Shadyna the puzzle master has unlocked a bonus boss fight!

_ Hessy (Party): I shouldn't be making baseless assumptions but… , you don't happen to know anything about that system message, right?

_ Elri (Party): Still hung up about the old artist thingy?

_ Hessy (Party): For the last time, it was ancient art user!!!

In front of me floats a hu~ge mask. Or is it a totem? It seems to be a cylinder with a face on in, not unlike what you would see in an undeveloped tribal village. This seems to be a bit plainer though, only black and white in color. The eyes are there too, with contrasting color to their corresponding half.

On my left, [Vallen Eye] is as black as ever in the white background. In the same way, [Laetque Eye] is on the right, now back to staring at me.

Honestly, I expected a bit more from their true form. I don't know, something at least vaguely humanoid? Sigh. [Inspect], counting on you.

[All-seeing God Tenri Yassel: Ancient god known for their supreme sight. They can see through space and time, to the bottom of one's history. Other gods relied on their observations of a soul's good and bad deeds throughout life for judgement. Having witnessed countless mortals' sins, they have decided that no one is innocent and could only look at wrongdoings in one's past ever since.]

I can see that the eye jokes are simply not going to stop as long as this thing lives.

_ Tenri Yassel: S̴͎̜͂͂̀i̴̧̻̪̯̱̜͚̾̈́n̶̦̈́n̵̬̭͈̈́̀͝e̷̛͇͂̃̎̓̀̕ṙ̶͔̰̜̠̞̰͜,̵̲̱̣̝̲̦̞͂̌̽͆͋́͗ ̷̟̓̎̀̕č̷̻̗͆̓̾̿͝o̸̦̜̬͚̽͂̒̀̌n̵̨̨̢͕͚̤͔͑f̶͈̤̂ȅ̴̙̼͎̲̀̑̃͠s̶̫̆s̴͈͖̆ ̸̙̭̤̱̱͓̓̔̽͊͌̆͜y̷͇̣͍̞͐̈́͒͆̎̚͜ơ̷̫͂̎̾u̸̡͉̜͕͊̐̎̇̋r̵̹̳̜̊̉̽ ̶̢̛̺̘̣͉͉̘̍c̴̞̼̦͓̮̬͖̓r̷͕͂į̵̧̹͎͇̹̔͂͐̐̚ṃ̶̺̳̖̻̙̬̍e̵̞̼̲̎̀͋͊̋͝.̶̡͔̖͇̐̄̆̋̔̀

Now then, should I get the heck out of its sight?

Being a bona fide pacifist with nothing but an unyielding wish for world peace, I have no business with a bonus boss. The puzzle was fun, but I don't think there's more now that it has transformed.

Besides, it's a totem with a :D face!!! There's just no atmosphere for a fight at all!!! What the hell happened to your artistic sense when you designed this thing, Sateri?!

Yup, to the opposite direction, charge!

_ Tenri Yassel: [̸̛̮̼̯̬̦̘͆́͠T̵̮̔͌é̷̢̼̬͐̓̉͛l̶̰̾̔̎̈ė̵̩̱̣́́̑̃̽̏p̶̧̟̀̀̏̕o̵̡̢̦͓̪̽̂̏͜͝͝r̴̡̡̟̭̲̽̔͋t̶̖͉̣͉̠̏́]̵̢̢̱̣͎̝͖̏̋̔̋͑̏̽

Out of a flashing light, the mask appears in front of me, similar to a [Recall] spell effect.

Instant movement is cheating! And that coarse creepy voice is hard to hear, so stop it!

_ Tenri Yassel: [̸̨̫̘͔̯̝̔͂͜B̷̡̘͌͗͝a̴͓͂̎͗̀r̶̢͚̻̖̈͒̉̾̈́͌́r̵͚̤̼̞̲̾͊͛͛͊̀ạ̴̙̪̰̹̭͒̈͋̂̇ġ̸͇͍͉̼̮̇͗̐̌e̸͍̱̖̟̘̕]̴͎̟̒͑͛̚̕

Many, many sharp-looking bolts appear around the mask. They vary in colors, and not in a good way. Six elements covered in my [Elemental Resistance] aside, there are also bolts belonging to [Ailment], or status effects, type. [Dark Bolt] and [Light Bolt] are two of those.

Don't ask me why those two are considered status effects instead of elements. Maybe because there would be too many elements otherwise?

*WHOOSH*

Holy Sateri, those bolts are FAST!

And not just magical bolts, I had visual on multiple metallic-looking bolts mixed in!

If [Laetque Eye]'s bolts were like angry birds chasing after you, this stupid smiley mask is firing literal bullets! They are so fast there's barely any homing. What is homing good for when you have enough projectiles to hit the enemy and all of their surroundings?!

The only reason I'm not a pincushion yet is thanks to my speed. While I cannot outrun them like before, I have enough mobility to evade them by a hair's width. It's really, really bad, but I'm surviving.

Worse, because the spells hit the ground almost immediately, the mask just throw them one after another without a pause. The missed attacks leave a small hole on the ground. It cannot compare with my excavator by any means, but a crater on terrain means they have good attack power.

My current equipment cannot deal with this!!! They are for fast, mobile maneuver, not blocking anti-tank warheads!!!

[Summon]!

On the other hand, Gelly, who does not have [Unstopping Hero], does not need switching gear every 5 minutes. It's a weak creature, and its number of equipment slot reflects that: Only 1 armor slot and 4 rune slots in total.

There're not enough slots to make it a good tank… Sigh.

I did make proper equipment for it though. Not as strong as Hessy or Elri's runes, but they were specialized for accompanying me, and at [Masterwork] quality.

---

[ Booming Hard Candy]

- Creator:

- Quality:

- Type: , , , ,

- Enhancement: 17

- Enchantment:

- PAT: 900

- SPD: 90

- STR: 33

- Furniture: Accelerate Bonus Lv.5

- Alchemy: Slam Lv.6

---

---

[ Pudding of Life]

- Creator:

- Quality:

- Type: , , ,

- Enhancement: 17

- Enchantment:

- SPD: 90

- STR: 33

- Food:

+ 400% Attr

+ 50% HP

+ 50% MP

- Alchemy:

+ 200% Stat

+ 500 HP

+ 700 MP

---

Sorry, I was hungry in both game and real life when I made it.

Gelly has no weapon slot, so I uh… bypassed it using the armor slot. I haven't check if it would count. The attack using [Alchemy] certainly will though. If all goes as planned, Gelly's damage will be at least 5 digits.

The runes have full [Cooking] and [Alchemy] buffs, in case we are separated. I have my own rechargeable items in inventory, so no worries. Should use them before I get killed, ahaha…

The remaining ones include [ Recharging Mint Candy] with [Enchant] as [Alchemy] skill to recharge the Hard Candy when it runs out. [ Spicy Rocket Candy] has [Slam] to add more damage even though it wouldn't have weapon PAT bonus. [ Eternal Bubbling Gum] has level 0 [Minor Heal] but always activating as long as it has MP.

Why the level 0 [Minor Heal]? It consumes the least MP, so [Absorbing Surface] actually keeps up with it, making it a perpetually activating [Alchemy] item.

Gelly's here, so I don't have to worry about dying too fast anymore.

[Shared Fate]!

Activate all buff items!

Okay, let's counteratt…

*BOOM*

I got blasted away by an unlucky fireball. There was not enough space to evade when it just spam spells all around me!!!

We land face first onto the ground. If this was real life both of us would have been seriously hurt!

And what the heck is that rude and (not really) sudden attack! When someone gets a power-up, you are supposed to let them have the first hit, not hit them first! Only after that are you supposed to either die horribly or laugh it off depending on difference in level.

Please redo your bosses' designs, Sateri~

_ Tenri Yassel: [̸̛̮̼̯̬̦̘͆́͠T̵̮̔͌é̷̢̼̬͐̓̉͛l̶̰̾̔̎̈ė̵̩̱̣́́̑̃̽̏p̶̧̟̀̀̏̕o̵̡̢̦͓̪̽̂̏͜͝͝r̴̡̡̟̭̲̽̔͋t̶̖͉̣͉̠̏́]̵̢̢̱̣͎̝͖̏̋̔̋͑̏̽

It appears above me. Isn't this bad?

With all the buffs I have, I have over 10k MDF. Yes, not 100, but 10000. And that's not even my defense gear.

That fireball alone… dealt over 4000 to my HP!

If it wasn't for the overpowered buffs bringing me to over 20k HP, I would have been deader than dead!

…Rather than my SG titles, aren't the [Cooking] and [Alchemy] buffs even more powerful when used together?

Sateri would probably nerf them once she sees what I am doing right now.

20% HP is no problem, but if I get hit by all of the spells I will definitely be dead.

_ Tenri Yassel: [̸̙̪̻̤̅̉I̸̟̣͕̝̳͐̅̍̕m̴̢̗̪̙̠̗̻̈́͑p̶̨̛̠̹̰͐͊̀͒̍ͅạ̶̑̈́͌̊̃̔c̶̱̍̋̉̽͋̂̔̽t̵͓́̅̽]̵̡͔̪̠̀.̵̝̞͔͓͈̜͍̏́

The weird mask dives straight onto us! I throw Gelly out of the area. If we both get hit the [Shared Fate]'s damage split will be useless.

*WHAM*

_ Shadyna: ACK!

I'm not dead, but currently in a crater made by the attack. What are you, a meteor?!

Lost another 5k of HP from that. I don't know if Gelly got hit or not, but this seems to be the trademark slow but powerful attack. If I hadn't been blasted by the sheer power of the fireball, I could have easily gotten out of the way and still had a second or two for monologue!

This is the first time I receive such a heavy hit huh? 's long rod was powerful, but I never got directly hit by it. I wonder what skill Hessy used back then to avoid getting flung out of position…

More importantly, when are you going to get off me you damn mask?!

_ ???: [Charged Slam]!!!

*WHAM*

What's happening out there…? That's 's voice right?

All-seeing perverted mask finally lifts off and turns itself to presumably . The moment I have space to move, I roll myself out of the crater in the same direction. Reason being probably not having as much stats as me. LDR bonus on party members are only around 50 compared to Gelly's 220 attribute increase and all that…

…The total attribute points gets from me is still twice higher than that of the average level capped players.

It wasn't obvious when I run, but when SPD is in the thousands, I am pretty fast, as in I am probably rolling as fast as a formula 1 race car's wheel!!!

Weeee~

I stop just barely at the dumbfounded who is only a few meters from the boss. Was she impressed by my astounding rolling performance?

Un, the waitress outfit is a long skirt, so there's no such scene from this position like in some stories huh…

_ Shadyna: Heyo~

_ Tenri Yassel: [̸̨̫̘͔̯̝̔͂͜B̷̡̘͌͗͝a̴͓͂̎͗̀r̶̢͚̻̖̈͒̉̾̈́͌́r̵͚̤̼̞̲̾͊͛͛͊̀ạ̴̙̪̰̹̭͒̈͋̂̇ġ̸͇͍͉̼̮̇͗̐̌e̸͍̱̖̟̘̕]̴͎̟̒͑͛̚̕

Let us greet each other first you dork!!!

valiantly steps in between me and the incoming attacks with her hammer. Don't do that, you'll most likely die!!!

_ Miel: [Fort]!

[Shared Fate]!

*BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM*

She really plays as a tank in the party. There was no attempt to evade even one attack, as that defeats the whole purpose of body shielding thing.

Back then, blocked Hessy's attacks perfectly too, but his HP still dropped like a leaked pipe. is blowing the projectiles away (or up, depending on the type) with her hammer, but I am pretty sure she's taking damage.

[Miel - Apprentice waitress - HP: ===.......]

Already down to one third. And that's only half damage due to [Shared Fate]. She would have died otherwise.

Okay, Gelly, screw it up!

*WHAM* *WHACK*

The little blob that was ignored by the boss charges it from the back. The body slam scored barely over 100k damage, while the [ Spicy Rocket Candy] activated for over 60k HP. That 900 PAT bonus made quite a difference huh… Or is that the RNG at work?

Being hit by a truck-in-blob-disguise, [Tenri Yassel] turns its back to us and begins hurling spells at my poor beast instead.

[Shared Fate]!

Too bad, Gelly is too small, so only 1 spell can hit it from all those attacks. Combined with its terrifying speed and rapid HP regeneration using [ Eternal Bubbling Gum], the boss cannot hit it frequently enough to before its HP becomes above 1.

Survival and strategy meeting is vital, so for now Gelly will only roll in circles in front of [Tenri Yassel] to keep it busy.

Finally, talking is a free action again!

_ Miel (Party): Everyone, to the [Laetque Eye], now! We are fighting a boss at Magnus Bestia's level.

_ Hessy (Party): You are what now?!

_ Mera (Party): But you will have ascended to the next world by the time we arrive~

_ Miel (Party): We won't, so get over here!

_ Shadyna: Whoops, I forgot to allow everyone to enter my mining base, so even with the tablet they won't be able to [Recall] there.

[Recall] can only be used on Tyrel or a player's [Construction] that they have visited, so…

My tablet works for others because it's MY [Recall]. I won't be able to create a tablet to get to a location I haven't gone to, for example.

_ Miel: It couldn't be helped. I will shield you with my body until the bitter end.

_ Shadyna: As I said, I am not going to make you pay with your body…

Her delusions are really persistent.

_ Shadyna: Besides, Gelly will buy us time. Let's prepare ourselves for the time being.

, stop that orz.

_ Miel (Party): My body cannot compete against a wriggling blob of destruction…

_ Hessy (Party): Why are you still blabbering nonsense during boss fight?! Are you dead already?

_ Shadyna (Party): We are not, for now at least~

_ Elri (Party): I'm going ahead first!

Right, Elri has a speed bonus from using mount…

They'll probably reach here in about 10 minutes, I think? It's further than the forest, but their SPD are all above average thanks to my LDR bonus.

_ Shadyna: , how much damage did you deal to the boss?

I need to balance the damage output. Don't want that mask to aim at the poor girl. Thanks for the tip on that, !

_ Miel: …Zero. I didn't have enough PAT it seems.

…Seriously? Your hammer has 800 PAT, and you couldn't deal a single point of damage to it?!

The damage difference is too great, which means…

_ Shadyna: Do you have [Cooking] and [Alchemy] buffs on you?

_ Miel: [Heroic Inspiration Course] and standard 100% [Alchemy] buffs.

In other words, the overpowered buffs, before I broke the crafting system.

_ Shadyna: That won't do~ Here, use this.

I give her the rechargeable items in my inventory. They have same buffs as Gelly's equipment.

_ Miel: …Should I comment anything on this?

_ Shadyna: Feel free to~

Feedbacks are always welcomed, to help improve quality of the products~

_ Miel (Party): Why are we not nerfed to oblivion by Sateri-chan yet?

That's not feedback, it's just a complaint!!!

_ Hessy (Party): Are you even fighting at all?!

Technically, we are, by the game's standards.

Now that has upped her status, I think we can strike back now.

Pacifism? That only applies for enemies I can run away from!

_ Shadyna: Oh wait, you don't have killing techniques…

_ Miel: ???

_ Shadyna: Gelly can do that damage because of a special skill. Without it you will be dealing… uh… less than 10k damage?

[Accelerate Bonus] gives a damage multiplier based on the skill level. Gelly's equipment stacks it to level 16, so without that it will only deal 4-6k damage.

That's enough to kill [Merexxa] a few times over, but not enough in this case.

I can make her a new hammer, but I will need to return to base to grab the ingredients… Currently, I only have enough for [Enhance] and [Enchant] with what I have on me. There's not enough to craft a new weapon-furniture hybrid…

This is all because metals are so heavy I cannot bring a lot at all times!!!

_ Miel: I don't really get it, but wouldn't any kind of damage better than nothing?

_ Shadyna: *Sigh* you are right. Though I want you to have the damage to solo it…

Gelly is too busy with operation Rolling Menace after all.

_ Miel: If it helps, my hammer is actually a thrower weapon.

_ Shadyna: …Excuse me?

_ Miel: It is my means of ranged combat. I use it to throw [Alchemy] explosives, or arrows, if I am desperate…

I pull out the empty [ Quiver of Kinetic Rods] from inventory.

_ Shadyna: Including this?

_ Miel: That I can throw.

Nice. If I use [Enchant] her hammer without specialized gear, I can probably get it to level 5 at most. A free level 10 is much better, and she'll have both PAT from the rods and her hammer too!

_ Shadyna: Please throw it at the enemy after using [Leap] or while running. Give it back to me when it's empty.

_ Miel: Got it.

I'll have to craft it again later though, because of skill downgrade…

_ Shadyna: Okay, commence attack!

Waiting for reinforcements? What's that? The best defense is an overwhelming offense!

A metal rod appears in 's hand. She tosses it into the air then swings her hammer at it like a bat! Sateri, why the heck is that a thing?!

20k, 50k, 30k… The damage range is wild.

Now that I have a look at the boss's back, my impression of it drops even further.

Turns out this thing is not a circular cylinder. It's actually elliptic, and its back is also a mask, but its eyes are closed.

…And it has a D: expression.

Sigh, this thing is just two badly-made masks gluing together.

_ Tenri Yassel: [̸̙̪̻̤̅̉I̸̟̣͕̝̳͐̅̍̕m̴̢̗̪̙̠̗̻̈́͑p̶̨̛̠̹̰͐͊̀͒̍ͅạ̶̑̈́͌̊̃̔c̶̱̍̋̉̽͋̂̔̽t̵͓́̅̽]̵̡͔̪̠̀.̵̝̞͔͓͈̜͍̏́

It's dropping down again!

_ Shadyna: Get out of its AoE, now!

currently has no [Shared Fate], so she has to be extra careful.

Gelly, no point in evading anymore. Slam it!

*WHAM* *WHACK*

160k and 16k. Is there any skill to reduce the RNG?!

*WHAM*

Using superior running speed, and I escaped the AoE safely. Yikes, the range is even greater than I thought. The whole area for [Laetque Eye] was blown up with that.

Not that anyone can see where that area is right now, since all trees have been destroyed by the first AoE.

Gelly was hit, but nothing it cannot handle.

_ Shadyna: All-out assault!

_ Miel: Understood!

Gelly stops avoiding and focuses on attacking. Have to keep dealing damage to keep aggression away from !

…

Anticlimactic 500k damage later, [Tenri Yassel] floats wa~y up. About 20-30 meters?

_ Miel: Keep attacking?

_ Shadyna: Wait, let's try to get away. It might be preparing powerful spells. Spread out!

We all run in different directions. If it unleashes a beam of death only one will get hit, hopefully.

_ Tenri Yassel: B̶͈̫͍̙̽e̶͔̤̩͕̜̱̊̚g̵͍͑͐͘͝i̶̡̲͕̣̲̹̮͂n̴̹̻͓̭͎͎̫̑̇̆́ ̴̛̼̀̔̈́j̴̢̮̹̱͎̊̐ͅu̴͍̗̗̟͈̮̼̔̈́͜d̷̟̜̙̦̣͚͛̉̔g̶͖̟̻̋̃̔è̴̟̳̎͐̋́͂̊ṃ̵̮̇ḙ̵̼̠̘͙̰̱̑̊͜n̴̝̮̤̻̄̓͒͐̔̾t̷̡̞̘̱̰́̀̊̄̄̈́.̷̢͋́̾̄̂̆ ̸͔̍[̷̯͎̳̓̈́̈́̿͋̽̉͊ͅW̴̡̦̰͓̝̙̊̓̌̉͠o̴̗̪̝̬̪̅r̶̢̫̯̤̮̣̣̹̎́͊̓͗̒̚͝l̵̛͙̠̋͑͂̄̽̓͛d̷̢̪͖̙̪̦̈́͗̓̋̉͝ ̵̼͔̞̜͔͛̊́R̷̛̝͍̙̳̳͙̀͒̿̍̈̆e̴̜̍̓̕͝c̷͕̯̹̼̓͗͐̆̐͆̚ò̷͔͇̺̻͋̈́̒͠r̶͚͉͉̹̖͕̤̀̃̇̋d̶̛̫̯̑]̶̺̭̦͕́͊̏͋̕͜ͅͅ.̵̲͈͎͐́̃̽̈́̏̍

A light as bright as the sun blinds us.

If that isn't a next-stage transformation, Sateri should really read some manga afterward…

The artificial mini sun suddenly turns into glowing purple, the same color as corrupted [Vallen Eye]'s iris.

At the same time, our surrounding area also becomes darker, similar to a raid.

I take my words back, Sateri. This transformation scene is kind of overdoing it!!! Shouldn't you reserve this kind of thing for the last boss?!

_ Tenri Yassel: Ḩ̸̩̼̣̮̰̮̇͌̂̽̾͝à̷̡̤͇̱̥̔͛̕r̵̹͙͖͒̇̂͂̚͘m̴̜̖͓̫̙̘̬͉̋͋̅̎̉́͠.̷͎̜́

It's falling like a meteor again!!!

*WHAM*

The impact zone was really, really big. If I have to guess, it's about as big as [Laetque Eye]'s full attack range, which is a lot bigger than the woods around its spawn point.

What the heck is this unescapable attack?!

_ Miel: I lost 7k HP.

_ Shadyna: That's way better than us! We lost 15k!

We have to do something, because the next one will turn us into a 10k overkill bonus!

The second stage for the bonus boss fight has begun!

____________

The waitress corps gained new fans as they saved Tyrel from the total destruction. As the result, everyone is flooding the tavern to have a chance of meeting the heroines in person. That, and players have to get their buffs again after the defense.

To their dismay, the tavern is not open.

_ Tippe: has gone somewhere too…

_ Maximus: That was not enough of a beating for you?!

_ Ignar: Guess it's back to lunch box then…

A particular gothic Lolita comes rushing to the crowd. It is rare for this person to even be here, as the waitresses are not of her taste.

_ Vladina: Does anyone knows where the waitresses went to?!

_ Olkan: Did you finally realize the greatness of ample chests?

Another pervert is also here, even though he knows the bartenders will murder him later.

_ Vladina: Says the person waging war over a little girl. More importantly, I need to know where they went!

_ Mage: I think I saw the dark elven sisters going south?

_ Olkan: went south too, probably? She left so fast I didn't even get a chance to ask.

_ Vladina: Grab your best fighters, . We are chasing after them!

_ Olkan: What, you think they are going to fight whatever in the system message or something?

_ Vladina: Why else would they be in such a rush right after?! Hurry up! They might even get more absurd after killing it!

_ Olkan: Crap! Give me a sec, I'll call my guys!

_ Knight: Nononono, if gets even stronger my body won't last to enjoy the beating!!!

As always, everyone got their priorities straight.

_ Maximus: We'll join too.

_ Tippe: Max?!

_ Maximus: If you want to kill-steal them you'll need as many as you can.

_ Ignar: We are already resorting to that huh…

_ Tippe: Seeing how was fighting, I am certain we have no other option…

_ Spearman: I for one will join for a chance of them beating me senseless!!!

The players working at the teahouse and the bar are not happy having to distribute food for these perverts, even if the money comes from the guilds' treasuries!