.”

“Ah…”

“The outfit was quite unconventional, too. Is that your personal taste?”

“No… it’s not…”

“It’s not? Then why are you wearing those kind of cloth—”

As Daize continued, he felt someone rest a hand on his shoulder and turned his head. It was Theo. Behind him, he could see the cocoon still rolling around on the ground.

Moving his gaze from the cocoon back to Theo, he saw Theo staring at him with bloodshot eyes as he asked pointedly.

“…Did you see it?”

“See what?”

“His back.”

Theo gestured behind him with his thumb. Realizing he was referring to Blaine’s body, Daize nodded slowly.

“I mean, of course I saw it…?”

The moment he answered, sparks flew from Theo’s eyes. Immediately after, Daize’s vision was blocked by something moving at high speed, followed by a sharp, agonizing pain in his eyes.

“Aaaack!”

Feeling the sensation of his eyes being gouged inward by something sharp, Daize clutched his face and screamed in agony.

“My eyes!”

Daize had been poked in the eyes.