Virtual Reality : Dystopian Tales Online

010.5 | The Five Grand Bosses of the 200th Floor

The small quarrel did not interrupt the players inside the game field.

The abrupt turn of the game made the viewers excited. Earlier, their thoughts were laden with doubts and queries on how will Clover deal with the boss. The psychological shadow left by this boss still makes the seasoned players tremble, so they were a bit pessimistic about it.

Although they are not convinced of Clover being able to finish up to the last boss, nobody will challenge him. It's already a feat for the player to deal with a boss monster having the same level - nobody does that. Most players would only dare to oppose a boss at least a few levels lower than theirs.

The centaur continued dragging its weapon while Clover kept on leaping up and down while summoning his golems. Clover will use his battle lance to beat the rolling ghost balls on the ghost pool table in between dives. It causes the ball to move around and reach the other ghost balls.

In every strike, Aries would move around the actual pool table to perform his turn. It is not a one-way effect. Every time Clover hits the ghost ball, that particular ball on the actual pool table will also move. In this context, it is as if the two players are playing billiards.

Yet, none of the balls land on the hole.

"They are trying to do a one-hit," Leon commented.

He has been watching the ball game closely. Billiard is a game that deals relatively with force and vectors. From a typical angle, the game might be challenging to play, especially for the novices. After all, you have to knock the balls in sequential order and force them to the hole with the least amount of turns.

The enclosed space increases the chance of chain reaction. It is also placed in a zero-degree horizontal plane that substantially increases randomized movements. A slight contact or a faint tap is enough to alter the ball's direction and speed. With merely a stick to deal with these variables, how is it easy?

So it could be claimed that people that could play billiards very well are capable.

Of course, it would be different for individuals that could clearly identify the relationship between variables. With the numbers calculating all over the place, Leon could determine the distance between the balls, the force required to reach the other ball in the desired orientation, and the chance of striking that one ball to resolve the game.

In his eyes, the entire system is remarkably precise that he only needed to apply one move to make every ball drop to the hole in proper order.

Clover and Aries are handling the game flawlessly. The variation of numbers was not chaotic. Leon wanted to admire the two people for coordinating effectively. Aries is striking the ball to arrive at a specific area on the board while Clover coordinated while still engaging with the boss. The interruption caused by the boss didn't seem to work with their tacit understanding.

The repeated movement allowed the smart game system to figure out the attribute of the player. Once again, reprogramming happened that impeded the centaur from striking. Clover is standing by for this moment.

"Aries!" He called out. "Let's start!"

Aries nodded in a grin. He whirled the cue stick in his palm in three rounds before stooping down to the pool. A blue aura seems to envelop him that caused the surroundings to be void of gravity. His hair floated freely while his clothes lightly danced. A gleam flickered from his eyes while there is a mischievous smirk on his lips.

"Alright," his tone sounded low and somewhat tempting. "This is for you."

His hand thrust into the cue stick that struck the ball in a gentle push. The ball, accompanied by his aura, affected the other balls it crossed, creating a fiery pool. The minute the last ball caught fire did the game proceeded at a brisk pace.

After Aries made his shot, Clover immediately returns. It led to the extent where the balls are still rolling, yet the other is already hitting another. Each ball never has the chance to reach the hole, but it did strike the centaur as often as possible.

High-level monsters have a natural defensive barrier. It will deflect attacks under a respective range. The balls striking the centaur have lesser power and force, so it will be pressed backward every time it comes to beat the centaur.

Still, a hit is a hit, and each smash corresponds to a reduction in HP. This process lasted until the discrepancy becomes noticeable. The defensive barrier also becomes weak with every blast that eventually shattered it when it eclipsed its power. With no blockage, Clover enthusiastically attacked the centaur with both the ghost balls and his battle lance.

It didn't take so long for the centaur to reach the berserk state.

There was a brief pause, then an intense throbbing aura scourged the area. Both the people present and the players watching the broadcast felt the finger of danger touch their hearts. It started small but continued to rush at a pace that caused them to wish to run for their lives.

The silver armor protecting the foreign entity cracked with blazing red liquid leaking out in between cracks. It bore out more chill that veiled the entity being with a b****y aura. The centaur boss is already considered quick, but now its movement had become much quicker.

It has been infuriated and accurately followed its mad state. Clover was still conforming with the continuous aerial leaps when a sharp, ear-splitting whistle passed through the slowing time. He glanced in a specific direction that made his eyes dilate, which wholly reflected the silvery weapon's image that is only a second close to his being.

Instinctively, he used his battle lance to deter the attack. A thin, loud, sharp sound shot out golden glints from the contact of two weapons. The unbalanced forces altered the still environment to which the force pushed by the centaur was drawn towards the player.

A deafening bang reverberated throughout the cavern, with puffs of dust covering the scenario. It is accompanied by a short figure thrown out from the enclosure. Everything took place in a split second that the only thing they witnessed is the sudden blast and Clover being flung out. They were still digesting the information, yet the centaur chased Clover in a flash.

There is no time for recovery. Clover adjusted his state, offsetting the incoming attack with a couple of spells. Magic circles of various colors and grades were incurred successively that almost blocked his figure from the centaur. The intensity has been accumulated in one attack that there are much stronger explosions the minute the centaur touched the first magic circle.

The viewing has been blocked out by too much flying dust around. The live broadcast even emitted some glitch brought by the massive energy being sent out. Everyone is breathless. They don't know if Clover is still alive. That quick succession of melee is enough to render anyone lifeless.

The boss had gone insane.

Fortunately, all the five incarnations of the ultimate boss only have one berserk state. The developers weren't cruel as to hand over more salt to their open wounds.

They didn't need to wait long to know the answer. Aries still has his eyes directed on the board as if he wasn't concerned. He leaned forward to strike a ball that seems to move in the boss's direction. The force he applied to move the ball wasn't strong, so it simply rolled for a while, then halted when it was merely a few inches away from the boss.

There is a point of stillness when the ghost ball suddenly flared up. But it wasn't as effective as Clover's attack. It only came to tickle the boss to deflect its attention. The centaur looked around to seek the owner of the attack, but it didn't see anyone. Aries is too far from its range, so the system did not recognize him.

Enraged, the centaur started stabbing and thrashing its weapon around, ruining whatever it could reach. It spared nothing, not even the tucked-in crystals that are quietly squatting in the place. The boss's attention has been switched from Clover to actively seek the 'ghost' attacker in just ten seconds.

Clover walked away from the dust blast. Yes, he quietly stepped out as if he is just strolling in a park. His appearance is quite messy. The pointed hat he has been wearing is lost somewhere in the field that revealed his rumpled black hair. There are also marks of coal and grey ashes on his cheeks and clothes brought in by the explosions.

Yet, he didn't look hurt.

"It is your turn," Aries reminded. "Hurry and finish this game."

He did not respond but drew out a couple of flasks from his satchel and drained them. He has been using high-grade spells, so his MP gauge is almost empty. His HP meter is also has been halved.

"It'll be the last move, ah," Clover said after consuming the goods. "There's nothing to hurry."

His favorite battle lance is then again been broken. Actually, considering that middle-tier weapon reach this far means that it is a good one. He returned the weapon to his inventory and picked up his known second weapon, which is a scythe.

Different from the ordinary-looking lance, the appearance of the scythe gives off a majestic feeling. It is far larger than Clover, with the blade almost covering his figure. It reflects light easily that mirrored Clover upon moving. It is in this set-up when Clover really looks like his role of being the top gamer.

He only sat down to supply himself with mana and then quickly rushed towards the boss. The ghost pool table also seems to solidify. It reaches the point where Clover could feel a stable footing. He hastened his pace since Aries' ability is approaching the limit.

The pool table before Aries started vanishing. The player realized that it would be his last turn. After Clover shot one ball, Aries focused on the position of the balls before moving the cue in a specific line. The balls collide with each other producing a relatively unstable state.

This instability helped Clover to generate further disorder. He went around the balls to nudge them towards the beast. The terrain has been filled with dust coming from the attacks of the monster. They could see a person jumping out from the mist at every interval, then plunging back again to hit the beast.

The centaur is already on the berserk mode that allowed it to become stronger. Yet, they could only see its life ebbing. Flashes of metal hitting something hard showed up once, and then the second time until players could see a silhouette fighting the boss behind the clouds. The flares and roar is coming from the weapons hitting each other.

The board before Aries is gone. Just in time, the swarms of dust covering their view settled. Without the interference, they can now entirely see the events transpiring. The ghost pool table is also gone.

However, the balls are still present. Upon the covered dome is a group of average-sized billiard balls that were hovering in a certain pattern. The people inside might not see it clearly, but the players watching the broadcast can clearly visualize it.

It takes a form of a double-jointed pendulum but is arranged in the same horizontal plane. If ever Clover struck one, the other billiard balls will also be affected, producing a sequence of erratic movements.

On the other hand, Clover is fighting the large boss face to face. They found Clover running through the platform in the scenario, then quickly mouthing a spell that slighted his feet. It raised the leaping range of the player. The activation is so quick that they were only able to see something flashing underneath his leg.

He vaulted up.

Clover sent some mana to the scythe then made a hack to the air directed to the centaur's location. The boss blocked it with the cylindrical spear that deflected half the force but the half directly impaling it. The hand bearing the spear has been decapitated, displaying a hollow armor filled with the ghostly black mist.

The silver armor released a raucous cry as if in agony. It saw Clover floating in mid-air and aggressively reaching out with the motive of seizing the player with the remaining hand. Clover intercepted the clutch with his scythe, then did a somersault. He landed to the back of the centaur's hand then hastily rushed towards the beast while drawing the force to carry out a cut.

The boss did not expect the action and flayed his arms around. One hand reached out to slap the running player. When it is slapped, it sends out a force. Clover easily hopped right just in time and used the decapitated arm as the leverage. With a s***h, he hit the helmet of the centaur.

The boss emitted a shriek and buried its head as if getting hurt from the s***h. Clover was shoved aside, but he landed safely to the ground. The monster roared in anguish while releasing heavy spells around. The boss is also given many abilities, and the power of the current boss is to use its wings to throw out sharp needles.

Clover blocked the incoming needles while also countering the thrown-out magic spells. The boss is losing its life, and it is taking everything under its sleeve to endure. Clover is not planning to let the centaur go, so he decided to finish everything in one strike.

Honestly, the only thing the spectators could see would be the random outbursts of light and the vibrations coming from collisions. Every now and then, there would be explosions, and some figure would be seen leaping away from the epicenter as if escaping. Yet, that figure will also make a quick dash that will create another series of reactions.

This is just the first boss, but anybody could tell the severity of the situation.

Aries did not withdraw from his position. Without the pool table, his eyes are now watching Clover roam around. The boss is still a high-level entity, keeping up with Clover despite having a low life gauge.

Death in this game means zero HP value, so as long as the player or enemies still have a small percentage of HP, there is still the possibility of recovery. This is the reason why Clover is not dropping his guard despite his advantage. Floor bosses have unique quirks that get activated when in peril. It would be wrong if he will fall after all the effort of reaching the goal.

The boss is becoming desperate in every second. As its HP gauge decreases, the number of attacks increases, leaving Clover no choice but to block them ahead. The centaur would flap its wings every second, discharging the long thin needles combined with the silvery feathers. Clover could not totally stop them from coming, so he would take a step back to increase the distance.

"Thirty more seconds," Aries announced. "Beat it already!"

Clover rolled his eyes to show his displeasure. The centaur threw a couple of needles in his direction, to which he easily fended off by hopping to the side. The boss was displeased by the failed attack, so it dropped another dozen without worrying about the cooldown. Clover blocked it by swirling the scythe before him.

Aries is not done yet. He took a chair from his inventory and placed it down to sit. He once again yelled, "Stop dawdling around. End it already!"

The guild masters could not help but smirk at the taunt. This guy is really good at provoking people, ah. If not for him provoking them to kill the lower floor bosses, they wouldn't be here sacrificing their life. This guy is the prime suspect, ah!