82. The First Raid Assault
Elise bringing two tickets meant... no, wait, how the hell did she get two tickets?
"…Why are there two raid tickets?"
"Told the raid leader I was bringing an extra mage, and he just registered you on the spot and handed 'em over?"
...So the raid leader approved me purely based on class, specs be damned.
Raid leaders who no one wants to follow get one perk: they can hand-pick up to three party members themselves.
He'd slotted me into one of those spots.
Of course, if their pick screws up, the leader eats the blame—decent penalty there. Like if I no-show, he gets hit with the absence penalty.
"But why the hell am I doing a raid?"
"Be grateful to me! I'm handing you a shot at a Golden Ticket! Just stick to me like glue."
So basically, she was offering to carry my ass through it. With her skills, a slime raid bus was totally doable.
Only problem? Zero upside for me.
Golden Tickets? I could make 'em anytime. EXP? Piling up constantly thanks to my dungeon powers, even now.
"Answer."
"Fine... whatever...."
A game dev not playing his own game? Yeah, no.
Raids ran on a fixed schedule every day.
2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
That was the Raid Management Office's call—and the dungeon only opened during those hours.
One of the abilities I'd unlocked as my dungeon control improved: dungeon locking. Set it to open only at specific times.
Once the raid cleared, it auto-locked and reset, terrain damage vanishing in seconds.
The stronger I got, the more flexible my dungeon powers became.
Right on 2 p.m., the appointed raid time hit. In the Raid Dungeon, particles of light gathered, forming human shapes.
Party leaders and squad captains rushed in first, planting flags and herding people while checking headcounts.
"Mage squad: 42 total! All present!"
"Melee fighters: 320 confirmed!"
"Archer squad: 107 checked!!"
"Engineers: 30... all accounted for!"
"Priests placed at five~"
Engineers were a new class.
Iron-rank bottom-feeders like them got dragged in via raid quotas, but nobody expected much firepower. They figured out their niche: construction support and mage escorts.
Basically, grunts.
499 souls assembled in the dungeon, minus the raid leader and priests.
"Good! Get to work as briefed!!"
Mages conjured earthen hills at the rear with spells. Fighters grabbed massive shovels and started digging trenches up front.
Explorer strength dwarfed normals—they gouged earth like excavators.
In minutes, they layered long, trench-like ditches worthy of a warzone.
Prepping to bottleneck the phase-two slime swarm. Restrict their movement, make variants easier to handle—that was the core strat.
Giant Slime respawn: 2:30 p.m.
Thirty minutes from entry to finish all prep.
"Mage squad work complete!!"
"…Already?"
Five minutes in.
The front-line raid leader whipped around, eyes bulging in disbelief.
"Holy shit... that's not a hill, it's..."
A friggin' mountain?
They just needed a slope to sap Armor Slime charge power. This? Steep enough to send one tumbling ass-over-jelly.
The mages scratched their heads sheepishly at the stunned leader.
"Uh... terrain formed way faster than usual for some reason. Must be a killer earth mage in the mix...."
"…A killer mage, huh."
His mind flashed to the Diamond-rank mage who'd mastered imagery—top-layer caliber.
With her here, this raid's a guaranteed clear.
All prep done.
"Everyone to positions!!!"
Tremble.
Denver, Iron-rank bottom-explorer turned engineer.
Lucky quota pick got him in.
Unlike Vera's Dad, no talent, no guts—just endless slimes.
Coward by nature, wrong job entirely. But shelter gigs dried up; family needed feeding. No choice.
Now? Thankful he went explorer post-park opening. Golden Ticket shot right here.
They fetched premium prices direct. One covered financial woes for ages.
Iron odds sucked for even one... but gotta grind contribution.
Denver trembled, scanning around. Fellow Iron armband wearers clustered nearby.
One stood out: the dazed young guy beside him, staring at the predicted slime spawn.
"You... alright?"
"Ah, yeah... first time in a monster dungeon, really...."
Probably as spooked as me. Not alone—eased the knot in his gut a bit.
Strange kinship? Denver kept chatting.
"You were in the mage squad, right...? How'd you end up engineers?"
"Iron rank like me—guess they figured I'd be dead weight. Kinda glad, honestly. Mage squad? Disaster waiting."
"Haha... young blood, no fire!! Back in my day at your age..."
...I hunted slimes.
Denver choked. Kid eyed the abrupt halt.
"Uncle, you're looking shaky. You good?"
Hide what? Already quaking like a leaf.
"…Truth? Scared shitless. Raids got strats and priests now, but casualties every time. Know it's a crapshoot... just terrified it's my turn...."
Pathetic spilling this from the rearmost line. But hey, coward here.
Family flashes post-death? Tremors wouldn't quit.
Kid didn't mock—instead, soothed.
"…Today's fine. No worries."
"…Thanks."
Chat wrapped—light condensed far ahead.
Raid boss respawning.
"……."
Elise watched the boss respawn from the mage squad's front line.
She'd requested Soo-chan pulled to safe rear.
His magic outclassed low-layers now. But real combat exp? Near zero. Minimize risks.
Overkill? Combat variables gonna variable. This was perfect.
Not that today's risky anyway.
Sensed another top-tier mage building that mini-mountain earlier.
Mana flow barely registered... couldn't pinpoint who.
Nobody twigged it was dungeon manipulation, not magic.
Me plus mystery mage? Handles any curveballs.
Boss respawn snapped her from thoughts.
Light particles vanished; massive body formed midair and plummeted.
BOOM!!!
Wobble!
Raid leader puzzled at the extra shake but geared to command.
"Boss respawned—huh?"
Spotted anomaly in his view quick.
"What the hell is that…."
"……Giant Slime variant…?"
"Variants in raids too?!"
Landed Giant Slime ballooned twice normal size, turned red.
Surface jelly quivering violently to boot.
"Leader... variable hit. Press on? Looks non-agro, at least…."
"……."
Don't attack, burn ticket timer, bail clean.
But total wash—tickets wasted, zero gains.
Committed now; retreat pure loss.
Leader crunched numbers.
Our squad's stacked: Elise with completed hierarchy. Way above average.
Terrain rock-solid, best ever.
Plus variant's mystery rewards...
"…Push the clear."
First subspecies boss raid underway.