Boss Monster Upgrade

The players were ready to take down this 'so-called' Boss monster, and they decided they had to do so quickly.

The monster staggered backward as the players climbed on it and used their weapons to hit it.

It was all according to plan for Drahon. His aim was to try and destroy the glowing stuff by the heart of the monster.

He gritted his teeth as he climbed, the monster moving around, trying to wriggle them off it.

Being overwhelmed by them climbing on it, the Boss monster stomped its large legs on the ground.

Stomp!

The ground shook a bit, and Justin, who was just about to fire an arrow, was affected as he fell hard on the ground from the impact, mistakenly shooting the arrows at the players.

The arrows whizzed towards them, and they all saw it coming. They instantly jumped from the Boss monster in order to protect themselves as the arrow came at full speed.

But mid-air, an arrow struck Vanyra by her left leg, half of it sinking into her skin and down her…

"ARRGH!" she shouted, holding the leg.

The Boss monster, who had now removed the arrows from its eyes, looked in her direction, and before they could blink, it stepped on her.

Squish!

Drahon, even though this shouldn't have any effect on him as he was someone who didn't give a fuck, was horrified.

There was more than met the eye.

Blood splattered in the air, and Drahon could see an organ of Vanyra's body he couldn't recognize fly in the air and land on Devon's face, who, although flinched a bit as it met his face and fell to the ground, was indifferent.

The Boss monster paused, looking at the dead body— what remained of it. Its leg was still on it.

The other players were horrified, and they were literally shivering with fear. Some seconds ago, they had control over the monster, and now, they had lost a player—so brutally.

Justin, from afar, was also speechless.

The Boss monster studied the players. It did so unusually because the look was long and not a natural one, like it was observing, noting what to do next.

Like it was feeding off their fears. And if it was to succeed, it would be ripping them apart.

"This was expected," Devon muttered softly, and the players looked at him in surprise.

And perhaps Devon was right. The death ratio of the players since entering the game was alarming.

Very much alarming, to the extent that the 'author' had lost count.

And the voice tracking their records, it told them that they shouldn't really bother if someone dies, and that was a big mystery on its own.

Why shouldn't they bother if someone died?

Frankly, the players weren't so bothered with the deaths of other players, but with Vanyra, things were different, and it was because… they knew her.

They knew Vanyra. At least they had a conversation with her. She was… surprisingly special.

The players exchanged glances.

The Boss monster still didn't move, and Drahon noticed it was using its IQ powers, silently studying their behavior.

At first, it came as a random thought for Drahon, but when he really pondered about it… he realized…

…he re…a…lized!

The Boss Monster was thinking of doing the same to them.

The moment the thought hit Drahon, he exchanged glances with Devon, and it struck him that Devon had the same thought.

Runes appeared quickly in front of him with the stats:

[Boss Monster Quake Stomp] > [Earthsplitter Stomp upgrade]

[A devastating area-of-effect move that shakes the ground violently, staggering and draining stamina from any player within close range. Has a high chance of causing temporary paralysis or weapon drop if players are mid-skill cast.]

•Impact: 97

•Stamina reduction: 73

•Force: 81

•Power: 91

•Brutality: 99

The players exchanged glances, affirming that they all had received the same notification.

The Boss monster was still motionless.

They saw more stats:

[Skull-Rend Roar]

[Emits a roar capable of rupturing eardrums, instilling fear in lower-tier players and interrupting skills in mid-cast. Players caught in the direct blast may enter a 'Panic' debuff for 3 seconds. Cannot affect targets directly beneath the Boss or in its blind spot.]

•Shockwave Radius: 86

•Fear Induction: 93

•Auditory Damage: 78

•Mental Disruption: 88

•Break Rate: 90

[Hell Gaze (Eye Lock)]

[When both glowing eyes fix on a target, the player receives a "Mind Crush" alert. Their vision may blur, movement slows, and if they don't break eye contact or dodge within 1.5 seconds, they are frozen in place and left vulnerable to follow-up attacks.]

•Lock-On Precision: 94

•Paralyze Chance: 87

•Mind Crush Potential: 91

•Range: 76

•Cooldown: 40 seconds

[Ironhide Defense]

[Its outer shell is reinforced with abyssal steel hide. Reduces incoming ranged damage by over half unless hit in a weak point (e.g. eyes, underarms, or spine bones). Requires Tier-S or higher weaponry to pierce consistently.]

•Damage Resistance: 89

•Arrow Deflection: 84

•Melee Resistance: 92

•Core Weakness Exposure: 22

•Duration: Passive

[Wild Swipe]

[A rapid series of large swipes with its clawed hands. Can hit multiple players in a single arc. If you're struck, there's a chance of being thrown backwards or knocked into another player, causing chain damage.]

•Reach: 72

•Damage Output: 85

•Knockback Range: 79

•Bleed Effect: 66

•Combo Potential: 2–4 swings

The Boss Monster was having an upgrade?

What was the game mechanics trying to do?

With all the stats Drahon (with the other players) had been bamboozled with, he was panicking now.

He even heard Devon say:

"I guess this is our fate. We can't defeat something that'll upgrade to have this much skills?"

The Boss Monster removed a leg from the now 'pulp'-looking dead body of Vanyra (what was left of it).

Justin was running towards their direction. He was doing so softly so as not to be noticed by the Boss Monster, but it was all for nothing.

Like Flash, the Boss monster sped to his direction, holding him by one of his legs and flipping him upside down in the air.

His quiver full of endless arrows fell, and so did his bow, and the Boss monster looked at the player directly in the eyes.

Justin avoided eye contact with the monster because of its skill.

But that didn't matter. The monster would get him nonetheless.

This might have seemed like the end for Justin, but for Drahon, it was the beginning to the end of this Boss Monster.

With the monster distracted, he ran over to where the quiver full of arrows lay together with the bow.

He picked just two arrows with the bow and quickly ran away before the monster stepped on him.

He wasn't accurate with shots, and so he had wanted more arrows.

Nevertheless, it was according to plan.

With the monster distracted with wanting to kill Justin, who was trying to fall off the monster's hold, he positioned the arrow and took a shot. He was aiming for the glowing stuff in the middle of the monster's chest.

He missed.

He cursed under his breath.

He was panicking real bad now. This was his last shot, and as the other players stared at him, they regarded him as their last hope—even Devon.

The Boss monster was still distracted…

Drahon had to save Justin. He didn't know why, but he was the reason the plan was working in the first place.

The Boss monster held the neck of Justin, ready to finally squish!

Drahon closed one eye, gazing at the stuff in the monster's chest.

It was the way to end this, not to face any of the Boss monster's new skills…

Hoping for the best, he took the shot...