Twelve players retreated, and now there are only 28 players on floor 31. Seven players are from our party, and there are three parties. One party has four members, the other has ten members, and the last party has seven members. The party of 7 members are wearing masks.
"They look weird--"
"They look so cool!" Elena said.
How do they look cool? But I am more curious about how they got masks.
"Hey Rikka, you have the materials, right?" Elena asked.
"I do, what of it?"
"Let's craft mask---"
"Not happening."
Ricky, your wife is awesome. She is not afraid of Elena.
"Let's focus on the monster."
The players get one-minute, break on each floor so that they can use potions and stuff.
"Biana, I am second."
"I am fourth, Robna."
Biana is an archer and Robna is an axe user. They are strong, so why did they join our party?
"Biana, Adas is staring at me."
Wha--
"Indeed he is, Robna."
I am not.
"Adas? Why are you staring at other girls?" Elena asked me with a smile on her face.
Stop it; you look scary.
"I was just looking at their weapons."
"Really?"
Stop with that smile.
"Yes."
"If you want to see our weapons then--Ah!"
Robna slipped and fell flat on her face, that must have hurt. She stood up.
"If you want to see our weapons, then you can see them."
She is acting as nothing happened.
"Robna, are you okay--Ah!"
This time it was Biana who fell flat on her face, how did they even fall?
"Robna, are you okay?"
Are you also going to act as nothing happened? Could it be that they both are klutz?
"Diana, he is staring at us again."
All the players are staring at you!
"Are you two okay?" Rikka asked.
"Yeah, this always happens."Does this always happen!
These two seem close, are they friends?
"Umm, what is your relationship with each other?"
"We are sisters."
I see, no wonder they are close. They don't look like twins, Biana looks like an older sister. Yeah, she must be older--
"Robna is my older sister."
Let's stop thinking!
We cleared floor 31, 32, 33 and currently, we are on floor 34. There are only 24 players left now. Elena is happy that she made it to floor 34 this time.
Robna is 1st, Elena is 2nd, Miss--Xerah is 3rd, Biana is 4th, Rikka is 5th, Ricky is 6th, and I am last. I understand that Elena is worried that I might get hurt, but this is a game, and she worries too much.
Huh? What? There are only two monsters on floor 34? The monsters are crabs, giant round crabs. Something feels wrong; why are there only two monsters? There were 12 on floor 33.
"I will kill both of them," said Elena.
"I will give you cover," said Ricky.
"I will give you support," said Rikka.
"I will also--"
"You stay here, Adas."; they
This is so frustrating.
I glanced at the other players; they are also trying to attack the crabs and the mask party, why does it feel like I have seen them before?
Elena, Ricky, Biana, and Robna dashed at the crabs meanwhile other parties...too, huh? Why is the party of 4 members not doing anything?
"That was easy."
I heard Elena's voice. When I looked at her, they had already defeated the monsters, something felt wrong.
"Reina, Ricky, watch out," Rikka yelled.
The corpses of the crab didn't disappear; I should have known! The floor was easy not because of that, but it was a trap! Disappears' bodies exploded, and all the players who were near the monsters died. I, Rikka and Xerah were far from the crabs, but we still lost some HP due to that explosion.
[Floor 34 Cleared, Proceed Through The Door To Enter Floor 35]
[The Dead Players and The Players Who Want To Retreat Proceed Through The Portal]
"Adas, are you okay?"
"Ele...na?"
Her body was transparent.
"Ricky, you idiot, the same thing happened last time," Rikka yelled.
"But that time it wasn't crabs."
Ricky's body is transparent, Biana's and Robna's too.
"We died, sorry, Adas, Rikka."
The monster is already dead; there is nothing I can do now. I will also retreat--
"Good luck Adas," said Elena.
Huh?
"I am retreating to you."
"Don't you dare retreat, go die on floor 35?"
"But I will get hurt."
"Who cares? You better score something."
"Wha---"
I want to smack her.
I know she just said this so I can enjoy the game without her too and don't feel down, but there is no point in playing this game if she isn't with me.
Elena, Ricky, Biana and Robna and....
"Why are you dead too? Miss--Xerah?"
"Because she is the weakest player."
"Wasn't she the top 6th player?"
"She is, but she is also the weakest player."
"Can you explain it in simple words?"
"Her defense is still 100 despite being on level 73."
"What?"
"She is not wearing any armor."
"Hah?"
"Some players asked her: 'Why don't you wear any armor?' She replied with: 'Armour slows me down.'"
Armour indeed affects agility but---
"Seriously, Xerah?"
"Don't look at me."
She is hiding her face with her hands.
"No, I--"
"I acted so cool on floor 30 and made an impact on you and now...how did this happen?"
Why are you asking me?
"Don't worry Xerah; You were very cool."
"Really?"
She is back to normal!
"Yeah."
Now only if I can retreat with them It--
"Adas, we will need to talk once you come back from the raid," Elena said with a smile on her face.
I don't want to go back now.
We enter floor 35; there are only 13 players now. Now that I think about it, the party with the four members knew about the trap, right?
The masked party is also alive. How are they happening? They were pretty close to the explosion, do they have high defense...huh?
One member of the party was injured while the other members were unscathed, did that player take all the damage? Her HP is so low.
They took their mask off...wait, it's them. The players who were bullying that girl, I can see 3 girls and 3 boys, does that mean the. The injured player is the one who was being forced?
"You did well protecting us, good job".,
These bastards...
The girl tried to use the healing potion, but one of the girls snatched it from her.
"Thanks for the potion, my darling is hurt."
That girl used the potion on one of the boys. Is he her boyfriend?
"Hey, give me the potion too." The other girls said.
"I only have 2."
"Who cares? Give me both of them."
The girl snatched the potion from her and used it on another boy, and the third girl did the same. I see those girls and boys are couples.
"Hey, stand up, you still have to protect us."
"These bastards--"
[Adas, calm down.]
"How can you say that after seeing that?"
[We shouldn't interfere in other peoples--]
"She is being bullied."
[Why do you think she is still in that party even though they are treating her like that?]
"What do you want to say?"
[They look like high school students, she must be from their class.]
"So?"
[This is a game, even if we help her here, what do you think will happen with her in the real world?]
"That--"
[She should take care of herself, she just has to.]
The raid started, this is one of the bosses' floors. The last boss floor was hard, even though I did nothing. The boss, this time is a giant frog and a giant spider.
"This is bad," said Rikka.
"We need a ranged attack here, right?"
"You are getting smart."
"Thanks."
"Hey, why are you walking so slow? The monster is already here." one of the boy said.
"My skills are on cooldown."
"Who cares? Protect us."
Seeing someone being bullied just pisses me off.
One of the boys kicked the girl in front of the monster.
The spider tried to attack the girl.
"Hey, aren't these guys the ones who pushed Reina in the last raid?" said Rikka.
[Skill Sprinter Activated]
I grabbed the girl.
[Adas, watch out!]hand forgot about the monster.
[Skill Harden Activated]
The spider sprinkled his web, but my hardened skill reflected it.
I am holding the girl with one hand as I tried to take out my sword with my other hand. I don't know why; maybe because I was angry or because I saw someone being bullied, and it reminded me of my childhood.
When I held my sword with one hand, even though I was holding it with one hand, the sword's size was released and cleaved the spider in two.
How? Even though I was holding the sword with--
[Your affinity with the sword increased.]
"How do you know what's going on in my mind?"
[Because I am your partner.]
The frog attacked us with his tongue, but I dodged and ran to Rikka.
"Are you okay?" I asked the girl.
"I am fine."
"Adas? What was that--"
"Rikka, are these guys the ones who killed Ele-Reina in the last raid?"
"Not killed but she died because of them."
Great, I found a good reason to kill them.
Everyone is still shocked by what just happened, and so are those three guys. I dashed at them and kicked them in front of the frog.
"What the--"
The frog grabbed them with his tongue and swallowed them.
"Don't take it personally. This is just a payback for what you did to my Elena."
The frog jumped in the air to attack me; I dodged his attack by jumping and used my 'Levitate' skill to jump in the air and used my 'Excalibur' talent to cut him down. His body is on fire due to my Excalibur skill.
[Floor 35 Cleared, Proceed Through The Door To Enter Floor 36]
[Proceed Through The Portal To Retreat]
"Adas, what was all that?" Rikka asked.
"Huh?"
"These skills and stats, what are you?"
This is bad.