HG Ch 20

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Eunho’s class was a gunner. In other words, his method of attack was shooting. If anything, a completely fantasy-style magic-based class would have been better. Even knowing that this was merely an illusion created by the Chang-gwi, he couldn’t bring himself to shoot at his mother.

Ssshhreeaaak!

But the Chang-gwi had no such hesitation in attacking Eunho.

A chilling sensation crawled up his fingertips, making him shudder. Sensing the surge of murderous intent, Eunho hurriedly leaped away. At the same moment, the spot where he had just been standing caved in, struck by an invisible attack. Even though he knew it was just a game, cold sweat trickled down his body.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

After landing lightly at a distance from the Chang-gwi, he fired his gun into the air in quick succession, more precisely, at the ceiling above the creature’s head.

Rumble!

The cave’s ceiling collapsed, sending down a shower of rocks of various sizes onto the Chang-gwi. Eunho frowned. Even though he had fired indirectly, it had left him with a crushing sense of guilt, as if he had committed a terrible act of filial impiety.

He had just witnessed the creature wearing his mother’s face being buried under a pile of rubble.

Mom, I’m sorry. Damn it. I’ll be a better son when I get back.

Having used the rockfall to obstruct the Chang-gwi’s movements, Eunho turned and bolted in the opposite direction, leaving the buried monster behind.

“Huff, huff… Yoon Iseo! Where are you? Hyung-nim, I swear, I’d rather die than shoot my own mother!”

Shouting for his sole party member, he kept running in the opposite direction until he hit a dead end. Yet, there was still no sign of Yoon Iseo. Seriously, it’s just like the saying—even dog poop is nowhere to be found when you actually need it. Where the hell was he?

As Eunho frantically looked around—

BOOOM!

Grrrrroar!

A tremendous crashing sound echoed through the cave, followed by the ferocious roar of a beast. The sheer force of the sound sent sharp, tingling pain across his skin.

Eunho’s face paled. He knew exactly what that roar meant.

The Chang-gwi was no longer imitating a familiar voice; it was roaring like a tiger.

He let out an indignant shout.

“What the hell did I do to trigger Phase 3?!”

Strictly speaking, the Chang-gwi was a “magic damage dealer” monster. Its primary tactic was using debuffs to trap players in illusions.

Phase 1: It lured players in with the voice of someone dear to them. The moment they reacted, they were afflicted with a debuff that cut their HP, attack power, and defense by 20%, forcing them to fight the Chang-gwi in a weakened state.

Phase 2: It induced a confusion debuff, pitting party members against each other in a chaotic free-for-all. Since the game had transitioned to virtual reality, the Chang-gwi had taken the form of his mother for Eunho. Regardless, the mechanics remained the same.

And then came Phase 3.

A massive tiger, large enough to dwarf an adult man, shook off the dust and debris from its fur and began to stride toward Eunho. Unlike before, when it had taken the form of his mother, the aura surrounding the Chang-gwi had darkened into an even more intense, bloodthirsty crimson.

The beast’s piercing gaze locked onto him. Goosebumps rose all over Eunho’s body as he bit down on his lip.

If neither approach worked, I figured it’d turn into a tiger and become an insanely strong physical DPS^[1] monster…

Choice: Shooting his mother in the face until her HP dropped to half. VS Fight the tiger monster at full health, in a fair and square battle.

In the end, the ever-dutiful son, Joo Eunho, found himself choosing the latter.

“…Lovely.”

It seemed that unshakable composure just wasn’t in the cards for this life, after all.

* * *

Still, he figured it wouldn’t be too bad. After all, taking a hit in the game didn’t hurt that much.

That naïve assumption shattered the moment he was kicked in the stomach by the Chang-gwi’s massive paw.

“Urgh!”

Wait, hold on. This hurts more than I thought?!

Eunho let out a disbelieving laugh.

Was it because this dungeon had such a high spiritual power requirement? Either way, this was way too painful.

Even as he tumbled across the cave floor from the impact, his whole body throbbed in pain, far worse than usual. Staggering to his feet, he looked down at himself with a panicked expression.

Is it even normal to feel this much pain in a game?

Of course, it wasn’t as if he had been kicked by a real tiger and felt the full agony of having his internal organs pounded into pulp. If that had happened, he would’ve gone into shock and died instantly.

But the pain was still real enough to make him fully aware that he was getting beaten to a pulp.

Joo Eunho, a former Korean student who had grown up comfortably in a middle-class household, stood frozen with a horrified expression as he stared at the Chang-gwi.

He hated pain.

He hated pain so much that he had always done his homework on time and gotten along with his classmates. Sure, his naturally fierce-looking face had occasionally attracted troublemakers, but he still made an effort to maintain a “we’re all friends” atmosphere.

There was no way Eunho would enjoy a game where he could actually feel pain. Let’s be real, what players liked was the impact of hitting others, not the pain of getting hit themselves. And to make matters worse, the higher his level got, the more it hurt? The game developers had seriously messed up somewhere.

“What the hell? If this gets any worse, I’m quitting for good…”

Of course, the Chang-gwi wasn’t an admin, so it couldn’t care less about player retention issues.

The creature swung its massive front paw at Eunho once more. A deafening whoosh tore through the air, making it abundantly clear how it had managed to break free from the pile of rubble.

Determined not to feel any more pain, Eunho focused as intensely as he had during his college entrance exams. Moving with sharp precision, he dodged every one of the Chang-gwi’s attacks and swiftly took aim.

Bang!

With a burst of flames, the bullet shot forward, landing a direct hit. He had aimed for the eye, but it only grazed the edge. Still, the damage must have been significant, as the Chang-gwi thrashed its head violently in agony.

Oh? Given how its aura is red-tinted, it’s more manageable than expected?  Am I actually kind of good at this game?

Its aura wasn’t fully red, but it was stronger than yellow. That meant he was holding his own pretty well. Its level was probably in the orange-red range.

Just as Eunho was getting cocky and preparing his second shot, the Chang-gwi suddenly lashed its long tail.

For a brief moment, drunk on his own strength, Eunho almost mistook the monster’s behavior as submissive, as if it had been so impressed by his prowess that it was wagging its tail like a puppy. 

But when a sinister green mist began to spread around him, he immediately remembered a crucial detail about Chang-gwi’s abilities.

Oh, right. This thing uses poison debuffs.

[HP] 1932/2450 [Status Effect] Paralysis (00:00:29) [Status Effect] Poison (00:00:29)

He had been hit with paralysis and poison debuffs before in other dungeons, but the intensity this time was on a completely different level. What used to be a mild numbness—something like “Huh? My arm feels a little weak”—now felt like he had been struck by severe muscle cramps. And the poison? Cold sweat poured down his back as his body swayed involuntarily, a far cry from the minor inconvenience he was used to.

[SYSTEM] Due to poison, you will take additional damage every 2 seconds. [HP] 1703/2450 [Status Effect] Paralysis (00:00:28) [Status Effect] Poison (00:00:28)

“…Turned into a Chikso^[2] meow.”

To make matters worse, the Chang-gwi lunged again, forcing Eunho to throw himself to the side in a desperate dodge. Every roll sent waves of dull pain through his body.

The Chang-gwi missed its target and turned its head.

Its blood-red eyes locked onto Eunho, who lay sprawled on the ground. Then, with a powerful push, it launched itself toward him once more.

Staring directly into the eyes of the charging beast, Eunho waited for the perfect moment.

Then, in a flash, he hurled an explosive bomb.

And then he shot it.

[SYSTEM] The Chang-gwi has taken a critical hit to its vital point: the eyes.

This time, he succeeded!

KROOOOOAR!

The Chang-gwi let out a roar of pure agony.

[SYSTEM] Explosion effect activated. Fire damage is stacking. [SYSTEM] Low probability burn effect activated! (00:00:15). [SYSTEM] The Chang-gwi will take additional damage for 15 seconds.

In this game, friendly fire wasn’t a thing; otherwise, Eunho would have gotten himself blown to pieces, too.

He staggered to his feet.

While the Chang-gwi thrashed around in pain, he chomped down on a healing herb like a sleep-deprived corporate worker downing an iced Americano. As the effects kicked in, he reached for a fresh set of bullets.

Suddenly, a rush of dopamine flooded his brain.

I might actually clear this raid soon. Maybe this isn’t so bad after all…?

He shouldn’t have thought that.

The instant he loaded his new rounds, the Chang-gwi, howling in pain and blinded by its injuries, suddenly disappeared.

And in its place…

Ten identical Chang-gwis materialized, completely surrounding him.

“……”

And then, Eunho had a thought.

“Is this actually a solo-clearable dungeon? Yoon Iseo, you humble one. If I fail this dungeon and reset, I’m blaming you no matter what.”

Wait, no, he hadn’t just thought that. He had said it out loud.

Fuck.

At this point, what the hell was he even supposed to do?