Bosses Are Best When Ganged Up On

After walking in silence for a good while, I started hearing murmurs up ahead. It sounded like Korean, so familiar that I figured I'd somehow end up joining Park Chae-rin's group.

Rounding the corner, I saw people crouched in front of the door leading to the boss room, jumping in surprise at the sight of me.

"You guys... aren't you the civilians who got separated earlier?"

The first to speak was the apprentice hunter who'd freaked out over the cave troll before. But Park Chae-rin, who should've been the one losing it at the sight of me, was nowhere in sight.

...No way?

"Where's Park Chae-rin...?"

"...She left the civilians in our care and charged into the boss fight alone."

I was about to ask what the hell that meant, but then I noticed everyone had torn their t-shirts into rags to staunch wounds all over their bodies. In that state, they'd just be a hindrance rather than help. Still, protecting all these civilians must've pushed her to her limits.

I had to help her. I guided the civilians huddled in the back toward the apprentice hunters and stepped up to the boss room door. Just as I placed my hand on it and pushed—

Click. Another apprentice hunter near the door grabbed my wrist.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Assisting suicide carries a sentence of one to ten years."

"I'm not going in to die—I'm going to help, so don't worry about it."

"On the way here, we saw tons of monsters. All of them B- rank or higher."

"We heard from Park Chae-rin that you just cleared the White Tower. Bosses are stronger than the gate's difficulty rating."

"..."

"That means at least B+, maybe even A-. You still saying you're not going in to die?"

The apprentice hunter had a point. For a newbie who'd just beaten the White Tower, even a B- monster would be a life-or-death struggle. But that didn't apply to me, and there was a flaw in his logic anyway.

"So you're just gonna leave Park Chae-rin to handle it alone and sit here waiting?"

"That's..."

"Looks like everyone's pretty banged up. She's probably in even worse shape."

Park Chae-rin, facing a minimum B+ boss solo, was likely fighting covered in serious wounds. I shook off the apprentices grabbing me and stepped inside. A long passageway stretched out.

At the end, I spotted the cave troll that seemed to be this cavern's boss—and Park Chae-rin.

"Ha-neul...?"

"Hoh... another one showed up?"

The problem was Park Chae-rin was limping badly, clearly injured somewhere. And this troll was way bigger than the others, radiating an intimidating presence that screamed things weren't looking good.

Park Chae-rin yelled at the sight of me.

"Get out! This is way too dangerous for an F-rank hunter!"

F-rank? Oh, right—Seol-ah must've told her. It did look pretty dangerous to me too. Even without full gear, if an A-rank like her was hurt, the boss had to be seriously strong.

"Showing an opening mid-fight!"

Oh crap—the boss swung its weapon. Park Chae-rin barely blocked, but I could see a gash open up. She needed treatment.

"Chae-rin, you should head out too."

"If everyone leaves the boss room after entering and no one's left inside, the boss might break free."

"..."

"Ha-neul. At least you go evacuate the others. If you get far enough, you can hide until reinforcements arrive."

No way. That sounded like her hogging all the cool ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠moments. Fighting alongside an A-rank hunter and taking down the boss? That was prime concept post material. Hell, the community would be on fire.

And my idea wasn't just bravado. Even injured, Park Chae-rin had a key to turning the tables.

"An F-rank pushing this far. Reckless, but I respect the courage."

Instead of replying, I approached with Full Moon in hand, stepping in front of her.

"Can you keep fighting?"

Full Moon. On its own, just a plain sword—but paired with New Moon, it unlocked powerful skills. And Park Chae-rin was sword-obsessed, her community handle literally 'DualWieldSwordMasterYaaas' or something.

Even without Full Moon's Moonlight Slash, I wasn't helpless.

"Polymorph."

Target the enemy's flank for more attack opportunities. Combat basics. Pro term: gank city.

"Wha...? Full Moon? Why's it suddenly in my hands... and you're turning into a dragon...?"

Park Chae-rin seemed stunned as Full Moon appeared in her grip and I polymorphed, but she gripped it quick. She'd probably read New Moon's description, so she'd get how it worked fast.

"Get in stance. I'll back you up."

I'd hoped Dragon Breath could one-shot it, but seeing it shrug off the blast, no dice. Given how much trouble it was giving Park Chae-rin, its stats were around A-rank. With my average D+ stats, I'd need to spam breath all day.

I never really expected it anyway.

Park Chae-rin moved on the staggering boss. Nothing interrupted her as she closed in.

"Haat!"

The issue? Breath guzzled over 30% of my mana. Couldn't spam it, so focus on her doing the heavy lifting while I disrupted when the boss tried anything.

Huh...? No usual post-breath fatigue. Checking status again, the message confirmed this cavern's mana density was super high.

Looking around, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠walls were embedded with tons of faintly glowing crystals.

Mana stone mine or something?

Whatever the cause, my necklace was refilling mana at double the normal rate. Meaning...

KABOOOM!

"Grahhh! What the hell is that breath?!"

Even at C-rank firepower, it blocked vision and stunned. I quickly sensed Park Chae-rin's position and repositioned to keep blasting the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠boss's side.

"Stop spamming breath already! Breath much?!"

"..."

"Grahhh! Fighting 2v1 like cowards... filthy cheaters!"

Filthy? Pity you don't appreciate ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tactical beauty. Breath, Park Chae-rin charges New Moon with Full Moon. Time Moonlight Slash on the boss. Like infinite CC-locking some game boss and wailing on it.

Each slash grazed the giant troll, carving visible wounds.

Thud.

Repeating the beatdown, the massive cave troll finally collapsed.

Park Chae-rin, too exhausted to stand, stabbed New Moon into the ground as a crutch and slumped down. Me? Releasing tension post-polymorph left my legs jelly, sprawling on the cold stone floor.

"Haa... we got it."

"Ha, Ha-neul. But um..."

I could guess. Questions about Full Moon and dragon form. Tough to answer either. But we'd have to talk eventually. No tales of dragon-shifting hunters, even among transformers. Stats-wise, I was still apprentice level. And Full Moon...

"Can I... touch your tail? Just once?"

Aw, come on. ***

"Phew..."

I got Full Moon back. She said she'd return it when exiting the gate, and man, she clung to it like grim death... but no freebies.

Anyone watching might think I was ripping away her precious baby. Upside: she said take all the gate loot since I helped clear it.

But "all" the byproducts? Not pocket change. Magistones alone filled a decent cardboard box; add monster materials, weapons, accessories? Moving truck territory.

I snagged one box of magistones—manageable size, and I needed 'em for growth ASAP.

Park Chae-rin eyed Full Moon till the end, probably hoping I'd sell it to her.

"Hmm..."

Back home, Full Moon's description had reverted to plain Jane—no dream performance. Meaning it only shines paired with New Moon. Her fights online showed New Moon had its own effects, so I was stuck with a dud.

At least I knew who to sell it to now?

"No point overthinking... time to chow on these magistones."

Oh right—before munching, quick Hunter Gallery post first.

"I've been living a lie...?! It's true...!"

Smearing the one guy spilling pure truth—Hunter Gallery has no shame.

Munching magistones like snacks at my desk while browsing.

Eh? 13%? Thinking of the magistone value made my stomach hurt. Pondering what to do, status popped up.

Ah, right—stuck at like 90% last time? Wonder what this gives.

Bummer—just a small all-stats bump. Whatever, infinite growth anyway.

Back to snacking on magistones and checking concept posts. Mine made it up, but something felt off.

Not satisfying without proof pics. Next time, snap first.

Cackling at fresh concept posts, gate heroics caught up—sleep hit. Shut down PC.

Out cold in under 10 minutes. Meanwhile, Hunter Gallery's real fun kicked off.

The chatter morphed into rumors of Geumryeon Guild raising a hyper-potential rookie to snag Korea's top guild spot.