I Became a Raid Boss

To get away from the place where my eyes opened.

The girl’s footsteps down the mountain were neither fast nor slow, but it didn’t take her long to descend.

Softly, softly.

With each step, the lush branches lost their vitality and fell off with a thud, while animals and monsters hurried away, holding their breath.

Thus, the only thing able to block the girl was the rugged terrain, but even that couldn’t halt her pace.

Thud.

The girl stood at the edge of a huge rock.

It was just a result of wandering as she pleased; she hadn’t intended it at all.

That aside –

The rock she was standing on was large enough to be considered a cliff, even exaggerating a bit.
Even an adult would barely escape injuries if they jumped from such a height, let alone a girl far smaller in stature.

Therefore, any ordinary person would look for a way around, or if they couldn’t find one, cautiously lower themselves using the gaps on the cliff.

Swish-

But the girl moved as if it were perfectly normal, just as she had done before.

As if a flat plain lay out before her.

If someone had watched her from the side, they might have screamed and shielded their eyes from the terrifying scene about to unfold or rushed to save the girl.

And soon, they would realize that their actions were utterly meaningless.

Woosh.

Black mist coiled and gathered beneath the girl’s feet.

Thud.

The mist, which had passed through her arms earlier, now firmly supported her.

As if expecting such an outcome, the girl continued to take one step after another without displaying any signs of surprise, easily descending from the cliff.

After passing a few more trees, she finally faced an expansive plain.

“…?”

A gigantic stripe was engraved on the plain.

Curious about the perfectly and clearly drawn line, the girl tilted her head as she approached.

As she drew closer, the stripe became clearer.

What had looked like a line from afar turned out to be a deep crack formed by the ground splitting apart.

If she were to misstep, it seemed that getting out of the deep chasm would not be easy, and the ash scattered inside was charred black.

“…”

For the first time, the girl’s footsteps, which had never once stopped since she came out from the wall, came to a halt.

‘──────! ───…!’

‘─? ───.’

“…”

The girl frowned at the tickling sensation in her head.

…It’s frustrating.

What was the identity of the faint voice she could hear in her ears?
What was it trying to say?
The girl didn’t understand anything, but she lingered around the crack for a long while, unable to leave.

It was only after several minutes had passed that she began walking again, after the voice echoing in her head had completely faded.

Once the voice completely ceased, the tickling that had been bothering the girl also stopped.

“…What a pity.”

Eep!

For the first time, a soft voice escaped from the girl’s lips.

Startled by her own voice, she covered her mouth.

The sight of the girl rolling her eyes while covering her mouth with her hand revealed a childlike innocence, and if it weren’t for the black mist emanating from her, anyone witnessing this would have been unable to suppress a warm smile.

“…A, huh?”

Finally realizing that the surprising voice was her own, the girl cautiously opened her mouth.

Whether it was the wonder of hearing her voice or like a baby learning to speak, she emitted simple sounds without forming proper words.

At that moment, two shadows appeared in the empty plain.

Two men approached the crack, peering into it just as the girl had moments earlier.

However, there was a marked difference in their actions.
While the girl had shown only pure curiosity, the scrutinizing gaze of the men revealed that they had some sort of agenda.

The first to spot the girl was the men.
Unaware of her presence or not, the girl continued to play, and her soft voice on the wind reached the man holding a sword.

He straightened suddenly and noticed the girl standing quite a distance away.

“What’s that? Is someone over there?”

“First time seeing a person? If you have time to say something useless, find something useful. Even a piece of armor can earn us a fortune!”

“Everything’s burnt. What do you think will be left? And if it were just a person, I wouldn’t be saying this.”

“Come on, the melting point of iron is pretty high. Something could still be left.”

“You think I knew this was going to happen? Hurry up and look already!”

“Damn… what a fuss. If there’s nothing, it better not be useless. I’m gonna spread your dark history in the group chat…”

As his friend urged him, the other man reluctantly turned his head, his face contorting in confusion, then became wide-eyed with shock.

Was he really seeing what he thought he was seeing?
After blinking several times and rubbing his eyes, he realized it wasn’t an illusion.

“…Isn’t that Canaria? Weren’t you in Raxia yesterday?”

“Is that cosplay?”

“Cosplay?”

At his friend’s comment, the man murmured, ‘Could it be…?’, looked back at the girl, then shook his head, denying it.

While he didn’t know much about cosplay, he could tell that it was not the case here.
Even if you could somewhat replicate her hair and eye color, perfectly mimicking her face and build was nearly impossible.
Besides, the ‘Canaria’ he knew was not someone with an easily replicable look.
If she had a common appearance, she wouldn’t have become famous among players.

“If that’s cosplay, wouldn’t it be better to say it’s a transformation?”

“They say a woman’s transformation is exempt from punishment.”

“Where’s all this nonsense coming from?”

The friend, who had received a light slap on the head by the other man, walked towards the girl.

“Ugh… if you’re gonna hit me, do it gently! My health’s been cut down to shreds.”

His friend held his head, complaining as he followed.
As they got closer and the girl’s figure became clearer, the man became convinced.
The girl ahead of him was undoubtedly the NPC he knew.

…Though there was something odd about it, and even though this person had been in Raxia just yesterday, how and for what reason was she here?

His friend appeared equally shocked, as if he had the same thoughts.

“What? Is this real?”

“…? Aren’t you the one who shouldn’t be surprised?”

Who was it that told him to spot it first?
Then, his friend scratched the back of his head.

“I thought you were just someone who looked like her… Hey, have you seen Canaria before?”

“I’m looking at her right now.”

“No, I mean have you seen her before? I’m not talking about now. You’re really frustrating sometimes.”

“Then just get your ass over here if you’re mad.”

“…”

His friend’s mouth fell shut.
His pride had been dented…!

However, pride could be repaired, but lost gold coins couldn’t be brought back.
Fully aware of the difference in skill, his friend cursed inwardly.
Regardless, the man took a breath, gauging the situation.

“Well… I haven’t seen her in person.”

He had seen her plenty in streams and photos.
That’s why it felt remarkable to see such a famous NPC right before him.

“Hey, hey. But isn’t something a bit off? She looks different from what I saw online.”

“People who see celebrities in real life often say that.”

“No, doesn’t it really feel different? Like, she looks like she’s out of it.”

“Hmm… does it?”

The man scrutinized the girl once more.
And he understood why his friend had said that.
Instead of Canaria’s sharp atmosphere and hardened expression, there was an untainted innocence of a child occupying the spot.

And that’s not all?
If it had been the Canaria they knew, she would have sensed their approach long ago and either attacked or kept an eye on them, but instead, she was completely distracted, paying no attention to them at all.

Chuckle.

As the man pondered the differences, he felt a touch that brought him back to reality.

“Hey… what if we try capturing her?”

“…What? Capture what?”

“Canaria.”

“Are you out of your mind? Did you eat something weird?”

That was a ridiculous remark.
The level of the man and his friend was barely above level 30.
Even if a horde of high-level players attacking them failed, it was impossible for just the two of them to succeed.
His friend persisted with a twist of his face, trying to lure the man.

“Look, doesn’t it seem like something’s off because of that ascension ritual? No way she’s acting normal. So we might be able to catch her right now.”

“What the….”

Just as he was about to call it nonsensical, the man paused at the sight of the girl.
…There could be some truth in that.
Without a party to protect her, her mental state seemed far from normal, and she had almost no equipment.
It was an incredibly optimal situation for a sneak attack.
At least it was assured that there wouldn’t be a better opportunity than now.

“A party that rushed in to get her has failed countless times. If we succeed, wouldn’t it make an enormous impact? Countless interview requests would flood in, and even the sleuths would spread our story…”

His friend’s words were convincing.
Even if they couldn’t claim the honor of capturing her in a normal state, they would receive attention they had never experienced before.
The man was a gamer.
He had long admired professional gamers who lifted trophies or were praised for successfully clearing a boss monster, dreaming of standing among them one day.
Even though he had come to terms with his limitations and pursued casual gaming, a piece of that dream still sparkled within his heart.

“Fine. Let’s give it a shot.”

After all, it was a game.
If he died, he could simply be reborn, right?
As the man drew his sword, he briefly felt a pang of guilt at the thought of attacking the defenseless girl, but it was swiftly crushed under the weight of ambitions for glory.

“Ah, that’s my friend.”

“Pay your share of friendship fees then. It’s been overdue for three months.”

They exchanged trivial jokes and activated the recording function.
Of course, no one would believe such a tale without proof, so they planned to use the recorded video as evidence of their capture.
All preparations completed, they charged towards the girl with glee.

Clatter!

“?”

Hearing the sound of their running footsteps, the girl turned her head to face them.

However, the distance between them had already narrowed.
If they took just three more steps and swung the sword, the pink-haired girl would fall, spilling blood.
Killing a little girl weighed on his conscience, but after all, it was just a game.
Even if they were cursed by those who loved her, it would pale in comparison to the glory and attention the man would gain.
Believing it wholeheartedly, he stomped the ground with determination….

Thud thud thud-

“…Huh?”

But why wasn’t he moving forward?
Perplexed, the man tried to look down, but his body wouldn’t budge.
Dazed, he rolled his eyes around before finally realizing he was face down on the ground.

Thud.

His friend collapsed beside him, spilling black liquid onto the ground.
In the darkening view, a familiar death message welcomed him.

“…?”

The two men who had rashly rushed in disappeared without a trace, swallowed by the black mist.
The girl was left staring in astonishment at the empty spot where the men once stood, losing interest quickly as she turned away.

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