[RAIDS ONLINE: LUCENT @ RAIDS - Channel]
[Followers: 100,000+]
[Total Views: 1,000,000+]
[Notifications: Friend Requests (+99), Party Invitations (+99), Boss Raid Invitations (+99), Contract (+1)]
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UR@DUDE: Damn it! Look at this dude getting famous.
MOONSHINE@SELENE: This is the blessing of Selene, faqer.
UR@DUDE: Hope this dude gets eaten by Cerberus again.
KCID@EID: Of course this was bound to happen. The guy got a high-starting Link Force, after all.
SILVER@SHOELACE: Faq those lucky enough to get that kind of start.
RAIDS@CURSE: And Cerberus is hunting him down.
MOONSHINE@SELENE: Don't forget Selene's blessing.
UR@DUDE: Shut up, dude. Stay in your own delusion.
MOONSHINE@SELENE: Faqer!
RING@FORCE: Either way, I'm following this Lucent guy. Waiting to see if he gets wrecked or somehow beats Cerberus.
SILVER@SHOELACE: Idiot! As if anyone can beat a Rank A Ragnarok Beast.
RAIDS@CURSE: Right, right, right...
KCID@EID: Even the six top Guilds haven't managed to beat a Rank A Ragnarok Beast in the three years since RAIDS ONLINE launched.
UR@DUDE: You talk too much, dude.
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"Cough!... Cough!... Gulp!... Gulp!... Ahhh!..."
Luel narrowly avoided choking to death by downing a glass of cola, forcing the pork tonkatsu stuck in his throat down into his stomach.
After calming down, he looked again at his RAIDS ONLINE Channel and confirmed that what he was seeing wasn't just a delicious food-induced hallucination.
His second RAID video had gone viral.
RAIDS ONLINE has millions of players worldwide. A hundred thousand followers may be small in comparison, but reaching that number in a single day is a major achievement—especially paired with over a million views on a single video.
Reading through the usual harsh comments, Luel quickly figured out the two main reasons why his channel had gone viral.
First: Luel's Devour avatar had an exceptionally high starting Link Force for the Devour Beast Orion Class.
When he searched online for records of the highest starting Link Force publicly revealed over the last three years, the best result was from a player two years ago with 35%. Luel, sitting at 47%, was bound to attract attention—not just from high-ranking Ragnarok Beasts, but from other players and viewers too.
Second: He encountered a Rank A Ragnarok Beast during only his second Raid. And based on the buzz, Cerberus might continue chasing him in future Raids.
"So I have to thank that damn dog for this…?"
It was a complicated feeling—not romantic, but more like a personal grudge.
Of course, Luel wanted to get popular as a RAIDS ONLINE player and make some income as a professional gamer. He was jobless, after all. Thanks to Cerberus's appearance, he was on the rise. But the very beast giving him popularity was also the source of his traumatic nightmare.
Pushing aside his mixed feelings about Cerberus, Luel refocused on more immediate matters while finishing off half of his pork tonkatsu rice bowl.
"Friend Requests, Party Invitations, Boss Raid Invitations… and a Contract?"
The last one gave him pause—he wasn't sure what the contract was about.
"Is this about monetization or something…?"
Curious, Luel clicked on the Contract notification—only to be met with a wall of legal text and copyright disclaimers that nearly triggered his anxiety and panic attacks.
He immediately closed it without reading further.
"Urgh!... That hurt both my mind and my eyes... I think I need another glass of cola…"
While sipping another glass of cola and finishing his meal, Luel opened the remaining notifications.
The Friend Requests were from over a thousand players. Due to his trust issues and insecurities, he didn't dare accept any of them.
The Party Invitations came from small independent Raid groups asking him to join. Like the friend requests, he declined them all.
But one notification did catch his attention.
The Boss Raid Invitations were from large groups—even well-known guilds like the Orion Guild, which was focused on hunting and devouring the Rank A Ragnarok Beast Cerberus.
The Orion Guild's invitation looked promising. So, Luel opened and read the message.
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[SILVERPUP @ Devour]
Greetings, Devour Lucent.
I am SilverPup, a high-ranking member and official of the Orion Guild. I'd like to formally invite you to participate in a Boss Raid against the Rank A Ragnarok Beast Cerberus.
Let me be direct: the objective of this raid is not to devour Cerberus. That task is still considered impossible with the current strength of the Orion Guild and all its members.
Our goal is to gather detailed data—its tactics, attack patterns, weaknesses, hidden skills and abilities, countermeasures, and more.
I want to clarify that you, Lucent, will be used as bait to lure Cerberus. Your survival cannot be guaranteed.
Please reply to this message if you accept the Boss Raid invitation and meet me in RAIDS ONLINE at Area CC+63: Sunrise City, whenever it's convenient for you.
If you're interested in joining the Orion Guild, I and the other officials would gladly welcome you, Lucent.
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The message was surprisingly formal and sincere—especially in plainly stating that Luel would be used as bait.
Naturally, Luel had complaints about that, but without any way to deal with Cerberus on his own, he chose to reply to the Boss Raid invitation and arrange a meeting with Devour SilverPup.