The Coalition flew into a panic when Kenshi's status grayed out in the party window.
*>BrenT: ...*
*>Allux: What???*
*>Molotova: Hah? How did you guys mess up that badly?*
*>Kenshi: I don't even know what happened.*
*>Adverse: ... There's no way we weren't careful enough.*
*>Liuzhi: Perhaps...*
Everyone understood the implications of this, but none of them could understand *how* it happened!
Kenshi had 100 HP, and Fae Sol had 2.
Kenshi had 10 attack, and Fae Sol had 1.
It should have been a hundred-to-zero matchup, yet the reality in front of their eyes told them otherwise.
Psychotic messages flew through the party chat as everyone tried to find something to blame, even if that "something" was their own friends.
*>Molotova: Kenshit, you're literally the dumbest teammate on the planet.*
*>Kenshi: Says you, you rat!*
*>Allux: Well, I did tell you to stay with our group. And Adverse, were these the best possible settings you could have come up with?*
*>Adverse: After all of this preparation, with you as the shot caller and with my settings, we lost. Please tell me what we could have done better.*
*>Allux: Me as the shot caller? Ken couldn't even follow my orders! And Bren's the real shot caller AND captain here. With both of those roles, can you even get more greedy?*
*>BrenT: ...*
*>Liuzhi: Guys, calm down.*
*>Molotova & Kenshi: SHUT UP!*
*>Rizako: ...*
After losing themselves in arguments for several minutes, they finally realized something was wrong.
"Hey, where is she?"
They'd forgotten about the target they were hunting this entire time, and unfortunately, they were now the prey. Supposedly. The level-up aura from where Kenshi died was a clear indicator that the three of them were now under-leveled. They expected to be made quick work of, yet nothing was happening.
*>Adverse: What do we do now?*
*>Allux: Hell if I know. Just stick together. Let's try to stay alive until we automatically level up.*
*>Liuzhi: That...*
There were still almost 30 minutes before they leveled up themselves... Could they turtle the match for that long? Nobody had any better ideas, so the two followed Allux's command.
*>Allux: Keep your head on a swivel. We can't stay here.*
If Fae Sol knew the direction Kenshi came from, it wouldn't be difficult for her to find them. They had to move.
The three players stealthily crept through the forest as they frantically attempted to maintain a 360 field of view.
They approached a clearing, but there was no sign of life.
*>Allux: Let's go.*
Taking care to not be seen, they bolted to the next plot of cover. Like this, they continued slinking around while hoping to not be found.
5 minutes...
10 minutes...
20 minutes...
What was going on? They were almost level 1, yet they'd continued to elude her. Were they lucky, or was their opponent actually an idiot? Regardless of which was true, the suspense grew the closer and closer they were to leveling up.
They braced themselves as if guarding against a jumpscare. But...
*System message: Level up!*
...
All three of them simultaneously received this message.
Nothing else happened.
Or so they thought.
*THWACK*
*-10*
A pellet suddenly struck Allux's arm.
Everyone instantly snapped to attention.
*>Adverse: Where did that even come from?*
Nobody had an answer for him. They thought they were paying attention, yet they were still caught off guard. They quickly formed a circle standing back-to-back. As residents of another world would say... they were guarding against an "Avengers level threat"!
*THWACK*
*-20*
Out of seemingly nowhere, another pellet struck Liuzhi in the neck. They tried to estimate where the attack came from by reverse engineering its trajectory, but by the time they were able to figure it out...
*THWACK*
*-20*
... another one came from a completely different direction and struck Adverse in the head.
None of them knew what to do. If they stood still or moved together as a group, they'd get pelted from afar. If they moved separately, they'd get picked off one by one. None of them knew how Kenshi died, either, so they had to be extra careful.
*>Allux: Tch... Everyone, keep your eyes peeled. We'll observe for now. Just make sure to guard your vitals. Once we pinpoint her location, we'll rush her at once.*
*>Kenshi: You guys better win.*
*-10*
...
*-10*
...
*>Liuzhi: How are these hitting?*
Though they tried as hard as possible to dodge, a good percentage of them still managed to hit their mark.
*>Adverse: The frustrating thing is they're not even moving very quickly...*
*>Allux: Guys. Just focus. We can make it through this.*
As more pellets flew at them, Liuzhi noticed a harrowing thing.
*>Liuzhi: Some of them are spinning... and ricocheting as well.*
*>Allux: What?*
*>Adverse: ... It's true, and I didn't want to believe it. We can't win.*
Allux frustratedly glared at his party members who'd suddenly lost all hope.
*-10*
...
*-10*
...
*>Adverse: I'll explain later so even a swordsman like you can understand. Let's just try to make a last stand.*
*>Allux: ...*
Little by little, bits and pieces of HP were shaved off each of them. As their HP chipped away, so did their psyche. After all this time, they'd failed to uncover they enemy's location.
*>Allux: She can't keep this up forever. Don't lose focus!*
Allux's words were prophetic - for a brief moment, maroon hair flickered in his vision. He sent the command to charge in party chat. But before these orders could be processed...
"What-!"
Even the coolheaded Liuzhi yelped in surprise.
"What-? Aren't you a ranged character?"
They were stunned.
This time, another projectile headed their way... and it wasn't a pellet.
"I don't prefer to do this, but who says I have to keep my distance just because I'm ranged?" Fae Sol said as she surged forwards to engage Allux in melee combat.
*Whoosh.*
All three of them had panicked, and everyone attacked nearly simultaneously. Allux swung his sword, and Adverse and Liuzhi fired their pellets. If they hadn't been worn down by the battle of attrition, they might have been able to react in a more orderly manner. However, the pressure they faced significantly crippled their judgement.
Every attack whiffed. Fae Sol's steps precisely stuttered at a range where the solo melee Allux couldn't reach her with a swing and dodging ranged attacks with minimal movement was comfortable.
There was now a one second cooldown before they could release another attack, and Fae Sol took advantage of this to kick off the ground and rapidly close the gap even further.
When he saw this positioning and footwork, a heavy pressure bore down on Allux. Why? His HP had been significantly shaved from the previous pelting, but hand-to-hand and swordplay were his fortes in combat. Was he going to lose like this?
"Dammit!"
The wild girl pounced on him like a tiger, and he was helpless within its jaws.
"Goodnight."
*CRACK*
*-50*
... A pellet struck the left side of Allux's head from pointblank. Receiving damage that easily exceeded his remaining HP, his body exploded into white. Fae Sol absorbed his essence while sidestepping Adverse and Liuzhi's basic attacks.
*>Adverse: Ah, crap. She's easily tracked our cooldowns.*
*>Liuzhi: That should have been obvious... But yeah, it's over.*
It was no longer a fight but a one-sided beatdown. Fae Sol completely overwhelmed the two of them in melee combat. Adverse, an avid sniper, and Liuzhi, a spellcasting fanatic, had no clue what they were doing. They knew how to hold out until support arrived, but right now, no one would come.
They slumped to the floor as Fae Sol absorbed their XP. The last thing they heard was a nonchalant girl's voice as if she were strolling through a park.
"Ugh, my inventory's still full..."
---
*>BrenT: ...*
*>Allux: ...*
*>Molotova: ...*
*>Adverse: ...*
*>Kenshi: ...*
*>Liuzhi: ...*
*>Rizako: ...?*
After the battle's conclusion, the losers could only stare at themselves in a combination of awe and resentment.
*>BrenT: ... I'm sorry, everyone. Meet me back at spawn.*
A few of them had spectated the end of the battle, but there was no longer any reason to stay. About ten minutes later, everyone reconvened in Uval.
"That was just... unlucky," Adverse said.
No one disagreed with him. They'd taken all the necessary precautions and tried their best... yet still came up short in the end. They'd met a terrifying opponent.
They could only curse their bad luck.
They stared at the ground in silence.
No one knew what to say. How could they explain what happened without losing face? But Bren suddenly perked up.
"Maybe... Maybe our luck's not so bad after all."
"Huh?"
They stared at him like he was crazy. Their plan spectacularly faceplanted, so how could he remain positive? Some of them sighed.
"That's just like you, huh?"
They assumed Bren was simply trying to raise morale, but he denied it.
"Take a look at this. I've genuinely got something good."
Nobody knew what he was talking about, but when they saw the snapshot of Bren's friends list he'd posted in chat, they instantly understood.
On this friends list, the six of them were naturally listed. However, there was a new, seventh addition at the bottom.
How? Why? Nobody knew.
But the image was real.
Everyone rubbed their eyes and glanced at it once more, but nothing changed. Because at the bottom of the image was...
*>Fae Sol - Online*
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