Chapter 182 …
Although he acted coolly and brushed it off, Dohyeon hadn’t done it without thinking.
When he encountered Ruidra, the message that popped up saying a hidden condition had been achieved.
The names written there were clearly “Savior of the Forgotten Wraith” and “Apostle of Prophecy.”
If Dohyeon was the Apostle of Prophecy, then the Savior of the Forgotten Wraith must be those Hero Guild bastards.
“Forgotten wraith… Judging by their reaction when I took the ember, were they after the ember rather than the raid? But the route is different, so that shouldn’t be the case.”
Rather, it made more sense that they had the opposite role.
In other words, they were either meant to focus on clearing the raid—or eliminating the ember.
Whatever the case, there was no way to know for certain right now.
[How is it, my paradise? A swamp of nightmares created solely for you.]
Instead of wasting time on something he didn’t know the answer to, it was a hundred times wiser to pay attention to Ruidra, who was smiling leisurely ahead of him.
At that moment—
Ruidra, who had been slowly approaching, tilted her head slightly as if she found something strange.
[Hmm…? You’re quite unusual. It’s strange enough that you’re resisting the mark of nightmares, but to take no damage at all?]
Originally, anyone who entered the Swamp of Nightmares was supposed to slowly wither away.
The countless auras of death sleeping within the swamp would gradually seep into the body, causing it to rot and decay.
Unable to inflict any fatal wound on her, the victim would simply destroy themselves.
That was the gift the Witch of Dreams gave to those who entered the swamp.
But that human—
Not only had he nullified the mental manipulation, he was also taking no damage at all from the aura of death.
There was only one reason.
[The Poison King Constitution activates against continuous damage from a single attack.]
[Saturation recognizes continuous damage as poison.]
[Due to the effect of Non-Invasion, you are immune to poison.]
The Poison King Constitution he had received from Har, the Dark King, was blocking the damage.
“Seriously useful.”
It was an option worthy of the word legendary.
At the same time, it was absurd.
“But still… ‘no fatal damage’ plus constant DPS? If you bring someone here, it’s basically a guaranteed win ability.”
There was no cheese mechanic more broken than this.
If he hadn’t had the Hero Trait and the Poison King Constitution, he would have died helplessly without being able to do anything.
This was essentially a boss designed to prevent solo raids.
A boss built so players would have to raid in large numbers.
But now that design meant nothing.
“But all of that just got erased.”
Those ridiculous cheat abilities had all been nullified.
[Thousand Forms transforms into the ‘Brilliant Blue Sword of Taksinel.’]
“Ah… well, it can’t be helped.”
He had hesitated because stealing the boss didn’t feel quite right.
But if someone had to die before anyone could leave…
Well, he couldn’t just quietly accept death, could he?
As he raised Thousand Forms, which had transformed into the Blue Sword, Dohyeon curled his lips into a grin.
“Ah, I really didn’t want to kill you. But now I guess I’ll have to.”
—…Master, you’re drooling. Maybe lower the corner of your mouth before saying that?
—Riza… Riza…
—…I saw nothing, my lord.
This was unavoidable.
Closing his eyes tightly in mock regret, Dohyeon sighed.
“The first-kill reward for a boss was guaranteed equipment items, right? If it’s an 18-man raid boss… how many pieces of gear is that?”
As he imagined the magnificent appearance of brilliant equipment.
Meanwhile
While Dohyeon was busy drooling for a perfectly reasonable reason…
The Hero Guild’s livestream, which was broadcasting from Ruidra’s habitat, had exploded into chaos.
Are you insane? LOL
Did the boss seriously just kidnap someone? LOL
Wait what? I just joined the stream. What’s happening? Where’s the boss? I heard Kaiser showed up—why is nobody there?
You missed it LOL. What were you doing all this time? You seriously missed out on life.
For real. Missing this is a huge loss.
No seriously, what happened? Someone summarize.
Summary: The moment the Hero Guild started the raid, Kaiser appeared using Hero Landing. Then suddenly a hidden phase triggered and the boss kidnapped Kaiser.
…What kind of bullshit is that?
LOL it really does sound like nonsense when you say it like that, but it’s actually true.
The chat scrolled endlessly.
[Viewers: 71,830,000]
The viewer count was skyrocketing.
At this rate, hitting the 100 million viewer goal was practically guaranteed.
But Zerpac wasn’t happy at all.
If anything, he was extremely uneasy.
Looking at Verje in his friend list—with whispers muted—Zerpac swallowed nervously.
“…Should I just not unmute him?”
He simply didn’t have the courage.
He already knew what kind of things he’d hear. Verje must be absolutely furious.
But Zerpac was Verje’s subordinate.
As someone aiming to become a top executive, he couldn’t just ignore him forever.
If he did, all the anger might come crashing down on him.
“Ah, whatever.”
Better to get hit sooner than later.
After some hesitation, he removed the mute.
Immediately, a scream blasted into his ears.
[Verje: AAAAAAAAH!!! Kaiser, that son of a bitch!!!]
[Verje: Of all things—kidnapping?! Did he have a grudge against me in a past life or something?! There were so many of you there and nobody stopped him?!]
“….”
…He probably shouldn’t have unmuted him.
Just as Zerpac nervously moved his hand back toward the mute button—
[Verje: Hoo… Zerpac.]
“I-It’s not like that!”
[Verje: ? What isn’t?]
“…Nothing. What is it, Master?”
Embarrassed by the suddenly calm voice, Zerpac hurriedly changed the topic.
Fortunately, Verje didn’t question him further.
[Verje: I showed an unsightly side of myself.]
“Not at all. What should we do now? Should we gather the guild members?”
[Verje: I was momentarily excited, but the situation isn’t actually bad.]
“…Excuse me?”
Zerpac tilted his head in confusion.
Their raid that had been prepared for six months had turned into a boss kidnapping spectacle being mocked everywhere.
How was that not bad?
But Verje’s thinking worked differently.
[Verje: Think about it, Zerpac. If he was kidnapped, that means he must fight Ruidra one-on-one.]
“…Yes.”
[Verje: Realistically speaking, what are the chances that Kaiser—that damn… ahem—that man can defeat Ruidra alone?]
“Ah.”
Now that he thought about it, that was true.
Raid bosses were on an entirely different level.
Because they were designed for large groups, they were several times stronger and tougher than dungeon bosses.
And Ruidra wasn’t just any raid boss.
She was both Named and Hidden.
[Verje: That boss even triggered its hidden phase. Our proud executives barely managed to endure it. And he’s going to defeat that thing alone? Ha. Even if Kaiser’s grandfather came, it would be impossible.]
“I see… That makes perfect sense.”
[Verje: Besides, the pattern Ruidra used was clearly the enhanced trait of the Nightmare Chamber. A skill nearly invincible against a designated target. The strengthened trait will surely be specialized for one-on-one combat.]
Everything Verje said made sense.
It was a perfectly logical argument.
Even the viewers largely agreed.
So it’s Kaiser vs Ruidra 1v1 now?
Yeah.
But can Kaiser actually win that? It’s already a hidden named boss, and now it’s stronger from the hidden phase.
Come on, it’s Kaiser. He beat the King of Outlaws.
That’s different. That was a field boss, not a raid boss.
Exactly. This is an 18-man raid boss. No way he wins that.
Still… with Kaiser’s recent form, who knows.
“Who knows” my ass LOL. The only one who doesn’t know is you.
Most viewers who analyzed the situation calmly reached the same conclusion as Verje.
[Verje: Understand? We just need to use Kaiser. While he buys us time, we recover HP and replenish our numbers.]
He would also chip away at the boss’s HP.
That would only make killing it easier.
And more importantly—
“Hero Guild defeated the boss that Kaiser failed to steal!”
What a perfect headline.
[Verje: The process doesn’t matter. The world only acknowledges those who produce results. There’s a reason history remembers only the victors.]
Zerpac, who had regained some composure, admired him.
Recently his master had seemed less calm than usual.
But at this moment he once again realized how incredible his master truly was.
“…I was lacking. Thank you for broadening my perspective, Master.”
[Verje: I’ve summoned reinforcements there. You can handle it, right?]
“Yes, of course!”
[Verje: Good. I trust you. You must become a top executive, after all.]
“Yes!”
Ending the whisper with determined eyes, Zerpac clenched his fist.
He felt like he could defeat Ruidra right now.
But then—
A system message appeared.
[The energy of the ember has faded, and the monument is losing its power.]
[Hurry and offer the Ember of Purification as a sacrifice.]
[If Ruidra dies before the offering is made, the remaining energy of the habitat will vanish.]
[If all energy disappears, the monument will collapse and the Wraith of the Forgotten King will never awaken.]
[If the monument collapses, the quest ‘Savior of the Forgotten Wraith’ and all quests related to the Forgotten King’s Wraith will be deleted.]
“…What?”
Turning instinctively, Zerpac saw the monument’s light had indeed grown faint.
The chat exploded again.
Wait what was that message?
It says the quest gets deleted.
Wait… if Kaiser kills the raid boss, does the Hero Guild lose all their quests?
No way LOL
Then the raid members are the only winners. They already finished the quest so they can just watch with popcorn.
Damn this is intense. This is a real death match.
I’m betting on Kaiser!
“…Master.”
[Verje: …I saw it.]
Their voices grew serious.
They had to.
That message meant not only their current hidden quest—
but also “that project” the Empire had planned.
Everything could disappear.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Watching the broadcast in real time, Verje tapped his desk faster and faster.
“It shouldn’t happen.”
But what if Kaiser somehow defeated the boss?
Too much was at stake.
“No. It’s impossible.”
Even if Verje himself were placed in that situation, he wouldn’t be confident.
So what if the boss had only 30% HP left?
An 18-man raid boss being defeated in a 1-on-1 fight made no sense in terms of balance.
“Even if you somehow deal with the boss’s raw stats… Ruidra was designed to be impossible to defeat alone.”
That was the design from the beginning.
And now she was enhanced on top of that.
“Right. This is pointless worrying.”
There was no way it could happen.
Even if Kaiser truly possessed a Hero Trait like the videos suggested—
that alone wasn’t enough.
“There will be no anomaly.”
That was the logical conclusion.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
But then why…
Did the unease in his chest refuse to go away?
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Verje focused back on the broadcast.
No way he wins. It’s an 18-man raid boss.
The King of Outlaws was a hidden field boss. Ruidra is a hidden raid boss. Totally different tier.
Betting on Kaiser is just stupid.
“Yes. That’s the correct judgment.”
Calming himself with chat messages agreeing with him—
Verje cautiously placed his vote on the safe bet.
