“Ooh, these doors are huge.”
I’d been rampaging through the Tomb of the Death God for a good few hours and had just reached level 19 when I turned a corner and noticed a massive doorway.
“This has to be a boss room. The guide said there’s a big zombie in here called the Zombie King.”
Now I had to make a choice: fight or walk away. The safe option was to come back tomorrow with my new clothes from Françoise. Last Stand wasn’t guaranteed to trigger every time, and a death would cost me twenty percent of my experience, so there was a good chance I’d regret taking on the boss before I was ready.
“All right, I’ve already done a ton of fighting today. No need to get reckless. A real man knows when to walk away.”
But just as I was turning around, a beep followed by a message appearing in the corner of my vision caught me off guard. “World News! Zansword, Airin, Aid, and Reinhard von Edelfelt’s party was first to defeat the Goblin King! The race to clear the Goblin Fortress has concluded!”
Wh-Whaaat?! If you’re the first to beat a boss, they announce your name to the whole world?! You gotta be kidding! If I’d known that... “Aww yeah! I can’t stop now! It’s my turn to take on a boss!” A real man never backs down from a trial that lies ahead! Next it’s gonna be my name announced to everyone! “Puffster, Puff 2, Puff 3, Puff 4, Puff 5! Let’s do this!”
“Curssss!” My underlings gave a lively shriek as if to say, “We hear you, Miss Chairman!”
Soon after Puffs 2 and 3 had joined the squad, we’d bumped into a couple more living weapons who’d agreed to sign up after taking a good beating. My rebel gang was finally taking shape.
I’d also managed to tame a zombie now that my luck was through the roof, but with no sense of pain and a badly decayed brain, all it could do was stumble into fights while ignoring my commands. Zomster’s time had been short, and his resting place was somewhere nearby.
I’ll avenge you, Zomster! (Even if it was your own fault for picking fights.) This boss must pay! “Watch my back!”
“Curssss!”
The massive doors opened, and we entered the boss room.
✦ ✦ ✦
⬧⬨⬧
“Why’s there no light in here?”
Beyond the door was a sort of hall, but it was so dark I could hardly see anything.
Hmmm. There’d better not be anything lurking in here ready to jump at me, I thought as I took a few more steps inside.
“A challenger?” A deep, muffled voice echoed through the darkness...and then a series of wall-mounted torches burst aflame one after another, illuminating its owner.
Huh...? Who’s this guy?!
“You who would oppose the Demon Lord, your journey shall end by my hand!”
A knight clad in a full set of pure black armor had been waiting in the darkness. Looking closer, I saw a name tag reading “Boss Monster: Living Armor Knight.”
Wasn’t this meant to be the Zombie King?! It must’ve changed since the beta!
“If you won’t step forth, then I shall!” The armored knight pulled two swords from out of nowhere, then rushed at me.
“Huh?!” He’s fast!
In an instant, he was right in front of me, his blades crossing over each other as he swung them both into me, and the impact sent me flying backward. “Ghhaaarrgh?!”