Chapter 18
Chapter 18
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: The Boss's Debut
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I hope they come soon.
‘Even Richard gets hit with Instant Kill, huh.’
Richard Dain was a character in the original story who fell somewhere between an extra and a supporting role.
The typical noble who looked down on commoners, but ultimately ended up helping the protagonist—a third-rate villain position.
He had more weight than the original's Haribal and decent martial prowess too.
But even a guy like Richard gets Instant Killed? That meant pretty much everyone except a few playable characters was getting wiped out.
‘As long as I watch out for Cecilia and Ran, I should be fine.’
Confirming Richard was gone, I squatted down in front of the campfire.
My butt felt weirdly pinched by the armor, but there was no helping it if I wanted to stick to the concept.
That was the boss's fate, after all.
‘Adelin, what the hell is this? Are the devs idiots?’
What's the most bullshit boss in an action RPG?
A strong boss? A fast boss?
The answer is ‘the boss you can't grab.’
Strong or fast, as long as you can grab it, it's just bait to stoke the players' challenge spirit.
Players are the type who only feel satisfied after hundreds or thousands of tries, chopping off the boss's head with basic gear.
In that sense, Adelin from [Apocalypse Academy] was one of the worst bosses.
Why? Because the system made it impossible to catch her. Then why even give her a health bar?
Not difficult—impossible. Not like some gacha game's fake-out where you "catch" it only to force-defeat via cutscene. Just straight-up impossible.
So Adelin was technically a boss, but not really a boss.
You get face-fucked regardless, cutscene rolls, so why call it a boss? Standing still or fighting desperately—same result.
I remember how deflated I felt stepping into the deepest part of the Shadow Dungeon, only to see Adelin plopped right in the temple center.
And she was even glowing.
Anyway, that's why when I accepted this gig, I made a request to Victor.
“Prepare a set of worn, rusted armor. Voice-modifying magic would be great if possible.”
“Hmm… No issue, but what do you plan to do with it?”
Since I was taking on the Adelin role anyway, I figured I'd go for a delicious boss concept that really ignited challenge lust.
I had three ideas. First: a blue doll costume and mask reminiscent of Barhatan.
Problem was, swinging a sword while wearing a doll suit looked way too grotesque in the mirror.
Might as well go out in purple skin and just panties at that point.
Rejected.
Second: demon hunter concept from some game.
Demon horns and wings on the mask, yelling “You're not ready yet!” as you challenge them to fight.
Visuals weren't bad, but it could cause issues later with the Demon Dungeon.
Rejected.
Finally, I settled on the classic soulslike humanoid boss that swings wildly without question.
Armored knight, Valhillar.
Even deliberately moving slow to give attack chances, watching Richard blankly take hits and die made me certain the debut was a success.
Flashing a satisfied smile from inside the helmet, I looked down at the iron sword in my hand.
‘Good that this new sword fits my hand so well.’
My supply sword had just broken, so I needed a weapon, and Victor threw in an iron sword with the rusted armor.
It looked rusted on the outside, but strength and sharpness were intact.
Half the reason Instant Kill triggered on Richard was probably this sword.
“Show me Squad 1, Party 2.”
And it wasn't just for concept that I sat by the campfire.
Wuuung—
No sooner had I spoken than footage shimmered up from the flames like heat haze, showing Party 2 somewhere in the dungeon.
Yeah. This campfire had full CCTV functionality.
I knew Victor was capable, but seeing him nail even these fine details made me understand why no one ever saw through him.
Who'd suspect betrayal from someone this competent?
- Kraaaack!
- Rapal!
- Kyaaack!
Meanwhile, on screen, Party 2 was getting shredded one by one by Shukarit.
[Squad 1 Rapal Sezlek eliminated]
[Squad 1 Penia Agrice eliminated]
Seeing our Teacher Shu diligently schooling the newbies brought a smile to my face.
Yeah. Roll more, you rookies.
“Ah, the mace attacks need to be parried.”
Not that I could do it either.
- Uwaaaack!!
That's not how you do it.
[Squad 1 Wooster Karn eliminated]
After cycles of rookie voyeurism and Instant Kills, Squad 1's test ended.
“…Do you understand?”
“W-what the hell are we supposed to understand?!”
Flash!
“…The Blade of Luidel, Valhillar.”
“The Blade of Luidel, Valhillar? Never heard that bullshit name…!!”
Flash!
Three parties made it to the boss room from Squad 1. That's a decent number.
Of course, I cleanly Instant Killed them all and waited for Squad 2.
But not a single Squad 2 party reached the boss room.
- If we can't get through, neither can you!
- What good does fighting among ourselves do?!
“Why the fuck are these guys infighting like idiots?”
Fights broke out between parties right in front of the boss room.
Result: mutual destruction. The last survivor gave up conquering the dungeon on the spot.
Dude, come in order and I'd have let you through just fine.
In the end, I had to sit ass-to-floor until Squad 2 finished.
Squads 3 and 4 weren't much different.
Parties reaching the boss room only to get sliced by me.
Or infighting to self-eliminate.
Just as I was starting to lose steam, a familiar name popped up in the campfire.
[Squad 5 Eugene Raygal]
Creak.
The door opened, and in walked a textbook golden-haired, blue-eyed young noble. He didn't glance around—just locked eyes on me.
“You the boss?”
“…….”
Playable character, Eugene Raygal.
Head of the noble faction and eldest son of the Raygal County. The protagonist's rival in the original.
Early on, he outscored and outskilled the protagonist, but fell to second place after losing a duel.
Among users, he was called a victim of protagonist bias bullshit.
Anyway, unlike sneering at commoners, Eugene was a proper noble schooled in noblesse oblige.
Hell, there's even a scenario where, when Count Raygal goes berserk later, he sides with the protagonist and cuts down his own father.
Plus always challenging the protagonist fairly, one of the few decent nobles in the story—Eugene had massive fan appeal.
He had one not-so-great flaw, but that's not important now.
“Let's begin.”
What's important now: at this point, Eugene was stronger than the protagonist.
“Abyss Core, Aegis.”
And, naturally, he had a special core.
A massive golden dome unfolded around Eugene.
Defensive Abyss Core [Aegis]. A unique ability born from his belief as a noble to protect others.
Inside the barrier, it reduced incoming attack damage, and on growth, provided super armor and various buffs.
The moment Eugene leveled his rapier, a blue gem floated above my head.
First opponent without Instant Kill: Eugene.
‘This'll be fun.’
My turn.
I activated Chronodive and closed the distance, slamming in Corner Slash.
Craaaang! Craaack!
A roar echoed as cracks spiderwebbed across Aegis's barrier.
“……Strong.”
But no Weak Point mark.
Critical chance at 100% not landing [Weak!] meant the barrier negated weak point damage too.
‘Nice, I can use this later.’
Eugene's turn.
“The aura flowing from your whole body proves you're no demon.”
“……”
“However, hiding in that armor means you have no intention of revealing yourself.”
Eugene's rapier tip converged to a point, glowing with jade light.
“Exposing that is also a noble's duty. I'll uncover your identity here.”
No sooner said than the rapier thrust like lightning.
Eugene's basic art.
“Noble Cross.”
A combo of two cross-shaped slashes.
Perfect chance to test Just Guard on a playable character.
‘One… hold, two.’
[Just Guard!]
[Just Guard!]
“……!”
Nailed it.
But the handfeel was a tad off.
Noble Cross was a 2-hit, easy to time, but at my current level, blocking a 20-hit combo would be impossible.
‘Gotta adapt more.’
Even with his attack blocked, Eugene showed no panic.
“You blocked this?”
He pulled back the rapier, dragging the tip down in a semicircle.
Immediately, golden energy surged at his feet.
“Then I'll show you. The perfection of a noble's swordsmanship.”
Eugene's next art, Royal Ceremony stance.
But why's he moving on my turn?
My turn.
One Corner Slash cracked the barrier; using Flashback would shatter it like eating cold porridge.
I gripped my sword, targeted the crack precisely, and activated the art.
Flashback.
Kwaaaang!!
The golden dome shattered into pieces and vanished.
“……!”
Eugene's turn.
He instantly retreated and raised his rapier, but Royal Ceremony's prep stance was already broken.
More importantly, with the core link severed, the art couldn't activate.
“Such a mistake…!”
Uncharacteristically flustered, he swung wildly; I Just Guarded it and stole the turn.
My turn.
Corner Slash and Flashback combo followed, cleaving Eugene's body in half.
No pain since it was an illusion, but falling Eugene didn't even scream.
I tossed him a calm line.
“…Do you understand? The Blade of Luidel, Valhillar.”
As I turned to leave, Eugene's voice hit my back.
“Ah… Now I truly understand.”
“……?”
“The Blade of Luidel, Valhillar.”
Glancing back, he stared straight at me with a strange smile.
“No matter what… I'll definitely crush you.”
No, go crush the protagonist, not me.
Eugene left some oddly meaningful words and scattered like an illusion.
Should be fine, right?
Probably.
[Squad 5 Eugene Raygal eliminated]
I never saw Eugene as a big threat anyway.
Defensive specialist.
No way I'd lose no matter how strong.
‘The real deal starts now.’
The campfire screen showed Squad 6 prepping.
And finally, the protagonist's party from the original story—the first I'd face since dropping into this world—entered the dungeon.
Seeing the party full of familiar faces made my heart race.
Random draw, my ass. Perfect high-spec playables clustered around the protagonist, straight out of canon protagonist correction.
Truth be told, the one I was most wary of in this exam wasn't Cecilia—it was this party.
Cecilia was a solo overpowered freak, but this party's balance was flawless.
Early-game mixer fist fighter Ran.
Elior handling firepower solo.
Top healer Mine.
And at their center, [Apocalypse Academy]'s protagonist. Overflowing masculine super alpha male, walking heroine collector, Aren Bright…
…face.
“……?”
Tsk.
But why's he so round and chubby?
Was he always like that?
Maybe being in this world too long faded the original protag's face in my memory.
Hair color matches, but why's his height and build smaller than the illustrations?
Anyway, my job stays the same.
‘I hope they come soon.’
I plopped back by the campfire, ready to uphold the boss's fate.
The floor was still hard as hell.