Season 4: Chapter 23. Oni (2)

Bubblegum didn’t show it, but he was filled with quiet turmoil as they headed to the first basement floor.

‘From the yokai stage onward, the monk becomes the main damage dealer.’

He had already played up to a certain point and was familiar with each monster type’s weaknesses. The Shaman mainly dealt with phantoms and ghosts while the Monk dealt with the yokai and oni. From now on, Bubblegum would have to finish off the enemies with Almond playing a supporting role.

‘We can’t keep going the way we’ve been.’

So far, Almond had been doing all the heavy lifting and bypassing all the game’s cooperative mechanics. That wouldn’t work anymore.

"I’ll have to actually do something from here on out, everyone."

Bubblegum declared his resolve in the channel only his viewers could hear. He couldn’t just play backup anymore. He also had to show his worth.

— ?

— Why though?

— Just stay put, man lol

— ??

— Is he declaring war on Almond?

— Uh oh

— Emergency!

Naturally, the viewers completely misinterpreted what he meant.

"What? How is saying I’ll do something a declaration of war?!"

— LMAO

— Do you not know why we’re asking?

— It's a co-op game and we’re telling you not to help, that's the funniest part

— Just stay still

— Why do you suddenly have agency? You’re the Iron Ball!

‘These little punks...’

Bubblegum gritted his teeth and tried explaining to his viewers.

"Guys, that’s not it. The upcoming enemies have to be taken down by the Monk. The roles switch, I’m telling you."

— ??

— Huh? Seriously?

— What the...

— Damn, this is gonna be rough...

— The sweet days are over

— RIP

Ding.

[GumHunter has donated 10,000 won!]

[Bubblegum is trying to drop hints early because he’s scared of having to do something, thumbs up!]

— LOL

— Thumbs up!

— That’s exactly it

— He’s laying down insurance

— Just in case he messes up, he can say he warned us LOL

Bubblegum flinched. He had streamed for a long time, and his viewers were just as experienced. They instantly saw right through his thoughts.

"

Agh

, seriously. I’m still streaming here! Saying things is part of streaming. If I don’t say anything, you’ll just complain that I’m not interacting!"

— LOL

— He’s mad because it’s true

— He snapped, must’ve hit the mark

Ding.

A viewer even quoted Almond’s previous line via donation.

[??? has donated 5,000 won!]

[Don’t say anything. Just throw it, bro.]

— The prophecy of Blessed Almond!

— LOL

— Seriously, why talk at all?

— LOLOL

— Classic pro-gamer mindset

***

[Seminary Basement Floor 1]

Su-Yeon, who had been oddly quiet since they defeated the earthbound spirit, finally spoke as they entered the basement.

"

Ugh.

The energy down here is really eerie."

— Ooo

— Finally talking again lol

— Guess something is gonna happen here

"There are exorcism tools stored here by the seniors from our club. We should grab at least one thing before heading out."

She mentioned the storage room again, indicating that it was likely important.

"Exorcism tools? Like a cross or something?"

"No, crosses are limited in use. There are all kinds. Each religion has its own. You’re a shaman, right? There’s stuff you can use too."

Almond looked puzzled.

"Guys, I’m telling you. I still think this exorcism club is suspicious."

— LMAO

— He’s starting again

— Detective mode activated

— But honestly, the club does seem shady

— True lol

— Agreed~

It seemed like the exorcism club Su-Yeon belonged to was the source of this entire incident.

"They said the incident started there too. Do theology schools normally have clubs like that?"

For someone like Almond, who associated theology mostly with church, the idea of a school exorcism club seemed absurd.

Ding.

[RubySword has donated 10,000 won!]

[Just ask her directly!]

— Seriously lol, ask before you kill

— Wife material-level support!

— Think before you go full BANG

— Ruby supremacy!

Given Ruby’s VIP status as a major donor, Almond couldn’t ignore the advice.

"Oh. Should I?"

He switched to the channel where Su-Yeon could hear him.

"By the way, Su-Yeon, you’re not supposed to believe in other gods in theology, right?"

"I don’t believe in any god, though."

"Ah."

"I just picked this major because my grades matched it!

Haha!

"

Almond naturally looked down at the Bible she was carrying.

— Pastor by test scores LOL

— She straight-up said it lmao

— "I picked this because it fit my grades" LMAO

— Painfully realistic...

— Judges, prosecutors, doctors... and pastors. Let’s go

— Better this than doing five extra years like me...

Su-Yeon went on to elaborate.

"Besides, our theology department teaches us about all religious phenomena. We don’t focus on just one religion. It’s more like a philosophy department."

"Oh..."

So that was how it worked. Almond had only thought of theology in terms of the Catholic church.

"We’re just regular students. Although... good luck getting a job with this degree."

She awkwardly laughed.

— LOL

— Sad...

— If you can’t get a job, why did you even go??

— Oof...

— You can only believe in God when you can afford to eat...

— Huh

— All humanities majors are the same

— Philosophy majors crying in the corner

As the chat exploded with the shared grief of jobless humanities students, another donation came in.

Ding.

[Plausibility has donated 5,000 won!]

[How is this department still alive without merging when it produces no jobs? Let’s audit the university foundation!]

The donation message was delivered in a voice that sounded very angry like a jaded NPC or a crime drama witness.

— Viewer rage explosion LOL

— Sounds like a female criminal from Detective Conan

— Tax audit!

— That’s valid tho

— Just let it go, y’all LOL

They kept walking as viewer complaints flooded in.

"This is the storage room."

Creaaak.

Su-Yeon opened the door and stepped in.

"Oh!"

The storage room was packed with all kinds of exorcism tools. Someone would never expect a student club to be at this scale.

— Woah

— Is this Men in Black?

— What is this place? lol

— This does look shady

— Why is there a sword in a school? LOL

"Wow... Was there this much!?"

Even Su-Yeon, who had been part of the club, looked surprised.

"But... where are the others?" Almond asked curiously.

After all, Su-Yeon had said some of the students could still be trapped on the first basement floor while trying to get weapons.

"They must’ve already left. Should we go ahead and grab some weapons for ourselves?"

"Yeah, sure."

Almond looked over the weapons that seemed related to shamans. First, he spotted a long sword. When he picked it up, a description popped up.

==== ====

[Exorcist Spirit Blade]

A divine sword once used in a legendary shaman ritual. It can hold spiritual power and affect the spiritual realm.

*Currently, your spiritual power is too low to wield this weapon.

==== ====

"Oh, so I can’t use this one."

Almond put it back in disappointment and tried the other weapons.

[

Currently, your spiritual power is too low to wield this weapon.

]

[

Currently, your spiritual power is too low to wield this weapon.

]

All the good-looking weapons gave him the same message.

"I guess there’s a spiritual power stat or something. Mine is too low right now."

In short, everything was out of reach. Maybe they had to clear the third floor before coming here. Getting here too early had caused a problem.

— Looks like they got there out of order

— Probably came too early with low level lol

— Damn

— Wait, this game has a certain progression?

— Why is the freedom so high in this game?

Still clinging to hope, Almond tried to take the sword anyway.

"Should we just carry it for now? We can equip it once I’m stronger later."

He couldn’t wield it yet, but nothing stopped him from taking it.

— Why bother? It's heavy

— It’s just gonna slow you down

— Just come back for it later

"I’ll take this one."

Su-Yeon picked up a massive cross-shaped spear.

— LOL

— That’s not even a cross, that’s just a weapon

— Whoa

— Isn’t that too big?

"Huh? I guess my level requirement is low. I can take this one."

Bubblegum proudly picked up a long staff with noisy metal decorations.

— Bubble Sage incoming

— For real, he's a wizard now LOL

— Ooooh

"Why am I the only one who can’t use anything?"

Almond pouted. All he could take were talismans. He had used so many earlier that he did need to restock, but he wasn’t thrilled about it not being a new weapon.

"Whatever, I’ll just take the sword."

Pouting, he grabbed the sword anyway.

"I’m taking all the talismans too."

He swept every nearby bundle of talismans into his bag. In doing so, he didn’t realize something critical. Each talisman had a different purpose.

— LOL

— Almond is sulking

— He’s so cute

— Why tho? lol

— Carrying another sandbag

— He’s definitely just stuffing his bag out of spite

As Almond stuffed the talismans into his pockets, he spotted something else.

"What’s this? Incense and salt?"

They seemed to be shaman-related items too.

[Incense]

[Protects an area from attacks by evil spirits. Merely smelling it causes ghosts to flee.]

[Salt]

[Spirit-infused salt slows down the movement of evil spirits and burns the flesh of ghosts.]

They all had more of a supportive function.

‘I mean, I just throw a talisman and the monsters all die. Do I even need this?’

Thinking that, Almond only took one of each since his bag was already full of talismans.

"I’m going for a pure DPS build."

— LOL

— That’s how a man rolls

— He turns every character into Raina LOL

— That stuff definitely looks important though

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

— Whatever, just come back later

Even Su-Yeon, who had already grabbed a huge cross and some holy water, wasn’t done loading up.

"I’ll just take one more!"

She tried to grab a shield engraved with a cross.

— Is she preparing for the Crusades?

— OMG lol

— Even a shield?!

— This is turning into Civil Empire LOL

Ding.

[EggPlant has donated 2,000 won!]

[So... you're all really planning to walk around central Seoul like this?]

Ding.

[PoPo has donated 5,000 won!]

[Honestly, I think the cops will catch you guys before you catch any ghosts. MASSIVE thumbs up]

— LMAO

— Hahaha

— At this point, who’s really the evil spirit?

— Let’s just say they came from Seoul Comics Con

"This looks like a paladin’s hammer! I’ll take this too!"

The greedy Su-Yeon tried to grab the huge hammer.

"W-Whoa!?"

She fell backward in surprise.

Rumble rumble rumble!

The hammer began trembling violently on its own. In fact, many of the weapons around began to vibrate all at once.

"It’s here, folks."

Bubblegum recognized what was happening.

"I’ll take the lead this time."

He gripped his staff firmly and prepared himself.

"!?"

However, a gong came flying from behind and smacked his bald head.

CLANG!

[Status: Incapacitated]

Thud.

Bubblegum collapsed with a loud crash.

— LMAOOOOO

— Bruh

— It really came lol

— The perfect contribution is to lie down.

— A tactical choice for the team.

Boom!

The moving objects revealed their true forms. Through the rising white smoke, their names appeared.

[Grade 3 Oni]

They were oni, trickster goblins who loved transforming into random objects to scare people.

‘So that’s why there were so many weapons lying around.’

Almond quickly reached for his talisman pouch, but stopped.

‘Huh?’

Their weak points weren’t showing up.

"

Kekekekekeke!

"

"You humans! Walked right into it!"

The oni gleefully lifted their clubs and charged at Almond and Su-Yeon. Su-Yeon raised her shield and blocked their strikes while Almond swung his sword at an opening.

Whoosh!

He only sliced through empty air.

"Nice try!"

The oni twirled its head and vanished.

"!"

It suddenly reappeared behind Almond.

"

Ehehehe~

"

Whoosh!

A club came flying from behind.

Swish!

Almond quickly dodged. The club only grazed the edge of his robe.

"You’re not an ordinary human, are you?"

An oni curiously tilted its head at Almond. At that moment, Almond immediately threw a talisman.

Zap!

It directly hit the goblin’s forehead. The creature flinched, but its HP barely dropped. Even if Almond used every talisman he had, it wouldn't be enough to kill all of them.

‘Even if it isn’t a weak point, this damage is pathetic.’

Wasn’t this too much for a mere Grade 3? Almond didn’t know about the monsters' affinities, so the sudden spike in difficulty confused him.

Su-Yeon stuck close behind him and shouted, "Th-they’re oni! I heard they’re weak against Buddhist weapons!"

"Ah."

Almond finally understood the reason behind the difficulty spike. The person who was supposed to take the lead in this situation... was currently lying on the floor.

— LOL

— Oh no, Bubblegum

— Why now!?

— OMG

Even as chaos unfolded, Bubblegum remained prone while the oni kept attacking.

Crash!

Bam!

Almond suddenly came up with a new strategy.

"Hey, if the Monk dies... can I use his weapon instead?"

— LMAOOOOO

— Bro...

— Are you serious? LOL

— Harsh

— Blessed Almond with the ultimate betrayal

— OMG

— No, but for real, when will he wake up?