Season 4: Chapter 17. Ace in the Hole (2)

There was a saying that two heads were better than one. Unfortunately, that wasn’t always the case. Anyone who had ever played doubles in sports knew. Sometimes, being alone was actually better. Almond understood this very well.

‘Yeah, we used to fight all the time.’

Back when he lived in the athlete village, the ones who fought the most weren’t the 11-player soccer teams or the one-on-one taekwondo fighters. It was the doubles racket sport players. Within that category, the ones who fought the most were the badminton players.

"

Ugh!

Sang-Cheol! Just switch sports with Sang-Hyeon already!"

"W-What!? That wasn’t my fault!"

"You’re out of position again!"

Doubles required splitting the same court while catching high-speed shots fired from the opposite end. The problem was rarely that the opponents were too strong. It was that partners had to know, sometimes just from the sound of the other’s breath, who was supposed to hit it and who wasn’t. That was the true barrier to entry in doubles sports.

‘Gotta prepare myself.’

Almond reminded himself of that and resolved himself. Getting in sync with another athlete was tough enough. The wall he now faced was practically a mountain.

‘My partner is Bubblegum.’

Even someone as battle-hardened as Almond couldn’t help but feel nervous.

Gulp.

He swallowed dryly and stared at the message on-screen.

[You cannot defeat the yokai alone! Work together to exorcise it!]

— Religious unification LMAO

— So that’s what kind of game this is lol

— Wow...

— Why can’t you do it alone though?

Next came the weapon instructions.

[Weapon: Bell]

[The Shaman detects evil spirits first and makes them visible to teammates using the bell.]

It was a tutorial, so the game was being quite kind.

‘I already did that part.’

The second ability depended on the weapon.

[Weapon: Talisman]

[Temporarily stun the enemy or exorcise evil spirits by striking their weak point with a talisman.]

The Shaman had two weapons: a bell and talismans. What did the Monk have?

"Almond!"

Almond turned and immediately laughed, “

Pffft!

”

— LOLOLOLOL

— I’m dying

— What even??

— Bald Iron Ball LOL

Bubblegum had gone bald.

"Ah... the chat is just full of laughter, right?"

Bubblegum grumbled after seeing Almond’s expression.

"Now I know how Tako feels..."

— Suddenly name-dropping Tako LOL

— Dude really brought up the OG!

— Bubblegum under fire for personality scandal??

"Anyway, I’m the one who has to tank and crowd control."

[Weapon: Wooden Fish]

[Strike the Wooden Fish rhythmically to increase defense and create a barrier to block attacks.]

[Weapon: Prayer Beads]

[Throw beads to bind the evil spirit. It cannot move or attack. Exorcise it while immobilized.]

— Of all people, they made Bubblegum the tank??

— Wait, he’s got a really important role though??

— But there’s only one enemy. Can’t Almond just solo this?

— People already strategizing how to ditch Bubblegum!

— If only Almond had archery, he’d clear this solo for sure.

In the chat, viewers already debated how to beat the game without Bubblegum.

"

Grrrrrr...

"

Meanwhile, the thought monster finished taking shape. Its muzzle jutted out like a wolf’s and its ominous eyes glowed blue. Blades lined the sides of both arms.

Shriiing!

Its arms dragged across the ground, long enough to stretch from the priority seats to the center row in one swoop.

"

GRRRRAAAAAH!

"

Swish!

Its massive limbs lashed forward in a flash.

"Al-Almond! It’s coming!!!"

Dodging wasn’t easy on a subway car tilted 45 degrees. Bubblegum, having let go of Almond’s hand, tumbled further down the car. Almond barely dodged by pressing himself against the metal bar behind the seats.

Kakakang!!

Blades sliced through the aisle with brutal force.

"Whoa."

Almond was genuinely impressed by the intense attack. Now it was time to strike back.

"Okay, Bubblegum. I’ll—wait, what?"

— LOLOLOLOL

— Where did he go??

— Seriously, what the heck??

Bubblegum was dangling far below.

"I-I fell!!"

The subway car kept tilting, so even the smallest slip sent people sliding down. Apparently, Bubblegum had tumbled for quite a while.

"Can’t you throw your beads?"

"I-I’ll try—

AAAAHH!

"

The monster attacked again. Its two arms spun like a deadly jump rope, shredding through the train.

𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

KAGAGAGANG!

Sparks from the grinding metal lit up the space.

"

Phew...

"

Bubblegum peeked up.

"Should I throw it?"

"Just throw it. Don’t talk."

— LOLOLOL

— So annoyed already

— Is Almond mad already?! LOL

— LMAO

— Hard to go from national teammates to working with Bubblegum...

Good thing it was a tutorial. In a real scenario, they’d have been sliced up before even finishing that sentence.

"

Hup!

"

Finally, Bubblegum threw the prayer beads.

Crackle!

The beads zipped forward with a surge of energy. Almond also pulled a talisman from his scroll pouch.

‘Looks like I have to throw the talisman after the beads land.’

Having played many games, Almond could already guess the developer’s intent. They wanted players to bind the enemy with the beads. Then, exorcise the monster using a talisman on its weak point.

Why? Because the talisman had to hit a specific spot like Raina’s targeted weak points. This made things much harder.

‘The enemy is stationary now, but it’ll probably be way tougher later.’

Almond was proud of his prediction.

‘Strategist Almondoyle strikes again.’

Wanting to set a good example for the devs, Almond tried to follow the intended gameplay for this ad stream.

Thunk.

The beads bounced off a subway pole and dropped harmlessly.

"Ah."

— Huh?

— LOLOLOLOL

— It wouldn’t be Bubblegum if he got it on the first try~

— Legendary 3-mag rounds, 0 kills—don’t underestimate him!

"Ah, o-okay! I’ll throw again!"

"You don’t have to tell me. Just throw it~"

"Alright, I won’t say anything before I throw!"

— LOL

— Their chemistry is golden!

— This is it!!

— Chef’s kiss.

This time, the prayer beads flew in a much better arc than before.

‘Alright, this should—’

Was luck simply not on Bubblegum’s side?

Screeeeech!

The subway tilted completely vertically by 90 degrees.

"W-whoa, whoa, whoa?!"

In that process, the beads bounced off the floor and flew off.

— Whoa

— What the heck is happening?

— Looks like the real game starts here.

— They’re gonna fight vertically now?!

"

KYAAAAAHHHH!

"

"Crap! It’s falling! We’re falling!"

The subway car had gone fully upright. Almond clung to a pole like a gymnast while Bubblegum tumbled to the bottom.

"

Ugh!

"

Bubblegum crash-landed on a pile of passengers like a mattress. Meanwhile, the thought monster stood firm. Its blade-like legs stabbed into the floor as it walked without slipping.

‘Huh.’

Almond’s eyes lit up. The creature looked stable, but he noticed something. Now and then, it would wobble as it steadied itself, exposing the top of its head. On its crown was a red mark where the talisman needed to land.

Swish!

Almond sprang off the bar and hurled a talisman.

Crack!

It unfolded in mid-air and shot like a bullet straight toward the monster’s crown.

— Whoa!

— Nice!

— An opening! Let’s go!

Slash!

The creature swung its arm and shredded the flying talisman.

‘Wait, what?’

Thunk.

Almond, now across the car, grabbed onto another pole one level lower.

‘Every throw has a huge risk.’

The talisman only traveled in a straight line. To land a hit, he had to leap into the aisle. However, the monster just slashed the talisman away like nothing.

‘How?’

He couldn’t make sense of how the monster deflected it.

‘Again.’

Almond climbed up again and threw another talisman.

Slash!

The monster shredded it once more. Almond’s eyes narrowed.

‘Hm? That movement is weird.’

It felt like the monster was breaking the in-game physics.

[Expert has donated 10,000 won!]

[That looked like an auto-parry just now.]

‘Ah.’

An auto-parry mechanic explained it. It reflexively countered any talisman on sight, physics be damned.

‘So it really is a co-op requirement.’

The Monk needed to bind it first using prayer beads. Only then could the talisman hit.

— Auto-parry?!

— Forced co-op confirmed

— Bubblegum needs to climb back up...

— Honestly, the tutorial is super easy if you just land the beads lol

"Looks like we need the beads first," Almond muttered.

Right then, another viewer donated.

[WellDuh has donated 5000 won!]

[But don’t the beads get parried too?]

"Uh... good question. Guess we’ll only know if we try."

Almond looked toward Bubblegum.

— LOLOL

— Almond’s eyes are full of disappointment

— How is he supposed to know if he hasn’t thrown them yet?

— Maybe beads bind instantly on contact

The viewers’ theory could be right, but Bubblegum had no good throwing angle.

‘It doesn’t seem likely.’

The train was tilting steeper by the second. Bubblegum was still climbing his way back up.

"J-Just go on without me, Almond! Go ahead!"

— LOL

— Oh please...

— What’s that supposed to mean, man

— Is he sending him to the afterlife or what

Almond looked up again.

‘If only the monster came closer...’

It kept slashing from max range using its long arms. It was hard to close the distance despite the simple pattern. The devs had clearly designed it to stop players from just running up and tagging it with the talisman.

"Looks like I have to approach... but I might get slashed..."

— Yeah, there’s gotta be a way.

— It said to co-op, LOL

— Almond is completely ignoring the co-op mechanic lmao

Almond thought hard.

"We’ll need another strategy."

He would’ve just charged in headfirst in the past, but not anymore. He knew better now as a world champion in RTS games.

"Cookie always said, ‘The answer lies in what the enemy least wants.’"

— Ooooh

— Almondoyle, show us what you got

— He pulled out the Book of Cookie Quotes!

— This... this can’t end well lmao

Almond scanned the surroundings, and his eyes lit up.

"That means... I have to get close."

Ultimately, he ended up with the same result but with more steps.

— Huh?

— He just made the same decision, but slower LOL

— Brooooo;;;

— What even is this logic?? lol

***

"

Haha

, struggling in the tutorial?"

"Told you! One skilled player means nothing in a co-op game. Picking Bubblegum was genius!"

"Right? It makes people want to buy the game when you think, ‘Even I could do better than Bubblegum.’ Long-term ad, baby!"

If the players were in sync, this tutorial would’ve been a breeze.

"It’s easy with the Monk."

All the monk had to do was get close and use the barrier from the Wooden Fish. Not to protect himself, but to trap the monster. That would cancel out all the monster’s attacks for a short time. Then, the Monk could toss the beads to bind it. And the Shaman would land the talisman to finish it off.

"Seems like he’s struggling with the Monk role."

"Forget trapping the monster, he’s not even using the barrier."

"You can move with the barrier too, y’know."

They cackled.

— Ugh. I can’t watch this.

— USE THE BARRIER ALREADY!

— Read the chat, you bald monk!

— Someone donate and tell him what to do!!

Desperate backseat gamers filled Bubblegum’s chat.

"If this is the tutorial, they’ve already passed the average clear time."

Collaborating with Almond had brought high hopes, but even four aces couldn’t carry one rotten apple in gaming. They had one ace... and one massive rotten apple. Even now, the duo was pushing beyond the average tester's clear time.

Then, Almond made a move.

"Wait, wait! What’s he doing?!"

"Huh?! He’s really gonna just approach?!"

The devs involuntarily rose from their seats.

— He’s doing it?!

— OMG

— Almond style dash!!

— No way...

— The shaman begins his sorcery~