Former Hero, Solo Play Oriented

[Ah~ Finally today!]

[The first raid dungeon of Astria Online!]

[Looks like a ton of 12-person raids have been formed.]

[Which party is most likely to make it big in the Korean server?]

[Hong Baek Guild, Skada Guild, and the Kind Mage Guild]

[It’s definitely one of those three.]

[Yep, those are parties formed by members who were at the top tier in the elite dungeon clear runs.]

[But now, things are equal in front of the White Dog, right?]

[Isn’t the Hong Baek Guild with the White Dog the most advantageous?]

The guild master of the largest guild in the Betarion Empire, Plan B, Kyuam Jo Hyun-Soo, was venting in the chat window for the viewers.

“Guys! Please talk about our Plan B raid party too!”

[LOL, you know the leader isn’t going to make it big, right?]

[For real…. Let’s talk about something else.]

[LMAO]

[LOL]

[It’s sad that the top parties don’t broadcast their runs.]

[It’s typical for perf runs not to stream, anyway.]

[Yep, they end up losing all the strategies.]

[Plan B and GG Guild usually stream to promote, though.]

[The competition between Plan B and GG Guild is definitely another spectacle, LOL.]

[Hyun-Soo! Stand up for the pride of the largest guild in Betarion Empire!]

[Go GG Guild from Alparion Empire!]

[That’s the message above!]

Swish!

Keek-!

Hyun-Soo smirked and sliced through the charging demons.

“Guild Master, these minions of the tree have way more HP than the elite dungeon ones. You can definitely feel this is a legendary-tier dungeon.”

“Hehe. But we can proceed with 12 people, right?”

“Well, I have no idea what kind of monsters will greet us.”

“I should have brought some more seasoned players. Some have experience from the globally popular raid game, ‘World of Artoria’.”

“Those players are into leisure games now; pushing them into a tight raid schedule for a month is kinda….”

“Hmm, it’s young people with vigor that need to do this.”

“We can clear quickly and then hear their old stories while giving them a bus ride. Hahaha!”

The members of Plan B party were each saying something as they explored the ‘Abyssal Tree’.

A massive raid dungeon resembling a gigantic dead tree with an empty interior.

‘Abyssal Tree’.

The scenery inside was bizarre.

Black trunks tangled together formed walls, creating a straight path that wound around the outer wall of the tree.

Hyun-Soo muttered with a disgruntled expression.

“I feel like I’m going in circles. What on earth is the structure of this tree?”

“Maybe it’s a spiral maze. A structure where you go around and slowly reach the center.”

“And there should be named enemies like in elite dungeons in between.”

The chat window of the broadcast started buzzing with the viewers discussing the progress of the Plan B party.

[Like an ammonite fossil?]

[I want to see how other parties are doing.]

[Go watch GG Guild’s broadcast!]

[I wonder how the Hong Baek Guild is doing?]

[I feel like the White Dog is going to crush everything and charge ahead.]

[I heard a rumor from an acquaintance that the main tank of Hong Baek Guild died?]

[Deathly Death? How about the White Dog?]

[No idea, haven’t heard anything.]

[No way….]

[Are they soloing the raid dungeon?]

[That’s just not possible.]

[Sure, you can clear the Elden with 2-3 damage dealers, but for raids, you need 12!]

[Even if you can perform the tactics alone….]

[Absolutely not enough DPS. It’s structurally impossible.]

[Even if the White Dog is a common sense breaker, still….]

*

[Level 53]

[Magically Corrupted Ant + Gatekeeper Weyde]

[HP 79,047,000 / 100,000,000 (79%)]

“KAHAHA!”

Ooooh-!

The ancient black tree comes to life.

‘Magically Corrupted Ant’.

On top of the tree, a man who appears to be a demon is riding and spilling madness.

‘Gatekeeper Weyde’.

The ant keeps sticking its roots into the ground.

Bang, bang, bang!

Chris, holding a talisman, sprinted and shouted quickly.

“From the farthest person in order, one at a time for the trunk pattern! Align in a straight line! Starting with 25-meter Chris! Bae Merong, Yeon Mina, Dal Borom, and Red Hot Chicken in that order!”

Fwhoosh!!

The roots planted into the ground became sharp pillars and erupted towards Chris. Chris generated a pillar at the desired location and swiftly used backward evasion to escape.

Fwhoosh, Fwhoosh, Fwhoosh!

Five tree trunks shot up in pillar form targeting each ranged dealer of the Hong Baek party.

[Ant’s Trunk]

[HP 10,000,000 / 10,000,000 (100%)]

Excluding the melee dealers attacking the ant up close, all the ranged dealers were executing this special pattern.

They had already faced several wipes trying to find a way to break this pattern.

If the tree trunks overlap, the ant would instantly enrage, leading to a wipe.

If the tree trunks are spread too far apart, they would not be able to eliminate the trunks within the time limit.

Aligning them in a straight line is crucial.

They must clear them using the ranged dealers’ straight-line area-wide attack skills all at once.

Fwhoosh!

With Red Hot Chicken being the last, the Hong Baek party successfully aligned all the ant’s trunks.

Focusing their attacks on those trunks began.

Boom, Crash!

The powerful force of the ranged dealers who had completed ice castle farming made short work of the ant’s trunks.

“Ugh, these guys!”

The demon ‘Weyde’ atop the ant scowled, raising his hand.

Uuuwuuung!

With an ominous resonance, a massive purple sphere began forming above his hand.

A prelude to the special pattern area-wide attack, Magic Explosion.

Chris promptly ordered.

“Bae Merong, Yeon Mina! Ice Prison! Next, Cherni, Dal Borom! Spirit Shield!”

Along with that, the magic sphere from Weyde detonated.

Faaaar!

Zooooom!

The magic sphere erupted, sweeping across the party of Hong Baek.

The wizard’s Ice Prison and the Spirit Shield from the summoner successfully protected all the ranged and melee dealer groups from their positions.

With this, they ended the special phase without any damage.

Hoo, hoo!

The ant returned to its normal pattern, swinging its trunk ferociously at the tank, Deathly Death.

Each strike was terrifyingly strong. No matter how nimble Deathly Death is, one hit means retirement.

The tank’s death meant total party wipe.

Deathly Death could not dare to play riskily, trying to slip in high damage attacks.

Fwooosh!

The ant’s trunk spun violently, sweeping across the entire combat area. The ranged dealers each used their defensive skills.

Clang! Ka-pow!

“Ugh. We passed the special phase, but this normal pattern is no joke!”

“Using defensive skills, the damage still gets through, making it really tough!”

“Always keep HP at maximum!”

The ant’s normal pattern did not target just the tank. Party members had to respond to attacks sweeping through all directions.

Naturally, the overall party’s damage output would decrease.

But all 12 gathered here were legendary heroes, seasoned members of the Hong Baek Guild.

They calmly responded to the patterns, consistently whittling down the ant’s HP.

Boom!

Ooooh-!

The ant let out a monstrous roar and lay its massive body down on the floor of ‘Abyssal Tree’.

“Creak!”

Simultaneously, the demon controlling the ant, Weyde, fell to the ground.

“Ugh, you guys are dangerous. But you won’t make it this far inside. Kahaah!”

Swoosh.

He managed a feeble smile, disappearing through the inner walls of the Abyssal Tree.

Waaaaah-!

The members of the Hong Baek party cheered.

“We cleared it!”

“Wow! Did it take two or three hours? For a 30-day dungeon, we cleared the Level 1 Named enemy fast!”

Chris checked the ‘Dungeon Progress Interface’ with a stiff expression and shook her head.

“No, the progress hasn’t updated.”

[Raid Dungeon ‘Abyssal Tree’ Progress 0/3]

Bae Merong and Cherni turned pale.

“Does that mean…!”

“A mere mid-boss!? Such a formidable creature?”

Grrr-!

Chris murmured quietly as she looked at the slowly melting black trunks in front of her.

“Probably what’s ahead is the Level 1 Named.”

All members of the Hong Baek party tensed, finally entering the massive shared entrance.

Inside the ‘Abyssal Tree’. The massive chamber that resided within.

In the center—

Crack!

A black dragon exhaling a foreboding aura coiled up.

Its massive body was covered in black scales, a gigantic lizard.

It was the Black Dragon.

Its size was undoubtedly smaller than the Green Dragon, which was a world boss size-wise by about half.

But it was a Named enemy from the expansion area raid dungeon. The powerful force it contained would not be less than that of the previously world-boss-level Green Dragon.

This time, no external help could be sought.

Only the 12 would have to navigate through this boss.

Chris bit her lip.

There was no time to waste.

Even now, Rain must be in trouble. This time he might really get hurt and end up hospitalized.

As much as she wanted to grind until dawn to make progress, the lives of the 12 members of the Hong Baek Guild were important too. Some had day jobs. She couldn’t force her stubbornness onto all the raid members.

Looking up at its gigantic frame, Chris muttered.

“Will we be able to clear this by today?”

[Level 1 Named]

[Level 53]

[Black Dragon]

[HP 200,000,000 / 200,000,000 (100%)]

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