Chapter 47: Breaking the Rules (6)
by AfuhfuihgsBOOM!
Just moments ago, the two Aegis Golems had been charging at Silverhair as if to crush her.
Now, those towering giants had simultaneously knelt before the girl.
The sight resembled loyal knights paying homage to their queen.
“…W-What the hell is going on?”
Frost’s gaping mouth let out a dazed exclamation.
Zeronix rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
Was it a bug?
A system error?
Such things should never happen during a major event.
His mind felt like it was short-circuiting.
“Wait a second. Could that be…?”
Then a sudden flash of realization struck Zeronix.
He quickly zoomed in on Silverhair’s player status window.
And there, he spotted a small icon:
[Wearing: Mask of Deception]
“…A hidden piece? When did she equip it?”
The chaos caused by the golems had distracted them,
and Silverhair had equipped it so swiftly, they hadn’t noticed.
Not to mention, they were watching in first-person POV.
With no visible change to her appearance, the mask had gone unnoticed.
“Come to think of it, those golems are NPCs, aren’t they.”
The Aegis Golems weren’t regular monsters—they were treated as special NPCs.
To implement perfect invincibility and maximum attack stats,
they were built as NPCs instead of monsters.
No HP bar. Immune to all attacks. A flawless defense system.
The dev team had been proud of the design.
‘Who knew that exact trait would be its fatal flaw.’
As NPCs, they responded to interactions meant only for NPCs.
『Mask of Deception』
[While equipped, you appear as an NPC for a limited time.]
…..
[Triggers ‘Deceit’ under certain conditions: fool hostile NPCs.]
“She… reverse-engineered it.”
Frost muttered, shaking his head.
The Aegis Golems were originally neutral NPCs guarding the altar.
If players handed them a pass, they became allies.
A normal player would try to win their favor.
But Silverhair had done the exact opposite.
The golems had extremely low aggro sensitivity, normally ignoring everything.
But Silverhair had used the Unstable Magic Core Bomb,
which had no real damage—but maxed-out aggro.
That triggered hostility from the golems.
And the moment they became ‘hostile NPCs,’
the Mask of Deception’s condition was fulfilled.
Silverhair activated ‘Deceit’ with the mask
and perfectly fooled the now-hostile Aegis Golems.
“Those golems probably see Silverhair as an NPC now.”
A creator? A temple overseer?
Didn’t matter.
What mattered was this:
Control of the Aegis Golems had now fully transferred to Silverhair.
“Let’s go.”
On-screen, Silverhair casually gestured to the kneeling golems,
as if saying, “Time to work.”
The golems rose and began walking toward the giant stone gate.
As they approached, Raidel shivered slightly.
“Ugh… kinda scary.”
“Don’t worry.”
Just as Silverhair said, the golems ignored Raidel completely,
passing her to stand before the gate.
THUD—!
Their massive hands pressed against the sealed stone doors.
RUMMMMMBLE—!
With a thunderous rumble, the gate began to open.
Normally, players had to collect all 10 items and present a pass to the golems.
Only then would the door open.
But here?
It was opening like someone peeling back cupcake wrappers.
“W-We really did it?”
Raidel asked, stunned.
Seo-yeon had completely bypassed the entire pass process
by using the Mask of Deception to control the golems directly.
“As long as the result’s good, right?”
She shrugged nonchalantly.
The golems had done the job regardless.
As Silverhair shrugged, the doors finished opening.
THOOM—!
With a final tremble, the ancient doors stood fully open.
What flowed out wasn’t just dust,
but a dark, ominous energy like the breath of the abyss.
Silverhair walked in without hesitation.
Zeronix and Frost could only watch with hollow stares.
“…Still, the boss is different.”
Frost forced a calm tone.
“Y-Yeah. Inside there is… the Demon of the Stars.”
[The Demon of the Stars – Azranox]
The final target of the event,
a raid boss painstakingly handcrafted by the dev team.
“It’s supposed to take a 10-man raid, stacked with strats and buffs, just to figure out how to fight it.”
It was meant to be the grand finale.
No way two people could beat it.
“He’s not just strong. He casts AoE fear, HP debuffs…”
Zeronix bit his lip.
“And that might not be enough. Frost.”
“Huh?”
“Add a pattern. Now. ‘Severe Bleeding.’”
“W-What? But we cut that during planning because it was too hard—”
Severe Bleeding.
The name said it all.
One hit caused bleeding.
But the real killer was the healing debuff.
It reduced all healing—including lifesteal—by 90%.
A direct nerf to Silverhair’s Kraken Greatsword.
It practically nullified the weapon’s lifesteal effect.
“No choice. We need this event to last at least a few more hours. We can’t let it end like this.”
“But Azranox is already strong enough!”
The boss was designed with 10-man teams in mind.
Two people couldn’t possibly clear it.
Worse, if they overtuned it now, even 10-man groups might fail later.
“I don’t think anyone can beat it… but she might. With that sword, she just might.”
Clearing it with 2 people? Impossible.
But Silverhair was beyond reason.
If she used the Kraken’s lifesteal to outlast everything, she might pull it off.
Her skill was just that absurd.
So their response had to be equally absurd.
“Okay. Got it.”
Frost typed rapidly.
A hidden pattern was pushed live.
In that instant, the difficulty spiked dramatically.
The Kraken’s lifesteal would now be heavily weakened.
“Good. That should do it…”
Zeronix exhaled.
Now, even with the Kraken, she shouldn’t be able to survive the damage.
Relentless mechanics and a constant health drain.
With Severe Bleeding added, Azranox’s attacks would melt the duo.
GRRRRR—!
On screen, the altar’s central space began to distort.
Like cracks in a glass pane,
the air itself fractured,
revealing a swirling black void and a glowing nebula beyond.
KRAAAAAA—!
A howling screech of reality tearing apart.
Something began to form within that rift.
“Damn… the visuals are insane.”
Frost couldn’t help but whisper in awe.
Zeronix’s eyes gleamed with focus.
“Hell yeah. Dev team was whining nonstop—now I get it!”
He grinned. Even if it used Pixelwars’ base tools,
the streamer server team had really gone all in.
The Demon of the Stars appeared with epic music,
and even Zeronix felt chills.
No way they could let a boss like this get taken out too quickly.
“Remember, I helped build that too! Poured my soul into it.”
As they watched in admiration,
the creature finally took full form.
Six wings, like torn pieces of night sky,
shimmered with stars.
Its skin was etched with writhing tattoos—
not static patterns, but living constellations.
They glowed and pulsed,
shifting into incomprehensible geometries.
Where its face should’ve been:
a black void sucking in all light.
Just looking at it sent shivers down the spine.
A perfect cosmic horror boss.
The Demon of the Stars – Azranox.
[GUHAHAHAHA…!]
Its voice was an omnidirectional distortion,
not something any human throat could produce.
[You pitiful mortals dare disturb MY rest?!]
The sound alone warped space and shook the altar.
Even through the screen, its presence was overwhelming.
Zeronix and Frost held their breath.
“This thing’s insane…”
Raidel instinctively braced herself,
readjusting her grip.
Sweat rolled down her chin.
She knew it was a game,
but the ominous vibrations made it feel terrifyingly real.
[You are mere specks in this universe. I shall erase every trace of your existence!]
With a villainous declaration,
Azranox spread his wings.
Reality bent like a black hole around him.
Magic exploded outward.
He entered with a grand cutscene—
“Ugh, so noisy.”
Next to a tense Raidel,
Seo-yeon flicked her finger.
That tiny motion,
laced with casual annoyance—
ZIIING—!
The two Aegis Golems, still stationed by the altar door,
lit up again.
Their blue eyes snapped to Azranox,
who was now basking in cosmic glory.
Twin blue beams sliced through space.
[Wha—AARGH?!]
The Demon of the Stars—
didn’t even get a final scream.
Hit point blank by the golems’ lasers,
his body was vaporized instantly.
The six wings, the shifting tattoos,
the arrogant boasts—all reduced to scattered data particles.
Gone.
“……”
“……”
Silence engulfed the monitoring room.
Zeronix and Frost, who had just been admiring their creation,
stood frozen.
Then—
“Our soul-devouring boss… waaaah…!”
Chicken-sized tears welled in Frost’s eyes.
TL Note: “기만의 가면 (Mask of Deception)” is a hidden item that allows players to impersonate NPCs under specific conditions. The twist was that Aegis Golems, being special NPCs, could be deceived—Silverhair exploited that by using a high-aggro item to trigger hostility, then activated the mask’s effect to reverse control.
Azranox’s design, cosmic horror motifs, and one-shot defeat by the golems subvert raid expectations, creating an unexpected comedic twist.
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