NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 23
Of course, it all starts with Sunchoo, the tank.
Sunchoo swung his massive axe, grabbing all the monsters’ aggro like a pro. There was something oddly cool about a guy with that face and body wielding such a brutal weapon.
As soon as all the monsters locked their sights on Sunchoo, Hangeul and I began our damage output, and the monsters quickly turned into particles and disappeared.
Unless there was some crazy mechanic from the boss, the monsters couldn’t withstand our damage and got wiped away in no time, allowing us to move through the dungeon at lightning speed.
Sunchoo, without any issues, began to gradually gather more monsters, inching his way further and further.
Usually, when you use a dungeon matching system in RPGs, there’s always that one guy who’s either just trying hard with no skills, mentally unstable, soloing in a party game, or has a twisted personality, right?
But here, we were all in the know, and since everyone was skilled in Leore, the trash mob sections felt like a mere high pass.
We flicked through the monsters like they were nothing, and then a large area opened up.
If that recent place felt like a dark and dangerous universe, this one felt like a bog in the cosmos.
It was a field where a slowdown debuff seemed inevitable, with a bizarre creature standing right in the center.
[Abyss ???]
This boss didn’t even bother to give its name.
It looked a bit like a hunched human, but its upper body was ridiculously large, there was no face where it should be, and countless roots moved like tentacles.
“What should we do?”
Sunchoo was the first to speak up.
We had to be wary of the mechanics now. Just like that time in the last dungeon when we almost died to the boss’s double attack, there were bound to be deadly mechanics in this one too.
Especially, what we had to watch out for the most was the tank buster. We had to block the bosses’ attacks that spewed black mist without a hitch.
“First, we’ll survive the first tank buster, and for the second, we’ll use invincibility skills.”
“Okay~”
“Hangeul, please focus on dealing the damage, and Pinkubelly, you focus more on healing than damage.”
“Got it.”
Everyone nodded at my words, picked up their weapons, and checked their buffs. That’s when I decided to blurt out a phrase I’d always wanted to say.
“Leroy~”
“…?”
Sunchoo looked at me in disbelief.
“How does Arang even know that?”
“Ah…”
It just popped into my head while I mindlessly ran ahead into the boss room, not thinking twice about it.
“That’s like a meme from almost 50 years ago. Even I came across it while surfing YouTube.”
“I-I heard it while browsing YouTube too! It seemed fun…”
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”
As Sunchoo charged forward with his massive axe, the boss let out a strange cry and lunged toward him.
“Woohoo!”
Sunchoo effortlessly blocked the root attacks heading his way.
“I’ve got aggro!”
With those words, Hangeul and I rushed forward and began to deal our damage.
Even though we were still a bit tense due to the basic attack patterns, we proceeded smoothly.
“Gwaaaah!”
The roar was so fierce it twisted our faces, echoing across the vast space, and with a dinging sound, the debuff window appeared.
The ground started getting sticky, and we were hit with a dreadful -30% movement speed debuff.
It wasn’t direct damage, but it was incredibly uncomfortable to move freely when our bodies, which had been so obedient until now, suddenly felt sluggish.
Solely relying on Pinkubelly’s debuff-clearing skill wasn’t going to cut it. This debuff was caused not by the boss attacking us but by the very change in the field itself.
The duration of the debuff wasn’t decreasing; instead, it kept extending. In other words, unless we escaped this field, we’d have to endure this debuff indefinitely.
But the boss wouldn’t just let us receive the debuff for no reason. There had to be a way to clear it. We needed to find that out.
==
Hangeul
[Live Broadcast]
Arang Arang Gathering. Clearing the Abyss Valley. [6421]
– What was the mechanic again?
– I can’t remember, it’s been so long haha.
– But seriously, on the meter, 2nd year Arang is not human. How is she dealing that much damage as a Soma?
– Seriously, her parrying is on point, causing vengeance to trigger left and right, haha. Plus, maintaining chain attacks makes no sense.
– How on earth does she maintain chain attacks? Can that really stack up to 10?
The boss’s swamp pattern kept applying the debuff, and before long, the entire Arang party found themselves frozen in place.
The swamp had suddenly solidified.
– Oh right, that was the pattern, haha.
– If you don’t know that, you’re just asking to get hit, haha!
– Is this a wipe?
– Definitely sounds like it, haha!
“Ugh!?”
Thanks to the boss’s mechanic attack, Arang, who got hit, screamed before reviving.
– Ugh, haha! That scream is way too cute!
– Hahahahahaha!
– Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh, haha!
“Arang, what should we do!?”
“Hmm… Give me a sec to think.”
Stabbing her sword into the ground, Arang started to ponder. Sunchoo and Pinkubelly twirled around her taking screenshots of her deep in thought.
– Look at that serious face, haha!
– How will this middle schooler’s guild handle this mechanic!
– Wasn’t the original plan for the tank to take all the direct hits while the rest stay behind?
– Yeah, all party members would take a straight shot, but the tank can take the hits with their invincible skill.
“So the boss attacks each party member in a straight line… Hmm… How about we try this?”
Arang’s idea involved placing Sunchoo, the tank, at 12 o’clock, Hangeul, the ranged dealer, at 6 o’clock, and herself nearby.
By not staying in one spot, she intended to deal her damage close to the boss, away from the main party.
– Haha, trying to block attacks that can kill even the tank without using survival skills!
– Ah~ someone’s down again.
– But can one really survive a parry? The tank’s going to die if no one cares for him.
– It’s not a single attack but a barrage via the roots. Is parrying even a possibility?
– Have you not seen Arang parrying the queen spider’s tank buster?
– That was some 8-chain thing, and this is like shots fired, what to do, haha?
The retry began. Just like before, everything flowed smoothly, and the boss raised its hand high. Sunchoo, Pinkubelly, and Hangeul quickly moved forward, and Arang positioned herself behind the boss, slashing at it with incredible speed.
The boss’s first attack headed towards 12 o’clock.
Its tentacle-like roots rained down like arrows.
Thanks to the tank’s survival skills and the healer’s care, Sunchoo absorbed the hits unscathed. He managed to take three consecutive hits, using survival skills for one and invincibility for the remainder.
The boss then turned around to deliver its last attack on Arang.
In that moment, everyone was sure she was about to die.
But Arang, with her sword, parried every attack coming from the right while boldly ignoring those she couldn’t.
Had she simply taken the hits, she would have definitely died, but Arang bent her left elbow, shielding her head, heart, and upper body.
The attacks from the roots lodged into her lower body and left arm, but dodged every vital spot, leaving her right arm, the one holding her weapon, perfectly fine.
Usually, allowing such attacks would result in a stun, causing one to freeze in place, but Arang evaded that stun and used vengeance to hit the boss right back.
– Is that even possible???
– What did I just witness?
– Not only was surviving a surprise but why didn’t she get stunned?
– Is this a bug? Wait, besides text bugs in Leore, are there any other bugs?
– Is Arang really a 15-year-old middle schooler? No matter how you cut it, that shock is no joke!
– At this point, has she been to the other side of the world and come back?
Stun System.
In Leore, a stun system exists due to damage.
If you take a hit, vibrations occur in that area; if you take significant damage, the vibrations increase, resulting in a stun.
In Arang’s case, logically, as the vibrations should spread from both her left arm and left leg, she should have been stunned.
However, since Arang’s brain didn’t register the shocks in her missing left arm and leg, the stuns were nullified.
The vibrations and aftereffects from parrying would definitely affect her body, but the specific stun coming from her limbs was ignored.
Though she imagined moving her limbs with ease in her brain, the stuns reaching from her limbs back to her brain were overlooked, creating a ridiculous situation where she defied logic.