The Power of Preparation
The Red Orc Berserkers revived by Revive and the summoned skeletons had the Orc Warlord surrounded.
It was enormously tall, but the Giant Cyclops wasn't one to take lightly either.
While the two locked in a test of strength, relentless attacks hammered the beast from all sides.
Strong Strike
Accelerated Thrust!
Power Shot
The Armor Mages unleashed their elemental magic.
Boom! Kra-boom!
And that wasn't the end of it.
Scratch, rip.
Yerin's enhanced squirrels leaped nimbly onto the Warlord, clawing and biting at its joints.
With their high enhancements, the damage was surprisingly solid.
"Raaargh!"
Sung Min-woo and his spirits pulled their weight too.
"Hup...!"
Doran steadily loosed arrows as well.
Though his damage was the weakest, of course.
"Don't push too hard!"
"Okay!"
A few shards remained, but getting hasty could mean death, so Mu-hyuk tried to keep everyone in check. He was reining himself in too, naturally.
Then, suddenly spotting his HP plummeting at an insane rate, Mu-hyuk froze.
HP is rapidly draining due to the heat.
HP decreases by 160 every 10 seconds.
It was a massive penalty—960 HP lost per minute.
"When the shards melt, HP drops 160 every 10 seconds—keep an eye on it!"
"Bro, 160?"
"Yeah!"
"Sh-should've pulled 'em out sooner."
Sung Min-woo fumbled frantically with his inventory.
"What about you?"
"Uh, my HP's already under half..."
"You idiot, pay attention!"
"Okay, okay."
Mu-hyuk pulled out a fresh shard as he replied.
HP drain is reduced.
HP decreases by 10 every 10 seconds.
Only then did the penalty ease.
"Phew. Let's get back to it."
Heaving a sigh of relief, they resumed their assault on the Red Orc Warlord.
Storm, Powerful Arrow Shot.
A mid-boss monster, no less—the guardian of the first floor's entrance.
Normally, it would've been impossible to take down easily.
But things were different now.
For one, every skeleton Mu-hyuk had summoned wielded +6 enhanced weapons.
And thanks to the guild war, Mu-hyuk's own stats had surged dramatically.
That 30% inheritance boosted the skeletons' stats considerably too.
Just imagine the damage from a single hit by those guys.
Kroooar!
One thing was certain.
It would be ridiculously overpowered.
Attack again!
The Armor Mages and regular Mages unleashed another barrage of spells.
Boom! Kra-boom!
The ground quaked as the beast collapsed.
Krr... krr...
They dispatched the Red Orc Warlord without much trouble and hurried onward.
"My shards are already melting. Let's move!"
"Okay!"
Mu-hyuk reached the entrance and let out a breath of relief.
Good thing.
It had been tougher than expected.
Without alchemy making them even stronger, they might not have cleared the first floor.
Large guilds would fare better, of course—they had hordes of priests.
"Not hot in here, so let's rest a bit before going."
"Understood, my lord."
Everyone sat down.
"Revive."
Mu-hyuk revived the Red Orc Warlord and sent it to the Demon Realm with the skeletons.
Armor Mage 2 is unsummoned.
Armor Mage 3 is unsummoned.
Armor Archer 1 is unsummoned...
All the summons died in an instant.
Even the revived Orc Warlord.
This is just...
Mu-hyuk sat with a wry internal smile.
Meanwhile.
The Black Guild Master was in quite a bind.
His stock of Cold Energy shards had mostly melted away as the chill rapidly dissipated.
"G-Guild Master. What do we do?"
"As you know, no auction house inside the tower. Turning back now would suck after coming this far."
"True."
"So we'll conserve and push a bit more. We've got about 10 left each. Rely on priest heals and only use them when absolutely necessary."
The guild nodded at Guild Master Hyeok-su's words.
"Got it."
"Whew, yeah. We're here already..."
"Screw it. Let's go."
Hyeok-su had their full trust.
"Thanks. Pick up the pace."
They dashed ahead.
One shard here, another there.
They burned through them despite priest heals and scrimping.
Damn, too much?
Just as he thought that.
"G-Guild Master!"
"Yeah?"
"O-over there...!"
They'd found the stairs to the second floor.
"Guild Master's got the instincts."
Everyone joyfully pressed on.
Grrrowl!
Then a Red Orc Warlord appeared out of nowhere, shocking them.
"Shit!"
Its massive bulk blocked the entire staircase.
No choice but to fight.
Good thing they came as a guild—numbers helped.
But trouble hit before five minutes passed.
"Guild Master!"
"What!"
"Cold Energy's all gone!"
"HP drops 160 every 10 seconds!"
Hyeok-su was in the same boat.
Damn it.
"Priests, heal on every cooldown!"
"Y-yes! Great Heal!"
"Don't hold back on AoE heals either!"
Still, the situation was dire.
Constant HP drain.
And the Warlord's devastating power.
"Diiiie!"
Members started dropping one by one.
"At least kite it!"
"It won't budge!"
Another fell.
Hyeok-su furrowed his brow.
No helping it—sacrifices.
Couldn't turn back now.
"Attack, full force!"
"We are!"
"Just a bit more!"
"Die, you bastard!"
Finally, after losing over half the guild, they felled it.
"Hurry!"
They rushed to the second-floor stairs, and the HP drain stopped.
"H-ha... we lived..."
They collapsed in relief.
At the same time.
Mu-hyuk and his group had cleared the second floor and were resting at the third-floor stairs.
"Ugh, first floor was hellish hot. Second was freezing insane. What kinda fucked dungeon is this?"
"Tough?"
"Nah, shards made it manageable... but damn, impressive. Cold Energy shards, fine. But Hot Energy shards? When'd you prep those?"
"Just hit hot zones, cold zones, weird zones anytime. Can't always restock in a pinch. Prepared for every scenario ahead of time."
"Tch, ruthless guy."
"'Thoroughly prepared' would sound nicer."
"Yeah, all thanks to bro."
"Indeed! My lord made it possible...!"
With Yerin and Doran backing him, Sung Min-woo bowed his head.
"My short-sightedness shames me."
"Jeez."
Mu-hyuk stood.
"Feels rested. Let's go."
"Aw, I'm still beat."
"Beat? We rested 30 minutes."
"True, but..."
"What?"
"Worried what kinda hell the third floor'll be."
"Gotta clear it anyway."
"Yeah, gotta."
They sighed and rose.
Up the stairs.
The new environment left everyone but Mu-hyuk gaping.
"What the...?"
"No way...!"
A disgustingly squelchy swamp at first glance.
"Whew, better than heat or cold, at least."
Sung Min-woo grumbled and took a step.
Squelch.
His foot sank deep—and instantly.
Poisoned.
HP decreases by 25 every 10 seconds.
His whole body turned blue-black.
"What the fuck...!"
"Min-woo oppa, why the sudden cursing?"
"Swamp's got poison too."
"For real...?"
"Yeah. Ugh, take back what I said. Worse than 1 or 2—this is extreme! See? Waist-deep, HP draining, legs stuck!"
Mu-hyuk reached out and hauled him free.
"Damn, what iron tendons or something?"
"Can't move at all?"
"Eh, could force it probably. But no way we trek like this..."
"Monsters could pop up too."
"Right."
Mu-hyuk rummaged his inventory.
"No way...?"
Sung Min-woo's face lit with hope.
"If you pull something out here, I'll straight-up admit your prep game's insanely thorough."
"Don't really care about that, but..."
He produced an item.
A powerful coagulant.
Tossed it into the swamp ahead.
Whoosh!
The swamp solidified like magic.
"Wha—what?!"
Mu-hyuk demonstrated instead of explaining.
Step.
He walked the former swamp without sinking, just like solid ground.
"Whoa!"
"Coagulant. Coagulant."
"You carry that around normally?!"
"Yeah."
"Fine, I admit it. Prep game's disgustingly thorough."
"Thanks."
"Min-woo oppa, quit picking on bro."
"My apologies."
They shook their heads at Sung Min-woo's teasing and moved out.
The coagulant turned swamp to firm path—no travel issues.
Though they repeated the process soon enough.
"Monsters ahead!"
"Get ready."
Perfect timing.
"Summon!"
To fight, Sung Min-woo called his spirits.
Yerin her squirrels.
Mu-hyuk his skeletons.
Kroooar!
Full battle engaged.
And they inhaled the monster's toxic mist.
Had to breathe, after all.
Unavoidable attack.
Poisoned by black mist.
HP decreases by 200 every 10 seconds.
Effect lasts 30 minutes.
Poisoned by the mist.
"What the hell now...!"
Endure 30 full minutes? That's 36,000 HP gone.
Without coagulant, swamp poison plus this, movement crippled too.
"Ugh, coagulant was god-tier, but!"
Sung Min-woo dodged and punched.
Bam!
The monster reeled from the explosion.
"This mist is more annoying, fuck!"
Jump-stomped next.
With spirit aid.
Skeletons helped finish it smoothly.
"Uh-oh."
"The mist?"
"Yeah, HP's tanking hard."
"My lord, I'm dizzy too."
"Oppa, my low HP means bigger hits."
Mu-hyuk smiled at their complaints.
"Huh...?"
Sung Min-woo gawked at the grin.
"N-no way, again...?"
"Yeah, that 'again'."
In Mu-hyuk's hand: an even stronger antidote.