"What's going on? W-where's Charles?!"
"That bastard…" Grace said with closed teeth. She looked more upset than the time I rejected her offer to join her future guild. "He disappeared."
"What do you mean? Did he leave us behind?"
"No. He literally vanished. I bet that one of the bosses' artifacts he got allows him to turn invisible." She showed me her lit eyes, as fiery as the fire she could cast, before whispering to me. "He's probably hiding, waiting for the opportunity to deal the final blow."
"But that doesn't sound like…"
Wait… It kind of sounded like something he would do.
From the moment he stepped into this mansion, Grace mentioned he looked nervous, and what was his first order? To form groups, while he took on a boss all by himself. The one he claimed to have beaten before. But each one of these bosses was formidable! Could he really beat one by himself, even if he already had experience fighting him?
He could if he already had an advantage… Like an artifact.
"Come on, T.! Go and help Steve. There's not much time left until they kick us out of the dungeon!" Grace's hurried, bossy voice made me squint at her, too.
What if she was lying? What if Charles died, and she told me all this while Steve could not hear her? What if she's actually the one that wants us to perish, so she could deliver the final blow?
"What are you doing down here?" I asked.
Although she seemed reluctant to answer due to our situation, she said: "We've been hitting and running this whole time. Only Steve and I remained, T., what did you expect?! If he killed any of us, he'll recover some health again. It was my idea to come all the way to check if you were still kicking."
It sounded convincing, but I couldn't shake off the idea of her lying completely.
What could I do?
A few feet away from us was Steve, enduring Dylak's constant swipes and bites.
The boss acted feral as if Steve had kicked his nuts, spat on his breakfast, and insulted every one of his retainers.
I also needed to think about him.
Once we got reconnected, the first thing I wanted to ask him was if what he said to me in the library was true. Was he going to use his hard-earned gold to spend a night with me? Now that I think it through, it makes me sound like I'm prostituting myself, right?
But… If it was really true… Then, it was simple. All that it mattered was that only he and I survived. Charles and Grace could plot all they wanted.
I closed my eyes and focused, wondering if I could detect my hammer nearby.
"What are you doing, Taylor?!" Grace cried exasperatedly, but not even her high-pitched voice could distract me.
I could see the silhouettes in front of me glowing with life, but instead of trying to kill each other, they seemed to dance in slow motion. Was this also due to the pendant? Anyway, I kept searching, but my surroundings were 'cloaked' to me… Until… Something clearly visible and lined in blue neon light made itself set apart from all that blackness. My hammer was upstairs, on the first floor.
"Give me a minute," I said to a confused Grace, before jumping upwards as far as I could.
Thanks to my new 'game-like' strength, I jumped like… what, 8 feet? Enough for me to reach and grab the edge of the broken roof.
"Where are you going?" Grace anxiously said as I climbed up.
"Continue doing what you do best," I said through the crack. "Channel your magic."
"Fine," she said, changing into a confident expression.
I then grabbed my hammer, ran 10 feet frontward, and halted. Clenching my jaw, I closed my eyes to apply mana into my pendant and pinpoint the exact spot Steve and Dylak were. I corrected my position by taking two steps to my left before lifting my hammer way up.
The 'Hammer Smash' special move added an extra 100% attack power, right?
I tensed my arm's muscles. "Fire Boost, Valor," I cast, feeling a fire aura around me. "And now… Let's apply mana to the new ring I got…"
++ Master's First Ring activated!
+100% power to your next move! ++
"300% total power, eh…" I smirked, feeling that I could tear down the entire house with this hit, even if that wasn't entirely true. "Here goes nothing…" I took a deep breath before shouting: "Hammer Triple Smash!"
The ground beneath felt like cardboard to me, since gravity pulled me almost instantaneously. There was no recoil. Only doom from above and a strenuous noise.
I'd have loved to see Steve's shocked expression, but no, I locked my gaze on that humanoid's head.
When my hammer connected, a cracking sound was heard, surely his skull.
After I fell on my butt, I saw Dylak falling to his knees, facing forward. He looked paralyzed, as if my attack had really affected his brain, even though this was nothing but a simulation.
Well, a well-programmed one. I can safely say after all the sex sessions I had.
"Oh, come on!" I cried, watching the boss' HP Bar. He was at 15%. "He should be dead after that!"
"No, Taylor, that was brilliant!" Grace cried joyfully. "That attack took 40% off his health pool!"
"Good job, Taylor," a tired, wounded Steve said beside me, and… he winked at me! Oh, my sweet--!
"Watch out!"
I turned my gaze back to Dylak, who was staring at me, although it was impossible. Behind his chin was his back… So… how…?
"We fought a pair of creepy twin maids. They could turn their heads 360 degrees!" Dan's words echoed inside my mind.
Oh… fuck…
Dylak's red eyes and wicked grin suddenly got closer, and I couldn't prevent him from biting my left trapezius. Even though this was nothing more than a simulation, I could clearly feel my virtual blood being drained out of me.
If what happened to Dan repeated, Dylak would recover 15% of his health.
"Taylor!"
++ Pain Endurance Level 3 activating. ++
Nope. Is not working. I can still feel it.
Since the very first moment I got hurt inside this virtual reality, I've wondered why the developers decided to simulate pain as close as the real deal as possible.
Now I get it.
They wanted us to feel scared.
Not of dying, this is all treated as a game, after all. If what Grace said is true, death is nothing more than a punishment. They penalize you for being stupid. For acting rashly. For not strategizing.
Pain is just the icing in the cake.
Some players may not like this, and opt to not engage in battle as time passes on.
But to me, this piercing, burning torment--in the form of Dylak's fangs--is telling me that I screwed up.
The creators of The Novus want you to remember what being stabbed, stomped, and breaking your bones feels like, so that you do better the next time.
I should have known that Dylak was still alive.
I didn't know I could be cocky. I wasn't good at anything back on Earth, so finding out that I could competently fight here, just gave me a little bit of confidence. What was so bad about that?
"And another falls…" Dylak said, with his lips stained with my blood. "Strong ones taste sweeter."
Was he programmed to compliment those that almost got him? Well, while I watched my HP dropping all the way to zero, I didn't feel better about myself, I can assure you.
++ Notice: Count Dylak has recovered 15% of his health. ++
With not even the strength to retaliate, the only thing I could do was wait for my death and stare at the broken ceiling above me, from where a silhouette peered at us. Was that…? Yes! It was Charles! I wanted to cheer him up so he could finish this fight, but it would give away his position. And… something was wrong.
When he jumped down, he didn't seem to be targeting the boss, but Steve instead…
"What are you waiting for?! SHOOT IT!" I cried to Grace with my last breath, breaking her out of her state of shock.
"I'm so sorry T.! Major Fire Crafting, Spitfire!"
At that distance, even Grace took damage, and made the whole room tremble and get engulfed in flames.
++ Notice: Count Dylak's HP at 10% ++
Hmm, and it seems that the spell that took 30% off his health before, only did 20% of damage this time, indicating that his Second Form made him more resistant… Great.
++ Notice: You have survived a fatal wound thanks to the effect of your Master's Keepsake artifact. 0 daily uses remaining.
Notice: You have restored 5% of your health. ++
"T-Taylor?!" Grace cried after seeing me jump out of the fire. "You're alive! But I saw your HP bar--"
"Not now! Charles is here!"
"So that bastard finally showed up! Fine, let's--" she interrupted herself once I grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of the room. "W-what are you doing? Let's finish the boss now that he's weak!"
"We have a bigger problem right now. Charles attacked Steve."