Never had Jack feared a battle, but the upcoming one was already giving him a headache. It would be a trial by combat, his troops versus many strong players.

This was both a disaster and an opportunity, the only one he would have in fact. While the quest didn’t have any clear time limit, the players were just improving that much faster…

Hence why Jack didn’t lose any second, sneaking into the underwater camp where his troops were temporarily resting. A few sentries kept watch, but most were discussing.

”Can you believe how hard this is?! Why can’t we just go back to our usual jobs? I was one of the best in my field!”

”Didn’t you mistakenly blow up your own house? What kind of doctor does that?!”

”Who cares about that! It’s not like we deserve our current fate.”

”Training all day is so tiring! I can barely feel my legs!”

”Humph, we should all unite and….”

Now that they were convinced they were alone, they were going wild with dreams: to leave the battlefield and be safe. Alas, their grandiose plans were interrupted by a cold voice.

”Oh? So you guys are thinking of unionizing?” Jack’s sudden appearance was worse than a ghost in a horror story. “Anyway, I have good news. You’ll be returning home soon!”

Hearing his words, many thanked the Heavens that he wasn’t going to pursue the earlier topic. In fact, their eyes even lit up at the mention of home…only for his following words to chill them.

”War is upon us. Now, whether you return home whole or in a body bag will be entirely up to you. Now, which one will you choose?” his tone couldn’t be grimmer.

He surveyed their reactions. It started from a primal terror but quickly switched to solemnness as they completely believed his words.

Life or death. Was there any simpler choice than this?

”I’ll do whatever it takes!”

”You can count on me!”

”Same here!”

They all proceeded to pledge their undying loyalty, if only because they were far more afraid of him than they’d ever be of any enemies.

”An army is coming our way. Here’s what we’ll be doing….”

But as they heard his plan, their faces couldn’t help but change….a LOT! At this moment, they were jubilant: thank god he was actually on their side!

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━━━━━━ POV ━━━━━━━

”Are you sure this is the place?!” An accusatory voice echoed.

The player in the lead couldn’t help but frown as he saw the Beach that looked just like any other in its surroundings.

”Of course, I’m sure! But remember, I’m the first to interrogate him once we capture him!” Their ice-mage guide reminded them.

Ever since Jack had defeated him, he had felt a renewed thirst for knowledge. How had the man disabled his Ice Spears only using shells?! No matter what, he couldn’t reproduce the exploit!

Whatever weakness the Boss had exploited, he had to know it! Some said the whole thing was a skill, but his gut feeling was telling him otherwise. That’s how he had ended up coming back.

It didn’t take long for 60-ish players to occupy the place, the few trackers in the raid diligently observing their surroundings, only for all to come to the same conclusion.

”Boss, this is 100% a normal Beach.”

Where the hell had they disappeared? Had this only been a limited-time event?! This seemed unlikely, seeing how all the previous days the Lake People had been training…then why?

Just as the other humans were giving him annoyed looks, the wizard suddenly and loudly cried out.

”Wait! Where are the crabs?!”

Monsters had been everywhere the last time he had come here, snapping their pincers at any would-be invader. But they were all gone for some reason.

He couldn’t help but turn pale. This was bad!

”RUNN! It’s a trap!”

That’s when the crabs reappeared in one hell of a spectacular manner. Roaming nearby? Nope! Hiding in the sand? Neither! They came from…the sky?!

The beautiful day was suddenly eclipsed with countless shadows as giant crustaceans somehow flew over as if thrown! What the heck?! That’s when the panic began….

”What is this?!”

”Men, defensive formation! We need to—”

— RUMBLE! —

— BAM! BAM! BAM! —

The enemies were landing one after the others. There were so many crashing down that the sand seemingly turned alive from the tremors.

The creatures’ eyes glowed red with fury. Whatever had happened to them before their sky-voyage, they were Hella pissed! That’s when they saw the humans near them…

Phalanx of Braves? In their eyes, all they saw was delicious food! That’s when all hell broke loose, everyone kung-fu freaking fighting for their lives.

”Everyone, target the eyes! Make them run!!” The leader issued orders. After all, it wasn’t his first rodeo.

The players couldn’t have fought more valiantly. They bashed the creatures’ heads, rode their carapaces, and dodged their claws like bosses…for the most part anyway.

But even then, it was strange. Why hadn’t the attackers used the opportunity to make a pincer attack on them?! (Pun Non-Intended) Where were they?!

It didn’t take long for many casualties to appear, mostly crabs. Large pearls would roll out of their creatures as loot as they disappeared.

The pearls were so big, so shiny! Seeing the fight slowing down, many couldn’t help themselves, sneakily grabbing one or a few.

How much gold was one even worth? They couldn’t believe their eyes and their luck. At this rate, they’d be rich! What if this windfall WAS the special event?!

Except it wasn’t…

The mage was the first to notice the issue.

”Throw them away! Those are all fake, focus on the fight!” He screamed loudly and urgently but was promptly ignored. Throwing it away? Why would they do that?!

They had their answers a second later as notifications popped up.

Mad Fish Doctor’s All-Purpose Remedy Pearl!

Cures Most Illnesses…Permanently!

Wasn’t this actually pretty good? The players couldn’t wait to pocket it…only for the color of all the pearls to suddenly change to a bright red and them….

— BOOM!! —

— BOOM! BOOM! —

A series of explosions rocked the Beach. Far away, a Fish Doctor standing next to a homemade catapult laughed as he heard the oh-so-familiar sound in the distance.

”Hahahaha, who knew medicine could be that fun!”

”…Medicine, he says.” -_- His colleagues raised their brows.

”Don’t rejoice too early. Get ready, we’re going in!” Jack’s voice interrupted the man’s celebration. It was time to fight!