Chapter 498: Father, Were You Playing Me Before?! (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

Although he was called a despicable outsider, Song Ren was thoroughly enjoying himself.

Regardless of whether he's despicable or not, I just ask: did he defeat this BOSS or not?!

He did, so that's all that matters!

To be safe, carrying the Blood Echoes obtained after defeating the BOSS, Song Ren returned to the Doll via the lamp.

Looking at the Doll before him, Song Ren couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

As expected, Mr. Chen truly understands them, the players.

Look at this beauty, it's superb!

It was just a pity that the Doll didn't have many lines of dialogue.

Moreover, compared to the Fire Keeper, who also existed as a doll, she lacked a sense of vitality.

Furthermore, the entire Hunter's Dream, unlike the previous Dark Souls, didn't add new NPCs.

There was only an old man in a wheelchair and the Doll who helped him level up.

As for the old man in the wheelchair, he was sometimes there, sometimes not; Song Ren wondered what an old man who was already in a wheelchair was doing running around everywhere.

While sighing with emotion, Song Ren increased his health.

As a veteran Souls player, technical skill was secondary for now; his theoretical knowledge, however, was solid.

In the early game, during the first playthrough, other stats weren't important; the priority was to level up health and stamina. As for the rest, just enough to wield a weapon was fine.

With the Doll's voice, Song Ren looked at his increased health bar and immediately felt much more comfortable.

Finally, from a small pipe, it became a large pipe.

Afterward, Song Ren went to the Hunter's Workshop on the second floor. Using the fragments he'd picked up from fighting the spearmen-werewolves and in the sewers, his Hunter Axe could now be reinforced to +1.

With over five hundred more Blood Echoes, Song Ren went to the central Messengers, preparing to exchange them all for Molotov Cocktails.

However, he noticed a new weapon had appeared: the Church Hammer, priced at 3000 Blood Echoes.

But Song Ren currently had no Blood Echoes left, and having just reinforced his Hunter Axe, he wasn't particularly interested in this hammer.

Of course, the more important point was that this hammer was indeed quite ugly, but it was also ugly!

After making his preparations, Song Ren once again teleported back to the lamp at the bridgehead via the gravestone. There were still many places he hadn't had time to explore.

The large gate on the bridge was impassable, clearly missing some crucial item.

So Song Ren left again in the direction he had come from. However, at the crossroads, Song Ren very kindly opened his notebook and left a message there.

'Make good use of Oil Urns, Molotov Cocktails'

This was also a major feature of the Souls series games: leaving messages on the ground for subsequent players.

Of course, some were kind, while others were rather mischievous.

And Song Ren was clearly not the kind of person to leave mischievous messages, as he knew the desperate experience some ordinary players had when first entering a Souls-like game.

After all, not every player, like him, had grown into a seasoned Firelinker who had endured countless battles.

No, in Bloodborne, he should be called an Old Hunter.

Thinking of this, Song Ren smiled.

Having just defeated a BOSS, his confidence could be said to be at MAX level.

He ambled along for a while, and through a ladder at the end of the sewer, Song Ren climbed up to a new area.

Here was also a shortcut; an elevator could lead back to the first-floor platform, the place where the two Brick Wielders had made him lose his Blood Echoes.

On the bridge, there was a group of Yharnam Patrol Squad members.

But before Song Ren could act, as they walked to a position not far from him, a large fireball suddenly rolled in from the far end of the bridge, instantly crushing this group of Yharnam villagers to death.

“Holy cow! Is this a tribute to Dark Souls' Wyvern Bridge? Instead of breathing fire, it's rolling fireballs?” Song Ren barely dodged the fireball with a roll, feeling a lingering fear.

After that, it took some effort to take down the Brick Wielders and two werewolves, before Song Ren arrived at Oedon Tomb.

But the moment his footsteps entered Oedon Tomb, Song Ren's heart skipped a beat.

Because he found his character uncontrollable, and an eerie BGM suddenly started playing.

This atmosphere, is this damn thing going to be a BOSS battle?!

But where's the lamp?

How come he didn't see a lamp before the BOSS area?

In that instant, Song Ren panicked.

Having a lamp before a BOSS battle, wasn't that a tradition of Souls-like games?

How come in Bloodborne, the lamp was gone?

At least let him convert his accumulated wealth into combat power!

One should know, throughout his exploration, he had already accumulated a massive 'deposit' of over 6000 Blood Echoes.

While Song Ren was in distress, the in-game camera shifted to a corner of the graveyard.

He saw a Hunter, gripping a Hunter Axe in his hand, ceaselessly swinging the axe to hack at a corpse.

With each fall of the axe, blood splattered from the fragmented corpse.

Upon closer inspection, it was vaguely discernible that a werewolf's corpse lay beneath his feet, but not one of the larger type; its limbs and body still largely retained a human appearance.

‘The streets are teeming with beasts…’

‘You’ll eventually become like them too…’

As if sensing someone's presence, the Hunter stopped swinging his axe.

Slowly, he turned, casting his gaze towards the graveyard entrance.

His grim face and those large yellow teeth made Song Ren tremble.

However, once he saw clearly, he showed a surprised expression.

“Hey! Isn't that the little girl's father, Father Gascoigne? Is this a story BOSS battle?!”

“You and I were just fighting side-by-side through thick and thin not long ago, and now you treat me like this? You traitor!” Song Ren immediately recognized the BOSS before him, who was none other than the NPC he had previously summoned.

First letting players fight alongside NPCs, and then making players kill their former comrades with their own hands, striking a blow to the players' hearts?

Is this another one of Mr. Chen's schemes?

But this time, Mr. Chen, you've miscalculated!

Although this Father 'Big Bro' in front of him had helped him before, honestly, even if he killed him, Song Ren felt no psychological burden.

After all, the guy hadn't said a single word from beginning to end, and he was also a bit homely.

“Come on! Let me see if your damage as a BOSS is still as 'touching' as before.” Song Ren switched to his axe and charged forward.

And the most profound impression this BOSS had left on Song Ren was its pathetic damage.

‘Bang!’

What Song Ren didn't expect was that the moment he charged forward, Father Gascoigne immediately raised his left hand and fired a shot at him.

The Quicksilver Bullet shot from the gun barrel flew towards Song Ren, splattering directly into his face.

“Holy cow! Despicable Yharnamite! How dare you use a gun without martial ethics, and this damage... were you playing me when we fought the Cleric Beast before?!”

Song Ren, seeing a third of his health bar gone from a single shot, was stunned. What kind of ghostly damage was this, and it was just a gun attack!?

(End of Chapter) <>