Chapter 27
Once again, Kim Sangyoon’s party mbers all gathered around their Bard to counter the Mourning Sli.
The Bard began to play the flute; a graceful lody flowed out. A shiny ring ford over the heads of the party mbers standing near. That ring effect was so famous that even I knew what it was–one of the Bard’s most difficult buffs, [Sacrificial Blessing], had been applied.
The skill was quite effective: preventing the enemy’s physical attacks up to 120% of the User’s own stats while keeping the User’s stamina from being consud.
The skill, befitting its beneficial effects, was particularly tricky to perform and had a long cooldown. Many parties saved this buff for an ergency, but Kim Sangyoon’s party used it not 10 minutes after the Mourning Sli was engaged.
They had little choice–the slis began to occupy all sides of the hallway and spat acid at the party.
At first, I thought it weird for Sangyoon’s party to use this powerful blessing so early. Soon enough, however, I saw the acid saliva bounce off the protection buff and ricochet onto the walls, creating white smoke and leaving behind pockmarks in the stone. The hairs on the back of my neck began to raise in fear.
Furthermore, since Necromancers received no benefits from holy-attribute buffs, I retreated even farther away, afraid that errant acid sli would hit my unprotected self. If Seo Dawon had not blocked my way, I’m sure I would have jumped to quickly escape.
“The Mourning Sli has no eyes and, instead, tracks its prey through the vibrations caused by movent,” Seo Dawon said as he threw a fist-sized stone near the sli. As the stone touched the ground, the sli enveloped the rolling rock in an instant. The stone lted from the sli’s poisons; when it disappeared, the sli continued to pace around the area, searching for more.
“So when dealing with a group of slis, you need one damage dealer to draw their attention as bait. It’s good to establish the direction…..” Seo Dawon paused in his explanation while watching Kim Sangyoon’s party deal with the enemy.
I naturally followed his gaze, and, unlike Seo Dawon’s clear explanation, Kim Sangyoon’s party was all clumped in the sa location.
At the scene, Seo Dawon laughed openly, “As expected of their rank, they cling together.”
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Though his attitude was a bit despicable, even I could see that Kim Sangyoon’s party had no strategy; the fight was more akin to a street brawl. 1 . Though the party currently had the advantage due to Sangyoon’s outstanding individual ability, victory would not have been guaranteed if there were just a few more Mourning Slis.
Seo Dawon didn’t stop comnting, focusing, this ti, on the Animist who had called his water spirit, Undine, to fight the slis. “Is he using a water spirit to deal with slis…? Fundantally, they should know to attack with fire spirits like Salamander…”
He didn’t hide his disdain for the Treasure Hunter either. The Treasure Hunter had been attacking the slis with a crossbow but had missed all his shots. Instead, his opponent stunned him in one blow.
“It should be common sense that plain physical attacks, without skill empowernt, wouldn’t work…What are they doing?”
“…….”
Why, as I listened to Seo Dawon’s words, did I also feel embarrassed? I was only there to get carried?!
“This party must have gotten to this point by trusting that red-haired User,” Seo Dawon finished. The red haired User, Kim Sangyoon, was certainly showing the most noticeably effective performance within this party. He stood at the forefront, wielding his greatsword [Berserker].
“Chest Slash!” Kim Sangyoon held his sword high above his head and struck across, triggering the skill attached to his blade.
The huge sli in front of him was hit directly by the red skill that flew out from the end of the blade. It split into two pieces, dying with a chilling scream, [kyaakk!] One blow dealt enough damage to kill it instantly.
“I’m jealous….” I muttered casually.
“Of what?” Seo Dawon asked.
“I wish I had that kind of item…”
“Are you serious?”
“….”
Seo Dawon looked at , his expression questioning whether I could truly be content with such an item.
Honestly, I understood his confusion. Before he died, Seo Dawon was a guildmaster of the best Guild in Korea. He had never failed a raid, except for the , so he must not have lacked financially. For such a person, an item like ‘Berserker’ would not have registered as sothing desirable… 2
Perhaps Seo Dawon temporarily forgot about his circumstances, his death. All of his plentiful bank accounts would have disappeared.
And I, his contract partner, still had many student loans left to pay. I earned less than a million won per month while dungeoneering, and I struggled to accept help from back ho. Therefore, Seo Dawon was also penniless now.
However, as if he had not realized his current financial situation, Seo Dawon gave a head to toe glance and said, “When we leave, let’s pick out a combat uniform first. Before we can find a suitable item from a Dungeon, we can buy sothing basic, ready-to-wear, from DAA.”
“DAA? Are you talking about the workshop, DAA?”
“Yeah. That still exists, right?”
That’s not the problem…That workshop’s brand was the most famous of those that processed fabric and leather.
In terms of design, the workshop collaborated with famous contemporary fashion designers. Strears unboxed their products live on broadcast as a way to flex. In particular, the uniform that Seo Dawon had ntioned costs 100 million won per part–the brand justified the price by highlighting the raw material: 100% dragon leather.
Is he expecting to buy that sort of luxury right now?
“I’ll wear it if you buy it,” I said sarcastically, hoping to convey the absurdity of his statent.
However, Seo Dawon casually continued as if he perceived nothing wrong, “Also, buy yourself so accessories. You look broke right now.”
I told him again, “Hey, I don’t have any money.” Seo Dawon just looked at as if I spouted gibberish.
“What you’re saying is impossible with my bank balance….”
“Hey! Choi Lee-kyung! The material you want appeared!”
Before I could further explain my financial situation, Kim Sangyoon called out to in a loud voice and cut off. In the end, our conversation was halted in lieu of more pressing matters.
Kim Sangyoon placed his sweaty arms around my shoulders as he escorted to the ingredient I needed and said, out of nowhere, “Hey, write a good review for us, okay? I’ll believe in you!” He gave a seemingly friendly smile and continued, “I even gave you a mask right?….Anyways, it all ended well.” His heavy hands patted on the shoulder.
I was flustered at his words; what was he talking about? I asked, “A review…?”
“Don’t you know? It’s common etiquette to leave a review on ‘User Alert’ after getting carried by a party.”
“Ah…..”
“Write well, okay?”
“Ah…yeah.”
“And maybe…You could also post a good review on places like Ranking Gods. All right?”
“…..Yes.”
While nodding ekly, I recalled similar posts on the Ranking Gods community. Similarly, there were many comnts that urged users to report carry-related disputes to the ‘User Alert’ app.
I ntally revisited all our past interactions in . Perhaps the threat of a bad review had greater impact than I thought; Kim Sangyoon eagerly pushed for a nice write up.
My heart felt a bit bitter–his friendliness and his thoughtfulness with the mask was not truly sincere….but, whatever his motive, I had gotten what I desperately needed thanks to his assistance. He and his party had saved in multiple anings of the word.
“I’ll write good things,” I reassured him.
≿——————- ❈ ——————-≾
‘Normal Mode’ boss monster Lich Lord (Normal) has been killed by ‘Ahn Juseong’ and 63 others!
‘Hard Mode’ boss monster Lich Lord (Hard) has been killed by ‘Bae Jaemin’ and 33 others (all from a single party)!
≿——————- ❈ ——————-≾
My answer and the system alert blended into each other. The notification inford us that another party had defeated the boss.
As we haven’t even made it to the boss’s door yet, our raid ended in vain. The other mbers also looked slightly embarrassed and dejected at the unexpected alarm.
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In particular, Kim Sangyoon’s expression was frightfully distorted.
“….Ahn Juseong? Ahn Juseong, that bastard, was supposed to inform before he defeated the boss!”
Huh? What’s this?
He’s not disappointed at the boss being stolen away…but he’s angry at sothing else? Did sothing go wrong?
Kim Sangyoon suddenly raised his finger in the air and moved it violently. Though his body hid his precise actions, sohow I thought I saw a ssage interface–not unlike the exchanges shared between Seo Dawon and I. Kim Sangyoon seed to be speaking to Ahn Juseong, the User who defeated the normal mode boss.
However, as soon as he confird the raid’s completion, the Bard walked up to Kim Sangyoon tactlessly. “I think it’s over…Why don’t we get out of here, for now?”
Ah, the bard must be a hired rcenary. As his job was finished, he didn’t seem to want to wait and waste ti as Kim Sangyoon worked through his anger.
No one could find fault with his polite tone and courteous expression. Eventually, Kim Sangyoon gritted his teeth and told us, “Let’s leave.”
A small, “Go to Hub,” ssage appeared, and my surroundings distorted.
“We’re finally getting out of this place.” Seo Dawon murmured.
I closed my eyes.
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