Chapter 14
November 7th, 2024
(8 months later)
Two years and one day. It felt like a lifetime since we ended up in this world. None of us expected that we'd be here this long, and with each passing day, it became harder and harder to remember the time before. At first, I thought it was just me, but from what I'd heard, practically everyone was experiencing this phenomenon. The longer we were here, the more it felt like the 'right' reality. Like this was the only one that mattered. While there were still many of us who were solely focused on clearing this world and escaping, there were many of us who were reluctant to leave it behind.
Battles had grown increasingly difficult. The bosses were beginning to have more HP bars than before, and far more complex attack patterns to the point where many of them were becoming impossible to predict. More players were needed per attack party now, so Kikina introduced us to a few of her friends during the floor 71 battle. Bertrand, and Zuzu, who recently decided to move into the tavern.
"I cannot believe you had us go all the way to that Nelken place-" Zuzu complained.
"Nelkenfestung," I corrected.
"-just for ambra pastry," she finished.
"Oh hush. It was on the way," Bertrand defended.
"Nelkenfe whatever it's called-" Zuzu retorted.
"Nelkenfestung," I repeated once more.
"-is in the complete opposite direction of Lemurshaft!" Zuzu finished, her frustration evident.
"Leidenschaftlich," I sighed.
"You're not even a good cook!" She huffed. "I don't understand why you insist on getting rare ingredients!"
"Because it never hurts to have the choice!" Bertrand shot back.
It was exhausting. They had been bickering for hours, ever since we left floor 27 for floor 60. Bertrand liked her, I think, but whenever Zuzu spoke, someone had to argue with her. It had been like this the whole time.
"We were almost finished the quest in Leiden... Leidench... Urr..." Bertrand stammered, struggling with the name.
"Leidenschaftlich," I groaned.
"Yeah. There," Bertrand said, seeming relieved. "We were on the way to completing the quest there way earlier than expected, so excuse me for thinking we still had time."
"Those NPCs died because you took to long, you dunce!" She growled.
"How was I supposed to know there would be 15 Drunk Apes instead of 5?!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.
"Guys, please," I interjected. "I'm tired. You woke me up at 4 am to go on this quest with you. I get that you're trying to help me level up, but 4 am?"
"The markets are only on early. We could have gone ourselves," he admitted.
"Then why did you drag me out of bed?!"
"Because you're the only one who can even pronounce anything on this stupid floor." Zuzu muttered.
"Speaking of which, how can you do that?" Bertrand asked, genuinely curious.
"Well, it's German, so it's pretty easy."
"You know German?" he asked, rather surprised.
"My family on my father's side is German. Dad taught me the language before he died. My brother speaks it more than I do though," I shared. "You never met him, but our friend Toru had a German grandfather. I used to teach him German so he could finally have a conversation with him when he got out. He never got the chance to though."
"You can say large German words, yet you can't pronounce 'hypothesis'." Zuzu pointed out, raising her eyebrow.
"I can say hysopithis... Hypnothisis... Hippopo... Urg! I'm too tired for this! I just wanna go back to the tavern and get some sleep before the boss battle," I groaned, feeling the weight of exhaustion looming over me.
"Are you sure you're ready to fight the floor 80 boss?" Zuzu asked, her voice tinged with concern.
"No! Because I'm tired! I need sleep!" I snapped, rubbing my eyes.
"You're right. We should calm down," Betrand said, trying to defuse the situation.
"Don't tell me what to do, commoner!"
Zuzu started complaining again, her voice grating on my nerves. I wasn't even sure what she was angry about anymore. I just zoned out, ignoring them the rest of the way back to the tavern. All I wanted was a few hours of sleep before the big event.
###
(A few hours later)
A knock at the door disturbed my slumber.
"Are you up yet?" Kuram's voice called out from the other side.
"Do I have to go?" I groaned.
"Well, no, but if you don't get up now, you'll miss lunch," he replied.
I sighed, rolling out of bed and shuffling into the eating area. As I entered, Rizea eyed me with concern, while Shiraki continued polishing his sword.
"You look awful. Are you alright, hon?" she asked.
Shiraki looked up with his eyebrow raised. "Why are you back in your pyjamas? Didn't you go out with Zuzu and Bertrand earlier? Or was I misinformed?"
"That's why I went back to bed," I yawned, rubbing my eyes. "What's for lunch?"
"Vorpelberry jam sandwiches with a side of elk jerky," Kuram announced, placing a plate in front of me.
For a few moments, I stared at the plate, too tired to even consider eating.
"Are you ok?" Raigen asked. "You seem...slow."
"Yeah, I'm ok," I mumbled. "I'm just not used to being woken up so early."
He gave me a sympathetic look. "Will you be awake enough for the battle?"
"I don't know," I admitted, feeling a slight bit of guilt. "I might sit this one out and visit Enzu."
Kikina chimed in. "I think I'll come too. I'm starting to get a little nervous about these floor bosses. I want to take a few days off to get my head straight."
Rizea smiled warmly at me. "If you come with us, I'll make you some of that shortcake you like."
At the mention of shortcake, all my fatigue seemed to vanish. My body kicked into action, and I suddenly felt rejuvenated.
"I take it back! I'll come! I'll come!" I exclaimed eagerly.
Kuram shook his head, looking slightly defeated. "Is her food really that much better than mine?"
Shiraki chuckled, giving Kuram a sympathetic pat on the back. "I'm sorry, buddy. I really am, but Rizea is the best cook in this world."
Raigen, however, remained concerned. "Are you sure you want to come? I'd feel a lot better if you stayed back."
"I should be fine," I assured him. "I'm level 68."
"And I am level 76, and I'm still worried," he countered.
Kuram nodded in agreement. "Especially after the Silent Night."
We still didn't actually know what the boss was yet. All we knew was that when someone went in, the door was forced closed. When the door did eventually open again, there wasn't a trace of anyone left. No people, no weapons, no boss. The only trace of their existence was a scratch through their name on the Monument of Life and a time of death. It didn't even say how they died.
Three days ago, unbeknownst to everyone, the Aincrad Liberation Force went in. The whole guild. Some people say it was their attempt at proving that they were better than the KoB. We didn't even realize it until someone went into the Black Iron Palace a few days later and mentioned that there were an extra 108 names crossed off with roughly the same time of death and no description. It was understandable that a small group would disappear in minutes, but for a guild of 108 people to just vanish without a trace... Being such a large-scale event, it had been dubbed the Silent Night. After that, so many people lost hope of ever getting out. 108 people gone in the span of an hour. That made today's battle just as important as the floor 1 raid. We had to show people that there was still hope.
Kikina shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I'm not being bribed with food. I'll just stay back. I'll visit Enzu for you."
"Thank you," I smiled. "Let her know that I'll be over to see her later."
Shiraki's eyes remained fixed on his weapon. With a serious expression on his face, he asked, "Are we ready for this? Like, really ready?"
His question hung in the air, heavy with the weight of the situation. Shiraki was always so calm and collected. He would never panic in battle, or at anything from what I'd seen, so the fact that he was concerned make me a little nervous.
"I...don't know," Rizea admitted. "These fights are getting difficult. Even after that speech of yours at the start of the year, we've still got less people participating in battles than I'd like."
Kuram sighed, his tone somber. "That's because most of the players you're looking for are already dead. Does anyone know current count?"
"Darkstar is going to count later," I informed them. "But he did say that he expects it to be over 4,000 by the end of the day."
Raigen looked down, his face filled with regret. "This is not what I had hoped to do today. I was gonna take you out for the day, since I couldn't be there for your birthday yesterday."
Shiraki took a deep breath, then nodded resolutely. "Let's... just get this done."
###
(An hour later)
The journey to the boss room itself was far more difficult that anything we'd previously undertook. We all used up all our crystals, which was probably ok, considering the boss dungeons were all anti-crystal zones. Even so, it wasn't without loss. Out of our 200 troops, we lost two along the way.
As we sat outside the giant doors, utterly exhausted, be began to sink in just how large they were. The only thing I could think of for a comparison was a whale.
"Behind that door is like, where the ALF disappeared and stuff," Zuzu muttered, her voice tinged with a hint of dread.
Knight's voice quivered with hope, "Do... Do you maybe think that they escaped? I mean, there's no description of their death. It's possible, right? Right?"
Benjin shook his head. "It's most likely a system glitch. To escape, you need to clear floor 100. This is only floor 80."
Raigen's voice was stern and commanding. "Stay sharp. Don't start fantasizing now. We've got a job to do."
Benjin called out, "Knights, ready yourselves."
He interacted with the door, which swung open with a loud, deafening creak. We all stood there for another few seconds. No one wanted to take another step because we knew that the second those doors closed, there would be no running away. Everyone else was waiting for us—waiting for us to show them that we still had a chance at beating this world. Either we won, or we died trying. If we didn't beat this boss, it would crush the remaining hope of ever escaping for so many players. Today was more than just another battle; today might very well decide the fate of Aincrad.
"March," Benjin commanded, stepping forward across the threshold. The door began to close slowly. It wouldn't have been hard to turn around and walk away, leaving him to face the room alone. Many didn't like the man, but letting him die like that wouldn't have been right.
Unexpectedly, Shiraki stepped forward first, standing beside Benjin. He knew this was bigger than their rivalry. One by one, the knights slowly followed him, then the other assisting players, until we were all inside. The door closed with a clank, plunging the room into complete darkness.
"Surely we're not expected to fight in the dark," Kuram murmured, his voice tinged with unease.
All of the torches in the room simultaneously ignited, revealing the arena. It was a large, circular room with a diameter of about 100 meters. The walls were made of limestone, and the ground was a mixture of hardened sand and rock. The entire area seemed to stretch upward, turning the room into a vast cylinder. The cold air around us was typical for anti-crystal traps.
"But where's the boss?" a knight asked, his voice trembling.
A sound echoed through the room—a clicking noise, like someone clicking their tongue.
"S...Sir?" the knight stammered, pointing upwards in terror.
"Soldier?" Benjin questioned.
The knight pointed upwards, seemingly too terrified to speak. We all followed his gaze until we saw something that could only be described as something tugged straight from the nightmares of a serial killer.
Before us was a monstrous behemoth, far larger than the door we entered through. The creature clung unnaturally to the wall with sharp, bony legs—about a hundred on each side—with two large, scythe-like claws at the front, double the size of the other legs. Its skull was broad, resembling a dragon's, with six glowing red eyes. As it opened its mouth, it revealed a long, red tongue and jagged teeth dripping with a dark red liquid.
I expected that the first thing I'd feel would have been fear, but to my surprise, looking up at it, all I felt was an overwhelming sense of hopeless. The feeling was so strong that I could have closed my eyes and accepted the embrace of death that very moment.
"This is it! We're screwed! We are so fu—" the knight began, but his words were cut off as the monster leaped from the wall with incredible speed. It landed in front of him, shaking the room. The creature's body stretched to about 4 meters long, and its head rose to about 6 meters high. Then, it let out a noise that paralyzed me—a horrifying mix of low hums and high-pitched wails. The sound was so terrifying and unique that it was indescribable. The only way I could explain it was that this creature sounded like the emotion 'fear.' And after hearing it, that's all I felt.
"M-My...God." Shiraki whispered, clenching his teeth tightly.
The dark red cursor appeared above the horrific creature's head, and it's HP bars began appearing. One after another, HP bars began forming. We quickly realize that this wasn't any ordinary boss battle.
"No way. Last boss only had 4!" Kuram exclaimed in disbelief.
Floor 1 had 1 bar. Floors 2 throughout 19 had bosses with 2 HP bars. 20 through 44 had 3 bars. 45 through to 79 had 4. However, this is the first time we're seeing 6.
As the HP bars stopped appearing, the name of the boss did. In all its unholy glory, Malice the Unkillable stood before us. Still frozen in fear, I tried to draw my dagger, but my body wouldn't move. No one's would. In a swift motion, Malice lifted its front left leg and slashed at the knight standing in front of it. The knight flew backward, and we all watched in horror as his HP bar dropped. It continued to decrease until it hit zero, and he let out one final scream before the awful death sound effect played. The room fell silent, everyone in shock. All the knights who came here were level 75 or higher. Each level provided 500 more HP, plus an additional 1,000 with every 10 levels. That made 44,500. Adding the extra 1,250 HP from the current level of KoB armour brought it up to 45,750, not even counting any vitality stats.
"O-One... hit?" Raigen stammered in disbelief.
That meant every attack performed by Malice did at least 45,750 damage...
"How the hell is that possible?!" Bertrand shouted.
...And my HP was only 40,945.
Benjin shouted, "Hold your ground, men! Engage!"
Benjin was the first to rush in. It took the others a few seconds before deciding to run in and attack, but I couldn't move. My body was paralysed.
As people unleased all they had at the monster, it became even more apparent just how powerful this 'thing' was. With about 180 people whaling on it, the decrease to Malice's HP was almost unnoticeable. With defence that high, it would take at least an hour to chip off even one of it's HP bars, and that was if we didn't have to move and didn't need to worry about stamina.
With another vicious screech, it spread its scythe-like legs out in front of it and sliced across the room, cutting through the five people in front of it, killing them instantly.
"How do you fight something we can't even get hit by?!" Kuram shouted in frustration.
I turned to look at the rest of our group. Everyone was shaking like a leaf, including Shiraki.
"C-Commander! W-we can't beat this thing!" Remi exclaimed.
Benjin yelled, "Vice commander! Give your troops orders!"
"I-..." She stammered.
She couldn't do it. For the first time in her history of being the vice commander, Rizea couldn't bring herself to give an order.
"I-I don't..." she continued.
Bertrand growled, "Just fight, dammit! Talk later!"
With that said, he jumped backwards, unleashing a volley of arrows.
"For once, I agree with him! Don't talk, just fight! Hyah!" Zuzu yelled, charging in, swinging her one handed axe wildly.
Without any warning or indication, Malice pushed past everyone to climb the wall at unnatural speed, then leapt back down. The impact it caused as it hit the ground created a shockwave, stunning everyone in the room.
"Osaka!" Shiraki yelled, rather frustrated. "Get your head in the damn game!"
"R-Right!" I replied.
As the beast stood upright to growl, I noticed a large red crystal ball under its chest. I opened my mouth to say something, but Malice performed yet another attack, again, without any indication like normal bosses. As if it couldn't get worse, the death centipede began breathing fire.
Shiraki screamed, "GET DOWN!"
I ran to the side, getting out of the way of the attack, watching as Malice prepared to attack a player blocking with a shield. As I got closer, the scythe changed direction, coming down towards me. I barely managed to block the attack, but I couldn't hold it. The force pushing back at me lowered my HP at a rapid pace. Remi and Raigen rushed to my side, helping me push the leg away with their weapons. When I was finally clear, I opened my inventory as quickly as I could and downed a potion. The attack had lowered my HP dangerously low.
"This doesn't make any sense!" I exclaimed. "Its attacks are random! I-I can't find the pattern!"
As I looked around, I realized that everyone seemed to be having the same problem. Nobody could figure out its next move. Nobody except Benjin, who seemed to be doing just fine.
"Time to use that head of yours, VC!" Shiraki demanded.
"I- I can't-" Rizea stammered.
"Don't freeze on me now! These people need you! Dammit!" he grunted.
This boss... It was like nothing we'd ever faced before. It was insanely strong, and insanely fast, which meant that the only way to take it down was with an equally as insane plan, and I knew just the one.
"Shiraki! I have a plan!" I announced, running full speed at him.
"What is it?!" He asked.
"Do you remember the floor 29 boss?!"
"What does that have to do with anything?!"
"Remember how we took it down?!"
He thought for a moment, trying to remember. As he realized what I was suggesting, his face contorted.
"Oh no! Absolutely not!" he shouted.
But it was too late. I was going too fast to stop, and I was already to close.
"Too late!" I chuckled.
"Damnit! I hope you know what you're doing!"
He crouched on one knee, leaning slightly to the right.
"Well, you see, that's the fun part!" I smiled.
I ran up onto his back and he lifted his shoulder, flinging me into the air.
"I have no clue!"
This game is near flawless when it comes to cheats and exploits, and to this day, I've only found one, but it's powerful. If someone else tosses you into the air while you're charging your jump, the game doesn't register that you've jumped yet, creating a sort of invisible platform under you to leap off while you're in the air. A sort of double jump. Just as I'd hoped, I managed to land on Malice's back.
"Oh gosh! This is high!" I exclaimed, clutching Malice's spine as I peered down at the battlefield below.
"A-Archers! Hold your fire!" Rizea shouted, finally regaining her composure.
Malice landed on the ground again, causing everyone to swarm in like ants to attack. From up here, I had a good view of the battlefield. One thing that stood out to me was Benjin. I'd never seen anyone move like that. He was lugging around his heavy shield like it was nothing. I knew he was good, but his actions seemed impossible. It was like he'd found a way to predict the attack patterns. Its attacks were random, and yet Benjin was doing fine. I hadn't even seen him pop a potion yet.
Remi jabbed at its eyes with her spear. Shiraki wielded his longsword, Rizea thrust with her rapier, Raigen slashed with his katana, and Zuzu swung her axe at the creature's right side. Bertrand stood in the background, readying his arrows for a clear shot. They were doing their best, but it wasn't enough. The damage was too minimal; at this rate, we'd be fighting all day, and we couldn't last that long.
"Attack the crystal! On its chest!" I shouted.
Players rushed underneath the bone centipede, landing strikes on its crystal. Malice's HP significantly plummeted when everybody focused their efforts. After several rounds, we had whittled the bosses HP down to a single bar. That's when the battle kicked up again.
The bony demon's speed increased significantly and it's attacks came in at a much greater frequency. It managed to position itself in a way where the crystal was only shown for less than a second while it attacked. It started clinging to the walls, breathing fire from a distance rather than engaging directly. Which was why I was there.
"Grr! This is so stupid." I muttered, crawling around the boss, using its bones as a sideways ladder.
"Oh gosh! Oh gosh! Oh gosh! Maybe this was...a bit of a bad idea," I panicked.
"What the- Are you trying to get yourself killed?! I didn't help keep you alive all this time so you can die riding the hungry caterpillar! Get down right now, young lady!" Raigen shouted, sounding more like a worried parent than a seasoned warrior. If I weren't in the middle of a battle, I'd probably laugh.
"Osaka?! What the hell are you doing?!" Kuram yelled.
"Killing! The! Boss!" I gritted out, struggling to reach the crystal.
When I finally made it, I took a deep breath and yelled. "Hyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
I plunged my dagger into it. Again, and again, and again.
"I need to go faster!" I grunted.
I sped up my attacks, but it still wasn't enough.
"Faster!"
I moved like I'd never moved before, attacking so fast that my blade became a blur. I ran out of stamina at the very end when the bar hit zero and disappeared. Malice the Unkillable stopped moving before exploding into a mass of crystals. I felt myself falling, no longer having anything to hang on to, but before I hit the ground, Raigen caught me.
"D...Did I do good?" I gasped for air.
He placed me on the ground. "Yes, little lady. You did good," he said with a reassuring smile, showing his white teeth.
"That's good," I murmured, as my legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the cold floor.
"I'm okay," I reassured them weakly, staring up at the ceiling with a sense of relief and exhaustion.
My HP was down to a mere sliver, just 1,228 out of 40,945. It had gotten far lower than I would have liked, but I was too exhausted to care. I was just grateful it was over.
I took a quick glance around the room. Everyone was too worn out to focus on anything else.
"Give me a casualty repo—woah!" Rizea began, but the ground beneath us started shaking. Alarmed, I quickly downed a few health potions, bringing my HP back up to near full. Everyone, including me, scanned the room, searching for the source of the earthquake.
"What the hell is going on? We killed the boss, man! Why isn't the door open?!" Bertrand exclaimed.
"Is it...some kind of bug?" Kuram speculated.
"I don't... Dear god," Remi stammered.
"T-There's no way," I muttered, watching in disbelief.
Through the sand in front of the exit door leading to the staircase to the next floor, another monster began to rise.
The large figure continued to emerge from the sand until it was fully visible. It hovered there, motionless for a moment. It wasn't as large as Malice but was still easily the second largest creature I'd seen in this world.
It looked almost like the Game Master but more sinister. This thing had jet-black robes and carried a massive scythe, seemingly crafted from one of Malice's scythe legs. Under its hood, I could make out a skull with glowing red eyes that seemed to pierce into my soul. It floated in mid-air for a full ten seconds, doing nothing.
"Is this some kind of event-" Rizea started.
"M-Maybe it's coming to congratulate us," I stammered, trying to find any reason for the monsters appearance that wasn't immediately terrible for us.
Suddenly, the creature activated, raising its scythe into the air. A dark red cursor appeared over its head.
"A-A second boss?!" Zuzu exclaimed in shock.
HP bars began appearing above its head. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Eight bars of HP. Never had we seen so many.
Below them was the name of the harbinger of death himself. Only two words, but they were enough to instil fear in anyone: Grim Reaper.
"Bullshit!" Shiraki cursed.
"T-That's not how this game works! There isn't meant to be another boss! Every room is only meant to have one boss!" Bertrand shouted in disbelief.
"There's no rule about that anywhere. We're on higher floors now. We must expect that the game is going to throw everything it's got at us from now on," Benjin stated calmly.
"Knight Commander! We're too weak right now! We can't kill it!" Rizea pleaded.
"We don't have a choice," Benjin replied.
"We need to, or we die," Kuram added.
"Exactly. Everyone! Resume fighting positions!" Benjin ordered.
"This game... I-It's getting impossible!" I gasped, pushing myself back to my feet.
###
(An hour later)
92 minutes. The battle raged for 92 minutes. It felt like an eternity.
After defeating the second boss, we were all more exhausted than before, sprawled out on the floor. All except for Benjin, who continued standing. The man did most of the work, and yet he seemed unfazed. His HP wasn't even in the red; it was halfway through the yellow.
"Report?" Rizea gasped for air, just like everyone else.
"67 knights dead. 49 assisting players dead. That brings our total to-" a Knight reported.
"116. N-no way. That's bullshit," Remi interrupted in disbelief.
"We can't beat 19 more floors of this. That's impossible! How does that bastard expect us to clear this game?! At this rate, we're all going to be dead before floor 85!" Raigen exclaimed, echoing the group's frustration.
Everyone continued complaining about the game until I finally raised my voice.
"BENJIN! You knew!" I shouted.
The room fell silent.
"Osaka? What are you-" Rizea began.
"You knew the bosses' attack patterns! Both bosses' attack patterns!" I accused.
"Are you accusing-" another Knight started.
"Look at his HP! Not even the archers have that much left, and they were standing back! It's because he dodged, and he dodged because he knew!" I argued.
"I'm afraid I'm not following. Can you explain, please?" Benjin asked casually, tilting his head.
I didn't know how, but he knew. He had to have known. The attacks from both bosses were too random to find any real pattern, and yet he managed. He also seemed prepared for the next boss before it came.
"Tell us how!" Shiraki demanded.
"Look into my eyes. Are these not the eyes of a trustworthy person?" Benjin replied.
Shiraki walked over to the middle-aged man and got up in his face.
"Look into my eyes. What. Are. You. Hiding?" Shiraki questioned.
"Are you trying to intimidate me?" Benjin retorted.
Shiraki seemed to realize something because his expression changed to one of panic and confusion. He backed up a little, looking overly cautious.
"N-No. No, it... It can't be," Shiraki muttered.
"Huh?" Rizea asked, puzzled.
Shiraki slowly lifted his sword off the ground, then suddenly ran at him with superhuman speed, sending dust into the air. With his sword in hand, he activated a sword skill and slashed at Benjin.
"Shiraki! Don— Wait. What?" Rizea exclaimed.
As the dust settled, I saw a purple light emanating from Benjin, or rather, the place where Shiraki had attacked him. It was a small display box that read