The first clear for 'Belgardin, the Arbiter of Death,' the second boss of the Shadow Raid and the first 8-player endgame content in a long time, has been achieved. As a boss hyped for its high difficulty, it drew significant attention, but the first clear was secured just 4 hours and 53 minutes after release—8 minutes faster than the Brelshaza Nightmare clear.

The successful raid group is 'Young-Lo-T,' a team that has been making a name for itself with a string of recent records. Following their 24-minute world-first clear of Brelshaza Nightmare, they have now secured the first clear for Belgardin Nightmare ahead of all other groups.

'Young-Roty,' which drew attention for being composed of relatively young attackers, succeeded in the clear in a short time by leveraging seamless teamwork and high individual performance. We spoke with Seolha (INVEN nickname: Dandelion in the Wind), the raid leader of 'Young-Roty'—a new powerhouse that has emerged after securing consecutive first clears—about the process of clearing Belgardin and their thoughts on the achievement.

※ Please note that excessive profanity or defamatory comments directed at the interviewee may be deleted without notice and could result in sanctions.

Q. Congratulations on your second consecutive first clear following Brelshaza Nightmare. Could you start by briefly introducing the 'Young-Lo-T' raid group.

Seolha = Hello. I am Seolha, the raid leader of Young-Lo-T, and I play a Sorceress on the Thirain server. Our group, 'Young-Lo-T,' formed during the Brelshaza Nightmare raid. We worked hard to prepare for 'Kazeros the First' last year, but after a disappointing result, I decided we needed to recruit new members.

We built the group from scratch with Blade (Hwe-pi-mot-ha-neun-am-sal-ja), Summoner (Hyeon-bung-seu), and Valkyrie (Chu-hol), who were with me for the Kazeros the First race. They were joined by Bard (SeimiOnO), who had a 2nd clear in the past for 'Kamen the First' but took a break for military service, and Reaper (Mi-ryeon-ssi), who made a name for themselves during the Kamen raid. We also recruited Warlord (Watch-wa) and Arcana (Kim-kim-tteok-tteok-sun-sun), who showed great potential during our first blind attempts.

Except for Seimi and Mi-ryeon, who were already well-known from the Kamen race, I think our group was mostly composed of 'hidden masters' who hadn't been widely recognized before. I really wanted this opportunity to give our members more of a spotlight, and I worked even harder hoping it would be a chance for our two famous members to have their skills recognized once again.

I was confident from the start that we could prove our skills through results. However, I am even more proud that a group no one expected to win achieved the first clear. I hope people recognize that we formed this group to prove that skill can overcome limitations in gear or class.

Q. Let's hear the members' thoughts on the clear.

Seolha (Sorceress)= During our previous Brelshaza Nightmare first clear, there were suspicions that we had played on the CN server first. We clarified that, but because it was perceived as an event raid, it felt like we hadn't fully proven our skills. I think we had a strong desire to prove ourselves with Belgardin. I'm happy to have met such talented members and am always grateful that they trust my leadership.

SeimiOnO (Bard)= I think we had a great time and achieved a good result by meeting such excellent teammates. Good luck to everyone attempting the raid!

Chu-hol (Valkyrie)= The raid was moderately spicy and fun! I think the camera-angle-change pattern needs some adjustments, though. Good luck to all the supports!

Hyeon-bung-seu (Summoner)= Go Young-Lo-T!

Mi-ryeon-ssi (Reaper)= I think we were able to do it thanks to everyone who cheered for us. I'm so happy to share this joy, and I will continue to be a cool Reaper who lives up to expectations!

Hwe-pi-mot-ha-neun-am-sal-ja (Blade)= The second gate was quite difficult, but the team briefed us on everything, so I think we cleared it comfortably. Thank you!

Watch-wa (Warlord)= I enjoyed it. Thank you to everyone who cheered for us, and I will work hard so that Young-Lo-T can continue to achieve good results.

Kim-kim-tteok-tteok-sun-sun (Arcana)= The Kim-tteok-sun Arcana continues! Go Young-Lo-T! Thank you.

Q. The party composition is striking. You have all four classes from the Thirain family; was this an intentional combination?

Seolha = As a Sorceress, I was already with Summoner Hyeon-bung-seu, so the two of us from the Thirain family naturally gathered first. Both classes desperately needed critical hit rate synergy, and since I rely heavily on it, I planned to recruit characters with crit synergy.

As a raid leader, I rate Arcana and Blade very highly, so since I had already recruited a Blade, I wanted to fill the remaining spots with Arcana as much as possible. It just so happened that all four Thirain classes ended up in the group.

Q. The name 'Young-Lo-T' is also a hot topic. Is the group actually composed mostly of people in their 20s?

Seolha = Actually, not everyone is in their 20s (laughs). We have members in their 30s, and while I can't disclose exact ages, the average age is in the late 20s. The 'average age of 22' mentioned online is not true.

The name 'Young-Lo-T' is derived from the neologism 'Young-Forty.' It's not meant in a negative way; it means that while we have played Lost Ark for a long time, we are relatively young compared to typical RPG raid groups. Since we've been playing for a long time, we also included the sentiment of how we often find ourselves saying, 'Back in my day.'

Above all, 'Young-Lo-T' sounded better than 'Lo-Forty,' and we liked that it could also stand for 'Young Lost Ark Team,' so that's how we named it.

Q. How did you prepare for this raid? I'm curious about the secret to your first clear.

Seolha = I think speedrunning or 'tightrope' play is a different area from trial-and-error skill. We judged that the commonly used 'minimum-person' strategies or practicing until enrage wouldn't be very helpful for our preparation. Instead, we tried to talk a lot to focus on communication among the members.

For the first and second teasers, we prioritized memorizing the patterns already revealed. Of course, we didn't think the teasers were everything, and we felt that over-speculating on ambiguous parts could be counterproductive. However, we believed we had to master every revealed pattern. We organized all the teaser patterns into GIFs, watched them repeatedly, and shared screens to discuss whether certain moves caused stiffness or damage, trying to predict the mechanics.

For mechanics we saw for the first time, we pre-determined reasonable and simple positions to get as much information as possible. Thanks to that, I think we were able to get through the final mechanic of Gate 1 and the 360-line mechanic of Gate 2 relatively quickly.

We pushed our gear to the best of our individual abilities. Still, I remember feeling anxious because our gear wasn't exceptionally high.

Q. Were there any patterns or situations that were particularly difficult during the clear?

Seolha = The trickiest part was probably the pattern where the camera angle kept shifting in the latter half (laughs).

That's a joke; I think we handled most of the mechanics smoothly. However, there were times when we had accidents because we couldn't accurately grasp the hitboxes of the grab patterns, and we would run out of death counts, leading to a lack of firepower in the final phase.

The various grab patterns were especially tricky, and there were times when we gave each other strong feedback due to complacent play during the '3-grab' phase in the middle.

The map structure, with its narrow spaces and falling hazards, reminded me of 'Brelshaza Gate 6.' Even when we took safe positions, the grab range was wider than expected, so there were often situations where we felt we were being 'cheated' by the game, much like the push patterns of the old Brelshaza Gate 6.

Q. If you had to pick one member who performed the best during the difficult clear process, who would it be?

Seolha = I asked the members the same question, and it's a bit embarrassing that I was chosen unanimously (laughs).

Still, if I had to pick one person, I would give the MVP to Kim-kim-tteok-tteok-sun-sun, who played the Arcana. This raid required high importance on immunity to knock-back/down, and since Emperor Arcana lacks such tools, the play must have been difficult. It was their first first-clear race, and I think they showed a really great performance.

There were moments when their mental state could have been shaken by minor mistakes, and I gave them strong feedback, but I was really proud to see them hold on until the end and eventually succeed.

Q. You quickly cleared the 'Angry Bird' pattern, which was considered a wall. Was there a secret to it?

Seolha = We had somewhat predicted the final Angry Bird pattern during the teaser stage. We expected it to be a pattern similar to Kazeros' 'scapegoat' mechanic, and we agreed in advance that if a similar pattern appeared, the Sorceress or Arcana would go into the center first.

When that pattern actually appeared, we stepped on the center platform, and seeing the same interface as Kazeros confirmed our prediction. After experimenting, we realized the time we could maintain the aiming state was longer than expected, so we called to pull it as late as possible.

After that, there were a few mistakes, such as late joining due to input buffering or responding to other patterns, and I remember giving a lot of feedback during that process. Still, I think we were able to clear it relatively quickly because everyone focused as promised during the most important moments.

Q. At the time of the first clear, both your grab hits and resurrection usage were close to the conditions for the relic title mission. Do you plan to challenge for the title next week with the same members?

Seolha = We are planning to challenge for the title next week with the same members! The cumulative grab count does look very difficult, though.

Q. How was the difficulty of Belgardin Nightmare that you cleared yourself?

Seolha = It was a bit easier than the difficulty I expected. I thought there would be a 0-line pattern, a so-called 'last-ditch effort,' but since that wasn't the case, it felt much easier.

Personally, it was a moderately spicy and fun difficulty. However, I think the boss' basic patterns can feel very difficult depending on the class.

Since we had to continue the battle for a long time while avoiding the boss' attacks in a narrow space, our group prepared many skill settings that could utilize immunity to knock-back/down, even if it meant sacrificing a bit of damage. I think Gate 2 will be very difficult for classes that lack such immunity. It is definitely harder than Serka Nightmare or Extreme Brelshaza Nightmare.

Q. In this raid, resurrection opportunities were given, which is unusual for endgame content. How much did it help in the actual clear?

Seolha = If there hadn't been resurrection opportunities, I don't think we would have cleared it within a day. There were several time-attack mechanics that required dealing damage within a certain time and stagger mechanics, and the 8-player brawl was also a pattern that could only be passed stably if everyone was alive. Since the structure was such that losing members increased the burden, the mere fact that there were resurrection opportunities was a huge help.

Q. Many adventurers are likely challenging Nightmare with the goal of getting the 6-week title. Do you have any advice or clear tips for them?

Seolha = Nightmare Belgardin felt a bit different from other raids released this year. Above all, I think it is a raid where mechanics and survival are the most important.

Since it's a bit different from the DPS-oriented raids we've had so far, I think it's much more helpful to focus on survival and performing mechanics rather than being greedy for damage. I believe it's a difficulty that can be cleared if you play calmly, so I'll be cheering for all the adventurers who are attempting it.

Q. Lastly, as the raid leader of Young-Lo-T, please say a word to our readers.

Seolha = I am happy to be able to greet you like this after starting under the name Young-Lo-T and recording good results. As we are a raid group that is always sincere about trials and clear analysis, I hope you will continue to watch us with interest if our style matches yours.

I sincerely thank everyone who cheered for us, and we will continue to work hard to show you our best.