Chapter 78
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: Suspicion
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Grrrruk!
The Collibor that had brushed past Hyun-ah, spurred by the tank's unique mana that set monsters' nerves on edge, wore a displeased expression as it licked its long snout with its tongue. Then, with red madness gleaming in its eyes, it charged again.
This time, the attack was faster than before. It was weaving side to side with feints as it barreled forward.
But Hyun-ah's gaze tracked the Collibor's movements with pinpoint accuracy. It was the talent that had even impressed Han Minguk, who had commanded countless heroes in GGW, the virtual reality mobile raid game, now shining in this very moment.
Boom!
"Urk!"
With the clash, Hyun-ah's body—shield raised—skidded backward, carving deep furrows into the ground. Her face twisted in agony, as if her bones had shattered.
But healing mana enveloped her body, and the pain began to fade swiftly. Confirming aggro was locked, Minguk signaled, and the dealers unleashed their attacks.
Kim So-jeong and the other two dealers exploded their mana, swinging weapons or firing spells at the Collibor. Each hit on the massive monster sent white wisps rising—its health bar dropping.
As the raid kicked off, Minguk healed while scanning for changes around them. According to hero senior's strategy videos, rotten meat chunks would appear shortly after combat began...
Thud! Thoom!
Minguk rolled aside just in time to dodge a meat chunk hurtling toward his head. He'd nearly had his neck snapped by it. An unexpected attack that startled even a veteran like him.
"Who the hell's throwing these?"
The massive chunks—each weighing hundreds of kilos—were flying from the inner keep of the "Night Citadel." Only three of them, but so huge that spotting them was easy.
"...Hmm."
The problem was identifying which carried poison. But no matter how hard Minguk looked, he couldn't tell them apart. They looked identical in shape and color, like mass-produced from a mold.
'Was my assumption wrong?'
Come to think of it, other raid teams' videos never used a tactic of feeding only poisoned chunks to down the Collibor. They just lucked out if it ate a poisoned one, then poured on full DPS to chunk its health.
He'd chalked it up to this world's weaker raid skills, but apparently not.
"This is tricky..."
As Minguk grimaced, the starving Collibor lunged at the nearest chunk. Minguk shouted reflexively.
"Breath incoming! Tank front! Everyone else, behind the Collibor!!!"
The raid was proceeding without proper guidance, but to find meat distinctions and other patterns, Minguk decided to push on.
With crunching sounds, the Collibor devoured the chunk greedily. Soon, a massive belch erupted—buuuurp—and it inhaled deeply. The giant monster's eyes fixed on tank Oh Hyun-ah.
"Oh Hyun-ah! Dodge now!!!"
At Minguk's yell, Hyun-ah—who'd been opposite the group—leaped inward. Poison breath blasted where she'd stood.
"That was just a regular chunk, right?!"
"Seems like it! Can't tell poisoned from safe!"
"Ugh... I asked a 2nd Army senior hero, and they said it's impossible to know. Just luck..."
Minguk blinked in shock at Hyun-ah's words. A mistake. If true, the Collibor strat was busted. Their plan relied solely on debuffing it with poisoned meat.
No, the guides even said to do it that way... If impossible, their specs couldn't kill it pre-enrage.
Then, Yuna—nocking two arrows—tilted her head.
"The left one, the farthest left. That was the poisoned chunk."
"What...?"
All eyes turned to Yuna. No one else could distinguish them.
"My nose is sensitive. The regular rotten chunks have a foul stench, but the poisoned one stings your nostrils too."
"...I can't smell any difference."
"Me neither."
Minguk's eyes grew uneasy at Yuna and the team's exchange. Not mana, but smell...?
But talk ended there. The Collibor—fresh from its rotten belch-breath—charged Hyun-ah again. She backpedaled, blocked with shield, rolled aside—holding off its assaults.
Gruk! Gruk! Groooar!
The special pattern of spraying acidic saliva like a wet dog shaking off water was endured through Minguk's desperate heals. Normal attacks too. Proper heals and shields kept Hyun-ah topped off.
Their Gear Score lagged behind ideal specs, so heals were tight, but dealer-targeting attacks were just saliva sprays—easy to dodge.
Indeed, high HP but simple patterns made it manageable even undergeared. Then, second wave from the keep: five chunks now, up from three.
"Nose-stinging smell, huh?"
Forming hand seals for Hyun-ah, Minguk approached a nearby chunk. After staring, he steeled himself and sniffed deeply.
"Urp!"
The rotten stench flipped his stomach, dazing him. Worse than a month's-old dumpster. So shocking, his hand seal broke, spell fizzling.
Painful, but no sting. Definitely non-poisoned...
"Ah! Yes, Raid Leader! That's the poisoned one!"
"...What?"
Minguk whipped around at Yuna's shout, face hardening. Crisis upon crisis.
In the end, the first attempt ended in wipe. They burned all mana to last 10 minutes, but Collibor enraged, exploding its power. The beefed-up beast one-shot the team in friendly unison to the afterlife.
Even Minguk had to steel himself and suicide.
'This crazy son of a bitch...'
The Collibor had slaughtered the women, then loomed over the last survivor—him—with something huge. Horrific, nightmarish—he never wanted to recall it.
"...You okay?"
"Nah, doesn't feel like it."
Minguk shook his head at Hyun-ah. Needed time to mend his shattered mentality. He'd seen orcs ravish corrupted heroes, but a mutt trying him? No.
GGW dealers had chipped Collibor to ~65% HP in 10 minutes. Barely two-thirds.
Normally, they'd bail for item farming. Skill couldn't bridge that gap. But at 35%, poisoned meat debuffs could cover it—stacking massive damage amps.
During the fight, chunks came four times: starting at 3, +2 each wave.
Minguk eyed Yuna—the sole spotter of poison meat.
"How'd you tell? I sniffed and they all smelled the same."
That horrific stench had botched his cast, nearly killing Hyun-ah. Yuna scratched her cheek awkwardly, whispering.
"Uh... well, um. It smelled like Mom's cooking."
"......"
"Ah, haha! Yeah. I suck at cooking too. Only ramen."
"I... can't even gauge water for ramen. One's fine, but more? Turns into a river."
Everyone consoled Yuna. Cooking badly wasn't a crime. But ramen too?
Anyway, no lead possible? Team effort. Collibor raid was five-man. Yuna seemed key.
"Can you spot on incoming chunks?"
"First two waves, sure. But seven-plus..."
Minguk pressed her hesitation.
"No DPS, just spotting?"
"Think so... but need to try."
Minguk nodded. Good enough.
"We'll trust Yuna for more tries. If we keep feeding poison, we can take it."
"Then Yuna's gotta nail it. Fighting."
Ye-rin kneaded Yuna's shoulders. Mission-accepted, Yuna nodded firmly. Raid resumed.
"This the R’s clan with the hot prospect? Nice building."
A Western woman with long ash-blue hair gazed up at the towering structure. Ilene, a 7-star hero dispatched by the World Hero Association to resolve the Engvolution article controversy.
The massive organization wouldn't send a 7-star for mere community drama, even at Japan's request.
But a tip alleged Korean Hero Association corruption. If Han Minguk's feats were fake, R’s ranking was manipulated too—tying to association graft, given revival stone funding links.
"Recent years weren't great, but it once ranked globally."
A suited woman replied calmly. Sent personally by Korean Hero Association President Lee Si-yeon to prevent misunderstandings.
"That's history. Clan value's now and future, right?"
A kimono-clad woman countered. Sakashita Maki, 6-star from Japan Association. She saw Minguk's prospect hype as typical male Cinderella pandering.
Their private probes proved it: abysmal Hero Academy grades. No way a puny Korea's non-Japanese male outranked their prospects.
Korea's raid power ranked 21st—14 spots below Japan at 7th, trailing only USA, China, Russia, Brazil, India, UK.