Chapter 15: First Raid(4)

After a brief rest, I logged back into the game.

I had shown my face to my mom, who had just come home from work, so now I could focus on the game without interruptions for a while.

“Is everyone back at their spots?”

I had generously given the smokers a ten-minute break.

The returning raid members all seemed satisfied.

“We’re resuming now. Check your buff status, and if anyone is low on potions, speak up first.”

We continued the paused raid.

The atmosphere within the raid party was quite positive.

This was the first raid in Deren Online.

Its difficulty couldn’t be high, but having to hold weapons directly and face monsters in person meant the perceived difficulty was much higher.

While pushing forward through the mobs, we came face-to-face with the fourth boss.

[Tamer Big House]

He’s a boss known for his high difficulty.

Living up to his title of Tamer, he comes with a huge [White Frost Wolf Pack].

There are two primary strategies for this boss.

The two sub-tanks handle the wolves.

They just need to keep them occupied.

The main tank focuses on Big House, while all the DPS targets him.

Since the boss is just Big House, once his HP falls, the White Frost Wolves automatically die.

The second strategy is to take down the White Frost Wolves first.

This minimizes unnecessary patterns but extends the raid duration.

A longer battle means the DPS will eventually run low on mana.

Not being able to consistently use skills means a drop in DPS and a prolonged berserk phase for Big House.

Bosses going berserk is especially dangerous.

Keeping the battle short was ideal.

Raid teams in this world usually chose the second strategy, but I chose the first.

“Assign a healer to each sub-tank, and have them drag the frost wolves to the farthest point from the boss.”

“DPS, ignore the wolves and focus only on the boss.”

“Save your big-cooldown skills for the berserk phase and hit hard then.”

“We’re not killing the frost wolves?”

“No, we’re not.”

I am the leader of this raid.

While it’s fine to question my tactics, everyone needs to follow my orders for now.

When recruiting, I had attached the condition that, no matter what strange orders I might give, no one should challenge them until the raid was over.

Remembering this, the raid members simply nodded.

Thus, the battle began.

As I charged forward and swung my sword, the sub-tanks did as instructed, drawing the massive frost wolves to the edges.

The two priests assigned to them followed closely.

Since we would be keeping the battle short, the healers’ mana would last until the boss was downed.

We had two players specializing in aggro management.

Carefully chosen sub-tanks, they would dutifully fulfill their roles.

[Aha ha ha! Foolish humans! I’ll feed you to my wolves!]

With a loud roar, a massive metal club was swung.

The heavy attack that cut through the air shook my entire body.

Clang!

A powerful shock reverberated through my shield.

My vision wavered violently, but I was only pushed back, not felled.

With minimal movements, I let only unavoidable attacks pass by.

As the club barely missed above my head, I swung my sword, cutting into his wrist.

A torrent of magic rained down behind the tamer.

The DPS line’s attacks steadily chipped away at the boss’s HP.

As soon as his HP hit 50%, a special pattern was triggered.

“Jin! Show them the power of the Frost Wolves!”

As commanded by the tamer, the Frost Wolf activated an area-of-effect skill.

However, the Frost Wolf was far enough away from the main group.

The DPS line wasn’t affected at all.

I quickly assessed the raid’s status.

The first thing I checked was the sub-tanks’ HP levels.

Their red health bars fluctuated between dropping and recovering.

They were stable.

I could afford not to worry.

I repeated the same actions as before—blocking, deflecting attacks, and steadily building aggro with each swing of my sword.

As I held on, the tamer eventually entered his berserk state.

“Graaah!”

Now it was a race against time.

The tamer’s berserk mode also triggered the Frost Wolf’s berserk state.

My instructions were simple.

The mages had saved their high-cooldown, powerful skills and now began to unleash them.

The DPS graph began to spike wildly, and the rankings shifted rapidly.

The most impressive performance came from a female mage with the username “Helena.”

Thud!

As the tamer’s HP hit rock bottom, his massive form collapsed helplessly.

I immediately checked the loot drop.

Two pieces of mage-exclusive armor had dropped.

Armor was relatively easy to obtain, with an average auction price set between 200 to 300 gold.

This time was no different.

The robe sold for 300 gold, and the shoes went for 250 gold.

“Now we only have the final boss left.”

We had cleared all the other bosses.

The only remaining enemy was the massive boss monster, [Red Orc Warrior Cryer].

The giant Red Orc exuded a presence entirely different from anything we had encountered so far.

The scars carved all over his body were marks of countless battles.

“This is the last one.

Don’t let your guard down just because we’ve cleared everything smoothly up to now.

Check your buffs, and let’s move in.”

After confirming the raid members were ready, I stepped forward.

At that moment, the Red Orc standing in the open area flashed his red eyes.

“So, you’ve made it here at last…”

“Mages, save your Blink.

If you chase him with Blink just to deal more damage, you’ll get caught in his charge pattern.

Sub-tanks, stay close to the mage line and grab aggro if he charges at them.

Then, the main tank will take over again.”

I exhaled a sigh.

Honestly, this boss wasn’t very difficult either.

In the old game, anyone could defeat him by just managing the keyboard and mouse.

Even a random raid could somehow clear the [Red Orc Empire] raid.

“Here we go.”

The battle began.

I immediately dashed forward and slashed at his massive leg.

Slash!

A golden flash left a fairly deep wound.

“Graaah!”

While I had successfully taken the initial aggro, the real challenge lay ahead.

The boss’s character was built as a natural-born fighter.

After countless battles, Cryer had mastered the instincts of an orc engraved deep within him.

The berserk state activated from the very first clash.

His form grew larger, and his attack speed drastically increased.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The hand gripping my shield shook violently.

If I made one wrong move, I’d be knocked back and left sprawled on the ground.

I immediately tilted my shield and swung my sword.

Clang!

My sword, enveloped in a golden glow, clashed against Cryer’s saw-toothed greatsword.

Sparks flew, and my skill activated.

[Counterattack]

A skill that retaliates against an enemy’s attack.

It had to be used with precise timing, but it succeeded.

A red effect burst forth as if blood had splattered, leaving a large slash across the orc’s chest.

“There’s no separate burst damage window! Just throw everything you’ve got whenever you get the chance!”

I shouted, seeing that the DPS graph was barely rising.

At that moment, the raid members began casting their buffs and unleashed a flurry of skills in response to my command.

Thud!

That was when it happened.

The massive sword struck me and sent me flying.

The charge pattern had activated.

“Irritating little pest!”

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Cryer, who had pushed me back, turned around and began running.

The red aura emanating from his body flashed menacingly.

“Mages in the charge range, use Blink now!”

“Graaaah!”

Cryer’s fast charge ended with his sword slamming into the ground, unleashing a massive shockwave.

The mages who promptly used Blink to escape the range survived, but not everyone managed to avoid it.

The 40-member raid had now dropped to 39.

I immediately shouted at the healer.

“Don’t use a resurrection! Save it for later!”

I felt my blood boil.

Dying to such an avoidable pattern—it wasn’t exactly difficult to dodge, and my frustration was starting to rise.

If they’d been focusing, the speed was manageable.

But they died. That meant they weren’t paying attention to the raid.

The sub-tank, Dogrick, standing with the mages, skillfully held the boss’s aggro.

I quickly re-engaged after the charge, shouting as I lunged.

“Hyah!”

The aggro immediately switched back to me.

I led the boss away, creating as much distance as possible from the DPS line.

The charge pattern could appear randomly, so keeping distance allowed the DPS players time to react.

The charge pattern activated three more times, and four more mages died.

I made a mental note of the nicknames of the fallen players.

Each one received a mental yellow card.

At that moment, the boss’s HP dropped to 50%, triggering the next pattern.

“Assist Krasia!”

In aid of the Orc Empire’s king, his people began to pour into the area from all directions.

“Sub-tanks! Handle the monster wave!”

I had the sub-tanks positioned near the mage line.

They naturally absorbed the aggro of the elite orcs approaching and began to kite them in circles.

At that moment, the mages began using Blink.

It seemed to be an attempt to avoid the orcs getting too close.

However, this wasn’t the right move.

If they used Blink now, they wouldn’t be able to dodge the boss’s charge pattern.

“Don’t use Blink!”

But it was too late.

Cryer sent me flying, then turned his body and started charging toward the mages.

Boom!

The charging Krasia brought his greatsword down upon the mage line.

The shockwave turned ten mages gray.

“Oh…”

With a single boss pattern, ten DPS players were down.

This meant we couldn’t deal with the elite orcs quickly.

The battle was going to drag out.

Without concentrated healing, the healers’ mana quickly began to deplete.

In total, fifteen DPS players had died.

The remaining players had to shoulder the extra burden.

They started using more skills to make up for the lack of damage.

Mana began to run dry, and they couldn’t handle the elite monsters effectively.

Healing decreased as well.

The first attempt ended in failure.