This is a Beta Test?! - A Literally Broken System

"Look, if you want to back out-"

"No! I'm going with you!"

I gave her a stern look, "Are you sure?" I didn't want her to whine about me leaving her cause I let her give up now.

In response, Shizu returned my gaze with a determined look of her own, her fists turning white as she courageously answered, "I'm sure!"

Locking eyes with her for a good three seconds, I let out a sigh before finally turning my attention back to the objective. "You're stronger than you think, Shizu."

Ignoring the look of confusion that she flashed me at my words, I returned to the task at hand. Eventually, we reached what looked to be a small burrow made out of stones and sticks in the middle of a dark clearing. It clearly wasn't made for human habitation, so I'm guessing that this was where the current big bad was located.

[Investigate part of the Northern Forest COMPLETE]

Okay? That confirmed that we were in the right spot, at least. Now what?

Turning to Shizu, I gave a questioning look as she stared nervously at the burrow in front of us. Her arms were already up in a bid to defend herself, her legs moving to lightly jump on her toes like a boxer as she prepared herself.

"T-This is it, Stranger," she confirmed. "You have to kill whatever's inside it."

I nodded, "Got it."

Looking back at the objective, I still wasn't getting the go-ahead from the system to even kill the thing. We haven't even seen the thing yet. Hmm...

"Are we supposed to approach?" I wondered out loud. "I haven't gotten the prompt yet..."

"Stranger?"

Testing my theory out, I slowly approached the burrow with my weapons trained at its massive entrance. If anything, I'd at least have some time to riddle this thing with bullets before retreating.

"Careful!"

Heeding the princess's warning, I headed around the burrow and faced the dark entrance. There was nothing but grass all throughout the clearing, meaning that there won't be any cover if this thing ever decided to go on a rampage. Still, there was nothing going on as-

[*RRROOOARRR....*]

[Kill Wolf King: 0/1]

My eyes widened. The subtitles were already doing their job as an ominous roar echoed from within the burrow. Red eyes glimmered from underneath the darkness, a thinly-veiled threat oozing from the creature as it slowly appeared from behind the darkness. And way to go, objective, for being so out of place that it was almost funny.

[*RROOOAOAAGGHHRRR!!!*]

[COMBAT COMMENCED!]

[Wolf King: Level 10]

I blinked. That was new. And looking at the monster in question, its level was way higher than my measly level 2!

[*BANG! BANG! BANG!*]

Immediately firing off three shots, I couldn't even look at my health as I ran for dear life. This massive wolf was almost the size of a small house, and I was pretty sure that I'd get easily crushed by this thing's foot if I wasn't careful!

"Moriya!"

Hearing her voice, I forced my focus back to the fore as I looked behind me. The massive wolf was obviously running right at me, and I couldn't help but fire off more shots from my right-hand side as I tried my best to kite this thing.

[*BANG! BANG!*]

[*RRAOOAGGH!!!*]

"[CLOSE]!"

Subtitles appeared in front of me, actually making my visibility worse as I quickly screamed out the command to get them out of the way. Pumping my legs, I streaked across the clearing, running around the burrow like a hamster on a wheel as I did my best to keep the status quo.

"Stranger! I'm going in!"

I immediately took a glance at Shizu, who was now running towards the wolf with speeds that I never thought I'd see coming from a normal human. Then again, she was level 80, and she'd probably kill this thing in one hit.

"Get off him!"

[*RROOAARR!!*]

[*THUD!*]

With a mean thump, a shockwave emanated from her fist's location of impact as she attacked the wolf right in the head. Stopping on a dime, I watched as Shizu continued on her onslaught.

[*THUD! THUD! THUD!*]

"Take that!" she screamed out loud, a shaky grin forming on her face as she pummeled at the massive monster. "You're not scary at all!"

I couldn't help but chuckle as I found myself relaxing at the sight. This thing was obviously toast, what with the princess actually destroying it to bits. There was no way that a level 10 could ever stand up to a level 80 NPC like that-

[*RRROOOAAAARRR!!!*]

"What the-!"

To my surprise, a gigantic shockwave echoed from the wolf's mouth, somehow knocking Shizu away from him as the monster seemingly only got angrier. How? Shouldn't it be dead already?

"Ow..." Shizu moaned as she rolled on right beside me. "Well, at least I can get a taste of a real fight now..."

My eyes widened as I watched Shizu stand up. This shouldn't be possible... How could a level 10 monster throw a level 80 off it with such ease?!

"Shizu, you can see levels, right?"

"No? Not unless I activate [Code Watcher] I think," she hesitantly replied before turning her gaze back at the monster. "Either way, now we have a real fight on our hands!"

I could only blink in astonishment as the princess bolted out from beside me and right back into the fight. Her movements were fast, but they were clearly sloppy and clunky as she visibly thought about her next move. In short, her body was far faster than her mind could keep up with.

"Hold still!"

[*THUD! THUD!*]

[*RROAOARR!!*]

Two more solid hits land on the wolf's legs, Shizu's fists letting out thunderous shockwaves with each hit. And even so, the wolf still wouldn't go down. Something was clearly wrong here...

Quickly looking at Shizu, I checked her levels to make sure that- What?! "Shizu?! How come you're only level 10?!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" she screamed out loud, her enjoyment palpable even as she ducked and weaved around the wolf. "I do feel a bit weaker than usual though!"

I quickly held my breath. This could only mean that there was some kind of system in place that prevented higher-level players from steamrolling through mobs they've already out-leveled... Damn!

That meant we could still die despite her ridiculous level advantage!

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