Jumping online in a game like Elden Ring can often lead to some strange encounters, from being put up against powerful invaders, to finding summoning hosts who are dressed in only a pot and underwear. However, other instances can lead to joining another player's world while Elden Ring copes with a glitch that messes with the ways bosses are meant to be interacted with.
In a clip that has recently been shared on the Elden Ring subreddit, this originally appears to be what is happening as a player is summoned into the hallway leading to Malenia. It makes for an odd effect that has a slightly more mundane explanation when looking at how the host might have been able to cause the boss to appear in the wrong area.
The short video initially shows the original poster, Reddit user AbdullahHariri, having been summoned as a Furled Finger in the hallway of Elden Ring's Haligtree dungeon that leads to the boss fight against Malenia. However, the boss isn't behind the fog wall as she should be. Instead, Malenia is standing in the hall with the host and three Furled Fingers. Furthermore, she doesn't respond at all, whenever any of the players or the host gets close or attacks the boss, allowing them to walk up and emote or swing their weapons as they wish.
As has been pointed out by other fans commenting on the original post, this is likely due to the host having used a Cheat Engine to mod Malenia outside the fog wall. According to AbdullahHariri, the strangeness extended beyond Malenia appearing in the hall, as not only did the host summon more Furled Fingers than usually allowed, but there was also an invader waiting in the boss arena. Given the several aspects of the story, and the lack of a name for the host, the most likely explanation is that Malenia being out in the hall is simply a result of modding Elden Ring to summon the boss in the wrong area.
It can sometimes be fun to find the various glitches in Elden Ring, either killing bosses in a heartbeat or causing Torrent to fly through the air. However, with the modding community able to keep the Cheat Engines more and more stable, it can sometimes be difficult to tell what is a genuine glitch and what is a player messing with the code. Either way, the result can be funny, as bosses behave awkwardly and players are unknowingly pitted against enemies they might not expect.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.