บท 11: 11 Floor Boss
The 17th floor's boss, Goliath, rules over an environment vastly different from the previous levels. The entire 17th floor is like a frozen world, with significantly smaller space compared to earlier floors. This area primarily exists to accommodate the floor boss.
The main monster here is the terrifying and powerful floor boss.
Once you break through the 17th floor, you reach the 18th floor, a safe zone for restocking, though at a high cost. Beyond the 18th floor lies the deeper levels. Therefore, the 17th floor is often considered the hardest level for newcomers, and the floor boss, Goliath, is infamous as a rookie killer.
However, as a floor boss, Goliath doesn't always exist. Like in video games, bosses have respawn times. After being killed by advanced adventurers, Goliath disappears and will only respawn after a set period.
You see, this is very much like an online game with timed boss respawns. While rookies typically can't defeat Goliath, they can avoid it by coming during its non-respawn window and letting the big players take it down, allowing rookies to escape.
But from the current situation, it seems the boss hasn't respawned yet.
Altair nodded as he looked at the massive frozen wall in front of him. Monsters typically respawn by slowly emerging from the walls, and the gigantic wall before them was just the right size for a floor boss to appear. This must be the respawn point. According to Lili, today was the respawn day, but the boss hadn't appeared yet, so the timing was perfect.
"Altair-san, the floor boss hasn't respawned yet. Should we retreat for now?"
Lili, standing in front of the enormous wall, was a bit nervous. Although Altair possessed powerful weapons, she didn't believe he could fight the floor boss. After all, Goliath was comparable to a level 4 monster. While magic weapons could allow an adventurer to challenge enemies above their level, it was unthinkable for someone of Altair's level to jump from level 1 to challenge a level 4 opponent. That would make adventurer ranks meaningless.
"No need. The timing's perfect right now. You're sure this is the respawn point?"
"Yes, this is the floor boss's respawn point."
Lili had led Altair here, and he hoped she wasn't mistaken.
"Good enough."
After Lili's confirmation, Altair began setting up his preparations. He wouldn't need to use his gun, as Goliath was a giant more than ten meters tall. To deal with such a colossal foe, heavy firepower was required.
The package he had been carrying all along would come in handy now.
He dropped the package, pulled out a block of C4, and dug a small hole in the ground about five meters from the wall. He placed the C4 in the hole, activated it, and set the signal receiver. Then, about five meters away, he dug another small hole and placed the second C4. Altair followed the planned sequence, placing six C4 charges in total, all the C4 he had brought for this dungeon expedition.
Six C4 charges, and not just any C4, these were magic stone-enhanced versions. Even if they couldn't kill Goliath, they would cripple it. However, Altair wasn't taking any chances. He also had a string of magic stone high-explosive grenades on him, as well as a powerful weapon he hadn't used yet.
An RPG with magic-enhanced warheads. If the C4's power was boosted by magic stones, the rocket launcher's damage would be even more over-the-top.
Altair removed the RPG from his back, propped it up vertically on the ground, and leaned his full weight on it while grinning at the massive wall in front of him.
His actions left Lili, who was watching, puzzled. She didn't understand what he was doing, especially with the six C4 charges. She didn't even recognize them as weapons. If they were traps, shouldn't he have used spikes or some magic to create ground traps? What was the purpose of burying square boxes?
"Altair-san, what are you doing?"
"Of course, I'm hunting the floor boss. But since it hasn't shown up yet, we wait."
"Wait?"
"Yes, we wait for the boss to appear."
Altair swayed slightly as he leaned against the RPG.
"As soon as it shows up, I'll kill it within seconds."
"Wha… really?"
Lili seemed skeptical. It sounded far too good to be true. Even high-level adventurers wouldn't boast about killing Goliath in seconds. How could a level 1 adventurer, even with advanced weapons, pull it off?
"Step back a little when it shows up. You might get caught in the blast."
The explosion from six magic-enhanced C4 charges was no joke. Even normal C4 was highly destructive. Six enhanced versions would be devastating.
"Understood."
Lili obediently followed Altair's instructions, retreating to a corner. From there, she wouldn't have to face the initial attack, and if Altair ran into trouble, she could flee.
"Hurry up and respawn, Goliath. I've saved all my heavy firepower for you." Altair muttered as he rested on the RPG, patiently waiting.
The clock on his wrist showed 11 a.m. Altair had left at 8 in the morning, and it had taken less than three hours to reach the 17th floor after fighting a decent number of monsters along the way. Efficiency-wise, not bad at all.
Now, he just didn't know when the floor boss would respawn.
Altair stared at the wall, waiting. From 11 a.m., he waited until noon, then 1 p.m., and by then, he was starting to get hungry.
"Damn, what if this thing doesn't respawn until night?"
Altair stood up, stretched, and pulled two homemade lunches from his pocket. He threw one toward Lili, who was sitting and waiting in the corner.
"Lili, catch."
"Huh?"
Surprised, Lili saw a box flying toward her and quickly caught it.
"Lunch. You better eat it. The floor boss might show up any time."
"Uh… okay."
Caught off guard, Lili opened the lunch box. Inside were some simple sandwiches.
An adventurer offering lunch to a supporter? This was unheard of. Was something wrong with the food?
Lili hesitated, staring at the sandwich in her hand, unsure whether to eat it.
But just as she was debating, the floor boss suddenly appeared.
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