The Pink Anomaly
Reach for the Moon — Labyrinth Stage 2. The difficulty indicator only appeared after he had already shoved his units into the second stage, as if the game were deliberately trying to feed him a massive helping of regret. Dokgo Beombu had poured eight long years and every last coin he owned into Reach for the Moon. Thanks to that dedication, the community had taken to calling him the “Hidden Dragon” of the game — a nickname that never failed to make him wince. It was the natural result of his cautious, calculating nature. Because he loved Reach for the Moon more than anyone, he had dissected every tiny detail, and he was more confident than any other player. The current probability-boost event was poison for a backline unit with low HP. That was why Dokgo Beombu had been gritting his teeth and waiting. But his careful, calculating personality had backfired. He had never dreamed the second stage would be this brutally difficult. If he had known, he would have used the Bond Summon long ago to bring in a fresh face.
Grind. “No. This is the developers’ fault for designing the game to screw people over. It’s definitely not mine.”
He meticulously arranged formations and combat patterns before pushing his units through the gate. Once he had done that, there was nothing left for the current Dokgo Beombu to do but watch. The only remaining variable was a single line of chat from the Five-Colored Garlic Scape.
Malcolm (Archer) deployed to Labyrinth Stage 2 has fallen below 30% HP.
There was no more time to hesitate. Realizing that, Dokgo Beombu frantically moved his fingers. The only thing he had been able to bring with him when he fell into Reach for the Moon was the phone he had been wearing along with his clothes. “If I operate it here, it happens in reality.” He already had experience summoning the starting members during the tutorial, so he quickly opened the Bond Summon tab.
Normal-grade units excluded.
Chance of high-grade units appearing has slightly increased.
100 Hollow Gemstones consumed. Attempting 11 consecutive draws.
A strong bond connected to the Commander is beginning to coil around you.
A pink light wrapped around him.
Malcolm (Archer) deployed to Labyrinth Stage 2 has died.
The pink-haired girl was leisurely examining the Limit Break Stone and Attribute Enhancement Stone in her hands.
“Your comrades are dying out there, and you’re just—”
Dokgo Beombu, who had been shouting at her relaxed attitude, looked up and met the pink-haired girl’s eyes. Her gaze was full of annoyance, as if none of this had anything to do with her.
“So?”
“W-what…?”
Every unit summoned through Bond Summon had its own personality. Some were prickly, others stubborn. Some ate more than others, some barely spoke. Some were cold as ice, others burned like fire. That was how they were programmed. But absolute obedience to the Commander’s orders was the ironclad rule. The starting members had stepped through the gate toward Labyrinth Stage 1 without a single complaint, after all. Unit personalities were just flavor — at least, they had been until now. It seemed that rule no longer applied.
“This isn’t a ball, but I like it.”
A beautiful voice reached Dokgo Beombu’s ears as he stared at the dirt in despair. When he lifted his head, he saw the girl chatting with a small white rabbit. The rabbit on her shoulder was tapping the Attribute Enhancement Stone as if explaining something.
Unit Han Ga-eul (Supporter)’s favorability has increased.
“……?”
“Hey.”
“Huh? Why……”
He had reflexively answered in the same casual tone, but a chill ran down his spine. The girl, however, didn’t seem to care.
“Give me more of these.”
On the girl’s outstretched palm lay the Attribute Enhancement Stone she had received as a tutorial clear reward.
“Attribute Enhancement Stones are hard to get in bulk early on. They’re given out one at a time as tutorial rewards so players can see what kind of items exist.”
“Doesn’t that mean smashing through the early game quickly shortens the time?”
“W-well… yeah?”
Reach for the Moon, nicknamed the Time Crusher, was never that simple. Yet Dokgo Beombu found himself nodding at the girl’s confident logic.
“Give it.”
“W-what? I really don’t have any more.”
“I said show me your weapons. You wanted me to save your friends, right?”
“Seriously?”
Fearing she might change her mind, Dokgo Beombu quickly operated his phone. A worn sword dropped from the air.
Common starting weapon
Dokgo Beombu carefully picked it up and offered it to the girl. She made a face that clearly showed she didn’t like it at all.
“Not this flimsy thing. Give me something heavy.”
“Flimsy?”
Dokgo Beombu could feel the weight in his own hands. It was heavy enough that even an adult man would struggle to keep holding it.
“But you’re a Supporter.”
“Supporter? So you can see my information.”
The words sent a chill through Dokgo Beombu. Goosebumps rose on his arms. “You can see my information?” Was that really something a unit was supposed to say?
“I’m an all-rounder. So hurry up and give me a weapon.”
“D-dual!”
“What dual all of a sudden? You wanna play cards? Like, a Shadow Duel or something?”
Dokgo Beombu could barely hear the girl — no, the unit Han Ga-eul’s voice. Her words were that shocking. Thinking about it, it should have been obvious, but in his extreme panic he had been too slow to notice. Information about Han Ga-eul that had been scattered in his mind began to come together.
“Type: Supporter. Position: Frontline. Class: Saint. Combat style: Close-quarters combat and weapon techniques.”
Once he had quickly assembled the scattered puzzle pieces, one conclusion remained.
“Dual……?”
Raising an SSR unit from the start was taboo among taboos. It was something Dokgo Beombu himself had repeated endlessly to new players. SSR units were resource hogs. The amount they consumed was on a completely different level from units raised step by step from Normal or Rare. Even with the same resources invested, promoted SSRs gained stats in proportion to what was fed to them, while native SSRs gained very little. That was exactly why players raised promoted SSRs — they offered better cost-performance. Promoted SSRs were like efficient compact cars; native SSRs were sports cars built purely for speed and looks. The efficiency gap was enormous, and adding the Dual variable on top of that turned it into a disaster. Because Dual units could perform in two styles or positions, their growth efficiency was halved. They were versatile, but they consumed twice the resources. Duals had an extremely low floor but a ceiling that ordinary units could never reach. And on top of that, there was another thing with a low floor and sky-high ceiling: SSR units. Yet the girl standing before Dokgo Beombu was a Normal unit. A Normal unit that possessed exclusive equipment — normally only found on SSRs — hanging off her like bunches of grapes. Even her class was Saint, a rarity even among SSR healer classes.
“It said ‘Sealed,’ but does that mean we should treat her as SSR? Or is it a display error? SSR units can have a maximum of two pieces of exclusive equipment, right?”
As Dokgo Beombu combined the information, the worst possible scenario merged with another worst-case scenario.
“This game is insane……”
The girl before him no longer looked like a sports car. She looked like a black hole. Raising even one native SSR unit was already suffocating, yet a native Dual SSR unit — that terrifying hybrid — actually existed in Reach for the Moon. Dokgo Beombu had never heard of or seen such a catastrophic unit during all his time playing. “You’re gonna eat more? Does our little one have a black hole in her stomach?”
“That rabbit’s a black hole too……? And what was that pink thread earlier? SSRs are supposed to be golden……”
While rummaging through his complicated thoughts and digging up hazy memories, Dokgo Beombu suddenly recalled one piece of information. Years ago, some community user had bragged about tearing apart the client and posted about it. The post had said the feature was “not yet implemented,” and because it had never been updated even after several years, it had faded from players’ memories.
“After SSR…… Surely not……”
Shaking his head to dispel the terrifying thought, Dokgo Beombu pulled out a heavy weapon as Han Ga-eul had ordered.
One of the free starting weapons. Thick and heavy, high impact but poor balance. Barely qualifies as a weapon.
Han Ga-eul accepted the iron pipe and tilted her head, moving her hand experimentally.
Whoosh—!
She spun the pipe with one hand in a flashy display. Dokgo Beombu, standing opposite her, was so mesmerized by the staff technique that he didn’t even notice the drool running from his mouth.
“Where are your friends?”
“Huh? Th-they’re over there! Fighting monsters inside the gate!”
“Smash their heads in. Open the door.”
Unable to hesitate any longer, Dokgo Beombu pressed the item he had received as a bonus with his finger.
Gate Intrusion Ticket used. Intrusion Stage: 2
***
Upgrade your pickaxe for more efficient mining.
Worker 1: Dokgo Beombu