Chapter 447: Friendship Clan’s Friendship-Breaking Sound (2) |
The scene was a mess, and rocks were flying everywhere. Naturally, Ambrosia got completely destroyed by the Fire Giant. It looked scorched, and it was swaying. It was clearly having a hard time even standing up.
The monster was lucky that the Fire Giant stopped there, but I personally felt kind of sad. The result was great, but the monster was still alive, even though it had been beaten up until it was on the brink of dying.
The others were naturally greatly surprised by my prowess.
I was sure Lee Chul-Woo, Kim Tae-Geon, and the others weren’t expecting anything grand from me. They probably thought that it would be great if I could carry my own weight, but upon witnessing my true power, their jaws fell to the floor in shock.
The four girls were looking at each other, and their stupefaction meant that Light Ki-Yeon had done something amazing.
I only cast a few spells to defeat a mere epic-ranked monster, but they were probably looking at me right now as if I were Jung Ha-Yan. When I swept my gaze across them, I got the feeling that my assumption was true.
Lee Chul-Woo and Kim Tae-Geon rubbed their eyes while Gook Minji and the other girls turned pale.
‘Now I’m reliable, right?’
It was a bit of a rude awakening, but my actions were the answer to the question of why Bark Sergei and Argimo visited me early in the morning to recruit me covertly. At last, they were finally able to solve the puzzle.
A deafening silence blanketed the surroundings when the battle ended. The silence seemed like it would last for quite a while as I thought about how I should act from now on because I went overboard with showing off my skills.
There was no way I could make an excuse and say that I simply got lucky that the epic-ranked monster was weaker than average epic-ranked monsters. Fortunately, it seemed that there was no need for me to say anything.
Before I could even think of what to say, Kim Tae-Geon exclaimed, “Amazing…! That was really amazing.”
“How did you do that, Miss Ki-Yeon?” Lee Chul-Woo asked.
“Huh? I just cast what I normally cast… Can’t ordinary mages do that as well?” I asked.
“No. I’m sure that ordinary mages can’t match your firepower. Your casting speed is extremely fast as well, and your magic power is above epic rank,” Lee Chul-Woo replied.
‘Of course. I used a legendary-ranked catalyst, so there’s no way that its magic power can only be comparable to an epic-ranked spell.’
“I-I’m sorry…” Gook Minji stuttered.
‘What are you guys apologizing about this time?’
“No, there’s no need to apologize,” I told them.
“I think we misunderstood—”
“I get that a lot, and I’m used to it already. You really don’t have to worry,” I said.
“We’re really sorry, unni. It was my fault,” Mi-Jung said.
‘Since when did I become your unni?’
“It’s fine, Miss Mi-Jung. It happens,” I told her.
‘These bitches changed their attitudes pretty fast.’
“You don’t have to speak so formally. We can call you Ki-Yeon unni, right?” asked another girl.
‘They’re really amazing. If I were in their shoes, I would be too ashamed to say something like that.’
“Of course,” I replied.
“Your magic stat didn’t seem high, but you’re really amazing!” Gook Minji said as she quietly joined the conversation.
‘It feels pretty great to be powerful.’
I was simply playing and having fun right now, but it still felt pretty great to be acknowledged. I finally understood why most dragons in those novels often walked around pretending to be humans.
I couldn’t really explain it, but there was a pleasant tingling all over my body.
‘All right, I’ll show you more.’
“Ah! While we were in battle earlier, there were some parts that bothered me a bit. Do you mind if I tell you?” I asked Lee Chul-Woo.
“Go ahead, Miss Ki-Yeon,” Lee Chul-Woo replied.
“Well… before joining this party, I was part of the Named Monster Response Team of the Red Mercenary Guild. It’s up to you whether you’ll accept my comments or not, but I noticed a few things,” I started.
“The Red Mercenary Guild?” asked Lee Chul-Woo, seemingly dumbfounded.
“Yes, but it was only temporary,” I added.
“Is that true? Wow, please feel free to speak,” Lee Chul-Woo hurriedly said.
“I hope you don’t take it the wrong way,” I said.
“We won’t…”
“First, Mr. Tae-Geon seems to be kind of self-centered. Of course, you carry the burden of fighting the monster face-to-face, but it’d be better if you widen your view a bit while trusting your priest. The party also has a sub-tank, you know?” I told him.
Kim Tae-Geon’s face turned red, and I thought that I shouldn’t have said anything, but my words would be useful later on. This time, I talked to the sub-tank, who was a part of Gook Minji’s party.
“And did you know that a sub-tank’s job isn’t just to appear when the main tank is out of steam? I’m not sure if the two of you can’t communicate properly, but I felt like there weren’t any swapping…”
”The sub-tank has to be more reliable so the main tank can be a bit more relaxed,” I pointed out.
“Ah… okay,” the girl replied.
“The two of you need to fulfill your roles properly, so our melee damage dealers will have enough space to attack,” I added before turning to look at Gook Minji. ”The party isn’t expecting much from those with thief-related class, Miss Minji. It’s fine to keep moving, but your movements are actually making people nervous…”
”It’d be better if you provide ranged support. You know how to use a crossbow, right? Once the monster has been fully aggroed, it would be better if you changed to melee, but it wasn’t the case earlier,” I said.
‘You’re not even Kim Ye-Ri, so you should stop moving like you are Kim Ye-Ri.’
“The melee damage dealers in the party have the most awkward positions. Their endurance and stamina stats are low, so it’s only natural for them to be careful, but they’re playing very defensively…”
”I understand that you’re trying not to get hurt, but you need to deal damage to be useful. If an attack comes flying toward you, you have to either dodge or trust that your tank will block the attack and keep fighting. It sounds a bit cruel, but you have to be prepared to get hurt, and it’s the same for the ranged members…” I swept my gaze across the others and asked, “You know that shooting arrows before the monster is aggroed only gives the tank more stress, right?”
“Yes.”
“And I also feel like you’re wasting your holy power, Mr. Chul-Woo. Mr. Tae-Geon is skilled enough to face that monster earlier without all those buffs. After the first buff, you should have given those buffs to the melee damage dealers…”
”In addition, you should also think about when you should use your heal. You have to make sure that you’re done channeling a healing spell before the enemy executes a powerful attack. That way, you can use your healing spell as soon as the attack lands. It will also mean that the monster will have no gap to exploit,” I suggested.
“I see…” Lee Chul-Woo muttered.
“Individually, your skills are great, but you guys seem out of place. You’ll achieve better results if you try to understand the position and role of each party member,” I added.
I was honestly worried that I was being too straightforward, but it seemed that they wouldn’t turn hostile just because of what I said to them. Of course, the powerful skills I had shown them earlier were playing a big part.
Naturally, I also made sure to point out the mistakes of the related members when I pointed out the mistakes of a certain member in a certain role. For example, when I told the tank about his mistakes, I also made sure to say that the sub-tank and the priest could have done a better job supporting him.
It was the same when I pointed out the mistakes of the sub-tank—I made sure to say that the melee damage dealers could have done a better job.
This way, everyone would be held accountable for their own mistakes. If I had criticized them individually, then they would have simply gotten angry at me. As such, I made sure to point out their mistakes as a party; this way, they might change.
‘Amazing. Really amazing. You’re too nice, Ki-Yeon.’
Light Ki-Yeon was too nice to the point that I started questioning whether I was providing too many services to a party that I would only be with temporarily.
As expected, they started acknowledging their mistakes. Even more surprising was that the party members were now trying their best to impress me. It felt like they were trying to get the attention of a recruiter from a large guild.
‘That’s a great attitude to have—yes, that kind of enthusiasm is important. You guys have talent, and you’ll definitely get offers.’
The Blue Guild wouldn’t recruit them, but a large guild might offer to assimilate the Friendship Clan.
“Let’s get the reward for now… and would you be willing to do things my way for the next named monster? I’ll take care of any unexpected situations,” I offered.
“I’d appreciate it, Miss Ki-Yeon. I’m ashamed because it feels like we’re the ones getting help rather than the other way around,” Lee Chul-Woo replied.
“It’s fine. I’m glad that I’m being helpful. Let’s spin the reward wheel,” I told him.
“Sure.”
[The wheel is spinning.]
[The wheel has stopped spinning.]
[A rare-ranked item, Warrior’s Horn, has been selected.]
“Ugh, it’s a rare-ranked item…” Kim Tae-Geon exclaimed in disappointment.
“We still have two more chances, so don’t be too disappointed, Tae-Geon,” Lee Chul-Woo comforted him.
“Yeah, there’s not much we can do about it. Do you want to spin the wheel for the next monster, Minji?” asked Kim Tae-Geon.
“Okay, oppa.”
[The wheel is spinning.]
[The wheel has stopped spinning.]
[The low-grade epic-ranked named monster, Gatekeeper of Hell Karsak, has been selected.]
‘Hm, not bad.’
“Prepare for battle,” Lee Chul-Woo ordered.
Everyone nodded with determined faces.
It should be the same as earlier. Lee Chul-Woo would pour his buff on Kim Tae-Geon, and once Kim Tae-Geon entered the monster’s aggro range, the battle would begin.
‘It’ll be better than earlier, right?’
I couldn’t help but think that way. Earlier, they truly had no idea what to do, but now that I had told them what to do, they should start changing for the better. Unfortunately, I was mistaken.
“Swap! Swap!”
“Melee damage dealers shouldn’t go in too deep!”
“Tae-Geon! Turn the monster around!”
“Why am I not getting any buffs?! Where are the buffs!”
‘Shit. This is a mess.’
“Minji! Don’t shoot arrows! Stop! Stop attacking! Stop attacking!”
It was mistaken. My suggestions had to have been too much for them to absorb in a short amount of time because their formation was a mess.
If they were to fight like earlier, then I was sure that they would be able to defeat the monster even if it would take a long time. Unfortunately, the current situation was grim, and the mess they had created would surely wipe them out.
The swap between the main tank and the sub-tank was awkward and strange.
I had told the melee damage dealers that they should be prepared to get hurt, but they definitely misunderstood what I said because they went in too deep and attracted the monster’s aggro away from the tanks.
In addition, it seemed that today was Gook Minji’s first time using a crossbow because she sent an arrow flying into Karsak’s left eye. The pain and the vision loss angered Karsak, which made it even more violent.
As for the ranged members, I honestly had no idea what they were doing.
Lee Chul-Woo was better than the others, but he was just providing buffs to the melee damage dealers without much thought. I couldn’t even see Kim Tae-Geon anymore, but I was sure that he was having a hard time because the monster was on a rampage.
‘What the hell are they doing?’
At this rate, there was a high chance that someone would die—no, I was a hundred percent sure that someone would die. In the end, I had no choice but to attack the monster in a similar way to what I had done earlier.
The Fire Giant appeared and pummeled Karsak until it died.
The dire situation finally came to an end.
The party members were desperately trying to catch their breaths. I was worried that they would start blaming me for their shameful performance. However, if they had even a tinge of conscience, I was sure that they wouldn’t do that to me.
Unfortunately, they made a decision that was even worse than I had expected.
“Chul-Woo, I trusted you, but why were you not giving me enough buffs?” Kim Tae-Geon complained.
They decided to put the blame on others other than themselves.
As I stared at the scene, I suddenly felt like I could see cracks between the members of the Friendship Clan.
‘This isn’t it, you bastards! This isn’t my intention! I’m not trying to break you guys up.’