Chapter 30 - Count's Quest (2)
"Oh, there has been a broadcasting accident."
Commentator Im SeongJun seemed flustered by the curse words.
During the live broadcast, Myth Guild's leader had cursed.
Kim SooYong also tried to fix the situation as fast as he could.
"Most people appearing on screen, rather than professional players, are ordinary people; that's why the vocabulary can get rough from time to time."
"Yes. Also, that person was probably annoyed because they had failed the quest. I'm sure he wasn't trying to criticize or insult anyone."
"That's right. Also, it's not a violation of broadcasting rights. If you read the terms of service, it clearly says that you provide personal information to NFM except for those related to your real life. Since we have signed a contract with NFM, we can show all the game footage."
After stating their protective rights, they finally went back to talking about the game.
Both commentators had concluded that defeating the quest was impossible for the Myth Guild in the first place.
After the leader died, members of the Myth Guild began falling just like domino pieces.
"Who would have thought that South Korea's third-biggest guild would fall so easily?"
"Yeah… But there was nothing they could've done. The boss of the quest wasn’t only too strong, but she was also clever. She fought while using the terrain very effectively."
As expected from a professional gamer, Kim SooYong pointed out the most important things.
"She took advantage of how narrow the entrance was to create one versus one and one versus two situations. The members of Myth Guild ended up getting annoyed and tried to attack all at once, but that ended up creating a bottleneck that ended up destroying them."
"Woah, hearing your explanation makes it more chilling. As expected from an advanced artificial intelligence!"
"Yes. What happened today just shows that, in this game, humanoid NPCs are scarier than monsters."
Kim SooYong's words weren't wrong.
It was true that in Asrian, there were a couple of humanoid NPC bosses that were almost as intelligent as real human beings; it was also true that those bosses were usually so strong that they would make you tremble in fear.
The only mistake he had made was that neither Ain nor Hyun were NPCs.
"News! Hwarang Guild, 1st ranking guild in South Korea, has announced that they'll give up on the quest!"
"It's understandable. After seeing how strong the enemy is, it would be reckless to challenge her."
While commentating on the quest, Kim SooYong felt relieved.
The organization he was part of, Stardust, had been about to do the Count's quest, but in the end, they had decided to give up on it.
At that moment, he thought that they were letting a huge opportunity go and wanted to cry. But when he saw the news, he felt relieved.
"After Hwarang Guild announced that they'd give up, it seems like smaller ones have also decided to do the same. You can see them packing their stuff up and going down the mountain."
"But it hasn't ended yet. Darkness, the 1st ranked guild, still hasn't given up!"
Even though most Korean guilds had given up, people in the chat were excited.
More than eighty thousand people were watching on only one streaming channel.
The show hosted by The Gamez was in Korean, so if you added all the different shows around the world that covered topics about Asrian Online, there would probably be a lot more people than that.
Since Darkness was a foreign guild, people from other countries would probably also be interested in what was happening.
"So there's still 40 minutes left until the quest ends! Darkness, will they be able to beat the boss?!"
"In my opinion, Darkness is the only guild that has a chance to clear this quest. The reason is that the worldwide 2nd, 7th, and 9th are all members of Darkness."
"Why are there so many rankers?!"
"Especially the one who’s 2nd in the rankings, Mayday, became a trending topic after reaching level 90. It is safe to say that there's almost no difference compared to Lattice, who's at level 95."
"Woah, level 90? I can't even imagine what route you have to use to level up so fast."
"Oh, it seems like members of Darkness have begun moving!"
"I can't wait. It's known that Darkness selects members based on their talents. But up until today, the skill of their members has been hidden under a veil, so today we're finally going to be able to see what they're capable of."
Translator - Daniel Shin
Proofreader - ilafy
* * *
The leader of Darkness, XL, nodded while watching the Myth Guild crumble.
'Is she the one from that video…?'
Although it was relatively unknown on Korean community boards, there was a video that had trended on Reddit.
It was a video titled, 'Two Person, Named Monster Clear Footage.'
XL thought that the quest’s boss was definitely one of the two people that had appeared in that video.
'I'm certain of it!'
The way she fought against opponents with her fists covered in fire and that scruffy black robe wasn't ordinary.
Most people in Darkness knew about that video.
A few members had used that video to study how to control one's character.
"What were those guys’ identities?"
"You can't even remember something that happened a month ago?"
After hearing the question XL asked himself, a woman glanced at him with a pitiful look.
She was the vice-commander of Darkness, Reina.
Even though she barely entered the top 100 players ranking, it was because of the limits of the Priest job.
Reina had become the vice-commander of Darkness because everyone recognized her charisma and decision-making capabilities.
"People have concluded that they were dark priests. That was also why the number of people choosing the priest job increased."
XL clapped.
"Oh yeah. For a while, everyone wanted to change jobs to a dark priest."
XL gulped and looked at the battlefield.
The dark priest, who seemed to be the quest's boss, was dazzlingly stirring the flames.
She was definitely strong.
XL felt that if he stayed still watching the flames dance, he would be burned down without leaving even a trace.
"Do you think we can do it?" Reina, who was next to him, asked.
"I think that we have a chance…"
"Oh, really?"
Reina had a weird expression on her face while watching XL.
Just as his nickname indicated, XL had a thick body. But unlike his dull appearance, he was actually someone with sharp analytical skills.
What University did he graduate from?
She didn't remember very well, but she remembered that the rest of the guild members were surprised by it.
"I think that there's a 50% chance."
After thinking deeply for a while, XL finally spoke.
Reina thought she had heard wrong.
"Half? Even though we have Pias, Bear Shield, and even Mayday?"
"The opponent is that strong… From the moment we heard that they were giving away skill points as a reward, we knew that the quest would be hard to beat."
"Yeah, that's true."
"We have to do our best. After all, there's still a 50% chance of clearing the quest."
Through the guild's chat, XL started giving orders to everyone.
The 1st ranked guild, Darkness, started moving toward their goal.
* * *
Ain had easily defeated the Myth Guild alone.
The only skill Hyun had used to help her was Powerless Wave.
But there was still a long way to go.
The quest duration was 60 minutes, but only 20 had passed.
"I hope the next guys are decent," Ain mumbled while looking into the distance.
New enemies were approaching them.
Just by seeing the number of opponents, they concluded that the enemies were probably members of a big guild.
「They're a little bit different.」
Hyun felt uneasy.
He had only taken a glance at them but still felt prudence and seriousness in their movements.
He felt something different in them compared to other users.
「Are they rankers?」
Hyun had guessed correctly.
They were the worldwide 1st ranked guild, Darkness!
「Hmm…?」
Hyun's eyes narrowed.
From the opponent's side of the battlefield, only one user was approaching them.
「Don't tell me he's going to fight alone?」
Hyun recognized his bravery in case that user was a ranker, but he was also very self-confident.
He knew the current level of the top rankers in the hall of fame.
'At this moment of the game, when there are no users over level 100, not even ten rankers should be able to defeat us.'
Maybe in the distant future, they could do it.
Because of the huge number of players that Asrian had, there should be many talented people.
But at that moment, it was too early.
In terms of stats and skill utilization, they shouldn't be able to compete against them.
「Hmm?」
Those thoughts of Hyun’s disappeared.
That one user was receiving buffs non-stop.
Whap- From that person's body, a stream of light started to rise, and holy energy enveloped his weapon.
A sphere of light started to go around the long spear he had, and a mysterious pattern appeared under his feet.
Hyun, who had memorized most skills, knew what buffs they had used just by seeing the effects.
[«Mana Armor»]: For five minutes, the target receives half damage.
[«Imaginary Shield»]: For three minutes, reduce all damage received by 500 points.
[«Engine Acceleration»]: For 10 minutes, increase Agility by 30%.
[«Elfer's Power»]: For five minutes, movements become 50% faster.
[«The God that Dwells in Weapons»]: For three minutes, add 150 lightning damage to attacks.
Those five buffs were the awakening skills of either Magicians or Priests.
They had used five ultimate attacks to buff a single person.
Hyun was glad there was a limit on the number of buffs one could receive. He didn't even want to think what else they would've done if there wasn't a limit.
Even Hyun started to feel chills.
"Woah, it doesn't feel like my body."
Whish- Whish-
The Darkness guild member that had received all the buffs spoke while he swung the spear around.
That man was Pias, a warrior ranked 9th in the world rankings.
Among the members of the Darkness Guild, no one could beat him in hand-to-hand combat.
Members of the Darkness Guild had seen how easily the Myth Guild was destroyed.
They couldn't fight properly because of the narrow space and were easily defeated.
XL had concluded that if they couldn't fight properly as a group because of the narrow space, he'd rather have all the buffs applied to a single person.
"Attack now! All buffs are going to disappear after five minutes!"
"Yes, yes, understood, big sister!"
At the orders of the vice-commander Reina, Pias got ready to attack.
The target was the dark priest who was wearing a black robe.
Pias hit the ground and leaped towards the opponent while his spear cut through the air.
His speed, which had increased by more than double, was so fast that you might lose sight of him if you didn't concentrate.
To make things worse, it was nighttime.
The Pias’s attack looked as if the light itself was charging toward the enemy to annihilate them.
"Ugh…?"
But Pias was forced to stop his leap.
The target, instead of evading, had rushed towards him and reduced the distance between them.
The skill that Pias had just used, 'Lance Charge,' required him to maintain a certain distance from the enemy to be effective.
But because the opponent reduced the distance, he had failed.
「Why were you standing still…?! I had to dodge the attack!」
Hyun scolded Ain through a whisper.
Ain hadn't moved at all while watching Lance Charge coming toward her.
Ain's answer was ridiculous.
「I was thinking of counter-attacking and letting it flow.」
「You can easily cancel that skill by moving a little bit. Why were you planning to use such a dangerous strategy?」
「Because it would be more fun, right?」
Oof… Hyun wanted to grab his head.
That was Ain's biggest weakness.
It didn't matter what kind of attack came toward her. Instead of dodging it, she always thought of fighting it head-on.
That's why she was often defeated by skills she didn't know about.
Even during the awakening quests, she was defeated by the «Vision Sword».
While she played as a werewolf, it really didn't matter because of the high HP. But at the moment, she was playing as a Close Range Magician.
'I wish she wouldn’t try such reckless things while having a body as weak as a paper.'
Since they were sharing the same body, Hyun thought that he would have to look out for her safety.
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