Chapter 5: 1-4: Party of One part 3

"All right, shitty Devs. Let's see what you've got for me." I said to no one in particular, staring up at the mouth of the canyon serving as a gate into the area.

I stepped through the gate, entering into the area where the Boss resided.

At first I thought I was going to be facing a Mountain Giant of some sort as I spotted the huge spires of rock. The ground quaked, making me revise my assumption. Earth Elementals, perhaps? Some new variant of Land Wurm?

Yeah… as if I could ever be that lucky.

My eyes widened, and a few choice cuss words escaped my mouth. I just figured out what they meant by the Raid Boss being made for me.

Back in the elder years of my first life, there was a certain game called Final Fantasy XV. In it was a bit of post-game content; an optional boss called the Adamantoise. It was mainly a huge annoyance, since even the best builds and strategies took over an hour to defeat it. And that was with it staying mostly still, its only method of 'attack' being moving around slightly. It was a huge tanky distraction designed to take all the damage in the game without flinching and pointlessly waste the players' time.

This guy? This guy looked like the Adamantoise's bigger, meaner, heavier older brother.

I held no illusions of this thing just being a giant useless damage sponge, the Devs had no doubt given it an entire arsenal of absolutely bullshit Skills to pull out of nowhere and blindside me with. Not to mention the thing's sharp scales or irritated expression—I wouldn't be surprised if this thing's Attack Stat were high enough to stomp most Players flat in one hit.

I ground my teeth, huffing. I couldn't exactly back out now, not with the Devs no doubt laughing their asses off at my expense. If I ran, it would just give them a bigger laugh.

The World Turtle roared, and I reluctantly entered the combat.

I knew right from the first hit I landed that this thing was going to be a bitch to kill. It was wicked fast for such a huge creature, which in turn gave it a ridiculous amount of Evasion. I soon learned that the thing's main tactic was to try to get some part of its natural plated skin between me and it, a tactic that worked splendidly considering the scaled armor was overpowered to hell. Even when I finally raked my claws across some unguarded skin and watched the high damage numbers flash across my view, the HP gauge didn't so much as twitch.

Then its aggro kicked in, and my life got a whole lot harder. Earthen spikes sprouted from armored plates, firing off in all directions. Noa hit me with a Healing Spell by default as one nicked me, sending my HP down by a decent chunk.

'Screw this.' I thought angrily, flash-casting [Time Stop] and opening my Inventory. My regular bossing gear wouldn't cut it, it was time to bring out the big guns.

I equipped my Wishing ring and pulled out a Mirrored World Item—[World Savior], a club-shaped member of the Twenty that started out weak, but grew in power with each strike dealt that by the time it broke it was doling out enough raw damage to kill all of Nazarick in one blow.

Technically I could kill this thing without it, but I'd really rather not be here for the next ten hours straight.

"[Maximize Magic: Globe of Invulnerability]." I began, deciding to get all the buffs in I could while the battle was on pause. "[Maximize Magic: Freedom of Movement]. [Maximize Magic: Haste]. [Maximize Magic: Body of Effulgent Beryl]. [Life Essence]. [Greater Full Potential]. [Freedom]. [Greater Luck]. [Draconic Power]. [Greater Hardening]. [Absorption]."

My Mana was running out, as was the Spell used to buy me time. I released it, feeling as ready as I would ever be.

"All right, asshole." I growled as the [Time Stop] ended. "It's time you fucking died."

I slumped, panting, as the giant World Turtle finally collapsed. Archer lowered her bow and Noa faded slightly from view as she retreated into Spirit form. "That." I gasped, leaning back, "Was complete bullshit. What was that, two hours?"

All my Skills were either depleted or on cooldown, my Mana pool nearly drained. I hadn't ended up needing Wish, but I did need several Super-Tier Spells to finally end the thing. I was extremely glad I had given Noa the Evening Star, if she had needed Mana to heal me I would've been screwed. Nonetheless, I persevered.

Before my eyes, the World Threat was slowly stumbling back. The death animation was in full swing, cracks appearing in its form in customary fashion. It shattered in a burst of white light, from it raining the twinkle of EXP, gold, and Data Crystals.

Congratulations! For defeating the World Threat 'World Turtle', you have gained the passive Skill [The Impenetrable Shell]!

Congratulations! For being the first Player to ever defeat the World Turtle, you have been given the World Item [Talons of Power]!

Congratulations! For defeating the World Turtle in a Party of only one Player, you have gained the passive Skill [Total Immunity]!

I left reading what those did for later, instead picking up my loot and teleporting straight back to my mansion. As soon as I was no longer in danger of getting PWNed by a random trash mob, I activated the GM Call function and cleared my throat in anticipation.

Hello, and how may I help you?

"Hello, this is Miyagi here." I greeted smugly. "Just wanted to report that the World Turtle has been soundly flipped on its back. We'll be having turtle stew tonight, folks."

Miyagi-san? You actually defeated the – hold on, this isn't supposed to happen. Let me put you through to someone who's better equipped to deal with this.

I twitched. 'Not supposed to happen!? I spent three hours killing that fucking Boss, you shitty Developers!'

The text box went blank for a few moments, time I took to examine the loot I'd gotten. The Talons of Power were apparently equippable for me, much to my shock. Dragons weren't supposed to be able to equip any weapons, but evidently these were an exception. They shimmered into existence on my front talons, mimicking the scale pattern beneath and surrounding each scale in a line of pure gold. Atop each of my claws a segmented piece of metal extended down to extend wickedly sharp coverings sculpted around them. I opened and shut my talons, the satisfying rasp of metal sounding from the action.

"[Appraise Magic Item]." I intoned, curious.

[The Talons of Power]

World-Class Item

The Talons of Power grant a flat 300% bonus to all Stats while the wielder is fighting alone. However, for every Player in the wielder's Party above that, there is a -150% penalty to all Stats.

I raised an eyebrow. In other words, not only could I lose the bonus given by the Item by having more than that, I could actually lose Stats. An extremely high benefit-reward balance. With the way things looked, I could only have a max of two other Players in my Party before I was losing more than I was getting.

As expected of a crapped-out World Item. Completely unfair on several accounts.

Good evening, player.

I glanced up at the screen. "Hey. You certainly took your time."

My apologies. What seems to be the problem?

"I was just reporting that I beat the World Turtle for the first time."

I see. That's quite impressive. How big was your Party size?

"One."

…I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. How many?

"A Party of one." I repeated. "Damn Turtle was a pain in the ass to beat, but I got there in the end."

I… please hold for a moment, I need to find your file. A pause. Miyagi-dono, yes? I believe I've heard of you. You specialize in finding unexpected glitches in our code.

"That's me, yes. I'm only calling because one of you Devs was the one who tipped me off to the new addition." I flexed my claws, the metal catching the light. "And I must say, it's quite the reward. More than worth the venture."

…Miyagi-dono, I'm afraid you were being trolled. The World Turtle was meant to be impossible for a group of less than sixteen Players to defeat. For you to do so on the first-ever fight with it is nothing less than baffling.

I snorted. "Let me guess. They were trying to get me to team up with another few Players for once."

I believe that was the intention, yes.

"Heh. Bet they didn't expect me to pull World Savior out and buff myself to obscene levels right off the bat. Sorry fucker didn't even see it coming."

World Savior, the World Item?

"Well, a copy I made with a Mirror of Kalandra, yes. The Mirror is less dangerous to track down after I use it."

I see. It makes a bit more sense now, if you have access to World Items. Another pause. To be perfectly frank with you Miyagi-dono, this situation was never meant to occur. We did expect a single player to eventually figure out how to solo it given time and resources, but it was never considered that it could be soloed on the first run.

"Longest Boss fight of my life, so kudos for that."

Yes, but… the two passives given as the reward… together, they're a bit of a game-breaker. Both of them give an incredible boost to the Resist Stat and reduce damage taken by 20%, but what worries me is their special abilities. The first cuts damage from bypassing armor in half until its durability runs out, while the second protects from most status conditions while your armor is still intact.

I raised my eyebrows. "My Race has [Natural Armor], which prevents me from equipping any armor even in my humanoid form. That shouldn't be an issue, right?"

Quite the opposite, Miyagi-dono. The game considers [Natural Armor] to be a type of armor as well.

"Well, shit." I glanced down at my scales, raising an eyebrow. "That really is broken, then. Are you going to fix it?"

It was our fault for not realizing this situation could happen. Plus, YGGDRASIL does encourage players to receive rewards for hard work. You've earned them both.

"Aren't you afraid I'll abuse it?"

From what I'm seeing in your file, the only sins you've committed are of being too helpful. We'll of course intervene if you do decide to abuse this, but until then it shouldn't be too big of an issue. Besides, many Players have access to Skills designed to pierce armor, which would bypass both of those passives entirely.

"All right, if you're certain." I never intended to actually give the Skills up, of course, but I had to make at least a token effort. "Thank you for your help."

Not a problem, Miyagi-dono. Do you need anything else?

"I'd just like to pass a message on to whoever set me up to get my ass kicked. Would you mind?"

I can check your Message logs to find out who sent you the invitation. Go ahead.

"Just tell them 'the Turtle was too laggy, you amateur. You should've given it better melee attacks.' That should be enough to get the message across."

All right. I'll pass it along. Thank you, Miyagi-dono.

"No, no." My claws shut with a loud rasp. "Thank you."

The Message ended, text box disappearing. I was left sitting in my mansion with both Maidens, quietly chuckling to myself.

That asshole had no idea who he was messing with. Try to make a fool of me, will he? Please. This game is my world. I control everything in it. I've earned over fifty separate World Items, not even counting the duplicates. I've fought more powerful monsters in a single day than most Players did in their entire career.

Even if the damn Turtle had gotten me, did you really think I would stay down?

My chuckles died down as a thought occurred. It was a devious, slightly twisted thought. It wouldn't be enough to confront the Dev who trolled me, no, I had to take his defeat and memorialize it somehow.

And what better way could there be than to take a trophy of war?

I left my Maidens behind, stepping out of the building and activating my Guild Ring. This particular trophy wouldn't fit in my humble abode, but it would look right at home in the wilderness of Floor 8.

I found a good spot, a natural dip in the landscape that went for a good kilometer in all directions. A quick Spell cleared away any obstacles, leaving me with one thing left to do. "[Message]. Hey, Momonga, I realize this is a bit sudden, but I had an idea for an NPC. Do you mind if I use a few of the remaining Levels in Nazarick to make it?"

"Oh, Ancient-san. Sorry, you startled me. No, it shouldn't be a problem at all. You're good enough at NPC creation that I'm sure the others wouldn't mind if you took a full 100 Levels. We still have plenty left over, and if no one claims them, I think the other members might start using them for ridiculous things."

I chuckled. "That they might. Well, I'll be here on Floor 8 designing it. With any luck, I'll get back to you soon."

"All right, good luck."

The Message ended, and I raised my right hand to the sky. A Mirrored World Item flashed to life. "Ouroboros!"

…I'm not sure if this is allowed.

"People tell me that a lot. It shouldn't be a problem, though, I have the World Item that allows me to ask pretty much anything of you guys."

This is a bit odd, even for some of the requests we've gotten through that ring.

There was a pause.

Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt too much. I'll have to nerf the Attack Speed on it severely, though. And since it'll be classified as an Animal-type NPC, you'll need to feed it from time to time.

"Not a problem." 'Not considering I can add enough gear to bring it to double what it was originally. And with all the gold I have stocked up, figuring how to grow food shouldn't be an issue either.'

I'm adding some more Levels to your Guild to support this. Is that all right?

I raised an eyebrow. "More than all right. How many Levels?"

The original was Level 99, so I'll be adding 99 NPC Levels to compensate. You asked for it to be added to Nazarick as an NPC, so I'm adding all of it. You'll have to use one of your Guild's Levels if you want to Level it to an even 100, though.

"Believe me, that is the furthest from my worries." I assured them. "It's more than enough that you're doing it."

Okay, then. Is that all?

"Yes. Thank you."

Not a problem, Miyagi-san… adding it in now, and, done. Thank you for waiting, have a nice day.

The text box closed, and I glanced up.

Far above, an enormous creature was beginning to take shape. Four scaly legs, a long neck, and a shell so huge it doubled as a literal mountain. The name flashed to life above it, the blue color of an allied NPC.

I grinned, pulling up its' Stats. I used a bit of EXP from my ring to bring it to 100, the empty Statsheet making me cackle with glee. Apparently the entire NPC was blank—the Developer had imported the Raid Boss in all its' glory, while leaving me free to give it a full hundred Levels of anything I wanted. As many Racial Levels and Job Classes as I could stuff into it, building it to be the most overpowered juggernaut possible.

And considering that Victim, the Boss of this Floor, has the ability to grant its' allies an extremely high HP regeneration effect… well. I'm going to make this place hell for anyone who faces it.

Come to think of it, the Guild has been growing in popularity lately… I wonder if someone will finally try their luck?

Word count:2700