Reincarnated in the game world ~ A gamer's beginning to [Dungeon job hunting recommendation]

"It's my turn this time, so I will blow the flute!"

"Sure, we're counting on you, Lana."

After a quick rundown of the rare boss’s patterns and our strategy, it was time for the usual routine—blowing the «Flute».

The success rate of the «Flute» was 70%, but the question was 'will we be lucky today?'

In my opinion, we must be getting a rare boss today for sure. I had been regularly putting an offering to «Sachineko-sama» and «Koneko-sama» ever since the day «Cat Dungeon». I couldn't help but feel we might get a «Gold Chest»...no, even the «Beauty-4-Phenomenon» might be possible! This dungeon was literally a treasure trove of the most rare drops among all intermediate dungeons! Imagine four of them... hehe... fuhahaha!

"Zephyr is smiling again. I bet he is thinking something weird again."

"You mustn't say that, Sierra-dono. Zephyr-dono always has our best interest in mind."

"But, Zephyr does have his intense greed for materialistic things."

Oops. I lost my character for a moment there. 

Sierra gave me the half-closed eyes expression she usually had. Ester came to my defense, but Karua sided with Sierra on this one. Well, she wasn't wrong. I had more thoughts about drops in my mind than anything else! Please, bless us with amazing luck, «Sachineko-sama?!"

"You guys are unbelievable! I am here about to start, and you all are gossiping around! I want in on the conversation!"

"Wait, no, just continue! It wasn't intentional, continue with the «Flute»."

"Geez, fine. ——!"

As usual, the whistle-like melody echoed in the Safe Area, and with that, «Flute»'s usage count dropped by one. 

"Alright, time for the main event! Let's move out, team!"

" " "Let's gooo!" " "

Come home, oh my dear rare boss!

I pushed open the doors and stepped inside to find... nothing. The room was empty. No teleportation circle glowing, no movement.

"Yes! We hit the jackpot! Rare boss confirmed!"

"I’ll take point. Everyone, get into position—«Quad Aegis of Virtue»!"

"I am already on it! «Greater Protection»! «Anti-Magic Blessing»! «Debuff Protection Blessing»!"

In the fleeting seconds before the rare boss popped, we acted on our roles. This brief window of preparation was exactly why these rare bosses, despite their stats, were often easier to handle than true advanced-grade bosses. 

Rare bosses were certainly superior versions of regular bosses, but they're still a tier below advanced-grade, and the reason was this prep time.

Sierra deployed her floating shields into a defensive formation, locking together to form a solid wall as she moved to the front.

Ester, Karua, and I fanned out. I took the center to keep an eye on Lana, while Karua flanked left and Ester took the right. It’s become our standard operating procedure lately.

Lana stayed back, unleashing a barrage of buffs to power us up. Since the boss hadn't spawned yet, aggro was yet to set on anyone, meaning she could go wild with the spells without worrying about being targeted.

But, the fleeting moment soon came to pass. 

The center of the boss room began to glow—the telltale effect of a rare boss's spawning.

Emerging from the light was a massive, demonic creature resembling a Minotaur. It had a hulking frame and four arms; two on the right holding a sword and a staff, and two on the left holding the same.

——«Brenmor, the Dark-Horned Beast», or «Bumor» in short.

That's our cue!

"MOOOOOOOO!!!"

"It's the opening move, Magic Missile Barrage! Sierra, you're up!"

"«Cover Shield»!"

It was the default starting move of «Bumor». This attack ignores aggro, and had no set direction. It was an indiscriminate barrage, like the shots fired from a shotgun, but also wide-spread. It could easily deal heavy damage to first-timers.

But I was here, so we're well prepared.

«Cover Shield» was typically a one-time block skill, but with enhancement from «Quad Aegis of Virtue» skill, it now had a 'lasting' trait, perfectly covering everyone from the damage. Sierra herself simply hunkered down behind her kite shield and tanked the hits straight. 

Zero damage. The barrage didn't even leave as much as a graze. Hehe, that was why she was our tank! 

"Alright, counter-offensive! «Sonic Sword»! «Brave Slash»!"

"Hn! —«Force Sonic»! «64 Force»!"

"Moving in—«Spear Charge»! «Raging Spear War Dance»!"

"MOOOOOOOO!!!"

After firing its magic, Bumore always takes a moment to glare at its prey. My strategy was to exploit that moment.

We closed the distance with dash skills, landing our first hits before unloading our heavy-hitters to shave off its HP. My «Brave Slash» landed first, proccing a defense debuff, which allowed Karua and Ester’s follow-up strikes to hit like a freight train.

"Okay, back off! Hit and run!"

"Roger that!"

"Got it!"

Right on cue, «Bumor» swung its two massive greatswords in a «Horizontal Cleave». It’s a scripted response to being surrounded, making it easy to dodge if you know it’s coming.

The three of us backstepped in unison just as the blades tore through the air where we had been standing. *Boom*, the air burst open like a thunder cloud. I didn't even want to imagine the aftermath if it struck someone. Looking at the sheer scale of the beast, I couldn't help but grin. This is what it’s all about.

Now, it was Sierra’s turn to shine. She needed to lock down the aggro while the boss was still recovering.

"«Aura Point»! «Shield Force»! «Taunt»! «Guard Stance»!"

Sierra went all-in on her aggro skills, instantly overturning the existing aggro «Bumor» shifted its murderous gaze from us to her.

"MOOOOOOOO!!"

Bumor conjured two massive fireballs and launched them before wreathing itself in flames, turning its own body into a third projectile. It was its charge skill, powered by both magical and physical might—«Blazing Demon-Bull».

"No matter how hard you hit, you won't break my shield—«Divine Shield»!"

"MOOOOOOO!!"

Sierra’s four small shields merged into a glowing cross, forming the ultimate defense. The fireballs shattered against it on impact, and when «Bumor» himself slammed into the barrier, there was a deafening CLANG! The beast was stopped dead in its tracks, its flames extinguished instantly.

She was our immovable bastion for a reason! And we weren't about to let this opening go to waste!

"«Agility Blessing»! «Blessing of Guardian Dog»! «Blessing of Sacred Demon»! I'm launching my big attacks—«Sacred Shining Sabers»!"

"Moooo?!"

Lana also finally got her turns, switching from buffing skill to her signature massive attacks. The four swords, as if forged from the light itself, impaled «Bumor» in succession. 

Just as she'd finished, we began our assault.

"Let's go! «Holy Sword»! «Vanquish Lightning»! «Quick Strike»!"

"Prepare yourself! «Defense Down»! «Starburst - Rain Edge»! «Star Burst Tornedo»!"

"«Triple Shot»! «Precise Thrust»! »Flash Stab»!"

Everyone knew Sierra would stop the monster dead on its track. We just had to wait for the chance, and sure enough, no one lagged behind.

"MOOOOO!"

«Bumor» let out a roar of pure rage as its HP bar took a massive dive. Suddenly, it flared its cloak—the telltale sign of its ultimate AoE skill!

"All-target attack inbound! Brace yourself—"

"Bumooooooo!!"

Before I even finished my warning, Bumor flipped its staff upside down and slammed them into the ground with bone-rattling force.

In an instant, spiderwebs of lightning erupted from the impact point, surging across the entire floor of the room.

"Ngh—?!"

"Nya?!"

"Kyaa!"

Screams erupted from Ester, Karua, and Lana. 

This was the boss’s room-wide AoE. Since it travels through the ground, the trajectory was erratic and nearly impossible to dodge. The only "correct" play was to take a defensive stance and tank it. But defensive stance wasn't a skill; it’s just a posture. The damage was still there.

I scanned the party. Ester was down about 20% HP. Karua had taken over 30%. Lana was only down about 10%, just in the margin I expected given her overall resistance.

"Lana, heals! Now!"

"O-on it! «All-Heal Prayer»!"

"MOOOOOOOO!"

"Damn, it's going to use «Dark Breath» next! «Recovery»!"

"I got debuffs! Did it manage to pierce through the defense of «Debuff Resistance Blessing»?!"

Just as the party’s HP bars filled back up, «Bumor» exhaled a cloud of black mist, a skill that inflicted 1~3 random debuffs. It was truly a fearsome skill. 

Ester was inflicted with «Poison», and Karua faced «Confusion». It was a single debuff, a silver lining. The effect from «Debuff Resistant Blessing» must've prevented the others.

"Meew? Mew-mew-mew?! The ceiling is on the floor! The curry is upside down?!"

"Karua, get a grip! «Prayer of Purification»!"

"Ah—huh? What was I... Where did the islands of rice and the oceans of curry go?!"

"You can have curry as a reward once we kill this guy!"

"I'm on it now!"

And Karua was back. I was honestly a little curious about what exactly she was seeing during that state.

"Thank you, Zephyr-dono! «Long Thrust»!"

"No sweat! You can count on me anytime! «Thunderbolt»!"

Ester's gratitude flowed in as I helped her with my «Recovery». Technically speaking, I should've been helping Karua first, but she'd wandered out of my field of view, so I decided to focus on her. 

Fortunately, Sierra and I had resisted it entirely.

Still, the threat of status ailments was still breathing near our neck. 

"MO-MO-MO-MO!!"

"«Flame Tide» is next!"

Yet again, it was another AoE attack. A literal tsunami of fire.

We all hunkered down to block.

"MOOOOOOO!!"

"Kuh! «Material Shield»! «Fortress Shield»!"

Immediately after the tide passed, «Bumor» lunged at Sierra, unleashing a frenetic dance with its two greatswords that began to chip away at her HP. 

It was still relentless like a crazy ghost. We had the upper hand early on because we knew the patterns, but the sheer raw power was starting to catch up to us.

Every hit continues to wear us down, testing the limit of our defense. Honestly, I worried our defense might fall short a little. 

It'd better drop a nice piece of equipment when we brought it down!!