Fantasy Gate Portal Dungeon 2: Fairy Woods

[Misuteeku]

Name: Jeoung-eun Nam
Rank: E
Class: Healer
Location: C-Rank Gate: The Fairy Woods
Tag: The Black Knight ERode Mqueserasera Firelie

Spoiler: Stats

Rank: E
Title:
Level: 1/10
HP: 70
MP: 120
Defense: 70
P. Attack: 75 + 15 (Party Bonus)
M. Attack: 95
Accuracy: 1d100+(30)

---

“I see,” Jeoung-eun said to herself. It was a small relief to her since they didn’t have to traverse through a minefield of mushrooms to get back to the raiding party. Even if they weren’t welcomed, it was still safer to stay behind them. If Hyunwoo had some regard for them, then he’d help if need be.

She took the mushroom that Rui-Ling handed to her and watched his demonstration. It was something she had saw before. When she obtained her talisman and hammer, she was able to make them disappear and summon them back from the pocket dimension they were stored in. “I think so,” Tossing up the mushroom, it suddenly faded away in a blue haze.

Now that confirmed they she and Rui-Ling had similar abilities. All that was left was Eva. The magician didn’t display any type of similar ability to theirs, so she was an outlier to the three of them. Jeoung-eun watched to see what Eva would do with her mushroom.

 

[Firelie]

Name: Evdokia Vladyslavivna Pashchenko
Rank: E
Class: Knight
Location: Fairy Woods, (C rank dungeon)
Tag: The Black Knight Misuteeku Mqueserasera ERode

Spoiler: Stats

HP: 90
MP: 100
Defense: 80
P. Attack: 110
M. Attack: 50
Accuracy: 1d100+45

FATIGUE: 90/100

---

Evdokia would have clapped at the sudden appearance of the bioluminescent mushroom if not for the fact that she was now holding the definately explosive 100% poisonous fungus in her hand. “Wow! Is good job ree-lee. Never doubt.” Eva nodded and went to put the mushroom in her side satchel, but as soon as the mushroom was out of sight in the satchel she teleported it into her inventory. Eva listened patiently as jeoung-eun admitted to her strange going-ons. “Maaan guys is weird stuff, weird stuff. Y’know, it break code, but will tell secret.” She rumaged through her side pouch and pulled out one of her smoke bombs. “Watch close.” She slammed the bomb at her feet and once more a thin cloud of smoke billowed out aroundher. It disappeared as quickly as it came, and left the young magician standing in her colorful performers garb. The helmet she had held under her arm had been replaced by her hat, which she proudly planted upon her brunette head.

“Ta dah!” She exclaimed with a pose. “Now, may be wondering, how do?” The young magician giggled to herself then threw her arms up dramatically with a wide smile. “Have no idea!” She then snapped her fingers, and her sheathed sword appeared in her gloved grasp. “Is crazy. No stage trickery, nope nope actually witchy magicraft! Oh but now that know you must swear by magicians code to...” she was cut off mid ramble as the fairies that had been lying in ambush flew out of their hiding spot and jeered at them. Eva snapped her gaze up to them and gasped dramatically. Her shock didn’t leave her paralyzed for long as she spun around on a heel. Suddenly, her shield appeared in her hand and she swiped it across the sky. “Behold, friends, as take bird out of sky with ju-“ she started before suddenly interrupting herself to spin the shield around to look at the front, a confused expression upon her face. “Huh. Why no work?” She stared at the glowing core a moment before shrugging off her confusion. “Oh well! Anyways...” She flicked the shield up and it disappeared into her inventory once more. “As was saying. You must take magician code, which mean tha- oh wow you can do to?” She interrupted herself once more as Rui-Ling made the mushroom disappear into his inventory. She trotted over excitedly and stared down starry eyed at his now empty hands. She playfully punched his shoulder and grinned to the pair. “We just couple of special guys n’ gals, huh?” The still unarmored magician put an arm around the shoulders of each of her fellow exilees and pulled them together in a much to personal hug-huddle. “Is great development.” She squeezed for a moment, then let go, stepping back a pace and pointing where she could only assume there were more mushrooms. “Ree-Lee, grab more mushroom, please. We throw at evil guy, great success.” Eva exclaimed with starry eyes, much to happy about this whole situation.

 

[The Black Knight]

The path ahead opened into a wide, empty clearing. Hyun-woo stopped and raised his hand, signaling for the others to stop behind him. He then took a knee to study the surrounding environment. The forest was quiet but for the whispering of the breeze and the skittering of critters. The Dynasty leader was scowling in contemplation, opening his ears to listen for anything that hadn’t sounded like a squirrel or socializing bird. It was an obvious trap. He wanted to believe that it didn’t take a C-rank to figure that. The grass in the center was lower and there were barren patches of soil as though the land were dry or lacked nutrients. His blue eyes flicked up to a small gap in the foliage casting a single ray of light onto the area.

In a situation like this one, Hyun-woo realized that it sucked being the only C-rank. He didn’t have another dungeon veteran to strategize with. He didn’t want to turn his back to the clearing. He glanced over at a tree a few steps to his left and thought against it. Geez, he was becoming so paranoid.

Baek was clenching his pickaxe and nervously gazing around at his surroundings. “Why did we stop?” he whispered.

Jimin craned his neck and gazed over Hyun-woo’s shoulder at the clearing. “There’s a clearing.”

“Are there monsters in it?”

“Nope. Looks clear.”

Baek’s eyes became half-lidded. “Oh that just sounds like a trap…”

Jimin nodded.

“Can’t we go around it?”

“What if the enemy expects us too?”

Baek looked to his left and right. “I only see leaves, grass, and bush. I don’t even see any purple mushrooms.”

“Now you’re talking about it?”

Baek lowered his head and blushed in embarrassment. “I don’t know. Who suddenly spreads rumors about Purple Mushrooms? They were willing to be left behind defending their rumor.”

“And good riddance. It started with that one girl and spread to the lot of them. If you start talking about them, then the boss will get rid of you next.”

They were sitting ducks. Hyun-woo could feel his pits starting to sweat the longer they remained there doing nothing. They had to keep moving. If only they had a decoy, or a high ranker with illusion magic. Did he have to send someone? He had only Dynasty members and two miners with him. He didn’t want to risk sending his own. Could he send one of the miners? They weren’t anyone important, and there were more outside.

Hyun-woo turned his head and ordered, “Send one of the miners up here.”

The order was then spread to the back.


Team 2: ERode Misuteeku Mqueserasera Firelie

Dynasty

Spoiler

Hyun-woo Bang
Rank: C
Class: Barbarian
Guild: Dynasty
Party Buff: All party members receive +15 P. Attack.
HP: 430/430

NPC 1
Rank: D
Class: Samurai
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 190/190

NPC 2
Rank: E
Class: Black Knight
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 110/110

NPC 3
Rank: D
Class: Bard
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 170/170

NPC 4
Rank: D
Class: Priest
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 190/190

Other

Spoiler

Baek Hyeon Yi
Guild: ???
Faction: Miners
Rank: ???
Class: ???
HP: ???

Jimin Man
Guild: Dynasty
Faction: Miners
Rank: E
Class: Gladiator
HP: 70/70

 

[Mqueserasera]

Ju Ha-eun

RANK​		CLASS​
E​		KNIGHT​

DEF​	PHY​	MAG​	ACC​
100​	130​	55​	50​
VIT​	STR​	INT​	SEN​
75​	50​	05​	05​

HP: 75/75

MP: 100/100

Fatigue: 0/100

Status effect

Party Leader Buff: +15 P. Attack
Imperial Plate: +5 HP Regen/turn

Location: The Fairy Woods
Tag: The Black Knight ERode Misuteeku Firelie

Ha-eun fixed her gaze on their leader’s back instead of the clearing ahead of him, following his every movement, as if her life depended on it. She earnestly believed so. But when he finally spoke up, she could hardly believe his words. He aimed to use one of their miners as the decoy!

“That makes no sense!” she protested.

Briefly, she stole a look at the two miners, knowing already what she would see: two frightened souls without even a piece of protection on them. Of course, they had never expected to be treated as meat shields. Ha-eun hadn’t known them very well, being a hunter, but due to her usual pathetic position at the rear, she had had many chances to spare a comment or two with the miners, sharing her own anxiousness for lurking threats deep in the portals. But now she was to watch as they walked defenseless into a trap.

“Insane!” Ha-eun approached Huynwoo. “We should go in together, leader. The miners can’t defend themselves, you know that! We are hunters, we can fight you can’t… can’t do that to our miners!” Her voice almost broke as the tension mounted. Yet it was too absurd, too cruel to watch it happen and not do something.

 

[ERode]

---

Sector: C- Rank Dungeon [The Fairy Woods]
Mentions: The Black Knight Misuteeku Mqueserasera Firelie

Spoiler: Stats

HP: 70/70
MP: 90/100
Fatigue: 0/100
Defense: 75
P. Attack: 95
M. Attack: 50
Accuracy: 1d100+25
Sense: 40
CS

---

Rui-Ling grinned, rocking back at Evdokia’s punch. “Definitely seems like it, huh?”

But were they really that special? He hadn’t heard about other Hunters with the ability to see windows and to store objects into non-existent spaces, but for three of them to just be here? At the same time? Converging upon a single C-rank dungeon? What sort of bizarre coincidence was this? Really gave the fatalist in Rui-Ling something to chew about, hm? The pink-haired Thief would have to take this into consideration later, then. Maybe invite the two girls to a coffee date some time and go over the specifics of when exactly they realized they could do this, and whether or not they had ever seen anything else out of the ordinary.

First though? There was still a dungeon to explore and perhaps more secrets to uncover too. While the ringmaster girl looked super into collecting more mushrooms, Rui-Ling voiced other thoughts. “Hey, so these mushrooms do look pretty nice to collect, but maybe we should let them be for now? I was actually thinking…let’s head down and follow these mushrooms for a bit longer, see if it’s a real trail or something. If it doesn’t go anywhere, that’s fine, but if it turns out that the boss of this place is actually at the end of this trail, it might be good, y’know…”

A shrug. He wasn't too committed to the idea, but it was bad optics to try to immediately try rejoining a party that had just kicked them.

“…to make sure Hyun-Woo doesn’t spend a week wandering these forests looking for that boss.”

After all, just five points of damage, spread over five rounds, incapable of stacking with more mushrooms, was hardly a ‘path of death’ for any party with a fair amount of healers.

 

[Misuteeku]

Name: Jeoung-eun Nam
Rank: E
Class: Healer
Location: C-Rank Gate: The Fairy Woods
Tag: (Edit)

Spoiler: Stats

Rank: E
Title:
Level: 1/10
HP: 70
MP: 120
Defense: 70
P. Attack: 75 + 15 (Party Bonus)
M. Attack: 95
Accuracy: 1d100+(30)

---

Jeoung-eun could do. That confirmed more than just the two people on the Earth had the same set of skills. This power could be bestowed on anyone, whether a weird clown magician or an insane edge lord. Was it random? It probably was, considering she, Eva, and Rui-Ling had it, and they didn't have any similarities. She still needed to figure out what the hell his surname was, or else she would have to call him, Rui-Ling for a while.

That would have to wait for a while, however. Jeoung-eun sighed at Eva's strange way of acting. It was sporadic, and Jeoung-eun didn't want to take whatever magician code that Eva had taken earlier. She frowned at Eva's suggestion, or rather enthusiasm, to bring more suspicious mushrooms off the ground. "I'd rather we not; staying in one place for too long seems too dangerous for all of us." It didn't exactly ease Jeoung-eun's worries when she saw the four fairies fly off into the distance. While they didn't do anything, it made Jeoung-eun become warier and cautious of the area. What if something stronger than those fairies appeared? Perhaps even a D-Rank? While she didn't have much experience in hunting, she had read that rank gaps were big. She didn't know whether they could even take one on.

Looking over to Rui-Ling, she'd expect him to at least agree with her. There wasn't much point in staying in such a dangerous place. It was better if they rejoined the hunting group instead of staying here. While she knew that Rui-Ling had a 'little' spat with Hyunwoo, she felt it was better to swallow down pride to secure a measure of safety. Now, all Rui-Ling had to say what he wanted to say and-

"No." Jeoung-eun immediately rejected Rui-Ling's excellent idea of going down the path of the purple mushrooms. Two peas in a fucking pod they both were. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that could be for all three of us? We can't just go investigate and expect it to go well!" They weren't even D-Rank. The possibility of everything going fucking wrong, like what happened earlier, was dead high. "If I remember correctly, I said that the purple mushrooms were a bad omen. Hell! That frog thing from earlier specifically told us to 'not follow purple mushrooms caps,' and yet you want to follow the trail of purple mushroom caps!" At this point, Jeoung-eun was at her breaking point. Her patience had already been worn thin by the earlier events, and she was about to snap.

"What about those fairies from earlier? While I don't know dungeon ecology, I know damn well that there's a possibility that those fairies might inform whatever resides down this suspicious ass path." It didn't help that there was a possibility that Eva or herself could step on a mushroom and be inflicted with poison for five turns. And what if something ambushed them while they were going down the path? While she didn't know what might ambush them, she knew that those fairies from earlier could get away scot-free by flying over the damn shrooms.

Taking a deep breath, Jeoung-eun calmed herself down. "Sorry, all I was trying to say is that following this path might be a bad idea." Whether she'd like it or not, she'd have to follow them even if it was against her wishes. Being alone was worse than going down a dangerous path, and she didn't have the confidence nor skills to track down where the hell Hyunwoo and the others went.

 

[ERode]

---

Sector: C- Rank Dungeon [The Fairy Woods]
Mentions: The Black Knight Misuteeku Mqueserasera Firelie

Spoiler: Stats

HP: 70/70
MP: 90/100
Fatigue: 0/100
Defense: 75
P. Attack: 95
M. Attack: 50
Accuracy: 1d100+25
Sense: 40
CS

---

Rui-Ling laughed. Not very loudly of course, but enough to temporarily arrest his thoughts, one hand pressed over his mouth as his body leaned to the side, shoulders bouncing up and down. There was definitely sense in Jeoung-eun’s words, and she was remarkably consistent too in her belief that a trail of purple mushrooms lead to danger, rather than was danger. Flying fairies would be a pain, and an ambush would also be a pain. Them notifying a monster further down the road? Probably a pain. But Rui-Ling was feeling just a little good right now. He knew that he could make it out alive if he just focused on escaping, after all, and he had just confirmed that he possessed the capability to literally see invisible things. If it came down to running away or noticing hidden enemies, the Thief figured that he had a chance.

And now, there was curiosity too. Needling into his skull. Coating his mind with possibilities.

“Y’know, Jeoung-eun, if you’re afraid of these possibilities, the smartest thing to do would be to leave the dungeon,” Rui-Ling said, jerking his head back to the still-visible portal. “I don’t have anything against the dude, but I doubt Hyun-woo’s going be splitting any money with us, and I don’t think he’d work with us in a fight either. Same dude that dragged two miners with no plans of actually keeping ‘em safe, after all~”

The pink-haired youth raised both his hands, index fingers extended.

“So really, my thoughts are as such. We try to rejoin the party and either get ignored or used, with no guarantee of shared income at the end. We leave the portal, and hope we can find another job after this. Or…” The fingers crossed. “…we take a look around and see if we can’t produce results on our own. I’m not saying we’re going to fight any super scary monsters or something, but if it’s just the three of us, I’m sure we can break even with just a couple of small mana crystals, honestly. But if you're still against it Jeoung-eun? Well, I've already thrown my hat in with you, so I'll ride your train. If you know what I mean~”

 

[Misuteeku]

Name: Jeoung-eun Nam
Rank: E
Class: Healer
Location: C-Rank Gate: The Fairy Woods
Tag: The Black Knight ERode Mqueserasera Firelie

Spoiler: Stats

Rank: E
Title:
Level: 1/10
HP: 70
MP: 120
Defense: 70
P. Attack: 75 + 15 (Party Bonus)
M. Attack: 95
Accuracy: 1d100+(30)

---

Jeoung-eun wondered how figures such as Buddha and Jesus could resist the temptations of rage. Right now, she felt like Eve was on the verge of strangling the black snake in the Garden of Eden. Story discrepancies aside, it wasn't purely because Rui-Ling still wanted to go the 'totally not certain death tehee' path, but because he saw right through her. She must have given away what incentives her into coming here in the first place. She didn't look exactly rich, and the first thing she bet on was money. That gave the clues, Rui-Ling needed to tell him about her character. She gritted her teeth as Rui-Ling's sank into her ears. "Wouldn't that be rather counterproductive? Why would Hyunwoo bring in miners if he's going to sacrifice them as fodder? Isn't that counterproductive? Their entire job was to mine crystals. Also, isn't it against the law to waste human life uselessly?" Jeoung-eun countered back at Rui-Ling.

Though even she knew her counterpoints were weak. Unless the miners signed a contract with the Dynasty Guild, which she highly doubted since they were miners, they were expendable like lambs in the slaughterhouse. Seeing that the whole raid was a bust, Hyunwoo probably didn't care about the crystals anymore and would prioritize getting his team the much-needed experience. The entire law she mentioned would probably mooch since all Hyunwoo would need to do lie his ass off with his team members agreeing with his statement. No matter what lens Jeoung-eun looked at, if she looked at the gate for money, Rui-Ling would be infinitely right. It didn't help that she used a good chunk of her paycheque to purchase an expensive meal.

Still, it wouldn't be for naught. Jeoung-eun didn't know precisely how exp worked with the system, but she would be willing to try to stay in the dungeon long enough so that she could maybe experiment with it. That meant, however, she had to stay with one other person. Unfortunately, that also meant she had to keep with Rui-Ling and Eva since they were the closest ones. 'Fuck,' Jeoung-eun mentally told herself. When she got out of the portal, she would have to find someone much more reliable than Rui-Ling and partner up with them for a while. It didn't help that Rui-Ling, as he is put it eloquently, did throw in his hat with her. They might as well sink the titanic together if that was the case.

"Fine, but the moment we're in trouble, I'm out," Jeoung-eun firmly stated, deciding the money was too big of an incentive. This was going to be the last time she would trust Rui-Ling in his outright, suicidal decision-making. "Since you're the only one that can see the mushrooms, lead the way." That was all Jeoung-eun said as she stayed dangerously quiet. In her mind, she would remain at the back of the party. From what she thought, her stats are on the lower spectrum of E-ranks. It didn't help that her offense would probably be on par with Rui-Ling, the thief since she had an E-Rank weapon. 'I don't know why we have to go down the path of mushrooms when we could go anywhere else.' She thought to herself.

 

[Firelie]

Name: Evdokia Vladyslavivna Pashchenko
Rank: E
Class: Knight
Location: Fairy Woods, (C rank dungeon)
Tag: Misuteeku ERode Mqueserasera The Black Knight

Spoiler: Stats

HP: 90
MP: 100
Defense: 80
P. Attack: 110
M. Attack: 50
Accuracy: 1d100+45

---

Both of Eva's newfound friends seemed against the idea of taking time to harvest the elusive fungi, at least for now. Eva kept her beaming smile upon her face. Then Rui-ling mentioned the harvesting of mana crystals and Eva let out a dramatic gasp. "Ree-lee! Is crime to harvest crystal not legally!" Her surprised expression quickly melted into a mischievous grin, though. "Lets do it." She clapped her hands together and suddenly, summoned all of her gear. "So! Is decided, yis? We 'ride train' down path," She started, misinterpreting Rui-Ling's metaphor, "Get crime crystal, then go back to big party and show mushroom. Regain spot in party, then continue as normal!" She spun on a heel and pointed an armored finger at where she assumed the hidden path was. "Onward, Ree-Lee! Guide to glory and crime!" She exclaimed.

 

[The Black Knight]

Hyun-woo looked up at Ha-eun, disappointed in her for protesting his plan. He grabbed her wrist when she approached him and pulled her down to his level. “Keep quiet!” he whispered harshly. “We’re not alone out here. I rather risk them than risk our own. We need every single one of our members to make it out of this dungeon alive. The miners aren’t going to matter any!”

He then held up his hand to her, knowing she was already on edge. It was her first dungeon. “Look, if they start attacking, I’ll quickly respond before he dies.”

At that moment, Baek had moved to the front and stood there staring blankly at Hyun-woo and Ha-eun. They had looked like they were having an intense conversation.

“You called?” he asked.

Hyun-woo looked at Baek and beckoned him closer. The miner walked over and crouched between Hyun-woo and Ha-eun. “Hey. I appreciate you coming out here, but I need your help. I need you to walk into that clearing and tell us if you see anything.”

Baek narrowed his eyes at Hyun-woo. “You must think I’m an idiot.”

“Whatever Dynasty is paying you, I’ll add to it okay?”

“How much?”

Jimin had crouch-walked all the way to the front. “Baek, you’re really going to go? It’s a trap!”

“Yeah, I know, but if I live, I want something for my sacrifice. If I don't, then you’ll get it,” he told Jimin.

Jimin gave him a concerned look. “Baek, you’re still young. Let me go in your place.”

“Not a chance. You have a family who would miss you. I don’t have anyone.”

“I’ll give you 59M won.”

“That’s a little cheap but…for an addition to my paycheck or his, that’s fine.” Baek stood and started heading into the clearing with his pickaxe. “If nothing happens, then it’s free money.”

“Baek, be careful!” Jimin quietly exclaimed.

Easier said than done, Baek thought. He slowly crept into the clearing keeping his pickaxe raised like a weapon. His nervous eyes swept over the boughs and the trees to his left, right, and front (since he was certain his team had his back). When he reached the beam of light, he waved his pickaxe in it and stopped. For a few seconds, he remained there listening.

Hyun-woo was just as nervous as he was and near holding his breath! Nothing was happening. Baek glanced around once more and slowly lowered his pickaxe as he assumed a straightened and confident position.

“I uh…I think it’s okay!” he yelled back to the group.

Hyun-woo sighed long—practically deflating from the anxiety that had been pent up inside of him. Suddenly, there was a loud crunch from the ground. The barbarian’s head snapped upward as he and Baek were both regarding in shock, the triangular teeth that had sprouted in a ring, half the circumference of the clearing.

“RUUU~N!” Hyun-woo bellowed.

Baek sprang into a sprint as the ground erupted beneath him. The miner was lifted into the air as mighty jaws converged. Hyun-woo and Jimin uttered a frightened cry when it looked like the monster would close Baek in its mouth. The miner had barely tumbled between the corner of the creature’s mouth and dropped to the ground.

“RUN BAEK!” Jimin screamed in fear for his friend.

Baek scrambled to his feet as green, vine-like tentacles sprouted from the soil next and beat the earth in their desperation to pin him down and capture him. The miner turned in time to swing his pickaxe at one of the vines that almost grabbed him. The tool became impaled in its appendage causing the creature’s big mouth to expand with an eardrum-bursting scream.

The miner winced, clapping his hands over his ears as he continued to run. He sprinted past the party as though he was intending to run all the way back to the portal. Jimin blinked watching his friend blur by. That had been the fastest he had ever seen him run.

“Baek! Hey, wait!” Jimin stood and chased after him.

Hyun-woo stood and drew his axes. “Well good. Nobody died and we’ve run into our first boss. I’m tanking. This guy looks strong. Everyone stay behind me!”

Raising his axes above his head, Hyun-woo’s eyes ignited in a red glow, and the veins around his face swelled as he unleashed an animalistic cry.

NPC 1 smoothly drew his katana and stood behind Hyun-woo ready.

NPC 2 raised his shield and drew his sword in preparation.

NPC 3 started swaying and playing a beautiful melody on her violin. A purple ring of magic appeared above the Carnivore’s spiny head and descended like a glittering sheet.

NPC 4 brought her hands together in prayer and began whispering and incantation. A white circle of light appeared beneath the feet of her party members.

Spoiler: Big-Mouth Carnivore

Big-Mouth Carnivore
Rank: C
HP: 422/422

Meanwhile, as the other group followed the trail of purple mushrooms, they would notice the path began to curve and then descend. The forest became a slanted descent and the purple mushrooms led into a dark cave. Inside the dark cave hung a pulsing bulb. It was covered in bark but beat like a heart.

If the three entered the cave, then creeping behind them would be the four fairies they had seen fly away. They were hoping to ambush them, but they had a thief with high sense on their team.

Spoiler: Fairy Squad

Fairy 1
Rank: E
HP: 60/60

Fairy 2
Rank: E
HP: 60/60

Fairy 3
Rank: E
HP: 60/60

Fairy 4
Rank: E
HP: 60/60

Spoiler: Mysterious Bulb

Mysterious Bulb
Rank: D
HP: 182/182

Team 2: ERode Misuteeku Mqueserasera Firelie

Dynasty Actions

Hyun-woo: Adrenaline Rush (self) - +200 Temporary HP (+20 Fatigue, -40 MP)

NPC 3: Beautiful Ballad - 40% chance to inflict Weakness on a single enemy. Lowers Strength 50%. Cool down 3 turns. (+10 Fatigue, -10 MP)

NPC 4: Divine Protection - grants party +10 defense for 3 turns. (+10 Fatigue, -10 MP)

Dynasty

Spoiler

Hyun-woo Bang
Rank: C
Class: Barbarian
Guild: Dynasty
Party Buff: All party members receive +15 P. Attack.
HP: 642/62

NPC 1
Rank: D
Class: Samurai
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 202/202

NPC 2
Rank: E
Class: Black Knight
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 110/110

NPC 3
Rank: D
Class: Bard
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 182/182

NPC 4
Rank: D
Class: Priest
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 202/202

Other

Spoiler

Baek Hyeon Yi
Guild: ???
Faction: Miners
Rank: ???
Class: ???
HP: ???

Jimin Man
Guild: Dynasty
Faction: Miners
Rank: E
Class: Gladiator
HP: 70/70

 

[ERode]

---

Sector: C- Rank Dungeon [The Fairy Woods]
Mentions: The Black Knight Misuteeku Mqueserasera Firelie

Spoiler: Stats

HP: 70/70
MP: 90/100
Fatigue: 20/100
Defense: 75
P. Attack: 95
M. Attack: 50
Accuracy: 1d100+25
Sense: 40
CS

---

“Totally understand that,” Rui-Ling flashed a thumbs up at Jeoung-eun. “If things get bad, we can all run together.” He felt just a little bad about it, honestly, browbeating her with that sort of twisted logic, but, well, it was likely better than being absorbed into the Dynasty fodder-gang at this rate. The pink-haired youth even found it in himself to raise a fist up to the sky in solidarity with Evdokia, echoing her cry of ‘Glory and Crime!’ as he naturally slipped into the front, guiding them around the trail of mushrooms. While the purple-capped fungi were indeed populous, there was still enough of a gap between them that it wasn’t too hard to walk between them, and even disregarding that, Rui-Ling established a simple rule as they travelled.

All purple-capped mushrooms will be on his right-hand side. If a monster is encountered, treat his initial positioning as the boundary between the ‘safe’ zone and the ‘danger’ zone.

That was essentially as serious as Rui-Ling got, before he devolved into the meaningless chatter and banter that a wannabe-Youtuber was wont to engage in. It may be a portal dungeon, and they may all be sorta out of their depths, but being a nervous wreck wouldn’t do anyone any favours. Especially when, beyond the semi-dangerous flora, this patch of the woods looked to be relatively peaceful. No cries of monstrous beasts in the distance, no sign of bloody battles or half-consumed prey. Just a peaceful stroll that hopefully led to a pot of gold.

But it was not, of course, meant to be.

He felt it before he saw it, his feet press against a ground that was slowly declining, the path they were on inevitably leading into the depths of some dark, miserable cave. Adventurous curiosity and the reliability of his own Doppelganger substitution drove Rui-Ling deeper, bringing the party of three into grim shadow, where the beating of a heart sounded from a bulbous construction. He narrowed his eyes in a cat-like manner. Grasped his Mantis Claws. Took in a deep breath.

And then swung it behind him.

The coils of chain rattled cacophonously, sailing past Evdokia and Jeoung-eun as the smaller scythe flew towards the frontmost fairy. Whether it struck or miss, Rui-Ling followed it up by yanking the scythe back again to deliver a second slash, before catching the scythe by its haft and preparing himself for battle.

“Rip ‘em up one by one!” He called out, voice bright and cheery despite the circumstances. “The bulb’s the only one that can’t chase us.”

Spoiler: Actions

First Attack Against Fairy 1: 44 + 25 = 69 to Hit
Second Attack Against Fairy 1: 72 + 25 = 97 to Hit

Total Fatigue Consumption: 20
Total MP Consumption: 0

 

[Misuteeku]

Name: Jeoung-eun Nam
Rank: E
Class: Healer
Location: C-Rank Gate: The Fairy Woods
Tag: The Black Knight ERode Mqueserasera Firelie

Spoiler: Stats

Rank: E
Title:
Level: 1/10
HP: 70/70
MP: 100/120
Fatigue: 20/100
Defense: 70
P. Attack: 75 + 15 (Party Bonus)
M. Attack: 95
Accuracy: 1d100+(30)

---

Jeoung-eun, out of the way, wasn't the happiest camper out of all of them. It made matters worse than the other two were people who generally had incompatible personalities with her. Every step they took further down the path cemented made her anxious and stressed. While she would have more patience being in an unfamiliar environment caused her to be more paranoid than usual. Jeoung-eun's eyes flitted around the area, trying to find out if they were going to get attacked or not. It wouldn't surprise her if the fairies from earlier were going to appear again to try and ambush them.

Thankfully thanks to Rui-Ling's guidance, and also no thanks to him, they were here, to begin with, they finally arrived at their destinations. A cave. Jeoung-eun was apprehensive in entering the cave, but since Rui-Ling didn't signal any potential bio-land mines, she felt a little saver than being outside. "Well, we're here," Jeoung-eun said to the three of them. She let out a sigh of relief, seeing that no potential dangers awaited them at the current moment. The only thing to note was the rather odd-looking bulb on the cave ceiling, but it didn't seem aggressive.

She turned to Rui-Ling, "Are you happy now? Let's just go and-" A chain flew overhead, and Rui-Ling dashed past her. She didn't even have to guess what was behind him since she was suspicious of them anyways. The same tension that she had felt at the crosswalk came back to her. With a quick movement, she pivoted to the side to allow Eva to come into the fight faster and pointed her finger at the fairies that Rui-Ling was currently attacking. It was one of the skills she had been granted after the strange blue screen came up. While going over their abilities and specialties, Jeoung-eun realized something special about her ability. While she was incorrect in her last review of the ability, she wanted to try something out.

With a pointed finger, Jeoung-eun said, "You're next," Afterwards, she drew it back and brought out her other hand. It was bathed in her aura, almost translucent but darkened the surroundings around it. Aiming it towards the fairy that Rui-Ling was fighting, she shot it forth a black misty ball of aura. She yelled to Eva, "Eva, take care the rest!" With that, the battle had begun.

Spoiler: Actions

Casted 'Sacrifice' Against Fairy 1
First Attack Against Fairy 1: 80 + 30 = 110 to hit

Total Fatigue Consumption: 20
Total MP Consumption: 20

 

[Mqueserasera]

Ju Ha-eun

RANK​		CLASS​
E​		KNIGHT​

DEF​	PHY​	MAG​	ACC​
110​	130​	55​	50​
VIT​	STR​	INT​	SEN​
75​	50​	05​	05​

HP: 75/75

MP: 100/100

Fatigue: 0/100

Status effect

Party Leader Buff: +15 P. Attack
Divine Protection: +10 Defense
Imperial Plate: +5 HP Regen/turn

Location: The Fairy Woods
Tag: The Black Knight ERode Misuteeku Firelie

Safety suddenly became much less important as the whispered words of her leader rang in Ha-eun's ears. She felt blood rise to her head. They didn’t matter? What makes a person matter at all? Their combat prowess? Surely the miners weren’t brought along as meat shields. It made no sense at all!

But her anger was unwarranted, as the miners themselves agreed with the plan. As if they weren’t aware of the danger at all. Even a fully armed hunter would be more hesitant to act as baits. But in the end, she didn’t have much say in how others should choose to risk their lives. She herself had chosen this profession for money.

She could only sit back and hold her breath as Baek crept towards the clearing. Nothing happened. A sigh of relief escaped Ha-eun’s mouth. As always she was overcautious over nothing. Though it seemed at the time the right thing to do. If something indeed happened…

A loud crunch from the clearing interrupted her thought process. Something indeed. Teeth protruded from the ground. They rose in the formation of a gigantic mouth. An icy coldness ran down her spine. Baek was as good as dead. She could already feel the grip on her halberd tremble.

And then, the first stroke of luck ever since they entered the portal and lost nearly half of their fighting force: Baek somehow escaped the monster’s jaws. He ran and did not look back. Ha-eun didn’t either. Her eyes transfixed on the monster. Its sheer size made evident its high threat level. A D or even C-rank. If she hadn’t known the portal’s threat level, Ha-eun would even evaluate it as B or A-rank from the terror of the moment.

Hyun-woo rose. He seemed to want to take the tanking role. Bless him. Even as a knight, Ha-eun doubted she could tank even one hit from one of those nasty tentacles, let alone being wrapped in them or crunched by that enormous mouth. She swallowed, and also stood up, a bit behind Hyun-woo. It would be nice if he could take it down by himself too, but she wouldn't count it. As others ready weapons and started casting buffs and debuffs, she fell into a guarding stance with her halberd. She thought against summoning her undead horse: while it could offer some damage bonus, it would also make her stand out and turn her into an easy target for those tentacles. But she knew also that whether she liked it or not, she would soon have to fight the monster head-on with her melee weapon.

 

[Firelie]

Name: Evdokia Vladyslavivna Pashchenko
Rank: E
Class: Knight
Location: Fairy Woods, (C rank dungeon)
Tag:

Spoiler: Stats

HP: 90
MP: 100
Defense: 80
P. Attack: 110
M. Attack: 50
Accuracy: 1d100+45
FATIGUE: 20/100

---

Evdokia moved jauntily behind the pink haired youtuber as the three exiles moved through the path of invisible mushrooms. The magician kept her steps in line with Rui-Ling while keeping the meaningless blathering rolling between them. Jeoung-eun didn't seem too happy with the situation, but Eva felt that trying to force her into the conversation may not go over well. Eventually the group reached a suspicious looking cave, within was a bark bulb. Eva didn't have as much as a second to get a closer look as the sound of whistling chain came at her. On instinct Eva dropped to a crouch and turned to see the fairies trying to ambush the group.

"Ah! Sneaky sneaky! No can believe missed that." She inwardly chastised herself for not noticing the ambush first. Eva flicked her wrist and the shield on her back disappeared from its spot and reappeared in her hands. She didn't even bother with her old excuse of a sword, she would rather have a free hand. She sprinted forward towards the fairies, closing in on fairy two with shield raised. She bounded forward and spun gracefully to the right, using her momentum to hold out her shield and slam it into the fairies left flank, trying to shove it to the right into fairy three. (63) Eva then used her running speed to fall into a slide. She tried to slip past fairy two and in one quick motion unsheathed her sword and swung it upwards into the beasts wings. (66)

Eva rolled to her side and rose to her feet, shield raised. "You all real ugly for bird!" She jeered, sticking her tongue out to the fairies in front of her. Her hope was that the fairies would see her as the biggest threat and do whatever they were going to do to her instead of to her squishier looking friends.

 

[Uasal]

Name: Clair Jee
Rank: E
Class: Warrior
Location: Big-Mouth Carnivore Battle
Tag: The Black Knight Mqueserasera

Spoiler: Stats

XP: 0/10
Title:
Level: 1/10
HP: 50 + 15 + 20 + 0 = 75
MP: 100 + 0 + 0 + 0 + (Passive Gain From Level up 0) = 100
Defense: 50 + 15 + 15 + 0 = 80
P. Attack: 50 + 15 + 15 + 0 + (passive gain threshold = 1.5 (round up) ~ 2. 2*5 = 10) = 90 + 15
M. Attack: 50 + 0 + 0 + 0 + (passive gain threshold = 0) = 50
Accuracy: 1d100 + ( 20 + 25 + 0 = 45)

Blue are passive stats. Green are attribute points invested on level up. Purple are Weapon and Armour stats. Orange are Accessory stats. Yellow is the final total

Late. Clair was late. This was highly unusual for the woman as she was almost never late to anything her entire life, punctuality was of course a very important thing and something Clair's parents had placed great importance on teaching Clair from early childhood. Nonetheless, she was late. But of course, if she was ever going to be late, it would be on the very same day she finally got to join a dungeon raid in earnest. Yes, today was the very first day Clair was supposed to be joining in on a full-blown raid and not just being left to babysit miners in a dungeon half the mobs had already been killed off in prior to her arrival. And how might she have come across this opportunity you might ask?

You see it all started last week when Clair accepted a request to defend some miners in a dungeon raid run by the Cerberus guild. Cerberus had been greatly expanding upon its mining and resource gathering operations and for a while now Clair had been accepting these requests whenever they appeared on the guild's website. It was safe money, the main raid group forged ahead and a small group of miners would remain behind to slowly gather materials with a small unit of hunters to guard them. With the main party fighting their way through the dungeon with no need to stop the raids ran more efficiently. This allowed for the main party to focus entirely on the monster threat at all times and reduced the amount of 'ads' that broke through and made their way to the defending second party. It was a brilliant system, in fact, a revolutionary system that only the likes of the 'prodigy' could think of.

In Clair's limited experience she had only really needed to act a handful of times and even then the monsters that made it to the second group were never anything stronger than an E rank. However last week was different. For some reason or another Cerberus had decided to allow Dynasty members to make up the secondary party alongside the normal non-affiliated. To summarise on this particular week the second party consisted of Clair, five miners, one other non-affiliated hunter, two Dynasty hunters and one Cerberus member. The main consisting entirely of Cerberus members. At the time Clair didn't pay it much mind, she was a member of neither guild and to be honest guild politics always seemed like a bore. But as luck would have it this exchange between the two guilds would earn her a place in the Fairy Forest Raid.

During the mining operation, the secondary group came under attack. An investigation into the event would later reveal that a D rank beast had managed to circle around the main and make its way by sense of smell toward the secondary party. And to cut a long story short the person to take down the beast was Clair. Not the party, Clair. Her actions saved the life of a miner and her ruthless exchange of blows with the beast earned her favour with the two Dynasty members among the party. It also earned her favour with Cerberus but she had already proven herself a useful guard to them before. Regardless Clair was invited to today's raid by Dynasty in order to protect the miners like usual, save for the fact the miners and herself would be accompanying the main party instead of forming a second. How exciting!

And, she was late!

Fortunately, though it would appear not late enough to miss out on some action! Clair had already made her way into the portal and was making haste down the most obvious path a group would travel. Her efforts of course naturally brought her down the path to the Dynasty party and to what seemed like a fight waiting to happen. Focused on the large creature in the distance Clair picked up her pace and brought her greatsword out from storage, resting it on her shoulder as she arched forward into a full-on sprint. Passing quickly by a seemingly terrified and fleeing Baek, a miner she had accompanied many times now. "Hi Baek - Bye Baek". Dashing closely past Jimin, a knight, Samurai and Berserker, Clair approached the creature, lowering her blade to within inches of the ground.

Clair then fully committed to her attack. Moving as close as possible to the beast's centre as she could, while still sprinting, Clair unleashed an upward slash toward the monster's jaw with the intent to sever or damage any possible fibres or muscles it may have in the area and then followed up with a quick second strike to the monster's centre of mass.
​

Spoiler: Actions

First Attack Against Big-Mouth Carnivore 1: 29 + 45 = 74 to Hit
Second Attack Against Big-Mouth Carnivore 1: 93 + 45 = 138 to Hit

Total Fatigue Consumption: 20
Total MP Consumption: 0

​

 

[The Black Knight]

@Mqueserasera

Skill Acquired!

Iron Will Lv. 1
Defense increased by +20 when activated.
MP Cost: 10
Fatigue Cost: 10​

A red blur rushed past Hyun-woo, and the barbarian regarded a sword-wielding stranger challenging the monster alone. For someone to boldly charge in without any thought, he wondered if a high rank had entered the dungeon to try and steal the kill. His mouth opened as he exhaled a breath that would have been a Hey, wait a minute! After seeing her sword cut the beast under the jaw and not even scar its green flesh, his expression instantly became blank. She hadn’t been a high rank…he watched her cut again to no avail. She had been a fool!

@Nacht

Results:
Basic Attack 1 vs. Big-Mouth Carnivore: Miss!
Basic Attack 2 vs. Big-Mouth Carnivore: Miss!

“You idiot!” Hyun-woo bellowed as he lurched forward into a sprint. NPC 1 and NPC 2 followed behind him. Hyun-woo’s axes were held to his left and right. His grip only increased the closer he came to the creature. The Big-Mouth unleashed a sound resembling a hiss and the deep growl of a lion. Two of its tentacle-like legs lifted off the ground and lashed in arching whips at the stranger.

Hyun-woo darted in front of her and raised his axes vertically. He felt the creature’s attacks striking the arms of his axes, sending vibrations throughout his hands. The barbarian bared his teeth, his eyes still glowing red from his buff.

Big-Mouth Carnivore

Results:
Basic Attack 1 vs. Hyun-woo: -60 (+20 Fatigue)
Basic Attack 2 vs. Hyun-woo: -60 (+20 Fatigue)

“Get the hell back!” Hyun-woo shouted at Clair as he slashed at the tentacle retreating to his left.

NPC 1 slashed at the tentacle retreating on Hyun-woo’s right, while NPC 2 stepped in front of Clair with his shield raised. “You should go back. It’s dangerous,” he told her. “Come on, I’ll escort you back to the others!”

NPC 3 dragged her bow across her instrument’s strings and brandished her bow in the monster’s direction. A blue, wavy wisp left her weapon to fly toward the beast and strike it with the hum of a violin. She then proceeded to play a lulling tune.

NPC 4 swung her staff at the monster and a white beam of light extended from her weapon to pierce beneath its jaw.

The barrage of attacks caused the monster to bellow a low and irritable howl. Its jaws snapped together and they performed a chewing motion. Sap-like substances escaped the corners of its mouth before its jaws opened wide. A visible, yellow noxious gas rushed from its maw to pass over the party like a wave.

Big-Mouth Carnivore

Results
Poison Breath vs. Party: Success
All members of the party have been poisoned and will incur -10 physical damage for 3 turns.

Spoiler: Big-Mouth Carnivore

Big-Mouth Carnivore
Rank: C
HP: 282/422

The first fairy hadn’t expected to be sensed. The blade of the kusarigama struck its body, causing it to flip in mid-air, sending torn wing-film into the air. The creature released a pained screech as it bat its wings furiously to right itself. Green blood streaked the ground before the fairy joined it. It fell and shakily pressed its bony fingers into the cave floor as it raised its shoulders. The creature hissed threateningly at Rui-Ling, green spittle leaving its mouth before Jeoung-eun vaporized it in her attack.

Fairy 2 was slapped aside toward Fairy 3. The collision sent Fairy 3 spiraling toward the wall, but the creature was able to right itself before it struck it. Fairy 2 frantically beat its wings as it attempted to recover from the disorienting blow, but in a display of swift technique, Evdokia managed to evade around it and sever its wings. Fairy 2 collapsed upon the ground killed instantly from the shock of its injuries.

@ERode @Mitsuteeku @Firelie

Results

Rui-Ling

Basic Attack 1 vs. Fairy 1: -35

Basic Attack 2 vs. Fairy 1: -35

Jeoung-eun

Basic Attack vs. Fairy 1: -35

Sacrifice Lv. 1: +60 HP

Evdokia

Basic Attack 1 vs. Fairy 2: -50

Basic Attack 2 vs. Fairy 2: -50

Collision Damage vs. Fairy 3: -25

Fairy 4 thrust out its clawed hands toward the party. Its wings buzzed, generating a gust as purple spores began to fly from them. The powdery substance was like a tranquilizer, causing their eyes and limbs to become heavy with sleep. Fairy 3 took the opportunity to execute a revenge strike against Evdokia. The creature flew toward her while she was being bombarded with spores and swiped at her cheek.

@ERode @Mitsuteeku @Firelie

Party

Sleeping Spores Lv. 1 vs. Party: Success!
All members of the party have been put to sleep for 3 turns.

Fairy 3

Basic Attack 1 vs. Evdokia: 0 damage

Spoiler: Fairy Squad

Fairy 1
Rank: E
HP: Defeated

Fairy 2
Rank: E
HP: Defeated

Fairy 3
Rank: E
HP: 35/60

Fairy 4
Rank: E
HP: 60/60

Spoiler: Mysterious Bulb

Mysterious Bulb
Rank: D
HP: 182/182

Team 2:

Dynasty Actions

Hyun-woo:
Guard (x2) - +30 HP (+40 Fatigue)
Basic Attack vs. Big-Mouth Carnivore: -140 (+20 Fatigue)
Lifesteal +20 HP
Poison Damage -10

NPC 1: Basic Attack vs. Big-Mouth Carnivore: Miss! (+10 Fatigue)
Poison Damage -10

NPC 2: Poison Damage -10

NPC 3:
Beautiful Ballad vs. Big-Mouth Carnivore: Miss!
Basic Attack vs. Big-Mouth Carnivore: Miss! (+10 Fatigue)
Tranquil Lullaby vs. Big-Mouth Carnivore: Miss! (-10 MP, +10 Fatigue)
(Tranquil Lullaby Lv. 1 - 40% chance to inflict Sleep on all enemies.)
Poison Damage -10

NPC 4: Basic Attack vs. Big-Mouth Carnivore: Miss! (+10 Fatigue)
+5 MP, Staff Passive
Poison Damage -10

Dynasty

Spoiler

Hyun-woo Bang
Rank: C
Class: Barbarian
Guild: Dynasty
Party Buff: All party members receive +15 P. Attack.
HP: 562/642

NPC 1
Rank: D
Class: Samurai
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 192/202

NPC 2
Rank: E
Class: Black Knight
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 100/110

NPC 3
Rank: D
Class: Bard
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 172/182

NPC 4
Rank: D
Class: Priest
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 192/202

Other

Spoiler

Baek Hyeon Yi
Fled!

Jimin Man
Fled!

 

[ERode]

---

Sector: C- Rank Dungeon [The Fairy Woods]
Mentions: The Black Knight Misuteeku Mqueserasera Firelie

Spoiler: Stats

HP: 70/70
MP: 80/100
Fatigue: 70/100
Defense: 75
P. Attack: 95
M. Attack: 50
Accuracy: 1d100+25
Sense: 40
CS

---

It was a good tempo, the fight. With his own kusarigama and Jeoung-eun's magical power, but mostly owing to Evdokia's sword and board, the party of E-rank hunters made quick work of the fairies, halving their numbers in a single clash. Half were demolished, while another was almost crushed to death by its own brethren. Good odds were looking good, but Rui-Ling was a realist when it came to these sorts of scraps. And when the uninjured fairy took flight, wings flashing out and releasing a plume of purple powders into the air, the pink-haired Thief knew it was bad news. Poison, when none of them had any healing, would already fuck them up. And in this enclosed space, there wasn't enough room to simply avoid it. His azure eyes flickered from Jeoung-eun to Evdokia, and then blackened.

Rui-Ling transported himself to entrance of the cave, just in time to watch both his party members keel over. Dead? Paralyzed? Unconscious? No way of knowing. Might be good to cut his losses then. He wasn't warrior or wizard, nor did he possess any particularly incredible equipment to make up for his lacking physical capabilities. If he were a being of cold rationality, it really wasn't his place to carry a party after they got wiped.

But well, if he were so cold and logical, he wouldn't be here doing this shit anyhow. Would just be idoling it up back in China, swallowing his words and prancing upon the stage, making bank and greeting fans.

As the third fairy, frothing at a chance to exact vengeance, went as far as to slap Evdokia while she was down, Rui-Ling let his Mantis Claw sing. Chains rattled like a snake as the scythe bit into the monster's chest, hooking beneath its ribcage and popping open all the color organs inside. It would die from this, with any luck, and with a flick of his wrist, he sent its corpse flying upwards towards the final fairy, then delivered a series of quick whips and swings. The pressure was building though, and fighting at the maximum range that his kusarigama allowed him to made the weapon clumsy, the trajectory easy to read. He felt his heart pumping, blood squeezing out into his extremities at the situation they all found themselves in. Those attacks missed. Sweat beaded down his forehead, stinging his eyes, but Rui-Ling smiled as he stepped back into the cave, his off-hand spinning the larger scythe.

"C'mon, little pest. I'm sure your wing trick would work the second time. Try it!"

If he pushed himself much more, he'd lose his ability to escape.

So fucking be it.

Spoiler: Actions

Doppelganger Used to Evade

First Attack Against Fairy 3: 48 + 25 = 73 to Hit

First Attack Against Fairy 4: 27 + 25 = 52 to Hit
Second Attack Against Fairy 4: 22 + 25 = 47 to Hit
Third Attack Against Fairy 4: 18 + 25 = 42 to Hit

Total Fatigue Consumption: 50
Total MP Consumption: 10

 

[Misuteeku]

Name: Jeoung-eun Nam
Rank: E
Class: Healer
Location: C-Rank Gate: The Fairy Woods
Tag: The Black Knight ERode Mqueserasera Firelie

Spoiler: Stats

Rank: E
Title:
Level: 1/10
HP: 70/70
MP: 100/120
Fatigue: 20/100
Status: SLEEP
Defense: 70
P. Attack: 75 + 15 (Party Bonus)
M. Attack: 95
Accuracy: 1d100+(30)

---

Everything happened in a blur. Rui-Ling decimated the fairy before her while she followed up with her attack. While it seemed like a little overkill considering that Rui-Ling gave it the beating of a lifetime, only to kick the dog while it's down and incinerate the little fucker. It took a moment for her to process what she had done. She had contributed to taking a life and extinguishing its flames. Jeoung-eun didn't feel anything for a while, but relief suddenly came. As if the rain had started to pelt down and wash away her worries. She closed her eyes and immersed herself in the feeling. It wasn't until she realized that she was inside a cave that it was impossible for her to feel the rain.

Opening her eyes again, she looked up and saw a small rain cloud above her. It wasn't raining water; it was raining blood. The red blood most likely came from the fairy that Rui-Ling had just killed. "AAAhhh," She let out a sound of disgust as she tried to wipe away the blood. Was the power of her ability? Despite feeling wet, her clothes weren't even remotely drenched in blood, though she could feel it going down her body. If this was the consequence of using Sacrifice, she'd never use it again. Unfortunately for Jeoung-eun, she didn't have enough time to complain even more as she looked over to the side.

The fairy that nobody attacked unleashed a wave of spores that swallowed the cave. She saw Rui-Ling immediately disappear thanks to his doppelganger skill. "Hey, you-" Before she could complain, she felt a wave of drowsiness wash over her. Her body didn't respond to her as she slowly started to lose consciousness.

Was this a sleep powder?

She remembered her dongsaeng showing her a game their mother and father bought for him. Back then, it seemed stupid that a game franchise could create over 100 generations of Pokemon and still be profitable today. The Japanese were such weirdos. Random thoughts filtered through Jeoung-eun's mind as the sleep powder went through her system. Jeoung-eun's eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and then everything became black. There was a sliver of regret that she didn't get to do anything at all. Again, she was used as a ladder for others to ascend higher up the social hierarchy.

Spoiler: Dream

"Noona! Noona! Look here!"

"Eh? What is it, Sejin?"

"Mom and dad bought me a new game!"

"Is that so? Haaaa, What game is it?"

"It's called Pokemon!"

"Pokemon?"

"Yeah! You catch these creatures called Pokemon and become Pokemon Champion!"

"Sounds stupid."

"Is not! Here, try it! You won't think it's stupid once you play it!"

"..."

"Noona, why are you moving into the wall? Even dumdums know not to run into a wall."

"I don't know how to play games."

"What, you've never played a game before? Fine as your dongsaeng, I'll teach you! Then we can play it together!"

"Together?"

"Yeah, together!"

The dearly missed childhood days. Enjoying the life filled with joy and wonder and not knowing the weight of reality. If only those times lasted forever. Ah, where did it go? The time when everything seemed to be so clear, and everything seemed to be alright.

 

[Mqueserasera]

Ju Ha-eun

RANK​		CLASS​
E​		KNIGHT​

DEF​	PHY​	MAG​	ACC​
140​	140​	55​	50​
VIT​	STR​	INT​	SEN​
75​	50​	05​	05​

HP: 70/75

MP: 90/100

Fatigue: 40/100

Status effect

Party Leader Buff: +15 P. Attack
Divine Protection: +10 Defense
Imperial Plate: +5 HP Regen/turn
Dark Horse: +10 P. Attack
Iron Will: +20 Defense
Guard: +10 Defense (1 time)
Poisoned: -10 HP/turn

Location: The Fairy Woods
Tag: The Black Knight ERode Misuteeku Firelie Uasal

Ha-eun in her guarding stance was startled the moment a flash of redness dashed by her. Something—someone was rushing without a shred of hesitation towards the giant monster. What foolishness, what bravery. It stunted her. What was she about to witness—a high-ranked hunter’s display of overwhelming skill? She waited. But it didn’t come. Only one missed strike to the next. She was exposed to the monster’s tentacles from all sides.

Huyn-woo’s bellow broke her trance. At once, albeit with a slight lag before her feet started moving, Ha-eun ran after their leader and two of her guildmates. She threw all caution to the wind now. Someone was in great peril. It was not the time to hesitate now. Oddly, the fear that had almost petrified the girl seemed to have almost vanished. If it was not for the sudden appearance of the reckless person, Ha-eun would have likely stayed back in the rear and contributed just enough to stay out of danger. But she could not do that now. She didn’t even think of it. She just acted.

Skill Acquired!

Iron Will Lv. 1
Defense increased by +20 when activated.
MP Cost: 10
Fatigue Cost: 10

Out of nowhere, a transparent floating screen flashed into her vision. Skill? She couldn’t comprehend what it was all about, and had no time for it.
“Defense? That would certainly help,” Ha-eun muttered.

She knew not if an increase of 20 defense would help her become as invincible in the face of the monster’s tentacles as if before the Claymore’s hunter from before or just a slight boost to what was already there. But one gotta do what one gotta do. There’s no way around it.

The ugly undead horse crashed out of the fluorescent dome, eagerly beating his hooves at the smell of battle. Ha-eun flung over it, slightly awkward with her halberd in hand. But thanks to her practice, it took only a moment for her to sit securely on its back.

“Onward!” cried Ha-eun. So the horse sprang ahead breaking into a gallop. In no time, she had overtaken Huyn-woo and the stranger. Slightly, the girl shifted the horse to the right of Huyn-woo. Wildly, without aiming, she swung the halberd at the nasty tentacles, once then twice, before further riding along its right, in an attempt to draw its attention from the stranger. She cringed, and braced for the inevitable retaliation from the monster.

Spoiler: Actions

Poison Damage: -10 HP

Imperial Plate's HP regen: +5 HP

Activates Iron Will: +20 Defense (+10 Fatigue; -10 MP)

Activates Dark Horse’s ability (+10 Physical damage)

1st Basic Attack vs. Big Mouth-Carnivore: 56 + 50 = 106 to hit (+10 Fatigue)

2nd Basic Attack vs. Big Mouth-Carnivore: 63 + 50 = 113 to hit (+10 Fatigue)

Guard: +10 Defense (+10 Fatigue)

Total Fatigue Consumption: 40
Total MP Consumption: 10

 

[Uasal]

Name: Clair Jee
Rank: E
Class: Warrior
Location: Big-Mouth Carnivore Battle
Tag: The Black Knight Mqueserasera

Spoiler: Stats

XP: 0/10
Title:
Level: 1/10
HP: 50 + 15 + 20 + 0 - 10 = 65
MP: 100 + 0 + 0 + 0 + (Passive Gain From Level up 0) = 100
Defense: 50 + 15 + 15 + 0 = 80
P. Attack: 50 + 15 + 15 + 0 + (passive gain threshold = 1.5 (round up) ~ 2. 2*5 = 10) = 90 + 15
M. Attack: 50 + 0 + 0 + 0 + (passive gain threshold = 0) = 50
Accuracy: 1d100 + ( 20 + 25 + 0 = 45)
Fatigue = 10
Blue are passive stats. Green are attribute points invested on level up. Purple are Weapon and Armour stats. Orange are Accessory stats. Red are minus effects such as damage or debuffs Yellow is the final total.

Clair's attempts to strike at the monster were unsuccessful, to say the least. Her initial attempt to slice upward at the beast was admittedly one of her poorer strikes but when her second resulted in, well nothing. Well, it was safe to say Clair only then truly understood the severity of the situation. Raising her sword back over her shoulder Clair fell back behind the party members that came to her assistance and once safely behind the black knight Clair offered a word of thanks "Thank you, it seems my blade is unable to pierce its skin. I'll have to leave it all to you guys."

Moving further back to join the bard and priest when yet another knight charged forward on horseback Clair paused and took her time to analyse everything that had just happened. It seemed this beast was nothing like those she had faced before while in the auxiliary party, naturally so. Its skin was impervious to her attacks and it's tentacle lashes were hard to follow and predict. Of course, then there was also the subject of its poison attack, a wide area attack that not only left behind a nasty status effect but also seemed to have a window of short preparation time. A short window that Clair would have liked to experiment with had she the ability to damage the thing in the first place.

But the beast was not the only thing she had observed. The barbarian was clearly the party leader, Clair had seen his picture in her brief but the way he held himself told her all she needed to know regardless. He was strong, very strong. The samurai and Black knight also seemed to be strong but compared to the leader they paled in comparison. Their teamwork though was something else entirely, so this was what a front line party looked like and how they worked. IT was quite honestly more impressive than Clair had originally anticipated. The Bard and Priest were harder for Clair to judge though as she had little to no knowledge on the field outside of some online guides and articles.

The last knight though was perhaps the most surprising out of the lot. The woman quite literally summoned a horse. An undead horse. In fact, it was so impressive Clair had no idea how to even judge the action and so instead she decided to watch and do her best to better understand the team as a whole during the next phase of the battle.

Spoiler: Actions

Rest

Total Fatigue Consumption: + 10
Total MP Consumption: 0

 

[The Black Knight]

They were dropping like flies—so Fairy 4 thought. Its wings ceased buzzing as it assessed the affects of its sleep powder causing the invaders to succumb to sleep. All but one. The boy had been but a shadow as the hiss of his kusarigama spurred Fairy 4 to take defensive action. The sickle lodged itself in Fairy 3’s chest before in a spray and gallery of green gore, its ribcage was torn free.

Fairy 4 spun out of the way of Fairy 3’s corpse and darted around Rui Ling’s attacks. It bore its spiny teeth in rage. It was just as eager as the pink-haired menace to end it all!

@ERode

Results:
Fairy 3:
Basic Attack 1 vs. Fairy 3: -35 HP

Fairy 4:
Basic Attack 1 vs. Fairy 4: Miss
Basic Attack 2 vs. Fairy 4: Miss
Basic Attack 3 vs. Fairy 4: Miss

Fairy 4 lunged at Rui-Ling with its sickle-like claws, slashing wildly for his face and screeching in its anger and determination to end him!

@ERode
Results:
Fairy 4:
Basic Attack 1 vs. Rui Ling:
1d100(28) + 15=43 (Miss!)
Basic Attack 2 vs. Rui Ling:
1d100(55) + 15=70 (Miss!)
Basic Attack 3 vs. Rui Ling:
1d100(55) + 15=70 (Miss!)
Basic Attack 4 vs. Rui Ling:
1d100(70)+15=85 (Hit!)
Negated
Basic Attack 5 vs. Rui Ling:
1d100(68)+15=83 (Hit!)
Negated

Fairy 4 was shocked to see that its claws couldn’t even cut the scum. As much as it had hoped to be able to take advantage of him and his friends, it hadn’t expected one of them to evade its sleep powder. It was no use. It had to flee.

Fairy 4:
Results:
1d100=94
Escaped!

Fairy 4 darted out of the cave with the swiftness of a fly.

Spoiler: Fairy Squad

Fairy 1
Rank: E
HP: Defeated

Fairy 2
Rank: E
HP: Defeated

Fairy 3
Rank: E
HP: Defeated

Fairy 4
Rank: E
HP: Escaped

Spoiler: Mysterious Bulb

Mysterious Bulb
Rank: D
HP: 182/182

Sleep duration nullified due to battle conclusion

End Battle XP

ERode
Combat XP: 12
Literary XP: 2
Total XP: 14

Misuteeku
Combat XP: 10
Literary XP: 2
Total XP: 12

Firelie
Combat XP: 12
Literary XP: 1
Total XP: 13

Drops

Sleep Powder
Puts a single enemy to sleep for three turns.
Quantity: 1

10 gold


NPC 1 frowned as he watched the edge of his blade glide across the green flesh of the Carnivore’s tentacle and just like the red swordsman, his attack had done nothing. He sprang back, swinging his sword to his left and scowling in frustration. Was he going to be useless to his leader? His team?

The bard (NPC 3) had ceased playing. Like NPC 1, she too felt frustration that none of her melodies or attacks could affect the creature. Had it been that powerful? What could she do? Hyun-woo was fighting the Carnivore alone, trying to protect them. Tears of frustration began to bubble in her eyes.

The priest (NPC 4) frowned. Nothing they did seemed to hurt the beast. Only their leader seemed capable. They needed to do something. Anything!

The dark knight (NPC 2) glanced over his shoulder at Clair and nodded when she told him that she would leave it to Dynasty. Unfortunately, he noticed that even his own team was having a difficult time affecting the creature. He started to retreat with Clair to the others and saw how distraught they looked. It was a C-rank monster. What had they all expected?

Just then, Ha-eun summoned her frightening steed. NPC 2, 3, and 4 gazed upon her in wide-eyed shock as she charged into battle. Why would she act so recklessly? Didn’t she know that she stood no chance? She was an E-rank. Not even the D-ranks could touch the creature!

The bard trembled out of fear for the reckless girl. What was she hoping to achieve? They were all useless! Hyun-woo gazed up at the giant plant, his eyes large with nervousness as he watched it chew. He had a feeling that whatever it planned to do next wasn’t going to be pleasant. It breathed a yellow gas that passed over the battlefield. The pungent rank odor passed through Hyun-woo’s nostrils, causing him to instantly bend over and vomit. The veins around his neck dilated as he gasped desperately for air. Poison! It had poisoned them. His large, desperate eyes glanced at his team, watching them all coughing and recoiling from the attack. He knew he had a mixed crew. Some of them D and others E. He was more worried about the E ranks. They tended not to last long.

Biting back anymore retching, drool was hanging in ropes from his chin from the toxicity. As he glared up at the creature, he wondered after everything he had seen. Was he the only one able to kill this thing? He would have to do so quick. He didn’t know what other attacks the creature had, and he didn’t want to lose anyone. The barbarian did what he did best. He unleashed a will empowered scream as he activated his armor’s passive. A red fire matching his aura erupted around his body and appeared to be burning the poison from his system, cleansing him of the status effect (Tenacity).

“It’s just you and me ugly! I’m gonna take you down!” Hyun-woo screamed. He saw out of the corner of his eye, Ha-eun on her frightening horse. What was she doing? Hadn’t she seen the others’ failures? Her halberd struck at the creature’s tentacles, drawing its attention away from Hyun-woo toward the swiftly moving target. Hyun-woo glanced up at the creature in shock, feeling the ground quake beneath his feet as it turned like a merry-go-round, following Ha-eun’s movements.

“Shit!” he cursed and lunged into a swift sprint around it. Hyun-woo followed on the inside, between the Carnivore and Ha-eun. The knight would be able to see the difference in speed between ranks as Hyun-woo even while not mounted was able to keep up with her. The Carnivore’s tentacles arched and curled above their heads and swung down toward the knight and her horse.

Hyun-woo stomped a foot into the ground and swung his other leg around in front. The barbarian twirled into the air, his first axe deflected the first tentacle strike and second deflected the other.

Big-Mouth Carnivore
Results
Basic Attack 1 vs. Ha-eun:
3d100(174)+372=546
Hyun-woo used Guard
-60 HP (for Hyun-woo)
+15 HP (from Guard)
Basic Attack 2 vs. Ha-eun:
3d100(39)+372=411
Hyun-woo used Guard
-60 HP (for Hyun-woo)
+15 HP (from Guard)

“Damn it Ha-eun! Stop making this harder for me!” Hyun-woo shouted. Coming out of his twirl, he brought both axes together and bent his arms back behind his head. His chest and arm muscles swelled with strength as his lips pressed together in his effort. With a roar, he threw both axes at the Carnivore’s base just below its gaping mouth.

Hyun-woo
Results:
Axe Throw (+20 P. Atk, Ranged) vs. Big-Mouth Carnivore:
3d100(199)+397=596
-160 HP
(+20 Fatigue, -20 MP)

The Big-Mouth Carnivore unleashed a shrill screech. Its tentacles flailed about in its anguish, and then to Hyun-woo’s horror, he saw the creature attempting to recede back into the ground.

Big-Mouth Carnivore
Results:
1d100=77
Escaped!

“No, no, no!” Hyun-woo exclaimed as he ran desperately toward the creature.

The Big-Mouth Carnivore fled back into the ground, leaving behind a tunnel that the party would be able to hear it digging through. The barbarian fell to his knees, gazing into the darkness in despair.

“Those were C-rank axes!” Hyun-woo shouted. He grasped his head and roared in his anger. “GOD DAMN IT!”

The rest of the Dynasty group raced over to the hole left behind by the mini boss.

“Where do you think it leads?” the bard asked.

The samurai frowned. “I’m not sure I want to know.”

They glanced to their leader who was pathetically face down in the grass and crying, “My axes…”

An outbreak of sweat beads descended their heads. It was painful just watching.

Spoiler: Big-Mouth Carnivore

Big-Mouth Carnivore
Rank: C
HP: Escaped!

Poison duration nullified due to battle conclusion


Team 2: Uasal Mqueserasera Misuteeku Firelie ERode

Dynasty

Spoiler

Hyun-woo Bang
Rank: C
Class: Barbarian
Guild: Dynasty
Party Buff: All party members receive +15 P. Attack.
HP: 252/442 (Buff wore off)

NPC 1
Rank: D
Class: Samurai
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 192/202

NPC 2
Rank: E
Class: Black Knight
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 100/110

NPC 3
Rank: D
Class: Bard
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 172/182

NPC 4
Rank: D
Class: Priest
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 192/202

 

[ERode]

---

Sector: C- Rank Dungeon [The Fairy Woods]
Mentions: The Black Knight Misuteeku Mqueserasera Firelie

Spoiler: Stats

HP: 70/70
MP: 80/100
Fatigue: 20/100
Defense: 85
P. Attack: 110
M. Attack: 50
Accuracy: 1d100+55
Sense: 60
CS

---

Rui-Ling bared his teeth as the Fairy dove in, ducking and weaving with frenzied dancesteps as the monstrosity swung its claws at him. His chains rattled up and his sickle clashed against its flurry of blows, but the exhaustion that clung at his body nevertheless stalled him for those critical moments. He was a Thief, after all. A defense like this, especially when he was already so exhausted, could simply not be sustained. The final two swipes caught him right in his cheek and the pink-haired youth grimaced, bracing for pain.

Only for there to be none. The fairy didn’t do any damage to him. It felt, all things considered, like getting slapped in the face by a handkerchief. The sensation was there, but there wasn’t even a mark of pain.

Oh geez, that was funny.

The fairy, realizing the futility of its violence, flew off, and Rui-Ling couldn’t even be arsed to chase after them. He collapsed where he stood instead, the adrenaline sucking out of his body as the threat passed. Numbly, he recognized that he levelled up, and he allocated his stats as necessary, almost without thinking. He felt stronger, perhaps, but the leaden feeling on his arms and legs really didn’t allow him to appreciate that boost in energy. Still. Fairies were trash, but they helped with the leveling up. That was great. Lovely. Sheesh!

And for what remained from the corpses…

Rui-Ling stumbled over, kneeling before the pile of gold, real fucking gold, as well as the pouch of sleeping powder that was left behind. He jammed the bag into his inventory without even blinking, then held up the coins in his hands too. What a weighty feel. He didn’t even really know how much each coin was worth. But he didn’t need the money, not really. And now, the others were waking up, rousing from their Fairy-induced slumber.

He touched his face, massaging his cheeks and smoothing out his features once more.

“Morning, sleeping beauties,” Rui-Ling said with a daring little wink. “The last little bugger flew off, but they’ve dropped a good amount of cash, at least. Ten gold coins and everything!” He grinned, then divvied them up between the three smoothly: 2 coins for himself, 3 for Evdokia, and 5 for Jeoung-eun. She looked to be the one most desperate for money, after all; Rui-Ling himself just needed enough to pay off his rent. Evdokia was functionally a small business owner, so financially, she was probably fine.

“Anyhow, I think this is a decent place to rest up because I’m absolutely spent, but what’re y’all feeling about that bulb over there? Evdokia, wanna be a dear and take a swing at it? See how tough it is n all? Worst case scenario,” Rui-Ling slapped the earthy walls of the cave, “we just built a fire underneath it and let it cook.”

Or run, but hey, no need to worry about that yet.

Spoiler: Actions

Rest
Stat Point Allocation

Total Fatigue Recovery: 10

 

[Misuteeku]

Name: Jeoung-eun Nam
Rank: E
Class: Healer
Location: C-Rank Gate: The Fairy Woods
Tag: The Black Knight ERode Firelie

Spoiler: Stats

Rank: E
Title:
Level: 2/10
HP: 80/80
MP: 100/160
Fatigue: 20/100
Status: N/A
Defense: 80
P. Attack: 90 + 15 (Party Bonus)
M. Attack: 120
Accuracy: 1d100+(30)

---

"Ugh..." With the battle concluded, Jeoung-eun stirred from her sleep. She felt like one of those mornings where the warmth of her bed was calling her back into sleep. Substitute the bed for rockhard ground in a hostile environment. It took her a moment for the memories to kick in before her eyes shot wide open. "You son of a bitch!" She yelled at Rui-Ling. Anger started somehow how to make her blood circulate faster. "Look! What did I say! We could have fucking died. We're fucking lucky that we manage to fight against monsters on par to our rank!" This punk nearly got them killed. It didn't help that the little pink fucker could have ditched them and gotten away by himself scotfree. Jeoung-eun's blood pressure started to rise, but before it could, she took a few deep breaths.

"Haaa haaa haaaaaaaaaa," After a few deep breaths, the color on her face started to return to its original tint. Jeoung-eun rationalized that, at the very least, Rui-Ling didn't abandon them, and they did survive. They did get EXP and even an item. Looking up at Rui-Ling, she sighed, "Sorry about that. Thanks for staying here and protecting us; I just need a moment..." Jeoung-eun said as she batted an eye at the now stirring magician. If anything, it was her fault for getting caught in the fairy's sleep powder and being unable to dodge it. Granted, some of that was Rui-Ling's fault for luring them in there, to begin with, but she digressed. Jeoung-eun sheepishly took the gold from Rui-Ling. "Thanks..."

Jeoung-eun decided to rest in the corner. "Status window." A blue screen popped up detailing her stats and recent gains. She had only leveled up one time. Jeoung-eun was slightly disappointed, but she, again, couldn't complain, so she had at least 60 points to distribute. She thought about her plan of action before deciding on her point distribution. Considering her weaknesses and flaws, she decided this point distribution would have to do until she gained more knowledge regarding the system.

Spoiler: Point Distribution

STR:10
VIT:20
INT:20
AGI:10
SENSE:0

With that, she finished her stat distribution and sighed. She based her stat distribution on her earlier fight with the fairies. While she could only land around one attack during the entire fight before being put to sleep, she felt that her attacks hit a lot softer than Rui-Ling's and Eva's. Perhaps it was because she couldn't benefit much from the party bonus that Hyunwoo gave, but it still didn't change the fact that she didn't contribute much to the battle. For a reason, she didn't invest much into Sense; she felt like she didn't need to at the moment. She had Rui-Ling and his high sense that allowed him to the shrooms. She could see herself meeting up with him, which gave her a headache, so she wasn't too worried. Though she would have most likely invested some points into sense in case, Rui-Ling wasn't around in the future.

Though for the matters in the end. "Now what?" She asked the group. After getting assaulted by four fairies and killing three of them, based on the dead bodies, all that was left was the mysterious bulb that was right behind them. Jeoung-eun checked its ranking, and it was D-Rank. While it didn't seem hostile, it was still a concern. They had almost no information on it, and if attacking it awoke it from its dormancy, they definitely wouldn't want to be the receiving end of whatever attack comes out of it. Rui-Ling seemed like he was spent. While she and Eva were fine, she didn't know if they could do anything together.

And then Rui-Ling decided to stay and find out what the bulb was. Jeoung-eun couldn't say that she wasn't surprised.

 

[Firelie]

Name: Evdokia Vladyslavivna Pashchenko
Rank: E
Class: Knight
Location: Fairy Woods, (C rank dungeon)
Tag: ERode The Black Knight Misuteeku Mqueserasera Uasal

Spoiler: STATS

HP: 90
MP: 100
Defense: 100
P. Attack: 120
M. Attack: 50
Accuracy: 1d100+65
FATIGUE: 30/100

---

Evdokia stared at the dairy whose wings she had just sliced asunder for just a tad longer than necessary. Her lip twitched for just but a moment. Her smile didn't falter, just twitched, but there was a change in the magicians cheery disposition that hadn't changed for the entirety of this harrowing experience. The falter of movement wasn't much, but it was enough. When she noticed the fourth of the fairies bringing something out she wasn't able to reach it in time to stop it. She bound from her defensive position and broke into a sprint as she tried to reach it to slash it apart but she couldn't close the distance in time and as the powder invaded her sense she stumbled and fell sprawled on the ground, immediately the powder took effect. She didn't show it, but she was already rather exhausted from the days events before entering the portal, and that exhaustion in combination with the powder was a deadly combination that took her out in an instant.

It was cold. Evdokia didn't know what was happening, but she knew it was cold. Cold and wet. She opened her eyes only for them to sting as they were met by surrounding water. She was under it, the water, an image of something familiar rippled at the surface. No, someone. Evdokia couldn't breathe. She tried to surface but she couldn't. It was then that she noticed the force on her neck. That someone, they were holding her here in this horrid cold. She reached out, kicked. Nothing happened. There was nothing for her as she screamed and shook against the weight until her vision slowly began to fade...

Evdokia awoke with a startle, shooting up from her laying down position. For a fleeting moment panic showed on her face but subsided as quickly as it came as soon as she noticed the threat had gone. "Oh guy... almost very bad..." She mumbled as Jeong-eun laid into Rui-ling. Eva rubbed her head and took check of her belongings. It was only then that she noticed her level up. It was strange to her, how natural this all felt. Still, she shrugged the feeling off and allocated her stats. She was just getting to her feet when Rui-ling came to her to hand her the money. "Ah... thank." she said holding the money with an open palm. She stared at it for a while, thinking to herself. She was jerked from her trance by Rui-ling as he called out to her. "Hit it? Yes yes! Man of lot good idea, you is Ree-lee." She grinned at him then turned to the bulb. "Sally forth!" She called cheerily as she marched up to the bulb and took the tip of her sword right into its skin. (155)

 

[Mqueserasera]

Ju Ha-eun

RANK​		CLASS​
E​		KNIGHT​

DEF​	PHY​	MAG​	ACC​
100​	130​	55​	50​
VIT​	STR​	INT​	SEN​
75​	50​	05​	05​

HP: 75/75

MP: 90/100

Fatigue: 30/100

Status effect

Party Leader Buff: +15 P. Attack
Imperial Plate: +5 HP Regen/turn

Location: The Fairy Woods
Tag: The Black Knight ERode Misuteeku Firelie Uasal
She’d thought that she would be able to circle the monster just out of its reach and give them an opportunity to strike at its more vulnerable spots. But it all proved futile. Its speed greatly exceeded hers, and with that startling speed, it pivoted and launched at her deadly tentacles. The force and the size were insane to witness up close. This was it, she thought. There was no way she could survive even a single strike from one of those tentacles. Ha-eun could feel her back grow cold and a dread passed over her.

Darkness enveloped. But Huyn-woo, right on the instant she would have expected a gutting strike, pulled her from the dark and pried tightly shut eyes open. The following sequence of events she gazed at dumbly as the shock of a near-death experience had yet to subside.

Once again Ha-eun was reminded of her uselessness in battle. She had wanted to help, with good intentions. But also thoughtless and what little distraction she had caused the monster had only endangered herself. At the very least, no one had been seriously hurt after the brief battle. Almost no one.

She leaped down from the horse, which dissipated into thin air right after, and approached the rest of the party. It was awkward, so awkward to stand there looking at a grown-ass man bawling. A C-rank hunter no less.

“Aha—“ Ha-eun scratched her head. What is one supposed to say in a time like this? Not that she had ever consoled a crying adult. And should she? He was her superior after all. Would it be better to pretend his embarrassing tears weren’t noticed? “Well, I mean—sorry about that, Leader. I wasn’t thinking really straight.”

She passed a glance in the newcomer’s direction. Only now had she taken in their appearance, and it was certainly standing out. What strikingly pretty red hair! And it was also comforting that she was not the only one behaving stupidly just now. Not that it was her fault he decided to throw his C-rank weapons at the monster. Seriously, who does that? Not that she could count on someone in his bawling state to be reasonable anyway, so she slowly moved away from him, lest she incurred some unjust wrath. In doing so she gave the red-haired girl a friendly greeting wave. Not that Ha-eun had seen her before. Was she also a guildmate, she wondered.

She had not the energy to think too deeply about that now. One tense moment after another had left her completely exhausted. So she leaned on a nearby tree, hoping to calm her thumping heart and restore some strength to her legs.

Spoiler: Actions

Rest: -10 Fatigue

Imperial Plate's HP regen: +5 HP