Chapter 110
A garbage compactor truck.
It's the vehicle that collects trash, compresses it tightly into a single solid mass.
In reality, this truck, capable of greatly reducing the volume of waste, looked much like any other truck, but its appearance in the game was slightly different.
No, very different.
Perhaps a garbage compactor robot? A toy?
"Does it sweep things up with that thing?"
Seojun pointed at the front of the compactor robot with his finger.
"Yeah, looks like it gathers it, stuffs it into its body, and presses it down."
The toy-like compactor had a rectangular body and head.
And peculiarly, at the front, there was a long, menacing plate—a sort of scraper—connected to two arms.
"Luckily, those arms aren't separated, so it can't move them sideways."
As Taewoo said, the robot's arms were one solid piece.
In human terms, it was like interlacing your fingers and gluing them together.
The problem was it wasn't hands but something like a scraper, but anyway, the machine's arms could probably only move forward and backward.
"Seojun, but it looks like it's already locked on to us."
Right now, the dazzling headlights beaming from the compactor robot were shining directly on them.
Maybe because they were right on the mountain of trash directly in front of the entrance.
[Hey, isn't that thing staring right at us?]
[Ah, hello?]
Taewoo's character waved a hand.
And at that moment, the toy's eyes.
Changed from (^ ^) to (＼ ／).
"It's pissed."
"It's pissed."
Seojun and Taewoo spoke at the same time.
-Taewoo, mommy told you not to cause trouble!
-What's this kid gonna be when he grows up
-lololol Tae-mom mode on
-Take the nagging.
Seojun scolded him too.
"You're the one who waved."
"That was my character, not me."
"Same thing."
"Is this guilt by association?"
-Guilt by association lololol
-Your character's fault is also your fault
-Who told you not to keep your character in check?
Regardless, the compactor robot, enraged by the visual assault of seeing Taewoo's ugly mug down below, immediately charged at them.
It didn't seem like it could climb the trash mountain. It had wheels instead of legs.
So the compactor robot raised its massive arms and slammed them onto the trash mountain with a boom.
Then it opened the lid on its body, scooped up the trash, stuffed it inside, and closed the lid.
With a rattling sound, after instantly compressing the trash, the robot expelled it from its rear and slammed the mountain again.
BOOM!
The vibrations reached even those on top of the mountain.
[Huh? I think that happened because you waved.]
[What nonsense! Hurry up and stop that thing! Otherwise this whole thing's gonna collapse.]
-They're saying the same thing lololololol
-It connected
[Hmm. If we get buried like that, we'll be helplessly trapped and become that toy's poop.]
[If you know that, then think of something, quick. You're the one who planned this game!]
BOOM!
The giant scraper slammed down once more.
The mountain was gradually being shaved away.
[Alright. Then let's run for it.]
[Where to?]
[To that peak over there.]
[Isn't it a bit far?]
[This is inside a game, so a double jump should be possible.]
[That's crazy. There's no way that...]
Taewoo's character suddenly looked down at the grappling hook rope neatly stored at his waist.
[Looks like there might be?]
[Yeah, let's give it a shot.]
Wobble.
As the cubic blocks of trash behind the compactor robot gradually piled up, the trash mountain became precarious.
Now they really had to run.
Control returned to the bodies of Seojun and Taewoo.
Looking at the side peak, a green guide marker also appeared.
"Looks like we need to run first."
"Yeah."
Following the guide marker, Seojun turned his body toward the side peak and put strength into his legs.
'But how exactly do you do a double jump?'
Taewoo had played a lot of other games, so he might know.
Fortunately, maybe because it was a tutorial, the trash mountain was shaky but didn't seem about to collapse right away.
"Hey. What exactly is a double jump?"
Is it similar to lightness skill?
"Umm."
"It's in other games too, right?"
"It is, but it's a little different for each game. Usually, if you try to kick off the empty air, you get the feeling a platform forms under your feet, and you just jump then..."
"Really?"
I'll have to try it.
"I'll jump first."
Seojun kicked off with force and leaped into the air.
From the moment he jumped, he felt his jumping power had clearly been enhanced.
A long hang time.
Thanks to that, Seojun was able to float leisurely in the air and focus on the sensation in his feet.
A platform?
'I feel like something's catching my foot.'
But the angle was a bit off.
If he kicked off like this, it felt like he'd shoot down headfirst into the trash mountain like a rocket.
In that short time, Seojun figured out how to make minute adjustments to the platform, timed it, and executed the double jump.
In the end, it's all about feel.
By moving his leg without applying enough force to kick through the air, he could adjust it subtly.
Whoosh.
A clean landing.
Seojun dug his feet into the trash and landed successfully.
"Hoo. This is a bit tough, you know?"
It was definitely harder than lightness skill.
-Just a talent pig lolololol
-How can he not get disheveled even once
-He did lightness skill like this too.
-Isn't that just easy?
-You'll know after seeing the other guy try once
"Well done! Then I'll jump too!"
Taewoo shouted and jumped.
But seeing his footing slip from the very start, Seojun frowned.
"Oh?"
Because he could already see the outcome without watching further.
But surprisingly, Taewoo pulled off the double jump properly and landed on the lower part of the peak where Seojun was.
About halfway up in height.
"Ha, did you see that? Recovering even after a bad jump."
Taewoo started to boast.
"Well done."
-Experience can't be ignored
-Kyah!
-Yeah. Taewoo's a pretty high tier in his own right.
In each game, even if the concept or feel of a double jump is similar, the set stat values are always different.
For Taewoo to execute a proper double jump with a body whose specs he hadn't yet adapted to in a new game showed he had considerable skill.
Seojun gave him a thumbs up.
"Well done. Your skills are good?"
"Right? I mean I'm not up to your level, but I'm still top 0.01%."
-Top 0.01% is probably not right? Wasn't it like top 0.2%?
-That bastard's claiming Master again lolol
-But what's that behind him?
-Oh lolololol
Seojun had his thumb up and was praising him.
Usually his friend wouldn't react like this, so Taewoo was elated.
"Everyone, did you see that? The Heavenly Demon acknowledged me."
And then.
Taewoo noticed that Seojun was smiling a meaningful smile.
Suddenly he felt uneasy.
Seojun's hand, which had been giving a thumbs up, was now spread wide open as if waving goodbye at him.
And then.
BOOM!
In front of Taewoo, who had been looking up at Seojun, a massive curtain suddenly fell from the sky, blocking his view.
A curtain?
Why?
Oh, right.
"Hey! Jin Seojun, you bastard! Why didn't you say anything?"
The compactor robot's scraper.
Taewoo, who had landed around the middle, was swept away by the trash pile and sucked right in.
"Hmm. Everyone, what happens if he's like that?"
Seojun observed it intently.
He was serious.
-Psycho lololololololololololololololololololololololololol
-Even distracting his friend the moment he landed was planned, this guy's the real deal lolololololol
-Not a single moment of hesitation lolololololol how fast does his brain work!
A psycho? Really.
"No, I mean, we have to see what happens when you die at least once."
Seojun felt wronged.
Taewoo's figure was gone.
At that moment, Taewoo reappeared next to Seojun.
"Wow... Are you seriously doing this?"
"Oh. So you respawn like this. Taewoo, isn't there an HP gauge or death counter displayed?"
"...There isn't, you bastard."
Taewoo gave up.
"Fine, I'll just have to be careful, sigh."
Regardless, the toy down below started going berserk again.
(＼ ／)
BOOM! BOOM!
The ground Seojun stood on shook precariously.
This time it really felt like it would collapse soon, so Seojun scanned his surroundings.
When he hadn't known his jumping power, he thought it was far, but now that he looked, the numerous peaks scattered around were all at distances easily reachable with a double jump.
Seojun spoke.
"Let's move somewhere else before it collapses. But now, there's no guide?"
"It'll probably show up as we dodge."
Seojun leaped lightly to the side again.
Even without using much strength, he could make a straight long-distance jump.
He kicked off his legs again in mid-air.
Whoosh.
Having executed a perfect landing, Seojun tapped the ground a few times with the ball of his foot, loosening his calves.
Taewoo went to the peak on the opposite side, and the compactor robot followed Taewoo.
"As expected. See, he's really pissed because that guy waved."
Seojun laughed and this time loosened his upper body.
Looks like the narration is coming now.
As expected.
[Why is that guy so angry! Isn't there any way to stop him?]
[Hmm. Doesn't it look like we could hook our grappling hooks into those grooves on his shoulders?]
[Hook them and then what, make him crash into a wall? Pry off a panel? Do we have the strength for that? The size difference is pretty big too.]
The game provided the hint through narration.
"Looks like we're supposed to do something with this rope."
Seojun took out the rope from his waist.
And as he examined the robot's shoulder, which was near Taewoo's side, he spotted a hole to hook onto.
It seemed out of reach for now, though.
"Seojun. Shall I give it a try?"
As Taewoo spoke, he threw the grappling hook at the robot's left shoulder.
But the rope was too short and returned to Taewoo's grasp, and the robot slammed the trash pile as if to pull Taewoo down.
BOOM!
"I'll get a bit closer and try again."
Taewoo balanced himself and slid down like skiing, gauging the distance.
"Got it!"
Taewoo threw the rope.
Seojun moved a little closer to watch.
But then.
"Hey, be careful..."
-Oh lolololololol
-Getting hit again?
-Dodge
The long plate covered the area above Taewoo's head.
So if it's in range for this side, it's the same for that side.
BOOM!
Swoooosh.
Taewoo was swept away and died again.
It was an utterly futile death.
Waiting for Taewoo to respawn, Seojun spoke.
"This seems to have quite a bit of difficulty, indeed."
No matter how off guard he was, Taewoo wasn't someone with skills to die so easily.
But the enemy showed extremely fast and clean reactions.
Is this not just a simple co-op game?
It felt like the level of a Soulslike game, which Seojun knew well for their infamous difficulty.
-lolololololol
-Host still doesn't know
-You're gonna have a hard time now lolololololol
What?
His chat window was saying things he couldn't understand.
Maybe because a new mission had just been posted?
[Clear this boss battle in one try at the current difficulty — Mission reward: 600,000 won]
"Thank you for the mission. But why are you all laughing like that?"
And difficulty?
The answer to Seojun's puzzled question came from Taewoo, who had just respawned.
"Hey, did you see the mission?"
Since Taewoo was co-streaming with Seojun, the mission would have popped up for both of them at the same time.
"Yeah."
"Ha. A mission had to come now of all times. First, I need to tell you something. I've got one life left."
"What?"
"And right now, the game difficulty is Nightmare. The highest difficulty."
"Why?"
"Because you're so good at games, I thought it'd be fun, so I set it to Nightmare."
That makes sense.
"When did you change it?"
"Back when we were selecting characters. If you go into settings, the game auto-pauses, so I thought you'd notice. I did it when it was already paused."
Thorough.
Anyway.
"Why didn't you mention the life thing earlier?"
"Because that's basically like you killed me."
So it's karma.
Seojun nodded in understanding and sorted the situation.
So basically, the current game difficulty is the hardest.
And since it's a co-op game, Taewoo is absolutely necessary.
But Taewoo having one life left means they're betting money now?
[+Bet increase 9,000 won]
[+Bet increase 2,000 won]
[+Bet increase 5,000 won]
[+Bet increase 10,000 won]
.
.
.
What the.
This is a goldmine?
-Since Taewoo's here too, this really is a safe asset!!
-This time it's truly the sour grape, host lololol
-Everyone, hurry and invest!