Chapter 228. Forming the Team
Translator: Boko
Once the Witch of Annihilation, Helena, decided to join him, twenty of the strongest "Witch"s Forest" guild members decided to join him as well.
They were all rankers (top 10,000); some of them, however, were high rankers (top 100) like the Blue Knight, Plum, the Wind Tracker, Dambi, and the Kind Druid, Yericka.
But to gain their aid, Kang Oh had to abide by three conditions. First, the raid couldn"t be broadcasted! Members of the Witch"s Forest tried to avoid the spotlight. Second, 70% of the loot! Third, the Witch"s Forest would take all of the books in Eclipse"s hideout.
Kang Oh had great difficulty forming a team by himself, so he ultimately acquiesced to her demands.
"This is them."
Bart brought some people too. The Storm Fighter, Rohan, and the Harbinger of Death, Viper. Both of them were high rankers.
"My companions and I will only take 20% of the loot."
Those were Bart"s demands. Kang Oh obviously accepted. The Eclipse hunting team was formed.
The team consisted of him, Eder, Bart, Rohan, Viper, as well as Helena and her elites! There were 26 of them combined! They also had 3 Numbers, and 5 high rankers. It was an all-star studded raid team.
* * *
The Witch"s Forest"s council chamber.
Every single member of the Eclipse hunting team was present.
"Let me tell you what we know about Eclipse, as well as our plan for hunting him. Eclipse resides within the Andura Temple. There are cemeteries to the east and west. The Sun Tower is to the south, and the Moon Tower is to the north. The temple is in the middle."
Everyone quietly listened to Kang Oh"s explanation.
"Lich Eclipse is around level 400, and is a high-rank undead. He can summon several undead at a time, and can cast curses too. He also specializes in bone magic."
Several renowned, skilled raid teams had attempted to hunt Eclipse before. However, all of them failed with a bitter taste in their mouth. Eclipse was just that hard to defeat.
"As you all may know, a Lich is invincible unless its life vessel is destroyed; it has infinite HP/MP until then. Obviously, our main priority is destroying Eclipse"s life vessel. Where do you think this life vessel is?" Kang Oh looked around at his teammates.
"Eclipse has it," one of the players said.
"Exactly. Eclipse is storing his life vessel somewhere inside of the temple. Normally, that is." Kang Oh nodded his head.
"But when Eclipse fights players, he moves his life vessel somewhere else," the high ranker, Blue Knight Plum, said. She was completely covered by blue armor.
"Where?" Kang Oh asked.
"The Sun Tower, or the Moon Tower," Plum said.
"That"s right. It"s hidden in one of the two towers. We can"t know which tower he"s hidden it in unless we"re there, at the top floor of either tower. But we don"t have time to be looking through both towers. There"s a time limit to hunting Eclipse," Kang Oh said.
Helena pushed her round gla.s.ses up and continued, "After a certain amount of time fighting Eclipse, Bone Dragons sp.a.w.ns from each of the cemeteries. These monsters are just as strong as Eclipse himself. Moreover, there are two of them! If they sp.a.w.n, then we can consider this raid as good as over."
"And the Bone Dragons sp.a.w.n faster the more players face off against Eclipse," Bart smiled and said.
"If less than 30 members enter the temple, then the Bone Dragons sp.a.w.n in 30 minutes. It takes them 5 minutes to get to the temple. Of course, the Bone Dragons turn to dust if you defeat Eclipse. In other words, we only have 35 minutes max. In that time, we have to search the two towers, destroy Eclipse"s life vessel, and kill Eclipse," Kang Oh said.
"Ok, so what"s the plan?" the Harbinger of Death, Viper, asked.
"Ms. Helena and the rest of the Witch"s Forest will enter the temple and take on Eclipse. Meanwhile, Mr. Bart and I will each climb a tower. I"ll go at it alone, while Mr. Bart will go with Mr. Viper and Mr. Rohan."
"You"re climbing the tower by yourself?" Viper furrowed his brow. It looked like he didn"t trust him.
"There"s a cracked open window halfway up the Sun Tower. I plan on flying up there. Thus, I have no choice but to go at it alone."
"But after you"ve gone in, you"ll be completely alone. Will you be alright?" Viper asked, staring at him distrustingly.
Then, Bart intervened. "Mr. Kang Oh will be fine."
"Understood, Mr. Bart." Viper was forced to comply.
Kang Oh slightly nodded his head in thanks and continued. "When Mr. Bart or I destroy the life vessel, all you (Helena and the Witch"s Forest) need to do is kill Eclipse. Of course, once Mr. Bart and I are finished, we"ll come and join you as fast as we can."
"This"ll be a fight against time. Everyone, please have your wits about you," Helena said clearly.
"Let"s have a lot of fun." Bart grinned.
"The Eclipse hunt is in two days!" Kang Oh said.
* * *
Kang Oh left the Witch"s Forest, and went to a nearby forest. He followed the road, but eventually stopped. There stood a beauty wearing fur clothes with golden hair and white skin. She was sitting on a fallen tree, watching the view, enjoying the breeze, and humming a tune.
Kang Oh approached her.
"Oppa." Asu beamed.
Kang Oh sat beside her. "Did you wait a long time?"
He"d received a message from her, stating "When you"re finished with your meeting, come meet me at the forest.", so he"d come straight here.
"I didn"t wait that long. How did the meeting go? Did it go well?" Asu asked.
"Yeah. We decided to hunt Eclipse in two days."
"I wanted to go too..." Asu looked disappointed.
Like she said, she had wanted to join the hunt too. However, she was too weak. She was still only level 150.
In an attempt to comfort her, Kang Oh patted her back. Then, her disappointment went away and she bowed her head.
"Please take care of our guild members!"
"I"ll do my best!" Kang Oh said enthusiastically.
"I believe in you. Oh, by the way, Oppa."
"What?"
"The members of my group keep asking me to introduce you to them. When I told them that you"d become one of the Numbers, they got even more excited to meet you."
"Mm, I can meet them soon," Kang Oh said.
"You promise?"
"Yeah. Just tell me the time and place."
"Ok." Asu smiled timidly.
"Want to take a walk?" Kang Oh asked.
"Sure." Asu stood up.
The two held hands and relaxingly strolled through the forest.
* * *
Jae Woo met GBS producer, Jin Cheol, at a nearby cafe.
"I really enjoyed the footage you sent me. It was amazing," Jin Cheol said excitingly, and gave him a thumbs up.
It was footage of Kang Oh defeating the Wyvern King, Draka, all by himself! "Amazing" was definitely the right word for it. Anyone who"s seen it would be as excited and enthusiastic as Jin Cheol.
"Hoo, hoo." Jae Woo laughed. "As expected!"
"I"ll buy it," Jin Cheol said.
"How much?" Jae Woo"s heart pounded. How much would he get for it?
"I"ll buy it for..." Jin Cheol began.
Gulp. Kang Oh swallowed.
"200 million won ($200,000 USD)."
"Heop."
"200 million won!?"
Selling one clip would give him 200 million won!?
"I heard that the amount of money Numbers made was on another level. Turns out to be true!"
Of course, even the Numbers didn"t make this much money all the time.
There were several reasons they were offering him such a high sum: this was Kang Oh"s first clip as part of the Numbers, Kang Oh was extremely popular right now, and the clip itself could be considered the "best" ever.
Jae Woo clenched his fists. "I"ve hit the jackpot!"
If there weren"t people watching, then Kang Oh would stand up and dance around, all the while screaming like a crazy person.
"What do you think?" Jin Cheol smiled. "You like the offer, don"t you?"
"You"re the best, Mr. Jin Cheol!" Kang Oh said honestly. It was only natural. At least for this moment in time, that was what he was truly thinking.
"As you well know, I always offer you my best," Jin Cheol said, his voice overwhelmingly confident.
"I"m well aware." Jae Woo clasped his hands. "I know!", he seemed to say.
"Would you like to sign a contract?"
"Of course."
He was offering so much that there was no reason to refuse. Actually, he needed to sign the contract before he rescinded his offer.
"Now then, please sign here." Jin Cheol pa.s.sed him the contract and a pen.
"200 million won..."
Just seeing the "200 million won" written on the contract made his belly feel so full it felt like it"d burst. Jae Woo checked to make sure there was nothing out of the ordinary on the contract and then signed it.
"If you have some good footage for me next time, then... Please let me know."
"Of course! I will, I promise!"
Jae Woo and Jin Cheol parted ways with smiles on their faces.
* * *
The 26 members of the Eclipse hunting team gathered in the Valley of the Dead.
In order to reach the Andura Temple, the team needed to go through the Valley of the Dead.
Guooooh!
Rattle, clatter!
Countless ghouls and skeletons popped out of the ground around them. The ghouls and skeletons that sp.a.w.ned here were over level 200! They weren"t to be underestimated.
"Battle formations! Tanks at the front and rear. Melee DPSers, to the sides! Long-range DPSers and healers, get inside and either attack or provide support!" the Blue Knight, Plum, yelled.
She was a knight that had several command-type skills. Thus, she was given the task of supreme commander. Go to a pharmacist for medicine, and go to a knight for a commander!
"Pierce through! Maintain formation!" A ring of light appeared behind her.
Honorable One"s Command!
If a player heeded her commands, then their abilities would be amplified, and the experience and proficiency they gained would be increased.
"Huahp!" Kang Oh swung Demon Sword Blood.
Slas.h.!.+
He cleaved a horizontal white line, cutting a ghoul and skeleton in two.
Meanwhile, Bart threw a fireball, burning a ghoul to a crisp, and then cut off the head of a skeleton rus.h.i.+ng towards him with his sword.
The Harbinger of Death, Viper, was killing the undead with his sharp dagger.
The Wind Tracker, Dambi, reminded him of a female Sephiro. She used the same skills he used like Headshot, Triple Shot, Homing Arrow, and Spinning Arrow! One shot, one kill.
"Uhaaaa!" The Fighter, Rohan, was laughing while he punched the undead. His fist burst through the ghouls" heads and turned the skeletons to dust.
And...
Helena was proving why she was called the Witch of Annihilation.
Ignite!
Chain Lightning!
Giant"s Fist!
Water Spear!
Whenever she pointed her staff or raised it into the air, she cast all sorts of magic to great effect. It was the very definition of scorched earth!
The hunting team instantly got through the Valley of the Dead!