*Tap!*
“Ah!”
Beirung’s foot missed the edge of the platform as she leapt toward the exit corridor, nearly plumting below. Fortunately, Deathmaster grabbed her and pulled her up just in ti.
“Th-thanks, Death-oppa.”
“That was a basic platform puzzle. You should train more regularly, junior,” he said.
Behind Beirung, who sheepishly stuck out her tongue with a bashful smile, Cherni’s desperate scream echoed.
“Aaaagh!”
Beirung peeked over the edge of the corridor and looked down.
Cherni, having fallen off the platform, was rubbing his backside as gargoyle golems slowly advanced toward him.
His face turned pale.
“Please, soone help !”
“Just respawn and co back, Jaewook. It’ll be faster than killing all of them,” Deathmaster suggested.
“You say that so easily when it’s not you! Arrghh, nooo!”
“Wow, this 19 ga is brutal,” Beirung muttered, pretending to cover her eyes but watching through her fingers.
“I don’t want to waste any more ti here. If we delay, we won’t be able to catch up to the *Nona* party. Rain’s presence in that party ans they’ll clear this dungeon at lightning speed,” Deathmaster grumbled.
“It is tough, though. Everyone in the party has to make it across to advance to the next room, or we’d have to defeat all the golems below. Balancing on those narrow platforms and crossing them quickly before they disappear is no easy task,” Beirung added.
“We all fell in the first corridor section. I bet it’s the sa for the other parties. This part isn’t sothing most players can clear in one go, except for soone like Rain. Even if she clears it in one try, she’d still have to wait for her party mbers, right? Isn't that so, Chris?”
“...”
Chris said nothing.
Ever since they entered the dungeon, her mind had been in turmoil.
She had hoped that this ti, she’d uncover the identity of the *Nona* party mbers. But Rain had entered the dungeon alone.
While the others in her raid team didn’t notice, Chris had been searching for Rain’s party mbers since they arrived at the dungeon entrance.
Of course, parties in instance dungeons don’t have to enter at the sa ti. However, it didn’t make sense that Rain’s party mbers wouldn’t exchange a single word before tackling the elite dungeon.
Chris had wanted to greet them and ask them to take care of Rain, and even scold them for not keeping tabs on her. She had also hoped to make connections for potential future cooperation in multi-raid content.
But she couldn’t find them.
It was as if they didn’t exist from the start.
“...Could it be? No way… Did she… solo it?”
“Chris, what are you thinking about?” Deathmaster asked, breaking her train of thought.
“N-nothing,” she quickly replied, shaking her head.
An idea she hadn’t considered was now creeping into her mind.
Given what she had seen from Rain’s abilities during their runs together, it seed plausible.
“Solo play…?”
---
[First Nad Boss]
[Level 45 Ancient Golem Minotaur]
[HP 7,340,679/8,600,000]
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
The Minotaur’s attack pattern involved stomping twice and slamming both fists into the ground, triggering a three-hit AoE attack.
I dodged backward, waiting for the second strike’s effect to vanish before closing in again, maintaining the flow of my counterattacks without losing montum.
*Clang, clang, clang!*
A strange sound reverberated, like tal striking tal—a sound akin to swords clashing. It seed the Minotaur’s body was reinforced with a special magical treatnt on its highly pure mana stones, making its body as hard as tal.
*Whoosh, whoosh!*
The golem spun its massive fists toward , but I dodged effortlessly, moving side to side.
The Minotaur’s basic attacks involved heavy swings of its fists. There was no need to block them; I could easily dodge by simply twisting my body.
Its attack speed was relatively fast, though. For a creature twice my height, its movents were surprisingly quick. However, it wasn’t overly threatening.
There was only one pattern I absolutely had to block.
The Minotaur suddenly lowered its stance, its head dipping as its sharp horns glowed brightly. It prepared to thrust its deadly horns toward at a fearso speed.
*Whirr!*
*Clang!*
[Block (A)]
- Blocks attacks within a 180-degree radius in front.
- Successfully blocking within 0.2 seconds of skill activation grants the "Vitality" buff, increasing all damage dealt for 10 seconds.
As I successfully blocked the powerful upward horn strike, I gained the Vitality buff. My body lifted slightly from the force of the impact.
*Swish!*
Spinning in mid-air, I unleashed a *Moonlight Slash*, my sword infused with starlight as I aid directly at the Minotaur’s glowing horns.
*Clang!*
I clicked my tongue as I landed.
As expected, the horns didn’t break.
I really wanted to cut those off.
*Clang, clang, clang! Whoosh!*
With my starlit sword, I slashed at the Minotaur while using *One Slash* to counter its second upward strike. Taking advantage of the Vitality buff, I attacked relentlessly from behind.
This battle required extra caution for one particular reason.
As soon as the boss fight began, the entrance I ca through vanished, turning the room into a fully enclosed cube.
There was no escape. A failure on my first try would result in significant consequences.
Even as I pressed the attack, the Minotaur’s HP quickly dropped, soon reaching the 75% mark.
*Ooooooooh!*
The golem twisted in apparent agony as if it could feel pain.
I raised my sword, focusing on the Minotaur’s movents.
Its behavior had changed from its regular attack patterns. This was clearly the sign of a phase transition.
*Ooooooooh!*
*Boom, boom, boom!*
With a roar, the Minotaur’s hunched body straightened as if it were stretching, and a burst of blue energy exploded from its body. I instinctively dodged backward.
*Flash!*
As the energy swept across the room, I noticed a flash of red light flicker once from the wall at the 3 o’clock position.
I didn’t miss it.
I stayed close to the Minotaur, carefully countering its attacks, while keeping my eyes on the 3 o’clock wall, which had flashed red.
What did it an? It seed like I needed to do sothing with that wall.
*Clang!*
After striking the Minotaur with my sword in its special phase, I noticed sothing was off.
The sound of my strikes had changed.
The damage the golem was taking had been halved. Its mana stones were glowing even brighter, and they had ford a barrier around its body.
I had to dispel the barrier quickly. Otherwise, I’d be stuck in a ti-attack pattern, which could spell disaster.
The chanism for removing the barrier was clear. It had sothing to do with the wall that flashed red at 3 o’clock.
*Tat-tat.*
I quickly distanced myself from the Minotaur, positioning myself with my back to the 3 o’clock wall.
*Ooooooooh!*
*Boom, boom.*
The Minotaur stomped twice and lowered its head, aiming its sharp horns in my direction.
I needed to bait the charge and get it to ram its horns into the wall that had flashed red.
Like a bullfighter.
*Boom, boom, boom!*
With its horns raised, the Minotaur charged at .
I couldn’t attack it during the charge. Any reduced damage wouldn’t help much. The priority was breaking the barrier.
The charge had to hit the right spot. If the barrier stayed up too long, the ti-attack phase would tighten its grip on .
*Swish.*
When the charging Minotaur’s horns were about to reach , I used a reversal skill to move behind it.
*Crash! Boom!*
*Oooooooooom!*
As the Minotaur’s horns slamd into the wall, a burst of red light erupted from the impact, shattering the barrier. The golem collapsed to its knees, entering a groggy state.
“Nice.”
*Clang, clang, clang!*
Without hesitation, I unleashed a series of sword strikes on the kneeling Minotaur.
---
[First Nad Boss]
[Level 45 Ancient Golem Minotaur]
[HP 4,365,500/8,600,000]
The Minotaur’s HP had dropped close to 50%.
It was about to enter its second special phase.
*Flash!*
With my final *One Slash*, I brought its HP below 50% and watched for its next move.
*Ooooooooh!*
*Boom, boom, boom!*
Just like at 75%, it released a room-wide AoE attack, followed by another flash of red light from one of the walls.
This ti, it ca from the 9 o’clock position.
*Tat-tat.*
I swiftly moved to the 9 o’clock wall, positioning myself with my back against it. The entire room began to shake violently.
*Rumble!*
“What the—!?”
I quickly crouched and steadied myself.
This was different from the first phase. There hadn’t been any shaking like this before.
*Click.*
A strange sound echoed through the room.
*Crack.*
The walls slowly moved backward, separating from the floor.
Beyond the widening gaps, only darkness was visible.
I montarily forgot about the golem’s movents and stared at the shifting walls in awe.
“Whoa.”
This dungeon was even separating the walls of the boss room.
The four walls gradually pulled apart, and then, with a sudden surge of speed, they began to rotate.
*Rumble!*
The sight of the walls spinning rapidly in one direction was truly a spectacle.
I stood there, dumbfounded, watching the rotating walls.
A labyrinth. A cube-shaped room.
It wasn’t all that surprising that the walls could rotate, or even that the room itself could move. There were old labyrinth-thed movies where the rooms kept shifting too.
But to see the walls actually moving… I suppose if ancient dwarven technology and mana stones were combined, even this was possible.
*Click.*
The spinning walls soon stopped, and the room reassembled into a closed-off cube once more.
*Tat-tat!*
I quickly snapped back to reality and repositioned myself.
The red light wasn’t flashing at 9 o’clock anymore.
Luckily, I had kept track of the wall's position as it rotated. The 9 o’clock wall had shifted to 12 o’clock.
*Boom, boom, boom!*
As the rotation stopped, the Minotaur began charging at again from the new 12 o’clock position.
*Crash! Boom!*
*Oooooooom!*
The Minotaur’s horns struck the wall once more, shattering the barrier as it collapsed to its knees.
I raised my sword toward the now-vulnerable Minotaur.
Alright. So, that’s how it works.
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