Chapter 17: Ambush In the Night

Here is the recap of the current situation just until the unique monster showed itself.

Sanraku, that is me, is in real pinch right now, as he was vastly overwhelmed by the enemies that surrounded him.

There was a half-dead Red Hat Goblin A that was still standing!

There was a Red Hat Goblin B that was largely intact with no real damage done to it.

There was a Red Hat Goblic C, but it started to run away as soon as the unique monster showed itself.

Red Hat Goblin D wanted to confront the monster, but it didn’t work out so well for it, for it exploded in a Geyser of polygons a few seconds after confronting the monster.

That’s it!

「Oi, oi, isn’t that thing too OP…….?」

This unique monster here has such a malicious of an aura going on about it that it is literally saying “Tough luck for you to encounter me, now you’re all going to die!”.

Basically, it is that kind of a monster that wipes the floor with the newbies on every single occasion. But weren’t the Red Hats unique monsters as well? I was now starting to regret wanting to go to the swamp in the middle of the night. No matter how skilled you are, the sheer difference in numbers was too much of a gap to overcome. There are such powerful and unique monsters.

Its presence was so overwhelmingly menacing that I found myself unable to move. Really now. Was it really possible to reproduce in such detail the feeling of being intimidated inside of a game?

「Oooohhhh!?!?」

For some strange reason, I managed to snap myself out of it and roll to the side at the last possible moment, avoiding the incoming attack.

In the next moment, a wide open mouth with rows of sharp teeth inside it passes me by the skin of my teeth and falls onto one of the Red Hat Goblins, devouring it whole with ease.

The Red Hat Goblin B’s meat was torn apart, its bones shattered, its innards crushed and splattered around…… With just a single bite like that the Goblin was reduced to mere minced meat, its HP instantly falling to zero.

It was gore in its purest form.

「Unique Monster: “Night Prowler Luukan”……」

I see…… It’s called “Night Prowler” because it only appears at night. Although the Red Hat Goblins also appeared at night and were quite strong, there was simply no comparison between the two. The Goblins could never possibly hope to kill other monsters with one blow.

Its body was shaped like a wolf, and while its mane was almost entirely black there were parts of it around its mouth that were red, and its eyes were bright yellow. It was giving off an illusion that it was the mouth itself flowing through the darkness of the night.

My level was around eighteen at the current moment, but just how wide was the gap between me and the Night Prowler Luukan? Was it double……? No, it was probably going to be triple in both levels and stats. Well, there was no possible way for me to defeat this guy, not with my current weapons and paper-thin armor. Even critical hits surely wouldn’t be of any use to me right now, as it would be like trying to stab an iron plate with a toothpick.

「I can only run away…… But will I be able to?」

The difference in our Agility must have been tremendous as well. It was a miracle that I managed to avoid its previous attack like that. …… No, it wasn’t that.

What saved me there was probably my Luck. At my current level that was the only explanation on why I would be able to avoid an attack from a monster like that.

It was only a game. So like with any other game, I might as well give it a go. I mean, there was no way a solo low-level player such as myself would be able to beat a raid-class monster like that, but it surely won’t hurt me to try, right?

「Yeah, that’s right…… Just who the hell do you think I am!? (Note: Not a member of the Dai Guuren-dan, that’s for sure.)」

Bugs, glitches, difficulty spikes, unreasonably strong monsters, we gamers who conquered sh*tty games have overcome a whole lot of difficulties like that! Even if I am going to be one-shotted by this monster, I am damn well going to try and bring it down!

「You want a piece of me!? Have at you, then!!」

This is it! The fun part of this game! I am really going to enjoy myself to the fullest!!

But even if I’m going to lose, so what!? It’s an inevitable part of being a gamer, after all! Stumbling upon a strong monster that you cannot hope to beat with your starting equipment alone! There’s no shame in dying to something like that!

I change my weapons to the pair of Swamp Daggers, as they are my strongest weapons for the moment, and then I assume the battle stance.

You thought I was going to run away!? You thought I was going to just give up and allow myself to be devoured by you!? I don’t know how the unique monsters AI behaves, but I surely wasn’t going to play like it wanted me to! Not a chance!

The monster jumped towards me…… and again I managed to avoid its attack, although just barely by keeping a track of its eyes. It was similar to that Orochi serpent, but surely it was on a whole different level.

「Hahaha! That wasn’t even that big of a deal!!!」

But it was a lie. I thought I was surely going to die out there.

PN: Sanraku

LV: 18

Class: Mercenary (Dual Wielding Swordsman)

2,000 Maani

HP: 30

MP: 10

STM (Stamina): 40

STR (Strength): 10

DEX (Dexterity): 15

AGI (Agility): 40

TEC (Technique): 20

VIT (Vitality): 1 (14)

LUC (Luck): 55

Skills

? Spin Slash

? Skull Pierce

? Knuckle Rush

? Tap Step → Side Step

? Flash Counter → Just Parry

? Loop Slash Lv.1

Equipment

Right Hand: Vorpal Chopper

Left Hand: Vorpal Chopper

Head: Mask of the Bird Eye (VIT 2)

Body: Leather Vest (VIT 4)

Waist: Leather Belt (VIT 4)

Feet: Leather Pants (VIT 4)

Accessories: None

Enemy Name: Night Prowler Luukan

LV: 165

HP: ? ? ? ?

MP ???? ? ? ? ?

STM ???? ? ? ? ?

STR ???? ? ? ? ?

DEX:? ? ? ? ?

AGI: ? ? ? ?

TEC: ? ? ? ?

VIT:? ? ? ? ?

LUC: ? ? ?

Skills

? ? ? ? ? ? ?

? ? ? ? ? ? ?

? ? ? ? ? ? ?

? ? ? ? ? ? ?

? ? ? ? ? ? ?

? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Just Parry is a truly overpowered skill which would technically allow to parry all of the enemy’s physical attacks, as long as the position and timing are done perfectly right before receiving the damage (magic attacks are excluded from that)

Unique monsters are not the same as the rare monsters, and their appearance rate is significantly lower than that of rare monsters to begin with. That being said, ShangriLa Frontier tends to treat them somewhat the same.

Area bosses and story bosses are enemies that you can even take on solo if you raise your level high enough, but the unique monsters such as “Night Prowler Luukan” are raid-class monsters that you can’t hope to defeat solo.

As a side note, there is no clear number of unique monsters that are implemented in the game, as there are monsters that are yet to be discovered by the players. “Night Prowler Luukan” can be encountered anywhere in the game world during night period and it is a rare specimen of a monster whose level exceeds a three digit number.