SANN | Chapter 1.3

King-ga tried to lighten the mood, but soon a large gem hit him, and a tombstone fell over his head.

“Ah, shit.”

“Such a warm atmosphere, party leader. You’re really swearing.”

Hong Jalla mocked King-ga while nimbly running around the map.

“Hong Jalla seems to have good control today?”

“What are you talking about? I’ve always been good.”

No sooner had she said that than a tombstone also fell over her head. The increase in the number of gems thrown by the Maze Queen towards the end of Phase 1 was to blame.

“Ah, shit!”

“Such a warm atmosphere, Hong Jalla. You’re really swearing.”

[Party] Miss Cutie Hee: LOL so funny kekekekekekekekekekekekeke

[Party] Miss Cutie Hee: Everyone manage your death count hehe it looks like we won’t even make it through Phase 2

“Wasn’t it already certain that we wouldn’t make it through Phase 2?”

“Seems like it’s going to be tough today.”

[Party] Miss Cutie Hee: Sigh, such noobs… gysr

As more and more gems were thrown by the Maze Queen, it seemed like they’d suffer significant death count losses before even reaching Phase 2. Gureum checked the cooldown on his 2-second Stun; 15 seconds were left.

[Party] hazeee: I’ll use Stun at 50 minutes and 40 seconds!

[Party] Chaesyongsyong: Okay

As the boss’s remaining time displayed at the top of the screen neared its end, Gureum immediately locked the Maze Queen in a Stun as soon as the dead dealers revived. For a brief moment, the boss was thrown into a panic state, and concentrated blows rained down, signaling the end of Phase 1.

“Wow, barely any left. Hit it hard. Fucking smash it.”

Hong Jalla muttered urgently. Not long after, the Stun wore off, and gems began pouring down again. The dealers screamed and kicked their attacks into high gear. The sound of furiously pounding keyboards echoed even beyond the headset.

“Wow, we passed it!”

“Amazing.”

“Ah, I find Phase 2 patterns so tough… looks like I’m winning a gold medal for quickest elimination.”
Gureum agreed with King-ga’s comment. The patterns in Phase 2 of the Maze Queen were incredibly complicated. The most common pattern was particularly challenging. If the Maze Queen triggered a rose storm, they had to determine the number of storms and the color of the roses to decide where to dodge.

If there were more white roses, they had to move to the left side of the map, blue roses meant the middle, and red roses the right side. However, the numbers assigned to the colors were different: one for white, two for blue, three for red. Thus, even if there were two white rose storms, if there was one red rose storm, they needed to dodge to the right side of the map. This was one of the most basic and frequently occurring patterns in Phase 2.

[Party] hazeee: Everyone’s busy dealing damage, so I’ll keep an eye on the rose storm pattern as much as I can.

[Party] hazeee: For convenience, I’ll split the directions using <ㅣ>.

[Party] Hong Jalla: Our maknae is the bestㅠ

[Party] 1st Base 2nd Frame: Thank you….

[Party] hazeee: I’ll chain as soon as we enter Phase 2.

As they entered Phase 2, the setting changed to inside a castle. Gureum immediately used the Chain skill to wrap the Maze Queen up.

[Party] hazeee: Stun cooldown isn’t up yet.

“Okay.”

“Smash it. Hit it hard. We need to hit it now.”

“Are the hits going in?”

Phase 2 had more boss HP than Phase 1, so although they managed to reduce it to nearly half, they couldn’t lower it further by the time the Chain skill ended. The Maze Queen woke from the unstoppable state and immediately cast the rose storm pattern.

[Party] hazeee: <<<

“Thank you, Heize.”

Chaesyongsyong said. While it was a typical word of thanks like from the other party members, somehow Gureum’s cheeks reddened even more. The dealers followed Gureum’s instructions and all huddled to the left.

[Party] Miss Cutie Hee: Sweet sㅇ^ㅇb

[Party] 1st Base 2nd Frame: It’s because you’re young, you have such a broad perspective;;

[Party] King-ga: Seriously, I don’t even have the mind to see how many of what color are where.

After one round of rose storms ended, other patterns started to follow. The dealers were all over the place, trying to deal damage and dodge patterns, and they were chewing through their death counts.

[Party] Hong Jalla: Why the hell am I dying even though I dodged that spear??

[Party] hazeee: You have to deliberately get hit or dodge depending on Queen’s gesture.

[Party] Hong Jalla: Huh;;;;;;

Gureum wanted to explain right away but was too busy injecting various buffs to assist the surviving dealers.

[Party] 1st Base 2nd Frame: Wow;; I can’t even get a feel for this pattern.

[Party] Miss Cutie Hee: Gold medal gns?

[Party] 1st Base 2nd Frame: sgns;;;

“Is everyone checking how many death counts you have left? Chae Syong is surprisingly doing well?”

“This old man at the bottom of the screen shows the death count of party members, but I don’t even have the mind to look at that.”

Gureum checked the death counts of the party members. Out of a total of 10 death counts, Gureum had 9 lives left, Chaesyongsyong had 7, Miss Cutie Hee had 6, Hong Jalla and King-ga had 5, and lastly, 1st Base 2nd Frame had 3 left.

[Party] Miss Cutie Hee: Why does this old man have more death counts than meㅇㅅㅇ?

[Party] Chaesyongsyong: ^^

“I always die laughing whenever Chae Syong uses that smiley emoji.”

“It’s not like he’s a newbie at controlling, that person.”

“He’s the oldest here…”

Miss Cutie Hee’s comment turned That’s Code into a sea of laughter in an instant. Chaesyongsyong simply laughed along without any rebuttal. How old was he anyway? Gureum’s mind wandered to this question, and because of that, he failed to see the spear thrown by the Maze Queen heading towards him. That’s when it happened.

“Heize niim.”

Chaesyongsyong stretched out Gureum’s nickname and threw himself in front of the spear. He died smiling, seemingly enjoying himself.

“We have to protect our youngest.”

Gureum’s cheeks, which had already been red throughout the party, now felt like they could burst into flames any moment.

[Party] hazeee: Ah… thank you…ㅠㅠㅠㅠ I’ll be more attentive.

[Party] Hong Jalla: ? What??

[Party] Miss Cutie Hee: Huh, died for you?? Wow, so romantic ⺣‘w’⺣♡

[Party] King-ga: Yes, I agree.

Hong Jalla scolded King-ga, who had hurriedly typed in the chat and died again.

“Ah, come on! Talk, don’t type. Do you die from typing?”

“Hey! What about Miss Cutie Hee sticking emojis like a memo pad here? Isn’t that too biased?”

“But we’re dying more than Miss Cutie Hee.”

“……”

“Cheer up. It’s hilarious. I’ll cheer you on too.”

As everyone was lacking in pattern knowledge, the death counts were quickly being consumed. It seemed like they had no intention of beating Phase 2, adopting a ‘let it be’ attitude that gradually loosened Gureum’s tension. Soon after, a final death count tombstone fell over 1st Base 2nd Frame’s head.

[Party] 1st Base 2nd Frame: Hit the gold medal

[Party] Hong Jalla: kekekekekekekekekekekekekekeke fits you well~

[Party] 1st Base 2nd Frame: It’s either the silver medal for sister or King-ga hyung ke

[Party] King-ga: dch

[Party] Hong Jalla: Grow up

The party was becoming more chaotic. Gureum had pointed out the direction of the rose storm, so they didn’t make mistakes there, but most seemed to have not memorized the spear-throwing pattern. Following 1st Base 2nd Frame, a final tombstone also fell over King-ga’s head.

[Party] King-ga: Ahㅡㅡ

[Party] Miss Cutie Hee: Pfft >3< silver medal chch

[Party] 1st Base 2nd Frame: I’ll escort you to the boss waiting room

“The party leader being like this… when live, probably going to show viewers the view of the boss waiting room.”

“Boss waiting room view hotspot.”

“But sister is going too. Take care, kids.”

While she hadn’t memorized the spear pattern, Hong Jalla, who had been surviving through job utility, eventually also got knocked out to the waiting room. Miss Cutie Hee, who seemed to have watched some tutorial videos, was dodging simple spear patterns quite well. With only three of them left, there was no way they were going to deal enough damage, so Miss Cutie Hee took it easy.

[Party] Miss Cutie Hee: Ah whatㅋ Should I drop out so you two can spend time together intimately?〈(^.^)a??

[Party] Chaesyongsyong: That would be nice ^^

[Party] Miss Cutie Hee: Such a sight, really ㅣsh

[Party] Miss Cutie Hee: Who would say you’re not Black Hander, just a thief ke

What was that about…? Gureum tilted his head, counting the colors and numbers of the rose storm, and quickly typed in the chat. Even if there was no hope, he couldn’t neglect the briefing.

[Party] hazeee: >>>

Gureum and Chaesyongsyong reached the right side of the map, but for some reason, Miss Cutie Hee was running in the opposite direction.

[Party] hazeee: Miss Cutie Hee, not that wayㅠㅠㅠ

[Party] Miss Cutie Hee: I knowㅇㅅㅇ I’m tactfully dropping outㅎ

[Party] Miss Cutie Hee: Enjoy your intimate date? (~˘▾˘)~♥

[Party] hazeee: Yes…?

Miss Cutie Hee deliberately got hit a few times by the rose storm and spear patterns before exiting.

“What is this….”

Gureum mulled over Miss Cutie Hee’s words. Yet, he couldn’t understand. A date, with whom? A brief question arose, and then it dawned on him. There was only one other person left to consider.

“Ah, could it be that’s what it meant….”

Gureum’s face, which had just calmed down, instantly flushed again. It was only now that he understood Chaesyongsyong’s reply of ‘That would be nice.’

[Whisper] Chaesyongsyong: Heize, it’s just the two of us now, hehe

[Whisper] Chaesyongsyong: Let’s talk in whispers^^

Even though they could have spoken in the party chat, Chaesyongsyong chose to whisper.

[Party] hazeee: Yes?

[Whisper] Chaesyongsyong: Whisper to me

[Whisper] Chaesyongsyong: Since we can’t see Phase 3 anyway, let’s have fun just the two of us^^

Intimately… Intimately… Among the voices of the outed party members chattering in That’s Code, only Chaesyongsyong’s low laughter seemed audible. Was it because his voice was so pleasant? It felt like there was a filter that only let his voice through to his ears. Heat rushed to Gureum’s ears.

[Whisper] hazeee: Ah… sorry, I didn’t see your request to whisperㅠㅠ

[Whisper] Chaesyongsyong: hehe it’s okay

[Whisper] Chaesyongsyong: You must have been very nervous today being your first try

[Whisper] hazeee: Yesㅠㅠㅠㅠ I think I made a lot of mistakes with the buffsㅠㅠ

[Whisper] Chaesyongsyong: But Heize did the best ^^b

[Whisper] Chaesyongsyong: Don’t be too conscious about not being able to turn on the mic, let’s keep playing together

“Ah……”

Gureum’s heart tightened painfully. The tension that had been squeezing her to the point of breaking out in a cold sweat was finally starting to ease. He was deeply grateful to Chaesyongsyong for understanding him.

He wanted to give something in return. Even if it wasn’t valuable, he wanted to gift him something that could express his gratitude. That’s why he impulsively did something he normally wouldn’t even consider.

[Server] ‘hazeee’ has gifted ‘Chaesyongsyong’ a bouquet of roses!

The ‘bouquet of roses’ was a 1,000-won cash item that not only granted an attack buff to the recipient but also announced the gift in the server chat. It was often used for public proposals or in-game weddings.

[Whisper] Chaesyongsyong: ?

“Gah, of all the things I could’ve used…”