Starlted cries left the players’ mouths.

“What is this?”

“A boss monster?”

“Did mama rabbit come out because we killed too many of its children?”

After a short moment of surprise, the players became restless. Many dreamed about being the first to defeat a boss monster.

But the huge rabbit had its tiny eyes focused on Silver Blade at the moment.

The young woman felt a kind of subconscious pressure, finding it difficult to keep her composure.

“What is this monster? Why does it stare at me like that?”

“Use your inspect skill.”, reminded Liam.

Cyclone and Silver Blade followed his advice.

[Huge Red-eyed Rabbit

Rank: Elite

Level: 3

HP: 350/350

Fury: ???]

Liam inspected the rabbit as well. More doubts rose in his mind as he noticed the monster’s HP. They were higher than he remembered.

But after all this was still a novice area he never personally visited in his past life. Maybe his memory wasn’t as flawless as he thought. Maybe all the praise did get to his head…

“An elite monster?!”

“Why does it have so much HP?”

His teammates’ surprised exclamations broke Liam’s train of thought. He calmly answered.

“Monsters often have tweaked attributes. They are supposed to be difficult to solo.

Elites are still alright, but the higher ranked lords and all kinds of bosses almost always need a whole party to defeat.

World bosses can even give a group of hundreds a hard time.”

Cyclone had sparkles in her eyes, imagining the scene of hundreds of players fighting a single world boss.

The blond woman was giddy, about to engage the elite. But Liam stopped her.

“What?”, asked Cyclone, clearly annoyed.

“Wait for a bit. Let the rabbit sort out the other players first.”

At this moment movement came in the area. The elite monster was just about to rush up to Silver Blade when two players blocked its way.

“Hehe, little rabbit, I hope you drop great loot!”

“Yes, y…”

Before the second player could speak the rabbit attacked with a swift headbutt.

[-54!]

With only a single piece of armor the player was immediately at critical health, causing Liam’s companions to breath sharply.

His friend was stunned for a moment but decided to attack.

Doing only a pitiful amount of damage he was instantly hit with the rabbit’s retaliation, the thief’s low health points bottoming out from one hit.

The other player turned around to run but was caught up, his body falling to the ground lifelessly.

About ten players watched the scene, their chests tightening.

Suddenly a man stepped forward, showing his name - Fat Tiger - deliberately, and shouting loudly:

“Everyone! This might be the first elite monster in the game! Let’s combined our strengths and take it down!

Whoever is lucky gets the last hit!”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

The players looked at each other skeptically, but seeing Fat Tiger taking out a large shield they gained some confidence.

“Ok, let’s do it!”

“Whoever is lucky wins!”

“Don’t steal my last hit!”

Most players at this point played the game for fun anyways, thus they were quickly convinced.

After killing two players the huge rabbit lost its aggro. Despite Liam’s team drawing it out by gathering three rabbit eyes, it now turned towards the player closest to it, an unsuspecting thief.

The young woman still had some excitement on her face, expecting the group to surround the elite when red eyes suddenly appeared before her face.

“Why me?”

Frozen in shock, the thief only managed to get out two words before a vicious attack sent her to the graveyard.

“Careful!”

“Move! Attack it!”

Finally, the group of players reacted, encircling the rabbit. A harsh battle broke out. The players fought with weapons and partially barehanded against fierce teeth and a huge body.

Numbers popped up, increasing the excitement. But Liam could only shake his head watching the number of players dwindling.

Glancing at the back of the group he even spotted the instigator Fat Tiger slowly withdrawing. Clearly, he used the other players to probe the elite.

After a short while only a single warrior remained. He looked left and right in shock, seeing all the players on the floor.

The tall man gulped as a claw pushed his shield away, long, sharp teeth biting his stomach.

In real life his guts might spill out now but fortunately the game wasn’t this graphic, sending the man to a peaceful sleep.

Cyclone stared at the scary scene with blinking eyes.

“That thing still has 220 HP left?! Can we even defeat it?!”

“We can. It has lower magical defense, so you will be our main damage. Don’t hold back.

Silver Blade, you should engage it. You can also do normal attacks with your shield. They will do negligible damage, but serve to hold its aggro.”

“Got it.”

“Understood.”

With a mix of apprehension and excitement, Silver Blade took a few steps forward, drawing the rabbit’s attention.

The elite fletched its teeth. Suddenly it recalled the group who brutally dug out it’s brethren’s eyes.

With fur swaying in the wind the monster angrily rushed at Silver Blade.

[- 34!]

[- 26!]

Two huge damage numbers appeared above the monster’s head.

“Ha! Take this!”

Cyclone exclaimed happily as she lowered the rabbit’s HP before it even arrived. Unfortunately, her [Holy Strike] didn’t hit perfectly, thus only dealing half the damage.

“Good job. We got this!”

Liam encouraged his team as the rabbit lowered its head and rammed into Silver Blade’s shield.

[Stance – 14]

Silver Blade felt a powerful blow. She took a step back before ramming her heel into the ground.

“So strong, I can only defend two times!”

Speaking in a solemn voice the young woman gathered all her concentration, striking with her shield.

[- 2!]

With Silver Blade securing the aggro, Liam approached from the side, swinging his sword at the rabbit’s belly.

[-22!!!]

Liam’s wasn’t too surprised as he landed a critical hit. This low-leveled elite’s belly was its weakness.

But Cyclone chuckled.

“This was a critical hit? Watch me!”

[- 34!]

“Show him, Cyclone.”, praised Silver Blade with a smile.

Liam could only accept the superiority of magical damage while the fight went on.

The elite continued attacking Silver Blade. A claw landed, almost emptying her stance.

“Careful!”

Liam’s warning came too late. Silver Blade didn’t expect the beast to have a skill, which it sent out instantly after its normal attack.

Sharp teeth broke through Silver Blade’s defense, scratching her shoulder.

[-42!]

Cyclone stared in shock as her best friend almost lost half of her 89 HP.

“So fierce!”

“Don’t worry guys, one more rotation!”

The girls nodded, Cyclone staring at the cooldown of her [Holy Strike].

“I have a lot of fury, I will save it for [Sidestep]!”, announced Silver Blade calmly.

“Yes.”

Everyone knew what to do. The rabbit’s HP emptied out gradually. Liam didn’t land another critical hit, but Silver Blade expertly dodged the next attack.

“We almost got it! One more normal attack from Cyclone!”

Silver Blade spoke with a bright smile, discovering the fun in gaming for herself.

But at this moment, Liam’s vigilance was maxed out, his attention not on the elite but on the surroundings.

Suddenly something rustled between a few trees.

“Watch out!”

A low hiss sounded out as a fast arrow shot towards the elite.

Liam reacted immediately. He jumped to the side, his sword meeting the arrow.

[Stance -7]

A tremor ran through Liam’s arms. He smiled smugly, his eyes staring at the player hiding behind a tree.

Furrowing his brows from the failure, the bowman turned around, ready to leave.

“Not so easy!”

Liam knew that trying to kill steal was an essential part of the game, but this didn’t mean that one shouldn’t suffer any consequences from it.

“You guys end the fight, loot quickly and return to the town. Those players will wake up soon!”

Hastily directing his teammates Liam dashed towards the trees, chasing down the attacker.

Two pairs of eyes met. Liam recognized the gaze of his opponent, welcoming challenges, even searching for them. A grin formed on Liam’s face as he discovered a like-minded person.

Another arrow shot at Liam, forcing him to dodge.

[Stance -4]

The player escaped through the forest, not allowing Liam to engage him in close combat.

When Liam reached the trees, the next arrow pierced out of the foliage. Unfortunately, at these low levels Liam had no skill to close the distance yet, forcing him to dodge again.

With a frown on his face the young man leaned his body against a tree. Using it as shield against the arrows, he didn’t lose more stance.

A stalemate ensued.

At this moment a notification popped up before Liam.

[Congratulations on defeating the elite monster ‘Huge Red-eyed Rabbit!]

[Received 25EXP]

[EXP: 45/500]

Liam instantly closed the notification, not daring to be distracted.

Suddenly he noticed a movement among the leaves on the ground. His arm twitched, his sword moving quickly.

“Hm?”

The thief couldn’t suppress his voice as he dodged backwards.

But Liam didn’t really attack, only feigning his movement.

With a grin on his face he jumped, using [Double Slash].