It didn’t feel like falling at first.

  There was the initial lurch as the platform gave way, the Heart’s scream ripping the floor out from under them. Then there was just wind and darkness and the blurred impression of everyone’s silhouettes flailing in different directions.

  Greg had time to think, ‘Huh, so this is it,’ for the third time in as many days before something caught him.

  They felt like nothing, but looked like threads of light.

  Lines of pale gold and cold silver whipped up out of the dark like spiderwebs spun at the speed of thought. They wrapped around wrists and ankles, around chests and waists, an invisible net that didn’t quite touch skin but felt like it did. The fall slowed from “terminal velocity” to “regrettable velocity.”

  SYSTEM ADJ??USTMENT – FATAL IMPACT MITIGATED//UNVERIFIED?

  Source: Vault Failsafe / Quest Priority Over??ride

  Fall??Damage: Negated//

  That’s convenient, Greg thought. Not to look a deux-ex-machina in the mouth, but what’s up these glitchy messages? They don’t feel like part of the game…

  The tension in the threads shifted, turned sideways somehow, bleeding momentum out of his fall. His stomach kept dropping, but his body didn’t. The others jerked and swung on their own loose constellations of light.

  Doran spun a half turn, boots kicking uselessly at open air while Nars pinwheeled his arms and yelled something lost to the wind; then the threads all snapped down together, like someone yanking a sheet flat.

  Light coalesced beneath them, threads knotting themselves into a flat, shimmering plane. Greg hit it boots-first and dropped to one knee, the impact ringing up his spine. Violet bounced, swore, and immediately started checking for broken glass in her satchel. Elowen landed last, the light shoring itself up under her and affording her more grace than it had the rest.

  The platform was maybe twenty feet across, hanging in nothing. Above them, far, far overhead, the cracked Heart was a jagged star in the dark. Below…

  Below was worse. A slow, rotational glow, gold and silver and deep, oil-slick black, circling something they couldn’t quite see.

  The something moved.

  BOSS ENCOUNTER: HEART OF THE SHATTERED VAULT

  Phase: 2 – Stabilization

  Objective: Survive 3 Rounds to Reboot System

  The light below surged.

  It didn’t rush up in a straight column. It spiraled, turning as it climbed, picking up speed even as it gathered mass. Greg had the unsettling impression of watching something think about them, decide they were worth the effort, and decide to answer the doorbell.

  Colors bled through the glow as it rose. Clean gold fractured. Silver picked up a bruised undertone. That oily darkness threaded in from somewhere deeper, like mold creeping through bread. The closer it got, the more obvious it became that this wasn’t just some guardian automaton left behind by the ancient elves to guard the Vault. The Heart was a frightening power of its own and it possessed a sharp, malevolent intelligence.

  Had the ancient elves built the Vault to protect the Heart… or to protect Aegis from it?

  His HUD blinked at the edge of his vision, like even the System didn’t really want to be here for this.

  It rose like a tide in reverse, spiraling up toward the platform. Gold and silver braided together, laced with veins of that wrong, moon-burn black. As it climbed, it took shape: not a simple crystal this time, but a floating, asymmetrical mass of faceted stone and metal, three shattered rings orbiting it at broken angles.

  The Heart turned toward them.

  Greg didn’t know how he knew that. It didn’t have eyes. But some facet pivoted, some internal glow tightened, and he felt it focus. On him.

  HEART OF THE SHATTERED VAULT

  Target [Greg]

  Threat Assessment:

  Annoying (Current)

  Catastrophic (Potential)

  “Spread!” Greg yelled, feeling the boss’s gaze like an unwelcome grope.

  They moved. Instinct and class knowledge kicked in. Greg went front and center. Doran drifted to his right, shield side angled. Nars took the back arc. Violet and Elowen split left, close enough to cover each other but not close enough to get nailed by the same blast.

  The Heart pulsed.

  A line of silver light snapped out, faster than any arrow. Greg threw himself sideways; it skimmed past him and struck the platform. Where it hit, the light darkened, hardening into a jagged spike.

  HEART used LUNAR IMPALE.

  Effect: Creates Corrupt Spikes

  (no loitering)

  More lances followed, a stuttering pattern of shots that turned the platform into a rapidly crowding hazard zone.

  Nars darted between forming spikes, loosing an arrow that ricocheted off a rotating ring.

  Nars used Called Shot… (hit)

  HEART was hit for 9 piercing damage

  (reflected, mitigated).

  Doran took the direct approach. He charged a gap between spikes, boots skidding on the slick light-surface, and brought his axe down on one of the orbiting rings. Stone chipped away; a sliver of metal flew off in a spray of sparks.

  Doran used Stonebreaker Chop… (hit)

  Target: [Outer Ring Segment]

  Structural Integrity: –7%

  Doran grunted with the impact, shoulders bunching as the shock of the blow ran up his arms. He set his stance again automatically, already lining up the next strike. Out of the corner of his eye he checked Greg’s position and saw he was hovering near the front line; hovering near, but not committing.

  “Rage or no, we need the might of your blade, Greg!” The dwarf’s mouth tightened. “You can’t make anything right if we all die here. Clear your head. Fight!”

  Greg faltered. If his Giant Fucking Sword could have deflated like a crestfallen boner, it would have. “I’m just going to fuck it up, Doran. If I Rage again…”

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Violet cut in, eyes still locked on the monstrous Heart. “I’m 99.9% certain even you can’t make our current situation any worse, Greg. That’s not a challenge, by the way! Save your Rage, be smart. We just need to tire this thing out. Before it kills one or all of us. Do something!”

  A wave of gold flared outward, washing over the platform. It wasn’t heat exactly, but pressure, like being shoved back by sunlight. Greg dug his heels in.

  HEART used SOLAR REBUKE

  Effect: Pushback + Minor Radiant Damage

  Elowen threw her hands up, meeting the wave head-on. A soft, steady glow spilled from her palms, like dawn pushing back fog.

  Elowen used Minor Sun Aegis

  Effect: Radiant Damage –50%

  What about emotional damage? Greg wondered, pitifully.

  The worst of the shove softened. Greg staggered but didn’t go over the edge.

  Poor little murderer, wracked with such guilt, the Rage whispered, just behind his heart. I can make that go away. I can make anything go away.

  “Shut the fuck up,” Greg muttered, and charged instead.

  He slammed the Giant Fucking Sword into one of the Heart’s lower facets. The impact jarred his arms to the shoulder. Cracks spidered out along the surface—but then silver light poured into them, knitting the damage shut.

  Greg used Basic Attack… (hit)

  HEART was hit for 21 slashing damage.

  Self-Repair… (moderate)

  Net Damage: 8

  “Hit the rings first!” Violet shouted. “They’re protecting it!”

  She flicked something from her hand, a glass bead that shattered mid-air, unfolding into a lattice of crackling, golden lines that wrapped around one of the orbiting rings. The ring’s motion stuttered.

  Violet used Improvised Restraint Field

  Target: [Middle Ring]

  Rotation Speed: –60%

  The Heart lashed back. A beam of pure blackness snapped from its core, not toward Greg, but toward Violet.

  Greg saw it coming too late.

  Elowen didn’t.

  She lunged, shoving Violet sideways. The beam clipped her instead. Where it touched, the ward around her flared and screamed—not audibly, but in Greg’s bones. Elowen hit the platform hard, back arching in pain.

  HEART used UMBRAL PIERCE

  Target: [Elowen]

  Sun Ward Integrity: –65%

  Status Applied: [Moonburn II]

  Corruption accumulating

  “Elowen!” Greg took a step towards her.

  Another beam flashed past his cheek, forcing him to jerk back.

  “Focus!” Violet snarled, rolling to her knees. Her hair stood on end from static, eyes wild behind her goggles. “Stay on the offense! It can’t do damage if it’s dead!”

  She slapped a vial against her own thigh; it splintered, liquid soaking in and flaring briefly.

  Violet used Field Tonic: Conductive Overdrive

  Effect: Spell Potency +20%

  Self-Preservation Instinct –10%

  She thrust both hands toward the Heart, fingers spread. A tight column of compressed light shot from her palms, slamming into the same ring Doran had weakened. The metal glowed cherry-red, then white.

  Integrity: –40%

  (critical threshold nearing…)

  A shard of the ring blew free, tumbling off into the abyss.

  The Heart’s scream was less of a sound than a psychic skip in reality that made Greg’s balls ache. New cracks flickered along its core. More silver-black tendrils bled out, lashing for the nearest source of pain: Violet.

  The next volley came faster: three beams in a spread pattern.

  Nars yanked Violet down; two beams passed overhead. The third clipped her shoulder.

  Violet receives 18 necrotic damage.

  Status: [Corruption Stack +1] – Not Ideal

  She hit the platform hard, breath punching out of her.

  Elowen crawled toward her on hands and knees, jaw set against the way her own muscles spasmed from Moonburn. She pressed one trembling hand to Violet’s back.

  Warmth pushed outward, golden and stubborn.

  Elowen used Focused Mend (split cast)

  Targets: [Violet], [Doran]

  Effect: +Moderate HP, -1 Moonburn tick

  The Heart’s attention pivoted.

  Threat Table Updated

  Primary Targets:

  [Elowen]

  [Violet]

  Secondary:

  [Doran]

  Not Targeted:

  [Greg]

  [Nars]

  (minimal threat detected).

  Elowen braced, still kneeling, shoulders hunched over Violet.

  The marks on the Heart shifted, aligning into a pattern Greg hadn’t seen before. Gold and silver spiraled inward, black threading through them, converging on a single facet pointed directly at the two women.

  Ability Charging: ECLIPSE LANCE

  Target Lock: [Elowen] / [Violet]

  Interrupt Window: 2.0 seconds

  “Move!” Doran roared, lunging. Targeting was difficult in the patchy darkness; he was too far, too slow.

  Nars fired an arrow that burnt to ash mid-flight.

  Greg saw Elowen’s hand tighten on Violet’s shoulder. Saw the understanding in the small, tight line of her mouth.

  She’s not moving. She thinks she can take it.

  His HUD flickered.

  PROTECT ALLY OVERRIDE – CRITICAL

  Will trigger [PRIMAL RAGE]

  Proceed? [Y/N]

  Another choice. Choosing was getting exhausted. Rage has actually helped more than it’s hurt, Greg started telling himself. Aside from murdering Herman. The shortcut to the Heart. Withstanding the overload. It started to seem like a really good idea. But there was another item on the list.

  Triggering the apocalypse.

  [N]

  There had to be a smarter play. He may be a Barbarian, but he was actually pretty clever, back on Earth. A knack for unconventional solutions, born out of deep, profound laziness. It had served him well in his IT career.

  It reminded him of a quote,

  “I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.”

  -Bill Gates

  I’m going about this all wrong. This is a game, Greg reminded himself. It feels like life or death, but it’s just a boss fight in a game. So, think like a gamer.

  Do a Pro Gamer Move.

  Greg examined the Heart.

  BOSS CREATURE

  Vault Heart

  Race: Eldritch Construct

  Class: Monster

  Level: 7

  Vitality: 979 (999)

  Essence: 940 (999)

  Survive 3 rounds to reboot System.

  I ※or PRE ??S ME //UNVERIFIED?!

  He was hoping to reveal a weak spot, or an elemental weakness, but…

  That works.

  ?’s and ※’s raced through Greg’s vision and his arms went numb. For a moment, he saw nothing but bright light and was overwhelmed by the scent of stale air and alcohol.

  Then he woke up. He might have slept for a thousand years, but it was less than a second. A message awaited him.

  [Δ PERMISSIONS] ENGAGED

  WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!

  Then the feedback hit.

  The Heart’s already-cracked shell couldn’t take it. A fissure Doran had opened earlier split wide, racing across the surface. Gold, silver, and black all tried to rush through the same wound.

  HEART OF THE SHATTERED VAULT Integrity: 0%

  Boss Status: TERMINATED (?)

  System Status: Double-plus-ungood.

  The Heart shattered. The pressure blast of mixed radiance and corruption that punched outward in a ring, through the platform, through them, through the Vault itself.

  Greg felt something tear loose above, far above: chains breaking, seals failing.

  GLOBAL EVENT TRIGGERED: VAULT CASCADE

  Containment: Lost

  Corruption Output: Escalating

  Reset Option: Destroyed

  Light, stone, Greg and four very small, very breakable people were flung outward as the broken Heart’s scream ripped up through the world and out, toward the sky.

  "It has been said, never bring a knife to a gunfight, but what happens when you bring a gun to a sword fight?"

  Ozzy Irman had always considered himself something of an explorer. Never in all of his wildest dreams however did he think he'd end up in another world. Hell, he still hadn't made it to Yellowstone.

  But when the unthinkable happens, and he finds himself face down cheeks up in a swamp full of monsters he knows something has gone terribly wrong with life. Armed with nothing save his rapidly fraying wits and *cough* an arsenal of magical firearms *cough* he must eke out a place for himself in a world full of magic, corruption, and Gods.

  ?? Great for readers who enjoyed He Who Fights With Monsters, Vigil's Wrath, The Ten Realms Series, and other isekai/flintlock fantasy stories.