There is Something Wrong with This Game

A019 – Party End

The hunting continues as normal. The party spend the time killing undeads in the B2F of the Sealed Mausoleum.

Each time they battled, Hecate always used her Dragon Howling to gather hate into herself. It also act as a debuffer, inflicting 10% down status to every one in the vicinity, friend or foe. But this time, the party was informed beforehand, so they were prepared and able to cover their ears in time.

'Perhaps if it was the real Sharknath, the status down would be 90%, same as when receiving his Dragon Roar.

That's quite a troublesome debuff for sure, but it can still be avoided by covering my ears.'

Don't look down on Sharknath just because he was defeated so easily. Despite he got defeated, he was still a World BOSS. It took a full raid of 100 pioneer players to dwindle his HP down to 1%, before he got decimated by Hecate's Mana Explosion.

Maybe because this Dragon Howling was not even a skill, just a mere loud sound so the effect was diminished. Hecate hoped that she can meld it as an Extra skill, like when she got Meditate skill 2 years ago. But it seems it was just a hopeful wish.

Hecate shook her head.

'Well, if it was that easy to create a skill with just a recorded video, everyone would have done it long ago.'

Though, using it and pretending to be a skill did not seem to be a problem.

In the middle of the battle, Rena-cchi was the first to level up. Her level now was 108, she had recovered her lost level during Black Phantom's assault. She hugged Hecate excitedly.

"Yaay! Hecate-cchi, I leveled up!"

"Congrats, Rena."

Hecate congratulated her while being cuddled.

Not long after that, Emilia also leveled up to 109, while Kazu's EXP bar seemed like he still needed another 10% to fill. After seeing his two party members leveled up, he got heated.

"Yosh, I won't lose. I just need 10% left to level up back to 109!"

"Good luck, Kazu-kun!" | "You can do it, Kazu-cchi!"

Emilia expressed her support while Rena-cchi cheered.

Hecate only nods silently.

The hunting continues again.

Another thing that Hecate discovered during this hunting party was the unexpected influence of her newly gained Extra Skill, Precision Mana Control.

During normal times after casting a spell, Hecate could only aim it at the enemy and be done with it. But now, she found that she could somewhat manipulate the output of her spell by controlling her mana. 

For example, if she used the spell Waterbolt Lv5 from the ring, she can unleash 5 water bullets. Now she can either concentrate the bullet into one powerful shot, or spread them to 10 shots, but with weaker power.

After various trial and error, Hecate can conclude the result very quickly.

Waterbolt Lv5 (executed inside Holy Water mist):

1. 1. Normal: ~18000 dmg 5
   2. Concentrated: ~74000 dmg 1
   3. Spread: ~8200 dmg 10

With the experiment, Hecate immediately realized the true potential of its use.

The normal spell deals five times the damage for a total of ~90k, the spread version deals ten times the damage for a total of ~82k, while the concentrated version only deals ~74k single damage.

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'There is a loss in the amount of damage when the power is modified. But that doesn't matter.

The most important thing was that concentrated shots were capable of producing burst damage. Judging from the results of the spell individually, it might seem like there was a loss. But, what if it was consecutive burst spells?

If she used burst spells instead of normal one consecutively, certainly her DPS will be elevated to another level. Of course in exchange, it will cause crazy MP consumption. But, with her huge MP pool and some Hi-Ether potions, that was a trivial problem.

The real problem was only the casts time and the cooldown, but that also has a solution. 

'If I use a spell from my skill tree or from equipment, there will be such things. But, Spell Scrolls do not have any of that and can be used in a row without problem! '

Which means, Hecate can use the Spell Scrolls in rapid fire and treat them as ammunition, with each shot concentrated.

It was too bad that Rena-cchi, Emilia, and Kazu were present. So, Hecate didn't dare to experiment further than this. The experiment was also carried out using only 5 Ring of Aqua, so this was not her full power. If she wore all 10 rings, the damage produced would definitely be more magnificent.

She could only imagine the scenery of unleashing consecutive burst spells using 10 rings. When that time comes, her damage will be increased by at least twice. Perhaps the situation would be like:

• • 'Hyahhaa! Cease your futile resistance and KISS the ground at once! DE~ATH! ' 

    *PU PU PU PU PU PU PU PU PU*

  • -148000  -148000  -148000  -148000  -148000  -148000  -148000  -148000 
    • 'GYAAAAA!'
    • 'DAMN! This LOLI is too stronk!'
    • 'Mayday! Mayday!'

Hecate secretly let out an impish glee.

Using Spell Scrolls as ammunition was not a new play style, especially for non spellcaster classes. The scrolls can be purchased at the Mage Association for gold coins and can be used by anyone regardless of their classes. However, only wealthy players dared to do this because it required them to burn money to maintain it. Fortunately, Hecate was not short of gold coins at all.

This was undoubtedly a prodigal play style!

Not only that, each time she manipulated her spell, she received a proficiency notification.

Looking at this notification, Hecate smiled. This indicates that the skill was upgrade-able. She looked forward what will happen once the proficiency bar filled and this skill leveled up.

"We almost reached the 3rd floor. Look, that's the stairs."

Emilia's words attracted Hecate's attention. Without realizing it, they had reached the end of B2F.

Spells used (rings): Waterbolt (Lv5) 17, Water Vapor (Lv3) 8

Items used: Waterbolt Lv10 Scroll 3, Holy Water 8

As usual, Emilia went down first to scout the area before sending the party the video scenery of B3F. Hecate, Rena-cchi, and Kazu carefully watched the video, afraid of missing any of the vital information.

And then, the enemy lineup was:

[][Corpse Steeling - Lv110] (??) - HP ~20.500

[][Reaped Skull - Lv118] (??) - HP ~38.500

[][Death Warrior - Lv125] (150) - HP ~128.500

[][Death Archer - Lv126] (150) - HP ~88.500

[][Death Mage - Lv126] (150) - HP ~80.500

[][Wraith Dead - Lv128] (30) - HP ~142.000

[][Banshee Master - Lv129] (30) - HP ~140.000

[][Ghoul Slaughter - Lv132] (10) - HP ~165.000

[][Reaper - Lv137]  (2) - HP ?????? <detect failed>

Looking at this lineup, the party had mixed reaction.

On the ceiling, there are many stalactites where many Steeling bats live there. Similar to the previous floor, the Steeling bats were not a threat. None of the party members concerned about their existence.

However, the real concern was the difference of the floor structure.

Unlike the previous floor area which was a straightforward maze, B3F is an open space area without walls. In addition, this area consisted of a series of wide stone floor paths hanging over the endless ravine. The paths formed 3d maze, split to left, right, up and down direction. And this maze spans to the bottom of the ravine.

The enemies have thicker HP than the previous enemies they faced. Many of the enemies have ranged attacks and there are some that capable of flying. Due to the nature of the area being open, there are risk of being mobbed too much by them all at once.

Not only that, from the information of the last raid, the party already know that they also have instant-death attacks. This attacks ignores anything except its resistance and directly reduce the victim HP to zero.

Rena-cchi: "Those undeads are too scary. How can we pass this floor?"

Kazu: "Isn't this an impossible situation? They are too strong for our level right now."

Emilia: "..."

The three had a complicated expression on their face.

Facing the Dullahan in the B2F already make them struggling hard enough. It was very fortunate for them they only face one at a time due to the walls. But in this open floor, not only the enemies were stronger, there was also no guarantee that they wouldn't be ganged up by the enemies.

Especially, with the existence of the two Reapers in the far distance. Their question HP mark was intimidating enough too look at. Trying to face them with just 4 people was just courting death.

Only Hecate who was happy with this lineup.

Currently, her level was 131.

With her level, the previous enemies were just trash that gave her no EXP at all. The only exception were the Dullahans who were level 118 monsters. But since the EXP distribution wasn't set to Even Share and she rarely contributed in those battles, her EXP gain was almost nothing.

In comparison, the enemies on this floor were just right.

'The distance of each path is about 4 or 5 meters. With that kind of distance, only the Death Archers can snipe us from the opposite path. The Death Mages didn't have an accurate aim, so they wouldn't use their spells unless they were under 2 meters away. On the contrary, I and Emi can snipe them all from the distance.'

'For flying enemies, the bats (Corpse Steeling) and the skulls (Reaped Skull) can be quite troublesome. But they can be one-shooted to death. The problem is the Wraiths and Banshees, but they were low in number.'

'The Ghoul Slaughters are unpredictable because they can perform skill arts. They can also suddenly throw poisonous darts, so extra attention required when they were in sight. As for the Reapers... they won't move from their position unless approached, so they can be left alone for last.'

Hecate analyzed the enemies calmly and make sure she was equipped with two specific rings.

These rings was something she obtained from the Ornus Village beforehand.

The instant-death attack was not a spell, so it can't be intercepted by Spell Breaker.

Of course, her Fortune Instinct can detect any fatal threat that will cause Hecate to die. The glaring red would be obvious to see. Dodge was still possible. However, due to the limited foothold, a slip can cause her to fall into the endless darkness. It would be better to reduce the need to dodge as much as she can. 

Hence, this ring was necessary.

One ring did not completely nullify the threat of instant-death attacks, but wearing two was enough. Not only that, in her inventory there are also several Life Insurance Scrolls and Exp Potions that are ready to be used.

'My preparation is complete! I'm ready to go.'

Hecate shifted her glance to the party, waiting for their preparation to complete. But alas, unfortunately they had different plan.

Kazu was the one who speak first.

"I suppose this is about the time. Let's stop now. We also only have 30 minutes left before the next class."

"Eh, what?"

Hecate can only let out a stupefied voice.

She couldn't believe what she heard.

"I agree. We're just recovered our level back with great effort. I don't wanna died and get a level down again."

"Well, this can't be helped anyway. It's impossible to continue with just us. We probably need at least half of the raid party to explore in this floor. Let's just stop and wait tomorrow until the enemies here respawn."

Rena-cchi and Emilia also expressed their opinion.

Hearing their words, Hecate was speechless. She looked at them incredulously. She wanted to retort.

'This is the end? Wasn't this the main event?

What are you saying, Emi, Rena? With our lineup, it is NOT impossible!

Aren't we the Pioneers? Why afraid of death? Why do you think Life Insurance Scroll exist?'

Hecate couldn't understand why they are so cowardly. Not only them, but also the overall players who seems afraid of death. It was just a game, death in the game does not mean death for real.

The death penalty of a level loss and restriction login might be scary, but even that can be nullified by Life Insurance Scroll.

But after a careful thought, she felt that soloing in this place was still possible. There was no need to fuss over about partying. If the party ended, so be it.

"Then, let's return to the city."

Kazu and Rena-cchi nodded from Emilia's words. They took out the Town Scroll from their inventory and prepared to use it. Only Hecate who didn't nod and keep silent.

Then, she said to the party.

"I'll stay here for a while."

"Huh? Hecate-cchi, you're not coming with us?"

"I need to do something first. I will return later."

Rena-cchi asked her worriedly, but Hecate only shook her head with a smile.

Kazu couldn't help but interjected from the side.

"Is that so? Should we wait for you, Hecate-chan?"

"No need. This is my privacy. Just go."

Kazu wanted to say something, but Emilia quickly interrupt him.

"Kazu-kun, don't pry on a girl's secret. Let's go back! Ehem... Hecate, we go first."

"Hecate-cchi, see you later." | "Bye, Hecate-chan."

"Okay, see you later."

Hecate waved her hand as she watched the three turned into white light and disappeared.

After confirming they were gone, she opened her interface and clicked the Option menu. In there, she selected the Hotkey setting and changed the Thought Command option from Disable to Enable. Now, she can use her thoughts to activate the hotkeys.

Then, she set up the Waterbolt, Coldbolt and Ice Barrage scrolls to one of the hotkey, right beside Life Insurance Scroll hotkey.

Done with that, she took out an Exp Potion from the inventory and drank it.

"Preparation done. Now let's start the game."

Fully prepared, she walked down the stairs and entered the B3F.