Former Hero, Solo Play Oriented

Tatatat!

Hong Baek Raid Team.

Twelve heroes led by Chris raced through the interior of the “Abyssal Tree” at a rapid pace.

Was it about halfway to the depths of this dungeon?

It didn’t take long for the Hong Baek raid team to penetrate Area 2.

The monsters here, the Majols, were nothing but numerous and high in HP.

There was no mid-boss.

As she dealt with them, Chris muttered.

“We need to make as much progress as possible.”

The image of Rain flashed through her mind.

Rain had overexerted himself yesterday, so he would likely be sleeping for quite a while.

Chris now knew what she had to do.

Her role was to clear the way for Rain.

Even if the Hong Baek raid team couldn’t clear it, she had to let Rain know as much as she could.

While she couldn’t provide direct help, she could lighten the load.

Chris felt strangely as if she were conquering the dungeon together with Rain.

This was not just the Hong Baek raid team; no.

It was a raid involving all thirteen members of the “Hong Baek Guild,” including Rain.

Hmm, this must be…

The Level 2 Named Boss Room.

Yeah, it definitely looks similar to the Level 1 Named Boss.

At the far end of Area 2, they faced a gargantuan hollow.

Seob Seop Yi, the ranger of Hong Baek, slapped his shoulders and complained to his friend, Go Seung Woo.

“Hey, what’s our trial schedule today?”

“Until 2 AM, so about three hours left.”

“Haaah~ Thank goodness tomorrow’s the weekend. I can’t believe we’re doing this for nearly a month.”

“Hehe, a month? We’re making good progress, right? We cleared the Level 1 Named on the second day, so by simple calculations, we should clear this within a week.”

“I hope so…”

Seob Seop Yi trailed off and glanced around the hollow.

An empty space existed within the “Abyssal Tree.”

Unlike the “Black Dragon” that was openly present in Area 1, there was nothing in the center of Area 2.

“It feels eerie.”

“Where’s the boss?”

The following raid members also chimed in.

Just then…

Swish.

The first breeze.

It blew in from above.

Chris looked up.

A breeze? Inside this gigantic tree?

Snap.

“Back!”

Chris extended her right arm and motioned for the raid members to step back.

Woooom!

A powerful magic began to gather in the air.

Grrrrooooaaar!

Magic that had gathered in an instant began to take on the form of a giant humanoid.

What came out first? A sword? No, but it was too gigantic to simply call it a sword. But it definitely had a sharp edge.

A massive great sword, akin to a wide metal slab. If hit by that, it felt like her whole body would be torn apart.

Grrrr!

Following that, a massive hand holding the great sword and towering armor emerged.

Armor shimmering with a dark hue—an entity clad in full plate.

The headdress resembling a helmet had enormous horns protruding from it.

From within that helmet, a purple gleam flickered.

The creature fully revealed itself as if…

“A-A armor! It’s a gigantic armor!”

“Looks like it could fit three or four people.”

“The armor is moving? No, wait. Is there something inside it?”

Amidst the gasping and confusion of the raid members, Chris calmly began to analyze the target.

“This is the Level 2 Named… ….Oh?”

Chris couldn’t help but feel flustered.

The towering figures, Hopkins and Gandal, tilted their heads.

“Wow~! It’s way bigger than us. But, HP is 500 million? That can’t be right?”

“No, I saw it too. It’s definitely 500 million.”

The HP of the Level 1 Named was 200 million.

The HP of the Level 2 Named was 500 million.

That was a staggering 2.5 times higher.

They should be Named enemies in the same dungeon, but such a drastic HP increase with just a one-level difference…

“It’s a monster with a gimmick that reduces HP.”

At Deathly Death’s words, Chris nodded.

Snap.

The armor raised its gigantic great sword in one hand and thrust it forward.

From within the helmet, a grotesque voice emerged.

– “Intruders. Did the elves send you?”

“It’s talking to us!”

“It’s a Named with dialogue! Let’s hear it out?”

– “The plan of the Northern Legion Commander is about to enter its final stage. I won’t let you interfere.”

Whoomm!

The great sword held by the armored giant swung fiercely, producing a resounding shockwave.

[Level 2 Named]

[Level 53]

[Death Knight Jacam]

[HP 500,000,000 / 500,000,000 (100%)]

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The terrifying great sword mercilessly struck the tank, Deathly Death.

The gigantic great sword moved as lightly as paper.

But the sheer power behind it was utterly undeniable.

Bang! Bang!

Twice, thrice, four times. The speed was incomparable to any Named they had faced before.

Deathly Death grimaced at the damage breaking through his counter, barely managing to hold on with every invulnerability skill available.

The intervals between attacks were also short. There was no way to keep up a damage cycle.

Deathly Death had no choice but to be satisfied with merely slipping in counterattacks during moments of invulnerability.

“There’s absolutely no time to attack! Wait, is this boss tankable?”

Woooom.

Puff puff puff!

Talisman glowing around Chris struck the armor of Jacam.

Chris checked her damage output and carefully countered. At the same time, she warned the party members.

“It’s a boss that’s hard to tank! Watch the aggro numbers! Adjust your damage!”

Slice.

As he maintained a barrage towards Deathly Death, Jacam suddenly vanished with a blink, only to reappear behind him.

A technique reminiscent of user’s backward evasion.

And at the end of that sword tip, a sinister aura flickered.

Whooooom, Kwaaaa!

The gigantic great sword swung, and an arc of black energy shot out in an instant.

“Guhh!”

“Aaaah!”

The two melee dealers caught in its range were swept away like autumn leaves.

[Raid member ‘Go Seung Woo’ has died.]

[Raid member ‘Gandal’ has died.]

“This is insane…!”

Chris gasped in shock.

The incredibly fast sword energy swept across half the combat area in the blink of an eye.

“Did the aggro shift!?”

“No, that’s a regular pattern!”

Named enemies in ‘Astria Online’ sometimes have seemingly irregular regular patterns as well. However, regular patterns follow a broad repetition. The laws have never been broken until now.

But this one. With the ‘Death Knight Jacam,’ the rules did not apply.

There was no repeatability in its pattern. It mercilessly unleashed a barrage of attacks on the tank, and then suddenly fired out sword energies.

Whooooom!

Jacam quickly turned around and shot out sword energy towards the back dealers.

Slice!

“Bae Merong, nice!”

Chris wiped the cold sweat from her brow, thanking Bae Merong, who had prepped Ice Prison, as the sword energy swiped past her.

But that was the end.

Raid members fell one by one to the blinding speed and terrifying range of the sword attacks, and soon it didn’t take long for everyone to perish.

The next attempts followed a similar pattern.

Jacam’s patterns were powerful and fast.

Even the seasoned tank, Deathly Death, found himself crushed immediately if struck once by that great sword, soon reduced to pieces by the follow-up attacks.

Ranged patterns and sword energies—irregular and rapid. It was instant death by one hit. The range was vast too.

Besides the crescent-shaped sword energy, Jacam exhibited various techniques, including straight sword energies from below to above and explosion-type sword energy shot in all directions.

The tank’s role had become merely that of a bullet sponge to the descending patterns. Even ranged dealers had to stay vigilant.

The members of Hong Baek Raid Team faced immense speed patterns they had never experienced before.

An overwhelmingly strong Level 2 Named, “Death Knight Jacam.”

The Hong Baek raid team continued to retry through the remaining hours.

But they were unable to reach even a regular pattern, let alone a special phase.

…

Gently, I opened my eyes.

My room, on the bed.

It was dark outside.

I picked up my smartphone to check the time.

3 AM.

Having fallen asleep after breakfast, I had slept for a full 18 hours.

Whirr—

I slumped my weary body into my wheelchair and decided to head to the kitchen.

There are ways to call a household robot, but it’s louder than my wheelchair. It might wake Chris, who was sound asleep.

Would there be something simple to eat in the fridge?

I had to continue today’s trial too.

Click.

I opened the door and glanced to the side.

“Zzzz.”

Nodding off.

A woman with red hair was dozing next to my door.

“Sister Chris.”

I felt her thoughts about me.

A warm feeling settled in my chest.

But at the same time, I was worried.

Was she planning to sit in front of my door every day during the raid trial schedule?

“What should I do?”

I absentmindedly reached out to touch Chris’s body, but I realized there was no way I could take her to the room in my current state.

I felt bad waking her up. She had been sleeping so soundly.

She must have stayed up almost all night yesterday too.

I went back into the room and grabbed a thin blanket.

“This’ll do.”

I covered Chris with the blanket and quietly laid her down on the floor.

She didn’t stir even at the touch of me laying her down.

“…”

Silently, I gazed at Chris’s sleeping face.

Then I turned my head back to my door.

[Do Not Enter. – Rain-]

The paper I had put up since the start of the raid trial, signifying an intrusion ward.

Should I take this down?

…Oh?

On the paper were handwritten notes, penned neatly in a way I hadn’t written.

[Level 2 Named ‘Death Knight Jacam’]

[HP 500 million]

[Regular Patterns]

[Great Sword Downward Strike. Up to 4 consecutive hits]

[Horizontal Swing]

[Sword Energy, Backward and Forward Crescent Shape, Upward Linear]

[Important: No Repetition]

[There might be a pattern upon analysis.]

[Each individual’s reaction speed is crucial.]

[Status Ailment: Only applies during Upward Strike pattern.]

[Very short possible duration. Four same techniques needed.]

[Patterns are tough, yet repetition seems possible.]

[The key is catching the pre-movement.]

[What is the HP for entering a special phase?]

And finally…

[Sorry for not being able to see more patterns.]

“Sister.”

My eyes grew a bit misty.

I lowered my posture and wrapped my arms around Chris gently.

“Ha.”

A happy smile appeared on the tired face of Chris.

I immediately returned to my room and nestled into the capsule.

The precious information Chris had conveyed.

I couldn’t waste it.

“Death Knight Jacam.”

I will take you down today.

---