Chapter 7: Chapter 7: The Boss, My Face

“Wait, wait, wait. You’re not planning on going down there without any light, right?”

The girl preened. “I don’t need any. I’ve memorized the way perfectly!”

While I didn’t doubt this was the truth, I was more apprehensive about following her into the cave without any source of light. I could attempt using <<Party Flare>>, but the hour cooldown for each of the charges would make it useless for extensive travel within the cave. It was also dangerous as our first meeting together had proved. I shuddered, but then realized if she led the way perfectly that the red outline it cast would be more than enough for me to follow behind.

“How long will it take to find the boss?”

“Less than five minutes.”

Perfect, that would be plenty of time to find its lair.

<<Party Flare>>.

The spell launched into the sky, eliciting a startled cry from Summer. She jumped into the air until she figured out it had been me making all the noise. She scoffed and hit me in the shoulder. It didn’t hurt at all, but I rubbed my shoulder anyway in an attempt at appeasement. “My bad.”

Leveling one final glare in my direction, she headed into the cave. I wasn’t far behind her, following the bright outline around a bend. Past that, the pathway seemed to narrow in on us. Solid walls enclosed us on either side, and I often found my hand brushing the cool stone comprising them.

Our footsteps echoed off the walls while we continued to push onward in the cramped space.

While I couldn't see it, there must have been a rough patch or loose rubble ahead because Summer tripped, knees buckling under her weight. With a burst of speed, I managed to catch her wrist and pull her upright.

"I knew we shouldn't have come in here without a torch or something," I said.

"It's fine. I just miscalculated how steep the slope was."

Letting go of her wrist, I groaned. "Whatever, just be more careful."

"Ok."

We carried on in relative silence. I was more than a little distracted by the fact she admitted to miscalculating. So, apparently, the AI wasn't perfect or was made to make her appear more human-like. That would make sense as if I didn't keep reminding myself, I would've thought she was just some random kid who enjoyed VRMMORPGs. Yet, she understood she was an NPC, a program to help other players progress in Skill Shards Online. And it didn't bother her, except for when I tried to bring her to the orphanage. Would her being there end up resetting her AI back to how all those other kids were?

I wasn't certain, but, whether she was just a program or not, the terror in her eyes had been real.

Shaking my head to focus back on the task at hand, I figured we must have been pretty far in by now. The sounds of our footsteps sounded further away, and my hand had touched nothing but air for the past couple of minutes. Another left turn, and I could only assume we had reached some sort of block as Summer came to a grinding halt.

The silence was overwhelming, yet I strained my ears and focused. At last, I heard the echoing of noise from the right of us. A sort of muffled panting, followed by a loud snorting. If I hadn't known any better, I would have assumed I was thrown into a ring with an enraged bull.

You are reading story Is Insanity Contagious? Online at novel35.com

"What was that?"

"The boss. A minotaur."

I turned to look but instantly felt foolish since the surrounding darkness obviously hadn't let up. My pulse was racing, and the rapid beat of my pulse muted everything else. A minotaur? The huge, mythical beast which stood twice my size and had horns longer than my forearm. That minotaur?

Summer had sounded confident, however, so I wanted to place my trust in her. Despite his violent roar vibrating around the open room I found myself in, I could feel myself calming down. There was no way she would have brought me here without having the utmost confidence in her abilities. And best of all, based on the legends, the minotaur was certain to have hordes of treasures waiting for us upon his defeat. I could practically picture myself swimming in the gold as I heard Summer shuffle forward. The beast went to meet the challenge with a mighty roar, and she let out a shriek in response.

“You’re winning, right?”

“Um…”

I heard a brief scuffle, a pained shout, and nothing except subdued grunts and snorts. Those certainly were some funny sounds coming from the girl. The red outline was tossed across the room and stayed still, face-down. This was a matter of tactics now. She was playing dead until the perfect opportunity to strike arose. Some may have thought it was dishonorable, but for the first time, I felt something akin to respect for the girl.

Of course, she ruined it when she died.

A mass exodus of shimmering polygons burst forth from her, dancing around my peripheral. Her unexpected passing meant little to me as I had bigger problems than worrying about some useless NPC who had no doubt she had respawned in Starter Town, just as any other player would; the minotaur had locked its beady eyes onto my own.

The brightness faded, shrouding the cavern room in darkness once more. My heart leapt in my throat when the monster bellowed and his heavy footfall approached me. I tried to scamper away but knew there was no hope. The thing could definitely see me, while I had to rely on only an estimation of where he was based on what I could hear.

A totally even fight in my mind.

Casting <<Party Flare>> would have been awesome yet the cooldown still had a little over fifty minutes. So, I dropped to my knees and prayed to whatever Goddesses this game had to be teleported away. Apparently, they hated me, though, because all this did was allow the minotaur to easily kick me in the face. Its hove made impact, and I was sure it would have looked cool in slow motion. It certainly didn’t feel cool as my body slid across the ground like someone turned the friction setting off.

The pain was nothing much worse than a few pinches since the devs at one point had decided their target audience wasn’t a bunch of masochists. While I could fully appreciate that now, there was still something about a minotaur towering over you that was absolutely terrifying. It was worse when it continued to kick me in the face, just really going for it. The creature’s aim was true, and it never missed its intended target. After about the fifth hit, I was actually kind of in pain, yet thankfully my HP bar depleted, and I was whisked away to safety.

The sensation of teleporting was always strange like my guts were being twisted around while going mach speed. I found it difficult to complain about this much with the familiar surroundings of the starting town around me again. This slight motion sickness was much better than being stuck in the minotaur’s lair, and it was a hell of a lot better than what my poor face had endured.

As I neared the fountain, some kids were dipping their hands in the water and splashing one another. They sprayed me in passing, soaking my left sleeve. They apologized, but I merely grunted in response, skirting around one of the Cult 76 goons with a hammer in his hand. I needed to find Summer and tell her something important.

Luckily, the girl had decided to wait for me in front of the guild hall. She was leaning against the side of the building, glancing from person to person until she noticed me. Her approach was lethargic and she had a sheepish grin on her face. “My bad."

Oh, no. You weren’t going to twist my own words against me.

I clenched my jaw and shook my head at the girl, causing the stinging in my cheek to worsen. “No new computer chips for you.”

You can find story with these keywords: Is Insanity Contagious? Online, Read Is Insanity Contagious? Online, Is Insanity Contagious? Online novel, Is Insanity Contagious? Online book, Is Insanity Contagious? Online story, Is Insanity Contagious? Online full, Is Insanity Contagious? Online Latest Chapter