Episode 25

I nodded as I read the system message that appeared before me.

‘As expected of a rare boss, it has a + grade.’

Pearl Spitting Tortoise.

As the name suggested, it meant ‘the turtle that spits out beads or pearls,’ a Korean mythical creature.

It was set as the guardian who had long protected the sacred tree, being the long-time lord of this beautiful lake.

However, in my view, it was just a nameless rascal.

‘…They suddenly add a boss with a backstory of being a lord.’

Inserting him into the ‘Goblin Habitat (E)’ that nobody visited was undoubtedly the work of the GM of ‘GAL’.

In other words, it was something orchestrated by the staff.

On their official homepage, they announced with the phrase, “The long-hidden Hidden Piece has finally appeared!” drawing everyone’s incredulous attention.

And this story wasn’t just about The Pearl Spitting Tortoise.

Monsters like Xizhe or Sky Dragon, which originally didn’t fit in ‘GAL’, had increased in number after that.

“Was it said that the reason is to reduce the gap?”

[Gonis Archive Life] was a mobile game that had been open for a whopping six years.

Considering it was a mobile game, it was practically an elder in terms of longevity in the field.

Yet it remained a masterpiece that continued to be highly popular.

But any gamer who had played for a while would know.

After that much time, whether you liked it or not, the game was bound to stagnate.

Naturally, this also meant that there was a severe disparity between the players.

The power of money demonstrated through in-app purchases…

Even if you skip over personal realms like me, where I spent a long time analyzing characters and honing tactics…

Ultimately, as long as the quality of time spent differs, the gap between veterans and newbies hardly closes.

And the operators believe that this does not make for a healthy game for people to play.

Thus, to reduce the gap between the two and also to increase new player influx…

They updated a permanent event dungeon for newbies and kept it hidden.

One of these was right here, [The Garden of Pearl Spitting Tortoise].

However, [The Garden of Pearl Spitting Tortoise] became infamous, contrary to its intention, as a ‘newbie slayer.’

The reason was that the operators, those damn bastards, incorporated their malevolent tendencies, making it impossible to beat with mindless retries.

‘The first reason is the specs of the Pearl Spitting Tortoise.’

The skill itself was nothing special.

[Water Bomb]. A sphere made of water thrown at high speed.

A strengthened skill of [Water Bomb], [Water Breath] fires water with pressure so strong it was more than just a water cannon…

Except for [All-Out Headbutt], a derivative skill of [Headbutt], there was nothing else.

The problem was the stats.

As far as I knew, the specs were as follows.

As one could see, the overall stats were monstrous.

Especially the magic, which was not at all typical for a B-grade boss.

The reason for the high speed was because it was set as a rabbit, despite being a tortoise, which had the trait [Fast Feet].

The reason for the immense magic was due to a hero-grade trait called [Fake Dragon Pearl].

In ‘GAL’, magic primarily handles firepower.

Even a trivial water cannon, if it had high magic power, could create an intimidating presence, as if a real dragon were shooting it.

However, that didn’t mean he was weak in close combat.

With the [Combat] trait, even with those short limbs, he could deliver a fatal blow.

‘…In summary, it’s a total mess where we could die.’

The place where you had to fight this creature was usually near a lake.

That meant, if it was close combat, you had to fight while accepting the penalties associated with water, and that wasn’t something a newbie could handle.

Therefore, usually, you would confront it from a distance.

This guy. He would cunningly continue shooting [Water Breath], exploiting his superior range to mock, so essentially, mindless attacks were no answer against him.

‘They expect newbies to catch this guy? Those damn operators are so sly.’

But the operators had brains, too (probably?).

As much as they threw him to the newbies as bait, the Pearl Spitting Tortoise was one that could definitely be caught if you knew the tricks and strategies, even with lower specs.

The first of these was pulling him out of the water.

Fitting the setting of having lived as a local lord for a long time, the Pearl Spitting Tortoise hated anything impure touching the lake.

Among those, what he detested the most was water pollution.

For that, I bought the poison from Im Hyeja, and deliberately hunted worthless creatures like goblins and goblin archers to gather ingredients and made a ‘Homemade Poison Shake’ to throw in the water.

“Kweeeeeek!!!”

And now, it has borne fruit.

Hidden in the bushes, I watched Meowi, who stood bravely facing the Pearl Spitting Tortoise.

‘…Stage one is a success.’

Now, the crucial thing was whether Meowi would do her part properly.

I had some contingency plans in case of the worst-case scenario, but I knew well.

My beloved favorite character, Meowi, was not just a cute and fragile girl.

She simply never had the opportunity or the talent to bloom and be recognized by others.

Her passion and heart were second to none.

‘…That’s why she came here with me.’

Even if her life was at risk, I believed she could overcome it.

I steadied my breath and quietly placed my hand on the hilt of the sword at my waist.

“Kweeeek!!”

The Pearl Spitting Tortoise, who crawled out, shifted his bloodshot eyes everywhere.

The creature expressed his blazing anger for what happened in the lake.

“How dare you pollute this lake that I’ve long protected?” With only this thought in mind, the Pearl Spitting Tortoise angrily surveyed the ground.

Just minutes ago, the Pearl Spitting Tortoise had been cautiously observing the intruders who had entered this place for the first time from within the lake.

The intruders, a feeble-looking man, and a barely visible clump of fur, being his first encounter, slightly disheartened the Pearl Spitting Tortoise.

Therefore, if the two did not cause any trouble, he had intended to spare them and leave.

But that thought was foolish…

Indeed, intruders must be killed without exception.

In his memory, it was definitely the man who had poured the poison into the lake.

But he was nowhere to be seen.

Where could he have hidden?

Normally calm and composed, the Pearl Spitting Tortoise would have methodically searched the forest, but he was already in a state of extreme agitation and anger.

Even if it meant ruining this beautiful forest, he was determined to find them.

And in that moment of thought…

Bang, bang, bang!

“…Grrr!”

Annoyed by the grating sound of metal, he immediately looked down.

Ma Hana, a Myoin Tribe girl who appeared far too small and fragile compared to the Pearl Spitting Tortoise.

Being the huge Pearl Spitting Tortoise, he hadn’t noticed her even as she was right in front of him, as she was as tiny as a mouse.

“…Gulp, come at me… Come at me! Turtle!”

Ma Hana, gulped, and made a feeble attempt to provoke the tortoise.

But the Pearl Spitting Tortoise couldn’t let it go.

The empty bottle in her left hand was undoubtedly the poison bottle that the man had been holding just moments ago.

And so he decided to kill this tiny creature in front of him.

A unique, intense wave of magic began to spread.

Watching that, Ma Hana took a deep breath.

‘It all starts now!’

And signaling that, three spheres of magic began to form around the body of the Pearl Spitting Tortoise.

Droplets of water, each merging one by one, quickly transformed into a mass the size of a human head and were hurled at high speed.

[Water Bomb].

It was a derivative skill of the [Magic Type] called [Stream Water].

Originally, it wasn’t very powerful, but the Pearl Spitting Tortoise’s magical power level was a whopping 30.

Whooosh!

In fact, each one possessed the destructive power equivalent to a large hammer strike.

“Meeoow!”

However, Ma Hana was not afraid of it.

Instead, she stepped forward and gathered magic from deep within her body while holding a shield in both hands.

“[Raise Shield]!”

Bang!
Bang!
Bang!

The successive explosions of [Water Bomb] came.

Thinking it was over, the Pearl Spitting Tortoise turned his head, but startled by the resounding clang of metal, he quickly turned back.

“It’s not over! Y-you stupid turtle! Ah, sorry, that was too harsh.”
“…Grrrrk.”

The Pearl Spitting Tortoise’s eyebrow twitched.

Even though she was pushed back several steps, Ma Hana firmly blocked the attack with her shield.

And the Pearl Spitting Tortoise felt his pride was hurt.

How dare she block the attack head-on, not even dodging it?

He considered it a challenge thrown at him, the boss of this place.

“Kweeeeeek!”

A bubbling froth boiled up along the corners of the Pearl Spitting Tortoise’s wide-open mouth.

The bead in the pouch under his chin shone.

Like water in a lake drawn by psychic power, it rose high into the sky and started churning in his mouth.

‘…Here it comes!’

Ma Hana instinctively realized that this technique was indeed ‘that thing’ Yu Seha had earnestly warned her about.

‘Water Breath!’

Kuwaaaa!

A powerful straight-line water cannon flew towards Ma Hana as if to shatter her completely this time.

“……”

Was it an illusion?

Suddenly, Ma Hana felt the illusion that the [Water Breath] in front of her eyes was moving slowly.

Her body stiffened with fear.

If her frail body took it head-on, she would be transformed from Ma Hana to… nothing.

It was an undeniable fact that she accepted.

In a moment, Ma Hana turned her eyes to a gaze watching from the forest.

“……”

Yu Seha.

He was looking right at her.

He said nothing, but his eyes answered for him.

―It’s impossible. You say it’s magic is 30? There’s no way I can block it…
―Meowi. You can do it. I guarantee it. You can do it!

So believe in yourself!

‘…Yes.’

He told me so.

So I will believe.

So I will achieve it.

“Meowww!!!”

Bang!

Ma Hana screamed louder than usual.

She then ran straight towards the Water Breath.