The entire party was composed of six classes, Vanguard, Ranger, Berserker, Sorcerer, Ruler, and Saber.
Yu Jin played the Saber class. It was a balanced melee role, equipped with a single sword and offering well-rounded capabilities like solid mobility, respectable offensive damage, a versatile skill set, and decent HP, MP, and stamina.
It wasn't specialized, but that was what made it flexible. Saber players could adapt to a variety of situations on the fly.
Sun Qian, on the other hand, played a Vanguard, a lance wielding duelist that was known for its long-range melee capabilities and fast, high-damage combos.
Zhao Lusi filled the party's magic DPS role with her Sorcerer class. With the highest MP pool and some of the strongest AoE and single-target burst spells.
The rest of the party included a Berserker, typically played as a frontline tank, often used to aggro enemies and create space for the team.
The fifth was a Ranger, a high-damage ranged class that excelled at kiting enemies, zoning out threats, and bursting down priority targets from a safe distance.
And lastly, the Ruler, a support-oriented class designed around field control, offering buffs and battlefield manipulation.
As the loading screen faded, the dungeon came into view.
"Go."
The word came from Yu Jin, who immediately moved without even waiting for the boss's spawn animation to finish. The rest of the party hesitated, surprised.
The Berserker watched the Saber rush ahead alone. Why was he charging the frontlines before the fight had even properly started?
Just as the thought formed, Yu Jin spoke again:
"Chip damage before the initial shield appears."
The Berserker blinked. Chip damage? That didn't make sense.
Everyone knew that raid bosses always spawned with a temporary shield after their appearance animation. During the animation, it was invulnerable to any sort of damage.
So what the hell was this Saber talking about?
The Berserker was about to speak up and maybe tell him to stop wasting time, when something unexpected happened.
Yu Jin's Saber didn't attack the boss directly.
Instead, he positioned himself just behind the summoning circle at the center of the arena. Yu Jin immediately cast a low-cooldown slashing skill that wasn't aimed at the boss but at the glowing crystal around the summoning platform.
The rest of the party finally caught up, watching as the blade struck one of the crystals.
Zhao Lusi leaned forward in her seat.
"Wait... are those destructible?"
Without taking his eyes off the screen, Yu Jin replied:
"If you get the timing right, you can reduce the initial shield's durability by interrupting the field points."
The Ruler's voice chimed in over the party voice chat. A woman with a soft tone.
"I've seen this in a MeTube guide once… but it's extremely hard to pull off. If you mistime it, and you're in the middle of a skill animation when the boss spawns, you'll take full impact from the spawn damage."
Everyone went quiet for a second.
The spawn damage from Duke Leviathan was known to one-shot squishier classes and leave others barely hanging on. It was a risky gamble.
[Boss Shield: 72% Integrity Remaining.]
And it paid off.
As the boss emerged and its spawn damage spread across the battlefield like shockwaves, every player reacted. They all managed to dodge, including Yu Jin, who was already far ahead of the party and positioned directly in front of the boss.
Bang—
The Leviathan's claws slammed down, followed by a sweeping tail attack. But Yu Jin dodged through each assault with flawless timing.
His Saber twisted and turned between each strike, launching counterattacks immediately after every successful dodge.
The rest of the party rushed to catch up to Yu Jin's location as the boss entered its first phase.
Sun Qian, watching the screen in disbelief, couldn't hold back.
"His control is no joke!"
"Sorcerer, apply a freeze debuff."
At Sun Qian's command Zhao Lusi tapped her keys and cast Cryogenesis. A frost sigil appeared beneath the boss, encasing the Leviathan's lower half. Its movements slowed as the freeze debuff took effect, halting its advance for a brief window.
"Nice."
Yu Jin immediately followed up with a flurry of attacks and the rest of the party jumped in to capitalize.
In that brief window, they poured out damage, chipping away the last of the boss's shield. As soon as the barrier broke, Duke Leviathan roared and surged into its second phase, unleashing a rapid string of heavy-hitting attacks.
"Ah, Saber. Why aren't you—"
Zhao Lusi shouted as the party quickly huddled beneath the combined protection of the Ruler's Sanctuary Dome and the Berserker's Iron Aegis. It was the safest play during the scripted onslaught of Phase Two.
But Yu Jin hadn't joined them.
He was still up front, right under the Leviathan's jaw.
"Wait… is he seriously trying to dodge all of that?"
And that was exactly what Yu Jin was doing.
Everyone knew why boss raids required a minimum number of players, especially on Extreme difficulty. Some phases just weren't meant to be dodged.
The damage came in at random intervals, and defensive skills were built specifically to absorb those sequences.
But Yu Jin wasn't playing by the book.
As the Leviathan's claws slammed down and its tail swept across the battlefield, Yu Jin moved, always just a frame ahead of every strike.
When his stamina dipped too low to continue standard dodging, he smoothly chained specific skills with i-frames, utilizing those brief windows of invulnerability against the boss's attack, recovering just enough stamina to keep moving.
"He's crazy…"
Zhao Lusi turned and glanced at Yu Jin from her side. His eyes were hyper-focused on the monitor, as if the world around him barely registered.
Didn't play the game much? That was obviously a lie.
There was no way someone like him was a casual player. His awareness, execution, and timing were far beyond anything she'd seen in ranked guild wars.
It didn't take long for the Leviathan to transform into its second phase. The shield was gone now, but in exchange, the boss's damage output skyrocketed.
The creature began using new skills, including a sweeping dive that, in most cases, knocked the players into the edge of the map which triggered instant death.
Sun Qian shouted:
"Berserker, center line! Ruler, keep the slow field up!"
Yu Jin added:
"Don't cluster. It's targeting grouped movements now."
The Berserker drew the boss's aggro and activated a damage reduction skill as the Leviathan slammed its claws down. A shockwave spread outward, but the Ruler's slow field softened the radius, allowing the others to reposition.
Yu Jin dashed in from the side, landing a perfectly timed counter just as the Leviathan wound up for another charge.
"Stack burst on the next mark. Ranger, don't fire until I set the stun."
"Got it!"
But just as the Ranger prepared Yu Jin's instruction, a commotion broke the intensity of the moment.
"Excuse me, sorry it took a while. You switched seats and it was hard to find you. Here's your meal."
A server approached Yu Jin and he turned slightly, keeping his left hand on the keyboard while reaching out with his right to accept the food.
"Thank you."
"...."
"...."
Sun Qian and Zhao Lusi stared at him with dumbfounded expressions.
He was mid-raid while dodging lethal attacks, and still had the composure to casually receive a meal. He hadn't missed a single movement, hadn't taken a single hit. He hadn't even paused to explain.
And just like that, without acknowledging them, Yu Jin wore his headphones back on.
The boss roared again and the raid continued.