The entrance to the Fox Grove dungeon suddenly rippled with the crowd gluing their eyes unto it.
As a few players appeared, many gasped in shock. What the hell had happened in there?! Their faces were pale, their eyes lifeless, their bodies listless, and their mood distressed. Then they slowly regained their spirit as they slowly scanned their surroundings.
As they saw Jack, they suddenly jerked in shock, with their leader coming forward:
“How the fuck did you beat this dungeon?!”
Jack glanced at the man begging for wisdom:
“It’s pretty easy….” There was complete silence as all listened. “You just need to kill the Fox Boss.”
“…..”
“…..”
“….”
“…..”
He was the worst kind of right. The few dozen players really wanted to beat him up at this very moment.
The defeated leader gave a self-deprecating smile as he sighed:
“Defeating it would require reaching it in the first place.”
The crowd went wild. This was a new kind of challenge! In other games, players complained that the Bosses were too difficult….here people didn’t even reach them?!
At that moment, the portal rippled once more as teams after teams began exiting the premises, including the Mighty Wolves (many groups). They seemed truly beat.
But as they looked at one another, some began chuckling.
“You guys also got wrecked, eh?”
“Of course! We all got clapped so hard!”
They found solace in the fact that they weren’t the only ones. They even began to joke around:
“Tonight, it’s Xanax-N-chill for sure!”
“Add bubble bath and duck petting for best effect.”
“I’m gonna cut all the shrubs at home just to be safe.”
“You have it easy. My living room is goddamn ORANGE!”
“About the shrubs….I live right next to a forest….”
“Infinite foxes, now the #1 cause of deforestation!”
“You can never be too careful, they’re everywhere!”
“Yeah, 100% better to cut everything down.”
“You mean get the flamethrower, right?”
“Rip, I wouldn’t like to be in your shoes.”
“Rip in many pieces.”
“Rip in fox feces.”
They all nodded, agreeing with such a statement. That’s when one laughingly said:
“Guys, deadly bush-hiding fox PTSD is no joke. Anyway, I’m fairly certain that this dungeon isn’t humanly doable at our level.”
As he said that, all the gazes turned toward Jack who was listening to their conversation. He was the living proof that it was indeed possible. Even then the man simply shrugged.
“I stand by my point. Not HUMANLY doable.” He declared.
The bystanders couldn’t help but giggle. Never had they agreed so much with a statement! Was the Demon King really human? Was he a player like them? Hell, at times it seemed like they weren’t even playing the same game!
Let’s just say the glowing “Demon King!” title didn’t help either.
A curious man eagerly asked:
“What even killed you guys?”
Then came a list that caused the listeners’ hair to rise. Why was it so long?!
“We died from a thousand foxes hiding in bushes.”
“We angered the NPC and wiped.”
“The mini-Boss hunted us.”
“We drank a potion.”
“We fell from a tree.”
“Rats ate us.”
“The level 20 Boss.”
No wonder they were tired beyond belief! Also, how does one die from a potion or a tree? Poisoned? Could foxes climb now? But what stood out was the level confirmation: it really was level 20!
A kind soul couldn’t help but feel pity for them. They truly had been through a lot in that single instance. He began cheering them up:
“At least I’m sure you guys leveled up a lot by fighting foxes non-stop!” His smile was so damn compassionate.
But contrary to their expectations, the adventurous players assembled began to sob softly. It wasn’t just one of them either, all of them!
— Sob Sob—
“W-what happened?!” The kind man asked, flabbergasted.
“You see, in the dungeon, there is XP loss on death— and we died enough times to repopulate Hell a few times over. We actually have less XP than when we started.” One explained while sighing.
Jack chimed in, advising them:
“Tsk-tsk-tsk. This is what you get for trying to rush ahead. Some things take time. You should go one step at a time and slowly improve your gear, skills, and attributes.”
They stared at him with dead eyes. Slowly improve one step at a time…said the guy who was freaking fighting 1 v 50 by day 2?! Was he for real?! As if he was one to talk! He wasn’t walking, he was on a rocket or something.
“Anyway, I gotta head back to town to buy potions. Take care, you all. Oh right, CPR dude, come with me!” He gestured at Dom of the Mighty Wolves to the surprise of the bystanders. This sure was a … peculiar nickname.
A little distance away, Jack took the lead:
“So, what did you learn from this run?”
“I learned that you really are amazing, Boss!”
“…..Anything more concrete and less kiss-ass?”
“Yes, Boss! If we want to reach the end of the dungeon easily, we’ll have to get better gear and train our scouting. We never won against the Hunter, although we managed to avoid it once. All because of that damn surprise attack!”
“What’s the point of avoiding it? It gives loot that’s as good as the Boss. Well, it’s a different piece. On that subject, I got some extra dungeon exclusive loot. I can sell some to your guild for Credits if you want, 7 pieces total.”
“Hell yes! For sure!” He seemed so excited.
Jack watched him hurriedly log out, excusing himself to ask for funds from his guild leader. He then came back ready to do business.
“How much are you offering?” Jack relaxedly asked.
“H-how about 80 Credits for each?” He hesitantly offered.
Jack had to try really hard not to laugh. This was so overpriced!
“Sure, that comes to 560 Credits, but 500 will be fine.”
“What, really?!”
Funny how that 60 Credits had the man glowing in happiness. Customer satisfaction was paramount to creating a long-lasting business model. He quickly traded the belts and pauldrons.
“Alright, this should be enough to almost gear up a party. It will only be a slight advantage, but it might come in handy. Also, you can use that and the highlights to recruit.”
CPR dude rubbed his head awkwardly. Of course, the Boss would see through his recruitment plan. But then he raised an eyebrow “Highlights, what highlights? We failed the dungeon.”
Jack stood still perplexed. What had happened to the fail highlights? This was an integral part of gaming. How else were people supposed to improve if they couldn’t ponder their mistakes?
He suddenly stood straight before pointing at the sky menacingly:
“Hey gods of Infinite, you better add highlights for failed dungeons, or no one will even bother trying! Believe me. I know how the braves think!”…he screamed at the Heavens.
Above there was a lone cloud slowly drifting in the wind and nothing else. There was no way that this would accomplish anything, right? How ridiculous, as if—
But that’s when Dom’s face changed as the sky suddenly seemed to darken. What was happening?! He then realized that the bright golden-orange dungeon beacon had disappeared. How come?!
But a second later, it came back as if it was only being updated. It did so along with a message popping in front of him:
[Failed to complete the Fox Grove Dungeon ]
[Export highlights from this run? Y/N ]
It was here! Just like that, the Demon King had given an ultimatum to the gods…and it had freaking worked? But what about his wording? He had said, “the braves” instead of the players.
At this moment, Dom realized that there was no way that Jack was a simple NPC:
1. He was teaching them things a player wouldn’t know.
2. He acted as if he belonged to this world.
3. He showed unbelievable prowess.
4. He could affect the game system.
In conclusion, he had to be an NPC tasked with helping players acclimate to the game! Still, there were a few things that didn’t add up:
1. Why was he asking for credits? Only a true player would need that…Actually, what if this was reverse psychology?!
2. Why was New Leaf Village the only one with an NPC helper? Perhaps other villages had them, but they were more low-key?
The more he thought about it and the more confused he got. In fact, Dom remained confused for a little while.
Jack didn’t disturb him. Instead, he headed toward the Blacksmith’s house to start his newly established butchering service for silvers. It truly was a shame the Mighty Dragons had seemingly disappeared…
The players would come his way, bringing fox corpses either as membership payment or for a processing fee. Meanwhile, a few members of Mighty wolves recorded every player’s contribution while observing his dexterous handiwork.
Yet there was something weird about how they looked at him. He was used to admiration and disdain, but this was something else entirely. It was as if they were looking at a complex puzzle.
He only shrugged and let them be. As long as they did their job properly, he wouldn’t mind. After about 2 hours and 200+ skinned foxes later, he stopped having amassed lots of silver.
He turned 100% of it into potions, getting a whopping 30 of them. At this point, the old lady was convinced he wanted to seduce her by patronizing her shop.
“Don’t hide it, young man. Emotions shouldn’t be bottled.”
“… I’m not trying to woo you at all!”
“Are you saying that I’m not beautiful?” She frowned heavily.
Knowing her, she’d probably kick him out if he were to answer with the affirmative…
“Your mature charm is worthy of a nation-toppling beauty, but I am sadly way too busy with conquering the Fox Grove. Believe me. I really need the potions!”
“As if anyone would drink so many. That would give one indigestion, and perhaps even their shit would have healing properties. Proof is you’re the only one amongst the braves who buys so much.” She argued with confidence.
They were just broke or too busy focusing on their gear instead….
“Anyway, I’m sorry, but you’re not my type. Good luck with the “dungeon” of yours.” She even winked at the end.
Jack popped out IRL a second to pay the upcoming month’s rent, directly sending the money to the owner. He also watched a few key highlights before returning to the game. What about sleep? Meh, later.
For now, he was heading deep in the forest. His Newly acquired belt helped a bit to sneak around the forest, the little wolf by his side. His destination scared the living shit out of the other players.
Jack stopped before a cave in which resided the Wolf Progenitor. In its depth laid his newest target: the Wolf Den Dungeon. Now, was it possible to use his pet to access it?
He could only hope…
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[A/N] Here we go! Happy Christmas and lots of happiness to you all 🎅. To all of you reading this, I’m glad we’re all on this journey together. Lots of love and if you have any comments about the story or wishes for fellow readers feel free to be vocal! ^_^v
Creator’s Thought
This one was tricky. If I wanted to save time I would need to defeat the Wolf Progenitor, but there were a few issues: 1. It had lots of STR and blocking wouldn’t be as effective 2. It had lots of armor, making it a bitch to kill. 3. It was related to my trusted partner. Killing wolves was one thing, but killing that specific wolf was a big no-no.