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Volume 4

Chapter 14 Loni And The Night

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TAP TAP TAP…

“…and he crawled on the… with a…” Her low, sweet whispering voice echoing lightly in the still silence, the background of pinking keystrokes tapping away.

Eyes fixed on her work, Loni was writing on her novel, with lots of references, maps, and even clips and videos displayed on her wall as a background inside her room.

Shade of red flowers in a backdrop of a pinkish flower field walls, posters of fashion tokens, places, famous celebrities, magazines, stuffed toys, and even shoes and laces, could be seen neatly arranged in their respective shelves and places as a sign of her organized living.

Looking up at her, mewing and purring as she put her paw on her lap, was a grey and white colored cat with thick fur and a red collar.

A sweet view of master and pet, a busy night from a busy day made Loni seat herself as she wrote down the words to complete her story.

Although she was famous as the “Elvin Slinger” or the “Angel of Terroa” by the other stronger players in her gamer generation, she was still a woman at heart and had a certain thing for pinkish fashion.

Her room and pillows, notebook, journal, and even her mobile terminal were all pink, betraying the image of the strict and iron hearted “Loni” —Sub-Leader of one of the most respected Guilds in Terroa, granddaughter of “The Father,” the head of one of the biggest secret families in the world.

She wasn’t proud of it nor she was boasting, in fact she is a shy girl who pursues the path of the strong. She is, in fact trying to separate herself from that side of her self, wanting to be a normal citizen who loves to write.

Loni had a strong sense of equality and justice, a very stubborn heart that perhaps may have been the reason why she joined the invitation to form the TOS Guild.

Sigh…

After she paused and stroked Kitten’s head, she looked at her work’s progress and furrowed her brows.

“I can’t seem to get a grip of it.”

And while she stopped writing on her panel, she saw an email prompt on her vision with Thorn’s name tagged in it. She grumbled and saw the prompt, she pressed the title that had a peculiar phrase while accompanied by a sense of Déjà vu.

“What now?” she murmured.

[Watch this video, 14:22]

A panel popped open to a video and in it is a certain guild that’s been gaining popularity recently.

It was edited, complete with a title, name of the cast, with clear subtitles, special-FX, and of course, the very “game” at which it was taken from.

There were nine people in the video, all wearing high-grade armors. All of them, except the leader, was a specialized player with their weapons all displayed at the ready even before they entered combat mode.

A Wizard and a Witch pair in distinctive red robes and artistic garments, their staffs were larger than the norm of the gamers, «Runes», Loni thought.

On the left side were three gunners with large cannons, Shanks, their unofficial style’s name, walked on with their weapons dangling relaxed in their backs as they were followed by three Swordsmen with sheathed blade weapons.

And as it was, the leader, wearing purple sunglasses in a dark cave, happily waved at the camera and played around like an idiot with his members.

“What the f…”

As Loni felt absurdly bored and offended by the flashy appearances of the Riddler’s Guide’s members, her full attention draws towards the title of the email.

14 minutes and 22 seconds.

She waited anxiously and felt the seconds slow by as it reached the 10 minute mark.

They were just walking and killing weak Predators that came to attack them.

From there, the members of Riddler’s Guise began to feel a quake and the only person who’s not affected is the leader who still kept his act of playing around and laughing to the falling members of his guild.

“This is slowly getting annoying.”

She was tempted to press the [x] button but stopped herself until the last minute where the quake added a loud roar that sent a message to the camera ball.

[You are in the King’s presence!]

[Paralysis for 10 seconds.]

GASP!

It’s the «Pose of the King» ability!

Loni held her breath as she realized that she was smiling broadly. She found herself wishing for these men to get slaughtered by the monster up front.

«Pose of the King»

For players, the message that comes with this ability’s activation is a sign that there is a large, angry, and very hungry monster at the very place they were heading.

But instead of backing away, the nine people had firm expressions as they all exchanged looks to one another.

[It‘s awake!]

[Prepare for battle!]

[It‘s coming!]

[Everyone move! Move! Move!]

Screams echoed in the video and the camera ball, as it was not affected by the paralysis because it was a machine, moved back to capture all the happenings.

Then, 14:17 came to the time bar, the dark cave lit by torches stopped shaking, the quake halted, as yellow eyes with a vertical black line in the middle opened up from the distance.

Another roar rattled the cave and the players, another quake happened but this time, the far distance up front was lit by a faint blue.

Then the leader of the Riddler’s Guise guild pulled the camera towards himself.

[Woohoo! This is exciting!]

14:22 in the time bar came, the leader summoned his weapon. It was a large metallic arm with a fist that moved the way he moved his hand.

“What’s special about it?”

Not answering her question, the man charged towards the end of the cave where a large cavern was located.

And just as she was wondering what was special about the time, Loni noticed the message on the camera ball’s lower right corner.

[Paralysis for 3 seconds.]

And then, “Gasp!”

That last roar earlier was another «Pose of the King» that the monster let out before it escaped into the back side of the cave.

Just now, what Loni saw was definitely not possible.

Like a bug or a glitch, the leader of Riddler’s Guise Guild had just ignored the paralysis effect of the ability of that A or S-ranked monster. She couldn’t believe her own eyes. If she hadn’t known better, there was not a single player that was able to ignore that ability.

Until now.

«Pose of the King» is an ability of A-ranked or higher ranked monsters that can paralyze a player for ten or so seconds, depending on the distance of the players from the monster who unleashed that skill.

In record, as rare as it may be, very few monsters have been reported of being capable of using the ability. And perhaps the most dreaded of them recorded beasts of slaughter is the Lapis Lazuli who had the habit of using «Pose of the King» four or more times in succession.

And not one party —except for a special case she had personally seen before, had actually succeeded on the very arduous and blatant task of defeating a monster that can use the «Pose of the King» ability.

That is because not only these monsters capable of wiping an army, they are recorded to be very vicious and aggressive, aside from being very big.

And yet, the leader of Riddler’s Guise is somewhat trying to tell his viewers that he was challenging the might and power of this monster to break what ‘that’ man had accomplished.

When the Riddler’s Guise members chased the monster into the cavity, another surprise came to Loni as the video had shifted from the autonomous camera ball, to the POV of the leader of this guild.

What made Loni surprised is the message.

[Mission]

“Subjugate Kalahari-Azolla”

Rank “B” Difficulty

Kalahari-Azolla, a creature as old as any tale, has been terrorizing the land of Nagpur whenever it hunts for food at night. After its sleep for thousands of years, it now awakens as a savage beast. Everyday, monsters, animals, and even people is being consistently attacked and it affects the livelihood as well as the economy of the Kingdom of India.

Subjugate the creature and free the land, grant the wish of the people and become the hero who they will thank forever.

Requirements: Find the lair of Kalahari-Azolla

Rewards: Unknown

Accept Mission?

(Yes?) — (No?)

There was no hesitation, the leader pressed the button and Loni was amazed as the dimly lit dome lighted with bright blue and yellow gems like stars.

It was just for a moment as the nine members of the Riddler’s Guise jumped down into the cave.

A fight broke out. Loni couldn’t believe her eyes as the video, although shortened to an extent, had not left the highlights of the members using never before seen techniques, abilities, and most especially, their level of fighting.

No reason to doubt it, Loni thought miserably, the level of these players were high, and they all had Unique Abilities, the same as The Destroyer.

And what’s actually made Loni trembling without her noticing it is that ability of the leader where his arm sent Kalahari-Azolla, flying with just a single punch.

She replayed the video, on the part just before the guild leader punched the monster towards the roof, and she bit her lips as she saw the change.

The monster should have been able to dodge or block that but its eyes widened and it froze, unable to move.

What came next is the guild leader’s punch and right after that, the battle ended. Loni also saw a rare sight as she discovered that their B-ranked mission gave out free stat points and a title.

Right after they finished, credits of the video came and a message to all viewers were written.

[We invite you all to join Riddler’s Guise!]

That was all.

A smile drew on her lips as she sighed.

Then she noticed that there was a message tagged in on the email she received and so she read it and frowned.

[Loni, this video was uploaded last night. Also, along with the video I sent you about The Destroyer’s latest struggle in Anazon, I think that in the near future, him and these guys are going to meet.

I deemed it wise to tell you that we have confirmed our speculations about The Destroyer from Jack. He is collecting strong weapons for an unknown reason, but I could honestly say that it wasn’t for the purpose of the game’s enjoyment. So until we know exactly what he’s after, I advice you to not make contact with him and continue your duty of escorting our guest.

Also, I got word that Cramer had another fight. But I’m pleased to know that no one died. I know the guy, he’s not after fame but he honors the glory of a duel.

By the way, I just finished reading the story you sent me, I could honestly say that it was interesting but I am still not hooked by your story. I like the protagonist’s personality but I find it in contrast with the flow of your storyline.

Maybe you should try to change it up. Again. Is there a problem? The first stories you’ve made me read were quite good so why is it that this one is not?

Send me an email after you’ve rewritten it.

Oh and we’ll have a meeting tomorrow. Same time in the same place. Like always, try to pull Maki away from the Arch Mage as far as possible. And keep up the good work.]

The message ends here and Loni sighed.

“Not good huh?”

Loni was depressed. She looked at the story she was writing just now and closed her eyes.

Writing a good story is really hard, she thought. With a swipe of her finger, the whole file she was working on had been sent to junk. She didn’t hesitate since she had also been having writer’s block and the piece she’s been writing was becoming trash.

“It’s true I can’t fit in the protagonist and the story. Is it because I can’t put my shoes on this story? Or is it that my hero is too… heroic? Maybe that’s it. A cliché.”

She sighed again and went to her bed.

As her eyes gradually felt tired and heavy, she recalled the events she saw in the video.

“They’re strong.”

Feeling the oblivion light gradually cover her senses, Loni’s breathing calmed and she slowly drifted into dreamland.

Then, a certain name came up to her mind. And that man’s face also came with along with that thought. She asked herself, why…

Why did I suddenly think of that Rex?