Ch.53Naba Forest Mountain

# 53. Naba Forest Mountain

[JoanOfArcIsASaint: Ah]

[JoanOfArcIsASaint: Got it]

[EtiquettePath: ?]

[JoanOfArcIsASaint: Fnally]

[JoanOfArcIsASaint: Finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

[SaeAx: SaeAx?]

[JoanOfArcIsASaint: Finally got the Naba Forest Mountain dungeon discovery title!!!!!]

[SaeAx: Congrats congrats congrats congrats]

[KillTheCute: Congrats congrats congrats congrats]

[StraightforwardBackdoor: Congratulations!]

[JoanOfArcIsASaint: (Beaming smile emoji)]

[JoanOfArcIsASaint: Thank you thank you]

[JoanOfArcIsASaint: Ah]

[JoanOfArcIsASaint: The dungeon’s been out for like 2 years]

[JoanOfArcIsASaint: Can’t believe there are still competitors wtf]

[WaterKnowsTheAnswer: Naba Forest Mountain?]

[JoanOfArcIsASaint: Trees and Wind and Forest and Mountain!!!]

[WaterKnowsTheAnswer: Oh that place!]

[WaterKnowsTheAnswer: The one named after “Sky and Wind and Stars and Poetry”!]

[JoanOfArcIsASaint: ??]

[EtiquettePath: Yun Dong-ju]

[WaterKnowsTheAnswer: (Affirmative emoji)]

[WaterKnowsTheAnswer: I definitely remember now! The atmosphere was quite nice, unlike most dungeons!]

[WaterKnowsTheAnswer: Though it wasn’t what I expected when I tried it!]

[JoanOfArcIsASaint: Ah haha]

[EtiquettePath: Failed attempt at showing off]

[JoanOfArcIsASaint: 🖕]

[JoanOfArcIsASaint: (Angry emoji)]

**

[You have discovered the <Trees and Wind and Forest and Mountain> dungeon.]

[Clear the dungeon.]

‘The dungeon name is still so poetic, even seeing it again.’

The dungeon’s appearance method and name were exactly the same. Thanks to that, related memories came flooding back, making me feel nostalgic for a moment.

I glared hard at EtiquettePath who had tried to show off her literary knowledge, but she simply ignored me with an expression that said “what’s wrong with this guy all of a sudden?”

Eun Subin, you cold woman!

“What?”

“Nothing.”

I took a deep breath. Though it had been nearly 2, no, almost 3 years since I’d cleared this dungeon, the memories were coming back vividly.

Not only had I been quite interested in it for a while trying to get the discovery title, but as WaterKnowsTheAnswer had mentioned, the dungeon’s atmosphere itself was unique.

“If the eastern path of Albrant connects to the Naba Forest Mountain dungeon, we’d be in serious trouble if we’d taken the northern route instead.”

“Ah. I’ll admit that. Honestly, with our current specs, clearing Naba Forest Mountain shouldn’t be difficult, but Puteus Lunar or Silva Eternal are on another level entirely. If other raid leaders were here, they’d probably be shitting bricks trying to clear this place. There’s no guarantee they’d have S-rank members like we do.”

“There’s also no guarantee they’d take the Albrant route, right?”

“That’s true too. They might avoid it, saying seeing the Stink Star directly is too awful.”

We were more relaxed now than when climbing the mountain. Even SaeAx, who claimed not to remember details well, remembered this dungeon, and unlike the mountain, monsters here rarely jumped out unexpectedly. At least, that’s how this dungeon was.

“They might have added some nasty tricks like with the Corrupted Spirit purification quest, but it should be more or less the same.”

“Sunghyun. Need a briefing?”

“Hmm. I suppose we should. Subin, want to do it?”

“Sure.”

I decided to leave it to EtiquettePath, whose detailed memory was much better than mine. We all remembered the dungeon, but everyone’s memories varied in detail, and memories can always be distorted.

Above all, investing a few minutes for safety was nothing.

“Trees and Wind and Forest and Mountain, which I’ll call Naba Forest Mountain for short. The theme is evident from the name. If we consider the dungeon as a raid boss, you could say it has 4 phases…”

EtiquettePath began her briefing in her characteristically calm and intelligent tone. She remembered even more details than I did, making me wonder if some things had really happened, and she thoroughly dissected the dungeon before we even entered.

“…In that sense, our raid’s current specs are more than enough to successfully clear Naba Forest Mountain. Assuming the dungeon hasn’t changed from before.”

*Clap clap clap clap*

“Wow! Wiki is indeed EtiquettePath Wiki!”

“How can you remember so much…”

When EtiquettePath finished her briefing, we all applauded until our palms turned red. I decided we should leave all future briefings to her.

She’s so reliable, EtiquettePath Wiki!

And what a sweet deal for me!

“That expression of yours is really annoying.”

“No way. Have you ever seen such a warm smile? It’s like Buddha’s smile.”

“Yeah, right.”

EtiquettePath pretended otherwise, but she was clearly pleased. Thanks to her briefing, we could add a spoonful (ladle-sized) of stability to our confidence.

“What are you doing?”

“Huh?”

“I may have done the briefing, but the raid leader should give the command to start.”

“Oh, right. Ahem.”

After EtiquettePath did the entire briefing, it felt like I was freeloading just by giving the start command! I laughed briefly, then declared seriously:

“Enter.”

We entered the Naba Forest Mountain dungeon in order: KillTheCute, SaeAx, EtiquettePath, and me.

“Check!”

“Check!”

As soon as we entered, we completed the condition check I had initially proposed. Everyone was fine this time too.

I gave orders to the raid members who had formed a formation.

“First theme, Trees. Let’s move straight ahead for now.”

Naba Forest Mountain was a diverse dungeon. The background inside didn’t look like a typical dungeon—the ‘scenery’ was beautiful, and there were four themes within a single dungeon.

But it was ‘honest.’

Specs and control were more important than gimmicks.

We walked straight down a path lined with trees that resembled metasequoias.

“This kind of road would be great for driving later.”

“Shh.”

Even if it was an honest dungeon, a dungeon is still a dungeon. I stopped SaeAx’s idle chat and remained alert.

‘Whatever it is, come out quickly. I know the scenery is nice, but we didn’t come here to leisurely appreciate it.’

Romantic play is not in my dictionary.

I hoped the “tree” theme monsters would appear soon.

“Still don’t see anything?”

“Yeah! It’s all just trees.”

Naba Forest Mountain was honest for a dungeon, almost too honest. The ‘tree’ theme monsters were literally trees.

They would be hiding among the trees lining the path we were walking on, watching us.

“You know that if we can’t find them, the path resets and the monster tree positions reset too, right?”

“Yes, captain.”

“If we don’t find all four, it resets. Remember that.”

Missing even one would cause a reset. This gimmick was naturally non-aggressive, making it more challenging.

You might think, why not just touch all of them as we go? But…

‘The monsters get stronger in proportion to the number of wrong attempts. The number of resets also has an impact, though less than wrong attempts.’

Since tower-specific gimmicks had been added before, I didn’t think the original gimmicks would be gone, so I couldn’t try recklessly.

KillTheCute’s holy power and SaeAx’s intuition.

We were currently relying on the front duo’s instincts. This was the first approach EtiquettePath had suggested and I had agreed to.

“Umm… is it that one?”

“Are you sure?”

“No, but… hmm.”

Oh no, I was pressuring her without realizing it. We were relying purely on intuition, so asking if she was sure made no sense.

“Sorry. Let’s try anyway. Even if you’re wrong, it’s absolutely not your fault.”

“Ah, okay. If that’s the right one, I think I can use this feeling as a reference.”

“Good. Subin. Get ready.”

As fire, the natural enemy of trees, appeared in the air, SaeAx swung her axe.

*Crack-crack-crack*

– ■■■■■■!!!!!

Bingo.

Wood fragments and blood splattered as a strange scream was heard.

“Yuri, 6 o’clock! Subin, shoot!”

At my order, SaeAx immediately retreated, and EtiquettePath, who had charged a fireball to its limit, fired instantly.

“Seyeon! Holy Shield!”

“Hup!”

[KillTheCute casts Holy Shield.]

Unlike in games, friendly fire was all too easy to apply here.

Just in case, I had KillTheCute shield us from the fireball’s aftershock.

“Did we get it?”

“Who’s there!”

– ■■■■!!!

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

“Subin, recast. Yuri! Status check!”

“About half health!”

“Confirmed. Seyeon, Yuri! Cross aggro!”

“Roger!”

Even if SaeAx’s axe strike didn’t do much damage since it was just to wake the monster, half health from one fireball was impressive. Even with my buff and type advantage, this was going smoothly.

That tree monster had simple patterns but powerful strikes and was really tough, which made physical attackers feel useless in this theme…

“Seyeon, Yuri 6 o’clock! Subin, shoot!”

*KWAAANG-!!*

-■■■■■!!!!

KillTheCute and SaeAx’s defense and aggro distribution. Then EtiquettePath’s two fireballs.

With our smoothly connected combo, the tree monster that had been a nightmare for physical damage dealers back then let out its death cry and returned to being just a tree.

“It’s definitely dead!”

“Confirmed!”

“Yay!”

KillTheCute and SaeAx high-fived. I tapped EtiquettePath’s shoulder. She smiled for just a moment, but quickly became serious again when our eyes met.

“Great! Let’s find the other three!”

“Okay! Now that I know what to look for, I’ve got this! I’ll find them all!”

“I’ll help too, Yuri.”

“Thanks!”

I nodded as I watched SaeAx walking between the trees with much lighter steps than before.

It was a smooth start.