Chapter 33
Ambush… ambush… X key…
I muttered the words again as I checked the location of the ambush key.
‘Okay… come on…!’
Hwansung had told me that ambush wasn’t used as often as other skills, but it was still crucial in key moments, so he’d recommended I assign it somewhere easy to reach—like the X key.
The water gathering in the boss’s hands began to shine more brightly, and finally, the cast bar for Water Wave appeared.
This was it!
Just like I’d practiced earlier, I quickly pressed the ambush key the moment Water Wave began casting. Now the cast would be interrupted, and we’d just take the regular AoE damage…
“Uh… huh?”
Even though I was definitely pressing the ambush key, the cast didn’t stop—it just kept going.
[Party] Jangyeong: Sunnyah, you can use the ambush skill^^~
[Party] Jangyeong: It’s the one where you punch the monster
[Party] Jangyeong: Ambush skill^^!
[Party] Jangyeong: Please, ambush!!
I’d love for it to actually go off too!
Thinking maybe the ambush key wasn’t responding, I mashed it frantically. But in the end, the cast wasn’t interrupted, and Water Wave went off.
The AoE damage that followed… yeah, it hurt.
Normally, Hwansung could keep everyone topped up with just pre-cast HoTs, but this time he had to stop DPSing entirely to drop a big group heal. That alone was disheartening…
[Party] Kim Sookyi: Ouch
[Party] Jangyeong: Stings^^
Hearing their reactions made my shoulders slump even more.
“You okay?”
Hwansung’s low voice came from beside me. His tone was casual, but I could tell there was concern in it.
“I don’t know… I swear I pressed it. Why didn’t ambush go off?”
“Well… that’s because you pressed C instead of X.”
“…What?”
I turned to look at him, confused, and his face was strangely cautious. Then he tilted his chin toward the monitor, telling me to look.
“Isn’t your charge skill on cooldown?”
When I checked—sure enough, it was.
Charge was a skill for quickly closing the gap when you got knocked far away. Tanks and melee DPS all had some variation of it.
There hadn’t been any boss-centered AoEs or mechanics that required separating earlier, so I’d been close to the boss the whole time. Which meant… if charge was on cooldown without a reason to use it…
Sure enough, when I looked at the ambush skill, the cooldown was still fresh—untouched.
So despite all my careful preparation, I’d been so nervous that I hit the wrong skill entirely… headbutting the boss instead of interrupting it.
“Haa…”
I sighed. It was just pressing a single key—something I’d practiced—and I still messed it up.
“There are two more Water Waves after this. Just get them right.”
“Y-yeah… I’ll make sure to succeed next time.”
Yeah. I could redeem myself later. They say failure is the mother of success, right? As long as I didn’t let the debuff stacks build anymore…
But…
[Party] Jangyeong: Whoa, this place is like a water park^^
[Party] Kim Sookyi: Boss, the current’s too strong!
I failed both of the remaining chances too.
The first failure was just from having already wasted charge instead of ambush. But the last two… I had to dodge mechanics at the same time. And when you’re busy dodging for your life, there’s no brain space left for landing a perfect interrupt.
In the end, the debuff stacked to three, and the last AoE hit hard.
I was fine thanks to my tank defense, but Hwansung and the two DPS got smacked badly. If Hwansung hadn’t put shields on at the last second, the three of them would’ve been swept away by the Wave of Souls.
“That last one was really close. Look—unlike the first time, ambush was on cooldown. That’s progress, right? You almost got it—just a second earlier and you’d have nailed it.”
“….”
Excuse me…?
A second earlier? Try five seconds.
We somehow managed to bring down the second boss, and it was back to trash mobs. If this second boss was that hard, how bad would the last one be?
[Guild] HeavenlyDemonOverlord: Hm? I step away for a medal run, and what’s this? You four went to the notorious Blue Canyon?! Hoho… sounds fun!
Not fun. Not even close.
[Guild] Kim Sookyi: So fun we almost wiped to Water Wave earlier.
My shoulders drooped again. I didn’t want to cause situations like that…
[Guild] Kim Sookyi: Ah j— ♡♡
[Guild] HeavenlyDemonOverlord: Hm?
[Guild] Kim Sookyi: That damn Lee Hwansung keeps yanking me with Salvation every time it’s off cooldown, so I can’t DPS ♡♡
[Guild] HeavenlyDemonOverlord: Serves you right. You’ve ignored ranged DPS all this time.
[Guild] Kim Sookyi: ? What?
[Guild] HeavenlyDemonOverlord: Oh? Did I say something? My other soul must’ve possessed me. Shoo, shoo! Leave at once!
[Guild] Hoe: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Guild] Jangyeong: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Hoe and Jangyeong, both ranged DPS like Sookyi, seemed delighted at the jab—probably because they’d taken plenty of flak from her in the past.
I didn’t look, but I could hear a faint chuckle from Hwansung too.
[Guild] Kim Sookyi: Issah-hyung, why aren’t you chiming in? As my fellow melee, you should take my side when I’m getting bullied ♡♡
[Guild] Hoe: Oh?
[Guild] Hoe: Look at him, searching for his girlfriendㅋㅋ Definitely our guild’s official couple #1ㅋㅋ
[Guild] Kim Sookyi: ♡♡ Ugh, seriously!!1111
[Guild] Jangyeong: ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Our guild’s #1 official couple is really fiery^^
It was like everyone decided today’s event was teasing Sookyi—and me by extension.
Everyone was laughing in chat except… well, two people: Sookyi and me.
Sookyi and Jangyeong were veteran players—they could DPS, dodge, and chat all at once. I, on the other hand, was struggling to see through the winding, elevated terrain of the canyon, barely able to find my way.
At one point, a monster suddenly dropped down from above and scared the soul out of me. By the time we reached the first boss, I was playing like it was my first day—running aggro ping-pong instead of tanking cleanly.
After much stumbling, we finally reached the last boss.
Just looking at it radiated pressure, and my palms were already sweaty.
Shouldn’t a main quest dungeon be a little easier than this…?
The only relief was that the final boss, Aquarak, gave the same Deep Wound debuff as the second boss—but this time, it wasn’t from failing an interrupt. You got it if you personally got hit by AoE zones.
So as long as everyone avoided them, we’d be fine. And with these guildmates, I was sure they’d dodge. If I dodged too, Hwansung could skip healing entirely and do the DPS he loved so much.
Yeah. I could do this.
If I just played like I did in the earlier dungeon, we’d be golden.
Maybe he sensed my determination, because Hwansung gave a soft smile and said,
“Fighting.”
“…Yes!”
Hearing that somehow made me feel like I really could clear without getting hit once.
“And even if you get hit by everything and die, it’s fine.”
“Uh… isn’t that a bit much?”
“You’ve got me as your healer. I’ll clear it without a reset, even if you die.”
“Hwaansuuung~”
I was so grateful—he hadn’t complained once and kept encouraging me.
When I looked at him with teary appreciation, he just smiled silently. And then, a new window popped up above his head.
Usually it was just his emotion status that appeared—but now…
[A quest has arrived.]
[Do you accept?]
…Huh?
A real quest window?
Until now, windows had just appeared unprompted—this one was actually asking for my choice.
When I stared at him in bewilderment, Hwansung mouthed Why?
“N-no reason…”
Maybe the Blue Canyon was wearing me down so much that I was hallucinating a system upgrade… though, honestly, the fact that I saw system windows at all was the weird part.
[Party] Kim Sookyi: Hurry up already, jeez
[Party] Sunnyah: Ah, y-yes…!!
Right. First things first—clear the last boss.
