Stalkerizing

Dionysus’ dungeon naturally had Sa-yoon tanking. The frog, being a melee dealer yet stuck to the healer Freedeal, clung right beside him, waiting for Sa-yoon to launch the first attack. His determination never to tank again was unmistakable.

The tavern in Dionysus had been notorious for surprising players with its unexpected attack patterns when it was first released. Mistakes led directly to party wipes, making it infamous. Since the dungeon’s mechanics were diverse and complex, Sa-yoon’s eyes and hands had no time to rest.

[Party] furple: Grapes

[Party] furple: Grapes

[Party] furple: Grapes

Right after Furple’s message, the ground began to change. Circular ripples appeared here and there, like raindrops falling onto water.

Noticing the signals, the party members swiftly moved out of the affected areas.

Moments later, clusters of grapes the size of human heads rained down from the ceiling like hail. It was only fitting for the dungeon of the god of the vine.

If hit by the falling grapes, they would explode like bombs, dealing damage and stunning players.

“Oh.”

Since they had a semi-experienced member in the party, they had expected a few retries, but the frog’s movement was surprisingly agile. His performance was a complete turnaround from how he had been during the first boss fight.

Once the damage-addict was freed from tanking and returned to being a dealer, he was pulling his weight and more, proving to be an excellent party member.

With a proper tank, the rest of the party also showed that they had developed good teamwork.

After safely overcoming the grape storm, a new pattern immediately followed.

Sa-yoon’s gaze flickered between his skill window, the summon skill window beside it, and Dionysus’s health bar and animations. Taking on the role of tank in an unfamiliar dungeon left him with no time to breathe.

[Let me show ecstasy to those who know not eternity!]

[Party] furple: AOE incoming

Furple’s blunt warning snapped the frog back to his senses, making him scramble backward faster than anyone else. At the same time, he crammed in whatever few ranged skills he had—truly a damage addict through and through.

[Dionysus: There is not enough wine!]

[Party] Chasa: Ignore the wine jugs

The map Dionysus resided in had wine jugs placed in every corner.

Whenever he announced his lack of wine, the dealers had to click on the jugs in all four corners, fetch the wine, and pour it onto Dionysus to prevent him from entering a frenzy.

Since they had to pour all four bottles, the four damage dealers had to run to the farthest ends of the map, resulting in a massive DPS loss.

If Dionysus did enter his frenzy, he would apply a debuff called “Drunkenness,” which reversed movement keys and made skills trigger randomly—an utterly vicious mechanic. When the dungeon first launched, this was said to be the phase where parties were stuck the longest.

Of course, back then, no party would take a Warlock along, so this was only heard of through rumors.

But now, this party had a Warlock. At this moment, the class that could erase Dionysus’s frenzy was a god-tier pick.

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: Huff huff, this is fucking sweet;

[‘GegulGegulFrog’ claps for ‘Chasa.’]

Elated from wiping out the DPS loss, the frog eagerly hit the clap emote. But since he immediately resumed attacking, the animation was canceled, leaving only the message in chat.

[Party] Shokrates: Should we always include a Warlock in our party from now on?

[Party] a10235044: Yeah, gonna swap out the Black Mage for a Warlock.

[Party] Shokrates: ???? Wait.

[Party] Shokrates: Is this blatant discrimination against robes?

[Party] a10235044: If you don’t like it, go level an alt.

[Party] Shokrates: Where the hell am I supposed to find time to level an alt? ㅠㅠㅠ

So, it really was a constant battle for a spot when it came to robe classes.

But thinking about it, Black Mages always had an easy time finding parties, while Warlocks didn’t.

Wouldn’t kicking this party’s Black Mage make everyone happy? If Sa-yoon had been the Black Mage himself, he would have gladly given up his spot for the unfortunate Warlock.

In the realm of gaming, his boundless selfishness kicked in. His reasoning was impeccable. Of course, such a statement, capable of stirring chaos, only existed in Sa-yoon’s head before vanishing.

By the time his fingertips were beginning to go numb, Dionysus finally fell to his knees. A reward chest materialized behind him. They had cleared it.

[Dionysus: Impressive, child of the gods. I congratulate you on overcoming the Trial of Wine.]

Dionysus, now semi-transparent and in an untargetable state, stood up and spoke his line. Just moments ago, he had been attacking like he was out for blood, yet now his demeanor flipped in an instant.

[Party] Shokrates: Who’s opening the chest?

[Party] Freedeal: Frog, keep your hands off.

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: Why tho? ㅠ

[Party] Freedeal: Your name is bad luck.

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: ?

[Party] furple: Then I’ll do it.

[Party] a10235044: You lost your chance earlier, disqualified.

[Party] furple: ㅜㅜ

[Party] Shokrates: Are you pretending to give others a turn just to open it yourself…?

[Dionysus: I can’t remember the last time I was this sober. The world looks so clear.]

Ignoring the translucent god rambling beside them, the party was busy deciding who would open the chest.

Opening the chest didn’t grant any actual advantage. However, if a good item dropped, it was a chance to flex that their character was blessed with luck.

[Party] a10235044: The tank should do it.

[Party] Chasa: Me?

[Party] Freedeal: Yeah, Chasa, you worked hard. You should open it.

The divine chatterbox was still talking to himself even then. That was why people called him Diony-Park. Could even the god of wine get hangovers? That pointless thought flitted through Sa-yoon’s mind when suddenly—

[Dionysus: Ah, by the way, have you heard the rumor?]

Diony-Park had another nickname: The bastard who never finishes his sentences.

When the first tavern dungeon clear video was uploaded, this moment became the most replayed scene. He was a god who knew exactly how to piss off Koreans. He would always cut off his own words and vanish.

Divines who liked riddles often hid Easter eggs or secret quests in the game.

Most of the time, hints for the next dungeon were found in the previously released ones. People suspected that Dionysus’s lines were part of that pattern.

Initially, players tried to piece together clues but eventually gave up. His unfinished line was literally the only hint, and there was nothing else to work with.

Naturally, people stopped paying attention to him. When Dionysus and his chest appeared, most just ignored him and teleported out.

Sa-yoon, who hadn’t run this dungeon much, was the same. He turned his view and clicked on the chest.

[Dionysus: The darkness… she…]

What?

His hand froze on the chest, and he turned back, but Dionysus had only spoken that much before his body started fading. Within seconds, he completely disappeared.

No way—this bastard did it again…

[Party] Chasa: Did you see that?

[Party] GegulGegulFrog: ?

[Party] a10235044: New dialogue.

[Party] Freedeal: So they refused to give us clues before, but now they just slipped in a stealth patch with new lines? LMAO.

Everyone except for the frog, who barely ran dungeons, seemed to have noticed.

[Party] furple: When they said they updated drop rates, they just meant run the dungeon more.

Ah, so that’s what they meant.

[Party] Shokrates: But people who already graduated from the dungeon don’t need increased drop rates. We almost missed this completely.

The reason players were so invested in the next season’s dungeon wasn’t anything complicated.

The divines, whose name meant God’s Blessing, based each season’s theme on Greek mythology, and any classes related to the featured god would get buffed.

During the Hercules season, Guardians received the power boost. For reference, in this Dionysus season, the buffs were given to Priests.

And now, a line that could hint at next season had just dropped. Even though it was only six syllables long.

[Party] Shokrates: If it’s “darkness” and “her,” there’s only one goddess that comes to mind…

[Party] furple: Artemis?

[Party] furple: It has to be Artemis.

[Party] furple: The era of the Sharpshooter is coming! ㅠㅠ

Darkness meant night, and the goddess of the night was Artemis. She was best known as the goddess of the hunt, and her signature weapon was the bow. It was understandable why Furple was getting so excited.

Among the classes that hadn’t received a seasonal buff yet were Black Mages, Warlocks, and Sharpshooters. Black Mages were already overpowered even without any buffs, so Furple’s reasoning made sense.

It seemed almost certain that Sharpshooters, long considered a dead class, were finally getting their redemption arc. Damn. Lucky bastards.

Sa-yoon was so caught up in envy and resentment that he forgot to open the chest.

“…Wait a second.”

Darkness. And her.

Another combination suddenly came to mind. Sa-yoon slapped a hand over his mouth. His eyes widened as he stared at his monitor.

The god of the underworld. And his wife.

Hades had kidnapped Persephone after falling for her. And Persephone’s mother, Demeter, was the goddess of harvest and prosperity. The next update was scheduled for fall. The timing matched perfectly.

Could it be…? Was the Warlock buff finally coming?!

His heart pounded.