Ready Player Zero

Chapter 15: Teamwork

"Ah. Should've known it wouldn't be this easy," Toshiro muttered under his breath as he stepped forward to attack the volcano-monster, thrusting his longsword into its belly. It paused its lumbering for a second, and Toshiro stalled as well, waiting to see the effect.

Then the beast roared, and red-hot liquid spilled out of the wound and onto the ground, causing Toshiro to jump back nimbly to avoid being burned by the lava. He looked up at the creature again. The magma on its body had already hardened to close up the wound, yet the lava overflow on the ground was still smoldering.

"Heck. It's self-healing; we can't attack it." Attacking would actually be worse for us considering the lava it releases. There's only so many times we can stab it before it floods over all the dry land we have.

"Hm." Sho had returned from his path to the vault upon the appearance of the monster. "Here, I'll distract it. You go get the chest."

"Are you sure you can handle it?"

Sho raised his eyebrow as he shot Toshiro a look that clearly read, "Really?"

Toshiro almost laughed at how much the expression differed from Sho's serious, quiet nature. Well, that is, based on what he knew about Sho's characteristics from the past half hour they'd spent together.

"Okay, well, I know you're good. But considering the capabilities of that thing, even distracting it will be difficult. You basically can't attack it. And if you try to lead it away down the volcano, the other monsters will start showing up."

"I've got it. Just trust—" Sho's voice hitched for a moment, but he quickly recovered. "Trust me." Without another word, he leapt toward the creature with agility.

As Toshiro started toward the chest, he watched Sho, who was running head-on toward the monster. It towered over him, thunderous roars echoing as it tried to swipe at him with its limbs. But as he approached the creature, he suddenly veered to the side.

Meanwhile, Toshiro, hopping across a particularly active patch of lava, had reached the vault. He leaned down, fumbling with the opening. "Drat." It wouldn't open; part of the challenge must be cracking the lock.

Toshiro swiped to bring up a screen to work on decoding the lock, taking the moment to check on how Sho was doing. He'd made it behind the creature and—what was he—he wouldn't—

He would. He jumped onto the back of the beast, which prompted a confused roar that gave way to an annoyed jolt, as it tried to shake off the nuisance on it. Sho's dexterity really was impressive; even with all the movement he somehow managed to avoid the numerous areas of burning, boiling magma that peeked out from the cracks in the creature.

Toshiro returned to the task at hand, tapping furiously as he raced to unlock the vault before Sho got thrown off the monster or otherwise injured. Finally, he finished: the chest opened, revealing the gold coins hidden inside.

Congratulations! You have completed the volcanic island challenge. Enjoy your earnings!

With a pleasant ding, the alert faded, and the volcano-monster with its accompanying lava also crumbled into dust before disappearing.

Sho made his way over, glancing at the contents in the chest. "Hey, not a bad haul."

"Yeah."

They were both grinning, from the adrenaline of the fight and the camaraderie established through the experience. "That was a crazy stunt you pulled back there."

Sho shrugged. "Oh, you know. Just the day-to-day life of an Oasis gamer."

They each laughed. "You know, we make a pretty good team, don't you think?"

Sho hesitated, but then, almost reluctantly, the expression gave way to a slight smile. "Yeah, I suppose so."