In the alleyway.
"S-so… what do we do now?"
Everyone was a little dumbfounded. It suddenly felt like attacking the BOSS wasn't actually a good idea.
After all, this was only day one.
If the BOSS got strengthened every single day, then what were they even supposed to play?
"It's fine. It only happened once."
Luocha forced a smile as he comforted them.
"At least now we know the BOSS can be strengthened. We just won't do it again in the future."
"Yeah, yeah. Besides, we couldn't beat him anyway."
Keqing also spoke up.
"Whether he's strengthened or not doesn't really matter—one hit and we're still done."
That wasn't wrong.
Valerius's original state was already far beyond what they could handle.
Even if he got stronger, it wouldn't change the fact that none of them could take even a single blow.
Now that they had a two-hour grace period, everyone decided to rest immediately—otherwise they'd be exhausted to death.
They returned once more to the previous dining hall.
There was no helping it—this was the closest place, and it had two exits, so they could run at any time.
"Let's go."
Bronya and Keqing, both action-oriented, immediately moved to the front.
Only Jingliu trudged along miserably at the back.
She really didn't want to go back.
Just thinking about what she'd done there earlier made her feel nothing but shame.
"…Hm?"
Suddenly, Jingliu felt something was off.
Her body felt… noticeably lighter?
She had Mara sickness.
Even in this space—though it wasn't actively flaring up—she could still sense it.
But now, that heaviness had clearly lessened.
Not by much, but it was unmistakable.
"Could it be… memory-related?"
One of the triggers of Mara sickness was living too long, retaining only deeply engraved memories.
And those memories were almost always painful ones—hatred, regret, sorrow.
Over time, only those emotions remained.
But after what just happened…
Jingliu realized that her symptoms had actually eased.
"Could that… just now… count as a good memory?"
She shook her head violently.
No. Absolutely not.
This was terrifying.
If suppressing Mara sickness required this kind of social death…
She'd rather not be cured at all.
Livestream Chat
[Yae Miko]: The BOSS can actually be blown away? Valerius is way too weak!!!
[Silver Wolf]: Yeah! If it were me, I'd chase them until they cried.
[Jing Yuan]: You can tell Mr. Valerius had absolutely no guard up.
[Feixiao]: Guard against what? He's already invincible.
[Qingque]: Just rush it—can't die anyway.
[Herta]: He relied too much on being unkillable and got punished. Didn't learn his lesson?
[Sampo]: Think being immortal makes you amazing? Not really.
[Yukong]: Come to think of it… didn't Blade also fail to dodge last time and get taken out by Yunli?
[Jean]: Looks like being unable to die isn't always a good thing.
[Yunli]: Heh—Blade like that? I could fight two of him!
[Blade]: ...
[Silver Wolf]: Anyone can talk big. You just bullied Blade in a game.
[Silver Wolf]: Meet him in the real world and you'd get flattened.
[Yunli]: Heh—big sword in hand, I fear no one.
[Silver Wolf]: …Okay, you win.
Right—she had a rule-level ability now.
As long as she held a greatsword, she couldn't be defeated.
That actually did make her scary.
[Fu Xuan]: Yunli is quite capable. Someone like her… I think she could take over as General of the Zhuming Xianzhou.
[Jing Yuan]: Ah… to command a Xianzhou, strength alone isn't enough… don't you agree, Fu Qing?
[Fu Xuan]: The General is correct… which is why—
[Jing Yuan]: But lacking strength is also unacceptable.
[Fu Xuan]: ...
How boring.
So you just don't want to step down.
Inside the Game
Back in the dining hall, Arataki Itto plopped down into a chair.
Just like everyone said—energy had to be conserved.
He leaned back, propped one leg up on the table, hands behind his head, looking completely at ease.
Keqing shot him an annoyed look.
Seriously—so many people were watching, couldn't he at least show some restraint?
But Bronya's eyes narrowed slightly.
She walked over to Itto.
"…What?"
Itto looked confused.
Why were you staring at me like that?
I'm not Valerius.
"Lift your foot."
…Huh?
That too?
Itto was instantly unhappy.
Wasn't Bronya being a bit too controlling?
But she was a teammate, so he reluctantly put his foot down.
"Much better."
Keqing nodded in satisfaction.
Looks like Bronya's compatibility with her was excellent.
But Bronya didn't even look at Itto.
She lifted the tablecloth.
A card was revealed underneath.
[Skill: Divine Thunder Command—Heavenly Lord Who Drives Lightning, Hunts Demons, and Purges Filth]
Effect:
Consumes 1 point.
Recite the incantation: "Tail… save me."
Summons a companion to participate in battle, used to restrain the BOSS.
"Skill!"
Everyone stared at Bronya in disbelief.
You even found this?!
"How did you know something was under there?"
No one had ever lifted that tablecloth before.
Bronya had flipped it without hesitation—naturally, they were curious.
"Mr. Arataki Itto's foot lifted the cloth slightly earlier."
"I happened to see it."
"Oh—so that's how it was."
Keqing finally understood.
She thought Bronya was just annoyed at Itto's posture.
Turns out she'd spotted treasure.
"A Heavenly Lord?"
Jingliu was stunned.
This kind of thing could be a skill?
With Valerius's body—something that could be blown back by explosives—how was he supposed to fight a Heavenly Lord?
Wouldn't he just be sent straight back to respawn the moment they met?
But soon, Jingliu noticed something strange.
The skill's name was indeed
Divine Thunder Command—Heavenly Lord Who Drives Lightning, Hunts Demons, and Purges Filth—
But the image on the card…
Was not a Heavenly Lord.
It was a huge green fox.
"…Is that what the Heavenly Lord looks like?"
Jingliu frowned.
Had her memories become unreliable?
She was sure the Heavenly Lord didn't look like that.
No matter how messy her memories were, that she wouldn't misremember.
And that incantation—
Tail?
Livestream Chat
[HuoHuo]: Eh?! Isn't that Tail Grandpa?!
[Yun Jin]: Tail… Grandpa?
[Hanabi]: That's a thing?
[Hanya]: It is Tail.
[Xueyi]: But why is the name Divine Thunder Command—Heavenly Lord…?
[Fu Xuan]: Do you even need to ask? This skill summons Tail.
Fu Xuan saw through it immediately.
These skills were all absurd.
If it really summoned the Heavenly Lord, she'd be the first to not believe it.
At most, it would just summon Tail.
But the real question was—
What could Tail even do?
Block the BOSS at a critical moment… maybe?
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