As Seong-jun’s group continued their hunt, they crossed paths with several other parties multiple times.
Each time, Seong-jun bestowed his five-buff set upon them.
The standard five-buff set consumed a relatively low amount of Holy Power.
More importantly, his Holy Power recovered at a rapid pace due to the influence of Holy Heart, so it wasn’t particularly burdensome for him.
“Since we gave buffs to the other parties as well, the overall hunting speed in the dungeon must have increased significantly compared to before. You know that elite monsters appear once the conquest rate exceeds 90 percent, right? Let’s hunt carefully from now on, just in case.”
When the conquest rate exceeds 90 percent, elite monsters appear, and when it reaches 99 percent, the dungeon’s boss monster finally emerges.
Once the boss monster is hunted and the conquest rate reaches 100 percent, the dungeon is cleared and disappears.
In this dungeon, the boss was so formidable that it required an attack force of at least ten parties to raid it.
Even the elites were powerful enough to require at least two parties to defeat.
Since the conquest rate was 78 percent when they entered, it was clear that they would reach 90 percent soon at this hunting speed.
Once that happened, an elite could appear at any time or place.
“An elite, huh? Somehow, I feel like we can handle it even if one shows up. Don’t worry. If that happens, I’ll put you into zombie mode so you couldn’t die even if you wanted to.”
Seong-jun had Light of Healing, a continuous healing skill, as well as Divine Healing, a single-target heal.
Therefore, as long as they weren’t killed in a single hit, he was confident he could keep them alive. But just then…
[The conquest rate of the dungeon has exceeded 90 percent. An Elite Skeleton Archer has appeared.]
A notification announced the appearance of an elite monster.
“Gasp! An elite showed up as soon as you mentioned it? Seong-jun, let’s withdraw for now. The other parties will probably be withdrawing too. The best thing to do right now is to team up with a party that shares our goal and hunt it together.”
Gwang-taek suggested withdrawing and coordinating with other parties.
No matter how monstrous Seong-jun’s buffs were, he judged that it was impossible for just three of them to take down an elite.
However, Seong-jun seemed to have a different idea.
“Why? Let’s try to catch it ourselves. I think we can do it.”
At Seong-jun’s words, both Gwang-taek and Yu-seon wore surprised expressions.
“What? You want to hunt an elite? Just us?”
“Heol! Seong-jun, even if your buffs are insane, I think this is a bit much. It’s an elite. It’s on a completely different level from regular monsters.”
Seong-jun looked at them and said, “That’s right. It’s an elite. Not a boss, just an elite. It’s true that it’s stronger than a regular monster, but it’s not as powerful as a boss, right? We have Holy Weapon Enchant and Holy Armor Enchant. We might not handle a boss, but we won’t go down in one hit to a mere elite. And as long as you can survive one hit, I can heal you as much as needed with my skills. So, trust me.”
When Seong-jun spoke with such conviction, Gwang-taek and Yu-seon sighed almost simultaneously.
“Of course I trust you… Sigh, alright. Let’s do it.”
“Haaa, Seong-jun. You’re really confident, right? We’re putting our trust in you.”
In the end, they decided to follow Seong-jun’s lead.
***
Choosing to face an elite didn’t change things much from how they had been doing things.
The other parties had surely withdrawn toward the dungeon entrance, which meant Seong-jun’s party was the only one left in the hunting grounds.
Since they were bound to run into it eventually if they continued hunting normally, they didn’t bother searching for it and simply continued their routine.
Swooosh!
Boom!
Whirrr!
Slash!
Yu-seon’s long-range attacks and Gwang-taek’s melee support were perfectly synchronized.
Add to that Seong-jun’s timely Holy Arrow.
Their coordination was flawless.
“I can see us getting more in sync as we hunt. If we keep this up, our earnings today will be huge.”
“At this rate, it’ll easily be over 20 million, right? Isn’t that almost double what a normal party earns?”
Since almost every hunt ended in a single kill, they progressed more than twice as fast as other parties.
Naturally, they hunted more than twice the number of monsters.
It was a staggering hunting speed that an ordinary party couldn’t even dream of.
“It looks like there’s about an hour left until we finish for the day, so let’s burn through this last hour. We haven’t even seen the elite yet, so it’d be a shame to leave now, right? If we don’t meet it in the time left, then so be it. If we do, we’ll try to catch it.”
Quite some time had passed since the notification about the elite’s appearance, but they still hadn’t encountered it.
Of course, they had hunted many regular monsters thanks to that, but Seong-jun had a strong desire to face an elite, so he felt a bit disappointed.
At that moment.
“Kieeeeeeeee!”
A roar clearly different from that of a normal Skeleton Archer rang out.
“Whoa! What, what was that! Don’t tell me, an elite?”
“Shhh! Be quiet. It sounded like it came from over there, I’ll go check it out.”
Although she didn’t have a stealth skill like an Assassin class, Yu-seon had the unique Ranger skill, Scout, so she went ahead to investigate.
Rustle.
Yu-seon moved as quietly and secretly as possible.
Soon, her figure vanished from their sight.
The scouting was done discreetly and swiftly.
The Archer class was divided into two types: Snipers, who specialized in powerful single shots, and Rangers, who had weaker damage but were highly versatile in rapid fire, scouting, and trap placement.
Yu-seon belonged to the latter, the Ranger class.
That was why she had always taken on scouting missions even when she worked as a regular mercenary for the Taeseong Guild party.
A moment later.
Rustle!
Yu-seon returned from her scouting.
“I’ve confirmed the elite’s location. Its presence is no joke. Even its stature is different from other Skeleton Archers.”
At Yu-seon’s words, Gwang-taek quickly asked, “Any other monsters nearby?”
He was asking if there were any regular monsters in the vicinity.
“Fortunately, there were no other monsters, probably because we’ve already cleared them out.”
“Really? That’s lucky.”
If there had been other mobs next to the elite, it could have been quite a headache.
Unexpected variables could have occurred.
But since there were no other mobs, they could focus entirely on conquering the elite.
“Let’s go then. Ah! Before that, the buff duration seems to be running out, so let me refresh them once.”
Since the buff durations were nearly over, Seong-jun refreshed them again.
Hummmm! Hum! Hummmm!
Once he had finished casting everything from the Enchant buffs to the five basic buffs…
[The skill levels of Walking on Air, Elemental Blessing, Iron Body, Iron Strength, and Iron Stamina have increased.]
The levels of the five basic buffs had risen.
‘Oh! Skill level up! Handing them out here and there was worth it.’
While he only cast the Enchant buffs on his party members, he had cast the five basic buffs on every other party he encountered, so his skill experience had increased relatively quickly.
Additionally, the fact that the skill level was only level 1 seemed to have played a significant role.
“Wait a moment. The five buffs just reached level 2. Let me cast them again.”
Seong-jun cast the five basic buffs once more.
Hummmm! Hum! Hummmm!
Gwang-taek and Yu-seon’s eyes widened.
“Eh? Is this really a level 2 buff? The increase is way higher than before.”
“Right? Does D-rank efficiency increase this much even with just one skill level up?”
Even though the level had only increased by one, the margin of increase was significantly higher than before.
It felt as if the level had jumped by three or four levels.
Since the buff skill levels had risen, it seemed there wouldn’t be any problem in hunting the elite.
“It’s a perfect timing. Let’s hurry.”
Although they couldn’t compare to the Enchant buffs, the stat increases from the five basic buffs were also substantial.
Perhaps that was why the faces of Seong-jun’s group as they moved toward the elite no longer showed the same anxiety as before.
***
The elite was indeed a massive creature, looking to be twice the size of a regular Skeleton Archer.
The problem wasn’t just its size; its attack power, defense, and even agility far surpassed those of regular monsters in every aspect.
“Phew, I never dreamed the day would come when I’d be tanking an elite monster solo in my life.”
To be blunt, how often would a melee damage dealer like Gwang-taek have to act as a tank? Especially against an elite monster, not just a regular one.
“Trust me. As long as I’m here, you will never die.”
“Alright, I’m counting on you.”
While Gwang-taek and Seong-jun were talking…
Rustle!
Yu-seon, who had gone out to set traps, returned.
“Installation is finished. That thing over there is a fire trap, and the one behind it is a poison trap. I’m going to lure it with long-range attacks and make it step on the traps, okay? Once the fire trap and the poison trap both trigger, that’s when Gwang-taek should step in and grab it. By the way, I’m a bit worried since you’re not a tank. You don’t even have an aggro-pulling skill. Can you hold it properly?”
In party hunts, depending on the situation, long-range dealers would often attack first to lure the enemy, and then the tank would use a skill to draw the monster’s aggro.
However, that was only possible because they were tanks. Gwang-taek, being a dealer, had no skill to pull a monster’s aggro.
Yu-seon seemed somewhat anxious about that point.
If Gwang-taek failed to do his job properly, the trouble would surely fall on her.
“Yu-seon, you just need to lure it with normal attacks without using skills. Aggro isn’t that complicated. If I just deal enough damage, it’ll naturally be drawn to me.”
There were two ways to draw a monster’s aggro.
One was to use an aggro skill to significantly increase threat levels, and the other was to deal explosive damage in a short time to increase threat levels.
Gwang-taek intended to pull the elite’s aggro using the latter method.
To do that, Yu-seon’s damage could not exceed Gwang-taek’s, so he had asked her to refrain from using skills and lure it with normal attacks.
“Okay. Then shall we start?”
After saying that, Yu-seon stealthily changed her position.
To be precise, she adjusted her position so that the elite monster would have to step on the traps when it charged toward her.
Then…
Creeeeeak!
She quickly drew her bowstring.
Twang!!
Swooosh!
An arrow of light flew rapidly toward the Elite Skeleton Archer.
Boom!
The elite, which had been wandering around, suddenly came under attack and turned its gaze exactly toward Yu-seon.
“Kieeeeeeeee!”
It immediately raised its bow made of bone.
Confirming this, Yu-seon began to run backward quickly.
Dash!
She moved out of the elite’s range.
“Kieee! Kyaaa!”
When Yu-seon moved out of range, the elite hurriedly lowered its bone bow and began to charge toward her.
A moment later.
Kaboom!
The fire trap triggered first, dealing fire damage to the elite.
In addition, it applied a burn status effect, dealing continuous damage.
Following that…
Thump!
The poison trap triggered second, and the elite was infected with a deadly poison.
With the continuous damage from the burn and the additional continuous damage from the poison, the amount of health being shaved away was significant, though not overwhelming.
“Now!”
As soon as Yu-seon’s shout fell.
Dash!
Gwang-taek raised his small round shield and rushed toward the elite.
“Your opponent is me! You brat!”
Instantly reaching the elite’s proximity, Gwang-taek shouted.
“Smite!”
He cast Smite, one of his main skills.
Boom!
Due to the Holy Weapon Enchant, Gwang-taek’s Smite skill landed as a critical hit against the dark-attribute Elite Skeleton Archer.
As a result, the elite’s gaze, which had been fixed on Yu-seon, shifted to Gwang-taek.
“Kieee?”
Gwang-taek didn’t stop there.
‘Vital Point Strike!’
He cast Vital Point Strike, another of his main skills, firmly securing the aggro.
Boom!
After casting two skills in a row and drawing the elite’s attention, Gwang-taek began to rain down normal attacks.
Thud!
Thwack!
Thud!
Slash!
Slash!
Gwang-taek swung his sword rapidly, delivering normal attacks to the elite.
Meanwhile, Yu-seon, who had been running away, stopped her footsteps and unleashed a flurry of arrows.
Swooosh! Swooosh!
Thump! Bang!
Just in case, Yu-seon stuck to normal attacks without using skills.
But then.
“Kieeeeeeeee!”
The elite let out a loud roar, raised its bone bow, and fired an arrow straight at Gwang-taek.
Swooosh!
Thump!
Fortunately, he raised his shield to block it, but the impact was so great that he stumbled and fell back.
“Gasp!”
At the same time, Gwang-taek’s upper body was left wide open.
Swooosh!!
In a rapid follow-up attack, Gwang-taek took an arrow directly to the chest.
Boom!
The first shot had luckily hit the shield, but the second arrow struck Gwang-taek’s right chest.
“Urgh!”
Unable to withstand the shock, Gwang-taek was knocked away.
Crash!
Perhaps because it was a direct hit, his health dropped by nearly half in an instant.
It was only because his body was strengthened by various buffs and the Holy Armor Enchant absorbed 30 percent of the damage that he survived.
If he had been hit without any buffs, he might have died in one shot, or at the very least, his health would have hit rock bottom.
While his health, which had been cut in half, was recovering quickly thanks to Light of Healing…
“Divine Healing!”
Seong-jun’s single-target healing skill was cast.
Shwaaaaaa!
[Active] Divine Healing [1/10]
Recovers life force with divine power.
-Recovers 1,500 health to the target.
-Slightly repairs the target’s wounds.
-Slightly recovers the target’s vigor.
Casting Time: [5]
Duration: [30 minutes]
Holy Power Consumption: [150]
Cooldown: [10]
Gwang-taek’s entire body was enveloped in a gentle light, and in an instant, his health was completely filled.
“Ooh! Full health in an instant! Amazing! Plus, my body feels refreshed!”
His life force, which had been cut nearly in half, was filled to the brim in an instant, and his tired mind and body were restored to some extent by the vigor recovery.
Perhaps that was why Gwang-taek dusted himself off, stood up, and gave a thumbs up.
I Became an EX-grade All-purpose Priest Episode 8
E-book Release Date: 2025.11.14
Author | Kim Hyun-jun
Publisher | Heo Heung-beom, Park Gun-won
Publishing House | Poten
Address | [04783] 10th Floor, 11-gil 8, Yeonmujang, Seongdong-gu, Seoul
Phone | 02-6320-8500
Fax | 02-6320-8585
ISBN 9791175302167
Price | Not for Sale
© Kim Hyun-jun 2025
This e-book is a work protected by copyright law.
This e-book was published under a contract with the author, and unauthorized redistribution, reproduction, distribution, or sharing without the written consent of both parties is prohibited.