Chapter 105: Castle of the Dead

After talking with Nam Bora, I came to the conclusion that I could definitely join the gate raid.  

Especially since the ‘Guildmaster 1’ I’m currently using to pose as the Guildmaster was made more as a combat assistant than a front-line fighter.  

Rather than being strong like a combat team, it stands in the center like a totem, enhancing the combat power of the guild members around it.  

So just by following the raid, I could provide quite a bit of support to the guild.  

If necessary, I could also craft items to assist in the raid.  

That’s why I first decided to follow Team 1’s raid.  

[Eternal Nightmare]  

The place I followed was an rank 7 gate named “Eternal Nightmare.”  

It’s a gate where rank 7 monsters called Nightmares appear, and it’s roughly in the middle difficulty range among rank 7 gates.  

Even without me, Team 1 could clear it smoothly.  

“Rustle!”  

“Kyaaaah!”  

Team 1—true to their reputation as the strongest team in the Vulcanus Guild—fought better than I expected.  

Nightmares are monsters that manipulate nightmares, making both their attacks and defenses tricky.  

Yet they skillfully took down the monsters one by one.  

This is Team 1’s strength.  

Systematic combat.  

Like a well-trained army, their movements were perfect, as if they were one body.  

“It’s gotten much easier.”  

“Is that so?”  

“The buff effect Master talked about is much stronger than expected.”  

As we advanced through the gate, Park Sang-hyun approached and spoke to me.  

The buff effect attached to Guildmaster 1 was better than I’d thought.  

Until now, I never planned to join gate raids, and with the limited possession time, I hadn’t participated in raids at all.  

But now, there was plenty of time.  

As my level rose, not only did the number of uses of the Soul of the Blacksmith skill increase, but the possession time over the assistant’s body also kept growing.  

Now, I could endure possession for the entire duration of a gate raid.  

Honestly, it was more than enough time.  

So, I even entered a relatively difficult rank 7 gate.  

“Rustle!”

“Gyaaaah!”  

“It looks doable.”  

“It wasn’t always like this. At this level of gate, even we had to be extremely careful because it was dangerous.”  

We were clearing the gate faster than I had imagined.  

To be able to clear an rank 7 gate so perfectly already—it felt oddly satisfying.  

Is this how it feels when your child grows up well?  

In my case, it wasn’t a child but a guild member.  

No, more precisely, the equipment the guild member was wearing.  

Above all.  

[Level Up.]  

‘As expected.’  

I only followed along with the raid.  

I didn’t attack a single monster and just watched Team 1’s attacks from behind.  

Yet just by doing that, my level went up.  

It makes sense.  

The rank 7 monsters we were facing were stronger than my level.  

Plus, just the buffs from Guildmaster 1 around me made a significant contribution to combat.  

To level up simply by trailing along like this—it couldn’t get easier.  

Satisfied, I returned, and then.  

“How about we try an rank 8 gate raid?”  

“Rank 8 gate?”  

“You said the buff range is wide, right? If all the guild members gather, we might be able to clear an rank 8 gate.”  

“Hmm, but rank 8 gates are…”  

Nam Bora proposed a new idea.  

Since I was going to tag along like this anyway, she suggested we attempt higher-level raids.  

“Even among rank 8 gates, there’s one that’s considered the weakest. It’s called the Castle of the Dead. It’s a gate that recently appeared.”  

“Is that the gate where undead monsters come out?”  

“Yes. If we arm ourselves with Holy attributes, the difficulty will drop drastically. Normally, equipping Holy attributes is difficult itself, but with Vulcanus, it’s possible, isn’t it?”  

I nodded at Nam Bora’s words.  

If it were simply about defeating strong monsters like Ogres or Giants, it would be tough, but it wasn’t hard to fight an opponent with such clear weaknesses.  

Who am I?  

After all, I’m Vulcanus, the Blacksmith hailed as Korea’s best.  

Making one Holy item is a breeze.  

Of course, in this case, it might mean crafting not one but a hundred.  

“If we arm ourselves with Holy equipment and add Vulcanus’s buff effects, I think we can clear the Castle of the Dead easily.”  

“Hmm…!”  

I was hesitant.  

I understood Nam Bora’s point, but after all, it’s an rank 8 gate.  

What if it’s too dangerous?  

I’m possessing Guildmaster 1’s body, so it wouldn’t matter much if it got broken, but what about the guild members?  

They only have one life.  

If the undead cut their necks, they die instantly.  

Nam Bora seemed to read my mind and continued.  

“If you’re worried, we can make it even sturdier. Armor so strong and solid it won’t break even from the undead’s attacks.”  

Even if the opponent is an rank 8 monster with high stats, if the target is this obvious, it’s possible to prepare countermeasures.  

In that case, it’s definitely doable to make armor that can withstand the attacks of the undead.  

“Isn’t that fine? Including Vulcanus, our guild’s growth will accelerate. Clearing an rank 8 gate will also make rank 7 gate raids easier.”  

“We’ll be able to get S-rank materials too.”  

“Exactly.”  

The guild’s growth.  

It’s very important.  

Especially after hearing about the Statue’s warnings of destruction.  

If the guild grows quickly, we’ll be able to handle crises when they arise.  

Even though the Vulcanus Guild is growing fast, compared to the rankers, we’re still far behind.  

After a moment of thought, I nodded.  

“Alright then.”  

I accepted her proposal.  

***

“What’s going on? Why is everyone gathered?”  

“Yeah. What’s the reason everyone’s here like this?”  

Inside the Vulcanus Guild building, all the guild members had gathered.  

This was actually rare.  

Compared to other guilds, the Vulcanus Guild members had an especially strong desire to grow, so most of the time, they spent more time at gates than in the guild.  

They only gathered in the guild building when something big happened under Vulcanus’s orders.  

So, what on earth was the matter today?  

As their curiosity grew, a guild member came over and pretended to be in the know.  

“Wait, you guys still don’t know?”  

“Do you know something?”  

“Of course. Who’s our team leader? The trusted leader of Team 9 by the Guildmaster, of course.”  

‘…Actually, if we’re talking about that, our team leader is even more…’  

“Then aren’t you going to listen?”  

“What is it?”  

“Ha ha, right away! It’s about a gate raid.”  

Gate raid.  

A perfectly natural goal.  

Then it felt a bit strange.  

We were always raiding gates, so why call all the guild members like this?  

Just as he was wondering, the guild member dropped another hint.  

“Of course, it’s not just any raid. It’s a raid, you know?”  

“A raid?”  

“You heard about the new rank 8 gate that just opened, right?”  

“Yes. The Castle of the Dead… Could it be?”  

“Oh, you know well. Yes, that one. Our guild was assigned to it.”  

The Vulcanus Guild was growing fast.  

Even though it was a new guild, its power had already risen to rank within Korea’s top 100.  

Recently, all teams could easily clear rank 7 gates.  

Generally, for rank 7 gates, you need to be around level 200 to attempt the raid.  

But thanks to Vulcanus’s equipment, we were already adapting to rank 7 gates.  

Of course, the difficulty among rank 7 gates varies greatly, and only Teams 1, 2, and 9 could properly clear the tougher ones.  

Still.  

“An rank 8 gate…?”  

An rank 8 gate was a stretch.  

Rank 8 gates were only for ‘rankers’ in the hunter rankings or extremely powerful guilds known as giant guilds.  

Of course, after incidents like Gate Burning, the overall skill level of hunters had risen.  

But even so, rank 8 gate raids were not easy.  

Rank 8 gates were still very dangerous.  

At least level 250.  

No, even that was a very low estimate.  

Typically, hunters in the upper 200s were needed to barely clear rank 8 gates.  

In comparison, the levels of the guild members gathered here were in the late 100s.  

It was too risky to attempt an rank 8 gate raid.  

“Isn’t that too dangerous?”  

“I heard it’s the lowest tier among rank 8 gates.”  

“Lowest tier or not, it’s still an rank 8 gate. How can we—?”  

“Be that as it may…”  

“So isn’t Vulcanus himself coming?”  

One guild member guessed.  

Would Vulcanus’s participation make it possible to clear an rank 8 gate?  

Even the weakest rank 8 gate was still an rank 8 gate.  

Could one blacksmith make it possible to clear an impossible rank 8 gate?  

It just didn’t add up.  

“Looks like those who don’t believe were absent during the Manticore Incident.”  

“Manticore Incident? Oh, I was busy suppressing gates that kept popping up then, so I couldn’t go.”  

“That explains it. Everyone worried here wasn’t present during the Manticore Incident.”  

“I’ve heard about it. It was a tough battle. Without the Guildmaster stepping up, it would have been truly dangerous.”  

“But still, rank 8 gates…”  

The Manticore Incident.  

No one in the Vulcanus Guild didn’t know about it.  

But there was a clear difference between those who experienced it firsthand and those who only heard about it.  

the member wanted to refute out of a sense of exclusion, but the other just smiled.  

“Just trust it.”  

“Trust?”  

“Trust our Guildmaster. Knowing he’s Korea’s best, no—the world’s best… Do you think he would call us here to say let’s clear an rank 8 gate otherwise?”  

A moment later.  

“Clank.”  

The sound of heavy armor moving.  

“I am Vulcanus.”  

The Guildmaster of the Vulcanus Guild.  

The master blacksmith Vulcanus appeared on the stage.  

A blacksmith like Vulcanus wouldn’t be anyone else.  

***

“The reason I gathered you all here is to attempt an rank 8 gate ‘Castle of the Dead’ raid.”  

As soon as I spoke, the guild members began whispering.  

It was understandable.  

Most were probably hearing this for the first time, except for the team leaders.  

There was a mostly worried atmosphere.  

I understood.  

They had just adapted to rank 7 gates, and now we were talking about an rank 8 gate raid.  

Fear was natural.  

I was possessing a fake body, but they were risking their lives fighting monsters in the gate.  

For them, I pulled out the card I had prepared from the start.  

“From now on, I will distribute rank 8 raid equipment.”  

I handed out equipment to the guild members.  

This was the new guild-exclusive gear I had crafted.  

But despite receiving the new equipment, the guild members’ reactions were lukewarm.  

“It’s nothing special.”  

“I thought the Castle of the Dead raid gear would have Holy attributes, but it doesn’t.”  

“What’s different from our regular gear?”  

It was natural.  

The equipment I gave them wasn’t much different from what they were already wearing.  

At that moment, I handed out the hidden trump card for those whispering.  

“Parts?”  

“What’s this?”  

“It looks like it can be fitted into armor?”  

What I distributed were silver shining fragments.  

They were delicately structured pieces made from pure white metal, with mysterious runic inscriptions engraved on them.  

The moment they received these parts:  

[Holy Parts]  

Type: Component  

Grade: SS  

Restriction: Vulcanus Equipment  

Description: Holy components created by Vulcanus to be assembled into his equipment to add attributes.  

Abilities:

1. Holy – Adds Holy attribute to equipment.  

2. Radiance – Weakens attacks from undead and dark attribute enemies and enhances your own attacks.  

“C-could it be!”  

“Parts that add attributes to existing equipment?”  

“Just by inserting this, it adds the Holy attribute?”  

“Does this mean that by swapping parts like this, we can embed different attributes into equipment?”  

The guild members were stunned beyond belief.