"WE DID IT!" Foxly exclaimed.

The players were getting drunk off the booze that was meant to last the entire expedition.

A campfire stood surrounded by various players in the mood for celebration.

"Indeed! Thou did great with the explosive seals!" Bonifacius exclaimed.

"John told me to drop them in the boss if I got the chance and the shiny crystal heart was as good a chance as any!" Foxly laughed.

"I knew the corpse'd come up with something!" Bromy said while chewing on the sandwich produced by Pedecree.

"He sure has a knack for showmanship!" Pedecree remarked bringing a plate of sandwiches Bonifacius' way.

"I didn't think he'd do it..." Curstl remarked.

"I mean, I had a feeling he'd pull through, but I didn't think he had an actual plan!" Alex laughed also eating one of Pedecree's sandwiches.

Crown was sitting cross-armed at John's depression table.

She was suddenly approached by Foxly.

"Aren't you going to get drunk with the rest of us?" he asked jokingly.

"Nah..." she replied.

"That whole boss fight was way easier than I expected..." XsuphicatR remarked looking over to Pnutbutterjerry who nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I expected the boss to be way worse!" he laughed.

Bonifacius looked over to Bromy, "Though... I have to say, I didn't expect the boss to use phase one abilities in phase two..." he remarked.

"Mm..." Bromy agreed.

"I wanted to tell John, but I feared he would have followed my information too strictly..." Bonifacius explained.

"It's no use, the boss completely ignored his phase three abilities... he just skipped to phase four with the chain..." Bromy remarked.

"In the game, you'd have to fight him off while he's still wearing the armour, then he'd go into phase four with the chains..." Pedecree remarked.

"I dunno, the idea with the emeralds we kind of cool!" Olivionion remarked.

"Yes, that was very cunning of JohnWillStab!" RuRet said looking around for John himself.

"Speaking of... where is JohnWillStab?" he asked.

Everyone shrugged uncertainly.

Meanwhile, in an unlit corner of the cave sat JohnWillStab, he was petting Arachnophobia.

"My god that was terrifying!" he thought.

"I mean, I was hoping the boss would be a bit more strategy-intensive... that was a glorified dodging-game..." John sighed.

"You're not at your depression bench!" remarked the Thief blindly stumbling towards John.

He could see her walking around with her hands out-stretched in the dark.

"My what now?" John asked.

"The bench where you sit around and act lost in thought, we call it your depression bench!" she explained.

"..."

"Anyway, what are you doing out here, everyone's talking about you!" she said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, I'd imagine it'd be really awkward to listen to everyone talking about me..." he replied.

"Interesting comment from the protagonist of a story, but ok..." thought the Thief.

"Come on, what happened to edgy-confident John?" she asked jokingly before sitting down next to what she assumed was John.

In reality, it was a pillar.

"Edgy John used up all human-interaction-points for today..." he sighed.

"I see... did you consider not hiding in the dark from your team?" she asked.

"Hey! I'm being serious!"

"Ok, sorry, sorry," she said apologetically.

"You're just feeling a bit down because you confidence was knocked down because of the few time we all died," she replied.

"Cheer up!" she said playfully elbowing John, though, in reality, she elbowed the pillar.

Feeling the rock-hard rock she just smashed her elbow into she exclaimed: "FUCK!"

"Ah shit, you're hard!" she exclaimed rubbing her elbow.

"Haha! That won't work on me, I'm temporarily a woman, now!" John replied smugly.

"What?"

"What?"

An awkward silence occurred.

"Anyway, I've been sent on a mission to drag you back to the group through diplomacy or by force!" she explained.

"I'm guessing Bonifaciys suggested the diplomacy?" John asked with raised eyebrows.

"Mm-hmm" she nodded.

"And the rest agreed that force would be necessary," she elaborated.

John let out a sigh.

"Alright, I'll come," he said feeling Arachnophobia's claws dig into his trousers.

"Ah! stop it, cat!" John exclaimed jumping to his feet.

The cat gave him a sly look in the dark before flicking her tail and walking off.

"You have quite the bratty cat..." remarked the Thief jokingly.

"Yeah!" john called out loud enough for the cat to hear.

The cat hissed from the distance.

"No, you!" he called back.

"..."

"Are you talking to your cat?" she asked.

"...no?"

They walked back to the camp.

As soon as everyone saw John they let out sighs of defeat and disappointment.

"My expectations for my popularity were low but damn..." John thought standing there awkwardly with a hand raised as a greeting.

"Aha! I have told thee!" Bonifacius exclaimed as the other twenty-eight members including the Thief tossed Bonifacius a gold-coin each.

"I was sure she'd have to knock him out!" sighed Oheimark.

Jordan and Bromy were blowing smoke rings as Alex dug into his third sandwich.

"Quit being a loner and sit down with us!" Alex exclaimed looking over to John.

"We have piss-flavoured booze!" Alex added.

"Oh, thanks, everyone!" John said trying to sound sincere.

He felt a large hand pat him on the back.

"That's right! Leave the seriousness for tomorrow!" XsuphicatR exclaimed, in his hand, he held a hunk of meat he requested be cooked by Pedecree.

Rootin' and Tootin' sat opposite each other in complete silence.

Boopnsnootn sat between the two awkwardly.

Celerious let out a sigh.

"I guess I'll give this raid-group another shot..." Celerious remarked looking over to John.

"The rock-dodging was obvious enough, but the trick with the seals was badass!" she added giving John a thumbs up.

"Glad you liked it, though Foxly was the one who managed to pull it out!" John said dismissively.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" Avocadont asked looking at Alex curiously.

"Eh? No...?" he replied uncertainly.

"Hmmm..." Avocadont looked at Alex suspiciously, not sure where she (he) remembered Alex from.

JohnWillStab looked around awkwardly, "It's weird having someone other than Bonifacius complement me..." he thought.

"Quit embarrassing the fallen!" Thal said reluctantly,

"Sorry, sorry!" laughed GarlicBoi, he was already drunk to the point of crawling on the ground.

Mufinski looked around.

The female harpy downed another bottle of ale in a single gulp.

"That alcohol is weak..." she complained.

"It tastes normal to me..." BangGanger68 said sniffing the bottle as if that was a method of gauging its potency.

Mufinski shook her head.

"No, beer is weak, vodka."

This was the first instance of broken English the group came across.

"Yeah, I bet you Slavs drink spirits like water!" RedPancake laughed.

"Ninety-percent spirits, good," Mufinski nodded.

After the party...

Most players were already asleep.

Bromy had his bucket hat put over his face like a deadman.

Pedecree had his arms crossed behind his head as he slept next to the red embers that glowed under his cooking pot.

Crown way sleeping on one of the storage crates.

Foxly was asleep in the cart next to no less than five other players.

Alex and Revenberry were sleeping next to each other with their backs pressed up against a random pillar.

Jordan was sleeping face-first in a puddle of alcohol next to an extinguished cigarette.

The Thief slept with Arachnophobia on her lap.

"The next boss we shall face next is Eldar, in-game he was looked upon as a weak boss... however now..." Bonifacius spoke uncertainly.

"Hmm... so we don't know what to expect..." John said scratching his chin.

"Well, the boss has specialised in alchemy, according to the lore of the game, it was once a man who sought immortality and the perfect body, now he became trapped in the body of a monster, bound to this dungeon!" Bonifacius explained.

"So we can expect poison... maybe some sort of physical enhancement..." John speculated.

"Indeed... back in the game the boss tossed vials of alchemical concoctions at the players, I can only expect that shan't be enough now..."

JohnWillStab scratched his head.

"Alright, you can rest up now!" John said standing up and stretching a bit.

Bonifacius let out a yawn.

"I shall, thou should also get some rest!" Bonifacius suggested.

"I'm undead, remember!" John laughed.

"I'll go scout outside the boss room," John said before heading down towards the first boss' chamber and towards the large gate leading to the second boss' room.

"Be careful!" Bonifacius called out before heading over to his sleeping bag.

As JohnWillStab ventured towards the boss' room he saw the remains of the first boss.

He stopped outside the big black door that led to the next boss' room.

"I need to get all the info I can... even the room layout would be of some use!" John thought.

JohnWillStab leaned in towards the door when he suddenly felt someone push him.

The world became a blur for a second as he saw the silhouette of a man clad in crusader-like armour.

"Wait!" John called out but the man used a charge ability and laughed John through the door along with himself.

"Finally, I got you!" exclaimed Bolst.

"You may have ruined the first boss, but once I'm done with you..." he grinned within his helmet.

"THE GATE!" John exclaimed as Bolst looked back and saw the massive black gates shutting as the torches within the room erupted into green flames.

"Intruders?" croaked the voice of the boss in the room across.

"..."

"..."

They have just triggered a boss fight, just the two of them.