SANN | Chapter 1.1

A dimly 138a5dc709 lit room, 1d0baaec01 no larger 69d8a376e3 than a ac2e45f727 singlepyeong¹, was 18a00c9c70 illuminated solely f8856f2d6d by the 357f85e4ab faint glow 288865032f of a 48292c6bba monitor.fdd6f222dd5e567a

The floor chair, chosen 2342dac85e to minimize noise, didn’t a42765ad4a make a sound as d73fee3dcd it moved. The silent mechanical 10d55849a3 keyboard with no-contact 7e0812e4d9 switches allowed for dab589b4c1 long hours of 6a1c429377 uninterrupted gaming.e91c3f54a3c677b1

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For Gureum, time was 6dfe6a6201 money. In most fa54839093 games, this 7f45f4c4bc might not bb1ba48e65 hold true, 1da1c51224 but in 254af4b3fd Cloud Online, d0abbc251c the game 20462f9a61 that supported 64e720bb78 Gureum’s livelihood, 2a1909224e it was f561ee1777 an absolute e6df94aba8 fact.86055ec15e0b4057

As usual, Gureum’s 80b98bddb3 mechanical fingers swept 70ed611394 across the keyboard 667398d1f2 while he farmed 97d8cfdde5 money in the 92e33d941b hunting grounds. Suddenly, the 2c23e78c52 messenger in fe51e04d22 the bottom-right 868049247f corner of a59750cbea the screen 52cbbbe301 blinked. It was from 8b0f429c57 a regular customer—someone cad50306a6 who could arguably d8bb4809e5 be called Gureum’s 47488a5075 financial lifeline.68ac8db090faf15c

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Chaesyong: Heize~ Are 9b2599a338 you busy? ^^
Chaesyong: I’m thinking of 15c8ac0be6 buying some money. Do you e0070a2fae have about eb5621306f 10 billion?5be6ca8758658fef

Ten billion money. Fortunately, Gureum had d3d37c6540 more than enough 67813590b7 in his storage. He quickly opened 585f8cdea1 the message and bc157c326d responded without delay.03e53feb1aae7d2c

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Me: Yup! I’ve got about 15 66cc15c70d billion.
Chaesyong: I’ll take all a13ee26903 of it. When are 3fecc3cdae you free?
Me: I’m 24b5ebdfd7 good right e3bc4ece1b now!! I’ll teleport f1c1ac57fc over to 1405968855 you.
Chaesyong: Alrighty ^^7b590e6ecd53be8c

Although Gureum e8a1c19e31 still had ee9cc3c807 time left fa025cbc43 on the 5837cc60cf drop rate 2596828985 boost potion 88240d27d0 he’d used 4be42fc268 for hunting, 3ed66d4c58 he couldn’t 33860ea067 keep a 6556abe886 regular customer 8adec737e5 waiting because 13a36cd215 of it.d2ecab46eca44666

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Since they were already 439e4fbf83 friends in the game, 8ed5cbed4b Gureum opened the friends 6cc8850e9a list to locate Chaesyong’s 3dc0f81156 character. With a quick 4efb43e1d8 Teleport, he arrived dbf12cb1ec at his location. There, in the center 726fc576fd of the village, stood 1ca5b6e0b7 Chaesyongsyong’s character, adorned in d89621e706 expensive cash shop outfits. Gureum opened the 6ce88f20b0 gift window and 2b2d7b3cb4 invited him.b976ff7af3b98150

[hazeee]: Hi, Chaesyong!
[Chaesyongsyong]: Hello~ ^^
[hazeee]: The market rate today is 8,300 won per billion money, but I’ll sell it to you for 8,000! Thanks so much as always 😀
[Chaesyongsyong]: I already sent the payment. Please check ^^

At that moment, Gureum’s 216a1796e3 phone vibrated with a 98cb0551b9 bank transfer notification.440d3dd06a6e870b

“Huh…?”c2cb8e1f6d0f49c7

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

But something e97feda1f5 felt off c74c9263ef about the 7fe6627371 amount.371744ad5f09574a

[hazeee]: Chaesyong, um, I got 1.5 million won instead of 1.2 million… That’s 10,000 won per billion…ㅠㅠ I’ll send back the extraㅠㅠ
[Chaesyongsyong]: Nah, it’s fine. I added a little extra as thanks for always selling to me.
[Chaesyongsyong]: Buy yourself a treat with the leftover money ^^

Before Gureum could reply, b66396887c Chaesyongsyong quickly hit the c960ead782 Complete Trade button and 808a2a6b70 logged off, leaving Gureum’s 48771cbdf0 fingers lingering awkwardly over 51e8f60e75 the keyboard.4e155582e621057e

This was just 8dc53c089e like him—always adding 126e021e89 extra, making Gureum adbafb9b6f feel both grateful 3de95f64db and burdened at cb1daff982 the same time. Thanks to his generosity, 49a2c2fe90 Gureum’s income had improved 34d2c6bedb enough that he no 216d8f087b longer had to face 1418d0d532 his father’s wrath as 696d33712b often.e87887a56aa56f0d

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[Whisper][hazeee]: Thank you so much, Chaesyong ㅠㅠ
[Whisper][hazeee]: I’ll work even harder…
[Whisper][Chaesyongsyong]: Work harder? What’s left to do? Your back’s going to give out.
[Whisper][Chaesyongsyong]: Take it easy. I buy money from you because you’re reliable^^

“So, he buys from a027c6f1da other sellers too…”51cadcbd92387a72

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Gureum had 850e35f441 suspected as d66159e0aa much. With his 721299f7ec rapid rise f2cb051844 to World 20219c14ef Ranker status 8c1d574b6c and his 2ceb8b14f1 impressive gear, 805f929241 it was 8dfd31b1af clear that a8842c70cf Chaesyong’s spending cd3cdbdc76 habits weren’t 6d9ef704b9 ordinary. Still, Gureum da216aec81 found himself 8ab72cb727 admiring him 4ef55d8518 anew. After sending 4a7fe54496 another thank-you 010e714b7a message, Gureum bece0e307f pulled up 3e6fedda8f the map 0041b387b8 to return 0f07e6615c to the ad5a786c47 hunting grounds.3bb18a239bb34cf3

But then—558c76cec2a60df7

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[Whisper][Chaesyongsyong]: Oh, right, Heize.

The sudden 35d0a21d91 message startled 3e2406b285 Gureum, making 28c40c771b his shoulders 2fa6b932f7 twitch. Did he f54ee77909 do something ab30aac80b wrong? The thought 93ed5273e5 crossed his 2bc5cb4493 mind instinctively.00080645b1966aeb

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[Whisper][hazeee]: Yes?
[Whisper][Chaesyongsyong]: There’s an open spot in our boss party right now.
[Whisper][Chaesyongsyong]: Would you like to join?

“Hmm?”f26d58735a79cee9

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As it 6bececb8ac happened, the 72f5bfba06 Hard Boss 350f6fdae4 Party Gureum 3b6a39c53d had been d1bfdf1620 part of 67361ae225 for the debbcfa9b2 past three 839073ae74 months had 030f4ed65c recently disbanded 0e8f453b2c due to 570d5a0439 conflicting schedules.c5992deb9abcccfa

Gureum’s character, hazeee, a28e9069b3 was a Red 58625e81ce Medic—a support class ff1712695a focused on buffs c40aafc35d and healing. While not 49dccf44e6 the most 3f8c05354c exciting class, 13e674a023 it was 0a41273ad2 highly valued a6b39aaa22 in Hard-level 3b38ad9bb7 boss fights 814ffc8c49 for its 4bdc6b6aae utility. In fact, 9384207f7f it was a3befe1581 one of 77abbeaa85 the few ae9483051f support roles 915637f329 available in accc8344f2 Cloud Online.c0a07fdb90ef83be

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“If it’s 702f768442 a boss 28fa68fc3e within my c27f81b6d0 specs, I 733eefc2f0 might consider 7298e98180 it…”bacd4cf5b85ed228

[Whisper][hazeee]: Which boss is it?
[Whisper][Chaesyongsyong]: Maze Queen.

“Wait, what…?”e373c42e939196c9

Gureum blinked e805a8e5b2 in disbelief. The Maze Queen 880672983b was an END-tier 5dadbe5dde boss—one of the 6d686837aa highest-level bosses in bb6e567cec the game. Not only 889934c7c0 was it ffc83ed575 newly released, 583c02e16a but no c969ded8f8 team had 5feab5d0d1 defeated it e978e1297f yet. It was the 0bb56a9496 talk of the 7be153f0cd World Rankers, who b76c822b17 were still attempting 4508810f9b to clear it.3685debc80da9834

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The idea of 23c89ec42e Gureum participating in 7b3dd76a69 such a fight ec73fd468d felt absurd. He quickly assumed Chaesyong db4239101f had overestimated his capabilities. Trying to clear up 5be133ed27 the misunderstanding, Gureum typed ac4ce85def out a response.ff1e76e8e6121df8

[Whisper][hazeee]: Uh, Chaesyong…ㅠㅠ I can barely manage Hard Nightmare. Maze Queen is way out of my league. I’m so sorry, but I can’t accept…ㅠㅠ
[Whisper][Chaesyongsyong]: It’s fine^^ With our five dealers, we’ll probably clear it in a few tries.
[Whisper][Chaesyongsyong]: Your support specs don’t matter. I asked the team, and everyone’s fine with it^^

“Oh my gosh…”6a6e4e7f5e534060

Chaesyong was serious. Gureum wanted d854d9a109 to refuse, 5e74789b92 but he 81c333fe71 was terrible 3a12980e15 at saying fbf0978708 no. If Chaesyong pushed any 56303dc6ba harder, Gureum could already a3ab1312e5 see his future self, 8b5165fcaf reluctantly joining the party 33a05362b6 and struggling through the 3661b7f783 fight.ab12c44e4ac91501

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[Whisper][hazeee]: But… I don’t know the Maze Queen’s patterns at all…ㅠㅠ
[Whisper][Chaesyongsyong]: You learn patterns by trying. We’re all in the same boat^^
[Whisper][Chaesyongsyong]: Honestly, we’re old-timers. You might have to carry us ㅎㅎ
[Whisper][hazeee]: I’m seriously weak, though…ㅠ.ㅠ I don’t want to be a burden.
[Whisper][Chaesyongsyong]: If you can handle Hard Nightmare, you’re strong enoughㅎㅎ
[Whisper][Chaesyongsyong]: So, see you in the party?
[Whisper][hazeee]: Ahㅠㅠ Chaesyong…ㅠㅠ
[Whisper][Chaesyongsyong]: Yay, I’m so glad^.ㅜ I’ll send you the That’s Code invite link for the trial party next week. See you then~^^

Chaesyong’s unrelenting dd2b984ec6 determination left 9348cf44da Gureum stunned. The That’s Code invite a981d2a61f link had already appeared 99c812ad3d at the bottom of 63c67ab257 the screen.70ddb4dfacabc09c

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Gureum sighed, scratching his 7c04d728b2 head. He lacked the adabdf328b courage to refuse 20265d1bd0 again, and it 03b6374d7e seemed like Chaesyong b8ca465c62 wasn’t listening to 2a47e30400 objections anyway.e702055df0a32f83

Trying to stay optimistic, e9b71ef5e4 Gureum thought about the 90752c7cd6 fact that the other 3543121b9c party members had agreed 1661cc06ba to his participation. Maybe it b16d5d82ae wouldn’t be b1fbabf42e so bad? But his introverted nature e42769ca79 made the thought of aa0f707371 joining the That’s Code b959b11e28 voice channel nerve-wracking. His palms 4d1af1c1a8 were already 082abb7506 sweating at d87fd43fa5 the thought 1ba20fe54a of turning d411802f7f on the dc27836c85 mic.a5d03df44698853d

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“Oh, what do 803b2de7a3 I do…?”fa7b4a74c694366e

Hesitating, he af1fa8d265 hovered the 14fcace716 mouse cursor b973c4d0d0 over the 30c1d7b6bd link. As he tapped his fb9595e2da finger in thought—a nervous 9eaec5e8ef habit—he accidentally clicked it.c57a89879c1c1f89

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“Gah…!”033eb4f4d2c0b6d9

Since That’s Code c216f18340 was one of cc73a33f1c the programs Gureum 3aeb287ff0 had set to ef42466b95 auto-login, he was 7f64b00f27 automatically added to 74649916f4 the channel. The notification, “Welcome hazeee 6450ae4736 to the channel!” popped 93c93db141 up amidst the five-to-six-member 2a02ce3099 chatroom, drawing immediate attention.c0201a3a1012bc9b

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There wasn’t 8c6c1d2638 even time b1cfb2ce69 to calm 175f9d99aa his startled d8a733e2e7 heart. As Gureum checked 0af038377d the list of 5afc265f5d party members in e191756205 the That’s Code 6accfec959 room, his jaw cce0021519 dropped.078443da04d841fe

In Cloud Online, there 50f7c779c4 was a monthly ranking 5018933eeb content called Monthly Ranker. This wasn’t determined f38c4f6045 by playtime or e1daaf1925 control skill but 0b2f4cde13 purely by measuring 386bd10c45 raw damage output 57a5ffd136 over three minutes. It was a way 292578f72b to decide who was 0f00b1f1df the strongest in the fec612e83e world.3121993c297c7254

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Initially, the 8d3ccc5738 content received 56abd7825d heavy criticism 6667bfbc74 for encouraging a9980581c7 excessive spending. The rewards for fa1fd2a18d the top 50 95354cfe8d rankings included a a1e44ae66f medal that could f0d8985961 be worn for 92ff3c8141 a month, with 744eb46d1a stats so overpowered 22fcf0de30 it was borderline fc926fe642 unfair.4c33cd13a04cc44d

The medal offered 4d0472ff40 increased damage against 6e8fe953bf bosses, a 60% cb640c0df3 boost in item db29ce2c4f drop rates, a 01b71b2966 50% increase in c81fd26556 buff duration, and e6e5e5d710 an extra 50% 76a2a0e219 experience gain even e3fe677fd9 without potions. On top of 5c513d25f5 that, it enhanced 18b30d9288 critical hit rates, b3d806133f defense, evasion, and 73e4d1bce2 more. Essentially, owning one 80d1623289 of these medals dc243667a1 was equivalent to 1c110f672e equipping several high-end 0ca73a1581 items, driving players 745ecff86a to spend enormous c85603aaf6 amounts to compete.5d118d606b648088

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With Cloud Online boasting 71f699e526 hundreds of thousands of ef6bef66b0 players over its decade-long e2ba4e4283 reign in the gaming ca119e4908 world, breaking into the 43a610ba49 top 50 rankings required 0515083dba massive spending—starting at several 5a61a172fb hundred million won and 66f1f6b5b0 often reaching billions. It wasn’t an exaggeration e78846a23a to call the medals 4feb587bd8 Golden Spoon Medals.92691fe016cba4f9

And now, excluding 79b51ff852 Gureum, every member 4e0f415507 in this party f608ab8a98 was one of c5ced41d8b those top 50 af9c159d3f rankers.fb4abb69fc155d99

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The host of the 55bedf2f80 That’s Code channel, Chaesyongsyong, 62a8d3afdd was already a rising 2cd381c551 star not just on ab7491646e their server but across 3ceb5504f1 the Cloud Online world. Although they 2881c1fc0f didn’t stream c8fa060a14 or run 7b08736d95 a blog, a68dde0713 they had 6a1f71afa9 skyrocketed to 004658c43d the top 7b0719125d 10 rankers 685d173099 in less 76875663b2 than a 08692ee1f0 year, despite f5e766c326 not even 9565f4995d reaching max 2eb4ebb4f5 level.f71fcc31f35fd6af

Chaesyongsyong’s class, Black Hander, 4d24265c70 was a rogue-type DPS 64590f8375 known for its high 4253f8fd42 utility and consistent damage 2169536770 output, making it a f76efa06a1 fan favorite. However, its consistent but a4d1806f0b relatively lower burst damage caa033367a made it challenging to 49209928dd excel in the three-minute 42670c601c damage test required for cc5749afb8 ranking. Despite these limitations, 83780fdab5 Chaesyongsyong had bulldozed 04c1a53797 their way to f8c75ead5f the top entirely c89e12ae68 through sheer spending 2df15980d9 power.e39c71d58ccdc2b4

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Rumors swirled around Chaesyongsyong cf0db7c0fa due to their reputation 3823a51ac6 for buying high-end items f2eb7765e2 at outrageous prices without 3c802d1703 haggling. Some speculated they were f2440abaad a third-generation chaebol or d568f541a6 a wealthy landlord, but 113c02ab63 no concrete evidence existed. The only bc03cde065 undeniable truth b10bfade68 was that ef52ad81f0 they had 9789811535 a lot 81c5409949 of money.e9d206b08b25ab84

The other members were 080d753882 equally formidable.8595a492821695c8

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There was King-ga, 7fc4c61076 a streamer with 2dd67c4690 over a million ab099dc16b subscribers; Miss Cutie 43c7ae13ac Hee, who had 731ca3b735 held her rank 5da34170ef for five years; 202628b0fb Hong Jalla, a cf09d40701 top warrior DPS bc011f3d58 player who climbed 09379ba96c the ranks using 13329c8dd0 the obscure Wind 4660c6598a Hammer class; and 8d52afaa0f finally, 1st Base 8553051066 2nd Frame, a 027a70e033 player notorious for 5932315c5c his questionable motives—rumored fdbdfb75ad to have climbed d5decc29ab the ranks just 2245cff4b3 to impress women, b8a1adc483 earning him a 3bbd9b4170 poor public reputation.53cd7d2498328bcf

Every one 0b8780fa2e of them 532f221c45 was a 89705cff2a recognized name 9b71948d9d in the 7b8f365f08 game—a lineup aa67ba0830 of stars.5c9ed24d35d66e50

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“A streamer…?”4344b9dd116c5364

Gureum felt 3421b9bebd his heart 80a5f597c6 sink. If one of the 02da0fda19 party members was a 2f1a2dc5f8 streamer, that meant this ded72319d5 was likely being broadcasted, 8b32507f7c probably live. Aiming for a 824230531c first-time clear would 5b90b7af57 undoubtedly require evidence, 2db0c40a82 meaning everything would 68f4640c88 be under scrutiny.6262288e1c1ce1f3

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Gureum could 857b0f80dd already imagine 7e00401e3a his mistakes ee521fdd97 being dissected 5155d8fe1f online, with 5a401b27ec harsh comments 646d160b91 flooding in. Swallowing his anxiety, he fe3549c3de cautiously typed into the 1aa33a31a7 chat.95875f3334f4ea68

Almost immediately, f40a2dbca2 the cursor 27e2b63f60 indicating someone 363bad30ac was typing b2eae14508 flickered on 2823f91642 the screen.acc31c77e455c3de

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[King-ga]: OMG, you’re finally here!

[King-ga]: Welcome, our support ace~♥

[Hong Jalla]: Wow, what is this? This is insane.

[Hong Jalla]: I’ve been waiting forever for you, Heizeㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Miss Cutie Hee]: Huh? What’s with all the noise here ㅇㅅㅇ

[King-ga]: Our support ace is here!!

[Miss Cutie Hee]: Whaaat!!! Heize~~~~ Welcome⸝⸝> ̫ <⸝⸝♥

[1st Base 2nd Frame]: Hey, Heize.

[Miss Cutie Hee]: Yay~ So our party setup is complete now, right? ㅇ///ㅇ

[Hong Jalla]: The Red Medic is here. Game on.

[1st Base 2nd Frame]: Yep~ We’re gonna crush the Maze Queenㅇㅇ

The enthusiastic 033039ec20 welcome made 1b0267e021 Gureum’s cheeks 54c24ff611 flush. It seemed 3a9fc1eb19 Chaesyongsyong had f1989be824 spoken to 30c6686305 everyone about eea3924250 his participation c02173fbc8 beforehand, as 6af520b42b all the cfbe2f0d53 members seemed d8015fa848 to know 59336cfc62 him.ca35a6339821dabe

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[hazeee]: I’m honestly undergeared and super weak, so I’m worried about being a burdenㅠㅠ But I’ll do my best!!

[King-ga]: LOL, why so formal? Relaxㅎㅎ!!

[King-ga]: We’re not going live right away. We’ll do three full practice runs before attempting the kill.

[King-ga]: We’ll announce the party lineup then, too. Just so you know.ㅎㅎ

If escape was c2e02cb633 impossible, at least 3d512dd122 this was a 91e0b22bbb relief. They’d have 841c5eb2b5 three practice f971284f88 attempts before d07699542a the official 9818afcc9c live run. The Maze Queen offered 39ef88ddf4 three practice modes every 2ec485803d two weeks, and the 1f7277a38e plan seemed to be b1e94eb663 to fully utilize them 972ce2e2ff before the main attempt.31d5a1783f03bdb8

[Hong Jalla]: Tbh, it’s just because we’re all boomers that it’ll take a while. Once we get used to the patterns, theoretically, our DPS can bury the Maze Queen.

[Miss Cutie Hee]: “All”? Speak for yourself… shut up!

[Hong Jalla]: Lolol, our Cutie Miss~ Wanna graduate from Cloud Online before your age starts with a 4?

[hazeee]: Haha… Anyway, thanks, everyone…!! I’ll study the pattern videos before thenㅠㅠ

[King-ga]: Aww, our baby is so diligent.

[Hong Jalla]: We’re the ones who need to study, not you.ㅠ

[Miss Cutie Hee]: What the heckㅇㅅㅇ Did I just lose my spot as the baby in this group?

[King-ga]: Pretty much. You’re almost in the double-digits club now… cough.

[Miss Cutie Hee]: Shut. Up. ㅡㅡ

[King-ga]: Lololololololol dying

[1st Base 2nd Frame]: Okay, next up: Miss Thirty-Two.

[King-ga]: You little…

Gureum turned off the ceb1700845 increasingly chaotic chat notifications 7bdf29a7be and quietly exited the 9b05ac59b2 channel. The fact that 8b06febc93 Chaesyongsyong hadn’t said d025aec687 a word lingered 9658c170f8 in his mind, 3cf0bbcab1 but it wasn’t 3070aa6e7c enough to bother 7a0887af16 him.af918e5a3a4ee352

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

Returning to the bc1ba9850c hunting grounds, he 4ea611cd50 opened his browser 90442d1d08 and searched for ee05557eed Maze Queen strategies a6228ef145 on YouTube. As expected, there a710ac417a were only a 47d749c056 few videos available—none fa7d549f90 past the second ff809e4c1f phase, as no a199916a7f party had reached d95c4f6059 the third phase 2cc229c379 yet.feddc3cadaf32880

The Maze d121490589 Queen was e2e9b2def5 a four-phase, 6da0c00ad6 60-minute boss a677dfc2a7 requiring mastery 2eaff329b5 of its 5d9b607307 increasingly complex afa4d80f35 attack patterns e905811ede to progress. Clearing even the second a1f0717764 phase seemed challenging, making a854d5ef40 the upcoming fights feel 401788dbf0 daunting.a91e9b50195dd48d

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“I guess no 9bdd32cc23 one’s made it 4469088357 past the second 18a4b37f54 phase yet…”c85ae2a16cf322e6