Chapter 118

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Translator: True Detective

Chapter: 118

Chapter Title: EP.118 The Reality Where Destiny's Favorites Always Win

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The owl-like 5th-grade special entity was losing health at a rapid clip even against an 8-star hero like Kang Chaeyoung. The damage she dished out alone overwhelmed the combined output of the other four dealers.

"Tanya! Tank swap!!! Oh Hyun-ah, grab aggro quick!"

But the bus ride wasn't all smooth sailing. Things that had been fine against 4th-grade monsters were starting to creak under the pressure of this 5th-grade special entity.

"Stabilizing raid health! Dealers, watch out!"

"Kang Chaeyoung, cease fire! Tanks, check aggro and resume DPS!!!"

The boss monster, startled by Chaeyoung's insane mana output, unleashed a barrage of its special attack patterns. As a result, Minguk and the other tanks and healers were suffering terribly. The Vudsen sisters, in particular, were burning through their healing abilities without a moment's rest.

"We just need to take this guy down and we're done! Use every last drop of your hidden mana!"

"Heals up! Heals up!!! Just a bit longer!!!"

"Stay alive, stay alive. Please don't die, just hang in there?!"

The raid's health bars began to dance like waves under the owl beast's powerful special attacks. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bus was on the verge of flipping over in an instant. All because of that middling damage output.

'Just kill it in one go already?!'

Chaeyoung's attack power was destructively high, as befitting an 8-star hero. Yet the 5th-grade special entity—a league above any 4th-grade boss—managed to endure her onslaught for far too long.

In the end, failing to drop the boss-grade monster quickly was what caused all this chaos. They were only riling up the boss's temper, passing the burden onto the passengers.

Still, Team GGW's raid emerged victorious in the end. As long as they could hold out somehow, Chaeyoung would eventually bring the boss crashing down.

"Somehow feels like I made things harder for everyone because of me."

Chaeyoung, drenched in sweat from head to toe after the grueling raid, shot Minguk an apologetic look.

During the fight with the 5th-grade special entity, she'd realized from experience that the raid was falling apart.

She'd expected him to call a wipe for feedback and a retry, but GGW's healers were more capable than she'd imagined. Minguk's raid leading as attack captain was pitch-perfect too.

"Whew. But we cleared it fast, right? And it was my mistake anyway. I should've called off the DPS myself..."

Minguk shook his head at the remorseful Chaeyoung. Process didn't matter—what counted was the clear.

Honestly, they hadn't even properly analyzed the owl's attack patterns before the raid ended. Without Chaeyoung's overwhelming DPS, they wouldn't have downed it at all.

"That was an epic raid!"

"Yeah. Full of thrills. I was on pins and needles watching you all nearly bite it."

Everyone seemed to share Minguk's sentiments, chatting and laughing. No casualties, and a 5th-grade special entity downed—mission accomplished.

It hadn't been easy, either. The clear time was blazing fast as a result.

Though the bus nearly capsized at the end, they'd wrapped everything up in one pull. Exhausted but thrilled from the rare experience raiding with an 8-star hero, they all looked content.

Seeing her juniors like that, Chaeyoung smiled faintly. In this short time, they'd felt like a solid raid team. With all raids complete, it was time for the dungeon conquest reward: spoils of war.

"I recommend Senior Kang Chaeyoung opens the loot chest."

"Agreed!"

With the loot chest before them, Hyun-ah shot her hand up. Yuna followed suit right away, as if they'd planned it. Looked like they'd coordinated beforehand.

The other heroes nodded in agreement too. Chaeyoung, the 8-star hero, had been the star of this dungeon clear.

"Uh, um..."

Chaeyoung looked flustered by her juniors' insistence. They didn't know, but she was infamous in Memoria's 1st Army for being jinxed—not quite "shit hands," but unlucky as hell.

In the end, she shot Minguk a pleading glance. If she opened it and disappointed them, it'd weigh on her mind.

'This is fun.'

Minguk found her lip-biting, fidgety demeanor intriguing. Even a 15-year veteran hero felt the pressure of jackpot loot.

But not this time. The loot was predetermined. Smiling, Minguk gave her a nudge.

"Come on! Hero steps up!"

"Wha—hey?! W-wait a sec...!"

Chaeyoung twisted away from Minguk's sudden shove, her face full of betrayal as she stared at him.

"Nooo. I'm jinxed, you know? What if no mana crystal comes out? Huh? Tell someone else to open it. Pleeease?"

Finally, she whispered her secret to Minguk. He chuckled.

"It's fine. Got a good feeling about this—give it a shot. Who knows? Might even get a pillar of light."

No matter the jinx, things were different now. The quest reward was absolute.

"Ha? You saw one pillar and now you're cocky... Like that'll happen easy?"

Snorting at Minguk's words, Chaeyoung reluctantly placed her hand on the loot chest. All eyes were on her.

"But if something better than a mana crystal drops, GGW claims all the loot?"

"Do I look like an 8-star hero who'd covet 【B】-difficulty drops?"

"It could be something amazing, though?"

The real amazing stuff was already lined up. But Chaeyoung had no clue, muttering "mana crystal" nonstop as she eyed the chest.

"And if it's better than mana crystal, I'll throw in a gift too."

"Fine, fine. Just don't get disappointed if it's crap."

With that, Chaeyoung squeezed her eyes shut and yanked the loot chest open hard. A brilliant light erupted from it, shooting straight into the sky. A pillar of light.

Of course, for Kang Chaeyoung, it was the first pillar she'd ever pulled herself in 15 years.

"I don't usually open chests, right?"

"True. Everyone in Memoria 1st knows Sis's bad luck."

Chaeyoung scowled briefly at the Memoria raid leader poking her sore spot, then relaxed.

"But that time, I just felt like I had to open it. So I did, and boom—pillar of light!"

Gasps erupted around her. The Memoria raid leader shook his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠head at Chaeyoung wildly gesturing through her tale. Fourth time hearing it.

And he'd never seen his senior this giddy. Pulling a pillar wasn't exactly commonplace.

'Good she's bouncing back so quick.'

The raid leader's gaze drifted to Chaeyoung bragging to her team. He'd worried about her issues back home, but she looked finer than ever—overflowing with energy.

"But Senior, why pull a pillar with GGW instead of us? How could you?"

"Means you gotta treat me better, right? If my juniors skimp on respect, no pillars for you."

"Oh my oh my? Who's more devoted to Kang Chaeyoung than Memoria 1st Army?"

The raid leader eyed his laughing, chattering squad with Chaeyoung. Off to the side, GGW heroes were buzzing over their raid loot.

"Ahem."

Locking eyes briefly with Minguk, the Memoria raid leader gave a subtle nod. Thanks for cheering her up.

The pillar from the 【B-1】 dungeon had heroes in the Hanoi hotel buzzing once more. Shockingly, GGW—who'd seen one before—witnessed another.

"The world favors the favored. Reality's so unfair."

"Raid leader's a male hero, right? Maybe that's the trick?"

"What kinda nonsense is that?"

Fun fact: Another raid team that'd joined to bus them had opened the chest first—and pulled the pillar.

Plus, GGW's male raid leader, Han Minguk, was drawing attention. Some were seriously pondering recruiting male heroes.

"So what'd the pillar reward? Must've been decent."

"Bus driver generously handed it all over, apparently."

"Huh. Clean forfeit. So what dropped? Even from 【B-1】, a pillar means good stuff."

"Mana crystal, duh."

Hanoi's heroes were obsessed with the loot details. In their repetitive routine of army-escorted dungeon grinds, this was prime gossip fodder.

Last one's reward had been underwhelming too—just mana crystals.

Rumors swirled: platinum tickets galore, mana crystals, revival stones, class stones. Nothing confirmed.

Heroes were curious but not digging. From a 【B-1】 chest? Meh.

To snag elite raid teams' attention—gathered to resolve Hanoi's outbreaks—it'd need rare items from top 【A】 bosses at least.

But this pillar held a jaw-dropping reward even the 8-star Kang Chaeyoung coveted. One she hadn't told the Memoria leader about, lest rumors fly.

A unique-grade class stone.

Ten heroes crammed into Minguk's room, barely space to stand in the double-bed suite.

No one complained, though. Eyes glued to the softly glowing class stones.

Class stones, only from 5th-grade or higher special entities.

Hero Pad extras confirmed these two as unique-grade among heroes. Dealer classes to boot—recent trades were mouth-droppingly expensive.

"H-how much, you think?"

Yerin couldn't peel her eyes from 【Class Stone (A) - Witch of Severe Cold】. Only GGW hero specializing in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ice magic: her.

Others could use 'em, sure. But Yerin trusted no GGW raider would fake-bid. They had to.

"Even at 30% market per contract... Yerin, you got that kinda cash?"

Sojeong drawled at the smitten Yerin. 30% still meant tens of millions. This haul was jackpot-tier.