*Tap!*

“Ah!”

Beimerung’s foot missed the edge of the platform as she leapt toward the exit corridor, nearly plummeting below. Fortunately, Deathmaster grabbed her and pulled her up just in time.

“Th-thanks, Death-oppa.”

“That was a basic platform puzzle. You should train more regularly, junior,” he said.

Behind Beimerung, who sheepishly stuck out her tongue with a bashful smile, Cherni’s desperate scream echoed.

“Aaaagh!”

Beimerung peeked over the edge of the corridor and looked down.

Cherni, having fallen off the platform, was rubbing his backside as gargoyle golems slowly advanced toward him.

His face turned pale.

“Please, someone help me!”

“Just respawn and come back, Jaewook. It’ll be faster than killing all of them,” Deathmaster suggested.

“You say that so easily when it’s not you! Arrghh, nooo!”

“Wow, this 19+ game is brutal,” Beimerung muttered, pretending to cover her eyes but watching through her fingers.

“I don’t want to waste any more time here. If we delay, we won’t be able to catch up to the *Noname* party. Rain’s presence in that party means they’ll clear this dungeon at lightning speed,” Deathmaster grumbled.

“It is tough, though. Everyone in the party has to make it across to advance to the next room, or we’d have to defeat all the golems below. Balancing on those narrow platforms and crossing them quickly before they disappear is no easy task,” Beimerung added.

“We all fell in the first corridor section. I bet it’s the same for the other parties. This part isn’t something most players can clear in one go, except for someone like Rain. Even if she clears it in one try, she’d still have to wait for her party members, right? Isn't that so, Chris?”

“...”

Chris said nothing.

Ever since they entered the dungeon, her mind had been in turmoil.

She had hoped that this time, she’d uncover the identity of the *Noname* party members. But Rain had entered the dungeon alone.

While the others in her raid team didn’t notice, Chris had been searching for Rain’s party members since they arrived at the dungeon entrance.

Of course, parties in instance dungeons don’t have to enter at the same time. However, it didn’t make sense that Rain’s party members wouldn’t exchange a single word before tackling the elite dungeon.

Chris had wanted to greet them and ask them to take care of Rain, and even scold them for not keeping tabs on her. She had also hoped to make connections for potential future cooperation in multi-raid content.

But she couldn’t find them.

It was as if they didn’t exist from the start.

“...Could it be? No way… Did she… solo it?”

“Chris, what are you thinking about?” Deathmaster asked, breaking her train of thought.

“N-nothing,” she quickly replied, shaking her head.

An idea she hadn’t considered was now creeping into her mind.

Given what she had seen from Rain’s abilities during their runs together, it seemed plausible.

“Solo play…?”

---

[First Named Boss]  
[Level 45 Ancient Golem Minotaur]  
[HP 7,340,679/8,600,000]

*Boom! Boom! Boom!*

The Minotaur’s attack pattern involved stomping twice and slamming both fists into the ground, triggering a three-hit AoE attack.

I dodged backward, waiting for the second strike’s effect to vanish before closing in again, maintaining the flow of my counterattacks without losing momentum.

*Clang, clang, clang!*

A strange sound reverberated, like metal striking metal—a sound akin to swords clashing. It seemed the Minotaur’s body was reinforced with a special magical treatment on its highly pure mana stones, making its body as hard as metal.

*Whoosh, whoosh!*

The golem spun its massive fists toward me, but I dodged effortlessly, moving side to side.

The Minotaur’s basic attacks involved heavy swings of its fists. There was no need to block them; I could easily dodge by simply twisting my body.

Its attack speed was relatively fast, though. For a creature twice my height, its movements were surprisingly quick. However, it wasn’t overly threatening.

There was only one pattern I absolutely had to block.

The Minotaur suddenly lowered its stance, its head dipping as its sharp horns glowed brightly. It prepared to thrust its deadly horns toward me at a fearsome speed.

*Whirr!*

*Clang!*

[Block (A)]  
- Blocks attacks within a 180-degree radius in front.  
- Successfully blocking within 0.2 seconds of skill activation grants the "Vitality" buff, increasing all damage dealt for 10 seconds.

As I successfully blocked the powerful upward horn strike, I gained the Vitality buff. My body lifted slightly from the force of the impact.

*Swish!*

Spinning in mid-air, I unleashed a *Moonlight Slash*, my sword infused with starlight as I aimed directly at the Minotaur’s glowing horns.

*Clang!*

I clicked my tongue as I landed.

As expected, the horns didn’t break.

I really wanted to cut those off.

*Clang, clang, clang! Whoosh!*

With my starlit sword, I slashed at the Minotaur while using *One Slash* to counter its second upward strike. Taking advantage of the Vitality buff, I attacked relentlessly from behind.

This battle required extra caution for one particular reason.

As soon as the boss fight began, the entrance I came through vanished, turning the room into a fully enclosed cube.

There was no escape. A failure on my first try would result in significant consequences.

Even as I pressed the attack, the Minotaur’s HP quickly dropped, soon reaching the 75% mark.

*Ooooooooh!*

The golem twisted in apparent agony as if it could feel pain.

I raised my sword, focusing on the Minotaur’s movements.

Its behavior had changed from its regular attack patterns. This was clearly the sign of a phase transition.

*Ooooooooh!*

*Boom, boom, boom!*

With a roar, the Minotaur’s hunched body straightened as if it were stretching, and a burst of blue energy exploded from its body. I instinctively dodged backward.

*Flash!*

As the energy swept across the room, I noticed a flash of red light flicker once from the wall at the 3 o’clock position.

I didn’t miss it.

I stayed close to the Minotaur, carefully countering its attacks, while keeping my eyes on the 3 o’clock wall, which had flashed red.

What did it mean? It seemed like I needed to do something with that wall.

*Clang!*

After striking the Minotaur with my sword in its special phase, I noticed something was off.

The sound of my strikes had changed.

The damage the golem was taking had been halved. Its mana stones were glowing even brighter, and they had formed a barrier around its body.

I had to dispel the barrier quickly. Otherwise, I’d be stuck in a time-attack pattern, which could spell disaster.

The mechanism for removing the barrier was clear. It had something to do with the wall that flashed red at 3 o’clock.

*Tat-tat.*

I quickly distanced myself from the Minotaur, positioning myself with my back to the 3 o’clock wall.

*Ooooooooh!*

*Boom, boom.*

The Minotaur stomped twice and lowered its head, aiming its sharp horns in my direction.

I needed to bait the charge and get it to ram its horns into the wall that had flashed red.

Like a bullfighter.

*Boom, boom, boom!*

With its horns raised, the Minotaur charged at me.

I couldn’t attack it during the charge. Any reduced damage wouldn’t help much. The priority was breaking the barrier.

The charge had to hit the right spot. If the barrier stayed up too long, the time-attack phase would tighten its grip on me.

*Swish.*

When the charging Minotaur’s horns were about to reach me, I used a reversal skill to move behind it.

*Crash! Boom!*

*Oooooooooom!*

As the Minotaur’s horns slammed into the wall, a burst of red light erupted from the impact, shattering the barrier. The golem collapsed to its knees, entering a groggy state.

“Nice.”

*Clang, clang, clang!*

Without hesitation, I unleashed a series of sword strikes on the kneeling Minotaur.

---

[First Named Boss]  
[Level 45 Ancient Golem Minotaur]  
[HP 4,365,500/8,600,000]

The Minotaur’s HP had dropped close to 50%.

It was about to enter its second special phase.

*Flash!*

With my final *One Slash*, I brought its HP below 50% and watched for its next move.

*Ooooooooh!*

*Boom, boom, boom!*

Just like at 75%, it released a room-wide AoE attack, followed by another flash of red light from one of the walls.

This time, it came from the 9 o’clock position.

*Tat-tat.*

I swiftly moved to the 9 o’clock wall, positioning myself with my back against it. The entire room began to shake violently.

*Rumble!*

“What the—!?”

I quickly crouched and steadied myself.

This was different from the first phase. There hadn’t been any shaking like this before.

*Click.*

A strange sound echoed through the room.

*Crack.*

The walls slowly moved backward, separating from the floor.

Beyond the widening gaps, only darkness was visible.

I momentarily forgot about the golem’s movements and stared at the shifting walls in awe.

“Whoa.”

This dungeon was even separating the walls of the boss room.

The four walls gradually pulled apart, and then, with a sudden surge of speed, they began to rotate.

*Rumble!*

The sight of the walls spinning rapidly in one direction was truly a spectacle.

I stood there, dumbfounded, watching the rotating walls.

A labyrinth. A cube-shaped room.

It wasn’t all that surprising that the walls could rotate, or even that the room itself could move. There were old labyrinth-themed movies where the rooms kept shifting too.

But to see the walls actually moving… I suppose if ancient dwarven technology and mana stones were combined, even this was possible.

*Click.*

The spinning walls soon stopped, and the room reassembled into a closed-off cube once more.

*Tat-tat!*

I quickly snapped back to reality and repositioned myself.

The red light wasn’t flashing at 9 o’clock anymore.

Luckily, I had kept track of the wall's position as it rotated. The 9 o’clock wall had shifted to 12 o’clock.

*Boom, boom, boom!*

As the rotation stopped, the Minotaur began charging at me again from the new 12 o’clock position.

*Crash! Boom!*

*Oooooooom!*

The Minotaur’s horns struck the wall once more, shattering the barrier as it collapsed to its knees.

I raised my sword toward the now-vulnerable Minotaur.

Alright. So, that’s how it works.