“This can’t be… this is impossible.” I stare at the monster’s corpse displayed on the screen. “Am I dreaming? Yes, I must be dreaming…”
“That was so cool! You were like a hero, splitting the evil guy in two with a single strike.” Clara is waving her tentacles around, excited by what just happened.
Marta smirks. “Heh, this is nothing.”
I’m sure you’re confused right now, so let me go a little back in time to show you what happened…
Those words were the starting point. The start of the end. When (my) fun stopped. When the stomping started. They marked the appearance of a ‘true pro player’.
As I remember what happened, time moves backward until it reaches the desired scene in the past. Everything turns foggy and is displayed in black and white.
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“I shouldn’t be suffering like this in your stupid dungeon. From now on, I’ll get serious.” Said Marta while stretching.
“Yes! Hehehe! I’ve been waiting for this! I knew you would be forced to get serious if you didn’t want to fall for more of Andreu’s tricks! Hehehe!”
Clara gets excited at the prospect of seeing our older sister in action. It isn’t every day you can see a pro player live… Well, we do see one every day, but this and that are two different things.
Maybe my taunting was a little bit too effective. I only wanted to make Marta angry and not to get serious!
“Serious?” I ask. “Weren’t you serious already?”
“Hmph! You haven’t seen even the tip of my skill! I was trying to accommodate you and Clara. I also wanted to see everything similar to how one of your usual invaders would, this is why I let stuff hit me.”
Is that so? I don’t know if I should believe you or not, everything, including your reactions, felt too real to me…
“From now on, I’ll treat this as if it were a PvP battle against a top player. You’ll soon see the difference. But don’t worry. I’ll make sure to test every trap, monster, and area, and then give you feedback.”
Is your feedback the consolation prize? I don’t like it! But I’ll take it anyway… it isn’t as if I have any other choice.
All my hopes to make her go mad disappear. The stat and skill differences are too far apart… If she continued to play as before, I could have a chance to make her cry one or two more times… maybe. But I don’t think my tricks will work now.
And I relied on those tricks! Don’t you, too, think this is unfair!?
My sisters continue the dungeon invasion. They’ve now finished the exploration of the first areas of my dungeon, so they return to the first laboratory room. They then step into the Freezer.
The Freezer, where I keep the corpses. Always filled to the brim with blood, gore, and frozen cadavers. But as they go through it, the number of corpses skyrockets through the roof. Through the screen, it looks as if Marta is swatting flies away.
…Poor Stitched. As much as I hate (love) them, I didn’t want them to end like that.
The next room they go into is the second laboratory area, the one with the Lab Assistant and the four Panicky Spitters.
Marta assesses the monsters inside the room before giving orders.
“Stay here. I’ll do this on my own.”
“But I want to help…” Complains Clara. “I’m tired of only watching.”
“Then… how about I leave this fight to you?”
“Yes! Thank you!”
After reaching an agreement, Clara and her support mobs enter the room while Marta and her mobs stay near the door.
The fight starts, and Clara soon takes the advantage. She knows where the traps in this room are, and also what the Lab Assistant is capable of.
“Hoh, so you can do it like this…”
I’m absorbed by my little sister’s fight. In part because I can’t take my eyes off of their terrifying visages, but also because she’s fighting the Lab Assistant in a way I never expected.
She’s good… is it thanks to Marta’s training? I’m not sure if that’s the cause, but she has improved.
Clara is controlling the aggro so that the Lab Assistant targets those monsters close to the lightning rods. This way, they get destroyed by the Lab Assistant’s aura damage while Clara and her mobs can focus all the attacks on the Lab Assistant.
Pretty good. The last time she came to my dungeon, she didn’t fight like this.
“Hey, Andreu.” Marta’s voice snaps me out of the trance.
“What’s up?”
“What’s… what’s wrong with them?”
“Them…? Who’re you talking abo–” I stop in the middle of the phrase.
I look at where she’s pointing. It’s… It’s the Panicky Spitters. They don’t know what to do or where to go because Marta and her support mobs are blocking the door, so they’re running randomly inside the room, trying to stay as far away as possible from all invaders.
Meanwhile, they keep spitting slime against random targets. Sometimes they hit Clara or her minions, and sometimes Marta or her minions. They sometimes hit another one of their kind, and I saw one projectile landing on the Lab Assistant.
This is ridiculous... I never saw what happened when they were ignored but couldn’t run away until today.
“*Sigh* They’re trying to run away... I’ll explain to you later. For now, you can kill them so they don’t disturb Clara’s fight.”
“Sure, I will.”
A few flying blades later, the four Panicky Spitters are turned into corpses.
I’m always amazed at her skill in predicting where another player or monster will move, or how will they try to evade.
Can she see the future? Because if she can, it will explain so many things…
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
With the nuisances gone, Clara’s fight soon reaches the climax. The second ice nova hits nobody because she makes her support units retreat on time, and she herself finishes off the Lab Assistant.
“Well done, Clara! With this fight, I’ve seen how much you’ve improved!” Marta praises her.
“Yes, you’ve improved from the last time I saw you fight,” I add.
“Hehehe…!”
Clara shyly scratches her not-a-head with her not-a-hand. This isn’t something I wanted to see, not with that champion. If not for her champion, I’m sure I would be thinking ‘How cute, she’s weak to praise’ right now.
After this short conversation, the two cross the door leading to the Minitaur Queen’s area. Their minions follow behind.
Marta looks around and nods. “Good, this is a perfect place for flying.”
She then moves her wings for the first time in the whole dungeon invasion. Maybe? I’m not sure if it’s the first time or not. She beats her wings once, then jumps and starts to fly.
“Don’t leave me behind! I can’t fly!” Shouts Clara.
“Don’t worry, I’m just scouting ahead.”
Until now, she hasn’t used the wings once. Not that I can remember, at least. Is this what she was talking about when she said ‘I’ll get serious’?
So far, it was hard to fly because of the narrow passages and obstacles in the caves, tunnels, and laboratories. But there were a few times when she would have had an easier time if she used her wings.
I thought she forgot, but it might be she didn’t fly on purpose.
Marta raises over the laboratory equipment. From this position, she can see most of the room’s layout. She then notices a small dot moving through the room.
“There’s something flying. Is it a monster?” She mumbles to herself.
“Something flying? It must be the boss!” Replies Clara with enthusiasm. But when she receives a glare from Marta, apologizes. “I’m sorry… I blurted it without thinking. I’ll keep my mouth shut in the future.”
Marta returns to where Clara is standing without saying replying. I’m sure she’s tired of Clara spoiling most of the stuff when she asked her not to do it.
And not once or twice, but a lot of times.
“Is this why this area is so big? So it can fly? But it also gives players that can fly the advantage… Are you listening, Andreu?”
“I am. I always am.”
“I’ll have to see it for myself, but maybe you should put some stuff that prevents players from flying. Or from seeing. In case you don’t know, there are skills that allow players to see from above. They don’t need to fly to use it to their advantage.”
“I see… I’ll think about it.”
Watch everything from above… this is troublesome. I can do little about flying, and there aren’t a lot of champions that can fly by default, but the sight skills are a problem.
Now that I think about it, in the tournament, it felt as if the other team knew everything we were doing. Could it be because of one such skill!? Maybe they could see everything from above!?
If that’s the case, it’s a shame. But too bad, it’s too late to do anything about it.
Hmm… Should I raise the walls to the ceiling? Or make the ceiling lower? Illusions…? Maybe some traps could help… I’ll have to think hard about it.
“Let’s talk about this later. I’ll now focus on crushing everything on my path! Ha, ha, ha!”
I feel an imaginary cold sweat on my back.
There’s no need, really. You can relax. Relax… and fall for all my tricks! Fufufu! Hahaha!
“Let’s go!” Adds Clara. “I’ll show you the way this time.”
“There’s no need…” Marta scratches her cheek. “Uh, you know what, do what you want. You’ll do it anyway… But leave the flying monster to me.”
“Aye, sir! I’ll guide you, sir!”
It doesn’t take long for the Minitaur Queen to detect the intruders. Its shadow flies at a fast speed toward my sisters’ group. Furthermore, it happens when they’re right next to a water canal.
“Oh, no! What are we going to do!” Shouts Clara. “I forgot about it! What if we fall into the water channel and get separated? I won’t be able to guide you if it happens.”
So you’re worried about not playing the ‘guide’ role, and not about being separated from one another? Your priorities are all over the place, Clara.
“I told you, didn’t I? I’ll take charge of that monster. Step aside and let the pro do her job.”
Marta pushes Clara to a side and takes the front position, ready to receive the Minitaur Queen’s charge.
“Go! Go and smash her pride to dust! Push her into the water canal and let her feel despair!” I shout with the micro disconnected.
The boss increases its speed at the end, right before they clash.
*Cling! Slash!* The two exchange attacks.
Then, when the non-existent dust settles, I can finally see the results of the clash. Marta is looking at the floor with a surprised expression on her face. There, there’s the Minitaur Queen’s corpse.
“Is this all? I was expecting more.”
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The color returns to the screen and the video returns to the present.
My mouth hangs agape at the unbelievable scene. One strike. ONE SINGLE STRIKE. This is all it took for Marta to kill my boss.
“It was like cling, and then fwoosh! And then it fell, like that! Hehehe! You’re too strong!” Clara merrily spins around.
The Octocat and rabbit corpses are still hanging from her tentacles, but my attention is somewhere else.
This is so ridiculous! My strongest monster, a monster that costs almost twice as much cp as my own champion, and with a 100% stats boost thanks to the Boss’ buff, defeated in a single strike!?
Ok, I’m sure she used some skill there. I saw her parry the attack, then her sword glowed for an instant, and… That was all I could see.
…Maybe she wasn’t joking when she said she would get serious, after all.
“I’m not sure. Was it trying to do something? It ended too quickly.” Says Marta.
It’s your fault it ended so quickly! It’s also your fault you couldn’t see how the boss works! So at least, don’t put salt into my wound!
“It was trying to push you into the water canal. But your Strength is so ridiculous, you didn’t get pushed.”
“Oh, is that so…? Well, it wouldn’t have worked anyway. I could fly out of it.”
“You’re… right.”
I didn’t think about it before, but she’s right. Depending on what skill the player has, or if they can fly, they can get out of the water canal before it’s too late.
Well, I put the water canals to make it annoying, not to make it impossible.
“We’re close now.” Clara grabs Marta’s hand and starts pulling. “I’ll show you to the end. I know where it is!”
Marta allows herself to be dragged. Otherwise, there’s no way Clara could force her to move.
“Ok, then… let’s continue. Andreu, get ready, because here we come!” She says.
“Aaagh! It’s a monster! It’s coming for my life, and there’s no way I can stop her. Somebody, save me!” I shout in the dark room filled with screens.
Has the day when I have to say the ‘You’ll never get me!’ epic lines as I blow myself up?
Because I can do it, I have the Grand Finale. Maybe this isn’t that bad? I’ve been looking forward to the day I could say it…
But wait. She’s saying this is the end? It isn’t, there’s the new area…
Oh, right! Clara doesn’t know about the new area. The last time she came, I hadn’t created it yet. And neither does Marta, of course.
This means everything they see from now on will be new to both of them. No more spoilers, no more tips, no more ‘It’s dangerous!’. From now on, they’ll experience the true terror of my dungeon: not knowing what comes next!
“You’re in for a big, big surprise! Fufufu! Hahaha!”
My laughter echoes in the dimly lit room.
[https://i.imgur.com/ZGSK4Pl.png]
For those who liked diving into ‘The Mad Rat’s Lab’ for fun, there was a motto they liked to say. It went like this: ‘What kills you, makes you stronger’.
However, with it, they didn’t mean what you would expect. Instead of talking about improving and making you a better player, they interpreted it in a somewhat warped way. For them, this phrase meant: if you die and feel despair, the next time you suffer the same, it won’t matter as much to you.
In short, it was a way to comfort themselves after failure.