86 Chapter 86 (1/2)

Chapter 86

Glyax Tier 3 Rank 3 Dungeon

Mob Type: Random

383,274 xp

6,726 xp to next Rank

216,726 xp to next Tier

Resources: 733 of 4,900

Currency: 36 copper 59 silver 7 gold 0 platinum

Dungeon Tokens: 22

”I, I think it worked.” James was staring at the screen, disbelief flooding through him. The plan had worked, the proof was in the screen before him. Well, that, and the echoes of cries of anguish, pain, surprise, and crazed Leeroy Jenkins screams…all of which had resulted in massive amounts of players dying in a very small amount of time.

”I'd say.” Rue had gone from laughing hysterically as the swarms of dickens nonstop descended upon the adventurers, to rather sullen and quiet. Something about sending a total of 8,000 dickens against 2,000 adventurers just didn't feel right. Especially when those dickens all got to respawn 50 times each….while the adventurers did not.

It had been an epic fight at first. Adventurers forming large war bands, roaming around, slaughtering the demonic chickens where they dared spawn. But, as the combat wore on, the never-ending tide of 6 foot monsters started to wear down the adventurers, even as many began to level. That much experience being thrown their way, it was highly unlikely they wouldn't. So caught up were they in the farming fest though, many made a grave mistake. They waited 5 minutes before trying to leave.

That had of course, been the normal course of action players had been taking when Charles's giant egg appeared. Players would either kill all the mobs and try to engage the world boss at the 5-minute mark, or they would simply leave the instance. Most knew they didn't have the damage at their lower levels to take on the level 20 World Boss, and they were okay with it. They would get their farming done, and be gone before he spawned, thus keeping their precious experience safe. This time though, there was just too much chaos, and so, when Charles brook free of his egg, enraging and buffing the dickens even more, it was as if his caw was the cry of death. Nearly 70% of all the players in the instance had died as they piled over each other trying to escape.

”I don't think I want to do that ever again.” James whispered softly as the images flashed through his mind again. It just felt wrong, dirty even. He had to wonder how the players felt over that. Were they happy with it, did they think it was just a special bonus event for them? Surely some did, since James was pretty sure every player that took part in his slaughter had gained at least 1 level before they died. Some he was pretty sure gained at least 2. He wasn't sure, but he had just mass murdered a crap ton of players, in the spawn of less than 10 minutes. He wasn't a monster like Xander or BLANK, he wouldn't abuse that system, no matter how good the rewards.

”It was the only way.” Rue lightly touched his orb, pulling his focus back towards the screen, the rewards of their dirty deeds.

”I suppose.” James pulled himself from his mullings and turned back to the screen. It was important. They had only done the massacre in order to gain level ground against BLANK. They needed to, in order to win.

”Let's not let their sacrifices go to waste.” Rue's eyes flashed, and James could tell the pixie was shaking herself free of the regret a lot faster than he was. Likely due to her being an AI. Damned pixie. ”Besides, it's not like you killed anyone permanently. You never feel this way for slaughtering countless mobs in other games, do you?”

”Did you just compare all the players to mobs?” James rose his eyeball at the pixie. Had she really just-

”Come on. That's what they are to you as a dungeon core, aren't they? Enemies that you have to kill, to gain experience, that respawn and keep coming back.”

Okay. The pixie had a point. In a like, mass murderer, serial killer kind of way. But it was still a valid point. Her father had to be a slightly twisted man. Like, this was some serious twisted anime bullshit level of thinking. But James could get behind it. If he went with that thinking, the majority of the players who were constantly coming into his dungeon were mobish. The only reason he felt remorsefully was because he had just so unfairly massacred so many of them just to grow stronger. But he had done that in video games himself countless times as well.

”Alright, enough of this depressed crap.” James slapped his orb with his tentacles, looking back at his stat screen. The plan had worked. With less than 25 hours left in immersion, he had broken into Tier 3, and reached Rank 3. He now had access to another floor, had increased his resources, and, more importantly, unlocked new research. His goals had been met, and now, he needed to get back to work. BLANK still had an advantage, and he needed to close it.

”Research first.” James said aloud as he navigated his screens. He and Rue had agreed the first thing they would need to do was start he new research. Just as before, gaining a new tier had unlocked new research options.

Core Defense