Chapter 925

It was late, and the raid continued.

The party members’ skills were improving, but their concentration and stamina were gradually decreasing, which made the raid longer.

Though they took breaks in between, after repeating the same thing, they had to strategize for a new pattern, which was bound to tire them out.

‘I’ve gotten used to the water slap, but now I’m dying to the new patterns. Even though I want to practice the new ones, mistakes keep happening during the process of losing health...’

The raid was like perfectly memorizing multiplication tables from 2 to 9.

When the boss's health is at 20% and the party wipes, they have to start over with the boss at 100% health.

To put it in simpler terms, even if you make a mistake on the 7th table, you have to go back to the beginning and start over from the 2nd table.

As a result, mistakes would even happen on the 3rd or 6th tables, which were previously fine, and the party became more exhausted.

During such times, focusing, issuing orders, and briefing the party as the leader became crucial.

However, there was a limit, no matter how good the party leader was.

"After the water slap, we’ll get a rain of arrows. We’ll go clockwise from 5 o’clock. Be careful."

"Confirming clockwise from 5 o'clock."

"...Huh? Oh!"

Yoo Sang-hoon gave the correct order, but the party members couldn’t follow it.

Jang Nam-uk tried to go to 7 o’clock on his own but turned counterclockwise by mistake and died, and Dosihu, while teasing Jang Nam-uk, died to the next pattern.

[HAHAHAHAHAHA]

[Newbie trolls are so fun to watch lol]

[In the first try of a raid, brain freezes happen often, lol. I get it…]

[The spearman died again, lol. The screams are so on point, lol]

In any game that involves team fights, if you don’t understand the analog clock, you won’t be able to adapt.

Usually, when giving directions, the times are referred to based on the map, and clockwise or counterclockwise is specified for direction.

If you’re not familiar with reading an analog clock, you won’t understand, and people who are used to digital clocks will take some time to adapt.

‘Jang Nam-uk probably knows how to read an analog clock, but in a tense situation, he hasn’t gotten used to quickly understanding and moving. There will be more mistakes in the future.’

Dosihu must have thought the same and, lying down, sketched something on the hologram before sending it to Jang Nam-uk.

The analog clock drawn by hand had the clockwise and counterclockwise directions marked clearly.

"I’ll draw a clock for you! Put it in front of you and use it!"

"...Thanks."

Jang Nam-uk looked reluctant, but Dosihu had made a wise move.

During a raid, having a note like that next to the map would reduce retries caused by analog clock issues.

But mistakes kept happening.

"Evade to the left!"

"Left? Is that my left or the character’s left? Ahhh!"

"Haha, this is so funny."

[Spearman died again, lol. That scream though, hahaha]

[It really sounds like someone got slapped?]

[The shieldbearer is laughing out loud, lol]

[If my friend was next to me doing that, I think I’d explode.]

[The shieldbearer and spearman started at the same time but survived with their physical abilities, damn]

"Debuff cleanse!"

"It’s on cooldown. Use an item."

"I’ve used all the items!"

According to the calculations, the debuff cleanse items should have been available, but they weren’t.

It seemed I had used the items while using my skill earlier.

It was a common mistake for beginners to use items while overlapping with the supporter’s heals and debuff cleanses.

In the end, small mistakes added up, and the retries kept repeating.

[In a public party, the support or tank would’ve quit by now.]

[I would’ve quit too, shouting ‘quick wipe!’ lol]

[Maybe it’s because they’re all players, their health is better, so the mood doesn’t drop.]

[Is this exaggeration? lol]

[You should leave then.]

The chat, which had been relatively peaceful for hours, started to become a mess as midnight passed.

The people who wanted to sleep went to bed, and as the night deepened, more angry and aggressive viewers started to appear.

[Spearman, stop dying already! lol]

[What do you mean 'hyung'? The spearman is a sophomore, how old are you? Stop being a newbie.]

[Those who still eat school meals should sleep too.]

[All the kids in this broadcast are eating school meals though.]

[Not only eating school meals, but also taking debuffs. How’s it taste?]

[But why aren’t they eating buffs???]

[Maybe they’re saving them for later, don’t misunderstand.]

[Just shut up and watch. It’s fun, why complain?]

[(Message deleted by the manager.)]

The chaotic back-and-forth in the chat resumed, but the party members, including Jang Nam-uk, the primary target, weren’t paying attention to the chat.

There were still patterns that had not been broken, so everyone was busy researching and discussing them.

I, the manager, was checking the chat, and Yoo Sang-hoon was only checking it during break times to thank the sponsors and interact.

Though communication was cut off during the raid, seeing the state of the chat today, I felt it was the right decision.

"..."

It was quiet for a moment, and Yoo Sang-hoon seemed lost in thought as he reviewed the recorded game footage.

The first-person recorded footage of Yoo Sang-hoon was full of excitement, showing the player’s perspective while fighting.

But I couldn’t figure out why he was watching this.

‘We’ve been repeating this for hours; did he notice something off?’

Wondering if he found a bug, I looked at the screen with him when Yoo Sang-hoon spoke.

"Hey, do you remember last year’s youth camp?"

[Last year’s youth camp? Oh, there was that incident at Yeonggwang High.]

[Looks like the shieldbearer was there too.]

[Talking about the incident with the Blue Violinist and the Wall of the Sea video.]

[Ah, I saw that too.]

[What’s that?]

[Let’s watch it, share the link.]

[The chat can’t share links, just search it yourself.]

During the youth camp last year, the chaotic wave summoned by Kim Yuri’s Gwangrim had engulfed the island.

Last year, Kwon Je-in’s Gwangrim, the Song of the Sea, and Kwon Re-na’s ensemble had successfully calmed the waves, but in this instance, that didn’t happen.

The waves swallowed most of the island, causing massive casualties, and Kim Yuri didn’t attend school until she died in the First Christmas scenario.

‘I also remember that time.’

Yoo Sang-hoon continued.

He slowed down the footage and pointed at a specific spot.

Behind the corrupted spirit that was calling the waves, an unnoticed light effect appeared, and as the effect intensified, faint scream-like sounds could be heard.

The grand BGM masked it, but if you listened closely, it was faint.

"I see something in the footage that doesn’t seem related to the strategy. It could just be a simple effect, but... maybe there’s a hidden item, map, or strategy involved."

I realized why Yoo Sang-hoon had brought up last year’s youth camp.

In this game, we were being led to defeat the cause of the waves.

But during the similar event at the youth camp, they handled it in a different way.

"Are you suggesting we should handle it like the Blue Violinist did? With the Bard’s Gwangrim or skills?"

"If we had abilities similar to the Blue Violinist, it’d be possible."

"We don’t have any Gwangrim or skills that deal with the sea."

[There are other ways to handle it than directly defeating it.]

[Ah, I’m dying to know. Can I give a hint?]

[But even if you use that method, the result will be the same, right?]

[Are you talking about just waiting for Haetak to get exhausted and die?]

[Giving advice is punishable.]

[(Message deleted by the manager.)]

[Ugh, the advice trolls again.]

[How long has it been since this game opened and the chat is already flooded with them. You know other strategies?]

[It’s always the veterans who hang around newbie streamers lol]

Nang Gukyeon quickly deleted the detailed advice from the chat, but from the earlier comments, it was clear.

The fast-progressing strategy teams had probably chosen to endure the fight, not defeat it, to succeed.

However, it seemed that whichever method was chosen, the result was the same.

‘The game must have hidden elements, but the outcome stays the same…’

It’s common in poorly made games that users don’t get rewards for special achievements, but it didn’t seem like that would happen in this great game.

It seemed Yoo Sang-hoon had the same thought, and the discussion stretched on.

Some viewers enjoyed the detective process, but others were getting tired of discussing content that had already been mostly explored.

[Ugh, when will this meeting end.]

[Anyway, the spearman will die again, and it’ll be a retry. The class balance is a mess, why is the weakest spearman being handled by a newbie?]

[The spearman is really too weak... needs a buff…]

[Spearman is so weak, needs a buff…]

[Spearman is pathetic, needs buffs.]

[Why is the archer getting hit? You’re building a gunner, right?]

[Gunner’s definitely getting nerfed in the next patch, I bet.]

[Yeah, I’m not building a gunner, lol. Doesn’t matter to me if they nerf it.]

[If you’re going to discuss class balance, do it outside;;;]

[What time did this broadcast start? How much of it did you watch?]

[Ugh, I’m already sick of seeing that question. I’m more annoyed by class balance talk than anything else.]

[Please block the villain in the broadcast.]

[We started in the afternoon. We’re almost done and now discussing pointless things.]

Seeing the class balance discussion pop up again, I realized we couldn’t waste any more time.

Nang Gukyeon had declared he would block anyone discussing class balance, but this topic was inevitable, so I had to hurry.

‘The patterns we’ve seen, the advice in the chat, the discomfort Yoo Sang-hoon found…’

As I organized the clues in my head, the three who were debating became silent.

"Ah..."

"We just noticed something, didn’t we?"

"Yeah, a lot."

Their eyes were fixed on me.

In the chat, a message had popped up, asking to show a suspicious face.

Ignoring the surrounding reactions, I proposed to Yoo Sang-hoon.

"When we get past this pattern, I want to try something."

"Got it."

"I haven’t said what I want to do yet."

"I know, I’ll do it."

"We’ll do it too!"

"Yeah, we’ll do it."

Even though I hadn’t explained what I wanted to do, Yoo Sang-hoon said he would do it, and the other two nodded.

I still intended to explain, but Yoo Sang-hoon, uninterested in listening, entered the raid.

It seemed he thought it’d be more fun to just act without listening.

I couldn’t expect a strategic gamer mentality from someone enjoying the game with a bunch of newbies.

Thanks to the long discussion, our party reduced Haetak’s health faster than ever.

Finally, Haetak’s remaining health dropped below 5%.

We were on the brink of taking the opponent down.

—Aaaaaaaaaah...!

The spirit’s scream shook the space.

Drops of water became heavy like bullets, bouncing around, and a spray of water spread outward, with the sea rising like a wall, enclosing the map and the spirit.

Then, four water columns, called "Water Offering’s Corrosion," were summoned, just like in Phase 1.

Behind the sea wall, the spirit screamed, and the four water columns that were sending power to it stood before us.

"We almost have it, but its health is rising! We need to finish it quickly!"

"This must be the final pattern."

[Let’s go go go]

[The king is here.]

[Please kill it!]

[Hurry! Haetak’s health is filling up!]

[You can get rid of the water columns first. If you’re hitting the spirit, keep your distance.]

[No one asked though.]

[Troll advice again;]

[Even though I block them, the trolls keep showing up.]

The spirit’s health was slowly recovering from the energy of the water columns.

It seemed like this was Haetak’s final pattern.

If we didn’t defeat it in time, we’d have to face Haetak again, fully prepared, after consuming a lot of ability and items.

Jang Nam-uk and Dosihu were getting ready to use their big skills, but since my attack buff hadn’t come up yet, they were waiting without using their skills.

Yoo Sang-hoon was waiting openly for me to give instructions.

"Use Gwangrim to clear the path. We’re going to the spirit behind the wall."

[???]

[You’re going to the spirit?]

[What’s he trying to do?]

[Is he trying to die with us?]

[Why is the Bard doing this?]

[It seems like it’s a newbie thing to troll like this during the raid.]

[Just die alone, don’t mess it up for the shieldbearer.]

[Are you telling Unnamed New Star to die?]

[What a bold person.]

[(Message deleted by the manager.)]

[(Message deleted by the manager.)]

[(Message deleted by the manager.)]

Despite the public opinion, Yoo Sang-hoon ignored it and moved forward.

"I got it."

Since Gwangrim could only be used once per day, a brilliant effect exploded.

When Yoo Sang-hoon lifted the shield infused with abilities, the system message announcing the shieldbearer’s Gwangrim use appeared, and the sea wall cracked open.

Then, I used Gwangrim as well.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om