Chapter 34

Three days flew by in a flash, and the day of my first raid debut arrived.

I arrived 30 minutes early, watching the guild members preparing for the raid, and I got ready too.

For today’s raid, I checked the buffs and food I prepared with Pinkubelly.

The [Entrance to the Abyss] raid is the first raid to come out of Leore.

For those unfamiliar, the [Entrance to the Abyss] is an 8-player raid with only one boss.

Meaning, if you defeat that one boss, the raid is cleared.

Since it’s a raid that’s been out for a while, damage isn’t as critical, but since my gear is still newbie-level, I made sure to prepare thoroughly.

“Everyone ready? Does anyone need more time?”

“All set!”

Sunchoo nodded with a smile.

“Alright, let’s go!”

We all took the portal and arrived at the [Entrance to the Abyss].

The raid map, after passing through caves and valleys, looked like a corrupted Yuni Salt Desert.

The red, clear sky and the calm, shallow water reflecting it were breathtaking.

If we were here just to enjoy nature, we’d be marveling at the view, but this is a raid location.

Meaning, there’s a boss here.

Looking around, I couldn’t see the boss. Huh? Does it appear when you get closer?

The party members stayed silent and still. That doesn’t mean there’s a problem, though.

While I was pondering what to do, a massive tremor shook the ground.

*Kwoong.*

I looked up to where the tremor seemed to originate and saw a crack forming in the sky.

Another tremor.

*Kwoong!*

This time, the tremor was stronger, accompanied by an ominous sound.

*Jjeojjeong!*

The crack in the sky spread like tree branches and shattered, creating a hole. A giant hand emerged from the hole, gripping its edges and forcefully widening it.

*Tteudeudeudeuk!*

From the enlarged hole, a grotesque, massive raid boss crawled out, reminiscent of a horror movie I once saw.

I quickly scanned the raid boss.

You can usually infer the raid’s concept, the boss’s abilities, attacks, and mechanics from its appearance.

This boss, like the previous maggot boss, has no legs. It doesn’t seem to move much, but I’m not sure how to describe it.

It looks somewhat like a Moai statue, but instead of stone, it’s made of tangled tree roots.

It seems like the tree roots move like tentacles, which might be a mechanic.

I couldn’t gather more information, so it was time to start the raid.

I used the system provided by the raid to check the battle readiness.

*Ding!* With a sound, I checked the battle readiness for all party members.

Once everyone pressed the confirm button, “Battle Ready: 8” appeared in front of us.

As soon as we were ready, Sunchoo, the tank of Party 1, charged forward.

He used a taunt skill on the raid boss [Abyss Gatekeeper], and the boss turned to face him.

I closed the distance to the boss in an instant, stretching my right foot forward and raising my sword.

For this raid, I used the high-speed [Chain Attack] buff, stacking it to 10 layers.

First, I used [Square Quadruple], which has short pre- and post-delays, to stack 4 layers. As the skill ended, I immediately used [Pentagon] to unleash 5 consecutive attacks, stacking 9 layers.

Now, this is crucial. I canceled the post-delay of [Pentagon] with a basic attack and used [Annihilation Strike].

By now, I’ve become completely familiar with Leore’s system.

Leore isn’t entirely free-form like reality. There’s a stun system, a vibration system, and pre- and post-delays.

It’s not like a typical RPG where skills activate instantly upon pressing a button.

Here, post-delay canceling exists.

It means that if the posture of the post-delay of one action matches the pre-delay of the next action, they can occur simultaneously.

This allows for highly efficient use of time.

This is one of the skills often used in PVP. I didn’t know about it until I watched some PVP videos on Ryutube.

In PVP, every second counts, and even a brief moment can determine victory or defeat.

That’s why post-delay canceling is crucial. But while it’s called canceling, it’s incredibly difficult to apply.

The reason is that you have to turn off [Combat Correction].

[Combat Correction] makes skills activate like in a PC RPG, with predetermined attacks in set locations.

But when you turn off [Combat Correction], you have to use skills entirely based on your own will from start to finish.

The problem is, if you go beyond what the system recognizes, the skill automatically disappears.

So, to perform a post-delay cancel, you need to execute an attack that stays within the system’s limits and intentionally match the finishing posture of that attack with the pre-delay of the next skill. It’s ridiculously hard.

Because of this, even veterans can only chain two skills with post-delay canceling.

But I was different.

My body—no, Arang’s body—felt different from the start. Was it because I lacked limbs, and all the sensations were concentrated?

Not only did I see information in front of me in slow, meticulous detail, but I could also feel the limits of Leore’s system.

I could sense how far the system allowed skill movements, so from [Square Quadruple] to [Pentagon] and finally [Annihilation Strike], I canceled all post-delays and seamlessly unleashed them on the boss.

My damage graph on the meter shot up as if it would break through. And at that moment.

The boss turned around and looked at me.

“Huh?”

Then it shot a tankbuster at me.

It wasn’t a single-target attack but a massive fan-shaped beam. As the main tank, Sunchoo was on the opposite side, so all seven party members, including me, died.

===

“Wow… Arang, you’re insane. How did you pull off that damage?”

Sunchoo was speechless, having lost aggro despite using all his aggro-related skills.

Having never lost aggro in all his raids, this situation was even more shocking.

“Arang, as expected. I never imagined I’d lose the opening damage duel to you.”

Baldukgae, a regular dealer like a Grim Reaper or Sorcerer, couldn’t believe he lost the opening damage to a Sword Master.

“Sorry… I tried a new damage rotation this time, and the burst damage turned out stronger than I thought.”

“I’ll use an aggro skill and pass the aggro back to you, Sunchoo. It’d be a waste not to use this kind of damage.”

“Right, right!”

Palgili, who had mentioned tactics during the first opening, nodded in agreement.

– Wow, I can’t believe it. Just unbelievable.

– At this point, Soma needs a nerf. That opening damage is insane, lol.

– Is Soma actually a pure DPS?

– Soma gives party-wide stat bonuses and still deals crazy damage, lol.

The raid progressed smoothly.

So far, only intuitive mechanics had appeared, so Arang’s party made quick progress.

Since Arang’s party members were skilled enough to farm the latest raids, they executed Arang’s instructions flawlessly, making progress swift.

– Arang is so cute, I’m dying.

– Honestly, she’s really pretty.

– She’s good at the game, pretty, and young. She’s amazing.

– The reason Kang Hangeul has been rising lately is all thanks to our Arang, lol.

– At this rate, we’ll clear this raid in no time.

As time passed and the boss’s HP dropped to 1%, it stopped moving and scattered seeds around, activating a mechanic.

Soon after, the seeds bloomed into flowers and crawled toward the boss.

– It’s the final wipe mechanic.

– If you don’t know this, you’re doomed.

– If you don’t know, you die, lol.

Arang ordered the party to destroy as many flowers as possible. But as party members fell one by one, the entire party wiped.

Arang, seeing the wipe mechanic for the first time, unlike during the first attempt, said nothing and plunged her sword into the ground, lost in thought.

Everyone silently watched Arang, deep in thought.

Her serious expression was adorable, and everyone couldn’t help but find her cute.

At that moment, Baldukgae was thinking…

‘You’re so cute…! How, how! Standing there, fidgeting with your feet…! I must impress Arang and ask to touch her feet at the next guild meetup.’

Of course, he had no intention of forcing it. Baldukgae respected Arang and would follow her choices.

That’s why he wanted to meet her even more.