Virtual Reality : Dystopian Tales Online

010.8 | The Five Grand Bosses of the 200th Floor

Who would have expected that the spider's eyes could release laser light?

The outlying area that was struck savagely by the laser was scorched. It comprises merely of rock and soil, but it still got burned by the laser that left visible remnants of blazing matter. The temperature is also extremely high that even the long-ranged players posted outside the rings could feel the recent wave in their faces.

What about the people left on-site?

Deaths in the game cannot be prevented. Almost three-fourths of the players perished while the notable ones keeping standing are in critical condition. It was a charge coming from a thousand-level boss, so it has been until now a miracle that there are still players who survived.

Clover is at least in a steadier state. Only half of his life was reduced. He had hidden from the half-summoned golems and scarcely dragged a few players under his protection. There is, moreover, a double-layer barrier in front of them that helped deter the attack.

One layer is made up of the marked cards, and the other is made up of a monolith block. Aries and Frass reacted rapidly and undoubtedly sent out their defensive barriers at the last minute. It didn't last long and soon crumbled to charred ashes together with the rock golems, but at least it reduced the force of the strike.

Xavier and his group of healers instantly ran to the rescue. Cultivated plants of assorted sizes emerged from the ground that enveloped the injured players. The bards and druids performed their melody as they activated healing buffs and hymns. Allen especially cast a blessing to boost the curing process.

"Weren't the Merlin's and Artisan's guilds finished this floor before? Why do you look somewhat startled?" Aries asked. He had noted the reaction of the two guild leaders when the massive tarantula appeared, and both have cautious looks.

He withdrew his burning deck of cards. He squandered half of it to protect Clover, so only half remained. The deck wouldn't be effective if there were cards missing, so he returned them to his inventory.

"Not that we're surprised. This boss did not exist when we cleared the floor," Allen responded.

"So it is a new boss?" Aries pondered over.

"Not likely," Clover disagreed. He consumed an HP potion that restored his life to maximum health. "30 boss models will show up in this instance. Each game will be randomized. Some bosses haven't appeared in the past."

"There are thirty?" Aries is surprised. "No wonder it took time for them to clear the floor. It'll be fortunate to get an easy boss."

The boss clearing is typically performed by considerable groups of players. Most of the time, the boss fights are organized according to the strength of the boss. Nobody would dispatch a group of tank players for bosses that can be defeated by long-range players, and the other otherwise. 

However, it would become burdensome in cases where there is the randomization of bosses. Nobody knows who will show up first or what attributes the boss will have. Fortunately, there is an equal supply of every skill in their party or else it would be a challenge to cope up.

"Still difficult," Melon interjected. "The boss will still imitate the level of the highest leveled player. This tarantula looks cute, but is it weak?"

"..."

Allen mused,"You think this boss looks cute?" He peered at the rampaging monster and thought he was looking at the wrong object. This thing is cute? What part of this terrible thing is cute?

"Contrasted to a mangled corpse, which is cuter," Melon said, in a matter of fact.

"At least, a rotting corpse won't harm you."

Melon: ...

The massive tarantula became aggressive after the second wave of its army was massacred. It would poke around to hack players with its sharp-pointed legs. The players that are slow to escape were easily jabbed on their chests as if barbecue sticks stabbing a chunk of meat.

It sufficiently showed complete viciousness.

Allen still has time to jab Melon with his elbows and stated, "Change your mind?"

Melon: ...

The boss was shifting around to charge, so everyone changed positions. Clover opened his interface and scanned the twenty-nine other players on his team. Some interfaces were dull, which means the player is dead. He divided them from the critical players and confirmed the overall status.

He ordered out the healers to heal certain players while he called for a few tank players to retreat. Clover looked up to the hiding place of the long-ranged players and raised his hand. Almost instantly, the concealed archers raised their bows in angles aimed towards the tarantula.

The moment Clover closed his fists and lowered his hand, the archers also let go by their bowstring, which shot the arrows forward. The second support team opened their barriers to defend themselves as the continuous stream of arrows plunged towards the ground.

The arrows struck the target without a hitch. It drowned the top of the tarantula with sharpened sticks that earned them an aggrieved cry. It struggled to sway its body to get rid of the hurtful plunging, but it resulted in more arrows piercing its soft skin. The thin needle-like hair on its body is not a match against the heavy wooden arrows.

Naturally, it could not also handle guns. Marcus did not use any silencer to block the sound of his sniper g*n, so everybody could hear loud g*n sounds firing every few seconds. It was cold and precise as if the little boy was executing a criminal.

The attack power wasn't weak, but it merely took a slight part of the Boss's health. It is not enough to hold it down. 

Another cracking noise made its way to the rowdy arena. However, the c***k wasn't solid. It sounds like a balloon inflated with water then placed in a freezer to ice it down. But it didn't complete the ice process and was picked up half solid. 

There are no more eggs on the ground. Where could the sound come from?

Something dripped on Melon's face. Not only to him but to all the players looking around. They subconsciously looked up to discover the flesh-like egg capsules swollen to the degree of bracing to explode. The cracking sounds were from the shells that restricted the elastic egg sacs earlier.

The light from the specters produced the crimson fleshy color of the fluid prominent. The outline of the offspring inside is twitching and jerking as if roused by something. When the elastic ball sack could no longer curb the pull of gravity and the movement of the creature inside, it popped. 

The putrid smell of the amniotic fluid rained unto them. Unlike water, the fluid is slimy that made it more disgusting and sticky. Clover took out a bucket of water and poured it above his head. The player is then been soaked like a poor chick. 

"Do you have to do that?" Aries looked over at the feeble figure. He could not help but want to pat Clover's head. If not from Frass glaring knives on the back of his head, he would do that. 

"This fluid will become stiff once dried. It's a part of their web-making fluids. You wouldn't want that to hinder your movements."

"It is also flammable," Allen added. He pointed to a player caught with fire. They must have tried drying themselves after pouring water onto themselves. The other players helped them to extinguish it. "Now, we can't use any fire-related attacks."

"Isn't that better? We just shoot them with fire and will be done," Aries suggested. 

"They are born from a fluid that induces fire, obviously they are also resistant to it."

The creatures coming from inside the eggs flopped to the ground. A slapping sound from the impact was brought in by a wet object. It was motionless for a moment, then some bone-cracking sound came up as the creatures gradually rose. The spiders sucked in the fluid from their slimy skin that immediately buffed their appearance because of the hair puffing out. 

The newborn spiders are gigantic. They are at most half of the size of the boss tarantula. 

The third and last wave is the combination of the half-sized boss tarantula and the boss itself. The levels of the half-sized tarantulas are higher and thus need two to three players to defeat one. They also contain additional attacks like spitting out poison or webs that entrap players. 

Now and then, the boss tarantula will release that laser power after teleporting randomly within the stage.

Aries, Clover, and Frass joined as a group. Their focus is finishing most of the medium-sized spiders while following the boss spider. Once the boss tarantula moves, they will follow to intercept the attack of the boss. They represent the three leading players of the game and the ones that have the highest attack damage combined.

Even though the boss is at least a thousand levels, it is just an individual creature. It can still be knocked down if there are many players creating damage. The summation of the three's level is a hundred levels higher than the boss tarantula.

The three of them are drifting from attacking the boss for eradicating the spawned spiders. It is because there is a dormancy period where the boss will be surrounded with an impenetrable barrier that can rebound any attack directed at it twice.

During this time, nobody attacks the boss.

The formidable barrier does not last long and would wane a minute and a half upon activation. The boss could not also activate it when it wanted to teleport or when spitting lethal attacks. The trio will employ these intervals to attack at full blast. Nobody dared to suppress their prowess.

Frass's main archetype is a puppeteer. His primary weapon consists of two wooden slabs glued to create an X figure and lots of strings. It is hooked up to a six-foot venerable bunny mascot that looks very ominous. Once this mascot is activated, it would look like it is conscious and not controlled by someone.

The mascot is also very mischievous. Once discharged, it would generate any unnecessary trouble. It can hurl bombs, injuring both players and monsters, and would even destroy establishments if sought. But this is only during the state where its master's subconscious wanted to do it.

It is usually docile in tranquil times and would even play with the twins. It treats Clover loyally and acted generously on the Sora members. The exception is Aries. The mascot won't falter to play tricks on the bartender. The two of them caused trouble once by destroying half of the guild newly furnished chambers. Clover subsequently banned them for a month.

The bunny mascot has been summoned. The mascot appeared from somewhere that seems to sprint towards them to provoke trouble. It was carrying a large mallet that immediately smashed into the spider. The tarantula reacted with a shriek while the mascot retreated with an evil laugh.

Aries subconsciously becomes attentive. He carried out his cue stick again. A mini pool table is hovering in front of him. Fifteen of the phantom balls surrounded the spider. It follows the similar rules as before, but this one is much more convenient since he could carry the board around.

After the mascot hit the boss tarantula, Aries moved his cue stick to strike a ball on the board. A heavy rolling of objects struck the spider that paralyzed it for a moment. The bunny mascot appeared once again, offering a brick. It flung it at the spider to increase the stun effect.

In this time, Clover chanted a transmogrification circle underneath the spider. Two huge hands made up of the floor's material are molded out. It followed the movements of Clover's hand. Clover shifted his hand to capture the body of the spider then secured it in a lock.

The tarantula realized it couldn't move so it tried to escape by squirming. Clover tightened his hold more to squish the body of the body. It's just that the spider is considerably larger than the stone hand so it only managed to keep the boss stop moving.

Clover issued a command and the archers once again attacked the boss. Marcus changed his weapon and brought out a large machine g*n. The elves around him looked at the boy that is smaller than the weapon it brought out. This boy has surprised them since earlier!

His clothes and appearance are made up of eastern cultivation clothes, the same with Rios, yet his weapons are so modern! If not from his pointed ears and brownish gold hair, they would assume Marcus is a human.

The distinctive sound of continuous firing made the environment sound like in a war. Marlene looked up to search for her twin brother. It seems that someone is having fun. The little lady did not want to be left behind as she started plucking the fast-paced piece from her lute.

Rios bypassed the group of healers and went towards Allen and Melon. He had his group on the back, so his task is to join the undead and the humanoid.

Allen faithfully kept moving around to bless players while also performing melees. He is still a high-leveled player after all, so his attacks are still effective. The crown he is wearing can deliver pressure to all living beings, humans or not, that will render the creature motionless for a while. He will use this time to smack the terrible creature using his staff.

Melon is a vampire so he is considered a strong immortal. His wounds easily heal and could jump to places as if teleporting. His offensive weapon is an extremely sharp thin string that could splice any matter cleanly. He might look like he is just walking around but actually he had seized the spiders under his threads.

He also revives the killed spiders. The zombie spiders help him thwart attacks. Allen will hide behind the zombie spiders before going forward to put pressure on the other incoming spiders. The two players had grasped each other's thoughts without discussing it out.

On the other hand, the good-looking elf looks very out of place. The verdant colors of his light colored clothes did not match the gory bloodshed. He looked like a lone immortal exploring the lands of the mortals. The flaxen hair and the pale golden irises added a charm that made people want to foster him.

Even so, he is the least person needed protection. 

Cunningly hidden from his noble and majestic appearance is the incredible ability to genuinely commit a dreadful calamity. Amid multiple spiders rushing towards him, Rios lowered his arm sideways with the fan open. The long sleeves fluttered in his stealthy movement that seems to move slowly and calmly.

One spider fiercely attacked. Rios shook the fan in his hand and merely threw off the spider to the side after evading it by turning around. One came again from the other side intending to hack him with its needle leg. He easily avoided the leg as he took a step back, snapped his fan close and used it to slap onto the leg.

It might look as if he is just patting the leg but the leg is getting ruthlessly crushed by every slap. Rios looked like he is snapping a king crab, not a spider. Aries would next enter the scene to bestow Rios a blessing, then rush away to give buffs to the players on the other group.

The bells and cheering are heard once again that boosted the nearby group of members. This is the group of beasts that have the highest number of spiders defeated. The golden boosting aura touched their legs and then lifted their statistics temporarily.

Jung's group is the one that yielded the most enemies. The organized movement of the team is very precise. They could hack three to four spiders in the least number of attacks. Their coordination is top-notch. It can be attributed to the standard behavior of the predator group. Any prey will bow down without any chance of resistance.

Clover observed the run of the game and thought it was doing all right. He opened the interface and skimmed through the lifelines of the players. The boss has been spitting out attacks because of being trapped so it has no chance to secure up a barrier. Clover thought it would be appropriate time for the backup group to move immediately.

He clicked onto one of the interfaces and dialed the person. The person instantly picked up his transmission.

"How is it going?" Clover casually asked. He didn't sound like he's in the middle of a battle.

"Doing well," Leon responded with the same easy tone.

Clover smiled. "By how much?"

"At least eighty."

"En, that's good enough."

Clover has many plans in his head and thought which of these plans would work. He is just casually inquiring Leon. He could not resist asking the person that could accurately estimate the forthcoming events.

"Just good enough," Leon chuckled lightly."If you hurry, it could increase."

"I know," Clover unclenched his hand. The rock that he controlled is losing effect. Aries and Frass are preparing to retreat since they have to cease the attack while Clover waits for the cooldown of his skill.

"Then good luck," Leon closed the call.

Clover took a step back. He watched as the barrier is quickly engulfing the spider. For a moment, a sudden thought entered his mind. Frass and Aries are ready to pull Clover out when they saw the player head forward instead.

"Hey, what are you doing-"

Frass was unable to say anything. He blinked his eyes and looked at Aries beside him. The bartender equally has the same expression. Clover patted his arms then tilted his head up. He saw the motionless spider looking at him too. He turned around and saw his companions staring at him.

He is also flabbergasted.

It is just a silly idea but who would ever think his body will actually do it!