'What the hell is that? A goblin? Orc? Goblin warrior? Goblin Archer? I don't know if I can compare it to those. It's just a whole another level!'

Jake Smithson took a moment to register the monster moving towards the Awakeners.

Comparing it to those monsters that he have encountered till this moment, he wasn't sure if he could describe it as a monster.

One drop of its fist onto the earth caused cracks and tremors to the ground, and the terrifying roar it blasted out every minutes interfered the Awakeners' movements.

And apparently, those who were able to resist to the fearing roar had no choice but to give up their lives. Simply, there was just no other options for them.

"Damn it!" he shouted, thinking about how his invulnerability to the arrows of the goblin archers wouldn't mean a thing against the Werecrocodile's fists. "What kind of overpowered monster is it!"

But the first deaths served their purpose.

The remaining Awakeners were forced to withdraw.

Jake was among them.

'This is – I can't think of how to beat this guy! He's got me on reach and strength!'

All the while, Jake was thinking only one thing: how to take the Werecrocodile out.

'Damn it,' Jake thought as he turned to the corner of his eye and found the sole option to use if he wanted to have a fighting chance. 'I have to use the reward here.'

After another punch sent several Awakeners flying, he made up his mind.

'Time to use the compensation I got for the damaged package.'

[Awakener's Red Cow: If you require gratuitous amounts of energy, you may need this energy drink. You will feel a sugar high and have so much energy for some time, your base stats will be doubled. But since this is a highly-caffeinated drink, it will put a burden on your body after its effects wear off.]

The Awakener's Red Cow.

'I wanted to save this for another day, but.. damn it.'

The Awakener's Red Cow was this game's version of a high-caffeinated energy drink, made to drive away drowsiness.

For someone who works the night shift, it is less a luxury and more a necessity.

Jake also had an unhealthy habit of drinking energy drinks: when doing overtime, when at the club, and when staying up late buying various things on the Internet.

Now, though, it's not just an energy drink – it's an energy drink for Awakeners.

The can looked like the ones he'd usually buy, too. But there were some slight differences, and based on this drink's effects, he'd only have some limited time to do the job before the side effects kicked in.

Jake's pleasant thoughts of chugging energy drinks and rapping by himself like he was chilling at a club came to a halt as he made his choice.

He had to drink it now.

'It wouldn't make sense if I can't shop anymore because of this thing. Besides, I could keep the can after drinking it.'

His hesitation slowly faded away as he finally realized what he was truly fighting for: he didn't need to save the world. Or this town. Or the Awakeners here.

Jake just wanted to keep on buying from the Awakening Store.

It just so happened that saving his fellow Awakeners, the town of Brino, and this world, was a part of that.

He couldn't go to the Awakening Store if he died, and to him, that was even worse than death itself.

The only way he could continue to live to shop was if he took on the Werecrocodile and won.

"Anyone here with long-range attacks?" he asked loudly before opening up the can. "I need some support! I'll take on the boss head-on, give me some covering fire!"

'I'd normally do all of this himself, but against a boss? I'd need some help,' he thought.

But as he turned his head back for a moment, the battlefield was nearly empty, and what was left of the elite goblins – as well as the Werecrocodile – was beginning to turn to him.

Barring a few Awakeners, everyone else had retreated to the main gate of Brino – nobody wanted to come forward.

"Either we die like sheep or we die fighting. I don't know about you, but I'm not going down without a fight! Let's take this guy together!" Jake screamed, politely omitting his motivation for fighting.

What came back to him was silence.

Everyone tried to turn away from the battle with their heads down, but someone stepped up – it was Emmanuel.

"You, you.. and you," he began, pointing towards several Awakeners. "You guys have either magic or bows and arrows. Are you going to help?"

"What? What do you know?" one of them replied. "I don't have such a skill!"

"Will you shut up?" the other one shouted back at him. "You're putting me on the spot here!"

"I've already seen what you can do. If we don't fight, we'll die anyway. You saw that guy fight right? If we all help him, we'll survive."

Despite the mayhem going on outside, Emmanuel was able to speak calmly at the confused and frightened Awakeners.

But it seemed his word was not enough to get them to assist.

"What's this guy saying?" one of them added. "What do you know? How do you know my skill?"

The tension at the main gate began to ratchet up, as the suspicion the Awakeners had about Emmanuel overwrote their need to work together and defeat the Werecrocodile, who was by now very close to Brino.

"NEED A LITTLE HELP HERE!" a frustrated yell came from outside, and as Jake looked at the Awakeners arguing, he began to think for a Plan B.

Another tremor rocked the town, and Jake barely escaped this time.

'I should probably cut my losses and run if these idiots don't get their act together!' Jake thought, unable to find a solution to this problem as he avoided another punch from the Werecrocodile.

'But if I did, the village would be lost. We wouldn't be able to have a space to heal and rest. We don't even know where the other cities are, and if they're still standing.

What to do, what to do..

I could stay here and fight until these idiot Awakeners pull their collective heads out their asses and help, and that would mean we'd keep Brino going.

But if I left, I could get stronger on my own, enough to take that Werecrocodile out myself!'

He looked to the horizon and was about to take the first step away when he finally saw someone coming forward.

"If you're going to leave, I'll kill you myself and save the boss the trouble," Liam quietly said, but his voice carried a tension that Jake could hear from a distance away.

Jake gave a humorless chuckle and cracked an elite goblin's neck with a bat swing.

'Oh, NOW they're showing up to fight when the pretty-boy here tells them to,' he told himself. 'Cloak boy couldn't get them to help.'

'This is just like the time when I paid the lion's share to rent out a room at a club, and my good-looking, popular friend who just came along ends up grabbing all the girls' attention.

At this point I wouldn't give a crap if I knocked pretty boy down a few fucking pegs, chalk it up to a friendly fire accident.'

***

At the same time, Emmanuel was preparing to take to the shadows. He had never shown this skill but this time, he thought it was needed in this situation.

'I just needed an excuse. They didn't help a fellow Awakener. Especially during a boss fight. Back when I was playing these kinds of games, those were valid grounds for a player kill.'

Though unsavory, Emmanuel had the idea of killing one Awakener to force everyone else to help, since if they didn't go out to fight, the whole village was at danger.

It was at that point that Liam appeared, his flame cloak applied to his sword as he stepped forward, his face smoldering with rage.

Emmanuel could sense that he really meant to kill several Awakeners if they didn't listen – and eventually, everyone there was made to move forward.

If you saw Liam in action, you would move, too.

"All ranged attackers take supporting fire positions and attack on cue. Will this work, sir?" Liam politely asked Jake.

Jake couldn't turn around as he was currently evading the Werecrocodile, so he just yelled back, "yes, it will!"

"I'm going to back you up," Liam called as he edged closer to the fight, sword already in flames.

"Can you resist the fear attack?" Jake asked as both of them jumped over the ground-shaking attack, both of them striking the wrists and elbows.

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"Yes," Liam said, barely feeling the beast's oppressive aura, "I think I am pretty resistant to it."

The Werecrocodile howled in pain as he felt SOMETHING give in the monster's wrists as he swung at it.

'We're getting there!' Jake thought. 'Liam's pretty good – natural talent, resistance to fear, I think he may have gotten the Magic Defense ability, too!'

"Okay, joke time is over, I'm afraid," Jake said, as he took out the Red Cow from his inventory and began chugging it down.

As soon as he took the last sip from the can, Jake could feel energy coursing through his body.

He laughed out loud as the sensation filled him.

'Haha! This looks like it's 10 times better than the Blue Wings I used to chug, Jake thought. Even crocodile guy over here looks like a joke.'

The Awakeners could not believe their eyes, like a madman was going towards a fight he could not win.

And then he laughed.

Loudly.

Everyone turned towards him: the Awakeners, Liam, even the Werecrocodile.

Except this was exactly what Jake wanted, because as soon as the beast turned, its head was turned back by the power of a swinging baseball bat.

That was the point where even Liam had to smile, as he had an idea to end the fight that much sooner.

The Awakeners who could see Jake's face were horrified at the smile he was wearing – almost like a serial killer.

Caving in the Werecrocodile's skull with a baseball bat didn't help.

***

This time, the tremors from something heavy hitting the ground did not cause the Awakeners protecting Brino fear, but rather relief – and joy.

Because the massive and, more importantly, lifeless body of the Werecrocodile finally hit the ground after its throat was cut by a flaming sword, and its head bashed in with a baseball bat.

The crash brought everyone out in force, because it meant the Awakeners survived, and that Brino also survived.

"I lived? I lived!"

"We got that crocodile, man!"

With the cheers also came relieved sobs, and Awakeners' legs giving way as they sit on the ground, simply thankful they were alive.

Despite this battle being a lot harder than the previous one, some sort of organization was established within the Awakeners themselves.

While Jake, Liam and the Awakeners backing them up were busy finishing off the Werecrocodile, the rest of the Awakeners were mopping up what was left of the goblins.

Some Awakeners kept a count of the casualties from the battle, and after coordinating among themselves, they came up with a number: 26.

Most of those were Awakeners who were too overconfident and charged in the first part of the battle with the elite goblins and the Werecrocodile, and ended up overwhelmed, so the surviving Awakeners couldn't acquire the time to heal their wounds.. or worse, mourn and bury them.

***

Liam stuck his sword onto the earth and sat down to see the madman with the bat trying to laugh while out of breath.

At this point, nearly all of the Awakeners passed off Jake's odd habits and behavior as a character quirk – he was one of the strongest among them, no sense antagonizing one of their heaviest hitters.

The flame cloak wielder grinned as he felt the flow of power and experience through him as he gained a few more levels for taking part in this battle. The Awakeners nearby also gained the same boon he did, based from the shouts within Brino.

"Level up?"

"So it WAS a boss, after all!"

"I just gained another level!"

Right then and there, all the surviving Awakeners gained one or more levels simultaneously – it seemed to be the game's reward for successfully defeating a boss monster.. except one.

Jake Smithson was given a different reward from others.

[For your role in defeating the Werecrocodile, you have been awarded 10000 points. ]

'Holy shit,' Jake thought. 'This will be enough to buy one or two upcoming event items!'

He clicked on the "Next Tab", and was very pleasantly surprised.

[But wait, there's more!]

He had to laugh at the clichéd line.

[Since you have managed to defeat a boss-class monster (The 'Werecrocodile'), you have also been awarded access to the "Black Label Awakening Store"! ]

[Here in the 'Black Label Awakening Store', we are offering amazing items that you have never seen before!]

'Eh? So it's some sort of luxury shop?'

To the average shopper, even browsing a luxury shop is a rare occasion. Jake knew this, which is why he went to the shop with an almost reverent air about him.

[Welcome to the Black Label Awakening Store.

1. Special Skill Shop

2. Special Item Shop

Current Events:

For those who are new to the Black Label Awakening Store, we are still preparing an event to welcome new and old customers! You will be notified when preparations are complete!]

Though most Awakeners were used to it by now, even some of them had to shudder when they saw just how wide Jake's smile had gotten.