Necton Up Headquarters’ User Monitoring Room.
“Wow, they summoned an Adult Basilisk. How is this going to turn out?”
Director Lee Dong-jun stared at the monitor with undisguised curiosity.
Most of the other employees had similar reactions.
“Can the two of them really defeat a Hidden Boss?”
A few employees voiced their concerns.
They were worried about one thing.
What would happen if the two Special Management Users failed to subjugate the Basilisk?
If the two Special Management Users and Jaar, who would soon join them, failed to defeat the Basilisk—
Starting with the users outside the Dungeon and extending to the NPCs of Asente—
A living hell would unfold, with everyone being mercilessly torn apart by the Basilisk’s claws and fangs.
It might be possible to defeat it if users accepted the death penalties and resorted to human-wave tactics.
But honestly, how many users would go that far?
Otherwise, the current level of Dream World Online’s users offered no way to stop that Level 60 monster.
“That depends on what those people do. One Named NPC and two Special Management Users. If they use all the abilities and items the two users have been hiding, I think it might be possible.”
“What happens if they cannot defeat it?”
“What do you think happens? The place gets turned into a wasteland.”
Director Lee replied with an indifferent expression.
“If Asente’s NPCs are wiped out, anywhere from hundreds to thousands—maybe tens of thousands—of Episodes and Quests will disappear entirely. Should we not convince the Chairman to stop this somehow?”
Necton Up’s Chairman—
And Dream World Online’s General Director, Chairman Choi Myung-ho, adhered to one absolute rule in operating the game.
Under no circumstances would the operations team intervene in gameplay.
He strictly forbade all intervention, believing that the world of Dream World Online should be shaped solely by its users.
The same applied to updates and patches.
Since updates and patches could affect gameplay, Necton Up had released Dream World Online only after completing it from the beginning.
Thanks to that, users no longer had to suffer through the Four Great Swords—emergency maintenance, extended maintenance, and the like.
But there were side effects as well.
“If we do not stop it, users will lose that much content, and the sense of loss will be significant. The butterfly effect could greatly impact the setting too.”
“How many newbie zones are there in DDO? Losing one will not matter at all. I am more worried that those three might actually defeat the Basilisk.”
“…Pardon?”
The employees who could not understand Director Lee’s words looked confused.
“If they kill the Basilisk, they will get absurd rewards. Just thinking about how strong they will become with those… Ugh, my head hurts. Anyway, just sit back and watch for now.”
The employees in the monitoring room stopped what they were doing and gathered before the screen showing Rough and Kiting.
***
The Basilisk’s breath attack.
It had happened so suddenly that Rough was swept up in it before he could do anything.
“Urgh…!”
Thud.
Rough’s knees struck the ground.
A scorching sensation, as though he had been burned by something hot, spread through his entire body.
It was due to the system-forced Pain Synchronization Rate of 35%.
More than half of his HP had been shaved away as well.
The cramped space became scorching hot in an instant from the breath attack.
It felt as though he were standing beneath the blazing midsummer sun.
Still, there was one fortunate thing.
His body was not seriously hindered from moving.
And the pain had lasted only an instant.
Rough quickly recovered his HP with the potion the General Store Girl had given him.
“Kieeeeeeeek!!”
Before he even had time to catch his breath, the Basilisk followed up.
Whoooosh!
The end of its tail shot toward Rough with ferocious momentum.
‘This crazy bastard is only targeting me!’
Just as Rough cursed and awkwardly tried to ready himself—
“Hup!”
Someone appeared before him and deflected the tail.
“I am a little late.”
It was none other than Jaar.
At the arrival of such timely reinforcements, color returned to Rough’s face.
“No! You came at exactly the right time! I nearly got turned into ashes!”
“I heard a loud noise and hurried over. To think you were facing off against such a monster… If I keep traveling with you, I will not die a natural death.”
Despite Jaar’s words, his demeanor was neither light nor casual.
‘He is traveling with a Named NPC. And he found this place too. The more I learn about him, the stranger he seems.’
Kiting’s eyes gleamed at Jaar’s unexpected intervention.
“Kieeeeeeeek!!”
Thinking it had been interfered with by Jaar, the Basilisk began thrashing even more violently, swinging its tail around.
Twng!
Kiting fired an arrow to gauge the creature’s strength.
Ting!
His arrow was deflected with absurd ease.
While even his normal attacks had done at least some damage to the Juvenile Basilisk—
They did not make a dent in the Adult Basilisk before him.
“This is troublesome. It did not have something like that before…”
Kiting muttered meaningfully.
“It did not have that before? What, did you regress, reincarnate, or transmigrate? How would you know that?”
“…More importantly, do you have any good ideas? It does not look like we have an answer like this.”
Instead of answering, Kiting changed the subject.
Jaar offered an alternative.
“There seems to be little chance of victory here, so perhaps we should lure it outside—”
“That will not work.”
“No.”
Rough and Kiting rejected the suggestion at the same time.
If they left the Dungeon, the Quest would be considered failed.
In other words, the Basilisk would be free to rampage outside.
If that happened, the damage would spread exponentially.
Besides, Rough and Kiting wanted to claim the rewards without having to share them with other users.
“Then… do you have any other solution?”
“I do have one.”
Kiting stepped forward.
“What is it?”
“I brought something for a situation like this.”
Kiting suddenly pulled a chicken out of his Inventory.
‘A chicken?’
Seeing it, Rough suddenly recalled something the General Store Girl in Asente had said before he came here.
-Hmm, the strange thing was that someone had been looking for chickens. Do chickens help defeat Goblins?
‘The user looking for chickens was him? But why would he need a chicken?’
Through his Personal Trait, Rough understood why.
[The crowing of a chicken is lethal to a Basilisk.]
There was a reason behind it, after all.
But perhaps the chicken was mute, because it showed no sign of crowing.
No, was it even alive in the first place? It hung limply without moving a muscle.
It had fainted from the Basilisk’s killing intent.
“It is definitely alive. Damn it! Hey, you! Wake up! Communications security!”
No matter how much Rough shook it, there was no response.
It did not budge.
“…This is bad. I did not expect this.”
Kiting scratched the back of his head as he looked at the motionless chicken.
“Watch out!”
Rough shouted.
Kiting flinched and lowered his stance just as the Basilisk’s tail swept rapidly through where he had been standing.
“From the looks of it, the measure you prepared is useless. Rough, what about you?”
Leaving the tongue-clicking Kiting behind, Jaar turned toward Rough.
“….”
Without saying a word, Rough drew out the Rusted Iron Sword.
The first weapon he had obtained in the Tutorial.
That weapon possessed something other weapons did not.
The potential to grow.
[1. 200 kills, regardless of race]
[Progress: 198/200]
[2. Clear 1 Dungeon, regardless of type]
[Progress: 1/1]
Unfortunately, he was still two kills short of fulfilling the conditions.
Even if he killed the now-useless chicken, he would still be one kill short.
The only living creatures in this Dungeon, aside from the Adult Basilisk and himself, were his companions.
There was no feasible way to fulfill the condition here.
Jaar was out of the question.
An NPC only had one life.
‘Since it says regardless of race, would it not work if I deliberately lowered my HP to the bottom, then injured myself until it reached zero?’
A somewhat reckless method came to Rough’s mind.
‘Still, it is better than the NPCs dying. But if I die…’
In an MMORPG, there were broadly two methods of revival after death.
One was to revive immediately on the spot using an item purchased with premium currency or a Healer-type class’s skill.
The other was to revive in a nearby Safety Zone after accepting a small penalty instead of using an item.
DDO was probably not much different.
‘There are no revival items or Healers, so if I revive in Asente and run back as fast as I can… No. That will not work.’
Rough heavily shook his head.
‘I cannot guarantee they will last until then.’
There was only one reason the three of them could barely hold out against the overwhelmingly powerful Basilisk.
Their numerical advantage.
Because the Basilisk’s attention was divided, no one person was being focused down.
But if even one person dropped out here—
The burden the remaining people had to bear would increase at least twofold.
The fragile balance they had barely maintained would collapse in an instant.
‘Ah, this is seriously giving me a headache.’
Unable to see any breakthrough, Rough frowned in frustration.
-Do you have a plan?
Kiting sent him a whisper.
It was more convenient than speaking at a distance.
-I have one, but…
***
“Phew.”
Jaar caught his breath.
‘This is not easy.’
The Adult Basilisk.
Compared to the Kobold Lord, it was several times more difficult of an opponent.
It would be somewhat easier to fight in an open area.
But for some reason, neither Rough nor Kiting seemed to want that.
Thinking it over, it was not completely incomprehensible.
‘If that creature were to head toward Asente, a terrible disaster would occur.’
That was not the truth at all, but still.
Swish.
Jaar raised his gaze and checked the Basilisk’s Status Window.
[Adult Basilisk]
[HP: 9,347/10,000]
They had been fighting for what felt like quite some time.
They had landed many attacks, yet they had only shaved off a little over 600 HP.
That was around 6.5% of its HP.
Its Attack Power was formidable, but—
What was even more remarkable was its terrifying Defense.
“…Tch.”
‘There is no way to break through that Defense. First, I should hear Rough’s opinion.’
Clicking his tongue softly, Jaar turned toward Rough.
He intended to press him for an answer to the question he had asked earlier—whether he had any good ideas.
“Rough, what do you—hm?”
Jaar’s eyes widened in shock as he turned toward Rough.
Kiting was collapsing, blood spraying from his body.
And beside him—
Rough stood with a bloodstained sword in hand, looking down at Kiting with emotionless eyes.
“What is… this?”
Jaar was so shocked that he could barely speak.
Rough calmly met his gaze and said, “There. It’s done.”