The Mad Rat’s Lab Ch 124 – Second time around

“So… why exactly am I here?”

“You’re here because I asked if you wanted to play with and you imdiately agreed,” I reply.

Her eyebrows twitch for a mont, then, she furrows and starts massaging her temples.

“I know that… What I an is why am I here, in this dungeon.” She makes a gesture with her hand as if to encompass everything in our vicinity. “Why did you have to drag here of all places!?”

“Oh, co on! Don’t be like this! It’s you who made pick the dungeon, so you can’t complain now.”

“Ugh… why didn’t I choose instead… Why did I bother offering you to choose…?”

“Also… it’s because of you.” I suddenly point at her with my finger.

She flinches at my action. “? I didn’t do anything!”

“But you did… Rember the last ti we ca here? You broke through everything so fast, you couldn’t experience most of it…”

“This and that are different things!” Her eyes start swimming around. She knows I’m right, but she won’t ever admit it. “I’m sure you’re only doing this for him, and don’t care about at all…”

She turns around and crosses her arms in annoyance.

I suspect she’s pretending, but I’m not sure. What can I do? I don’t want our relationship to return to how it was before…

I don’t want to be alone anymore…

Hesitating, I bring my hand closer to her. Should I grab her shoulder, or should I not? I don’t know… the only way I know to show affection is to act cute and clingy, like a pampered little sister.

No, I can’t continue like this!

I’m an adult now! I need to shake off my doubts! And this is the perfect chance to do so, when will I find a better situation than this? She’s my sister!

I shake my doubts and hug her from behind.

“That’s not true,” I whisper right next to her ear. “I wanted to co with you. But it wouldn’t be fair for him if you didn’t experience his dungeon properly, don’t you think?”

“Is that so…? Ugh, ok… I won’t complain about the dungeon anymore… But this doesn’t explain why I have to use this weak Champion. Why can’t I use my main? And why can’t I bring any of my good support mobs with !?”

Still not happy, she throws another complaint at .

Hehehe, how cute. She’s trying very hard to dissimulate it, but anyone who knows her will recognize she’s extrely flustered right now.

I can see a shadow of fear deep in her eyes. Fear of ssing it up because of our brother’s unexpected traps and absurd sches.

“Didn’t I just tell you?” I explain in a subdued tone. I don’t want her to get angry at . “It’s because you brought so much power the last ti that you couldn’t asses his dungeon properly. It wasn’t fair, and you know it. So now, we’re going to do this again, but without him being present.”

“Ugh… Fine… I’ll do it… B-but after this, you’ll have to accompany to another dungeon, ok? And I’ll be the one choosing this ti!”

“Yay! Sure thing!”

I can’t contain my happiness and start skipping, following the path to the dungeon’s entrance.

I was afraid I could ss this up and she wouldn’t like anymore, but it worked out! I’m so happy! So… relieved!

“Hey sis,” I say. “Can you tell which champion are you using? Is it from the Divine Blood faction?”

“Yes, it is. And please, don’t call sis… it’s weird.”

Oh, shit. Did I screw it up? “Then… how do I call you? Makarel…? I think it was the na you were using in the tournant…”

“No, no! That’s even worse!” She waves her hand in denial. “I was only using that na to see if you would recognize it. But none of you two did…”

W-what can I do? She’s getting depressed because we didn’t recognize her!

“I-I was very small,” I say, trying to fix the situation. “Also… we stopped playing soon after because you were too busy with your friends…” I believe my eyes glazed over for an instant.

“You’re right, it’s all my fault…” She drops her head in sha.

Ah, shit! In the end, I did screw up! I didn’t want to make her depressed!

“I-it’s a thing of the past, the past!” I insist. Then, I grab her shoulders and gently shake her. “Let’s forget about it, ok? So… how do you want to call you?”

She seems to recover a little from her regrets as she stares directly at my face.

“Anthemia. Call Anthemia. This is my nickna, after all… The one and only Anthemia! One of the top players in the whole world! Hahaha!” She proudly sticks her chest out as she strikes it a few tis.

“Ok!” I nod.

I didn’t recognize my sister during the tournant, I only recognized her when I was spectating her fight against our brother during the tournant. But I’ve been the most devout follower of Anthemia since I learned she was my sister.

Maybe… maybe it was because I yearned to restore our relationship. But I was too afraid to express my feelings, afraid she would reject .

“And how do you want to call you?” She asks.

“You can call Lemon. It’s what our brother and every mber of the League of Evil calls .”

“So Lemon it is.”

We’re about to reach the entrance to the cave when I rember she didn’t answer one of my questions.

“Ah… you didn’t tell which role you want to play.”

“lee damage dealer. Always. Why do you even bother asking? You should know it by now.”

“Hehehe…” A dry laugh escapes from my mouth.

Why didn’t I expect it already? She’s always been like this: aggressive, and wanting to be in charge of everything.

It’s also her best position. Almost no DMA player can compare to her when it cos to this role. It’s no wonder she’d want to be a lee damage dealer today too.

As soon as we reach the big cavern, we notice it isn’t the sa as before.

I’ve co here a few tis, so it’s no wonder I recognize the changes. But it surprises that Marta notices the changes as soon as I do. She’s only been here once.

Marta observes everything, trying to capture every detail before turning her head in my direction.

“It looks different,” She says. “It has a similar environnt… there are the sa giant and glowing mushrooms, as well as the gummy geckos, but everything seems bigger. The silence gives goosebumps, compared to the previous cries.”

It looks like she’s still on edge. Usually, as Anthemia, she wouldn’t get anxious for sothing as insignificant as that.

I nod. “You’re right, it’s clearly different.” I point at a certain point. “And look there, it’s as if the area is now divided into smaller caverns.”

“Yes, I already noticed. Do you think he only changed the layout, or also the monsters? Did he make all the changes we discussed the other day, already?”

“I don’t know,” I reply.

I don’t say it out loud, but knowing Andreu, I’m sure he got tired of waiting and only did a part of the changes he planned. I don’t know how far he went, but I’m sure we’ll soon find an area that’s still the sa as before.

I’m sure that, sooner or later, he’ll make the remaining changes; it’s just that he doesn’t have the patience to wait until he can make them all at the sa ti.

“We don’t know what awaits us, so get ready. Anything can happen.” Marta gives orders. “Follow , I’ll lead.”

“Sir, yes sir!” When I reply, she furrows her eyebrows and turns around, ignoring . Why? I’m just trying to be funny to make her like more. “But are you sure? I know the dungeon better, and you’re using a weak Champion now, one you’re not used to…”

“Ha, ha, ha! As if sothing like that could stop !” Walking in front of , Marta loudly proclaims. “You’ll see. Even with this weak Champion and no useful support mobs, I’ll crush everything in our way! The sa as our previous ti here!”

“I’m sure you will!” I agree with her, but I’m not so sure.

This ti she won’t be able to crush everything with stats alone and will be forced to show her actual skills. As an Anthemia fan, I’m looking forward to it.

Also, this will be the first ti since forever I’ll see a match between my brother and sister.

I rember when we were kids and they bickered all the ti, but they never stopped competing for who could beat the other at gas. Usually, it was Marta who started everything, and Andreu always accepted any challenge.

Then, she would complain about how unfair it was, that he wasn’t supposed to do whatever he was doing. It was very funny, because he would always win, but only against Marta. Against anybody else, the victor was always Marta instead.

It was then that I secretly started calling him ‘evil mastermind’. Because he always had a diabolically complex plan, ready to beat our sister with it.

Those were fun tis.

It’s a sha the Evil Mastermind himself isn’t here with us today. If I told him and Marta discovered I told him, she would surely leave. The only thing I can do now is to force one of their matches, even if one of them isn’t present. Invading The Mad Rat’s Lab will be enough.

Hehehe, if Andreu discovered it was who started using the Evil Mastermind nickna in the forums…

As far as I know, he doesn’t like that na very much, saying he never planned even a quarter of the stuff that happens inside his dungeon. He’s split between not deserving that title and being bothered due to the high expectations it generates.

Oh, and recalling stuff he doesn’t like, I’m sure he never expected to pick the Abyss as my faction. He doesn’t know I picked this faction on purpose; because I knew he didn’t like them! Hehehe!

The Abyss’ monsters, cute? So of them are cute, sure, with their tiny tentacles and weird mouths. But I’ll never put them as the ‘cutest’. The slis, with their jiggly, jelly-like shapes are a lot cuter.

But I still picked the Abyss because, with them, I can playfully scare and tornt him!

I’m not afraid of him leaving because of this; he’s the only one who truly understands , and the only one who never abandoned .

Apart from my parents, of course. But it isn’t the sa, our relationships are too different.

I stop reminiscing about the past and refocus on the current situation.

Right now, Marta is leading the way, scouting ahead of and our support mobs. We don’t know anything about the changes Andreu did, so we’re treading slowly, making sure to not fall into any traps or ambushes.

So far, we’ve only encountered two Goblimps, which Marta quickly dispatched. Now that she’s not using her Seraphim Champion and is acting seriously, to , she looks more powerful instead of weaker.

Although it’s true, she’ll never admit she committed such blunders the other ti because Andreu was watching and taunting her.

“Look there,” Marta approaches and points to our right. “Did you see anything like that before?”

I look in that direction and see a clearly unnatural rock. It’s more than two ters tall, and with a bit of imagination, it resembles a human. It doesn’t have distinctive features, but it’s certainly suspicious.

And there’s another one that looks very similar, a few ters from the first.

“No, it’s the first ti…” I say. Ah, I know! It’s the perfect ti to act cute and silly once again! “...how suspicious! Let’s inspect it up close!”

“Wait, you fool! Who knows what extrely dangerous trap he must’ve prepared!”

She tries to stop , but I ignore her and leave her behind. With no other option left, she’s forced to run after , trying to catch up.

“What are you doing to do if you fall for one of his nefarious plots!? N-no, don’t touch it! I’m too far to protect yo– So you touched it, huh?”

“Don’t worry, nothing happened!” I happily tell her. “It’s just a rock!”

“*Sigh* Still, why do you always do these kinds of things?”

“Hehehe!” Instead of answering, I put one hand behind my head and chuckle, acting as cute as possible.

Why did I jump ahead? It’s because I was sure this wasn’t a trap. Contrary to you, I know Andreu and his traps very well, sister.

This rock was too evident, and too close to the entrance. This is clearly one of his false traps, one that will make you lower your guard the next ti you encounter the sa rock, but that one will be another fake that will make you believe they’re just rocks so you end up falling for the real trap in the future!

Convoluted, I know. Although it’s easy to understand once you understand it. But I’m not going to tell her, to maintain my silly image.

Sigh, I’m ashad, my dear sister. How could you not see sothing so evident…? Aren’t you the pro? How could I see it, but not you?

Hehehe, don’t worry, I’m not blaming you, it’s clear it’s because you’re weak to Andreu’s sches. I’m sure you would have seen any other player’s sches before I did… it’s just you can’t do anything against him.

Don’t worry, Marta! Your little sister will protect you today! Hehehe! And then you won’t want to leave my side ever again!

“Nothing happened, so I won’t say anymore. But please, stop doing this in the future, Lemon.”

“Sure thing, Anthemia!” I make sure to stick my tongue out. “Hehehe!”

“It isn’t weird for a whole Dungeon Invasion to end in failure because of a single mistake. An impulsive player, a trap you didn’t see on ti, an ambush, or even a missed skillshot. If you don’t want surprises and take this seriously, you should try to minimize those factors the best you can.

This is why I especially recomnd avoiding those players who can’t contain their urges and do random stuff. If you plan on succeeding, drop them before they make you drop to the ground, dead.”

- A tip from a professional DMA player to newer players.