“Do something!” Panda yelled.

In the distance came a loud explosion and the ground trembled. We didn’t have much time left.

There was nothing I could do, so I looked to Tina, but she clearly had no way to help Steve either.

“Goddamn it,” I muttered, casting him one last glance before running out of the wide hallway. “Tina! Come on!”

The Venomancer took a second to stop staring and caught up to me by the exit back to the pillar room.

Almost directly outside were Aphid-Dogs, weakened and blue Minor Wardens, and ant soldiers as far as the eye could see. Carving their way through their numbers were one Glitch Hunter and hundreds of beetle Agents. Pound-for-pound the beetles were winning, but the ants had an endless supply of soldiers.

There was no way we’d get through them.

I frowned and turned around, heading back down the hallway and past Steve who was already beginning to transform. Tina followed me through the partially-open blast door that Bee had lockpicked with her Puzzle Lock ability.

The chamber we came into was full of dead ants. It seemed they’d all succumbed to the Eau de Tonsil-Stone Eye-Bleach. There were several of the bulbs that’d housed children in the Children’s Zones, but they were bigger and decorated with swirls and patterns. One of them looked like it had caught fire, as the top-half was scorched black. I was fairly sure Bee had been trapped in that before breaking free.

“What are you doing?” Panda asked. “You’ve gotta get out of here!”

“There’s no way we easily get through that,” I told him. “It’ll be easier if Steve gets out there and tears them apart.”

“That’s pretty cold,” he remarked.

“You said it yourself, he wasn’t my friend. Besides, there’s nothing we can do for him. Isn’t it better that his transformation serves a greater purpose?”

“It will kill us first,” Tina muttered, her eyes wide-open and crazy. Well, crazier. She handed me something and I looked down to see two Lucky Dice and a Tincture of Full Recovery.

“Here it comes!” Panda exclaimed. I quickly stuffed the items in my inventory.

We watched from the corner next to the doorway as Steve’s body transformed. First the legs extended and grew another joint, then the torso expanded like a balloon. The head morphed into an egg-shape, the skin turned purple, and the Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts became yellow-and-blue overalls. Lastly, as minor touches such as makeup and needle-teeth were added, the whole body started to grow.

“It’s a clown,” Panda realized. It was a pretty obvious outcome, given Steve’s Class.

The clown started to bend as it became too big to fit even inside the wide hallway, and it seemed to be almost forty feet tall. Its triple-jointed legs were about three-fourths of its length. The torso, although massive, seemed stumpy by comparison. The body shape of the clown was gangly and thin, with the colorful overalls bagging around its torso and legs. It reminded me slightly of a clown on stilts, especially given that the arms were proportional to the torso and not the legs. The head too was way too small.

The curled-up massive clown looked at us with two pitch-black eyes within which swam small golden pinprick pupils, pinging around with not a care. Steve wasn’t recognizable in its face at all. White makeup covered the purple skin of its face, yellow paint circled the eyes, and blue paint was drawn along the top and bottom lips to form a wide grinning smile.

HOO-HEE-HUU.

The floor shook with its incredibly-loud, but somehow-soothing melodic giggle.

“Meow!” Lordie exclaimed in fear and hopped back into his transport cage.

Then an achievement popped up.

Congratulations! You have unlocked an achievement! x

‘Monstrosity Safari’

Witnessed at least two Boss Monstrosities.

The odds of seeing more than one Boss Monstrosity are quite slim. Usually the first sighting is also the last thing you ever see.

There have been countless Insanity Monstrosities manifested since the start of the GREAT GAME, but so far only four Boss Monstrosities have appeared within your world. It is quite incriminating that you’ve been a witness to half of those. But don’t worry, we actually condone your behavior in this instance.

Good job, you monster!

As you may recall, these unique Entities don’t just appear at random. No, they requires special Classes to hit 100% Insanity, which is not a simple feat, as special Classes have an innate resistance towards corruption. We’d love if such resistance wasn’t there, of course, but the System gave us no choice.

Last time, you bore witness to a Boss Monstrosity formed from a Local Villain. What you may not realize is that the monstrosities take the unique traits of the Classes they are born from.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

One of the Regions in Northern Europe saw a Player with the Norse King Class turn into a mythical wyrm, which was quite entertaining. It wiped out his entire Region in about half a day.

Personally, I enjoy the types of Boss Monstrosities created from the bizarre Classes, like Birthday Boy. They have way more personality and style.

The Flesh Sculptor’s servants created this one specifically for Steve as soon as he chose the Birthday Boy Class. They hope you’ll like it.

Enjoy this reward during the little time you have left.

Reward: ‘Appraising Eye’ Passive

‘Appraising Eye’ x

Passive

“He was a good little monkey and always very curious.”

You are able to Inspect and Appraise anything with a glance.

Appraising certain entities will cause a backlash that affects your Insanity Gauge and may imbue you with unique afflictions.

image [https://i.imgur.com/Xd1KbXL.png]

image [https://i.imgur.com/99O9XsM.png]

Without even meaning to, I triggered the new passive and was met with an appraisal of the clown.

Level 75

‘Joysworth McGiggles’

Boss Monstrosity x

The world is very sad and bleak…

Why not have a little Joy?

But don’t forget to share it!

Joy is a flower that cannot bloom in solitude.

Steve was never a happy man and always cursed with the need to complain. It is deeply tragic that, only in the last moments before his transformation, did he realize what a waste it had been. Why be angry and frustrated for its own sake? But poor old Steve didn’t see the errors of his ways until insanity embraced him.

This Boss Monstrosity is made from the unexpressed joy of all those who have perished within the GREAT GAME. Insanity is a liberating force that frees anyone from the chains they have wrapped about themselves. Joysworth McGiggles will help liberate you from your own chains and set your repressed laughter free.

The servants of the Flesh Sculptor made this Monstrosity after being inspired by natural phenomenon like Arney the Tickler, and the countless other Nightmares that plague Demons. After all, Joy is a virtue that is anathema to them.

This Boss inflicts ‘The Giggles’ and insanity with its laughter. It will not stop its joyous trot across your Region until everyone is liberated of the chains that bind them.

image [https://i.imgur.com/kp887aJ.png]

Suddenly, Tina walked out of the chamber we were hiding in. I moved to grab her, but just as my fingers touched her arm, a euphoric high overcame me.

WARNING!

You have been afflicted with ‘The Giggles’!

Time remaining:

∞

The drab paper-like material of the walls and floor was suddenly dripping with colorful splotches of paint that shifted and morphed, while laughter echoed from somewhere far away.

It was my laughter.

The air in my lungs felt as though it was bubbling and full of electricity, while my stomach convulsed in enjoyable tugs.

I’d never ever laughed like this before. It was unfiltered and pure.

Joysworth led Tina and I out of the wide hallway and into the pillar room. Outside, glowing rainbow-colored water lapped at our feet, while sleeping ants and beetles lay around us. Those still standing paused their fighting to focus on the clown. He slowly emerged head-first out of the doorway, while crawling on his knees. Then he rose to his full height.

They all began to scream, but Joysworth’s own laughter deafened the noise they made.

I belatedly noticed that there was a blurry incomprehensible shape on my shoulder. It was a shape made of nothingness and only visible due to its outline.

It was screaming something at me and its voice sounded like static interference.

“W....E..P!”

I was struggling to hear what the shape was trying to tell me.

“..AK..U..!” it repeated.

The beetles and ants, as well as tall mantisflies and aphids began to attack Joysworth. The tall joy-giving clown clapped its hands together, only to pull them apart and reveal a golden-glowing balloon animal. It immediately leapt from the palm and down onto a beetle, which it pulled apart to shower his friends with colorful water.

“WAKE....!”

“........UP!”

I heard the static voice clearly for a moment and paused. The ant I’d been pulling apart with my hands fell down into the colorful water lapping against my ankles.

“Wake… Up?” I asked, trying to piece the words together.

An epiphany hit me and I repeated the words as one: “wakeUp.”

SKILL TRIGGER!

wakeUp triggered.

You have broken free of ‘The Giggles’.

All the colors drained away and screaming filled my ears, as yellow and blue balloon animals tore through the ants and beetles. They’d already died by the thousands, judging by the white blood that was everywhere.

My lungs and stomach hurt like I’d been punched repeatedly. An uncomfortable soreness flared up with every breath.

“You’ve got to go!” Panda yelled. “That skill has a 5-minute cooldown, so you’re screwed if you get hit with the affliction again!”

I immediately used Fuck Gravity to take to the air and fly feet-first in the direction indicated by the Manhunter’s Badge. It wasn’t moving anymore though. I’d wasted too much time.

Guilt and frustration filled me as I saw Tina, wreathed in neon-green energy, fighting alongside Joysworth and his balloon animals.

“Don’t even think about it!” Panda scolded me. “If you try to save her, you’re dead!”

“If I don’t, she will die.”

“Remember why you came here!”

I frowned, but knew he was right. However, something unsettled me. Even though Tina had the apparent ability to see the future, she’d stayed with me despite surely knowing that it would lead to her demise.

In the distance, the enormous clown was still making balloon animals and laughing. None of the ants nor beetles seemed capable of hurting it, not even the Aphid-Dogs. I couldn’t see Tina’s green magic anymore.

Gritting my teeth, I flew out of the chamber and towards the pull of my Badge. Panda was right. I had come here to save Bee.

I just hoped I wasn’t too late.