Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: The Zakum Raid
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The Illusion Tower was noisy from the morning.
We weren't the ones making the racket—it was the people causing a fuss right outside the door.
"Ugh... maybe I should just reveal my identity."
After the offline strategy meeting, Jebit's popularity had skyrocketed.
Not only reporters but even Jebit's die-hard fans had started showing up at the Illusion Tower.
Most of them wanted to help Jebit and were asking for contact info or her true identity.
We'd posted on the door that even we didn't know Jebit's identity, but the real fanatics still knocked anyway.
"What a noisy morning."
"Right? I don't get why they're so obsessed..."
Most of the expedition members' identities were public knowledge.
The members were mostly nobles, with just one commoner among them.
Jebit was the only one whose exact status and family remained undisclosed.
The reason was that I'd suggested keeping her family hidden for her safety, and Galliard had agreed.
"Speaking of, where's the Tower Master?"
"In-game. She's challenging Zakum this afternoon with 24 people."
"Finally."
Hina was still lost in her gaming trance.
According to what she'd told me, opinions at the strategy meeting had split two ways.
One side wanted to go all-out now that Jebit had joined, while the other insisted on gathering the full 30 members.
In the end, they'd decided on a direct assault, and the current 24 members were set to challenge Zakum today.
Come to think of it, even in my past life, the first expedition to successfully conquer Zakum had 24 members.
Curious about the progress, I headed to Hina's room.
"Tower Master. Isn't the raid today?"
"Uh, yeah...!"
Hina was doing some kind of exercise.
She was stretching her short limbs out straight.
"Think the raid will go well? Even with Jebit, there's only one Bishop."
"Hmm... Guess we'll see once we try."
One two. One two...
Hina muttered her chants as she continued her routine.
She usually just flopped around, but this seemed to have her pretty tense too.
I wasn't thrilled that the Tower Master was so gung-ho about games instead of work, though.
"Here. Activate this when you log in."
"Huh?"
I handed Hina the artifact I'd prepared in advance.
It was an artifact that linked with Maple Leaf Tale to record illusions like video footage.
For capturing a record of the expedition.
It was still unfinished, but Hina could handle it.
She could fill in the gaps with her own magic to complete its functions.
I planned to perfect it before the next game launch so everyone could record their own playthroughs.
"It stores mana fingerprints via illusion-sharing magic..."
"Yes. It's incomplete, but I figured you could use it, Tower Master. Please record the Zakum raid with it."
"...Okay!"
Hina looked even happier now.
This way, I could watch it later too.
A bit more time passed, and Hina logged into Maple Leaf Tale.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The deepest part of the abandoned mine. The door to Zakum.
The expedition members had gathered there to prepare for the raid.
"...24. Everyone's logged in."
And the last to arrive was the expedition leader, [Fallen Power Warrior].
The members nodded solemnly.
"Potions all stocked up? Archers and thieves—make sure you have plenty of arrows and throwing stars."
The members checked their inventories.
Archers and throwing-star thieves had especially full inventories.
Since they used consumables like arrows and stars.
There were a few marksmen and bowmasters in the party.
But only two thieves total.
And just one throwing-star night lord among them.
"Lots of stars... potions too..."
That was Hina, the Illusion Tower Master. .
Thieves had a higher training difficulty than other classes, so there weren't many at fourth job advancement yet.
With her exceptional game talent, she'd reached level 140 the fastest.
And the other thief.
A dagger thief, unlike Hina—a shadow partner user named .
He was the expedition's sole commoner.
He was quietly listening to the briefing from a corner of the map.
He was vital firepower, but as a commoner, he mostly followed the others' lead for now.
Especially after the offline meetup.
"Alright, let's head out!"
With Jebit's cheerful shout, the expedition crossed the portal.
Through the dazzling light, they emerged at Zakum's altar.
In the hot, acrid air, the members swallowed hard.
"Then, I'll place the 'Eye of Fire'."
The members nodded grimly.
[Fallen Power Warrior] dropped the Eye of Fire onto the altar and quickly backed away.
Kaang-
The clear chime rang as the eye hit the altar.
A burst of light followed, and the ground began to shake.
The members unleashed all their buffs in unison.
Party stats surged in an instant.
This time, with [Empire's Light]'s buffs as a Bishop, the boost was even greater.
"It's coming!"
Zakum began to emerge.
The massive golem and its eight arms, awakened from the cursed tree, launched their assault.
"Everyone—"
Before [Fallen Power Warrior] could shout, all members focused fire on the third arm from the right.
Zakum's eight arms.
Each performed different attacks.
And the first to eliminate was the third from the right.
That arm buffed Zakum and restored massive health.
If it kept healing, progress would stall—so it had to go first.
Info on each arm was mostly figured out from prior attempts.
Following the strategy meeting order, they concentrated fire.
Kuung-
In just thirty minutes, the third right arm shattered and fell.
Soon after, the fourth right arm followed.
Much faster than previous raids—hope lit up the members' faces.
"Don't stop attacking!"
Galliard shouted, downing a potion.
He said that, but he felt this raid's good vibe too.
Kwajijik- Kwaang-
Lightning and ice pillars rained down, poison clouds and searing flames pierced skin.
Status ailments blurred vision, disoriented them into spamming skills.
Faster than before, but Zakum was no pushover.
Members' HP plummeted, they chugged potions to recover, rinse and repeat.
"Everyone, hang in there!"
By the time four arms were down.
Normally, some would have hit zero HP and tombstones would drop.
"Get it together!"
"Uwaaaaaah-!"
Papapapapapak-
A barrage of arrows and stars flew toward Zakum's arms.
Like rain, embedding deep.
"Uwaaaaaah-"
spammed skills alongside the archers.
With [Empire's Light]'s heals, they could focus more on DPS.
Her heals couldn't cover everyone, but they bought dying members an extra turn—keeping the expedition intact so far.
"Huff... huff..."
"When's it gonna break?!"
"This is too hard!"
Two hours into the raid.
Only the top two arms remained.
The prolonged battle wore them down.
Like users recovering HP with potions and heals.
The top two arms absorbed HP, stubbornly enduring.
Thirty more minutes passed.
Kuung...
The left first arm fell, and all DPS shifted to the last one.
"Wooooooo-!"
"Haaaaah-!"
"Genesis time-!"
"Please...!"
Members poured DPS desperately.
The final arm dropped.
"Ha...!"
"We did it...!"
"Uwaaaaaah!"
"Is it... over?"
Relief washed over their faces briefly.
But,
"Did we get it?"
"Wait! Don't say that...!"
As spoke, Zakum's body awakened.
The body formed a massive magic circle, restarting the fight.
"Wh-what?!"
A triangle-overlapping-circle magic circle. Faint eyes visible within.
Along with it, swarms of minions called Bugles spawned.
"Genesis!"
[Empire's Light] unleashed Genesis to clear minions fast.
"It's not over yet! Everyone, keep attacking!"
As she said, the real raid started now with the body exposed.
Grroooo-
A massive triangle magic circle with layered spells at each vertex.
As Zakum activated it, unavoidable lightning struck the entire map.
"Wh-what! My skills...!"
"All-Purpose Pills! Everyone, drink them!"
It was a status ailment sealing skills.
First time reaching the body, so an unforeseen pattern.
Good thing they'd brought all potion types.
Zakum followed with physical nullification, magic nullification, etc.
With the body out, erratic, lethal patterns slowed progress sharply.
"This is so annoying-!"
Endless minions were a hassle too.
AOE cleared them quick, but numbers overwhelmed.
Mesos and junk from dead minions littered the floor.
No one had time to loot.
Wuuung-
"New magic circle! Everyone, watch out!"
shouted.
A swirling vortex circle rippled.
"Huh-"
Kuung- Kuung- Kuung-
Instantly, all players' HP and MP dropped to 1.
Three died right away, tombstones falling.
It happened in a flash.
"What...!"
"Power Elixirs! Prep them when that circle appears!"
Luckily, 's warning saved most from the absurd attack.
Insane pattern, but quick elixirs let them survive.
"It's back!"
"No-"
Kuung-
But losing three members hit hard.
Key buffs vanished, party power dipped.
DPS lagged, slowing the raid further.
Even sturdy members fell one by one to the HP/MP-to-1 blasts.
"Should've brought more Power Elixirs and All-Purpose Pills!"
Short on them, members struggled more.
They'd thought they had plenty at entry.
But that was just for arms.
Beating the body's nonsense needed double the elixirs and pills.
"Nooo-!!"
[Empire's Light] spamming Genesis.
Her having time for DPS wasn't good.
Meant fewer allies needing heals.
Just over 10 members left.
They'd chunked the body good, but not enough to finish.
"How does it have so much HP...! No matter how much we shave, it never ends!"
"But the black bar's visible now... Even this..."
Zakum body's final phase.
But it felt like the limit.
Survivors and spectators alike sensed it.
'...This far, then. But we've mapped body patterns, so next time we clear. Shame...'
Even leader [Fallen Power Warrior] thought so.
He still thrust his spear diligently.
But without instantly dropping that HP, no win.
Unforeseen patterns left them short on elixirs and pills.
'Next time, stock up on those. Then surely...'
Some were already planning the next raid.
With all patterns known, success next time.
As everyone somewhat relaxed,
"...?"
Ding- Ding- Ding- Ding-
One player started inexplicable actions.
— What are you doing, ! Did Zakum drive him mad or something... Dumping his mesos on the ground.
Dead players commented on his antics.
Stopping DPS to toss money? Hopeless or not, it looked insane.
Something no sane person would do.
Truly, a method no one sane would attempt.
"Hoo..."
After sprinkling mesos for ages, paused to wipe sweat.
His mesos plus minion drops.
Massive piles blanketed the floor.
Four more allies died during it.
— Guess he's out of mesos now. No matter how doomed, that's extreme. They were right.
He stopped because mesos ran out.
Precisely when 10,000 remained, he quit dumping.
And a single coin in 's hand.
— Wait. No way...! Someone caught on too late—he'd already flicked the coin.
Ting-
"Meso Explosion—"
The coin hit the meso pile, and
the floor-covering mesos erupted in a massive explosion.