After returning to Lunaris Capital, I checked my quest rewards and gathered information about the current raid boss. Fortunately, the raid boss in question was still the Red Orc Gladiator. It hadn't changed from what I remembered, meaning I could still rely on my past knowledge.
But one thing did surprise me: the raid boss hadn't been defeated yet.
Could it be because the game's difficulty had increased? In the world I remembered, raid gear started dropping just a month after launch. This was a completely different scenario.
I checked recruitment boards for raid groups, both in-game and online. Most teams were only accepting players who had reached the current max level, and they required the best gear available.
To top it off, many teams were testing applicants' skills before accepting them. Regular players would likely be discouraged before they even applied.
The current level cap was 25, and I was at level 19—just a few more to go.
I could hit max level within three days, either by grinding mobs or completing hidden quests like the one I just finished.
But I couldn't shake my worry. If no one had managed to defeat the raid boss yet, the difficulty had to be extreme.
I logged into a website to watch footage of previous raid attempts, and sure enough, the boss patterns hadn't changed.
What had changed, however, were the players' skills and the game environment.
This wasn't the same as playing with a mouse and keyboard, controlling a character from behind a screen. Now, players wielded their weapons and faced massive monsters directly inside the game.
It was a completely different experience.
"Hmm..."
A sigh escaped my lips.
This wasn't going to be easy.
But for now, my priority was leveling up.
I resolved to focus on reaching the level cap and earning enough gold to prepare for the raid. I needed better gear, especially for tanking.
I accepted several repeatable quests at various hunting grounds and set off to grind.
Despite my impressive weapon, I turned down every party invitation.
I observed the pace at which other players hunted, and frankly, it was painfully slow. Watching them was enough to drive me crazy.
Joining one of those parties would be like putting a shackle on my own progress.
I knew how fun party play could be.
In the past, I had preferred playing in groups myself.
But this was different. Circumstances had changed, and if I wanted to grow fast, solo play was the only option.
My newly acquired Highlander sword gleamed as it cut down massive monsters with ease.
It was much faster and smoother than when I had played with a mouse and keyboard.
* * * *
Monsters fell in waves before me as I tore through them at an overwhelming pace. I made a habit of cycling through unpopular hunting spots, places most players avoided.
As monsters fell, so did gold, and my character continued to level up steadily.
It didn't take long before I hit the level cap.
[Level up!]
The notification flashed across my screen, and I dismissed it without a second thought.
It took me only two days to reach level 25 from level 19.
In total, I had reached the level cap just four days after creating my character.
If I posted a screenshot of my character's creation date, no one would believe me.
The average time to reach the cap in this version of Deren was about a month.
The game's increased difficulty had severely slowed down the pace for most players.
With the level cap reached, it was time to unlock my second class.
I had already planned out several potential builds, but I needed to consider what would be most useful right now.
Should I strengthen my base class, or go for one of the advanced classes available at Rank 2?
Given the current raid situation, I decided I'd need to tank.
It was the smart choice.
I chose Paladin, a Rank 2 advanced class.
Paladins derived their power from the deity they served, and each deity granted different abilities.
However, one requirement for becoming a Paladin was raising your reputation with the chosen temple to a certain level. Thankfully, this could be done quickly by donating gold. With the money I'd earned, this wouldn't be an issue.
After buying a set of plate armor, I visited the temple.
In this world, healer classes were quite popular. They were less demanding than other roles, and players often preferred staying in the backlines, healing, rather than facing monsters head-on.
I entered the temple and made my way to the center, where a priest was deep in prayer.
To make a donation, I needed to speak to them directly.
"Priest."
"Oh, adventurer! You've come at just the right time."
"I'd like to make a donation."
"A donation, you say? Your devotion to the temple will surely move the goddess herself."
The priest smiled warmly and rose from his seat.
A transparent interface appeared before me.
After buying my gear, I had 150 gold left, a small fortune in this world. I had earned quite a bit in less than a week.
But now was not the time to hold back. I donated 100 gold.
The massive donation immediately boosted my reputation.
The priest's expression changed, and he spoke to me in a reverent tone.
"Adventurer, the goddess herself has taken notice of your generosity."
After his words, a prompt appeared asking if I wanted to change my class to Paladin.
I accepted without hesitation.
Suddenly, beams of brilliant moonlight cascaded from above, bathing me in a spectacular effect as the class change was completed.
When a player changed to a religious class like Paladin or Priest, their affiliation would shift from the adventurer's guild to the temple they served.
Of course, this didn't impose any strict requirements.
It merely unlocked some additional features, such as discounts on holy water or free removal of resurrection penalties.
I quickly checked my new skills.
[Paladin]
[Blessing of the Moon Goddess]
[Under the moonlight, all stats increase by 10%]
[Armor Mastery]
[Removes penalties from wearing full plate armor. Increases defense by +50]
[Shield Mastery]
[Removes penalties from all types of shields. Reduces incoming damage by 10% when a shield is equipped]
[Holy Blessing]
[Imbues your weapon with the goddess's blessing. Increases damage by 10%. Deals 20% more damage to dark or demonic enemies]
[Unwavering Faith]
[Reduces incoming physical damage by 10%. Reduces magical damage by 10%. Reduces damage from holy elements by 50%]
[Mark of Glory]
[Has a 20% chance to deal additional holy damage when attacking]
[Goddess's Touch]
[Heals 30% of your maximum health. Healing effect is halved when used on others]
The preparations were complete.
Now I just needed to either join a raid team or form one myself.
Naturally, I chose the latter. I'd picked Paladin specifically to take on the role of raid leader.
I had watched enough raid footage to understand how crucial the tank's skill was.
As for the DPS roles, I could easily fill those with skilled mages, who could deal heavy damage even while eating a bowl of ramen.
It would be a simple setup.
The raid required 40 players.
Of those, 30 would be mages.
* * * *
Later that day, a post appeared across various Deren Online forums announcing a new raid team looking for members.
The post listed the raid leader's specs, which were impressive enough. However, the lineup and trial schedule for the raid raised some eyebrows.
With seven healers, two off-tanks, and a whopping 30 DPS mages, the team composition was understandable.
But the trial times—5 p.m. to 10 p.m.—made some players scratch their heads.
As expected, the post quickly made its way to the Deren Online gallery.
[Deren Online Gallery]
[Kid raid leader spotted, LOL!
(Image attached)
[Raid trials from 5 pm to 10 pm, LOL. This kid gets home from school, logs into Deren, and plays until the shutdown rule kicks in, LMAO!]
[Comments]
[Rich kid spotted, LOL.]
[Are we sure this is a kid? Those specs look legit.]
ㄴ [5 p.m is the time kids get home from school, duh.]
[Kid raid leader... this is a rare gem, LOL.]
[LOL, imagine a raid full of school friends.]
[Can you really become a kid just by playing until 10 p.m?]
[Aw, it's a middle school raid leader...]
The trial schedule was the main issue.
A raid from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. carried a specific implication. The post attracted a huge amount of attention, and the gallery was quickly flooded with comments about the 'rich kid raid leader'.
Of course, it was the perfect bait for bored forum users, combining three irresistible elements: rich kid, raid leader, and a strict trial time.
Posts started pouring in at an incredible speed.
[Is the kid raid leader a girl?]
[(Yeon_character.jpg)]
ㄴ[Hmm... Middle school girl raid leader... Approved...]
ㄴ[What do you mean approved?]
ㄴ [My future wife.]
ㄴ [Creep.]
The post generated an incredible amount of attention, and as a result, raid applications flooded in.
Back in the real world, Hayeon stared in disbelief at the stream of applications lighting up her phone. She lay in bed, having just logged out of the game.
"What the...?"
The number of applications kept rising, going from [10] to [20], [30], [100], [200], [500]...
It was overwhelming.
Hayeon's small fingers began tapping through each message carefully, reviewing the applicants' specs one by one.
Applications continued pouring in until the gallery finally moved on to the next big topic.