Dusk (BL Light Novel)

[Party] Retaking: wait… was I not supposed to see that?
[Party] Honeybread: nah
[Party] Honeybread: just forgot I sent it

[Party] Honeybread: was wondering how you knew lol
With the misunderstanding cleared up, I relaxed again and got ready to go back to hitting the boss. But now that I was actually trying to do it, I had no idea what skill to use. How did Retaking run his skill rotation again? The only one I vaguely knew was his PvP damage cycle, and even that I only memorized by animation—half the time I didn’t even know which skill name matched what.
I wiped cold sweat as I read over each skill’s description, then just gave up and slammed the first virus-looking one I saw. It had been over a year since I touched a Combat Medic, and though it felt unfamiliar, it was honestly kind of exciting in a fluttery way…

[Combat] Used skill “Moonlight Protection” on a party member.
I’d expected to cast a virus and was standing there waiting, but my character raised his hand in the familiar motion for and just stared blankly up at the boss.
A flood of question marks filled my brain. Wait a second—Retaking was still dishing out damage with Combat Medic skills. That meant the skill layout had changed, but the actual skills hadn’t. He was still using his own class skills.

I swallowed a dry cough rising from sheer secondhand embarrassment, then stabbed out at the boss with whatever my fingers remembered. Maybe he didn’t notice?
[Party] Retaking: I thought it was a virus skill
[Party] Retaking: so I hit Virus2

[Party] Retaking: but it was Moonlight Protection, wasn’t it? lol
Psychic little bastard.
[Party] Honeybread: yeah

[Party] Retaking: LOL
I felt my cheeks heat up. With a sigh, I mashed the keyboard with one hand and chugged the lukewarm water I’d forgotten about with the other. It’d been sitting there untouched for way too long while we focused on the dungeon.
The boss had been eyeing us like test subjects this whole time. Now it closed its eyes, raised one hand to its chest, and clenched it. A casting bar popped up above its HP again. Another spell incoming.

I watched, wary of what bizarre mechanic it would throw at us next. I tried to recall where my survival skills were usually placed, and threw one up just in case. I’d played Holy Guardian for almost two years, so I should’ve known where everything was… but the icons were different, and some looked like blank slots, which really messed with my muscle memory.
I tried to act natural, but just as the cast bar was nearing completion—it vanished.
The boss canceled its own cast, as if trying to psych us out. It opened its eyes, lowered its hand limply. Like it had simply given up halfway.
Well, there went my survival cooldown.

Was this thing even real? What if it was a GM pretending to be a boss?
Either way, my cooldown was wasted. Not that it was an amazing skill or anything—and this was our first attempt. I tried not to dwell on it and refocused, shoving the regret into my next skill rotation.
As if deep in thought, the boss looked down at the floor, touching its chin, then once again raised both hands like a conductor. This time, its fingers moved like they were dancing across piano keys.

Above both our heads—mine and Retaking’s—giant round somethings appeared. At the same time, the boss started casting again.
We still had time. I kept DPSing while watching the thing over my head. As the cast bar filled, the round shape grew clearer. By the time the cast was around 70%, I finally saw what it was.
A giant pocket watch.

It had a minute hand, hour hand, and even a ticking second hand like an analog clock—but the center displayed the number “45” in Arabic numerals. That number began steadily ticking down: 44, 43...
I had no idea what it meant, but the watch swayed like it was about to drop. I figured it might fall and deal damage, so I popped an external survival skill just in case. As soon as the cast ended, the number hit 1—and the clock plummeted.
But the boss’s skill wasn’t an attack.

The moment it hit, the watch passed through our bodies, flickered like static, and gradually faded. It dealt no damage.
Instead—something else happened.
[System] Welcome to Dusk! Click the question mark in the upper left corner for help!
[Combat] Gained 1 EXP.
[System] Achievement unlocked: “Prologue Complete.”
[System] Achievement unlocked: “The Journey Begins with a Party.”
[Combat] Gained 1,500 EXP.
[System] Reached Level 2.
[System] New skills available.
[System] Reached Level 3.
[System] New skills available.

A shrill chime blasted in my ears. The chat log exploded. I glanced at it, startled—and found myself staring at system messages I hadn’t seen in forever. Stuff I couldn’t even remember seeing the first time I played. Just like in the log, bright level-up effects flared all over my character.
What the hell is this?
Then, the boss cast something ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) again—this time fast.

**[Combat] dealt 1,111 damage with **.
**[Combat] Retaking took 1,111 damage from **.
[Combat] Died from ’s attack.
[Combat] Retaking has died.
[System] Abandoned Temple Sector seal has been lifted.
“…Wha?”
We died.

From a puny 1,111 damage hit.
[Party] Honeybread: ??????
[Party] Honeybread: [Combat] dealt 1,111 damage
[Party] Honeybread: ??????????????????
[Party] Honeybread: i had 120k HP??
[Party] Honeybread: ??????????????????????????????????????????????????
It wasn’t just that the mob had no name—it was the sheer audacity of killing us with that ridiculous 1,111 number. I had 120,000 HP, and I got one-shot? That number scratched at my tank pride like a scar.

[Party] Retaking: didn’t you see just now?
[Party] Honeybread: see what?
[Party] Honeybread: saw a lot of things

[Party] Honeybread: but all I can think about is dying to 1111 dmg
[Party] Retaking: we got reset to level 1.
[Party] Honeybread: ?

What Retaking saw was the real issue: we had been reset to level 1.
That was why the tutorial message appeared. That was why our max HP had dropped to triple digits—and why a four-digit damage skill had insta-killed us.
In other words, that pure white bastard’s skill was a level reset.

[Party] Honeybread: what
[Party] Honeybread: the actual fk**
[Party] Honeybread: this is bullshit... LOL

I couldn’t even be mad. I laughed out loud. What kind of mechanic resets your level, seriously.
[Party] Retaking: LOL
[Party] Retaking: but come on, wasn’t that kinda fun??

Fun, he says. After we wiped from just two mechanics and had to restart?
[Party] Honeybread: lol
[Party] Honeybread: 10/10 would do again

It was hilarious.
Title: Please Nerf That Freaking Boss
Author: [Jeopa] WannaPlaySoccerThere’sBasketball

Hidden final boss. 14 tries. Never got it below 50%.
This is all because Dusk became way too easy ever since Retaking started playing.
The dev team is clearly trying to get back at him. That white boss was designed out of pure spite.

NERF RETAKING’S IQ. NERF IT.
Nerf it... please… seriously... nerf it…
Either nerf his brain or the hidden boss’s mechanics…

Just nerf something, you f***ing sadists…
I can’t do puzzles.
Let me win with reflexes. Even if the mechanics are hard, just don’t make me think.

I’m begging you—don’t make me think in a video game…
Please make it like Lightless Abyss. A pure reflex dungeon.
(32 comments)

– what happened?? don’t cry just tell us
　└ [Top Comment] [Author] ffs… FFS……
– [Top Comment] They designed the boss for Retaking. So if they make a boss you can beat with reflexes… who’s the benchmark then?

　└ [Top Comment] [Author] oh
　　　└ lololololololololololololol
　　　└ lmfaooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

　　　└ “oh” contains every possible human emotion
　└ either way it’s hell tbh… the devs are insane for making HIM the standard
– most Hidden players are Support mains or Commanders anyway, if this had been a reflex-based dungeon no one would’ve complained… and they went with a brainy puzzle-type of all things lmao

　└ are you implying rankers are dumb?
　　　└ no i meant PvP rankers usually win on reflexes so puzzles feel harder to them lol sorry for the phrasing