“She’s… kind of small.”
Charming whispers the moment she sees it.
“That’s a monster?”
PrettyGirl sounds a little put off as she asks. At a glance, it’s just a girl.
“Yeah. She’s a boss, so stay sharp. As I briefed you—just dodge the patterns cleanly.”
“I’ll hard-cover the front no matter what. Jooho-nim and PrettyGirl-nim, take the flanks. Charming-nim, deal from anywhere except my lane.”
Shield Warrior advances with a square shield hung with bells; the boss stretches and rises. She looks like a girl, but the plantlike vines and the black miasma circling her make it obvious she’s a beast.
A named boss—Trine.
As Shield Warrior gets closer, a green vine like a whip slams his shield.
His HP drops less than I expected.
He tilts the shield a hair at the instant of impact, shaving the angle and soaking most of the damage.
Watching that, I slip around to the side—whips snap at the flank too.
From how they fire the instant you take position, she can attack in all directions.
I angle my Forest Longsword to deflect the whip before it lands.
My HP goes down even less than Shield Warrior’s.
He glances my way, briefly surprised.
PrettyGirl kites wide to avoid, then dives back in with her longsword for damage.
Charming’s ranged, so she’s relatively free against these—she just shifts her position on the fly.
Shield Warrior and I are almost chest-to-chest with Trine; PrettyGirl gets used to it and stops backing out much at all.
We get through the whip window and deal—then a big AoE comes out.
“You need to back off for this.”
Even Shield Warrior pulls way back.
So does PrettyGirl. Charming keeps shooting from afar.
I heard the call, so I fall back, too.
A huge red circle blooms on the ground; from her whips, hundreds of black seeds spill across the area.
They’re a little slow, but each one that hits ground hisses like acid burning through.
Hm. What to do about this.
I keep my twin blades in hand—and jump straight into the red circle.
“Huh?!”
“Jooho-nim?”
“You’re not supposed to do that.”
PrettyGirl, Charming, and Shield Warrior each blurt something at once.
Jaejung-hyung said to just avoid this, but it feels doable—so I charge Trine, ramping up my senses until the world seems to funnel toward me.
I can see the trajectories of dozens of oncoming black seeds—one by one, I flick them aside with my swords, batting them to the ground nearby.
“You really exceed expectations every time.”
Shield Warrior laughs like someone whose soul just left.
Charming and PrettyGirl, meanwhile, wear an inexplicable, excited look.
Surprisingly, once I punch through the seeds, the inside is calm—the eye of a storm. I rake Trine’s neck over and over with both blades; the AoE drops immediately, and she’s left doing nothing.
“Huh? That wasn’t in the plan. Go!”
At Shield Warrior’s word, PrettyGirl rushes back in.
This time all of us stick to her; outside the AoE, she doesn’t seem to have any other patterns, and we shave her HP cleanly.
Supposedly she normally full-heals during AoE, but this makes it trivial. According to Jaejung-hyung, the whip phase and AoE phase repeat for ages—we’re skipping cycles in one go.
After a long stretch of damage, the pattern shifts again.
Her whole body goes black, black whips sprout, and she lashes the surroundings at insane speed.
“If that catches you, it drains HP. If you’re grabbed, call it immediately—someone else has to free you. While she does this, her HP ticks down, so just hold out.”
Everyone nods.
Shield Warrior works mid-range, drawing aggro and knocking aside coils with his shield; Charming and PrettyGirl run for their lives whenever they can.
I try to cut the black whips and learn I can’t, so I kite—and every time Charming, PrettyGirl, or Shield Warrior gets snared, I dash in and sever the coil.
I can’t knock them away, but I’m confident I won’t get caught; I crisscross the field, rescuing our side.
Starved of blood, Trine eventually shrivels brown, lets out a scream, dies—and a single white flower blooms.
A hefty chunk of ar and EXP pours in at once.
I jump two levels straight to 8.
And for drops—we get our first named items.
***
0 Trine’s Boots / DEF 2
HP Recovery +1
0 Trine’s Shoes / DEF 2
Movement Speed +1
***
Small group really does mean better loot. Or maybe we were lucky.
Two pairs of shoes, two pairs of boots.
Plus a spread of Forest pieces.
“Jooho-nim, you pick first.”
Shield Warrior offers; I look around—everyone nods.
“Mm, Movement Speed sounds right for me.”
I take the speed shoes.
After a quick huddle, Shield Warrior and PrettyGirl take the HP-recovery pair; Charming takes the other speed pair.
We divvy the Forest gear by what each of us lacks.
For a quick boss detour, that’s a lot of profit.
With time up, we log off after agreeing to meet again in the orc region.
***
“Exhausting.”
Jaejung-hyung collapses like a corpse beside the counter. It’s not a bed, you know.
“What is?”
“The Orc Village. We can’t crack it.”
“You already got inside?”
Orc Village. Hottest spot right now.
“The far north is all ravines; to pass through, you have to break the Orc Village. It’s the only path. We went in yesterday—boss and I died side by side.”
“See the boss?”
“Yeah. Holed up deep on an altar. But before you even get close, you’ve gotta clear warriors, mages, archers. That part’s doable, but the chieftain’s on another level.”
“So he’s nasty.”
“The blade goes in, but his HP feels bottomless. Two meters tall, all muscle. Looks strong because he is. And he AoE-stuns—just by roaring. If you’re close, melee drop like flies. They’ve got something like a glaive propped near him—we couldn’t even make him pick it up. Got punched to death. Heh.”
“Just imagining it is dizzying. How do you even kill that?”
“Good question. Next time we’ll try flooding it with bodies. There’s no beating numbers.”
In other words, human-wave tactics. Pay with flesh.
“If we had a way to break the stun, we wouldn’t do this, but none of the grimoires cover that yet.”
Grimoires—that reminds me.
A new notice popped.
***
[Notice]
To allow stat readjustment, we’re granting 1 Stat Reset Scroll (Lv 15 and below) to all server players.
Newly created characters will receive it automatically in inventory.
***
Thanks to the reset, it’s grimoire fever.
Anyone who gets a grimoire can pop a reset and swap into magic.
“Grimoires still expensive?”
“Expensive… Selling out before they hit the shelf.”
“That bad?”
“Yeah. I pulled two—handed one to the party, sold the other. Couldn’t price it in ar, so I took cash. Twenty sheets.”
“Price is brutal.”
“Hottest item there is. Hey—don’t even go near mage spawns. You’ll get a blade in your face.”
“What do you mean?”
“What do you think? There are a few mage spawn points. All the ‘doing well’ types are parked there. If you even pass nearby, they hit you. Don’t rubberneck.”
“Gatekeeping?”
“Kinda, but they’re not controlling anything. It’s just nonstop brawling around there—don’t get caught up. How many people are playing? You think anyone’s controlling that? Gear’s all similar right now. Maybe later.”
“So everyone’s competing for a single grimoire drop.”
“Yep. One drop is enough to split profit among a couple people. If you can hold the spot, jackpot. But nobody’s strong enough to lock it down long; last man standing eats. Plenty of folks camping to ninja it, too. It’s a warzone.”
“Mages are that strong? Why’s the price so insane?”
“It’s weird, honestly. Mages aren’t busted-strong. There are just too many buyers. Shout in the market and your whispers explode.”
“Someone hoarding?”
“No—it’s sheer demand. Plus, you’ve got to reset before level 15, so it’s even tougher. Bows keep getting supplied, so their prices hold. People past 10 might’ve already reset and are just waiting.”
“The company’s gonna eat it. ‘Not releasing enough grimoires.’”
“Only the folks camping mage spawns are thrilled. Maybe I should forget the village and farm grimoires…”
“You’ll break it anyway.”
“You… know me too well. Wanna marry me? I’ll keep your hands clean.”
“I just got goosebumps. Don’t say that even as a joke. I almost hit you for real.”
“Say that twice and I’ll be walking down the aisle in cuffs.”
“I don’t even know where the mage spots are; even if I pass by, I won’t find them.”
“If you see people cutting down passersby, that’s a mage spot. They’ll be kitted in higher-end gear—run if you can. It’s like that across the server.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be careful.”
That’s what I say—but if someone picks a fight, who knows. Might be fun.
***
< Recruiting an Orc Village Breakthrough Squad. >
We aim to be the first on the server to break through the Orc Village.
Philion, Server 3, Orc Village.
Level — 12+
Gear — Forest set or better
Mages and Archers preferred.
Must be able to full-stack potions.
Recruiting 5 parties of 8 (total 40).
Kakao group chat active.
***
Jaejung-hyung’s post on the board.
So he is going to break it. Level 12+ is basically ranker-tier right now. People say EXP past 10 in the orc zone barely moves. And collecting a full Forest set takes time and lots of money—basically recruiting people who swiped.
< Welcome to the world of Lost Sky. >
Brainwaves confirmed.
Joo Seungho. Male.
Character name Jooho. Level 8.
Loading…….
First thing after logging in: the new notice.
***
[Notice]
We are increasing Forest Orc Mage spawn locations by 20×.
We are randomizing Forest Orc Mage spawn locations.
We are increasing Forest Orc Mage grimoire drop rates.
***
As expected, they patched fast. If you can’t become a mage, you want more supply; with people camping and blocking, randomizing spawns makes sense. They can’t just rain grimoires either—fairness issues.
Guess the devs aren’t asleep at the wheel.
Welcome!
Hi!
Hello. Where are you?
As usual, Charming pings first; then PrettyGirl and Shield Warrior.
—Gonna swing by the market to top up potions, then head to the orcs.
I send the same whisper to all three; replies come back in the same vein. Turns out they’re together.
I check stats and gear.
***
Name: Jooho
Level: 8 ▲1
【Strength 2】 【Agility 3 ▲1】 【Vitality 2】
【Intelligence 0】 【Mana 1】
0 Forest Helmet / DEF 2 ◀ NEW
0 Forest Leather Top / DEF 3
0 Forest Leather Bottoms / DEF 2
0 Trine’s Shoes / DEF 2 / Movement Speed +1
0 Forest Arm Guards / DEF 2 ◀ NEW
0 Forest Leg Guards / DEF 2 ◀ NEW
0 Forest Longsword / ATK 2–4 (×2) ◀ NEW
***
From Trine’s kill I gained two levels and dumped them into Agility.
I stock up on potions and take the route Shield Warrior marked toward the orc fields.
The forest fades; we get broad flats, hills, and a land carpeted in brown, parched grasses. I look up—black clouds pack the sky, thunder growling in veins everywhere.
The atmosphere’s killer. End-of-the-world vibes.
I look back—the forest alone sits beneath a bright sky. Just one boundary crossed, and the mood is night-and-day.
Visibility isn’t pitch, more like the sun blotted by storm clouds right before rain. Feels like that frequently rainy U.K. weather.
A little further from the orc field gate, on a hill with a big boulder, Charming, PrettyGirl, and Shield Warrior are gathered.
“Welcome.”
Charming steps ahead with a slight smile.
“You three were together.”
“We figured you’d log around this time, so we met up.”
“I don’t even know what to say. Thanks, honestly.”
“For what? We want to. Don’t worry about it.”
I just smile back.
“Me too…”
PrettyGirl fidgets with her fingers at my side.
Cute.
“I picked up a new shield. Let’s do this right today.”
Shield Warrior lifts it slightly as he speaks. A square shield big enough to cover half his body, with a green tree motif engraved in relief.
He grins. It’s the Forest Square Shield. His hair’s deep green too—shield and all—he looks like a walking tree. I almost feel bad for thinking that.
“Fewer orcs spawn here—twos or threes. Elsewhere it’s six or more, and that’s rough. If you see a lot of archers mixed in, it’s hell. You run.”
He’s clearly scouted. Best to follow his lead. Jaejung-hyung also called archers pure hell.
“But what’s that?”
At my words, everyone turns their heads down the slope where I point.
“That’s…”
“A mage.”
“A grimoire!”
Two regular orcs and a mage have spawned right nearby. So they really did randomize spawns—right here. It’s tucked inside the hill; nobody’s seen it.
And there’s no one around.
“Go, go!”
Shield Warrior’s voice spikes with excitement.
First tag gets it. The four of us sprint without looking back.