Chapter 4 – Doll

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[Field Boss]

In LEORE, a Field Boss is a slightly different concept than in other RPGs.

Literally, a boss in the field—strong enough to be compared to most Raid Bosses. The difference is that there’s no limit to the number of participants.

Raids are usually done with 20 people, but with Field Bosses, anyone nearby can enter the Field Boss zone.

A special feature of Field Bosses is the Level Restriction Zone, meaning that no matter how high your level is, it will be adjusted to the Field Boss’s level.

Because of that, no matter how high your level is, you can’t one-shot the Field Boss.

Streamer Kang Hangil had come down from the high-level zone to the low-level zone to take on the Field Boss Orc Chieftain.

Of course, it was for content—to broadcast clearing the Orc Chieftain with a small party of 5 people.

Until now, the smallest party size to clear the Orc Chieftain was 6, and he was going to beat that record.

[Mr. OO, thank you for the 5,000 won donation.]

-Is it possible with 5 people?

“I’d say there’s a 99 percent chance of success.”

-That raid group had 6 people, though?

-Looks like there’s one less healer, can the healing be handled?

-In theory, if you parry all attacks, one healer can solo heal.

-Stop talking nonsense.

-What parrying are you talking about?

[Mr. OO, thank you for the 5,000 won donation.]

-Here’s another parrying fanatic.

“That’s right. I’m going to parry.”

-Wow. Kang Hangil has finally gone crazy LOL

-LOLOLOL parrying? He’s lost it.

-Looking at it now, there’s one person with a one-handed sword.

-I see, are they going to parry together?

Parrying.

Parrying is deflecting an incoming attack with a weapon or shield by timing it perfectly.

It takes much less stamina than simply blocking, and if you block with perfect timing, there’s no after-delay, making it a great method.

The problem is what happens when you fail.

If you fail to parry, you obviously have to take the full force of the attack. It doesn’t matter if you’re just hunting monsters, but in a raid situation, you’ll take instant-kill damage, making things very difficult.

Moreover, if you parry with bad timing, you become incapacitated due to knockback or after-delay, and you have to take the next attack defenseless, so failing to parry in a raid is practically a death sentence.

Usually, parrying is done by a large number of people simultaneously to reduce the after-delay, or a sturdy tank just blocks with a shield.

Even well-known high-level players in LEORE hardly used parrying in raids unless it was a “This is a parrying pattern~” situation, and it was mostly used when catching general monsters.

“Hey, who do you think I am? Besides, Demoknim is here this time.”

-Demok? That one-handed sword master?

-Ah, really, are they going to parry together? Can they handle the after-delay?

-In the first place, it seems like the damage will be lacking?

-Who’s going to do the damage?

-This is 100 percent going to fail LOL

“Woooaaaah!!!”

As they got closer to the field where the Orc Chieftain was, the roar announcing the start of the battle echoed.

“Oh? Looks like there’s another team?”

-Hmm? Really?

-I didn’t see any raid recruitment posts on Inven?

-Could it be another newbie who doesn’t know anything went in? LOLOL

-Looks like it? LOLOL

One of the bosses that newbies underestimate while playing LEORE is the Field Boss. This is because Field Bosses aren’t that significant in other games.

But in LEORE, a battle with a Field Boss with a small group is a raid close to end-game content, a so-called raid that tests physical skill, so newbies can never clear it.

Of course, they’ll have the stats to clear it because of level compensation, but you have to do it with a perfect guild raid group, a perfect party, and a perfect combination.

“Shall we go take a look? If it’s a newbie, we have to rescue them right away.”

-Let’s go, let’s go right away.

-Another brand new newbie’s head is about to fly off.

As soon as they arrived at the Orc Chieftain’s location, they saw a young girl who looked to be about middle school age running towards the boss.

“Ah!”

-Ah, another Orc Chieftain is going in LOL

-LOLOLOLOL Really a newbie

-Goodbye, another mosaic is coming~

Everyone imagined the young girl’s body being cleaved by the Orc Chieftain’s huge axe, but a different future unfolded than expected.

Clang!!!

A sound everyone knew.

The Orc Chieftain’s axe was deflected, and the young girl was knocked back.

“Parrying…?”

-??

-What? What did I just see?

-Fuck?

-Is this a hidden camera?

It wasn’t a perfect parry, but it was judged as a parry. In the first place, it was absurd that only one person received a parry judgment from the boss’s attack.

The level and nickname above the young girl’s head:

Level 5, Lee Arang.

The young girl, with a level that didn’t match the boss and a nickname that looked like her real name, had countered the boss’s attack with a parry.

She survived with half of her health left from an attack that should have killed her in one hit.

If this scene had happened in a raid, everyone would have cheered and immediately protected her, but now the girl was alone.

Just as Kang Hangil was about to move to help, the girl barely dodged the Orc Chieftain’s attack.

-Am I seeing this right now?

-Isn’t that a normal Orc, not an Orc Chieftain?

-Can’t you see the red name? Are you blind?

-Wow…

-Crazy.

The young girl was fighting the Orc Chieftain 1-on-1. On equal footing. In a fight where even one mistake was fatal, the girl dodged the Orc Chieftain’s attacks flawlessly and crammed in damage.

Perfect calculation of pre-delay and after-delay. Moving as if she could see the attacks, and dealing damage without missing a single opening.

“Is she even human?”

Even he only had about a 50% chance of successfully parrying a general monster. Against a boss, it was about 10 percent, but this young girl was parrying without a single failure.

On top of that…

Clang!

A crisp sound.

It was a perfect parry. The young girl, who charged in without after-delay as soon as she was knocked back, eventually blew off the Orc Chieftain’s head after a few attacks.

-???????

-Did she solo it? Is that possible?

-What is it, is it an NPC?

-Can’t you see the color above? It’s a player.

-No, is that possible? Is a 1-person clear possible?

-It’s theoretically possible.

-I’m also theoretically possible;;

-Damn it, crazy.

The young girl, who had subjugated the Orc Chieftain alone, jumped up and down on the spot and rejoiced like a child, then logged out and disappeared.

“Ah.”

==

As soon as I caught the Orc Chieftain, Anna called.

As soon as I pressed the logout button, my vision went black, and I felt like my whole body was sinking into the deep sea, then a bright light shone on my eyes.

It was the ceiling of the hospital room I saw earlier.

“Ah, Arang…”

When I turned my head toward the familiar voice, Arang’s parents were there with worried and moved faces.

“Oh, Mom, do you… can you recognize me?”

“…Yeah.”

I answered, feeling like a doll speaking because I wasn’t yet used to Arang’s emotions.

“Ah… Thank you. Thank you. Thank you…”

Arang’s mother hugged me and cried, and her father just shed tears from behind and looked at me.

My parents, who have now become Arang’s, had been suffering for a long time because of her.

If my parents visit sometimes, I think I should come out and talk to them.

“Arang, did you like the game you played this time?”

My mother, who had calmed down, carefully stroked my hair and asked.

I guess she thinks well of LEORE because she knows that Arang, who had been living without emotions for a long time, came back to life as soon as I started playing.

Well, since she doesn’t dislike the game, she brought this Deathbed Machine with a huge amount of money.

Nod.

“Really? That’s a relief. Mom will put pocket money in the connector. You can buy everything Arang wants, okay?”

Nod.

My mother is the best.

“Instead, is it okay to spend time with your family today?”

Nod.

“…Yeah.”

I granted her request to be with my family, but I thought I was going home. However, she said I couldn’t leave this hospital room because of a disease that could strike at any time.

I don’t know why, but I know that my condition is perfectly healthy right now. But everyone doesn’t know that I’m healthy.

Future medical technology is so advanced that my body doesn’t produce any waste, and the Deathbed Machine also provides nutrients, so in theory, I’m healthy enough to play games 24 hours a day, but they don’t know…

Anyway, I was taken care of by my family, and many words were exchanged…

I started to understand a little why Arang died.

I felt for the first time that not having arms and legs was so uncomfortable. I hadn’t realized it because I kept moving my body in LEORE.

I was constantly passed between my parents’ and Anna’s arms and hugged like a doll, and all I could do was turn my head and wriggle my body.

‘At this point, I’m not a human, I’m a doll.’

After being in reality for about an hour in this situation, Arang’s emotions started to rise greatly.

Even if I didn’t want to, my emotions felt like they were being dragged into the deep sea. The feeling when I come out of the connector into reality was getting stronger.

The senses around me started to fade, and my body didn’t react as I wanted it to. It felt like I was trapped in a doll.