Once the Dungeon Break situation was somewhat settled, Holy Emperor, Changcheon, and Genesis resumed their raid of the A-rank Dungeon, which had been briefly put on hold.
Naturally, Seong-jun’s party participated, and the hunting proceeded rapidly.
“This is the first time I’ve cleared an A-rank Dungeon so easily. Usually, there are casualties to some degree, but at most, we only have a few people with minor injuries.”
Even if Holy Emperor was one of the guilds considered the strongest in the world, clearing an A-rank Dungeon was by no means an easy feat.
It was a time-consuming process, and casualties, whether many or few, were almost guaranteed.
However, in the current raid, not a single person had been seriously injured.
There were only a few individuals with minor scratches.
At Karl Buckman’s comment, the team’s tanker, Jameson Palmer, glanced at Seong-jun and spoke.
“Isn’t the hunting speed also incredible? I never imagined that hunting could become this easy with just a single buffer.”
Jameson had also been someone who tended to dismiss the importance of buffers before receiving Seong-jun’s buffs.
He had received various buffs from countless Buffers, but most of them only provided a bit of help.
But Seong-jun’s buffs were on an entirely different level from those others.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to call it a whole new world, so he couldn’t help but be impressed.
“You shouldn’t compare Seong-jun’s buffs to any other. You probably won’t find buffs like these anywhere else in the world.”
Jameson smirked at Karl Buckman’s words.
“I know. That makes it even more disappointing. Since he’ll be in Korea for a while, we can hunt together occasionally, but once we return to the United States, that’ll be the end of it. Just thinking about hunting without these buffs makes me feel frustrated already.”
“I’ll probably miss these buffs too, but what can we do? We’ll just have to adjust. The best-case scenario would be to recruit Seong-jun’s party into Holy Emperor, but that won’t be easy.”
The prestige of the name Holy Emperor didn’t work on Seong-jun.
If it did, he would have jumped at the offer when William first made it.
While it wasn’t completely impossible, it was going to be a challenge.
“I really wish they would join our guild.”
“William said he’ll approach them carefully, so we should trust him and leave it to him. Anyway, at this rate, we’ll be able to finish the boss today.”
The Clear Rate was already approaching 90%, so it seemed they could finish the boss raid within the day.
As Karl and Jameson were walking and talking—
**[The completion rate of this dungeon has exceeded 90%, and Centaur Elites are appearing.]**
The Elites appeared as the Clear Rate surpassed 90%.
“Huh! We hit 90% already. Hey! Seong-jun! You got the notification, right?”
At the alert that the Elites had appeared, Karl hurriedly called out to Seong-jun.
“Ah, yes. Since the Elites are appearing, we should start regrouping with the other teams.”
Normal Monsters were fine even if they hunted in separate teams, but Elites were different.
If they encountered an Elite while scattered like this, they could suffer serious damage.
Karl and Seong-jun’s team changed their direction toward the designated rendezvous point.
***
The regrouped raid team swept through the Monsters with the force of a breaking bamboo.
With the S-ranks and A-ranks forming teams in the front and Seong-jun’s support added to the mix, they were able to wipe out the Elites in an instant.
Then came the boss raid.
“Kuooooooo!”
Since Holy Emperor, Changcheon, and Genesis were all involved in the raid, Seong-jun didn’t feel the need to use a Debuff Potion.
Even so, the raid proceeded very smoothly.
“There’s not much left now!”
“Everyone, just a little more effort!”
The boss, the Red-Maned Centaur Chieftain, had an enormous physique, and every single one of its attacks was extremely threatening.
However, the main Tanker, William, who was bolstered by Seong-jun’s buffs, defended efficiently, and the hunt proceeded without much trouble.
Soon, as the boss’s health dropped below 30%—
“Kuaaaaa!”
It moved as if it were about to unleash a finishing move.
“Everyone, watch out! It’s a finishing move!”
The finishing move of the Red-Maned Centaur Chieftain was a piercing attack that struck all enemies in a straight line.
Because it was a concentrated piercing attack limited to a narrow range, it boasted much higher damage than the area-of-effect attacks of other bosses.
However, since the first target struck took the most damage and the damage decreased sequentially afterward, the damage dealt to those in the rear was determined by how much the frontline could offset.
‘If it’s William, an S-rank Tanker with **[Holy Armor Enchant]** active, he won’t be taken down easily. But the hunt is almost over; is there a need to take a risk? It’s better to play it safe! **[Absolute Shield]**!’
Even if William was a top-tier Tanker among S-ranks and was further strengthened by Seong-jun’s buffs, it didn’t hurt to be careful.
If William were to fall by any chance, it could lead to momentary chaos.
Therefore, Seong-jun cast **[Absolute Shield]** on William.
Then he shouted.
“Everyone, get behind the main Tanker!”
He hurriedly told the melee damage dealers, who were attacking fiercely from the boss’s rear, to fall back.
“Retreating for now!”
“Fall back, everyone!”
At Seong-jun’s shout, the melee dealers quickly left their positions and moved behind William.
At that moment—
“Kwaaaaaaaa!”
The boss swung the massive sword in its hand downward.
*Vrooooooooom!*
Simultaneously, an intense wave of energy was fired in a straight line.
*Kwakwakwakwakwakwa!*
William Kreft, who was protecting his entire body with **[Absolute Shield]**, took the boss’s finishing move at the very front, but he couldn’t completely block the aftermath.
However, this was also within Seong-jun’s expectations, so he immediately cast his next skill.
‘**[Holy Barrier]**!’
He erected a defensive wall behind the main Tanker, William, with **[Holy Barrier]**.
*Boom! Bang! Rumble!*
The remaining wave of energy that William couldn’t offset was ultimately blocked by the **[Holy Barrier]** and vanished in vain.
“Oh! The boss’s finishing move couldn’t get past that barrier!”
“My god! To block the finishing move of an A-rank boss!”
Even though most of the energy had been offset by the **[Absolute Shield]**, it was still a finishing move that boasted significant damage.
When it was perfectly blocked by the **[Holy Barrier]**, people wore expressions of admiration.
Of course, Seong-jun, the person involved, had to soothe his bitter heart as he saw his Divine Power decrease sharply.
‘Phew! It really is an A-rank boss, huh? That one hit took out a massive amount of Divine Power.’
Since **[Holy Barrier]** consumed additional Divine Power based on the damage received, he could gauge the power of an A-rank boss’s finishing move by looking at the enormous drain on his reserves.
“Whew, Seong-jun! Thank you! If it weren’t for this shield, even I would have been in danger!”
William also expressed his gratitude to Seong-jun.
Even with **[Holy Armor Enchant]** drastically reducing damage, the finishing move of an A-rank boss was bound to be burdensome.
Especially since it was a concentrated attack rather than an area-of-effect one, the pressure was even greater, but thanks to Seong-jun casting **[Absolute Shield]**, he was able to block it without much damage.
“We’ve passed the biggest hurdle, so there shouldn’t be any more significant threats. Let’s launch an all-out offensive and finish this as quickly as possible.”
At Seong-jun’s words, William smiled and shouted.
“Sounds good. Everyone, attack! There’s not much left! Spam your skills!”
At William’s shout, the members of Holy Emperor began an all-out offensive once again.
“We’re going too! Everyone, attack!”
Following that, the damage dealers from Changcheon and Genesis also began a full-scale assault, spamming their skills.
*Bang! Boom! Crash!*
The main Tanker, William, along with several sub-Tankers, stood at the front to block the boss’s powerful attacks, and in the gaps, powerful counterattacks were poured out.
Perhaps because of that, the boss’s health began to be chipped away rapidly.
A feast of incessantly poured skills followed.
*Bang! Boom! Crash!*
With over 200 Hunters pouring out attacks without rest, the boss’s health was being depleted quickly.
“Kroooo! Kuaaaa!”
The boss swung its sword like crazy while blocking with its shield, but it was already too late to turn the situation around.
*Kwakwakwang! Boom! Rumble!*
Eventually, the boss could not withstand the continuous attacks and collapsed.
“Krooooo…”
As its massive body fell to the ground—
*Thud!*
The Hunters each let out a cheer.
“We did it! It’s over!”
“Whooo! The boss raid is a success!”
Among them were those who had experience clearing A-rank Dungeons, but there were also many who did not.
Perhaps that was why quite a few Hunters were overcome with emotion.
“Ha, it’s finally over. Kim Seong-jun, you worked hard too.”
At Choi Gang-hyeok’s words, Seong-jun gave a slight smile.
“What did I even do? I just gave buffs and heals. Anyway, everyone worked hard.”
At Seong-jun’s words, Karl Buckman approached and said, “What do you mean you didn’t do anything? If it weren’t for you, Seong-jun, we wouldn’t have been able to finish the raid without a single casualty. Above all, we wouldn’t have been able to clear the dungeon in such a short time. We would have taken a lot of damage while dealing with the boss, too. In this dungeon raid, you played an absolute role, Seong-jun.”
If the performance Seong-jun displayed in this dungeon raid were converted into numbers, his contribution would be at least 60–70%.
Of course, they would have eventually cleared the dungeon even without Seong-jun, but it was clear that many Hunters would have died or been seriously injured in the process.
William also nodded in agreement with Karl Buckman’s words.
“Just as Karl said, there would have been considerable damage without you, Seong-jun. Of course, we could have minimized the damage, but the raid period would have been much longer. Therefore, Holy Emperor will pass our right to the boss raid reward to you, Seong-jun.”
At William’s sudden words, Seong-jun wore a puzzled expression.
“Pardon? You’re passing Holy Emperor’s reward right to me? Is it okay to just decide that, even if you are the Guild Master? It’s the right to at least an S-rank Artifact.”
Originally, Holy Emperor, Changcheon, and Genesis had agreed to each take one of the artifacts that came out as boss raid rewards, with Holy Emperor having the first priority to choose.
On the other hand, Seong-jun was supposed to receive the loot from the Elites and the boss, along with a certain amount of Monster corpses and Mana Stones.
But William was saying he would give Holy Emperor’s priority reward right to Seong-jun.
At Seong-jun’s question of whether he could just hand it over without asking the guild members’ intentions, William shrugged and said, “I’ve already talked with the guild members. So you don’t have to worry about that. Instead—if I can call it that—Holy Emperor is planning to raid an A-rank Dungeon on our own in three or four months. At that time, could you visit the United States and raid the dungeon with us?”
William passing the reward to Seong-jun was partly to build a friendship with him, but he was also looking further ahead.
He was looking at the big picture of Holy Emperor’s solo raid of an A-rank Dungeon.
“In three or four months? Do you happen to know the exact schedule?”
“Originally, I was going to proceed with the A-rank Dungeon raid in three months after Karl’s treatment was finished, but thanks to you, Seong-jun, I’ve revised the plan. Instead of an existing A-rank Dungeon, we’ve decided to raid a brand-new dungeon. If you help us, we’ll certainly be able to raid it with the First Entry Benefit. That’s why it’s hard to set an exact schedule right now.”
Even so, since it was Holy Emperor, a solo raid of an A-rank Dungeon was not impossible, although there was some risk.
That was why they were thinking of raiding a suitable existing A-rank Dungeon to celebrate Karl’s full recovery, but they completely revised the plan because of Seong-jun’s existence.
They were aiming to take a newly created dungeon and even receive the First Entry Benefit.
“Three or four months later—hmm, that sounds okay. By that time, the things I’ve started will be mostly settled. Alright. Please contact me when a detailed schedule is set.”
If it were in one or two months, it might be burdensome, but three or four months later was not much of a burden for Seong-jun.
The things he had started would be mostly settled, and if things went well, he might even reach S-rank.
“Haha, thank you. I’ll contact you as soon as the schedule is set. Anyway, let’s go and select the reward. You have to choose first, Seong-jun, so that Changcheon and Genesis can choose theirs.”
Seong-jun, who had received the priority right from Holy Emperor, had to choose the reward first before Changcheon and Genesis.
When William told him to go ahead and pick, Seong-jun walked toward the reward chest.
“Ah, yes.”
Walking slowly, Seong-jun soon arrived in front of the reward chest and reached out to open it.
*Click!*
Inside were two artifacts and one Skill Book.
‘Since there was no First Entry Benefit, they must all be S-rank. One is a pair of boots, one is a necklace, and a Skill Book?’
To check them one by one, Seong-jun first reached for the leather boots.
‘The boots seem to be for a Ranger, and the necklace has options that are good for a melee dealer or a Tanker. It’s a pity, but neither of them is immediately necessary for me. Tsk, I hope the Skill Book is something good.’
First of all, since the boots were for a Ranger, it would be good for Yuseon to use, and the necklace seemed suitable for Gwang-taek or Chang-su since it had options optimized for a melee dealer or Tanker.
However, since this reward was conceded by Holy Emperor to Seong-jun, it was solely Seong-jun’s share, regardless of his companions.
Therefore, he wanted to choose something necessary for himself if possible.
Of course, if there was nothing suitable, he would have to choose something that would be useful to his companions.
Seong-jun checked the Skill Book last.
[Active Skill Book: Nullify]
– Upon activation, [Nullify] is applied to the caster for 10 minutes.
– If someone casts a skill on the target during the duration, that skill is canceled. [The target’s skill will be canceled even if they cast it first and Nullify is cast afterward.]
– Once one skill is canceled, Nullify is immediately removed. [Nullify is also removed if the duration expires without canceling a skill.]
Casting Time: [Instant]
Duration: [10 minutes]
Divine Power Consumption: [100,000]
Cooldown: [1 hour]
The Skill Book was certainly amazing, enough to live up to the S-rank label.
A nullification skill that canceled one skill cast on the user, whatever it was.
Although the Divine Power consumption was as much as 100,000, for Seong-jun, who possessed more than 10 million Divine Power, that wasn’t a cause for concern.
‘It unconditionally cancels one skill? Depending on the situation, this could be extremely useful. I wonder if it also applies to a boss’s finishing move. Hmm, I should go to a low-rank dungeon later and test it.’
Having finished his thoughts, Seong-jun chose the Skill Book without hesitation.
“I’ll go with this one.”
As Seong-jun returned to his original place with the Skill Book from the reward chest, William approached and asked.
“It’s a Skill Book. May I ask what kind of skill it is?”
At that, Seong-jun smiled and said in a low voice.
“Since you’re the one who conceded the reward to me, William, you have a right to know, but I’ll tell you later. Given the nature of the skill, it won’t be particularly good if many people know about it.”
He judged that William had at least the right to know what kind of skill it was since he had conceded the reward.
But that wasn’t the case for others.
Although Nullify was a very useful skill, if people knew about its existence, they could prepare countermeasures.
Therefore, Seong-jun judged that the fewer people who knew about Nullify, the more advantageous it would be.
That way, he could use it for the purpose of catching an opponent off guard.
“Is that so? Now that you say that, I’m even more curious. Then let’s meet separately once we leave the dungeon. Ah! Instead of that, why don’t we have dinner together?”
Since Seong-jun said he would tell him separately and quietly later, William also nodded and agreed, not because he wouldn’t tell him, but because he understood the reasoning.
At the same time, he suggested having dinner together.
“Haha, that wouldn’t be bad. We have to eat dinner anyway. There’s a meat restaurant I frequent, so let’s go there.”
“Oh! You mean Samgyeopsal? I was told to definitely try it when I come to Korea, so I’ll get to eat it this time.”
Seong-jun had beef in mind, but looking at the atmosphere, it seemed he would have to change the menu to Samgyeopsal.
“Haha, Samgyeopsal. That’s good. Then I’ll see you outside.”
Saying that, Seong-jun returned to his companions.
As he walked, he used the Skill Book to learn the skill.
‘There’s no need to drag it out. Let’s learn it right away. Use Skill Book!’
**[You have learned the skill [Nullify].]**
As he learned the skill, the Skill Book turned into a cluster of light and disappeared.
In this way, Seong-jun acquired a sort of hidden card that could cancel a skill.
When Seong-jun returned, his companions asked with curiosity.
“Seong-jun. What skill is it? Since it’s an A-rank Dungeon, it must be a skill corresponding to S-rank, right?”
“Yeah, I’m curious too. What skill is it?”
As Gwang-taek and Yuseon asked in turn, Seong-jun said in a low voice, just as he had to William.
“Later. I decided to go eat Samgyeopsal with the Holy Emperor people in a bit. I’ll tell you then.”
Even though he was among his companions, there were still many listening ears around.
Therefore, Seong-jun told his companions that he would let them know later as well.
“Oh! Samgyeopsal! I was just thinking that we’ve been eating too much beef lately. Samgyeopsal is great. It has a different charm than beef.”
“I guess it’s because I have cheap taste, but pork tastes better than beef to me. Oh? It looks like the other side is finished choosing too.”
While talking with his companions, it seemed Changcheon and Genesis had also finished their selections.
It appeared that Changcheon had picked the necklace and Genesis the boots.
Once the reward selection was finished, the end of the A-rank Dungeon raid was finally declared.
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