[The Sun Sets : Beat James in a Quick Draw Battle and Clear Floor 6]
For most Academy students, James, the Gunman of the Apocalypse was a wall. The powerful bullets that were fired without incantations and the pressure of the instant death attack that approached as time passed.
To make matters worse, he had a unique gimmick.
Upon entering the floor, you found yourself in a barren wasteland with tumbleweeds rolling by, the sun hanging high in the sky.. James used all kinds of attack patterns like gunfire raining down like a storm, throwing lassos, ect.
He also had stalling tactics, like a stampede of buffaloes charging from across the map. If you weren’t in the right spot, you'd get trampled.
passed, the sun would slowly descend below the horizon, and in that moment, a classic western BGM would softly play. That was the cue—an instant death attack would cover the battlefield.
James fired mana-infused bullets that would kill on impact.
As they say, you had to pass the ‘DPS check’.
Fighting through the various attack patterns before the instant death attack struck, the only way to defeat him was by separating his head from his body. That was why the majority could not get past James. Just because you were desperate wouldn’t make the DPS that you were missing appear out of thin air.
You either needed someone in the Metamorphosis stage in your party or enough people to overwhelm him with sheer force.Floor 6: Gunman of the Apocalypse, James // 11 Minutes (MVP : Tara)
Bennett's party made it through with brute force relying on Tara’s DPS.
The six members of the climbing party gathered to discuss the next steps. Envers and Luna sat together, while the remaining four huddled closely, with three of them practically stuck together.
The first problem was figuring out the clear condition. The Tower of Trials kindly displayed the clear conditions through system messages, but⋯⋯.
“What do you think a quick draw is, Bennett?”
-It does mean drawing quickly, but it can’t mean fighting with Battōjutsu, right?
“Pulling out⋯⋯ Bennett, should we go over there and pull one out quickly?”
-It’ll probably come out faster if two people do it together, Bennett.
"⋯⋯What are you guys talking even about? You know the Academy's rules forbid that sort of thing, right?!"
The subtle and suggestive atmosphere , with Bennett in the middle of it, shocked Selvier to her core. ‘ What is this? Did that mean these guys have already climbed the stairs of adulthood? Niolle... Just when?!’
However, Bennett was unfazed by the "pink" atmosphere, and brushed it off as if he was used to it, and spoke.
“I think we just need to ask.”
"⋯⋯Who do you plan to ask?"
“Obviously, the Gunman of the Apocalypse, James.”
"I simply cannot understand how you came up with that idea⋯⋯."
The idea of asking the subject of the Challenge Task about the Challenge Task itself . Yet, when framed that way, it was a rather obvious approach.
If the objective of the Challenge Task was to fulfill the desires of the tower’s inhabitants, then those inhabitants must hold the key to what they want.
“Let’s ask him directly.”
“You said it was real, and I⋯⋯ I also believe Floor 8 is real. But there’s still a chance the Tower of Trials is just Illusion Magic.”
“Even if this is all an illusion, the Crazy Wizard, despite his quirks, is a rational person. Let’s assume he set up a puzzle.”
All of his previous challenges—Step into a Door, Ascend into a World, Tentacle Maze—followed clear rules. This meant that the Tower of Trials had to be the same.
There was an answer somewhere. And if that answer involves a word none of them had ever even heard before, the Crazy Wizard would have made it easier to discover than digging through the library’s ancient texts.
“He might have hidden a letter somewhere on Floor 6.”
-Then should we just head in first? We can think about it after trying it out.
“Sure. Let’s move.”
The party stepped into the Tower of Trials.
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In the wasteland stood a man wearing a cowboy hat, a cigar in his mouth, with one leg crossed over the other. From a martial arts perspective, his stance was full of holes, but his real strength came from his gun.
So what you need to be cautious of was his hand. His posture seemed relaxed, but his arm and finger muscles were tense, ready to fire at any moment.
The second his opponent made a move, James would react in kind.
Other parties had exploited this brief pause to attack preemptively, and Bennett had done the same in the past. But this time was different. Bennett didn’t draw his sword. Instead, he took a few steps closer with his hands bare. James’s eyes flickered with interest.
As James casually twirled his pistol, Bennett calmly asked.
“What is a quickdraw duel?”
“Ah, a showdown! Are you interested? No, you need to be interested. Been a long time since I’ve itched for one. Ain’t nothin' holier in the Wild West than a good ol' duel. Takes guts and skill, y'know.”
James brightened considerably as he began explaining the rules of a Wild West duel. Two people face each other. The goal is to shoot quickly and with precision. If you miss with the first shot, the goal of the duel is lost.
Bennett listened closely, then nodded.
“If possible, I would like to settle the match that way.”
"Ah, yes! That’s the real way to settle things! A man raised in the wasteland oughta go out with some flare. Ya got a gun?"
“If you’re talking about that artifact that makes thunder sounds, no.”
“You talk like a real Injun, partner. Alright, friend. I’ll lend ya mine. Let’s play.”
"⋯⋯⋯⋯!!"
Selvier’s eyes widened, as if she’d been struck by lightning, at the sight of the smooth turn of events. She felt that somehow, they might have been able to win over that stubborn dwarf with words.
“No, there’s no way. That wouldn’t have worked. He was so stubborn⋯⋯."
Selvier erased her lingering attachments with the sour grape meta. But those three ballista shots hitting their mark was cool as hell. That was enough. It had to be.
James lent a pistol to Bennett.
Then, piece by piece, he stripped off his gear—removing steel plates and various artifacts: a protective charm, a shock-absorption field generator, an auto-recovery artifact…⋯⋯.
Bennett also threw off his armor and got ready to duel. As James indulged in the fantasy of an old-fashioned showdown, his face lit up with a wide grin. The Crazy Wizard also laughed.
The rest of the group sat on the spectator seat (a suitably tall rock).
Tara grimaced at the sight of James' tank equipment that was still pouring out nonstop. There was almost enough material to build a small tower.
“No wonder I thought that he was stupidly hard.”
-You were getting pretty fed up while fighting him, weren’t you?
“Eung, there was nothing to suck with Thorns of Lament. So all I could do was hit him with all my effort. It’s annoying!”
-Still, you took him down in about 10 minutes. You were cool back then, Tara.
As Tara and Niolle pleasantly chatted and laughed together, Selvier slipped into the conversation.
“Hey⋯⋯ Aren’t you worried?”
-Oh, Selvier. Worried?
“About Bennett. Sure, it’s just the Tower of Trials, but I’d still be nervous⋯⋯ if it were me."
“It’s fine. We’ve got an ace up our sleeve. Selvier, right? Just sit back and relax.”
Niolle, on the other hand, pulled out a strange-looking artifact. A communication device? Selvier raised an eyebrow, wondering what kind of situation it was, but chose to stay quiet for now.
The duel began.
A lone tumbleweed rolled between Bennett and James, as the wind kicked up dust around their coats.
If this were an average Academy student, they’d probably die a few times before they figured out how to use a gun. But Bennet already knew how it worked from his experiences of the other world.
Of course, that didn’t make him an expert.
Compared to James, whose speed was near superhuman, there was a huge gap between their skill levels. But that wasn’t a concern.
“Niolle is our secret weapon.”
-You didn’t forget, did you Bennett? 23, 47, 59, faint, 42, 17, fire.
Niolle’s precise commands were transmitted through telepathy. Bennett fired in sync with her instructions. The sound of the gunshots overlapped with a slight delay.
Bang baang──!!
Along with the acrid stench of gunpowder, silence fell.
Bennett slumped to the ground, clutching his side, while James collapsed with a hole in the top of his head. Tara ran to Bennett to heal him.
The wound would disappear once they exited the tower, but she planned to use healing as an excuse to get a little touchy with him.
Envers saw the scene and muttered.
"⋯⋯We could have done that too."
“No.”
“We could’ve. If you, like⋯⋯ Niolle, you read James’ movements. And if I shoot like Bennett⋯⋯!"
“Idiot.”
Luna traced circles of different sizes with her hands, indicating there was nothing they could do about the difference in stats. The shot just now seemed to require no physical ability, but⋯⋯.
-It was not a fair fight. Right?
“Eung.”
-The gun Bennett had was weak, and James didn’t even deactivate all his defense mechanisms. At first glance, it looked like a fair one-on-one, but⋯⋯ the odds were tilted in James’ favor.
“And, physical ability.”
Bennett’s Metamorphosis, the Guardian’s Dream, allowed him to summon a sword at will. Just as James’ shot hit him, he briefly summoned it, using the blade as makeshift, angled armor.
And.
-I enchanted James' magic bullet when it flew upward, making it ricochet back at him. He⋯⋯ shoots magic bullets that are lethal, but only after some time. I thought that he would use that in this duel too.
“That’s why it hit the top of his head. Not forehead.”
That was the full story behind the duel that ended in the blink of an eye.
Tower of Trials, Floor 6: Cleared
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▲ Bennett
▲ Envers