Ch 20: An offer of companionship [pt2]

He was finally here. 

Soma stepped into the city that housed the Central Control Building and sighed.

The Mechanical Monkey went out of control when it touched the city grounds, and its circuits flashed before it crashed and exploded.

Soma had already gotten far away by that point.

'I knew this was coming, but losing a useful puppet is disappointing. It's a shame that I will not be able to take any puppet for use from here.'

[Warning: You entered a restricted zone. The level of monsters in the zone will increase exponentially.]

The Central Control Building was a special place that was brimming with energy.

It also gave Mechanical beasts a boost in power when they stepped into this place.

But it also had the danger of exploding the mechanical beast's system if their bodies got damaged.

Even the attacker would be caught in that explosion most of the time and get injured heavily.

Long-ranged weapons and skills were the best at this point, but only some with such skills were present during the tutorial stages.

And those that did prefer these skills neglected other aspects of their power.

"So annoying. I was busy thinking about something here."

Soma pulled the strings and cut through the four weak mechanical beasts that tried to sneak up on him.

They exploded when the wires cut through, and their systems were overloaded.

The blast they produced did not have a huge effect area, but it was annoying to deal with all the same.

[Your body is resisting the heat from the blast.]

[Status update: You successfully resisted getting burned by the flames.]

Soma sighed in relief as the heat began to diminish.

But he still used Icy Jewel for a quick effect.

The Central Control Building was massive and appeared even bigger on the map.

That was because the Central Control Building was a combination of many buildings connected by a main power grid.

Soma had been part of the attack team, so he knew a thing or two about navigating these buildings.

Soma wanted to run to the main building as fast as possible, but the door would only show itself once all the safety mechanisms were offline.

It was the shortest level design Soma had seen by far.

'Maybe that's why the admin of this level was never promoted. His ideas suck.'

Soma sighed but resigned to his fate.

The first part he needed to check out was the left building.

That place had been left alone for some time, and the neglect made the walls decay.

Even the monsters did not roam this place, indicating its neglect.

'This was the last power-grid to be found during my previous life. But who could have guessed that such a neglected place would contain the power grid that contained the power to save everyone?'

Soma sighed as the corridor began to get cold.

It was not bad at first, but it did not take long for the corridor to get unbearable cold and freezing.

[You have successfully resisted the cold]

[You have successfully resisted the cold]

[You have successfully resisted the cold]

[The surrounding temperature has dropped more than your resistance can handle. You are being marked with the status: Frostbite.]

Soma gulped down the fire crystal he had stacked in his inventory.

[Your body temperature is rapidly rising. You have successfully resisted the cold. Your resistance to cold is increasing.]

Soma sighed in relief as he felt his body temperature returning to normal.

It had been painful to bear the cold, but it was good for his development. 

Soma might be in pain but also gained precious resistance from the elements. 

That thought kept him going.

-Garr

Once Soma was deep into the freezing area, the monsters finally attacked him.

His hands felt frozen, and Soma had difficulty moving them, but he forced his body to react and block the cold claws before they could pierce it.

The bear-shaped monster attacked Soma.

It utilised its heavy body weight to push Soma back, and his back hit the cold metallic wall.

This cold caused Soma's shirt to stick to the metallic walls, and he could not move without losing it.

The cold machine was difficult to get hold of.

Soma's strings were rigid, and the cold made them brittle.

They might not break, but they could still be dulled and not work against the machines.

And since the Monster was used to cold temperatures and had a system made for that range, Soma knew that his icy Jewel would not work on it the same way it had worked on other machines.

"Time to change up the plan. Thank God I spent a fortune on these fire crystals. They will help me deal with a nascence like you."

The mechanical beat needed help understanding what Soma was saying.

It raised its paws and let out a threatening road. 

Its massive body headed toward Soma, but he was far too nimble for it to grab.

He used his strings to slow the Mechanical bear down, but the strings kept breaking.

The bear punched the ground hard, causing it to break, and Soma slowly backed himself into a corner.

With his back to the wall, there was likely nothing Soma could do right now.

That was what Soma wanted the monster to believe.

A metallic fist flew toward Soma's face, which was also what Soma wanted.

He dodged the fist just as it was about to hit him, and the giant monster broke the wall behind him.

Wires that had been hidden until now were suddenly exposed to the naked eyes, and Soma threw the fire crystal toward those wires.

The crystal raised the temperature of the surroundings instantly.

Since the metal made these wires was specialized for cold temperatures, it could not take any heat well.

It ended up exploding, causing the bear to take the full force of that explosion.

Fire instantly tried to grip everything, but the temperature was too cold to sustain.

The smoke was the only evidence of the fire left behind after everything happened.

Soma kept his sword at ready, and the half-broken bear attacked him.

It was a vicious little thing, not trying to hold its appetite and desires back.

But now that it was already broken, Soma had a way to defeat it.

The explosion from before hurt the giant bear and slowed its moments.

Soma used this opportunity to attack the exposed side of the monster and then threw a small fire crystal inside its hollow cavity.

The ice melted from the heat of the fire crystal and caused water to fill the mechanical beast.

No matter how much insulation it had, the mechanical bear could not take the water, filling its insides.

The Mechanical bear tried to reach for Soma one last time, but the pressure got too much, and it exploded.

Soma quickly pulled his sword from the bear's body and walked away.

He did not want to face another monster before he had recovered from the impact of what happened.

[Congrulations. You have defeated the boss - Icy Bear alone.]

[10,000 Coins have been awarded to you.]

[Defeating the Icy Bear alone has unlocked a hidden achievement…. recalculating system reward.]

[Error! Cannot compute]

[Would you like to contact administration for further details?]

The system prompt was surprising.

It worded its request almost as if Soma had a choice.

But he knew that this was the administrator's request to meet him.

'Is this a trap? To lure me in? Then, will it be a guild joining offer in exchange for passing me?'

This would not be the first time the more prominent guilds would deploy such a tactic to try and lure players before they officially hit floor 1.

It helped more prominent guilds maintain relevance and boost their numbers because they managed to get the cream off the top.

"Ah, a personal offer of asking me to join a guild might not be bad for me. I will at least have some fun and even see someone rage when I deny them."

The bigger the guild was, the more resources it had, and it also made farming easier for its players.

Most players often let the fame of their guild get to their head.

Soma wondered if their administrator would be the same or not.

[Initiate a meeting with the floor administrator?]

The question taunted Soma, and he finally decided to press accept.

The world around him paused and then slowly melted away.

Soma knew where he was but could still not change his expression.

It would have worked well otherwise, but Soma reacted when he felt the bloody aura aimed his way, and then a sword flashed toward his face.

A sliver of space was left between Soma and the sword, and he noticed how the administrator looked surprised that Soma had managed to dodge his sword.

Still, the administrator was a pro at managing his facial expression, so he quickly masked his surprise with indifference.

"Are you the administrator?"

Soma asked this to confirm, and the administrator continued to stare at Soma with a blank expression.