Chapter 28

Theresa launched into an explanation, desperate to try and convince Do-Jin to join. She had to hunt Iron Golems for her weapon crafting quest, and there was no way around it. Although she and her swordsman friend weren’t tanks, they could at least fake it with Parry and Deflection.

She knew their setup was inefficient as hell compared to a proper party, which is why they were willing to give Do-Jin half of all the loot drops.

“So yeah, you might take a slight hit on experience, but you’ll make way more money. Please, please help us. I’ve been stuck here for three days because of this damn quest.”

Her face was a portrait of sheer desperation, the product of countless rejections and crushed hopes. Her heart pounded as she waited for his response, half-expecting another rejection.

“Sure. We might as well leave now.”

“H-huh? Y-you mean... you’re actually coming with us?”

Theresa had been mentally preparing a backup plan, ready to throw in potions as an extra incentive if he refused, but he agreed before she had even begun bargaining. And not just that, he immediately started packing up like there was no time to waste.

“W-wait, just like that?”

She scrambled to her feet, still trying to process what had just happened. Everything was moving so fast it made her head spin.

Do-Jin shot her a look. “Sitting around here any longer is just wasting time and EXP.”

“W-well yeah, I guess that’s true. Alright, give me a sec... I’ll go grab the others!”

Just as she was about to dash off, Do-Jin spoke up again. “Oh, one more thing.”

She froze mid-step, looking back at him expectantly.

“There’s something I want to test during the hunt. Can you help me out with it?”

“Of course!”

There was no way Theresa would back out now. She was so relieved he’d agreed to join, she hadn’t even thought to ask what he wanted to test.

***

After a brief round of introductions, Do-Jin got straight to business.

“Do either of you have Crushing Strike or Shock Blade?” he asked, looking between Theresa and Sang-Soo.

The latter was first to nod. “Yeah, those are staple skills for swordsmen early on. I’ve used Shock Blade a lot, so the proficiency’s pretty solid.”

“Same here! Crushing Strike is a must-have for hammer warriors, so I’ve been using it constantly,” Theresa answered enthusiastically, lifting her warhammer as if she was proving her point.

But it was Soso who raised an eyebrow and voiced the doubt they were all thinking. “Does it really matter? I mean, those skills aren’t gonna do jack shit here. Your magic will work, sure, but their attacks won’t even scratch these monsters.”

𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Even Sang-Soo and Theresa exchanged glances, curious as to why Do-Jin was asking about their attack skills.

Do-Jin simply grinned. “You’ll see.”

Before they knew it, they had reached the entrance of the Closed Iron Mine. Inside, the mine was a constant cacophony of battle. It was a mix of heavy footsteps belonging to tanks that dragged monsters across the field, explosive blasts from mages wiping out clusters of golems, and the occasional screams of parties getting wiped because someone had screwed up.

“Fuck! What the hell was that aim?! One second slower, and I’d have been caught in that too!”

“Tank, please pull the monsters all the way to the designated spot. Stop letting them slip away like that. If the mage and healer get caught, we’re all dead. Got it?”

On top of that, the air was thick with blame and curses flying back and forth. It was a far cry from the neatly separated spaces of an instanced dungeon, where each party had its own private hunting ground.

“This way,” Do-Jin said, leading his hesitant party members to a good spot.

Naturally, their group drew attention. As they moved, eyes followed them. A hunting ground like this required a tank, but here was a party with no shield bearer in sight. With just a warhammer user and a swordsman, they were bound to stand out. A few bystanders snickered as they talked shit, assuming no one could hear them over the chaos of battle.

“The hell kind of setup is that?”

“Wait, do they make hammer-shaped shields now?”

“Oh, I see what’s going on. Bet those pretty little girls lured some dumbasses into joining their party without a tank. Honestly, guys like that are worse than the queen bees themselves. Simping for a face that looks like someone maxed out every slider in the customization menu.”

Do-Jin’s group couldn’t catch their words, but the mocking stares made the message plenty clear.

“Don’t let those assholes get to you. Who gives a shit what they think?” Soso snapped, irritated at the sight of Theresa shrinking behind her warhammer.

Just then, a rumbling sound came from nearby. A mass of rock and metal began to rise, forming an Iron Golem. The freshly spawned creature, its body a fusion of stone and steel, immediately locked onto the closest enemy.

“Mage, fall back! We’ve got this!”

Theresa surged forward without hesitation, followed by Sang-Soo.

Her warhammer and the golem’s massive fist collided with a boom, sending both of them skidding backward. The impact triggered Parry, knocking her away but also forcing the golem to momentarily stagger. However, its absurd physical defense and resistance meant it shook off the recoil almost instantly. Before she could recover, the golem launched its next attack.

Sang-Soo quickly stepped in, angling his sword to redirect the incoming punch with Deflect. At that moment, Do-Jin’s spell was already finished. His casting speed was leagues ahead of one's average mage at this level.

[Curse of Softening]

The Tier 2 curse magic spell did exactly what its name implied, weakening the hardness of its target and lowering their defenses. A wave of dark energy swept over the Iron Golem.

Thunk.

“Huh?” Sang-Soo’s eyes widened in shock.

He had angled his sword to deflect the golem’s attack, expecting sparks to fly when striking solid iron. However, the blade sank deep into a flesh-like metal. A swordsman’s instinct was all about feel, but this just felt wrong. Sang-Soo froze for a fraction of a second, giving the Iron Golem an opportunity to launch another punch.

“Sang-Soo!” Theresa reacted instantly, swinging her warhammer in a wild arc and slamming it right into the golem’s shoulder.

BOOM! CRACK!

The golem’s shoulder and half its torso caved in, spraying Sang-Soo with chunks of rock and twisted metal.

“

Ugh

... shit!”

The swordsman let out an undignified yelp, flinching as fragments pelted him. But that was still better than getting flattened by the golem’s fist. With a deep thud, the Iron Golem collapsed, its broken form crumbling into a pile of iron ore.

Theresa and Sang-Soo stared at each other in stunned silence.

“Uh... was it always this easy?”

“Didn’t happen last time we were here...”

Everyone who had been secretly watching Do-Jin’s party was just as stunned.

“The fuck was that? How the hell did an Iron Golem crumble like fucking butter?”

“Bullshit! What level is she? No way a single hammer swing just nuked a golem!”

Theories started flying. Was it some kind of rare skill? No, their levels weren’t that high. Then, was it their gear? It looked about the same as everyone else’s.

Even Theresa, the one who’d landed the finishing blow, had no fucking clue what just happened.

Among them, the only person piecing things together was Soso. “It’s him...”

At her words, both Theresa and Sang-Soo whipped their heads toward Do-Jin at breakneck speed.

“Ohh, I see. You slipped in a spell right before she attacked, huh? I was too nervous to even notice. Ha-ha.”

“Yeah, me too. Jesus, I don’t care how weak my attack was supposed to be... When a massive iron fist is flying at your face, you panic, alright?”

Seeing the two dumbasses laughing in delayed realization, Soso let out a deep sigh. “Alright, mister. Mind explaining what the hell you just did? I saw black smoke flickering around that thing right before it broke apart.”

“Oh, that? It was just a curse. Thought I’d test it out, but it seems to work better than I expected.” Do-Jin glanced at his own hand with a look of admiration, as if even he was impressed with himself.

Of course, his acting was flawless, pulling off the nonchalance without a sweat.

“Ohhh! So that’s what you meant when you said you wanted to test something earlier? But wait... curses eat up a ton of mana, don’t they?”

Theresa’s concern was valid. Curse magic was infamous for its absurd mana consumption, but what most people didn’t realize was that the bulk of that mana didn’t go into the curse itself. It was spent breaking through the target’s magic resistance.

And Iron Golems? Those motherfuckers had dogshit magic resistance.

Do-Jin smirked.

This was only the beginning. The weaker the enemy’s resistance, the less effort it took to break through, meaning the spell drained far less mana.

When Do-Jin slapped the defense-reducing curse onto a creature that only had its absurd durability going for it, all that physical defense got obliterated. Of course, explaining all this step by step was a pain in the ass, and he’d rather spend that time killing more golems instead.

“I mean, compared to AoE spells, the mana efficiency isn’t even that bad... Honestly, isn’t this a better way to hunt? It’s not like we can pull massive mobs like the other parties anyway,” Do-Jin explained.

No one in the team questioned him further. Soso was the type to just roll with it, while Theresa and Sang-Soo were damage dealers through and through, neither of whom had any interest in tanking. Besides, the party dynamic had already shifted. Do-Jin was calling the shots now, whether anyone said it out loud or not.

“Alright. Swordsman, you’re the fastest, so you’re on mob-pulling duty. Warrior, as soon as I cast a curse, you go in and finish them off. This way, our healer won’t be under as much pressure. Without a tank, things can get messy if we overpull.”

The team followed his instructions without hesitation. Until now, they’d all been stuck in an awkward limbo, waiting for someone to take the lead. The moment Do-Jin stepped up with a solid plan, they instinctively fell into place behind him. And once they got into rhythm, the hunt became smooth sailing.

“T-Theresa! I’m dying over here!” Sang-Soo whined, dragging a pack of golems behind him and calling out to her like his life depended on it.

[Curse of Softening]

Do-Jin cast his spell, dark wisps of smoke swirling around the golems before fading. Theresa, seeing the signal, spun her warhammer in her hands like a goddamn baseball slugger.

“HHRRRRAAAAGH!” Theresa let out a sound that was somewhere between a battle cry and a cartoon character getting stepped on.

[Crushing Strike]

Her hammer crashed down, obliterating the lead golem and sending a shockwave through the ones behind it. This was pure strength, raw attack power, and a weapon built for one-hit kills. Theresa had poured everything into brute force, and it showed.

With the front line reduced to rubble, Sang-Soo swapped from mob-puller to cleanup crew, dashing in to finish off whatever was left standing. Meanwhile, Soso kept up heals and buffs as needed. They weren’t pulling mobs in massive waves like the other parties, but their kill speed and efficiency were leagues ahead.

The people who had previously laughed at Do-Jin’s group were now watching in silence. Their expressions had shifted from smug amusement to stunned disbelief as this party, with their wrong setup and bullshit strategy, started cutting through monsters faster than anyone else.