Chapter 174
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 174
Chapter Title: Raid in Crisis
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'Sex Coins: 80?'
The moment he saw the price, Minguk felt a vague sense of ambiguity.
The A-rank Unique Class Stone he'd bought before had cost 81 Sex Coins. Yet if a Diamond Ticket that could summon gear was only 80 Coins, it meant the Chaos Shop valued Diamond Tickets about the same as a Unique Class Stone.
Unlike Class Stones, though, gear for heroes covered a whopping eight slots. Even if the Chaos Shop's Diamond Ticket allowed choosing specific equipment, it still felt awfully expensive.
Of course, considering he could earn Sex Coins by sleeping with beautiful women, no amount of Coins was a real loss. To Minguk, Sex Coins were practically free money.
'But can I actually buy it?'
Minguk checked his Sex Coin balance.
32. In his current situation, he'd need to scrape together 48 more just to afford the Chaos Shop's Diamond Ticket.
"Jeez."
A dry chuckle escaped his lips.
48 Coins was more than he could get even from sleeping with every woman in the cartel. There were only seven cartel women in Hoabin right now, so even if he pushed himself for two straight days, the max he'd earn was 14 Coins.
But that's not to say there's no way.
'...If you're gonna pop up, at least turn on a notification first.'
Ack! I'll be more careful.
Minguk turned his gaze to the message window occupying one corner of his vision.
The thing had been showing up more often lately, probably anxious about the Twelve Disasters and Garuda. Pathetic combat skills aside, it knew it could only rely on Team GGW too.
Minguk directed his thoughts toward Ppuu.
'I get what you're saying. Target women I haven't slept with yet, right?'
That's right.
'But that's not easy either...'
Sleeping with a woman for the first time netted 7 Coins each. For 48 Coins to buy a Diamond Ticket, he'd need seven women.
Seven total strangers in two days, all while keeping up with the schedule? Even for Minguk, that was a tall order.
But Minguk, there's a great method. Just dye a virgin who's never been with a man in your colors.
Do that, and he'd score a massive 50 Coins.
But in Team GGW, only two women seemed like virgins. And naturally, both were off-limits.
Shin Nayeon wasn't even an adult yet, and Kendall Burdsen had her twin sister Giselle guarding her like a fortress. Even without that, Minguk barely knew Kendall. No easy inroads there.
'If only I had the Coins, I could buy the ticket right now... Should've pushed my body harder earlier?'
The thought crossed his mind because in RPGs and raids alike, they said it all came down to gear luck.
Just prepping weapons or shields with a Gear Score of 799—the ones that mattered most—would make the Whirlwind Baranoras raid noticeably easier.
Plus, Clan Leader Hyun-jung had said the gear on the incoming Rose Shield clan was a mismatched mess.
Some pieces were decent, but others were pure spec-stacking trash that needed swapping fast, synergy be damned. He was mulling this over when—
"Han Minguk, why so serious? Tired?"
Feeling his shoulders kneaded as if to ease his fatigue, Hyun-ah had snuck up on him.
"Ow?! Oh Hyun-ah, could you go a little easier? Ah!"
The intense pain made Minguk tense up involuntarily. Hero strength meant her grip was no joke. As she massaged his shoulders with gentle hands, Hyun-ah spoke in a slightly tipsy voice.
"If you're tired, rest early. You've been pushing too hard lately."
Her narrow eyes softened into a tender curve as she looked at him.
Minguk nearly nodded without thinking. It felt like an insistent urge, almost coercive.
"Well..."
Trailing off, he glanced around. The female heroes at the afterparty were all staring straight at him. And their gazes burned with raw desire.
'Booze is kicking in. Time for their bodies to heat up.'
These women already had sky-high libidos. Add alcohol, and they had to be itching.
A crook of his finger, and they'd pounce right here. The perviest one, Giselle, was openly fondling herself.
Shiranui Mai was the same, groping her massive breasts as memories of her own fall resurfaced.
'What to do...'
If he wanted, he could dive into a steamy, wild night with all these beauties in sight.
Handling all seven might be impossible, but unleashing their pent-up lust could net three or four. Giselle or Tanya crashing the party? Two max.
'Still.'
With only two nights left, it felt like a waste. Give him a week—or ten days—and he'd grind out those 48 Coins easy.
Hell, maybe even one day.
If even one dealer hit 6-stars tomorrow, they'd dive straight into Whirlwind Baranoras.
'No time.'
Bottom line: Buy the Diamond Ticket today, or tomorrow at latest, to snag the gear.
It'd help later too, but this was Garuda's first named minions. He wanted to prep as thoroughly as possible.
After a moment's thought, Minguk nodded and spoke up.
"Yeah, leading lately's worn me out a bit. I'm heading back first."
"Ehh? The party's just starting!"
"Yeah!"
Yerin and Yuna sounded disappointed at his words.
The others wore similar faces, but no one pushed back hard. Everyone knew he'd been carrying the raid hardest. No reason to doubt his fatigue claim.
Plus, the cartel women had a quiet pact: If I can't have him today, neither can you.
Timing it perfectly, Minguk slipped away from the party and headed slowly to his room. Ppuu tagged along, naturally.
Minguk! You plan to sleep like this? We might face Whirlwind Baranoras the day after tomorrow—or even tomorrow!
"I know. That's why I snuck out of the party."
Ppuu was nagging him to hurry up and get that Diamond Ticket.
Fair enough—higher specs for him meant Team GGW cleared the Twelve Disasters and other tough monsters more smoothly. Ppuu clearly cared in its own way.
But he needed a willing partner for that. Couldn't exactly solo sex.
Plus, Hoabin's heroes would all be crashed out by now.
Fighting monsters all day every day left them collapsing from exhaustion upon returning to the dorms. Or pulling all-nighters in dungeons.
That's why Team GGW's lodging felt eerily quiet and desolate past midnight.
Except for the tucked-away afterparty spot in the building's corner—that was rowdy with women who believed today was their only shot at booze.
As Minguk bickered with Ppuu en route to his room, someone suddenly burst out from the stairwell below.
"...Eek?!"
The unexpected encounter made both man and woman flinch.
The woman, clearly not expecting anyone, let out a weird squeak at the sight of him.
Minguk's eyes quickly scanned her. The emblem on her shoulder marked her as a hero for sure. Could be support staff, but her striking looks argued otherwise.
'Latina type... In our dorm, that'd be Mexico's Monterey Raid Team.'
He was all but certain. And Monterey was bunked right above them.
Tasked with B-1 to B-3 dungeons in this expansion, he'd exchanged greetings with their Raid Leader, Lydia Hernandez, right after arriving at the Hoabin dorms.
Minguk! That's her!!
Minguk squinted at the timely message window. If Ppuu had a physical form, he'd punch it. As he thought this toward Ppuu—
"Um, excuse me..."
The woman spoke up hesitantly.
He looked up to see his reflection in her lake-clear blue eyes.
"A-are you... GGW Raid Leader Han Minguk, by any chance?"
Her voice brimmed with wonder. No surprise—there were fewer than 200 male heroes worldwide, most of them desk-jockeys commuting from clan houses.
Ones like Minguk, active on the frontlines? Rare as hell.
That's why GGW's Raid Leader Han Minguk had some fame among female heroes.
"Yeah, that's me. And you are?"
"I'm Belinda! 4-star Healer with the Monterey Raid Team!"
Her voice packed such punch that Minguk startled and pressed a finger to his lips.
It was well past midnight. Realizing her blunder at his reaction, Belinda yelped and clapped a hand over her mouth. Pointless, but cute anyway.
"Why take the stairs? Elevator's right there."
"Oh, uh, figured running up would be faster than waiting."
She scratched her head, as if even she found it odd.
Didn't match her calm looks—she seemed impatient. As their chat wrapped and Minguk nodded knowingly, turning to leave—
"Ah!"
Belinda panicked at his movement, grabbing his arm, then realizing her mistake and stumbling back two steps. Her actions screamed reluctance to part.
"...S-sorry. It's just... my first time seeing a male hero."
Minguk shrugged at her overly timid apology.
No offense taken. Any guy would feel good about a pretty woman showing interest.
Minguk! Now's the time! NOW!!!
'You still here?'
The selectable Diamond Ticket is calling out for you! To take down Garuda's minions even a bit easier, you need the best gear possible, right?!
The translucent message window, visible only to Minguk, twisted into frantic shapes, begging for his choice.
Ppuu's earnestness was equal parts impressive and absurd.
But it wasn't wrong. Sleeping with the woman before him meant 7 Sex Coins. Minguk felt himself waver a bit.
'Fine. If it works, great. If not, whatever.'
He could tell without words that she was into him.
Her eyes and body language screamed it. Might be curiosity, but no one grabs a stranger out of mere curiosity.
Damn brave girl, too. She looked as innocent as Shin Nayeon...
Minguk turned to Belinda. Her girlish eyes sparkled at the male hero's gaze.
"Guess it's fate, then. Wanna grab a coffee?"
Belinda nodded nonstop at his follow-up. Coffee was just the excuse, of course.