Provocation. This was blatant provocation.
The moment Flynn uttered those words, Peerless Blood-Sword froze in place, completely stunned. Even Let-There-Be-Light, who was usually the calmest among them, found himself momentarily speechless. Flynn's gesture had been unmistakably directed at Amy.
Within the studio, it was hardly a secret that Peerless Blood-Sword had feelings for her. But Flynn… could he really be interested in her as well?
Not-A-Bystander, being completely uninvolved in the romantic tension swirling around them, was the only one who seemed perfectly clear-headed. He let out a long, exaggerated whistle.
"Well, well," he drawled. "Are you two hotshots about to settle this with a duel? Light, I'll put money on it. Let's bet on who wins."
"Shut it!"
Let-There-Be-Light shot him an irritated glare. His Healing Spell landed a fraction of a second late, nearly allowing Not-A-Bystander to collapse on the spot.
"This isn't the time for nonsense. Night-Stalker, what exactly are you trying to do?"
"Pull aggro."
Flynn grinned as if the whole situation amused him. Without warning, he switched targets and lunged at Rhaess, the Head Maid. His dagger flashed twice in quick succession as he unleashed Keen Strike followed by Rupture, both attacks striking from a perfectly calculated angle. Critical hits.
Even though Not-A-Bystander had not set Rhaess as his primary target, his accumulated threat was still substantial. Flynn had to land several more attacks before the Boss's attention finally shifted. The moment he felt the aggro turn, Flynn kicked off the ground and leapt backward.
"Foolish mortals! You will pay for your insolence!" Rhaess shrieked.
Her long whip lashed forward like a striking serpent and coiled toward Flynn's neck.
"Heh. This lady's got some temper," Flynn said lightly.
He raised his dagger to intercept the attack and tilted his head at just the right angle so the whip wrapped around the blade instead of his throat. As Rhaess yanked the whip back, Flynn simply released his grip and let the dagger fly away with it.
After all, she was a Boss. Even if she did not appear to specialize in brute strength, the force behind her pull was considerable. Being dragged toward her was the last thing Flynn wanted.
Discarding the weapon without hesitation, Flynn immediately retreated toward Amy.
"Hey! Hit her with a Concussive Shot or I won't shake her off!"
Rhaess's whip stretched well over six feet, which meant she was far from a typical melee attacker. Her effective attack range was easily two yards, and her speed was surprisingly high. Creating distance was not easy.
"Go ahead," Amy muttered under her breath. "Let 'Queen' Rhaess whip you to death."
Despite the sarcasm, she still drew her bow and fired a Concussive Shot. The arrow struck true, slowing the Head Maid's advance.
"Thanks, beautiful," Flynn chuckled as he kept running. "I owe you dinner."
Not a hint of tension could be heard in his voice.
From the side corridor, Let-There-Be-Light watched Flynn lead Rhaess away toward the front courtyard. He slowly shook his head.
Not-A-Bystander noticed the expression and shrugged.
"He's an expert, isn't he?"
"What I'm wondering," Let-There-Be-Light said quietly, "is who could possibly make someone like him willingly play backup. Whoever he was asking for strategy guides earlier… it must have been that person."
"Probably," Not-A-Bystander said thoughtfully. "At the very least, he's in the top five thousand players. Possibly higher."
With one less Boss pressing down on him, the situation became far more manageable for Not-A-Bystander. The only downside was that Peerless Blood-Sword was now the only damage dealer left on his side, so the kill speed slowed considerably.
Still, it was only a matter of grinding it down.
Meanwhile, Flynn sprinted down the long corridor, occasionally tossing a bomb behind him to maintain his aggro. Because of the distance between them, Rhaess could not immediately close the gap.
What truly frustrated Flynn, however, was something else entirely.
This Head Maid had apparently inherited the abilities of her servants.
The first sign came when she flung a thorny rose that struck Flynn squarely in the shoulder. He had tried to dodge, but the timing was too tight; the best he could do was avoid the weak point and prevent a critical hit.
"Damn it," Flynn muttered through clenched teeth. "Bosses are never easy."
The moment that rose hit him, he already knew what was coming next. If the pattern held true, Rhaess would soon start throwing wooden clubs and buckets as well.
If either of those landed cleanly, he would be finished.
Flynn did not hesitate. He quickly chugged a health potion and turned around, rushing back toward her instead of continuing to flee.
As he closed in, he slipped around the far side of a stone pillar, neatly dodging a whip strike that cracked against the surface behind him.
At the same time, he shouted in the party channel.
"Light, I need cover! This woman knows all her servants' tricks. I can't dodge everything!"
Let-There-Be-Light and Not-A-Bystander both looked grim.
Peerless Blood-Sword, however, let out a mocking laugh.
"Haha. An 'expert,' huh? Still came running back."
After Flynn's earlier provocation, the hostility in his voice was impossible to miss. It was not just disdain anymore.
It was blatant jealousy.
"Tch," Flynn shot back immediately. "Why don't you try it then?"
"I don't have your speed and evasion!"
"You're pretty good at making excuses."
Flynn laughed coldly. He knew perfectly well that the man was just deflecting. A Rogue who had not even learned Sprint would not be much faster than a Finesse Duelist anyway, and relying solely on the system's base evasion would never be enough to dodge a Boss's attacks so consistently.
"Blood-Sword, that's enough."
Let-There-Be-Light's voice turned stern.
He had noticed every one of the jabs Peerless Blood-Sword had been throwing at Flynn. If both players were members of the same studio, that might have been one thing. But Flynn was essentially a guest, someone he had personally invited to help.
Peerless Blood-Sword's behavior was childish.
Even if Flynn seemed openly interested in Amy, and even if Let-There-Be-Light knew Blood-Sword liked her, he absolutely refused to allow any personal conflict to erupt at such a critical moment.
Peerless Blood-Sword still respected Let-There-Be-Light as their leader. After hearing that tone, he held his tongue, though the frustration on his face was impossible to hide.
At that moment Amy's voice suddenly rang out in the party channel.
"What are you two arguing about? I'm about to get overwhelmed here! Blood-Sword, hurry up and finish the two you're fighting!"
In the garden, Peerless Blood-Sword had just finished off the two trash mobs he had been handling. Amy, who had been kiting her own maid around the perimeter, darted back toward the group, and Not-A-Bystander immediately moved to intercept.
From the corridor entrance, Flynn suddenly burst out in a diving leap.
While still in mid-air, he twisted his body and hurled two bombs backward. They collided directly with a bucket flying toward him from behind.
Boom!
The bombs detonated in the air. The bucket shattered instantly, sending a splash of blue water spraying outward across a two-yard radius.
"That works?!" Amy blurted. Her mouth hung open.
She was the only one who had seen the entire sequence clearly. The other three players were too busy finishing their own enemies, but Amy, for reasons she did not entirely understand herself, had been glancing toward the corridor from time to time, worried about Flynn's situation.
Because of that, she witnessed the whole thing. Was it just coincidence? Or had his throw been that precise?
Amy had no idea, and there was no time to dwell on it.
Flynn rolled across the ground, narrowly avoiding the whip that followed immediately behind him.
"Bystander, take over!" he shouted. "Mimi, Concussive Shot!"
"You—!"
Amy nearly choked from irritation.
Mimi? That nickname was far too intimate. And coincidentally, her older brother occasionally called her that.
Was this guy incapable of being less shameless?
Even so, her reaction speed was excellent. She rushed forward and fired another Concussive Shot the moment Rhaess emerged from the corridor.
The damage was not high enough to steal aggro, so the Boss continued charging straight at Flynn.
By then Flynn had already scrambled back to his feet, and Let-There-Be-Light, seizing a brief opening, cast Luminous Shield on him to ensure he would survive the next few seconds.
Not-A-Bystander's Avenger's Shield was still on cooldown, leaving him without a ranged method to grab aggro. Instead, he dragged his remaining maid along as he moved to assist Flynn.
"Two abilities," he complained while running, "are completely not enough."
"Yeah," Let-There-Be-Light replied. "If we hadn't wasted so much time on PvP skirmishes, we'd probably be level eighteen already and have our third ability. This would be much easier."
Flynn stood still for a moment, catching his breath.
"Forget it," he said. "We're still a long way from level eighteen."
Amy glanced at him from the side.
"What, already out of juice?"
"Out of juice? How could I possibly be out of juice?"
Before she finished speaking, Flynn had already darted behind the last remaining maid. His dagger flashed twice with Keen Strike and Rupture, dropping the enemy in just a few swift movements.
Then he turned toward Rhaess with a crooked grin.
"I really hope this Head Maid drops her outfit."
"Hmm," Not-A-Bystander said thoughtfully, nodding as if analyzing something important. "It's Leather Armor, so the stats should be solid."
Then he winked at Flynn and added a remark that nearly made someone cough up blood.
"It would look great on Amy."
Flynn blinked.
At that moment he realized that this supposedly honest fellow was not honest at all.
Let-There-Be-Light nearly exploded.
"Bystander!" he roared. "Your bonus for this month is gone! And forget about your Main Tank subsidy too!"
"Come on, it was a joke." Not-A-Bystander laughed nervously.
'A joke?'
How much was a professional gamer's base salary anyway? A few nights at the bar would burn through it. The real money came from bonuses.
Before he could say anything else, two arrows suddenly whizzed past his scalp.
Not-A-Bystander jumped in shock.
For a brief moment he thought a monster had spawned behind him, but when he turned around, he saw Amy standing there with her cheeks slightly flushed, glaring at him.
"That was just a joke too," she said coldly. "Bystander. You don't mind, do you?"
"N-no… I don't mind!" he replied quickly, wiping a bead of cold sweat from his forehead before casting Flynn a helpless look.
Flynn chuckled.
This guy had just said exactly what Flynn himself had been thinking but had not dared to say out loud.
'Truly courageous.'
He gave Not-A-Bystander a thumbs-up before returning enthusiastically to dealing damage.
On the combat statistics panel, Flynn's and Amy's damage numbers alternated in the lead while Rhaess's health steadily dropped.
Rhaess herself was not particularly difficult, yet many players ended up getting stuck at this encounter.
The real problem was the three servants who accompanied her. They were unbelievably annoying.
In a standard five-player party, having a Ranger kite a single trash mob was already considered good coordination. Bosses themselves were rarely kited, because everyone knew they possessed a wide range of dangerous abilities, and one mistake could easily wipe the entire party.
But if only one servant was kited, the Main Tank would inevitably face the combined pressure of two mobs and the Boss at once.
That was too much.
Therefore, the common strategy was to kite two servants: one handled by a Ranger and the other by a ranged class with slowing abilities, such as an Arcanist.
Flynn's approach of directly kiting the Boss had not succeeded in any of the previous clear attempts.
As the three servants fell one by one, however, Rhaess gradually lost most of her threat. Like a tiger that had its teeth pulled, she no longer had any meaningful tricks left.
Some of her abilities were still annoying, but the damage was not particularly high. As long as the healer remained attentive, no one would die.
Her only truly dangerous skill was Charm.
Once cast, it could mesmerize a player for eight seconds, leaving them completely unable to act.
Fortunately, if the charmed target was not the healer, it usually did not matter. And as the Main Tank, Not-A-Bystander would never be targeted by the ability in the first place.
The moment Rhaess finally collapsed, Flynn rushed forward eagerly to check the loot. He did not have permission to pick anything up, but he could still see what had dropped.
After a single glance, he looked up at Amy with a mischievous grin. Amy heard the ill-intentioned chuckle and felt her face heat up.
A wave of nervousness washed over her.
'No way… Did that damned Leather Armor actually drop?'