Season 4: Chapter 19. The Gatekeeper (1)

Although it was still just the tutorial, reactions to the new game began appearing frequently in online communities.

[A god-tier game where Line 1 subway villains exorcise actual villains]

— LOL what the hell

— But where’s the recorder killer though?

— Korea’s Suicide Squad, fr

— This game is such a mess

└ That’s the charm though

— Is this even a sponsored stream? They must’ve spent a lot.

└ Yeah, but looks like they only gave it to one team lol

At first, the posts caught attention because viewers had never seen the game before. Then, those who knew about it or looked it up began sharing information.

[Ghostwo: The actual way to clear the tutorial]

Someone uploaded a video showing the proper method of beating the tutorial. It quickly gained attention.

— What?

— LOL that was it? It’s that simple?

— If you have the monk, it’s stupidly easy

└ It’s the tutorial... the rest of the game is harder

— LOL Almond really got hazed in his first game

— Almondoyle? Time for karma to hit back

└ LMAO

└ Let’s give him some "mirror therapy" for those detective games he played

Among related posts, one in particular went viral.

[3. What happens when you approach the Ghostwo tutorial monster]

(Video)

[Apparently, you get shredded, lol]

— ???

— But how did Almond do it? He just ran straight at it

└ That’s called "strategy," my guy

└ LMAOOOO

└ "Cookie told me. Mortals wouldn’t understand."

└ LOL for real

— Wait, huh???

— Didn't Almond just go for it? This must be an early version

— This guy kinda seems like a company shill, no? Found the video way too fast

└ Fr, it feels like viral marketing

└ Yeah it shows lol

Clatter clatter.

Assistant Manager Kim stopped typing in a panic.

"Damn... that’s why I hate smart users."

***

Meanwhile, Ju-Hyeok chuckled while typing replies.

"He’s being way too obvious."

Whether it was viral marketing or not, any form of publicity was welcomed. However, it was best to nip overexposure in the bud. If the gameplay became a problem after going viral, the backlash would be brutal. For now, they could play it off as cute.

"No need to rush."

They had just cleared the tutorial and didn’t need to start posting aggressively yet.

[Current Viewers: 143,000]

With numbers like these, the community would take care of the rest soon enough.

***

Almond and Bubblegum, who had plunged into the river, now sat in a park in the middle of the city. Their clothes were still damp, suggesting they’d only just escaped the water.

"Hey, did you hear that voice too?"

Almond, still dressed like a shaman, asked the now bald Bubblegum. Bubblegum kept rubbing his slick head, still in disbelief.

"Yeah... you heard it too?"

"Apparently, we’re supposed to exorcise thought-forms in the city."

"

Sigh...

I have work tomorrow. What even is this?"

— ??

— Oh, it’s a cutscene

— LMAO hearing Almond and Bubblegum’s voices in this scene is too funny

— What is even happening? lol

It wasn’t the streamers actually talking, but an AI-generated cutscene using their real voices. It sounded just like a natural conversation.

"So are we exorcists now?"

"Seems like it. What do we tell the office?"

— Good question

— Are they getting fired now?

— Can’t they just show up anyway?

"Man, if it weren’t for my hair, I’d just go to work like normal..."

Bubblegum could still technically show up for work, but he looked troubled. Almond wasn’t much better off.

"I can’t take off this damn hat either."

— LOL

— Forced cosplay

— It would be hilarious if they went to work like that

— Only safe to show up on Halloween

— Welcome to streamer life!

"Man, what the hell. Damn Line 1..."

Just as Bubblegum muttered and grumbled, the bell in Almond’s hand rang.

Jingle.

"

Kyaaaaaaaah!

"

A scream rang out in the park. A woman jogging suddenly transformed into a thought-form.

"

Krrraaaaah!

"

She wasn’t the only one. Nearly half the joggers in the park began twisting and convulsing in black smoke.

"

Graaaah!

"

"

Kaaaah!

"

"

Kreeeee!

"

— Whoa

— Ambush by monsters??

— Guess work is canceled lmao

— Is this how it works now?

— No more commuting, let’s go

"W-What the—?!"

The camera zoomed in on Bubblegum’s panicked face just as the cutscene ended, and the gameplay resumed.

"Oh. They’re talking again."

Almond’s remark triggered the action.

BOOM!

One of the monsters suddenly lunged at them at an insane speed.

Almond barely dodged back, but Bubblegum got blasted into the air.

"

Aaaagh!

"

— LOL

— Of course

— He got launched like a volleyball

— Seems like the damage is low, though?

The thought-form slowly straightened up.

[Grade 3 Thought-Form]

Almond tilted his head at the label.

"Wait, is this stronger than Grade 1?"

"N-No, it’s weaker. The tutorial boss was just special. It had some weird lore about being born incomplete or something..."

"Oh..."

Ding!

[StopDying has donated 10,000 won!]

[Looks like this is going to be a tough journey!]

"StopDying~"

"T-That’s because—!"

"~Thank you for the 10,000 won donation!"

"W-Wait, that was a donation? Come on!"

— LOL

— He only says full names when mocking someone

— Almond is the king of that

— He never says full usernames unless he’s roasting someone

"Anyway, this one is pretty fast."

BOOM!

The thought-form charged again. And again, it aimed for Bubblegum.

"

Aaaaack!

"

He tried to dodge, but got smacked in the butt and sent flying once more.

[HP: 89%]

Almond, unfazed, just started typing on his in-game calculator.

"So you can get hit twice and still not die. It’s fast, but definitely weaker."

It really did seem like the Grade 3 thought-forms were weaker. Their appearance was simple, almost like generic mobs.

Ding.

[RubySword has donated 30,000 won!]

[Bubblegum takes the damage while Almond finishes the job!? This really is a co-op game!]

— LOL

— For real

— Even Ruby is in on it now

— Beautiful

— Classic Ruby

— LMAO

— This isn’t favoritism, it’s just funny

Everyone seemed to view the Grade 3 thought-forms as fodder mobs, and the mood remained quite cheerful.

"But..."

Shwoooosh! Shwooosh!

More Grade 3 thought-forms began rushing in at incredible speed.

"They’re getting faster."

It looked like they were accelerating. Almond kept dodging left and right without a problem, but Bubblegum was a different story.

WHAM!

"

Gah!

"

Bubblegum dodged a few, but the rest kept hitting him in quick succession. Once the player got hit, it became much easier to get hit again by design.

Boom!

Thud!

As if the thought-forms knew that, they all began to converge on the panicking Bubblegum.

"Wh-Why are they all coming after me!?"

— They're fans!

— One guy dodges everything—so boring

— Oof lol

— Bubblegum fan meet & greet!

— Honestly though, it did look hard to dodge

Bubblegum turned and started running away, but that was the worst move he could’ve made. Now he couldn’t even see where the attacks came from. Still, it wasn’t like he had no options.

— Doesn’t the monk have a shield skill or something?

— Use your prayer beads, Gum

— Deploy the barrier, please

If he used his Wooden Fish, he could generate a barrier. He wouldn’t need to dodge at all with it. The problem was that neither Almond nor Bubblegum was reading the chat.

"Gum! Prayer beads!" Almond shouted.

"Ah, okay, okay!" Bubblegum raised the beads like he just remembered that he had them.

— Dynamic Duo lmao

— Dumb & Dumber, I swear

— Beads? How is he gonna land those!?

— Like tying a bell to a cat, man

If he could land them, it would stop the thought-forms from charging in. In theory, it was the perfect counter.

Whoosh!

"?!"

The thought-forms were moving way too fast.

Fwoom!

Bubblegum kept tossing as soon as the prayer beads reappeared in his hand, but only managed to hit one thought-form. The enemies were designed to be difficult targets.

— LOL like that’s gonna work

— Ah man

— Stop bullying Gum, monsters!

— Only Almond can, not you smh

KRA-KOOM!

Meanwhile, the thought-forms accelerated even more, practically turning into a windstorm.

***

"

Bwahahaha!

Prayer beads? Bubblegum can’t handle that!"

"This is like when a Harvard grad turns out to be terrible at tutoring, huh?"

The office burst into laughter again. Manager Kim and Assistant Manager Kim clinked their beer cans together, laughing like madmen.

"We don’t even need viral marketing at this rate. Dude, they’re gonna be stuck playing this for weeks."

The tutorial was just the tip of the iceberg. The real

Ghostwo Busters

game started now. With thought-forms overrunning Seoul, every path forward would be a struggle. Could Almond really handle all that while dragging Bubblegum along?

"The monk is supposed to have a barrier, right?"

"Yeah. Since the mobs are so fast, they crash right into the barrier if you put it up. Just dodging won’t cut it. The faster the mobs become, the harder it gets."

"Almond’s dodging is godlike, but this naturally counters him."

"Exactly. Even if he dodges and lands every hit, that’s not enough in this game."

This co-op game was designed to prevent one person from carrying the other. The classic gamer motto of "Just dodge everything and hit everything" didn’t apply here. Things were about to get much harder if these were just the early-stage mobs in Act 1.

"The game is basically structured like a two-player puzzle. Once you solve it, the difficulty drops significantly. It’s pretty much impossible if you just brute force it."

***

Fwoosh, fwoosh!

Bubblegum’s health had nearly depleted from repeatedly missing his prayer beads. Near-death experiences tended to change a person.

"Ah... th-this is it!"

Bubblegum finally seemed to remember something and pulled out his Wooden Fish.

"The barrier! The barrier! I can use the barrier!"

He recalled that Takoyaki had used the barrier to stop the thought-forms in their tracks. Then, Almond could snipe out the stunned monsters with his talismans.

"Almond! W-Wait! I’m coming!"

This time, Bubblegum was determined to help. He raised the Wooden Fish with a grim expression, and a rhythm bar appeared before him. He had to strike the Wooden Fish in sync with the beat.

Thump... Thap!

"Ah, the rhythm!"

Unfortunately, Bubblegum had absolutely no sense of rhythm.

— LOL

— Of course

— Aww noooo

— LMAO

— Let it go... it’s over...

It took him about three tries to sync it properly.

"Rhythm! R-Rhythm! Got itttt!"

With his health down to just 5%, he finally nailed the beat.

Bam!

The Wooden Fish glowed, and he cast the barrier exactly where he wanted.

Bubblegum screamed like a man possessed, "You damn gnats! Smash yourselves against my wall and burn like moths to a flame!"

Nothing happened.

"Huh? What the—"

All the thought-forms had already been knocked out.

Bzzzt... BZZZT!

Each of their foreheads had a talisman on it, sparking with blue electricity.

"Huh."

— LMAO

— I told you to stop bro...

— Did he not see it??

— LMAO Legendary

— Probably too focused on the rhythm

— Reminds me of when you walk into a tower while looking at the minimap

— I’m dead

"Good job, Gum. Great aggro control."

Almond gave him a big grin and a thumbs-up. Bubblegum felt a deep sense of shame.

— Nice aggro lol

— LMAO

— Looks like Almond just T-bagged him emotionally

— The man approved by Almondoyle

A donation arrived to comfort Bubblegum.

Ding.

[DalaiLama has donated 10,000 won!]

[You foolish old monk...]

— OMG LOL

— Not the Dalai Lama!

— Cheer up!

— Stay strong, Gum!

— At least he figured out the counter... eventually

— Poor guy LOL