Chapter 126
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 126
Chapter Title: High-Level Raid
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‘No choice, I guess.’
To claim the Legendary-grade Class Stone as his reward, he just needed to collapse two more dungeons. But his team members' mental strength and stamina were reaching their limits.
Especially the healers, Giselle and Kendall, who were completely wiped out. Of course, Minguk could cover their positions. However, the other heroes weren't in great shape either. The tanks, in particular, had exhaustion written all over their faces.
“We'll pull back for today.”
Minguk said with a hint of regret. Clearing the quest was urgent, but the GGW heroes weren't mindless machines that followed his orders blindly. You had to know when to retreat.
“W-We survived...”
“This expedition was brutal. With more dungeons collapsing, the travel distances are getting longer. I feel way more drained than before.”
“What's the point of more collapsing dungeons? It just means more time-limited ones popping up.”
“The monster ambushes have picked up too. Where the hell are they all coming from?”
The heroes boarding the transport bus muttered their thoughts. Their faces were weary, but their voices were bright at the prospect of heading back to Hanoi.
“Once we get back to Hanoi this time... how long do we get to rest?”
Kendall murmured softly amid the group.
Her hesitant demeanor screamed that she wanted to ask the raid leader about the next schedule.
But the man—especially after showing beast-like behavior toward his teammates multiple times on recent expeditions—felt unapproachable to her, so her words just mumbled in her mouth.
Giselle, glancing at her sister, sighed and turned to Minguk.
“Raid Leader, when's the next expedition? You're not planning to head out again tomorrow, right?”
“Hmm...”
Minguk pondered at Giselle's question.
‘If I had my way, I'd love to head out again tomorrow...’
He only needed to collapse two more dungeons to clear the quest. Then, clearing a 【B-1】 difficulty dungeon for the reward would wrap everything up.
On top of that, the prize was a 【Class Stone (A) - Legendary Grade】.
In terms of rarity, it outclassed even Elite Lin's Witch of Severe Cold from destroying twenty dungeons or the Evil Blade he used as a dealer—a full tier higher.
According to the Hero Pad info, it was so rare you'd be lucky to even see one without insane luck, and even with an S-grade class, you might swap just for its raid utility.
It was bound to be a huge boost for future runs, so Minguk was itching to snag the quest reward ASAP.
“No way... even our raid leader, who loves raids more than anyone, wouldn't head out tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah, if we leave for Hanoi now, we'll arrive late—ten PM at best. We need at least two days off.”
But the team members gazing at Minguk had an indescribable plea in their eyes. Seeing that made it hard for him to spit out “tomorrow.”
“Shouldn't we rest at least four days?”
Sojeong, locking eyes with Minguk, spoke cautiously. As his personal secretary and the oldest in the raid, she often voiced the team's sentiments like a union rep.
“Three days...”
Minguk said stiffly. It felt too long for a break. But his comrades thought otherwise.
“Four days! I'm all for it!”
With Sojeong opening the floodgates, Oh Hyun-ah jumped in louder.
“Right, Raid Leader! You know GGW has cleared more dungeons than any other raid staying in Hanoi? We deserve the break—no one's gonna complain.”
“Hear, hear! We want our days off!!!”
The team chimed in unison, seizing the moment. Minguk had no choice but to throw up his hands. A little restraint on his greed meant happiness for the majority.
In the end, Minguk decided to hole up in the Hanoi hotel for rest. The quest was nearly done anyway; delaying the Class Stone by a couple days wasn't the end of the world.
“Nice and relaxed.”
During the break, Minguk killed time in his room, surfing the net on his Hero Pad. Monsters were respawning bit by bit outside, making the atmosphere tense. No point going out.
Raid leader was busier than expected.
Back in Korea, he'd be hauling loot from dungeons and filing reports to the clan head.
But in Vietnam, dungeon breaks spawned temp dungeons like weeds, prioritizing clears over paperwork.
Just report acquired items and collect the payout—easy.
The team happily enjoyed their rare personal time. The hotel was top-tier in Hanoi, so everything they needed was inside—no need to venture out.
However, while GGW lounged leisurely, issues cropped up among raids tackling the expansion.
“You've encountered Garuda's avatars?”
Minguk shook his head at Kang Chaeyoung's sudden question upon barging into his room.
“No, never seen them... Something wrong?”
Honestly, he hadn't paid it much mind. Garuda's avatars were a top-raid problem.
“The worst-case scenario happened. A Turkish raid ran into them in a 【B-1】 dungeon.”
“...What?”
Minguk couldn't hide his surprise at Chaeyoung's follow-up.
Garuda's avatars showed up in 【A-3】 to 【A-5】 diffs. Tricky patterns, sure, but top raids could handle them.
They scaled with dungeon difficulty anyway, so even non-top raids shouldn't struggle much.
That was Minguk's take.
“The Turkish raid gave up after twenty attempts. Lost a hero to corruption in the process.”
“That's rough.”
“Yeah. Tomorrow, Australia's Wallabies raid will retry to take them down... but with their 【A-5】 power level, it's about brute-forcing with specs.”
“Hmm...”
This world's raid leadership—specifically raid leaders' command and tactics—were worse than Minguk imagined.
Garuda's avatars were newly discovered, no solid strats yet. As heirs to a Twelfth Calamity's power, their patterns were overly complex for the difficulty.
In short, even spec-matched raids would struggle hard.
“Top raids are getting swamped.”
Still, Minguk wasn't too worried about the avatars yet.
Garuda itself—a Twelfth Calamity beast—hadn't appeared; just clones in a few dungeons. No big deal, he thought.
But Chaeyoung's next words drew a groan from him.
“If that were all, it'd be fine. Those red-feathered chirpy bastards are delaying expansion clears. Even top raids waste full days on them.”
“Tough foes, huh.”
“Not just that. Time-limited dungeons are popping up now. Especially worrying for raids handling upper 【B】 and lower 【A】 diffs.”
“Why's that?”
“If they hit avatars at that level, they gotta bail. They're no pushovers. Abandoning a dungeon wastes mana and time. Without World Hero Association support, it'd be chaos by now.”
Minguk nodded at Chaeyoung's words.
To collapse a dungeon, clear all boss monsters inside.
Can't beat the avatar? Stuck until another raid helps.
“GGW, stay sharp—you never know when they'll show. If you meet them, don't rush it. Got it?”
Chaeyoung warned Minguk worriedly.
Memoria and Strong Women clan had faced them multiple times, barely scraping by each raid.
(She didn't mention it, but Korea's Iwha clan—here with her for expansion—had to retreat from their dungeon because of the avatars.)
But her concern didn't sway Minguk much.
Kiiiek! Kick! Kieek!
“Hmm.”
Minguk tried to keep a straight face staring at the red monster before them. Chaeyoung's warning from days ago echoed in his head.
“That thing... doesn't seem like a dungeon monster.”
“Right. Not in the Hero Pad. Hmm... maybe the info hasn't updated?”
“No way. Rothkreon Fortress has been shared since Year 20.”
Amid the confused team, only Minguk grasped the situation.
Surprisingly, no one else suspected the red bird was Garuda's avatar. Public info pegged them as high-diff exclusives.
Turkish raid started sightings in 【B】 diffs, but...
World Hero Association hushed it to prevent mass pullouts from Hanoi expansion raids.
“Yeah, what's a bird doing in Rothkreon Fortress? It's orcs and named ones here, right?”
“True. And the final boss is Orc Great Chieftain Galamatsu...”
The team frantically searched info, oblivious. No results, naturally.
Minguk wouldn't have known without Chaeyoung. He eyed the bipedal red birds—like giant chicks.
Chaeyoung, who'd fought them, stressed they defied looks with deadly, tricky patterns.
‘Of all the timing...’
It was awful. They'd just finished Ppuu's quest, tackling a 【B-1】 dungeon. The Legendary Class Stone—quest's final prize—was right there.
“Hmm...”
Minguk closed his eyes, pressing his forehead.
Option one: Beat the avatar, claim reward.
Option two: Bail, waste time, hit another 【B-1】 sans avatar for the stone.
The choices swirled in his mind.