Raid Clear

The raid went smoothly.

Up to this point, there hadn’t been any problems before. That is, until the first pattern appeared.

As everyone diligently spammed skills to whittle down the health of the giant stone lion, the first area-of-effect pattern finally began.

[Kuwahhhh!]

A giant mythical creature howls towards the sky.

Everyone would have noticed even without a warning, but I shout loudly just in case.

“Area-of-effect pattern! Everyone, get ready to run!”

I, too, got ready to run.

Didn’t I spend a week training my stamina for this very moment?

It was time to show the results of that training.

“Evade it!”

Immediately after the roar, a giant AoE field spreads across the floor.

Standing on it means getting crushed by boulders falling from the sky.

Sohee and I ran towards the side closer to the boss.

[Hahaha! This guy! This guy!]

The spot closest to the boss.

Jupiter, the main tank, was swinging his holy sword even as the AoE field spread across the floor.

I frowned at the sight. Jupiter wasn’t stupid. That meant he couldn’t have forgotten the pattern itself.

So, was he so engrossed in attacking that he couldn’t see his surroundings?

No, that wasn’t it either. Even while attacking the boss, Jupiter’s gaze was constantly checking the positions of the raid members.

“Jupiter! Evade it!”

[Don’t worry!]

How many people wouldn’t worry when the main tank was acting like a maniac?

With an urgent expression, I quickly threw myself forward.

Koong!

Immediately, a giant rock came crashing down.

The raid members, caught in the newly started area attack, scattered in all directions in a panic.

At that moment, I was able to spot Jupiter’s bizarre movement.

[Hahahah!]

With a hearty laugh, Jupiter slid backward.

Moving extremely fast, Jupiter managed to escape the area attack by a hair’s breadth.

But that wasn’t the end of the attack. We had to keep dodging the continuously falling rocks for a certain amount of time.

What the hell, what the hell is that?

Jupiter’s movements were very strange. It was different from the movements of the Snow Mages riding bikes or the raid members speeding around on inline skates.

It was as if… yes, as if something was grabbing Jupiter’s body and forcibly moving him.

That was the moment.

Jupiter, who had been sliding around the boss at high speed, suddenly soared into the sky.

[Hiyaaa!]

Looking like he was preparing a finishing blow.

Jupiter, floating in the sky, flailed his legs and raised his holy sword high.

“No way…”

I muttered as I watched.

And soon, that thought turned into certainty.

[Take this!]

Jupiter charged towards the boss with a powerful shout.

But rather than charging, it looked like he was being pulled by something invisible.

I never expected him to prepare wire action too.

I laughed in disbelief at Jupiter’s absurd preparation and stopped in my tracks.

The area attack pattern was over, so there was no need to keep running.

“Haa… haa…”

Pounding heart, trembling legs.

I was panting, but I could still handle it.

The week-long stamina training hadn’t been in vain.

I quickly shifted my gaze and checked the surviving members.

There were a total of 30 survivors, including me.

Nine DPS players and the sub-tank had died.

But it’s okay. Even though many DPS players died, the damage output is already more than enough.

“Everyone, focus your DPS!”

[Huff… huff…]

[I’m gonna die…]

[My back…]

Of course, surviving wasn’t everything.

Some of the raid members, who had been running around with all their might, collapsed to the floor and started panting, regardless of their survival.

They weren’t in a state to deal damage normally.

I bit my lip.

A person’s stamina is limited. That means we can’t keep fighting intensely like we did in Deron.

The more retries we have, the more miserable the raid results will be.

We have to finish it on the first try, no matter what.

“Only one main priest left, everyone else focus on DPS!”

Jupiter might struggle a bit, but this was the right way to go right now.

“Hold on until the end, Jupiter!”

[Uhyahhhhh!]

Instead of an answer, a loud shout came from Jupiter.

He was swinging his holy sword with great excitement.

Jupiter was engrossed in the situation itself.

Time passes with the DPS focused like that.

The boss’s health is already down to 40%.

At that moment, the area attack pattern started again.

[Kuwahhhh!]

“Get ready to run again!”

Judging by the rate at which the boss’s health is decreasing, if we can safely endure this pattern, we should be able to finish the raid in the next DPS phase.

“Last one! Just hold on through this!”

Encouraging the raid members, I quickly start running.

Those who were panting on the floor also started running after me.

“Hek…! Hek…!”

My body starts screaming from the renewed sprint.

The raid members riding inline skates or bicycles seemed to have some leeway, but the expressions of the other raid members were similar to mine.

[Yap! Huryat!]

Even at this moment, Jupiter was swinging his holy sword and steadily dealing damage.

He may be a tank, but Jupiter is wearing end-of-season gear.

He’s dealing enough damage to take on an old version of the raid boss.

Every time Jupiter’s sword danced, the boss’s health visibly decreased.

Of course, the most noticeable of the DPS players was the Snow Mage.

Riding a bike and circling in a wide arc, she continuously fired blue ice from her palms.

Of course, to others, it would have looked like a mage sitting on an invisible chair and flying around in circles.

After running around for so long, I reached my limit.

I let out a rough breath and sat down on the floor.

“I… I can’t run anymore…”

“Want a piggyback ride?”

“Yeah…”

I didn’t refuse Sohee’s offer.

As the raid leader, I didn’t want to show the image of being carried on someone’s back, but I still had to clear the raid first.

So, carried on Sohee’s back, I summoned ducks while waving a semi-transparent hologram staff.

“Take this!”

“Hoo…”

Sohee, who had inexhaustible stamina, also started panting, seemingly struggling to run with me on her back.

Kwang!

[Hyaaa!]

This time, the raid members couldn’t hold on and started dying.

Some were running with all their might until the end, while others calmly accepted their deaths.

[Raid leader-nim…]

[I’m done here…]

“Noooo!!!”

I could fully understand why the raid members had no choice but to stop. It wasn’t like in the game where they could run with infinite stamina.

Right now, I’m being carried on Sohee’s back, aren’t I?

What was happening here in D.R. was something that could never happen in the virtual Deron.

“Eee!”

Just as the area attack pattern was ending.

I jumped off Sohee’s back and gave the order.

“Start DPS!”

The number of people who survived until the end was 20 in total.

That means 10 people died in one pattern.

But there are still 20 people left.

The remaining raid members and I did our best and poured out our skills.

Colorful lights bloomed from all directions.

Semi-transparent hologram effects that decorated the sky covered the giant monster.

Even at that moment, Jupiter was swinging his sword while being dragged around.

[Hiyaaa!]

As a result of pouring out everything with all our might.

[Krrr…]

Koong!

The giant boulder fell with a thud, signaling the end of the raid.

“Hiek… hiek…”

I sat down on the floor and panted roughly.

The raid was over. I could say with certainty, throughout my long Deron life.

That this short raid today was the most difficult.

[Hehe…!]

As if an angel was descending from the sky.

Jupiter fluttered his wings and landed on the ground.

He seemed to be quite pleased with the wire action he used this time.

[How was it, Blood Demon King-isiyeo…!]

Jupiter asked, as if wanting praise.

His chest was heaving up and down, and his mouth was slightly open.

His sparkling eyes were so cute.

I nodded and replied.

“You did well. You were the best…”

[The, the best…!]

That’s right. Jupiter was definitely the best in this raid.

Thanks to his free movement and quick mobility using wires, he was able to avoid a significant portion of the boss’s patterns, allowing the priests who were focused on Jupiter to switch to DPS.

If Jupiter hadn’t come with the wires, this raid would have likely failed.

“That’s a wire, right?”

I asked Jupiter, just in case.

Jupiter was startled.

She turned her head slightly and started playing dumb.

[Wi, wire? I don’t know what you’re talking about…]

“Hmm…”

I didn’t bother to ask further. If the person didn’t want to reveal it, what could I do?

There were no achievements or dropped items.

But today’s experience will remain as a memory.

I called the knocked-out raid members back and had a final wrap-up session.

Thank you for your hard work. The raid members exchanged greetings with bittersweet smiles.

After watching them for a while, I carefully opened my mouth.

“Everyone. How was it?”

As my voice flowed out, the raid members’ gazes naturally focused on me.

With the surroundings quiet, I continued to speak.

“Is there anyone who would use D.R. if it were released?”

I ask, just in case.

But no one answered my question.

Everyone must be thinking the same thing.

[Ahem… I think I’ll buy it…]

“Really?”

The person who raised their hand was the Snow Mage.

I recall that her tastes were a bit unique.

Indeed, the Snow Mage showed a sincere smile and enjoyed the raid, unlike the other raid members.

“I think I’ll buy it too. But I don’t plan on doing raids in real life.”

[Phew…]

The raid members let out a sigh of relief at my words.

Did they think I was going to do another raid like this?

I laughed in disbelief and shook my head.

How many people would give up the advantages of virtual reality and do raids in a way that only has disadvantages?

Of course, it would be doable if you had assistance with movement using wires like Jupiter.

I didn’t particularly want to do that.

I’d rather use a capsule to connect to Deron.

“Anyone opposed to disbanding the temporary raid party that’s currently formed?”

We cleared the raid, so we achieved our goal.

There were other raids left, but I didn’t feel like sweating and challenging new raids again.

It was fortunate that this boss’s pattern was easy, but if it was a raid that required mandatory gimmicks, we would have suffered even more.

“No objections. Then we’ll disband. Everyone, you’ve worked hard, and I hope you have a good time during the remaining test period.”

With those final words, I order the disbandment.

The raid members finally start to disappear.

They say their farewells and disappear with the light, with bittersweet expressions.

Jupiter showed off his wire-assisted movements until the very end.

[Goodbye then…!]

Jupiter soared into the sky with his farewell.

He stopped in mid-air and disappeared with the light.

Seriously…

“Let’s go too.”

“Okay.”

Sohee and I held hands and left the stadium.

As we trudged towards the parked car, Sohee opened her mouth.

“You’re not going to exercise anymore, are you?”

“Exercise? No? I’m going to do it?”

“… Why? You’re not going to do D.R. anymore, are you?”

“That’s right, but… I think I still need to do it. Ah, don’t worry. I won’t do strength training like I promised.”

I answered Sohee and smiled softly.

I have to do it to last at night.