CHAPTER 35………..
Seriously… for a tank, to die that easily in one hit—it almost didn’t seem right.
But then again, considering how painful each of its normal attacks had been, maybe it was only natural…
Even so, Hwanseong tried to console me, saying, “If you’d had an invincibility skill, you would’ve survived… too bad you don’t have it yet.” It wasn’t much of a comfort.
Anyway, once I died, Aculak went off in search of a new target. Naturally, it chose the next highest aggro holder after me: Jangyeong.
Aculak started landing normal hits on him.
And then…
[Party] Jangyeong: Aaaaahhh!!
“……?”
Even though Jangyeong didn’t have any debuffs, he was a DPS, not a tank—so even a normal hit hurt like crazy.
[Party] Jangyeong: That hurts~~^^!! Aaaahh!!
[Party] Jangyeong: Uuugh!! Aaaahh!! Ahh!!^^
‘…Why is he whining like that?’
Every hit took away half his health. The harder the hit, the louder and more dramatic his whining got.
The more he did it, the harder it was for me to keep a straight face, and Hwanseong muttered under his breath like he was swearing.
[Party] Kim Sooki: This is disgusting, I can’t watch ♡♡
[Party] Kim Sooki: I’m blocking you for a bit ㅇㅇ
[Party] Jangyeong: What?! You’re blocking your guild leader, the mighty me?!
[Party] Jangyeong: Sooki, you idiot fool^^ㅋㅋ
[Party] Jangyeong: You blocked me, so you can’t see this, right^^~~?? Aaaahhh!!
[Party] Jangyeong: For real^^……?
Apparently, Sooki couldn’t take it anymore and went with the nuclear option—blocking him.
[Party] Jangyeong: Hey Sunyaㅋ I’m the guild leader, and look how I’m being treated^^ㅋ Ahhh!!
[Party] Sunya: Ah… haha… yeah, haha…
Sorry, but at that moment, I kind of thought he deserved that treatment.
[Party] Jangyeong: Ang!
[Party] Jangyeong: ANG……!!
[Party] Hwanseong: Sunya, get up when you see the timing’s right.
Just then, Hwanseong’s mana must have filled up, because he cast a resurrection spell on me.
“Babe, please grab aggro quickly. I can’t watch this anymore…”
“I feel the same…”
[Party] Kim Sooki: This was the hardest day I’ve ever had playing Dereso.
[Party] Kim Sooki: Don’t ever call me again when you’re going to Blue Canyon ㅇㅇ
[Kim Sooki has left the party.]
[Party] Jangyeong: I had fun experiencing what being a tank was like^^ㅋ
[Jangyeong has left the party.]
In the end, after all that chaos, we managed to clear the dungeon somehow… but there were no rewards, only scars. Usually, clearing a dungeon left me with a sense of accomplishment, but Blue Canyon only chipped away at my self-esteem.
“Sigh…”
Reading Sooki’s words only made it worse. Normally, I could shrug that sort of thing off, but right now, it felt like another sharp jab at my pride.
In a low, gloomy voice, I muttered:
“Maybe I’m just not cut out for games…”
Surrounded by people who were good at it, the feeling only grew stronger. And since dungeons required teamwork, my lack of skill felt like I was dragging the guild down.
Especially for Hwanseong…
Because of me, what should have been an easy dungeon for him turned into a raid-level challenge.
Hwanseong watched me sulk, then hesitated before speaking.
“You’re not feeling good?”
“…I guess not. If I were as good as you or the others, I’d be having more fun.”
“Didn’t Jangyeong say he struggled at first too? No one’s good from the start.”
“But still…”
Both Sooki and Hwanseong had been good right from the beginning, and no matter how much I played, I doubted I’d ever reach Jangyeong’s level.
It felt contradictory to feel this way about something that was supposed to be fun.
My mind went back to my very first dungeon, “Frozen Ruins.” Even then, I’d felt something similar—frustration at feeling inadequate in a game that wasn’t even real.
I wondered if I’d have felt different had I chosen a different class. But as a healer, I probably would’ve just let everyone die; and as a DPS, I’d be nothing more than just “a -PS.”
My character, once running across vast maps on countless adventures, now just stood still in front of Blue Canyon. Even the map I once thought was beautiful no longer looked appealing.
“Is this where my character’s journey ends…?”
I didn’t even feel like pushing forward in the main quest anymore. I didn’t even want to look at the screen. At that moment, anything related to the game was unbearable.
I sighed deeply, lowering my head.
It was just that bad.
Silence fell over our seats—different from the silence earlier when I’d died. Even though the PC café was filled with upbeat idol music, our spot remained untouched by it.
After who knows how long, it was Hwanseong who broke the heavy silence.
“Babe, look at me.”
I didn’t lift my head, but I glanced at him with my eyes. Above his head, the quest prompt asking if I wanted to accept was still there, and his status window read “Worried.”
‘Why am I seeing so many pop-ups from him today…’
Hwanseong carefully placed his hand over mine. His hand was trembling wildly, but the intent to comfort me was clear.
“Do you remember when you first went to Frozen Ruins?”
How could I forget. I was literally just thinking about that…
“Yes. I remember. If it weren’t for you back then…”
“And what about the next time, when we got Frozen Ruins from the random daily dungeon match?”
“Uh…”
What was it like that second time…?
It had been surprisingly easy. Easy enough to make me wonder why I’d ever thought it was hard the first time.
If someone had told me on my first day, “You’ll think this dungeon is easy later,” I’d have thought they were lying.
Even without me answering, Hwanseong smiled knowingly.
“Blue Canyon will feel like that someday too.”
“…Do you really think so?”
My half-hearted reply made him chuckle softly.
“Don’t you think I’d know best? I’m the one healing right beside you.”
He squeezed my hand. His hand was bigger than I’d guessed when I’d set up my keybinds, trembling like an earthquake—but his face was so serious that I didn’t dare comment on it.
“And haven’t you had a lot of fun playing too?”
“……”
I thought about it. Sure, there had been moments of self-doubt because of my lack of skill… but in the short time I’d played, there had been many more fun moments with Hwanseong and the V3 guild members.
Thinking about spending more time with the guildmates who would eventually return made me feel a little excited again.
Maybe… this hurdle wasn’t so bad after all.
Thanks to Hwanseong, my heart felt a little lighter.
Yeah—just like Frozen Ruins had become easy, maybe one day Blue Canyon would too.
I was about to thank him for cheering me up, to tell him I felt much better, when he spoke first:
“If you’re still upset… do you want to touch my arm?”
“…What?”
What did I just hear?
The “arm” topic, which had been cut short earlier by the guy behind us, was back.
Since I didn’t reply, he must have assumed I was still upset. But still, why bring up his arm all of a sudden…?
The reason became clear with his next words.
“Subconsciously touching it means you liked my arm, right?”
“……”
His face flushed red again, but his words were bold despite his embarrassment.
“If it makes you feel better, you can touch my arm anytime.”
“……”
You know how they say when you’re too shocked, you can’t even speak?
Yeah… that was me right now. I had plenty I wanted to say, but too much to say, so nothing came out.
And then—screeeech. The sound of a chair being shoved back roughly.
Of course, it was the same guy behind us who had been muttering loud enough for us to hear earlier.
Again, loud enough for us to hear, he grumbled:
“All this drama just for one dungeon run…”
Without even looking our way, he strode quickly toward the exit.
