Chapter 149 :
Episode 30 : Abominable Snowman (3)
[6:50PM]
"10 minutes left until the stage begins." I mumbled after I took a deep breath to prepare myself.
"Did you remember what I told you all?"
Staring at everyone in my guild, I could tell that they were ready for stage #15 to begin and to fight the 'monster'.
Alaine exclaimed. "I'm fired up!"
"Ah jeez, my ears! You don't need to shout." Asher complained as she was stepping away from Alaine.
"What? I can't hear you, all I heard you said was blah blah blah."
"Why you little!!"
I must say, why can't I have a peaceful and composed team for once in my lives? Why did it have to be childish, silly and sometimes stupid enough to dumbfound me?
‘Well, I can't argue if it lifts up our team's spirits.’ I exhaled a sigh while I shrugged as if I lost all hope for a quiet team.
Since it has been a while, there hasn't been a single ‘Helper’ after we arrived here and waited for them to come.
I was certain that Sapphire and Ruby would not be operating nor observing for a couple of stages as punishment for their intervention and their attempt to assault a player.
"I wonder which ‘Helpers’ will appear. Could it be a new one? Or the other three sisters at the beginning? What do you think, Sensei?"
When Raiden spoke to me, I responded back with my thoughts. "Doesn't matter. It only means that another bastard will be added to the to-kill list."
"Captain, you can't do that! You should just torture them instead of giving them an easy death." Mirai gave me an answer unbefitting from her.
A little shocked by her, I still agreed with Mirai. "Yeah, that's right. They deserve punishment worse than death."
"Sensei, you look too devilish with that look, what if those guys see you?" Raiden mentioned.
Out of the sudden, Asher grunted. "You guys are creepy as fuck."
It seemed Asher felt revolted by what me and my comrades were talking about, but to see her revolt over something like this..
"I don't need to hear it from a murderer."
"I only do it to get stronger, that's all. You should just copy what I'm doing."
"I already did."
"Wha—No, if you did, you would have a lot of skills. Wait.. I have seen you with many skills.. How did you do it?!"
"That's a secret."
"Way to kill the mood, idiot."
"Shut up, weed."
"Tsk."
Anyways, I had already noticed that there weren't many players in this place, it was only the result of players dying a lot at the early stages.
And now, adding to the fact that there was a maze that trapped everyone in their past for quite a long time, it was reasonable to see a few players here.
It's also possible that other players haven't got to this stage yet..
"A few nuisances, hm."
Needless to say, I'm sure these players in this room must be wondering why they are here, but they wouldn't guess that they'll have to face that 'monster'.
‘If they die, it would make things much better.’ I thought when I shifted my gaze onto Asher.
Despite her mask blocking her expression entirely, I could tell by an instinct that her glance must be filled with killing intent.
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I murmured to myself. "Looks like I don't need to worry about these few useless players."
[6:59PM]
[7:00PM]
[Stage #15 has begun!]
RUMBLING! RUMBLE!
The ground that was quaking by the tick of the clock turning 7 o'clock, was abruptly alternating the room's interior to something else.
One, two, three…
A few seconds passed and this room completely switched to that of a wintering cave with frozen rocks, ice and…
Snore..
..There was an ominously huge white ball thing laying on the cold floor in front of everyone.
Be that as it may, even if the white ball wasn't moving, the aura and atmosphere surrounding it was alerting every part of everyone's bodies to warn them that this thing was..
..Extremely dangerous.
And..
In the middle of this hazardous ambience, a spring of light emerged ahead of us before it slowly materialized to a person.
…As expected, The ‘Helper’ has appeared. Yet, is that even important?
"Erm.. hello.."
A shy voice filled with nervousness and uncertainty, was leaving the pinkish almost pale lips of an angel.
"S-Sorry for bothering y-you all.. I'm Pearl.. the ‘Helper’ who is stepping in as this world's ‘Helpers’ for a bit.."
This angel named Pearl, she's too nervous.. Or was she?
"What in the name of Satan is wrong with those ‘Helpers’ to send one ‘Helper’ here?"
Asher growled as if she was annoyed by the fact this one angel was too much of an oddball, including the fact that they dared to send only one angel here.
It seemed almost as if Asher thought the angels were mocking every player by just sending one ‘Helper’ to deal with everybody.
Plus…
‘Don't use my name like that.’ I scowled.
———
In the meantime…
[Stage #15 : Mini Boss ‹i›]
+
Stage Information: A cave where a rare creature lived for centuries, has been awakened by the unwanted noises made by the visitors. And this creature who had remained a mystery for a while, from today on, everyone will witness this creature rising from its slumber.
Stage Task: Defeat the Mini Boss, Yeti.
Time Limit: 24 Hours.
Reward: 2000 coins, a token, an Unfreezing Bracelet, The Fur Coat of The Yeti and +5 stats points.
Failure: Frozen Death.
+
FLARE!!
After reading all of this, HwanGi swiped the panel away as he unsheathed his flaming sword.
Had he not heard from JoonChul, HwanGi would have already decided to be the vanguard.
"Are you ready, HwanGi?"
The one who was assigned to be the second vanguard, was Raiden who had stood beside HwanGi with a confident grin.
HwanGi answered courageously. "Yes, I am ready."
At that moment, Pearl declared the start of the battle as she swayed away from the scene. "All Players, please f-fight now."
[RAWWWWRRRRRR!!!!]
CRUMBLE! RUMBLE!
Pearl's voice that was soft and fragile, was overwhelmed by the roar of the mini boss who had awakened.
Accompanied by the floor shaking in fear, the ceiling with ice spikes trembling to rain down its wrath were falling down with clattering sounds as if to welcome the mini boss.
[The Mini Boss, Yeti has arisen from its slumber!]
BOOM!
Right in an instance, a cluster of attacks were launched straight at the Yeti's back, not allowing it a chance to reveal its monstrous face peacefully.
By the way, those attacks that were directed on the Yeti, weren't ‘The Rebels’ nor Asher's and Felix's doings. It was obvious that the other players did it.
..These players didn't even know that ‘The Rebels’ guild, Asher and Felix were waiting for them to draw the Yeti's aggro.
"The first attack is coming!" JoonChul exclaimed toward the front.
The front being Raiden and HwanGi were already prepared to take down Yeti's signature attack.
[GRRRR!!!]
Once the players' attacks subsided, the Yeti took no further and proceeded to raise its arms up as if it was trying to lift up a giant snowball.
[The Mini Boss, ‘Yeti’ has activated the Hidden Skill, ‘Snowball Blast’ Lv. ???.]
WHOOSH!
There it goes..
Being thrown toward the players who were the closest to the death's door snowball, it was radiating its frost in a devastatingly rapid pace.
Blasting away the players ahead and freezing them in one go, some were lucky to dodge but some were not.
…And there were some who would take this ‘Snowball Blast’ head on to its fullest.
Bang!
"Kuek!!"
The groans exiting from the lips of Raiden and HwanGi, they were the ones who were right in front of the blast, trying to push it back with their flaming sword and lightning staff.
"Urgh!!"
..They were looking as though they were losing against a snowball, being nudged back like weaklings as per Yeti's thoughts.
[GrrR..] The Yeti smiled like it expected this to happen.
But…
"HAAA!!"
[Uck!?!]
BOOM!
Once was a snowball that was directed to the Players, had been countered and blasted straight at the Yeti with its power increased.
[GRAHH!]
The Yeti, bewildered to see its own snowball damaging it, threw a fit as it started to slam the ground with its giant foot.
RUMBLING!
Ground that couldn't handle the constant quaking, was cracking with openings..
"Huff.." Although tired, HwanGi stood upright and immediately dashed toward the Yeti alongside Raiden.
Zap!! Flare!!
With flame and lightning ready to break down the Yeti's attacks, the Yeti instinctively knew that it needed to put a distance between these players.
[Huff…]
With a quick and deep inhale, the Yeti took in all the surrounding air into its mouth before giving it a soaring roar at the players.
[RRRAAAAWWWRR!!!]
..A roar that could put fright to everyone's bodies, was immobilizing most of its victims to stun them.
And it worked..
[Kukuku.]
Was it wise for the Yeti to think it was actually winning this? Fooled, It was a mistake from the beginning when it underestimated ‘The Rebels’ Guild's strength.
Slash!
"You should have watched your back, cocky Yeti!"
Within that split-second, they, who had appeared out of nowhere, swung their weapons at the unguarded back of the Yeti.
"Hey, this is exhilarating, isn't it?!" Asher exclaimed with a sneer.
Alaine shouted. "Quit talking!"
After coming out of the portals, these two ladies managed to deal a big blow to the Yeti when it lowered down its guard.
…However, the mini boss is still a mini boss.
[Grraah!!]
In no time, the Yeti swayed its fist toward Asher and Alaine, missing these two as it watched them dodge it with ease.
With a fist that was supposed to hit Alaine and Asher, had crashed into the cave's wall behind them, causing quite a huge crack to unfold because of the Yeti's destructive punch.
[Grr..?]
Cave wall instead of the ladies, the Yeti seemed shocked by Asher's and Alaine's disappearance, only to be met by arrows shooting past its ears.
Swissh!!
Even if those arrows missed, the Yeti could feel its blue blood bleeding out from the small wound left by the arrows.
[...]
[GWAAAAAAA!!!!]
No more will it stand there idly cautious of the players, now it was planning to go haywire by running straight to the group of players.
"I won't let you!" HwanGi cried out before he immediately got up front at the Yeti, slashing his burning blade at the Yeti's fur.
[ACCCKKK!!!!]
HwanGi's flame that's burning away the fur of the Yeti, was not enough to stop the Yeti through pain.
"Ugh!!"
CRASH!
The body of HwanGi that got knocked to the side, underwent a dire injury from clashing to the wall of the cave.
Unlike the tree that HwanGi once knocked into, this cave's wall was full of sharp edges and rough stones, prompting HwanGi's back to make a crack sound as if his ribs broke and puncture wounds everywhere.
[RAWWRR!!!]
"Damnit!"
In spite of that, HwanGi cursed after getting on his feet and rushing back to his spot to prevent the Yeti from getting any closer to his friends.
[GRrRrRRrrRR!!!]
"Silence, you fool."
The sound of a step and the voice of a cold-hearted person, Frostina uttered with grace as she instantly clashed into the Yeti.
BANG!
Frost blowing from Frostina's whip and snow drizzling from the Yeti's fur, the two of them clashed together to determine which one was the best.
[GGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!]
At that point, Yeti assumed Frostina was the strongest, considering that she was really difficult to even push back, not only that, she was also adding more force to the knockdown with the Yeti.
[RAWWR!!]
"Fool..!"
During its momentary clash, the Yeti dared to reverberate its roar in front of Frostina's face, stunning her as well as breaking her eardrums in the process.
As the irritated expression was written on Frostina's face, the Yeti predicted that it would win.
Frostina faintly grinned. "You're worse than a fool."
That was what the Yeti stupidly thought…
SLASH!