Chapter 13
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: EP.13 Rookie Heroes
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"As you all know, the dungeon we're tackling today is the C-2 difficulty 'Dark Forest.' We went over the basics yesterday, so before the briefing, let's check how much you've remembered."
With that, Han Minguk started by quizzing Ashlyn, then Lin Sha and Choi Yuna on the patterns of the boss-grade monsters in the Dark Forest.
Oh Hyun-ah wasn't spared either. But none of them were just playing hero for show—they all answered his questions without a moment's hesitation.
Once he'd confirmed what the team knew, Han Minguk launched into the briefing. The Dark Forest featured three boss-grade monsters in total. The grade-2 ones didn't really need much explanation.
'No wonder the raid qualification exam requires taking down grade-3 or higher monsters.'
The heroes of this world seemed well aware of that much. In any case, grade-2 monsters could be handled by just pointing out one or two lethal attack patterns and moving on. They weren't that tough to clear.
The real issue was the grade-3 monster. It was a darkness-attribute beast called the 'Dark Kalu.'
▷ Dark Kalu isn't a high-attack monster. A tank with a Gear Score around 60 and a decent healer can block its attacks without much trouble. So the tank should grab aggro and keep an eye on its movements. Our goal is to interrupt its major skills.
▷ Dark Line - Dark Kalu casts this on a random party member, dealing darkness damage for 10 seconds. It can be interrupted randomly, but if the darkness damage lasts 6 seconds, the target's incoming damage doubles. If a low-HP dealer or healer gets hit and it isn't interrupted, they could drop dead instantly.
▷ Darkness Roar - Once during the fight, at a random moment, Dark Kalu paralyzes the entire party. Then it drops everyone's HP below 10%. Tanks and dealers must use everything they've got to survive, while the healer needs to top everyone up before it resumes attacking.
▷ Dark Orb - Dark Kalu periodically hurls darkness magic at party members. The damage is about on par with a Fireball—without good gear, it hurts bad. It's fast, but dodgeable, so avoid direct hits as much as possible.
Bad luck? It might follow up a Dark Orb with Dark Line or Darkness Roar right away. The raid leader has to prioritize correctly, and the healer must restore HP accordingly.
"So, tanks and dealers—interrupt Dark Line the instant it starts. Lin Sha, Yuna, you got your skill stones ready?"
Interrupts like that were usually equipped by dealers. Tanks and healers had too many other skills they needed in combat, so they ran out of slots.
"Of course."
"Yeah, equipped them right away."
Han Minguk nodded at their replies and pressed on with the briefing. Once everyone was up to speed, they headed out for the Dark Forest.
'That must be the dungeon timer.'
Arriving at the Dark Forest dungeon in Seocho-gu, Han Minguk spotted the round clock hovering over the portal entrance. Oddly, it only had one hand, currently hovering between 8 and 9.
From what he'd read online, when that hit 12, the dungeon would explode, spilling monsters everywhere. They called it a dungeon break—a disaster on par with a natural calamity. And preventing those was pretty much the main gig for heroes.
Reclaiming land overrun by darkness monsters was also part of the job, but their power was so overwhelming that full-on raid teams or clans hitting their turf were rare.
Especially now, after the long war had quieted things down, the bigwigs in charge didn't want to poke the darkness beasts and stir them up again.
"If we'd left it alone, it'd blow soon, right?"
"Nah, this isn't critical yet. We've got at least a year. Explains the low bounty."
Lin Sha commented on the hand's position, and Ashlyn snorted beside her.
Hearing that, Han Minguk flinched. If it was still a year out at this position, how long had the dungeon been sitting here?
"Team GGW?"
The female soldiers guarding the entrance spotted Han Minguk and his geared-up crew and approached. GGW was a name he'd slapped together on the fly.
"Yes. I'm the raid leader, Han Minguk. These are my team members."
"Five confirmed. Do you have Revival Stones?"
"Yes. Ninety-four of them."
"...Pardon? What?"
The soldier's eyes went wide at his answer. Oh Hyun-ah and the others looked just as shocked.
"W-Wait, you had that many Revival Stones? Minguk, are you loaded?"
"...Huh?"
Han Minguk tilted his head at Lin Sha's fussing. His parents in this world were just regular salarymen and a housewife—nothing like tycoons. But he quickly figured out why they were reacting this way.
"They're over 120 million each right now, and ninety-four? You're rich, Minguk."
"Gasp?!"
Han Minguk's breath caught as Oh Hyun-ah, fiddling with her phone, dropped that bombshell.
The Revival Stones he'd brought were a gift from Chaos when he crossed over. He'd used them casually in the Red Goblin Citadel raid, figuring they were standard VR game fare. Over 100 million each?!
No wonder Oh Hyun-ah had grilled him about where he got such pricey things when he first mentioned them. Still, to prevent wipeouts, they had to activate them before entering.
"...Somehow, this feels bittersweet."
Now that he knew the price, his hand trembled as he crushed the stone. A white barrier enveloped the entrance. From here on, if everyone in the dungeon died, they'd all respawn at the gate.
"Seriously, where'd you get that many Revival Stones?"
Lin Sha asked curiously as they stepped inside. Over ninety was an insane number—even small raid teams or clans wouldn't dream of it.
"...Someone gifted them."
"Huh? Someone gifted something that expensive?"
"He's a male hero. Girls throw gifts at handsome guys like him."
Lin Sha shot him an incredulous look, but she had to concede at the follow-up. Even regular hot guys got showered with presents from high-rank female heroes. And Han Minguk? Male hero. Mana-wielding stud.
"Well, a male hero... yeah."
"Ninety stones aren't that big a deal for him."
No—they were huge. His old self would've freaked over 100,000 won. He'd agonize for a day over ordering chicken.
But Han Minguk didn't bother correcting Lin Sha and Ashlyn's mutters. What bugged him more was Oh Hyun-ah's sidelong glances. She was clearly pondering who gave them to him.
'Go ahead and think. You won't even guess.'
The gifter was none other than Chaos—the enigmatic entity, god-knows-what, known only to him.
"Lin Sha! Its shield's up front! Flank right!"
"Oh Hyun-ah! Get your head in the game! How do you let an attack like that through? It's just a grade-2 monster!"
Han Minguk's furious voice echoed.
Distracted by the Revival Stones? Their first grade-2 monster in the Dark Forest had the team moving like amateurs. The decent coordination from Red Goblin Citadel? Gone in a day.
Still, it wasn't a problem clear. Even weak tanks and dealers could down grade-2s with solid healing.
"Focus, people! Should we wipe and bail? Eat the penalty fee?"
"You wanna forfeit the raid qual exam? Waste another year?"
Han Minguk ripped into the four women. This fight had been a total mess. Without his all-out heals, they'd have wiped for sure.
"...Sorry. I'll do better."
"M-Me too."
After a silent beat, Oh Hyun-ah mumbled softly. Lin Sha timidly raised her hand next. Ashlyn and Yuna looked remorseful too. Their performance had been rock-bottom.
"Hoo..."
Han Minguk exhaled, steadying his breath. Piling on would backfire. Time for the carrot.
"I get it—you're all distracted. But Revival Stones don't make us better. They just prevent disasters."
"......"
"Alright. Clear the Dark Forest, and we get a million in bounty, right? One-try it, and my 200k share buys dinner. Team bonding. Short on cash? Sell a stone. Let's go all night."
"Eh...? For real?"
The word "booze" lit up their eyes instantly.
Made sense—one tidbit he'd picked up: female heroes loved alcohol, especially the hard stuff. Probably from risking their necks against monsters daily.
"Seriously?! Awesome!"
Ashlyn especially went nuts. Being American, she seemed to lose it over drinks.
"Han Minguk—you're the best! Raid leader move!"
Her voice carried a strange excitement. But Han Minguk didn't catch it.