Chapter 36
[- Adam : kylrevnui wyvnzuiccuivmtiovm xv ziivme ivmuivnii swyvniiuictiovm lbxdli kicti.]
― “The fact that a golem is moving is the same as saying there’s a spirit hidden inside it.”
As if he were talking to Retake, the script was filled with characters I couldn’t decipher. But I could understand the voice. So this was what Retake had meant when he said, “The lines come through properly.” Until now, I’d only vaguely thought, Oh, I see, but now it hit me all at once.
[- Adam : ziildaut ivmuivnivn dicxuikii wzuivni. ivmuivnivn wylruii ziicci iivnyit.]
― “Never harm the spirits. Spirits are not our enemies.”
[- Adam : ……ivmuivnivn iicviilx vnyrzuivniim.]
― “……Though I don’t know about them.”
With Adam’s final line, the screen returned to gameplay. It seemed that the giant golem with the name <Golem of the Earth> written above its head was the first named boss. I’d only been wandering around the garden looking for a device to solve the trash-section gimmick, but somehow I’d ended up summoning the first boss.
I moved my character, who was still standing in front of the arched gate, and kept enough distance that the golem wouldn’t detect me as I regrouped with Retake. Even though the cutscene was over and he should have been able to move, he was standing still, so it seemed he was talking with his viewers about what Adam had said. For me, if someone said, “The spirits, who were said to have disappeared, were actually still alive!” I’d just go, “Oh, really?” and that would be that. But Retake, who had savored every single story chapter over that long, long span of time, sucking every last drop out of them, must have felt it especially deeply.
I thought I might get bored if his conversation with the viewers dragged on, so I was about to pull up the stream window I’d minimized on my secondary monitor and turn the volume back on after having it muted the whole time, when he returned.
[Party] Retake : Sorry, I got excited because a lore bomb dropped and ended up talking...
[Party] Honeybread : LOOOOOOOOOOL I figured, it’s fine
[Party] Honeybread : If you don’t theorize about the foreshadowing, who will?
[Party] Retake : There are people who do, you know
[Party] Retake : Anyway, Honeybread, you really were born to be a tank
[Party] Retake : Even when you’re just standing there quietly, the mobs come out to greet you.
[Party] Honeybread : lol
His tone was definitely teasing. I couldn’t really deny it, since it was true that all I’d done was walk around and a golem had popped out, so I just laughed awkwardly in chat.
[Party] Retake : Let’s just figure out the trash in the next section and focus on the named boss for now
[Party] Retake : Surely it won’t take that long to kill one named boss just because we’re tank-healer, right?
No, why would you say that!
[Party] Honeybread : Ah
[Party] Honeybread : Ah
[Party] Honeybread : a h
[Party] Honeybread : ahh
[Party] Honeybread : Take that flag back right now
[Party] Honeybread : hurry;
[Party] Retake : dAh
Retake seemed to realize his mistake and let out a short groan, then fell silent for a moment. And then,
[Party] Retake : Golem: Did we get him?
He raised a death flag for the golem.
[Party] Honeybread : lol
[Party] Honeybread : lol Excuse me? lol
[Party] Retake : Anyone who says that always dies
[Party] Honeybread : No but LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
[Party] Honeybread : LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL True, but;
[Party] Retake : Then that’s fine^^
I’d told him to collect the flag back because I wanted to tease him for looking flustered, but instead he’d slapped a death flag onto the golem. Rather than collecting the flag, it was more like he’d just handed it off to someone else like a baton. Seriously, he was so cute I could die. To think that was what he said when I told him to take the flag back.
[Party] Retake : Stop laughing and use your consumables, will you?
I held back the snickers leaking out and used my doping items. Once I finished applying the mandatory dungeon buffs, Retake cast a buff on me as if praising me for doing well.
[Combat] Retake’s AIT-II-XV Injection unique stat increase effect has been applied.
Since he wasn’t a priest with lots of buff skills, there was only one buff I could receive, but even that was more than enough to be grateful for.
[Party] Retake : If it takes too long, we’ll get tired faster because of the trash we killed earlier, so let’s watch how its HP goes down and, if needed, reset and try changing stances.
[Party] Retake : If these devs have any sense, they balanced it properly, right?
Probably. If the trash section had taken so long because we hadn’t handled the gimmick properly, then as long as we dealt with the boss’s gimmicks correctly, we should definitely be able to kill it in time. ……Probably.
But it would be a different story if they’d leaned into the concept of a golem—especially a golem of the earth—and made it a boss with tough, sturdy traits. Zero Soft was a group of incurable concept fanatics, after all.
[Party] Retake : I don’t have anything else to adjust, so start whenever you’re ready, Honeybread
Retake let me know he was ready. I didn’t have anything else to prepare either, so it would have been fine to start right away. But I didn’t move my character and hesitated for a moment.
The reason was nothing much. It was just…… I wanted to see Retake make another stupid joke like before. Once this moment passed, when would I ever get to see Retake do that in real time right in front of me again?
So I dawdled, debating whether or not to say something to Retake, and in the end, I asked him for one thing in chat.
[Party] Honeybread : Before that
[Party] Honeybread : Do that one more time
[Party] Retake : ??
[Party] Honeybread : lol, you know... that thing from earlier. lol
[Party] Retake : lol
[Party] Retake : I’m curious, why do you like this so much?
[Party] Honeybread : Because it’s funny when you do it lol
[Party] Retake : heh
[Party] Retake : If Honeybread says he likes seeing me do it, then I guess I have to^^
[Party] Honeybread : I said it’s because it’s funny
[Party] Retake : Anyway
I waited eagerly for Retake’s chat.
[Party] Retake : Honeybread: It’s cleaner inside than I expected?
But Retake planted a death flag on me.
[Party] Honeybread : Ah
[Party] Honeybread : LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
[Party] Honeybread : LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
[Party] Retake : Why do you like it? You’re really strange
[Party] Honeybread : I’m telling you, it’s funny because it’s super weird when you do that
[Party] Honeybread : LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL no but
[Party] Honeybread : Why would you lol put it lol on me lol
[Party] Honeybread : If I die, you can’t clear either LOLOLOLOL
[Party] Retake : It’s just...
[Party] Retake : I felt like it because you were cheeky enough to make me say thatㅎ
[Party] Retake : Anyway, I did an encore for you, so let’s just start?
[Party] Honeybread : LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL okay okay
[Party] Honeybread : Don’t actually kill me trying to collect the flag^^7
Retake had raised a flag on me, but come on, as if I’d really die because of a flag.
Feeling even more cheerful, I sensed Retake’s invisible, sharp glare and charged at the Golem of the Earth.
After using a harassment skill to draw the golem’s attention first, I used a charge skill to quickly move forward and face the golem head-on. Then, using an evasion skill to slip behind the golem, I exposed its rear so Retake could deal damage comfortably.
Of course, since Retake was a healer, attacking from the rear wouldn’t increase his damage. But if he got caught in the occasional wide-area tank buster (*a strong attack targeting the aggro holder or tank, commonly called a tankbuster), he could get pulverized along with me, so unless there was a special gimmick, healers also needed to position themselves at the rear or side.
At the very beginning of the fight, there weren’t any particular gimmicks aside from taking a few basic attacks, so Retake and I focused as much as possible on attacking. We had to squeeze out as much damage as we could here, or we’d be short on DPS later when difficult gimmicks appeared.
About ten seconds passed before the golem began casting a skill. Judging by the name <Weakness Reinforcement>, it didn’t seem like an attack skill. I figured it was probably a shield or buff it applied at the start.
As expected, when the golem finished casting, two new buffs appeared on the boss. Seeing that, I activated my mouse as usual and moved it over the buff icons.