HC: Handyman | Ch. 171 - The Boss' Tune

It wasn’t just the tension in the air or the unease on their NPC ally’s face. Even the sound before a boss wave hit was different.

This one started with a scuttling noise. Faint at first but growing louder by the second. Jack frowned. It almost sounded like rain—light, rhythmic, an eerie trickle against the dirt. But beneath it, something else lurked.

A thunder-like beat.

His chest tightened. The sound threaded into his bones, vibrating in his ribs—a slow, deliberate rhythm.

“A-are those drums?”

No one answered. The sound swelled.

Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.

Then, the wave appeared. This time, it wasn’t all red fur. At the center, leading the charge, was a massive shape, its blue fur standing out like a beacon amid the sea of red. At first, Jack thought it was just a trick of the light, but no—the beast’s fur shimmered, almost metallic in its luster. 

The creature was huge—easily three times the size of a normal romie. Its muscles didn’t just bulge; they looked like they were trying to escape its own skin, veins snaking over them like writhing ropes.

Its ears were long and tufted, its incisors too big to fit inside its mouth. Unlike the rest of the romies, whose teeth were a sickly, chipped yellow, this one had a gleaming white incisor—so pristine it looked out of place. It was as if it was the only romie with money to visit a high-end dentist and get a whitening treatment.

The army surged forward, but the boss stopped. Rising onto its hind legs, it slammed its fists against its chest. The impact sent a low reverberation rolling across the battlefield—deep, steady, rhythmic.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Jack’s mind clicked. The beast had been pounding its own chest, its strikes carrying like war drums through the canyon.

Then, as the fortifications loomed into view, the boss reared up, muscles tensing, and slammed both fists into the ground with full force. The earth cracked apart. Dust exploded outward. Jack staggered, struggling to keep his footing. Pebbles skittered down the cliffs, shaken loose by the tremor.

Then came the shriek. Not just loud—shattering. A jagged, piercing wail that sliced through the cold air, drilling into Jack’s skull.

His fingers tightened around the ocarina. The others gripped their weapons.

The romie horde surged forward. They stormed the first siege line with a confidence Jack had never seen before. 

Christoff was the first to act, nocking an arrow and loosing it toward the foremost romie. The shot struck true. The creature shrieked, stumbling forward blindly—before another arrow silenced it.

Marie was right behind him. She hurled a bomb, the explosion booming through the mountain pass, shaking the ground beneath them.

Jack watched the damage numbers pop up and nodded, satisfied. The combination of his rich meal, the aged mead, the buffs from all the packages they’d unlocked, and the [Battle Charisma] aura skill had pushed Marie’s DPS to incredible levels. Without all these buffs, she would’ve needed four—maybe five—grenades to finish off a romie. Now, she could take them down in just three. The same was true for Christoff; he could bring one down with only two arrows.

Smoke billowed, dirt sprayed into the air, and a thick mix of gunpowder from Marie’s explosives and the musky stench of romies clung to the battlefield.

Seeing his team dishing out damage already, Jack pressed the ocarina to his lips and played.

You’ve played [March of the Embers].

Performance grade: B+

Effects: Your allies deal 12% more damage for 1 minute.

Marie’s bombs and Christoff’s arrows hit even harder. Jack barely had time to draw a breath before launching into another song. His fingers raced through arpeggios, notes tumbling in quick succession.

You’ve played [Tenderizing Repercussions].

Performance grade: C+

A percussive wave rolled through the battlefield, stunning the prehistoric squirrels for a split second.

Because of Jack, Marie, and Christoff, the wave lost some of its momentum—but it wasn’t enough to stop them. Wherever a romie fell, its companions trampled over its corpse, pressing the attack. There were just too many. The horde reached the first ditch in no time.

Amari and Horace guarded the ridge, cutting down any romies that managed to push past Marie’s attacks.

Jack caught movement from the corner of his eye—a romie had scaled the edge of the ditch. As it was about to lunge toward him, a hammer slammed into its side.

The beast plummeted back into the pit, limbs flailing. Horace didn’t even glance down—he was already swinging again.

“Jack, don’t stand so close to the ditch!” Amari shouted. His sword flashed as he parried a romie’s strike, then kicked its body into the pit. “Christoff, focus on finishing the stragglers Horace sends down to the ditch.”

Christoff adjusted immediately. His next arrow took down a limping romie mid-step.

“Horace! Watch for scalers! Jack! Don’t stop playing! Careful with the boss,” Amari added, his gaze locked on the hulking figure in the distance. “It’ll join the fray any minute now.”

Jack’s eyes snapped to the romie boss. Unlike the others, it hadn't charged in recklessly. It lingered at the rear of the battlefield, watching.

It sniffed the air. Suddenly, its ears twitched, and it turned sharply, fangs bared. A shriek tore from its throat—not an overwhelming battle cry, but something more desperate.

From the shadows, four Short-Faced bears emerged, drool spilling from their fanged maws.

For a split second, the advancing romies hesitated, their gazes darting toward the bears. Instinct kicked in. They remembered their place in the food chain.

But then, the blue romie pounded its chest and released another shriek—sharp, commanding. The hesitation shattered. The common romies surged forward.

With eerie calm, their leader gestured to the nearest romies, ordering them to storm the bears. As they threw themselves at the predators, its gaze shifted again, scanning the five defenders—until it locked onto Jack.

Jack’s breath hitched. Not just because it was looking at him. No, it wasn’t just looking.

The boss’s lips curled slightly, amusement flickering across its features. It raised a hand, flexing its fingers as if weighing something unseen.

A chill crawled down Jack’s spine.

The battlefield raged behind it—bears roaring, romies shrieking—but the boss barely spared the fight a glance. It had something else in mind.

With slow, deliberate steps, it approached a half-buried boulder. Clawed fingers curled around the massive stone, sinking deep into its rough surface like it was soft clay. The ground cracked as it wrenched it free, lifting the enormous weight without a hint of strain.

Jack’s stomach twisted. That… shouldn’t be possible.

Then, with an explosive burst of motion, the boss hurled the boulder.

Jack saw it leave its grip, saw it spinning midair, tearing through the wind like a meteor. But his body refused to move.

His mind screamed at him to dodge, to run—to do something. But his legs wouldn’t respond. The sheer force of the boss’s power had rooted him in place as if invisible chains had wrapped around his limbs.

Was it the effect of some skill? Then why had he received no notification? Was he just scared frozen? And why had it hurled the boulder at him from all people? Was it because he was the weakest link?

“Jack, move!”

A blur of yellow light slammed into him.

Horace.

His entire body glowed with a golden aura, his shield pulsing with an orange shimmer. Jack barely had time to gasp before Horace raised the shield, bracing as the boulder crashed into them.

The impact detonated like a thunderclap.

Jack felt his feet leave the ground. His stomach lurched as he and Horace were launched backward, the force ripping the air from his lungs. The world spun, dust and debris swallowing everything, and when they hit the ground, Jack’s vision blurred from the sheer force of the landing.

His HP had plummeted. Horace’s wasn’t much better, but his shield had taken the brunt of it. Jack forced himself to focus, blinking rapidly as he pushed himself up on shaky arms. He glanced at Horace’s shield—it was wrecked.

The shield’s once-solid form warped inward where the boulder had struck. Even with the Roach Mother’s dark shell buff reinforcing it, cracks ran along its edges.

Jack swallowed hard. That thing’s durability has to be dangerously low…

“T-Thanks, Horace,” he rasped, his voice rougher than he expected. His throat was dry, his breath still uneven. “I—I don’t know what came over me. I just—froze.”

Horace let out a long, deep breath as he rolled his shoulders, shaking off the hit. His fingers brushed over the battered shield, his expression tightening before he sighed. “Oof. Don’t worry about it.” He exhaled sharply, giving Jack a side glance. “But next time, dodge. You were lucky I was close.”

Jack nodded stiffly, forcing himself to his feet. Luck. That’s all it was. Luck. And he had a feeling it wouldn’t hold up again.

The boss wasn’t waiting for Horace and Jack to get back on their feet. Before they had even steadied themselves, another rock was already airborne—this time, aimed directly at Amari.

Jack barely had time to shout a warning, but Amari didn’t need one. He sidestepped effortlessly, never missing a beat as he continued cutting through the common romies. He barely even glanced at the incoming boulder.

The rock didn’t stop, though.

It crashed through the battlefield, smashing into hidden traps, snapping wooden stakes like twigs, and triggering explosives that erupted uselessly into the air. The chain reaction continued until the boulder finally tumbled into the second ditch with a deep, earth-shaking thud.

Jack saw the boss watching Amari, its lips pulling back into a sharp snarl. Amari’s nonchalant evasion had gotten under its skin, but instead of charging, it turned away—already moving toward another boulder.

Jack’s heart pounded.

The boss heaved up another massive rock and launched it—right at him.

Jack gulped, but this time, he didn’t freeze.

Dash!

His feet slammed against the ground as he sprinted out of the way. The boulder roared past him, a crushing mass of stone that obliterated everything in its path. More traps collapsed. More defenses fell. Jack’s eyes flicked toward the boss just in time to see its expression shift.

Smug. Satisfied.

Jack gritted his teeth. That's his real goal! It’s not just attacking us—it’s dismantling our defenses. It’s trying to clear the battlefield of traps ahead of time!

As if to confirm Jack’s fears, the boss shrieked and flung yet another boulder.

“Scalers!” Amari’s urgent shout cut through the battlefield.

Jack snapped his head up just in time to spot four red blurs streaking along the cliffside—fast, agile elite romies, leaping from rock to rock with unnatural speed. His stomach clenched.

Jack barely had time to track them. They bounded from cliff to cliff, their claws digging into rock, moving so fast they were almost a blur. Christoff fired at them, but they twisted mid-air, contorting their bodies to avoid the arrows. Marie’s bombs exploded behind them, missing their marks.

They were too fast. Too precise. Jack’s chest tightened.

How in the world were they supposed to pin down four elites at once?!

He wasn’t the only one who felt it. Amari and Horace were already moving, charging toward the walls in an attempt to intercept them. But even as they did, more common romies began climbing out of the ditch.

One lunged for Jack.

He barely had time to react before Christoff’s arrow whistled through the air, sinking into the romie’s. The creature collapsed mid-leap, its body tumbling back into the pit.

Jack’s gaze swept the battlefield—romies clambering over the edges of the ditch, Marie gritting her teeth as she hurled bomb after bomb, Amari and Horace racing to intercept the elites before they could break through the flanks.

They were dancing to the boss’s tune. It had orchestrated this.

Flying boulders. A clear field of traps. Four elites scaling the cliffs. A perfect storm.

The only question was whether they could survive it.

Ch. 170 - The One-Eyes and the Bears

INDEX

Ch. 172 - Metallic Sheen