Virtual Reality : Dystopian Tales Online

001.5 | NOOB'S FIRST KILL

Whenever a hidden boss is defeated, the names of the players will be recorded on the game. No matter who, no matter what level, as long as the boss is defeated, the name will be engraved on the leaderboard. Even if the boss is found on a low-level dungeon floor, they still defeated a deviant spawn. 

The world needs to know their outstanding performance. 

It is not the first time to discover the deviant's hideout while the dungeon is not fully explored, but it is already a feat to defeat one considering their levels. It is also right after the developers updated some features that added taste to the bland soup. 

Leon is just guessing stuff based on his statistics, but it is indeed happening. After the announcement, the people that are either adventuring on lesser-level areas or just roaming around started gathering information. The neutral grounds, the town, have been buzzing with excitement as they discussed the players' names that they never heard before. 

The announcement lasted for ten minutes in the brightest color as if the game system is afraid that the other players will not notice it. Leon's eyes shone brightly as he stared at the announcement that has his name. Leon scratched the tip of his nose while releasing a snort. It really feels so wonderful to get some worthy recognition. 

Shin is also very excited. He could not help watching his shaking hand that made the three powerful slashes that defeated the boss. His blood boiled while his heart is beating fast. He had won many sports competitions before, but it is only this kind of event that made him feel novel and refreshed. 

It really felt like he had become a true warrior. 

Shin zoomed around for a while to exhaust the effect of the spell before stopping beside Leon. He raised his hand for a high five. Leon accepted it without worries, and the two of them celebrated their first win. The members who are cowering on the side decided to approach them. Even though they didn't do anything but watch, the system will include their names in the list of winners because they are part of the party.

"You guys are so good. So amazing! I did not know what is happening, but the next thing, you guys already defeated the boss," one with the username of Crown praised. He did not hesitate to throw some confetti effects to show his enthusiasm. 

"Absolutely wonderful! I wasn't able to see everything clearly, but your coordination is great. Maybe if you guys headed the team..." The player named Spring scrunched his nose in dissatisfaction. "Our leader is really a coward, running away from the start. No wonder karma brought him dead."

Their leader is already dead. When they faced the beast, the leader got scared and decided to leave them by running outside the cave. But the beast just caught him easily and got killed. He is the first casualty. Without the leader, the group fell to chaos as the beast went amok, massacring everyone. 

The two players remained silent. Shin shook his head. They both indeed defeated the boss, but it doesn't mean that them leading the group could also give the same results. Well, the group will probably not be killed easily, but the chance of winning is not ensured. They were only able to do such cooperation because they understood each other in a way different from these normal people.

Shin might be just guessing, but Leon isn't the same with these people. Rather, he might be above average like him. He can't see numbers like Leon does, but Shin possesses another intelligence that anyone can never compare to anyone. His comprehension and understanding of people's body language are enough for him to realize these facts. 

"Okay, then..." Leon called everyone out. "How are we going to divide this loot?"

They all looked at the droppings. All are good pieces of equipment. The difficulty of the boss is compensated by the number of treasures it left. The rarity of the materials and the colored weapons are enough to make anyone that wanted fame and power get it. The remaining three that survived looked at each other as if reaching a decision. They all faced the two with a determined face.

"I think you guys should just keep it yourselves," Rain voiced out. "We didn't do much in the fight. It would be shameless of us to get a part of the work we didn't do."

They already got their names announced; that is already shameful enough. If not from the game rules, the game's system should only mention Shin's and Leon's names. 

Spring agreed. He looked at the treasures and thought that these materials would only give them trouble. They don't have enough level to carry the weapons, and as for the rare materials, they can only sell them in the market. He's afraid that people seeking rare materials will hunt them and [PK] them outside the neutral grounds. 

"Hmmm..." Shin did not give much thought. He asked Leon. "What do you think?"

"I don't really care," Leon shrugged his shoulders. "Besides, other than the equipment and the money, the EXP will be evenly divided by the system, so I've got no problem with it. You can just have them."

Shin thinks that it is reasonable. He is not knowledgeable when it comes to forging weapons and potion concoctions, so in his eyes, these treasures are just plain colorful. He also considered Leon's opinion. Leon did not mind the droppings, so probably they are of an inferior class. It's just a few levels higher than them, the reason why it seems to be useful. 

"He's right," Shin added. "Even if we take them all, there is enough space in our bags. Some of them are also incompatible with our race, so it is better to just give them away. In the end, we would be just selling them."

"But you guys... are you really sure? We didn't fight the beast!"

"No worries," Leon said. He squatted down to get the things that have good numbers on them. "Then, I will just take this rare staff and some of the medicinal herbs. I will take one-fifth of the gold."

"I will take this silver sword, small shield, and a crystal plate. I will take the same amount of gold as he did," Shin followed suit.

"Now, aren't we both satisfied with what we looted? You guys can have them all. If you don't want to use them, just sell them. There is no need to share money. This is enough for us."

The three almost cried when they heard it. They can't believe that these two players are so generous to give them so much than they deserve. Now that the two already took the equipment they only want, they can no longer refuse the terms. They are all beginners, after all. Being greedy will only drag them down.

"Now that we are done... wait, let me add you guys," Shin enthusiastically asked the three. He opened his interface and quickly sent requests. "I quite like this game. Let's play again. Maybe we could do some dungeon stuff in the future!"

He looked at Leon. "What do you think? Want to join the fun?"

"Sure, no problem. Let's add each other," Leon also prompted a friend request. 

They sent each other a request and accepted it. This means that whenever someone is on another server or place, they can give a private message without a problem. Messages given outside the Friend's List costs gold and also have the chance of getting rejected. Having it in this way is cheaper. Leon read the classes of his new friends. Crown and Rain are both of the Humanoid Race. Spring is also an Elven Race like him.

"Well then, I think it's time for us to go. Knowing that this dungeon isn't cleared yet, the boss might respawn faster-"

Leon is still talking about another boss spawning when a sudden force almost swept in front of him. That strong force grabbed Spring that is standing before him. He saw the face of the comrade paled in fear with mouth open ready to scream. But no sound came out. 

Spring died before he realized that he is dead. 

Their reaction is slower than they expected that the only thing they managed to do is jump back before this hand could sweep them off again. Crown and Rain, unfortunately, wasn't able to jump high and tripped over the land. Leon and Shin both managed to jump in a farther range.

"What the hell is that," Leon frowned.

Looking ahead of them, a larger beast appeared. He thought that the First Hidden boss could have respawned again. But that is impossible. Even though the deviant bosses of the dungeons follow weird rules, such thing as spawning after defeating them is that standard. It shouldn't spawn in that quickly.

Then an idea hit him. Could it be another boss? Well, whoever told them that only one boss is allowed to stay in the same cave?

"I never saw this coming," Shin commented; his face showed amusement. He had the same conclusion as Leon. This boss looks entirely different from before, so the respawn idea is impossible. 

"Well," Leon crooked an unpleasant smile. "Actually, there's thirty percent chance that another boss is also residing in the same area. And twenty percent for having the first boss as a requirement to spawn the second one."

He said the words as if he is sure about the probability. 

"Then we are unlucky. We managed to hit that thirty percent," Shin commented.

Unlucky? Leon, who did not believe in fate, somehow thought that everything is quite reasonable. They have been told about the rules of the dungeons. With the developers adding features to the recent update, there's a chance that this double boss summoning is what they're working on. 

In addition, the top players, too, did not quickly enter the opened dungeon despite still being early. He had heard from other players that the top players would often try to uncover the first three phases of a newly opened dungeon if they managed to open one before the limit. This is to do logistics. 

Those people must have noticed that something is different from the new dungeon, so they didn't quickly enter. Leon's group is just too hasty to make a chance of survival. 

Looking at the beast, it is obvious that this one is harder to defeat. The cave now has been illuminated, fully exposing the image of the new boss. The boss before is already grotesquely formed with excessively good stats. This one... Leon's incoming headache did not come. He just stopped thinking. 

They can still fight, but the chances of winning are low. 

It hasn't reached the negative, but it is enough to tell him that they finally reached the limit. Shin could still fight, but it is impossible to pull the same stunt as before. Chance had brought them to defeat the first boss since it has no special character other than being just powerful. This one...

"Eh, this one is too strong," He concluded. "This is too much for us."

Shin nodded without question. "Do you think we could just leave and say we accidentally tripped on its house?"

"Do you really think they have the function to listen to players?"

Spring, who was dragged out, died in no time. The other two who are in the effective range will surely come next.

Leon wanted to save the two. Using his staff, he flew up in the air and headed for Crown and Rain while avoiding the hand of the beast. By just hooking the collars of these two, he took them on his side. Due to their weight, the staff flew a bit slower, so he threw them to Shin, who is waiting on standby. Shin caught the two to safety.

What will come next after this?

The numbers in his eyes aren't crowded, but it only showed an unsatisfying number. He flew back to Shin to discuss. But before he could reach the place, another object hit him that threw him to the end of the cave. Shin attacked the one with his reflex as he travels through the deal of death towards Leon.

[MINUS HP DAMAGE] filled the ears of Leon. The system is warning him of his health status.

Leon is slowly hitting the end of his life. If only Shin didn't arrive to give him an HP potion, he would be dead. But still, they are surrounded.

"s**t," Leon cursed. "We can't get out."

"Really, we can't," Shin chuckled.

"No time to laugh, dude. We will be dead," Leon commented.

Like before, Shin's calmness bothered him again. Even now that they are on the brink, the warrior managed a chuckle. Isn't he a bit suicidal?

"Nah, just imagining this scene a bit weird. If I were to die, I wanted it to be with a girl, not a guy stranger who likes to curse," Shin tattled.

"You're really weird."

"And you too."

They looked at the new beast. They saw two additional arms that are not included in the first encounter. They could almost laugh. The new boss is not only a chimera but also has extended arms? It is sure hard to understand.

A huge shadow hovered the two. By just looking at its huge arms, they will be dead in just a short grip. The two of them faced the beast until the end. This is courage - the ability to face everything without getting scared. None of them closed their eyes. They will watch.

Yes, they will watch until death.

And that's when Leon saw the numbers declining to negative when another set of equations entered his eyes. It changed everything from the minute decimal to a positive sight. As if fate, an image of a dragon appeared on a bright light, ripping the beast away from its standing place.