Chapter 83: Summer Welcome Co-op Game (5)

Screech–

The rusty metal door opened with a grating sound.

As expected from such a large building, the inside was also extremely spacious.

“Wow… it’s really dark in here.”

Siren, who followed behind, muttered softly.

She was right.

A few emergency lights flickered weakly, intermittently illuminating the surroundings.

Most of the area remained shrouded in pitch-black darkness.

The beam of the flashlight in my hand was the only way to see ahead.

Where the light reached, there were remnants of massive machinery, scattered piles of scrap metal,

and an intricate maze of unknown pipes.

It looked like a graveyard of giant machines or an abandoned factory that had long ceased operation.

Clank– Clank–

As I carefully moved forward, every step made small parts and metal fragments on the floor clatter.

The sound echoed unusually loud in the hollow space.

Raidel, still tense, audibly swallowed.

“I-I’ll stick close.”

Siren glanced around, pressing closer as if she didn’t want to be left behind.

From here on, we needed to head underground, continuously descending.

The thought of plunging deeper into the endless darkness was enough to make anyone uneasy.

– 「The atmosphere is insane ㄷㄷ」

– 「You can hear Delbung’s breathing from hereㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

– 「But seriously, it feels like something’s about to jump out;;」

– 「The lack of background music makes it even scarier」

– 「By the way, Seo-yeon seems pretty calm」

– 「Actually, Siren looks less scared than Delbungㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

After walking down the corridor for quite some time…

“Oh.”

We arrived at a slightly more spacious area.

The ceiling was much higher, and multiple paths branched out in various directions.

In one corner, something was faintly blinking blue on top of a broken control panel.

“Uh? What’s that?”

Siren spotted it too and shone her flashlight over.

A part resembling a graphics card was lying there, distinctly different from the scrap around it.

Just looking at it, it seemed like a valuable item.

‘Is that the AI core?’

Moreover, it didn’t look like just any junk-grade AI core.

Its large size suggested it was a higher-grade, more valuable version.

– 「That definitely looks like an AI core」

– 「It looks expensive」

– 「The shine is different from the usual stuff」

– 「Let’s loot it ㄱㄱ」

– 「Let’s go~」

– 「The size alone makes it look priceyㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

“Should we go take a look?”

Raidel’s voice was slightly hesitant, trembling as if uneasy,

but it seemed like she was trying not to appear scared.

“Yes, I’ll go first.”

I responded and moved forward, tightening my grip on the pickaxe just in case.

I approached the object that looked like an AI core.

Almost there…

…Crrrrk!

Right next to me, from the shadowy cluster of pipes on the ceiling,

something squirmed and suddenly dropped with a thud!

“…!”

A slimy, slippery mass with a huge body.

“T-Tentacles?”

A monster resembling an octopus, with several thick tentacles.

Its surface gleamed oily black, and in the center of its body were irregularly embedded,

pale white, pupil-less eyeballs staring directly at me.

It looked like a lump of flesh.

A grotesque monster, perfectly fitting for a horror game.

‘It’s definitely…’

Maybe it’s because it’s a VR game.

The grotesque appearance combined with the realism made it feel even more terrifying.

“Kyaaah!”

Siren let out a short scream from the side.

It was natural to be startled when a creepy tentacle monster suddenly dropped down.

But…

‘Hmm.’

I didn’t find myself screaming or freaking out.

I just felt a slight chill running down my spine.

All I thought was how gross the monster looked.

‘I’m not sure why.’

Maybe I’d become braver somehow?

Anyway, staying calm wasn’t a bad thing.

I instinctively took a step back, putting some distance between us.

“S-Seo-yeon! Should we… r-run away?!”

Siren’s voice was still shaky, but she quickly adjusted her grip on the pickaxe.

Even though she screamed, she didn’t seem to be panicking.

The problem was Raidel.

“Kyaaaaa! Wh-What is that?! Stay back! Don’t come near!”

Her scream was even more intense than before.

With her eyes tightly shut, she began wildly swinging her pickaxe without even looking.

“Ah! Raidel! It’s dangerous…!”

Swish–! Swish–!

At that moment, the octopus monster made a squelching noise

and simultaneously lashed out multiple tentacles like whips!

The tentacles whipped forward, sharp and swift, seemingly deadly with just a graze.

“Raidel! Dodge!”

Siren shouted, but it didn’t seem to reach her.

Instead, Raidel swung her pickaxe even more frantically.

“Die! Die! Just die, you monster!”

And then…

Crack! Crunch!

“…?”

An unbelievable sight unfolded before my eyes.

The tentacles that came flying were being smashed and severed as Raidel swung her pickaxe.

Not just one or two—every single tentacle that attacked from all directions was being blocked or cut off.

To be exact, Raidel’s pickaxe strikes were intercepting every incoming attack perfectly.

But how?

Using such a heavy pickaxe, without even opening her eyes,

and yet, she managed to block every fast, multi-directional attack.

Usually, it’s incredibly difficult to defend against quick assaults with a blunt weapon.

Yet, Raidel was pulling it off.

– 「ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

– 「What’s with Delbung’s awakeningㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

– 「She’s blocking everything with a pickaxeㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

– 「Legendaryㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

– 「That’s true Berserker styleㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

That’s pretty impressive.

It felt like watching a rare spectacle.

‘…But isn’t that actually a good thing?’

When faced with a frightening situation, some people either flee or freeze,

while others, in extreme situations, charge forward with a do-or-die mentality.

Raidel was the latter.

Instead of running from the source of fear, she aimed to eliminate it.

That seemed far better than running away.

“Huff.”

While Raidel was up front, drawing aggro from the tentacles and blocking them,

I quietly lowered my stance.

‘Weak point.’

The center of that massive, head-like body.

Right where the eyes were.

It looked like a head, so striking it there should do the trick, right?

The octopus tentacle monster was flailing its tentacles like crazy,

too distracted by Raidel’s relentless pickaxe strikes to notice me.

Swoosh.

I lowered my body and moved silently.

Its focus was entirely on Raidel.

It seemed completely absorbed in dealing with her attacks,

leaving its weak point wide open.

Silently, I approached.

“Hup!”

I put my strength into it and swung the pickaxe down.

Thwack!

With a dull, meaty sound, the pickaxe pierced straight through the monster’s head.

“…Krrrk.”

The octopus monster let out a grotesque death rattle,

thrashing for a moment before collapsing to the floor,

its body twitching a few times before going completely still.

– 「Wow~~」

– 「Assassination ㄷㄷㄷ」

– 「Seeing the perfect assassinationㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

– 「This is teamworkㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

– 「Got it in one hit?」

《‘SilverHairSilverHair’ has donated 5,000 won!》

• Wasn’t that tentacle monster pretty tough? When I played, it just wouldn’t die.

– 「If you hit the weak spot, it’s a one-hit kill」

– 「But how did you know where the weak spot was?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

“Well… it just looked like the best spot to hit. It felt like the center of gravity was there,

so I figured if I struck it hard, it’d deal a lot of damage.”

– 「Even if you know, it’s hard to hitㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

– 「Yeah, landing a weak spot hit isn’t easyㄷㄷㄷ」

– 「Usually, you just swarm it with a group to take it down」

– 「But you took it out in one hitㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

– 「That tentacle thing went down like a chumpㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

It seemed like I had hit the weak spot just right.

“Alright, let’s move on.”

With Raidel still looking confused, like she was wondering where the monster went,

and Siren looking slightly surprised,

we took a step towards the AI core.

---

“Hoo.”

A young girl leaned back in her chair in front of the monitor.

Kang Arin, a trainee for the pro team Glitch Core.

To maintain her popularity, the team also had her do personal broadcasts.

Since it was the summer season, the hottest game in the streaming world right now was a VR horror game:

‘Scrap Planet’.

The game essentially had no clear ending; it was all about surviving as long as possible.

Streamers were competing to set new survival records, making it a trending challenge.

She had originally planned to play casually, just to clear her head.

Her team for this session was decent.

Former pro gamer Argon, who had turned to streaming, was also a member of Glitch Core.

And then there was Kreetzone, a streamer who joined at the last minute as a substitute.

“Hmm. Kreetzone is a bit… questionable, though.”

Usually, Arin had a competitive personality.

But this time, she was just following the trend, planning to play lightheartedly.

As she was preparing for the game, browsing online communities,

a line of text on the monitor caught her attention.

【Yoo Seo-yeon joins horror game collabㅋㅋㅋ Let’s go!】

Yoo Seo-yeon.

The moment she saw that name, Kang Arin unconsciously held her breath.

‘SilverHair debuted as Yoo Seo-yeon.’

She knew. She couldn’t not know.

That person had given her a huge humiliation.

The game she was preparing to go pro in, ‘Raid and Master’.

She had tried to blow off steam as her secondary character, ‘Ragnarok’,

but instead, she was utterly destroyed.

At that time, SilverHair—now Yoo Seo-yeon—was a complete novice with no experience in Raid and Master.

Yet, despite being a first-time player using the Rogue Master class,

Seo-yeon had completely outplayed her Sniper.

Even though the Rogue Master had a natural advantage,

she never imagined she’d be so thoroughly humiliated by a total beginner.

Even when she switched to the Knight, the perfect counter to Rogue Master,

it ended in a miserable defeat.

She had left the game room, practically fleeing.

The unpredictable movements and uncanny decision-making,

as if Yoo Seo-yeon could see the future,

left a mark on Arin’s memory as an unforgettable humiliation.

And now, that Yoo Seo-yeon was playing this game?

A fiery feeling rose from deep within her chest.

Her long-forgotten competitive spirit and the memory of that loss resurfaced at the same time.

Scrap Planet was just a survival game.

It wasn’t a direct competition.

But Arin’s eyes gleamed with determination.

This time would be different.

“SilverHair, no, Yoo Seo-yeon.”

Arin gritted her teeth.

“I… I’m definitely going to win…!”

Her pointless competitive spirit had reignited.