“Look at this! They’re going crazy calling it the ‘Pebble Incident’! Don’t you think you should explain this?”
Doyeong’s heart dropped. He could feel the three staring at him even through the monitor. He hated being the center of attention. Doyeong swallowed dryly.
“That… was a mistake.”
A lethargic low voice buzzed through the headset. Regardless of the content, Dojisa and Tongjang caused a ruckus saying, “His voice is insane,” but 0 was quiet.
“A mistake?”
There was a trace of laughter in 0’s voice.
“I just… got scared and pressed something. The pebble in the inventory got thrown. A misclick.”
Doyeong made the lamest excuse he could muster. But 0 wasn’t fooled.
“Hmm… your bro’s lucky, huh. A 0.03-second miracle.”
0 stood up and pressed the party matching button.
“Then let’s verify. Whether that luck is skill or just a fluke.”
“What? Hey! Wait!!”
“Dojisa, Tongjang. Follow me. We’re going to the Four-Person Forest of the Dead.”
Flustered, Doyeong tried to protest, but 0 was faster. The moment matching started, 0 tapped Doyeong’s rabbit ear.
“Bro, try doing well by mistake this time, too. If you fail now….”
“…Fail?”
“Then I won’t break these handcuffs for you. I’ll make you want to break them yourself.”
Gulp. The sound of Doyeong swallowing echoed in his ear.
Ignoring that, 0 leisurely added,
“Meaning… I’m going to haunt you to the ends of hell.”
Shooooosh!
Doyeong’s protest was swallowed into the loading screen. That guy was pretending to trust him while pushing him off a cliff.
[Dungeon Entry: Forgotten Forest of the Dead]
Nooo!! No!!!
Doyeong’s last words were pulled into the loading screen.
[System: You have entered the dungeon.]
As the movement ended, a gloomy, fog-filled forest appeared. Skeleton soldiers clattered everywhere.
The recommended level for this dungeon was top 10% of max level. In a typical public party, the tank would pick up aggro, the healer cast buffs, and the DPS would focus-fire—the standard strategy.
But this party wasn’t just a public party—it was Team Zero.
“Let’s gooo!! Eradicate unnecessary loss!!”
The moment the party began, Dojisa charged forward like mad.
Though he was a sub-tank, Dojisa had only attack speed buffs, rushing headlong into the middle of the enemy ranks fearlessly.
“Sis, what about the strategy?”
“No idea! If we just hit them, they’ll die! Taste my magic wand!”
Bam! Wham!
Dojisa’s pink magic wand shattered a skeleton’s skull.
“Alright! I’m going in, too!”
Tongjang fired a barrage from his hand cannon competitively. The problem was Tongjang’s job, Heavy Blaster. It had powerful shots but strong recoil and low accuracy.
Kaboom!
Tongjang’s bomb hit not a monster but a powder keg nearby.
Boom!!!
With the explosion, all the previously sleeping monsters around woke up.
[Warning: Large wave spawned!]
“Oh, crap. Tongjang! Your shot bounced back toward our side!”
“Sorry! Probability variable calculation error! Didn’t expect the wind to blow west!”
“It’s indoors — where’s this wind even coming from, you idiot!”
It was chaos. Not party play, just everyone fending for themselves. Not only were their skills interrupting each other, but aggro bounced around like a ping-pong ball.
Yet, they didn’t wipe for one reason.
Their ‘individual physical skill’ was absurdly good.
Dojisa dodged incoming arrows like he was dancing while dealing damage. Tongjang ran around but exploded his burst damage every cooldown.
And then, 0.
Sigh… what a mess.
0 frowned like he was avoiding dirty filth and moved through the battlefield.
“You idiots’ paths are all overlapping. Get out of the way.”
Without needing skills, 0 weaved through monsters using just normal attacks and dodges. Occasionally launching a one-shot skill, monsters dropped en masse. He even showed the finesse to subtly adjust distance and herd monsters so the chained-together Doyeong wouldn’t get swept up.
The problem was Doyeong.
“Ugh…”
Doyeong was miserable.
To the eyes of the stagnant Doyeong from seven years ago, this party was an utter disaster.
If aggro jumps there, the DPS will die…
If they use AoE now, damage loss…
His mouth itched to coach, but he had to hold back. He had to remain just the ‘lucky beginner farmer.’
Then things started to get worse.
[System: Mid-boss ‘Dullahan’ has appeared!]
A headless knight charged on horseback. Simultaneously, a skeleton archer squad spawned in the corner.
“Huh? Hey, we pulled too many mobs, didn’t we?”
Dojisa shouted, panicked. Because 0 had pulled too many monsters, their escape route was blocked. No matter how well they dodged, they risked being shredded by the monsters’ skills.
“Ah, skill cooldown…”
Even in this crisis, 0 clicked his tongue as if it was nothing.
Then, arrows rained down like a storm.
Doyeong’s face turned pale. At this rate, even if Dojisa the tank survived, 0 and Tongjang with less HP would be one-shot. If 0 died? He’d die too, chained by the shackles.
Pumpkin seeds.
Fifty million won flashed through Doyeong’s mind.
No. He absolutely could not die. But he couldn’t openly help either. If he did, the sharp-eyed rankers would surely discover his true identity.
Ah, why does this even happen now?
Doyeong hid behind 0’s back in a safe blind spot, trembling fingers pressing the K key on the keyboard.
Chirrk.
The sound of a dusty book opening sounded as the skill book, closed for seven years, spread across the screen.
“……huh.”
A short sigh escaped Doyeong’s lips.
Countless skill icons grayed out and inactive.
But to Doyeong’s eyes, those icons were as vivid as if he’d seen them yesterday.
Doyeong’s original class wasn’t a farmer, but ‘Arcana Tactician.’
This class used mostly debuff and control (mez) skills, with no flashy damage spells or comfortable healing. When others quit the class, complaining, “No damage,” or “Cumbersome,” Doyeong, on the contrary, combined these complex cards to dominate the battlefield.
His gaze rapidly skimmed the skills.
[Q: Shadow Swamp]
- Effect: Reduces enemies’ movement speed by 50% within designated area.
Memory: Casting time is long at 0.8 seconds. But the pre-cast delay can be erased by mixing with sit animation.
[W: Scarecrow]
- Effect: Summons a doll that taunts damage. Health is 10% of caster’s.
Memory: Just casting it bursts in 1 second. But if summoned with a timed ‘counter,’ it gains invincibility frames.
[E: Wheel of Fate]
- Effect: Draws a random Major Arcana card granting buff or debuff.
Memory: Known as a luck-based skill, but if you count deck order, you can guarantee drawing the ‘Stop’ card.
If that guy dies, my fifty million won dies too.
His fingers moved before his brain could react. Doyeong moved the mouse to pull out skill icons tucked away in the corner.
The dusty combat skills replaced the farming skills in quick slots 1, 2, and 3.
Will my hands remember?
The feeling from seven years ago—the insane physical skill of fitting skills in frame by frame—could he reproduce it with his old equipment and stiff fingers?
But there was no time to hesitate.
Hiiing!
The Dullahan raised his giant greatsword to strike down on 0’s head.
“Don’t let it show… very quietly.”
Doyeong’s eyes instantly grew calm. He opened the chat window.
Tap tap.
[Party] Won: /dance
Suddenly, Doyeong’s rabbit character began shaking its body in place.
“Huh? What? Dude, can’t you read the situation? Why the hell are you dancing now?!”
Dojisa shouted in disbelief. Dancing leisurely in the middle of a fight? He’d just called him a returning player—did he not even have skills?
But that dance was not mere playfulness. Doyeong’s fingers tapped the quick slots following the rabbit’s rhythm flawlessly to within 0.1 seconds.
Now.
The moment the rabbit wiggled its hips to the left, a black shadow spread swiftly at its feet.
[Shadow Swamp (Lv. 99)]
- Effect: Reduces enemies’ movement speed by 50% within designated area.
Originally, this skill required placing one hand on the ground and chanting a spell.
But Doyeong overlapped the ‘hand lowering’ motion from the dance with the skill’s casting motion. The system recognized it as dancing, but the skill’s effect was already triggered.
[System] The chant action was canceled by dancing motion.
Continuing the movement, the rabbit spun once and jumped.
[Scarecrow Summon]
The moment the rabbit landed, a tiny, almost invisible straw doll appeared behind 0. The skeleton archers’ gazes instantly snapped to the doll.
Impressive!