At the top of the tree, Maude found a literal puppet master, a creature programmed to act as a Boss and the active commander of every living doll on the island.
It was white, and it took a moment for Maude to realize that the creature was covered by a thick, rough exterior similar to the material its minions were made of. With its multiple legs, it sent commands to every puppet squad, and with its numerous eyes, it could see everything on the battlefield. Yet, it allowed Maude to reach its position.
Does that mean it has been held busy by the others down there? the Combat Medic thought as she stepped onto a branch that creaked beneath her boots. The boss hissed, thirty-two feet away from her, getting into its guard. Beneath it lay a perfectly flat surface, as if someone had cut the top of the tree in one precise horizontal slice.
Maude pulled out an assault rifle from under her coat and took aim. How durable could this thing be?
She opened fire, and the ten-foot-tall white spider raised its front legs to shield itself. Maude noticed that its HP bar had barely been affected. I see. That thing that looks like birch wood covering its entire body is actually natural armor. She swiftly swapped weapons. Grenade launcher, then.
She quickly loaded it with corrosive shells and jumped just as the spider spat something toward her. When she glanced back, she found something akin to a thin lance piercing the branch she had just left. It looks more like a giant needle.
While in midair, she shot twice at the largest part of its body: Its abdomen. A chemical reaction began immediately, but the spider ignored it and continued spitting needles that whistled through the night air. The moonlight illuminated the monster, making it seem almost ghostly and pristine, aside from the greenish stains now eating through its hardened exterior.
Maude's feet found another firm branch. She pulled the trigger and dodged two more needles. This time, she aimed for the spider’s side legs. The acidic shell began corroding the armor immediately.
The boss hissed in a higher pitch, signaling that it was getting exasperated.
That means it will try another trick. Come on, show me all your cards before I tear you limb from limb! A sudden smirk crossed her face before she covered her mouth with her left hand. Oops, what if a camera sees me? I must keep a calm and collected persona at all times.
But as the spider failed time and time again to land a hit, and its HP bar dropped all the way to 60%, Maude’s smile cracked again, this time broadly.
“Aww, come on! This can’t be all you got, huh?”
Then, she landed in a previous spot and got stuck. Looking down, she noticed that the first boss’ needle had turned into a spider web, covering the whole branch. In that brief moment, the boss aimed and landed a clean hit to Maude’s chest. On impact, the needle transmuted rapidly into web and restrained her arms. A second and third attack were meant to take Maude’s life, but the artificial intelligence behind the spider noticed something abnormal: The Combat Medic was still standing, her HP bar safely in the green threshold.
“Nice try, but I don’t have a heart.”
From under her right sleeve, she pulled out a flame shell and crushed it with her palm. A moment later, her entire body caught fire, and the spider web burned immediately.
“You made me do it! I’ve been holding back on the flame shells because I know how rapidly fire spreads. This blows!” she yelled, discarding her burning coat to reveal a black chrome metallic body underneath, equipped with all of her loadout weapons encrusted onto her. A shotgun was part of her right thigh, and an assault rifle constituted her left thigh. Numerous shells could be stored between her ribcage, and two handguns rested on her shoulder blades. Only her face and neck had skin. “You’ll take responsibility for stripping a girl naked, won't you?!”
She reloaded her grenade launcher and took a shot. This time, an explosion tore one of the boss’ limbs off. “Would you look at that! What happened to your high defenses?”
Maude bombarded the giant spider while laughing out loud until it was time for reloading. The boss cried in anguish, a prolonged, hissing war cry that gradually sounded more irritated, resembling that of a woman.
Maude knew what was coming. She’s entering her Second Phase. I need to prepare myself fast!
She pulled out the item she had chosen at the beginning of the competition, a Red Potion, and gulped it, holding the bottle with her teeth as her hands were busy reloading her grenade launcher with corrosive shells again. If this thing follows the trend every boss has shown lately, it’ll become a humanoid. It’ll be faster, so it can extinguish any fire I start quickly and will become wary of my shots if I start with the explosive shells again. And I don’t want that. She took a quick glance at her inventory, which showed a single item left: Nicholas’s makeshift grenade.
The spider shrank, gaining mass. The remaining limbs transformed into legs and arms, and the damaged abdomen became a huge, round rear. The torso took on a slender, feminine shape, and the head turned slick and faceless, but Maude knew the thing was staring at her.
“You look like your minions down there. Or could it be your children?” Maude sneered before vomiting blood.
A ‘Toxin Detected’ alert popped up inside her field of vision.
When? How?!
She dropped to one knee as a sudden fever overwhelmed her. The only thing she could recall coming into contact with her were the needles she tanked with her metallic chest. And even if they were poisoned, there’s no chance I could get poisoned. My cyborg body is immune to…
A realization made her frown. The spider web touched my face…
As a Healer, she knew a spell to dispel poison, but when she looked up, she barely had time to block a swipe. Maude could see up close that the boss had razor-sharp claws instead of fingers that could easily tear her face off.
Come on, body, do your job! Counteract this poison! I made my choice a long time ago. My decision to leave human fragility behind and embrace the future.
The Developers are sending us a message! Why let us turn into cyborgs inside this fantasy world if that wasn’t the case? Can’t you see it, Tandem? The Devs are showing us the next path to Human Evolution! I bet that by the time we leave this simulation, the Santa María staff will assist us with the transition. It wouldn’t surprise me if they’re already messing with our bodies as we sleep! So I don’t care if I lose this stupid competition. I just want to show everyone in the livestream what efficiency and power looks like! And to do that, I must purge this fucking venom OUT OF MY SYSTEM!
A petition has been received by the User.
Would you like to use 30% of your mana to combat the infection?
Yes / No.
Even though my body runs on mana, that’s a cheap price to pay.
“YES!” she roared as she pulled out her shotgun and shot at close range. The enemy was pushed back, but due to its faceless nature, Maude could not tell if it had been hurt. Only the HP bar could tell the truth.
It regained High Defense. That means I have to take its armor down once again.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Just as she swapped weapons, the enemy anticipated it and performed a roundhouse kick. The grenade launcher was sent flying to a distant branch, from where it bounced and fell down.
Still fighting a sickening dizziness, Maude grabbed a handgun from her shoulder blades and shot at point-blank range. The enemy dodged with ease and was about to throw a punch, but Maude drew a long curve with her right arm. The enemy stepped back, realizing a diagonal cut crossing its chest. Maude’s right fist was now equipped with a hidden blade.
“You know what? This is fine too. Let’s show the audience which body is the sturdiest!”
A frenetic, mortal dance began. Kicks and punches, gunshots and slices, all while Maude’s body continued its healing process.
Detoxifying body’s progress: 70%
Maude’s pistol did little damage, and her hidden blade left marks in that white wooden armor, but nothing deep. The doll’s punches were ineffective against her metallic body, and the connected kicks only served to destabilize Maude’s footing.
Detoxifying body’s progress: 50%.
The Combat Medic felt her body lighten, even though she knew it had only affected her head. She became more agile, shooting with more precision and using her hidden blade more often.
Detoxifying body’s progress: 30%.
The simple act of purging the venom from her system made her body hotter, and with that, she could exert more power. Like a roaring engine!
Maude was now capable of blocking every hit coming her way while returning fire simultaneously. If Hugo, the Monk of the group, an expert in close-quarters combat, could have seen her fighting, he would have sweated and gulped hard while trying to articulate a comment.
Yes, yes! Let me show everyone what the future holds! Although I’m a healer, a typical support unit, I can fight and help the team fortunate enough to have me! I’d never become a burden, for I’m even capable of soloing a boss! So come on, you meatheads, look at me!
Detoxifying body’s progress: 10%
Great! I’m healed and overheating. I’ll use my full power to--
Warning: Unexpected mana leak.
Notice: Something is draining your mana.
Maude fell to her knees and puked blood. When her vision became clear, she noticed something crawling in front of her eyes. Little white spiders, bathed in her blood.
“D-Disgusting,” she muttered before getting kicked in the chin.
That thing didn’t infect me with poison but with parasitic eggs. Not even dying and respawning would let me feel clean again.
The artificial body began feeling as if it weighed a ton. The joints turned rigid, and even trying to raise her head became an impossible task. She knew this was the end.
The boss probably knows this is it… I didn’t want to use it, but fuck it. I’ll just use Nick’s grenade. And even if I’m unable to cast Living Iron to tank the explosion, I’ll survive it. I’ve seen the magnitude of these things from the previous battles, and I can just lock my body to maximize its defense. I’ll be fine. She snickered. Damn. I feel even dirtier for having to rely on that prick.
The grenade appeared in her right palm just as the boss was about to deal the final strike. By the time the doll saw what was about to happen, it was too late. She did not say a snarky comment, not even for the audience to hear. She just crushed the grenade and closed her eyes.
The explosion took the boss as expected, but it also burned with more intensity than before. People in the live stream even noticed that the resulting blazing fire looked brighter than the previous ones. As the moment stretched, they all came to the same conclusion: that explosion was even greater than the others.
Maude realized this too when she was tossed into the Limbo, a black, immaterial space where only her consciousness lingered. That was the place where all the people inside the Novus fell after dying. As they waited to be revived, some just cursed their luck before falling into a long, dreamless sleep, while others were unable to rest, thinking about what they had done wrong or how much money they had lost.
But for Maude, she received a system message, something she had never seen before inside that place where the Navinet and the Social Media tab are shut off.
Necromancy has been used on your body.
Huh? Necro--That’s Dark Magic, right? The ability to raise the dead to do your bidding. And you’re telling me someone is doing that to me? Well, to my body, but aren’t corpses supposed to disappear in the Novus?
But most importantly… Why would a Necromancer be participating in a Healer’s competition?! Who the fu--Oh… You son of a…
Notice: You have the option of returning to your body, but since it is currently under a necromancy spell, you would be unable to reject your new master’s orders.
Do you accept: YES / NO
* This is optional, and you can dismiss this message. The Necromancy spell has a two-hour limit, and you will return to normal once you revive.
“Yes.”
Returning…
Her eyes caught the light again. The abyss was gone, and she found herself in that dreaded woods again. She could move, and when she looked at her right arm, she found the dents that the boss had caused and covered by soot.
A male voice broke the silence. “Oh, I didn’t expect you’d come back. But please, welcome. Come and join us.”
When she rose, she knew something was off. She did not move of her own volition. Something was automatically taking control of her.
Turning around, she found all the members of her group, as if nothing had happened. As if she was the only one struck with bad luck. But as she strolled forward, she noticed it. The Druid had his left shoulder partially severed from the neck. The top of the White Mage’s head was missing, as if it had been cut cleanly by the sharpest of blades. The Monk’s robes were stained in blood, the cause, an opened wound in his chest. The Cleric had bruises all over his face and was nervously rubbing his hands. He was the only one exhibiting signs of who he was before, but he shared the same trait as the others: a black HP bar.
“Good job taking down the boss. Well done! Thanks to your efforts, we managed to break free of the curse afflicting this lady here,” the male voice said.
Maude knew where to look. To her right, there was an NPC with fox ears and platinum hair tied into a ponytail, wearing a damaged wedding dress and still holding the broadsword that took the lives of three of the healers.
I know who she is. It’s part of Phantom Seekers.
“I’m so sorry for attacking you and your friends,” the NPC said, trying to sound apologetic, but Maude knew it was all an act. A script prepared by the Scenario Master behind that competition. “But if you could help us save my Guild Master, even in death, I’d appreciate it.”
“Ah, she’ll help. It’s not as if she has a word in the matter,” the male voice said as he held Maude by the shoulder. “By the way, do you happen to still have the item they gave us at the beginning?”
“It was a Red Potion, and no, I drank it,” Maude replied immediately, and something told her she would not be able to lie even if she wanted to.
“And that’s too bad,” Nicholas said, finally stepping inside Maude’s field of vision, his HP bar at 100% green. “But it’s okay. It’s a good thing Hugo was still holding onto his.” He showed the bottle with red liquid and shook it in front of Maude. “I had to drink mine too to heal what our gal here did to me.”
“I apologize again, noble warrior,” the NPC said, bowing her head.
“Ah, it’s fine,” Nicholas smiled at her before locking eyes with Maude. “Hmm. You look like you’ve got plenty to say.” He opened his User Interface and swiped his right index finger. “Here. I lowered the Absolute Obedience to 80%. You can speak freely now.”
“So this is what you were hiding,” Maude said, sneering. “You really got us.”
“What do you mean by ‘got us’? The enemy overwhelmed us, and I had to act fast!” Nicholas retorted, scratching the back of his head. “If it weren’t for my necromancy, I wouldn’t have survived the fight until you dealt with the boss. I only used the ‘resources’ I had at the moment.”
“That grenade you gave me. You made it more powerful for a reason, didn’t you?”
Nicholas dropped his laid-back attitude and smirked. “But you managed to take down the boss. That’s what matters, isn’t it?” He then relaxed his posture once again and exhaled. “Why did you come back, girl?”
“Curiosity, mostly,” Maude said as her gaze lingered in the surroundings, where hundreds of mannequins lay lifelessly scattered through the area. “And to wish you bad luck to your face. I hope you lose, you piece of shit.”
She snickered and waited for Nicholas to return to his User Interface and regain control of her again, but he smiled back.
“Well, now that you don’t have other plans for tonight, would you help me save a Guild Master?”
She sighed. “Fine. I can’t do anything about it anyway, so just cut me some slack, okay? I know my body better than whatever system is behind your stupid Dark Magic.”
“Let me make some adjustments then.”
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
For those that are planning on re-reading the whole thing, give me some time. I'm preparing to do some changes. It would affect Chapter 4 and onwards.