NOVEL NEXT Chapter 10
In the Dark Devouring Forest, various monsters lived.
Starting with packs of Dark Wolves.
Steel-beaked owls, black silken snakes, shadow wild boars, and so on…
There are many monsters, but among them, the most dangerous one is the rabbit.
“Be careful!”
“Yes?”
Master Kim halted his hand, which was about to touch an incredibly cute black rabbit, upon hearing Raven’s cry from behind.
Then, the expression of the black rabbit twisted grotesquely to the point it was hard to recognize.
“What the hell!”
Startled, Master Kim kicked the ground, creating distance between him and the rabbit.
“What the hell is that?!”
“That’s a Black Illusion Rabbit. It lures in people and rabbit predators with the illusion of a cute rabbit and then devours them.”
―――
What sort of rabbit is that?
Man-eating rabbit, damn it, lol.
Wasn’t Akare supposed to be a healing game?
I screamed when the rabbit’s face twisted.
―――
Master Kim’s true thoughts weren’t much different from the reactions in the chat.
“Is that really a rabbit?”
“…No one has actually seen the true form of the Black Illusion Rabbit.”
“Eh? What do you mean by that?”
If you call it a Black Illusion Rabbit, shouldn’t it at least be somewhat in the category of rabbits?
“Those who have seen the true form of the Black Illusion Rabbit are all dead.”
“That’s just great!”
What an uplifting story!
Choking back his words, Master Kim stared straight ahead.
In the night filled with dark clouds, dozens of red gleaming eyes beyond the invisible path of the Dark Devouring Forest were watching Master Kim and Raven.
[Entering combat with the field boss of the Dark Devouring Forest, ‘Black Illusion Rabbit’.]
[BOSS Black Illusion Rabbit Lv.10]
Master Kim prepared his stance, bracing himself.
He instinctively felt this was not a mere monster like the common ones he had faced before; this was the real deal.
―――
A rabbit as a field boss, damn it, lol.
Honestly, if this is scary, downvote it.
First discoverer of the boss, New Master, wow.
Will he show a solo raid?
This boss is something skip-ers will never see.
―――
Currently, Master Kim’s level is 9.
In contrast, the Black Illusion Rabbit’s level is 10.
Even with equal levels, I wonder if soloing is possible?
Especially in a situation where he’s lower level than the boss.
No matter how much enlightenment Master Kim obtained by overcoming hardships, it was no use against such an overwhelming difference in strength.
As proof, Master Kim’s health was already more than half gone.
“Crazy, these rabbit bastards.”
Whether an illusion or the true form, distinguishing between them was unbelievably tough, and Master Kim’s concentration gradually crumbled.
Using this gap, the Black Illusion Rabbit slowly closed in on Master Kim, like a beast hunting its prey.
This time I’ll probably record my first death in virtual reality.
Just as such thoughts filled Master Kim’s mind,
“Run away!”
A voice filled with determined will echoed.
“What?”
“I’ll be the bait.”
Master Kim’s gaze turned to Raven.
Raven had long been drenched in blood.
The bite marks of the Black Illusion Rabbit were clearly visible.
Raven was already a mess.
“What do you mean by that…”
Ding!
[Escaping from the Dark Devouring Forest.]
A choice appeared.
A choice without the respect of hesitation.
“Do you have any reason to hesitate? Our bond is not deep enough to risk our lives.”
Isn’t that the same for you?
You have no reason to put your life on the line.
Master Kim can die and come back to life.
After all, he is just a player.
But Raven is an NPC.
If she dies, it’s over.
“…There’s not much time left.”
Raven’s words seemed to be indicating the countdown of the choice.
―――
Quick sale, let’s go.
Oh, Raven’s getting normalized.
Reckoning against the rabbit with an illusion, wow.
The rabbit’s touch—let Raven die.
Master is going to gain his virgin first death—let’s go!
We need to give some back…
―――
“Puhuh!”
Master Kim’s laughter burst out as he momentarily broke immersion.
“Oh, seriously.”
Those crazy viewers are making jokes in such a serious situation.
“Raven.”
“…Yes.”
Master Kim pushed the distracting choice out of view.
“Neither of us is going to die.”
“But…”
“But nothing.”
If I said I’m not dying, then I’m not dying.
Saying that, Master Kim was actually not very confident.
This was just a small hope he found during the battle.
‘If I defeat the illusion, I’ll gain experience.’
Of course, the rabbit’s illusion didn’t grant much experience.
Even defeating ten would yield experience similar to taking down one Dark Wolf at level 6.
But what’s important is ‘experience will increase.’
Currently, Master Kim’s experience was up to 98%.
Once he hit level 10, he’d recover all lost health.
‘That alone is not enough.’
This was a sort of gamble.
A gamble hoping for something special at level 10.
“Get behind me and respond defensively! Just feel like holding on for as long as possible. As long as you can hold out… I have a way!”
At Master Kim’s shout, Raven repositioned behind him.
And the two endured the onslaught of the Black Illusion Rabbit as much as they could.
Throughout it all, Master Kim kept analyzing the Black Illusion Rabbit’s patterns without losing focus.
‘The true form hides among the rabbit’s illusions.’
Among the illusion rabbits jumping to bite them, there was one that jumped exceptionally high.
It would be tough to distinguish at a glance, but with focus, it was a clear pattern.
‘99.9%!’
Having already found the true form within the illusion.
Even if there wasn’t something special at level 10, it no longer mattered.
“Just do my best.”
[Level Up!]
Thus, the long-awaited level-up message appeared.
A pure white light burst forth, illuminating everything in the darkness.
***
“Hmm… What time is it?”
Waking up, I checked the time.
“I slept for an hour…”
Was it because I fainted from shock at the crazy gameplay?
Even after sleeping for two hours, I felt no relief from mental fatigue.
“Am I doing well?”
If I had skipped the main story, I’d probably be in the Empire’s capital by now.
If I hadn’t skipped and chatted with Raven and experienced the ambush event…
I must have still been stuck in the Dark Devouring Forest, enjoying various early-game content.
Curious, should I take a quick look at Master Kim’s stream or gallery?
I had that urge but decided to give it up and entered the capsule.
Then, I connected to virtual reality and moved to the Director’s space.
―――
[Normal Class]
Warrior, Rogue, Hunter, Mage, Priest
(Additional classes are planned or in the planning stage)
Elementalist, Swordsman
······
······
[Secret Class]
Warrior, Ranger, Bard, Cult, Shaman
······
······
[Sub Class]
Knight, Mercenary, Gambler, Blacksmith, Appraiser
······
······
―――
The basic framework is all set.
Now all that remains is to decide on the keywords and skills for the secret classes.
And with balancing against other classes.
“When am I going to get all this done…”
Suddenly, I hated my past self for the overwhelming workload.
What kind of confidence did that me back then have to start this?
Did I not care at all about the suffering future me would face?
No matter how much I questioned myself, nothing came back to me.
Having stopped my self-blame, I focused and immersed myself in work.
How long has it been since that?
“Now it’s…”
After finishing the skill tasks for the last secret class, I checked the time.
“…A day has passed?”
Having been so engrossed, a whole day had gone by.
Worried my skin might be damaged, I checked my face in the mirror, but it was just fine.
If anything, it seemed more radiant; perhaps I looked a little prettier.
‘Well, my body is unlikely to suffer.’
I already had a Dragon Heart implanted within me.
Should I say it was a body that transcended human limits?
With a near-infinite amount of magical power, it halts physical aging and provides abundant stamina.
‘My mental state recovers quickly with just a little break.’
Maybe because I’ve rolled around in this other world too much.
Excessive work stress didn’t put a dent in my mental state.
“I’m not really sleepy…”
Suddenly, I recalled my memories from the other world.
When I was isolated in the demon realm, there were days I couldn’t sleep at all.
Surrounded by monsters tainted by demonic energy, it was an environment where sleep was impossible.
At that time, I truly thought I was going to die.
If the Crown Prince had sent the rescue team even a bit later, I might have died right then and there.
Perhaps due to these memories from the other world being engraved in my mind,
Since then, it became a habit to sleep whenever I have free time.
Even now, having reached a level where I don’t need to sleep, it’s the same.
Regardless, right now, I didn’t feel like forcing myself to sleep.
‘I’ve almost put out the urgent fire, and now there’s nothing left to do.’
Should I just lurk on the in-game gallery?
‘I felt a bit regretful for having cut off the stream yesterday.’
I’ll fill the void of that regret by browsing the gallery.
With that thought, I connected to the gallery.
[Indie Minor Game Gallery]
―――
Movie-worthy Master Kim’s awakening clip [504]
Saw that scene at dawn and felt my heart race for the first time [560]
Warrior 1st awakening skill & info [435]
Raven << Isn’t she actually a girl dressed as a guy? [841] Master is just a quote factory, huh [387] Current perfect summary of the Warrior.txt [1025] Analyzing the pattern of the Black Illusion Rabbit [322] ――― Just by viewing the titles of the conceptual posts in the in-game gallery, I could grasp what had transpired recently. 'Master Kim met that creature.' The field boss of the starting area, the Black Illusion Rabbit in the Dark Devouring Forest. This Black Illusion Rabbit served as a sort of learning tool for players. Designed as a preview version of the raid content to be added later, this initial experience would be a significant help down the line. 'That said, it must not have been easy.' Several patterns of the Black Illusion Rabbit had unfair elements that necessitated getting hit unless you understood them. 'If you succeed in breaking that pattern...' The difficulty of the challenge would dramatically drop. ――― [Title] Warrior 1st Awakening Skill & Summary Willpower (Passive Skill) - Permanent buff, reduces damage taken by 10% - When health is below 30%, increases damage reduction by up to 30% - Buffs +5, attack power +5 - Opens the combat system 'Combos' Wipeout (Active Skill) - Area attack, primary damage skill - Cooldown 10 seconds - Can link skill combos - Deals damage to all enemies in a straight line Forward Leap (Active Skill) - Mobility skill - Cooldown 15 seconds - Can link skill combos Spirit of the Warrior (Active Skill) - Buff - Cooldown 60 seconds, duration 20 seconds - Cannot link skill combos - Grants agility +10 to all party members, including self The only revealed skill links are for Forward Leap and Wipeout The effect adds additional damage equivalent to the distance moved by Wipeout from Forward Leap The exact numbers haven’t been revealed, so who knows? Warrior << If it seems broken, upvote it! Votes 1258, downvotes 0 ――― [Comment 435] A passive like that makes no sense? Other classes probably have passives like that too, right, you idiot? Spoilers galore, free spoiler feast, lol. And it comes with additional damage reduction too. Spirit of the Warrior << With that alone, the Warrior becomes essential for parties, lol. It's practically the same as leveling up party members by +10. The more I think about it, the more it seems broken. I've got to normalize this hexagon right away. ··· ――― [Title] Current Perfect Summary of the Warrior.txt Can tank main with passives Can tank sub with passives Can deal main damage with Wipeout With Spirit of the Warrior also usable as sub-damage dealer And with mobility skills, will have good survivability. Warrior << There's nothing it can't do. The best in Akare's history, GOAT! ――― [Comment 1025] Since the only revealed class is the Warrior, they call it GOAT. Pretty sure the Mage will turn out to be even more broken. Warrior, OUT!!! Those Warrior fans have collectively lost it. In any case, it’ll get normalized when it officially launches, yeah. Oh, it was definitely a fart... by the way, I like the Warrior! Warrior hate, lol. Oh, I really hate Warrior hate. This is some true Warrior hate. Guys pretending to be Warrior fans pretending to be Mage fans... ··· ――― Maybe it’s because the only revealed class so far is the Warrior. A mock 'Gall Cup' is happening between unrevealed imagined classes and the Warrior. Particularly, many Mages seem to be pitted against the Warrior in this mock Gall Cup. It must have been due to the battle scene of me and the Elder Lich from the last moment of the trailer. ――― [Title] Warrior << Isn't it just a martial artist? Looking at just the skill names, it has nothing to do with martial arts. Why are Warrior fans going so hard over this? Just give up and comfortably choose Mage or Priest, okay? Votes 5, downvotes 26 ――― [Title] No one’s unintelligent enough to choose Warrior even after seeing the trailer, right? (Aurora smashing a skeleton with a skull) Bam bam, lol. Don’t you see how the sister breaks the skull? A stylish Mage is Akare's only hope. Votes 20, downvotes 20 ――― Even if they're not a conceptual post, most of the current threads in the in-game gallery were engaging in a 'mock Gall Cup'. "Pathetic..." I said it was pathetic, but... Tap-tap— [Title] I think Mages are at least superior to Warriors... The fingers typing this were more honest than anything.