Remember when I said the last room was arguably the easiest? Well, I was wrong, completely fucking wrong. I should have realized from the trends alone that it wasn’t going to be easy, it was never easy nor simple.

Originally, the last chamber, the third floor, was supposed to be the tutorial level for players to rely on their items. It was designed to be impossible to finish without using items that could’ve been found in the shallower floors. Monsters would block several paths, and it was only through the use of bomb rocks could players past through.

This was the final level that was blocking our path to the final room, Bastroll’s resting place.

Peeking behind the wall, just like earlier, we could see a huge entity blocking the entrance of the resting place. This massive, black beast was of a similar make from the chimera up above, but several times more ominous.

The face of a crying and screaming man, with the body of a rotting lion. Severed human fingers for a mane, and a deformed arm holding an axe for a tail.

This beast, the Dreviout, was the boss of the crypt in the base game. It was supposed to be in the final chamber, Bastroll’s resting place, but now it was guarding the place where it was supposed to be.

Even more surprising was the fact that it was different. In the game, it should be holding on to a scepter, not an axe. The pallid, human face should have been a deep crimson. This Dreviout almost seemed like a different existence entirely.

A subdued laugh escaped my lips and I slumped on the ground.

“We might lose our lives here.” Madriel said.

No kidding. I may have been max-leveled in the game, a peak-existence that joined raids as if I drank water, but now the meta was different. This was real-life, my life was forfeit the moment I made a mistake.

Why am I getting cold feet now? I had resolved to use this life as I wished, to jump into the maw of the dragon when things get going, to be a larger-than-life character. I suppose I was just fooling myself. But, I can’t stop here, no way.

“Madriel, we’ll have to fight that thing to get to Bastroll.” I said and brandished my spear from the pouch. Its dark metal glistening in the torch fires that littered the walls of the stairs.

“Madriel, just give me this. Is Bastroll’s existence hush-hush?” I asked her while I changed my equipment. The ninja infiltrator set was useless so I prepared to wear my usual long coat.

“While it’s not heavily confidential, we still advised the adventurers that saw his sealed figure to keep it to themselves. Most adventurers in the know are those above platinum, as it was quite impossible for platinums to get past the floor above.” She answered and eased herself by taking deep breaths.

“... So that’s why Kyle and the others were surprised at his existence. Which reminds me, why the hell did the lodge decide to keep him sealed when they had the chance to kill him?”

She furrowed her brows and said, down cast. “I’ll speak when it’s all over. It doesn’t matter for now.”

I did some stretching on the spot with my equipment, then looked over to double check. It was my usual agility-boosting gear.

“You ready? I’m not sure how good your set-up is.”

“No, I’m more surprised at you! I wanted to ask ever since we first met, but how do you have so many enchanted equipment? If you didn’t earn your fame against Slavos, I’m sure some unsavory types would have mugged you for yours.”

Come to think of it, I did see a lack of enchanted equipment ever since I got here. Don’t get me wrong, most adventurers were wearing top-notch equipment for their level, such as mithril armor, but very few ones wore magically-endowed ones.

“Are enchanters a rare breed?”

She shook her head. “That’s not the case, enchanters are a dime a dozen, but skilled ones that can confer one to weapon or armor are uncommon. Even if they could, the materials needed was quite expensive, driving up the price even more. It’s not an economical choice for most people.” She explained. “Skilled enchanters are also monopolized by powerful nations. They’re not too eager to give away such powerful endowments to non-military or non-nobles.

That explains it, I guess. When AdOn was a game, the economy was controlled by the players. Some players were skilled enchanters, and so many enchanted items and equipment circulated the market, be it weak or strong.

Now though? Players didn’t exist anymore, and without them pumping the economy with their crafted items, it was impossible for adventurers to nearly impossible find them.

“Thanks for the information... I should have asked this earlier.”

Seriously, now I have good grasp of what might happen to this world. Considering the timeline, the worst is yet to come. With the lack of players, I just hope that this world converted the balancing over from the game to a real world. It would be an epic-level disaster should the Blacksmiths of Chaos wargears be as powerful as they were in the game. The world might not have a chance.

Ugh, now I have a lot more things to worry about in the future. I slightly regret asking her all of this. As they say, ignorance is bliss.

I shook all the thoughts away, but at least now, I feel a bit more calm of the current situation. I could still control it, it was still manageable.

I took a deep breath and looked forward. This will be my first fight that I felt such danger in an uncontrolled environment. In front of me was an opponent vastly different from Slavos that was holding back his strength. This was a beast that would opportunistically attack me at every moment.

“Madriel, I leave supporting to you.”

“Leave it to me, I’ll present to you the might of a long-lived elf.”

And from there, I launched myself forward with my spear forward.

~ - ~

Using my speed, I was already quite a distance away from Madriel. I rushed forward with my spear and met with the eyes of the Dreviout. It’s screaming face almost seemed to smile as it stared me down with its gargantuan figure.

I grit my teeth and followed out a set of movements.

‘Willow Leaves Assault’.

It was a series of stabs and thrust with the spear that made the spear tip seem to dance in the air. These several attacks were shallow strikes, and their purpose was obvious.

However, the beast didn’t seem to care one wit about the maneuver and merely swiped with its claws. I had pricked his flesh, but its might was enough to completely stop the spear tips in its tracks.

It laughed, a very deep and guttural laugh that seemed hollow, yet full of emotion. It was hard to describe, but at the moment, the beast twisted its body and swept with its axe.

“Shit!”

I pulled back the spear from its paw and held it across the chest. I then jumped lightly from the air to the opposite direction of the axe.

A loud sound rang across the room as the axe head met with the spear’s shaft. The force was incredible that even I was half at awe at the fact that the shaft didn’t even split. Goes to show just how great the materials were.

As for me, I was flung across the room and into the rock wall. Already, blood started to pool from my mouth and I could only spit it out. I took in deep breaths, and every movement after was terrible pain.

I wanted to avoid that, damn it.

Yep, the game system is not a 1:1 conversion. If this were in the game, my enchanted long coat should have been able to absorb the force as if it were a proper, cushioned armor due to its high defense rating, but now that wasn’t the case.

My consciousness was hazy, but I saw the Dreviout walk towards me, an unnerving smile still plastered on its pallid face. It was as if it was enjoying the sight of my mangled body.

Too bad for you bitch, because I have a friend.

Then, I felt a warm sensation embrace my body. This feeling, as if wrapping me up, mended my many injuries at an astonishing rate. It was at such a moment that I felt like I could move my best again.

I looked up to see the Dreviout’s paw overhead.

A quick decision, I let go of my spear and rolled to dodge, then I pulled out a pocket bomb from my pouch and slammed it to the ground. An explosion of smoke surrounded me and I used that opening to move back from the Dreviout.

This smoke shroud didn’t last though, as the Dreviout blew out air from its nose to disperse the smoke screen.

Still, that was enough.

I gathered up my mana on my palm, creating a gurgling mass of shadowy energy that seemed to squirm, trying to escape my grip. At the next moment, it shot itself forward to the hulking beast in front of me.

The Dreviout, still with the conceited smile on its horrific face, took the curse head-on after bellowing out air. Its face contorted and tried to move out of the way, but the curse was much too faster than it was, not to mention, wholly unprepared for it.

The curse enveloped its body. Its already darkened exterior now sporting a shade of violet, as if malevolent energy coursed through its veins. These shades of violet pulsed at every moment, and each time, the Dreviout’s face twisted in pain.

Immediately, pain. Unimaginable pain assaulted me on all parts of my body, but it subsided just as fast as it struck me.

The Curse of Torment, a baleful curse that tormented their target with pain. In the games, this was a curse that made it possible to stop a monster or player from casting long-chant spells, and at most would only give players a headache when used on them. It wasn’t foolproof, however.

Now that it was real life, it was so much more, but thankfully all my abilities made it negligible. Even then, my old life cursed with unending pain soothed only by hourly takes of pain killers were much more painful than this, that I honestly felt nothing.

The Dreviout was a monster that was not only feared for its strength, but also for its magic. This was a method to alleviate myself from having to deal with both might and magic.

The Dreviout stopped dead in its tracks, and I used that moment to run even further away from the beast. At that, Madriel worriedly shouted at me.

“Are you an imbecile!? You can’t take on a Dreviout on your lonesome! Even Slavos required the help of a few mithrils to take them down!”

I groaned in pain. “Sorry, I wanted to check something.”

Because this definitely wasn’t the same Dreviout as in the game. This one was aggressive and arrogant. And... wait a minute?

“There should only be one Dreviout, and Slavos already took down one, then what the hell is that?”

Madriel clicked her tongue as she looked at the Dreviout. “I’ll speak later!”

“Should have told me from that start!” I tensed and cast Night Robes on myself.

“You’re an adamantium, I thought you knew!”

This wasn’t going right at all. Worst of all, I was not empty-handed.

The Dreviout, angered, wildly flung around its axe. The sheer force alone made the wind cry, and its flailing about nearly destroyed the floor it was standing on.

In its wild rage, it’s axe struck down on my spear.

“No!”

As I feared that it might break, something else happened. Something I didn’t expect.

The spear after being struck, floated in the air. It shone with a malevolent light that seemed to swallow up everything around it. Then, a black, ethereal chain that extended from it to me appeared out of thin air, seeming to flicker in and out of reality. Strapped to my wrist, I felt a cold sensation.

The Spear of Immersed then shot itself forward against flat of the axe. The axe shattered into tiny pieces the moment they met. The spear flew around and then returned to my hand, as if content after breaking the axe.

The chain connecting us disappeared and now, I returned to being armed and ready.

“What the hell?” I asked aloud, confused at what happened.

No, it doesn’t matter, at least now I’m back in form.