"Fuck...", Johnathan cursed out loud.
"What's wrong?", the orc chief asked with confusion.
"... That's something called a 'Trial Boss'... worst case scenario...", Johnathan said while pointing at the massive stone statue of an armoured knight, standing motionlessly in front of a gate of equal dimensions.
Trial bosses: A special kind of dungeon boss, even more challenging and annoying than regular bosses. The reason was simple: You couldn't "fight" this boss. Trial bosses were all different from each other, each had unique caveats that challengers needed to break through.
Some Trial bosses would ask riddles, others would invite you to play a board game, and some even demanded rituals and sacrifices. It was really a wild card to come across a Trial boss.
"So what, can't we just destroy it?", one of the warrior orcs asked Johnathan.
"Only if you want to die instantly... not even heroes dare to attack a trial boss... it's almost like they're a part of the dungeon itself, not a separate entity. Meaning, they're indestructible and they have infinite strength, just like the traps in the dungeons. In case of traps, we need to disarm them. And in case of trial bosses, we need to 'overcome' them...", Johnathan explained.
"Hmm... what happens if we can't overcome?", asked one of the sister archers.
"Then the gates to the next floor won't open, and we'll have to restart the trial...", Johnathan said with a sigh.
"Interesting... Human, you said you knew all about dungeons... why don't you take this one?", the orc chief asked Johnathan in an almost threatening way.
Johnathan had no idea what kind of trial boss this stone knight was. Trial bosses were all unique after all. He hadn't ever read about a boss like this in the novel in his previous life.
But even then, he had no choice. Worst case scenario, Johnathan had to run from the orcs because he couldn't solve the boss. Best case scenario, Johnathan gained the rewards he desperately needed.
Both, he could accomplish without too much difficulty.
"... Alright, give me some time.", Johnathan asked, to which the orcs agreed reluctantly.
"No challenge, only words... Boring dungeon...", said one of the tank orcs.
Johnathan went up to the stone knight and looked up at it. The knight statue was massive and overbearing. Its armour had sinister murals and ancient texts all over it.
"I challenge.", Johnathan said out loud. He was quite sure those were the activation words for all trial bosses.
As soon as Johnathan said that, the slits in the visor of the stone knight's helm started to glow a bright red.
"Challenger... Welcome to the &#*@$%... I am @((@$%... You must defeat me to pass...", the stone night said in a low and almost threatening tone. Some of the words it spoke were foreign to Johnathan.
"I agree to all the terms and conditions. Now, tell me, what is the challenge?", Johnathan asked calmly while desperately praying for it to not be a quiz or something.
"The challenge is simple... you must tell me what you would do, in a situation I tell you... I gave this little game the name 'Simulated Situations'... fun, is it not?"
"... Yeah... Let's get this over with."
"The first situation: After years of working hard and tirelessly toiling away at your goal, you finally reach it. Only to see that someone else has achieved that goal before you, with much less effort. What would you do?"
Johnathan pondered for a bit.
"... I would ask that person for advice... Rectify my mistakes... and thoroughly crush that person the next time we compete.", Johnathan replied calmly.
The knight listened for a bit, then went on to the next situation.
"The second situation: The person who achieved your goal before you... when you go to meet this person for... as you've put it, 'advice'... this person says that you were their inspiration for them to pursue this goal... What would you do?"
Johnathan did not expect such a question. After all, there was no way anyone in the world would find him inspiring.
He thought for a good minute before answering.
"... My answer remains the same. I won't change my ways.", he replied confidently.
The knight listened then proceeded with the next situation.
"The third situation: People of higher authority have tasked you with the elimination of this person. The time limit is too short for you to 'thoroughly crush them'... What would you do?"
Without hesitation, Johnathan snapped back, "Thoroughly crush the authority. No one tells me what to do with my skills."
The knight listened and eventually, the red glow in his visor turned purple.
"You have failed.", the knight said before shutting down again.
"What?! Oh come on...", Johnathan sighed. Just 3 situations, and he was already exhausted. How could he come up with a "correct" answer in that context? He had no idea what the knight wanted from him, and the situations seemed to be randomly generated! How could he possibly answer them 'correctly'?
'These are like the English exams I went through in my previous life...', he thought to himself.
Regardless, he started the trial again.
"I challenge.", Johnathan repeated.
"Challenger... Welcome to-"
"I agree. Tell me the situation."
"Situation one: You find yourself owning a plot of land in an low-income area of a town. The land is quite big. You see families struggling to find shelter around you, but they are beaten if they tresspass into your land. What would you do?"
"Set up a business, hire people and grow my business..."
"Situation two: The people you have hired, the residents of the low-income area, have looted your warehouse in fear they will be laid off by you. They wanted to get as much as they could before you fired them. What would you do?"
"make the perpetrators pay for the mistake they have committed and uh... Fine them?"
"Situation three: You couldn't catch all of the perpetrators. They ha-"
"Tsk, I give up. Fuck this. next scenario please."
"Situation one..."
--- some time passed ---
This continued for another half an hour. The orcs were growing impatient with this. They had come to the dungeon to fight, not to watch a human fail a question and answer test over and over again.
"Human... you're not proving of much use... although I acknowledge your skills from what you have shown us through the secret rooms and treasures... I'm not sure that acknowledgement will be enough to counter our lack of patience...", the chief orc announced with a lace of anger.
"Just a few more tries, come on... I got this, trust me.", Johnathan gulped.
"*sigh*... I challenge.", Johnathan started again.
"Situation one: Your father apologises to you. What do you do?"
...
Johnathan's mind went blank.
'... what...'
Before he could even think, his mouth began to move and words started to flow from him without control.
"I'll listen."
"Situation two: The reasons he gives you are unfair to you and this makes you angry. What do you do?"
"I'll... leave..."
"Situation three: Your father is suicidal. What do you do?"
"... I'll leave... celebrate... and never return..."
The visor of the stone knight glowed bright yellow.
"You have passed.", with those words, the gates to the next floor opened.
The orcs got up from sitting down with a big smile and an expression that said, "Finally!" and started walking towards the gate.
Johnathan joined them and they all went to the third floor of the 4-star dungeon.