“Damn! How could I have forgotten which wall it was?!” Katherine Veldorbell shouted in an irritation-fueled fit. The ground beneath her shook, in a way reminiscent of a laugh. A sigh escaped her lips, “And here I thought it’d be easy this time around. How did I even find this place before?”

---

A few months prior.

“Oh, I wonder what's down this suspicious hole? It couldn't possibly be a dungeon could it?” Katherine spoke in an exaggerated voice. “Said nobody ever! Did you think I was st--” In the ensuing moments Katherine would proceed to scream for her life and flop like a fish whilst tumbling down the hole.

--

“That's right…” she sighed, “I fell down the hole before rolling and hitting my head into... “ a few seconds passed, “That wall?” I retracted my upper right and lower right fist and shot them forward directly into the wall, to my moderate surprise my fists tore right through it like paper. The hole was big enough for me to fit through so I approached it.

Within a few moments of reaching the hole, a mechanical ‘Whirring’’ could be heard. A long hallway presented itself, the lights turning on one after another caused my heart to sink. The scene looked like it was ripped straight from a dystopian sci-fi movie.

“That's gross.” I proceeded through the hall while avoiding the various puddles of dark-colored liquid, it wasn't blood that much I was certain of. “They changed this place a lot from when I was here last- wasn't it just a small tunnel?”

I continued my way through the hall, carefully avoiding anything that may be a trap- after about twenty minutes of this, I finally reached the end. A small wooden door maybe half my height at most was the only thing separating me from my target. I cautiously pulled it open before squeezing my way into the room.

‘Whirrrrrrrrrrrrr’

{Hidden Boss Encountered: Mechanical Masterpiece.}

It was as plain as a mannequin and as complicated as a nuclear fusion reactor. Its body was sleek and had no unique traits other than the constant creaking from each joint as it moved. The metallic flesh-like substance it had covering its artificial body moved like a fluid whilst simultaneously protecting it from damage. I knew from prior encounters, if I couldn't defeat it now, it would 100% come back to bite me in the ass.

{As the first to discover this monster, a personal quest is being generated.}

Mysterious Masterpiece:

You’ve discovered the prototype masterpiece of a long-dead and estranged mechanical genius. No more information can be provided, Defeat it, and examine its parts.

Clear Conditions: Examine the “Mechanical Masterpiece”

Difficulty: C-

Rewards: Information regarding the estranged mechanical genius, A map to his workshop, and a skill relating to the boss. (Bonus Reward for MVP)

And so the battle began.

--

I rammed my fists into its metallic torso repeatedly and the result was clear, nothing had happened. It brushed off my attacks without so much as a scratch. “Oi! Bastard! I know you can hear me!” No Answer. “Fine then, I'll just beat a response out of you!” My taunts were ineffective as the metallic monstrosity’s body continued to jerk and spasm inorganically.

“Soft Body Technique: Deadly Fluid Percussion! x4”

all the seams around my arms released their tension stretching my arms to an extremely unnatural length. I pushed the appendages as far back as I could- which was not as far as I had been able to before the character reset, and snapped them forward at the same time. The seams tightened on the way towards the target forcing all the kinetic energy to transfer directly into the metal mass’s body. That’s the way this technique I had created during my stay in Murim worked. It was one of the many techniques I created during my time there.

The metal mass released an assortment of unintelligible noise as my arms retracted. The mannequin-like metal man groaned as it reached for the places my attack impacted. “It didn't break, but those dents show I can still damage you!”

B̵̡̹̉͘a̵̺̞͒̚s̴̺̈́Ṯ̷͝r̵̭̅̔r̶͕͛ŗ̴͛͝ŗ̸̿̚r̸͈͐̔ȓ̶̡͇d̸̰̠͒͠.̷̤̿ ̶̗͉͛Y̴͓̠͗͑ū̴̪͇̊ ̷̛͈́B̷̙̦͑a̵̛̤̝s̶̝͑t̷͇̄ͅr̸̥͛͠ḓ̸͓͛̈́

“There it is, I knew you could hear me.”

The creature's body suddenly rose to its feet and assumed a fighting stance.

I̸̖̽͊ ̶̼̫́a̸̬̍͆m̶̺͝ ̴̗̉ạ̵̜̌ ̶̢͚̓m̵̛͉̻̆ẻ̶̜c̸̖̖̀h̵̨͎̚a̶̪͐n̶̞͇̈́̽ḯ̶̱͉͊c̸̲̈́̀a̵̦͊͗l̶̪̬̓ ̵͈̉̆m̸̖̆â̴̳͌s̶̲̉̈t̸͔̑̈e̵̼̓̀r̸͕̗͛̓p̴̬̺̈̕i̵̟̓ě̶̫c̴̛̻͎̔e̴͙̫͊.̸͋͜ ̵̹̍̅

It charged, and so did I.

--

We met in a flurry of attacks, the machine used kicks both high and low, I narrowly deflected each and retaliated with several punches myself. “Shit! You're better than last time!”

A̸̡̪̰̱͌̀̾͝ş̸̮͇͚̐̔ ̴̣͚͉̽ř̷͓̇́͝ȑ̷͇̦̓̊͛r̴̩̳͒r̷̢̎̓r̴͚̐͛ͅr̶̢̐̋ͅŕ̶̡̟̲̉̓ͅ ̵̫̮͒͐͑̈́u̴͚̫͖̦͆͒̄̋

The machine abused my weaknesses, it went for my legs. Usually, I’d just dodge, but my evasion was literally 0. I was forced into a situation where I could only defend. “Being pushed into a corner is the best way to grow, you know that!” Katherine laughed, “That means the closer to the edge you push me, the more likely I’ll come and bite you in the ass!”

I raised my upper left arm to block its high kick and swung a very wide right hook. To my surprise, my fist made contact with the metal man's jaw, forcing its neck to turn in the direction opposite of my fist. What proceeded was a flurry of kicks and punches from both sides, a maelstrom of metal, a frenzy of fighting. Whatever you'd prefer to call it, one thing was for certain. We were evenly matched.

“Huh?”

Only an instant had passed but it felt like minutes. I looked to where I had raised my arm to block her fist only to see an assortment of colorful wires hanging from the stump, where my arm used to reside.” How did you-” before I could even finish my sentence my body was sent flying into the wall. A soundless gasp escaped my lips, ‘Shit this isn't good. Where is this strength coming from?!’

S̴̺̐k̷̪͊ỉ̷̳ĺ̶̪l̴͈͝ ̸̹͂C̶̯̓ȯ̸͖p̷̨̓y̸̛̝:̸̜̀ ̵̜́A̸̠͊r̴̥̎t̸͕̊ḭ̶̉f̶̖̆i̵͕͒c̶̘̎i̸̝͝à̸̺l̸͍̾ ̴͕̂M̸͙͋u̵̘̓s̴̤̽c̶̗͂l̶̮̊e̷̯̓ ̷̢̇C̵͇̓ö̶͍m̵͍͂p̸̹̔r̵̫͌e̵̲̊s̶̼͆s̶̙̽i̴̠͐ọ̶͝ṇ̴͝ ̴̉͜(̶̙̇P̴̭͌é̵̻e̷͔͝r̴̙͠l̵̖̅ȅ̸̝s̷͈͠ṡ̸̫ ̷̳̈́S̸̢̚t̶̮͋ṙ̶̰ẹ̴͐ñ̸͙g̶̖͌t̶͕̅h̶̜̅)̸͍͊

I'm the Masterpiece, a second rate machine like you will never beat me.