Chapter 9
Sooki died mid-chat…
She must have been trying really hard, because one of her movement keys—‘ㅈ’—was spammed all over her message. I knew it wasn’t intentional, but it kind of looked like a keyboard smash of defeat to me.
In The Ressau, dying and reviving came with a brutal penalty: your damage was reduced by 50%. So it was generally better to hit a few times less than to die.
And sure enough, the damage meter showed Sooki, who had been at the top, pushed down to second place—beaten by Cheonma.
“Ugh, now we’re gonna have to see Embrace of Darkness, aren’t we?”
With how tight the DPS check was and our top damage-dealer carrying a penalty, it was inevitable. Embrace of Darkness was coming.
Even the usually chatty Sooki went quiet, silently focusing on dishing out damage. But the penalty had already created a big gap between her and Cheonma.
“Let’s just give it a try. Hwanseong’s DPS is higher than the average tank’s on Eregos anyway…”
“Yeah, let’s just keep going…!”
Truthfully, I only agreed because I didn’t want to reset and go through the positioning again.
Hwanseong didn’t reply right away, looking like he was thinking. Then, with a hint of irritation, he finally spoke.
“If we get Embrace of Darkness, Kim Sooki, seriously…”
[Guild] Kim Sooki: I’m sorry……
She apologized in a surprisingly meek tone. With a much calmer atmosphere than earlier, we retried the Eregos fight.
[Eregos begins to infuse power into his voice.]
[Eregos: Despair… for that is my joy.]
Wait a minute…
I had a bad feeling. I glanced at the boss status bar—and yep, he was casting Whispers of Death. That was the mechanic Hwanseong had told me earlier to go to the 3 o’clock position for.
But seriously, why were all the boss skills named the same thing? Whispers of Death, Embrace of Darkness—they all sounded alike and were so confusing.
How did guild members even memorize all this stuff? Did they just eat and play games all day?
Anyway, I got ready to move to 3 o’clock—right side.
“One of the easiest insta-kill mechanics, Whispers of Death, is here! If even one person’s out of position, we all die! But since it’s a beginner-level mechanic, it’s not too bad. Everyone knows where to go, right? Tank at 3, DPS at 9, Healer at 6! Move to your positions!”
“Yes!”
At Cheonma’s command, everyone scattered in perfect sync.
“Right… right…”
I had started at the 12 o’clock position, so I moved to my right.
But then…
“Huh?”
[Guild] Kim Sooki: ?
I came face to face with Sooki, someone I definitely shouldn’t be next to. It was like one of those meme moments: “Bro, why are you here…?”
Even though the tempo was fast, time seemed to slow down.
And of course, right behind Sooki was Cheonma, another DPS.
“Sunyaaaaa So-hyeoooop!!”
Just like when he called out to Sooki earlier, Cheonma now yelled my name.
“W-wait, this is 3 o’clock…”
“That’s 9 o’clock!!”
“…Huh?”
I was confused.
‘Wait a second…’
DPS and healers stand behind the boss when attacking. So for them, their “front” is actually 12 o’clock. But I was positioned at 12 myself, meaning my front was actually 6 o’clock.
So…
“Oh, crap.”
What I thought was 3 o’clock was actually 9 o’clock.
I quickly checked the cast bar. The cast was already past 50%. Maybe I could have made it from 6 o’clock in the center of the map, but from 9 to 3? That was way too far.
“Aahh, I’m sorry—AAAH!”
Suddenly, my character lurched forward like it had been sucked into a black hole.
I screamed from the shock of the unexpected movement.
The one who had pulled me was Hwanseong. He immediately used the dash skill Sooki had used earlier and zoomed to the 6 o’clock position.
[Guild] Kim Sooki: Whoa ♡♡ As expected from Lee Hwanseong;;;
“What did I just witness…?”
The moment Hwanseong arrived at 6 o’clock, the rest of the arena became engulfed in flames—except where we were. So that’s why the tank had to be at 3 o’clock.
Still, I couldn’t quite comprehend what had just happened.
“Wait, so… we cleared Whispers of Death just now?”
My brain was still half out of my body, but my fingers—thanks to a week of muscle memory training—automatically pressed 1, 2, 3 like a robot.
“We passed it… thanks to the unbelievable carry by Hwanseong the Great…”
Cheonma explained:
Hwanseong’s class, the Priest, had a skill called Hand of Salvation. It could pull one party member to the Priest’s current position—but it was rarely used.
So when he saw me heading for 9 instead of 3, he moved to 3 o’clock, yanked me over with the skill, and then dashed to his own assigned spot at 6.
There was only one word for that: Godlike.
“Wow… Hwanseong…”
“Aw, did I make your heart flutter?”
“Yes, a little…!”
[Guild] Kim Sooki: Look at this simp with a mouse fetish……
Apparently, that move was only possible because his assigned position was 6. But seriously, who else could stay so calm and act so precisely in the heat of the moment?
If it had been anyone else in the guild, they’d be bragging non-stop about it. But Hwanseong didn’t even make a fuss—like it was nothing. That somehow made him even cooler.
No wonder I couldn’t take my eyes off him, even with the giant boss still standing in front of me.
I should have been focused on the boss, but instead, all I saw was Hwanseong—looking more like a DPS than a healer, hair swaying, dealing damage like crazy.
“Wait a second…”
That’s when Cheonma spoke up in surprise.
“At this rate… won’t we clear it before Embrace of Darkness even starts?”
“Oh, you’re right.”
We had been so worried about hitting the damage check because Sooki died, but it seemed like we had more leeway than expected.
Eregos’s health was down to 5%. Sooki’s penalty had worn off, and she was back to full DPS.
[Party] Kim Sooki: It’s. Go. Time. (Meaning: Buster Time)
“Buster Time” referred to the moment when party buffs were stacked for maximum output, allowing a huge burst of damage.
Now that the dual blade class, known for high damage, was in Buster Time, the boss’s health dropped even faster.
From 5%, we were down to 3% in no time thanks to Sooki’s insane slashes.
[Guild] Kim Sooki: Judgment of Twin Blades!
[Guild] Kim Sooki: Can you dodge this? Eclipse Slash!
[Guild] Kim Sooki: Taste the fury of my blades! Blade Dance!
What…?
I had a feeling no one in this guild was normal, but even seemingly sweet Sooki turned out to be a bit of a roleplay fanatic. She wasn’t just calling out skills—she was doing full-on anime lines.
‘What’s with those cringe middle-school-power-fantasy one-liners…?’
I could feel my face heating up just listening to them.
And then—
“What are you doing, Sooki the Great?!”
[Guild] Kim Sooki: ? What?
Cheonma must have felt secondhand embarrassment too.
I mean, this was an adult game. Everyone here was at least 20. And yet…
“Why are you hogging all the fun?!”
“…”
“Feel the wind’s power… Gale Strike!”
Oh, right. The biggest roleplayer in the guild was none other than Cheonma himself. At least Sooki stuck to typing—Cheonma said it out loud.
Well, at least Hwanseong is—
“Blessing of the Priest to Haeya.”
“…”
Of course. Even Hwanseong caved to the chaotic energy.
“Sunya! Why aren’t you saying anything?!”
“Uh… H-holy Judgement…”
With my barely audible contribution, we finally cleared Eregos in one go.
The three of them didn’t seem embarrassed at all and immediately checked the damage meter. I just stood there, confused.
“No way…!”
“What’s wrong?”
Cheonma suddenly gasped dramatically. I worried something was wrong.
“My DPS is amazing!”
“You’re probably #1 for Eregos Wind style.”
“I must check the rankings with this log!”
[Guild] Kim Sooki: Noooo ♡♡ Don’t do it
[Guild] Kim Sooki: I died, my DPS is trash
Turns out, uploading the combat log shows the ranking of everyone’s damage across all Eregos clears. But it uploads the entire party’s data—not just yours.
That’s why Sooki was freaking out. She didn’t want her penalized numbers public.
“It’s okay, Sooki. I didn’t die either, but I probably didn’t do that well.”
[Guild] Kim Sooki: That’s cause you’re ♡♡
“Kim Sooki, stop replying.”
[Guild] Kim Sooki: Okay
She seemed like she had more to say, but thanks to Hwanseong cutting in, she didn’t get the chance.
