CH 15.2

Today’s the day before the Closed Beta Test ends. The final day ends on Monday morning and because I have school tomorrow, this would be the last day that I can play on the Closed Beta Test.

As the final commemoration, I’ve my eyes on the Elder Treant Boss in the north of the Caastal kingdom, and I’m making my way to the inner forest which is packed with active Treants.

It’s more troublesome than I thought.

I made my way through the forest during yesterday’s night and tried to reach my destination, but there were so many enemies that I couldn’t make my way to the boss.

It’s why I am challenging the boss again just as planned. Although, my mother is getting angry over the fact that I have been spending too much time on this game. She usually doesn’t get angry over something like this and is actually a gentle person, but if she quarrels with my father, her anger spills over to me.

This time it’s mostly my father’s fault or something, probably.

Since my mother is standing at the top of the hierarchy in our family, it’s a life-and-death situation if her mood gets spoiled because it concerns our food. It is a dangerous thing, so we can’t go against her.

It’s unfortunate but I had to help out with housework this morning in order to get my mother in a good mood. I have gotten the permission to have two hours worth of playtime in the afternoon and I’m finally playing.

After I log in, I restart from the forest where I previously escaped.

The forest sounds noisy, and I open my Map Window and move towards the boss.

I definitely encountered groups of orcs yesterday, so I wonder if I should make a detour. As I ponder I realize there is something strange on the map.

When I look closely at my surroundings I do not see the groups of orcs from yesterday.

I tilt my head and wonder why they have changed their position from yesterday.

I chalk it up to being lucky and move towards the boss.

When I analyze the map I finally discover the orcs are intercepting other players other than me.

Thanks to that, I encounter far fewer orcs attacking me. I am easily able to handle them on my own, so I change from my previous method of attack from yesterday and advance quickly.

The trees that I see do not look like they are withering, so the boss is still alive.

When I approach the boss, I see various players already who are engaged with it. Perhaps they are thinking the same thing to hunt it, but I have not expected to see nearly a hundred players.

Just when I’m thinking there is no part for me here and about to give up, a player in the group raises his voice.

[Save the commander!]

It seems like one person is caught by the boss and being squeezed when I look closely. Perhaps he is the party leader or something similar.

What should I do, is it fine for me to lend a hand?

Since he says he wants to have help, I think it should be fine to lend a hand.

I recite the Mana Explosion spell.

Even though the spell casting time is really long, a normal spell would be insufficient since it is a boss.

An explosion hits the Elder Treant boss’s wrist and the hostage is released.

In truth, I actually plan to hit the boss’s body, but as expected, it is difficult to aim for it when there is a hostage.

It is an attack that will do nothing but mow down the players in one go. It is a real problem when the magic spell has such a large area of effect. (TL: Friendly Player Kill problem.)

Since the developers made a promise to deal with balance issues, it might be possible that the skill will be corrected in the Open Beta Test.

[I thank you for helping me! Even though you just came, I want to borrow your strength to defeat the surrounding Treants.]

The warrior-like man who was a hostage earlier says.

That’s good. It seems like it’s the correct thing to do by helping out. It’s true that the Treants are surrounding the players and it’s difficult to approach the boss. I should help out.

While I nod, the Elder Treant becomes angry and commands his Treants to come after me. I’m surprised at the NPC’s advanced AI, but to think that even the monsters have emotions like humans.

Hmm, this game is pretty good.

I use Fire Arrow to deal with the Treants since they have a weakness to flame attribute attacks and the damage dealt is 1.5 times more. But I receive an attack after I managed to attack only one Treant, and I’m being sent flying back.

The attack causes a vibration to my abdomen, but instead of pain, I feel like it’s closer to feeling ticklish. The feeling that astonishes me more is actually how I’m flung away. I hurriedly confirm my HP and find that it has decreased to 30%.

I wonder how weak I really am when an attack can take away 70% of my health, and I quickly use an intermediate-grade health potion to recover.

As I fire my counterattacks back at a Treant, the other players rush in to defend me against the other Treants attacking me.

Wow…… these are nice people.

They understand how weak I am and immediately guard me against them. In addition, they even cast a buff on me.

Intelligence Boost.

Like the name of this skill suggests, it boosts the intelligence stats by multiples of 10%. Each increase in level multiples by 10%. Level 1 gives 10%, and level 5 which is the highest level, gives out 50%. The effective time is one hour.

The buff I received is level 3, so I’m given a 30% boost in stats.

I have no choice but to do my best in this situation. I’ll slaughter the enemies one after another. Since the power of my magic goes up, I am able to deal a lot of damage to the Treants.

The battle is becoming in our favor before I realize it. I watch the movements of the other players moving in a smooth manner, especially the commander who was a hostage earlier. It feels like he has greatly trained to do that refined strike that seems to blow everything away.

When I see that attack, I feel that I am unable to match it in style regardless of whatever techniques I have.

I wonder how I compare to him.

Although I considered taking other professions in the past, I wondered if I could take the magician profession to the extreme.

Well, perhaps I should continue to do so— I will raise a magician during the Open Beta Test.

The commander was cutting off the Elder Treant’s arms. The surrounding Treants are already gone. Let me join in as well.

I start casting the strongest spell I have. The Elder Treant was felled due to the Mana Explosion.

……. Oops, did I get the last hit?

W-well, the person who deals the highest damage to the Boss should be the commander who attacked the most.

Since he’s giving instructions to the hundred-odd players, I guess it was a guild event.

The other players seem to be delighted and are getting rid of the remaining Treants. Since the boss is defeated, I don’t think I need to help them anymore.

[What is this……]

The commander raises his voice in a question. It seems that the trees are withering rapidly. It seems like he has not looked at the wiki.

[The plant subordinates of the Elder Treant that rely on it will wither.]

It seems to be this kind of design, where there’s no need to check the forest to see if the boss is still alive. This is a kind design for the beginners.

[You are…..]

He seems like a nice person and I do want to be friends with him, but I don’t have the time to talk with him for long. The time limit for me is up soon. After this event, I have to shop for dinner’s ingredients and I need to log out urgently.

[My name is Chaos. I have to go now (to do shopping). My apologies (for leaving without giving my contact)—]

I apologize and log out.

When I’m back in the real world, I check the time. Just as expected, my time left is barely on the dot. Well, I should leave now before my mother’s mood turns for the worse.