Chapter 102
Chapter 102
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: Normalization
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Two days after the first clear of the 'Frozen Palace of the Tundra', 'Astria Online' underwent a balance patch.
[Developer's Note]
Hello, 'Adventurers from the Stars'. This is Director Shin Gyeong-hun.
First, I would like to apologize to all our users for the fact that we had to unavoidably move up the scheduled patch date.
...
The developer's note, which began with a greeting from the main director, apologized for sending out such a letter during a time when players should be busy farming the new dungeon, and outlined the key points of the upcoming balance patch.
"Still, it's a good thing I finished farming for accessories yesterday."
I ramped up my farming after the emergency patch notice was posted yesterday.
I sold the 'Soul of the Frozen Palace Lord', which evolves weapons, for a high price and focused on farming accessories.
I dismantled all the accessories with stats I didn't need and turned them into 'Essence of the Frozen Palace'. Of course, I could also get small amounts from daily quests and basic dungeon clear rewards.
The amount of Essence of the Frozen Palace I collected was enough to enhance my new accessories.
I already have the legendary weapon 'Astaroth', so it would be nice to get some legendary accessories with good stats and options.
There was no need to switch to the 'Sword of the Frozen Palace Lord'. Astaroth, with its higher attack power and overall skill enhancement, is much better.
I'll be able to use the previous season's legendary weapon for at least this entire expansion.
Anyway, the important thing is.
"Why did they announce such an important balance patch so suddenly?"
Sitting on the sofa, I carefully scrutinized the developer's note on my smartphone.
According to the note, the balance patch itself had been originally scheduled.
They had planned to make the final balance adjustments using data gathered from players clearing the 'Frozen Palace of the Tundra'.
"They wanted to approach it cautiously to create a skill set that considers both PvP and PvE, huh..."
The official reason given was the difficulty of the new elite dungeon, the 'Frozen Palace of the Tundra'. Instead of simply nerfing the dungeon, Hana Games moved up the schedule for the player skill balance patch.
Two days had passed since the first clear, but very few parties had managed to complete it. Considering most of them were from the Red and White guild, it meant that practically no parties outside the top-tier vanguard had succeeded.
The first boss isn't that difficult once you know the mechanics. You just need time to establish a damage rotation that fits the patterns.
For the second boss, the party members just need good coordination. The damage reflection mechanic takes care of most of the DPS.
But the third boss, 'Witch Frederica'.
Her patterns are fast, powerful, and varied. Executing the mechanics required to beat her is also difficult.
The DPS check before she enrages is tight, and you have to use your invincibility skills with perfect timing. AoE attacks explode constantly, and instant, unblockable attacks that are practically map-wipes fly everywhere. There's also a special pattern with guarding ice blades that makes her unapproachable. It's hard to detonate the orbs at the right time while dealing with her patterns. And of course, you have to clear the frost patches that constantly appear.
It might have looked like Rain cleared it easily, so other players might have underestimated it, but even Rain had a life-or-death struggle to win. Even after the strategy was made public, only a handful of parties could replicate it.
"Heh."
A laugh escaped me for no particular reason.
I don't know if they were trying to restrict my actions by feigning concern for my physical condition along with a small reward, but with Rain now in the spotlight, the game company had to act quickly.
They called it a balance patch to lower the difficulty, but it was really a balance patch between 'Rain' and 'ordinary players'.
This was the snowball effect from my solo play stream.
It had revealed the stark difference between Rain and the general player base.
I briefly thought of 'Team Leader Han Yeo-reum', who had left me with only those cryptic words.
"You should have told me properly then."
If they knew about my synchronization rate and decided to turn a blind eye, there's a lot more I can do.
The number of people who know the truth about the 'Astria Continent', even within 'Hana Games', must be extremely small.
Are they even human? Anyway.
Considering the average Swordsman players, they couldn't just patch it by lowering the Swordsman's skill multipliers.
The direction of the patch was, as expected, to enhance and add more skills with invincibility frames.
"So they're giving everyone about one more invincibility skill. And... ranged classes get more resistance charges on their standing invincibility skills, while melee classes get extended duration on their invincibility frames, huh..."
They wouldn't add enough invincibility skills to let players brute-force their way through the enrage phase, but at least patterns that require resisting several consecutive hits will become easier. Like the 'Ice Ogre King's' eight-hit AoE.
If the number of invincibility skills increases, I won't have to use Astaroth's cooldown reset for resisting patterns anymore. I can use the cooldown reset purely as a DPS boost.
My unique advantage lies in my damage rotation, where I constantly deal damage while deflecting every avoidable attack.
Simply put, while others land two hits, I can land three or four.
In a way, this patch could be seen as an attempt to close the gap between players with monstrous mechanics and ordinary players.
With this patch, the game will become a bit easier for the average player.
"It doesn't really matter."
I leaned back on the sofa.
It was a blatant targeted patch, but it didn't make Rain weaker.
If the other players get stronger, that's good in its own way. It's a welcome development for the players who will pave the way for the Hero to get stronger.
The Hero just needs to stay that much further ahead.
Nothing will be able to stop Rain's progress. Not the upcoming dungeons, raids, or even the demonic beings that players must ultimately defeat.
'I' will defeat them all first.
The 'Astria Continent' is a world where I am the protagonist.
Because it's the world that my comrades and I saved.
Before closing the developer's note, I noticed a strange word.
"But, the theme of the patch is... 'Normalization'...?"
Is that the right word to use here?
Being alone in Iseulbi's body is familiar, but these days, I feel a little lonely.
When I'm in Rain's body, I don't have time to feel lonely. I have to push myself to level up and complete quests.
In fact, just enjoying the Astria Continent itself and walking on legs that moved as I willed was a joy.
"This is all Chris's fault."
I complained while idly fiddling with my smartphone in the spacious living room.
Chris has been so busy lately that she went to take care of company business on the patch day, taking advantage of the fact that all player farming had come to a halt.
Just being with her made me happy. There was no time to feel lonely or fall into gloomy thoughts.
Right now, I'm in an ambiguous situation—not on the Astria Continent, and not with Chris.
I wish the maintenance would end soon.
I wish Chris would come back soon.
"Ah."
Suddenly, I remembered that I had live-streamed two days ago.
Should I check YouTube?
[Live Stream Replay (2 days ago)]
[Frozen Palace of the Tundra First Clear Run]
[Views: 5,471,644]
[Category (Gaming) - A.O (Astria Online)]
"Gasp...!"
It's only been two days since I streamed, but the view count is over five million.
They said a lot of people play it worldwide, and the engagement was truly incredible.
I expected it to get a lot of views, but I didn't think it would be this many already.
And in the creator features, a green light I hadn't seen when setting up the live stream was now on.
[Monetization Requirements]
[Subscribers O | Watch Time O]
I smiled faintly.
To be honest, this was also a partially intended outcome.
Rain on the Astria Continent is somehow more wary of people than I am.
Communicating through a live broadcast was a burden for her, but she could manage just showing her gameplay.
The embarrassment of showing my face is something I, here in this world, can handle.
I'm going to make money through 'Astria Online' in every way possible.
I didn't get a proper reward after saving the world, so I have the right to earn this much. Of course, I made a decent amount from the expansion pack commercial, but it's still not enough.
I'll finish paying Chris back, spend gold freely on the Astria Continent, and make my life here more comfortable.
I can't live off Chris forever.
I plan to move out eventually, so I need to save up some extra money.
"Hmm..."
Of course, moving out is the sensible thing to do.
But I don't want to be away from Chris.
I glanced around the spacious penthouse.
I wonder how much this apartment costs?
Will I be able to earn enough money to live somewhere like the floor right below Chris?
After applying for monetization, I checked the comments under the live stream replay.
[Haa... haa... lolol]
There were many comments, but a strange onomatopoeia had become the top comment.
It was the same bizarre onomatopoeia I always saw on posts related to me.
I tilted my head in confusion.
"Is it a trend these days to use onomatopoeia for gasping in the comments?"
It's so hard to keep up with the latest trends.
Beep, clunk.
"Rain~! I'm home! The maintenance isn't over yet, right? Why is it taking so long? I brought chicken!"
Just hearing Chris's voice was enough to lift my spirits.
"Welcome back! You worked hard!"
With a smile on my face, I greeted Chris as she came home. The smell of freshly fried chicken wafted from the bag in her hand.
I picked up a nearby comb and offered it to Chris.
"Chris, could you brush my hair for me?"
"Hm? Sure, sure. Your hair is so long, it must be hard to brush it by yourself, right?"
Chris, a wide smile on her face, took off only her coat and sat on the sofa. I sat between her knees, closed my eyes slightly, and entrusted my hair to her.
Brush, brush.
This feels nice.
Even after I save up enough money to move out, could I maybe stay here just a little longer?