Chapter 158
Chapter 158
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 158
Chapter Title: The Release – Hellic 4 (1)
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It began in a square at the heart of the Hell of Slaughter, where buildings of every architectural style blended in a chaotic harmony, blurring the lines between eras and spaces.
The first thing Seok-hoon felt upon entering the game was a sense of the uncanny.
Though he had seen this place in preview videos and various in-game trailers, it felt particularly strange at this moment for one simple reason.
‘You really have to play a game to get it.’
It was the magic unique to games.
There are many ways to depict another world, an alien space, but nothing can replace the feeling of exploring that world at your own will through an avatar, a second self.
This was the feeling that made it impossible to quit gaming.
Seok-hoon, feeling it keenly, was already brimming with anticipation.
‘This must be the tutorial.’
The man on the screen walked forward, one step at a time, following his commands.
People passed by in front of him.
And then,
*Stab—!*
They began to stab one another.
‘Oh.’
A short exclamation.
Then, the one who had killed their opponent and survived whirled around to look at Seok-hoon.
He flinched.
Immediately after,
*Th-th-thump!*
The murderer, knife in hand, charged at Seok-hoon.
“Whoa!”
“Honey!”
“Sorry! I’ll be quiet!”
Ignoring the sharp cry from Su-jin, who had been woken from her sleep, Seok-hoon tapped the controller.
The basic controls were displayed on the screen.
‘It’s a soulslike, so first…!’
Dodge!
*Tap!*
The man rolled forward.
As a gamer with well over a decade of experience, Seok-hoon instinctively knew he had to use a ‘forward roll’ to gain invincibility frames and follow up with an attack.
Perhaps because it was a tutorial monster, it wasn’t particularly difficult.
A slight thrill, and the psychological reward of a successful dodge, fueled his passion as he launched into an attack.
*Pow!*
Bare-fisted.
A clean straight punch landed squarely on the killer’s head, and at that moment, the controller rumbled.
‘Heh…!’
The feedback felt good.
A thought crossed his mind.
‘Studio Rewind just keeps getting better at this.’
He wasn’t sure when it started, but Studio Rewind’s martial arts direction had been on a steep upward trajectory with each new release.
How should he put it? It was as if pressing the button, the fist extending, striking the opponent, and the enemy’s reaction all occurred in a single, seamless breath.
The extremely detailed animations made the player feel as if they were landing the punch themselves.
In reality, it was the result of a subtle synergy between the advice from the directors of Development Team 2 and the passionate performance of the super-enthusiastic Kim Bae-seok, but Seok-hoon had no way of knowing the developers’ circumstances.
He was a customer, a user, a player.
The fruit of someone’s blood and sweat simply led to that brief impression and the conclusion that it was immersive.
A clear selling point resonated with Seok-hoon, the customer.
By the time he went through several system tutorials and the finisher demonstration, Seok-hoon was already completely hooked on the game.
*Click—*
*BANG—!*
The finisher animation, a single motion whose expression and implementation had taken months to perfect.
From the moment it entered slow motion, the sequence engaged his sight, hearing, and touch, creating an unforgettable tactile experience that Seok-hoon couldn't forget.
That’s right.
Without any gimmicks, story, or even a boss—the supposed centerpiece of the soulslike genre.
With ‘play experience’ alone, *Hellic 4* had captured Seok-hoon’s heart from the very beginning.
‘This is fun!’
Putting everything else aside, the sheer feel of the gameplay sparked that single thought.
It made him feel excited.
To use an analogy.
It was like a first date with someone you’ve been looking forward to meeting. They're even more beautiful in person than in their photos, and the conversation is endlessly delightful.
That’s how Seok-hoon would describe that first moment.
‘I want to play more.’
He wanted this moment to last longer.
In other words, he wanted to play more of the game.
The screen showed the outskirts of a town.
‘The tutorial must be over.’
The main game had begun.
* * *
No matter how much it billed itself as a ‘souls-lite’ genre, *Hellic* was still *Hellic*.
Seok-hoon realized this when he saw that the ‘weapon growth build’ system, the very identity of the *Hellic* series, was fully implemented.
‘There’s more depth to this than I thought.’
The first example was the growth of the revolver used in finishers.
By equipping two additional parts to the revolver, it could be used not just as a simple high-damage skill but also for utility purposes like health support or buffs, adding versatility and expandability.
This was a bigger deal than it seemed.
‘It gives me a lot of choices in my playstyle.’
Depending on how the finisher parts were used, the player’s entire playstyle could change.
One could stick to an extreme close-range damage build or, conversely, minimize damage and focus solely on finishers.
The satisfaction of the finishers themselves was beyond question.
Even Seok-hoon, who had only been playing for a few hours, could tell it was the core of the game.
Expanding on that even further was the melee weapon growth build.
In *Hellic 4*, the choice of primary melee weapon once again twisted the gameplay.
The traditional soulslike system of acquiring currency and growing a character’s stats was expressed through the changes in abilities based on weapon choice.
Seok-hoon chose the knuckles.
The knuckles had the advantage of consuming less stamina than other weapons, offering more health support, and having a faster input speed for the dodge key.
As he leveled them up, he gained additional health boosts and a passive that assisted with dodging, which created a synergy with one of the finisher parts, ‘Gain Bullet Gauge on Dodge.’
In other words, he had settled on a hit-and-run playstyle: [Dodge → Replenish Ammo → Finisher].
Chapter 1 was easy.
That is, getting to the boss was easy.
Thanks to the unique ‘Profiling’ system, deductive elements kept his interest piqued at just the right moments, and the malicious traps characteristic of soulslikes appeared at a manageable level, ensuring the tension never waned.
Besides, a single chapter only took an hour or two, so it was too early to judge anything.
And so, he reached the boss room.
Seok-hoon felt a mix of tension and anticipation.
‘This is the heart of the game.’
What was a soulslike, in the end?
Even if it claimed to be ‘lite,’ the tension of battling a formidable foe, the process of understanding the opponent, and the sense of achievement from the hard-won victory were the true essence of the game.
In other words, no matter how good the impression had been so far, if the boss fight was a letdown, he couldn’t give the game a high score.
As much as Seok-hoon loved the *Hellic* series, he had no intention of defending any shortcomings.
Seok-hoon’s affection for *Hellic* wasn’t for the company itself, but because the company’s games… its results, had always satisfied him.
‘All my resources are full.’
He had replenished all his healing items at the last checkpoint.
He had also prepared a generous supply of ‘Heal-Blocking Potions,’ which had been quite useful in Chapter 1 against enemies that could lifesteal.
Without delay, Seok-hoon entered the boss room.
*Grrrk—*
The entry cutscene showed a black-and-white screen with a wanted poster frame.
The boss first appeared as a human head atop a long, skeletal neck and upper torso, with bundles of blood vessels forming over it.
Looking further down revealed a long, large lower body reminiscent of a praying mantis’s abdomen. The insectoid-humanoid hybrid form was, as always, a classic *Hellic* visual that satisfied Seok-hoon.
‘Let’s see…’
The name was ‘???.’
The health bar was white.
Just as he was wondering about the lack of information, the UI began to change.
*Crack!*
Profiling logs were added one by one over the wanted poster.
*Crack!*
The health bar changed to a red liquid UI.
*Clang!*
The boss’s name was revealed: ‘Rick Artmann.’
‘Ooh…’
It seemed this was how the game expressed the link between profiling, the amount of information on the boss, and its difficulty.
The presentation was impressive.
At the very least, his efforts in exploring the map and gathering data had been properly rewarded.
*Thud!*
The battle began in earnest.
Phase one. He cautiously tested the waters, trading blows with dodges and finishers.
It wasn't a particularly difficult section, and the boss's special cutscene made him exclaim in admiration.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
“Heh…!”
The animation of climbing onto the massive enemy and firing his gun, the clicking sound of the reload, and the satisfying boom of the shots.
Above all, the sensation of the trigger, implemented through the pressure sensitivity of the button, elevated the immersion to another level.
Amidst it all, one thought crossed his mind.
‘Isn’t this a bit too easy, though?’
Could it really be this easy?
It was a soulslike, after all.
‘It could be a little harder…’
The moment he thought that.
—*Skreeeeeeee!!!*
With a shriek, the boss transitioned to phase two.
The blood vessels that made up Rick Artmann swelled and then converged on him again, forming wings of blood.
A sword made of blood vessels appeared in his hand.
‘Ah…!’
I knew it!
The creator is Cheon Yeon-ho; there's no way he'd make it easy.
Seok-hoon grumbled but smiled.
He hunched over, his eyes moving closer to the screen.
It was the perfect posture to induce a turtle neck.
In other words, he had entered ‘gamer mode.’
Seok-hoon dove into the second phase of the battle.
It didn’t last long.
*Claaaaang!*
[YOU DIED]
He died.
“…Wait a minute.”
It was Rick Artmann’s one-time instant-kill pattern.
He had been hit by the Blood Sword Drop.
The reason was the overwhelming visual of the optical illusion that occurred when the pattern activated.
Four. That was the total number of attempts it took for Seok-hoon to kill Rick Artmann.
* * *
About two days later. Having not taken vacation time in advance this time, Seok-hoon’s playtime was still only around ten hours.
In terms of progress, he had just finished the first half and was entering the mid-game.
He was at the Mountain Range of Anna’s Corpse, where the ‘Werewolf Jedi’ appeared.
By now, he had gotten the hang of the gameplay and could play with a comfortable level of tension.
As his body adapted to *Hellic 4*, he began to see more things, and what piqued his curiosity at this point was none other than the story.
It was the point where deep immersion and curiosity were needed.
As luck would have it, the weekend was just beginning, so Seok-hoon sat down, determined to finish the game in time. But there was one change. What else could it be?
“Is it that fun?”
“Yeah!”
It was Su-jin.
From the second day on, Su-jin had been sitting on the sofa, watching Seok-hoon play.
Of course, she was a bit miffed that Seok-hoon had come home, carelessly tossed his clothes aside, and done nothing but play the game, but Kang Seok-hoon, the child (in his 30s) who loved gaming, was oblivious to such things!
He was simply curious about what happened next in *Hellic 4*!
And so it was today.
Su-jin ate snacks while watching Seok-hoon’s game, and Seok-hoon, munching on the pieces of snacks she occasionally put in his mouth, focused on the game.
The time passed 10 PM, 11 PM, and past midnight, finally becoming Saturday.
“Huh?”
It was the point where, after defeating a boss, the mountain range he had been traversing was revealed to be Anna’s corpse.
Not just Seok-hoon, but Su-jin was also surprised (she had a general idea of the progress from watching).
Based on the information revealed up to that part, the one who had killed his wife, as described in the police notebook item, was none other than the protagonist.
The direction, which showed scenes of their love deepening after each part, was key.
The power of tragedy, one might call it.
After those warm moments, learning the tragic conclusion first without knowing the process naturally made one curious about the cause.
“Honey, hurry up and do the next part!”
For the first time, Su-jin urged him on.
For her, it was like watching a drama, and since she had nothing else to do on a weekend, she had plenty of time.
At Su-jin’s prompting, Seok-hoon rushed his gameplay.
But games aren’t content where you can just breeze through the story.
By its very nature, a game is an interactive pastime, so the gameplay portion is overwhelmingly larger than the story.
For Su-jin, who was just watching, it was bound to be frustrating.
Then, at some point, a thought crossed her mind.
“Huh? Why are you doing it like that?”
Backseat gaming.
Su-jin had never played a game and had no intention of doing so, but as she watched, she found herself questioning things.
It wasn’t long before that thought evolved into, ‘I could do better than that.’
Seok-hoon, who loved his wife, loved games, and was enjoying this moment, still couldn’t tolerate one thing as a gamer.
—Ah, that’s not how you do it.
Need I say more?
Seok-hoon snapped.
“Then you try it!”
His immaturity was unfortunate.
The saving grace was that Su-jin was a far more generous person than most.
“Really? Then let me give it a try.”
Su-jin immediately snatched the controller.
She had already memorized the controls and how to play by watching from the side and asking questions.
She could at least move the character.
“Hmm~ So this is how you do it?”
Seok-hoon smirked.
‘No matter how easy it is, it’s still a soulslike.’
How could a complete beginner who had never played a game before handle it?
He’d laugh his head off and tease her the moment she died.
That was his thought, a vow that would not come to pass.
*Bang!*
*Screee!*
“?”
*Bang! Bang-bang!*
*Kyaaaack!!!*
Seok-hoon’s mind went blank.
Su-jin, hunched over, was playing the game with a blank expression. Her skill was a shock that shattered all of Seok-hoon’s assumptions.
“…Su-jin?”
“…”
“Honey?”
“…”
“Darling?”
“…Ah, yeah.”
*Tap, tap, tap,* Su-jin replied distractedly, her fingers flying across the controller.
Even as she did, she was displaying unbelievable skill.
It was the infamous enemy in *Hellic 4* nicknamed the Tripod Terror.
She had effortlessly dodged the mid-range attack of the three-legged creature on her very first encounter.
“How…?”
Seok-hoon, who had already fallen victim to the creature, asked in a bewildered tone.
In response, Su-jin tilted her head as if she couldn’t understand and replied.
“I saw it and dodged.”
And so it was.
There are many people in the world, and even more eccentrics and geniuses among them.
No, the vast majority of people—90% of them—live and die without ever knowing what talents they possess.
And so, it was finally revealed.
Su-jin possessed an overwhelming physical talent for gaming!
“Why couldn’t you dodge this, honey? I don’t get it.”
A pure question can sometimes pierce the heart like a dagger.
On this day, at the beginning of summer 2019.
The gamer Kang Seok-hoon, faced with the overwhelming difference in talent, came to a realization.
He was but a mere mortal who had simply played *Hellic* before Kim Su-jin (a natural prodigy) discovered gaming.