Chapter 10 - Daydream
The Traders emerged in their final forms. Emil a Level 155 Judicator, ScoundrelRyan, a Level 155 Shield Warden, Chest, a Level 234 Archbishop, Mimic, a Level 234 Demon Warrior and Poor, a Level 234, Typhoon Sage. The crowd sat in silence. The energy emitted from their characters resounded in gusts and lightning. The air shackled and then subsided. “Feast your eyes on perfection” Yelled Mimic. The whole crowd began to cheer. “What do you even think you can do against us.”
Jun looked at the Crypto. A sweat dropped from his forehead. “What am I supposed to do with Crypto? This is my 4th fight? I'm a merchant I don't have the skills to do this.”
From the coin, Jun could hear a voice. “Calm down.” Then the coin began to glow and a timer, reading “Invitation to Secret Boss: Crypto”
Jun read the words and saw the timer ticking. He looked back at Julia and Aethera. He then tossed the coin up in the air. “Stand back!”
As the coin reached the air it stopped. A ring of energy emerged from it and the coin began to expand. It began to spin uncontrollably. An alert was sent in the Black Market. “World Boss Crypto '' began to blink in the sky, but it wasn't just this area where this announcement was heard. All the lands of Asper the announcement was being played yet, no one was the wiser of where this boss spawned. It didn't say where, it just said it was happening. “What a useless announcement.” Yelled Emil.
The coin in the sky began to stop spinning and stood still. There was a timer inside but it stood still. It just read “14:24.”
“It seems your clock is broken as well!” Yelled Mimic. Although the traders held the mercantile skillset of a Trader as Madder originally suggested to Jun, it was only used then as a vocation. Each of them had leveled their character ignoring the Trader profession in any way as a class. All of the Traders then disappeared. They all appeared suddenly around the group. “You are extremely outclassed.”
Just then Mimic raised his hand and Emoted a “Shoo” Emote. This Emote hit Jun and he was flung back rolling to the ground over and over. “Yggsalad!” Julia yelled. But her cries were cut short when suddenly Poor emerged behind her summoning a pool of water and a gust of air. He melded the two, surrounding Julia and then caught her in it. “The thing about drawing in Aspar online is that you cannot die from it in the game but…” He looked at Chest, giving him a signal. Chest then raised both of his arms on which a staff was wielded and began chanting. The skill that Julia was caught in seemed to trap her even more.
To Synapse a player, raising the helm in the game isn't the only way. Another way is to make the player sense they are drowning.
Poor began to then rip the air from the water and Julia inside began to gasp. “Yggsalad…” she said worryingly. “Yggsalad” her voice was getting quiet and hesitant. Her eyes widened. “Stop you, Scoundrels!” Aethera yelled and began to bash the water trap, but it was no use. Compared to Aethera, these players were leagues above her too “You rang?” Scoundrelryan yelled. He emerged from the floor grabbing Aethera through and then throwing her against the floor like a ragdoll. He continued to do so, dealing damage to her and stopped when she was 1hp. “Well I mean, Synapsing one player wouldn't be as fun as 3 huh?” He said creepily. Jun looked back at Julia. She was drowning. He looked at Aethera. She was knocked out on the floor, Stunned.
“Crypto what are you waiting for? For something!”
Emil and Mimic appeared in front of Jun. “Your parlour trick was nice but time to go night-night”
They began charging up a skill when a portal spawned. “Wait what's that…?” Jun whispered.
Portal after Portal emerged in the Black Market from various locations. The Coin in the skill began to spin and twirl emitting a light and finally, the sky seemed to crack. Out of each portal came players. Each was holding out their Crypto coins.
“Where am I?” One player said.
Others joined in their curiosity, opening their maps and none could tell. “What is this place?” But it wasn't just ten people that came to the Black Market. It was hundreds.”
The Tradesmen were bewildered. “What is going on?”
“How are they entering if they do not have access?”
As more players merged their coins would rise into the crack in the sky. When the last portal opened and closed, that player's coin rose to the sky. After the large coin stopped spinning and rose into the crack.
It then went pitch dark. “Guys?” One of the players yelled.
“It doesn't matter what tricks you're playing, we are going to Synapse you all!” Poor yelled.
Suddenly a bright light peered from the crack in the sky and two large hands grabbed the edges of the crack prying it open. It split the sky and a sole eye looked into the Black Market. A head then forced itself through the crack and after, a body was forcibly squeezed through. “What is that?” Emil said to The Tradesmen hesitantly.
“That is…that is.”
The being floated in the sky. Each player was in awe. The Black Market began to change. Every inch of black began to be absorbed by the entity, forming its clothing. And with no darkness on the walls of the Black Market, the walls remained white as if they had entered a similarity. From the white, an everlasting Gray platform became the floor of the Black Market, with a pitch-white Background.
After this had subsided, the entity waved its arms. “Unveil,”
“Unveil,” Mimic yelled. “How is a boss monster Unveiling!”
Finally when the entity came through above its head read Crypto, Level 455, Dreamshatter Rogue, 1 billion hp. Its name was no longer flashing red. It was a bold red, but darker, while the numbers seemed to have an aesthetician as if it was a bloodied text.
When all surprises were thought to occur, the player's screen popped up with one thing. “A Raid Party Invited by Jeens.” The invitation sat in front of Jun and was accepted. As the name populated the list he could see many high-level players, comparable to the Traders.
“Yggasalad! What did you do!” Scoundrelryan yelled. “What is this?”
Since our last encounter, Jeens the reluctant leader hadn't levelled much since the Hillsbane Event but players felt that he was a good leader, and generally understood what was going on. This time, Jeens was shocked. “1 billion hp.”
He placed his hands on his hips. In Chat he typed. “It has been 5 years since we fought a Crypto. Today we are 100% strong against it once again.: he looked around and continued. “We are in this weird place, but we'll have to let its first wave through to learn its mechanics and then..” The World Boss Crypto then lands on the ground. It rubbed its eye as if it had just awoken. As it sprinkled its eyes, bolts of blue lightning cracked. He then stretched, elongated his arms, and waves pushed back players including the Tradesman.
It was then that Madder spoke to Jun. It had been a while since Madder said anything. Jun couldn't tell if maybe was in on all of this or why Madder was so quiet.
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“Yggsalad…I have a confession to make. This is all my fault. Even still you must save Julia. If she remains drowned in the game she will Synapse. Go to her now!”
With all things happening Julia had passed his mind. He looked at Julia and she lay unconscious with 1hp. He ran to her. “What am I supposed to do?”
“You think with 1 billion hp you're a threat?” Chest yelled. The group of Tradesmen appeared together in a line like a group of Superheroes. They sprinted towards Crypto. Chest took a portion in the back and put out a mass spell called Vigiorate. This spell raised the max of the Tradesmen. He then activated three Attack boost spells. Radiance, Rage, Temper. Radiance gave each attack the ability to apply Holy damage. Rage increased attack by 50% and Temper raised their base stats STR, and HP by 50%. He then cast Metalskin, Harden, Bloodboil, Raider Block, Esperanto Shield and Green Bath, Dark Resist, Light Resist, Fire Resist, Water Resist, and even Elemental Resist. These spells boosted the defence of the Tradesmen Significantly. Chest began chanting once again, and casted, Lynx Speed, Wild Chase, Coffee Rush, and Dash. All spells to increase speed. As the Tradesmen would run past Chest in just a second their speed transcended others in the room.
The Raid Party watched as the group went up against Crypto. Mimic stayed back and began charging a skill.
“What is he doing?” Jun asked Madder.
Although the Tradesmen were the Quest Guides for Tradesmen they were all still competent players. Mimic wielded a great sword made of flame. It began charging as he activated a skill. He yelled out. “Infinite Flamberg.” Infinite Flamberg was a skill that created a weapon called Flamberg, unlike other skills it kept charging until the skill was released.
“You know the drill!” Mimic yelled.
Scoundrelryan ran past and held a position in the front. Poor then began chanting a spell. The water seemed to wrap around him like a shield.
The Tradesmen had decided to destroy the enemy in one swing. To do so they would need to destroy Crypto in one hit.
As Jeens notices the Tradesmen in preparation he sends a message in raid chat that only those inside could see. “Listen up! Those 5 players are trying to take all the glory for themselves. There are hundreds of us and 5 of them. This is a once-in-a-lifetime event! Let's be the first to, defeat it!”
Jeen's raid party began preparing skills and buffs.
Crypto then began walking towards the Tradesmen. It was slow and ominous. Emil then yelled. “Halt!” The spell would normally cause a player the be Stunned, rooted, silenced, blinded, disarmed, and sundered. Crypto continued to walk. “Halt!” Emil yelled. Emil continuously casted the spell but Crypto kept walking. “Scoundrel!”
“On it!” Scoundrelryan jumped in front of Crypto. He began striking at Crypto. Due to his buffed stat Ryan was doing 1000 attacks per second yet none seemed to do any damage and Crypto just kept walking towards Mimic. Mimic held his skills. And Crypto held out his hand towards Mimic.
Mimic eyes look jawing at the Quest pop-up screen. “Trade Request.”
Mimic was surprised as a World Boss had never been so player-like. He accepted the Trade Request and the Mimic saw that Crypto placed in the trade a scroll. It read “Bounty.”
“Your bounty?” Mimic whispered. “What do you want to trade me for?”
“Black Market.”
Mimic with his flamberge, still charging, looked at his group. “Guys, the NPC is trying to trade us for Black Market!” The Tradesmen laughed hysterically.
Mimic declined. “Are you silly?” between their laughter another pop-up came in front of Scoundrel. He declined. A trade quest would go in front of each of the members and they all declined. “We always ask nicely,” Crypto said under his breath. “Right Madder.”
A chamber sprung out of the ground surrounding the Tradesmen and Crypto. As it occurred Madder wished to explain something to Jun. “There is something that is generally understood about the skill I use to inhabit your shadow. Many think I have to ask permission or gain some sort of access. I don't. That is not how our PBE skills work. I used the PBE skill very simply but Crypto here. Is a Genius.”
The Tradesmen's inventories opened. The tradesmen stood ghastly. “did you guys open your inventory.” Chest yelled. Their HUDs began to jumble like a UAV was activated.
“You think you have access to one shadow. How do you think a player can even create an item called Crypto that replaces currency?” Madder exposed. “He never lost himself. He always gave Crypto currency himself personally.”
“but that would mean…” Jun coming to conclude what Madder meant, understood the simplest fact.
“Crypto simultaneously pickpockets thousands of players and while maintaining the pickpocket success, manages the amount of Crypto himself. Players could not even say no, because all they needed to do was open their inventory for their PBE skill to activate. Once opened he would inhabit your inventory just as I inhabit a shadow.”
The Tradesmen inventory each received an item.
“What is this?” Emil asked.
“it's some sort of item that we can't open”
Trade complete.
“Hey, Andre!” Poor yelled to Mimic. ‘Andre!” Mimic was still charging his skill. It had been 6 minutes. Flamberge skill hotbox was showing a sum of 1 million potential damage. It kept rising.
“Boss! We no longer own the Black Market. He took the Black Market!”
“What!” Mimic yelled back.
In Crypto's handheld scroll and on it was the Black Market. Crypto then crushed it in his hands.
Transfer Complete.
In the background, the raiding party sat hesitantly watching from afar but could see the actions of Crypto and the Tradesmen.
“Did he just steal a guild space?” Jeens thought. As the transfer completed the space was instantly renamed from Black Market to White Market. He then opened their inventories and gave it back.
“Surrender.” He said solemnly.
Although the Tradesmen didn't understand it at first, the sheer power that Crypto presented them was prolific. Not only did he take the guild ownership away from them, he changed it completely, into the colour of a surrendering flag.
Mimic who was still charging his attack read the stacks and damage capability aloud. “I'm at 295634 stacks. 5 million damage.” For a level 234, this was quite impressive. But Madder in Jun's shadow shrugged at the Tradesmen's attempt. It was close to decent he admitted.
But then again it was all show.
As Crypto sent guild ownership back to the Tradesmen, Emil noticed the signal from Mimic to engage. Judicators in Asper Online are a class that uses the ‘power of words' to inflict statuses and damage. At higher levels, they can string words together to enact multiple effects at once. This advanced technique was called 'twinspeach'. Generally, a level 155 wouldn't know this but Emil was so skilled a player that he could. “ Crush, Rise!” He uttered at the same time. Two forces came upon Crypto. He rose and also felt a force on his head. As it came to crush him, Poor attempted to do what he did to Julia to him. As a Typhoon Sage, he was capable of donning wind and water in all capacities. This time though with Chest buffs, he was able to cast a bubble that was 1000 times stronger than the one he did to Julia. Lastly, Scoundrel, who anxiously wished to join the action, took a very low stance. Shield Wardens are a class that can have weird shields and no other weapons. They capitalize on defence but also barriers. Some generic skills that a Knight has such as a shield bash are exponentially stronger when completed by a Shield Warden.
Finally, they were ready. “Now!” Mimic yelled. Crypto readied himself for the attack from Mimic but Mimic turned around and fired the flamberg backwards. Meanwhile, the barriers on Crypto seemed to dissipate but a status was left on him, “100% Sundered.” Scoundrel began spinning and spinning like a ball in place reading something. Chest kept his skill up and constant. His mana pool was consistent and able to keep up with buffs he let out. As all of this was occurring the other raid party stood in awe.
“So this is what level 200 gameplay looks like.” Jun thought.
As the Flamberg would travel, it seemed to be going towards Scoundrel. As it met Scoundrel, Emil yelled out, “Critical Multiplier”. This was a skill only available from twinspeach. It made the next attack a guaranteed, critical but also multiplied the next attack. As the flamberge was about to hit Scoundrel he stopped and activated. “Full Parry!”. Generally, the Full Parry skill was used in a hand-to-hand combat situation where an opponent would attack and the person could Parry the attack leaving the person open. Because the skill was guaranteed a critical and multiplied when it hit the flamberge, the flamberge was not only parried but it was sent back towards Mimic exponentially stronger. When Mimic let the skills loose he had 598242 stacks, which would deal 10 million damage. With the multiplier, it allowed the Parry to reflect 100% of the damage, as the basic skill. But with the perfect Parry, it allows 350%. With the buffs provided by Chest and Emil the reflect skill was now at 1200% reflected damage. This made the barrage of damage close to 120 million damage. But it wasn't over. Mimic then rolled and called out his final skill. “Glowed Demongun!” Emerging from his body was a launcher that spanned like a sniper with a barrel in the back to load it. The Glowed Demongun was a skill that relied on input from a source of damage. That damage would then become concentrated and fired as a single blast. As the Parried Flamberge traveled to the Demongun it was loaded completely. Mimic's characters began glowing a vibrant red. Steam came from the Glowed Demongun. It even began to cackle like a Demon. Lastly, the impending effect was that with the buffs from Chest, the Demongun would allow a modifier of 1200x to whichever damage was inputted. “GO TO HELL Crypto!” He yelled.
A beam of concentrated energy hit Crypto dealing what would seem to be over 2 billion in damage. The impact of the skill left a huge explosion, with fire and smoke to follow.
The raiding party stood in awe. The coordination of the Tradesmen served to show that these players were not just a band of individuals but a group of players that grew together. Who knew what trials these players faced to come up with such a strategy? And it was almost instinct.
When the smoke cleared, all players gazed up at Raid Boss Crypto, split from one side of his body to the next, slowly fizzling. His health bar read -472758/2000000000000.
As he fizzled the Tradesmen laughed! They couldn't control themselves. They had just defeated the renowned Crypto of Borealis.
“How could someone from Borealis be so weak!” Scoundrel yelled.
“Why even unveil it if it meant nothing?”
“What a joke!”
“Faker!”
While the body lay on the floor their inventory opened up and a sum of coins entered the gold.
“We're rich!” they yelled. “We’ve done it!”
As Mimic tried to access the gold he noticed something was wrong. “Guys…Fools Gold?”
An ominous voice came from above. Do you think I would be defeated so easily?”
The tradesmen knew, deep in their hearts that the plan they constructed was the best they could have come up with but now floating in the sky was Crypto once again. This time his Health was 5 billion.
“But we defeated you, how?”
“Do you know what a dream is called when it shatters…” Above his head, a level-up animation kept ringing over and over. He began to rise.
For the final time, Crypto would transform. From the shadows, Madder would explain, “Crypto is the only character I would know to push the limits of the game. Pickpocketing thousands of players at a time. Living in their inventories. Holding experience from levelling to this extent. He had 4 Veils but enough XP stored to acquire an entire Veil, and 1 more level to boot.”
“Everything that you did to attack me, the illusion of defeat was a dream I allowed you to have. Me taking ownership of your guild away and giving it back to you, as the White Market was just a display of how outclassed you are at this moment. Your strategy would maybe be worthy of one of the other top 10 guilds, but for Borealis, it is child's play.
ENTER CRYPTO LVL 555