Stalkerizing – Chapter 180

[Guild] Swakkoong: ?

[Guild] GegulGegulFrog: Eh?

[Guild] Freedeal: What just killed me???

No one knew the reason. Persephone, who had kept her word, gracefully walked back toward the pomegranate tree. When she pressed the revive button, she thankfully respawned at the same location where she had first entered. A brief silence settled as they had all gone to review the recorded footage.

“Got any idea?”

“I have no clue either.”

Shin-jae, who had been nuzzling his face against Sa-yoon’s neck while pretending to watch the footage, quickly responded.

“Hmm…”

Sa-yoon, staring at the screen, let out a soft hum. It seemed impossible to figure out the answer. His monolid eyes narrowed.

Would it be okay to kiss the corner of those eyes right now? Like a wildcat eyeing its prey, Shin-jae lowered his posture, gauging the mood.

“Get the buffs ready.”

“Got it.”

…It seemed like now wasn’t the time. Sulking, Shin-jae returned to his spot.

[Oath’s Vow]: Let’s try again.

And the newly prepared buff food was gone again in just ten seconds.

Ah, fuck… someone muttered.

After putting their heads together, they reached the conclusion that someone had to stand on that zone. So this time, Oath’s Vow stood on it while the rest of the party positioned themselves on the opposite side. It was the standard combat formation.

Oath’s Vow used an invincibility skill, but as soon as the zone exploded, they were all lying flat on the ground together.

[Jeon-gi]: What the hell…

[Swakkoong]: From what I see, someone has to be sacrificed.

[GegulGegulFrog]: So, who are we killing?

[Furple]: Guess the tank should die.

[Oath’s Vow]: How about we kill the most useless Archer?

[Furple]: Are you discriminating against Archers right now?

“This is just my hypothesis…”

[Freedeal]: Yes, yes, Chasa-nim.

“If we have to sacrifice something anyway, should we just summon a demon and kill it?”

[Oath’s Vow]: Shall we?

[GegulGegulFrog]: Hey, demons are living beings too, you know.

[Jeon-gi]: Then why don’t you die instead of the demon, GegulGegulFrog-nim?

[GegulGegulFrog]: Chasa-nim, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and summon it! Every second counts!

[Persephone]: I shall take your life as the price!

With everyone’s agreement, they decided to sacrifice the demon. As soon as the zone exploded, the summoned firebird vanished without a trace.

[Freedeal]: Did you see that damage just now? 300,000?

[Guild] Shokrates: Isn’t that a bit too much life to take?

They had barely survived the first phase, but Persephone immediately swung her spear again. From the four corners of the room, vines sprouted, each forming a massive flower bud.

[Swakkoong]: That definitely looks like something’s about to pop out of it.

And, sure enough, as the buds bloomed, skeletal warriors armed with weapons came pouring out. The sheer number spilling from a single bud was absurd—like watching nine adults and five kids climb out of a tiny compact car. The once-empty hall was suddenly packed with uninvited guests.

[Furple]: Hold on, why is Persephone holding a spear but suddenly acting like a Necromancer?

[GegulGegulFrog]: This game doesn’t even have a Necromancer class, so why the hell is she summoning things? This is bullshit.

Without any warning, Persephone’s spear unleashed a cross-shaped beam of black light.

Half the party, who had been busy dealing with the adds, got obliterated by the laser beam. Even Chasa, who had been focused on sending mana orbs to the healers, was caught in the blast. With half the team wiped out, another full-party wipe was inevitable.

At this point, the situation was so ridiculous that they couldn’t help but laugh.

[Guild] Freedeal: LOL…

[Guild] Swakkoong: LMAO.

[Guild] Furple: Did they really expect us to clear this? ㅜㅜㅜㅜ

[Guild] Shokrates: They said it was one of the hardest raids ever, and yeah… this difficulty is absolutely insane.

[Oath’s Vow]: I’ll head back in once my buffs are ready.

The rest of the party was in the same situation. But what could they do? As always, the Koreans managed to come up with the most efficient strategy possible.

They locked Persephone in place next to the 12 o’clock flower while the ranged DPS stood by the 3, 6, and 9 o’clock flowers, taking out the mobs as soon as they spawned. It took exactly 40 minutes to execute the plan.

[Furple]: Chasa-nim, should we come help?

[Jeon-gi]: Should I head over now?

The area near the 3 o’clock flower was packed with skeletal corpses. Warlocks were a class that specialized in dot damage and debuffs, slowly whittling down enemies. Given the relatively slow clear speed, the ranged DPS asked if support was needed.

[Chasa]: No. They’re all dead.

Sa-yoon answered indifferently, maintaining some distance from the minions. The skeletons that had been clattering after him suddenly froze, as if hit by a massive stun effect, before collapsing into heaps of bones. It was an area-wide curse with a precisely calculated timer.

[Guild] Shokrates:

[Guild] Freedeal: Honestly…

[Guild] Freedeal: Out of all the Warlocks I know, Chasa-nim is definitely top tier.

[Guild] Furple: But Chasa-nim is the only Warlock you know… ㅠㅠ

[Guild] Freedeal: Shh.

[Guild] Shokrates: At this point, Warlocks deserve a buff.

At the mention of a buff, Sa-yoon’s eyes sharpened. A buff?

[Guild] Chasa: Haha

[Guild] Chasa: Please, go on.

[Guild] Shokrates: Uh… Buffs!

[Guild] Shokrates: I mean… warlocks are essential!

[Guild] Freedeal: What are you even saying?

[Guild] Shokrates: I’m saying Warlocks are essential! Please don’t kill me ㅠ

[Guild] Swakkoong: Uh, why is Inseong’s DPS meter acting weird all of a sudden? Is it lagging?

Hearing that, Sa-yoon checked the DPS meter he had running on the side.

“Missed the skill.”

“Ohhh…”

Shin-jae automatically responded like a voice-activated system just from watching. No wonder he had been unusually quiet in the guild chat.

“Hey, pretty. Stop whispering and focus on your DPS.”

“Yes, sir!”

[Oath’s Vow]: Curse on Furple.

[Swakkoong]: Got it~ Cleansed.

[Oath’s Vow]: Slam incoming.

[Oath’s Vow]: Curse on me.

After finally smashing through the relentless waves of skeletal enemies, they were back to normal attack patterns for a while. By now, the frog should’ve been summoning their karmic retribution with its mouth any second…

With an ominous sound, Oath’s Vow vanished. More precisely, in his place stood a blankly staring skeleton.

[Oath’s Vow]: Uh… is this a bug? My screen just went completely black. I can’t see anything.

[Freedeal]: This can’t be cleansed?

[Oath’s Vow]: Ah… Looks like getting hit with the Wraith’s Curse shrinks your vision.

With the tank, who had been holding aggro with taunts, suddenly gone, Persephone immediately turned her gaze to the player with the highest accumulated damage. The aggro holder was Killer.

[GegulGegulFrog]: The current aggro holder is Inseong-nim. It’s not shifting.

[Oath’s Vow]: Let’s try having the Hunter tank for now.

[Freedeal]: Holy shit, HP is dropping like crazy.

[Swakkoong]: Wait—behind us! Minions! More minions are spawning!

To make things worse, the flowers that had previously closed up bloomed once again, unleashing another miracle of the compact car. More skeletons piled out of the buds and charged at the party.

[Freedeal]: Both healers are being swarmed by adds.

“I’ll take your minions, Freedeal-nim.”

[Battle] Alokes’ Curse engulfs the wailing wraith.

Baa— Baa—

[Server] PeachScent: Anyone know how to get past the first boss?????? Reward available @@@@@@

[Server] ColdFlamePants: Looking for a cute GF, 20+ only.

[Server] FallenTeacup: What about 58? I make great kimchi stew.

[Server] ColdFlamePants: Do you think that would work?

[Server] hera: Ever since server chat became anonymous, it’s turned into the abyss.

[Server] EternalSnowMountainIceFlower: How do you handle three stacks of rage on the first boss? ㅜㅜㅜㅜ

The server chat was complete chaos. More than half the messages were just people cursing out the dungeon difficulty. Most of the names in chat were unfamiliar—probably because players had lost their usual names in the rush and hadn’t been able to reclaim them.

Among them, one name stood out.

WildGrassHare… Cute. Should I ask them to level alts together after we clear this? The thought was pointless, but Sa-yoon idly scrolled up anyway.

He skimmed pretty far up, but there was no sign of anyone who had actually reached the second boss yet.

…Were they the furthest along right now?

[GegulGegulFrog]: Guys, guys! I found out something shocking!

[Swakkoong]: What is it?

[GegulGegulFrog]: You know that AoE Persephone casts at the start? Apparently, all eight party members are supposed to share the damage.

[Freedeal]: No wonder it hit so hard…

[Furple]: But instead of playing a loyalty game with each other, wouldn’t it be better to just let the demon take the hit and die?

[Freedeal]: That would be more efficient.

[GegulGegulFrog]: So what do we do now?

[Oath’s Vow]: Just kick me from the party for now.

Not a bad idea. Oath’s Vow was removed from the party, and as soon as he was expelled from the dungeon, Persephone walked back toward the pomegranate tree, and the flower buds closed up. The fight reset.

[Oath’s Vow]: Uh… I respawned at the riverbank. And… there’s no boat.

[Furple]: Won’t one show up if you wait?

[Oath’s Vow]: The ferryman is lying dead on the shore.

[Freedeal]: Ahh…

[GegulGegulFrog]: Damn, we shouldn’t have gone for world-first clear.

[Jeon-gi]: Not like those bastards would’ve made it past this either.

[Furple]: So… is this the end?

[Oath’s Vow]: Sorry, I miscalculated.

This was an eight-player dungeon designed for maximum difficulty. Clearing it with only seven, without their main tank, was nearly impossible.

A heavy silence settled over the party as the reality of the situation set in.

Then, a voice broke through.

“Wait a second. Let me try summoning Oath’s Vow.”