Episode 204 Week 11 Strategy (2)
– Gulp.
As soon as I entered the dungeon, a thunderous roar rang out.
When I looked up, the sky was pitch black, covered with dark clouds.
Also, there is an electric current flowing between the dark clouds, and it happens so frequently that it seems excessive.
It feels like lightning will strike at any moment.
If we look down and look around, we find ourselves in the middle of a valley.
The width is not very wide, and there are steep cliffs on both sides.
And a statue of a goddess standing alone nearby.
I pointed to it and said to the calligrapher.
“We’ll keep this. Okay?”
“check.”
If it were a ground floor dungeon, it would have kindly waited until you were ready, and then started with a countdown.
‘But there’s nothing like that in the basement.’
The strategy begins as soon as you enter the dungeon.
There was no time to hesitate, as the enemies would soon swarm us.
‘First, the replay.’
Replay saving is essential to earn strategy points in the basement.
So I took out my replay crystal ball and infused it with mana.
As the crystal ball works, fragments of information come to mind.
[Kim Ho_Seo Ye-in_No. 979_Lightning_Valley.replay]
[Goddess Statue 100%]
[Kim Ho 100%]
[100% calligrapher]
Next, recall and check the sub-quests of the week.
[Sub Quest: 11th Week Strategy]
▷Goal: Protect the statue of the goddess.
▷Deadline: ~Sunday midnight.
▷Compensation: Differential payment based on performance.
The ‘achievements’ in this battle include not only the remaining health of the Goddess Statue, but also the average health of the calligrapher and me.
How well you survive in a hostile environment is also a criterion for evaluation.
And the maximum achievement criteria for sub-quests are:
‘All 100%.’
You must finish with a perfect game to get the best rewards.
However, as the name suggests, this is a hostile environment dungeon with lightning properties.
It’s a place where even a slight touch can result in a 1% deduction.
Lightning is harder to avoid than fire, and is more likely to hit you.
So then why did I choose this place over other dungeons?
‘As long as it doesn’t get cut even if you just brush it, that’s fine.’
I cast a spell on the calligrapher.
[Use ‘Buyeo’.]
[Grants ‘Elemental Resistance (S)’ to the target.]
[Rank of granted ‘Elemental Resistance’: B]
[Duration 00:09:58]
[Reuse Wait Time 00:39:58]
Granting an F-rank would lower the rank by three levels when transferring the skill, but this was alleviated to a two-level drop when raising it to D.
Still, the two steps are quite far apart,
‘It doesn’t matter if the original is S-class.’
Even though it went down two levels, it’s still a B grade.
Plus, it lasts for 10 minutes.
There is more than enough time to clear the dungeon.
“… … ?”
The calligrapher looked into the empty space.
You probably got a notification message saying you’ve gained a trait and how much time is left.
Eventually, his gaze shifted to me, and I spoke in an extremely arrogant tone.
“Do you feel the ‘strength’?”
“Strong.”
I raised my hand and pointed across the canyon.
“Go, go and show me your power.”
“I’ll scold you.”
The calligrapher advanced forward holding the magic gun.
As it is an F-class dungeon, there is no complex story.
All you have to do is protect the Goddess Statue from enemies rushing in from the front and back of the canyon.
Just as I was thinking that, the enemies showed up.
Large balls of electricity were floating and approaching.
‘Lightning Spirit.’
A spirit literally made of lightning.
The lightning spirit has two attack patterns.
When an enemy comes within a certain distance, it attacks by shooting electricity.
And if you get any closer, it will self-destruct, causing an explosion of electricity.
As expected of a spirit, its magical resistance is quite high, so it is difficult to inflict significant damage with magic.
The best way is to apply some amount of shock, or physical force.
And this was also one of the reasons why I chose this dungeon.
‘When it comes to physical strength, it’s Windforce.’
-Wheww—
The wind gathered and formed a large tornado.
The spirits that were approaching were drawn into the center, entangled and squeaked among themselves, and soon caused a chain reaction of explosions.
– Pfft pfft!
The fate of the guys who came after them was no different.
Gets sucked into a whirlwind and bursts out.
‘Eating raw, successful.’
If you just keep linking Windforce and Twister, this defense is over.
All that remained was how easily the calligrapher could block the other side.
– Doo doo doo!
The assault rifle spewed blue fire wildly.
It looks like they’re just firing randomly, but each magic bullet hits the lightning spirits accurately.
As the magic bullets struck them, they shuddered on the spot and then exploded.
– Pfft pfft!
A calligrapher who shoots and hits lightning spirits as soon as they appear.
I looked up and watched the scene.
‘It’s starting to fall.’
The decisive reason why this dungeon was named Lightning Canyon.
This is because of the last characteristic of the lightning spirit.
When they explode, they release a faint static charge in all directions, which, as it accumulates, acts as a sort of lightning rod.
It’s about calling in lightning.
And coincidentally, the sky is full of dark clouds.
– Chijijijijik!
Then, it seemed as if sparks were flying out of thin air,
– Kwarrrrung!
The next moment, lightning struck the ground.
Because it was an empty space with nothing in it, the current, which had nowhere to go, spread out widely along the floor.
“… … !”
The calligrapher immediately stepped back, but the current spread faster.
It climbs up the bridge and generates electric shocks.
– Phagec!
[100% calligrapher]
[100% calligrapher]
“… … ?”
However, that was not enough to break through the B-rank elemental resistance.
Even if lightning were to strike Jeongsu-ri, it would be questionable whether it would penetrate.
The calligrapher tilted his head, then turned around and looked this way.
I slightly tilted my chin.
“Strong.”
“Strong.”
– Crackle!
Once again, sparks flew through the air.
The calligrapher quickly distanced himself from the place, having personally experienced that lightning would soon strike there.
Lightning struck, and sparks flew from two places, causing the calligrapher to retreat far away from there as well.
He keeps his feet busy while continuously firing his assault rifle to take down the lightning spirits.
– Doo doo doo!
As the remains scattered by the spirits piled up and expanded in range, the frequency of lightning strikes also increased.
The lightning that used to fall one or two at a time now falls three or four at a time.
– Kwarrrrung!
The calligrapher was quick to react and move his feet, but the number of lightning strikes was so great, and the range over which the current spread when it struck the ground was wide and very fast.
So, it was inevitable that I would get shocked once in a while.
[100% calligrapher]
However, my stamina was still maintained at 100%, thanks to the elemental resistance doing its job well.
But the feeling of being electrocuted was not very pleasant, so the calligrapher was trying hard to avoid being struck by lightning even once.
“!”
Then, as if he had realized something, an exclamation mark appeared above the calligrapher’s head.
As soon as I manipulated the bracelet, a fist-sized cloud suddenly appeared.
– Chijijijijik!
A cloud of smoke quickly flew towards where the sparks were flying and swallowed it up.
Then, the lightning that should have struck did not strike.
‘yes.’
The clouds in the Cloud Bracelet have the effect of nullifying magic.
Although it is difficult to protect against lightning itself, it is possible to easily swallow a lightning rod.
From my perspective, I was watching in silence, hoping he would come to his own conclusions, but fortunately, he quickly realized it and applied it.
The cumulus clouds began to move busily and swallow the lightning rods.
Thanks to this, the calligrapher has some breathing room.
I cheered while keeping the twister going.
“Let’s just leave it like this. There’s not much left.”
“check.”
The calligrapher aimed his gun forward.
– Tutututu!
* * *
The lightning spirits that had been swarming around disappeared without a trace.
The sky, which had been pitch black with dark clouds, is slowly clearing away, revealing a ray of light.
The bright sunlight was shining down on the statue of the goddess like a spotlight.
And of course, the physical strength of the statue of the goddess and both of us,
[Goddess Statue 100%]
[100% calligrapher]
Ending with a perfect game.
The calligrapher walked towards me with heavy steps.
“I gave you a hard time.”
“Thank you for your hard work this time too. High five.”
We tried to raise our hands and lightly touch each other,
– Dismissed!
I took my hands off the road because I felt static electricity.
He was a calligrapher who had become a static electricity sloth, perhaps because he had been struck by lightning quite often.
I was silent for a few seconds.
“hmm.”
Then, he lifts the root and places it on the calligrapher’s head.
Gray hairs are caught in static electricity and stick to the roots.
“… … .”
The calligrapher slowly raised his head and looked up.
And he stretched out his hand as if to remove the root, but I avoided it.
Then, I thought it was going to be a pot shot, so I decided to stop for a while.
When I turned my gaze towards the statue of the goddess, I saw a small box sitting there.
[Lightning Valley Random Box (F)]
Just one F-class box.
There’s nothing we can do because the dungeon’s level is low.
Ask the calligrapher.
“Want to open it?”
“huh.”
Anyway, I still have the sub quest rewards left.
Besides, you have to rely on lucky bags from random boxes dropped from other underground dungeons, so wouldn’t it be lenient to give away one F-grade item?
“… … .”
The calligrapher picked up the random box and looked down at it in silence for a while, then opened the lid without saying anything.
– Flash!
And the next moment, instead of a box, the calligrapher was holding a piece of parchment with a question mark written on it.
[Random Rank Up]
“It’s okay.”
It’s a pretty good item for a drop rate of at least one F-grade item.
“… … .”
The calligrapher stared blankly at the random rank-up for a moment, then looked at me with a questioning look in her eyes.
I nodded my head coolly, thinking it seemed like it meant I could use it now.
“Okay, try it.”
Random rank up.
An item that randomly selects one skill or trait that the user possesses and increases it with a certain probability.
It requires you to pass the odds twice and is not affected by luck-related bonuses.
I got a random rank-up card from a downtown game center, and only one out of three cards came to raise my Inferno Fist rank. Looking back, it was a miracle.
in other words,
‘No matter how lucky you are, this will fail.’
I secretly hoped that the calligrapher would fail this time.
Shouldn’t even a lucky person experience the bitterness of failure once in a while, if only to grow mentally?
Like the wooden cup collector Shin Byeong-cheol.
Whether or not she knew what I was thinking, the calligrapher used the random rank up with a blank expression on her face.
– Flash!
The parchment slowly began to glow brightly,
– Paaaaat—!
A halo of light seeped into the calligrapher’s body.
‘This is working.’
I barely managed to move up in rank with just one card.
It seems that the bitter taste of failure and mental maturity will have to be postponed until later.
Still, it was a happy thing that the calligrapher’s ability level was increasing.
“What came up?”
“Bullet time.”
“From D to C?”
“huh.”
I blinked my eyes.
“What, why do you keep scamming me?”