NOVEL WEB Chapter 7: Returning Stream
———Karra———
<12: 03 pm>
“We’re LIVE!!!” I said out loud. I haven’t said that for so long!!!
“You’re acting like you finally escaped prison…” Jass said with some exasperation.
“I might as well have been!” I said out loud. I lose all the winds out of my sail because of all that. Look at my ccv!
{chill girl}
{LOUD}
{kinda crazy how you still stayed active after that}
“I’m not gonna let that haunt me, if anything, since it doesn’t kill me, I am stronger than ever!” I boastfully said. I have more magic in me than ever!
“That’s good thinking!” See? Jeff agreed with me.
“Alright, chat. As I had said in a Chirp, this time I have backups, and I got stronger magic. We can definitely go through the floors legitimately.” I said with a confident smile. “No other streamers had beaten the second floor just yet, somehow… So us three will be the one to do it! Right guys?”
“Yeah!” Jeff is the first to speak up.
“...Yeah.” Jass takes a while to respond and his is rather bland.
“Here’s the plan. I will stay in the back to cast magic, and these two will be on the frontlines taking out the mooks while I reserve my strength for the boss on the second floor. Simple, and should be easy.” I relayed the plan to the people watching at home.
{So use these two as goons?}
{how strong are they?}
{Can they cast spells?}
{you guys have weapons}
“‘You guys have weapons?’ Jass you have one right?” I said, remembering that he does bring something.
“Got myself an old golf club with its head broken off. It’s kinda spiky at the tip.” He answered, showing it off. “Would’ve like a sword, but you know.”
“And me? I don’t need it!” Jeff said, sounding pretty damn bombastic. He’s just gonna use his fists which I don’t know how well that’ll work.
“So yeah! They should be fine. I have also been improving, but as they said, seeing is believing!” I said to my chat to reassure them this is gonna work. “Let’s not waste any time and let’s go in!”
“Yeah!” Jeff gave an enthusiastic shout while Jass said nothing. Rather surprising that he’s the one with a streaming channel and not Jeff.
“Onto the first floor we go!” I said, taking the lead as the one who had some experience here. The decor looks about the same but the layout looks a little bit different. “Seems like the layout has shifted from last time…”
{Why is that anyway?}
{how mysterious…}
“Grrr…” And now these fuzzy goblins showed up.
“You two!” I said as a signal for them to show their stuff.
“Yah!” Jeff is the first to jump in.
*Punch* *Smack* *Kick*
He rushes in and beats these things up in no time. I don’t think they’re quite dead but at least they’re incapacitated.
{What a boar lol}
{brute strength ftw}
I think out of all of our classmates he’s like top 3 as far as fitness is concerned. Jass is… His build is a bit like a nerd, but that’s why he has a weapon.
*Lunge* *Stab*
“Whoa that was smooth!” Jeff remarked seeing Jass silently rush in and stab one of the monsters in the eye with the broken golf club. Kinda gorey but it sure worked… Just need to hold the camera away from that…
{She’s really trying to not get banned lol}
It doesn’t take long for enough of them to get subdued to the point where the rest ran into small holes in the small to escape.
“You two sure work quick.” I remarked as the three of us walked towards the stairs.
“We didn’t sit home doing nothing, lemme just tell you that!” Jeff is being pretty boastful while Jass chooses to remain quiet. He has always been a quiet one in class… Kind of a miracle he wasn’t picked on by anyone because of that.
“Alright then…” We stopped just before going down the stairs, with the tension in the air palpable. “Remember. Distract the boss, I’ll shoot.”
“Roger that.” Jeff is the one to reply while Jass nodded along.
We then walked down with each step feeling heavier and heavier. All of us went silent as we carefully went down and tried to keep ourselves calm…
{sppoky}
{scary…}
{the silence is deafening}
“Here we are…” I announced once we reached the second floor, staring at the giant wolf and its rider in the back, still not noticing us.
*Crackle*
“You two, make it face this way.” I said, my voice tensing up as I started preparing the spell.
“Right!” Jeff said for the two of them and they both ran forward while I prepared…
{what is she doing?}
{she gonna snipe it?}
*ROAR*
The two’s footsteps make their presence very clear to the giant wolf that is the main threat of this floor. Normally you wouldn’t be able to fight a wolf that’s comparable in size to a bus, but with this-!
“[Thunder Bullet]!” I shouted, aiming my finder right at the wolf’s eye that is now fixated on the two guys.
*Blast* *ZAP*
“Tch!” Damn! It does hit it right in the face and clearly singed it, but it doesn’t hit where I wanted it to.
“Plan B then!” Jass shouted out.
*Leap*
He suddenly leaped up into the air and right towards the wolf’s head as it is still feeling the effect of my attack.
*Stab* *Roar*
He managed to actually hit its left eye and blinded it!
“Nice one!” Jeff said as he was being distracted by the mooks around them.
*Thud*
“Argh!” Unfortunately the wolf shaking its head violently also sent him and the weapon plucked into its eye flying towards the wall. That looks like it hurts!
“[Fire Blast]!” I definitely can’t let this opportunity go to waste!
*BOOM*
“Whoa! That almost hit me!” Jeff protested as he walked a few steps back, fortunately having subdued the other small creatures already.
“[Fire Blast]! [Fire Blast]! [Fire Blast]!” I threw out the spells multiple times in the row at this giant wolf, using a lot of mana I have. I won’t leave it to chance!
…Now the entire place is filled with smoke.
“*Cough* …Ugh.” I took a few steps back alongside Jeff, waiting for it to subsided.
“Grrr…” I can still hear its voice through the smoke. Is it seriously not dead?
“Alright buddy time for a knuckle sandwich!” Jeff then ran towards it after realizing it’s not dead just yet. What is he gonna do against a- “[Exploding Punch]!”
*BOOM*
“AAAugh!!!” I could hear an agonizing scream inside the sea of smoke and clouds.
{Oh crap!}
{Uh oh…}
“Jeff!” I called out to him. I didn’t expect him to jump in and cause another explosion. Was that a spell?
“I’m alive! My right arm might not be!” He said, clearly downplaying it considering his earlier scream.
“...What an idiot…” Jass walked over with the snide remark, having recovered from being flung around, though his posture right now is not looking too hot.
“Ugh! At least this- *Cough*” He was about to say something but the smoke was getting to him.
“Stop breathing it in! You know how many people died from that?” Jass scolded him as he walked back to us… That right arm has seen better days…
{lol she’s pulling the camera away again}
“As I was saying. It’s dead.” Jeff confidently said, still in pain from whatever that reckless attack was.
“What in the world was that? You didn’t tell me anything about this!” I asked, feeling a bit irritated and not pleased in the slightest at how reckless that was.
“My super attack! As I’d like to- Ow!” Don’t scratch your cheek with the injured arm!
“I’ve told him it was a bad concept. He didn’t listen.” Jass said while shaking his head. “That looks like it’s going to take a while to recover, and it's going to be costly. We don’t have free healthcare, you know that?”
“...Sorry…” He finally sheepishly replied.
“How are we supposed to explore the lower floors when your arm is like that?” Jass further complained. He was not happy at all, and so am I!
“Yeah! That was a cool twist at all, much like your arm!” I can’t help but get that remark in.
{So is the stream gonna end here?}
{talk about a bad development}
“Ugh… Do we-
*Shine*
“Hm?” What was that light? Jass is walking over to inspect it with the smoke clearing to show the corpse of this massive wolf. There’s something lighting up near this giant monster.
He walked over to inspect it while Jeff sat down, clearly needing some rest.
“Are these… Hmm…” Jass is muttering something, having picked something off the ground and showed it to us. “Can we even take this home?”
He showed us a small bottle of bright red liquid and a nice-looking dagger. Where did these two things come from? They are in pristine shape too.
{It’s like an item drop}
{wait where how why?}
“Where did they come from?” I asked as I picked up the dagger. Why does it look brand new? I have no knowledge on steelworks or daggers or anything weapon-related, but I’m pretty sure these kinds of polished and pristine tools don't just ‘show up randomly’.
“Weird… Did that person ever tell you anything about this?” Jass asked as he picked up the small glass bottle… Wait. If this is anything like a game then…
“You guys think that’s a potion?” I asked them, wanting a second and third opinion.
“I don’t know. I’d rather not risk it.” Jass said, being cautious.
“Why not let me drink it? Then we’ll know.” Meanwhile Jeff has a vastly different approach.
“...Normally I would, but we don’t really have any precedent for… Whatever caused these two things to appear.” Jass said, worrying about the effect this thing might have. There’s no labels or any way to test it aside from just trying it out.
{chug chug chug!}
{No balls!}
{dew it!}
These viewers sure are eager… “Just let him have it. Can’t be worse than what just happened a few minutes ago.”
“...Fine.” Jass conceded and walked over to Jeff and opened up the bottle and handed it to him.
*Gulp*
He drank the entire thing quickly. “Tastes kinda weird.”
…Uhh… Is anything even happening? He drank the whole thing and he doesn’t look particularly better. Was it just a random drink? Did it do something else? Where’s the healing?
It’s weird. I know healing spells exist, so why is it not doing anything?
“Well that wasn’t any fun…” Jeff said as he stood back up and looked at his arm. It’s still rather mangled but at least it doesn’t look like it’s gonna fall off or anything.
Maybe I am a medical expert I could tell, but that’s just another ifs to the pile at this point.
{lame}
{come on…}
{What about the dagger?}
“The dagger…” I echoed that word as I checked it again. It just looks very standard, very new, and very much functional. “Where did this even come from?”
“I dunno. At this point, it just feels like we might never know the answer.” Jass said, clearly not wanting to think about the how and why. Rather defeatist of him. “Anyway… We technically only got a singular reward. Can’t exactly split the dagger in half… You can have it.”
“Should I? I don’t even fight up-close.” I pointed out.
“I think Jeff would’ve just lost it somewhere, and I don’t like short weapons like that.” Jass said while Jeff is giving him a funny look as a protest. He then looks at the broken golf club which is coated in blood. “Admittedly I don’t think this gonna last for long, but I’d rather have long weapons even if it’s not sharp.”
{Just keep it chief}
{we won’t snitch}
{Should be fine}
“Okay, fine.” I said before… Actually where do I put it? It doesn’t have a sheathe… Guess I have to carry it and maybe put it in a drawer somewhere. “Jeez. Would’ve loved to go to the lower floor, but there are traps and no doubt stronger monsters…”
“...Sorry.” Jeff sheepishly apologizes as he looks at his arm.
Sadly this is the best we can do for today… What a mess…
{btw did you heard about the Chaos Tower?}
{Chaos Tower broadcast is going live!}
Huh? What are they…
“Ah, right. Weren’t those global bigshots gathering forces for something?” Jass suddenly said as I was still processing. “Some sort of large… eldritch tower appeared at the South Pole. Its discovery was only announced yesterday.”
“Wait. What? I’ve just heard of this!” Jeff said, being out of the loop as I am. Maybe I was too preoccupied with training for this to bother looking up on the news…
“Honestly. With this one it feels like if they did mess up, they’d definitely not gonna let someone repost it.” Jass remarked, probably alluding to the earlier broadcast a week back.
{how about you three go watch it before it gets taken down?}