Ch.60Someone’s Memory (I)

# 60. Someone’s Memory (I)

Nabaforest Mountain Guardian Phase 2.

Like any raid monster, when its health drops below a certain threshold, the phase changes and so do its patterns.

The Nabaforest Mountain Guardian’s Phase 2 activates when its health reaches about 1/3, and people often say it goes “berserk” because its movements become relatively faster compared to Phase 1, and its attack power increases.

Witnessing the Guardian’s berserk mode in person rather than through a monitor was truly terrifying in appearance, but…

“It’s still just a cripple! Keep hitting the same spot!”

“Hit the same spot again! Make the painful spot hurt even more!”

For us who were used to this, both from before and now, it had merely gone from being a punching bag to a burning punching bag.

I thought if the Guardian could speak.

– You little bastards, why the hell did you barge in here causing all this trouble? Do you have some grudge against me?!

It would probably shout something like that, considering how persistently we targeted its right leg.

The Guardian couldn’t abandon its immobile right leg, nor could it chase after me and Saex as we struck and retreated, leaving it floundering in confusion.

It couldn’t completely ignore us because Cutjukyeora was making her presence known from the opposite side with undeniable damage, and whenever its guard opened, Yebeopnojeong’s flame spear would unfailingly strike true.

‘Three minutes!’

It had gotten much darker. And the Guardian raid was racing toward its conclusion.

Just as I thought we could succeed with our planned 15-minute clear, my heart sank at the sight before me.

The Guardian’s foot, right above Saex’s head.

“Ayuri!!!!! Pull back!!!!!!!!!!!”

“…Ah!”

In raids, there were many important factors besides aggro management. Setting aside individual specs and control as basic requirements, there was strategy mastery, variable control, and composure.

When gaming, regardless of whether you’re a ranker or a newbie, you occasionally experience sessions where your damage output is particularly good—what people call “popping off”—and it gets exciting.

Even rankers who’ve run countless raids and treat most of them as mundane chores can sometimes make absurd mistakes when tempted by the allure of high DPS and record-breaking times…

Saex had just nearly made such a mistake.

Trying to squeeze in a bit more damage. Trying to kill it faster. The mistake of forgetting or overlooking patterns while focusing on attacks.

In the game, the Guardian would normally take over 30 minutes to defeat using standard methods, or 18-19 minutes at best. But here in reality, and in twilight no less, we were on the verge of achieving an unprecedented 15-minute clear…

At times like this, I was grateful that I wasn’t a pure DPS and could maintain a broader field of vision.

Thanks to my shout, Saex narrowly avoided the Guardian’s kick, giving a thumbs-up behind her without turning her head before regaining her tempo and swinging her axe again.

After fighting so brilliantly, she had almost lost her life absurdly at the last moment. She wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

I gave my final order as I watched the Guardian, its right leg completely shattered, sitting helplessly and flailing with both arms.

“Seyeon, Yuri! Retreat!”

“Yes!”

“Okay!”

“5. 4. 3. 2. 1.”

The aggro target was moving away, and the Guardian needed to chase but couldn’t.

As we completely withdrew to a distance where the aggro weakened, its defensive posture relaxed and its glow dimmed slightly.

“Fire.”

“Hit.”

My timing was precise, and Yebeopnojeong’s aim at that exact moment was perfect.

Our combination worked flawlessly, and Yebeopnojeong’s final flame spear became the flag marking the Guardian’s end.

And immediately after.

[‘Forest, Wind, Woods, and Mountain’ dungeon cleared.]

The message confirming the Guardian’s death appeared, and we all rushed toward each other as we watched the fading flames of the spear lodged in the Guardian’s core.

“We did it!!!!!”

Though no one but us would recognize this record, we had cleared the Nabaforest Mountain Guardian in roughly 15 minutes.

We felt each other’s warmth, simultaneously savoring everyone’s safety and the achievement worthy of Veritas.

**

“Oppa, oppa. We’ll get an S-rank this time too, right?”

“Who knows? I’d like that, of course, but I can’t be certain since we don’t know the evaluation criteria.”

[Evaluation in progress.]

Unlike before, the evaluation didn’t appear immediately. I figured it was taking longer because our journey through floor 2-2 had been longer than usual.

It’s not like the rewards were going anywhere, and the excitement from battle hadn’t fully subsided yet. The treasure we found after defeating the Guardian also played a part.

Our first raid in the Tower. And the satisfaction of having completed it with great success without anyone being carried.

Despite being a slow boss, the thrill of a life-or-death battle where everything clicked perfectly brought such excitement that even the usually quiet Cutjukyeora and composed Yebeopnojeong couldn’t stop talking for a while.

We were also tired from giving it our all.

“Besides the big spell, I need to learn smaller, harassing spells quickly. Now that it’s over, I can say there were many nerve-wracking moments watching you all.”

“Yuri, you know.”

“Oh, Oppa! I already apologized for that~”

“You still have 99 more to go.”

Thinking about the Guardian’s foot that had brushed over Saex’s head still made my heart drop. Truly, as Yebeopnojeong said, now that it was over I could say this, but if she hadn’t dodged that… would she have died?

“Hey!”

“Ack!”

I smacked Saex on the head for the crime of making the raid leader’s heart stop again. She pretended it hurt, but no one came to her defense.

“I wonder if I’ll have trouble readjusting when I go back to Earth? Games might seem boring, and movies or novels might make me yawn. This place is so thrilling! Always new and fun!”

“Oh my, our Ayuri. Have fun twice and you’ll be heading to the afterlife?”

“No way! The thrill of those life-or-death moments! That’s the greatest proof of being alive! Why would I die and leave this behind? Besides, there are things I want to do but haven’t done yet, so I can’t die!”

I’ve heard that soldiers exposed to war for long periods have trouble adapting when they return to peaceful places and suffer from PTSD.

Why was Saex showing similar reactions?

Had our Saex truly become a barbarian?

“Hey. Living a long, steady life is good. Don’t say things like that again. It’s not good for the listener’s heart.”

“Pfft! I won’t die, I won’t die. Why would I die and leave Oppa and the unnies behind? I absolutely won’t die until I’ve done everything I want to do! Right, Seyeon unnie?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. That’s right. You absolutely won’t die.”

As I watched Saex blurt out serious things without any self-awareness, I thought I should definitely have a serious talk with her later about mental health issues. At that moment…

[With wisdom, you did not rashly disturb what you did not understand; with patience, you did not fall into the path of constant wicked whispers; with caution, you did not succumb to complacency born of familiarity; and with courage, a virtue difficult to reconcile with the others, you vanquished the powerful Guardian and cleared the dungeon.]

[Evaluation in progress.]

[Rank – S]

“Kyaaah! Again! It’s S again!”

“We got an S!!!”

“After all we did, of course we should.”

[S-rank exclusive options have been added.]

[The basic rewards (S-rank) are as follows:]

[Level Up 2]

[Free Ability Points 2]

[Achievement ‘Dungeon Destroyer’]

[Title ‘Dungeon Explorer’]

When the long-awaited evaluation messages appeared, the raid members gathered around me and hugged me tightly, as if the result was expected.

‘This is nice, but I can’t breathe…’

Just as I was seriously considering tapping out, we were transferred to the now-familiar reward space, and before I could say anything, Yebeopnojeong walked straight to the alphabet and selected one.

It was I.

“What, what’s going on?”

“Wasn’t it my turn anyway?”

“Well, yes…”

“Then just watch quietly.”

Cutjukyeora and Saex were just smiling, as if they had expected Yebeopnojeong to do this.

“What’s the big deal, Oppa? Since you’re going to bring in a physical therapist anyway, you should think about how to explain and apologize profusely when they arrive!”

“Why are you talking like you’re an outsider?”

“Strictly speaking, I’m a victim too, right?”

“Hey.”

“Unnie! Oppa is bullying me!”

So this time it’s a physical therapist.

Already the fourth summon, and the fifth member.

As Saex suggested, I accepted the fade to black while thinking about what to say to the physical therapist (to be) who might be thoroughly shocked and angry.

**

[StubbornBackDoor: What’s this what’s this]

[StubbornBackDoor: Did you take a break?]

[StubbornBackDoor: The healing is absolutely alive and kicking!!!]

[WaterKnowsTheAnswer: lolololololol]

[WaterKnowsTheAnswer: Saying your hands got stiff after just a few days]

[WaterKnowsTheAnswer: That’s just an excuse for insurance!!]

[WaterKnowsTheAnswer: The physical therapist was always no joke!]

[WaterKnowsTheAnswer: (thumbs up emoticon)]

“Look at you two making such a fuss just to keep me around.”

Their praise was too obvious, but I didn’t mind. It had been a while since I’d done these quests, and it was quite fun. The time spent immersed in the game allowed me to forget everything—real life and missing raid members alike.

[PhysicalTherapist: I’m Veritas too]

[StubbornBackDoor: Oh my goodness]

[WaterKnowsTheAnswer: So cool!]

“This is really funny.”

It had been an enjoyable time. If the other raid members were here, we would have done different content or chatted more, but with only three of us, it didn’t make sense to stay logged in longer. We’d already talked plenty.

So I was about to say goodbye and log out when.

[JoanOfArcIsASaint has invited PhysicalTherapist.]

“?”

[Accept invitation?]

“???????????”

What’s going on?

The raid leader is offline.

Could it be… that?