Chapter 117

CHAPTER 117

For the next thirty minutes, Seo Jun and Tae Woo advanced through the game the intended way, solving the puzzles designed by the developers.

The puzzles were creative and entertaining, and the viewers reacted positively.

Occasionally, chat asked him to demonstrate the Tang Clan's secret throwing-weapon technique again, but he refused.

Not because it was some forbidden art that had to remain sealed during a sponsored stream.

More like because if he kept doing it, future sponsorship offers might get cut in half.

“Ah, damn it.”

Scrrrrch.

A dark silhouette briefly revealed itself as it crawled along the wall below before disappearing again.

As though it were watching them.

Nothing had jumped out to scare them yet, but little details like that made the game genuinely creepy.

At least for Tae Woo.

“I hate this! I hate it!”

After solving the final puzzle, they arrived at the room Seo Jun had previously reached through the combined efforts of his left hand and right hand.

• He's always terrified.
• But it is scary.
• How would you know?
• Have you played it already?
• Wow, streamer, please stop spoiling the game.
• You people are insane lol

“This is the last room.”

“Really?”

The moment they passed through the door, they were greeted by a wide staircase stretching straight ahead.

At the top lay what looked like a normal indoor room.

“We just need to find the protagonist.”

Seo Jun judged that this was the final segment of the chapter.

After all, this was the exact room he'd glimpsed through the ventilation shaft earlier while searching for the protagonist.

And because of that, he had a feeling they needed to head toward the empty box he had spotted before.

So he walked over there.

“Follow me.”

“Ugh. It feels like all these toys are watching us.”

Cardboard boxes lined both sides of the room, neatly displaying their contents.

Soon, Seo Jun found the location he'd memorized earlier.

“This is it.”

“Look closely. There's a note inside.”

[If you want to find me, you'll have to do my job for me.]

The protagonist's job?

Seo Jun had a pretty good guess.

They probably needed to deal with whatever had been crawling along the walls all this time.

• ????
• What are they supposed to do?
• Why is this kid so rude? Aren't those his parents?

While progressing through the game, they had learned two things:

First, the game-within-the-game was an action game.

Second, this world was a toy world.

And oddly enough, all the unfinished parts the developers hadn't completed had somehow been filled in.

Which meant...

BOOM!

Something suddenly dropped from the ceiling.

• WTF

The head of a doll appeared.

Its hair was sparse and patchy.

Looking lower revealed a cylindrical torso attached directly beneath the head.

Claw-like arms.

Spider-like legs.

The horrifying doll slowly began approaching them.

Its shark-like teeth fully exposed.

One glance was enough to understand.

The developers must not have finished building the rest of it, so it had ended up looking like that.

“Ah... wow... I really hate this.”

Tae Woo looked completely panicked.

[Run!]

Running was apparently the objective.

Did difficulty not matter anymore?

Seo Jun immediately sprinted toward the entrance.

“My movement speed is restricted.”

The moment he tried to run, his legs refused.

Tiny shuffling steps were the maximum speed.

• LOL
• That thing looks terrifying.
• Chase sequence?

Click.

The entrance door was locked.

Seo Jun climbed back up the stairs.

Looking around, he noticed something.

“There's an opening over there.”

He pointed toward an entrance in the wall where a conveyor belt passage had been left conspicuously open, almost as if inviting them inside.

“Hey. Come here.”

He called to Tae Woo, who was desperately trying to avoid the doll with his tiny restricted steps.

After waiting for him, Seo Jun entered the conveyor tunnel together with Tae Woo.

“I don't think we should stop moving.”

“Huh?”

“Move, Tae Woo.”

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

That moving sound was unsettling.

Fortunately, the tunnel wasn't large enough for the doll to enter comfortably.

Unfortunately, it wasn't very long.

When the passage ended, they arrived in the massive area they had traversed earlier.

The conveyor belts they had previously seen from below while solving puzzles had now become their escape route.

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

The sound continued.

Tae Woo glanced behind him and immediately screamed.

“AAAAAAAH! IT'S COMING! HEY! IT'S COMING! IT'S COMING!”

While continuing forward, Seo Jun also looked back briefly.

Grin.

The doll was smiling.

And steadily closing the distance.

• Ah, it got me.
• Holy crap that's scary.
• LOL
• I flinched.

Fortunately, just before the doll could catch them, a passage leading to the next room appeared.

They rushed inside.

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

But they couldn't relax.

The sound of the doll's movement continued relentlessly.

And that caution proved justified.

“Maybe it can't follow us this far? How about we just stay here?”

“Sure.”

THUMP. THUMP.

Seo Jun smirked and pointed behind them.

Tae Woo turned around.

“AAAAAAAHHHHH!”

The doll had twisted its head ninety degrees and was squeezing itself through the tunnel while crawling toward them.

Then—

“The way's blocked! What do we do?! AAAAHHH!”

Tae Woo planted both hands on the wall in front of him and pushed with all his strength while keeping his eyes locked on the approaching doll.

As the doll got closer, he pushed even harder.

Not that it would help.

• Tae Woo literally can't see anything except the doll right now lol
• His reactions are premium content.
• His reactions are insanely good hahaha

Because the thing Tae Woo was pushing wasn't a door.

It was a wall.

“Turn left, Tae Woo.”

The viewers were loving his panic.

Seo Jun abandoned him and headed left.

Apparently Tae Woo's survival instincts still functioned, because he immediately followed.

The tunnel ended.

They entered the next room.

And the doll finally emerged from the cramped passage, resuming its rapid pursuit.

This was definitely a chase sequence.

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

The sound echoed behind them.

Seo Jun noticed just how fast the doll really was.

Fast enough that it should have caught them long ago.

Tae Woo looked behind him again and frowned.

“It disappeared?”

“Hey. Look forward.”

“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!”

The doll had moved beneath the conveyor belts, overtaken them, and climbed back onto the same conveyor belt they were standing on, appearing directly in front of them.

Just as expected from the thing that had been crawling along the dark walls the entire time, constantly making its presence known.

Tae Woo froze.

His mouth hung open as the doll suddenly appeared before him.

The doll grinned grotesquely and lunged forward.

Seo Jun immediately grabbed the back of Tae Woo's collar—who had effectively ceased all biological activity—and dragged him toward a path branching off to the lower right.

• LMAOOOOOO this is actually killing me hahaha
• Every time the streamer makes eye contact with the doll, I flinch too, but then Tae Woo reacts and it completely breaks the tension
• Can someone really be this scared?
• This is delicious content lol

Once again, Tae Woo's survival instincts kicked in.

After being dragged forward by Seo Jun, he somehow managed not to lose his balance and resumed running in tiny restricted steps.

Past the corridor was another room.

Seo Jun made a quick judgment and shouted.

“Left side first!”

Behind them, the doll was trying to emerge from the tunnel but appeared to be slightly stuck.

The entrance ahead was closed.

There were no side paths.

Which meant they needed something to open it.

The only suspicious objects nearby were several hanging panels floating in midair and blocking their vision.

They needed Tae Woo's help.

His trembling hands immediately activated the air gun.

The panels rose under the force of the wind.

Seo Jun loaded the nail gun and kept moving, rapidly hitting all four control panels—two on each side.

The door ahead opened.

The final room's door was closed as well.

This time, the puzzle required Tae Woo to alter the nail's trajectory first.

Just like the very first puzzle they'd solved.

However—

“This is my specialty.”

With the doll once again trying to force itself out of a narrow tunnel and time running out, Seo Jun already knew a faster solution.

• Ahhh, he said he wouldn't use it again...
• The streamer lasted thirty minutes before pulling it out again lol
• Here comes the exploit again hahaha

There was no need for Tae Woo to move first.

As long as Seo Jun loaded the nail gun, the puzzle was already solved.

They leisurely entered the final corridor.

Emerging from it, they arrived in a room.

Was the chase sequence over?

“Holy crap. Seo Jun, seriously, thank you. Seriously. Thank you so much.”

Tae Woo finally relaxed.

• Is that it?
• Damn, that was actually scary.
• Streamer hard-carried lol
• ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
• He carried his poor friend

The sequence had certainly been intense.

The footsteps constantly reminded players that something was chasing them.

And every time they looked back, the horrifying doll was getting closer.

It was genuinely terrifying.

Tae Woo screamed every single time he saw it.

But was that really the end?

Then—

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

• Huh?
• ???
• Wait, that's not right...

“Ah, please no.”

Ignoring Tae Woo's desperate wishes, the doll suddenly burst from the corridor they'd just used and thrust its face toward them.

They died.

The two respawned among a pile of toys.

Tae Woo looked utterly devastated.

“You want me to do that again? I'm not doing it. No, I can't do it. Seriously. I can't! That's way too scary!”

Meanwhile, Seo Jun thought about what had gone wrong.

They should have closed the side door.

There was probably a control panel nearby.

Actually, that wasn't true.

He already knew exactly what the problem was.

But Tae Woo had been so terrified that Seo Jun had intentionally left it open so they could do the chase sequence again.

The impact wasn't enough.

The horror and tension had been conveyed properly.

It would probably become somewhat popular.

Tae Woo's reactions had been excellent.

And Seo Jun had occasionally looked back specifically to startle viewers.

Even so—

It's still lacking.

His instincts were telling him so.

It would receive some attention.

But not enough to become a major topic.

At the end of the day, it was just a well-made chase sequence.

Which was why he wanted to do it again.

Because he'd just thought of a way to make it truly memorable.

“Come on, let's do it again and finish it properly.”

“Ha... Fine. Let's go. Ugh. I really hate this.”

The two headed back toward the protagonist's box to restart the chase sequence.

BOOM!

The doll dropped from above once more.

Tae Woo flinched slightly.

But now that he knew what was coming, he took a deep breath and calmly started walking toward the conveyor belt.

Then he glanced to the side.

And found his friend doing something bizarre.

“Seo Jun, what are you doing?”

Seo Jun was walking in the opposite direction.

Backward.

In other words—

He was facing the doll.

“Oh. The viewers keep saying it's too scary, so I thought I'd try running away while looking at it the whole time. The speed seems manageable.”

So what he meant was—

He planned to escape without turning around.

“What about the route?”

“I memorized it.”

“The mechanics?”

“Same thing.”

Seo Jun grinned casually.

“Why? Want to try it too?”

“You really are... a complete lunatic.”

• Walking backwards LOLLLLL
• Why are you shooting nails at it when it doesn't even take damage? hahaha
• This instantly turned from horror into comedy
• Looking at it this long... the doll might actually be kind of cute?

And then—

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

“Tae Woo. I told you not to look back.”

“I CAN'T HELP IT!”

Glance.

“AAAAAH!”

The contrast between the two players was incredible.

Tae Woo voluntarily kept turning around, only to scream and jump every single time.

Meanwhile, Seo Jun walked backward.

He maintained eye contact with the doll.

Sometimes he even waved at it.

When he had spare time, he'd shoot nails into its head.

And while doing all that, he continued solving the chase mechanics perfectly.

The footage was uploaded to gaming communities under the title:

“A Newbie and a Veteran Playing a Game Released Less Than Three Hours Ago.”

And it became an even bigger sensation than Seo Jun had expected.