Core of the Mist, Truth was carefully observing the large group of Adventurers near the entrance to the Mist.
With so many people, they swept through every corner like a swarm of locusts, leaving no herbs or Monsters behind.
They even shared information with each other, quickly figuring out the Mist’s new mechanisms: Lost and Bonfire.
No wonder none of the Adventurers who went in before ever came out— they must have gotten lost!
One of the Adventurers sighed. Until now, they’d always thought some terrifying creature inside the Mist had eaten all the Adventurers.
Lose your sense of direction? Then we just have to make lots of Signs, right? Plus, there are Bonfires to guide us!
But so far, we haven’t discovered anything new— just the same herbs and Monsters as before. Could all the new stuff be hidden deeper inside?
Whenever an instance changes, it always brings valuable things with it. That’s a universally acknowledged fact.
So, the Adventurers scattered in grand fashion to search for a path deeper into the Mist.
This made Truth anxious— it was just like when the Game Launch happened! She had to quickly improve her reputation and player retention while she still could!
The Mist’s energy was currently at 23 points.
Every ten minutes, the Adventurers could provide one point, and Gadelia alone could supply about half of the Adventurers’ energy in one go.
This seemed to be the Mist’s current absorption limit.
The rate of increase was fast— about 5 points per hour, which was enough for Truth to add some new First Rank content, like putting a few Small Chests at Monster spawn points that weren’t worth much.
She decided to stuff some ready-made Monster Material inside, and after every twenty chests were opened, a random Golden Treasure Chest would appear, containing a slightly more valuable “Unidentified Broken Magic Item.”
Next up: more Monsters, more battles!
After all, this was all she could put into the First-Tier Mist for now. Things like BOSSes and the Advice Mechanism had to wait until later.
Damn, the Lost trait was only fun when paired with the advice of those good big brothers!
“No, this still isn’t enough to keep people here. I have to do something big…”
Truth’s gaze fell upon a First Rank Elite Monster, the Thornflower Sprite, which cost a whopping 12 energy points to spawn.
She glanced at the UI Function beside her, deep in thought:
How about… I use this to pretend it’s a BOSS?
She could now freely use the Mist’s UI Function. She’d used it before when she sent Reg to find Suna.
So, with a simple setup, when Adventurers approached the Thornflower Sprite’s territory, a health bar would appear before their eyes— wouldn’t that give it a bit of a BOSS’s intimidating presence?
This could work!
Truth immediately found a prime location and added a bunch of thorny flowers to fake a territory that only a BOSS would have.
Then, she set the health bar UI to appear at a certain distance— once Adventurers entered the territory, the bar would automatically light up.
But after summoning the Thornflower Sprite, Truth realized it seemed a bit weak— only level eighteen.
Reg could probably solo it with some effort. She thought for a moment:
Oh, right, I can just stack more Monsters!
Soon, the Thornflower Sprite was surrounded by many Small Thornflower Sprites, and the borders of the territory hid plenty of Tree Demons in ambush.
There were even Mist Wolves, Soundseekers, and other low-value Monsters hiding in every corner.
Hmm… better add some chests, too, with a few Small Thornflower Sprites inside.
Five minutes later, Truth carefully inspected this “BOSS Territory”:
If I add any more Box Garden Exploration elements, I’ll basically be going for a sneak attack… Oh well, whatever. Little ones, listen up!
Truth turned to the low-intelligence Monsters and gave them some tactics for dealing with Adventurers: have the Thornflower Sprite keep its distance and harass, while the other Monsters charge in for melee.
The Monsters nodded repeatedly. The Commander’s words made perfect sense!
Finally, she needed someone to test the difficulty. Soon, the Mist received a non-wipe update: the First Rank “BOSS,” Thornflower Sprite, made its grand debut!
……
“Suna, look, this is a plant we’ve never seen before.”
In the Mist, Reg— looking a bit tired— crouched down to touch the thorny flower before him.
He’d lost track of how many times he’d circled through the Mist, or how many times he’d been ambushed by Monsters.
He felt like he was nearly level nineteen…
“Why don’t we follow this plant and see where it leads? Maybe it’s like the Bonfire and meant to guide us.”
Suna spoke from behind Reg, while Gadelia stood silently to the side. For some reason, things were a bit awkward between her and Suna right now.
She remembered that after she’d shared her little tip, Suna had been blushing and avoiding her ever since.
There were even a few teardrops at the corners of her eyes, making her look as aggrieved as a model student caught skipping class for the first time— strangely cute.
Is this some sort of hobby of hers? Gadelia really wanted to ask, but was a little afraid Suna might start crying if she did, so she decided to stay silent for now.
Suna herself didn’t know how to explain it. You saw it, so what? We’re both girls, it’s not a big deal. Just… don’t say it out loud!
How am I supposed to explain it? That it was a mission from my master?!
I guess that’s true…
So annoying! Suna stomped her foot in frustration, her heart pounding so fast even Gadelia felt a bit embarrassed. This reaction from her junior… it really did seem like some kind of strange little hobby.
“Ahhhh, help!”
Ahead of Reg, a middle-aged man’s cry for help rang out, accompanied by the sounds of fierce fighting.
“The sound’s coming from just past the thornflower. Looks like this plant really is meant to guide us—but whatever’s at the end can’t be good.”
Reg’s expression turned serious. He turned to ask Suna if they should check it out, and she nodded decisively— after all, she had her senior to back her up.
The three of them hurried forward. As they advanced, the Mist began to thin, and their field of vision cleared. Soon, a wide open area appeared before them.
In the center, a two-meter-tall Thornflower Sprite was brandishing its spikes, commanding a group of Small Thornflower Sprites to attack five Adventurers… and some Law Enforcement Bureau officers!
Law Enforcement? What are they doing here?
“Hey, you’re Reg, right?” Under a nearby tree, a burly man in a Law Enforcement Bureau uniform called out weakly. Reg recognized him at once:
“Vice Director?”
He’d bailed Anderson out of the station a few times before, so he immediately recognized the Law Enforcement Bureau’s Vice Director, Chief Koster.
At that moment, Koster was half-kneeling at the entrance to the Thornflower Sprite’s territory, his face pale, with two bloody knife wounds on his back and a bunch of thorny spikes stuck in him.
Reg quickly took the Healing Potion Suna handed over and poured it into Koster’s mouth, helping him recover a bit:
“Be careful of every Blind Spot in this BOSS territory—any tall bushes or big rocks might have Monsters lying in wait to ambush you!”
“Ambushes? Chief, aren’t you Third Rank? Even if you got ambushed by a First Rank Monster, you shouldn’t be hurt this badly, right?”
Reg was confused—he’d been ambushed himself, but it wasn’t this bad.
“Were you careless, or were the Monsters too strong?”
“Screw you, I was ambushed by people!
I heard fighting and rushed over to help defeat the BOSS, but didn’t notice there were two Second-Tier Wanted Criminals hiding among the Adventurers. They each stabbed me in the back!”
Koster briefly explained the situation. After being stabbed and fleeing the Thornflower Sprite’s territory, the Adventurers inside had turned on each other.
They’d spotted a very valuable-looking Treasure Chest behind the Thornflower Sprite.
The Monsters weren’t that strong, and since their group was thrown together at the last minute, everyone started fighting to take the chest for themselves.
Only four Law Enforcement Bureau officers were still trying to catch the two Wanted Criminals running wild inside.
One of the criminals tried to escape through the eastern edge of the territory, but was caught and bound by two Tree Demons’ vines.
The Small Thornflower Sprites kept scratching him with their spikes.
The damage was low, but it hurt— like being sliced to death. The screams Reg and the others had just heard were from him, and he was still yelling now.
The other criminal had some kind of Magic Item that let him dodge most Monster attacks.
He kept luring Monsters toward the officers, and now the officers were surrounded by Small Thornflower Sprites and a couple of Mist Wolves…
It was a mess, but Suna quickly sorted it all out:
“Let’s get the Law Enforcement Bureau officers out first!”
Reg nodded and charged in, with Suna covering him from behind. Suddenly, something strange appeared before their eyes:
【Thornflower Sprite King HP: 78%】
What’s that?
Both of them were stunned. They had no idea what this thing was, and couldn’t get rid of it no matter what they tried.
Only Reg realized right away that it was probably something like the Adventurer Guide Marker from before.
Afraid that the Elite Monster’s HP would look suspiciously low, Truth had set it to display as a percentage.
To ensure the Adventurers’ survival, Truth had also ordered the little Monsters not to pursue fleeing Adventurers— otherwise, Koster wouldn’t have escaped.
If you want to run, then run. Come back and visit next time.
As for the rest, they all had their reasons for staying.
“Senpai, something incredible just popped up in front of me!”
Suna motioned for Gadelia to enter the territory, hoping her experienced senior would explain. But before she could finish, a rotten tree stump in front of her suddenly sprouted eight legs.
A Stump Spider! It seized the moment and pounced on Suna’s legs. She quickly jabbed her staff forward:
“Senpai, I need help!”
Reg had run too far ahead, so Suna had to turn to Gadelia for help. Gadelia just shrugged.
Sigh, these human Adventurers being thrown into chaos by a bunch of First Rank creatures— and now they’re fighting each other? What a mess. Might as well lend a hand; these low-level Sprites die if you just step on them.
And now there are BOSSes in even these low-level instances?
Gadelia strode confidently toward Suna, but just as she was about to enter the Thornflower Sprite’s territory, a familiar voice suddenly echoed in her mind:
You are not allowed to join the BOSS battle!
That voice… it was that Monster!
So it’s been watching me all along!
Gadelia instantly recalled some unpleasant memories and froze in place. Suna, still trapped by the Stump Spider, shouted anxiously:
“Gadelia-senpai!”
But Gadelia didn’t budge…
She didn’t dare move.
From her omniscient perspective, Truth snorted. I finally lured a few Adventurers here to test if the Thornflower Sprite’s strength is balanced, and you want to one-shot the Elite Monster I spent 12 energy points on?
If you really dare, I’ll make things very interesting for you!
Seeing that Gadelia wasn’t responding, and with the Stump Spider’s forelegs brushing the edge of Suna’s skirt, threatening to lift it at any moment, Suna grew even more anxious:
“Senpai, why are you just standing there?!”
Gadelia:
“OMO”