Kaito sat hunched forward, eyes locked on the screen, fingers flying over the buttons of his controller. Beside him, Tamamo mirrored his intensity, though her movements were far less restrained, the controller tilting wildly in her hands as she mashed with surprising precision.
On-screen, their avatars clashed in a brutal fighting game match. Kaito wielding a long-reaching spear fighter and amamo was controlling a hulking, muscle-bound wrestler. Both life bars hovered in the danger zone, one wrong move and it would be over.
Tamamo's wrestler suddenly lunged forward to close the gap. Kaito read the motion and instinctively pulled his character back, dodging in anticipation of the obvious grapple.
But it wasn't a grapple.
The wrestler slid low, sweeping into Kaito's spear fighter and launching him into the air. Kaito reacted instantly, air-dodging to avoid the follow-up, then stabbing downward in a lightning-quick aerial counter.
The strike cut through empty space. Tamamo had sidestepped it with a deft dodge, and her wrestler rose into an uppercut.
Running out of options, Kaito triggered his special using the invincibility frames to phase through the punch and line up a counter.
But in the split-second before his attack connected, Tamamo's wrestler canceled his animation, hopping back and ducking under the spear's deadly arc.
The wrestler then proceeded to unleash a devastating combo, pummeling the spear user until Kaito was defeated.
Tamamo smirked, tail flicking lazily. "I win yet again, human. That makes it two-to-one."
Kaito didn't reply, his focus was on something else as he waited for the rematch.
Maria approached them, placing a plate of sliced apples on the table. "Tamamo, you shouldn't distract Kaito like this. He's currently in the Demon King's territory, and who knows what he might be facing."
Tamamo leaned back. "But I'm bored…"
"How about I play with you instead?" Maria offered, picking up a spare controller.
Tamamo scoffed. "That won't do. You're not a comparable match to be worth my time."
Maria simply smirked, sitting down next to her. "We'll see about that. I've played plenty of New World Online."
"That's completely different from these kinds of games," Tamamo scoffed again. "But very well. As your master, it's my duty to curb the hubris of my servant."
_______________
"This one is immune to physical attack!" Kaito yelled, leaping back as the black ooze monstrosity's tendril slammed down, pulverizing a rocky hill just inches from his feet.
Above him, Nysera floated serenely, a giant pillar of pure plasma blasting down from the sky. It enveloped the blob whole, disintegrating it into nothingness and leaving a smoking crater in its wake.
"Ysoria, I need healing!" Rin screamed, her body covered in acid burns and blood. She was fighting against a now two-headed hydra. It's a creature whose heads had regenerated into two smaller ones every time they were cut. Now, only two remain as the beast's regeneration had finally reached its limit.
"Here!" Ysoria yelled back, sending a stream of healing energy toward Rin even as she demolished a golem with a single, powerful punch. The Holy Sword, strapped to her back, pulsed with light, channeling her holy power with frightening efficiency.
Kaito finished off a land shark with a clean strike of Durandal, but as he did, he noticed a massive cloud of dust in the distance. It was a pack of monsters, attracted by the commotion and the fresh corpses of their slain comrades.
"We can't keep this up, we need to run!" Kaito yelled.
Nysera nodded, her face showing a rare sign of exhaustion from her low mana.
"Wait up!" Rin said as she finally finished off the hydra, her body still smoking, and sprinted after them.
...
They found a hidden cave high up on the cliffside of a desolate mountain, its entrance shrouded by overgrown vines. Inside, they rested, catching their breath in the cool, damp air.
"The monsters here are rather strong and extremely numerous," Kaito said. "If the Demon King were to use them to invade the rest of humanity on the continent, I don't see how they would resist."
Ysoria replied, "The monsters here rarely leave this region. It's hypothesized that the Goddess has contained them here."
Rin, looking at something in front of her, said with a proud grin, "As expected of the final frontier, I gained ten levels from killing that hydra alone."
Kaito opened his status via the Goddess's granted method, only to see that his stats were still three across the board. "I've been stuck at level one ever since I was summoned. It seems this system isn't applicable to me."
Ysoria tilted her head. "Truly? No such problem has occurred with the previous Heroes who were summoned. I wonder..."
"Woah, Hero, you were this strong despite being only level one?" Rin said, a look of genuine surprise on her face. "It seems I have much to learn in order to catch up."
"Abnormal," Nysera stated simply.
"Say..." Kaito said, a new thought dawning on him. "What might the level of the Demon King be at?"
Ysoria's eyes widened. "The previous Demon King was at level nine hundred and ninety-nine, so it should be in a similar level range."
"Then... what level are you guys?" Kaito asked.
Rin said proudly, "I'm level one hundred and fifty-three."
Ysoria followed, "I'm only level sixty-two."
Nysera gave a brief, quiet "ninety-seven."
Kaito's eyes widened. "There is such a large difference in level. How come the Demon King didn't just take over the world by himself in person, but instead sent an invading force to do so?"
"I'm not sure, Hero," Ysoria admitted. "However, it must be the act of the Goddess, similar to how it is with the monsters in this region."
Rin interjected, "Hero, level isn't all that matters. The skills you've trained and acquired are equally important, if not more so. An experienced master could easily overcome the gap in level."
"That's true," Kaito said. "I've seen enough speedruns to understand your point. However, I also know that no amount of skill can possibly overcome an overwhelmingly powerful opponent." He looked at each of them, a new strategy forming in his mind. "How about we spend some time leveling you guys up? Since I can't gain levels, I might as well help weakening and retraining them."
"But Hero..." Ysoria's voice was full of doubt. "In the entire history of Terra, no one has been able to reach level nine hundred and ninety-nine, not even past Heroes. The Demon King, as the embodiment of all evil, naturally reached level nine hundred and ninety-nine just by existing."
"I would love to be the first human to reach level nine hundred and ninety-nine," Rin said, a flash of excitement in her eyes. "But that would mean we have to slaughter a majority of this region's monsters. That would be too huge of an endeavor."
"That's true, but we should boost our levels up as high as we can before facing the Demon King," Kaito reasoned.
Rin's face fell. "If that's the case, the challenge of facing the Demon King would diminish."
"I agree with the Hero," Ysoria said, her voice firm. "We need to defeat the Demon King, and we need to boost our odds as much as possible."
Rin sighed, finally giving in with a resigned shrug. "Well, if you say so. Let's do it then."