Guild Raid
After we took down a named boss, I checked the raid status board. The crystal had been destroyed, and thanks to the frenzy effect, every monster on the field was stained a violent red. It was a ridiculous sight in the worst possible way.
"Party 2, you’re getting out okay, right?"
No answer. Were they too focused on the game to respond? The raid board let me listen in on a party’s voice chat if I clicked their icon. Guess I’d have to use that.
"Moo... go left! Dodge the explosion!"
"Kh."
If they died, they’d lose the reward and the clear count too, so they were throwing the concept aside and acting like their lives depended on it.
Maybe she noticed I’d heard that, or maybe she was embarrassed by what she’d said, but she hurriedly slipped back into character.
"Moo-ooh."
"Yes, yes. Party 2 is doing well."
And Party 3? No need to ask. They were probably in complete chaos already. Instead of making things more confusing by demanding an answer, we needed to move fast and support them.
"Party 1, let’s get moving too. We need to go help Party 3. If the outpost goes down, the raid ends right there."
When we moved toward the next named boss, Haneul’s voice came through the chat.
"Um, by the way... isn’t this bad? From the prep videos, I heard the next named boss burns a ton of time."
Listening closely, I got curious about the source of the video they’d prepared with. I had a pretty good idea, though.
"It was one of those quick beginner guides, right? The one made by NewTuber Ppakgong."
"Yes."
"If you’d watched the veteran guide, you would’ve seen the pattern skip too."
She sounded startled when she asked back, "Really?"
"Yes. Since it’s come to this, I’ll show you in-game instead of through a video."
"Counter pattern skip."
Counter.
In this game, it refers to the message that appears when you strike back the instant a boss or named monster attacks.
Why bother doing something so dangerous? Because if you land a counter, you can interrupt or skip multiple patterns and pump out damage at the same time.
That was true. As expected from a game where balance had been shoved to the back of the room and locked out, the difficulty of countering varied wildly by class. For ranged dealers, even if they failed a counter, they were doing it from far away, so the danger was low...
But our... no, that absurdly overdesigned protagonist-posed-for-style-victory, no self-confidence, no utility, theorycraft-only-until-you-go-all-the-way-or-it’s-trash Cosmic Blade was a melee dealer. Without defensive gear or evasion gear, if you botched a counter, you just died on the spot.
"Haruru. Should I take the counter? I’m an Astrologer, but my combat power is ten million. The risk is too high. Yours is fifty million, but you have no defensive gear, no evasion gear. If you fail, then..."
That problem was easy enough to solve.
"Then I just won’t fail. Move out!"
I ignored the donations and looked at the named monster on the screen.
Lv. 32 (Level 30 +2 reinforcement applied)
Named
B+ Grade
The jaguar born from the claws of the Lunatic Rabbit
The slippery, fast little jaguar bastard.
I drew my sword and took up my stance.
"Haruru, focus on its claws!"
Instead of keeping my eyes glued to the claws I was supposed to watch, I closed them. Thanks to virtual tech, the kind of thing built from all the best modern hardware, even the fact that I’d shut my eyes showed up exactly as I did it.
"Listen carefully, everyone. Counters are done with your ears, not your eyes."
Honestly, the reason I’d closed my eyes was because this body was such a coward I was afraid I’d flinch the moment I saw the jaguar charge. It came at me. I focused on the eerie sound first, and when I heard the sharp scrape of claws, that was the instant.
Thunk!
The jaguar born from the claws of the Lunatic Rabbit has been defeated.
Counter!!!
"Yes!"
Purification of the Black Moon Temple has succeeded.
"Whoa... Haruru. That was incredible. I was sweating just watching."
"Hah. This is the first time I’ve seen someone take the Cosmic Blade this far."
There had once been a master craftsman famous for pouring seven hundred million into the Cosmic Blade and making it work through sheer control. Now I was the one carrying that myth forward as a woman.
"Thank you, but let’s move to Party 3 right away. Everyone okay?"
"Yes."
"If I’d known this would happen, I’d have brought a plane. We could’ve gotten there faster."
"Ahaha..."
We moved quickly and reached the front of the outpost. Using three support characters’ movement-speed buffs stacked together had been a huge help here.
"Oh, damn."
Once we got there, the situation was worse than I expected. Judging that there was no way to hold the outpost, Jeong-yong had pulled every monster’s aggro and was luring them in the opposite direction.
"What’s he gonna do if he dies like that?"
At that moment, I remembered what he’d said before the raid.
"He said he’d sacrifice himself if anything happened. That’s what a tank is..."
"We won’t forget you, Go Jeong-yong, GOAT."
"What do you mean, won’t forget me! I can’t let him die. Here I go. The newly learned Cosmic Energy Charge, adapted into a two-part space slash!"
Cosmic Energy Charge.
A skill that compresses the power of the cosmos into the sword and unleashes a slashing blow.
Since the equipped avatar had star synergy, the damage rose in proportion to it.
What’s surprising is that because the damage rises proportionally, the skill’s base damage is ridiculously weak. This is why people call it the ultimate theorycraft build and nothing else!
"Two-part space slash! Super save."
Kwa-gwa-gwang!!!
The existence born from the fragments of B-grade ribs has been defeated.
The existence born from the fragments of B-grade ribs has been defeated.
The existence born from the fragments of B-grade ribs has been defeated.
...
...
My current star synergy was Pluto, all four lines of it.
Maybe that’s why the violet-black slash flew out wider and wider, as if dropping a sphere of light, and swept every trash mob away in a single pass.
"At that level, can we even call her a Cosmic Blade ranged dealer?"
"No. The number of uses is limited. The uses increase in proportion to the avatar’s star synergy. So right now I can only use it once per dungeon... and I used that one to save our guildmates."
Maybe someone could criticize me for wasting a precious skill use. But I don’t regret it.
"I save everyone. That’s what a guildmaster does."
"That was really close. We were a hair’s breadth away. Everyone drink your potions here and then move into phase two. Since he’s a Guardian with a huge health pool and a shield, it should be fine to go into phase two without potions."
"Thank you, Haruru. I’ll never forget this kindness."
To anyone watching, it probably looked like I’d saved a person’s life, but that kind of overinvestment is part of what makes an RPG fun. That was when I heard Imda’s tiny voice.
"Um, but there’s still one named monster left..."
"I know. Take a short break."
And when I looked closer, I could see a bunch of debuffs stacked on it.
"You’ve had a rough time. They really piled on the curses."
"Yes... just to buy a little more time."
Checking the raid board, I saw Party 2 had escaped from the crystal chamber and was heading back to the outpost too. That settled it.
Slash!
"Cut. Let’s move into phase two."
"A named boss... in one hit...!"
Phase 1 succeeded!!!
Clear time: 7 minutes 52 seconds
The path leading to the backside of the Black Moon has appeared.
The Lunatic Rabbit has grown even angrier because the crystal was destroyed.
"We’re supposed to get a ten-minute break, but should I just head out right away?"
"You little bastards! Don’t act like you’re worried about me and turn me into some kind of smoker..."
"Who the hell would do that?! Are you moderating the chat during the break?"
"Then let’s go meet the Lunatic Rabbit. Today’s lunch is rabbit stew."
Entered the backside of the Black Moon.
The backside was darker than before, fitting for the place that was supposed to close out the spectacle. And since all twelve raid members were in the same room fighting the boss together, the space felt even more imposing than usual.
"You’re not scared, are you, Haruru?"
"What scares me more than the boss is having to enhance another SSS-grade item. And this time I especially need to win it at auction..."
I glanced quietly at Mone’s character. Honestly, maybe the Lunatic Rabbit is just a fake boss, and the real final battle is the auction with Mone.