Chapter 9: Preparing for the First Raid(2)

Upon returning to the capital city of Lunaris, I check my quest rewards and start gathering information on the current raid.

Luckily, the current raid boss is the Red Orc Gladiator.

It hadn’t changed, which meant I could use my past memories effectively.

However, one surprising fact was that the raid boss hadn’t been defeated yet.

Was it due to the increased game difficulty?

It was a completely different scenario from the world where raid gear had begun appearing just a month after launch.

I check the recruitment status of raid members, both in-game and externally.

All the raid groups had set the level requirement at max level, demanding the highest-performing equipment currently available.

They even test essential game skills, which would likely discourage average players from even applying.

The max level for the current season is 25, and I’m currently at level 19.

Not much left.

Grinding in hunting grounds or completing hidden quests like this would allow me to reach max level in about three days.

But I start to feel a little anxious.

If no one’s been able to take down the raid boss so far, it means the difficulty level must be immense.

I go online to check out some attempt videos.

Yet, the boss’s patterns haven’t changed.

What had changed was the players’ equipment.

It’s no longer just about controlling characters through a keyboard, mouse, and monitor, disconnected from the game world.

Now, I’m inside the game, gripping a weapon, facing a colossal boss monster.

Of course, it would be different.

“Hmm…”

A sigh escapes my lips.

This won’t be easy.

But right now, all I can do is focus on leveling up.

With my resolve set, I quickly leave the area and begin hunting in various spots, leveraging my experience from this stage of the game.

I also need high-grade armor to prepare for the raid, so I have to earn a lot of gold.

I take on multiple repeatable quests across overlapping hunting grounds and head out to hunt.

Many players invite me to join their parties after seeing my weapon, but I turn them all down.

As I move through the hunting grounds, I check out other players’ progress.

The speed at which groups were killing monsters was painfully slow.

Watching them was enough to make me feel frustrated.

Hunting with such teammates would be no different than hunting with shackles on my feet.

I know well how enjoyable it can be to play in a party with people who are on the same wavelength.

In the past, I also preferred party play.

But things are different now.

The situation has changed.

To level up quickly, solo play is necessary.

With the newly acquired Highlander sword scattering light with every swing, the massive monsters fall one after another.

It was faster and more efficient than when I used to play with just a mouse and keyboard.

With overwhelming speed, I mow down monsters.

It becomes routine to rotate through unpopular hunting grounds that other players avoid.

With fallen monsters, accumulated gold, and steady character growth, it doesn’t take long to reach max level.

Level Up!

I dismiss the message celebrating my achievement of reaching level 25.

From level 19, it took just two days to reach max level.

And only four days to reach max level since character creation.

If I took a screenshot of my character’s creation date and shared it, no one would believe it.

In this world’s Deron, it took the average player about a month to reach max level.

The increased difficulty level had severely slowed the pace of player progression.

Now that I’ve reached the max level, it’s time to unlock my second job.

Among the jobs I had in mind, I think about what’s most needed right now.

Should I enhance my base job further, or choose an advanced job available from rank 2?

Considering the raid’s circumstances, I change my decision. In this situation, I need to take on the role of a tank.

That’s the right choice.

Paladin.

An advanced class available from rank 2, its stats vary based on the deity it serves.

However, there is one condition for the Paladin class: I need to raise my favor with the corresponding temple to a certain level.

This, too, can be resolved with gold, as donating funds is a fast way to increase favor.

After purchasing the plate mail I’ll wear as a Paladin, I head to the temple.

In this world, the priest class is popular.

It’s less challenging to stand back and heal than to wield a weapon and face monsters directly.

I walk to the center of the temple.

To donate, I need to speak with the priest in prayer there.

“Priest.”

“Ah, adventurer. You’ve come to the right place.”

“I’d like to make a donation to the temple.”

“A donation… is it? Your devotion to advancing the order—no doubt the goddess herself will be moved.”

The priest NPC smiles and stands, and a translucent window appears before me.

I interact with the interface on the screen.

I have 150 gold left after buying equipment, which translates to a considerable amount in real money.

In less than a week, I’ve earned a significant sum.

But now is the time to move forward.

I donate 100 gold.

Since 100 gold is quite a generous amount, my favor rises rapidly.

Then, the priest’s expression changes, and he speaks to me again.

“The goddess is calling you, moved by your selfless devotion.”

As he finishes speaking, a message asking if I wish to become a Paladin appears in front of me.

I don’t hesitate.

I immediately press the accept button.

Then, a radiant moonlight descends from the sky.

Like a spotlight, a spectacular effect unfolds, signifying my advancement.

When taking on temple-related roles like Paladin or Priest, a player’s affiliation changes.

I am no longer with the adventurer’s guild but now belong to this temple’s order.

Of course, this doesn’t impose any restrictions.

It merely unlocks a few additional features as a temple member.

These include discounts on holy water and the ability to remove post-revival fatigue for free.

I promptly check my new skills.

Paladin.

Divine Blessing: Goddess Lunaris.

This is the blessing of Lunaris, the moon goddess.

During nights when the moon rises, all stats increase by 10%.

Armor Mastery: Full Plate.

Removes the penalty for full plate armor.

Additional Defense +50.

Shield Mastery.

Removes the penalty for all types of shields.

When equipping a shield, all incoming damage is reduced by 10%.

Divine Blessing

Imbues a weapon with a powerful divine blessing.

Damage is increased by 10%.

All damage dealt to dark-element and demon-type monsters increases by 20%.

Unwavering Conviction

All physical damage taken is reduced by 10%.

All magical damage taken is reduced by 10%.

Damage taken from holy-element sources is reduced by 50%.

Mark of Glory

With each attack, there is a chance to add holy-element damage.

Activation chance: 20%.

Touch of the Goddess

Restores 30% of maximum health.

If used on another player, the effect is halved.

The minimum preparations are now complete.

Now, I need to either find a raid group or recruit members myself.

Naturally, I choose the latter. The reason for choosing the Paladin class was to lead a raid team.

I verified this by watching raid videos, understanding just how crucial the tank’s skill is.

For the DPS line, just fill it with mages who can output strong damage even while eating ramen.

That’s it. It will be a truly simple raid setup.

The raid requires 40 players.

Of those, 30 will be mages.

That day, a raid recruitment post went up on various websites associated with Daron Online.

It listed the recruitment numbers and the raid leader’s specs, which were not an issue—in fact, they were quite impressive.

But the DPS lineup and trial times set by the raid leader were particularly unusual.

The party included 7 healer classes, 2 sub-tanks, and 30 mage-class DPS, which was understandable to a point, but the trial time of 5 PM to 10 PM raised suspicions.

Unsurprisingly, this peculiar raid recruitment post was screenshotted and uploaded to the Daron Online Gallery.

Daron Online Gallery.

Kid Raid Leader Spotted LOL [221]

(Image)

Raid trial time is 5 PM to 10 PM LOL. This kid LOL joins Daron after school LOL and plays till shutdown time LOL.

Comments

Rich kid LOL

Is it really a kid? Judging by the specs, it doesn’t seem like it.

5 PM sounds like the time kids get home from school.

A kid raid leader… this is rare…

LOL Perfect for trying it with school friends LOL.

Can you become a kid just by playing from 5 PM to 10 PM?

A middle school girl raid leader?

The only issue here was the trial time.

The 5 PM to 10 PM trial—its implications weren’t hard to guess.

The post drew enormous attention. The gallery’s entire topic shifted to stories about this “rich kid raid leader.”

It made sense. These were users who did nothing but hang around the gallery, with three intriguing keywords combined as bait. Posts started flooding in at an incredible rate.

Raid Leader is a Middle School Girl? [7]

(Fan art)

Hmm… a middle school girl raid leader… approved…

Comments

Approved for what?

My wife.

Fellow.

Lucky middle school girl raid leader… her friends must be middle schoolers too.

If you join, do you also become a middle school girl?

This is my sister’s raid; she’s in charge!

Sister, let me join too.

With all the attention, a flood of applications soon followed.

After the shutdown, while lying on her bed, Hayeon stared blankly at the sudden influx of application messages.

“What…?”

The messages updated in real-time, surpassing 10, then 20, 30, 100, 200, 500…

It was nearly impossible to review each one individually.

Hayeon’s small hand began meticulously tapping through the phone screen.

She carefully checked each applicant’s specs.

The raid applications continued until the gallery’s topic shifted.