Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: The Beta Test Finale
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The beta test for Akare that I'd envisioned was something like an appetizer.
A light snack to enjoy before savoring the main course of the official launch.
That's why I'd set the beta test period extremely short.
To make the meticulously prepared main dish shine even brighter.
"The beta test ends today, huh."
With less than five full hours left until beta shutdown.
I checked the party that had made the most progress in the main storyline.
A major corporation party made up of a Martial Artist, a Mage, and a Cleric.
Daehyeop Kim, Sweet, and the VTuber Suzuka.
These three had reached the tail end of the prepared story.
A little more progress, and they'd witness the highlight of the appetizer I'd prepared.
'Never imagined those three would form a party.'
All three were top streamers representing the platform.
Collabs between major corporations did happen occasionally on the platform.
But the platform's tendency was to focus mainly on solo streams.
Especially since Daehyeop Kim and Sweet used cams, while Suzuka was a VTuber.
'That's what makes it even more surprising.'
Who could've predicted a party formed by those three?
I recalled Suzuka's stream from not long ago.
Suzuka kept failing the Litania Quest.
Because of that, Raven (the prince) kept getting dragged off to the Church of Salvation priest multiple times.
After dozens of tries, Suzuka finally cleared the quest and burst into tears right there.
Daehyeop Kim, who was passing by while AFK grinding side content, spotted her and comforted her.
Suzuka knew who Daehyeop Kim was, and he remembered her too.
They started chatting, and Daehyeop Kim was the first to suggest recruiting her.
It was a golden opportunity for Suzuka, and of course, she grabbed it without hesitation.
In the process, Daehyeop Kim—who'd committed the grave sin of AFK side-grinding—had to pay the price.
But thanks to his sacrifice(?), the party evolved into a balanced setup with tank, DPS, and healer.
Of course, Suzuka's level was lower than the other two, so party hunts were intense.
📜 QUEST 📜 *Heretic Purification (9/10)
📍 You've learned from Raven that heretic hideouts exist throughout the Empire. Destroy all heretic hideouts in the Empire to uproot the evil.
⏰ *Upon completion, you can proceed to the 'Approaching Annihilation' quest.
This corporate party destroyed nine hideouts after forming up.
Destroy the final heretic hideout, and the quest would be complete.
In the story context, the player had earned the Emperor's trust.
After all, they'd uncovered and destroyed heretic hideouts no one else could.
From the player's perspective, it was just collecting map pieces—one of the boss drop items—and using the quest's waypoint guidance.
📰 Breaking News [Breaking] Corporate Party Enters Final Hideout Can they clear it before beta ends? Only about five hours left ㅇㅅㅇ Recommend 2 Disrecommend 0 💬 Comments [3] — Anonymous Tank DPS Healer core combo, they'll clear it easy — Anonymous ㄴBut it's the final hideout? — Anonymous ㄴIf they leave it at 1% HP when beta ends lol that'll be hilarious The community consensus was that the corporate party wouldn't clear the final hideout. Based on average clear times for the previous hideouts, time was short. "It's gonna be close." The final heretic hideout, 'Call of Immortality,' was a dungeon with just one boss monster. You might think no trash mobs means a quick clear. But the boss of Call of Immortality, 'Wailing Sacrifice,' was an extremely tricky one. It used all patterns from previous hideout bosses. But they intensified over time, making it a pure physical raid. Above all, it was the first boss to introduce an instant-death pattern. "Here we go." I logged into Daehyeop Kim's channel to watch from his perspective. ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Entered the 'Call of Immortality' dungeon.] Daehyeop Kim scanned the surroundings immediately upon entering the dungeon.
An empty cavern ringed by mysterious pillars.
At the center stood what looked like an altar.
No monster waves, no traps activating.
Unlike previous dungeons, it was eerily quiet.
Which made Daehyeop Kim even more vigilant.
"Daehyeop, something's off here."
"...I feel it too."
The two had insight stats over 20, while Suzuka had barely raised hers.
Thanks to that, Sweet and Daehyeop Kim sensed the ominous vibe from the altar.
Suzuka, sensing nothing, just floated a question mark above her head.
-!
"Incoming."
Rumble...!
As the ground shook, something erupted from the altar.
The altar crumbled, and dust-mixed smoke obscured vision.
"Suzuka!"
"Got it!"
Suzuka raised her cross and used the Cleric's first awakening skill, Radiant Light.
Light shot from the cross, clearing the smoke and striking the boss beyond.
—!!!
⚔ BOSS DETECTED ⚔ Wailing Sacrifice Lv.35 The boss's revealed form was utterly grotesque.
Like mashing together all the bosses from the previous hideouts.
It was revolting, bizarre, nightmarish.
"Sweet, blessings up!"
At Suzuka's shout, Sweet aimed his staff forward.
"Burn to ashes, Fireball."
Whoosh—!
An even larger fireball than before hurtled toward the boss.
It was massive enough to pass for a mini Meteor.
This should deal significant damage, at least.
The three shared that thought—and the result proved otherwise.
"Zero damage?"
Sweet muttered in disbelief.
"It took damage. It just regenerated right away."
"Tough one."
Daehyeop Kim's gaze swept over the cavern pillars.
"Nah, easier than it looks."
"Easy?"
"Yeah. I figured it out."
Just before Sweet's Fireball hit, Daehyeop Kim had seen it.
A brief blue line connecting the boss to the nearest pillar.
"Smash the pillars. That seems like the key."
"Smashing's my specialty."
"I'll take the opposite side and right flank."
At Sweet's last words, Daehyeop Kim used Forward Leap to dash away.
The Martial Artist's Forward Leap scaled directly with insight.
A fact Daehyeop Kim had discovered through hands-on play.
That's why he'd invested stats in insight and splurged on gear that boosted it.
Proving its worth, Daehyeop Kim weaved between pillars, stacking Forward Leap combos.
Forward Leap 6-stack combo: One Strike Annihilation.
Boom—!!!
A cannon-like roar echoed through the cavern.
A single strike reminiscent of the Martial Artist's straight punch from the Hall of Heroes.
Over half the pillars shattered, punched through with fist-shaped holes.
"Daehyeop's punches look lethal AF? Relocate, Blink."
Impressed, Sweet Blinked to the opposite side and chanted an icy spell.
Like a trailer scene, every pillar in range froze and crumbled.
"Wow... Isn't that just so cool?"
Suzuka, watching their rampage, couldn't sit idle and activated her skill.
Cleric first awakening skill: Mace of Judgment.
Her small cross transformed into a mace.
Feeling its heavy weight, Suzuka swung it with all her might.
Bang—!
Thus, their teamwork pulverized all the supporting pillars.
Crack...
With the pillars gone, cracks spiderwebbed across the ceiling.
Sensing the change, Daehyeop Kim pressed the attack, landing solid hits.
"It's chunking now!"
A brief DPS burst shaved off 10% of its total HP.
Seemed manageable—until the still boss slammed both hands into the ground.
Craaaack—!
The shock split the ceiling completely, bringing it crashing down.
💥 RAID FAILURE! 💥 [Dungeon攻略 Failed!]
Back at the hideout entrance in an instant, the three exchanged looks.
"What kind of bullshit pattern is that?"
"Can we even clear this, Daehyeop?"
"Uh... With effort, maybe?"
Stunned by the unseen instant-death pattern, they reignited their resolve.
The corporate party re-entered the dungeon.
"Don't smash all pillars at once. Cycle our cooldowns first."
On the third failure, Daehyeop Kim made the call.
Pillars all down triggered the instant-death for sure.
"Oh, no instant-death if we get it to 70% HP."
Sixth failure revealed the first counter.
Leave one pillar, cycle cooldowns fully.
Auto-attack the last pillar, then burst. Strategy set.
"Another instant-death at 50% HP. Channeling skill?"
Below half HP, normal patterns vanished; boss entered focus state.
Flesh chunks fell off, dealing damage and spawning as adds.
The party stalled hard on this pattern.
"This is that priest's pattern. Church of Salvation acolyte."
Twelfth failure: Daehyeop Kim pinpointed it and scrapped prior strats.
Dodging chunks and ignoring adds while attacking the boss? Pointless.
Like the acolyte's pattern, an intangible shield blocked everything.
Back to square one. They racked their brains for counters.
"Killing adds chipped the shield a bit."
"For real?"
"Yeah. Viewers saw it too."
Twentieth failure unlocked the second instant-death counter.
Dodge chunks, kill adds, break shield—tricky as hell.
Searching for alternatives, Suzuka's sharp eyes shone.
Motivated, the corporate party dove back in.
"So damn close."
"Berserk at 5% HP is brutal."
"Still, feels clearable soon."
Fortieth try. Pattern-familiar party snatched defeat from victory.
"Time left... Two more tries max."
53 minutes to beta end.
Just enough for two shaky attempts.
Two chances left.
"After Akare's official launch... wanna keep partying?"
Before entering, Suzuka ventured timidly.
Sweet shrugged at the suggestion.
Daehyeop Kim burst out laughing at Sweet.
"Let's do it."
"I'm in too."
"Really? Promise!"
In the warm atmosphere, their potentially final try began.
Normal patterns, drilled dozens of times, dodged on instinct.
HP-threshold instant-deaths handled per practice.
Only berserk left to watch.
Forgetting they were streaming, they hyper-focused on the raid.
HP dipped below 5%, berserk triggered.
Fireball scorched the boss's flesh.
Frost on burns to cauterize wounds.
Should've been overkill—but berserk.
Berserk reduced damage by 80%.
Thus, lethal hits barely fazed it.
Boss HP now under 3%.
Radiant Light from the cross purified its corruption.
Suzuka, saving her Mace of Judgment for now, hurled it full force.
Having burned all holy power on heals and buffs, she clasped hands in prayer.
Boss HP under 2%.
"I'm so done with you."
You goddamn flesh lump bastard.
Swallowing the rest, Daehyeop Kim Forward Leaped.
Berserk sped patterns, but not past Daehyeop Kim.
Direction shifts evaded them flawlessly.
Godlike movement, superhuman physicality.
Forward Leap 6-stack combo: One Strike Annihilation.
In that instant, the cliff-carved punch from the ravine flashed in Daehyeop Kim's mind.
—!!!!!
The boss, Wailing Sacrifice, let out a silent scream.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Finally, the moment arrived.
Watching the stream, I logged straight into Akare.