Healing Castle | TXT Fantasy Novel ft. BTS

7 - Yeonjun

Yeonjun leads the team into Nocturna Lounge at 2 am.

The gaming cafe has agreed to let the boys in past closing hours. The place is dark but lit up with fluorescent bulbs. Gaming consoles line the walls, while there are booths of desktop computers along the center line. The atmosphere smells fresh and cold, and Yeonjun shivers at the thought of the Mage materializing again.

Yeonjun came up with the idea of visiting a gaming cafe so they could figure out the whole MapleStory situation. It took a lot of his effort to convince the team. Mostly arm flailing and also playing the hyung card. Most of the team wants to forget the vision of the Black Mage showing up in their vacation home. A day has passed, and still he hasn't forgotten the haunting realness, the cold weight encompassing his body.

How exactly the Black Mage was able to escape a virtual world? He doesn't have a clue. Like the rest of the team, a part of him wants to ignore it. But what choice do they have? Bang PD still hasn't responded to their concerns. They did get in contact with a few members of BTS, but their sunbaenim had nothing to say but to get some needed rest.

Rest wasn't it, Yeonjun is certain. He's been way more tired before, and there was no apparition that threatened to kill him. He's sort of embarrassed of how scared he was. He thought his time preparing for debut gave him a thick skin, but he realizes now how fragile he is.

Confidence, Yeonjun. You have to be strong, just like on stage.

"You guys ready to play?" Yeonjun asks. He tries to rid the tremble in his voice. As the oldest, he feels a sort of duty to protect the other boys. "I can't wait to remake my character. I swear that I was the best rogue in all of North America."

Disregarding yesterday, his memories of the game are sweet and nostalgic. He remembers playing with his friends from elementary school. He would stay up past midnight to gain levels and explore new continents of the Maple World.

In the choreography for CROWN, TXT even paid tribute to the game, naming one of the dance moves after a boss. They called part with shooting arms the Zakum dance.

"That can't be true," says Huening Kai. "I had the best character of every class."

"Yeah right," says Yeonjun. He tries his best to be his usual playful self, attempting to lift the mood.

"It's true! My main character may have been a warrior, but my thief was one of the best."

Yeonjun squints, not sure if their maknae is trolling him again. "Whatever you say."

He tries to keep up the banter, but to no avail. The image of the Mage keeps distracting him, pulling him into a world of doubt and fear.

As they reach a booth specially made to hold five desktops, Beomgyu stops dramatically and raises both fists to the sky. "Yo. I don't think I can do this!"

Yeonjun, used to his best friend's usual antics, refuses the impulse to roll his eyes. "Stop being so dramatic. These are just computers."

"Computers that can possibly come alive and eat us whole," Soobin mutters.

"In the form of monsters," Taehyun adds on.

Yeonjun guesses he'll just have to bite his tongue. He chooses one of the desktops and boots up the game. The staff at Nocturna were also nice enough to download the MMORPG. He realizes that the game isn't so popular in the United States anymore. In Korea, it's still everywhere in PC bangs. He doesn't think the game will lose popularity there anytime soon.

As his team members join him, he becomes lost in the feeling of nostalgia. Even the music is enough for him to relax, assuming the role of a child in school break. The bright, 2D animation makes him feel like he's used a time machine. A part of him wishes he could go back to the summer of 2010.

He makes his character, taking a few minutes to customize his appearance. Then, he begins the familiar experience of adventuring through the Maple World. A lot has changed. But the heart is still there, the sense of being in a world that is simple, beautiful, and void of any problems. He recalls the cute-looking monsters and the scenery—ranging from bright distant mountains to forests of floating vines.

"I can't believe I stopped playing," says Yeonjun. He's already leveled up his character to twenty, unlocking several skills. "Wow. It's so much easier to level up now."

"It is," Beomgyu says. His eyes have been wider than plates for a half hour. "But I know why I stopped playing. I think I was spending at least twenty dollars a week on costumes and pets. My mom got mad that I was wasting all of my allowance."

"Quiet," says Huening Kai—in his mock-serious voice. "I'm trying to kill the slime boss."

Everyone seems to be basking in a better mood as they move forward in their journey. Soobin receives a rare scroll drop, Taehyun makes friends with a random player, and Beomgyu cheers as he reaches level 30 faster than the other four. Yeonjun and Huening Kai start a fight on which type of rogue and warrior the other should be.

Yeonjun is just glad that he can act like a normal kid again. He's forgotten how fun it is to play an online game with friends. Seeing the other members on screen, in various costumes that reflect their personalities, fills him with a sentimental and warm sensation. They jump across maps together, create a team to defeat monsters, and visit familiar maps.

He's reminded of their song "Can't We Just Leave The Monster Alive?" Playing MapleStory feels exactly like listening to that track—like floating through the clouds.

Yeonjun types a command into the keyboard, adding a point into his favorite ability—dark sight. It will allow his character to become invisible. He presses the assigned button on the keyboard.

Huening Kai screams. The sound is like a banshee's wail against an open microphone. It mixes with a dolphin wail coming from Beomgyu.

Yeonjun flinches in his chair in response. He almost knocks over the desktop monitor in the process. "What is wrong with—"

Then he realizes why his teammates are staring at him like goldfish. He's completely invisible. From his shoulders to his feet, he doesn't see anything material.

He somehow inherited the skill of his rogue character. Impossibly, he's completely shielded from the human eye. His body feels completely the same, but he's just... not in normal existence right now. His eyes dart around the game room, wondering if this is another ploy of the Black Mage. Finding nothing, he's relieved, but only slightly.

Yeonjun attempts to clear his throat, but he only succeeds in making himself even more choked up.

"Okay," Yeonjun says. "This is getting weirder and weirder."

A/N: Things are heating up :) send me your thoughts, and please vote and comment. It would help me out a ton!