By Zephyria 
Miu, who had been silent until now, suddenly urged them forward.
Looking around, Mo Yeon-hu spotted Miu, who had already moved ahead and was waiting inside the elevator leading to the next dungeon.
(Chef) BBQ: Ah, true lol. No matter how much Round 1 is a headache, we still have Round 2.
(Chef) BBQ: Let’s go, let’s go lol.
—Yes, yes! Let’s go!
“Yes!”
Indeed, they had only cleared half of the dungeon. They would likely only receive the real rewards and clear the dungeon once they faced the final boss of Round 2.
Mo Yeon-hu awkwardly moved 0momo0. Once YouGonnaSue and BBQ also entered the elevator, the doors shut with a thud, and the loading began.
Entering Memoria Closed Ward Round 2 〈Frozen Concert Hall〉!
—Krrr-ik, k-rik.
Along with the noise of rusted chains interlocking and turning, the floor began to vibrate and ascend.
Then, the narrow glass window inside the elevator gradually expanded, and images of peacefully smiling NPCs flickered past as glitching figures beyond the pane.
But it was strange. They went up, and up.
—Clatter, clatter, clatter.
No matter how much they ascended.
The scenery beyond the glass window did not change. Figures who smiled peacefully and then vanished, screens filled with noise—they expanded and expanded, and expanded again, and then.
—Ding!
The elevator stopped.
—You have arrived.
As soon as the doors slid open roughly, a number caught his eye.
4F
It was bizarre that they were only on the 4th floor despite passing through countless levels. The moment the party members stepped into the hallway.
‘It’s music.’
Simultaneously, the lights on the dark hallway walls flickered on. The bleak atmosphere vanished, replaced by a floor covered in a red carpet.
As the candlelight flickered, urging the party members forward, the characters moved in unison.
The place they reached after passing through the hallway was…
Concert Hall
‘A concert hall out of nowhere?’
A concert hall in a closed ward. He wondered if he had seen it wrong, but the heavy doors in front of them opened, and with a thud, a concert hall was indeed revealed.
—♩ ♬ ♪ ♫
The introduction of a magnificent orchestral concerto blasted out at a volume that seemed ready to tear the speakers.
Then, the screen quickly scanned the audience. Patients dressed in bright dresses and tuxedos were sitting and watching the stage. However, on the stage itself.
‘Just one person?’
Contrary to the grand music, there was only a conductor. The man turned around elegantly, as if noticing the presence of the party members.
—My, my. More guests have arrived on such a wonderful day! More guests have arrived on such a wonderful day! Please, take a seat, take a seat! Ah, of course…
With a whoosh, all the candles were extinguished in an instant, and the screen went black…
—I must see if you are truly guests, or not.
“…Whoa!”
Mo Yeon-hu was startled. In an instant, the conductor’s face was pressed right up against the screen!
(Notification) Boss ‘Arister’ reveals himself in a state of madness!
‘Gross!’
Moreover, it wasn’t a normal face. Through the gaps of a bright red mask that was stained with blood and cracked in places, two small, glowing red vacuum tubes were glistening. They were not human eyes.
Regardless, while he was frozen in bewilderment by the sudden cutscene, a cheerful laugh was heard.
—Kyahaha, Momo-nim was surprised!
Starting with YouGonnaSue’s reaction.
(Chef) BBQ: Lmao lolol. It’s fun watching the reactions at this jump-scare section lolol.
(Chef) BBQ: It’s a pleasure coming here with someone who hasn’t been spoiled for once lolol.
Looking at the excited chat, it seemed most people were surprised here on their first visit.
“Ah, you should have told me…”
As he spoke awkwardly, YouGonnaSue giggled.
—I forgot! But I think it’s a good thing I forgot! Momo-nim’s reaction was so funny!
“My reaction was funny…?”
—Yes! The way you were a beat slow, and the way you sounded like you weren’t surprised even though you were, was hilarious.
In truth, since he hadn’t expected the boss to suddenly shove his face in like that, his reaction had been a bit delayed.
“I’m a bit weak to this kind of thing…”
—No, everyone gets surprised here! I was super surprised at first too!
“…Really?”
—Yes, I even cursed!
YouGonnaSue confirmed with a playful voice.
—Actually, Momo-nim’s reaction was quite cu— huh?
He couldn’t hear the rest of the sentence.
Ding! Along with the characteristic notification sound of Zombie Village hitting his ears, a system window appeared on the screen.
Raid Leader ‘Miu’ requests a response to check if the raid members are ready.
YES
NO
But it wasn’t just one.
Raid Leader ‘Miu’ requests a response to check if the raid members are ready.
YES
NO
Raid Leader ‘Miu’ requests a response to check if the raid members are ready.
YES
NO
Mo Yeon-hu blinked at the notifications flying in relentlessly.
(Chef) BBQ: Huh? lol. What’s wrong, Miu-nim?
(Sniper) Miu: Can we hurry up a bit?
(Sniper) Miu: Something urgent came up, so I think I need to clear this quickly.
(Chef) BBQ: Ah, then we should hurry. OK OK.
It seemed to be a silent urge to stop chatting and get ready.
‘Come to think of it, Miu seems to be in particularly bad condition today… It feels like they want to finish this quickly.’
As long as they weren’t rushing because they were angry at him, it was fine.
(Sniper) Miu: For now, Momo-nim, would you like to go check the patterns?
“Then I’ll go watch a strategy video quickly! I’ll turn off my microphone and sound for a moment.”
Following Miu’s advice, Mo Yeon-hu decided to go look up the patterns for Round 2 of the closed ward.
‘Since Round 2 is a mob, I should check the strategy.’
Unlike Round 1, which could be easily cleared as long as one understood the puzzle mechanism, this was the boss room, so it seemed better to at least have a brief look before entering.
—Yes! Go ahead!
(Chef) BBQ: OK OK. I’m gonna go grab a cup of coffee too.
(Sniper) Miu: Go ahead.
Mo Yeon-hu quickly muted the game sound and searched for a video to play. Round 2 seemed easier than expected.
‘I can actually just push through it.’
In Round 1, everyone absolutely had to participate to solve the puzzles, but for the Round 2 boss, it seemed like they just had to handle the major patterns roughly.
Also, since it could be cleared easily even if one party member died, there was less pressure.
‘This is why they said it was manageable!’
Compared to Sky Terror, where they would explode from a single aim mistake, this dungeon was practically cute. However, looking at the comments and reactions of other people.
‘Actually, people tend not to go often because Round 1 is a nuisance.’
Aside from the level requirement, it seemed people didn’t prefer it because they suffered if they met a strange party member in the Round 1 puzzle room.
‘I’ll finish Round 2 in no time!’
And for once, Mo Yeon-hu’s prediction did not miss.
—Momo-nim, we’ve already taken down more than half of the boss’s HP. See? It’s easy, right?
“Uh… it is easy?!”
The raid was going far too smoothly.
Unlike the cutscene that had made such a fuss, boss Arister’s movements were slower and more honest than expected.
For example, in the laser-firing pattern, he showed a noticeable gathering of energy, allowing them to dodge, or the movement of the binding musical notes could be easily predicted by watching the baton…
But there was another reason why this raid was easy.
(Chef) BBQ: But since the DPS is so fast, it feels like we’re only seeing about 10 out of 100 patterns lolol.
(Chef) BBQ: Miu-nim, seriously, what is this DPS? lolol. Snipers really need to be nerfed T_T.
(Chef) BBQ: Also, Goso-nim’s buffs are delicious lolol.
It was thanks to the rest of the team.
—Stick close, raise the hymn! Nice. Go full DPS!
YouGonnaSue was a high-level supporter who, with a bit of exaggeration, nearly doubled Mo Yeon-hu’s damage output. And those receiving the buffs were…
(Sniper) Miu: Protection is off cooldown, I’ll use the skill.
(Chef) BBQ: Buffs going up!! I’m dealing damage too!! Buff please!
It was the same for the high-level Miu and BBQ. In the face of their powerful damage, Arister melted away like a snowman.
—Kyah, it really is insanely fast!
Because of that, Arister was supposed to pressure the party members with all sorts of shows, but he was dying before he even had the chance.
‘This is fun.’
They had only played three rounds, but it felt like they would clear it already. It was just as Mo Yeon-hu was relaxing a bit, seeing Arister’s HP nearly depleted.
“Uh… sorry. I’m frozen.”
—A-go.
Kekeke. Along with Arister’s laughter, a dissonance rang out. Mo Yeon-hu, who had been concentrating on controlling the Skeletons, failed to dodge a musical note that had approached unnoticed.
—Just wait a moment! I’ll save you!
(Sniper) Miu: No, I’ll do it.
(Chef) BBQ: Good camaraderie lol.
Just as Miu approached Mo Yeon-hu.
—No… No! This performance must not end! My audience… my happiness…
Along with Arister’s scream, all the lights in the concert hall turned blood-red.
—I guess our attack speed was too fast. A very annoying Curtain Call has triggered!
Curtain Call begins as the map turns red.
This was the most bothersome pattern he had seen in the strategy video; a target would appear on a specific party member, drawing all aggro, and the others had to protect that member. But it was strange.
(Chef) BBQ: No target is appearing?
(Chef) BBQ: Is it a bug? lol.
By now, a target should have appeared, but for some reason, none of the party members were set as the target.
Just as everyone was thinking it might be a bug.
“Huh?”
Mo Yeon-hu’s eyes widened. Something had entered his field of vision.
‘What is that… lips?’
It was incredibly grotesque. As if fragmented lips had been forcibly stitched together, rusted staples were embedded densely along the seams, and an unidentified dark red fluid was oozing stickily from between them.
“Uh… it’s dangerous there!”
But unfortunately, it was gaping its bright red lips right beneath the feet of Miu, who had come to save him, and he shouted instinctively.
“Ms. Mi-yeong?!”