BXBX NOVEL Chapter 28: Clown Boy
Chapter 28: Clown Boy
"It\'s nowhere." Hannibal said in frustration and leaned against the same railing. "We have searched everywhere."
"Hmm..." Ramon caressed his chin thoughtfully, his gaze narrowing as he saw a certain person sitting on a couch in the front lounge. "Like he said, it took the last group a few days to find the boss."
"Your meaning is?" Hannibal raised his eyebrow.
"I don\'t think the boss is simply hiding." Ramon crossed his arms.
"I heard that Donald was suggesting that the black castle was a decoy and the boss was actually somewhere else." Hannibal said. "It could be true, and maybe the last group realized that after a few days of searching."
"Perhaps so." Ramon said and tapped his finger against the railing. "However, I am sure he would have thought about that, yet he is still sitting here."
"Who?" Hannibal frowned.
Ramon pointed towards the lounge.
Hannibal leaned over the railing, gazing six floors down to the lounge. There, he saw the black-haired young man sitting with his legs crossed on the couch.
"Him?" Hannibal looked at Ramon with a frown. "Why do you care about him?"
"Because he is the most competent one out of these fools." Ramon replied with a scoff. "You don\'t see it, do you?"
"See what?" Hannibal asked.
"Back in the streets, I had to adapt to survive. I learned to pick my fights, and I stole from the weak while avoiding the strong.
"I thought we were the apex predators when we arrived at that cottage. No one seemed threatening, especially not Donald, even though I can see his cunning nature from a mile away.
"This guy, Adam, he\'s the only one I couldn\'t get a proper reading of. I couldn\'t tell whether he was weak or strong, whether he was a leader or a follower."
"Well, he is strong; we saw that already." Hannibal said. "He killed Parrish and fended off our attacks. He is a formidable opponent, sure, but he doesn\'t radiate the aura of being invincible. I think we can take him down."
"I don\'t know." Ramon clicked his tongue. "He frustrates me greatly. I want to see his limit. I want to see where his breaking point is."
On the bottom floor, Adam opened the pocket watch, saw the clockhand ticking, and nodded slightly.
"Time is nigh." Adam tucked away the pocket watch and took out a napkin from his pocket, then used it to wipe his fingers clean before putting it back into his pocket.
He then turned to face the center of the room, which looked empty. There was nothing on the floor or in the air.
The only thing that filled the space was the silence and the echoing sound of players footsteps.
\'Let\'s put my best acting face.\' Adam stood up and dusted off his trousers. \'What Muriel said is true. I might still get points deducted by the council if I look like a lone wolf. Lone wolves are not needed in any guilds.
\'So, I\'ll put just a small act on this floor alone. It should show enough of what I can accomplish with competent members on my back. Those stubborn members of the council are always so bothersome.\'
Adam then approached the door and walked out of the castle into the yard, inhaling the fresh air.
"Yaaawn..." Adam let out a long yawn, stretching his arms and taking a deep breath.
It looked like he was ready to go back to the Safe Area for a good night\'s rest.
Several hidden cameras caught that, and a buzz happened in the control room.
"He is the first one to leave?" Several handlers said in surprise that they didn\'t expect the player with the highest total points to be the first to give up.
Especially when it was ten minutes before midnight, which was the promised time!
Muriel\'s eyes shook. \'No, go back! What are you doing? You are ruining your tutorial if you are the first person to give up!\'
She pleaded inside her mind, her eyes trembling with worry.
In the yard of the black castle, Adam opened the pocket watch in his hand, closed it, and opened it again. It let out a "click" sound every time he closed and opened.
\'The council wants mercenaries that also have a brain inside their heads and not all muscle. I brute-forced through the first floor; now it\'s time to show them that I am more than that.\'
Adam turned around and looked up at the black castle. The wall had faded engravings of a clock with its black clockhands stuck in a single spot—as if time had frozen.
The clock was nothing but a faded painting, but it showed the time of midnight.
Adam lowered his gaze and looked at the pocket watch. The clockhand ticked, nearing midnight.
His lips curled slightly into a small smile, and the cameras captured it.
"H-he had found the pocket watch?" The man in charge exclaimed. "How come none of you caught that?"
His workers looked embarrassed as there were over a hundred cameras, and at one point in time, they must\'ve missed it.
Muriel stood up in surprise, and when she saw the smile, her heart started racing.
\'D-did he really find out the truth behind the boss?\' Muriel gulped. \'That quickly too?.\'
She couldn\'t believe it, but she still kept her emotions in check and decided to wait till midnight to see how it would play out.
In the black castle, Adam stepped through the entrance and looked at the center of the lounge. He looked at the pocket watch, leaned against the wall, and waited patiently.
Several players yawned and departed from the castle, planning to return to the Safe Area to have a proper night\'s sleep as they didn\'t expect anyone to find the boss tonight.
When the control room saw that, they shook their heads, as it was only a few minutes before the time!
Adam didn\'t stop the players or tell them that it would be a huge mistake. Instead, he kept his eyes peeled on the pocket watch.
\'1 minute...
\'45 seconds...
\'30 seconds...
\'15 seconds...
\'5... 4... 3... 2... 1...\'
Click—as soon as the time hit midnight, Adam closed the pocket watch with a gentle click and pocketed it.
"Hehehehe..."
Childish laughter reverberated across the castle. It stopped every player in their tracks, and they all turned their heads in the same direction—towards the front lounge!
"Do you want to play a game?"
Without any warning, a figure appeared in the air in the front lounge, floating about a meter from the ground. He had the appearance of a child in his early teens, with a bright smile on his face.
He had a colorful, whimisical appearance with baggy clothing that had patterns of polka dots and stripes. On his face, he had white face makeup covering his face with a painted-on smile and red cheeks, as if there were red paint splattered on them.
He wore a bright yellow hat with a large, fluffy brim that was adorned with colorful feathers. It looked like he was just a child, trying to copy the appearance of a party clown, but it just made him look laughable and cute.
Above his head, a floating name bar appeared.
[Clown Boy - HP: 10/10]
\'Clown Boy, also known as Child Chaosbeing.\' Adam drew his steel shortsword and picked up his round shield. \'It takes on the appearance of a human child, with a whimsical appearance that makes it look harmless. Yet it is a Chaosbeing through and through.
\'The biggest mistake when facing Clown Boy is to underestimate it. It will eat your head the instant you let it.
\'However, fighting is not the hardest part on this floor.
\'The time limit is.
\'Clown Boy only appears for one minute after midnight. Then it again disappears for the rest of the day. That\'s why one has to kill it in that one minute.\'