Author's Note: Ok, so I've finished my college finals for the semester, which means that I'm free for another 10 days. In those 10 days, I can get probably the next 2 parts out. Also, you've probably noticed from the chapter title that I've split up Part 3 into smaller sections. you'll see why at the end of this chapter.

Sorry, but it's not as long as my usual chapters.

I want to take this time to mention a few people.

Thanks Xephon for all the comments! I notice that you take the time to comment on practically every chapter, and I appreciate it!

Also, thaks for the comment Einhander! Like I keep saying, I'm doing this to improve my writing, and I can't get better without people letting me know what's on their mind when they read my story. I suppose I have been focusing on Zhang and his party a little too much. In any case, this chapter does show why the heck Zhang didn't do anything after he saw the monsters. After that, it's on to Wahshi's POV.

SPOILER ALERT: I'll make sure to include more of Wahshi's POV's if he's still alive after this chapter.

I also didn't have time to make tables yet, so I'll do that later.

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Zhang POV

‘What the HELL?!’

The things in front of me were just too unreal. No, they can’t be real. These things weren’t even here the last time we went through! This was the first time that I’d ever regretted leaving my [Observe] skill on, because if what I was seeing was true, then there was no way we could win.

Appearing above the floating, cloaked men were things that made me think that there was something wrong with my eyes, because it wasn’t possible.

Druid of the Wilds: Guardian of the 2nd Layer

LEVEL: 290

???? ????

That alone was bad enough. But it wasn’t just them that we had to worry about. Above the living trees were other boxes of information. The most average of them had this above their heads.

Dryad of the Boundary: Guardian of the 2nd Layer

LEVEL: 280

???? ????

‘These things are more than 60 LEVELS ABOVE US!’

Just looking at it made my brain freeze. I could hear Misa screaming in my head for their stats as more and more of them appeared. Somehow, I managed to get past the shock long enough to tell her what I saw.

There was nothing else I could do afterwards. My vision turned black. The only thing I saw were the red notification boxes which popped up in front of my eyes.

STATUS AILMENT SELF-AFFLICTED!!

TOTAL MENTAL BREAKDOWN:Much like how a deer may freeze at the sight of a carnivorous predator, your avatar’s mind has completely shut down at the sight of an enemy whose terrifying strength you have refused to accept as part of reality.

• Loss of all 5 senses (Touch, Taste, Hearing, Smell and Sight)

• Total loss of body (Unable to control or predict what your body may do on its own)

• Status ailment will stay active until something shocks you out of it

I don’t know how long I stayed like that. It was just me in that black space. I could have logged out at any time, which was obvious. Nothing stopped me from being able to actually think, even though I had a status ailment that would make you think I wouldn’t be able to do something as basic as that. I could look through all of the player abilities like the MENU all I wanted, after all.

Logging out wasn’t a problem for me, but what about Misa? No matter what, I couldn’t just leave her to face that many enemies by herself. So I waited. It wasn’t possible to be like this forever, after all. We were in battle, which meant that eventually something would snap me out of this.

I don’t know how long I was like that, but what I do know was that the darkness that was around me started shaking, almost like it was metal that had been struck against something. After that it completely disappeared, and everything that was around me before, suddenly snapped back into place.

I drank in the scene before me in less than a second, which was barely enough time to realize 2 things.

1: The shock from the giant tree roots slamming down onto the ground was what had knocked me back out of that sh*tty status ailment.

And 2: There was a GIANT tree root about to slam into Misa!

‘She can’t die, SHE CAN’T DIE! I WON’T LET HER DIE!!!’

A hundred different scenarios exploded in my mind in a split second, one right after the other as I tried to find the best way for her to survive. Each one made use of different abilities and weapons that I had and could use, but in the end it looked like there was only 1 way that I could save her.

Mentally opening the INVENTORY, I equipped a giant greatsword. The sword I’d been using faded out, and the 2-handed giant greatsword shifted into the palm of my hand.

I hoisted it over my shoulder, both of my hands gripping the handle as tight as I could. Staring at the giant root, time seemed to slow down even faster than it had already been going. I only had 1 shot at this, and I had to time it right. If I cut it at just the right moment, the 2 parts of the root would separate right above Misa.

Sweat dripped down the side of my face. If I had any other choice, and if it was anyone else besides Misa that was about to be smashed into bits, I wouldn’t have even thought twice about leaving them to die, especially since I’d have to use this sword to save them. But it IS Misa, and I DON’T have any other choice.

TENKI: THE LAST BLADE (Rank S)A mysterious sword with strange symbols engraved onto the blade. Origin unknown, crafting method unknown, materials used to make it are unknown. Legends only tell of a mysterious woman who was the sword’s last known wielder, who died only imparting the blade’s name, and a warning.

‘The sword can sever anything under the Heavens, but only once. There will come a great evil in the future. Make sure that the sword survives to cut through it, or we are all doomed.”

ATTACK: ???

DURABILITY: 1/1

ABILITY: *&^%#---- (Can sever anything)

The blade had a durability of 1! It really couldn’t be used more than once, and I knew that there had to be a quest attached to it. Why would the legend speak about using it against a great evil otherwise? Without the weapon, who knows what would happen to the event that the game designers made.

I saw the root keep falling, and I felt like it was the right moment.

I just hope I can make it in time.

Bending my knees with one leg in front of the other and a giant greatsword hoisted over my shoulder, I dashed forward with a CRACK and sliced through the root.

The 2 halves crashed down on either side of us, and I turned to see Misa opening her eyes.

Seeing her safe and sound, I couldn’t help myself. I just had to say it.

“Yo, Misa. Somebody call for a knight-in-shining-armor to rescue his lovely princess?”

She turned her head away. Was she blushing?

“Who the f*ck needed your help you big idiot?” She said.

‘Yep, she’s definitely alright.’ Was what I thought as the sword I’d carried for a long time fractured and broke into dozens of pieces.

It was worth it.

Wahshi POV

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Zhang rescue Misa, and the giant sword that he used fracture, and then break into dozens of pieces.

I felt the corners of my mouth curl into a wry smile at their pinkish atmosphere. In the middle of a huge battle with a hundred powerful enemies and giant tree roots smashing down and flattening anything close by, they’d managed to fit in a little romance.

I slipped away from the group and ran in the opposite direction that everyone else was in. It was best if they stayed under the impression that I was a weak, “old” man near his fifties. If they saw what I was about to do, they would definitely be more cautious around me. That’s something that I can’t have them doing.

I could feel something change in my eyes, every step I took as I ran pounded the ground like a kick, and I could feel my stamina draining with every single thing I did.

Oh crap, I was mad.

And it wasn’t just because of that pinkish little world that those 2 lovebirds had made either. It was because I was seeing a notice that had popped up in the upper right corner of my vision, which I’d ignored until now.

CURSE OF THE SUN SPIRIT[The Sun Spirit has been wrongfully represented! As such, he views this battle with disfavor. NONE MAY PROFIT FROM THIS BATTLE!!• No Experience or Items will be gained from this fight

• Any who die from this fight will permanently lose 1 random skill

‘What the hell is with these people?! The experience I don’t mind losing, but I can’t even get any items?!! That’s the whole reason I’m in this game! So I can get things and sell it for actual money!!’

My vision started to blur. Everything I saw started to have a tinge of red.

‘Sh*t, gotta calm down. Gotta calm down!’

Breathing deeply, I remembered my past experiences in that hell of a prison that I’d been trapped in for twenty years.

If someone else had just been going over some of the less painful and horrifying memories I had, they would’ve had to deal with months of terrifying nightmares and consecutive visits to a therapist. Even I had trouble dealing with even the minor things that had happened there.

Normally I blocked all of it out, but this time I made sure to go over some of the less horrifying ones, just to remind myself of one of the many important rules I’d learned in prison.

If you want to survive in a place where everyone else is much stronger and wants to kill you, DON’T GET ANGRY OVER LOSING SOMETHING THAT YOU NEVER HAD IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Fighting angry in a situation like this would only get me killed, and that was something I couldn’t afford. Especially since on top of whatever would normally happen if I died, I’d also permanently lose a skill!

The hairs on the back of my neck started to stand up, and I looked up to see a giant root about to flatten me! This thing was as wide as 3 people standing on top of each other, and was close enough that I felt like I could make out the small grains of wood that it was made of.

‘God, I hope this works.’

I’d had an idea in the back of my head ever since I’d been dragged and torn apart by Misa’s spell back in the 1st Boundary.

I was weak.

I’d known it ever since I started playing this game, but being bloodied by someone that says they’re there to help you made it really sink in. That’s when I knew that I needed something that’d help me survive against all of these monsters.

And I didn’t just mean the ones that were traveling with me either.

All of that made me remember a piece of information that’d been sent to the back of my mind by more important matters not long ago.

And now I’m betting everything on that small piece of info that I’d remembered.

‘This has to work. No, this WILL work!’

A split second later and the root was already a hair away from the top of my head.

BOOOOM!

Debris filled the air as yet another root slammed into the ground…..

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Author's Note: HAHA! Couldn't resist leaving the cliffhanger.

So, what do you guys think? Was Wahshi just an interesting way to introduce the real MC, which could be Zhang, Misa and Alexa?

Or did I just change my mind about Wahshi being the MC, and decide to give that role to somebody else?

Keep in mind that the story description will say whatever I want it to, and that if he does die, I'll change it after this.

Comment and let me know what you think!

Rate the story so that I and everyone else can know what you think it's worth!

Review the story and let me know how I'm doing!

Remember: What you say could change the entire course of the story!!

Also, does anyone know how to do that spoiler tab option? I'd be grateful if you can tell me how that works.