Karl had come a long way from his rather humble origin story, which involved an intense chase from a horde of raccoons though almost every street of the starter town. However, as luck would have it, he eventually stumbled into his savior.

Karl met the peculiar shopkeeper named Devin, who assured Karl that he was not now, nor had he ever been, three raccoons in a trench coat. After a bit of back and forth, some unusual quests with terms and conditions at the bottom and purchases that Devin kept insisting were perfectly legal, even when Karl hadn't asked, Karl was outfitted with an impressive armor set and two legendary pieces of gear. He even got a discount for being an officer of Taco Knights for some reason.

Karl was handed a panda beanie and knitted mittens, which Devin promised would be powerful if used correctly. The beanie had the ability to turn everyone, enemies and allies alike, within its radius into stone; while the mittens could cause massive destruction with just a clap of the hands. The only thing more remarkable than the item's power was how silly Karl looked wearing all this gear--something he remained completely oblivious to.

While all the shiny new gadgets were intriguing, Karl had little understanding of their stats and effects. What he found most valuable was tucked in his bags. He thanked the stars that the glimmering crystal managed to keep the raccoons at bay.

Karl gazed upon the ruin in front of him. He had stumbled, quite by accident, into one of the mid tier dungeons. If he’d done his research he’d know this was the start of a legendary newb-killer gauntlet. Unfortunate adventurers had attempted to traverse its treacherous path before, never to seen around again after they called for it to be ‘nerfed into the ground’. A plaque near the entrance read, 'the gods themselves cursed whoever dare tread the tattered trail.' But Karl didn’t have time for that; it seemed like a fairly safe place to him.

Karl was met with a band of weathered adventurers, and curiously enough, an entourage tailing him. Where had they come from? As Karl approached, the gem in his pocket suddenly emitted one of its mysterious charges which sent all the raccoons in the clearing into a frenzied escape, including some that had been harassing the players without them even noticing. The spectacle won him everyone's awe and admiration, as well as a few knowing smiles from those who had followed him.

"Erm, excuse me," A player said, approaching Karl. "Do you have any space in your party?"

Karl looked around, wondering who the player was addressing. To his surprise, everyone behind him had their eyes fixed on him, as if they were asking the same question.

Karl nodded in agreement and was suddenly inundated with invitations. He accepted one from a tank with the highest dungeon rating.

The tank marched up to him and saluted. "Anyone in particular that you'd like us to bring along for this dungeon Boss?"

"Just pick whoever you think is best," Karl replied, having no idea which classes or specializations would be the most advantageous, but he did like being called Boss.

Karl watched the Tank meticulously hand-pick their members, sorting in some way Karl didn't understand for their skill, utility, and synergy. The local general chat filled with chatter.

"He's an officer of Taco Knights?!"

"I knew there was something special about him!"

"That's TuffEnuff, he must be friends with Steven and Nekomata, right?"

"I knew I recognized him, he's TuffEnuff! I saw a video of him running naked through the starter zone, what a legend!"

Karl was a little surprised by the situation. Instead of having to do all the hard work of begging, lying, and crying to get into someone else's, people wanted to get into his party. things were going so well, je barely noticed the whole bit about there being video of him running naked.

Karl and his party started their journey towards the gauntlet, marching ahead with determination. Others soon joined them from behind, forming a mighty procession.

Karl looked back and the Tank, A Defensive Soldier named BigBadBrenda, explained, "We can only enter the dungeon one group at a time, but the gauntlet can handle an unlimited amount of people."

Before Karl could respond, a horde of goblins, orcs and a ogre erupted from the shadows to attack!

Brenda grabbed the attention of her foes, and the rest of Karl's party; a mass of mages, melee, and all sorts of players sprang into action. It was an intense battle, Karl saw goblins and players alike tossed around in the melee. Fireballs flew one way and arrows flew back at the casters.

The healer StopBleedingDumdum remained at Karl's side. "Leave it to me boss, no one will get a scratch on 'em. I have you covered."

Karl smiled warmly and replied sincerely, "Thanks, Dumdum."

"Why does everyone call me that..." Dumdum muttered between showering their allies with rejuvenating waters of life and raining healing, and their enemies with burning acid rain.

The raiders advanced through wave after wave of foes, finally arriving at their grand finale. Epic and legendary opponents stared down the intrepid raiders and were suitably unimpressed.

Steven felt his group wavering. "Maybe if we kite them... " Brenda began hesitantly.

"No way," Dumdum interjected grimly, "there's no way we get out of this without everyone dying."

Before they could even conceive a plan, their foes came rushing forward. Brenda bellowed to Karl, "Go Boss! We'll keep them occupied while you make your escape!"

"No," Karl replied sternly as his memories of the raccoons came flooding back to him. He tugged on the panda-eared beanie atop his head and suddenly everyone around him, enemies and allies alike, halted in petrification. Arrows stopped mid flight, and balls of flame were halted in their burning path.

Karl would not run away from danger this time; he had done so ever since those infernal raccoons. Remembering his knitted mittens, he clapped them together in front of him and got his caps lot button ready, "HERE COMES THE BOOM!"

A surge of arcane power blasted out from Karl's mythical mittens. All who stood against him were frozen in place, motionless and suspended in time. Except that they had already been frozen. by all appreances, the mittens had done nothing.

Karl felt the terror hit him, as his palms clapped together and again, each action creating an immense wave of energy, but not doing anything, as all the enemies health bars didn't dip at all. On the fifth slap, Karl had exhausted all of his magical abilities, only to hear a faint “pfft” sound.

People were finally starting to show Karl some modicum of respect! They wanted to join his team, they called him Boss! People didn't even do that at work where he was literally their superior! He didn't want to lose that, but there was nothing else he could do.

When the two sides were about to meet, something peculiar happened. Instead of facing a clash of steel and blood, the enemy disintegrated into oblivion in a spectacular blaze of digital glory. The players stumbled around in confusion, swinging at mobs that weren't there, and tripping on themselves.

"Wait," Dumdum asked, "was that the boom?"

Everyone looked to Karl, who as bewildered by the events that had just unfolded as the rest of them.

"Yes."

The clearing erupted in cheers, the players amazed at what one Taco Knight officer could do. Even Karl was dumbstruck by the events that had transpired. His attack had failed... but instead succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.

"You ready Boss?" Dumdum asked, he, Brenda, and the rest of the team about to make their way into the dungeon.

For once, Karl responded with a false sense of security.