The Kobold King Boss Fight
"Looks like they managed to make up after all."
Ho-jin muttered the words as he watched Choco and Yeon embracing from a short distance away. Pretty Cute, standing beside him, offered no reply — though she was quietly breathing a sigh of relief. Unintentional or not, she had played a part in the two of them falling out, and she had been privately wringing her hands over it the whole time.
No matter how good she is at the game, a kid is still a kid, I guess.
The thought crossed Ho-jin's mind as he recalled Choco with tears rolling down her cheeks. She might have been pushing an unusual character concept, but that was probably what she was really like underneath — just an ordinary girl who fought with her friend, sulked, and cried.
Of course, he still couldn't quite believe she was a high schooler at that height. But in a way, it made sense. Even as a girl, a physique like that wouldn't have let her live a completely ordinary life. So of course she had adopted that high-handed, arrogant persona inside the game.
Thinking that, Choco nestled in Yeon's arms suddenly looked terribly fragile. A child wrapping herself in a fierce shell to protect herself — it was a sight that couldn't help but stir a protective instinct.
Had Choco overheard any of this, she would have gone pale with horror and thrown a fit, screaming at him to stop talking nonsense. Unfortunately, Ho-jin's imagination was already inflating in real time.
"By the way, do you think Choco will join the boss fight?"
"Yeon said she would, so Choco probably will too, right? She's not the type to leave a friend behind."
Ho-jin shrugged as he answered Pretty Cute's question. Honestly, even if the two of them had never made up and had simply walked into the boss fight in silence, Choco would have followed them for sure.
Of course, he himself would have gotten an earful, and Yeon and Choco's relationship might have become irreparable — which was precisely why he had chosen this approach.
I might be a hardcore gamer, but even I have lines I won't cross.
Even if he considered this Kobold King boss fight important, what Ho-jin valued most was not causing harm to others. It was a principle he had inherited from his father, a police officer, since he was very young, and—
"Did you find any useful information while you were logged out?"
Pretty Cute cut off the lengthy recollection before it could get going. She had interrupted a rare moment of reminiscence, but Ho-jin showed nothing on his face as he replied.
"Let's wait until those two get back and brief everyone together."
Just as Pretty Cute had implied, while Yeon and Choco were in the middle of making up, Ho-jin had briefly logged out and accessed the Al Fantasia forums. The sudden event that had broken out in Gezina's Forest had already made the rounds as a hot topic, so gathering information had not been difficult.
But if that information is accurate, this won't be easy.
Thinking that, Ho-jin looked toward the two approaching figures, who seemed to have calmed down. They were holding hands affectionately, as if they had fully reconciled — an awfully cute sight. The height difference between them was considerable enough that, at a glance, they could have passed for sisters.
"You two made up all right, then?"
"Silence."
Choco glared at him sullenly, the way she always did. Given that her eyes were still red from crying just moments ago, it was not the least bit intimidating. She seemed to know it, too — she clicked her tongue softly and rubbed at her eyes.
Yeon smiled at the sight, then suddenly bowed her head toward Ho-jin.
"I'm sorry. We caused trouble for the party because of the two of us."
"Why are you apologizing? They were the ones who invited themselves into the party in the first place—"
"Choco."
"Urgh..."
Choco fidgeted under Yeon's scolding tone, then let out a small sigh and mumbled in a feeble voice.
"This one is sorry..."
The power dynamic's completely flipped, huh. Ho-jin thought as much, but he smiled and waved a hand.
"No, Choco isn't entirely wrong. And thanks to her, our hunting speed was faster, too."
"Even so..."
"You don't need to apologize. We need all of you here to even start the boss fight, after all."
The reason he had arranged for the two of them to make up in the first place had simply been to keep it from affecting the boss fight. It had been a thoroughly calculated decision of profit and loss — Yeon and Choco had no reason to apologize like this.
"Seest thou? 'Tis they who stand to lose, in any case— Kyah!"
"Hey! You can't say things like that."
"Kyah?"
Ho-jin tilted his head at the yelp Choco let out after receiving a light flick to the forehead. This was a game — she should not have felt any pain — and yet she was rubbing her forehead with a genuinely pained pout.
She's weird, I'll give her that.
It was honestly impressive, in a way, that she stayed so immersed in her character concept even immediately after making up from a fight. Plenty of players had tried similar concepts in the past, but they had all given up before long.
Back then, you had been playing a game character. Now, you had to operate as a slightly modified version of your actual appearance. No matter how shamelessly you tried to play it, the embarrassment would catch up with you. And if someone recognized you in real life... just imagining it was horrifying.
"Anyway, now that you two have made up, shall we talk about what comes next?"
"What comes next?"
"The boss fight, what else?"
Choco answered in a sullen voice, perhaps still smarting from the scolding. Before Yeon could say anything else, Ho-jin quickly picked up the thread.
"Choco is right. I was about to discuss the boss fight — the Kobold King. Does anyone here know anything about it?"
"Well, I'm not really the type to do advance scouting."
"I don't really..."
Yeon trailed off, glancing sideways at Choco. Even under that look, Choco kept her mouth shut and simply gazed at Ho-jin. She knew why Yeon was looking at her. But she had no intention of stepping forward to explain.
What she knew was the Kobold King's behavior during a defensive battle — not a standard hunting-ground boss fight like this one. The broad strokes probably had not changed. But rather than having the explanation cut off midway, it was better to let someone who knew more keep talking.
"In that case, I'll start by explaining a standard Kobold King boss fight."
When no one volunteered, Ho-jin said this and began drawing on the ground. One large square, four smaller triangles, and a handful of little circles — only after finishing the diagram did he speak.
"Once we enter the boss fight, we'll first be greeted by eight Kobold Warriors and two Archers — the same types we've been fighting so far. After we break through them, the four Royal Guards escorting the Kobold King will step in directly."
He pointed at the triangles, which were a bit larger than the circles, and continued.
"The Royal Guards are all swordsmen. They're bigger than a regular Kobold but a bit smaller than a human. Their level is higher than a standard Kobold Warrior, and they're fast, so we'll need to be careful fighting them. Though with our party's skill, it shouldn't be a major concern."
Then he moved to the last, largest square.
"The Kobold King is a monster nearly twice my size. Fitting that bulk, it wields an enormous weapon — a Spiked Club that inflicts a bleeding status just from a graze. Fortunately, it's as slow as it is huge, but that doesn't mean we can let our guard down. A dealer without proper armor can get one-shot if they take a clean hit."
The description of the Royal Guards and the Kobold King matched what Choco already knew. But that was not the end of it this time.
"'Tis merely how things stood in the past, I presume."
"Exactly. With the sudden event currently underway, all Kobolds have been confirmed to be receiving attack power and speed increase buffs. The Kobold King will be the same. And... this is speculation on people's part, but it's probably accurate."
"Speculation?"
"There appears to be a mage among the Kobolds. Mage players are the ones saying it, so it's probably true. I think so too."
"Now that you mention it, I think I heard people at the fortress saying something like that..."
Yeon murmured this, then suddenly turned her head and whispered to Choco.
"Hey, what's a forum?"
"The Al Fantasia Forum. Simply put, think of it as a community where people exchange information about Al Fantasia."
"Huh, I didn't know a place like that existed."
"This one mentions it only as a precaution, but do not go looking for it."
"Why not?"
"This one already knows most of the relevant information. Is that not reason enough?"
That was a fair point. Yeon nodded with a look of understanding. Watching her, Choco secretly let out a breath of relief.
Of course, that wasn't the only reason.
It was a community for sharing information, yes — but it was also a channel where people communicated outside the game. Which meant every type of person imaginable gathered there. If Yeon set foot in a place like that, there was a high chance she would see things she should not.
Even Choco herself only went there when she truly could not find information anywhere else. With that thought, she turned her attention back to Ho-jin.
"I believe the mage's level is probably higher than the Kobold King's. There's no other way it could apply a buff to every Kobold just by existing."
"The Kobold King's level was 30, wasn't it?"
"I'm thinking it's gone up from that — around 33 or 34. The mage would be even higher. But Yeon, didn't you say you didn't know much about the Kobold King?"
At that, Yeon made a caught-out expression, then laughed awkwardly.
"I overheard people talking at the fortress. I don't know everything."
The truth was, she was remembering what Choco had told her before they arrived at the fortress. Ho-jin took her at her word and continued.
"Anyway, if there is a mage, the first thing we need to do is take it out. As you can tell just by looking at Choco, whether or not a mage is present makes a huge difference in combat."
Of course, he had no idea what kind of magic the anticipated Kobold Mage would use — but no matter what spells it cast, taking it out first remained an unchanging fact.
"So I brought this along for now — anyone want to try using it?"
What Ho-jin pulled out was a crossbow. It was a weapon that could project consistent force without requiring much strength, but Choco spoke in a voice of utter disbelief.
"This one is already present. Magic shall suffice — why would one bother with such a thing?"
"What if it has something like magic damage immunity? We have to prepare for contingencies."
It was still just a low-level zone boss — would it really have something like that? Choco thought as much, but she did not bother saying it. Instead, she held out her hand.
"Hand it over. Those two would be better served by their swords. This one shall wield it in tandem with magic."
"You seem pretty confident."
"Hmph. As if handling a mere crossbow would be difficult—?!"
It was heavy! Choco nearly dropped the crossbow, catching it with both hands as she stared at Ho-jin with a slack-jawed expression.
"Ah, I forgot to mention — you can't lift that one-handed unless your Strength is over 50."
"W-why are you only saying that now?!"
"Well, you acted like you could obviously lift it, so..."
"Kh...!"
Choco glared at Ho-jin with irritated eyes, then whipped her head away. She had already said she would do it — backing out now would be too humiliating.
More importantly... she doesn't even have 50 Strength at that level?
Well, if she had been using magic from the very start of her character development, her Strength stat would have had no reason to be high. Her Magic stat, on the other hand, would be absurdly elevated.
Choco, of course, was thoroughly indignant.
One point of Strength short, and this one cannot even lift it one-handed...!