Each 'Moon Lake' dungeon run typically took around 3 to 5 hours. This was including any unexpected scenarios one could potentially run into.
However, Liam's group was now already at hour 8. Except for him, every single member of the team was currently collapsed on the ground and resting.
Their clothes and armors were fully drenched in sweat and they were clutching their stomachs in pain as if they had just run a marathon.
The worst part was that they still hadn't tackled the final three mini-boss and the last boss of the dungeon.
"Let's go. Get up." Liam muttered. He had just now been breathing deeply and focusing on the mana reserves in his body automatically getting replenished.
Everyone had a mana regeneration rate but it was far from enough. The key was to bring up this rate. Leveling blindly without concentrating on these factors was just a waste of time.
"Boss… ahhh just 2 more minutes please…" Shin Soo and Hyun whined at the same time.
As gamers, they had been used to a certain level of comfort, and this ultra realistic model of the game was killing them.
Why did they have to replicate even the pain and the tiredness?! Wasn't stamina stat going down enough? Did they really have to hone in on the actual feeling?
Everything from head to toe was tired. They had run into several of these so-called mirages so far and without fail, every single one of them had been a disappointment.
Of course, things wouldn't have been so bad if they had simply sneaked away without butting heads with each and every single mob, but unfortunately for them, Liam had other plans.
"Heh. Come on. Get up. I don't think that this one is a mirage. Your fatigue and tiredness should be relieved as soon as you take a sip of the moon lake. You guys don't want it?"
Liam chuckled and started walking towards the lake at the end of the street. The moon above shone with more brilliance and the lake waters sparkled like diamonds.
Behind him, rustling sounds echoed and without any other choice, the other members of the group dragged their tired bodies over.
"Psst. Psst. He is not lying right?" The thief bitterly smiled and whispered to Shin Soo as the latter let out a long sigh. Even if he was what could they do?
All they can do and have been doing is looking at the experience bar filling up at lightning speed and consoling themselves.
After Level 20 it was extremely difficult to level up further. Even a single level required hours of hard grinding, but their experience bars were filling up quite easily.
Liam's fireballs or rather cannon balls coupled with the presence of so many mobs in close proximity with no other competition from players nearby made their progress a lot faster.
But was this enough to justify this hard and painful grind for hours together? Wasn't it just a game? Why were they working so hard?!
The four of them continued grumbling inwardly. However, their hands and feet kept moving, not wanting to miss the opportunity until the very end.
And just like Liam mentioned, this time when they neared the lake, it finally did not disappear!
"Ahhhhhhhh!" Kim Hyun couldn't bear it any longer and shouted at the top of his lungs as he drowned his body and his limbs in the lake, jumping into it hurriedly.
"Watch out for mobs, idiot!" Shin Soo panicked but nothing seemed to have been triggered so the others as well rushed in and dipped themselves in the lake water.
The cool waters of the lake washed the tiredness from their bodies and was very refreshing. Liam also walked over and drank a few mouthfuls.
As soon as the lake water entered the stomach, a warm nourishing feeling swept past the body and all the physical fatigue and mental fatigue from hearing the non-stop wailing of the specters was fully erased.
"Fuck bro! This is amazing! How come we didn't find this in the forum?!"
"Ahhh… so tasty! This is the tastiest thing that I have ever put in my mouth!"
"Che. Shut up and go that side. You are stinking up my space!"
The group immediately started playing like small kids and didn't look like they were going to stop any time soon.
Only when Liam cleared his throat threateningly, they reluctantly got out of the lake, one after the other. "The altar is on the other side, let's go."
As soon as they arrived, loud clanging noises resounded, and three pitch black wraiths descended from the darkness of the night, their chains dragging on the ground.
The three wraiths looked extremely grotesque and terrifying but after having defeated waves after waves of specters, no one felt any fear and the tank quickly rushed forward.
"I will get the attention of all three!!! Only attack the one on the right! Let's bring them down one after the other!" Shin Soo quickly yelled out the instructions and then strutted forward with his huge body.
The three wraiths screamed loudly and the next second a ball of swirling energy appeared in front of them, seemingly made of white and black gases.
They tossed this at the tank and his health instantly dropped to one-third. "Fuck! How am I supposed to heal this?!" The healer immediately panicked.
To make matters worse, the wraiths already started chanting something in a weird archaic language and the next set of balls appeared.
"No No No No. Arghh!" Shin Soo activated all his skills preparing to block the attack, but he knew that it was still probably not enough to nullify this damage.
If they couldn't withstand just two of their attacks, what was going to happen to the rest of the fight?
He clenched his weapon and stood firmly unwilling to be the reason they all failed when a sharp voice reminded him calmly.
"A tank doesn't always have to receive the attack. You can also dodge it. Move aside.. I will tank this fight."