5 My bad! I just got my first boss kill.

Ahhhhhhh, I made it! I made it through the day! Rejoice, for the final bell has rung, and the children are leaving.

I rapidly packed up all my supplies and made a mad dash for the back wall, successfully avoiding the main groups that bullied me and keeping out of sight.

There it is! Freedom is in sight.

Building strength into my legs I agilely kicked against the wall with my right foot and leaped up, planting my uninjured left hand on top of the wall to support my weight and cleared the 2-meter wall.

While jumping over my sleeve collar shifted up and my hummingbird tattoo on my wrist was revealed.

Crap, I hope no one saw that, I think I'm good.

I landed safely on the other side with bent knees and caught my breath before taking my familiar route home through back alleys with a quick jog, leaping over short walls or obstacles in the same manner as before. I managed to arrive home in less than five minutes, a new record!

Walking through the front door I noticed that no one had arrived home yet, Toku must still be at school, and Kai and dad are probably both at work.

I guess I'll just dive into the game myself today!

Dashing into my room I changed out of my uniform and wore a baggy hoodie with sweatpants that easily hid the new bruises I got at school.

Opening up my capsule, I got comfy and closed my eyes, excited for what I would do in the game this time. My surroundings soon blurred and became the familiar barracks that I had logged out in. Walking out to the training ground I spotted my master talking with a few players who were probably looking for quests to take.

Not wanting to disturb them, I energetically ran through the rookie obstacle course a few time, warming up my stiff body before I started on the missions.

Oh! I should probably check out those gloves I got yesterday. Opening up empty inventory I equipped my gloves, suddenly a notification rang through my head.

[Please design your bound gloves, they will be impossible to trade or drop once you do so.]

Man, this system is putting me on the spot. Ermmm, let's go with a sapphire, but the hummingbird and not the gem. Designing a violet hummingbird identical to my tattoo, I placed on the back of the left glove and hit the okay button.

[Lynx's Hummingbird Gloves have successfully been created.]

This is so cool! But I'll wear it once I'm out of town, wearing it around might attract unnecessary attention. I happily put them back into my inventory and sneaked a glance at my mentor. Still talking, ugh, I just want my next mission!

"Pfffft, hey look at that nooby ranger over their pointlessly running the obstacle over and over again. Hah!"

Hm? Hey sir, you know that I can hear you right? And also, my master is right in front of your face, and he doesn't look real happy...

"Tch, how despicable, if you find it fun to look down on people training hard then I will find to peace in leaving you to do my tasks. Look somewhere else!" Abest lectured the swordsman sternly while swiftly turning away from the party.

"H-hey wait! You're just some important NPC! Don't act so cocky dammit!" The stunned player said while blood rushed up his face. Realizing that I was staring at them, he stomped towards me. "It's all your fault you noob!"

Ignoring his panicking teammates who were desperately trying to calm him down, he rushed up to me with his sword drawn.

Huh? Why does he look really familiar for some reason, do I know him?

"You should just go die. I spent so long trying to get Marshall Abest on my good side but you just had to ruin it for me!"

"Fang! Stop, he's looking this way!" A mage screamed while worriedly glancing at Abest who was staring at me.

Then my mentor grinned and looked the other way. Suddenly a notification window popped up.

Wait, the guy's halfway here! Screw you master, lemme run first dammit!

Skimming over the information my mouth dropped open in bewilderment.

[Disciple of a Legend: Quest updated 5/12

Goal: A player is unjustly trying to kill you in front of Marshall Abest, you must kill him to make your mentor proud!

Failure: You will have to re-do the entire quest chain for more training, no rewards will be given

Success: You will be given a higher reputation among the witnessing NPCs and the next mission of the quest chain]

Arghhh fine! I'll do it! You stupid program, all I wanted was to be an invisible player with no grudges...ngggh…I don't wanna.

"Die!" Fang howled while swinging his sword down at me.

Why is his form full of so many holes? Is an average player supposed to be so weak? This is nothing compared to the training Toku gives me once a week.

I easily sidestepped and took out my knife, feinting to the left and then circling around him.

Stabbing him in the back would be hard with such a flimsy knife, so I fluently switched to a reverse grip and cut at his open throat. His health instantly plummeted and he died with a shocked expression on his face, fading into white particles.

Ah, well thanks for making my job easier, Fang.

"No way...Fang was one-shot?"

"H-hey did you guys capture that on camera? That's an expert right there!"

"I think we were all too shocked to get it on film, ugh."

Um, aren't you his party members? Are you really supposed to be acting like this?

[Goal achieved:

20 reputation among NPCs

Marshall Abest looks towards you more favorably]

My master walked up to me with proud steps, patting me on the back.

"Heh, that was better than I expected Lynx! You did me mighty proud right there. Good work!"

"It's all thanks to your guidance sir!" I responded with a cheerful smile.

In the distance Fang's party members were shocked, the strict Marshall was actually patting a player on the back! They hurriedly kicked Fang out of the party and left the training grounds, scared that their reputation would drop if they stayed any longer.

"You are growing very fast, I have good eyes! But there is a monster currently inhabiting the nearby forest. I want you to go slay it and keep the town safe!"

No, I've been doubting your eyesight since I met you. Fix that statement.

[Quest Updated: The halfway point - 6/12

Abest is very proud of your performance, but you need to do more to show him that you are ready!

Go out into the 'Beginner's Forest' and kill the King of the Forest.

Failure: N/A

Success: You will be given a higher reputation among the town's NPCs and the next mission of the quest chain.]

"Yes, sir! I won't fail your expectations, sir!"

I leaped up to the nearest roof and headed towards the forest.

Eh, for some reason running on the roofs is so much faster than walking down in the crowds. Makes me feel safer too, weird.

In addition, for some reason the player Fang makes me feel uneasy, I keep having a nagging feeling that I've met him somewhere before. But whatever, I had my hood on so I should be fine.

In less than a minute I had arrived at the gate while running at top speed. Scaling the wall, I sneakily leaped over while bypassing multiple guards, lining up to pay the gate fee was too boring. The guards were pretty weak too, although they averaged level 60 they couldn't sense me at all.

Swiftly jumping over the wall, I dashed into the forest, eager on completing this mission and getting another reward.

Oh, I just realized that I don't even know where to find this boss. Crap, my bad.

Quietly climbing up a tall tree I jumped from branch to branch, trying to find a good place to open up the game forums and search for information.

Spotting a good place to settle down in a tall tree, I checked my surroundings and then opened up the forum pages.

...

Why is the headliner a picture of...me!? No, wait what? Catching myself from falling off the tree in shock, I steadied myself and opened up the post.

[Mysterious cloaked player one shot seventh highest ranker and is patted on the back by Abest!]

Hm? For some reason, this sounds really familiar...don't tell me Fang's party members posted about him getting killed?

Must hurt his ego.

Reading the comments I found a few that caught my eye.

-{Oh my god, I personally know how scary that NPC is. How in the world did that ranger get such a high favorability!? Brother ranger, if you see this, take me as your humble disciple!!!}

-{Being able to one shot Fang isn't a big deal, everyone knows that he's just a spoiled pay-to-win player.}

-{I bet anyone ten copper that the mysterious ranger is actually the top ranker Lynx. No, I'll even bet 20.}

My identity has been exposed. Let's just hope that no one believes him.

Someone called Lynx is the top ranker. Wait, isn't that my username?!?

…

That's cool, okay.

...

Now that I think about it, why is the seventh ranker so weak? And did someone just say that I'm the top ranker? … I'll just ignore this entire episode and look for information on that boss. Yeah, that's what I'll do, I never saw this post.

Searching up information on the King of the Forest that I was told to subjugate, I found a particular post that stood out.

[My entire party was wiped out by a giant mob in the beginner's forest?! Developers fix this bug!]

There was also a photo attached to the post and coordinates at where they died. I guess I'll head over and see if that monster is still nearby then.

Gracefully flying through the air, I grabbed onto a nearby branch and flung myself farther, repeating the action again and again.

If someone saw me they would probably think someone was a Tarzan wannabe. Once again I was reminded of how grateful I was to my precious cloak!

Quickly arriving where the boss was last seen I heard shouting and battle sounds resounding nearby.

Did someone get here before me? Tch, it would take too long to wait for the monster to respawn. I'll check the situation out first.

Hiding high up in a tree I peeked over at the fight.

There were around twenty players all attacking a giant orc at once.

Hey, isn't that a little overkill?

However, right after I had that thought I noticed how little damage each player was doing to the King of the Forest.

The Inspect skill that is given to every player is really useful in these situations.

Overall the boss had 100,000 health, and each hit from an average player only did 10 damage. That would mean that each player in the party will have to hit the boss 500 times to kill it.

I patiently watched them bring the health of the boss down slowly. If I was going to finish this mission I would have to play dirty, no way around it.

Once the boss was down to 3% only 6 players were still alive.

Alright, time to make my move.

Dropping down from my perch I sneaked behind a male mage who was busy firing off spells and was blind to his surroundings.

With my gloves equipped, I hooked my left hand around his mouth and quickly pulled him into a bush. Holding my rookie knife in my right hand I fluently swiped it across his defenseless neck, instantly killing him with a critical hit.

A clear sound rang out in my head and notifications popped up, but I didn't have time for that right now. I ignored the tabs and slid them to the side of my view.

One down, five to go!

The rest of the players were too preoccupied with trying not to get hit that they didn't notice their mage's unnatural death.

Choosing a female priest as my next target I crept up with the Shadow Walker skill, which lets me become invisible to everyone under my level for a minute. Too bad it had a cool-down of two hours.

I'm sorry for being so overpowered. My bad.

Standing right in front of the unknowing girl, I covered her mouth with my hand pushed her down.

Once again taking my knife I cut her throat in the same manner. The priest's low health instantly vanished, white particles covering her corpse. She didn't even have time to figure out how she died.

That's two down.

Jumping back up onto a tree, I scanned the four people left. It won't be long before they find out someone is trying to steal their kill.

Oh, there they go.

Their attacks became more rushed, trying to kill the boss as quick as they could, as they paranoidly looked around trying to find the mysterious killer.

There, the ranger was killed after becoming too hurried, good job boss.

Three players left!

Taking my beginner's bow I shot at the orc's left hand, where the tank of their team was struggling to keep aggro.

The knockback of the arrow moved the arm slightly back, conveniently helping the boss avoid the tank's charge skill.

Tank down, rest in peace.

With the aggro now focused on the defenseless thief and swordsman, the orc easily cut them both down, switching his attention to me, who was still perched in a tree.

His health was already below 1% so I charged forward with my knife, determined to finish my mission.

Sliding underneath his legs to dodge an overhead smash I turned and stabbed at his open back, leaping backward to avoid another sweep of his club.

Ah, I forgot how useless my rookie knife was…

The knife that I had supposedly stabbed into his heart had only penetrated his skin, barely damaging him.

Instinctively jumping into a tall tree to avoid another swing of his large club, I took out my bow and shot at his eye.

The giant orc roared at me in frustration, clawing at his busted eye while recklessly swinging his weapon at the tree.

Barely jumping out of the tree I quickly perched in another, aiming once again for his vital areas.

I shot another arrow, jumped to another tree.

And I did it again. Behold my grand kiting technique!

Don't make fun of me, if you want strategies, go to Toku.

Oh, while I'm doing this, were you wondering why a beginner like me could pinpoint the boss' exact critical areas?

That's cause Kai is a master at archery, and he teaches me during his free time.

You don't need to point it out, I know my family is pretty special.

Oh no, I ran out of arrows.

…

Am I supposed to punch this guy to death?

While busying myself with becoming Tarzan and thinking of how I would kill this orc, I suddenly spotted the knife that was still miserably stuck on its back.

Bingo.

Instead of retreating to another tree as I did before, I waited until the boss was close enough to touch before I made my move.

Pushing off the tree I somersaulted over the giant and landed on its shoulders, yanking out the knife and mercilessly stabbing it into its other eye.

The orc's angry roar shook the forest, in his rage it dropped his club and attempted to grab hold of me.

Deftly avoiding his grasp, I used its back as a springboard and leaped back.

Picking up the club that it had thrown aside, I used it against him and swung hard at the knife that was still buried in its face. The knife was forced through its skull, piercing its brain and finally finishing off the rest of the boss' health.

A sound once again rang through my mind, I ignored it and focused my gaze on the loot.

Whew, killing a boss sure is taxing on my stamina, I need to work out more.