It's dawn again.
I opened my eyes and blankly stared at the night light dimly illuminating the dark room.
And as I tried to raise my body.
"Ugh."
I clutched my shoulder.
Hurriedly reaching out, I grabbed the medicine and water placed on the bedside table and gulped them down.
"Whew."
After shaking for a moment in pain, only when the pain lingering in my body subsided a bit did I regain the presence of mind to think.
The battle with the 2nd Named boss, Death Knight Jakam, wasn't smooth.
There were more hurdles to overcome than I thought.
The most problematic part was getting Jakam to absorb the demonic energy overflow. After being sucked into his hand, I had to enhance my body at the right timing to escape. If I'm even a little late, I die with my life force drained. If I escape too early, the demonic energy explodes inside my body.
If I had companions, they could have used status effect skills on Jakam to shake me off.
Yesterday too, I activated the belt multiple times. Even after figuring out the gimmick, 200 million out of 500 million HP has to be shaved off directly.
The belt that blocks instant death once and fixes HP at 1%.
The hero's power that activates at 1% HP.
It means I have to die for conquest.
Jakam's attacks were vicious. Unlike the Black Dragon, he didn't neatly pierce holes in my body.
There was even a time when my body was split in half while trying to die as painlessly as possible. Fortunately, the ability of Elaine's gift didn't leave me fighting with just the upper body. Green light swirled around the wound that allowed the attack, holding my body together so it wouldn't split apart.
"Haah."
I sighed.
This useless body here can't endure the pain.
If I overdo it a little, various parts of my body complain of pain and demand rest.
I sat up and stared blankly into space, lost in thought for a moment.
All that's left now is the last Named boss.
During the Army Commander attempt, how many times will I have to activate this belt?
Can this body endure?
If I collapse coughing up blood, Chris unnie will forcibly put me in the hospital.
In this aspect, it was more convenient when I lived alone.
No one to scold me even if I overdid it.
While I was lost in thought like that on the bed, a small sound was heard from the door.
Rustle rustle.
"...?"
What's that sound?
Carefully getting down from the bed, I crawled towards the door. It's a bit unsightly moving by dragging the lower legs with just the thigh strength of the moving parts, but it was more comfortable to move like this rather than riding the wheelchair every time for short distances in the room.
And when I gently opened the door.
Thud.
"Ouch."
The person in front of the door lightly hit their head on the door.
The person who fell backwards with a plop looked at me with a surprised expression.
"Ah..."
"...Chris unnie, what are you doing at this dawn?"
"Uhuhuheung! Sorry, I'm sorry!"
"What are you sorry for, really."
"I, I! I wanted to see the patterns of the last Named boss first and tell Rain, but something strange was blocking the way!"
Chris sat down in front of me and sobbed as if wronged.
I sat down across from Chris and scratched my face.
According to her, after clearing the 2nd Named boss today, they extended the attempt time to try to extract as much information as possible about the 3rd Named boss, but an intermediate boss was blocking the entrance to the deepest part.
"Sniff, so, we couldn't get through today. S-sorry. Hnng. I was going to write down the information about the intermediate boss on paper and pass it on."
I giggled looking at Chris who was still sniffling.
How cute.
I like her charismatic appearance too, but I also like this silly side she only shows in front of me because it's cute.
And, I quietly hugged her.
"Huah...!"
Chris drew in a sharp breath.
"Unnie, thank you."
"Sniff, what are you thanking me for...! Such an incompetent unnie doesn't deserve to be hugged by Rain! Ow, ow!"
I grabbed Chris's hands as she started hitting her own head.
"What are you saying, you're plenty helpful."
"But."
"You saw Jakam first and told me the patterns, right? It's the same for the gatekeepers. I'm conquering much more comfortably thanks to you too."
This is true.
Thanks to Chris, my attempt time where I have to endure pain and use the power of the past has been drastically reduced. Without her information, my body might not have been able to endure before conquering this raid.
It wasn't a lonely battle alone.
Even though our bodies are separate, Chris was fighting together with me.
"Unnie is my companion."
I gave her the highest praise.
In the past, the companions of the hero party supported my back and paved the way ahead.
Even here, transcending time and space, I gained new companions fighting together against the Army Commander.
The Red-White guild members, and Chris.
Chris unnie is my companion too.
"Companion... you say."
Chris savored that word, making an overwhelmed expression for a moment.
Then, she licked her lips with a somewhat regretful expression.
"...?"
* * *
Outside, dawn was slowly breaking.
I was analyzing the 'Flame Spearman' and 'Ice Shieldman' based on the information Chris was writing down on paper, while eating the boiled eggs and bread she was putting in my mouth.
"Munch munch... Hmm, so. The aggro target changes unpredictably, right?"
"Yeah. There's this weird pattern, you know? It shoots a beam from its eyes going ziiing~, it doesn't deal damage, but if a raid member gets hit by it, aggro spikes. Regardless of damage dealt or aggro value."
"The spearman lays a flame field in its area, and the shieldman recovers HP, huh."
"That's right? It seems to be a distance issue of the aggro target. The spearman seems to be for ranged tanking, the shieldman for close-range tanking..."
I was watching the video Chris recorded together. The hologram 3D video floating above the table where we were eating allowed us to see the Red-White raid party's battle aspects from various angles.
I pointed at the huge hole dividing the spearman and shieldman combat zones in the center of the sunken combat area.
"You cross to the opposite side by stepping on these tree stems that rose up here, right?"
"Yeah. The difficulty isn't that high since the distance can be crossed with one Backward Evasion, but the tree stems themselves are only wide enough for one person to barely step on. You die when the buff explodes after 3 minutes. If you cross to the opposite side before 3 minutes pass, the buff changes and the 3-minute countdown starts again."
The problem is this.
[Flame Injection (3 minutes)]
[Attack Power +30%, Death after 3 minutes elapse]
[Cold Injection (3 minutes)]
[Defense +30%, Death after 3 minutes elapse]
Before these buffs end, positions on both sides must be switched no matter what.
If not, everyone dies instantly after 3 minutes of combat time.
But if they move in a group, their paths will get tangled and they'll fall.
And it's also a problem for the tank to move.
The spearman keeps shooting flame spears if the distance is far. Usually, the tanking method is to block and dodge these from the front.
But it's difficult to perform evasive maneuvers or defensive actions while crossing the cliff. The tank also needs to cross to the opposite side to survive, but it's simply impossible to cross.
When the distance from the tank becomes far, the shieldman crouches down and recovers HP. That recovery amount is enough to fill HP instantly.
The only fortunate point is that there's no berserk mode?
Although it was a gimmick of sub-Named boss level, befitting the intermediate boss position, it didn't limit the combat time.
I finished my analysis and nodded.
"Hmm, it's not that difficult a part. Unnie is just tired, I think you would have established a strategy after sleeping, right?"
"...Really? The current me doesn't know what to do."
"Look here."
I pointed at the tree stems that rose up from under the huge hole in the center of the combat area.
"One by one, one by one, in order. And, the tank crosses last."
"In order?"
"Yes. Both sides should do it like that. From the spearman side to the shieldman side, someone who can perform close-range tanking crosses first and takes aggro by getting hit by the laser. Then, the instant death time limit will be extended as the type changes, and tanking can be taken over."
"Ah...!"
"The opposite side is the same, someone who can perform ranged tanking moves first, and at the last moment the close-range tank hands over aggro while crossing to the opposite side."
It's not that difficult a method, Chris just couldn't find it because she was tired.
A problem that occurs when the raid leader's charisma is strong. It's difficult for others to give opinions. This is even more so for the Red-White raid party who have been clearing smoothly following the strategies Chris came up with.
The rest of the people stopped thinking. Thinking Chris would do it this time too.
I grinned.
"It's called the train game."
* * *
I'm an analyst.
In the past, when fighting demons on this continent, it was the same. Even when facing high-ranking demons like Army Commanders, I grasped their power and abilities as much as possible before engaging in battle.
Thanks to that, I think all companions were able to reach the Demon King's castle alive.
But, there.
Shake shake.
After shaking my head vigorously for a moment, I looked at the two giant god-soldiers standing in front of me.
What I'm doing now is not different at all. Now the target is just combined with the game's system.
[Flame Spearman]
[HP 100,000,000 / 100,000,000 (100%)]
[Ice Shieldman]
[HP 100,000,000 / 100,000,000 (100%)]
The giant god-soldiers are standing divided left and right.
Once the battle starts, movement between the places where these two are standing is cut off. You can only move by stepping on tree stems that have risen up here and there.
Swish.
I stood on the 'Flame Spearman' side and pointed my sword at him.
I can take down these guys alone too.
The simulation is over.
They said the spearman will keep shooting flame spears even if its HP becomes 1.
That means both giant god-soldiers' HP must be reduced to 1 to clear.
Dodging flame spears flying from behind while crossing the hole and dealing with the shieldman. Both are not big problems for me.
But the shieldman recovers HP when the distance becomes far.
This is the biggest problem.
Then.
Clang!
I shot 'Flying Sword Technique' at the spearman to take aggro.
Rumble rumble!
The floor sank, and movement between the two giant god-soldiers was cut off.
At the same time, a buff entered me.
[Flame Injection (3 minutes)]
[Attack Power +30%, Death after 3 minutes elapse]
First I'll shave the spearman's HP while dipping my feet on the shieldman's side to refresh the buff before the 3-minute instant death time elapses. While continuously going back and forth to refresh the buff, I'll reduce the spearman's HP to 1 first.
And after shaving all of the spearman's HP.
[World Tree's Belt]
[Elite]
[Strength +50 Agility +50 Intelligence +50]
[Unique Ability: Blocks fatal damage once. However, HP is fixed at 1% until combat ends (Cooldown 30 minutes)]
With this, I can get through instant death once.
Until now I forcibly triggered it to meet damage requirements, but it's a cheat item in this aspect.
Even for a gimmick that prevents solo play, I can forcibly get through it once.
100 million HP, I absolutely can't shave it off in 3 minutes.
I'll die when 3 minutes elapse, but the belt will block it once.
Even if the instant death buff enters again after that, with the unique skills that activate at 1% HP, an additional 3 minutes is enough.
A dual boss with complex conquest methods, but surprisingly I can take them down simply.
After shaving all of the spearman's HP.
Arriving at the shieldman's side.
Triggering the belt.
Cutting down the shieldman.
It's not a Named boss. I don't need to attempt for long.
It's just the path to the Army Commander.
I'll finish it in one go.
Whoosh!
Meanwhile, facing the spearman's flame spear flying towards me.
Swish.
I lowered my posture and prepared to release sword energy.