The King's Mandate: Anomalous System

After defeating the...I didn't know what to call them.

I thought for a name for a while then gave in, saying, "Let's just go with wolves." 

I am on my way to defeat the boss. I don't want to do it, but I am being forced to by this tiny pixie.

I can't get out of here before maintenance ends, or I might not be able to get out of here at all.

According to her, I might not get out from here, even after the maintenance ends.

But if I defeat the boss, I will get out from here one way or the other. And I know very well that I can't beat it.

I am getting stronger, and so will the monsters. But how strong am I right now?

Games have something like stats, right?

How do I check it?

I opened my menu and searched for the stats but couldn't find any option. 

"Stats...stats...stats."

[What are you doing?]

"I am trying to see my stats."

[Are you an idiot?]

"I am not an idiot! And aren't you getting rude every time you open your mouth?!"

[I only speak the truth.]

This tiny little pixie sure has a big mouth. Just you wait till I clear this floor, and for the maintenance to end. I am going to smack you 253 times.

[You have to press the menu.]

"I already checked there."

[Do as I say.]

"Fine."

I opened my menu and said, "Now what?"

[Now go to 'my info.']

"I have already checked there!"

[Do it.]

I opened my info.

[Now look at the bottom right. There will be 'Stats' written.] 

"Why the hell is it in the bottom-right?! Shouldn't it be on the front menu?"

[That is the default position. However, you can change it as you like.]

"Still."

Too much effort.

[You are just lazy, admit it.]

278 times, I am going to smack her 278 times.

I opened my stats and looked at them, saying, "So these are my stats."

[Yeah, the default value of every stat is 100.]

"I see."

As I was scrolling down,, I noticed...

"Stat points?"

[You defeated some monsters and leveled up, so you get some stat points. You can use them to upgrade your stats.]

"I see."

I have 28 stat points. It increases your stats so that I will use it on my HP, or so I wanted to, but...

[You can't use them on HP.]

"Why?"

[Your max HP will stay 100.]

"Why?!"

[You are an idiot.]

"Shut up and tell me!"

[If any player keeps increasing HP, then that player will be unbeatable. So something like increasing HP is impossible.]

"That doesn't make any sense!"

[It does if you think about it.]

"How?! If someone with more than a hundred-damage hits me, I will die instantly!"

[That's why you have defense too.]

Oh!

"So it's like the attack damage will get divided by the defense?"

"Yes"

"Hmm,"

So if someone hits me with 3000 damage, and I have 100 HP and 100 DEF, my HP will decrease by 30. And if I have 300 defenses, my HP will reduce by 10.

[There are many games, including VR games, where you can increase your HP, but in those, the attack ratio is higher too. So it's all the same in the end.]

Shouldn't her data only be limited to this game? How does she know about other games? Or...is it normal? 

"I have 'No restriction,' so I can do it, right?"

[Idiot, how will you access something that doesn't exist? Idiot.]

"Can't I break the limit?"

[No, idiot.]

I see I see. And by the way, I am going to smack her 396 times now.

"What's the other way to minimize the damage?"

[Idiot. You have to increase your defense, idiot.]

"Other than that!"

[Your equipment and skills can buff them up for a certain period, idiot.]

"458 times."

[Huh?]

"No, nothing."

Crap, I said it out loud!

My current equipment is the default one. However, I have one skill that lets me run faster.

I used all my stats points on the DEF, saying, "Here goes all 28 stat points on defense."

My current stats are,

[HP-100]

[ATK-100]

[DEF-128]

[AGILITY- 256]

"256?!"

[Because you defeated those monsters earlier. And they were also using runner skill; if you use your skill 'Runner,' it will increase even more for the time being as long as the skill is active.]

I don't understand this game. Or are all games like this nowadays?

[Are you thinking something idiotic again?]

578 times, I can't wait for maintenance to end.

I walked for a while and kept glancing around as I said, "Where was the boss?"

I ran pretty far after my incredibly tough battle with the hybrid boss. And then wolves were chasing me, so yeah, in other words...

"I am lost."

[We are far away. How about you use your 'Runner' skill? We will reach there in no time.]

"Oh right!"

[You are just an--hey wait, what are you doing?!]

I grabbed her, not to smack her. I do want to smack her, but...

"You will be left behind if you fly with these tiny wings of yours, so I will--"

[Don't worry, I can fly at high speed.]

"Really?"

[No, but you suck at running, so I am sure--]

"Okay, then how about we race till there?"

632 times.

[Okay, but I am going to win for sure.]

689 times.

I activated my skill and said, "Let's go."

[Skill-Runner Activated]

I started running and--, "Whoa!"

I am running so fast. Even faster than the wolves from before. 

Let's see if I can run faster or not, I tried to run more quickly, and my speed increased. 

I am probably running at 150 kilometers per hour. 

I can no longer see my surroundings; they are all blurry. All I can see is what's in my front.

If anything suddenly comes in my way, I will probably knock them out. I just need to make sure that I don't end up getting slammed into some wall.

"Whoa! This is amazing! Do you see this pixie?"

I wanted to look back, but I might end up running into a wall if I did.

[Yeah, I am right behind you.]

"What the--!"

How can she fly so fast with those tiny wings of hers?

"I am not going to lose." 

I increased my speed. It's now impossible to stop. If some wall comes in my way, I will be crushed, but I can't see any walls here. 

"This is an open area."

[Slow down, or you will fall.]

I looked back and said, "What are you talking about? There is not--!"

A cliff?!

Why is there a motherfucking cliff in the middle of an open area--!

"Aaaaaaaaa!--ow! Ack--! Argh...owaaaaa--! Daaa--!"

I slammed into many things and fell.

[Hey, are you okay?]

"Yeah, I am okay." I got up and said, "Something cushioned my fall."

I would have died if this--huh?!

I glanced around to see I was in some kind of arena. There were walls all around; this is called the arena, right?

[Yes]

"You could have warned me."

[I tried to. You are an idiot. Why would you run this fast in this--hey, stop! Let me go!]

"You sure are running your mouth and saying whatever you want, huh?"

[Stop, what are you going to do with me?!]

Look at her. She was yelling in her cute voice.

Her reactions are fantastic. 

Let me tease her more.

"What am I going to do with you? I am going to eat you."

[No! Stop, please don't eat me!], she said with teary eyes.

She is crying?!

Hey, I was joking. As I was going to say that, the ground suddenly started rumbling, and I fell from the cushion.

I got up and saw what the cushion was...

"A snail? No, they just look like snails. But their body features are different. Snails are not that big, and again, why does every monster here have horns?!"

What I thought as a cushion turned out to be a 5-meter giant snail.

[Let me go!]

The pixie was still in my hand, but instead of crying, she started biting me. 

I let her go.

[These are the monsters of this area]

"Monster's'?"

[Look properly.]

I glanced around and noticed that there were 4 of them.

"Great"

I can't get out of here. There were walls everywhere around me, and the only way to get out of here is through that door they are guarding.

I took out my sword and said, "Say, pixie, I just have to defeat them to get out of here, right?"

[Exactly]

"Heh!" I smirked as I said, "This will be easy. Snails are slow after--"

Before I could realize it, one of the snails started rolling and slammed into the wall behind me, smashing the wall as cracks appeared on the wall.

What if it had hit me? He just missed me by an inch!

"What the hell is that thing?! There is no way a normal snail can do this!"

[This is not an ordinary snail.]

"I know that! But still, they should have chosen a different monster than a snail!"

It's too misleading!

When the snail rolls, its horns cut everything on its way.

The snail who had just attacked me had passed out due to the impact.

I tightened my grip and said, "Let's kill it quickly before it regains consciousness." 

I dashed with my sword towards the snail at full speed and stabbed him, but...

"Its shell is hard as hell!" I said as I jumped back.

It wasn't this hard when I was cushioned by it.

Hmm. Those wolves were running fast because they were using their skill, so it might be possible that…

"Hey pixie, are they using some kind of skill to harden their body?"

[Yes, and you need to break the shell to inflict damage on it]

I was using my runner skill but couldn't damage it; what else could I do?

There is only one thing I can do.

"Run fast enough to break its shell!"