According to reports, the Giant Twin-Head Troll’s ultimate move involved channeling immense power into both fists to strike the ground, releasing a shockwave infused with the creature’s unique energy.
It was an area-of-effect skill that covered the entire surroundings.
Simultaneously, it delivered a powerful blow to the earth, triggering seismic waves that caused the ground itself to shake.
‘Based on the records from when the Red Square Guild cleared the Troll Dungeon, the Twin-Head Troll’s ultimate move unfolds in four stages. The interval between attacks is roughly 3 seconds. Fortunately, because it’s an area-of-effect skill, the damage is lower than a single-target strike. Plus, the various debuffs and Sanctuary have significantly reduced the output… but even so, it will be difficult to withstand four consecutive ultimate hits.’
The Red Square Guild was one of the world’s top ten guilds and was known as the strongest in Russia.
Like other top-tier guilds, they had successfully cleared A-rank dungeons solo.
The dungeon they had conquered back then was an A-rank Troll Dungeon, and the boss had been the same Giant Twin-Head Troll.
Consequently, a certain amount of information regarding the creature’s patterns was available beforehand.
‘First, I’ll focus on Quick Heal to restore health. I’ll only use Divine Heal when things get too difficult to manage.’
Quick Heal could be cast instantly and had a cooldown of only 1 second.
In contrast, Divine Heal could restore several times more health than Quick Heal, but it had a casting time of 3 seconds and a 10-second cooldown.
Therefore, he planned to endure using Quick Heal as much as possible and only switch to Divine Heal when it was clear that Quick Heal wasn’t enough.
“Kuwaaaaaah!”
At that moment, the Twin-Head Troll let out a massive roar, concentrating energy into both fists before raising them high.
“It’s the ultimate move! Everyone, prepare for the shockwaves!”
As Choi Kang-hyuk’s shout echoed, Gwang-taek hurriedly spoke up.
“Seongjun! Yu-seon! Get right behind me!”
Even though it was an area-of-effect skill, it was a radial type that spread from the center.
Usually, the person in the front took the most damage, while those behind them took relatively less.
Of course, “less” didn’t mean they took no damage, but it was far better than taking the full brunt of the impact.
Because of this, the waiting members of the Blue Sky Guild also quickly lined up behind their respective party tanks, followed by melee damage dealers, ranged dealers, and finally, the healers.
And then, it happened.
*Whoosh!*
*Boom!*
The Twin-Head Troll’s powerful strike slammed into the earth.
Immediately following the impact…
*Rumble!*
The shockwave and seismic waves rapidly surged outward.
“Ugh!”
“Ack!”
“C-Crazy!”
Even though it was weakened by various debuffs, the damage from an A-rank boss’s ultimate move was by no means weak.
Seongjun’s main party consisted of high-ranked hunters, and since they were also under the effect of the Holy Armor Enchant, they didn’t take massive damage.
However, the situation was different for the B-rank hunters.
Even though the tanks took the damage from the very front, they lost 30% to 40% of their health.
The damage dealers’ health dropped to below half, and for the mages and healers—despite being at the very back—their health was slashed by over 70%.
Fortunately, Seongjun had registered Quick Heal in AoE Mode, along with Light of Healing and Divine Heal.
‘Quick Heal! AoE Mode! Quick Heal! AoE Mode!’
As soon as the troll’s first attack ended, Seongjun immediately cast Quick Heal.
Since the interval between the troll’s attacks was 3 seconds, he had enough time to cast Quick Heal twice or three times.
*Flash! Flash!*
As Seongjun repeatedly cast Quick Heal, it synchronized with the Light of Healing he had cast earlier, restoring a significant amount of health.
However, because the healing amount per cast was low, full recovery was difficult.
“Gah! Here comes the second hit! Everyone, watch out!”
Soon, the troll’s second strike landed.
*Whoosh!*
*Kaboom!*
Along with the intense sound of the impact, shockwaves and seismic waves spread out just like the first time.
*Rumble!*
“Kaaaagh!”
“Ugh! My… my health…”
“Healer! Healer!”
Although Seongjun had restored some health by casting Quick Heal in AoE Mode, they hadn’t fully recovered, leaving them with much less health than after the first hit.
The healers belonging to each party were doing their best to provide heals, but none of them had an AoE Mode like Seongjun.
It was naturally impossible for them to cover everyone.
‘Quick Heal! AoE Mode! Quick Heal! AoE Mode!’
Seongjun pushed through with more Quick Heals immediately after the second strike, but the recovery amount wasn’t quite enough to keep up.
‘I can probably manage through this one with Quick Heal, but it’ll be impossible after the third hit. Someone will definitely die during the fourth and final strike. I’ll have to use Divine Heal. I need to time this perfectly.’
The troll’s ultimate move consisted of four strikes with 3-second intervals.
The casting time for Divine Heal was also 3 seconds.
This meant that if his timing was off by even a fraction, the troll’s fourth hit would land before Divine Heal could trigger.
He had to perfectly time that 3-second window between the third and fourth hits.
“Yu-seon! Hold me steady! I’m going to cast Divine Heal at the same time as the boss’s third strike!”
Since the troll’s ultimate move included seismic waves, he had to focus on maintaining his balance.
Doing so would naturally delay his casting.
To save the time he would otherwise spend trying to stay upright, Seongjun asked Yu-seon to hold him firmly.
“Got it!”
Just as Seongjun requested, Yu-seon gripped his body tight.
Then, the third strike fell.
“Kuwaaaaah!”
*Whoosh!*
*Boom!*
The moment the troll struck the ground…
‘Now! Divine Heal! AoE Mode!’
Seongjun immediately began casting Divine Heal in AoE Mode.
At the same time, the intense shockwaves and seismic waves washed over them once again.
*Rumble!*
“Aaargh!”
“Ack!”
With the third hit following the second, most of the hunters had less than half their health remaining.
Classes with low health and defense, like mages and healers, were nearing critical levels.
In this state, while tanks or melee dealers might somehow survive the fourth hit, the ranged dealers and healers were highly likely to die.
Meanwhile, Seongjun stumbled for a moment as the shockwaves swept past, but because Yu-seon was holding him tight, he didn’t fall.
Thanks to that, his spell wasn’t interrupted.
In that time, the Twin-Head Troll raised both hands high for the fourth and final strike, then slammed them down toward the ground.
*Whoosh!*
Just as the troll’s fists were about to hit the earth…
*Flash!*
An intense wave of light erupted from Seongjun, covering the entire area.
‘It worked!’
Simultaneously, the troll’s hands struck the ground.
*Kaboom!*
*Rumble!*
It was truly by the narrowest of margins.
If he had been even a moment later, the troll’s fourth attack would have landed before Divine Heal.
“Ugh!”
“Gah!”
“Cough! I… I’m alive!”
The Twin-Head Troll had unleashed a powerful four-stage ultimate move in a final act of desperation, but unfortunately for the monster, not a single person had died.
It was all thanks to Seongjun’s Quick Heals and his perfectly timed Divine Heal.
“The boss’s ultimate is over! Resume the attack!”
As soon as the ultimate move ended, Choi Kang-hyuk immediately switched from defense to offense.
*Bang! Boom! Thud!*
The battle with the boss returned to its usual rhythm, and Seongjun was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
“Phew, that was close. One slip-up and we would’ve had casualties.”
As Seongjun let out a sigh of relief, Yu-seon spoke with a smile.
“Wow! You really are a healer. I honestly thought you were a buffer or a mage wearing a healer’s mask until now. But seeing that just now? You’re definitely a healer. If it wasn’t for you, Brother, dozens of people probably would have died.”
Just as Yu-seon said, if Seongjun hadn’t quickly cast Quick Heal and Divine Heal, casualties would have been inevitable.
‘Tch, it was only possible because the creature’s attack power was weakened by the debuff potions and Sanctuary. If it wasn’t for that, people would have started dying from the very first hit. An A-rank boss is no joke.’
If Seongjun’s debuff potions hadn’t been there, the damage of the ultimate move would have been significantly higher.
Many would likely have died from the first strike without ever standing a chance.
“Brother Gwang-taek, Yu-seon. No more A-rank dungeon hunting after today. Just so you know.”
Since he had used up all his debuff potions except for the Health Reduction ones, he had no cards left to tackle another A-rank boss.
Of course, it might be possible if he teamed up with a guild of Blue Sky’s caliber and switched his Enchant buffs to AoE Mode instead of Party Mode, but he had no intention of pushing himself to clear A-rank dungeons.
He judged that continuing to clear C-rank dungeons safely was more than enough.
“I agree. We’re out of debuff potions anyway. We might handle normal or elite monsters, but the boss is out of the question.”
“One experience with an A-rank dungeon is enough. Maybe in the far future when we’re much stronger, but for now, I don’t want to come back.”
Gwang-taek and Yu-seon didn’t want to risk their lives in another A-rank dungeon either.
They could make more than enough money just by clearing C-rank dungeons, so why gamble in an A-rank one?
Maybe once they could safely hunt in B-rank dungeons, they would reconsider, but they had no desire to return to an A-rank one immediately.
“We have to finish what we started, right? We don’t know what other patterns might appear, so don’t let your guard down. Let’s give it our best until the end.”
Although the ultimate move was over and he didn’t expect any more threatening attacks, one could never be too sure.
Seongjun urged them to stay alert.
***
The hunt, which had lasted about 1 hour, finally came to an end.
“Kuwaaaaaaah…”
*Thud!*
In terms of boss clear time, it was fast enough to potentially be a world record, but for those who had been in the thick of the fierce battle, it felt like an eternity.
**[The A-rank Dungeon Boss [Giant Twin-Head Troll] has been defeated.]**
**[The dungeon has been cleared.]**
The notification sound echoed in their ears.
“W-We did it! It’s finally over!”
“Wow! We took down an A-rank boss! We cleared an A-rank dungeon solo!”
“Well, strictly speaking, it wasn’t solo. Without Healer Seongjun Kim’s help, clearing the boss wouldn’t have been possible in the first place. More importantly, if it wasn’t for that insane AoE healing earlier, at least half of us would be dead.”
“Healer Seongjun Kim! Thank you! I’m only alive because of you! Hahaha!”
When the four-stage ultimate move had triggered, many of them had felt the shadow of death.
They had barely hung on through the first three hits, and only about half of them had enough health to survive the fourth.
If Seongjun’s Divine Heal hadn’t triggered at the perfect moment, more than half of them would have surely perished.
The hunters themselves knew this better than anyone.
“Haha, it was a result of everyone’s hard work. I’m just glad we succeeded in clearing the dungeon.”
Near the end, even the B-rank members who had been on standby joined the attack.
They did so because they were certain the aggro wouldn’t shift.
As a result, they finished the clear faster than expected, and everyone could take pride in having contributed to the boss’s defeat.
“Seongjun, you worked hard. Thanks to you, we finished the A-rank dungeon clear smoothly. And thank you for saving our guild members. Anyway, I thought you were a healer who focused more on buffs, but I was wrong. Your buffs and your heals are both A-rank or higher. I’d believe it if someone said you were S-rank. Especially that final healing spell—the recovery amount was insane.”
Choi Kang-hyuk had judged Seongjun to be a buffer-type healer after seeing his incredible buffs.
While his attack magic was impressive, the buffs were so powerful that Choi Kang-hyuk thought that was his primary focus.
However, after experiencing the troll’s four-stage ultimate move, he realized just how remarkable Seongjun’s healing abilities were.
Each one was powerful, but the fact that they were cast in AoE Mode was even more staggering.
Of course, high-ranking healers had party heals that affected multiple people, but the range was usually very narrow and limited to party members.
Seongjun’s AoE healing, however, covered a massive radius of 500 meters—a total diameter of 1 kilometer—and the recovery amount far exceeded that of a typical A-rank healer.
It was clear that he would truly shine in large-scale raids involving entire guilds.
“Thank you for the high praise. That aside, the reward chest should be appearing soon. You haven’t forgotten your promise to give me first pick, have you?”
The dungeon was cleared.
Since Choi Kang-hyuk could have easily gone back on his word now, Seongjun asked for confirmation.
Choi Kang-hyuk replied with a smile.
“Of course. I might fail at other things, but I always keep my word. When the reward chest appears, you open it. Whatever it is, you choose one first. We’ll take whatever is left over.”
After all, he was an S-rank hunter and the leader of a super-guild that vied for the number one spot in South Korea.
He wasn’t some thug who would wash his hands of a promise just because the job was done.
Most importantly, through this A-rank dungeon clear, he had confirmed that Seongjun’s value was beyond imagination.
Although he was officially A-rank, Seongjun was in no way inferior to the S-rank hunters called “one-man strategic weapons”—in fact, in some aspects, he was even superior.
There was no benefit in making an enemy of such a man, so Choi Kang-hyuk intended to keep his promise.
As they spoke…
*Flash!*
The boss clear reward chest finally manifested.
“There it is. The reward chest. Go ahead and pick one. I won’t ask any questions, no matter what you choose.”
At Choi Kang-hyuk’s words, Seongjun gave a light nod and approached the chest.
‘A reward chest from an A-rank boss. And one influenced by the first-entry bonus. I wonder what’s inside?’
With high expectations, Seongjun opened the chest.
*Click!*
As soon as he opened the box, three artifacts caught his eye.
‘Oh, one’s a bow and one’s a sword. But what’s that last one? It doesn’t look like a weapon, armor, or an accessory.’
Inside the chest were a bow, a sword, and a peculiar device small enough to fit in one hand.
‘Well, I’ll know once I check them one by one.’
Seongjun immediately placed his hand on the artifacts to check their contents.
First, the bow was S-rank, and the sword was an incredible SS-rank.
‘An S-rank bow and an SS-rank sword. This is insane. Is this why people risk their lives to clear A-rank dungeons?’
S-rank items were somewhat available on the market, but SS-rank items were extremely rare.
Even with a first-entry bonus, there was only a small chance of finding one in a B-rank dungeon.
SS-rank items were typically only obtainable by clearing an A-rank dungeon before the first-entry bonus expired.
While S-rank dungeons existed, they were practically impossible to clear.
This made SS-rank artifacts incredibly precious.
‘If there’s nothing else to pick, I might be better off taking the SS-rank sword and putting it up for auction. Even after splitting the profits among our party, there would be enough left for all of us to gear up in full A-rank equipment. Let me check the last one first.’
It was an SS-rank artifact.
If he put it up for auction, buyers would surely swarm like bees.
The supply of SS-rank items was so low that even with money, one couldn’t simply buy them.
Moreover, a sword was the most versatile weapon.
If there was nothing he specifically needed, taking the SS-rank sword and using the proceeds to buy a full set of A-rank gear might be more beneficial.
Seongjun reached for the final artifact.
*Grip!*
He held the small device in his hand and checked its information.
**[[SS-rank] Dungeon Generator]**
**The dungeon in the palm of your hand.**
**- When activated, a dungeon waiting to be generated can be created in a desired location.**
**- Generation Rank: [F-rank to A-rank]**
**- Generation List: [Limited to dungeons currently in the generation queue.]**
**- Dungeon Types: [Normal / Hidden / Breach]**
**- Cooldown: [24 hours] after generation.**
**- Special Skill: [View Generation Queue] available.**
**- Special Skill: [Generate Dungeon] available.**
Seongjun’s eyes widened as he read the description.
A Dungeon Generator?
What kind of absurd artifact was this?
‘Huh! What is this? A Dungeon Generator? I can summon a dungeon that’s waiting to be created? And in any location I want? This is insane!’
The Dungeon Generator was, in short, a device that could pre-emptively summon a dungeon.
Seongjun knew better than anyone just how nonsensical and monumental this item truly was.