Defeating Cook Monier was not my proudest feat. I caught him off guard while he was cooking something on the stove. I shot him twice in the back with poisoned bullets, and he seemed to brush off the pain as he got bigger and sturdier.

I missed a third shot, for he had jumped aside, finally turning into something resembling a beast. The first thought crossing my mind was that he was too big to work in the kitchen now.

The now black, wolf-looking bear, tossed the table getting in his way and snarled at me. A fourth shot penetrated his chest, but I didn’t get out of the way in time. A single swipe of his claw took 80% of my HP, and a System Warning told me that I would bleed out if I didn’t patch the wound in time.

Yeah, right. Patch the wound. With what? Scrap metal? I sat on the ground as the useless, inexperienced adventurer I am, and waited for the inevitable, while the monster coughed blood, and stood on four legs, growling quietly.

“So the poison worked…”

“Alan, how can I help you?” his Anima asked, materializing above his head.

“Scan the kitchen…”

“On it.”

The boss in front of Alan lost its transformation until returning to being a man. A virtual man. He also sat, leaning against a cabinet. After panting, his agonizing face showed a faint smirk.

“Spiegel’s poison? Clever…” he said. The color of his face gradually turned purple. “Wait. Somehow, I can remember other Users doing the same tactic. But they didn’t wield weapons like yours. What is that?”

“A gun.”

“I don't know what that is. I only know bows and arrows, knives and swords. Users throwing fireballs, ice lances, and lightning bolts.” He exhaled, looking at the ceiling. “Some other Users bathed their arrowheads with poison and killed me that way… But why can I remember that? It’s so fuzzy. Even though I can remember every single time Users have defeated me, an inner voice told me I shouldn’t learn from them. That I shouldn’t come up with tactics to defend myself…”

“Alan, there is a Red Potion here!” Aaron said, pointing at one of the shelves. “It will help you replenish the lost blood, but unfortunately, I cannot bring it to you. I cannot touch it.”

“That shelf also contains an antidote,” Cook Monier said quietly, catching Alan’s attention. “Whoever reaches the shelf would win…”

Alan waited for him to make a move, but the man seemed too tired to even move a finger.

“Tell me, User…” Monier said. “Why can I remember everything before The Update?”

Update?

“The things you’re remembering… Are those bad memories?”

“Not at all. I felt… alive… and not conscious at the same--” Monier did not finish the sentence, and his body turned into vanishing pixels.

 

Count Dylak's retainer, Cook Monier defeated!

 

“Hurry, Alan! You don’t have much time!”

“I k-know,” he said, grunting. The simple task of getting up was excruciating, even though the system told him the ‘Pain Endurance’ Passive Skill was being activated. “I can do it… I can…”

 

YOU DIED You bleeded out. Death Penalty: 50% of your GOLD has been substracted from your account. Gold balance: 2243

 

Dammit. This whole dungeon is telling me I could never become a Lone Wolf.

“There’s a shorter path to the kitchen in front of us, Alan, beneath the double staircase,” Aaron informed telepathically, as Alan respawned at the lobby.

“Yes, but…”

He crossed eyes with the huge, stubborn Housekeeper.

“Alan Warden. You must train to become stronger,” the NPC said in a drowsy tone of voice, ready to attack.

My gun currently has two poisoned bullets loaded.

Alan shot as soon as he got control of his body and ran forward, leaving the boss behind.

Even though Bilmur recoiled and blood sprouted from his chest, his HP bar barely decreased. He only recoiled due to the surprise attack. I hope that the poison gradually works on him.

“Is that the kitchen?”

“Yes, Alan.”

He kicked the doors open and quickly closed them before Bilmur could be heard shouting.

Alan was in the kitchen again. He glanced at his left, from where another door could be seen opened. In front of it, a pool of blood.

“It’s weird to see that.” He patted his chest. “Tell me I’m complete.”

“That blood will disappear in a matter of minutes.”

“Okay. Back to work. Scan every single piece of metal in this place. We will need all the ammo we can muster.”

 

* * *

 

“I’m so sick of this place. It’s a fucking farce!” Emily had said a long time ago, grabbing a pebble and throwing it as far as she could.

Clara did not have the strength to object, for she thought the exact thing.

That region, modeled after their real homeland, was nothing but a happy ‘rendition’ of the real deal.

And it feels so wrong…

“The Developers should have never built this place. They should have stuck to reality and designed it as a freaking wasteland, or… a giant, damm crater! I don’t fucking care!”

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“If the Developers did that, I don’t think there would be a Novus to explore,” Clara said, as she filled her lungs with the sea breeze.

“Let’s get out of this continent,” Emily blurted out, throwing a bigger rock. In front of them, a sea bathed in orange by the sunset, and beyond that, a world of possibilities.

“And where could we go?”

“Anywhere will be a thousand times better than here. Let’s go to port and buy a ticket for the first boat we see. What do you say?”

Emily reached out a hand to me, knowing I could not leave her alone. Knowing that I wouldn't say no. Knowing that I would follow her lead no matter what.

“Yes! Let’s leave this shithole.”

“A race to the port, then?”

“W-what? We’re leaving right now?!”

“Before we regret it!” Emily shouted, riding her mount as soon as it materialized.

 

* * *

 

“Clara! Are you paying attention?”

She crossed eyes with Amelia’s fiery expression.

“O-of course, Bestie! I’ll search the mansion west from here. Easy-peasy.”

Amelia wrinkled her nose for a moment before glancing at the rest of the group. “Be careful, everyone. Something tells me that the clones are coming from the mansions.”

“Is it official? Are we going to call them ‘clones’, then? They are more like a case of ‘copy and paste’…”

“Clara… Please. Not now.”

“Duplicates,” Ashley suggested, making Amelia sigh.

“Fine, whatever. As I was saying, the Duplicates may be spawning from each of these mansions, so don’t overextend yourselves. Got it? Exit the mansion, and communicate if you need help.”

“It’s a good thing that the spider guy hasn’t been pestering us, right? He was the really troublesome one due to his poison.”

Clara’s grin gradually faded at the sight of Amelia’s thoughtful expression.

“My Fire Clone has been eliminated,” the redhead said, standing up and looking at the surroundings.

“Projectiles!” Ashley cried, and the rest got on their guard, searching the sky.

Amelia was the first to see the incoming danger, and with a quick fireball, made it explode in midair. “Someone is throwing boulders at us!”

Clara watched one breaking a tree in half. “Let’s retreat then! Go to your designated mansions!”

“I’ll stay and get rid of the pest!” Amelia said, sprouting fire wings and soaring into the sky in a matter of seconds, destroying more incoming boulders.

Meanwhile, Clara did her best to keep herself alive, losing the rest of the group in an instant. “Come on, Clara! Keep running, keep runni—whoah!” One rock almost hit her head, and another blocked her path. “Oh, come on! This would be a lame way to die!”

“Miss!” a male voice called from afar. “This way!”

Someone is calling me from… yes, The Mansion! Is that a User?

“Hurry! This Manor has a protective shield, so you’ll be safe here!”

“FINE!” she cried, covering her head while sprinting towards the entrance. Once she stepped into the front yard, she could hear a boulder getting smashed into pieces. She glanced at her back, corroborating the existence of a force shield surrounding the building. “Thanks, man, you save--”

Oh, crap!

A name could be read above the middle-aged man’s head. Butler Marick!

She stood on a defensive, unrefined battle pose, but the gentleman cleared his throat before speaking: “It’s dangerous to be outside for the moment. In the meantime, would you like to enter and have a cup of tea? The Hostess would love your company.”

What’s with this attitude? He doesn’t seem hostile at all, despite all the trouble his friends have caused us this whole night!

“Please, join us,” the Boss insisted. “Miss…?”

“Clara.”

“Lovely name. This way, please.”

I was going to enter the mansion anyway, so…

“If you insist.”

Once the doors closed, Clara tried contacting Ashley, but to no avail. So this is truly considered a Dungeon, huh? She inspected the lobby, and for some reason, the orange lights gave it a cozy feeling.

“This way, Miss Clara,” Marick said, leading the way to the right aisle of the mansion. On her way there, Clara made sure to be ready and summon her Imps at the first sign of danger. But something doesn’t feel right. He’s being courteous in the same manner Dylak acted when he visited us at the house.

When they entered a spacious living room, Marick cleared his throat again. “As your request, milady. I have invited one of the Users to our home.”

“Oh, yes. Thank you, Butler Marick. Since Cook Monier is gone now, could you prepare the tea?”

“As you wish,” the man said, giving a brief bow and leaving the room.

Clara was then face to face with a little girl sitting on a couch, a large book in her hands.

The first thought that crossed her mind was that she reminded her of Kathleen Maher, one of her favorite Guilders in all The Novus for the way she dressed. Wearing a Victorian long dress.

But it would be easier to point out their differences. This girl looks even younger. Has white hair, and the inexpressive face of a cute doll. It’s like seeing that Serenity bitch when she was a child.

“Welcome to Count Dylak’s Manor, Clara,” the girl said, faintly smiling. “Sit down. I would like to talk with you, if you don’t mind.”

But something unnerving prevented Clara from getting near her seat. She doesn’t have a System Name like the other Boss NPCs… And if she was a User, even though I don’t know her name, her level could be visible, or at least show a question mark. But…

Clara squinted, making her best to see the info above the girl’s head. But nothing… There is no info about her.