Chapter 7

I thought hard and pondered deeply, but in the end, I realized I hadn’t done anything wrong.

But I didn’t want to leave people misunderstanding me either, so I was rolling around in a pure white space when suddenly, an alarm went off.

I opened the window and saw that I had received an email.

“Leore?”

The email came from a place I never expected.

“Oh… they’re way more efficient than I thought. Well, I guess that’s why they could make a game like this.”

The email said they had received numerous inquiries and, after checking, confirmed that I hadn’t used any illegal modifications or unauthorized access devices. They planned to post a notice about it.

The game company was directly clearing up the misunderstanding with a simple email, and I found myself nodding along.

“Now I can relax and enjoy the game.”

I quickly cleared all the worries from my mind and logged into Leore.

==

[This is the Director of Legacy of Raid.]

Hello, adventurers.

I’m Kim Ji-hoon, the director of Legacy of Raid.

The investigation into a specific user that many of you inquired about has been completed.

The investigation found no issues in the user’s logs, and there were no problems with their access device.

After this notice, we will not respond to further inquiries about this specific user.

==

[Leore Gallery]

[Leore Notice Dropped] [245]

(Photo)

Director’s statement: User Arang has no issues.

[Wow, insane. So they really soloed the Orc Chieftain?]

[That might not be about Arang.]

[Are you dumb? Who else would it be about?]

[What’s the deal with that girl?]

[Is she an AI? LOL]

[For real, maybe.]

[How can they parry like that without any buffs?]

[If Kim Ji-hoon personally wrote the notice, it must be true.]

[For real, going further than this is just delusional.]

==

As soon as I saw the notice, I comfortably enjoyed Leore.

Of course, the attention hadn’t completely died down, but if anyone bothered or annoyed me, I blocked them without hesitation.

This time, I cleared every single quest and wiped out all the monsters in the area.

I had already reached level 20 and upgraded from beginner equipment. Sure, compared to level 60 gear, it’s trash, but it’s decent enough for now.

[Beginner’s Sword]

Attack Power: 10

Strength +5

Health +5

[Training Knight’s Sword]

Attack Power: 25

Strength +10

Health +5

Stamina +5

Max-level players might laugh at these stats, but compared to my beginner’s sword, this was almost three times stronger, so I was satisfied.

Feeling much stronger than usual, I stretched and looked at the monster in front of me.

[Field Boss]

Level Restricted Area.

LV 25: Corrupted Judge

The second field boss was a humanoid monster, wielding a one-handed sword just like me.

I knew field bosses weren’t meant to be soloed and required a raid party, but since I soloed the Orc Chieftain, I thought I’d try this one too.

If it didn’t work out, I’d consider gathering people.

I thought you had to be max level to raid, but with field bosses like this, even low-level players could raid.

As I approached the field boss, it noticed me and charged.

“Do not interfere with me!”

With an unpleasant voice, it swung its sword, and I parried it just like I did with the Orc Chieftain.

Clang!

“!?”

A massive shockwave ran through my body, knocking me back.

The timing was perfect, but the risk was huge. The field boss’s attack landed on me.

Slash!

One parry and one attack took out three-quarters of my health.

Fast and heavy.

The Orc Chieftain’s axe was bigger and heavier, but parrying it wasn’t a problem. The Corrupted Judge’s attacks were too much for me to handle.

‘This isn’t something I can solve with parrying.’

I could withstand two attacks with parrying, but I couldn’t handle all of the Judge’s attacks alone.

‘Thinking about it, it’s like a DPS taking a raid boss’s attack.’

This field boss needed a tank. Or…

‘A healer would be nice.’

Normally, if a DPS takes a boss’s attack, it’s instant death. That’s why a tank is necessary.

But I withstood two of the field boss’s attacks, and on the third…

“Die!”

Slash.

I died.

A loud vibration echoed in my neck, and everything went black. When I opened my eyes, I was back in town.

“Ugh…”

I needed one healer. Just one healer to try again. Ideally, a tank would be nice, but with my parrying skills, I could probably tank too.

But how to find a healer?

“Huh?”

“Uh?”

Just then, I looked up and locked eyes with someone.

A woman who looked like a healer.

She wore a pure white robe and carried a white staff. Her face was soft, like a saint from a manga.

LV: 60 Pinkubelly

Why was a max-level player in this town? Wait, was she here to watch me?

As Pinkubelly turned her head and tried to run away, I called out.

“Hey.”

“Eek, yes, yep!”

“Ahem. Are you a healer?”

“Uh… yes. I’m a healer.”

“Want to party up?”

“Huh, really?”

“Yeah.”

I immediately sent a party invite to Pinkubelly. As soon as she accepted, I checked her info.

White Mage.

Definitely a healer class.

“Are you good at healing?”

“Y-yes, I am!”

“Great. Let’s go then.”

“Go where?”

“The field boss.”

“Wait, what?!”

We arrived at the Corrupted Judge again.

“Pinkubelly, just focus on healing. If you have time, throw in some debuffs too.”

“Okay, got it!”

After a quick briefing, I charged at the field boss.

“Do not interfere with me!”

The same line, the same attack. I raised my sword a bit faster this time and parried.

As the vibration hit my hand, I forced myself to knock back 0.1 seconds earlier.

That 0.1-second difference let me barely dodge the next attack.

I glanced at my health bar. The damage from parrying was already fully healed.

After dodging, I swung my sword at the field boss’s side. But the boss reacted suddenly, its sword moving like a living thing, and parried.

Clang!

“Huh!?”

Caught off guard by the boss’s parry, I was about to take the next attack when…

“Die!”

“Shield!”

A white effect enveloped me, creating a transparent barrier.

Boom!!!

Half my health vanished in an instant, but I survived. Without the shield, it would’ve been instant death.

But thanks to Pinkubelly’s shield, I lived.

From then on, I dodged or parried the field boss’s attacks while trying to land my own without getting parried.

Every bit of information flowed into my senses. The trajectory of the boss’s attacks, what it would do next—it all became clear.

The Corrupted Judge was definitely stronger than the Orc Chieftain. The fight dragged on longer than before.

After a while, a headache started creeping in. It felt like my brain was overloading from processing too much information.

But if I turned off this sensation now, I could dodge the boss’s attacks but not parry them.

Clang!

A sharp sound and a red impact as two swords clashed, followed by a crisp, ringing noise.

“Are you interfering with me?!”

‘Ugh…!’

I was still under-leveled, so I was losing in the strength battle. My sword was pushed back, and the boss’s attack landed.

Again, a perfectly timed heal saved me, and I smiled as I attacked the boss.

The boss’s movements were slowing down, and my reactions were getting sluggish from the brain overload.

Because of that…

“Arang!”

I missed the boss’s attack and was too late to dodge. I forced a parry.

Clang!

The risk was bigger than I thought.

One knee buckled, and a massive shockwave froze my body.

The boss’s sword glowed with a dark light.

This was clearly a powerful attack.

I was still in recovery and couldn’t move to dodge, block, or parry.

‘Ah… what a waste.’

As I braced for death, my body was suddenly yanked backward at incredible speed.

“Eek!?”

In a situation I never expected, I let out a sound I’d never made before and ended up in Pinkubelly’s arms.

The intense relief from the back of my head startled me.

“It’s the White Mage’s level 20 rescue skill. It can pull party members to safety.”

“Oh…”

That’s a really good skill. It saved me from certain death due to recovery lag.

“Thanks.”

“Y-yeah!”

Thanks to Pinkubelly, I survived. I charged at the field boss, who was still in recovery.

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