Second World Online

The silence that blanketed the Valley of the Forgotten after the explosion of my masterpiece was slowly replaced by the jingling of coins and cheerful cheers. The shallow crater created by the impact of the Frag-Grenade was now filled with a sea of loot that glittered under the virtual moonlight.

"Gold coins! Big Sister Syl, there are gold coins dropping from ordinary monsters!" Yuuki squealed in excitement.

The white two-tailed fox avatar ran and hopped through the remaining gunpowder dust. She used her muzzle and front paws to dig through the piles of items left behind by the thirty Dullahan Vanguard. Behind her, Lumina the Elf Priest walked slowly while picking up several pieces of armor and weapons, while Flora the Dryad Azalea extended her fine tendrils from atop Lumina’s shoulder to help collect small materials.

The Second World Online system indeed designed Monster Hordes as slaughter festivals with high-tier rewards (High Risk, High Reward). Defeating them granted additional bonuses not only to EXP, but also to the item drop rate.

I stood leaning my back against a dead tree, arms folded across my chest while watching the three of them work like the happiest scavenger team on the entire server.

About fifteen minutes later, Yuuki ran up to me with an inventory bag that appeared to have virtually expanded.

"Reporting, Teacher!" Yuuki called out while giving a military salute with her tiny fox front paws. "We obtained a total of twenty-five gold coins, hundreds of silver coins, twelve pieces of Rusted Plate Armor, and dozens of bone materials. But the most important..."

Yuuki dropped five fist-sized round crystals in front of me that radiated a dark aura.

[Undead Knight’s Core] x5 (Rare) – Crafting material for the darkness element.

I nodded in satisfaction. "You may keep all the gold coins and the armor. Those plate armors can be auctioned in the city tomorrow for a decent price, because there will definitely be blacksmiths who need their melting materials. I will only take the crystal cores (Core)."

"Eh? But Big Sister Syl was the one who killed them all alone!" Lumina protested, her eyes widening in disagreement. "Big Sister deserves most of this money!"

Flora quickly nodded her flower head from Lumina’s shoulder. "That’s right, Big Sister. We only freeloaded on the EXP. We can’t take the money too."

I laughed softly, then crouched down to match the height of my gaze with Yuuki and Flora. I stroked Yuuki’s fox head, which immediately closed its eyes in enjoyment of the touch.

"Listen, you still need a lot of gold coins to upgrade your equipment (gear) and buy potions. Twenty-five gold coins might sound like a lot to you, but to me, these crystal cores are far more valuable," I explained in a soft yet firm tone. "Do you remember the uproar in front of my shop yesterday? Just by selling a few mud bombs, I could earn more than a hundred gold coins. Money is not a problem for me right now."

Hearing that explanation, the three girls finally nodded in understanding, though still with reluctant expressions. They began dividing the loot into their respective inventories.

"Well, after your inventories are full, let’s continue," I said while standing and straightening my gray cloak. "Our main objective tonight has not yet been achieved."

We resumed following the footpath, going deeper into the heart of the Valley of the Forgotten. As time passed, the terrain that had previously been rocky and hard began to turn soft and muddy. Pools of greenish-black water started appearing on our right and left sides, emitting bubbles of foul-smelling gas.

"Ugh, what is this smell?" Yuuki covered her fox nose with both front paws.

The gray mist that had been blanketing the valley until now changed color to a pale green. Exactly when we stepped past a pair of ruined stone pillars, a small green skull icon blinked in the corner of my vision.

[Environmental Warning: You have entered a Poisonous Miasma Zone!]

[-15 HP/second]

Purple damage numbers began appearing alternately above our heads.

"Big Sister! Our HP keeps decreasing!" Flora cried in panic, watching her thin HP bar begin to slowly erode.

"Let me heal!" Lumina immediately raised her staff, radiating [Aura of Light] magic to provide area regeneration. However, Lumina’s basic healing regeneration only provided recovery of about 10 HP per second, not enough to cover the constant damage from the poisonous air in this place.

If left alone, we would all die slowly in less than five minutes.

"Save your mana, Lumina," I stopped her quickly.

My left hand slid into my alchemy belt pouch. I took out four small glass bottles containing clear blue liquid that glowed in the darkness.

[Elixir of Pure Breath – Rare]

An advanced alchemy potion extracted from rare mint leaves and holy water. Grants absolute immunity against Miasma and Gas (Airborne) type poisons for 60 minutes.

"Drink this. All of you," I said while tossing the bottles to them. I myself downed one bottle without removing my mask, merely shifting it slightly upward.

A cold sensation like crushed ice stones immediately flowed down my throat. The green skull icon in the corner of my vision instantly changed into a blue shield icon. The HP reduction numbers stopped completely.

Yuuki downed the potion and immediately stuck out her tongue. "Eww, it tastes like drinking a whole tube of toothpaste! So spicy and cold!"

Lumina gave a bottle to Flora, who drank it carefully. Both of them exhaled in relief when their HP bar indicators returned to safety.

"This is why I said fighting high-level bosses is not always about how large your defense stats are, but how prepared your logistics are," I explained, once again leading the way through the swamp. "Many major Guilds die ridiculously in zones like this not because they get hit by the boss, but because they underestimate environmental debuffs."

We continued moving through the green mist for about ten minutes. The sounds of crickets or night birds were completely absent. This was a pure death zone.

Until finally, we arrived at a wide open area in the middle of the swamp. In the center of that area stood the remains of an ancient mausoleum, most of which had sunk into the poisonous mud. On top of the curved roof of the mausoleum sat something that would make anyone’s blood surge with dread.

A giant dull-white mound, covered by webs of green slime. That mound slowly moved. Eight long legs made of interwoven human and monster bones stretched out, planting themselves into the mausoleum stone with hard cracking sounds.

Its main body was shaped like a spider, yet it was entirely made of skeletons joined by purple necrotic muscle tissue and a giant green fluid sac on its abdomen. Eight blue flame eyes glowed on its head section, staring straight at us.

[Noxious Bone Arachnid – Level 35 (Zone Boss)]

HP: 25,000/25,000

Type: Undead / Poison Beast

Description: The queen of the swamp who sews the bones of her challengers into her legs. Her abdomen stores the most lethal corrosive poison in the entire valley.

"Twenty-five thousand HP..." Lumina muttered in horror, swallowing hard.

"A giant bone spider... so disgusting!" Yuuki bared her fox fangs; the fur on her neck and tails stood on end from peaked wary instinct. Flora even hid her face behind the collar of Lumina’s robe.

My eyes sparkled from behind the Gargoyle’s Visage mask. This was it. My primary target. The complementary material I needed to perfect the next stage of my alchemy modification was inside the belly of that giant spider.

"Alright, your practical class begins now," I said, drawing the [Titan’s Ironbark Compound Bow] from my back. I would not finish this in one second like fighting the Dullahan. I needed my little sister’s party to learn boss battle mechanics.

"Yuuki! Your main job is not to attack the boss, but to burn every web it spews! Don’t let its webs touch the ground or our movement space will be locked!" I shouted, beginning to stretch my bow arm. "Lumina, this boss will fire poison projectiles (Spit). Don’t let anyone’s HP drop below 50%! Flora, its eyes are extremely sensitive! Use your blinding spores when I give the signal!"

"Ready, Teacher!" they shouted with far more confident tones after seeing me slaughter an entire horde alone earlier. They now realized that having me in this party was the same as activating absolute safety mode.

The Noxious Bone Arachnid boss let out a high-pitched screech that sounded like metal being scraped, then leaped from atop the mausoleum. That body weighing tons landed on the swamp ground, creating waves of poisonous mud in all directions.

It opened its bone jaws and fired a giant green slime glob straight toward us.

"Scatter!" I commanded.

The four of us leaped in different directions. The giant slime slammed into the ground where we had stood a second ago, producing a loud hissing sound and melting the surrounding rocks within seconds.

While sliding across the mud thanks to my boots coated in wind magic, I drew the steel cable of my compound bow. The asymmetrical cams at its ends clicked softly, granting me 70% weight reduction. I could aim while running with perfect accuracy!

I nocked a steel Bodkin arrow. Without casting any skills, I released a basic attack (Basic Attack).

DZHANG!

The arrow shot forth and embedded precisely in the joint of the spider boss’s straight front leg. Steel clashed with bone, creating a large crack.

[-850 Physical Damage!]

Even though its defense was thick, the Titan’s Heavy Draw passive ensured my attack penetrated inward. The monster groaned; its leg limped slightly. It turned its face and glared at me with full wrath, immediately locking me as the highest threat priority (Highest Aggro).

The spider ran toward me at a speed abnormal for its size, spewing poisonous webs to trap my movement.

"Yuuki! Now!" I shouted.

"Take this, you ugly eight-legged thing! [Fire Wall]!"

The white fox leaped high, firing a vortex of fire from both her mouth and staff at the same time. A wall of fire exploded lengthwise, completely burning every slimy web flying toward me before the webs could touch the ground.

"Flora!" I commanded again.

Flora, perched on Lumina’s shoulder, closed her eyes and gathered all her nature mana. "[Blinding Spores]!"

Thousands of golden glowing pollen grains shot through the residual smoke of Yuuki’s burned webs, immediately enveloping the eight blue flame eyes of the boss. The bone monster screeched in confusion, blindly swinging its front sickle legs through empty air.

"Perfect," I whispered.

This was true team cooperation mechanics. I did not need to dodge; I had enough space and time. I firmly planted my stance on a dry rock chunk.

I fired steel Bodkin arrows in succession. The mechanical modification that removed the Attack Speed penalty on my bow truly changed the way a giant archer worked. In three seconds, I could release four bone-piercing arrows. All of them slammed into vital points at the monster’s leg joints.

The giant HP bar plummeted drastically, touching the 30% mark.

However, in Second World Online, touching a critical number meant triggering an absolute danger phase (Enrage).

The giant spider boss stopped thrashing. The color of the flames in its eyes changed from blue to a fierce blood-red glow. Its giant abdomen filled with green poison began pumping rapidly, swelling like a balloon ready to burst. The entire swamp trembled as if responding to the anger of its ruler.

[Warning: Noxious Bone Arachnid enters Toxic Nova Phase!]

"Big Sister Syl! Its belly is blinking!" Lumina shouted in panic. "If that explodes, this entire area will be covered in corrosive poison that ordinary antidotes can’t withstand!"

"It’s going to douse us with dissolving acid!" Flora added in fear.

Dodging was not an option. The Toxic Nova attack was designed to level an entire arena. The only way to neutralize it was by dealing Burst Damage (Massive Damage) in less than five seconds to kill it before it could explode.

"Stay where you are. I will end it," I said coldly, my eyes narrowing sharply.

I turned my body slightly and put the remaining Bodkin arrows back into the quiver. In exchange, my left hand reached into the special quiver on my right back. I pulled out a masterpiece I had created that afternoon.

A Blood Oak wooden arrow shaft, with a tip made from fragments of the Silverwing Zephyr Griffin’s beak, and fletching from its steel feathers. The arrow radiated wild blue static electricity sparks that crackled all the way to the sleeve of my cloak.

The moment I nocked the [Zephyr’s Judgment Arrow] onto the bowstring, the air in the swamp suddenly felt heavy. The atmosphere pressed down. The crackling sound of high-voltage electricity drowned out the boss’s rumbling.

I drew the steel cable of the Titan’s Ironbark Compound Bow to its absolute maximum.

This time, I did not use a basic shot. I cast my entire deadly combo simultaneously.

[Power Shot] glowed blue. [Vital Shot] locked precisely onto the center of the monster’s giant poison sac. [Piercing Gale Arrow] gathered a drilling wind storm that immediately fused with the lightning element of the arrow.

Three seconds of casting felt like time had stopped. The storm of wind and lightning coiled around the tip of my arrow, creating a magical resonance that made the space in front of me tremble.

"Explode," I whispered absolutely.

I released the string.

KRAKKA-BOOOOOOM!

The sound that was created was no longer the sound of an arrow being fired. It was the sound of lightning striking the earth.

The arrow shot forth beyond the speed of sound, leaving a blinding blue lightning trail. The wind blast from its release even split the mud pools beneath my feet in two.

The lightning arrow slammed precisely into the center of the Noxious Bone Arachnid boss’s swelling abdomen.

There was no resistance. There was no damage reduction. The arrow designed purely from the essence of a Level 29 Elite Boss penetrated inward without obstacle.

The next second, the passive effect [Judgement Chain] triggered from inside the spider’s belly! A giant chain lightning explosion burst from within, tearing apart the necrotic muscle tissue and reducing all its supporting bones to ash in an instant.

Bright blue light completely swallowed the boss. The chain lightning even struck the mausoleum behind it, shattering the ancient stones until they collapsed into pieces.

[Lethal Hit! Elite Weakness Exploited! Overkill!]

[-18,500 Physical/Lightning Damage!]

The giant swamp guardian monster did not even have time to scream. My finishing attack evaporated its remaining 30% HP as if it were merely a puddle of water drying under desert sunlight. The giant body shattered into pieces, exploding into an extraordinarily bright data swirl that illuminated the astonished faces of my party members who were still frozen in place.

[Congratulations! You have killed [Noxious Bone Arachnid] (Zone Boss – Level 35)!]

[Gained 85,000 EXP (Over-level Boss Bonus)!]

[Level Up! Yuuki reaches Level 24!]

[Level Up! Lumina reaches Level 23!]

[Level Up! Flora reaches Level 23!]

[Level Up! Syl reaches Level 28!]

The echoes of lightning slowly faded, leaving absolute silence in the Valley of the Forgotten. The green miasma in the area gradually dispersed, as if acknowledging its defeat to the artificial storm ruler I had just launched.

The white fox Yuuki, the Priest Lumina, and the Dryad Flora were unable to say a word. They only stared at the smoking crater left by the lightning explosion, then stared at me, and stared at the giant bow that still emitted thin smoke in my hands.

I walked casually toward the pile of purple-glowing loot in the middle of the crater. Among the gold coins and items lay a round sac radiating a corrosive aura.

[Noxious Venom Gland] – Rarity: Epic.

The pure venom gland of the Miasma Swamp Boss. The most lethal material for weapon coating and the creation of explosive poisons.

I stored it in my inventory with a crooked smile behind the stone mask. The puzzle pieces for my next mind-destroying alchemy weapon were now complete.

"Come on, Captain," I said casually while waving my hand toward my little sister who was still gaping. "We have to return to the city. I have a date with my work table tomorrow morning."