20 Critical Situation

Baby took the moss from Markus's hand and started forcing Lloyd to swallow it. It took a bit of effort but between the Fists and Baby, she wasn't able to struggle much. Meanwhile, Punch was brooding at the other end of the boat. Markus sat in front of her and spoke after a short silence.

"You okay?"

"I'll be fine…" She responded evasively

"I get it. I couldn't get into a car for a long time after a bad accident." Markus wasn't an expert on emotions, but he sensed that she was struggling so he tried to console her. Seeing her look over in interest, Markus started explaining. "One day when I was really young, I went on a car ride with my mom. I don't remember the details myself, but the police told me a drunk driver slammed our car off the road into oncoming traffic where an eighteen-wheeler slammed into us."

"Oh my god, that sounds terrible… Were you okay?"

"Amazingly, I had no injuries. However, my mom died before the emergency response team arrived. For about six years I wasn't able to get into a car without having a panic attack."

"I'm sorry…" Punch didn't know what to say, but Markus shook his head. "Its fine." It happened so long ago he was already over it. The only reason he even though about it so much again was the encounter a few hours prior. It would be accurate to say he had blocked the memory from the forefront of his mind. However, the illusion caused by the forsaken got him to remember it all again. Once that memory came back, he entered a vortex of memories that followed. He sighed and turned back to the others.

Lloyd seemed to have calmed down and was holding her head. Markus felt his clothes being pulled so he turned around.

"What did you do to get over your trauma?" She asked with a quiet, desperate voice. Markus raised his arms as if gesturing around him. Punch didn't really understand so he clarified.

"Gaming. I holed myself up in my room 10 hours a day and played games. I guess I got pretty good at them." Although his words were humble now, there was a time when he couldn't wait to tell people about his skill due to his insecurities. In a sense, his current journey was akin to earning the right to do that again. The sudden realization gave him more to think about.

"Pfft. If you're only pretty good I'm a total noob." However, when Markus gave her a blank expression, she got mad. "Hey! I'm… decent at games. Of course, I'm better at sound and rhythm games…"

"Hey, you two, stop messing around, Lloyd is back to normal." Fists had to directly interrupt their conversation because they seemed to have completely forgotten about the others. They entered their own world and were whispering to each other. He was annoyed, but when he saw his sister's mood improve, he held in his complaints.

"Sorry about that Punch, I wasn't in my right mind." The first thing she did was apologize. However, what happened with Fists, she simply pretended it didn't happen. Being ignored like that made him frustrated but he already knew this leader of theirs was cruel.

"What happened exactly?" Markus was curious about the situation. It seemed that the witch did something before dying. He saw a strange black energy attach itself to Lloyd for a moment.

"It was the [Cursed] condition. Although I couldn't control my avatar anymore, I was still aware of what was happening. I was also blocked from using the chat feature. Fortunately, the witch was killed before it could start to control me, so I was just acting mischievously." While explaining she posted the condition description in the group chat.

FinkLloyd: "<IMG> [Under the control of [Curse of Madness]. Abnormal condition: Cursed]

[Cursed

Rank: Hero

Effect: Lose control of your character and act autonomously based on the origin of the curse.

Message: My name is Lachdanan, and I am Cursed.] </IMG>"

"Hss, that's scary! Well, good thing we have an expert with us or I'm afraid we would be dead already." Fists said while trying to put his hand on Markus's shoulder. However, Markus casually leaned back to dodge it and responded with a neutral tone.

"I used the last of my arrows to deal with the witch." Hearing this, the mood changed on the boat. It was their own faults for not stopping to prepare properly but they were too excited about the dungeon to remember that. One arrow burnt up and the other sank to the bottom of the river. Lloyd coughed and tried to rally the group.

"Now that we know the weakness and strengths of the monster, we need to focus on clearing this dungeon! Any questions?" Lloyd had a very commanding tone. Markus understood why she could be leader. Her mentality was far better than his when he used to lead his gaming team. Punch raised her hand and waved it around. "Yes, Punch, what's your question?"

"What if we encounter a different type of monster?" The momentum that Lloyd had just built up was stopped in an instant. Everyone also realized this problem and looked to Lloyd in anticipation of the answer. She looked over at Markus hoping for a lifeline, but he could only shake his head. His [Danger Sense] was on cooldown now and there was no guarantee he could respond quick enough to a new threat.

"If that happens then we will do our best to have fun!" She took a moment to think about it and gave a lame response. Markus was reminded of his old friends from before he became a professional gamer. They were the first people he connected with after the accident. This was something that one particular friend of his said often. 'It's okay if we lose, as long as we have fun!' Markus expected the encouragement to fail, but instead everyone gave a rallying shout in agreement.

"Of course, having fun is number one priority. Besides we can just do the dungeon again when we are stronger!" Fists said.

"Exactly! How shocked do you think the producer will be when he learns of our levels? Hehe." Punch seemed to be anxious to logout and brag about how far they got in the game. Baby nodded in agreement and added,

"Last time I investigated it, the average player seems to still be level 1. Based on the distribution and difficulty of enemies, the number crunchers predict that less than half the current player base will reach level 2 since many players are going to invest in non-combat skilling roles."

Markus felt like that prediction made sense. Many people were hired on as support staff for their main team. In fact, the second team in his organization was going to be in charge of farming resources for the primary team. This was the main reason he wanted to show his worth as quickly as possible so that he wouldn't waste his potential as a supporting character.

"Heads up, I sense something ahead!" Fists broke Markus out of his thoughts. He took out his iron sword and prepared to fight. "Left, third!" Fists shouted out. Although they didn't discuss it beforehand, everyone instinctively understood what he meant. Markus activated [Vital Strike] and entered a striking pose. The water splashed and a hooked claw came right at Lloyd. This time, she kept her head down and covered her face with the shield.

Three swords came forward stabbing her in various spots. Since Markus was on the side of the Witch's outstretched arm, he couldn't strike directly at her eye on the opposite side. However, this didn't stop Baby from landing a clean hit. Unfortunately, he was only level 2 without all the stacking bonuses that Markus had. He saw the -3 float above the Witches head before his sword connected on the witch's elbow.

[Vital Strike]!

-6

Another -1 appeared over its head from Baby's attack. He didn't have any reaction to his low damage because every point mattered. Before they could strike again, the witch dove back into the water, abandoning its initial plan to hook or curse one of the passengers. Unknown to the party, the witch almost lost its claws arm to Markus's strike. However, a notification gave Markus a hint about his last attack.

[New ability Dismembering Strike learned.]

[Dismembering Strike Level 1

Rank: Hero

Effect: When striking a joint, 33% increased chance of dismemberment and apply Final Damage modifier: Cutting 1.5x; Crushing 1.2x; Impaling 1.0x; Piercing 0.8x. 85 seconds cooldown.

Message: Need a hand?]

When the witch resurfaced again with the intention to attack Punch, Markus did not hesitate to attack again. Since it came from the right side, its arm was no longer blocking his swords path. His sword gave off a vicious red light.

[Dismembering Strike]!

Critical!

-18

The head flew off the witch's body and landed in Punches hands.