MMORPG: Rise of the Peerless Pumpkinmancer

[Welcome to Hellish Fox Grove!]

"Are you crazy?!!!" Lilly's teammates were about to go insane.

When she had wanted them to clear the normal version of the Dungeon, they had agreed to brave the danger and ignore their fears.

When she had led them inside the hard version, they had wanted to give up many times. They had barely succeeded after dying more times than they could remember.

After all, she had threatened to do it by herself if they didn't help. Her leaving the team would definitely reduce their party's hunting pace.

However, this was really pushing it. Hellish?!

"Lilly, listen. We like you, and we want to help, but there's no way we can possibly finish this, not right now anyway. The gap in difficulty is—"

"Monstrous, gargantuan, bigger than a bigfoot's dick?"

"…?!?"

"Hehe, I never said that we'd clear it. The normal monsters aren't impossible. It's just the bosses that we need to avoid. C'mon, let's go!"

They felt overwhelmed as they followed their fearless leader, one of them praising her for looking as domineering as the Demon King himself! — If only they knew…

Before long, they arrived at the village with that weird-ass-looking fox-wearing cannibal NPC. They could still remember Pancake's joking analysis on the topic.

Cannibal? Check

Loves to skin foxes? Check

Ready to die for the cause? Check

Badass enough to fight the Shadow Fox? Check!

Conclusion —> This NPC was totally an unofficial member of D.L.!

It barely took Lilly a few well-said sentences to utterly charm the NPC. Tiphany was staring at it happen in the background, mouth gaping and taking notes.

"Ah, Miss Lilly, you're the little sister I never had. Of course, I'll fight by your side until the end!" He clamored.

As they heard him throw his life away so easily (once more), they couldn't help but shiver. This companion of theirs was truly devilish! * PS: Mental note: Never Slight her!

Then they all headed toward the infamous rat cellar.

"?!?"

This place was the kind that everyone avoided, but one had to go through there to stand a chance against the last Boss. Wait… weren't they not fighting the Boss?!

"Lilly, what are we doing here?"

She playfully winked as she took out the mysterious item the Training Instructor had given her and a bunch of other things.

Before coming here, she had pretty much entered every single shop. It was as if she had been preparing for war.

Alchemist —> Strange looking custom potions

Blacksmith —> A small mysterious case

Steven —> Lots of vegetables

"Let's do this!"

They opened the door in the most dramatic fashion, only to be greeted by red-eyed rats from hell.

X 10

A few seconds later, the poor NPC was already getting devoured alive, screaming atop his lungs: "Run, Miss, run!! ARGGG!"

She gave him a thumb up as the claws and teeth tore through the man's flesh. Great distraction! She then took out a long, thin, and cylindrical object.

♩♫♪ — ♩♫♪ — ♩♫♪

♪♫♩♩♫ — ♫♪♫♩♪ — ♩♪♫♪♩

Out of nowhere, she started playing the pipe?!

What was wrong with her? This clearly wasn't the time for…Wait?!!

The rhythmic tune mixed with the screams of agony as blood splashed all over. She watched it all happen with a slight smile, even throwing food and potions at the creatures.

"Oh god, she's trying to tame them?!!!"

She shook her head, obviously contesting that sentence. Trying? No way! She WAS taming them! She had planned everything for this moment!

The party members were already taking defensive stances as the sea of rodents finished their happy meal and turned toward them.

"Oh no, nonono. Noooo!!!!" Luke screamed high-pitched, totally worthy of a horror flick.

The only one staying calm was Lilly. She stayed utterly still as her fingers tapped on the instrument, creating wonderful sounds.

Death staring her in the face? This seemed like a typical day to her! The others were scared shitless, but they remained in place even as the rat swarm charged.

That's when the nightmare began. It was utterly impossible for the level 5-6 players to resist, no matter how much they tried. It barely took a second for them all to be overwhelmed.

It was a bloody massacre!

As they respawned at the beginning of the Dungeon, their faces turned pale as they shivered endlessly. Even with a reduced trauma setting, they were still shocked.

Getting eaten alive by rats was freaking horrible! They felt like complaining but didn't. They only checked on their companion.

Lilly was staring in mid-air blankly as if waiting for something.

"Lilly, are you alright?" One asked, concerned.

She suddenly rose, glaring at the sky as if wanting to curse the gods. Actually, it didn't just seem like it…

"That's utter bullshit! What kind of shitty system are you?! There are hidden quests everywhere, and you're telling me this didn't proc one?!!"

"…."

"How about you come down here and explain yourself! I'm contesting your lack of foresight. What's the point of having rats in there if we can't do anything with them, eh?!"

Why did she suddenly sound like a gangster collecting protection fees?! They felt at a loss. Were they supposed to comfort her or tell her to calm down since raging was futile?

But suddenly, she stopped, her expression changing.

[Complaint Received. Please Standby!]

[Reviewing Player's Earlier Actions!]

[Music Played and Food Given.]

[Time Spent Taming = Low!]

[Analyzing! Analyzing!]

"Alright, as long as you do your job properly."

[Result! Rat Cannot Be Tamed Using a Pipe!]

[Conclusion! Taming Failing Is Logical!]

"Rat? Who said anything about a rat? I was taming a rat swarm!" Lilly cheekily replied.

[Analyzing. Analyzing. Found References!]

[Successfully Reproduced Part of Pied Piper scene!]

[Unlocked Super Secret Demonic Piper Class! Select? Y/N]

Lilly suddenly started laughing maniacally, her companions raising a brow in worry. Had the traumatizing experience messed with her mind?

But as she invoked a demonic rat swarm, they were the ones that started shaking. At this moment, they counted their blessings that she was on their side.

Rat PTSD was about to sweep New Leaf+, wasn't it?!

"Now, it's time for the next part of my training!" Her smile was as beautiful as positively frightening.