Harem Online: My Party Is Full of Beautiful Celebrities-Chapter 28: Read The Script!

[I’ve found something.]

Chaosgraphy’s voice came through [Voice Chat], filling everyone’s ears at once. No warning, no soft lead-in, just her words coming through clear as a bell.

NukEncore jumped in place and pressed her palms to her temples. "Ugh! At least give me a ding before you speak!"

Martin shook his head with a warm smile.

Kill Clause’s voice followed a heartbeat later, steady and controlled.

[I’ll be back as soon as possible. Let’s head over to her location together.]

"Yeah. We’ll wait near the starting area," Martin said. He looked toward the forest, where flame crawled along bark and smoke rolled through the branches in thick waves.

Wooden wolves prowled at the edges of the haze, drawn in by the chaos. "It might be better if we move fast..."

[How’s our mage doing?]

Martin glanced back at the trees. "She can land normal fireballs easily, and they spread fast in this forest. But her aim slips when she tries to fuse them into Final Fireball..."

Chaosgraphy scoffed.

[Final Fireball? What’s next? Her hair will turn golden?] 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"I’ve done so much critical damage that I’m ahead of all of you!" NukEncore huffed, chin lifting. "Anyway, I’ll let you off the hook since you got the reference. Martin didn’t."

She shot her tank a disappointed look, then turned away like he’d personally offended her.

Martin narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, I don’t know what you two are talking about, but I used to dye my hair blonde back in school."

"Mmm." NukEncore sized up his face like she was appraising a purchase. "That’s more like it. Though black hair suits you better. But we could change your hairstyle."

Before she could rev up and start listing options, Kill Clause returned to the starting location and saved Martin from the incoming fashion lecture.

The trio followed Chaosgraphy’s tracks and ran deeper into the forest. Martin’s heavy gear weighed him down, and NukEncore’s shorter stride made her fall half a step behind.

Even so, they kept moving.

The scenery shifted as they went. Trunks thickened and rose like pillars, packed so tightly together that, in places, the forest looked like a wooden fortress wall.

Then the "wall" shuddered.

Bark split with a wet crack, and the surrounding trees trembled as if something inside them was waking up.

Wooden Bears peeled themselves off the thickest trunks, sap stretching in thin strings before snapping. A sharp resin stink filled the air, and dark knots in their bark blinked open like eyes. On two legs, they stood taller than adult humans, as if it took half a tall tree to make a single one.

Six of them surrounded the party.

NukEncore scurried behind Martin’s back. "I’m small, and I have short legs. Don’t let them touch me. You’ll never let anyone touch me, right?"

I knew her legs weren’t the only thing slowing her down.

Martin rolled his eyes, but his lips curved up. "If that makes you feel better, they have to go through me first."

"Say that you’ll never let anyone touch me! Meanie! At least read the script!" NukEncore pummeled Martin’s armor with her little fists.

Kill Clause wasn’t in the mood to let her bicker any longer. "Glance at the minimap, Martin. You should see my traps. I’m falling back to that lane, Pull them through it. I’ll wait for your signal."

On his minimap, small trap icons pulsed in a loose arc behind them, marking a narrow lane through the roots.

"Yeah. We’ll take them one by one," Martin replied, calm and confident.

His tone settled NukEncore immediately. She hadn’t expected monsters this huge on the first run, and she still hadn’t taken a real hit.

Martin’s defenses and battlefield control had kept her safe, but the bears looked like they could bulldoze through him if they got momentum.

At least, that was how it felt at first, as they circled.

But now? NukEncore was sure Martin wouldn’t let anyone touch her.

"Follow Clause’s steps," Martin said. "She set traps behind us, and I’ll drag them through. Don’t free-cast, wait for my call, then line up your Final Fireball."

"M’kay!" NukEncore replied, turning.

One of the Wooden Bears moved to intercept.

It dropped to all fours and thundered toward her, each impact vibrating through the ground like a drum.

The thing was so loud and massive that NukEncore forgot the plan and raised her hands to cast fireballs in pure reflex.

Martin’s voice cut through the forest. "THREAT!"

The bear’s head snapped to the side, and it veered toward him instead, its attention snapping to him.

"That’s your window. Use it!" Kill Clause called from afar.

She’d already taken a safe route back to where she’d laid out her traps. NukEncore used the same path, hugging it like a lifeline, then planted herself beside Clause and waited for the best moment to cast.

Chaosgraphy’s voice came through again.

[Joints on their legs are their weakest points.]

"That’s good to know," Martin replied as he readied his shield.

An arrow whistled in and hit the Wooden Bear closing in behind him square in the head, stunning it mid-step.

Nice assist, Clause.

Threat held it for three seconds. That was enough.

Martin could force the bear in front to commit, while the other already had no choice but to focus him. He stepped past the stunned monster, pulling the two in front after him.

The bears were fast.

One was already on him, and it brought its paws down like a falling log.

Martin raised his shield.

DING!

[Perfect Block!]

The impact shuddered up his arm as the bear’s paws skidded off the shield’s face.

Let’s push my luck further.

His sword blade lit up with a golden hue. He thrust forward decisively, aiming for the recoiling bear’s joint.

He missed and struck its wooden frame instead, but the impact still sent a web of cracks spreading across the limb. The fractures spiderwebbed from the joint-knot and raced down the lower limb in jagged lines.

[Solitary Edge (Rare): A decisive forward cut (up to 5m) that deals 160% Weapon Damage. If there’s no party member around the user, the damage is increased by 60% and each thrust grants 15% Attack Speed for 5 seconds.]

Attack Speed mattered even for a guardian. It didn’t just make his strikes quicker; it let him reset faster.

His sword came back to guard position sooner, and his shield followed just as another Wooden Bear angled for a gap in his defense.

DING!

[Perfect Block!]

Martin met the monster’s gaze.

"I’ve taken plenty of beatings from wolves," he said, voice steady, "but I’m not alone today. You’re not touching my teammates, especially the fire one. She really doesn’t want you near her."

He smirked and shield-bashed the bear in the face.