“By the way, what sort of dungeon is this?” Max decided to ask after they teleported.
“You’re just asking that now?” Rafael shook his head with disapproval.
A cobbled stone hallway extended into the distance, dimly illuminated by torches in sconces.
“This is a 4-person hobgoblin dungeon, for levels 5-15,” Lemonade answered. “It’s supposed to be the easiest one in the capital, so we might actually stand a chance this time.”
“I see.” Max remembered hobgoblins; they were stronger than regular goblins, but still weaker than orcs. They shouldn’t be too difficult to defeat. “Wait, this time?”
“We tried to do a dungeon before this and failed miserably,” Jasmine shared context. “Unfortunately, our warrior-class player is really bad at the game.”
“Ah, is that the ‘Ruby’ player you mentioned earlier?”
“No, that’s Lemonade.”
“...Oh.”
“Hey, come on, I’m not that bad.” Lemonade protested.
“I had to heal you like 50 times. You know I levelled up twice from that?”
“See! I’m helping you level!”
“...”
“Haha, that sounds rough.” Max spotted a goblin in the distance and took it down. “Was it too many enemies, or were they just too strong?”
“It was- huh?”
Jasmine and Rafael simultaneously stopped to look at the hobgoblin, which was now turning into particles, before turning around to face Max. Lemonade put a hand in front of his face to hide his expression.
“Hey, did you just shoot that goblin?” Jasmine pointed to the now-empty area in the distance.
“Hm? Yeah.”
“That was like forty metres away.”
“It was 36.” Max tilted his head, “Is something wrong?”
“...?” Jasmine stared at him wordlessly. Moving over to Lemonade, she tugged his sleeve and pointed at Max while whispering, “What is he?! Explain!”
“I told you, he’s good with the bow.” Lemonade smiled knowingly.
“No, but like, he didn’t even stop walking. Aren’t you meant to stay still when you try to shoot something with a bow?”
“Uh... I dunno.”
“Why are you guys making a big deal over this? He just shot something that was slightly far away.” Rafael looked annoyed. “Not being as bad as you guys doesn’t mean he’s suddenly hot sh*t and all, you know?”
“Says the person losing.” Lemonade shrugged.
“Huh? Losing?”
“Yeah, he has more kills than you right now.”
“...”
Max didn’t expect his offhand shot to elicit this much attention, but it seemed like Rafael was acting combative towards him to entertain his viewers, so he would play along. “Well, I don’t think a 1-kill lead will faze him much.”
“Oh yeah? Look at his face.”
Max looked just in time to see Rafael’s expression twitch slightly.
“Rafael hates losing. Whenever he encounters someone better than him at something, it’s like an itch he can’t scratch, and he gets really irritated. One time when he was playing a ranked game, he got so frustrated that he brought out a chainsaw and-”
“That was years ago.” Rafael interrupted. “I’m more mature than that now.”
“Well, that remains to be seen.” Lemonade said puckishly. “I think that- Mm?”
Max unexpectedly started drawing his bow, prompting Lemonade to pause.
Woosh!
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
An arrow flew down the corridor in a long arc, narrowly avoiding the ceiling before striking a goblin far away. The goblin fell over flat on the ground and disappeared.
“...” Lemonade, Jasmine and Rafael stopped walking and stared at Max wordlessly.
Max also stopped, “...What? Is something on my face?”
“Yes, a very handso-”
“What the f*ck was that?” Rafael asked interrogatively. “That was a skill, right?” Rafael’s eyes bore into him.
“No?” Max responded with rising inflection. “I don’t have any of those yet... Why do you ask?”
Lemonade barely controlled his expression but roared with laughter on the inside. Not only did Gun vastly overshadow Rafael with his ability; but he also acted like he knew nothing about it, forcing Rafael to spell out exactly how great he was.
“There’s no way that’s possible without a skill... no, is that a homing bow or something? How did you do it?”
“This is just the starter bow... Why are you freaking out over this? I just shot normally.”
Lemonade made a noise and hunched over his knees, his body trembling slightly.
“Normally?!” Rafael was incredulous. “Don’t mess with me! ...Show me your stat panel, I want to see proof!”
Max shrugged and brought up his stats for Rafael to see.
“...That’s- You’re really not using any skills... Wait, what the hell is a Deadshot?”
‘Oh, oops.’ Max realised Rafael could see everything. ‘Well, it’s not like I was really trying to hide it.’
“Hm?” Jasmine and Lemonade approached. “You have a special class?”
“Wait, I’ve heard that word before...” Rafael clicked his fingers impatiently, like he was trying to retrieve an old memory. “Deadshot... Deadshot...” He raised his hand, “Aha! That’s it! Deadshot Daiquiri!”
“Daiquiri?” Jessica interjected. “Like the cocktail?”
“No, it’s a perk machine in Call of Duty; the one that gives aim-assist!” Rafael thrust his finger at Max, “That’s it, isn’t it! Your class is giving you aim-assistance!”
“Eh?” Max was taken aback at the sudden accusation. He’d never played Call of Duty.
‘Aim assist...’ Lemonade massaged his chin and thought, ‘That would explain a lot, actually.’
“No... I don’t use aim assist; I practice archery in real life. The Deadshot class just gives a damage boost.”
“Prove it!” Rafael challenged.
“Sure,” Max easily agreed. “...Uh, how though?”
“Show the class description.”
“Oh right, there was that.” Max brought it up.
Class: Deadshot
Grade: Unique
Effects: When using a bow, all final base damage is increased by 100%. Additionally, all final weak-point and lethal damage is increased by a further 50%.
Description: ‘Masterful’ is not sufficient to describe the owner of this class. To the player incapable of missing: Your actions will be watched closely by the powers of this world. Good luck.
“WHAT?!” Jasmine’s eyes bulged. “WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?! UNIQUE???”
Rafael and Lemonade read through the text with shock.
“Is that good?” Max scratched his neck innocently.
“Good?!” She stared at Max with horror. “It doesn’t even exist! We thought there were only rare classes!”
“Oh... nice!” Max did a fist pump. “It must be fairly good then.”
“Jasmine, does your chat know about any other unique classes?” Lemonade broke out of his stupor. “I can’t read mine.”
Jasmine made some swiping movements with her finger. “No, I can’t read either. The chat have lost their minds.”
—???????
—*Holding infinity gauntlet* - “Is it good?”
—HUH
—WHAT
—How?! Ask him how he got it!
—I was here!
—Damn that’s a huge damage bonus
—Mom, can I have a unique class for Christmas?
The stream chat was scrolling past at a speed so fast that the messages were completely illegible to the streamers. Jasmine tried for a while before she got dizzy and decided to just look it up later.
‘Hm, well now people are just going to think I was humblebragging.’ Max regretted not ever checking the forums. Even if people didn’t think he was pretending to know nothing, they would think he was an ignorant fool who lived under a rock. ‘Well, they wouldn’t be wrong thinking that, but like...’
Interrupting Max’s thoughts, Rafael walked in front of him and did a 45-degree bow. “Gun, right? I baselessly accused you of lying and even forced you to reveal your class. Though it might not mean much now, I sincerely apologise...”
“Ah, it’s fine, you can relax.” Max’s eyes widened at the sudden attitude change, and he waved his hands. “I showed the class because I wanted to, so you don’t need to worry.”
Revealing his class hadn’t been a thoughtless decision. In his mind, displaying the special class in front of three popular streamers would be a surefire way to give himself exposure. If anything, it could be said that he was shamelessly stealing the limelight from them.
“Haha!” Lemonade walked between them and patted their shoulders. “Then are you convinced now, Rafael? Archers aren’t so weak, after all!” Lemonade puffed out his chest, as though the bowmanship had been his own doing. “As for that meal you so generously offered to shout, I’m craving seafood, so I think we’ll go to-”
“What are you talking about?” Rafael interrupted.
“Huh?”
“Why would I do that?” He glanced at Lemonade with disdain. “I only lose the bet if Gun finishes the dungeon with more kills than me.”
“You mean...”
“Duh.” Rafael cracked his neck and took a long spear from his inventory. “All we’ve established so far is that Gun has the qualifications to challenge me. As for the rest...” He theatrically span the spear in his hands. “We’re only just getting started.”