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

I clicked my tongue as the dust finally settled, Shade's body was finally revealed dead lying on the ground just a ways away from Shizu. Maruki spared a passing glance before he went back to his job, while Shen looked on as if she knew that there was something she could do. Wait, did that mean...

"Shen! Can you revive him!?" I called out, my [Manifest] already aimed at Maruki as an idea formed in my head.

"I-I think I can?!" Shen called out. "I'll need some time though!"

That was more than doable! "Do that then! I'll take over healing!"

Nodding, Shen went ahead and stood over Shade's body. Raising her wrench, its green glow splashed all over the ground as she then repeatedly beat Shade over the head with it. Meanwhile, Maruki was doing his best to deal damage, despite his sword being far too short to even reach the tentacles hanging overhead.

"Sir Moriya! I need assistance!" our tank called out. "[DIVINE SHIELD!]"

Looking at his health, his near-death state forced me to riddle him with shots, my quirk doing its job as his health slowly climbed back up to manageable levels. His mitigation did allow him to take less damage, but each hit still almost put him in the red, forcing me to compensate to make sure he wouldn't die on the next hit.

[HP: 102]

I clicked my tongue at my own health. Without Guidance giving me regen, I only had too many shots before I went down from attrition. Shen could heal me back up, but she was still busy whacking Shade in a way to revive him.

"[Work]!"

I gave Shen and Shade a passing glance as the former gave the latter one last whack, sparks of green exploding from the strike as a green glow engulfed Shade's body. A second later, our downed member was up on his feet again, rubbing his head before he quickly established some distance between him and Shizu.

[NUMBER MAN: 22%]

Oh fvck! "Get out of there, Shen!"

[SEE]

[*FLASH!*]

I almost wanted to bolt and carry Shen back with me, but it was too late as an explosion of light engulfed Shizu, the world around us seemingly changing into one that resembled the matrix with all of the black and green surrounding us. Numbers trailed up and down the room as if they were simulating the very environment itself. Meanwhile, Shizu herself looked a lot more like her usual self, though the tentacles still held her captive behind her.

"W-What's happening?!" Shen cried out as she finally made her way beside me.

"We'll have to wait and see," I ground out, aiming my pistols back at the tentacles. "Shade, you okay?"

"Better than ever," the man sarcastically grunted. "I'll have to pay this monstrosity back for doing that to me."

I almost chuckled at his enthusiasm. Still, we had to be careful.

[ANOMALOUS WAVE: 24%]

A wave... Another raid-wide? "Maruki! Stun!"

"[BASH!]"

Our tank did as he was asked, the rest of us returning to our previous tasks as we whittled away at-

[USELESS]

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[CONTINUE]

I blinked as I found myself back in front of Shizu. The room was back to its normal state, and the damn thing was just as creepy as it was back when we first started. Still...

"How in the world did we die?" I found myself asking aloud.

I told Maruki to stun her before the raid-wide even came out. I even heard him shout his [Move], and yet nothing happened? Did the stun not work then?

"I stunned the princess as was asked!" Maruki quickly supplied, shakily picking himself back up as he took on his usual ready stance. "Unfortunately, she stood unwavering, unlike the first time!"

pαпᵈα-noνɐ1·сoМ "Okay, how are we supposed to get through that?" Shade pondered. "We haven't even managed to completely sever all of the tentacles holding the Princess hostage."

I considered Shade's words. With the damn thing not having any health bars, I had no idea if we were even damaging the thing. Then again, my one attack managed to do some sort of damage, freeing Shizu from one of the many tentacles keeping her aloft. Was that it then? Could we somehow free her quickly enough before we get to the uninterruptible mechanic? Somehow beating some kind of DPS check?

"Shade, you think you can deal enough damage with me on the tentacles?" I asked.

"I was doing exactly that already," Shade hummed in pensive thought. "I'm not dealing enough damage unlike your [Manifest], however."

I frowned, "Still, it adds up, correct? Maybe we can get her down before this thing manages to kill us all in one move."

"It might be possible," he replied. "We'll try that method then, Moriya."

"Great," I nodded. I then turned to Shen as I asked, "Shen, do you have a [Move] that can continually heal someone?"

The girl looked at her [Manifest] as she frowned, "I-I think so. Yes, yes, I do."

Looking at her [Manifest], it was probably a single-target deal like Guidance's. her need to be at melee range was a massive problem for a healer like her though. "Can you slap me with one as soon as the fight starts?"

"Sure thing."

Seeing Shen nod, I turned my eyes back to the task at hand. If we could maybe kill this thing before we get wiped, maybe we could win despite the massive disparity of strength between us. Or maybe this was just the first phase or something, and we were so wholly out of our league that the game itself was somehow trying to level the playing field.

"Alright, from the top!" I called out. "Maruki?"

"[SHOUT!]"

And with that, we were back in the fight once again. Aiming my sights at the tentacles behind her, I waited for Shen's [Move] before I started blasting.

"[Keep Working]!"

[*WHACK!*]

Feeling a forceful slap collide against my back, I felt Shen's power flow through me as she quickly made her way to Maruki's side. I had my buff. It was now or never.

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