Former Hero, Solo Play Oriented

[World Boss]

[Green Dragon]

[HP 159,900,540/200,000,000]

KAAAAAAAAA-!!

Kugugugu.

The dragon’s roar echoed, causing the surrounding players to freeze in their tracks.

With its sharp eyes glinting, the Green Dragon glared at the players in front of it.

Its massive scales shimmered like steel.

The colossal world boss, ‘Green Dragon,’ inhaled slowly, its lizard-like eyes twinkling.

Wuuuuuung.

Its giant chest expanded, and a unique glow distinctive to the Green Dragon spread from deep within its mouth. As its jaws slowly parted, green energy began to swirl fiercely inside. The light grew stronger, illuminating its mouth like a tiny sun.

Standing boldly before this destructive force was ‘Plan B’ guild master, the swordsman class ‘Kyuam Jo Hyun-Soo,’ who shouted to the raid members.

“Even a seemingly invincible power can’t pierce through an immunity skill! We’ll proceed in the order set!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than—

Flash!

A destructive force of pure energy mixed with poison poured forth toward the players.

Kwa kwa kwa kwa!

Intense green energy spread, threatening to engulf the entire forest, slicing through the air. That vivid light dyed everything around it green.

In front of a massive cave carved into the rocky cliffs where the world boss raid was happening, the vegetation was uprooted by the wind from the breath attack.

Kugugugu!

Thud!

The silhouettes of the raid members blurred as they rapidly moved back, while ice, droplets, and charms had sequentially shielded their bodies.

Sparaaaah-!

The seemingly unending breath attack gradually weakened; using party shields followed by individual immunities, the ‘Plan B Raid’ successfully resisted the world boss’s first breath.

Jo Hyun-Soo let out a cheeky laugh.

“Hehehe, good. This time, everyone survived. It seems there’s no unbeatable pattern.”

“I’ll return to tanking!”

Immediately, two sub-tankers attached themselves to two Iron Golems.

[Iron Golem]

[HP 48,050,049/50,000,000]

The Guardian covered in green dragon scales was a significant threat. However, thanks to the sub-tankers pulling aggro, the main damage dealers could focus on dealing damage to the Green Dragon.

Doom!

The two guardians’ aggro turned back toward the sub-tankers.

“All raid members, gulp potions and antidotes! This area is now a poison zone! Don’t save your potions!”

At Jo Hyun-Soo’s command, the raid members consumed potions and antidotes simultaneously.

The lingering poison damage from the Green Dragon’s breath was hindering their strategy.

While the first antidote successfully cleared the accumulated poison, the new overlapping damage required them to cover it up with potions until the cooldown had reset.

Overwhelming HP, wide-area breaths, enduring poison damage, two guardians, and horrifically powerful standard patterns.

The ‘Green Dragon’ indeed lived up to its title of ‘World Boss.’

Hooong!

The Green Dragon’s massive tail, thicker than a human’s torso, swung through the air in an instant, covering an immense area that included all raid members.

Kakakakakng!

“Urgh!”

“AAAH!”

Each member used their defense skills, but they couldn’t absorb all the damage. The HP of two ranged dealers, who hadn’t fully recovered from the poison damage, teetered dangerously.

Yet, if they continued the assault, they seemed likely to reach the next special phase.

However, the region’s characteristic, ‘Faction Battlefield,’ meant Hyun-Soo could not solely focus on defeating the boss.

“Damn it, things were going well. The GG Guild had been quiet for a while; what are they doing now?”

Hyun-Soo’s heart raced.

The Plan B guild members informed him through guild chat that the situation in ‘Berveia Forest,’ where the world boss raid was occurring, was rapidly changing.

“The Alparion Empire’s offense has grown stronger! It seems we can’t sustain our assault much longer!”

“Should we retreat?”

“Of course, they might not be able to clear it, but we can’t lower the world boss’s HP just for our benefit. For now, we’ll reset! We need to push back those Alparion Empire fools and then resume the assault.”

The main force of the ‘GG Guild’ had arrived near the Dragon Lair. They would soon break through.

As Jo Hyun-Soo’s view shifted back while responding to the Green Dragon’s normal patterns, he saw a warrior dressed in a red cape.

Upon spotting him, Hyun-Soo gritted his teeth.

“Woo Gyeol…!”

“Hehe, Jo Hyun-Soo. Where are you rushing off to in such a hurry?”

Thud!

The GG Guild master, ‘Woo Gyeol,’ approached Hyun-Soo with a sly smile.

Bang!

Kang! Shuuuurrrrr…

“Ugh! PVP setup!?”

Hyun-Soo’s body was knocked several meters back as he blocked Woo Gyeol’s forceful strike.

The penetrating damage that slipped through Hyun-Soo’s defenses clearly indicated it was a PVP setup concentrated on player stats.

“Woo Gyeol, you should know that you can’t swap gear in the middle of a faction battlefield, right? Are you really planning to tackle the world boss with a PVP setup?”

“Of course not! While I don’t possess the excellent qualities of a chief raider like you, Jo Hyun-Soo, I do know that you can’t defeat a world boss with just a PVP setup, even if dozens swarm it.”

“In that case!”

“The team tackling the world boss today definitely isn’t the GG Guild’s raid!”

“What!?”

At Woo Gyeol’s bombshell statement, Hyun-Soo anxiously scanned his surroundings.

Bang, Kawang!

“Kragh!”

“Ugh!”

The ‘Plan B Raid,’ set up for the world boss capture with PVE setups, was falling prey to the primary force of ‘GG Guild.’ Everyone from the leading GG members was in PVP setups.

There were no visible members from any PVE setup raid team for the world boss assault.

“So you’re planning to push us aside and send in your raid team. Hehe, for now, I’ll retreat, but I hope you all also get a taste of the Green Dragon’s ferocity.”

If he were to fall here, the cooldown for re-entry into the faction battlefield would trigger.

Determined for a strategic retreat, Hyun-Soo took out a special return scroll and grasped it tightly.

His only remaining option was to try to block the GG Guild’s world boss assault team with the few Plan B members left in the forest.

It wouldn’t be easy to prevent their first entry. However, when the GG Guild’s world boss assault team was wiped out by the Green Dragon, the Plan B forces would be ready themselves. After that, they could intercept and prevent them from re-entering the forest.

If he could take his time to push back the main forces of the GG Guild, they would be able to tackle the world boss comfortably again.

“Hehehe!”

Pow!

Leaving behind a cheeky laugh, Jo Hyun-Soo used the return scroll, and his silhouette soon vanished from ‘Berveia Forest.’

The Green Dragon returned to its lair just as the assault team players moved out of its perception range.

Woo Gyeol gazed momentarily at the spot where Hyun-Soo had vanished.

Then he looked up at the steep cliff where the Green Dragon’s lair was, murmuring softly.

“Hong Baek Guild. While Plan B will hold off the GG Guild, please take care of the Green Dragon capture.”

*

I stuck closely next to Chris, watching as the Plan B raid retreated.

KAAAAAAA-!!

Shouting a victory roar, the Green Dragon returned to its lair, and I couldn’t help but exclaim in awe.

“Wow.”

Truly, it was different from mere wyverns. It had an incredible presence.

But the dragons of the continent of Astria were just slightly larger and more powerful wyverns.

The gap in that simple distinction was vast, which was why dragons could be classified as world boss level.

At the dragon’s lair, where the world boss raid had taken place, thirteen players gathered.

The raid-oriented guild, ‘Hong Baek,’ assembled their strength.

Chris turned around to face the thirteen raid members, including herself.

“Nice to meet you all. It feels a bit strange that our Hong Baek Guild’s first full gathering is at the forefront of a world boss raid.”

Light smiles spread across the faces of the raid members.

I, too, clustered close to Chris as I glanced around at their faces.
Aside from Chris’s party, two more advance parties had also arrived.
They were members of the ‘Hong Baek’ guild who would participate in large-scale raids like this in the future.

I recognized some familiar faces.

“Hello there, little swordsman! I owe you an apology for the bus incident, haha.”

A warrior scratched his head and smiled at me.
I nodded back.
It was a male warrior known by the ID ‘Leroy Hopkins’—someone who had once used our bus when his party members were unavailable.
He may have hurt me, but it all worked out since it led Chris and Lee Seulbi to meet, so I felt no resentment towards him now.

It seemed he was also the leader of a four-member advance party. No wonder he dealt damage well, even as a bus guest.

Another party leader, a blue-haired male ranger, greeted Chris too.

“I’m Seob Seop Yi, party leader of the Sad party. Recently, all members switched to Alparion Empire territory for the sake of tackling world bosses.”

I tilted my head slightly.
I felt like I had seen this person somewhere before.

Hopkins’s party, Seob Seop Yi’s party—totaling eight members.

Chris’s party had four members.

And there was one unnamed member.

A total of thirteen raid parties had formed in that place.

Chris looked around the members and began briefing them.

“We had discussions on the world boss raid direction through a group messenger, so I’ll skip the detailed explanation.”

Hopkins nodded as he stroked his chin.

“The Green Dragon, huh? It really is different in presence from seeing it in videos. Do you think things will go as planned?”

“Actually, it feels more assured now. There’s a chance we might take it down in one go. The Plan B raid team left a lot of intel.”

“Ooh.”

“Indeed.”

Cheers erupted among the raid members at Chris’s confident declaration.

“Everyone, did you bring your Floating Potions? If you drink those and fall from the cliff, you won’t take fall damage.”

Bae Merong whistled as she looked over the edge of the cliff.

“Wow, I can’t believe you thought about approaching from the cliff route. The view must be fantastic.”

“It may take quite a detour, but we can avoid unnecessary PVP combat. Plus, we can find things like this.”

Chris patted my head and looked around.

Two massive ballistae were concealed among the shrubs atop the cliff. They would surely be essential for the world boss raid.

“With a winged world boss, judging by these ballistae, it’s likely it will take to the air when its HP gets lower, understood? For now, rangers, please stay up here on the cliff.”

Seob Seop Yi and another ranger nodded. They would use the ballistae to target the dragon’s wings during its flight.

Cherni asked Chris,

“The breath attack is extremely threatening. Should we use the party shields sequentially like the Plan B raid did?”

“After using all the party shields, the Green Dragon’s wide-area physical attack will leave our ranged dealers vulnerable. Even if Plan B managed to continue the assault, the cooldown for party shields wouldn’t reset before the ranged dealers were wiped out. Rain discovered something. We’ll proceed with that method.”

I pointed towards the iron golems guarding both sides of the dragon’s lair, now back in standby mode.

“Those green scales they’re wearing look like shields, right? If we can take them down…”

“Indeed.”

Hopkins nodded in agreement.

The other raid members seemed to have understood too.

The green scales the guardians wore would serve as objects to block the breath attack.

However, the guardians had 50 million HP. All damage dealers would need to concentrate their damage to take them down quickly.

“That means the range of party shields will inevitably be limited to the dealers around the guardians. The Green Dragon’s main tank has to remain outside the shield range.”

“If the main tank dies, we’ll have to start all over again. I understand why Plan B chose to focus on damage against the boss rather than draw aggro from the guardians. If the party shields can’t cover the tank facing the Green Dragon’s patterns alone…”

As Seob Seop Yi spoke, Chris looked at me.

“Rain, are you okay with that?”

“No problem.”

I looked up at Chris and answered. She returned a reassuring smile.

Glug, glug.

I drew my sword and drank the Floating Potion.

The simulation was over.

The first world boss raid—the Green Dragon assault.

Raid Leader: Chris.

Main Tank: Rain.

Thud.

My body, due to the Floating Potion, began its slow descent off the cliff.

Chris jumped off just behind me.

Whoooooo!

As she raced through the wind, Chris quickly caught up, grabbed my hand, and with sparkling eyes said,

“We’ll take it down in one go.”

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