"Amazing! A one-try clear! You have no idea how shocked I was. It felt like the poise of a veteran who's hunted Patu hundreds of times! How on earth did you keep a talent like this hidden?"
"Haha. Calm down, Ashlyn. We haven't cleared the citadel yet, have we? It's just one monster down."
Minguk chuckled at Ashlyn's heated excitement. If she was this worked up over a minor kill, he couldn't even imagine her reaction to something truly massive.
'Huh?'
Past memories flashed through his mind in an instant. Ashlyn had gotten wildly excited like this after downing high-difficulty bosses before. She'd even stripped off her top and nearly danced around naked, like Lin Sha once did.
He hadn't seen it in person, but the memory brought a fond smile to his face. Not to disparage Easterners, but Ashlyn's assets put the everyday A-cups he was used to back home to shame.
Unconsciously, his gaze drifted to her chest. It was just instinct for any guy. But reason kicked in quick, and his eyes locked onto hers instead.
Anyway, her reaction reminded him of athletes losing it in joy at festivals, Olympics, or World Cups. Weren't condoms at peak sales during those global events?
"You're right! But honestly, I thought I wouldn't pass the Raid Qualification Exam this year either. Ever since Raid Leader Runia left the team, I haven't even slept properly!"
"This year will be different."
"Yeah. Because we've got you, Minguk. We're passing that exam no matter what."
That was exactly what Minguk wanted too.
Patu's reward chest yielded a single B-grade skill stone—for physical dealers only. Class restrictions meant Lin Sha couldn't equip it, nor could Yuna. After consulting the team, they decided to auction it off.
"Prep and the Patu fight took about three hours, so that's roughly 20,000 won per hour? Not bad pay."
The stone's market price was around 300 dollars. Split five ways, that was 60 bucks—about 70,000 won. But they weren't risking their lives against monsters for pocket change like that.
After defeating Patu, the group took a breather and pressed deeper into the citadel. Goblins spotted them and charged with rusty weapons, but they were no threat. Outside the raid monsters, these were just weaklings to loosen up against. Even at one-star level, the team handled them with ease.
As they moved, Minguk drilled them on the next raid monster's patterns and key cautions. Unlike Blood Armored Goblin Patu, this one demanded trial and error. True to its final-boss status, the patterns were tricky.
🩸 Blood-Stealing Kuwala 🩸 ▷ Kuwala uses the wide-area skill Blood Absorption every 2 minutes in a 20m radius around itself. Affected gamers stack debuffs—the more stacks, the greater the damage from AoE skills. ▷ Kuwala charges powerfully toward the tank's position. This deals 80–200 physical damage based on defense. Targets can be chosen randomly too. ▷ The tank blocks Kuwala's attacks and must break off from the battlefield to dodge Blood Absorption if aggro demands it, then re-engage. ▷ Melee dealers must exit the battlefield every 2 minutes to avoid Blood Absorption. Time it mentally while dealing damage to evade stacks. ▷ Ranged dealers and healers position to the tank's left/right, ready to dodge charges at any time. A healer hit by one could be crippled or insta-killed with poor gear.
If they were raid veterans, a few explanations would've sufficed. But compared to his old teammates, these girls were total newbies. They'd need time to adapt to patterns. Raids weren't some button-mashing game.
At least they had Revival Stones. Without them, he might've scrapped the clear. No way were they dying for this.
"Perfect leading again, Leader."
Lin Sha trusted Minguk's calls after Patu. Makes sense—they'd even teamed with someone like Runia as raid leader.
"This raid hinges on Blood stacks. The more you have, the exponentially worse the damage to the tank. Hyun-ah, I figure heals start slipping past three stacks."
"Whew. Gonna be sweating buckets."
"Obviously—while grabbing aggro and running. Ranged dealers keep DPS up the whole time you and Lin Sha are repositioning."
"...."
In the end, the tank's performance decided it. But that was every fight. Tank, dealers, healer in sync to topple the big ones.
"Run! Hyun-ah, 9 o'clock! Lin Sha, 1 o'clock!"
"Raaargh!!!"
"Ranged dealers, hold DPS! Aggro's shaky!!!"
Six minutes into the Kuwala raid, the team—especially Hyun-ah and the tank—were drenched in sweat. Every two minutes, they had to create 20 meters of distance.
Hyun-ah couldn't pre-empt it either. The second she tried pulling away, Kuwala chased to attack the tank. Her only window: five seconds of cast time.
And covering 20 meters in heavy gear mid-clash? No easy feat.
"Fuck! Kyaaak!"
The second casting started, she bolted cursing—but Blood Absorption clipped her. From one stack, it shaved over half her HP. Lethal to a dealer. And that was Kuwala's third use.
"Two stacks!"
Hyun-ah had dodged only once so far. Minguk wasn't disappointed, though. She was timing it decently. Experience would handle the rest.
'But that's later. One more hit, and she's toast before I can heal.'
Stacks amplified skill damage exponentially. At her spec and gear, even two was pushing it—three if lucky. Even if she survived, he couldn't save her.
Kuwala still had over 60% HP. Shaky aggro meant dealers held back. Lin Sha's constant repositioning tanked her DPS too. Unlike Hyun-ah, she hadn't nailed the timing.
White-flag territory, but Minguk pressed on. Experience mattered more than the win. Revival Stones covered wipes.
The raid failed. Exhausted Hyun-ah ate another Absorption and insta-died. Aggro flipped, and Kuwala one-shot the dealers—including Minguk. Total wipe.
At least they weren't goblin playthings.
"Damn it! Twenty meters! Why's it feel so far?! Why couldn't I dodge?!"
"Not bad for a first go."
Minguk patted her shoulder as she clutched her head. She peeked up.
"R-Really? It was okay? Just keep at it like that?"
"Mm-hm."
Her mood swing was lightning-fast.
"Yeah. But focus more on movement. Don't just bail wildly—instead, stun Kuwala with a heavy hit right before pulling away. Or boost your body with mana control once you're solid."
"Aha. Heavy hit—like a stun skill. Mana control needs two stars, though."
"Stun help from Lin Sha works too."
Tanks equipped defense skills; melee dealers grabbed CC like stuns or silences as needed.
"Next: Ashlyn and Choi Yuna."
Two more raids with that duo revealed one issue: dealers ignoring aggro checks.
'Good physicals, weak brains.'
Monsters didn't tunnel-tank. Threat overrode that. Aggro managed it.
High tank aggro let dealers unload. Low? Dial back. How well you juggled it separated good DPS from bad.
Ashlyn, Yuna, and Lin Sha barely scratched Kuwala. Lin Sha dodged Absorption nonstop; the others played scared of aggro flips.
"Tough, but check meters mid-fight for aggro. Hyun-ah dipping out doesn't mean instant target swap. No need to panic."
Even if DPS spiked aggro during Absorption, post-cast Hyun-ah could reclaim it before hits landed.
"And Lin Sha—too much needless movement. You're bouncing around instead of committing DPS. Look: Gear Score 78, but DPS at 16? Should be averaging 56."
"Ugh. Sorry. I'll do better. Yeah, I was all over the place."
"Good. Next try, focus up."
He doubted they'd down it even with advice. But high-end raids demanded habits now. Red Goblin Citadel was just B-9 difficulty.