Episode 254
[Starting the broadcast.]
[You couldn't clear it? lol]
Seojun entered the capsule and turned on his broadcast.
He was in a great mood after sleeping like a log from 12 to 6.
It definitely wasn’t because someone else had failed and he felt refreshed.
"Ah, good morning, everyone."
- They planned this from the start!
- Crazy bastard! Crazy bastard! Crazy bastard!
- You must've been laughing your ass off reading posts calling you a coward for ending the broadcast early lol
- You're telling me this strategy was all planned out? Of course it was.
After waking up at 6, Seojun had pulled himself together and checked the raid status.
It was exactly as he had predicted.
‘No way they cleared it.’
There was no way they could have cleared it.
The fact that they made it to the 10% HP phase was an incredible, unexpected effort, but that couldn’t have been the end.
In other words, they should have gone to sleep sooner.
They should have given up by 3 a.m. at the latest.
"Everyone, you saw the stream title, right? And you remember what I said right before I ended the stream yesterday, don't you?"
Seojun said, tapping the screen in front of him to connect to RaCl.
- Yes
- Y
- If they can't clear it, we're taking the first clear! Hell yeah!
- Let's gooo!
- lolololololol Scavenger mode on!
"Scavenging? Come on, everyone. How many times have we been the first to clear since Phase 1? And yet, even though they were given a full seven hours, they barely managed to figure out one mechanic. Kinda feels unfair, doesn't it?"
Seojun clicked his tongue.
The later the mechanic appears in the raid, the more valuable it is, but they didn't even manage to crack the 10% pattern, did they?
"The person, Tper or whatever, will probably have to admit it too, even if they feel wronged, don't you think?"
- It's Tper, not Tra, you bastard lmao You planned this, didn't you?
- Whoa, Tra! Is the raid leader going to descend upon the New Year's Tra?
- He's gonna be a total social butterfly.
- Quite a few people already know him, though.
- Is the Great Seotchivi going?
- If he verifies that he stays afk for a fucking long time there, I'll admit it lmao
- The Great Seotchivi x The Tale of Sword Cloud o lololololololololol
- Will we manage 0 hits again today!
"0 hits doesn't really mean anything. The first clear is everything. Yes. So anyway, it's a total steal, right? Yes, I admit it. Who told them not to sleep?"
After logging into RaCl, Seojun immediately formed a raid party and entered the Four Heavenly Kings raid.
The first gate hasn't been cleared yet. They have to start over from the beginning.
And that's fine. They'll just do it.
- fr who told them not to sleep?
- Did someone threaten them with a knife?
- lmao ez steal
- This guy's just a genius. He needs to go to grad school!
- But getting first clear like this is a bit... lol
- It is kinda cowardly.
The same person sent two chats in a row.
‘Could it be Tra... Tper-nim?’
Hoping it wasn't someone who should be asleep trying to act cool by chatting, Seojun brushed it off and spoke.
"Hmm. Well, fine. When to take breaks and all that is part of each raid leader's own capabilities, but it seems some people aren't happy about it."
"What? Someone's saying that?"
"Good morning."
"Hahaha, it's like you were being considerate of this old man, but people are talking, calling it cowardly or whatever."
Everyone gathered at the raid's starting point.
"If we clear it within a few hours, will you guys acknowledge it then?"
- If it's a first clear, they should just acknowledge it, why so much talk lolololololololol
- It's all strategy! Who told them not to sleep!!!!
- fr lol
- Still, to be fair, maybe about 5 hours would be appropriate?
- Since Tper’s party said they're coming back at 1 PM, let’s just clear it within 5 hours lol
"5 hours? Very well. 2 and a half hours! If we can't clear it within 2 and a half hours, then for a fair fight, we'll rest for 2 and a half hours and come back at 1 PM. That work for everyone?"
"Yes, sounds good."
"If you say so, Seojun-nim."
- Hell yeah!
- Declaring a clear in 2 and a half hours!
- So if they had kept going yesterday, they would've cleared it?
- There's a possibility. Honestly, watching Tper’s party, I was getting frustrated with the raid leader lmao
- fr If it had been our raid leader, he would've grabbed the boss by the collar and thrown it out of the map!
- He can't do that either, you moron.
- The crazy bastard is putting shackles on himself again!
Seojun didn't put these limits on for no reason.
"In return! If you all are going to acknowledge it, shouldn't there be some show of sincerity? So let's do it like this. We'll take it as a mission. If we fail to clear by 10:30, we'll rest as promised, and if we get the first clear, we'll accept your goodwill. Just so you know, if the sincerity is lacking, I'll just ignore the mission and we won't rest."
In that instant, the expressions of the raid members became a little strange.
It was the kind of look you give when you're staring at something that isn't quite human.
"What? You've got to do at least this much. Come on."
- Screw fairness, he's just trying to squeeze money out of them lololol
- lololololol Hurry up and put up the mission reward money, you guys who want the first clear lololololololololololol
- He's ruthless, so ruthless lmao
- So the ones desperate for first clear will have to pay up lmaoooooo
- Customized extortion lololol
Listening to the mission reward money piling up, Seojun thought to himself.
‘Is there a chance they would've cleared it if they kept going yesterday?’
Probably not.
A person's concentration is a finite resource, and just pouring more of it in doesn't necessarily produce results.
‘We took proper rest.’
It'll be much smoother than yesterday.
In any kind of practice, your skill doesn't improve much on the same day, but it shoots up after a good night's sleep.
Enough that you can feel it yourself.
"Let's go."
So, 2 and a half hours.
It was probably doable.
* * *
‘2 and a half hours, 2 and a half hours.’
Tper, who was typing in the chat, realized from Seojun's broadcast that another opportunity had come for them.
‘Now I really have to sleep….’
He'd sleep, wake up, and watch the guide for the 10% HP mechanic. Watch it, copy it, and they'd clear it.
And just like that, they'd take back those viewers.
So all he had to do now was rest.
And then, the broadcast raid began.
Though he knew he had to sleep right away, Tper watched with his own eyes one last time to see how much their raid skill had improved after sleeping and waking up.
And then.
With countless parries and neat, organized movements, they cleared Phase 1 in less than 15 minutes.
[Oh? Seriously, just like Seojun-nim said, after sleeping on it, the memories are way more vivid. My body moves better.]
[Did you even calculate this? As expected, you have the qualifications to be my comrade!]
[Leader, just stick to killing trash mobs.]
In Phase 2, they met the Red Knight Pain in less than 30 minutes, succeeded in the 80% and 60% HP mechanics, and were approaching the 40% HP mechanic when...
Tper denied reality.
[‘Sword God 1’ has incapacitated the Red Knight Pain!]
[‘Sword God 1’ has incapacitated the Red Knight Pain!]
[‘Sword God 1’ has incapacitated the Red Knight Pain!]
‘That difficult thing….’
The countless skeleton attacks that had frustrated them were being blocked. So easily.
It was so smooth that he wondered why they had almost been caught up to the previous day. In the broadcast, Seojun was freely parrying the attacks as if playing with a young nephew.
[Nice! Meteor! Hahahaha!]
[Dodging has gotten easier, and Seojun-nim even parries for us, making it way more comfortable.]
[Feels like we're somewhere between half-skilled and full-skilled!]
The 40% HP pattern.
The other party had reached it first but ended their attempts there, so technically, this was the first time this group was trying the mechanic.
Even though the other party had revealed the method to counter it, there should have been at least a few failures.
[Nice, 119-nim!]
[The coordination was great, and our raid still has 0 hits! And now the floor pattern again!]
[Sword God is a god!]
As if they had discussed it among themselves in the morning, the enemies properly took their positions and did it in one go.
What about the irregular attack patterns afterward?
[‘Sword God 1’ has incapacitated the Red Knight Pain!]
[‘Sword God 1’ has incapacitated the Red Knight Pain!]
[‘Sword God 1’ has incapacitated the Red Knight Pain!]
Blocked.
Blocked again.
All of this happened in just 30 minutes.
The attacks that had taken the other party hours to get used to, Seojun’s party was clearing much more easily with that single parrying technique.
But even in this truly despairing situation, Tper didn't lose hope. He added 100,000 won to the mission prize pool, turned off his phone, and closed his eyes.
‘Damn. Still, cracking the 10% mechanic and clearing it will take at least 2 hours, no matter what. So now, for real….’
And in that moment, Tper fell into a deep sleep.
* * *
From Seojun's perspective, the 10% HP mechanic that one party had so painstakingly displayed for everyone after staying up all night was this:
First, an NPC message appears, saying the boss is trying to recover its health, and the boss stands still after swinging its sword wide in the center.
The Red Knight's greatsword—which had been destroyed in Phase 1 and then reassembled into a weapon—shattered back into fragments at this moment, starting to orbit the edge of the map like Saturn's rings.
Next, three statues rose up at the 6 o'clock position, at the bottom, sending energy to the boss.
And the boss's health recovered in an instant. Up to 20% HP.
After 10 seconds, the boss used a huge party-wipe attack, killing everyone.
That was all there was to it.
The rest had to be deduced from here.
Those who reached it first were flustered and couldn't find out anything.
The moment they reached the 10% HP phase, Seojun's party immediately sprang into action.
[Danger! The Red Knight Pain is trying to recover its health!]
They had already discussed what to check in advance.
"The boss can be hit! The health recovery is too fast, so it's hard to tell for sure!"
Taewu shouted.
And shortly after, other voices began to be heard.
"Nothing on the 12 o'clock side! Same thing even if you go inside!"
The countless sword fragments orbiting the map's edge.
Someone had gone into that zone to check.
To see if there was anything there or not.
"Nothing at 3 o'clock either."
"Even with a shield, you die in one hit. Heh heh."
"Confirmed."
Ppoppi Appa’s role was to check the damage of the sword fragments rapidly rotating around the edge.
Since he said you die in just one hit, they had to be careful dodging.
"9 o'clock, same here, nothing."
Finally, after hearing from Tasting Corner, Seojun looked straight ahead.
Seojun had been tasked with exploring the 6 o'clock area, where the statues were, while dodging the fragments orbiting around like space junk.
Having arrived early with his hands behind his back, dodging the flying fragments, Seojun pieced together the information.
"If you come to 6 o'clock, you can touch or hit the statues…."
BOOOOM!
10 seconds had passed.
The party-wipe attack came down.
* * *
"So first, we'll probably have to destroy all these statues, right?"
That was everyone's consensus.
"That's what I'm thinking too."
"Do we need three people? Or can one person destroy them all?"
"Probably three are needed? But maybe not."
When Seojun asked Taewu, Taewu replied.
"In that case, what are the remaining three or five people supposed to do inside the map?"
"Once we destroy all the statues, won't something come up?"
"Oh, as expected of Tasting Corner-nim."
"Then for the next attempt, three go to 6 o'clock, and three stay inside and hit the boss?"
"Hmm, getting to the statues and breaking them within 10 seconds doesn't seem that hard in itself, but who should go to the 6 o'clock side?"
"Ah! Before that, hold on a moment, everyone."
"What is it, Seojun-nim?"
"The mission success reward collected so far is 2 million won, but that's not enough. Remember, if we can't clear it by 10:30, the mission fails and this money goes back to you all."
After that, they proceeded with the raid smoothly.
But time, as always, never goes as you wish.
While they put in a few more attempts and searched for the clear method, time flowed by quickly and was getting tight.
Seojun might have judged it was still okay, but others didn't think so.
Especially the parties that had given up on the early morning first clear early on and gone to sleep, and though they hadn't gotten a full night's rest, somehow woke up to challenge again.
Incidentally, since their desire for the first clear had been strong, they had shown a lot of 'sincerity' in the mission pool, making Seojun's failure all the more desperate for them.
[Even these ridiculously skilled top-tier players took this long, but they're just short of being fully adept]
==
Once again… that one person who was already perfectly skilled from the start was truly amazing, weren't they?
==
[The first clear will come from a normal player party.]
==
That’s us!
First, it seems Tper’s party is done for,
and soon, if it just passes 10 o'clock!!!!!
We’re snatching it lol
Just so you know, to make that happen, our party put in 200,000 won of mission reward money.
......You evil bastard...
==
- Since they're writing posts instead of raiding, they probably won't make it lol
└fr lol
[Where did the Monster Ball go?]
==
The Monster's form is insane, saying he'd ruin the party in Raven and still not a single piece of news about him!
==
[It's not the vanguard that cracks the mechanic who is strong]
==
In the end, the one who lands the last hit first is the strong one!
10 o'clock.
It's almost here.
==
- So, can you guys even clear it by 1 PM?
└Who knows? (Post author)
- What about Tper?
└Became a child of a new nation and is sleeping like a log lolololololololol If you ask me, I don't think his party will wake up by 1 PM either lolololololol and it's Tper, by the way.
The frontrunner, ahead but in danger if they don't enter within the time limit. And...
"Ahhh. Everyone? We'll clear it now. We'll gladly accept the 4 million won worth of sincerity."
The trailing parties, desperately trying to catch up to that frontrunner while wishing they'd trip over a stone right in front of their nose.
[lolololololololol Yep, it's right in front of their nose now]
[We need to clear it this time, but you don't have a method!]
[We'll be taking back the sincerity we offered now!]
Finally, the final race, involving someone fast asleep, ignited into flames.