Season 4: Chapter 59. Ghostwo Busters (2)
At that moment, the Kim duo stared at the monitor as a single sound echoed repeatedly.
POP!
POPPOP!
POPOPOPOP!
“What, what the hell? What is that?!”
“Uh...” Even Assistant Manager Kim had no idea what was going on. “Almond got cloned, then made another Almond, and that Almond made more Almonds...”
He simply described what he saw.
“I know that too, you idiot! I'm asking why the hell Almond is spawning more Almonds!”
“T-That’s... I think we need to call in the dev team...”
POP.
Regardless of what they thought, the clones kept multiplying.
POPOPOPOP!
The acceleration was tremendous like popcorn exploding in rapid succession.
“Wait, is this... is this because of that Full Counter thing or whatever? It duplicated the Shadow Clone Technique?! Huh?!”
“Seems like it...”
The Full Counter had clearly gone wrong, but why did multiple clones keep appearing? That part remained a mystery.
‘Is the clone using the Shadow Clone Technique too?’
It looked like the clones were also casting the Shadow Clone Technique. Even so, something still didn’t add up.
“A-Aaargh! Why the hell is that cult leader bastard just standing there!? Shouldn’t he be attacking and clearing them out already?!”
If the cult leader had eliminated all the clones, it could’ve probably stopped this mess pretty easily. Besides, the cult leader had the combat ability to pull it off. Clones died in one hit, and the cult leader’s AOE could’ve wiped them all at once. Strangely, he remained still.
Assistant Manager Kim hesitantly offered a theory. “Uh... maybe it’s one of those transformations where they can’t attack during it?”
“Are you kidding me?! What is he, a Power Ranger?!”
All that did was rile up Manager Kim further. The real reason was because of frame drops. The processing load had skyrocketed, causing things to slow down so much that everything looked frozen. To viewers watching from afar, it seemed like the cult leader wasn’t moving. The truth was that everyone had frozen.
***
Another person froze in place. Even though real life didn’t have frame rates like games.
It was CEO Jung of Ghostwo Busters’ development company. The coffee he had been drinking for the all-nighter dribbled from his lips.
‘What... is this?’
This wasn’t just a bug. This infinite clone duplication bug was a catastrophic, game-breaking event on a completely different level. Even AAA RPGs from massive studios could be taken down by a duplication bug.
For a mid-sized company like theirs, it was an existential threat and a full-blown crisis. He wanted to kill the stream immediately, but it had already spread in real-time across online communities.
[Breaking News: Korea’s birthrate just exploded!]
A clickbait title appeared and went viral.
==== ====
(Video)
Only super-handsome babies being born lol
==== ====
— Wow! Korea is making a comeback!
— LOL what the hell is this?
— Send Almond to the National Assembly!
— Birthrate up, game also blew up lol
— But what about the gender ratio lol
— Korean guys are doomed, ultra-hot guys are being mass-produced lol
— Is this even a game anymore? lol
— What the hell is happening?
The post shot to the top in a flash, and it wasn’t the only one.
[Cookie: “Emergency Roster Change for Next Year’s National Tournament” Press Conference]
==== ====
(Video)
200 players—all Almond—will represent Korea!
==== ====
— Full sweep win incoming~
— Bring it on, Roman noobs!!
— LMAO
— Holy crap lol
— He won solo, now there are 200 of him lol the tournament’s over
— But what if 200 Almonds actually make them lose lol
└ Oof... lol
└ How do you control 200 brain-dead Almonds~ lol
CEO Jung’s face already contorted beyond repair, but the online community didn’t stop there.
[Live: Something Else Is Being Cloned Right Now]
==== ====
That something else is...
Ghostwo Busters Dev Team’s Overtime Hours~ lololol
==== ====
— LOLOL
— For real lol
— Waiting for that dev announcement post lol
— I’m most curious about the dev team’s reaction
— My brain would’ve gone wild too
— The most successful yet most disastrous ad campaign ever lol
“These little bastards...” CEO Jung scrolled down and clutched his forehead.
Tap.
A groan escaped his clenched jaw. “Ugh, uuuugh...”
His stress level had nearly reached its max. He couldn’t hold it in any longer and erupted like a volcano.
“AAAAAARGH!”
It looked like CEO Jung had entered Phase Two. He grabbed his phone and furiously fired off messages.
***
“Oh... crap.”
Bubblegum’s face had turned pale.
“What the hell’s happening?”
Bzzt... Bzzt...
As Almond continued to multiply endlessly, the game was effectively grinding to a halt.
— This is insane lol
— LMAO
— The ad is doomed lol
— What are they gonna do now? lol
— How many Almonds are there?!
The stream was still fine, but the game itself was lagging to the point of collapse.
‘No way. Seriously?’
Bubblegum grew anxious. After coming this far, would they have to restart? If the game crashed like this, would the save file even survive?
“Oh god, don’t tell me we have to redo this!”
— Gasp
— For real lol
— Oh no...
— Please no
— No way
— This sucks lol
The viewers were startled, but the Kim duo felt the most shocked.
It was like a beam of light shining in the darkness.
“Holy crap. This is it! This is our hope!”
It hurt the most when one fell from the highest peak. When they were at rock bottom, even a glimmer of hope felt like sunlight.
They high-fived each other without a word.
Clap!
“This is it! Let it keep multiplying! More!”
Manager Kim fully supported Almond’s cloning.
“Yeah! Just crash the game already! Let’s roll the ad one more time!!”
Their last spark of hope blazed and shone brightly. The more Almonds that appeared, the brighter it grew.
Fwoooosh!
The more it grew, the slower the game became. The Kim duo prayed for this flame to consume everything and burn the entire game to ashes. However, it was just a dying flare in the end. A final burst before extinction.
Pop...
Of course, the clone generation stopped after the place was completely filled. The irrational phenomenon hit a wall of pure common sense and came to a halt.
It felt unfair. Given everything they had been through, the Kim Duo just couldn’t accept that obvious truth.
“Uh...”
“Uuuh...?”
They had nothing more to say. Their voices stumbled out as if they had lost the ability to form words, no longer able to make proper sentences.
“Uuuuh...”
“Uuhhh.”
They could only repeat baby-like babble. After the final clone finished filling the last open spot, Almond could finally move again.
Almond casually rotated his arm. “Oh? I can move again.”
The game began to run smoothly again. In contrast, the Kim Duo’s world began to lag and freeze.
Assistant Manager Kim somehow opened his mouth, desperately trying to grasp at one last bit of hope. He whipped his head around and snapped back to focus. “Wait! T-The boss! Isn’t the cult leader a Yokai right now!?”
“Y-Yeah! If he takes damage, then—wait, huh? Since when...”
[Cult Leader of Evil – Thought-Form]
Manager Kim’s world stopped.
‘Huh?’
To their utter despair, the cult leader had switched to a Thought-Form. Even though the wind attacks from Bubblegum hadn’t registered as damage, the sheer number of hits had stacked enough to trigger a type change. Of all things, the cult leader had transformed into a Thought-Form while shamans crammed the entire map.
“W-Why... how? Why did it change?” Manager Kim’s voice sank as if he were drowning in despair.
Assistant Manager Kim hastily added, “I-It’s fine! If he gets hit by Almond’s attacks, the type will change again immediately! These clones—there’s just a lot of them, that’s all! They don’t actually mean anything!”
That was true. If the boss got hit by Almond and changed type again, all those countless clones would be rendered meaningless.
“Just one AoE hit and they’ll all be gone!”
Clones vanished with just one hit. Whether it was a Yokai or Wraith, the boss could wipe out all the clones with an AoE attack.
Manager Kim’s world began to move again. Right, maybe it wasn’t such a big deal after all.
“Y-Yeah?! It’s going to take time if Almond has to attack with his sword, and that many clones have to land a blow!”
“Exactly. After a few hits, the type will change! None of this will matter!”
Their logic was perfectly reasonable and fair, but the problem was that the enemy often thought the same.
***
Almond focused.
‘I think I’ve got it. This is the angle.’
He felt that the perfect opportunity to end everything had finally appeared.
‘First, create some distance.’
In line with his thought, all the Almonds collectively stepped back. With this many clones, even control inputs had become sluggish.
Puff!
Pop!
During that time, the boss thrashed around and eliminated a few more clones, but that barely made a dent in the wall of Almonds that now filled the map.
‘And he’s Thought-Form now.’
[Cult Leader of Evil – Thought-Form]
The cult leader was still in his Thought-Form state. This was the perfect chance, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
‘With this...’
Almond raised his talisman. All at once, every Almond raised a talisman of their own. The simple gesture rippled outward like a wave as sharp as a disciplined army.
Churrk!
— Whoa
— ??? I... am legion.
— Damn lol
— Almond army lol
Hundreds of talismans gleamed in different colors and were filled with spiritual energy.
Bzzzzt
“Graaaarghhhhhh!”
The Cult Leader of Evil, Jin Myung-Soo, unleashed wave after wave of demonic energy as if sensing that the end had come. It only managed to remove a few Almonds.
The real Almond closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had to land everything in one motion and one frame. He couldn’t give the enemy a chance to react and counter.
Phew.
Almond opened his eyes and signaled the rest.
“Let’s clear this.”
All the Almonds shouted in unison.
“Chikichaaa!”
Fwoooooshhh!
Multicolored streaks of light burst forth from the talismans and linked directly to the cult leader.
— Wow
— Damn
— AK47 gonna be bankrupt
— Is this really the end???
— Holy crap lol
— Shit lol
— Ouuu what the hell lol
— Nooo!!