We’re all either crouching or laying on the side of a semi-grass hillside. It’s a mound with oddly shaped stones standing on the top of it. When I was looking at it from the distance, it looked like a hill with a stone crown circling the head. Now that we are right under the top of the mound, we’ve spotted a large figure standing somewhere in the middle of the stone circles. We can’t see how they look like besides the large horned helmet they are wearing. Indicating to us that it must be Ogre. Eseli, being my AI companion, also informed me and indirectly the rest of my party that there is a tough enemy near us. And because we have not seen the enemy’s Ogre Captain, who is one of the main targets of this whole Invasion Quest event which hundreds of Players are participating in right now, either outside of the large wooden wall or inside of it, we have concluded that the character above us must be the Ogre Captain.

None of us have yet decided to talk about it, especially in this quietly intense situation, in case we might cause bad luck on ourselves or something like that. At least, that is why I have decided not to mention the situation. But I cannot help but think about how amazingly lucky we’ve been so far. From this viewpoint, the rest of our allies are only now managing to breech through the large wooden fort wall and into the settlement we just ran away from. Perhaps another group of Players had also found the secret cave passageway into the other side of the settlement just like how we had done. Yet, one thing is for certain and its that nobody has defeated the Ogre Captain because he has been on top of this mound the whole time, praying. Maybe the event is simply set up this way by the game, so that the final boss in waiting at the back side of the zone. Anyways, what is REALLY important for me, May, Krafty, WiseMaster667, and Sprite to do, is that we need to try our best and kill the Ogre Captain. There won’t be a second chance for us if we lose because by the time we reach back this point, another group of Players would surely have defeated the Ogre Captain.

As I am thinking of this right now, the once mostly empty streets of Coldpass (the town) are now suddenly being crowded by a second wave of enemy reinforcements. A mixture of Lumenian and Snowmelian soldiers, both races who are known for their more tribal and wild personalities among the other races in the Overworld, are being led as foot soldiers by the Ogre officers who are clearly running the hierarchy of this little mountainous society. We, the Players, are most likely going to rob these people of their treasure because that’s one of the primary ways we gain pleasure and rewards from playing video games like this. I would feel a lot worse about doing something like this, as a person who accidentally blends reality and fiction together because of how immersive this Overworld is. But because our enemies are apparently worshippers of an Evil Faith, those who dislike the Lesser Gods and High Gods (and what about the Middle Gods?!), then I guess it’s alright for us to raid their territory for as much boons as possible! Especially since this world is a Medieval Fantasy.

MC: “Wise, I know you already have some plans created in your mind, what do you think our strategy should be to fight the Ogre Captain?”

May: “Strategy huh? We don’t even know how the Ogre Captain looks like or much about him…”

MC: “But we know enough, right?”

May: “Yeah I guess that’s true. Assuming that who we are going to fight soon is actually the Ogre Captain”

Krafty: “I’m sorry to be a little obnoxious, “as per usual” May, but can we really hurry up? I’m not saying this because I’ve lost interested in this Invasion Quest, instead I am very interested in it. I am interested in finding as much loot as possible…However, how am I supposed to do that when there are plenty of Players already entering the town?!”

*Krafty’s points at the holes inside the Wooden Wall and the collapsed gate, where several Player groups have sprinted inside of Coldpass and are now fighting the enemy’s second reinforcement wave*

Sprite: “Krafty does indeed hold a true point. While it may be strange for myself to say this, but if we take too long then in the best-case scenario my family, the Nomads of the Griffin, shall claim most of the glory for defeating the Ogre Captain. Worst case scenario, we’ll not only lose and gain nothing but another guild, a terribly more obnoxious one than even Krafty (just kidding!), the Knights of the Rising Phoenix will take the spoils of victory away from blessed souls such as ours.”

May: “One more, our part-time sweet angel is right!”

WiseMaster667: “Friends, let us not worry. There is no need for rash haste!”

May: “Oh here we go…”

WiseMaster667: “I have run through multiple scenarios in my mind and the different world lines of possibilities. It is true we are likely under geared, under leveled, and most of all under experienced in our soon battle with the most powerful enemy any of us have face yet! However, I say once more worry not! Just as Amulet Pond has said, we know enough information about the Ogre Captain. Is that enemy a slim child? Is that enemy a humongous dragon? No, it is an Ogre! An Ogre will simply more health and more armor and strong abilities than the average, that is all! Probably… “

Krafty: “Probably?! Oh goodbye sweet chances of fat loot!”

May: “Wise just tell us your plan already.”

WiseMaster667: “Oh fine, okay yes we are in a little bit of a rush I might as well go ahead.”

Sprite: “ah-I, umm, I enjoyed his speech a little”

May: “Sorry Wise! CARRY ON! Don’t let me interrupt you!”

WiseMaster667: “No no, it’s perfectly fine. I shall downgrade my speech level for the simpler minds to understand…”

MC: “Sprite stays in safe distance at the back, me and May take turns to grab the attention of the Ogre Captain, while Krafty deals continuous barrage of damage with his arrows and Wise will use his summoned minions to fill in the gaps or deal with any side enemies that may show up in the fight?”

WiseMaster667: “…well, at least there is another mind in our party to rival mine own!”

May: “So is that what we’re doing?”

WIseMaster667: “Indeed, it is a simple plan, but it should be sufficient enough for us to be successful. Maybe some of us will die in the process but I believe that we did strike gold gaining Sprite as another party member. At the beginning I was skeptical whether we’d need her, but I was wrong. Sprite please make sure we don’t wipe!”

Sprite: “Understood!”

It looks like the enemy has reached another stalemate with our advancing forces. So, it does not look like other Player groups will be able to rush far ahead to where we are any time soon. Looking once more back at the town we snuck through, I can’t see any special buildings aside from certain large structures that look like “governmental” halls. Most of the buildings there are like copy and pasted structures that are all lamenting in a certain way or another because they lack enough care. The minimum requirements to survive all the way up here in the mountainous plateau between Orchard Hills and the former Lunar Empire’s vast territory to the east.

Once more, I’ll check my character information screen. I can also see the character information screens of my party members, besides Sprite, because they had already allowed me to look inside. May is still proudly wearing her “Apple Guard” armor set, which looks like the lightest heavy armor, if that makes sense. She also wields a two handed spear as her primary weapon and has a thick wooden club as a support weapon in case she’ll need to attack with blunt damage for whatever reason. On the other hand, while Krafty has managed to find an excellent short bow which he can rapidly shoot from, his armor is lacking. And dare I say his fashion sense is terrible, especially since he decided at some parts to discard armor in favor for a better look. He has a farmer-like appearance, which does not make for an intimidating foe especially since his character is a chubby Sunmel round cat. Ironically Sunmel cats are usually chubbier than Snowmel because according to the lore their diets are different, so their bodies adapted differently, but Eseli is pretty slender for a Snowmel. So, I sometimes need to realize that the cats I see around me often aren’t good representatives for their kin. In terms of magic, both Krafty and May are similar in how they use magic to fight enemies. As for them, magic is a secondary tool while for me and Wise and for Sprite it’s a lot closer to being a primary tool. Krafty enhances his body to better operate the bow and his character’s movements. While May also does some of the same but she is also capable of using the enchantments on her spear and even cast light elemental spells, such as firebolts. I at least have managed to acquire multiple armor and clothing pieces for my character to wear, a lot more compared to the first week of game time where I basically used the same axe and beginner robe the whole time. Both me and Wise have gained magic specific outfits for our characters to wear that enhance our attribute points, like most in most RPGs. But while he wears a simple robe outfit with runes etched into it, I have a lot of various object attachments to my clothing such as bone charms and gem bracelets, which benefit a shaman-like character such as mine.

I am not sure whether my playstyle is actually any good, it depends how the gameplay meta will be considered by the community in the future, but I find it fun using a variety of tools and preparations before and during a fight. The health bonus ritual I did earlier before this event started is still in effect, and now we are all calmly eating a in-game meal as if it’s nothing. Health bonuses and other benefiting effects from consuming items or anything like that, should be taken seriously especially in a moment like this. Every bit of health matters. The Ogre Captain might be able to almost one-shot each one of us, so even being able to survive a moment longer and cast a spell or help another party member is vital for us to continue the battle until eventually bringing down the Ogre Captain.

*Ding*

A new message from Fate-fan? Is she watching us?

“Good luck with the battle! I am eagerly awaiting your victory. Remember the promise you made to me? Not to put extra pressure on you, oops, but I will drop a little hint to you that you’re closer to accomplishing that promise you made to me than you might expect!”

Ever the vaguer. The promise huh?

Oh how embarrassing! Recently, the more often I remember it…the more I cringe at my past actions. Do I regret asking Fate-fan to become my guardian goddess? I don’t know yet… maybe. I guess it depends on the outcome of this battle.

After so eagerly and proudly wanting to gain a closer relation to one of the developers of this game, I asked them to become my personal God while I be something like their paladin. It’s such a selfish and silly thing to do. But Fate-fan wouldn’t have semi-accepted my request if she disliked the idea. If I remember it correctly, if I do manage to accomplish my main mission, then it would allow her to continue to play as a special and prominent god such as Fate, literally the goddess of fate itself in the Overworld.

I don’t think I am anywhere near completing this mission that I was assigned by Fate-fan and myself, because the conditions for her to become my “guardian goddess” is for me to accomplish “something great”. And I am pretty sure defeating an Ogre Captain isn’t great enough. That’s one more reason why this whole situation I placed myself in is so embarrassing. I don’t know what I was thinking when I first started playing this game…but I certainly do not consider myself as one of the top Players of this game either in my server or in the whole world. I am nowhere the best at Player versus Player, economic transactions, statecraft or nation building, or even heading a large group organization like how even FeeNix is with his guild.

So, I am very confused by what Fate-fan’s message means, that I am closer to accomplishing the promise I made to her than I might expect. I guess it doesn’t have anything directly related to this event and she just dropped that hint down to me randomly.

I look to the sky, and I don’t see the Goddess Fate. All I see is the smoke and debris from the town. And all I can hear are the voices of my party members and the loud mumblings of the Ogre Captain praying for some reason.

May: “Has everyone sharpened their equipment and characters up?”

Everyone: “Yeah!”

Once more, we continue to crouch and crawl up the hill mound, which steeps up slightly but just enough for all our characters to hang on its side below the portion of grass which plateaus out to the top. Where we all peak at a titanic figure that is fully clothed in ornaments from head to toe. There is no one else next to him, but two large torch stands stuck into the ground with their blaze vertically casting into the air. It is not night time, but the mostly gray clouded sky above Coldpass and the strange darker tone of the top of this mound is enough so that the oddly shaped large stones that sit circling around the titanic figure cast shadows on the ground.

The figure is obviously the Ogre Captain, no doubt about that. Yet, what we expected of him from the beginning of this Invasion Quest is certainly different from what we see now with our own eyes. His large and slightly disproportionate limbs are motionless attached to the rest of his body which is in motion due to his heavy breathing and mumblings. If I was in a less tense situation, then I’d wait around and look around some more to see if there are any drops of hidden lore bits in this scenario. However, because we are competing against other Players to kill the Ogre Captain first and because this character must be a tough foe, I won’t take any chances to distract myself from the main target of the event. An event that is being participated by various Player guilds and parties which consist of hundreds of Players that are all racing to gain the highest reward in this game. Still unbelievably, my team has managed to locate the main meal of tonight, and I must say…he does not look appetizing at all!

Krafty: “I want his helmet; it looks like something that could be sold for a lot of gold coins to someone who wants to complete a Barbarian outfit design…”

WiseMaster667: “Good point, let’s destroy the helmet quickly”

Krafty: “Hey did you hear what I even said?! You can’t sell it if you destroy it!”

May: “Why destroy the helmet?”

WiseMaster667: “I have a feeling that the Ogre Captain will use his helmet’s elongated horns to charge at us and perhaps even pin us.”

Sprite: “Is that even possible in this gam-, in the Overworld?”

MC: “There definitely is a combat ability that allows your character to charge into the enmy, but I doubt the horns on his helmet will be effective, will it?”

WiseMaster667: “I can’t say for certain, but when fighting a large foe like this one… we’ll need to kite him around while also preventing him by moving around too much and using his abilities.”

May: “We don’t have many stunning abilities, so how do you suppose you do that?”

WiseMaster667: “May do you remember when we fought the bears or whenever you’ve fought a monster like that?”

May: “Yeah?”

WiseMaster667: “Simply, capitalize on their weak spots.”

May: “From the looks of things, I don’t see any!”

MC: “That Ogre Captain has a helmet with a mask on, so attacking his head won’t do any good… destroying the horns on his helmet might as well be the best first move to do I guess...”

Krafty: “How about his feet?”

Wisemaster667: “Perfect! I hadn’t noticed that until you mentioned it Krafty. Indeed, I wonder why he is barefooted when he is armored in other places…”

May: “Good job Krafty! So, you want us to go stab his feet first?”

WiseMaster667: “Yes. You and Amulet should focus on his feet and legs initially but be very careful not to stay long in his swing range.”

Sprite: “He does not have a weapon on him, so I must assume this foe is a magic user.”

MC: “Okay, I’ll try to make sure to stop him from activating his spells”

Krafty: “And good old Krafty will snipe him from afar, yeah?”

Wisemaster667: “Yes but make sure to move around him a lot more, since he might charge at you or Sprite or me.”

Me and May emerge first from the side of the mound. We both separate from each other and amble carefully to the opposite sides of the Ogre Captain. He seems to not be noticing us…yet.

Krafty, Sprite, and Wise emerge from the side of the mound soon afterwards and get into position.

I’m now standing right next to this titanic figure; indeed, now that I can stare at him closer, he for sure is about the size of four or five Kraftys put together. I look at May.

May: “I don’t see anything else nearby”

MC: “Ready when you are…”

May: “GO”

I swiftly crouch down and swing my right arm, as if I really am holding an axe, and lunge it at the right foot of the kneeling Ogre Captain while May rapidly stabs her spear head on the left foot.

And the ground begins to tremble.