7.

  “The consumable items needed in the Raid will be provided. Level 120 Unique items will be loaned out to you.”


  The offer was sweet.

  “This is my condition. During the Raid, you have to lure the Hahoe Mask into a Game over.”


  The price he had to pay was also terrifying.

  For a moment, this was why Pelato worried over the decision after hearing the full story. The proposal was too sweet to dismiss it immediately, yet it was too burdensome to accept it.

  The man from the Apollo guild had to reformulate the proposal.

  “I am loaning out the Unique items as compensation. If you succeed in this, I’ll just give you the ones you used.”


  He had put another weight on the scale, and the scale was tipping to one side.

  “All right.”


  Pelato accepted the offer.

  8.

  [Your level has increased.]

  [Skeleton Science Skill Rank has risen to Rank B.]

  It had been 3 days since he started hunting at the Red Lake. Hyrkan finally experienced his first Level Up at the Red Lake.

  After finishing his Level Up, he immediately opened the Red Lake Community Board on the hologram window. Hyrkan didn’t show any interest in the large monster he had just caught.

  It was because there was a post about the Corrupted Gray Cockatrice.

  ‘There is a fair number of people gathered now.’


  The content of the recruitment notice was significantly different from the one he saw from 3 days ago.

  There were two big changes.

  The consumable items needed for the Monster Raid will be provided by Pelato, and if needed, he will loan out Unique items.

  If one had money, it wasn’t a difficult thing to do.

  ‘So where did he get all that money from?’


  The consumable items and the loaned items would cost a pretty penny.

  Of course, since Pealto was making such a big investment, the footage rights was given to him. Moreover, he would get 30% of all the ingredient coins and gems earned from this Raid.

  On the other hand, if they failed on the first try, he would lose a lot of personal capital in this venture.

  Anyways, Pelato’s attempt worked.

  The previously slow to fill Raid attack force was quickly filled with participants. Currently, 25 users had joined the group.

  This was within the range of possibility. However, there was a reason why Hyrkan was more sensitive to this job. Hyrkan checked the content of the message he received during his previous battle.

  [Participation Bonus 5 thousand gold. Success Bonus 20 thousand gold.]

  ‘A total of 25,000 gold.’


  If he participated in this Raid, he would be given 5 thousand gold. Moreover, twenty thousand gold would be given if the hunt was successful!

  Pelato was betting an enormous amount of gold on him.

  ‘He is laying it on strong.’


  In the beginning, the Participation Bonus was 2 thousand gold, and the Success Bonus was 10 thousand gold.

  The amount had doubled. However, it wasn’t as if there wasn’t a good reason why it had increased. Yesterday, Hyrkan had uploaded the battle footage of him fighting the large Thorn Lizard. The responses he got back was very favorable. It had been sufficient enough to drive up Hyrkan’s price.

  However, Hyrkan couldn’t accept this situation at face value.

  ‘If it was me, I wouldn’t bet this much.’


  The merit of having Hyrkan join the public enlistment wasn’t small.

  It would be easier to gather additional members through Hyrkan’s reputation. Moreover, the probability of succeeded the raid on the 1st try increased significantly.

  Even if one considered those factors, Pelato’s bet was ill-advised. Moreover, he probably hadn’t given this offer to everyone. He probably gave it to Hyrkan only. If someone other than Hyrkan found out about this, there would be infighting within the group.

  ‘I’m sure there is something going on here.’


  If Pelato had the capital to make such an offer, Pelato would have given it during the first meeting. Why was he so desperate now? It was most definitely strange to see him make such a reckless bet.

  “Hmmm.”


  Normally, he wouldn’t touch such work when there might be a secret plot behind it.

  The problem was Hyrkan was also in a bad spot.

  ‘I have to catch it.’


  Currently, the Corrupted Gray Cockatrice’s infamy was rising. The Raid teams that were capable of taking down this monster were finishing up their scheduled plans, and they would soon come up with new plans on what they would do.

  The Corrupted monsters were still worth a lot. This was especially true for the highest level users with the Corrupted Items. It was a chance to obtain additional Corrupted Set items.

  If a little bit more time passed, he was sure the 30 great guilds would move.

  Of course, he had to catch it before them. If he wanted to personally take down the the Corrupted Gray Cockatrice, this was his only chance.

  ‘I have no choice.’


  He had no choice to grab the dirty hand of the user, who was full of secret plans.

  This was the reason why he was worried.

  9.

  “The bastard’s targeting priority is magic. If it is hit with magic, it will target the magicians. To draw the aggro from it, one has to deliver two consecutive effective blows to the bastard.”


  There were 35 total users, which amounted to 6 parties.

  They had all gathered there to catch the Corrupted Gray Cockatrice, who was making a mess of the Red Lake. Pelato stood in front of them as if he was delivering a speech, and he started explaining the plan for the Raid.

  “This monster also has Fear. It will decrease everyone’s Stats, and our movement will be slowed. So, please eat the candy. If you are exposed to the Fear, retreat to the back. Also, if you are exposed to the Fear and retreat to the back, you will receive a demerit. As your demerit starts to stack, you will receive penalty when we are distributing the ingredient coins and gems."

  Pelato was very serious as he gave his speech.

  However, the content of his speech wasn’t that special. If one was a user over level 100 in Warlord, these were instructions one would already know even if it wasn’t said out loud to them. The participants expected there would be some special content to his speech, but the participants’ expression became apathetic.

  It was the same for Hyrkan.

  ‘He doesn’t have any additional information. This means he only has the standard tactics to use in the attack.’


  “Since we don’t know what’s beyond phase 1, let’s play it by the book.”


  Pelato spoke exactly what Hyrkan had been thinking. However, it wasn’t as if Hyrkan was the only one, who was having such thoughts. Several party members put on an expression as if to say this was all to be expected.

  However……

  “Before the magic attack, we have to shave off as much defense off of the monster. We’ll focus on the Armor Break. There will be 3 users assigned to the role of Strikers, and the three users will alternate with each other to attack the monster. The group will consist of Umyo Party’s Diong, 1945 Party’s Naple, and Hahoe Mask Hyrkan. The three of them will make up the group.”


  At that point, Hyrkan couldn’t help, but change his expression.

  ‘What?’


  Hyrkan looked at Pelato through the eye holes of the Hahoe Mask. Pelato also looked at Hyrkan, and when their eyes met, Pelato turned his gaze away. He was most definitely avoiding Hyrkan’s gaze.

  ‘Why am I assigned as a Striker?’


  Once again, Hyrkan had doubts.

  It was true that he could fill in the role of a Striker well. The Armor Break skill he had shown when taking down the Bear Warrior and Helm Ogre won him a lot of admiration. An average Striker wouldn’t be able to put forth his name next to Hyrkan.

  However, Hyrkan had done the Armor Break, since he was soloing. When it comes down to it, Hyrkan wasn’t a Striker. Hyrkan didn’t mind doing it, but this Raid team had 6 Strikers.

  So why was he insisting on putting Hyrkan into the Striker group?

  ‘Is he trying to fuck me over?’


  Of course, Hyrkan didn’t like it.

  Before he had returned to the past, it had been the same. The Striker position suited him the most. Hyrkan knew this. However, he also knew the dangers.

  One had to stick to the body of the large monster to continuously attack. It was basically riding a sports car with no brakes.

  Moreover, Hyrkan had recently displayed his strong power as a Necromancer.

  Hyrkan’s eyes narrowed.

  However, he didn’t react.

  ‘All right.’


  If this was Pelato’s secret plan, it would be better to antagonize Pelato after he reveals his secret design. If he bothered him right now, Pelato could just deny it with his words.

  ‘I’ll go along with it. For now……’


  This was why Hyrkan allowed himself to be manipulated.

  ‘However, if you mess with me, it will cost you much more than your watch.’


  10.

  Ggiiiiiii!

  It had been a while, since the Corrupted Gray Cockatrice had discovered a prey. It expressed its happiness.

  Three tankers equipped with enormous armors and shields were in place in front of the monster.

  Three hidden figures were on the other side watching this sight. It was Hyrkan and the two other Strikers, who were tasked with the same mission.

  However, it wasn’t the role of Tankers nor the Strikers to send out the first salvo.

  “Ready your magic!”


  Pelato, who was one of the tankers, yelled out. As if they were trying to encompass the surrounding, the magicians raised the magic they had finished casting. Each of their hands held either fire, ice, lightning or wind.

  “Attack!”


  When Pelato’s command finally came down, ten magic spells headed towards the Corrupted Gray Cockatrice, which was running towards the Tankers.

  Ten had been sent.

  Eight of the ten magic spells hit the Corrupted Gray Cockatrice’s body.

  Keeeee!

  The Corrupted Gray Cockatrice let out a shriek as it explicitly expressed its pain.

  However, the Corrupted Gray Cockatrice was fine considering the number of magic that been used on its body. Parts of its body was blackened, and the gray feathers were burnt. Blood dripped out of the deep wounds. However, if one took into account of its big body, it didn’t look like critical wounds. It only gave pain to the Corrupted Gray Cockatrice.

  It was wounded just enough to stoke its anger.

  The Corrupted Gray Cockatrice searched its surrounding with its eyes. It looked for the magicians, who had sent the magic spells.

  Something came flying towards its beak.

  Kwahng!

  A hammer spun towards it as it let out lightning.

  Keeeee, keeeee!

  The Cockactrice immediately shook its head when it was hit by the hammer.

  After hitting the beak, the hammer returned to its master.

  “Ooh-rah-cha-cha!”


  The hammer’s owner was already close to the Cockatrice.

  The Cockatrice was still shaking its head as it tried to get rid of the Stun effect. However, the Cockatrice was still trying to chase the magicians instead of the Tanker, who had swung his hammer.

  However……

  Puh-uhk!

  After regaining his hammer once again, he brought down the hammer on the Cockatrice’s body!

  Keeeet!

  The Cockatrice’s head turned quickly towards the Tanker. The Tanker gritted his teeth as he immediately raised his shield.

  Kwah-jeek!

  As soon as he raised his shield, the Cockatrice’s sharp beak impacted on the shield. If he had been slightly late, his body would have suffered the same fate as his shield.

  Its power was immense. The shield had been pierced as the beak needed only couple centimeters more depth to break through the shield. The sharp part of the beak was dug in so deep that one could see through the shield.

  ‘I won’t be able to hold on like this. The buffs aren’t enough.’


  “Thousand Geun Weight!”


  The Tanker sensed he won’t be able to resist the monster easily, so he used his Skill. His weight increased as he became rooted in place.

  There was no retreat!

  It seemed the beak attack on the Tanker’s shield wasn’t enough for the monster. It started to stomp with its foot.

  Kwahng, kwahng!

  The enormous monster didn’t show any signs of holding back its strength. While the Tanker was blocking all of the Cockatrice’s attack, the Strikers moved-

  The Hahoe Mask is moving-

  Everyone get ready!

  The first one to move was Hyrkan.

  When they saw Hyrkan move, the rest of the party members moved along with him. The Strikers on standby switched positions with the Tankers and Magicians.

  Finally, Hyrkan had closed the distance with the Cockatrice. In a breath, he got on the Cockatrice’s body using his swift movements.

  Hyrkan’s eyes surveyed the wounds on the Cockatrice’s spine. He chose one of them as he stabbed his sword into the wound.

  Poo-oohk!

  It was a level 100 Unique item. Hyrkan boasted Strength stat that was higher than most swordsman, so his attack couldn’t be weak.

  Keeeee!

  The Cockatrice had been distracted by the Tanker, but the power of the blow made the Cockatrice take notice.

  At that moment……

  Puh-uhng!

  An enormous fireball impacted on the Cockatrice’s head, and it popped like a water balloon.

  The exploding ball of fire covered the entirety of the Cockatrice’s face then it disappeared.

  Of course, the Cockatrice’s gaze headed towards the magician, who had used the magic. The monster’s interest in Hyrkan disappeared, and Hyrkan was able to breathe.

  ‘Hoo-ooh!’


  The Tanker predicted the Cockatrice’s move, so he got in place. Hyrkan grabbed his embedded sword, and he waited for the next opportunity.

  ‘They are controlling the Aggro pretty well.’


  The Aggro was being controlled much better than he thought it would be. The Tankers and Magicians had good chemistry. Also, Pelato’s directions were easy to follow.

  Of course……

  ‘I don’t know how far we can go on like this.’


  Of course, the first one or two pass went well for any Raids. Now they would have to repeat this process couple dozen times to couple hundred times.

  During this process, even one mistake would result in someone paying the price.

  Hyrkan bit his lips. Of course, Hyrkan had no thoughts of bearing that price.

  At that moment……

  Kwahhng!

  An enormous fireball took Hyrkan by surprise.

  12.

  Flame Strike magic.

  It was a level 80 Rare rank magic. It was the main magic used by Flame magicians, who wanted to deal serious damage.

  Basically, the magic boasted a strong striking power.

  The Striker, who was on the back of the monster attempting an Armor Break, was touched by this powerful magic. It was the worst type of accident one could commit.

  “Who sent that?”


  Pelato, who had witnessed it from nearby, let out a desperate shout-

  I……I mixed up the signal.

  A reply was given immediately.

  “Get a hold of yourself!”


  Pelato spat out another word. However, the situation only allowed limited conversation-

  What should we do?-

  Give us the next order, commander!

  If an accident happened, the situation usually turned in a state of emergency.

  This was the case right now. The Cockatrice was hit by an unexpected attack, and it was heading towards the Mage. It was heading towards a direction where a Tanker couldn’t be dispatched.

  Normally, when one used magic, a Tanker was placed between the mage and the monster. The Tanker would immediately block the monster once it starts to chase the magician.

  Basically, a Tanker couldn’t block the Cockatrice right now.

  There were only two answers to this situation-

  Reset?-

  Retreat?

  In this situation, they had to either run away or reset the Raid.

  If they ran away, they all had to scatter. It was basically an announcement to give up on the battle.

  Reset was basically returning to the initial condition of the Raid. In a situation like this, the magicians would send their magic towards the monster like they did in the beginning. There would be too many targets, so the Aggro would reset. The only problem with the reset was the fact that one couldn’t guarantee Hyrkan’s life, who was hanging off of the monster’s back.

  Hyrkan’s item setting wasn’t that high on magic defense, and his Stamina stat wasn’t high either. If magic spells rained down on him, he wouldn’t survive the experience.

  ‘Of course……’


  However, Pelato had already made his decision. He had already decided this course of action two days ago.

  “Res……”


  They would reset.

  The magicians would once again send their magic spells at once.

  That was the plan, but-

  I’ll block it.

  The situation went sideways.

  Ten Skeleton Warriors suddenly appeared on the body of the running Cockatrice. The Skeleton Warriors that had appeared started to ruthlessly stab at the Cockatrice’s body.

  Keeeee!

  The Cockatrice let out a long cry, and it started to roll on the ground.

  The magicians, who were about to throw the magic spell in their hand, swallowed their spit. Pelato also swallowed the word he was about to yell out-

  The situation has been straightened.

  Only one person spoke within the silence-

  The bastard, who threw the magic by mistake, should stay out of this battle. If you don’t, I’ll consider PKing you.

  Hyrkan spat out those words.