Against the Clock: The Team Leader’s Pursuit of Glory

The raid leader's job was crystal clear: to command. Tactics to take down the target. Just like the ultimate goal of a raid was victory, the real skill of a raid leader lay in how efficiently they achieved that victory.

Among Hunters, raid leaders usually fell into three categories. Planning-types, Instinctive-types, and On-site types.

The 'Planning-types' were exactly what they sounded like---someone who gathered every bit of info before the raid and crafted the perfect strategy. The strategy and tactics team usually handled this role, so it was common for raid leaders to emerge from this department.

Being a Planning-type might sound like the most reliable approach, but when it came to raids, this type wasn't looked upon favorably. Planning-types were essential, but when things went off-script, they were no help at all.

Even if they planned for every possibility, monsters always found a way to surprise you in the chaos of the raid. When they did, a Planning-type raid leader couldn't keep up and this made them practically useless.

That was why this type of a raid leader was becoming a thing of the past. The second type, 'Instinctives,' were a mystery, even to someone like Kang Mu-hyuk. They relied on their instincts that they'd honed through countless hunts, and tapped into knowledge they gained consciously or unconsciously. This let them carve out a path to victory on the fly.

Instinctive leaders shone brightest in raids. Bosses and named monsters each had their own unique skills. One could prepare for a monster about which they had a lot of information, but with an 'Unknown,' one never knew what to expect.

Instinctives could somehow sense when the boss was about to use a skill. They might not know which exact skill they'd use, but the best Instinctive leaders could tell if it was a single-target, area-of-effect, or even a buff or debuff.

Ju Se-ah was a prime example of this type. Lastly, there's the 'On-site Leader.'

Also known as the 'Calculative' type raid leader. This was the most common type of raid leader, but very few were truly great at it.

The On-site Leader took the meticulous information-gathering of the Planning-types and combined it with real-time analysis and adaptability on the front lines. This was what you'd call the ideal raid leader.

Examples include So Sangyeob, the current expedition leader of the Slayers, and his predecessor Sung Seonjae. Sung Seonjae, in particular, was hailed as the greatest commander in South Korean Hunter history.

It was pretty ironic that instinctive raid leaders like Ju Se-ah thrived under such commanders.

Kang Mu-hyuk watched the raid unfold while biting the inside of his lip.

'My ultimate goal is to be an On-site Leader, but since I'm not a Hunter, I'm stuck being a Planning-type.'

That was why he was not a raid leader but a strategist.

But...

'What's going on?'

What he saw in front of him.

'Flow of mana? Waves? Currents?'

The final phase of the Bomb Spore Flower wave.

The Giant Bomber!

Kang Mu-hyuk could see the mana spewing from the fused boss monster.

Except for during a Gate Outbreak, mana becoming visible was unheard of. Even Kang Mu-hyuk, who was well-versed in all things Hunter-related and Gate research, had never come across this before.

But Kang Mu-hyuk had experienced it once before. When a mysterious being was summoned by the Goblin Matriarch. After something triggered it, since then, Kang Mu-hyuk could now see mana with his eyes.

He also saw mana when he met Aiyla from the World Hunter Federation. It was a clear and refreshing mana, different from the ominous vibe he got from that mysterious being. That was when he first realized there were different kinds of mana.

And now--

With the appearance of the Giant Bomber, he could clearly see mana again.

'Is this similar to what happened before, or is this a new symptom from almost dying recently?'

Kang Mu-hyuk had already figured out that seeing mana was one of the symptoms of mana poisoning. But since this was his first time seeing the mana of a boss monster, he wasn't sure if this started with the Goblin Matriarch or if it got worse after the Sinuiju incident.

'That's not the problem right now. What matters is...'

This was going to be helpful. He felt more confident in his perception of mana than ever.

Kang Mu-hyuk climbed to the rooftop of a two-story building with a clear view of the raid and started issuing orders.

"Relay this to the main tank. Countdown to Flower Bomb activation. Ten. Stand by... Go! 10, 9, 8, 7..."

Through the Hunter whom he assigned at his side as a messenger, he had him relay the boss's skill activation timer via message skill. At the front line, Hwang Dongsu relayed the order to others at the count of '9'.

At '5', he unleashed a shockwave skill by striking the ground with his sword, holding the boss's attention to himself. Meanwhile, the party members retreated.

At '2', he made a wide slash with his greatsword. It pushed back the boss, and Hwang Dongsu retreated.

Zero.

The Giant Bomber's jellyfish-like head rained seed bombs in all directions like a shower head spraying water.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The bombs exploded on impact and burnt everything around them. The seeds that got caught in the blast were annihilated. As its offspring were killed, the boss let out a screech that was like nails on a chalkboard.

"Relay this to the main tank: Take over the role of after-aggro. Make sure they keep the monster locked down---so it doesn't slip out. Change positions. Each party, shield your tank. Push the seeds out of the way to clear space for the tank."

The Hunter sent Kang Mu-hyuk's orders to the field without missing a beat. Keeping up with the nonstop commands was overwhelming. The biggest raid the Hunter had been part of before this was a 12-man team.

Even then, the orders weren't this detailed. Usually, it was just "hold aggro" or complaints about how they needed to deal more damage. But the problem was, these orders weren't the end of it.

"New spore seed squad at 3 o'clock. Fourth party tank, grab aggro within the area. Damage dealers, crowd control them. Pull them in one by one and take them out."

"Party 2, No Song-rin. Large seed cluster at 10 o'clock. Use Stripe strategy. Detailed commands go to the party leader."

"Party 3, Hyun Jeonggeon. Your line's breaking. Recover your position."

"Party 6, support Party 3. Ranged dealer, don't let yourselves get surrounded. Hold the flanks with suppressive fire. Be precise with your area skills---no random blasts."

Kang Mu-hyuk kept it simple for the high-ranked Hunters who were used to raid tactics, leaving the finer details to their judgment. For the rest, he made sure his orders were clear and straightforward.

He used standard party terms every Hunter should know but explained in detail how to respond and issued clear instructions. The Hunters were amazed as they followed Kang Mu-hyuk's orders to the letter.

'Was raiding always this easy?'

'Seriously? This is nothing! Why was I even worried?'

'Iron Will is just a C-rank guild? How incredible must the top guilds be? If a non-Hunter can do this, the rest must be on a whole other level!'

The Hunters, who had been on edge, were now full of misunderstandings thanks to how smoothly the raid was going. And who could blame them? No one was getting hurt or stressed out during this raid.

But the person who was the most surprised by this smooth raid was Kang Mu-hyuk himself.

'If seeing mana makes this possible... Is this what an instinctive raid leader feels?'

When mana concentrated around the Giant Bomber's head, that meant it'd be the Flower Bomb. When it moved toward the legs, it was about to do the Tentacle Sweep. When it gathered at the mouth, it meant Cannon Shot. He could almost perfectly predict the boss's skills and timing.

"We've done well so far, but..."

That didn't make this raid easy by any means. The reason there hadn't been any crisis so far was thanks to their main tank's skill.

Kang Mu-hyuk had given Hwang Dongsu a pretty tricky strategy for dealing with the Giant Bomber.

"Usually, fire magic is the best way to take down the Giant Bomber, but since we don't have that, you'll have to carefully slice it up with a mana sword, like you're burning it bit by bit. But make sure each cut only takes off less than 0.5% of its body. If you cut off more, the fallen pieces will merge with other spore seeds and turn into mid-boss-level monsters. But if you cut off less, that'll cause problems. The spore seeds will eat the pieces and get stronger, but that's easier to deal with than the monsters. If you can't accurately judge the size, just think of cutting a bit less than a quarter of the boss's tentacle."

This made the Giant Bomber trickier to deal with than other bosses. One needed enough attack power to slice through the boss's body in one blow, mana control to pace yourself for the long haul, and patience.

Qualities only high-rank Hunters possessed.

If there were other high-rank damage dealers, they could've finished it off while the tank held aggro(attention), but No Song-rin and Hyun Jeonggeon were busy keeping the seeds from surrounding them.

Kang Mu-hyuk knew that without them, the line would break immediately. So, if other Hunters felt the raid was easy, it was thanks to these high-ranking Hunters' hard work.

'If the spore seeds bunch up and surround us, it'll be like a minefield. If their headcount increased, it'll be annoying, but as long as we keep the line, it's just a matter of time before we handle the rest.'

A risky but manageable strategy.

'We might not even need the Hunter Lee Sookyoung brought as backup. We could win this easily if this keeps up.'

But Kang Mu-hyuk had momentarily forgotten a Hunter's old saying: When three Hunters gather, one of them's bound to be an idiot.

One of the first party's damage dealers watched Hwang Dongsu's careful work and thought: 'Why is he taking so long to kill it like that? It doesn't even seem that tough. Why not just slash it a few more times?'

Despite Kang Mu-hyuk's strict order not to interfere except for holding aggro(attention), the Hunter thought one more slash wouldn't hurt, raised their mana sword and cut off one of the boss's tentacles.

Kang Mu-hyuk saw this, and shouted: "Damn it! Emergency! Hyun Jeonggeon, No Song-rin! Burn those fallen tentacles now!"

He was quick with issuing the order, but the improvised raid team's weakness showed itself at this moment. The Hunter sending messages accidentally relayed it to the wrong person in the rush.

By the time he realized and fixed his mistake, part of the party had already left their positions. To make matters worse, the low-rank Hunters couldn't handle the severed tentacles quickly enough.

The three severed tentacles began absorbing the surrounding spore seeds.

Seeing this, Kang Mu-hyuk gave the command: "Everyone, retreat."

He turned his back and ordered a retreat without any hesitation.

Lee Sookyoung was a highly skilled Hunter.

Although she had fled to North Pocheon after being chased by Chinese Hunters in the Demonic Realm, her activity in a wide range around Jilin City, where the Chinese had hidden a Gate, proved how skilled she was.

This was one reason why Kang Mu-hyuk had tasked her with gathering the rest of the Hunters. Plus, she was a local who had hunted for a long time around the Tumen River, including Daehongdan.

So, Lee Sookyoung knew many of the Hunters active in Daehongdan. Using her connections, she formed a second raid team with Hunters she knew and trusted.

'We don't have the time to waste on hunting monsters. The Guild Leader wants us to cut down the time we spend out here. If I can prove my skills here, I can shoot up my position in the guild.'

Lee Sookyoung was motivated. As this was the first guild she had joined, she wanted to climb up as high as possible.

That was why she had accepted the mission to explore the Demonic Realm. The higher the risk, the greater the reward. Instead of living cautiously as an average Hunter, she wanted to succeed through adventure. That was why she hunted in the dangerous Demonic Realm.

Kang Mu-hyuk had given her some tips, but organizing the raid to meet his expectations wasn't easy. She didn't have a high rank, but Lee Sookyoung was skilled in administrative tasks. Just as she had almost gathered the remaining Hunters at the marked base, a message suddenly arrived from the vice-chairman of the Freelance Hunters Association.

"Hunter Lee Sookyoung."

"Yes, Vice Chairman. What is it?"

"I heard from a fellow Hunter that Guild Leader Kang Mu-hyuk is saying something over the message skill. He's looking for you."

"What did he say?"

"Retreat. He's telling everyone to retreat and regroup at the county office."

"Retreat... You say?"

Lee Sookyoung sensed that something had gone wrong. She was about to ask for a message to be sent to Kang Mu-hyuk for more details when she suddenly heard the sound of a large army running, as if in boots.

"What the...? What is that?"

A scream followed, ill-matched with the southern dialect.

The Hunters turned their eyes in that direction.

"Flower monsters... They're coming in hordes!"

Spore seeds and an unknown giant monster were rushing down the road.

Lee Sookyoung, in a panic, shouted, "R-run!!"