WebNovels

Chapter 17 - Reclaiming Alexander's Depths (4) - This Genius Defeats a Miniboss

HP: 10 / 75

The world hit me before I even realized I was flying. Stone met my face like a hammer and grit cut into my cheek as I dropped, weightless, before skidding across the cavern floor. 

My vision stuttered, flickering black and white as a tinnitus strident ring whined in my ears like a faulty vitals monitor. The world flattened into shades of silver and ash, shadows pulsing where light should've been. My brain barely registered as a gargantuan ring of sharp stones rippled from an invisible impact, spreading outwards and forming a wide arena around me.

A thunderbolt icon pulsed over my player card.

[Status Effect: Stunned]

Everything moved in half-speed. My body refused to listen, as if I were trying to swim through honey while my brain yelled move, move, move. My limbs dragged half a second behind my intent. (Not quite what post-concussion response looks like neurologically, but fine. Creative liberties. Eh… I'll give you an 8.5/10 for dramatization.)

When I finally managed to raise my head, my HP bar blinked in furious red which might as well have been a vitals monitor flat-lining.

Fuck.

Through my throbbing and pulsing vision, I caught the monster's outline towering high above me. [Templar's Vision] painted it in muted greys, its small, bready sockets flickering with ghostlight like search beams searching for my soul.

My body refused to believe this was a game. Every fibre in me screamed run, my pulse ricocheting while my heart kicked. I could almost feel the adrenaline dump in a textbook panic response as I grew jittery, my breaths speeding up.

…Too bad textbooks don't say what to do when your panic trigger wants to eat you.

Through the haze, I saw Midori, Lilith, and Dame Airi behind the wall of stone that had sprung up. It was like a barrier—no, a cage, trapping me in with the monster.

Was it a skill or an ability?

My thoughts were cut short as the monster roared, the sound slamming into me like pressure waves from an explosion. It pressed in on my lungs like it was trying to cave in my chest.

The whole cavern shook. My HUD trembled and flickered with static as the monster lowered its stance, preparing to charge.

Somehow I managed to roll to the side as the thing lunged, even though I felt as if I were moving underwater while caffeinated on my 3rd can of 6-shot sweet espresso.

Its claws sliced through the air where I'd been a heartbeat before, the impact of its attack cracking stone, spraying shards upwards and pulverizing the floor.

The good news: I'm not dead.

Bad news: that's probably temporary.

Before I could register what was happening, it turned again, its wet jaw yawning open. The sound it made—somewhere between a pained shriek and a sob—rattled the back of my skull.

"I–Inventory—" I stammered as my gathering knife flickered into my trembling hand. Across the barrier, I caught sight of Midori and Dame Airi scaling the stone, weapons drawn. 

They were trying to reach me.

…I knew that they weren't going to make it in time. The monster crouched low again. Its claws scraped, the sound like a bone saw.

Yeah, this is fucked. 

I tried to keep some semblance of my wits with me. "Haahh—okay. Okay okay okay—" I inhaled. My mind cracked somewhere between fear and laughter as a broken chuckle tore itself out of my chest. 

"It's fine, right? One monster. One teeny-tiny—eight-foot-tall—monstrosity. Coincidentally probably somewhere around level twenty. I can handle that."

…Obviously, I couldn't, but denial's a hell of a drug.

I'm a studious person, not a gambler, but I was pretty good at calculating survival rates. Comes with the territory of being a doctor—and this situation didn't look great. Besides, it's not like I had potions—

—Wait.

Potions?

Midori gave me some when we left, right? They were in the backpack she'd tossed me, which I'd been wearing this entire time.

I rolled away again as it charged, flopping across the ragged cavern floor like a startled maggot as claws ripped the ground beside me. Luckily, its attacks were telegraphed, and I could just barely read its swings. Maybe it wasn't as bad as I'd thought—

*SLAM!*

HP: 5 / 75

Oop, okay it's just as bad as I'd thought, I would like to sincerely apologize to Mr. Monster for severely underestimating him—I laughed again as an irrational smile tugged at the corners of my lips. "Oh—oh that's fine, that's so fine, I didn't need blood or HP anyway." My brain was short-circuiting. 

I reached for the backpack with my left hand, fingers fumbling. "Inventory!"

A scroll wheel full of potions flickered open in front of me, blurry with my stunned condition. I couldn't even see the end of them all. "Jesus Christ, Midori, how many—? You running a fucking pharmacy in here—?"

The monster screamed again.

—No time, no time, no time...

I grabbed a vial at random and bit the cork off.

———

Item: Lemon Balm & Lemongrass Solution (Intermediate)

Description: A refreshing brew that cures Debilitating Status Effects and sharpens the user's focus and movement for 5 minutes (Crit Rate +25%. Movement Speed +25%. Duration: 300s).

———

A cool, tangy liquid burned my throat like antiseptic, fizzing like a carbonation of citrus and herbs. It was sharp enough to clear my head with sheer chemical (?) assault.

My vision cleared, and my legs finally decided to behave and move like I told them to.

Good. 

Perfect. 

Time to not die. Hopefully.

The monster roared again, charging forward. My new speed buff nearly threw me off-balance, but I managed to slip past its claws by centimeters, ripping past my face like knives.

As I felt the air slice past, I suddenly had an idea.

…The thing was moving much faster than I ever could. Even with the potion, and even with the increased crit rate, I wasn't sure if crit mechanics were still the same in LOVR as the PC version. 

If it moved faster than me, fine. Then I'd make it kill itself. I could use the environment. The stone shards, the debris—hell, I have a knife right now, don't I? I could throw things at it and use its charge against it—if it was charging towards me, I could use kinetics and… you know what, that's not my area of specialization, but I still remembered some physics.

Besides, it looked like there was plenty of destructible terrain around us. Simple triage: use what's around you, because you will run out of supplies before you run out of ways to bleed.

Without another option, the reckless, stupid plan solidified itself in my head. (To be fair, you can only call something stupid when you have another option…)

Seems I have a ton of stupid plans nowadays… Not too befitting of a genius. But hey, it was something, and I can't complain.

There was another hiss, cry, and roar as the thing turned back toward me. My grip on the knife tightened as it prepared to charge—then did.

My pulse spiked as a smile—a pained, sadistic curve—began slowly crawling up my face, pulled upwards by the sense of danger and 'holy lord I'm so fucked'.

"Ehe… Ehe~"

I didn't even realize I was laughing until I heard it echo back, the sound strange and alien as it slipped past my lips. 

When the monster came at me, I dropped low, slipping between its legs. The motion kicked up grit and dirt that dug into my legs and my hands, but I paid it no mind.

The monster's claws smashed into stone, sending cracks spiderwebbing across the cavern. It recoiled from the impact. 

I spun, my grin contorting wide, knife trembling in my hand. Maybe this could work after all... "Mmm, tremor in the dominant arm. That's fine. Let's see if I can hit you from here~"

One lucky flick of my hand—pure panic, really—sent my gathering knife sailing. It buried itself in the monster's eye.

"Oh! Bullseye. Ophthalmic artery—hit clean through~" My laugh hitched, hysterical and broken. Before I realized it, I was crying too, tears dripping wetly down my cheeks as laughs tore themselves from my chest. "Ahaha… Jesus, that's so not funny—what's wrong with me—"

The monster shrieked. It thrashed, its claws tearing its own face apart as it reached for the knife buried in one of its beady eyes. 

"Rule number one, buddy," I giggled, voice trembling. "Don't pull out the knife. You'll just bleed faster… ehe. I guess that's good for me, though, isn't it?"

Now, let's pause and learn a little bit about stab wounds, children. Like I said, No.1 rule when stabbed—don't pull out the weapon. It can worsen the wound, not to mention causing you to bleed out a *lot* faster. 

Evidently, the monster didn't have this common sense, and its claws only mangled its face even more, with the angle of penetration and force… (OKAY, not like that, you're trolling now… I meant the stab wound, obviously. You don't spend time as a doctor without seeing or charting one once in a while.)

Hmm?

What was it doing now?

Suddenly the monster's jaw split in two, the halves peeling apart like wet leather and forming a grotesque fork where its lower teeth would have been. The layers of slick flesh stretched like tar before snapping apart with a wet sound like cartilage tearing under a scalpel.

…Eup. I might hurl.

What was this game rated again? Thirteen-plus? M for Mature? Because—holy shit—that was not something a kid should be seeing.

Its arms snapped up rigidly to its sides, moving like a marionette pulled by invisible strings. The sound of wet pops and tearing sinew made my stomach churn. Its claws cracked like gunshots as they split into bone-white needles, dripping grey fluid that sizzled on the stone. 

My heart sank as a twitch made itself home in my cheek. My smile wavered for just a moment before it decided that it didn't give a fuck and twisted higher. "Okay. So there's a second phase. Wow. Heh. Cute."

It blurred. One heartbeat, and it was across the arena, its claws spearing straight for my face. 

"OHFUCK—"

*Ping!*

[Status Effect: Regeneration]

[Player: Lilith_OHC is healing you!]

The claw punched through my shoulder. It was a clean puncture. Missed the subclavian, though…

"Ehe…"

I didn't even scream—just laughed, short and breathless as it flung me across the cavern. I hit the ground, hard. 

HP: 1 / 75

The floor was freezing under my palms. If it wasn't for Lilith's last-milisecond healing (how'd she heal me from all the way over there…?), I'd probably have died. My arms trembled as I pushed myself up, grinning, laughing, sobbing all at once. 

I'd really lost my mind, hadn't I? What kind of sane person would react to almost dying like this…

I blinked as sweat rolled down my forehead and past my lip and contorted smile. "Ehehehe… still here. Hah… not bad for critical condition, though…"

The monster stalked forward, its breath hissing and rattling, metallic and rotten. My HUD pulsed red. I pulled another potion from Midori's backpack and gulped. The cork tasted acrid as my throat heaved with each breath. My health climbed. Slowly. 

HP: 75 / 75

The monster turned back toward me and my legs trembled like a deer in headlights. It didn't matter. My hands were shaking, my laugh high-pitched and thin as I forced my bangs back again, my fingers slick with sweat. 

A feverish tear dropped from my cheek, accompanied by a breathless giggle as it dropped onto the dusty cavern floor. 

I tuned out the background and grabbed a stone shard from the ground, rolling it in my palm—then almost dropped it as the thing screamed again, this time what I assumed was blood foaming and rolling down from its beady eyes—or, well, the one that was left.

In a blink, it flashed forwards again, its nails cutting the air in an arc, racing for my head. 

My boots scraped unevenly against the stone floor—which, luckily, was gritty enough for me to have traction—as I barely managed to dodge out of the way, the nails once more punching the stone where I once was a moment earlier. 

During the pause, I sprinted my way to the other side of the cavern, the shard of stone in my hand. Could I do it?

I pivoted on my heel the exact moment the thing screamed, turning. I raised the stone shard. Dear god I hope I don't miss… I haven't thrown something since… when? I don't even remember.

My smile split wide as I licked my finger, my lips. I don't know why I was scared of this thing. Was I? Maybe. Hehe. EHHAHAHAh.

But~

It wasn't a person. Which meant I had no moral qualms about killing it.

"Oop~ Ribcage compromise. I wonder what the ICD code is for that~? Ehehe..."

The monster screamed and charged. I hurled the shard, fast as my arm could manage. Impact. The stone buried itself in the monster's chest, and it staggered, crashing into a stalagmite, the entire structure collapsing in on it.

It rose and tried to come again. I threw another stone. Then another. Each throw grew rougher, more frantic. Ever so often an environmental hazard would present itself, like a fractured stalagmite or stalactite, and I was only happy to use them.

My giggling echoed between the crashes. "Left femur. Nice fracture there... The ulna, too~ Sorry about that…"

My body kept moving long after my brain shut off. Somewhere between panic and ecstasy, the motions became automatic like I was performing surgery on a monster without anesthesia.

When the thing finally dropped, its body bursting into shards of light, I realized I was still laughing. My tears were still dropping. My twisted grin still tugged at my face, though I now felt how tiring it was. Sweat ran down my back. I didn't even want to imagine the state I was in right now.

"Oh… hah… oh God… it's gone."

The dust settled, and the stone cage dissolved.

Midori's voice broke through the static of my HUD fizzling. "Hiyomi!" I could see her sprinting toward me, her hand outstretched. 

Stamina: 0 / 70

A stone shard slipped from my fingers. My legs gave out. My lungs burned.

"Oop—" 

The cavern tilted and went black.

———

Congratulations: You've defeated [Event Quest Miniboss], [Enhanced ???]

You've leveled up! 

You have attribute points available! 

———

First kill bonuses have been distributed to the contributors of the battle!

———

Server-wide Announcement:

Congratulations to Players: HA_MDwastaken for the first world-wide kill of [Event Quest Miniboss], [Enhanced ???]

———

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