Innately, magic-based classes that wore robe armor had low HP. Typically, a Warlock’s HP maxed out at around 9,000. However, Cha Sa-yoon’s current HP was a staggering 24,000. It was an unreal figure, far beyond what buffs alone could explain.
[Server] Nawal: What the hell do you have equipped to get a robe’s HP that high?
[Server] BadaMatDashima: Looks like they gained HP at the cost of something huge.
That was correct. Sa-yoon was wearing Guardian-class armor that had been fully reinforced. It was embedded with pure HP shards, and all three stat options on each piece of equipment were also dedicated to HP. A few days before the defense battle, Oath’s Vow had willingly lent it to him. On top of that, his party members, Oath’s Vow and Freedeal, were providing HP-boosting buffs.
Since tank gear didn’t have magic-based stat options, his attack power was practically nonexistent. The damage numbers floating above Ares’s body were almost comically small.
But Sa-yoon had something he needed to prove in this defense battle, even if it meant giving up his ranking.
Some might scoff, calling it a ridiculous sense of pride.
For two years, he had been treated as nothing more than dead weight, shunned from parties for his class. No matter how many guides he wrote—“Efficient Warlock DPS Cycle Tips,” “Reaching 1 Million Cumulative Warlock Damage”—people’s perception never changed.
Rather than expecting a response from the game developers, who had ignored countless inquiries, Sa-yoon chose to prove it himself.
Seeing is believing, after all. Warlocks weren’t trash-tier characters. At the very least, his Warlock wasn’t.
[Renove’s Temptation has been activated.]
[For 12 seconds, damage received is reduced by 30%.]
After Temptation came Confusion, and then Betrayal. The skills Killer had mentioned were lining up perfectly, allowing him to endure each hit.
He wasn’t a Blade Master who occasionally stepped in as a tank when none were available, nor a Demon Hunter with high evasion skills—he was a Warlock, and he was tanking.
Could this really work? The players watching the commander hesitated for a moment before their hands moved faster across their keyboards.
Of course, a Warlock alone couldn’t possibly tank the massive boss of a large-scale defense battle. He was only standing his ground because the healers were pouring heals onto the commander…
[Combat] ‘Guardian’s ShieldBoom’ has used Oath’s Vow on ‘Chasa.’
A protective shield is created, blocking all attacks with a 100% chance for 8 seconds. Stun resistance, status resistance, and binding resistance increase by 3,000.
[Combat] ‘Oath’s Vow’ has used Oath’s Vow on ‘Chasa.’
A protective shield is created, blocking all attacks with a 100% chance for 8 seconds. Stun resistance, status resistance, and binding resistance increase by 3,000.
The guardians of the unit, without exception, used Oath’s Vow on Chasa.
[Server] SogogiDugeun: At this point, isn’t he a WarPriest instead?
[Server] GegulGegulFrog: Whoa, the Warlock has more HP than a Blade Master!
[Server] KongalKongal: But how does this even work? No matter how I look at it, I don’t get it
[Server] Greenland: Does it matter?
[Server] Lemonade: What matters is~ the unbreakable Warlock~
[Server] Shokrates: Everyone, full DPS, go go go go go go go go go go go!
[Server] HermannHosse: Never thought I’d live to see a Warlock tank.
[Server] CinnamonPowder: Can you actually succeed in defense as a Warlock? Does that mean we can too?
[Server] SogogiDugeun: Gasp, it’s down to 3%!
[Server] Gaisar: ♡♡ Warlock-hyung, keep fighting ㅜ
Sa-yoon suddenly felt that this was such a strange moment.
He had always played siege battles alone, never even joining a unit. But now, not only was the guild bustling with people, but he had also somehow ended up as the commander. And because of that, he was receiving everyone’s support and encouragement.
[‘Killer’ is cheering you on.]
[Combat] ‘Killer’ has used Self-Sacrifice on ‘Chasa.’
For 30 seconds, redirects damage taken.
Amidst the flood of messages, a familiar phrase flashed by. Then, a familiar buff activated.
His dangerously fluctuating HP momentarily surged back to full. Meanwhile, in the corner of his monitor, Killer’s HP bar rapidly drained, and his evasion skills triggered and disappeared in quick succession.
Now that he thought about it, everything had started with Killer.
He had encountered all kinds of bizarre people in this game, but Killer was by far the most unpredictable of them all.
Even when one side kept trying to sever ties, the other remained stubbornly persistent, openly expressing affection without hesitation. It was impressive in a way.
If only he hadn’t been so persistent at the start, maybe—just maybe—they could have gotten along surprisingly well.
If he were completely out of sight, maybe it wouldn’t bother him. But with Killer lingering around so obviously, making his presence known, it was impossible to ignore him.
“You said not to block you, didn’t you?”
He was trying so hard—maybe Sa-yoon should at least unblock him.
Even though he had decided to leave the guild after this defense battle, that didn’t mean they had to act like complete strangers. If Sa-yoon knew Killer at all, then the moment he unblocked him, he’d probably start following him around again.
Besides, with how small this server was, even if he cut things off cleanly, there was still a high chance they’d run into each other somewhere.
[The Furious War God Ares is preparing his final strike.]
[Due to the effect of the Yellow slate, a barrier has been created that absorbs a total of 20,000 attack power for 10 seconds.]
While he was debating, Ares’s HP dropped below 3%, triggering the ultimate attack notification. The boss raised its spear high, repeating its attack pattern like a giant pestle pounding garlic into the ground.
Victory was within reach. Every player who realized this started throwing down AoE skills and damage-over-time effects in an attempt to land the final hit. Even Sa-yoon, who had been focusing on defense, wasn’t an exception.
Finally, Ares’s nearly invisible sliver of HP ticked from 1% to 0%.
[You have obtained 23,117 points from the Furious War God Ares.]
[‘Shokrates’ has defeated the Furious War God Ares.]
[Server] Shokrates: ♡♡
[Server] Jijeos: Wow… honestly, I thought we were gonna fail.
[Server] Hera: I can’t believe we pulled it off.
[Server] SeasonalCucumber: 5252, I believed in us!
[Server] BuffSharpshooter: Are you guys sure Warlocks are trash? Because their summons just tanked Ares’s attack twice.
[Server] Leopield: Maybe Warlocks were actually tanks all along but got put in the wrong job category.
[Server] Phoenix: Nah, I don’t think so.
[Server] InsaneSharpshooter: Don’t know about that, but our commander was definitely good.
[Server] Shokrates: Right? Right? ㅇㅅㅇ
[Server] BuffSharpshooter: Guess the only trash-tier class left is Sharpshooter now… ㅜ
[Server] Hera: Good work, everyone.
[Server] Furotin: Thanks for the hard carry~
[Server] TtiTttoPotto: Treasure vault run, anyone? @@@@@
The defense battle was over. As the server chat flooded with messages, a ranking pop-up appeared.
Everyone’s gaze shifted to the name at the very top.
1st Place: Apollon
The name displayed wasn’t Chasa’s, nor was it Oath’s Vow.
“Ah….”
[Guild] Furple: So close ㅜ
[Guild] GegulGegulFrog: This server… is no joke.
[Guild] Oath’s Vow: Good work, everyone.
Oath’s Vow ended up in 3rd place. Considering that Shokrates, a Black Mage who could compete for top damage, had dropped out, and Killer had suffered some DPS loss, it was still an impressive ranking. But that didn’t stop it from feeling frustrating.
Meanwhile, Sa-yoon had placed 12th. His personal attack contribution had been low, but the party-wide points had boosted him significantly.
…This was really just being carried, wasn’t it?
And to his surprise, the name listed right above his was Killer’s.
[Unit] Commander – Chasa: Good work, everyone.
After disbanding the unit, Sa-yoon immediately whispered Oath’s Vow. If anyone had worked the hardest in this battle, it was him.
[Whisper] Chasa: Oath-nim, you really worked hard.
[Whisper] Oath’s Vow: You too, Chasa-nim! You did an amazing job for your first time.
The response was surprisingly warm. He had definitely seemed a bit pissed earlier—did he cool off now that it was over?
[Whisper] Chasa: Thanks for carrying me.
[Whisper] Oath’s Vow: Me? .. I didn’t really do much.
[Whisper] Chasa: You did everything. If not for me, you guys would’ve taken 1st place.
[Whisper] Oath’s Vow: Eh, these siege battles always have a lot of variables. The fact that we didn’t die is what really matters.
He was humble, too.
After dealing with all sorts of lunatics in this game, seeing someone who was both normal and skilled made Sa-yoon instinctively type more politely.
Damn… this really was a shame. Should he at least send a friend request?
Having chosen such a cursed class, Sa-yoon had long stopped using his friends list. No one had ever sent a request to a Warlock, after all.
[Whisper] Oath’s Vow: If I had to tank as a robe class, I wouldn’t have been able to do it either.
[Whisper] Chasa: That’s only because you lent me your gear.
[Whisper] Oath’s Vow: Oh, that? Haha…
[Guild] Freedeal: Those two are at it again♡♡
[Guild] GegulGegulFrog: Are they roaches or what? No matter how many times they get smacked down, they keep coming back.
[Guild] Shokrates: Huh? Where?
Suddenly, hostile messages flooded the guild chat.
Sa-yoon, who had been focused on whispers, switched to the server channel. The discussion about the defense battle was still going strong.
[Server] RedAlert: Lol, props to our puppet commander~
[Server] GreenLight: Puppet commander LMAO that’s so accurate kkkㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
[Server] Hameron: If I had full Guardian gear and got that much support, I could tank just as well LOL
Somewhere along the way, a trigger had been pulled, and Noize guild members had crawled out to throw shade into thin air.
It wasn’t even worth engaging.
“Bullshit.”
Not engaging didn’t mean it didn’t piss him off.
Just then, his phone, resting at the bottom of his monitor, lit up.
He opened the messenger app, and at the very top, a message had arrived.
[ sj ] Are you okay?
