Season 4: Chapter 50. The Glitch Demon (2)

“

Gah!

”

Almond rolled across the floor of the MetaBucks cafe.

— Gasp

— Whoa

— What was that?

— He got smacked

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

— Took it head-on

Almond had essentially taken a direct hit for the first time since starting

Ghostwo Busters

.

[HP: 72%]

The damage was massive.

‘One hit did that much?’

Sure, the game was known to be challenging, but enemies were firing from every direction right now. If a single hit took that much HP, a single mistake could mean instant death. It suddenly became very clear why Bubblegum was still cowering behind a table.

Ding.

[MeowMeowPunch has donated 5,000 won.]

[Maybe you’re underpowered because you skipped all the content, meow?]

— Whose voice is that? lol

— LMAOO

— This gimmick is cursed

— MEOW

— Still... they’re not wrong

The cute voice donation actually had a point. Even though his spiritual power had increased from clearing a main quest, Almond hadn’t done any side quests. His overall stats were below the intended progression curve, but he wasn’t the type to go back and mop up side quests.

[Dimensional Step]

Fwoosh!

He vanished and reappeared next to one of the wraiths.

— Whoa

— Goddamn

— I’m getting motion sickness...

— He’s so fast...

The moment Almond materialized, he swung his sword.

Slash!

The wraith’s aura scattered, but quickly reformed.

‘It passed through again?’

A shaman’s attack barely had any effect. The wraith’s face distorted further as it screeched and punched at him.

“

KEEEEYAAAAHAAHAHA!

”

Boom!

Almond blocked with his sword this time. It pushed him back, but his health stayed intact.

[HP: 70%]

More wraiths rushed toward him.

Almond scattered a handful of talismans.

Fwap fwap fwap!

Five or six talismans flew out and stuck to the wraiths.

Crackle!

One was launched into the air. Another froze in mid-step like it was locked in place.

‘Talismans work.'

However, it only lasted for a split second. Less than half a second later, they broke free and charged at him again. One wraith smashed its fist down. Even so, that fleeting moment was enough.

Almond dodged by flinging himself to the side.

Boom!

The impact left a massive handprint on the floor where he had just been.

Almond tilted his head.

‘What the?’

He couldn’t pin down the wraiths or their attack patterns. They were fundamentally hard to analyze.

‘Do I need something else?’

He rifled through his inventory. Of course, the wraiths didn’t just stand by.

“

KYAAAAAAA!

”

They emerged from the floor, flew down from above, and kept swarming him.

“Over here toooo!”

[Wind Bomb]

BOOOM!

Bubblegum’s Wind Bomb scattered the wraiths in every direction. The sheer force overturned even the cafe floor tiles.

— Whoa

— Damn

— Let’s gooo

— Wind Bomb hype

— What was that!?

Even that only flung the wraiths away.

‘They’re perfectly fine.’

No real damage had been dealt.

‘Then how about this?’

Almond pulled out a bottle of Holy Water from his inventory. He had snagged this from the goblin warehouse earlier.

Whish!

He tossed it at the wraiths. One of the dazed wraiths took a direct hit.

Sssssssss!

It shrieked in horror and recoiled in pain like it had been splashed with acid.

“

GYAAAAAAHHHH!

”

— Ohhh

— That’s the one

— So Holy Water is the answer?

Its towering, swirling black aura shrank until it looked like a five-year-old child.

‘It didn’t die, though.’

Worse, Almond only had three bottles. Now he was down to two. This wasn’t a viable long-term solution.

“You...

uuuhhh!

I’ll kill you!”

The miniature wraith stretched its arms grotesquely and grabbed two nearby civilians who hadn’t managed to escape.

“

Kyaaaa!

S-Somebody help!”

“Let go! Let goooo!”

It began sucking something out of them. The civilians’ screams weakened as their bodies went limp.

Glorp, glorp.

The wraith began to grow again. Almond wanted to help, but the other wraiths swarmed him with punches as if buying time for their comrade. They were cooperating.

[MeowMeowPunch has donated 7,000 won.]

[The wraiths seem to have better teamwork than the players, meow~]

— LMAOO

— This voice again

— Meow gets a like

— Almond always pretends Meow donations don’t exist, lol

— For real

The wraiths launched into a full-on group assault.

“DIE! DIE!”

“DIE DIE DIE DIE!”

WHAP WHAP WHAP WHAP WHAP!

Almond blocked them with his sword, but his counterattacks didn’t land at all. The five wraiths continued pummeling Almond over and over again.

‘I’ll have to stick to dodging and blocking.’

It was getting harder to keep up. Almond abandoned the idea of countering. He focused entirely on defense and parried everything.

“Please! Just one hit, come on!”

“Pleaseee!”

“Why can’t they land a hit?! Is this a bug or what!?”

The Kim duo on the other side of the monitor threw just as many punches as the wraiths.

Almond never got hit again despite not even using Dimensional Step. If he did, the aggro would break and the wraiths would go after Bubblegum. He had to hold their attention.

Only Su-Yeon could take on the wraiths. Bubblegum said she’d show up when the time was right, so where was she? Almond thought stalling would be enough to trigger her arrival, but she hadn’t even peeked in.

“Gum! I’ll try looking for Su-Yeon!”

“W-What? But she’s supposed to appear when the time—”

Fwoosh!

[Dimensional Step]

Almond suddenly vanished. He had teleported to the cafe’s entrance.

“Almond! What about meee!?”

Bubblegum couldn’t move that fast—not even close.

“You... I’ll kill youuu!”

“

Heeheehee!

”

Every wraith turned to Bubblegum. Almond had expected things to play out this way.

‘He can be revived later.’

The monk wasn’t much use right now. He needed to find Su-Yeon.

‘Maybe she ran into Oh Sang-Gi...’

Above all, Oh Sang-Gi had gone to the bathroom. Maybe Su-Yeon didn’t show up because of him.

***

Almond dashed to the restroom and headed straight for the men’s room. Something about Oh Sang-Gi not returning felt off.

BAM!

He burst through the door hard enough to nearly rip it off. The floor inside was soaked.

Almond almost lost his balance and skidded to a sudden stop.

‘Why the hell is it flooded?’

Maybe something had gone wrong inside. As he wondered that, something reflecting in the water caught his eye. Almond looked up at the massive silhouette with wings.

Black, gigantic wings filled the restroom. Its skin was the dark, burnt red of dried blood. On top of the figure’s head, it had huge horns like a buffalo’s.

[???]

No name appeared. The figure was facing away, so Almond couldn’t see its face. And yet, he knew who it was.

“Oh Sang-Gi...”

The moment Almond said that name, the figure slowly turned. Eyes like bottomless pits met his. The bright yellow pupils pierced through the void, locking onto Almond’s gaze.

Then, he asked, “Who are you people? How much do you know, and why are you interfering with us?”

‘You people?’

Almond quickly scanned the area and spotted Su-Yeon pinned beneath Oh Sang-Gi’s feet.

“O-Oppa!”

She spotted Almond and began thrashing.

“I-I knew this guy was suspicious. That’s why I came here! And I was right! Look at him! I found this trash!!”

— Su-Yeon... damn

— Is she a cop or something, lol

— Wait, was she undercover from the start??

Was that really the important part right now? She was about to die. And yet, her reasoning soon became clear.

“If we take this guy down, people will finally join the Exorcism Club, right?! Please help me!!”

— Did she stake her life on a student club?? LMAO

— Exorcism Club martyr

— Why is she so committed to this club?

— Is Oh Sang-Gi unkillable just because he’s hot??

Su-Yeon was ready to die for the Exorcism Club. Regardless, Almond had to help her. Only she could take down the wraiths.

“Exorcism... Club?”

Oh Sang-Gi, or whatever this winged-horned being was, dryly laughed.

“Club?”

He repeated it as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.

“You dare stand in the presence of the Great One... over that?”

Rumble!

The air around him began to vibrate. His yellow eyes grew larger, and his wings spread wide.

WHOOSH!

Dark demonic energy surged from his body. The acrid stench of sulfur filled the air.

‘This guy is on a whole different level.’

Almond instinctively understood. This was probably a Demon Lord-level boss, one of the Four Heavenly Kings at least.

“Let’s start by killing you.”

The boss raised a foot and brought it down toward the collapsed Su-Yeon in the hallway.

Fwoooosh—

His heel tore through the air while coming down.

BOOOOM!

The resulting shockwave was massive. It shattered the tiles and blew the restroom stalls apart like cardboard. That power was downright inhuman, but a sword had blocked it.

[Dimensional Step]

Almond, sword in hand, stood between Su-Yeon and Oh Sang-Gi. His sword trembled under the pressure.

Just then, Su-Yeon summoned a massive cruciform spear.

“Die!!”

She lunged and tried to catch him off guard.

CLANG!

One beat of Oh Sang-Gi’s wings deflected her weapon effortlessly.

“

Gah!?

”

Almond analyzed the situation.

‘The wings.’

He pulled out a talisman with his free hand.

‘We have to disable the wings.’

Oh Sang-Gi had blocked Su-Yeon’s attack with his wings. The players had to neutralize those wings for Su-Yeon to land a proper strike. Demons like him were probably vulnerable to Christian attacks.

Whoosh!

Almond hurled the talisman at the wings.

“You think that’ll work?”

Oh Sang-Gi lifted a foot and kicked back.

BOOOOM!

A massive gust blew the talisman away like a leaf. Almond tried again with the same result. No matter what he threw, the wind would knock it away.

Su-Yeon’s attacks kept getting blocked by the wings as tough as steel.

“

Kyah!?

”

CRASH!

The resulting gust sent Su-Yeon flying all the way into a toilet stall.

‘Wait a second.’

Almond finally realized something.

‘No way...’

He pulled out incense from his pouch and lit it. This spiritual barrier was deadly to ghosts.

“Pointless.”

WHOOSH!

Oh Sang-Gi waved a hand and instantly snuffed it out.

It was almost laughably ineffective.

‘Oh...’

Almond smiled instead.

Tap!

He launched himself forward.

“Pathetic.”

Oh Sang-Gi’s eyes gleamed as he kicked again.

BOOOM!

A crushing wind slammed into Almond as he tossed his sword away.

Fwoooosh!

— He tossed it??

— What the hell?

— Did he glitch out?

— Wrong move??

“What are you doing? You tossed your sword the wro—”

Even Oh Sang-Gi looked confused and prepared to taunt him until Almond’s eyes lit up.

[Dimensional Step]

Fwoosh!

He reappeared directly behind Oh Sang-Gi. Now, the sword was no longer facing the wrong direction. It aimed straight at the demon’s back.

“!?”

Oh Sang-Gi couldn’t react in time. The blade deeply sank right between his wings.

SLASH!

[HP: 84%]

‘Got him.’

The gamble had worked.

‘The shaman sword does affect him.’

That explained why Oh Sang-Gi had been so quick to dismiss the talismans, incense, and sword attacks. He was absurdly powerful, but that came with one weakness. He was vulnerable to every type of attack.

— WHOA

— He did it

— Finally!

— So he can be hurt??

— Almond in focused mode is unbeatable

— That strategy was clean

— Wait... are we getting actual boss mechanics now?!