NOVEL NEXT Chapter 361
“Hello, nice to meet you!”
“Hello, Kayak!”
“Let’s go hunt a dragon together!”
The dragon’s lair is a dungeon that can accommodate up to eight people.
When Kayak joined the originally eight-member party, one person naturally had to step out.
“I’ll step out.”
“Wait, Seok-hoon is stepping out?”
The one offering to leave was a guy named Seok-hoon.
He was a priest with the second-highest level in the Hana guild after the guild master, Han-yul, responsible for both damage and healing.
Hearing that he was leaving, Han-yul showed a distressed expression.
“Then who will heal?”
“Yena is here too… and we all have potions, right? I don’t think healing will be a problem.”
“Hmm…”
Han-yul seemed to have a lot to say but hesitated.
Seok-hoon somewhat understood his feelings.
Yena, who acted as the healer in the team, had some reliability issues compared to Junseok.
‘But still…’
There was no helping it. It wouldn’t be right to tell the other guild members, who were fired up to catch a dragon, to sit out.
Honestly, it was probably better for Seok-hoon, whose mind had been a bit off due to consecutive raid failures, to step out instead.
Neither Han-yul nor Seok-hoon could firmly tell someone, “You, step out,” so taking this peaceful route was much more comfortable for them. Of course, the viewers watching felt nothing but frustration.
[No, I’m saying take out Yena and Dang-ji – deleted message]
[Wow, if Seok-hoon leaves, it’s really going to be a disaster]
[Aren’t there two good-for-nothing guys… hmm… almost said that – deleted message]
[The ones who should step out aren’t, and the ones who shouldn’t are stepping out – deleted message]
[Sigh, the trolls are gathering again, tsk tsk]
[Yena and Dang-ji are doing well, so why are they talking like that?]
[They might be a bit lacking, but they are guild members; we should go together]
[Seriously, so heartless]
[Is it right to get all emotional on an important raid?]
[To the passionate fans ㅠㅠ I won’t forget you]
[The chat atmosphere is a mess, sigh]
[But really, it makes sense for Yena and Dang-ji to step out of this raid… they won’t clear it with newbies.]
[But Kayak is a newbie with no RPG experience too, right?]
“Stop, stop, for now, let’s go with these members. Don’t argue about the members anymore. Excessive criticism will be subject to moderation.”
Han-yul calmed the viewers who were buzzing like a swarm of bees.
This had been happening for days. As soon as they ran the raid, they would hunt for a scapegoat, saying who did wrong and who should leave, and there was a lot of chatter.
There’s been a lot of talk about who’s at fault and who should be kicked out.
In situations like this, Han-yul, who’s really not great with conflicts, was so stressed that he was practically brewing an ulcer.
Why is everyone so eager to tear each other apart? Is it really that important to be a dragon or whatever? What matters is that we all laugh and have fun together.
Han-yul desperately hoped the raid would proceed a little more peacefully, and he worked hard to mediate opinions as best as he could.
However, the peace he longed for shattered within minutes of the raid starting.
“Heal, heal! The healing is way too slow!”
“I-I’m sorry…”
“Fall back to grab aggro. Not to the side, but back—far back!”
Kayak, who was commanding the situation like a general, let out a thunderous suggestion.
“Um… I might cautiously propose this, but how about we switch members during the raid?”
*
Eventually, someone has to take the lead.
It was already clear that there were issues with Han-yul’s party.
If the party was flawless from the start, they would have already taken down the dragon.
The fact that this opportunity came my way after quite some time meant that the team wasn’t functioning smoothly.
I suspected there were probably two main reasons for this.
Firstly, poor leadership; in other words, if the main orders were wrong.
An incompetent leader has a significant role in leading the whole group to destruction.
But that seemed unlikely.
A few days had already passed. If the main orders were wrong, they would have already been switched out.
Moreover, we were all streamers. With thousands of viewers watching, we wouldn’t stubbornly tread down the wrong path. If the orders were incorrect, it should’ve been resolved on the first day.
That leaves only one remaining reason.
The combat strength of the guild members of the Hana guild wasn’t high enough to clear the raid.
In other words, the players were the problem.
‘Indeed…’
It was just as I expected. I had anticipated that the atmosphere would be off when Seok-hoon was absent, but the issues were genuinely severe.
“Can that be dodged? Ah, too bad. It’s okay. Just go to the next checkpoint and you’ll come back to life.”
“I’m sorry! Please hang in there just a bit longer!”
“It’s the damage timing—hit them hard!”
“It’s time, unleash the burst damage!”
“Ah! Someone get this guy off me! I can’t deal damage because of him!”
[Is this… a first-rate guild?]
[Han-yul, what kind of battle have you been fighting?]
“It’s just a one-man team, right?”
“Han-yul is really struggling….”
“I expected the strongest guild on the server, but I’m a bit disappointed.”
“When I watch high-skilled players’ raid videos, they issue orders and move flawlessly.”
“They’re not syncing at all.”
[Kim Seok-hoon’s smell is in the air!]
-Please, speak your mind, Kayak. If I say anything to these people, they treat me like a troll and I can’t say a word.
Later, I was able to grasp the internal situation through anonymous reports.
The problems were obvious to anyone, yet no one was there to point them out.
It wasn’t just the military’s battle capability that was the issue. In this case, the military’s battle capability was a problem, and the commander refusing to correct it was a problem too.
“Yeah, some corrections are needed.”
“Is it my time to step in?”
[The normalization of Kayak is coming]
[The normalization of the raid, that is Kayak’s destiny]
[Ka-chang-seob entered the chat ㄷㄷ]
“I’m used to being the villain…”
Having the courage to be hated, I originally wasn’t this kind of person, but since starting my broadcast, my personality has changed in many ways.
If someone has to step up anyway, there’s no reason it can’t be me.
The burden of broadcast fame feels overwhelming, but it does come in handy at times like this.
“Seok-hoon, how about you come in and Ye-na take a backseat this time?”
“…Huh?”
“No, Kayak. It’s not that simple-.”
What can I do? This is already the umpteenth attempt, and I can’t keep getting blocked like this.
I don’t care if I’m seen as the bad guy. I must hunt the dragon and become the dragon slayer.
And maybe the guild leader, Han-yul, secretly hoped for this situation from the start.
From the moment he called me a mercenary and dragged others into the guild raid, he must have wished for someone to take on this role in his place.
Even if I have to play the villain, I’m willing to do it if needed.
“For now, let’s try it this way. We haven’t made any progress, right? We haven’t even cleared the third gate since earlier.”
The reason I can say this with such confidence is not just because I’m the highest-ranked in the broadcast game, but because I’ve consistently performed well in all the raids so far.
Because they have consistently achieved good results in the matches.
To put it metaphorically, I guess they’re like a striker who scores high points in every game.
Even though they’re the lowest level in the team, they always rank first in damage output and nearly single-handedly clear the first gate.
That’s why there’s enough justification to say such things.
[That’s true, lol]
[We should listen to Kayak, guys, Kayak is carrying us]
[Cyber guerilla training on]
[I keep dying in the same spot, lol, if it doesn’t get fixed, I’ll have to bail]
[Ah, lol, if I bail, Kayak will clear it all for us, come on]
[Be satisfied with being the first in the guild to get a perfect clear]
[Go get Seok-hoon’s ham]
“Uh, how can you say something like that…”
“But Ye-na, isn’t today already the third day of the raid?”
“Yeeees…”
Sighing for a moment, I loaded my icy voice like a critic.
“But is it reasonable that you still haven’t grasped the gimmick? It’s not like you memorized everything either.”
I too was a newbie on my first raid today.
However, under the guidance of the raid leader Han-yul, who knew all the gimmicks, I learned quickly and grew.
Ultimately, in just one hour, I caught up to their progress and reached the same level as Han-yul.
Of course, everyone learns at different speeds, but… isn’t it a bit concerning that after three days, one can’t even manage this much?
It’s a cold statement, but with three more gates left, if they’re struggling this much already, wouldn’t it be better for them and the other guild members to step back?
While I was slowly articulating this nuance…
“Ugh…!”
I heard a gasp through the headphones.
Wait, I didn’t even say anything that harsh, and they’re already reacting like this? I had a few more lines prepared.
[Ah, lol, that’s right, if you can’t do it, just go hang the laundry]
[Go stir-fry some pork and do the laundry talk, whoa]
[Someone had to say it]
[Even if Kayak is like that, saying ‘I shouldn’t have to say it so bluntly’ is a bit too much…]
[I didn’t expect Kayak to be this scary]
[Not even being harsh, what’s with that, lol]
[Looks like they’re about to cry, Teacher, you should poke their eyes to make them cry too]
[The forbidden technique—it’s on!]
“I didn’t say anything that harsh…”