Blind Gunner

7.

This is bad, Phantom's remaining HP is not more than 10% of the maximum total HP he has. This was a huge disaster for us because of the frozen debuff he got from Charmain that decreased his evasion, and dodge, which makes his movement become slow. Evo turned to face me, and I'm sure he was thinking the same thing I was. 'Who should hold the aggro?!'

"Help Phantom please..!!"I understand what Evo means. We immediately split up, with me running towards Phantom and Evo moving in the opposite direction. Evo distracted Charmain and it worked. He spams skills so his aggro easily goes up compared to me and Phantom. Give time for me to help Phantom recover his HP by using the heal skill.

"Enough, Monck!" HP Phantom may not be fully recovered, only 45% of the maximum total HP he has. I looked at Evo, he didn't make a single hit. Just dodging as often as he could from Charmain's every attack. "Charmain has immunity when hp above 30%, while 30% below Charmain's resistance will increase. Require spam interrupt to make damage dealt always critical!" Hearing Phantom's explanation I didn't understand at all.

"Main points please!" That's hard for me to understand. 

"I can't thwart attacks when hp is above 30%, avoid fatal damage from this boss in your way!"

"Okay," now, that's easier for me to understand.

"Spike, help me!" Charmain issued a skill that was able to create an area full of thorns, confining Evo so he couldn't run anywhere. "Help me!".

I tried to take aggro replacing Evo, pulling Charmain towards me. Herding the mad angel away from my team, so that it could leave Evo and give Phantom a chance to recover mana points. Charmian's attack pattern is easier to learn than the crazy dragon from the mount of Damavand because it has slow movement. The main issue was that Charmain possessed the ability to make thorny areas. If I don't have time to dodge, it would lock my movement. That's making Charmain easier to attack me.

The main damage skill that Monck has is only destruction shots, nothing else. The other 4 to 5 attack skills he has only provide ailment, and cannot be classified as damager skill. Luckily with just one destruction shot Charmain's HP can be drained, leaving 20% ​​of the total max HP this boss has.

The Phantom did a skill that caused a tumble debuff just before Charmain was about to launch an ice cannon attack at me,  that skill from the Phantom thwarted Charmain’s ice cannon skill. Evo did not waste the opportunity, when Charmain still got the debuff he ran and immediately attacked Charmain. Evo jumped while swinging his two swords in the air. Using the same skill to kill the nutcracker. Starting combo with a skill that gives Charmain debuff freeze for a moment, then cut the mad angel down very quickly. One cover strike from Evo has saved us.

...

We can't go any further than the fourth floor of the celestial tower; it's impossible with our current abilities. Evo had to log out from 9 Guardians as well because there was a class. Only Phantom and I remained, and we walked through the dark forest to Filanesia City. I didn't expect to just finish our 3 floors; it took almost 1.5 hours.

"Are you Indonesian?" Surprised when Phantom asked me that.

"Yes!"

"Same, I'm from Surabaya. Evo was my friend, we met when I was in a student exchange two years ago, and we remain good friends to this day. Where are you from?".

"Tulungagung, but sometimes to Malang to help my mother!"

"Work?" He asked me. 

"Ya!"

"We've been playing this game since 5 months ago, and Evo was the one who guided me to where I am now," the two of them already know each other as I expected. "But maybe we need another one, to make a full team!"

"I also think it will be difficult to survive with only 3 people. Moreover, my level is still very low," I feel inferior if I have to compare my level with the two of them.

We noticed a crowd in front of the dungeon board. We approached the crowd out of curiosity, and they immediately turned their heads toward us. Phantom and I just stared at each other, and then thunderous applause erupted in downtown Filanesia.

"CONGRATS...!!"

Confused, when we looked at the virtual screen near the guardian statue our names were ranked 98th out of 100 for completing the day's fastest celestial tower. Phantom as the leader is at the top, followed by Evo and me at the last.

"Wow...!" Still in disbelief. Just a moment ago I was admiring all the names on the screen, but now Monck is there. Unbelievable.

We are in the top 100 fastest teams to complete the celestial tower today. "Cool!" Phantom seemed to still not believe it.

"Congratulations!" A player sent me a barter invitation, and he gave me 100 pieces of the very expensive nutcracker to consume the buff item. "Don't forget to use it tomorrow!"  Phantom also received the same buff item.

"I can't believe we made it into the top 100, I never even made it to the 3rd floor before. This is the first time for me!" Phantom seems so happy.

"Will we be able to continue dungeon tomorrow?" I doubt it. Just now, when defeating Charmain, Phantom was almost killed. Can't imagine what's boss or creatures on the 4th floor of the celestial tower. "Or today is it just luck?" I think we were just lucky for today.

We just stared at each other. "It's ok if today we just got a bit of luck, we at least tried. I'll look for another member that might help us make this team complete!" I agreed with Phantom. I thought about Yoga, but considering all the busyness at the hospital I couldn't recommend him to become our team.

"Okay".

"Monck, I apologize in advance. May I ask for your discord address? Me and Evo communicate with each other to make it easier for us to play, so we can strategize better. I also want to do it with you".

"Sure!" We said goodbye after I gave him the discord address.

...

I just finished sending out some old books to donate. I gave it to a friend who works as a librarian at an elementary school in Malang, but suddenly the disastrous cell phone rang. "It's 1 A.M., you don't see the time, do you?!" That's Graff. The astral being doesn't seem to know when humans are scheduled to sleep.

"Congrats ...!" 

"What for?" I was trying to process as he congratulated me. 

"There's only 3 of you, but you're already in the top 100. That's cool!" I understand now what he means.

"I think we just got lucky. One of our team members almost got killed when defeated Charmain!" Graff is still silent. "We were able to survive up to the 2nd only and are very grateful. If we are on the 3rd floor, then I think it's just luck".

"How about tomorrow?" Instead, Graf may be asked questions that he may already know the answer to.

"Our team is not complete now. If tomorrow we can find 1 more person then we will continue," I am very sleepy and tomorrow morning I have to get up at 4 to cook. "Are you done?". 'Is he okay? Graf Becomes quieter than usual.

"Are you having trouble finishing dungeons?" This is the question I was looking forward to from Graf.

"There are a lot of problems with finishing the dungeon. Do you know what is boss on the next floor is?" I'm very curious. Especially on Charmain, how come peeking through the door we're already pulling the aggro?

"Yeah. I know," he paused for a moment.

"I checked every video that you gave me, but a part of the dungeon is missing. Can you explain what kind of monsters there are?"

Graf, still silent. "Are you still there?".

"Yes..."

"This is just advice for you. It is completely up to you, whether you will do it or not". I hastily got up, when I was already half asleep. "Back off!" Those words struck me like a bolt of lightning on a bright day. I have no choice but to remain silent. "First I need to know the quality of your current team. If they don't live up to my expectations, you should find another one. You met them by chance as well, so leaving them at the start before proceeding should be no problem right?!" I seemed to see another side of Graf. He's so cruel. "Then I need to know their level, equipment, and understanding in the dungeon. Even Yoga's team hasn't made it to the 60th floor of the celestial tower!" I was very surprised to hear that. "Han, Monck is part of the fifth biggest guild in 9 Guardians. If your team rank drops in the dungeon, then the Guild's name will be tainted. Back off, if you fill your team still not enough to finish this dungeon. I will teach and give you whatever you need to complete the celestial tower quest". It's hard, leaving them feels so hard for me. We may only meet virtually as Monck, Phantom, and Evo, but working as a team with them in the celestial tower creates a bond similar to the one I have with my friends in real life. If I had to leave them just because they didn't meet the qualifications that Graff wanted, it would be too cruel. On the other hand, I have to be professional. My presence in 9 Guardians is for work, not pleasure. in 9 Guardians is for work, not for fun. I was paid quite a bit. It was very difficult to put humanity or professionalism in work first.

"Are all the players starting from newbies like me?" 

"Does it mean?"

I notice a significant difference in damage between Monck and Evo, even though our level differences are too far. Evo's damage is significantly lower than Monck's. This is an indication that he probably won't meet Graf's criteria. So, of course, I already know the ending of Graf's decision if he knows my team. "Can they become members of your guild? Honestly, I can't leave my team. Even though their quality is far from what you'd expect. We're both newbies, I'm just lucky because of Monck. If I use another account, I believe the condition would be the same as theirs," Graf was silent. "You can send me to fight with any team in the celestial tower to defend the guild's reputation, but I can't completely abandon them!"