Season 4: Chapter 55. Natural Disaster (1)
Bubblegum was truly, genuinely bad at games. Some people tried to soften the blow for him.
“Gum is the best among the worst players!”
That was a lie. He was the worst even among the worst, yet people still said things like that. Why?
“He’s never failed to beat a game, though.”
Despite everything, Bubblegum never once failed to finish a game. People chalked it up to vague concepts like persistence, courage, and maybe even luck. However, it defied logic and needed its own branch of research.
Fortunately, there was someone for that. A true expert who analyzed and deconstructed Bubblegum with surgical precision. The scholar known as...
[BubbleSniper]
He once left behind this immortal quote: “Bubblegum is the best at being bad.”
Within the industry, this was interpreted in two ways. First, Bubblegum was really just that hopeless. Second, he had mastered exactly how a bad player played.
***
“Heeheehee...”
The wraiths slowly advanced toward the bathroom entrance, which was the only escape route.
“H-How are we gonna get out of this?!” Su-Yeon was practically screaming. “You dragged them all in here! And you don’t even have a plan?!”
She had every right to yell since Bubblegum had caused this entire situation. He couldn’t handle the fight in the cafe lobby and fled to the bathroom, dragging this horde with him.
— Facts spoken! Su-Yeon is refreshing!
— Too harsh... but also lol
— Seconds away from another roundhouse kick
Bubblegum knew it too.
‘I should’ve just fought them in the lobby...’
The wraiths moved slowly, but possessed a damn teleportation mechanic. This cramped bathroom provided no room to dodge their attacks. To make it worse, Oh Sang-Gi was still looming with his wings spread out.
‘Wait... that guy...’
Bubblegum glanced over at Oh Sang-Gi. He also needed to deal with Oh Sang-Gi at some point. That guy could snap out of it at any moment. If they died here, it would be a total wipe.
Bubblegum tried to think. ‘What do I do?’
“They’re coming!”
The wraiths prepared to strike.
“I’ll hold them off!” Su-Yeon stepped forward and raised her shield.
The wraiths swung their giant scythes.
BOOM!
CRASH!
“Ggh!”
Su-Yeon blocked the relentless barrage as best she could, but couldn’t find any opening to counterattack. Her cross-shaped spear was too short against their scythes with far greater reach.
‘If we could just close that gap...’
Su-Yeon felt like they would have a shot if they could just overcome the range difference.
Bubblegum shouted, “I’ll find a way to push them toward you! When they’re in range, you clean them up!”
“Push them?!”
If he used his Wind Bubble correctly, he could push the enemies back or pull them in toward a certain spot. If he could just land the projectile behind the enemies...
— Does that even work??
— Huh??
— How???
— Lie detected lol
Bubblegum glanced at the chat. As expected, only cold skepticism awaited him there.
‘It’s not easy...’
Bouncing the Wind Bubble behind a target was pure guesswork, especially in a VR game where everything was in first-person.
‘But I’ve got a plan.’
He recalled something.
‘The bomb can bounce once.’
From previous experience, he knew Wind Bubble could ricochet. If he bounced it off the ceiling like a trick shot in billiards...
‘The only problem is... I suck at billiards.’
He always lost his wallet playing pool with friends, but this wasn’t the time to worry about that.
‘No choice. Time to show them something.’
He had to prove the chat wrong. His staff hummed as it began to gather air.
“I’ll bounce it forward. You finish them off when they’re in range.”
“Okay, old man! But do you know what my spirit skill is?”
Bubblegum twitched in mid-aim. “W-What? You have one?”
His eyes trembled. Why tell him now of all times?
“Yes, it’s Full Counter.”
“Counter? Like retaliation?”
“For three seconds, I can reflect all incoming attacks.”
BOOM! BANG!
The scythes kept crashing against her shield. She hadn’t used her skill this entire time. Maybe it was one of those skills she had to announce before using.
‘Wait.’
Bubblegum lowered his staff. He’d have to tweak the plan now if she had that kind of power.
‘Hold up.’
[Wind Bubble]
BOOOOM!
Suddenly, everything slowed down in Bubblegum’s vision.
‘Why did that fire?!’
He had no idea. Maybe it was his stance. He had subconsciously triggered the release. The problem was the direction.
‘Oh no.’
It headed right for Su-Yeon. Instead of delivering the wraiths to her, he was delivering her to the wraiths. Then, one more disaster occurred.
‘Wait.’
[Full Counter]
Su-Yeon activated her skill. She probably thought this was the perfect time. Unfortunately, she was dead wrong.
BOING~!
The Wind Bubble cleanly reflected right back toward Bubblegum.
‘Shit.’
Bubblegum’s eyes widened as it grew larger by the second.
BOOOOOM!
“Urgh!”
The world turned white, and everything spun out of control. That wasn’t even the end of it.
‘Not again?!’
Was it deja vu? Another Wind Bubble was coming.
Full Counter’s active duration was three seconds. Every attack that came within that window would be reflected. Wind Bubble traveled at nearly the speed of sound. Worse yet, it had bounced once.
‘Wait... the reflected bomb bounced again!?’
The Wind Bubble struck Bubblegum, bounced, and flew back toward Su-Yeon. Then, that bomb got reflected again. This all happened in the span of 0.1 to 0.2 seconds.
BOOM!
Bubblegum got hit twice in rapid succession. The average viewer couldn’t even register what happened. It just looked like the Wind Bubble launched Bubblegum unusually far.
— ?
— ??
— Where are you aiming?
— What is this?
That wasn’t the end.
Thud, crash, thump!
Bubblegum rebounded off the back wall, flew forward, and saw another Wind Bubble heading right for him.
‘No way. Again?!’
He couldn’t believe it. Why was this still happening? Wind Bubble only bounced once, right?
‘Once is enough. Why a second?’
He didn’t know. No one did because Full Counter didn’t technically reflect. It copied and fired the incoming attack anew. Each reflected bomb was a new Wind Bubble. That meant it could bounce once, too.
An infinite ricochet loop occurred between Bubblegum and Su-Yeon. Each bounce took just 0.1 seconds within the 3-second Full Counter window.
Bubblegum finally realized.
‘I’m screwed.’
He was about to take thirty consecutive Wind Bubbles.
BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM!!
Blasted back and forth, Bubblegum whipped around in the air and flailed helplessly, unable to even land.
— ??
— ????????
— What even is this??
— Huh?
— Bugged??
— What is happeningggg
— Is this real?
The bombs homed in like tracking missiles. No matter where he flew, they followed. Every time it bounced, it went back to Su-Yeon.
Why? Because the game kept copying the original ricochet logic.
‘This is a freaking glitch!’
— What?
— Holy...
— Bugged AF
— ??
— LMAO
— Is this real??
BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM!
Bubblegum whipped around the bathroom like a one-man circus act from the thirty hits compressed into a tiny space. He couldn’t even die since friendly fire damage was turned off.
BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM!!
Even Su-Yeon felt stunned. “Ah, old man!?”
However, Full Counter couldn’t be canceled mid-cast.
BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM!
The Wind Bubbles tore through the room and followed Bubblegum like a storm. Nothing was left in his wake.
“Ahh?!”
— Brooo
— Skill name: Bubblegum, God of Wind
— Dead
— Gone with the Wind
— Omnipotent Gum, lol
Everything was shredded to dust, including Oh Sang-Gi.
BOOOOOOOM!!
The savage windstorm tore through Oh Sang-Gi.
“Gah... What... are you...?!”
His health dropped instantly.
[HP: 0%]
POOF!
Oh Sang-Gi vanished with a burst of red flames.
[Quest: “Weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings” Cleared!]
‘Wait, what?’
Just then, Full Counter finally ended as Bubblegum flew toward Su-Yeon.
BOOOOM!!
Another bomb slammed and hurled them like rockets.
“Kyaa!”
“Urgh!”
It happened so fast that their avatars barely even rendered. They vanished into the distance, but the viewers didn’t expect to hear such a sound.
Splash...
— ??
— ?
— Huh?
— Wait...
— Don’t tell me...
—LOLOL
***
THUD.
Bubblegum could finally see again after he stopped bouncing. While being juggled in the air, the screen had blacked out from the bug.
‘The ground?’
He was lying flat. Finally, it had ended. He got up slowly.
“W-What the?”
He looked around. Everything had disappeared, even the bathroom. All he saw was a black-and-red void.
“What is this place?” Bubblegum stared in a daze. “Did everything just... blow up? Wait, did the game crash?”
— ROFL
— That would make sense
— Honestly, yeah
— WTF
— Game god strikes again
— Gum, destroyer of games
He genuinely thought the graphics had bugged out.
[BeginnerTip has donated 10,000 won.]
[Is this what they call... teamwork?]
A viewer from Almond’s stream had stopped by just to witness the madness.
— Certified combo of the century
— Yep, that’s what cooperation looks like
— Legendary synergy
— Co-op?
— What the hell was that? lol
[DAMN has donated 100,000 won.]
[True Game Busters lol]
— They literally busted the game
— LMAO
— Everything is gone
— Like a corrupted save file
— Hacked reality
“Seriously, we’re screwed if the save is corrupted...”
Bubblegum looked around again and spotted something.
A massive demon yokai was facing off against Almond.
‘Almond?!’
[Final Chapter – The Abyss of the Mastermind]
He had arrived at the final boss stage.