Field Boss Raid: It Begins
I switched the view to the Longbow Tower. Zooming in, the fire spirit Salamander was busy incinerating the residential district. I ordered every tower to open fire at once.
Bang!Thud!Swish!Clang! Arrows screamed toward the Salamander.
"Just as I thought," I muttered.
The arrows reached the creature and passed straight through it, embedding in the wall behind. Zero aggro. Its body is pure flame. Physical attacks won't work.
No choice then. We'd have to draw it in with bodies.
"Tanker team, use the throwable extinguishers to pull the Salamander this way."
"That's insane!"
"What about the zombies on the path?!"
"If that's the plan, then..."
The whip alone wasn't cutting it. Time to dangle a carrot.
"Before we start, I'll give you a buff. And any of you who survive this get promoted out of slave status. You'll become regular residents."
When I set out food on the rebar, the Tanker team's eyes changed. Food supplies were running low; they probably hadn't eaten properly in days.
"Can we really eat this?"
"Yeah. Eat up and draw aggro like your lives depend on it. I'll clear out the zombies while you stuff your faces."
Luckily there weren't many zombies near the Salamander. For whatever reason, the spirit had been attacking them too.
"Thank you!"
"Holy shit, that smells amazing!"
"I haven't eaten anything all day!"
The Dealer team watched the Tankers with open envy. Go ahead and be jealous. This might be their last meal. They seemed to have forgotten the Tankers could very well get burned alive.
"Wait. You don't eat."
"H-huh?!"
"And strip."
"Why are you doing this?"
"You tried to run earlier."
"When did I ever try to run?!"
Crreeeeak. No need for long explanations. The moment I summoned the Wooden Hammer Tower, the man started peeling off his firefighter suit.
"Anyone want to wear this? Put it on now and you get food too."
"I'll wear it!" The guy who'd been drooling with envy raised his hand immediately.
"You're still on Tanker duty. Try to run and you'll get an arrow in the back."
"But that's..."
The meal ended in five minutes. I only gave them enough to trigger the buff. Even so, the Tanker team looked satisfied.
"Move out. I'll snipe any zombies you encounter on the way. Use the weapons you brought to handle the rest."
"Yes..."
"So we really have to fight zombies?"
"Even the ones on fire..."
The Tankers already looked terrified. Still, they were going to have to fight monsters eventually. Might as well be now. The WAW system was built so that avoiding combat meant death. They should be grateful they're getting cover fire. Tsk. If it were me, I would've bowed in thanks.
"Hurry up and earn your meal. Run. Or you'll get arrows in your backs."
"Yes!"
Only then did they sprint forward. I switched the view back to the Longbow Tower from inside the fire truck.
Leave just enough zombies for them to handle and snipe the rest. I issued the order to the long-range towers and watched the battle unfold.
"KyaAAAAAAGH!"
"Kerrrk! Keghk!"
It didn't take long for the zombies to react. They came rushing at the Tanker team from every direction.
"Aaaagh! Fuck!"
"We're surrounded!"
The Tankers screamed in terror, turned to run—then stopped and reformed their ranks. Three of them had picked up planks somewhere and stepped forward as shields. They held the zombies back while the others smashed heads with blunt weapons.
"KRAAAAAGH!"
"Kugh! Keugh!"
"KuoOOOGH!"
"Zombies have weak heads!"
"Fuck, smash their skulls faster! I can't hold them much longer!"
"Now! Crack their fucking pots!"
Thud! Thud! Crunch! Every strike made a zombie's skull explode. They must have been using skills. The Tanker team's judgment was correct—zombies tended to fixate on their first target. The tactic of shields drawing aggro while the others attacked from behind was working.
"Behind you!"
But focusing on the attack left their backs open. Swooosh—thud!
"Huk, fuck! I almost died!"
The man smashing zombie heads dropped to the ground like the zombies he'd killed after an arrow saved him.
It took the Tanker team a full hour to reach the Salamander. The creature was still burning survivors out of hiding with its flame whips in the residential area. When the Tankers saw the flaming lizard, they froze in terror.
Maybe I should've pulled it myself? Watching them hesitate was frustrating. If I'd had any close-range skills, I could've ended this quickly. To snap them out of it, I fired an arrow near the Salamander and the Tankers.
Only then did they come to their senses. They hurled their throwable extinguishers and ran.
Whiiir—thud. Thud. Crack. Thunk. The extinguishers burst, spraying suppressant everywhere. The flames the Salamander had created shrank instantly.
"GRROOOOOO!"
"Aaaaaagh! Run!"
"I don't care if I die, just not by fire!"
"Fuck, fuck!"
The Salamander finally noticed them and lashed out with a flame whip.
"UAAAAAAGH!!"
The fire-resistant helmet it struck burned away, but the man escaped with only slightly singed hair.
"Grrraaawr!"
Whoosh! The aggro was solid now. The Salamander spewed flames once before chasing after the Tankers. Everything in its path caught fire.
The Tankers were desperate too. They kept throwing throwable extinguishers to weaken the flames.
Swish—crack! Thunk!
"GUROOOO!"
The Salamander clearly reacted to them. Pretty effective. Each hit caused the flames composing its body to dim slightly. When the fire spirit inhaled, they flared back up, but the progress was visible.
"Dealer team, get ready. Salamander's coming."
I pulled the firefighter helmet down tighter and gave the order. The Dealers yanked the pins from their extinguishers.
"Hurry up and save us!"
"What the hell are you Dealers doing?! Get out here!"
The Tankers' desperate shouts echoed from outside the construction site.
"Hold position until they're lured inside."
"AAAAAAGH!"
"Fuck, help me!"
Beyond the steel plates blocking our view, I could see flames erupting. The Tankers had abandoned any pretense of luring and were simply running for their lives.
Boom! Crash! A sudden explosion blew apart the steel plates surrounding the construction site. Two men caught in the blast were swallowed by fire and screamed in agony.
"GYAAAAAAAAGH!!"
"KRAAAAAAGH!!"
They rolled desperately across the ground trying to extinguish the flames covering their bodies. The Salamander caught them with its flame whips and burned them pitch black.
"Lure it to the center!"
"UAAAAAGH! Save me, fuck!"
"You son of a bitch! You try luring that thing!"
Terrified, the Tankers scattered in every direction. It has to be lured to the center. If I let this continue, we wouldn't even get a proper attack off.
I grabbed a throwable extinguisher and charged the Salamander.
"These bastards are really pushing it!"
Whiiir—thud! The flames in the area where suppressant sprayed visibly shrank. The Salamander's gaze locked onto me. I immediately sprinted toward the center of the construction site. The muddy ground made running difficult, and the already heavy firefighter suit weighed me down even more.
Good thing I invested in Strength and Agility stats. If I hadn't eaten that cooking buff, the weight would've let it catch me.
Fwoooosh. The sound of roaring flames chased me from behind.
"Tanker team, you're dead after this!"
When I glanced back, a massive lizard was following without making a sound. The Salamander inhaled, its chest swelling hugely.
"Shoot!"
Swooosh—thunk! The Longbow Tower's arrow passed through the Salamander and struck the ground. Hiss! There, buried under dirt, were a butane gas canister and twenty throwable extinguishers.
Boom! The butane gas hit by the arrow sparked against the flames, causing an explosion. All twenty extinguishers detonated at once, spraying massive amounts of suppressant.
Fwoooooosh—! An enormous wave of suppressant engulfed the Salamander.
"Now! Spray it!"
The hidden Dealers burst out and unleashed their extinguishers. Fire-suppressant powder and carbon dioxide poured over the Salamander. The powder sprayed from every direction was so thick we couldn't see inside.
I quickly switched on the thermal camera.
"Did we get it?" One of the Dealers lowered his extinguisher and muttered.
"Shut up and keep spraying!"
I could see something red flickering inside. Shriik—swish!
"GYAAAAAAGH!"
The man who'd lowered his extinguisher was caught by the Salamander's flame whip. The attack must have been weakened; it didn't incinerate him instantly.
"Throw extinguishers at the one that's caught!" I shouted at the Tankers who had regained their senses and returned.
"Shit, fuck!"
The soot-covered man cursed as he hurled a throwable extinguisher. Splash. When the suppressant sprayed, the flame whip snapped.
"KROOOOOO!"
Air rushed into the powder-filled space, and I saw it turn red again.
"Everyone get down!"
KABOOM! Bang! A massive explosion erupted, followed by a secondary wave of scorching heat. The powder covering the Salamander scattered in the wind. The creature still looked imposing, but its size had shrunk considerably.
"Spray it again! We've almost got it!"
"Yes!"
"Hurry up and die already!"
I wasn't sure if it was actually dying, but I needed to remove the Dealers' hesitation.
Fsssssh—fwoooooosh—! Powder from every direction slammed into the Salamander.
"KROOOOOO!"
When it tried to explode again, I threw the extinguisher beside me at it. The creature that had been watching me wrapped its flame whip around the extinguisher, trying to burn it.
"Low intelligence, just like a lizard, huh?"
The heated extinguisher burst, releasing an enormous cloud of suppressant powder. Boom-boom-bang!
"Throw the remaining extinguishers!"
I gave the order and threw two more myself. The creature instinctively snatched the flying extinguishers out of the air.
Bang-bang! Boom-boom-bang!
"KuoOOO..."
I could see the silhouette inside the powder shrinking. As its flames kept getting extinguished, it seemed its mana was finally running out.
"We'll spray water now."
I ran to the fire truck and grabbed the hose.
"Understood."
"I'll hold the hose. Open the valve."
Lee Jungwoo opened the valve on the fire hose I'd already unraveled. Fwoooosh! Shaaaaaaa!
When the massive volume of water hit the Salamander, its heat gradually died down.
"KROOOOOO!"
Through the thick steam, I watched the giant fire lizard shrink as it got soaked. It could no longer maintain its shape. Only flames remained before they too turned to ash.
Crackle.
"Whew. Fuck. This thing shouldn't have appeared at this stage."
It was at least as strong as a third-wave boss.
"Did we get it?"
"Of course! No way we'd lose to a lizard!"
"You ran away earlier!"
"Tanker team, you guys scattered and we almost died because of it!"
"You son of a bitch! You try luring it then!"
The Tanker and Dealer teams grabbed each other by the collars. I ignored them and did my job. Beneath the ashes the Salamander left behind, glowing items waited.
"Whoa!"
Items I hadn't even expected appeared. Jackpot.