Chapter 170
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 170
Chapter Title: Garuda's Praetorian Guard
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After clearing the dungeon and returning to the Hoa Bin lodging, Han Minguk finished his meal and immediately began compiling notes on the Blue Drake raid.
"Gotta dodge the breath attack no matter what... Oh right, watch out for the berserk phase too?"
As he recalled each piece of intel gained from the Blue Drake raid one by one, Minguk registered the new monster called Blue Drake on his Hero Pad.
The reason for uploading strategy guides like this was simple.
He hoped it would help any unknown heroes who might face the Blue Drake, while also building his reputation bit by bit through guide sales.
"For a male raid leader..."
And as a hero who had only recently become official, he was already receiving praise for his impressive skills.
But the general consensus was that he wasn't quite on the level of White House or Tensense, the so-called guardians of humanity.
Minguk himself agreed with that assessment. The achievements and feats of raids hailed as humanity's bulwarks were still far beyond what Team GGW—formed just two years ago—could match.
But as he continued writing strategies for new monsters and clearing more dungeons, public perception was bound to shift gradually. In fact, Minguk and the GGW heroes had already weathered two diffusion events.
"Anyway..."
"Did you call for me, Minguk?"
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than Ppuu materialized. It was a nagging suspicion he'd had for a while, but this guy was sharp.
"You know why I called, right?"
"Of course, Minguk."
"Then what's going on? Is someone else progressing the quest besides me?"
Minguk stared at the jiggling, jelly-like message window with a hardened expression.
It had happened when he defeated the named Blue Drake that appeared in the 【A-7】 difficulty dungeon, fulfilling the quest conditions.
The chime rang out, announcing another Blue Drake had been slain, and he couldn't hide his shock. His teammates had freaked out, asking what was wrong several times, and he'd barely brushed it off after some effort.
In any case, the quest advancing meant someone had taken down a Blue Drake.
"Ah, no. Chaos summoned only you to this world, Minguk. No one else."
Ppuu formed the sentence in elegant script. That meant he was dead serious.
"However, it does seem certain that another of Baranoras's subordinates besides the one you defeated has died. But we couldn't identify who took it down."
"Couldn't identify? Why not?"
"Well, um. As you know, I can't exactly roam around freely here. In Garuda's territory, getting caught by one of his minions means I'm done for. Done."
"Hmm..."
Minguk sighed, his face twisting in dissatisfaction at Ppuu's matter-of-fact reply.
This guy was useless except for handing out quests. Well, Quu♡ was the same. The one who'd given the Sex Coin quest hadn't shown up since, claiming she wanted to lay low in Garuda's territory.
In any case, Minguk kept pressing Ppuu on the sudden quest progress. But nothing concrete came up. The answer, however, was closer than he thought.
"R-Raid Leader!"
"...Yeah?"
Minguk turned at the voice calling him. It was Yuna, looking breathless, like she had urgent business.
"V-V Visitors! They're waiting in the lobby right now."
"Visitors? Who? Military?"
"N-No, not military. It's heroes!"
Minguk tilted his head at Yuna's words.
In Hoa Bin—a fortress city, not even Korea—who would come looking for him or Team GGW? And even if so, why the rush?
Then an unexpected name slipped from Yuna's lips.
"France's Imperial Guard! Remember that hero we saw in China? Chloe Castel herself came to our lodging!"
France's Imperial Guard.
A top-tier raid that had conquered 【A-1】 difficulty dungeons alongside White House, Tensense, Vishnu, and Maple, now tackling 【S】 difficulty. They were one of Earth's elite few, hailed as humanity's last bastion.
"Imperial Guard, huh."
Minguk knew they were staying in Hoa Bin. When the dungeon break hit Vietnam, they'd been the first raid to rush from China.
He and Team GGW had exchanged light greetings with them. Not close, though—no deep ties, and the skill gap between the raids was still vast.
Apparently, they'd sent a hero over. Minguk hurried to the lobby after Yuna's report.
"What's this about?"
With diffusion ongoing, this wasn't a casual friendship-building visit. Especially not to see him.
Sure, men were rare in the Return World, but not nonexistent. Heroes from raids like Imperial Guard weren't so desperate as to barge in anywhere, anytime. If they were, they wouldn't have earned their legendary status.
"Over here!"
"Again?"
As soon as Minguk entered the lobby, two familiar faces waved cheerfully.
One was Chloe Castel, the dealer hero iconic to the Imperial Guard. The other was Bridget, a tank hero.
"Nice to see you again, Chloe Castel."
"Drop the formalities. Just call me sis."
"Sis? Get real. You turn into a mess whenever you see a guy..."
After ribbing Chloe for a while, Bridget turned to Minguk.
"You faced a new monster this schedule, right? Named one called Blue Drake?"
"Uh, how'd you..."
Minguk's eyes widened at Bridget's words. Chloe chuckled and rummaged in her bag, pulling out her Hero Pad.
"You uploaded a strategy guide for Blue Drake on the Hero Pad. We saw it and came right over."
Minguk nodded. It hadn't been long since he'd posted it, but they'd checked immediately. Still, one thing bugged him.
"We encountered it this afternoon in an 【A-7】 dungeon and barely took it down after several tries. Why the interest from Imperial Guard?"
"No big deal. We ran into one too."
Chloe took a sip of her coffee as she replied.
She clearly liked sweets—the cup was piled high with whipped cream. Looked fattening, but heroes didn't worry about diets or obesity.
A bit surprising, though.
With Imperial Guard's caliber, they should be clearing far tougher than 【A-7】. No reason to cross paths with a rare quest-spawn Blue Drake exclusive to that level.
Reading his mind, Bridget snickered from beside Chloe.
"We cleared an 【A-3】, and bam—an 【A-7】 popped up next door. Figured we'd knock it out for fun."
"Ah..."
Minguk let out a low exclamation and nodded.
Yeah, Imperial Guard could smash an 【A-7】 easily, as long as they watched for wipes.
"For fun" was unexpected, but to halt diffusion, they had to erase every pop-up dungeon in the Dark Lands.
"Couldn't just ignore one right there. Especially an 【A-7】—wouldn't take long with our specs."
Minguk figured that much internally.
"Anyway, this crazy friend of mine insisted on helping out GGW."
But the real reason Imperial Guard tackled that 【A-7】 was 180 degrees from what he'd guessed.
"Bridget, wasn't that supposed to be hush-hush? Good thing we popped revival stones on the way in—nearly a disaster."
"Yeah. Headlines would've screamed: 'France's Imperial Guard Wiped in 【A-7】 Dungeon.'"
"If that happened, history books would've branded us the dumbest raid ever."
Watching the two gesture dramatically, it was clear they'd struggled against Blue Drake.
No surprise—its breath attack would challenge even an all-8-star Imperial Guard. It was the pattern that cost Team GGW the most casualties too.
"Then the Blue Drake from the quest..."
From what they were saying, these two had probably handled it.
"You took it down, though."
"Obviously. Burned a few revival stones, but who are we? Quitting an 【A-7】 would've been humiliating. Anyway, our raid leader was about to post a guide, and yours was right there."
"Hmm... Did I step on Imperial Guard's toes, then?"
The thought hit him at Chloe's words.
New monster guides drew tons of attention. Plus, downloads meant pocket change.
Petty for their raid leader, maybe, but it might feel like he'd snatched something.
Bridget and Chloe burst out laughing at his cautious reaction.
"Our raid isn't that petty."
"Yeah. Raid leader's a bit of a guy-chaser, but not a bad egg. Anyway, reason we're here? Nothing major."
A slurp, and a chunk of whipped cream vanished.
"Just building rapport. And warning you—a strong one for an 【A-7】 spawn means stay sharp."
"I see..."
Minguk nodded knowingly.
So, Imperial Guard was just here to get friendly. Blue Drake was their one common link.
"That warning's no joke. You know Bird Tower's nearby? Garuda-linked monsters could pop anytime. If they do..."
Bridget set down her empty cup.
"Run, and call for top-raid backup."
"Got it."
"Anyway, said our piece. Time to go."
"Already? I haven't finished my coffee."
Chloe pouted. Unlike Bridget's empty cup, hers was still full.
"You've been sipping like a bird. Think we don't see your game? Up. Raid at dawn, remember?"
"Ugh..."
Chloe grimaced at Bridget's firm tone, her reluctance plain.
"Hmm."
Watching them bicker sparked Quu♡'s quest in his mind.
No skinship yet, so bedding them both would've netted 14 coins.
But Minguk shook his head. Even with women's open affection for male heroes, these two weren't close enough for that after a few meetings.
Meeting them confirmed the Blue Drake quest progress was pure coincidence. Good news.