Chapter 128
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: Time Attack
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Crack!
"Look at that?!"
"Wh-what?"
With a dull snap, a surge of blue mana shot up into the sky from the 【B-1】 difficulty dungeon gate. Moments later, the revival stone gleaming brilliantly in front of the gate shattered into pieces and fell to the ground.
"It broke?"
The Chinese soldiers, who had been idly passing the time while on guard duty, stared in shock at the sight of the revival stone breaking. It was almost unheard of for Team GGW's revival stone—the one belonging to the raid team tackling the dungeon—to shatter like that.
"Did someone mess up?"
"Even monkeys fall from trees sometimes. Bound to happen, right?"
Colonel Miao Miao and the other Chinese troops guarding the gate brushed off the broken revival stone with a chuckle. After all, it was a common sight for a raid team's stone to break due to a full-party wipe.
The only surprise was that it was GGW.
And on top of that, the dungeon they were raiding was only 【B-1】 difficulty.
"Looks like they slipped up during the raid against those Rank 5 monsters."
Colonel Miao Miao, the highest-ranking officer among the Chinese troops, figured as much. Since the GGW heroes had emerged from the dungeon, reset the revival stone, and gone back in without a word, he assumed they'd wrap things up quickly.
However….
Crack! Crack! Craaaack!
"What the hell is going on in there?"
It wasn't until four more revival stones shattered in quick succession that the soldiers finally realized something was seriously wrong.
The team members were re-equipping themselves in tense silence ahead of the next raid attempt. They had wiped four times in a row without even properly taking down a single one of the three red birds.
Still, it wasn't all for nothing. They were gradually piecing together the enemies' patterns.
But Han Minguk, who needed to lead them, sat with his eyes closed and lips pressed tight. He looked furious at a glance, so no one dared speak up. The mood made it impossible.
Except it was all a misunderstanding. Minguk wasn't angry—he was quietly replaying the enemies' attack patterns in his mind.
'Keep the tank positions as is for now.'
The bald one's devastating headbutt that paralyzed tanks was something to be extremely wary of. If the tank got locked down and took a lethal hit from the other monsters, recovering them would be a nightmare.
So the current setup—Chunky and Tail on Tanya and Hyun-ah, Baldy on Hyun-ah—seemed like the best call.
Another issue was the feathers dropping from the sky. The moment they hit the ground, they unleashed massive gusts of wind, scattering the entire allied formation to random spots.
'That hurt like hell.'
Minguk winced, recalling the sensation.
Flying through the air only to crash down wasn't exactly pleasant. He'd taken two bone-crunching impacts that felt like they cracked his ribs against the hard ground.
'Once the formation breaks, bossing these things becomes impossible.'
Put simply, allies ended up scattered across the vast battlefield.
Without the tank nearby to hold aggro, any hero targeted by the monsters was as good as dead. Even if the tank somehow grabbed aggro, the healers were too far away to keep anyone alive for long.
And to top it off, one of these birds had even tried to peck at a human. Chunky and Tail didn't react much, but Baldy was the problem.
"Gahhh!"
"You crazy bird?!"
Luckily, Kendall and So-jeong—the ones targeted—ended it quickly, averting disaster. But it had been a close call.
Fortunately, the falling feathers had a straightforward counter. Blast away before they landed, shatter their protective barriers, and shred them.
Team GGW had four ranged dealers out of five who could handle that.
'The problem is, as the raid drags on, more feathers start dropping from the sky….'
On top of that, prolonged fights spawned mini-tornadoes in clustered areas, disrupting the formation further. Dealers and healers had to dodge those while DPSing and healing.
Drawing from those experiences, Minguk began sketching out formations, movement paths, and contingency plans in his head.
Once he'd sorted it out, he finally called the team back together.
"Tanks, hold your positions. But expect some changes to tanking range—I'll brief on that later. Choi Yuna."
"Y-yes?"
Yuna flinched at being singled out, eyes widening as she racked her brain for any raid mistakes she'd made.
"Can you solo the falling feathers?"
"Hmm. In Sharp Mode, yeah, but I'd have to position early, which is a downside…."
"Got it. The rest of us can cover that. So Yuna, you're on first feather—number one."
"Yes, sir!"
Yuna nodded solemnly, her heart pounding. Every past feather landing had meant a wipe, so the responsibility weighed heavy.
"Second feather: Shin Nayeon—number two."
"Understood."
She wielded mana orbs, giving her exceptional target-switching flexibility compared to other dealers. It took a moment to ramp up firepower, but Minguk judged her mana pool and skills sufficient to destroy a feather before impact.
"Switching primary target: Baldy first."
Of the three, Baldy posed the biggest threat. That paralyzing headbutt could instant-kill a tank.
The detailed briefing followed, and soon the raid restarted.
"Haaah!"
Yuna anchored her massive bow to the ground and unleashed a barrage of translucent arrows like machine-gun fire.
Sharp Mode drained her mana fast, but her firing rate didn't falter. Destroying the feather trumped mana conservation.
And her arrows flew true toward the giant feather.
Boom!
The relentless volley shattered the feather's barrier, reducing it to rags in seconds. It hit the ground harmlessly, posing no threat to the battling GGW members.
"Got it!"
Minguk nodded as Yuna switched back to Baldy, but his expression stayed grim.
'That was a bit tight….'
She'd started immediately upon spotting it, but only destroyed it about ten meters from impact. Any delay, and Yuna couldn't handle it alone.
"Focus fire!"
Shin Nayeon had it easy. Her crimson mana orbs homed in, blasting laser beams that effortlessly vaporized the barrier and feather alike.
'Yuna primaries feathers, Nayeon backs her up if it's risky. That works.'
With that settled, Minguk eyed the three red birds assaulting the tanks.
Chunky and Tail, held by Tanya and Kendall, looked barely scathed. But Baldy, soaking dealer DPS, was dipping below 60% HP.
Riiiing!!!
As Baldy reared back its head, a massive bell tolled. Minguk swiftly shielded the shuddering Hyun-ah—Baldy's follow-ups would leave her exposed.
But Hyun-ah endured better than expected.
'Not bad.'
He quickly spotted why: She'd pre-buffed with enhancement skills. She was getting the hang of handling Baldy.
"This is looking good…."
Six minutes in, everything flowed smoothly. Aggro stable, no major HP issues across the team.
"Number one at 2 o'clock, number two at 9—check!"
"Yes, sir!"
Feathers handled perfectly. But as Baldy's HP dropped below 50%, new trouble brewed.
"Kek! Kek!!!"
"Keeek!"
With shrieks, red auras enveloped Chunky and Tail. They swelled, doubling in size.
"Berserk?!"
Unusual, but the team recognized it instantly—a familiar phase shift from prior raids.
Then Chunky's beak gathered ominous red mana and smashed down on Tanya's shield.
"N-nooo!!!"
Kendall threw up a barrier and heals, but it wasn't enough. The shield shattered, crushing Russia's destruction tank flat.
Tanya's death released Tail's aggro. It flared its wings, raining feathers on the dealers. Screams erupted amid the empowered barrage. Wipe.
"Should've spread damage instead of focusing one down."
Still, new intel gained.
These insights were stacking up, inching toward a winning strategy. But the real raid started now.
Sixth raid—Dealers swept by Tail's feather barrage. Failure.
Eighth raid—First Baldy kill. Survivors immediately berserked. Confirmed: must down all three together.
Eleventh raid—Giselle caught in a mini-tornado. Raid fizzled.
Thirteenth raid—Exhausted Tanya instagibbed by Chunky's smash. Over.
Patterns weren't hard to learn. But as raids lengthened, sloppy mistakes from lapsed focus tanked attempts.
Minguk knew better than to snap in these moments. Outsiders might see a talented rookie raid leader, but he was a grizzled vet who knew how to rally the team.
He called a long break first. Pushing now would just spawn more errors—better rest and self-review.
After a good while, he gathered them.
"Alright, huddle up."
The heroes, checking gear, assembled. Faces down from repeated failures.
Instead of calling out individuals, Minguk fired them up first.
"We've cracked all their abilities through sheer grit. Feathers? Nailed. Tanking? Rock-solid. Dealers, you could fry those punks in seconds if you wanted."
"Huh, now I crave chicken."
"Same. With ice-cold beer… Ahh!"
Random as it was, Hyun-ah's quip got nods all around. Hunger was kicking in too.
Even off-topic chatter built team synergy—vital for breathing as one.
Minguk rated the vibe positively and popped the button on his hero gear top, easing the building stuffiness from the long raid grind.
"……."
Innocent move. But starting with Shiranui Mai, eyes from the chatting heroes drifted to Minguk's neckline. Conversation flowed on, but gazes locked.