For the Party's Sake
Floor 59, the Nest of the Dead Dragon.
The sound of a helicopter approached from afar. Looking up at the sky, a wyvern with rotting flesh and skin flapped its wings.
It reeked horribly, of course, but what was even more horrifying was clutched in its foreclaws.
"Isn't that a high-explosive bomb? Fuck, what the hell is that?"
The wyvern dropped the firmly gripped high-explosive bomb toward the ground, detonating it mid-air as it fell.
Kabooooom! Heat and shockwaves rocked the surroundings. The ground trembled underfoot, and their ears rang painfully.
"What if a bunch of those things come?..." "Looks like about twenty of them."
One would have been plenty. Twenty flying in? And each one clutching a high-explosive bomb or an egg in its foreclaws.
"Hold on! I've just summoned the Earth Golem. Put up a shield!" "Got it. About ten more seconds..." "The cooldown's ten seconds?" "No! The shield only lasts ten seconds."
Vwoooooom!
The massive Earth Golem's hand shattered into pieces from the continuous barrage of falling bombs.
"Fuck, you said it would hold for ten seconds!" "It's a trait I picked at level 10, so it's weak..."
The Earth Golem could absorb nearby rocks to regenerate even if its body crumbled. But the intense heat from the exploding bombs melted the rocks into sludge, and the shockwaves chain-reactioned its body into collapse.
"Okay, at least they've used up all the bombs." "Get your head in the game. There are still eggs left!" "Eggs? You mean those from last time..." "Yeah!"
They were eggs filled with poison gas and serpent dragons. The wyverns dropped them swiftly, smashing hard into the ground.
Kabooooom! The impact dwarfed the bombs. The eggs cracked open, juvenile forms bursting out and chomping the mage's head—who was trying to summon another golem—right off her shoulders.
"Fuck, why the mage of all people!" "I'll revive her now. But that means two of us are out of commission..." "This is some next-level bullshit. They're descending!"
Having dropped their payload, the wyverns dove into the gaps in the party's broken formation. Razor-sharp talons sliced through gear and flesh. Even unique items couldn't tank direct hits from attacks that fast.
Timing the swing of his scythe perfectly, he severed a leg and tore off a wing membrane, finally finishing one off.
"They're disgustingly fast... How can every single pattern be pure bullshit?" "Nineteen more to go. Focus."
That's when the newly recruited Se-eun wrapped her dual swords in a moonlight barrier.
A brilliant light erupted right in front of the charging wyverns.
"Now."
A close-combat warrior with an AoE stun trait? Impressive. It bought enough time to summon Valkyries and take them down methodically.
She's definitely got skills.
She slipped in at the perfect moment for the AoE stun. Proof she'd precisely gauged their attack range. Her skill level was about on par with his—though as the Sword Saint's heir, she wasn't quite there.
"Everyone okay? Any casualties?" "Yes, none." "I'm good too."
If anyone was hurt, it was the mage. Having her head chewed off alive couldn't have been fun. But true to her fifties-level player toughness, she brushed it off like nothing.
"Not exactly a great experience." "Still, dying once or twice is worth it, right? Revival heals everything—even pre-existing conditions."
Of course, revival only worked on players of similar levels. Without that penalty, the world's population would be around 20 billion. Six billion already felt like too much; 20 billion was unimaginable.
"My stomach was churning so bad I nearly puked." "Huh? I thought you were fine." "Just putting on a brave face. Without witnesses, I'd have hurled up my guts too."
Aftereffects varied person to person. He didn't feel it that badly.
"Anyway, you all need more practice. Floundering against mobs like this? Come on."
Couldn't argue with that. He nodded slightly in agreement.
"Still, it's not like we did anything wrong. We're climbing floors too fast for our levels." "Hmm..." "We're a good eight floors ahead of our levels. Guess we'll grind more in the egg layer."
Heh heh. Smug about being right? Se-eun's expression grated on him.
"Well, you're all not hopeless. Do half as well as me or Hyunwoo, and you're pulling your weight."
Needling again. He knew who that was aimed at—Chae-young, probably.
"Sigh, here we go again."
He needed a way to keep the party together. Otherwise, they'd blow up and disband.
Among the people he knew, his master was hands-down the most experienced player. But not someone for serious counseling.
"Ways to maintain a party?"
Still, he had no one else to ask. He explained the party's situation to her and sought advice on overcoming it.
"I was in a fixed party once too. Bunch of hot-blooded women—just like you'd expect, we fought like hell."
More serious than expected. Had he misjudged her?
"How'd you get past it? Fighting every day must kill the vibe." "You're right, it did. Most parties stick together till retirement. Ours nearly disbanded after just five years." "...What?" "How'd we overcome it? We didn't bother."
Her follow-up was shocking.
"We hated each other's guts by then, but our teamwork was too good to quit. So we ignored it." "D-Does that even work? Babel's life-or-death." "We weren't weak enough to die. Our items and traits were busted."
Basically, ignore each other. Got it.
"You can't make everyone like you. Impossible." "Fair..." "If you wanted universal love, become a kindhearted family doctor, not a player."
Players killed things for a living. Hated by default.
"So our party's conflicts won't resolve." "Might turn out fine." "...How?"
Didn't look fine. Chae-young was chill enough to ignore provocations, but the others weren't. Collision between factions seemed inevitable.
"Give it four months. They'll adapt on their own. That girl came from another party, right? Probably got booted." "Booted? Her skills are solid." "Fixed parties rarely break, but major flaws do it."
No major flaws yet.
"Good skills but booted—Acacia Guild couldn't just ditch her. Dumped her on you guys instead. Her posturing now? Trying to establish dominance." "If that's it... I've got an idea." "No need to get chummy. Business relations are enough."
Master tried to dissuade him, but he wasn't leaving the party as-is.
"I've got a good plan."
Weekend evening, 7 PM. He invited the whole party to a bar. Day off for everyone—they'd show.
"Whoa... You're evil. Weekend drinks? Not human." "My treat! What's the big deal?" "Even so, that's pushing it."
Master thought it wouldn't work. But booze always boosted unity.
"I wanna come." "No way. You'd make it awkward. And you're just angling for free drinks. Think I don't know?" "Tch."
For unity, a quick weekend meetup was doable. No way they'd balk at a few hours.