Chapter 180
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 180
Chapter Title: Baranoras's Forward Base
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Passing through the dungeon gate shimmering with blue light, a familiar landscape unfolded before everyone's eyes.
Narrow corridors so tight that three or four people standing shoulder-to-shoulder would block them completely, interspersed with vast warehouse-like spaces. The fortress-like dungeon interior pressed down on the heroes intent on conquering it with an eerie sense of oppression.
But the GGW members checking out the dungeon from the entrance felt no such thing.
"Sis, isn't this where we ran into the Blue Drake?"
"The vibe does feel similar..."
Hyun-ah replied cautiously to Yuna, who kept whipping her head around without pause.
Her gaze swept the surroundings. Sure enough, just as Yuna said, multiple spaces resembling the flight decks where they'd battled the new named monster, Blue Drake, in the 【A-7】 dungeon dotted the area.
And Hyun-ah, steadying her stance, began counting the flight decks on her fingers.
"One, two, three. Fo-four flight decks?"
"But no Blue Drakes anywhere?"
"That's a relief, but... Does this mean new monsters are gonna show up here too?"
The uncanny vibe inside the dungeon had most of the members convinced new monsters were on the way. In fact, dungeon breaks like this were prime time for fresh nameds to pop up.
"Gotta be some superior breed above the Blue Drake."
So-jeong stated it like it was fact.
The dungeon's layout tied into the monsters it spawned, to a degree. Plus, this place had a bunch of those flight decks where the raid had tangled with Blue Drake.
"Did we hit the wrong spot or something?"
Ever-cautious Jeong Ye-rin was wound up tight. But Yuna, who'd piped up first, brushed it off.
"Who cares? We've got Revival Stones. And Minguk oppa's leading the raid."
A few of the women nodded along, like they bought it.
While his teammates geared up to push the dungeon, Minguk was chatting with Ppuu, who'd materialized in front of him.
This is definitely Baranoras's forward base. Multiple Blue Drake flight decks were spotted, and Garai's nest was located as well.
'Not the wrong place, then. Garai? No way that guy's holed up in here, right?'
Even 7th-grade beast Baranoras had been forced to drop ranks after handling Blue Drake. A way stronger Garai would make the dungeon impossible.
No. There are seven dark monsters in this fortress, Gale Baranoras included.
'Garai's nest, though?'
Just the nest. Fortress isn't finished, so Garai hasn't shown.
Small mercies.
Anyway, seven nameds total in the dungeon. Right in the sweet spot.
Or considering 【A-6】 difficulty, pretty light on boss-grades. Probably 'cause the forward base was incomplete.
Good luck out there, Minguk-nim.
'Yeah.'
Minguk wrapped up with Ppuu but froze for a beat.
'Hang on. Any quests tied to taking down Gale Baranoras?'
Er, well...
Ppuu seemed thrown by the question.
Sorry, no quests for Gale Baranoras. My limits. But as an original 7th-grader, rewards stay top-tier despite power dip.
'Eh, figures. See ya.'
No face to see, but the jittery message box sold the awkwardness. Minguk waved it off.
No quest stung a bit for named farming, but beating Garai netted 【Class Stone(S) - Yggdrasil】, a real prize.
Quest or not, 7th-grade loot meant Diamond Tickets to boost the team. Luck might even drop Blue crystals for 7-stars.
"Time to move out."
Minguk shook off his thoughts and led the team deeper into the fortress.
- Kyaaaak!
- Kiekeek!!!
Didn't take long before the flying freaks from the Blue Drake fight mobbed the ten-hero raid.
But plain mobs—not even nameds—weren't stopping GGW's squad with four 6-stars.
"【A-6】 or not, trash mobs feel same as always."
Post-slaughter, Hyun-ah flicked monster goo off her shield.
Shield wasn't the half of it. Her geared-up body was slathered in blood and chunks from diving the pack like a wolf in sheep.
"Ugh, no way I can wipe this. Ye-rin sis, cleaning spell?"
"Hold on."
Hyun-ah ended up begging Ye-rin for a freshen-up.
Sole magic user in raid, she packed utility spells to blast off blood and gunk.
Everyone else hit her up for the same.
"Clearing paths ain't an issue..."
So-jeong, side-eyeing the flanks, locked on Minguk.
Blasting through, GGW spotted two nameds.
Left: humanoid golem towering 7-8 meters. Hero Pad ID: Kalkan.
Right: 5m harpy. Hero Pad: Kasara.
So-jeong shot Minguk the question.
"Raid leader. Left Kalkan or right Kasara first?"
"Kalkan, I think."
"Reason?"
So-jeong pressed.
"Reviews say easier than Kasara. Loot chest might drop goodies—tank trinket from Kalkan looks solid."
Tanks Hyun-ah and Tanya yanked Hero Pads.
Minguk nailed it: Kalkan's accessory rocked. High Gear Score befitting an 【A-6】 named.
"Heh heh heh. My time to shine again?"
Hyun-ah flexed her fingers, grinning wide.
Cheonho-dong Lucky Girl, pillar-of-light magnet, was back. Two hours later? She was facedown, bawling in despair.
Five wipes on Kalkan, loot box: pure trash.
Minguk's ice-cold follow-up ignored her.
"Moving now. Next: Kasara. First rodeo, 10-try clear target."
Briefing kicked off, Kasara looming.
🦅 Harpie Queen - Kasara
▷ Fight's on a triple-cliff ledge. Raid: watch falls from her attacks.
▷ Start: spreads wings, looses feathers. They swarm like critters, homing Feather Barrage on lowest aggro (healers mostly).
"Gotta nuke those feathers ASAP, then."
Yuna tossed it out mid-brief like no biggie. Nods all around.
"Distant picks? Easy mode."
"Three in a blink."
Spot on: GGW packed Yuna, Jeong Ye-rin, Shin Na-yeon—ranged aces. Torching feathers? Cake.
Minguk shook his head.
"No time, sadly."
"...Huh?"
"DPS too low otherwise."
"Say what?"
He flashed Kasara try reviews to the stunned squad.
Polish clan log: heavy 7-stars, 【A-4】 vets.
"They hit her at avg 6-star."
Couldn't clear feathers to endgame.
Kasara lifts off after a bit, wing-gusts yeet heroes off cliffs. Feather focus? Seconds short every time.
Other logs echoed.
Ranged? Need freak DPS or raid-wide god gear.
"We skip feathers."
"DPS check brutal anyway. 6-stars barely scraped by..."
Dealers sobered up. Second named packing heat.
"Tank feathers raw? Shields blunt impact, but caps out quick?"
Giselle queried.
Healer eyes on mitigation.
"Not quite. Can't anyway—endgame, feathers blanket the sky."
"Full swarm..."
"Shields or not, wipe."
Not hopeless. Dodge feathers via kiting.
▷ Pre-first barrage: flames spawn battlefield-spot. Lure feathers in to burn. Burns one+: 5-sec despawn.
"Flames outta nowhere? Weird flex."
Hyun-ah eyed vet guides, baffled.
"Right? Source?"
Minguk nodded mid-brief.
Felt like a feather-clear gimmick. Game-y, sure—but dungeons were raw.
Reviews spilled: flames from Kasara's rival fire named. Post-Kasara spawn.
Minguk pressed on.
Pattern hell, but Kasara hinged on movement—no falls, feather dance. Slip? Dead. Teamwork paramount.
And yep.
"Kyaaaak!!!"
"Aaaak!"
Five tries: all flops from plunge deaths.
"Movement ain't tricky, though..."
Judgment lag? He'd figured raid smarts, predicts, moves leveled up big—but road left.