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

[*BANG!*]

With the pull of a trigger, [Noir] blanketed me with a thick sheen of red. Blood erupted from the muzzle, flowing with some kind of unholy energy as it formed a spherical shield around me. Immediately, I looked at my status to see if the [Move] actually took effect.

[STATUS: SHROUDED]

[Moriya: Level 23]

[EXP TO NEXT LEVEL: 350/1200]

[HP: 81/220]

[MP: 170/210]

[0 STAT POINTS AVAILABLE FOR ALLOCATION]

I winced as I saw that the skill ate through a substantial amount of my health and mana. Still, if this worked, then it was absolutely worth it. Well, I really didn't care about mana that much. But still, seeing bars go down could trigger anyone with even a semblance of an OCD.

"Fall!"

[*SLAM!*]

I braced myself as the Emperor slammed the butt of his staff on the ground again, a wave of jade energy crashing over my blood shield as I gritted my teeth through the onslaught. Somehow, despite knowing that [Shroud] was pretty much a free five-second invulnerability skill, being right in the middle of certain death still almost made me pass out from sheer fear.

"Hold on in there, Moriya!" Guidance called out. "I'm almost done!"

"Oh I'm holding on, alright!" I fired back at the dev. "I really don't wanna die here!"

Grinding my teeth in apprehension, I watched as my invulnerability ticked down with each agonizing second. The Emperor's death spell was still buffeting my position, and I was really hoping that it'd just stop before my shield fell.

[STATUS: SHROUDED 1 SECOND]

"Please!"

I closed my eyes in the face of certain doom, the timer finally running out as I felt the shield fall. Clenching my jaw, I waited for the jade energies to throw me to the nearest wall.

[BZZZTTT!]

Only, it didn't? Did the world just change again?

"M-Made it!" Guidance yelled out in relief from behind me. "Oh my god... That was close..."

Opening my eyes, I blinked as I noticed the nameplate above my opponent's head. And if I was feeling any worse, I'd have probably cried tears of joy.

[Varis Xeno Kattleyna Level 25]

[Emperor]

"You actually pulled through..." I whispered out.

"L-L- Guidance... BLEGH-" I heard Shizu retch again, trying her best to force her words out instead of her lunch. "M-Moriya... Make it count... BLEUGHH!!!"

"Sure. And take care of yourself out there, Shizu," I nodded. "Guidance?"

"I got her," the dev chuckled. "Now beat that boss."

Raising my pistols back up, my confidence levels were rising through the roof as I stared down my quarry. With his levels scaled down to match mine, I was pretty sure I won't die from a single hit anymore. I could afford to be risky.

And that meant I could really start letting loose.

"That woman's [Manifest]..." the Emperor trailed off, staring at his own hands as if he knew exactly what had happened. "To think that I'd feel this weak again... Truly, her ability is exceptional."

"Well, your daughter did tell you she could do that," I chuckled. "You just needed more proof."

"And this is more than enough," the Emperor honest-to-god laughed, twirling his staff before pointing it at me. "As for you, however, don't think that I cannot defeat you even in my weakened state."

I smirked, "I wasn't expecting any of this to be easy, Your Majesty."

My grip on my pistols tightened as I spared a glance at my health. My new passive quirks were really starting to kick in now as I watched my numbers go back up in record time. It wasn't as fast as I would've wanted, but [Natural Healer] scaled with my [VIT], so it'll only go up the more I got stronger.

"Good!" the Emperor bellowed. "Let us continue!"

[GROUND POUND: 8%]

The moment I saw the cast bar pop up again, I quickly sprinted out of the way of the attack radius, pointing my guns at the man as I fired off a few shots of my own.

[HP: 123/220]

My health trickled down a notch, but nothing too serious. In fact, it was well within calculations.

"Prepare yourself!"

[*SLAM!*]

I kept on firing as the man just kept on giving me free damage opportunities. My [Manifest] smoked heat and iron as I relentlessly fired at him.

[HP: 74/220]

"Hah! You have to do better than that!"

[ESSENCE OF KATTLEYNA: 11%]

I raised an eyebrow at the attack that I remembered made me useless earlier. Also, repeated dialogue? Did that mean the fights were scripted?

[*BANG!BANG!*]

[HP: 60/220]

Whatever. Scripted or not, what mattered most was the fact that I got out of here alive. If every fight had callouts for every big attack they did, that just meant it'll make it easier for me to dance around their telegraphed swings.

"Witness our might!"

[*SLAM!*]

[STATUS: IMPERIAL FEAR 15 SECONDS]

[HP: 30/220]

And then I flinched, seeing my reddening health bar as my legs moved on their own again. On second thought, I probably shouldn't be too cocky. I didn't even know if this guy was almost about to fall!

"Moriya?!"

"I-I'll be fine!" I lied to Guidance, her keyboard still whipped out as if she was getting ready to do something else. "Just be ready for when something happens-"

"It's over..."

[COMBAT COMPLETED]

[M138An Qque23st: Prove Yourself C994omPLEtt3]

[R33rrWArdDS: xxx963409x]

Eh?! It was over? And I got... what now?

"Father!"

All of a sudden, I felt my legs responding to me again as I turned around. In front of me, the Emperor was kneeling, his staff stabbed into the ground and being used as support. I blinked in utter confusion. I was pretty sure he was far from being done, and yet here he was seemingly defeated?

"You did it!" the dev cheered, surprisingly so as she walked to my side. "I didn't think your [Manifest] dealt that much damage?"

"I-It did?" I almost did a double-take, staring at the dev with abject confusion before turning my gaze to Shizu as she helped her father back up. "I actually thought it'd take a few more minutes. I was about to die too."

"W-wait, y-you were?"

I couldn't help but sigh as I holstered my weapons. Hearing Guidance's utter disbelief in her eyes, I placed a hand on her shoulder as I shook my head. "Maybe next time, you can work on making enemies have health bars? And maybe place one over our heads while you're at it-"

"Guidance! Moriya! Please help!"

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TWT: @ChellyArks