MMORPG: Rise of the Peerless Pumpkinmancer

[Congratulations On Surviving the—]

"Shut the fuck up! I don't give a damn!" Jack bellowed as he kneeled next to the motionless Moon Moon.

"C'mon, breathe, breathe!!" He relentlessly compressed the little wolf's chest, trying to revive it.

[New Side Mission! Complete the—]

"Don't freaking care!! Come back, Moon Moon!!!" Jack only concerned himself with his loyal pet at the moment. Quest? Mission? Screw it all!

The little wolf suddenly jolted as a stream of water escaped its mouth.

"Hahahahaha! There we go!!" Jack happily laughed, happier than the day he lost his virginity.

Woo?!" (Puzzled!)

The little wolf wasn't sure what was going on. There had been a ton of water, then it had drunk some, and now it was just waking up. Weird….Then again, whatever.

All that mattered was that its master was currently embracing it warmly. The two of them were utterly wet, but none cared one bit.

By the side, the monk couldn't help but find it strange. What kind of incredible bond did these two have?! Also, had he just told the system to shut up, and it had obeyed?!

He knew about muting notifications, but downright interrupting the system as it spoke?! Why did it feel like he was interacting with the core AI of Infinite directly?!

"Are you alright?"

"Woo!" (Happy!)

The little wolf glanced around curiously, eager to explore. Before, there had been corridors, but now there was one big stone platform in front of them. How cool!

"That's a trial." Jack chimed in. "As soon as we step in the middle, I'm pretty sure it will start, and we'll have to complete a challenge of some kind."

"That's pretty classic, but this scares me a little." The monk pointed to the sides: there was lots of water.

Funny how something as simple as water was instantly flagged as dangerous in the Water Temple. After Bush PTSD, now introducing water PTSD!

"See any clue?" Jack asked.

Surprisingly Moon Moon was the first to point its little paw straight at the ceiling. It was painted and showed a few symbols: + ? ~ What was even that thing?!

"Is it some sort of code, perhaps? Maybe something magical?" The monk uttered, perplexed.

"Those aren't runes and I really doubt it's a language. It should have a simpler meaning." Jack commented.

The monk was looking at him, frowning with suspicion.

"What?"

"Geez, are you an archaeologist or something?!"

"Naw, I don't really care about the past. I'm looking toward a bright future instead." Jack replied.

"…."

Jack then sent a few pumpkins flying to test the waters (literally).

— Splash! —

The three kept gazing in silence, observing. But that's when the monk noticed a detail that had previously eluded them.

"Look at the waves!!" He heatedly exclaimed.

The water would overflow unto the platform at some places, but instead of just flowing back, it would keep going in a straight line as if an arrow!

"Gotta watch out for arrows in the knee…." Jack mumbled.

"…"

"Anyway, standing here won't accomplish anything. Gotta launch the thing to progress." He shrugged with the party going forth.

As soon as they reached the middle of the stone platform, the water all around suddenly began trembling. It shook like jello, it shook like a thick girl twerking, it shook a lot!

A second later, they could only gasp as the water exploded upward, creating a water prison around the platform.

"Is it too early to panic?" The monk gulped.

"In my professional opinion, now is the perfect time to panic."

Suddenly the floor began glowing blue at exactly four spots about the size of a car. Besides the light, there didn't seem to be anything special about it at all.

"Woo!" (Perplexed!)

The little wolf was pointing at the opposite wall, confused. Were those glowing symbols there earlier? + ? ~ ?

They didn't have much time to ponder over it that enemies were spawning in every goddamn direction! They would just come out of the water walls as if on a slow stroll for some reason.

"Tch— This one is gonna be rough." The monk spat in disgust as he observed them.

< Slim Lake Elemental Lv 15 ??>

< Slim Lake Tentacle Lv 15 ??>

< Hard Shelled Crab Lv 15 ??>

The problem wasn't the creatures themselves or even their high number. Nope, the issue was the damn synergy!

They were all resistant to something else, making it damn near impossible to fight them all at once! Then, there were water arrows flying at their faces from time to time.

It was a goddamn nightmare!

"What do we do now?!" The monk grumbled.

"Look at the pattern + ? ~ ?. There just happens to be 3 different symbols for 3 enemies and 4 of them on the wall for 4 spots of light." Jack pointed out.

"Do we need to drag the monsters on the right spot? As if they'd ever cooperate!" The monk exclaimed.

"We better get to work then."

What followed was an incredible pain in the ass test of coordination with dodges from time to time! They quickly cracked the code:

+ Elemental

~ Tentacle

Crab

The issue was that the mobs were tough to control. A single enemy in the wrong spot was enough to mess up the entire thing. It also took a little while for it to register.

Luckily, Jack had the perfect solution! There were four spots? They just needed another helper! He promptly summoned Chicky.

"Cluck! Shriek!" (Bring it on!)

Its glowing purple eyes were the very light of determination. Honestly, Jack couldn't help but be impressed. His two pets were champs!

On the side, the monk's eyes were bulging. How long had it taken him to learn to kite the water mobs to perfection? Days! Yet there were a wolf and a chicken just doing it easily?!

"Damn, you guys are good!" He praised from the bottom of his heart.

But all he got in return was a disdainful gaze from the chicken and a pitying one from the wolf. For them, this was perfectly normal after training to kite countless rats!

Then they eventually managed to arrange the creatures in the perfect order. It wiped the current monsters as more began spawning.

"There we freaking go, like a Boss!" Jack exclaimed. Sadly, it was apparently far from over. It went:

(? ~ ? + ~ )

"We got this! It's just one more!"

(~ ? ~ ~ ? +)

"Just a little more!"

(~ + + ~ ? + ?)

"One more…"

( + ? ~ + ? ~ + ? )

"Motherfucker!!!"

The more they repeated and repeated it, the angrier they got. Why did this freaking challenge seem endless?! Couldn't they at least take a break?!

But at some point, they just didn't have the energy to curse anymore. They just gave very sorrowful glances at the new pattern as they got to work. (+ ? ~ ? +? ~+?~+~)

When that one was over, their dead eyes wandered toward the wall for the next task, but there was none. Wait, what? Where was it?! Was it suddenly invisible?!

[Congratulations! Completed the Challenge!]

They looked at one another, tears of joy running down their faces. They had finally done it!

"Gentlemen, it has been a pleasure fighting at your side." Jack thanked them.

"Woo!" (Likewise!)

"Cluck! Shriek!" (GG EZ!)

"Holy shit, I thought we were done for! That was freaking insane! Just wait till I tell my mom about this!" The monk excitedly chirped.

His mom? Surprisingly wholesome for a dude with seemingly masochistic tendencies who's always naked.

"Oh right, when will the water walls disappear?" The monk naively asked.

"Oh no!"

[Boss Fight now Starting! Good Luck!]

"Woo!!!"

"Motherfucker!!"

"Screw you, Water Temple!!!"

It seemed they still had the energy to curse after all….

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[A/N] Hype! Feb Mass Release Time! ??

Do you guys think the Water Temple sounds fun?