these two literally make me feel like a proud parent watching their child walk down the aisle at their wedding or something uweh. the way odajima kept clinging on to the onigiri yano made him because he was so touched at yano having thought of him, yano finding out finally that odajima was the one who returned his notebook first year, his learning just how much odajima thinks of him and tries to support him not just because he loves him but also because as someone who’s struggled so much mentally he wants to make sure someone he loves doesn’t get stressed out the same way (esp after all the stress he put him under in vols 1/2). Wahhh uwahhh
yano’s family is so cute also… you can really tell how much all the kids take after their dad in expressiveness (& the twins in looks), while yano resembles his mom in everything but the face. they’re so sweet & close-knit i’m glad they welcomed odajima so warmly….
Love reading your all comments so much
You do sound like a proud parent <3
Btw, your profile picture <3 that's Sono-kun in plushy form right lol ?!!!
odajima remembering the moment where yano first caught his eye in their first year… the scene where yano was fretting about his family’s expenses….. worrying about him because of that…. they both care about how they approach each other so much (too much even) they’re so sweet. ╥﹏╥ uwah.
i know right T^T they are both so considerate <3
i am crying screaming throwing up etc i am shaking in a way one would expect of a trembling chihuahua and not a person PITTOSPORUM!!!!!!!!! i own all 4 volumes physically in jpn technically but i haven’t opened them i dont want to open them im so glad to have this in english finally so i can read this i’m so glad to see the continuation & see yano and odajima try to navigate through the start of their relationship. i am wishing them nothing but the best…. my kids………. wah…..
fun fact! despite the story apparently releasing in 2022, it can’t take place in 2022 specifically due to the october calendar on Egg Sandwich’s desk. this story takes place probably in 2023 using my deductive ability to figure out what year something takes place in based on how october lines up (2023 is the latest year with october 28th falling on a Saturday lol)
for an actual review of the story…. i understand why people are referencing guildmate because the ML does look a bit like Jigu, but the overall plots & character personalities are ultimately so different i think it’s an unfair criticism to make bc all they really have in common is being about gaming. i DO think this story is really rushed (like many others are saying), though, so i agree with that — personally i think gaming stories are ones that you can’t really DO super short versions of. because you’re introducing an entire extra setting to establish, you need to do more than go “here’s this game! everyone loves it!” to make it truly part of the setting, and you need more time than this story was either willing or able to give to establish that.
like for example… the lack of combat that gets mentioned in the one chapter where Barley Butler (i don’t remember their actual names but i do remember the handles) gets invited to join a raid. the way one person explains it as “no, there’s no actual monsters or combat, it’s just pretend!”…. honestly, it doesn’t sound very engaging! it sounds very boring PRETENDING to act out combat instead of the game actually implementing it! this game sounds like there’s nothing to it but dressing up and RPing with the occasional minigame, and like… that’s fine, but it feels like as a full game this would really lose its appeal way too soon for it to even have enough of a widespread audience to have maintained global servers. “the players help shape the world!” it claims, but there are no real examples of them actually doing enough in this game for that to be the case. are there no quests? nothing to keep you engaged if you keep to yourself? what’s the game like. what’s the setting about. how do players shape things. are there skills at all? i want to know more. this is the one case where i think a guild mate comparison is warranted because illusion goes into quite a bit of depth about its mechanics & this is what i Personally think gaming stories kind of require to establish an engaging story. Relatedly this topic is making me mourn Maplestory 2
tldr it’s rushed but i think it hits extra hard in its rushing bc this is technically a gaming BL and i don’t think you can really DO gaming stories without having enough chapters or exposition to flesh the world out enough to make it interesting. which to me this story does not do! yeah, the relationship is cute or whatever, but it and the setting are unfortunately very bland and very quickly-paced so it’s cute in a very generic sort of way that doesn’t come with any lasting appeal because it moved too quickly to create really any proper attachment to the setting or the characters.
this turned into an essay sowwy everyone i’m just very passionate about the concept of gaming being used as a setting in fiction as a 20-year mmorpg player. i hauve things to say even for 9-chapter BL. this is meant to be sincere criticism more than anything as well lol
Sorry to be a degenerate but i read that as u being an mpreg player
NOOOOOOOOOOO noooooo…. help……. mmorpg……. i’m a childhood veteran of runescape (2004). that’s a fair misread considering what site we’re on though LOL
A couple of comments have mentioned this already, but Guildmate is going on a month-long hiatus after CH77!
The artist’s reasoning is for wanting to reorganise due to other scheduled work (they also added a shush / secret emoji after this so here’s how Love Games adaptation can still win or something idk) as well as needing to rest and recuperate due to health issues.
Once the next chapter is out in EN… see you all in a month! (●'◡'●)ﾉ If anyone wants to check out the available novels for this universe in the meantime, it can be found by:
1. Looking up the series (either Virtual Strangers / Guildmate or Love Games) on Novelupdates
2. Look to see who the translator or host for the series is, it’s listed next to each chapter
3. Google (series name) (translator / host name)
4. There you are!
Many translators request direct links not be shared publicly, & Guildmate has already needed rehosting due to the site it was on going down. So try to use this method, esp since you can use this to search up any novel you’d like to read in EN using it instead of needing a direct link! Have a good month, everyone!
Christ do they at least kiss by ch 77?? （￣へ￣）
No <3 That’s gonna be chapter 78 probably
is that to him friendship is always far prioritised above romance. he doesn’t really believe in relationships and it’s why he has that self-established rule of only seeking out FWBs instead of romantic partners. the fact he’s in love with kyuho has completely entirely bypassed him because of this — he’s aware how completely fond of kyuho he is and how much he wants him and wants him in his life, but because of how he interprets and prioritises relationships these are to him “minor reasons” & not enough to pursue a relationship because he simply doesn’t believe in them. having kyuho in his life as one of “his people” is good enough as a lifetime promise for him
honestly, if it wasn’t like, actively clashing with kyuho’s perspective it wouldn’t really be as much of a Situationship Issue as it’s become? everyone has their own perspectives of love & relationships, and if the person he fell for ended up feeling the same way about prioritising friendship over love it COULD work for him to keep going as he’s been… it’s just that kyuho does go all-in on relationships when he does have them, and it took both him & yoongun by surprise when he fell headfirst into things and yoongun now has to re-address how he feels about things in response to this. Which he does not do well. He wants that cookie so effing bad but doesn’t want to acknowledge it because he doesn’t eat sweets
honestly i don’t think it’d actually work well even if kyuho was happy with the arrangement they have yoongun really does treat it as a traditional relationship in that he gets crazy jealous over even close friends, which he really doesn’t have the right to as “just his friend”, also him treating kyuho as “one of his people” but still keeping him separated and above others that he considers in his circle, all his actions are just so contradictory imo he really needs to recognise that kyuho is special to him in a way that doesn’t apply to anyone else in his life, he can’t treat him as his one and only whilst thinking that he’s one of many ig? but yeah, what a fascinating dude
LMAO yeah i don’t think it could ever work for kyuho! i was more thinking of like…. in the sense of if the person he was seeing was someone else it might be able to work out for him, because his possessiveness seems to be very specifically localised To Kyuho. like even if he got attached to someone else he was sleeping with i don’t think it would have gotten like this & he would be fine continuing on as the situationship final boss without any problems.
his view on love and relationships is fucking him ip so bad with this one specific guy because he knows he’s attached to him deeply & really IS possessive of him in a way he isn’t with anyone else but can’t see the forest for the trees in regards to it because he’s too focused on his view of love & relationships without being willing to rerout his approach! truly so fascinating. Ah, Yoongun.
ahhh i see i see! truly such a complicated guy
i was excited seeing a new chapter because this has so far been a fun read & i really like the art style, only for my heart to drop upon reading the warning at the start & my stomach to drop even further upon actually scrolling through it. that was horrific and quite frankly there’s no turnaround from here or redeeming jaeyi; this manhwa - in its sudden and sharp veering from a silly romantic comedy right into a story encouraging assault - has been ruined for me and i’m sure quite a few others based on the other comments left so far.
the entire scene could have just been cut out & just gone right into jaeyi throwing the money at mooyoung & cutting him off. it was deeply unnecessary and completely destroyed jaeyi as a character and ML. i don’t care how upset you are, forcing yourself on someone is not a justifiable response to anything. will not be following season 2 when it drops.
All of this! I cannot get it out of my head. Jaeyi saying ‘good, it’s meant to hurt’ during the assault was horrific. It just completely destroyed his character! I can’t understand how we’re supposed to enjoy this story after that. I won’t be reading anymore. Nothing can make up for this and I regret spending money on this story now.
I haven’t been able to get it out of my head either. Calling Mooyoung disgusting while raping him… JFC. I genuinely regret reading it so much. I buy this one on the official platform and it makes me sick to know I gave the author money for this.
All of this. It feels like a complete betrayal. I wish I could get a refund because this was not what I signed up for. At least reading through the comments and seeing everyone else equally upset about this is helping a little. We are united in our disbelief.
it’s exactly for this reason i read through mgg…. i test the waters w/ stories on like platforms like this & then move forward with purchasing officials if i end up liking smth enough. i’ve felt regret upon purchasing bc of the direction a story went in & didn’t want that to happen again, and that is. quite applicable here. i’m sorry you (and many others who purchased the officials) were given This in response to your wanting to support the author :(
I do usually do that with unfinished stories, especially yaoi (vs shounen ai,) but I guess it’s a testament to how insane this was that it never occurred to me in a million years that something like this would happen.
IT LOOKS LIKE THE MANHWA SNIPPED OUT ONE OF MY FAVOURITE BITS OF THE NOVEL… while they’re in the car Jungwoo pretends his hand went numb from gripping the steering wheel too hard so he asks Jiwon to hold hands & then laments that he should’ve asked Jiwon to meet at 8 instead of 8:30 so they could’ve held hands longer. it’s sooooooo so so cute this is so sad
Whhhaaaaatttt that is so cute (╯°Д °)╯
Where can we read it ? (づ￣ ³￣)づ
What?! Ugh now I need to know what else it’s missing from here! Can I ask where you read the novel? ˚✧₊⁎❝≀ˍ ❝⁎⁺˳✧༚
it can be found pretty easily by looking up ballboy tactics on novelupdates & then searching from there (or by just googling ‘ballboy tactics novel’)! ^^ i don’t feel comfortable sharing the link myself because of the translators’ policies, my apologies.
i do very much recommend reading it because, while the manhwa is cute, i do think it’s kind of a wooden adaptation so far & i don’t like how it snipped out my favourite little scene (nor do i like some of the tweaks it’s made like giving jiwon his baseball cap instead of the bucket hat he was wearing when he got spotted going to jungwoo’s, which covered more of his head & made him being mistaken as a girl a bit more plausible. or moving the number 17 scene from when jungwoo was sick to them being in the car). it also gives a lot more insight into jiwon’s perspective and just How negative and quick he is to give up, which are really crucial for understanding why he acts the way he does. so i def recommend reading it!
Do you remember roughly what chapter that is?
Chapter 4.2, close to the end. Same chapter as the 17 scene (which originally takes place when Jungwoo is sick, not at the car) =w= I have a tab with it open because I went back to reread it after I saw the manhwa cut it, so here’s the exact chapter lol
Thank you!!
have read the novel up to when they get together & the raws here is everything that happens between kyuho’s confession up to them getting together in a detailed bullet summary in case their situationship drives anyone else insane (since i saw people asking for spoilers but this is a lot so i didn’t want to dump it into a reply, i wanted the ability to spoiler tag it)
so for some detailed spoilers (this is very long as a lot happens).
- kyuho starts putting noticeable distance between the two of them in his efforts to get over yoongun, which very much upsets yoongun
- at one point kyuho gets drunk and tries to bust open yoongun’s door w/ a fire extinguisher when kang (his friend) is taking him back to his place bc kang & yoongun live in the same building and kyuho beelines for yoongun’s. yoongun intercepts, takes kyuho to his place to sleep, stares at him fondly, & thinks abt how he really wants to kiss him and laments how kyuho is trying to put between them (he still is not aware of his feelings atp. lol)
- kyuho freaks out when he wakes up and leaves during breakfast w/o eating it, continues to put distance between the two of them bc he decides that they can’t even maintain their friendship at this point due to his feelings. he pretty much begins ghosting yoongun entirely& later lies to him when asked why he’s avoiding him, saying that he fell for someone at work and doesn’t want to talk to him right now bc of it because it’s awkward for him.
— this proceeds to drive yoongun kind of insane as they had maintained the idea of their friendship being more important than any relationships they may end up in & he is Very Upset at thinking he means so little to kyuho that he can’t manage being around him even if he’s seemingly gotten over him
-Kyuho continues to dive headfirst into his journalism internship and the child abuse case he’s investigating. Yoongun downloads the dating app Kyuho used to use while brooding & proceeds to send him a message (he ends up sending like 99+ of them in total). Realises Kyuho has lied about liking someone else
- yoongun then asks sehyun, i think his name is? (the friend of his) to invite kyuho to a mixer sehyun(?) set up he can see him again, which pisses kyuho (still trying to avoid him) off a lot. Yoongun then spends part of the mixer flirting w/ and touching Kyuho when no one is looking. Kyuho leaves & Yoongun follows to ask why he lied abt liking someone else
-Kyuho tells him he doesn’t have the confidence to stand next to him as a friend & cries out of frustration and Yoongun then royally fucks it up by blurting out that he thinks Kyuho looks really pretty when he cries because his brain shuts down upon hearing how much Kyuho likes him
-Kyuho then punches Yoongun in the face, Yoongun keeps asking him to stay with him and spend time together because he’s still short circuiting over how much Kyuho likes him. Kyuho (understandably) interprets this as Yoongun ignoring his feelings and trying to proposition him just bc he wants to keep his FWB that badly, and tells him effectively to fuck off and cuts him off
-Yoongun keeps trying to get in contact w/ Kyuho to apologise for how badly he fucked up, showing up at his company to talk & sending him flowers with message cards because Kyuho blocked him. Tells Kyuho when given the chance to speak he wants to see him on the basis of spending the rest of their lives together (seeing and talking to each other daily, holding hands, kissing, sleeping w/ each other, etc)
-Kyuho once again tells Yoongun to fuck off bc he can’t believe him. Yoongun then confesses & says he wants them to live together and get married. Kyuho says again he can’t believe Yoongun as sincere after everything and says not to contact him again
-Kyuho gets fired from his internship for refusing to use some bad information his boss gave him. Runs into Yoongun while crying over it bc YG is still trying to reach out to him, apologises for snapping at him while crying and cuts him off once again by saying they’re too different to work out and that they can’t understand each other / that their values are too different and he’d always worry about being an irritant to YG because of it.
- Yoongun is very upset by this but then remembers the ‘you look pretty when crying’ comment he’d made and how he had completely ignored how upset Kyuho was at that time in favour of his own happiness towards him & accepts it / apologises for making Kyuho feel like he couldn’t be with him without feeling anxious
-School starts again. they are no longer in contact. Yoongun takes a leave of absence. Kyuho discovers the 99+ messages YG sent him on the dating app and (not realising it’s him) is very weirded out. Sends a message calling him a psycho lol
-Kyuho’s one female friend (Somin?) asks him to go drinking to vent abt her breakup. She’s got very close cropped hair bc she cut it to appeal to her ex and is wearing loose clothing (this detail is relevant)
-Yoongun, having received the message, thinks Kyuho is trying to find someone new on the dating app. He sees KH and Somin together heading to KH’s house and - thinking Somin is a man bc of her style - freaks the hell out thinking Kyuho really has gotten over him and is taking a new lover. Spam calls Kyuho, goes to his place, and threatens to bust into KH’s house with a fire extinguisher the way KH did for him when drunk.
-Kyuho lets him in as he’s very confused and Yoongun starts kissing him and Somin is there to witness it. Poor girl, baffled, leaves after YG falls asleep in Kyuho’s arms, having knocked himself out from relief upon realising nothing happened
-Yoongun gets a call and Kyuho recognises the number. It ends up being Kang (his friend), who’s been working with YG on a case he was investigating as a reporter
-KH and YG end up talking and YG tells him abt how he downloaded the app and how he wants to get back together
-Kyuho discovers the article YG was assisting Kang with was regarding the article / reporter fraud that got Kyuho fired during his internship (as he refused to accept / use bad information) & that Yoongun had approached Kang about this right after learning about Kyuho’s firing. Kang and Kyuho talk on the phone for a while about the situation
- Kyuho reflects upon everything & decides that, after hearing everything Yoongun did to help him after his firing, he can accept his confession as sincere now. the two talk everything over and get together
I NEEDED THIS TYSM
Oley i read half but I can't anymore cz I'm gonna marrinate it until the whole manga came out
NP! there’s a long way to go until they’re on the same page & get together so i thought this might help tide everyone over as this hell situationship slowly chugs along
haha you might be waiting a while, just to warn you in advance! the manhwa just hit the mixer section with its latest update & it updates on a ten day schedule, so there’s probably a good handful of months before the raws cover everything i bulleted (and then the tl will take some more time)…. you’re braver than i for being willing to wait it out & let it marinate i’m too impatient
Thank you for your hard work
Hello! Can you send the link of the novel here. I have been trying to find it but to no avail :(
It's nice to know that Kyuho really distance himself and have YG chase him real good.
sure! i don’t mind sharing the link in this case because i read the raws (and MTLed them using my browser’s translation function), i don’t think it has a translation https://booktoki468.com/novel?stx=%ED%8C%8C%ED%8A%B8%ED%83%80%EC%9E%84+%ED%8C%8C%ED%8A%B8%EB%84%88&book=%EC%99%84%EA%B2%B0%EC%86%8C%EC%84%A4 it’s certainly clunky, but i think the understanding of it gets across well enough even with the shoddy translation ╮(￣▽￣)╭
the fact he watched his lover from a past life grow up with the hope and desire for them to be together again someday is the issue here. this is a very inherently groomy / predatory scenario whether they’re blood related or not. he was there for this guy’s birth & all of his childhood milestones. he got upset seeing the reincarnated ex have a girlfriend when in high school while he was a grown ass man this entire time watching over him. reincarnation or no, This is the problem here in this case
tbh frankly these kinds of debates also do open up an argument for criticism about how people refuse to acknowledge adoptive incest as incest because of the “they’re not blood related” argument (ex. dawn of the dragon). though this again isn’t the case here bc the “uncle” refers to the mc as being the dad’s friend, it’s still very much a problem. just not the problem in this case as the specific issue is something else of a still-predatory nature