Chapter 17 – Dungeon Assault

Read on K​at​Re​adingCafe

It’s clearly my fault.

To think I’d steal aggro while hitting a monster… Aggro management is basically the tanker’s job, and stealing aggro because of a sudden burst of damage is the dealer’s fault.

After finishing the first monster section, I approached Kang Hangilnim.

“I’m sorry. I dealt damage without thinking.”

“No, it’s my fault for underestimating Arangnim, who solo cleared the Orc Chieftain. I never thought I’d lose aggro to a Great Swordsman.”

“No! I’ll be more careful!”

“That Arangnim.”

“Yes.”

“Would you mind if I turned on the party meter? Looking at Arangnim’s damage right now, she seems like she’ll be in the rankings.”

“Oh? I already turned it on. Was I not supposed to just turn it on like that?”

“Ah, if all the party members agree, everyone’s DPS is visible. Right now, you can only see Arangnim’s, right?”

“Oh, that’s right! Agree, agree.”

I pressed the meter agreement acceptance mark that appeared in the menu window.

Immediately, the meter for the entire party appeared before my eyes.

“Oh, I’m in first place!”

I felt good about having a higher DPS than Mozza Whoppernim, who is a [Magician] class.

The meter has its advantages and disadvantages, but I personally like it a lot. I enjoy it more because I can immediately see my growth.

“Wow… Mozza Whoppernim isn’t a bad Magician…”

Mozza Whoppernim used a crying emoticon after looking at the meter, and then used a fighting emoticon.

“Okay. Shall we keep going then?”

“Yes!”

Maybe it’s because it’s the first dungeon, but we went through it quite easily. I thought there would be a midboss, but it didn’t appear even after 15 minutes.

The problem was that the deeper we went into the dungeon, the more grotesque the monsters became.

Especially the giant spiders were too disgusting. Their eight eyes were each spinning around, and I got goosebumps all over my body.

After dealing with all the grotesque mobs, we arrived in front of the boss.

“Ugh.”

A giant maggot occupying half of the boss area right in front of us. What’s horrifying is that there are swarms of bugs in the maggot’s mouth.

Before catching the boss, I didn’t immediately engage it in order to reorganize my skill cooldowns, buffs, and doping.

==

“Wow… Arangnim is really crazy, isn’t she?”

Gang Hangil watched as I slaughtered the monster he was holding aggro on.

-Does the Sword Master’s damage really come out that high?

-No, is she overwhelming the Magician? Was that originally the job?

-Isn’t this balance breaking? How is her DPS higher than a pure dealer?

-Is that MAX damage even right in the first place? No, even with the Taseom Sword, does that much damage come out?

Lee Arang’s damage was going wild to the point where aggro would be released if he let his guard down even a little bit.

And there was one more scary thing.

Usually, Great Swordsmen have lower defense than other tankers, but their damage is stronger. But right now, the amount of health being reduced isn’t decreasing as much as a paladin with the best defense.

The reason was simple.

Clang!

Lee Arang is Parrying the strong attacks of the mobs attacking Gang Hangil whenever she has the chance.

Cutting off painful attacks with Parrying in between made the tanker’s health stable. Thanks to that, Pink Berry was healing less and using attack skills, so the dungeon progressed quickly.

-Parrying is really the best in LEORE

-Is that 15 years old? Is that 15 years old? Is that 15 years old?

-Noooong’s skill is crazy

-I wonder if she’ll do that much damage during the Raid too

When we arrived at the boss room, we took a short break.

“There’s still the boss room left, but Mozza Whopper has completely lost.”

Lee Arang’s meter damage was clearly higher than Mozza Whopper’s, no matter who looked at it.

[Magician] is a pure dealer even among mage jobs.

A pure dealer is a dealer who only attacks purely. They have no utility and don’t give buffs to the party.

Instead, they are dealers who help the party with overwhelming damage.

In particular, [Magician] is a pure dealer that ranks within the top fingers in LEORE.

On the other hand, [Swordmaster] is a sustained dealer with a bit of synergy.

Basically, just having a [Swordmaster] in the party raises the stats of the entire party.

Their damage is a midtier dealer even in LEORE. But that dealer was overwhelming the [Magician] with damage.

Of course, this happens in dungeons or Raids. But that’s when the pure dealer isn’t grown or is a bad dealer.

But Mozza Whopper is near endspec to the point where he even does Raids. So even if the item level is adjusted when entering the dungeon, he receives the best stats that he can have in the dungeon.

Moreover, Mozza Whopper isn’t a bad dealer.

He’s a dealer who’s in the top 10% even among [Magicians]. In the first place, he’s doing well if you look at the DPS.

It’s just that Lee Arang’s DPS is strangely high.

“How is that kind of DPS coming out? Is it because of Parrying? Ah, is it because of the Parrying skill [Revenge]?”

-Even so, isn’t it a final damage of 30%?

-Even if you do 30% of the number one record in that dungeon right now, it’s still much higher ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Crazy DPS

-Why can’t our Swordmaster do that damage?

-This is Nooooongㅋㅋ

==

[Abyss Maggot]

I have to give the orders to catch the boss.

I’m the only one in the party who’s new to this dungeon right now, so I decided to do everything from briefing to orders.

I stared closely at the last boss of the dungeon, the [Abyss Maggot].

A boss that occupies half of the boss area. I don’t even know where the weak point is. And the bugs that are visible in the boss’s mouth…

Just by looking at it, it seems like the bugs will come out with a gimmick.

I wonder what kind of boss attacks and Tank Buster will come out… Hmm…

After all, even if I’ve played RPG games, it seems difficult to guess from the boss’s appearance.

“Let’s go now!”

I said to the party members.

“Shall we go!”

Gang Hangilnim, who answered energetically, and I simultaneously drew our swords, and Pink Berry and Mozza Whoppernim took out their staffs.

The boss battle started as soon as we entered the boss area, with the tanker using the aggro skill Roar to grab the boss’s aggro.

I took a stance, raised my sword, and lowered my body slightly. Purple light, symbolizing the Pentagon skill, emanated from the sword.

The moment the boss, having aggro on Gang Hangilnim, attacked Gang Hangilnim with its giant body, I kicked off the ground with all my might.

“Kuwowowowowowo”

I used [Pentagon] on the weakest-looking belly part first. The boss heaved greatly and roared, then crouched down to swing its body greatly.

I wanted to immediately stack [Chain Attack] to 10 stacks, but it was ambiguous due to the boss’s attack.

I had to evade immediately, but I shouted.

“Parrying!”

Gang Hangilnim, who immediately understood my words, appeared from the left with a giant Greatsword.

Looking at the boss’s size, it seemed impossible for me to Parry alone no matter how I thought about it.

Then it’s two people.

“I’ll give the signal! One, two… three!!!”

The moment the boss swung its body, the moment Gang Hangilnim’s Greatsword and my Taseom Sword collided with the boss’s body in sync with my signal…

A cheerful sound rang out.

Paang!!!

“Wow!?”

I was flustered by the heavier attack than I thought, but it was a good choice to Parry with Gang Hangilnim after all.

As soon as the boss lost its strength and slumped down, Mozza Whoppernim’s magic, which was being cast from behind, exploded on the boss.

Gang Hangilnim also poured skills on the groggy boss.

I slashed the boss’s belly with [Annihilation Strike], the Swordmaster’s strongest skill, using [Revenge] obtained from Parrying.

Kwagagagagak! A heavy slashing sound rang out.

In the subsequent back-and-forth, the boss’s HP bar dropped to 50%.

The boss suddenly dug down into the ground. The giant boss disappeared into the ground in an instant, and a large red circle appeared from the center of the map.

“Evade!”

Everyone went out of the red circle, and not long after, the boss’s mouth popped out from the center.

The ground rumbled, and I felt vibrations all over my body.

Monsters that I had seen while going through the dungeon poured out of the boss’s mouth that popped out of the ground.

Monsters came out, but fortunately, the boss didn’t attack with them. As expected, it wasn’t the worst situation I was thinking of, probably because it was the first dungeon.

After quickly dealing with the swarming monsters, the boss’s body came out of the floor completely.

A normal capture was in progress again, and then a black light burst out of the boss’s mouth.

“Tank Buster!”

At my words, Pink Berry immediately cast shield skills and damage reduction skills on Gang Hangilnim, and Gang Hangilnim took a defensive stance with his Greatsword.

The boss charged towards Gang Hangilnim, who was taking a defensive stance.

The moment the boss’s aggro was definitely drawn to Gang Hangilnim, Mozza Whoppernim and I poured out attacks without thinking about the afterdelay.

Every time the boss’s continuous tooth attacks collided with Gang Hangilnim’s Greatsword, a loud noise and defense effects burst out. But Gang Hangilnim didn’t fall.

Perfect defense skills and perfect healing. He endured without any damage.

The moment I thought that, the boss stepped back slightly and spewed out black light once again.

‘A second time!?’

Thinking that the second Tank Buster would be dangerous since the defense skills and healing skills had already been used, I immediately ran to Gang Hangilnim’s side.

“Switch Parrying!”

It’s still impossible to Parry all of the boss’s attacks.

Then I’ll just do what I can!

I Parried the first attack the moment the boss’s Tank Buster came.

Clang!!!

Half of my HP was blown away in an instant, and a strong vibration stopped my body.

“Ugh…!”

The moment I was about to die if I got hit by the next attack, Gang Hangilnim came forward and took the hit instead. And in the next attack, my afterdelay was released, and I came forward in front of Gang Hangilnim and Parried the next attack.

Clang!!!

And Gang Hangilnim was hit by the next attack, and we quickly switched places and took the hit to get past the Tank Buster.

Clang!!!

I shouted Nice! to Pink Berry, who was perfectly covering the HP that was being reduced every time I Parried and Gang Hangilnim’s HP being hit by the boss’s attacks, and poured skills on the boss, who was in afterdelay from the two consecutive Tank Busters.

And…

Paaaaaaang!

The boss disappeared with a huge effect and particles.