Chapter 255
The information obtained from the first 10-bar life-drain pattern was as follows.
You can attack the boss for 10 seconds.
The damage from the sword fragments orbiting the map's border is so high that even with a shield, a single hit would kill you.
There is nothing to confirm outside of 6 o'clock. The same goes for the observer.
At 6 o'clock, there is a new space that appears beyond the space debris zone and three statues.
The statues can be destroyed.
Destroying only one changes nothing.
Previously known information was as follows.
The boss's health recovers from 10 bars to 20 bars, and failure results in a total party wipe.
Based on this, Seo-jun’s raid party began searching for a solution.
That was at 8:30.
And their timer was until 10:30.
Two hours remained.
Assuming the team members minimized mistakes in the normal patterns and didn't fail any mechanics, and assuming Seo-jun didn’t fail at parrying, they could reach 10 bars in 12 minutes, so they had roughly 10 attempts left.
For reference, they had agreed that starting a try by 10:29 would also be accepted.
- No but lol you think you can clear this hard thing by 1 o’clock? lol
- The tortoise could beat the hare because it was a tortoise, you guys are snails!
- Looking at yesterday’s first clear, if you get somewhat lucky you might catch up, but calling you snails is a bit lol
- Anyway, is the 10-bar pattern the end? Or you can just rest like the party leader slept yesterday and it’s over.
- Did he know even this and made that statement?!
No, it wasn’t that.
It was just about the money.
Anyway, people were engaged in countless verbal battles.
About what would happen.
Would they find a way, clear whatever comes next, and become the final winners of the race?
Or would someone who had been lagging behind seize the chance of the leader's arrogance and stage an upset victory?
Seo-jun's party's goal for the second try was to destroy all the statues.
Three would go to 6 o'clock and three would stay.
On the second try, they reached 10 bars safely and reliably once again.
- Parrying is seriously cheating
- That really needs some nerfing on the boss patterns, it seems?
- Lol you want to raise the difficulty even more? lol As I see it, once first clear comes out, it's confirmed Red Knight Pain will get consecutive difficulty nerfs, you crazy bastards lol
- That just shows how amazing the party leader is~
The members assigned to go to 6 o'clock and destroy the statues were Dangso, 119, and Tae-woo.
Ppoppi Appa said it seemed hard to dodge the fragments flying from the side.
Sisik Koneo stayed because at least one support was needed.
Seo-jun naturally stayed, as the team members thought it would be reassuring to have him inside in case something happened after destroying all the statues.
"Go!"
"That's actually quite threatening, so let's go slowly with just the thought of getting inside within 10 seconds!"
"Yes."
[Warning! Red Knight Pain is trying to recover his health!]
He swings his sword, and the sword fragments circle the border forming a danger zone, while the statues pop out.
The three inside waited at a slight distance from the boss, and the 6 o'clock dispatch group each rushed into the danger zone.
"Quaaack!"
Dangso yelled.
He had died while running.
Time had already passed 3 seconds.
4 seconds.
The other two entered beyond.
"Sorry!"
But such mistakes can happen to anyone at any time.
And they had already discussed what to do if someone failed.
"Done!"
Tae-woo destroyed two statues and 119 destroyed one.
"Any changes inside? Seo-jun?"
5 seconds.
There was none.
The boss's health hadn’t increased beyond the 20 bars it had from the start anyway.
'Is the party-wipe skill canceled?'
6 seconds.
7 seconds.
8 seconds.
9 seconds.
10 seconds.
The party-wipe skill came down.
Of course, it couldn’t be that simple.
* * *
On the third attempt, they got hit by too many basic attacks in the middle, causing a sword to be summoned, so they quickly pressed restart.
There was talk that in tackling Red Knight Pain, it was better to step on the floor AOEs and attack teammates rather than get hit by the boss's attacks, and Seo-jun agreed.
- Wouldn't something change if you enter the 10-bar phase while a sword is summoned?
- That's too much.
- After 40 bars, he summons clones, so what if you go into 10 bars with three clones summoned? Might something happen?
- Oh! What a stupid idea! Let's do it right away!
Fourth attempt.
They reached 10 bars safely and three ran out again.
This time, all three threw away their impatience and safely reached the place with the statues and destroyed them. One by one.
"Anything different inside?"
"No."
They waited.
Still, the viewers expected a change since three people each destroyed one this time.
The raid party felt the same.
But the party-wipe skill came down.
"No!"
"What the, we need to do something else?"
"When you destroy the statues, a red aura surrounds your body, should we return with that?"
"It seems like it's contagious."
It wasn't a frustrating matter.
To solve a mechanic, you naturally had to meet specific conditions, and countless failures were expected until you found those conditions.
And Seo-jun rather enjoyed this process.
"What kind of change should we try?"
Fifth attempt.
Time spent: 40 minutes.
There was no time to waste pondering over what to try.
- I said let's go to 10 bars with three clones summoned lol
- You hit the clones with the sword fragments!
- That's too much, guys
And when they got below 40 bars, Sisik Koneo and Tae-woo made consecutive mistakes, summoning clones.
[Matusisikkoneoroyeonmyeongham: Oh, right. Surprisingly, hyung makes mistakes too. Hyung is human too]
'Crazy.'
Seo-jun thought.
- Yeah lol nobody's surprised
- Acting like he just made a mistake for the first time, this bastard lol
Even with clones summoned, they kept fighting and reached 10 bars.
The movements of the clones were a bit slower, and their attack range was limited to swinging and slamming down, so for them, who were more than half-experienced, smooth play was possible as long as Seo-jun neutralized the boss.
"Who kept saying something would change if we bring clones to 10 bars? Come out. Nothing changed here."
Tae-woo complained while briefing.
Of course, there was no need for that.
Since everyone in the raid was inside at 6 o'clock, avoiding the clones lingering in the inner area.
The aura was contagious.
lol
- The chat were possessed by famous detectives, but actually they were at the level of the Junior Detective Squad lol
- You never know if we bring three!
That's right. What they tried this time was for all six to go inside and be near the statues when they destroy them.
For reference, Seo-jun had stayed inside until 4 seconds left to see if the clones would do anything special, then leisurely walked over.
Because for him, dodging the fragments flying from the side and moving over was an easy and quick task.
Anyway, the result was a party wipe.
Sixth attempt.
This time, they decided that the members staying inside would attack the boss. The result was again a party wipe.
But.
"Found it."
Seo-jun's eyes gleamed.
"What did you find?"
"There was a point where a change occurred while we were attacking."
"What change? I didn't feel anything?"
Another DPS inside besides Seo-jun, Ppoppi Appa, asked.
"There was a point when the damage suddenly started going in at double. You know when that was, right?"
There was only one timing they could deduce.
That is.
"When all the statues are destroyed?"
Tae-woo voiced what popped into all the raid members' minds.
"Yeah. From that moment, damage doubled."
"Then...?"
"Probably, destroy the statues as fast as possible and..."
"We have to use that increased damage to shave off the health to a certain level or below."
"Yeah. The key is how much we need to shave off."
One hour remained.
They switched the positions of Seo-jun and Dangso.
It was an obvious choice to have the mage, who could deliver powerful burst damage with the doubled damage effect, on the inside, and Seo-jun, who could traverse the danger zone the fastest though his damage was weaker, go to 6 o'clock.
The others stayed the same.
Since the support provided a damage buff that was worth more than one person's share, there was no need to add another DPS inside.
Seventh attempt.
4 seconds after the pattern started, the three statues were destroyed, and then the inside members unleashed burst damage.
From 20 bars, it dropped to 16 bars in one go.
But the party-wipe skill was cast.
Eighth attempt.
Again, 4 seconds later the three statues were destroyed, and the same result came out.
Earlier it was 119, this time Tae-woo hesitated for a moment and entered late.
"I'm sorry."
"We need to enter a bit earlier and the timing needs to match."
Would cutting 5 bars break the mechanic?
Ninth attempt.
This time, 119 briefly hesitated again and arrived at the statues late, and the same result occurred.
It couldn't be helped.
Perfectly dodging and entering was definitely difficult.
24 minutes remained, and Seo-jun tried once more with the original member arrangement.
It was the 10th attempt.
And this time, Tae-woo and 119 got hit by the fragments and died.
Seo-jun, who had been waiting for them, destroyed the three statues as soon as they died, but by then it was 5 seconds.
Then, as a test, Seo-jun returned inside.
He could pass the aura to one person. Of course, it resulted in a party wipe.
- Party wipe!
- GG
- Only one try left now lol
- Both must be feeling the pressure lol Look at their faces after getting hit in the side by the fragments lol
Only the last chance remained.
Instead of starting right away, they took a brief rest.
Whether they started now or 11 minutes later, it was the same.
For reference, the viewers were gleefully laughing.
- What happened to the hare again?
- The party leader is really just a hare lol
- The height of arrogance!!!
- Losing the first clear while trying to make money is quite rare lol
- Awesome, I'll get my mission fee back!
- Lol just rest easy and come back, you bastard, I'll get the first clear
They roughly had a feel for the pattern, but the problem was the team members' mechanical proficiency.
At this rate, they absolutely couldn't clear it.
Then they needed to change something, but there was something to confirm first.
"So, was the double damage applied as is?"
"Yes. It seems double damage applies whenever they are destroyed, regardless of who destroys them."
Good.
It looked like they could give up on the standard approach.
"Ah-ah. Everyone? We'll clear it now. We'll gladly accept the 4 million won's worth of your sincerity."
That is.
He would try clearing it solo.
Wasn't that the most certain way, after all?
Seo-jun smiled.
* * *
The developers, upon hearing Seo-jun's strategy, let out a collective sigh.
"Clearing it with that method? Is that possible?"
"If he does it that way, he can solve the 10-bar mechanic very easily, sure."
There was one condition to weaken the party-wipe skill of the 10-bar pattern.
Getting the boss's health below 15 bars within 10 seconds.
To supply that damage, you had to destroy the statues.
But was that all? Does that make it work? No.
Three people had to go, get the red aura, and return.
But the method Seo-jun mentioned made that impossible.
Therefore.
"The overall raid success will be difficult. The first clear will be delayed past 1 o'clock. Maybe another party will luckily steal it."
"Why? It could end here, you know."
"End it in one go? Of course, there's no specific group mechanic, so it's theoretically possible, but..."
The raid team leader paused for a moment.
It wouldn't be too late to speak after seeing the result.
* * *
The method Seo-jun thought of was simple.
He alone would quickly enter the statue area and destroy all three statues.
It could be done in 2 seconds. Inside, five would deal damage.
Thus.
"10 bars!"
"If even 10 bars doesn't work, we'll have to give this up!"
"Is it solved?"
He was certain the mechanic would be broken.
But.
'Probably...'
Boom!
The weakened party-wipe skill descended and they died. Except for Seo-jun, who had destroyed the statues.
- ???
- He's left alone lol
"Huh?"
"Seo-jun, will you be alone?"
"Hey! You deliberately didn't come back inside! To clear it solo!"
Seo-jun didn't bother to voice his thought that having one more person survive probably wouldn't matter much.
The standard method was probably for three people to quickly enter, destroy the statues, come back, and pass the red aura one by one so all six survived.
But there was only one chance, and the team's ability to execute mechanics was lacking, so Seo-jun chose to remain alone.
Surely, if he was alone, there would be difficulties in shaving off the remaining health afterwards.
Look.
A timer appeared too. 1 minute.
Still, seeing that the timer was tight, it was half-confirmed that there were no more mechanics to solve.
Then?
"I'll just clear it like this. I'll go for a solo brawl."
Indeed.
Now that he was alone.
Somehow, he felt more at ease.
* * *
"Yes, so Team Leader? We've come to a one-on-one brawl."
"Now. His class is Beginner, and there's one person instead of six, right? The map will gradually shrink, and lacking damage, it's certain an enrage will come after the timer. The timer is 1 minute. 1 minute. But if it's possible to withstand the enrage and clear 10 bars with a Beginner's damage on the first try... That person is a god..."
Yesterday, the raid team leader who had clearly highly praised Seo-jun denied it.
After all, this was the final phase where he had put the most effort into adjusting the difficulty.
"He's the Sword God."
"..."
But then the raid team leader was at a loss for words.
"I see. Then, Director? What do you think, Director?"
"Team Leader. Just prepare the congratulatory message."
He was at a loss for words once more.
"I will prepare it, Director!"
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