In life, there are times when you witness situations so unbelievable, you can hardly trust your own eyes—like getting every answer right on a test just by guessing, or someone with terrible athletic skills suddenly catching a flying ball in a split second.
Right now, Dahav was in just such a moment.
“This is insane…”
He had only trusted his Skill and followed his instincts to get here.
At first, he couldn’t see any sign of it and was about to give in to doubt, but then ‘Albino’ revealed itself in a brilliant flash of light.
“Oh, Transcendence of the Five Senses, I truly apologize for doubting you.”
Despite the joke that escaped his lips, his hands were trembling.
The presence of Albino before his eyes was on a whole different level compared to seeing it on a video.
Just as its name suggested, its skin was pure white, with burning, blood-red eyes.
The overwhelming pressure made Dahav tense up.
‘Don’t get scared for nothing. Give it everything you’ve got.’
He had even prepared a custom-made special Ghoul to hunt Albino.
And more than anything, he had reviewed the strategy several times and simulated the battle in his mind, making thorough preparations for the fight.
“Don’t be afraid. I can do this.”
Dahav muttered to himself like a mantra, steadying his resolve.
***
Albino, as mentioned before, was known as the Golden Goblin among users in the level 30 range.
That’s because, after going through the adaptation period, there was enough time to acquire decent Skills and equipment.
But that only applied if you were pushing through with level, gear, and Skills.
For those at the same level, for Players in the level 10 range like Albino, it was nothing short of a pure ‘monster’—a threatening Boss Monster.
For a level 10 Player, it usually took a party of three, and the difficulty was such that you could earn a Contract Fee from a Ten Great Guilds Guild just for taking it down.
“That is, until Marchen released the raid video.”
He was a Player more widely known as a Monster Raider than by his nickname.
And Marchen’s debut work, the very video that earned him the title of Monster Raider, was the Albino Raid Video.
The year he released the video was 2040.
By then, most Players were no longer beginners, so it was rare for a Novice Village video to make a splash, but this one became so popular that it hit number one on trending videos.
It stayed in the top ranks for over a week on the popular videos watched mainly by Capital Channel-level users, racking up 4 million subscribers and 70 million views with a single video.
“Once Machen became popular, countless imitators followed, so there was no way to ever forget the Albino raid strategy.”
With confidence, he pulled out a vial filled with liquid and threw it at Albino.
Albino, as if annoyed by the gesture, batted away the bottle flying toward it in an arc.
But the glass bottle was made to shatter easily, and with a sharp -crack-, it broke into pieces.
Albino, now drenched in the liquid from the bottle, looked furious for a moment, then its expression turned to shock.
KAAAK!
Albino let out a roar, glaring at Dahav, the culprit who had thrown the bottle, as if it wanted to kill him.
Just meeting Albino’s murderous gaze was enough to make Dahav swallow hard under the crushing pressure.
‘There’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s just putting on a show—the thing is definitely weaker than usual.’
In reality, it was just standing there, glaring, not actually attacking—just sizing him up.
‘Dwar Sap. That’s Albino’s weakness!’
What Dahav had just thrown was a vial filled with a concentrated extract of Dwar Sap, the essence of the tree spirit Dwar.
The ferocious and cunning Goblins of Erenfort were infamous, but they never expanded their territory beyond the east gate, precisely because the Dwars, who produced Dwar Sap, lived in the north and east.
When Goblins were exposed to Dwar Sap, they became about half as weak as usual.
It wasn’t especially hard to gather Dwar Sap in Erenfort, where Players were rare, but concentrating and refining it was a challenging process, so a bottle of Dwar Sap was usually worth over 10 gold.
But seeing Albino’s suffering, it was clear the investment was worth it.
‘If I think about the achievement for solo-killing Albino, it’s definitely worth it.’
Nobody invests this much just to fail.
That’s why Dahav wasn’t just relying on the information from his memory, but was determined to figure out Albino’s patterns as accurately and thoroughly as possible.
“Go.”
Three Ghouls materialized from the Magic Circle and charged at Albino.
The two Ghouls he’d summoned previously had already leapt into the air, and the Troll Goul used its overwhelming size to charge Albino head-on.
Grrrk—!
A well-timed pincer attack from Albino’s blind spot.
If it had been an ordinary Goblin, it wouldn’t have even been able to react properly, and would’ve been crushed beyond recognition.
But Albino was a Boss Monster with the title Iron Fortress.
Even weakened, its status and reputation were not for nothing.
KAAAK—!
Albino used its razor-sharp claws to slice cleanly through the Troll Goul’s forearm as it barreled forward.
The Troll’s body could recover from such a wound quickly, but Albino hadn’t even been targeting it seriously.
Albino planted its right foot and aimed a kick at the Troll Goul’s abdomen.
The Troll Goul tried to block with its left hand, but it couldn’t help being knocked backward.
With the blind spot gone, the Ghouls behind were now exposed.
Albino, spotting the two Ghouls falling from above, immediately kicked off the ground and hurled itself at the Ghoul on the right.
CRASH—!
Albino and the Ghoul collided.
The winner of the brutal melee was Albino.
Even though the Ghouls were crafted from high-grade corpses, they didn’t stand a chance.
Albino spun in midair, rotating 180 degrees, and swung its hand to slice down the remaining Ghoul.
But a sharp arrow flying in from afar stopped it from finishing the job.
Thwip—!
Albino quickly pulled back its hand to block the arrow.
But with just one hand, it couldn’t block both attacks.
Albino failed to dodge the Ghoul’s attack coming from the side and was slammed to the ground.
CRASH—!
The thick dust rising from the ground gave an idea of Albino’s damage.
But Dahav didn’t let his guard down.
In fact, he tightened his focus even more.
“This is what it looks like at 50% debuffed….”
When HP drops below 20%, the rage pattern, ‘Berserk’, triggers.
Albino’s defense is reduced, but all its attack-related stats nearly double.
The real headache is the random targeting—in other words, Aggro jumps randomly.
In short, instead of targeting the Tanker in the front, it could suddenly go for the Mage, Healer, or Summoner in the back.
“So, if I want to safely finish off Albino, even after Berserk triggers, my Ghouls need to be able to keep Aggro on it.”
Honestly, he wasn’t sure.
Even Ghouls made from the best corpses might not be able to keep up with Albino’s speed.
That’s why he’d deliberately tried hunting it using only Ghouls, pushing them to their limits.
And from the brief skirmish just now, he was able to confirm it.
‘It’s not the worst, but at best it’s just barely passable.’
It didn’t completely break his calculations, but it was a close call.
The Ghouls didn’t have terrible reaction time, but it looked like they’d struggle to keep up with all of Albino’s attacks and movements.
For a monster with a Summoner-like job specialty, this was like walking a tightrope.
Fortunately, Dahav had experienced this kind of tightrope walk countless times during his Pro Boxer days.
“And I succeeded more often than not.”
In other words, he was confident.
He raised both hands and slapped his cheeks—smack!
The sting on his face sharpened his focus.
With concentration at its peak, Dahav stared at Albino.
Just then, the dust cleared, and Albino’s figure became visible again.
“Let’s get this started for real.”
The recovered Ghouls rushed forward.
The attack formation was the same as before.
The massive Troll Goul signaled the start by charging Albino head-on.
Albino snorted as if amused and, just like before, raised its hand to slice off the Troll Goul’s forearm.
But at that very moment—
Through a brief opening beyond the Troll Goul, an arrow shot forward, aiming for Albino’s weak point.
Sensing the arrow, Albino quickly pulled back its hand to block it, but the Troll Goul wasn’t about to miss its chance.
WHAM—!
It smashed its huge fist down from above.
Albino barely managed to dodge backward, avoiding a fatal blow by a hair.
But—
CRASH—
The Ghouls that had leapt in followed up by crashing down on Albino.
To block both attacks at once, Albino spun and thrust its claws forward.
But once again, things didn’t go as it hoped.
Thwip—!
The moment its weak spot was exposed, an arrow shot in like a snake striking its prey.
Having no choice but to take a defensive posture, Albino was then hammered on both shoulders by the Ghouls’ fists from above.
KIEEK!
Albino screamed, but to Dahav, it was proof that he had finally broken through Albino’s guard.
“Press the attack!”
Following their master’s command, the Ghouls unleashed a relentless barrage on Albino.
Albino tried to counterattack at every opening, but every time, arrows aimed at its weak spots forced it to back down.
Naturally, as the battle dragged on, Albino’s body grew weary and hunched from fatigue and wounds.
Watching this, Dahav hurriedly raised his hand, signaling the Ghouls to stop.
“Stop…!”
He was trying to prepare for the Berserk pattern that triggers when HP falls below 20%, but he was a moment too late.
KYAAAK!
With a monstrous scream, Albino’s eyes turned blood-red.
“Bind Albino!”
He hastily ordered the Ghouls, but Albino’s sudden movements were too much for them to keep up with.
Albino shredded through the Ghouls forming the encirclement like they were paper, then charged forward at high speed.
‘Damn it!’
Cursing inwardly as he faced the charging Albino.
Since he couldn’t see the opponent’s or monster’s +1, he had to judge Albino’s state by reading its movements.
Dahav had kept that in mind, but the damage from the Ghouls and ranged attacks was stronger than expected, so he miscalculated the Berserk trigger and made this mistake.
Anyone else would have crumbled from the unexpected counterattack, but in his previous life as Pro Boxer Baek Jun-su, he’d experienced this sort of fight and unexpected variables countless times.
‘Stay calm and watch your opponent.’
He’d learned that the worst thing to do in an unexpected situation was to turn his back and run from a predator.
Of course, that didn’t mean he intended to stand toe-to-toe with Albino like a boxing match.
‘Right now, the best move is to minimize damage and buy time until the Ghouls recover and can support me again.’
He took a deep breath, expanding his muscles and readying his body.
And finally, as Albino closed the distance and drew its shoulders back—
“Now.”
He tried to read Albino’s pattern and dodge accordingly, but perhaps because of his low stats, his body didn’t move as quickly as he’d hoped.
Before he could fully take a defensive stance, Albino’s claws filled his vision.
And then, pain exploded in his chest.
Slash—
Albino’s white claws and red liquid filled his sight.
The pain made his mouth fall open.
Trying to avoid taking another hit, he quickly retreated, but Albino closed the gap just as fast.
Albino’s claws slashed his body once more as he moved back.
Slash—
There was clearly much more red liquid in his vision than before.
Warning alarms blared and his vision spun, but his mind only grew sharper and more alert.
“If I panic and collapse now, it’s all over.”
He knew this better than anyone, having faced situations like this occasionally during his Pro Boxer days.
If you let yourself get pummeled by an opponent’s unrelenting attacks, that’s the end.
At times like this, you had to make bold and quick decisions.
“The speed difference is obvious. That means I can’t shake it off with just hand or foot tricks.”
If this had been boxing, the difference in skill would have meant an instant KO.
But ASA is a place with no ‘rules’.
It might look a little desperate, but there was one move that was perfect for survival in this situation.
‘Roll!’
Dahav bent his torso into a sharp angle and threw himself to the ground, rolling hard.
Perhaps because Albino hadn’t expected this, its claws sliced through empty air for the first time.
Meanwhile, the Ghouls rushed in and blocked Albino’s attack.
GRRRAH—!
“Nice catch.”
Dahav had no intention of wasting the precious time the Ghouls had bought him.
He quickly reached into his inventory and shoved the prepared items into his mouth.
[The effect of Intermediate Recovery Potion will gradually restore 500 HP over 10 seconds.]
[Potion of Stimulation effect activated. Attack power increases by 15 for 10 minutes.]
[Mutant Drake Steak effect activated. Strength increases by 10 for 10 minutes.]
[Sonic Lizard Salad effect activated. Agility increases by 10 for 10 minutes.]
[Chef Dallaran’s Caviar effect activated. All stats increase by 20 for 10 minutes.]
Seeing the notification windows pop up, a smile naturally spread across his lips.
“There’s a reason expensive stuff is worth it.”
Most food-type Doping Items only grant about a +5 stat boost.
But the Doping Items he’d just eaten were twice as effective, or even more.
He’d prepared with items ten times more expensive than ordinary 1 gold, 10,000 won Doping Items, so the results were obvious.
With a confident smile, Dahav steadied his stance.
“This is the revenge match.”