chapter01 · 012-ep12
Episode 12: Tea-Equipped Ojou-sama vs. the Middle-Layer Boss
Boss room is the common name for the most dangerous areas in a dungeon.
Dungeons are usually divided into upper, middle, and lower layers—some have deep layers and even abyssal layers beyond those—and each is further divided into individual floors: floor 1 of the upper layers, floor 2, and so forth.
The floors connect through vertical shafts resembling stairwells, and those connections have no monsters, making them easy to pass through.
But that holds true only up to the middle layers.
From the deepest part of the middle layers onward, a wide space called a boss room lies between every pair of floors. You can't proceed without defeating the giant monster that rules it like a gatekeeper.
The first place explorers face that threat is the great hall connecting the middle and lower layers—the space where Karin now stood.
Looking down on her as she entered alone was the Titan Knightbone, a skeletal knight over ten meters tall.
Appearing as the middle-layer boss in various dungeons, it was the most common floor boss, famous as a trial that determined whether an explorer could call themselves a veteran.
Online, it was also called the 'gatekeeping skeleton': to reach the lower layers, you had to defeat it.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!"
DOGOGOGOGOGOGOGON!
The skeletal giant roared at the sight of Karin and swung the enormous sword in its hand threateningly. The sword, nearly as long as the knight itself, struck the ground and the wall behind it, sending a tremendous impact through the boss room with every blow.
【Boss monsters really are on a different level of imposing, even through a screen...】
【And the dungeon walls don't even crack when a sword like that hits them. Too sturdy】
【Uh, Karin ojou-sama doesn't seem to be putting down her tea even in front of the boss...】
【Tea time in front of a boss monster is going a bit too far, isn't it!?】
【But with this ojou-sama, maybe...】
【The amount of faith in Karin-sama already lol】
【GOOOOO! Beat the boss just like that, tea in hand, desu waaaaa!】
"Well then, let us dispatch the middle-layer boss quickly and head for the lower layers, desu wa!"
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!"
As if responding to Karin clenching her fist, the Titan Knightbone moved.
It closed the distance in just a few strides and brought down its immense sword with the monstrous strength befitting its size. It was a killing blow that would crush all but the strongest defenses.
Yet Karin didn't move a single step.
【Uh, is ojou-sama standing still?】
【Dodge!?】
【What are you doing!?】
Chat filled with confusion and concern. But—
"Hup! Desu wa!"
DOGAGOOOOOOOON!
The moment Karin cried out, the sword suddenly changed course just before crushing her and slammed down wide of its mark.
It still struck with enough force to shake the boss room—but Karin stood right beside it, unharmed.
She sipped her tea as her spotless dress fluttered and looked calmly up at the Titan Knightbone.
What had she done? She'd slammed her fist into the side of the sword, forcibly knocking its swing off course.
【Huh!? What!? What'd she do THIS time!?】
【I thought Karin-sama was about to get squashed like a tomato!?】
【The gatekeeping skeleton's sword veered off right before it hit!?】
【Wait... did she punch the side of that sword and deflect it...?】
【Someone actually saw it lmao】
【Expert bro, keep commentating... My eyes AND brain can't keep up】
【Um... the guidebook said the standard tactic was for multiple tank-type explorers and healers to hold back the gatekeeping skeleton's sword and create an opening...】
【As if this terrifying ojou-sama's ever read a guidebook】
【Hey! Maybe she read it and just decided to ignore it!】
【That would be even worse...】
【O-other streamers have soloed it too, it's nothing THAT surprising...】
【Unfortunately no one else is stupid enough to deflect that massive sword like THAT (with tea in hand)...】
The comments raced faster.
"Hmph!"
DOGAGOOOOOOOOOOON!
And all the while, Karin kept deflecting the Titan Knightbone's blows. Each time she struck precisely at the side of its sword and diverted the attack without spilling her tea.
【I can't lmao】
【But isn't something off? All she's been doing is deflecting the sword...】
【Why not attack the body during the opening?】
【Maybe deflecting a swing that heavy leaves her unable to move right afterward?】
【Wouldn't it be better to dodge the sword completely and charge in?】
【It's rare to see ojou-sama having trouble】
【Even if she can insta-kill Lord Vomit, maybe a boss is too much with a dress AND tea】
Chat began to grow puzzled by the repeated deflections.
But as Karin's fist clashed loudly with the sword several more times—CRACK! A different sound came from the blade.
"Hi-yah! Desu wa!"
The moment an especially fierce punch hit the sword's side—BAGYAAAAAAAAA!
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!?"
The Titan Knightbone cried out. Its sword, battered again and again by her fists, shattered into pieces.
【!?!?!?!?!!? THE SWORD BROKE!?!?!?】
【No way!? You can BREAK that thing!?】
【I've heard of top-ranked explorers breaking the sword mid-fight, but that's with weapons or magic!?】
【How far is this ojou-sama going to go lol】
【Anyone who doubted Karin ojou-sama's strategy owes her an apology. I am deeply sorry】
【Knightbone has no weapon now. She's gonna beat it to death lol】
【Even without a weapon, that body is a threat. Its armor's really tough too】
【Still, losing the sword cuts the danger a lot】
【Hm? What's that?】
【Is Knightbone acting weird?】
【Lose its mind when it lost its weapon? lol】
【No, that's not... Wait, seriously, what's going on?】
Chat, which had reversed its judgment upon understanding Karin's plan to destroy its weapon, suddenly grew restless.
Something was strange about the disarmed Titan Knightbone.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!"
The skeletal knight let loose a savage roar—and in the next instant, the armor covering its body melted and condensed around both fists. Its fists, harder and denser with mana than before, slammed into the ground with a force far greater than that of its sword.
The skeletal knight's transformation threw chat into utter chaos.
【WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?】
【Huh? Huh? HUH?】
【Wait, hold on! Seriously, HOLD ON!?】
【What's THAT!?】
【What the hell!? That's a special behavior!?】
【The gatekeeping skeleton HAS a special behavior!?】
【Why is everyone so surprised?】
【Some bosses use special moves or transform when you meet certain conditions! But NOBODY'S ever heard of a Knightbone doing THAT!】
【Wait, does that mean... this is bad?】
【Yeah, it's bad! In more ways than one!】
"Oh? Perhaps a lot of you don't know about this?"
Karin noticed the comments flying past at incredible speed a little late, and spoke with an easygoing air.
"It seems that if you fight that skeleton-sama solo and barehanded and destroy its weapon, it matches your style and takes that form, desu no. Perhaps it retains its chivalry even in death, desu wa."
【Seriously!?】
【A decent number of people have beaten the middle-layer gatekeeping skeleton, but I've NEVER heard that!?】
【Solo, barehanded, AND destroy its weapon? Of course no one knew!】
【Couldn't that info sell for a fortune!?】
【Wait a second!? Isn't Knightbone moving faster now!?】
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!"
As chat had pointed out, the Titan Knightbone moved like an entirely different monster now.
With the thick armor that had covered its whole body concentrated on the backs of its hands, its speed and striking power had clearly risen.
DOGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA!
It covered the distance to Karin in a few strides and unleashed a flurry of blows from both fists.
The number and speed of its attacks were nothing like before. Its steel fists repeatedly smashed into the dungeon floor with thunderous crashes.
But Karin dodged the entire assault with tea in hand.
"That's right, desu no. As someone in chat said, the skeleton-sama's speed shoots up in this form. But in exchange—"
Karin planted her foot firmly and, careful not to spill her tea, stepped within the Titan Knightbone's reach as though dancing.
"It loses the ability to keep me at bay with that long sword, and the protection of its armor. That makes it ever so much easier to defeat, desu no!"
DOGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!
A single strike.
The instant Karin swung her fist, the Titan Knightbone's hip bone shattered with a thunderous boom.
With the joint at the very center of its body gone, the giant monster collapsed—and never moved again.