“Kikikiki! Splitting into two teams at the crossroads was a genius move!”
The guild master of Plan B, ‘Kyuam Jo Hyun-Soo’, was in a good mood.
In the Elite Dungeon Purgatory competition, the speed of defeating named enemies was important, but how efficiently they navigated through the mob zones was equally crucial.
“But you have the stream on, right? Aren’t we just going to help others with this?”
“Kikikiki, it’s not a big deal if a few late parties follow along while watching the stream. What matters is what we show the users.”
Responding to a question from one of the fighters in the Plan B guild, Hyun-Soo ground his teeth at the thought of GG Guild’s master, Woo Gyeol.
“The Hong Baek members don’t need to win, but they at least need to provide more攻略 information than GG Guild if we want to draw players to the Betarion Empire.”
“Oh, so it feels like we’re promoting our faction while streaming the Elite Dungeon攻略?”
With a smile, Hyun-Soo looked at the streaming window. There were two to three times as many viewers as usual watching the broadcast. The flowing user base watching ‘Astria Online’ had all gathered.
“Looks like the Plan B party is the fastest among all parties streaming now? Kikikiki!”
[LOL Kikikiki]
[Your laugh is so funny! Came just to hear it lol]
[Oh~ Hyun-Soo~ Are you going to clear it quickly this time?~]
[Could end up falling like with the Green Dragon, who knows? D:(]
[Kikikiki lol]
[Why does this guy’s laugh sound like that?]
[That’s the appeal of the party leader.]
Hyun-Soo, a bit annoyed by the teasing reactions from existing viewers, forced a smile, despite a vein slightly bulging on his forehead.
“I apologize for not being able to communicate in chat during the trials. Today, I have to focus on攻略 as the party leader of the Elite Dungeon expedition, not as a streamer.”
Lowering the streaming window, Hyun-Soo began issuing orders to his party members.
“First, we have a knight-fighter combination for our side, while the opposite has a fighter-mage combo…”
“Looks like there are two named enemies from level 1 here. Each side would be in charge of one named enemy as a knight and fighter.”
Nodding, Hyun-Soo took a brief look around the level 1 named enemy combat area.
In the center of the horizontally long rectangular combat area, there was a precipice that looked over 30 meters wide, blocking movement between both sides.
And at both sides of the area, there were two square ring-shaped combat zones. This was where Plan B’s raid stood.
“What a unique structure. Are we supposed to fight as a pair, one for each?”
“Um…”
Glancing at the fighters and mages on the other side of the precipice, Hyun-Soo stared intently at the named enemy firmly standing in the center of their area.
A golem kneeling with a spear in one hand. The information on that named enemy was as follows:
[1 Named Enemy]
[Level 48 Thunder Lance Soldier]
[HP 15,000,000 / 15,000,000 (100%)]
[1 Named Enemy]
[Level 48 Earth Shield Soldier]
[HP 15,000,000 / 15,000,000 (100%)]
“This one’s the shield soldier!”
The fighter on the opposite side shouted over the precipice to Hyun-Soo.
“The mob zone has two paths branching from the entrance, which leads to two named enemy combat areas.”
“They said it’s a 4-man dungeon, but if we can’t interfere with one another, it’s essentially like doing two 2-man dungeons simultaneously, right?”
Shaking his head at the fighter’s comment, Hyun-Soo responded.
“From the user’s point of view, it has to be fought as a duo. The other party can’t provide party buffs, either. But the named enemies are different. Remember how, back in the Ancient Temple, there were patterns where the opposite tank would get hit by the Light Sword?”
“Hmm, that’s true.”
“Well, no need to overthink it. Let’s proceed by watching the patterns one by one.”
Clink.
Hyun-Soo drew his sword toward the lance soldier as the fighter on the other side prepared to engage the shield soldier.
The攻略 for the level 1 named enemy, the lance soldier and shield soldier, had begun.
Pakapakapat!
Hyun-Soo carefully responded to the lance soldier’s standard patterns with his sword strikes.
Clang!
The ‘Thunder Lance Soldier’ had straightforward and linear patterns, such as lunging and slamming its spear. The damage seemed excessive, but due to the large movements, blocking was not too challenging.
After observing the general patterns for about two cycles over 30 seconds, Hyun-Soo took a breather and turned to check the combat situation on the shield soldier’s side across the precipice.
The shield soldier swung its shield across a 180-degree arc, slammed down, then concealed its body behind the shield while throwing punches. The massive shield allowed it to block a significant portion of attacks from the front, but due to its slow movements, it seemed manageable for the knight’s ‘Counterattack’ or the fighter’s ‘Evasion Technique’ to get behind and continue attacking.
Whoosh! Bang! Bang!
The shield soldier turned to face the fighter while showing its back to the mage. The fierce skill from the mage was rapidly draining the HP of the shield soldier.
“The defense isn’t particularly high, and the attacks aren’t fast, either. Moreover…”
Thud! Thud!
The fighter on Hyun-Soo’s side swung his axe down from mid-air toward the lance soldier and collided strongly with its shoulder. The fighter then immobilized the stunned lance soldier with the ‘Power Struggle’ skill. Following that, Hyun-Soo unleashed a flurry of quick strikes upon the immobilized lance soldier.
“Status-element chain stun and power struggle worked!”
Hyun-Soo smiled with satisfaction at the successful combination of the fighter’s stun and the strong power struggle skill.
“Good. We might take down the level 1 named enemy more easily than we thought.”
An unexpected turn soon developed in what was a smoothly going攻略 for the level 1 named enemy about one minute into the combat.
Thud! Thud!
Whoosh. Zztzzt!
“What!?”
Rumble!
The ‘Thunder Lance Soldier’ stamped its feet twice and began collecting energy. The moment the electric aura radiated from the lance soldier’s body, Hyun-Soo hurriedly executed ‘Backward Evasion.’
Flash!
Using an invincibility skill, Hyun-Soo took no damage, but the fighter was swept away by the current.
“Huh?”
The fighter wore a dazed expression. His HP didn’t decrease despite not dodging the attack.
“Guild Master, the current is affecting my body! No damage came through!”
“A no-damage area-wide attack?”
Hyun-Soo observed the current surrounding the fighter’s body. Soon, he noticed sparks jumping from his own body as well.
On Hyun-Soo’s status screen appeared a status ailment he had never seen before.
[Current Accumulation Stage 1 (1 minute 30 seconds)]
Hyun-Soo was puzzled.
The fighter had been hit by an area-wide attack while he had resisted it, so how was it that current accumulation was applied to him?
“My attack power increased, though?”
“A buff?”
His attack power had risen by 10%.
Even when using the invincibility skill, it was natural for buffs to apply.
Current accumulation was not a ‘status ailment’ but rather a type of ‘buff.’
Hyun-Soo quickly checked the conditions of his party members on the other side of the precipice.
“How’s it over there?”
“We got an ‘Earth Accumulation Stage 1 buff! Defense increased by 10%!””
Hyun-Soo found himself in even more confusion.
A named enemy that grants buffs?
The buff injection pattern took place every minute during combat. Now, strong sparks were jumping off of both Hyun-Soo and the fighter.
[Current Accumulation Stage 3 (50 seconds)]
Thanks to the triple accumulation buff, his attack power had already increased by 30%.
Forgetting the initial puzzlement about the named enemy granting buffs, Hyun-Soo excitedly attacked the ‘Thunder Lance Soldier.’
The current HP of the Thunder Lance Soldier was at 71%, while the Earth Shield Soldier was at 80%.
With the two taking on the two together, the HP of the Thunder Lance Soldier had dropped more, but for now, it was time to inflict damage. They could think about the potential desperation patterns after taking one down.
And then.
Whoosh!
The fourth current accumulation pattern’s preamble.
Hyun-Soo no longer even considered using his invincibility skill.
Since ‘current accumulation’ was a buff, using an invincibility skill would also apply it. After all, there was no damage involved.
However, the fourth current accumulation pattern surprised the party and turned everything upside down.
Zztzzt!
“What!?”
“My body!”
In an instant, both Hyun-Soo and the fighter’s bodies stiffened.
Strong sparks had frozen their bodies in place.
Although they still took no damage, their muscles had become entirely rigid, preventing any movement.
Hyun-Soo struggled to turn his head and glance over at the shield soldier’s side across the precipice.
“Ugh, ugh!”
“Why!?”
The fighter and the mage were also frozen in spots, covered here and there by rocks.
The entire Plan B party had their bodies bound.
Above them, the ‘Thunder Lance Soldier’ and ‘Earth Shield Soldier’ brought down their weapons mercilessly.
Pow! Crash!
[Ah, Johnson-soo down~]
[Am I the only one out of luck? Your guys~]
[LOL]
“Guys! Don’t laugh! This was just the first try!”
Hyun-Soo, after resurrecting, briefly directed his grievances toward the chat window while clutching his head in despair.
“Wait, being frozen at the fourth accumulation? I can’t resist since it’s a buff?”
“Should we try to interrupt the fourth accumulation with a stun?”
“When I tried to land a stun during the first current accumulation, it showed immunity, so it wouldn’t work. While the standard patterns can be interrupted with status ailments, the ‘current accumulation’ pattern can’t be cut.”
“Hmm. We’ll need to try various methods.”
Right before lowering the streaming window for the second try, Hyun-Soo noticed some commotion happening in the chat window.
[Is it for real that they’re doing a solo play? Streaming live?]
[Yep, they’re breaking through the mob zone right now.]
[LOL, what a moth to the flame.]
[But it looks like it’s just kept on for streaming use?]
[Whoa check out the back of the head! It’s white hair!]
[It’s a whitey! It’s whitey!]
[OMG LOL, I’m going to watch! LOL]
[Didn’t whitey used to be a no-name party tank?]
[Is it for real a solo try for a 4-man El-dungeon!?]
“What?! Whitey? Solo?!”
“That’s probably Rain, that kid?”
Hyun-Soo suddenly recalled a white-haired girl he had encountered in the faction battlefield.
Hurrying to search and pull up the streaming window, he saw a radiant white light skillfully navigating through the mob zone of the ‘Ice Castle of the Frozen Land.’
She was attempting the Elite Dungeon Purgatory solo?
The fighter in Plan B raised an opinion.
“Guild Master, should we watch just one round of that player trying the named enemy before we proceed?”
Hyun-Soo cautiously monitored the chat window.
[Is Hyun-Soo trying to escape the whitey?]
[But aren’t you curious how it’ll turn out?]
[Aon, the official advertisement model is trying a solo run in the El-dungeon? Can’t resist LOL]
[Doesn’t matter if it’s possible or not, I definitely want to see! ]
[Even without any promotion, viewers are already increasing.]
[Looks like a lot of people are wandering around today, watching various new tries.]
[The cuckoo has already flown around various streamers.]
[Yeah, the rumors are spreading and everyone’s flocking! LOL]
Hyun-Soo’s streaming chat was already buzzing.
He instinctively felt that he wouldn’t be able to carry on the broadcast properly.
More than that, his curiosity as a user of Astria Online was impossible to resist regarding Rain’s solo play.
“Alright, today’s broadcast ends here! First, let’s check that out!”
The Plan B party, who had been trying the level 1 named enemy, all became viewers instead.
One by one, they opened the streaming windows and began to focus on Rain’s gameplay.
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