“Fufufu! Hahaha! It’s alive, it’s alive!” I act like crazy, laughing and moving my hands around. “My newest and coolest monster. It’s alive at last! Hahaha!”

  If you’re wondering what I’m doing, it’s all an act. I’m perfectly sane and normal, this is just roleplay. And if the question on your mind is ‘What is he doing?’ instead of ‘Is he crazy?’, the answer is: I’m celebrating the creation of the third Hunter.

  Even after taking inspiration from the stars – I mean that literally –, it took me a while to finish. That’s because finding the perfect skills took time.

  “Behold and be amazed! It’s The Sun!”

  I kept the name the same as the initial idea because I liked it more than ‘star’. Calling it star would make it sound like it was the most important member of the Hunters, something I don’t fancy.

  All the Hunters are equal. Equal below me, I mean.

  In this status screen, there’s one thing that I’m sure immediately caught your attention. Yep, you’re right. The skew in favor of passive skills is brutal, especially when compared to triggered ones. There’s a reason for that, believe me. And that reason is…

  “...That it’s The Sun, hahaha!”

  Alright, alright… I’ll stop fooling around, though there’s a reason I said this.

  The sun – the real one, not my monster – is something you can’t interact with. You can climb a mountain or make a hole in it. You might be even able to cause a landslide. Similarly, you can cross a river, swim in it, etc…

  But the sun? What can you do to it? The most you can do is stare at it until it burns your retinas… or wait for it to burn you to a crisp when it engulfs the Earth and everything else on the planet.

  Haha, sorry for the grim vision, but it’s the reality we have.

  So, as I was saying, you can’t interact with the sun, nor the stars, for that matter, so I’ve reflected that on the skill choices. I’ve given The Sun a single triggered skill because it is required, and also because it fits perfectly with the theme; and two active skills, one for when it fights a single opponent and another when facing multiple opponents.

  Starting from the start, here are the two active skills.

  Do you remember when I was explaining how Sloth could build up the damage for the next attack or skill without a limit, as long as the unit didn’t move or attack? It doesn’t matter if you don’t because I’ve just reminded you.

  The important part is that it doesn’t say ‘instance’ of damage. This means a channeled skill like Searing Ray, or one that releases multiple projectiles like Starfall, receives the full benefit from it.

  By the way, you can’t control where the stars from Starfall end, but since you can control their spawn point, you can more or less aim them toward groups of enemies and guarantee a certain amount of damage.

  “Oh, man. Just imagining the damage from a fully channeled Searing Ray makes me salivate…”

  …let’s move on, or else, I can stay here all day.

  The next skill is the single triggered skill: Radiant Presence.

  Do I need to explain this one? It’s the sun. It blinds those who look at it for too long. Next skill, please.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  For the passive skills, I’ll start with those that don’t need too much of an explanation and go on to those that do. Let’s start with Expert Tracker and Too Gross to Look At. You already know the latter, and I’m sure you can guess what the former does.

  Too Gross to Look At is a skill that isn’t related to the concept of the sun or the stars, I know. But I thought it was required. Because The Sun is a member of The Hunters. It should have a way to help its teammates during a fight, even when standing still and doing nothing.

  I know it isn’t much, but it’s… something.

  As for the Expert Tracker, The Sun, thanks to its Hawk Transformation, will work as the team’s scout. I don’t know you, but I believe Expert Tracker is a perfect skill for that: to chase down the invaders once they’ve spotted that something is going wrong inside the laboratory.

  You’ve already seen In Flames and Fire Elemental working together before, in the Fiery Flies. But thanks to the stat difference, there’s such a stark contrast between the two units that you can’t compare them.

  More than a hundred damage per second is something most players can’t deal with.

  Furthermore, with the Fire Elemental upgrade, The Sun will heal for more than the damage it deals to itself. It’ll slowly regenerate, like a Troll! I’ve also changed the AI so that, in case of an emergency, before it dies, The Sun will use Searing Ray on itself instead of the enemy.

  “And here you have it, The Sun with all its splendor!”

  The only regret I have is that I couldn’t give it the skill called Wish. I mean, wouldn’t it fit perfectly with the concept of ‘The Sun, the closest star to Earth’?

  Oh, man. I wish I could give it Wish. It’s a shame it’s an exclusive skill for Champions.

  Oh, by the way. Wish is banned in PvP. For… well, for obvious reasons.

  “I’ll have to go with this.” I swallow my regrets and observe The Sun as it stands up from the operation table.

  Have you seen the Egyptian gods? They’re humanoids with animal heads, and The Sun looks somewhat similar to them. Of course, this is completely intentional. I mean, I couldn’t pass upon the fact that a hawk looks similar to a falcon, or that the most famous Egyptian god is related to the sun.

  The Sun has a basic human shape. The skin is blue, which comes from the Sleepyhead, but has several red patches that emit flames. The latter comes from the Pyris. But the head is that of a bird, and it also has large hawk wings on its back that look somewhat similar to those of angels. And finally, it has a tiny horn on its forehead. This, too, comes from the Sleepyhead.

  Oh, and thanks to In Flames, once combat starts, fire surrounds it from all sides.

  The next step is to make all the dungeon changes I planned, like adding the control room where The Hunters will spawn in the corridor next to the dungeon core, and adding The Sun to the dungeon.

  Now I have the tank, the sustained DPS, and the burst damage dealer. I wonder what will come next.

  “Fufufu! Hahaha!” I rub my hands together. I sit on the comfy chair in front of the giant screen and put the Octocat on the armrest. This time I don’t forget the virtual popcorn. “Now, to enjoy the show.”

  Two hours later.

  *Bump!*

  My fist crashes into the screen. It doesn’t hurt, nor does the screen break, because this is a game. But it isn’t like I didn’t try, I punched it countless times already. Tired of the fruitless effort, I decide it's time to stop keeping it inside.

  “This can’t be! No, no, nononono!” I pull the fur on my head. “No, no, no, nooooooo! It shouldn’t be like that! It’s all a lie! A lie, I say!”

  Like an angry baby, I shake my limbs around. Then I remember I’m a grown-up and perfectly sane adult and, instead, I stand up and start slamming my head onto the table.

  By the time my vision starts spinning, I’ve calmed down enough to recover my sanity.

  “Why? Just… why? Here I was, so excited to see the Hunter trio in action, but what I got… It can’t be true. I must be dreaming.”

  Just two players with weak Champions and no support mobs… The Hunters are my security guards! How the hell did those two players handle them as if they were a joke!?

  It shouldn’t be possible! I demand a reimbursement!

  “Haa… and there they go now, happily opening the door that leads to the dungeon core…” I grit my teeth, “...I should be enjoying the spectacle, and they should be the ones suffering. Why is it going the other way around?”

  What use are security guards for if they can’t catch a pair of cockroaches?

  Should I go and personally mess with them, to release my frustration? No, it isn’t a great idea. Given how easily they dealt with the Hunters, I’m at risk of humiliating myself. Once you join the defense of the dungeon, you can’t go back until either the dungeon owner or all the invaders die. It’s best if I pretend nothing happened and forget about the duo.

  This brings me to the next issue: I must find another victim to observe.

  No, no, don’t misunderstand. I’m not interested in the victim’s suffering, no. The reason I need another victim is that I must see The Sun in action as its creator. What kind of mad scientist would I be if I didn’t test my experiments?

  “Well, well, well…” I excitedly rub my hands together. “Who will be the first victim? Fufufu! Hahaha!”