Chapter 1: This should be a boss battle

“…So boring…”

In a pitch-black basement, a young girl paced back and forth.

“How has it been so long without a single person coming here?”

The girl’s name was Fuyeli.

At this moment, she was still waiting for players to enter the game.

She had been waiting for so long that she had even lost the concept of time.

She could only look at the basement door with anticipation, praying for someone to open it.

‘This shouldn’t be right.’

Fuyeli’s voice sounded a bit melancholy.

“Don’t people these days love virtual reality games that are lifelike, immersive, and relatable?”

“Why hasn’t there been a single player for so long?”

She slumped into a chair in the basement like a salted fish that had given up on thinking.

A few black shadow creatures occasionally passed by.

Upon closer inspection, they appeared to be Goblins.

However, they didn’t quite look like Goblins, but rather some kind of weak, cryptic creatures.

“Looks like today is another day with no harvest, sigh.”

“Someone come… as long as you give me a sacrifice… oh wait, I mean a player, I’ll do anything.”

Perhaps the heavens heard her prayer, as a cold, mechanical voice soon rang in Fuyeli’s ear.

[Biological file uploaded successfully]

[Memory file uploaded successfully]

[Nervous system connection initiated]

[Attention…]

[Player No. 001 has joined your world]

Hearing this cold mechanical voice, Fuyeli instantly jumped up from her chair.

“Oh my god! Finally, someone’s here after waiting so long!”

The excitement in the girl’s eyes was uncontrollable.

She had been waiting until her patience withered, but a living person had finally arrived.

How could she not be excited?

Even so, she controlled her emotions and grabbed a nearby, restlessly wandering shadow.

The exquisite and cute girl now wore an expression like a mafia boss.

“Put on a good show for me later, or I’ll twist your head off.”

The little creature, which was already trembling, became even more paralyzed with fear after being picked up.

It could only nod its head in terror.

“Y — Yes, ma’am!”

Seeing the creature willingly cooperate, a satisfied smile appeared on Fuyeli’s face.

In the next second, her body turned into bubbles and rapidly restructured.

When the light dissipated, the person in the basement was no longer a human girl.

Instead, she was a pixie that looked less than 0.5 meters tall.

“Tie me up, quickly, someone is coming.”

“…”

Looking at this ill-tempered powerhouse, the shivering creature could only pick up a nearby rope and cautiously tie Fuyeli’s hands.

It didn’t even dare to tie her too tightly.

“Tie it tighter, or it’ll look fake. Hurry!”

At Fuyeli’s urging, the creature could only steel itself and tighten the rope slightly.

As for taking the opportunity to escape or attack?

That was a joke.

Forget this rope, even a bundle of rebar wouldn’t be able to hold this powerhouse.

“They’re coming, they’re coming!”

Tied to the chair, Fuyeli began to build up her emotions.

She transformed from a mafia boss into a delicate, harmless-looking system pixie.

“Waaaaah… help… is anyone there to save me?”

Words like pitiful, weak, and helpless were perfectly embodied by this pixie.

However, the creature knew the truth. Its heart was filled with embarrassment, and it didn’t even know if it should raise the knife in its hand.

‘You brat.’

Seeing the creature dazed on the spot, Fuyeli’s face darkened as she glared at it.

“What are you standing there for? Act tougher!”

The creature’s body shook, but it bared its teeth and put on a fierce expression.

This made it look even more like a Goblin.

“Help! Someone! MURDER!!”

In front of the basement door, a man looked down at his phone.

Displayed on the screen was the main quest of the game.

[Why do the cries of a young girl echo from the remote, deserted basement?]

[Why do the roars and sneers of monsters frequently ring out behind the door?]

[Behind all this, is it the distortion of human nature or the loss of morality?]

[Now, please grip the wooden club in your hand, open the basement door, and save the lost pixie — Fuyeli.]

Besides the quest bar, his name, or rather his game ID, was also on the screen — Duya.

Duya looked at this strange quest and then surveyed his surroundings.

Since the basement door was somewhat eerie, he checked his phone again to confirm he hadn’t entered the wrong game.

He clearly remembered that this was a “healing” game called Yog-Sothoth’s Backyard.

The problem was that the art style of this basement door and the blood-stained wooden club in his hand didn’t match the word “healing” at all.

After confirming several times, he found that he really hadn’t entered the wrong game.

This left him somewhat confused.

‘Are healing games these days all like this?’

Despite his doubts, he chose to slowly push open the basement door.

He had explored the vicinity for a long time, and whenever he tried to leave, a strange voice would stop him.

[Please explore the area ahead later]

He had no choice but to enter the basement to complete the main quest.

Maintaining a cautious attitude, Duya gripped the wooden club and slowly pushed open the door.

The expected smell of decay did not appear.

When the sunlight passed through the door and into the basement, Duya clearly saw a Goblin-like shadow creature.

It was snarling at a pixie that looked less than 0.5 meters tall.

The pixie seemed frightened, her eyes filled with tears, looking extremely pitiful.

Just then, his phone let out a BEEP as he received a message.

The quest bar had updated.

[Please rescue this cute but very weak little pixie. She will accompany you on your upcoming journey.]

After glancing at his phone, Duya warily watched the shadow.

His initial level was Level 10, but the shadow only showed Level 3.

“ROAR!!”

For some reason, when the shadow saw Duya enter, it looked like it had seen its savior and rushed straight toward him.

An ordinary person might have been frightened by this, but Duya didn’t panic at all.

He nimbly dodged to the side and swung the wooden club, hitting the monster’s head.

THUD

Duya didn’t feel the sensation of hitting anything, yet the monster acted as if it had taken fatal damage.

It let out a scream and vanished.

At this moment, only Duya and the pixie tied to the chair remained in the empty basement.

Duya opened the system to check the pixie’s attributes.

[Status Window]
Name: Fuyeli
Level: 1
HP: 1
Attack: 1
Defense: 1

Looking at these stats, Duya felt that something wasn’t right.

An empty arena.

An unknown entity in the center.

And a giant wooden club in his hand.

Based on his years of gaming experience…

‘This must be a boss battle.’