LS 117

It only took Moonhyuk 2 minutes and 27 seconds to clear the minigame. The raid members were glued to Dohee’s shared screen, hardly able to breathe. It felt like magic, Moonhyuk flipped the tiles without hesitation, like he had some kind of cheat sheet.

Dohee was just as shocked. He already knew Moonhyuk was smart and had a great memory. The fact that Moonhyuk immediately recognized a resemblance between himself and the GoSupp character the first time they met showed he was pretty sharp-eyed too. And considering his love of plants and all the time he’d spent gathering in SoGod, maybe he was just more familiar with the images. Still, none of that alone explained how he was this good at a memory game.

Because that’s the thing about games, at their core, they’re all forms of practice. Sure, some people are naturally talented and pick things up quickly, but most become good by putting in time, playing similar games repeatedly, building data and instincts. That’s how players like Dohee and Yeohoo became GoSupp and YeohooHae.

Almost no one’s good from the start.

So where the hell had Moonhyuk played enough memory games to get this good…?

Before Dohee could ask, Moonhyuk had already finished.

As soon as the word “CLEAR” appeared, Moonhyuk jumped up from the chair and looked back at Dohee. The chat was blazing by like wildfire. He looked so much like a puppy hoping for praise that Dohee couldn’t help but laugh.

“You did amazing, hyung.”

“Yes!”

Dohee instinctively reached out and hugged Moonhyuk, wrapping his arms around his waist and leaning in. His cheek touched the firm muscles of Moonhyuk’s stomach. Since Dohee was sitting, their faces and bodies naturally lined up like that. Moonhyuk didn’t seem to know where to put his hands, clearly flustered. It was ridiculously cute.

With the camera off, Dohee could look at him and touch him all he wanted. For a fleeting moment, just 0.1 seconds, he regretted ever turning the cam on in the first place.

Then Moonhyuk mumbled nervously,

“A-ah… we should switch back seats…”

“Yeah.”

Dohee would’ve loved to hold him a little longer, but he nodded in agreement. His monitor faded to black and then lit back up, showing the ruins map again.

The moment they swapped seats, a system alert popped up:

[System] The shield surrounding ‘Momba’s Echo’ has vanished.

[System] Attack power increased by 10% from successful minigame attempt.

The boss’s shield was finally gone. And on top of that, the successful minigame had granted a 10% damage buff. Dohee quickly turned his camera back on and grabbed his mouse. It still felt slightly damp, Moonhyuk must have been nervous. But instead of feeling gross, Dohee found himself smiling. He liked that Moonhyuk’s trace lingered on his mouse.

[Raid] PrettyHealerHyung: Whoa, there’s a buff from clearing it?? ㅠ-ㅠ

[Raid] SoftRiceCake: If it says “1-time success buff,” does that mean the buffs stack with each success?

[Raid] SoftRiceCake: Damn, sucks we only got it once ㅠ-ㅠ

“At least we got that much. If we’d failed again, we’d have had to reset.”

Honestly, he was just thankful they made it through.

— Since we can enter three times, I bet we’d get a triple stack if we succeeded all three times.

“Could be. Anyway, now that the boss is open, everyone get in position and prep to DPS. Hyung, get ready to buff.”

“Got it!”

The team quickly got into formation. Praise for Moonhyuk came flooding in.

— I watched and still had no clue. Does he have superhuman eyes or something?

— Of course. Noodle’s only good at DPS and nothing else.

Noodle’s comment was met with an immediate jab from Tando. As always, they were bickering even in the middle of a serious fight. Dohee, used to their banter, ignored it and continued giving orders.

“Hyung, once your big damage buff is off cooldown, use your shield skill too.”

“Okay, I’ll have it ready!”

“Good. Boss is getting up.”

The boss let out a low, guttural rumble, then black smoke burst outward as it rose to its feet. The team launched their DPS rotation. With the minigame buff, the boss’s HP dropped slightly faster than before. By now, the raid had adapted to the mechanics and was dodging patterns smoothly while maintaining damage.

Dohee kept an eye on the boss’s HP. The minigame had triggered at 120 bars, so he was sure another mechanic would show up before they dropped below 100. There was no way it would be this simple.

Sure enough, at 88 bars, a new mechanic triggered, but thankfully, it was a repeat of the first stone tablet mechanic.

This time, those who were banished, Oreckthat and Yeojin, were a little flustered but quickly briefed the team. The rest of the raid in the ruins map quickly identified which tablets to destroy and which to leave.

Everything’s hard the first time. The second time? Much easier. Now used to it, the raid handled the repeating mechanic with ease. The added buff from the minigame further accelerated the boss’s HP drop. Aside from the occasional buff call, no one was chatting anymore. Everyone was fully focused.

“Once we drop below 60, be alert. We don’t know what’s coming.”

ESCAPE88: Bro, they’re clearing that tablet mechanic like pros now. I’m emotional lol

uuu.uuu: As long as there’s no new mechanic, they’re gonna clear this

224224YongYong: Human still in first place, right?? Anyone know?

KosKosMosMos: Yep, still first. That hyung being cracked at the minigame was game-changing

AmericanoGodShot: For real lol

MomIDidn’tWashMyHair: Wait lmao, technically GoSupp is IngSupp’s mentor right?

MomIDidn’tWashMyHair: So if that hyung killed GoSupp’s character, it’d be mentor murder… legendary…

DragonIsMine: lol good thing he didn’t die… tears

HumanBoldFont: The boss is dying, but I’m the one sweating. My hands are soaked, is this real life?

MostlyHolyWizard: For real, this is a sweaty raid lol

MotherInLawChicken: Just clear it already and move to Phase 3… That’s the real deal, right?

RedHairedDesertRat: 100%, Phase 3 is where Demon Hunter gets real lol

Even before Dohee finished speaking, Noodle the Striker fired off his awakening skill. Striker’s cooldown was the longest among all classes, but the damage against a single boss was unmatched.

By the time the skill ended, the boss’s HP had dropped to 49 bars. Then it suddenly stopped moving.

— Oh shit. This feels sketchy.

Yeojin’s voice came through the headset. Everyone stepped back cautiously from the boss. Judging from its HP, whatever was coming next was probably the final mechanic.

“I think this is the last phase.”

— There’s a pattern on the ground around the boss!

Yeohoo reported quickly. Just as he said, a series of small circular zones appeared around the boss. Dohee quickly scanned the map. There were ten total: five purple and five yellow. The boss began twisting in agony.

— Should we step into the zones first? It feels like we’re gonna get nuked if we wait.

Everyone agreed. Since there were ten zones, each person could take one. The raid members scattered and stood on the nearest circles.

The boss let out a grotesque roar, and a new system alert popped up:

[System] Momba’s Echo has begun binding shadows to you.

[System] You are being slowly engulfed by darkness.

[System] You can escape the trap by facing a divine light.

“What the hell?”

Dohee’s voice came through, panicked. Even though they were standing on the circles, their HP was draining fast. And he wasn’t the only one surprised.

— My HP is dropping too??

Yeohoo sounded just as confused. Dohee checked beneath his and Yeohoo’s feet, they were both standing on purple circles. Same with Oreckthat, SoftRiceCake, and 4EvilPrettyGirl, who were also complaining about HP loss. They were all on purple.

Dohee quickly pieced it together.

“Everyone losing HP is standing on a purple zone, right?”

The replies confirmed it.

“The system message says the boss’s shadow is clinging to us and we’re being swallowed by darkness. Then it says divine light will set us free. Hey, what did the yellow zones say?”

Moonhyuk, sitting beside him, quickly answered.

“Oh, I’m on a yellow zone. It says, ‘You are wrapped in the blessing of the goddess Kelathus. The darkness circles around the blessing.’ And the last line says, ‘The darkness fades due to Kelathus’s blessing.’ That’s what I saw.”

Everyone tried stepping off the circles but the zones stuck to their feet, refusing to disappear. Dohee nodded.

“So those on yellow circles got the goddess’s blessing, and those on purple are being consumed by the shadows.”

Meanwhile, HP kept dropping. Even with Tando and Healer throwing out heals, they couldn’t keep up. Skill cooldowns were a thing, and the shadow’s corrosion was faster. Everyone began chugging potions, desperately trying to stay alive.

“I think the ones with the blessing have to rescue the ones getting swallowed, but how do we do that…?”