NOVEL NEXT Chapter 100
[Named Enemy Level 3]
[Level 48 Witch Frederica]
[HP 4,992,760/50,000,000 (9%)]
The witch’s eyes, made of ice, turned a fiery red.
With bloodshot eyes and a body cracked and broken here and there, the sight of the witch launching ice blades amidst the storm was rather terrifying.
[Attack Stacks: 8 Stages (1 minute 19 seconds)]
The buff is currently at stage 8.
Actually, I messed up the first button.
If I had done it right, I would have obtained the buff up to stage 10.
Just popping one white sphere could have quelled the storm. Instead, I had to pop them one by one, barely keeping my attack buff going.
In the end, just before entering the second special phase, the attack stacks broke, putting me into a frenzy.
But there wasn’t much left.
With the buffs I had built up, I could definitely take her down.
As I gradually widened my range, in a powerful cold storm that seemed ready to engulf the entire audience room, I calmly activated my invincibility skill.
Positioned between virtual and reality, I combined the abilities of my bracelet and Astaroth.
Crack, crack. One by one, the ice blades protecting the witch shattered,
And then, the final One Flash erupted over the cracked and broken face of ‘Witch Frederica.’
Flash!
A vertical line was drawn across the witch’s face.
The last expression on her face was one of disbelief.
Swish.
“Ah.”
With a satisfied grin, I spun Astaroth stylishly and sheathed it.
Was this a first clear?
I opened the regional chat window to check for the system message.
[‘Noname’ party successfully defeated the Elite Dungeon, ‘Ice Castle of the Frozen Land,’ for the first time!]
“Hmm, hmm.”
I nodded with a satisfied face.
My first elite dungeon try, the solo clear broadcast has ended.
It seemed easy, but it was no cakewalk.
The first named enemies, the spear and shield soldiers, definitely had dangerous patterns. If I hadn’t gained information from Jo Hyun-Soo’s stream, I might have gotten stuck at 4 stacks of buffs. I had to forcibly break through the frenzy due to the attack stacks dropping in the last named enemy.
But at least I didn’t wipe.
For now, let’s take the fact that I finished it safely as a win.
I think I showed quite a cool side this time.
Thump, thump.
As I gently closed my eyes and placed my hand over my heart, I felt the beating.
Even though it’s a created body, the little heart clearly showed its presence.
Well, in a way, Lee Seulbi’s body is also a created one.
It feels a bit different than when I was running the dungeon alone without anyone watching.
Many people are seeing my form now.
Rather than embarrassment, a strange pleasure takes precedence.
Was I a attention seeker?
Even if so, I don’t think I could ever do a stream communicating with people.
Would it be okay if I only broadcast during the clear runs?
I feel good.
Indeed, I feel most alive amidst battle.
It seems I am destined to live alongside the sword.
Just as I wanted to end this successful debut stream, I suddenly exclaimed, “Ah.”
I almost forgot the most important procedure.
Rushing.
I hurried over to check the loot from the shattered ‘Witch Frederica.’
The first dungeon of the new expansion will surely bring massive rewards to me.
I’ll pay back Chris and earn gold to operate personally.
And after finishing the farming, I need to run the bus.
By showcasing powerful weapon options and pretty outfits, it will also promote the bus!
Playing safely while solo-bussing is fine, or I can quickly run the bus together with Chris and the party members.
“Huh?”
But I don’t see a weapon.
This can’t be happening.
In the early stages of a dungeon, weapons are the main source of income.
I quickly checked the loot list.
[Spirit of the Ice Castle Lord]
[Elite Grade]
[Witch Frederica’s Unmelting Ice Crystal]
(Tradeable)
“Um….”
Instead of an elite weapon, there was an item I had never seen before.
Is this it?
At first, I thought it was an item to acquire a self-weapon like the ‘Green Dragon Heart,’ but there was no special reaction when I held it.
I pulled out the elite weapon I used to have, the ‘Holy Sword of the Ancient Temple.’
“Just as I thought.”
When I brought the ‘Spirit of the Ice Castle Lord’ to the ‘Holy Sword of the Ancient Temple,’ the weapon evolution interface appeared.
【Weapon Evolution】
【Spirit of the Ice Castle Lord + Holy Sword of the Ancient Temple = Spirit of the Ice Castle Sword】
[Spirit of the Ice Castle Sword]
[Elite Grade]
[Attack Power 350]
[Skill Damage for ‘Moonlight Slash’ Increased by 60%]
[Socket 1: EMPTY]
[Socket 2: EMPTY]
[Socket 3: EMPTY]
[Socket 4: EMPTY]
(Assigned upon evolution)
Is this the ‘weapon evolution system’ that appeared with the new expansion pack?
Of course, the Magic Stone enhancement values are reset, but the skill damage options are inherited, and it can evolve into one’s class weapon.
As long as I have the ‘Spirit of the Ice Castle Lord,’ the weapon farming is over.
From this expansion pack onwards, the time required to obtain a job weapon with desired options has drastically decreased.
Smack.
I licked my lips.
Allowing the inheritance of weapon types and skill options is definitely a user-friendly patch.
But it’s not all good.
The lifespan of content will shorten.
Consequently, the lifespan of my main source of income, the bus, will also shrink.
With a bittersweet heart, while I was carefully going over the evolution details of the ‘Spirit of the Ice Castle’ weapon, I soon found something interesting under ‘Magic Stone Enhancement.’
I pouted.
“These guys.”
It’s clear that ‘Hana Games’ is no pushover when it comes to controlling the pace of content consumption.
Just acquiring an elite weapon isn’t the end.
To gain its full performance, you have to upgrade the weapon through Magic Stone enhancements.
But.
【Enhancement Materials – (Normal, Advanced, Top-notch) Magic Stone + Essence of the Ice Castle】
[Essence of the Ice Castle]
[Material Item]
[Can be obtained through dismantling Ice Castle accessories or daily quests]
(Non-tradeable)
Starting from this weapon, ‘Essence of the Ice Castle’ is included as an enhancement material item.
Moreover, it’s a non-tradeable item.
To enhance a weapon, I must definitely run through the ‘Ice Castle of the Frozen Land’ to collect the essences.
“Good.”
This secures my income from the expansion pack buses.
Before turning off the stream, I brought the Spirit and the Essence forward to the screen.
*
“…So, here you look back and use Backward Evasion to advance into the storm. Just before the invincibility time ends, you use a Counterattack and then One Flash to deal damage while escaping the storm range.”
“When I slow it down to 0.25 speed, I can see it a bit better. Mr. Rain has perfectly calculated when each skill’s invincibility time ends.”
“After coming out like this, you launch your sword energy from the edge of the storm. This is probably a new skill for swordsmen that can be obtained from the Ice Crystal Tower. After using the fifth hit to create distance, you reset the cooldown and re-enter with Backward Evasion. Afterward, just repeat.”
[What’s Woo Gyeol doing?]
[White Dog is analyzing combat]
[If you can analyze it, why not do it?]
[Isn’t the swordsman too OP? Is it really possible to solo clear the elite dungeons?]
[The gallery is half awe, half riot, LOL.]
[There’s chaos in the overseas forums as well.]
[Hana Games might not be able to handle it.]
[White Dog’s synchronization issue should be investigated again.]
[Don’t you guys know it’s not a synchronization issue yet?]
[LOL you’ll get wiped instantly by an Orc 1 when you enter if you have 100% synchronization, right? At least you can hold your own with skills and stats.]
[For real, LOL.]
[Mob 1 LOL.]
[Even if the movements can’t be replicated, you can still benefit from reaction speed, right?]
[Even if you cheat and hack the capsule to improve synchronization, what about the pain?]
[Yeah, yeah. You can get a mental disorder if you’re not careful.]
[I once hacked the capsule and only managed to get to 50%, but even a slight hit from a slime made me go back down right away;;]
[I don’t care, the swordsman must be nerfed.]
[How do you balance this?]
[Don’t say bullshit.]
[What if we look at average when placing the best spots for each class?]
[If White Dog gets sniped, all swordsmen will die.]
[Hana Games said they would never nerf anything.]
[They should reduce the gap between physical monsters and regular users.]
[If they give each class a bit more status ailments and invincibility skills, it might resolve it?]
[Yeah, White Dog dodges a lot with that physical ability.]
.
.
[What’s White Dog doing right now?]
[I want to see White Dog.]
[Head over to White Dog’s room. He’s probably checking his items right now.]
[You can’t chat there.]
[White Dog, communicate with us!]
[I don’t mind just watching the analysis, though.]
[Can you show us what items dropped?]
The chat started buzzing.
Woo Gyeol’s strategy analysis content was dragging on.
“Ah, I think he’s checking the drops, so I rewound it to the highlights. Mr. Rain is still streaming live.”
Woo Gyeol turned the replay screen back to the live view.
Soon the screen caught the image of a girl holding two items.
“…It seems like she’s saying something…”
She seemed to be looking down, her face slightly blushing as she quietly mumbled.
As I turned up the volume, Rain’s voice clearly started to come through.
– …This is the weapon evolution item that comes from here, and with this, you can evolve the Holy Temple weapon into the Ice Castle weapon. But to strengthen the Ice Castle weapon, you have to farm here. The Essence of the Ice Castle cannot be purchased at the auction house.
Woo Gyeol had a peculiar expression.
“…Is she promoting the product?”
Rain soon lifted her head and straightened her gaze, concluding assertively.
– So, please use Chris’s bus a lot.
[Kuuhhh!]
[Hooo, LOL.]
[I’m going to the bus right now.]
[Hey, White Dog, you need to give some time for farming, LOL.]
[Wait…! I’ll buy some gold and head over…!]
[She’s cute, so I’ll forgive it.]