Orc Lord Raid (3)
"Anyway, I'll worry about skills later when I get them. For now, I should use this chance to familiarize myself with the Ashen Mountains map."
I grabbed some potions and hopped on my summon horse Feed, heading into the mountains. As I rode along, checking out the field mobs one by one, all their names glowed a fierce red—like a big "stay the hell away" sign for my level.
Yeah, this really is a high-level zone. My level's not that low anymore, but it's still marking it as super dangerous.
Thanks to the storm of leveling over the past two weeks, I'd hit level 251. That was a solid 20 levels higher than what I'd reached back in my Magnum days. It was the result of dumping endless gear boosts, gold, and hunting time that was several times what I'd done before—day in, day out.
But I still had a long way to go. It wasn't like I was the only one grinding levels like crazy. While I'd been restarting and building Sandro from scratch, Darius had blasted past the infamous wall at 350 and hit a solo-leading 352 on the rankings board.
A whopping 100-level gap. And with the real grind starting soon, catching up meant hunting even more mobs, even faster than him.
That's why this Orc Lord raid was huge. If I snagged the items it dropped, my leveling time could shrink big-time.
"Whoa, whoa!"
I spent a solid two hours tearing through the mountains on Feed. Tayen's maps were insanely huge—no matter how many users were out hunting, spotting a freshly respawned field boss was no easy feat.
No wonder I barely saw field bosses in my three years of playing.
Now that I had the lay of the land, I even took down a few Red Mane Tribe Orc Warriors. They were around levels 320 to 340—a big gap, but after farming mobs 100 levels above me nonstop, this was a joke.
Mana Shield absorbs 1,320 physical damage.
"Chit! Cocky human scum! Kuak!"
High-Grade Health Potion (x2)
Just as I effortlessly dropped the orc warrior—despite the level penalty—the contact I'd been waiting for came way sooner than expected.
I unsummoned Feed right there and bolted west. The Canyon Troll Three-Way was about five minutes away. As I raced over, users scrambling toward somewhere started popping into view.
IDs I'd never seen while roaming these parts. Hyenas, drawn by the respawn news.
Word spread fast! But damn, this quick?
Taesung's top guild chat must've leaked it instantly through some loose-lipped users. That's why these non-Taesung players were swarming, dreaming of the big score. Or maybe the first spotter called them in.
Either way, no need for a guide—perfect for me. I adjusted Feed's—no, I was on foot now, but I tailed their direction, overtaking them.
"Hey! You can't just zoom past us!"
Feed takes an arrow and is forcibly unsummoned!
An arrow from one archer in the pack nailed Feed, unsummoning it mid-stride. The shooter was a Dire Wolf rider named Blueblack.
"Ah, shit! What the hell? Why'd you shoot?"
"Solo hunting in Ashen Mountains? Saw you switch directions—you're after the boss, obviously! Anyway, we're going first!"
Mount summons like Feed vanish from a single basic attack. But learned rides like Dire Wolves counted as pets, so they stuck around hits. That's why top players had rare Griffin or Pegasus riders.
A justified defense marker popped from his attack, but no time to fight. He knew it too—that's why he shot without hesitation.
Solo player, no guild—looked like easy pickings? Damn, maybe I should learn Riding after all because of assholes like this?
A Griffin later would be clutch. Anyway, using swift moves, I dashed ahead. Soon, Taesung guildies appeared between the trees.
Stealth!
They wouldn't recognize my changed ID yet, but Hidden Card or Last Chance might've leaked it. Safer to stealth and tail them.
Luckily, both Swift Moves and Stealth were at 8 stars, so stealth speed matched normal users now.
As more Taesung members joined, one familiar ID caught my eye: Yeon Woo, who'd opened the castle gate for me at the coronation.
* * *
How the hell? Wasn't Yeon Woo in Taesung's 2nd or 3rd string? She let me in back then—no surprise if she got booted, but promoted to 1st string? Did they never find out?
Last I'd seen her was opening that door; no clue what happened post-assassination. But with enemy guilds flooding in late, she had to be one of Taesung's betrayers.
And if so, her being here with 1st string meant...
Yeon Woo's the spy! The one who tipped me off via Last Chance!
It fit perfectly. She'd basically handed me Rune Paytona before. This felt like some fated connection.
"Kraaa!"
Boom! Boom!
Lost in thoughts, I caught up to the raid site. A wide clearing ringed by trees, over a hundred users hammering the Orc Lord.
Perfect pulling spot for a raid—they were deep in it. Taesung had about 70-80, raid-group size. But they hung back, watching instead of joining.
Then, as more arrived, all Taesung charged in—no hesitation. But not at the boss.
At the random users.
"Argh! Taesung's here! Too late!"
"What? Already?!"
"Ah! You fucking dogs! Boss is yours now? We could've shared!"
Jeers flew at Taesung's backstab. But sandwiched between Orc Lord ahead and Taesung behind? No survival. Some bolted to the woods, but over half died fast, battlefield clearing.
Ruthless as expected. Even for a 2-300 mil drop, split 100 ways ain't much...
Claiming their turf boss didn't excuse slaughtering active raiders—but Taesung acted entitled, and victims griped like it was routine.
Seeing Taesung's flashy siege/coronation rep clash with high-level hunters' reality was eye-opening.
"Alright! Now that we're here, the Orc Lord's Taesung's. We won't chase runners, so back off and watch from afar! Get too close mid-raid or sniff for scraps? Straight to the kill-on-sight list—game over. You've been warned!"
The knight belting it with fake politeness: Donkeyhote. Taesung vice-gm, famous sub-tank heavyweight.
"Argh!"
"Damn it!"
They calmly watched aggroed users drop one by one. Meanwhile, raid setup clicked like clockwork.
Hasty pickup group, yet so pro...
Taesung's elite rep earned. Soon, Orc Lord's aggro reset after wiping its attackers.
A four-meter-tall behemoth clad in black-and-red steel armor, wielding a massive battle axe. A red glow burned in its eyes, its fangs twice the size of a normal orc’s. It carried the true presence of a field boss.
"You know the drill—ranged hold fire till tanks stack aggro! Main tank me, sub-tanks SinrimDongJoker and Yeon Woo each grab a chief as needed! Got it? Trial before more users show!"
"Yes! Provocation Aura!"
Provocation Aura!
Donkeyhote dashed in post-order.
"Kraaang! Dare invade my mountains without fear! Humans, quench my rage with your screams! Howl, you doomed fools!"
Zumbaka howled big, summoning dozens of minions: geared orc braves, mages, archers. Plus mid-boss chiefs Drukchal and Kunpata.
Legendary-dropper field boss alright. That summon swarm and attack power... even same-level raid would struggle. And higher level? Brutal.
That explained why there were no strategy guides yet, according to Last Chance. But Taesung seemed experienced—calm, assigning roles flawlessly.
"Shield!"
"Heal!"
Orc Lord on Donkeyhote solo. Chiefs split to SinrimDongJoker and Yeon Woo—shields and heals poured on the three tanks. Minions picked off individually by warriors, thieves, archers.
So systematic, summons cleared fast, chiefs dropped quick. Taesung 1st string—all vets.
"Cocky human scum!"
Just the lone Orc Lord left. My arrival timing? Right after summon cleanup.
Boom! Boom!
Orc Lord hammered Donkeyhote with axe, absurd damage. But despite level gap, tanking rock-solid.
Vice-gm gear all full Legendary? Siege pros—tanks extra beefy.
Clearing center: just them. Rest pulled back to ranged DPS, HP melting easy. Solo target meant AoEs hit only Donkeyhote.
At this pace, berserk phase soon?
Progress too fast—before more delay, I whispered Yeon Woo.