Chapter 257
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 257
Chapter Title: National Hero
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Bird Tower.
This towering structure was practically the stronghold of Garuda, a commander-class entity among the dark monsters that plagued humanity—one of the Twelve Calamities. It was one of the most dangerous dungeons watched closely by countless nations.
The estimated difficulty of the dungeon was a staggering 【S - 3】 or higher.
And Garuda, one of those Twelve Calamities, was a named monster beyond 9th grade—straight into 10th grade territory.
Considering that America's White House Raid Team—the current strongest assault force humanity had to offer—had barely managed to clear an 【S - 9】 dungeon, Bird Tower was a place no human force could even dream of tackling right now.
Even knowing that the dungeon break had weakened Garuda, powerhouse nations like the United States still didn't dare attempt an assault on Bird Tower.
Yet for humanity's safety, this hellish den had to be destroyed.
After all, it was the Twelve Calamities like Garuda who triggered dungeon breaks, creating the polluted lands—or voidswept earth, as they were called—that devastated human habitats and turned them into lands of death.
Naturally, raid teams from nearby Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos kept a tight watch on Bird Tower.
"Heard a bunch of Korean raid teams are coming to Vietnam?"
"To Vietnam? Why? Because of the dungeon break?"
Tida, a Lao female hero monitoring Bird Tower, widened her eyes at her comrade's words.
The Republic of Korea, located northeast of Laos, possessed hero forces incomparably stronger than theirs.
And Tida was a huge fan of Han Minguk, the male Korean hero and national icon of Vietnam. The moment she saw his handsome photo, she fell head over heels in fateful love.
"Raon Group's apparently building a magic stone production plant in Vietnam."
"Raon... you mean Memoria? So, is Hero Han Minguk coming too?"
"Hero Han Minguk's with a clan called R’s, not Memoria. Probably won't come. And even if he does, do you think we'd get a chance to meet him?"
"...Yeah, probably not."
Tida's face fell in disappointment.
Even as fellow heroes, the gap between Korean and Lao heroes was vast.
She was rumored to be one of the stronger heroes in Laos, but her skills topped out at clearing 【A】 difficulty dungeons of 8th or 9th grade at best.
By the standards of hero powerhouses like China or Korea, she was barely second-string in a ranker clan.
"Our country needs a top-tier raid leader too..."
Tida's comrade sighed wistfully.
Just look at Han Minguk and Team GGW. A skilled raid leader could propel the entire team's heroes to massive growth.
That's why many nations poured resources into training or recruiting talented raid leaders.
Laos had even sent promising heroes to study in hero-advanced nations to cultivate leaders capable of handling raids.
But not a single one had returned. Regrettably.
"Yeah. Oh! And it'd be great if it was a male hero. Then after successfully completing a monster trial, he gives a big hug as a reward."
"Like Han Minguk from GGW?"
"...The ones in GGW probably get hugs from Hero Han Minguk every time, right?"
"Wouldn't surprise me. Think about Kang Chaeyoung, that Korean hero."
"Huh? But Kang Chaeyoung's not in Team GGW, is she?"
Even monitoring a dangerous dungeon got boring after a while.
They weren't entering to conquer the tower—just watching from afar for monster appearances or suspicious mana fluctuations.
In other words, their mission boiled down to staring at an unchanging dungeon gate for hours on end.
At first, the terrifying name "Twelve Calamities" kept them frozen in tension. But after a day, two days, a month? That edge vanished.
And the best way to kill time like that? Dirty talk.
"Once we're rotated out and head home, I'm holing up for a week straight."
"Why?"
"Hehe. Why do you think?"
Tida grinned mischievously at her comrade's teasing, picturing her man back in the capital. Then her face soured.
"He better not have blown his load with some other girl while I was gone."
"Who knows. Check the volume when you get back. If he hasn't gotten any for three months, it'll be a decent load, right? Same as usual...?"
"I'll make her pay. Her and my man... Smash!"
For all her tough talk, Tida was convinced her man—who lived off her money in her house—had cheated.
Men were like that. Obsessing over it just made her look crazy.
"Oh! Wanna swap when we get back?"
"Swap? Hmm... Got pics?"
She perked up at the suggestion.
As befitting their status, the two Lao heroes each had two men. Of course, those men had their own entourages of women.
But they never dreamed one of Bird Tower's inhabitants was eavesdropping on their vulgar chatter.
"Damn it. To think I'd end up like this..."
Garuda, King of Birds.
The woman with striking red feathers let out a heavy sigh.
Just a few years ago, her grand hall brimmed with void mana in dazzling splendor. Now it was a faded shell. Even her once-vibrant feathers had dulled slightly.
But what truly disheartened Garuda wasn't the physical decay.
It was sensing that her peers—the Twelve Calamities, like her implicit ally Baicon—had started ignoring her.
Contact with the others had been cut off for ages. Now, only her named subordinates visited Bird Tower. And there were just two of them.
"You ungrateful bastard. How many female heroes did I gift you...!"
Garuda grimaced, biting her lip.
Her erstwhile ally Baicon hadn't even responded after her desperate dungeon break failed. She still traded messages with some others, but...
Oh? Totally screwed, huh?
What a shame. If you're about to get booted back to the void, give me a heads-up. I gotta see that.
Remembering the snide voices of her Pacific rival Leviathan or England's Bunny made solitude preferable.
But Garuda had no intention of enduring this humiliation forever.
The dungeon break had cost her vast mana to the void, but she was slowly recovering.
If a human raid team attacked now, it'd be trouble... but...
"Wait. If those humans come to Bird Tower, wouldn't that actually be good for me?"
Devouring them would massively restore her void mana. But no humans dared challenge her dungeon with real skill or guts.
At this rate, in 5 or 6 years, she'd regain her former glory.
And then, even at the cost of permanent power, she'd break into the human world and wipe out the heroes who'd shamed her.
"Especially..."
Garuda's face twisted in cold fury.
That human man who'd foiled her plans and dealt the biggest blow in killing Garai. Him, she wouldn't let live.
The heroes' Daegu Liberation Operation drew nationwide attention.
But the results were meager compared to the hype. They'd only toppled one 【B】 difficulty dungeon—a testament to how tough destroying them really was.
"And the dungeons in this region hold an enormous amount of void mana."
'In other words, one or two clears won't cut it?'
"Precisely. Plus, dungeons in polluted lands have their void mana interconnected like tree roots. Even if you drain the one you're tackling, Mr. Minguk, others can replenish it from elsewhere. It won't collapse right away."
'...Cockroach-level vitality.'
Minguk scowled at Ppuu's explanation.
Listening to this guy made all his past dungeon collapses sound miraculous.
"But dungeon void mana isn't infinite. And once you succeed with one—the first is the hardest—"
"You can quickly topple the ones that lost their mana supply, right?"
"Yes, Mr. Minguk."
In that sense, Team GGW's current target—the 【A - 2】 Daegu City Hall Dungeon—was perfect for draining heavy void mana loads.
The named monsters' power levels dictated massive mana consumption variances.
'Bonus: spec upgrades on the side...'
The gear from Daegu City Hall averaged a Gear Score of 1150.
With eight named monsters—including four special variants—purple-grade mana crystals dropped at solid rates.
"Any word on new Legendary classes?"
Minguk asked casually.
Clearing an 【A - 2】 dungeon let him reap the benefits of Legendary ultimate skills like Dawn Shield and Symphony of Destruction—raid-wide powerhouses.
Oh Hyun-ah's double wing flaps and his revival skill shone in pinches too. They bought breathing room for trial mistakes or crises.
He'd already eyed his next Legendary class spec.
'Gotta pick one with a heal ultimate.'
Revival, AoE shield, explosive heals.
The team's healer lineup would be complete. A buffer sub-class would be ideal, but they weren't hurting without it.
Symphony of Destruction carried them fine. And many teammates still lacked Legendaries.
"Uh, well... It'll take a bit more time."
"...Tch."
Minguk sighed at Ppuu's familiar dodge.
He knew they couldn't spam quests endlessly, so no pressure.
Keep clearing dungeons, and quests would come. Team GGW had plenty left to farm from Daegu City Hall.
No Legendary? No biggie for 【A - 2】.
Absorb crystals for stats, hit 9th grade hero via 【S】 clears, snag a Legendary before then.
'Once we're 9th grade...'
Time to tackle the world's final bosses: the Twelve Calamities.
First target: Vietnam's Bird King Garuda.
Knowing the dungeon break weakened her, Minguk planned to end her before she recovered.