Chapter 469: Is This Rotten World and Such a Despicable Lord Really Worth Your Heroic Challenge? |
"Woo—oo—ode—ee—vaa—aa—!!!"
Classic overhead slam!
Watching that gargantuan face, half a person’s height, emerge from the thick, oppressive fog, pew couldn’t even move his feet for a moment!
Remember!
Because of their size advantage, Dark Souls bosses are inherently intimidating, usually two to three times larger than the player at least!
And in this world, Gu Sheng had made a motion-sensing pod version!
Looking up, he found that icy, expressionless iron mask staring face-to-face with him!
For a moment, pew froze like that player who originally wanted to enter the meteorite cavern to find Aunt Wenjin, only to look up and come face-to-face with the Queen Mother — utterly petrified!
A chill ran from his heels straight up to the crown of his head!
A faint female alto echoed through the cramped church, and under the dim candlelight, the iron mask’s long, serpentine neck twisted slightly.
With creaking sounds, something hung down slowly from the rafters like a black widow or like a mantis hatching from a cocoon, then hovered and dropped to the floor.
Like a dragonfly.
Like the Ice Dog, this boss stood on all fours.
But unlike the Ice Dog, her body was unnaturally thin and delicate, and in those gaunt, elongated hands she held a slim, curved blade burning with fierce flames.
Most bizarre and terrifying of all was the light, gossamer veil draped over her head, swirling like blue smoke.
The snow-white veil was soft and flowing, a stark contrast to the taut armor covering her body.
[Dancer of Frostvale]
—!!!
The chat erupted!
"Jesus—BOSS!"
"Who just said Grandma can’t beat Discouraged Bro?! Step up!"
"To be fair, Grandma can’t beat Discouraged Bro, but damn, this death speech slaps! Summon a BOSS?!"
"Hahahahaha crashed hard..."
"pew just froze hahaha, can’t even walk"
"What the hell, this BOSS is so uncanny... wild.."
"Has the beauty of Kayako going down stairs"
"This is a freaking horror game, I almost had a heart attack just looking up across the screen"
"pew got scared stiff"
"Support the righteous Dancer beating the evil thing!"
"Hahahahaha..."
......
Damn it!
pew was truly stunned!
One careless move, lifelong regret!
Grandma might have had little combat power, but the one who avenged Grandma was a BOSS!
Looking at that long health bar, and the Dancer’s alluring, uncanny steps!
pew felt like crying!
Did I take a wrong turn?
Or is it that—
"Was I supposed to kill Grandma first to unlock this hidden BOSS?"
At this point!
pew could only comfort himself with that explanation!
Don’t be afraid! Pull yourself together, pew!
It’s just a hidden BOSS!
As a boss in the newbie area, Lothric high walls, how unstoppable could she be?
Besides, her prefix is "of Frostvale," and Ice Dog’s prefix is also "of Frostvale."
That meant these two bosses should be roughly similar in strength!
Right now I’m in ember state, and I’ve still got three sips in my flask!
That should be enough to handle this boss!
With that thought!
pew took a deep breath, drew his shield back up to block, and stepped toward the Dancer!
Come on! Taste the ultimate Dark Souls technique I’ve mastered—
Live under the crotch!
pew’s reaction was perfectly normal.
After dueling Gudda and Ice Dog, any player with some game sense can learn this attack that looks humiliating but actually works very well.
Quick as lightning!
Swoosh—
As pew swung his blade, it landed hard on the Dancer’s slender thigh, blood spraying!
But the next second!
"What the—what the—?!"
pew’s head buzzed!
One cut, and the Dancer’s health only dropped a tiny sliver!
Before his exclamation even finished!
Suddenly, the Dancer’s nimble footwork moved like a wind-blown leaf, she flashed aside, and countered with a backhand slash!
Whoosh!
The curved blade, wrapped in blazing sin, swept across pew’s body and sent him flying!
pew’s health bar instantly vanished by more than half, left barely a sliver!
Empty health in one hit!
"No00000000—!!!"
"Fuck! Fuck squid radish don’t eat! Please! Please—!"
He tumbled and rolled!
Ridiculous!
Too ridiculous!
He had thought bosses from the same area would have similar strength, so he tried to spar with the Dancer as a test!
One slash and reality hit him in the face!
Spar my ass!
His attacks barely made her bleed!
There was damage, sure, but it was utterly hopeless!
That tiny sliver—practically a scratch!
Yet the Dancer’s strike on him felt like she was slapping a grandson!
One blow and his health was emptied!
Remember, he was in ember state!
Meaning under normal circumstances, if the Dancer hit him once, he’d be sent back to the bonfire!
The chat was stunned too!
"What the hell is this boss?"
"Ridiculous, that damage is absurd"
"One hit zero HP? Is this the strength of the second boss?"
"Is there any chance—this isn’t actually the second boss? pew could’ve just left with the small ring flag?"
"Hmm, makes sense, those stats are too crazy, Sam wouldn’t purposely bully players with values like this"
"Got it, just got the Prosthetic Ninja Arm and ran into full-power boss right out the door, huh?"
"Hahahahaha this is too despairing"
Scumbag Ichiro: My enlightenment far surpasses yours! Suki ro!
"Triggered bloodbath by itchy fingers·"
.....
Exactly!
By normal logic, this is not a boss players at this stage could beat,
Just like how in Sekiro, when you first meet Genichiro Ashina, you’re nearly guaranteed to lose.
Like to act reckless?
Like to hit Grandma?
Then I’ll let you understand exactly why "everyone knows the second boss in Dark Souls is the Dancer."
pew’s head had been smashed!
He gulped down two sips from his flask!
Then he bolted:
"Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! I’m wrong! I apologize, okay? I just wanted to try the skill...!!!"
Before such overwhelming power, pew couldn’t summon any fighting spirit, staggering like a beaten dog, wildly rolling under the Dancer.
"Oh~yeah~"
The camera was so seductive that viewers couldn’t help but exclaim in awe—
"Sli—ck—"
"That butt... that waist... that suction..."
"You guys?"
Sometimes you really can’t imagine the mental state of Wolf-game players.
They can still be hyped? "I’m done for"
"Got any skilled artists, ladies? Emergency?"
No... this... huh?
I mean human XP is free, but I still recommend seeing a doctor...
[Click to check Golden Wind player mental status]
"Hahahahaha absurd..·"
......
The chat enjoyed the spectacle.
pew, however, felt utterly exhausted, not a shred of appreciation left.
Sweating like crazy.
He went in fine, can’t come back out.
All because he couldn’t stop poking around.
Maybe that’s Wolf-type games.
Or rather, this is Sam’s version of a Wolf-type game.
Since Sekiro, such games have flooded the market.
But whether media scores or player reviews, "it’s missing the taste" is always the complaint.
Same high difficulty, same suffering, even similar map design and art style.
But rival studios’ games always get criticized for "lacking that Wolf flavor."
What exactly that flavor is, no one could clearly explain.
Until this moment.
pew seemed to sense Sam’s distinctive personal stamp, and slightly understood what that "Wolf flavor" truly meant—
It’s the push-and-pull interaction between the game world and the player.
In both Sekiro and Dark Souls, the player’s actions fundamentally affect the world.
Like Dragon Cough in Sekiro, like the Dancer in Dark Souls.
How you treat the world determines how the world responds with its rules.
On one hand, the world changes because of you, the "protagonist."
But from a broader view, you’re not that important to the world.
Like the fall of Ashina.
Like the extinguishing of the First Flame in Dark Souls.
This subtle relationship between player and world builds the unique flavor of Golden Wind games, or more specifically, Sam’s style.
You are the protagonist, and also an observer.
The world’s main tone won’t change for you, but your actions can be answered by the world,
"…Those guys are kind of pathetic, too,"
"No matter if hero or lord, they inevitably carry a curse..."
"This is really rotten."
pew ultimately was killed by the Dancer, unsurprisingly.
When he gave up trying to beat her for the moment and returned to the bonfire to burn souls and level up, planning to explore the Undead Settlement and fight her when stronger,
he unexpectedly saw Discouraged Bro, Hawkwood, half-crouched at a tombstone behind the Bonfire Ritual Grounds, murmuring with his head bowed.
Yes, because the bruised memory in the demo was too deep, in the full release pew hadn’t dared challenge Discouraged Bro’s authority.
He walked slowly behind Discouraged Bro and looked at the tombstone in front of him—
The tombstone bore no inscription; only a great wolf sword was planted before it, identical in style to the great swords standing by the Lord of Ashes—Fran Undying Host—throne.
As if sensing pew’s arrival behind him,
Discouraged Bro stood up from the grave and turned to look at pew:
"...Ah, looks like you managed to escape, good… that Fireguard Maiden will be pleased..."
"But do you know the true face of those lords called heroes?"
A breeze whispered through the graveyard, bringing the stench of decay.
Discouraged Bro slowly turned, his gaze lingering briefly on the wolf sword tombstone.
Then he looked toward the ruined, ashen city of Lothric:
"For example, that Eldritch,"
"Used to be a cleric, but he fed on people, disgusting,"
"Not only fat like a drowned pig, he became a roiling sludge, and was finally imprisoned..."
"Such a person... became a Lord of Ashes."
"It’s not about conduct, only about strength,"
"This rotten world and such a despicable lord,"
Saying that, Discouraged Bro slowly turned to look at pew:
"Is it worth your heroic challenge?"