Shadyna here, I am witnessing a (probably) boss fight!

Ah, but if it's a boss, the party of 3 over there will be alright. In open-world games like this, bosses won't be aggressive to avoid crushing wandering players like the current situation. While unpleasant, I don't have to abandon this secret base (gathering site) as long as I do not attack that thing.

The party is probably having the same idea. The warrior and blacksmith ready their weapons but are not attacking.

_ Priestess: Light, protect my friends! [Physical Shield]!!!

A blueish column of light covers the warrior, with a sharp "KIN!" sound. That must be a PDF buff spell. Plus points for the immersive chanting!

That kidnapping mage must be the exception.

She's preparing to cast another spell, it looks like.

*SPLASH*

The Merexxa spits a big ball of green liquid at the warrior before the priestess manages to chant her next spell.

_ Warrior: AAARRRGGHHH!!! My HP! My HP!!! HELP!!! Poison! It's poison!!!

Immersive pain reaction, thanks to VR set's pain simulation.

Totally meta wordings, so 0 point in total!

More importantly, that thing is totally aggressive!!!

Sateri, you sadist~

That aside, this is troublesome, since I won't be able to stick around here if it's going to attack me on sight. It was nice knowing you, secret base (gathering site).

Let's see how strong this thing is first. I want to know the general strength of monsters in this area, especially aggressive ones.

[??? - Beginner warrior - HP: =======…]

For a supposedly single magic attack, that took out a good chunk of his HP. He's probably the tankiest of the party too.

_ Blacksmith: [Slam]!!!

The blacksmith swoops down with his one-handed hammer, right onto the monster's head. If I had my racial skill, I would be able to use that too!

I don't think I want to do that with my hands though.

It's unfortunate that I cannot see the monster's HP bar. That would help immensely. Ah, I do not attack so maybe I actually don't need to? Old habits die hard.

_ Priestess: [Antidote]!

A white light covers the warrior, cleaning the green liquid on his body.

_ Warrior: [Rapid Assault]!

The warrior is back to business. He's swinging his sword relentlessly at the enemy, causing multiple wounds. That looks like a powerful attack!

_ Warrior: Out of MP!

You just used only one attack!!!

The Merexxa raises further above the surface and headbutts the warrior, knocking him back a distance.

_ Warrior: MY HP!!!

This guy should get a job that does not require getting hit, really.

[??? - Beginner warrior - HP: ====……]

HP down to 40%. Some of the damage might have been due to the poison before the priestess used [Antidote]. Nevertheless, this monster hits HARD.

My HP is still at 20 due to lack of regeneration. Getting one-shot by this thing is highly probable. Yeah, not good, can't stay here.

Should I leave now or wait until the fight's over…? If that thing goes back into the lake it's best to wait, but if it doesn't I should run now with a risk of it spitting poison at me.

I don't even know if it has spotted me yet!

_ Priestess: [Minor Heal]!

[??? - Beginner warrior - HP: =======…]

Ah, it looks like she can keep up with the enemy's damage output. As long as she has MP and the monster does not use poison spit, the party has a chance.

The poison spit seems to be a secondary ranged attack, as the fight goes on without it being used again. Or that thing ran out of MP like the warrior.

One by one, wounds accumulate on the snake-like head. Its movement is noticeably becoming sluggish. Realistic/10. Nice job, Sateri~

_ Warrior: We can do this! It is getting weaker!

…Should I point out the various ways of how they are so dead because of that flag?

A few strikes later, "it" happens.

_ Warrior: Buff ran out!

The momentum they were having is broken.

It's easy to keep doing something the same things over and over again. You get used to it, make fewer mistakes, and generally can sustain it for a long time. When the circumstances change, however, the preparedness you had at the start is no more. Mistakes will be made.

I mean, spilling lines like "We can do this!" is a pretty blatant indicator of thinking the enemy had not changed for a while and would not change in the future. Spoiler: Situations do change.

_ Priestess: Use pots! Light, protect my friends…

*WHACK*!

Oof, that sounds like it hurts. The warrior who lost the protection got a direct headbutt from Merexxa. Should have asked for renewal before it ran out, but that was not in their "usual actions" in the prolonged battle.

[??? - Beginner warrior - HP: ===.......]

30% HP left. Oh boy, the next hit will end him.

He's not giving up though. Crushing a red orb in his hand, he rushes in again. Multiple red sparks appear from the crushed orb and enter his body. Must be the potion in this game.

Thank you, Sateri, for not requiring to stand still and chug down a bottle of O-type blood~

[??? - Beginner warrior - HP: =====.....]

WHACK! Not like the enemy would just stand still though.

[??? - Beginner warrior - HP: =.........]

That was a close one, warrior.

_ Priestess: [Minor Heal]!

_ Warrior: [Rapid Assault]!

Looks like his MP is back~

[??? - Beginner warrior - HP: ====......]

*SPLASH*

Ah, it can use the poison spit again too.

_ Priestess: Use pots, now! [Antidote]!

Quick thinking there, priestess. She looks like the de facto leader of the party throughout the fight, and certainly has leadership capability. Not talking about LDR by the way.

The warrior crushes another orb in his hand.

[??? - Beginner warrior - HP: ===.......]

It seems to be weaker than the priestess's heal. And that HP level means…

WHACK!

Aaaaand the warrior is out~

He's now out cold on the ground.

_ Warrior: I'm dead! Res! Res!!!

Immersion ruined/10, let's ban that player.

_ Priestess: Hold on! O Goddess of Light, I pray for your miracles…

The blacksmith now holds red orbs in both his hands. He's definitely in survival mode now. As he braces for impact, the monster lunges ahead…

*GNAW*

…it eats the warrior's body?!

_ Priestess: KYAAAA!!!

She panics upon the absurd sight. That certainly looks nasty! At least there's no blood involved, the Merexxa just swallows him whole.

_ Warrior: SAVE ME!!! This isn't even my fetiiiiiish!!!

…Let's not comment on that.

The loud screaming stops. Did he got thrown back to town? I wasn't expecting a resurrection prevention skill like this.

Don't think I can copy that though. I'm not interested in human meat, nor elven, nor orcish.

_ Priestess: Retreat! Retreat!!!

After "eating" the warrior, a large +400 number appears above the monster. In green, to be exact. That's… really nasty. A monster that eats your comrade and heals itself doing so. I didn't see the damage numbers popping up doing the fight though, so I wonder if there's a criterion for them to appear?

Yeah, better run, you are not going to survive another long fight. Not without the tank.

*WHACK*! *SPLASH*!

_ Blacksmith: GUAH!!!

He's down after just 2 attacks. One headbutt, then a spit after he ran out of melee range. RIP.

*GNAW*

Ah, it can crawl further out to feast. Anyway, censorship, ON~

_ Blacksmith: Save me!!!

_ Priestess: Your sacrifice will not be forgotten!

Until they get back to town, I suppose.

*SPLASH*!

_ Priestess: KYA!!!

Oh, she didn't die after one attack. I wonder if she can get out of range before the next one?

*Thud*

She cannot. Yeah, that attack has poison.

Party wiped. The unfortunate low-level priestess getting destroyed in dark, dangerous places cliché lives on!

_ ???: [Charged Slam]!

A lady wielding an oversized two-handed hammer appears out of nowhere and whacks the Merexxa with a loud "WHAM!".

The impact was so strong that the monster got thrown back before it could eat the priestess.

That lady is wearing a medieval-era bartender outfit. She's a waitress, with hammer as main weapon.

What. The. Heck?

Sure, I saw a waitress in the tavern yesterday. She was a player, and I'm not surprised even they would need to go out to grind their level…

But this gap between a waitress and this killing machine is just too much!!!

_ ???: [Shock Arrow]! Res her before it devours.

Another waitress, this time with a longbow, has appeared. Her arrow hit right in between the eyes of the monster. The impact creates a loud explosion, and Merexxa stops moving with several stars spinning above its head.

_ ???: Okay~! Light o light, spread my will~! [Blessed Resurrection]!

The seemingly-carefree waitress accompanying the bow user resurrects the dead priestess. That scene seems kind of wrong somehow…

_ Carefree waitress: That was reckless you know~ You shouldn't fight Merexxa at this level. It will kill you one by one and drown you in despair as it consumes your comrades, undoing all of your hard work in front of your eyes~ How did that feel, witnessing it firsthand?

She's saying surprisingly cruel words, with a bright smile no less! I have seen all of that so there's no arguing against it, but couldn't she use a kinder way of conveying the info?!

_ Priestess: Guh… I thought it was a normal monster…

I doubt normal monsters pop out of lakes like that~

_ Carefree waitress: It's not normal~ It's Merexxa, the worst thing you can encounter in this area and it enjoys the agony of low-level players just like you and your companions~

_ Priestess: I understand already!!! Stop the scary story please!!!

It's the people in this service industry that are scary!

_ Bow waitress: Stop trolling her and help put this thing down!

_ Carefree waitress: Coming right up~ Here, a [Recall] scroll. Your party is probably waiting in town. Eaten players are forced to return immediately.

_ Priestess: Ah, thank you very much!

The priestess is engulfed in light and disappears.

So… Does that a yes or no for the priestess's destruction cliché…? More like, didn't it turn into the "Saved by cute girls" cliché? Shouldn't it happen to the warrior, and while they were alive instead…?

As three more waitresses appear from the other side, to a total of six, I decide to retreat. Even just the first three look like they could handle the monster. With their number, victory is guaranteed.

The main reason is that they will certainly destroy me should they be after the bounty. Heck, why would such strong players be here otherwise?!

I run westward from my current position. Running deeper will be the death of me if another Merexxa pops up, so I'm running to the side. Let's try maintaining my relative position to Tyrel.

_ ???: Wait.

A waitress has blocked my way forward from above! I think she was one of the three newly reinforcing waitresses earlier, but I am not certain.

[??? - Apprentice waitress - HP: ++++++++++]

Her HP bar has a blue overlay on it! If your opponent has abnormal HP bar and you are not knowingly hunting bonus bosses, it's time to regret your decisions!

Now that I have a closer look, she's a mature-looking human with light golden hair. Her crimson eyes are sharp, and feels like it would make certain types of people to pay her to look at them as if they were trash. The waitress outfit looks neat and tidy, as expected of a professional.

But her weapon looks scary! It's a pair of gruesome-looking saw-like blades! In real life that thing would leave you with several holes on contact, and -censored imagination- if she swings it at full force!!!

She has seen me, and unlike that kidnapping trio, she does not seem to have anything with [Sleep] effect. She would probably murder me, drag my -censored imagination- body to the DFC something perverts, and have that crazy smiling waitress resurrect me to get the bounty!

FORWARD, TO THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION!!!

_ Scary waitress: Hey, wait!!!

Seeing that I have no intention of stopping, she starts chasing!

Too scary, run faster, my legs, run faster~

_ Scary waitress: This little… [Accelerate]!

Not [Accelerate Power], which is a passive to begin with, but [Accelerate]. Yeah, if that doesn't increase her SPD I would complain to Sateri immediately~

I wish it didn't increase her SPD!!!

She's definitely catching up! I don't want to get murdered!!!

____________

What the heck is with this player?! Thinks the waitress as she runs after the rumored 0-stats little girl who ran away right after meeting.

When the waitress spotted her running away from the battle against the Merexxa, she silently followed, then approached as they are a safe distance away from the fight, and she was losing in speed.

Unlike the damn lolicons in DFC Sages, she doesn't have high leveled [Inspect], but she has enough to gauge her enemies. When the target was seen, she used [Inspect] almost instantly.

---

[Character information]

[Name]: Shadyna

[Race]: Halfblood (Elf - Treant)

[Gender]: Female

[Age]: 13

[Level]: 1

[Status]:

- HP: ======.... (20/32) (27+5)

- MP: ========== (32/32) (27+5)

- PAT: 8 (7+1)

- PSP: 2 (1+1)

- PDF: 3 (2+1)

- MAT: 26 (25+1)

- MSP: 3 (1+2)

- MDF: 8 (7+1)

- SPD: 11 (10+1)

[Attributes]:

- STR: 0 (0+0)

- DEX: 1 (1+0)

- CON: 0 (0+0)

- LDR: 0 (0+0)

- FOC: 1 (1+0)

- WIT: 0 (0+0)

- MEN: 1 (1+0)

- LUC: 0 (0+0)

---

Her level went up, but the stats still look really pitiful. At level 1, you would get 5 attribute points. Even if she was not grinding any attribute, she should have at least 5 in total. What kind of playstyle is this?!

If that was the only question, she wouldn't be having trouble against this little girl.

During the stal… following, the distance between them which should shrink in no time somehow didn't. The girl was constantly accelerating without using any active skill. Even that min-maxer Maximus did not have anything with such effect.

So before her own SPD got exceeded, she used [Leap] to surpass the remaining distance and landed in front of the little girl.

The [Inspect] returned a different result status this time.

[- SPD: 89 (10+79)]

The little girl's SPD ramped up a few times!

That's already the SPD amount of a level 20 speed-based character with decent equipment! Where the hell did that SPD come from?!

_ Head waitress: Wait up, please!!!

Even with [Accelerate], the waitress is barely closing the distance, and 0-stats is still accelerating! If only the little brat had stopped back then, at least she would take a short time to get top speed. It's just a short period, but in this PvP-like situation every bit counts.

There's no other choice. She needs reinforcement from the party! Also, use party chat to avoid alerting the prey.

_ Head waitress (Party): Found the 0-stats! She's running towards you. Finish that Merexxa and catch her!

_ Bow waitress (Party): This is not a monster that can be killed in a minute! Aren't you more than enough for a level 0?

_ Head waitress (Party): She's almost as fast as ! Split if you have to!

_ Bow waitress (Party): Seriously?!

[- SPD: 103 (10 + 93)]

_ Head waitress (Party): No, already faster than !

The waitresses have nothing against the 0-stats girl. It's just that her unexpected fleeing action triggered the head waitress's instinct, the type that kicks in when they are in a boss fight.

____________

For some reason, she's not really catching up to me after using [Accelerate]. Is she baiting me? Is she luring me to some place?

…Ah, I'm running in the opposite direction, which means I'm going back to where the main waitress party is!!!

Change of direction!

_ Scary waitress: [Dark Bolt]!

A black arrow-like spell hit the ground next to me, preventing me from turning. She's dead set on forcing me to run to the party!!!

May… maybe I can use the Merexxa if it's still alive?! They will be fighting that thing, and I can run past during the confusion!

Okay, do your best, legs!

I continue running as fast as I can.

By the way, that dark-element spell really suits her haughty personality! Her glare is really beautiful but I do feel like I am facing death itself!

The trees start clearing up! As I get closer and closer to the fighting, various combat sound effects are playing. Good, they are still dealing with the monster!

Feeling a bit lucky for a change, I keep running.

The lake becomes visible, with the Merexxa struggling against the waitresses.

…And two of them are standing behind it, facing me.

I was tricked!!!

_ Carefree waitress: Good luck in the other world~ [Binding roots].

_ Bow waitress: [Binding Arrow].

The sadistic one's choice of words is really nasty as expected!!!

Glowing red roots emerges from the ground, twisting around my ankles. This is bad! I will faceplant into the ground! No pun intended.

A shining arrow flies past my face. It doesn't hit me, but somehow multiple light rings appear around my body. Isn't this just overkill on the binding, ladies?!

But…

Much to the bewilderment of both me and the waitresses, the red roots and light rings break into pieces with sharp glass-breaking-like noises. I, who was bracing for a trip, lose balance due to the unexpected situation and end up tripping on a big tree root anyway!

I can fly~~~

Like a cartoon character, I got flung into the air, right towards the raging Merexxa.

This is the equivalent of getting thrown out of a truck in an accident, right?

Please fix the whacky physics, Sateri~

But I am really traversing really fast in the air, into a well-known man-eating monster.

No chance of survival at all, huh.

My vision turns into black and white. Epic soundtrack starts playing. I am seeing my life flashing before my eyes.

My childhood, my family, my non-existent (LOL) marriage, and my character walking freely with Gelly on top of her head. Everything is coming to me for one last time.

Okay, I have to stop the imaginary dramatic life-ending flashbacks as I just remembered that Gelly is still on my head, and I'm flying head-first at the point of impact (the monster).

I pull it into my arms, in hope that my (character's) body will pad and lessen the damage of our crash. Gelly is a weak creature, so if this game's physics allow such things, I doubt it has enough HP to survive.

Sateri, I will take back my last complaint on the whacky physics if Gelly can survive~

_ Shadyna: Let's play together again, okay?

I whisper lightly while looking at the cute gelatin creature in my arms.

[Beast accepted taming attempt]

Gelly shines blindingly.

I lose the sense of touch in my arms, and at that moment, see an emerald flying past me.

*BOOM*

[Condition fulfilled. Unlocked Skill: "Shared Fate Lv.0"]

[Condition fulfilled. Unlocked Skill: "Beast Empathy Lv.0"]

[Skill Leveled up: ]

[Condition fulfilled. Unlocked Title: "Beast Tamer Origin"]

[Condition fulfilled. Unlocked Title: "At-will Beast User"]

[Condition fulfilled. Unlocked Title: "Against All Odds (14)"]

[Attribute Leveled up: ]

[Attribute Leveled up: ]

[Attribute Leveled up: ]

[Tamed Beast Leveled up]

[Character Leveled up]

[Received Summon Stone x1]

____________

A message was sent to all players.

[A player has successfully tamed a beast without a pact. Rewards have been sent. Congratulations.]

The tavern that was raging thanks to the new waitresses' appearances, is now in pure chaos with that divine (system) message from the Goddess, or Sateri-chan as players call her.

_ Knight: What the hell is that?

_ Waitress: Un, the common knowledge on acquiring tamed beasts is either learning [Summon] skills, which require a lot of materials, or getting the summon items as loots. This message probably meant someone got a summon item using a different feature?

_ Maximus: Heh, will probably be rewarded with a title too. Like Vladina's [Sage Origin]. Happens whenever players explore unused features. Get used to it, nub.

_ Waitress: That may very well be the case. Nevertheless… [World Voice].

A world-wide (in-game) message is sent by the waitresses serving drinks to customers.

' tavern. We would like to buy information from you.>

' guild hall. We pay double>

The [World Voice] item is spammed again, despite its failure to find the SG title holders yesterday, and the item's own rarity.

It couldn't be helped, as the SG title holder was not logged in at the time. Sateri couldn't let the player login until the patch completed!