In the mall's basement, the air was heavy.

The party members still felt sick from the earlier events. Their gaze shifted between the defeated little girl and their own shaking hands. It felt too real.

[Congratulations on defeating the murderer! Was it fun?] 

The group sent murderous glares at the system message. Josh could only shrug. They would get used to it. 

That's when they came back to the same spot as every iteration beforehand. It felt quite like a nightmare where no matter how far you run it is all pointless. 

[This is the last Mission! Find and defeat the enemies! Good luck!] 

"What?! He's gone just like that?! I still want to complain about the last mission!" AIYA grumbled. 

Josh couldn't help but smile, but then his expression froze. He had sensed something headache-inducing. The other team members were chatting, without a care in the world. How would they react if they knew? 

That's when he shared a look with Minor. The man had been observing him. The way Josh had cracked the mystery so easily before had left an impression on him. He approached and softly murmured. 

"What should we do?" 

"If you had to fight many enemies armed with guns, where would you want it to happen?" Josh whispered. 

"The underground basement. We can use the darkness and the support columns as cover. Plus, we have plenty of room to move. Our team does badly in small enclosed spaces." Minor replied. 

"What if they are numerous enough to watch every entry leading to it and lie in wait?" 

"We have ways to draw them in, no worries." 

Josh nodded before peacefully following the others. He seemed to be merely strolling. As for finding the enemies? Josh didn't seem to care. At some point, they just happened to walk near a metal trapdoor leading to the basement. 

"Right, guys. There is something I want to check out real quick." He opened it with a creaking sound. This made all the bystanders turn their way. 

They were all so different. There were women, men, children, elders. Some appeared to be rich, poor, middle-class. There was lots of diversity there. But they all stared at the party intensely as the group headed to the basement. 

They began showing clear animosity and grinned slightly, the same grin Ness had shown before. Then, they slipped their hands in their clothes and brought out guns. 

"Holy shit!" Joe shouted! "Quick, go inside!" 

RA-TA-TA-TA-TA! That is when began a rain of death. Bullets started flying toward them. There was the sound of gunfire but also of barriers breaking. 

They regrouped in the darkness below. Their faces showed unease, and Emsee's body was bleeding all over as he had been the last one to enter. He was riddled with bullet holes but was quickly recuperating. 

"Another life saved! Good Job, Minor!" AIYA commented. 

"What the Hell was that?!" Joe shouted. 

"I'm afraid we have found the enemies. More accurately, the enemies have found us. Josh, how many are there?" Minor looked at him seriously. 

"All of them. Hundreds, thousands perhaps." He stated the obvious. 

"These guys up there had pistols, right?! How could they break your defensive magic with such small calibers?!" Emsee asked perplexed.

"Their bullets are enchanted. It's doubtful how many hits even my golden armor can take. We can't let ourselves be surrounded." Minor replied. 

"They can't have that many enchanted bullets, right?! These things are such a pain to manufacture!" Emsee argued. 

"Don't delude yourself. This is a Tower. Anything can happen. Logic is irrelevant here." Minor reminded. 

"Fine! Goddamnit! This feels bad. Now we have to run from such archaic weapons too?!" Joe complained.  Josh couldn't help but feel weird hearing the term archaic for guns.

Josh's usual tactic would be to swagger up there and use enemy bodies to block bullets, but that wouldn't work. Against these magical means, a corpse wouldn't offer much cover. 

Before they could plan more, there were already invaders. That's when AIYA shined. He shot in quick succession, and then grunts could be heard as lifeless bodies fell down the ladder. But there were way more. 

"Let me do this real quick then." Emsee took a step forward and began playing some weird music. 

First, it seemed to originate a distance away from his current position. How? Then, it clearly affected the enemies. It was confusing them as some threw themselves down the hole, breaking their necks. 

"What is that?" Josh couldn't help but show curiosity. 

"It's a melody to mess with the brain's reactions. Honestly, I'm surprised this works that well. This means that the actual level of the enemies is low. Usually, it just causes slight sluggishness." Emsee explained. 

"Slight sluggishness near a danger hazard can do the trick perfectly," Joe added. 

"What's the plan then?" Josh asked.

"We hold this position. If we go out, we'll look like swiss cheese in no time." Minor commented. 

"I dislike swiss cheese. Too many holes, the more cheese you have and the more empty it looks…."AIYA chimed in. 

"Great input. This is definitely going to help in a life-or-death situation." Joe sarcastically replied. 

"Isn't it possible to temporarily have AIYA exit and shoot some of them down before retreating? With Minor's defense and Emsee's support." Josh proposed. 

"It's too dangerous. It just takes one bullet to the head, and it will be game over. We got lucky earlier. If multiple projectiles make contact at once, my barrier may as well not exist." Minor denied. 

"Alright. Defense perimeter it is. I'll get us some Eternal Chimes going. Joe, check how many possible pathways the enemies can come from. AIYA, you kill these guys if they try coming in. Minor, make sure no one dies. Josh, ....where did you get brownies from?! Ah, never mind." Emsee assigned tasks. 

"So, what exactly is an Eternal Chime?" Josh asked. 

"It's a magical ability that allows putting a melody on repeat in a set location. In that case, he'll mostly set up alarms and some traps. It will tell us how many enemies are coming from which direction." Minor shared his knowledge. 

"That's neat!" Josh replied enthusiastically. It seemed that Minor was in teaching mode as he kept going. 

"It's just a shame that Usain isn't here. If anyone can run faster than bullets, it's him. He's probably the only scout in existence that doesn't care about being sneaky. He's the legendary triple F hero after all." 

"Oh?" 

"His Class is Fleet-Footed Fantasm. He's either in 'speed is power' mode or in 'invincible speedster' mode. In either case, he's running." 

"Invincible?" 

"He has a skill that renders him very hard to kill and lowers his aggro. Combined with his insane speed, it makes monsters generally give up on chasing him." 

"So he scouts by rushing to the enemies, not hiding whatsoever, then he simply runs away?" Josh couldn't help but be impressed. 

That's when the two others came back. Apparently, there were two main pathways plus the entrance above them. Each basement room was gigantic, so they had ample room to maneuver. 

"Alright, guess we'll set camp here for the night. The best situation for us is them invading. We can either shoot them down as they climb the ladder here or have them fall into the traps that are set up." Emsee suggested. 

Josh couldn't help but smile. Talk about a wholesome moment. A sleepover with friends. What else could he ask for? Of course, the answer was ice cream, duh.

That's how he rested on the cold floor, using his fedora as a pillow and the party's discussion as a lullaby. 

"Let's separate the night-watch in two teams. Me and Joe are taking first, then AIYA and Minor afterward. As for Josh, we can let him sleep." Emsee proposed, with everyone nodding in agreement. 

"This feels so weird. Sleeping in the Tower is weird, but especially this place. I can't believe we are chased by humans too. They just seemed so real earlier ..it's just…I don't know." Minor sighed. 

"Eh, it's not the first time we encounter human-like monsters. Remember the succubi? AIYA would still be there if we hadn't dragged him out." Joe chuckled. 

"Please! I can't be blamed on that one! Don't you guys remember how round their asses, and how plump their breasts were?! If they weren't trying to kill humans, you bet I'd still be there!" AIYA righteously shouted. 

"Pffft, you would have died from a lack of food!" Minor reminded.

"So what?! It is a worthy end!" AIYA argued. 

"That, my friend, is why you are still single. You can't be that desperate. Sure, a succubus is nice, but it's not worth it. There are plenty of cute Rankers around." Joe wisely advised.

"Oh, he definitely tried that. But he just can't seem to succeed. I think it's because, toward the middle of the date, they realize he's actually AIYA and not some other cool Draconic member." Minor teasingly dissed him. 

"You?! How dare you spew such hurtful truths!" AIYA jokingly lamented. 

"Actually, I'm more wondering about Josh. What is up with you and Kasha?" Joe put him under the spotlight. 

Of course, Josh was still awake. This felt nostalgic. Just a group of friends talking about all and nothing. How long had it been? An eternity. He could have easily pretended to sleep to avoid the question, but he did not. 

"She's great, but there is already an absolutely phenomenal woman in my heart. She helped me when I was at my lowest and forged the man I've become." 

"Wow! Who is she? Is she a Ranker? How is she?" AIYA excitedly asked, the others sending him reproachful gazes but listening intently nonetheless. 

"How is she? Gorgeous yet innocent-looking. Smart yet so optimistic. Serious but mischievous at times. Kind, but with thorns. Out of this world yet down to Earth. So loving and—"

"Who is she?! Now I definitely want to know! Do we know her?!" AIYA cut him off while the others chuckled. 

"No, you don't know her. In fact, she never came into this world either. She's been dead way before the Tower even appeared, the little one too…." Josh showed a bittersweet smile. 

"Ah, sorry! I didn't know." AIYA couldn't help but feel bad. 

"No worries. But let me tell you something. I've heard them talk about your failures dating, but don't worry. I was living in a garbage bin when I met my soulmate. Don't stress it too much. Just live your life." Josh advised. 

The others couldn't help but stare. A garbage bin?! What the Hell was the story behind that?! He had been describing a perfect goddess too! What kind of talent was needed to pick up chicks in such a situation?! Some were considering asking Josh to teach them later on. 

But, for now, they would rest. Emsee and Joe took the first guard and watched the surroundings with extreme caution. The lives of their teammates depended on them, so they were 100% focused. 

That's when they both heard a very slight noise and jumped warily! They sighed in relief, noticing that it was Josh getting up. But that's when he spoke. 

"Everyone, wake up. They're coming, all of them."

What?!...

Creator's Thought

Note to self: talking about your dead lover at a sleepover somehow kills the mood. A shame really with how they were having fun talking about succubi and whatnot. These monsters were surprisingly effective against all genders. But, if you are curious about them I really suggest VR. They are not worth dying!