Season 4: Chapter 22. Oni (1)

White smoke rose from the talisman stuck to the earthbound spirit’s forehead.

‘Huh? It died?’

Bubblegum stared in disbelief, his mouth agape.

‘What the hell? I wandered around here for like three hours.’

Normally, it was impossible to enter through the front doors at this stage. The player had to find another route. The standard method was to use a barrier or something and enter through a window.

‘Back then, I got in around the third floor.’

Even entering that way didn’t completely solve the problem. The earthbound spirit had overwhelming control over its domain. Eventually, the player would have to fight it inside the school building, which was an exhausting ordeal.

Tako once said the whole thing was designed to deliberately frustrate the player.

“It’s made so you hit a wall and die multiple times here. It teaches the game mechanics, and weaker players get funneled into other buildings. It makes the player actively think about their next move...”

The earthbound spirit’s job in the game was to introduce the game’s tone and force players to explore nearby terrain. In the case of struggling players, it redirected them toward other content. This enemy character had an essential role.

‘But it just died without doing anything?’

In this parallel world where Blessed Almond had descended, no one would ever realize what that role was supposed to be.

"Uh..."

Bubblegum hesitated. He would normally just move on, but this was a promotional stream.

"Is this okay? I mean, it was actually a pretty fun fight to figure out."

"Really? But it’s dead."

Almond just scratched his head. To him, it probably just looked like a slightly stronger mob that died while passing by because it really did just die like that.

— LOL

— "There's no strategy for a dead mob."

— Blessed Almond

— Hahaha

— It was fun to strategize... keyword: was

"No, but...

sigh.

This thing actually had some narrative weight."

"Did it take you a long time to beat it?"

"..."

— LOL

— Right on target

— Looks like it did!

— Ahahaha

— Yikes

"W-Wait! That’s not why I’m saying this! I swear!"

"Let’s just go in."

Almond chuckled and took the lead, thinking Bubblegum was just messing with him.

‘No, that’s not it!’

Was it really okay to just skip over this? Bubblegum wasn’t sure. This was his first time dealing with a promo stream going off-script like this. He was the type of streamer who believed it was his duty to fall into every developer trap possible. More than it being a belief, it just sort of always played out like that.

***

Bubblegum wasn’t the only one flustered by the situation.

‘Ah... we’re screwed.’

Assistant Manager Kim couldn’t even look over at his boss right now.

‘He just walked right in like that?’

The Noob Reaper, the Difficult NPC, the Gatekeeper... all those nicknames were meaningless now because the ghost had died just like that.

‘This is practically a bug.’

It had basically died like a glitch and didn’t even get a chance to do anything. It just got one-shotted by a talisman tossed through a barely open door.

This kind of play was what speedrunners called a glitch. A trick that used unintended bugs in the game to massively cut down on time. This exploit would be impossible to replicate with normal gameplay.

For instance, skipping from stage one to stage three through a hidden wall, or preventing the stage boss from spawning at all. Ridiculous plays like that were considered glitches in the speedrun community. Nowadays, most gamers accepted bugs caused by the game design as part of the game.

In short, this wasn’t a problem. Not just anyone could complain about it.

"Hey. That wasn’t a glitch, was it? That ghost seemed important."

As expected, Manager Kim questioned it with his sharp instincts.

"Glitch?

Haha

, no way. It just got hit with a talisman and died."

Assistant Manager Kim waved it off like it was nothing.

"But didn’t you say earlier that ghosts were fundamentally different from phantoms or whatever?!"

"Uh..."

They were different, but also kind of the same.

"N-No, actually! They’re kind of similar... I must’ve misspoken."

Fortunately, Manager Kim didn’t know the game well and couldn’t hold his liquor.

"I swear... you definitely said..."

Manager Kim couldn’t clearly recall what his assistant had said earlier.

"

Sigh.

Whatever. What’s with what Bubblegum just said? He made it sound super important?"

He remembered that part, but Assistant Manager Kim just smirked.

"Nah... that’s just Bubblegum’s perspective. Most people get through it quickly."

"Really?"

"Absolutely."

Manager Kim squinted in doubt and muttered, "Still, what kind of ghost dies from just one talisman? Ridiculous."

To that, Assistant Manager Kim bitterly laughed internally.

‘Damn developers.’

That was what he really wanted to say. The developers always had this weird obsession with giving players multiple ways to clear a challenge. This wouldn’t have happened if they had just padded the enemy’s HP.

In this game, ghosts would vanish if players placed a talisman on the right spot. The only difference was that bosses made the process harder.

‘Still... I didn’t expect this.’

It wasn’t like a talisman stuck to wherever one threw it. Talismans had no scope or auto-aim like a gun. Players had to throw with perfect timing at an exact target location.

Almond had done just that against a moving enemy through a barely open door and precisely struck the ghost’s weak point.

‘Honestly... isn’t he the ghost here?’

To Assistant Manager Kim, Blessed Almond could as well have been a ghost himself.

‘Of course, it died. What else could it do?’

Something else needed to stop Blessed Almond. Fortunately, this game had many types of monsters that they would soon encounter.

"The earthbound spirit was just a gatekeeping mob. The real ones come next. Yokai also show up. They’re the real deal."

"Yokai... are real?"

"Yes, they’re real."

Phantoms and malevolent thoughts from humans formed into low-level spirits or ghosts, but yokai were different. Yokai were naturally born spiritual entities that had lived for countless ages. They were true, pure-blooded monsters that had accumulated wisdom and power.

"Yokai can’t be defeated without cooperation and Buddhist-type weapons."

Manager Kim’s eyes lit up.

"Oh ho... right, that’s it!"

This game largely divided monsters into three categories. Ghosts and phantoms were assigned to the Shaman, yokai and oni were assigned to the Buddhist Monk, and demons and evil spirits needed to be defeated by the Christian Priest. Each had a different corresponding religion to exorcise them.

Up until now, only shaman-type enemies had appeared. For yokai, the monk had to land the finishing blow on them while the Shaman played a supporting role.

"Yokai seem trustworthy."

Slightly tipsy now, Manager Kim clenched his fist with conviction.

"Trust? Yokai!"

"Yes!"

His assistant eagerly matched the chant.

"Yokai!"

"

Graaaahhh?

"

"That’s it, man."

"

Graaaahhh!

"

"

Graaaahhh!

"

With their battle cries charged with resolve, Assistant Manager Kim swallowed hard.

‘It’ll work, right?’

His expression remained uneasy as he sipped from his glass.

***

On the first floor of the seminary building, Bubblegum looked just as anxious as Assistant Manager Kim.

‘This is my first time coming in through the first floor.’

He had played countless runs with Takoyaki, but never experienced this.

‘I have no idea what’s going to happen from here.’

Bubblegum couldn’t imagine how the game would play out from this point onward after such a glitch. He had experienced some unusual game paths before, but never one this absurd due to someone’s skills.

"Why is it still so hard to see in here?"

A thick, dark mist still filled the first floor even though they had defeated the earthbound spirit. Maybe it was a bug. Visibility dropped drastically beyond ten meters. What little they could see of the floor looked messy with clear signs of people moving through in a hurry.

They walked silently through the hallway.

"There’s nothing here?"

Almond tilted his head, puzzled.

— Yeah, why is it so empty?

— Maybe ghosts are invisible?

— Creepy school legend vibes.

— Feels like something is about to jump out.

Ghosts being invisible or about to appear would’ve made sense, but that wasn’t what puzzled Almond.

"I thought this place would be crawling with ghosts since they said everyone was trapped inside."

He had expected the enemy density in the hallways to be like

Zombie School

. Otherwise, why couldn’t the students just escape?

"Su-Yeon, how long have the others been trapped?"

"

Gasp.

"

"...?"

"You... you said my name."

Squeek!

Su-Yeon bounced with joy.

— ??

— Should we exorcise her? She’s acting like a ghost

— LMAO

— Is she possessed??

— If this isn’t a bug, I don’t know what is!

"How long have they been trapped?" Almond asked again, unsure if she understood the question.

— LOL what is this?

— Is she an NPC or a chatbot?

— Almond is more AI than the ghosts

"

Hm. Hm.

Not long. Maybe less than half a day."

"What floor are they on?"

"The third floor! Also, some might be in the basement. They went to get weapons and—"

"

Hm.

That’s strange."

Almond tilted his head as if something didn’t sit right.

Sure enough, he turned to his viewers and said, "She’s definitely suspicious."

— Almondoyle mode activated

— Uh oh

— Is this a murder prediction?

— Classic Almondoyle: doesn’t know why, just feels it

— Judging by vibes

As the viewers teased him, Almond explained, "No, it’s just... there are no ghosts here, but she said the students couldn’t escape. What if there aren’t any students, and she just lured us in?"

— Gasp

— Like a yokai that lures people in?

— Honestly kind of spooky...

— Let’s pick option 4 then

It was a fairly reasonable theory.

‘What the hell is he talking about?’

Bubblegum chuckled in disbelief. The premise itself was wrong.

‘You’re the one who glitched the earthbound spirit and killed it too early!’

This place was supposed to be full of lesser ghosts under its control, but they all vanished the moment Almond defeated the boss before anything could happen. Now, he misdirected his suspicion toward Su-Yeon.

‘Is he going to kill Su-Yeon next?’

Despite her appearance, Oh Su-Yeon was a significant partner character. The fact that she carried a Bible was a clear hint that experienced gamers would recognize immediately.

This game featured three classes of exorcists: the Buddhist, Christian, and Shaman. Since the two players hadn’t picked the Christian role, Su-Yeon filled in the missing slot. That alone made her a key character.

‘Surely Almond realizes this too, right?’

Still, Bubble Gum couldn’t relax. He had seen the infamous murder-mystery clips before.

‘He... he wouldn’t, right?’

As Bubblegum trembled with worry, Almond’s viewers stepped in for him.

Ding.

[BANG has donated 10,000 won!]

[You're not going to kill Su-Yeon, right? Haha]

— Oh no

— He doesn't have a gun this time lol

— Come on, use the word "deduction," not "kill"

— Surely not lol

"I’ll only observe her for now~"

Thankfully, Almond decided to postpone his suspicions.

‘Whew.’

Bubblegum exhaled in relief.

‘Somehow... the game’s still moving forward.’

However, his face froze again as soon as he heard Almond’s next question.

"Oh, right. Su-Yeon, what floor are they on?"

Didn’t she already say that earlier? This was the third time Almond had asked.

— This guy seriously has no memory

— SHE SAID THE THIRD FLOOR

— How many times is he gonna ask?!

— It’s like he’s typing keywords into a search bar

— That intelligence stat tho

— Is he the yokai?

Regardless, Su-Yeon answered again.

"Ah... the third floor! Also, maybe a few are in the basement. They might have gotten trapped while fetching weapons from the storage."

"Oh... she said the same thing again."

Almond pretended like he had asked on purpose and shamelessly turned toward the basement stairs.

"Doesn’t seem like she’s lying. I’ll go check out the basement storage with the weapons."

— He clearly forgot and asked again lol

— Bubblegum’s face is priceless

— The man traded his memory for aim stats

— Someone get Walnut in here!

And so, the team set their sights on the first basement floor, completely unaware that they would encounter their first yokai.