Chapter 207
Chapter 207: Raid: Preparation
"Don't stop, keep going!"
"Ugh...!"
"I'm dizzy—"
-Lol this is fucking intense
-How many hours has it been already
-Could do this all day (seriously)
-Doesn't this mean they can turn even ordinary people into American captains
As declared before even starting, the raid preparation training was incredibly difficult and exhausting.
After all, since 'Reverse Planet' was a virtual reality game, they were physically fine, but mentally... not so much.
Drawing out the power of supernatural abilities without assistance required tremendous concentration, and human concentration ultimately has its limits.
Struggling desperately to surpass those limits inevitably led to extreme fatigue.
What made it even more terrifying was that it didn't end in just one day.
Starting from the moment they opened their eyes in the morning until they lay down in the evening, training, training, and more training continued.
Even those who had some confidence in their stamina gradually began to struggle. To the point where they said non-stop 24-hour gaming sessions were better.
And this was despite Baek Woohyun giving them fairly generous time to eat and sleep.
"Today is another fun training session, everyone!"
"This is... fun...? Then what was the fun I've felt until now...?"
"Nayeon unni. You should join too!"
"No way!"
-Just enjoy it~
-At least I'm having fun lol
-Watching them suffer is legit entertaining
-Poor thing, deceived by fake fun. This is real fun
"...Everyone's gathered. Shall we start right away?"
"Yes!"
Yet despite this, there were three reasons why not a single raid member dropped out.
First was the incredibly high attention that had made them not back down even before Baek Woohyun's terrifying warning at the initial gathering.
-Let's go for today's training
-Got it playing on the side while I train too
-Can't miss it with all the tips being dropped lol
-Thanks to this I broke through Plat and hit Diamond lololol
'Training alone draws this many viewers.'
'As expected, should I call it Hackphysical coaching?'
Even though they hadn't entered the actual raid attempts yet, the increase in viewership was at an absolutely tremendous level.
Not to mention the 'Hack Tour' broadcast channel that mainly featured Baek Woohyun, even the participants' broadcast channels gained anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand viewers.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they'd attracted every floating viewer on Tricky.
Perhaps even more than that.
—[Reverse Planet Gallery]—
✪ Raid prep broadcast is insane value
✪ Tips released by Hackphysical so far.txt
✪ Vote on who's the biggest talent monster among raid members
✪ Organized Hack Raid's first and second string
Moreover, the attention gathering on the raid party could easily be seen in the community. Just looking at the trending posts made it obvious.
Though not everything written was positive, that was inevitable when so much attention gathered.
What mattered was that even the training process and results made it to trending posts.
In other words, working hard to stand out meant leaving an impression on many potential viewers.
"Waaah! Finally completed the build reproduction!"
"Oh, congratulations!"
"I need to hurry up too."
-As expected of Master tier
-Is Bioreu Han the sixth one?
-What are the Masters doing? Let's work harder!
-Followed the same thing but still can't use a single skill properly, recommend if same lol me first lol
The second reason raid members didn't desert was the growth that came with their hard work.
To teach them, Baek Woohyun employed all sorts of strange and unusual methods on top of the teaching methods he'd shown before.
Knowing that orthodox methods alone wouldn't meet the timeline, he freely used teaching techniques only he could employ.
So that anyone who properly followed along could grow at an incredibly fast pace.
This was Baek Woohyun, who could make noticeable growth with just a single coaching session and raise Bronze players to Platinum with just a little time.
And he was sticking beside them all day teaching, while those being taught were talented individuals carefully selected from among countless broadcasters?
It would be strange if their skills didn't grow rapidly during the training period. As long as they weren't just pretending to work hard.
Thus, the raid members who experienced this tremendous growth rate learned even harder. Without even considering desertion.
'If we could have trained longer than this, it would've been better. What a shame.'
However, Baek Woohyun regretted that due to time constraints, the raid members' ability forms had become monotonous.
The raid members couldn't use abilities as freely and flexibly as he did, barely managing to use them at the level they had with assistance.
Having learned the related sensations by switching between assisted and unassisted modes, they became familiar quickly, but their immediate limitations became clear.
To develop further and reach the realm of freely manipulating abilities would require working hard for much longer.
Of course, this regret belonged to Baek Woohyun alone.
The raid members were satisfied enough just with managing to reproduce their ability builds without assistance.
This became even more true after confirming that applying moderate assistance enabled much smoother ability usage than before, making them significantly stronger.
Finally, the third reason no raid members deserted was:
"Next person!"
"This time!" "It's us!"
-Already the twins' turn?
-Going through rounds fast
-Just makes it so easy to understand
-Not for nothing he's a star instructor, real talk;
Baek Woohyun himself, who was working even harder than the raid members being taught.
As mentioned earlier, he was employing all sorts of strange teaching methods only he could use to help the raid members grow.
Naturally, he had to be much busier and more exhausted than the raid members, who had a routine of being taught, practicing alone, then being taught again.
It was embarrassingly incomparable—he truly didn't rest for even a moment.
Yet while he never once let the word "difficult" pass his lips, what would public opinion be like if a raid member tried to desert saying it was hard?
They definitely wouldn't hear anything good, and related content would follow them like a tag afterwards. They'd earn nicknames like "deserter ninja" too.
Moreover, if the raid members managed to achieve the first clear of [Lord of Storms] raid on that day, they'd also be called an idiot who kicked away their fortune.
Knowing this, raid members could only grit their teeth no matter how hard it got, unable to attempt desertion.
"Finally, finally I too—!"
"Congratulations!"
"Now everyone's achieved it!"
"Wow~ to think they'd grow this much in just ten days."
-Damn, that guy didn't even sleep yesterday but finally did it
-No way anyone's saying he was dragging down the whole raid by being the only one who sucked
-Can immediately see the chat that'll get banned lol
-Can't even use skills without assistance but still gives advice
Thus, with one mind and purpose—or maybe not, but at least it looked that way on the outside, so wasn't that fine—as a result of their hard work.
About ten days into the roughly two-week training period, all raid members succeeded in reproducing their preferred ability builds without assistance.
The raid party had finally earned the right to challenge the Hackphysical difficulty [Lord of Storms] raid.
-Grand Master Hackphysical
-A true... master...!
-But seriously the growth is insane
-Everyone reproducing no-assist ability builds in ten days is fuck;
'LifeAchievementChallenger' donated '1000 won'!
[Amazingly, I also improved from Grand Master to Challenger by watching and following along. Just god-tier master]
-Challenger cut off the bragging, right?
-Skip the bragging, it genuinely helps
-Fact) Pro players said they learned a lot from watching 'Hack Tour'
-Mass production of Hackphysical disciples lol
Viewers were astounded that raid members who'd never even tried unassisted mode before had developed this much in just ten days.
Naturally, no one agreed with Baek Woohyun's regret that they couldn't freely manipulate abilities and only managed build reproduction.
It was simply summarized as—Hackphysical's goals are indeed as high as expected of Hackphysical.
'Hmm...'
Baek Woohyun's eyes narrowed as he watched the celebrating raid members. His gaze seemed to be measuring each person's individual skill level.
He realized that if he worked them for just two more days to make them comfortable with unassisted ability usage, they could begin seriously challenging the [Lord of Storms] raid.
They could save about three days from the preparation process he'd set in advance. Those three days would be replaced with growth through actual experience and challenge opportunities.
And indeed, that's what happened.
***
[Storm Fortress—Would you like to enter the [Lord of Storms] raid? (Recommended participants: 16)]
[Yes/No]
"So this is Storm Fortress!"
"The atmosphere is sick."
-Lol
-Feels totally different from the Otherworld Noble raid
-Can't expect nobles and lords to be the same
-Is he a lord because he has his own territory?
"......"
Entering Storm Fortress with the raid members, Baek Woohyun slowly looked around. Storm Fortress was still filled with the Otherworld Lord's power as before.
Meaning they had to get drenched head to toe from the relentlessly raging wind and rain, feeling the unpleasant squelching that came with it.
Like going outside without an umbrella on a day of pouring rain.
Shaaaaa—
"It's raining so much!" "I can't keep my eyes open?"
"This'll be pretty annoying when fighting too."
"Not like we can run the raid holding umbrellas though."
-It's annoying when rainwater gets in your eyes
-Reminds me of that legendary gif of an old singer lol
-??? : Why are the tears flowing like this today
-A raid that's shit from the environmental factors alone
Though in a slightly different direction from Baek Woohyun, the Beau-tiful Twins and other raid members also seemed to realize the Otherworld Lord's power overflowing in Storm Fortress.
They chattered about how the severe wind and rain—that is, the storm—sweeping through the environment would be a significant negative factor in the raid.
Indeed, they were right. Judging by the faint traces of the Otherworld Lord's power even in the rainwater itself, he could pull some tricks with this too.
Moreover, as the Beau-tiful Twins said, rainwater kept getting in their eyes, creating considerable limitations on visibility.
"Let's keep going. This way."
Shaaaaa—
-The rain sounds so loud lol
-At this rate orders might get lost during the fight, right?
-Am I the only one hearing casual raiders exploding? lol
-Need to secure a regular raid spot fast, fuck
After proceeding through Storm Fortress for a while following Baek Woohyun's guidance.
The Otherworld Lord boasting a massive build, [Lord of Storms], suddenly entered their view, standing firm like Mount Tai.
A body like swirling wind and rain, two arms of heavy size and chains connecting to the earth, lightning occasionally shooting out in all directions!
Truly a monster that looked like a spirit crafted from natural disasters.
'The otherworld passage is still there.'
Plus, the passage to the otherworld pierced through his chest.
Baek Woohyun checked whether the raid boss [Lord of Storms] had any differences from his memory, and after confirming it was the same, he sent Redok an eye signal.
During training, Redok had asked him to scan through any changes to the boss and let him know, saying they might be connected to raid mechanics.
"Everyone, please focus for a moment!"
""......"
Having received the 'no changes' signal, Redok nodded once and stepped forward, shouting.