ã€ŠShangriLa Frontier ~ Shitty Games Hunter Challenges Godly Game ~ã€‹


 Chapter 1: Why Do You Play Games In The First Place?

    <h4>Chapter 1: Why Do You y Games In The First ce?</h4>

    The Evil God Gratonie, who captured and enved the spirit from around the world, falls dead to the ground.

    A huge wave of light gets scattered all around the world as if set free by some kind of explosion. There is also a girl who looks at me with tears of joy running down her cheeks. She smiles at me.

    ¡¸Ahh, the Spirits are being released¡­¡­ The colors are returning to the world¡­¡­ Thank you very much¡­¡­!!¡¹

    Now that I think about it, it was surely a long journey. As various memories scroll through my mind and fill my chest with pleasant warmth, I leap into the air in the universal gesture of victory.

    ¡¸Finally, I beat your sorry ass~~~!!!¡¹

    I use the Fighting Skill ¡°Punishment Drop¡±, a skill that for some strange reason (or a really specific setting) was mandatory to have if you wanted to defeat the true form of the Last Boss in this game, to hit the girl straight in the face¡­¡­ The girl, Fucking Bitch ¡°Fairlia¡± (or the Heroine as some people would call her) is sent into the air while spinning magnificently.

    However, since that was a story cutscene ying right now the girl suffered no damage whatsoever. The story progresses to its finale and the way it was doing that could only be described as the horror mixed with a nostalgia trip. There were some grand scenes unfolding apanied by pompous BGM ying, a mixture that only total masochistic perverts would want to sit through until the very end.

    ¡¸Why is it that the only weapon that¡¯s capable of damaging the Last Boss hits like a wet noodle!? It takes three times as long to do some decent damage using this thing! Even unarmed does more damage than that! Isn¡¯t that weird that such a joke weapon is required to kill the boss in the first ce!? And Fairkus, where did you go, you useless support!? Why are you even here if you¡¯re not doing anything!? Begone from this house, evil spirits begone from this house!!! Or salt you shall get!!!¡¹

    ¡¸It surely was an arduous journey, but travelling with everyone was certainly fun¡­¡­!!¡¹

    ¡¸You call this fun!? The whole scenario and the side quests were all centered around you!? Isn¡¯t that weird!?¡¹

    The game more often than not made me want to throw my controller against the wall, so I don¡¯t know about calling this ¡°fun¡±. But since I was apletionist and started the game, I wanted to see this through to the end.

    ¡°Fairlia Chronicles Online ~Prayer of the Spirit Princess ~¡± is the remake of the blockbuster RPG game that was released in the early days of VRRPG, and if I had to describe it in one sentence I would call it the epitome of a ¡°Sh*tty Game¡±.

    This is by no means an exaggeration on my end. The NPCs are t and their dialogues are boring. The Mobs are just your generic monsters and demons without any spin to them. Not to mention bugs like the party members who cast recovery magic on the enemies or use the elemental attacks against the enemies who embody said elements.

    About ny percent of the storyline can be described using the following form: ¡°The Heroine presents the yer with some sort of a problem. Heroine somehow manages to make the problem even worse than it was. Somebody important dies because of it. yers solves the problem. Somehow it all turns out to be the working of the Evil Gods. Defeat the Evil Gods and restore peace to the world.¡± Of course, along the way you will also learn that the Heroine is somehow connected to the Last Boss and the True Evil it usually represents.

    Then there are also your typical game clich¨¦s such as: traps that explode every single time you walk through a tile corresponding to it, pitfalls right before the Last Boss chamber, the Last Boss that has three additional phases and forms to his fight if the Heroine is in the party (without her there would be only one phase and a different, ¡°Normal¡± ending to be seen) etc, etc. ¡­¡­ So many bugs. It¡¯s kinda funny, because that¡¯s exactly how the offline era used to be.

    If there was any redeeming quality this game had to it, it was the fact that in the span of three minutes in between beating the Last Boss and credits rolling, you could attack the Heroine however you like without any real consequences. It was sort of hidden gem like that. By the way, this secret scene (called ¡°The Most Rewarding Three Minutes Ever¡±) was only avable to you if you¡¯ve defeated the boss with the favor meter maxed out for the Heroine, which was only possible if you¡¯vepleted every single side quest that was in the game. Another oddly specific function that only the biggest of Massive Masochists could force themselves to aplish.

    Sudden difficulty spikes of encountered enemies. Sh*tty scenario. Bugs which sometimes could make gamey unbearable. ¡°Fairlia Chronicles Online¡± had all of the above elements of the unholy trinity of game development, which in turn earned it apletely new title in some circles: ¡°Sh*t Chronicles Online¡±. I managed to withstand ten whole days with it before eventually wanted to stop ying, but then I decided to suffer through the rest of it and eventually cleared it in the next twenty four hours. After that my mind was full of the strangest mixture of feelings, like exhration mixed with relief.

    For example, it was like serving your sentence in jail and being able to leave after a few years, only to be able to see the vast blue sky stretching before your eyes without being surrounded by high walls.

    It was like being able to find the long lost contact lenses that you dropped somewhere in the middle of the vast desert¡­¡­

    There is only one thing I can say with utmost certainty.

    ¡¸I¡¯m not ying such a sh*tty game ever again!¡¹

    I proim something like that while watching the end credits rolling in front of my eyes, all the while feeling a certain kind of aplishment spreading through my chest.

 Chapter 2: Shitty Games Maniac Challenges Godâ€™s Game

    <h4>Chapter 2: Sh*tty Games Maniac Challenges God¡¯s Game</h4>

    After I clear any kind of sh*tty game, for a while after the fact I feel like I can forgive most of the things that people would normally never forgive.

    It¡¯s that kind of forgiveness that would respond with a smile and a nod of the head to the teacher who was preaching his usual rant ¡°I know that it is Summer, but don¡¯t do anything crazy out there!¡± as he assigns a sh*tload of homework to be done over the Summer vacation. At least he was consistent in his rants and didn¡¯t jump from subject to subject like some other educators would do in a situation like that. It was just like a certain character from a certain sh*tty game that wouldn¡¯t hesitate so ughter people in thousands if it only meant being able to save the world.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ That¡¯s why, even though I know you are excited to make your Summer debuts, don¡¯t forget to study and be ready for the next semester. Right, that¡¯s it! Dismissed!¡¹

    Hearing those magical words, a group of zombies that was the ss until that point was revived, seemingly regaining their vigor and energy. The ss fills with friendly chatter.

    It¡¯s finally summer vacation, so let¡¯s go somewhere.

    This year¡¯s summer is the most important one!

    I am going on a trip with my boyfriend.

    I am definitely going to get myself a girlfriend this year!

    You can hear all the Normies talking about their ns for this Summer, and other things as well.

    (¡­¡­ Now then, whatever should I do during this year¡¯s Summer vacation?)

    Last year¡­¡­ I¡¯ve managed to spend the whole of my important first year high school Summer vacation by myself, doing nothing else but ying sh*tty games. And while I was fine with spending my three years of high school ying sh*tty games, no matter what they are, maybe it would be a good idea to y something else, just to have a change of pace from time to time?

    (¡­¡­ Oh well, I¡¯ll stop by the usual ce on my way home and maybe I¡¯ll decide after having a look around.)

    I decided to visit my favorite game store on my way back home, since I haven¡¯t been there for a while since I was so busy with conquering ¡°Sh*t Chronicles Online¡±. So I picked up my bag and exited the ssroom.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    I didn¡¯t even notice that there was someone staring at me.

    What exactly are the sh*tty games? If you were to ask me, someone who has conquered a huge amount of said games, I would say that they are some ¡°reasons¡± that define them.

    I say that because there are a number of factors when ites to sh*tty games that aren¡¯t dependent on yer¡¯s skills, such as story, bugs, system, and so on.

    In that respect, the games that have overly high difficulty levels to them are also sh*tty games in their own right.

    ¡­¡­ Well, I guess that ¡°Sh*t Chronicles Online¡± had its own share of unreasonable things and stupid mechanics. Some of them rather huge and unbelievable. So there¡¯s that.

    In that regard this game here can be said to be an absolute opposite of a sh*tty game, a God¡¯s game with no ws whatsoever.

    ¡¸ShanFro, huh¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Oi, oi, now won¡¯t you look at that! A Sh*tty Games Hunter is going for something other than usual? Is the world going to end by tomorrow or what?¡¹

    I turn around with the package in my hand, and I could see the owner of the store looking at me curiously. I was always buying games in this store, so we knew each other well enough to even engage in friendly chatter from time to time.

    ¡¸Well, I suppose so¡­¡­ After clearing ¡°Sh*t Chronicels Online¡± I feel like I¡¯ve had it with sh*tty games for a while¡­¡­ So I thought I might as well y somethingpletely opposite for a change, since it is Summer and all that.¡¹

    ¡¸Eh, you really cleared ¡°Sh*t Chronicles Online¡±? I¡¯ve heard that it would take at least two hours for a solo yer to beat the Last Boss alone!¡¹

    ¡¸Please, I beat him in less than thirty minutes with a weapon that was hitting like a wet noodle.¡¹

    ¡¸Talk about a legendary aplishment. Anyways, Hizutome-kun, congrattions on clearing the game.¡¹

    This game shop here, ¡°SHOP ROCK N ROLL¡± has a lot of hidden gems when ites to games they offer.

    With the Full Dive VR games bing mainstream, the normal games are bing more and more retro. But the VR technology was still rtively young, and this here game is said to be like a glittering star amongst the dark sky of every other VR game out there. When ites to games, about fifty percent of them are nothing but sh*tty games, forty percent are perfectly normal, and about ten percent are Godly. It¡¯s only natural that even amongst the godly ones there would be some hidden gems that even someone like me knows about.

    ¡¸Still, ShanFro is amazing. This here is thest copy I have, and a new batch should arrive by tomorrow. It sells so fast.¡¹

    ¡¸What are you going to do this year in the Summer, Iwamaki-san? For me, this year surely is a good harvest so far!¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, about that¡­¡­ I¡¯m afraid the shop will be closed for about a week at the end of this month.¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh¡­¡­¡¹

    Go figure.

    I, Hizutome Rakuro, am something you might call a sh*tty game enthusiast, while this here Iwamaki Mana is the owner of the shop who mainly partakes to Otome Games.

    Regrs at ¡°ROCK N ROLL¡± know that there are times during which the shop would be closed temporarily (although there was some kind of regrity to that).

    ¡¸Oh well, no matter, I guess I¡¯ll but this, then.¡¹

    ¡¸Sure thing, thanks for your patronage. Now, be sure to go to the restroom and eat properly before any longer session inside of the game!¡¹

    ¡¸And don¡¯t forget to do a fifteen minutes break every hour.¡¹

    Before I leave the shop, we exchange such words among ourselves, since deep down inside we are both hardcore gamers.

    On my way home I passed by a girl who was wearing a uniform from my school, but I was so absorbed in the game package that I didn¡¯t even notice her.

    ¡¸Wee, wee¡­¡­ Ohh, ohh, it¡¯s you, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ve got good news, that repulsive gamer is finally going to do some major game!¡¹

    ¡¸Yup, yup, and it¡¯s the same ShanFro that I rmended to you before.¡¹

    ¡¸Fufufu, Hizutome-kun is a yer name after all, so no wonder that it would be hard to find him even if you search.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Really now, a maiden in love is truly a terrifying opponent.¡¹

    After all, we live in a world where activities like ¡°Let¡¯s go outside and y ser!¡± and ¡°Let¡¯s stay inside and y some games!¡± are almost equal in value.

    And with the gaming being elevated to the rank of an E-Sport in recent years, it was even possible for up-until-now amateur gamers to live a decent life, avoiding unemployment.

 Chapter 3: In Order to Boost Efficiency, We Will Do Whatever It Takes

    <h4>Chapter 3: In Order to Boost Efficiency, We Will Do Whatever It Takes</h4>

    ShangriLa Frontier.

    It is a game that was released during Springst year. It belongs to the same category as ¡°Sh*t Chronicles Online¡±, but unlike that game it holds the certified world record for the most yers being logged in at the same time, which was established earlier this year.

    As for the game¡¯s setting¡­¡­ It is set in the future, when humanity found a new home after long years of space exploration. Hence the yers are free to live however they choose in the game, whether it would be going full on fantasy mode in the Middle Ages setting or to bring the elements of Sci-Fi and advanced weaponry to the table.

    Its ratings are also very high, with yers holding the game in high regard, and the reviews can¡¯t get enough of it, unlike ¡°Sh*t Chronicles Online¡± which was bombing in the reviews so much that it was a miracle how it managed to survive for so long.

    ¡¸I feel it would be rude to put the box on the same shelf as ¡°Sh*t Chronicles Online¡± and other sh*tty games.¡¹

    There was a game called ¡°Cosmo Buster¡± in my collection, an infamous sh*tty game from the FPS genre where the enemies were respawning infinitely and could pull a ¡°360 no scope¡± on you without any problem, apanied by obligatory overblown story.

    There was a game called ¡°Thrilling Farming Simtor¡±. As the name implies, it is a simtion game where you cultivate crops and livestock at the local ranch at your own leisure. But the twist is that about once a week huge natural catastrophes like tsunamis or earthquakes or tornadoes roll through the ranch and you had to start everything from scratch.

    ¡°Survival Gunman¡± was a catastrophe all of its own, which was so riddled with Gacha that it bombed shortly after being released.

    There was ¡°United Runes¡±, the game that came some years ago, and it was simply apocalyptic levels of bad. Not only was it a cooperation game without any kind of single yer to speak of, but the items drop rates were so abysmal that it was almost making the game unyable.

    But wait, there¡¯s more¡­¡­ Oh, guess I¡¯m getting a little carried away.

    If I decided to go through my collection right now, I am fairly sure that there would be some really interesting additions to be found there.

    I ce the ShanFro package somewhere else away from all the sh*tty games, on the table near my bed where all the systems and controllers were.

    ¡¸Right¡­¡­ Let¡¯s get this party started.¡¹

    I made sure to use the restroom and have something to eat and drink beforehand.

    After doing all that, I lie down on my bed and boot the console.

    I also make sure that there is a bottle of water in case I needed something to drink right after finishing ying.

    After confirming those basic rules of VR gaming, I was about ready to venture into my first genuine ¡°game¡± in years.

    ¡¸Hee¡­¡­ So, you can adjust things like height, gender and appearance?¡¹

    I was a somewhat standard setting for any MMORPG out there, but still the number of options and freedom of choice was kind of overwhelming at first.

    Race, physique, essories¡­¡­ wait, you can even add horns here!? ¡­¡­ With this level of customization, I don¡¯t think there would be any two avatars that would be exactly the same, even if I really tried hard to find them.

    ¡¸I wonder, what should I make my avatar look like?¡¹

    I belong to those people who tend to make their gaming avatars different from my real appearance.

    I know that there are yers who recreate their own appearance because of how confident they are in their own looks, but I strongly believe that game world and reality should be two different things.

    ¡¸Hmm? Oh, so it¡¯s that system where you decide on your ss first and choose appearanceter, huh?¡¹

    Apparently this game calctes your stats from the moment you are born into this world and depending on the upation you choose to do.

    And since the list was rather long andplex, I decided to start my avatar creation from there.

    ¡¸Uwah¡­¡­ It takes more than five seconds to scroll down from the top to bottom, how am I supposed to choose a job like this¡­¡­?¡¹

    That being said, this knight (OO user)¡­¡­ Aggh, I knew it! It¡¯s going to be too long trying to have a look at them one by one. Not to mention that after choosing a ss you needed to also choose a weapon you were going to use. At first your equipment would be basic and made out of wood, but talk aboutmitment from the developer¡¯s side.

    If that¡¯s the case¡­¡­ Yeah, let¡¯s be a mercenary whose skills focus solely on dishing out as much DPS as possible.

    ¡¸ce of origin¡­¡­ fumu.¡¹

    Noble,moner, orphan, outcast¡­¡­ Those were all standard options, but yet again, there were just so many of them¡­¡­ Ah.

    ¡¸Wanderer¡­¡­ This sounds nice.¡¹

    My defense stats would be rather weak, but my luck would be set a little bit higher topensate for that.

    And I believe that luck is going to be an important parameter, since it will affect things like critical chance or item drop rate.

    Oh well, it is only a game, so does it really matter? Having a high luck stat shouldn¡¯t be a bad thing to have around.

    Next I tried to tailor my appearance so that it would match my job and ce of origin¡­¡­ This should be about right.

    ¡¸This is¡­¡­¡¹

    Surprisingly enough, the end product of all of my editing was¡­¡­ A half-naked figure of a long-eared man, who looked almost identical to my avatar from when I was clearing the ¡°Sh*t Chronicles Online¡±. How did this happen?

    No, there was a reason for this, trust me. It was all for the sake of getting a good start. I examined the game¡¯s manual and it looks like you could sell the initial equipment you were starting with. Mercenaries had the mercenary ss items and equipment, which were going to sell for quite a bit of money. It was able to double or even triple the amount of money you were going to start with.

    Money was sure to be an important element of this game. As a full dive game, even after receiving a quest you had to go and do anything yourself, without any kind of shortcuts or fast travel, sopleting quests was rather hard and time consuming.

    My ystyle usually revolved around maneuverability and using strong weapons rather than fitting myself into armors, hence I was always selling it first¡­¡­ However, walking around half-naked while looking like the protagonist of ¡°Sh*t Chronicles Online¡± was pretty embarrassing in its own right¡­¡­ so I decided to wear a mask on my face, one that would resemble a bird¡¯s beak (¡°Mask of Bird¡¯s Eye¡±) and that would give me a slight boost to perception and eyesight. It was one of the options avable.

    ¡¸This is¡­¡­ No, no, no! I¡¯m sure there are people out there who have even more ridiculous ideas than that¡­¡­ Finish!!¡¹

    Before doubt would force me to erase all of my progress, I press the ¡°Proceed¡± button and finish the rest of my character¡¯s creation. Now the only thing that was left was to input my yer¡¯s name.

    But there was no problem here.

    I was always using this name in every game I¡¯ve yed before, creating a certain legend to it. That name was the name of the man who has conquered many sh*tty games! ¡­¡­ Nothing wrong with that for a mercenary.

    ¡¸Sanraku, there¡­¡­¡¹

    I derived this name from the alternative readings of kanji in my own name, so it wasn¡¯t as witty as I would like it to be, but oh well, what can you do?

    ¡¸Now, game¡­¡­ Show me what you got!¡¹

    With that, a new mercenary was about to enter the world of ShangriLa Frontier¡­¡­¡­¡­.!!

    Although the game is avable worldwide, due to things like time difference org and Inte connection, there weren¡¯t that many yers who were migrating servers, therefore the yerbase for each country was always more or less the same.

    Furthermore, since the only avablenguage for the game was Japanese, it was hard for yers outside of Japan to get into the game.

    But still, the number of people ying was as astonishing as ever!

 Chapter 4: Reality Does Not Equal Quality, But the Other Way Around

    <h4>Chapter 4: Reality Does Not Equal Quality, But the Other Way Around</h4>

    ¡¸Long ago, Gods were walking throughout thends alongside humans.¡¹

    Ahh, is this the prologue to the game?

    ¡¸The great, Gods spun life across the universe, and once their task was done, they disappeared without a trace.¡¹

    ¡¸Time goes on, the Gods that remained perish one by one, we take off to the stars as they intended us to do, and thus the great web of life continues to spin¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­

    ¡¸Now, we live in times ¨C¨C SKIP. The heritage from the Gods ¨C¨C SKIP. History and ruins ¨C¨C SKIP.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Skip.¡¹

    I read that in the instruction manual.

    I skipped the whole prologue without giving it much thought. Then I felt that my avatar was regaining its consciousness. I try to look and move around, getting a feel of my new body since its physique and height were different from my real one¡­¡­

    I was inside of a dense forest¡­¡­ No, I knew what it was in reality. Like in every game from this genre, it was one of the low level exploration zones, the so called ¡°Starting Points¡±. The purpose of such zones was for the new yers to get used to the control schemes, fight some monsters, pick up some of the basic items and obtain some EXP points. The small details varied from game to game, but the overall premise was more or less the same.

    ¡¸First of all, I need to understand my current situation.¡¹

    As I say that I open the status screen.

    PN: Sanraku

    LV: 1

    Job: Mercenary (Dual Wielding, Swords)

    9000 Mani

    HP (Health Points): 30

    MP (Magic Points) : 10

    STM (Stamina): 20

    STR (Strength): 10

    DEX (Dexterity): 15

    AGI (Agility): 10

    TEC (Technique): 15

    VIT (Vitality): 1 (2)

    LUC (Luck): 30

    SKILLS

    ¨C Spin sh

    ¨C Knuckle Rush

    Equipment:

    Right Hand: Mercenary de

    Left Hand: Mercenary de

    Head: Mask of Bird¡¯s Eye (VIT +2)

    Torso: None

    Legs: None

    Feet: None

    essory: None

    Paper thin defenses and extraordinary good luck. Two swords for dual wielding on the otherwise half naked body. Some start for a hero.

    ¡¸Right, now that I¡¯ve got that taken care off, let¡¯s try how the character¡¯s movements feel¡­¡­!!¡¹

    And after I do that, then what? Since I had my weapons on me I should expect to be attacked at any moment, so it would be a good idea to see how the battle controls work.

    ¡¸Amazing¡­¡­ My body moves so smoothly.¡¹

    It was a matter of enough time to develop things properly. In the early days of full dive technology the character movements tended to be rather slow and awkward, but the way my avatar moved in this game it was very close to recreating the movements from reality.

    The system was also separating one¡¯s consciousness from one¡¯s real body to prevent it from any movements during gaming sessions, but it was certainly a bit weird to know that even though you were moving inside of the game your body was still.

    ¡¸Gigi!!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh.¡¹

    You would think that the future champion of ShanFro would need to battle a mighty foe, such as a dragon, for his first real battle.

    But in reality, the things that appeared right in front of me were about the size of children and nearly as loud and obnoxious¡­¡­

    ¡¸Goblins?¡¹

    ¡¸Gugagigi!!!!¡¹

    Goblin¡­¡­ A kind of Mob that always appears in the games with fantasy setting, smaller and weaker than a yer Character. Of course there were many variants of them with various stats and skills and difficulty level, but the core concept was always that it was a monster that could be used to obtain some EXP points early on.

    I watched the Goblin stare at me before it eventually broke into a rush,ing straight at me.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Ho.¡¹

    ¡¸Gyah!?¡¹

    I dodge the goblin¡¯s rush and watch him getting carried forward with his momentum before eventually hooking its leg. In some games weaker monsters would die even when the slightest contact with the weapon or body of the yer was made, but in this case there was no damage being calcted for that action of mine. However, the physics seemed to be working fine and the goblinnded on the ground face first.

    ¡¸How about a double strike¡­¡­ Onto the ribs!¡¹

    ¡¸Gyaaah!?¡¹

    Since it was virtual reality the action itself was greatly simplified to just two blunt hits that didn¡¯t really dealt any damage. So for a little while I was using this here goblin to try out various things I learned in other VR sh*tty games, wanting to see if I would be able to recreate the same actions in ShanFro as well. When I finally cut the goblin with my sword there is arge wound on its stomach, but instead of blood a geyser of red pixels shoots forth instead of blood. The goblin¡¯s HP bar continued to decrease and eventually it reached zero, forcing it to dissolve into a mass of small polygons and eventually disappear.

    At first when the monsters would die yers needed to ransack their bodies for drop items, but after it was deemed too graphic, it was a general consensus that the dropped items would be left in the field after the monster¡¯s death.

    At the dawn of the VR technology there was this serious rant that ¡°Video games distorts the sense of values in young people¡±. If I recall correctly, in some regions it was reaching such extremes as banning gamespletely or at least ¡°Needing to educate both children and parents from a very young age¡±.

    Around that time I was so busy growing corn on my little farm and then having it destroyed by the various cataclysms that woulde through my farm.

    ¡¸The drop is¡­¡­ Oh.¡¹

    The dropped items were the only things that were left from the pixted goblin.

    It was another simplified mechanic, for when you touch the chest or item that dropped out of a monster¡¯s corpse it would be automatically transported inside of your inventory.

    ¡¸Fumu¡­¡­ Goblin Hatchet, huh?¡¹

    It was a two-handed weapon, which meant that its required dexterity was cut in half. ¡­¡­ Oh well, you could say it was a signature weapon dropped by goblins in games.

    It¡¯s not like I was going to use that as my main weapon, but it was a good thing to have it as a back-up one, just in case and to be on the safe side.

    ¡¸I wonder if you can get hungry in this game? Maybe it is something of a hidden parameter in the system¡­¡­¡¹

    I needed to hunt some monsters in the future and see what kind of things they would drop.

    ¡­¡­ Aah, this is probably one thing that sh*tty games and Godly games tend to have inmon: grind.

    It was a feeling that you would rarely get to experience in life: this exhration and rush of endorphins thinking about what to do next.

    ¡¸But most importantly, let¡¯s not forget to enjoy ourselves!¡¹

    Saying that, I took a step into the dense forest, looking forward to spot any kind of goal I could follow.

    By the way, it was really probable for the character to start half-naked like that, you know?

    Mostly because of the fact that selling items at the character creation screen was way better than selling it at the shop or at a cksmith¡¯s.

 Chapter 5: Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

    <h4>Chapter 5: Good Things Come to Those Who Wait</h4>

    I eventually changed my location and arrived at ¡°Firstia¡±, a small town which was supposed to be a hub for yers who only recently started their adventure with ShangriLa Frontier.

    It was your typical, run-of-the-mill fantasy town with no exceptionalndmarks to speak of, specially enhanced by the server to be able to amodate a huge number of new yers, since it was the beginning of the Summer season and all that.

    ¡¸Wow¡­¡­ You can understand that people are way higher in level here just from their equipment alone¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m sure that I¡¯ve seen this emblem somewhere before as well¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s the insignia of the Guild that only epts yers with level ny or above into their ranks, and only after the admission test!¡¹

    ¡¸I wonder what such a high-level yer is doing in the ce for beginners? ¡­¡­ Hey, take a look at that!¡¹

    This guy had a fully ted armor covering his body, made out of tinum no less! He wore a cloak which housed this Guild¡¯s emblem, a symbol of the sword. Unlike the basic equipment of the new yers, he had a huge sword hanging from the belt at his waist.

    Needless to say, no newbie could ever look like that, even if they wanted to or no matter how much money they were willing to pay.

    The other yers, who I at first mistakenly took for an NPCs, were exchanging excited whispers while looking at the guy, following him with their gazes and taking screenshots just so that they could admire themter. It must have been hard for the guy to be dealing with this kind of treatment, but oh well. I had my own matters which I needed to attend to.

    ¡¸Now this is quite the predicament¡­¡­ One that I wasn¡¯t able to anticipate at all¡­¡­¡¹

    About two hourster I decided to organize my equipment after doing some more grinding. And since I was hunting for monsters at the edge of the nearby forest I decided to climb onto a tree before opening the menu, since there was always a possibility that the monsters could attack me while I was still on the ground.

    It is then that I encountered two major problems.

    The first one would be the weight of the equipment. It seems that whatever was toorge for me to carry would be stored in my inventory, but when the weight of the inventory passed a certain amount, my movements would suffer a negative buff because of that.

    So far I have collected twelve items, four of which were pieces of armor and others were basic goblin weapons. And when I was cing the ninth Goblin Hatchet in my inventory, I could already feel that my movements were starting to slow down.

    In addition to Goblins, I encountered some other monsters as well, like for example the pig-headed Orcs taken straight out of a Dark Fantasy setting, some small local fauna like piglets or wolves, but there were also rarer monsters such as Vorpal Bunny, which was arger, bipedal monster.

    Vorpal Bunny proved itself to be a little more of a challenge from Goblins and Orcs, but at the end of the day it was just a rabbit: it may have critted more than other mobs, but once you got used to its attack patterns, it was a pretty easy opponent to deal with.

    However, the weapon it drops, which apparently had a five percent chance of spawning upon its death, ¡°Vorpal Chopper¡±, was a rather solid weapon for the beginner zone.

    Comparing it to my initial mercenary weapons, its stats were better all across the board and it held an additional effect of boosting one¡¯s critical damage a little bit. Overall, it suited my fighting style rather nicely.

    Not to mention that my level also increased. It looks like Vorpal Bunny may be good prey for a while to focus my attention on.

    PN: Sanraku

    LV: 12

    Job: Mercenary (Dual Wielding Swordsman)

    9,000 Mani

    HP: 30

    MP: 10

    STM: 25

    STR: 10

    DEX: 15

    AGI: 25

    TEC: 20

    VIT: 1 (2)

    LUC: 55

    Skills:

    ? Spin sh

    ? Skull Pierce

    ? Knuckle Rush

    ? Tap Step

    ? sh Counter

    Equipment:

    Right Hand: Mercenary de

    Left Hand: Mercenary de

    Head: Mask of Bird¡¯s Eye (VIT + 2)

    Torso: None

    Waist: None

    Feet: None

    essory: None

    In this game, you could allocate points to statistics every time you leveled up and as for weapons, you could use them to the point where they actually broke or shattered into pieces.

    Getting up to level twelve scored me about fifty five points to allocate into my stats, but for the time being I chose to allocate half of that amount into my Luck.

    My reason for that being that Luck must be responsible for increasing my chances of obtaining better drops from monsters and making it easier for me to score a critical hit during battles.

    I also managed to learn some new battle skills, which were proving especially useful in battles against the Vorpal Bunnies, which made it easier to dispose of them quickly.

    But aside from leveling up, it seems that there are also skills that can be obtained via satisfying some other unspecified conditions.

    And when ites to using skills in battle, even though I have never used them before in my life, I somehow instinctively knew that ¡°This skill does this¡± and ¡°That skill works like that¡±.

    Inparison, some older games were simply forcing the body of a yer to execute certain actions, but it was so bad and archaic that it was eventually scratched and forgotten, disappearing from the mainstream for good.

    The skills I had with me from the very beginning I was already getting really familiar with their use right about now. They may have been ineffective to use when ites to the move set, but their DPS was rtively high.

    Amongst the new skills I managed to learn is the one called ¡°Skull Pierce¡±, which was quick to generate and it was a powerful one hit attack.

    The ¡°Tap Step¡± was a passive skill which boosted my Evasion rate slightly, and ¡°sh Counter¡± was a passive skill which made parrying a little bit easier.

    Objectively speaking, ¡°Skull Pierce¡± seemed like the only really useful skill in my kit at the current moment. The starting skills you could literally do nothing about and the passive skills were more dependent on your own ystyle.

    Seeing just how well-thought out this system waspared to some of the sh*tty games I have yed during my career, it was bringing tears to my eyes.

    Everything was working as it should, mobs were presenting moderate levels of challenge suitable for your level and there were no bugs to speak of at the current moment. It was really something else alright.

    But back to the topic at hand.

    Another problem is that my inventory space got quite full already¡­¡­ In that regard it would be impossible to add new items to it after a while, not to mention being able to organize all of the consumable items such as raw meat. That was the second problem.

    ¡¸Blegh¡­¡­ I guess you really can¡¯t eat raw meat after all, huh?¡¹

    Apparently in this game raw ingredients couldn¡¯t be used as consumable items unless you processed or cooked them properly. Even if you tried, the only effect you would get would be that of a diminishing appetite.

    The biggest problem for Sanraku right now is that I do not have any means of producing a fire.

    And seeing that my MP was not getting any bigger since level one, I guess I won¡¯t be able to learn any kind of magic.

    ¡¸At this rate, I might even be forced to respawn from starving to death¡­¡­¡¹

    Doing that was even more shameful than being pummeled to death by basic mobs. I wouldn¡¯t be able to live with myself if that happened to me.

    When I was busy agonizing over my current predicament, I heard the voices of some other yers around me for the first time in a while now. They were discussing some¡­¡­ interesting stuff, to say the least.

    ¡¸Basically, if you buy the ¡°Flint Stone¡± from any store inside of the game, you can forget about your problems with starting a fire or cooking. Pretty handy in certain situations.¡¹

 Chapter 6: A Wild Pervert Has Appeared!

    <h4>Chapter 6: A Wild Pervert Has Appeared!</h4>

    There was nothing wrong with hoarding your rations of meat in your inventory, but why would I even need about thirty pieces of meat if I couldn¡¯t even eat them?

    I decided to go in the direction of the voices, walking as fast as my over-encumbered status would allow me to.

    ¡¸What about this one¡­¡­ Aha, there it is!¡¹

    I couldn¡¯t exactly see them in the tall grass they were in, but judging from the nametags above their heads they must have been yers like me. There were two women and one man. They must have been a party that was grinding monsters together.

    ¡¸A Knight, a Thief and a Sorceress¡­¡­ Well-bnced party.¡¹

    If my memory serves me correctly, Magicians would always start up with Fireball as their basic offensive spell. For some reason it was always the same in every single game.

    Summing up all of the raw ingredients I had on me right now it would give about seventy pieces, so if I offer them some they may be willing to share their fire with me.

    While I was thinking that, it seems that the party managed to encounter a monster on their path.

    ¡¸Uwah, what a cutie!¡¹

    Cutie? Was there a cute monster out here aside from Orcs and Goblins?

    ¡¸It looks just like a cute bunny¡­¡­ But it must also be a monster.¡¹

    Fumu, the description would fit the Vorpal Bunny alright. Who would have thought that rare monster would spawn so frequently?

    ¡¸This bunny, it¡¯s walking on two legs.¡¹

    That¡¯s definitely a Vorpal Bunny alright!

    I stick my head into the grass and I can see a Sorceress that is approaching the Vorpal Bunny without a care in the world, while herpanions stayed vignt and guarded her. But looking at the Bunny, it was cracking itsrge head in a weird way. I knew it could only mean that it was readying itself to attack, but apparently they had no such knowledge.

    ¡¸Waaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiittttttttt!!¡¹

    ¡¸Hee?¡¹

    ¡¸Huh?¡¹

    ¡¸Haa?¡¹

    The party could see a half-naked man in a bird mask flying out of the tall grass while swinging his dual swords.

    I knew that it wasn¡¯t the best first impression out there, but I jumped in front of them, activating ¡°sh Counter¡± at the same time.

    Coming in between the Sorceress and the Vorpal Bunny, I manage to counter its attack and make my own, shing at it neck with my swords.

    I then spin around and sh with my left de from the bottom all the way to the top of the Bunny¡¯s body, not giving it a moment to retaliate.

    My attack must have been a critical hit, for the Vorpal Bunny¡¯s HP drops to zero and it explodes in a geyser of pixels, leaving some drop behind him. While casting a quick nce at the loot I turn around to the three-people party that stood there dumbfounded.

    It looks like they needed a moment toprehend what just happened.

    ¡­¡­ And what happened could be summarized as: ¡°a half-naked birdman jumped out of the tall grass and massacred a cute bunny.¡±

    ¡¸Kyaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Iyaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Uwaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!¡¹

    The three of them screamed in loud voices while raising their weapons in the air, ready to fight.

    ¡¸Woah there, that¡¯s dangerous, you know!?¡¹

    I said passively while the three yersunched a simultaneous all-out attack in my direction.

    So I used my other skill ¡°Tap Step¡± to put some distance in between us, trying to resolve the conflict with words rather than violence. It would be a good thing if they understood my intentions.

    ¡¸STOP! STOP! STOP! STOP! STOP THAT!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Perverttttttttt!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Okay, yeah, right! I admit that my appearance is a little bit unusual, but look at my name tag! See!?I¡¯m a yer, just like you! A yer, God damn it!¡¹

    ¡¸Dieeeeeeeeee!!!¡¹

    I wasn¡¯t against PVP in games like this, but I was against the idea of my very first PVP experience in this game to be something like that!

    So I did my best to try to avoid the hits of the group. I repeated that action until the girl eventually started to calm down a little bit and stopped the other two.

    ¡¸Umm, this is¡­¡­ Thank you very much for helping us out with that monster¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, it¡¯s no big deal, if I saw something like that at the very start of my adventuring I would certainly take such a person for a pervert as well¡­¡­¡¹

    Once my status changed from the ¡°Perverted Birdhead¡± to a ¡°Perverted yer with A Birdhead Sanraku¡±, the party lowered their heads to me in an apologizing gesture.

    The boy knight¡¯s name was Soma, the thief girl was Kaho and the Sorceress was named Lina.

    You could change many settings in the character creation, but the only thing that you were unable to change was your voice.

    That is why even the three people looked like young adults, from their voices I could kind of tell that they must have been Middle Schoolers at best.

    I was kind of feeling sorry for scaring my juniors like that, but apparently they have never seen a mask like that before, hence the misunderstanding.

    ¡¸Umm, this is, have you been always leveling up around these parts, Sanraku-san?¡¹

    ¡¸Hm? Oh, yeah, I guess? I was originally going to see how the monsters behave around these parts, but it somehow happened that I stayed here and leveled up.¡¹

    I guess one of my nasty habits from previous sh*tty games was surfacing.

    It was a habit of taking advantage of the ces where monsters with good EXP values or rare items would spawn, which would allow me to go from one point to another while clearing the area over and over again.

    Please pardon me from spawn-camping the mobs.

    Basically there is little to no benefit to be had from not wearing any armor in this game.

    As a result of that painful realization, there is always a bunch of half-naked yers who want to buy the cheapest armor set possible, only to acquire at least some form of defense.

    That is why if you want to gaze at half-naked avatars, you can only do this here, since you¡¯ll find them nowhere else. If you DO happen to encounter them, it is probably because of the following reasons:

    ¨C> They enjoy being seen half-naked by others.

    ¨C> They enjoy taking huge amounts of damage, like any Massive Masochist would.

    By the way, the protagonist is neither of the two. He¡¯s irregr in that regard.

 Chapter 7: Pervert Learns the Cost of Efficiency

    <h4>Chapter 7: Pervert Learns the Cost of Efficiency</h4>

    After I told the three people about my current predicament with too many items and no means to start a fire so that I could get rid of starvation¡¯s effect, they agreed to help me, also epting the portion of the meat I willing to offer them.

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­ ¡°Fireball¡±!!!¡¹

    ¡¸¡¸Ooh.¡¹¡¹

    Lina casts the spell and the moment it hits the branches we gathered around to start the fire, it changes them into a nice looking bonfire.

    Judging from their reactions and behavior, they must have been newbies at this game, just like me.

    ¡¸Oh, you can cook things in batches, huh¡­¡­? This game sure is convenient¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Umm, Sanraku¡­ -san¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Just Sanraku is fine. After all, I am a ShanFro newbie, just like you guys. So we¡¯re pretty much on an equal footing here.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, really? I would have never been able to guess that, judging by your looks alone? Sanraku, why do you look like that¡­¡­?¡¹

    Lina seemed to be exhausted after casting the ¡°Fireball¡± spell, so in the meantime I proposed to cook her batch of meat for her.

    ¡¸In this game, you can sell your starting equipment as soon as the starting screen.¡¹

    ¡¸Hm? Is that so!?¡¹

    ¡¸That is why I sold basically everything else except for my weapons and headgear.¡¹

    ¡¸I see, but since the city is so close-by, couldn¡¯t you just buy and sell your equipment there?¡¹

    The thief girl Kaho asked me that question, which made me understand that the initial spawn location must have also been randomized. When I told everyone where I was forced to start, they all looked at me sympathetically.

    ¡¸That¡¯s right¡­¡­ What was that thing right there?¡¹

    ¡¸You mean Vorpal Bunny?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, yeah, is that Vorpal Bunny thing crazy strong or what?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, let¡¯s see¡­¡­¡¹

    I might tell them what I know, but will they be able to do anything with that knowledge?

    Ultimately I decided to tell Soma, the boy who asked that question, that speed was crucial in dealing with Vorpal Bunny.

    ¡¸If you aim at its neck fast enough, every single attack is supposed to be a critical hit, but it might be hard to hit a moving target with precision like that.

    ¡¸F, fast¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s a monster that initially seems hard, but is rather easy once you get used to dealing with it.¡¹

    ¡¸Just out of curiosity: what level are you, Sanraku?¡¹

    ¡¸Level twelve. But the amount of EXP I¡¯m getting here is starting to dwindle a little bit, so I was thinking it might be good for me to find a new location to grind soon.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, hunting like that¡­¡­ But! It¡¯s been only a day since we started ying, so we still have so much possibilities to explore here!¡¹

    I think it would be a good idea to let these girls know that I¡¯m not your typical yer when ites to grinding and stuff like that.

    After all, the only thing that separates us is basically y time. It would be a different story if we started at around the same time, but in games like that overall y time was making all the difference.

    ¡¸I went on a little break, and after that I went to grind into the forest for about seven hours or so. Thanks to that my inventory got so full and I was about to starve to death¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Aah, so that¡¯s why you needed some means to start a fire.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right. And you really saved me out there¡­¡­ For that, thank you very much.¡¹

    When ites to meat, the meat of the Vorpal Bunny seemed to be the one that was the best when cooked, and so I decided to distribute that one amongst our small group of people.

    ¡¸Hmh¡­¡­!? It looks so good but it tastes so nd!?¡¹

    In most games, even though you could eat many different things their taste would generally be pretty much the same (mostly tasting like pork, but there were some exceptions).

    But much like in the real world, if you ate too much inside of the game you would be ovee with the urge to not want to do anything at all and just sleep, and in some cases to log out and eat some real food¡­¡­ Good job, game. Good job.

    ¡¸Ahh, now I want to eat some real meat.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­? If that¡¯s what you want to do, then why don¡¯t you just do it?¡¹

    ¡¸Nah, before I do that I want to get some more things done in this game.¡¹

    As I said that, the three of them nodded their heads in understanding.

    I could log out anywhere and anytime I wanted, but in reality the safest thing to do would be to log out in a town or a safe zone.

    For example, when I previously logged out to have a little break, after I came back, the tree that I was sitting on was almost broken in half and full of scratch marks. If I stayed there longer, I could have turned into nothing more than Goblin or Vorpal Bunny food.

    So I wanted to avoid doing that, so that I wouldn¡¯t have to brand this game as a sh*tty game as well.

    ¡¸Oh, that¡¯s right. I know this may sound stupid, but can I ask you some questions?¡¹

    Since they were to town before, I asked them about the shops that were located there, so that I could know where to best buy certain things. I also decided on making it a habit to scout out any new town that I would venture into as the first thing on my priority list.

    Since the three of them were on a gathering quest in the forest, we decided to go our separate ways from this point forward, with me going to the town which was the opposite of the direction they were going, to ¡°Secandill¡±.

    The main theme of this work is: ¡°oveing the boundaries of the system with personal knowledge¡±.

    Even when we have Person A and Person B, with their level, equipment, skills and game time being roughly the same, the one who has more knowledge about VR games in general is going to have the huge edge.

    And utilizing that knowledge can give you a tremendous boost when ites to leveling up quickly, assembling your equipment or amassing arge sum of money¡­¡­ That¡¯s just how it is.

 Chapter 8: Bird Mask Versus Orochi

    <h4>Chapter 8: Bird Mask Versus Orochi</h4>

    ¡¸I didn¡¯t want to trouble them any longer, and besides, I really needed to move on.¡¹

    While grinding on my own, very soon turning basic goblins and even Vorpal Bunnies into a bunch of polygons stopped being as effective as I would have liked it to be. Not to mention that my weapons durability was dangerously low. I know that this was supposed to be a beginners area, but with broken weapons there would only be so much that I could do¡­¡­

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Maybe that one?¡¹

    In the distance I could already see the outlines of some buildings. That must have been the town I was walking towards, Sekandill.

    This forest¡­¡­ The map was describing this area as the ¡°Forest of Looming Danger¡±. Currently I was right in front of a suspension bridge that was erected over a vast valley that was separating the forest in half. Sekandill was on the other side of said bridge. There was also a gatekeeper standing in front of the bridge¡­¡­ Was it blocking the path on purpose? It was a huge serpent with its long tongue out, probably waiting for the yers who wanted to traverse into another town.

    ¡¸Is that supposed to be the boss of this zone?¡¹

    It seems that I can¡¯t get past the bridge without defeating that monster first. The rmended party for that boss was three people of at least level ten, so would it really be possible to take that thing on solo? Because in some cases such bravado was the shortcut to seeing your screen turn grey as you await respawn.

    By the way, is there any kind of penalty for dying in this game? Like losing a certain amount of EXP points, money or a random item from your inventory? I didn¡¯t want to find that out, so I needed to absolutely not die during this battle.

    ¡¸It¡¯s a snake-like monster¡­¡­ So it must be pretty fast and agile, and its main ways of inflicting damage would be through smashing things with its tail, biting and spitting venom¡­¡­ At least that¡¯s how it should go.¡¹

    It would be interesting to see if it really was something like that. For as long as the boss won¡¯t do something stupid like blowing itself up when its HP reaches zero I should be able to defeat it if you maintain a certain level of caution throughout the fight.

    ¡¸What was that rule again? While engaging a boss battle, other monsters cannot interfere? I sure hope it works just like that.¡¹

    It certainly wasn¡¯t that realistic of a mechanic, but at least I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about being surprised suddenly and taken with a pincer attack from both sides at once. So after making sure my preparations were all but done I stepped out of the tall grass in order to challenge the boss of the ¡°Forest of the Looming Danger¡±, which was indeed a giant serpent.

    Its name ¡°Orochi¡± might be intimidating, but in the end it is only a beginners boss. Its movements should be easy to predict and it shouldn¡¯t have any insta-kill moves in its kit.

    And with the precise movements this avatar was offering, it should be rtively easy for me to kill this thing without suffering much damage myself¡­¡­ Or so I thought.

    ¡¸Geeeh!¡¹

    For when my twin mercenary des shattered into myriad of polygons when I tried to strike its hard scales, I have witnessed first-hand just how strong boss¡¯s defensive parameters could really be.

    Ngh, I know that beginners should be able to kill this thing, but wasn¡¯t that unfair that the weapons could break so easily against its scales!? On the other hand, Orochi opened its mouth wide, baring its venom-coated fangs and lounged itself towards me.

    I manage to avoid the serpent by twisting my body and activate the Knuckle Rush skill, which allowed me to strike it¡¯s long body with my bare fists a few times like a true martial artist would.

    (Oh, so each punch in the sequence has a chance to critically hit? That¡¯s convenient.)

    I strike it about ten times, but only a couple of those hits felt to be stronger from the others. It was a shame that not every strike could be a critical hit, but two or three were better than none at all. It also seems that the side of its body was a legitimate area that could take damage, and soon enough the serpent turned its head towards me again.

    When that happened, I used a secret technique that I was practicing in advance¡­¡­ High-speed weapons switching. In the games that offered multi weapons slots to fill, it was a really important skill to have. One that could even be called your Ace in the Hole if need arise.

    Like that, a pair of sharp knives appeared in my hands.

    I face the serpent blocking my way into the new city with the knives in my hands. They had ck handles and red des, as though they were absorbing the blood of their prey on numerous asions. They may look funny, but they were ideal for this battle thanks to their high critical hit chance and critical damage.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s see how you dodge this!!!¡¹

    Each of the knives in my hands move independently, targeting different ces on the serpent¡¯s body. Thanks to it being so big, it shouldn¡¯t be agile enough to be able to dodge every single strike, unless it possessed some kind of evasive skill.

    ¡¸How about those three ces!?¡¹

    This might be a little off topic, but when dealing with snakes, what are the three things one should always be careful about?

    Well, most people will always answer that it¡¯s the snake¡¯s head , fangs and tail. Since they have no limbs to speak of, they can only bite, roll,sh with their tail and propel themselves forward.

    That is why I didn¡¯t think that it would shoot something towards me from the hole near its tail. I would bet it woulde from its mouth. I was so surprised that I wasn¡¯t able to dodge in time¡­¡­ Yeah, it was a direct hit.

    It wasn¡¯t a perfect reproduction of real life, but still, allowing myself to be hit with a ball of some stinking substance was pretty embarrassing, sure to leave some sort of emotional damage on me.

    But above all else¡­¡­

    ¡¸This isn¡¯t good¡­¡­¡¹

    My HP continues to drop, bit by bit¡­¡­

    It was poison.

    ¨C Ravenous Serpent ¡°Orochi¡±

    A monster in the zone known as the ¡°Forest of Looming Danger¡±. You must defeat it first if you want to traverse to the nearby town of Sekandill.

    It attacks mainly byunching itself towards its opponents and biting them, so it is rtively easy to defeat once you get to know its attack patterns. However, when its HP drops below a certain level one must be wary of the poison attack which is not telegraphed in any way. It does not deal damage, but puts the yer under the negative buff known as ¡°Poison¡±.

 Chapter 9: Running, and Fighting Against Damage Over Time Effect

    <h4>Chapter 9: Running, and Fighting Against Damage Over Time Effect</h4>

    I admit it: I may have underestimated ShangriLa Frontier.

    After all, since it was so well received by the general public, I thought that I¡¯ll be able to easily ovee every single obstacle that this game might throw at me.

    So even without potions that I couldn¡¯t afford for the moment, I thought I would be able to easily solo that giant serpent that was blocking my way. What¡¯s more, without taking any damage! Clearing the ¡°Sh*t Chronicles Online¡± must have thrown me into that false sense of security.

    But at the same time, even though I knew it wasme, I was trying toe up with excuses.

    ¡¸How could I possibly have known that a simple snake-like monster would be this damn strong!?¡¹

    The damn thing looked almost like a dragon, so maybe it¡¯s exactly that instead of a serpent!?

    I open my status widow and check my current HP, which was twenty eight¡­¡­ There has been approximately twenty seconds since I took the direct hit with those poisoned feces, and it looks like I was taking one point of damage per ten seconds (most probably the poison was calcted as a percentage of your max HP per a set time). The remaining HP was twenty eight¡­¡­ No, make that twenty seven. This means that Sanraku has approximately two hundred and seventy seconds to live.

    How long would it take me to reach Sekandill? And since I have a stamina bar, does this mean I need to manage that one as well? And how low on HP was that Serpent meant to be? Sh*t, it was so upsetting that you couldn¡¯t see enemies HP bar at a time like this!

    ¡¸Sh*t, I need to hurry, or else I¡¯m so dead!!¡¹

    I may have had no prior experience in RTA (Note: Real Time Attack; a term used in speedrunning, meaning beating the game as fast as possible without any kind of assist) but TA (Note: Time Attack, self exnatory, beating the game under a set amount of predetermined time) was a whole different story!

    The knives that I currently had on me, ShanFro¡¯s critical hit criteria, both the endurance and the defenses of the giant serpent¡­¡­ The answer was somewhere within the information I already had avable to me.

    In this game, critical hits are not something randomly decided or left to chance, but are rather determined by how clean and precise your attacks are.

    And if we take my high Luck statistic into consideration, I must have at least some sort of positive modification to that mechanic as well.

    For example, if we assume that a clean vertical slice is considered a critical hit, with high Luck you can deviate from that by a few degrees and it would still count as a critical hit.

    Now for the serpent itself.

    Usually, monsters of that kind have a weakness that is their head, since they may be able to leap huge distances and move fast, but when they want to thrust their head at someone and bite them they need to stop for a moment and gather the necessary strength.

    So that would mean that the ideal moment of attack would be to forcibly strike its head when it stops moving and readies its attack.

    But if you are unable to strike its weak spot by any means and you are unsure whether it has more weak spots or not, there was only one answer: you need to create that weak point by yourself!!

    ¡¸Right there!!¡¹

    The knives I was using looked simr to Chinese ones, so I really need to see how they are going to behave with that attack of mine that I was going to perform, especially when ites to critical hits.

    I run the tip of the knife alongside the serpent¡¯s long side, opening up a long wound full of erupting red polygons.

    The serpent suddenly stops and turns towards me to attack, but it was already toote for it. I have alreadye to understand its attack patterns!

    I use the ¡°Tap Step¡± at that moment to avoid the serpent¡¯s attack and stick to the open wound, raining down attacks on it!

    And once it waspletely wide open at the end of its attack I attack it some more!

    ¡¸Stamina! Five points per hit!¡¹

    I had to take a little break every three hits, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t be able to evade if need be.

    And since the wound that I continuously kept open on the serpent¡¯s body was going to stay there for a few seconds after each strike, I couldn¡¯t allow myself to be left out of stamina, because that would considerably slow down my movements and attack speed.

    Opening a deep wound on an opponent¡¯s body counted as a critical hit, and striking such an open wound was also counted as a critical hit. The serpent just continued to try to attack me in his set patterns, only confirming what I already knew and letting me recharge my stamina.

    ¡¸Eat this!!¡¹

    Enough stamina to attack with both knives¡­¡­ Check.

    I attack with both of my knives at once¡­¡­ Both of them score a critical hit.

    Another geyser of red polygons ssh from the wound on the serpent¡¯s side, raining down onto my knives.

    Then, in the next moment, the serpent¡¯s body begins to shake, only to explode in a huge geyser of white polygons all over the ce.

    ¡¸Y, YEAH!!! TAKE THAT!!!¡¹

    I somehow felt really tired upon winning the battle¡­¡­ No! What am I thinking! Drop items takes priority! HP! Stamina! No time, no time, NO TIME!

    I take all of the items that dropped from the boss without even confirming what they were, see if my stamina bar was replenished enough and break into a frantic run.

    Not good, not good, NOT GOOD! Another digit disappears from my HP pool! By the way, isn¡¯t that poison effect awfully long for a beginner-level Boss!?

    ¡¸Run, run, run, run, RUN¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    The scenery around the suspension bridge was really beautiful, and under any normal circumstances I would have stopped myself and take a look (as well as some screenshots), but now was not the time for mere pleasantries! I run through the bridge with all of my might!

    I have merely six HP left! Approximately fifty seconds left until I get to the town! ¡­¡­ Will I even be able to buy an antidote in time!? No, no, no! It¡¯s better than having to suffer a penalty for dying!

    Sh*t, I may not have enough stamina to pull this off in the end! It was so frustrating that you needed to stop in ce to replenish your stamina. At this rate I was sure to die before I even reach the¡­¡­ Wait just a moment.

    ¡¸Defeating the Area Boss solo should give enough EXP to¡­¡­ Yes! Bingo! Jackpot!¡¹

    I gained a level! I was able to distribute points to my stats again!

    I was able to allocate around thirty points to my stats, and without even thinking about it I allocated half of said points into STM (Stamina) and another half in AGI (Agility).

    ¡¸UUUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    With my HP and Stamina bar doubled, I broke into a run again and dove head-first into Sekandill.

    As a side note, Bosses like this ¡°Giant Serpent Orochi¡± will have a chance to drop very rare items upon defeat, so it is not unusual to see yers retaking the battle when they grow stronger in order to obtain said items in greater quantities.

    There are also yers who hunt snakes like that purely for their potential as a cooking ingredient. Imagine that.

 Chapter 10: Half-Naked Pervert In the Eyes of More Experienced Players

    <h4>Chapter 10: Half-Naked Pervert In the Eyes of More Experienced yers</h4>

    The name of that yer was Reiji.

    For about three months now he¡¯s been trying to get along with that woman who was a total beginner at the game, teaching her basic controls, mechanics, gamenguage and all the other stuff necessary to survive in the game world. As a more experienced yer of ShangriLa Frontier, he felt that he could do at least this much for her.

    ¡¸Well then, Yamamoto-kun, I¡¯m counting on you today as always.¡¹

    ¡¸Y, yeah. But you know, it is only basic etiquette that you don¡¯t call anyone inside of the game with their real names. You know?¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, sorry about that! Well then, umm¡­¡­ Reiji-kun!¡¹

    Even though it was the name of his avatar, in reality it was Reiji¡¯s given name¡­¡­ When he was starting the game, Yamamoto Reiji really thought that writing his name with katakana was a clever disy of wit on his part.

    ¡¸Ekhem, for now¡­¡­ You wanted to try to tame a dog-like monster, right, Miia?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, that¡¯s because I can¡¯t really keep any pets in my apartment¡­¡­ and then I heard that you can tame monsters in this game! My friends told me that!¡¹

    Leaving her rather peaceful reasons for ying the VR RPG aside, ShangriLa Frontier was a game that would leave quite a bit of freedom in the hands of its yers. Thanks to that, many people were finding other things to do in the game besidesbat.

    Reiji¡¯s party was trying to find dog-like monsters for quite some time now, but apparently no such monsters were spawning before the town of Sekandill, so Reiji¡¯s party needed to progress further into the game.

    ¡¸So, in order to tame a wild monster you must¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­ooohhh¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Hm?¡¹

    It was in this moment.

    Hearing some strange sound, everyone present at the Sekandill gates in front of the ¡°Forest of the Looming Danger¡± turned their heads towards the suspension bridge without thinking.

    Neither Reiji nor Miia could have predicted the sight they were about to witness.

    ¡¸UuuuuuuuuooooooOOOHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    The thing on that yer¡¯s face was certainly a mask that could be selected at the character creation screen (it could have been exchanged for free for a starting head piece equipment, but its defense value would be zero). ¡­¡­ However, what was really drawing attention was what was below that mask.

    That yer wasn¡¯t wearing anything below his head, and he was currently running so fast that if it wasn¡¯t for his yer Tag he could have been mistaken for some kind of rare monster that appeared out of nowhere.

    ¡¸Is, is that a monster!?¡¹

    ¡¸No, since it has a yer Tag over his head he must be a yer. Best not to attack the poor guy.¡¹

    Reiji focused his sight on the half-naked pervert, and was finally able to read his name¡­¡­ It was ¡°SANRAKU¡±. Huh, what a strange name.

    (He must have fought the ¡°Orochi¡± and got poisoned during the battle, huh? ¡­¡­ And most probably he used up all of his antidote herbs and is in a rush to buy some.)

    Reiji remembered the good old days when he was just starting out, and the chaos those days brought, in a good sense. During those days, a whole lot of yers suffered from the serpent¡¯s poison in the beginner¡¯s area.

    The most probable reason for this ¡°SANRAKU¡± guy to be like that, without any recovery items, would be because he blew all of his money on something else. But Reiji didn¡¯t wanted to believe that someone so utterly stupid would actually exist in this game.

    Reiji instead tells Miia to stand down, seeing that she was raising her bow and was aiming it at the iing yer. He didn¡¯t want her to suffer a PK penalty for such an unreasonable reason. Instead, he shouted at the yer.

    ¡¸The inn would be that-a-way! It¡¯s that building with a white roof! You cannot really miss it!!¡¹

    ¡¸OOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    As Reiji observed Sanraku rushing over towards the inn, he felt a kind of sympathy for the guy.

    (It would be best if he soon realize that this build of his won¡¯t get him far¡­¡­)

    Reiji remembers the boss that the yers had to ovee if they wanted to go from Sekandill to the third major city around these parts ¨C¨C Sadrema. Thinking about it now, his agility at that time must have been around the same level as this Sanraku guy right now.

    ¡¸This guy¡­¡­ He¡¯s going to have it really rough¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Reiji-kun, you really sounded like a true veteran out there just now! So cool~~!!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    For a moment out there Reiji didn¡¯t know what to say to that.

    Then he thought that maybe the sight of this half-naked bird guy may be a sign of iing good fortune.

    The conclusion of this slight incident was that Sanraku ultimately ended up dying because his HP did fall to zero, but thanks to the advice of the kind stranger he managed to update his spawn point to the second town of Sekandill.

    ¡¸Ahh¡­¡­ That was too close forfort¡­¡­¡¹

    Upon entering Sekandill I realized that I didn¡¯t know the location of the inn, but thanks to the kind yer I somehow managed to reach over there before my HP drainedpletely.

    I didn¡¯t know what items I received for defeating the boss, but it would be a real shame to lose them because of such a stupid reason.

    So I opened the status screen, confirmed that the items were still there and let out a sigh of relief.

    ¡¸That guy¡¯s name¡­¡­ It was Reiji, wasn¡¯t it?¡¹

    Next time I meet him, I must thank him somehow.

    I surveilled my stats for a while before I eventually realized that the penalty for death was a small debuff for stats for a short while.

    ¡¸Maybe this is a good ce to call it a day?¡¹

    Summer vacation has just begun, so let¡¯s just log out for now ande back to the game tomorrow.

    During the early days of the game for most yers, ¡°Rushing Towards Sekandill While Being Poisoned¡± was a rathermon urrence.

    yers who never even witnessed such a scene are bound to repeat it themselves eventually.

 Chapter 11: Taking a Break and Appreciating the Values of Shitty Games

    <h4>Chapter 11: Taking a Break and Appreciating the Values of Sh*tty Games</h4>

    ¡¸Oho, well if it isn¡¯t Sanraku! Finally decided to graduate from all ¡°Crap¡± you are always into?¡¹

    ¡¸And I see that your tastes are as weird as ever, Modorukatsu. But it¡¯s been a while since I yed such a game, so I think I¡¯ll keep youpany for a while. Ah, that¡¯s right. I cleared ¡°Sh*t Chronicles Online¡±, just to let you know.¡¹

    ¡¸Seriously!? I¡¯ve so had it with thest boss so I just said ¡°Screw that!¡± and left the game!¡¹

    ¡¸It is perfectly doable, that is if you have a Summer Vacation and plenty of time to spare and are fine with hitting thest boss with the strength of a wet noodle.¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, so that¡¯s the trick, you say? ¡­¡­Right, I shall try it again tonight. I wouldn¡¯t be able to live with myself if I just left it as it is¡­¡­¡¹

    Since most of the yers already acquired the required hundred log-in bonuses, even though it was the Summer Vacation the server felt mysteriously empty at this hour.

    Today I wasn¡¯t the half-naked bird mask Sanraku¡­¡­ Rather, I was the Berserker Sanraku, a fierce warrior versed in Iai-jutsu, and as you can tell I wasn¡¯t ying ShanFro right now.

    Since I have been ying the Godly game for a while now, I decided to switch to something else for today as to replenish my Sh*tty Game energy which I seemed to have beencking.

    I just wanted a little breather, so I decided to revisit one of the games I¡¯ve managed to clear some time ago.

    This game was called ¡°Berserker Passion Online¡±, ¡°Ben P¡± for short, hence ¡°Crap¡± (Note: ¡°Benpi¡± mean ¡°Constipation¡± in Japanese but I thought that ¡°Crap¡± would fit in more nicely. Lame, I know, but please bear with me there).

    This game was of course a sh*tty game, since ShanFro was the first title outside of that spectrum that I have bought in years.

    It is a game that was originallyunched as the sequel to ¡°Berserker Online¡± where one could inly see what the sh*tty games are in a nutshell, and that was the downloadable version. But the physical copy¡­¡­ Ohh, this is where things get interesting. It was so riddled with bugs and glitches that it was deemed as unyable by many yers, earning it the title of ¡°King of Sh*tty Games¡± whose reign was long and supreme. Well, that is until ¡°Sh*t Chronicles Online¡± rolled around and dethroned the king. That¡¯s how bad it was.

    ¡¸Say, Modorukatsu? Would you like a sparring match with me?¡¹

    ¡¸Sure thing. So, about the rules¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡¸Everything is permitted, so hold nothing back!!¡¹¡¹

    When I received an invitation to a duel I approved it without thinking¡­¡­ Modorukatsu was a sh*tty game enthusiast much like myself, one that was quite famous in the gaming world for clearing many different and impossible titles. And it so happens that he was also a veteran of this ¡°Crap¡± here. He also epted the duel.

    There¡¯s a message informing about the start of the duel, and in the next moment a battlefield is being built around Modorukatsu and I.

    ¡¸Oh, someone¡¯s going at the duel?¡¹

    ¡¸Modorukatsu and¡­¡­ Hey, if it isn¡¯t Sanraku!¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku, I thought that you moved on to another game already¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸He said something about replenishing his sh*tty energy meter or something like that. He said that otherwise he wouldn¡¯t be able to go on, or something like that.¡¹

    It was kind of awkward, but in this game the duel between yers were always a kind of a show for everyone else to witness, so it was only natural that a fairlyrge crowd of people would gather around us to see what was going on.

    Especially since one of the participants was Modorukatsu, one of the strongest yers on the server at the moment.

    ¡¸While you were getting busy and struggling with ¡°Sh*t Chronicles Online¡±, I was honing my skills inside of this game, and the fruits of my training are this new Ultimate Technique that I managed toe up with! So be prepared to be utterly destroyed by it!¡¹

    ¡¸Hoo, I¡¯m sure that such a battle maniac like you had toe up with something awesome! So have at you and show it to me!¡¹

    When the gong rings, signalizing the beginning of the battle¡­¡­ Something strange starts to happen to Modorukatsu¡¯s body. Are those¡­¡­ bugs, or what!?

    ¡¸Uwah! Disgusting!¡¹

    ¡¸Take this! R-18 Tentacle Attack!!¡¹

    As dered, there were several tentacle-like objects stretching from Modorukatsu¡¯s limbs, back, and neck, attacking me all at once.

    On the other hand, I assume my Iai posture with my sword ready to be drawn and attack. ¡­¡­ Attack? No, counter is a more urate description.

    In the next moment, both Modorukatsu and I leap towards one another and disappear for a short moment, only to appear again at different corners of the arena.

    ¡¸Even with the current attack time dy, I should have been able to deal with it thanks to my reaction speed!¡¹

    ¡¸Your Iai-Style Draw attack takes about twelve frames, it is even faster than most bosses ultimate attack animations. You could technically counter any kind of attack with it, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, but my limbs all feel like cotton for some strange reason?¡¹

    ¡¸Oi, did you really expect to counter an attack like that without any kind of bacsh now? That¡¯s way overconfident, even for you!¡¹

    The reason why this game is so famous even though it is so niche is the system called ¡°Bug Tudo¡±.

    If you are ying this game from its physical copy¡­¡­ There were these bugs that would frequently ur, especially when the avatar was about to receive some kind of a mortal wound, where your avatar¡¯s model would copse and the game physics would go totally out of control, wiggle like crazy, fall outside of the map, be temporarily invincible¡­¡­ There were a whole lot of examples for this.

    As a result, ¡°Crap¡± managed to transform itself from a game about battles amongst mighty warriors into an infernal cesspool of deviants and unholy degenerates that were deriving delight from discovering in what new way they could bug out their avatar or break the system.

    Although this game used to have a story mode as well, it was now almost impossible to finish it since NPCs and mobs were prone to bugging out as well, which in turn made some of the key story segments impossible to clear.

    Another nickname for it would be ¡°Super Dimensional Bug Gueri Rhythm Game¡±. Why Rhythm though? Because thanks to the bugs galore that was happening on screen you would end up wanting to smash your head against your desk to the rhythm of the bugged avatar¡¯s movements, of course.

    For now, ¡°Crap¡± was really unworthy of being called a true Full Dive game even though that is exactly what it was.

    In any case, its current premise was to ¡°Break your human appearance as fast as possible¡±. It is a problem that must be addressed at some point in time, but apparently that time isn¡¯t now.

    With the advent of the VR games the yers who use ssic controllers and monitors are pretty much non-existent at this point.

    In VR games physical strength amounts to nothing since the physical attributes of your real body are not converted inside of the game. However, those with fast reflexes are the one who are to be truly advantageous in VR games.

    For that exact reason even those with poor health in real life can pull off parkour in the VR games. The main character is someone just like that.

 Chapter 12: Common Sense Is Just Free Ideas Not Bound By Theory (Loosely Speaking)

    <h4>Chapter 12: Common Sense Is Just Free Ideas Not Bound By Theory (Loosely Speaking)</h4>

    The first round ended in a draw but I lost the duel since I was utterly thrashed in the next two rounds.

    I didn¡¯t think those bugs would be so severe.

    ¡¸Really now, you have my thanks! It¡¯s been a while since I was able to practice my skills in PVP! I¡¯ve been only trying them out on NPC for some time now.¡¹

    ¡¸And I had no idea that all of those scattered textures would count as getting hit!¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s a double-edged sword, since if you miss with your attack you might be the one who receives a huge amount of hits in¡­¡­ Dying because of that really is humiliating.¡¹

    ¡¸LOL¡¹

    I never would have expected something like that to slip past my Iai-jutsu, but there was so many off them that I really thought I was going to die there for a second.

    While watching the life feed from other yers¡¯ duels Modorokatsu and I enjoy a little chat.

    ¡¸But why did you suddenly decide toe back? Was it because you saw that there was a tournament approaching, or¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Not really. I just started to y ShanFro just recently¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Really? Huh, who would have thought?¡¹

    Since we are friends I was going to forgive him forughing at me like that, especially with that kind of face, as if he heard a joke that he never would have expected to hear. And seeing that I wasn¡¯tughing together with him, his face got serious

    ¡¸Really now? But weren¡¯t you always saying that the more buggy and sh*tty the game the better? From what I understand, ShanFro is at the total opposite of the criteria you would always list. ¡¹

    ¡¸I guess you can say that ¡°Sh*t Chronicles Online managed to burn me out¡­¡­So I wanted to y something that is generally praised by the public.¡¹

    ¡¸But for all that we know, even ¡°Crap¡± can be considered a Godly game in a day or two, or somewhere in the future.¡¹

    Was he trying to say that he thought it was impossible for me to y anything other than a sh*tty game?

    It is true that I wasn¡¯t enjoying the sh*tty games as much as I used to, but at least I wanted to try something different. Modorukatsu, on the other hand, was someone who was sticking to his chosen niche no matter what, and refused to try anything else. And there was nothing that could change his mind.

    ¡¸No, no, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m not enjoying these games. It¡¯s just that¡­¡­ You know¡­¡­ I wanted to try something good for a change. Something without game-breaking bugs or glitches that would cause you to die instantly.¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, so in other words you wanted to try something decent just so that you could be fully aware of how sh*tty the shiity games are next time you try them out?¡¹

    ¡¸Something along those lines.¡¹

    It was really hard for me to imagine that this game here could ever reach the level of ShanFro, both in level of responsiveness and general game design.

    I¡¯ve been dealing with ¡°Sh*t Chronicles Online¡± for so long that I think it sort of dulled my gaming sense. So I wanted to regain that sense before my abilities as a gamer would drop even further down.

    ¡¸Who would have thought that snakes would end up throwing their sh*t at yers?¡¹

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t such an attack pretty appropriate for a sh*tty game?¡¹

    ¡¸Hahaha, nice one. And a really good one, too.¡¹

    ¡¸But it¡¯s an example thates from ShanFro¡­¡­ If I had any real friends it would be a game like that that I would rmend them if they ever asked me.¡¹

    Then the game would end up being spread around even further, earning its rightful ce in the mind of the general public.

    And it would be really nice if we could get people to recognize that not every single game out there is ¡°unhealthy¡± and ¡°won¡¯t bring any benefits to the ones who are ying it¡±. Because that is not always the case.

    After watching a few more matches and chatting with Modorokatsu, I decided to log out of the ¡°Crap¡± for the day.

    I have a drink of water, then have something to eat and then I switch from the sh*tty game to the godly game.

    I wake up inside of the Sekandill¡¯s inn, as the perverted, half-naked and bird masked Sanraku. After confirming that the penalty for death was lifted I started to wonder what should I do right now.

    ¡¸For now, I think it would be best to buy some armor¡­¡­¡¹

    Now I understand that running half-naked without any armor on will be really problematic really soon.

    Even though the poison attack didn¡¯t do any damage in and out of itself, if I didn¡¯t receive so much damage during the fight I might not have been dead upon reaching Sekandill in the first ce.

    Without any armor on, my defenses were literally paper-thin.

    But what¡¯s more important, with a proper armor, my recovery rate would surely increase.

    ¡¸But before having a look around town¡­¡­ I really should organize my inventory first.¡¹

    It was a really enjoyable game with a lot of things to do in it, but because of exactly that feature I could hear that some of the yers wereining about it all the time.

    It¡¯s like with doing household chores. It may be hard if you are not used to it, but if you make a habit out of them, they might be rather enjoyable in their own right.

    ¡¸Now then, should I head out?¡¹

    The protagonist and Modorokatsu are the sh*tty games friends that met in one such game one time. They have never met one another in real life, but their friendship is on such a level that they often exchange texts and e-mails.

    Unlike the protagonist, who usually tries to y anything that strikes his fancy, Modorokatsu enjoys more ¡°specific and utterly broken¡± titles. He sometimes introduces the protagonist to some of them.

 Chapter 13: The Leveling Freak Evolves Into Shopping Freak!

    <h4>Chapter 13: The Leveling Freak Evolves Into Shopping Freak!</h4>

    ¡¸Wee, wee¡­¡­ What kind of armor would you like?¡¹

    I guess if there would be someone in this game that would scream ¡°I need some armor ASAP!¡± that would certainly be me at the moment.

    So the armor shop clerk NPC asked me that with a huge smile on his face.

    What an amazing AI¡­¡­ It seems that this game could sell this technology to the military without any problem, or even end humanity if they wanted to. (Note: Is that a SkyNet reference?)

    ¡¸Please show me what you got.¡¹

    ¡¸Take a look.¡¹

    He hands me a piece of parchment¡­¡­ In the next moment a window pops up, disying all of the items that were on sale here, apanied by their short descriptions.

    ¡¤ Snake Leather Armor Set (Pieces can be bought separately): 12 000 mani

    ¡¤ Chain Mail Armor Set (Pieces can be bought separately): 6000 mani

    ¡¤ Robes of the ck Arts (Cannot be bought separately): 9000 mani

    ¡¤ White Laboratory Coat (Cannot be bought separately): 9000 mani

    ¡¤ Leather Armor Set (Cannot be bought separately): 4000 mani

    ¡¸Please give me the Leather Armor Set.¡¹

    ¡¸Sure thing. Please wait a moment.¡¹

    The price was the most deciding factor here, I won¡¯t lie.

    Rather than defenses, I wanted to have some clothes on so that people wouldn¡¯t take me for some kind of pervert that enjoys strolling around the city while wearing almost nothing.

    Thinking about that now, that kind of situation would be far worse than suddenly being attacked from all sides by monsters.

    But on the other hand¡­.. The Snake Leather Set and Chainmail Set both seemed like heavy armor which would probably have negative modifications for my Agility stat, and both ck Arts Robe and Lab Coat seemed like a magical equipment to me. Putting the price and looks aside, they would be next to useless for me.

    So in the end, Leather Armor was my only choice here.

    ¡¸Sorry for the wait.¡¹

    ¡¸No problem. Here¡¯s the money.¡¹

    ¡¸Thanks for your patronage! Now, if you happen to damage your armor out there, we will fix it for a small fee that is ording to the damage sustained.¡¹

    I decided to equip it on the spot¡­¡­ Oh, it evenes with its own separate headpiece? And from the looks of it wasn¡¯t half bad.

    ¡­¡­ Nah, I don¡¯t mind being a bird-mask for a little while longer.

    ¡¤ Leather Mask

    A simple mask made out of the leather of the Mud Frog living in the swamps to the West. Minimalistic in design and focuses on protecting the wearer¡¯s face.

    Be careful, as it can mess up your hair and overall appearance.

    ¡¤ Leather Vest

    A simple vest made out of the leather of the Mud Frog living in the swamps to the West. Can withstand both shing and striking damage to some extent.

    Can be a somewhat tight fit, which is a matter of preference.

    ¡¤ Leather Belt

    A simple belt made out of the leather of the Mud Frog living in the swamps to the West. Since it is made out of leather from the frog¡¯s back, it is resistant to piercing damage.

    Put this around your waist and squeeze! The tighter the better!

    ¡¤ Leather Pants

    A simple trousers made out of the leather of the Mud Frog living in the swamps to the West. Comfy and easy to move in.

    Its defenses are rather small inparison to the rest of the leather set.

    Oh well, for now I was happy to get something to wear, so that people wouldn¡¯t give me any funny looks and tried to report me as a pervert or other things like that.

    Now that I was wearing them, they kind of resembled a full-on body suit or a diver suit that you sometimes see in movies.

    ording to the item description, it was a deliberate design so that the armor could provide both defenses and ease of movements.

    ¡¸Yeah, let¡¯s not go with that mask.¡¹

    If I was a suspicious person wearing a bird mask, I could somehow live with that, since the people would eventually grow ustomed to it and stop making that big of a deal out of it. However, with that leather mask I would look more like a gimp or a bank robber, and if that would stick to me, I would probably die out of embarrassment.

    Now, next on the to-do list is the weapon shop. I was hoping I could get some decent main weapon there, one that would serve as the recement of the double mercenary des that I lost.

    The dual des from the Vorpal Bunny, the ones I used to beat Orochi, I decided to keep them stocked away as a trump card of sorts against the future bosses.

    It seems that dual wielding weapons was wearing them down rtively fast, so it would be aplete waste to use them on small fries like that.

    ¡¸Ah? Are you buying unused weapons from people?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, yes indeed, unless it¡¯s something other than primitive stone tools¡­¡­ What are you selling?¡¹

    ¡¸Here.¡¹

    Although it was listed as a weapon, I was pretty much sure that the Goblin Hatchet would be nothing more than garbage. Would they even consider buying it off of me?

    More importantly, would anyone be interested in buying such a trash weapon from them?

    Just like in the armor shop, the clerk handed me a piece of parchment and a window appeared.

    ¡¸Oh my, looks like we are not dealing with those.¡¹

    However, even though they had a dual-wielding column here, there was no weapon that could be purchased from it.

    Does that mean there was nothing I could do here? Oh well, looks like the only choice left for me would be to attack the next area armed with nothing but the goblin hatchets¡­¡­ Ah, I see.

    Now that I think about it, Mercenary des weren¡¯t a single, dual weapon, but rather a pair of single weapons.

    It was just me who treated them as a single item from the very beginning.

    Thinking calmly, Goblin Hatchets were described as two handed weapons alright.

    ¡¸Daggers, daggers, let¡¯s see¡­¡­ Hmm¡­¡­¡¹

    Interesting.

    It was neither good nor bad, but it was rather decent for something that you could buy in the second city of the game.

    No, no, no, so would this mean that the knives I got as a rare drop are more powerful than I would have imagined?

    ¡¸Oh, if there isn¡¯t anything that strikes your fancy in our inventory, you can just bring us some raw materials and we can make a weapon out of them for you.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, really?¡¹

    Now that sounded like a sweet deal.

    The NPCs of ShangriLa Frontier use highly advanced AI in their algorithms, so it is no exaggeration to say that they are almost like normal humans, except that they don¡¯t have physical bodies.

    Rather, the game developers are all crazy geniuses, ones that try to squeeze as much cutting-edge technology into their product as they possibly can. However, since their anti-hacking protocols are cutting-edge as well, ShanFro has never been hacked by evil people¡­¡­ yet.

 Chapter 14: I Think Itâ€™s Time to Collect Some Materials

    <h4>Chapter 14: I Think It¡¯s Time to Collect Some Materials</h4>

    The next zone, that is the area that is needed to cross if you want to go from Sekandill to Sadorema, is the wilderness ridden with many small swamps ¨C¨C The Marsnds ¨C¨C which is rich in many rare minerals.

    This time around, before I decided to head into the Marsnds I gathered some basic information about the terrain, and bought a bunch of recovery items, just to be on the safe side.

    ¡¸Right¡­¡­ First order of business would be to verify what drops can be acquired from the monsters here.¡¹

    I wanted to fully explore this new area, but first I needed to confirm just how goblin Hatchets would fare in actualbat. I tried them out on some sand bags before, but now I was on the lookout for some Mud Frogs that would auto drop some items that were useful in item creation.

    And from the item description it was almost a given that said Mud Frogs were very resistant to sh damage.

    Their backs were also very resistant to piercing damage, so I guess the trick to defeating them would be to use some blunt weapon or magic, right maybe there were some other ways to do that, since I have seen that firearms were also a thing in this game.

    ¡¸Nah, it should be fine. Besides, I have already confirmed that Goblin Hatchet has a blunt attribute, and it is not so sharp to begin with.¡¹

    And since I had quite a lot of them in my inventory, I could use them with my skills without having to worry that I would eventually run out of weapons to use. So it could be a perfect setting for me at the current moment.

    For now, my biggest priority would be to hunt down some monsters and confirm what kind of materials can be obtained out of them. I could see a dog-like monster and a bird-like monster in the distance, but since they weren¡¯ting after me already I must have been outside of their agro range.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s try to get a little bit closer, just to be sure¡­¡­¡¹

    I reach the edge of a small swamp and them I immediately understand the words of the NPC I asked about the area earlier. There, right in the middle of the swamp, was some kind of a rocky formation standing up from the ground, with some distinct parts to it. It must have been mineral veins that you could mine for ore. There was something else right beside it.

    ¡¸Gegogo, gegogo!!¡¹

    ¡¸A frog¡­¡­ At least it looks like it.¡¹

    Due to its cry and general characteristic, there is no doubt that it is the Mud Frog that I was looking for.

    However, it was different from any normal frogs in such regards that its torso was longer and its limbs were more elongated and muscr. ¡­¡­ How should I say it? It was certainly unique.

    ¡¸But still, this thing is rather huge.¡¹

    It was also apanied by quite a few of those wild dogs. I don¡¯t know if they have ¡°Mud¡± in their names as well, but the color of their fur was the same as the color of my armor.

    Now for the real test, if the Goblin Hatchets would serve as valid weapons¡­¡­

    ¡¸SHAAOOORRRAAAGGGHHH!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Gegogo!?¡¹

    You utter fools! Did you really think I would fight you inside of the swamp, where my movements would be severely limited!? I¡¯m not that dumb. That way I can draw you towards me, on thend where I would have a bigger advantage and my movements wouldn¡¯t be so limited. I then aimed my hatchets towards the frog¡¯s eyes, but since its physique was so misaligned I missed, and I ended up hitting it to the head instead. The frog seemed to have hardly even felt that. It was also pretty agile¡­¡­ for a frog.

    ¡¸Haaah! Doryah!¡¹

    If I stepped into the swamp, my movements could have been very limited, but on the drynd I could utilize my full potential and maneuverability. The Mud Frog wasing after me, not letting me out of its sight even for a moment.

    ¡¸How about I strike this spot!? It surely feels like it could be a weak spot!!¡¹

    ¡¸Guegigi!?¡¹

    I swing my Goblin Hatchet at the Mud Frog with all of my might, aiming towards its belly¡­¡­ The hatchet goes deep inside of it, seemingly managing to strike a critical hit. There was also a bunch of polygons scattering all over the ce.

    ¡¸Well, for the time being I collected everything that dropped out of it¡­¡­ But is it really just a Mud Frog skin? Nothing else?¡¹

    It was a material used by NPCs to create armor. It wasn¡¯t even a rare drop. If I had to make a wild guess, I would say the skin off its back could possibly be a rare drop. But more importantly, it seems that the Goblin Hatchet was still good as a weapon, as far as Mud Frogs are concerned.

    ¡¸Right, let¡¯s just equip the Pickaxe as my weapon and let¡¯s start digging¡­¡­¡¹

    Some people use pickaxes as their main weapons because of how pointy they are and the sheer versatility of its uses. You could dig up ore with them, stab someone with it, cut some tree branches¡­¡­ A yer that knew how to properly utilize a pickaxe in battle was far more dangerous than any magic spell or trap.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Gah¡­¡­ it¡¯s way¡­¡­ heavier than it¡­¡­ looks¡­¡­!¡¹

    I try to hit the ore vein, but with my current Strength stat it was difficult for me to handle the pickaxe as it normally should be done. My strikes were hardly doing anything to the ore vein, and all that was happening was my stamina bar was depleted by one third of its total value.

    But even so, after way more time than was worth it, I¡¯ve managed to collect some of the ore that I wanted.

    Volcano¡­¡­ Vige Chief¡­¡­ Pickaxe¡­¡­ Agh, my head.

 Chapter 15: It Is Frustrating When The Work You Put Your Time Into Is Not Efficient Enough

    <h4>Chapter 15: It Is Frustrating When The Work You Put Your Time Into Is Not Efficient Enough</h4>

    ¡¤ Stone

    in and ordinary stone gravel.

    Although it has little to no utility as a crafting material, it can be used for other processes.

    ¡¤ Grey Iron Ore

    It can be processed into various materials, however, without any special effects to them.

    Because it won¡¯t luster even when polished, it is not applicable as the ornament of any sort.

    ¡¤ Silver Iron Ore

    Piece of silver ore.

    When used in item creation, it can boost the equipment¡¯s magic power.

    It is silver, but it is also Iron Ore.

    ¡¤ Swamp Fossil Rock

    A fossil rock that was most probably a part of some swamp monster.

    Fossils like that may contain the memories of the creatures that inhabited the swamps many years ago.

    But whether or not the memory itself proves to be of value depends solely on one¡¯s own luck¡­¡­

    It was truly sh*tty (like in most of the sh*tty games) that I had to swing my pickaxe for such a long time to start getting results, but when I started to get them they were turning out to be totally worth it.

    In particr, one of the fossil stones that dropped out of a certain ore vein seemed to have a rather rare aura to it.

    Also, it seems that when you mine for ores and materials at certain gathering points, those points seem to be empty after a certain amount of items drop from them. Something like that happened to the stone pir I was mining earlier, because it simply copsed into a pile of rubble after giving me some items.

    ¡¸Now then, whatever should I do¡­¡­?¡¹

    Oh well, might as well go back to town and try to craft me a weapon out of the ore that I have gathered. It would be a good idea to find out just what kind of items can be made out of the materials that were currently in my possession. And if I don¡¯t have enough items, I can just take a new pickaxe and go ore-hunting again. Who knows, maybe I could craft a really solid weapon out of the things I have on me?

    There are still plenty of pirs in the swamp for me to break down.

    Really now, it was truly helpful that our high school started the summer vacation period earlier than most of the other schools. Since summer is the season when you can get many things done inside the game world. It was also a given that ShanFro¡¯s sales would skyrocket during the summer vacation period and that there would be a whole new wave of yersing to start their own adventure here.

    Once that happens, the new yers are going to flood the beginner areas and as a result all of the resources would dry up in an instant. And while there seemed to be some countermeasures to prevent the yers from having to wait for the gathering points to respawn, getting caught up in a situation like that¡­¡­ Yeah, it wasn¡¯t that appealing of a scenario to me.

    ¡¸Say, I went to gather up some ore, but can I make anything out of this?¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s see here¡­¡­ Hoo, it seems that you¡¯ve managed to collect quite a lot of things indeed. I think you¡¯ll be able to craft a decent amount of items out of these materials.¡¹

    If you go through the swamp and collect a certain amount of materials, you would be able to craft some new items for yourself. But since the beginning yers were more or less content with the starting items they received there wouldn¡¯t be that many people out there gathering, which was making mining a little bit less stressful.

    ¡¸Fumu, fumu¡­¡­¡¹

    Out of all of the new items that became avable to me, two in particr were of interest.

    ¡¤ Swamp Dagger

    10 000 mani

    ¡¤ Dual Sawdes

    16 000 mani

    ¡¸Hmm, since my funds are pretty much limited at this moment, I guess I¡¯ll just buy two Swamp Daggers.¡¹

    I also sell some unwanted items from my inventory and just like that I managed to amass the necessary amount of money needed toplete the purchase. If I wanted more moneyter, I could always go hunting or gathering materials throughout the swamp.

    ¡¸Hm? Say, Mister, are you dual wielding your weapons?¡¹

    ¡¸He? Umm, yeah, I guess.¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, it¡¯s been a while since I was able to create some weapons meant for dual wielding!! Hahahaha!!¡¹

    Really? I thought that the dual wielding yers wouldn¡¯t be that umon in this game?

    Anyways, I pass the materials and the money to the clerk, thuspleting the transaction.

    The weapons should be ready around nightfall. And so I have some free time on my hands for the time being.

    ¡¸Whatever should I do now¡­¡­?¡¹

    Oh well, might as well go and grind some levels.

    I went back to the marsnds. I decided that and level up for a bit to kill some time until nightfall.

    And since I wanted to earn me some money, I decided to hunt for the Mud Frogs.

    But even though it was just a game, one needed to stay vignt at all times, otherwise an untimely death would be quick to greet you.

    When I looked up into the sky I saw a creature descending towards me at high speed. Was that a bird? Or maybe a ne? ¡­¡­ No, it was just a vulture-like monster, looking about ready to pick a fight with me.

    ¡¸Thanks. Since you areing to me, you¡¯re sparing me the trouble of aggroing you myself.¡¹

    Once the vulture was low enough it tried to attack my head with its sharp talons, but I managed to dodge its attack and retaliate with an attack of my own, striking its leg with my Goblin Hatchet.

    ¡¸Gyaaaeeehhh!?!?¡¹

    ¡¸Geh!? It didn¡¯t one shot it!?¡¹

    I scream in surprise and the vulture screeches in pain. The damage I dealt to it was a blow damage, but it only managed to shorten its HP bar by around one third. Was the Goblin Hatchet ineffective against monsters like that or was it simply that its legs were especially sturdy? ¡­¡­ Whatever.

    ¡¸Oryaah!!!¡¹

    Even though this Hatchet was brand new, its durability was draining fast against the vulture¡¯s body. I wanted to say that I was surprised, but¡­¡­ During my hunt of the Mud Frogs I was going through my Hatchet collection like it was nobody¡¯s business, so the only thing I could do here was toy waste at the monster while I still had the chance.

    ¡¸Head! Wings! Torso! Legs again!¡¹

    Guh, I was slowly chipping its HP away, but for a mere monster it was especially resilient. Does this mean that Mud Frogs are the limit for the Goblin Hatchet? It surely was a little bit surreal to try to kill a flying monster with stone tools, but finally the vulture falls to the ground and explodes in the geyser of polygons, leaving only its wings behind.

    ¡¸Now, that took some time to be done with¡­¡­ Hmm? Wings?¡¹

    I check out what was left out of that vulture.

    ¡¤ Bandit Vulture

    A piece of Bandit Vulture containing its feathers.

    Aside from the proof of defeating the Bandit Vulture, this item holds no value whatsoever.

    It is a mere testimony of one¡¯s struggles in order to obtain it.

    ¡¸It¡¯s totally worthless!!!¡¹

    Seeing the effort I put into the fight beingughed at, I screamed at the top of my lungs.

    As a matter of fact, it is impossible to keep monsters immobilized for a prolonged period of time via skill usage or magic.

    However, since critical strikes can cause a knockback effect thatsts for about one second, most small fry monsters can be perpetually stun-locked if you manage to keep onnding critical strikes on them. In theory, dual wielding can make that effect even easier, or any weapon with high critical hit chance. Keep shing away at monsters to see for yourselves.

    As a matter of fact, some of the monsters with high enough level are capable of using a special attack once their HP has been depleted to a certain level.

 Chapter 16: A Rather Peculiar Person

    <h4>Chapter 16: A Rather Peculiar Person</h4>

    After confirming that Goblin Hatchet was a no-go, I decided to kill the rest of the remaining time by sleeping in real life.

    I was originally going to level up until the time was up, but without a proper weapon to dispose of the monsters with, those ns could very well go down the drain.

    ¡¸Oi, mister, is my weapon ready yet?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, you¡¯vee at a perfect time, boy! It¡¯s about ready!¡¹

    While saying that, the clerk opened up a window and the weapons were passed down onto my inventory directly, without having to give them by hand.

    ¡¤ Swamp Dagger

    A slightly glowing dagger.

    Made out of high quality ore found in the marsnds, it is bound to be any warrior¡¯s longtime friend.

    The glow of the weapon is solely dependent on the person that wields it.

    Each sessful critical strike reduces the amount of weapons durability that is lost by half.

    ¡¸Now, this is a really good weapon, for sure¡­¡­¡¹

    For me, there is no better weapon that I could use in long term thinking.

    The sawdes were really powerful and had some pretty neat additional effects, but the way in which these daggers were designed worked perfectly with my ystyle, focusing on critical damage and maneuverability rather than raw power.

    ¡¸Ah, that¡¯s right, there¡¯s something I wanted to ask¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm? Sure, ask away, but be quick about it. I want to go to bed soon¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Is there a way to restore weapon¡¯s lost durability?¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, now that you mention it, there are a lot of people who keep on asking me that question. Do newbies really like to take care of their weapons that much? So how about acting like a professional and leave that task to a cksmith? One that can both repair and ascend weapons? I¡¯m quite skilled in both of those things, so if you leave it to me, your weapons are going to be in really good care!¡¹

    ¡¸Hm? Weapon ascension?¡¹

    ¡¸What, you don¡¯t know about that feature? Look, boyo, I¡¯m a cksmith¡­¡­ I can craft and repair weapons, but I can also use magic to transmute them or to ascend them. Well, we cksmiths use the word ¡°ascend¡±, but it is just your in good old strengthening¡­¡­¡¹

    Seeing how this old man got fired up over his own craft, it was hard to believe that he was a genuine grown-up and not some youngd full of passion and willingness to work and learn.

    Having a nce at the WIKI for the game, there was a butt-load of secret information, statistics and parameters that each item could have to it. Looking at some of the charts there, normal weapon strengthening was able to make your items far stronger than they originally were, but ascending them would also add some additional effects to them, some of which were especially powerful and couldn¡¯t be obtained through any normal means. It was a lot of information for a newbie to process, it was certainly good to know.

    In other words, aside from the normal weapon growth, there was a huge number of parameters and ways in which you could make it even stronger. For me, that was more than enough.

    ¡¸Thank you very much, I¡¯ll be sure toe back once I have the necessary money and materials.¡¹

    ¡¸Sure thing. Best of luck out there!¡¹

    I say goodbye to the shop clerk and leave, going back to the swamp, there, I decided to test out the new weapons until my inventory getspletely filled.

    ¡¸Seriously though, why won¡¯t you just die already¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸Gekyakakaka!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Gugigie!!¡¹

    ¡¸Gaga!!!¡¹

    Calling their friends to help them in battle was something only monsters are capable off!!!

    I kind of underestimated just how good the graphics are in this game and ended up going through the swamp inplete darkness, until I eventually stumbled upon a pack of goblins wearing red hats that started to call their allies for help once they realized that they were going to be ughtered.

    In this game, monsters appearing in the exploration zones changed depending on the time of day. For example, the red hat goblins weren¡¯t carrying around blunt hatchets, but rather iron short swords and finely polished stone hammers.

    At first there were only two or three of them. They were just goblins, so their thought processes were somewhat slow, but sometimes you could almost feel that that aura of murderous intenting off of them. They were unique monsters and right next to their name tags there was this red exmation mark, signalizing that their levels were higher than normal monsters around them.

    I thought it was a good thing that there was a system like that here. Thanks to that, the yers of various levels of skill and Full Dive technology knowledge could enjoy themselves here, without having to worry about anything. Without that, the game could really be biased towards a certain group of yers whilepletely omitting the rest of them.

    It was also amazing that they managed to implement such a system without creating some sort of bugs in the process, eitherbat or exploration-rted.

    My new weapons were doing a decent job at hacking away at the goblins, and once their overall HP was below the halfway point, only one third of the daggers durability gauge was emptied.

    As a result, I was currently being surrounded by five or even six red hat goblins¡­¡­

    (Now then, just how should we approach this¡­¡­?)

    There wasn¡¯t a respawn point anywhere nearby, but there was also no limits to how many times the yer could die in a certain amount of time.

    However, even after losing all of their HP and dropping dead, the yer¡¯s body wouldn¡¯t just disappear immediately, instead just hanging there for a couple minutes.

    What¡¯s more, it was by all means possible for some third party people to open up the deceased yer¡¯s inventory before they erupted into polygons, stealing away that yer¡¯s items. That was the number one cause for PK in this game. And until I managed to score myself a reliable partner that would guard my corpse upon death or cast revive at me, I wouldn¡¯t want anyone to go rummaging around my equipment and inventory.

    In that case, the best possible solution would be to simply escape¡­¡­ But truth be told I don¡¯t want to do that. It¡¯s just a game, anyways.

    ¡¸Really now¡­¡­ Whatever shall I do¡­¡­?¡¹

    At that time, the red hat goblins saw something to the side, raised a myriad of screams and started to run away for some reason. Was that perhaps a friendly yer that decided to help me out?

    ¡¸Gururururu¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    That delusion was quickly dispelled by the predators roar somewhere behind my back.

    ¡¸You encounter a unique monster: ¡°Night Prowler Lukaan¡±.¡¹

    Oh fuck. So it was something like that. Well, guess I¡¯m dead, huh?

    cksmiths can have ess to magic and skills tied to production and enhancement of magic weapons and armor. Any NPC can learn that magic should it choose to be a cksmith. But they can enhance not only armor, but simple clothes as well. But in this game cksmiths mostly deal in weapons.

    Also, many yers aim to be a cksmith since that means they would be able to craft their own weapons and armor, as well as sell their products to other yers as well. The seasons with an increased amount of new yers is an opportunity for yer cksmiths to test their own skills and make some money while they are at it.

 Chapter 17: Ambush In the Night

    <h4>Chapter 17: Ambush In the Night</h4>

    Here is the recap of the current situation just until the unique monster showed itself.

    Sanraku, that is me, is in real pinch right now, as he was vastly overwhelmed by the enemies that surrounded him.

    There was a half-dead Red Hat Goblin A that was still standing!

    There was a Red Hat Goblin B that wasrgely intact with no real damage done to it.

    There was a Red Hat Goblic C, but it started to run away as soon as the unique monster showed itself.

    Red Hat Goblin D wanted to confront the monster, but it didn¡¯t work out so well for it, for it exploded in a Geyser of polygons a few seconds after confronting the monster.

    That¡¯s it!

    ¡¸Oi, oi, isn¡¯t that thing too OP¡­¡­.?¡¹

    This unique monster here has such a malicious of an aura going on about it that it is literally saying ¡°Tough luck for you to encounter me, now you¡¯re all going to die!¡±.

    Basically, it is that kind of a monster that wipes the floor with the newbies on every single asion. But weren¡¯t the Red Hats unique monsters as well? I was now starting to regret wanting to go to the swamp in the middle of the night. No matter how skilled you are, the sheer difference in numbers was too much of a gap to ovee. There are such powerful and unique monsters.

    Its presence was so overwhelmingly menacing that I found myself unable to move. Really now. Was it really possible to reproduce in such detail the feeling of being intimidated inside of a game?

    ¡¸Oooohhhh!?!?¡¹

    For some strange reason, I managed to snap myself out of it and roll to the side at thest possible moment, avoiding the iing attack.

    In the next moment, a wide open mouth with rows of sharp teeth inside it passes me by the skin of my teeth and falls onto one of the Red Hat Goblins, devouring it whole with ease.

    The Red Hat Goblin B¡¯s meat was torn apart, its bones shattered, its innards crushed and sttered around¡­¡­ With just a single bite like that the Goblin was reduced to mere minced meat, its HP instantly falling to zero.

    It was gore in its purest form.

    ¡¸Unique Monster: ¡°Night Prowler Luukan¡±¡­¡­¡¹

    I see¡­¡­ It¡¯s called ¡°Night Prowler¡± because it only appears at night. Although the Red Hat Goblins also appeared at night and were quite strong, there was simply noparison between the two. The Goblins could never possibly hope to kill other monsters with one blow.

    Its body was shaped like a wolf, and while its mane was almost entirely ck there were parts of it around its mouth that were red, and its eyes were bright yellow. It was giving off an illusion that it was the mouth itself flowing through the darkness of the night.

    My level was around eighteen at the current moment, but just how wide was the gap between me and the Night Prowler Luukan? Was it double¡­¡­? No, it was probably going to be triple in both levels and stats. Well, there was no possible way for me to defeat this guy, not with my current weapons and paper-thin armor. Even critical hits surely wouldn¡¯t be of any use to me right now, as it would be like trying to stab an iron te with a toothpick.

    ¡¸I can only run away¡­¡­ But will I be able to?¡¹

    The difference in our Agility must have been tremendous as well. It was a miracle that I managed to avoid its previous attack like that. ¡­¡­ No, it wasn¡¯t that.

    What saved me there was probably my Luck. At my current level that was the only exnation on why I would be able to avoid an attack from a monster like that.

    It was only a game. So like with any other game, I might as well give it a go. I mean, there was no way a solo low-level yer such as myself would be able to beat a raid-ss monster like that, but it surely won¡¯t hurt me to try, right?

    ¡¸Yeah, that¡¯s right¡­¡­ Just who the hell do you think I am!? (Note: Not a member of the Dai Guuren-dan, that¡¯s for sure.)¡¹

    Bugs, glitches, difficulty spikes, unreasonably strong monsters, we gamers who conquered sh*tty games have ovee a whole lot of difficulties like that! Even if I am going to be one-shotted by this monster, I am damn well going to try and bring it down!

    ¡¸You want a piece of me!? Have at you, then!!¡¹

    This is it! The fun part of this game! I am really going to enjoy myself to the fullest!!

    But even if I¡¯m going to lose, so what!? It¡¯s an inevitable part of being a gamer, after all! Stumbling upon a strong monster that you cannot hope to beat with your starting equipment alone! There¡¯s no shame in dying to something like that!

    I change my weapons to the pair of Swamp Daggers, as they are my strongest weapons for the moment, and then I assume the battle stance.

    You thought I was going to run away!? You thought I was going to just give up and allow myself to be devoured by you!? I don¡¯t know how the unique monsters AI behaves, but I surely wasn¡¯t going to y like it wanted me to! Not a chance!

    The monster jumped towards me¡­¡­ and again I managed to avoid its attack, although just barely by keeping a track of its eyes. It was simr to that Orochi serpent, but surely it was on a whole different level.

    ¡¸Hahaha! That wasn¡¯t even that big of a deal!!!¡¹

    But it was a lie. I thought I was surely going to die out there.

    PN: Sanraku

    LV: 18

    ss: Mercenary (Dual Wielding Swordsman)

    2,000 Maani

    HP: 30

    MP: 10

    STM (Stamina): 40

    STR (Strength): 10

    DEX (Dexterity): 15

    AGI (Agility): 40

    TEC (Technique): 20

    VIT (Vitality): 1 (14)

    LUC (Luck): 55

    Skills

    ? Spin sh

    ? Skull Pierce

    ? Knuckle Rush

    ? Tap Step ¡ú Side Step

    ? sh Counter ¡ú Just Parry

    ? Loop sh Lv.1

    Equipment

    Right Hand: Vorpal Chopper

    Left Hand: Vorpal Chopper

    Head: Mask of the Bird Eye (VIT 2)

    Body: Leather Vest (VIT 4)

    Waist: Leather Belt (VIT 4)

    Feet: Leather Pants (VIT 4)

    essories: None

    Enemy Name: Night Prowler Luukan

    LV: 165

    HP: ? ? ? ?

    MP ?? ? ? ? ?

    STM ?? ? ? ? ?

    STR ?? ? ? ? ?

    DEX:? ? ? ? ?

    AGI: ? ? ? ?

    TEC: ? ? ? ?

    VIT:? ? ? ? ?

    LUC: ? ? ?

    Skills

    ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

    ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

    ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

    ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

    ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

    ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

    Just Parry is a truly overpowered skill which would technically allow to parry all of the enemy¡¯s physical attacks, as long as the position and timing are done perfectly right before receiving the damage (magic attacks are excluded from that)

    Unique monsters are not the same as the rare monsters, and their appearance rate is significantly lower than that of rare monsters to begin with. That being said, ShangriLa Frontier tends to treat them somewhat the same.

    Area bosses and story bosses are enemies that you can even take on solo if you raise your level high enough, but the unique monsters such as ¡°Night Prowler Luukan¡± are raid-ss monsters that you can¡¯t hope to defeat solo.

    As a side note, there is no clear number of unique monsters that are implemented in the game, as there are monsters that are yet to be discovered by the yers. ¡°Night Prowler Luukan¡± can be encountered anywhere in the game world during night period and it is a rare specimen of a monster whose level exceeds a three digit number.

 Chapter 18: Being a Protagonist Doesnâ€™t Guarantee You a Boost In Stats

    <h4>Chapter 18: Being a Protagonist Doesn¡¯t Guarantee You a Boost In Stats</h4>

    Welp, the results were as you might have expected them. Suddenly realizing the potential that was hidden deep inside of me, pulling off some kind of Revenge Counter (Note: Nanatsu no Taizai style!) or receiving help from some overpowered high level yer¡­¡­ Yeah, nothing so overly dramatic happened.

    ¡¸Well, go figure.¡¹

    On the other hand, I would like to know why I was left with only 1 HP and I had to watch the Night Prowler Luukan slowly approach me while I was wriggling in pain on the ground.

    Well, I guess if you were able to ovee the difference in numbers with your yer skill alone, that would mean that there was something fundamentally wrong with the game bnce. It if was like that then there wouldn¡¯t be any hardcore games out there left in this world, am I right?

    Now, if there is anyone who wants to say that a strange bird-headed yer just got owned by a unique monster, please wait a moment. Just hear me out. I¡¯ve managed to hold my ground against it for five minutes straight, hit it for about two hundred times, out of which a hundred and ten were critical hits. But even so, I didn¡¯t manage to deplete its HP gauge at all, Hahahaha¡­¡­ Hah.

    Besides, it¡¯s mane. Rather than being your in and ordinary fur, it was almost like it was made out of metal, and was probably as thick.

    As proof, the weapons that I used were almost at their breaking point, and they started with full durability gauges. Attacking this thing was simr to hitting a God damned rock. Not to mention that its skills were overpowered as well, since one of them was fixing its position on the battlefield, making it look as though it was disappearing only to appear right behind your back the very next second.

    Even the Goblins that tried to attack it got utterly decimated in a matter of seconds, popping just like balloons from mere single strikes from this beast. And if some of them managed tond a sessful attack on it, it only resulted in their weapon getting broken instantly.

    If there was a monster tamer somewhere nearby, I wish I could go and scout them into my party.

    ¡¸Ah, fuck me¡­¡­ This is really a good game¡­¡­¡¹

    Strangely enough, there was nothing but the feeling of satisfaction filling out my chest for the moment. There¡¯s no doubt that the ¡°Night Prowler Luukan¡± is strong. It is unreasonably strong, unreasonably agile and unreasonably fast. Although I should be dead from all those bites I received from him, which were all critical strikes just to let you know, instead of being dead I was left with that mere 1 HP on me. Was that the effect of my high Luck stat? Being able to avoid a fatal blow? I need to investigate this matter further some other time.

    However, its unreasonable stats and behaviors were all in the boundaries of the code by which it was programmed. And since it was made by normal people, it is certain that it was not meant to be unbeatable¡­¡­¡­¡­

    ¡¸Someday, I don¡¯t know when¡­¡­ But I will defeat you! Of that you can be sure!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    At that moment I realized that my gamer soul waspletely on fire. I didn¡¯t even care about thest boss of the storyline of this game anymore.

    In this moment, the main driving force for me in this game has been decided.

    ¡¸Just you wait for me! And don¡¯t you dare to be defeated by anyone else until I grow strong enough to take you down!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­ Guru.¡¹

    ¡¸Really now, this AI is something else entirely.¡¹

    As my HP dropped from one to zero, I bit my lip seeing the face of Luukan distorted in something that could only be described as a parody of a smirk.

    ¡¸CURSE MARK OF LUUKAN has been granted.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    As I woke up on the second floor of the inn in Sekandill, I silently open up my status screen.

    PN: Sanraku

    LV: 28 (50)

    ss: Mercenary (Dual Wielding Swordsman)

    2,000 Mani

    HP (Health Points): 30

    MP (Magic): 10

    STM (Stamina): 40

    STR (Strength): 10

    DEX (Dexterity): 15

    AGI (Agility): 40

    TEC (Technique): 20

    VIT (Vitality): 1 (6)

    LUC (Luck): 55

    Skills

    ? Spin sh ¡ú Rush sh

    ? Skull Pierce ¡ú Spiral Edge

    ? Knuckle Rush

    ? Side Step ¡ú Side Move

    ? Just Parry ¡ú Repel Counter

    ? Loop sh Lv.1 ¡ú Lv.4

    ? Edge Climb

    ? el Lv. 3

    Equipment

    Right: Vorpal Chopper

    Left: Vorpal Chopper

    Head: Mask of the Bird Eye (VIT 2)

    Torso: Curse of Luukan

    Waist: Leather Belt (VIT 4)

    Feet: Curse of Luukan

    essories: None

    It seems that you get the experience points just by fighting the unique monsters, so the level went up and some attribute points to distribute were really appreciated¡­¡­ So it wasn¡¯t a total waste of time on my part.

    Some of my skills got upgraded and I received some new ones as well. Sadly, none of them seemed to be OP or fighting-rted.

    ¡¤ Luukan Curse Mark

    Night Prowler Luukan favors strong enemies. Without distincting to good and evil, Luukan leaves his mark on those who he deems worthy.

    It is the mark of Luukan¡¯s prey, and even the mark alone emits Luukan¡¯s tremendous power.

    There is no other way to remove the mark but to defeat the one who ced it.

    ¡¸You cannot equip armor to the slots taken by the Curse Mark of Luukan.¡¹

    ¡¸Monsters whose levels are lower than that of the yer bearing the curse mark will run away from the yer.¡¹

    ¡¸Curse Mark of Luukan makes the yer strongly resistant to other types of curses.¡¹

    ¡¸Characters with the Curse Mark of Luukan will receive special dialogue options when talking with NPCs.¡¹

    Huh, what¡¯s that supposed to mean?

    The condition for unlocking this were as follows: Do not receive any damage for five minutes while being in the vanguard, Do not die in one hit by insta-kill move (without the assist of spells, items or abilities).

    In addition I also received a reward for a minor challenge: deal a certain number of critical hits onto opponents with the level difference of one hundred or higher.

 Chapter 19: Back to the Half-Naked One

    <h4>Chapter 19: Back to the Half-Naked One</h4>

    In short, what was this situation that I have found myself in right now? It¡¯s simple, really.

    ¡¤ I¡¯m back to running half-naked since I can¡¯t equip anything on my torso and legs.

    ¡¤ Weak monsters are now going to avoid encounters with me.

    ¡¤ The curse resistance maye as a pretty solid buff in the future.

    ¡¤ Does that mean my character is no longer a beginner, but an intermediate or even advanced?

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t that¡­¡­ something taken straight out of a sh*tty game?¡¹

    What is this? Does this mean the gods of the sh*tty games have finally decided to smite me for my attempt at abandoning them in favor of a better game? Is that what this is all about? Was my godly ShanFro going to take a turn for the worst sh*tty game possible? No,no, no. Calm down, me. Think about this carefully.

    In order to persevere through the sh*ttiest of sh*tty games one needed three basic virtues: tolerant mind to suffer through even the stupidest of scenarios, patience to ovee the broken AI and a calm mind to withstand the saltiness of a sudden failure.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s try to summarize the events thus far¡­¡­¡¹

    First order of business: with fifty more ability points to dispense to my statistics, it was about time for some major upgrades. My current standing was a critical hit fighter with high luck and paper-thin defenses, so it may turn out that leveling up like that may be harder in the near future. Additionally, I don¡¯t think that the Curse Mark of Luukan is going to be a demerit only.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­ Now that I think about it.¡¹

    What happened to that monster after the encounter had ended? Usually when monsters get far enough away from the yer they are going to disappear and reappear after some time in their initial spawning position. But how great of a distance would that be? It was something to think about, since the Full Dive games didn¡¯t really have loading times at all, and are very closely resembling reality.

    ¡¸That¡¯s right.¡¹

    Now it would be a good time to invest some of those points in my HP and Vitality. But not too much, since making myself a tank in my current position wouldn¡¯t be that efficient to begin with. What¡¯s more important here is my ability to be able to catch up to any monsters that would try to run away from me from now on. My condition¡­¡­ Overall stamina¡­¡­ Some skills would be nice as well, just to be on the safe side¡­¡­ And yes, the fact that Luukan didn¡¯t finish me instantly and that I was left with only 1 HP must have been Luck-rted.

    ¡¸This is¡­¡­¡¹

    PN: Sanraku

    LV: 28

    ss: Mercenary (Dual Wielding Swordsman)

    2,000 Mani

    HP: 30

    MP: 10

    STM: 50

    STR: 15

    DEX: 20

    AGI: 60

    TEC: 20

    VIT: 6

    LUC: 65

    Skills:

    ? Rush sh

    ? Spiral Edge

    ? Knuckle Rush

    ? Slide Move

    ? Repel Counter

    ? Loop sh Lv.4

    ? Edge Climb

    ? el Lv.3

    Equipment:

    Right: Vorpal Chopper

    Left: Vorpal Chopper

    Head: Mask of the Bird Eye (VIT + 1)

    Torso: Curse of Luukan

    Waist: Leather Belt (VIT + 4)

    Feet: Curse of Luukan

    essories: None

    It¡¯s kind of weird in a mundane way, that¡¯s not really the way I wanted to y this game at all¡­¡­

    At this rate, my current build would leave me as a critical hit warrior based solely on Luck. My defenses will continue to be paper-thin and all of my damage wille from critical hits and nothing more. It wasn¡¯t that bad of a concept, but currently the only real fighting skills I have are the ones that are kind of a double-edge sword and the skill that lets me elerate my movement and attack speed for a short duration. It is enough for now, but there wille a time when I am sure to bounce off a wall that I won¡¯t be able to traverse. Still, maybe my approach for the game was wrong on the fundamental level? It is an online game after all, so why was I so adamant on ying it solo?

    Would my encounter with Night Prowler Luukan have turned out different if I wasn¡¯t alone?

    But unlike the sh*tty games where it was almost always mandatory to y solo since so few people were ying said games, this game has thousands of yers logged in on a daily basis, so maybe forming a party wouldn¡¯t be so bad after all.

    No, but with my current predicament, it would surely annoy other yers that they can¡¯t farm monsters because they would run away from me¡­¡­ The more I think about it the more I realized that I was pretty much locked on the path of a solo yer for now.

    Maybe there is a yer out there that would be willing to help me lift that curse? Maybe some of the top yers on the server? But what is the probability of such yers venturing into the beginner area? Probably the same as encountering a unique monster two times in a row.

    ¡¸Haah¡­¡­¡¹

    Not to mention that both of my naked torso and legs were covered with dark bite marks¡­¡­ the marks of the curse.

    Both the vest and the trousers got damaged and disappeared during the fight, as if it¡¯s the most natural thing for them to do. No matter how many times I check in the status screen, the equipment slots taken by the curse marks are still there and are not disappearing.

    Guess I need to ept the fact that I was going to look like a total creep and pervert for quite some time now.

    ¡¸Oh well, not that I can do anything about it. What would you like me to do in the face of a hardship inside of the game? Lay on the ground and cry about it?¡­¡­ No thanks.¡¹

    I must say, I am really pleasantly surprised by this game. With the goal of defeating the Night Prowler Luukan in mind, my determination skyrocketed.

    This curse causes the protagonist to run around half-naked again, but generally there are three types of curses in ShangriLa Frontier.

    First, there are ¡°magic¡± curses which the magic casters and some monsters can use. They are more like actual magic attacks rather than real curses.

    Next, there are ¡°Plot¡± curses, unique status effects granted to the yer upon reaching certain plot points in the game storyline or while doing side quests. A good example would be a curse that activated during a quest like ¡°Investigate the Haunted House¡±, which would continuously drain your sanity points for the whole duration of the investigation.

    Finally there are the ¡°Curse Marks¡± granted by the unique monsters. It is a system incorporated to give some sort of gratification for getting parts of your equipment destroyed, but at the same time being a huge demerit that directly interferes with the game system.

    However, the demerits hugely outweigh the merits, since for example some monsters might run away from you.

    Technically the curse marks can stack their effects, but it is not wise to do so, since the poprity of your characters with the NPCs tends to drop tremendously while under the effects of them.

    Even if some of the monsters may be treated as gods by the NPCs, the yers that bear their curse marks are nothing more than objects of scorn and contempt.

 Chapter 20: An Encounter With the First Class Player

    <h4>Chapter 20: An Encounter With the First ss yer</h4>

    ¡¸Hey, look, it¡¯s that yer again¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸What is such a high-level yer doing in the beginner¡¯s area?¡¹

    ¡¸Maybe he¡¯s looking for someone?¡¹

    ¡¸But she seems to be a female yer.¡¹

    ¡¸Really? A female yer with a roughly-looking avatar like that?¡­¡­ I can work with this.¡¹

    ¡¸Nah, just look at her. She seems to be so high-leveled that she won¡¯t even bother with looking at low-levels like us.¡¹

    Thinking about it logically, finding a high-leveled party members would be increasingly difficult right now, since it was the beginning of the summer vacation and the number of new yers would be quite high.

    That is why it could be considered a miracle that I was able to overhear such a conversation while strolling through town. I wouldn¡¯t think I would meet those people again so soon.

    ¡¸So in the end, what matters is not only the level but the skills of the yer as well?¡¹

    ¡¸Apparently so. Even though we are on the same level as Sanraku-san, we couldn¡¯t attack the Vorpal Bunnies as effectively as he did.¡¹

    ¡¸They say that if you¡¯re good at VR games, you can battle even high-level monsters with ease while being a Level 1 yourself¡­¡­ So Sanraku-san must be a veteran of games like that for sure!¡¹

    ¡¸Lina, you keep saying that, but this isn¡¯t your first time with VR games either!¡¹

    ¡¸P¡­please don¡¯t say things like that!¡¹

    On my way from the weapon shop back to the inn, I saw a boy that was swinging around a brand new sword, apanied by a thief girl who was smirking widely and a magician girl whose cheeks were flushed.

    While hearing someone rather noisy I managed to spot the name tags walking through the streets. Now, knowing that my appearance was quite intimidating, I approached them quietly and spoke up quietly as well, so as to not startle them too much.

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Yes? Hyauh!?¡¹

    ¡¸Ababababah!?¡¹

    ¡¸Uwooohhh!?¡¹

    I failed miserably.

    First of all, it was really bad manners from my side to sneak up on them like that. But at the same time, it wasn¡¯t that I was trying to hide my presence or anything, so it was kind of their fault for failing to notice me.

    Then again, if I was suddenly approached by a suspicious-looking person like myself, I would probably react in the same way as the trio did just now. Can¡¯t really me them.

    ¡¸W, what¡­¡­ is it?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ It didn¡¯t try to attack us, so we might as well listen to what it has to say¡­¡­ for now.¡¹

    Soma¡¯s speech pattern was kind of funny, but maybe it was just an element of him roleying his character. He turned towards hispanions as if looking for their consent to the idea.

    ¡¸You guys¡­¡­ Have you by any chance met the yer called ¡°Saraku¡±?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh, ah, y, yes, that¡¯s right¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸In the forest area, he helped us out when we were in trouble¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸At first we mistakenly took him for some new kind of a monster¡­¡­¡¹

    Said Kaho while recalling the strange birdman-creature jumping out of the tall grass and swiftly disposing of the Vorpal Bunny. The memory brought a smile on Kaho¡¯s lips.

    ¡¸Could you tell me where I could find him¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­ I am pretty sure that he went towards Sekandil, right?¡¹

    ¡¸He said that he would do that after earning a few more levels.¡¹

    ¡¸But wasn¡¯t his level already more than appropriate to take on the Giant Serpent?¡¹

    (¡­¡­ So he¡¯s not here.)

    Although I should be surprised by hearing that, I really wasn¡¯t. Since he was a veteran of sh*tty games, it wasn¡¯t all that improbable that he would do somethingpletely unexpected like that, which normal yers wouldn¡¯t even consider doing. But the fact that he was heading for Sekandil was more than enough for now.

    ¡¸Thank you for the information.¡¹

    ¡¸Eh, wait just a¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Sorry, I¡¯m kind of in a hurry.¡¹

    ¡¸Wait¡­¡­! Aaaand there she goes¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Kaho, did you get any of that?¡¹

    ¡¸And what¡¯s this? Magic Scroll ¡°Coordinate Teleportation Gate¡±¡­¡­?¡¹

    It was still a little bit early for the trio to know the true value of the object that the armored female knight gave them was a unique item that was only obtainable through a high-level quest from the endgame segment of the story.

    Using her inhumanly high Agility, the armored knight was traversing the forest by jumping from tree branch to tree branch. Because she gave the magic scroll with the teleportation spell to those three newbies, she now had to walk all the way back to Sekandil.

    (I knew that his behavior would be highly irregr, but for him to not even make a stop in the first town avable in the game¡­¡­!!)

    The first town in the game was, like all other elements at the very beginning, a part of the tutorial. The fact that he didn¡¯t even make a stop there to set a respawn point meant that he must have broke through the exploration zone and defeat the area boss without dying even once.

    The Giant Serpent ¡°Orochi¡± was not a hard boss, that is if you take your time to learn its attack patterns and be mindful of the poison-inducing dung balls it was throwing at you. Still, to beat that boss on your very first day of ying the game was quite an achievement to perform. One that would be quite impossible without excessive grinding for levels.

    The armored knight continued to jump from tree to tree, taking the shortest route possible, and before even two minutes managed to pass, she was at the end of the exploration zone, where the Giant Serpent awaited her. Of course, she dealt with him without even stopping for a second.

    ¡¸ ¡­¡­¡°Highest Strength!!¡±, ¡°Enchanted Hell me!!¡±, ¡°Apocalypse!!¡±¡¹

    The first ability gave her a huge boost to her Strength statistic. The second one applied the fire element to her sword. And finally, the third one was the ultimate magic attack that managed to blow the Great Serpent away with one strike.

    ¡¸I want you to be able to clear bosses with ease like that¡­¡­ to have a shuttle runs like that together.¡¹

    Behind the armored knight, the body of the Giant Serpent was cut vertically in half while still trying to maintain the intimidating pose.

    Fortunately for every newbie out there, it was the afternoon, about lunchtime, so no one really witnessed that.

    Once defeated, area bosses for one zone will respawn after some time or after you make a respawn point in the next city. ¡°Shuttle run¡± is the process of defeating the boss, forcing it to respawn and then defeating it again over and over again.

 Chapter 21: A Unique Chain Reaction

    <h4>Chapter 21: A Unique Chain Reaction</h4>

    Welp, since I cannot really do anything serious until my death penalty wears off, I decided to go and have my weapons fixed.

    For the current moment they were the only weapons with appropriate damage output that would allow me to take on strong enemies. So if I can restore their durability, than that is what I want to do. I was nning on visiting the old cksmith, but¡­¡­

    ¡¸Closed¡­¡­ it says¡­¡­?¡¹

    I mean yeah, it makes sense that a store like that would be closed during the middle of the night, since it wasn¡¯t a convenience store and all, but was it really necessary for NPCs to behave like normal human beings?

    Not that all of that thinking of mine was magically going to change the sign from ¡°Closed¡± to ¡°Open¡±.

    ¡¸For now, maybe I¡¯ll wait with restoring the weapons until morning¡­¡­?¡¹

    I say that to myself, but in reality I was one of those people who couldn¡¯t be satisfied with the state of their own equipment until it was fully restored and operational. Not to mention that it would feel downright awkward to move around with damaged weapons. However, there was nothing I could really do about it, so I had to leave the necessary repairs for the clerk first thing in the morning.

    ¡¸You could say that I am lucky even though I may seem unlucky¡­¡­ Nngh!?¡¹

    All of the trivial thoughts shut down when I look around aimlessly and eventually see something peculiar entering my field of vision. I guess if other people saw me like that they would think I¡¯m acting awfully suspicious, but my eyes follow that foreign object that I managed to notice.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    Just then.

    There was something in the gap between the buildings, inside of a shady back alley, the one that you would never like to go to in real life. Something that apparently only I could see and it was beckoning me.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Vorpal Bunny?¡¹

    No, no, no. Vorpal Bunny is a biped that is holding two knives in its paws. Since they are monsters they are naked, but this one that was beckoning me was wearing an expensive-looking outfit, apanied by a top hat, monocle and a golden pocket watch. But where have I seen something like that before¡­¡­? Oh yeah, that¡¯s right! Alice in Wondend!

    ¡¸Can monsters really pop up in the middle of the city like that?¡¹

    But even if it is possible, why would a monster just beckon random passers-by towards itself? It was impossible to enter battle mode in the middle of the town. For now, it might be worth my while to follow it. It looks like a rare enemy, so if I manage to defeat it, it may drop something really nice¡­¡­ The moment I thought that there was a window suddenly popping out right in front of my face.

    ¡¸Do you want to start a unique side-quest ¡°Invitation to the Bunny Country¡±?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­!!!!!!¡¹

    I manage to stop myself from eximing my surprise out loud and look around. Fortunately it was the middle of the night and people were busy doing other things, and the fact that it was right behind the closed weapon shop made it so that hardly any yers could be seen in the vicinity.

    Unique quests.

    That is the element that makes ShanFro such a godly game and it is one of its more distinctive features.

    The conditions for unlocking them are unknown. The conditions for epting them are unknown as well. The rewards from such quests are the best that cane around.

    ShanFro¡¯s main storyline revolves around the idea of ¡°Developing the world¡±, but there are countless other side quests to that main plot line. Unique quests are one of said elements, but nobody knows how many there are or how you trigger them.

    However, the rewards for clearing said quests are way better than anything that you could buy or that drop from monsters normally, and there was even a guild out there whose whole purpose for existing was finding as many unique quests as possible.

    ¡­¡­ At least that¡¯s what I heard from other yers while I was still ying sh*tty games, posted all over the Inte forums dealing with ¡°Comparing this game to that game.¡±

    ¡¸Is this perhaps that thing that people call ¡°Oh, the Iron E¡±¡­¡­?¡¹

    Sure, it may have been unfortunate that I was killed by the Night Prowler and lost two of my equipment slots as a result, but maybe thanks to that I was now able to ept this unique quest. And while I know that I am going to eventually reim my lost equipment slots, it was still a little bit discouraging.

    And while my Vorpal Knives were in no condition to fight right now, I still had an abundance of Goblin Hatchets and the pair of Swamp Daggers resting in my inventory.

    ¡¸Right, let¡¯s give this unique quest a go!¡¹

    While thinking it was a chain reaction of lucky events started by encountering the Night Prowler Luukan, I happily pushed the ¡°Yes¡± button on the window.

    Because of that I was unable to read the description of the quest that was right next to it¡¯s name¡­¡­ and was almost immediately transported into a ¡¸Note: Please don¡¯t. Please don¡¯t let it be isekai! Truck-kun is not even here!¡¹ totally different area. ¡¸Note: Uff, safe.¡¹

    Quest Name

    ¡°Invitation to the Bunny Country.¡±

    Rmended level¡­¡­¡­¡­ Lv 80.

    The gs for triggering the unique scenarios are not all known and can be really specific, such as achieving a high enough level¡­¡­ That is why it is not all that umon for the yers who have received such quests to intentionally conceal their requirements.

    Last but not least, those quests are not repeatable or avable for everyone. It is a double-edged sword so when you decline it initially, some other yers might snatch them away from you.

 Chapter 22: The Front Is Back, But the Back Is Even Further Back

    <h4>Chapter 22: The Front Is Back, But the Back Is Even Further Back</h4>

    Apparently one of the conditions for this unique quest to appear was to ¡°Defeat an enemy with a high enough level while using ¡®Vorpal-type¡¯ weapon and then follow the messenger from the Bunny Country that appears in a specific spot in each city, the Rabbit Head.¡±

    So I was now following the running Rabbit Head, being mindful as to not lose sight of it.

    Apparently their country was being attacked by some kind of demonic serpent, and getting rid of said monster would reward you with magic that would enhance any of the ¡°Vorpal-type¡± weapons in your possession.

    The effect of that enhancement was supposed to be ¡°a higher chance to score a critical hit against the opponent with higher level than your own¡±. That would make it very useful against boss monsters, so honestly speaking for me this quest was worth clearing.

    Incidentally, the ¡°monster with a high enough level¡± that was defeated with the ¡°Vorpal-type¡± weapon was none other than the Giant Serpent Orochi, the boss of the Forest of Looming Danger.

    On a side note, the Bunny Country was a country whose entire poption was nothing but bunnies, so it was a must see for every bunny enthusiast out there.

    The quest was giving you a unique respawn point, a town called Rabbitz, but after clearing the quest the town would disappear, so you could only visit it during the story of this particr quest.

    That was the gist of the unique quest ¡°Invitation to the Bunny Country¡±¡­¡­ Which I read sometimeter on the Inte.

    ¡¸I must say, the fate of the whole Rabbitz is in your hands now. You who had the courage to challenge that ck wolf and lived to tell the tale! Not to mention the ability to continuously score critical hits on it without suffering the death blow yourself! This is the true embodiment of the Vorpal soul! One that all of us bunnies can truly admire¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸But it ultimately managed to get me, so I don¡¯t know about all that praise.¡¹

    ¡¸That is not important here. After all, that wolf is the ultimate kind of predator, one that can even devour dragons as if they were nothing more than mere snacks.¡¹

    This rabbit, it was honestly kind of annoying. ¡°I wanted to see you so badly!¡± ¡­¡­ that was the first line it said upon seeing me. No, it¡¯s not that. More than annoying it was really surprising. I was honestly expecting it to pose as a friendly NPC only to attack me suddenly when the opportunity would present itself. I mean, why was a Vorpal Bunny an NPC in the first ce?

    Vorpal Bunny with drooping ears and threaded cane that it was using to support himself while walking? Talk about a peculiar choice in character design. And surely, it was said that the curse of Luukan would affect the conversations with NPCs, but I didn¡¯t think it would be something quite like that. I mean, I expected it to be negative, not a positive correction!

    ¡¸Not to mention that the curse mark on your body proves that the Night Prowler has recognized you as a worthy opponent, not a simple fodder. This is¡­¡­ Ekhem, I was so thrilled upon hearing that that I really wanted to meet you in person!¡¹

    ¡¸Is that so? Umm, Mister¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸My name is Emul, pleased to make your acquaintance.¡¹

    Yet again, I think that the AI of this game is amazing¡­¡­ How was that even possible? Most sh*tty games wouldn¡¯t even respond to you unless you used keigo (Note: a very formal form of speech in Japanesenguage), and even then the AI could be really unresponsive. This game was something else.

    ¡¸Say, Emul-san, I have killed quite a lot of Vorpal Bunnies myself. Are you really okay with someone like me? Doesn¡¯t that make you angry with me?¡¹

    ¡¸Ahaha, now, now¡­¡­ Normally it isn¡¯t thatmendable of a thing to do, but we are all firm believers in the survival of the fittest. If those bunnies ended up dead it simply means that they weren¡¯t strong enough to be able to survive in the vast world out there.¡¹

    While Emul gave me his rather harsh view on the subject of life and death, we have arrived at the end of the back alley. It was a rather small space in between other buildings, one that you would never be able to arrive at without proper guidance.

    There was a magic circle of sorts carved into the wall out here. Without dy, the bunny went to the wall and began to touch it with its small hands.

    ¡¸Please wait for just a moment¡­¡­ ¡°Teleport Gate¡±!!¡¹

    ¡¸Ooohhh.¡¹

    Upon touching the wall and saying the words, the wall changed into a gate of sorts, with that really hazy space right in the middle of it.

    ¡¸You see, I am the only one who is capable of creating a gateway between this world and the Bunny Court. Now, let us go, Sanraku-san.¡¹

    ¡¸Huh, did I even introduced myself to you?¡¹

    ¡¸Fufufu, you shouldn¡¯t underestimate our information-gathering skills, Sanraku-san.¡¹

    Now that I think about it, it all must havee from the meta-data that the game was storing. Following Emul-san, I entered through the portal.

    When I passed through the gate, everything seemed so fluffy.

    ¡¸We get quite a few human visitors in Rabbitz, but you are the first human ever to have set foot here in the Bunny Court.¡¹

    ¡¸Hee.¡¹

    I look around while Emul says that, and everyone present here were indeed Vorpal Bunnies. I try to bring a smile to my lips.

    If his words are true, then this must mean I am the first person ever to have satisfied the conditions to activate this quest.

    I know that this was an MMORPG and that themunity aspect of those games are strong, but personally, I don¡¯t think that people should share every single bit of information between themselves.

    First of all, every single yer is your potential enemy when ites to PVP rankings. Information monopoly? Perfectly fine. After all, if you have acquired some information yourself, nothing obliges you to share it with everybody else.

    When PVP is involved, looting, surprise attacks and betrayals are your new reality instead of jolly cooperation¡­¡­ So many sh*tty games have utilized that logic that it may have already left its mark on me!!

    ¡¸Behold! The ruler of all Vorpal Bunnies, Kashira-sama in person!¡¹

    Suddenly Emul¡¯s speech became much more polite and dignified, a trait that was so unbing of his looks that it almost seemed to be strange. In the next moment, all of the bunnies stood straight while the giant door began to open.

    Now then, let¡¯s see what this Kashira-sama has to say to me!

    Vorpal Bunny is the rare monster that can appear in almost every single area of the game and it can provide a fresh source of EXP points to new yers, as well as those who want to level up quickly.

 Chapter 23: The Bunny Father Ruler And a Half-Naked Human

    <h4>Chapter 23: The Bunny Father Ruler And a Half-Naked Human</h4>

    ¡¸Fa¡­¡­ I mean, Kashira-sama! I have brought you a human with a soul of a true Vorpal Bunny!¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, Emul. That¡¯s good to hear.

    This ce was not what I expected it to be. I was expecting the Western-style throne room, but instead I got a strange variation of a Japanese-style room with a floor covered with tatami mats. A huge amount of female bunnies here were giving the ce a somewhat harem-like vibe, but the bunny that was at the center of the room felt quite powerful. Not as powerful as the Night Prowler, mind you.

    Unlike other bunnies it was the size of a human being, but its round eyes and fluffy white fur all over its body were heavily contrasting with is baritone voice. It also had quite a lot of scars all over its body, which was making him feel quite powerful and intimidating. However, I could also feel that he was really wise and understanding.

    ¡¸My name is Weissash. I am currently the ruler of all bunnies in this country.¡¹

    Weissash smiles as he says that. Even for ShanFro, which was rooted in medieval-type fantasy, he seemed extremely out of ce¡­¡­ Not to mention that for a poor herbivore he looked rather carnivorous right now.

    ¡¸I heard that you managed to put up quite a fight against that ck puppy and that you were even marked by him? You must possess a true Vorpal soul inside of you.¡¹

    They kept on speaking about that Vorpal soul thingy, but could somebody please exin to me what it actually is?

    ¡¸Maybe if my warriors were training as diligently as you they would have the same kind of Vorpal soul in them, but I guess there¡¯s nothing that can be done about it now. That being said, would you be willing to train my soldiers?¡¹

    ¡¸Fumu¡­¡­¡¹

    So in short, was this supposed to be a training-type quest? If so, I am really looking forward to seeing just what kind of reward I am going to get for clearing it. But to be suddenly asked by the ruler himself to train his soldiers¡­¡­ That¡¯s right.

    ¡¸I have no real reason to refuse your request, so if you are fine with someone like me then I¡¯ll dly help.¡¹

    I said that as politely as I could white bending my knee in front of the king, upon seeing that he was so shocked that he dropped down every single carrot that he was holding in his hands and had been eating one by one up until now.

    ¡¸Uhahahahahahahahaha! This is just golden! I see, that¡¯s right! That is exactly right! So you are going to help us in our plea? Wonderful! Uhahahahahahahahaha!!¡¹

    Judging by the dialogue probably nothing would have happened if I were to be disrespectful towards him, but his tone of voice right now was no mockery either. Rather, it was a pure joybined with praise for my politeness.

    ¡¸I like your attitude! I really like your attitude right there! You can call me Weissash! I¡¯ll allow it, since you managed to pique my interest!¡¹

    ¡¸Y, yeah¡­¡­ Yeah.¡¹

    Apparently I managed to get on the ruler¡¯s good side¡­¡­ Which was a good thing, I guess? I wonder if there¡¯s going to be some bonus EXP for that, or is it going to go unnoticed, just like in any other sh*tty game?

    ¡¸Emul! You are the one who found this interesting guy? Great! Now continue to assist him in any way possible!¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? Ah, y-yes! I shall do my very best!¡¹

    This Weissash guy¡­¡­ Honesty, I had a hard time describing my feelings about being assisted by the bunny, but oh well. Although I don¡¯t likepanions like that maybe him being there will unlock some hidden options during this quest? You never know.

    For now, the condition for clearing this quest seemed to be as follows: to train some people to be stronger and to get rid of some strong opponents. I shall also see if this quest is intended for low-level or high-level yers, because that is going to be important.

    ¡¸Sanraku! Sanraku! Sanraku! I will show you around the Bunny Court! Please follow me!¡¹

    ¡¸Hm? Ah, yeah, right.¡¹

    ¡¸On that note, this is the training field on which you can train to improve your Vorpal power!¡¹

    ¡¸Uwah.¡¹

    It was a field were a bunch of bunnies were trainingnding their critical hits with various weapons on straw scarecrows. Long story short, it was one giant mess of a training field.

    Most of their weapons were kitchen knives and small daggers, but there were also bunnies that tried to smash the scarecrows heads with giant sledgehammers.

    (Does that mean there are Vorpal Bunnies like that further into the game¡­¡­?)

    But it didn¡¯t end on just the sledgehammers. There were also spiked maces, floorboards with rusted nails sticking out of them, sawdes¡­¡­ a whole bunch of weapons taken straight out of a horror movie. And seeing such cute bunnies carrying such weapons was a grotesque sight indeed.

    ¡¸His Majesty alwaysins that our warriors look really weak, even though they are ferocious Vorpal Bunnies. That¡¯s why I want you to train them so that they could all eventually take on a dragon all on their own!¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s kinda like forcing low-level yers to take on a Grim Reaper (Note: Not if you take it on during the Flu season, hi there Persona 5 fans!)¡­¡­ Uwah, what¡¯s that? Scary.¡¹

    That huge trap seems like a device out of a survival horror game¡­¡­ and is that a pressure te? And spikes!? It¡¯s kind of a double-edged sword, but it looks so cool! I want it!

    ¡¸Are you interested in that particr device, Sanraku-san? It is indeed quite powerful, but in order for you to use it properly you need quite a bit of skill.¡¹

    ¡¸Seriously? So that would require you to be a Trapper or something like that?¡¹

    Or maybe not? Maybe my high luck couldpensate for theck of actual skill?

    I am yet to get any rewards from this quest, but I already get the feeling that I am going to benefit from doing it quite a bit.

    Favorability of the NPCs is a really important matter. If their affection is high enough, one can obtain additional information during the dialogues, or even the NPCs can go out of their way to collect information for the yer.

    Many information shops run by the yers contain information gathered from various NPCs.

 Chapter 24: Balance of Games and Real Life

    <h4>Chapter 24: Bnce of Games and Real Life</h4>

    ¡¸Fuh¡­¡­¡¹

    Waking up, I can see the rays of morning sun entering my room through the gaps in the closed curtains. Even though I knew it, it was still hard for me to believe that I was ying ShanFro all night long, and dear God¡­¡­ If it wasn¡¯t for health issues, I would love to stay logged in forever. But that being said, ying all day long was something I couldn¡¯t do. So I drank some water, took the empty bottle with me and went down into the kitchen.

    ¡¸Good morning.¡¹

    ¡¸Good morning to you as well, it seems that even though you are ying so much you¡¯re still keeping your sense of time and reality about you.¡¹

    ¡¸But logging out is really harsh¡­¡­¡¹

    There was once a time that I lost all of my data after forgetting to save after nearly eight hours of ytime without a break, and as the aftermath of that I was unable to taste food properly for some time. So in order to not repeat that tragedy ever again, I set some iron rules for myself to follow, and so far I was doing a good job at abiding by said rules. Even though the console itself was equipped with a battery in case of a sudden power outage, repeating such a marathon of gaming would be potentially hazardous for my health.

    Other people would often voice concerns over the way of upbringing in our house, but that is only because it was decided that the family members could freely cultivate their own hobbies without having to worry about the interference or critique from other people. So far this way of living was proving to produce satisfactory results.

    My father, Senji, loves fishing on an almost pathological level, and every month he¡¯s using a part of his sry to go on fishing trips.

    My mother is a huge maniac of insects of any kind, and she is quite a famous researcher in that field. She even managed to write a groundbreaking article regarding the poption of butterflies in South America.

    I, of course, am an avid gamer. I spent most of my free time on ying VR video games.

    My little sister, Rumi, is a fashion nut and she begged our parents to have a second separate room just for clothes she likes to buy at such an astounding pace that her monthly allowance was unable to keep up with her overall expenses. So just to be able to buy the clothes she wanted, she now works as a part-time model almost every single day. If I remember correctly,tely she¡¯s been featured in some really popr fashion magazine.

    It seems that our family circumstances are what you might call far from normal, because when I told this to my homeroom teacher back in middle school he responded by insisting on having a conference with my parents. It was a total waste of my time, because we also had a rule at our house that stated that we eat our meals together and spend Sundays as a whole family together.

    ¡¸What about you, Dad?¡¹

    ¡¸I went fishing yesterday¡­¡­ In fact I just got back.¡¹

    There was a time when dad had to sell some of his fishing rods because he had received a penalty for fishing a swordfish in a ce where it was prohibited to do so. For a while he was even refraining from fishing in all out of fear. But the swordfish he caught was indeed delicious. The truth is, every member of the family added something of our own to help out, either by selling clothes (my sister), selling some rare butterflies to collectors (mother), or selling the limited versions of the sh*tty games that were still in my collection (myself). Since then we all keep an eye out for one another, but our rtionship is good and healthy. Really.

    ¡¸Now that I¡¯m back, I managed to catch some really good carp. Maybe I¡¯ll ask mother to make us some tempura for tonight.¡¹

    ¡¸Good morning¡­¡­ Oh, Dad, are you back? Is that a tuna you have there?¡¹

    ¡¸I wish it would be like that, but with my current equipment and in this area it is impossible to catch one.¡¹

    Aaaa

    ¡¸And how are youtely?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ve started ying this new game and I¡¯m really enjoying it so far.¡¹

    ¡¸I started working part-time as a model.¡¹

    Dad has a track record of going to distant ces to fish, and on one such trip he ims that he managed to catch a bluefish tuna. Allegedly it was truly massive, but he had no way to know for sure. And since Mom would often travel to collect butterflies and insects, Dad¡¯s escapades were really on an eptable level.

    ¡¸Recently there were more people caught fishing for swordfish, so I think that I am going to quickly be friends with those people.¡¹

    Miso soup with rice, natto, grilled sea bream¡­¡­ Since our household has a fishing maniac, we were always having a variety of fish dishes to try out since we were young. Mother joins us as well after tending to her butterflies and the whole family can enjoy their meal. Usually we would discuss our hobbies and interests, and sometimes the topics would shift to grades, school and work.

    After breakfast, we all return to our own little world. Next time we meet it is probably going to be around 7 p.m for dinner. Since mom and dad go to work and little sister goes out to her part time job. And even though some of the neighbours were worried that I was being neglected, I am still a proud member of this family, so please don¡¯t call child protective services on our house.

    ¡¸Hm? A mail?¡¹

    Before I managed to get back to ShanFro, my phone rang, informing me that I received an e-mail. It was all possible because my mobile phone was linked with my head gear. Now, when we talk about my gaming friends, there was really one possible option as to who it might have been ¨C¨C Modorokatsu, my online best friend.

    We¡¯ve never met in real life but we know each other well enough to exchange mails and messages, but we rarely y together because our tastes in games differ as much as day and night. But we do consult one another if we happen toe across walls of any kind in our games that we cannot jump over on our own.

    Subject: I bought it as well

    From: Modorokatsu

    To: Sanraku

    Body: I bought ShanFro as well. Where are you? I can meet you if you want.

    ¡¸So, Modorokatsu bought ShanFro as well? Who would have thought?¡¹

    I know for sure that he¡¯s a professional gamer, but is his time management going to be alright? Nowadays professional gamers can undergo as rigorous of a training regimen as athletes. They are not yet established as an Olympic Games discipline, but Modorokatsu himself believes that we are slowly getting there.

    And wasn¡¯t a tournament drawing close? Oh well, let¡¯s just inform him that currently I am right in the middle of a unique quest, so he knows in advance.

    There was also one more message. This one was from¡­¡­

    Subject: Is it going to rain tomorrow as well?

    From: Pencil Warrior

    To: Sanraku

    Body: I heard it from Modorokatsu, but is it true that Sanraku, the legendary sh*tty games hunter tried something new, ShanFro no less!?

    Aren¡¯t you hungry? Are you allergic to anything?

    Ah, I¡¯m a high-level yer in ShanFro, so once you reach Fiftsia, we can go hunt together!^^

    It was nothing but a friendly chatter, but the perspective of reaching Fiftsia was truly tempting, since then I could gain a powerful ally in my battle against the Night Prowler. Also, I should send him an image of Emul sometimeter.

    Anyways, maybe I should collect some information before logging in again? It wouldn¡¯t hurt to do so, especially since the game was way moreplex than I was initially thinking.

    I guess my family would be worried about my well-being if I only had friends with whom I couldn¡¯t even meet.

    And please don¡¯t worry about our social skills and abilities. Us gamers need to maintain them at a pretty high level in order tomunicate and search for information.

 Chapter 25: Increased Level Equals Less Freedom

    <h4>Chapter 25: Increased Level Equals Less Freedom</h4>

    After looking over the bunnies training ground for a short while I was able to understand a few things.

    First, even though this unique quest led me to Rabbitz, there is no unique side-quest here in the Bunny Court.

    Of course, the existence of Vorpal Bunnies such as Emul or Weissash are a secret that only I know of, and unless I share that information it will still be a secret.

    Second, the unique monsters seem to be amongst the ¡°Seven Ultimate Beings¡± of this game, that you can sometimes hear the NPCs mention or find entrances about them in books. So far, the yers only managed to find four of them. They are as follows:

    ¡¤ Night Prowler Luukan

    ¡¤ Kutanid of the Abyss

    ¡¤ Siegvurm of the Divine Realm

    ¡¤ Reverberating Orchestra

    Both Luukan and Siegvurm are monsters which can be met via random encounters outside the starting area, so it looks like my encounter with Luukan was really just a matter of an awfully high (or in that case low) Luck.

    However, unique monsters, unlike normal encounters, will always give you EXP for as long as you fight them, and the new yers are almost certain to be wiped out in one blow.

    Third, apparently there was amemoration event currently going on, celebrating the fact that ShangriLa Frontier has exceeded total number of thirty million active yers on a worldwide scale. Firstir, the first town of the game was overflowing with newbies, so it would be wise to move on to the next areas as soon as possible. For both leveling and my personalfort¡¯s sake.

    Getting constantly distracted with side quests meant that you are going to neglect the main story line¡­¡­ A fact that seemingly slipped my mind upon starting ying ShanFro.

    ¡¸Ah, you finally woke up. Good morning, Sanraku-san.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, oh, I see, I was asleep here, not there.¡¹

    I woke up inside of an inn in Rabbitz, not Sekandil. I don¡¯t know if he was by my side all along, but upon waking up, I could see Emul jumping up beside my bed as well.

    ¡¸Just out of sheer curiosity, can we go back to Sekandil during the duration of this quest?¡¹

    ¡¸Of course you can, but I¡¯m afraid that time is of the essence here!¡¹

    Thanks, Teleporting Bunny¡­¡­ I guess.

    ¡¸Right then, I want to go back to Sekandil for a bit, but I will continue this quest, so rest assured.¡¹

    ¡¸Understood. Well then, I shall wait here.¡¹

    So we went to some back alley, Emul chanted ¡°Teleportation Gate¡± just as he did yesterday and we emerged in the back alley of Sekandil in an instant.

    ¡¸Right, for starters, I should definitely go to the weapon¡¯s shop and have my equipment repaired.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, yes, that¡¯s right, I almost forgot. Please, put this on, Sanraku-san.¡¹

    ¡¸Hm? What the hell¡­¡­!?¡¹

    Emul suddenly jumped on my neck and put some kind of a strange cor around it, to which I violently protested.

    ¡¸This is the Vorpal Soul Cor, it will be automatically equipped on you.¡¹

    Oi, oi, oi, forcing me to equip some items is no different from making them a cursed item! For now, let us open the status screen and see what the effects of this sted thing are¡­¡­

    ¡¤ Vorpal Soul Cor

    A special item created by order of the King of the Bunnies, it cannot be worn without receiving King¡¯s approval first.

    While being worn, the cor is going to double the EXP points the yer receives upon ying monsters.

    Weaklings need extraordinary means to acquire strength to ovee extraordinary hardships.

    ¡¸Eh, wait just a, what is this!? Hey, you fur-ball! Exin this!¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s simple, really! The Vorpal Soul will always be there for you!¡¹

    But I¡¯m asking you, what IS this Vorpal Soul?

    No, I am quite sure that it is something that is quite difficult to grasp as a concept. ¡­¡­ But to be able to amass EXP twice as fast, wasn¡¯t that a little bit broken? No, thinking about it carefully, it is something that is the absolute top effect you can have in a game, one that can make you really overpowered in a rtively small amount of time. So yeah, it may actually be broken.

    ¡¸No, I won¡¯t really know unless I give it a try in a real fight.¡¹

    Thinking about it now, I haven¡¯t been fighting all that much since I was attacked by Night Prowler Luukan. Because of that, I had no idea how actually the demerits of the curse were affecting me.

    ¡¸Sanraku-san! Sanraku-san!¡¹

    ¡¸Hm?¡¹

    ¡¸Would you like to try going to a different town? I can even lend you a hand.¡¹

    ¡¸THE NPC ¡°EMUL¡± WANTS TO JOIN YOUR PARTY. DO YOU ACCEPT?¡¹

    ¡­¡­ This game is truly well-made.

    I wanted to try going solo into the swamps again, but for now that idea can wait. It was surely a surprise, but not an unwee one. I could literally feel my motivation raising¡­¡­ I will keep on doing my best in this game!

    ¡¸I dly ept the offer.¡¹

    ¡¸Much obliged.¡¹

    Thinking about it now, there were lots of gs that were screaming that Emul¡¯s joining my party would get me into trouble, but at the time I was unable to see any of those gs.

    Aside from the EXP enhancing items there are also items that double the amount of skill points you gain upon level up. You cannot get items like that around the first few cities, but high-level yers know of ces where you can obtain themter on.

 Chapter 26: Onslaught of the irresistible Force

    <h4>Chapter 26: Onught of the irresistible Force</h4>

    First things first, it was not sent to me by a party member or a friend, but it was a screenshot of a certain game forum made by someone without prior experience with Online games. This forum was full of threads dedicated to various games, ShanFro included. There was a certain extent there, which is included below.

    ¡¸SAINT-SAMA¡¹ ADVANCED PLAYERS TEACH THE BASIC STUFF TO BEGINNERS PART 81 ¡¸Cute¡¹

    74 Arinoile (Fist)

    Since I heard that this thread is full of experienced yers, I would like your opinions and tips on certain matters.

    I saw that some yers can dual wield.

    I saw this really cute frog, but is there a way for me to make it my friend?

    (Image Included)

    75 Add (Top)

    If you want to change your profession, you must at least reach Sixburg to do so.

    Looking on how many times I keep telling this¡­¡­ I should make a temte out of this.

    76 Curry Jones (Top)

    Eh, what¡¯s this? That¡¯s not it?

    77 Exceed (Top)

    Www What¡¯s the deal with this half-naked yer with a bird mask? Report the guy

    78 Thunder Nut (Top)

    No, wait, I¡¯ve seen this guy and Vorpal Bunny before.

    He¡¯s currently roaming half-naked in Fiftsia

    79 Superalloy Tofu (Top)

    Stop running naked  and buy at least basic armor!

    Why are you even dressed like that? Trying toe off as a monster or something?

    80 Basashimushi (Top)

    The leader of our n was trying tomunicate with Siegwurm, but it didn¡¯t work.

    81 Thunder Nut (Top)

    It may not work on unique monsters, but Vorpal Bunnies may be a different story.

    82 Animalia (Top)

    Maybe he wanted to domesticate some other animals aside from a dog or a cat? Come on, developers! Implement some more pets!

    83 Add (Top)

    And it can¡¯t be a cheat as well, since this game¡¯s anti-cheat protocols are just nuts.

    It would take a whole team of extremely skilled hackers to cheat the game¡¯s system, and they would require at least three days to do so. They would get caught by reverse tracking in even less than half of that time, so there you have it.

    84 Fresh Zombies (Top)

    Lots of high-level people are active here.

    Is this a sneak photo? Judging from the angle it surely wasn¡¯t taken with the person¡¯s permission.

    85 Animalia (Top)

    Sanraku, that name rings a bell.

    He is supposed to be at Sekandil? I¡¯m heading there right now.

    86 Thunder Nut (Top)

    Take action early! Otherwise it might get scary!

    87 Dried Bread VI (Top)

    I mean the dressed-up bunny is cute and all, but what¡¯s the deal with those tattoos?

    Surely it¡¯s not an option from the character creation menu.

    88 Add (Top)

    I¡¯ve seen it somewhere before, but I can¡¯t really remember.

    89 Superalloy Tofu (Top)

    It¡¯s probably a unique paint or markings.

    And this picture was definitely taken without permission. If that yer was not wearing that mask, this would be a clear vition of privacy and a bunch of otherws, which is a bannable offense.

    As for this thread¡­¡­ It seems it was deleted from the main page, but it is still spreading.

    90 Arinoille (Top)

    Really? I thought you could take as much screenshots as you like.

    91 Nut (Top)

    >> 90

    Uwah

    I know that this thread is anonymous and all, but man, there are limits of stupidity that you are clearly passing right now.

    92 Thunder Nut (Top)

    >> 90

    I¡¯m talking about whether or not this shot was taken without permission.

    93 Superalloy Tofu (Top)

    >> 90

    It wouldn¡¯t hurt to get acquainted withiquette, don¡¯t you think¡­¡­?

    94 Arinoille (Top)

    I didn¡¯t know. Would it be alright if I asked for permission now?

    95 Curry Jones (Top)

    He probably was trying to conceal information so tell me, Saint-sama, what are you going to do if he doesn¡¯t give you permission?

    And maybe his attire is for some extreme agility build? Since he was at Sekandil, there are a lot of Mud Frogs there, so he would have a lot of materials for crafting.

    96 Add (Top)

    Wait, I remember now.

    97 Yuki Joy

    Well, what are you waiting for? Don¡¯t leave us hanging.

    98 Add (Top)

    This is without a doubt a curse. One that gives you both merits and demerits while upying certain slots of your equipment corresponding to ces that were afflicted by the curse.

    99 Thunder Nut

    Being curse in two ces at once? Is that even possible?

    100 Arinoille (Top)

    The cksmith says that it is the proof that you have been recognized as a worthy prey by the Night Prowler.

    101 Bassamushi (Top)

    Emperor of the Night.

    One of the strongest unique monsters.

    Night Prowler Luukan.

    102 Add (Top)

    Wow¡­¡­¡­

    103 Thunder Nut (Top)

    If I remember correctly, there were reports stating that doggy was seen on the outskirts of Sekandil.

    But don¡¯t try to change the subject as you please.

    104 Yuki Joy (Top)

    Is it really the strongest of the unique monsters?

    105 Superalloy Tofu (Top)

    Even if it wasn¡¯t, it is still unique, meaning that only a handful of people managed to face against him inbat.

    And it seems that even if a dozen people form a raid party against it, it always manages to beat them into a bloody pulp.

    106 Curry Jones (Top)

    Puppy can also teleport, so it¡¯s all dependent on the RNG.

    107 Animalia (Top)

    I have reached Tenbet.

    108 Add (Top)

    I can join you, but I¡¯m in Fiftsia at the moment, doing some guild business, so you¡¯d have to wait for a bit.

    109 Basashimushi (Top)

    Spread the news and search the other forums under the unique monsters topic. Maybe we¡¯ll find some intel on the bird mask guy.

    I feel sorry for the guy that someone without properiquette knowledge exposed him, but that¡¯s life I guess.

    110 Dried Bread VI (Top)

    Even though he¡¯s under the curse¡¯s influence, this outfit if way too perverted for my taste. ¡­¡­ Although if I had hobbies like that I would probably want to wear masks at all times as well as to avoid getting recognized.

    111 Onught (Top)

    Can I respawn kill the guy? Pretty please?

    112 Curry Jones (Top)

    Hey, maybe the guy was forced to dress like that? You don¡¯t know that! So cut him some ck, will you now?

    113 Add (Top)

    Heya, Onught! It seems that you are on a straight way for getting yourself a nice little bounty for PK from the NPCs, but can you actually do that?

    Besides, you know the penalties for PK, right? Losing all of your items, stolen or normally acquired, and confiscate all of your money and stored items. Plus it makes you a target for other yers. It¡¯s a serious business.

    113 Superalloy Tofu (Top)

    PK Guild is called ¡°Ashura-kai¡± and PKK Guild is called ¡°Tigers¡±, am I right? Kinda ironic in a mundane way, don¡¯t you think?

    IDK about you, but my food always tastes better after I kill some rare monsters or watch PKs go down.

    114 Saiga-100 (Top)

    I would actually like to meet with him and talk to him. Maybe he could give me some advice regarding the unique monsters or dual wielding. I also sympathize with him for having the information about him disclosed without his permission, but now there¡¯s actually nothing you can do about it.

    115 Basashimushi (Top)

    Oi, oi, this is getting out of hand, guys¡­¡­ I don¡¯t like the direction in which this conversation is going, so maybe it¡¯s time to stop, huh?

    And Arinoille? Just how were you able to get this close to Sanraku? Were you a member of his party? Or maybe you¡¯re a pervert who likes to stalk people?

    116 Thunder Nut (Top)

    A single picture does not qualify for ban.

    Maybe he wanted to have people go after Sanraku so that he could take them down and cash in all of the prize? So maybe we should hunt him down in return? What do you say, guys? After all, sharing IS caring.

    117 Arinoille (Top)

    I¡¯m so sorry, please forgive me.

    118 Tanyaorose (Top)

    I want to start roleying my character!

    And in order to use the bulletin boards in the game, you need to be a member of a guild first and foremost.

    In other words, the main character is¡­¡­

 Chapter 27: Tag Team

    <h4>Chapter 27: Tag Team</h4>

    NPCN: Emul

    LV: 56

    JOB: Magician, Vorpal Bunny Traveler

    HP: 125

    MP: 655

    STM: 80

    STR: 30

    DEX: 71

    AGI: 50

    TEC: 70

    VIT: 35

    LUC: 85

    Skills:

    ? Beast Step

    ? Tap Step

    ? Critical Focus

    Magic:

    ? ¡¸Coordinated Teleportation¡¹

    ? ¡¸Coordinated Teleportation Gate¡¹

    ? ¡¸Coordinated Teleportation ¡°Bunny Battle Gate¡±¡¹

    ? ¡¸Random Encounter Lv.2¡¹

    ? ¡¸Magic Edge Lv.7¡¹

    ? ¡¸Additional Cast Add Spell Lv.5¡¹

    Equipment:

    Weapon: Wise Gang

    Head: Observer¡¯s Monocle

    Torso: Ceremonial Clothing

    Waist: Ceremonial Clothing

    Feet: Ceremonial Clothing

    essories: The Secret Ring of the Vorpal Bunny

    I know that it was just a game, but the fact that this little bunny had stats that were bigger than mine was really depressing for some reason. No, I shouldn¡¯t dwell on it like that.

    Even though I was wearing a mask on my face, Emul looked like he saw right through me. I only shake my head as to ease his worries and together we venture right into the swamp, where very few people were at this hour.

    ¡¸But still, whatever shall we do, Sanraku-san? It looks as though the curse is keeping all of the monsters away.¡¹

    ¡¸Actually, I have already thought about a countermeasure for that.¡¹

    ¡¸What countermeasures? Ah, there¡¯s a mud frog right there¡­¡­ Wah!?¡¹

    I notice the Mud Frog in the distance, sneak near it outside of its vision range and start running with all of my might.

    When the Mud Frog noticed me entering its vision range it tried to make a run for it¡­¡­ but was too slow. Why do you think I dumped all of those precious points into agility, huh!?

    ¡¸Tooooooooo slooooooooo!¡¹

    ¡¸Gero!?¡¹

    Since stepping into the swamp would lower my movement speed, I arrive at the edge of the swamp and jump into the air, shortening the rest of the distance between us.

    Then I manage to knee the frog right in its face, since it was the only part that was sticking outside of the swamp¡¯s mud. Topensate for my abysmal strength I try to pin it down to the ground, and since the game¡¯s engine was correctly recreating thews of physics, the frog was left unable to move.

    Mud Frog was doing its best to break free, but it only managed to turn over before I stabbed it with my daggers for ludicrous amounts of critical damage.

    ¡¸Giiie!?¡¹

    Being hit in its belly, its weak point, the Mud Frog screams in pain and then shatter into a geyser of red polygons.

    ¡¸Fuh¡­¡­ I guess this is the best thing I can do for now.¡¹

    ¡¸U, uwah¡­¡­ Sanraku-san, you were like a real monster there just now¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Hey, that wasn¡¯t nice of you.¡¹

    I thought it might be bad, but there was one fortunate thing in my current position¡­¡­ Since the weight of my equipment was lessened I didn¡¯t have to worry about my movement speed, and I could focus on catching up to my unaware enemies and finishing them with critical strikes.

    This carnivorous animal-like tactic was my best weapon in my current predicament.

    ¡¸The only thing I need to worry about is managing my stamina bar while I¡¯m aiming for those sweet critical strikes¡­¡­¡¹

    Sprinting like mad before eventually striking the opponent when it was least expecting it. This tactic was proving itself to be rather effective against opponents with low agility.

    ¡¸As you can see, this is what we are going to be doing for a while now.¡¹

    ¡¸Yay! Yay! Yan, yan, yan!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Anyways, onwards to the Area Boss!¡¹

    ¡¸Are we really going with that all of a sudden!?¡¹

    I don¡¯t know why he sounded so surprised. I was telling him that from the very beginning.

    ¡¸We are only going to take down the rare monsters on our way. We are not going to waste time on small fries, since this area is going to be pretty much clogged sooner rather thanter. Before that happens, I would like to go to the next area.¡¹

    The feeling of moving your body in this game was truly different to all the other games I have yed so far.

    Although the movements still felt a bit awkwardpared to the real world, not many games out there could say that they allowed the yers to grasp the gist of movement controls in such a short amount of time. Usually it would be hard for new yers to get used to the controls over the duration of the first few towns, resulting in much slower progress than some would have liked.

    For the shop clerks a huge amount of people in one town would be a dreame true when speaking business, but since the vast majority of them were there for the same reason, there was the possibility of the exploration zones bing trafficked really fast. What would be the countermeasures against that happening? And how was the situation right about now? If you wanted to clear the unique quests without issues, picking the towns with high ¡°capacity¡± as your main hub would be ideal.

    For example, apparently the next town was double or even triple the size of Sekandil.

    ¡¸We are not going to stop until we reach Thirdrema. And since you are an agility type just like me, try not to fall behind, alright?¡¹

    ¡¸But running around like mad is not really my forte¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸That line is not something a Bunny should ever say!¡¹

    Let us go! To the ce that lies beyond the Area Boss! The town of Thirdrema!!!

    Chasing down the escaping monsters only because you have a high agility is not a very valid strategy during the early and middle stages of the game.

    It doesn¡¯t apply to all monsters out there, but many high level monsters can run at speeds that far exceed the running speed of yers.

 Chapter 28: Target Spotted

    <h4>Chapter 28: Target Spotted</h4>

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Not here either.¡¹

    The armored knight lets out a sigh as if trying to alleviate the disappointment she was feeling at the current moment.

    In fact, there were traces of him being there. For example, there was a certain high-level yer here who was a member of the ¡°Tempura Knights¡± guild who imed that he saw someone who looked just like Sanraku. But no matter where she looked outside of the inn, Sanraku was nowhere to be found.

    She has even forsaken ying and is sitting outside the inn waiting for him to appear at some point. Just when she was starting to worry that something might have happened to him, she received an email.

    ¡¸The n¡¯s message board¡­¡­¡¹

    One of the n¡¯s additional features aside from a dedicated building and NPCs that would keep the n members¡¯ items safely stored, was a private message board that only n members could use. And contrary to normal email or text messages, they were being delivered in real time, without any timeg.

    Armored knight read through the message board that was full of other n members¡¯ messages, and upon reading she could feel her hearting to a stop more than a few times.

    ¡¸To Saiga-0,

    Sorry for asking so suddenly, but I need your help with locating a certain person.

    There¡¯s a yer I would wish to scout, so please help me find him.

    His location is near Sekandil, and he¡¯s a new yer with a bird mask on his face and Curse marks on his torso and legs. His name is ¡°Sanraku¡± and he¡¯s apanied by a dressed Vorpal Bunny.

    I know it¡¯s unheard of, but he received two Curse marks from Night Prowler Luukan.

    From Saiga-100¡¹

    Armored knight¡­¡­ she and Saiga-0 were good friends. Also, it seems that he didn¡¯t log in for almost a week now.

    Then she also felt surprised that this yer managed to hold his ground against Night Prowler Luukan, a unique monster that her guild wanted to take down for quite a while now.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Fufu.¡¹

    Now she had even more incentive to find him. At first she will deepen her friendship with him, then she¡¯ll introduce him to her n, and then¡­¡­ While she was making ns like that, she received another e-mail.

    ¡¸¡­¡­???¡¹

    Having a really bad feeling, she opened the email.

    ¡¸To Saiga-0,

    This is a post scriptum to my previous message, but ording to our sources, members of ¡°SF-ZOO¡±, ¡°Ashura-kai¡± and ¡°10:00 pm Army¡± are moving in to secure Sanraku.

    Please note that this is likely to develop into a serious case of PVP.

    From Saiga-100¡¹

    ¡¸~~~~~~~~~!?!?!?¡¹

    Upon hearing that the top dogs of ShangriLa Frontier were now on the move to get Sanraku (and one of those guilds excelled in PVP), Saiga-0 resumed her search on the double. She had to find him before they do.

    ¡¸¡­¡­???¡¹

    ¡¸Is there something wrong?¡¹

    ¡¸No, but it¡¯s just that¡­¡­ I had this strange shiver in my spine. ¡­¡­ And what is that noise?¡¹

    I know that I had this strange feeling of looming danger, but¡­¡­ nothing seemed to be wrong here.

    ¡¸So? Would you like to keep searching for the Area Boss, or do you want to stop here?¡¹

    It would actually be a good idea to keep our hunger bars full. So I took out a flint and sticks from my inventory and used them to start a fire. Yeah, I seeded on my second try. Nicely done.

    ¡¸Right, I guess I¡¯m going to eat as well.¡¹

    I started to roast the wings of the Bandit Vulture over the fire while Emul stuck some carrots on sticks and began to roast them as well. It¡¯s cool and all, but the carrots are so hard inside that it will take a while to actually roast them.

    ¡¸Ugh, this jerky is quite tasteless if I do say so myself.¡¹

    ¡¸Hot carrots are quite delicious.¡¹

    ¡¸Speaking of which, since we didn¡¯t gather any information regarding this boss, I guess we are going to fight itpletely blind.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s true. From what I gather, the boss monster of this area is actually a creature called ¡°Mud Digger¡±. It likes to suddenly spring up from the ground and non-stop charge at its opponents, so we need to be constantly on the move.¡¹

    Springing up from the ground¡­¡­ does that mean it is some kind of a mole type monster? No, no, no, after my experience with the giant serpent as the first boss I must renounce all that I know about monsters and expect the unexpected to happen.

    ¡¸What is it going to spit at us this time? Piss? Phlegm? Or maybe it¡¯s going to breathe fire? That¡¯s always a possibility.¡¹

    ¡¸Ugh, Sanraku-san, thatment of yours was surprisingly vulgar just now.¡¹

    Hahaha. There was one thing that I knew. One thing that was giving me constion. At least this boss monster won¡¯t attack me like those bugged avatars from ¡°Crap¡±. So hey, silver lining.

    Right, so let us go towards the second area boss, the ¡°Mud Digger!¡±

    The information that Emul disclosed about the boss is basically something you could obtain at Information Broker¡¯s in town.

    Every NPC that havee into contact with a boss or a piece of loot from it can have information about it.

 Chapter 29: Bird Face and Bunny VS Soil-Mowing Dragon

    <h4>Chapter 29: Bird Face and Bunny VS Soil-Mowing Dragon</h4>

    ¡¸This¡­¡­ has turned into a difficult situation (Note: read in Kizuna Ai¡¯s Voice).¡¹

    ¡¸Uhyah, this is definitely going to get my clothes all dirty.¡¹

    Just like the Giant Serpent in front of a suspension bridge leading to Sekandil, the Mud Digger was also upying a huge open swamp in front of the valley leading to Thirdrema¡­¡­ Yup.

    ¡¸Way to go to crap all over AGI-based characters¡¯ cereal¡­¡­¡¹

    In order to fight the boss you would have to enter the swamp and that means your mobility is going to drop significantly, which means that you can¡¯t chase it effectively or dodge efficiently.

    Kuh, this is a miss on my end. I should have expected something like that, since the area was a swamp and all that.

    ¡¸Whatever shall we do, Sanraku-san? This might be a little bit too much for us alone.¡¹

    ¡¸It might be so¡­.. For the time being, let¡¯s just take a look at the boss up close. Emul¡­¡­ why the hell are you clinging to my back like that?¡¹

    If we had a normal size party this battle could be much easier, since even though our movement speed would be reduced we could also limit the movements of the boss itself. But sadly, that wasn¡¯t an option here.

    ¡¸Yes, let¡¯s do just that!¡¹

    While Emul was constantly sticking to my back we gradually made our way into the swamp. Damn it, it was really cold inside it, especially since my legs were bare. But the fact that I was despising even more was that I was gradually getting used to this feeling.

    ¡¸Myoh! I can feel iting, Sanraku-san!¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, it sure is¡­¡­!¡¹

    I could feel it in my whole body. This sensation of vibrations travelling through the swamp, signaling that a boss was about to appear. And it sure did, emerging from under the murky water right in the middle of the swamp.

    ¡¸Shaaaaaaaaa!!!¡¹

    ¡¸What the hell is this!?¡¹

    Was that a lizard? A spider with massive limbs? But why is there a beard growing out of its head¡­¡­? Anyways, it was looking straight at us with itsrge and glowing eyes.

    ¡¸Here ites!¡¹

    ¡¸Gyah!¡¹

    Sh*t, it is really hard to move in here! No, before that, I must check my opponent! What does it look like and what can it do? Let¡¯s check out the Repel Counter first¡­¡­ If I manage to trigger the critical effect, it should be blown away as a result of the knockback effect triggering.

    If the Mud Digger was able to swim in this swamp even though it was so shallow, then it means that I should be able to do that as well (since this is a game and all, so it technically should be possible). I try to dive into the swamp and I seed without any problems, but then I was almost instantly blown away by a huge and muscr dorsal fin that came straight at me.

    ¡¸Gyah! My skin is crawling right now!¡¹

    ¡¸Now you decided to act like a genuine bunny!?¡¹

    Damn it, I should have used avoidance skill from the get-go¡­¡­! I activate them right now and I was somehow able to avoid the boss ramming me with its body at full speed. It was no exaggeration that it was like a very agile battering ram.

    Even though the skills didn¡¯t consume any resources upon casting them, they had this thing that was called the re-cast time, a period of time that has to pass before being able to use a certain skill again. I have used both of my evasion skills. Now I was on my own for about ten whole seconds.

    ¡¸Come on now, what¡¯s wrong! Aren¡¯t you going to attack me¡­¡­!?¡¹

    I must collect as much information about it as possible. I can see the Mud Digger making a U-turn in the murky water anding right at me again.

    First of all, the overall characteristics of this area seemed to be obstructing agility as much as possible. However, it seems that the physics from the real world were very much intact in here, meaning that if you kept one of your feet outside of the swamp you could still move normally with that leg. This wasn¡¯t going to help your movement speed in the slightest, but it would allow for some quick rotating that was essential for evading.

    ¡¸It¡¯sing at us! It¡¯sing at us! Oh my God, it¡¯s gonna eat us!!!¡¹

    ¡¸No one¡¯s getting eaten today!¡¹

    I use the skill that would temporarily grant me a boost to my Agility and Strength and move out of the way of the charging boss.

    Great, now I was truly out of options when ites to evading its attacks¡­¡­ I wanted to save the eleration for when I would be forced against a wall, but I guess it cannot really be helped. That being said, Mud Digger¡¯s attack intervals were shorter than you would have expected.

    ¡¸For now we can¡¯t stop moving or else we¡¯re done for¡­.. Emul, didn¡¯t you have some offense magic at your disposal?¡¹

    ¡¸Hm? Why yes, I do. What about it?¡¹

    ¡¸Try to cast it the moment the Mud Digger tries to attack us.¡¹

    ¡¸Roger that!¡¹

    Was it cheating that I was going to rely on the strength of the NPC that was far stronger than me? Maybe so, but I was perfectly fine with that. That¡¯s something I decided upon reaching Sekandil, that I would use every tool at my disposal to put as much distance between me and the overcrowded beginner¡¯s area as possible. It may be going via shortcuts, but the other yers were saying that overpopted areas are not something you want to be a part of. That is why if Emul could lend me a hand I was going to use that help to my advantage. Even if it meant making short work of many of the strong enemies that wereying on ahead.

    ¡¸Mumumu¡­¡­ Magic Edge!!!¡¹

    Emul climbed from my back onto my shoulders and began to chant his magic. At that moment there was a de of magic shaped like a cresent moon forming right in front of him, and when the Mud Digger approached to attack us for the third time, he shot the magic de right at it.

    I thought that we might have to suffer a direct hit because of that, but just when Emul shot the magic de at the Mud Digger and it found itself in really close proximity to us¡­¡­ The re-cast time ended.

    ¡¸Give him Hell!¡¹

    I use the Repel Counter to avoid being hit. The Mud Digger gets blown away a few steps and then it starts to dig in the mud, trying to go under the swamp¡¯s surface. While it was doing that, I also cast Spiral Edge Skill as to dish out some additional damage to it while it was leaving itself wide open.

    I know that using attack skills to put some distance between yourself and the enemy may sound like pure heresy to some people and that¡¯s not the way in which said skills should be used, but if there was one thing that Shanfro managed to teach me, it was that thinking outside the box was a skill that was necessary to survive here.

    ¡¸Right, let¡¯s go! Hold on tight!¡¹

    ¡¸Right!¡¹

    Using the skills and magic outside their intended specification of usage is always a given with any kind of game.

    A good example could be: use the attack skills with additional effects to avoid an iing attack or using healing magic on undead to damage them.

 Chapter 30: The Beginner Feels As Though He Has Reached His Limits

    <h4>Chapter 30: The Beginner Feels As Though He Has Reached His Limits</h4>

    ¡¸Climbing Edge!¡¹

    As a matter of fact, there was no need for activating the skills in this game with voicemands. However, by doing so you were making sure that you would use exactly that particr skill and that you would not use anything else by ident.

    This is the knowledge that I gained upon investigating about ShanFro online, and I was going to use that knowledge to bring down the Mud Digger, which was currently stuck in the swamp like a sinking ship. Now I intended to climb on top of it. This trick could actually be aplished without utilizing any skills, but I needed them because my Strength stat was so abysmally low.

    Making use of my bare legs which were marked with Luukan¡¯s curse, I pierce the Mud Digger¡¯s body with my Vorpal Knives and climbed up as if its belly was in fact a climbing wall. Unlike the fur of the ck wolf that was as hard as steel and only depleted my weapons durability, the Mud Digger¡¯s stomach was soft, so even someone as weak as me was able to climb it with the assist of skills.

    After all, it was only while trying to break the basicws of physics you could feel as though you were ying this game to the fullest.

    ¡¸Uhyah! This is actually amazing!¡¹

    ¡¸For now we are climbing, but¡­¡­ I wonder what should we do next?¡¹

    ¡¸Gyaaah! Looks like my praise was too early!!!¡¹

    I can¡¯t help it. When I think about strategizing ahead of time I get shivers running down my spine. ¡­¡­ But if I said that out loud, then my pride as the solo yer would have been driven through the mud. Mud Digger¡¯s body was quiterge, but its head was rtively low and for someone with my Agility it was a rtively easy climb to aplish.

    ¡¸I¡¯ll focus on bncing on top of this guy, so please take care of overwhelming it with a continuous barrage of magical attacks.¡¹

    ¡¸C, continuous!? I, I was always the type who believed in one punch (Note: The joke would be too obvious here, so I¡¯m not going to do it. Don¡¯t even try to beg me for it!) one kill kind of strategy¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Impossible is nothing! If you think you can do it, you can do it!¡¹

    ¡¸I, I¡­¡­ I¡¯M GONNA DO IT! ¡°Additional Cast! Add Spell¡±!¡¹

    While Emul was concentrating his magic, I was doing my best at bncing on top of the Mud Digger¡¯s head.

    However, the boss wasn¡¯t going to just let us stay on top of it wailing at it with magic. It began to thrash its head about the ce, but the fact that it was also trying to bite me at the same time was actually working in our favor!

    ¡¸Now it¡¯s paradoxically more stable than before! Now I don¡¯t feel like I am bncing on a rope anymore!¡¹

    Would something like that be possible in any other game? I don¡¯t think so.

    Its fangs, its nose, its lips¡­¡­ There were so many ces on which I could create some kind of footing for myself. It¡¯s head was about the size of a small car, so under normal circumstances I wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against a monster like that, but since it was the game world nothing was impossible for me.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s do this, Sanraku-san!¡¹

    ¡¸Right, let¡¯s rip this guy a new one!¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯ll have to excuse me if I don¡¯t want toment on that¡­¡­ ¡°Magic Edge¡±!¡¹

    I know it was pretty much unreasonable to ask someone to continuously cast magic at a moving target while bncing on top of its head, especially since apparently it grew tired of us being there and was growing more aggressive in its attempts to shake us off. But if we were to fall off now we probably wouldn¡¯t be able to repeat a stunt like this again.

    Emul activated his spell and a magical de twice asrge as the previous one appeared, and heunched it straight into the Mud Digger¡¯s eye¡­¡­ But the boss shifted its position and the spell ended up hitting its head instead.

    ¡¸SHIIGYAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!¡¹

    Still, the spell was devastating enough to force the Mud Digger into the swamp¡­¡­ For a moment out there I felt a sharp prick in my mind, as if something was telling me that something was wrong here, but that feeling vanished as suddenly as it appeared.

    ¡¸Yes! We did it! We really did it, Sanraku-san!¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, I guess we did.¡¹

    Together with Emul we fall right into the swamp. The fall damage wasn¡¯t all that great thanks to the equipment we were wearing, but the feeling of gettingpletely covered in mud and murky water was something I would rather not do again.

    ¡¸Agyaaaaaaaaahhhhhh! My clothes! My precious clothes!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Guh¡­¡­ My whole body feels like wet tissue right now¡­¡­¡¹

    Not to mention that I waspletely covered in mud and it was really difficult to move right now. Yet another thing only a game like that could pull off. We werepletely covered in filth, but at least we managed to defeat that boss¡­¡­

    ¡¸Wait, wait, wait¡­¡­!¡¹

    Mud Digger was nowhere to be found. No, that¡¯s not it. There were still ripples visible on the water¡¯s surface, so it meant it wasn¡¯t over yet. Was the source of my uneasiness some sort of special action that the boss performed? How much HP did it have left? Was it another stage of the boss battle? The whole swamp was shaking right now. If it was an area of effect attack, then we are a dead meat¡­¡­

    ¡¸EMUL!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Unyuh!?¡¹

    Gathering all of the scarce information right now, my mind forces my body to move. I manage to get to Emul¡¯s side, grab him by the ears and throw him out of the swamp, outside of the danger zone. In the next moment the whole swamp shook and trembled, and I was unable to move an inch, as if being held in ce by some kind of invisible chains.

    Damn, was it still hiding a special attack like that? ¡­¡­ Wait a minute, so instead of Agility-type it had some other attribute as well!?

    ¡¸Body¡­¡­ Move¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    ¡¸S, Sanraku-san! Below! It¡¯sing from below!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Below¡­¡­!?¡¹

    It was as though all the pieces of the puzzle started to fall into ce¡­¡­ Its sinking, shaking swamp, my inability to move and its overall shape and size.

    WHOOSH!!! The attack strikes me like lightning.

    The boss emerges from the muddy water all at once, creating a huge wave-like attack.

    For a few seconds the monster stands still on its back legs¡­¡­ No way¡­¡­ Could it be¡­¡­!?

    The monster stopped moving, and then from below¡­¡­

    ¡¸Ah, what is this¡­¡­? Whack a mole¡­¡­?¡¹

    In the next moment I was hit with a mud pir so huge and so powerful that I wasunched into the air, and I couldn¡¯t tell the sky from the ground.

    Mud Digger.

    When ites to its overall characteristics it is more of a chimera than any other monster, since it has a head of a shark, the body of a dragon with muscr limbs and fish fins. ¡­¡­ That is quite abination to be had.

    It has a special attack which involves submerging itself into the water, stopping its opponents from moving and then obliterating one of them at random with a huge mud pir that shoots from below the water¡¯s surface.

    When ying solo and standing inside the swamp, this attack will affect you with a one hundred percent sess rate and additionally you are going to suffer some fall damage. This can be avoided if one was to refrain from going inside of the swamp. It is also possible to lure it out of the swamp, but it is a really difficult thing to do.

    Because of the movement penalty inside the swamp it is rmended to switch to some light armor for the duration of this fight.

    Aside from that, if facing it alone, one will be met with almost certain death¡­¡­

    That kind of move is called an ¡°Insta-Kill.¡±

 Chapter 31: People Can Fly, Bunnies Can Jump

    <h4>Chapter 31: People Can Fly, Bunnies Can Jump</h4>

    ¡¸Guoh¡­¡­ Ouaaaaaahhhhhh!!!¡¹

    Because people don¡¯t have wings, they tend to fly through the sky by utilizing various other means. Now, when ites to the difference between flying and jumping, it all boils down to that one criteria: whether or not you are able to stay in the sky with your own power¡­¡­ but for me it was a no brainer. Because I wasunched into the sky, without having to jump on my own.

    (My HP¡­¡­ Uwah, it¡¯s almostpletely drained!)

    I thought that this attack would be enough to do me in, but at this rate it¡¯s the fall damage that¡¯s going to do the honors. ¡­¡­ Falling to death, what a joke.

    (Wait, that¡¯s not even funny at this point¡­¡­!)

    This attack was even more malicious than being bitten by curse-inducing fangs. The ones responsible for the design of this boss must be inherently bad people, I can already tell. Even though the next contact with the ground would spell my doom, I still had the time to be thinking like that.

    (Think¡­¡­ Is there anything I can do!? Falling to my death is not appealing at all, isn¡¯t there some kind of skill or magic that I can use to prevent this!?)

    Magic.

    Finally reaching the highest point of my ascension I stop in the air for just a moment, and when my thoughts calm down slightly I look around in a hurry. There it was, a creature of brown and white fur, wearing vividly-colored clothes¡­¡­ It looks like Emul is safe for now. The boss also wasn¡¯t targeting him, so he¡¯s probably going to live through that.

    Ahh, sh*t, just focus and think about something that can be done¡­¡­ There was no way that falling from the height of fourth or fifth floor would lead to me suffering mortal damage, but the question was: am I going to die instantly or keepying on the ground for a minute or two before eventually exploding into a mass of polygons? This is really an unreasonable situation¡­¡­ No, no, no, I am going to respawn after that, so no hard feelings. It¡¯s not like death is going to be permanent.

    Aside from trying not to think too much about how realistic of a feeling hitting the ground would be in this game, I was trying to think of a solution. Was there a way for me to slow my fall and avoid hitting the ground with full force? Or maybe to reduce the damage I would receive upon contact with the ground? Damn it, I don¡¯t think either of these things are possible.

    What about Emul¡¯s abilities? I had no idea how urate his Teleportation Gates are, or does he need any preparation time to cast them. Worst case scenario, I might fall right on top of him and crush him to death. Then how about getting hit with his Magic Edge so that it would somehow break the momentum of my fall?

    ¡­¡­ Forget about it. Not only would I suffer fall damage, but there would also be additional magic damage!

    (Ah, I¡¯m more or less screwed, right?)

    There was literally nothing that could be done here. And even if I somehow managed to break my fall, I would have toe up with countermeasures for gettingunched into the air again. The whole raise and fall was about ten seconds long, so there was really nothing I could think of in this short amount of time. I could only prepare myself to hit the ground and face my death like a real man¡­¡­

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­ aaa.¡¹

    It¡¯s been a long time since Ist fell to my death in a video game, so I wasn¡¯t all that used to it.

    It was one of my first full dive games, one that would send quite a shock through your spine the moment your body hit the ground, and then your consciousness would gently fade to ck. I still had that game in my room, but it was cast away to collect dust somewhere at the back of my collection.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ waaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh¡­¡­!¡¹

    For now, the only thing I could really do was to brace for impact. After I die, let¡¯s just hope that Emul manages to survive and get away from here, since it was pretty much impossible to think that he would be able to finish this fight all on his own¡­¡­

    ¡¸Now, witness the true power of the Vorpal Souuuuuuuuul!¡¹

    ¡¸Nuooh!?¡¹

    ¡¸Consumable Magic Item! ¡°Instant Teleportation Gate!¡±¡¹

    For a moment out there I can feel a different sense of falling than what I was experiencing so far, and then I can feel a strange kind of warmth surrounding me.

    In the next moment, my whole perspective in front of my eyes changed. ¡­¡­ Wasn¡¯t I teleported just now? Did Emul jumped towards me while I was falling down? So where¡­¡­? In the next moment, a tremendous shock runs through my whole body. But it was somethingpletely different from the expected fall damage, as it was rted to the swamp that was right in front of me¡­¡­

    ¡¸Gishyaaaaaaaaa!!!¡¹

    Waves of mud and murky water ssh in waves all across the swamp. It wasn¡¯t the kind of fall from high up in the air onto the ground¡­¡­ It looked as though the Mud Digger(this was the second time you called this monster mud drifter so i just wanted to rify is it mud drifter or digger?) was attacked by something that used the kic energy umted during my fall and was shot at it¡­¡­ It looked as though the attack utilized all the damage that was generated by my fall and converted it into raw power.

    I had no way of knowing that at that point, but there was a high-level spell like that called ¡°Meteor Fall¡±. It was utilizing the very same principle, at first falling down only to then be propelled like a bullet in a straight line. In fact, a vast amounts of skills and magic in this game allowed some dose of creativity when using them, thus making it possible to create whole new effects with them (for more information, please see the instruction manual).

    It is only my personal guess, but the spell that Emul used must have somehow switched my ce with Mud Diggers, setting him up as the recipient of all the damage that I was meant to take upon myself. (Note: Now this is what I would call a ¡°Revenge Counter!¡±) and apparently the sheer force of my ¡°Would-Be-Meteor-Fall¡± was so great that the Mud Digger started to thrash about while its HP fell to zero and it exploded in a geyser of red polygons.

    Attack reversal, damage switching, luck¡­¡­ Lots of different factors collided here at this very moment, creating the result that we now witnessed.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Say, Emul?¡¹

    ¡¸Uhyah¡­¡­ For a moment there I thought I was a goner¡­¡­ What is it?¡¹

    ¡¸You are the best, you know that?¡¹

    ¡¸P, please, what¡¯s with the sudden ttery?¡¹

    Just like that time with the Night Prowler, I was left with but a shred of my HP and I was about to be killed¡­¡­ But this time around we were the ones who were victorious.

    I will never say that Emul is dragging me down. That¡¯s for sure.

    ¡°Instant Teleportation Gate¡± is a spell that creates a gate what nullifies any effects in about a five meter radius and then shifts the coordinates of the gate to a new location, releasing the umted effects at this new location all at once.

 Chapter 32: Human, Rabbit and Bird Head

    <h4>Chapter 32: Human, Rabbit and Bird Head</h4>

    Thanks to cooperating with Emul¡­¡­ No, looking back at this fight he was the one who did like eighty percent of the job, we somehow managed to defeat the area boss, the Mud Digger.

    Frankly, it was a good experience for me. Mainly because I managed to learn about the fact that some enemies possessed insta-kill moves and that not every single battle could be won solo. I also learned that not every single attack can be interrupted. It was a frustrating discovery, but it was a good kind of frustration this time around.

    So until I manage to get on Emul¡¯s level, I must do my best and try not to get in his way too much.

    ¡¸For now, let¡¯s just proceed to Thirdrema¡­¡­ Guh.¡¹

    Because I still had one HP left, my body felt awfully sluggish and I was in a lot of pain. If we were to engage in another battle right about now, I would be dead for sure. I try to restore some of my HP with potions and medicinal herbs, but surely it would take a while for them to recover my health fully right?

    Still, the amount of HP I managed to recover instantly was not so bad, so I had noints there.

    ¡¸A, are you alright?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m alright. Coteral damage is just coteral damage, nothing that can be done about it.¡¹

    ¡¸For me it looked more like a fatal wound rather than coteral damage¡­¡­¡¹

    Fuh¡­¡­ That¡¯s right.

    Well, my HP was slowly recovering, so we could finally proceed to Thirdrema without any problems¡­¡­ Unless that Big Bad Wolf decides to show itself once more.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s wrong? You don¡¯t look so well.¡¹

    ¡¸No, it¡¯s nothing. I just thought that if it was a g event something would have already happened by now¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸?¡¹

    Wouldn¡¯t now be ideal moment for some monster to try and ambush us? I swear to God, if something like that does happen, I am going to cry!

    ¡¸Right, so after I upgrade my attributes and repair my things in Thirdrema, we might want to go straight back to Rabbitz. What do you think?¡¹

    ¡¸Wah¡­¡­! I think that going to Rabbitz would honestly be the best course of action!¡¹

    ¡¸Thought as much.¡¹

    Well, if it turns out that the next exploration zone is a good ce for levelling up, we might spend some more time there. Although I didn¡¯t say that out loud, as to not startle Emul. Together we went towards Thirdrema, while I was still staggering just a little bit.

    ¡¸Ah, please wait just a moment, Sanraku-san.¡¹

    ¡¸Hm?¡¹

    We were about to reach the gate of Thirdrema, where a bunch of other people and NPCs were waiting in line at the town guard¡¯s checkpoint. It seems that when you pass that checkpoint, you will safely arrive into town. Emul stopped me just as I was about to approach that checkpoint.

    ¡¸If we keep on going that way we are going to be attacked.¡¹

    ¡¸Hm¡­¡­? Ah, yeah, I guess. Technically you are still a monster¡­¡­ But wait, weren¡¯t you going through town without being bothered by anyone the moment we first met?¡¹

    Ahh, I only realized it now, but surely he must have appeared inside of the city¡¯s limits via the Teleportation Gate. But he wasn¡¯t just any ordinary monster right now, but a member of my party, so it should be quite alright for him to be able to enter the town together with me. But what if some NPCs start asking question upon seeing him? Should I hide him somewhere? But where? I was half naked, so there was no way that the guards wouldn¡¯t be able to notice him.

    While I was wondering about that, Emul touched the bracelet that was on his arm and started to sing some incantation.

    ¡¸This is one of the secret arts that we, the Vorpal Bunnies possess! Sanraku-san, please watch closely and be amazed! ¡°Metamorphosis!!¡±(Note: 177013, nuff said.)¡¹

    Bwaah!? What¡¯s this!? For some reason, Emul was wrapped in a really thick smoke screen apanied by an equally ridiculous sound effect. And when the smoke was blown away, what emerged from it was Emul, but¡­¡­

    ¡¸Huh?¡¹

    ¡¸Fuyaah¡­¡­ No matter how many times I do this, I still can¡¯t quite get used to the feeling of this body¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡­¡­ That¡¯s strange, I thought I was ying a Full Dive game, one of which Japan could feel proud before the whole world. ¡°Creating and Enjoying the vast new world¡­¡­¡± that was supposed to be ShangriLa Frontier¡¯s catchphrase, if memory serves me correctly.

    ¡¸Fufufu, thanks to this here disguise magic, my brethren and I are able to easily merge into human society!¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, umm¡­¡­ Rather than a disguise I would call it a freaking anthropomorphism, so it¡¯s something on apletely different level¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Whatever do you mean by that!?¡¹

    This wasn¡¯t a Dating Sim, so why was he looking like some smoking-hot European-looking woman all of a sudden¡­¡­?

    Where did that adorable little bunny go? And why was he stretching his limbs right now, looking like some sort of a little child that pulled off a prank sessfully while he was doing that!?

    ¡¸Thanks to that I get into town without anyone suspecting anything! But the only downside is that I¡¯m getting so tired after using it that I won¡¯t be able to transform again for quite a while¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I see, so that¡¯s how it is. Sneaking into the city¡¯s limits. Like that, monsters can infiltrate human society. But Emul, you are¡­¡­ No, all of you Vorpal Bunnies are quite the devilish creatures. I was careless with my opinion of you.¡¹

    ¡¸Hohe?¡¹

    The way that Emul was acting right now with his stretching was simr to that of a fighter flexing his muscles right before the fight in order to show off.

    ¡¸But I guess that being apanied by a half-naked bird-face of a person bnces our suspicion scale.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah.¡¹

    Rather, I think that people willpletely ignore Emul and focus their attention solely on me. But without him changing into a human we wouldn¡¯t be able to enter the city¡¯s limits. Or maybe he could act as a monster and cast this spell on me in order to make me look more normal? I must ask him about that some other time. Maybe we¡¯ll start drawing straws to see who would roley as who.

    ¡¸For now, I guess the town is going to be full of gossip about a ¡°Woman who subjugated a bird-man looking monster¡±¡­¡­¡¹

    To my words, the Emuldy cocked his head, seemingly unable to understand what I just said.

    And just like that, it was hard for me to tell who was a sidekick for who in this game any longer.

    Vorpal Soul Ring.

    A unique item that allows Vorpal Bunnies to use the unique magic ¡°Metamorphosis¡±.

    Metamorphosis

    Instead of using all of the user¡¯s MP at once and dissolving after a set amount of time, the magic will gradually consume a portion of the user¡¯s MP every set amount of time, until the user uses another spell or his/her MP reaches zero.

    In other words, even a monster can be a pretty human for some time!

 Chapter 33: The Armored Knight Sees!

    <h4>Chapter 33: The Armored Knight Sees!</h4>

    If by some miracle a certain sh*tty game went out of stock, it was always possible to hunt it down on an Inte auction. Or you could just visit every single second-hand gaming shop that was around, in the hope of finding what you are looking for there. This tenacity of mine earned me the title of the ¡°Sh*tty Games Hunter¡± and during my career as such I have witnessed many different things in different games. But this encounter with an NPC¡­¡­ that was new.

    ¡¸Next¡­¡­ person? No, but why are you half-naked?¡¹

    Screamed the town¡¯s guard while pointing his finger at me. That reaction was certainly new and fresh to me, although it was also incredibly funny. But after several seconds of him looking at me funnily andughing it was starting to be annoying, especially so since it was attracting the attention of other PCs and NPCs that were present at the checkpoint.

    I am sure that the guard was about ready to throw a wittyment about a beautiful woman bringing some pervert into their peaceful town, but before he could do that Emul opened his mouth to intervene.

    ¡¸Now, now, please wait just a moment, mister gatekeeper! You see, this San¡­¡­ I mean, this thing here¡­¡­ There are some reallyplex circumstances as to why it is looking like that¡­¡­¡¹

    No, this was also a huge surprise. Who would have thought that a mere AI that was inferior to humans would be able to conjure such likely lies on the spot?

    ¡¸You see, this creature here was a brave warrior in its previous life, one that was mighty enough to challenge the Night Prowler Luukan himself in battle! However, upon his death a powerful curse was put on him and now he is forced to reincarnate under this hideous appearance. But still, even though he looks like this his soul didn¡¯t forget its mission and his journey¡¯s throughout thend to lift the curse and challenge his opponent once more.¡¹

    This lie was so obvious and so blown out of proportions that I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the guard didn¡¯t actually buy it! I mean, what the fuck, Emul!?

    ¡¸Really now? Honestly, this thing doesn¡¯t look that strong to me¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸That is because the curse is so powerful! If this here Sanraku-san was to regain his full potential and power, he would be invincible!¡¹

    And that was even more obvious than the previous lie! But¡­¡­ No, it can¡¯t be! I mean, it was actually a good thing that the NPC apparently bought the story, but the way he was looking at me now¡­¡­ I¡¯d much rather wanted him to look at me with pity! Besides, what about other yers!? What if they start to ask questions like, where can I get tattoos like that!?

    ¡¸Well, it¡¯s a good thing that we managed to get into town without any problems, at the very least. Let¡¯s go, Emul.¡¹

    ¡¸Sure thing!¡¹

    The Mud Digger was engulfed in a sea of mes that erupted from a high-level spell, additionally casting a burn effect on it.

    Saiga-0 was sprinting through the swamps, shing away at smaller mobs and casting magic at bigger enemies, adamant on getting to Thirdrema as soon as possible. For some reason, she had a very bad feeling about what was going to meet her once she gets there. And those bad feelings turned out to be true, for when she arrived at the checkpoint leading into town¡­¡­

    (Ah, this, this woman¡­¡­ Who is she!?)

    Right next to some woman there he was: the yer named Sanraku, wearing a bird mask and without his shirt or pants, with legs and chest covered in curse marks.

    Saiga-0 was relieved to see that it was indeed Sanraku, for if it turned out that this person was someone else, she would probably lose it, and wouldn¡¯t know what to do anymore.

    However, something was off. Sanraku wasn¡¯t the kind of yer who would y in a party. No matter what type of game it was, he would always y it solo.

    Maybe someone concealed that information from her, but seeing someone else at Sanraku¡¯s side made Saiga-0 sp her hand strongly on the hilt of her sword (Note: and thus a new Yandere joins the club. Nice.).

    (No¡­¡­ Calm down¡­¡­ Remember what sis said to you: calm observation is crucial for making a good first impression.)

    Sanraku has already exceeded her expectations bying so far on his own, going beyond what a mere beginner would be able to aplish. But now, when she saw that woman dressed in strange clothes unlike anything she had seen before and wearing a monocle, Saiga-0 was ovee with this sudden urge to just walk over to her and punch her straight in the face. Something was telling her that she was a yer with loads of money on her, since it wasn¡¯t possible to buy such fashionable clothes this early in the game. She must have bought them with real money, which also meant that their stats must have been rather poor. No matter what she thought about that woman, her appearance was screaming red gs all over.

    (I thought that the one apanying him was supposed to be a Vorpal Bunny, but¡­¡­ That woman¡¯s a human, right? Huh¡­¡­)

    It wasn¡¯t that umon for monsters to be able to turn human, but you could easily distinguish them from the crowd. And after watching that woman for a while, Saiga-0 finally understood what was so unnatural about that woman.

    (I see¡­¡­ There¡¯s no yer name on disy¡­¡­)

    In other words, this woman was an NPC, not a yer. Saiga-0 let out a sigh of relief, since now there was no more obstacles standing between her and Sanraku. She could carry out her n ¡°Approach him as a Senpai inside the game¡± no problem.

    The mystery was still there, and answers to her questions were scarce, but now Saiga-0 was able to regain herposure and put her personal feelings aside.

    (Inside of Thirdrema¡­¡­ I must follow them¡­¡­)

    While she was thinking like that, the amount of NPC in front of Thirdrema checkpoint grewrger andrger. Before she even realized it, there was quite a crowd in front of Saiga-0.

    If she tried to cut the queue or push the NPCs around in order to get there faster, not only the guards would intervene on the charge of harming the NPCs, but worst case scenario there would even be a bounty ced on her head, which would even attract other yers to hunt her down, wanting to cash in on the prize. So harassing the NPCs in general wasn¡¯t that good of an idea.

    So even if she was reluctant to do so, Saiga-0 had to wait for the queue to proceed forward, all the time having to suffer the torture of observing Sanraku chatting with that woman. She felt like a whole eternity had passed before she could enter Thirdrema herself.

    Incidentally, some of the NPCs in this game have levels which exceeds the value of one hundred.

 Chapter 34: Surrounded With Traps and Turmoil

    <h4>Chapter 34: Surrounded With Traps and Turmoil</h4>

    In other words, now I could see that Sekandil really wasn¡¯t that big of a town and that inparison Thirdrema was bursting with energy. It was a city which fully embodied the idea of a ¡°fantasy town¡±, with stern roads, street vendors trying to sell their merchandise to the people walking down the streets, and even beggars sitting in the gutters and back alleys. It was all making a busy and lively impression of a city.

    Also, Firstia and Sekandil were erected on a tnd, but Thirdrema was built on top of a small hill, with a castle standing right in the middle of the town. It was a generic town in a fantasy game, but it was alluring enough to make me feel strangely motivated for some reason.

    ¡¸Funya, as always, this city is so beautiful.¡¹

    ¡¸It sure is.¡¹

    ¡¸Muu, somehow your reaction is rather bleak, Sanraku-san.¡¹

    I mean yeah, the sight itself was beautiful, but let¡¯s not forget that I am a pure-blooded gamer. Having cleared a fair share of games, I have seen many different towns and environments.

    For example, a human colony hanging on the verge of the Earth¡¯s atmosphere, where you could reach out your hand and go into the vacuum of space.

    Or a forgotten castle so big and so secluded that one was asking himself if giants of some sort were living in it during the days of its glory.

    Or a highly advanced shelter-town deep in the bowels of the Earth, where the blue sky and the rays of the sun were nothing more than an image generated byputers.

    They were all creations of Full Dive technology, and suddenly remembering all of them made me want to stop in my tracks and tell Emul about them all.

    ¡¸You know, it might be hard to believe, but I¡¯ve been around many different ces and saw many different things. Grand and wonderful things.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, that¡¯s actually amazing! I guess it¡¯s just like Sanraku-san to travel around the world and visit many different ces!¡¹

    I look at Emul. Even though he may look different right now, it was still the same old Emul. d to know that this hasn¡¯t changed.

    ¡¸Now, whatever shall we do?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­? Weren¡¯t we supposed to look for an inn?¡¹

    ¡¸No, no, we are still going to do that. But I was just wondering whatever shall we do after that.¡¹

    Since every single town in this game was under the same time zone, it was natural that in the middle of the night we would only see but a small percentage of people who decided to make Thirdrema their base of operations. But even so, the amount of people here was surprisingly small. What¡¯s more, quite a lot of people were going towards the swamnds and into Sekandil, as opposed to the exploration point that was beyond Thirdrema. Were they all going to level up or take on the area boss again? Or maybe there were still materials they needed to farm before logging out for the day?

    I knew that my current getup was a little bit strange and that people would like to avoid having to look at me, but it was definitely different than usual.

    I wonder what was the cause of such heavy traffic towards Sekandil? I would like to ask someone about it, but unsurprisingly, whenever someone would look my way they would look somewhere else in a hurry while whispering ¡°Oh crap, it¡¯s that bird-pervert guy? What¡¯s he doing here?¡±

    Strange¡­¡­ I know that my appearance was weird, but I certainly didn¡¯t do anything that would make be that recognizable amongst other yers. Or maybe it was that those three started to badmouth me right after our encounter in that forest? I sure hope that wasn¡¯t the case.

    ¡¸Oh well, can¡¯t really help it that I¡¯m looking suspicious right now.¡¹

    I mean, what would you do if you were inside a forest and suddenly a masked pro-wrestler jumps at you instead of a wild bear? It was only natural that this whole scene would be so surreal that you couldn¡¯t help it but tough.

    ¡¸Come on, Emul, let¡¯s find us an inn.¡¹

    ¡¸O, oh. Right.¡¹

    Just then, when we were about to venture further into the city, one of the passing yers grabbed a hold of my hand, preventing us from going forward. So we were forced to stay near the city¡¯s gate, and the gaze of the town¡¯s guard was strangely hostile for some weird reason.

    ¡¸Y, you there! That getup, you are Sanraku, aren¡¯t you?¡¹

    ¡¸He?¡¹

    ¡¸Are you perhaps one of Sanraku-san¡¯s friends?¡¹

    The one who stopped us was a female yer. Emul thought that maybe we were friends for some strange reason, but it was the first time for me to meet that yer. Let¡¯s see¡­¡­ ¡°Animalia¡±? Yup, I don¡¯t know anyone by that name.

    For a moment there I thought it might have been one of my sh*tty game friends, but if it was one of them their manners would have been different¡­¡­ At least my friends knew how to behave themselves.

    ¡¸Umm, have we met somewhere before?¡¹

    Speaking of games, it was one of the golden rules that the further you go in them the better loot you get, and the strength of your items would be reflected in your overall appearance. Therefore, just by looking at Animalia¡¯s equipment it was easy for me to tell that such equipment was not avable this early in the game.

    But if she was a high-level yer, then what was she doing in the ce such as Thirdrema, where mostly low-level yers would gather? And howe she knew my name?

    ¡¸When ites to greetings¡­¡­ I don¡¯t really care about formalities like that. There is only one thing I would like you to listen to me¡­¡­¡¹

    As she said that, Animalia grabs onto my arms and opens her eyes wide. Just when I was starting to think that she was acting rather weird, something happened to Emul. There was a huge puff of smoke over his head, and in the next moment a pair of bunny ears erected from the top of his hair.

    ¡¸How is this!? You¡¯re a Vorpal Bunny! Is it tamed!?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    Oi, Emul, don¡¯t get us busted like that all of a sudden!

    While Emul was doing his best to try toe up with a cover story for that little ident out there, my mind was working full throttle to think of something as well, all the while thanking my luck that I was wearing a mask and no one could easily see the shift in my facial expressions.

    How did she know about a Vorpal Bunny? No, it was entirely possible that someone might have seen me talked about it, that¡¯s why. I totally forgot about the fact that people could actually see who I was talking to. Damn, what to do now? Make a run for it from this city? No, it was too early to resort to such drastic solutions.

    Revealing the unique quest was obviously out of the question. After all, information was crucial in this game and those who monopolize it can have an overwhelming advantage. And even if I¡¯m to disclose anything I know, it would only amount to something like ¡°You must first prove your Vorpal Soul¡± or something like that¡­¡­ Or would it be best to hide that fact as well?

    Anyhow, I didn¡¯t want to disclose any information about the triggers or even the ¡°Invitation to the Bunny Country¡±¡­¡­ And that is because¡­¡­

    ¡¸Umm, you see, even if you ask me, I¡¯m not exactly sure myself¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right, you know? Something like that should be shared with everyone else, don¡¯t you think? Revolutionary Knight Sanraku¡­¡­?¡¹

    That name waspletely meaningless in this game.

    It was a title from apletely different game.

    There was only one person in particr who knew my title from that game.

    It was a total surprise to hear that voiceing from just outside the gate leading to Thirdrema. Upon that I managed to break free of this Animalia chick holding onto me and jumped back, putting some distance between us. Only then was I able to understand just how dangerous of a situation I was in right now.

    ¡¸Now won¡¯t you look at that! If it isn¡¯t Pencil Warrior!¡¹

    ¡¸Now, now, that might have been my name, but right now I go by Arthur Pencilgton, Sanraku-kun. That being said, you look simply monstrous.¡¹

    He looked like a beautiful woman in this game, and almost half of his face was being concealed behind a mask that resembled the ones that professional assassins would use while going on their missions. He once managed to assassinate both Modorokatsu and I in a futuristic game called ¡°United Rounds¡±¡­¡­ ¡°Pencil Warrior¡±, now ¡°Arthur Pencilgton,ughed at me in a joyous manner.

 Chapter 35: Knightly King of Writing Utensils

    <h4>Chapter 35: Knightly King of Writing Utensils</h4>

    Now, if you want me to introduce my dear friend and sh*tty game buddy Pencil Warrior to you, we need to talk about a certain other sh*tty game that I cannot erase from my memory no matter how much I try.

    That sh*tty game is called ¡°United Rounds¡± and in a nutshell it was a game where you y as knights and repel waves of monsters that are trying to invade the already decaying kingdom¡­¡­ It was a VRMMO. But, like almost every other game in my collection, it was a sh*tty game.

    The first and foremost of its many ws was of course the abysmal drop rate of items. But it was like, REALLY abysmal.

    For example, as a novice knight you may receive the ¡°Medicine Procurement¡± fetch quest. The item in question is in possession of the Boss monster that is located inside the forest near your starting location. Now, what would a typical noob think with a quest like that? That it is a tutorial quest and that it will be nice, quick and easy? Congrats, you¡¯ve officially stepped into a grueling task that is at least twelve hours farming for one stupid item.

    Be that as it may, the game was very faithful to its genre and setting. In other words, everything that was going to be broken, was indeed broken beyond repair¡­¡­ You don¡¯t believe me? Fine then. Take the ¡°Stone¡±, an item that is somon in every game that you could practically get tired of seeing it. Here, in this game, it had a magnificently ¡°high¡± drop of forty percent, which means that some unlucky yers have never even seen the darn thing! As for those who DID manage to obtain it¡­¡­

    ¡¸This stone is useless even as a throwing weapon¡­¡­¡¹

    While using it, you¡¯d have to unequip every other item or weapon you were holding. Why? Because the stone could ¡°identally¡± hit your other equipment. And guess what? Your initial equipment would break apart if it was hit by the stone three times!! How fucked up is that!?

    By the way, the drop of medicinal herbs or even simple weeds was about a stunning two percent, so good luck with creating potions of any kind.

    What about the plot of this game? As one might expect, it was as generic as it can possibly be done, so many times by so many different titles.

    As the world slowly approaches the end of the century, violence, looting and crime begin to spread, and it was your job to restore the proper order. Honestly, that was the most sh*tty element of this game. There were many famous ouws and monsters here, but to make that a main plotline? Give me a break. This could have worked in any other title that was single yer, but not in MMO.

    However, even the tips and tricks page on the game¡¯s website stated that it is far easier to obtain the desired materials via looting the shopkeepers or stealing away from other yers. But the fact that the kingdom in the middle of the apocalypse wasn¡¯t exactly the most business-thriving ce wasn¡¯t helping¡­¡­ and as the developer itself stated at some point, there was no intention of fixing these abysmal drop rates whatsoever. And they were never fixed, as a matter of fact.

    It was small wonder that the PVP became such a strong and crucial element of this game, and this as a consequence earned it pretty low ratings on various review sites. Argument for low ratings being that PVP was forced and unnecessary, killing the social aspects of the game and cornering yers into doubting and not trusting one another. Surprise attacks, kidnappings, mass lootings, monster trains and many other despicable acts became an everyday urrence in this game.

    As a result ¡°United Rounds¡± or ¡°The End of the Century Round Table¡± established a certain niche for itself and continued to be enjoyed by a certain group of yers up till this day¡­¡­

    Now, going back to the Pencil Warrior. Just like many other people, he was a new Ouw that was attracted to this game because of its ¡°unique¡± premise.

    I¡¯m not going to get into too much detail here, but suffice it to say that Pencil Warrior somehow managed to raise up as one of the strongest people in the entire game, at one point even bringing the whole kingdom to its knees together with a group of his followers and making it his own domain. His motto: ¡°Let¡¯s share the wealth and drop items together! It¡¯s the birth of a bright new era, even brighter than fresh blood!¡±

    At that time it was such a bullsh*t situation one could even question how such a thing was even allowed in the first ce?

    But you had to hand it to him, he knew what he was doing. He exploited the yers not directly under his rule, causing them to create resistance groups and rebel against him, thus creating something of a ¡°mini-event¡± which held the yers hooked and willing to stay with the game for a long time.

    At the peak of his power, it was no exaggeration to say that the whole game was in the hands of this one yer. He was a great conqueror, one to whom even the Roman emperors couldn¡¯tpare. He even earned such nicknames for himself as ¡°The Mastermind¡±, ¡°The Devilish Schemer¡±, and ¡°The True Demon Lord¡±. It was quite an achievement to pull off.

    As for me¡­¡­ At that time I was known as the Katsu Tataki, and together with Modorokatsu we were hired by the resistance as mercenaries in order to assault Pencil Warrior¡¯s stronghold. Although the fortress was ridden with traps and strong enemies, we eventually managed to reach the throne room and put Pencil Warrior down (although it was a two-vs-one type of fight), thus bringing the curtain down upon his era of rule over the ¡°United Rounds¡±¡­¡­ and that was the legend of Arthur Pencilgton who was standing right before me.

    ¡¸That name brings about so many bad memories¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Fufufu, I was brought over here all the way from Fiftsia without really knowing what was going on, but now I¡¯m actually d that I did.¡¹

    Pencil Warrior¡­¡­ No, it was Arthur Pencilgton right now, seemed to be overjoyed while ying around with his one-handed sword, which looked to be a really powerful weapon. I could sense that Emul was on edge, but was this situation really going to turn into a PK attempt?

    Also, if Emul¡¯s disguise was slowly going to dissolve like that, maybe it would be best for him to actually go and hide somewhere, so that he wouldn¡¯t attract any attention.

    ¡¸That being said, me being here is more of a personal reason.¡¹

    ¡¸Hee?¡¹

    ¡¸The same thing goes for Katsu as well, but you really yed me for a fool that one time.¡¹

    Yeah, go figure. If you¡¯d say that you, a high-level yer, came all the way here for any other reason, I would surely think you must be jesting.

    ¡¸Just so you know, I am the number two in ¡°Ashura-kai¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸Number two in ¡°Ashura-kai¡±¡­¡­ No way! Are you perhaps the ¡°Giant yer Pencilgton!?¡±¡¹

    There was a few seconds of silence between us, brought to a stop by Animalia¡¯s shocked voice.

    ¡¸Giant yer!?¡¹

    ¡¸You see, if your goal is to be the number one yer in the game, you might as well choose an appropriate title for yourself. But nowadays it¡¯s hard to have any fun killing other yers with all of those PK penalties and stuff¡­¡­ but there are other ways to carve a name for yourself in this game, that¡¯s for sure.¡¹

    ¡¸Rather than being called a ¡°Giant yer¡± it would suit you much more to be called the ¡°Emperor of Dystopia¡±!¡¹

    ¡¸You said it.¡¹

    ¡¸¡¸Ahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!¡¹¡¹

    Both Animalia and Emul were staring at us withplicated expressions, probably unable to understand how could weugh like that at one another. You see, we might be enemies in a moment, but that doesn¡¯t change the fact that we are also friends.

    ¡¸That¡¯s the part of you that I like so much! Now have at you!¡¹

    ¡¸You utter fool! I knew you would try something like that!¡¹

    Pencil Warrior and I usually y games in a hostile or rivalry rtionship like that, so this event wasn¡¯t in fact anything new. He threw a throwing knife at me and I managed to avoid it with ease.

    Now then, just how am I going to handle that newborn situation?

 Chapter 36: Inside the Eye of the Storm

    <h4>Chapter 36: Inside the Eye of the Storm</h4>

    The existence of the unique quest. I was out of luck here, but if I manage to keep that information concealed, nothing serious should happen.

    Since my current position was rather disadvantageous for me, I decided to put some distance between Pancilgton and I, all the while thinking about how should I approach this situation. At present Pencilgton was armed with a single one-handed sword, but I was sure that he should be able to close the distance in between us with ease and sh at me at high speed.

    Moreover, since he was ying this game far longer than I have, his skills must have been that much better, which was bringing my chances of getting out of this alive to almost zero. Not to mention that it probably wouldn¡¯t bother him to fight inside of a city.

    ¡¸Your fake dys are as frustrating as I remember them to be¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-kun, what level are you? It cannot be all that big of a number, about twenty or so, I estimate, but you keep on dodging my blows.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s because this game is good! My body moves as smoothly as ever!¡¹

    Avoiding the seemingly ¡°poisoned¡± throwing knives at long range was easy, but if he decided to close the distance I might have a problem. The situation would only grow even more disadvantageous for me.

    ¡¸Or maybe it¡¯s because I¡¯m only here to deliver a message to you from the ones at the top, so I¡¯m not taking this seriously at all?¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re saying that right now!?¡¹

    If you¡¯ve got a message for me, than maybe stop attacking me so I can listen to it in peace?

    While we exchange our blows at high speed, Pencilgton starts to recite the message:

    ¡¸The choice is yours: either choose to disclose everything you know or be prepared to be a target until you will be ready to spill the beans¡­¡­ That¡¯s the message.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    It was a really simple message. I could disclose everything that I know about the unique quest, or be constantly hunted down and killed¡­¡­ What idiocy.

    ¡¸I¡¯d give it twenty points¡­¡­ You should really think things through before you move on to intimidate someone, you know?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh my, what a high score it is. You are using a ten point scale, correct?¡¹

    ¡¸Way to go with threatening a beginner¡­¡­ asshole!¡¹

    ¡¸Uwah.¡¹

    The way I see it, the leaders of ¡°Ashura-kai¡± made two fatal mistakes.

    The first one is that I just came to Thirdrema and I was yet to establish my respawn point here. Which means that even if I was going to get killed right now, I would still respawn in Rabbitz, a ce where no one has ever visited before. ¡­¡­ In your face.

    If Emul¡¯s existence came to light only recently, then this means that it was probable that this unique quest was one that was never seen before by anyone else. So if I were to retreat to the area bound to that quest, no one would be able to assault me there, unless they were to discover the quest themselves.

    The second one was even a bigger miss by them. They must have known that Pencil Warrior and I were acquaintances, and that is why they sent him to be the messenger.

    A messenger is someone who is bound to deliver the message and see to it that the recipient gets to know its contents. Which means he couldn¡¯t kill me just like that.

    ¡¸Emul!¡¹

    ¡¸Y, yes!?¡¹

    It seems that the time limit for his transformation was almost up, for more and more of his parts began to revert to his original Vorpal Bunny appearance. I called out to him to make him realize that fact.

    Sh*t, level, stats, magic, equipment, skills¡­¡­ Everything about me is so inferior to him! And he was right, since he wasn¡¯t using skills or magic, he was holding back! Deliver the message? Yeah right! To begin with, sword wasn¡¯t his weapon of choice!

    I use the Repel Counter to push Pencilgton away and then jump back to create some more distance in between us again.

    ¡¸Grab onto my back! Hurry!¡¹

    ¡¸Eeehhh!? B, but¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸HURRY! THE! FUCK! UP!¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, I get it, I get it!!!¡¹

    It may have been a PK attempt, but for some reason I was acting all friendly with the assant, and the assant himself proved to be only a messenger. I was trying tomunicate with Emul with words only we could understand, but unfortunately, I was toote with my attempts. As unfortunate as it may sound, our secret was going to get out.

    PUFFFF!!! There was a cloud of white smoke with its apanying sound effect, and I could feel that instead of a human body, there was a Vorpal Bunny sticking onto my back yet again. So sorry, but since now the cat is out of the bag, I¡¯m gonna run like I mean it!

    ¡¸AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!????????¡¹

    ¡¸Animalia, was it? I¡¯m sorry if you were hoping for some kind of g with me, but it¡¯s going to have to wait!¡¹

    ¡¸At least let me take a photo of this cute little thing¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I wish I could, but now it would be kind of¡­¡­ dangerous!¡¹

    No turning back now. I ran away as fast as I can, as far from Animalia and Pencilgton in hopes of leaving them far behind me.

    ¡¸Aww, and here I was going to demonstrate my very best party trick to everyone¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I couldn¡¯t care less about other yers, but at this rate that cute little thing will be in danger¡­¡­ Right, I shall stop you here and now, Giant yer!¡¹

    ¡¸Not that I mind, but I guess I should be greatful for a chance to cross des with the top warrior of ¡°SF-Zoo¡±, a guild that¡¯s prominent in hunting down the strongest monsters in the game. Much more since normally you don¡¯t take interest in other people at all. You have my thanks for that, S-A-N-R-A-K-U~!¡¹

    Of course Pencilgton was trying to chase after me, but unlike a low-level yer, an attack from someone of an equal level and equipment like his own was not something he could possibly ignore. I mean, my weapons were not all that bad, but let¡¯s be honest here: what could I possibly do against someone like him?

    But Pencilgton wasn¡¯t the one who was dangerous here. If this Animalia chick was so determined that she came all the way here she could be even more dangerous than a professional assassin! ¡­¡­ But I guess it¡¯s thanks to her that I¡¯m not a victim of PK thus far. So once more I can be grateful to Emul¡­¡­ for bringing us this human shield called high-level yer!

    If we ever meet each other again I must take her to Rabbitz. I¡¯m sure she would love the ce. And Pencilgton¡­¡­ Next time we meet, you¡¯re gonna be dead meat! That¡¯s for sure!

    Once we enter the city for real, the conditions for Emul¡¯s ¡°Coordinate Teleportation Gate¡± will be met!

    ¡¸Well, you know¡­¡­ I DID say that I was a messenger, but I didn¡¯t say that I came here alone, now did I? Kukuku.¡¹

    Suddenly, a wild group of PKs appeared out of nowhere!

    Holy sh*t! That¡¯s overdoing it! I haven¡¯t even reached level fifty yet! Cut me some ck! Don¡¯t turn this magnificent game into another sh*tty game!

    As I looked at the four more yers that appeared right in front of me, I could see that their yer tags were all written in red font.

 Chapter 37: Status Shift

    <h4>Chapter 37: Status Shift</h4>

    I see, it looks like leaders of Ashura-kai really wanted their message to sink in properly.

    ¡¸There¡­¡­ No, four people?¡¹

    ¡¸With this many people, we can kill you over and over again however many times we want.¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t particrly enjoy killing small fries, since it makes my karma points go to hell, but orders are orders.¡¹

    ¡¸If you want to me someone, then me the top brass. We are only carrying out their will.¡¹

    All four of them direct their weapons towards me, and the red font in which their name tags were written was the proof that they were indeed yer Killers. Just like the instruction manual said. For now, let¡¯s just summarize my current situation.

    Our initial goal was to reach Thirdrema and then go to Rabbitz from there, since reaching Thirdrema was a sort of a high wall that a new yer must ovee. Our current position: right outside the city¡¯s gate, Emul and myself, surrounded by four seasoned PKs, and with Pencilgton and Animalia right behind our backs.

    I was curious about those karma points, since it was an unfamiliar term for me. Was it something that PKs didn¡¯t want to umte? I thought about it for a moment, and even if under normal circumstances getting killed by them a few times would not be that big of a deal, with Emul around the situation was different. For now, let¡¯s see¡­¡­ It seems that none of them held any kind of long-distance weapon. But that doesn¡¯t mean they weren¡¯t able to use magic or long-range skills. How should we get to resolve that situation¡­¡­?

    I could feel Emul trembling on my back at the sight of the bloodthirsty yers. I knew just how he felt, because I¡¯ve been through something like that in the past a few times. Being killed over and over by the PKs. Back in the ¡°United Rounds¡± it was amon urrence for seasoned yers to just camp at spawn points and kill both the new yers and NPCs alike.

    By the way, their reason for doing that was because in ¡°United Rounds¡± there was a title of ¡°Fallen Knight¡± awarded to people who killed a certain number of yers whose levels were lower than that of the yer who did all the killing. But it was just that, a title. With nothing else to it, not even a slight boost in stats. I would like to know why was such a title ever in a cooperative game, but as with everything in ¡°United Rounds¡±, it seems that something which was supposed to be a mark of shame became somethingpletely opposite, and people were wearing the title as a badge of honor of sorts.

    And if you¡¯re going to implement such a title, at least add some sort of demerit to it! Like, for example, the NPCs won¡¯t talk to you anymore! Otherwise what¡¯s the point of having such a title in the first ce!? Small wonder everyone would go full-on murder hobo in this game!

    Okay, now that I got all of that off my chest I felt somewhat calmer, and I was ready to tackle the challenge that was waiting right in front of me. A soft smile creeped on my lips¡­¡­

    When Saiga-0 finally managed to get across all of the NPCs that were in her way at the checkpoint leading to Thirdrema, she saw something truly mortifying: there they were, Arthur Pencilgton of the Ashura-kai and Animalia of SF-Zoo, the most powerful yers of the most powerful guilds in the game, currently duking it out with each other so hard that there were sparks flying all around them. There was also Sanraku, but currently he was surrounded by four other PKs while a Vorpal Bunny was sitting right atop his back.

    (I just averted my gaze for but a moment, what happened!?)

    For a moment Saiga-0 thought that it was all her fault for losing sight of Sanraku, but then again she thought that this might in fact be her chance to shine.

    If she can save him from the perilous situation of being killed by evil PKs, she would make a much better first impression than if she is to just approach him and talk to him. And it just so happened that thest update a few months ago changed the rules of the game a little bit, so that PKK was no longer ruining your reputation with the NPCs, so she was all in the green!

    (Chance! This is my chance! Now I can appeal to him and get acquainted inside of the game! And then in real life! And then¡­¡­ And then¡­¡­! Huehuehie¡­¡­)

    A few hundred options? A few thousand options? Saiga-0 had so many options when ites to dealing with PKs that the sheer amount of them started to gradually overwhelm her.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ ¡°Battle Skill: Crushing sh¡±!!¡¹

    Being level ny nine herself, Saiga-0 was often fighting as a vanguard on the frontline and during various raids and events together with her colleagues from the guild ¡°Shwarz Wolves¡± one of the best guilds in the game¡­¡­ And the skill she just used was usually employed against heavily armored monsters.

    ¡¸My, my, I must say I had quite a bit of fun, Miss Zoo Director. You would normally see that many debuffs only on high level monster ying quests, yup.¡¹

    ¡¸Kuh, ghh¡­¡­¡¹

    Arthur Pencilgton praises Animalia, who was currently brought to her knees when her HP bar started to reach dangerously low levels.

    She thought that his nickname of Giant yer was just for show, but as truth would have it, he was indeed so powerful that even the strongest yers in Fiftsia had to respect his power. It is also no wonder that he had won every single duel he took part in.

    So one might say that being praised by him was an honor of the highest caliber. Pencilgton looks at the status icons that were afflicting him andughs.

    ¡¸With so many debuffs on, even the strongest of monsters would be nothing more but a paper dolls.¡¹

    ¡¸I stunned and poisoned you so many times, so why¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Hm? You want to know? The secret to that lies in¡­¡­ Tadah! It is thanks to this little unique item that I have here, ¡°Ori the Singing Doll¡±! It gives me the highest levels of protection from debuffs and magic attacks, so it¡¯s really useful against magic casters. Better safe than sorry, right?¡¹

    One of the reasons that Animalia lost to Pencilgton was because he possessed an item that was the ultimate shield against magic casters when ites to PVP. ¡­¡­ But aside from that, it was foolish of her to try to take on Pencilgton while he was in his peak condition, without any trapsid or secret weapons up her sleeve.

    ¡¸I, see¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Well, that being said¡­¡­ Those curses of yours are something that one needs to watch out for.¡¹

    When ites to Magic Casters, ShangriLa Frontier was truly unique in that aspect. It was somewhatplicated, but long story short, casting magic was not consuming MP only, but was additionally using various catalysts to do so. Thanks to that the spells effects were powerful and effective, and having two or three Magic Casters on the battlefield would always make the battle that much easier.

    And it so happens that Animalia, guild master of SF-ZOO, and the lover of every single monster in the game, has filled all of her magic slots with high-level restraint-type magic.

    So it could be said that in terms of literally stopping Sanraku in his tracks, there was no other yer better suited for the job than Animalia.

    ¡¸Now then¡­¡­¡¹

    Pencilgton was wondering. The guildmaster handpicked those four other yers for this job, but would they really be able to kill Sanraku? There was a part of him that was still hesitant to believe that. Incidentally, he had no intention of helping them out in any way.

    (Sanraku-kun, I know that you are one tough cookie, but the difference in your levels is over fifty, so struggle as hard as you can because even you might not be able to get out of it alive¡­¡­)

    But Pencilgton knew. All the knowledge Sanraku umted over all those sh*tty games was not to be underestimated. If anything, that knowledge alone was like a unique item the highest grade.

    Those who challenge only the weaker ones or the ones of the same skill level will never grow strong. In the past, Pencilgton was once like that, and the price he came to pay for his arrogance was high. But it was at the same time priceless experience.

    (That idiot is so crazy in his actions that any normal yer out there seems boring inparison¡­¡­ The times sure are about to change. I hear that Katsu also started ying ShanFro, so our ns¡­¡­ can finally move forward¡­¡­)

    Pencilgton recalls that level ny nine¡­¡­ That is the highest level in this game for the moment and there were quite a few yers who, like Pencilgton, managed to obtain it. Each and every one of those yers was a formidable warrior and a deadly opponent, capable of exterminating other yers with ease, or even crushing full, fifteen-people parties.

    And it so happens that the most powerful members of Ashura-kai were all former underlings of Pencilgton. So if they time everything correctly, their ns and ambitions could be¡­¡­ Just then, Pencilgton turns towards Animalia, who finally dropped to the ground.

    ¡¸Fumu, by the way, Miss Zoo Director? I do seem to recall you using some strange item that allowed you to cast a spell with a catalyst of ¡°Activates when your HP falls to a single digit¡±. Pray tell what that spell is¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    Animalia smiles, and the way she did that was so charming and beautiful that even Pencilgton felt entranced by that expression of hers. But there was also something strange to it, something dangerous that made shivers run down his spine.

    ¡¸You¡¯ll understand soon enough.¡¹

    There are some items in this game that give very specific and unique effects, but for the very specific and unique catalysts. They could be used only once and then they would be gone forever.

    ¡¸No question, no answer. ¡°Fellow Traveller!!¡±¡¹

    A spell of the highest caliber triggered by self-destruction of the caster goes towards Pencilgton¡­¡­

    And then everything began to change.

 Chapter 38: Turntables

    <h4>Chapter 38: Turntables</h4>

    The situation was as follows:

    My initial n of action was fairly simple: divide and conquer. I wanted to separate the guy with a huge broadsword from hispanions and take him down first, since he looked slow and not very agile.

    Bigger swords usually meant that they could do less attacks and are easier to avoid. However, if their blows actually connected, it was going to hit like a truck. Incidentally, while I nced over the yers that were going to attack me, none of them looked to be a Magic Caster, every single one looked to be a physical fighter.

    Another reason for taking that guy out first was because he looked susceptible to mockery and easy to provoke. So I was going to try to slip past him and try to sh at his back or side, but¡­¡­ Why am I saying this in a past tense? Well, that¡¯s because¡­¡­

    The reason was simple. The big guy suddenly got blown away towards the gate while bleeding polygons made him look like aet. He received the full blow, but even I was almost swept off my feet thanks to the iing shockwave.

    ¡¸What the hell!?¡¹

    ¡¸With one blow!?¡¹

    ¡¸Who did this!?¡¹

    Therge swordsman explodes in the Geyser of red polygons right in the middle of the street. And judging by the reactions of hispanions, it was something that was totally unexpected. Shocked and confused, none of them were thinking ofing towards me and attacking. I looked behind me only to see an armored yer standing there with his sword raised high, ready to strike.

    (Wow, he looks like a high-level yer. His name isn¡¯t disyed in red font, and he doesn¡¯t really look like one of Pencilgton¡¯sckeys¡­¡­)

    But I should be happy yet. It¡¯s not like I knew that yer¡¯s intentions. Right now, my situation wasn¡¯t exactly that of ¡°The enemy of my enemy is my friend.¡± No, it was not that at all. It was more like my enemies started to jump at each other¡¯s throats. And they did that all at the same time? Good for me.

    When ites to unique items and quest, everybody was out there to get you. Everybody wanted to gain strength, no matter the form, so it was only natural for someone like me to be a potential target for other yers. In the exact same sense Animalia over there could be a target for all animal lovers. And when you be a target, it¡¯s small wonder that people would want to collect information about you.

    The fighter with a huge sword lost all HP with that single blow¡­¡­ By that fact alone, I could see that this newly arrived yer was a frontline warrior, someone well-versed in avant-garde warfare. Someone to whom Pencilgton or Animalia couldn¡¯t evenpare. Probably a power type that boosted his attack damage to blow his opponents away with as few blows as possible.

    ¡¸Equipment¡­¡­ Full te armor¡­¡­ Large sword¡­¡­ Tower shield¡­¡­ Sh*t, with that kind of equipment it was really hard to guess if he used some magic to enhance it as well or not. For the time being let¡¯s just assume that magical enhancement was actually involved.

    And now the armored knight ignored Pencilgton and was walking straight towards me. Seeing that, three possible scenarios popped into my head.

    First one: just try and break through. If I manage to get away into the city¡¯s limits, good. If not, I¡¯m going to respawn in Rabbitz, so I¡¯ll be in the clear nheless.

    Second one: run in the opposite direction, back the way I came. It was risky and I had three high level yers waiting in my path, but because it would be so unexpected maybe I might be able to pull that off.

    Third one: tactical retreat. If I can¡¯t win, I might as well try to log out on the spot.

    ¡¸Nah, let¡¯s go with n four.¡¹

    Without any hesitation, I run towards the gate at full speed. I wonder, why are strong guys always so surprised to see weaklings charging straight at them? Weren¡¯t they doing exactly the same thing when they were starting out? Come on, at least some of them should know about that.

    Without stopping, I was rushing towards the three PKs that were left on the field. I didn¡¯t even have my weapons at the ready, so I wouldn¡¯t be able to attack them in any kind of way. What do you think, Emul? Will we manage to break through?

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    At the same time the armored knight rushed at the three assassins, leaving them in a state of overall panic.

    ¡¸Gyaaaaaah!? I¡¯m dying! I¡¯m fucking dying! I don¡¯t want to die! I don¡¯t wanna die!!!¡¹

    Then the other PKs finally assume the fighting stances, but before they could actually do anything, the armored knight swung his sword at them.

    Next, there was just a short ¡°What the fuck!?¡± and ¨C¨C

    ¡¸!?¡¹

    ¡¸Gyah!?¡¹

    While still running I turn and look behind. What I see is as if someone suddenly paused the game, or as if the PKs got so tremendous of ag that it crashed their games. They are being sent flying by the huge sword, but they let out their screams of pain only when their bodies hit the ground.

    The situation as a whole was pretty funny for the bystanders, but for those guys I am pretty sure it was anything but.

    ¡¸Emul, please prepare the gate.¡¹

    ¡¸W, what!?¡¹

    The distance that I managed to run through this short few seconds, because of my stamina I was able to sprint this whole time without stopping, which would normally be impossible for my normal body. Only now everyone¡¯s attention was beginning to be focused on me.

    The armored knight took a step in my direction. The second and third ones he withdrew his weapon and shield. And the forth one¡­¡­

    ¡¸Please, wait¡­¡­! Ngah!!¡¹

    ¡¸Sorry.¡¹

    With an avatar like that she would never make it in time.

    I did a perfect front flip and vaulted over the unconscious PKs, knowing full well that the armored knight wouldn¡¯t be able to pull off a stunt like that. It was an unnecessary show of my agility, and for a moment there I wasn¡¯t even sure if I was going to stick thending correctly, but fortunately enough I managed to do just that.

    ¡¸Haha! I knew it! Acrobatics without system assist are something else!¡¹

    ¡¸S, stop doing that, please! I¡¯m shaking too much and I cannot concentrate!¡¹

    Tall avatars were the best for these kinds of things. You could easily reproduce the things that athletes on TV did without any kind of problems.

    ¡¸Hey! You there! Stop! You (Note: VIOLATED THE LAW!!! ¡­ nah) cannot go into the city¡¯s limits without permission!¡¹

    ¡¸He? Ahh!¡¹

    I pass the checkpoint without stopping or even looking at the guard stationed there.

    ¡¸Saiga-0, huh? ¡­¡­ I¡¯ll be sure to remember that name.¡¹

    Seeing the name of the yer for a short moment I decided to remember that forter. As long as high level yers decide to go after the unique information that I possess, there was a possibility we might meet again. As for the PKs¡­¡­ Honestly, I can remember only Pencilgton¡¯s name.

    I then follow into Thirdrema without looking back.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    And the rest, was silence.

    Has something ever slightly simr ever happened to the ace of the ¡°Shwarz Wolves¡± guild, a yer that exceeds inbat at the front lines of the game? The answer to that question would have to be ¡°no¡±.

    (I, I was able to talk to him!)

    Right about now, Saiga-0 felt as though she had met her favorite Hollywood star. She couldn¡¯t stop grinning, and her armored body was trembling with so much joy that someone could actually mistake this for anger.

    While many people backed away from here, there were also those who were approaching Saiga-0.

    ¡¸H, hey¡­¡­ Are you serious? Isn¡¯t that ¡°Maximum Attack Thermal Holder¡±? That infamous PKer?¡¹

    ¡¸And isn¡¯t that Bibi? The one PKer that supports hispanions with an insane amount of buffs? Were they really brought down with one blow?¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s bring them to the city, shall we? Then we can score ourselves some reward from their heads from Bounty Hunters. There is also Pencilgton right there¡­¡­¡¹

    Thetest update introduced a special kind of NPC inside every town called a ¡°Bounty Hunter¡±. It was an NPC to which one could go if they witnessed the case of PK. They were NPCs that would mercilessly hunt down yer Killers with extreme tenacity, employing limitless stamina, high-end equipment and skills that far exceeded those of the yers. As a testament to their strength, some of the most prominent members of Ashura-Kai were brought to justice by Bounty Hunters. Their presence was creating a deterrent against PK cases inside of towns and made it be lessmon. Their AI was also supposed to be something out of this world.

    Bringing the members of Ashura-kai before Bounty Hunters would surely be a cause to celebrate, especially if they were able to bring Pencilgton before the face of the justice as well. However, no one even noticed that Pencilgton was in fact instantly killed by the suicide attack employed by Animalia on the brink of death.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    Someone might have noticed that Saiga-0 felt extremely pleased with herself. However, it was a huge understatement. In fact, Saiga-0 felt probably as ecstatic as the first man to ever set foot on the surface of the moon. Completely forgetting about the Ashura-kai PKs, she equipped her sword again and her thoughts began to drift towards Sanraku.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ This, how do I , say it¡­¡­ How is¡­¡­ even possible¡­¡­ Geh.¡¹

    Thus the members of the Ashura-kai were brought to justice by the hands of the Bounty Hunters and were never heard from again.

 Chapter 39: The First Group

    <h4>Chapter 39: The First Group</h4>

    We were currently in Rabbitz, a town in the country of Vorpal Bunnies, inside the rooms of the Bunny Court, home to the king Weissash. We arrived in this room via the teleportation gate that Emul created earlier.

    ¡¸Yes! We did it! We managed to escape! How about that, you stupid cavemen! Hahahahahaha!!!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m, I¡¯m so tired¡­¡­¡¹

    After the teleportation gate closes, Emul and I just fall onto the floor, totally exhausted. As we rest we sigh in relief. Emul used up almost all of his MP during that day and as for me¡­¡­ all of that sprinting couldn¡¯t possibly tire me physically, but mentally, I was a wreck.

    To be honest, it was a really dangerous situation out there. It was too close forfort. Knowing that there will be people out there to get me was not at all good for my heart. It also seemed like Pencilgton may have some hidden agenda towards me aside from my information regarding the unique quest, so it would be wise of me to seek refuge in Rabbitz for some time. It would be ideal if people forgot entirely about me and the talking Vorpal Bunny.

    ¡¸Ahh¡­¡­ But I must say, fighting other people is not so bad from time to time.¡¹

    Also, being able to defeat strong opponents and monsters was filling me with this sweet sense of aplishment.

    ¡¸The time is now¡­¡­ around noon, huh?¡¹

    Maybe now would be a good time to grab something to eat? I lie down on top of the bed, make a save and then I was about to log out.

    ¡¸I¡¯m going to get some sleep as well. Please wake me up, Weiss¡­¡­ Big Brother? Boss? Your Majesty? Which title would be the best here? Oh well¡­¡­ I¡¯m gonna give it my very best to train hard¡­¡­¡¹

    Emul alsoy down and fell asleep while mumbling something to himself, and then I also logged out as well.

    ¡¸Now then.¡¹

    While snacking on a jelly yogurt which was a perfect matchup of both hydration and nutrition, I read the email that I recently received.

    Subject: I¡¯ve done goofed

    From: Pencil Warrior

    To: Sanraku

    Body: Goodness gracious, they weren¡¯t exactly strong but they weren¡¯t weak as well. Oh well, congrrats on managing to escape an ambushid by high-level yers.

    It also seems that you managed to receive help from one of the strongest yers of ¡°Schwarz Wolves¡± who gave you a hand there, I would like to hear the story of how the two of you actually met.

    There¡¯s more that I would like to talk about, so let¡¯s call Katsu as well and meet up somewhere.

    Of course, Pencil Warrior was now known as Pencilgton. What could he possibly want to talk about and why would he assume that I would be willing to meet up?

    ¡¸Talking outside of Shanfro¡­¡­ Talk about suspicious¡­¡­¡¹

    While I was pondering in my head what was going on here, I received another email, but this time around it was from Modorokatsu.

    Subject: Hey

    From: Modorukatsu

    Destination: Sanraku

    Body: Pencil Warrior wants to meet up, but what would you like to do?

    I think it might be worth our while to listen to him because it sounds interesting, but if you want to ditch him that perfectly understandable.

    Personally, I was sure that nothing good will evere out of us three actually meeting. It was extremely suspicious, but I would be lying if I didn¡¯t say that I was curious as well. Oh well, if things start to go south, I can always ditch them without looking back.

    ¡¸For the time being, let¡¯s reply to Katsu¡­¡­¡¹

    As for Pencilgton, fuck this guy. Let¡¯s send him something confusing.

    ¡¸Morning.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, good morning!¡¹

    I logged in again and woke up on the bed in Rabbitz. Emul was already awake and I greeted him properly. Now that this nasty business with other yers has been put on hold, I think it was a good time to get back to my original purpose, which was exploring Rabbitz and the Bunny Kingdom as well.

    Now I could finally concentrate all of my efforts on clearing this unique quest. Following Emul, we strolled through the corridors of the Bunny Court in a rxed manner.

    ¡¸This ce here is the arena that me and the other Bunnies use for the purpose of practicalbat training. We call it, the Vorpal Colosseum!¡¹

    ¡¸Hoo¡­¡­¡¹

    We step into arge amphitheater and I look around. It looked exactly like the Colosseum in Rome, and in terms of size it was about thirty meters in diameter and it was a simple arena with no obstacles.

    ¡¸Fath¡­¡­ Ekhem! His Majesty told me that you can fight monsters in here to your heart¡¯s content, Sanraku-san.¡¹

    ¡¸So you want me to stack us some easy wins, huh? OK.¡¹

    ¡¸So, would you like to give it a go right here right now?¡¹

    ¡¸Sure thing.¡¹

    I knew it was a training type quest, but would it really be necessary for me to fight some monsters? Oh well, whateveres my way, I shall take it on! I was full of motivation and I was confident that I can do even better than I normally would.

    Hearing my response Emul smiled, but then added: ¡°Oh, but you can¡¯t actually use anything other than Vorpal Weaponry.¡± Okay, it¡¯s cool, even though it seemed to be a bit far-fetched¡­¡­ Oh well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to defeat a horde of monsters with one blow, so it might be good to memorize their patterns at first, you know, trial and error way¡­¡­

    ¡¸GARORORORO¡­¡­¡¹

    It was a beast with a jet ck fur which was triggering some unpleasant memories for me. Was it really a hound? Or maybe it was a wolf? It had some characteristics of both of them, and its stalking and unrelenting movements were giving the impression that there were a lot more of them out there.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ So is this the first one?¡¹

    ¡¸Yup.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Really? The first one¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Yup.¡¹

    Fumu¡­¡­

    ¡¸GAAAAAAOOOOOOGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!¡¹

    ¡¸GAOGH! GAOGH!¡¹

    ¡¸GURURURURAGH!!!¡¹

    There were jet ck hounds rushing towards me¡­¡­ about ten of them. If there was one thing that I could think of as my HP was being eradicated by those clearly group-battle oriented opponents, it was this:

    ¡¸At least it¡¯s the first battle. I¡¯ll learn their patterns after some time¡­¡­ Hopefully¡­¡­¡¹

    The first training session of the ¡°Invitation to the Bunny Country¡± unique side quest.

    The beast known as the ¡°Majestic Hound¡±, which usually overwhelms its prey withrge numbers to make up for its somewhatcking physical strength. Their average level is sixty five.

 Chapter 40: Plan Is Good, But the Executionâ€¦â€¦

    <h4>Chapter 40: n Is Good, But the Execution¡­¡­</h4>

    ¡¸Severeck of firepower, I daresay.¡¹

    Emul told me something like that while we were sitting in the amphitheater¡¯s waiting room after my sixth respawn.

    I had no idea that the very first training session would be so brutal. After a few tries I managed to figure out their attack patterns and I had a general strategy. The problem is, Icked the strength and HP to actually carry it out to the end.

    Anyways, it seems that my DPS is severelycking for me to hope to take on the doggies there¡­¡­ Majestic Hounds. Most probably they were one monster, but had separate HP bars for every smaller beast in the pack. In other words, it was just like a boss monster, with a separate HP bar for every phase.

    ¡¸I know the trick of taking them down, but if I don¡¯t shorten the time necessary to take them down, it won¡¯t do me any good.¡¹

    If I manage to get that problem out of the way, I can seed in defeating them.

    Even if I was able to constantly attack the Hounds with critical hits, hitting them so many times sure was bing a nuisance. However, since their numbers were so great, I also needed to maintain vignce at all times, which was mentally taxing as well.

    ¡¸Is that so?¡¹

    ¡¸For the time being I might focus on improving my skills a little bit, so let¡¯s go and earn some EXP for ourselves.¡¹

    ¡¸He?¡¹

    We ate a meal and then set out to earn some EXP. I mean, I was the only one who ate something while Emul waited for me, but still. Just you wait, little doggies! I will defeat you without fail one of these days¡­¡­ Probably.

    ¡¸There it is, level up.¡¹

    ¡¸Hey, wasn¡¯t that a really close call right about now!?¡¹

    In about five minutes I managed to level up and allocate my stats ordingly. During this quest, or more specifically inside this arena, there was no penalty for dying, so you could die over and over again while leveling up without having to worry too much about anything.

    However, even though I had that essory of mine, the other training monsters in this arena were surprisingly weak, and so the EXP they were giving me was also weak as well. Now that was a bummer.

    The points that I managed to amass went all into Stamina and Dexterity, about 5 points each. I left strength alone for now.

    ¡¸And two points left to use as I see fit, just in case of emergency¡­¡­¡¹

    Right about now my DPS should be increased by some amount, which means that I¡¯ll be able to decrease my time needed to kill the Hounds.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Right! That should do it! Watch me now, Emul! I am going to defeat that oversized puppy with ease now!¡¹

    ¡¸Wow, do your best out there!¡¹

    Even if you fail a couple of times while doing something, once you start telling people what you are about to do you will automatically feel better. I sh Emul a peace sign and step onto the arena again.

    ¡¸Watch me, world! This is for all of your victims up to this point! Your going down, doggo!¡¹

    I knew that those words wouldn¡¯t provoke the Hounds or achieve anything. It¡¯s just that¡­¡­ I wanted to give myself a slight boost in confidence.

    ¡¸I¡¯ll show you the results of my training!¡¹

    Thanks to my trial and error before I arrived at a certain conclusion.

    This monster is not all that hard as a singr unit. The problem was their numbers and that they like to attack in groups. But because it was only an AI, I was able to learn its patterns and see that there were only a handful of tactics it was employing.

    ¡¸You act tough, but let¡¯s see how will you do after I take yourmander out¡­¡­¡¹

    The key to oveing the adversity known as the Majestic Hounds was that themander was always hiding somewhere amidst the pack, but instead of barking and looking menacing it wasn¡¯t doing all that much.

    My assumption must have beenrgely correct because once I started going after themander, the other dogs rushed towards me with even greater ferocity than ever before. However, their movements were predictable and I was able to avoid them quite easily.

    As a result, the hounds that tried to jump at me only came crashing into one another, falling to the ground, stunned for a second or two.

    Thanks to my stats increasing, I was able tond even more critical hits and dish out way more damage with them. The process was still slow, but at the very least we were getting somewhere.

    ¡¸What¡¯s wrong? Can¡¯t think on your own when the one in charge is currently upied!?¡¹

    The sarcasm may have been a bit unnecessary right there, but at the very least it was making me feel better. And it was right on the money, for when themander finally fell down, the Hounds¡¯ formation broke down and picking them off one by one was easy. At least way easier than avoiding the attacks of a high-level yer would be.

    ¡¸Eat this! ORA~!!! (Note: Is that a¡­¡­!? Everyone else: Not everything is a Jojo reference!)¡¹

    As thest Hound explodes in a fountain of polygons, I let out a victory cry and I am filled with a huge sense of aplishment.

    Even though their strength was not so great, they still managed to put up quite a fight, since they were approximately forty levels above my own. Thanks to the AI for that victory, because if they were smarter about doing things, I would probably end up as dead meat yet again.

    At times like this I was pretty envious of those yers that dumped all of their stats into Strength and were hitting like a truck as a result.

    ¡¸Congrattions, Sanraku-san! Splendid work, indeed.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, yeah, right. You know, how about next time you throw a single monster at me, huh?¡¹

    While I was saying that, I could literally feel all of the tension wash away from my body.

    ¡¸You want another fight so soon? Right this way, please.¡¹

    ¡¸Hee? Wait, what the hell are you¡­¡­?¡¹

    Next in line was a bear¡­.. with lots of meaty limbs covering its body and tentacles sprouting from inside of its mouth. It was a Parasite Tentacle.

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t that model a little bit too much of an overkill!?¡¹

    I don¡¯t know what the hell is its main body, but you can be sure that this thing is going down as well!

 Chapter 41: Remnants of the Age of the Gods, Delusions of a Loser

    <h4>Chapter 41: Remnants of the Age of the Gods, Delusions of a Loser</h4>

    My second opponent, Parasite Tentacle.

    Although it looked like a bear, it was an amalgamation of tentacles focused together, and the tentacles moved independently of the bear. Also, if you cut them off they would just regenerate. Avoiding them was such a drag, as it was taking a whole lot of time. So far I attempted this challenge four times before eventuallypleting it.

    Third Battle, Goblin Berserker

    I could say something borate here, but this sentence sums it up nicely: it was just a really strong goblin. But even though it was strong, it was weaker than the Hounds and the Parasite. Two attempts and I was done with it.

    Fourth Battle, DynaBoar.

    It wasn¡¯t the fact that it was able to create an explosion once it hit you up front that was strange. What was strange was its stamina bar. I took my time to count, and strangely enough it was able to continuously charge at me for about twenty seconds or more without stopping, not even for a moment. I have never done rodeo before and if that¡¯s how it looks I don¡¯t want to do it ever either. One attempt.

    Fifth Battle, Toxic Eagle.

    You. FUCK. YOU. Like, seriously. FUCK YOU. Thirty two attempts.

    Sixth Battle, Armored Larva.

    Compared to the God damn eagle that just wouldn¡¯t stop attacking me from above where my attacks wouldn¡¯t reach and keep on afflicting me with poison, this battle was rtively easy. You just had to whack its armor really hard in the same ce until it eventually started to fall off. That, and you had to be focused at all times since its attacks were really painful if you let them connect. Altogether a really amusing fight. One attempt.

    For dinner I ate some salmon in tempura and rice.

    Seventh Battle, EX Cute Panther.

    Aside from being fast and strong, it wasn¡¯t that difficult of a fight. Once I realized that it liked to attack its opponent from behind, it was all smooth sailing from there. Didn¡¯t even break a sweat. One attempt.

    Eight Battle, Two-Headed Tiger.

    Neither good nor bad. Just strong. Two attempts.

    Ninth Battle, Beta Golem Unit S2.

    Assuming that its right arm is A and its left arm is B, there is little to no timeg or dy between continuous attacks using the same arm. However, once it was about to switch arms, its core would glow for just a moment or two. This was making it possible to predict its movements to some extent, but it wasn¡¯t making the fight any less difficult, since it could attack really fast contrary to its massive appearance and its attacks were really strong. Not to mention its over the top defense stats. But it was also possible to run up its body using its arms and whack the armor around its core, exposing itpletely after a while. The golem would then utilize a whole bunch of skills and spells to try to shake me off and regenerate its core, but it was really fun and really challenging, allowing with little room for error¡­¡­ Overall seven attempts.

    ¡¸Emul¡­¡­ Last one, what is it¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸P, please wait!? Do you seriously want to try it immediately!? Why don¡¯t you take a break first!?¡¹

    ¡¸No¡­¡­ It¡¯s alright¡­¡­ I feel like I can do it right now¡­¡­ I¡¯m pumped¡­¡­¡¹

    I call this state of mine ¡°Lost Time¡±. Even though my spirit may be exhausted from the constant fighting, my body was more than ready to go. It was simr to a stat when your consciousness was out, but the body still kept on going on. It was an especially handy concept inside games like that, where the term of fatigue was pretty much non-existent.

    All that fighting seemed to make me extremely tired, and once I finished thatst round I felt as though I could drop onto the ground at any moment, but as I said, my body was still capable of going on, so I just nod my head at Emul.

    In other words, unless thest monster of this course wasn¡¯t somethingpletely broken or over the top, I should probably be able to take it down.

    ¡¸Right, the tenth match¡­¡­ Oh? Why if it isn¡¯t His Majesty Himself!¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s this, already nine rounds over?¡¹

    Why do I feel like this line was some sort of an ominous g? His Majesty the King appeared before us while chewing on some carrots, like any ordinary bunny should. He seemed impressed that I managed to clear nine matches so far.

    ¡¸Umm, that¡¯s right Your Majesty¡­¡­ But thest monster is¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, so I came right in time for the fun stuff? Nice.¡¹

    He said something more to himself than to anyone in particr, which was slightly worrying, I¡¯ll admit.

    ¡¸The things we managed to capture¡­¡­ Well, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if you were unable to defeat them as you are now.¡¹

    ¡¸I think so too¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Right, so maybe we shall change the rules of thisst match a little bit? Cut you some ck?¡¹

    As he chewed on some more carrots, the King said to me:

    ¡¸Try to survive for five minutes.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­¡­ So you want to see if I can handle a battle of attrition as well¡­¡­¡¹

    Then it appears right in front of me.

    Its slightly elongated torso and four limbs were making it resemble a humanoid-type of monster to some extent.

    It was wearing rags that must have been a robe at some point in the past, its cracked and destroyed hands were holding onto a staff which had long since passed its days of glory, and on the creature¡¯s head there was something resembling a triangr hat. Only those things let me deduce that the creature must have been a human mage at some point in its life.

    ¡¸What the hell¡­¡­ Is this¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Loser¡¯s Woods¡­¡­ Some of those idiots thought they could survive by fusing themselves with the trees.¡¹

    Now that you say it, this creature¡¯s skin does look like it was made out of the dried tree bark. And its hair¡­¡­ wasn¡¯t actually hair, but overgrown roots¡­¡­

    ¡¸Now, boy, get yourself out there and show us¡­¡­ Show us what you¡¯re made of!¡¹

    Loser¡¯s Woods, lv. 120.

    At that time I had no idea that I was probably the first one on the server¡­¡­ First one in the entire world to ever encounter that monster.

 Chapter 42: Three Hundred Fantasies and Those who Pursue Them

    <h4>Chapter 42: Three Hundred Fantasies and Those who Pursue Them</h4>

    When ites to Loser¡¯s Woods, this thing was dangerous. And I¡¯m telling you this after duking it out with Night Prowler Luukan. This thing was really, seriously dangerous.

    Getting touched by the toxic vapors oozing out of its body would grant you an instant debuff. Its ¡°hair¡± roots had a nasty tendency of burying themselves underground and popping out from right under your feet (of course there was motion tracking involved). I¡¯ve heard many disturbing sounds during my career as a gamer, but its blood curdling howl was something that was bound to keep you awake at night. It wasn¡¯t good for your mental health. Anyways, instead of trying to attack it, I truly focused on staying alive during those five long minutes.

    Sh*t, avoiding this thing was hard enough as it is, but with my mental exhaustion slowly catching up to me it was a whole lot harder. And once I stop it will be over for me.

    I tried to sneak a strike or two on it in between my dodges and evades, but it was of no use. And it wasn¡¯t like with the Night Prowler, that my attacks kept on bouncing off of it. No, it was something different. They were connecting properly, but nothing was happening.

    ¡¸Is this thingpletely immune to physical attacks¡­¡­!?¡¹

    It would bepletely different if it was only because of the difference in stats. If I was indeed hitting it like a wet noodle, it would be possible to drag this out long enough to umte some good damage out there. But it wasn¡¯t like that. My attacks weren¡¯t doing any damage. And things would stay that way permanently, since I didn¡¯t know any kind of magic and nothing points to the fact that I will in the future.

    The bunnies must have known what was going on, hence the sudden change in condition of clearing the stage. So I resigned myself to doing just that, but that idea of mine was brought to a swift end about twenty secondster.

    ¡¸Hey, that¡¯s¡­¡­ dangerous¡­¡­!!¡¹

    The earth around my feet started to turn into a ck bog, and that rotten mass slowly started to erupt. For fuck¡¯s sake, yet another weird attack!?

    Loser¡­¡­For someone with such a name this thing surely has a whole lot of different attacks up its sleeve. And let me guess, each and every single one of those attacks are insta-kills, right? Do you have any idea just how annoying that is? Worse yet, none of its actions were repeating themselves, it was constantly pulling new moves.

    However, there was still a chance for me. It stays at the center of the arena at all times, not moving an inch. Its attack also must have a high recast time. This should at leave me with some window to catch my breath.

    So it should be okay as long as I don¡¯t get caught in that magical attack for five minutes¡­¡­

    (I don¡¯t really like running away, but I have no choice here¡­¡­)

    So for the next twenty seconds or so I focused solely on dodging whatever magical attack was sent my way, either be it a fireball or a mud ssh.

    Sh*t, I¡¯m starting to have a headache¡­¡­ I want to eat something sweet¡­¡­ Focus, my brain cells! Focus! Collect information, do your job properly¡­¡­!

    ¡¸How am I supposed to clear this game if I simply give up half-way there¡­¡­!?¡¹

    That would mean that this game was worse than even sh*tty games! Well, the hidden quests could be a little less hidden for my taste, but that¡¯s beside the point right now!

    Because of my hesitation, I felt something strange around my feet and I realized that I was caught in that strange mud. I felt as though I wanted to puke. Just then a thought crossed my mind: ¡°This is the way I die.¡±

    Instead of acting like a true hero of the game should, I acted in a really stupid manner. Yup, this is all on me. I felt so embarrassed that I wanted to scream.

    So what, does that mean that my mental state won¡¯t allow me to have any more fun with this game? Was there too much godgenium in my system and way too few sh*ttygenium? Was that it? ¡­¡­ It must be.

    ¡¸Come on, let me do it¡­¡­ Let me clear you!¡¹

    I¡¯m really tired.

    The question is, how do I avoid getting myself killed here? This monster ispletely immune to my attacks and will continue to overwhelm me with his magic, and eventually this gutter under my feet is going topletely swallow me up.

    I know that. Magic is something that is fairly easy to understand and was a nice thing to have in your build. However, my build based around agility was unable to give me anything that would help me deal with magic¡­¡­ Ahh, dangerous, dangerous.

    ¡¸Lightning, it should strike some half second after casting¡­¡­¡¹

    It was an attack that I have never seen before, but it would be worth my while to remember about it. Additionally, since it probably wasn¡¯t a homing attack, so it would give me a moment to recover my stamina.

    Next will be mud¡­¡­ Come at me!

    ¡¸I got this!?¡¹

    Remember, his attack patterns!

    First goes the fireball, then the earth trap, then the mud geyser, magic chains, lightning, smoke grenade¡­¡­ and physical attack at close range!

    Thinking about it calmly, the attack pattern and the elemental attributes of said attacks were more or less the same. Usually I would pick it up on that fact in an instant, but why I didn¡¯t do that now!? I really need some sugar! I need it badly!

    ¡¸A monster whose attacks grow stronger and stronger over time, whilst immune to physical attacks¡­¡­ No, that¡¯s not it.¡¹

    If this guy was proficient in killing physical fighters with magic, wouldn¡¯t that mean that he should also be weak to physical attacks¡­¡­ But it was certainly something else.

    Was this the developers assumption that every single yer who managed to reach that stage would be proficient in some sort of magic? Clearly that was not the issue here. They would give physical fighters at least some sort of a way to counterattack.

    ¡¸So, that would mean¡­¡­¡¹

    I could see it now. A path to victory.

 Chapter 43: Three Hundred Fantasies And Those Who Run Away From Them Are Actually Winning

    <h4>Chapter 43: Three Hundred Fantasies And Those Who Run Away From Them Are Actually Winning</h4>

    The monster increased the density of its attacks. However, by increasing the density of its attacks it still needed to be in sync with its previous attacks¡­¡­ That is, even on the next stage of battle, there would be somemon elements with the previous stage.

    ¡¸Number of hits¡­¡­ Plus 3! As for lighting, no change to the time it strikes!]

    It was like having a kind of safe zone around you, one that would allow you some breathing room, and enabled you to evade the ranged attacks without having to use evasive skills. Magic attacks were always being created in such a way that they would never ovep with one another.

    I even had some short time in between lightning strikes to stop for a moment and open my status screen, right before the next attack would strike¡­¡­ Their tracking was really urate but their hitbox was rtively small, so for someone like me it was quite easy to dodge them by either strafing or rolling to the sides.

    ¡¸Oi, you fucking mummy! I thought you were going to wipe the floor with me!? What¡¯s wrong!? Come and get me if you can!? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve run out of tricks to use!]

    Maybe provocation was a hidden parameter in this game? I had the same impression with my previous battles, but some of the monsters seemed to be susceptible to taunts and would often go out of their way to get me.

    So right now the monstrous wizard acts in a simr way, instead of magical attacks trying to melee hit me with its elongated torso.

    ¡¸Three¡­¡­ Two¡­¡­ One¡­¡­ Right there!]

    I did my best to try and match the timing perfectly. The moment its body was closest to me¡­¡­ and while it was being carried by its momentum, I used that opportunity to grab onto it.

    ¡¸Hahaha! Theory may be theory, but I didn¡¯t think I could actually pull that off! I¡¯m so scared of my own brain cells right now!]

    Regardless of whether or not you would receive damage from an attack like that, it could theoretically be possible to grab onto the enemy¡¯s body as long as it makes an attempt at attacking you physically.

    There was always a possibility that its body was actually some ether-like substance that I would be unable to grab a hold on to, but fortunately that was not the case here. So while I was taking a hold on to the wizard¡¯s body, I reached out towards its magical wand.

    Although I understood that magical attacks had a real kick to them, it was also true that they were only good from a distance, leaving the Magic Caster defenseless at close range. The only way for them to defend themselves then would be to use their wands and staffs to whack at their opponents. So what if I got rid of that staff?

    ¡¸Holding onto that thing is like a habit to you¡­¡­ So what will you do once it¡¯s gone, huh!?]

    ¡¸Ooooo, OOOOOOOooooooooo¡­¡­¡­!!!]

    Realizing my intentions, the wizard clenches both of its hands tightly around its staff, adamant on not letting me take it away from him. But it was hard for him to resist, since I was stepping all over its elongated neck, using it as an improvised foothold. Surprisingly enough, for a pure magician it was really strong and it was hard for me with my miserable strength stat to snatch it away from him.

    ¡¸Why do you think I was hoarding all of those points for!?]

    I open up the status window, choose skill points allocation and dump every single point that I had left into strength.

    It was a rather desperate move out of me, but at least the magician didn¡¯t manage to shake me off of himself and I was still trying to take his staff away from him.

    I was really hoping that this game was one of those cases where you could grab a hold of an enemy¡¯s weapon¡­¡­

    ¡¸Even though Weapon Steal is such an outdated idea!]

    Once, there was a survey conducted inside the ¡°United Rounds¡±. The survey question was simple: ¡°What function would you like to see being implemented into the game in the near future?¡± Number one pick of this survey was: ¡°Getting rid of the option to have your equipment being stolen from you¡±. But it was one of the main selling points of the game!

    And so I managed to snatch the staff away from the monster¡¯s hands, and then I tried to make a backflip andnd safely on the ground, but unfortunately the staff made me lose my bnce and I fell onto the ground¡­¡­ Ouch! The fall damage really hurts in this game!

    Anyways, while I was massaging my Benkei¡¯s crying spot, I noticed that after losing its staff the monster became enraged and started screaming really loudly. It then fell on all fours and reached its hand towards me, dead-set and taking away from me what was rightfully his.

    ¡¸Sorry, buddy, but you¡¯ll have to do a better job than that]

    When ites to my miserable MP, this thing was three¡­¡­ No, probably four times stronger than I am, but what about raw physical strength? If it wasn¡¯tpletely invulnerable to physical strength or transparent, victory will be mine.

    If it was indeed physically weak, it had no one else but itself to me for that. Sorry, buddy, but it¡¯s time for you to cry and give me some of those delicious tears of yours!

    A Unicorn without its horn bes nothing more than a simple horse. Pegasus without its wings is also a mere horse. So what was a magic caster without its ability to cast spells? I know it might be kicking someone who has already fallen, but its name was more than adequate here¡­¡­ it would be nothing but a mere loser.

    It still had some tribal skills up its sleeve, but they were really weak inparison to his previous magic, and once I witnessed them once or twice I was more than ready to dodge them when I saw theming my way.

    And since I was an agility and speed type of yer, I was the worst enemy possible for a mage that lost its magic and was forced to fight using nothing more than its physical strength.

    ¡¸Right, five minutes have passed.]

    ¡¸Oh yeah!]

    While I was busy with avoiding the attacks of the rampaging wizard, I heard the voice of Weissash somewhere behind my back. As if on some sort of cue, the wizard instantaneously split into two and erupted into a geyser of polygons.

    Behind the split Wizard¡¯s back, I could see a ridiculouslyrge sword¡­¡­ A sword? That¡¯s right. There was the figure of Weissash, who apparently swung some oversized bastard sword at the Wizard, effectively cutting it in half¡­¡­ The wizard¡¯s staff also disappeared. I didn¡¯t really get to use it, but it felt truly insane holding onto it.

    ¡¸It¡¯s a pity that you were relying on the sheer strength of your bare hands in the second half of the fight, but I do believe you showed me enough proof that you possess a true Vorpal Soul in you.]

    Again, what¡¯s the deal with this Vorpal Soul?

    I had a general idea, but I would really like to have at least some sort of exnation in text form. All this time Emul was going wild with joy around my feet, and I turned towards Weissash.

    ¡¸You truly are a sight to behold¡­¡­ In light of your achievements, I recognize you as the ¡°Rabbitz Honorary Citizen!¡±]

    ¡¸Hm? Eh, ah¡­¡­ Sure?]

    No, wait a moment what is this? Is this the quest reward? If so, I was really hoping to get something else instead!

    EXTRA SCENARIO: INVITATION TO THE BUNNY COUNTRY ¨C¨C QUEST CLEARED.

    RECEIVED THE TILE OF ¡°RABBITZ HONORARY CITIZEN¡±.

    ACCESSORY: ¡°VORPAL COLLAR¡± DISSAPPREARED.

    NPC ¡°MAGICAL BUNNY EMUL JOINED THE PARTY PERMAMENTLY.

    WOULD YOU LIKE TO START THE UNIQUE SCENARIO EX: ¡°EPIC OF THE VORPAL BUNNIES¡±?

    Wai, wait, wait, wait just a frigging moment!? What the hell is this avnche of information!? Oh, I¡¯m able to level up again¡­

 Chapter 44: Decieving For The First Time

    <h4>Chapter 44: Decieving For The First Time</h4>

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Sugar, caffeine, food.¡¹

    My head hurts, not enough nutrients, fridge, where the fuck is this god damn fridge¡­¡­

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Gah!¡¹

    Energy drinks! Vitamin shots! Sweet bread! There¡¯s nothing better than rubbish food first thing in the afternoon after opening your eyes!

    It was probably the same kind of relief like taking hangover medicine after getting totally smashed the night before. After all, Full Dive games are the games that use a whole lot of energy out of you, so if you don¡¯t take care of proper nutrition, it is but a given that your overall performance is going to suffer because of that.

    I fix a quick breakfast for myself while sipping on an energy drink. I put on some salmon kes on my rice, and then add a little bit of shichimi to my seaweed to mitigate the taste.

    ¡¸Ahh¡­¡­ I¡¯m beat.¡¹

    Mainly mentally. So this meal was more of a desire fulfilling action rather than the need for proper nutrition.

    I then have some tea and think over what to do now while returning to my room.

    ¡¸For the time being, I see that I am able to stay at Rabbitz even though the main scenario is over.¡¹

    It was only possible thanks to the title of ¡°Rabbitz Honorary Citizen¡±. But here¡¯s the real problem: there was actually not that many things to do here in Rabbitz.

    And because Rabbitz was outside of the normal map¡¯s scope, there was only this city to it, no outskirts, no ins no forests, nothing.

    Well, if you were into bunnies and animal therapy, you might want to stay here longer, but I wanted some quest or objective that I could focus on.

    ¡¸Oh, that¡¯s right¡­¡­ There was this other unique quest¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡°Epic of the Vorpal Bunnies¡±. It was another unique quest that was unlocked after clearing the ¡°Invitation to the Bunny Country.¡±

    There was an aura of intimidation to that quest. I failed to notice that up until now, but every single quest had something like a rmended level needed to clear it. Those unique scenarios incidentally had a rmended level of eighty or higher. From the looks of it, it might have also been rted to Weissash.

    I also confirmed that it wasn¡¯t mandatory to clear those quests right away, but I also guess it would be highly unwise for me to just ignore itpletely and forget about it for a long time.

    ¡¸A story about a bunny warrior, who¡¯s soul remembers the ancient times of the Gods.¡¹

    It was honestly a bunch of gibberish to me. Not to mention that quest that usually involved ¡°Gods¡± in any form in them were not meant for low level yers to begin with.

    Age of the Gods¡­¡­ Ah, right. There was supposed to be some kind of really advanced civilization here that somehow got destroyed, right? So you must view this quest from the whole world¡¯s perspective, then?

    ¡¸Now that¡¯s not making it easier¡­¡­¡¹

    I opened the game¡¯s website and clicked on the lore page to see if there could be any information there that I could use in my current position. But sadly what awaited me there was a waterfall of generic world-building that you see all over any other MMO out there. I got tired of reading it after twenty seconds or so.

    There even seemed to be a guild that specialized in collecting the lore of this game, and this alone was making for a tremendous amount of information to process. Finding something useful out of it would be a major drag, and wasn¡¯t exactly motivating in the slightest.

    ¡¸There¡¯s so much to this whole uniqueness that it might be actually not unique at all¡­¡­ I see¡­¡­¡¹

    Back to square one, I guess. In the first ce, my current situation was vastly unusual, since my original goal was to just kick back and enjoy the game at my own pace. And it¡¯s not that I was unused to being chased around by other yers, but right now it was on apletely different level than I was used to.

    ¡¸Should I just disclose anything that I know and just be done with it?¡¹

    That would certainly be the smartest way to go about it¡­¡­ I smiled a little bit at that though, but it was under no circumstances a pleasant smile. It was something that only I knew about. Even if they were to tie me up to a chair and interrogate and torture me, I wouldn¡¯t possibly disclose anything that I know about that quest. Besides, would anyone even believe me? That you needed to disy your Vorpal Soul to the Night Prowler Luukan?

    ¡¸Hmm~¡­¡­¡¹

    For now, let¡¯s just log in.

    I would like to go out of here and do some other things first, but there was always a possibility of me getting attacked by assassins.

    ¡¸So in other words, you want to hide your real appearance from your enemies, right, Sanraku-san?¡¹

    It was exactly like that.

    ¡¸Nh, nnnhhh¡­¡­ No, it is like that, but at the same time it is not like that¡­¡­ It¡¯s really hard to exin¡­¡­¡¹

    Maybe there was some sort of hidden way to hide yourself from your enemies? Like, an armor with such an effect or some item? If so, it would be the first time for me to actually use something like that.

    But even if it was exactly like that, there would be no way for me to actually use such items or armor. Not for as long as this wretched curse was still being put on my torso and legs. And I could only imagine that it would be something totally shy, so I would probably stand out even more than I wanted to.

    ¡¸If that¡¯s the case, I know just the ce that will hook us up! Please follow me!¡¹

    ¡¸Eh!? You have shops in here!?¡¹

    The ce that Emul brought me to wasn¡¯t in the actual town, but it was the Mausoleum. There, a single bunny stood.

    ¡¸Hoo? If it isn¡¯t Emul! What up?¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san! This is my younger brother, Pete!¡¹

    ¡¸Nice to meet you. So, are you the guy everyone talks about? The birdhead with a true Vorpal Soul?¡¹

    ¡¸He¡¯s not a birdhead. It¡¯s only a mask and he¡¯s just a normal human underneath it, you know?¡¹

    I then removed my mask from my face to confirm Emul¡¯s words. It was a good thing that this mask could be unequipped like any other headgear, but after wearing it for such a long time it was strange for me to take it off. It grew on me and felt like a second skin right now, I guess. Huh?

    ¡¸You lot¡­¡­ Why do you look so surprised?¡¹

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t that a given!? I thought it was permanently stuck there, and that you couldn¡¯t remove it because of some sort of deep andplicated circumstances!!¡¹

    ¡¸No, it¡¯s not like that¡­¡­ There are no such circumstances for me.¡¹

    It¡¯s not like it I have anything better for the moment when ites to stats, so what¡¯s the harm in keeping it? I mean, I had the opportunity to change it, but that other option sucked like really bad.

    Besides, the faces in the games weren¡¯t all that hot to begin with. They weren¡¯t ugly, but it was simply off-putting to look at your avatar and see the face that wasn¡¯t yours.

    ¡¸E, Ekhem! A, anyway, it is actually quite a fortunate thing that you can remove that mask, Sanraku-san! Now then, Pete, you still have that interesting item you told me about before?¡¹

    ¡¸That item? Ahh, you mean the cloak? It¡¯s really amazing, but for some reason no one wants to buy it. I wonder why? Maybe it is because its looks aren¡¯t all that appealing?¡¹

    Cloak?

 Chapter 45: Here Whatâ€™s Happened Thus Far

    <h4>Chapter 45: Here What¡¯s Happened Thus Far</h4>

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Say, Emul?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes?¡¹

    ¡¸That guy who gave us this item looked really shady to me for some reason. You sure that he¡¯s going to be alright if you leave him alone?¡¹

    ¡¸H, He¡¯s going to be fine! Probably. More importantly, we should now be able to leave the town without any problems!¡¹

    It was now around two in the morning, the time where most people would be asleep. I wanted to believe that there would be less yers logged in than usual.

    Thanks to the ¡°rtive discount¡± Emul managed to get me, I was able to purchase some items and sell most of the materials that I managed to umte for a fairly high price. Now there was also this cloak item. I was able to hide my curse marks thanks to it, but its design was somewhat imposing and it would definitely make me stand out to some extent. However, not as much if I were to run around town in my usual attire.

    ¡¸Are you really sure about the areas ahead of us? That there are three of them?¡¹

    ¡¸Yup. One of them is the ¡°Crimson Trees Cave¡± that leads to the next town ¨C¨C Fourthfosier. Then we have the ¡°Crater Lake of Cmity¡± and the ¡°Ruins from the Age of the Gods¡± which ultimately lead towards Sixtia¡­¡­ I rmend us going to the Crater Lake first.¡¹

    The ¡°Crimson Tree Cave¡± was in fact a whole system of caves with trees and leaves spreading all across the ceiling like a literal sea, with the ground being covered with colorful flowers.

    The Crater Lake was an area where water started to gather inside of the volcano that went inactive after itsst eruption many years ago.

    The Ruins From the Age of the Gods were as indicated, the ruins from the era of the Gods, which used to be a huge fortress flying in the sky, not buried in the ground.

    ¡¸Listen up, Sanraku-san, when faced with branching paths it is imperative to know where to go first¡­¡­ It may be difficult to grasp at first, and it may require some thinking, but it can surely be done. The best course of action.¡¹

    ¡¸Y, yeah¡­¡­¡¹

    Thinking about it logically, what would be the most inessible area for us right now? Without a shred of doubt, that would be the ancient ruins.

    This game was ny percent fantasy setting, but the remaining ten percent inserted the elements that were strictly from the sci-fi domain. For example, while the yers were using melee weapons and magic for the most part, there were some monsters that were using modern looking firearms. Doesn¡¯t make any sense? Maybe, but¡­¡­

    This was exactly the factor that was making this game so appealing in the first ce, making it possible for both new yers and veterans to enjoy it to the fullest whilst still enjoying some degree of challenge.

    And since I¡¯m not stupid, for now I should avoid the areas that have both tough yers or monsters in them. But if there is truly a sci-fi element to this game, I would like to see it for myself¡­¡­ Yeah!

    ¡¸That is why we should go to one of the other ces first¡­¡­ But there¡¯s really no saying if they won¡¯t be equally as dangerous.¡¹

    ¡¸R, risky¡­¡­¡¹

    Yes, both of the remaining areas should have their own advantages and disadvantages. First of all, they are the so-called ¡°dungeon areas¡±. Those were the areas with lots of branching paths, dead ends and hidden rooms. Normally it would be perfect for me, but right now it was not like that.

    In my opinion, the dungeon areas were the ce where one could witness the true value of the game.

    Leveling up? Material collection? Dungeons had it all, while they were also putting the yers¡¯ skills to the test, forcing them to work especially hard to earn their keep. That is also why it was viable to visit dungeons many times over, not only go there once to clear everything out.

    But contrary to open exploration zones, you¡¯d have to memorize the routes inside the dungeons, as well as know where the ces with the best item drop rates are. Not everyone was able to do that.

    In that regard, I suppose that the vast majority of new yers would choose the caves instead of the crater.

    The caves filled with trees? And with flower fields all over the ground? And a dungeon at that? The ce had it all to attract people to it, if not for the items then at least for the visuals. ¡­¡­ That is the most probable reason.

    ¡¸And there¡¯s also the carnivorous nts¡­¡­ Sexy Dynamite, it is called. It is especially beautiful and attracts the ever unsuspecting target towards itself only to devour them secondster¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸S,,,,, Sexy Dynamite¡­¡­?¡¹

    So Crater Lake it is, then? No, it¡¯s not as simple as that.

    If the caves were a dungeon area, then Crater Lake must have been an open exploration zone, right? But how does that even fare to the overall concept of the game, where the whole game world was one huge open world? In that sense, that it was probably a huge-ass map.

    Dungeons usually have a predetermined path that leads from its starting point to the end goal, but exploration zones have no such thing.

    Strictly speaking, there was no ¡°optimal route¡± in the exploration zones, since basically ever possible route could turn out to be the correct one.

    There was that urge in me to go and try out the dungeon, but at the same time there was also this lurking sense of danger in my mind and the rm sirens that kept on screaming that I probably should avoid doing that for now. I was torn about deciding what I should do.

    The strength of the open-world map was definitely its freedom. You could dash straight towards the goal or you could choose to sidetrack from the main path and enjoy some side activities. The terrain was also not limiting your movements in any kind of way.

    Or maybe instead of going to the Crater Lake I should try to aim for the next city?

    No, I wasn¡¯t doing any Time Attacks right now, so there was no need for me to rush over to the next city right off the bat. Maybe somewhere in the future I will dare to try it, but that time wasn¡¯t right now.

    I want to enjoy this game at my own leisure, and speed was not necessary to do that. The reason why I left Rabbitz was not because I wanted to dash to the next city, but because I wanted to have fun while ying the game.

    Therefore going to the Crater was an optimal solution, which should be beneficial for my leveling up and the fact that the inactive volcano should attract way fewer yers than the other zones.

    ¡¸I was never a technician who could force himself to do something as tedious as mountain climbing, not knowing if the climb was going to merit me in a sure and guaranteed way!¡¹

    ¡¸T, technician?¡¹

    Yes, based on all the information that I had at my disposal right now, the preferable way of doing things should be obvious by now.

    ¡¸We¡¯re going to the Crimson Leaves Caves!¡¹

    ¡¸I knew it! Sanraku-san is way too smart to be jumping straight into the fangs of the Sexy Dynamites! ¡­¡­ Come again?¡¹

    ¡¸Huh?¡¹

    I think that this disguise made me change my mentality ever so slightly.

 Chapter 46: Being On Your Way, Egyptian Style

    <h4>Chapter 46: Being On Your Way, Egyptian Style</h4>

    After checking the map, we confirm the fastest route to the Crimson Tree Caves and set out towards them.

    The fastest route leads through the Thirdrema¡¯s main road, but we had to avoid it in order to not to run into anyone who would like to say hi to us by stabbing us in the heart.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s go through here and take this back alley¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸We might even want to pass through here on the way. It¡¯s going to be a shortcut!¡¹

    ¡¸Hm, I see¡­¡­ Right.¡¹

    After deciding on our preferable route, we set out without dy.

    ¡¸He¡¯s not here¡­¡­¡¹

    Saiga-0 let out a heavy sight while sitting in a yer-run restaurant, feeling down.

    When ites to Thirdrema, it was a city in which various yers with ¡°Chef¡± profession werepeting against one another in order to create the ¡°dishes inside of the game that taste as good as their real world counterparts¡±.

    Amongst the various stores, this one was Saiga-0¡¯s favorite. It was serving the dishes that were created from the ingredients that could be found in the nearby Crimson Trees Cave. As for her favorite dish, it was the ¡°Caesar¡¯s Sd with Glowing Moss and Nitro Tomatoes.¡± And because it tasted so unbelievably good, Saiga-0 developed a passion for sd even in real life.

    ¡¸I knew that there would be a lot of people here, but it is really crowded.¡¹

    The reason why she came here in the first ce was because she felt frustrated and needed a change of pace.

    So, what was it that she could do for things to change? The answer that Saiga-0 came up with was the ¡°change of mindset¡±.

    (In other ways, I must change the ways I do certain things.)

    That was the theory. But when it came to putting the theory into practice, Saiga-0 had a huge problem withing up with anything¡­¡­ Then she raised her head.

    ¡¸Yes?¡¹

    Right before her eyes, there was this thing with only eyebrows and eyes on its face, with the whole of its body being covered by something that looked like a long white cloak¡­¡­ It was flying in the air while having a difficult time with keeping its bnce.

    ¡¸Umm, this is, that Egyptian one¡­¡­¡¹

    Maybe it was some kind of divine providence, but at that moment something seemed to have clicked inside of Saiga-0¡¯s mind.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Ha!¡¹

    At that moment, Saiga-0¡¯s mind managed to connect the disjointed words at the speed of light.

    Bare feet, markings, cloak, mystery, the one she was looking for¡­¡­ That person¡¯s nametag was far away and the nametag was really small, but Saiga-0 was sure that it was in fact four sybles long. She couldn¡¯t be one hundred percent certain, but Saiga-0 was sure that this hooded person was in fact Sanraku.

    It was a sudden realization and opportunity. But opportunity was only worth so much unless you choose to take action on it. Her favorite sd was yet to arrive at her table, but Saiga-0 didn¡¯t care. She stood up and started running towards that person who was doing his best to conceal his presence.

    ¡¸C, could you stop wriggling around there so suddenly!?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh my, I¡¯m sorry, but it¡¯s really hard to be hiding inside here like that! Not to mention that it¡¯s also embarrassing!¡¹

    This item¡¯s name was ¡°Medjed¡¯s Cloak (Note: Is that you, Nitocris!?).

    No matter how you look at it, this item looked exactly like the pictures on the Egyptian murals that you could see in books or on the Inte. Right now, I looked like the henchmen of some Old God or a boss monster.

    This was technically a headpiece, but it was so long that it reached all the way down to my knees, so I was able to effectively cover up almost the entirety of my body with this item alone. However, this item was also rendered it impossible to use your hands and skills, which madebat with monsters impossible to conduct. Hence, the trash item. Also, its design was somewhat embarrassing to use in the city like that.

    Dressed like that, I was jumping from roof to roof, dashing through the back alleys, and sometimes even sprinting through the main street.

    Although it was awfully conspicuous, thanks to that I was hoping to be able to conceal my real identity as Sanraku, at least to some extent. And even if someone is to figure out my identity, I would be long gone before anyone would be able to act on it. In my mind, it was the perfect strategy.

    ¡¸But why are we making such an awfully long of a detour!?¡¹

    ¡¸Faint! Faint, my dear friend!¡¹

    We keep on running, sometimes using wooden boxes or walls as stepping stones that would allow us to get onto the higher ground more easily.

    But currently we were running towards the Ancient Ruins, not the Crimson Trees Cave. However, our destination remainedrgely the same. It was only a diversion that we would use to try to confuse anyone who was thinking about tailing us. We were going to get back on course at thest possible moment.

    ¡¸Listen up, Emul. If you want to trick and lie to people effectively, telling straight up lies will do you no good. You need to learn how to mix truth with lies in such proportions that they will start to seem genuine to your targets.¡¹

    This is Pencilgton and his goons we are talking about here. Simple tricks and small deceptions wouldn¡¯t work on them. If we wanted to evade them, we needed to put in some genuine effort in this.

    With everyone thinking we were going towards the Ancient Ruins, we should get enough breathing room to be able to visit the Caves without being disturbed by anyone. I was really hoping it would work out just like that.

    ¡¸Now then, let¡¯s give them one hell of a show!¡¹

    ¡¸Kyaaaah!? I get it! I get it already, so please stop with the somersaults! I beg of you!!!¡¹

 Chapter 47: Revealing the Truth With Utmost Scrutiny Is the Knightâ€™s Duty

    <h4>Chapter 47: Revealing the Truth With Utmost Scrutiny Is the Knight¡¯s Duty</h4>

    The information about Sanraku spread like wildfire throughout Thirdrema, circting from yer to yer in real time, which caused people to be on the lookout for him.

    ¡¸Uwah, there he is!¡¹

    ¡¸No, he¡¯s here! Wha!? He disappeared!?¡¹

    ¡¸What is this, a rare monster or what!?¡¹

    One moment he was rushing through the gap in between the houses, only to pop out on top of the roof the very next moment. And if someone tried to chase him on the roofs, he would appear right in the middle of the main street.

    The hood he was wearing was making chasing him down extraplicated, so even if someone would realize that he was indeed Sanraku, they wouldn¡¯t be able to chase him before he already managed to get away.

    ¡¸Where did he go!?¡¹

    ¡¸This isn¡¯t what the information dealer told us! Wasn¡¯t he supposed to be half naked or something!?¡¹

    ¡¸Hey! Check behind the cksmith¡¯s shop!¡¹

    ¡¸What the fuck is going on¡­¡­!? Is he heading towards the ancient ruins after all¡­¡­!?¡¹

    After Pencilgton released the information about Sanraku, the number of people willing to PK in Thirdrema rose dramatically, while everyone was on the lookout for him. Currently, even more people were converging at the Ancient Ruins, since that was supposed to be the ce where Sanraku was headed.

    Meanwhile, Saiga-0 was running tirelessly. She was running after the hooded individual while ignoring all the buzz that was surrounding her.

    (I keep on chasing him but I can¡¯t catch up¡­¡­!)

    Again, she wasn¡¯t certain about this, but she had a hunch. A hunch that the hooded individual was in fact Sanraku. She¡¯s been on the lookout for him for the past two days. However, she wasn¡¯t doing that because her guild told her to do so¡­¡­ She was chasing him of her own free will.

    Saiga-0 had no idea what Sanraku¡¯s next move would be, but she was doing her best to try and think the way he would.

    (The road from Thirdrema branches off in three general directions. Now, which one will you choose?)

    But since she was unable toe up with anything, she decided that thinking about it too much would just be a waste of her time. So instead, she decided to take that thirty percent chance, go to one location at random and wait for him there.

    And since she used to travel these roads very often in the past, her legs started to carry her all on their own.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Why would you be in the open like that?¡¹

    After a while, he appeared right in front of Saiga-0, who was waiting just outside of the city¡¯s northwest gate, the road of which was leading into the Crimson Trees Cave.

    While resuming her chase, Saiga-0 started to thank every God and deity that possibly existed in this world, thanking them for their guidance.

    I waspletely surprised and astonished at the same time. Who would have thought that the route switching strategy would prove to be that much of a sess?

    After causing some disturbance throughout the city while running in the long cloak I unequipped it and put on my usual item set, heading straight towards the gate that would lead me into the Crimson Trees Cave.

    Right now I was so full of myself and the fact that I have outyed the whole city that I actually forgot about any secrecy and caution.

    So why is this yer here¡­¡­? Did she managed to see right through my deception?

    One thing was painfully obvious here: this fully armored yer called Saiga-0 was a whole lot better than me. The fact that she saw right through me was enough proof for me.

    (We¡¯re in seriously deep sh*t now!? What do we do!?)

    There is no way I have a chance against her in openbat. I could feel my head pounding and my heart beating like crazy. Was that perhaps how a cornered animal would feel the moment before being devoured by a carnivorous predator?

    It is true that I used her to get away from Pencilgton previously, so maybe I should apologize for that¡­¡­ No, scratch that. She might even demand the disclosure of the information of the unique quest as a form ofpensation.

    ¡¸S, S, S, Sanraku-san!? W, w, w, whatever shall we do now!?¡¹

    ¡¸You ask me that, but¡­¡­ There¡¯s no way the same trick will work here again. We have no other option but to fall back for now¡­¡­¡¹

    With our current levels and items there was no way for us to win should a real battle ensue. But following the teachings of Modorokatsu, I try to narrow down the possible options we had in front of us.

    That being said, there weren¡¯t all that much of them. The fact that Saiga-0 was not only better than me item-based but also yer-based, certainly wasn¡¯t helping our current predicament.

    I had three choices before me right now: surrender, escape, or total annihtion. Or maybe I should kill myself before she does it to me? That way I would return to Thirdrema and I wouldn¡¯t be forced to disclose any information about the unique quest that I know.

    ¡¸!!!???¡¹

    The hand of the armored knight moves.

    I could feel Emul¡¯s hair standing straight while he was clinging to my back. Seeing that Saiga-0 was a high level yer, we should probably expect anything to happen right about now.

    I keep my weapons drawn and at the ready. I was ever so vignt towards even the smallest sign of hostilitying from her. At that moment Saiga0¡¯s hand stops. But it wasn¡¯t as to pause. It was because shepleted what she wanted to do.

    YOU HAVE RECEIVED A FRIEND REQUEST FROM SAIGA-0-SAN.

    ¡¸Pleash, coulsh you beshome mai friend!?¡¹

    ¡­¡­ There was a whole lot of typos in that sentence, but let¡¯s overlook that for now.

 Chapter 48: So there Are People Out There That Consider A Straight Passage to Be a Dungeon.

    <h4>Chapter 48: So there Are People Out There That Consider A Straight Passage to Be a Dungeon.</h4>

    I feel like we¡¯ve been here before. Have we been here before? ¡­¡­ Ah, that¡¯s right.

    There was this game that was called ¡°The Universe Storm¡±. It was advertised as the ¡°survivalpetition with aliens in the vast expanses of the Universe¡±. It was full of space colonies, inter-ster travels and aliens that would evaporate your sanity the moment youy your eyes on them¡­¡­ They one day attacked the Earth and it was your duty to stop the invasion, since you were the only one capable of stopping them with your unique arsenal of weapons. It was full of slimy monsters and monsters with tentacles, and it was Modorokatsu that rmended it to me.

    It was a game with the apocalyptic setting, which campaign ended in an event where the people of the Earth eradicated the aliens by delivering a coordinated nuclear strike upon them. I was a spaceship pilot in that game.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Huh!?¡¹

    Ah, what the hell am I doing!? I know the sensation that I was feeling now was somewhat simr to that time where I yed ¡°The Universe Storm¡±, but this was ShangriLa Frontier, and what¡¯s more I needed to take care of something truly iprehensible at the moment.

    Returning my thoughts back to my current situation, I yet again focused on the arm of Saiga-0.

    When ites to the friends system, it is something that is implemented in most games these days. Some people treated it as proof of bing friends with other yers. Others treated it as a measuring device for their own status. And in this game you could show your friend list to anyone.

    Usually you would give priority to people from your friend list when forming parties, but there were also other applications which were a whole lot more useful than that. Just what was Saiga-0¡¯s intentions here?

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I don¡¯t get it.¡¹

    Was this person trying to appeal to me in some way? No, like that it would almost certainly feel like split personalities.

    Was it some attempt at trying to be all buddy-buddy with me first so that I disclose the information on my own some timeter? If so, wouldn¡¯t it be faster to just put a weapon to my throat and threaten me with it?

    It was really scary that she was going to such lengths with me. I don¡¯t know what she was ying at, but I wasn¡¯t going to y by her rules! It would take a whole lot more than but a simple friend request to make me disclose my information! I¡¯ve been doing this for a long time, so I have some experience with dealing with people! I need to stand up!

    For now, I chose to ept the friend request in order to try to get to know Saiga-0 a little bit better. But it wasn¡¯t a sign of surrender. The opposite, actually. It was a challenge. Proof that I wasn¡¯t going to be broken so easily.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    There was this awkward silence between us. It was the same kind of silence that would fall between two Western gunmen right before their duel would start. But in this situation we had no one who would announce the start of the duel. The first one to speak would not necessarily be the victor. How was I going to handle Saiga-0, who was clearly better than me in every single aspect possible?

    Damn it, this whole situation was bad for my mental health. It felt exactly the same as that situation with Pencilgton from before, but this time around I couldn¡¯t think of any solution and I was just staying in one ce. This won¡¯t do. I must do something. Even if it would be on the count to three, anything at all!

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Umm.¡¹

    ¡¸!!!¡¹

    She made the first move! No, this doesn¡¯t mean anything! The ball was now in my court, but I could still do it. Bring it on! Saiga-0!!!

    ¡¸If you¡¯d like¡­¡­ I could, possibly¡­¡­ Help you out? If you don¡¯t mind?¡¹

    My brain just stopped for a moment out there. Or would it be more fitting to say that it was stuck processing what I just heard?

    Maybe I was overthinking this whole situation way too much? Maybe it was really easy of a situation from a third party¡¯s viewpoint? For a moment out there an idea like that crossed my mind, but I quickly rebuke it, thinking to myself that it is too early to jump to conclusions.

    ¡¸Ah! It wouldn¡¯t feel right for me to beat the game with the help of someone who is way higher than me when ites to levels! Thank you very much, but I must politely refuse¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸I, I see¡­¡­ This, wouldn¡¯t feel like conquering the game, right?¡¹

    ¡¸No, it¡¯s not like that¡­¡­¡¹

    Silence again. But this time it felt slightly different. It was awkward, but that kind of awkward when you y a dating sim and you go for a confession with the heroine of your liking, but end up getting rejected because your love meter wasn¡¯t high enough to trigger a positive g.

    ¡¸Ah, this is, I know, I would only be an obstacle to your ystyle¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, no, no¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorry for jumping the gun with a proposition like that so suddenly¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸No, no, this isn¡¯t¡­¡­¡¹

    Suddenly, there was a whole lot of hustle and bustle behind my back. Was that the yers that came here to look for me? Talk about bad timing¡­¡­

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Ah, umm, the thing that you do, please do your¡­¡­ best. Umm, maybe we might cooperate sometimes in the future?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? Ahh, yeah¡­¡­ Sure, why not?¡¹

    Surprisingly enough, Saiga-0 retreated from the gate. I didn¡¯t know what kind of roundabout game she was ying, but maybe her good intentions were truly genuine.

    Anyways, it seems that she had no intentions of stopping me here. I still couldn¡¯t be sure what her real intentions were, but for now my utmost priority was to get out of Thirdrema as soon as possible.

    ¡­¡­ Speaking of which, judging from her voice, was Saiga-0 a woman? Men pretending to be women were aplenty in video games, but women pretending to be men were something of a rarity¡­¡­ No, they were a true endangered species. I was sure that she was a man judging from the tone of her voice and her manner of speaking¡­¡­ And there was also her avatar, that looked pretty masculine, but I guess that there are various kinds of yers in this world, women and men alike.

    I jumped in ce a time or two and then dashed through the gate leading out of Thirdrema.

    A fighting game where people would be dismembered and explode. A social-heavy MMO where you could re-skill your skill points upon every single log-in. A farming simtor where all of your crops and livestock could be blown away by huge monsters or natural catastrophes¡­¡­ I have yed a lot of games that I thought would gain his interest.

    At the same time as she acquired ShangriLa Frontier the shop clerk rmended to her that before starting with this she should probably start with something simpler to learn all about the concepts of VR gaming. Once she was ready to start she came for advice from her older sister, who at the time was a hardcore yer herself, even achieving a very high rank in the ranks of the guild ¡°Shwarz Wolves¡±. Thus, with a little bit of help, Saiga-0 was born.

    Then she decided to y something different for a change of pace, but all this time she was longing for the moment she would return to ShangriLa Frontier atst.

    And the days of herbor has finally bore fruits once the four sybles appeared at the top of her friends list, spelling out ¡°SANRAKU¡±.

    ¡¸Nnnnnnnnnnnn¡­¡­ OH FUCK THE HELL YES!!!¡¹

    After a while, there was a certain rumor circting around Thirdrema¡­¡­ The yers would state that the heavily armored knight was looming the streets looking awfully happy for some reason.

 Chapter 49: Sea of Trees Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 49: Sea of Trees Part 1</h4>

    For now, I managed to achieve the most crucial target on my to-do list.

    There was this ident of encountering the yer Saiga-0 who managed to read me like an open book, but I¡¯m d that ended up in a peaceful way.

    ¡¸Fumya, that yer seemed to be crazy strong.¡¹

    ¡¸I wonder how strong she really is? ¡­¡­ Four times? Five times stronger than me?¡¹

    ¡¸But none can hope to defeat your Vorpal Soul, Sanraku-san!¡¹

    ¡¸Thanks, I guess.¡¹

    Although I had no problems with talking to people, that short exchange we had there, calling that a conversation was a little bit too much in my book, I felt strangely tired for some reason.

    ¡¸Not even the Night Prowler was so tiring, I must say¡­¡­ Well, doesn¡¯t really matter right now.¡¹

    Interacting with the yers was not bad in and of itself, but for now I wanted to focus on exploration and monster fighting. With that particr mindset I set foot in this new area, ready to take on the challenges it might throw at me.

    Now, while Thirdrema was full of tension because of me, the Crimson Trees Cave was surprisingly peaceful and tranquil.

    ¡¸Repairing my equipment and buying items has cost me a lot of money, so let¡¯s find something that we can sell for a nice price.¡¹

    Money acquisition would be my number one priority right now, since the amount I have left after all the shopping was an astounding hundred mani. So right now I was so poor that I couldn¡¯t even afford medicinal herbs even if I wanted to. And while gathering seemed boring and repetitive, maybe something fun and exciting was going to happen along the way? Who knows.

    But I must also watch out for my inventory space. If that gets filled too much, my Agility is going to suffer because of that.

    Once we went through a small tunnel, a truly fantastical sight greeted us. It was as if the whole cave was brightly lit up.

    Ahh, what a sight it was! The whole cave was filled with small gemstones that were shining brightly on its walls like shooting stars in the night sky. Except that these gemstones were in fact not really gemstones, but somethingpletely different.

    ¡¸Wah, this cave is so brightly lit!¡¹

    ¡¸Glittering moss¡­¡­ I believe?¡¹

    Just as the name would suggest, the whole floor of the cave was covered in a thick nket of flowers and grass, which were emanating many colors and filled the nostrils with sweet scents. And the trees that were somehow growing inside this cave were so tall, reaching all the way up towards the ceiling of the cave¡­¡­ A true roof of leaves. All of that illuminated with glittering moss, creating a sight that you would be unable to witness in real life. I¡¯ve heard of a moss that was capable of reflecting the sunlight, but this moss here was producing light all on its own. By the way, was the moss acting in this game like it did in real life? It might prove useful if I ever wanted to decide the direction while being in a hurry.

    ¡¸Now then, let¡¯s get this party started¡­¡­ Oh.¡¹

    After looking closely, I could already see a monster right in front of me.

    It was a¡­¡­ sphere with butterfly¡¯s wings attached to it? No, looking closely, it was a ball the size of a basketball filled with some kind of golden liquid inside.

    ¡¸I see¡­¡­ So we are going to target its stomach¡­¡­¡¹

    It was a fairly logical conclusion from the viewpoint of item drops. I take out my trusty daggers and charge right at the monster.

    At that moment the butterfly notices me¡­¡­ For convenience¡¯s sake let¡¯s just call it a balloon butterfly. It noticed my charge and it started to get away really quick, despite having its belly filled with that golden liquid¡­¡­ But it was still too slow.

    As I overtake the butterfly it loses it bnce and almost falls to the ground. I thrust my dagger right in the middle of its belly, and even though it wasn¡¯t a critical hit, the butterfly explodes into the geyser of red polygons while the ball falls down. I manage to catch it before it strikes the ground.

    ¡¸Hmm, you think this is a rare drop or something?¡¹

    ¡¸Hoo, let me hold it! Please let me hold it!¡¹

    It was a little bit thicker than your standard water balloon. I checked the item description in the menu while carefully watching over Emul, who¡¯s beenpletely engrossed in ying with the sphere. I was afraid that he might pop the sphere if he wasn¡¯t careful enough.

    ¡¤ Storage Bag of Honey Butterfly

    A storage bag of the Honey Butterfly, filled with nectar. The nectar obtained from this storage bag is of the highest quality and it is very hard to obtain.

    Eat it or throw it at someone, there is no bad answer here!

    ¡¸You can actually throw this thing¡­¡­?¡¹

    Now I was really curious and wanted to test it out.

    I can collect a couple more of them and then sacrifice one to throw it at someone just to see what happens.

    ¡¸Right, let¡¯s go further in.¡¹

    Butterflies weren¡¯t the only monsters that you could collect the nectar from. You could also collect them from the flowers around the cave. And when ites to honey, there were also monsters in here that were morepatible with honey than the butterflies.

    ¡¸I knew it, there are also bee-type monsters in here.¡¹

    ¡¸Awawa, those are the workers of the Empire Bees¡­¡­!¡¹

    Oh, did you say the workers of the Empire Bees? Compared to the rtively cartoonish butterfly from earlier, the design of this monster was rather hellish and would certainly cause some people to have a heart attack.

    Just like the butterfly, it was also collecting nectar¡­¡­ No, was that pollen as well?

    ¡¸I see¡­¡­ so its stingers should be the rare drop, right?¡¹

    For the time being, should we hunt them down and see what else we can get out of them?

    Then I started to hack, to sh, to poke and to crush¡­¡­ You know, business as usual.

 Chapter 49: Sea of Trees Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 49: Sea of Trees Part 2</h4>

    At that moment the Worker Bee pointed its stinger up and shot something from inside it into the sky. There was an explosion like that of fireworks, and then it changes into a cloud of golden dust that scatters around through the air. ¡­¡­ Was that pollen? Doesn¡¯t really matter.

    I do believe I have seen something like that somewhere before¡­¡­ It was oddly simr to the signal res that you could use in the various military games¡­¡­ Illumination bullet¡­¡­

    ¡¸Kyaah! A group of Warrior Bees! Oh my God, we are all going to dieeeeee!!!¡¹

    Wasn¡¯t that like, a really bad g?

    ¡¸They are even more aggressive than the Workers! Not even hos can match them when ites to aggression!¡¹

    As we can clearly see here, various types of bees from the real world were also present in this game as well.

    The Workers manage to get away, but in their ce came the Warrior Bees. Very hostile bees¡­¡­ They looked more like wasps and we all know that wasps are really nasty sons of¡­¡­ They buzzed with so much anger that it was really scary.

    ¡¸Five of them¡­¡­ No, if they can call for reinforcements, we must assume that there can always be more of them¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san! I will help you fight as well, alright!? Rather, if it¡¯s in self defense I have no other choice!¡¹

    ¡¸Right. For starters, only deal with the ones thate directly at you. Should the need arise, I will give you new instructions.¡¹

    ¡¸R, Right!¡¹

    ¡¸Now, let¡¯s get down to business.¡¹

    sh! Although I had to depend on Emul again when ites to battle,pared to the training missions I underwent before this shouldn¡¯t be all that hard¡­¡­ At least I was hoping that, since I have ovee much more powerful adversaries.

    They weren¡¯t as tough as the Hounds, but contrary to them they would continue to go after us even though their mander¡± would be gone¡­¡­ Six of theming after me and two after Emul.

    ¡¸Shaa!¡¹

    Bee #1 came with its stinger right at me, while Bee #2 tried to simply ram me with its body. I suspected those weren¡¯t skills of any kind, just their regr attacks.

    Bees #3 and #4 were still rtively far from me, so for the moment I decided to take care of the Bees that were closest to me. I drew my des and shed at them while intercepting their attacks. I also activated my eleration to make faster work of them.

    I started with the back row of enemies first, and now it was time to take care of the front. I strike a few times at the bees and used some skills to make faster work of them.

    ¡¸If you wanted to surprise us with your attacks you should have been more sneaky about it! I could hear youing all the way from over there!¡¹

    It¡¯s not like I possessed echo-sonar or something like that, but because the sound of the bees¡¯ wings was so loud, I was able to tell their general location purely based on the sound they were emitting.

    I started to rotate around, shing at the bees without stopping, helping myself with some skills and continue to do that for as long as I had the stamina to keep doing it. I managed tond some good hits on the bees, even striking a few critical hits onto Bee #6.

    ¡¸Fuh!¡¹

    By doing that I could even interrupt other skills at will. While Bee #6 exploded into a geyser of polygons, I catch a short break to regenerate my stamina. Right after that I check the position of those enemies that still remained.

    #1 was behind me, #2 was to my left and #3 and #4 were now paying attention to Emul exclusively. It looks as though Emul was good at focusing aggro on himself, since his level was higher than mine. But since the Bees could call for reinforcements, their strength was in their numbers, not their individual strength. As for #5¡­¡­

    ¡¸Right then¡­¡­¡¹

    I sh at it a few times and then #5 bes nothing more but a polygon geyser. I didn¡¯t even have to waste that much stamina on it.

    Since their attack patterns were rather straightforward I use that asion to lightly attack #1 and #2 to restore some of my stamina¡­¡­ Yeah, the effect of eleration couldst a little bit longer.

    ¡¸Okay, so how about this!?¡¹

    I focus my attention on Bee #2 first. I unload a myriad of attacks onto it as it tries toe at me from the side. I¡¯m not sure about the rmended level of monsters in this area, but if I had to guess I¡¯d say that level 5 sounds about right.

    Running through scattered polygons of #2 I sh away at #1. Alternating shes and kicks I manage to turn the Bee #1 into red polygons in no time at all.

    ¡¸Sorry to keep you waiting.¡¹

    elerator was about to go on cooldown, but I used itsst remaining seconds to close the distance between me and the remaining monsters. With only them left on the field, I started to get rid of Bee #3 and Bee #4.

    They both focus their attention on me and try to attack me at the same time! Heh, if you want to hit me, at least try to incorporate faints and dodges into your attacks! If you just blindly rush at me you will only end up getting yourselves stabbed! Not to mention that I will just avoid you and you¡¯ll end up with nothing!

    I technically could use skills to avoid their attacks, but right now there was no need for me to do so. I avoided them all on my own and then I shed at them with some quickbosing from the bottom all the way up.

    ¡¸Haha! Bingo!¡¹

    Yes! Yes! Be afraid! You have every reason to be! Realizing that there was nothing they could possibly do to harm me and avoid getting damaged themselves, the Bees seemed to have almostpletely given up. I strike at their bellies mercilessly, scoring critical hit after critical hit. Right now, it was hard for me not tond them with ease.

    ¡¸End of recast time!¡¹

    Under the barrage of my attacks, Bee #4 goes down quickly. At that moment Bee #3 used that opportunity tond but a single sessful attack on me, using the death of its brethren as a diversion.

    ¡¸And just where did that came from¡­¡­?¡¹

    Mumbling that to myself, I whack it with my dagger. And even though I did that, I felt a whole lot of pity for that Bee. It honestly did its best to try to kill me, and if only its stats were bigger, it might have seeded at that. But nothing woulde from pitying a mindless mob.

    With that thought in my mind, I finally put thest Bee out of its misery and end the fight.

    ¡¸Fuah, I¡¯m beat.¡¹

    ¡¸No more! I don¡¯t want to do this ever again!¡¹

    Hey, please don¡¯t say that now¡­¡­ No, no, no! Somehow, Emul¡¯s gloom was affecting me as well!?

    Even though I was thinking about such crap, together with Emul we still continued to fight the monsters and picking up the items they dropped.

 Chapter 50: Fighting Techniques and Escaping Techniques Learned From the Past OO Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 50: Fighting Techniques and Escaping Techniques Learned From the Past OO Part 1</h4>

    ¡¤ Empire Bee¡¯s Pollen Hair

    Soft hair growing on the bodies of Worker Bees used to collect pollen and nectar.

    It is mostly used in everyday life, with almost nobat application whatsoever.

    ¡¤ Empire Bee¡¯s Warrior Hunting Stinger

    The stinger of the Empire Bee Warrior whose main job is to fight the enemies of the Hive.

    Because it is not coated in poison, the only thing the Warrior can do is to repeatedly stab its enemies to death.

    ¡¤ Empire Bee¡¯s Warrior Jaw

    Jaw of the Empire Bee Warrior, whose main job is to fight the enemies of the Hive.

    These jaws are not meant for shing through flesh but rather to crush the hard armors and husks of its enemies.

    ¡¸Insects are kind of amazing, don¡¯t you think? With the way in which murderous intent let them evolve into predators like that?¡¹

    Compared to other animals out there they are rtively weak, so it¡¯s small wonder that nature gave them the gift of specialization at specific tasks during the course of the evolution rather than overall versatility.

    Thinking about it, Warrior Bees are sure to die while protecting the Hive, so they had to have something that would allow them to carry out their duty and make their deaths count.

    I mean, they may have been weak, but their true strength lies in their numbers¡­¡­ and the items they have dropped are also pretty neat, so there¡¯s that.

    ¡¸Sanraku-san, please look there. There¡¯s some more text.¡¹

    ¡¸If you want to prey on the true predator, you need to be an even greater predator in order to seed.¡¹

    We could also see that some bees were being eaten by the flowers from which they were trying to collect the pollen¡­¡­ No, let¡¯s correct that. That wasn¡¯t exactly a flower, and I have seen both its name and pictures in some of my school textbooks.

    ¡¸Preying Mantis¡­¡­ Although you wouldn¡¯t be able to tell at first nce.¡¹

    ¡¸The flowers! They camouge themselves as flowers!¡¹

    Emul¡¯s words were not just a mere exaggeration here. I was honestly impressed. If it wasn¡¯t for those bees that just got eaten by it, I would probably never have realized what was going on before it was toote. It was almost like a chameleon¡¯s ability to blend in with its environment, but this mantis was doing that even better. This isn¡¯t good, we might not be able to proceed as smoothly as I had initially nned¡­¡­

    ¡¸For the time being, let us try to hunt it down.¡¹

    We might understand more about this ce and its inhabitants if we study the descriptions of the items that could be found here. Thinking like that I took out a throwing knife from my inventory that I bought at the store earlier¡­¡­ I threw it at the ce where the Mantis was hiding, utilizing a technique that I learned during my struggles with the Toxic Eagle.

    The knife connects and there was the damage indicator, which must mean that weapons tend to ignore the ability to mimic the surroundings. ¡­¡­ Hmm?

    ¡¸I see¡­¡­ so the optimal course of action is to just hit it until it dies instead of going for some fancy strategy.¡¹

    ¡¸This is a really big bug, I tell you¨C¨C¨C¨C!!!¡¹

    Its shell was apparently as tough as the toughest armor and it had four horns growing out of its head, making it look like a crown of sorts. Although it was an insect as well, it was on apletely different level from the Bees.

    ¡¸Now we have abination of stag beetle and Kabuto beetle¡­¡­ Yup, as you¡¯d expect from a fantasy setting.¡¹

    Everything in its movements was saying that it was at the apex of all beetles out here. The cream of the crop. The ultimate beetle of sorts.

    ¡¸Fumu, how about we haul ass for now?¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, aaahhh!? Huh? We¡¯re running away!? I was sure that you were going to suggest that we fight this thing!¡¹

    ¡¸Okay, so do you want to fight it?¡¹

    ¡¸Absolutely not! I¡¯m all for hauling ass and running away!¡¹

    No, truth to be told, I wanted to fight this thing, but after carefully considering our options here, I decided not to do that. We had way too many disadvantages here to be able to take this thing on¡­¡­ Yes, if we were to fight it right now, it would most certainly result in our deaths.

    First of all, we stand out like sore thumbs. Second of all, after themotion we caused at Thirdrema the whole city¡¯s worth of yers were onto us, and it was only a matter of time before they are going toe here in search of us. So time, of all things wasn¡¯t on our side. Looking at the mantis, I had a feeling that it would take us more than five minutes to defeat it, and if we were to take on that beetle as well then God knows for how long we would be stuck in here. It was highly probable that some of the yers would be able to find us by then.

    A whole different matter was the fact that it wouldn¡¯t be that much of a problem if it was only a ground battle. But both the mantis and the beetle had wings on them, so it wasn¡¯t all that improbable that they were able to fly, which would surely give them a tremendous advantage. Not to mention that evasive maneuvers would be such a drag to pull off here. There were simply too many things indicating that this battle should be avoided at all costs. I had my throwing knives on me, so it could shoot them off the sky, but their number was currently very limited.

    ¡¸And that is why we are retreating for now¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Hyaah!!!¡¹

 Chapter 50: Fighting Techniques and Escaping Techniques Learned From the Past OO Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 50: Fighting Techniques and Escaping Techniques Learned From the Past OO Part 2</h4>

    Uwah, the intervals in between the attacks of this beetle were unexpectedly short. If I won¡¯t manage to maintain my stamina bar properly, I might not be able to dodge it.

    Having no other choice I started to run away, while the beetle was busy with stomping all over the dropped items that were stillying on the floor, turning them into clouds of polygons as the beetle ran over them. It made a U-turn to charge at me again, but I was no longer even there.

    ¡¸Where the fuck are you aiming at, you moron!?¡¹

    ¡¸Stop provoking him, you idiot!!!¡¹

    Ooups. Talk about a bad habit.

    It¡¯s not that I hate this ce. It was really fun and amusing in its own right, full of obstacles to ovee and things that would slow down our pursuers.

    I used an opportunity to jump onto a tree that was rtively small and got onto the high ground to avoid getting myself rammed into.

    I thought that the tree would be my shield. That this obstacle would prove itself to be too much for the monster and that it would eventually lose interest and go away. Boy, just how wrong I was. I clearly underestimated the tenacity of the monsters, and that their definition of ¡°obstacle¡± was different from us yers.

    ¡¸Oi, oi, looks like this dude doesn¡¯t care about where we are! He must really want to do us in!!¡¹

    You could hear a really disturbing cracking sounding down from below us. Looking down and behind us, the beetle was still charging at us while knocking down any trees that were in the nearby vicinity. ¡­¡­ Incidentally, it seems as though it didn¡¯t suffer any damage.

    Now that I think about it, there were many fallen trees scattered throughout this area¡­¡­ Was the culprit you, little beetle?

    ¡¸What are we going to do!?¡¹

    ¡¸Shut up! Let me think about it for a second!¡¹

    The beetle was running straight towards us, crushing every single flower that stood in his way. ¡®Why is it following us so persistently? It wasn¡¯t the first time ever that we tried to taunt a monster, but it was the first time ever it was so sessful. ¡­¡­ It was certainly strange, but we must have triggered some kind of hidden conditions without even realizing it.

    ¡¸What was it that we did aftering here¡­.. Ooups.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m falling! Oh my God, I am going to fall down! I don¡¯t want to die!¡¹

    While we were running even further into the caves, I realized that some of the trees had those strange fruits growing from their branches. It was something like a pine cone, or more like an armored apple? Whatever it was, I picked a few of them and ced them in my inventory, with the intention of reading their descriptionter on.

    ¡¸Butterflies, bees, collecting¡­¡­ Insect-type, mantis, stag beetle and¡­¡­ nectar? No, but this area is way too¡­¡­¡¹

    Whates to my mind is the storage bag that the butterfly from earlier dropped. Since the monsters in this area were all busy collecting it, maybe it was a sort of staple food for monsters in the area?

    Now, what would be the most efficient way of acquiring nectar for monsters that weren¡¯t bees and butterflies, monsters that were generally unable to collect it themselves?

    ¡¸I¡¯m suddenly getting shback from the United Rounds!¡¹

    It was suddenly starting to make an awful lot of sense. Since it wasn¡¯t able to harass the butterflies or bees for it, it was aiming to devour the nectar sack that was currently resting inside of my inventory. If you want to loot others, go do that in the frigging United Rounds!

    ¡¸Hmm? Ahh, throw it¡­¡­ Throwing item¡­¡­ Others¡­¡­¡¹

    So, does that mean I could use that nectar sack to distract the beetle from me and remove the aggro it was currently showing towards us!? Well, might as well¡­¡­

    ¡¸I¡¯m going to do it! I¡¯m going to throw this thing at it!¡¹

    ¡¸Why would you do such a thing!?¡¹

    ¡¸Emul, please remember that¡­¡­ If it sounds stupid but it works, than it ain¡¯t stupid! Anything to avoid having to taste the bitterness of utter defeat!¡¹

    Haah, it was such a drag that apparently Emul wasn¡¯t able to understand the glory of this quote. Really it was far better to forsake one item and walk free than having to be defeated and robbed of your entire possessions. Rx, bunny. This is just a stupid game.

    That stag beetle seemed to be a real handful, and the fact that it was able to sense the rare items in my possession was even bigger of a drag. ¡­¡­ Or rather, it was really frustrating.

    ¡¸You say that, but we must put some distance in between us first¡­¡­!¡¹

    Don¡¯t worry, I already had a n for taking care of that. Instead of letting it do as it pleased with us, who are weaker than it, let¡¯s get it to have a go at someone its own size!

    That is why I was letting it chase us further this whole time. Now, little beetle¡­¡­ Let¡¯s see how you fare against someone stronger than you!

    When you speak of both colonies of bees and ants, there are some simrities between the two, like how they form societies divided into roles, with queen at the very top. In both east and west, the figure of Queen Bee or Ant Queen is something that gets eagerly depicted in various forms of entertainment. Games are especially potent ground for that motif, especially where the bees mobs appear.

    Beetles wererger and more ferocious than bees, so when some of them saw the beetle charging in their direction, they began to hurry up and ran away. In that regard, it was almost the same as if the beetle was covered in ¡°certain¡± curse makings.

    Right now I was following a lonely Empire Bee Worker that was running away back towards its hive. It was a natural reaction for the bees to have, but since it was just a game, the bee had no way of knowing that it was being tailed. After a while, it managed to bring us to its hive.

    ¡¸I can see it, I can see it¡­¡­ It was such a chore dragging you here!¡¹

    It was certainly one huge beehive¡­¡­ While looking at this huge hexagonal structure, I used all of my remaining stamina to overtake the bee. Right before me, there were different kinds of bees, maybe Guardians or Keepers or whatever. Anyways, it looks like they were programmed to fight anybody who would dare to try and get close to their Hive.

    ¡¸Oh, you don¡¯t need to worry about me, guys! Ie in peace¡­¡­ Yeah right!¡¹

    I then keep on running at full speed, but instead of going forward I suddenly slide to the right. It was a maneuver meant not to evade, but rather to make way. In the next moment the stag beetle smashed right into the Hive, where there was more honey and nectar than he could possibly imagine or eat in his lifetime.

    ¡¸Hahaha! Look at that, Emul! Just look! This little sh*t is digging right into it as if it was a multi-course gourmet dinner or something!¡¹

    It was already toote for the beetle to do anything about it. The deed was done. It tried to slow down at thest possible moment and change its direction, but the momentum and speed did all the work, sending it right into the hive at full force.

    And just as you would expect, the bees attacked the intruder all at once, making a short work of him. I would like to say here that it was a battle of giant monsters, but it was more of a battle of insects rather than anything else.

    We watch this monstrous spectacle while hiding in the shade behind the trees. If I had topare it to anything, it was like ying an RTS game with a strategy of charging yourmander right in the middle of the enemy¡¯s territory, only to find out that it was full of units that were way stronger than you are at the current moment¡­¡­ It was oddly satisfying but also kind of sad to watch¡­¡­

    ¡¸We, we did it! It really worked! We managed to sessfully lure him into the hive and dispose of it! Now let¡¯s just run away before someone notices us and¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Say, Emul, this¡­¡­¡¹

    I pointed towards the ground right beneath the hive, which was literally ridden with items, both normal and rare. Could this be that every time a bee died inside of this hive its dropped items would just fall out into the open like that? If I could see my face right now, it would certain be something like: ¡°Are you fucking kidding me right now?¡± Talk about a loophole in the system.

    There was no sign of other yers nearby. The beetle must have epted its death for it quit struggling, and the bees were currently busy finishing it off. ¡­¡­ How about some quick scavenging, my friend?

 Chapter 51: Effective Use of Oneâ€™s Resources Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 51: Effective Use of One¡¯s Resources Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Ooh, this bee over there seems to be quite strong.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Ah, that¡¯s because it is the Queen Bee of the Empire Bees.¡¹

    ¡¸Wouldn¡¯t that mean that she should have generals and ministers serving under her or something like that?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Umm, are we really sure we want to do this?¡¹

    It might be going a little overboard, I admit¡­¡­ No, but there was nothing wrong with me wanting to try just a little bit harder, right? Especially with all of those items right in front of me. Yeah.

    ¡¸Depending on how the situation develops, there are three ways in which we can approach this.¡¹

    First one, the one that I originally wanted to go through: Operation Hyena. The fact that the Bees managed to take down the beetle leaving so many items behind was simply way too good to pass up.

    We were going to try to pick up as many items as we possibly could, using the fact that the bees would probably be exhausted after the beetle fight and would be unable to retaliate as swiftly as usual.

    The second one was called ¡°Finishing Off the Victor¡±.

    If by some miracle the stag beetle managed to emerge victorious, we would try to sneak up on him and finish him off, taking whatever items we could while we were at it. But we would obviously prioritize the hive items, since they were probably rarer and more valuable than those that would fall from the beetle.

    The third strategy was fairly simple. It was called ¡°Last Man Standing¡±.

    It was just an assumption that they would kill each other off and leave only us left standing on the battlefield.

    ¡¸That is why I would like them to do their very best to try and kill each other off as swiftly as possible.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, how delightfully devilish of you¡­¡­!¡¹

    No, I wouldn¡¯t go so far as to call myself a devil¡­¡­ A demon, or a cruel angel, yes. But never a God or Devil.

    ¡¸Right, let¡¯s go and get this party started, shall we? Come on, you insects, step on it over there!¡¹

    In order to do some solid damage to the beetle, it was necessary to pry open it¡¯s armor and attack its delicate wings and back.

    The bees managed to do that and were now bombarding the beetle with a rain of their own stingers, however some of them were being crushed by the beetle¡¯s massive body just mming itself right into them.

    This almost seemed like a raid battle to me. A group of small beings tried their best to y a giant monstrosity like that. While their numbers were growing thin, the bees continued their assault on the beetle in hopes of taking it down.

    However, the beetle wouldn¡¯t go down that easily, at least not without putting up a fight first. It was quite a formidable foe, for it took so many stingers and it was still able to move and fight back. It was like a violent storm that would strike you with lightning at any moment.

    It was using its strong jaws and legs to crush the soldier bees and then make a bloody mess out of the generals at the back that were giving orders to them.

    ¡¸Ooh, won¡¯t you look at that, Emul. The Queen finally decided to move her ass and join the battle.¡¹

    ¡¸Hawah¡­¡­!¡¹

    Seeing their Queen in front of them, the bees started to regain theirposure when their frontline was about to copse after having the chain ofmand broken. The Warriors attack the beetle with even more tenacity than ever before while the other bees form a defensive line of sorts around the Queen.

    Then, the stag beetle began to glow while striking blow after blow to the bees. Was that light magical? Or maybe it was some sort of skill?

    ¡¸Now then, Emul. What do you think? To whom is the Goddess of Victory going to smile this time around?¡¹

    ¡¸S, say what!? Could you please exin this to me? I don¡¯t think I understand!¡¹

    You could have just said ¡°I don¡¯t know¡± or ¡°It¡¯s hard to say at this point in time¡±. That would have been enough.

    Both parties wanted to live, and in order to see that ambition granted they shed with one another, putting their lives and their survival on the line.

    And the conclusion of their battle is¡­¡­

    Its shell is broken and full of cracks. It¡¯s jaw fell off and its left eye was no more, having been pierced with a huge needle of the Queen Bee. But it ultimately managed to pierce her with its giant horns, killing her on the spot.

    The rest of the bees, having lost their ruler, scattered around and ran away, clearly indicating who the victor is.

    ¡¸Not exactly the n #3, but¡­¡­ I guess it¡¯s good enough.¡¹

    The body of the Queen Bee explodes into the myriad of polygons. The resulting explosion upon her death was way grander than that of other bees, since her body was appropriately bigger.

    ¡¸They didn¡¯t take safety measures into consideration and here¡¯s the result¡­¡­¡¹

    After the Queen Bee was gone, the stag beetle was still left standing, looking as though he was itching to fight even though it was clearly on death¡¯s door right now. What an incredible disy of tenacity that was. However, it would be that exact pride that would spell his doom.

    ¡¸Now¡¯s our chance, while it is distracted with honey.¡¹

    If it was a battle of diators in the arena, then the stag beetle would be titled a victor here and revered by the people. But it was not an arena battle. This was ¡°real life¡± where there was only one rule to be followed: survival of the fittest.

    There was no greater foolishness tomit than choosing to continue to fight knowing full well that you are wounded and weak. There was no shame in running away, not if it was going to mean that you were going to survive.

    ¡¸Now then, give me that sweet EXP and items and be proud of yourself.¡¹

    The Queen did a good job weakening the beetle down. Thanks to that fight I was also able to grasp a good idea about the beetle¡¯s move set, as well as the fact it was fairly weak to physical attacks.

    Well¡­¡­ That about wraps it up.

    ¡¤ Stag Beetle

    A beetle that doesn¡¯t back away from the fight. Very stubborn and rich in materials used for creating both weapons and armor.

    They fight from the day they are born into this world, so the especially old ones are especially powerful and tenacious.

    ¡¤ Stag Beetle¡¯s Jaw

    The jaw of Stag Beetle that it used to crush its food and opponents alike. They are so sharp and powerful that no human can hope to survive meeting with them.

    There¡¯s no shame in running away from such jaws.

    ¡¤ Stag Beetle¡¯s Heavy Shell

    A heavy shell that makes the Stag Beetle so incredibly tanky. Nothing besides the Stag Beetle can handle its weight and hardness.

    Armor made out of this shell is a symbol of the will to not back down from any hardship.

    ¡¤ Stag Beetle¡¯s Scale Fan

    A strong scale that covers the body of a Stag Beetle. The secret behind its hardness is that many smaller scales create a single ¡°scale¡± like that.

    On the battlefield the only way is to go forward. Going forward with scales like that guarantees victory without fail.

    ¡¸Hey, it looks like we managed to get our hands on some quality items right there.¡¹

    ¡¸Mumumu¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know why, but I¡¯m feeling a bit weird¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸No need to feel that way, Emul. You see, that beetle¡­¡­ It had a choice. It could have choosen to escape. I wanted to face it sometimeter, but¡­¡­ He chose to stay and fight to the bitter end. We need to respect that.¡¹

    ¡¸What about the Empire Bees, then?¡¹

 Chapter 51: Effective Use of Oneâ€™s Resources Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 51: Effective Use of One¡¯s Resources Part 2</h4>

    I looked away while whistling merrily. Coteral damage, nothing but coteral damage.

    ¡¸You know, the strong will eat, the weak are meat and all that, right?¡¹

    ¡¸When you put it like that it is hard not to agree, but¡­¡­¡¹

    Somehow, I can feel an incredible heaviness in my chest. I look into my inventory¡­¡­ Geh! Over-encumbered! Looking at Emul¡¯s inventory he was over-encumbered as well! It only goes to show just how many items we managed to gather from the hive. We also managed to earn some hefty amount of EXP, but it was sadly still not enough to Level Up. Before challenging the area boss, I would like to raise my level some more.

    ¡¸Speaking of which, are you absolutely sure that there is a boss in this area?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, that¡¯s right. They are called Crown Spiders and they have a nasty habit ofing down on their threads and ambushing you when you least expect them to.¡¹

    Hmm¡­¡­ So they must be very mobile and possess various skills and special attacks that allow them to fully utilize their unique characteristics. I¡¯ve had experience with monsters like that, so it shouldn¡¯t be too hard of a battle.

    But then, suddenly we heard some really weird sound, like clicking or something like that¡­¡­ What the fuck was that!?

    For now we were okay, but right now we were sitting atop of a tree, looking down towards the ground.

    ¡¸There were no other yers here besides us¡­¡­ Small wonder we were able to hear them all the way from there.¡¹

    ¡¸Fighter, Fighter and Fighter¡­¡­ This party has some major issues with bnce, let me tell you.¡¹

    ¡¸Shouldn¡¯t they at least have a medic in their party?¡¹

    It was a rule well known to every single yer out there, especially in games where you could still move to some extent after being put into ¡°dying¡± status: medics were an indispensable part of every party out there. Their ability to heal and revive was simply too good to pass up.

    And although a party like that had its advantages, mainly because of their sheer firepower and balls-to-the-wall kind of strategy, at least one magic caster couldn¡¯t hurt to bnce things out. It is something you learn the hard way while ying sh*tty games.

    Anyways, we were hiding because we wanted to observe these guys attempting to fight the boss. There were all Fighters, but their equipment looked rather high-level and so were they, so their ability to deal damage must have been quite good whenpared to someone like me.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I¡¯m starting to feel envious of people who can wear normal clothes like that.¡¹

    ¡¸You know, Sanraku-san, that¡¯s not something that you should feel envious of¡­¡­¡¹

    It¡¯s a normal thing, I know¡­¡­ Normal thing, hehe. Shame that a newbie like me couldn¡¯t actually make any use of that option right now.

    There was this gigantic tree in the distance, and the party of Fighters entered it with caution. We jumped off the tree we were hiding in and followed them, munching on medicinal herbs to mitigate the damage we received during our fall.

    And while we can¡¯t enter the boss arena while the other party is challenging the boss, we could look inside and see everything that was happening in there. And while my excuse for that was that I wanted to gather some information, I really wanted to see just how other people are fighting in this game. I looked inside the boss arena, condoning what could easily be described as video game voyeurism.

    ¡¸Ooh, you were right, Emul. It is exactly like you said.¡¹

    Crown Spiders¡­¡­ They certainly looked shy as hell. Their arena was cylindrical in shape and was covered in spider webs on which they were moving around, jumping down from time to time and swinging on their own threads. Like that, they could even go to ces that I couldn¡¯t see all that well from over here.

    The three Fighters were stunned upon seeing that. They didn¡¯t have any means of long distancebat. Only one of them could apparently use magic, but as far as I could see the fireball he was shooting at the spiders were unable to even reach their targets.

    ¡¸Don¡¯t shoot at them while they are up! Wait for them toe down! Don¡¯t waste your magic!¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, this isn¡¯t good! This isn¡¯t good at all¡­¡­!!¡¹

    Ahh, what a sight to behold. I would like to have some popcorn to chew on and some juice to drink. And maybe a chair. Yeah, a chair would be nice as well.

    It seems that the Fighters managed to cool down a little bit and were now waiting for the spiders toe down and face them. Sadly, as Emul and I were about to witness, the spiders weren¡¯t exactly having that. Instead, they started to shoot their webs right at their opponents from above.

    The web hit the magic using Fighter, immobilizing him in ce as the web was surprisingly sticky and stic.

    ¡¸Wow, they can even do that, huh?¡¹

    The other two Fighters tried to help their friend, but when they were doing that, they suddenly looked up, screamed loudly and started to run away.

    In the next moment, the immobilized yer was crushed, as there was a huge loging from above. Oh, it looks like that yer died, being ttened to death.

    They had no way of escaping from there. The other two yers could only be chased by the spiders and be picked off one by one. Then both of them disappeared in the geyser of red polygons.

    It seems that one of them noticed me just before he died, but sadly there was nothing I could do to help them. I could only thank them for giving me so much valuable information. Rest in peace.

    ¡¸Right, thanks to that little disy, I have a rough idea of how this fight works.¡¹

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t that a little bit too fast!?¡¹

    There was no need to mourn them. They would soon enough respawn in Thirdrema, but thanks to them, I was able to grasp the general concept of their attack patterns.

    But before that, let¡¯s level up a bit.

 Chapter 52: Bird-Face VS the Spiders Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 52: Bird-Face VS the Spiders Part 1</h4>

    PN: Sanraku

    LV: 31

    JOB: Mercenary (Dual Wielding)

    Money: 200 Marni

    HP: 30

    MP: 10

    STM: 60

    STR: 17

    DEX: 20

    AGI: 70

    TEC: 20

    VIT: 1 (6)

    LUC: 72

    Skills

    ? Rush sh

    ? Spiral edge

    ? Knuckle Rush

    ? Slide move

    ? Repel counter

    ? Loop sh Lv.5

    ? Edge climb

    ? eleration Lv.6

    ? Fast Jump

    ? Quick spin

    Equipment:

    Right Hand: Vorpal Knife

    Left Hand: Vorpal Knife

    Head: Mask of the Bird¡¯s Eye (VIT + 2)

    Torso: Curse of Luukan

    Waist: Leather Belt (VIT + 4)

    Legs: Curse of Luukan

    essories: None

    The levels of my skills were improving but I still had a rather poor selection of them, but that doesn¡¯t matter for the moment. Recently I wasn¡¯t able to put any points in my Luck stat for various reasons, so I was excited to see how it would turn out after my current upgrades. With the total skill points of 17 (twelve obtained at Rabbitz and five of them here) appropriately allocated, my preparations were more or less done.

    ¡¸I wonder if we enter right now, will the boss recover its HP back to the fullest?¡¹

    Upon entering the Boss arena, the Clown Spiders greeted us with some intimidating motions while shaking their shy-colored bodies, which made them look exactly like clowns at the circus. It seems that they did actually made a full recovery, as there was no signs of fatigue or wounds on them.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Fumu, not that I didn¡¯t expect that.¡¹

    After all my previous boss fights and looking around this arena I was sure of it¡­¡­ The boss battles in this game were divided by phases. That Fighter trio must have realized it, and if not then welp, tough luck for them.

    Unloading at the Spiders right from the get go would trigger them to back away up into their nests above the arena and continue to attack from there, from a distance. Which is exactly why I didn¡¯t go all out on them from the get go.

    ¡¸Fighting inside a tree is sure going to be difficult.¡¹

    I could see something protruding from the tree¡¯s inner walls and climbing up in a spiral. A staircase of some sort. So this ce here, the ground, it was nothing but an entrance. So that means the real battleground¡­¡­ is located above.

    ¡¸Emul, you stay at the end¡­.. No, in the middle of the staircase, just in case. No need for you to attack the boss, just make sure you stay alive so that we don¡¯t lose all of the items we managed to get our hands on!¡¹

    ¡¸U, understood!¡¹

    I decided that this time around, Emul won¡¯t participate in the battle. It¡¯s not that I thought that he wouldn¡¯t be of help, it¡¯s just¡­¡­ I was always ying games solo, so let¡¯s say it! I wanted to challenge the game without the assistance of additional NPCs!

    When I arrived at the top of the staircase I stepped onto the tform at the upper parts of the tree, almostpletely covered in spider webs. Noticing me, the spiders started to approach me, traversing the webs with such swiftness that it was a wonder just how was it able to support the weight of their bodies. But they were moving somewhat slower than they did on the ground.

    ¡¸Maybe it would be possible to kite them into falling all the way towards the ground from over here?¡¹

    Since there was no other way for me to fight, I step onto the arena made out of thick spider webbing. Fortunately, there was no wind here or other elements that would threaten me to fall down, so that was reassuring at the very least.

    I poked the threads with the side of my daggers to see if it really was as resilient as people make it out to be. It wasn¡¯t breaking, so that¡¯s good to know. Now, I only need to ne careful to not step onto the sticky parts of the webbings, which were the horizontal running threads, and I should be good¡­¡­ Just then I could see the spiders approaching me at a rather fast pace.

    ¡¸You¡¯re not the only ones that are good with bncing!¡¹

    Not wearing boots proved to be advantageous here since I could feel the center of my gravity a little bit better¡­¡­ But I still want to wear boots! Come on! Can¡¯t you give me at least that!?

    ¡¸It¡¯s kinda tricky to step on it¡­¡­ But I can get used to this!¡¹

    With this kind of foothold the risk of losing bnce and falling onto the webbing was much more potent than the actual boss damage, so I needed to be wary of that at all times.

    ¡¸Woah, it¡¯s been a long time since Ist bnced on a tightrope. I must be careful not to fall, or else I¡¯m pretty much done for.¡¹

    We start the fight and soon enough I manage to figure out that the Spiders¡¯ ¡°face¡± is the ideal spot fornding a critical hit for massive damage. Also, there seems to be an additional critical effect where the spider loses its bnce and falls onto its back.

    ¡¸I wonder just how great of a fall damage this is going to be¡­¡­?¡¹

    CRUSH! I hear a sound far below me that I definitely don¡¯t want to be the source of, so I put even more attention into not falling off the arena¡¯s edge like that spider right now.

    I see, so there are also huge logs hung right under the ceiling on the threads that could get cut and sent flying down towards the ground? If something like that was to hit you directly it would be an insta kill for sure¡­¡­ So how about something like this? I try to cut off the thread with my knife, seeing if I would be able to send a log just like that right on top of the spider that fell down¡­¡­ Apparently I can.

    There was a wet and loud noise, followed by a huge polygon explosion.

    ¡¸Mu, this is actually hard.¡¹

    The thread was rather hard and stic, requiring almost three critical hits to break and release its load. Needless to say, I didn¡¯t manage to drop a second log onto the downed spider, who managed to get up and, although severely wounded, was on it way back to the arena, climbing its thread like a rope or something. So the spider threads were rather versatile in their use, I see.

    They were mere monsters, so their expressions weren¡¯t as descriptive like that of us humans, but the agitated movements of their legs and clicking noises of their jaws was telling me more than any expression would be able to. They were angry at me. They tried to rush at me faster than before, but I was already at the center of the web, where the threading was denser than at the peripheries.

    Because they thought that they had an advantage here, it was making them stronger? At least that¡¯s how it was supposed to go.

    ¡¸Repel Counter!¡¹

    I take a proper stance and sh at the iing Spider, making it lose its bnce after my skill connected with its front leg.

    Then, acting on the opportunity that the Spider was on its back, I sh at it two more times before eventually adding a skill or two into the mix to maximize the damage dealt.

    Another spider falls to the ground. It seems that its ¡°face¡± managed to suffer some major damage to cause this, and now there was also an additional fall damage.

    ¡¸Ahh~¡­¡­ I see how it is now¡­¡­¡¹

    I don¡¯t know why, but I get a feeling that my face was warped with a really nasty smile right about now.

 Chapter 52: Bird-Face VS the Spiders Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 52: Bird-Face VS the Spiders Part 2</h4>

    From here on out, it was one big game of me knocking the Spiders off the arena and them trying to get back onto it.

    Third return.

    It was the third time the Spiders were knocked over the arena¡¯s edge and were climbing back up. They shot their threads onto the ceiling and right now they were sticking to it like no one¡¯s business, refusing to unstick from it.

    ¡¸Here you go! Double Critical Hit!¡¹

    shing on the threads that supported the Spiders, I watch them fall down to the ground while wriggling their legs like mad in the air.

    The fourth return.

    ¡¸Hmm, that positioning¡­¡­¡¹

    While I continue to cut the threads I notice that more and more logs hanging from the ceiling were bing shaky and unstable.

    ¡¸A game of whack a mole? Why not? Herees the log! ept them!¡¹

    Having no more threads to support their weight, the logs shake and eventually fall down to the ground. However the Spiders managed to avoid most of them by swinging on their threads around the area, instead of death, suffering some moderate damage from the logs bumping into their bodies. Like that, the logs all fell to the ground without iming any major victims.

    Fifth return.

    Fall down, get back up.

    Sixth return.

    The Spiders fell again, hit by the logs and bouncing around the ce before eventually crashing onto the floor.

    Seventh return.

    Although the Spiders continue to climb back up after being thrown off the arena, they were kicked right back down by me before they even managed to properly return.

    Drop, fall, drop, fall, drop, fall, drop, fall¡­¡­

    ¡¸I must say, I didn¡¯t think we would get this far¡­¡­¡¹

    Where is the line between exploits in the game system and downright bugs? I¡¯d say in a way in which the yer manages to control his/her character.

    It was a technique that allowed weaker characters to take on stronger opponents, but if abused it would basically turn the stronger monsters into regr sandbags, without fail.

    I have mmed the Spiders many times into the ground, so many times, in fact, that I was beginning to pity them¡­¡­ No, to be honest, this whole battle felt like one big cartoon gag.

    ¡¸Well, it¡¯s almost as if we were drowning the poor guys¡­¡­¡¹

    I kept on striking them off the arena¡¯s edge ten more times, time after time not giving them any ce for retaliation. Being knocked over from this height, not even the strongest of monsters would be able to survive something like that for long.

    At the end of the fight, the Spiders were one big mess. After falling so many times, their legs were crushed and bent in funny directions, their bodies had dents and gaping wounds from which the red polygons were gushing out at regr intervals. It would have been better for them to just die than having to suffer like that.

    However, this battle was not exciting at all. In fact, watching the beetle fight against the bees was way more exciting than this fight. Don¡¯t get me wrong, it was fun and all that, but there was something missing. I was not as thrilling.

    I chose to act on this strategy because I wanted to know just how far I could take it, but the result exceeded my wildest expectations.

    ¡¸If I knew it would be like that I would have wanted to fight more of those stag beetles¡­¡­¡¹

    The Clown Spiders were hard and intimidating as a boss only until you figured out this gimmick to take them down. Therefore, when you break it down to bare essentials, they were far weaker than the stag beetle. That is why I was able to best them while suffering the minimum of damage myself.

    That is why once I managed to achieve victory, it felt nothing but hollow to me, severely impairing my sense of aplishment.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Just a little bit more. Patience, Sanraku, patience.¡¹

    Thest spider did its very best to climb back up, wanting to get rid of the intruder that invaded its home.

    The Spider slides on the unstable thread, while I do my best to avoid its attack. While doing that, I also managed to discover a fun fact: using a Quick Spin move at the very end of making a U-turn while avoiding would negate any sort of aftereffects it may have had on the yer¡¯s avatar.

    I also activate another skill¡­¡­ Different from attack or avoidance, it was a skill that had only one purpose: to increase the distance and height of my jumping.

    And it so happened that the Spider that was swaying on its thread in such a way that its body was on a collision course with my des that were aiming right at its belly.

    Originally there was no need for such acrobatics on my part, just normal shing and Repel Counter would be more than enough. Think of it kind of like adding insult to injury.

    ¡¸Was that on overkill now?¡¹

    And let¡¯s just say¡­¡­ the momentum of my jump acted like a sort of boost in weapons strength and agility, allowing my weapons to pierce the Spider¡¯s flesh with absolute ease. It was ridiculous, but also brutal.

    I pierce the Spider¡¯s body with my knives (I did not dare to strike it where the threads wereing out from purely because of disgust) and do a spiraling motion that made me look like a drill, causing the Spider to bleed red polygons like crazy.

    The Spider stiffens and shakes, its body starting to be a mass of oozing red polygons.

    ¡¸Ooups.¡¹

    In the end, the Spider was carried by the momentum of its own movement and fell right off the edge of the arena, falling to its death at the very base of the tree, leaving behind a trail of red polygons and dropped items.

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­ No, really, this left a bad aftertaste in my mouth.¡¹

    This boss battle was a huge sess, but it is still leaving me mainly unsatisfied with the results I managed to obtain.

 Chapter 53: Momentary Thoughts Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 53: Momentary Thoughts Part 1</h4>

    I was having a hard time understanding this.

    ¡¸Hahaha¡­¡­ This may be a first time for me to actually see that much money in one ce. You said you wanted to buy medicinal herbs?¡¹

    When was thest time she was actually buying medicinal herbs? However, buying off items in humongous quantities was only showing just how serious she was when ites to her n.

    ¡¸Consumable items¡­¡­ I¡¯m only buying them, someone else is going to use them¡­¡­¡¹

    When was it that she finally started to get bored with this game?

    It¡¯s not like she was dissatisfied with the game. If it was like that, she would have stopped ying altogether. But here she was, still ying it.

    Her joining the n specializing in hunting powerful monsters may have something to do with it.

    What she wants is the ultimate kind of thrill that the game can offer. Even though it would all be in real time though, her memories would immortalize those moments inside her head.

    ¡¸The viins remain a threat until they get defeated, so buying items is a must to survive, nothing wrong or weird in going broke because of it¡­¡­¡¹

    When she first found out about this game, everything here was so fresh and new and people were really excited about all this. However, since the patch that added serious demerits for practicing yer Killing, the guild slowly but surely began to change.

    Stability and safety over thrill and danger seeking. Their guild was full of members who in the early days of the game would boast that as long as they were having fun they would be fine with gathering hate from virtually everybody around them. They even made a name for themselves cing third ce on the ranking of PK guilds. But now the very same members were leaving. Both the guild and the game.

    Now the guild was onlyprising of her and a bunch of small fries that just weren¡¯t fun to be around with altogether.

    ¡¸Now then, what am I going to do about all this¡­¡­?¡¹

    She knew that losing guild members was harsh. They didn¡¯t want to suffer the penalties thate with killing other yers, even if there was much glory to be had in doing that. After all, what other reason to practice PK than gaining glory from killing powerful people?

    But when all the joys of yer Killing was restricted or straight up taken away, it was only natural that those who took delight in those things would no longer feel any need to stay within the game.

    ¡¸Muu¡­¡­ ying the game normally is somewhat boring, but since I already invested my time in it, I might as well see this matter through to the end.¡¹

    Those who enjoyed the yer Killing may have been gone, but their money and trophies were still left behind, and it was the factor that was gathering around new yers.

    But seeing what the Guild was bing nowadays¡­¡­ The girl pondered quitting the game entirely more often than not.

    So, why are you still ying the game? When asked that question, the girl would always answer with:

    ¡¸Why? Because that thing¡­¡­ I really want to bring it down.¡¹

    Now that she learned how to y the game properly, she was starting to discover more and more ways to have fun inside it.

    But there was someone she couldn¡¯t forgive. Of whom she was constantly jealous of. And if it required her to bring the entire game down on its knees to just destroy that person, that is what she was going to do.

    ¡¸The time is running out on us¡­¡­ If we don¡¯t hurry it up with our ns, we might not be able to make it in time.¡¹

    I found her the missing paint that she required to finish her little painting. I don¡¯t know if that paint is easilybustible, but¡­¡­ no, I think now that it actually is.

    At the same time I was busy with preparing a backup n in case her n would fail. Because if she was to fail and had nothing left for her, she would no longer feel obliged to keep logging in into the game.

    Her anxiety must be overwhelming. She wants to bring down a formidable enemy, but is it entirely possible with only three people? She sped her hands against her cheeks, as if to get rid herself of her anxieties.

    ¡¸Just you watch me, Set-chan. No matter if I win or if I lose, I am going to give it my absolute all!¡¹

    At the current moment I was not a bird-headed Mercenary Sanraku. After finishing the boss battle against the Clown Spiders I decided to go back to Rabbitz and log out for a while.

    Now I was an overly manly bearded Sanraku, a Swashbuckler proficient in using rapiers.

    ¡¸It¡¯s been a long time¡­¡­ Since Ist came here.¡¹

    It hasn¡¯t been all that long ago since Ist logged into ¡°Sh*t Chronicles Online¡±, but for some reason it felt as though it¡¯s been months. Ooups, need to focus now. If I don¡¯t remain vignt at all times I may be in for a nasty surprise.

    ¡¸Umm, was the meeting to be held at Count Phnx¡¯s estate again?¡¹

    Surely there were lots of ces with high level NPCs that would prevent the unwanted yers from eavesdropping on our conversation¡­¡­ But then the question still remains: why meet up there, of all ces? ¡­¡­ Oh well, I guess trying to sneak my way around won¡¯t do me any good. Might as well do this the old fashioned way.

    I shall walk the path of this world just like the developers intended to¡­¡­ By killing other yers without mercy and with extreme prejudice.

    ¡¸Good evening. Now die!¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, good evening. Now eat sh*t!¡¹

    ¡¸Obah!?¡¹

    Good, it seems that I didn¡¯t lose my touch when ites to critically striking the enemy¡¯s weak spots using rapiers. It was a weapon that was perfect for assassinations.

    Unlike ShangriLa Frontier, in this game death was instantaneous, and the yer would turn into a pile of ash from which you could take every single item that was in his/her possession.

    ¡¸Tsk¡­.. Guess you can only do so much with basic equipment.¡¹

    In this game where everyone was basically a yer Killer, being the punch bag for others was actually a valid strategy. Beating some assnts would usually bring about a dozen more people after you. And if you beat that dozen people then there would be even more people after you before long. You would be a constant target for everyone around you.

    ¡¸Haah, I don¡¯t really have time for this¡­¡­¡¹

 Chapter 53: Momentary Thoughts Part 1 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 53: Momentary Thoughts Part 1 Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Ah, wee, wee, Sanraku-kun! As early as always! Katsu-kun should be here any moment now.¡¹

    ¡¸Hoo, so it¡¯s just me for now?¡¹

    When I finally arrived at Count Phnx¡¯s mansion, the guard NPCs weren¡¯t even trying to stop me. Just what kind of bribery would you have to use to achieve such a result¡­¡­? Oh well, it doesn¡¯t really matter.

    I was greeted by the avatar of Pencil Warrior ¨C or Pencilgton for that matter ¨C who was smiling brightly. I followed him as he went through the mansion as if he owned the god damned ce and eventually we arrived at a ce that looked like a study.

    ¡¸Hey, Sanraku. It seems you have it really rough over there, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸And who¡¯s fault do you think that is? And besides, I¡¯m having a great time, thank you very little.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m truly sorry for that. I really am. Seriously.¡¹

    Aah, now I get it. Pencilgton must have raided the mansion and took it for himself. Not that I was going to point him out because of that.

    MMO is, much like the real life, all about time management. You can¡¯t rewind time, undo your decisions and choices, need to n ahead what to do and where to go.

    ¡¸So? Shall we move on to the main topic? I do realize that you, as much as I, have better things to do than sitting here and waste your time over nothing.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right, I don¡¯t neither the time nor the patience to y your little games. So if there¡¯s something that you want to say to me, out with it now.¡¹

    Pencilgton smiled like he usually would and gestured for me to sit down on the sofa while he procured some tea and sweets from the cab, as if it was the most natural thing to do in such a situation. He seemed totally at home here.

    ¡¸Would you attempt to kill the Unique Monster ¡°Gravekeeper Wezaemon¡± together with me? Just a group of three?¡¹

    ¡¸Fuah!?¡¹

    ¡¸Gebleh!?¡¹

    Honestly speaking , I expected something utterly crazy from him, like a line like ¡°Let¡¯s create a Guild just for the three of us!¡± but what I actually heard was more than enough for me to spill out my tea. Fortunately, the hot drink and sweets disappeared without a trace right after leaving my mouth.

    If it was a real life, than the whole floor would be covered by sticky stains right about now.

    ¡¸Wait, wait, wait, wait just a god damned second! Unique Monster!?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right. There are only a handful of bosses that pose a real challenge in ShanFro, and ¡°Gravekeeper Wezaemon¡± is one of such bosses.¡¹

    ¡¸Fuh¡­¡­ Okay, right, calm down, me. For now, there are basically three things I would like you to tell me.¡¹

    ¡¸Right, Sanraku-kun. I¡¯ll try to answer your questions as diligently as possible.¡¹

    His reaction was within the spectrum of my expectations, as Pencilgton never stopped smiling, not even for a moment.

    ¡¸For now, the simple ones¡­¡­ Why? And when?¡¹

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t that too simple? Doesn¡¯t really matter, let¡¯s answer them. First question, why? Well, it¡¯s a little difficult to exin, but the short version is this: it¡¯s not possible to beat him on your own. Trust me, I tried. It made a minced meat out of me before I could even react to it. That is why I need you two.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ So he receives some buffs or debuffs depending on the number of yers that face him?¡¹

    Katsu confirms out loud what I was thinking to myself. It was basically a mechanic that was a given in any kind of MMO, one that could add a challenge or make things easier.

    But a Unique Monster¡­¡­ This means it would be on the same level as the Night Prowler Luukan. Its stats must be out of this world by default, so it was hard to imagine what it would be when the modifier for more yers would kick in.

    ¡¸I know it sounds bad, but I¡¯m willing to disclose more information on that subject should you ept to help me. Next question: when? About that¡­¡­ We will only have one shot at this: the day after the big summer update that is going to hit the server in two weeks¡¯ time. I¡¯ll need to have your answer by then.

    Two weeks¡­¡­ It could have been more, but it wasn¡¯t that bad of a time limit to make the necessary preparations. Katsu seemed to have understood that as well, so there was no questions here. But then it was about our third question.

    ¡¸Do we have a chance of winning against this thing? My level is about thirty, you know?¡¹

    ¡¸As for me, I¡¯m level twenty five.¡¹

    ¡¸Uwah, so weak! I never would have thought that you guys could be so weak!¡¹

    I would like this to be a joke on our side, but with our levels being so low, we could never hope to defeat Luukan, not to mention something that is apparently even more powerful.

    In this game, numbers were everything. And if they were far better than ours, there would be nothing we could do about them. But still, what was his reason behind wanting to scout both Katsu and myself?

    Surely, I was proud of the fact that he deemed us up to the task, but no matter how you look at it, our numbers were simply too low. ¡­¡­ That being said, shouldn¡¯t someone like Saiga-0 be a far better choice when ites to monster hunting?

    ¡¸No, fortunately enough levels and equipment is not what is required to y that boss¡­¡­ it¡¯s the pure yer skill. And when ites to you two, Pro Gamer Katsu and Sh*tty Game Hunter Sanraku, I could think of no better people for this job.

    ¡¸Lining Pro Gamers and Sh*tty Gamers together. Now I¡¯ve seen everything.¡¹

    ¡¸Pro Gamers are really susceptible to failure, so I think that Sh*tty Gamers are the good guys in thisparison.¡¹

    There was some truth in Katsu¡¯s words, butparing us two types to one another was like trying topare garbage to a finest five-course meal. There was no way in hell that Sh*tty Gamers could be better than Pro Gamers, not by a long shot.

    ¡¸Now, now¡­¡­ So, how about it? If you want any additional information, feel free to ask.¡¹

    ¡¸This story is a little too good to be true, so there must be some kind of hook attached to it, but¡­¡­ What do you think, Sanraku?¡¹

    ¡¸Huh, me? I don¡¯t mind doing this. Sounds interesting enough.¡¹

    ¡¸That was a fast decision.¡¹

    Sure, this story reeks of a set-up from a mile or even more, but if I was going to benefit from it by gaining levels or rare items, I say it is well worth the trouble. You should jump on an opportunity should the opportunity present itself.

    Still, the battle would be tough for sure. Toughest that I have ever encountered. Our opponent was going to be a Unique Monster, after all. But technically there was nothing in this deal for me to lose, I was only going to gain.

    As to the hook that was attached to it¡­¡­ For now let¡¯s just roll with it and see what happens. It is going to be that much more interesting to deal with it when its nature will be apparent.

    ¡¸Haah¡­¡­ By the way, suppose that we DO manage to beat that Gravekeeper guy. How can we know that you won¡¯t try to steal all the glory for this for yourself?¡¹

    ¡¸If I do that, you can grab the nearest blunt object and beat me to death with it until you¡¯re satisfied.¡¹

    ¡¸I wonder if we will be able to do that every time we see you around.¡¹

    ¡¸You guys¡­¡­ Fine, you have my word.¡¹

    While he said that his face was an emotionless mask, it was impossible to read anything on it. That was one of the things that I hated so much about him. He was full of dirty little secrets.

    ¡¸Honestly, I knew that you guys would end up epting my proposal. To be expected of the two that managed to conquer my castle that was guarded by eighty elite guild members.¡¹

    Pencilgton smiles as though he remembers a scene from the distant past, to which both Katsu and I smile bitterly. The Great Demon King sure looked funny right now¡­¡­

    ¡¸And?¡¹

    This was going to be the main topic.

    ¡¸Are you still hiding something from us? You¡¯d better spill it out right now, or else it wille to bite you in the asster.¡¹

    To my words, Pencilgton smiled even brighter than before.

 Chapter 54: Momentary Thoughts Part 2 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 54: Momentary Thoughts Part 2 Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Long story short, ¡°The Gravekeeper Wezaemon¡± is a secret Unique Monster Boss that Ashura-kai managed to discoverst winter. Ever since then we¡¯ve been using him to measure the strength and potential of new members.¡¹

    You can obtain EXP just by having encountered the Unique Monster, no need to defeat it first. Certainly, if you are able to keep such monster¡¯s location a secret and sessfully upy it, you would no longer even need to go monster hunting for EXP. That is, if the monster in question was not a random encounter, like Luukan. And looking at the members of Ashura-kai, this strategy was proving itself to be very efficient so far.

    ¡¸But you¡¯d have to go out of your way to conceal that Boss from other yers, or prevent some randoms from encountering it¡­¡­ isn¡¯t that too much work for what it¡¯s worth?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, you do have a point here.¡¹

    ¡¸Not to mention that doing something like that kinda defies the reason for ying MMOs in general.¡¹

    It was kind of like ying a demo version of the game without unlocking the full content. I mean, technically it¡¯s not bad, and if someone wanted to do it, then they by all means could do it, but what was the point? If you can do something, then you should definitely try to do it.

    ¡¸So we are going to infiltrate the area controlled by Ashura-kai, sneak into the boss chamber and take it down. Now, let¡¯s talk about our general strategy.¡¹

    Pencilgton sends us copies of the ¡°yer Books¡±. It was an item that was kinda like a nk booklet where yers could write whatever the hell they wanted. Inside the books, there seems to be a well-thought strategy written down to a point.

    The Unique Monster ¡°Gravekeeper Wezaemon¡± is a humanoid boss-type monster that can be encountered during the Unique Quest EX: ¡°From Far Away With Love¡±.

    This unique quest can only be activated if you talk to the unique NPC ¡°Setsuna of the Distant Days¡± that appears in the hidden part of the area ¡°Hidden Flower Garden¡±. You must do it without any weapons equipped and on the night of the full moon.

    ¡¸Fumu¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s wrong? If you have any questions, I will try to answer them to the best of my ability. ¡¹

    ¡¸No, it¡¯s just that this story¡­¡­¡¹

    Unique Quest EX, huh¡­¡­ So does that mean it is directly rted to the Unique Monster in question? Then what about my Unique Quest¡­¡­ No, best not to think about it too much for now.

    ¡¸To start the quest, visit the ¡°Hidden Flower Garden¡± on the night of the full moon. Then, the further path shall reveal itself to you.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ve never really done any Unique Quests yet, so please tell me, are they crazy difficult or what?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, I wonder, Set-chan¡­¡­ I mean, the NPC thinks it will be a difficult fight, so if we are to treat it like a g of sorts, it surely seems that way.¡¹

    ¡¸Then I guess on the next pages we are going to find Wezaemon¡¯s attack patterns and general strategies?¡¹

    ¡°At the beginning of the battle, the ¡°Gravekeeper Wezaemon¡± activates the skill that raises all of his stats for the duration of the battle depending on the number of enemies he is facing. At the same time, the yers need to fight him with their stats being lowered significantly.

    At the same time, since the level is being lowered, every skill point assigned between levels fifty one to ny nine bes nullified.

    This effect also applies to the NPCs, so going into the fight together with high-level NPCs as help bes utterly meaningless.¡±

    Now wait just a god damned moment.

    ¡¸It can interfere with both levels and statuses? And it says here that it onlysts for the duration of the battle¡­¡­ But wouldn¡¯t that make the fight impossible to clear? Since this is a Unique Monster its level should exceed one hundred, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Some skilled yers and programmers did some digging and apparently its level oscites around two hundred or so. Even the most godly of yers and cheatersbined wouldn¡¯t be able to best him normally. So maybe there are some special victory conditions.¡¹

    Having a boss beat you in levels almost four times was already quite bad, but lowering your own stats while being at it was going a little overboard. But special victory conditions¡­¡­ It was a whole different story if the victory conditions were other than reducing the enemy¡¯s HP to zero. There were also special conditions when ites to losing the battle, but I don¡¯t think that they will apply to a battle with a Unique Monster.

    Possible options here would entail: ¡°finding or destroying a specific object on the battle arena¡±, ¡°the passage of time¡±, ¡°surviving a peculiar attack¡±, and rarely ¡°persuading the boss to stop attacking¡±.

    ¡¸I see why the levels doesn¡¯t matter as much in this fight.¡¹

    ¡¸I mean you technically can bring people with high levels, but they are going to serve as meat shields at best.¡¹

    No, you shouldn¡¯t really underestimate the role of a meat shield¡­¡­ I mean, a tank in a team. However, when the difference in levels would be as big as one hundred and fifty levels, the difference between a tank and a fighter would be minimal.

    ¡¸By the way, what are your thoughts on the victory conditions?¡¹

    ¡¸For the time being I managed to confirm that there are no items to be broken on the battle arena, so that option is very unlikely here. I¡¯d wager on passage of time, but I cannot be one hundred percent sure.¡¹

    ¡¸Fumu¡­¡­ Oh, the battle patterns? How thoughtful of you to put them here.¡¹

    Says Katsu, knowing full well that knowing the attack patterns of your opponent can make a difference between victory and defeat. He once even told me that knowing the number of frames on the attacks of the opponents would be really nice, but it was overdoing it and was taking a lot of the fun out of the battle itself. But apparently Pencilgton was going to put everything into this one single attempt.

    ¡¸Most of the time he attacks with his sword, but can also carry out physical punches. But more often than not he is going to go for a sword attack.¡¹

 Chapter 54: Momentary Thoughts Part 2 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 54: Momentary Thoughts Part 2 Part 2</h4>

    The following pages listed a fair number of special attacks at his disposal:

    ¡ñ Gust Wind

    An attack that takes approximately less than one second to perform. A high level iai strike. You get hit by it, you die.

    Need to avoid at all cost. But since the cast time is so short, it is almost impossible to do. May need some meat shield for that?

    ¡ñ Lightning Cloud

    An attack carried out in a sweeping motion, covering the arena with a clouds filled with lightning. You get hit by it, you die.

    It may be possible to avoid the clouds or dodge them if you have high enough Agility.

    ¡ñ Augment Thunder

    An attack covering the sword with lightning and then discharging it over a vast area. You get hit by it, you die.

    The lightning bolts have homing to some extent and can ovep with each other, so if the yers crowd together, they are certainly going to die.

    Oi, oi, what the fuck is this? Basically, you get hit by anything, you die instantly! Aren¡¯t his attacks way too broken or something? Is it even possible to defeat this guy?

    ¡¸Attacks like that that cover a wide area¡­¡­ I¡¯m not all that good with them¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Aren¡¯t the attacks that cover the whole screen a little bit of an overkill?¡¹

    ¡¸For a Full Dive game the attacks that cover the whole screen are a little much, I admit it. Even ¡°Crap¡± was devoid of such underhanded tactics.¡¹

    Full-screen attacks were now relics of the past. They were quite popr during the 2D gaming era but disappeared shortly after the transition into 3D was made. With Full Dive technology it would be extremely difficult to implement such attacks and made the yers avoid them, so they were gradually being downscaled to just your standard long range attacks.

    The normal attacks of the boss won¡¯t be that much of a problem. The problem will be his skills, which will be almost impossible to dodge or evade properly. Even if there were some safety ones from them, it would surely be hard for a big group of yers to fit into them. We would get wiped out sooner rather thanter.

    ¡¸That¡¯s not all. We also tried to measure the power of his regr attacks and his armor and resistances. It was to no use. We couldn¡¯t even scratch him and we got decimated in an instant¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Tactical-Level Special Mechanism ¡°KIRIN¡±?¡¹

    It seems that if enough time has passed since the beginning of the battle, the Gravekeeper would call for an additional weapon to aid him in the fight.

    The Tactical-Level Special Mechanism ¡°KIRIN¡± was a horse-shaped machine that would attack in a way that no normal horse would ever be able to attack: by firing missiles andsers and its opponents, only to blow up the entire area as its ultimate trump card.

    If left alone for long enough, it would eventually merge with the Gravekeeper and then it would be virtually unstoppable.

    Fortunately, there was a countermeasure to this merging: if a yer jumped on top of the ¡°KIRIN¡±, it would prioritize shaking that yer off and forget about any other processes that would be otherwise happening.

    Missiles andsers¡­¡­ things that you should never see in any high-fantasy title. Not to mention that the description if this thing was just downright awkward. What do you mean, it can merge with Gravekeeper¡¯s body?

    I see¡­¡­ Hmm, so that would be our strategy, huh?

    ¡¸Together with Katsu we will take on the Gravekeeper while you keep on stalling the ¡°KIRIN¡±, right?¡¹

    ¡¸I concluded that the two of you should be more than adequate at fighting the boss and dodging its attacks. At the very least, your reaction speed is far better than mine.¡¹

    ¡¸I can understand Sanraku, but why would you want me on the wagon as well?¡¹

    ¡¸Katsu-kun, surely you are familiar with KabaKura, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Kabakura?¡¹

    Surely he couldn¡¯t have meant a Cabaret Club¡­¡­ So maybe it was an abbreviation of the game title that was unknown to me? ¡­¡­ I see, so it must be something other than the sh*tty game.

    When ites to being a professional gamer, it is something that anyone can try to do and achieve some results at it, as opposed to boxers or athletes. Not to mention that people from all around the world could give it a go, with games being released all over the world as well.

    Among pro gamers, I am fairly sure that sh*tty games were not something you would want to waste your precious time on, the same with your normal, ordinary games. The only thing that counts are those highlypetitive games that can be cashed in by the gamingpanies.

    ¡¸I am familiar with it to some extent¡­¡­ I understand, leave that to me.¡¹

    Says Katsu while munching on some sweets and drinking his tea, then assuming a fully ready position.

    ¡¸But still, aren¡¯t we a little short on people? Why can¡¯t we have at least five people?¡¹

    Specifically, I would like to have a magic caster on our team, as well as someone who would be supporting us all. Cleansing the debuffs and casting buffs would be ideal here. But Pencilgton answered me with a bitter smile.

    ¡¸I can¡¯t me you for wanting to have someone who would handle both buffs and debuffs. I once tried to beat it with ten people backing me up, but it was another defeat¡­¡­ No, it was a total defeat.¡¹

    Level restrictions, unreasonable boss buffs, additional mobs, insta kills¡­¡­ There were simply too many factors that were working against the yers. There were some special win conditions, but if we were unable to discover what they are, that knowledge was giving us nothing.

    ¡¸So that leaves me to deal with the boss himself.¡¹

    ¡¸I will assist you at every asion, so that our formation won¡¯t copse. But sadly, I won¡¯t be able to take it on myself.¡¹

    Two people frontline sounded like idea of a madman, but if that frontline was to copse, it would be a total disaster.

    ¡¸Right, so now that we¡¯ve got that out of the way, let me bring you in on the details¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ That is the basic premise of what we are going to do. With the assumption that the ¡°passage of time¡± is the victory condition here.¡¹

    The Gravekeeper¡¯s attack pattern, characteristics of the field, special attacks and skills¡­¡­ As we kept on discussing all of those things, the time just passed by.

    A specific object from the graveyard¡¯s premises¡­¡­ We also discussed that maybe something in the graveyard¡¯s mausoleum would be the target, or a specific grave. But at the end of that discussion we dismissed that possibility, since none of us would have the endurance needed to run all the way there while dodging the Gravekeeper¡¯s attacks. And then I suddenly remembered something.

    ¡¸Ahh, that¡¯s right. Right now I am in a party with an NPC. What should I do about that?¡¹

    ¡¸You mean that bunny that SF-Zooss was so obsessed about?¡¹

    ¡¸It must be nice to have something as nice and unique like that. I would like to have something like that as well.¡¹

    Katsu says while looking into his yer¡¯s Book again.

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­ Yup, it will be better if I temporarily remove him from the party.¡¹

    NPCs do not respawn.

    Even though I thought that those words had some hidden meaning behind them, Pencilgton¡¯s words managed to leave asting impression on me.

 Chapter 55: Momentary Thoughts Part 3 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 55: Momentary Thoughts Part 3 Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Nnn¡­¡­ Recently I feel like I¡¯ve been doing nothing but ShanFro rted stuff¡­¡­¡¹

    I murmur that to myself while jogging around the neighborhood while wearing a fashionable long sleeved jersey. I was struggling with keeping my breath in check.

    Since Full Dive games required the yers to be in top physical condition and could be quite a strain on the body, it was important to keep exercising regrly in real life as well. After all, poor physical condition could influence your in-game performance.

    That¡¯s why even when I am going shopping, I would run there instead of walking and I would purposefully choose a location that was farther away from my house than usual. ¡­¡­ Honestly, I was starting to regret that just a little bit.

    ¡¸Ahh¡­¡­¡¹

    The sunlight was mercilessly shining down on me, generating heat that was even making the asphalt under my feet feel less solid than usual. What a motivator to go outside during the summer, let me tell you.

    When I finally arrived at the convenience store I felt as though the beads of sweat that were dripping down my forehead were actually drops of blood from the received damage.

    ¡¸Haa¡­¡­ Haa¡­¡­ Haa¡­¡­¡¹

    Times like these, you really learn to appreciate air conditioning. It was humanity¡¯s strongest weapon against the cruelty of nature. As I walk through the convenience store, I wipe the sweat off my brows with the sleeve of my jersey. For now, I was running low on energy drinks, and since the next two weeks are going to present a rather harsh schedule for me, I want to have at least a dozen or two in close proximity.

    ¡¸Hm?¡¹

    Suddenly, I feel like I saw someone who wasn¡¯t supposed to be here out of the corner of my eye. It was around the magazine rack, where I spotted a particr magazine that was on disy.

    There, on the cover, was a picture of a good-looking young man with a smile that seemed to be openly mocking everyone who dared to look at him.

    ¡¸Weekly Full Diver Special Feature: The Exclusive Interview with a Professional Gamer Uomi Sakai!¡¹ , huh?¡¹

    A professional gamer, just like Modorokatsu, huh? I felt like I wanted to give the interview a read, but something in the guy¡¯s face on the cover was making me think twice about that for some reason.

    But there was another thing on the cover of the magazine that drew my attention. It was the article about one of the things we spoke about while eating sweets and drinking tea, something that was about to happen in two weeks time.

    ¡¸ShangriLa Frontier Summer Update¡­¡­ Huh, this is what Pencilgton was talking about¡­¡­¡¹

    That¡¯s right, it was an article regarding the godly game that I was ying right now. Not that I was a big fan of magazines like that¡­¡­ Now that I think about it, why wasn¡¯t there something like ¡°Weekly Sh*tty Gamer¡± or something like that¡­¡­?

    ¡¸Hmm, let¡¯s see¡­¡­ I see. New area ¡°Vast Ocean¡±, ¡°Pioneering Fleet¡±, new continent that was never seen before, new profession called ¡°Rider¡±¡­¡­ that¡¯s actually quite a lot.¡¹

    In the article there were many in-game shots of wild nature untouched by human hands, some shadowy figures with the ancient ruins in the background and all the other things you would often see in the promotional materials for new games or additional content. It was all to boost the hype before the new patch hits the servers.

    I had my hands full for the summer right now, but I know that this patch is going to attract a whole new batch of yers who will want to try it out. What a shame that sh*tty games can¡¯t get advertisements like that. Is there anything else in this article?

    ¡¸What the¡­¡­ Hoo¡­¡­ Fumu, fumu¡­¡­¡¹

    Ooupsie, just like that I happened to have read the whole article. There was still much that I needed to do, so I had to get back home soon. I put two twelve packs of energy drinks into my cart and headed to the register with it. But wait, do I want to buy some sweets as well?

    ¡¸Here you go.¡¹

    ¡¸That will be 8930 yen total.¡¹

    I give the single ten thousand yen bill to the cashier and then receive a heavy stic bag and my change. Nowadays card payments were bing more and moremon, but I still thought that the paper money was the way to go. Nothing could beat the feeling of a ten thousand yen bill held in your hand.

    ¡¸Now then, time to go back¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, umm! You¡¯re Hizutome-kun¡­¡­ right!?¡¹

    ¡¸Hm?¡¹

    Thinking that there aren¡¯t that many people by the name Hizutome on this street at the moment, this voice must have addressed me. Looking back towards the convenience store, I could see a young girl in a in white dress through the waving summer heat. That hairstyle, what was it called again¡­¡­? Bubbly? Nah, it was something different.

    No, no, that¡¯s not important right now. I cannot be too sure, but I do believe that I have seen this girl somewhere¡­¡­ Ah, were we in the same ss¡­¡­? Umm¡­¡­ Not good, got to remember her name quickly¡­¡­

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­¡­¡­ Saiga¡­ -san?¡¹

    ¡¸Y, yes! My name is Saiga! Saiga Rei! F, fancy meeting you here!¡¹

    ¡¸Umm, y, yeah.¡¹

    Says Saiga-san while being bright red on the face and shaking her hands frantically. Somehow, she reminded me of Emul just a little bit¡­¡­ Ahh, now I¡¯m starting to remember. Saiga Rei, a girl from my school with whom I was in the same ssst year and this year as well. From what I remember, a whole lot of people were alwaysmenting ¡°Why couldn¡¯t I end up in the same ss as Saiga-san!?¡±.

    During that time the sh*tty games were all that I could ever think off every day, but I remember that little tidbit perfectly well.

    ¡¸T, that¡¯s right! It¡¯s awfully hot today, isn¡¯t it!?¡¹

    ¡¸I, it sure is! And it¡¯s only July! I heard that August is going to be a lot worse!¡¹

    If that¡¯s true, then I don¡¯t want to go outside at all! Can¡¯t you buy energy drinks via the Inte? ¡­¡­ No, no, no, what about hygiene standards? But it¡¯s so hot¡­¡­

    ¡¸Umm, umm¡­¡­ This bag looks so heavy! What did you buy, if it¡¯s not a secret, of course!¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? Ah, this? Energy drinks. There is this new game that I bought and I am going to y it for another two weeks, so I thought I might as well prepare myself for that¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸B!¡¹

    B¡­¡­?

    ¡¸By any chance, that game wouldn¡¯t happen to be ShangriLa Frontier!?¡¹

    I could understand why she said that. Today, ShanFro was hitting the peak of its poprity, so it wasn¡¯t that surprising for a non-gamer to associate game = ShanFro. Her eyes were shining when she asked me that.

    ¡¸Oh, umm, yeah, that¡¯s right. It is ShanFro.¡¹

    ¡¸U, um¡­¡­!¡¹

    Saiga-san suddenly freezes up. Seeing her like that, I unconsciously took a step back, just to be on the safe side. If this was inside of the game, I would have assumed that shegged a little bit.

    ¡¸M, me shoo! ShanBro¡­¡­ brey¡­¡­ ash well¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸He?¡¹

 Chapter 55: Momentary Thoughts Part 3 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 55: Momentary Thoughts Part 3 Part 2</h4>

    I have always thought that Saiga-san looked like a girl from a good house and that in her spare time she would do some typical Yamato Nadeshiko-style things, not ying video games. ¡­¡­ It was certainly a surprise.

    ¡¸I¡­¡­ If you would¡­¡­ like! T, togesher wish meh¡­¡­¡¹

    Ah, I just got a mail.

    ¡¸I¡¯m sorry. Something urgent came up.¡¹

    ¡¸Ahyiii!!!¡¹

    I knew it, it was from Pencil Warrior. What is it¡­¡­ ¡°Finished already?¡± Don¡¯t give me that Spartan treatment, let me do my shopping in peace! Uwah! Another mail from him! And equally useless and garbage like thest one! Uwah! They wereing by the minute!

    ¡¸Ah, I¡¯m terribly sorry, Saiga-san! I¡¯m meeting with a friend and he¡¯s starting to get impatient.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, right! Sorry for keeping you!¡¹

    Apparently Saiga-san was a very humble person, but there was no need for her to apologize. No, or maybe it was what exemry members of society would do at a time like this? While she waved her small hand at me, I started running back home.

    ¡¸Ahh, that¡¯s right.¡¹

    If Saiga-san was ying ShanFro for real, I should have asked her for her yer ID.

    Continuously nagged by Pencilgton¡¯s emails that were bncing on the line of simple harassment, I logged back into the game and woke up in my bed in Rabbitz.

    ¡¸Good morning!¡¹

    ¡¸Uhm, yeah, good morning.¡¹

    Seeing Emul¡¯s face, I suddenly remember Pencilgton¡¯s words.

    ¡¸Once killed, NPCs will not respawn¡­¡­¡¹

    When talking about games, the function of a respawn is something that is basically treated as a given. If it wouldn¡¯t be possible to y it more than once, it wouldn¡¯t be called a game. There were difficulty settings that would erase a save file upon death, but you could always start anew. Such a feature as one y only was simply unheard of.

    I look at Emul, whose design and expressions were more realistic than anything I have ever seen in a video game. I am certain that he would apany me to our fight with the Gravekeeper that was scheduled to happen in two weeks¡¯ time. And I was sure it would be even more intense than my battle with Night Prowler Luukan.

    But if I take Emul with me, it was extremely probable that he would die on the spot. And even if that wasn¡¯t a thing, his presence would give the Gravekeeper even more of a boost, jeopardizing Pencilgton¡¯s entire n. Should I talk to Emul about that right now, or maybe wait?

    ¡¸Look, Emul, there¡¯s something that I need to talk to you about.¡¹

    ¡¸And what would that be?¡¹

    ¡¸I was invited to challenge the Gravekeeper Wezaemon in two weeks¡¯ time. I¡¯m afraid that for the duration of the fight we will have to temporarily disband our party.¡¹

    Instead of and answer, the only thing that I managed to get out of Emul was a series of more or less articted noises, that sounded more like animal calls than anything else.

    Then, after freezing for a few seconds in one ce, Emul jumped so high in the air that he hit the ceiling and bounced around the walls for a few times before eventually falling onto the bed with stars circting around his head. Did he managed to knock himself unconscious?

    ¡¸HAAAAAAAAA¡­¡­¡­!?!?!?¡¹

    ¡¸A, are you okay? Need some medicinal herbs?¡¹

    ¡¸W, W, Wezaemooooooon!?¡¹

    ¡¸Y, yeah.¡¹

    ¡¸I, I must let Daddy know about that right this instant!!!¡¹

    ¡¸O, oh. Alright.¡¹

    Emul then left the room at astonishing speed, even though he himself would put a stress on the fact that he hates to exercise. He also kept mumbling ¡°Desu wa¡­¡­ Desu wa¡­¡­ Desu wa¡­¡­¡± under his breath like crazy. Huh? Did I identally step on a g or something?

    ¡¸Nnh, damn that Pencilgton¡­¡­ When this is all over I will need to apologize to Emul for all that.¡¹

    Also, I had a hunch that I just triggered some kind of event, but I had no idea as to what that event could actually be.

    It was roughly five minutes after Emul ran off after screaming ¡°I must inform Daddy immediately!¡±.

    I understood that in a fit of panic he went to his Father, Weissash to inform him about my ns.

    This is bad¡­¡­ Did I step onto andmine by aplete ident? Oh well, should anything happen, I can just pin it all on Pencilgton.

    ¡¸Ohh¡­¡­ I¡¯ve heard that from Emul, but now I want you to confirm it,d¡­¡­ That you are going to pick a fight with that Gravekeeper¡­¡­ Is that true?¡¹

    ¡¸Ohh, yeah, I guess so. But strictly speaking, it is my friend who is going to challenge him. I am just going to be there to help out.¡¹

    Picking a fight with a Gravekeeper? Honestly speaking, I didn¡¯t know that much about him to begin with. Aside from the fact that it was supposed to be a Unique Monster just like Luukan.

    ¡¸You do realize it, don¡¯t you,d? That you are still nothing but a weakling?

    ¡¸You¡¯re right about that.¡¹

    Being a mere level thirty one, without any preparation done on my end, I am going to get killed for sure when the day of the battle finally arrives. And with weak stats like that, I won¡¯t even be able to call myself a meat shield.

    But this is important. The questions asked by the NPCs and the answers given to them might actually affect the events of the game and raise a g to new events on some asions. I can power level all I want during that two weeks¡¯ time, and it still can¡¯t help us win the fight if we don¡¯t manage to discover the victory conditions.

    So the best thing to do here would be to get into the role of someone from this world and roley from here on out.

    Now then, what would my answer be? First of all, to confirm my current situation¡­¡­ How do I actually convince someone who is a whole lot stronger than me to not kill me on the spot? That¡¯s a good problem to ponder. But the actual question was how to do that in practice. No, wait, rx, you¡¯ve got this. Remember: you conquered ¡°Sh*t Chronicles Online¡±. You struggled with all of that sh*t and emerged victorious. Compared to that, this was nothing.

    It wasn¡¯t about memories, social standing, or even opinions of others. The key here was none other than Vorpal Soul!

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I don¡¯t think that questioning myself is needed here. I don¡¯t think we can win. I KNOW we can win.¡¹

    ¡¸Hoo?¡¹

    Words are being spoken, sentences formted. Now, let me show you all just what kind of role-yer I can be!

 Chapter 56: Momentary Thoughts Part 4 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 56: Momentary Thoughts Part 4 Part 1</h4>

    Do you know about bards? In your typical fantasy settings, they are wandering warriors that are skilled in music, poetry and magic to some small extent.

    Some of them can fight on the frontlines, some of them can be masters of seduction, while others can be master mages, specializing in casting both buffs and debuffs. But what¡¯s important here is the setting.

    Same here. When telling a fantastic story, what is important is just how far you can stretch the truth without making it sound too unrealistic. Go too far with it and no one¡¯s going to believe you and proim the story to be nothing more but a fake¡­¡­ That is why it is fairly important to be able to know the difference between ¡°utterly impossible to pull off¡± and ¡°Extremely unlikely but doable¡±.

    On the other hand, sometimes the truth was not the thing that people were looking for. So it was also important to be able to tweak it a little bit, make it more colorful, more romantic and more epic than it was in reality. I had one advantage here: Weissash was an NPC, and not widely known at that. So even if our n regarding the Gravekeeper was somehow leaked, it wouldn¡¯t cause us much harm to begin with.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ It¡¯s not that I think that we can win. I¡¯m doing this because I KNOW that we can win this.¡¹

    ¡¸Hoo?¡¹

    ¡¸As I said before, I am merely assisting this time around¡­¡­ It is an acquaintance of mine that is taking the spotlight for this.¡¹

    First of all, I needed to exin my standing in this whole situation. I needed to make it crystal clear that this whole escapade was not my selfish idea, but rather a sign of goodwill to help a friend in need.

    ¡¸Do you have any idea what the Gravekeeper really is?¡¹

    ¡¸Not really. It¡¯s been ages since Ist saw him.¡¹

    ¡¸Nowadays he¡¯s revered like¡­¡­ a sort of deity for some shady group of murderers, I think? I wonder why would they ever do something like that?¡¹

    Instead of saying PK, I told it in such a way so that he could understand. I wonder if it would have been better topare it to something else? ¡­¡­ Nah, let¡¯s leave it at that.

    ¡¸The one who proposed this quest to me is actually one of those murderers. He is serious about taking the guy down and won¡¯t stop at anything in order to achieve that.¡¹

    Otherwise we wouldn¡¯t jump on this bandwagon to begin with. At least the ¡°strategy¡± that he came up with was so sound that we stored it on our mobile devices and got it perfectly memorized. If it turns out to be a failure, I¡¯m gonna cut all ties with him.

    ¡¸We are going to do our very best there, but still¡­¡­ Our chances of winning are still only about forty¡­ No, thirty percent at best?¡¹

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t that a little bit too reckless? I know that the Vorpal Soul inside of you must be boiling for a challenge, but still¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸We must believe in our sess. That¡¯s the best course of action. But my friends¡­¡­ No, I don¡¯t believe we could lose to anyone.¡¹

    This is it. It¡¯s like a movie. The scale of things is grand. The narration is dramatic and thenguage is romantic. Challenge the limits of exining things and see just how far you can take them. Just like with adding topping after topping on your pizza.

    ¡¸Me too, I want to do my best¡­¡­ So I¡¯ll lend my power to that person¡­¡­ so that we can emerge victorious. It¡¯s not even about the fact that we can resurrect upon death. This is more because he said that it will be the one and the only chance for us to do this, so I want us to win!¡¹

    ¡¸I, I see¡­¡­ I once tried my chances with him, but because I was so weak I was almost destroyed at that time.¡¹

    There it is! There it is! ¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C This is great¡­¡­ A very good flow of the conversation!

    ¡¸But¡­¡­ You still ept the fact that you are weak, right? So in that case¡­¡­ what will you do?¡¹

    ¡¸We have about two weeks¡¯ time before we are going to challenge the Gravekeeper. It may not be enough to prepare ourselves, but we are sure to do our very best until that appointed time. We are going to make it. Right now I may be weak¡­¡­ but I will change into a strong warrior that won¡¯t back away from any challenge that presents itself to me!¡¹

    For me it was the first time that I actually tried my hand at roleying, but I think I was doing a pretty good job at it? Of course, there was absolutely no reason for me to have this conversation, but I wanted to maintain rtively favorable rtions with Rabbitz, so raising a perfect g in here was a must for my n.

    The only thing is, I didn¡¯t quite understand the background of Weissash here. The only clue I had was that he seemed to be tied to the Unique Monsters in some convoluted way? Without properly understanding this, a proper friendship may not really be possible. In that case, I would like to at least maintain a neutral rtionship with them.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I think I get what it is that you are trying to say.¡¹

    ¡¸!!!¡¹

    ¡¸When I first heard your story I thought that you might have misunderstood what the Vorpal Soul is all about¡­.. But I see that I was wrong. I can now see that it is burning brightly inside of you.¡¹

    Right about now, the ball was in their court. I could only keep silent and wait. What would the verdict be? What would it be?

    ¡¸Since my child also wanted us to help you in your endeavor, we are going to do everything that is in our power to help you out.¡¹

    If it was a cartoon of some sorts, there would be a ball of confetti breaking in half right now, revealing the banner with the words ¡°Congrattions!¡± inside it, apanied by victory fanfare.

    See that ¡°Sh*t Chronicles Online¡±!? Watch and learn! Unlike you, where you needed to contribute actual items to raise the favorability meter of certain characters, the developers of this game clearly knew of the fact that a silver tongue can open up any kind of door!

    ¡¸Thank you so much!¡¹

    I got a feeling that I might have forgotten about something, but for now I am going to bask in the warm afterglow of the sessful attempt at persuasion. After all, I managed to sessfully raise a g here.

    Just then, Weissash stood up and started going somewhere. He also waved his hand at me, so he wanted to follow him?

    ¡¸Just so you know, this guy can be really clumsy at times.¡¹

    This guy¡­¡­? Ah, he must have meant the Gravekeeper. The key to unlocking this kind of information was the proper way to handle a conversation with various NPCs from all over the world. As Weissash begins to monologue, I turn all ears in hopes of getting as much information out of him as humanly possible.

 Chapter 56: Momentary Thoughts Part 4 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 56: Momentary Thoughts Part 4 Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸In the past, one terribly bad lie cost me my dear wife. But not only that, but even though I lost her she was unable to really die. Since then I was pretty much stuck in ce, as if time stopped for me.¡¹

    She couldn¡¯t really die, so does that mean she was turned into undead? That would exin the description and would fit in perfectly, but I couldn¡¯t be sure.

    ¡¸I was still a weakling when we first met, but that incident changed me. I swore an oath that I won¡¯t let a tragedy like that to ur ever again.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ So you¡¯d advise me to refrain from challenging him?¡¹

    ¡¸No, not in the least. Go right ahead and try yourself, if you want. I wasn¡¯t able to beat him, but maybe you will have more luck than I did¡­¡­ I have decided that if someone would want to challenge that guy, I wouldn¡¯t stop them and would help them out should they be deemed worthy.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    It seems that Weissash was left kind of broken after his fight with the Gravekeeper and would be reluctant to fight it again. But wasn¡¯t that in direct contradiction to his statement that he would help me out in whatever way he could? But still, he wouldn¡¯t try to drive me from challenging him to a fight¡­¡­ Umu, I¡¯ll just have to take it at face value, since I don¡¯t have enough information in that regard. Besides, maybe Katsu and Pencilgton will do their own digging and find something useful in that regard?

    ¡¸Oh, we¡¯re here. I wonder, when was thest time I used this ce? It¡¯s been so long that I seem to have forgotten.¡¹

    ¡¸You said that, old man. Small wonder that even the furnace is clogged with dust. That¡¯s what you get when you let a ce like that rest without any actual work being done.

    ¡¸Oh, Break.¡¹

    ¡¸Bre-nee-chan!¡¹

    We arrived at a ce that was small and looked like a forge or a cksmith¡¯s shop. It was simr to the cksmiths shops that I have seen at Sekandil and Thirdrema, but¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know. There was something going on with it that was difficult for me to put my finger on. Anyway, hammers, anvils, furnace and all of the cksmith¡¯s whatnot was present here.

    From the reaction of the two bunnies that apanied me, I could imagine that the cksmith bunny, Break, was Weissashe¡¯s daughter and Emul¡¯s sister? I wonder¡­¡­ does Weissash has even more children? I guess if there¡¯s one thing that you shouldn¡¯t underestimate about bunnies is their ability to reproduce.

    (Is it just me, or does every single one of them ends their sentences differently?)

    As I managed to keep that to myself, I looked at the bunny that was bigger than Emul but slightly smaller than Weissash.

    ¡¸You must be that Sanraku-guy that Pops and Emul mentioned before¡­¡­ ¡°Sanraku¡± is kinda mouthful, so how about I call you Raku instead? You don¡¯t mind, do you?¡¹

    Stop it! Don¡¯t give me such a weird nickname all of a sudden! You could at least ask me for my consent first! Or maybe ask me to help youe up with something that is going to be eptable! Umm, oh man, that Break bunny¡­¡­ I can already feel that she is going to cause me quite a bit of headaches in the near future.

    ¡¸Break, my dear¡­¡­ Time to do your thing.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­!!! Pops, does that mean that I can finally use the golden hammer again!?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, it¡¯s for a fight with that Gravekeeper¡­¡­ We told him that it was a bad idea, but hisd here wants to do it anyway¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Hee¡­¡­ Wait a moment, let me get the furnace going¡­¡­¡¹

    As Break started to get to work, Weissash turned towards me again.

    ¡¸That¡¯s right, in just a short while we are going to create a true Vorpal Weapon for you.¡¹

    ¡¸Eh, ah, could you made it double while you¡¯re at it?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, sure thing.¡¹

    Then I take the Vorpal Knives out of my inventory and hand it to Weissash. He takes them from me while looking at them for a moment.

    ¡¸Hmm, hmm¡­¡­ This is nice, this is indeed a good weapon. Oh, and what¡¯s this? I see that you also have some materials on your hand. ¡­¡­ What is it?¡¹

    The thing that came to my mind on mention of that was the image of a big ck wolf that sank its teeth into my legs. But the fight that was ahead of us would not be easy, and it would be something closer to an all-out war¡­¡­ A really nasty war.

    Next monster that I managed to obtain materials from was the Mud Digger, but when I tried to remember what items I obtained from it, but then I remembered something else: I sold them for money sometime earlier.

    So that means¡­¡­ The only thing that I could sacrifice in here right now were the materials that we obtained together with Emul most recently. Materials from a certain insect that was really hard to kill and it took a whole lot of bees to wear it down.

    ¡¸I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s going to be enough¡­¡­ But here are the materials from a strong enemy.¡¹

    ¡¸Fumu¡­¡­ The armor ting of Stag Beetle? Not bad, and their condition is also pretty good.¡¹

    I remove the Stag Beetle¡¯s armor ting from my inventory and hand it to the bunnies as well. The materialized item should have been very heavy, but still, Weissash handles it as if had no weight at all.

    I chose the armor ting over anything else because it was the hardest item in my inventory, and it should be rtively the best when ites to weapon creation. Maybe it could even serve to boost the item¡¯s attack statistic?

    ¡¸Break, dear, what about the furnace?¡¹

    ¡¸Getting warmer, but it will take a little bit longer to be ready.¡¹

    ¡¸Right, so let¡¯s get some preparations done before that.¡¹

    While he takes various instruments from the walls and sticks them behind his belt for an easier ess, the other bunny, Break,es to me and starts talking.

    ¡¸Ya know what, yer a lucky guy. ¡®Tis been a while since Pops there decided to use the golden hammer to create something.¡¹

    ¡¸Is that so? Umm, Break-san, was it?¡¹

    ¡¸Didn¡¯t you know? Way back, Pops used to be THE best cksmith in the whole town. I am supposed to seed him one day, but I have still a long way to go.¡¹

    Seed? As if, as a Forgemaster?

    While I was thinking that, Emul climbed onto my back again and patted me on the shoulder.

    ¡¸No wonder that you don¡¯t know about that, Sanraku-san, because I never told you. But yes! Daddy¡­¡­ I mean, His Majesty is the best cksmith in the whole town!¡¹

    ¡¸And it¡¯s not just an empty title. He is a renowned Forgemaster whose skills have been recognized by the best human Foragemasters as well! That¡¯s our Pops for you!¡¹

    As the two bunnies looked at their father, the mes in the furnace started to burn strongly, and the forge was yet again filled with the sound of hammers striking against metal.

 Chapter 57: Momentary Thoughts Part 5 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 57: Momentary Thoughts Part 5 Part 1</h4>

    What exactly is a ¡°mastery¡±?

    Mastering the art of cksmithing is not only about making great weapons. It¡¯s not about making them stronger and more durable. It¡¯s the ability¡­¡­ Ability to be able to read the weapon perfectly, to uncover its true potential and attune it to the person that is going to wield it in the future.

    It took me a while to understand that exnation, but mostly because the dialect of Break was rather hard to grasp at first.

    ¡¸Vorpal¡­¡­ A true ¡°Vorpal Weapon¡± remembers the times when it shed with strong opponents and bested them inbat. Pops can feel those memories and shape the weapons ording to those memories, helping the weapon¡¯s true potential to surface.¡¹

    ¡¸Huh¡­¡­¡¹

    Each time Weissash hits the Vorpal Knife with his hammer, there were golden sparks flying about in the air, as well as magic circles reflecting on the de¡¯s surface. It was imbuing the de with magic, and with each hammer strike another magic circle would appear and the de would absorb even more magic.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Bright mes¡­¡­ dancing across the night sky¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? What¡­¡­ Oguah!?¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san! Please keep quiet¡­¡­ Kyaahyu!?¡¹

    Eh? What was it that he just said?

    I wanted to ask something, but at that exact moment I was interrupted by Break who delivered a rather powerful blow to my shin, causing me to stagger.

    Why you little¡­¡­ For an NPC to actually attack a yer on their own like that¡­¡­ You little sh*t¡­..!

    Turning towards her, I could see that she was looking at Weissash at work, so she probably did that so that I wouldn¡¯t try to interrupt his focus for even a single moment.

    Emul looked as though he wanted to say something as well, but one sharp re from Break sessfully managed to stop him from doing that.

    ¡¸Listen.¡¹

    ¡¸No, you¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Just shut up and listen closely.¡¹

    ¡¸¡¸¡­¡­ Yes, ma¡¯am¡­¡­¡¹¡¹

    Weissash continued his work without fail, as if he didn¡¯t hear that exchange at all. When we became quiet, both Emul and I realized that what leaked out of Weissash¡¯s mouth was in fact a silent song.

    ¡¸mes of the furnaces, dancing in the night sky.

    Sparks are born and fly off into the dark.

    Dancing gold and singing iron.

    Strike and smash and ng and sh.

    Thou art the power, thou art the de.

    Born from the soil, cut from the wood, raised in fire, hardened in gold, cooled in water.

    The world goes round and round.

    Iron from gold, steel from the iron, de from steel, sword from the de.

    As the dawn breaks, the sword glows.

    Reflects the light and banish the dark.

    Dancing sword, singing of the world¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡­¡­ I see, so he was using a magic song to imbue a new kind of power into the weapons. By the way, even though he was a guy, his singing voice was so nice that if he decided to record singles and sell them for money he would surely be very rich very fast. The music market is vast and there would surely be a niche that would demand someone like him to perform. In short, I was impressed by his performance, and the other two bunnies had tears welling up in their eyes.

    ¡¸Now, I would be very happy if someone exined to me what just happened here (loud voice).¡¹

    ¡¸That was father¡¯s¡­¡­ I mean His Majesty¡¯s special smiting technique called ¡°The Iron Song¡±. We absolutely adore it whenever he does that (loud voice).¡¹

    I nodded my head to those words. It was surely quite something, and honestly I think that he could even put idols to shame if he decided to make a debut in the music industry.

    But I also knew that when ites to music and singing, especially in video games, it could be a really rocky ground to stomp on. There were a lot of factors that you would have to take into consideration, like the lyrics, music¡¯s tempo, different tones of voice¡­¡­ I had some experience with that in the past and it is a past that I would rather not revisit. Suffice it to say that my singing voice was so horrible that it would cause my love points with every heroine to suddenly drop to zero on the spot. From the full meter, mind you.

    ¡¸Is there something wrong, Sanraku-san? You suddenly went rather pale.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m alright¡­¡­ I just remembered something that I would rather want to forget. That¡¯s all. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡¹

    There¡¯s no use remembering stuff from the past. What happened in the past should stay in the past, and not be brought up anymore.

    While I was thinking that, the sound of hammering gradually grew quieter and quieter, until it eventually came to aplete stop.

    ¡¸Right, that should be more or less done.¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? Ah? Is it done? Okay, okay, how does it look!?¡¹

    Weissash¡¯s deration helped me focus again and push the traumatic memories away for now. Which was a good thing and I was grateful to him for that.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s see¡­¡­ It seems that the true names of Vorpal Knives have been revealed here. They are called Rabbit Moon ¡°Upper Fang¡± and Rabbit Moon ¡°Lower Fang¡± respectively.¡¹

    ¡¸Ooooh¡­¡­!¡¹

    When Weissash handed me my new weapons, I waspletely in awe of what I just saw. Up until now they looked like simple kitchen knives, but now they transformedpletely into genuine-looking weapons.

    Instead of looking like simple kitchen utensils, they were more curved and ornamented, looking kind of like a moon sickle. The shape of the knives was also identical, almost as if the ¡°Lower Fang¡± was made as a reflection of the ¡°Upper Fang¡±.

    ¡¸It¡¯s been a long time since my technique managed to change the shape of the weapon.¡¹

    ¡¸So it doesn¡¯t change shape every time?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s not unheard of, but it is extremely rare¡­¡­ Sometimes even the weapon type itself may even change. Like, knives bing swords. This weapon is now ¡°Anti-sword de¡± I see.¡¹

    ¡¸Anti-sword de¡­¡­¡¹

    For as long as I yed games, I haven¡¯t heard that name before.

    ¡¸I do believe that this weapon fits you perfectly, Sanraku-san.¡¹

    ¡¸Seriously!?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m serious!!¡¹

    Talk about a coincidence. So, maybe I wanted such a weapon on a subconscious level? Or maybe I simply wanted something that didn¡¯t look like a kitchen knife? Anyway, I managed to obtain a weapon that I always wanted, one that I could use in unison and realize its full potential that way¡­¡­ Wait a moment.

    There was this feeling again. As if I had forgotten about something important from the recent past. What could that be¡­¡­?

    ¡¸I know that you will handle them well, Sanraku-san. After all, you have disyed the level of skill far better than any possible requirement for such a weapon.¡¹

    ¡¸You really think so? I have never even thought about myself as a skillful warrior.¡¹

    ¡¸You have the skill. Trust me on that. I know you have.¡¹

    ¡¸So without my skill it wouldn¡¯t be possible¡­¡­?¡¹

    I put my new weapons with trembling hands into my inventory and read their description.

 Chapter 57: Momentary Thoughts Part 5 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 57: Momentary Thoughts Part 5 Part 2</h4>

    ¡¤ Rabbit Moon ¡¸YUZUKI¡¹ ¡°Upper Fang¡±

    Anti-de Sword

    The name of a pair of knives, with this one representing the upper one of the pair. It contains the essence of the Vorpal power within itself and its true power lies hidden amongst the clouds.

    -> When fighting an opponent whose level is higher than the user, upon a critical hit the next basic attack is going to cause increased damage rather than reduce the attack power of the opponent.

    -> The above effect from critical hits stack up a certain number of times.

    -> Stats required to equip: ¡°STR 40¡± ¡°DEX 50¡± ¡°TEC 55¡±

    ¡ñ Rabbit Moon ¡¸YUZUKI¡¹ ¡°Lower Fang¡±

    Anti-de Sword

    The name of a pair of knives, with this one representing the lower one of the pair. It contains the essence of the Vorpal power within itself and its true power lies hidden amongst the clouds.

    When fighting an opponent whose level is higher than the user, upon a critical hit the next basic attack is going to cause a small percentage of HP to be restored rather than increase the attack power of the next basic attack.

    The above effect from critical hits stack up a certain number of times.

    Stats required to equip: ¡°STR 40¡± ¡°DEX 50¡± ¡°TEC 55¡±

    Calm down, me¡­¡­ It¡¯s a simple math problem here. It doesn¡¯t require you to solve some kind of equation that would change the basic fundamentals of the whole world. This isn¡¯t rocket science.

    Umm, let¡¯s see¡­¡­ So I need abined number of one hundred and forty five in those three stats, right? And my current number is like what, fifty two? So that means I still require about ny three more skill points. One level up gives you roughly five skill points to spend, so when you divide ny three by five it give us¡­¡­ about neen more levels!?

    ¡¸NOOOOOOOOO¡­..!!!¡¹

    ¡¸S, SANRAKU¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨CSAN!!!¡¹

    I was currently on my knees, despairing over just how weak I actually was.

    I had mixed feelings about returning to Thirdrema after doing my best at escaping from it so hard, but it was all for Katsu¡¯s sake. He finally arrived at Thirdrema today and since it was his first big city, he wanted someone to actually show him around.

    To avoid drawing attention to me I chose the fastest route possible and ran at full speed, only to arrive at Thirdrema¡¯s back alley. There was a small caf¨¦ there run by an NPC called ¡°Snake¡¯s Apple¡±, and Pencilgton said that it was good for secretive, inconspicuous meetings.

    ¡¸Now then, don¡¯t you think that keeping us waiting is a little bit cruel, even for you? We¡¯ve been waiting here for at least three hours now! Is this some kind of kinky sexual y that you are into recently?

    ¡¸It was some business that will help us in our fight against the Gravekeeper.¡¹

    ¡¸Right, I shall forgive you this time around.¡¹

    Problem solved!

    I wasn¡¯t really going to exin to them about the unique quest that I was doing right now, since it would be too tedious to exin, so this short version will have to do for now.

    ¡¸It¡¯s nice that you are taking the preparation so seriously.¡¹

    ¡¸No, there¡¯s nothing nice to it, believe me¡­¡­ Oi, you idiot there! Stop ying around with the fork! It¡¯s dangerous!¡¹

    His VIT stat must still be a single digit. It wasn¡¯t all that much, and with that even the most trivial wound inflicted with a fork may one day prove fatal. There were cases like that in the past. Best to avoid stupid deaths like that.

    Retracting the fork that was aimed at my throat, Katsu began to casually eat his cake with it. As for his equipment, he was currently wearing a casual light armor.

    ¡¸Oikatsu?¡¹

    ¡¸Hm? Ah, that¡¯s my ShanFro yer tag.¡¹

    ¡¸Is that supposed to be in memoriam of something?¡¹

    As usual, his naming sense just sucked so much! But truth be told, that wasn¡¯t the strangest one of his naming ideas that I have seen.

    ¡¸Not really. I just thought that it would be nice for people to see my yer name and think: ¡°God, what a nuisance!¡±¡¹

    ¡¸Hahaha, now that¡¯s downright stupid.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, and now that we have been witnesses to Katsu¡¯sedic talents, we can hear what our dear friend Sanraku has to say.¡¹

    Pencilgton apparently didn¡¯t want to waste any time, for he wanted me to share the information while Katsu was still eating his cake.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Well, it might not be all that useful a piece of information, but during the conversations with NPCs, the Gravekeeper is often described as ¡°not alive, but not dead either¡±. This makes me believe that we are dealing with an undead type of monster here.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ That¡¯s right, now that I think about it, there were signs of him being an Undead during the fight. I see, I thought it might be something else, but if he was an Undead, it would make an awful lot of sense.¡¹

    I thought that my information wouldn¡¯t be of much use here, but apparently Pencilgton saw the matter a little bit differently.

    For a moment out there Pencilgton was pondering something, but before long he came back to us, looking at both Katsu and I alternatively.

    ¡¸I need to do a little something on my end, so you¡¯ll have to take care of yourselves until evening.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, that¡¯s fine with me, but is there anything of interest that we can do around these parts to kill time?¡¹

    ¡¸For the time being, why don¡¯t the two of you try leveling up some more at the ¡°Ancient Ruins¡±?¡¹

    As he said that, Pencilgton handed us a strange object¡­¡­ Was that a fishing rod? I look at Katsu in a suggestive way. We wanted to ask Pencilgton what the deal was, but he was already on his way out of the shop.

    ¡¸You¡¯ll understand once you get there. See youter!¡¹

    ¡¸Off he goes¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸That he did.¡¹

    Not having anything more to do in the store, we exit it as well and then proceed through the back alleys. If we were to go along the main street, we would attract way too much attention.

    With even more yers about to join the game, the risk of me being recognized and targeted was raising with each passing day. That is why I asked Katsu toe with me and avoid huge crowds of people. Fortunately, I still had Thirdrema¡¯syout stuck in my head, so I was able to guide us to the gate rtively safely.

    Then we walked down the forest path leading in the opposite direction from the Crimson Trees Cave.

    ¡¸Why does Pencilgton want us to go fishing? Can we improve our level at it as well?¡¹

    ¡¸Hell if I know. It¡¯s the first time I have a fishing rod in my hands as well.¡¹

    ¡¸Apparently there are some white fish with red meat in that area.¡¹

    ¡¸White fish? Like salmon?¡¹

    ¡¸Really? By the way¡­¡­ Who was that talking just now?¡¹

    ¡¸Emul, you can drop the act. This guy here is trustworthy.¡¹

    ¡¸Ehh? The way you said it just now makes it sound like some cheap party trick, Sanraku-san! This is an emergency camouge technique! Very advanced and very useful!¡¹

    ¡¸Uwah!? The scarf is talking!?¡¹

    Katsu suddenly shouted¡­¡­ Oh yeah, this will be his first time seeing Emul, right? I wonder how is he going to react?

 Chapter 58: Momentary Thoughts Part 6 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 58: Momentary Thoughts Part 6 Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Nice, it¡¯s really nice, something unique like that.¡¹

    ¡¸Hey, don¡¯t be stupid.¡¹

    I introduced Emul to Katsu and exined to him that he came from a unique quest.

    Speaking of which, Emul was yet again riding on my back, and I¡¯m starting to think that before long my profession is going to change from that of a Mercenary to Bunny Carrier.

    ¡¸It¡¯s really nice to have a bunny riding on your back like that. I want a uniquepanion like that too~.¡¹

    ¡¸Once you power level long enough its stats are not going to be all that amazing, you know?¡¹

    ¡¸Bing strong yourself and finding a strongpanion are entirely different things¡­¡­¡¹

    We talked about the merits and demerits of havingpanions while we walked, and before long we have arrived at our destination. The structure of the ruins was indeed deteriorated and destroyed, with the entrance having that sci-fi feel to it,pletely different from what we have seen so far.

    There was also a road leading further into the unknown territory. ¡°What would happen if we were to go down that road?¡± I think about that for a second before looking a little bit further and seeing what was ahead. There was a huge crevice in the earth up ahead, and it would probably be impossible to cross on the other side of the crevice without having to go through the ruins.

    This crevice must have been formed a long time ago. And truth be told, I don¡¯t want to think about what kind of creature or event caused it to be formed.

    ¡¸Right, let¡¯s get inside.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm? Ah, yeah, right¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You think we have to open the door manually, or are they going to open on their own?¡¹

    ¡¸Their shape is a little bit peculiar, so I would presume that would be the case. Let¡¯s just get inside for now and see what¡¯s inside. Staying here will get us nowhere.¡¹

    ¡¸Right after you.¡¹

    Together with Katsu and Emul, I stepped through the door to the Ancient Ruins which were abandoned a long time ago and lost its purpose over the years.

    ¡¸Uwah, it¡¯s amazing! It¡¯s like apletely different game here!¡¹

    ¡¸Look at that panel! It¡¯s moving on its own!¡¹

    ¡¸I feel like I¡¯ve seen it somewhere before¡­¡­ Ah, yes, that¡¯s right! It¡¯s simr to thest boss stage from the ¡°Brave Gxy Fighter!¡±¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t believe I¡¯m familiar with that title¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸A Sci-Fi gacha worldwide phenomenon when ites to gaming, dude¡­¡­¡¹

    It¡¯s another godly game, so howe he doesn¡¯t know about it? If he really is a pro gamer as he ims to be, he should have known what I was talking about and remember the exact thing in question!

    ¡¸Ah, that exins a lot. You see, up until now I was mainly ying fantasy games¡­¡­¡¹

    While the ck board is passing us by, we whisper to one another like that.

    If the whole of ShangriLa Frontier was rooted in the fantasy setting, than this location, the Ancient Ruins, were taken straight out of Science Fantasy.

    Judging from the fact that there was also a damaged esctor in here and a staircase leading down, this must have been some sort of an underground facility in the past. A facility that ceased to function long ago.

    Various ckboards were flying in the air here, sometimes stopping at particr locations and doing something there, while sometimes hitting the walls aimlessly, as if it wasn¡¯t able to tell that there was an obstacle in its way.

    It seems that this area was rather spacious, even though the actual area of exploration was bound to be limited to some point.

    This ce must have been thought to be made entirely out of metal, but years of destion made the cracks and holes in its structure, allow rays of sun to shine inside it and various nts and weeds to grow out of the ground and slowly overtake what human hands had made.

    ¡¸I don¡¯t know about you, but I really like deste areas like this.¡¹

    ¡¸Those objects behave in a really strange pattern. Think they are bugged or something?¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t think too much about it. If we were to do that, we would be here all day.¡¹

    ¡¸S, Sanraku-san! There¡¯s something there!¡¹

    Ah, apparently it¡¯s been such a long time since I was in a party with another yer that I got a little bit distracted over there and stopped paying attention to my surroundings.

    ¡¸Since this is an exploration one, this means it¡¯s either a security drone or an enemy, right?¡¹

    As soon as I asked that question, there was a strange object that appeared to be flying right over our heads. It looked simr to the flying boards, but this one was triangr in shape. How should I best describe it? A triangr version of a UFO?

    ¡¸What do you want to do now, Katsu?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, for now, I would like to try taking it on. I would like to gain some experience.¡¹

    After saying that, Katsu jumped out right in front of the flying UFO with nothing but his bare fists, and once the UFO spotted him it went straight towards him, all the while rotating at high velocity.

    ¡¸Its movements seem easy, so it should be good practice, right?¡¹

    Next moment, before I noticed anything, the UFO got knocked back from Katsu, as it struck against some sort of invisible wall. Was that Repel Counter? It was the first time for me to see a technique like that.

    ¡¸Red!¡¹

    I don¡¯t know if it was magic or something else¡­¡­ but Katsu¡¯s fists were wrapped in a bright red aura. Then he leapt towards the downed UFO that had slowly started to get up, and managed tond a perfect uppercut on it, sending it flying high into the air, disposing of itpletely.

    ¡¸Crushing Uppercut!¡¹

    ¡¸Ohh¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸W, with one blow¡­¡­!?¡¹

    It wasn¡¯t the uppercut alone. It was clear to me now that this red aura was giving some kind of a buff, and seeing just how powerful that blow was, my money was on the fact that it was boosting the physical strength of the user.

    In the end, the triangr UFO disappeared in a shower of red polygons, while Katsu was still standing with his fist raised and the red aura disappearing from it.

    ¡¸What ss are you?¡¹

    ¡¸A Monk (Apprentice)¡­¡­ Or just a Monk for short. Instead of fighting with weapons, I¡¯m using various auras to enhance my fists and physical strength. By the way, the stats that I¡¯m currently focused on are both STR and VIT.¡¹

    ¡¸So it was a Physical Enhancement after all¡­¡­¡¹

    I should have done my research before choosing a profession. It was so cool, fighting with your fists like that.

    Also, it was quite fascinating that it was possible to handle monsters like that with your bare fists, without having to rely on weapons at all. I see it was also possible to trigger the enhancements with some short words alone, without actually having to chant long incantations or anything like that.

    ¡¸But fighting without a weapones with its unique set of disadvantages. For example, if the enemy¡¯s armor is too hard, you might end up injuring yourself instead of the enemy.¡¹

    ¡¸I see, so it¡¯s like that, huh¡­¡­ By the way, what kind of build would be optimal for you?¡¹

    ¡¸Probably the same as for any kind of light warrior¡­¡­ AGI, HP and VIT are the most crucial stats here, because you are often getting hurt pretty bad as a melee fighter.¡¹

    That¡¯s a true gamer for you. An optimal build that would allow you to have a high DPS at the same time giving you lots of HP. In other words ¨C¨C kill before you get killed. It must be nice to have such a clear view on the way in which you want to build your character.

    There was of course the risk of dying, but as they say: sometimes offense in the best defense.

 Chapter 58: Momentary Thoughts Part 6 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 58: Momentary Thoughts Part 6 Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Sanraku, if I had to take a wild guess¡­¡­ You are that type of a guy who dumps every single point in STR and AGI while neglecting armor, correct?¡¹

    ¡¸Bzzt! Bzzt! Wrong answer! The correct answer is: I¡¯m a mix of both LCK and AGI!¡¹

    ¡¸That way his Vorpal Soul can truly shine!¡¹

    ¡¸Ehhh¡­¡­ What¡¯s this Vorpal Soul thing?¡¹

    I would like to know that as well.

    After that, while Katsu was taking care of every UFO-type enemy that came our way I was preaching to him about the greatness that is the Luck stat¡­¡­ There were also other enemies here, but Katsu took care of them all, althoughing dangerously close to death a few times. ¡°They don¡¯t do that much damage, but they are fast, I¡¯ll give them that.¡± Is what he said. But upon reaching the first level of basement of this underground facility, he was already back in perfect condition.

    ¡¸I didn¡¯t think the damage could be so bad down there. I thought the equipment here would be better preserved than that.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, I thought that the stairs might copse under us at any moment out there.¡¹

    ¡¸I wouldn¡¯t go that far, but¡­¡­¡¹

    Once we get down, we take a look to see if there were any other yers out there. After Emul returned from his scouting mission, I took out the map that Pencilgton gave us and looked over it.

    ¡¸It looks like we can go to a secret room from this floor.¡¹

    ¡¸Hidden area¡­¡­ I think that he already provided us with information that we could easily find out on our own. Where¡¯s the fun in that?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s not all that unusual for us to look up the maps of different areas that we would visit in the games, so think about it like that.¡¹

    I mean, if you were okay with looking up spoilers for the actual game plot, than you should be okay with looking up hidden areas around maps as well, right?

    Even if you are good at games, there¡¯s no way that you¡¯ll be able to discover everything on your own. It¡¯s a sh*tty game if it does that? At least it was a better alternative for going in blind and risking missing out on a lot of possible stuff.

    ¡¸If I can help it, I want to discover as much as I possibly can about games with my own power.¡¹

    ¡¸Right, I get it, umm¡­¡­ This way?¡¹

    We pass through a corridor to the left with a huge hole right in the middle of it, we jump across it, and after some more walking we arrive at another path that was sort of hidden in between two separate passageways

    ¡¸So annoying!¡¹

    I mean, who? How was this hidden passage originally discovered!? Or was it actually Pencilgton that managed to find it?

    ¡¸Uwah, since this is a Full Dive game finding a path like that on our own could have been extremely hard.¡¹

    ¡¸Now, it seems that there will be a certain wall in here that makes a different sound than all the others. It is supposed to be our secret passage.¡¹

    Anyway, all we really have to do is to follow the instructions that were provided to us to reach our destination.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ And finally, we just jump down this hole here.¡¹

    Funny thing is, the route we were going through right now was not listed on the map, as was the hole leading to it, so we wouldn¡¯t even hope to find it on our own under any normal circumstances.

    And since it was a Full Dive game, if you were to tell me that I had to jump down the hole that I couldn¡¯t even see the bottom of in an underground facility, I would have to call you crazy.

    ¡¸I just thought about it now, but what if someone ambushes us here and tries to assassinate us?¡¹

    ¡¸That would mean that this damned Pencilgton set us up again.¡¹

    ¡¸Guts! Daddy, I mean His Majesty always says that it is important to have guts!¡¹

    That old bunny bastard¡­¡­ How about minding your own god damned business, huh!? No, calm down, calm down, me. There¡¯s no use in getting all worked up over nothing.

    ¡¸Well then¡­¡­¡¹

    Together with Katsu we had literally nothing to worry about, but I needed to make an ount for any unforeseen dangers and possible idents. After all, if Emul was to die, there was a possibility that he wouldn¡¯t be able to respawn.

    ¡¸Hmm, right, for now let me go first. I¡¯m going to see if it¡¯s safe down there, and once I make sure you can jump down as well.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Much appreciated.¡¹

    ¡¸Thanks.¡¹

    Seeing how I was pondering over the hole, Katsu proposed such a thing and next thing we knew he already jumped down the hole like it was nothing. Seeing that, Emul shifted a little bit on my back.

    ¡¸Fuhya¡­¡­ Thatdy really likes to act all cool.¡¹

    ¡¸I know, right¡­¡­ Wait a minute, he¡¯s a dude, you know?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­???¡¹

    Ahh, I see, wait, wasn¡¯t there something fundamentally wrong with that statement of Emul¡¯s? No matter how I look at Katsu, he¡¯s a guy, not a chick.

    ¡¸This guy may look like a woman, but he¡¯s actually a man.¡¹

    ¡¸EEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHH!?!?!?¡¹

    He really minds his privacy, so he often chooses to y as female characters in games. And it was actually quite easy for him to pose as a woman online, for all of his siblings are women as well, so aside from video games his other hobbies are said to be quite feminine as well¡­¡­ At least ording to his words.

    ¡¸L, life is full of mysteries, isn¡¯t it¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Not really. You can tell the difference once you take a closer look of his face.¡¹

    ¡¸No thank you! I¡¯m not all that interested!¡¹

    Are you sure? By the way, what¡¯s with that Katsu guy, he kicked the bucket there or something? Just when I was wondering about that, I could hear a silent echoing from all the way at the bottom of the hole.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­ ens¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸It looks like no assassins await us down there.¡¹

    What was he saying, I wonder?

    ¡¸Umm, I do believe it was something along the lines of ¡°Hurry it up you two chickens!¡±¡¹

    ¡¸That bastard! Who¡¯s the chicken here! I¡¯m gonna kill you once I drop down! You are so dead!¡¹

    ¡¸Eh, please wait a moment, my heart isn¡¯t ready yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeettttttttttt!?!?!?!?!?!?¡¹

    I jumped down the hole without waiting for Emul¡¯s heart to be ready. I¡¯m not sorry for that.

 Chapter 59: Momentary Thoughts Part 7 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 59: Momentary Thoughts Part 7 Part 1</h4>

    Apparently the hole bent at some point and from a falling motion we shifted into a sliding motion about halfway through it, only to emerge from it at the very end at a moderately high speed. But other than that,

    ¡¸Die, you asshole!¡¹

    ¡¸Augh, that¡¯s right! What was that you were saying out there!?¡¹

    Since I didn¡¯t want to taint my name in red I limited myself to some verbal abuse and scolding, but apparently Katsu, like the pro-gamer he is, did not bother with that in the slightest.

    ¡¸Honestly¡­¡­ If this wasn¡¯t ShanFro, you¡¯d be so dead by now¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸If this wasn¡¯t ShanFro, I do believe I would be handing you your own ass on a silver tter.¡¹

    ¡¸Right, please stop it, you two! Let¡¯s try to get along!¡¹

    Hahaha, that¡¯s what I would like to say. Don¡¯t worry Emul, if we were really hostile towards one another, we would have already killed each other a bunch of times over.

    ¡¸So this is the hidden area that Pencilgton was talking about, right? The ¡°Underground Lake of Tears¡±?¡¹

    Ahead of us we could see a huge undergroundke that was emitting a slight bluish glow. It was a pretty sight and we could feel some real fantasy vibesing off of it. This was the hidden area that Pencilgton directed us towards, one that we could apparently do some serious power leveling: ¡°Underground Lake of Tears¡± inside the Ancient Ruins.

    ¡¸Apparently we can do some power leveling here simply by fishing, but¡­¡­ I have my doubts about that¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Oh well, let¡¯s try to catch some fish for now and see if it¡¯s really going to us something nice.¡¹

    Personally, I¡¯m not all that good at fishing games¡­¡­ No, it¡¯s because fishing was almost always a mandatory side quest in various sh*tty games and more often than not it was so realistic that it was just too tedious to keep me motivated.

    But there were also some exceptions to the rule. Like, one time I even managed to catch a blue whale on a fishing rod without breaking as much of a sweat. How was that possible? Don¡¯t ask me. The only thing I can say is that: that¡¯s sh*tty games for you.

    ¡¸Hey, it seems like I managed to catch something!¡¹

    ¡¸The disparity between our luck is too big, I tell you!¡¹

    ¡¸No, seriously, I caught something just now!¡¹

    Fuhaha, it seems that the Gods of Luck are on my side yet again! While I managed to catch a sixth fish at this point, Katsu was still left with none. Fishing¡­¡­ it might actually be quite enjoyable when you get down to it.

    ¡¤ Sweet Water Salmon

    A salmon that lives in sweet waters. Its meat restores physical strength of the eater and its eggs can be an excellent magic catalyst.

    A mandatory element of a healthy diet.

    Even though the fish itself looked like a light-emitting cocoon, the vor text provided a more than sufficient exnation. And since at our home we ate salmon pretty frequently because of my father¡¯s hobby, I really enjoyed its taste.

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t that high Luck of yours letting you catch way too many fish?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s not Luck only. I had someone who taught me a lot about fishing as well.¡¹

    My Father was almost like an oracle when ites to fishing, being able to catch anything from a simple smelt all the way up to a swordfish. Before I got hooked on video games I really enjoyed going on fishing trips with him, but now that I really think about it, it must have been a part of his n to pull me into the fishing world for real¡­¡­

    ¡¸Right, I think I¡¯ve had enough fishing for now¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san, what¡¯s that thing over there?¡¹

    ¡¸What thing? W, whoa, it can float on the water¡¯s surface?¡¹

    It appears that a monster of some sort hase out to y. Seeing that, both Katsu and I put our fishing rods into our inventories and switched intobat mode. In the next moment something came out from beneath the water¡¯s surface, causing a huge pir of water to erupt.

    ¡¸Is, is that a huge water serpent!?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s here! It¡¯s the Sweet Water Serpent!¡¹

    So this is what Pencilgton meant when he called this thing an ¡°EXP Tank¡±¡­¡­ But in that case, the word tank does not refer to the armored vehicle but rather to that huge container!

    ¡¸It¡¯s so long! This feels somewhat unreal, don¡¯t you think!¡¹

    ¡¸So maybe it¡¯s an eel rather than serpent?¡¹

    ¡¸Is that what you¡¯re concerned about right now!?¡¹

    No, it was definitely a sea serpent, but it also had horns, long fangs and hard scales. So it was something even nastier than a sea serpent, in all honesty. However, I had a feeling that it was more of a dragon than anything else.

    The first attack thates into mind when ites to serpents is that it would try to thrust its long body at us and try to bite us. However, we can easily avoid such an attack if we step to the side so there is no problem there.

    ¡¸Right, let¡¯s check its attack patterns a little bit before we move in for the kill¡­¡­ ¡°ck¡±!¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t try to hog it all to yourself, Katsu! I want to try some new weapons while we¡¯re at it!¡¹

    Since my Vorpal Knives were remodeled, I couldn¡¯t use them for now due to both level and stat restrictions. This meant that I was stuck with the weapons that I had order made all the way back at Sekandil, a pair of Swamp Daggers that I haven¡¯t really touched ever since then. However, Break offered that she could strengthen some of my stuff for me if I really wanted to, so that problem sorted itself out.

    I even went as far as breaking down a few materials at Rabbitz and used theirponents to strengthen the Swamp Daggers even further, so they should be able to deal a reasonable amount of damage as they are now.

    ¡¸Behold! My newest weapons! Twin Swords of the Empire Bee!¡¹

    ¡¸Hyah!! Such a cool name!¡¹

    Those des were really slender overall¡­¡­ The right sword was made out of theponents extracted from Empire Queen Bee, and looked like an estoc that could break at any moment if you were to swing it with all of your might. But because of that its visuals were also on a higher end of the spectrum.

    In contrast to that, the left one was short and resembled a dagger in a lot of ways, but instead of attacking it was used mostly for parrying. Even though the same materials from the Empire Queen Bee were used in its creation, its attack stats and purpose were fundamentally different from its counterpart.

    Personally, those weapons right now are my personal favorites.

    ¡¸So I see that you¡¯re going to contribute to the fight as well, huh?¡¹

    Since there was some kind of disparity in our levels, the situation turned out as follows: Katsu ended up focusing the enemy¡¯s aggro on himself and began to flee, while I was going to use every single opportunity that I was going to have tond some damage onto the sea serpent.

    ¡¸Now, let me show you the unlimited power of my critical hits!¡¹

    I plunge my right-handed weapon into the serpent¡¯s side with the effect of the Spiral Edge skill.

    But that¡¯s not all. Both weapons have different effects on them, and it so happens that the right one has another trick up its sleeve aside from high critical chance and piercing attacks.

    ¡¸GYAAAH!?¡¹

    ¡¸I see, so Luukan¡­¡­ Who would have thought that you possess such a strong ability by default?¡¹

 Chapter 59: Momentary Thoughts Part 7 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 59: Momentary Thoughts Part 7 Part 2</h4>

    Unlike the damage dealt with normal weapons, the side of the serpent that was attacked with the estoc receives the damage, but the flesh wasn¡¯t healing and the wound wasn¡¯t closing. It was because of the special effect added with the Empire Queen Bee¡¯s stinger, which was causing necrosis of the tissue it came into contact with.

    In this game, some of the weapons or monsters maye with additional, powerful effects to their attacks. For example, a normal attack with a normal sword is going to cause huge damage, but that¡¯s it. No special effects, no arms flying off or anything like that.

    However, some of the attacks, like the ones of Night Prowler, for example, had a chance of destroying its enemies in one blow, ignoring all of the defense attributes, or mutting a certain part of the enemy¡¯s body. This was something normal weapons would never be able to aplish.

    ¡­¡­ It is something that cannot be taught through leveling up or consumable items. yer Killer even can¡¯t abuse it. And even if they were able to do it, I am sure that there would be some kind of penalty either to their EXP or karma points.

    Back to the topic, the additional effects on weapons are quite special. Their role is to apply bonus damage over time or debuffs onto the specific parts of the enemy¡¯s body. The more you strike the same ce, the greater the additional effect and the damage from it. For a damage over time mechanic, it surely was effective.

    And since Spiral Edge is a multi-hit attack, as long as the first attack crits, all of the following ones are going to critically strike as well!

    ¡¸If you attack just like that, you can create the weak spot!¡¹

    Well, not like this system was without its drawbacks. In order to inflict bigger damage over time you¡¯d need to keep on inflicting regr damage, and in the case of some enemies it would be much faster to just sh it to death or to simply try to rip off their limbs manually.

    And, of course, there were monsters and yers that were immune or resistant to some kinds of additional effects. But it was actually good, for you couldn¡¯t cheese the bosses that way.

    At least that¡¯s how I understood the exnation that bunny Break gave me. Mind you, because of her ent some parts were hard to understand, but I think that I get the overall picture. When I remember her long lecture about additional effects and their effectiveness on various monsters, my mouth was starting to fill with a really bitter taste.

    ¡¸Sanraku-san! Sanraku-san! Earth to Sanraku-san! We need you here with us!¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm? Ahh, battle position, on the double! Uwah, watch out!?¡¹

    If I didn¡¯t dodge right there in time, I would have been dead for sure. Note to self: thinking too deeply while in the middle of a fight is a bad idea. Yup.

    ¡¸Sorry about that! I spaced out a little bit!¡¹

    ¡¸Dude, if you get wiped out, this means we all will! Pay that a little more mind, why don¡¯t you!?¡¹

    ¡¸Roger that¡­¡­ Whoa there!¡¹

    Together we simultaneously used Repel Counter on the serpent that tried to bite us with its huge jaws, which generated a knockback effect that pushed it back.

    ¡¸Now then, how much EXP do you think this thing is worth?¡¹

    ¡¸Judging from how big it is? I¡¯d say a lot but we shall see.¡¹

    ¡¸But upon closer look, this thing sure look delicious.¡¹

    ¡¸Stop it! Please don¡¯t even joke about things like that, you two!¡¹

    In the end, it was a really hard fight. But not because the enemy was surprisingly strong or anything like that. Sure, his level must have been higher than ours, but its attack patterns were rather easy to memorize. The problem was that the two of us were around level thirty, which was making us weakpared to the enemy mobs in this ce.

    Eventually we were able to defeat it, but not without the help of Emul. As we looked at the serpent bursting into a rain of red polygons, we both copsed onto the ground from exhaustion.

    ¡¸Who would have thought¡­¡­ That it would be this tough¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Clearly the two of us wouldn¡¯t be able to take it out on our own¡­¡­¡¹

    However, this battle was surely worth our while. I couldn¡¯t help but smile seeing my brand new ten skill points ready to be spent. Katsu also earned a nice sum of points via leveling up.

    ¡¸I see, this is indeed great.¡¹

    ¡¸I managed to raise my level by four¡­¡­ It seems that it gives you a whole lot of EXP even if your level is low.¡¹

    However, one thing was perfectly clear for me right about now. If we are to stay here and power level, then by the end of two weeks¡¯ time we should be able to reach level fifty, which would be enough for me to gear up with my newest weapons against the Gravekeeper.

    ¡¸Oh, I even learned new skills.¡¹

    ¡¸Ohh?¡¹

    ¡¸When you finish leveling up, be sure to see what skills you got so that you can connect some of themter into new, powerful ones.¡¹

    ¡¸Oi, oi, isn¡¯t that basically a feature from another game or something?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh?¡¹

    Eh?

    There was this awkward type of silence between Katsu and I right now.

    ¡¸No, no, no, it¡¯s a basic feature that you canbine already learned skills into more powerful ones, right? Every skill-based game has a feature like that.¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case here.¡¹

    ¡¸Eh?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh?¡¹

    Eh?

    Awkward silence descended upon us yet again as we looked at one another with reallyplicated expressions.

    Katsu seemed to be really surprised for some reason while I was dumbfounded, hearing about the option that I have never ever heard about before. Then a dry smile crept up on his lips.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Umm, you did go through the tutorial at Firstoria, right?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ No. No, I didn¡¯t. Ipletely skipped the first town.¡¹

    ¡¸Ehh¡­¡­¡¹

    But it seems that I¡­¡­ I have missed out on a critical and very important part of the gamey.

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­ So, if you¡¯d be so kind, how important is that whole Skill Creation thingy?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯d say really necessary¡­¡­ I mean, basic skills that you can get are good enough to y without fail, and there are even yers out there who abandon the Skill Creation system on purpose¡­¡­ But if you do use it, the numbers of possible skills to use will be doubled.¡¹

    ¡¸Doubled¡­¡­¡¹

    Ahh, not good, not good, I could feel my head bing dizzy.

    When I learned about that option, I felt as though my heart would break in half at any moment right now. And I am sure that you could pinpoint that exact moment if you tried hard enough.

    The cave, the ground and the ceiling¡­¡­ I felt as though they have mingled into one amalgamated mess right about now.

 Chapter 60: Momentary Thoughts Part 8 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 60: Momentary Thoughts Part 8 Part 1</h4>

    I was always wondering about that: the difference in skill growth, that is.

    For example, one of my current skills, Repel Counter, used to be a sh Counter before I amassed enough EXP points to level it up and change it.

    However, some skills just improved their level without changing at all.

    Until now I never really thought about it all that much, but like Katsu mentioned just now, the skills generally can be divided into two categories: leveling skills and evolving skills.

    Now, the skills that won¡¯t evolve but only increase in level possess a special quality to them: they could bebined in a special option called Skill Creator. It was an option that allowed tobine two or more skills in order to create but a single, far stronger one.

    Katsu even gave me an example there: if youbine fighting skill ¡°Power Straight¡± with assist skill ¡°Critical Assist¡±, you could create a new skill called ¡°Knock Outer¡±, which would then possess a chance of additional effect of stun depending on the critical hits you managed to score with that skill.

    And that¡¯s not all. There you could also see just how much more EXP you needed for another level up or how long it would take to evolve the skill, buy the secret books with recipes for skills instead of having to figure them out on your own, etc. etc. ¡­¡­ Long story short, my whole life up until now would have been that much easier if only I decided to go through a tutorial at the first town.

    ¡¸Honestly speaking, right now I¡¯m feeling as though I was trying to score a homerun this whole time, but instead of using a bat I was trying to hit the ball with my bare hands.¡¹

    ¡¸Your analogy is a little bit convoluted, but I kind of see what you¡¯re getting at. It¡¯s like ying a game but only using basic attacks without all the optional stuff that makes things a whole lot easier.¡¹

    Katsu tried to console me a little bit, but that¡¯s not it at all. It just feels like I was trying to snipe people from afar this whole time but rather with a pistol and not the actual sniper rifle¡­¡­ Ahaha¡­¡­ Hahaha¡­¡­ Hahahahahahahahahahahaha¡­¡­

    ¡¸AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    ¡¸S-Sanraku-san!? Are you okay!?¡¹

    ¡¸Maybe some fluff is going to help him?¡¹

    ¡¸He? Hyaaah!?¡¹

    Without much dillydallying, Katsu grabbed Emul and pressed him right next to my face. His fur was so fluffy and soft that it may have managed to hit some kind of a switch inside my mind. Gradually, my thoughts started to calm themselves down.

    Taking a closer look, right now I have only two skills that can bebined. So even if I knew about the existence of some super powerful skills, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to utilize the system properly.

    It still didn¡¯t change the fact that I skipped the tutorial, but it was slightly moreforting knowing that I didn¡¯t lose all that much because of that.

    ¡¸Fuhya, that, that tickles! It tickles me, Sanraku-san!¡¹

    Oh well, good thing this conversation happened right now, and not just before the fight with the Gravekeeper. That way I could prepare myself for the iing battle knowing full well that I would be prepared for whatever wasing and I would have no regrets.

    ¡¸M, my ears! No, seriously, this is bad! This is very bad! You¡¯re going to tickle me to death!!¡¹

    What¡¯s more, the option ofbining skills was avable in any major city, so even if I was to return to Rabbitz, I would be able to utilize that facility without any problems. That was at least some kind of constion.

    It¡¯s a good thing that Rabbitz should have that facility, since for me, going to ces with lots of yers was still a huge no-go. Honestly, I was starting to feel tired of having to stay hidden like this.

    However, it would be even more troubling if someone would start to ask about Emul or the curse marks that were still covering my body. At least in Rabbitz I was free of that.

    ¡¸Umm, Sanraku-kun? I understand that Emul is really fluffy and soft, but if this thing goes on any further, it might turn into something else entirely.¡¹

    ¡¸Hm?¡¹

    Looking down all of a sudden, I could see steaming out of Emul¡¯s head like crazy¡­¡­ He looked as though he was about ready to copse from all of my caressing and rubbing his fur.

    ¡¸Kyu¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t know why, but he reminds me of a cat whose brain just overloaded just now.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m not a cat! I¡¯m a proud Vorpal Bunny!¡¹

    Ohh, and now he¡¯s back.

    ¡¸By the way, what about side jobs and union guilds¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    ¡¸PYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!?!?!?!?!?!?¡¹

    THERE¡¯S JUST SO MANY THINGS THAT I MISSED IN THIS GAME!!!!!!!!!

    Here¡¯s a question: how do you maintain your sanity upon finding out that you managed to miss so many things that you¡¯d want to suffer a mental breakdown because of it?

    Personally, I think that the best way to do that would be to stop thinking about it and immerse yourself in lots of small tasks that would let you keep your mind off of things. Although that solution would get you nowhere when ites to solving the problem, for me it is the best panacea right now.

    So I did just that. I was fishing and fishing and fishing, then slew some monsters, went fishing again and slew even more monsters, over and over and over and over and over again. Just like that we managed to score ourselves some more levels and before we knew it, the night was already upon us.

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­ I thought it might take us more time, but we are already around level forty¡­¡­ or maybe we are rushing things too fast?¡¹

    ¡¸Nah¡­.. I think it¡¯s just to¡­¡­ help him escape reality¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸In the first ce, was escaping reality really necessary in this situation?¡¹

    ¡¸No, it¡¯s just, umm¡­¡­ Maybe we worked really hard out there?¡¹

    Together we managed to catch seventy four salmons and slew six more of the sea serpents¡­¡­ Currently I was at level forty two while Katsu was level forty himself.

    Those are the results that I managed to achieve while doing my best to escape the reality that was trying to overwhelm me.

    ¡¸Although its movements are really simple, the Sea Serpent¡¯s level should be around forty-five or something, but we still managed to beat it just fine.¡¹

    ¡¸Haa? And you¡¯re saying that Emul is around level fifty six or so?¡¹

    ¡¸When pushes to shove, Emul can be really helpful in battle¡­¡­¡¹

    We were doing fine on our own, but without Emul¡¯s help we wouldn¡¯t have been able to go at it for such a long time. We would have dropped dead before long.

    ¡¸You two really are impossible¡­¡­ In both the good and bad sense of the word. Oh, won¡¯t you look at that, it¡¯s a night of a full moon today. Maybe you guys will even manage to obtain that Unique Quest EX faster than I expected.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ You want to log out for a moment?¡¹

    ¡¸Nah, thanks but I¡¯ll pass. The field tents are expensive items and can hold up to only a certain amount of times. I¡¯ll try to farm some EXP on my own some more.¡¹

 Chapter 60: Momentary Thoughts Part 8 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 60: Momentary Thoughts Part 8 Part 2</h4>

    As Katsu kept on staring at me with sad eyes, I managed to erect a simple tent from cloth where I could rest if I ever needed to.

    Also, it could very well serve as an instant save spot, even in ces where save points were unable to be otherwise erected. It was a really expensive item, but at the same time it could be priceless if used correctly. It was also invaluable if for some reason you weren¡¯t able to return to town and you absolutely needed to log out for whatever reason.

    ¡¸Who would have thought that towns would have such amazing items on sale¡­¡­¡¹

    However, the number of its uses was limited, and you could only use fast travel option with it to travel to ces you¡¯ve previously been to. Also, you could very well be attacked by monsters while sleeping inside of it.

    Therefore, it was far better to go back to town and use a proper save spot at the inn. The risk was much lesser than with the tent.

    But even so, this spot seemed to be rtively safe from monster activity, and as long as I don¡¯t try to catch any more salmon, the sea serpent shouldn¡¯t spawn on me.

    ¡¸In other words, there should be nothing wrong or dangerous with me taking a little rest in here¡­¡­¡¹

    The only response to my words was this awkward silence and sorry stares.

    Even at night, thanks to the glowing moss that was covering the walls and ceiling of the cave, it was as bright as during the day. Us three people were currently going through its corridors.

    ¡¸Can you imagine how surprised I was when I found out that there was a hidden area in the dungeon that I have already conquered?¡¹

    ¡¸There was much luck involved there, since it was only revealed during a specific time of the day and month, right?¡¹

    While we were being informed about everything that was to be known about this area, Katsu looked really sour about that, murmuring something about ¡°I wanted to find this all out on my own¡­¡­¡±

    ¡¸On the night of the full moon, look for the part of the cave where glowing moss doesn¡¯t glow¡­¡­ Ah, there it is. Now, if you take a closer look¡­¡­¡¹

    Said Pencilgton while reaching out his hand towards the ck moss and pressing it with great vigor. Then, with some loud sound, the moss began to disappear to the sides and a path leading forward was revealed.

    ¡¸I also noticed that as well.¡¹

    This area was really impressive as is, so it was actually pretty hard to notice a small detail like the part of the moss stopping to glow. This area was pretty spacious, so it was even harder.

    ¡¸I found it, true, but it was aplete ident after I messed up a little bit¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You hearing this, Katsu? Revealing hidden content is luck based, so maybe you should start praying to the Gods¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Stop looking at me like that, or I¡¯ll bash your face in you asshole.¡¹

    Oi, oi, that was really rude towards everything that I have stood for. Not nice, Katsu-san, not nice.

    ¡¸Come on, guys, stop screwing around already. Hurry it up, put all of your weapons back into your inventory.¡¹

    ¡¸Uwah¡­¡­ Now this view is really something.¡¹

    ¡¸I know, right? Even though it¡¯s not unique or anything, I still like this ce a whole lot.¡¹

    We spent another few minutes walking along a path inplete darkness, climbing uphill this whole time. Finally, we could see some light at the end of the passage, and when we emerged outside it, we could see a flower field filled with red flowers.

    Looking up, this cave had no ceiling and we could see the full moon on the dark sky, illuminating the red flowers and they were swaying gently in the breeze.

    There was nothing physically impossible here. With some level of effort, it should be very possible to recreate that in real life. But for some reason, the sight was simply breathtaking, more than anything I have seen in this game so far.

    ¡¸What beautiful flowers!¡¹

    If I remember correctly, they were called red spider lilies¡­¡­ I haven¡¯t really seen them in real life, but in fantasy games they were a fairlymon theme. As a metaphor for death.

    ¡¸Right, let¡¯s go. We¡¯ve been keeping Set-chan waiting for far too long.¡¹

    Since Pencilgton was walking through the flowerbed with no hesitation, it seems that it was free of any traps, so we followed suit. Following after Pencilgton, we were able to see a huge dead tree in the distance. And under that tree there was¡­¡­. A woman?

    ¡¸S, she¡¯s transparent!¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re right. Think that¡¯s some sort of a bug?¡¹

    ¡¸Why would a bug be the first thing thates to your mind in this situation if beyond me¡­¡­¡¹

    That¡¯s an inside joke from sh*tty games, for crying out loud¡­¡­ But from the look on Pencilgton¡¯s face, she must have been ¡°Setsuna of the Distant Past¡±, the one that we came here to visit.

    ¡¸Hey there, Set-chan! It¡¯s been like what, a month?¡¹

    ¡¸Ara¡­¡­ Arthur, it has been a while.¡¹

    She looked kind of like a ghost and I wasn¡¯t sure if she wouldn¡¯t just disappear if you were to go right through her. That ephemeral NPC called ¡°Setsuna from the Distant Past¡± smiled at Pencilgton in a lovely manner. However, there was something that was concerning me more than that right about now.

    ¡¸Fumu¡­¡­ Emul?¡¹

    ¡¸What is it?¡¹

    ¡¸Do you know what the clothes that woman is wearing are?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­ No, unfortunately I don¡¯t have a clue¡­¡­¡¹

    Figured as much. The clothes that woman was wearing very rather strange, even judging by fantasy standards. They weren¡¯t made from nts or hide, but rather they looked like organic skin mixed with shells of some sort. It almost looked as if it¡¯s been mass-produced and was giving off a sense of luxury¡­¡­ Yes, pretty much like some modern-day celebrity¡­¡­ I had a hunch that instead of high fantasy she belonged with science fantasy.

    ¡¸She¡¯s an Ancient One.¡¹

    In ShangriLa Frontier¡¯s world, the word ¡°Ancient¡± held a deep and esteemed meaning. If that was indeed a unique quest tied to the remnant of ancient civilization¡­¡­ It was something that should have been pretty ominous, but for some reason I was really getting fired up over it.

    Then Pencilgton turns towards us with a smug smile on his lips.

    ¡¸Allow me to introduce them to you, Set-chan. These two idiots are¡­¡­ our trump cards in the fight against Gravekeeper Wezaemon.¡¹

    When she looked at us after that brief introduction, all I could see in Setsuna-san¡¯s eyes was a mixture of both hope and sadness.

 Chapter 61: Momentary Thoughts Part 9 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 61: Momentary Thoughts Part 9 Part 1</h4>

    This NPC, Setsuna-san, looked at us in such a way that could not simply be made out of zeroes and ones. It was as if she was full of hope but still couldn¡¯t believe what she was seeing¡­¡­

    For a moment out there both Katsu and I exchange nces, and then we look back at Setsuna-san and introduce ourselves.

    ¡¸Ah¡­¡­ It¡¯s nice to meet you. I am Pencilgton¡¯s acquaintance, my name is Sanraku. This little fe here is Emul.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m Weissash¡¯s child, my name is Emul!¡¹

    ¡¸My name is Oikatsu, another one of Pencilgton¡¯s acquaintances.¡¹

    ¡¸Think of them like Idiot #1 and #2 plus an adorable mascot.¡¹

    Hey, you asshole. What was that just now?

    After looking at each and every one of us for a moment, Setsuna-san finally opens her mouth.

    ¡¸I don¡¯t know what to say¡­¡­ You¡¯ve managed to gather some really interesting people, Arthur.¡¹

    ¡¸You know, they may seem like small fry right now, but I can promise you that they are going to be splendid warriors by the time of the decisive battle.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s not what I¡¯m talking about.¡¹

    Setsuna-san then points at me specifically¡­¡­ Or wait, was she pointing at the curse marks covering my chest?

    ¡¸I have never witnessed someone who would be marked twice by Kuro-chan¡­¡­ And Weiss-chan¡¯s child¡­¡­ This brings back so many memories¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, don¡¯t worry about it, guys¡­¡­ It¡¯s just that she¡¯s like that sometimes¡­¡­ She likes to swim in nostalgia¡­¡­¡¹

    Judging by Pencilgton¡¯s words it was something that was typical of that woman, so it wasn¡¯t a shady g being raised or anything like that¡­¡­ At ease, Katsu.

    ¡¸She may already be dead, but thanks to you it seems that she remembered something good from her life. Thank you guys.¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? Ahh, yeah, you¡¯re wee, I guess?¡¹

    I answered just like that because for now we had very little to work with. In the meantime, Setsuna-san¡¯s eyes became sad and pouty. It seems that she didn¡¯t like it when people weren¡¯t listening to her. I prompted Pencilgton to look at her and then he continued his story.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Set-chan, why don¡¯t you tell those guys the things that you told me?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I understand.¡¹

    ¡°WOULD YOU LIKE TO START THE UNIQUE QUEST EX: FROM FAR AWAY WITH LOVE?¡±

    Of course we want to do that. Both Katsu and I pressed the ¡°Yes¡± box without a second¡¯s thought and Setsuna-san started to spin her story.

    ¡¸He¡­¡­ Wezaemon used to be my beloved one. But ever since the day I died he has changed¡­¡­ He would protect my grave from that point forward and was¡­¡­ slowly driven mad by this self-proimed duty.¡¹

    ¡¸I see, so that¡¯s where the ¡°Gravekeeper¡± stems from.¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t know just how much time has passed since I passed away, but before I even realized it I was just like this¡­¡­ A being that is dead but is still bound to this world.¡¹

    Setsuna-san looks at the tree behind her back, a withered and empty huskpared to the spider camellias growing all over the hill we were currently standing on.

    ¡¸Death is final. It is the end. And someone who¡¯s already ended shouldn¡¯t taint somebody else¡¯s present¡­¡­ nor the future. That is why I just can¡¯t stand seeing how that person is still bound to me, guarding my grave and refusing to go on with his life.¡¹

    Then Setsuna-san shifts her gaze from the withered tree to the full moon hanging in the sky.

    ¡¸He used the program that I built¡­¡­ Umm, erected a barrier here using very powerful magic. Sent my grave to the other dimension so that no one could interfere with it or try to desecrate it. Only the light of the moon can invert the coordinates of the other dimension and lead the way to my grave.¡¹

    So, if I understand it correctly, this ce was basically like a coin, right? We were on the tails side, while the Gravekeeper was waiting on the heads side, correct?

    ¡¸Only the night of the new moon holds the power to break the barrier¡­¡­ The night when the moon¡¯s light is at its weakest. Only then the path shall open.¡¹

    ¡¸So we wait for the path to open, and then jump in and fight with the Gravekeeper.¡¹

    Katsu mumbles to himself, while Setsuna-san looks at us with pleading eyes.

    ¡¸Please, I beg of you! Wezaemon¡­¡­ Please, let that man finally rest¡­¡­¡¹

    As she said that, Setsuna-san bowed her head down. Now that that¡¯s been taken care off, Pencilgton smiled brightly.

    ¡¸Now, now, Set-chan, please raise your head. We aren¡¯t like every other guy that came this way. I promise you that we shall erase the curse that¡¯s bothering you so much.¡¹

    Hearing Pencilgton¡¯s honest and sincere words, both Katsu and I were deeply astonished by his behavior in front of Setsuna-san.

    Was it really the same old Pencilgton that we knew? The same old Pencil Warrior that would drag the King of the domain in United Rounds behind his own carriage or hang the Princess from the chandelier just to attract people¡¯s attention towards himself?

    ¡¸Who would have thought that the demon-like Pencil Warrior would casually chat with NPCs? What a world we live in! Or maybe something happened to him that made him regain his human nature!?¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-kun, that was rather rude of you, don¡¯t you think?¡¹

    ¡¸This feeling¡­.. So this is this ¡°heart¡± that everyone speaks of¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Oi, Mister Professional Gamer¡­¡­¡¹

    There was a few seconds of really awkward silence between the three of us now. Pencilgton, although smiling as usual, had his ears bright red so much that we were sure there would be smokeing out of his ears at any moment now. Huh? Seriously?

    ¡¸Right, so as to not go back on my words, I am going to train you until the battle with the Gravekeeperes around. Let¡¯s make sure to drive some of that delicious upper tier violence into those thick skulls of yours!¡¹

    I wonder, was it Setsuna-san on her own that smiled at Pencilgton just now or was it just the work of the godly programming of this game that would imitate the emotional expressions of people so wlessly? Thoughts like that are currently running through my head.

    I tried to remember all of my past experiences with both NPCs and strong enemies, not just from ShanFro but also from other games¡­¡­ Hm? What¡¯s that sudden light?

    ¡¸Omagh! What are you trying to aplish here, attacking us with weapons like that! That was dangerous!¡¹

    ¡¸This isn¡¯t good! Sanraku! His eyes are really not looking so good right now! He looks about ready tomit PK here!¡¹

    ¡¸Piyaaaahhhh!? What the hell are you trying to do!? You maniac!?¡¹

    In spite of our loud protests, Pencilgton continued to pummel us until about ny percent of our HP bars were gone. All the while, Setsuna-san just stood at the side and watched it happen¡­¡­

    ¡¸Good grief, how can you hope to survive the battle against the Gravekeeper if you can¡¯t even avoid me almost killing you five times over?¡¹

    ¡¸Hear that, Katsu? This here is the real Pencilgton. Without a shred of doubt.¡¹

    ¡¸Aah, it sure feels good to be back to my old self from time to time. Ande on, don¡¯t you think I was pretty generous with you? I left you with a whoopping ten percent health!¡¹

    ¡¸You call ten percent being generous¡­¡­?¡¹

    As Pencilgton was still in a mood to continue the fight, both of us raise our hands in the air in a gesture of surrender.

    ¡¸Talk about being a pushover here¡­¡­ We are allrades with the same aspiration here, so you could have at least talked with us before you went straight for our throats without any warning!¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-kun, don¡¯t you think that you are in no position to call someone else a pushover?¡¹

    ¡¸Maybe he¡¯s like that, but I personally don¡¯t dislike his style.¡¹

    ¡¸Could you guys stop already? You make me look like a bad guy here¡­¡­¡¹

 Chapter 61: Momentary Thoughts Part 9 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 61: Momentary Thoughts Part 9 Part 2</h4>

    The only thing that you could actually score for yourself inside the game is the different numbers. It took us quite a while to get that point across to Pencilgton while he was still trying to attack us.

    ¡¸Ah¡­¡­ I, see. Excuse me for that. Sometimes I get a little bit hot-headed when ites to NPC¡¯s like Set-chan. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s about here or something else, but I just want to do anything that is in my power to help her.

    Pencilgton said that with a reddish face¡­¡­ Really now? I looked at Katsu and after a brief silence the two of us exploded withughter, unable to hold it in.

    ¡¸So that¡¯s your reason? Well, whatever. As long as you are serious about the game, any reason is fine, so I guess its good for you.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, yeah¡­¡­ Besides, isn¡¯t the game more fun that way while you¡¯re getting serious over it? Isn¡¯t that the whole point of ying games?¡¹

    ¡¸Umm, hearing that from a Professional Gamer kinda defeats the point, but whatever¡­¡­ and stopughing! Don¡¯t point your fingers at me like that!¡¹

    Professional Gamers are still gamers. So I don¡¯t know why it was that part that he got so worked up about, but whatever. As long as he understood our point, then it¡¯s fine. Point for us!

    It would be nice if he wasn¡¯t trying to stick his sword right in between my eyes. Thanks to those few level ups my STR stat was slightly higher, but I was feeling like I was just about to give up. It was then that I heard an honest and sincereughter.

    ¡¸Fu, fufu¡­¡­ Aah, that¡¯s right, guys¡­¡­ that¡¯s just how you guys are, huh¡­¡­ Fufufufu, ahahahahaha!!!¡¹

    Afterughing with us for a moment, Pencilgton puts his hands to his mouth and deres in a loud and majestic voice.

    ¡¸Our opponent is the unique monster that imposes the intimidating one hundred and fifty levels of difference between us and him! This is going to be a brutal battle, but with enough hard work and determination we can surely win this!¡¹

    To those words Katsu, Emul and I nodded our heads¡­¡­ Only one thing left to do for us here.

    ¡¸We are going to do some serious training here, even if it was going to kill us in the process!¡¹

    Two more weeks remained until the final battle, and we were going to utilize them to the max. I was sure that time would fly by really fast because of that.

    ¡¸Right, for now, I think it will be good for you to continue fishing until you guys manage to reach level fifty or above.¡¹

    Well, duh.

    ¡¸Kuuh¡­¡­!¡¹

    I stretch my arms while getting up from my bed. I leave my room whilst yawning and rubbing my eyes, thinking just how busy my schedule is going to be.

    After all of that quest starting and getting all hyped up we basically spent the whole night fishing and fighting monsters together with Pencilgton, who was honestly more of a bother than actual help.

    But after my level started to go up, the effects of the curse marks started to kick in and instead of fighting us, the sea serpents were only trying to get away from me as fast as possible. This caused the other two toin to me without stopping.

    I was then put in a separate ce and started fishing on my own. It was then that I happened across a rare monster ¡°Sweet Water Destlobster¡±, which was around level eighty.

    Since it was so tough that even Emul wasn¡¯t able to do much damage to it, I cast away my pride and went back to where Katsu and Pencilgton were, getting ready to beughed at but determined to bring that lobster down.

    Honestly speaking I have no idea how we didn¡¯t getpletely decimated by them. What¡¯s more, we managed to kill not one but two such lobsters, which elevated me to level fifty one and Katsu to level forty six. Then when I finished leveling up I went to the nearest town to give the Skill Combine thing a try¡­¡­ and that¡¯s basically what happenedst night.

    I watch the sun through the window and think about all the things that I was going to do today.

    ¡¸For now I don¡¯t have that many skills tobine, but once I obtain some new ones I should definitely give that option a go. There were also some materials that I wanted to farm, but I also wanted to check if Skill Combining in Rabbitz would offer something good or unique. I wonder if other towns have some special services as well?¡¹

    While I was murmuring that to myself and pouring myself some milk into a ss, I noticed a magazine lying on top of the table.

    Apparently it was the fashion magazine for which my sister Rumi was working, and it featured a bright-smiling woman on the cover.

    Normally I would think that this person on the cover of the magazine was beautiful. Nothing more and nothing less. But since a cute girl hase out as a gamer not so long ago right in front of me, feeling intrigued, I picked the magazine up and started to look through the pages. But then the magazine was suddenly snatched out of my hands.

    ¡¸Ah.¡¹

    ¡¸What is it? What is it? Have you be a fan of Towa-sama as well, Onii-chan?¡¹

    ¡¸Towa-sama?¡¹

    It was the first time that I have ever heard that name, but judging from the look on my little sister¡¯s face she must have misunderstood my intention for reading the magazine. Then she opened her mouth and once she started to talk about that Towa-sama of hers, she just wouldn¡¯t stop.

    ¡¸Towa Amane-sama! A Japanese top model that¡¯s world famous! Every teenage girl that dreams of bing a model wants to be just like her! She¡¯s a true phenomenon!¡¹

    ¡¸Top model?¡¹

    ¡¸No need to sound so surprised! She¡¯s so good at modeling that her photo-shooting sessions are enough to bring the whole magazine enough profit to carry on! Amazing, isn¡¯t it? She even uploaded the photos with some of her fans from some local shooting onto her social media, but I didn¡¯t even know she was nearby! Oh, I would give up anything just to be there with her¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, I see.¡¹

    ¡¸?¡¹

    ¡¸No, it¡¯s nothing, I¡¯m talking about this right here. This Towa-sama¡­¡­ she must have it pretty rough, with people always invading her privacy and trying to snatch pictures of her all the time.¡¹

    I tell that to my sister, take a sip of milk and then go back to my room. I see, I see, so that¡¯s how it is.

    ¡¸Living one moment for eternity and eternal life are twopletely different things, huh¡­¡­¡¹

    I was starting to envy Pencilgton just a little bit. Even though it was within a game, and even though it was only an NPC with a really advanced AI, he managed to find someone he wanted to protect at all costs.

    I need to get a grip, and do it fast.

 Chapter 62: Momentary Thoughts Part 9.5 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 62: Momentary Thoughts Part 9.5 Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Hmm, I know that I logged in just recently, but it sure feels as though I haven¡¯t been here in years.¡¹

    Since I more or less fulfilled the requirements for the Gravekeeper fight, right now I was not the Bird-faced Sanraku, but someone else entirely. With the unique quest activated, you could say that I just got a small break. And only one thing to do with breaks¡­¡­ So I decided to log into ¡°Berserker Passion Online¡± (a.k.a ¡°Crap¡±) to see how things were here.

    Naturally, Modorokatsu was not here with me. For now, he was still fishing and trying to reach the level fifty. Oh well, Pencilgton is there with him, so it shouldn¡¯t take them that much time to wrap things up there. But still, to think I woulde back to ¡°Crap¡± just like that¡­¡­

    ¡¸Is there anyone I can challenge to a fight here¡­¡­ Ah.¡¹

    The reason I logged in here was to seek out a sparring partner, someone who would help me out in preparation for the Gravekeeper fight.

    ording to Pencilgton¡¯s information, the Gravekeeper has a wide array of attacks that include elemental attacks, insta-kill moves and AoE attacks. If it was indeed like that, thening to this game was a good choice, since there were some enemies in here that fit the description almost perfectly.

    Fortunately, in this game you could re-run any quest, even boss ones, with the assistance of NPCs instead of yers, so I was going to do just that.

    Thest boss of Berserker Passion Online¡¯s story mode, ¡°Crisis¡±¡­¡­ If I remember correctly, it was a cataclysm incarnate that stood at the apex of humankind, wielding ultimate power that would be able to shape reality ording to his will.

    I wanted to warm up before attempting to fight him, but so far I haven¡¯t had any luck with finding any suitable sparring partners.

    Well, even though it was summer vacation season, it was still Wednesday morning, so it was only to be expected that there wouldn¡¯t be that many yers here¡­¡­ Oh, no, wait! There¡¯s one! The yer with the icon I was looking for!

    ¡¸Ah, umm, hello?¡¹

    ¡¸Y, yes! Coming right up!¡¹

    I try to talk to that person, and they turned around to face me, looking and sounding startled. Their voice was pretty young, so maybe they are like Katsu? A yer that is younger than their avatar looks? I also check the name tag of that yer¡­¡­ ¡°Dragonfly¡±. Hmm, that¡¯s not a familiar name. At least I don¡¯t recognize it from my time ying this game.

    ¡¸Umm, would you like to y together?¡¹

    ¡¸S-Sure! B-but I¡¯m still an inexperienced yer, so taking ast boss might still be a little bit impossible for me!¡¹

    Oh, but there¡¯s so much more to this game than thest boss, you know? Still, a genuine ¡°new yer for this kind of game is something of an endangered species in these times.

    Let¡¯s see here¡­¡­ Ah, yes, it seems that this guy is a basic all-round character. That would mean that he is going to use the most basic of battle styles, which was basically ridden with all sorts of bugs and glitches. However, I don¡¯t suppose that this guy here would be able to utilize the bugs¡¯ full potential as skillfully as Modorokatsu would. It took quite a lot of skills to do that.

    ¡¸Umm, are you aware of the bugs? Or not really?¡¹

    ¡¸Bugs¡­¡­? Ah, you mean the bugs that apply to thebat? My senpai¡¯s told me all about them! So yeah, I do know about bugs! Like the Frozen Earth!¡¹

    Frozen Earth¡­¡­? Ah, is this some kind of newbo that the users of ¡°Bugtudo¡± came up with? But for now, it seems that this guy bought the physical copy of the game and knew about the bugs, and was even instructed by his senpais about them.

    We agreed to have a duel, and then the arena was formed around us.

    ¡¸Well anyways, thanks for doing this with me.¡¹

    ¡¸I hope that you will treat me well!¡¹

    Then there was the sound of the gong, signaling the beginning of round one of the duel. Let¡¯s gooooooooo!!!!!!!!!

    ¡¸Uoooaaahhh!!!???¡¹

    So fast!? So he¡¯s not an all-rounder but rather a speed type that excels in agility¡­¡­ Hey, isn¡¯t that a little bit too advanced for beginners to pull off!?

    ¡¸At first twist your body¡­¡­ And the strike just like that!¡¹

    Dragonfly then throws his fist forward only to retract it backwards almost immediately. He did that because the animation of his fist would be fixed on its initial position, and his arm would now extend just like rubber would as a result¡­¡­ That was one of the mostmonly used bugs around these parts, using the extended textures to extend the reach of your attacks.

    ¡¸Fuhn, a ¡°Pilebunker¡±, huh?¡¹

    ¡°Pilebunker¡± was another bug in this game that takes some amount of preparation, but in return would double the range of your attacks and let you dish out double the amount of damage you would normally do. This is what a ¡°Pilebunker¡± is.

    Bugs for beginners¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know if you could call them that, but they were so easy to use that even theplete newbies would be able to handle them without much problem.

    ¡¸Toryah!¡¹

    Dragonfly finally makes a punch, directing his extended fist straight at me. It flies so fast, like a bullet made out of rubber (Note: Gomu Gomu no Pistol, anyone?).

    My general ystyle in this game was based around utilizing my limbs and rarely weapons to counter the enemy¡¯s attacks at thest possible moment, just when their attacks were about to hit. That would always leave them wide open for the counterattack, but required researching every new bug that would pop up now and then in order for me to know when to counter them.

    ¡¸From a neutral position, jump in any direction with your right foot, and then do a sidestep with your left leg!¡¹

    ¡¸Arere!?¡¹

    As I manage to deflect Dragonfly¡¯s punch at thest possible moment, he opens his eyes wide in surprise. What was even more shocking was the fact that I managed to leap almost five meters forward towards him, closing the distance between us. ¡­¡­ Now then.

    ¡¸This bug is called ¡°Yoyo¡±. It causes your avatar to shift every three seconds or so.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, my legs are stretching for some reason¡­¡­¡¹

    It seems that his leg joints got buggy. It would sometimes happen when you were moving from side to side or jumping around, and sometimes the probability of the bug happening would raise to as much as eighty percent.

    Additionally, I heard from Katsu that recently he developed a new technique, one that would allow you to bypass the opponent¡¯s guard even if his guarding stance was still up. How did he call it? ¡°Shield Bash¡±, was it? It was a technique that leaves your opponent wide open for attacks¡­¡­ It wasn¡¯t the level of shenanigans you would expect from sh*tty games, but it was still a lot of fun.

    ¡¸Hehe, the bugs in this game are not yet on the level that guarantees you a wless victory!¡¹

    ¡¸One more! One more round, please!¡¹

    Fuhaha! Now I am going to show you! The ultimate ¡°Bugtudo¡±! Abination of bugs with my unique fighting style!

    ¡¸I, I can¡¯t win¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸My Instant Fist Style truly is invincible!¡¹

    There were some exceptions to that im, like Modorokatsu for example. No matter how hard I try to beat that guy, I just seem unable to do it for some reason.

    ¡¸O, once more! Please, just one more match!¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­¡¹

    To be honest, I wasn¡¯t at all up for this. After all, I came here to fight thest boss, not the yers.

    But this game¡­¡­ It wasn¡¯t ShanFro. It wasn¡¯t even a good game. It was a sh*tty game. It was, and yet, there was a new yer here. For games like that, new yers were even more valuable than diamonds.

    I don¡¯t think that this game will ever experience a sudden poprity boom, but I wouldn¡¯t want to see it be deserted as well. So if I could help out some kouhai yers, then it is my duty as a gaming senpai to lend them a hand!

    ¡¸Fine.¡¹

    ¡¸Thank you very much!¡¹

    Also, I can¡¯t say that it wasn¡¯t fun to y against someone who was honestly trying his best to best me via trial and error.

    To tell you the truth, I wanted to see how far this newbie might go¡­¡­ No, I believe that he wanted to test himself like that as well.

    The gong sounded again, signaling the beginning of another round of the duel. Learning from his past mistakes, rather than attacking with buggy arms, Dragonfly decided to approach me at a very high speed. I have already seen him move like that, so I wonder just how was he going to adapt to it this time around?

    ¡¸Right here!¡¹

 Chapter 62: Momentary Thoughts Part 9.5 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 62: Momentary Thoughts Part 9.5 Part 2</h4>

    I managed to deflect that at thest possible moment, huh? Dragonfly tried to put some distance between us again, but since his extended limbs began to pull him back in, I was waiting for him, ready to strike where he would least expect it.

    But rather than resisting the natural pulling force of his body, Dragonfly used the momentum it gave him tounch himself forward at an even faster pace. He was approaching my face at a speed that was really astonishing.

    ¡¸Eeeiii!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Whoa, there.¡¹

    It was an ordinary punch, with no tricks attached to it. The timing of this attack really caught me off guard and I had no other choice but to let that one connect. I was already in an interception motion anyways, expecting a ¡°Pilebunker¡± and nothing else. But oh well, hard to me a newbie that he would act in an unpredictable way.

    ¡¸I, I did it!¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t get too full of yourself! You managed tond but a single blow, the battle doesn¡¯t end with just that!¡¹

    ¡¸Uwah!¡¹

    Who said that counter-based fighting style cannot be used in an aggressive way?

    Throwing small punches all the time where you least expect them to be thrown. Always being on the offensive, not giving a moment to fight back. Even if he would try to put some distance again, I would be perfectly ready and waiting.

    ¡¸In, in that case!¡¹

    ¡¸Uwah!¡¹

    Thinking that I was going to use ¡°Shield Bash¡± on him again, Dragonfly reflexively tried to guard. It was a good call, but unfortunately that¡¯s wrong here! Bzzt, bzzt! Only sixty points!

    ¡¸There we go.¡¹

    ¡¸Ehh¡­¡­ Guaah!¡¹

    ¡¸Guard Break is an essential move to know in every game out there.¡¹

    And speaking of which, Shield Bash was not a defensive technique, but an attacking one. Not to mention that it was also buggy. But as an attack skill it was realistically possible to incorporate it into some nastybos that would leave most of the unsuspecting opponents pretty much dead. I manage to blow Dragonfly away with a powerful punch and he got up rtively fast, but I was already there to greet him with yet another blow.

    ¡¸Now then, what do you want to do? My Iai Fist can easily be activated in a radius of one meter around me.¡¹

    ¡¸Kuh¡­¡­ If that¡¯s the case!¡¹

    A duck? Seriously? No, I mean, points for trying and quick thinking, but a duck? How is that going to aplish anything?

    What are you going to do from here on out? Rush straight at me? Stop suddenly right before me and change directions? Going for some special technique of yours? Or maybe something even more desperate¡­¡­ Hmm!?

    ¡¸Eh, what the hell is this!?¡¹

    ¡¸TOOOOOORRRYYYAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!¡¹

    Was I going to lose? No, as long as it¡¯s this one round, it should be absolutely fine. More importantly, I must observe this new, never-before seen bug that was happening right in front of me.

    The special attack of all-rounders in this game was called ¡°Fist Wave¡± and it was shockwave projectile that was fired in a straight line in the shape of a clenched fist. I stopped trying to avoid it and took it directly upon myself, which as a result reduced my HP to about fifty percent of the gauge.

    Even though this guy was a beginner, he had some basic knowledge about the game, and he wasn¡¯t afraid to go on the offensive when the opportunity would present itself. After that my HP continued to drop and Dragonfly won the first round for himself.

    ¡¸I, I did it! I managed to win my first round!¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, time, time!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, r-right!¡¹

    I wasn¡¯t here alone with Dragonfly anymore. More and more people started to show up, and our duel was gathering more and more attention.

    ¡¸Do you want others to see that? Or would you like to keep it to yourself?¡¹

    ¡¸It is technically simr to ¡°Pilebunker¡±, so it shouldn¡¯t be that much of a problem. The only problem would be if people realized that basic ¡°Pilebunker¡± doesn¡¯t allow duplication of extra skills.¡¹

    ¡¸By the way, is this bug in any way rted to the ¡°Doppelganger¡± skill?¡¹

    ¡¸No, together with one of my senpais we verified that the starting coordinates needs to be different for this maneuver to work. So instead of ¡°Doppelganger¡± I would call it a ¡°Chimera¡±¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, there might be some additional things that you might want to confirmter if you have the time¡­¡­¡¹

    With the consultations finished, we both return to our original positions.

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­ Dragonfly-san?¡¹

    ¡¸Y, yes!?¡¹

    ¡¸Congrattions. You are probably the first one to discover that bug, so you should feel proud about that fact.¡¹

    ¡¸Eh¡­¡­ Eeeehhhh!?¡¹

    I see¡­¡­ So it was possible to pile up special attacks like that, huh? In other words you quickly cancel one action and perform another one, so that the system fails to recognize them properly and on time¡­¡­

    ¡¸That is why if you happen to find a new bug, you get the privilege to name it in some way. That¡¯s how we do things around here.¡¹

    ¡¸Eeehhh!? No way! Even if you tell me something like that so suddenly¡­¡­¡¹

    Don¡¯t get me wrong. It is for the sake of this bug receiving a good and proper name. There were cases in the past that when one yer found a bug he chose to name it ¡°Nyan-Nyan Silver PureBuster!¡±, so it was to avoid things like that happening ever again.

    But since it was already in cirction on the Inte, the damage had already been done and there was no way in which yers could do anything to fix that. Hence, whether someone was to use the ¡°Nyan-Nyan Purester!¡± they would always have that reallyplicated expression all over their faces.

    ¡¸Oh well, you can decide on the nameter. For now, let¡¯s finish our little duel here. Of course, it¡¯s going to be totally my win!¡¹

    ¡¸I, I¡¯m not going to lose!¡¹

    I have to show it to him. That even though I¡¯m behaving in a friendly manner I am a high wall that he will need to try and traverse one day.

    Round two of the duel started, and Dragonfly tried to do the same special bugged action on me, which I managed to avoid just barely by dodging right when the technique was activated. This bug had a lot of potential in it, but I could already see that it would be difficult to pull off by others, since you needed precise timing for it to work and wait until the special gauge would be filled.

    ¡¸Eeehhh!?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s amazing, isn¡¯t it? This is only a game, but we can be someone that¡¯spletely different from our normal selves and do things we wouldn¡¯t normally be able to do.¡¹

    Coming back to special gauges in this game, if a certain number of seconds passed after its activation you were unable to cancel them. But aside from that, everything was just like with ShanFro. You just had to initiate the skill, and the system would do all the work.

    But if the yer was to perform the evasive action with nothing but one frame left before the moment for cancetion would expire, he would be able to perform that evasive maneuver and STILL be able to pass the special attack action. So in summary, it was nothing but positive¡­¡­

    ¡¸I¡¯m actually at a loss on how to name that technique. So far I have considered ¡°Shadow¡±, ¡°Swampman¡± and ¡°Doppelganger¡±.¡¹

    Against that I used the Iai Fist Style technique called ¡°Iai Reversal¡±. It was the slowest in my arsenal, but would allow me to reflect virtually any kind of attack, assuming that I would nail the timing just right.

    ¡¸Ahh, of course something like that won¡¯t cause me any harm.¡¹

    ¡¸Iiiiiiihhhhhh¡­¡­!?!?!?¡¹

    Instead of hitting me, the long and powerful shockwave crushed against Dragonfly¡¯s body. Once the initiative was on your side, it was almost too easy to overwhelm the new yers just like that.

    ¡¸Umm, thank you so much for your help! I¡¯ll try toe up with a cool-sounding name!¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, oh, yeah, good luck with that.¡¹

    The bearded giant bowed his head to me in a sign of gratitude¡­¡­ After that I logged out of the game while being filled with a fluffy feeling of doing a good job as a senpai towards my kouhai¡­¡­ Now that I think about it, what was my original purpose again?

    After all, I ended up logging in yet again.

 Chapter 63: Momentary Thoughts Part 10 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 63: Momentary Thoughts Part 10 Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Now then¡­¡­ Is this the ce?¡¹

    ¡¸It sure is! This is the Rabbitz special Skill Combine establishment! We call it ¡°Skill Garden!¡±¡¹

    After switching back and forth in between various other games, I finally decided to go back to ShanFro and asked Emul to guide me towards the facility that would allow me tobine my skills. It would be wise to get to know the ce before delving into its services.

    Because I was power-leveling like crazy, I managed to acquire some new skills and leveled up some of the already existing ones. Right about now some good deal of organizing and enhancement would be necessary for me to do. As a result of my power leveling, my current status is as follows:

    PN: Sanraku

    LV: 51 (5)

    ss: Mercenary (Dual Wielding)

    Money: 73,200 Mani

    HP: 30

    MP: 10

    STM: 60

    STR: 40

    DEX: 50

    AGI: 70

    TEC: 55

    VIT: 5

    LUC: 74

    Skills:

    ? Rush sh ¡ú Infinite Stream

    ? Spiral Edge ¡ú Drill Piercer

    ? Knuckle Rush ¡ú Select

    ? Slide Move ¡ú Skate Foot

    ? Repel Counter ¡ú Parrying Protection

    ? Loop sh Lv.8

    ? Edge Climb ¡ú Greater Climbing

    ? el Lv.MAX

    ? Leap ¡ú Five Leap

    ? Quick Spin ¡ú Sharp Turn

    ? Deerstep Lv.7

    ? Drainer Lv.6

    ? sher Lv.4

    ? Oppressive Kick Lv.5

    ? Piercing Armor Lv.3

    ? Best Step

    ? Fighting Spirit Lv.7

    ? Unbreakable Lv.5

    ? High Runner Lv.6

    ? Naked Sense Lv.4

    ? Hunger Impulse Lv.4

    Equipment:

    Left Hand: Empire Bee Sword

    Right Hand: Empire Bee Sword

    Head: Mask of Bird¡¯s Eye (VIT + 1)

    Torso: Curse of Luukan

    Waist: Leather Belt (VIT + 4)

    Feet: Curse of Luukan

    essories: None

    ¡¸Welp, but my defense is still as sh*tty as ever.¡¹

    It was no exaggeration to say that my defense was paper-thin. Not to mention that it was basically toilet paper-thin ¨C¨C a single drop of water would be more than enough to tear a huge-ass hole in it. I didn¡¯t obtain any new equipment and my Vitality was still but a single digit, so it was that much more depressing.

    Anyways, giving up on the idea of increasing my Vitality for now I invested a point or two in Endurance, hoping that it would allow me to evade and dodge more prominently¡­¡­ as well as swing my favorite weapons some more.

    ¡¸I sure hope that this facility will prove to be useful, because this is slowly starting to shift from funny to messed up.¡¹

    Having a lot of useful skills was not bad in and of itself, but once that number was starting to get to nearly as many as thirty to forty, it would no longer be aughing matter. In that case it would be necessary to cut off some side branches as to let the main bark of the tree grow healthy and strong, so to speak. Thinking about it that way, the name ¡°Skill Garden¡± was more than urate, although I think that ¡°Skill Gardener¡± would fit even better here.

    ¡¸There are few ces like that around town, but this one is supposed to have better prices and line-up as well! But it¡¯s a secret, so you didn¡¯t hear that from me, ok?¡¹

    ¡¸Nice, very nice, I like secrets like that.¡¹

    After talking to an information broker in town together with Emul we were directed to a certain Skill Combine shop near the Bunny Court.

    ¡¸Wee, wee,e on right in! Oh? Isn¡¯t that Emul and the Bird-Head?¡¹

    ¡¸Is that the already established way of calling me around these parts?¡¹

    This gag was slowly bing old as well¡­¡­ But there was sadly no better head equipment for me to use there.

    Once we entered the store, we were greeted by a gentle and warm voice that could only be described as an ¡°Onee-san-like¡± voice. The Bunny that was behind the counter looked a whole lot like Emul, but she was giving this strong elder sister vibe there.

    ¡¸Elk-onee-chan! Sanraku-san, this is my other sister, Elk-onee-chan! Together with Break-onee-chan we are triplets!¡¹

    ¡¸Hee.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡¹

    Ah, I see. So Emul had not one, but two sisters? That¡¯s actually surprising. While I was thinking that, Emul¡¯s sister approached us from behind the counter¡­¡­ Now would be a good time to bring the main subject of our visit here.

    ¡¸Oh, that¡¯s right, you canbine skills in here, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, that¡¯s right. I used to work here as a part-timer in the past but I was so good at my job that Daddy basically told me that I should be the one who¡¯s in charge from now on.¡¹

    ¡¸Is, is that so?¡¹

    ¡¸S, Sanraku-san! Let¡¯s not get sidetracked here! Once Onee-chan starts to talk about something, we can be here all day and won¡¯t hear the end of it!¡¹

    Oops, that¡¯s right. That was a close call.

    ¡¸Well then, I would like to try tobine some of my skills.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, certainly. Just tell me which ones you would like tobine?¡¹

    When Elk says that, a window popped up right in front of me. It was the list of all of my current skills. When you click at least two of them, you could see in advance just what kind of skill you would get and what its effect would be.

    I see, so it was like that instead of having to gamble on the result. Hmm, let¡¯s see¡­¡­ Just click this and click on that and the result would be¡­¡­

    ¡¸Ohh, that¡¯s right! I almost forgot to tell you! It¡¯s better tobine two skills whose levels are high. That way you can get a new skill that will have even higher level than the ones that were used to make it.

    ¡¸Fumu, fumu¡­¡­¡¹

    If you say something like that to me, it will make me want to wait withbining them until their levels would hit max. When ites to skills, they weren¡¯t connected to the level of yer so if I really wanted to I could even bring some of them to level sixty¡­¡­ No, make that sixty five even! What to do, what to do?

    Nah, I can¡¯t be picky right now. Let¡¯s just try tobine some of them together and see what the result will be.

    ¡¸Well, I guess something like that is fine.¡¹

 Chapter 63: Momentary Thoughts Part 10 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 63: Momentary Thoughts Part 10 Part 2</h4>

    PN: Sanraku

    LV: 51 (5)

    JOB: Mercenary (Dual Wielding)

    Money: 73,200 Mani

    HP: 30

    MP: 10

    STM: 60

    STR: 40

    DEX: 50

    AGI: 70

    TEC: 55

    VIT: 5

    LUC: 74

    Skills:

    ? Infinite sh

    ? Drill Piercer

    ? Infight Lv.1

    ? Skate Foot

    ? Parrying Protection

    ? Hand of Fortune Lv.1

    ? Greater Climbing

    ? Climax Boost Lv.1

    ? Five-Fold Jump

    ? Sharp Turn

    ? Assassin Earring Lv.1

    ? Oppressive Kick Lv.5

    ? Best Step

    ? Hunger Wolf

    ? Off-road Lv.1

    Equipment:

    Left Hand: Empire Bee Sword

    Right Hand:: Empire Bee Sword

    Head: Mask of Bird¡¯s-Eye (VIT + 1)

    Torso: Curse of Luukan

    Waist: Leather Belt (VIT + 4)

    Feet: Curse of Luukan

    essories: None

    Yup, for now this was my best attempt at organizing my inventory and keeping things under strict control. But still, while I was using the shop¡¯s features, I also noticed thatbining skills together was not the only thing it offered.

    It seems that the resulting skill is decidedrgely by the ss of the yer and the level of the skills offered forbining. But how does that system works in greater detail is still nothing but a mystery for me.

    For now, I think it has something to do with your general aplishments on the battlefield?

    Infinite sh, Drill Piercer, Skate Foot, Parrying Protection, Greater Climbing, Five-Fold Jump, Sharp Turn¡­¡­ They seemed to bergely simr to the skills that I¡¯ve been using ever since the beginning of the game, although now they were slightly different in both names and effects.

    Infight is a passive skill that gives a boost to melee damage at very close range, created as a result ofbining an attack skill with an avoidance skill. And since I was using two swords at the moment, its effects should reallye in handy.

    Hand of Fortune¡­¡­ I remember that name from other sh*tty games, but there it was called Hand of Glory or something like that. Although it was also a magic catalyst, and here it is a skill and nothing more. Fortunately enough, this skill increases its damage with LUC stat, not STR. In other words it was perfect for me, since my Luck and Skill stats were much higher than Strength.

    Climax Boost is a skill thatbines the effects of both elerator and Fighting Spirit. If your HP falls below one third of its maximum value and the HP of your enemy is higher than your HP, you will receive a tremendous boost to all of your stats. The ability itself was really useful, the problem is, it doesn¡¯t suit my ystyle all that well. You know, paper-thin defenses and all that.

    Assassin¡¯s Earring. A skill that increases the damage of your piercing attacks for as long as you stay undetected and enemy¡¯s aggro doesn¡¯t focus on you.

    Oppressive Kick wasn¡¯t really a kick, but rather a stomp. It looked exactly like the motion you would do to squash a bug that was crawling at your feet. While you were doing that, it increased the damage dealt to enemies that were knocked over, knocked back or under any heavy Crowd Control status like that. It wasn¡¯t all that useful to me, but it couldn¡¯t have been modified into anything else, so for now it must stay with me.

    Best Step, that was the skill that Emul was familiar with. It seems like it was a skill that allowed you to jump and hold your bnce on even the most uneven grounds every so often, provided that the jump was uninterrupted by anything. It might be pretty situational, but may be good against enemies on walls or if I ever wanted to jump on top of some monster.

    Hunger Wolf, on the other hand, was one of my favorite skills thus far. The skill itself and its mechanics were ratherplex, but that¡¯s what makes it so interesting. The more hungry you are and the less HP you have, the bigger boosts you will receive to STR, AGI, and VIT stats, but on the other hand STM, TEC, and DEX will receive a debuff. It was a very useful skill, one that will probably make or break many battles, but¡­¡­ Hungry Wolf, DEX, TEC, why were all of those things triggering my trauma centered around a rather peculiar ck wolf?

    And then there was Off Road. It was a simple utility skill that allowed you to move at normal pace through uneven ground and obstructing surfaces such as water or mud. Moreover, for a level one skill its initial cooldown was a mere ten seconds, so this wille in handy for sure.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Yeah, good enough.¡¹

    For now, these are all great skills that will surely serve me well in the near future. No, even longer than near future! Ah, to think that I was such an idiot up until now and didn¡¯t even know that a splendid facility like that actually existed! Stupid, stupid me!

    ¡¸Is that all, Sanraku-san?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah! More or less, yeah.¡¹

    T, that gave me quite a scare there. It wasn¡¯t anything unpleasant, but it was the fact that I could hear Elk-san¡¯s voice whispering right into my ear so suddenly.

    Elk smiled at both me and Emul, and then pointed down below the shop window. There, in her hand she was holding a small booklet. I know that smile¡­¡­ It¡¯s a smile of some business-savvy merchant.

    ¡¸Would you like me to show you some secret skills that are only avable here in Rabbitz? Since Emul holds you in such high regard, I¡¯ll even give you a discount~.¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san, lucky you! Elk-onee-chan¡¯s skills are usually so overpriced that basically no one is able to afford them¡­¡­¡¹

    WHACK!

    ¡¸Bugeh!?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll give you a really good discount~. What say you~?¡¹

    Elk whacked Emul to the head, preventing him from finishing his sentence. I know what he was trying to say to me, but still¡­¡­

    What¡¯s so bad about having a look at the merch in store? And if I¡¯ll have a discount, maybe I¡¯ll be able to score some sweet deal for myself that way.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s see, let¡¯s see¡­¡­¡¹

    ? Special Sword Art ¡¸Cresent Moon Cut¡¹ 50,000 Mani

    ? Special Sword Art ¡¸Water Mirror sh¡¹ 80,000 Mani

    ? Fatal Sword Art ¡¸Moonlit Thrust¡¹ 70,000 Marni

    ? Fatal Sword Art ¡¸New Moon Spin¡¹ 90,000 Mani

    Etc., etc. ¡­¡­

    ¡¸No! No, no, no, no, no absolutely no! Thank you!¡¹

    Just where the fuck is this sh*t discounted to you!?

 Chapter 64: Momentary Thoughts Part 11 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 64: Momentary Thoughts Part 11 Part 1</h4>

    Just like that, the next days went by with the same routine for us: farming and getting ready for the Gravekeeper fight, day in and day out. Monday through Friday and on the weekends as well. The days soon started to merge into one convoluted mass, and before we even noticed it, the appointed time was nearly upon us.

    Our meeting ce was the NPC bar ¡°Snake¡¯s Apple¡±, like usual. When I once asked Pencilgton why he would choose such a shabby ce as a meeting spot, his response consisted of two things: that the food was surprisingly good and filled with rare dishes and that this ce epted the yer Killers as its patrons without any prejudice.

    Beginners apparently don¡¯t know about this ce at all, and advanced yers chose more sophisticated facilities around the city, so it was something of a secret spot, where only those familiar with the name would gather. Katsu seemed to like the ce pretty much as well, for he was always ordering cake and eating it like it was some kind of gourmet dish.

    ¡¸Hmm, oh yes, it¡¯s so sweet!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m not all that fond of excessive sweetness like that.¡¹

    ¡¸Right, right¡­¡­ I gathered us here this early in the morning only because I wanted to reconfirm our strategy one more time.¡¹

    So we were doing exactly that right now, while every single one of us was munching on something.

    ¡¸For now, we shall wait here at Thirdrema and head into the Caves at around 11:30¡­¡­ right?¡¹

    ¡¸Reaching our destination will take about fifteen minutes, so we shall wait right at the entrance for the right moment.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right, I will go and set some traps ahead of time in case some members of the Ashura-kai were going to invade us from the Fiftsia¡¯s side, so I should barely make it in time¡­¡­ The moment the date changes, it¡¯s the decisive battle for us.¡¹

    Right now we were sitting in a private room that the store¡¯s owner made avable to us. It was good, because having a private room eliminated the possibility of some other yers trying to invade our meeting or privacy as we waited.

    Our leveling up was done. Our skills werebined and organized. Our weapons and armor were renewed and repaired. And while Katsu said that he wished he had more time to prepare, I was pretty much calm and content with what I had.

    And since I¡¯ve done some fighting with the super OPst boss from ¡°Crap¡±, I was fairly confident that I would be able to read the boss¡¯s movements and attack patterns ahead of time, up to some extent, at least.

    Additionally, Katsu finished his leveling up process while farming Destrobsters, since the Sea Serpents stopped satisfying him with the EXP they were giving. I am fairly sure that he managed to train his abilities and skills because of that, but what about my own level? It was as follows:

    PN: Sanraku

    LV: 53 (15)

    ss: Mercenary (Dual Wielding)

    Money: 150 Mani

    HP: 30

    MP: 10

    STM: 60

    STR: 40

    DEX: 50

    AGI: 70

    TEC: 55

    VIT: 20

    LUC: 74

    Skills:

    ? Infinite sh

    ? Drill Piercer

    ? Infight Lv.4

    ? Skate Foot

    ? Parrying Protection

    ? Hand of Fortune Lv.3

    ? Greater Climbing

    ? Climax Boost Lv.2

    ? Five-Fold Jump

    ? Sharp Turn

    ? Assassin Earring Lv.5

    ? Oppressive Kick Lv.6

    ? Best Step

    ? Hunger Wolf

    ? Off-road Lv.2

    ? Fatal Sword Art ¡¸Water Mirror Moon¡¹

    Equipment:

    Left Hand: Empire Bee Sword

    Right Hand: Empire Bee Sword

    Head: Mask of Bird¡¯s Eye (VIT + 1)

    Torso: Curse of Luukan

    Waist: Leather Belt (VIT + 19)

    Feet: Curse of Luukan

    essories: None

    ¡­¡­ Yes, that¡¯s right! I bought it! That super expensive skill! But I only did that because I was too scared of what would happen to me if I didn¡¯t!

    But it wasn¡¯t all bad! With that, my defenses should be upgraded from paper-thin to cardboard-thin! And cardboard is much sturdier than paper, mind you!

    Everything should be fine for as long as I keep my guard up at all times and do my utmost best. For starters, I¡¯m going to go with the Empire Bee Swords, but if the situation proves to be too difficult, I¡¯ll switch them for something else.

    ¡¸So, what are you going to do for now?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m going to confirm the locations of the top members of Ashura-Kai for now.¡¹

    ¡¸¡¸Uwah.¡¹¡¹

    ¡¸I want to know their locations ahead of time. If they are somewhere else, that¡¯s fine with me. But we cannot risk it that they lie in ambush somewhere around our desired route. That way it would be toote for us to stop them if they tried to attack us.¡¹

    So he would want to challenge his whole guild just to clear that one boss? Talk about dedication to the task. Not that I didn¡¯t understand where he wasing from.

    ¡¸For the time being this is going to be our strategy until we get to the actual boss arena¡­¡­ Then it shall proceed as nned.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m in charge of fighting Gravekeeper himself.¡¹

    ¡¸I shall take ¡°KIRIN¡± on once it appears, and Pencilgton will be our support, right?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right. Now, Sanraku-kun, there¡¯s something that I would like to confirm with you.¡¹

    Pencilgton turns to looks at me, while I was busy with stroking my neck out of loneliness, since right now Emul was nowhere to be found on my back.

    ¡¸First of all, I must ask you to be able to deal with all of Gravekeeper¡¯s skills without being hit once by them.¡¹

    ¡¸Seriously?¡¹

    ¡¸Once the ¡°KIRIN¡± appears on the stage, you¡¯ll be left with it all on your own. Neither Katsu nor I will be able to assist you since we¡¯ll have our hands full as well. You need to be aware of that.¡¹

    Fumu¡­¡­ Even if you tell me all that, I won¡¯t be able to know how I¡¯ll behave until the right time actuallyes around. But it would be ideal if we were able to go through this fight without wasting our resources for as long as we possibly could.

    ¡¸That¡¯s why if worst case scenarioes to pass, I¡¯ll have to ask you to be our meat shield.¡¹

    ¡¸Leaving the tanking to the guy with cardboard-thin defenses? You sure have some nerve.¡¹

    Apparently gotten used to ouredic duo routine, Pencilgton ignores Katsu¡¯s stingy words, but turns towards him next before long.

    ¡¸Katsu-kun, there will be more than a few times when you will be left on the brink of death. But I shall support you whenever I have a chance to do so, so rest assured.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Oh sh*t, I knew it would be bad, but for it to be this bad?¡¹

    Katsu¡¯s true role begins when the Tactical Warhorse ¡°KIRIN¡± appears on the stage. Judging by his skills alone, he should be able to do it, but Pencilgton¡¯s words made it sound like it was going to be one hell of a difficult fight, even for a Pro Gamer like him.

    ¡¸How should I put it¡­¡­ It¡¯s like, I think it would be best for you to throw away everything you know about horses for now. Better for you to think of it as a heavy truck with four legs. Yeah.¡¹

    ¡¸That is certainly quite an image to throw out there, but it works surprisingly well with me for some reason.¡¹

    I let out a small sigh to calm myself down. We were all going against really improbable odds and almost certain death, but neither of us was losing face. Pencilgton and Katsu were even smiling.

    ¡¸Oh well, I¡¯m a professional gamer. I guess that handling a metal horsie while you y with the main enemy shouldn¡¯t be all that hard. I¡¯d lose face if I didn¡¯t fight it with grace.

    ¡¸But before anything else, don¡¯t let its hind legs kick you man. That would be painful to watch.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, of that you can be sure. Ashura-kai¡¯s best tanks were all taken out in one hit when the ¡°KIRIN¡± kicked them like that.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    A smiling Pro Gamer was never a good thing.

 Chapter 64: Momentary Thoughts Part 11 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 64: Momentary Thoughts Part 11 Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸We still have some time to spare before the battle, so I¡¯m going to catch some sleep¡­¡­¡¹

    I¡¯ve been almost non-stop logged in for the past three days and I was slowly starting to feel the bacsh from that. I wanted to log out and catch a quick rest before the big battle starts, but there were still some things that I needed to take care of before going to bed.

    So I teleport to Rabbitz via the ¡°Portable Teleportation Scroll¡±, an item that I received from Pencilgton sometime earlier¡­¡­

    ¡¸Kyah!!¡¹

    ¡¸Uwoah, what the hell!? A bird!?¡¹

    Suddenly there was some kind of bird thatnded on my arm and sunk its ws into it. It¡¯s appearance looked really simr to the image thats engraved on my mask¡­¡­ Was that a falcon by any chance?

    I tried to shake it off of my arm, but I noticed that I felt no pain at all from it and that I wasn¡¯t losing HP. Also, it seems that it had something like a tube strapped to one of its legs.

    ¡¸Is this perhaps¡­¡­ Someone¡¯s idea of a carrier pigeon?¡¹

    ¡¸Scree!¡¹

    Should I take that as a confirmation? Just then the falcon extended its leg and the tube that was strapped to it disappeared, instead disying a small window filled with letters.

    ¡¸Is that a letter¡­¡­? But who¡¯s the sender?¡¹

    Dear Sir,

    The midsummer sun shines strong and the days are even hotter. How are you spending your summer?

    I thought it might be a nuisance to ask you this directly, hence the letter I have written.

    There is going to be a major updateing live today at 10 p.m. in ShangriLa Frontier. Isn¡¯t it amazing that the update can be applied without the need for the yers to log out? Even though I¡¯m not all that well-versed in technology myself, I think it is something truly impressive.

    This is the main topic: would you like to see some of the new features together with me sometime?

    Thank you for your consideration,

    Saiga-0

    I was stiffened with shock for a moment there to finally realize that it was probably all part of a roley of some sorts.

    Umm, so, to sum it up, was she asking if I was free tonight? I wonder why she was asking me that in the first ce? I¡¯m really sorry, but not tonight¡­¡­

    ¡¸Umm, reply, where¡¯s the reply button¡­¡­? Ah, there it is¡­¡­!¡¹

    Just below the parchment-like window there was a small touch panel with a keyboard to write your response with.

    For now I had to refuse the invitation¡­¡­ Oh yeah, maybe while I¡¯m at it, I might throw a question or two at Saiga-0, who looked like one of the stronger yers of ShanFro?

    ¡¸How do high-level yers deal with ultra-fast attacks¡­¡­?¡¹

    Now what do I do? Should I attach it back to the falcon¡¯s leg? Hey, stop looking at me in such a weird way! I didn¡¯t think that birds could look so clearly spiteful!

    ¡¸Come on now, be a pal ande here.¡¹

    ¡¸Scree!¡¹

    Seeing the falcon fly away with onest scree that couldn¡¯t be mistaken for anything else, I decided to go to Rabbitz¡­¡­ taking a stroll through town one more time.

    ¡¸Scree!¡¹

    ¡¸Eeehhh¡­¡­¡¹

    Wait a moment, wasn¡¯t that a little bit TOO fast for a reply!?

    I gently stroke the falcon¡¯s head while opening the letter, and see so many symbols that I was astonished how it was humanly possible to type so much in such a short amount of time. I give it all a read while allowing the falcon to rest on my shoulder.

    ¡¸So, in short¡­¡­ ¡°Thank you for your reply. It¡¯s a shame, but what can you do? I look forward to seeing you again. Basically, high-speed attacks can be dealt with in two different ways: either by grasping the animation that starts them and dodging ordingly or by critical guard. Although this other option is not all that dependable, since there are lots of conditions that need to be satisfied for a critical guard, some of which are still unknown. What I mean is that, even if your LUC stat is one hundred, you won¡¯t be able to activate a critical guard on that alone. Also, Critical Guard doesn¡¯t seem to work against Multi-Hit Attacks and Insta-Death Attacks.¡± Huh.¡¹

    This ¡°shortened¡± version was still rather long, and the whole thing was five times longer. And to be perfectly honest, lots of the information I was already suspecting on my own before writing this mail.

    Not that those pieces of information weren¡¯t useful but¡­¡­ There was literally nothing I could do about them in my current state.

    ¡¸Welp, thank you yet again, buddy¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Scree!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Want some candy?¡¹

    ¡¸Scree!¡¹

    The falcon ate the candy, but its expression was a clear indication that it would much prefer to eat some raw salmon instead. I know how you feel, buddy, but sorry, I don¡¯t have any on me right now.

    ¡¸Hoo, hoo, so you like that, huh? However, it is really amazing¡­¡­ ShanFro, that is.¡¹

    I know that it was just a creation of a bunch of polygons, but still, it looked just like the real thing.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­ Haa.¡¹

    ¡¸Scree?¡¹

    ¡¸Nothing, it¡¯s nothing¡­¡­ And are you really a falcon to begin with?¡¹

    I unintentionallyugh under my nose. This is it. This is why I y video games. To be able to experience all of those fantastic and unrealistic things that I wouldn¡¯t be able to normally experience in any other way.

    ¡¸Sanraku-san! Wee¡­ back¡­¡­ HMM!?¡¹

    After sending the falcon with the reply, I went to the streets of Rabbitz and met Emul byplete ident while casually strolling about the ce.

    ¡¸What¡¯s wrong?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ That smell! It¡¯s the smell of some other animal beside me! Exin yourself, Sanraku-san! Right now!¡¹

    What are you, a yandere character!? There was a yandere heroine in one of the dating sims that I used to y, and I don¡¯t have fond memories of that yandere heroine¡¯s route, let me tell you! So cease that at once!

    While I was thinking that, Emul began to climb up my body and ultimately stopped at the top of my head.

    ¡¸This ce on Sanraku-san¡¯s back is mine and mine alone! I won¡¯t lose to some random bird that popped outpletely out of nowhere all of a sudden!¡¹

    ¡¸If I remember correctly, bunnies and falcons are natural enemies, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Muu ¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Ouch! Ouch, ouch, ouch! Stop it!¡¹

    You STR may be only at thirty points, but it still hurts, god damn it!

 Chapter 65: Momentary Thoughts Part 12 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 65: Momentary Thoughts Part 12 Part 1</h4>

    Let me proim this as a fact right here and right now: Emul-san is an apex of Vorpal Bunny,bining perfect strength, beauty and wisdom.

    I know it was a totally over exaggeratedpliment, but I was heading towards the Bunny Court right now and I couldn¡¯t afford to let Emul just sit on top of my head all the time like a freaking slime or other monster like that.

    ¡¸Hey, the Great Emul-san, wake up. We¡¯vee to see your dear Daddy.¡¹

    ¡¸Fuehehehe¡­¡­ Haah!¡¹

    While Emul was still having some problems with waking up, I took him off of my head and ced him onto the ground before I entered the chamber where Weissash resided.

    ¡¸Oh, it¡¯s you, kiddo. How are you doing?¡¹

    ¡¸Hi there! The promised day has finally arrived.¡¹

    Answering like that was a standard option in any dating sim, for it could open up some interesting side topics for conversation.

    So when I said something like that Weissash opened his mouth and spoke in a tone that was only ever so slightly louder than a whisper.

    ¡¸I see, even though I would like you to reconsider this idea¡­¡­ I have no right to do so, so if that¡¯s what you set your mind on, then go right ahead.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Still, don¡¯t forget about your Vorpal Soul.¡¹

    ¡¸Right!¡¹

    I get a feeling that if was to ask right now what that whole Vorpal Soul thingy was, I would get killed on the spot.

    No, even though I knew it was a joke, I was still able to understand the message that was tucked in between the lines. That¡¯s more than enough.

    ¡¸Now then, take care and don¡¯t be cocky out there.¡¹

    ¡¸Sure thing! I am going to do my best!¡¹

    I bow my head to the Bunny King and then leave the room.

    I check out my equipment, items, skills and all that stuff yet again, just to be on the safe side. Now that that¡¯s taken care of, should I just rest until evening?

    Then I log out and get a short rest.

    This is nothing but a sleep event. Nothing interesting to see here, so let¡¯s skip that part and move on!

    Later this evening¡­¡­ Or rather, it was already night. I woke up and took a quick bath, and then I made somest minute preparations and check-ups onest time. I then put a piece of paper onto my room¡¯s door with a message ¡°Attending Urgent Business Until Tomorrow Morning. Please Do Not Disturb.¡± written on it. Lastly, I opened a can of energy drink and chugged it down in one go.

    This wasn¡¯t really something that you should be doing while ying Full Dive Games, but ingesting caffeine before ying will improve your in-game performance dramatically for a short while.

    But as a result, afterwards you will end up more tired than you usually would, so it was unwise to use that method extensively. But if not for this asion, then for what?

    ¡¸Ufufuhehehe¡­¡­ Those are the extra strong energy drinks that I have ordered just for tonight. And since they are American ones, they are sure to be far better than Japanese ones!¡¹

    As the caffeine starts to course through my veins and kill the remnants of drowsiness in me, the corners of my lips be horrifyingly distorted in a nasty smile. Yes, I can feel it! I can feel iting to me! The unlimited power that only caffeine could guarantee!

    Additionally, I stuff my mouth with vitamins, protein cookies and other stuff like that. If I was a character in a game, my POWER gauge would surely disy nothing else but MAX value. It was the best possible condition for me to be in.

    Now, I only need to join Katsu in time.

    ¡¸Now then, time for the battle that will decide the fate of the world¡­¡­ or not!¡¹

    I log into the game.

    As Sanraku, I rose up from my bed in the inn at the town of Rabbitz. My body felt strangely light and I felt as though I would be able to do literally everything I set my mind on. It wasn¡¯t that bad of a feeling.

    The caffeine should show its full effects in about half an hour, so for now it was high time to join Katsu.

    Because there was a fierce battle ahead of us, I decided to exclude Emul from the party for now, but instead of leaving him here in Rabbitz I asked him to wait for me back at Thirdrema. When I¡¯ll be back, I shall pamper him however he wants until his mood improves.

    ¡¸Sanraku-san, Sanraku-san.¡¹

    ¡¸Hm?¡¹

    ¡¸Since you are going to challenge the Gravekkeper Wezaemon, I was asked to give this to you right before you depart.¡¹

    We are currently in one of the back alleys of Thirdrema, a ce where we could be sure that no other yers would visit at this hour.

    Right as I was about to leave, Emul handed me a small ne. Looking closely it was just like a jewel or a small ring, although it was put in a reinforced metal frame for some reason.

    ¡¸This is a talisman that Daddy made himself! He put it in a form of ne so that you could carry it with yourself anywhere you want to.¡¹

    ¡¸Fumu¡­¡­ Thanks a lot for this, but even without this talisman there¡¯s just no way that we are going to lose to the Gravekeeper. Believe it!¡¹

    Gah! Emul¡¯s smile was so dazzling right now that I just couldn¡¯t help putting my hand on his head and stroking it a few times.

    ¡¸But well, even though it is the super invincible me that we are talking about and there¡¯s just no way for us to lose, I¡¯ll dly ept this gift. Thank you. In return, I shall give this fight more than one hundred percent of my power!¡¹

    ¡¸Y, yes! Please do your best out there!¡¹

    With that onest encouragement from Emul, I ran in the direction of Thridrema¡¯s gate, where we were supposed to meet.

    ¡¤ Ne of Fragmented Identity

    No special effects.

    It is nothing but a remnant, fragment of the past long gone.

    It is impossible to determine to whom it may have belonged in the past.

    But it is certainly proof of the existence of a certain person.

    ¡¸Yo.¡¹

    ¡¸Hey there, Sanraku. How are you feeling? You drank something to boost your performance?¡¹

    ¡¸I did, in fact, but those drinks that you rmended to me are just god dang awful.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, I may have rmended them to you, but that doesn¡¯t mean that I drink them as well. So I had no idea about their taste, either.¡¹

    We met in front of the ¡°Snake¡¯s Apple¡± and immediately went towards the caves, all the while watching if no one was trying to follow us. Apparently Katsu also drank some energy drinks himself and was now ready to have a go at it. ¡­¡­ Well, seeing how he is a professional gamer whose performance was always being watched by thousands of people, Katsu seemed pretty calm andposed with what was toe soon. Just like that, we finally enter the ¡°Hidden Garden¡± area.

    ¡¸Ah, that¡¯s right. I witnessed the birth of a new bug in ¡°Crap¡±. It allows you to use special attacks multiple times while the special gauge is filled.¡¹

    ¡¸Hm? Seriously!?¡¹

    ¡¸Seriously, seriously.¡¹

    ¡¸I see, I didn¡¯t know that¡­¡­ Why haven¡¯t I thought about it myself? Now it¡¯s so obvious¡­¡­¡¹

    I was thinking the exact same thing. For a moment there I was sat on the ground because we had nothing better to do, until we saw that a certain part of the garden was beginning to be covered in crimson spider camellias.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ That would be it, right?¡¹

    ¡¸The light of the new moon shall break the barrier and show you the way¡­¡­ Was that how it went? Or maybe it¡¯s just¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Stupid! Don¡¯t say it¡¯s just a bug! What if it really turns out to be a bug?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Y, you¡¯re the stupid one here! There¡¯s no way a bug could ur here, right!? Not in this ce¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Way to fucking go, Mister Professional Fucking Gamer¡­¡­¡¹

 Chapter 65: Momentary Thoughts Part 12 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 65: Momentary Thoughts Part 12 Part 2</h4>

    Right, so now the only thing that was left for us to do was to wait for Pencilgton, who was the mastermind behind this whole operation.

    As we were waiting, we could suddenly hear some sort ofmotioning from further inside the cave.

    ¡¸Sorry for keeping you waiting!¡¹

    ¡¸About time, man¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Really sorry, guys, my business took me a whole lot more time than I would have initially expected. I never would have thought that some of my most trusted people would turn out to be so thick-headed.¡¹

    Talk about pitiful¡­¡­ I know that Ashura-kai is the biggest PVP guild out there, but are they really alright with someone like that being one of their top yers?

    While drinking something that was seemingly a potion, Pencilgton looks at us again.

    ¡¸Chances are we might fail this hard¡­¡­ But at least we won¡¯t have to worry about Ashura-kai for now.¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t worry. We won¡¯t fail this. Mark my words.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, we are going against a great opponent like Gravekeeper Wezaemon, so I understand that you might be worried, but¡­¡­ Since we are all here, doesn¡¯t that mean there is only one thing left to say?¡¹

    Then we all smile and bump our fists together.

    ¡¸Now, Mister Organizer¡­¡­ Let¡¯s all do our best and beat the living crap out of that Robo Samurai!¡¹

    ¡¸¡¸YEAH!!¡¹¡¹

    As we withdrew our fists, we epted Pencilgton¡¯s invitation to form a party, and then we jumped right into the special distortion that suddenly appeared right in the middle of the Hidden Garden.

    Katsu jumped in first, I was second, and Pencilgton was thest to jump in.

    And then the world got reversed all of a sudden!

    After what was like a split second for us, all three of us jumped out of the portal and the first thing we saw¡­¡­ Was the cherry tree.

    There was a figure standing right there. We couldn¡¯t see it all too well because of the light the moon was casting at the ce, but this could only be one person.

    ¡¸Set-chan¡­¡­ No, Setsuna.¡¹

    Her existence must have been bound to this ce. She was in here all this time, thinking about her lover and¡­¡­ waiting patiently.

    She was an NPC. Nothing more than a program generated by the game engine. She wasn¡¯t real by any standards. However, I could feel that for Pencilgton she was as much of a real person as any other yer in the game.

    ¡¸Your wish, I¡­¡­ No, we will make it a reality!¡¹

    The withered tree¡¯s branches swayed gently in the night¡¯s breeze. But Pencilgton was looking only at Setsuna-san.

    That is why Pencilgton jumped into the battle arena headfirst, without even waiting for us to catch up.

    They were all severely exhausted. There was a sudden attack onto their Headquarters that no one even suspected. Members of the four biggest PVP guilds in ShanFro ¨C¨C ¡°ck Wolves¡±, ¡°Int Association¡±, ¡°Ten p.m. Army¡±, ¡°Tenpura Knights¡± ¨C¨C formed a raid party unlike any boss had ever seen and assaulted the Ashura-Kai, causing the guild severe losses.

    Still, even though it was extremely hard, they managed to defend their Headquarter from the invaders.

    ¡¸Sh*t¡­¡­ Fuck¡­¡­! Why the fuck would they all gang up on us like some kind of fucking boss battle¡­¡­!?¡¹

    They even had ¡°Golems¡± with them, one of the few monsters that yers could tame and use in battle! Those things could only be produced under a set of very specific conditions! Then there was a yer that managed to kill ten level seventy yers with a single blow¡­¡­ Saiga-0.

    Ashura-kai, which was known as the strongest PVP guild, was now on the verge of copse. The only survivors were a guild master and the strongest people of the guild¡­¡­ all the rest were either killed or carried away to the Bounty Hunters.

    ¡¸A, AllSlot-san¡­¡­ What are we going to do right now!?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ For the time being let¡¯s evacuate to the Hidden Garden. They may be waiting there for us, but maybe we can survive there until morning.¡¹

    There was also the possibility of fleeing to arger area like Thirdrema, but the hidden area that not too many people were aware of was a perfect hiding spot from their attackers.

    As she moved towards the Hidden Garden, the Ashura-Kai Guild master, AllSlot, was deep in thought.

    (Why was the raid party so all-out!? Who leaked the information about us¡­¡­!?)

    Ashura-kai¡¯s headquarters was located inside the city of Fifthia, ¡°The Abondoned Ship Elly¡¯s Glory¡±. So how did it happen that so many guilds managed to find the information about a hidden area that no information broker could provide?

    A mole in their ranks was still the most probable possibility. But judging by the genuine surprise on the faces of the members of the guild, who would it be? AllSlot had a hard time imagining that.

    (Wait just a fucking minute.)

    In the mind of the AllSlot, the dots slowly started to connect.

    What day it is today? The day of the update? No, to hell with the update. It was the day of the new moon. A day when you could challenge the unique monster that Ashura-kai discovered.

    Where did Pencilgton go? ording to the eyewitness¡¯s statements, when the attack started to let up a bit, he was seen running off somewhere.

    Pencilgton was an asshole, but he had a head on his shoulder. If so, then he should be aware of the fact that the Hidden Garden was right now Ashura-kai¡¯s best bet at surviving this crisis.

    But if that was the case, then where the fuck was he right now?

    Those assumptions were being reinforced and turned into conviction.

    Her pace gradually increased and before she even knew it, she started to ignore the voices of her fellow n members and ran towards the Hidden Garden at full speed.

    ¡¸Wha, ah¡­¡­!?¡¹

    Even though AllSlot knew the Hidden Garden well, its sight was a true sight to behold every single time. However, there were signs that someone was here recently, even though the ce should have been deserted.

    ¡¸Ah, but¡­¡­¡¹

    Finally every single piece of the puzzle fell into ce. The worst assumptions that AllSlot had about Pencilgton started toe true.

    There was a case in the past where he managed to control almost the whole poption of a certain game and yed people like a fiddle with little to no trouble at all. That person was her elder sister in real life, and right about now she must have had the time of her life that she managed to pull a stunt like that.

    ¡¸I, I¡¯m fed up with all of this sh*t¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸AllSlot-san?¡¹

    Just for that one moment.

    For the sake of that, AllSlot wanted to do everything that was in her power to stop the raid battle against the Gravekeeper Wezaemon at all cost.

    Arthur Pencilgton sold the Ashura-Kai out.

    When AllSlot arrived at that conclusion¡­¡­ Amane Koun forgot everything about manners and screamed out loud.

    ¡¸That¡­¡­ That FUCKING ELDER SISTEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRR~~~!!!!!!!!!¡¹

 Chapter 66: Momentary Thoughts Part 13 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 66: Momentary Thoughts Part 13 Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸How should I say it? That¡¯s the first time I¡¯d actually wanted to log out of the game and log back in instantly.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, I get you. I totally get you, my friend.¡¹

    As we enjoyed the feeling of slowly being set adrift in the vast space of the game, we watched as the boss arena started to load up. It was roughly the same size as the Hidden Garden, but when ites to design it was theplete opposite.

    The spider camellias were all but gone, reced by barren ground that resembled more of a hardened stone than actual soil.

    The colors of the background seemed to have been reversed, for there was an ominously white sky on which the ck moon was shining¡­¡­ It was beautiful¡­¡­ but also unnerving. You could say that there was somethingpletely unnatural about it.

    And as for the dead tree right in the middle of the area¡­¡­ just like the rest of the ¡°reversed¡± map, it was nowpletely different than what it used to be.

    ¡¸Can dead trees bloom again all on their own?¡¹

    That tree was supposed to be withered away and dead. It was supposed to be like that. But right now it was alive again and in full bloom, so abundant with pinkish petals that it wasn¡¯t able to hold them all in at once, scattering them on the gentle wind.

    There, at the root of the tree, there was a simple grave marker¡­¡­ And right behind that.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Is that?¡¹

    ¡¸That would be it, I think.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Sure looks like it.¡¹

    It was rusted and full of cracks. ¡­¡­ However, even though it looked intimidating, you could see that it was standing here for a long time, seeing as how it was covered with moss traces and withered cherry blossom petals.

    I see. It was just as Pencilgton said. It was best to describe this thing as a mechanical samurai.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    It was d in mechanical ck armor from head to toe, without showing an inch of unprotected skin. Even its face waspletely mechanical, covered in a mask that only let its eyes be visible, which were two bright red dots, like some kind of robot from a kid¡¯s show. Each of his body parts was making a slight mechanical noise and was shaking slightly, as he reached towards his waist and drew his sword.

    And is it only my imagination, or is he almost three times as big as we are?

    ¡¸Well then¡­¡­ You certainly are quite something when ites to the looks department.¡¹

    I take both Pencilgton and Katsu by hand and we start walking towards the mechanical samurai¡­¡­ A unique monster, Setsuna-san¡¯s lover, ¡°undead¡± ording to Weissash¡¯s words¡­¡­ as we approached it, its size was gradually starting to shrink.

    I would like to say that it was just like in the Western duels scenes, but it was actually quite the opposite. I realize that with each of our steps the tension and anxiety in my body were growing more and more.

    ¡¸!!!¡¹

    Finally, the distance between ourselves shrunk to less than one meter¡­¡­ The samurai took a stance. Good, have it your way¡­¡­ Give us an opening and we shall take full advantage of it.

    ¡¸Gravekeeper Wezaemon, let us have a good fight and¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Tachikaze.¡¹

    Contrary to its rusted appearance, it was moving quite fast and was also fast to unleash an ultra-fast attack! Its arm moved in a swift motion, and judging by the bright light that I saw emanating from the de it must have been one of its insta-kill moves! It was aiming right at our necks!

    ¡¸Right! It¡¯s game time!¡¹

    It was as if the time started to pass in slow motion. I bent my head, and the crystal-like de passes right over me, missing my ear by millimeters. I then lose my bnce and stagger, losing sight of the Gravekeeper for a moment.

    Thus marked the beginning of our long and hard battle against the Gravekeeper Wezaemon.

    ¡¸That¡¯s the first time I was actually able to avoid an insta-death attack like that.¡¹

    ¡¸But what do we do now?¡¹

    Also avoiding the de, Katsu asked me that question briefly right as the battle was about to begin.

    Over the past two weeks we discussed many different strategies and approaches that we could take against the Gravekeeper. For example: is it possible to stagger or stun him? How much armor has he exactly? Are there any body parts that we can aim for possible extra damage? It was those sessions of ¡°what if¡± that now allowed me to actually be able to dodge his attack sessfully and not get killed instantly.

    But Katsu must have been aware of the fact that simply dodging its attacks would not get us anywhere, and that the battle would only get increasingly more difficult from that point forward.

    ¡¸I shall start my preparations, so for now, Katsu-kun, try to stun it with the pre-made items I gave you.¡¹

    ¡¸Roger that!¡¹

    Seeing Katsu rushing forward, Pencilgton removes a few items out of his inventory on the spot.

    ¡¸Please, Scale-chan¡­¡­! This battle is for you¡­¡­!¡¹

    Bringing a smile on his lips, Pencilgton recited those words to the small scale he was holding in his hands right now, and the item started to shine in bright gold color.

    At that time, I was doing my best to not get hit by the enemy¡¯s attacks that would instantly turn me into a mass of red polygons.

    Somehow, I¡¯ve managed to avoid another hit that I thought would hit me for sure. All of Gravekeeper¡¯s attacks were fast, strong and hit hard, so I felt as though I was bncing on a really thin tightrope all the time.

    ¡¸Someone switch with me! And we need information!¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s impossible right now! Try to dodge it for a little bit longer!¡¹

    ¡¸Roger¡­¡­!¡¹

    While retreating slowly, I was constantly asking myself that question: ¡°Is there anything valid that we can do to inflict some serious damage onto this guy?¡±

    ¡¸Hyiii, the gap is too great!¡¹

    ¡¸Really now¡­¡­!¡¹

    Even though we were only two or three minutes into the fight, my Empire Bee Sword¡¯s were already brought down to forty percent of their durability. As I hurried to switch them to some other weapons, I watched Katsu doing his best to avoid the Gravekeeper¡¯s attacks.

    ¡¸Gah! I would be willing to pay a fortune for some swift response right about now¡­¡­!¡¹

    Not to mention that just a moment ago I would have been a total goner if it wasn¡¯t for the item that Katsu threw at me the moment I received the Gravekeeper¡¯s attack head on.

    Amongst the items that the yers could possess, there was one that was proving exceptionally useful right now: an item that allowed for full rejuvenation on condition that it was used on the yer during the ten seconds after receiving a fatal blow ¨C¨C ¡°Tears of Rebirth¡±.

    ¡¸I don¡¯t know if I should be in tears or beughing right now¡­¡­ But thanks nheless¡­¡­!¡¹

 Chapter 66: Momentary Thoughts Part 13 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 66: Momentary Thoughts Part 13 Part 2</h4>

    Pencilgton took care that each and every one of us was equipped with them. We have four tears for each person. We also have twenty seven full cure potions, and five copies of the item called ¡°God of Life¡± each, which was basically a light version of the spell ¡°Rejuvenation¡±.

    When fighting a monster that was this strong, and his every single attack was hitting like a truck on a wide area, this was the only real way of preventing the party from getting literally decimated in a matter of seconds. And the Gravekeeper was exactly a monster like that.

    And although it sometimes looked as though we managed to avoid his attacks, it wasn¡¯t always like that.

    I change my weapons to the Swamp Daggers that the cksmith Break enhanced for me. They should have increased damage and durability, and should be enough for now. I then switch with Katsu again.

    ¡¸Okay, change!¡¹

    ¡¸Even if you are about to die, I¡¯ll just take care of it, so no worries!¡¹

    ¡¸Right¡­¡­!¡¹

    Getting up from my knees I evade another attack that was directed at my stomach this time around. It took me some real acrobatics to pull off, but I did it.

    I feel like it¡¯s going to be a wasted effort, but I still try to grasp a hold of my situation and possibly turn it over¡­¡­ It was a movement like doing a flip on a pole?

    ¡¸Uwaah!?¡¹

    Without a minute to rest I roll to the side, avoiding the sword that pierced the ground in the exact spot where I was kneeling just a moment ago.

    The conditions for winning this fight are ambiguous at best, and we don¡¯t know just how long we must prevail for the ¡°Time pse Theory¡± to prove true. But right now there was only one thing we could do.

    ¡¸Thunder Cloud.¡¹

    ¡¸You can only die around ten times or so! Watch yourself¡­¡­!¡¹

    I was looking for a way to get out of the range of the thunderous clouds that started to fill the arena, but I was too slow and I could only cry out in frustration.

    Just like that, seven minutes have passed.

    ¡¸Thunder Cloud!¡¹

    ¡¸Iing!¡¹

    ¡¸Gee, thanks for pointing that out, we weren¡¯t able to see it¡­¡­!¡¹

    I used one of my evasive skills to avoid the damage from the spreading thunder clouds ¨C¨C Skate Foot. Like the name suggests, it is a skill that allows you to slide at high speed instead of running normally. I was having my doubts if I¡¯ll be able to avoid all of the ridiculously high DPS, but it seems that by sliding at full speed I was able to do it just fine.

    ¡¸Don¡¯t underestimate me!¡¹

    When the effect of the Skate Foot expired, I managed to avoid the rest of the damage with activation of my other defensive skill, Parrying Protection. It allowed me to negate the iing attack, for the price of receiving five percent of the total damage done to me. It was a good idea to use it now, but I cannot really spam it for it would be really bad really fast.

    I then rotate my body to avoid my right arm being shed off by Gravekeeper¡¯s sword, and then jumped over another sh that would have certainly cut off my legs from the knees down if I let itnd.

    It was an acrobatic movement, but using it was kind of ast resort action. You could always be shed in mid-air, or during that split second after yound. Not to mention that it was depleting your stamina gauge. But sometimes the risk was worth taking, if it means taking a small percentage of damage instead of its full value.

    ¡¸I honestly think that machine gun fire is easier to dodge than that!¡¹

    ¡¸Switch!¡¹

    ¡¸Counting on you!¡¹

    We switched with Katsu while I threw Tears of Rebirth at him, just before the Gravekeeper managed to behead him with a huge Iai-style sh of his sword. At the same time I was trying to maintain some distance from the Gravekeeper, drawing his attention away from Pencilgton who was still preparing something.

    ¡¸Hey, are you ready yet with your preparations!?¡¹

    ¡¸I still need more time! Try not to die by then!¡¹

    ¡¸I swear to God, if it¡¯s a whole hour that you need, then you¡¯re asking for the impossible!¡¹

    ¡¸Based on what I heard I need twenty minutes at minimum¡­¡­ But if you could hold out until the thirty minute mark have passed then that would be ideal.¡¹

    It¡¯s not that it was impossible, but as the time was passing, it was growing increasingly difficult for us to survive on our own.

    ¡¸Does this qualify as a sh*tty game mechanic, I wonder!?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m starting to think that doing this with three people only, was a really tall order!¡¹

    I know, right¡­¡­? I mean¡­¡­ what is this Pencilgton doing? He seemed to have been tinkering with something with the scales, looking at them and a small window interchangeably. As he noticed that I¡¯ve been staring at him, Pencilgton grinned.

    ¡¸This is the unique item called the ¡°Scales of Bnce.¡± It took me some time and effort to convince its owner to let me borrow it from him. Its effect is¡­¡­ Oh, I guess no one is listening to me.¡¹

    ¡¸Katsu! Time for a change!¡¹

    It wasn¡¯t to let him escape more damage, it was a change simply to take the aggro off of him. I activate Drill Piercer, my new skill, right in front of Katsu, and when I was sure that he had withdrawn I focus my full attention on the Gravekeeper.

    ¡¸Does that mean the second phase is starting? Come on, then! Bring out your little horsie! My professional gamer friend shall take him on a rodeo ride!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Readying for mass transport. Deploying the summoning circle. Tactical War Horse ¡°KIRIN¡±.¡¹

    The Gravekeeper chants with a mechanical and rusted voice, a kind of voice that you surely wouldn¡¯t like to hear too often. Then, a huge magic circle appeared on the ground below us, almost as big as the whole arena we were now standing on.

    This circle was now materializing a huge mass right in the middle of the arena, in a simr way in which a 3D Printer printed stuff.

    ¡¸A horse¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, but you wouldn¡¯t be able to tell that from its shape.¡¹

    ¡¸It really is a truck with legs, holy sh*t!¡¹

    ¡¸Told you!?¡¹

    After the summoning animation was finished, Gravekeeper Wezaemon resumed its unrelenting attacks. I could see it only for a second or two, but from what I saw, it was really a dump truck on four legs. It was by no means an exaggeration.

    Not to mention that it was about five meters tall. Katsu, is he really going to be alright?

 Chapter 67: Momentary Thoughts Part 14 part 1

    <h4>Chapter 67: Momentary Thoughts Part 14 part 1</h4>

    The first impression that both Katsu and I had about ¡°KIRIN¡± was that it was ¡°A truck on four legs¡±, but upon closer inspection it wasn¡¯t like that at all. It was more like this thing was ¡°A quadrupedal tank¡± (Note: Mr. Kojima!?).

    Its color scheme was the same as the Gravekeeper¡¯s, and you could see threads of artificial mechanical muscles covering its whole body, making it resemble the real horse. Additionally it was twice as big as us, and was covered in thick armor.

    I used to ride cavalry horses in some of the games that I have yed in the past, but the sheer size and shape of this thing was so intimidating that but a single question would instantly popped up in my mind: who in their right mind would want to ride a thing like that?

    ¡¸This thing is supposed to run around the arena and shootsers and missiles at us, right?¡¹

    ¡¸I think we are about to experience how it feels to be a human bowling pin in a moment. Certainly a unique experience, but quite the unwee one.¡¹

    As the huge machine starts moving, Katsu tries to crack a joke like that, and I could hardly disagree with him on that one¡­¡­ Now we must keep a close eye on that thing.

    ¡¸Sanraku, quit daydreaming! I can¡¯t be the only person who does the healing around here! There, watch out!¡¹

    Katsu went towards the horse¡¯s hind legs. I don¡¯t know what his n was, but even though this game had Sci-Fi elements, the attention to details was really huge, so apparently there must have been some sort of system on that horse that would make it possible for the rider to mount it. And Katsu¡¯s expectations were right, right around its hind legs there was something that resembled adder that would make it possible to climb on top of this thing.

    And since my stats were reduced to the level fifty, it basically meant that Katsu was roughly the same as me when ites to stats, so he managed to swiftly climb on top of the horse before I even realized it.

    ¡¸Does he have experience in mounting horses like that¡­¡­!? No, that¡¯s ¨C¨C! A skill! Climbing skill ¡°Snake¡±!¡¹

    The skill that Katsu used in order to climb the horse was unique to the monk ss. It was the skill that allowed to descend or ascend great heights with the help of items such as ropes or chains, really handy while spelunking or any kind of archeological work.

    Moving skillfully up the horse¡¯s leg just like a snake, Katsu managed to arrive on top of it and install himself in a ce that looked just like a mechanical saddle.

    ¡¸I didn¡¯t think you could use a side-ss skills in such a crafty way! I¡¯ll show you my skills at rodeo! I wasn¡¯t ranked third in Japan when ites to games like Cavalry Crisis just for show, you know!¡¹

    There was no roar of the crowd. No gong or cheering. But still, Katsu¡¯s crazy rodeo was about to begin.

    Scales of Consideration.

    It is a unique item owned by the Golden Scales Trading Company, a tradingpany run solely by the NPCs.

    As a yer of level ny nine, Pancilgton has seen his share of rare and unique items, but as far as he could tell, this item was closest to being called ¡°broken¡± or ¡°game-breaking¡±.

    ¡¸Oi, oi, don¡¯t you think that thirty million for an item is tad a little bit much?¡¹

    On the left scale there were all of the mani that Pencilgton managed to hoard throughout his ying of the game, both in property and items, which roughly estimated about thirty million mani. It was a sum sorge that the scale was literally touching the ground.

    ¡¸I would like the rate to be about 100, 000 mani , so please bnce it¡­¡­ bnce the mary value with this unjust power!¡¹

    The biggest trouble with this unique item was that it was simply too loyal to its setting. In order to use its effect properly inbat, you really had to nail the mary and power value just about right. But if used correctly, it could be their trump card on this unjust battlefield.

    The unique item ¡°Scales of Consideration¡±.

    The symbol of the Golden Scales Trading Company, run by the NPCs.

    Left scale¡­¡­ it was the ¡°dedication te¡± where you put one thing, and depending on it¡¯s value you could receive various benefits or effect onto whatever you decided to put on the right scale¡­¡­ the ¡°Grace Scale¡±.

    For example, if you were to ce an item on the left scale, you would receive the amount of gold coins that the said item was worth. And although there were some limitations to this system, there was a possibility that the amount of grace could sometimes be even greater than the dedication that you presented.

    ¡¸My every single property, plus additional skill points. About three hundred points in total. Take that!¡¹

    Two windows were disyed in front of Pencilgton. In one window you had the amount of skill points that would be subtracted from the melee and fighting stats, and on the right there was the amount that would be converted into stats that a physical warrior would have little to no use of.

    ¡¸Uooohhh!?¡¹

    Suddenly, the Gavekeeper took a stance for an attack. I was about to dodge it, but nothing happened. He just stood there, making some kind of noise. It threw me off initially, but I quickly realized what was going on here.

    ¡¸He¡¯s preparing for something really big!¡¹

    I was getting better and better at dodging his attacks the more time passed. I was also bing less and less tense, and I was no longer short of breath after every single dodge out there.

    ¡¸Secret Technique ¨C¨C shing Style: Rotating sh.¡¹

    I perform a series of short dashes and jumps to get out of the range of the special technique. As soon as the attack stopped, I activated Drill Piercer with my right hand and threw it forward, aiming either for his torso or face.

    ¡¸Aim for a single point!¡¹

    My attack ended up crushing right into the hand of Gravekeeper, the very same in which he was holding his sword¡­.. or to be more exact, into his finger. The rotation of my skill was bing faster and faster, applying pressure to that single point and allowing for multiple hits at once.

    Surely, the Gravekeeper¡¯s armor was hard and attacking it with any normal weapon would only cause its durability to deplete in an astonishingly fast pace. However, since time immemorial the ces that weren¡¯t protected by armor were the weak points of any monster that was heavily armored like that.

    That attack sure ought to do some sort of damage to the Gravekeeper, however, its effect ended before it was able to inflict some crippling damage or maybe even cutting his finger offpletely.

    More, just a little bit more and I was sure that I would be able to force the sword out of his handpletely. What to do now? There was only one real thing I could do. I threw my left hand out and took a stance to activate Infight. The dagger was also glowing in a golden light of Luck with which it was boosted, and since my Luck was seventy six, which was rather high, when it hit the Gravekeeper¡¯s hand again it made a loud, nasty noise instead of the regr hit sound effect, as if the Gravekeeper¡¯s flesh was prated deeply.

    ¡¸Hand of Fortune!¡¹

    His hand critically struck, the Gravekeeper lets go of his sword and it flies away from his body. Faster than the boss could react, I take back my fallen dagger and put it in my inventory, and then secure his sword so that he wouldn¡¯t even think of reiming it.

    ¡¸Hahaha! In your face you rice-eating bastard! A samurai without its sword is like a picture without sauce! Completely meaningless and useless!¡¹

    Not that I didn¡¯t expect that to happen, but I was unable to put the Gravekeeper¡¯s sword into my inventory. Not to mention that it wasn¡¯t a normal sword but rather a greatsword, and judging from the way it was burdening my arms my STR stat was not quite high enough to properly wield it.

    But that¡¯s not why I took away his sword. Not for the loot. It was because of that, for now his Iai-style attacks and thunder clouds would be sealed away. Now, I wonder what is this guy going to do without his precious sword? Punch us to death?

    ¡¸Maelstrom.¡¹

    ¡¸Waaaaaahhhhhh!?¡¹

 Chapter 67: Momentary Thoughts Part 14 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 67: Momentary Thoughts Part 14 Part 2</h4>

    I fucking knew it! Don¡¯t underestimate the Uber Bosses! And what¡¯s with that name, it sounded mighty powerful! Was that because I mocked his favorite food¡­¡­? No, wait, calm down, why would rice even have anything to do with this?

    Even if I was to activate both Skate Foot and Best Step at the same time, I don¡¯t think I would be able to avoid that attack in time. I don¡¯t even want to think what would happen if I was to get hit by an attack like that, even though I would probably end up dying on the spot. Also, my current location was rather poor for any urate dodges.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    Even though Pencilgton and Katsu were busy with their individual tasks at the moment, there was this really awkward silence right now that was making it really embarrassing for me. While still doing my best to avoid the attacks, I was trying to get as close to Pencilgton as I possibly could.

    ¡¸Mael¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Uhyaah!¡¹

    ¡¸I fucking knew this would happen!¡¹

    It was foolish of us to think that the Boss would show us any kind of mercy. Rather, you could always be sure that if the Boss could show you absolutely no mercy and crush you like a bug, he would do just that.

    Seeing that the Gravekeeper changed his target to Pencilgton, I tried to sh it with his own greatsword, hoping that it would be more than enough to shift his aggro right back to me and give Pencilgton even more time. How about that? How does it feel when you are being attacked with your own weapon, huh?

    ¡¸¡­¡­ strom.¡¹

    ¡¸Uguoh!?¡¹

    I felt a strong shock and my whole body felt as though it was floating. ¡­¡­ Sh*t, I just got grabbed. No, but this is actually good. This way Pencilgton won¡¯t be targeted¡­¡­

    ¡¸Ubeh!?¡¹

    The world suddenly spun uncontrobly all around me, there was a huge shock, and then everything went dark for a moment only to be brought back to normal mere secondster. Was I instantly revived the moment I was smashed against the ground like a rag doll?

    Sh*t, it felt as though I was thrown into a huge washing machine only to be squashed by a hydraulic press right after that. Right after I finished being revived by Pencilgton, I jumped back up and put some distance between us.

    ¡¸Even without his sword he¡¯s still crazy dangerous¡­¡­¡¹

    Its reach may have been shortened, but instead he gained some rather powerful attacks topensate. We needed to readjust our strategy and update our mind charts with those new attacks, or else we might be in some serious trouble here.

    ¡¸Come on! Is that the best you can do!? At this rate we might as well kill one another if you¡¯ll drag on like that!¡¹

    ¡¸Tachikaze.¡¹

    ¡¸Woah!?¡¹

    What a murderous aura! There was no doubt about it right now! It was going for the kill quite seriously right now!

    In the background I could still hear the sound of the ground shaking violently. It was proof that Katsu was still holding on, making this rodeo a spectacle of the century.

    ¡¸NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!?!?!?!?!?!?!?¡¹

    It was only after a few seconds after Katsu started to ride the ¡°KIRIIN¡± that he realized that all of his preparations were basically useless.

    ¡¸K, Katsu! Are you hanging in there somehow!?¡¹

    ¡¸Sh, shomwehouew~!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? Dude! What kind ofnguage was that just now!?¡¹

    It wasn¡¯t like anything he has ever experienced before in his life. It was certainly not some kind of roller coaster that you could ride without even holding onto the railings. Right now he was nothing but a rag doll, and if not for the rope he brought himself, he would have fallen off the horse long ago.

    (Oh sh*t¡­¡­! Centrifugal force is too much¡­¡­!)

    Even when he thought he was going to be swung to the left, he was immediately thrown to the right with tremendous momentum.

    Moreover, every single time he was bouncing in the ¡°saddle¡± of ¡°KIRIN¡± he was receiving small damage if he failed to cling to its back. If not for the HP regenerating essory that Pencilgton gave him before the fight, his number of deaths would have been terrifying by now.

    (Up until now, let¡¯s see¡­¡­ two deaths. But I still have it better than Sanraku, for he can basically get one-shotted without fail.)

    Pencilgton was doing his absolute best to keep on reviving them if need be, but it was starting to be obvious that the pressure of having to fit that into the ten seconds window was also starting to take its toll on him.

    Katsu stopped thinking about all that and concentrated on the rodeo again right about the time where shakes and tremors intensified.

    (Sh*t, Sanraku would have performed here much better than I am with his stats¡­¡­!)

    Katsu¡­¡­ He might have been a pro gamer, but because of that people would often misunderstand his ystyle. In reality, he was a true strategist. Before every fight, he would try to gather as much intel on his enemies, thinking of best strategies and possible solutions for every possible type of situation that might happen on the battlefield during the fight¡­¡­. That was the thing he was excelling at. That was his true ¡°strength¡± as a gamer.

    In that regard, this fight was the pr opposite of everything that Katsu stood for.

    Katsu was unsatisfied that they had too little information forfort, and the fact that they knew even less about their opponent was making him even angrier.

    (What to do¡­¡­? It¡¯s impossible for me to adjust my position while this thing is rampaging so much!)

    He felt much like a yo-yo, being brutally swung around in every direction possible. If it keeps going like this, sooner rather thanter the durability of the rope is going to run out. Then he would be in real deep sh*t.

    ¡¸Ouch!¡¹

    While his body is being hit against the metal frame of the war horse, Katsu experienced a sudden enlightenment.

    (¡­¡­ Ahh, I see it now. I¡¯m basically swung around like this because I¡¯m not standing up.)

    A battlefield where the scales shone, the rope danced around and a half-naked birdman struggled. They were two minutes short of having engaged Gravekeeper Wezaemon for twenty minutes.

 Chapter 68: Momentary Thoughts Part 15 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 68: Momentary Thoughts Part 15 Part 1</h4>

    A loud and heavy sound of a strike resonates in the air. But it wasn¡¯t myself being pushed against the ground. It also wasn¡¯t the equipment of either Katsu or Pencilgton, for it all must have had real high durability, so there was no way it would break so easily.

    But if that was so, then where was the sound originating from? Then the ground shook again. So the source of those tremors must have also been the cause of those sounds.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸No, it can¡¯t be¡­¡­ There¡¯s no way it would be defeated that easily.¡¹

    Gravekeeper fell on his knees. At first nce it looked like an ideal chance toy waste on him, but on the other hand it was that kind of behavior that you needed to watch out for the most.

    Supporting my theory Pencilgton, who apparently finished adjusting the sales, stood up.

    ¡¸Here ites, you two¡­¡­ From here on out things are about to get really dangerous¡­¡­¡¹

    To his words Katsu seemed to be especially confused, since he was bound to the ¡°KIRIN¡± all this time and was slightly out of the loop, but apparently the horse also stopped its movements in sync with its master. They were both immobile for the moment, but¡­¡­ The tension was so high in here right now that it was almost unbearable.

    ¡¸When I used toe here with other members of the Ashura-kai, this is as far as we¡¯ve managed to go. For the sake of convenience I call this its Third phase. ¡­¡­ We were all annihted by the Gravekeeper in a single moment.¡¹

    ¡¸So in other words, from here on out it is all uncharted waters for us, huh?¡¹

    But at least we all know what to expect right from the get-go as the opening move.

    First stage was the Gravekeeper fighting alone.

    The Second stage is where ¡°KIRIN¡± joins in, and you have to fight both of them at the same time.

    And then there¡¯s the Third phase, in which the Gravekeeper starts with the destructive Area of Effect attack, which could bepared to a suicide attack.

    ¡¸You said that there was some kind of a secret to this fight, is that right!?¡¹

    ording to Pencilgton¡¯s words, that one time they were all wiped out the impact of the attack was so huge that even the Gravekeeper¡¯s armor got all cracked up and destroyed. At one of our strategy meetings, Pencilgton actually told us that he was brewing some sort of a secret strategy for that attack, so that we could all survive it and carry on.

    But with my current defenses there was a part of me that was still worried that even with that secret countermeasure it wouldn¡¯t be enough for me to survive this.

    ¡¸Katsu-kun! Be extra careful from now on! There¡¯s a possibility that there may be some changes to its movements!¡¹

    ¡¸Roger that¡­¡­!¡¹

    Katsu, who was in a really tight spot right now, used that brief moment of respite to chug down a health potion as fast as he possibly could. He also made sure that the rope tied around the ¡°KIRIN¡± was still holding on tight.

    ¡¸From here on out it is a battle that we have never seen or experienced before.¡¹

    ¡¸Going it blind is the basic principle of all games, so no problem from me!¡¹

    ¡¸Good, good¡­¡­!¡¹

    Says Pencilgton while taking something out of his inventory. ¡­¡­ Potions? Then he opens the lid and starts approaching the Gravekeeper with them. His every step was full of conviction and strength, without even the slightest bit of hesitation or fear.

    ¡¸Honestly, if that doesn¡¯t work out, then I don¡¯t know what I am supposed to do¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Oi!¡¹

    At the same time as I was about to voice my protest, the Gravekeeper¡¯s armor, which should have boasted a tremendous amount of defense, started to crack, and Pencilgton threw the bottle right against those newly formed cracks.

    The jar hits the Gravekeeper with a sharp sound of ss being broken. Then, his whole form started to shine as it was wet.

    As if on some sort of a cue, the Gravekeeper tried to pierce Pencilgton with his hand shaped in a spear-head shape,

    ¡¸ooooooooooOOOOOOOOO¡­¡­ GHH! GHAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!¡¹

    But his motion was forcibly interrupted, and there were clouds of white smokeing out from inside the cracked armor of the Gravekeeper, apparently dealing damage to him.

    ¡¸Fuck yeah! Jackpot!¡¹

    ¡¸What the fuck did you do to him!?¡¹

    As I asked for some exnation of what just happened, my body was getting itself ready for the next phase of the fight.

    ¡¸In this game, the knowledge about the game world and its settings are the key to victory. See, I always thought that the Gravekeeper was in fact a human warrior that was mechanized via means of the technology of the Ancients. ¡¹

    I mean, yeah. ? Thinking about it like that, he was most probably just like that, a cyborg or a sentient power armor. Especially after hearing what Setsuna-san ¨C¨C the ¡°Ancient¡± herself ¨C¨C has told us.

    ¡¸If it was really like that, then it would fit perfectly with what Sanraku told us about him being ¡°Undead¡±. By bing mechanized, he would basically be unable to die via natural means. ¡­¡­ That is what I think.¡¹

    Just then, Pencilgton took out his personal arms¡­¡­ a weapon that he felt the mostfortable with using.

    ¡¸The thing I covered him with just now is the ¡°Holy Water¡± created by one of the strongest Saints this world had ever known. ¡­¡­ It was rather expensive and I had to pull a lot of strings to get it, but it is really potent and effective against the Undead of various types.¡¹

    Holy Water of the Saint¡­¡­ No, I think that there¡¯s something more to this than simply that exnation. If it was only doing damage to the enemies, it wouldn¡¯t be this hard to obtain and be this expensive.

    ¡¸I understand where you¡¯reing from, but this is this and that is that.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s almost like the top model, you know?¡¹

    ¡¸Or like a flower, where the most beautiful ones be like that at the expense of leeching the life force from others¡­¡­ But enough about that! Now should be the best moment to strike!¡¹

    Apparently the Holy Water was able to do some nice damage, but in and of itself it wouldn¡¯t be able to deal the finishing blow. But the damage had already been done¡­¡­ as a confirmation, beams of blue me-like energy shot out from Gravekeeper¡¯s wounds, like gushes of blood from the cracks in the armor.

    Parts of its armor perishing away and falling off, the figure that was hidden beneath it all slowly raises up. Before he looked like a mechanical warrior ridden with cybeics, but right about now he was closer to a ghost or a wraith covered in blue mes. Seeing him like that, Pencilgton looked all pumped up and ready to fight. ¡­¡­ Umm, yeah, but maybe before that, take a look to the side?

    ¡¸Ah, what is it now? I want to fight the Gravekeeper right now, but I guess I can go and save Katsu before doing that.¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? Sure thing, we can do that, but¡­¡­ Why?¡¹

    Hey, don¡¯t make such a face¡­¡­ Let¡¯s just get on with it.

    ¡¸The victory conditions are almost certainly time based right now. We can assume for now that maybe thirty minutes is the limit.¡¹

    I point to the side and we look there. As it turns out, ¡°KIRIN¡± also shed its armor together with the Gravekeeper, and poor Katsu was now looking at the deformed and headless beast in puzzlement. But then it started to move towards the Gravekeeper, doing something while it¡¯s at it.

    ¡¸They may be weakened right now, but the differences in levels still stays. It would be impossible for us to take them all on our own.¡¹

    We could see the ¡°KIRIN¡±bine its body with that of the Gravekeeper, and we werepletely speechless for a moment there.

    In other words, the three of us were now facing both of the opponentsbined, while we literally knew nothing about their stats or abilities or attack patterns. But instead of falling into chaos, Pencilgton was right on it with a strategy, telling us what to do and how to behave.

    ¡¸Well, I knew that there was a centaur-like form to them, but I swear that there was also something else about the third phase¡­¡­¡¹

    He says while staring at the opponent bitterly. I guess our roles still stay the same, but for now we probably wouldn¡¯t have to worry about being focused all that much.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Sanraku-kun? Do you think you could assist me for the time being?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Leave that to me.¡¹

 Chapter 68: Momentary Thoughts Part 15 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 68: Momentary Thoughts Part 15 Part 2</h4>

    A loud and heavy sound of a strike resonates in the air. But it wasn¡¯t myself being pushed against the ground. It also wasn¡¯t the equipment of either Katsu or Pencilgton, for it all must have had real high durability, so there was no way it would break so easily.

    But if that was so, then where was the sound originating from? Then the ground shook again. So the source of those tremors must have also been the cause of those sounds.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸No, it can¡¯t be¡­¡­ There¡¯s no way it would be defeated that easily.¡¹

    Gravekeeper fell on his knees. At first nce it looked like an ideal chance toy waste on him, but on the other hand it was that kind of behavior that you needed to watch out for the most.

    Supporting my theory Pencilgton, who apparently finished adjusting the sales, stood up.

    ¡¸Here ites, you two¡­¡­ From here on out things are about to get really dangerous¡­¡­¡¹

    To his words Katsu seemed to be especially confused, since he was bound to the ¡°KIRIN¡± all this time and was slightly out of the loop, but apparently the horse also stopped its movements in sync with its master. They were both immobile for the moment, but¡­¡­ The tension was so high in here right now that it was almost unbearable.

    ¡¸When I used toe here with other members of the Ashura-kai, this is as far as we¡¯ve managed to go. For the sake of convenience I call this its Third phase. ¡­¡­ We were all annihted by the Gravekeeper in a single moment.¡¹

    ¡¸So in other words, from here on out it is all uncharted waters for us, huh?¡¹

    But at least we all know what to expect right from the get-go as the opening move.

    First stage was the Gravekeeper fighting alone.

    The Second stage is where ¡°KIRIN¡± joins in, and you have to fight both of them at the same time.

    And then there¡¯s the Third phase, in which the Gravekeeper starts with the destructive Area of Effect attack, which could bepared to a suicide attack.

    ¡¸You said that there was some kind of a secret to this fight, is that right!?¡¹

    ording to Pencilgton¡¯s words, that one time they were all wiped out the impact of the attack was so huge that even the Gravekeeper¡¯s armor got all cracked up and destroyed. At one of our strategy meetings, Pencilgton actually told us that he was brewing some sort of a secret strategy for that attack, so that we could all survive it and carry on.

    But with my current defenses there was a part of me that was still worried that even with that secret countermeasure it wouldn¡¯t be enough for me to survive this.

    ¡¸Katsu-kun! Be extra careful from now on! There¡¯s a possibility that there may be some changes to its movements!¡¹

    ¡¸Roger that¡­¡­!¡¹

    Katsu, who was in a really tight spot right now, used that brief moment of respite to chug down a health potion as fast as he possibly could. He also made sure that the rope tied around the ¡°KIRIN¡± was still holding on tight.

    ¡¸From here on out it is a battle that we have never seen or experienced before.¡¹

    ¡¸Going it blind is the basic principle of all games, so no problem from me!¡¹

    ¡¸Good, good¡­¡­!¡¹

    Says Pencilgton while taking something out of his inventory. ¡­¡­ Potions? Then he opens the lid and starts approaching the Gravekeeper with them. His every step was full of conviction and strength, without even the slightest bit of hesitation or fear.

    ¡¸Honestly, if that doesn¡¯t work out, then I don¡¯t know what I am supposed to do¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Oi!¡¹

    At the same time as I was about to voice my protest, the Gravekeeper¡¯s armor, which should have boasted a tremendous amount of defense, started to crack, and Pencilgton threw the bottle right against those newly formed cracks.

    The jar hits the Gravekeeper with a sharp sound of ss being broken. Then, his whole form started to shine as it was wet.

    As if on some sort of a cue, the Gravekeeper tried to pierce Pencilgton with his hand shaped in a spear-head shape,

    ¡¸ooooooooooOOOOOOOOO¡­¡­ GHH! GHAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!¡¹

    But his motion was forcibly interrupted, and there were clouds of white smokeing out from inside the cracked armor of the Gravekeeper, apparently dealing damage to him.

    ¡¸Fuck yeah! Jackpot!¡¹

    ¡¸What the fuck did you do to him!?¡¹

    As I asked for some exnation of what just happened, my body was getting itself ready for the next phase of the fight.

    ¡¸In this game, the knowledge about the game world and its settings are the key to victory. See, I always thought that the Gravekeeper was in fact a human warrior that was mechanized via means of the technology of the Ancients. ¡¹

    I mean, yeah. ? Thinking about it like that, he was most probably just like that, a cyborg or a sentient power armor. Especially after hearing what Setsuna-san ¨C¨C the ¡°Ancient¡± herself ¨C¨C has told us.

    ¡¸If it was really like that, then it would fit perfectly with what Sanraku told us about him being ¡°Undead¡±. By bing mechanized, he would basically be unable to die via natural means. ¡­¡­ That is what I think.¡¹

    Just then, Pencilgton took out his personal arms¡­¡­ a weapon that he felt the mostfortable with using.

    ¡¸The thing I covered him with just now is the ¡°Holy Water¡± created by one of the strongest Saints this world had ever known. ¡­¡­ It was rather expensive and I had to pull a lot of strings to get it, but it is really potent and effective against the Undead of various types.¡¹

    Holy Water of the Saint¡­¡­ No, I think that there¡¯s something more to this than simply that exnation. If it was only doing damage to the enemies, it wouldn¡¯t be this hard to obtain and be this expensive.

    ¡¸I understand where you¡¯reing from, but this is this and that is that.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s almost like the top model, you know?¡¹

    ¡¸Or like a flower, where the most beautiful ones be like that at the expense of leeching the life force from others¡­¡­ But enough about that! Now should be the best moment to strike!¡¹

    Apparently the Holy Water was able to do some nice damage, but in and of itself it wouldn¡¯t be able to deal the finishing blow. But the damage had already been done¡­¡­ as a confirmation, beams of blue me-like energy shot out from Gravekeeper¡¯s wounds, like gushes of blood from the cracks in the armor.

    Parts of its armor perishing away and falling off, the figure that was hidden beneath it all slowly raises up. Before he looked like a mechanical warrior ridden with cybeics, but right about now he was closer to a ghost or a wraith covered in blue mes. Seeing him like that, Pencilgton looked all pumped up and ready to fight. ¡­¡­ Umm, yeah, but maybe before that, take a look to the side?

    ¡¸Ah, what is it now? I want to fight the Gravekeeper right now, but I guess I can go and save Katsu before doing that.¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? Sure thing, we can do that, but¡­¡­ Why?¡¹

    Hey, don¡¯t make such a face¡­¡­ Let¡¯s just get on with it.

    ¡¸The victory conditions are almost certainly time based right now. We can assume for now that maybe thirty minutes is the limit.¡¹

    I point to the side and we look there. As it turns out, ¡°KIRIN¡± also shed its armor together with the Gravekeeper, and poor Katsu was now looking at the deformed and headless beast in puzzlement. But then it started to move towards the Gravekeeper, doing something while it¡¯s at it.

    ¡¸They may be weakened right now, but the differences in levels still stays. It would be impossible for us to take them all on our own.¡¹

    We could see the ¡°KIRIN¡±bine its body with that of the Gravekeeper, and we werepletely speechless for a moment there.

    In other words, the three of us were now facing both of the opponentsbined, while we literally knew nothing about their stats or abilities or attack patterns. But instead of falling into chaos, Pencilgton was right on it with a strategy, telling us what to do and how to behave.

    ¡¸Well, I knew that there was a centaur-like form to them, but I swear that there was also something else about the third phase¡­¡­¡¹

    He says while staring at the opponent bitterly. I guess our roles still stay the same, but for now we probably wouldn¡¯t have to worry about being focused all that much.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Sanraku-kun? Do you think you could assist me for the time being?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Leave that to me.¡¹

 Chapter 69: Momentary Thoughts Part 16 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 69: Momentary Thoughts Part 16 Part 1</h4>

    Gravekeeper Wezaemon.

    A Unique Boss that is invulnerable to almost every kind of attack¡­¡­ ording to Pencilgton¡¯s words it was thanks to the ¡°Hyper Armor¡± that the Gravekeeper and his horse have. That being said, the best strategy to win this fight was to cause him to use that pseudo ¡°self-destruct¡± move in hopes of him destroying his own armor.

    (At first it was all about dodging his attacks and surviving. Then it was to prevent him from makingbination attacks with his horse. That should be enough to cause him to go into the ¡°suicide-attack¡± mode¡­¡­ I see, so that¡¯s how it is.)

    ¡¸He¡¯sughing like a madman right there. Do you think he¡¯s actually okay?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯d like to think that he¡¯s okay¡­¡­ But, all of us must be mad for taking up this challenge and thinking we can win.¡¹

    Also, the fact that no extra effects could be used against him for most of the fight was making this struggle even harder. But now that we managed to get the ¡°Hyper Armor¡± out of the way, our chances of actually winning this should have increased tremendously.

    Thing is¡­¡­ The more adversity the yers face and the harder the challenge, the more the yers will be motivated to do their best to ovee it.

    That¡¯s why I wasughing in a maniacal way like that. Because we¡¯ve been in a tight spot for more than twenty minutes, but we¡¯ve managed to ovee that and we were still alive now.

    ¡¸I think I know what Sanraku-kun thinks now. He thinks that since the Hyper Armor is now gone from the Gravekeeper, he can be damaged like any normal boss monster¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸But he¡¯s not a monster that can be easily killed on your own or with two people.¡¹

    If the Gravekeeper was nothing more that a human-type enemy down at its very core, then the solution to dispose of him should be extremely simple¡­¡­ Like with any strong human type enemy, you simply must overwhelm him with your own power.

    ¡¸I was wondering, do you have more of those potion-like things? Like the one you used earlier?¡¹

    ¡¸Funny of you to ask, for I actually have this with me.¡¹

    Saying that, Pencilgton takes out a few remaining items that were still chilling in his inventory up until that point.

    ¡¸Tadah!¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s that supposed to be?¡¹

    ¡¸A rare medicine called ¡°Evil Force¡±. Pretty neat, but the materials needed to create them are kind of a bitch to gather.¡¹

    ¡¸What does it do?¡¹

    ¡¸You gain power equal to that of reaching level ny nine for about fifteen minutes, but right after that you suffer a tremendous penalty. I used it once in the past and it was so horrible of an experience that I don¡¯t want to repeat that ever again.¡¹

    ¡¸Okay¡­¡­¡¹

    Katsu received the ck pill and almost immediately swallowed it up without any kind of hesitation. The next moment everything that he perceived started to change drastically and rapidly, as if someone turned on some messed up filter.

    ¡¸Uwaah!?¡¹

    ¡¸First of all, it¡¯s going to mess up your senses, reversing the color palette of your surroundings. But since the colors in this ce were originally in reverse to begin with,, there should be no problem with that. Other than that your hearing may be impaired, your nose might stop working¡­¡­ Mind you, it¡¯s not permanent, but the fact that all of your senses get fucked up like that can be pretty distressing¡­¡­ And that¡¯s just the beginning.¡¹

    Pencilgton himself swallows up the pill and after confirming that all of his stats received a tremendous boost, he turns around.

    ¡¸Now then, from now on your level shall go down by one every thirty seconds¡­¡­ So now it¡¯s a fight against time itself¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Haah!?¡¹

    It was an item that could be very wellpared to doping in the sports world, allowing even weaklings to be absolutely overpowered for the duration of fifteen minutes. The downside was that once the effect was gone, your level would drop thirty levels below the original value.

    The two ate the pills and rushed towards Sanraku who was currently spearheading the assault against the Gravekeeper¡­¡­ Even though they still looked the same, right now they could easily bepared to monsters in human clothing.

    ¡¸Sh*t, when this is all over I¡¯ll have to level up all the way to my current level again!? Aagh, I just hope it¡¯s all worth it! Now let¡¯s turn this stupid robot into a sandbag!¡¹

    Because the Gravekeeper was humanoid, after losing its armor he should have the same weaknesses as any normal person. So when he got close enough to it, Katsu was covered in crimson aura and aimed his fist at Gevekeeper¡¯s joint.

    ¡¸Red, ck¡­¡­ Dark Blue! Combined skill ¡°Volcanic ze¡±! But now with added Infight¡­¡­ Dual Impact!¡¹

    Katsu¡¯s left fist, which was lighter than ck but darker than rednds right into the Gravekeeper¡¯s knee joint. However, the armor around this part was still partially intact so the damage the Gravekeeper received wasn¡¯t as great as one would expect. However it managed to leave a huge dent, one that Katsu struck with his right fist at full strength.

    The very next moment, the dented armor was blown to shreds by sudden explosion that urred on its surface. There was no way that it wouldn¡¯t affect the Gravekkeper in some way, and when the armor fell off he lost his bnce and fell on his knees, unable to properly support his own weight.

    ¡¸Switch!¡¹

    ¡¸Coming right up!¡¹

    Katsu switched with Pencilgton. Pencilgton¡¯s attack was aimed¡­¡­ right at the knee joint that Katsu managed to expose with his explosion.

    ¡¸We¡¯re gonna bully your knees until they are all broken and useless¡­¡­!¡¹

    Aside from the pill¡¯s effects, Pencilgton¡¯s body was already reinforced with a whole lot of different skills, spells and mixtures.

    To top it all off, Pencilgton attacked the Gravekeeper¡¯s knee with a special skill ¡°Spear of Sunshine¡±. It was a special piercing attack that once it sunk in the enemy¡¯s flesh, it would start to release a tremendous amount of heat that umted in the weapon afflicted with the skill, causing internal damage instead of damaging the armor or surrounding areas.

    ¡¸It¡¯s really hard¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸But it¡¯s effective¡­¡­ I knew it, this is it. This is the critical moment.¡¹

    ¡¸For now, this is where the battle truly starts! Let¡¯s keep damaging it while avoiding its attacks!¡¹

    There were some missiles being fired from the Gravekeeper¡¯s back that were homing onto them, but both Katsu and Pencilgton managed to avoid each of them individually.

    Then the Gravekeeper pointed his palm towards Pencilgton, firing a huge st of concentrated heat at him.

    ¡¸Oh sh*t!¡¹

    The heat ray passes right next to Pencilgton¡¯s left side, who twisted his body at thest possible second to evade it. Thanks to the pill¡¯s effect he didn¡¯t die instantly, but the burned parts of his body were so unstable that one wrong move could cause them to turn into a bunch of polygons and disappearing.

    ¡¸There we go!¡¹

    ¡¸If you want to say something, just do it!¡¹

    Thinking for a moment, Pencilgton arrives at a conclusion: he moves his right arm swiftly and impales himself with his own weapon.

    Having lost the remaining HP, Pencilgton¡¯s body turns into a cluster of red polygons¡­¡­ Only to be fully revived thanks to the item that Katsu used on him just a second before impact.

 Chapter 69: Momentary Thoughts Part 16 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 69: Momentary Thoughts Part 16 Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸I couldn¡¯t use my left hand, so it was just a dead weight anyway¡­¡­!¡¹

    Shouts Pencilgton while brandishing his weapon anew, while also taking a few magic scrolls from his inventory. These scrolls contained some strong lightning magic, which he now fired right at the Gravekeeper¡¯s knee.

    ¡¸¡°Body Enhancment ¨C¨C Red¡±! Increase in strength and attack power, maybe it will help us to turn this fight around!¡¹

    Katsu then used his rope skill ¡°Snake¡± to tie the rope over the Gravekeeper¡¯s ankle, pulling on the rope with everything he had. With his strength actually reinforced, he managed to throw the boss off bnce and it fell right onto its back, while also soaking up two or three attacks from Pencilgton.

    ¡¸Aah, geez! I don¡¯t think we have enough firepower to do this like that!¡¹

    ¡¸One of us must focus on gathering his aggro, while the other will deal damage! If we don¡¯t do that, it will be the same kind of battle as before, Katsu-kun!¡¹

    After dodging anotherser palm attack, the two of them quickly agreed on the new strategy they were going to go with.

    ¡¸By the way, what about the full score?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right, let¡¯s turn this piece of junk into scraps!¡¹

    ¡¸I see, if it¡¯s like that, then we simply have to do it! No matter what!¡¹

    I shake my head a few times to get rid of the ringing I was hearing in my head. Head Parry was a useful thing to have, but let¡¯s not overuse it. It might well cause some serious bacsh in the long run.

    ¡¸Tsk¡­¡­ I knew it. Just because you need level fifty to equip this thing, it doesn¡¯t guarantee that the design will be wless.¡¹

    So far, I had managed tond a few sessful blows and dodge or parry some of my enemy¡¯s, but it was without doubt that I wouldn¡¯t be able to beat this boss on my own. After all, he was on the same level of ridiculousness as the Night Prowler Luukan. With that guy, I was also sure that I would be able to beat it until I was munched on and torn apart.

    ¡¸Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s enough of trying to resemble a sh*tty game so much!?¡¹

    I don¡¯t want topare it to the sh*tty games. I really don¡¯t want to¡­¡­ But.

    In addition to my new helmet, my newest weapons were also pretty great. The ability to adjust your strengths as you see fit was always overpowered, no matter what kind of game you are ying.

    (Health and stamina adjustment done¡­¡­. Now then, what to do now?)

    Physical strength was slightly lower, since their level was still slightly higher than what I was able to present right now. My stats could also be a little bit higher, but what can you do?

    But as a result, the conditions for activating both Climax Boost and Hungry Wolf are now satisfied. But the problem was with actually using them. The climax boost shall be active for about five minutes, but Hungry Wolf shall be active for only one minute.

    (At this rate we will be here until the end of time if nothing changes¡­¡­)

    Area of effect attacks? More eye-frames? Or maybe something else? The time is going to continue on, and we won¡¯t be able to finish this in a decent way. I then started to dance with my des in hand, shing away at the Gravekeeper while also avoiding his attacks in a chaotic choreography that none would be able to replicate even if they wanted to.

    My whole body was starting to hurt, but I knew it was just an illusion. In reality, there was no damage being done to me. No, the pain was real, but looking at my HP gauge it wasn¡¯t decreasing. It was something like that situation where you burn your hand slightly on a cup of hot coffee ¨C¨C you feel a slight pain, while no real damage is being done to you.

    I activate the Best Step, and stepping on to the sword that wasying on the ground I use it as a stepping stone to jump into the air.

    ¡¸Fuh!¡¹

    I sh at him with one sword while also activating Infight, and then I also activate Hand of Fortune and deliver a blow straight to his face. Then after shing him once or twice I use his chest as another stepping stone to jump away andnd safely on the ground. I then take a stance while observing his movements carefully.

    Without having some sort of skills that would protect me from damage, parrying the de with my bare hands was actually quite painful. Now, while waiting for my stamina to restore, I throw some mocking words towards the Gravekeeper to stop it from attacking.

    ¡¸Ouch, ouch, ouch¡­¡­ Some gloves would really be nice right about now.¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s wrong!? Is it so shocking that your robo-bushido isn¡¯t working out!?¡¹

    Unfortunately for him, I can reproduce techniques and skills from other games in this one up to some extent. And for some reason or another they seem to work pretty well with the skills and magic of this game, which was handy in this battle.

    ¡¸Oh well, cyborg or Undead, doesn¡¯t really matter. I¡¯m gonna cut you down all the same!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­ A¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸!!¡¹

    ¡­¡­ No. That was not it. It was somethingpletely different.

    The Gravekeeper quietly stands up and reims his sword. He used to announcemands with his robotic voice at least several times throughout the battle. But now it was clearly different. Right now¡­¡­ Those were genuine words.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ A, Ali¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ What?¡¹

    ¡¸That, fragment¡­¡­ Alice¡­¡­ everything is, spinning¡­¡­¡¹

    It wasn¡¯t the name of the Gravekeeper Wezaemon, but rather of another NPC from ShangriLa Frontier¡­¡­ Everything that I happened to hear up until that moment started to fall into ce like pieces of the puzzle, showing me a ¡°monster whose soul was unable to move on but whose body still lives¡±. But that can wait. Right now we had the Gravekeeper to worry about.

    ¡¸Alice¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Eternally, endlessly¡­¡­ My body, rot away, and, they¡­¡­ Go, end, see¡­¡­ Certainly, the ¡°Frontier¡±, is there, ovee¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Oi, oi, oi¡­¡­ There was nothing like that¡­¡­ I wasn¡¯t ready for this¡­¡­!¡¹

    All of the things that were happening right now were happening so fast that I was unable to concentrate on the Gavekeeper properly. What is this!? An event g!? Our predictions were all but correct, but still something like that was happening!? I had a bad feeling that something terrible was soon to happen.

    ¡¸Here I go¡­¡­ The time hase for the ¡°Second n¡± to bare fruit. My, oath¡­¡­ If you wish to trample all over it¡­¡­ My ¡°Seiten Taisei¡± shall¡­¡­ crush you!¡¹

    All of a sudden, there was this warning siren that started to scream inside my mind, overwhelming my senses.

    ¡¸Oh sh*t.¡¹

    In the next moment, we would be able to experience the true self of the Gravekeeper Wezaemon.

 Chapter 70: Momentary Thoughts Part 17 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 70: Momentary Thoughts Part 17 Part 1</h4>

    Now, here¡¯s the question: what is it that you should absolutely NOT DO when creating and adjusting the Boss-type enemy?

    Unreasonably high attack? Forty points here, that thing can almost always be mitigated in some way, either by some special event or use of certain items, so there¡¯s room for creativity here.

    Avoiding any kind of bugs or glitches? Welp, that¡¯s a given. Zero points here.

    The correct answer is: do not make the boss unbeatable.

    Whether it is a turn-based strategy or an action game, certain events in the story can only be cleared after you beat the bosses of those events. And even considering the level differences, one should never make those battles ¡°one-sided¡±.

    The boss that constantly attacks. The boss whose evasion is so great that no attack can reach it. The boss with armor so ridiculously thick that no attack could ever hope to prate it¡­¡­ In games, both sides must be taken into consideration, to avoid making one side stronger than the other. Otherwise the game just turns into a simple sh*tty game. And I don¡¯t want to repeat my experience from ¡°Sh*t Chronicles Online¡±.

    But if so, then what could you possibly do to make the boss challenging without breaking the game while you¡¯re at it? Easy: just set some limitations. Just like you would do with stock when it wasing out too thick.

    For example: you can force the boss to stop doing certain attacks by hitting a specific part of his body, or use a specific event gimmick or item, or even set a time limit.

    Looking at things this way, one can say that Gravekeeper Wezaemon had indeed a predefined special condition to win: survive for long enough.

    The problem was, now, he gained a new skill. A skill that allows him to cast all of his other skills and techniques with no cost or recast time for the duration of thirty seconds.

    ¡¸Tachikaze!¡¹

    ¡¸Uwah!?¡¹

    ¡¸Thunder Cloud!¡¹

    ¡¸Ooouh!?¡¹

    ¡¸Maelstrom!¡¹

    ¡¸Daah!¡¹

    Immediately after avoiding a super feast Iai strike I had to start running to avoid the amassing thunderclouds, while also avoiding missiles andsers. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever performed this much acrobatics in such a short amount of time.

    ¡¸No way¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Gah! Good thing you at least announce all of your attacks before actually performing them!¡¹

    ¡¸Spider.¡¹

    This barrage of constant attacks was making it hard for me to regen my stamina. And even with Climax Boost and Hungry Wolf active, I just couldn¡¯t find an opening to attack properly.

    ¡¸Tachikaze! Tachikaze! Tachikaze!¡¹

    ¡¸W, what!?¡¹

    One aimed straight at my face. One aimed at my heart. One aimed at my shoulder.

    It all happened in an instant, before my mind was able toprehend what was going on. I managed to avoid the triple ultra-fast attack purely out of reflex. Damn, so he can also use the same type of attack in a row without any dy!? What the hell!? Who came up with a concept like that!?

    ¡¸me¡­¡­¡¹

    There were no techniques known to us from his repertoire that started with ¡°me¡±. Meaning, it was apletely new technique. I could only hope we were ready for it.

    (Down!? Up!? Aaaagh, geez! Just hurry it up and do it already!)

    ¡¸¡­¡­Eruption.¡¹

    He then holds his sword upside down and pushes it into the ground like a wizard would do with his staff. From the point where the sword prates the ground, you could see a tremendous amount of heat being generated. It then starts to crawl its way towards me under the ground like some kind of worm or a snake, scorching everything in its path.

    ¡¸Watch out!¡¹

    ¡¸Dragon!¡¹

    Then, the red-glowing ground swells and erodes as the pir of crimson-red fire erupts right from under it.

    Judging by the technique¡¯s name it was supposed to resemble a Dragon flying off into the sky, but I could only see an obstacle here, one that was blocking the Gravekeeper from my gaze and which forced me to go around it to reach my target again.

    When the Gravekeeper entered my field of view again, he took the sword from the ground and this time around he raised it high into the air¡­¡­ There, right around the tip of his sword, strange dark clouds began to gather in the sky.

    ¡¸So he was going tobine those two attacks from the start, huh¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸High Blizzard!¡¹

    With those words, the dark clouds descend from the skies and rush towards me. I knew it, the techniques name was yet again the trigger. Sensing the iing insta-kill attack I somehow manage to force my body to move, doing my best to not let any of the dark clouds hit me.

    Remembering that my physical strength would only continue to dwindle, I somehow managed to get out of the cloudy assault. Just as I was about to let out a sigh of relief I could see the Gravekeeper reaching out his hand, trying to grab me again. I managed to deflect his hand to the side. This attack wasn¡¯t scary in the slightest if you knew you could avoid it in such a way.

 Chapter 70: Momentary Thoughts Part 17 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 70: Momentary Thoughts Part 17 Part 2</h4>

    Think! That¡¯s what I¡¯m trying to do, but nothinges to my mind. If it somehow manages to y out well then it¡¯s all good, but if not, then we are going to be in trouble. Really serious trouble.

    It looks as though in this phase all of his attacks received some kind of boosts on top of him also gettingpletely new patterns.

    However, it seems that those new attacks were not without some kind of burden on him, for there were small fires and ck smoke that gradually started toe out of his body.

    I throw a counterattack at him, sh with my weapons, then take out some items from my inventory and prepare for the fight that was about toe.

    ¡¸Seiten Taisen, guide my hand like the flow of water.¡¹

    ¡¸So fast¡­¡­!¡¹

    The instant I chose to open my inventory and take out the items the Gravekeeper shortened the distance between us with one fast dash. What should I do!? Should I open my inventory again and retrieve my weapons, or¡­¡­!? No, I don¡¯t have enough time!

    ¡¸The name of my sword is Seiten. The de that cut the dragon down and drank its blood¡­¡­ ¡°TENSEI¡±!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Holy fucking sh*t!!!¡¹

    I throw the item that I was holding in the air and tried to avoid the attack, but then my body stopspletely¡­¡­ But it was not my fault.

    ¡¸It¡¯s like the action itself was somehow cancelled¡­¡­¡¹

    Thest thing that I was able to do was to tilt my head slightly right before the sword fell on top of my head, cleaving me in two and killing me instantly.

    The de cuts deep into my body, going through it with almost no resistance at all. As my body turns into polygons, my vision goes darker and darker¡­¡­

    ¡¸Sess! Last minute revival! The Ultimate Secret Technique: Self-Resuscitation¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    I threw the Tears of Rebirth into the air and watched them fall down on me and sprinkling all over me just as I was about to be turned into a mass of red polygons.

    Although it was a total gamble on my part, it seems that it was also possible to use this item on yourself without any problem.

    I use all of my stamina to put some distance between us while also avoiding the attacks that could have easily shed me in two.

    (I don¡¯t know what this ¡°Tensei¡± thing is, but it¡¯s surely dangerous.)

    I move my waist to feel my belt, but there was nothing there. My leather belt was nowhere to be found. Just a single blow was enough to destroy the piece of equipment that should have been more or less still intact.

    (Equipment destruction, or maybe some kind of armor prating effect? Either way, we are dying way too easy¡­¡­ Maybe some sort of Insta-Death skill?)

    I¡¯m not proud for thinking that, but I do believe that this sword is just way too broken. There was something fundamentally different about it, especially about the way it was shing through us. It¡¯s wasn¡¯t a normal attack in any sense of the word. It was more like every single strike was aplete overkill.

    We need to start thinking about him as fighting a normal yer, it seems. I am positively sure that even if I was level ny nine with a full set of armor and a shield at my disposal, that sword would have just cut through it like a hot knife through a cube of tofu.

    I don¡¯t even want to think about that possibility, but I am fairly sure that a direct hit from this thing wouldn¡¯t end up any other way than in certain death.

    (But that¡¯s not what is actually the worst.)

    A mysterious barrier that obstructs attacks within its reach, making it impossible for attacks to actually connect. If we don¡¯t find a way to deal with this, we won¡¯t be able to do any damage ourselves and we will just end up being ughtered.

    (Putting self-healing effects aside, I still have two Tears of Rebirth and five Gods of Life¡­¡­)

    Self-resuscitation is an advanced healing technique that can be performed with one hand. You must use it perfectly right before the enemy¡¯s attack was about to kill you, so sound judgement was needed in order to properly deem the attack to be finishing blow or not.

    And being able to properly judge that while being on the brink of death was an outstanding feature in and of itself.

    Looking back at the Gravekeeper, he looked like he was about to repeat the same processes he did a few minutes ago.

    ¡¸Seitei Taisei¡­¡­ We must go beyond our limits, surpass them. That is the only way!¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t tell me you want to start over from the very beginning¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸Kasai Ryu (Dragon Fire Pir).¡¹

    While doing my best to avoid the pir of mes, I started to worry if I was going to be able to reach that sword in time.

 Chapter 71: Momentary Thoughts Part 18 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 71: Momentary Thoughts Part 18 Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Do you happen to know what the most important quality of the contemporary gamers is?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, hell if I know? Please enlighten us in that regard.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, it really depends from person to person, but I do believe it is the ability to be able to distinguish the game world from the real world.¡¹

    Saying those words, Pencilgton¡¯s face takes on a frightening look. He then uses the Parry skill ¡°Mail Speardom¡± to parry the fist attack that wasing his way.

    ¡¸Are we really going to talk about things like that in a situation like this¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸No, no, no, I promise you that this won¡¯t be like those old-fashioned PTA talks¡­¡­ What I mean by that is that we need to realize that the game world is a thing that¡¯spletely separate from our own world.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, I guess?¡¹

    A rope was wrapped around ¡°KIRIN¡¯s¡± armor. Not only the leg parts, but around other parts as well. These ropes were reaching out towards various ces, but once you get down to it, they all converged at a single point.

    While Pencilgton was drawing the Gravekeeper¡¯s attention towards himself, Katsu continued to put new ropes all over it.

    ¡¸Stretching limbs, impossible jumps, flying¡­¡­ Sometimes the maniption of avatar¡¯s action causes it to not even resemble a human being anymore.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right, some bugs tend to do just that to people.¡¹

    ¡¸Yup¡­¡­ To sum up, even though we may both be humans in the game world, we are in reality just humans separated from other humans. ¡­¡­ That is why this whole operation was always slightly ufortable to me.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Sorry, but I don¡¯t seem to follow. What are you getting at?¡¹

    ¡¸This is especially true for Professional Gamers across the world. They need the ability to distinguish from the in-game characters and their own self. What I¡¯m getting at, is that to be human means to be aware of your own limitations.¡¹

    What was Katsu trying to do? Was it just a reckless charging forward? Or maybe he was trying to make ¡°KIRIN¡± into his personal puppet? I heard that Katsu managed to obtain a whole lot of materials from Water Serpents as a by-product of his power-leveling, and the ropes that he was using right now were made out of those materials ¨C¨C an item called ¡°Reins of Life¡±.

    Katsu managed to attach a whole lot of those reins onto the armored horse, but since its stats, especially Strength was a whole lot higher than his own, he had a rtively hard time controlling the movements of the horse on his own.

    In fact, right now ¡°KIRIN¡± was about to raise its right leg in order to stomp it down on Katsu and crush him, when¡­¡­

    ¡¸For example, when you are trying to walk, when you raise one leg to make a step and I pull on your other leg and make you lose bnce that way!¡¹

    When he does exactly what he said he would do, ¡°KIRIN¡± center of gravity shifts instantly and the huge armor falls to the ground easily.

    ¡¸I can do the same when you are trying to get up, making it impossible for you to stand up even further.¡¹

    When the armor wanted to get up by supporting its weight with its hands, Katsu pulled on both of its legs, causing it to slip and fall down just like a clown would in aedy skit. And while Katsu was waiting for his stamina to recover, Pencilgton rushed in to make some damage onto the fallen Gravekeeper.

    ¡¸Combining two bodies into one¡­¡­ That¡¯s your number one weakness right there!¡¹

    Pencilgton¡¯s spear¡­¡­ This was a perfect situation for ¡°Regulus Totem¡± ¨C¨C a weapon made out of materials obtained from a legendary mythical beast andbining it with metal reinforcements and ornaments ¨C¨C to demonstrate the full spectrum of its potential. Since it was so long and sturdy, instead of swords it managed to slip past Gravekeeper¡¯s remaining armor and prate its body.

    Coated with multiple buffs and positive effects, the spear was sure to hit its mark¡­¡­ but instead it bounced right back with a nasty sound. It seems that it was not all that super effective as we thought it would be.

    ¡¸Ugh, not very effective, huh? Next! Katsu-kun, I¡¯m counting on you!¡¹

    ¡¸You don¡¯t have to tell me that!¡¹

    Katsu¡¯s falling, the damage caused by it, and on top of that the self-inflicted damage¡­¡­ We were quite literally pulling this thing¡¯s leg here. It¡¯s a shame that the spear wasn¡¯t all that effective, but at least with the strings attached, the aggro was not being shifted more towards Katsu.

    ¡¸Want to stand up, huh? But you have no head¡­¡­ Doesn¡¯t matter, your back is totally wide open and inertia remains all the same¡­¡­ Plus both of your arms and vo!¡¹

    The game system allowed an action like that: if the rope-type item could be used with one hand, it is entirely possible to use two such items at once, one for each hand. Pulling on both of its arms at the same time, Katsu caused the standing up armor to shake on its legs and fall down yet again, dragged down by its own inertia. But just before it hit the ground, the armor shifted the position of its left leg slightly, which allowed it to gain a foothold of sorts.

    ¡¸Ahh, resisting, are we!?¡¹

    ¡¸Fall down, you bastard!¡¹

    Pencilgton rushed toward the Gravekeeper and jumped in the air, delivering a mighty powerful kick to its stomach, causing it to lose its bnce again and this time fall on its back.

    ¡¸Excuse me, but I would like to speak to your stomach¡­¡­ Except not really!¡¹

    Although it was a huge demerit in the form of decreasing the weapon¡¯s durability by a significant amount, Pencilgton uses a special item called ¡¸Broken Shell¡¹ to add a powerful armor prating effect to his spear. Like this, he uses it to destroy the Gravekeeper¡¯s armor at the ce where it is the thickest ¨C¨C its stomach.

    ¡¸This thing¡¯s so thick that it¡¯s hard to get all the way through it to the other side! Katsu-kun! Please, try to endure for twenty more seconds!¡¹

    ¡¸Impossible! Make it fifteen seconds!¡¹

    ¡¸Deal!¡¹

    Just like that, Pencilgton continuously keeps on striking the same ce with both attack skills and basic attacks. At the same time Katsu was doing his best to prevent the Gravekeeper from standing up, allowing Pencilgton to attack unobstructed.

 Chapter 71: Momentary Thoughts Part 18 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 71: Momentary Thoughts Part 18 Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Since its movements are hindered, even if we attack it or try to debuff it, we should not attract aggro of any kind. Also, it should receive some sort of damage upon falling down each time¡­¡­ the question is: what if it doesn¡¯t?¡¹

    ¡¸If that¡¯s the case, let¡¯s focus on attacking it before it regains itsposure so that we won¡¯t have to experience a really rude awakening¡­¡­!¡¹

    Pencilgton applies another ¡°Broken Shell¡± onto his spear and continues to whail at the Gravekeeper¡¯s armor, all the while taking out another small bottle from inside of his inventory.

    ¡¸Gaah, geez¡­¡­! It¡¯s so hard to take this seriously if we don¡¯t even know it if does anything!¡¹

    For some reason now, it looks like Pencilgton¡¯s motivation was dwindling by the minute. We can¡¯t have that now. After all, he was the cornerstone of this battle, providing both bncing scales, and the items that were indispensable in our fight. For that reason alone, we simply cannot have Pencilgton quit on us right now.

    This is why Pencilgton wanted our assistance in this battle. We prepared ourselves for it the best way we possibly could, but without Pencilgton¡¯s aid we won¡¯t be able to get anywhere on our own.

    ¡¸That is why we cannot do this without you¡­¡­! So shut your whore mouth and¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Without me¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Uwah, Katsu-kun, you meanie! Uwah, uwah!!!!¡¹

    ¡¸T, the sheer audacity of this guy¡­¡­!¡¹

    At first I was all like: ¡°What the fuck is this sh*t!?¡± but after a while my reaction started to mellow down a bit. In short, it was just like a really fucked up memory game.

    Before we even noticed it, we ended up dying three times out of the four ones we could afford.

    ¡¸During this phase, it appears that the skills in a sequence are all randomly selected. Only thest one will remain the same every single time.¡¹

    ¡¸Tachikaze, me Dragon Pir, High Blizzard.¡¹

    It was now urring to us that there were some subtle indicators in Gravekeeper¡¯s move set that hint at what he was going to cast next, like movements of the head or the cement of the feet.

    The Dragon Fire Pir was not a threat anymore, since there was a significantg between its cast time and the moment it took effect.

    As for the High Blizzard, it took a few seconds for the clouds to surround the yerpletely, so if you wanted to break away and dodge you had those few seconds to act.

    ¡¸I cannot be all too sure about that freaking sword since I basically saw it too few times, but it seems that all of its attacks are really hard to avoid in general.¡¹

    ¡¸Grand sh, Maelstrom, Thunder Cloud.¡¹

    Grand sh was not a lightning fast attack, but its speed and reach was something that you needed to watch out for. However, its trajectory was but a straight line, so it was easy to evade if you knew how the sh was going to go and had enough space to move out of its way.

    Maelstrom was also easy to avoid, you just had to run for your life as fast as you possibly could. However, there was a possibility that you may have ran out of stamina and ended up totally defenseless for any iing attack.

    Thunder Cloud was a real nuisance here. Topletely avoid it you would have to escape the Gavekeeper¡¯s field of vision and look for a blind spot, but judging how he was tracking your every single move, it was nearly impossible to achieve.

    And even if you were able to do it, you would simply run out of stamina in the process.

    ¡¸There is minimal timeg in between every attack, and we must maintain a safe distance of about three meters minimum away from him¡­¡­ The duration of this status is approximately thirty seconds.¡¹

    If you manage to stop thinking too hard about it and just learn the patterns andmit them to memory, it wasn¡¯t that scary at all. Examine, consider and respond ¨C¨C those were the key words here.

    At the same time as avoiding the attacks I make a mental list of possible countermeasures against that weird mode of his and examine them one by one.

    Destroying the sword¡­¡­ That would be difficult to achieve, especially since we don¡¯t even know it destroying it would be allowed by the system here.

    Destroy the main body¡­¡­ That¡¯s not possible as well. That would mainly make the concept of this entire battle obsolete to begin with. Not to mention that because of his constant barrage of attacks, it was quite difficult to get close enough to him to deal some damage. It should have been possible if there were more people with us, but I get the feeling that something was off here. This time, I better trust my instincts.

    If so, the most suitable way for us to approach this phase would be simply to survive through it¡­¡­

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Parry.¡¹

    The timing must be perfect for the best possible result. The sh wasn¡¯t so fast to begin with, so it was a manageable thing to do. That, however, gave birth to another problem.

    ¡¸Huh¡­¡­ It didn¡¯t work?¡¹

    Even Parrying is not all-purpose. It¡¯s notpatible with critical hit all that much, since it was determined by the attack parameters and the angle at which the blow was made.

    If I could move freely and I saw fit it would have been a different story, but since I had no other options, evasion and avoidance were my safest bet in this situation.

    In other words, my best bet was not to get hit by that sword even once¡­¡­ However, parrying was out of the question since the skill wasn¡¯t strong enough to protect me, and there was always a risk of my weapon¡¯s durability reaching zero and breaking into pieces.

    ¡¸Three more¡­¡­ There are three more things that I can think of in this situation.¡¹

    While doing my best to avoid the iing attacks, I look around me. I make another improvised chart in my mind with every single bit of information we managed to gather thus far and I begin to act on that chart.

    But can we really withstand two more minutes?

 Chapter 72: Momentary Thoughts Part 19 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 72: Momentary Thoughts Part 19 Part 1</h4>

    First of all, I ready both ¡°Upper Fang¡± and ¡°Lower Fang¡±. After the Swamp Daggers and Empire Bee Swords they were my strongest weapons, my trump cards of sorts.

    ¡¸The time is¡­¡­ Now!¡¹

    From that moment, using the fact that the Gravekeeper would be locked in ce after using the Dragon Fire Pir, I run towards him while readying one of my daggers to strike.

    ¡¸First one is this!¡¹

    ¡¸Maelstrom!¡¹

    ¡¸Hahaha! Sorry, but you¡¯ll have to do a better job than that!¡¹

    I run right under the Gravekeeper¡¯s armpit and sh at him with my dagger. I don¡¯t have time to look back to see what wasing next, I¡¯ll have to dodge it judging from the name of the skill alone.

    ¡¸Thundercloud!¡¹

    ¡¸Thanks a lot for that!¡¹

    Right about now, it was the best possible oue for me! As the thunderclouds start chasing after me, I run from them at full speed and ready another dagger to strike. For the time being, the first part of my n was clear. I delve into my inventory in a hurry, taking out a reviving item and holding it at the ready. I also check my own skills.

    (One hundred seconds still remaining, I can die four more times¡­¡­ Hee, so it is an endurance battle after all, although of a different kind.)

    For me, there was nothing more exciting than endurance battles, you see. There was something truly thrilling to see if the yer would be able to outlive the boss in the midst of a fierce battle. It was also forcing my mind to work to its fullest potential all the time, which was surely bound to make me feel tired the next day.

    Seiten Taisei refers to the period of thirty seconds in which the Gravekeeper could cast his skills freely, without having to wait for them to go off cooldown. But rather than skill or technique, I thought it was freaking overkill¡­¡­ Any way, it seems that after using it a few times he was unable to use it again for a while, so I¡¯d say I now have about a hundred seconds to act.

    ¡¸You¡¯d better prepare yourself, Gravekeeper Wezaemon¡­¡­! Even if I¡¯m going to go down, I¡¯m taking you with me on to the other side!¡¹

    ¡¸Thundercloud!¡¹

    I avoid another thundercloud, dodge the insta-death attack and grip my fingers on the reviving bottle. Like that, thirty seconds have already passed. The Gravekeeper approached me with his huge sword at the ready.

    ¡¸Come right at me¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸This is my ultimate¡­¡­ ¡°TENSEI!¡±¡¹

    No need toe out on top just yet, use this as a sort of a practice round¡­¡­ There¡¯s no need for me to be afraid of dying here. After making sure that everything was ready for my self-resuscitation, I threw myself at him with my bare hands. I tried to strike a hook at the sword, hoping that if it goes through my hand first it would cause me to die that much faster.

    ¡¸Uwah! Respawn!¡¹

    ¡¸Seiten Taisei!¡¹

    ¡¸From now on I¡¯ll have to do my very best¡­¡­ Uwah, that was too close forfort!¡¹

    Now, onto the next set! About ny seconds left!

    At the same time as the battle between Sanraku and Gravekeeper Wezaemon was slowly reaching its grand climax, so was the battle between Pencilgton and Katsu duo against ¡°KIRIN¡±.

    ¡¸Now, who would have thought that it would start shootingsers at us when we break open its stomach?¡¹

    ¡¸Now look what you did! You had to make it mad, didn¡¯t you!?¡¹

    After quite a while, the damage caused by Pencilgton finally broke through the ¡°KIRIN¡¯s¡± armor, exposing the contents of its stomach that were hidden underneath the armor.

    Furthermore, it seems that theser was the ¡°KIRIN¡¯s¡± trump card, as it started to deploy it almost everywhere and all the time right now, breaking free of the rope¡¯s constraints and managing to get right back up. As they were doing their best to avoid the shootingsers and iing missiles, both Pencilgton and Katsu couldn¡¯t shake off the feeling that they fucked up really bad.

    ¡¸The only saving grace is that in this state it doesn¡¯t seem to target anyone in particr, so we can at least dodge and prepare ourselves for what¡¯s toe if we can maintain some safe distance from it. But we must also keep it away from Sanraku, or else things might really go to shit¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸If that¡¯s the case, we must shut this berserk armor down as soon as possible.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, you¡¯re right. So, do you have anything specific in mind?¡¹

    Pencilgton was of the same opinion that they needed to take it down ASAP, but unlike Katsu he wasn¡¯t all that sure if they would be able to do that. Looking from the broader perspective, as long as the Gravekeeper is taken down, it should be all good. However, giving up after they havee so far would be pure stupidity. Also, he really wanted to defeat this horse, just to show it who¡¯s boss around here.

    ¡¸What would you say if I was to say that I would like to take this thing down all by myself from now on?¡¹

    ¡¸I would call you a madman in my mind but wouldn¡¯t tell you that out loud.¡¹

    It was a reasonable answer, not that far away from the reactions that he would normally get from the people if he was to tell them that he was going to do something as unreasonable as this. Their reasoning being: if he thinks he can do this on his own, then so can we!

    ¡¸In the meantime, I think I might have a perfect task for you.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m all ears.¡¹

    ¡¸For the time being, I¡­¡­¡¹

    All of the following exnations were ratherplicated and involved all kinds ofplicated and advanced stuff rted to the game, but there were also things out there that mighte to be useful in a moment or two. Therefore Katsu listened to Pencilgton¡¯s convoluted exnation with a kind of difficult expression on his face, but he kept on nodding his head nheless. After all, it was the strategy conjured up by one of the best yers of Ashura-kai.

    ¡¸By the way, Katsu-kun? You have any rope left?¡¹

    ¡¸I do, but I almost burned all of them in that previous phase when this thing was rampaging so much. I knew it was a low durability item, but I was hoping it would hold on a tad bit longer¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Doesn¡¯t matter, Just give me the most durable rope that you have left in your inventory.¡¹

 Chapter 72: Momentary Thoughts Part 19 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 72: Momentary Thoughts Part 19 Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸I don¡¯t know why you would need it, but here! This is the most durable thing I have on me at the moment!¡¹

    ¡¸Hahaha! An item is basically worthless if you don¡¯t use it, Katsu-kun!¡¹

    Katsu swallowed thest of his MP Recovery potions, cast some buffs on himself and then gave Pencilgton the items he was asking for.

    ¡¸Ahh, what a waste, what a waste! Think about all the money we could get for that¡­¡­ I am fairly sure that the price would actually exceed one million mani. Ugh, no, must resist the urge! Must! Resist! The! Urge!¡¹

    ¡¸Personally, I can¡¯t see what your problem is¡­¡­ Alright, let¡¯s do it!¡¹

    Just like that, theirst offensive was about to begin. The moon was illuminating their figures and the armor¡¯s, casting long shadows on the ground. The same ground that was now ridden withser marks and small craters caused by the missiles. Pencilgton pierces the ground with his spear, as if he was sticking a g into newly discoverednd.

    ¡¸Thou art the one who sews things. I am a tether. Thou art the one who epasses everything, wearing jet-ck as your mark! ¡°SHADOW WEDGE¡±!!!¡¹

    ¡¸A full chant? Does this mean the skill is going to be especially powerful?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s not something I usually do, but if there is even one percent probability that¡¯s what¡¯s going to happen, I¡¯m going to take that one percent¡­¡­!¡¹

    Just like the ¡°Broken Shell¡±, ¡°Shadow Wedge¡± was the skill that uses weapon¡¯s durability as its source of power. Its effect was that by piercing the shadow of your enemy, you could temporarily restrain its movements.

    But still, the effect of the skill may vary depending on the enemy type you wanted to impair. It would work differently on a Goblin, wolf or a dragon. The question here was: how exactly was it going to work this time, against such formidable enemies?

    ¡¸When we are talking about an enemy of this size, even five seconds should be enough! This is the only chance we¡¯ve got, so don¡¯t waste it!¡¹

    ¡¸Okay! I¡¯ll adjust my timing ordingly, so don¡¯t you dare remove it no matter what!¡¹

    A few seconds after ¡°KIRIN¡± stops rampaging, the two takes a different action for the purpose of one and the same goal. Katsu got closer to it while Pencilgton was keeping his distance.

    ¡¸My weapon is at breaking point¡­¡­ So does this mean that this is thest chance that we must bet everything on?¡¹

    Pencilgton took out onest thing that was left in his inventory. A spear that was created by infusing super rare materials into it, which were all really hard to get¡­¡­ It¡¯s name being ¡°Giant Killing Skewer.¡±

    As the name might suggest, it is a weapon that will deal increased amount of damage to the monsters whose bodies arerger than the one who wields the spear.

    ¡¸I beg of you, Giant Killer¡­¡­ Please guide my way towards victory!¡¹

    Brandishing the spear in his hands, Pencilgton takes aim at the exposedser turret on the ¡°KIRIN¡¯s¡± stomach.

    ¡¸Really now, talk about things being overly dramatic¡­¡­ ¡°All or Nothing!¡±¡¹

    This is exactly how Pencilgton felt right now, and so he decided to give this attack a name just like that. Then he swings his arm and throws the spear with all his might, sending it flying through the air right towards the exposed ¡°KIRIN¡¯s¡±ser turret.

    And just before the tip of the spear hits its mark, there are more shadows following in its stead.

    ¡¸Red, Blue, Yellow¡­¡­ Thebination of three colors! ¡°First Skill: Overkill ck Strike!¡±¡¹

    This is what happens when multiple events happening at the same time meet at one point and converge.

    First of all, the cocoon of shadows surrounding the spear breaks down, changing into numerous shadowy des and edges attached to the spear.

    Next, when the shadowy restraints were being released, the spear pierces theser turret with a loud sound. However it wasn¡¯t that attack that proved to be decisive.

    And at the same time as Pencilgton spear hits its mark, Katsu¡¯s most powerful attack manages to reach the ¡°KIRIN¡± as well, hitting it with the power of a stone boulder being thrown.

    ¡¸I call this attack Human-Powered Pilebunker!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, enough of this¡­¡­ Just do your job and finish this already!¡¹

    Katsu¡¯s attack strikes Pencilgton¡¯s spear, giving it boost both to its pration power and STR stat, allowing the spear to prate ¡°KIRIN¡¯s¡± body deeply only to emerge from the other side. It was an entirely unreasonable operation, but one that managed to drive the spear into its target, and was now sending a wide crack all over the armor¡¯s surface. The Giant Killing Spear surely lived up to its name and did its job just right.

    The cracks in the armor make loud and disturbing sounds, causing the armor to stop entirely in its tracks. Then the explosion followed. A huge explosion. The Giant Killing Spear shattered into pieces, but the armor fell onto the ground where it twitched frantically about two or three times before¡­¡­ it came to aplete stop.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Tired, so tired¡­¡­¡¹

    As a result of all this intense fighting Katsu could feel his body slowly starting to give up, and finally he falls onto the ground and lets out a tired sigh. Pencilgton was also tired, but instead of rxing just yet, he turned towards Sanraku.

    (Sanraku-kun is still alive but he¡¯s running away? What does that mean? Is he trying to buy time?)

    The Gravekeeper keeps relentlessly attacking Sanraku, and he continued to wlessly avoid his attacks¡­¡­ Pencilgton thought for a moment and then asked the question that was floating in his mind all this time.

    ¡¸Sanraku-kun! How much longer¡­¡­!?¡¹

    In response to that, Sanraku shouted in a clear voice.

    ¡¸Just about fifty¡­¡­ No, make it twenty more seconds!¡¹

    ¡¸Switch!¡¹

    ¡¸Will we be able to do it!?¡¹

    ¡¸We must be able to!¡¹

 Chapter 73: Momentary Thoughts Part 20 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 73: Momentary Thoughts Part 20 Part 1</h4>

    Using the Secret Sword Art ¡°Moon Water Mirror¡± I managed to get the aggro off, allowing Katsu and Pencilgton to get to safety and dodge the iing pir of mes. Now the only thing that was left for me to do is to prepare for the final showdown, just like I intended to do from the start.

    ¡¸Okay, I¡¯m readying my skill! Pencilgton, please try to endure its attacks for about fifteen seconds!¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, shit!¡¹

    Oi, you only have about five seconds, you know?

    Pencilgton was grabbed by the Gravekeeper and then he was smashed against the ground, turning into a bunch of red polygons. I throw the reviving item at him and he immediately goes back to focusing Wezaemon¡¯s aggro upon himself. Good, you would be more than useless if you could only buy us a mere few seconds.

    ¡¸Pencilgton, duck!¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, sorry!¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t give me that!¡¹

    If we don¡¯t keep a close watch on time, the number of unnecessary idents will only increase.

    After confirming that Pencilgton had fallen back to a safe distance, I faced the Gravekeeper once more.

    (Ten more seconds left¡­¡­ eight¡­¡­ six¡­¡­ four¡­¡­)

    ¡¸Alright!¡¹

    All adjustments are nowplete. Now, we only needed to endure for thirty more seconds and everything should be ready to go.

    ¡¸Alright, bring it on! This is where the true climax of this fight starts!¡¹

    I avoid his de, dodge the me pirs and parry his attempts at grabbing me. Was it thanks to the energy drink¡¯s power that I was able to withstand over a half an hour long battle like that? Thirty minutes was a lot of time, I think that while dodging thunderbolts, avoiding blizzard clouds and reflecting the de again.

    ¡¸High Blizzard!¡¹

    ¡¸Five seconds left!¡¹

    Four, I charge right through the gray blizzard clouds.

    Three, I barely managed to avoid a super-fast Iai strike that was sent my way.

    Two, the Gravekeeper stopped its movements for a single moment. There it is¡­¡­!

    One, I¡¯m assuming the position to intercept him. I unite the pair of swords into a single de. Then I sacrifice a portion of my own stamina to reactivate my skills with no cooldown needed!

    Zero.

    ¡¸Ah, huh?¡¹

    This feeling of copsing, as if all of the air was about to go out of your body, it was the sensation that apanied the failed attempt at casting a skill that was still on cooldown¡­¡­ In other words, the skill failed to activate. Right in front of me, Wezaemon raised his sword in the air.

    Lunar Fangs were already united. But in this state I wouldn¡¯t be able to use Parry with them, since both Climax Boost and Hungry Wolf ceased to have an effect on me.

    ¡¸No way¡­¡­¡¹

    Could it be that I got the time wrong? Have I made a mistake somewhere? Ahh, I get it now, that¡¯s not it.

    ¡¸Is this my physical strength being cut down?¡¹

    ¡¸Well done.¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh¡­¡­ Now I fucked up.¡¹

    I failed miserably to meet the trigger conditions. Making such a grave mistake, it was now impossible for me to prepare reviving items in time. The de started to go down, and there was no way in which I could hope to react to that. Really now, there was nothing I could do¡­¡­

    ¡¸Hey, Wezaemon That-Makes-Women-Cry!¡¹

    It was at this moment that the Gravekeeper stopped momentarily.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Ah.¡¹

    That¡¯s because both Pencilgton and Katsu used the fact that the Gravekeeper¡¯s attention was focused solely on me right now and they went towards Setsuna-san¡¯s grave, destroying it and calling out to the Gravekeeper so he would notice.

    With that action, the Gravekeeperpletely stopped paying attention to me.

    And right now, Pencilgton openly mocked Wezaemon for his duty, and the fact that right now he prioritized the enemies over the grave.

    ¡¸Oi, Wezaemon, you sure you should be so preupied with mere humans right now?¡¹

    In real time, it was a mere one second. But that sixty frames were everything that I could possibly ask for right now.

    My two swords right now merged into one, single-edged sword ¨C¨C ¡°Cresent Moon¡±. I then use that sword to cut my stomach open. Self-injury like that was draining my HP at a rapid pace and before long my HP was dangerously close to bing zero. Oh, but I do know. The contents of the major update that went live just thirty minutes ago. It was one of the sentences that was etched into my memory since I have read about it in that magazine at the convenience store.

    ¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C In this update, we will change one of the major conditions for triggering ¡°Second Chance¡±. In particr¡­¡­

    ¡¸Instead of dying instantly from self-inflicted wounds or recoil damage, if your Luck is fifty or above, you shall be left with one HP instead!¡¹

    My draining HP slows down and then stopspletely. My body feels numb and heavy, but it was a small price to pay for what was about toe. Once again, I activate both Climax Boost and Hungry Wolf.

    It was truly a good thing that the Gravekeeper was so passionate about Setsuna-san that he would go towards her grave instead of finishing me off.

    But what counted was that one momentary thought, that thought which would allow me to win.

    Seiten Taisei is a set of actions rted to his sword, ¡°Tensei¡±. In other words, for as long as he holds that sword, it won¡¯t end. ¡­¡­ You could say that this sword was the symbol of his vow as a Gravekeeper!

    ¡¸In the name of a certain fluffy pops I will make you go back to your eternal slumber, even if it kills me¡­¡­ ¡°CRESENT VORPAL¡±!!!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ ¡°TENSEI¡±!!!¡¹

    ¡°Cresent Moon¡¯s¡± abilities are rtively simple. The stronger the enemy, the more boosts to stats you would acquire. HP, attacks strength, critical hit chance, luck¡­¡­ you name it, you got it.

    Doping, buffs¡­¡­ It wasn¡¯t something as incredible as Wezaemon¡¯s buffs, but the most important thing here was the fact that ¡°Cresent Vorpal¡± would give me a tremendous boost to both critical hit chance and maximum critical damage. Time to give the Gravekeeper a taste of my de!

    In that moment, my brain kicked into full gear as I focused my attention. It felt as though the time had slowed down. Wezaemon¡¯s sword started to move, bearing the power to cut everything with one blow, and before it managed to reach me, I stroke the side of it with the power of critical strike, causing it to go off-course and miss its target.

    ¡¸Immediate Death Blow¡­¡­ The strategy is nowplete.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    Wezaemon strikes his sword, but I managed to avoid it and instead of cutting through me it got stuck into the ground.

    There was a brief moment of silence, during which I exhaled deeply. I don¡¯t know if it was in-game only or was it affecting my real body, but right about now I felt as though I was about to copse.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Splendid work.¡¹

 Chapter 73: Momentary Thoughts Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 73: Momentary Thoughts Part 2</h4>

    He should be taking out the sword at any moment now, but for some reason the Gravekeeper just stood still out there, looking at me.

    ¡¸To dodge the ¡°Tensei¡±, which is an ultimate weapon, in such a manner¡­¡­ That was a truly a Tensai-like move if I do say so myself¡­¡­ A warm round of apuse!¡¹

    ¡¸That pun¡­¡­ Physically hurt me¡­¡­¡¹

    I felt like saying anything right now would be too much for me, but the words just came out all on their own.

    ¡¸Well¡­¡­ It¡¯s just like Setsuna-san said¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    I wanted to console him in some way, but the quest¡¯s scenario carried on mercilessly. There was a sound and sight of cracks forming all over Wezaemon¡¯s body. All of the mechanical fluids leak out of his body and now the only thing that was left were the thin traces of ck smoke.

    ¡¸ONCE AGAIN, THERE¡¯S A CERTAIN BEAUTY IN¡­¡­ COMING TO AN END¡­¡­¡¹

    Gravekeeper Wezaemon¡­¡­ No, Wezaemon¡¯s arms fall down after he finally managed to fulfill his duty. The rest of his body shortly follows, crumbling away and after losing his legs, his torso hits the ground with a loud *THUD*

    ¡¸MY, BODY¡­¡­ ROTTEN¡­¡­ SLEEPING¡­¡­ AHH, SETSU¡­ NA¡­¡­ I¡¯M COMING TO¡­¡­ WHERE YOU¡­¡­¡¹

    After saying that, Wezaemon¡¯s head finally falls from his shoulders and hits the ground. Its armor shatteringpletely, thin traces of smokeing out of his mechanical parts.

    ¡¸Is it¡­¡­ over?¡¹

    ¡¸Come on, if there¡¯s anything more to that I¡¯m really going to cry.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s not true and you know it.¡¹

    However, for as long as there was no indication that the quest has been cleared, there was something we were clearly missing here. We were still vignt, looking all around us for a possible indication of any sort. Then the field around us gradually began to change.

    The cherry blossoms which were in full bloom during the fight were now rapidly decaying and withering away. It looks like the world was inverting itself back to its original state before the fight began. Then, a see-through visage of a woman appeared right before us.

    ¡¸Arthur, Sanraku, and Katsu¡­¡­ It looks like you were able to do it.¡¹

    ¡¸Set-chan¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You three, thank you very much for your heroic deed. With this our¡­¡­ No, Setsuna¡¯s wish is finally granted.¡¹

    Hm? What was that? Was that only my imagination, or did Setsuna-san sound like someone else for a moment there?

    ¡¸Set-chan¡­¡­ Does that mean you¡¯re not the real ¡°Setsuna¡±?¡¹

    ¡¸No, Arthur¡­¡­ I am ¡°Setsuna¡±. That much is clear to me. However, I am fundamentally different from Setsuna that passed away on that day. I am¡­¡­ how should I put it? I¡¯m something of a Setsuna¡¯s manuscript, herst will that was left in this world after she died. An existence that¡¯s bound to disappear once its role is fulfilled¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, so that¡¯s why you are ¡°Of the Distant Past¡±¡­¡­¡¹

    A remnant of the past, born from Setsuna¡¯s wishes. Not entirely Setsuna, but a visage very simr to her. So, does this mean her existence was copied and reproduced from the original? As I was thinking about that, Setsuna-san smiled brightly.

    ¡¸Set-chan¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸No need to be sad, Arthur. The world itself has responded to her wish¡­¡­ It was bound to happen sooner orter.¡¹

    Setsuna-san looks at each and every one of us while her visage was bing more and more transparent, about to fade awaypletely.

    ¡¸You are the brave pioneers. Descendants of the second n, the ¡°Pioneers of the World¡±¡­¡­ If you so desire to know the truth about the root of this world, seek out ¡°Bahamut¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸Bahamut?¡¹

    ¡¸Let me exin, Katsu. It is a mythical creature that looks like a fish but is treated like a dragon. Or dragon-deity.¡¹

    ¡¸Geez, that much I know¡­¡­ What I meant by that, Pencilgton, do you happen to know what that thing is in this game?¡¹

    ¡¸No, not really. There are no monsters like that as far as yer encounters are concerned¡­¡­ Set-chan? What¡¯s up with that?¡¹

    ¡¸Fufufu, that¡¯s as much as I can disclose to you. The rest, you¡¯ll have to find out for yourselves. Isn¡¯t that what opens the future for humans?¡¹

    A mischievous smile blooms on Setsuna-san¡¯s lips as she was almostpletely gone by this point.

    ¡¸Ahh, onest thing. It¡¯s not something that ¡°Setsuna¡± programmed me to say, but it¡¯s more of my own actions and words.

    ¡¸Hm?¡¹

    ¡¸Thank you for always spending time with me. I love you, Arthur.¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? Ah! L-Likewise!¡¹

    Leaving those words behind, ¡°Setsuna of the Distant Past¡± disappearspletely. After thest of her polygons vanish, the thing that dominated the area right now wasplete silence.

    ¡¸Say, Pencilgton?¡¹

    ¡¸Gusu¡­¡­ I¡¯m not crying, just so you know.¡¹

    ¡¸I didn¡¯t even say anything.¡¹

    He said that, but the way in which he wiped his face wasn¡¯t convincing in the slightest. However, it was certainly interesting that a ghost AI could generate a line like that. I wanted to ask him about that, but something was telling me that it wasn¡¯t that good of an idea right about now.

    ¡¸So, aren¡¯t we going to discuss the fact that you just got confessed to?¡¹

    ¡¸To think that Pencilgton is capable of shedding tears. Color me surprised.¡¹

    ¡¸This feeling¡­¡­ Is this, my heart¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s it! You wanna go, you two!? Huh!? Want me to chop your fucking heads off!?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh sh*t! Because we don¡¯t have weapons right now, it would be really painful!¡¹

    ¡¸Is this my reward!? Coming this far only to fall victim to PK!? Sanraku, please die instead of me! Take one for the team, will you!?¡¹

    While we were being chased around by Pencilgton, a new window popped up and the three of us came to a sudden halt.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Anyway, thank you for bearing with my selfish request. Thanks to you I managed toplete this unique quest.¡¹

    ¡¸Think nothing of it. We helped you because we wanted to do so.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right. And the title for ying my first Unique Monster in this game is more than enough of a reward for me.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s really nice to see someone being proud of their aplishments, no matter the reward¡­¡­ Was it fun¡­¡­? Ahh, doesn¡¯t matter! It was for me, and that¡¯s what really matters.¡¹

    ¡¸You keep on saying that and we¡¯ll be the ones to give you a nice beating you bastard¡­¡­!¡¹

    After we stopped messing with one another, the three of us looked at each other and we give ourselves a sincere smile and a pat on the back as a sign of a job well done.

    ¡¸Well then, you lot! Let¡¯s see just what kind of rewards we managed to score for ourselves!¡¹

    ¡¸GRAVEKEEPER WEZAEMON WENT BACK TO IT¡¯S ETERNAL SLUMBER.¡¹

    ¡¸THE WISH OF ¡°SETSUNA OF THE DISTANT PAST¡± WAS SUCCESSFULLY FULFILLED.¡¹

    ¡¸THE EX QUEST ¡°FROM DISTANT PAST WITH LOVE¡± IS NOW CLEARED.¡¹

    ¡¸RECEIVED THE TITLE ¡°NURSER¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸RECEIVED THE TITLE ¡°MOMENTARY THINKER¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸RECEIVED THE TITLE ¡°CERTIFIED ANCESTOR¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸RECEIVED ACCESSORY ¡°INVENTORY¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸RECEIVED ITEM ¡°SECRET SWORD TECHNIQUE: DRAGON FIRE PILLAR¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸RECEIVED THE ITEM ¡°BOOK OF THE WORLD¡¯S TRUTH: GRAVEKEEPER CHAPTER¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸UNIQUE QUEST EX ¡°EPIC OF VORPAL BUNNY¡± READY TO PROGRESS.¡¹

    ¡¸¡°WORLD QUEST: SHANGRILA FRONTIER¡± READY TO PROGRESS.¡¹

 Chapter 74: Advancing World and the Reveal of the Hero Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 74: Advancing World and the Reveal of the Hero Part 1</h4>

    The newest update for ShangriLa Frontier was truly massive and overflowing with content.

    There was the sound of bells that could be heard. While the new yers were looking around in confusion for the source of the sound, the veteran yers were aware that it was the message from the administrators.

    ¡¸ATTENTION! ALL OF THE SHANGRILA FRONTIER PLAYERS. THERE WILL BE AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT.¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s this?¡¹

    ¡¸Is this going to be something rted to the contents of the update?¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, yeah, I see.¡¹

    While the vast majority of the yers expected something rted with the update that just came live, the contents of the announcement managed to astonish everyone.

    ¡¸JUST NOW, WE HAVE CONFIRMED THE SUBJUGATION OF ONE OF THE UNIQUE MONSTERS ¨C¨C ¡°GRAVEKEEPER WEZAEMON¡±. THE SUBJUGATORS NAMES ARE AS FOLLOWS: ¡°SANRAKU¡±, ¡°OIKATSU¡± AND ¡°ARTHUR PENCILGTON¡±. ADDITIONALLY, WITH THE SUBJUGATION OF THE UNIQUE MONSTER THE WORLD QUEST CAN NOW BE ADVANCED.¡¹

    ¡¸¡¸¡¸HAAAH!?¡¹¡¹¡¹

    ¡¸Wait a moment, Unique Monster!? And three people managed to defeat it!?¡¹

    ¡¸Only three people!? And what¡¯s the Gravekeeper Wezaemon!? I¡¯ve never heard of a monster like that!¡¹

    Including the Night Prowler Luukan and Heaven Seeker Siegwurm, there are seven unique monsters in total. Each and every one of those monsters were extremely powerful and required huge raid parties with appropriate levels and equipment to take them down, and now the admins were iming that three people managed to take down a beast like that!? That fact started to spread throughout the servers like wildfire, as well as the names of the yers who allegedly managed to do that.

    ¡¸Arthur Pencilgton as if, that one guy from Ashura-kai?¡¹

    ¡¸But wasn¡¯t Ashura-kai destroyed just recently by the alliance of the most powerful PVP guilds?¡¹

    ¡¸That ¡°Sanraku¡± guy is surely that ¡°Bird Head¡± that caused such amotion a while back.¡¹

    ¡¸How is this possible that a yer who only reached Thirdrema recently managed to participate in the Unique Monster subjugation!?¡¹

    ¡¸Also, Oikatsu? Who¡¯s that?¡¹

    ¡¸First time I hear that name¡­¡­ Maybe some newbie as well?¡¹

    Furthermore, there are people whose interest went in apletely different direction than the identity of the ones responsible for taking the unique monster down.

    ¡¸Oi, is there anyone in here who can contact ¡°The Professor¡± in real life!?¡¹

    ¡¸And what about thatdy from the ck Wolves!? Please, someone, anyone! Contact her as soon a possible!¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s see what¡¯s it say in this here ¡°Guide for the Unique Monsters and Where to Find Them¡±¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Siegwurm, Luukan, Takutanid, Orchestra, and now Wezaemon¡­¡­ So that leaves two unknown unique monsters?¡¹

    Guild ¡°Library¡±. A group of yers focused around gathering various lore elements regarding the world of ShangriLa Frontier. Upon hearing of the new element that was previously unknown to them, all members activated at once.

    ¡¸I¡¯ve managed to reach the Lady, she¡¯s logging in as we speak¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸But still, are all of the Unique Monsters located on this continent?¡¹

    ¡¸No, there are no sources that would confirm or deny that. Orchestra and Takutanid monsters were revealed through the NPC conversations, so it¡¯s not at all clear where exactly they are located.

    ¡¸Luukan and Siegvurm are also confirmed to be random encounters around the world map. I wouldn¡¯t find it all that strange if they were avable on other continents as well.¡¹

    ¡¸No, let¡¯s look into this World Quest. Is it in any way different from the Grand Quests?¡¹

    ¡¸As rough as it sounds, you can think of it as a separate story outside of the normal questline. It is more or less: ¡°Be the pioneer of this world together with the NPCs that inhabit it¡±. This announcement means that the World Quest managed to advance into its next phase.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s indeed so, than maybe it¡¯s possible that some kind of change is urring to the world this moment as we speak.¡¹

    ¡¸No, no, no. First, we should gather as much information on Gravekeeper Wezaemon as we can. We should also contact the three yers that managed to defeat it.¡¹

    ¡¸Lady, please contact the Professor! It¡¯s really urgent!¡¹

    ¡¸Alright! Thank you so much, Professor¡¯s wife!¡¹

    ¡¸I pity the poor Professor when he¡¯s going to find out about this¡­¡­¡¹

    Naturally, the information also managed to reach the top PVP Guilds that formed the alliance to destroy the Ashura-kai.

    ¡¸If Arthur Pencilgton was not present during the attack¡­¡­ Was he somewhere out there, taking part in subjugating that unique monster!?¡¹

    ¡¸Rather, this Sanraku guy, he is marked with Luukan¡¯s curse if I remember correctly.¡¹

    ¡¸Grandmaster!¡¹

    ¡¸Grandmaster!¡¹

    The members of the Guild turn around to see their beautiful Grandmaster, a young woman who was wearing armor that gave her boosts to VIT stat, making it a whole lot more useful than the normal heavy armor.

    ¡¸Good grief, who would have thought that there would be solo yers that manage to beat a unique monster before us¡­¡­ Personally, I think that my pride has been hurt just a little bit.¡¹

    ¡¸What are we going to do? We could try our luck on the other continents¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I doubt that things are going to be any different on other continents, but some of us, including me, shall stay here. There¡¯s the matter of the curse of Luukan that I would like to investigate further.¡¹

    ¡¸Just who is this Arthur Pencilgton? Is it possible that he¡¯s way more dangerous than AllSlot?¡¹

    The leader of the ¡°ck Wolves¡± says during the meeting with the top members of her Guild. Saiga-0 was also present there, of course. She was one of the few people who actually knew the truth about the destruction of Ashura-kai, that the information about their whereabouts didn¡¯te from the information broker¡­¡­ The face of the familiar member of the Ashura-kai was lingering in her mind all this time.

    (So that was the purpose of him selling out his whole Guild¡­¡­? But then, why was Ashura-kai keeping the existence of this Unique Monster a secret? He yed his cards really well during this game, I¡¯ll give him that¡­¡­)

    Although the ¡°ck Wolves¡± benefited greatly from the destruction of Ashura-kai, moving up the Guild rankingdder, their ultimate goal was still one and the same: to defeat the Night Prowler Luukan.

    Pencilgton yed them all like tools, and he even included Sanraku in his y of ying the unique monster.

    Saiga-0 was actually kind of jealous that someone took her Sanraku from her and did something like that together with him, but soon enough her thoughts switched to a different modepletely.

 Chapter 74: Advancing World and the Reveal of the Hero Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 74: Advancing World and the Reveal of the Hero Part 2</h4>

    (For the time being I think it should be fine to get in contact with him, but I do believe that there will be some serious kind of negotiations going on very soon¡­¡­ Fufufu, this is getting rather interesting.)

    All other n members look suspiciously at Saiga-0 and her sudden carnivorous smile. Suddenly, Saiga-0 notices something that no one else in the room should be able to see.

    ¡¸Hm? Rei¡­¡­ Ekhem, Ekhem, where did Saiga-0 go?¡¹

    ¡¸Now that you mention it, she¡¯s not here.¡¹

    ¡¸For me it looked like she ¡°Friend Warped¡± just now. So one of her friends must be in a pinch of some sort.¡¹

    ¡¸Friend¡­¡­? Ah, yeah, that¡¯s right. I remember her telling me that she recently managed to score herself a friend or something like that.¡¹

    When she heard that her little sister who would usually keep her distance from the gaming world started to y one, she knew it had something to do with the boy she was interested in. It was worrying that she was so much ahead in-game than him, but the whole Guild agreed to support her in her attempts no matter what, so it wasn¡¯t really that much of a deal.

    But at that moment, Saiga-100 had no way of knowing that the friend her little sister Rei had made was none other than Sanraku.

    Stunned, mute, astonished¡­¡­ There were many ways to describe his current state of mind, but for now AllSlot listened to the announcer¡¯s voice withplete silence.

    ¡¸You¡­¡­ Did you defeat the Gravekeeper Wezaemon?¡¹

    AllSlot did not want to ept this. He was one of the strongest yers on the server. And even though his sister was stronger than him, it was simply outrageous to think that she was able to defeat the Gravekeeper before he did. After all, he was obliterated in a matter of not minutes, but seconds by the Gravekeeper.

    That fact alone was more than enough to blow away all of AllSlot¡¯s anger and turn it into puzzlement and confusion.

    ¡¸Sanraku, do you think that¡¯s¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Pencilgton-san, why do you have to be like that?¡¹

    He couldn¡¯t just worry about things like that for the moment. A nasty smirk creeps up on AllSlot¡¯s face.

    But the fact was that Allslot¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t quite keeping up with his thoughts at all. Over the course of a single night all of his sense of superiority was gone. His Guild was decimated by other PVP Guilds and even the Guild such as ¡°Library¡± turns out to know more about Unique Monster than Ashura-kai.

    At that time, there was a huge space distortion right in the center of the Garden. And in the next moment, a group of three people came out of the distorted space.

    ¡¸Oh, there it is. One of Pencilgton¡¯s predictions. Are that the members of Ashura-Kai, AllSlot¡¯s group?¡¹

    ¡¸What the fuck are you trying to pull off here? Making him as menacing as Wezaemon or what?¡¹

    ¡¸Ahaha, I don¡¯t think that my brother deserves such frightening titles. You know?¡¹

    Apparently exhausted, Pencilgton withdraws his weapons. However, there was a certain kind of aplishment visible on his face, just like his twopanions. Furthermore, now that they have defeated Wezaemon, they would be resurrected at thest save spot upon death, but the fact that they came out here was also quite aggravating.

    ¡¸Y, you¡­¡­ You filthy¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸What a foolish brother you are. If you have something to say, just go on and say it. Just so you know, I¡¯m going to beat your ass because you just messed up big time right now.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­!!! ¡­¡­ Huh!?¡¹

    It was so unreasonable that AllSlot didn¡¯t know what to say. The words were just kinda stuck there inside his mouth, unable toe out.

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t that kinda cruel to say that to the Guild Master whose Guild just got destroyed?¡¹

    ¡¸No, no, no, my dear Sanraku-kun. You see, these idiots don¡¯t seem to understand the essence of PK¡­¡­ They are third-ss at best. Seeing them as they are now, it¡¯s just pitiful. They make me want to vomit just by looking at them.¡¹

    ¡¸Wow, it¡¯s really rare for Pencilgton to openly diss someone just like that¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸PK family must really be a dysfunctional one.¡¹

    ¡¸Now, shut your whore mouth, you deadbeat older sister of mine¡­¡­! I¡¯m gonna kill you all right where you stand! And then¡­¡­ Then I¡¯ll take away the drop items from Wezaemon!¡¹

    As AllSlot said that the remnants of Ashura-kai surrounded the three yers. However, none of the three seemed to be all that terrified nor were they despairing over that fact.

    They were all acting as if AllStot¡¯s threats were a good joke to them. Especially this Sanraku guy. He was especially irking AllSlot, especially since someone like him was made part of the Wezaemon subjugation team.

    Ashura-kai was the Guild that gathered the strongest PVP yers in the whole game. It was a Guild that everyone had to be considerate with. But here they had two unknown newbies that proved strong enough to beat a Unique Monster. That fact was especially irritating to AllSlot, but it was not the cause for concern. Newbies shouldn¡¯t be that much of a threat.

    They may have defeated the Unique Monster, but that doesn¡¯t matter. The spider¡¯s web was all around them right now and they had nowhere else to run. Even though their own numbers weren¡¯t as great as AllSlot would have expected them to be, since some members of the Guild said that they had ¡°something urgent that they needed to do¡±.

    Finally having enough of the fact that everything was not working out as he wanted it to, AllSlot activated his special skill ¡°Slot Bringer¡±, which greatly enhanced his attack power and magic.

    (First I¡¯ll cut that half-naked Sanraku bastard! Then there will be Oikatsu and then Pencilgton, that fucking Sis of mine! I¡¯ll cut all of them¡­¡­!)

    Apparently AllSlot failed to realize. Pencilgton sighs deeply. It was a sigh of disappointment that AllSlot failed to notice something so crucial.

    ¡¸For crying out loud¡­¡­ I always keep telling you that you should look at things from a broader perspective. That only focusing on what¡¯s right in front of you is going to kill you one day.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s like ying an FPS game where you only blindly charge right into the enemy¡¯s territory without assessing your surroundings first. Ipetence is what kills you.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, I now somehow understand.¡¹

    Why were those three acting so calm in this kind of situation? Every other yer out there except for AllSlot had an expression of suspicion on their faces right now.

    ¡¸No, no, no, it¡¯s not like that. You see, we are surprised that Sanraku actually has a friend in this game, but this is actually rather convenient at the moment.

    As Pencilgton was saying that, there was a magic circle that suddenly appeared right under Sanraku¡¯s feet. Next, there was someone in front of them, standing menacingly. Someone who by all means shouldn¡¯t be here right now. A person wearing full tinum armor, looking as immovable as a mountain. AllSlot, as well as the other members of Ashura-kai, couldn¡¯t hide their surprise.

    One of the PK countermeasures added in the previous updates. When a yer happened toe across a PK yer, a rescue signal was automatically sent to other yers from that yer¡¯s friend list.

    And if there¡¯s a friend out there who knows just what ¡°Friend Warp¡± means¡­¡­

    ¡¸MMOs are games where everything won¡¯t always go exactly the way you want it to. If you have a problem with that, go y some single yer games offline.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, if you are looking for a good solo MMO experience, I can wholeheartedly rmend ¡°Fairy Chronicles Online¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku, are you some kind of demon or what¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Saiga-0!?¡¹

    An unforgettable nightmare that blew the Ashura-kai¡¯s headquarters into smithereens as if it was nothing, a walking cannon. Someone like that was right in front of them.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ ¡°Apocalypse¡±.¡¹

    It took merely fifty seconds for the remnants of the Ashura-kai that were gunning for Arthur Pencilgton to bepletely annihted. That was the limit of the yers who have lost their fangs.

 Chapter 75: Distinction and Overkill Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 75: Distinction and Overkill Part 1</h4>

    In the end, Pencilgton¡¯s brother AllSlot and his fellow Ashura-kai members disappeared in a matter of seconds¡­¡­ Turning into a bunch of polygons and dropping dead on the spot, leaving lots of rare and unique items behind them in the process.

    ¡¸Ah~, ah~, just look at all those items! Ashura-kai spent so much time collecting them, and now they are all that remains out of them!¡¹

    Even though his own brother was slew like a simple mob, Pencilgton seemed to be in a rather good mood himself.

    It was their strategy to begin with. Even before the battle with Wezaemon, there was the matter of the remnants of Ashura-kai that needed to be dealt with. Pencilgton knew they would notice his disappearance and that they would eventually figure out where he went. Based on all that information, they came up with this maneuver.

    Since I was, for some reason unknown to me registered as friends with Saiga-0, one of the strongest yers of ShanFro at the current moment, I was to send her a rescue signal. I was d that she chose to respond so fast, but the speed of her response was so fast that it was actually quite concerning. If not downright creepy.

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, Saiga-0-san, thank you so much foring!¡¹

    ¡¸N, no, it¡¯s not a big deal¡­¡­ Please don¡¯t mind it. More importantly¡­¡­ Unique Monster subjugation¡­¡­ Congrattions!¡¹

    Ahh, that rather shy GM announcement right now¡­¡­ Thanks to that, it will be increasingly more difficult to actually take a stroll through town from now on. It will surely be quite a drag to deal with, but as long as I have my evacuation site in Rabbitz, I think I¡¯m not going to pay that matter that much mind.

    Thanks to Pencilgton¡¯s machinations Ashura-kai was no more, and AllSlot was taken down by Saiga-0 just now. So all¡¯s well that ends well, I guess?

    But now there was this awkward silence between Saiga-0 and I yet again. What should I do now? It would be rude of me to just say ¡°Now that you¡¯ve served your purpose, you can go home!¡±. Should I thank her once more? Or maybe give her some kind of reward?

    ¡¸Ah, Saiga-0-chan? I know it might be a little bit rude to ask you this since you came here to help and all that, but would it be okay with you if I asked you for something?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ What is it?¡¹

    Saiga-0 looks at Pencilgton and asks him in a tone of voice that waspletely different from the one she used a moment ago with me. But apparently Pencilgton paid that no mind at all.

    ¡¸Would you be so kind and kill me as well? As a reward for that, you can have all of my reviving items and the loot that came from the members of Ashura-kai.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Are you sure?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine. What¡¯s a game if there¡¯s not some risk involved in it? Besides, I was getting kind of tired from all the penalties on my head and the life of a PKer, so I thought it might be good to settle my sins and crimes right here and right now.¡¹

    Wasn¡¯t the penalty for PKK the confiscation of all of your items as well as huge financial fines? I can¡¯t possibly imagine just how big of a penalty Pencilgton would receive, but ording to him it was something he has decided upon since a long time ago.

    ¡¸But just so you know, even though I said that, I¡¯m not just going to sit on my ass and let you ughter me like you did with that idiot of a brother of mine. No, you¡¯ll have your share of work cut out for you¡­¡­¡¹

    While saying that, Pencilgton picked up the sword that AllSlot dropped and pointed it at Saiga-0, in an act of a deration of war. Saiga-0 looked kind of troubled there for a moment.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I understand. I¡¯m not going to hold back either, since you are the Giant Killer Pencilgton.¡¹

    Saying that, Saiga-0 drew her huge ck sword. Only but a single nce was enough to know that it was something that no yer could have crafted by themselves, that it was a weapon that was existing outside of the realm of humanprehension. With her weapon drawn, she was ready.

    ¡¸Satanael¡­¡­ ¡°Satan¡± for short.¡¹

    At that moment, the ck de started to pulse as if it was alive. Then from the tip of the sword something white started to emanate, slowly covering the whole length of the de. Before long, the sword changed its color from pure-ck to pure white. A godly de shining brightly under the moonlight, feelingpletely different from the previous one.

    It was as if the jet-ck sword disappearedpletely. As if the white shine eroded all the ckness from the de. Was it the energy of Saiga-0 herself? But then the ckness started to cover the surface of her armor, and its initial shape was heavily distorted. Right now, Saiga-0 looked far from the holy knight she usually was, looking more like a Demon Lord incarnate right about now.

    ¡¸Rumors have that this unique weapon holds the most attack power in the whole game: ¡°Antinomy¡±, which can turn the very fabric of existence inside out.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ve heard about it from my Sis¡­¡­ Ekhem, Ekhem, from the Guild Master. You won¡¯t be able to see the deing, and if you try to run away you¡¯ll get burned to cinders.¡¹

    ¡¸Am I a cockroach or something like that in your eyes?¡¹

    ¡¸¡¸Bafuahh!!!¡¹¡¹

    Hearing Pencilgton make a joke like that, both Katsu and I couldn¡¯t help it but to erupt withughter.

    ¡¸Just you wait, maybe I should kill those guys first¡­¡­ Onest PK from Arthur Pencilgton, for old time¡¯s sake.¡¹

    ¡¸Why the fuck are you suddenly pointing your weapon at us!?¡¹

    ¡¸Saiga-0, was it? Please hurry it up and dispose of this lunatic! Can¡¯t you see that he¡¯s dangerous!?¡¹

    ¡¸Um, umm¡­¡­¡¹

    Saiga-0 seemed to be clearly confused by our weird interactions, but seeing Pencilgton taking a battle stance she readied her own weapon once more.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ ¡°Highest Strengthening¡±. ¡°Magic Enhance¡±. ¡°Lightning sh¡±. ¡°Enchantment: Vermillion¡±. ¡­¡­ ¡°Catastrophy¡±!¡¹

    ¡¸Uwah, talk about a crazybination¡­¡­¡¹

    I can totally see why Katsu reacted in such a way. Somehow, Saiga-0 managed to transcend beyond the level of a normal yer and reached a ce at which you could only look towards with envy. She was like a monster or a Demon Lord himself. Somehow, I even get a feeling that she would be able to take on Gravekeeper Wezaemon all on her own without any problems.

    ¡¸Fuaah¡­¡­ Surely the spells and skills she used right now say it clearly: she means business. Allow me to respond in kind: ¡°I spill the blood, I eat the flesh of my enemies, I bite them to death, and snuff out their lives. I stand atop all and there¡¯s no one better than me.¡± ¡­¡­ How about that?¡¹

    Pencilgton chanted, and AllSlot¡¯s sword started pulsating. Quite literally, it wasn¡¯t a metaphor. Then something of a ck mass of flesh extends from his arm and bites into the de, changing its shape and the aura surrounding it. The de changed its color to ck.

 Chapter 75: Distinction and Overkill Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 75: Distinction and Overkill Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Uehh, talk about a bad taste¡­¡­¡¹

    And once the transformation waspleted¡­¡­ it was a thing that was closer to being described as a nailed bat rather than a sword, that¡¯s just how many nails and thorns was on it.

    ¡¸Now then, let¡¯s get this party started, shall we!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Come right at me.¡¹

    ¡¸Then I won¡¯t hold anything back¡­¡­ ¡°Serial Killer¡±, ¡°Ridiculing Shadow¡±, ¡°Enchantment: Vorpal¡±, ¡°Massacre Bite¡±!¡¹

    Brandishing the sword that was now integrated with his right arm, Pencilgton lunges forward. He wanted to approach Saiga-0 with irregr movements and dodges, but came to a sudden halt once he saw that Saiga-0 struck her sword into the ground, and then pushed it forward, causing it to rip out a huge chunk of the ground with it.

    Pencilgton tried to attack through the rubble, but his sword stopped on the ck substance covering Saiga-0 armor, dealing no damage at all. At the same time Saiga-0 swung her own sword. Pencilgton tried to dodge it, but since his own weapon got entangled with the ck mass of Saiga-0¡¯s armor he was unable to escape in time.

    ¡¸Kuah¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Requiem for Existence.¡¹

    Because Pencilgton¡¯s weapon was fused with his arm he was unable to escape Saiga-0¡¯s attack and as a result his arm got cut off.

    Pencilgton then jumped back in a hurry but it looked as if his movements were much more frantic than before. Surely it wasn¡¯t the fact that his arm got cut off, it wouldn¡¯t be the first time. So it must be something else. Maybe Saiga-0 managed to intimidate her so much?

    ¡¸¡­¡­ This is the end.¡¹

    ¡¸Hahaha, I knew it, the level gap really is something that cannot be closed so easily through any means¡­¡­ But still, right here, in this exact ce¡­¡­ I cannot allow myself to lookme¡­¡­!¡¹

    Falling onto the ground, Pencilgton nces at the dead cherry blossom tree. And then he grasps his severed arm-de and swings it at Saiga-0.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ In that case, have it your way. We are of conflicting interests. Light and Darkness that repel each other. shing destinies and fates unbound. Body that is soaked in light while the soul is tainted by Darkness. Oh great Chaos, devourer of the world¡­¡­ ¡°CHAOS VOID¡±.¡¹

    A brief sh. That was all I was able to catch from Saiga-0¡¯s movement as she and Pencilgton briefly passed each other. In the next moment I could see that Pencilgton¡¯s body had been cleaved perfectly in two. The upper part quickly dissipated into red polygons, while the lower part stood there for a moment or two before eventually falling over and disappearing as well.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Wait, what just¡­¡­?¡¹

    Together with Katsu I backed away from Saiga-0 as we began to discuss something among ourselves.

    (Dude, did you see that sh*t!? Pencilgton was cleaved in half as if he was a stick of butter! All that big talk and he still ends upme as fuck!)

    (Now how can wemunicate with one another without Pencilgton acting as our straight man!? Our friendship might not be able to withstand it!)

    (What if hees back from the grave to haunt us!? He may be dead, but that doesn¡¯t make him any less dangerous than he was when he was alive!)

    (Fuwah¡­¡­ Right, I got it! It is finally time for me to show you the amazing powers of the professional gamersmunity!)

    (Power ofmunity?)

    After our little consultation was finally over, Katsu turned towards Saiga-0, who already reverted back to her ¡°tinum armor¡± mode.

    ¡¸Ahh, umm¡­¡­ Right. Y, you really made a short work out of Pencilgton! I was really surprised there! Is this the level of abilities of end-game yers?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ This is, there¡¯s lots of unique skills out there¡­¡­ Some weak, some strong¡­¡­ so it really¡­¡­ depends¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Are those skills that can be taught? Or maybe they are limited to certain yers¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ That¡¯s something that even I¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh¡­¡­¡¹

    Feelingpletely defeated, Katsu returns to my side and gives me a light pat onto the shoulder.

    ¡¸Sorry. It looks like mymunications skills are garbage-level in the end. Maybe next time I should pick up a game that will allow me to develop some of my social skills to some decent level?¡¹

    ¡¸¡°Love Clock¡±. Highly rmend. Won¡¯t be disappointed.¡¹

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t that basically a sh*tty game!?¡¹

    Not really. It is pretty much grounded in reality. It basically tells you that throwing around sweet words and empty promises is easier said than done. Still, I always thought that Katsu was the one who was moremunicative than I was. Since he¡¯s a pro gamer and all that crap.

    ¡¸Ahh, what the hell, umm¡­¡­ Thank you very much for going along with Pencilgton¡¯s selfish request. Just like he promised, you can have all the items that are here.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ Umm.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, what is it?¡¹

    ¡¸CAN. I. ASK. YOU. SOMETHING?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, yeah, sure, go right ahead.¡¹

    I listened to Saiga-0¡¯s words as her voice suddenly became pretty much robot-like and her body became suddenly tense.

    ¡¸Umm, this is¡­¡­ That Pencilgton¡­¡­ What kind of¡­ rtionship do you¡­ have with him?¡¹

    ¡¸Pencilgton and I? Hmm¡­¡­ Game friends, I guess?¡¹

    I honestly think that description is rather urate. We yed the game together, trained together, fought a strong enemy together and emerged victorious together. If anything, I think it is rtively safe to assume that we are gaming friends alright.

    ¡¸I, I see¡­¡­ Friends¡­¡­ Colleagues¡­¡­ Buddies¡­¡­¡¹

    Maybe Saiga-0¡¯s character was bugged or something? But I wouldn¡¯t even dare to ask such an insensitive question. Feeling a strange kind of pressureing from Saiga-0, one unlike even the Gravekeeper Wezaemon, I proceed to hand her the items that were scattered all over the ce.

    When I was about to hand AllSlot¡¯s sword to Saiga-0, her body started to glow white. It was the same kind of light that wrapped around her when she came here in the first ce, so apparently now that the threat was neutralized, she could go back to wherever she was beforeing here. But if it wasn¡¯t for her, we would be goners for sure.

    ¡¸Ah¡­¡­ It is, time¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Eh, yeah, once again, thank you for helping me out. I¡¯ll return the favor one day.¡¹

    ¡¸Um, umm¡­¡­ If the opportunity presents itself¡­¡­ I¡¯ll dly ept¡­¡­¡¹

    And just like that Saiga-0 was gone, leaving me with this weird-ass sword in my hand.

    ¡¸Hey, Katsu? What do you think that is?¡¹

    ¡¸It smells bad, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s ALL bad.¡¹

    ¡¸Dude, I don¡¯t know. Maybe we should just throw this thing away? ¡­¡­ Or maybe not.¡¹

    It was a little bit heavy to handle with one hand, and its awkward appearance was making me reluctant to put it in my inventory.

    ¡¸Right, let¡¯s go home.¡¹

    ¡¸Sure thing. Ahh~~, I feel like I¡¯m going to have a really good night¡¯s sleep today.¡¹

    ¡¸Just don¡¯t go into aa by ident, okay?¡¹

    ¡¸Worry not.¡¹

    That being said, since I had somewhere else to stop by, we parted ways at Thirdrema.

 Chapter 76: Epilogue: What To Do Now and Next Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 76: Epilogue: What To Do Now and Next Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Nhh, kuaaah¡­¡­ God, I¡¯m so tired. It¡¯s been almost a week and I¡¯m still feeling like that.¡¹

    If Sanraku¡¯s room was rather modest in games and gaming consoles, then Katsu¡¯s ¨C¨C Uomi Kei¡¯s ¨C¨C room was something else entirely. Since he was a professional gamer known not only in Japan but also in America, he was able to buy a condo in a rather prestigious apartment building.

    ¡¸But I must say, even though I meant it only as a means to kill time, it is really a good game¡­¡­ ShangriLa Frontier, that is.¡¹

    The shelves in his room were littered with various gaming software. Even though he was still feeling the effect of gulping down so many energy drinks, he should be fine before the big tournament that was going to be held in about a week¡¯s time. But it was a small price to pay when he closed his eyes and remembered the smiles on his two friends¡¯ faces. Drinking a sports drink, he went to the bathroom while looking at something on his mobile terminal.

    ¡¸Our opponents are going to be ¡°Ivy Express¡±¡­¡­ They are kind of nuts, so I wonder if we¡¯re going to be able to take them on? Then¡­¡­ Hm?¡¹

    The website disyed on the screen was the gaming news site, and one of them made Katsu¡¯s eyebrows raise in surprise. It reminded him of the two friends with whom he went through a fierce battle together.

    ¡¸No, but that¡¯s actually a good thing¡­¡­ But perhaps that guy¡­¡­ The two of them can be really dangerous if cornered¡­¡­ But are they going to be like that this time as well?¡¹

    Katsu left the mobile terminal on the table and went to the bathroom. Just as the disy was about to enter sleep mode, the letters ¡°GGC¡± could be read off of it¡­¡­

    ¡¸A big breakthrough! It¡¯s a big breakthrough for me¡­¡­!¡¹

    Saiga Rei takes off the headpiece from her head, moisturizes her parched throat with a green tea from a stic bottle and then strikes a pose full of determination and victory.

    They would often pass each other. She started ying ShangriLa Frontier so that she could have somemon topic to talk to him about. She was only going to y it for a little bit, but right now she felt as though it was a really fun ce to be at right now. And it was thanks to this game that she was able tomunicate with him way more than she usually would. She received help from many other female yers in her Guild, and she was sure to thank all of themter on.

    ¡¸I, I just hope that we can continue to get along from now on¡­¡­¡¹

    In the future, she would like to be friends with him not only within the game, but in real life as well.

    They told her to try to talk to him in real life, but that one simple task was proving itself to be extremely difficult for her. But it was making her so happy at the same time.

    (I was rather surprised when I saw that woman¡­¡­ But I¡¯m sure they are just game friends. Yes, game friends!)

    There was also Arthur Pencilgton. When she at first saw that there was a woman who was so close to him, she felt as though she was crossing a dangerously thin and unstable suspension bridge. She felt a sense of despair that was sure to swallow her up, but it all but dissipated upon her learning that the two of them were just friends in arms.

    She felt as though she was making small but steady progress. And there was nothing wrong with that. Baby steps are nothing to be ashamed of.

    ¡¸Do your best, me¡­¡­! No, I¡¯M going to do my best!¡¹

    Saiga Rei, A.K.A Saiga-0¡­¡­ She was only taking her first steps on her journey towards winning the favour of the boy she liked, Sanraku.

    Parting with Katsu at Thirdrema, I move to Rabbitz using thest Teleportation scroll that was given to me by Pencilgton.

    ¡¸Now then¡­¡­ I guess I¡¯ll go and see Emul.¡¹

    ¡¸Fuhyaaah!? S, S, S, SANRAKU-SAN!?¡¹

    For some reason, Emul was right in the middle of sniffing the pillow on my bed as I entered the room at the inn. Noticing me, Emul jumped high into the air while letting out a shriek full of terror.

    Ah, now that I think about it, I still didn¡¯t change back my head gear. Bird mask, bird mask, where art thou? Ah, there it is!

    ¡¸I, Sanraku, have returned triumphantly without having to respawn.¡¹

    ¡¸Fuee¡­¡­ Fubieeeeeeeggggghhhhhh!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Guoah!?¡¹

    Bunny¡¯s jumping power¡­¡­ Emulunched himself so hard right into my stomach that he managed to make me lose my bnce and I fell right down onto the floor.

    ¡¸Isht amashinnngggg!!! I wash sho wovvied!!! Sanraku-san, you really defeated Gravekeeper Wezaemon!?¡¹

    ¡¸Say what?¡¹

    ¡¸I, I musht lepolt thish to Daddy righsht away!!!¡¹

    Aaaand he¡¯s gone. Not that I care too much, but I was getting a real sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu in here right now.

    A few minutester, I arrived in front of both Weissash and Emul, who was also crying for some reason. Or maybe it wasughter? It was hard for me to say.

    ¡¸Ueguh, egueh, bueeeh!¡¹

    ¡¸Wait, why the hell is your nose running like that? Blow it into a tissue or something!¡¹

    Emul took something out of his pocket¡­¡­ Was that a handkerchief? I sure hope it was a handkerchief.

    ¡¸Ouh¡­¡­ Better?¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, oh, yeah, better. Much better.¡¹

 Chapter 76: Epilogue: What To Do Now and Next Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 76: Epilogue: What To Do Now and Next Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Well then, let¡¯s hear it¡­¡­ How was the battle with ¡°Undying¡±?¡¹

    ¡¸It was stupidly strong, if nothing else¡­¡­ Umm, honestly, I cannot reallypare it to anything else I have encountered before. Maybe that Loser mage would make a close cut.¡¹

    I could easily state that out of all the fights I have fought so far this one was the most intense one. Especially the skills of his that were dangerously bncing on the verge of being called broken or cheat.

    ¡¸Hahaha, I see, I see¡­¡­ I see that he gave you quite a challenge, but are you satisfied?¡¹

    ¡¸I sure am. Also¡­¡­ I¡¯ll take that as apliment.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­¡­ I see¡­¡­¡¹

    Vash says while apparently getting lost in his own thoughts.

    ¡¸Growing up, opening up¡­¡­ Maybe it will happen soon.¡¹

    ¡¸Soon?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s nothing. I was merely talking to myself there. Right¡­¡­ You, do you know about the truth of this world?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I do not wish for anyone to tell me about it.¡¹

    Epic of the Vorpal Bunny¡­¡­ I stepped into this world of my own ord and I am going to uncover its secrets with my own two hands as well!

    ¡¸And for that reason alone, there¡¯s something that I absolutely want you to do.¡¹

    ¡¸Sure thing.¡¹

    Was that perhaps the beginning of a brand new quest?

    Pencilgton started all the way from the beginning in Firstia and went all the way to Thirdrema and the Hidden Garden in the caves, all the whileughing at just how easy the process of getting there seemed to him right now.

    ¡¸Now then, it is a fresh start for Pencilgton, I guess.¡¹

    After the defeat of the Gravekeeper, this ce basically lost all of its value. But for Pencilgton it was still an important ce full of precious memories. Passing through the tunnel, he arrived at the field of flowers. Pencilgton reaches his hand towards one of the spider camellias and takes it in his hand.

    ¡¸I thought it would be cold and deste here, so I brought something to brighten up the ce a little bit. ¡­¡­ I¡¯ll be sure to bring something nicer on my next visit. For the time being, something arranged by the NPC florist will have to do, Ahaha¡­¡­¡¹

    Pencilgton puts the bouquet of white flowers at the roots of the huge cherry blossom tree. She would always appear right in this spot, every single time without fail.

    ¡¸I¡¯m sure you would ask me just what kind of flowers those are, and I wouldn¡¯t be able to answer¡­¡­ That would be so much like you, Set-chan¡­¡­¡¹

    The flowers were a type of really rare item, one that bloomed only for five minutes to wither away and die after its time was over. However, once collected, the flower would never die unless it was intentionally destroyed. Living in the moment and staying the same forever¡­¡­ After looking it up a bit, Pencilgton came upon a curious piece of information. That the name of this flower was actually ¡°Setsuna¡±. What a strange twist of fate.

    ¡¸You said that you were just a fake and nothing but a copy¡­¡­ But for me you were the real deal, in the flesh.¡¹

    Even though¡­¡­ Even though she was just a character inside the game, she acted like a normal human being, talking to Arthur Pencilgton and responding to his words and actions.

    ¡¸Set-chan, I think I will continue to enjoy this world for a little bit longer¡­¡­ Especially since there¡¯s still ¡°homework¡± left for me to do.¡¹

    ¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C If you want to know the truth about the roots of this world, look for ¡°Bahamut¡±.

    ¡¸Fine by me. One day I will expose the truth about this world, be it with the help of this ¡°Bahamut¡± or not.¡¹

    Having renewed her determination, Amane A.K.A Arthur Pencilgton got seriously into ying the game.

    The Gravekeeper Wezaemon. The man who shackled himself in the chains of an eternal oath was now put to eternal rest. And the woman whose desires and dreams were left behind in this world was now able to rest, finally reunited with her loved one.

    The world proceeds to its next stage, its pioneers getting excited for the new unknowns that await them. A brand new world opened before them, their ¡°Grand Voyage¡± about to begin.

    Little did I know that the world of ShangriLa Frontier was only starting to heat up¡­¡­

 Chapter 77: Intermission: World Tome â€œWezaemonâ€ Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 77: Intermission: World Tome ¡°Wezaemon¡± Part 1</h4>

    The ideal party size to take down ¡°Greavekeeper Wezaemon¡± would be around six to seven people.

    As a rule of thumb, every member of the party should hold at least four reviving items. The more the better.

    Now onto the breakdown of the actual battle strategy.

    [Tank] ¡­¡­ One member should be a tank with high HP pool and high evasion rate, possessing lots of skills that would enable them to evade and avoid the Gravekeeper¡¯s attacks.

    [Vanguard] ¡­¡­ Professional raiders that won¡¯t get discouraged in the face of overwhelming adversity and can hold their ground while giving their all.

    [Support] ¡­¡­ Someone possessing lots of buffs and debuffs, as well as reviving magic and healing.

    ¡°Gravekeeper Wezaemon¡± Guide:

    Upon entering the ¡°Reversed Hidden Garden¡±, every party member¡¯s level is being reduced to fifty. Since the skill points allocation is also reverted to that of level fifty, the people with equipment of the higher level should be extra careful.

    The Gravekeeper will always begin the fight with his ¡°Tachikaze¡± skill, aiming to decapitate the yer that is the closest to him at the beginning of the fight. It is possible to avoid that attack by ducking at the veryst moment right at the beginning of the fight.

    Tachikaze

    The Iai sword technique of unparalleled speed. Because the initial stance is somewhat long, the evasive movements should be performed at the exact moment when the Iai stance ispleted. It is also possible to get out of its range of effect.

    Thunder Bell

    The Gravekeeper raises his sword in the air and summons tremendous amounts of Lightning bolts. Since it is an AoE skill with a huge range, it is advisable to keep your party scattered to avoidplete decimation in one fell swoop. It is also possible to evade it by running at full speed, but yers need to manage their stamina bars ordingly, or they may fall victim to the follow up attacks when they are unable to move.

    Cumulonimbus

    A technique that creates thunderclouds that track the enemy¡¯s movements. This technique has a blind spot right behind the Gravekeeper¡¯s back, and since the preparation time is fairly long it is easy to avoid if you know what to do. However, if you¡¯re not fast enough you will almost surely get hit by it and it is very easy for the frontline to copse that way.

    Maelstrom

    A grab attack that he uses when he loses his sword for whatever reason. The heavier the armor the yer is wearing the more damage it is going to deal. Attack especially deadly to tanks, but it only reaches in a straight line, so it is possible do avoid it by dodging to the sides. As with every other attack, it is important to mind your stamina bar, especially if you are a tank.

    Dragon Fire Pir

    A special technique that the Gravekeeper uses when his aggro is directed at three or more people. He strikes his sword into the ground and then selects one target at random, generating a pir of fire that erupts from under that yer¡¯s ground. Overall easy to avoid, but one must be weary at all times of the follow-up attacks described below that are sure to appear.

    High Blizzard

    A follow up attack after the Dragon Fire Pir. The smoke from the Fire Pir is converted into the clouds in the sky, spreading over the five meter radius of where the pir erupted, and produces rapidly shrinking blizzard circle. Being caught up in it means slow and painful death by suffocation rather than freezing, so the mental damage from that attack is far greater than the physical one.

    Weather Change

    An AoE shockwave attack used to traverse from the second stage of the battle onto the third. In this phase the Gravekeeper receives the status of the ¡°Undead¡± so that he can be damaged by the high level Purification magic or healing items. He also gains bonus armor praton effects, so upon hit one should be prepared for an insta death.

    Seiten Taisei

    An ¡°insane¡± mode triggered after the beginning of the third phase of the battle. All of the above skills can be used one after another without any dy or breaks for about thirty seconds. However, even if the order of the actions can bepletely random, there are some patterns hidden amongst them as well. If he has his sword in his hand, after thirty seconds have passed, he will use another skill called ¡°Tensei¡±.

    Tensei

    Skill that raises the effects and chances of insta death, armor and magic pration, equipment destruction, skill pration and adds the element of unavoidable to most of his regr attacks. Getting hit by it means certain death, but the effects are only applied to the edge of the de. So the optimal solution is to try and avoid getting shed by all costs.

    Even tanks specializing in avoidance are not preferred during that phase, because the attacks have way too many extra effects to respond ordingly to all of them.

    Parrying and deflecting is the most optimal response during that phase. It may be difficult to pull off, but it is possible to deflect even the strongest attacks that way. One thing of not is to target the side of the de, for the extra effects are not being applied there.

    Skillful parrying is the way to go during that phase, but please be aware that changing the object of the Gravekeeper¡¯s aggro does not change the target of ¡°Tensei¡±.

    It is possible to destroy the sword and stop this madness for good. Destroying the sword will limit the Gravekeeper¡¯s attacks considerably and since he won¡¯t be able to use his ¡°insane¡± mode ever again, the difficulty of the battle should drop by a considerable amount. However, the titles acquired after the battle and loot will change if you opt to go for that method.

 Chapter 77: Intermission: World Tome â€œWezaemonâ€ Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 77: Intermission: World Tome ¡°Wezaemon¡± Part 2</h4>

    List of Special Actions of Gravekeeper Wezaemon:

    Due to his backstory, Gravekeeper Wezaemon prioritizes protecting the grave of his former lover, Setsuna. If some yer gets near it or tries to destroy it, he instantly bes the top priority for all iing attacks.

    During First and Second Phase of the battle the Gravekeeper possesses a Hyper Armor that grants damage reduction, practically negating all the damage that is being thrown towards him. That goes for debuffs and magic as well.

    During the Third Phase his armor gets damaged and damage can be normally afflicted to him. At this point he has the ¡°Undead¡± attribute to him and healing potions and purification magic can be used to damage him as well. However, if the damage is not high enough he will simply shrug it off and proceed with his normal attack pattern.

    Throughout the Third Phase

    , Wezaemon is in the constant state of losing HP with every passing second. If left unattended, it is possible to reduce his HP to ¡°0¡± by that method alone. However, even with his HP down to ¡°0¡±, the battle won¡¯t end unless all of the attacking yers are alive. If that condition is met, then the battle will finally end.

    TACTICAL WARHORSE ¡°KIRIN¡±

    A horse-shaped golem summoned from the storage facility in another dimension. It is summoned upon the Gravekeeper entering its Second Phase. If left unattended for long enough it shall decimate the battlefield withsers and homing missiles, and if nothing is done about it, it will merge with Wezaemon into one, so please be mindful of that and prepare in advance.

    It also has a weakness. If there is a yer sitting on top of its back, the only action it shall do is to try and shake that yer off. The best course of action is to rodeo it until the Third Phase actually starts. During the Third Phase the same principles that apply to Wezaemon apply to ¡°KIRIN¡±, with the exception that it has much higher VIT and its HP won¡¯t go down, so it is harder to take down than its master.

    Horse Form

    It basically runs around the battlefield, shootingsers and missiles at the yer. It will only focus on shaking off any yer that sits on top of its back.

    Centaur Form

    If left unattended for long enough, Wezaemon and ¡°KIRIN¡± will fuse together to form a mechanical centaur-like enemy.

    In this stat they will constantly run around the field, shootingsers and missiles at the yers while also swinging their sword around while raining down thunderbolts from the sky. It is almost impossible to damage them when they fuse together. And there is also their Hyper Armor to consider, making it even harder to deal damage.

    Armorless Form

    ¡°KIRIN¡¯s¡± crippled form that emerges during the Third Phase. It looks like a headless giant that attacks mainly by using its limbs as well as missiles andsers. Its trump card is the hugeser located in the middle of its stomach. If the ting around its stomach is destroyed or it loses more than sixty percent of its HP it enters frenzy mode, and rains down attacks regardless of aggro.

    The giantser deals lethal doses of damage, but it is also its weak spot, since right behind the muzzle is the ce where its power core is located.

    Incidentally, the union of Wezaemon and ¡°KIRIN¡± can only ur before the start of the Third Phase. After that it will be impossible for them to merge together.

    What to Focus on to maximize the efficiency during the fight?

    Concentrate on trying to destroy the Gravekeeper¡¯s sword or at least taking it away from him.

    The sword itself is really durable so only the strongest of weapons can hope to destroy it, which will also focus the Gravekeeper¡¯s aggro on whoever it was that destroyed his sword.

    It is extremely unlikely to be able to defeat the Gravekeeper without proper support, so instead of overly cautious attacks and strategies the most efficient way is to go all-out and be resurrected by your support. Call it a suicide strategy or zombie strategy.

    Without his sword, Weaemon¡¯s attack potential is severely limited. However, if you defeat him that way then Setsuna¡¯s attitude towards you will worsen and aside from the World Tome you will only receive one item ¨C¨C ¡°INVENTORY¡±.

    Gravekeeper Wezaemon¡¯s Backstory

    Strictly speaking, it is not Wezaemon that moves during the First and Second Phase of the battle, but it¡¯s his ¡°will¡± that moves the armor around. It would be more urate to say that the armor is the ¡°Setsuna of the Distant Past¡± and Wezaemon¡¯s will animates it.

    His consciousness is being awoken during the Third Phase, and it is then that he actually starts to be ¡°himself¡±, hence the transition in attribute from ¡°Machine¡± to ¡°Undead¡±. And since Wezaemon¡¯s corpse was actually preserved inside of the armor thanks to the high amounts of super technology, its spirit is still as it was in his final moments, that of a young male. So what changes across the phases that forces his consciousness to awaken?

    His will awakens at the beginning of the Third Phase thanks to a certain ¡°fixation¡±, but as a result of that his mind quickly begins to age and wither away, causing his own body to copse and destroy itself. Still, even knowing that his body is on the verge of breaking down, Wezaemon won¡¯t stop attacking and fulfilling his duty.

    In the distant past, in the times called the ¡°Age of Gods¡±, right before Setsuna passed away she told one single lie to Wezaemon, and that lie became Wezaemon¡¯s fixation, one that allowed him to guard her grave forever and ever.

    Realizing what her lie brought upon him, Setsuna knew that Wezaemon wouldn¡¯t stop in his duty. So if he refused to stop even after his death, someone else needed to stop him for his own good. For that goal toe to fruition, ¡°Setsuna of the Distant Past¡± was created.

    Wezaemon nted the cherry blossom tree over Setsuna¡¯s grave, since it was her favorite flower when she was still alive. But just like Wezaemon, the tree soon began to wither away, since it wascking the purpose to continue on. In order to prevent the tree and Setsuna¡¯s body form rotting away, Wezaemon used powerful and forbidden magic to use the power of the moon itself in order to seal the grave in another dimension, thus preserving the sight Setsuna loved so much.

    This ¡°inversion¡± is like imprinting the sight of one space and then cing it in another, separate location. So the normal Hidden Garden is now dead and deserted, while the inverted space is still lush and beautiful, as if the flow of time itself stopped there.

    Nheless, since it was the ce where Setsuna¡¯s remains were buried, the ce became synonymous with her character.

    As a side not, the magic used to create the inverted space was so powerful that it started to influence the real world as well, causing the moss in the cavern system to shine as brightly as the sun, the nts to grow at a very fast pace and trees to appear in a ce where it would normally be impossible for them to grow.

    It¡¯s not all that far from truth to say that it was Wezaemon who created the Crimson Trees Cave and all the vegetation that grows there.

    Was it really worth it to protect the grave for all eternity at the cost of one¡¯s sanity and consciousness? Or is Setsuna¡¯s grave in the inverted space the real one or is it just a perfect copy? Only Wezaemon knows the answers to those questions, but now they are forever unobtainable.

    Incidentally, if you were to convert Wezaemon¡¯s stats and skills to yer¡¯s terms, you would receive someone who¡¯s level would go beyond ny nine by arge amount. So even without his armor, it only goes to show just how powerful Wezaemon really was.

 Chapter 78: Character Introduction

    <h4>Chapter 78: Character Introduction</h4>

    Name: Hizutome Rakurou

    PN: Sanraku

    Age: 17

    Gender: Male

    Special skill: Total immersion in the game while muting every possible outside factor

    Likes: games, sashimi

    Dislikes:g, RNG (Note: I can rte, RNG is such a bitch sometimes)

    Favorite games: almost all of them (especially those that hate a ¡°sh*tty game¡± feeling to them)

    Disliked games: Visual Novels (sh*tty games of their own category, where it takes way too much time to clear them)

    Gaming Style: Gourmet. He can handle almost any type of in-game situation. But as a rule of thumb, he prefers to y the role of the Agility-type character, mainly focused on evasion and lightning fast attacks with critical hits.

    Has no problem with ying the situation by ear and adapting himself to the ever-changing circumstances on the battlefield. The longer the battle, the better he can ustom himself to it.

    However, due to ying so many sh*tty games his sense ofmon sense in normal games is severelycking.

    Details: the protagonist of this series, in love with all kinds of sh*tty games but now he switched to godly game to see what it was all about.

    His reaction speed is almost on an inhuman level, and years of having to suffer through sh*tty games honed his hardcore skills as a gamer to the maximum. A type of yer whose in-game performance is directly connected to how much tension is he feeling at the moment, and the stronger the adversary the better he fights. Aside from that he is really stress-resistant and can tolerate almost any kind of situation, probably as a result of having to cope with lots of frustration and grief because of the sh*tty games. But we won¡¯t let that fact bias our opinion on him.

    Name: Saiga Rei

    PN: Saiga-0

    Age: 17

    Sex: Female

    Special skill: breaking watermelons with one blow

    Likes: Hizutome Rakurou

    Dislikes: People who act overly-familiar

    Favorite Games: None

    Disliked Games: Eroge (blushes like crazy when she sees one)

    Game style: She can cover a variety of ystyles, and thanks to her honor student attitude she excels at every single one of them. She always does what needs to be done. She also trained kendo and martial arts as means of self-defense and can utilize those skills in the game as well.

    However, thanks to her over-the-top specials attacks and skills she is not all that good at teaching other people the intricacies behind the game.

    Details: Born into a family that treasures traditional values, she was brought up to be a polite and well-mannered girl. But as a result of that she, as well as her two older sisters, is not all that well-versed when ites to romance of any kind.

    She became attracted towards Rakurou after she saw just how much fun he was having everyday, and she even bought the same game as him in order to get closer to him. But the hurdles of sh*tty games proved to be too much for her, to the point where she wanted to quit ying forever. It was then that one of her sisters, Momo, rmended ShangriLa Frontier to her.

    At first she yed as an ugly man¡¯s avatar, since she felt no need to attach herself to the game. But after ying for hours together with her sister, she now rose up to be one of the strongest yers in the game.

    Name: Uomi Kei

    PN: ModoroKatsu, KatsuTataki, Oikazzo

    Age: 19

    Gender: Male

    Special skill: All-nighters

    Likes: games, victory

    Dislikes: Defeat

    Favorite games: Ranking Game

    Disliked games: Roboge (Not very good at piloting stuff like that)

    Game style: Thorough reasoning. Gathering information, developing countermeasures, devising counterattacks, picking up small details that might slip the attention of others. Depending on his opponent, he can divide the style freely, including attack specialization and counter specialization. He likes to fight against organized enemies and dislikes wild cards that improvise all of their actions rather than ying a certain strategy. Although Sanraku is taking measures against such opponents, the possibility of defeat is still out there.

    Details: Rather than liking games in general, he likes to win and have fun. Professional gamer who is the object of envy for many other yers out there. He is also well-known overseas as ¡°Kei¡±, a member of the multi-gaming Professional Team ¡°Gaming Battalion¡±. This team is also known as the ¡°Nitro Squad¡±.

    Although he had no interest in sh*tty games, he decided to give them a go after watching a video of ¡°Berserker¡¯s Passion Online¡± on the Inte. He wanted to buy its box copy but since he couldn¡¯t find it he had to resolve to download the version. There he was defeated by Sanraku almost fifteen times in a row. After doing some research and practicing some more, he then managed to get back at Sanraku by defeating him almost twenty times in a row.

    On a side note, he uses ¡°Ore¡± as a pronoun when in private, but refers to himself as ¡°Boku¡± in public ces. His rather delicate voice and facial features make him liked by both sexes.

    Name: Amane Towa

    PN: Pencil Warrior, Arthur Pencilgon

    Age: 24

    Sex: Female

    Special skill: Even in the presence of unprecedented circumstances she can remain calm andposed.

    Likes: fireworks, thrills

    Dislikes: fatigue, slugs

    Favorite games: Strategy games

    Disliked games: Rail-Shooters (because there is no need for strategic thinking there)

    Game style: Explosive Addict. Just make a basic preparation and then watch the explosion and chaos that is sure to follow. The most important thing for her is the thrill, as anything else doesn¡¯t matter. She can negotiate effectively not only with the yer characters, but also with NPCs. As Pencilgton, she likes to plot from behind the stage.

    Good at changing strategies on the go and improvising. But because of her overly analytic character, her ability to read people can be somewhat clunky, cing her as the mid-tier yer at times.

    Details: A top model and a role model for every teenage girl across the country. In reality she could be described as a ¡°firework¡±, for she¡¯s as destructive as she¡¯s beautiful. She longs for the thrill of the moment rather than peace and stability. But since that kind of attitude would soon get her into trouble in real life, she goes all out when ying games.

    She is the type that always wants to watch the world burn around her. The culmination of that nasty trait was definitely the ¡°United Rounds Pencil Dynasty Case¡±. Loves self-destructing mechanics because she¡¯s all about living in the moment. Upon her defeat, she detonated the castle that was ridden with explosives beforehand, killing all of her subordinates as they had no idea what was going on.

    She¡¯s using her real face in game, but because of the make-up options being so vast andplex, no one has really realized that she¡¯s a real deal. At least for now.

    One of my recent worries is that there are more and more fans flocking to her in Full Dive Games. It would be an especially bad PR for her if it got leaked out that she destroyed her whole Guild just so that she could attain her personal goal.

    She has a younger brother but they don¡¯t actually get along.

 Chapter 79: Character Introduction Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 79: Character Introduction Part 2</h4>

    Name: Amane Kuon

    PN: AllSlot

    Age: 15

    Gender: Male

    Special skill: smarts

    Likes:

    Dislikes: Girls who try to approach him so that they can get to his older sister, girls who cannot think for themselves

    Favorite games: Action games

    Disliked games: FPS

    Game style: Overly cautious. He tends to power level and then crush his enemies with significant difference in stats.

    Not bad at games, but dislikes games that require trial and error to progress. Doesn¡¯t like supporting anyone, so he prefers to charge in and take a lead. Someone who recklessly charges in and gets destroyed by the enemy¡¯s overwhelming numbers. Or someone that dies as a result of triggering a trap that someone set up earlier.

    Details: Amane Towa¡¯s younger brother. Because Towa is a celebrity, he has aplex from always beingpared to her. His feelings towards his sister can be described as a ratherplex form of hatred mixed with jealousy.

    Because of his ystyle, he bounced off lots of online games because he couldn¡¯t do things the way he wanted them to. He was traumatized really badly in FPS games, to the point where he doesn¡¯t even want to hear about them anymore.

    Originally he didn¡¯t want to y the same game as his sister, but seeing her exceptional talents he decided to leech off of them. Thus the ¡°Ashura-kai¡± was born.

    At first he was really bad at the game, but after numerous PK attempts he received a rare weapon ¡°ughter Bringer¡± which gave him tremendous power.

    Ashura-kai started to gather the most brutal and ruthless PKers out there, thus making it one of the most dangerous PVP Guilds in the world of ShangriLa Frontier.

    name: ? ? ? ? ?

    PN: Animalia

    Age: ??

    Sex: Female

    Special Skill: she can tell if the dog is a cross-bred just with a single nce.

    Likes: animals

    Dislikes: People

    Favored games: Fantasy, games that allows you to interact with animals

    Disliked games: Modern world games, games without animals

    Game style: Specializes in neutralizing rather than defeating. She has mastered a lot of magic that imposes debuffs and restrictions on the actions of others, and her fighting power itself is low, but when ites to taming animals, Animalia is second to none in the entire game.

    Details: A female yer that created the monster taming PVP Guild ¡°SciFi-Zoo¡±. She is known as the ¡°Director¡±. When animals get involved, she gets excited beyond any normal levels. In real life she¡¯s a gentle woman, but she was born with severe allergies to all kinds of animals. Even ying with a dog for a few minutes can cause severe asthma attacks for her. Therefore, she came to the world of games where she doesn¡¯t get allergic to animals.

    Recently, she felt the infinite possibilities of the new ss ¡°Rider¡± and focused on it, but once she saw Emul she knew that there was a Bunny Heaven somewhere out there, thus her obsession with finding Sanraku.

    Name: Mana Iwaki

    PN ?? ? ? ?

    Age: 26

    Sex: Female

    Special skill: Capturing maidens¡¯ hearts in games

    Likes: Love Fantasies

    Dislikes: Real love

    Favorite games: Otome Games

    Disliked games: Horror games

    Game style: an intrusive type that won¡¯t rest until she conquers the heart of every possible heroine in the game and unlocks every hidden route and CG out there.

    Details: A woman who runs a game shop ROCK ¡®N ROLL. She likes Otome games that she can sometimes even close down the shop in order to y through them uninterrupted.

    Even though she enjoys Otome games so much she thoroughly despises the real romance. That is because in games you can love everyone equally without any trouble or consequences. Her passion for games is unlike anyone else¡¯s and she cherishes her hobby greatly.

    name:? ? ?

    PN: Dragonfly

    Age ?? ?

    Sex: Female

    Special skill: Don¡¯t give up

    Likes: The moment you clear the game

    Dislikes: giving up

    Favorite games: General

    Disliked games: Puzzle games

    Game style: a type of yer who looks for solutions on her own, through trial and error. Attack, experiment with new strategies, think about your failures and learn from them.

    Details: Bright and optimistic yer who ventures into the depths of a niche game as a bearded macho-man when Sanraku visited ¡°Crap¡± looking for a countermeasure against Wezaemon. Her avatar makes it extraplicated for her, since people see a macho-man talking with a woman¡¯s voice.

    name:? ? ? (Former Third Seat in Ashura-kai¡¯s inner rankings)

    PN ?? ? ?

    Age ?? ?

    Gender: Male

    Special skill ?? ? ?

    Likes: Little girls

    Dislikes: Fat Ugly Bastards

    Favorite games: Game where cute girls appear

    Disliked games: games with gs

    Game style: Interpersonal rtionships specialist. The yer Killer whose bounty is almost as high as the most notorious PKers in the game. He keeps his equipment load bnced to boost a huge attack power but also be able to run away if things go south.

    Details: A brave individual who engraved his name in the annals of ShangriLa Frontier for going broke to buy a limited item ¡°Bikini Armor¡± that went on sale one day. Currently in the middle of creating his own faction.

 Chapter 80 Part 1: Returning Kingfisher

    <h4>Chapter 80 Part 1: Returning Kingfisher</h4>

    Long time ago, the first giant fell to this world.

    The beast started rampaging in the center of the newly formed world but soon enough died from severe exhaustion. Soon enough, giants started to fall all over the world, nearly driving the newly created humanity to the point of extinction.

    Not many things are known about that first civilization. But they certainly existed on a whole different in than the current humankind.

    Giants and Humans¡­¡­ Eventually they learned to coexist and fuse together¡­¡­ By inserting themselves into the cores of the giants, humankind learned to harness their might and power all for themselves. Nearly two hundred years after the war with the giants ¨C¨C called the ¡°Nephilim War¡± ¨C¨C humanitypletely adopted the giants into their systems and daily lives.

    ¡°Nephilim Company¡± is the organization that prides itself on being the closest to the first humans from the days of the first war, controlling the most giants and utilizing their power to gather resources and keep society in check.

    The giants are also the center of the ¡°Holy Religion¡±, an organization which by the order of the ¡°Pope¡± deploys ¡°Holy Knights¡± piloting the giants and hunting down all ¡°Heretics¡± who would dare to oppose the one and true faith.

    ¡°Giant Killers¡± are the organization from the opposite side of the barricade¡­¡­ a united human front that serves only one purpose: to dispose of all the giants.

    ¡°Nephilim Company¡±, ¡°Holy Religion¡± and ¡°Giant Killers¡±¡­¡­ Those three organizations keep the fragile bnce of the world in check up to this day.

    ¡¸Good morning, Rust-sama.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­ Nhh.¡¹

    It was five o¡¯clock in the morning, and the girl returned the greeting with a low grunt. The ce was the dock where her favorite machine was being kept. Riding the elevator, the girl looked up at the strangely shaped giant with a motif of gently flickering me painted all over its frame.

    This giant, who for some strange reason was calling itself ¡°Hiyokrenri¡±, was in fact a Nephilim, and supposedly the strongest one at that.

    This here ¡°Nephilim¡± was a medium-sized biped equipped withser Gatling gun on its right shoulder, missile pod on its left leg,ser sword tucked to its waist, and two pairs of double des on its back. It was a frame that was mainly designated to engage enemies in close-quarters.

    It was also equipped with boosters on its back, as well as left arm and right leg which allowed for some really tricky andplicated maneuvers, and it was the use of that feature that was making it the strongest. At least that¡¯s what Rust thought about it.

    ¡¸Ah, morning, Rust. You¡¯re early today as well.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Mold, you¡¯re five minuteste.¡¹

    There was a boy who appeared in the ce where only certified personnel were allowed to enter. His physique was sturdy and strong, but the way in which he was talking and walking was giving off a rather soft impression. A boy who was such a walking contradiction called out to her with a voice that was way younger than he looked.

    ¡¸You say that, but it¡¯s only five minutes, so what¡¯s wrong¡­¡­ I, better stop, talking for now¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s get down to business at once.¡¹

    ¡¸Sure, sure¡­¡­ What settings would you like today?¡¹

    The boy shrugs his shoulders to the words of the ¡°Queen of Dawn¡±. Rust got that nickname because she was always up and running between five and seven o¡¯clock in the morning. Then the boy asks her about the details of the mock battle she would prefer.

    ¡¸I feel like doing a Duel today¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸So why do you need me for it? Aren¡¯t duels essentially one-on-one?¡¹

    ¡¸Analysis and navigation¡­¡­ That is your job.¡¹

    ¡¸As you wish, Your Majesty¡­¡­ Wait just a moment, I will get the Puppet up and running in no time¡­¡­ Ouch! Ouch! Stop kicking my shin, please!¡¹

    The reason for why the girl was kicking the boy¡¯s shin was the fact that he didn¡¯t finish the maintenance of the Puppet, a smaller version of the ¡°Nephilim¡± that could be installed onto the main frame and support the pilot, in time.

    ¡¸You should think about maintenance like that in advance¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸B, but! Yesterday¡¯s club activities were taking really long and it was sote by the time they were over!¡¹

    ¡¸Geez¡­¡­¡¹

    After she finally stopped kicking his shin, the boy got up and started performing the maintenance of the Puppet on the double.

    When Rust and Mold went to the Pilot¡¯s Entrance of the ¡°Nephilim Company¡± they realized that there was amotion amongst other pilots and their operators.

    ¡¸Is there some sort of a problem?¡¹

    ¡¸Hm? Ooouh! If it isn¡¯t the Phoenix! Just look at that thing over there!¡¹

    Phoenix was the title that Rust received during a certainpany event from the CEO alongside a huge cash bonus after she managed to defend her top spot within the pilots rankings five times in a row. It was a title derived from the unique paint job of her Nephilim. But that was not why the ce was so lively. The eyes of everyone in the room were currently directed towards the holographic projector disying the battle that was taking ce right now.

    ¡¸This is¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ ¡°King¡¯s Gambit¡±, the 3rd ce in the Pilot¡¯s Ranking, piloted by the ¡°Useless Knight¡±.¡¹

    The Nephilim was equipped with lots of long range equipment and radars, and was overwhelming its enemies at an astonishing speed while maintaining a safe distance from them at the same time. It was the ¡°King¡¯s Gambit¡±, which was always sure to win afternding a sessful first blow inbat and following that up with murderous firepower and precision.

    Of course, being a long distance type of frame was kind of a disadvantage in one-on-one duels. However, the frame and its pilot wouldn¡¯t be ced third in the rankings if they weren¡¯t able to cope with that disadvantage and be able to handle their opponents even at close range. The things that decided the rankings of the pilots were their overall skill and the ability to put all of their experience to good use.

    But right now, the monitor was disying a scene where the ¡°King¡¯s Gambit¡± was currently being pushed back with ease.

 Chapter 80 Part 2: Returning Kingfisher

    <h4>Chapter 80 Part 2: Returning Kingfisher</h4>

    ¡¸Another clean hit! This time it¡¯s the head sensor!¡¹

    ¡¸This isn¡¯t right¡­¡­ It¡¯s moving even faster? And it is doing so much damage with only that single rail gun that looks as if it was made out of scrap?¡­¡­ What kind of a monster is he?¡¹

    ¡¸Look at that. King¡¯s Gambit¡¯s attacks aren¡¯t catching up at all! How fast do you have to be to shake off homing missiles!?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, this is definitely weird. What¡¯s up with that? Transforming while maintaining full speed? Then sting at King¡¯s Gambit only to transform back and retreat to safety? This isn¡¯t bnced in the slightest¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t that some kind of off-meta build that¡¯s been poprtely?¡¹

    Looking closely, you could see King¡¯s Gambit being slowly but surely taken care off. There was something flying all around it, shing it and sting it so fast that you could only see the afterimages.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Uwah.¡¹

    It took them a few moments to actually understand that the asional blue shes they were seeing were actually the sightings of the machine that was utterly destroying the King¡¯s Gambit. It was now clear to them that the name of that frame is the Kingfisher. It was no coincidence and it was in perfect harmony with its bluish paintjob. This Nephilim really was moving like a Kingfisher would. As soon as they realized that, Mold took a step back, probably from the intimidating aura that was seeping from the person that was standing right next to him.

    In this world, everything was just a bunch of processed data, a cluster of information. But the amount of animosity Mold felt right now was pretty much the real deal.

    ¡¸So, you finally dare to show yourself again, huh!? ¡°Kingfisher¡±¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸Kingfisher?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, you newbies surely wouldn¡¯t know anything about it, but if Phoenix was at the time a number one pilot when ites to defense, this guy was number one when ites to offense. He was a monster that could easily go toe-to-toe with Phoenix and give her a run for her money. ¡­¡­ I honestly thought that he retired, since I wasn¡¯t seeing him around all that often.¡¹

    While the other people started to exin things to the neers, Mold was forcefully dragged away by Rust to the waiting room where they would await their match.

    ¡¸Mold, move your ass! We are going to challenge Kingfisher right now¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸I, I get it, I get it already! So stop pulling me, you hear!? Please, don¡¯t pull on my clothes!¡¹

    Since he was an Operator, Mold sends a challenge invitation to Kingfisher. After a while he got a response saying that the match was over, ending with King¡¯s Gambit¡¯s utter defeat.

    ¡¸There it is! Challenge epted! Rust!¡¹

    ¡¸Mold, this is serious. We are going to fight like we really mean it.¡¹

    ¡¸Roger that!¡¹

    Kingfisher. This frame was constructed in such a way that it was meant to be a high risk high reward in operating. It managed to set and break many records when ites to performance andbat, setting the bar so high that no other pilot could possibly hope toe close to beating them.

    Of particr note was that frames spooky mobility, achieved at the expense of its light armor and poor armaments. Its only weapons were the close range ¡°Overheat Rod¡± mounted onto the right arm and a sniping Rail Gun mounted onto its left arm. Its armor was also a bare minimum so that it could maneuver at an extremely high speed. It was a really risky build that was almost bordering on stupidity and bravado.

    It was the kind of frame thatpletely abandoned walking in favor of flying and maneuverability, its bird-like wings making it the swiftest and fastest of all Nephilim types out there.

    Sacrificing everything else in favor of speed and maneuverability¡­¡­ That was the essence of what was called the ¡°Kingfisher Build¡±. Even forsaking the ability to walk on the ground. It was moving so fast that it was impossible to hit it with automated fire, but at the same time it was hard for it to damage its opponent. Its fuel economy was also really bad and if by some miracle it was to miss its Rail Gun shot, the battle was as good as over. That was the essence of the Kingfisher build.

    ¡¸Behind the left side¡­¡­ No, from the upper right!? Ohh sh*t, it¡¯s right from the front!?¡¹

    ¡¸Guh¡­¡­!¡¹-

    Rust started to pilot the Phoenix to evade the iing attacks form the Kingfisher that was moving at ultra-fast speed, looking for the opportunity to shoot the Phoenix down with its Rail Gun fire.

    ¡¸A sudden descent! Herees the Overheat Rod!¡¹

    ¡¸It was all expected¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    After firing off a barrage of missiles and Gatling Gun fire to give them some space, Phoenix transforms into its humanoid shape in order to intercept the iing melee strike, all the while continuing to evade.

    Overheat Rod was a type of weapon that could apply some serious damage, but it had one significant weakness: it needed to charge up a huge amount of heat first in order to power up its attack. It was a weapon that was devised with thought of utilizing the heat that was umting from the frame doing all the crazy maneuvers in the air. Although it was a weapon like that, Rust barely managed to avoid it by using her back boosters and leg thruster.

    ¡¸MOLD! What about the Kingfisher!?¡¹

    ¡¸No way¡­¡­!? At this rate¡­¡­ He¡¯s going to turn back¡­¡­!¡¹

    Kingfisher turned over the ground at thest possible moment. Then it used its boosters to reposition itself and transformed into its flying form and started to fly back up. It was currently approaching the Phoenix after maneuvering in such a crazy way that it should be impossible for the human body to handle the bacsh from doing that.

    ¡¸RUST!¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t¡­¡­ UNDERESTIMATE ME!¡¹

    The Overheat momentum caused the left shoulder booster to rotate, and Kingfisher fried to attack them from down below, but his attack was intercepted with aser de. On the other hand, even though he didn¡¯t manage to kill his target, Kingfisher was carried with his momentum and the sh of their weapons caused his lightly armoured frame to be blown away.

    ¡¸Left shoulder booster, Overheat! Three minutes until it will cool down!¡¹

    ¡¸That guy!¡¹

    ¡¸He¡¯s repositioning right now!¡¹

    ¡¸This is it! If we are to attack, it¡¯s now or never¡­¡­!¡¹

    Crimson Phoenix flies ahead at full speed, intending to close the distance. In the meantime, Kingfisher regained itsposure and took a stance while preparing its railgun to fire. The sh of two birds was entering its climax¡­¡­!

 Chapter 81: Wezaemonâ€™s Heritage Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 81: Wezaemon¡¯s Heritage Part 1</h4>

    Let¡¯s get back in time a little bit, approximately two days after the defeat of the ¡°Gravekeeper Wezaemon¡±.

    I finished the battle with the Gravekeeper Wezaemon and went back to Rabbitz. I then went to bed and woke up in the real world, where the next day already started. Also, waking up was apanied by a rather peculiar feeling.

    ¡¸Food¡­¡­ Moisture¡­¡­ Ooohhh¡­¡­¡¹

    I am used to prolong sessions of gaming, but my body was having trouble keeping up with my mind after being asleep for almost a whole day. Right now I was like a horror game zombie (moving mindlessly without any indication of intelligence), staggering on my feet I arrive at the refrigerator, and thanks to the ss of milk and a sweet bread I quickly cut the emergency call that my body was sending me.

    ¡¸I don¡¯t think I want to drink energy drinks for a while. Like, a really long while¡­¡­¡¹

    After robbing the refrigerator of its contents for another five minutes and catching some sun for a while, I log into ShanFro again. I think that it was a terrible day rhythm to follow, but right now I waspletely absorbed in it.

    ¡¸Sanraku-san! Good morning, Sanraku-san!¡¹

    ¡¸Nhh¡­¡­ Morning.¡¹

    Now then, yesterday I was too tired to do this, but maybe I should check my status to see what changed? I opened up the status screen¡­¡­ and couldn¡¯t help but to smile unconsciously.

    ¡¸Fufufu¡­¡­ Talk about Leveling up nicely.¡¹

    PN: Sanraku

    LV: 78 (200)

    JOB: Mercenary (Dual Wielding)

    Money: 150 mani

    HP: 30

    MP: 10

    STM: 60

    STR: 40

    DEX: 50

    AGI: 70

    TEC: 55

    VIT: 2

    LUC: 74

    Skill:

    ? Infinite Ream

    ? Drill Piercer ¡ú Growing Piercing

    ? InFight Lv.MAX

    ? Skate Foot ¡ú Drift Step

    ? Parrying Protection ¡ú Setsuna no Mikiri

    ? Hand of Fortune Lv.6

    ? Greater Climbing

    ? Climax Boost Lv.9

    ? Five-Fold Jump ¡ú Five-Fold Leap

    ? Sharp Turn ¡ú Quick Turn

    ? Assassin Earrings Lv.MAX

    ? Oppresive Kick Lv.MAX

    ? Best Step ¡ú Moon Jumper

    ? Hungry Wolf ¡ú Hungry Predator

    ? Off-road Lv.2

    ? Secret Sword Art ¡¸Water Mirror Moon¡¹ ¡ú Fatal de Art ¡¸Water Mirror Moon¡¹

    ? Ignition Lv.1

    ? Overheat Lv.1

    ? Nitro Gain Lv.1

    ? Duelist

    Equipment:

    Right: Yuzuki ¡¸Upper Fang¡¹

    Left Hand: Yuzuki ¡¸Lower Fang¡¹

    Head: Mask of Bird¡¯s Eye View (VIT 1)

    Torso: Curse of Luukan

    Waist: None

    Feet: Curse of Luukan

    essories: Inventory

    My level went up by twenty five. And just from that fact alone, I had WAY too many skill points to distribute. Were they some bonus points for leveling up? Or was that a bonus for defeating the Unique Monster¡­¡­ But honestly speaking, I don¡¯t want to fight a monster like that ever again if I can help it.

    Aside from skill points, I can see that some of my skills also leveled up and changed, so I was really excited to go to the Gardenerter and see what I would be able to do with that. All those things were putting a smile on my face.

    ¡¸Not only loot, but skill points and skills as well¡­¡­ Fufufu¡­¡­ Fufufufufufu¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san, your smile is starting to creep me out¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s not creepy at all. It¡¯s beautiful, because I¡¯m honest with myself when ites to my desires. Maybe.¡¹

    ¡¸That is as legit as a Hydra that ims it is now a vegetarian.¡¹

    ¡¸Does that mean that maybe I¡¯m evil to the bone? Or on a molecr level?¡¹

    Then I proceed to check my item list. Sure enough, there were some new additions to it. First, let¡¯s take a look at the ¡°Secret Art of the Dragon Pir¡±.

    ¡¤ ¡°Secret Art of Dragon Pir¡±

    A storage device left by the swordsman from the era of the Gods, describing the secrets of his secret sword techniques. Needs a special item to decode the secrets stored within.

    A sword art that pierces the heavens, cuts the earth, and banishes the clouds away.

    ¡¸Really? Or maybe there is a way for the yer to use that without having to decode it first?¡¹

    Seriously, no, really, seriously? I can use many of the crazy sounding skills no problem. However, this item that wasbeled as a book (or tome or whatever) looked like a cube that was glowing with bluish light and looked like a really advanced piece of tech. Is it going to be exined why it is like that once I¡¯ll be able to decipher its contents?

    ¡¸Next is the ¡°Book of the World Truth: ¡°Gravekeeper Wezaemon¡±¡­¡­ Ah, so it¡¯s like a lore behind the boss or something like that?¡¹

    But rather than a novel or a story book it seemed to be more like a strategy guide to fight the boss and listing his backstory. In other words, they are only handing it to me now, after I fought so desperately to defeat him? But perhaps it is just a mere bonus, since Unique Monsters do not respawn.

    ¡¸Well, I can read it if I have some time to spare¡­¡­ Fufufu, oh, how I love things like that¡­¡­¡¹

    Now, onto the details of the item that seemed to be a whole lot more important, the ¡°Inventory¡± essory.

    ¡¤ Inventory

    A special bracelet-type essory that only a selected few could wield during the era of the Gods. This item is used like how a key to a storage room would be used.

    Wearing it shall consume one essory slot, but even if the yer bes the victim of PK, this item won¡¯t be lost.

    By consuming magic power it can transport you into the storage space.

    Mobile ess device into the special expansion. As the Gods intended, this device shall be part of the wearer¡¯s body¡­.. This tool is a small portable warehouse with no limitations when ites to carrying capacity.

    Capacity limit: None

    Storage limit: Non-Living type up to fifty meters in height

    Contents:

    Non-standard tactical Machine Bird¡¸Suzaku¡¹ EMPTY

    Non-standard tactical Aircraft Tiger ¡¸ Byakko¡¹ EMPTY

    Non-standard tactical Machine Dragon ¡¸Seiryu¡¹ EMPTY

    Non-standard tactical Machine Turtle ¡¸ Genbu¡¹ EMPTY

    Non-standard special Reinforced Armor ¡¸Awabane¡¹ EMPTY

    Non-standard special Reinforced Armor ¡¸Bamboo¡¹ EMPTY

    Non-standard special Reinforced Armor ¡¸Shourou¡¹ EMPTY

    Special Non-Standard Armor ¡¸Fugaku¡¹ EMPTY

    Non-standard Arm: Sword type ¡¸Harbinger¡¹ EMPTY

    Non-standard Arm: Steel Wire type ¡¸Keep Out¡¹ EMPTY

    Non-standard Arm: Piercing type ¡¸Battering Ram¡¹ EMPTY

    Non-standard Arm: Crushing type ¡¸Phnx¡¹ EMPTY

    Non-standard Arm: Vertical type ¡¸Erebus¡¹ EMPTY

    Non-standard Arm: Double-Sword type ¡¸Hieros Locos¡¹ EMPTY

    Nonstandard Arm: Cannon type ¡¸Regulus¡¹ EMPTY

    Non-standard Arm: Twin Gun type ¡¸Castor Pollux¡¹ EMPTY

    Nonstandard Arm: Long Gun type ¡¸Sagittarius¡¹ EMPTY

    Non-standard Arm: Convergence Mechanism type ¡¸Comet Catapult¡¹ EMPTY

    Non-standard Arm: Diffusion Mechanism type ¡¸Meteor Diffusion¡¹ EMPTY

 Chapter 81: Wezaemonâ€™s Heritage Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 81: Wezaemon¡¯s Heritage Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸S, Sanraku¡­¡­ san?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I¡¯m going back to sleep.¡¹

    ¡¸R, right¡­¡­¡¹

    I save my progress and log out. I then get out of my bed, change into my jersey and leave the house¡­¡­

    ¡¸NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!?!?!?!?¡¹

    I kept on running around and screaming until I eventually managed to get my thoughts back on the right track. The random passers-by were all looking at me as if I was some kind of a moron, but now was not the time to be worrying about things like that. The feeling that was filling me right now was that strange mixture of both shame and ecstasy that you¡¯d get upon scoring the RNG you wanted to score.

    No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

    Eh, what¡¯s this One-Man-Army? Suddenly I felt as though I was about to go against the whole yer base of ShanFro at once. And I don¡¯t feel that I could win if such a fight came to pass right now. Wait, wait, wait, let¡¯s not forget about that inventory space that was taken straight out of the space soap opera. I mean, there was clearly something wrong with that damned essory.

    ¡¸F, f, for now, e-mail, e-mail¡­¡­¡¹

    That¡¯s right, e-mail. It would be unfair of me to just keep those feelings all to myself. I must share them with someone else.

    ¡¸Check the ¡°Inventory¡± essory ASAP¡­¡­ And Send!¡¹

    My heart was racing like crazy from all that running. I slowed down to a slow walk and it was around that time that I received the responses from both Modorokatsu and Pencilgton.

    Subject: Eh, what¡¯s wrong with the game?

    From: Modorkatsu

    To: Sanraku

    Body: (This email has no body written)

    Subject: Screaming Internally

    From: Pencil Warrior

    To: Sanraku

    Body: Let¡¯s meet immediately. The same ce as usual, the ¡°Snake Apple¡± Inn.

    From the ways in which both e-mails were written I could guess what kind of emotions were behind the ones who wrote them. Sharing that with both of them was the right choice after all.

    ¡¸Right, for now let¡¯s just try to forget about this whole ¡°Inventory¡±¡­¡­¡¹

    Worrying about that all the time would be ill advised for my mental health. For now let¡¯s just assign skill points and organize my skills¡­¡­ Yup.

    The subjugation of Unique Monster granted me tremendous benefits, but in a way right now I was suffering more mental damage than during the battle with Wezaemon.

    The NPC caf¨¦ ¡°Snake¡®s Apple¡± became our ¡°usual¡± meeting ce. The tension must have gotten to us good because we unanimously ordered a birthday cake to celebrate our victory. We celebrated in one of the private rooms while the NPC owner looked at us like a bunch of idiots. Because Emul wasn¡¯t here, I was using a scroll so that he could listen to our conversation.

    ¡¸Ehh¡­¡­ From the looks on your faces I reckon you¡¯ve seen it¡­¡­ What should we do about it?¡¹

    ¡¸You say that, but¡­¡­ Right?¡¹

    ¡¸Since we¡¯re at it, beforeing here I went to the ¡°Inventory¡± and checked it out.¡¹

    There was no point in just staring at the cake, so we divided it in three equal parts and while we were eating Pencilgton started to talk about the results of his investigation.

    ¡¸From what I could gather, at least for now it is nothing more than an ornament to us.¡¹

    ¡¸What about that part? Hey, that¡¯s Pencilgton¡¯s portion, you know?¡¹

    ¡¸Ehh, give me the part with lots of fruits. Anyways, to put it in simple terms, weck the power source to make use of anything that is stored in there.¡¹

    ¡¸Power source? Katsu, be a dude and pass me the fork¡­¡­ Are you out of you fucking mind!? Don¡¯t throw it, you idiot!¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t be a bitch and deal with it¡­¡­ So in other words it¡¯s something that¡¯s just for show?¡¹

    While devouring the slices of the cake, we urge Pencilgton to continue his story.

    ¡¸Yeah, since the tactical ¡°golems¡± or mobile suits require items such as ¡°non-standard ether reactor¡¯ or things like that. I don¡¯t even know where we could get things like that.¡¹

    ¡¸Except that I have an item like that.¡¹

    ¡¸Buegh!?¡¹

    ¡¸Uwah, now that¡¯s filthy! Don¡¯t spit the cake on my face, dude!¡¹

    ¡¸Geoh, geogh, it¡¯s a game so what¡¯s the big deal? It¡¯s not like I¡¯m spitting all over you in real life! But what does that mean that you ¡°have it¡±!?¡¹

    After spitting the cake out of his mouth, Pencilgton started to approach Katsu in a fast manner. His usual atmosphere of a nice guy was almostpletely gone now. Confused as to what was going on, Katsu opened his mouth and started to make excuses.

    ¡¸You know, I was fighting the ¡°KIRIN¡± almost the entire time during that fight, and as a reward after the battle I received the item called ¡°Ether Reactor Core (damaged).¡¹

    ¡¸For being strapped to an oversized pony for about half an hour?¡¹

    ¡¸And also supporting and reviving you whenever you got owned.¡¹

    ¡¸You think it would affect your real life much if I was to pulverize that pretty little face of yours right now?¡¹

    Talk about a twisted sense of morals¡­¡­ Anyways, it looks like we needed some ancient artefact from the era of the Gods to activate the Inventory¡¯s contents.

    ¡¸But there¡¯s more where that came from, so brace yourselves.¡¹

    ¡¸Okay.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m not all that sure about that, but there seems to be a way of repairing the broken items from the era of the Gods.¡¹

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­ Yeah, it would be awesome, but aren¡¯t we basically grasping at straws at this point?¡¹

    At this point Pencilgton looked as though he was about to throw up¡­¡­ Oh well. I do believe that Weissash also spoke about something simr in the past. What was it called? ¡°Craftsmanship¡±? The art of restoring the ancient artefact back to their former glory. So perhaps Katsu¡¯s broken reactor could in fact be repaired?

    ¡¸I can look into that matter, but I would need you to leave the item with me temporarily.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I can do that, but on one condition.¡¹

    ¡¸Condition?¡¹

    Katsu takes the strawberry from the top of his portion of the cake and then looks at me suggestively after eating it.

    ¡¸If you¡¯ll tell me about the unique conditions that you¡¯re hiding, then I¡¯ll dly part ways with the reactor.¡¹

    ¡­¡­ I see. Now I get it.

    ¡¸Katsu-kun, that¡¯s a little bit¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Haa? You think I¡¯ll just ept? What happened to discovering the game on your own? Can¡¯t do anything without other walking you by hand?¡¹

    ¡¸You want to say that again to my face!?¡¹

    ¡¸It was just funny in my opinion that a Professional Gamer would act in such a way¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Eh.¡¹

    That was a really surprising development¡­¡­ I didn¡¯t really want to disclose that information, especially since I knew that neither one of us would normally share information regarding things like that or Unique Monsters. Then again, sincerity is the sign of friendship, they say. Both Pencilgton and Katsu look at me as I swallow my saliva and make my decision.

    ¡¸I cannot be sure if it works exactly like that, but in my case it was tied up to the Unique Monster ¡°Night Prowler Luukan. I had to hit it with critical strikes a set number of time with a ¡°Vorpal¡± weapon, dodge it¡¯s attacks for about five minutes and be at least twenty levels below his level.¡¹

    ¡¸Right, end of meeting!¡¹

    ¡¸Take that you fucking idiot!¡¹

    ¡¸Ouch, what the actual fuck!? Gyagh!?¡¹

    Katsu then throws the reactor directly in my face, and after suffering a direct hit I shook in my chair and fell over. I pick up the reactor, massage the huge bump that rose on my head and raise a voice of protest.

    ¡¸Why in the evesting fuck would you do something like that!? Are you fucking retarded!?¡¹

    ¡¸I think that it would be easier to teach pigs how to fly than to be able to attempt something like that. Fucking Agility-builds, go blow yourselves and drop dead!¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s too unreasonable!¡¹

    Apparently Pencilgton agrees with Katsu on that one. Sh*t, that could have gone better¡­¡­

    Afterpleting the item transfer process I ce the Ether Reactor inside the ¡°Inventory¡± essory and then proceed to stand up from my chair.

    ¡¸Ah, that¡¯s right, Sanraku-kun.¡¹

    ¡¸What is it?¡¹

    ¡¸Could you give me back that thing I lent to you?¡¹

    Aaah, now that I think about it, it was the first time after the battle with Wezaemon that we met, so I haven¡¯t really had the opportunity to return it earlier, did I?

    ¡¸Roger that.¡¹

    I opened up my own inventory and fish out the item that I was supposed to return to Pencilgton after the battle at the Reversed Hidden Garden was over. The golden scale shone brightly in the private room, illuminating the ce up.

 Chapter 82: Pencilgton-senseiâ€™s Lesson in PK Laundering, Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 82: Pencilgton-sensei¡¯s Lesson in PK Laundering, Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸What was that just now? You let him borrow this thing?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh that¡¯s right, about that. This thing is probably one of the best items in the entire game. If you umte enough money and sacrifice it to this thing, the power you get in exchange will allow you to best even the strongest of Unique Monsters.¡¹

    Pancilgton says while ying around with the golden scales of the device¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know about that ¡°stronger than the Unique Monster¡± part, but I could surely confirm that this thing was the real deal.

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­ How did it go again? Offer something of tremendous value and to bnce it out you shall receive power of an equal value? ¡­¡­ Or maybe it was something different? Or maybe it was receiving justpensation formitted investment? I don¡¯t know.¡¹

    Pencilgton yed around with a separate window for a moment, and then the particles of light escaped from his body and got absorbed by the scale. Then after a moment, a small flower ornament and a small notebook appeared on the other scale in the shes of the light that escaped from Pencilgton¡¯s body.

    ¡¸I was willing to sacrifice even my best equipment for the sake of our victory, but since we managed without that I didn¡¯t want it to be taken away from me as penalty for PKK¡­¡­ But I didn¡¯t want everything to go to waste like that so I¡­¡­undered the portion of it.¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s undering¡±?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm? Oh, basically, it¡¯s a little handy trick to protect part of your valuables and property from being taken away from you by different penalties.¡¹

    If the yer gets killed by another yer, in other words falls victim to PK, all of the items that yer had at the time shall be transferred to the person that killed that yer. However, if the PKer does not collect the items that fell from his victim for a certain amount of time, the ownership of those items will cease to be at all. And every single item that was stored away because of that shall be automatically sold off by the system.

    ¡¸There are two kinds of penalties for PK in this game: one is that your likability with the NPCs will start to drop and the second one is the bounty that is put on your head¡­¡­ And those things can only increase with more PK you sessfullymit. Incidentally, the bounty is always more or less proportional to the amount of karma you lose with the NPCs, but that¡¯s beside the point right now.¡¹

    The bounty was the biggest problem here. Although the total amount of money that would be sold from your items would be deducted from it, you would still need a considerable amount of it if you wanted to get rid of itpletely.

    ¡¸So, howe you were able to afford such an awesome item?¡¹

    ¡¸I threatened the NPCs dealing with Second-Hand Items Sale.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m getting some serious shbacks from that other game we used to y right now¡­¡­¡¹

    Threatening the clerks that obtained your items to give them back to you to minimize the costs and save yourself from bankruptcy¡­¡­ That¡¯s what ¡°Laundering¡± meant in this game.

    ¡¸But it¡¯s moreplicated than it sounds. For example: if you were to just give your items to someone else for safekeeping, they would still get sold off.¡¹

    In other words, even if Pencilgton was to transfer the items to me or Katsu before the fight with Saiga-0, the items would still disappear from our inventories as soon as Pencilgton got killed. So the logic, ¡°I give you these items so they are now yours, not mine, the criminal!¡± does not apply here.

    ¡¸So what about that scale? Why isn¡¯t it disappearing?¡¹

    ¡¸Because this item was not mine in the first ce. Originally, this item belonged to the NPC Trading Guild ¡°Golden Scale Company¡±. So even after I got killed, this scale would not disappear from my inventory.¡¹

    Nowes theundering. If all of your possessions would be taken from you as a result of paying off the bounty, you could circumvent that condition by temporally relinquishing all ownership rights of the items in your inventory. It was a simple yet devilish method.

    ¡¸This here ¡°Prayer Flower Decoration¡± was brought here thanks to that transaction just now. In other words, up until now it was not on me. I even got something extra for some additional luck in getting it, and the ownership of the item was transferred from the scale to me. What¡¯s more, when given to the scale the items are not present as a solid substance in the game world, so they are not treated as items per se, and you can get it back for a fee. That¡¯s how it wasn¡¯t affected by the process of taking away the items.

    ¡¸I get it now¡­¡­ So you just got this back with this operation just now.¡¹

    ¡¸I had to sacrifice about forty-levels worth of experience to get back some of my items and the ¡°Book of Wezaemon¡±¡­¡­ But the profits are well worth it.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, about that¡­¡­ The ¡°Book of Wezaemon¡± is virtually useless. It¡¯s only a strategy guide plus some backstory and lore.¡¹

    ¡¸Seriously!? Man, what is this sh*t!?¡¹

    I know that feel.

    For a moment there Pencilgton looked as though his whole world came crashing down onto his head, but soon enough he regained hisposure and started talking again about the topic that mattered the most right now.

    ¡¸By the way, after the battle with Wezaemon I had almost no items left on me because I sacrificed most of my possessions to bring him down. What¡¯s more, I deposited my main weapons with the ¡°Golden Scale Company¡± as insurance that I won¡¯t try to do anything shady with the scale. They will be returned to me once the bnce on my ount will be settled. So even if I¡¯m in the red, I think I will manage it after a while.¡¹

    ¡¸Uwah, that¡¯s not fair.¡¹

    So you knew something like this would happen and you decided to protect all of your important items from being taken away from you? Smart.

    ¡¸By the way, just how big is the bounty on your head?¡¹

    ¡¸Roughly around five hundred million mani.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­.. I won¡¯t lend you any money. So don¡¯t even ask.¡¹

    ¡¸And I don¡¯t intend to ask you to lend me any. This is the amount I must return with my own honest work and effort. Otherwise there would be no point in that. Also, I know that you probably have your own share of troubles to look out for.¡¹

    Uhh¡­¡­ I know that a positive attitude is important, bute on! This is five hundred million we are talking about here! Do you realize that, Pencilgton? This isn¡¯t the amount that you can just ¡°hope to pay off¡± that easily!

    ¡¸I understand that you intend to use Wezaemon¡¯s¡­¡­ Unique Monster¡¯s items to pay off the part of your debt¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ How can you be so sure about that?¡¹

    But it was true. Perhaps by selling the items that were contained in ¡°Inventory¡±, Pencilgton would be able to make his debt a little bit easier to swallow. Also, the loot from other unique monsters should also provide a hefty amount of money, provided you manage to beat them.

    ¡¸That is why I have a suggestion for you.¡¹

    ¡¸You need someone who would be willing to buy the items from the ¡°Inventory¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku, you really think he would do something like that so easily¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s talk about that some other time, okay¡­¡­? What I wanted to talk about now was, would you like us three to form a Guild?¡¹

 Chapter 82: Pencilgton-senseiâ€™s Lesson in PK Laundering, Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 82: Pencilgton-sensei¡¯s Lesson in PK Laundering, Part 2</h4>

    Guild. I was involved with them a bunch of times in the past and every single time I had arrived at the conclusion that they weren¡¯t for me. Certainly, my view of them can be rather twisted since up until now I was only involved with Ashura-kai and ck Wolves, but isn¡¯t it necessary to have arger group of people to form your own guild?

    ¡¸I¡¯m fine with the idea. I don¡¯t belong anywhere anyways.¡¹

    ¡¸Same here.¡¹

    ¡¸Right, that settles it! It¡¯s really helpful that you were so quick to make up your minds.¡¹

    Now then, all three of us fell silent. There was this awkward kind of silence in the room¡­¡­

    ¡¸We should decide on the name of our Guild. What do you say for ¡°Pencilgton and Convenient Gofers¡±?¡¹

    ¡¸I think that¡¯s OK.¡¹

    ¡¸And thus the Guild ¡°Pencilgton and Convenient Gofers¡± is formed!¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯ve got to be fucking kidding me!¡¹

    Don¡¯t you decide on something so embarrassing! Do over! I call for a frigging do over! ¡­¡­ I know!

    ¡¸How about ¡°League of Sh*tty Games¡±?¡¹

    ¡¸Make a guild yourself if you want such ame name. Besides, not all of us are sh*tty games maniacs, you know? So how about ¡°Outrage¡±? Doesn¡¯t it sound cool?¡¹

    ¡¸I would never personally trust anyone from a guild like that. I would be afraid they might be a PK guild or even worse.¡¹

    ¡¸I would watch my back with them as well.¡¹

    This proposition was rejected. We would sound like people who would stab others in the back for the pettiest of reasons. After that the conversation went on for a while, with each consecutive proposition being firmly rejected. Example? Here you go:

    ¡°Samurai yers¡± since we defeated Gravekeeper Wezaemon. Too shy, so it was a No Go.

    ¡°Unique Trinity¡± since we defeated a Unique Monster with the party of three. Too simple, so it was a No Go.

    ¡°Gold Rushers¡± since we were all broke and one of us had a huge-ass debt. Only one of us had true financial problems, so it was obviously a No Go.

    ¡¸What¡¯s so bad about ¡°Gold Rushers¡±? I like the sound of that¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸But Pencilgton is the only real gold rusher in here.¡¹

    Hmm¡­¡­ Something cool-sounding that would satisfy us all¡­¡­ What would that be¡­¡­ Oh, I think I got it!

    ¡¸How about ¡°Wolfgang¡±?¡¹

    ¡¸After that jet-ck wolf you mentioned before?¡¹

    ¡¸Even a grade schooler can farm levels, but that name would suggest that we aim to bring down the most powerful of Unique Monsters in the game. And the word itself sounds a little bit like German, so the coolness factor should only skyrocket because of that, right?¡¹

    And no, I don¡¯t have any intentions ofpeting with ¡°ck Wolves¡± in any way. It is also symbolic. Not many people out there can be as strong as Saiga-0, but if I¡¯d be able to gain strength with my own effort that would allow me to challenge the Night Prowler, that would be more than enough of a gratification for me.

    ¡¸I see. It certainly has a nice ring to it.¡¹

    Pencilgton says while nodding his head, agreeing to my proposition. Katsu also agreed, since he had no real reason to reject that name.

    ¡¸So rather than a victory celebration-cake, this was a guild establishment-cake.¡¹

    ¡¸It was surely delicious, but why the hell did we decided on a birthday cake in the first ce¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t think that there¡¯s any point in overthinking that too much¡­¡­ Oh, here ites, here ites.¡¹

    I don¡¯t know when he managed to order that, but the barkeeper brought us three cups filled to the brim with something that looked and smelled like fruit wine. Each one of us took a cup and then Pencilgton took the lead again:

    ¡¸To celebrate the birth of the ¡°Wolfgang¡± guild¡­¡­ Cheers!¡¹

    ¡¸¡¸Cheers!¡¹¡¹

    We then chugged our drinks. This was indeed a fruit wine and it was quite delicious if I do say so myself.

    ¡¸What a nice taste.¡¹

    ¡¸I thought it was just fruit juice with added water?¡¹

    ¡¸But can we drink wine just like that?¡¹

    ¡¸No worries. It¡¯s a non-alcoholic one.¡¹

    Non-alcoholic wine is like a hot dog without the sausage inside of it.

    ¡¸Oh, by the way? We formed a guild and it¡¯s great and all, but who is going to be the guild leader, I wonder?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ First goes the rock,¡¹

    ¡¸Paper!¡¹

    ¡¸Scissors!¡¹

    I went with Scissors.

    Pencilgton went with Rock.

    Katsu with Scissors as well.

    ¡¸Up to three wins!¡¹

    ¡¸Forget about it!¡¹

    ¡¸God damn it!¡¹

    ¡¸Welp, do your best, Mister Pencilgton, the Guild Leader.¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku, who was marked by the ck Wolf itself¡­¡­ Do I need to remind you that even your reaction speed was not enough to beat that Unique Monster?¡¹

    Please don¡¯t remind me of that. It was enough of a trauma for me as it is, you don¡¯t have to make it any worse than that. But still¡­¡­

    Looking at us now I was really starting to wonder just how in the hell did we manage to end up here.

    ¡¸Pencil Sis, let¡¯s go y at the swings!¡¹

    ¡¸Pencil Bro!! Buy us some yakisoba bread!¡¹

    ¡¸H, hey, stop! That! Don¡¯t you say things like that to me! It¡¯s embarrassing! You¡¯re not my stupid little brother so cut that out!¡¹

    For some strange reason I started to feel a kind ofpassion for that poor Allslot.

    And that¡¯s how it went. Pencilgton went to do a marathon all the way to Fiftsia saying ¡°Got to get the money ASAP so I can have my weapons back!¡±. He seemed to be down to level fifty as well, so I wonder how he was going to do that?

    Katsu went to the previous area, saying that he wanted to grind some levels to get back to where he was before the Gravekeeper battle. He also said ¡°It¡¯s weird that my level right now is lower than Sanraku¡¯s¡±.

    I was going to go back to Rabbitz to meet with Emul and see if the broken reactor can be repaired. And since Pencilgton was now broke he couldn¡¯t get me a teleportation scroll. That is why I messaged Emul and told him to go to Thirdrema at the appointed time. Fortunately, no one would suspect anything since they would think I was simply chatting with some other yer.

    ¡¸Five more minutes until Emul gets here¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­ Are you perhaps Sanraku-san?¡¹

    ¡¸Nope, sorry, you¡¯ve got the wrong person. My name is ¡°Sasoraku¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, I see, I¡¯m so terribly sorry¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸No, no¡­¡­¡¹

    I affirm that person that nothing really happened and I smiled brightly (while still wearing a mask) and when that person looked the other way I quickly jumped into one of the back alleys, getting as far as humanly possible from them.

    ¡¸No, that can¡¯t be right¡­¡­ I could swear that the font read ¡°Sanraku¡± and not ¡°Saso¡±¡­¡­ ¡°raku¡±!?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, this sucks.¡¹

    Goodness gracious, right now I felt like a Hollywood star being chased by paparazzi in search of some hot scoops. Because of that I managed to memorize the whole of Thirdrema¡¯s back alleys by heart. I emerged somewhere behind a pile of rotting boxes. That yer¡­¡­ I didn¡¯t catch their name, but I do believe it was a girl. One that looked like she just started the game not that long ago.

    ¡¸Not to mention that she looked poorly equipped at that¡­¡­¡¹

    It would be a whole different matter if it was a yer that looked like they had experience or high enough level.

    But what did I expect? Up until now I was known as the ¡°Pervert that runs around half-naked¡±, and ¡°Pervert that carries a bunny on his back¡±. But now, since my reputation suddenly skyrocketed to the level of ¡°yer of a Unique Monster¡±, people were bound to talk to me more often on the streets. Might as well get used to it.

    ¡¸Now then, whatever should I do¡­¡­?¡¹

    First order of things: let¡¯s go to Rabbitz.

 Chapter 83: Usage, Training and Capture Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 83: Usage, Training and Capture Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­ Well shucks, Young Master, but this thingy here seems to be beyond salvation.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­¡­ Oh well, guess we¡¯ll go and ask Weissash if he¡¯s going to be able to do anything with it.¡¹

    ¡¸You moron!¡¹

    ¡¸Fire tongs!?¡¹

    Yo, what the fuck!? Get that thing away from my shin! Get the fuck away I said! Even Benkei wouldn¡¯t be able to handle something like that without crying!

    While I was still busy trying to protect my shins from the hot fire tongs, Break jumps up in the air and smacks me on the head. Of course, feeling that something like that might happen, Emul evacuated from m back a moment before so he wouldn¡¯t get caught in the crossfire.

    ¡¸Don¡¯t you dare rely on Pops for every little thing! He has enough to worry about on his own, so don¡¯t add to that pile!¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? Ahh, I¡¯m¡­ sorry?¡¹

    There was still a possibility for us to meet Emul¡¯s trader buddy randomly around town, since he was not always at the pce every single time. But remembering Break¡¯s words, it would feel helluva awkward to ask him now to repair the reactor. This was also strengthened by my intuition of a sh*tty game hunter, that if I was to ask him for help, that would raise another weird andplicated g. So for now I put that idea on hold.

    ¡¸Right, so what should we do right about now?¡¹

    ¡¸What are we going to do?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, it¡¯s been a while since I had to think that far ahead¡­¡­¡¹

    For now let¡¯s go to the skillbining shop and see what we can do with our current skills. It would also be a good idea to allocate my skill points since I had so many of them.

    PN: Sanraku

    LV: 78

    Job: Mercenary (Dual Wielding)

    Money: 4000 Mani

    HP: 40

    MP: 50

    STM: 100

    STR: 70

    DEX: 70

    AGI: 90

    TEC: 65

    VIT: 2

    LUC: 104

    Skills:

    ? Infinite Ream

    ? Growing Earrings

    ? In Fight Lv.MAX

    ? Drift Step

    ? Setsuna no Mikiri

    ? Hand of Fortune Lv.6

    ? Greater Climbing

    ? Climax Boost Lv.9

    ? Six Fold Jump

    ? Ricochet Step Lv.1

    ? Hate Trample Lv.1

    ? Moon Jumper

    ? Transient Wolf Lv. 1

    ? Off-road Lv.2

    ? Mystic Sword Art ¡¸Reflection of the Water Mirror¡¹

    ? Ignition Lv.1

    ? Overheat Lv.1

    ? Nitro Gain Lv.1

    ? Duelism

    Equipment:

    Right Hand: Yuzuki ¡¸Upper Fang¡¹

    Left Hand: Yuzuki ¡¸Lower Fang¡¹

    Head: Mask of Bird¡¯s Eye View (VIT 1)

    Torso: Curse of Luukan

    Waist: None

    Feet: Curse of Luukan

    essories: Inventory

    Now this is great. Finally my Stamina and Luck parameters reached the levels of three digit numbers. Also, since I was going to give this whole ¡°Inventory¡± thing a go in the future, I decided to assign a few points into Magic as well. Vitality was the only stat that was still but a single digit value, but I could easily boost that with appropriate equipment. What¡¯s more, since I had a skill that would allow me to survive the otherwise fatal blow with one digit HP left, it was alling up nicely anyways.

    ¡¸While you¡¯re at it, how about a secret skill?¡¹

    ¡¸If I save enough money. Then we can talk.¡¹

    ¡¸Puu~.¡¹

    Hey, don¡¯t you fucking dare to pout on me like that! If I give you a chance, you¡¯d take all of my money off of me without a second thought!

    After some deliberation, I decided to leave my skills as they are, withoutbining them. With Assassin¡¯s Earring and Oppresive Kick maxed out, surely that would open up some nicebinations in the future. It was also nice for focusing aggro on yourself, which could also be utilized nicely if done right. I had a feeling in my gut that they would be quite handy in the future.

    While some of the skills got stronger, others mutated into new variants, so I would need to try them outter and see what exactly they are about¡­¡­

    Nurture¡­¡­ Growth¡­¡­ I see, if you don¡¯t have the skills you like, you can always buy them, or if you don¡¯t have money you can always try to cultivate them yourself.

    That¡¯s right. If we can turn to Weissash for help, we can only depend on Break for now. Currently, Break¡¯s skill level at cksmithing was called ¡°Master¡±, and apparently you couldn¡¯t repair the reactor if the smith didn¡¯t have the ¡°Grandmaster¡± level of profession.

    However, Break herself was iming that she was still practicing her skills. That means that there is no way that she was going to hit the level of Grandmaster all on her own in the near future. So I wonder¡­¡­

    ¡¸Emul, I now know more or less what we are going to do.¡¹

    ¡¸So, what is it?¡¹

    ¡¸I named it ¡°Break Secret Training n¡±¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸And that is why we are going to help you score the rank of the ¡°Grandmaster¡±!¡¹

    ¡¸Where did thate from, I wonder¡­¡­?¡¹

    That reaction was inside the spectrum of my expectations. I¡¯d say it would be a whole lot more suspicious if she screamed ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do just that!¡± and went on with the idea. Now herees the hard part, actually convincing her to let us help her in her training.

    ¡¸Muu¡­¡­ I see, so if you can¡¯t rely on Pops, you want to make me a Grandmaster¡­¡­ But is it really going to work out?¡¹

    ¡¸I mean, you don¡¯t have anything to lose, right? It¡¯s something you¡¯d have to do one day anyways.¡¹

    ¡¸Umuuu¡­¡­¡¹

    Break mumbled while ying around with one of the short swords she recently made. It was a shortsword, but in human terms, so for a bunny it was especiallyrge and long, and every time Break swung it it looked as though she was going to fall over under its weight.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Umu, what the hell. I don¡¯t know what you have in mind, but sign me up.¡¹

    ¡¸Good. Really good.¡¹

    It was a good thing that we managed to convince Break without much trouble. One less thing to worry about.

 Chapter 83: Usage, Training and Capture Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 83: Usage, Training and Capture Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Now that we got that out of the way, let¡¯s get down to business. Emul, bring forth the schematic.¡¹

    ¡¸R, right away!¡¹

    A momentter Break received a schematic scroll from Emul and spread it over the anvil. As the name might suggest, it wasn¡¯t a magic scroll but a scroll containing the procedure of creating a specific weapon.

    ¡¸This? Oh, and just to let you know, I¡¯ll need two things to be able to be a ¡°Grandmaster¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸Which are?¡¹

    ¡¸First of all, the Legacy of the Era of the Gods¡­¡­ ¡°Legacy Weapon¡±. This is mandatory for anyone who wants to deal with real weapons.¡¹

    Alright, I get it, I get it.

    ¡¸There¡¯s also the other thing that Pops mentioned¡­¡­ ¡°Magical Unity Unit¡± or something like that.¡¹

    Break chanted the name of the other necessary thing¡­¡­ But it doesn¡¯t ring any bells for me. Magical Unity Unit? What¡¯s that?

    Magical¡­¡­ Unity¡­¡­ Unit¡­¡­ Magical, Unity, Unit¡­¡­

    ¡¸¡­¡­ This, ¡°Magical Unity Unit¡±¡­¡­ do you have any idea what it is?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Your guess is as good as mine.¡¹

    Oh, great. It¡¯s just fantastic to know what we are looking for. Just magnificent. For all we know, it could be literally anything.

    ¡¸So¡­¡­ In order to be the ¡°Grandmaster¡± you need those two things: Legacy Weapon and ¡°Magical Unity Unit¡±, is that correct?¡¹

    ¡¸What is this Legacy Weapon? Is this something that will serve as a normal weapon after some kind of maintenance? Like this, for example?¡¹

    As I said that, I selected the Non-Standard Weapon: Harbringer, from the depths of my inventory and manifested it onto the schematic scroll spread over the anvil. Without the energy coursing through it, the weapon was dark all over, but the weapon was definitely the one that AllSlot used after the battle with Wezaemon, although with some differences.

    ¡¸Hm? ¡­¡­ Hmm? Hmm¡­¡­?? HMM!!! HMMMMAH!?!?!?¡¹

    Break was looking at the weapon all over, mumbling to herself as if she was unsure if the weapon was real and it wasn¡¯t a mere hallucination. She even touched it lightly a few times to be absolutely sure.

    ¡¸T, t, t, th, this is¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s a little something we obtained after our battle with Gravekeeper Wezaemon. I don¡¯t know if it is the Legacy Weapon you were talking about, but it seems that it won¡¯t work until we get that ether reactor back to being fully operational.¡¹

    ¡¸Legacy Weapons are the arms that require ancient knowledge and materials to be crafted. They are¡­¡­ Tricky to make. It looks unlike anything I¡¯ve seen before, but as long as I can understand the mechanism behind it, it should all be fine. I mean, this de looks almost brand new, so there¡¯s noints from my end!¡¹

    ¡¸I, I see¡­¡­¡¹

    Feeling a strange sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu while looking at Break who was happily bouncing about the ce. I then withdraw the ¡°Harbinger¡± back to my inventory.

    ¡¸If I was to break that thing intoponents, those guys would probably never forgive me for that¡­¡­¡¹

    After the formation of our guild, I¡¯ve noticed a few important things that changed. One of them was that the inventory space was now ¡°shared¡±. Another was the fact that every single item obtained as a result of the battle with Wezaemon was transferred to that shared space. In other words, Katsu and Pencilgton were as much the owners of those items as I was.

    It was somewhat of a messy system, one where you could take the item out of the shared storage and do whatever you want with it, and the other people who owned the items could literally do nothing to stop you from doing that.

    ¡¸Umumu¡­¡­ Still, there¡¯s one problem. ording to Pops, Magical Unity Unit is located right here¡­¡­ right in the middle of ¡°Ancient Ruins¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸Ancient Ruins¡­¡­¡¹

    It was the name I couldn¡¯t possibly ignore if Break¡¯s training n was to proceed smoothly. No, rather than that, I need to capture that whole area so that there won¡¯t be any problems.

    All for the sake of advancing the Extra Quest that I received from Weissash, ¡°The Epic of Vorpal Bunny¡±.

    ¡¤ Receiver Delta

    ¡¤ Coordinate Device Delta

    ¡¤ Transmitter Delta

    The quest was asking me to locate and gather those specific items. When I tried to get intel on where I could possibly get some of those items, the name ¡°Ruins of the Ancient Castle¡± popped up¡­¡­ a ce that was supposedly located near Fiftia, the current frontline of the whole game. Another ce where I needed to go was called ¡°Irebendar¡±, and it was the ruins of the ancient city way behind Fiftsia.

    ¡¸So, it so happens that every single road leads to Fiftsia, huh?¡¹

    I checked out the surroundings of Thirdrema on the map, which was strangely urate for being written by bunny hand, and I made ns on how I was going to advance in the near future.

    ¡¸But should I aim straight towards Fiftsia, or maybe somewhere else?¡¹

    Although it was true that I wanted to get to Fiftsia as soon as possible via the shortest route possible, maybe it would be worth my while to stop by some optional areas first? Maybe there was some sick loot to be found there?

    ¡¸But the problem is how am I going to smuggle the two of you into town?¡¹

    It would be hard for me to run around town in my current state with two bunnies hitchhiking on my back, and I don¡¯t suppose that every single one of them can transform themselves into humans?

    ¡¸Would you like me to be a scarf again?¡¹

    ¡¸Nah, I think I¡¯ll pass this time. Maybe I should try wearing a coat or something like that for the first time in a while¡­¡­¡¹

    Et tu, Brutus?

 Chapter 84: Walking of the Air Cleaner Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 84: Walking of the Air Cleaner Part 1</h4>

    Valley of Lost Souls. It¡¯s a ce a little bit further down the road from the Ancient Ruins¡­¡­ It seems it¡¯s the ce of the final battle that nearly decided the extinction of the human race in the times when they were much more technologically advanced than they are now.

    Ironically enough the battle itself was supposedly interrupted by the arrival of a monster army, but the fact that so many deaths took ce there made it has be a perfect breeding ground for various forms of undead.

    Many years have passed since then and this ce was still as dangerous as ever, not only for humans but for stray monsters too. You could practically feel death and curses permeating the air in here¡­¡­

    While Emul was exining to me the backstory of this ce, he was doing that in a lowered voice, as though he was telling a horror story or something like that.

    Unfortunately for him, I was pretty resistant to horror stories and horrors in general. In fact, I loved rail shooters with zombies, which were basically a breeze once you get your hands on a shotgun or any kind of weapon with a high enough kick to it. Unless we were talking about horror games where zombies and monsters can tank a whole clip without copsing and run like professional athletes while being shot at¡­¡­ Then it was not so funny anymore.

    No, that was hardly the problem here. The problem lies in the characteristic of the Valley of Lost Souls.

    ¡¸Rather than having an Area Boss, this whole ce feels like a boss fight. If we stay in here long enough, we will get afflicted with ¡°curse¡± status. What¡¯s more, arge portion of enemies here can use debuff magic, and if the battles are prolonged enough, they might call reinforcements that are as strong as sub-bosses¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸That is why you need a priest when youe here! Or at least huge amounts of holy water!¡¹

    Unless you have a Priest with you in the party that can use ¡°Purification¡± magic or use the Holy Water to negate the effects of the ¡°Curse¡± status you are going to suffer it continuously. And it would cause more and more harm and difort to you as the time goes on. And the prices of Holy Water in Fiftsia were outrageously high. What a messy area this is, but¡­¡­

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Say, Emul? Maybe we are just way too overpowered for this area?¡¹

    ¡¸My thoughts exactly¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸The air is getting purified around ya fer some reason.¡¹

    This must be the work of the ¡°disabling all other curses¡± that the Curse of Luukan has on me.

    Also, since the monsters were running away from us, I could only assume that their levels were way lower than mine at the current moment.

    But contrary to the cursed vapors filling the whole area, the air in my close vicinity was surprisingly clean and devoid of any such vapors. What¡¯s more, since I didn¡¯t suffer the level reduction penalty like Katsu and Pencilgton, I was actually able to level up quite nicely from the Wezaemon fight¡­¡­

    ¡¸Take a look at that, Emul. They aren¡¯t just randomly walking around, but they are holding their positions. It must have been a very strict and powerful army when they were still alive.¡¹

    ¡¸That may be so, but it still doesn¡¯t change the fact that they are running away from us the moment we try to approach them.¡¹

    ¡¸Who would have thought that even Zombie Wyverns would be afraid of the Night Prowler?¡¹

    As we were taking a stroll through the bottom of the valley, we saw various types of enemies running away from us in terror.

    ¡¸I thought It might have been a good idea, but going to the bottom of the valley gives us literally nothing.¡¹

    ¡¸Is that what ya are worried about? Sorry, but if ya want tomit suicide by running into a horde of monsters, do so without me!¡¹

    ¡¸There was something like a crystal scorpion at the top of the valley. I¡¯m pretty sure I saw something just like that out there. If we manage to find one and defeat it, we might get a whole lot of precious crystal gems for ourselves! And it shouldn¡¯t even take that long for us to gather them¡­¡­¡¹

    Incidentally, that crystal scorpion¡¯s level should be around level one hundred. Hahaha, wouldn¡¯t it be like trying to bring down a brick wall with my bare fists? That thought alone was a way bigger horror than the backstory of this whole area.

    Well, from the meta viewpoint I could understand something like that. A monster like that was a means of preventing the yers from going over the valley rather than through it. And once you be strong enough to beat that scorpion it will be a great source of loot and will unlock a shortcut through the area. Like that, the time you¡¯d need for going from Fourthsier to the optional location ¡°Eitto¡± would be significantly lower.

    ¡¸Umu, umu¡­¡­ I know that we probably aren¡¯t ready to take that thing on, but a part of me still wants to give it a go, just for the heck of it.¡¹

    After a while, we heard a sound of hooves and heavy breathing growing closer and closer. It seems that some monster was currently approaching us without showing any signs of running away. No, or was it that it simply failed to notice us?

    ¡¸Duhan, huh? ¡­¡­ Nice, as if I hadn¡¯t had enough of fighting horses and their riders recently.¡¹

    The rider as well as the mount were headless, but I got a feeling that during his lifetime this knight must have been rather famous. His armor was almost entirely decayed, and the mount was giving off a dignified aura.

    ¡¸T, think we could go for a preemptive strike¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Wait just a moment! Stay! Stay, I said! Maybe it is an NPC and we can actually reason with the guy without having to fight it?¡¹

    ¡¸You moron! Duhans have no mouths! How the hell you expect him tomunicate with us, huh!?¡¹

    ¡¸Ubyaah! It drew it! It drew its sword!¡¹

    ¡¸Hahaha! Now that¡¯s more like it! Go! Go! Go! It¡¯s time to hunt us some Duhans! But watch out for yourselves or you might end up dead!¡¹

    I jumped before the Duhan that was charging straight at us, Empire Bee¡¯s Swords in hand. They were properly repaired and enhanced, so let¡¯s test out those new skills, shall we!?

    ¡¸For starters, let¡¯s see how this works: ¡°IGNITION¡±!¡¹

    This skill has limitations ced on it. It can be used only once at the very beginning of the battle, and once activated, it gives you a boost to your movement speed. The effect was supposed tost for one minute but the ¡°engine¡± needed to heat up for thirty seconds before going into effect, so the actual duration of the skill was those thirty remaining seconds.

    Although the effects were hard to see during the initial thirty seconds, the movement speed was still rising, but still, the Duhan was able to dodge to the side and avoid a certain collision with me and the impact it would bring.

 Chapter 84: Walking of the Air Cleaner Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 84: Walking of the Air Cleaner Part 2</h4>

    Since neither the Duhan nor its horse had heads it was impossible for me to predict from their eyes where they would try to move next, but I could tell that to some extent from looking at the horse¡¯s movements. And sure enough, the horse was moving in that direction, even without the Duhan doing anything to order it around.

    [Just a little bit more¡­¡­ to go¡­ Three, two¡­¡­ Now!]

    After matching my moves to the horse¡¯s charge, I jump back a few steps and prepare the Secret Sword Art ¡°Water Mirror Moon¡¯s¡± evolved form to be unleashed!

    I managed to activate the skill just as the headless horse was about to charge straight at me. I took another step back with a wless, uninterrupted motion. Could it be that the battle against the Gravekeeper sharpened my yer reflexes? Or maybe it was all because my stats increased tremendously?

    What happened next was that the horse got hooked on the aggro from the image that appeared behind it and tried to make a sharp U-turn while maintaining its high speed. It would be hard for a normal horse to do, nevermind for the one without its head.

    [Uwah, my sincerest condolences.]

    As the headless horse was trying to aplish a seemingly impossible maneuver, the doublebo of inertia plus centrifugal force caused the Duhan to fall off of its back and hit the ground. I was d the skill worked, but at the same time I felt truly sorry for the Duhan for some reason? The moment his body hit the ground, Break rushed towards him with a huge sledgehammer in her small paws¡­¡­

    [Now, dance for me like a puppet¡­¡­ ¡°MEGATON SWING!!!¡±]

    CRUSH! There was a loud and painful sound to be heard at the hammer connected with the Duhan¡¯s chest, caving its armor in. The damage from this thing must be serious business for sure. The force of the swingbined with other forces working on the Duhan right now cause him to be sent in the air even higher than when he flew off of his mount. It hurt my eyes to look at this, but it cannot be helped. You reap what you sow for not running away from me even though your level was supposedly lower than mine.

    The beautiful arc that the Duhan¡¯s body made in the air was the testament of how strong the force of the swing must have been. I could technically wait for him to fall to the ground and then unleash hell on him, but I wanted to test something out first, just for the heck of it.

    [¡°Moon Jumper¡± and then ¡°Six Fold Jump¡±¡­¡­!]

    The Duhan started to fall down, pulled by gravitational force, and I jumped high into the air, which was possible thanks to the two above skills which respectively lessened the way in which gravity was working on me and allowed me to do a few mid-air jumps to aim even higher! Honestly, there was no real reason for me to try so much, but maybe by doing something like that a new skill or two shall awaken?

    [Take aim and jump in the air!]

    I then activate the Infinite skill and blow the Duhan away¡­¡­ by performing a textbook example of a drop kick on him, utilizing the fact that he wasn¡¯t focused on me right now. I also managed tond my drop kick on the part of the armor that Break hit with her sledgehammer, so that was sure to have hurt quite a lot. The finishing touch was that when Inded back on the ground¡­¡­ Ipletely ignored the fall damage! Now, seeing as the horse was yet to get up, should I take care of the Duhan first?

    And since we are already bullying him so much, maybe it would be a good idea to let Emul in on the fun as well?

    [Emul! Ready some magic!] [Sure thing!]

    After confirming that Emul used his Add Spell skill, I check to see where Break currently was. She was holding her sledgehammer like a professional batter about ready to score a homerun, so was she expecting me to send the Duhan her way?

    [Oh, isn¡¯t that nice? Introducing NPCs to the idea of tactics taken straight out of sh*tty games¡­¡­?]

    Assist skills were really important in games like that, and what we were doing right now was basically allowing for them tond some blows in without risking getting hit themselves. It was also letting me train my battlefield control skills, knowing when to hold back and when to go all-out against an opponent that fell down and was unable to get up easily.

    [Knockback, positioning, distance¡­¡­ Right, the chart ispleted!]

    I grab the chanting Emul with my left hand and rush towards the Duhan. I reach out my right hand towards his torso, grab it and activate Infight.

    [Eat this! The power of three digits numbers!]

    Hand of Fortune pierces right through the Duhan¡¯s torso. His body started to bend in lots of funny and grotesque ways because of the impact, and even though he was supposed to be Undead it surely must have hurt. Then I point Emul towards him while holding the bunny like a handgun.

    [I call this move ¡°Rabbit Gun: Turret Palm!¡±] [¡­¡­! ¡°Magic Edge!¡±]

    Emul shouted in an angry voice, releasing a magical de that flew straight at the Duhan. It seems that just like Katsu or myself, Emul wasn¡¯t neglecting his own training and managed to get stronger on his own.

    The Magic Edge hits Duhan and thanks to that he gets blown into the air for the third time. Can you guess in which direction he was currently going?

    [Titan st!]

    If the previous Megaton Swing dealt so much damage and made such a nasty sound, then I don¡¯t know how I could possibly describe the sound that Titan st made right about now.

    [There! How do you like that!?] [Sanraku-san! Sanraku-san! Don¡¯t you think I deserve some kind of reward for my help?] [Here, have some carrots.] [Yay.]

    After properly disposing of the Duhan, I fed Emul to some delicious carrots.

 Chapter 85: Bird with Bunnies VS Talking Heads Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 85: Bird with Bunnies VS Talking Heads Part 1</h4>

    NPCN: Break

    LV: 98

    ss: cksmith

    Side ss: Archaeologist, Vorpal Bunny Master Smith

    HP: 175

    MP: 530

    STM: 120

    STR: 130

    DEX: 120

    AGI: 30

    TEC: 130

    VIT: 169

    LUC: 130

    Skill:

    ? Best Step

    ? Quake stomp

    ? Gigaton swing

    ? Titan st

    ? Fortress Breaker

    ? Material Destroy

    ? Critical focus

    ? Analyze: Legacy Lv.4

    Magic:

    ? ¡¸Damage Repair Lv.MAX¡¹

    ? ¡¸Break Repair Lv.8¡¹

    -¡¸Quick Forge Lv.4¡¹

    ? ¡¾Stack Grind Lv.7¡¿

    ? ¡¸Enhancement: Life Drain Lv.7¡¹

    ? ¡¸Art: Wreckage Lv.1¡¹

    ? ¡¸Art: Forger Lv.MAX¡¹

    ? ¡¸Art: Strengthening Lv.MAX¡¹

    ? ¡¸Art: Evolution Lv.8¡¹

    ? ¡¸Art: Fusion Lv. 3¡¹

    ? ¡¸Art: Truth Lv.4¡¹

    ? ¡¸Random encounter Lv.3¡¹

    ? ¡¸Enchantment: High Robust¡¹

    ? ¡¸Miracle Mining¡¹

    ? ¡¸Legacy Sense Lv.3¡¹

    Equipment:

    Weapon: Sledge Ogre

    Head: Heat-Resistant Cap

    Torso: Bunny cksmith Uniform

    Waist: Bunny cksmith Uniform

    Feet: Bunny cksmith Uniform

    essories: Efreet Gloves

    ¡¸So strong!¡¹

    After the Duhan dropped dead, we ended fighting the headless horse as well, but it turned out to be nothing all that special. After the fight was over I checked Break¡¯s status¡­¡­ And once I did that I almost had to collect my jaw from the floor. That¡¯s how broken her stats were. ¡­¡­ What was this strange feeling of d¨¦j¨¤ vu?

    ¡¸That¡¯s the kind of strength you attain by smiting every single day, topped with participating in many difficult battles!¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, I get it, but it still kinda hurts that you could mop the floor with both Emul and I if you wanted to.¡¹

    ¡¸Take that as you will!¡¹

    I averted my gaze from Break and looked towards Emul, but he also had no words to say to that. We stared at each other inplete silence for a moment or two.

    ¡¸I never said that she was as delicate as a flower¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ You never did¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Guys, not that I want to interrupt, but¡­¡­ One more word and you¡¯ll end up like the headless guy over there!!¡¹

    ¡¸HEEE!?¡¹

    While Emul let out a sound of utter terror, we decided to keep our mouths shut, for the good of both of us. Besides, nothing good coulde from delving deeper into that topic.

    ¡¸Right¡­.. For the time being, let¡¯s see what materials we can collect from the Duhan¡¯s corpse. Let¡¯s not waste any more time!¡¹

    I proim that while approaching the pile of shiny loot that Duhan left behind.

    ¡¤ Beheading Sword of the Duhan General

    A long and huge sword that once belonged to Duhan General. Now it has decayed and is only good for crushing its opponents with its brute force.

    Deals additional damage if the target is hit to the neck.

    Having forgotten its memories, love and sense of pride, this body finally even lost its head. That is why even in death it still hunts for the heads of others.

    ¡¸What else can I say? That description is pretty damn urate.¡¹

    Long story short, this Duhan lost its sanity and sense of self even before losing its head? But was that supposed to be unique, or what? Every other Duhan in here had also lost its head, so isn¡¯t that kind of generic description? Oh well, at least the sword looks good. Maybe it will fetch a good price.

    Now, when I was about to put the sword into my inventory, Break stopped me from doing that. What, are you interested in that? Compared to other weapons, this one looks like a bunch of rust and blood-covered scrap.

    ¡¸Here, lend me this for a second, will ya?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm? Sure thing, here.¡¹

    I hand over the Duhan de to Break, and she swings the de a couple of times, turns it in her small paws and looks at it closely.

    ¡¸I knew it, this sword is dead as well. If you let me hold on to it, I can bring it back to its original glory back at my workshop.¡¹

    ¡¸Hee.¡¹

    Not that I was going to use it or anything, but my gamer mind was telling me that if its form could be changed into something better then that¡¯s what you needed to do. Right, let¡¯s do just that! Having decided on that, wemenced the exploration of the area once more.

    ¡¸But I gotta say, this dungeon is rtively straightforward whenpared to other one¡¯s we¡¯ve been to so far.¡¹

    ¡¸All we¡¯ve been doing so far in here is to go straight.¡¹

    This map wasn¡¯t all that broad when it came to the sheer size of it, but rather than branching paths it consisted of bigger and smaller cliffs that you needed to traverse in order to go forward. And while I get the idea that constant onught of undead and ¡°Curse¡± status effects would make this ce a whole lot harder¡­¡­ For me, a human air-purifier, this whole area was like a walk through the park.

    ¡¸Say, we¡¯ve been walking for quite a while now¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸But we don¡¯t seem to be getting anywhere. It¡¯s getting kind of annoying.¡¹

    ¡¸But at least we don¡¯t have to waste any Holy Water, so that¡¯s a plus, hmm?¡¹

    I don¡¯t know how much Holy Water we would have to waste if we were to do this area normally, but maybe that¡¯s a good thing¡­¡­ That being said, we were a birdman carrying two bunnies on his back, so for a valley filled with madness, decay and the undead it was surprisingly fitting of an image, huh?

    I know that it was absurd, but precisely because of this fantasy setting this situation could receive a passing grade, so just rolling with it for now was fine¡­¡­ After all, could you experience something like that in real life? I doubt it.

    ¡¸Umu¡­¡­ I guess Godly games can get surprisingly deep at times and deliver you experiences you wouldn¡¯t otherwise hope to experience¡­¡­¡¹

 Chapter 85: Bird with Bunnies VS Talking Heads Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 85: Bird with Bunnies VS Talking Heads Part 2</h4>

    But here¡¯s the real question: what is a godly game? What is a sh*tty game? And what is a game in general? While dealing with such deep philosophical questions, I didn¡¯t even notice when we arrived at a muchrger, open space. It looked like a huge dome, surrounded by grey mist.

    ¡¸Maybe this is a boss arena?¡¹

    I touched the mist lightly, but my hand wasn¡¯t stopped and easily went through. So that means that nobody is inside of the dome right now. This must be the default setting of this ce.

    ¡¸Are we really going to dive into this¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Ask the birdhead, not me.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s the default setting, so there¡¯s nothing to be afraid of¡­¡­ Come on, guys, let¡¯s go!¡¹

    I changed my weapons to Yuzuki and I entered the misty dome. It took me a few seconds to traverse to the other side, and having been wrapped in that cold smoke-like substance was rather unpleasant, but when I finally emerged on the other side I saw the image of the guardian of this whole area.

    It was a huge ck skull, one that looked as if there was some kind of ck smokeing from inside it. Then there was a ck spine, remnants of a ck rib cage, ck right skeletal arm¡­¡­ All of that wrapped in the cloak of ck smoke. The missing bone structure was nowhere to be seen.

    In its arm, the skeleton held a magic staff that looked as though it was made out of a human spine that just got straightened¡­¡­ it was also decorated in a rather disturbing way.

    ¡¸It looks like this skeleton must have loved someone so much that it didn¡¯t want to part ways with them even after death¡­¡­ How sweet¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Carefulds! I sense something really disturbing about this chump¡­¡­ This is probably the source of all the toxic vapors in the entire valley! It must devour death and suffering of anyone who enters here and convert it into the poison vapors!¡¹

    ¡¸Hyeeeeee¡­¡­ I don¡¯t want to get closer to this thing¡­¡­!¡¹

    Hahaha,pared to the horror games with an R-18 rating, this is actually nothing to be afraid of! It¡¯s just some weird-looking skull, nothing more!

    Skeletal ghosts collecting souls and death and recycling it for something evil? Talk about an overused trope. Almost every game had at least one scenario in it like that.

    ¡¸Hope you have something with a ¡°Holy¡± attribute to it! Otherwise physical attacks will be utterly worthless against that thing!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Eh, seriously? Physical attacks aren¡¯t going to work?¡¹

    Thing is¡­¡­ I don¡¯t really think that I have anything that would apply for that whole ¡°Holy¡± element thingy. Both Emul and Break must have realized that as well, for they stiffened in astonishment.

    It was at that moment that the ck skeleton (whose name was apparently ¡°Humming Rich¡±) decided to raise its staff and unleash a torrent of ck projectiles onto my defenseless back.

    ¡¸Uoooah, what¡¯s this, what¡¯s this!?¡¹

    It felt as though a delicate paintbrush was stroked right against my back. I slowly turned around with my jaw hanging wide open, a hypothesis already blossoming inside my mind. I open my status in a hurry to see if I was right or if I was right.

    I mean yeah, I was feeling funny, or even strange, but aside from that there was literally nothing wrong with me.

    ¡¸Ah¡­¡­ What the hell¡­¡­ Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡­¡¹

    Since I have no weapon with ¡°Holy¡± element to it I have no means of doing harm to the Humming Rich, and because of my curse negating ¡°curse marks¡± this thing has no way of inflicting any kind of damage upon me.

    It was the weirdest kind of a stalemate, one that would continue to drag on and on and on without being resolved¡­¡­ That is, if I was a single yer.

    ¡¸Fufufu¡­¡­ my dear Emul, it seems that the situation calls for another Rabbit Gun: Palm Turret!!!¡¹

    ¡¸We¡¯re doing that again!?¡¹

    That being said, ¡°Curse Marks¡± only make me invincible against various curses. Magical and physical attacks are going to damage me like they would normally do. And even though I was quite strong right now, my VIT was still paper-thin, so I absolutely couldn¡¯t afford to tank any kind of serious damage.

    So I somehow managed to avoid the barrage of magical missiles that were flying my way as I closed the distance between Humming Rich and myself, then I pointed my improvised Emul-gun right towards its head.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s see how you like my single shot revolver! Haha, BANG!!¡¹

    ¡¸Pyaah!? I don¡¯t get it at all what you¡¯re talking about!?!?!? ¡°Magic Edge¡±!¡¹

    Emul shouted and then released one huge magic de right into Humming Rich¡¯s face. It managed to do some damage, but apparently it wasn¡¯t all that great. Oh well, good enough I guess.

    I tried to sh it a few times just for the hell of it, but my weapons didn¡¯t even leave a mark on its bare bones. So for now I put my swords away into my inventory and focused on attacking with Emul¡¯s magic.

    ¡¸Break!? How¡¯s it going on your end!?¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, give me a break! Ya think that¡¯s so easy!? Thene over ¡®ere and give it a go yerself!¡¹

    Break shouted while tinkering with the Duhan General¡¯s sword that I thought that I would never ever use. She unbottled a single vial of Holy Water and poured it all over the rusty de while chanting some kind of spell.

    That is why I was right in the Humming Rich¡¯s face ¨C¨C that way I could focus all aggro onto me and let Break do her job in peace.

    ¡¸I wonder if it can use those ribs as a melee weapons of sorts¡­¡­?¡¹

    For now my job was simple: focus the boss¡¯s attention on myself and buy Break as much time as possible, so that she could finish doing whatever it was she was doing with the Duhan¡¯s de.

    ¡¸Three kinds of projectiles, dark spheres, a dark hand emerging from the ground, summoning smaller demons, staff swipe¡­¡­ There¡¯s also a short-distance teleportation to adjust its position¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Pyaaaah!? We¡¯re surrounded! We¡¯repletely surrounded!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Butpared to the Gravekeeper that¡¯s actually very easy¡­¡­!¡¹

    I activate Moon Jumper to get out of the flock of smaller monsters that surrounded us, and then I jump back a few steps to carefully assess my current situation.

    ¡¸It can¡¯t even hold a candle to Wezaemon, but that teleportation can be annoying. Is it random? Or maybe there¡¯s some kind of pattern to it?¡¹

    Unlike Wezaemon, who¡¯s every single attack could prove deadly, it was quite easy to deal with the majority of Humming Rich¡¯s attacks. But it was not a war of attrition but an extermination battle, so running away and dodging infinitely was ill advised.

    Its asional change of ce and teleportation were the only things that were annoying to deal with. Was it due to a pattern or was itpletely randomized? Finding the answer would be imperative for devising a further strategy of wearing its HP down

    ¡¸It¡¯s done!¡¹

    The very same moment that Break shouted those words, Humming Rich started to move in some suspicious way.

 Chapter 86: Emergency Item Craft, Paper-Thin Armor Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 86: Emergency Item Craft, Paper-Thin Armor Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Hey, Break! Something is about toe out of this thing! It doesn¡¯t look good!¡¹

    ¡¸That much I can see myself! No need to rush me! It looks kinda tough, but this should do the trick¡­¡­ Just swing it at this thing a few times and see if it works properly. And if you happen to break it, I can just fix it again on the spot.¡¹

    With those words of advice, Break handed me the Duhan sword. There was no visible change to it, but just by holding it in my hands I could already feel the difference.

    ¡¸So light? And what¡¯s with the de? This feeling is rather good if I do say so myself¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Since I don¡¯t have my furnace or anvil with me, the only thing I could do on the spot were some emergency repairs and sharpening. Because of that its durability is not all that great, but it should still pack a nice punch.¡¹

    Ah, I see. The de had the additional effect of ¡°extra sharpening¡± to it, now that I see its status. I can see that she managed to get the de in shape in just a short amount of time she was given, but there were still specks of rust and dried blood on the sword¡¯s de. Still, its feel was way better than before.

    ¡¸Low durability¡­¡­ Limited number of swings¡­¡­ Seems like one heck of a challenge quest to me.¡¹

    I¡¯d say about eight swings or so¡­¡­ Will this be enough to defeat that boss?

    Just how much damage can I dish out with a single swing? And how do I calcte the damage needed to bring the spooky skeleton down? Remaining ever-vignt, I start to analyze all the information I had on me to see if a pattern would emerge that would lead me to victory.

    ¡¸Think you can do it, boy!?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, we sure will!¡¹

    Now, looking at the Humming Rich, there were some nasty-looking ck mes that were starting to umte inside of its staff. And it wasn¡¯t just burning inside of it. It was leaking outside the staff, covering the ornaments on it, making the whole thing look like a giant jaw of some scary monster.

    ¡¸GUGI, GAH, GIGIGIGI¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸KUKEKEKEKEKEKE! KEKEKA! KAKA!¡¹

    .

    ¡¸IIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!! GYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!¡¹

    ¡¸GEGAGAGA!!! GAGAGE! GAGAGAGAGA!!!¡¹

    ¡¸GUOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    ¡¸AAA, GAAAH ¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C GAAAAAAHHHHHH¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C!!!¡¹

    What was that? Whispers, screams, moans, shouts, groans, gurgles¡­¡­ All of those sounds were currentlying from within the Humming Rich. ¡­¡­ Ah, I see now how it is. It¡¯s noting from inside of it. There were about six jaws growing out of its staff at the moment, making noises like that.

    ¡¸E-even more enemies!?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ No, this might actually work in our favour here.¡¹

    The ck mes started to turn into clouds of smoke. Then the smoke started to solidify as it was dividing itself into six parts. What emerged from that were six copies of Humming Rich, except they didn¡¯t have the magic staffs, were a whole lot smaller, and each of them carried a different type of weapon¡­¡­ I could see this fight go into three basic directions from here.

    Pattern one: they would attack interchangeably whilst teleporting all around the ce. And since the main body started to shrink to adapt to them, they would probably try to mix it amongst them, making it harder for us to find the main body and damage it. It wasn¡¯t helping that the bodies didn¡¯t have any distinguishing features.

    Pattern two: there would be no alteration, but rather attack pattern involving all of them attacking all at once. In that case we would have to focus all of our effort on the main body whilst ignoring the fake ones, which would be really hard to do in and of itself. ¡­¡­ However, I don¡¯t really think that the game would really go with that pattern.

    Pattern three: they would all attack independently of one another, acting like sixpletely separate and unique units. Somehow, I was willing to believe that this pattern would be the most likely to ur.

    ¡¸I just hope that they are sharing the HP bar with the main body¡­¡­!¡¹

    It would be a huge help if those things were just all part of one body that split up. Then it would be technically possible to defeat the main body simply by damaging the copies.

    ¡¸Fuh¡­¡­ about eight minutes have already passed, I believe?¡¹

    I had about eight attacks with that sword that I could use, so I had to make every single one of them count. Not to mention that all of my current skills have quite tricky trigger conditions. So before I can satisfy all of them, I need to gather as much information as possible.

    ¡¸We¡¯ve got a whole lot of work to do¡­¡­ Break! Emul! No matter what happens, stay close to me¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Right!¡¹

    ¡¸On it!¡¹

    If it was right at the beginning of the game, it would be really hard for me to maneuver around whilst carrying two bunnies on my back which weighed as much as a small child, but right now it was no problem at all. ¡­¡­ Although I must admit, that friggin hammer was really heavy.

    Just then five bodies rushed at me, with two others staying at the back, probably to support the ones that were approaching us right now. The situation was not good¡­.. But at the same time it wasn¡¯t all that bad!

    ¡¸Staff. Sword. Spear. Bow. Axe. Dual Swords and¡­¡­ A shield?¡¹

    I checked the weapons they were carrying, but somehow it didn¡¯t make any sense for me? Like thatst one. Was that really a shield? It was too small to be a shield, in my opinion. And even if it was a buckler, there was something seriously wrong with it.

    ¡¸GUGOAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Duooah!?¡¹

    Such a small shield¡­¡­ Then I saw something. It was only for a moment, but I think I saw something simr to a throat right in the middle of that shield. Right after that, the inside of the throat lit bright orange and there was a gush of mes that was expelled from the shield, making it look kind of like a methrower. I immediately used the skill Drift Step to avoid the gush of mes, at the same time noticing two distinct things.

    First thing was that it seemed to me that the monsters thought that they were the hunters here and I was the one being hunted.

    Another thing is that Drift Step turned out to be a whole lot more versatile that I would have thought.

    ¡¸Uhahaha! I get the feeling that my feet are surprisingly tired after that!¡¹

    The sword swung down, the spear was thrust forward, and the others started to perform maneuvers that simply wouldn¡¯t be possible for humans to pull off¡­¡­ For now I focus my attention on dodging and not letting myself get hit by any attacks.

    Also, I think that this skill should be named Drift Slip instead of Step, but I really like it so far.

    ¡¸M, my eyes! They are spinning around and around¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸Keep a close watch on them! Tell me right away if they try to nk us!¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, yeah¡­¡­ Time to swing my hammer around for a bit¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    The AI in this game was not stupid, but it wasn¡¯t exactly brilliant either. It was following my evasive maneuvers, but the way in which it was doing that was rather straightforward. I was getting slightly impatient, but I decided to y it safe, so that I wouldn¡¯t get caught off guard like with that methrower just now.

    ¡¸I don¡¯t like half-assing things like that, but if that¡¯s the game you want to y, then have at you!¡¹

 Chapter 86: Emergency Item Craft, Paper-Thin Armor Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 86: Emergency Item Craft, Paper-Thin Armor Part 2</h4>

    I dodged the arrow and magic orb shot that were aimed at me and then activated Ricochet Step to gain a safe distance in between myself and the enemies. Using that asion I also fired a single shot at one of them, getting myself ready to engage them at any moment now. Then ¨C¨C¨C¨C

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Did you see that?¡¹

    ¡¸Just now¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸It wobbled!¡¹

    This was all the confirmation I could possibly want. Right now I knew that the copies were sharing HP with the main body. Also, wasn¡¯t that single attack really powerful just now? Oh, that¡¯s right, for me it may have been just a normal boss battle, but for anyone else it would be a constant hell filled with toxic vapors and ¡°Curse¡± status. I take all of that into ount, as well as the size of our party, the number of enemies, the number of times I could safely attack with the Duhan de¡­¡­ Alright, I think I can see the road that would lead us to victory.

    ¡¸Emul. Break. Let me exin my strategy to you really quick.¡¹

    ¡¸Ohh, ooohhh, is it something that has to do with the situation just about now?¡¹

    ¡¸Right, what would you like us to do?¡¹

    Behold, this is the difference between knowing the patterns of your enemies and being unaware of them. Emul will continue to fight together with me, with all of the jumping, evading, rolling around and attacking thates with it. It¡¯s an improvised strategy, so I really hope it will work.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ We¡¯ll keep on hacking away at the copies, while you go and wait near the original body. Even though the area boss deals in magic, the finishing blow is going to rely wholly on you.¡¹

    We could do this, and we could fully utilize the power of the Duhan sword I received from Break. To do that, I positioned her behind the lines, where she was to wait for the opportunity to deal the finishing blow. And since I levelled up so much, I was thinking that my current level was more than enough to deal with the boss of this area with no problems.

    ¡¸If that¡¯s how you want to y it, it had better work out for you.¡¹

    I had a clear purpose in my mind, and this battle here was just a passing point for me, one of many that I was sure to encounter on my way forward. And while I hated to rely on NPC¡¯s strength to do things, right now it was the best possible course of action we could take.

    ¡¸But¡­¡­ What are you going to do if the weapon breaks?¡¹

    ¡¸No, Break, that¡¯s not the case in here.¡¹

    .

    ¡¸Muu?¡¹

    ¡¸When you wield a weapon, you must always win with it still in one piece. Otherwise it would be rude to the weapon itself.¡¹

    Hearing my words, Break opens her eyes wide in surprise. By the way, those words weren¡¯t mine, but they were from another character from a different game. Incidentally, it was from a character that was using his whole body to fight, but because of his nature of going all out even against the most basic of enemies, he would often end up breaking his equipmentpletely. Because of that, he was dead-set on fixing his disrespectful ways towards his equipment.

    ¡¸That is why¡­¡­ From now on it¡¯s going to be a non-stop action!¡¹

    ¡¸Alright!¡¹

    Break then detached herself from my back and proceeded to approach the Humming Rich from the side, trying her best not to get herself spotted. Also, she had a bottle of Holy Water on the ready. At the same time Emul was shooting Magic Edge after Magic Edge, keeping the aggro on us so that the monsters wouldn¡¯t notice what was up.

    ¡¸She¡¯s making good progress¡­¡­ Right, we have to y our part equally as good!¡¹

    ¡¸I can¡¯t do it! I can¡¯t do it!¡¹

    I then activate another one of my new skills, Overheat. It¡¯s a skill that can only be activated after a certain amount of time has passed since the beginning of the battle. It was a great skill, one that would double my status points for five minutes, but there was a catch: after those five minutes, all of my status points would be cut in half. So it was a skill that was best suited for fast skirmishes, ones that could be won fast enough.

    I cast Nitro Gain. It was a skill that had one second cooldown, and by the expense of twenty percent of your maximum HP it would increase both your STR and AGI. But its true value was HP control.

    Then, after my HP was lowered down, I activated Climax Boost for an even greater boost in stats.

    ¡¸It¡¯s a shame that Hungry Wolf is so tricky to use.¡¹

    It¡¯s effects would surelye in handy right now, but I was stuck with it on one bothersome condition: redirection of aggro, which wasn¡¯t really what I wanted to do right now. If possible, I must seek to improve that skill and get rid of that part as soon as possible.

    ¡¸Emul, we are going to dispose of the copies. We¡¯ll pick them out one by one¡­¡­ So go wild and shoot without my orders.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, sir!¡¹

    Beginning my offense, my first target was the skeleton with the methrower shield. I started to strafe around it to avoid the spewing mes, waiting for my chance to strike.

    ¡¸Mumumu¡­¡­ ¡°Magic Edge¡±!¡¹

    ¡¸Fuh!¡¹

    As Emul fired six magic des at the skeleton, I jumped high in the air. The magic des weren¡¯t as fast as bullets, but avoiding them was already quite hard to do.

    ¡¸Two more steps to close the distance¡­¡­ There!¡¹

    I activated the Six Step Leap. Two steps to close the distance. Remaining four to outmaneuver the shield that was spewing out mes without a moment of rest.

    ¡¸Hot, hot, hot, so hot! It will be a lot cooler in here once we get rid of that thing!¡¹

    I then take the Duhan de in both of my hands and take a stance. I swing the de with all my might at the direction of the ck skeleton, hoping that it would be enough to reach the target and dispose of it.

    The sharp de goes through the skeleton without any problems, cutting it cleanly in two halves together with the shield.

    ¡¸Alright! And herees the buff for making it a critical strike! ¡­¡­ Emul, we go for the one with the axe next!¡¹

    ¡¸Roger that!¡¹

    We have four possible targets remaining and seven sword swings to use. So now I turn towards the one with the axe, after the rest of them tuned towards me after the mes have dissipated. The axe wielder, which was the closest one to us, swung its weapon down, but it was so slow of an attack that it would be hard not to be able to dodge it.

    On a side note, ever since my battle with Wezaemon I realized that my parry skill changed drastically. It was still a parry skill, but right now it was more of an offensive skill rather than defensive one.

    ¡¸Even if I¡¯m a little bitte with parry, as long as the action connects the system will still register it as sessful, and after that¡­¡­¡¹

    Parrying the opponent¡¯s attack, it was pushed back, giving me a moment to counter it. Before the axe wielder was able to react properly, I activated Setsuna no Mikiri and swung my sword again. The axe was cut in half together with its wielder. Three more opponents to go, six more swings!

 Chapter 87: Rare Items Weight Heavier Than Life Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 87: Rare Items Weight Heavier Than Life Part 1</h4>

    That being said, scoring a critical hit precisely on the neck was easier said than done. We still had two copies to dispose of, one with double swords and one with the bow, as well as the main body.

    ¡¸La ¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C!!!¡¹

    While avoiding the quick shes of the singing skeleton, I gradually started to calm myself down. No need to be impatient here. Even though it was the area boss, its copies die in a single strike thanks to all of my buffs and critical strikes. Let¡¯s take it nice and easy.

    But still, I had to keep recast times in mind, as well as the fact that after the five minutes limit all of my stats would be lowered dramatically. So I had to wrap this up as soon as possible, but without getting impatient. I do that, and I¡¯m as well as dead.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ There!¡¹

    ¡¸Laaa, aaa, giiiiiiiii ¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C!!!???¡¹

    I rushed towards the bow-wielding skeleton while avoiding the arrows that it was constantly shooting at me.

    When I get close enough I activate moon jump to avoid another set of arrows and then prepare Emul to fire another shot of Magic Edge. The impact of the magic attack was so great that the shot managed to pierce the skeleton¡¯s body and exit on the other side of it.

    ¡¸Uuuuuuaaaaaahhhhhh, that was close! A little bit too close forfort!¡¹

    ¡¸Wait! Isn¡¯t that way too dangerous!?¡¹

    If there is no ¡°Holy¡± attribute to the attack, the attack won¡¯t deal any kind of damage to the skeleton, so when my body identally bumps into it, it was thrown back while getting this really funny feeling of something wet and slimy brushing off of me. Without much of a thought of how gross it felt, I let out a battle cry and shed my Duhan sword at the skeleton, separating its head from its body in one fell swoop.

    There was only one enemy left, and roughly two sword uses that I could make.

    ¡¸Now, what will you say to surrender? If you do that, who knows? I might even spare your life?¡¹

    The answer came under the form of magic attack, not words. I raised Emul up to counter the attack with my own but I was a second too slow and ended up swallowed in the waves of dark magical energy. All around me I could hear screaming, presumablying from all the dead souls that were felled in this valley.

    .

    ¡¸Your defeat is¡­¡­ Let¡¯s see, it will be the same as mine at that time! If only I wasn¡¯t so unlucky¡­¡­!¡¹

    Dying time after time to the big and powerful blows of the mechanical samurai until I found my way towards victory. Remember his movements, assume the same stance as him, and then use everything you¡¯ve got to sh through any obstacle that stands in your way!

    ¡¸I know that it might be a little bit of a stretch, but how about calling it a pseudo-Tensei? That should pay it the respect it deserves.¡¹

    I directed my de at the main body of Humming Rich, but instead of shing its neck I managed to rip its arm off from the rest of its body. It wasn¡¯t enough to finish it off with one sh, but I didn¡¯t even expect that in the first ce. When you are an Agility type warrior like myself the power of buffs can often be misleading. But I didn¡¯t need to kill it¡­¡­ No, that job was destined for someone else.

    ¡¸You did well, Duhan de! Just two more shes and you can finally rest!¡¹

    I then change my posture from one meant for shing to the one meant for thrusting. Then I push the de forward right towards the main body!

    It was for this reason alone that I was saving a sh or two up until now. As the sword plunged towards the neck of the Humming Rich I activated the skill Growing Piercer, a skill that naturally evolved from my previous skill Drill Piercer. It¡¯s special ability was that the more hits the drill got in, the bigger the additional damage and critical strike would be.

    The total number of hits was five, and the Duhan de started to gradually pierce through the Humming Rich¡¯s bone with a clean sound of the drill working at full power.

    I could see and hear cracks forming all over the de¡¯s surface, but the attack continued without the sword¡¯s breaking apart. But¡­¡­

    ¡¸I knew it, it was sturdier than the copies, there¡¯s no way for me to cut it on my own¡­¡­ However, sorry to tell you this, spooky skeleton, but I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s the end of the line for you!¡¹

    It was time for a switch. I let go of the sword and let it hang from the Humming Rich like an ugly tie. At the same time the skeleton took a few steps back, trying to put some distance between us. It was then that a small shadow appeared right above its head.

    ¡¸Sorry about that¡­¡­ But I¡¯m gonna beat ya into a bloody pulp! Material Focus¡­¡­ ¡°FORTRESS BREAKER!!!¡±¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ Nyaaaaaaggggggggghhhhhhhhhppppppffffffuuuuuuhhhhhh!?!?!?!?!?¡¹

    At the same time I threw Emul high into the air and let Break catch him, while I dodged to the side trying to get out of the range of Humming Rich¡¯s offensive spell. Then Break swung her sledgehammer down, hitting the handle of the Duhan de and forcing it to go even deeper into the bony frame of the skeleton. I heard it after the battle was already over, but apparently Pencilgton and Katsu defeated ¡°KIRIN¡± in exactly the same way.

    ¡¸Human-powered stake driver¡­¡­ Or not, in that case maybe it would be more urate to call it just a really powerful Stake Driver?¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san, now¡¯s not the time for that!¡¹

    ¡¸Here, a carrot for all of your efforts.¡¹

    ¡¸Hooray¡­¡­ Not!!! I knew it, you use them to mislead me all the time!¡¹

    ¡¸Here, I¡¯ll throw you two more as a bonus, so cheer up.¡¹

    ¡¸Hooray!¡¹

    ¡¸So god damn easy¡­¡­¡¹

    Even though Break didn¡¯t have abat-oriented profession, the full blown skill from a level ny eight character was enough to send the sword flying through Humming Rich¡¯s skull and emerge out the other side, forming a huge hole right in the middle of its head.

    ¡¸KAH, aaahhh¡­¡­!¡¹

    There was no way that any monster, no matter how powerful, would be able to survive having it¡¯s skull prated with a sword like that. So after a few moments of agony-filled screeching Humming Rich finally stopped moving and burst into a fountain of red polygons.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­ Fuh, talk about a weapon with a kick to it.¡¹

    ¡¸Mugugu¡­¡­ Ya can praise me all ya wantter, but first thing first, I must repair this thing ASAP!¡¹

 Chapter 87: Rare Items Weight Heavier Than Life Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 87: Rare Items Weight Heavier Than Life Part 2</h4>

    Saying that, Break rushes to pick up the fallen Duhan de while I went to pick up the items that dropped from the fallen skeleton.

    ¡¸Ribcage¡¯s fragments, huh¡­¡­ Oh, it seems to be a magical ingredient of some sort, so I might as well hang onto it. Need to read the vor textter as well.¡¹

    And if it turns out that I cannot utilize it for anything, I might as well try to sell it at one of the shops in town. For now, off to inventory you go.

    I then looked up the valley to see the mysterious misty dome dissipating, and saw that the toxic vapors were also growing thinner. But then, I also noticed something else as well.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ No, no, no! There is just no way. No way, sir!¡¹

    However, it was just like with that box that people opened even though they were explicitly being told not to do that. It is a story about Pandora¡¯s Box, and honestly, I think that the gods knew from the start that she was going to open the damned box. Or it was like having a premonition during ying a card game that the most important piece of yourbo is right at the very bottom of your deck. In other words, I think that Pandora was nothing but an antique¡­¡­ Oopsie, my thoughts started to wander somewhere funny yet again.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Somehow, I think that Sanraku-san is thinking about something weird yet again.¡¹

    ¡¸No, no, me? Thinking about something weird? As if!¡¹

    For the time being, we managed to add yet anotherndmark on our map towards our goal. I somehow managed to convince Break to stop doing whatever it was she was doing for the moment and we left this ce, while I ced the Duhan Sword back inside of my inventory, and the two rabbits camouge themselves as a fur coat that I wore over my half-naked body. It was making me look rather peculiar, but oh what the hell.

    I could only thank the Gods that Break and Emul could transform into something as reasonable as a coat or a scarf. Otherwise it would be really hard for me to remain inconspicuous.

    ¡¸Now then¡­¡­¡¹

    Upon arriving in the town of ¡°Eiddo¡± we opted for returning to Rabbitz for the time being, so that we could disband our party temporarily. Fortunately enough, Break seemed to have repaired the Duhan de and satisfied with the results of her work she went back to her forge. Emul was a little bit harder to ditch properly, but it was nothing that a good carrot bribe couldn¡¯t fix. Honestly, his naivety was a little concerning to me at times.

    But what I was about to attempt had to be done alone, without Emul¡¯s help. Looking inside of the Valley of Lost Souls, I could see the misty dome spreading over the exit out of the area once more, housing the boss inside of it.

    I¡¯m sure that someone was fighting that ck skeleton right about now. But, well, without a Priest in your party your chances of winning are less than twenty percent, so good luck with that, I guess.

    .

    ¡¸Well then¡­¡­ Let¡¯s start climbing, shall we?¡¹

    My target was not inside the valley per se. The cliffs that rose right before my eyes, climbing up and up¡­¡­ There was supposed to be a secret area up this rocky wall, which I should be able to reach if I managed to climb it. That, and there was also the guardian of the passage, which just happened to be a level hundred crystal scorpion we saw on our first visit here.

    No matter how you look at it, there was simply no way for me to be able to beat a level hundred monster inbat on my own at my current level. So then, why was I going there in the first ce? Because there may be other areas or passages there, ones that are yet to be discovered. Besides, since it was just the game, why not? Even if I was unable to defeat the monster itself, there was nothing that would prevent me from going on a little reconnaissance mission. And that it was basically a suicide mission? Small detail, I daresay.

    What about my items? Haha, anticipating my imminent failure, I chose the bare minimum of equipment, so that I wouldn¡¯t lose anything of value upon death.

    But even without most of my equipment climbing this stone wall was no small or easy feat. At first it was going smoothly, but the higher I got the more t and whole the surface was bing, giving me little to no footholds that I could cling to.

    ¡¸Ooohhh¡­¡­ Who would have thought that climbing a wall like that would prove itself to be so challenging?¡¹

    The spectacle that awaited me at the end of my climb was a field littered with crystals of various shapes and sizes. The whole cliff was filled with them and the further you look the more crystals you could see. The view from here was simply breathtaking.

    ording to my information, the crystal scorpions usually sit dormant, mimicking the crystal chunks littered all over the ce, and only be active once you¡¯ve stepped into its aggro range.

    Still, my Luck stat was now a three digit number. So I should be lucky enough to be able to go the rest of the way without any major incident or difficulty¡­¡­

    CRUMBLE! CRUMBLE! CRUMBLE! (Some of the crystals started to move and crumble away, forming the shape of a wild beast.)

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ Fuh.

    ¡¸Right, calm down, me. I¡¯m only sightseeing, yes, yes, no problemo¡­¡­ Oh, who the fuck am I kidding, at least let me map this entire area BEFORE YOU FUCKING KILL ME¡­¡­¡­!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    Shouting that, I plunged right in front of me, going for the massive rocks and crystals that looked rtively normal to me. Thinking that I¡¯ve managed to escape I suddenly heard the sound of something heavy approaching fast from behind. From the sound of it, there were three pursuers. Also, it seems that there was something right in front of me as well.

    It was just like an Aurora Borealis. The rays of the sun were reflected in many crystals littering this ce, creating a very unique tsunami of colors¡­¡­ Yup, if that thing wasn¡¯t a crystal scorpion, then I don¡¯t know what is.

    ¡¸Holy sh*t, I knew you¡¯d be big, but to be this big!? What the fuck is this!? Talk about overdoing it!¡¹

    They were all level hundred. My level was around seventy. No matter how you look at it, they would make me into a bloody pulp just by running over me without any effort at all.

    Don¡¯t you dare think that I am going to give up simply because of that!

 Chapter 88: Items Are Important But You Must Know How to Use Them Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 88: Items Are Important But You Must Know How to Use Them Part 1</h4>

    It could easily be assumed that since the rmended level for this area was one hundred, the items that you would be able to obtain here would be equally as good, maybe eventing you some rare artefacts or items from the era of the Gods.

    But considering that their stats and level restrictions may be a little bit too high for me right now, it would also be safe to assume that the weapons enhanced with materials from this ce would yield better results than the raw weapons from the era of the Gods.

    In other words, the purpose of my visit to this ce would be collecting lots of raw materials from gathering points instead of gathering something that would be unusable for me, dying, then justing back here and repeating the whole process again. In that way I could legally cheat the system in almost any RPG out there.

    However, there are also games out there where power levelling and obtaining OP weapons and items early on takes away from the fun of fighting bosses and beating the game. A good example would be obtaining shotgun early on in any survival horror game.

    Now then, this will be my second attempt at doing exactly that. Respawning at Rabbitz I go to the Valley of Lost Souls again, climb the steep cliff and then do a mad dash to the nest of crystal scorpions, this time around not even trying to be stealthy about it.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Hello there.¡¹

    I was found out. I got killed. Next try.

    Third attempt. This time around I was going to use my elerating skills to scout the area out for items.

    The moment the group of crystal scorpions awaken and go towards me to attack, the effect of Hungry Wolf could finally be activated.

    It was regretful that I wouldn¡¯t be able to use Overheat here, but instead I had Ignition, Nitro Boost, and Climax Boost to back me up and up my stats, with added Off Road and Six Fold Jump just in case of emergency,

    But soon enough the reinforcements arrived and even more enemies ganged up on me. Oh well, at least I managed to find an item before I got ughtered this time around.

    It was a small crystal mass that simply had the words ¡°Break me apart¡± written all over it. So without much thinking I took a pickaxe from my inventory and started digging like mad.

    ¡¸Alllllllllriiiiiiiiight!¡¹

    After a moment of intense work of my whole body the crystal fell apart and I stuck its contents right into my inventory without even bothering to see what kind of item I actually got. Having done that, I could hear and see the scorpions approaching me, announcing that my inevitable death was only seconds away. But drunk on the feeling of obtaining the item, I wasn¡¯t going to just die obediently like that.

    .

    Although I was killed without any problem, at least I managed to prolong the fight for a few seconds by jumping high into the air.

    The sight I could see down below looked like a car crash site on a trafficked highway in a Hollywood movie. Each beast wanted to be the one that would get me, and they were swinging their stingers aggressively towards my general direction. It was a terrifying sight to look upon.

    Amidst all of themotion, their stingers would asionally end up crushing their own armors and ws, inflicting damage onto their own brethren.

    Nheless, I have reached the highest point of my jumps and just like a certain someone with wax wings, the only way for me now was to fall down. Right into the raging abyss filled with crystal stingers and ws.

    ¡¸Gotta say, going out like that is a little bit heartbreaking!¡¹

    As I fell down I was assaulted by a myriad of stingers, and on top of dealing damage to me they also managed to poison me. Right about now I must have looked like a needle cushion. Or a fly caught in between a whole bunch of chopsticks.

    ¡¤ Aronchales Jade Crystal

    A mineral fossil containing high density of magical power thanks to being involved with many monsters over the years.

    Not all that hard and durable, but its true value surfaces when it is used as a coating agent.

    Minerals and living organisms¡­¡­ It is the ultimate truth of the world that one cannot possibly exist without the other.

    ¡¸Fuh¡­¡­ It looks like it was more work than it was worth¡­¡­¡¹

    After respawning in Rabbitz I log out to eat lunch and then log in once more. Then I check the description of the item that I managed to gather.

    For the time being, there are a few things I managed to find out as a result of my little ¡°challenge¡±. First of all, the crystal scorpions. It seems that theyy dormant for most of the time, but once a certain condition is met (most probably tickling their aggro as a result of vibration in the air) they would be active and go after you.

    Nextes the AI governing the flock of crystal scorpions. Turns out that their AI is not all that clever. However, it didn¡¯t need to be clever in the slightest. When you have a bunch of level one hundred characters, the sheer power and number advantage was on your side. It was like a tsunami wave, crushing everything that was in its path.

    ¡¸But still¡­¡­ They were able to tear each other¡¯s ting off now that I think about it¡­¡­¡¹

    Could it actually be that¡­¡­ No, it couldn¡¯t be ¡°that¡±, but there would be no harm in eventually trying out that possibility. Now, onto the problems and solutions section of the show.

    ¡¸First problem is the number of monsters that I attract to myself. And it seems that their number isrgely random. Now, is there something I can do about it¡­¡­ Except for praying, that is?¡¹

    It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t like a little bit of RNG in my life, but when the RNG basically overtakes the whole game and nothing can escape its clutches¡­¡­ That¡¯s where I draw the line.

    Next is the problem of their power. Just how the hell was I supposed to deal with something that could just flick me with its stinger or w and I would be dead as a result? ¡­¡­ In fact, I was already starting to see the answer to that problem.

    ¡¸Even though it¡¯s normally hard to do, but that¡¯s the way to do it this time around¡­¡­¡¹

    If I let them harm themselves for long enough I should be able to damage their weak parts. But if I was to do so, I would require a bunch of ¡°safe zones¡± to be able to do that. And by ¡°safe zone¡± I don¡¯t mean a ce where their attacks won¡¯t reach me, but rather somece to hide where the aggro could be taken off of me.

 Chapter 88: Items Are Important But You Must Know How to Use Them Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 88: Items Are Important But You Must Know How to Use Them Part 2</h4>

    However, the crystal scorpion¡¯s nest has no spaces where I could hide myself. Saying colloquially, it was a space as t as the chest of a t-chested girl, with little to no nooks or crannies where you could conceal yourself from the gazes of your enemies.

    ¡¸Safe zone¡­¡­ Safe zone¡­¡­ Hmmm¡­¡­¡¹

    It would be nice if I could freely fly through the skies. Then I could easily escape the monsters. But unfortunately, my bird mask was only decorative, with little to no effects that would allow me to ascend to the skies.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ God damn it, does that mean my only hope is to try numerous assault attempts in order to get myself a favorable RNG?¡¹

    ¡¸Does that mean the only option for us is to give up?¡¹

    ¡¸Now listen here, Emul. We Pioneers are not afraid of death. And why is that? Because the urge to discover the unknown is bigger than the fear of death!¡¹

    ¡¸You could think about me for a moment out there¡­¡­ Puu, it feels like I¡¯m about to drop dead every single time I¡¯m opening a portal right now!¡¹

    Emulins, but still he opens the portal that would take me to the bottom of the cliff. After so many casts his MP must have gotten pretty low, so I took an MP recovery potion out of my inventory and gave it to him so he could chug it down.

    ¡¸Emul, stop right there for a moment.¡¹

    ¡¸Nmumu!?¡¹

    While Emul was chugging down the MP Recovery Potion I stopped him and he almost choked on the liquid going down his throat.

    ¡¸Repository¡­¡­ MP¡­¡­ Disappearance of substance¡­¡­ Reappearance¡­¡­ That¡¯s it!¡¹

    ¡¸Nbufugh!? Cough, cough, what the hell, Sanraku-san!?¡¹

    In response to Emul¡¯s furious words, I took him in my arms and started to throw him in the air in a fit of ecstasy. My grey brain cells finally stumbled upon a solution!

    .

    ¡¸Nice idea, me! Thank you so much, Emul! Ahaha, this is gonna be great!¡¹

    ¡¸Pyaaah! Don¡¯t move me like that shortly after I finish drinking¡­¡­! Upuh!¡¹

    ¡¸There, there, calm down Emul, good girl¡­¡­ I mean, good boy!¡¹

    There were preparations to be made. However, if I¡¯m correct about this, then I¡¯ll be able to wipe that whole area clean with little to no effort at all!

    They should no longer be any threat to me. That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been telling myself ever since I climbed the cliff again and was now awaiting the sound of iing scorpions. So far I saw three of theming right at me, since I must have entered their sensing range.

    I knew what I had to do in order to best them. If I chicken out now, the only thing that awaits me is painful death full of shame,

    ¡¸Fufufufu¡­¡­ In the end, it is technology that shall have thestugh here! ¡°Transfer: Inventory¡±!¡¹

    At that moment, the world around me changedpletely.

    It was a strange ce made entirely out of metal, one that would probably be hard to reproduce with the technology currently avable in ShangriLa Frontier. It wasn¡¯t the crystal peak where certain death was fast approaching me.

    This is the storage space that only those with Inventory can enter. I¡¯m going to be in here for a moment, so I might as well have a look around.

    ¡¸Ah, that¡¯s right. Weren¡¯t there supposed to be some items stored away in here?¡¹

    Thinking about it, Katsu and Pencilgton could enter in here as well. So, would it be possible to store monster material here as well as what was intended to be stored in here?

    But the items floating about this ce and emitting a bluish light weren¡¯t what was the most important here. No, it was something else. A little further ahead, there was a huge space upied by four giant beasts made out of steel and advanced science.

    Just as their names suggested, they were in forms of the Guardians of Heavens and were quietly resting in their respective docks. The sheer look of them was really amazing and it was striking a soft spot somewhere deep down inside of me.

    ¡¸If they are this big does this mean that the yers will be able to use them at some point?¡¹

    Seeing this somehow reminded me of the Wezaemon battle and his terrifying mount. But four iron golems inside of here? Not to mention that they were all massive, way bigger than that stupid horse could ever hope to be. And they even had cannons, and rifles and missiles and thrusters installed on them!

    ¡¸Whoa now, this won¡¯t do, this won¡¯t do¡­¡­ Maybe now would be a good time? ¡°Spacial Transfer: Exit Gate¡±¡¹

    I say that after chugging down MP recovery potion and activating a spell that would return me to the real world from this artificial space.

    I then return from the side world back into the world where fantasy and science coexist in harmony.

    ¡¸Fuh¡­¡­ Kukukuku¡­¡­¡¹

    Suppressing the urge tough out loud I look around and then at the huge chunk of crystal right under my feet. I kneel, pick it up and ce it inside of my inventory.

    Crystal Scorpion Shell

    A crystal ting that Crystal Scorpions wear all over their bodies. Extremely sturdy and can even stop iing magical attacks dead in their tracks.

    Scorpions often break each other¡¯s ting due to their violent nature, but they can regenerate missing tes by ingesting surrounding crystals.

    ¡¸Kuh, kufufufufu! Fuhahahahahahaha!! Oh, I can feel my hands getting wet! Time for all-you-can-eat buffettttttttttttttttaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!! Oh sh*t, ¡°Spacial Travel: INVENTORY!¡±¡¹

    Getting myself surrounded just like that for a moment out there made me really break into a cold sweat. Laughter was the only way in which I could really respond to that.

 Chapter 89: You Win Some and You Lose Some Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 89: You Win Some and You Lose Some Part 1</h4>

    Originally, the pioneers had a limited inventory space. You get too greedy, you pick too much stuff on the field, and you had to pay the price of having your movements hindered.

    However, what an amazing ce this here Inventory was! Even if you count the things that were already here, you could continue to add more and more items in here and you would never really run out of space to store them in!

    Above all else, this storage space was perfectly safe! It would allow me to wait here for the aggro of the scorpions to wear off, and go back into the real world to collect any materials that the grouping monsters would destroy on one another. It was a strange feeling, but right now I waspletely fine with that.

    ¡¸Fufufu, fuhahaha!!! I¡¯m a genius! I¡¯m a freaking genius to find a hole in the system like that!!!¡¹

    I start tough like a certain mad scientist that managed to create a monster out of various body parts only to end up drowning in the cold waters at the end of the world together with my creation.

    And the only thing that I needed to take care of was my MP pool. There was nothing else that I had to worry about with this strategy. There was minimal risk and maximum of profit to be had for me with this strategy.

    And even if I were to somehow run out of space in my inventory, I would just go to the shop and sell some of my stuff, gaining some money that would also benefit me in a lot of ways.

    ¡¸I knew it, finding tricks like that is the best part of games like that.

    I drink an MP recovery potion and shake my pickaxe around until the transitionpletes, and then proceed to mine all the mining spots in the vicinity. That way even if I run out of MP recovery potions I could just go back and buy some new ones. Rinse and repeat.

    As I headed into the next mining point that looked promising, my inventory was slowly getting filled with lots of precious loot.

    ¡¸Now then¡­¡­ I got a fair amount of items, my MP potions are starting to get low and any more stuff in my inventory and I might be over encumbered if I¡¯m not careful. What to do now?¡¹

    I was mining for over thirty minutes now when I decided that it would be right about time to call it a day for this run.

    The abused pickaxe literally broke in my hands, and when ites down to MP potions¡­¡­ Yup, I have none, since I just used them all. My inventory was also already overflowing with precious minerals.

    I might as well drop the items into storage and let the scorpions kill me to get a quick way back to Rabbitz. In the meantime I rummage through my items to see what exactly I managed to get.

    ¡¸Crystal Scorpion¡¯s Shell, Crystal bs, Crystal ws, Crystal Legs¡­¡­ Strange thing was that I was yet to receive a single Crystal Stinger.¡¹

    Speaking of scorpions, their stingers were apparently the rarest drop that you could get from them and could be sold for the biggest sums of money. So that was ultimately the best drop that you would want to aim for¡­¡­ and if you don¡¯t have any luck, you need to keep trying.

    ¡¸Obtaining stingers is easier said than done¡­¡­ When there are so many of them, how could I possibly trigger a stinger attack? Not to mention that the conditions in here for baiting such attacks are just terrible.¡¹

    And since there was no clear strategy for breaking their stingers, it seems that the only thing I could do was to rely on the RNG gods to bless me with a good drop.

    ¡¸Not to mention that their tails are naturally folded, so it¡¯s that much harder to get to them.¡¹

    Also, making so many trips over here led me to be able to recognize the ¡°Hidden¡± Crystal Scorpions in their dormant state.

    Finding a camouged scorpion in an area full of crystal is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, but even the most perfect of camouges won¡¯t make you one hundred percent invisible. There are ways to distinguish their ¡°shape¡± from ordinary rocks.

    Taking both of my Yuzuki¡¯s in my hands, I gently lift them up and drive their edges alongside the crystals, creating a distinct sound as a result.

    The moment the crystal pile begins to shake and tremble¡­¡­ I activate Ignition, Nitro Boost, Climax Boost, Off-Road, Six Fold Jump¡­¡­ Every single skill that I have at my disposal that would allow me to gain some safe distance from the waking crystal horde.

    I could feel all of my skills finally kicking in the moment the scorpions extended their tails and directed their aggro towards me, aiming at me with their stingers.

    ¡¸First of all, one shot¡­¡­!¡¹

    I then lightly throw one Yuzuki into the air, and after activating Infight, Hungry Wolf and Duelist I try to punch the base of the scorpion¡¯s tail with my fist via the Hand of Fortune skill.

    ¡¸Ooooooo¡­¡­ uuuuuuuuuchchchchchch¡­¡­!?¡¹

    Even if the level gap would be two, ten or even thirty levels, there¡¯s just no way that the crystal ting should be able to withstand a punch with so many buffs added to it. But that¡¯s exactly what happened here. So with tears welling up in my eyes I catch Yuzuki back in my hand while muttering curses under my nosebreath.

    I jump in the air andnd on the back of one of the scorpions, hearing the sounds of shattering crystal and approaching scorpions all around me. I then drive both Yuzukis into the scorpion¡¯s back as strongly as possible.

    ¡¸At least let me make a crack! That¡¯s all I¡¯m asking for¡­¡­!¡¹

    Grasping a stable foothold on the unstable ground I then drive another Hand of Fortune punch right into the ce where Yuzukis struck the crystal ting.

    One hit. Two hits. Three hits. Four hits. Fifth hit actually missed because the sted thing moved¡­¡­ I did so much to damage the crystal ting, and it was still intact after all of that!

    ¡¸I knew it, it¡¯s going to be hard without at least level ny something! However, I must do all that I can right now and at least find out if I¡¯ll be able to damage it!¡¹

    At the edge of my field of vision I could see a literal tsunami of light reflections. The massive crystal scorpions approached me rapidly, looking like a mass of bulldozers that would just run me over and turn me into a pulp of minced meat. But I must say, that light surely was beautiful.

    But I wasn¡¯t just going to let them defeat me. No, if I was going down, mauled to death by them, I at least wanted to put up a good fight while I¡¯m at it. After all, that¡¯s where the fun lies in games like that: from challenging the impossible.

    I take a step back and just stand there fully exposed to the wall of crystal stingers and crystal death running towards me, disying my courage and the power of my resolve in this single action.

    ¡¸Come at me!¡¹

 Chapter 89: You Win Some You Lose Some Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 89: You Win Some You Lose Some Part 2</h4>

    The stingers started to appear one after another. I don¡¯t know if it was intentional or maybe just a glitch in the system, but at this moment every single scorpion stinger was aiming towards my heart, intending to pierce it mercilessly.

    This is it. The moment I¡¯ve been waiting for. Just when the stingers are pulled back to be thrust straight at me,

    ¡¸¡°Transfer: INVENOTRY!!!¡±¡¹

    My whole existence disappears from the realm of ShangriLa Frontier. Arriving inside of the INVENTORY, I slowly begin to count.

    ¡¸One¡­¡­ Two¡­¡­ Three¡­¡­¡¹

    The stingers strike at the ce where I was, the ws were trying to reach me, but it was all to no avail, since I was in here, waiting patiently. Now, after enough time their aggro should subside¡­¡­ Right about now!

    ¡¸¡°Transfer: Exit INVENOTRY!!!¡±¡¹

    I could do this only once. After that I would have to change my coordinates, but it should be alright.

    When I return to the crystal cliff, I will have to perfectly utilize every possible second at my disposal to get my hands on what I wanted.

    I look around to confirm my position¡­¡­ The scorpions were now scattering all over the ce like srymen who finally ended their work for the day. I can see that some of them had huge cracks on their stingers.

    So my strategy was a sess! No matter how sturdy, no crystal could possibly hope to withstand being repeatedly smashed against the ground just like that!

    ¡¸Rare Drop spotted¡­¡­!¡¹

    Even if the monster itself is still alive, as long as the material separates from its body it will still be converted into an item. I activate Moon Jump and jump high in the air, approaching the ¡°cracked¡± group and trying to strike their stingers at ces where thes of cracks were the densest.

    A perfect strike like that should be more than enough to separate the stingers from their bodies no problem.

    There was a loud cracking sound, apanied by the image of the stingers breaking apart from the bodies that were carrying them. Drunk on the ecstasy that my strategy worked so wlessly I reached out my hand towards the falling items¡­¡­

    ¡¸Ah.¡¹

    For a moment I think I saw it. The image of the RNG goddess smiling graciously at me as she raised her middle finger in the air and waved it right in front of my eyes as the ultimate ¡°FUCK YOU¡± gesture.

    It appears that I was blessed with the worst RNG possible at this very moment¡­¡­ The stingers fall to pieces, but not a single one of them left any loot to be collected.

    And right next to that Goddess was the Devil itself, waving his red hand at me with a grin that the douchest of all douchebags could never possibly hope to achieve.

    It was impossible. There was nothing that I could do here. I wouldn¡¯t be able to get any items or do anything about them, no matter how hard I may try.

    The spiteful gravity starts to pull me closer and closer to the ground, making me realize just how hopeless my current situation really was.

    ¡¸No, wait¡­¡­! One more chance! Just give me one more¡­¡­!¡¹

    At that moment I felt as though I was hit by a train. It took me a moment to realize that one of the scorpions smashed me with its stinger before I even managed to hit the ground. I saw sparks before my eyes, my whole vision started to go round and around and then I burst into a bunch of red polygons and I wasn¡¯t able to feel anything anymore.

    ¡¸Ah, Sanraku-san! Good to see you back in one piece¡­¡­ Sanraku-san?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    I could hear Emul¡¯s words well, but the crippling emptiness in my heart made me unable to answer him properly.

    What was that feeling¡­¡­? It felt as though you were just about to finish the marathon run only to realize that you were brought back to the start line. Or that you were about to have a bite of delicious food only to realize that it was all but a dream and the food was nowhere to be found in the first ce. Or it was like a mystery novel with an erased ending¡­¡­ You get the idea.

    ¡¸Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san? Seriously, what¡¯s wrong with you? You look as though you are about to cry.¡¹

    ¡¸Hahaha¡­¡­ Unattainable dreams are of the best kind¡­¡­ Nothing I can do about it¡­¡­ haa, the sky is so blue and vast¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san!? Why the FUCK are you trying to jump out the WIDOW!? Seriously, what happened out there!?¡¹

    The RNG is a lie. The RNG is nothing but a fucking lie. The RNG Gods are dead.

    After that little show of self-pity I pped myself on the cheeks a couple of times to regain myposure and wore my bird mask again, which I previously took off to avoid damaging it.

    ¡¸Right, I¡¯m alright now, I¡¯m alright¡­¡­ Say, Emul, think I could fly in the air?¡¹

    ¡¸Context! Context, please! Context is everything!¡¹

    ¡¸We people cannot soar through the skies, no matter how hard we may try.¡¹

    For a while, I don¡¯t think I want to see those scorpions again. They¡¯ve managed to scar me on the emotional level.

    However, at the same time I managed to gather items that I wouldn¡¯t be normally able to gather at the current moment, so it was at least some form of a win in my book.

    What¡¯s more, if I try to make weapons and equipment using the materials I got during my suicide escapade, I might be able to create something that will exceed even my current equipment.

    Through that act of unreasonable conformism I manage to somehow recover my sanity back to the eighty percent of its original capacity. It is an ability I acquired as a result of ying so many sh*tty games, where I was constantly being harassed with failure and frustration.

    ¡¸Right, let us go and see how Break is doing.¡¹

    ¡¸R, right. I don¡¯t know where did that exactly came from, but I¡¯ll keep youpany either way.¡¹

    ¡¸After all, one can be most proud of one¡¯s achievements when one brags about them to everyone else!¡¹

    ¡¸I think that there¡¯s something seriously wrong with that logic.¡¹

    I think so as well, but the main goal of it all was to not be left behind by Katsu or Pencilgton.

    After that, we went to Break¡¯s forge and showed her the materials, at the sight of which she basically freaked out and started to jump around the ce in ecstasy. That sight refilled the remaining twenty percent of my sanity.

 Chapter 90: And So, Finally a Breath of Fresh Cat Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 90: And So, Finally a Breath of Fresh Cat Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸T, this is¡­¡­! This is Aroncarles, said to be the absolute best of the coating agents! A-and this¡­¡­ This is the first ss crystal, Lapizterier¡­¡­ I, it cannot be¡­ Roen Amber of this size? And so much of it¡­¡­ A-a-a-and this here is the Amrasian Quartz¡­¡­ Is, is this real¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸I have collected all materials that can be dropped from Crystal Scorpions¡­¡­ Except from stingers (but you don¡¯t need to know that).¡¹

    ¡¸And why there aren¡¯t any stingers he¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯d drop it if I were you, Emul. Otherwise I¡¯ll force feed you carrots until you explode from overeating.¡¹

    ¡¸Uuueeehhh!?¡¹

    Someday, I shall have my revenge for this utter humiliation.

    I thought that even though their personalities might be different, these guys were siblings alright. Seeing Break rummaging through materials like that with wild excitement in her eyes, it was hard for me not to smile.

    ¡¸Think you can make me some weapon using these?¡¹

    ¡¸Are you kidding me!? With these I can make even your wildest dreamse true! Usually I have no interest in gemstones, because they are just shiny stones, but¡­¡­ Oh well, might as well leave one just so that I can admire it during my free time, why not¡­¡­¡¹

    Break then proceeds to rub her furry face against the smooth texture of the crystal. But then she proceeded to put it into her mouth and suck on it as though she was trying to taste it. It was¡­¡­ It was a weird thing to look at, especially since it was so sudden.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Wah!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Wabyah!? P-please don¡¯t scare us like that!¡¹

    ¡¸T-Thank you for returning my reason to me, for a moment out there I was afraid that it went somewhere else. So, you want to know if I can make a weapon out of this for ya, huh?¡¹

    There was a moment of silence during which Break was rummaging through the items, apparently sorting them out.

    ¡¸Crystal Scorpion materials and those ores can be used to craft some weapons out of them. The other stuff can also be refined, but it¡¯s not my area of expertise anymore¡­¡­ You¡¯d need to ask a jeweler fer that.¡¹

    ¡¸Jeweler?¡¹

    ¡¸They are people who craft various essories that boost the effects of both weapons and armors, especially if they are to be made from jewels.¡¹

    I see. INVENTORY is also an essory, and items like that often y an important role when ites to strengthening one¡¯s battle potential.

    Up until now I was only interested in weapons and armor while strolling around towns, essories never really bothered me. However, right now maybe it would be a good time to actually give them a go? Thinking about it now, even Katsu and Pencilgton seemed to be wearing things on them that must have been essories. Now, the important question: is it possible to have more than one essory equipped at a time? Since right about now my slot was upied by the INVENTORY.

    ¡¸Now then, about essory craftsmen here in Rabbitz¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯ll find cksmiths and armorers here, but sadly, we have no jewelers¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Really now?¡¹

    If that¡¯s the case, it seems that the jewels are going to make for a quick cash grab for us. Which was a real shame, but what can you do? However, as I was about to mope because of that, Break continued speaking.

    ¡¸But, it¡¯s not that we don¡¯t have people who are skilled in working with jewels and gemstones¡­¡­ Since you are a friend to us Vorpal Bunnies, there is a certain Cait Sith that might be able to assist you. Her skills are no joke either.¡¹

    Cait Sith. Honestly, my impression of them is that typical one from fantasy games: a huge cat-people walking on two legs.

    They were in a really huge amount of different games¡­¡­ During my gamer career I had to deal with them as both friends and foes, but I was yet to see a Cait Sith in this game.

    I take a look at Emul who was ying around with some jewels without looking at me, and then at Break who was mumbling something under her breath for some reason. If bunnies can be bipeds in this game andmand such destructive power, then what is a cat capable of? ¡­¡­ For some reason, the face of that certain yeres to my mind right now. What was her name? Ah, that¡¯s right: Animalia.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Personally, I can¡¯t stand her on a personal level, but as a fellow craftsman I must admit that her skills are something to be reckoned with. It would be such a waste to let those gems go to a pawn shop, so wait a moment. I¡¯ll call her in here now.¡¹

    ¡¸Eh, right now?¡¹

    No, I don¡¯t really think that calling someone somewhere would be as easy as to call for a buddy that¡¯s been working right next to you.

    ¡¸Oi, ya stupid cat! Move yer furry ass ande ¡®ere for a sec!¡¹

    ¡¸You called!? Here I am, a beautiful ck cat maiden! If you called for me, I would have climbed the steepest cliffs and climb from the deepest bowels of Hell just to answer your call!¡¹

    Things can¡¯t possibly get any weirder now, can they?

    If I had to describe her in a single sentence, ¡°Puss in Boots¡± would surely hit the jackpot.

    It was a ck cat that was almost the same size as Break, which would mean she was reaching up to my waist as far as the height is concerned. She was also wearing a cape and a hat fashioned after the French musketeers, and there was a small rapier stuck behind the belt at her waist. But the boots were the most elegant of her attire.

    It was decorated with jewels all over, in sheer contrast to the rest of her attire which was fairly minimalistic and must have put practicality over looks. The boots made the pr opposite.

    ¡¸Mumu, you must be my dear Break¡¯s sibling, am I correct?¡¹

    ¡¸My name is Emul. And this person here is Sanraku-san.¡¹

    ¡¸Mumu? What¡¯s a birdman doing in Rabbitz? No, wait, the shape of his arms is different¡­¡­ Is he a human? No, but still, I heard that there are people out there that looks exactly like birds¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸No, maybe just your impression of humans is twisted to begin with.¡¹

    Not that I would know since I have no idea how humans are perceived by other races. To my remark, the cat musketeer suddenly struck a strange pose.

    ¡¸If that¡¯s how it is, so be it! I shall reveal my name to you! I am the one they call a Holy Sword! The leader of the feline musketeers! A citizen of the beautifulnd of Cait Sith, Catzeria! My name is¡­¡­ Aramiiiiiiiiis!!!!!!!!¡¹

    I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if there was confetti falling from the sky any minute now. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised at all.

 Chapter 90: And So, Finally a Breath of Fresh Cat Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 90: And So, Finally a Breath of Fresh Cat Part 2</h4>

    The figure of a small cat draws its rapier and thrusts it into the sky, looking more cool than adorable in that moment.

    For some strange reason, I remembered the words that Animalia-san spoke to me:

    [You must always remember: the borderline between cool and cringy is always incredibly thin.] [Ahh! My Lady, your words are like icicles that pierce my poor heart with merciless precision! However, it is not that I don¡¯t like that kind of merciless affection¡­¡­]

    Nope, I can already see that if I leave those chumps to their own antics, the conversation won¡¯t go anywhere.

    [Umm, you say that you are a Holy de, but your real profession is that of Jeweler, right?] [Hmm, hey, ya stupid cat, hear that? Thisd here¡­¡­ Yes, he has a request for you.]

    Hearing that, the ck cat¡¯s face started shining as if it was the sun itself. The contrast with Break¡¯s annoyed expression was simply astonishing. Her name¡­¡­ It was Aramis, if I remember correctly?

    [Of course! But of course, oh fair maiden! If it¡¯s for your sake, I shall challenge even the Night Prowler himself!]

    No, if you challenge that thing you are going to end up grinded into minced meat in no time¡­¡­ I wanted to say, but I left that remark to myself.

    ess vi pnovel

    While Aramis was jumping in ce full of energy, Break sighed deeply and handed her one of the gemstones, which was incidentally almost asrge as the ck cat¡¯s head.

    If her facial expression was the embodiment of the sun¡¯s brightness all this time but upon seeing the gemstone it changedpletely.

    [¡­¡­ Ahh, my fair Lady¡­¡­ Umm¡­¡­] [This is one of the Ambers that this Birdhead here managed to get his hands on¡­¡­ Catch.]

    For a moment there, the cat looked to bepletely dumbfounded, which I admit was an unusual sight.

    Receiving the gemstone from Break with trembling paws she gazed upon it from every possible direction, put her ear to it, traced across its surface, licked it and even tried to put it whole inside of her mouth¡­¡­

    [Hey, could you stop that!?] [Wah! Oh, please forgive me for that shameful disy! Force of habit, I guess¡­¡­ Sometimes I just can¡¯t help myself¡­¡­] [Aramis, listen to me, girl. Thisd here wants you to make an essory out of this rock. But not just any kind of essory, you understand? Anything below a masterpiece simply won¡¯t do.] [This is¡­¡­ I mean¡­¡­ Who is this guy, again¡­¡­?] [A guy who Pops recognized as the bearer of Vorpal Soul, the one marked by the Night Prowler himself and the yer of Gravekeeper Wezaemon.]

    When Break says those words, Aramis¡¯s eyes open wide. She even mumbles the words such as ¡°human that walks on Rabbitz¡¯s streets¡± and ¡°that Sanraku guy¡±.

    [And not to say anything, but I kind of stated my honor on the matter that you will be able to make the best essory possible for thisd. Surely the great leader of the Musketeers, Aramis, will be up for the task?] [All of those gems¡­¡­ The birdman here collected them all? Huh!? Can I really use them!?] [Use one of them, use all of them, I don¡¯t really care¡­¡­ If there will be something left I¡¯m just going to sell it anyways, so¡­¡­]

    Aramis looks at Break, then Emul and finally at me, as if wanting to make double sure that it was really alright for her to use the items. Using that moment I asked a few questions that were bugging me.

    [What¡¯s Catzeria?] [It¡¯s the Kingdom of Cait Sith, but I guess that calling it a kingdom is a little bit of an over exaggeration.] [By the way, Break, what¡¯s your rtionship with that feline?] [¡­¡­ Years ago I happened to make a weapon for this idiot. That¡¯s all. Nothing else to it.] [And how strong is she?] [Stronger than me, that¡¯s feh sure.]

    I see¡­¡­ That¡¯s right¡­¡­ Something was telling me that she would be close to Break¡¯s level, but for her to actually be stronger¡­¡­

    [¡­¡­ Right, I think I¡¯m going to take a quick nap. We canter go and search for that Magical Unit gizmo or whatever it is supposed to be so we can get you a Grandmaster title.] [Lad, I thought that you wanted to get this done ASAP. And I¡¯m free now, either way¡­¡­] [Break, my dear, slow and steady wins the race.]

    Rather than trying to sprint through the story, I think that baby steps are a much more beneficial strategy we can take here.

    [Ahh, so tired!]

    The time was now¡­¡­ Around four o¡¯clock. After eating a light meal and taking a nap I wanted to resume my strategy from earlier on that day. But then I pick up my phone and see that I have received new mails.

    There were three unread messages waiting for me. One of them was a newsletter from one of the games I used to y in the past, so we can don¡¯t give a damn about that one, but the other two¡­¡­

    Subject: I have something to ask

    From: Modorokatsu

    Destination: Sanraku

    Body: Where are you now? There¡¯s something I would like to discuss with you as soon as possible.

    Subject: Question to Sanraku

    From: Pencil Warrior

    Destination: Sanraku

    Body: Where are you now? Fiftia? I¡¯d like to meet and talk for a moment, but are you free tonight?

    [Wow. Is this the peak of my poprity suddenly remembering that I exist?]

    It was all written like that, but I could bet that the true meaning was something in character of ¡°Get your ass over here this instant, we¡¯re in some deep sh*t!¡±.

    Rather than specifying the ce they were now asking me for my whereabouts? And just to rify, when you say ¡°trouble¡± in a game like that, this could only mean other yers¡­¡­

    [Sorry, but I don¡¯t feel like doing PVP right now¡­¡­ Also, can I use some of the items from themon inventory space? ¡­¡­ Send.]

    Now, time to eat something and go to sleep¡­¡­ Ringtone.

    However, since I happened to receive replies to both of my emails, I opened them and their contents made a bitter smile bloom on my lips.

    Subject: Are you fucking serious!?

    From: Modorokatsu

    Destination: Sanraku

    Body: Do you understand how it feels to be constantly nagged by people, often in very rude ways, to schedule an appointment with you!? ¡­¡­ All the time!? So get your ass in here and take one for the team!

    Subject: No, it doesn¡¯t work like that

    From: Pencil Warrior

    Destination: Sanraku

    Body: As the n leader I order you to get your ass in here right this instant! And no, you cannot refuse me, since you have lost your veto privilege! Fail to show up, and you shall invoke my righteous fury!

    [Nnnnhhh¡­¡­¡­¡­ Right, time to sleep!]

    For the time being, let¡¯s just pretend I didn¡¯t see that.

 Chapter 91: Those Who Open the Darkness of The World Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 91: Those Who Open the Darkness of The World Part 1</h4>

    Hnngh, that was a good nap! I felt as though I was having a nightmare halfway through it, but all in all I was feeling rather refreshed. So for now I turn off my mobile device.

    ¡¸Now then¡­¡­ Oh well, I can ask the two of them what the hell they wanted with me tomorrow.¡¹

    Right now, I would like Break to take me to the Old Man again so I can have a word with him. Not that it¡¯s anything urgent or important, but I just wanted to do it for the heck of it. Consider it a gamer¡¯s privilege.

    Speaking of my real intentions, I was getting a feeling that my real goal would take a really long amount of time toplete it, so for now I wanted to postpone the inevitable.

    ¡¸Saraku-san! Good morning!¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s night technically, but it doesn¡¯t matter all that much¡­¡­ Now then, isn¡¯t the thing we are looking for located inside of the Ancient Ruins? Let¡¯s go there and try to look for it!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, about that! There¡¯s something I must tell you, Sanraku-san!¡¹

    Hmm? Tell me something? I wonder what¡¯s this all about?

    While striking some strange kind of a pose Emul thrusts his hand forward and to the sky. Hmm? Where have I seen that before?

    ¡¸Called me!? Oh Fair Maiden! Just the fact that you step on me is enough for me! Not bad, if I do say so myself¡­¡­ Or maybe I should go with something a little more normal¡­ Ouch, ouch, uuch, ouch!!!!¡¹

    ¡¸There must be something seriously wrong with your head if you¡¯re having preferences like that¡­¡­ Oh well, if you want me to step on you, I can happily oblige just this once.¡¹

    ¡¸Ohooo, my spiiiiiiiiine!¡¹

    Ah, oh yeah, right. Better to turn my eyes away. I¡¯m pretty much sure that this sight is not something I want to have permanently burned in my mind for the rest of my life.

    By the way, even if you are logged out of the game the time will advance like it normally would, so you¡¯re telling me he¡¯s been practicing this whole shtick all this time?

    ¡¸That being said, Aramis? Even you¡¯re here?¡¹

    ¡¸I came here to deliver you your jewels. Anything¡­¡­ *Cough*, *cough*, aaaa~, aaa~. I see! Adventure is the means by which every Maiden can reach new, previously unexplored grounds! If it¡¯s like that and you insist on me tagging along, then I guess there¡¯s nothing I can say but to agree! So worry not! For it is I, the ¡°Holy Sword¡± herself that shall assist you and cut any enemy that dares to stand in your way!¡¹

    She says while taking out her rapier again and striking a pose. I see, so Emul was trying to imitate her antics, huh? But anyways¡­¡­ This means that Aramis will temporarily join our party, huh?

    ¡¸Well, it¡¯s fine with me, but¡­¡­ Should we readjust our strategy now that we have more people on board? No, but¡­¡­¡¹

    If I was to take two level ny characters with me to the Ruins that would make capturing them easy as pie¡­¡­ No, maybe it would even be too easy. Where would be fun in that?

    But since right now we have a concrete goal of obtaining ¡°Magical Unity Unit¡± some additional help may not be so bad after all.

    ¡¸Right, let¡¯s do just that. Let¡¯s go, my Comedic Duo!¡¹

    ¡¸Who is a Comedic Duo here!?¡¹

    ¡¸Ooooh! That¡¯s Sanraku for you! I see that nothing can get past those stern eyes of yours! ¡­¡­ Nyaaaaaagggggghhhhhh!? My ribs!?¡¹

    I don¡¯t know why, but for some reason Emul was now stepping all over the ck cat¡­¡­

    Anyways, even though she seemed to be enjoying this quite a lot, there were some things I needed to confirm with her.

    ¡¸I heard from Emul that you can be a good addition to our team.¡¹

    ¡¸Hm? Oh, yeah, yeah, that¡¯s right. But it is not just my whimsical wish. You can call it the will of all Catzeria. After all, we must repay you in kind for your gift, Sanraku-san.¡¹

    ¡¸Gift? Huh? I didn¡¯t give you any gifts, so why¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Allow me to exin,d.¡¹

    Suddenly even Break was here? And she took over from Emul to step all over Aramis? What is going on here? She then beckoned me with her paw to lend her my ear.

    (Cait Sith all love jewels. You might even say there is a national craze for them. And Catzeria¡¯s jewelers are the most famous for their skills and attention to detail when ites to their craft.)

    (Eh, really?)

    (Lad, you pushed all of your jewels onto her, but think about it for a moment. Even if she were to utilize them to make essories for you, she would still be left with a huge amount of gemstones. More than she would know what to do with. Probably enough for her to establish a monopoly if she wanted to.)

    ording to Break¡¯s words, it was entirely usible that the King of Catzeria came to know about the request that I made for essories, and that I gave her some very rare materials to work with.

    This, alongside the fact that I was in a good rtionship with Vorpal Bunnies, were going to hunt down Unique Monsters and that I brought down Gravekeeper Wezaemon.

    (So apparently it was a pretty big a deal for every intelligent monster species out there that Rabbitz have gained such a powerful ally. Perhaps in time, the trade between the nations would flourish as they would want to get on Rabbitz good side.)

    (All of a sudden it has developed into some sort of a serious situation.)

    To my words, Break¡¯s expression got a whole lot more serious.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Lad, pray tell, just how big of an influence upon the world do you think striking down one of the seven Unique Monsters has?¡¹

    ¡¸Is there any influence to begin with?¡¹

    ¡¸Enough to cause a war or two without a problem.¡¹

    ¡¸Eeehhh¡­¡­¡¹

    But it has little to no effect on humans¡­¡­ Ah, no, or could it be that only us Pioneers are special and others have to suffer because of that?¡¹

    ¡¸And especially since you are someone who was recognized by the Night Prowler¡­¡­ I think that would be enough of a reason for Werewolves and Lizardmen to want toe to peace with us.¡¹

    ¡¸Eeehhh¡­¡­¡¹

    To think that one action like that could have the power to affect entire nations like this¡­¡­ While I was still trying toprehend all of that information, Break let out a heavy sigh, apparently thinking I was hopeless.

    ¡¸Well, being either a hero of the world or an enemy to the whole world is a new thing for me¡­¡­ Oh well, shall we go?¡¹

    ¡¸Sure thing¡­¡­ Oi! Get up already!¡¹

    ¡¸My head! My head is filled with so much bliss right now!¡¹

    Why are you even smiling like that?

 Chapter 91: Those Who Open the Darkness of the World Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 91: Those Who Open the Darkness of the World Part 2</h4>

    This town¡¯s name was Eldto. Even though the time right about now was night, the sight of crystalmps illuminating the streets was something else to behold.

    Since the crystal cliffs were nearby (trauma spot for me), the crystals were generally used here, either as crafting materials or incorporated into the architecture itself. Crystal statues were amon urrence and some of the roofs in here were made out of crystal tiles.

    Crystal pavement, crystal pirs, crystal armors in armor shops, crystal weapons, crystal essories¡­¡­ Everything in here was crystal. They must really love it here.

    ¡¸If you leave some of it intact, the crystals on the cliffs eventually grow back to their original size. That is why people of this town love it so much and incorporate it in everything, since it will never run out¡­.. At least that¡¯s what the Boss said!¡¹

    ¡¸Hee, it¡¯s actually nice to know that people of this world have so down to earth views on things.¡¹

    We engage in some small talk while taking a stroll through crystal town, looking at the fantastic sights all around us. I could feel some other yers staring at us from the distance, but I genuinely stopped caring about that¡­¡­ Otherwise I would go crazy.

    ¡¸Sanraku-san, aren¡¯t you going to sneak about anymore?¡¹

    ¡¸You know, recently I realized that there¡¯s no point in doing that any more. It would just turn out to be a major inconvenience to me. I mean, what if we suddenly need to use some of the city¡¯s facilities, but we wouldn¡¯t be able to do that because something as silly as that?¡¹

    ¡¸But standing out too much is not a good thing either¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Fuhaha! Right now I feel like a specter cat! Also, I like the way this wind blows over me in here! It feels so nice and pleasant!¡¹

    ¡¸Just don¡¯t go too wild in there, why don¡¯t you?¡¹

    I never would have thought I would be using this thing again. I was wearing that long hood that Emul introduced to me way back in Thirdrema, with both Emul and Break riding on my back and holding Aramis in my hands. When the three of them were moving under the cloth, I must have looked like some kind of monster with bulging or swelling insides.

    That must be the reason why other yers don¡¯t talk to me right now, but either way it was a good change of pace.

    ¡¸Umm, how exactly did you manage to buy an item like that?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ve bought it from a suspicious street vendor. At the time when we were in Thirdrema we really wanted to stay incognito.¡¹

    ¡¸Is that so? Welp, thanks a lot for telling me that!¡¹

    There were people who would asionally approach us to ask us about the cloth, but usually we would just answer them in a vague tone like that.

    ¡¸You can get something as bizarre as that in Thirdrema? Really?¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯d be surprised what kind of premium items you can get from backstreet vendors in huge Pioneersmunities.¡¹

    ¡¸Right, after all, there are some business opportunities!¡¹

    Now then, once we pass the city we should be just a little bit away from our destination. So from now on there shouldn¡¯t be anything that would pose a prob¡­¡­

    ¡¸Ah, Sanraku¡­¡­ Is that you, Sanraku?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Pardon?¡¹

    Hearing that unknown, chilly voice I stopped in my tracks and turned around. I also had to watch out for my animals to avoid bumping into anything.

    I then turn around and see no one there¡­¡­ That¡¯s what I thought, but then I noticed a pink top hat that happened to be just slightly below my line of sight.

    ¡¸My name is Kyuran, and I¡¯m the current leader of the guild ¡°Library¡±. You are one of the three people that took down ¡°Gravekeeper Wezaemon¡±, correct? I heard about you from the other two members of your party.¡¹

    Pink hair with twin-tails. Porcin-white skin. Long, dark eyshes. Her eyes were red and she was wearing a cute dress with a whole lot of frills. Rather than a sorcerer, she was giving off a typical magical girl vibe.

    But then it was all contrasting heavily with a voice of the middle-aged maning out of her mouth.

    ¡¸PFFFFFFF!!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Hm?¡¹

    ¡¸Please pardon me, it was just a sneeze.¡¹

    Emul, you moron! You¡¯re lucky there is this pinkish girl here, so I¡¯m willing to overlook that. ¡­¡­ At least for now.

    ¡¸To think it would be possible to sneeze even inside of the game¡­¡­ Well, it doesn¡¯t really matter. Say, are you free right about now?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Not right now, you see¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Wow!¡¹

    But before I could even finish, I could see a certain kind of glow in the eyes of this Magical Girl. It was the type of eyes that simply wouldn¡¯t take ¡°No¡± for an answer. In a way, she was just like that bastard Pencilgton.

    If I tell her that I don¡¯t have time right about now, I might lose the opportunity to gain something out of interacting with her. So instead I opted for¡­¡­

    ¡¸You see, I already have an appointment with someone else, so could you tell me when you are free? We could meet then and discuss whatever it is that you want to know.¡¹

    Of course it muste to this. The conversation should naturally proceed to the promise of having a nice and long chat some other day. But that alone would not be enough.

    So I resorted to my other trump card: other people.

    ¡¸Ah, and when ites down to ¡°Gravekeeper Wezaemon¡­¡­ It just so happens that Arthur Pencilgton knows a whole lot more about it than I do.¡¹

    ¡¸I see, that guy¡­¡­ As long as I can get someone from Wolfgang to spill the beans, that works for me¡­¡­¡¹

    Sorry, Pencilgton. But please be a scapegoat for my peaceful gaming days!

    ¡¸I see, but there is also a thing or two that I would like to ask you about. It doesn¡¯t have to be here and now, but please do let me know when you will have time¡­¡­ By the way, what¡¯s with the hood? It¡¯s like you¡¯re trying to hide something under it.¡¹

    ¡¸Hahaha.¡¹

    I got called out over it.

    As I was thinking just how exactly am I going to get out of this mess, Kyuran hurriedly opened a window and typed something inside of it. She then smiled at me in a mysterious way, which was heavily contrasting with her overly sugary appearance.

    ¡¸YOU RECEIVED A FRIEND REQUEST FROM THE USER ¡°KYURAN¡±: I want to hear what you know so that I can dispel the darkness of unknown surrounding this world.¡±¡¹

    ¡¸Well then, see youter!¡¹

    As she started to walk away, I let out a deep sigh while staring at her back.

    ¡¸With a voice like that, why would this dude even want to be a magical girl?¡¹

    But a guild like that¡­¡­ Honestly speaking there was a part of me that knew that we would need to maintain rtionships with other groups like that sooner rather thanter.

    I knew it before, but the longer I yed this game it was bing more and more apparent that this game was unlike any other games I have yed before.

    No matter the process of getting from one point to another, games always need to have a starting point and a finishing line. The same can be said about MMORPGs, where the finishing line would be the closure of the servers.

    Consider a new area with a new boss as an example. There¡¯s a g that lets you know about a new area, a series of events in that area that guides you through it and culminates in a boss fight event. This is a basic structure of the story.

    But ShangriLa Frontier is different. This game is all about going in blind.

    In this game, all of the gs are cleverly hidden in in sight. Either be it a certain item, area or special condition, the yer needs to find it through experimentation and trial and error.

    It¡¯s like looking for treasure inplete darkness, but in order to dispel said darkness you have to get extra close to the treasure. Otherwise you won¡¯t be able to see it.

    At that moment I remembered the words of Setsuna: ¡°Bahamut¡± and the ¡°n¡¯s Second Phase¡±¡­¡­ So it seems that raising one¡¯s level and defeating the Unique Monsters has something to do with pushing the story forward.

    A Unique Monster deeply rooted into the lore of the world itself¡­¡­ If I want to ever challenge Night Prowler again, I¡¯ll need to collect as much intel on it as possible.

    ¡¸You know, I¡¯m slowly getting tired of always ying the one who gets isted.¡¹

    I mumble that to myself more than to anyone in particr while I ept the friend invite from this Magical Girl.

 Chapter 92: Half-Naked Pervert and His Furry Entourage in Golem Paradise Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 92: Half-Naked Pervert and His Furry Entourage in Golem Paradise Part 1</h4>

    Chronicles, grave markers, w marks, ruins. There is still much to be learned from all the items like that that continued to be excavated from inside the ruins all around the world.

    Amongst all of the ruins of the Gods this here, ¡°Lost Ruins¡±, is one of the most famous ones. Just what are they going to be like? I can¡¯t stop myself from wondering.

    What could have happened to the civilization of literal Gods? What kind of cataclysm could have wiped them out from the surface of the earth seemingly overnight? I have no way of knowing that, but some clues are obviously here from the very first moment we step foot inside the ruins.

    ¡¸Whoa¡­¡­ Talk about a ce out of apletely different setting¡­¡­¡¹

    As I continued to surveil my surroundings, the only word that wasing to my mind was ¡°huge¡±¡­¡­ But even that was an understatement. I let out a deep sigh when faced with the might of the ruins.

    This isn¡¯t real, I know that. But still, I couldn¡¯t help but to admire the sight of a medium-sized city that was spreading before my eyes, seemingly with some empty space left for possible future development. Streets, skeletons of gutted buildings, houses¡­¡­ Everything in here was made out of metal.

    So this is the ce from where the ¡°legacy weapons¡± were being excavated? I could only imagine that even though they were fossils, their efficiency must have remained over the top if the structure of this ce was also in such a good shape. But one thing¡¯s for sure: that civilization must have been fighting something. And that thing must have been the reason for them disappearing.

    Was it perhaps a Unique Monster? Or maybe some kind of entity serving as this game¡¯sst boss? Whatever that thing was¡­¡­ I don¡¯t think that any of the current strongest yers of the game would be able to best it inbat.

    ¡¸Was that perhaps this whole ¡°Bahamut¡¯s¡± fault¡­¡­ No, it¡¯s too early to conjure up a theory like that¡­¡­¡¹

    I have this nasty habit for my thoughts to go off-trail more often than not¡­¡­ But it¡¯s not at all a bad thing. It just goes to show that there are many possibilities to consider.

    But still, the ce in and of itself won¡¯t provide me with all the answers. Especially since it looks like it was a factory of some sort.

    Why is that? Because the iron golem that was currentlying straight towards me was equipped with an industrial-power burner on one of its arms.

    ¡¸DELUXE KING MEGIDDO, UNITE!¡¹

    At the same time as the iron golem was about to attack, Emul, Break, and Aramis all separated from me and we all assumed battle stances, about ready to get this party started.

    The golem was swinging its burner around like some kind of fiery sword, but since it was so big its moves were rather clumsy. But still¡­¡­

    ¡¸It may not be all that lethal, but its range is far longer than you might expect.¡¹

    This golem also looked to be a lots sturdier and resilient that you might expect. Now, I was about to give it the taste of my Swamp Daggers, but just then¡­¡­ I felt a strange and unnatural breeze just pass me by.

    ¡¸¡­¡­??? What the¡­¡­???¡¹

    ¡¸Nyahahahahaha!!! Oh, the wandering iron giant foolish enough to dare to challenge us!! The Great Aramis is going to sing you a requiem!¡¹

    Eh? Wait just a¡­¡­? Wha¡­¡­?

    ¡¸¡°Servant Solo: Primal sh¡±!¡¹

    There was a huge st of energy flying right next to me. If I was standing just a little bit more to the left, it would have been a direct hit.

    Although there was about a five meter distance between Aramis and the Golem, the st didn¡¯t lose any of its speed and power, and once it connected with the golem, the following explosion resulted in the golems total annihtion.

    ¡¸Fufufu¡­¡­ Well, my fair Maiden? My fellow gentlemen? What say you to that? Rest assured, for as long as I, ¡°Divine de¡± Aramis, is here there is no obstacle that shall stand in our¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Are you stupid!? You must be, you stupid cat! Don¡¯t use anti-dragon skills fer simple golems like that ever again! You¡­¡­plete idiot!¡¹

    She¡¯s right, you know!? What in the ever living fuck was that!? If your aim was even slightly off, I could say goodbye to a huge portion of my body! What would you do if that happened, huh!?

    Of course, since the golem was taken out in such an over-the-top fashion, there was no drop left out of it. Or even if there was some loot that dropped out of it, it would surely get disintegrated in that explosion just now!

    ¡¸Haa¡­¡­ Right, I can see where this is going¡­¡­ Say, Aramis? Could you, like, hold back on using killer moves like that for a while?¡¹

    ¡¸T, this is a rather harsh request, but¡­¡­ I understand, it shall be as you wish¡­¡­¡¹

    Aramis came to ept my words, but she looked as though she was hit on the head with a sledgehammer and she was about to faint from that critical hit.

 Chapter 92: Half-Naked Pervert and His Furry Entourage in Golem Paradise Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 92: Half-Naked Pervert and His Furry Entourage in Golem Paradise Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Since we are already here, we might conduct some actual investigation, get a feel of the ce.¡¹

    ¡¸I see, so that¡¯s how it is.¡¹

    ¡¸For example, we can investigate where all those golems areing from, so that we don¡¯t get caught off-guard in the future. Like the ones over there. See? They are different from the other ones.¡¹

    ¡¸I see, I see.¡¹

    ¡¸First things first, golems might not be the most intelligent of monsters, but they are rather sturdy and resilient. And since they are active all over the ce, it should be safe to assume that they remained operational since the time of the Gods themselves.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s to be expected.¡¹

    ¡¸Second of all, the materials that create this whole ce¡­¡­ Golems¡­¡­ The ce where they were created.¡¹

    ¡¸Seems like a whole lot of things to investigate all at once, but¡­¡­?¡¹

    Emul shouts while giving Magic Edge a rest and then brandishing his own sword that he was carrying. The golem he was currently fighting was round in shape and had short, potato-like legs. This golem was called ¡°Ball Golem¡± and currently Emul was doing his best to cap its knees with his sword.

    ¡¸If it¡¯s something important, then please tell me that first!¡¹

    ¡¸I keep telling you! Magic makes no difference on those guys!¡¹

    ¡¸You sure it¡¯s not a problem of your attitude not the working!?¡¹

    ¡¸Pyaaaahhhh!? Is that the reinforcements I see!?¡¹

    Eventually Emul managed to knock the golem to the ground, and it started to roll down the hall, crushing into another golem which resulted in a small explosion. The mes were still lingering around when we got to that spot.

    ¡¸Around eight of them, I do believe.¡¹

    ¡¸Sorry to disappoint you, but there¡¯s actually nine of them.¡¹

    ¡¸Just how many are there, those bastards!¡¹

    The ones that arrived managed to avoid the ball one and the mes that were left after it. They got closer and closer with their mouths wide open¡­¡­ could it be that they carried cannons or guns inside their mouths?

    Sh*t, even though their moves were still clumsy, the AI controlling those golems was pretty clever.

    Seeing the approaching golems and understanding that even the level ny NPCs might have a problem with taking them on all at once, I begin to look around, looking for a possible escape route.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Alright, I can see the path! Break, grab onto me!¡¹

    ¡¸Right!¡¹

    Once Break jumped on my back, I cannonballed straight ahead.

    Surely, the number of golems was a serious threat, but when I do this, they would have a hard time picking us off one by one.

    I leave the literal ¡°carpet bombing¡± to Emul and Aramis, while I¡¯m looking for the holes from which the golems were emerging. Sure enough they were there, scattered here and there on the ground.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s see, what was it that one of those guys carried with him? ¡­¡­ Ah, perfect, it looks to be C4. Just what we need. Now, how do you detonate this thing? Magic or maybe there¡¯s some kind of fuze?¡¹

    C4 is a y-based explosive that is mostmon in various kinds of military games. And although those golems weren¡¯t exactly military-like, it was close enough for me.

    Here¡¯s where things get a little bitplicated. If they were equipped with that, they could most likely self-destruct. And that fact would make fighting them that much harder, not to mention collecting any kind of loot. Especially since their AI was so clever.

    A simple enough monster that got elevated to the rank of problematic thanks to its AI, just great.

    ¡¸It¡¯s not only levels¡­¡­ It¡¯s like they are able to assess thebat threat of every enemy and focus on the ones that might be the most problematic.¡¹

    Using that knowledge I activate Moon Jump and start to change my location, using fallen golems as stepping stones and utilizing the fact that other golems targeted Emul and Aramis the most, leaving Break and I alone. Like that we should be safe from their self-destruction move as well.

    Together with Break we were aiming to get closer to one of the golems that seemed to be more or less intact.

    ¡¸I¡¯m counting on you, Striker!¡¹

    ¡¸When ites down to Golem¡¯s weak points¡­¡­ That would be their core, of course! Material Destroy!¡¹

    I could have attacked the Golem just fine, but since Break has better stats than me and has some bonuses to attack power, it would be possible for her to take this thing down with one blow. Hopefully.

    There should be a reactor somewhere right at the center of the golem¡¯s body. Now whether it was the same old nuclear reactor from my world or some crazy advanced piece of tech created by the gods, the principle should be mostly the same.

    The sledgehammer manages to make a clean strike right to the golem¡¯s jaw, managing to make it all loose and tattered, just like the one that Humming Rich had.

    ¡¸Eat this, sucker! Critical hit!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­? Oh sh*t! Everyone! Run like you mean it!¡¹

    ¡¸Oriouah!?¡¹

    Once its head shattered to pieces, the golem¡¯s whole body began to shake and tremble.

    Having a really bad feeling about that whole shaking and trembling I took Break by the neck and ducked behind one of the inactive golems, using it as a st shield.

    Once the explosion urred, Emul and Aramis were both sted away.

    ¡¸Well, when the golems carry around explosive inside their bodies, its nothing strange that they can self-destruct themselves, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Hey, look. Looks like it dropped something.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm?¡¹

    It looks like something managed to survive that explosion. Once the mes had settled I managed to catch it in my hands. It looks like an item of some sort.

    It looked like a really simplified y figure¡­¡­.

    ¡¸It¡¯s a Haniwa?¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s with that idiotic name?¡¹

    ¡¸But don¡¯t you think it¡¯s kind of cute?¡¹

    Let¡¯s have a little looksee at the item description in inventory.

    Shrapnel Grenade

    A small, portable explosive that can be rarely dropped from iron golems.

    The grenade explodes on impact, causing the shrapnels to prate the target, causing additional bleeding damage and wounds.

    Comes in variations that create a pir of fire upon impact.

    ¡¸A fucking grenade¡­..¡¹

    Now even a single mistake could prove to be fatal.

 Chapter 93: The Past Always Come Back to Haunt You Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 93: The Past Always Come Back to Haunt You Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸It just urred to me, but¡­¡­ What the hell are we even looking for? It could be literally anything in this huge junk heap that is this ce.¡¹

    ¡¸This is quite a problem. Whatever are we going to do?¡¹

    ¡¸Look for the entrance of the forge. The Magical Unity Unit was used by the cksmiths of the Era of the Gods. We find the forge, we find the Unit.¡¹

    ¡¸Search for a forge or a workshop, got it.¡¹

    Just as Break suggested, we begin the search for the entrance to the forge. And since it was a search for something that a Bunny needed to be a ¡°Grandmaster¡±, surely it won¡¯t be as hard to find as the entrance to the Hidden Garden. At least I was hoping that wouldn¡¯t be the case.

    ¡¸But still, good luck finding the door of any kind if they are buried under all sorts of debris like that.¡¹

    Here and there you could see broken pirs that stick from the ground like a grotesque ribcage. Here, in this area, broken golems were mixed with a whole lot of architectural and industrial ruins, making the ce look simr to a colossal junk yard. What¡¯s more, since it was in ruins, the visibility here was rather poor, and I was seriously starting to regret the fact that we came here in the dead of night.

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t there something that could guide us towards what we are looking for? Like, anything at all?¡¹

    ¡¸If it was so easy, why would we have to search for it?¡¹

    ¡¸Fair enough.¡¹

    Unlike searching for something with a party of yers where people could utilize the help of the Inte or message someone more experienced, it was hard to search for something peculiar together with NPCs. Mostly because I couldn¡¯t be so sure I would be able to guarantee their safety.

    Also, there was a key difference: time. In offline games the time would stop when you save your game and quit it, but in MMOs time was advancing like it normally would in the real world. But I guess there was no use worrying about that right now.

    ¡¸So, in the end we have no other choice but to look, huh¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸No, I do believe it would be best to split up and search for clues! (Note: Don¡¯t Scoobs, just don¡¯t!) That way we can cover more ground!¡¹

    Why would we¡­¡­ Ahh, that¡¯s why.

    ¡¸So? How are we going to split up?¡¹

    ¡¸The little furball can go with that birdhead for all that I care.¡¹

    Aramis says that and Break looks like the world just ended for her. Was that on purpose? Was that supposed to be intentional?

    ¡¸Right, I don¡¯t get why you guys would like to split up, but I would be a whole lot more reassured if Emul was to go with Aramis.¡¹

    ¡¸Oi, oi, does that mean you are worried about me?¡¹

    ¡¸You are the one who¡¯s crazy enough to want to challenge the seven strongest monsters in this world¡­¡­¡¹

    Welp, you got me there, can¡¯t really deny it. However, I really would like Aramis and Emul to go together. Like that, their chances of survival would increase dramatically.

    ¡¸Well, what do you say? Will you go with Emul, Aramis?¡¹

    ¡¸If that¡¯s what my Lady wishes for¡­¡­ so be it¡­¡­!¡¹

    Oh, so you will bend the knee? Well, good thing that Break was here to prevent the crisis before it even got the chance to unfold.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Hmm, and what about my opinion on the subject?¡¹

    ¡¸Seniority. Does that word ring any bells?¡¹

    And just like that we started to search for the forge in the following pairs: Aramis and Emul, and Break and I.

    ¡¸There we go!¡¹

    ¡¸Oooryah!¡¹

    This golem here was covered in swords all over with his head almost severed by one of them, which was almost making it look like a hedgehog. Or a pin cushion for that matter. Break managed to get a hold of one of the swords, then she used me as a tform to leap high in the air and thrust the sword right into the golem¡¯s core that was peeking from inside the space between his head and the rest of the body.

    ¡¸Well, well, I¡¯ll be damned! Who would have thought that my daggers wouldck the reach to damage them?¡¹

    Having its core crushed to pieces, the hedgehog golem stops moving and copses on the spot. The rest of the swords copse on the ground and disappear in a geyser of polygons, since they were a part of the monster instead of loot that would drop from it.

    What remained out of it was a small statue that looked like a polished stone. Picking it up, the stone turned out to be a statue of a female knight.

    ¡¤ Idol of the Sword

    A small sculpture that may sometimes generate itself out of a golem upon its defeat.

    The waves emitted by the statue can attract a certain kind of monster.

    The more polished the idol, the stronger the monsters it attracts.

    ¡¸Why do I get the feeling that those ¡°certain monsters¡± would be goblins and orcs in this case?¡¹

    I really don¡¯t want this to happen, since those are exactly the kind of monsters that female knights tend to attract. At least, ording to certain ¡°media¡±.

    While trying to resist the urge to collect as much of those statues as possible, I take a look at the straight sword that Break used to kill the golem.

    It was the very same Duhan de that she used to kill the Humming Rich with. Contrary to its previous state the rust and dirt were scraped off, the de itself was sharpened, and it now has a slightly red luster to it. Rather than renovation, you could say that the de was given a second chance at life.

    ¡¸Is it just me, or was this sword a little shorter before?¡¹

    ¡¸It certainly was, but it was thanks to years of improper use andck of sufficient maintenance. Once I got my hands on it I got it back to its former glory, so that¡¯s how it was supposed to look.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­ Maybe now would be a good time for me to practice using some of my specials skills as well?¡¹

    But I must say, this de was doing really good in fights, even though its primary strength should lie in beheading its enemies. For a rare weapon that dropped from the enemy it was really nice, considering the amount of materials and effort that Break must have poured into restoring it back to its former glory.

    It wascking any fancy abilities, like that fusion with the user or attribute reversal, but it was its former role that was making it so effective¡­¡­ No, I¡¯d say that additional damage when striking the neck was more than worth it, plus its durability was making it even more useful in long skirmishes.

    Apparently, their durability was five times greater than my current weapons. Additionally, it was very resistant to any kind of heat.

 Chapter 93: The Past Will Always Haunt you Down Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 93: The Past Will Always Haunt you Down Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸But it¡¯s so bulky, almost like a two-handed sword now¡­¡­¡¹

    There¡¯s also the fact that I¡¯m used to fighting with two swords only, so any other weapon would be almost impossible for me to handle. To wield something like that in an effective way, at least some level of skill would be required.

    Not to mention that my ystyle is very much like ¡°balls to the wall¡± kind, so a weapon like that wouldn¡¯t be a good match for me. Not in the least. Besides, I still have my trump cards: ¡°Yuzuki¡¯s¡±.

    Looking back at the battle with Wezaemon, the main problem here is that there are hardly any skills that arepatible with them. Now, separate they are fine as they are, but when youbine them into one, their weight and size increases considerably¡­¡­ I need to gain some proficiency with weapons like that before actually attempting to do battle with them.

    ¡¸It¡¯s just that it¡¯s really hard to increase your proficiency when your ss is not all thatpatible with something.¡¹

    You see, the rtionship between sses and skills in this game is tad a bit confusing.

    For example, my main ss is ¡°Mercenary (Dual Wielding)¡±, meaning that I excel atbat with any kinds of weapons that can be dual wielded.

    Moreover, ¡°Mercenaries¡± have trouble with learning magic spells, but acquire weapon skills more easily. And it¡¯s not only narrowed to dual wielding. I could easily learn about any weapon skill that is meant for polearms, hammers, greatswords, etc. etc.

    However, there was a certain catch in here¡­¡­ Just because you can learn something, it doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯re going to be able to utilize that skill properly. Skills without the appropriate weapon proficiency would suffer negative modifiers in battle. Well, in theory you could improve your proficiency to negate those bad modifiers, but it was more effort than it was worth.

    Then again, there is always an element of RNG involved with acquiring skills. You have a chance of obtaining skills that are truly overpowered, but it¡¯s a rtively small chance. You are more likely to acquire something that ismon or average. Putting it inyman terms: you are always getting fucked by the RNG gods¡­¡­

    ¡¸And believe me. RNG Gods enjoy every second of fucking others like that¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I get the feeling that you are getting a little bit caught up in your own delusions,d.¡¹

    ¡¸Most probably¡­¡­¡¹

    My thoughts slowly return to the problem at hand. We needed to find a certain item in this rather spacious dungeon, but we had no map or any clue as to where that item could possibly be. Without at least some information we were as good as screwed right about now.

    First of all, Break was calling that ce we are looking for a ¡°forge¡±, but looking by the surroundings, it might as well be a ¡°production belt¡±, ¡°factory¡± or any other ce like that. It doesn¡¯t necessarily need to be a ¡°forge¡± or a cksmith¡¯s ¡°workshop¡±.

    Since this was a dungeon in a Sci-Fi setting, it would be more probable for something as important as the Magic Unity Unit to be in a ce packed to the brim with science, not where you swing hammers all day and night long.

    ¡¸Then, judging from the shape of the buildings and their surroundings¡­¡­¡¹

    This should be something like ¡°territorial advantage against foreign invaders¡±, or at least something that would allow them some self-defense¡­¡­

    Yes, for example, something that would allow us to easily defeat¡­¡­ the golems¡­¡­ or at the very least get around them¡­¡­

    ¡¸Break, let¡¯s look for a ce in which we can fight the golems without being obscured by anything. Preferably something that is easy to defend but allows for good offensive options as well.¡¹

    ¡¸Sir, yes sir!¡¹

    Golem, golem, golem, golem, golem.

    Fighting the same kind of monsters for so long was slowly starting to be repetitive and boring.

    ¡¸Fuck me¡­¡­ What is this, some sort of nightmarish matryoshka doll!? You keep on beating them and beating them but smaller ones are alwaysing right after that!¡¹

    ¡¸Better that than having to deal with the ones that explode on impact.¡¹

    Thankfully there were no nasty surprises like that and together with Break we were somehow managing to stand our ground, but it¡¯s a shame that those small golems couldn¡¯t just be omitted.

    ¡¸Hopefully we wrap them all up before we end up with some serious or nasty injuries.¡¹

    ¡¸But, as long as all the golems are gone, there¡¯s nothing more that could potentially stop us, right?¡¹

    After a while we could finally see the end of the passageway. There was an old elevator shaft that was going down from this level. It was probably the ce where all of those golems wereing from.

    There were husks of other golemsying about the entrance to the elevator, andpared to the rest of the buildings around here the elevator itself seemed to be in fairly good condition. It was suspicious to say the least.

    ¡¸How long do you think it will take us to get to the bottom?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Looks like a really deep hole to me.¡¹

    Break took a piece of scrap that was justying around and threw it down the elevator shaft, tilting her ears and listening for any kind of sound indicating that the junknded at the bottom of the shaft.

    ¡¸Now, whatever shall we do about this¡­¡­ I highly doubt that there¡¯s any kind of cushioning at the very bottom¡­¡­¡¹

    Although we have no way to actually confirm this, it seems that this hole here is quite deep and reaches the deepest levels of this facility. That being said, it would be suicide to just try to get down to the bottom of it with no kind of lifeline at all.

    Well, we want to cut down unnecessary risk as much as possible and safely get down to the very bottom of this hole¡­¡­

    ¡¸Having spare rope around is really convenient, Sanraku-kun. You never know when you might need one.¡¹

    ¡¸So what, does this mean there¡¯s some other treasure hunters here who just so happened to have an Archeologist ss and rope to spare?

    ¡¸That¡¯s actually really helpful, well then¡­¡­¡¹

    Heee¡­¡­

 Chapter 94: Suddenly, a Gatekeeper Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 94: Suddenly, a Gatekeeper Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸You know, there are a whole lots of things I would like to point out right about now.¡¹

    ¡¸I will dly listen to you sometimeter, but leave it at that for now.¡¹

    Under the gazes that were piercing me right now I tried my best to crack a smile while I simply shrugged my shoulders¡­¡­ But it was no surprise that Pencilgton and Katsu would like to know just what the hell was going on here.

    For the time being I promised them I would exin everythingter, so that we wouldn¡¯t waste any more time.

    ¡¸Y-you assholes, how did you even managed to get in here¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸My dear Sanraku-kun, you really need to learn how to cover your tracks better. You¡¯ve ced some of the materials from crystal scorpion into the shared inventory, right? Those monsters spawn only in one particr ce, so it was rtively easy to predict where you were headed from that point on.¡¹

    ¡¸So you¡¯ve been tailing me ever since that ce¡­¡­ I¡¯ve made a huge blunder¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯ve also fucked up by ignoring our emails. From that point forward we knew that you¡¯d be here so we nned to be two steps ahead of you. But the most deciding factor¡­¡­¡¹

    As Pencilgton continued to point out all of my blunders, Emul was looking between him and me alternatively.

    ¡¸I- I thought they were your friends Sanraku-san. Is it that bad that they followed us in here¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh¡­¡­ Emul, you¡¯d be wise to remember¡­¡­ These guys are our friends for now, but you never know when they might turn into enemies. So stay vignt.¡¹

    ¡¸Hahaha, it¡¯s so funny seeing you trying to antagonize us so much.¡¹

    ¡¸Hahaha, yes, yes, these guys are the important pawns of mine¡­¡­ I mean friends! I meant to say they are my best friends!¡¹

    Basically, each and every one of us was acting as if the other two would instantly turn on us. It¡¯s good for Emul to know about that. These guys are razor-sharp when ites to cunning tactics. And while operating two razors at the same time, it is quite easy to cut yourself by ident.

    ¡¸Anyways, there¡¯s a high chance that at the bottom of that hole is the item that we must obtain to satisfy the conditions for repairing the reactor. So let¡¯s stop just standing in here and jump down. You first, Katsu.¡¹

    ¡¸Right, you heard the man! Jump down, Katsu-kun!¡¹

    ¡¸Ohh, shucks, why do I feel like I¡¯m going to regret this?¡¹

    On the battlefield, one must always be aware of one¡¯s surroundings and be cautious not to attract too much hate onto yourself. You fail to do that and you¡¯re basically minced meat.

    ¡¸Well, it¡¯s all good, but¡­¡­¡¹

    This is this, and that is that. After some moreints, Katsu eventually gave up and tied the rope to a piece of rubble, and started to descend down the elevator¡¯s shaft with quick, swift movements.

    Sometimeter we could hear the rope being pulled strongly as Katsu went back to us after doing some reconnaissance.

    ¡¸So, what was down there?¡¹

    ¡¸Just a small robot that looked exactly like Gravekeeper Wezaemon.¡¹

    There was a brief silence.

    ¡¸No, no, that can¡¯t be right! Why would someone as imposing and impossible to kill like him be stuck in here of all ces?¡¹

    ¡¸Okay, alright, maybe it¡¯s not Wezaemon himself, but it certainly is one heck of an imposing robot! And it looks like it guarding some door down there as well.¡¹

    So it looks like that instead of another Matryoshka we have some genuine gatekeeper on our hands right now.

    We then listen to Katsu as he tells us theyout of the lower floor and the position of the gatekeeper, thinking of the best strategy to beat it.

    ¡¸By the way, what¡¯s the deal with that ck puss in boots over there?¡¹

    ¡¸I heard that! And I¡¯m a Holy Sword, mind you!¡¹

    ¡¸Katsu-kun, sometimes I think that this careless tongue of yours will be your end one of these days. You can see just at the first nce that she¡¯s a fierce warrior and a fine artisan.¡¹

    When Pencilgton said that Katsu looked really confused for some reason and I couldn¡¯t help but smile as well.

    ¡¸For now, why don¡¯t we all go down there and try to feel the ce up, preferably without waking up that guardian robot, ok?¡¹

    It was really annoying that my party was getting bigger and bigger, but after adding two more people to my animal entourage we were all set to go.

    ¡¸It¡¯s not all that unusual to form parties with NPCs, but for those NPCs to be animals, that¡¯s a first for me.¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s the deal? It¡¯s more unique that way.¡¹

    ¡¸That being said, try to push me down this hole and you¡¯re in some deep sh*t, buddy.¡¹

 Chapter 94: Suddenly, a Gatekeeper Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 94: Suddenly, a Gatekeeper Part 2</h4>

    For a good couple of minutes we were descending down the elevator shaft via the rope, and once we got down we found ourselves in the underground section of the facility which was presumably deserted long ago (judging from the fact that no equipment here was working). Surprisingly enough, all of the equipment was in good condition¡­¡­

    ¡¸I¡¯m honestly surprised this facility is so well-preserved¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸How should I put it¡­¡­ it gives you those serious Sci-fi vibes.¡¹

    ¡¸Power armors, guarding robots, automated systems¡­¡­ The tropes are surely here.¡¹

    After a while, the whole party had descended down the elevator shaft.

    There was no electricity here. But even so, the emergency lights on the floor were dimly lit, utilizing some sort of power source that was probably well beyond the reach of current technological advancement of the human race.

    Then, at the end of a long corridor, there was a huge gate that was clearly separating something from the rest of the facility here.

    ¡¸I always thought that battlefields in the form of a straight line were the sh*ttiest ones¡­¡­ Aramis, think you can reach all the way over there?¡¹

    ¡¸I could if I put my back to it, but with this thing standing in our way, I¡¯m afraid that it might be a little bit impossible for the moment.¡¹

    ¡¸No, that¡¯s actually fine. For now let¡¯s try to get as close as possible to see how it reacts.¡¹

    Since we had no idea when the golem would start moving, we discussed our strategy in advance, so that everyone would know what to do.

    ording to the strategy, Aramis fired her energy wave attack at the golem from the distance, which Emul and I used as a diversion to try and get closer to it.

    ¡¸Hahaha! Go! Go! Go!¡¹

    ¡¸Pyaaaaaahhhhhh!?¡¹

    Sensing Emul and I¡­¡­ Two biological signatures getting closer, the ck golem activated, and his four arms and started moving.

    The golem¡¯s upper arms were raised before him and two energy shields were activated. Just as predicted, Aramis¡¯s energy wave attack smashes against the shields and disappears, doing no real damage to them. It was to be expected, judging how weakened it must have been after travelling such a long distance.

    However, it was all a diversion on our part. I used the opportunity that was created to jump over both energy wave attack and golem¡¯s shields, getting right behind its back. I then activated ¡°Water Mirror Moon¡± to keep the golem distracted as it quickly turned around to take care of my clone that started to aggo him suddenly.

    ¡¸Emul.¡¹

    ¡¸Right away.¡¹

    At that time Emul separated from me, positioning himself right before the golem while I stayed behind its back.

    During my career as a gamer, I have experienced such narrow passages many times before. Of course it waspletely different here, since there weren¡¯tser gridsing from the walls or numerous enemiesing at you without end to overwhelm you with their numbers alone. In that case we would be red polygons before long, but since there were no other obstacles and the enemy was alone¡­¡­ Otherwise it would be much more frustrating.

    ¡¸Wall-running is the essential skill to go to here!¡¹

    I then activate ¡°Six Fold Jump¡±. Then I jump on the wall and start bouncing off of it the very moment my feet touch it.

    The true value of this skilly in its ability to be able to bounce off walls and ceilings with more ease as your proficiency with that skill started to increase. So far I was unable to properly use it in battle, but right about now it should be good to confuse the golem.

    And just in ordance to my wall jumps, Emul attacks the golem on his own. As long as ¡°Water Mirror Moon¡± was active it was focusing the golems aggro on my clone, but once that wore off the golem¡¯s full attention was directed towards Emul.

    ¡¸Uwoah!?¡¹

    But as soon as Ind behind its back again, the golem¡¯s arms all direct towards me, trying to catch me and crush me to death! I see how it is now, the one who is closer to the door is of higher priority when ites to this thing!

    The small reactors in each of the golem¡¯s palms shine brightly and eventually fourser pirs shoot out of them, aiming towards me.

    Fortunately enough, the aim of thesers was quite loose, so it was easy for me to avoid them. I am sure that if I let some of thosesers hit me the amount of damage I would suffer would be quite significant, since attacks like that are really solid and cannot be easily deflected or tanked.

    ¡¸That being said¡­¡­ You really sure you should be only focusing on me and leave the others idle like that?¡¹

    ¡¸All-Out Attack!¡¹

    There was a golden cocoon piercing right through the air. It was one of Pencilgton¡¯s special skills, one that would require him to sacrifice all of his stamina. It went right over Emul¡¯s head and pierced the golem¡¯s stomach.

    ¡¸Yellow, Green, Combination of Two ¡°Combination Skil ¡®Wakakusa Tadashi¡¯¡±¡­¡­ POINT STRIKER!!!¡¹

    Additionally, Katsu jumps in towards the golem and begins to strike at its kneecaps with his fists, which were glowing yellow and green. It takes him some time, but he eventually manages to dent the armor around them and damage the circuits running around its joints.

    The golem then responds by trying to target Katsu, but¡­¡­

    ¡¸Now, I wonder who takes more priority? The one trying to reach the door, or maybe the one who is about to cap your knees with his fists?¡¹

    When I touch the door with my hand, the golem¡¯s aggro turns towards me again, and he starts to move towards me.

    Then Katsu hit it with his fists again, finally blowing off his knees and forcing the golem to fall towards the door, carried by the impact.

    ¡¸Hey, you hermaphrodite over there, you¡¯d best retreat for now.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh my? Is the secret of my gender finally out?¡¹

    ¡¸Titan¡­¡­ BLAST!!!¡¹

    The impact of the skill pushed the hammer further into golem¡¯s body, prating its armor and causing some strange energy to gather around its back? Was that supposed to be an explosion of some sort? And while I was still lurking around the golems back!? No, wait just a¡­¡­

    ¡¸That was dangerous! What the hell!?¡¹

    ¡¸Mu, sorry my bird-headed friend.¡¹

    ¡¸If I ended up caught in that st it would have made a fried chicken out of me!

    ¡¸Metal chicken skewer¡­¡­ Could you even be able to eat that?¡¹

    ¡¸Bufu! Pu, kukuku¡­¡­ A metal skewer¡­¡­ Fufufu.¡¹

    While the golem started short-circuiting while still being focused on Pencilgton I hit its back, and thenughed maniacally when my attack came out to be a clean cut!

    Still, when the golem was in that frenzied state, it would actually be hard to expect it to act in any sort of a predictable way. The four-armed golem started to turn slowly, sparks leaking out of its mechanical knees.

    And because it was leaning forward right now, its head was at just the right height for Aramis¡¯ attack to connect with it perfectly clean. A fully charged blow hits the golem dead in the face.

    Just like the ice breaker on a hit with an icy surface, the golem¡¯s body begins to be covered with a huge of cracks and fissures.

    ¡¸Now, have a taste of my de! Divine Wind!¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, could we just skip that, please?¡¹

    ¡¸Eeeehhhh!?¡¹

    I was getting a feeling it was going to be a long one.

 Chapter 95: The Unknown Remains Mysterious Until It Is Revealed Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 95: The Unknown Remains Mysterious Until It Is Revealed Part 1</h4>

    Perhaps the design of this golem was meant to keep yers at a distance, not allowing them to get closer. That would certainly exin four arms, energy shields andser beams.

    ¡¸However, it was his own misfortune that he had no means to defend against an All-Out Attack like that.¡¹

    ¡¸Otherwise we could have been at a serious disadvantage here.¡¹

    All-Out Attacks were the strongest tactics that you could employ in a huge majority of games out there.

    And because it wasn¡¯t a simple monster but also not a boss per se, there was no rare drop or anything like that after it was defeated. So I watched Pencilgton pick up his spear from the ground.

    ¡¸Is that your main weapon for the time being?¡¹

    ¡¸Yup, and believe me, getting my hands on something like that was a real pain in the ass¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Meaning?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, you know¡­¡­ Defeat fifteen enemy squads in PVP while being solo and stuff like that¡­¡­¡¹

    Seriously? Talk about a real MVP.

    Thinking about it now, Pencilgton was always doing crazy stunts like that, making it feel as if no amount of power leveling would be enough for you to get even remotely close to his level.

    ¡¸This weapon¡¯s name is ¡°Saint Kaldeoulf¡±, one of the five Hero Weapons in the entire game.¡¹

    It looks like that there are the super rare weapons in this game that you can acquire, each with its unique ¡°Hero¡± power: sword, spear, staff, bow and greatsword. Apparently, the requirements to obtain but a single one of them were quite literally insane.

    Learning that fact leads to a certain conclusion that I was personally finding hard to believe.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ So wait, does that mean that you are a Hero or something like that?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s only a side job, my main ss is that of a Magician.¡¹

    ¡¸So even ShanFro has something like Heroes, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸Hm? You say Hero, but Heroes aren¡¯t all that different from Mercenaries or Assassins when you get down to it, you know?¡¹

    At that moment I updated my inner list of things I don¡¯t like, adding the term ¡°Hero¡± to it. Also, Pencilgton gave the vibe of a professional murderer more than a Hero, one that would spur up things like ¡°I¡¯ll cut the whole world down should I feel like it!¡±. Yeah, not exactly a Hero material over there.

    There was once a game with a motif like that. Throughout the ny percent of the game the story was your typical fantasy setting, but then it all turned upside down when the main hero turned out to be the viin when he decided to take revenge on the entire world for all the harm and loss he suffered. Talk about the pinnacle of a sh*tty game.

    So does that mean with Heroes like that this game had potential to turn to sh*t? No, it would be more urate to say that it would change alignment and be an evil godly game.

    By the way, the main reason that one particr game has turned to sh*t was because of the main heroine. She was there for the protagonist the whole time, developing her character until the very end when she was killed by the protagonist as one of his first victims. There was something about betrayal in there and it was totally not cool or cute. Not in the least.

    That act of turning, of shifting form a protagonist you¡¯ve grown fond of into the viin, that was the most evil and sh*tty game design choice that the developers could have decided on.

    ¡¸But seriously, even though it sounds stupid, it works rather nicely. So I guess it¡¯s not stupid after all.¡¹

    ¡¸Hm? Does that mean it¡¯s something super OP?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, I wouldn¡¯t go that far with calling it that, since it is only effective when you are wearing a Hero weapon¡­¡­ By the way, how do we open this thing? Is there some sort of key to it? Or a password? Open sesame or something like that?¡¹

    It would be nice if the gate would open just like that, without any other conditions. Because if they were to remain close, I¡¯m afraid that we don¡¯t have any means of actually prying them open by ourselves. Maybe the gatekeeper could, but he was gone now.

    It is entirely possible that there is a key in here somewhere, or a passcode, a keycard, or that maybe we would need to hack into the gate, or blow it up with C4¡­¡­ So does this mean we would really need to force it open?

    ¡¸Ah, so maybe this thing is meant for situations like this?¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s wrong, Katsu? Does this have to do with something unique?¡¹

    ¡¸Would you give it a rest already? This is getting old.¡¹

    ¡¸But we will keep on reminding you until you go to your grave?¡¹

    ¡¸Right, time for me to kick the bucket, it seems.¡¹

    It was the usual talk between us.

    ¡¸When ites to Treasure Hunters, or even Archeologists in general, they can learn magic called ¡°Treasure Sense¡±. Of course, since I have that ss as one of my side ones, I learned that magic as well.¡¹

    Treasure Sense¡­¡­ Is that some sort of detection magic that mighte in handy in dungeons such as this?

    Katsu then touches the gate with his hand and activates a spell. Soon enough, there are light runes spreading all over the gate¡¯s surface, kind of like roots of the tree¡­¡­ But then they all went out.

    ¡¸The higher the level, the higher the sess rate, and right about now I¡¯m level one with this spell¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Which means?¡¹

    ¡¸It means that the time hase for Sanraku-kun¡¯s natural enemy, the RNG to enter the stage.¡¹

    Incidentally, Katsu said that at level one the sess rate of this spell is about fifteen percent¡­¡­ Which roughly trantes that on ten tries, about eight of them would end up in failure.

    ¡¸Haaaaaaaaa¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸T-that was some great and long sigh out there¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Long ago, Sanraku-kun was so traumatized by RNG Gods that the shocksted for about three weeks.¡¹

    The name of the game was ¡°The Great War of Minakokoro¡±. In order to cure a heroine¡¯s illness you needed an item called ¡°Sendan Peach¡±. Of course, the RNG Gods kept on fucking with me and the item wouldn¡¯t drop for me no matter what. It took me almost three weeks to obtain it, and when I finally did there were more or less three days left until the end of holidays. I had to finish the whole game in those three days.

    I really preferred the games with no RNG elements to them whatsoever, but I do realize that it is hard to do without them. But when it bes necessary to advance the story? That¡¯s where I draw the line

 Chapter 95: The Unknown Remains Mysterious Until It Is Revealed Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 95: The Unknown Remains Mysterious Until It Is Revealed Part 2</h4>

    The fact that you need some RNG to save someone important for the plot of the game is sh*t itself. I mean, you were on the journey to save the world, but you must sidetrack to grow peaches in the orchard? Because of that, for quite a while after that I couldn¡¯t stand the look of peaches. I would suffer from headaches, nausea, chills, stomach pains. Peaches, peaches, peaches, peaches, peaches, peaches, peaches, peaches, peaches¡­¡­

    That is why I hope that this game does not have any such elements of brutal betrayal or RNG. But seeing that someone like Pencilgton holds the title of the Hero, we might see something like that down the line.

    ¡¸Massacre¡­¡­ My dear Sanraku, when at war, you wille to understand that there is no such thing as no action too vile or brutal if it can help you attain victory. Murder, betrayal, sabotage, poison¡­¡­ Sometimes it is necessary to get your own hands dirty and I must say, the experience was quite enjoyable for me. Oh, yes it was.¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t want to be told something like that by the guys who would look up his enemies stats and tactics ahead of time and take them out via underhanded tactics.¡¹

    The remote-controlled bomb was ced at the gate¡¯s lock and then it was detonated with a nasty sound.

    But thanks to that, the gate opens up with a quiet ¡°Beep¡± sound.

    ¡¸Well, I wouldn¡¯t expect that someone who was peach farming for three weeks straight would understand.¡¹

    ¡¸This bastard¡­¡­ If you were going to do that from the start, was there any reason for using that spell earlier?¡¹

    ¡¸But of course there was. You see, ¡°Treasure Sense¡± can be used to appraise the ruins and see just what kind of locks or devices might be hidden within them. I mean, it would have to be somethingplicated or amazing if it guards a part needed for a Legacy Weapon, right?¡¹

    So in other words, it was a ¡°work¡± that was mandatory for us to press forward.

    But as the dust caused by the explosion finally settled down, I looked towards the gate and pushed the unpleasant memories away.

    ¡¸Wow, amazing! It looks just like aboratory of some kind!¡¹

    ¡¸This is on apletely different level than anything we¡¯ve seen thus far.¡¹

    Beyond the gate that the four-armed golem was guarding, there was aboratory that looked like it was used to develop fantasy weapons of some sort.

    Although the ce was run down in some spots, most of it was rtively well preserved. Together with Pencilgton we could well understand it: the scent of ¡°treasure¡± was hanging in the air.

    ¡¸Alright, now we can split up and look for that whole ¡°Magical Unity Unit¡± thingy.¡±

    ¡¸Alright. And our dear animals try not to break anything while you¡¯re at it, ok?¡¹

    ¡¸Fumu¡­¡­¡¹

    So far, there was no sign of the ¡°Magical Unity Unit¡±. But we managed to find something that resembled a keyboard and a holographic disy. Just then, something on the screen suddenly activated.

    ¡¸What¡¯s that supposed to be, a mark or symbol of some kind¡­¡­?¡¹

    This symbol looked like two octopuses were trying to entangle themselves around one another¡­¡­ Ah, yes, that¡¯s right. The correct term would be that it looked as though two ¡°infinity¡± symbols were ced upon one another.

    ¡¸This symbol is most usually attached to cards or represents bosses of various kinds, but this¡­¡­¡¹

    This holographic shape didn¡¯t look like it would benefit the yers in any kind of way.

    I don¡¯t know if it would be a correct way to describe it, but only the word ¡°monstrous¡±es to my mind.

    Its upper body looked like that of a dinosaur, there were some human elements here and there, and the lower half looked as if it was abination of a frog and a spider. Whatever that thing was, one thing was for certain: it was not an ally.

    Suddenly, whates to my mind is the ck skeleton with a split-open rib cage. Something not quite out of this world. Was that thing like that as well? Or perhaps¡­¡­

    ¡¸Such abominations walk on this earth? This isn¡¯t right.¡¹

    I understand that it is something from a world of fantasy born into life via science-fiction means, but what was that, exactly?

    Emul, who was looking in some other ce, now noticed the disy and looked at it. Then he tilted his head and raised his voice after a second.

    ¡¸Sis! Isn¡¯t that it?¡¹

    ¡¸Hm? Let me take a look at it¡­¡­ Ooh, that¡¯s it! This is what we are looking for! Magical Unity Unit!¡¹

    Looking at the disy through the lenses of the googles of some kind that Emul handed to her, Break let out a sound that was more or less synonymous with hitting a jackpot.

    ¡¸With this, you will be able to craft the weapons from the age of the Gods!¡¹

    ¡¸With this, we will finally be able to repair the reactor.¡¹

    Both Pencilgton and Katsu grab me by the shoulders. I tried to shake them off with a gentle smile, but they just grabbed me more firmly, not letting their eyes off of me for even a moment.

    ¡¸Hey, let go of me, God damn it! Why the fuck are you even doing something so bothersome!?¡¹

    ¡¸So noisy! Anyways, you won¡¯t escape us this time around, my dear Sanraku-kun! You¡¯re role here is done, so now let¡¯s leave the reactor¡¯s repair to the Bunny-chan and let¡¯s be on our way!¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, resistance is futile Sanraku!¡¹

    Like hell I¡¯m going to submit to you! Over my dead body you stupid assfucks! ¡­¡­ Is what I wanted to say. But in reality.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I get it, I get it already! I¡¯ll think about it. But you know, I was also contacted by one of the members of the guild ¡°Library¡± not so long ago.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, look at him go! He realized that he couldn¡¯t escape and he¡¯s trying his best to change the subject!¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯d better be prepared for what¡¯sing for you, since you¡¯ve dumped all of the nasty things regarding our sudden ¡°fame¡± on us¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Uwah! What was that! You¡¯re acting like some nasty old men right now! It¡¯s creeping me out! What the hell!? What the hell!?¡¹

    So there really was nothing I could do to avoid this? It¡¯s like there were suddenly two iron balls chained to my ankles. While watching us bicker with one another, both Emul and Break let out a deep sigh for some reason.

    Aramis was just sitting down and giving us a look that was saying ¡°What are you guys actually doing¡±?

 Chapter 96 Surprising Meeting, Speculations And Zombie Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 96 Surprising Meeting, Spections And Zombie Part 1</h4>

    We were hurling insults at one another even as we were getting back into town. After we got to Eldto Aramis and Break went back to Rabbitz, but for some reason Emul stayed behind.

    ¡¸Believe me, you might regret it dearly if you don¡¯t present Emul to this Animalia chick anytime soon.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, or else what? She¡¯ll cause a server-wide zombie apocalypse? ¡­¡­ By the way, Katsu? You¡¯ve been strangely quiet for a while now. And you¡¯re spacing out. What¡¯s wrong?¡¹

    Wait a second, why do I get a feeling that something seriously wrong is about to happen!?

    ¡¸I¡¯ve sent all the mails to everyone that¡¯s interested. They should be here soon¡­¡­¡¹

    I don¡¯t like this. I don¡¯t like this in the slightest. I just want to go home. I don¡¯t want to be dragged to the Pencilgton¡¯s most favorite shop and just want to log out and sleep!

    Getting chills from Katsu¡¯s absentminded gaze I start to look around. And lo and behold, I could see some avatars quickly approaching us like a hoard of angry zombies.

    ¡¸Alright, let¡¯s go Mister Scapegoat.¡¹

    ¡¸Drop dead, you Unique Bastard¡­¡­ Ha, hahaha, what¡¯s with this strange sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu that I¡¯m feeling right now?

    They were getting closer and closer just like a mindless horde¡­¡­ Wait just a moment, weren¡¯t there a little bit too many yers moving towards us in the same fashion!?

    Scary, too scary! The fuck is this! A real in-game zombie outbreak!? Is this what they mean by biohazard danger!?

    And there was also Animalia-san whose eyes were dead set onto me. No, it¡¯s not that¡­¡­ She was staring right at Emul who, sensing the iing danger turned into a scarf and was pretending to be just that around my neck.

    ¡¸Emul, my friend, let¡¯s show these chumps what it means to carry a Vorpal Soul inside of you!¡¹

    ¡¸Trying to get away from here right now would be nothing more than suicide, not a disy of Vorpal Soul¡­¡­!¡¹

    Finally, Animalia stood right in front of me. It¡¯s really amazing how the game engine could even reproduce the bloodshot eyes. Fuck this, where is my trusty boom-stick when I need it the most!?

    ¡¸YOU¡¯VE GOT A FRIEND REQUEST FROM ANIMALIA. ¡°Let¡¯s cooperate for now and shake hands.¡±¡¹

    SUB: GIVE ME EMUL AND NO ONE HAS TO GET HURT.

    I could feel Emul staring at me with his eyes full of despair and hopelessness.

    ¡¸I¡¯m sorry, Emul. Please do try to forgive me and bear with it for a while!¡¹

    ¡¸APIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!???????????????¡¹

    The moment Animalia got her hands on Emul, all of the yers that were following her got around her and began to study Emul with utmost care.

    It¡¯s alright. They won¡¯t hurt him. They are an animal-loving guild, after all. It should be fine¡­¡­ Right?

    ¡¸It¡¯s like throwing a lump of fresh meat right into the crowd of angry zombies.¡¹

    ¡¸See? Told you that would happen. You know, Sanraku-kun, sometimes you should really take to heart the advice that others give you out of the kindness of their hearts.¡¹

    But didn¡¯t you tell me that when it was basically already toote? While I was thinking that, there was already arge crowd of people starting to form around us.

    ¡¸That was a very sudden call, Pencilgton.¡¹

    ¡¸Nice to see you, Momo-chan. You know that surprises are my forte.¡¹

    ¡¸So full of yourself!¡¹

    And there was Saiga-0, wearing her usual heavy armor, but this time around it was not emitting its malevolent aura and color. Also, her full armor was so heavy that the ground was shaking with every single step she was taking.

    Next to her was another female yer who had a sword hanging on her back, looking oddly simr to the one that Pencilgton was carrying around. She was also wearing a long coat with armor ting hanging all over it for protection. Her long red hair was all let loose onto her back and shoulders.

    Apparently she must have known Pencilgton, for their conversation was entirely different than with any other yer.

    Looking at Saiga-0 and exchanging a small nod with her, I felt that the meter showing my urge to run the hell away from here was rapidly increasing.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ He-hello there.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, hello there.¡¹

    Whenever I was talking with this person I felt as though I was starring in an American western. Just like a quickdraw, whoever woulde with the initiative would emerge victorious.

    ¡¸Gee, what are you doing, fidgeting around like that for¡­¡­? Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Saiga-100, the current leader of the ¡°ck Wolves¡± guild.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, the pleasure is all mine.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ve heard so much about you. I always wanted to talk to the person who managed to receive not one, but two curse marks from the Night Prowler Luukan.¡¹

    Yeah, thanks a lot for making my life be defined as ¡°half-naked¡± Luukan you asshole.

    Shaking my hands with Saiga-100, I felt as though the meter to get the fuck away from here managed to get even higher than before.

    ¡¸Hmm, does that mean that I¡¯m thest?¡¹

    Oh hey, won¡¯t you look at that, it¡¯s the pink-haired magical girl-wannabe. She just walked right up to us and satfortably on a chair that she pulled out for herself without asking anyone. Even though she looked like a magical girl, her voice was actually that of an old man. What a contradiction.

    ¡¸Oh, hey, if it isn¡¯t Saiga-100-kun! How are you doing? Everything alright?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ We manage somehow. And how is Massive Dynamite-san doing? Still busy with the New World Exploration Team?¡¹

    From the flow of the conversation I could only assume that this Massive Dynamite-san was this magical girl¡¯s partner? I mean, really? Massive Dynamite? What was that, a Pro Wrestler¡¯s name or something?

    While I was thinking that to myself, I could feel that this girl¡­¡­ This magical girl-wannabe was staring right at me.

    ¡¸Well, well, who would have thought that we would end up meeting in a ce such as this so quickly after bing friends?

    ¡¸We also came herepletely by ident.¡¹

    What a fat lie, I know that you were all summoned here by Pencilgton.

    But still, I see that many great and important people gathered here today. ck Wolves top yers, Animalia the animal freak and that magical girl wannabe was from Library, correct? Yup, only some real kingpins here.

 Chapter 96 Surprising Meeting, Speculations And Zombie Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 96 Surprising Meeting, Spections And Zombie Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Yes, I would like to thank you all for all of your hard work. My humble person, Arthur Pencilgton, who just recently graduated from being a PK yer, is going to be your host for the duration of this meeting. Ah¡­¡­ Sadly, no animal allowed in here, so could you please start acting like normal people and regain your humanity for the time being?¡¹

    ¡¸Regain your humanity, I never thought I would hear those words directed to any normal person under any circumstances.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, Sanraku you stupid idiot! Let go of me!¡¹

    Couldn¡¯t you just dodge it like any normal person would do? And what¡¯s the deal with trying to bite my hand? Could it be that a scapegoat finally turned into a goat? That¡¯s like, so cute.

    While I was trying to stop Katsu from leaving, Pencilgton pointed towards me.

    ¡¸Well, since I finally managed to capture my human Tsuchinoko Sanraku, we might as well proceed with the three-direction consultations as we initially intended.¡¹

    ¡¸Who the hell are you calling Tsuchinoko!?¡¹

    ¡¸Say, Sanraku-kun? You do know that you are famous around the forums, right? That you even have a thread dedicated solely to you?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh, really?¡¹

    Sure, most of the time I was ying in such a way as to not get myself involved with other yers all that much, but I had no idea the situation developed so much like that.

    ¡¸Not that I really care about it all that much, since at least half the anxieties of both SF-Zoo and ck Wolves can easily be solved by talking to Sanraku-kun.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    I gently turn my gaze towards both Saiga-0 and Animalia.

    I don¡¯t know what their history with one another is, but it seems like there¡¯s one thing that connects them: Night Prowler Luukan.

    The question was now: who was going to make the first move?

    ¡¸Feel free to do so, we shall dly answer any question.¡¹

    ¡¸Are you satisfied?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, for now that¡¯s very satisfying.¡¹

    Animalia-san made the first move on the ¡°ck Wolves¡± with a lustrous appearance. On a side note, I was worried about Emul for quite some time now.

    Would Emul really be alright surrounded by that mass of people in the back?

    ¡¸To put it bluntly, we want to know more about the Unique Monsters. ¡­¡­ Especially any information regarding the Night Prowler Luukan would prove to be extremely valuable.¡¹

    ¡¸The ultimate goal of our ¡°ck Wolves¡± guild is the subjugation of the Night Prowler Luukan¡­¡­ It¡¯s somewhat embarrassing for me to say, but I have never really fought against the unique monster before. And even you, who have defeated one yourself, ¡°Gravekeeper Wezaemon¡±, have little to no information about them.¡¹

    Saiga-0 said while looking at everyone gathered in a rather straightforward fashion.

    I see, so there is little to no information on the Night Prowler himself as well as the other Unique Monsters. Certainly, I would be able to tell them a thing or two about the Night Prowler, while Pencilgton could say something about the Gravekeeper.

    (Although¡­¡­)

    There is one more crucial bit of information that I decided to keep for myself. The existence of the Unique Quest scenario ¡°The Epic of the Vorpal Bunny¡± and the existence of the Unique Monster ¡°Weissash¡±.

    To be perfectly honest, I didn¡¯t want to reveal any of this to the other yers, but there are ways of passing them the other intel without spilling the beans on that. Information is the biggest weapon possible in this game, and now that I was sitting at the table with some of the most influential people in the entire game, I really needed to carefully choose what can or cannot be said.

    ¡¸Hm? What? Could it be that my beauty has rendered you speechless?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Haa.¡¹

    ¡¸As they say, one action can speak more than a thousand words.¡¹

    This here Pencilgton is the problem. If you have any kind of information that might prove useful to him, this guy will almost certainly sniff it out like a God damned police dog. No, it may be possible that he already sniffed something out.

    For example the fact that there is a unique scenario that involves Vorpal Bunnies, a quest in which you have to cooperate with a member of the Cait Sith race and a fetch quest with the technology from the era of the Gods.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ First of all, I think that it is actually impossible to defeat the Unique Monsters with brute strength alone.¡¹

    Preserving the trump card that was Weissash, I decided to throw all these people here a bone in the form of ¡°Gravekeeper Wezaemon¡±, since this was something that was already useless to us after we managed to defeat it.

    ¡¸There¡¯s a possibility that every single Unique Monster has its own questline. For example, our ¡°Wolfgang¡± had to ept the EX quest scenario before we could even ess the ¡°Gravekeeper Wezaemon¡± as a boss battle.¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-kun, let me take over from here, since I¡¯m a little bit more knowledgeable in that regard. Unique Monsters are special monsters that y the central part of every EX Quest scenario. The ck Wolves are currently fixated on defeating Night Prowler Luukan, but I don¡¯t think that beating that beast will be possible until you manage to start a questline for that specific monster¡­¡­ Oh well, guess the only thing they can do about it now is to try to train on him or try to repel its attacks.¡¹

    Furthermore, on this continent Weissash and Wezaemon were gged as scenario monsters, and I couldn¡¯t possibly hope that other Unique Monsters would be just like those two.

    Most likely, this new continent which is less than ten percent mapped would be the stage where I would be able to find the remaining Unique Monsters.

    ¡¸That¡¯s right, if you really want to know just what kind of monster ¡°Gravekeeper Wezaemon¡± was¡­¡­ I can bestow upon you this here tome that describes him in great detail. Of course, if you help me with paying off the debt that I had to go into to obtain it, first.¡¹

    ¡¸That Pencilgton of ours is really something else¡­¡­¡¹

    We watch for a while how Pencilgton was trying to sell the nowpletely useless Book of World Truth ¡°Wezaemon Volume¡±, to which Katsu let out a deep sigh.

    While the leader of the ¡°Library¡± guild was shining brightly, the meeting of the smaller guilds carried on

 Chapter 97: Meeting Goes On, the Desire to Speak and Hinting Clues Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 97: Meeting Goes On, the Desire to Speak and Hinting Clues Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸You say you want information about Night Prowler Luukan, but truth to be told, we don¡¯t know much about it ourselves.¡¹

    ¡¸Doesn¡¯t matter. Even the information about his attack patterns may prove to be invaluable.¡¹

    ¡¸Is that right¡­¡­¡¹

    Night Prowler Luukan, the source of my trauma as well as the goal towards which I was constantly striving.

    Although it sucks some major ass that it ravaged me the way it did, it was thanks to its curse marks that I was able toe this far.

    At that time I wasn¡¯t really paying that much attention to its moveset, and moreover the memory of Wezaemon was still very much vivid inside of my mind. It would not be a surprise if I wasn¡¯t able to remember anything. But there was no way for me to actually forget carnage like that.

    ¡¸First of all, his basic attacks are much faster than that of normal mobs or even bosses, and there is little to no telegraphing them. However, I could make out three distinctive patterns: straightforward, diagonal and zig-zag. There may be some dys between them, but there¡¯s not that much safe space to talk about. He can use his ws as well as his fangs to deliver devastating bites and shes that can also cause some additional effects, so if you get hit even once you might be as good as done for. Next, it can jump into the shadows and conceal itself within them only to deliver a devastating strike a momentter. Of course this also counts as a one hit kill since it is taking youpletely by surprise, but there is one saving grace here: it will make a slight sound the moment it is about to emerge from the shadows. A slight window to avoid, but better than none. Aside from that you must guess the ce from where it is going to jump you. In my case it was always jumping out on me from right under my feet, so it might be a good idea to be constantly on the move to minimize the risk. By the way, the sound it makes when emerging from the shadows is so quiet that other ambient sound can make it impossible to notice, so you need to watch out for that as well. So as long as you go in withpany you should be able to make this fight just a little bit easier, but it is not anything major or crucial. Dashes, bites, shes, surprise attacks, it¡¯s a bit much, but as long as you run like you mean it should be entirely possible to dodge most of his attacks¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Terribly sorry, but do you think you could possibly write this down for me? This is a little bit too much info at one time to take in.¡¹

    Not good, just remembering all that was making my throat parched. I could even feel Saiga-0¡¯s careful gaze at me all the time while I was rting everything I knew. I could also feel that the longer I was talking, the higher her eyebrows were going.

    ¡¸Welp, in the end it is nothing more than an oversized wolf. At least that¡¯s the impression that I got. But I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s all techniques it can use, since I fought too little with it to be sure.¡¹

    ¡¸Too little?¡¹

    I then remembered thest attack of Luukan, the one that most probably devoured me whole.

    It was a bite, that¡¯s for certain¡­¡­ I know I was most probably eaten, but on what principles? Hell of I know.

    ¡¸At the time I was focusing mostly on dodging and keeping my distance, so I don¡¯t know that much about its close-ranged attacks¡­¡­¡¹

    I know that Luukan did something to me. And that something basically busted my legs and sent me onto the ground. But what could that be?

    ¡¸I thought it might have been an unavoidable attack with some insane tracking, but now I think that it was something different. I don¡¯t want to call it a bug, but it pretty much looked like that to me¡­¡­¡¹

    I wonder if I would be able to see it clearly now if I was to fight it again? But that kind of thinking is pretty much unrealistic at this point.

    When I finish speaking, Saiga-100 looks to be deep in thoughts for a moment or two before eventually opening her mouth while standing up.

    ¡¸Right, I guess it wouldn¡¯t be fair if we didn¡¯t give you some information in return. Let¡¯s see¡­¡­ How about we tell you how to lift the curse of Luukan from you¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh, really?¡¹

    ¡¸The method is not that big of a secret or anything, but it¡¯s a real pain in the ass and us ck Wolves can make it hundred times easier for you.¡¹

    Curse marks of Luukan were currently upying my torso and legs. And while it wasn¡¯t any major inconvenience, going around half-naked because of that was bing increasingly more annoying with each passing day.

    But hearing Saiga-100¡¯s words, my opinion on ¡°ck Wolves¡± went up a little bit. Only a little bit, but it certainly went up.

    ¡¸That being said¡­¡­ Really, I was surprised that you are hanging around Pencilgton, but I can only assume that you are going to continue to do so in the future as well¡­¡­ Right. I¡¯m really curious about you, so if possible I would like to y together on asion. You formed a guild together with Pencilgton, right? How about it? Maybe our two groups could do some quests together in the future¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Say, ¡°ck Wolf¡±? Could you give me some private consultations sometimeter?¡¹

    And there it was. A buzzkill of a voice that suddenly got in between Saiga-100 and I.

    From the satisfied look on his face I could guess that Pencilgton most probably managed to sell the Book of World Truth: ¡°Wezaemon¡± to the Magical Girl-wannabe. Honestly¡­¡­ Is everyone in here so god damned easy?

    Seeing as he had nothing to say on any of the present matters, Katsu just gave uppletely and upon epting his fate as a third wheel he just continued to order cake after cake and proceeded to drown his sorrows in sugar. Hey, are you really fine with that¡­¡­? Oh, is it because there¡¯s nothing unique about this whole meeting? Is that it? Fine, you can stay silent, but¡­¡­ Just try not to throw forks at people, alright? That¡¯s dangerous.

    Saiga-0 was silent and still, so much that she looked as though she was asleep. So I guess it was something that the guild leader wanted to settle.

    I know that the one who interrupted was Penciilgton, but even if I had to go with the process of elimination, it wasn¡¯t that hard to guess at all.

    ¡¸Or was there something else that you would like to know? Something that wasn¡¯t included in the original question?¡¹

    ¡¸Muu¡­¡­ Let¡¯s see, I ¡®m not so sure about that¡­¡­¡¹

    For me small talk was pretty much useless, but I guess it was also a part of meetings like that. But as I was rattling my brain as to what to talk about with Saiga-100, Animalia appeared again and joined us as a conversation partner.

    ¡¸Saraku-san, let me tell you this before anything else. Cutting straight to the chase, if you ever feel like joining some other guild, our ¡°SF-Zoo¡± will be happy to greet you in our ranks.¡¹

    ¡¸Hee, ah, yeah, right.¡¹

 Chapter 97: Meeting Goes On, the Desire to Speak and Hinting Clues Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 97: Meeting Goes On, the Desire to Speak and Hinting Clues Part 2</h4>

    So far I feel like I was way too passive about this whole thing, so if they think that I¡¯m just going to sit here and obediently listening to everything they say, I¡¯d say they have a different thinging!

    ¡¸As for me, there is only one condition that our guild has¡­¡­ mainly: I want you to tell us how to ess Rabbitz, the country of Vorpal Bunnies!¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, no sh*t, go figure, who would have expected that¡­¡­?¡¹

    As I was seriously debating with myself whether or not to disclose the information rted to the Unique Quest tied to the Vorpal Bunnies, I suddenly remembered something important¡­¡­

    ¡¸Ah, I¡¯m really grateful, but¡­¡­ Hey, what is going on over there? I know you guys are excited, but could you please give me Emul back for the time being?¡¹

    A momentter the members of SF-Zoo gave me Emul back, but how should I put it? He didn¡¯t look the same to me. My poor Emul, what have they done to you?

    ¡¸Emul, hold on, Emul! Those scars aren¡¯t real! They are only psychological!¡¹

    ¡¸Humans are scary¡­¡­ What the hell is a ¡°double peace sign¡±¡­¡­? I¡¯m just a bunny, how the hell am I even supposed to do that¡­¡­?

    I tried to swing a carrot right in front of Emu¡¯s face, but it was all to no use. No matter what I did, his consciousness was not returning. ¡­¡­ Looks like I have no other choice but to use my trump card here.

    ¡¸Rabbit Pie.¡¹

    Twitch (his ears started to move).

    ¡¸Special Rabbit Parfait.¡¹

    Twitch, twitch (His ears move even more).

    ¡¸All you can eat buffet, for free, everything¡¯s on me.¡¹

    ¡¸J, just a little bit more¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll add to it that one tome of spells that you said you¡¯ve always wanted.¡¹

    ¡¸Really!? Make it three, then! There are three magic tomes that I really want right now!¡¹

    See? It wasn¡¯t all that hard. Good thing that Emul was so easy. If he wasn¡¯t, then I don¡¯t know what could I possibly have done.

    But still, hearing my words, the lifeless Emul sprung back to life in an instant. He jumped high in the air and hit my head with his own. Ouch! What was that for!? Was that some sort of revenge for those crazy zombies!? Cause that hit felt stronger than usual!

    ¡¸Haa¡­¡­ So cute¡­¡­ Ah, please don¡¯t mind me. I won¡¯t do anything more to you.¡¹

    ¡¸Is that so¡­¡­?¡¹

    It looks like Animalia-san was aiming at Emul with some sort of crystal-like objects, most probably trying to take pictures of his every action. I didn¡¯t really care about her crazy, so I turned towards Emul and asked him.

    ¡¸Say, Emul?¡¹

    ¡¸What is it?¡¹

    ¡¸What is the exact way of getting invited to Rabbitz? You mentioned some sort of snake hunt way back, haven¡¯t you?¡¹

    Upon visiting Rabbitz, there are two possible Extra Quests that you can undertake.

    One of them was the one that I did, the ¡°Invitation from the Bunny Country.¡± The conditions were still unknown to me, but they must have had something to do with that whole Vorpal Soul thingy that I allegedly disyed.

    The other one is the ¡°Tour around the Bunny Country¡± which was supposed to get you all familiar with the area and the zones that were surrounding it.

    ¡¸I don¡¯t know about regr yers¡­¡­ No, it seems that the best way is to be a Pioneer yourself, but Rabbitz in general doesn¡¯t refuse entry to guests who want to visit.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, I thought as much.¡¹

    As a matter of fact, most of the time I was inside of the Bunny Court, a ce where the yers who didn¡¯t start ¡°Invitation to Bunny Country¡± couldn¡¯t enter, but I could see quite a lot of yers strolling through town through the Court¡¯s windows. Looking at the other yers from far away like that, looking as they were going on about their daily lives and struggles had some sort of divine vibe to it, but at least I knew that there must have been some other way to get to Rabbitz aside from the Extra Quest.

    ¡¸Let me ask you again: is there a simple way for us to reach Rabbitz or not?¡¹

    ¡¸Mumumumumumu¡­¡­ I cannot give you a straight answer since I¡¯m not all that knowledgeable about Rabbitz history in the first ce¡­¡­ But I¡¯m sure that if Sanraku-san asks nicely, something can be done about it! Edward-onii-chan is a real sucker when ites to pleas like that!¡¹

    I wonder if Weissash has as many children as letters in alphabet? But that name, wasn¡¯t that Weissash¡¯s eldest son? If what Break told me before was true, he would be someone really important in the Bunny Court.

    ording to her Weissash was already thinking of retiring from ruling and passing his role onto someone else. That would make this Edward-onii-chan one of the most important people in this town, right?

    ¡¸Nnh¡­¡­ How do you feel? Can you hear me now?¡¹

    ¡¸By all means, right away! I¡¯ll let you know about the details when we meet!¡¹

    It seems that all the things that Emul went through today caused him to develop quite the trauma.

    ¡¸Aaahhh¡­¡­¡¹

    The reaction was something really interesting. In about a matter of seconds, Emul¡¯s face became red with joy. It was a good thing to see Emul like that, even if it was to see the reaction of Animalia-san. And while Emul started to dance with joy in ce, I could see that the members of SF-Zoo stoped listening to us some time ago¡­¡­

    ¡¸So you¡¯ve been making this ¡°buy some time¡± gestures knowingly?¡¹

    ¡¸Maintaining eye contact really helps in this kind of situations.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m happy for you, but incidentally, how much did you manage to get for that?¡¹

    ¡¸Fufufu, there goes about twenty percent of my debt.¡¹

    What a nasty guy this Pencilgton is¡­¡­ However, Library is partially at fault in here as well, but as long as both sides are satisfied, then who am I, an outsider, toin?

    ¡¸Now then, before Emul-chanes back to us, how about we make this thing as official as it can be? I would like the leaders of each guild present: ¡°SF-Zoo¡±, ¡°Library¡± and ¡°ck Wolves¡± to present their emblems.¡¹

    As Pencilgton said that, three emblems appeared in the sky. On had an image of ck Wolf with a sword, the second one was a book with a spider, and the third was a dog¡¯s paw with cute wings growing out of it.

    Looking at the three emblems, I couldn¡¯t help but to notice that Pencilgton was smiling in a really nasty way. It was the same type of smile that ¡°Mad King Pencil Warrior¡± used to have while tyrannically ruling over the world of United Rounds.

 Chapter 98: Dancing on the Palm of Someone Elseâ€™s Hand Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 98: Dancing on the Palm of Someone Else¡¯s Hand Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸We-well judging from the way in which the things concluded, I think it is safe to say that those three guilds were pretty crazy about us¡­¡­¡¹

    After the members of the other guilds went home, we moved to the caf¨¦ ¡°Snake¡¯s Apple¡± that was also in this town. To my words, Pencilgton said:

    ¡¸It seems that the ¡°ck Wolves¡± were keeping an eye on Sanraku-kun for a while now. Well, it¡¯s small wonder since we are frequently hanging out with each other for a while now, and people are always wary of me and those I¡¯m associating with.¡¹

    ¡¸Aren¡¯t you over-exaggerating a bit? Maybe they just wanted to know about Luukan¡¯s attack patterns?¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t think that was their goal, Sanraku.¡¹

    The one to answer right now was not Pencilgton, but Katsu.

    Ordering and eating yet another cake, Katsu continued speaking while pointing towards me with his fork.

    ¡¸As a professional gamer I can tell you that much. Even if it¡¯s a standard disy mode, the current Full Dive technology allows you to easily observe and memorize the patterns that your enemies keep on using. So understanding the patterns has a bigger role than you might think, Sanraku.¡¹

    Katsu¡¯s face distorts in an expression of regret. Sure, I know it as well, information is key in this game, and depending on how much you know about your enemies, it can often spell the difference between victory and defeat.

    ¡¸Story bosses are all good and well, because they tend to involve all of the yers. But the same cannot be said for Unique Monsters. You need to invest more time and money in them, and they are clearly not for everyone. They are a problem that requires different methods to solve.¡¹

    ¡¸Now that you mention it,¡¹

    ¡¸Precisely. Next, the Library. They are a little bit better informed than the other two guilds, and from what I could see they can hold their own when haggling quite well. Meaning they know how to assess the value of information and the price to pay for it.¡¹

    Generally speaking, the goal of every guild out there is to gain as many rare and unique items as possible and to conquer the newly opened ces before anyone else does exactly that. That¡¯s how it¡¯s supposed to be. But that¡¯s not what Library is after. They are fine with others gaining items and growing in power, with others discovering new areas before them. They only care to acquire as much knowledge as possible. All to better understand this world.

    ¡¸Nevertheless, they are still people. And people can be tempted if you have the things they want.¡¹

    ¡¸You have to be a true maniac to be willing to pay twenty percent of someone¡¯s debt just to acquire one book.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯d say that¡¯s an adequate price, since they are currently only three such volumes in the entire server.¡¹

    Putting it that way, that was actually quite a reasonable argument. For us it may not be worth all that much, but since there are only three copies of it in the entire game, it means that people would actually be willing to pay quite a bit of money just so they could get their hands on one of those.

    ¡¸And finally, we have SF-Zoo¡­¡­ As you could see, Sanraku-kun, they are like a fleetswarm of locusts. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that they are yers and not actually monsters in human shape.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    I get that much. They seemed like a bunch that would be ready to cap my knees if I chose to not give them Emul peacefully. I would like to know just what is their definition of ¡°potentially hazardous behavior¡±?

    ¡¸You can get to Rabbitz outside of the questline ¡°Invitation to the Bunny Country¡±, you know? But most probably these guys will be forced out of there before they know it, since they will most probably focus more on sightseeing than doing the actual quest.¡¹

    ¡¸Is that supposed to be a gag?¡¹

    ¡¸Nah, no way, that¡¯s impossible, there was no time limit on that quest. But on the other hand, can you imagine what will happen to that ce if those SF-Zoo freaks will be allowed to stay there for as long as they want?¡¹

    I could only imagine a grim future for all the bunnies out there, filled with much screaming and begging for help as the tentacles of despair slowly creep their way all over Rabbitz.

    ¡¸Sanraku-kun¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know what other secrets you are hiding right now, but maybe it would be best if only we know about them. For the sake of everyone else¡¯s sanity.¡¹

    ¡¸I have no problem with that, however, if they were to offer me something really valuable in exchange for more information I don¡¯t know if I¡¯d be able to openly refuse them¡­¡­¡¹

    It was a good thing that Emul was not here right now. Because of that I could answer honestly and after thinking matters through.

    However, unlike Ashura-kai, I got a feeling that SF-Zoo wouldn¡¯t try to break any sort of taboos. It means more or less that their action would not cause any direct harm to neither the yers nor the NPCs.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Oh well, we can cross that bridge once are actually on it.¡¹

    ¡¸If pushes to shove we can always help each other out. That¡¯s what ¡°guilds¡± are for, right?¡¹

 Chapter 98: Dancing on the Palm of Someone Elseâ€™s Hand Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 98: Dancing on the Palm of Someone Else¡¯s Hand Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Precisely! We are a guild right now! With shared inventory and all that! There may be information that we might want to keep to ourselves, but there are also those that we might want to make good use of! That being said, we simply cannot give them away for free.

    Pencilgton opens his hand and shows us his fingers.

    ¡¸For the moment, we have five huge pieces of info that we can consider as our trump cards. We might not be as grand or possess the resources like any other guilds, but we can use those five to make a name for ourselves!¡¹

    Then, closing each finger respectively, Pencilgton started to enumerate the trump cards that were currently in our possession.

    ¡¸First of all, since we have cleared the Unique Quest connected to Wezaemon before anyone else and we have ess to information about this whole ¡°Bahamut¡±.

    Secondly, since we managed to beat the Gravekeeper Wezaemon we have obtained the ¡°INVENTORY¡± essory with some really powerful weapons inside it.

    Third, we have the monopoly on the profession of ¡°Grandmaster¡± that our furry friend Break managed to achieve.

    Fourth, the same can be said about going to Rabbitz as well as the existence of the Cait Sith race that our dear Sanraku-kun discovered.

    And fifth, utilizing all of the above information, we have a huge head start when ites to taking the next Unique Quest thates around.¡¹

    In other words, even though each of us can hide a trump card of our own, as a guild we have those five to give us an advantage.

    ¡¸It¡¯s just a matter of time before the rest will catch wind of that as well. Information is everything in this game and the fact that three people possess information that can keep the three biggest guilds at bay¡­¡­ Ahh, don¡¯t you think it is really enjoyable? Being able to y people around like it was nothing?¡¹

    ¡¸Pencilgton, do something about your face. You¡¯re starting to creep the hell out of me right now.¡¹

    ¡¸Union Rounds was different. I could go all out on livestock there and ughter them like the pigs they all were¡­¡­ But this is different. We won¡¯t kill them, we will keep feeding them, fattening them up, making them grow. Only to get rid of them once the situation is stabilized and they will get us the biggest possible profit¡­..¡¹

    ¡¸Aren¡¯t you aiming to be that kind of criminal mastermind that always ends up getting disposed of?¡¹

    If ites to that, we shall kick the living fuck out of you and then exile you to the middle of some God forsaken nowhere where you will rot until you die.

    With Pencilgton starting to act crafty like that, it may be necessary for us to seriously start thinking about our future. That being said, I¡¯m not as good as Pencilgton when ites to nning a few steps ahead of me, but I can wholeheartedly focus on the nearest task that awaits me.

    (For now let¡¯s just go to see if Break will be able to fix the reactor. In the meantime, it might be a good thing to start thinking how to deal with SF-Zoo so that they won¡¯t cause unnecessary mayhem in Rabbitz¡­¡­ I also need to keep my promise to Emul¡­¡­)

    Even if it¡¯s nothing major, it is better to keep a high ¡°affection¡± meter with the bunnies. You never know when it mighte in handy.

    I would also need to sell all the unnecessary items that I managed to amass. Let¡¯s go shoppingter to earn some coin for ourselves.

    ¡¸I think I¡¯m going to go for now and grab something to eat.¡¹

    ¡¸Sure thing, let me know if there¡¯s going to be some new development.¡¹

    ¡¸And don¡¯t try to dodge our mails or calls ever again, Sanraku.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, yeah, go blow yourself.¡¹

    Saying that I wave my hand as a goodbye sign and then leave the caf¨¦.

    Now then, for as long as Emul stays in Rabbitz the only way for me to return there is by killing myself. And if I¡¯m going to kill myself, better to make it worth my while, no?

    So I bought some MP Recovery Potion and went to my usual mining spot located at the Crystal Cliff.

    ¡¸Good evening Scorpion-kun! I¡¯m sorry to interrupt your sleep, but you¡¯ll have to bear with me for a moment! You don¡¯t mind, don¡¯t you!?¡¹

    There were only two scorpions on the cliff right now, but in about ten seconds their numbers would grow tenfold.

    Nheless, with the ¡°INVENTORY¡± on my side, even if there were two hundred of them, it would pose no threat to me at all.

    I attract as many of them as possible before I retreat into my absolute safe zone inside of the ¡°INVENTORY¡±.

    While I wait for the scorpions aggro to wear off I admire the Godly architecture that surrounds me.

    ¡¸Ahh, that¡¯s right, I removed some pieces of my equipment here once¡­¡­ Right, the aggro should have worn off right about now.¡¹

    I drink the MP Recovery Potion and return to the Crystal Cliff.

    Just as I was about to return to the Crystal Cliffs, I can feel some nasty tentacle of bad premonition wrapping itself around my mind. But since I couldn¡¯t exactly put my mind on what it was, I dismissed that premonition as something with no importance.

    When I returned the only thing that greeted me was silence and night sky. About ten meters away from me, there was a mining spot ready to be excavated.

    ¡¸Now then¡­¡­ First of all, what kind of materials¡­¡­ Hm?¡¹

    Why are there no materials falling? And what¡¯s that sound? Rumbling in the earth? Some sort of quake? That timing¡­¡­ was it something that began right before the scorpions collided into themselves?

    Behavior pattern change, system intervention, add all of that and divide by the factors that I¡¯m aware of¡­¡­

    ¡¸An up¡­¡­ UPDATE!!!!!!!!!?????????¡¹

    The crystals all around me begin to move in towards my position. Moreover, it¡¯s not a transition from being inactive to active, but it was just as if they were waiting for me to return. What a nasty surprise.

    In the very next moment I was crushed to death and turned into minced meat by four gigantic crystal pieces.

 Chapter 99: Even When Things Fall Apart, Thereâ€™s a Strategy for Everything Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 99: Even When Things Fall Apart, There¡¯s a Strategy for Everything Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Haa, are you sh*tting me?¡¹

    When I logged out I decided to check the game¡¯s official website to confirm a hunch I was having and lo and behold it was there: ¡°We¡¯ve adjusted the behavioral patterns for some monsters¡±.

    The notice didn¡¯t specify the monsters whose behavior got changed, but I had a feeling that I knew just one of them that fell under that category.

    ¡¸Talk about being awkward¡­¡­¡¹

    I knew that it was a loophole in the system and I knew that there woulde a day when they would eventually fix that, but that day came rather faster than expected, god damn it!

    ¡¸Does that mean I¡¯ll need to revise my whole strategy?¡¹

    While sipping on a jelly drink I lean back in my chair thinking about my future ns. The biggest bummer would be that I would no longer be able to farm money using the materials from the Crystal Cliffs.

    This means I¡¯ll need to find a new way of earning money, but I don¡¯t feel like doing it at all right now. Maybe tomorrow.

    ¡¸Hmmmm¡­¡­ Really now, in order to make a lot of money I¡¯d need to have a higher level and be stronger to not be bothered by anything or anyone. So does that mean I¡¯ll have to power level? But¡­¡­¡¹

    After beating the Gravekeeper Wezaemon I leveled up so much that I wouldn¡¯t possibly gain any level anytime soon.

    As I was getting closer and closer to level eighty it would grow increasingly tougher to farm levels, and I would need those to beat the challenges that await me in the future. So I would need to start levelling up sooner rather thanter¡­..

    ¡¸Level Up¡­¡­ Farming¡­¡­¡¹

    I just couldn¡¯t let go of the crystals so easily. The monsters out there were clever, their design matched their surroundings and the items were just the best price-wise.

    On the surface, the crystal scorpions are just awful. However, their tactics, AI, shift between being active and inactive, the specifics of dropping items and their behavior in swarm made them really rewarding to fight and it was creating a unique source of motivation¡­¡­

    ¡¸Undefeated but also easy to defeat¡­¡­ Swarm AI¡­¡­¡¹

    Besides, the value of the items there was simply too good to pass up. The gemstones are not only materials for item making but also a priceless source of ie.

    I need to find a way to disable that crystal swarm. Then I will be able to mine out there as much as I want to, whenever I want to.

    However, the safety of the ¡°INVENTORY¡± was no longer a solution, since their behavioral patterns got changed. Possible solutions would be to widen the distance between myself and them or to time my attacks ordingly¡­¡­

    ¡¸Range attacks¡­¡­ Item drops not rted¡­¡­¡¹

    Rocking in my chair, I conduct an intense brainstorming session. I felt as though I was so close, I could almost feel the solution, it was so close yet so far away¡­¡­

    ¡¸Upuah¡­¡­¡¹

    Unable toe up with anything I started to y around with the jelly drink that was in my mouth. I must have been rather desperate, looking for inspiration in a pointless act such as that.

    And sure enough, thanks to the physics engine governing the Earth I soon enough choke on my drink, spit it out and watch it fall onto the floor after it drew a perfect parab in the air.

    I quickly tried to reach out my hand to catch the falling liquid, but since it was a real life and not a game my movements were slow and clumsy, and I had to watch the liquid spill all over the floor. The moment I saw that it was as if the supernova just exploded, a lightbulb above my head lit brightly and all the other things that in cartoons symbolized finding the solution. It seems that I arrived at the answer I was looking for.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Newton, falling down.¡¹

    Falling down. Yes, falling down.

    Universalw of gravitation¡­¡­ Everything that goes up must fall down, it is aw that the game engine imposes equally onto everything under its jurisdiction. Sure, some things are partially excluded from thatw, but they are tempered by something else in return.

    What¡¯s the location of the Crystal Cliffs? How can I get there? What is the thought pattern of the Crystal Scorpions? Just to what length are they willing to go in order to ambush me?

    ¡¸Fufu, fufufufufufufu¡­¡­ Now then, let¡¯s make this whole operation a one to remember! You thought I would just give up? Think again!¡¹

    At first I intended to just let it go, but now I changed my mind. Sleep is for the weak! Real strategists use every moment they can to conjure new ns and schemes!

    Needless to say, there was one more piece of the puzzle that needed to be found. But that can be done thanks to trial and error and level up.

 Chapter 99: Even When Things Fall Apart, Thereâ€™s a Strategy for Everything Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 99: Even When Things Fall Apart, There¡¯s a Strategy for Everything Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Ah, Sanraku-san! Back so soon?¡¹

    ¡¸Hi there, Emul. So? Any progress?¡¹

    ¡¸Edward-onii-chan said that he would like some time to think the matter through, so he asked us to wait until tomorrow! And I got a call from Break-onee-chan!¡¹

    ¡¸Right, so let¡¯s get it over with. First, we¡¯ll go to Break.¡¹

    I pick Emul up and throw him over my head. And since Emul was so familiar with sitting on my back so much, he corrected his posture in an instant and made himselffortable. I was also getting really used to this feeling of having him on my back.

    ¡¸Sanraku-san, for some reason you seem to be awfully fired up about something?¡¹

    ¡¸You can tell? I might have formed a guild with my buddies, but I still have my own individual goals to achieve, so I was going to make some preparation for them. One must always be prepared to be stabbed in the back by one¡¯s allies.¡¹

    ¡¸I think you should really apologize to every friend out there who is getting along with his buddies.¡¹

    ¡¸Ohe on now. Besides, we are going to visit a different kind of friend of mine. You see, they are really shy, staying motionless for most of the time, only beginning to move when they want to kill you¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Could you really consider someone like that to be a friend?¡¹

    Now, now, the Crystal Scorpions and I are best friends! Besties! Anyways, just thinking about the visit we were about to make was enough to fill my chest with that strange kind of gentle warmth¡­¡­ We were going to have a nice long talk, although most of themunication would be done via physical violence. Lots of violence.

    ¡¸That¡¯s not exactly what I would call a little preparation¡­¡­ If anyone asked me, which I know no one is going to do.¡¹

    Arriving at Break¡¯s ce I entered with Emul still riding on my back.

    ¡¸Ooh, so you¡¯vee, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸How¡¯s it going?¡¹

    Break greets us while wearing some kind of strange goggles on her head, which looked like a very advanced piece of Sci-Fi tech to me.

    ¡¸My job just entered its final stage. Soon, I will be able to give you a Legacy Weapon you deserve.¡¹

    ¡¸Sure thing.¡¹

    As a result of consultation with the other two, we decided that if we were to choose from the weapon or a mobile frame, for now we would choose a weapon. Because even if we were to share it, its value would still be better that way.

    ¡¸You can do whatever it is you want with it. I¡¯ll leave that to you.¡¹

    ¡¸Ooh, ooh¡­¡­ Then maybe we could go to the Ancient Ruins tomorrow? We could see just howrge this ce is and maybe find something useful in there while we¡¯re at it.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡¹

    It would be nice to be able to use things like robots, power armors and Sci-Fi weaponry.

    I tilted my head and was about to leave the workshop, when,

    ¡¸Now hol¡¯ on just a minute, there¡¯s something I need to talk to you about.¡¹

    ¡¸Hm?¡¹

    As I turned myself around I saw that Break removed her goggles and was now looking at me, so I turned towards her.

    ¡¸I would also like to make a request¡­¡­ Could you allow me to try and make a legacy weapon utilizing the crystal materials that you gathered?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? I don¡¯t really mind it all that much, but can something like that be done in the first ce¡­¡­?¡¹

    I always thought that ¡°Grandmaster¡± was a profession solely focused on repairing broken items.

    ¡¸Technically it can be built just like any other normal weapon, but that would include failing many times in the process. You could possibly waste a whole lot of materials¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t mind, don¡¯t mind, there¡¯s nothing wrong with doing trial and error as much as you need to in order to achieve the desired result.¡¹

    ¡¸Much appreciated¡­¡­! Incidentally, would it be possible to create double swords that way?¡¹

    To that question I received a negative response. The best thing that could be done for me right about now would be to reinforce the weapons I was already holding, or to make somethingpletely different so that I have more diversebat tactics.

    ¡¸If you could make one¡­¡­¡¹

    After that I visited a few more ces to finish my preparations for making our grand operation sessful¡­¡­ And then we proceeded to go to the Valley of the Dead.

    ¡¸Why are we going here again?¡¹

    ¡¸The Ancient Ruins are really tempting when ites to EXP, but the mobs there are too much of a drag to deal with. So we¡¯ll just have to make do with what we have here. It¡¯s safer that way.¡¹

    Additionally, as a countermeasure for Humming Rich in this dungeon I¡¯ve bought a bunch of Holy Water, brought a Duhan de in here with me and bought a Tome of Magic for Emul so that he could learn a new spell or two.

    ¡¸I¡¯d estimate that the average level here is about¡­¡­ eighty? Think we¡¯ll be able to wipe all of the undead in here clean?¡¹

    ¡¸With the use of my new spells we shall rip them all a new one!¡¹

    Regrettably enough, most of the new spells that Emul learned were not the offensive ones but rather support ones.

 Chapter 100: When You Walk Across the Sky, Nothing Is Impossible Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 100: When You Walk Across the Sky, Nothing Is Impossible Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Where the fuck do you think you¡¯re going, huh, bitch!?¡¹

    ¡¸GIIIIIIIIIIII!!!¡¹

    The moment I make eye contact, one of my prey is paralyzed in fear, and the other one simply runs away, knowing what¡¯s best for it. The predator and its prey, the one who runs away and the one who gives chase.

    We¡¯ve been going on for quite a while with this aggro pattern: undead hate the living and attack them on sight, the wild wyverns hate the undead and attack them on sight and while they are at each other¡¯s throats I take this chance and kill all of them.

    ¡¸Alright Emul, now that¡¯s done, let¡¯s get the hell out of here!¡¹

    ¡¸Affirmative! ¡°Magic Chain¡±!¡¹

    The moment Emul chants the spell¡¯s name, a magic circle appears right above our heads. Then a magic chain shoots out from the circle andtches itself onto the wyvern that was trying to get away.

    ¡¸I feel kind of bad for doing this since it was running away, but¡­¡­ Ah, to hell with it, this thing wouldn¡¯t probably show us any mercy! Off with its head!¡¹

    ¡¸Magic Edge!¡¹

    The spell shoots towards the wyvern that was being pulled towards us by the chain. Magic Edge managed to make a deep wound on the wyvern¡¯s neck and I swung my Duhan de right at the fresh wound.

    As a result of that, the wyvern¡¯s head is detached from its body and the wyvern explodes in the geyser of red polygons. It was another thing that I needed to watch out for: as my level steadily goes up, more and more monsters will start to run away from me, as the effects of the curse will start to kick in.

    ¡¸Geez¡­¡­ I¡¯m getting tired of ying tag all day long.¡¹

    ¡¸Not that I¡¯mining or anything, but Sanraku-san! It¡¯s hard for me to target anything when you are bouncing around like that! Please bear that in mind!¡¹

    ¡¸I know where you¡¯reing from with this, but right now it¡¯s a little bit impossible¡­¡­ Right now I¡¯m nothing more than a horse! Scratch that ¨C¨C a bird!¡¹

    That is because right now Emul was frantically clinging to my head as I was giving chase after enemies at full speed. It was more effective for me that way, since Emul wouldn¡¯t be left behind.

    But still, even though Emul was as effective as always in the way in which he was supporting me by sting monsters away with magic, I got a feeling that he was heavier today for some reason.

    First of all, the way in which he was able to bind the escaping wyverns with ¡°Magic Chain¡± and ¡°Magic Bind¡± of the same effect showed just how vastly he managed to improve his abilities since our first meeting. It also goes to show just how powerful a magic caster Emul really is.

    In other words, the stronger Emul was getting as a magic caster, the stronger and more effective his spells will be.

    However, the biggest advantage of this magic is that not only it binds the target, but it also prevents it from making even the smallest kinds of movements.

    In some earlier cases it happened that the wyvern managed to break the chain and get away with us being unable to reach it. So I guess that the spell has some hidden stats or characteristics when ites to binding specific targets. Is it the level difference? Or perhaps the distance? But even so, it was a really cost-efficient spell.

    It also seems that one of the figures I managed to obtain earlier was really effective when ites down to attracting the wyverns towards us. Mainly, the Female Knight one.

    When I showed one of those to a merchant earlier, I was informed that it was a rtively rare item and that he would buy it from me for a very reasonable price. I was also informed that those figurines were idols, intricately painted and rich in detail. Their price was also quite high.

    By the way, the most valuable of figurines are presumably the ones modeled after the Seven Unique Monsters.

    ¡¸Ah, if you ever happen toe across more such figurines, I¡¯ll be more than happy to buy them off of you¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Maybe we should go idol hunting after we are done with this business here¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san! Sanraku-san! It¡¯s a Duhan! Duhan straight ahead of us!¡¹

    ¡¸Hoo, a rare enemy means lots of EXP for me to gather!¡¹

    And now we even managed toe across a Duhan. It looked exactly the same as the one we bullied before¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know if he remembers me, but regardless it assumed the fighting stance as soon as we entered its aggro range.

    ¡¸Emul, time to start the operation ¡°Heroic Fall¡±!¡¹

    ¡¸Huh!? What¡¯s that!? It¡¯s the first time I ever heard about it!?¡¹

    ¡¸Hahaha! That¡¯s because I came up with it only recently!¡¹

    ¡¸Fubyah!!!¡¹

    Let me exin the basic assumptions of the operation ¡°Heroic Fall¡±.

    ¡¸Basically, it is a n that assumes that we tie the chain to Duhan and then smash it around like a bag of potatoes, hopefully killing it in the process.¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san, your ability to be able to trample on the honor of the dead people like it is the most logical thing to do is simultaneously scary and amazing¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Please remember, they must have had some sort of significant other during their lifetime. Someone who wouldment the fact that they were unable to pass on and roam thend as monsters like that. It is the least we can do for those significant others: to put their loved ones to eternal rest.¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san¡­¡­¡¹

    I think that it was actually cool of me to say something like that, even though in reality it was a dialogue borrowed from some other medic-like NPC from apletely different game. But Emul doesn¡¯t need to know that.

    Again, when ites to sh*tty games there are really two major kinds: Rare exceptions that tend to shine at certain points and give you hope for the better (which never actuallyes) and the true sh*t experience that continues to butt-fuck you with its crazy from the moment you press START button until you turn off the console.

    The former was making you feel all warm inside, thinking that the worst was finally over and that it will only be better from now on. But when the reality kicked in it made you feel as though you just saw a small bird fall out of its nest or a small cub getting ripped apart by wild beasts. It was sad, but also oddly fascinating.

    Thetter? It was so bad and tragic that it was no longer funny.

    And why does Emul turn his eyes away, looking all guilty like that?

    ¡¸Alright! Let¡¯s split this guy like a watermelon!¡¹

 Chapter 100: When You Walk Across the Sky, Nothing Is Impossible Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 100: When You Walk Across the Sky, Nothing Is Impossible Part 2</h4>

    Of course it would be much easier, since we had no blindfolds on. And the role of the watermelon would be its neck!

    With the chain created by Emul andtched onto the Duhan, we managed to pull it off its horse and as it was approaching us fast I activated Infinite Stream and started to thrash it around like a ser ball or a really huge bag of potatoes.

    At the same time as I bully the Duhan, Emul keeps on firing magical attacks at its horse. I wonder, if I was to attack the ce where the head should be, would it still count as a critical from hitting the neck even if it technically wasn¡¯t there?

    ¡¸Oraaa! Operation start!¡¹

    As the Duhan¡¯s body keeps on flying through the air on the chain I mercilessly keep on shing it with my Duhan sword. However, I also add new strikes to thebination and even jumping attacks, trying to recreate the ¡°Tensei¡± techniques I witnessed in the battle against Wezaemon.

    Each time one of my hits connects with its armor I can feel the shock of the blow getting transmitted through the de to my arm. It felt like hitting a balloon filled with mud and watching the ripples slowly spread.

    While savoring this peculiar feeling, I brace myself and resume my attacks with even greater ferocity.

    I also decided to add even more power to the blows by activating Moon Jump. In response¡­¡­ I could see and feel that the Duhan was starting to resemble a rotten potato. I was just hoping that I won¡¯t have to witness some sort of nasty goo-like substance oozing out of it in the near future.

    ¡¸Uuueeehhh~.¡¹

    ¡¸GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    While the headless Duhan screams like a demon as a result of being pummeled against the ground, I could also hear the painful moan of the horse being torn to pieces by Emul¡¯s Magic Edge. I must hand it to Emul, once he gets his mind on the job, he does it splendidly.

    The Duhan then falls onto the ground, twitching miserably and blood-colored polygons seep out of the cracks in its armor. I then approach it with my Duhan sword raised high, looking down at it with pity.

    ¡¸I sorry for doing this, my friend, but I really need that precious EXP that you are holding within yourself.¡¹

    I then bring the sword down and take it out of the ground once the Duhan changed into a geyser of red polygons. But even before I did that its body managed to bepletely limp.

    At the same time, the Duhan¡¯s horse also falls to the ground and bes motionless, turning into red polygons soon after.

    Now that I think about it, Duhans are much like vampires. Vampires that like sunbathing. Vampires that like to eat lots of garlic bread. Vampires that like to adorn their bodies with lots of silver essories. They had lots of weaknesses. Vampires are kind like Duhans. That makes me sad.

    ¡¸At least now you can sleep peacefully, Duhan¡­¡­ Although I made you look like a punctured tire.¡¹

    I even tried making a cross sign in the air, but then it urred to me: what kind of religion was dominant in this game in the first ce?

    I haven¡¯t really seen any churches in this game so far, but since there are Saints in here it must mean that there was at least some sort of Christianity, right? Let¡¯s try asking Katsu about that, since he is a monk, and the monk is very close to a priest, right?

    The Duhan, being a rare enemy as it was, right now seemed to me like a martyr who sacrificed himself so that I could grow stronger.

    ¡¸Level seventy nine¡­¡­ Looking at numbers alone, that¡¯s just one poor level up.¡¹

    But in this game there is more to leveling up than just making the skills be stronger. Was it really just a transition from seventy eight to seventy nine? No, that¡¯s not it. It means that I was gradually growing stronger. Humming Rich, Iron Golems, Duhans, Wezaemon¡­¡­ All of those fights were making me grow more ustomed to battle and making me stronger, making it possible to undergo more difficult fights. It was also making it possible for the skills to go stronger and even discover new ones.

    And just now, as I was looking through my status screen, I could feel my mouth getting distorted in a twisted kind of smile, seeing that I just got a very particr skill, one that a preview I saw in that magazine some time ago.

    ¡¸I was waiting to do this¡­¡­ Double Jump!¡¹

    PN: Sanraku

    LV: 79 (5)

    JOB: Mercenary (Dual Wielding)

    Money: 62,000 Mani

    HP: 40

    MP: 50

    STM: 100

    STR: 70

    DEX: 70

    AGI: 90

    TEC: 65

    VIT: 2

    LUC: 104

    Skills:

    ? Infinite Stream ¨C> Continuous sh

    ? Growing Earrings

    ? Infight Lv.MAX

    ? Drift Step

    ? Setsuna no Mikiri

    ? Hand of Fortune Lv.MAX

    ? Greater Climbing

    ? Climax Boost Lv.MAX

    ? Six-Fold Jump ¡ú Seven-Fold Jump

    ? Ricochet Step Lv.MAX

    ? Oppressive Step Lv.4

    ? Moon Jumper ¡ú Skywalker

    ? Hungry Wolf

    ? Off-road Lv.MAX

    ? Secret Sword Art ¡¸Water Mirror Moon¡¹

    ? Ignition Lv.MAX

    ? Overheat Lv.6

    ? Nitro Gain Lv.MAX

    ? Duelism

    ? Fistfight Lv.1

    ? Ten Counter

    ? Power sh Lv.1

    ? One strike

    Equipment:

    Left Hand: Duhan¡¯s Beheading Sword (2H)

    Right Hand: None

    Head: Mask of Bird¡¯s-Eye View (VIT + 1)

    Torso: Curse of Luukan

    Waist: None

    Feet: Curse of Luukan

    essories: ¡°INVENTORY¡±

 Chapter 101: Crystal Waterfall, Sympathy Through Isolation Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 101: Crystal Waterfall, Sympathy Through Istion Part 1</h4>

    I jump in the air. Then I jump again, this time using the air itself as my footing¡­.. Then I just jump over and over again.

    The biggest advantage of this skill is that it is not affected by the topography of any kind. This means more or less that no matter thend, water or even fire or magma, I will be able to jump over it.

    ¡¸It makes jumping through the air possible, and is influenced by other jumping skills¡­¡­ This is just the best, I couldn¡¯t possibly ask for more!¡¹

    I could see that I managed to obtain several new skills, but for now we can leave them be. I can always give them a go sometimeter.

    For now I wanted to test the different ways of activating this skill, to see if it could be activated by means other than jumping through the air or emptiness. Once I did that, I was more than ready to proceed with my n.

    ¡¸Say, Emul? I would like to go solo for a bit. Let¡¯s meet again at Eldto¡¯s back alleys tomorrow at sunrise.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m fine with that and all, but what are you going to do, Sanraku-san?¡¹

    ¡¸I am going to try something even more Vorpal than ever before!¡¹

    I can finally graduate from just dodging the Crystal Scorpions. Now I can finally be able to defeat them!

    In the first ce, the physics engine applies to everything in this game without fail. yers can run, arrows can fly through the air, and some monsters can soar through the sky. Everything made possible thanks to the physics engine. If the engine wasn¡¯t perfect, people would bounce around with every single step, arrows would fall to the ground instantly and monsters wouldn¡¯t be able to fly up in the air. Sometimes this system might be buggy and many glitches may result from that, but I see this game is not one of those cases.

    ¡¸The apple falls to the ground, so it¡¯s no wonder it can hit you on the head. Now then, prepare yourselves, Crystal Scorpions¡­¡­! You are about to witness just how horrifying of an opponent gravity could be¡­¡­!¡¹

    The Crystal Cliff may be your home turf and you may have an overwhelming advantage there, acting likendmines just waiting to get detonated. But, I have now obtained a trump card that will let me null all that advantage and get rid of you all once and for all!

    So I enter the Crystal Cliffs head on and go straight towards the center of this location with little to no hesitation at all!

    So far no enemies came to greet me, so I guess the RNG I encountered now is in my favor. However, if you load one bullet into a revolver and keep on pulling the trigger, you will get the bullet eventually. So it was only a matter of time before something would show up.

    Just then a bunch of crystals change into scorpions, and they look visually displeased, as if I just woke them up from a deep slumber. However, it must have been only my imagination, because in contrast to Cait Sith or Vorpal Bunnies, crystals are unable to present emotions of any kind.

    ¡¸Now then, let¡¯s go all out right from the get go!¡¹

    Ignition, Off-Road, Nitro Gain, Dualism.

    I activate all of mybat skills without hesitation and then I throw my half-naked body to meet its death once more. Naturally, the Crystal Scorpions will be active one by one as a result of that, so it won¡¯t be long before the reinforcements shall arrive.

    ¡¸Uhahahahahahahaha!!! Stand up! Wake up! Good morning! It¡¯s time to party, so no sleeping!¡¹

    It was like a crystal tsunami illuminated by the moonlight. Although I was the one who chose that particr course of action, this sight was always causing me to break into a cold sweat. After a few more seconds I finally find myself right where I want to be: right in front of the scorpions, right at the rear of the cliff. Perfect.

    ¡¸Now, time for a chicken race. Be sure that none of you strays away from the pack!¡¹

    The despair that one could feel upon witnessing a horde of charging Crystal Scorpions could be even greater than the one experienced upon seeing a raid boss or Unique Monster for the very first time.

    It was quantity over quality. There was no way that a single person could hope to win against a horde of monsters of high level, even if their AI was severelycking. But if that was the case, then the solution to my current predicament lies elsewhere.

    ¡¸If I cannot kill you, then I¡¯ll just force you all to kill yourselves!¡¹

    Without hesitation, I jump backwards and throw myself right into the dark abyss of the valley illuminated by moonlight.

    I see. I can feel that a godly game even cared to reproduce this unique feeling that apanies the free-fall, the one where you feel all of your innards racing towards your throat. Honestly, I wasn¡¯t even surprised by that anymore.

    And the crystal horde mindlessly rushes after their target without even a shred of hesitation. By doing so, their fate was sealed.

    Death by falling from somewhere high enough. It was one of those things that would be equally delivered to all denizens of the game, no matter their race, equipment or status.

    The only thing that would save them right now would be some sort of way to reduce the damage from falling. But seeing how they were acting just now, Crystal Scorpions have no such way at their disposal.

    It would be more than enough if their AI ordered them to ¡°Stop right before the edge of the cliff¡±.

    ¡¸Now, now, you¡¯d better fall off one by one really nicely, otherwise it will be most inconvenient for the customers that are right behind you!¡¹

    The momentum of the crystal horde is so great that even if they would try to stop now, they would be unable to do so. I doubt that any creature this size would.

    Not to mention that each and every single one of them wanted to be the one who would do me in. And because of that, they didn¡¯t hesitate to hurt theirpanions or even themselves, as long as it would get the job done.

    ¡¸I named that tactic ¡°Crimson Scorpion Falls¡±¡­¡­ Isn¡¯t that great? Killing all of you without actually having to battle you? ¡°Enter Travel¡±!¡¹

    Slowly but surely , the crystal tsunami was approaching me. They were so amassed right on top of one another that they started to get further and further away from the cliff as the time went on. Rather than a tsunami they looked like a living waterfall right about now, that is if a waterfall could reach about twenty meters forward. It is scary to think what would have happened to me if I was dead in the middle of this waterfall.

    For sure, if I were to be caught up in something like this I would get crushed and I would die.

 Chapter 101: Crystal Waterfall, Sympathy Through Isolation Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 101: Crystal Waterfall, Sympathy Through Istion Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Ubeh! Ouch, ouch, ouch¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    Because I teleported while being in motion, when I arrived at my destination I hit my back rather hard. So while I was waiting for my MP to recover, I massage my back in order to try to make the pain go away.

    ¡¸I knew it, even a simple escape like that has to feel like a close call, huh?¡¹

    Still, it was far safer to wait in here for the Crystal Scorpions to just kill themselves than to stay out there and watch them die.

    ¡¸I just have to stay here until the Scorpions get thinned out a little bit¡­¡­ Right, that should be quite enough¡­¡­ ¡°Transfer: Exit Gate!¡±¡¹

    The world around me changes once more and Ie back to jumping in mid-air. If I look down, I can see the red polygons sparkle just like stars down below, in the depths of the dark valley.

    For a moment out there a certain thought urred to me: what would have happened to me if I were to fall down there just like the Crystal Scorpions? Would I shatter into polygons in mid-air? Or would that happen once my body crashed against the rocks at the very bottom? Anyways, I chase that thought away in a hurry.

    ¡¸Now then, let¡¯s defy thews of physics some more¡­¡­!¡¹

    I use the Skywalker skill, and then Seven-Fold Jump, Ricochet Step, Off-Road¡­¡­ All of the skills that would help me jump even higher and even faster right about now.

    My feet gently step on the void that surrounds me. The feeling of stepping in the air was totally different from jumping off of the beaten ground or any other conventional foothold, so it was making me feel anxious just a little bit, but bit by bit I was getting used to it.

    ¡¸Now that I think about it, if Skywalker lets me traverse the sky, shouldn¡¯t Moon Jump technically let me reach the moon itself¡­¡­?¡¹

    The art of jumping. The predecessor of Skywalker, Moon Jump. Thinking about what was more appropriate for my current situation, I began to approach the Crystal Cliffs again. And the moment my feet touched the rocky wall, the full power of Ricochet Step could be demonstrated.

    It was an evasive skill and the number of its consecutive uses was as big as the skill level. When used in a narrow space, it could technically be used without stopping, turning you into a kind of human cannonball. However, since the name of the skill had ¡°Step¡± in it, it was applied to only that action ¨C a step. This skill was more or less useless if you failed to find a proper foothold. Right now, I would be able to bounce off the wall seven times.

    ¡¸Practice makes perfect¡­¡­ Woah, that was too close forfort!¡¹

    Nheless, one needed to be careful with one¡¯s steps, because sometimes the system was not doing a good job with properly registering them. Right now was a perfect example of that. Even though my foot touched the wall and I should have bounced off of it, I slipped instead and if I didn¡¯t thrust one of my daggers into the rock wall, I would be on my way down to join the Scorpion bunch.

    The dagger went right into the rock like a butter knife into butter. I knew it was a crime to use a weapon like that, but at least I was sure that it would support my weight without fail. But the situation wouldn¡¯t stay like that for long.

    If I were to fall to my death right now and join the Crystal Scorpions it would be the biggest irony ever, but I get the feeling that it would be well worth it. I wish that Emul could see me right now.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Huh? That¡¯s strange.¡¹

    It was then that something urred to me. Something that was obscured up until now because of the afterglow of my great victory.

    ¡¸I didn¡¯t level up?¡¹

    Could this be that falling to their death counts as monster suicide instead of yer kill? No, it couldn¡¯t be something like that, if that was the case than poison death would also count as suicide. But even though the battle seemingly ended, I was yet to receive my precious EXP points.

    Although I managed to achieve my goal of getting rid of the Scorpions so that I could mine peacefully, the cause of my current predicament was not giving me a rest.

    ¡¸There are two possible exnations of this situation.¡¹

    One was that entering the ¡°INVENTORY¡± was counted as fleeing from battle and no EXP was appointed. Honestly speaking the possibility of that being the case was quite big, and if it was indeed like that, then I must take that into ount on my next go.

    And as for another possibility¡­¡­

    ¡¸Hmm, a kind of camouge¡­¡­ Image change?¡¹

    The battle may not be over yet. ShangriLa Frontier is a game which utilizes the following system. If you fight one hundred enemies, even if you defeat ny nine enemies and have but one more to defeat, unless you defeat that hundredth one, you wouldn¡¯t receive but a single point of EXP.

    There are no more enemies in the nearest vicinity, I¡¯m only surrounded by genuine crystals right now.

    ¡¸I wonder if it¡¯s a rare enemy again¡­¡­ Why do I get the feeling that it will be a highly blood-hungry one?¡¹

    It may be something like ¡°mutating monster¡±, a rare enemy that evolved from the normal Crystal Scorpion. It may not be like its other brethren, and that may be the cause why I happened to overlook it amongst the transparent crowd.

    It looked like an inverted Crystal Scorpion. It wasrger, instead of scissor-like arms it had something simr to hammers, its stinger was way bigger and sharper, presumably able to pierce through any kind of armor or shield its opponents might wear. It also had a pair of crystal horns growing out of its head, which was making it look simr to a demon. Needless to say, it must have been much more dangerous than any normal scorpion.

    If there was a saving grace in here, then it is that it¡¯s alone. There were no more reinforcementsing, and presumably there would be no more. A kind of a lone wolf, I see.

    ¡¸What a coincidence, it just so happens that I am a lone wolf myself as well¡­¡­!¡¹

    At that moment, I was no longer thinking about running away. At the very least, it would be a waste to be given an opportunity to fight the rare monster and not take it. I don¡¯t know how that guy will react, but I could always fall back into ¡°INVENTORY¡± if things go south.

 Chapter 102: The Hunger Impulse Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 102: The Hunger Impulse Part 1</h4>

    The first thought that came across my mind upon seeing that monster was: ¡°Its designer has something seriously bad going on with his/her head.¡±

    The very next thing that came to my mind was: ¡°But points to him/her for trying to create something like that¡±.

    And then another thought was: ¡°You think the root of this monster may lie in something of sexual nature, by any chance?¡±

    And my most recent thought was¡­¡­

    ¡¸AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! You fucking piece of sh*t! I¡¯m gonna kill you! I am going to fucking kill you and beat you into a fucking bloody pulp, you piece of sh*t!¡¹

    Just to whom was all of that pent up anger directed? The programmers who were directly responsible? Or maybe the management staff that green-lighted this idea in the first ce?

    The only thing I could be absolutely sure was that the battle with this golden scorpion would not be a quick one. God damn it, I wish I had an energy drink or two on me right about now.

    If I was going to characterize the battle with the Golden Scorpion, it would be this: specialized encounter.

    Since it was bigger, better ¡°equipped¡± and possessed more aggressive behavior patterns, it was necessary to adopt a new kind of strategy against this guy. Underestimating it could spell my doom any moment now.

    It¡¯s ws and stinger¡­¡­ It¡¯s unbelievable how much harder they could hit. It was nothing like the regr crystal scorpions from before. I was sure that they would pierce through reinforced heavy armor like a knife through butter with little to no effort at all.

    Another difference was the golden crystal that grew all over its body. It was sturdy and my attacks did little to no damage to it, but I got the feeling that it was softer than the regr crystal around here. That being said, since it was this sturdy, I knew that it would be impossible to use some cheap tricks and attacks against it.

    Also, even though it was so sturdy and massive, it seems that its mobility was way better than that of regr scorpions, which was kind of bullsh*t if you were to ask me. And since I was unable to back away to the safety of ¡°Inventory¡± because of its mobility, so far I have died about eight times to it.

    But the biggest problem was its stinger. Bigger, longer, more deadly and venomous than that of the regr scorpions.

    But instead of following the regr logic of ¡°pierce the enemy THEN inject it with poison¡±, this guy of course had to possess the ability that would allow it to freely spray the poison all over the arena at its leisure. It also fired it in three different modes: single shot, burst fire andser. What the fuck is up with that?

    All of the above elementsbined into my current predicament, one where I was fighting it for at least a few hours and I was unable to make any visible progress.

    ¡¸Battle of this level of intensity¡­¡­ This is nuts¡­¡­!¡¹

    And even if I was able to do some amount of damage, this fucker would back away and put some distance in between us instantly! If that fact wasn¡¯t enough, apparently it also possessed some sort of healing ability, for when it raised its ws to the moon, all of its wounds seemed to have closed instantly. This was doing some serious damage to my poor heart, but my fighting spirit was yet to be broken. I was still in the game!

    Still, fighting for so long was starting to take its toll on me. But I still managed to fight in such a way to collect as much information as possible. Now, that information would allow me to create a sort of battle strategy for the next encounters.

    First of all, contrary to its smaller brethren, it seems to be somewhat less durable. Its overall appearance was fascinating, but whenpared to the normal scorpions its armor was full of cracks and crevices. If I seeded in sticking my des through those, it should be possible for me to damage it.

    The only thing I should be really worried about is the long-range venom spewing attack. The single shots were quite easy to avoid, and the others were manageable too, as long as I remember to maintain a reasonable distance from this beast.

    Theser deals a devastating amount of damage, but if I continue to run away from it it should be possible to avoid itpletely, not to mention that during this attack whichsted for about five seconds it was impossible for the scorpion to attack me in any other way.

    But it should be noted that even though there were opportunities for me to avoid those attacks, allowing myself to be hit by them even once would spell a game over for me instantly.

    I don¡¯t even want to think what¡¯s about to happen if that venom touches me.

    Its self-restoration is also quite a drag, but it seems that ¡°Moon¡± is the key to it.

    Speaking of which, wasn¡¯t the power of the moon also used by Wezaemon to create an alternate reality where Setsuna¡¯s grave was located? So maybe the way in which the golden scorpion regenerates itself with the power of the moon works in the same way as the sr panels that absorb the energy of the sun?

    I wonder if it will be interrupted if the clouds hide the moon behind them? It would be nice, otherwise it will be increasingly more difficult to deal with.

    The problem was now how to deal with those hammer-like ws. The solution was pretty obvious, but difficult to carry out¡­¡­ run away and return.

    ¡¸The rest is just a matter of avoiding that ridiculously high attack damage¡­¡­ But, hunting like that was never my forte.¡¹

    If I could somehow destroy some of its parts it would somewhat limit its attack options. Not that I cannot try some other means of dodging and evading, but if I could act on the simplest of scenarios, that is what I would like to do.

    ¡¸Six MP left¡­¡­¡¹

    This means that if worstes to worst, I could seek shelter inside ¡°INVENTORY¡± six more times.

    Six emergency evasions. But if I could help it, I don¡¯t want to use them at all.

    One reason was that I still wasn¡¯t sure if transferring to ¡°INVENTORY¡± would be treated as fleeing from battle or not. Actually, I know nothing about what¡¯s happening outside ¡°INVENTORY¡± while I am inside it.

    Therefore, even if I was forced to use ¡°INVENTORY¡±, I wanted to stay inside it as short as possible. But I won¡¯t lie, a brief respite would sure be nice.

    However, since this battle was dragging on for so long, my MP recovery potions and recovery items were running dangerously low. So there was that as well.

    ¡¸Come on, Golden Scorpion, can¡¯t you take down only one person? Is it that much of a problem to you?¡¹

    I then swing one of my Swamp Daggers at the Scorpion in an attempt to provoke it. As expected, it bounced off of one of its ws that look more like an oversized shield than the actual w.

 Chapter 102: The Hunger Impulse Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 102: The Hunger Impulse Part 2</h4>

    Although my dagger bounced off like that, there was no need to panic. I still had the second dagger at the ready, so I was ready for almost anything.

    The hammer-like w came crashing down towards my location with almost unimaginable speed, creating a huge crack in the crystal floor, sending small crystal pebbles in every direction. At the very next moment the scorpionshed with its long tail, smashing it into the ce where I was currently standing.

    I managed to evade the tail attack just in the nick of time and find myself some safe space amongst the rubble.

    ¡¸First of all, let¡¯s see how you like some attacks from above¡­¡­¡¹

    Swamp Daggers were actually anti-weapons, which means that there were a myriad of ways in which you could use them, as well as they possessed good damage values and reasonable durability.

    But I decided to change my weapons to Yuzuki. My reason for that?

    Each time I attack with ¡°Upper Fang¡±, there is a chance to score bonus critical hit damage.

    And each time I score a critical hit with the ¡°Lower Fang¡±, I would restore a small portion of my maximum HP.

    I feel like the key to winning this battle will be more or less reliant on my ability to skillfully bnce those two extra abilities of my weapons. Fifty-fifty would be ideal in this situation.

    ¡¸Uhahahahaha! For some reason this is bing more and more fun!¡¹

    I restore some of my HP with Yuzuki¡¯s ability and then activate Nitro Gain again. Then I activate Hungry Wolf, which was already used at least several times, and then I activate the rest of my skills with the exception of one.

    For some time I was using Empire Bee¡¯s Swords to attack the scorpion¡¯s tail, but I had to switch them once their durability started to sink dangerously low.

    ¡¸Oh no you don¡¯t! I won¡¯t let you break them!¡¹

    The Mid-Air jumping and Skywalk turned out to be crucial during this battle. Thanks to that, I was able to jump over the golden scorpion and position myself right behind its tail where it was harder for the scorpion to attack me.

    I could also use the momentum created during the jump to attack the base of its tail a few times. One, two, three¡­.. Four hits. Nice. At the same time the scorpion was effortlessly trying to attack me with its ws.

    From time to time it tried to attack me with its poisonous stinger, but each time I was able to evade it with my ¡°Water Mirror Moon¡± skill.

    Unleashing this skill would take the aggro off me and allow me to get some more free hits in.

    ¡¸Sh*t, I got too ahead of myself¡­¡­!¡¹

    The effect of spamming attacks and deleting my stamina bar to zero is just like it used to be. I had a skill that could mitigate it slightly, but for the price of being able to move I would take increased damage for a while, and right now it was something I would rather avoid having to deal with. In that case¡­¡­

    ¡¸Oh, for fuck¡¯s sake¡­¡­ ¡°Transfer: INVENTORY¡±!¡¹

    Being out of stamina and open for attacks, there was no other choice for me right now. While being there, waiting for my MP and stamina to recover, I could feel my tension slowly fading away.

    Even though it was not my actual body, mental tension was something that my real body could actually share with my avatar.

    While fighting alongside Pencilgton and Katsu I thought I started to build a natural resistance to tension, but apparently that was not the case. Guess my skill progression in that particr case was really slow.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s go back¡­¡­ Like hell I¡¯m gonna let you do whatever you want!!!¡¹

    I then go out of ¡°INVENTORY¡± and rush at the scorpion at full speed. I throw one of my knives forward and once I see it sink into the crack in between the crystal around the scorpion¡¯s w, I use Hand of Fortune to plunge it even deeper into its body.

    I use the attack that was a lighter version of pile bunker with one of my daggers, hitting the back of the scorpion¡¯s w while simultaneously avoiding its attack.

    ¡¸Give it a rest¡­¡­ already!¡¹

    Then I turn my twin des into one sword. This version of Yuzuki also possesses a special ability called ¡°Moon Aura¡±. It is an ability that imbues the crescent moon-shaped de with additional power that is unleashed upon a single blow. I direct that single blow towards the base of the scorpion¡¯s tail, hoping to sever it once and for all.

    And when I felt that the de started to tear through crystal and flesh instead of bouncing off of it, I was suddenly confident that I managed to achieve just that.

    ¡¸Alllllllllrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiigggggghhhhhhtttttt!!!¡¹

    The severed stinger flies high into the air, making a beautiful parab while it was at it. It got stuck to the ground just a few centimeters from me, way too close forfort.

    ¡¸Hahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    In that moment, every single chart and battle n that was in my mind disappeared. Stinger collectiones before anything else! As long as I can collect it, I¡¯m fine with everything else!

    Remembering the previous instance when the RNG Goddess fucked me over, I broke into a mad rush towards the severed stinger, probably setting a new record on that short distance or something like that.

    Go get it! Go get it! Before it disappears or the scorpion manages to recover it!

    ¡¸Got it!!¡¹

    I then proceed to ce the golden scorpion¡¯s stinger in my inventory with utmost care.

    ¡¸Haa, what¡¯s this, Fury Mode? But I feel like time began to flow once more.¡¹

    Each time my sword hits the golden crystal, I can see something like a small explosion urring, and even the fragments of the golden crystal were so filled with magical power that there were sparks flying all over them.

    Victory is¡­¡­ Well, I¡¯d say about twenty percent at best? Although it was nerve-wrecking, now I could finally get rid of all that tension that was filling me and begin collecting the materials. I shudder just thinking what would have happened otherwise, but that¡¯s about it.

    ¡¸That being said, whatever shall I do next time something like that happens¡­¡­ No, no, no. When ites to that, I¡¯ll just have to be ready.¡¹

    The moon slowly begins to sink. The sky gets brighter with every second and before I know it the sun starts to peek out from behind the horizon.

    I wanted to go home, but I was currently not in the mood for returning by death. What to do?

    ¡¸Haa¡­¡­ Wake up, you morons!!!¡¹

 Chapter 103: Craving Tenacity Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 103: Craving Tenacity Part 1</h4>

    I don¡¯t really have an instruction manual for this game, and I don¡¯t read all that deep into the wiki pages. However, there are still things that I am able to understand just by looking at my surroundings.

    For example, that the AI of the Golden Scorpion was pretty simr to that of the regr Crystal Scorpions.

    I don¡¯t know what the developers were thinking, but thanks to that it should be entirely possible to kill this monster just like it brethren.

    ¡¸Hahahahahaha!!! Soon the rm should inform me that the sun is rising!¡¹

    I race around the crystal cliffs screaming like mad, paying extra attention not to get hit by the big hammer-like ws that were falling onto the ground time after time.

    Why was I even running around and screaming like that? It was painfully obvious. If I behave as loudly as humanly possible, so much that other yers could even hear me inside of the valley down below, I should be able to draw the attention of the remaining scorpions that should still be lurking somewhere around here.

    And when I got the visual confirmation that there were indeed crystal scorpions approaching me at a very fast pace, I made a quick U-turn and started running back towards the Gold Scorpion, avoiding it¡¯s hammer-ws in the process.

    ¡¸Just like you would do when you try to avoid an oing car¡­¡­ It¡¯s all about the right timing¡­¡­ Now!¡¹

    I jump into the air right before colliding with the Golden Scorpion and traverse the air with the help of my Skywalk.

    However, even though its stinger was gone, that doesn¡¯t mean that the Scorpion lost its means to attack with it. Itshed its tail at me and I could feel the hit connect with my right arm.

    ¡¸Guh, uh¡­¡­ You think something like that will stop me!?¡¹

    My current action, my position, the position of scorpion and its hammer-ws¡­¡­ Taking all of those factors into consideration, the answer should be nothing but obvious.

    I used that moment to separate Yuzuki into two swords again, and ced the ¡°Upper Fang¡± back in my inventory, since my right arm was numb from that blow and I wouldn¡¯t be able to wield it effectively. Then, when I start seeing the crystal group that was approaching us fast, I grow more and more confident in my strategy.

    With the moonlight slowly disappearing behind my back, I pointed towards the scorpion with my finger while I dere:

    ¡¸Take a good look at me, because I¡¯m the one who is going to crush you to pieces! ¡­¡­ How do you like that?¡¹

    The target of the crystal horde was me of course, but what would happen if they were absolutely oblivious when ites to their surroundings or their own well-being?

    It seems that the Scorpion¡¯s AI misunderstood the situation and didn¡¯t register the iing enemies as one of its own. And so it turned away from me, raised its hammer-ws and rushed straight towards the iing horde. It chose to intercept them over rushing after me.

    If I chose to face them, I would have been swallowed by the crystal tsunami without a shred of doubt. And even if I were to run away, they would eventually catch up to me. But like that, I could avoid being stuck in between the scorpion and the crystal ce.

    ¡¸Ohh, that¡¯s so nice of you~. Now then, please do your best to protect me from these pests.¡¹

    The golden scorpion and the crystal wave were just about to sh with one another under the slowly disappearing moonlight. Just then I approached the golden scorpion from behind and gently tapped it on its wounded tail.

    ¡¸Good luck! Please do your best there!¡¹

    No, but honestly, drop dead you asshole!

    ¡¸Thinking about it logically, that golden asshole should be able to make a paste of the small fries¡­¡­ But I should take a look just in case I would have to deal a finishing blow to either group.¡¹

    Up until now I wasying on the floor inside of ¡°INVENTORY¡±, just chilling, but then I decided to get up and see how the carnage was unfolding.

    ¡¸¡°Transfer: Exit the INVENTORY.¡±¡¹

    There was a momentary sh of white light and in the next moment I exchanged the rough and metalndscape of ¡°INVENTORY¡± to the all-too familiar Crystal Cliff.

    Upon my return I shifted my gaze to look at the Golden Scorpion, and the only thing I could say was¡­¡­

    ¡¸¡­¡­ You¡¯ve gotta be sh*tting me.¡¹

    Defying every expectation, the Golden Scorpion was still standing, although it was in a state that could only be described as ¡°half-dead¡±.

    I could see that it did everything it could to crush its adversaries, but at the cost of sustaining heavy injuries itself.

    Its whole body was covered in cracks, and the right hammer-w was missingpletely.

    Its tail was also almostpletely ripped off, with only bits and pieces being left and hanging from its body. It must have given its all to defeat the crystal scorpions, as I could see their corpses literally polluting the whole area. Upon closer inspection, some of the golden scorpion¡¯s legs were also missing.

    But, it was still alive.

 Chapter 103: Craving Tenacity Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 103: Craving Tenacity Part 2</h4>

    There were some kind of fumes oozing out of the cracks in the golden crystal. Was it magical power? Or maybe blood that was quickly evaporating? Whatever it was, the more it was losing it the weaker it was bing.

    To be able to take out so many crystal scorpions and survive¡­¡­ Unbelievable¡­¡­ The Golden Scorpion managed to crush its opponents not by clever strategy or tactics, but only by brute force.

    And what¡¯s that? There, in the distance, there was a group of crystal scorpions that was running away from here! Could it be that they deemed the fight as lost and decided to run away instead of picking up a lost fight?

    ¡¸Why are you running, huh!? Why the fuck are you running!? Aren¡¯t you the ultimate predators!?¡¹

    Hearing that, there was a new wave of fumesing out of the scorpion¡¯s wounds. I got a feeling that it was something like the deration of its will to fight. It was so intense that it was distorting the air all around here.

    Although its form was greatly damaged, the battle was not over yet. It may be half-dead, but it was still dangerous.

    Who would have thought¡­¡­ a mob that reacted emotionally to a taunt and decided to attack even though it was probably against its patterns.

    ¡¸This only goes to show just how unique the AI of the rare enemy is.¡¹

    Looks like the battle would still continue. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing. Quite the opposite. It filled me with a new sense of determination. You¡¯ve done it, ShangriLa Frontier!

    ¡¸Good, good¡­¡­ If it¡¯s a fight you want, it is a fight you shall get. No trick and no cheats, juste at me with everything you¡¯ve got!¡¹

    I managed to persevere up until now¡­¡­ I needed to keep my cool right now so that I won¡¯t make a stupid mistake. Stupid mistakes are what kills people. Then I activate all of my avable skills and grip my weapon tightly with my left hand.

    My right hand was still feeling numb, so I decided to leave it as it is instead of gambling with holding a sword in it. Instead, I wanted to focu as much as possible on the left hand and the weapon I was holding in it.

    ¡¸Here Ie!¡¹

    At the same time the Golden Scorpionunched itself right at me, raising its remaining w and dragging whatever it was that remained out of its body with it.

    As the scorpiones closer, it brings its hammer-w to the ground, dragging its wounded body at a surprisingly high speed.

    Even though I managed to evade the attack and tried to respond with a few attacks of my own, the magical fumesing out of its wounds prevented me from getting closer.

    The scorpion responded by throwing the remnants of its tail at me, which swung in an irregr motion.

    I managed to lean backwards to just barely avoid the swing, my back right now almost parallel to the ground.

    Then I was forced to immediately roll to the side, as the hammer-w came crashing down towards where I was just a moment ago.

    Shaking off the feeling of crystal shrapnels digging into my back I start a mad dash from ce to ce, each time just barely dodging the hammer-w strikes that fall to the ground, creating small craters where it strikes.

    In face of that, I could feel overwhelmingly inferior. But all this time I was looking for a solution, a way that would help me ascertain my victory. I have searched meticulously and diligently. Until¡­..

    The time hase.

    ¡¸You¡¯re mine!¡¹

    Finally, the golden crystal reaches its limit and shatters under the pressure from the erupting magical power. There was onest gust of magical fumes and then the body of the golden scorpion shakes before it eventually came to a stop.

    Why is it that you can defeat so many enemies by forcing them to inflict harm on themselves? I couldn¡¯t help but wonder about that.

    Then I take a stance that I practiced so much during my days in United Rounds and deliver a mighty piercing strike to one of the scorpion¡¯s eyes.

    Just to be sure, I repeat that action seven more times until eventually every single eye of the Golden Scorpion was gouged out.

    The de finally reaches deeper into the scorpion¡¯s head, delivering a cracking sound that is different from when you crack a shell or crush something underneath your foot. Then the Golden Scorpion started to glow brightly in what I supposed was a onest death rush of magical energy.

    ¡¸Now, let¡¯s just get this over with!¡¹

    I want to be done with this so that I can finally go to sleep!

 Chapter 104: Desperation At the End of a Fierce Battle Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 104: Desperation At the End of a Fierce Battle Part 1</h4>

    Logically thinking, the threat represented by the Golden Scorpion now that its eyes had been gouged out should be close to zero since it was no longer able to target me.

    It could only respond to my attacks with some w m or tailsh here and there, but it wouldn¡¯t be able to hit me since it was throwing them in thepletely opposite directions.

    ¡¸However, apparently that¡¯s not the case here?¡¹

    In the meantime I opened and closed my right hand energetically to confirm that the numbness was finally gone.

    If I wanted to make some high-risk, high reward ys right about now I needed to be absolutely sure that I had some sort of contingency n just in case things go south. Of course it was all to RNG, but that¡¯s not important right now.

    ¡¸The time until itpletely copses¡­¡­ I¡¯d give it about two more minutes.¡¹

    Whatever one¡¯s motives may be, every single yer ys games in order to achieve something that is impossible to pull off in the real world. Therefore, when facing a strong opponent like that, a certain amount of recklessness was necessary in order to make the victoryplete.

    A certain randomness, a certain dramatic factor¡­¡­ Unfortunately, RNG yed a really huge role in those things.

    After all, if you don¡¯t have fun, what¡¯s the point in ying games in the first ce? So let¡¯s try to do something fun here, something that would make this win more memorable.

    It seems that the Golden Scorpion was no longer able to control the aim of its attacks, and was just swinging and charging at random. Of course, there were certain holes and intervals in those actions that I could exploit in my favor. Also, it seems that it was even more dangerous now that it was blinded and severely damaged.

    I use that opportunity to close the distance in between us and sh at it about three times with my right hand weapon. Just as the hammer-w was about to close in on my location, I used ¡°Water Mirror Moon¡± to direct its aggro somewhere else. Then I took the explosive idol out of my inventory and threw it high in the air. Wow, it was ticking just like any normal time bomb.

    Explosion should ur in three¡­¡­. Two¡­¡­ One¡­¡­ Now!

    The figurine falls to the ground and for a moment out there it looks like it¡¯s about to swell tremendously before eventually letting out a huge spherical explosion that sted the Scorpion away.

    The st was so huge that it literally blew away the crystal pieces that were scattered all over. Even I was being pushed back by the shockwave.

    ¡¸Oi, stop it! Stop it! At this rate we will be both blown away, you hear me!? We¡¯ll be blown away!¡¹

    I had to pierce the ground with my swords to be able to stay in ce. On the other hand, the Scorpion¡¯s tail was now barely hanging onto its body by a single thread of skin, which would most probably fall off eventually.

    It would be a lie if I said that it didn¡¯t feel oddly satisfying to see the Scorpion¡¯s tail finally ripped off from its body and flying into the distance. At the same time, I had so much trouble with cutting it off and the explosion did it just like that? Really?

    I wonder, if Yuzuki got any destructive attributes to it, would it be easier to achieve?

    ¡¸Oh well, this is the end you Gold Scorpion bastard!¡¹

    Now the only means of attack for the Golden Scorpion were to rush at me or to smack me with its hammer-w. But even so, right now it was all too easy for me to unleash a barrage of devastating attacks that would soon deal a finishing blow to it.

    ¡¸Even whenpared to Wezaemon, I must say that you were a most formidable opponent.¡¹

    I could say that with all certainty. Maybe its stats weren¡¯t as big as those of Wezaemon, but it was definitely strong.

    The moment when a boss or a strong enemy is defeated. There is no more satisfying and lonely moment in the life of any gamer.

    I then activated the skill ¡°Crescent Vorpal¡± and sh at the Scorpion¡¯s hammer-w diagonally from the bottom left to upper right.

    But it wasn¡¯t the end. Right after I passed the des through the hammer-w, I twisted them and directed them towards Scorpion¡¯s main body.

    ¡¸It¡¯s morning already, so go away together with the moon!¡¹

    Skill ¡°Secret Sword Art: Crescent Moon Cut¡±. Skill that I bought at Rabbitz, allowing me to sh from upper right to lower left, tracing a shape of the crescent moon in the air.

    Being cut off from its body, the hammer-w shoots in the air and traces an arc in mid-air before eventually falling to the ground.

    The movement of my swords stops, but this doesn¡¯t mean they have lost their power. I watched as the Scorpion got up and began charging straight at me, getting my swords ready.

    This would bring an end to this whole fight.

    The timing was nothing but perfect, and just as the Golden Scorpion was about to get close to me, its own hammer-w came crashing down onto its head, crushing it and spraying red polygons everywhere.

    ¡¸Hnnnnggghhh¡­¡­¡­¡­ Alllllllllllllllrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiggggggggggggggghhhhhhtttttt!!!!!!¡¹

    As the rain of red polygons and shattered crystals falls all over me, I let out a victory cry. It doesn¡¯t even matter if another group of crystal scorpions bes active or not. There was nothing that could possibly beat the euphoria I was feeling right now.

    However, unlike the battle with Wezaemon, it was a war of attrition in a whole other sense of the word. Here I needed to deliver the top performance almost non-stop at every single attempt, for even longer than thirty minutes. In a sense, this battle may have been even harder than the one against Wezaemon.

    ¡¸I¡¯m so tired! But it was so much fun! I want to go to sleep!¡¹

    I lie down on the ground, smiling so radiantly that it could well rival the radiance of the sun. Even if I was to be mauled down by the iing crystal horde, I¡¯m positive I could go down with a smile.

    However, there was still work to be done here. First of all I pick up my stuff from the ground. Then I examine a golden crystal shard that was left after the Golden Scorpion died.

    Thinking about it right now, Scorpions¡­¡­ Maybe I could use their materials to try to enhance some of my weaker weapons? It would certainly be worth a try. No harm with getting stronger.

    Thinking that, I start gathering the materials and putting them away into my inventory.

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­ Maybe I should take a screenshot and make a wallpaper out of it?¡¹

 Chapter 104: Desperation At the End of a Fierce Battle Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 104: Desperation At the End of a Fierce Battle Part 2</h4>

    In the first ce, since the enemy had a rare status, there are dozens of golden crystal shards just littering the ce.

    I carefully pick up every single one of them, paying extra attention not to miss anything in the process. And when I ced thest shard in my inventory, only then could I let out a sigh of relief. The battle was over, and so was the night.

    ¡¸Haa¡­¡­ This is a truly godly game¡­¡­¡¹

    Right now my chest was filled with a rather healthy sense of aplishment. I could already tell that it was something on apletely different level than aplishing something within a sh*tty game, where it was nothing but struggle against the bugs and unreasonable system mechanics.

    However, that exact sense of frustration was the source of energy that would fuel you to push forward when ites to sh*tty games. ¡­¡­ So wait, does that mean that sh*tty games can bring something productive if they really want to? Like generating stress in order to get rid of even bigger stress?

    ¡¸Now then¡­¡­ What to do? What to do?¡¹

    Honestly speaking, going back to Eidto from all the way up here would be kind of problematic¡­¡­ No, let¡¯s put that another way. I didn¡¯t want to go all that way on foot. So what? Logically speaking, diving off the cliff to my death was the most sensible answer, but it would be a waste of my good mood, since right about now I felt more alive than ever before.

    ¡¸Even though it is just a game, it makes me feel like that¡­¡­ Alright, time to put those feet of mine to good use!¡¹

    It was then that I felt the whole cliff starting to shake violently. In the distance, I could see another wave of crystal scorpionsing closer towards my location.

    Is it just me, or are they evenrger than the previous ones?

    ¡¸Oh, won¡¯t you look at that¡­¡­? Perfect timing, I was just looking for an incentive for a quicker run!¡¹

    Almost immediately after that I started to run in the opposite direction to the Crystal Scorpions, hauling ass like mad since my movement speed skills were all on cooldown.

    The back alleys of Eidto. The vast majority of night yers logged out for now and slowly but surely the daytime yers started to take their ce, but fortunately I was able to arrive at the promised meeting ce without any trouble or running into obstacles.

    Speaking of which, it was an actual miracle that I managed to get away from those scorpions without even a single scratch. Am I amazing, or what?

    ¡¸Emul? Are you in here, buddy?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, sir! Right here!¡¹

    One of the randomly ced boxes shook heavily, and after a moment Emul jumped out of it energetically.

    Emul shook some dust off of his fur and looked at me with a smile, and then his eyes became big. Bigger than ever before.

    ¡¸W, what an amazing aura you have about you right now, Sanraku-san! It¡¯s like your Vorpal Soul energy doubled or even tripled suddenly!¡¹

    ¡¸Hahaha, really now? Maybe I¡¯m bing even more Vorpal with each passing day. Oh yeah, here. A souvenir.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s so beautiful and it sparkles so much¡­¡­ What is it?¡¹

    ¡¸Excrement of the Crystal Scorpion, apparently.¡¹

    ¡¸FUBYAH ¨C¨C¨C¨C!!!???¡¹

    Hey now, don¡¯t throw it away! It¡¯s a rare item, you now? Even if it¡¯s a piece of crap.

    Then, together with Emul we went back to Rabbitz and went straight towards Break¡¯s workshop.

    ¡¸Oh well, if it isn¡¯t our Birdheadd. Good timing. That thing yer left with me is almost finished.¡¹

    Then, before she could say anything else, I take out a certain item and ce it on the anvil. The stinger of the Golden Crystal Scorpion and another item, a crystal that was as big as a basketball.

    Break, after spending a few days on repairing the reactor for me, looked at the stinger with her eyes as big as a pair of saucers.

    ¡¸This isn¡¯t any ordinary Crystal Stinger you¡¯ve got there¡­¡­ And this thing is extremely rare and hard to obtain, worth nothing but a small fortune, almost impossible to break¡­¡­ ¡°Crystal Nucleus of the Golden Crystal Scorpion¡±!¡¹

    The rusty anvil is basked in delicate golden light. Was that my extremely high luck stat that allowed me to obtain it, or maybe it was the fact that I was taking down such strong enemies all on my own? Anyways, it was apparently extremely lucky for me to have obtained such a rare treat.

    Taking a closer look at it, it looks as though there¡¯s a whole different gxy contained within the crystal ball. Who would have thought that I would get my hands on something so valuable?

    ¡¸If you¡¯d be so kind, I thought that maybe you could use some of those items in the Legacy Weapon you¡¯re making? You know, to give it a little bit of extra kick?¡­¡­ Hm? Break? Everything alright there?¡¹

    Break¡¯s eyes got even wider, and her mouth hung wide open. Having my suspicions, I waved my hand right in front of her face and then checked for the pulse.

    ¡¸Yo, she dead¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m alive, you stupid tart!¡¹

    Apparently she just fainted with that kind of expression from all the excitement. I exchanged a short nce with Emul, and then we allughed shortly but sincerely from just how absurd this whole situation seemed to be.

    Emul then returned to his rightful ce at the top of my head while Break started to closely examine all of the materials, looking at them with fascination.

    Before logging out there was one thing I wanted to do. So we returned to my room and entered ¡°INVENTORY¡±, with the intention of giving the repaired reactor a spin.

    ¡¸Fufufufu¡­¡­ I am the first one to give myself a ride in this incredible Power Suit!¡¹

    Taking a stroll through the ¡°INVENTORY¡¯S¡± space, I reached out towards the Power Suit that was still supported by its stand.

    Making my choice, I approach the suit of my choice and ce the reactor in the corresponding slot, waking the armor from its long slumber.

    ¡¸Fuhahahahaha¡­¡­!!! Now, awaken, my ¡¸Note: Masters? ¡­¡­Anyone?¡¹ ¡°Seiryu¡±¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    I won¡¯t go into details here, but suffice it to say that I lost the incentive to y ShangriLa Frontier for about two days straight.

 Chapter 105: If They Canâ€™t Eat Bread Let Them Eat Rice Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 105: If They Can¡¯t Eat Bread Let Them Eat Rice Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­ Ah.¡¹

    The shocing despair and the fatigue from my battle with Crystal Scorpions and the Golden Scorpion forced me to escape from ShanFro back to reality.

    Looking up at the clock, it was around 5:00 a.m ¡­¡­ And while I know that getting up so early is not all that healthy for your body, insomnia is a much bigger threat in my opinion.

    ¡¸Haa¡­¡­¡¹

    I leave my room and just like a severely malnourished and dehydrated zombie I descend into the kitchen.

    ¡¸Ara, Onii-chan? What¡¯s up with you getting up this early in the morning?¡¹

    ¡¸Shut it, I don¡¯t want to hear that from someone who is wasting his youth for something as retarded as part-time jobs.¡¹

    ¡¸Well excuse me, but if shining as brightly as the star is retarded for you, then there¡¯s nothing I can help you with that line of thinking!¡¹

    Just look at her, how strong my little sister is.

    But since I¡¯m logging into the game every single day, then maybe there wille the day when I¡¯ll be as good as Katsu is at gaming.

    ¡¸So anyways, what¡¯s wrong? To be blunt you look as if you just went through hell.¡¹

    ¡¸Nah¡­¡­ How should I put it? It¡¯s like as if you¡¯ve finally bought the clothes you were desperately saving your money for, but then they turn out to be too small for you¡­¡­ Something like that.¡¹

    ¡¸Seriously, are you really okay? Are you sure you can photosynthesize well enough? Want me to get you somewhere with more sun?¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t think that would help me all that much when ites to gaming¡­¡­ Hey! What am I to you!? Some kind of a mindless nt!?¡¹

    While trying to deliver a karate chop onto my little sister¡¯s head, I remember the despair I felt at that exact moment.

    There was nothing that could possibly prophet that nasty turn of event. But at first it was simply amazing.

    However, this thing was not a ¡°Power Suit¡± per se. It was in fact a ¡°Power Armor¡± consisting of four elements: head, torso, arms and legs. Meaning, the Lukaan curse applied to it as well¡­¡­ It almost made my bash my own head against a wall.

    ¡¸But it¡¯s just that¡­¡­ I knew it¡­¡­¡¹

    I tried so hard to repair the reactor and get this thing working, but in the end it turns out that I won¡¯t even be able to use it properly. Also, I found out that most of its armaments were unable to function properly unless the full set of armor was being worn at the given time.

    The only saving grace was that I was able to confirm that the Power Armors could be activated and were functioning properly. But it was still a bitter pill to swallow, knowing that I won¡¯t be able to give them a go anytime soon and realize their true potential. That despair caused me to be unable to log into ShanFro for about two days.

    And the worst thing was that the people would never possibly be able to understand just how much it hurt, just how much damage it caused me to suffer.

    ¡¸Maybe what I need right about now is a change of pace¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right, Onii-chan. Even if you happen to fail, the only thing you need to do is to get up and try again, right? Or if that analogy was too hard for you to understand, try to do something else to see if it brings different results.¡¹

    ¡¸Substitute¡­¡­ Change of pace¡­¡­ I see, that was actually quite helpful. Thanks.¡¹

    With a slightly better mood, I thanked my little sister and went back to my room.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Yeah, except I was not talking about those stupid games of yours, you know?¡¹

    ¡¸Fumu¡­¡­ There you go.¡¹

    I take the ShanFro game chip out of the console, put it back in its box and store it away at the game shelf. Then I turn towards one of the other boxes that were neatly stored there.

    Basically speaking, before ying ShanFro I was pretty much prejudiced and only yed sh*tty games most of the time, but that doesn¡¯t mean that every single game that I bought is a sh*tty game.

    And one of those non-sh*tty games was¡­¡­

    ¡¸Nephilim Hollow¡­¡­¡¹

    As a genre it was a Mecha Fighting Game.

    The setting for this game is that one day metal giants fell down from the sky and that almost led to the destruction of humanity.

    The yers can choose between three distinct factions in the game and battle the other factions using those giant robots¡­¡­ I have always though that it was a good game if someone was looking for a high-speed mechabat while doing crazy acrobatics in the air.

    But even though it has such a nice premise, it¡¯s not all that well-known or well-popted. Why is that?

    Because it is really difficult. Not in terms of actual difficulty, but when ites to controls.

    I was introduced to that game even before I met Katsu and Pencilgton. One of my friends rmended it to me saying it¡¯s like trying to y guitar, bass guitar, drums and keyboard all at once, all alone. I was immediately sold by that description.

    And certainly, that description was not wrong. The pilots are not really sitting inside of the robots, but they rather fuse their minds with their systems, operating them like their own bodies. It is really interesting mechanic, but it also makes it tremendously difficult since you must take a whole bun of things into ount while piloting.

    For example, let¡¯s say that you have gatling guns on both of your arms and shoulders. If that was a ¡°normal¡± style of piloting, you¡¯d only need to press a button or touch a panel to shoot them effectively.

    However, when ites to Nephilim that type of piloting is not an option, and rather than a machine you need to treat your robot like a natural extension of your own body.

    That is, the yer must simultaneously control the movement, dodging, systems andbat aspect of the mecha.

    Technically you could leave the movements to the CPU, but that would cause you overall win-rate and immersion to dwindle tremendously.

 Chapter 105: If They Canâ€™t Eat Bread Let Them Eat Rice Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 105: If They Can¡¯t Eat Bread Let Them Eat Rice Part 2</h4>

    If you wanted to think of reaching high into this game¡¯s ranking mode, you needed the ability to precisely maneuver your frame and engage inbat at the same time at ultra-high speed. Because of that it wasn¡¯t unusual for a pair of people to pilot the same frame together, since that would ease the amount of input to watch out for by half. So I was wondering how would someone like me, who usually ys solo, would do?

    ¡¸However, once you get used to that the game is really enjoyable, since the developers did a really good job with bncing gamey with the story.¡¹

    That being said, the learning curve and high difficulty of entry made this game somewhat inessible to newbies, making the game something that was more enjoyable to watch than actually y.

    Yes, it is a good analogy to say that Nephilim Hollow was a direct opposite of Berserker Passion Online. Both games were not all that popr, but if the former was attracting the yers because of its easy learning curve, thetter was scarying people away with its difficulty.

    Besides, ¡°Crap¡± managed to turn its bug-ridden gamey into one of its main selling points, but the Nephilim Hollow couldn¡¯t do something like that. Was that a difference in management? Or was it something else?

    Nheless, taking my little sister¡¯s advice, the only thing that could satiate my hunger for Mecha action was some actual Mecha action!

    I had another Mecha game in my collection, but it was a truly outrageous sh*tty game, so I¡¯ll leave that be for now.

    ¡¸So, what kind of character I want to y in this game right about now?¡¹

    There was surely a different kind of excitement that was apanying getting back to an old game from the excitement of ying a brand new one.

    ¡¸Ah, that¡¯s right, Kingfisher, was it?¡¹

    After logging into the game, I went straight to the warehouse where I was storing my own custom Nephilim.

    I know that it was just a game, and the one not that much grounded in reality, but I could swear that I saw my frame covered in a thickyer of dust.

    ¡¸It¡¯s been a while, ¡°Kingfisher¡±¡­¡­ God, I can¡¯t believe just how good the color scheme works for you. It gets me every single time.¡¹

    The idea behind this frame was fairly simple. I took every single thing that I deemed unnecessary in order to maximize its movement speed, and then gave it a set of weapons that would be capable of taking down my opponents in one fell swoop. That is the kind of frame the Kingfisher is.

    I stripped it of almost all of its armor and gave it only the parts that would elerate the speed of its movements without losing in the field of aerodynamics, which made it look more like a doll rather than a steel giant that fell from the heavens. However, thanks to that it could achieve speeds normally impossible for a middle-ss frames, and the extra thrusters would allow it to exceed those limits even further, although only for about five seconds or so.

    But the specifications of this build made it to be like a firework. It was capable to maintain high speed but only for a short amount of time, it was difficult to maneuver while doing so, and if even one piece of its equipment would somehow get damaged, it mobility would drop even further, making the victory almost impossible to achieve. In other words, it would require of me to defeat my opponents in around three minutes or even less.

    ¡¸Thinking about it now, Power Armor and a Mecha are only simr on paper, but in reality they are worlds apart¡­¡­ Ah, who cares?¡¹

    When ites to that, it¡¯s just the case of properly adjusting your mindset. It was nothing but a minor detail, nothing I needed to be overly concerned about.

    After I checked everything, I went to the entrance of thepany I was affiliated with without dy.

    ¡¸The maneuvers are just as sweet as I remember them, but my shots are still messy and my faints easy to see through¡­¡­ I¡¯m rusty, that¡¯s for certain.¡¹

    Normally since I specialize in long-rangebat I would have taken care of my opponent long ago, but the battle was starting to drag on. It was enough of the proof that I got rusty with this game.

    Last time I yed that game it was a few months ago, but at that time I was aiming for the very top of the rankingdder! There was tension, there was excitement, but I must admit that even though I was meeting lots of good opponents, I somehow started to feel burned out. But now¡­¡­

    ¡¸If I remember correctly, the name of that yer is¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸PILOT RUST HAS ISSUED A DUEL INVITATION TO YOU. WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACCEPT?¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, that¡¯s it! Rust! Now I remember¡­¡­ Are the rumors about my return travelling that fast?¡¹

    Seeing the name Rust disyed on the screen served to jog my memory. It was one of the top ranking yers from around the time I was still around.

    Rust¡¯s frame had its boosters ced asymmetrically, which allowed it to perform some truly amazing maneuvers that made it resemble a falling leaf dancing in the wind. Ourst duel ended in a draw, but for me it really felt like a bitter defeat.

    Truth to be told, that sense of defeat was the final straw for me and after that I went to vent my frustration on other sh*tty games.

    ¡¸I wanted to practice some more, but since an opportunity like that presents itself¡­¡­ You¡¯re on!¡¹

    I epted without hesitation. Before long, I can see a red frame appear right before my eyes.

    Some details and armaments were different about it from thest time I saw it, but without a doubt, it was Rust¡¯s most trusted frame, ¡°Phoenix¡±.

    My ¡°Kingfisher¡± had a color blue for its main paint job, so it was a nice contrast to the ¡°Phoenix¡¯s¡± red.

    ¡¸Alright¡­¡­ I shall beat your ass faster than it takes to prepare a cup of instant noodles!¡¹

    By that deration, a huge blue and red bird took off in the direction of the city.

 Chapter 106: New Wave Incoming Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 106: New Wave Iing Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Daaaaaagh! I lost!¡¹

    I screamed at the top of my lungs when I respawned at the entrance, without even caring that I was gathering the attention of other yers that were present out there.

    Ahhh, god damn IT! I was too focused on thatst attack! Thinking about it now, I was as good as dead once my thrusters and other parts got damaged. Once it lost its mobility, Kingfisher was nothing more than a sitting duck.

    If the damage was directed at the legs, I could have tried to prolong the battle to force it into a draw again, but the new match time made that task increasingly more difficult.

    ¡¸There¡¯s nothing wrong with my offensive power, but what good will it do to me if I¡¯m not able to avoid iing attacks?¡¹

    That is to say, I also didn¡¯t expect the arena to be so small. It made maneuvering that much harder, because of which I couldn¡¯t realize my full potential. But it¡¯s no use worrying about it now.

    ¡¸After all, equipment is also a crucial part¡­¡­ Without some good parts it will be impossible for me to rack up wins again¡­¡­¡¹

    It goes to show just how much things have changed since thest time I was around. New weapons, new parts, new strategies. Compared to that, I was clumsy and sluggishly slow.

    Originally ¡°Kingfisher¡± was modeled after a certain boss in this game, but if I wanted to change my style and y in a different way, the only thing I needed to do was to change some parts and vo!

    Thinking about that, I cross my arms over my chest. On a side note, this Sanraku, contrary to my ShanFro counterpart, was fully dressed, so there was no threat of people giving me the look all the time.

    ¡¸That stupid yer name¡­¡­ No doubt about it! You¡¯re the ¡°Kingfisher¡±!¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? Ahh¡­¡­ Rust? Oh, yeah, right, Rust. Thanks for a wonderful match out there. GG, good game and all that.¡¹

    ¡¸GG¡­¡­ Go shove it up your ass!¡¹

    When I turn around I can see a girl¡¯s avatar approaching me. She was ring at me quite intensely through her visor, which could be selected at the very beginning of the game as an essory.

    Incidentally, the essory I was wearing on my head right now was called ¡°Old Nephilim Fusion Auxiliary Unit¡±. It was an advanced essory that one of the subsses, a Gadgetman, could use in this game. It¡¯s stats were pretty good, but the only downside was that it looked kind of like a huge kettle.

    The fact that it hindered my field of view and that no one else was wearing it at the current moment was a testament to the fact that I was gone from this game for a long time.

    ¡¸Why the hell are you back in this game¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh, why¡­¡­?¡¹

    Even if you ask me that, wasn¡¯t just the urge to have fun enough of a reason to do something? While I was thinking that to myself, I saw a young man walking towards Rust and tapping her on the shoulder. When he spoke, his voice was even younger than his looks.

    ¡¸I¡¯m terribly sorry. Rust might talk and behave like that, but in reality she¡¯s really d that you came back to the game.¡¹

    ¡¸Eh, ah! You¡¯re the worst¡­¡­!¡¹

    Looking closely now, Rust was gently pulling my clothes as if she was trying to get closer, but I couldn¡¯t feel any real hostilitying from her. She seemed like a little dog that found a bone that it was looking for for so long¡­¡­ Would that make this boy, Mold, its owner?

    ¡¸Now hurry it up¡­¡­! I want a rematch¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Umm, I¡¯m terribly sorry but¡­¡­ I¡¯m really busy at the moment.¡¹

    ¡¸Mold, you idiot!¡¹

    ¡¸Ouch!?¡¹

    As Rust kicked Mold¡¯s shin and screams at him, Mold jumps up and shrieks in pain. Putting thatedic skit aside, it seems that one of the top ranking yers wanted to have a rematch with me.

    So my answer could only be one.

    ¡¸Sorry, but not right now.¡¹

    In that instant I could see that the expression on Rust¡¯s face changed drastically. She was red on the face and her eyes narrowed down considerably. She then asked quietly.

    ¡¸Why?¡¹

    ¡¸Well you see, I was going toe up with a new build for my Nephilim.¡¹

    I read quite a bit of patch notes while I was waiting to log in. It seems that this game was receiving updates and new content quite regrly, unlike certain ¡°Crap¡± that had months of drought only to release a sh*tload of content in one go.

    I will most probably return to ShanFro in a day or two, but for now I wanted to see if I could improve ¡°Kingfisher¡± to some extent.

    When I said that, Rust turned towards Mold and apologized to him, her expression softened considerably.

    It¡¯s not that I hate people who take ying games overly seriously. If you are passionate about something, then sure, go right ahead and be that way. But you need to take into ount that not everyone wants to take something as seriously as you do.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ In that case, tomorrow. Let¡¯s have a rematch tomorrow morning.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, alright.¡¹

    I epted Rust¡¯s challenge and smiled at her, even though she wasn¡¯t able to see it because of the mask that was on my face.

    Then I decided to give constructing a new Nephilim a go right away.

 Chapter 106: New Wave Incoming Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 106: New Wave Iing Part 2</h4>

    In order to build a new Nephilim from scratch, there are three processes which must be followed.

    First of all you need to catch yourself a wild Nephilim¡­¡­

    You do that over and over and over and over again.

    In this game ¡°Naphilim¡± is the term used to describe a giant machine that fell from the sky on one day.

    Most of them fall down from the sky still in the ¡°active¡± state, which means they will try to attack the yer on sight, since they will perceive the yers as ¡°enemies¡±.

    The yer usually epts the mission from one of the three Nephilim Companies and then proceeds to capture the mecha. While going on such missions, you could stumble upon ¡°inactive¡± Nephilim from time to time.

    The first Nephilim is issued to you by thepany as a part of the game¡¯s story. Every consecutive Nephilim you want you must hunt it down for yourself. There was an option of buying it from thepany as well, but those frames have worse stats and the price isn¡¯t really worth it.

    ¡¸Hmm, this is something I have never considered in my ns before.¡¹

    Next step is to equip the captured Nephilim with custom parts.

    And since the Nephilim¡¯s exoskeleton looked like a human mannequin, equipping it with parts was actually like ying dress-up dolls.

    The parts could be found in the wilderness, bought from thepany or ck market, or even traded with other yers. Each source has its own merits and demerits, but usually you want to obtain the best parts possible.

    ¡¸Homing missiles that explode on contact with the ground. Nah, this might be too much of an overkill here¡­¡­¡¹

    Once all that is done, you need to register the Nephilim to you and give it its own unique name. There, one fresh, new Nephilim,ing right up!

    ¡¸Name, a name, huh¡­¡­? Well, this time around I can¡¯t really name it after its color scheme, so unlike Kingfisher, maybe I should go for something that would resonate with its overall appearance?¡¹

    Let¡¯s see, how would that sound in English? Or maybe German would be better? Nah, German is too pretentious¡­¡­

    ¡¸From now on, your name shall be¡­¡­¡¹

    Super Gutsy Man, the second ce in the ranking, was greatly confused at the current moment.

    He heard that since this morning, Kingfisher, who was once said to have destroyed the whole rankingdder in this game, has returned.

    Super Gutsy Man has fought with Kingfisher before. It was the only yer, other than the Rank 1 Rust, that could best him inbat so easily. From what Super Gutsy Man has heard, Rust had a real grudge against Kingfisher, and so he thought that it might be worth his while to give it a shot at taking Kingfisher down in order to get to Rust that way.

    Especially since Rust¡¯s ¡°Phoenix¡±pletely and utterly destroyed his frame which was equipped with a truly devastating heavy armor and Quadruple Cannons. For Super Gutsy Man, it was a crushing defeat.

    But this time it would be different. He wasn¡¯t the same guy as he was all that time ago, when he only started to climb the rankingdder in hopes of getting all the way to the top.

    He did extensive research on all of the top yers and their frames. He even went as far as to change his own ystyle and discard the Quadruple Cannons in favor of Photon Lasers, which could track his enemies and even bent a certain amount of times. Thanks to that he managed to climb all the way to Rank 2, with only Rust separating him from sitting at the absolute top.

    ¡¸What is, this¡­¡­?¡¹

    Could this be what they called fate? To happen across the legendary Kingfisher, the one who was Rust¡¯s equal, here in a random duel he decided to enter?

    ¡°Sanraku¡± was surely the name of the Kingfisher¡¯s pilot, but the frame itself was not Kingfisher. So Super Gutsy Man felt kind of honored that he would be the first one to fight ¡°Sanraku¡¯s¡± new creation.

    And once both frames spawned on the battle arena¡­¡­

    ¡¸¡°Fiddler¡¯s Club¡±¡­¡­?¡¹

    Super Gutsy Man¡­¡­ I remember him to be strong. His frame, ¡°Hell Hound¡± was equipped with a bendingser both at the front of the frame and at its back, which made it a bit problematic to fight, but my ¡°Fiddler¡¯s Club¡± couldn¡¯t possibly have asked for a better sparring partner.

    Contrary to Kingfisher, this frame couldn¡¯t possibly destroy its enemies with one blow, but it was created just for the sake of fighting other human opponents.

    ¡¸It¡¯s not my hobby to follow a loss with another loss!¡¹

    So let¡¯s give it my best to try and bring ¡°Phoenix¡± down together with this gloomy mood in which ShanFro threw me!

 Chapter 107: This Isnâ€™t a Battle, But Only a One-Sided Slaughter

    <h4>Chapter 107: This Isn¡¯t a Battle, But Only a One-Sided ughter</h4>

    Actually, if it wasn¡¯t for the pilot¡¯s abilities, the Nephilim in itself wouldn¡¯t be that terrifying. But the skills of the pilot made all the difference.

    ¡¸I guess that¡¯s what Mecha games are all about.¡¹

    I am sure that Katsu would disagree with me on that subject, but¡­¡­ Maneuverability, fighting prowess, reading your opponent¡¯s movements in advance. There was a whole lot more to those games than people may initially think.

    Katsu always looked down on those kinds of games, but seeing people like Rust here made me think that every type of game has their naturally born geniuses. At least Rust seemed to be that way to me.

    Her main forte is close and mid-rangebat, but thanks to her exquisite piloting skills she could also perform really well when ites to long-distancebat, which seemed to make her almost invincible.

    But just like everyone else, there must be something she¡¯s weak at. Something that would give me a chance at beating her.

    ¡¸Anyways, as long as she and Mold work together, it would be almost impossible for Kingfisher to beat them.¡¹

    I heard that Mold is what is called an ¡°Operator¡±, and that Rust was responsible forbat and other stuff like that.

    This means that if you are a solo yer, your effectiveness is actively dropped by half, since the battles would change from one vs one to one vs two. That was a problem.

    Due to the rtively small yer base, there was a small number of yers with their own Operators, but amongst this small number Mold was considered to be one of the best.

    ¡¸Hey, Kingfisher. Here, you should take this.¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s this¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s the battle record from most of the games that Phoenix yed in ranked matches. You¡¯re going to challenge her again tomorrow, right?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ You sure I can have it?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m one of your biggest fans. That machine of yours¡­¡­ I hope that you can show us all something truly crazy tomorrow!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m not so sure about that¡­¡­ But, I would lie if I didn¡¯t say that I¡¯m not looking forward to tomorrow as well.¡¹

    I see that there were also veteran yers who were hoping to see Phoenix being brought to its knees. In particr, I¡¯ve managed to get some good intel on her from two strong yers, number two Super Gutsy Man and its ¡°Hellhound¡±, as well as the number three guy who was piloting the frame ¡°King¡¯s Gambit¡±.

    I also heard that Rust refused to change her frame for as long as it stayed undefeated, so part of the reason why everyone was supporting me so much was so that they could see the next frame that Rust woulde up with.

    ¡¸It would be fine if she was only so stubborn when ites to ranking matches, but apparently she even is like that when ites down to casual y¡­¡­ I can¡¯t really deal all that well with people with an attitude like that.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right¡­¡­ Even though Phoenix isn¡¯t that great of a construction, it still remains undefeated. ¡­¡­ It pains me to say it, but right about now you are probably the only one capable of taking her down.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, shut up! I¡¯m sure that anyone would be able to do so if they only tried hard enough.¡¹

    ¡¸Honestly speaking, the former me would very much like the idea of conquering the ranking board all on my own. But right now when it¡¯s like Rust vs everyone else, I would really like for someone to teach her her ce.¡¹

    And just like that, the morning of my fated battle with Phoenix has finallye, as I built a new frame and received lots of support from other yers.

    ¡¸So that¡¯s Kingfisher¡¯s¡­¡­ Sanraku¡¯s new frame, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸The name of that frame is ¡°Fiddler¡¯s Club¡±. Is that some sort of word y in English trantion? Fiddler can mean both a violinist and a cheat¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸The meaning of the name is unimportant to me. I¡¯d much rather want to know what it does and what are its weaknesses¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸It wouldn¡¯t hurt you to at least let me finish speaking, you know¡­¡­?¡¹

    There was a sudden sound of destruction and one of the buildings copsed. In this game there was no script for a building to copse on its own, so that must mean that someone clearly attacked it and caused it to crumble down.

    It was a message. A clear deration of war. The message was: I am here. After understanding this and ruling out the possibility of a trap, Rust headed towards that location.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ There it is! That reaction¡­¡­ It¡¯s ¡°Fiddler¡¯s Club¡±!¡¹

    ¡¸It looks like it also managed to spot us¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸W, what is that¡­¡­ Does it have two right arms!?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ ScissorScisor Unit ¡°Bookmark¡±. It¡¯s not amon weapon, or at least it¡¯s not something you¡¯d think of putting on a medium-sized frame like that.¡¹

    ¡¸Maybe I¡¯m blind, but it looks like every single part of that frame is meant for a heavy-ss Nephilim.¡¹

    Judging by its equipment and height, Nephilims could be divided into three basic categories: Light-weight, medium-weight and heavy-weight.

    For someone like Rust, who was one of Nephilim Hollow¡¯s strongest yers, recognizing the opponents strategies and basic information just from its equipment was as easy as pie.

    (Its right arm is equipped with ¡°Bookmark¡±, and its legs are equipped with multi-stage propulsion thrusters¡­¡­ Now when ites to the left arm and back I can¡¯t see, and the head¡­¡­ I¡¯m not sure.)

    It looked as though the ¡°Fiddler¡¯s Club was a huge unit with its main weapon strapped to its right arm.

    ¡°Bookmark¡± is a really specific weapon shaped after a pair of scissors, whose main job was to catch the opponent in between it¡¯s des and then cut them in half with one swift, powerful motion. It was mainly a weapon forrger Nephilims. It was hard to use, but if wielded properly, one could easily achieve one-shot kills with it. At least that was Rust¡¯s evaluation.

    If you chose a weapon like that, it means that you think you have the skills necessary to use its full potential. And if you had that potential, you¡¯d choose a strategy that would let you capitalize on that.

    And its head was equipped with two antennas, which made it resemble a snail¡¯s eyes or that of a crab. Rust was currently digging through her memory to remember what that particr headpiece was capable of.

    ¡¸It disappeared¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Rust! It¡¯s optical camouge! The reaction is still visible on the radar!¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s get it started¡­¡­!¡¹

    There was lighting out of ¡°Fiddler¡¯s Club¡± head, and in the next moment it disappearedpletely.

    When Rust heard Mold¡¯s scream, she immediately knew that to do. Optical camouge was a technology that reflected the light shining on the object, concealing its shape from others. She positioned Phoenix and started firing its gatling gun in a certain spot.

    (We can determine its position based on the light emitted by the boosters¡­¡­!)

    ¡¸There!¡¹

    A row of bullets fly through the air and prate the space where ¡°Fiddler¡¯s Club¡± was just a moment ago. But it looks like that space was empty.

    However, Rust didn¡¯t fail to notice the light of the thrusters going to the side in order to avoid the iing bullets.

    Apparently it was drawing closer and closer in an erratic pattern, all the while avoiding the gatling gun fire and trying to get in the range of a melee attack. At least that much could be said from its boosters trails.

    Certainly, that kind of movement was not something an ordinary person would be able to do. However, Sanraku was not an ordinary yer and Rust was fully aware of that.

    ¡¸Come on out, ¡°Fiddler¡¯s Club¡±¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸No, that¡¯s not¡­¡­!¡¹

    It happened faster than Rust¡¯s brain could register what Mold was saying to her.

    To put it in simple terms, the undefeated Phoenix was split in eight equal parts and fell to the ground.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ Eh?¡¹

    Respawn indicating defeat. Rust was standing at the entrance to the battle arena, as silent as the rest of the spectators. Apparently their brains were too shocked after what they saw to fully understand what just happened.

    Nephilim Hollow¡­¡­ Ironically, that was the only thing that was left of the once undefeated Phoenix.

 Chapter 108: A Lion Goes All Out Against a Bunny, Phoenix Gets a Pizza Cutter Treatment Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 108: A Lion Goes All Out Against a Bunny, Phoenix Gets a Pizza Cutter Treatment Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸What did you just do¡­¡­!?¡¹

    After the battle finished, Rust rushed towards me seeing that I appeared at the arena entrance once again. Mold was standing right behind her, but the two of them looked as though the truth of their utter defeat was yet to fully reach them.

    ¡¸I mean sure, I can tell you what I did back there, but wouldn¡¯t it be more fun to just figure this out on your own?¡¹

    I shook my head at Rust who was demanding another rematch, having a really hard time to keep the blooming sense of superiority contained.

    One win, one lose, one draw¡­¡­ The score was finally even. In short, this battle just now made it as though that previous match never really happened.

    ¡¸You there, Mold, was it? ¡­¡­ I get the feeling that you get what just happened.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ More or less, I think.¡¹

    ¡¸Mold, what¡¯s that supposed to¡­¡­!?¡¹

    I get a feeling that Mold understands what truly happened during that match. That he and Rust got caught right in the middle of a trap sprung by my ¡°Fiddler¡¯s Club¡±.

    Phoenix has fallen. However, even though Rust tried to forget the humiliating feeling of losing, she quickly started to survey her surroundings turning towards Mold at the same time.

    ¡¸Tell me, what the hell happened there!?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ The moment you tried to do a melee attack. What ¡°Fiddler¡¯s Club¡± used was a ¡°Jamming Sensor¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸Jamming Sensor¡­¡­ The device that feeds your opponent false information about your coordinates.¡¹

    Indeed, thebination of optical camouge and jamming sensor was a thing to be feared in a game like this. It was able to let you escape virtually any kind of situation.

    But that doesn¡¯t make any sense. She was paying close attention to the images left by the thrusters, and even so they still ended up getting sliced and diced into fine pieces. They didn¡¯t even get a chance to retaliate properly.

    The only people who would be able to fully understand this situation were the third party viewers¡­¡­ Or people such as Mold.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Essentially, the moment you couldn¡¯t figure out its location, ¡°Fiddler¡¯s Club¡± went right behind us.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Impossible. If he wanted to get behind me, I would have seen the effect of his thrusters trying to nk me. And he couldn¡¯t possibly have walked on the ground.¡¹

    Aircraft frames possess no ability that would allow them to walk on the ground. They are units that consume energy constantly inrge quantities, but in exchange can stay in the air and maneuver all over it.

    So if he wanted to get behind her in one swift motion, he would need to use his boosters, and there was no way she would miss that.

    (¡­¡­¡­¡­ Wait, did he perhaps¡­¡­ move without any indicators¡­¡­!?)

    Just as yet another battle begins, Rust tries to analyze the situation.

    The propulsion created by boosters is a heat wave visualized as a burst of mes. So if his movement method didn¡¯t rely on them, there would really be no possible indication of his movements.

    (No way¡­¡­)

    ¡¸Mold, this guy knows about invisible movements.¡¹

    ¡¸Eh?¡¹

    ¡¸If my guess is correct¡­¡­¡¹

    Phoenix turned towards one of the back alleys that went from the main street. Fiddler¡¯s Club was standing there patiently, waiting. She aimed at it with her weapon and fired away.

    Fiddler¡¯s Club disappeared just like thest time, the me effectsing from his thrusters bing obstructed as well.

    ¡¸There is only one type of maneuver that does not produce any indicators when moving through the air¡­¡­!¡¹

    Phoenix takes aim at the pile of rubble slightly to the side where Fiddler¡¯s Club was standing and fires away. Shortly after, Fiddler¡¯s Club¡¯s appearance is revealed.

    ¡¸G-Gravity Buoy!? Why, where, there was no¡­¡­ No way!¡¹

    ¡¸A new type of essory that was introduced in the update about two weeks ago. It was disguised as it¡¯s additional arm, and it¡¯s the secret of his disappearance trick¡­¡­!¡¹

 Chapter 108: A Lion Goes All Out Against a Bunny, Phoenix Gets a Pizza Cutter Treatment Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 108: A Lion Goes All Out Against a Bunny, Phoenix Gets a Pizza Cutter Treatment Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸My, oh my, looks like the cat is out of the bag.¡¹

    Well, honestly speaking, I wasn¡¯t even hoping that the same trick would work here more than once. Luckily for me, that thing was only one of the aces that ¡°Fiddler¡¯s Club¡± was keeping up its sleeve.

    Even so, I must say that this jammer plus camouge technique earned some truly interesting results.

    ¡¸Not to mention that I can even switch modes from a biped to a quadruped if I see fit.¡¹

    The lower half of its body was rotating on a vertical axis, so it was possible to switch its two legs into four, and even equip arms on every single one of them. All thanks to the advanced customization that made it all possible.

    ¡¸Now then, what are we going to do here?¡¹

    First of all, its mobility was abysmal, all because of the tremendously increased weight. That could have been somewhat mitigated by installing arger booster, but the weight problem would still be there. So it wasn¡¯t even remotely close to the mobility that Kingfisher presented.

    Next, the fuel usage. If you don¡¯t know what you¡¯re doing in that department, you¡¯re pretty much done for.

    So in order to make it possible to divert energy into the legs switching mechanism, some kind ofpromises and smart management was required.

    I was nning to equip it with some countermeasures to its fuel problems as well, but since I was working on a tight schedule here, it was something that needed to wait for now.

    So instead of a prolonged battle in mind, I decided to do something else entirely: a short skirmish-oriented frame that could use up all the fuel it wanted and finish the battle without having to worry about anything else.

    This here Fiddler¡¯s Club was capable of eating through all of its energy reserves in a matter of seconds. But if you manage to get the enemy in range of your armaments, they would not be able to escape from them.

    After a brief pause, Phoenix begins to move again. And elerates. Apparently it was going to force me into battle rather than trying to maintain its distance.

    It was a good choice, since Phoenix was equipped with dual melee weapons and gatling guns that would allow it to be prepared for any kind of scenario.

    I avoid the gatling gun shotsnding onto the ground and then charge forward with minimum effort, using as little boosters as I could.

    I had to admit. She had a tremendous advantage over me. Be it in mid-air, on the ground or when ites to overall experience. So if I was going to best Rust¡­¡­

    ¡¸This is a skill that drives you into a ¡°kill or be killed¡± kind of situation!¡¹

    After calmly assessing my situation, I deploy the optical camouge once more.

    Then I activated the jamming sensor, disappearing from Rust¡¯s perception for a few seconds.

    I then changed my leg units into a flight mode once more. My n was to boldly approach the Phoenix and then get rid of my camouge by myself.

    As for the jamming sensor, it could easily be canceled by attacking, so there was no problem there.

    But there was always a possibility that after ourst battle, Rust would be vignt for close-ranged attacks, so she could be keeping her melee weapons at the ready.

    At least that¡¯s what it looks like from my perspective. It was a pretty bold and somewhat reckless move, but without taking any risk there can be no way of getting a reward.

    ¡¸Even if I can¡¯t avoid it, I can at least try to intercept it¡­¡­ Try to get out of range¡­¡­ And get within my own range¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡°Bookmark¡± is the main weapon, and a huge shield obstructs the vision of the left hand.

    Seeing Fiddler¡¯s Club appearing seemingly out of nowhere, Phoenix had no other choice but to grab its melee weapons and prepare to defend itself.

    The distance in between the two was too small to use a long-ranged weapon and too big to effectively use a melee weapon.

    Phoenix could easily close the remaining distance in a matter of seconds, but since she wasn¡¯t sure of the full capabilities of Fiddler¡¯s Club, she had to assume that it was a trap.

    And knowing that it was the yer who had to make a decision, not the frame itself. Approach? Keep your distance? Attack? Or maybe fall back to safety?

    However, the enemy could easily respond to every single move she would decide to undertake. That is why¡­¡­ This wasn¡¯t really a battle. It was the hunt. And it was the Fiddler¡¯s Club in the role of the Predator.

    ¡¸It¡¯s impossible that he returned to this game only yesterday¡­¡­!¡¹

    It was at this moment that Fiddler¡¯s Club released a capture that was equipped on one of its legs towards Phoenix, effectively slowing it down for a few seconds.

    The blossom made out of reinforced wire bloomed in mid-air as it epassed Phoenix, who was unable to do anything to avoid it.

    The speed of the was far greater than that of Phoenix¡¯s boosters, so it didn¡¯t matter if it was to fly up, down, left or right.

    It was exactly what Fiddler¡¯s Club wanted. For Phoenix to try to use its staple irregr maneuvering to try to evade the, even though it was impossible to do. Like that, it knew where Phoenix would be and it could prepare to attack ordingly.

    There was also no other way to deactivate the capturing, other than the frame itself deactivating it of its own volition.

    In other words, there was no way for Phoenix to possibly avoid the stake driver that suddenly flew from behind Fiddler¡¯s Club¡¯s shield, piercing one of Phoenix¡¯s wings and drastically decreasing its flying and evasion potential.

    ¡¸If you were focusing entirely on long-rangebat this ¡°King¡¯s Gambit¡± would not work¡­¡­ But since you¡¯ve decided to take the battle up close and personal, you¡¯ve sealed up your fate with that.¡¹

    It would take three seconds for Fiddler¡¯s Club to shorten the distance. In five seconds, Fiddler¡¯s Club¡¯s ¡°finisher¡± would destroy its enemy mercilessly.

    The ¡°Bookmark¡± shoots forward, grabbing Phoenix by the neck and tightening so much that Phoenix would be unable to escape. The only thing that Fiddler¡¯s Club needed to do now was to wait for its pilot to issue an appropriatemand to finish it all.

    ¡¸Sorry for that, but the name can be a little bit deceiving¡­¡­ Even though it¡¯s a ¡°Scissor¡±, there¡¯s a total of six des.¡¹

    In the next moment, six des started to run across Phoenix¡¯s body, simr to a way in which a pizza cutter cuts through pizza crust.

    It was a type of attack meant for taking down huge, heavy-armored Nephilim, so for someone like Phoenix, it only took about a second for its durability to fall down to zero.

    Just like in the previous game, Phoenix exploded in an effective fashion, putting a nasty smile on my lips.

 Chapter 109: Upping the Win Count Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 109: Upping the Win Count Part 1</h4>

    With the final score being two loses and three wins on my end, even though it was somewhat of a close call, it can be said for sure: it was aplete and utter victory on my end!

    It seems that Rust also understood that, and she was trying her best to control her emotions and not to let them show up on her face.

    ¡¸You know, for some reason I feel like I¡¯m drinking a full-bodied wine straight out of a stic bag¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Gununu¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸N, now, now¡­¡­¡¹

    Fiddler¡¯s Club does not have a main motif. One shots, traps, chases,bination attacks¡­¡­ It was well-equipped for a whole variety of situations, which was making it rtively hard to deal with if you didn¡¯t know what to expect.

    In a nutshell, if you tried to maintain your distance, you¡¯d get bodied. If you tried to get up close and personal, you¡¯d get bodied. No matter what you do, you get bodied!

    ¡¸What the hell is this, this is just so sh*tty¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Hahaha, I understand where you¡¯reing from, but trust me, there are a lot more sh*tty tactics and glitches when ites to mechabat.¡¹

    ¡¸Glitches¡­¡­ say what?¡¹

    ¡¸You don¡¯t need to know. You wouldn¡¯t get it anyway.¡¹

    When ites to sh*tty games, there were a lot of them that had mechas in them. And some of them were so glitch and bug-ridden that their services had to be permanently terminated as a result. There were lots of them¡­¡­ But right about now instead of frustration I was thinking about them with a tear in my eye.

    There was even a game that had a rifle that would fire rapid-fire shots with deadly precision almost equal to aim-bot even from hip-fire. It was a very interesting thing for duels, but once it dominated the meta it was quickly nerfed and eventually brought down.

    Sometimes I get a feeling, could it be that beta-testers fell asleep while doing their job? Or were they doing it at all?

    ¡¸If you can, we can go up to ten matches.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m sorry, but for now I will admit my defeat. But don¡¯t get me wrong! I still want a rematch! Maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, I wonder if I¡¯ll still be ying this game when that timees¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸As for the rematch itself¡­¡­ What was that?¡¹

    Apparently even for a top-ranking pilot there were still things someone like that hasn¡¯t seen before or things you could always improve on. For example that trick with the optical camouge plus jamming sensor.

    As for the meta I don¡¯t know if any one will be trying to imitate some of my strategies, but as a matter of fact it won¡¯t be my concern¡­¡­ It was then that I realized that a whole bunch of people were looking towards me, apparently overhearing my words.

    ¡¸Does this mean¡­¡­ You won¡¯t log in any longer?¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t know. I may log in from time to time, but I won¡¯t lie to you: I mainly logged in so that I could have a change of pace.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s¡­¡­ not good. Really, really not good.¡¹

    ¡¸Uwah!?¡¹

    ¡¸W, wait a minute, Rust!¡¹

    Rust suddenly grabs my avatar by the cor and begins to drag me off somewhere. It was even more surprising since her avatar was rather petite.

    Mold tried to separate me from Rust, but it was of no use. Instead, Rust started to spew words at me as fast as a machine gun.

    ¡¸Sanraku, you picked a perfect time to go back to Nephilim Hollow, since it is starting to be active and fun again. Surely, if you continue to y it, it will be fun for you as well¡­¡­ So you should continue to y it¡­¡­ No. I want you to continue ying it.¡¹

    Rust¡¯s eyes were dead-serious. And since her words were spontaneous anding straight from the heart, which was making them even more convincing. Also, Mold gave it a rest and was no longer trying to stop her.

    However, there was not all that much motivation for me to continue ying this game. It was interesting and certainly fun, but it wasn¡¯t a game that I would like to y on an everyday basis.

    And there was a huge difference between being ¡°interesting¡± and ¡°addictive to y¡±.

    ¡¸Honestly speaking, I came here only because I was unable to ride a robot in ShanFro¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Hm? What did you just say? ShanFro? Robo? You mean ShangriLa Frontier?¡¹

    ¡¸Hee?¡¹

    Rust¡¯s grasp on my cor became even stronger than before. Her eyes were shining with a different light now. She was no longer just ¡°a person who loves Nephilim Hollow.¡±

    That was¡­¡­ that¡¯s right. It was the shine of someone who was ying ShanFro before. I cursed my loose tongue.

    ¡¸N, no, it¡¯s nothing. Nothing! Please forget about it!¡¹

    ¡¸I tried ying ShangriLa Frontier before¡­¡­ But I couldn¡¯t really get into it because there was no Mechas in there¡­¡­¡¹

 Chapter 109: Upping the Win Count Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 109: Upping the Win Count Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Ha, hahaha, what a fucking disaster¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸That being said, I do believe that you¡¯ve told me something really interesting.¡¹

    This was starting to be quite a nuisance, especially since I had no real obligation to respond to Rust¡¯s requests.

    However, I wascking Pencilgton¡¯s Speech skills to effectively talk myself out of this mess withoutplicating matters even further.

    I could always try to bust myself out with PK, but I don¡¯t want to turn to such drastic measures in this game. Not because of the penalties, for they are rather lenient, but since the people in this game are rather good in nature, so if possible I would like for my alignment to remain good as well.

    This wasn¡¯t a sh*tty game and even if ying it some more was certainly a tempting offer, I wanted to devote myself to ShanFro still. At least for the current moment.

    Just as I was thinking of a way out of this messy situation, it was all blown away by the next nuclear bomb that Rust dropped on me seemingly out of nowhere.

    ¡¸Maybe now would be a good time to give Nephilim Hollow a rest and try something different instead¡­¡­ Hey, can you tell me more about mechas in ShanFro?¡¹

    Now I wish that Pencilgton was actually here right here right now. At this rate all the information about robots in ShanFro was about to be exposed!

    ¡¸In return, I might be able to tell you something about the Unique Monster ¡°Kutanid of the Abyss¡± and its questline, what do you say?¡¹

    Seven unique Jokers of ShangriLa Frontier. One of them was out of the picture, only six remained.

    I was the one who was holding that missing Joker, but all of a sudden another one appeared right in front of me.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ So, how did ite to this?¡¹

    The very next day, I was in the area known as ¡°Ground Zero¡±.

    The area itself was the ce in which the very first Nephilim fell from the sky. Fiddler¡¯s Club was currently right in the middle of it.

    No, even though I knew the reason, I was still having a rather hard time to believe it.

    ---- I want you to fight me one more time tomorrow. That¡¯s what Rust said.

    If you win, I¡¯ll tell you everything I know about the Unique Monster from ShanFro.

    I wasn¡¯t expecting to hear the name of one of ShanFro¡¯s Unique Monsters in a game like this.

    ¡°Kutanid of the Abyss¡± is the name that is already known to me. But although we know its name it is impossible to find it or to fight it, not without first triggering the Unique Quest that is rted to it.

    To be perfectly honest I still have my suspicions about this whole situation, but if Rust really wanted to trick me, why would she drop that specific name to begin with? But if I¡¯ll be able to get some intel on it, then all the better. On my own the search for information would be much like grabbing empty spaces in the dark.

    ¡¸She said she woulde with a new frame, but I wonder what it will be exactly¡­¡­?¡¹

    But in the next moment I felt a tremendous shocking right through Fiddler¡¯s Club¡¯s right arm. It was struck right in the middle of its joint and next thing I know its right arm was severed from the rest of its metal body.

    I activate the optical camouge on the spot together with a sensor jammer and try to hide behind a pile of rubble. Then I start to survey my surroundings in search for a ce where the shot came from.

    ¡¸Uoooaaah¡­¡­!?¡¹

    There was another shot. This one hit right in thendingponents on my legs, making me unable tond on the ground, sentencing me to hover in mid-air from now on.

    But no matter where I tried to hide, the bullets would always reach me. And I was almost one hundred percent sure that the shots came somewhere from behind the dested buildings, flying from the angles I wouldn¡¯t be able to notice or perceive.

    ¡¸T, that bastard¡­¡­ She won¡¯t make it easy for me, will she!?¡¹

    Then I saw it. A long-distance type of frame equipped with a heavy sniper rifle built in almost exactly the same way as myte Kingfisher, it came out from somewhere in between the buildings in the distance. Then I could feel Fiddler¡¯s Clubing apart as a barrage of heavy sniper bullets tore through its body¡­¡­ Oh, like hell I¡¯m going to let you beat me in that way!

    I swear, I could hear Rustughing from somewhere far away in the distance in a really annoying way

 Chapter 110: What To Do, What To Aim For, What To Rely On, Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 110: What To Do, What To Aim For, What To Rely On, Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Haa¡­¡­¡¹

    In the end, Fiddler¡¯s Club was turned into a bunch of scrap metal in no time by Rust¡¯s new frame and because of that Rust got that really nasty and self-satisfied smile on her lips right now.

    ¡¸I¡¯m counting on you from now on.¡¹

    ¡¸No, umm, how should I say this¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡¹

    ¡¸Aah, it¡¯s alright, it¡¯s alright¡­¡­ Besides, it was my fault because I was being careless.¡¹

    Well, it is understandable that since Rust had motivation to win that she would go even that extra mile to make absolutely sure that she would win. So from now on I decided to y along with Rust¡¯s request and promised her that I would return to a build that is more Kingfisher-like.

    ¡¸I was able to do it just fine, but¡­¡­ Is it really my favorite thing? Certainly it was fun, but if it wasn¡¯t for other people I wouldn¡¯t be able to gather enough equipment parts to do what I initially wanted. I could try to talk to some people and see if they could help again, but¡­¡­ I can¡¯t guarantee anything.¡¹

    Not to mention that since the core of the Mecha Armor wasn¡¯t my thing to begin with, the decision to let Rust try it out was not my own to make. She would have to somehow convince both Katsu and Pencilgton to let her do it.

    That being said, if we could in return learn something about the Unique Monster, I say it¡¯s not that bad of a trade.

    Katsu sure won¡¯t be happy about that since he has that obsession about discovering things on his own, but he can get lost for all I care. This was our only chance to get our hands on some juicy info¡­¡­ And what was the possibility that we would be able to find something on our own¡­¡­? That¡¯s right, less than zero.

    Pencilgton was the real problem here. More often than not, if he spotted an opportunity for extracting some useful information out of someone and then using that information to his own gain, he would do that. Along with screwing over the people who got him the info in the first ce.

    So while the info on the Unique Monster surely sounded interesting, from my perspective¡­¡­

    ¡¸I have too little information to make a decision.¡¹

    ¡¸Decision?¡¹

    That¡¯s right. Few people know about this, but there is always an EX attached to the quests rted with the Unique Monsters. That is because I believe that in order for us to be able to locate the Unique Monster, we would need really specific information. Anything vague would simply not be able to cut it.

    ¡¸You heard that right. Do you happen to know anything about the Unique Quest rted to this ¡°Kutanid of the Abyss¡±?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Mold.¡¹

    ¡¸Right, right¡­¡­ Umm, the quest itself is named ¡°Punching the Apostle of the Abyss¡±. It¡¯s a Unique Quest that can be found in Fiftsia. It orders you to hunt down the ghost ship at the sea, which you can get by talking to the Self-Proimed Great Pirate Strude at the docks.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, I already like the sound of that.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, so how about that? We heard that at Fiftsia from the Great Pirate himself as well. Apparently the ghost ship is named ¡°Crying Insman¡±. Apparently it is a ship that only shows itself in front of the people who are dedicated to taking on the ¡°Lord of the Abyss¡±.¡¹

    Lord of the Abyss¡­¡­ Indeed, it looks like there¡¯s a high probability that this quest might be rted to the Unique Monster after all.

    But still, there were too many ¡°maybes¡±, too many ¡°if¡±. If we are to act based on this intel, we must be absolutely certain.

    ¡¸I knew it, this won¡¯t be enough¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸So, what about your decision?¡¹

    ¡¸You see, scenarios directly rted to Unique Monsters tend to have an EX at the end of their names. So if we want to use the info for negotiation¡¯s purpose, we must use something that is rted to those EX quests, not the Unique Monster probability.¡¹

    In other words.

    ¡¸If we don¡¯t activate an EX quest via clearing that ¡°Punching the Apostle of the Abyss¡± quest, we can¡¯t use that in negotiations. It will give us jack sh*t.¡¹

 Chapter 110: What To Do, What To Aim For, What To Rely On Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 110: What To Do, What To Aim For, What To Rely On Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Oh, if it isn¡¯t Sanraku-san!¡¹

    I logged in to ShangriLa Frontier, which felt like a really long time has passed since myst log-in. While I was putting Emul on my back where he belonged, I happened to hear something rather interesting from him.

    ¡¸There is someone other than me¡­¡­ here at Rabbitz at the moment?¡¹

    ¡¸Why , yes! One of my acquaintances happened to bring this juicy gossip to me not so long ago. I thought that you¡¯d be interested in hearing that.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­¡­ I see¡­¡­¡¹

    So it must mean that there was someone other than me who happened to trigger a g for ¡°Invitation to the Bunnies Country¡±.

    This also means that there is a high probability that this someone will be able to reach the ¡°Epic of the Vorpal Bunny¡± Unique Quest EX¡­¡­ No, I think that is almost a given at this point.

    ¡¸Not good¡­¡­ This is definitely not good¡­¡­¡¹

    A trump card can only be considered as such if you alone are the only person who is aware of its existence. If that other yer tries to spread the info about the ¡°Invitation to the Bunny Country¡± on the Inte, my advantage might as well go to sh*t.

    After all, even if I killed that yer in order to silence him, it would still amount to nothing. And it would only g me as a yer Killer for nothing.

    God damn it¡­¡­! How the fuck did this guy manage to satisfy the conditions for this quest even though they are so stupidly high!? ¡­¡­ Fuck me, if I don¡¯t start nning some sort of contingency method just like Pencilgton, my precious trump card will really be useless!

    Now, I know that the SF-Zoo promised not to make amotion around these parts, but who¡¯s to say that this guy won¡¯t go straight to Library or ck Wolves upon hearing about the Unique Quest EX? Should I consult this with Pencilgton? No, I have an appointment with Rust and Mold before that. But taking care of that new guy in Rabbitz should be my top priority for the moment¡­¡­

    ¡¸DAAAGH!!! It makes my fucking head hurt just thinking about that!¡¹

    ¡¸Pyaah!?¡¹

    I shake my head in frustration, almost causing Emul to fall off of my back.

    ¡¸Emul, that other yer beside me¡­¡­ Do you happen to know his name?¡¹

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­ I¡¯m pretty sure my source told me that their name was something like ¡°Akitsu Akane-dono¡±.¡¹

    Akitsu Akane-dono¡­¡­ So Akitsu Akane? Like, the ¡°-dono¡± is just honorific? It¡¯s apletely unknown name to me, one that I haven¡¯t really heard ever before. And I¡¯m taking into consideration all the yers from all the games that I have yed before. Besides, trying to identify the yer in a specific game only from their name was like trying to find contact lenses in the middle of the desert.

    ¡¸Sorry, I¡¯m going back to sleep again.¡¹

    ¡¸Fueh!?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll get up soon! I promise!¡¹

    ¡¸Can that even be considered sleep, then!?¡¹

    ¡¸Then I¡¯m going to take a quick nap!¡¹

    I quickly log out and then search the phrases ¡°Invitation to Bunny Country¡± and ¡°Unique Scenario EX¡± on the Inte. I keep searching for a few minutes just to make sure that there are no hits yet.

    I then log in again and once I open my eyes I start running, with Emul still chilling on my back.

    ¡¸Emul, if possible, I would like to meet that Akitsu Akane person¡­¡­ or the one you¡¯ve heard about him from. Do you happen to know where they are?¡¹

    ¡¸Akitsu Akane-dono-san should be at Father¡­¡­ I mean, at the king¡¯s ce, waiting for him to grant him an audience. As for my source, he went somewhere and I have no idea where.¡¹

    Guh, so this means we can¡¯t meet for now? Time is money right now, but for some reason I felt as though every passing second was wearing my body down more and more. To think that the situation would develop into such a cluster-fuck all of a sudden¡­¡­ No, need to calm down¡­¡­ Must calm down and think it over rationally¡­¡­

    ¡¸Aaagh, this is such an RNG situation¡­¡­ and while I know that there is a possibility that this Akitsu Akane-dono doesn¡¯t spread the information on the Inte¡­¡­ For fuck¡¯s sake, that¡¯s an extremely small number (Note: Smaller than a Five-Star Servant Drop Rate in FGO?)!!!¡¹

    ¡¸What is an RNG?¡¹

    ¡¸Basically the way in which the Gods tell you to go and fuck yourself.¡¹

    I shout while pping my cheeks in order to calm myself down. Although this game was way more realistic from all others, I still didn¡¯t feel any normal pain, but only a slight numbness.

    I didn¡¯t calm down from that, but at least I could think. From here on out, the only thing I could do was to actually try my best.

    What I must do, what I could do and what I didn¡¯t need to do for the moment¡­¡­ More than devising a n or constructing a chart, my thought process right now was more simr to trying to untie a ball of yarn that was all twisted and tangled after a kitty was ying with it.

    ¡¸Emul, for now there¡¯s something I must do on my own, so we are going to split up.¡¹

    ¡¸Is, is that right¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s why I want to give you an important mission. Something only you can do!¡¹

    ¡¸O-Only I can do¡­¡­ I got it! Leave it to me!¡¹

    I told Emul what he needed to do, and after we split up I ran towards Break¡¯s workshop at full speed.

    ¡¸Break! Is my order ready yet!?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, ooohhh¡­¡­ It¡¯s you,d¡­¡­ Kukuku, of course it is ready¡­¡­ My greatest masterpiece ever¡­¡­ It¡¯s name is ¡°Gil¡­¡­¡±!¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s it! Great, now I¡¯m all fired up!¡¹

    ¡¸Now just wait a dang moment,d! There¡¯s more I wanted to talk to you about¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸We can talk however long you want after that! For now, thanks, but I need to go! See ya!¡¹

    I shouted over my arm while running forward, still being able to hear the echo of Break¡¯s screams for quite some time.

    ¡¸From here on out, it¡¯s all about RTA (Real Time Attack)¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    And in order to do that, there was something I needed to do.

 Chapter 111: While Running, Frustration Is the Best Fuel Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 111: While Running, Frustration Is the Best Fuel Part 1</h4>

    It was something I¡¯d rather not do, but my back was pushed against the wall here: I needed to get to Fiftsia by tomorrow.

    To do that, we needed to clear the Ancient Ruins and one more exploration zone at a rtively fast pace.

    I fully realize that it is an aplishment that would be impossible to do solo. Hence, I needed support here. Preferably someone who wouldn¡¯t pry into why I was in such a hurry to get there.

    ¡¸I am really scared of that person¡­¡­ But I guess beggars can¡¯t be choosers, right?¡¹

    I feel sorry for using someone else like a simple tool, but as Pencilgton says: if you happen to find the right tool for the job, you should always use it. And what to do with him afterwards¡­¡­ I guess it all depends on the oue. It really made me feel like a total viin here, but again -- my back was against the wall here.

    And if I wanted to really achieve my goal, hiring help was more than essential for the sess of this operation.

    ¡¸The rendezvous point is the entrance to the Elvental dungeon¡­¡­ Alright, let¡¯s go.¡¹

    Emul left for Rabbitz. The important mission I left for him¡­¡­ Was to keep tabs on this Akitsu Akane-dono guy until I get back, to inform me if he happened to log in or to tail him if I were to not make it back to meet him in person.

    It was no exaggeration to say that the validity of my ¡°Epic of the Vorpal Bunny¡± trump card rested solely on Emul right now.

    Akitsu Akane¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know what he did to trigger a g for ¡°Invitation to the Bunny Country, but he certainly must be someone with a tremendous amount of skill.

    So how am I even going to stop him from spreading the precious information around?

    In the first ce, why was I so desperate to keep the existence of Rabbitz a secret? To begin with, the sheer difficulty of conditions necessary to trigger the g for this quest is going to be a sort of natural barrier preventing the yers from actually getting there.

    But now that others started to act likendmines for me, I guess the time was about right to try and see if there really was a Unique Monster rted to Vorpal Bunnies or not.

    ¡¸Maybe there is some special item rted to it¡­¡­? Nah, that would be tooplicated. Or maybe something that is relevant to Vorpal Bunnies as a whole?¡¹

    First of all, I wasn¡¯t aplete solo yer. Guild ¡°Wolfgang¡± was the biggest proof of that¡­¡­ Pencilgton, Katsu and I, working as a team. All for one and one for all, and all that crap. And even if our teamwork left much to be desired, we were able to achieve great things because of our cooperation. This is our Guild¡¯s greatest strength.

    There was always an option of inviting this Akitsu Akane guy to our Guild. Like that we would be able to secure the existence of this EX Quest at least to some extent. And be that as it may, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able toplete that quest entirely on my own.

    But before doing that, I was actually going to rmend that both Rust and Mold would join us. Sure, I lost to them, but this doesn¡¯t mean that I couldn¡¯t recognize their potential because of that. I had a feeling they would be a strong addition to the team.

    I heard from them that they have both reached Fiftsia with their characters. Mold was around level eighty five and Rust was around level eighty seven.

    ¡¸Ahh, that¡¯s right.¡¹

    Speaking of levels, what is my own level right now? Defeating those scorpions and that Goldie one should have me a plentiful of EXP. So while dashing my way through the Ancient Ruins, I opened my status screen to see what was going on.

    ¡¸Oh, wait a¡­¡­ What the hell¡­¡­!?¡¹

    PN: Sanraku

    LV: 99 Extended (150)

    ss: Mercenary (Dual Wielding)

    Money: 62,000 Mani

    HP: 40

    MP: 50

    STM: 100

    STR: 70

    DEX: 70

    AGI: 90

    TEC: 65

    VIT: 2

    LUC: 104

    Skill:

    ? Beast Bane ¡ú selectable

    ? Growth Earrings ¡ú selectable

    ? Infight Lv.MAX

    ? Drift Step ¡ú selectable

    ? Setsuna no Mikiri ¡ú selectable

    ? Hand of Fortune Lv.MAX

    ? Greater Climb ¡ú selectable

    ? Climax Boost Lv.MAX

    ? Eight-Fold Jump ¡ú Shinano Possession

    ? Ricochet Step Lv.MAX

    ? Hate Stomp Lv.MAX

    ? Skywalker ¡ú selectable

    ? Hungry Wolf ¡ú Werewolf¡¯s Pride

    ? Off-Road Lv.MAX

    ? Legendary de Art ¡¸Water Mirror Moon¡¹ ¡ú Deadly Secret Art ¡¸Utsuro Mikagami¡¹

    ? Ignition Lv.MAX

    ? Overheat Lv.MAX

    ? Nitro Gain Lv.MAX

    ? Duelist ¡ú Blood War

    ? Striking Lv.MAX

    ? Ten Counter ¡ú Retribution

    ? Power sh Lv.MAX

    ? Single Strike ¡ú selectable

    ? Fatal de Art ¡¸Breaking Moon¡¹

    ? Takeuchi Fighter Lv.1

    ? Kenbu ¡¸de Spin¡¹

    ? Piercing Stand

    ? Acrobat Lv.1

    ? Light Foot

    Equipment:

    Right: Yuzuki ¡¸Upper Fang¡¹

    Left: Yuzuki ¡¸Lower Fang¡¹

    Head: Mask of Bird¡¯s Eye View (VIT + 2)

    Torso: Curse of Luucan

    Waist: None

    Feet: Curce of Luucan

    essories: INVENTORY

 Chapter 111: While Running, Frustration is the Best Fuel Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 111: While Running, Frustration is the Best Fuel Part 2</h4>

    Putting aside the fact that for quite a while I was running around without any waist equipment put on, it seems that quite a lot of my skills got to a high level or even underwent a change. Some others even reached a level so high that they could be changed into quite a few things. But the thing that drew my attention the most was the level ny nine extended and the number right next to it.

    I was aware of the fact that the update that went live during our fight with Wezaemon released the level cap. So I guess that ¡°Extended¡± means that as of right now my own level was going to be even bigger than ny nine, right?

    No, thinking about it logically, ny nine still means ny nine. I can¡¯t possibly imagine that a single Golden Scorpion would let me level up more than twenty times. So therger group of crystal scorpions must have had something to do with it. But aren¡¯t those numbers a little bit dangerous.

    Thanks to being creative like that, I could earn levels in a much better way than catching some stupid fish or lobsters. Damn, if I¡¯d checked that before leaving Rabbitz, I could have gone to the Gardener and done something with all those skills. But I mean, if I don¡¯t open that level cap and go past ny nine, I won¡¯t be able to level up anymore or do anything else, right?

    This means that Sanraku had to beat yet another adversity before he could reachpletely new heights. Once I get this business done, let¡¯s do just that.

    ¡¸DISTURBANCE!¡¹

    I have no time to deal with small fries like that. And so I decided to ignore the iron golem that shed right next to me at the edge of the status menu screen. ¡­¡­ It was a golem, right? I¡¯m not so sure, that¡¯s why I¡¯m asking.

    It will take some time toprehend all the changes and organize my skills again, but now that I have achieved level ny nine, reaching Fiftsia shouldn¡¯t be all that hard.

    It was also a great help to know that this dungeon¡¯syout was like a tunnel. If I started at one end of it, the only thing I needed to do now was to dash straight ahead towards the other end, without any sidetracking alongside the way.

    ording to what I heard, there are two major roads that lead towards Fiftsia. One of them, the shorter but harder one, is called ¡°Route Five¡± and leads from Fourthia. The other, longer but safer road leads from Fourthia to Sixthia and is called ¡°Route Six¡±. And even though it is safer, wasting time is something I absolutely couldn¡¯t allow myself to do right now.

    I continue to dash through the dungeon while managing my stamina bar, putting together a n while I was at it.

    First of all, the important problem that has suddenly surfaced out of nowhere. For the sake of my own convenience, the ¡°Akitsu Akane problem¡± shall be postponed until I deal with a matter at hand. Besides, since I have no idea when the guy might show up, the only thing I could do was to wait for Emul¡¯s report.

    Next, my journey towards Fifthsia¡­¡­ let¡¯s call it ¡°Fifthsia¡¯s RTA¡± for convenience¡¯s sake. I am going to burst through this dungeon on my own, and then be joined by that person somewhere alongside the way, and we shall reach our goal together.

    Originally we were supposed to do a quest around this area, one that was rted to the ¡°Epic of the Vorpal Bunnies¡± EX Quest, but unfortunately circumstances being as they are I was forced to postpone that as well.

    If you were to ask me why I was in such a hurry, it¡¯s because I promised Rust and Mold to meet with them at Fifthsia tomorrow at 8:00 a.m.

    In order to let Rust ride the power armor in this game I need to convince both Pencilgton and Katsu. In order to do that, I was nning to use the ¡°Kutanid of the Abyss¡± as a bargaining chip, but for that to actually hold any worth I needed to first verify if that info is urate. That¡¯s why we¡¯re meeting in Fifthsia like that. To undergo the Quest ¡°Punching the Apostle of the Abyss.¡±

    Despite bing ¡°friends¡± recently, together with Rust we were still more like strangers. We are not friends here in ShanFro and we are not on good enough terms to exchange e-mail addresses. In other words it was my bad, because if we exchanged addresses, we might have made ns in some other way than simply with our mouths.

    That¡¯s the gist of it. If we don¡¯t verify the information regarding the ¡°Punching the Apostle of the Abyss¡±, we might lose our only clues regarding another Unique Monster.

    ¡¸I shouldn¡¯t have agreed to do this so soon right off the bat!¡¹

    If I had more time, it would be a whole different story.

    Or, if I had more info from other people¡¯s experiences I could have avoided the mistakes they have made, but that is a privilege I couldn¡¯t afford right now.

    ¡¸What¡­¡­¡¹

    I then looked ahead and after noticing something my whole body came to a halt, only to jump back and assume the ¡°battle position¡±.

    ¡¸DNA SCAN, COMPLETE. NO MATCHES IN DATABASE. MODE SWITCH. CODE SCAN. NO MATCHES. REGISTERING AS THREAT. CALCULATING THREAT LEVEL.¡¹

    Then, a huge machinended in the ce I was just a moment ago. It was huge and chunky, but aside from that it looked just like a human, without any extra parts or weapons or anything that would betray its threat level when ites tobat. Instead, it looked right at me and dered in a cold, emotionless robotic voice.

    ¡¸EXTERMINATE.¡¹

 Chapter 112: Legacy Weapon â€“â€“ Black Rabbit Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 112: Legacy Weapon -- ck Rabbit Part 1</h4>

    As far as I was concerned, this enemy wasn¡¯t the boss of this whole area. Apparently his name was ¡°Overseer Golem¡±.

    It wasn¡¯t the machine from the Era of the Gods, but rather a naturally urring enemy from this area. I could tell because it looked awfully alike the rest of the Golems in this dungeon. And it was nothing like Wezaemon was.

    This thing here was not even that. This was the rare enemy called ¡°Iron Golem Omega, Security Drone¡±. Its purpose was to wander around the dungeon and gather information on everything that was inside of it. Especially intruders.

    ¡¸I don¡¯t have time to be dealing with even a rare enemy right now. But still¡­¡­¡¹

    Conjuring up a n to get to Fifthsia as soon as possible, I prepared only to face the boss of this area, the Overseer Golem. And my strategy for it was so wless that it would go down in under a minute should everything go as nned.

    The question is, how well can I fight this thing without any kind of information about it? Because not that I¡¯mining, but this thing¡­¡­ This Omega Golem looks rather tough. Doesn¡¯t Omega always stand for something truly overpowered?

    My mind was telling me that I should just look for another solution and avoid the fight for now. But my body¡­¡­ Truth is, my body was already on the move, switching into full-on attack mode.

    ¡¸I was eventually going to use it anyway, so I guess there¡¯s no harm in taking it for a test run¡­¡­¡¹

    I search for ck Rabbit in my inventory and open its status screen. When ites to stat limitation¡­¡­ Are you fucking sh*tting me!? You seriously need three hundred Stamina for this thing!? But wait, wait, wait, wait just a moment¡­¡­ You can raise that stat with your equipment, so getting there shouldn¡¯t be all that hard. If we add to it my newest helmet that would leave me at a whooping¡­¡­ Five hundred! Fuck yeah! Thank you so much Giant Beetle! Thank you oh so much!

    Having one hundred and fifty skill points to distribute, the other requirements such as one hundred points in Strength and seventy in Skill were easily met. This means that all conditions to use this weapon are now good to go!

    The skill of Grandmaster Smith Break managed to revive the glory of the once forgotten Era of the Gods. Legacy Weapons are the living remnants of the past, and while this one was also enhanced with materials from Crystal Scorpions and precious gems, it was good to say that right now it wasbining the best of both worlds. So right now even the strongest of enemies in this game should be afraid of me and my power!

    ¡¸If I remember correctly, just before I left her workshop Break wanted to tell me the name of that weapon. ¡°Legacy Weapon, ¡°Gilta Brill¡± or something like that? ¡­¡­ Supposidely, it was her best creation to date.¡¹

    I also remember one more thing. The other equipment that I asked her to make for me from the excess materials from the Crystal Scorpions. I asked for a fairly simple thing.

    ---- If you can¡¯t make it a double sword, then make it as a pair of fighting gauntlets instead.

    ¡¸Now I¡¯m all fired up! Nice, nice, nothing can stop me right now!¡¹

    CLICK! Once the gauntlets cover my arms all the way to the elbows, I smash them together, making their scorpion-shaped knuckles create a loud metallic sound. They were reallyrge and sturdy, almost as big as a human head, and their SF designbined with the intimidating sound they made was giving off the impression that you would aim for a knock-out in the first round. That level of intimidation.

    Additionally, even though they were jet ck in color, they had that golden veins and glow to them. There were also silver elements, but they were much more scarce than the golden ones.

    ¡¸I always wanted to at least once try to beat someone into a bloody pulp, and now I can do it no problem!¡¹

    Both my skills Infight and Hand of Fortune¡­¡­ I always had a feeling that they would go the best paired up with a gauntlet-type weapon.

    Not to mention that unlike Katsu¡¯s monk ss, I could just switch back to ded weapons anytime I wanted, without having to worry about any kind of penalty on my end. Ahh, the joys of being a Mercenary! That¡¯s why I wanted Break to make me a weapon like that, in case I would need a different source of damage from the usual dual swords.

 Chapter 112: Legacy Weapon â€“â€“ Black Rabbit Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 112: Legacy Weapon -- ck Rabbit Part 2</h4>

    So far I have yed a whole lot of sh*tty games. Of course, along the way I have also dealt with a variety of weapons. Swords, spears, bows, guns, axes, shields¡­¡­ You name it, I¡¯ve tried it. Gauntlets were no exception.

    I am pretty much confident that if you leave me with a weapon for about thirty minutes, I¡¯ll be able to wield it skillfully. Of course, even someone like me had his ¡°weapons of preference¡±. Herees the experience from one of such games, where you had to mainly fight with the help of various martial arts.

    ¡¸Although it pains me greatly to bring elements of sh*tty games into a godly game¡­¡­ Let¡¯s do this, you walking piece of scrap! I¡¯ll show you my unparalleled skill!¡¹

    The Golem also assumed battle position and looked about ready to engage. Seeing that I smiled broadly under my helmet.

    ¡¸Let me show you the strength of my unique fighting style. One round in the ring with you is all I need.¡¹

    Those words were not really meant to be a signal of any kind, but nheless we both rushed at one another upon hearing them.

    The golem¡¯s arms started to fold rapidly, only to take the shape of two thin whips with which it started to swing around the ce. Seeing that move made it obvious that it wasn¡¯t the only attack utilizing that ability, so I needed to stay vignt. Where have I seen that move before, I wonder?

    It could try to sh me with its arms, but it might as well try to reshape them and try to crush me instead. But its attack speed was slow and its movements too predictable for me to get caught up in them. If you want to try to damage me, increase your speed or attack in a less predictable way. Then we might talk.

    The exact moment my opponent¡¯s armnds on the ground I close the distance between us, keeping up my boxing stance all the time in order to protect my face from any sudden attacks.

    ¡¸Now, let¡¯s see how you like this!¡¹

    I use the Infight and Hand of Fortune for additional damage at close range and bonus damage ording to my Luck stat. Then I activate Nitro Gain and Climax Boost as well, alongside a few other skills that are highlypatible with close rangebat.

    I take a stance in which my left foot is slightly forward and my back arches backwards. It was a position that was normally used for throws or tackles, but my aim here was slightly different. Since the golem was at least three meters tall, throwing it was out of the question. No, I was aiming for its legs all along.

    I shift my whole weight onto my left foot, take a firm stance and swing my right arm. Even though it was a presumably high level enemy, even if his level was ny nine there is no way in hell that it will be able to shrug a damage like that off with a straight face. Especially since it is powered-up like that.

    Golems, or machinery in general, are not afraid to have their limbs damaged because they don¡¯t have an instinct that would advise them to be afraid. Even if its opponents are far stronger than them, the golem¡¯s strategy would not change. Elimination of intruders, that¡¯s their job¡­¡­ this unit in particr.

    That is why, when ites to slowly chipping away their defenses, they wouldn¡¯t be able to defend themselves without even the slightest shred of feelings.

    By the way, Robot characters are the mostmon to sacrifice themselves or to take one for the team in games oric books nowadays. In other words, making a robot a rare enemy is somewhat of an unusual decision.

    I manage tond a clean strike right to the back of the golem¡¯s knee. Needless to say, the scorpion-head gauntlet doesn¡¯t fail tond a critical hit.

    A cracked knee joint means that my current attack managed to deplete its endurance and the blow came to pass at its fullest. In response, the Golem tried to back away, but I wasn¡¯t going to let him do that.

    Aaaaa

    ¡¸Now fold it!¡¹

    I forcibly withstand the reverberation that was currently going through my left arm and put even more force into my right arm. I couldn¡¯t see the damage that Hand of Fortune managed to do, but since I raised my Strength stat quite a lot, it should be good, since it was almost at the Luck level. I then mercilessly assault its cracked knee-joint.

    As a result, the cracks start to spread from its knee even further in every direction. But it was still intact. The reason that it didn¡¯t break was because those weapons didn¡¯t have any destructive attribute to them. But what¡¯s important here is that now one of its legs was heavily handicapped. A skill that grants you two critical hits for free¡­¡­ Wish I could use critical hits without skills, but oh well.

    ¡¸It¡¯s just a side trip. I must wrap this up really quick and be on my way!¡¹

    That being said, I swung a mighty blow at its leg while aiming for his other one right after that. Everything was going as nned. But stil¡­¡­

    ¡¸It took me almost twenty minutes! TWENTY MINUTES! And you¡¯re not even a boss monster!¡¹

 Chapter 113: Trying to Fix a Hole With a Hammer Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 113: Trying to Fix a Hole With a Hammer Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Is it just me, or is this some kind of a new trend recently? Oh well, let me just say this: THERE ARE WAY TOO MANY ENEMIES WITH SELF-HEALING!!!!¡¹

    First the scorpions, now the Golems in this dungeon¡­¡­ Why do I get the feeling that there will be more enemies like that down the line?

    Even though it looked like a human made out of blocks, the design of this monster was excellent. Once it detected that some parts of its body were being destroyed, it stopped attacking and focused on throwing those parts away and recing them with new ones. It was a slow process, but it certainly was far better to just throw in a new part in ce of the damaged one rather than trying to fix what was already broken.

    However, there was a good part to this scenario as well. At least I could try out some of the new skills I managed to obtain. So it wasn¡¯t aplete waste of time.

    Still, the power of a level ny nine monster was not something to look down on. I know that twenty minutes for a solo kill on a level ny nine enemy is good and all, but at this rate the battle might continue for another twenty minutes or so.

    Seeing that you can fight for like twenty minutes on and on and the enemy just keeps on regenerating, the battle turns into a war of endurance and when ites to that it will be your loss no matter how you look at it. So I should actually take pride in the fact that I managed to beat it in twenty minutes with my current set of skills and equipment.

    It even dropped some strange item that looked like a part of a greater device, so I might as well take it to Breakter on. Then I just carried on down the road, until I reached the ce where various debris piled up under the walls.

    ¡¸So, I guess it would be time for an Area Boss, huh¡­¡­?¡¹

    Overseer Golem. It uses the junk that¡¯sying around and debris for both attack and defense purposes, and because of that it can even change its characteristics on the spot. At first nce it looked to be a formidable opponent, one that would be extremely hard to take down. However, since it was a boss in a high level area that could even be considered ¡°endgame¡±, lots of yers fighting with it over time managed to pinpoint its weaknesses, trivializing the fight to the point that some of them even considered it easier than the snake boss in the first dungeon of the game.

    There, at the end of therge and spacious hall, there it was¡­¡­ Something that looked like a literal mountain of rubble, junk and debris. There, right in the middle of that mountain was a wide circr opening, inside of which was the Overseer Golem. That mountain of junk was sort of thest defense that the yers needed to traverse in order to get to it.

    ¡¸No other yers in sight, lucky me.¡¹

    Without any hesitation, I equip my Swamp Daggers and dive right into the boss arena. The reason why I was going to use that weapon was because I wanted to see just how much of a difference my current level would make. With ck Rabbit gauntlets I would be unable to see that clearly. Yuzuki and Duhan Sword were also out of the question, since the area was not suited forrge sweeping attacks and maneuverability. That and¡­¡­ Oupsie, looks like the boss was about to emerge!

    Looking ahead, I could see that the pile of rubble that was blocking the exit started to copse. But it was clear to me that it wasn¡¯t a random urrence but rather a natural phenomenon for this ce.

    Because it wasn¡¯t a simple pile of garbage. It was the boss of this area. Noticing the iing intruder, it activated and started to get up. In a short while, the boss took its normal appearance, with its upper half looking like a human being, and the lower half consisting of a whirling pile of junk and trash.

    The first thought thates to my mind is¡­¡­ it¡¯s big. I got a feeling that this boss is farrger than any other boss that I¡¯ve encountered thus far. And that statement is not wrong in the slightest.

    From now on this will be a literal mountain climb.

    ¡¸Apparently the world record for time attack here is one minute. It might be a little bit of a stretch, but¡­¡­ Let¡¯s aim for one minute for now!¡¹

    Now it was time for my usual opening skillsbination. I activate them one by one, additionally throwing a few of the new ones just for the heck of it to see how they would work with the rest of them.

    Take ¡°Boat Jump¡± for instance. Usually the leveling of such skill would only increase the number of jumps you can make in quick session, but right about now it received some additional effects on top of being significantly easier to activate.

    So by repeatedly trying newbinations of skills it was possible to discover some new effects on top of raising their attack power, critical hit damage, stamina usage, increased durability and so on and so forth. I got that from watching Katsubine his own skills.

    In addition to all that, there were still some skills to spare in my arsenal, so it was true that when ites to mobility, this version of Sanraku has reached the ideal that I was striving towards. So I couldn¡¯t help it butugh as I was approaching the Overseer Golem, who looked about ready to attack me on its own any time now.

    ¡¸Fifteen seconds have passed, first things first, let¡¯s get behind your back¡­¡­! How do you like that!?¡¹

 Chapter 113: Fixing a Hole With a Hammer Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 113: Fixing a Hole With a Hammer Part 2</h4>

    Leveling up and evolving the Secret Sword Art ¡¸Water Mirror Moon¡¹ allowed for its effects to change as well. Normally this skill would spawn a clone of myself behind the enemy¡¯s back and focus its aggro onto itself. This improved version, however, worked in a different way. It allowed for the effect of this skill to be reversed.

    Instead of spawning a new source of aggro behind the enemy¡¯s back, it was spawning it right in front of it.

    In other words, even though my real body was on its way behind its back, the Overseer Golem dropped one of its fists onto the created copy of myself, crushing it mercilessly under its massive press-like body. Normally I would use that skill to create the opening for some other damage dealer, but right now I was able to effectively utilize it in such a crafty way.

    It is kind of ironic that someone who is supposed to possess Vorpal Soul is trying to sneak around their opponents in order to get a backstab at them, but what can you do? Getting behind its back I can see various junk that creates its body: broken weapons, debris, some vehicle parts, strange gizmos I don¡¯t recognize at all¡­¡­ Man what a clusterfuck of junk it is!

    All of this junk was assimted into the Golem and became a part of its body. Most probably it was all parts of some wreckage long ago. I survey its back and look for easy spots to climb on, determining my route up.

    ¡¸Twenty three seconds have passed, climbing should take about five seconds!¡¹

    While the effects of other skills are still active I activate others that would help me climb in a more effective manner and prepare to traverse about three hundred frames in under five seconds.

    Off-Road lets me maintain my bnce even if the ground I¡¯m standing on is not all that stable. Acrobatic lets me consume less stamina for any kind of jump or acrobatic action made within a certain amount of time. Ricochet Step will make me disregard a few other factors that would be crucial during a climb like that. And if my footholds run out? No problem, Skywalker has me covered.

    ¡¸Twenty five seconds have passed, let¡¯s go!¡¹

    Start¡­¡­ I leap onto the edge of the first major debris that was within my reach. After a second I use the broken window frame as footing andunch myself higher. After two seconds I slide over some broken pir and jump off the broken sword, making the body of some unknown vehicle my next foothold. After three seconds I use the iing barrel to cut my way up short. After four seconds I use smaller junk as stepping stones and at their end I sink my daggers into the Overseer Golem¡¯s body that was slightly exposed and activate a new batch of skills.

    Greater Climbing allows me to climb even faster and steadier on an uneven ground, and I assist myself with my daggers to be extra sure that nothing goes wrong. The higher I go the harder my climb bes, but my skills help mepensate for that more than enough. Finally, I arrived at the ce I chose as my goal¡­¡­ A huge crane.

    ¡¸Thirty seconds have passed, from here on out it¡¯s the real deal!¡¹

    It looked like a giant crane, with the difference that it had a huge steel wheel attached to its tip. Umm, just what is this¡­¡­? It looks like some sort of huge construction equipment. Or one of the things they use in those blockbuster Hollywood movies.

    This huge excavation wheel¡­¡­ a number of yers verified that it can actually be destroyed. Once destroyed, the damage impairs the movement algorithm of the Overseer Golem and causes it some nasty direct damage.

    It¡¯s a stupid weakness, I know. However, it is designed to be unreachable as long as you don¡¯t have any climbing skills and destruction attribute to your weapon.

    The wheel is held in ce by a steel fork, kind of like the front wheel of a bicycle. Destroying them would cause the wheel to fall off, but it will only be sessful if the Golem is leaning forward.

    And if it isn¡¯t? What do you do then? It¡¯s easy, really. You just make it lean forward.

    ¡¸Thirty three seconds, first is the one on the right¡­¡­!¡¹

    I activate my attack skills and unleash a flurry of strikes onto the rusted parts with such swiftness that I would like to have it memorized in some sort of way.

    CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!

    ¡¸Oh sh*t, it¡¯s tougher than I thought!¡¹

    Fucking sh*t, was it because the daggers weren¡¯t strengthened enough? I switch to my gauntlets in a hurry and unleash a flurry of violent attacks on the forks.

    Forty five seconds, the right fork is destroyed¡­¡­ Which leaves me with fifteen seconds!? No, it¡¯s toote to chicken out, I need to take care of the left one as well! Or that¡¯s what I was supposed to do.

    ¡¸FIRING UP!!¡¹

    I got a hang of this during the previous fight. Recognizing the voicemand, the left gauntlet starts to glow brightly. As the scorpion¡¯s core hidden inside of it started to activate, the whole gauntlet changed its shape and started to shine brightly.

    Immediately after that, if youpare the gauntlet to a human hand, there was a small stinger-like object starting to grow out of the ce where the middle finger should be. That stinger pierced through the remaining fork, which was now on the verge of copsing. Of course, it was not enough, but I wasn¡¯t finished yet. That little stinger was like a seed. And what do seeds do? They grow, of course! As nature intended!

    ¡¸Now¡­¡­ Time to spread my wings a little bit. ¡®Growing Up!¡¯¡¹

    Divine Blessing of Scorpion¡­¡­ Apparently something like that was quitemon back in the age of the Gods.

    During that time, everything could be attributed to one of two things: control or activation. It is said that weapons from that time can harness the hidden power of the materials used to create them and utilize them inbat.

    If so, what would be the power of the left gauntlet, harnessing the power of the crystal scorpion?

    ¡¸Rapid growth of the stingers in order to create stakes out of them¡­¡­!¡¹

    I then hit the ce where I was standing with the gauntlet. Then I activate themand that was sleeping deep within the gauntlet, one that embodies the true nature of the crystal scorpion and their relentless nature.

    At that moment the gauntlet shone brightly. In the next moment, a huge stake was erected from the gauntlet at high speed and with tremendous force, throwing my body high into the air!

 Chapter 114: Dance in the Air Meets High Firepower Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 114: Dance in the Air Meets High Firepower Part 1</h4>

    As I already said, weapons from the Era of the Gods utilize the power of their materials in order to boost their own power.

    For example, the left gauntlet of mine can grow those small stingers from its knuckles and in response to a certain type of vibration upon impact it can change that stinger into a three meter crystal pir that is shot from the gauntlet like a stake driver.

    This crystal pir only remains for about five seconds, but it is enough time to find all kinds of exploits and ways in which to use it. For example, it can be your mid-range weapon, a tool for destroying terrain¡­¡­ Or a means of fast travel, as I demonstrated just now.

    ¡¸Hahahahahaha! This game is just getting better and better! This is what I¡¯m talking about!¡¹

    It wasn¡¯t the most elegant of maneuvers out there, but at least it made it possible for me to shorten the climbing time by a considerable amount and made it possible to jump over the steel wheel.

    ¡¸Now we just need to stick thending¡­¡­ Whoa, sh*t!¡¹

    With its body starting to lean forward, the Golem started to il its arms around in order to maintain its bnce and return to its rightful position.

    It was a dangerous situation for me, one where I could slip off and fall to the ground if I didn¡¯t think of something fast. And so I strengthened my grip on the daggers¡¯ handles.

    ¡¸Now then¡­¡­ Forty eight seconds have passed, time to wrap this thing up!¡¹

    Time for my go-tobo: Infight plus Hand of Fortune!

    Despite having a really narrow footing here, it was a far better situation for me than one could expect. I m my gauntlet-d fists into the fork, furthering the cracks in it and finally hearing a loud metallic sound, signaling its destruction.

    ¡¸Aw shucks, looks like the decoy time is over¡­¡­ It¡¯s really high up here, so better take extra care not to fall down by ident!¡¹

    Overseer Golem starts to throw his body around in an attempt at shaking me off of itself. It would be pretty easy to be shaken off like that, but unfortunately for it, I needed it to die within the next nine seconds or so.

    I jump onto one of the parts that were sticking out of its shoulder and use it as footing to get right on top of it.

    I then jump in the air, put my hands together and swing them both down right onto the Golem¡¯s head while adding more skills to them, making a move that would be called a Double Sledgehammer if this was a professional wrestling match.

    First one was called ¡°Shock Strike¡± and it was a skill that when applied to the head via blunt force trauma had a high chance of inflicting status effects such as ¡°Stun¡± or ¡°Confuse¡±. I paired it up with a skill called ¡°Lete Banisher¡±, which basically prolonged the effects of any negative status effects applied to the enemy.

    ¡¸Yeah! Now get dunked on!¡¹

    The angle was good, the power was good, the skillbination was good. The attack connects with little to no problems to the Golems head, delivering a mighty blow to it.

    All conditions are met and the chained results are more than great. I don¡¯t know if the Golems have brains, but their monster cores should be inside their heads, right? So that core must have suffered some serious damage right now!

    ¡¸Haha! Better watch out! Next attack is going to hurt you even more!¡¹

    Then the Overseer Golem made a sudden crouch motion. Combined with all the shaking and unstable foothold right under my feet I got thrown off its back, but not before I saw the other fork fall apart and the huge steel wheele off and fall to the ground as well. In slow motion, to boot!

    ¡¸I appreciate the effort, but it¡¯s for nothing! Sorry!¡¹

    I got taken away to the safety of my INVENTORY. And once I did that, the fall animation was broken and as a result I wouldn¡¯t receive any damage.

    I have no idea why this maneuver would ever reset the fall damage, but truth be told this is made thanks to technology of the Gods, not simple magic. Perhaps there is a distinction between the two that I¡¯m not all that aware of.

    I have used the INVENTORY to break my falls on several asions now, and every single time the only downside was that I would slightly hurt my back by the fall¡¯s momentum. But then I just needed to get up and exit the INVENTORY. I was back in the falling position, but this time around I would be ready.

    ¡¸Oooh, talk about a nice sound!¡¹

 Chapter 114: Dance In the Air Meets High Firepower Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 114: Dance In the Air Meets High Firepower Part 2</h4>

    With a loud sound of one heavy object crashing into another heavy object, the steel wheel came crashing down right into the Golem¡¯s core. It looked absolutely brutal and it was no wonder that the Overseer Golem let out a bloodcurdling scream as a result.

    ¡¸How about that? Lovely image change, if I do say so myself.¡¹

    The recast for my skills being over, I use Skywalker to negate the effects of the fall andnd safely on the ground.

    After all, there was a huge difference when falling from five meters up and from two and a half.

    I feel a slight numbness in my legs which signals that I failed topletely avoid the fall damage, but at least I was able to stand on my own two feet. At the same time, critically damaged Overseer Golem was already starting to crumble down.

    ¡¸¡°¡­¡­ Since it isn¡¯t strong enough to support it, once destroyed the steel wheel will fall right into its head and cave it in, killing it instantly.¡± Thinking about it logically, it is so stupid and gimmicky that you wouldn¡¯t think that a boss in a high-level dungeon could actually have a weakness like that.¡¹

    The rain of debris falls all around me when Ind. I know that its head was supposed to be caved in, but in reality the wheel managed topletely rip it to shreds and destroy it.

    Then, after shaking a couple of times without its head, the Overseer Golem¡¯s body exploded in a rain of crimson-red polygons.

    It¡¯s a little bit sad that I won¡¯t get any EXP that way, but right now speed was my biggest concern, so I¡¯ll live with it somewhat.

    While still on the run, I grab the bluish ingot and snatch it into my inventory while still maintaining high speed.

    I dash towards the appointed meeting ce. I was going to meet there with someone who replied to my invitation approximately twenty seconds after I sent the request.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    Silence. That yer was doing nothing more than just standing there. Since ShangriLa Frontier was an online game, ¡°meetings¡± inside it weren¡¯t all that umon.

    So there was absolutely nothing at all weird about a lone yer standing in the middle of the road and waiting for someone.

    Other yers would usually just shrug it off and think to themselves ¡°Oh, they must be waiting for someone¡±, and then be on their way to do their business.

    Or at least that¡¯s how it was supposed to go.

    ¡¸Huh, isn¡¯t that Saiga-0¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ve heard lots about her, but I didn¡¯t think that I¡¯d see her in a ce like this. What is she doing here?¡¹

    ¡¸I mean, take a look at that¡­¡­ That high-end equipment is a sight to behold! All unique items!¡¹

    ¡¸This is the ¡°Tenma¡± set, right? The one thates with a sword and shield as well? A reward for clearing a Unique Quest?¡¹

    ¡¸It is said that in that Unique Quest you had to defeat a monster that is on a Unique Monster level¡­¡­¡¹

    That yer¡¯s name is Saiga-0. She was one of the strongest yers in the game for the current moment and the holder of the title of ¡°Most Attack Power¡± in the game¡¯s history. That title was yet to be taken away from her. And being the strongest in a game like that meant that she was standing atop the food chain.

    Wasn¡¯t she supposed to be amongst the ¡°Pioneers¡± that were soon to depart aboard the flying ship heading towards the newly discovered continent? What is she doing here, in the middle of the road?

    The surrounding dungeons were nothing that a high-level yer should concern herself with, so it must have been about the yer she was supposed to be meeting with. And certainly it must be someone truly amazing.

    But if so, then who is the one Saiga-0¡¯s been waiting for all this time?

    Eager to know the truth, the yers surrounding the white female knight tried to act normally while taking short nces towards her, not wanting to miss a single moment from this scene.

    Then, finally, the immovable Saiga-0 moved. Seeing that, every single person surrounding her started to feel tension that wasparable to soloing some of the hardest quests in the game on your own. This must mean that the one she¡¯s been waiting for has finally appeared.

    And no matter how you look at it, a normal yer making someone like Saiga-0 wait is simply uneptable.

    ¡¸Ah¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorry, have you been waiting long?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I just got here myself.¡¹

    Don¡¯t you dare lie to me!

    And,

    What is wrong with this pervert!?

    Saiga-0 was one of the most admired yers in this whole game. A true idol of sorts that everyone wanted to get close to. And the fact that she so eagerly epted the invitation from this Sanraku guy¡­¡­ All of the other yers knew what was going on here and wanted to scream it out loud. THIS WAS TOTALLY A DATE!!!

 Chapter 115: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 1, Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 115: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 1, Part 1</h4>

    PN: Sanraku

    LV: 99 Extended

    JOB: Mercenary (Dual Wielding)

    Money: 1,000 mani

    HP: 80

    MP: 50

    STM: 100

    STR: 100

    DEX: 100

    AGI: 100

    TEC: 80

    VIT: 901

    LUC: 129

    Skills:

    ? Dancing Senbu

    ? Piercing Drill

    ? Form Drift Lv.1

    ?Momentary Sight

    ? Agar Tram Lv.1

    ? Trial Traverse Lv.1

    ? Insane King Possession

    ? Gravity Zero Lv.1

    ? Frit Float

    ?Managarm Pride

    ? Deadly Sword Art ¡¸Ushiromikagami¡¹

    ? Burnout Lv.1

    ? Riot el Lv.1

    ? Blood War

    ? Rete Vanisher

    ? Dirty Sword Lv.1

    ? Swordfighting

    ? Fatal Sword Art ¡¸Breaking Cresent Moon¡¹

    ? Sengoku Takeori Lv.1

    ? Kenbu ¡¸Spin de¡¹

    ? Piercing Stand

    ? Swift Foot

    Equipment:

    Left and right: Duhan¡¯s Beheading Sword

    Head: Battlefield Helmet (VIT + 500)

    Torso: Curse of Lukaan

    Waist: Excavated Belt ¡¸Old Soldier¡¹ (VIT + 400)

    Feet: Curse of Lukaan

    essories: INVENTORY

    After organizing my skills and disposing my skill points, my Endurance reached the whooping number of nine hundred, which was honestly quite terrifying in my opinion.

    Speaking of which, since I realized that I wasn¡¯t wearing the waist equipment for a while now, I quickly corrected that mistake at the nearby town¡¯s store and bought something there.

    Although it was a normal piece of equipment from the rare enemy¡¯sponent, its stats were equal to the equipment from the endgame. Not to mention the helmet that I was wearing and its stats as well¡­¡­ By the way, without my bird mask on, I was feeling strangely restless.

    Also, this belt was so good that it allowed me to use the gauntlets no problem, without any loss in stats.

    ¡¸Fifteen minutes left until the appointed time¡­¡­ Well, I¡¯m already here, so I might as well head there right now.¡¹

    The ce we are supposed to meet at is a famousndmark called ¡°Fallen Giant¡¯s Sword¡±. I don¡¯t know what that is, but judging by its name it must be hard to miss. Thinking that, I¡¯m heading forward while looking at my skills at the same time.

    ¡­¡­ That¡¯s what happened about five minutes ago.

    ¡¸Hmm, that¡¯s strange¡­¡­ So far I haven¡¯t seen or heard about anything that would even remotely resemble Fallen Giant¡¯s Sword or a Holy Knight¡­¡­¡¹

    But my worries were soon alleviated. Hahaha, what the hell is this? I felt as though it was something so surreal that I was dreaming. If so, please snap me back to reality. Or let me escape from it even further.

    Surely, both of them were there, right in front of me¡­¡­ A giant statue of a broken sword that some Demon Lord would surely use and a person looking just like a Holy Knight standing right underneath it. There was no mistaking it.

    The aura of intimidation that was emanating from her was so dense that you could almost see the damned thing. It felt like she was a boss monster that was guarding the way and would not grant passage to anyone crazy enough to dare and approach her.

    At that moment, Saiga-0¡¯s appearance was more terrifying than the broken sword behind her. I know that I was supposed to meet her, but right now I wanted nothing more but to be someone else and get the fuck out of here.

    However, I simply couldn¡¯t do something as rude as that to my fellow gamer. It would be a highly uncultured thing of me to do, something not even aplete noob would dare to do if they were in my shoes.

    ¡¸Ah¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorry, have you been waiting long?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I just got here myself.¡¹

    I speak after gathering up my courage. And while I think to myself that she¡¯s been obviously waiting here far longer than far five or fifteen minutes. Also, I could feel the burning gazes of other people who were shifting their gazes from me to Saiga-0, and back to me.

    ¡¸Is, is that so¡­¡­? Look, I¡¯m sorry for asking you for help so suddenly like that.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ No, it¡¯s alright¡­¡­ It¡¯s just, I have time to spare, so it¡¯s alright¡­¡­¡¹

    Why did she say that right now? Was she really happy that I invited her? No, it can¡¯t be that, there¡¯s just no way. Or is it? I know that my partner is one of the most powerful yers in ShanFro, but there was always a possibility like that.

    After all, I¡¯m a member of ¡°Wolfgang¡± and I am using one of the strongest members of ¡°ck Wolves¡± as my support, so it¡¯s a matter of course that some kind of gratitude towards her will be necessary¡­¡­ Maybe if we happen to score some good items alongside this run, I shall give it to her aspensation?

    ¡¸Ah, so, once again thank you foring here today. Shall we get going then¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Don¡¯t, don¡¯t sweat it. After all, that¡¯s what friends are for, right¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­

    (Scary! I don¡¯t know why, but that statement right now sounded super scary! I know that she means well, but were free good intentions always this scary!?)

    For that reason alone, I was more than happy and grateful that I was wearing a helmet that was covering my whole face.

    Honestly, I don¡¯t know if I would be able to respond to that with a smile just now.

 Chapter 115: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 1, Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 115: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 1, Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸This area feels much the same as the Ancient Ruins. But unlike that dungeon, which as you may know is a factory of some sorts, this ce is a site of a former battlefield.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­¡­ It certainly gives off a vibe of a fierce battle over here.¡¹

    ¡¸ording to Library, the scale of the battle here must have been massive. We don¡¯t know if it was a decisive one, but since the weapons factory is located nearby, it must have been brutal and rich in casualties.

    The sight before our eyes surely serves as an undeniable proof of that hypothesis.

    In the distance, there were ruins of some massive formation, most probably a castle or other fortress like that. It was surely a sight to behold, one that would never age or deteriorate because of its nature.

    The destruction weapons could cause surely was massive.

    Aside from that, it was mainly a grasnd with moss-covered remains of huge weapons and strange devices. Even though they were supposed to feel ghastly, there was something strangely eye-catching to them.

    The ruins were distinctively different from any Japanese-style or Western-style formation as well. How should I put it¡­¡­? They looked kind of like the remains of a battleship that crashnded after sustaining too much damage. Something like that.

    And judging from the weapons sticking out of the formation¡¯s sides, it must have been a mobile defense fortress.

    Besides, judging by its sheer size, it must have been a massive thing when it was still fully operational. Just how amazing were the people of the Era of the Gods!? Was it a giant that built this thing? Kind of like a child builds things from Lego blocks but on a muchrger scale?

    ¡¸¡­¡­ At least it¡¯s a blessing that no monsters of such size appear in ShangriLa Frontier so far. ¡­¡­ That is why Library was created, to investigate that which took ce before us here¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Omega, huh¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh?¡¹

    ¡¸Nah, it¡¯s nothing. Just some random thoughts that are stuck inside my head after what I¡¯ve been through today.¡¹

    ¡¸Haa¡­¡­¡¹

    While telling a lie as easily as I breathe, my brain was working full throttle right now, trying to connect the dots of information I managed to acquire thus far.

    There¡¯s no doubt in my mind. This ¡°weapon¡± here surely must be somehow connected to the wreckage that I saw in the ruins earlier. A relic from the Era of the Gods, maybe?

    And the ¡°Omega¡± symbol we saw at that secretboratory¡­¡­ Was it perhaps a mechanical creation, something that was designed with ying the owners of those giant weapons in mind?

    And those arms¡­¡­ Maybe that ¡°Omega¡± was its wielder? Or maybe it was something else entirely? More importantly, there was a word that would just keep on nagging me, not letting me go. That word was ¡°Bahamut¡±.

    But I still have way too little information. Unless I change that somehow, my spections will only remain just that, spections. And seeing how the information would note to me one way or another, my bet was on the EX Quests and the mysteries of the world they are supposed to unveil.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Umm, Sanraku, -san?¡¹

    ¡¸Hm? Ah, I¡¯m terribly sorry! I was just lost in thoughts right there for a moment.¡¹

    ¡¸Haa¡­¡­ Umm, Sanraku, -san¡­¡­ You said that your top priority for now is to break through this area, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, yeah, there¡¯s a little meeting I must attend to¡­¡­ and because of that I need to get to Fifthsia by tomorrow morning.¡¹

    I¡¯m sorry, but I just can¡¯t tell you that it¡¯s rted to Unique Monster. Now when you are such a Unique Monster nut yourself.

    ¡¸Meeting¡­¡­ in Fifthsia?¡¹

    ¡¸W, well, yeah¡­¡­ with some yers I met by ident in another game.¡¹

    ¡¸I see. Umm, by any chance, is some of those people, umm, nnh¡­¡­ a woman?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, one of those people sure is a woman, why?¡¹

    The next moment there was a loud BANG! And Saiga-0 swung her sword towards me with almost inhuman speed, shing open the side of the wyvern that appeared before us seemingly out of nowhere.

    ¡¸Hyii!¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san, watch out! It¡¯s the Storm Wyvern! It¡¯s level ny nine, so please stand back and leave it to me¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸N, no, I can fight as well¡­¡­ I¡¯m level ny nine Extended myself, so I want to test myself against opponents of equal skill.¡¹

    ¡¸EH!?¡¹

    In an instant I activate all of my buff skills and m my Duhan Sword against the neck of the confused Storm Wyvern.

    Even though the Storm Wyvern had its side crushed by Saiga-0, it was still struggling to get up when my huge sword sunk into its neck. Unfortunately for it, it was already toote.

    ¡¸Saiga-0!¡¹

    ¡¸GOD SLAYER!¡¹

    The Storm Wyvern¡¯s fate was sealed the moment it didn¡¯t run away after having its side crushed.

    Before it could break free of the Duhan Sword holding it in ce, the Wyvern¡¯s body was split in half from the base of its nose to the tip of its tail. The force of the blow was so tremendous that it even left a huge and deep crevice in the ground as a result.

    The poor thing didn¡¯t even get a chance to let out a death cry before it got changed into a myriad of red polygons and evaporated just like that.

    ¡¸Umm, as always, that firepower sure is amazing.¡¹

    ¡¸Ehh, well¡­¡­ Umm, if I can make, a suggestion¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸What suggestion?¡¹

    Saiga-0 begins to awkwardly speak up after returning her sword onto her back.

    ¡¸Umm, this is, you see¡­¡­ What I want to say¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Haa.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Umm, ¡°Saiga-0¡± is, kind of mouthful¡­¡­ So maybe you could¡­¡­ Like my sister, I mean¡­¡­ Saiga-100¡­¡­ Call me just ¡°Saiga¡±¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You have a point there.¡¹

    Somehow, as I was listening to Saiga-0¡¯s awkward word, I got a feeling that this aura of intimidation of hers was no longer to be found for now. It felt as though it was hard for her as well to tell me those words.

    Certainly, it would be nice to be able to call her some other way, but ¡°Saiga¡± was not at all fortunate of a choice here. Since it would sound just like the name of the ¡°ck Wolves¡± leader and all that.

    ¡¸T, T, then h-h-h-how about¡­¡­ calling me ¡°Rei¡±? Like ¡°0¡± from my name? Umm, this is¡­¡­ much easier to¡­¡­ pronounce, I think¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, so your name isn¡¯t Saiga-0 but Saiga Rei, huh? Alright then, Rei it¡­¡­ is? Hm?¡¹

    I felt as though something smacked me to the back of the head all of a sudden, but what is it? There were so many thoughtsing and going through my mind at the current moment that I couldn¡¯t possibly put my mind on it. Oh well, I¡¯ll think about itter.

    ¡¸S, Somehow¡­¡­ it feels really embarrassing to call someone like that, right? P-Please forget I said anything and¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, no, that¡¯s not it¡­¡­ I don¡¯t mind, really. Right, so, from now on, I¡¯m counting on you, Rei.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­!? ~~~~~!?¡¹

    ¡¸A, are you alright!? If you¡¯re feeling sick, you can always log out for now¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸No! I¡¯m feeling fine! In fact, I feel like I could take on even Night Prowler right about now!¡¹

    At least against that person I¡¯m fairly sure I could win. But with Night Prowler¡­ It was a bit of a stretch to assume so.

    I know that she holds the title of the most powerful yer in the game at the current moment, but I¡¯m not sure just how much of a support she can be. Well, at least it¡¯s better than nothing.

    ¡¸W, Well then, shall we get going¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes! No matter what may await us, I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll be able to sh through it no problem!¡¹

    With that remark, there was a sound of sword cutting through the air.

    Hahaha! ¡­¡­ Let¡¯s just get back to Rabbitz.

 Chapter 116: Embracing the Light of Ambition, Part 2 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 116: Embracing the Light of Ambition, Part 2 Part 1</h4>

    While continuing through the area, I had time to do some thinking about my current surroundings.

    I know that our goal for today was simply to bust through, but I wanted to gather as much information as I can while being at it. For that, some genuine investigation is needed.

    And when ites to lore and all that stuff, Saiga-0¡­¡­ I mean, Rei turned out to be a surprisingly good teacher.

    No matter how basic or stupid the questions I would ask her, she would always take the time to answer all of them in earnest.

    (It seems that there are some strong monsters inside those ruins. And even though they are level eighty nine at best, even some level ny nine yers seem to struggle against them quite a lot¡­¡­)

    And judging by my experiences with Weissash and Wezaemon thus far, I get a feeling that investigating those ruins may turn out to be essential in my quest for discovering more information about the mysteries of this world. Or at the very least learning something about the Era of the Gods.

    Honestly speaking, I would like to make Rei a part of all this, but unfortunately I cannot do that. At least not yet. So it cannot be helped.

    ¡¸But I must say, it¡¯s actually amazing¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Hm? What is?¡¹

    Thanks to the Curse ced upon me by Night Prowler, only the level ny nine monsterse towards us, with small fries running for their lives in the opposite direction.

    After the Storm Wyvern we encountered a couple more enemies, mostly armored rhinos that looked like a literal meat wall covered in a thick mixture of stone and bone ting all over their bodies. Even though they were literal walking bulldozers, Rei managed to sh and cleave them in half with ease, not even breaking a sweat. After a small amount of encounters like that, she murmured in astonishment.

    ¡¸I knew that you¡¯re good at fighting monsters, but¡­¡­ So far I haven¡¯t see you getting hit by them not even once.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, as you can see, you need to be good at avoiding damage when every opponent basically has the potential to one shot you with ease.¡¹

    In fact, without the ability to dodge the iing damage like crazy, I wouldn¡¯t be able to get as far as I have gone now.

    The way in which this game allowed you to build your character, your skills, your personality¡­¡­ It was good to say that there weren¡¯t two exactly identical builds in this game, that each and every yer was unique in his/her own way. Still, I kind of understand where she ising from with that.

    ¡¸Some members of ¡°ck Wolves have simr build to you, Sanraku-san, but they still end up taking lots of damage¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Well, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s just a matter of getting a hang of how the game works. Or maybe a previous experiences?¡¹

    Bugs train people¡¯s patience. Lags make people forgiving. Sh*tty games make people strong. Far stronger than they would even imagine.

    I once told this theory to Katsu. His only reaction was that his sides almost killed him fromughing too much, and he wasn¡¯t even trying to hide the fact that he considered that theory to be bullsh*t. Still, I believe in it.

    And seeing just how well I was doing at ShanFro even though I was still an inexperienced yer, this theory rings even truer for me.

    Pile up enough dust and it will eventually make a whole mountain. Pile up gaming experience and it will turn into habits that stick with you no matter what kind of game you will y next.

    ¡¸I¡¯ve actually been wanting to ask you this for a while now. How long have you yed this game, Rei?¡¹

    ¡¸Hm? Ahh, umm, for about a year or so, I think¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸So that makes you like a veteran yer¡­¡­ And it only took you a year to achieve the title of the most powerful yer!?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s, that¡¯s an over-exaggeration! I had my friends from the guild helping me out all the time, it¡¯s not as though I managed to achieve that all on my own¡­¡­¡¹

    Seeing just how humble Rei was right now, I think that it is actually impossible to judge the true nature of a person from the way in which they act inside the game.

    My first impression of her was that she looked like someone who would forsake the real world for the gaming world, and I know that was very rude of me. But seeing her now, she was actually a really nice and humble person.

    And whether or not it was just an element of roleying her character, that was of no importance to me.

    ¡¸Ah, it¡¯s another Armored Rhino¡­¡­ Leave aggroing it to me¡­¡­!!¡¹

    A slight correction. Rei¡¯s character surely wasn¡¯t an element of a roley.

    Her action just now, intercepting a charge of a huge monster that was going approximately forty kilometers per hour right at us, was genuine kindness. Still I think she might have a screw or two loose out there, but at least her kindness is genuine. So I respond to this kindness of hers with an attack of my own.

    I know that my ystyle is not the safest one out there, but intercepting the equivalent of a speeding car was not something I would consider doing on the spur of the moment. Just how much experience in fighting does she have to be able to do something like that so naturally?

    It only goes to show that her title as the strongest yer is not just for show¡­¡­ And there was always a possibility that even though she was so kind, she would try to extract some valuable information out of me.

    Should I just take initiative from now on and avoid that at all cost?

 Chapter 116: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 2 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 116: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 2 Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸B, But still, I¡¯m getting tired of all the enemies running away from me.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right¡­¡­ Sanraku-san, are you considering lifting the curse from your body?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­ Part of me really wants to do that, but part of me is also afraid at the same time.¡¹

    This is the truth.

    I was more or less getting used to it at this point, but not being able to equip any armor on the ¡°cursed¡± parts of my body was starting to be a problem. It¡¯s also true that the curse¡¯s merits helped me more than demerits did me harm, but¡­¡­ At least I want to be able to wear boots.

    ¡¸I would like to get rid of the curse on at least one part of my body¡­¡­ But at the current moment that might be easy to say and hard to actually pull off.¡¹

    ¡¸Not to mention that even without the curse, meeting Saint Iristelia is already hard enough¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Saint Iristelia?¡¹

    I don¡¯t know anyone named ¡°Iristelia¡±, but that Saint part made me believe that we weren¡¯t talking about a yer here.

    ¡¸This game¡­¡­ Religion is not all that important here, or at least it¡¯s not a determining world view factor. Instead of one supreme God there are ¡°Three Deities¡±, and each one of them has their saints. When ites to Iristelia, I believe her NPC name is ¡°Iristelia, Saint of Benevolence¡±¡­¡­¡¹

    Iristelia, Saint of Benevolence¡­¡­ It seems that in the whole of ShanFro people with this title are the only ones who can cure all kinds of curses. It is said that their power is so great that they can even break curses ced upon anyone by the Unique Monsters.

    But of course, when you are surrounded by a whole bunch of Church officials and high-level yers, it is difficult to meet someone like that in person.

    ¡¸If you really want to meet her¡­¡­ I¡¯m afraid that you¡¯ll have to first go to the Church and organize the meeting through them. And there are also ¡°Saint¡¯s Guard¡± to consider¡­¡­¡¹

    Going through the Church required a lot of money to donate. Thetter you needed to satisfy a whole bunch of other conditions.

    And now that I think about it, at the time of the meeting Saiga-100 said something about being able to arrange a meeting with a Saint for me if I really wanted to get rid of the curse.

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­ W, well, for now it¡¯s not that big of a problem, so I think I might as well stick with it for a while longer.¡¹

    But putting into perspective the iing battles against the Unique Monsters in the future, an upgrade in armor is more than necessary.

    In other words, unless I get rid of the curse I might not be able to wear that Power armor and my defense will still be paper thin if nothing else.

    ¡¸It won¡¯t be much longer before the sun will start to set¡­¡­ If possible, I would like to get through this area soon¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸The area boss is a little bit further ahead.¡¹

    This area was wayrger than I expected it to be. Without Rei¡¯s guidance, I don¡¯t know if I could get through it on my own without losing my way at least a couple of times.

    ¡¸Well, we still have a lot of time before tomorrow morning. So we can push forward without having to worry too much for now.¡¹

    ¡¸I guess you¡¯re right. Let¡¯s proceed forward with caution¡­¡­ Yes, caution is best¡­¡­¡¹

    Sanraku didn¡¯t know.

    That Saiga-0 knows him in real life.

    He also couldn¡¯t possibly know that right now Saiga-0 was guiding him towards his goal via the longest possible route.

    (Just a little bit more¡­¡­ Just a little bit longer¡­¡­)

    Since she was given this chance, she didn¡¯t want it to end right away. With that little bit of selfishness, Saiga-0 and Sanraku kept on going forward via the longest route possible.

    Saiga-0 didn¡¯t know.

    She wanted to talk to him longer. She wanted to be together with him just a little bit longer. She wanted to smile just for him andugh just together with him.

    It was a trivial thing. A trivial thing and a trivial lie born out of her love for Sanraku. A lie that almost resulted in failing to fulfil her promise to him.

    Their rtionship¡­¡­ It was no longer something that would affect only them, but it would influence the whole of ShangriLa Frontier.

    But it was something that neither of the two could know at that point.

    And one more thing. Unknown to either Sanraku or Saiga-0, there was a certain event that was proceeding further ahead slowly but surely.

    ¡¸If you¡¯re in trouble, run! Most of the time that solution tends to solve the problem!¡¹

    ¡¸W, wait, pyaaaahhhh!?¡¹

    ¡¸Better give it a rest already! That¡¯s just how those guys are!¡¹

    There was a person who was running away. There was a person that was letting out a deep sigh. And there was a person that despaired over the failure of his mission.

    But this is a tale for another time, perhaps.

 Chapter 117: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 3 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 117: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 3 Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸¡­¡­ The boss of this area is known as ¡°Dragon Usurper¡±¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Umm.¡¹

    ¡¸The tricky part about this fight is that it uses ¡°Steal¡± magic to snatch magic attacks and skills and shoot them right back at its opponent.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, I see, I get it¡­¡­ I don¡¯t get it, really¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Additionally, since it is a dragon-type monster it can fly in the sky and breathe fire, so it is important to know when to attack and when to switch to defense, kind of like a turn-based battle.¡¹

    ¡¸Fumu, fumu, so basically it¡¯s like and old school RPG, when you and your opponent throw attacks at one another interchangeably¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Also, once its HP drops below a certain amount, its attack patterns and behavior will change as well. For example, when in ¡°dying¡± state, it will try to steal skills and even weapons from the yer¡­¡­ If it catches you off guard, your weapon will be stolen. But it can drop the weapon if dealt enough damage, so you can always get it back.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, it¡¯s cool and all that, but say¡­¡­ Aren¡¯t we lost?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ No, I don¡¯t think so?¡¹

    Rei replied to me with a really unnatural voice. The sun was already set and the moon was already high in the sky, illuminating the surrounding with its silvery radiance.

    No, I mean, I know that I¡¯m still a newbie when ites to this game, but I¡¯m already a level ny nine yer. I have some experience and even if this area wasrger than anything else in this game so far, it wasn¡¯t possible for someone to be lost inside it for a couple hours straight.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Umm, sorry about that.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, no, it¡¯s not that I mind. It¡¯s just that, I¡¯ve been wondering about that for a while now¡­¡­¡¹

    But saying that seemed to have quite the opposite effect on Rei, who started to apologize even more than before.

    In fact, this little detour of ours allowed me to get some good item drops and my pockets were starting to be filled more and more, so it wasn¡¯t an entirely bad thing.

    And even if we are lost now, we still have time to reach Fifthsia by tomorrow morning, so no worries on my part.

    But with the mood suddenly bing so depressed, I needed toe up with a topic to direct the conversation somewhere else. However, since we talked so much already, I was afraid that most of the topics we could talk about now were already exhausted. Something else that we could talk about¡­¡­ Oh yeah, that¡¯s right!

    ¡¸I know that ShanFro¡¯s engine is amazing, but won¡¯t you take a look at that! The moon looks so beautiful tonight!¡¹

    There are many games that utilize Western-likendscapes, but none of those games could possibly hold a candle to ShanFro at the current moment.

    VR, Virtual Reality¡­¡­ Even though the scenery and images in the night sky are based on the real world, in here they still looked different, but not any less beautiful than in the real world.

    Not to mention that the game even took care of the weather conditions, for the night air is much colder than during the daytime. Talk about a high quality.

    ¡¸T, this is, I think I could die happily right now¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸WHY!?¡¹

    Was the moon too beautiful to her or something like that? And why was she looking at me instead of the moon? What was that all about? And why was she looking like a samurai ready tomit Seppuku right now?

    ¡¸Come on now, I know that we can respawn and all that, but don¡¯t you think that dying just like that over nothing is a little bit much? Instead, why don¡¯t we enjoy this game to the fullest, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸He¡­¡­? Ah, t, that¡¯s right! The graphics in this game surely are realistic¡­¡­ Hahaha¡­¡­ Hahahahahahahaha¡­¡­ Haaaaaah¡­¡­¡¹

    Did she think I meant something else? Oh well, doesn¡¯t really matter. Even though it was the middle of the night and I had problems seeing her facial expressions, it shouldn¡¯t really be that much of a problem.

    ¡¸Say, Rei? Does the monsters change in here depending on the time of the day?¡¹

    ¡¸They do, as a matter of fact. In this area, one of the most dangerous monsters at night time is a monster called ¡°Majority Hound¡±. They usually appear in packs.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, oh, is that so? Good to know.¡¹

    Majority Hound¡­¡­? That bastard, huh¡­¡­? Or maybe these ones differ in some way or another?

    ¡¸But there are also monsters that can apply various curses, so we need to watch out for them¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ara, won¡¯t you look at that? If it isn¡¯t Sanraku and ¡°The Strongest One¡± Saiga-0.¡¹

    Suddenly being called by our names like that, together with Rei we turn towards the ce from where the voice originated.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Animalia, -san?¡¹

    ¡¸Ara, it is an honor to have such fine Top yers remember my name.¡¹

    If only she was alone. Behind Animalia, there were a dozen yers all fully equipped and looking as though they were going to war. Not your typical Sunday pic, I suppose.

    ¡¸Sorry for prying, but¡­¡­ What are you doing here, you guys?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Capturing a zone, as you can see?¡¹

    ¡¸Is that so¡­¡­? You wouldn¡¯t think that judging by how heavily equipped you guys are. Double Booking, perhaps?¡¹

    Double Booking? Is there some event that is currently going on here? I turn towards Rei, but she just shakes her head, apparently not knowing anything about it.

    ¡¸Arthur Pencilgton, that bastard, and that other asshole¡­¡­ I knew that you guys may be hiding something, so I was right to doubt you. And won¡¯t you look at that? So could you not get in our way? Or you can try to stop us, go right ahead, but surely you realize that we have an advantage here and that going against us would be a really foolish endeavor, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, wait, wait, wait just a second! What the hell are you talking about? Weren¡¯t you all supposed to go to Rabbitz or something?¡¹

    Why is this woman so hostile towards me all of a sudden? Could it be something Rabbitz-rted? Sure thing, I am hiding something from them, but they shouldn¡¯t have discovered it yet, so they had no reason to be hostile?

    Whatever their deal, the members of SF-Zoo with Animalia in front of them were now armed and ready to fight. Were they so angry at me that they decided to convert into a PK guild? That would be the worst development possible, but for now there was still something fishy about this whole situation.

    ¡¸Umm, forget about it. We asked you for a surefire way to visit Rabbitz constantly, but now it doesn¡¯t even matter¡­¡­ It¡¯s okay. Sorry to say this, but what say you we burn it to the ground?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I don¡¯t seem to follow. What¡¯s the full story? What the hell are you even talking about?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll tell you¡­¡­ If you promise that you and this here Saiga-0-san get the fuck out of here right this instant.¡¹

    I cast a quick nce at Rei and she nods her head. Apparently Rei seemed to understand and lowered her sword, which she had at the ready this whole time.

 Chapter 117: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 3 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 117: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 3 Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸So if we do this, you¡¯ll exin to us what is going on?¡¹

    ¡¸Fufufu¡­¡­ You see, we know. Oh, we do know. About the condition of the EX Quest you were so desperately trying to keep hidden from us.¡¹

    ¡¸Excuse me?¡¹

    Could it be that the existence of ¡°The Epic of the Vorpal Bunnies¡± somehow got leaked? No, that¡¯s impossible. At least I want to believe that¡¯s impossible.

    Even if it got revealed by the most probable source, Akitsu Akane-dono, it would be about ¡°Invitation to the Bunny Country¡± not the ¡°Epic of the Vorpal Bunnies¡±.

    ¡¸And what is the source of this information, if I may ask?¡¹

    ¡¸You can thank your great leader for that.¡¹

    ¡¸Alright, time out for a sec!¡¹

    I make a gesture of ¡°Time Out¡± with my hands and then quickly check my inventory. I confirm the setting of my items, set up an appropriate chart and make some additional adjustments just in case sh*t hits the fan really fucking hard.

    ¡¸Right, please continue.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ What was that just now?¡¹

    ¡¸Aah, you know. I just had to make sure that once I get my hands on that retarded fucknugget he¡¯ll be turned into a bloody mess for sure.

    For now I¡¯ll keep Yuzuki on hand and ready my Scorpion Gauntlets as backup just in case. Animalia seemed to be really suspicious of me out there, but nevertheless she kept on talking.

    ¡¸I, I see¡­¡­ Ekhem, what I wanted to say, we have already established that in order to gain free ess to Rabbitz, you must encounter ¡°Night Prowler Luukan¡± andnd one hundred sessful critical hits on him. This will unlock the EX Quest that will grant us ess. So we don¡¯t need your help with that anymore.¡¹

    Animalia continues speaking.

    All the SF-Zoo members in this party are debuffers that can stop monsters from moving.

    They believe that stopping Night Prowler in its tracks will allow them tond those one hundred critical hits, thus giving them ess to Rabbitz via the EX Quest.

    It is also said that when ites to raid battles, SF-Zoo can be equal in power with ck Wolves, so thinking logically, they had a huge chance of sess with this strategy.

    Listening to Animalia¡¯s exnation, I became genuinely intrigued, and the n of bashing Pencilgton¡¯s fucking face in was gradually being pushed to the side.

    Then, after exining it all, the raid party started to dash off into the distance, ever so confident in their strategy that they formted the intel given to them by Pencilgton. I guess they were so absorbed in them that they didn¡¯t even consider the possibility of Pencilgton ying them like a god damned fiddle through me.

    (That bastard really has a way with words¡­¡­)

    Meeting me here was a mere coincidence, but I guess he wanted to worsen their rtionship with me thanks to that n. And as a result, he would feed them false hope and they would waste a tremendous amount of their resources betting on that gamble.

    (Dealing enough critical hits to Night Prowler is not the only condition needed for the EX Quest to appear. So technically he didn¡¯t lie to them, but instead fed them only partial intel.)

    They believe that the only factor here is the ¡°specific number of critical hits¡±,pletely disregarding things like ¡°Number of people¡±, ¡°Level¡±, and ¡°weapons¡±. And the truth here is, no matter how many times they critically hit Night Prowler, if they do that with that many people on board, this won¡¯t count as disying the true Vorpal Soul.

    And once they learn the hard way that Pencilgton fed them partial information, they will be furious¡­¡­ or they will simply fall right into Pencilgton¡¯s hands, who will definitely promise to feed them the right intel this time around for an even greater price.

    Certainly, Pencilgton sold SF-Zoo a rotten apple as if it was a perfectly ripe one.

    However, they couldn¡¯t possibly know that this apple was not only rotten on the surface level, but deep down to the core as well.

    (Besides, as long as both Katsu and I remain silent about that, there is no way for them to prove that Pencilgton yed them for fools, since he can always say ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been told as well¡±.)

    Pencilgton knows about the Vorpal weapon and level bits, but the only person who could prove his words to be false is me. So in the end the SF-Zoo will get their asses handed to them on a silver tter, waste their time and resources, and Pencilgton will still be in the clear¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know if karma exists in this world, but it should certainly bite him in the ass quite hard one of these days.

    I feel like we were holding the detonation switch for a nuclear bomb here¡­¡­ Or were ying with scissors around the threads of a puppet.

    I know that Animalia-san is not a bad person deep down inside, but even if I wanted to warn them about the trap that was set for them, there was no way for me to do that without sticking out my neck.

    ¡¸Okay, I understand. But one more thing¡­¡­ What are you guys doing here of all ces¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Fufufu¡­¡­ So I see you¡¯ve noticed that as well, huh?¡¹

    Cold night¡¯s wind blows. For a moment out there my cyber brain felt an otherworldly chill running down my spine and I thought that for but a moment every other noise except for Animalia¡¯s voice disappeared from the world.

    ¡¸This is the information that only we SF-Zoo know, our Ace in the Hole¡­¡­ We¡¯ve managed to figure out the ce in which Night Prowler Luukan appears most frequently.¡¹

    The cold wind blows again. However, it was not a wind current brought as a natural phenomenon. It was a phenomenon brought about by the appearance of a huge unnatural mass.

    ¡¸And seeing that the two of you are here, in this ce of all the ces to be, away from the area boss¡­¡­ Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve managed to figure that one as well?¡¹

    The cold wind blows¡­¡­ Wait, away from the area boss? Does that mean Rei was guiding me towards somewhere else this whole time?

    I tried to look at Rei for answers, but she only turned her head away, in a very apologetic fashion.

    ¡¸To be able to determine not only the general area but also the exact location¡­¡­ Guess the SF-Zoo will need to re-evaluate the worth of your small guild after all¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸For me, it seems that you guys came here with the same goal as us: to defeat the Unique Monster.¡¹

    The cold night¡¯s wind blows again. This is¡­¡­

 Chapter 118: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 4 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 118: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 4 Part 1</h4>

    It was dark, even darker than the darkest night.

    I imagine that the process of creating this thing was rather easy, since all you needed to do was to paint the whole thing ck and be done with it.

    ¡¸Luukan¡­¡­!¡¹

    It was a chunk of data that was even more broken and terrifying than the Golden Scorpion. Even though it was a model made out of zeros and ones, the feeling of approaching death was so overwhelming that your whole body was feeling it all the way to its very core¡­¡­ It felt as though you were just waiting for your own execution.

    Even though I was way stronger than the day we first met and it put the curse marks on me, I could understand it in an instant: we couldn¡¯t possibly win against that thing. It would be utter stupidity to think otherwise.

    ¡¸KARORORORORORO¡­¡­!¡¹

    Night Prowler Luukan emerged from the darkness of the night and gazed at us with its golden eyes, his jet-ck body not making even the slightest move.

    It looked at the members of the SF-Zoo calmly, then switched to Rei and eventually its gaze fell on me like an executioner¡¯s de.

    After all, it wasn¡¯t just a mindless monster. I assume that the AI steering its actions was as advanced as the ones animating the actions of the most advanced NPCs.

    ¡¸Everyone, begin the operation! The strategy is the same as we agreed on! First, Anti-Dragon formation!¡¹

    As we were ring at one another I realized that I readied my weapons out of reflex. If it wasn¡¯t for Animalia¡¯s sharpmand, I would most probably have rushed towards this monster without thinking.

    I was confident that I would be able to at least put up a decent fight, so themand issued to the members of SF-Zoo confused me greatly.

    I don¡¯t think they understand the gravity of the situation at hand. They needed to get the hell out of here before they were literally ughtered.

    ¡¸Sanraku-san.¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s put some distance between us. It is impossible to simply aggro this thing just like that.¡¹

    The battle hasn¡¯t started yet. In terms of racing, we were still waiting at the start line for the green lights to light up.

    Before the ughter begins, we need to be as far from SF-Zoo and Lukaan as humanly possible¡­¡­

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Are, are you sure about that?¡¹

    ¡¸Rei, do you have any experience with fighting Night Prowler?¡¹

    ¡¸About three encounters¡­¡­ In all of which I got one-shotted instantly.¡¹

    Oh, you¡¯ve encountered it even more than I did? Should I call you senpai then? Nah, forget about it for now.

    ¡¸For me it was only once, but¡­¡­ It was enough to understand that this beast will not simply go down without putting up quite a fight. I also don¡¯t want to interfere and die because of SF-Zoo, so for now let¡¯s just wait and see how the situation develops.¡¹

    Even against an entire raid team, I don¡¯t think that Luukan will fall that easily. Besides, it was an opportunity for me to witness its battle style from an outsider¡¯s perspective, so don¡¯t mind me and just let it ughter you all for my experience¡¯s sake.

    SF-Zoo. Seeing as they were experienced in catching formidable monsters, none of the party members seemed to have wavered in Luukan¡¯s presence. They were all calm andposed.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s see, five tanks¡­¡­ No way, please don¡¯t tell me that all the rest are Debuffers!?¡¹

    And not your usual tanks, no less. Those guys were literal walls or even meat shields. With full body armor and tower shields in their hands, they seemed to have sacrificed every single fiber of offence in favor of defense.

    They lined up in a single row, protecting the Debuffers like an insurmountable wall.

    ¡¸This is SF-Zoo¡¯s most basic formation and tactic. The tanks are just there to focus aggro on themselves and sponge all the iing damage¡­¡­ The Debuffers do all the real work.¡¹

    ¡¸I can¡¯t imagine they are going to withstand attacks just like that¡­¡­ Do they have some special skills that help them tank better?¡¹

    If you have five tanks, you can easily switch the one aggroing the attacks if you needed it. And when others are taking the damage, you can replenish your health and wait for your defensive skills to go off-cooldown.

    Tanks focusing the aggro on themselves were a force that no monster could possibly ignore. And once they do that, the literal storm of debuffs will follow suit from behind them¡­¡­ It was surely a poor boss subjugation strategy, focused more on catching your prey alive rather than finishing it off.

    ¡¸But, that¡¯s about it.¡¹

    ¡¸???¡¹

    For some extent such a strategy will surely work¡­¡­ But there are so many more elements that you need to be aware of when ites to enemies, not to mention that their mobility is pretty much non-existent at this point.

    ¡¸Wow, this is going to turn really ugly really fast.¡¹

    Night Prowler is as cunning as any yer out there. It wasn¡¯t a bad idea for SF-Zoo¡¯s tanks to scatter slightly to avoid being taken out all at once like bowling pins. It might have worked wonders against any other monster. But not against Luukan.

 Chapter 118: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 4 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 118: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 4 Part 2</h4>

    Luukan melts into the darkness like some sort of apparition and right after that it appeared behind one of the tanks, as if it was always there in the first ce.

    Luukan¡¯s shadow transition was something that only a veteran of fighting with it could possibly grasp. For aplete neer, it might have been instant transition. So no matter how tight your defenses might be, in the face of that attack you are nothing more than a punching bag, soon to be ground into minced meat.

    One of the tanks got smashed with Luukan¡¯s paw and flew forward while rolling on the ground. Poor sap didn¡¯t even see iting, so responding to that attack was also impossible.

    But surprisingly enough he was still breathing. Guess that¡¯s to be expected if you sacrifice your attack power and mobility and pour everything into defense.

    In addition, theirmunication was also quite good. One of the remaining four tanks covered the fallen one and took a fatal blow in the process, but he bought enough time for the three others to pick up theirrade and patch him up.

    It was good that they were so proficient at tanking, but that would leave the debuffers vulnerable and open to attacks. However --

    ¡¸First group¡­¡­ FIRE!¡¹

    ¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸ATLAS BIND!!!¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹

    The first group, about four magic casters, cast their spell at the same time in unison. Their spells turned out to be chains, and each one of them bound one of Luukan¡¯s legs.

    They shot from the ground and immobilized Luukan, but seeing how it immediately started to struggle to break free, the spell¡¯s effects wouldn¡¯tst for long against an opponent like that.

    ¡¸Good, hold it down! Second group, back them up!¡¹

    But it doesn¡¯t seem like SF-Zoo was quite finished, for the second group of magic casters fired their spells at Luukan.

    Another chain, withered human arm, binds of ivy, stone arms¡­¡­ all of those elements got ced on top of As Binds, reinforcing the restraints on Luukan¡¯s limbs.

    Is that supposed to make the As Bind stronger? Or simply hold it down in case As Bind breaks? Just as I was considering that, Animalia came to the front.

    ¡¸Leader!¡¹

    ¡¸This is how the perfect capture looks like! Behold! ¡®HANDS OF TARTARUS!!!¡¯¡¹

    Animalia raised the weapon she was holding in her arms. It was a staff, but just one look at the thing would confirm that it was most probably a Unique Weapon, unlike anything her squad was using. When she chanted the name of the spell, Luukan¡¯s legs started to twist and distort unnaturally. At first I thought it was a bug, but I soon realized that it was in fact the space itself being distorted around its legs.

    Then, there was a giant arm that popped out of the distorted space, firmly grasping Luukan¡¯s torso and not letting go of it.

    ¡¸Eh, what is that thing!?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ This is the unique ability of that woman¡¯s weapon, ¡°Key of Hades¡±. If I remember correctly, it holds the power to render any creature immobile for about thirty seconds with no ways of avoiding that effect once the spell captures you.¡¹

    ¡¸Any creature, huh¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸It looks like SF-Zoo really has a chance at capturing Night Prowler Luukan¡­¡­¡¹

    Oh, I wouldn¡¯t worry too much about that.

    If anything, even though I realize that I wouldn¡¯t be able to best that monster at the current moment, I see that defeating it is not in the realm of impossible.

    But despite being immobilized, the expression on Luukan¡¯s face was not of an animal that was soon to be robbed of its freedom.

    ¡¸Is, is that so? Look, at this rate, they will surely¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸No, take a closer look¡­¡­ Here ites¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Eh?¡¹

    That¡¯s right. Now I remember. I finally started to understand what exactly happened at that time.

    In a moment, all of the information in my brain formed one single chain that finally started to make sense.

    At that moment I was sure of it. Night Prowler Luukan somehow managed to unite with the shadows and create an invisible copy of itself.

    Or not. It was not the shadows. For me, it looks as though Luukan was united with the darkness itself, not only the shadow.

    To be more specific, the darkness I was referring to was not the darkness on the ground or the air. It was the darkness of space itself.

    And now I can clearly see that at the exact moment of attack, Luukan¡¯s body stayed the same, with not even a single move being made by it.

    -- Hypothesis.

    That attack was not ¡°Invisible Bite¡±. Far from it, actually.

    It was something along the lines of ¡°Being attacked by an invisible alter ego¡±.

    And the trigger to that attack is the disappearance of moonlight, and the light of the stars itself. A state of perfect and impable darkness that no light could possibly hope to pierce.

    An attack of an entity hidden in the darkness of the night, or evenpletely assimted with it!

    ¡¸Do you remember what kind of weather there was during all of your encounters with this thing¡­¡­!?¡¹

    Night Prowler Luukan. It seems that I was in the wrong about the meaning of that name.

    It¡¯s not ¡°Night Prowler¡± because it attacks at night. It¡¯s a ¡°Night Prowler¡± because it uses the night itself to attack you.

    At the same time I arrived at that conclusion, the darkness mercilessly assaulted Animalia.

 Chapter 119: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 5 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 119: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 5 Part 1</h4>

    The first thought that went through Animalia¡¯s head was that it was impossible. They wouldn¡¯t be able to beat this thing.

    (Strange¡­¡­ Is this the true power of a Unique Monster?)

    Indeed, the strategy employed here by the members of the SF-Zoo was so wless and powerful that it could even affect Phantasmal Dragon, one of ShanFro¡¯s strongest monsters, for a whole one minute, rendering itpletely immobile.

    For example, that strategy would allow them to subjugate the boss of this area, the Usurper Dragon, without as much as breaking a sweat. Thanks to the cooperation of the high-level yers and strongest restraining magic out there, there was not a single boss, mob or rare enemy that would dare to resist them. ¡­¡­ Or so she thought.

    ¡¸ Now then, Lukaan-chan, I wonder how your fur feels to the touch?¡¹

    Pushing aside her anxiety, Animalia¡¯s curiosity got the better of her and she started to approach the Night Prowler.

    Animalia¡¯s unique weapon, ¡°Key of Hades¡± granted her ess to the unique spell called ¡°Hand of Tartarus¡±, an ultimate restraint spell that would render any creature immobile for a set period of time, no matter the kind of creature.

    The trade-off for this wonderful effect was that for the next five minutes she would not be able to recover HP and would continuously take small amounts of damage every second. Eventually, at the end of those five minutes her HP would sit at the whooping value of one.

    For Animalia, however, death was a small price to pay if it meant that she would be able to satisfy her curiosity and grope the animal she was chasing after for a whole one minute. A twisted logic, but logic still.

    For Itsukushima Maria couldn¡¯t y with animals in real life.

    Ever since she was little, Maria would suffer from severe allergic reactions to various kinds of animals, which for an animal lover like herself was a true torture. Even being in the same room with a single hamster could prove fatal for her health.

    Throughout her childhood Maria tried to interact with animals on many asions, which would always end up with her being hospitalized for a long period of time. She already lost count of how many tears she shed because of that. That is why for Maria, since it was so realistic, ShangriLa Frontier was a Godsend, a true Paradise on Earth.

    You can pull weeds out of the ground. Your boots leave their marks in the soil. Stones you pick up have different shapes and sizes. Ripples form on the water¡¯s surface when you throw something into it.

    So if the game can even replicate fleas running on the animal¡¯s body, it is no wonder that the physics of the animal fur would also be super realistic.

    So the ultimate reason for why Itsukushima Maria created Animalia and established SF-Zoo was not because she wanted to fight the monsters, but to get to know them and collect as much data on them as humanly possible.

    (A giant wolf¡­¡­ I wonder what kind of feeling its fur will have? Is it fluffy? Or maybe hard and rough?)

    ¡°Hand of Tartarus¡± is a spell that no creature can oppose. No one who gets caught up in it can move an inch.

    Yes, no move was allowed as long as ¡°Hand of Hades¡± was active. That is why Animalia was sure Lukaan was immobilized and didn¡¯t exercise any caution, and other members of SF-Zoo started cheering and taking screenshots.

    (Fufu, it¡¯s good to be the leader. At least I have the privilege of first touch.)

    Of course, she didn¡¯t forget their original purpose. After they touch it all they want, they will critically strike it a hundred times, fulfill the requirements for the EX Quest and then off to Rabbitz they go!

    At first she was disappointed that she couldn¡¯t go to Rabbitz right away, but right now it was different. For the perspective of reaching Rabbitz was finally well within her reach. She could almost taste it.

    If she would have received full ess to Rabbitz, she could cuddle and y around with cute bunnies as much as she possibly wanted.

    (Think we canbine touching it with scoring those critical hits¡­¡­?)

    Their eyes meet. At that moment, Animalia was convinced.

    Luukan was unable to move¡­¡­ It wouldn¡¯t be able to even if it wanted to.

    Those eyes were empty and lifeless, just like that of a doll. Its golden eyes kept on staring into nothingness, devoid of any sign of sentient life in them.

    But if those were not its eyes, then who was staring at Animalia right now?

    (The night¡­¡­ The night is staring at me¡­¡­?)

    But there was nothing out there. Just the darkness of the night and the remains of the fortress that could be seen in the distance.

    But Animalia could clearly feel it. It was staring right at her. Not from over here, but from somewhere else entirely.

    ¡¸ ¡­¡­ Impossible.¡¹

    She could feel something staring at her out there, hidden in the deep, ck night. The intense feeling emanating from that gaze¡­¡­ Yes, it was the same kind of gaze with which a predator looks at its prey.

    It was at this moment that Animalia finally noticed.

    The true identity of the Night Prowler Luukan, a ck wolf that attacks people at night at random locations.

    No, the truth is the order is reversed here.

    ---- It was the darkness of the night which took the form of a giant ck wolf!

 Chapter 119: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 5 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 119: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 5 Part 2</h4>

    The moment she realized that, Animalia¡¯s body was lifted in the air by a tremendous blowing from the side, a blow that all things considered simply ignored thews of physics.

    In ShangriLa Frontier, there are two ways of assessing the damage that was dealt to you: one was the numbers, the second one was the sensation that apanied the blow.

    ¡¸ Hyi¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    With the corner of her eyes, Animalia could pick up a slight movement. It was low quality but it looked just like a pair of big and sharp jaws. The jaws that grabbed Animalia and bit into her flesh, thrashing her around like a ragdoll.

    (It¡¯s biting¡­¡­ What power, and it¡¯s growing even stronger¡­¡­ Am I going to get eaten¡­¡­?)

    Animals are cute, precious and way better than humans could ever hope to be.

    But not this one¡­¡­ This one, it was different from the rest.

    Animals are creatures you should love and they will love you in return.

    ¡¸ No, help me¡­¡­¡¹

    Soon enough, Animalia was about to be eaten by an apex predator, something that not every average Japanese person could experience firsthand.

    Then its jaws suddenly closed¡­¡­ And Animalia¡¯s avatar was shattered into a million pieces by an attack so brutal and graphic that probably none of the SF-Zoo members have ever witnessed before.

    ¡¸ Uwah¡­¡­¡¹

    Even though I have seen some pretty gruesome images throughout my career as a gamer, seeing Animalia¡¯s body break and twist like a shrimp sent chills down my spine. It was realistically brutal.

    Maybe ShanFro should be age restricted if such vivid images could be shown here? I can certainly see minors bing instantly traumatized by them.

    And what followed was even worse.

    Anyways, debuffers became pretty much obsolete in this battle at this point. Because no matter how many times they would try to capture Luukan, it would simply create a new alter ego and simply transfer its consciousness into it. Not to mention that because of the clouds covering the moon, visibility was already poor as it was.

    The tank squad was targeted first. And their VIT stats as well as defenses were superb. But it was impossible for them to tank against a super mobile enemy the movements of which they simply couldn¡¯t predict.

    It was no longer a battle. It was a one-sided ughter. Or ying billiard with humans instead of balls.

    With the tanks being sent flying into the rest of the group, the chaos that ensued was far too great for them to coordinate in any kind of coherent fashion.

    And the fact that the tanks were taking so long to kill was only making the suffering of the group that much longer and greater.

    ¡¸ Now the worst thing they could possibly do is to bundle together.¡¹

    It so happened that all of the tanks fell down roughly at the same time, and as they were desperately trying to avoid imminent death, the invisible predator broke through their ranks and started ughtering the debuffers.

    ¡¸ Uwah, it¡¯s pretty damn amazing in a horrifying way, seeing human bowling balls and pins¡­¡­¡¹

    Some of them disintegrate on the spot, while others bounce off the ground or roll all over it for a moment beforeing to a stop.

    Even high-level yers with appropriate equipment were unable to withstand the sheer brute force of Luukan¡¯s attacks and started dying one after another without being able to defend themselves or resist.

    The fact that their leader got massacred right in front of them certainly wasn¡¯t helping. Without the tanks the battle was already over, and even if the mages somehow managed to revive them in time, it would hardly make a difference at this point.

    ¡¸ This is just too cruel.¡¹

    Watching that horrifying spectacle from behind the rocks, I muttered those words in a silent voice.

    Those of the people who died were nowying on the ground with their equipment stripped off of them, awaiting respawn at the inn.

    About three people were left on the field, and they all chose tomit suicide rather than having their stats decreased and their equipment stripped off of them. It was a wise decision on their end. The battle was already lost and staying alive would aplish nothing at this point. It would be a fool¡¯s errand.

    Umu, I knew it would happen. If even someone like Saiga-0 got decimated with one blow by this monster, then SF-Zoo didn¡¯t stand a chance in the first ce. It was foolish of them to even think they would be able to pull this off. As for Luukan¡­¡­ It was just sitting there, licking its own paws. Talk about a picture of carefree right after the battle¡¯s end.

    Thank you, Animalia. Thank you, SF-Zoo. There was one more person left there on the battlefield, half-dead and looking our way as if begging for help. He was saying something, but from this far I was unable to understand what his words were. Look, sorry man, but I¡¯m not going to risk my own neck for your sake.

    ¡¸ Thank you for reference material, you can now rest in peace.¡¹

    You wouldn¡¯t be able to tell because of the mask on my face, but I was smiling in a really nasty way. Also, I was shifting one of my thumbs up and down continuously before eventually bringing it down.

    The guy didn¡¯t see that, however. His body erupted into red polygons just a second before my thumb went down.

    ¡­¡­ Now, whatever shall we do?

 Chapter 120: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 6 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 120: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 6 Part 1</h4>

    I could see Luukan¡¯s attacks, but there was no way for me to possibly defeat it.

    First of all, our strengths were basically worlds apart. Not only in the case of attack power but all other basic stats as well, not to mention that alter ego of his. I would simply die a meaningless death if I tried to do anything.

    But it is a Unique Monster, so if we happen to defeat it¡­¡­

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Is, something the matter?¡¹

    It is almost certain that we shall unlock some sort of EX Quest or set a g for one.

    It would be nice to be able to do this on my own, but it seems that I won¡¯t be able to avoid adding ck Wolves to the entourage this time. After all, that thing was their sole purpose of existence, hence them naming themselves after it. Compared them to our n, we were still but an inexperienced pup.

    And seeing SF-Zoo¡¯s tanks just now, I was convinced: all yers who managed to hit the level cap are exceptionally strong individuals.

    Not only would they have exceptionally high stats, but they would also have appropriate equipment and experience to back it all up.

    And even though SF-Zoo¡¯s party was not the most fortunate one out there, you could tell that there was a whole lot of ¡°strategizing¡± that was involved in that formation.

    (I guess the monopoly of ck Wolves when ites to Luukan will be something that can¡¯t be avoided.)

    Our Guild was not a formation made out of weaklings, butpared to the ck Wolves it was like trying to fight a Royal Straight Flush with a simple Pair in poker. The difference was simply too great for us to close it anytime soon.

    So what can I do now? Is there anything that I can do to make my situation a little bit better?

    (The easiest thing to do here¡­¡­ Would be to get the hell out of here¡­¡­ Or die together while trying our best against it¡­¡­ What to do?)

    First, I need some sort of a n. I start to stretch lightly as a certain thought urs in my head: don¡¯t think it will go the same as thest time!

    This is another very important thing when ites to ying games: mindset. It is especially true when ites to yer Killing. Let us illustrate this example on two yers who want to achieve the same goal, say, ying a dragon.

    One yer has sessfully managed to defeat the dragon many times and see no problem with fighting it.

    The other party has never seeded in defeating the dragon and can¡¯t seem to be able to do it no matter how hard they try.

    Even if both of them have the same goal, their motivations are the extreme opposites. And in games that difference in motivation can very much be critical at times. There are also yers who can¡¯t seem to be bothered to get motivated, but let¡¯s just not talk about them for now.

    Honestly speaking, I want to challenge Luukan. I want to, even though I know that I can¡¯t win. But I at least want to jam my weapons right in its face as a show of my guts and resolve.

    However, even though beating Luukan might be extremely hard, the g for the next EX Quest might be well worth the effort.

    Let¡¯s go even darker. Suppose I let Luukan kill Rei¡­¡­ Nah, there was no way I would be able to do that on purpose. One, there would be a penalty for that, and two, because I am not that kind of yer.

    I know that this is just a game, and that I put myself at a disadvantage because of such a mindset, but just the way I want to y. Besides, a little struggle towards your goal is never that bad of a thing.

    (Luukan¡­¡­ EX Quest¡­¡­ Beat it¡­¡­ Unable to defeat it¡­¡­)

    But it¡¯s not only about my current situation. There was also Rabbitz to consider, Fifthsia by tomorrow, and¡­¡­ and¡­¡­ NUUUUUUAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!?

    ¡¸Sanraku, -san.¡¹

    Rei started to talk to me while staying at my side.

    ¡¸ ---------¡¹

    The moment I heard those words¡­¡­ Something seemed to have clicked inside my head.

    There it was. That little Sanraku inside my head who couldn¡¯t do anything else aside from screaming really loudly.

    Would it be her fourth time having to fight NightProwler Luukan? Saiga-0 couldn¡¯t stop thinking about it as she witnessed SF-Zoo getting decimated by it.

    The first time around she got one-shotted before she could react in any way.

    The second time around, even though her equipment was already quite decent, she got turned into a human bowling ball and sent flying into her fellow teammates.

    Then came the third time, and she was alongside her ck Wolves colleagues. All of them were around level eighty or so, and it only took approximately one minute for them to get decimated and turned into nothing more than a wet stain on the ground. At that time she got done in just like Animalia just now.

    And just now was supposed to be the fourth time, together with Sanraku.

    (What¡¯s going to happen now¡­¡­?)

 Chapter 120: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 6 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 120: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 6 Part 2</h4>

    Frankly speaking, Saiga-0 was not all that gung-ho about fighting Luukan as her sister and Guild mates.

    Sure, she wanted to defeat it with her own hands. But she was also a realist about it.

    Beingpletely honest, even the way she is now, Saiga-0 didn¡¯t think she would be able to defeat Luukan.

    ¡¸Aaah, that¡¯s right! What¡¯s important is here and now! As long as you¡¯re having fun, it doesn¡¯t matter what the future may bring to you!¡¹

    If they defeat Luukan, it¡¯s all good! Should they get defeated, they will have to start this whole area over from the very beginning, which would only increase the amount of time they would have to spend together.

    For Saiga-0 it would be ideal, but for Sanraku, probably not so much.

    Better yet, they could get themselves killed on purpose. Their opponent is a Unique Monsters that took out a whole squad of SF-Zoo. It wouldn¡¯t be strange for that monster to easily defeat two lonely yers with ease.

    (¡­¡­ Disgusting. How shallow of me.)

    Saiga-0 suddenly came to her senses and upon realizing what she was trying to do scolded herself. She should instead take the initiative here and aim for the best result possible. It was unthinkable for her to inconvenience others just so that she could profit off of it.

    Still, Saia-0 was ashamed of herself that she wasn¡¯t strong enough to beat Luukan all on her own.

    Looking to the side, there was Sanraku with his bird mask. He seemed to be thinking about something on his own, but his eyes were staring right at Luukan this whole time.

    She couldn¡¯t tell what exactly he was thinking, but one thing she knew for sure.

    (Surely, he can¡¯t be having much fun right now.)

    There was a precious jewel right in front of him, but he was hesitant to grab it. Too many thoughts were clouding his judgement.

    It was all Saiga-0¡¯s imagination and assumptions, but incidentally they happened to be spot-on.

    That is why there was only one thing she could say to Sanraku.

    It¡¯s the thing she always thought when she saw him going back home with a new game in the bag.

    ¡¸Sanraku, -san¡­¡­ Let¡¯s do this. And if we can¡¯t beat Luukan, let¡¯s at least enjoy ourselves to the fullest while trying!¡¹

    Ahh, I said it. Good. Saiga-0 thought to herself.

    When Sanraku came to her and asked her for help with clearing this dungeon, Saiga-0 was ecstatic to the point where she was basically ready to start dancing on the spot.

    That is why Saiga-0 could get serious right now. Because she was not alone. She had someone beside her who was worthy of witnessing her going all out and having a st while doing it.

    And since Sanraku received two curse marks from Luukan, it means that he was a worthy opponent acknowledged by the beast itself. He would surely be able to keep up with her.

    Saiga-0 smiled to herself. She couldn¡¯t be sure of that, but she knew deep down inside that Sanraku was currently smiling as well behind the mask.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Let¡¯s do this. And if we can¡¯t beat it, let¡¯s at least enjoy it with all of our might!¡¹

    Those words were so impactful that they made me stop thinking what I was thinking about in but a second.

    I could say that they were a real eye-opener for me. I then looked at Rei with astonishment.

    Rei kept on staring at me. I couldn¡¯t be sure, but I somehow knew that behind her helmet, she was smiling right now.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Fu, Fufufufu¡­¡­ Kukuku¡­¡­ HAHAHAHAHAHAHA¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    I smiled as well. Or rather, I was so happy that my happiness overflowed and changed into a fit ofughter.

    Yes, that¡¯s right. There was nothing to think about. Damn you, Pencilgton, trying to steal all the fun away from me even if you weren¡¯t here.

    To run away or to face it¡­¡­ It was so simple of a matter that worrying about it was downright stupid.

    Thinking ahead is good and all, but the most important thing is to have fun and not get bored with the game.

    We can think about item dispositionter, for now it doesn¡¯t really matter.

    So what if Rei raises a g of Luukan as well! Like I care!

    What if ck Wolves monopolize Luukan and manage to defeat it first? Let Pencilgton worry about that stuff!

    Nice, even though it was the middle of the night, for me it felt as radiant as the middle of the sunny day. Whatever happens from now on, I¡¯ll just leave the future problems to the future me. As for now¡­¡­

    ¡¸Let¡¯s do this, Rei. No matter if we win or lose, it¡¯s still going to be better than sitting here on our asses and debating things aimlessly.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Right!¡¹

    Better prepare your ass, Luukan! I¡¯ll show you the power of the level ny nine Extended! This won¡¯t be like thest time, I can promise you that!

 Chapter 121: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 7 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 121: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 7 Part 1</h4>

    Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to a spontaneously formed party that on the spur of the moment decided to recklessly abandon all logic and challenge one of the strongest Unique Monsters!

    My name is Sanraku, a Sh*tty Game Hunter who started with paper-thin defenses, graduated to cardboard-thin defenses and right now was sitting only slightly higher! Also, I managed to hit level ny nine Extended!

    Right next to me we have Rei-san, who formed a party with me without actually knowing how bad my defenses really are, the absolute madman!

    That¡¯s all, folks!

    ¡¸Typical, our bodies started to move before we even knew it¡­¡­!¡¹

    I don¡¯t know if it was a coincidence or not, but Luukan¡¯s attack came crashing down on me right at the moment when I was the most vulnerable during my approach. Its speed was simply monstrous and I wouldn¡¯t be able to avoid it by any normal means right now. So I used my transfer to the INVENTORY, eventually bringing down the number of uses of this trump card of mine.

    Seeing just how fast and merciless Luukan is, there was no way that I would be able to avoid its attacks by going into INVENTORY and right back again like that. So I just dashed towards Luukan¡¯s front legs, ring at him and readying my weapons to fight him with all my might.

    ¡¸It feels as though I¡¯m trying to sneak a peek!¡¹

    I then use the Secret Sword Art to nail Luukan¡¯s aggro in ce while I dove right under it. Then I rolled to its side and shouted while switching my weapons at the same time.

    ¡¸Rei!¡¹

    ¡¸APOCALYPSE¡­¡­!¡¹

    Rei mmed her sword against Luukan¡¯s rear leg, covering it with a substance that looked like boiling magma.

    But no matter how many times Rei hit it with her magma sword, Luukan still refused to calm down. What¡¯s more, it seems as if it was growing even more ferocious with each consecutive blow.

    It was to be expected that its counterattack would be deadly, so when I saw it directing its fangs towards Rei, I quickly changed to my gauntlet and strike it on the jaw in order to try to get the aggro back on me.

    And it seems to have worked. About four to five blowster Luukan stopped for just a single moment and red at Rei before eventually turning his attention back to me. Rei used that opportunity to attack it even more.

    ¡¸Switch!¡¹

    ¡¸Right!¡¹

    This is where our roles switch. This time around Rei would take care of focusing its aggro on her while I would attack it.

    ¡¸I¡¯ve got this side covered!¡¹

    I then m my gauntlet-d fist right into Luukan¡¯s side, scoring a critical hit. It was possible due to thebo of my high Luck stat and Hand of Fortune, but also because of the unique ability of the right gauntlet: even more Critical Hit chance upon attack. Upon contact, the ce which I mmed my fist into shone with a brilliant mixture of silver and gold.

    However, it was not nearly enough. Luukan tried to counterattack, seemingly unfazed, but its fangs met only a crystal pir that I shot out of my left gauntlet, anticipating the ce which its attack woulde from. Being hit with a crystal javelin like that surely must have hurt.

    ¡¸That hit a little too close forfort¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s, alright¡­¡­ SWORD ART ¡°DANCING BLADES¡±!¡¹

    Luukan jumps towards Rei, crushing the crystal pir that was in its way as if it was nothing more than a toothpick that was getting in its way. This attack was not something you¡¯d be able to dodge easily.

    However, Rei didn¡¯t use her sword to attack in a normal fashion. She took a really strange stance and thrusted her sword forward, piercing Luukan¡¯s belly and avoiding its leappletely by rotating her body.

    There was a brief moment of silence, and then Luukan turned towards us in an unfazed fashion, showing no sign of fatigue or damage.

    ¡¸I honestly don¡¯t know what to say to that¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Are we, even doing anything, to it¡­¡­?¡¹

    That¡¯s what I¡¯d like to know. I would like to see its HP bar if possible¡­¡­ Was that too much of a thing to ask for?

    The tanker and attacker were the most optimal strategy here, because we would be able to act ordingly to any kind of situation that arises. It wasn¡¯t the fastest n of attack, but considering our circumstance, it was the best thing we coulde up with. After all, it¡¯s slow and steady who wins the race.

    ¡¸Rei¡­¡­ How about now? How much?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ About, six more times, I think.¡¹

    ¡¸Is that so¡­¡­ Right, I understand.¡¹

    Before we entered the fray, Rei told me about a certain ¡°Trump Card¡± of hers that she could use with the help of some fairly expensive support items.

    You see, Rei¡¯s weapon, Satanael, allows her ess to two of the most powerful attack skills in the entire game: ¡°Apocalypse¡± and ¡°Catastrophe¡±. That is, if she manages to satisfy the conditions for their activation.

 Chapter 121: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 7 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 121: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 7 Part 2</h4>

    This is the reason why Saiga-0 holds the title of ¡°Maximum Firepower¡±, and if there was ever a chance of us winning this battle, that would be it. That is, if she manages tond that blow.

    Believing Rei¡¯s words that she would definitely manage to do it, we were now bncing on a really tight tightrope trying to keep her safe for long enough.

    ¡¸God damn it, why won¡¯t you keep on attacking me, you damned mutt¡­¡­!!¡¹

    First of all, what is the pattern of the aggro for this monster?

    Just when I was thinking that it was prioritizing the ¡°cursed¡± opponent over normal ones, it was shifting its aggro towards Rei again. It wasn¡¯t a wolf, it was a god damned cat! Doing whatever the hell it wanted!

    However, he who hunts two hares will catch neither, and the only reason we are able to bnce things out was because Luukan was shifting its attention between us.

    ¡¸The moon is hiding behind the clouds again!¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯sing¡­¡­!!¡¹

    There¡¯s a certain item in this game called ¡°Torch¡±. It is an item that illuminates the area in a five meter radius from the item, and it was really convenient for lighting up dark ces such as underground passages and caves.

    ¡¸This game is designed in such a way that you can see something even in a dimly lit environment, so an item like that is not that popr, but even so¡­¡­ Presto!¡¹

    The movements of the shadowy alter-ego were not all thatplicated, but the real problem was the moment it appeared, because we can¡¯t be sure where the attack wille from.

    So I focus my senses and try to hear where it will be. Breathing, the ground, fur shifting in the wind¡­¡­ anything that could serve as an indicator. Where will the invisible death strike from?

    It is there, even if we can¡¯t see it. If only I could predict its actions, it would stop being such a great threat.

    ¡¸Iiiiiiii!?¡¹

    I can feel chill running up my spine. Then there was a gust of wind. It wasn¡¯t a natural phenomenon, but rather an action provoked by the movement and exhale of arge mass of darkness fast approaching. My senses managed to warn me in thest possible moment.

    Rei¡­¡­ I was sure that she managed to sense that as well, and I took a look towards the moon high up in the sky.

    The moon was hidden behind a thick veil of dark clouds, and the malevolent wind was the only thing I was feeling for the moment.

    But then, because of the wind the clouds disperse and the moon peeks out from behind them, illuminating the battlefield with its light. And in that light I could clearly see it. Luukan¡¯s alter-ego disappeared into nothingness.

    (I knew it, if the moonlight shines onto it, it cannot use its special attack¡­¡­ What to do? There¡¯s no way to counteract it and it is too unpredictable¡­¡­)

    Light, light¡­¡­ Sh*t, I wish I had a shlight on me or something like that. No, unless we can¡¯t stop the skill from activating, it wouldn¡¯t do us any good.

    The flow of wind, the clouds in the sky. There were so many of them out there that it was despair inducing. How can we win if the weather itself is our enemy?

    ¡¸No, wait¡­¡­ There is a way, at least I think so.¡¹

    ¡¸Really?¡¹

    But using that in front of Rei¡­¡­ No, what am I? thinking? Weapons are to be used, not to be put in disy cases. It¡¯s like buying a new pair of shoes and never wearing them. And cool weapons are worth showing them off.

    I then ask Rei to aggro Luukan for a moment and disappear inside of the INVENTORY.

    ¡¸Yeah, sure, I can¡¯t wear the whole Power Armor, but it doesn¡¯t need to be whole¡­¡­ But what if it doesn¡¯t work out? Aah, screw it, it¡¯s toote for worrying about that! Let¡¯s do this sh*t!¡¹

    I take out three items from INVENTORY.

    One of them was the aether reactor that Break managed to restore to its former glory.

    The second one was the helmet of one of the Power Armors, a piece necessary to operate the rest of the armor.

    And the third one¡­¡­ a vermilion body resembling a mythical bird, with its wings folded and waiting dormant for themand of its master.

    ¡¸Nowe, this will be your first job ever¡­¡­ ¡°Suzaku¡±!¡¹

    I ce the aether reactor inside of the power suit ¡°Suzaku¡±.

    And then, the Vermillion bird wakes up and descends onto the battlefield under the bright glow of the moonlight.

 Chapter 122: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 8 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 122: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 8 Part 1</h4>

    A new window popped in the corner of my field of vision, disying me various information about the Non-Standard Tactical Weapon ¡°Suzaku¡±.

    ¡¸Now then, let¡¯s see how much of a punch this baby can¡­¡­ No, not that.¡¹

    I didn¡¯t bring this machine here for its firepower.

    While I wear the control helm and gaze at the machine hanging in the sky, it gazes right back at me with its lifeless eyes and a set of characters begin to appear in front of my eyes.

    I cannot wear the whole Power Armor at once. However, supplying the energy from the reactor to the Non-Standard Tactical Weapon was a whole different story. And here¡¯s the best part: tomand the Tactical Beast, you only need a head piece!

    The feeling of wearing that helmet was almost simr to my usual mask, but the metallic feeling of it certainly got the point across. It was aponent of a Power Armor alright. However, it was a distinct feeling, different from a normal metal helmet.

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t that thing supposed to temper my visibility? Or maybe it¡¯s some kind of exception¡­¡­?¡¹

    Normally, wearing a helmet impairs your field of vision by arge margin. It wasn¡¯t the case with this thing, butpared to the usual mask that I wear I couldn¡¯t shake off a feeling that something was clearly different in here. Aside from seeing various information about ¡°Suzaku¡± that the helmet was feeding me in real time, it felt as though my vision was even enhanced. Which was an awesome feeling, to be honest.

    Also, the helmet was providing me with some sort of augmented vision which allowed me to see clearly in the dark, to the point that I could actually see my surroundings in great detail as well as witness Luukan as clearly as if it was daytime.

    Andstly, the message. It was written in a clean way and apparently it was a message from Suzaku itself, asking for orders.

    ¡¸Stand-by. Awaiting Orders.¡¹

    ¡¸Right, I know that it might be a little of a tall order, but those clouds that cover the moon¡­¡­ Think you could do something about them?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Roger that¡¹

    Was that moment of silence just a processing of my words or was that disbelief alongside the lines of ¡°You seriously called me here just for that!?¡±. But I could see in its eyes that no matter what order it may be, it was going to do everything in its power to fulfill it.

    But right now, for me¡­¡­ No, for us, it was of the utmost importance. Only Suzaku and Soryuu could fly out of the four Non-Standard Tactical Weapons, and the fact that it has wings made Suzaku just perfect for this task. It was only going to be like an oversized fan, but that¡¯s more than enough in this situation.

    Then Suzaku spreads its mechanical wings. Looking closely, those weren¡¯t the actual wings, but rather a whole bunch of small boosters connected closely together. There was the fireing from the boosters and a huge me burst out of its tail as it started to move, spreading its wings in the night sky and having the moon behind it, creating one heck of a sight to behold.

    ¡¸You know, somehow I already feel bad about using you for something as silly as this¡­¡­

    ¡¸Sanraku-san, over there! Watch out!¡¹

    ¡¸Oopsie!¡¹

    I¡¯m terribly sorry Luukan-chan, but it seems that you won¡¯t be able to use your special move for a while now. You may be mad at us, but it is our only chance to defeat you at our current level. Possessing an ability like that, one that disregards every single factor in the current battle and hits you like a truck the moment you least expect it¡­¡­ It¡¯s just¡­¡­ It¡¯s just that¡­¡­ You are so strong we don¡¯t have any other choice!

    There were small sparks flying in the air and right after that there was a huge pir of mes shooting into the night sky. Without the interference of clouds, the moonlight illuminated the battlefield and us participants dancing all over it.

    Rei used ¡°Apocalypse¡± about five times now and was currently using ¡°Catastrophe¡± for the third. We managed to fully grasp the attack patterns of Luukan by now, and unless somethingpletely unexpected happens, we should be able to bring it down if we stay with the current strategy. ¡­¡­ But there was a small problem with that as well.

    ¡¸That bastard, did he figure it out as well¡­¡­? Is he aiming for her on purpose?¡¹

    It¡¯s been almost an hour since the battle started, but right now Rei was the only one who was targeted by Luukan¡¯s attacks. And his aggro was staying locked onto her no matter what I did to bring its attention towards myself again.

    I knew it, its AI is in apletely different league than that of normal monsters. It was learning throughout the battle, assessing the threat level of its opponents and estimating which threat to attack and which to ignore. Once it does that, itunches itself at the biggest threat and tries to kill it in a cruel, fast and efficient way. Rei¡¯s skills are something to be afraid of, but her main source of damage is her skills. Now, it¡¯s just a matter of time before something goes wrong: either she gets distracted, or her skills go on cooldown or her concentration might get broken.

    One saving grace was that this whole area was a wide grasnd with little to no obstacles in our way. So if worsees to worst, we might as well try to run for it and put some distance between us. But Rei had it even worse than me, since Luukan was mostly after her this entire time.

    ¡¸Sh*t¡­¡­ I¡¯d really like a group of tanks with aggro focusing skills right now¡­¡­!!¡¹

 Chapter 122: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 8 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 122: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 8 Part 2</h4>

    Trantor: Kurehashi Aiko

    I mumble that to myself while throwing my fist towards the sky in a threatening manner, all the while checking my status window and trying to focus Luukan¡¯s aggro back on me to give Rei some time to breathe. I even considered generating the crystal pir to elerate myself further, but I gave up on that idea in the end. At this speed it would be hard to generate the pir at the right angle and in the right direction. I would only end up setting myself back instead. And even if I used the pir for attack, Luukan would have no problem with breaking it to pieces, just like it did not so long ago.

    But still, putting aside the issue of moving or attacking, I really needed something that would allow me to divert Luukan¡¯s attention from Rei. Something with a nice punch that would also give me a nice burst of damage.

    (Or maybe¡­¡­ I should use ¡°that¡±? No, that¡¯s my ultimate trump card, so I should save it until Rei is really in a pinch, not before that¡­¡­)

    If I had topare the Deadly Sword Art that Yuzuki could use to a card from a deck, it would without a doubt be a Joker. It is a skill that is really difficult to trigger and has many drawbacks and bacshes, but as a result it would offer attack power equal or even greater than the skills Rei has in her arsenal.

    What to do, what to do? As I was considering that, the Crystal Pir became avable to use. I also can¡¯t remember how many buffs I have activated recently, and which ones were about to end and which were still good to go¡­¡­ That¡¯s bad.

    However, there was hope. Hope in the shape of a certain weakness. Not Luukan¡¯s weakness, but something more general, a weakness of all ¡°wolf-shaped¡± creatures¡­¡­ creature¡­¡­ And that¡¯s good.

    ¡¸Rei! Back away a little bit, why don¡¯t you! ¡­¡­ ¡°Firing Up!!!¡±¡¹

    Just for today I think that having to do voice authentification is quite a hassle. The left gauntlet activates and fires a crystal pir. It was a slow projectilepared to guns and other firearms like that, but still, a projectile flew forward and hit Luukan¡¯s side. I then activated the gauntlet again, but this time around I hit it against the ground, propelling myself in the air thanks to the erected crystal pir.

    Up bes down and in this reversed world I shout another voicemand, and then the world goes back to normal as I feel my insides turning from the force.

    ¡¸Growing up!!!¡¹

    I use the momentum of the growing Crystal Pir tond safely on the ground without losing my bnce. Because of that my body was able to elerate faster than it would normally do.

    Thanks to the improved vision, I was able to draw the most optimal path to take judging on all the factors that were in front of me. I run for about five more steps before I make a jump. Then I jump in mid-air while going diagonally. Reducing the influence of gravity over my body increased my speed even further and I was approaching Luukan at a very high speed.

    I believe in this game. For the longest time I was used ot the games screwing me over, being broken as fuck and in some instances even unyable and bugged beyond belief. But this game is different. Just touching your neck was enough to prove it. The engine imitated the pulse. It is actually amazing with what level of detail they managed to recreate avatars in this game.

    It¡¯s not something that is all that necessary for gamey, but ShangriLa Frontier was taking recreating the yers as avatars really seriously. That is why even enemies can have weaknesses in this game that their real-life counterparts could have. For example, since the system recreates the nervous system running under the skin, even the mobs should not be immune to the feeling of pain. And even the mightiest of foes couldn¡¯t be immune to pain.

    ¡¸If even the great Benkei could cry, then so can you! Now CRY, BITCH!!!¡¹

    I swing my fist, use the crystal pir as leverage and deliver a mighty blow right under the knee of Luukan¡¯s front leg. I then activate Infight and one other skill which was a long awaited melee attack steroid, and then deliver yet another blow right onto its shin.

    ¡¸GROUUUUAAAAGGGHHHH!?¡¹

    ¡¸Hahaha!!! You might be a Unique Monster, but that scream right now was just pathetic you little bitch!¡¹

    My hand goes numb for a moment. The power of the blow hitting the wolf¡¯s bone was so great that recoil was even greater. But it was enough for Luukan to lose its bnce and I used that moment to put some distance in between us. Dashing around like a bunny trying to evade the ferocious wolf, I manage to point Luukan¡¯s attention towards me and force it away from Rei. For now, at least.

    Scorpion gauntlets are powerful but slow and heavy to handle. If it is speed and precision you want, Yuzuki would be the weapon of choice here. Good for the defensive ystyle. Switching my equipment I do some quick math in my head and do rough estimates. The trigger here will be¡­¡­ the moment Rei hits her limit.

    Now, if only I could keep it off Rei for long enough¡­¡­ I estimate that the next fifteen minutes will be critical. But it would be a time where the odds would lean heavily in Luukan¡¯s favor.

    The question remains: what to do now¡­¡­?

    The battlefield in the middle of the night. A burning bird in the sky and a jet-ck wolf on the ground. And in between them an armored knight and a half-naked birdman, wielding their weapons in unison, their shadows advancing forward as one.

 Chapter 123: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 9 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 123: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 9 Part 1</h4>

    My swords felt heavy. My armor felt heavy. My whole body felt heavy.

    I¡¯m sure that not only my virtual avatar, but my real body as well felt that way.

    And that is all while heavily leaning on Rei¡¯s abilities in this battle. But she herself must have been close to approaching her point of exhaustion.

    Especially since her armor and sword worked in unison, it must have been exceptionally taxing. The sword is infused with a holy power and the armor is holding the power of darkness. And during battle those alignments were switching with one another, making for a truly unique ystyle.

    Based on the current setting Rei was receiving bonus defense stats or attacks stats, which was crucial in taking down some of the more formidable opponents.

    However, our opponent right now was none other than the apex predator, Night Prowler Luukan. A monster that could easily one-shot Rei even with her defensive boosts engaged, and because she was wearing heavy armor her evasive capabilities were drastically reduced.

    And even if Rei somehow managed to avoid direct hits, her HP would still eventually reach critical levels thanks to the small portions of damage her skills were inflicting on her. Being locked inbat like that made it difficult to drink HP Recovery Potions, so the only option was to use healing crystals ¨C¨C a very rare and very expensive resource.

    ¡¸A-amazing¡­¡­¡¹

    Hoping to get out of this battle unscratched was like hoping to waltz right into the eye of the raging storm and live to tell the tale. At the same time Saiga-0 couldn¡¯t stop being amazed at the sight of the mechanical bird that was in the sky right now, blowing away the clouds and making sure that the moonlight would shine onto the battlefield. It was way more advanced and way more sophisticated than anything that Saiga-0 had ever seen before in this game. And it was all thanks to the half-naked man who was currently going all out against Luukan.

    Saiga-0 knew that Sanraku was bearing two curse marks that Luukan ced on him. It must have been really inconvenient for him to not be able to wear proper armor on his torso and legs.

    First of all, the statistic called ¡°defense¡± in this game wasn¡¯t determined by sheer numerical value. More than its stats, armor was pretty much crucial in this game because it was protecting your body from harm, so having parts of your body exposed like that was simply asking for trouble.

    No matter how masculine his body was, Saiga-0 was somehow feeling embarrassed to be so close to a half-naked man all this time. At the same time she understood why it is that some of the yers would choose to leave their curse marks on their bodies. But still, her goal of introducing Sanraku to the Saint Iriste didn¡¯t change one bit.

    But having not one but two curse marks ced upon you was actually insane. For Sanraku, the pressure must have been unbearable, knowing that one single attack of Luukan could have ended his life.

    It¡¯s because of that that his skills were all specialized in defense and evasion, but there is a limit of how many times skills can save your skin from a certain death.

    That is why she needed to support him and protect him from danger. Once she decided on that, Saiga-0¡¯s spirit and concentration became as light as a wind.

    Even though he must have been aware of his own power shortages, Sanraku was currently doing his very best to achieve victory in this difficult battle. Still, it was Saiga-0 who was at a much more severe mental burden, because their strategy was resting on the fact that she would have tond all of her strongest attacks perfectly.

    And just like that they continued to y ball pass when ites to aggroing Luukan, switching in between attacking and defending ordingly.

    More. Just a little bit more and all of the conditions will be satisfied. But somehow, that time felt unbelievably far away for Saiga-0.

    But there is also a parameter known as ¡°Hunger¡± in this game. And right now Saiga-0 tried to take off her helmet and quickly eat a portable meal set to get rid of that status, since it was decreasing her stats. It was at this moment that she heard Sanraku¡¯s scream and realized that she made a huge mistake.

    ¡¸Alter-Ego! Watch out!¡¹

    Due to her carelessness, a dark shadow was now approaching her.

    It was their mistake for assuming that Luukan would keep his aggro on the person that was currently attacking it the most! A mistake that could cost them dearly!

    This wolf turned out to be more cunning than they initially thought! It knew that Saiga-0 would need to restore her health and it chose to attack right as she was about to do so!

    ¡¸Damn¡­¡­¡¹

    It was already toote for her to defend or try to evade. And even though there are ways to revive after death, you have to use them before you get killed!

    Even though Luukan¡¯s huge body was already starting to cover her sight, Saiga-0 somehow knew that Sanraku was looking at her right now. And even though she knew that the end was near, it filled her heart with warmth and joy. But she was also terribly sad

    (I¡¯m so sorry, Sanraku-san¡­¡­ I was only a burden to you in the end¡­¡­)

    Even though they agreed to do their best together, she made a fatal mistake like that. She could only apologize and hope that she would be forgiven.

    The wolf¡¯s fangs were quickly approaching her. The darkness formed into a huge mouth that seemed to be devouring even the light itself, and soon that sharp darkness would close upon her body, snapping her in half just like it did with Animalia.

    She wasn¡¯t afraid of a brutal death. She died a number of times over the past year in this game, and even though death by being snapped in half was not a preferable end, she was ready to ept it without anyining. However, being chewed and swallowed certainly will not be pleasant.

    That is why Saiga-0 failed to notice something. No, she wouldn¡¯t be able to perceive it, since Luukan¡¯s body was blocking her vision. Sanraku was not behind Luukan, as he started a mad dash towards it, closing the distance in between them in a matter of seconds.

    ¡¸I was going to keep it hidden for some more, but fuck it¡­¡­ ¡°UTSUSEMI¡±!!!¡¹

    ¡¸He?¡¹

    Somehow, she thought that there was something strange about Sanraku¡¯s voice. Then, in the next moment she experienced something truly bizarre: as Luukan¡¯s fangs were about to close on her body and snap her in half, she felt as though her body got pushed to the side, or moved, and she felt something simr tog. Then, there was the sound of Luukan¡¯s fangs hitting something. But instead of dying, Saiga-0 was still alive. And the thing that was miraculously in between Luukan¡¯s fangs was¡­¡­

    ¡¸A log?¡¹

    ¡¸When you talk about a substitution, of course the first thing thates to mind is a wooden log!¡¹

    After it chewed it for a while in suspicion and then spat the remains out, Saiga-0 could see that the thing that was in its mouth just a moment before was indeed a wooden log. Even though Saiga-0 was aware that there was a ss in this game that allowed for such a skill to be used, it was the first time she saw it up close and personal.

    It is a skill characteristic of a ss that you get from leveling up ¡°Bandit¡± ss enough times, as well asing from the skill that you get from mastering the ¡°Stealth¡± skill. It was a skill that allowed one to move without making a noise and lowering the levels of attracting aggro from surrounding enemies. Truly a skill that only a special hidden ss could have in its arsenal¡­¡­

    ¡¸Ninja?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right! Incidentally, are you perhaps the acquaintance of Sanraku¡­¡­ My fairdy?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? Ah, yes. My name is Saiga-0¡¹

    ¡¸I knew it! But I must say, I was expecting a bird head¡­¡­ I heard that it looks kind of funny and I really wanted to see that¡­¡­ But still! What a performance! It seems that person truly is something else!¡¹

 Chapter 123: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 9 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 123: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 9 Part 2</h4>

    Trantor: Kurehashi Aiko

    Looking back, Saiga-0 witnessed a very peculiar sight¡­¡­ A person stood there wearing an outfit in a toned color scheme and revealing both knees and elbows, most probably designed for the ease of movement and sneaking around, and with a fox mask for some reason. Certainly, masks like that weren¡¯t counted as headgear but essories, and it was not unusual for yers to wear them on top of helmets purely for fashion reasons. Sometimes the effects could have been hrious.

    Looking over the person¡¯s head, Saiga-0 could see the yer ID: Akitsu Akane. This led Saiga-0 to some truly bizarre brainstorming session about the origin of that name. If she recalls correctly, ¡°Akitsu¡± was the old way of Japanese people to call a dragonfly, and adding its color, which was called ¡°Akane¡±, you¡¯d receive ¡°Akitsu Akane¡±. There were so many things wrong with that name that Saiga-0 didn¡¯t know where to start.

    ¡¸Now, I do believe that some proper introductions would be in order!¡¹

    ¡¸U, Um!!!¡¹

    She knew that she shouldn¡¯t do that at such a time. However, for Saiga-0¡­¡­ there was something she needed to ask right now. Something that wasing from the very depth of her heart, a burning desire to know.

    ¡¸Umm, what kind of¡­¡­ rtionship do you happen to have with Sanraku-san?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­ He¡¯s a precious Senpai of mine that I really respect!¡¹

    Seeing the beautiful form of Akitsu Akane, Saiga-0 barely managed to ask that question with trembling lips.

    ¡¸Sen¡­¡­ pai¡­¡­?¡¹

    Somehow, those words sounded really dangerous.

    First is Hop! Then is Step! And whates after that? It should be obvious! Of course it¡¯s Jump!

    The moment I saw Luukan closing in on Rei I honestly thought ¡°Oh fuck, it¡¯s all over¡±. But surprisingly enough, Rei was saved by someone who appeared on the battlefield at a tremendously high speed. And their speed was almost inhuman. If it was Katsu or Pencilgton, I could understand.

    However, it was a yer I didn¡¯t know. So I don¡¯t understand how a feat like that was even possible. As I approached them, a whole lot of question marks were floating around in my head, soon to be turned into exmation marks upon seeing what the name of that yer actually was.

    ¡¸Akitsu Akane¡­¡­ What the hell!? Akitsu Akane!?¡¹

    When I was thinking about this guy, my mind was filled with words such as ¡°ephemeral enjoyment¡±, or ¡°strategic thinking, creating the image of a seasoned veteran who knew what he was doing. But what I saw right now hit me in the jaw even stronger than an uppercut with a fucking sledgehammer would.

    Akitsu Akane. The name of the yer that was one of my biggest concerns right now. The one after which I sent Emul in the hopes of intercepting him. I never would have thought that we would meet here in such a ce. Seeing him approaching us fast, even god damned Luukan seemed confused. Honestly, I know how it must have felt, but sorry, it was an opportunity that I simply wouldn¡¯t waste right now.

    I leave Luukan some bait to y with and then escape the range of its attacks. Then I joined Akitsu Akane, who even though he had a mask on his face, I could feel the atmosphere of sheer happiness emanating from him.

    ¡¸Eh, why, what the hell are you doing here of all ces!?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s so nice to finally be able to see you! Listen, I¡¯ll cut to the chase right away! Have you ever yed ¡°Berserker Passion Online¡± before?¡¹

    ¡¸Why are you bringing ¡°Crap¡± in here all of a sudden!?¡¹

    Bringing that up was like dropping vani ice cream right in the middle of the te full of spicy curry. But he must have been the real deal to mention a name of such a cursed sh*tty game right in the middle of a truly godly game like that. But that seemed to be more than enough for Akitsu Akane, whose eyes must have been sparkling with joy as he gained a conviction of some sort.

    ¡¸I knew it! I knew that you must be that ¡°Sanraku¡± after all!¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? Well, basically I go with that name in a bunch of games, but¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s me! Dragonfly! You helped me out quite a bitst time!¡¹

    Suddenly there was a silence thatsted for an awfully long amount of time. It took me ages to finally remember the yer who demonstrated me a whole new bug that I was previously unaware of.

    ¡¸Dragonfly!? As in, that Dragonfly from that time!?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes! Who would have thought that we would meet up in a different game!¡¹

    Dragonfly, Akitsu Akane¡­¡­ I see, so he¡¯s someone who picks a theme for his name, just like Katsu does. And no matter how ready you thought you might be, the power of that revtion was always formidable. I never would have thought that he was in fact someone I had met on a chance asion like that.

    Akitsu Akane, wearing a mask with an image of the fox, was jumping up and down in ce as if he couldn¡¯t possibly contain the joy of our encounter just now And the muffler he was wearing around his neck was shaking strongly in sync with his jumps and leaps¡­¡­ shaking¡­¡­?

    Oh, won¡¯t you look at that? I thought it was a muffler, but it¡¯s actually a bunny.

    ¡¸Kyuh¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Emul!?¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, that¡¯s right! It¡¯s been a while since we¡¯vest met!¡¹

    No, no, no, don¡¯t give me that ¡°It¡¯s been a while!¡± crap! And what¡¯s up with you, anyway? Emul looked really groggy for some reason, as if he was shaking constantly for quite a while. Also, if it wasn¡¯t for that squeal right now, I would never guess that he wasn¡¯t a genuine muffler.

    ¡¸No, wait, wait, wait! Howe you¡¯re actually here right now!?¡¹

    ¡¸Right! Since I have never before visited this region I thought it¡¯s a good time to change that¡­¡­ Yes, I really did my best here¡­¡­ You might not want to believe it, but I came here all the way from Thirdrema while running¡­¡­!¡¹

    Now then, I didn¡¯t think it would be possible, but apparently I¡¯ve just met someone whose ¡°stupidity¡± was even greater and different from that of Katsu and Pencilgton.

 Chapter 124: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 10 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 124: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 10 Part 1</h4>

    Trantor: Kurehashi Aiko

    The smile on Akitsu Akane¡¯s face while he said that he ran all the way out here was too much for me to handle.

    Indeed, if he was like that then it was possible that he might have the skills that would allow him to spontaneously unlock the Ex Quest ¡°Invitation to the Bunny Country¡±. Still, I don¡¯t know just how he managed to do that, but maybe Emul will know something since he was with him for a while now. Will need to investigate this matter sometimeter.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I have a whole lot of questions for you, but let¡¯s save those forter, ok?¡¹

    ¡¸Sure thing! Is that monster the infamous ¡°Night Prowler Luukan¡±? I might be still but a hatchling at level forty three, but I shall lend you a hand!¡¹

    ¡¸Sure, great, go right ahead¡­¡­ HUH!?¡¹

    I thought I might have misheard him, because what he told me just now was in stupid and unbelievable.

    ¡¸Level forty three!?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right! It is all thanks to Emul-chan here and Sickle-san that I managed to get here!¡¹

    Sickle¡­¡­ If I remember correctly, it was another one of Emul¡¯s many siblings, whose level was just slightly below of that of Break¡¯s. Which means more or less as a child of Weissash his level should be around level ny. And given that Emul¡¯s level is close to ny itself, talk about one heck of a babysitting party. Surely they would be able to ze through any area boss this game might throw at them at this stage without as much as breaking a sweat.

    ¡¸This is¡­¡­ I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s not even close to being useful against someone like Luukan.¡¹

    ¡¸I thought as much! So I came to a conclusion that I won¡¯t be able to do much in terms of raw firepower¡­¡­ But providing an emergency escape is a whole different story!¡¹

    Somehow, he is the type of gamer that you don¡¯t see all that often these days¡­¡­ Umm, how should I put it? Enthusiastic? Yes, that would be the word. Completely different from schemer or realist, it¡¯s the type who believes that as long as you keep on doing your very best, you shall obtain the results that you are striving for.

    He is kind of like me, someone whose skills seem to be directly linked with his motivation. But it¡¯s actually a good thing, since yers like that tend to be more useful on the battlefield and yield better results from other yers.

    Nheless, bringing Akitsu Akane along for the ride would bring its own set of merits and demerits. The advantage would be that the party size would increase. But even if he is useless against Luukan at level forty three, at least he can make up for it by supporting Rei and I with that substitution jutsu-style skill, protecting us from imminent failure. Not to mention bringing in two high-level Vorpal Bunnies, which would increase our chances even more.

    But such a tactic has its own set of demerits. Honestly speaking, Rei and I are kind of not enough to take down a beast such as Luukan on our own. No, it¡¯s not like that. We were giving it our very best, but we also knew that if our trump cards turn out to be useless, we might as well give up. However, with Akitsu Akane bringing in two NPCs to the battle¡­¡­ NPCs that couldn¡¯t respawn upon death¡­¡­ Suddenly, losing stopped being an option here.

    It¡¯s not that we want to win against Luukan¡­¡­ We just can¡¯t allow ourselves to lose against it right now. With the arrival of our new allies, my whole attitude towards this fight started to change.

    ¡¸Ufuh¡­¡­¡¹

    Seeing that Luukan stopped ying with my decoy and turned towards us yet again, I let out a soft sigh and started to mentally prepare myself. Now then, we still had some trump cards left in our hands. One of them was known to me, but the other two were still a giant mystery. Still, gathering some fragmentary information should be enough for me to conjure up a suitable strategy. And although this strategy would surely turn out to be unsure and unstable, if we are lucky and everything goes right for us we might be able to actually pull this off.

    ¡¸Akitsu Akane, your role is to assist Rei and keep her safe at all costs! She¡¯s our trump card in this fight and if we lose her, we might as well forget about beating Luukan! You can also support me, but wait for my signal until my preparations are all butplete!¡¹

    ¡¸Sure thing! Just leave it to me!¡¹

    ¡¸And sorry about that, but I¡¯m going to need those bunnies that are hanging around your neck¡­¡­ Sickle, was it? Can you tell me something about yourself really quick?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m a noble warrior! A Bunny Samurai!¡¹

    Well, I guess it was information, but putting it in terms of cooking it would be like asking for ingredients and receiving the answer like: ¡°Fish is vegetable!¡± However, Samurai was at least something I could work with. With that I could at least think about the most suitable formation for our party to assume for the current moment.

    ¡¸Right then, Emul will stay here, and you and Sickle shall go to Rei and assist her in whatever way you can. You don¡¯t have to attack Luukan yourselves, just try to make sure that Rei seeds with all of her attacks.¡¹

    ¡¸S, sir, yes sir! I shall do my very best to be of use to you!¡¹

    Then I send Akitsu Akane an invitation to the party and he epts it in a hurry. I do the same for Sickle, and thus a five member party is formed, with three yers and two NPCs on board. In other words, none of us here will be able to haul ass back home until we either win or lose against Luukan.

    Luukan then gazes at us, but who is he going to target? It could turn out to be really messy if it was going to target Rei or Akitsu Akane right off the bat. All that we knew was that it was going to be the final round and if we wanted to clear the ¡°Night Prowler Luukan Raid¡± ¡­¡­ we needed to win with no losses on our end.

    Wasn¡¯t that like a trial for some kind of a Hero? And the Hero being a half-naked rando¡­¡­ Somehow, I¡¯m really sorry about that. But, weren¡¯t all Heroes of ancient Greece half naked orpletely naked? And still they managed to achieve such heroic deeds! So I guess that being half-naked is alright in the end! Thank you so much, BC world!

 Chapter 124: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 10 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 124: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 10 Part 2</h4>

    Trantor: Kurehashi Aiko

    ¡¸Right, let¡¯s do this! Come on Emul, it¡¯s time to make history! Or maybe you want to say that a mere cat is far better than the Vorpal Bunny?¡¹

    ¡¸We bunnies are way more fluffy and cute! Wait a minute, is that¡­¡­!? UPYAAAHHH!? LUUKAN!?!?!?! NIGHT PROWLER LUUKAN!?!?!?!?¡¹

    ¡¸Hahaha, took you some time to realize what was going on!¡¹

    ¡¸This is insaaaaaaaaaane! I don¡¯t wanna do this!!! Let me out!!! Or at least give me a cushion or something like that!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Sorry, but no can do right now!¡¹

    You¡¯re going to be sitting on that metal helmet more and more in the future, so might as well start getting used to it right now.

    ¡­¡­ Oopsie, my bad. This party wasn¡¯t three and two, but actually three and three.

    Right now I was motivated to not lose. It¡¯s kind of strange really, but with Emul on my back right there, I felt secure and I felt like I could do literally everything right now.

    Also, let¡¯s not omit the fact that Emul was like a magic missile batter that was strapped to my back. With that, there were quite a few options we could make when ites to attacking.

    I think I¡¯ll leave focusing Luukan¡¯s aggro to Emul¡¯s magic, and while he is doing that I can focus on dishing as much damage as I possibly could. asionally it might try to target Rei with one of its attacks, but that¡¯s what Akitsu Akane and Sickle are here for, to support her and protect her from harm¡¯s way.

    ¡¸Front legs! Let¡¯s go!¡¹

    ¡¸Hyiiii!!! ¡°MAGIC CHAIN!!!¡±¡¹

    SF-Zoo showed us that restraining its movements was indeed a valid strategy up to some extent. In the next moment there was a magic chain that shot out from Emul¡¯s hands and entangled Luukan¡¯s front legs, restraining its movements.

    Of course, it wouldn¡¯t be enough to stop itpletely, but at least we got a moment to breathe when it came to a sudden stop. But itsted only a short while, and after a second or two we could see the chain starting to break and Luukan started to move again. But before it managed to do that I got close to it and used that opportunity to sh it with my swords a bunch of times, not going to waste any opportunity to dish out some damage.

    I know that my attacks weren¡¯t much, but it was weird that even though I felt that the des prated its skin deep, there wasn¡¯t a single drop of blood that spilled from its wounds. ¡­¡­ Unless, there was another possibility directly rted to that.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ It really is strange.¡¹

    Despite having age restrictions, ShanFro uses polygon geysers to represent the blood gushing from the wounds. In other words, wounds of any kind would result in red geysers instead of real blood. Sometimes the polygons would be red, green, or even blue in some instances. But no matter how deep or grievous the wounds that Luukan was receiving, there was no such thinging out of it.

    Therefore, it might be necessary to assume that since there is no blood being spilled, we weren¡¯t doing any real damage to it. Then, considering the setting for this Unique Monster, the answer to that dilemma bes apparent really quickly.

    ¡¸That¡¯s not its real body, it¡¯s something else.¡¹

    Luukan is capable of producing its alter-egos, and visible or not it might actually be that the real Luukan is not here at the current moment, observing and controlling the movements of its alter-ego from somewhere else where it is safe from harm.

    Then, assuming that everything changes, as we will have to adapt to this new and sudden revtion.

    ¡¸Emul! Shake the fucker up a bit!¡¹

    ¡¸Roger that! Mumumu¡­¡­ ¡°MANA SHAKER!!!¡±¡¹

    It was the type of magic whose damage could be said to be infinite when ites to its sheer destructive power. However, even if Emul was at a level ny threshold, he wouldn¡¯t be able to deplete the HP bar of even a level one yer by a small amount. But if so, wasn¡¯t there a contradiction? Sure it was, but let me demonstrate the true utility of this spell on this here Luukan.

    The moment a wave attack from Emul¡¯s spell hit Luukan¡¯s shoulder, it copsed onto the ground, albeit momentarily and a series of tremors started to appear all over its body, although there was no visible damage to its flesh. For you see, ¡°Mana Shaker ¡° is an attack that is highly effective against apparition-type enemies and creatures whose bodies are created out of magical power. In other words¡­¡­

    ¡¸GARUAUGH!?¡¹

    ¡¸Bingo! It seems that even if it doesn¡¯t look like it, it¡¯s still an apparition-type enemy after all!¡¹

    It seems that this huge body was just a diversion that was supposed to draw the yers attention away from Luukan¡¯s real body¡­¡­ which was surely out there somewhere. In short, it must have been something simr to a ¡°poltergeist¡±. A ghosty entity that could influence the real world¡­¡­ and seeing its proficiency in creating alter-egos, it must have power over darkness and shadows. In other words, the wolf right in front of us is nothing more than a remote-controlled puppet. So we could hit it all we want, but it wouldn¡¯t do a thing, since we were only damaging the puppet, and not the one pulling its strings. So if we want to defeat Luukan, we need to find a way to disable that puppet of his.

    (But still, it doesn¡¯t make any sense¡­¡­ So does that mean that if you¡¯re not a magician, you cannot even damage the real thing and hope to defeat it? Or maybe there is a way to do it as a physical fighter?)

    No matter how intricate the opponent, it would simply be bad design to make it susceptible to only one type of damage while making it impossible to damage it with the other. It would be like making physical fighters look likeplete toolspared to magicians. The other way around was also a no-go, since making something immune to all kinds of magic would limit the options of magic-only sses. So there must be a way to do this both ways.

    If so, then there is still hope for us, but it seems that thest attack didn¡¯t really manage to do anything to Luukan.

    ¡¸Pyaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!! It¡¯s ring this waaaaaay!!! It¡¯s really ring this waaaaaay!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh wow, won¡¯t you look at that! Now all the aggro is focused on me!¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t wanna do this! I wanna go hooooooooooooooome!!!¡¹

 Chapter 125: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 11 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 125: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 11 Part 1</h4>

    Trantor: Kurehashi Aiko

    A huge pure-white sword is swung and its de cuts deep into Luukan¡¯s side. But even after many more attacks like that, Luukan showed no sign of even being staggered. Instead, its wounds closed quickly, as if no damage was inflicted upon it in the first ce.

    But since we were fighting it for quite some time now, surely we must have been chipping away at its resources. In fact, it wasn¡¯t spawning its alter-egos as often as before, and the number of shadow spears it was summoning from the ground also decreased considerably. Would that be the limit, or was there a reason for his patterns to be like that? To figure that one out it would be nice to have a strategy guide, but sadly no such thing was avable to me at the current moment.

    ¡¸How much more!?¡¹

    ¡¸Only once!¡¹

    Luukan breaks the wooden log with its fangs and at the same time Mana Shaker assaults its hind legs. This brought Luukan¡¯s attention towards us, but it was actually a good thing. The more it is focused on us, the safer Rei bes.

    Although we¡¯ve been good so far into the fight, there are going to be problems we¡¯ll have to address one way or another.

    ¡¸I¡¯m terribly sorry, but I can¡¯t use ¡°Utsusemi¡± anymore!¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s okay, now stand back!¡¹

    Apparently Ninja ss was equipped with a special item called ¡°Wooden Shinobi Logs¡± which was used to activate their ss skills. At the same time, if you run out of said logs you wouldn¡¯t be able to use your skills any longer. And seeing that Akitsu Akane couldn¡¯t predict that he¡¯d be going against Luukan, he burned through his load of logs rtively quickly.

    Another string of letters appears right in front of my eyes: ¡°Operational Time Limit; Less Than Two Minutes Remaining¡±. Unfortunately the reactor I had on me is rechargeable, so it means that whatever I choose to power it up with will only work for a limited amount of time. And that limit was fast approaching.

    And not only Rei¡¯s, but my own concentration was slowly approaching its limits.

    (Just one more time and Rei¡¯s trump card conditions will be satisfied. But will we be able to hold on until then?)

    Less than two minutes remaining. In less than two minutes Suzaku will be gone and the moon will no longer be shining upon the battlefield. It will be much harder for us to do anything then.

    The impatience hastened my movements and I had to watch out even more on Luukan¡¯s attacks from now on. After all, it was a kind of game where snakes can throw sh*t at you, so the only way to go forward was to expect the unexpected.

    ¡¸Rei! Next attack please!¡¹

    ¡¸Give me a minute to prepare!¡¹

    Suzaku¡¯s limit was fast approaching. With so many timers going on at the same time in my mind, it was bing increasingly harder for me to keep track of which skill was about to end and which was about to go off cooldown.

    As for Luukan, it was turning out to be even more of a dirty cheater, predicting my movements to a fault and anticipating where I wanted to appear in advance. I was barely keeping up with dodging its giant fangs closing on my head.

    ¡¸What to do¡­¡­ I heard from Rei that her trump card is difficult to hit with, so we would have to pin it down and stop it from moving somehow¡­¡­¡¹

    I don¡¯t have any skill that would effectively stop it from moving and Emul¡¯s chains are offering very little in that regard as well. If so, our only real option would be to rain attacks that forcibly stop it from moving on it, which is the bane of Mobs existence in every game. It would be best to use my own trump card here, but¡­¡­ For me it would also be hard to hit it with it unless it stopped movingpletely. Not impossible, but difficult.

    ¡¸How should we approach this¡­¡­ Special attack? Normal attacks? Or maybe something else entirely¡­¡­?¡¹

    It¡¯s not just a matter of guessing. We need to get as close as we can for Rei¡¯s trump card to hit, and in order to keep it immobile we must sessfully manage its fear factor. Realizing just how tall of an order that is, I wanted tough out loud.

    ¡¸Try to collect aggro and pin it down in one ce¡­¡­ No, that would turn out to be really bad if we got wiped out all at once. We need to be as efficient as possible with as little attacks as possible. But what about the insta-kill attacks of this thing¡­¡­ Oh fuck!¡¹

    I avoided a flurry of front legs attacks that were fast and deadly, keeping my distance to avoid the shock waves that they were produced upon hitting the ground. Then I closed the distance and got ready to counter-attack on my own.

 Chapter 125: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 11 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 125: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 11 Part 2</h4>

    If I was alone, I would have easily taken on the ultra-fast attacks of Luukan, but with Emul being here right now I didn¡¯t want to risk it. So right now my priority was not to dish out as much damage as possible, but to find a safe way to chip away at its health bar. Seeing the SF-Zoo fight with it, it was safe to assume that it would simply ignore the tanks and leap for the rear guard right away. So apparently having its mobility reduced was more of a threat to it than having tanks take on his aggro.

    ¡¸It¡¯s really frustrating that its effectiveness is so ridiculously good.¡¹

    This monster could easily predict the moves and habits of its opponents and utilize them against any threat it might face. In other words, it was even deadlier than any other kind of opponent I¡¯ve faced so far and making even a single mistake here meant certain death.

    The time until Suzaku will be called off is one minute and thirty seconds. I had to make sure to use it to the fullest before we lose our only way of keeping the clouds away. It won¡¯t be a game over, but it will certainly be troublesome to leave it as is.

    ¡¸Umm, I wonder how should I even formte an order like that¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Just who are you talking to?¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, you know¡­¡­ Just to that little birdie in the sky.¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san¡­.. No way, is your head so badly screwed that¡­¡­¡¹

    Keep talking and I¡¯m gonna shake you off my back.

    Hmm, that¡¯s strange. Normally I would never react like that. What could that mean? ¡­¡­ Did I learn some really bad behavior from Katsu and Pencilgton? I hope not.

    ¡¸Alright, Suzaku. One more job before going back to sleep. Listen well, on my mark¡­¡­¡¹

    It was the most crucial moment.

    After we finished our brief strategy meeting I passed some orders to Suzaku and then changed my weapons from Yuzuki back to the Scorpion Gauntlets.

    ¡¸Emul, make sure to adjust your timing just right!¡¹

    ¡¸Sir, yes sir!¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san, I¡¯m going in as well!¡¹

    ¡¸Okay¡­¡­ Here wee, Luukan!¡¹

    Don¡¯t let yourself be distracted, pay close attention¡­¡­ Three, two, one, NOW!

    I twist my body as I punch one of Luukan¡¯s front legs, maximizing the strength of my blow and hitting it where it should hurt it the most.

    It was enough to throw Luukan off bnce. It wasn¡¯t long, maybe five seconds at best. But it was more than enough. In that short span of time, a lone knight in full armor got right in front of Luukan¡¯s face, brandishing her huge sword at it.

    ¡¸CATASTROPHE¡­¡­!!¡¹

    A huge sh with the gigantic sword goes through Luukan¡¯s head and cuts it deep across the eye. Although it was an attack that would make any other monster die on the spot or at least writhe around on the ground in pain, Luukan simply toughed it out, and soon enough his damaged eye started to regenerate, as if the damage had never been done in the first ce. It was ring at us like mad.

    ¡¸All conditions fulfilled¡­¡­!!¡¹

    ¡¸Right, let¡¯s go!¡¹

    ¡¸Yes!¡¹

    This is where the final act starts! With all of us being ready, we could finally give it a shot to tie this stupid mutt in one ce!

    ¡¸Now, Suzaku!¡¹

    ¡¸Acknowledged, ¡°Incineration: Magic de sher¡± activate!¡¹

    Suzaku then descended down onto the battlefield like a burning meteor. Gathering up all of its remaining power, it deployed a set of long and sharp des from its abdomen while the fire from its thrusters continued to burn everything that was below it.

    Suzaku aimed its attack right at Luukan¡¯s hind legs. Legs that were the crucial part of any living animal¡¯s mobility, as long as it had a physical form. Of course, there was no way that Luukan wouldn¡¯t be unable to notice the falling Suzaku, and it tried to intercept it and stop it, but¡­¡­

    ¡¸Sorry, Luukan.¡¹

    Unlike with normal ying cards, when ites to Trading Card Games you can have more than one trump card. Technically you can have as many of them as you like.

    ¡¸¡°IKUSEIDO CHARGE!!!¡±¡¹

    ¡¸MANA SHAKER!!!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m the one who brings forth Chaos¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    Once you get a hang on the aggro criteria, it is only a matter of formting a strategy. With the updated AI algorithm that allowed it to evaluate threat levels¡­¡­ It was basically synonymous with bestowing fear on it.

    Me being the first trump card, cutting it deeply.

    Second one being Emul, waiting behind me and firing his magic at its legs diagonally.

    Rei was the third one, hidden behind Emul and I, already beginning the chant to unleash her strongest attack.

    Suzaku being the forth, it was a perfect setup where even if you managed to avoid one of us, the three others would still get to you. It was the ultimate kind of deadlock, one from which there was no escape. There was only one thing it could do right now.

    ¡¸I knew it, RNG really is the biggest shit out there.¡¹

    Of course the moonlight had to shine just now. With that, the alter-ego disappears from our sight, making itself invisible again. But right now we were all out of our trump cards, so if we don¡¯t manage to handle it somehow, we are as good as screwed.

    ¡¸I¡¯m counting on you¡­¡­ Akitsu Akane!¡¹

 Chapter 126: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 12 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 126: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 12 Part 1</h4>

    Humans in general are a very stubborn species. If we are faced with a certain problem, no matter how many times we might fail, we will eventually get it done. Just give us enough time to adapt.

    ¡¸Sickle-san, let¡¯s do this! This is our big chance!¡¹

    ¡¸If we don¡¯t disy our Vorpal Soul here, we won¡¯t be able to look Father straight in the eyes next time we see him!!¡¹

    Take this situation, for example. Even though we¡¯ve never met before and we aren¡¯t even friends, random Pioneers converged here and are fighting arm in arm to ovee great adversity. That¡¯s the power of us Humans.

    Now, about Luukan and its attacks, it¡¯s almost certain that its weak point is ¡°light¡±.

    Now that its body came to a stop, it should move using its alter-ego. At least I was hoping it would do just that.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s burn it up¡­¡­!!¡¹

    Although Sanraku said that to no one in particr, he was hoping for Akitsu Akane and Sickle to know what to do now. And while from his experience in Berserker Passion Online Sanraku knew that Akitsu Akane would not fail to deliver, the presence of both Emul and Sickle was still a cause for concern. But for now he chose to pay it no mind.

    When in a fight like that, it is best to assume that everyone knows what they need to do and that their own equipment and abilities would keep them alive. And it was out of that assumption that Akitsu Akane and Sickle said that ¡°they will do something¡± about that alter-ego of Luukan¡¯s.

    ¡¸I hear footsteps¡­¡­ I can¡¯t see them, but they are there alright!¡¹

    ¡¸Akitsu Akane-dono! I¡¯m ready when you are!¡¹

    ¡¸Shouldn¡¯t we already be on the move? Oh well, here we go!!¡¹

    The reason why Akitsu Akane covers his face¡­¡­ It was partially because of fashion reasons, but also because he wanted to hide certain ¡°curse marks¡± that were carved onto his face¡­¡­ But now the fox mask was removed and his real face came into full view.

    There was a huge cross shaped mark all over his face and eyes, making his appearance rather distorted.

    ¡¸Hidden Ninja Art!¡¹

    This skill was extremely rare even amongst the Ninja ss, and the strength of this skill is directly linked to the Vitality of the caster¡­¡­ Of course, since Akitsu Akane¡¯s level did not exceed fifty, there was only so much that he could do with it, but it was something at the very least.

    It is a secret skill given to yers of Ninja ss, a book of ¡°Secret Shinobi Arts¡± given to yers after clearing a series of training quests and ss-rted quests given by various shinobi masters.

    And it was given to Akitsu Akane as a reward for thest quest he cleared. It was the ¡°Ninja Skill Gacha Ticket¡± which gave him the secret skill that allowed its user to use a Fire Breathing Jutsu, resembling that of a Dragon. Its image was still vivid in Akitsu Akane¡¯s mind.

    For Akitsu Akane who was ying this game less than a month, obtaining such a skill was truly like hitting the Jackpot on the lottery.

    ¡¸Fuuuuuuh¡­¡­ ¡°DRAGON FIRE BREATH!!!¡±¡­¡­ Haaah!!!¡¹

    He shouted whilepleting several of the hand seals he learned by heart by now, and then what came out of his mouth was not just air, but a pir of dragon fire that shot up to the sky just like a beam of light, illuminating the surroundings, chasing the night away.

    In that aspect, you could say that it was more of a powered up shlight than a genuine dragon breath meant to attack.

    Butpared to the genuine Dragon Fire that was said to be able to bring down whole fortresses, the one from Akitsu Akane was the size of a toothpick. But still, even if it wasn¡¯t able to generate high temperatures to melt everything around it, the amount of light was just right.

    ¡¸AAAaaahhh¡­¡­ AHH, I¡¯m so sorry----!!¡¹

    ¡¸PYEAH!?¡¹

    When he stopped breathing fire and regained his voice, he immediately started to apologize to Suzaku because his fire brushed against it while it wasing down. At the same time, a small bunny with a really big sword was already on its way towards Luukan¡¯s alter-ego, wanting to manhandle it in a violent fashion.

    ¡¸I can see it! Not with my own eyes, but with the eyes of my soul!¡¹

    Even though there was still some time before dawn, the Dragon Fire Breath used by Akitsu Akane made the surrounding grasnd as bright as during the day, exposing Luukan¡¯s alter-ego and making itpletely visible. The alter-ego rushed towards Sanraku, but a bunny with a sword intercepted itpletely.

    ¡¸Brace yourself! Here is my ¡°TAKE NO MIKAZUCHI¡±!!!¡¹

    Then the bunny swung its sword, but it went not towards Luukan¡¯s alter ego but rather right into the ground by Sickle¡¯s feet. Then you could see something simr to an electric current travelling from the sword¡¯s de and disappearing into the ground. Just then, a whole lot of sharp bamboo sticks started to spring forth from the ground, piercing everything that was in their path and forming a small forest.

    ¡¸Ummmu¡­¡­ I thought as much, such a huge wolf won¡¯t be brought down with a single strike like that¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Cough, cough¡­¡­ Sickle-san, I was always wondering about that, but why does bamboo grow out of the ground when you strike your sword in it?¡¹

    ¡¸Years of training, boy. That¡¯s all I¡¯m going to tell you.¡¹

    Will I be able to grow crystals out of the ground if I train hard enough, I wonder?

    After that, the beginner yer could only sit back and watch the rest of the Luukan fight slowly unfold right in front of his very eyes.

 Chapter 126: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 12 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 126: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 12 Part 2</h4>

    ShangriLa Frontier -- a godly game where the yers can breathe dragon fire from your mouth.

    No, no, no, no matter how you look at that, it was clearly aser that you can see so often in many Roboge. But it was more than enough to uncover Luukan and leave it for Sickle¡¯s¡­¡­ magic attack to do some damage? And the greenish wall was enough to seal the movements , so now was the right time to use our trump cards.

    ¡¸This will be it!¡¹

    Luukan gazes straight at me. Was it because I happened to be nearby or was it because of my curse marks?

    But those eyes of his¡­¡­ They looked really nice.

    ¡¸Come on and try to get me!¡¹

    ¡¸MARKING POINT -- ATTACK IN PROGRESS.¡¹

    Emul attacked Luukan¡¯s hind legs once more. And although it started healing right away, the damaged parts were also fragile because of that. And even the strongest monsters won¡¯t be able to do much when their legs aren¡¯t working like they used to.

    But it doesn¡¯t matter right now. For the diving Suzaku managed to pierce Luukan¡¯s hind legs, all thanks to Emul who weakened them first. Truth to be told Suzaku already lost its power, but since it was still on the move it was carried forward and its legs prated the target. Want some oilter as a reward for a job well done?

    And let me say this, no amount of oil would be enough to reward you right now!

    ¡¸I¡¯ve been waiting for this!¡¹

    In fact, I¡¯ve been utilizing the crystal pir quite modestly throughout this battle. It is one ability of the gauntlets, but what about the second one? The other one was the ability to store the light of the moon in the form of magical power, which would then be utilized to empower the next attack. The reason why Suzaku was keeping the clouds away was to keep tabs on Luukan¡¯s alter-ego, but also so that I could charge the gauntlet more efficiently.

    One more thing. The ability of the gauntlet itself. It¡¯s the ability to give damage boost by converting the umted magical power and then releasing it all at once converted into raw destructive power. And the best thing¡­¡­ there is no limit to the magic power you can umte. Looking at it objectively it may seem like a totally OP ability, but the truth wasn¡¯t as wholesome as you might think. Because there were disadvantages to that ability as well. Quite grievous ones.

    First of all, you needed magical energy to activate the mechanism. You can put in any amount you want, but as long as it was charging up, you wouldn¡¯t be able to use the crystal pir, as it would deplete the charge.

    Then there¡¯s recoil. The description of the excess mechanism states ¡°Upon impact, the user of the mechanism shall receive a considerable amount of recoil damage¡±. Now, the term ¡°considerable amount¡± was really ambiguous, since it could be anything from blowing my arm off to blowing away all of my surroundings. And even if the recoil damage didn¡¯t kill me, the weapon would end up being destroyed anyways.

    Andstly, if I end up using the excess mechanism, the next time I would be able to use it is a weekter, or maybe even longer than that.

    Now, I could have used it way sooner, but I decided to not do that. My reason for that being, it was a sort of ultimate trump card of mine, an attack that depending on the circumstances could be considered a true ¡°Strongest Attack¡± in the entire game. And unless it was for an EX Quest, I didn¡¯t want to betray that I had something like that. But¡­¡­

    This time around, including the first energy and recoil problems, let¡¯s try to umte about eighty percent of the needed capacity. Because of that, I wouldn¡¯t be able to use it again for about a week, but it wouldn¡¯t be a problem. I wouldn¡¯t need it anymore. You either go all-out or go home.

    ¡¸If you try to avoid the moon with everything you¡¯ve got, then I¡¯ll just try to m the moon in your face that much more.¡¹

    Each part of the gauntlet moves, and the core ced inside it shines brighter and brighter. The cause of that was¡­¡­ the core of the golden crystal scorpion I fought on that day. The effect of this core was as follows: to turn the bright light of the moon into a pure destructive power that could be unleashed all at once.

    There was no way for Luukan to escape. As long as the sleeping Suzaku was blocking its legs, there was no way for it to dodge or avoid. So much and as much. And even if it was able to dodge¡­¡­

    ¡¸But I¡¯m faster!¡¹

    My positioning, its positioning, timing, frame priority, aggro confusion. Everything starts to tie up nicely and the spider¡¯s web called ¡°Operation Exterminate Luukan¡± leads me to only one ce -- the middle of its stomach.

    Now, this will be like a starter before the main dish, but will it make me so full that I won¡¯t want to participate in the main course?

    ¡¸ept the feelings from that night¡­¡­ ¡°Super Attack: REJECT!!!¡±¡¹

    The solid gold broke through the dark night and then exploded.

 Chapter 127: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 13 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 127: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 13 Part 1</h4>

    At the same time as the right uppercut hit the jaw of Luukan, I pierced its jaw with a crystal spike. It was a standard maneuver for me, but with the added effects right now it looked even more spectacr than usual.

    The umted energy that was currently being released was strong and destructive enough to even tear the very fabric of night into shreds. It was close in nature to a Pile Bunker, but this time around it was only a means of applying the magical force right into Luukan¡¯s core. Now, weakened by this attack, there was no way that it could simply be able to tank the attack that wasing its way.

    ¡¸OOOORAAAA!!!¡¹

    There was a huge st of energy at really close range, strong enough to blow back and raise the remnants of Luukan¡¯s jaw up in the air. Alongside its jaw, I could feel my right fist bing broken and full of cracks and fissures.

    ¡¸Uoah, guuuaoh!?¡¹

    As I was being pushed back by the recoil, I could feel my right fist flutter all over the ce against my will. I tried to support it with my other arm, but it was precisely at that moment when there was a huge shockwave that separated me from Luukan, putting some considerable distance between us.

    ¡¸Buah!?¡¹

    I could feel iting from my hand and spreading all over my body. A huge and painful sensation, simr to having your whole body struck by the des of an electric fan going at full speed. It was enough to make me go numb all over for a brief moment and lose focus.

    Unfortunately for me, I was unable to hold my ground only with my feet and as a result I was blown away like an NPC soldier after receiving a mighty blow from a yable character.

    ¡¸Sanraku-san!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m okay! Now make a minced meat out of it!¡¹

    My whole body feels surprisingly heavy right now, as if it was filled with lead. This will serve as a nice reminder that recoil is not a power to be underestimated in this game.

    ¡¸To feel like that with only eighty percent capacity¡­¡­¡¹

    So does that mean if I charged it to let¡¯s say¡­¡­ two hundred percent, my whole body would just evaporate?

    So it means that if you miss your attack with a skill like that, not only will you not gain anything but you¡¯ll end up sending yourself back to the inn in no time.

    ¡¸But this is nothing! See!? I can still move!¡¹

    Call it experience of all the sh*tty games that I have yed since the dawn of the Full Dive system, but if it wasn¡¯t for that I wouldn¡¯t be standing here right now. And it¡¯s a Godsend that there weren¡¯t anyg or stupid bugs apanying this feeling of numbness!

    I forcibly lean in the air and I try to shift my center of gravity forward. It was really hard for me to do right now, but I was doing my best at getting it done. Otherwise I would be blown all over the ce like a simple rag doll.

    ¡¸Long story short, regain your bnce to the point that even if you fall down, you won¡¯t die!¡¹

    Rest recovery. Throw recovery. Holding your breath recovery. Bathing recovery. Stain recovery. Suction recovery. Explosion recovery. Jump recovery. Fall recovery. Healing recovery. Regeneration recovery. Over time recovery. Avoidance recovery. Betrayal recovery. Disguise recovery. Physical adjustment recovery. Self-inflicted wounds recovery. ¡­¡­ Throughout my gaming career I have conducted various types of recovery under many different circumstances. For me, recovery from a blowback like that was as easy as breathing, and I could also brew some tea and eat a rice cracker in the meantime as well.

    With my positioning perfectly ready, I take out a recovery potion and health potion and try to chug it down my throat¡­¡­ But I wasn¡¯t able to do that. All because I wasn¡¯t wearing my usual bird mask, but a metal helmet instead. Oh. Oooooohhhhhhhhh. Could it be? Could I have developed a severe case of bird-brain from wearing a bird mask too much?

    ¡¸Is this it? Am I¡­¡­ going to die?¡¹

    I could see someone approaching me at a really fast pace. It was Akitsu Akane, but with his current status there was no way in hell he would be able to catch me in time.

    ¡¸Uguoah!?¡¹

    ¡¸OUCH!¡¹

    I crushed right into Akitsu Akane and both of us were thrown backwards, crushing into the ground. Fortunately enough Akitsu Akane cushioned most of the impact, so I managed to live to tell the tale, avoiding a truly embarrassing death.

    ¡¸Ah, thanks¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸N, no big deal¡­¡­¡¹

    It could have been a pretty romantic and heart-racing situation if this was a galge, not the middle of a fierce battleground. As I got back on my feet and thanked Akitsu Akane, we both slowly retreated, putting some safe distance between Luukan and ourselves.

    Now then¡­¡­ With all of the preparation done, would you like to see what the strongest attack in ShangriLa Frontier looks like?

 Chapter 127: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 13 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 127: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 13 Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸I am the incarnation of chaos. An endless expanse of the Heavens and the bottomless emptiness of the Abyss.¡¹

    This skill truly deserved to be called a Trump Card, for its power was unparalleled by anything else in this world. And even if itcked finesse unlike some of the magic spells and its chant was needlessly long andplicated, it made up for it by the sheer amount of its raw destructive power.

    ¡¸I am Tenma, two sides of the same coin, a being that reaches the extremes.¡¹

    It is a crushing force thatbines in itself the power of Satan¡¯s ¡°Catastrophe¡± skill and overwhelming destruction of Satanael¡¯s ¡°Apocalypse¡±. Abination of the two most powerful spiritual deities who, whenbined, couldn¡¯t be bested by anyone or anything. A sword and an armor creating a set, items that could only be obtained after clearing ultra-high difficulty Unique Quests: ¡°Demon King of the Heavens¡± and ¡°Staring Into the Depths of the Abyss¡±. Normally those pieces of equipment sealed away the attributes that were opposed to their own alignments. But now, their energy was rapidly being released, and both sword and armor were rapidly decaying as a result of that. At the same time, swirling pools of light and dark energies began to gather alongside the de of the sword, creating vortexes of great power that was almost pushing everyone present into the ground.

    ¡¸I am the Conqueror, one who does not falter in face of adversity in its path. For I am the Power that shall clear all obstacles that show before me.¡¹

    Luukan rushed forward, aiming at the ce where ck and white paths were crossing. But it was held in ce by the mechanical bird and the magic of the Vorpal Bunnies. Then Akitsu Akane and Sickle intercepted it, delivering a mighty blow to its jaw, separating one set of deadly fangs from the rest of its body. Luukan then tried to quickly regenerate the portion of the body it had lost, but it was already toote for it to do anything. It could only look at its opponents with eyes filled with pure and unadulterated hatred.

    ¡¸I am Satanael, who reigns in the Heavens. I am Satan, who reigns supreme in Hell¡­¡­¡¹

    As for Saiga-0, she honestly thought that this incantation was too messy and difficult to memorize, which makes it almost useless. But right here, right in this moment, she thought that she finally understood what it all meant. This was going to be thest attack, one that would end this battle for sure. With this, she could finally fulfill the expectations Sanraku-san had for her. With that in mind, Saiga-0 finished the chant while bringing the sword down.

    ¡¸Thus ends the world as we know it, and a new one emerges from the ashes¡­¡­ ¡°ARMAGEDDON!!!¡±¡¹

    A mixture of ck and white energy being released, there was a torrent of a continuous spiral of raw destructive energy raining upon the battlefield and Luukan, each wave even more powerful and even more destructive than the previous one. It was a true ¡°ultimate assault¡± that would melt even someone like Luukan down, since every wave of destruction was only growing proportionate to thest wave, increasing its strength to the levels that would threaten the existence of the very fabric of the world itself.

    Finally, when thest wave of Armageddon came to a halt and the moon slowly began to sink, the white and ck glow dissipated uncovering the remains of Luukan with eighty percent of its body now gone. It should be impossible for any creature to retain its shape after an attack like that, much less to be able to stand on it own, but somehow this beast was managing it¡­¡­

    ¡¸Was it still not enough¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Could you cover for me for a moment? That was really exhausting¡­¡­¡¹

    The expense of using ¡°Armageddon¡± was that all color, luster and power was lost from Saiga-0¡¯s equipment. As Sanraku, Akitsu Akane, Emul and Sickle formed a defensive circle around her, she no longer looked like a proud knight but more like a decaying corpse of one. The decaying remains of Luukan gazed at her, and then let out onest sorrowful roar before eventually disappearing for good. Only the inactive Suzaku was left in the ce Luukan once stood.

    ¡¸Did we¡­¡­ Did we do it¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Is that another g¡­¡­? No, it certainly doesn¡¯t feel like a g at all¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸We, we did it, guys! We¡¯ve managed to beat Night Prowler Luukan!¡¹

    Anxious Saiga-0. Worrying Sanraku. Akitsu Akane already celebrated victory. As each of the yers was inside their own world, they suddenly heard the voice of one of the bunnies behind their back.

    ¡¸S, Sanraku-san¡­¡­ L, Look over there! L-Luukan is!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Akitsu Akane, Luukan, that bastard¡­¡­ It¡¯s still here¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    It didn¡¯t have any physical appearance, but that feeling was so unique that I would never mistake it for anything else. It was right there, still in the darkness, where there should be nothing right about now. It felt as though even if they managed to defeat its alter-ego, it onlyughed at them and mocked all of their efforts. At least that¡¯s how it felt to Saiga-0.

    ¡¸Earned the title of ¡°Kagerou¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸Item obtained: ¡°Divine Light of Guidance¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸Would you like to ept the Unique Quest EX ¡°Extinguishing the Darkness With the Light of Courage¡±? ¡¸Yes¡¹ ¡¸No¡¹¡¹

 Chapter 128: At Dawn, Overcoming Regretsâ€¦.. Or Not Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 128: At Dawn, Oveing Regrets¡­¡­ Or Not Part 1</h4>

    We did it. We truly managed to do it! In just one single moment all the tension vanishes from within me, reced with a huge feeling of relief. It felt so good that I wanted to shout in victory. I¡¯m sure that if I nced to the sides at Rei and Akitsu Akane, they would be doing more or less the same thing.

    If it wasn¡¯t for the help of the ¡°ck Wolves¡± ace and her ¡°Strongest Firepower¡±, I would never have been able to do this on my own. But thanks to her we¡¯ve done it and as a result new Unique Quest EX was opened to us. I wonder if bringing Luukan down like that will also help with pushing forward the ¡°Epic of the Vorpal Bunnies¡±¡­¡­?

    ¡¸Haa¡­¡­ Talk about ridiculous.¡¹

    ¡¸He?¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, no, it¡¯s nothing I was just talking to myself.¡¹

    That¡¯s right, there¡¯s not all that much that can be done about that now. As a gamer, I cannot linger on the past events, but look forward to new challenges that await me down the road. No time to start getting all sentimental now.

    Also, there¡¯s the issue of Pencilgton that will need to be addressed at some point¡­¡­ I had no doubt in my mind that once he gets enough information or power he will try to raise his status to that of a final boss, but luckily enough that time isn¡¯t now.

    ¡¸Unique Quest EX¡­¡­ This is a prerequisite to challenge yet another Unique Monster¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right, in case of Gravekeeper Wezaemon it was Unique Quest EX ¡°With Love From the Other Side¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸I, I¡¯m not sure that I follow, but does that mean I can take up that Unique Quest EX as well?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s alright. It¡¯s a lot more fun with more people on board, and besides -- We wouldn¡¯t be able to do this without your help.¡¹

    Yes, it would be a whole lot more fun. When throwing yourself into the dark waters you don¡¯t know anything about, it¡¯s a whole lot more fun to havepanions who can watch your back along the ride.

    I take a look at the Quest window that just popped up. Where else to go when seeking an exnation or guidelines? Maybe it will even give me clues for what I should prepare myself when ites to this new challenge.

    ¡¸SPECIAL EFFECT ¡°GUIDING LIGHT¡±¡¹

    A small me burning in the middle of a dark night, guiding the way towards the Emperor of the Night.

    If the Unique Monster ¡°Night Prowler Luukan¡± is within a certain range, it will show you directions.

    Luukan, even though united with the darkness, can also shed light. The light of guidance is its own light that it once held but lost it when it united with the darkness.

    ¡¸So it¡¯s a radar, huh?¡¹

    It remains to be seen if it is going to be useful, but one thing is clear: it is a passport necessary for us to challenge the true body of Luukan.

    And unlike the Wezaemon quest, where we needed what needed to be done from the get-go, could it be that we need to search for Luukan all by ourselves without any clues?

    Looking at the darkness that was surrounding us, I could kind of tell that there was something there. It couldn¡¯t be seen, but it was clearly staring at us, watching closely. Fine then, if you are holed up in your home, I¡¯ll search the sky and the earth, find that home of yours and drag you out by the cor if I have to.

    Perhaps sensing the determination rising within me, the invisible gaze seemingly started tough at me¡­¡­ No, wait just a moment.

    ¡¸Oi, what the fuck do you think you¡¯re trying to pull here, you stupid mutt!!¡¹

    Just because you¡¯re an AI, you think I will forget about it!? I¡¯ve satisfied the condition met in the description, so do the deed like the good mutt you are!

    ¡¸I¡¯ve seeded in defeating the thing that put it on me, so now it¡¯s your turn! Lift that stupid ¡°curse¡± of yours from me right this instant!¡¹

    Once I reached level ny nine, it can be said with utmost certainty that the demerits of the curse started to outweigh the merits. And the only way of breaking the curse was either seeing a Saint about it, or beating the sh*t out of Luukan and forcing it to lift it itself. And even though we¡¯ve managed to beat it as a party, a defeat is still a defeat! Fuahaha, I¡¯m the winner here! Therefore I require my prize, and I demand it right now!

    Now I just hope that its AI was advanced enough to actuallyprehend human speech. Without that, there¡¯s just no way that it is going to understand what I want from it.

    ¡¸Or if that¡¯s a no-go, at least let me equip my armor on the cursed body parts!¡¹

    I¡¯ve defeated Wezaemon while being half-naked. I¡¯ve defeated Golden Crystal Scorpion while being half-naked. I¡¯ve even defeated Luukan¡¯s alter-ego while being half-naked. It sounds cool and all, but it doesn¡¯t change the fact that I was half-naked all the time! At least let me wear some boots or pants, for fucks¡¯s sake!

    We are humans because we have ¡°shame¡±. Without it, what would be the difference between us and simple beasts?

    It¡¯s another quote from a game that I have yed in the past, but it fits here quite nicely. Although it was a weird game with many questionable mechanics, the reaction of the characters and their voices and emotions behind them were all genuine, so it was helping immensely. If it wasn¡¯t for the ¡°shame¡± factor, it wouldn¡¯t be nearly as realistic or exciting in the first ce.

 Chapter 128: At Dawn, Overcoming Regretsâ€¦â€¦ Or Not Really Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 128: At Dawn, Oveing Regrets¡­¡­ Or Not Really Part 2</h4>

    Aside from being offline, it will be really hard not to attract people¡¯s attention when you are basically running around half-naked. And since my current target was Fithsia, one of the biggest cities out there, its poption is probably way bigger than any other town I¡¯ve been to so far¡­¡­ So if I could wear normal clothes, then of course that is what I will want to do. Of course, it¡¯s all depending on how things will actually turn out here.

    There was a long period of silence. I remember Emul saying that for Vorpal Bunnies Luukan was something of a natural enemy. And that Rei once imed that Luukan acts too intelligent to be called a mere monster. I was waiting for Luukan¡¯s response.

    The signs that were almostpletely gone now reemerged again and converged into one single point, ncing at me. At this point it felt basically like saying ¡°Oh, one more thing!¡± over and over on the phone, so you basically gave up on hanging for a while now. It might have been a little monster, but it was still a Unique Monster. A little bit of respect is needed.

    [Alright, just let me put on some actual clothes since the asion is good and all.]

    Luukan stared at me for a while from the dark, all silent, but then something in the darkness moved and then I suddenly felt a rough impact running throughout my body and I wasunched into the air¡­¡­ The pressure was simply unbelievable. Fortunately I managed to regain my bnce mid-air, but such situations were really bad for your heart.

    [S-Sanraku-san!?] [Uwah, so sticky! It feels like a piece of candy! Not good!] [Is that really the right time to be makingments like that!?]

    It wasn¡¯t just about the timing. Apparently my mind couldn¡¯t quite catch up with this situation and I ended up speaking aloud the very first thoughts that came to my mind. I mean, I¡¯ve been at the peak of tension and concentration for the whole night without stopping, so it¡¯s no wonder my thoughts were running rampant right now. Hold on, my dear tongue! My head is that of a bird, but when I lick it it doesn¡¯t taste like chicken at all! But maybe Luukan could taste it like such? No, but I don¡¯t wanna be its snack!

    [Obeh!]

    Nbeh, with that strange sound I was thrown onto the Ground, roughly in a South-East direction. God damn it¡­¡­ Now I think I understand how a piece of gum feels while being stuck onto somebody¡¯s sole¡­¡­ At least wrap it in paper and throw it into the trash can! But my current motion was also something that I needed a moment to grasp. And based on that and the fact that Luukan¡¯s battle was over, I was curious to see what my current status was, and so I opened up the right window.

    PN: Sanraku

    LV: 99 Extended

    JOB: Mercenary (Two-Sword Style)

    Money: 1,000 mani

    HP: 80

    MP: 50

    STM: 100

    STR: 100

    DEX: 100

    AGI: 100

    TEC: 80

    VIT: 1601

    LUC: 129

    Skill:

    ? Dancing Senbu

    ? Drilling

    ? Form Drift Lv.1

    - Instant Visibility

    ? Agar tram Lv.1

    ? Trial Traverse Lv.1

    ? Insane King Possession

    ? Gravity Zero Lv.1

    ? Frit float

    Moon Moon Pride Managarm Pride

    ? Deadly Sword Art [Ushiro Mikagami]

    ? Burnout Lv.1

    ? Riot el Lv.1

    ? Blood war

    ? Rete Banisher

    ? Dirty Sword Lv.1

    ? Swordfighting

    ? Legendary Sword Art [Breaking Crescent Moon]

    ? Sengoku Takeori Lv.1

    ? Kenbu [spin de]

    ? Piercing Stand

    ? Melotic Foot

    Equipment:

    Left Hand: -----

    Right Hand: ck Bunny Gauntlet

    Head: Non-Standard Special Armored Head Shell [Gloss Feather] (VIT + 1200)

    Body: Luukan¡¯s curse mark

    Waist: Excavated Polished Waist Belt [old soldier] (VIT + 400)

    Feet: Luukan¡¯s curse mark

    essories: INVENTORY

    Luukan¡¯s Mark

    Upon defeat, Luukan will no longer recognize those who defeat its alter-ego as bait.

    The curse mark is the proof that the person is an opponent worth killing by Luukan personally, a sort of mark of being the strongest bestowed by the strongest.

    The only way to get rid of the mark is to destroy Luukan¡¯s true body.

    Monsters of an equal or higher level to the mark bearer will choose to engage the bearer.

    Monsters of lower level than the mark bearer will actively choose to avoid the bearer and escape from it.

    Characters marked by Luukan will be unable to suffer any negative effectsbeled as ¡°curse¡±.

    Aspensation, bearers of Luukan¡¯s mark will receive additional dialogue lines when speaking to NPCs.

    Bearers of Luukan¡¯s mark cannot change sses.

    If the bearer of the mark chooses to equip armor on the body part marked by the curse, that piece of equipment shall be destroyed after a certain period of time.

    No, that¡¯s not it.

 Chapter 129: An Isolated Ocean at the End of a Fierce Battle Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 129: An Isted Ocean at the End of a Fierce Battle Part 1</h4>

    No, that¡¯s not it. That¡¯s not it Luukan, it¡¯s not something unreasonable, right? I said ¡°release the curse¡± not ¡°enhance it¡±. And what¡¯s more, why is there an additional equipment destruction condition added there!? What¡¯s the deal with that? Would you be satisfied if someone who was supposed to secure your house rigged it with a self-destruction device? Hahaha, or put an exploding dynamite belt around your waist?

    ¡¸WHY THE FUCK IS IT GETTING WORSE ----!?¡¹

    ¡¸Uumu, if something like that happened to me I would also sumb to despair, so I can¡¯t really me you.¡¹

    There were some good things added to it, but the demerits written in small print¡­¡­ What the hell is this? Was I just scammed big time or what?

    Ahh, Luukan, you son of a bitch! And here I tried to be nice to you, to end this event on a positive note, but you had to go and one up yourself on that one, didn¡¯t you!? ¡­¡­ No, wait!

    ¡¸NUUUUUUWWWWWWAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! YOU MOTHERFUCKER I¡¯M SO NOT GOING TO FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    I see, if it was his n all along, then he¡¯s a brilliant tactician, that stupid mutt.

    After taking a moment to take delight from my screams of mixed despair, desperation and sudden enlightenment, the signs of Luukan¡¯s presencepletely disappeared.

    In other words, from now on it would be even more of a hard mode for me.

    ¡¸To hide a trap inside of a trap¡­¡­ What the hell is this, an inception¡­¡­? You can¡¯t do this to me, game¡­¡­ That¡¯s just too much for one person to handle¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Are you alright? Maybe try jogging for about two hundred meters? That will surely cheer you up!¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t feel like running at all right now, but I guess some RTA is better than sitting around and doing nothing right now.¡¹

    There is no such thing as a Humanity meter in this game, so please don¡¯t worry about me. Now, is there a ShangriLa Frontier TA out there? But more than that, I should try to look at the bright side rather than worry about the future.

    ¡¸I need to remember to thank Rei properly next time I see her. She was only supposed to help me capture this area, but she ended up going against Luukan with me¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, do-don¡¯t worry about that, it¡¯s not that I mind¡­¡­ But if you really want to thank me then I guess that we could¡­¡­ date¡­¡­ go¡­¡­ together¡­¡­? Dating¡­¡­ Wawa¡­¡­ Wawawa¡­¡­¡¹

    All of a sudden, Rei started to swing her sword around her like mad, turning the surrounding grasnd into a sea of molten magma that would be potentially dangerous for our lives as well.

    ¡¸Uoah, that¡¯s dangerous, woman!¡¹

    ¡¸N-Nonononononono!!! After all, we didn¡¯t even defeat the area boss yet! That¡¯s right! That¡¯s right! I, I guess I might as well apany you some more until we get our original goal done!¡¹

    The fact that she was still able to swing her sword with such vigor, does that mean she¡¯s that good of a fighter or was it simply that her thirst for blood wasn¡¯t quenched quite yet? I guess it takes all kinds of yers out there to make the world, huh? SF-Zoo clearly showed me that today.

    Also, does that mean that ¡°ck Wolves¡± are full of people who are just like Rei when ites tobat? ¡­¡­ Apparently that seemed to be the case here. I guess there are yers like that as well: innocent on the outside but once they start fighting they turn into bloodthirsty demon lords of the Endgame Boss ss or something like that.

    ¡¸That¡¯s right! That¡¯s right! I¡¯m pumped now! I feel as though I would be able to take even Siegwurm right about now!¡¹

    ¡¸Siegwurm is that super strong Unique Monster! Talk about dreaming big! But it would most probably wreck me in a matter of seconds!¡¹

    I can see that Rei was getting especially pumped up for some reason. I was worried about that Siegwurm monster she mentioned, but right now I was too tired to think about it. I don¡¯t want to think about any Unique Monster for a while now¡­¡­ While¡­¡­ think¡­¡­ monsters¡­¡­ unique¡­¡­?

    ¡¸W, What time is it now!?¡¹

    ¡¸He? About four o¡¯clock. What about it? HEEE!? It¡¯s sote!? It took us that much time¡­¡­!?¡¹

    Isn¡¯t that bad for us all to be staying up sote!? No, I forgot that it is summer vacation right now, so even if I got up at noon no one should be able to tell me off because of that.

    But more importantly, I had an appointment at around eight in the morning! Although we still had time, adding room for reorganizing my equipment, buying some supplies, bathroom and shower break, getting something to eat¡­¡­ That¡¯s right, if you neglect your real world body, it will hinder your in-game performance. And since there have been cases of people being hospitalized after ying too much in a Full Dive environment, taking care of yourself is of utmost importance!

    ¡¸For now we need to reach the town, secure a checkpoint there, return to Rabbitz, ask Break to repair broken weapons and armor, strengthen what can be strengthened, log out, take a shower, go to the bathroom, eat something¡­¡­¡¹

    Yeah, adding all that up, there would be next to no time left before the appointed time. And if I don¡¯t reinforce my weapons before a certain time, Break won¡¯t be able to make it in time.

    Creating a draft timetable in my head, I arrive at a certain conclusion: we didn¡¯t have enough time! With so much in need of being done in so little time, we needed to act fast, or we might not make it in time!

    ¡¸We need to beat this area, and beat it fast. You said the area boss is something called the Usurper Dragon?¡¹

    ¡¸No! I¡¯ve actually made a mistake there! Surely it was, umm, let me check¡­¡­ Ah, that¡¯s right! Surfing Dragon!¡¹

    ¡¸So instead of Usurper Dragon we will face Surfing Dragon, right¡­¡­?¡¹

    Well, whatever. If it¡¯s the normal boss for this area, it can¡¯t be anything too hard.

    But we seemed to have forgotten about something. Until now we didn¡¯t even realize it, because fighting to the fullest against Luukan was so entertaining.

    Since we were fighting it with the intention of going down during that battle, we used up almost all of the tricks that we had up our sleeves. So right now we had none to spare.

 Chapter 129: An Isolated Ocean at the End of a Fierce Battle Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 129: An Isted Ocean at the End of a Fierce Battle Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸DAAAAAAAGH!!!!!! Get over here you stupid lizard!!!!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san, what do you think you¡¯re doing!? Don¡¯t you dare throw me at this thing!!!¡¹

    ¡¸I see, bunny carpet bombing much?¡¹

    ¡¸Akitsu Akane, hate to break it to you¡­¡­ but bunnies can¡¯t fly in the sky, you know?¡¹

    ¡¸But maybe if you throw it hard enough¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸No! Out of the question! I don¡¯t consent, you hear me! I do not consent to this!¡¹

    ¡¸Run--!!¡¹

    In order to avoid the fireballing at us from above where our attacks couldn¡¯t reach, we spread around.

    This boss, turns out its name was Usurper Dragon after all, really stealing magic and using it as his own, but more importantly and more annoyingly, it was able to fly, so it could effectively stay out of the range of our attacks. By the way, for our party, we had no one who would be able to use ranged attacks. That is why we needed to wait for the Usurper Dragon toe down to us so that we could whack away at it, but since we were in a hurry it felt as though the battle was dragging quite a bit.

    Sickle, Akitsu Akane and I were helpless here, and Emul¡¯s attack barely managed to reach it. If that¡¯s the case, it was only natural that we would turn towards Rei for help, however¡­¡­

    ¡¸I¡¯m so sorry, if only I was able to join you, we could have beat it faster¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸What are you talking about? You are the real MVP here today, so no need to feel bad about anything.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right! And even if it¡¯s stronger than us right now, there wille a moment when we¡¯ll manage to overpower it!¡¹

    If the price for the powerful attack in my case was losing the gauntlet and being unable to use its powers anymore, I could say that I got off the hook rtively easily. In Rei¡¯s case, the consequences were even more severe.

    Both Rei¡¯s armor and sword lost their holy and hellish powers, bing nothing more than pieces of junk that couldn¡¯t even be considered to be made out of metal or even y. Because of that, Rei was unable to use any of her battle skills and all of her stats have been cut in half.

    It seems that it was a really troublesome disadvantage, because in some cases it was said that you wouldn¡¯t even be able to unequip such equipment. The damaged armor would be permanently stuck to you.

    ¡¸If only I could use some of my skills¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re doing more than enough to help by letting us know what to watch out for and how to act¡­¡­ Fucking finally! Stupid lizard came down! Sic him, boys!¡¹

    When the huge dragonnded on the ground, everyone ganged up on it and started whacking it with their weapons and best skills. Either way, since dragons are mostmon boss enemies in video games, everyone pretty much knew what to do, applying Standard Dragon Fighting Tactics to it and gradually bringing its HP down! There isn¡¯t a boss out there who could handle such a tactic!

    * THE FOLLOWING SCENE CONTAINS AUDIO ONLY BECAUSE OF ITS OVERLY GRAPHIC NATURE.

    ¡¸PYAAAAAAHHHHHH!? I¡¯M BEING EATEN! I¡¯M SERIOUSLY GETTING DEVOURED HERE!?¡¹

    ¡¸M, My Brother! No!¡¹

    ¡¸Wait, you bastard! Wait, what the fuck!? Don¡¯t you fucking dare take off while I¡¯m still on you! I¡¯ll die for sure if I fall from this height!¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san, please save me! Aaaah, my weapon! It¡¯s the family heirloom! Give it back!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Easy there, Akitsu Akane-san. Once this lizard is dead, you can have it back from its intestines. Calm down¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I can¡¯t use any of my skills with my bare hands! I can only throw shurikens at it¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸HELP! ME! SANRAKU! -SAN! I¡¯M! ABOUT! TO! BE! EATEN! ALIVE!¡¹

    ¡¸Huh? What¡¯s that? It looks like this thing is about to vomit!¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh¡­¡­ PYAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!¡¹

    ¡¸EMUL ------!!!¡¹

    Apanied by a cacophony of moans and loud noises, the Usurper Dragonnds on the ground. We thought that it was easier than Luukan, but the truth couldn¡¯t be any more different.

    Good thing that this was thest boss before getting to Fifthsia. After having fought Luukan, I don¡¯t think I would be able to beat yet another opponent like that.

    ¡¸We, we did it¡­¡­ somehow¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸This, monster¡­¡­ was such a¡­¡­ difficult boss¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Next time¡­¡­ We bring the big guns with us¡­¡­ Like a fucking catapult or a trebuchet or something like that¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Haha, ha¡­¡­¡¹

    Emul was almost eaten and then vored, Akitsu Akane got his weapon stolen¡­¡­ Without Rei¡¯s assistance I don¡¯t think we¡¯d be able to actually beat this boss on our own. Again, flying monsters are such a drag to deal with when you¡¯re a melee fighter.

    As the sun begins to rise, we break through thest meters of grasnd and safely arrive at Fifthsia. Because of the fierce battles we fought together, even though we¡¯ve met only recently, we became quite friendly with one another and we were chatting happily.

    ¡¸The only yers that we saw here were the ones who were about to be a part of the expedition on the cruise ship that was soon to depart for the new continent. So that means that the rest of the yers use this ce as a starting point when exploring those ruins¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, now I¡¯m curious what kind of monsters are dwelling inside of those ruins.¡¹

    ¡¸Who knows¡­¡­ Maybe knights of some kind?¡¹

    ¡¸???¡¹

    While Akitsu Akane had lots of question marks flowing over his head, Rei tried to exin things to him in as much detail as she possibly could. They were going at it for a while before eventually they realized that both Emul and I were staring at something in the distance.

    ¡¸Ohh, this is¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Yes¡­¡­ Before the update it was thest possible city the yers could reach¡­¡­ But now it¡¯s the gateway to the new continent.¡¹

    The sun slowly rises. It was the first time for me to see the sea in this game, and it was beautiful, shining and glittering in the rays of the morning sun.

    Beyond that vast expanse was apletely new world that no one has ever seen before. And this city, previously thest ce in this world, was now serving as a gateway to that new world.

    Fithsia, the fifth and the final ce on the continent of Einvulus, where the biggest kingdom of men was located. The ending point, the goal for all yers who started their journey all the way back in Firstia. We¡¯ve finally managed to reach it.

 Chapter 130: Dreams Drive Us Forward, No Matter What They Are

    <h4>Chapter 130: Dreams Drive Us Forward, No Matter What They Are</h4>

    A faithful holy knight who fought Night Prowler Luukan in his previous life, got killed by it and then reincarnated by the Gods so that he could exact revenge on his killer, travelling all around the world with nothing but his curse marks to serve as his guide¡­¡­ Only to finally find his arch-nemesis and with the help of hispanions y the beast with power that no one but him could wield.

    That seems to be the current setting that is going on for me.

    ¡¸Fufufu¡­¡­ It seems that my legend is going to continue to grow with each passing day!¡¹

    Recently Emul was able to stay in his camouge form for longer periods of time, so he started to shift from muffler to human form more and more. ¡°Metamorphosis¡± sure is an amazing skill.

    As for me, the curse marks weren¡¯t making my life easy. ¡­¡­ They looked like really nasty tattoos and I think that their symbols grew even more since thest time, sobined with the bird mask and being half-naked I looked like someone who would be just perfect to stop at the city¡¯s gates and be taken for questioning by the guards.

    Of course, when you are apanied by the yer who is recognized as the ¡°strongest¡± in the entire game and a ninja with a fox mask and wearing a white bunny cloak, there is just no way that any gatekeeper would like to stop you for questioning, much less deny you entry.

    ¡¸How is your MP going? You good?¡¹

    ¡¸Fufufu, I¡¯m growing some more every single day!¡¹

    ¡¸And how is Sickle-san going? You okay there, buddy? Hello? Earth to Sickle-san?¡¹

    ¡¸Please don¡¯t talk to me right now, I¡¯m currently doing my best to pass for a simple cloak¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, that¡¯s right!¡¹

    It was around five o¡¯clock in the morning, and the number of yers would only start to increase from here on out. Feeling the gazes of beings other than NPCs, I turn towards Rei.

    ¡¸Thank you so much for all that you did for me today. Not only did you help me reach this ce, but you also lent me a hand against Luukan¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸No, the pleasure was all mine¡­¡­ Umm, it was also rather enjoyable for me¡­¡­ Yes. Also, if there was ever anything else that you¡¯d like my help with¡­¡­ I¡¯ll be there for you.¡¹

    ¡¸Sure thing, I¡¯ll definitely give you a call if somethinges up.¡¹

    yers like Rei sure are in a league of their own when ites to challenging fights, but overall I had a st while we were ying together which made me look forward to that ¡°next time¡±, whenever it might be.

    We can save the sightseeing tour forter, for now we need to find the shops and replenish whatever we used up during our fight against Luukan and the capture of the dungeon itself.

    While our group kept on strolling through the city, I was looking for some nice and dark back alley where we could disband our party and I could teleport to Rabbitz¡­¡­ But it was then when I noticed that there was someone who¡¯s been following us for a while now.

    The appearance of that person was wrapped in a long ck cloak with an intricate pattern on it, and there was something strange in the smile that was peeking from under the deep hood, as if it was beckoning me.

    ¡¸What¡¯s that?¡¹

    ¡¸S, something is clearly beckoning us from the inside of that dark alleyway over there¡­¡­ It¡¯s really suspicious¡­¡­ Why are you looking at me like that, Sanraku-san?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, you know¡­¡­ I was just thinking that the bunny who invited me to Rabbitz and took me there was also pretty suspicious¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You say that now of all times!?¡¹

    While Emul continued to pound my shoulders with his anthropomorphized arms, I looked at the hooded figure who was still beckoning me to the dark alley, as if it was calling me specifically. Surprisingly enough, I didn¡¯t feel any ill intenting from that person. And the answer as to who it might be came from the side, where Rei still stood.

    ¡¸This is¡­¡­ Akanum, the Awakened Guru¡­¡­? Ahh, because you¡¯ve reached level ny nine, that¡¯s why¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Please exin?¡¹

    Rei looked at me with shining eyes and proceeded to exin what was going on in an excited voice.

    ¡¸Akanum, the Awakened Guru is a special NPC that appears in front of yers who managed to reach level ny nine. It can grant you a special item called ¡°Mysterium Arcanum¡± that you can use to unlock a special job.¡¹

    ¡¸Special job?¡¹

    Jobs and sses have tremendous influence on skills you can learn and magic spells you can remember. Wizards can memorize spells more easily and learn a vast variety of them, while dual wielding swordsmen can learn physical attacks. But judging from the description, this ¡°Mysterium Arcanum¡± was something more than that.

    First of all, the game¡¯s system recognizes a distinction on main jobs and sub-jobs. While the main job is assigned to you at the start of the game, sub-jobs can be changed and adjusted as much as the yer wants it.

    Next, I do believe that the ¡°Mysterium¡± part means that this item directly interferes with the yer¡¯s status, not the skills per se.

    Andstly, the ¡°Arcanum¡± resembles the ¡°arcana¡± from the Tarot cards, which may mean that they are something really good and powerful.

    ¡¸For example¡­¡­ the ¡°Mysterium¡± of ¡°Chariot Arcana¡± can double the stats of AGI and STR, but at the cost of reducing STM by half¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸The fuck¡­¡­?¡¹

    It sounded like a brand new sports car made using cut-edge technology, but with overly high fuel consumption. However, there should also be some useful options to pick up there, for example could ¡°Magician Arcana¡± allow spellcasters to cast even more powerful spells with less cost but at the expense of reducing STR they don¡¯t really need?

    Moreover, apparently the cards all illustrated the yer, so even though they were pretty detailed it was actually impossible to guess what they did.

    ¡¸By the way, what kind of card did you draw, Rei?¡¹

    ¡¸Mysterium of ¡°The World Arcana¡±¡­¡­¡¹

    It seems that this Arcana increased all stats of the yer tremendously at the cost of skills bing more difficult to cast. Wasn¡¯t that basically like winning a jackpot in the lottery? Once again I was reminded just how amazing and powerful Rei really is.

    ¡¸Would you like to try drawing an Arcana for yourself?¡¹

    I then walk towards the beckoning man without any hesitation. It was basically going to be the Gatcha lottery, and with others watching me I couldn¡¯t help but to worry about the results I would receive¡­¡­ then I was right in front of the Awakened Guru.

    ¡¸Umm, good¡­¡­ morning?¡¹

    ¡¸The one who has reached the pinnacle¡­¡­ The time to awaken your hidden potential hase¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, it looks like this NPC doesn¡¯t engage in non-scripted talk.¡¹

    ¡¸Now, decide on the Mysterium that destiny holds in store for you¡­¡­ Draw the card, if you dare.¡¹

    The man does not respond to that, which was a pretty rare urrence in ShanFro, and then takes out a deck of cards from his pocket and throws them in the air. But the Tarot cards continue to flow in the air, not falling down at all. Furthermore, all of their faces were nk, so I couldn¡¯t really see what Arcana they were supposed to be.

    ¡¸Is this supposed to be randomized?¡¹

    ¡¸No, I was told that apparently there are some parameters that can affect what you draw.¡¹

    ¡¸In other words, no matter what card you pull, the results will always be the same.¡¹

    I grasp a card at random. The card depicts a half-naked young man walking alongside a bipedal bunny. There was also a number zero engraved on the card, and if I remember correctly, the card corresponding to that number in Tarot deck is supposed to be¡­¡­

    ¡¸A Fool?¡¹

    ¡¸Hoo¡­¡­ Thou art not the one to stand still, always wandering and departing on journey after journey¡­¡­ But, there is one thing I can say for certain.¡¹

    ¡¸Which is¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸The Fool Arcana will help you to rise again, but you can count only on yourself in face of adversity, so sickness and misfortune shall sting even fiercer at you¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­ Do you happen to understand what that means?¡¹

    ¡¸The Fool arcana was¡­¡­ It basically cuts the skills recast time by half, but for the duration of the skill you receive double damage. It also slightly enhances the effects of healing items¡­¡­ I think.¡¹

    Umm, yeah.

    Did I just hit a jackpot?

 Chapter 131: Epilogue:What Goes Aroundâ€¦â€¦ Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 131: Epilogue:What Goes Around¡­¡­ Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸No matter how I look at it, The Fool seems like a jackpot to me¡­¡­ Besides, I can always recover in safe zones, anyways.¡¹

    ¡¸I think it¡¯s perfect for you, Sanraku-san!¡¹

    ¡¸Is that some roundabout way of you saying, ¡°You¡¯re a fool just like that card!¡±, hmm?¡¹

    ¡¸Honestly speaking, you¡¯d have to be an idiot to dare to challenge Luukan while being half-naked!¡¹

    ¡¸Oi, you say that, but challenging Luukan while being so low-level is equally as stupid in my book, you know?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You know, I think that challenging Luukan no matter how well you are prepared can get you the looks of ¡°Uwah! Talk about crazy, challenging an opponent like that!¡±¡¹

    After that, Sanraku and Emul were running through the back alleys of Fifthsia while making a whole lot of noise. After the event of obtaining the ¡°Mysterium Arcanum¡± was over, the Awakened Guru simply disappeared as if he was never really there in the first ce. ording to Library¡¯s records, it was a mystical being as old as this kingdom itself, and the powers it was bestowing upon the yers was based on their past aplishments. And when ites to the Fool Arcana, the conditions for that card to appear are still shrouded in mystery up to some extent.

    (Maybe it has something to do with the amount of time you had to spent on obtaining level ny nine? After all, it took me a really short time to get there, looking at it objectively¡­¡­)

    For example, when ites to Fortune Arcana, the trigger for that is the amount of supposed rare drops you¡¯ve managed to obtain before reaching level ny nine. In a simr fashion, Emperor and Empress are Arcana awarded to the yers who disy leadership abilities and issued orders around the battlefield, leading others towards victory.

    There are still Arcana out there that are shrouded in mystery, such as Rei¡¯s ¡°The World¡± or ¡°Judgement¡±, but apparently if you satisfy the conditions for many of them, you¡¯d have to choose just one once you hit level ny nine. It was still a topic of some major debates amongst the yers.

    For Sanraku, it¡¯s been less than a month since he started his adventure inside ShangriLa Frontier. During that time he did some major power leveling, met and befriended some of the most powerful yers in the game, reached level ny nine and even managed to beat monsters whose levels far exceeded that of one hundred inbat. And the fact that he managed to do all that without the help of at least several high-level yers was a feat that even Saiga-0 had to recognize as simply amazing.

    (After clearing so many hard and sh*tty games, even I must say that I¡¯m astonished to some extent.)

    In the past, when she used to buy the same games as Sanraku did just so that she could make conversation with him about them, Rei would give up on them the moment she reached the maximum level cap. And seeing that some of those games were really challenging, it was to be expected that with experience gained in them Sanraku would be able to reach level ny nine in no time at all.

    Unexpectedly, both Sanraku and Emul disappeared in thebyrinth of the back alley and Saiga-0 could finally let out a deep and long sigh which contained all of her tension which was building up all throughout the night. It was a night rich in events, some of which she would never even deem possible. And the fact that they managed to best Night Prowler Luukan inbat, unlock the Unique Quest EX and even receive a special event item as a proof of that was something that she still couldn¡¯t quite believe. But there was also something else. Should Saiga-0 actually tell her sister what transpired tonight? For all that she knew, her sister gets really crazy whenever Luukan was involved.

    (Nee-san, I want to find out on my own what this Unique Quest really is, to see if I can beat it with my own two hands¡­¡­)

    Saiga-100, who should be currently spearheading the pioneer expedition to the new continent, ever since the emergence of the guild ¡°Wolfgang¡± and their spectacr defeat of Gravekeeper Wezaemon, felt under constant pressure. She wanted to beat Luukan herself more than anything in this world, so what would happen if Rei told her that she beat it with Sanraku¡¯s help, she¡¯d most probably demand to fight it one more time, but this time around with her on board, and the search for the ck wolf would begin anew.

    Rei knew that her sister was more of a brute force-type rather than diplomacy type, but deep down she was not a bad person. It was this exact charisma of hers that drew people towards her, and it made her the pr opposite of Arthur Pencilgton, whom she always thought to be ¡°an embodiment of trouble¡±.

    (¡­¡­ I guess that letting her know about a week from now won¡¯t be much of a problem.)

    A thought like that urs in Saiga-0¡¯s head as a result of fatigue and excitementbined from such an eventful and challenging night. For now Sanraku said that he would go back and repair his items and reorganize his equipment, and she should probably do the same. It just goes to show just how seriously Sanraku was thinking about his preparations, just like the battle against Luukan, and that fact alone was resonating with Rei almost at a spiritual level. But even though money was not a problem for Saiga-0, her current condition was an entirely different story.

    (For now I should log out and make myself something to eat¡­¡­)

    Sanraku fought Luukan while taking care not to be hit even once. Saiga-0, on the other hand, had to keep a constant check on the timing of her skills in order to maximize their damage and effectiveness. Even though the fatigue from ying like that wasn¡¯t reflected in the avatars, it greatly affected the yers themselves. So Saiga-0 decided for now to go back to ¡°ck Wolves¡± headquarters, all the time reminiscing about this dreamlike night she just had together with Sanraku.

    When they first met, they were like many other strangers out there. The thing she found attractive about him was the way he looked so happy every time he was going back home. There was also the way he looked when he was doing great in the game he just purchased or the way he looked really down every time something went wrong. There were just so many aspects to him that she still didn¡¯t know about, and it was only making her want to know more about him.

    Being with him was truly fun and she was having a great time. She honestly thought that no one else would be able to make her feel like that. All of those moments were now bing engraved inside Saiga-0¡­¡­ No, Saiga Rei as precious memories that will never disappear¡­¡­

    ¡¸Hehe¡­¡­ Ehehehe¡­¡­ Ehehehehehehehe¡­¡­¡¹

 Chapter 131: Epilogue: What Goes Aroundâ€¦â€¦ Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 131: Epilogue: What Goes Around¡­¡­ Part 2</h4>

    With that, what was once a shining armored-knight and was now reduced to a pile of intimidating rubble started to move. As she was walking through town she saw that the NPCs were all giving her strange or downright scared looks, and even shing a bright smile from the crack in her helmet didn¡¯t do much to improve the situation. And although Saiga-0 was in such great mood that she was about ready to break into song and dance, she remembered that there was one more person that was still present here: Akitsu Akane. After saying goodbye to Sanraku, he seemed to be lost in thoughts while gazing at the city¡¯sndscape for a while, but then his thoughts returned to matters at hand.

    ¡¸Ah, Sanraku-san mentioned going back to Rabitz¡­¡­ Well then, shall we go there ourselves as well, Sickle-san!?¡¹

    The cloak on the back of the ninja flutters slightly and then it speaks in silent voice: ¡°I told you that I¡¯m pretending to be a cloak! So don¡¯t talk to me!¡±. What was that about now? About returning to Rabbitz? The same Rabbitz to where Sanraku went to? But that means¡­¡­

    ¡¸W-What did you just¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸He?¡¹

    Hearing Akitsu Akane¡¯s words, Saiga-0 stopped dead in her tracks. And even though she couldn¡¯t see his expression behind the mask, she could clearly imagine just how shocked he must be right now.

    ¡¸Daaah! Damn it!!!¡¹

    BONK! I hit my desk, which emphasized practicality over appearance, hard with my fist. I let out a long sigh to try to cover up my irritation and then I fell on top of the bed in an act of resignation.

    ¡¸Julie is not at home, and Ken is doing something else¡­¡­ For fuck¡¯s sake, we don¡¯t have nearly enough members!¡¹

    Opening my mobile device and logging onto my email, I can see a whole lot of messages that decline my invitation for various reasons.

    ¡¸At this rate¡­¡­ I guess I can¡¯t rely on my teammates in the end¡­¡­¡¹

    As I view the declining emails one by one, a particr message appears before my eyes. It was written in Japanese, but it¡¯s clear that it was changed via a trantion tool.

    ¡¸I LOOK FORWARD TO OUR REMATCH. IN THE NEXT GGC, MY ¡°METEOR¡± SHALL OVERCOME YOUR ¡°LAVA¡± FOR SURE.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Now it would be just miserable to lose by forfeit¡­¡­ Members, members¡­¡­ Need to get some fucking members¡­¡­¡¹

    Then I remember. A teamposition that I would only think off as aplete and utter joke. The strongest heroes that he could ask for¡­¡­ An image of friends with whom I could take on even the most powerful of adversaries with ease.

    There was no other way. After all, most of the other teammates already had ns set up for that date. And even though I managed to secure some assistance, I still needed to fill in for two missing ces.

    ¡¸Ahh, screw it! The time for regrets willeter¡­¡­¡¹

    For a while I wasmenting over the fact that I would have to rely on borrowed strength, but when I was thinking that my longsting ambitions would finallye to fruition I couldn¡¯t help but to smile brightly.

    Subject: A Favor to Ask

    From: Modorokatsu

    To: Sanraku, Pencil Warrior

    Body: Will you go to the Global Game Competition together with me? I¡¯ll cover your travelling expenses.

    ¡¸I knew it, the level of detail is simply amazing¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸But without Robots this game would be as worthless as garbage to me¡­¡­¡¹

    A certain two pioneers checked out a certain caf¨¦ in Fifthsia for the first time in half a year.

    One of them was a little girl with silver hair brushed over her shoulder and brown skin, having a bow with no string on her back and an expression that would suggest that she might fall asleep at any moment now. The other yer was a burly man with his body covered in scars, which contrasted with his magic robes and a spellbook strapped to his waist. They were talking to one another while looking at the rising sun in the harbor area, while other yers slowly started to log into the game as well.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ We should head over to the meeting ce.¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s do just that.¡¹

    Various yers and NPCs go towards the harbor area in a hurry, but the two of them walk with leisurely steps, as the darkness was slowly getting illuminated by the sunshine. Normally the town would be nicely lit by now, but thanks to the huge remains of a gigantic ship situated in the harbor, the city was not getting as much sun as it would normally do at this time of day.

    The ce they were going towards was a part of the harbor inhabited by many rogues and bandits, amongst which there was a certain pirate that would give them the quest they needed to undertake. They were supposed to meet with a certain other person here.

    But what exactly that person looks like? ¡­¡­ As Mold kept on pondering that question, he turned towards hispanion.

    ¡¸That being said, how exactly are we going to know if Sanraku-san is here?¡¹

    ¡¸He said that we¡¯ll surely know its him when we see him.¡¹

    And then they saw a half-naked birdman walking towards them, staggering all the time as if he was a zombie of some sort.

    ¡¸Morning¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸HYAH!!!¡¹

 Chapter 132: Meteors Amongst Skyscrapers, Abyss in the Deep Sea Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 132: Meteors Amongst Skyscrapers, Abyss in the Deep Sea Part 1</h4>

    When I wake up, all that I can see in front of me is the sea of metal. The skyscrapers all glow majesticly, reflecting the rays of the morning sun, at the same time casting long shadows at ces where the sunshine was unable to reach.

    The ce that I currently am right now is such a dark sector created by those skyscrapers, a blind spot not connected to anywhere in particr on a grid map.

    ¡¸Alright¡­¡­¡¹

    From ayperson¡¯s point of view the design of this town could sure pass as psychodelic. Just then, the door opens before me and a truck I was currently riding in pulled up at the side of the asphalt road,ing to a stop.

    My wobbly legs step outside andnd on the ground of the ¡®Chaos City¡¯. My body, d in a metal armor makes a dull sound with every single step, having the power of ¡®Gxeus¡¯ sealed inside of it. And the only way to get myself rid of it, is to destroy the one who graced me with it or to force him to remove it.

    That is why this body of mine is always here, where the sun doesn¡¯t shine, destined to sh with a certain Meteor.

    ¡¸The victory condition is to secure the Chaos Cube, or¡­¡­¡¹

    To defeat the opposing Hero¡­¡­

    Either destroy your enemy or try to find an object as small as a basketball in this vast city¡­¡­ I weight my options here and then smile to myself upon finding the optimal solution.

    ¡¸Even if your opponents are way ahead of you, it is the nature of every gamer to try and im victory¡­¡­ Alright, let¡¯s do this!¡¹

    ording to the rules of the games, Heroes arrive about thirty seconds after the viins spawn in on the map. That is because evil always takes the initiative and Heroes always need to catch up to it.

    Certainly, when I think about it at the times like these, I keep reminding myself what this body of mine currently is.

    ¡¸That¡¯s right, now I remember¡­¡­ Time to act like a tyrant I am!¡¹

    Saying that more to myself than to anyone else in particr, I punch a hole in the truck that got me here as to motivate myself.

    When I open my eyes, it all feels like a bad dream. The deep sea ruins we were currently in were filled with the ominous and evil aura of the Abyss, and were filled with those who wished to stop us right in our tracks.

    I look around while kicking away the barnacle zombies that were rushing towards me with rusty sabers in their hands, and then scream at the top of my lungs:

    ¡¸Dah! God damn it! What the fuck is wrong with encounter rate in this ce!?¡¹

    ¡¸And what is encounter rate, Sanraku!? Besides, we need to break through here if we want to get to the ¡°seal¡±!¡¹

    ¡¸I know, I know! Hey, I think we might be able to climb the roof from here!¡¹

    ¡¸W, wait just a moment! I¡¯m not nearly as agile as you, you know!?¡¹

    ¡¸IMPROVISE, ADAPT, OVERCOME!¡¹

    With those words being pulled right off my mouth, I could however understand why haste was advised in here. After all, it¡¯s not everyday that you are being chased by monsters that look like humans but are not them at the same time, looking as if they took a sip in a bath for WAY too long. And so we continue to climb onto the roof of the building, supporting our hands and feet with many cracks in the structure. And since I was already on the roof, I took my partners hand and pulled them up with all of my might.

    Then at least several rusty tridents hit the ce where they¡¯ve been mere seconds ago and my face goes pale thinking what would have happened if I didn¡¯t help him with their climb.

    ¡¸My friend¡­¡­ You¡¯ve saved me once more¡­¡­ By the pride of the fish people, by the pride of Maman, I swear that I¡¯ll¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You know what, you can thank me right now by getting the hell out of here¡­¡­ This is going to get really ugly very soon¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Uoooh!? They use their own brethren as the stepping stones to climb up!?¡¹

    ¡¸That why I said we need to haul ass, and we need to haul ass right now!¡¹

    Even if those guys are weak, sheer difference in numbers can make it so that they will destroy us by brute force alone. And who would have thought that mindless zombies would be clever enough to form a fleshdder like that?

    ¡¸Sh*t, weren¡¯t the enemies of level lower than mine supposed to run away from me¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸They are the servants of the Lords of the Abyss. Their contracts abide them to fight anything and anyone their masters order them to, no matter the difference in strength.¡¹

    ¡¸And the way these zombies respawn endlessly¡­¡­ Are they oni? Or maybe octopuses?¡¹

    We start to run, at the same time shing away at the mermaids that were swimming in the air and trying to approach us, turning them into fish fillets and pieces of sushi.

    ¡¸You are kind of¡­¡­ How should I put it? Merciless.¡¹

    ¡¸This is mercy, actually. Now those stupid zombies can eat as much sushi as they want. Besides, we don¡¯t have time to y around with mermaids!¡¹

    Unlike the normal vision of a mermaid, half-human and half-fish, these mermaids looked like only slightly anthropomorphized sharks, doing their best to try and take a bite out of us. They could make themselves look more like humans thanks to their ability called ¡°Mimicry¡±, but when they were ready to strike they would shed their appearances and reveal their true forms.

    Not to mention that those monstrous mermaids were also singing all the time. The design team for this game surely knows how toe up with a scary model for their monsters.

    ¡¸There it is! This is the ce! The captain should be inside!¡¹

    ¡¸Alright¡­¡­ Now the real fun starts!¡¹

 Chapter 132: Meteor Amongst Skyscrapers, Abyss in the Deep Sea Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 132: Meteor Amongst Skyscrapers, Abyss in the Deep Sea Part 2</h4>

    The window exhibition with manequins inside right to the side of me explodes in an instant. The st carries shards of ss and pieces of stic with it, scattering them all over and making the st even more deadly.

    ¡¸What¡¯s happening?! Run away from the general store! But don¡¯t forget to contact the police and firefighters beforehand!¡¹

    NPCs scream out loud while trying to get away from the source of the explosion as fast as possible. Needless to say, I was the source of that explosion just now.

    Some of the NPCs have their phones pressed against their ears and approximately thirty secondster Police¡¯s armored trucks and firefighter¡¯s trucks are already at the scene. Gotta love the way in which games tend to simplify things.

    Apparently this transport truck was equipped with things that were serving some serious non-transport purposes.

    The main ability of this body of mine is to ¡°take the destroyed things and assimte them into the armor¡±. Which is why there was currently a gatling gun on my right shoulder and a shotgun in my left arm, since they were also part of the truck¡¯s equipment. Tires appeared on my legs in order topensate for my poor mobility, and the truck¡¯s engine strapped onto my back was emitting loads of ck smoke.

    The tires screech loudly as the armored colossus starts to move, pushing away a small passenger car aside while being at it and rolling it away like a ser ball. The car flies in the air with such force that itnds perfectly at the entrance of the nearby shop and then explodes.

    ¡¸Hee,ing straight at me¡­¡­ It seems that its performance is not all thatplex after all.¡¹

    ¡¸Here you are, All-American Number One¡­¡­!¡¹

    Somewhere in the distance, there was a shadowy figure standing with its arms crossed with roaring mes burning behind its back. Its armor was pure white with golden ornaments, and it was wearing a helmet with a characteristic pentagram-like googles strapped to it. Its body was shining even through the mes that were illuminating its appearance. It was ring at me with such an intensity that if you could kill someone with your stare alone, I would have been dead long ago.

    Well, I have no one to me but myself for getting registered at thest possible minute, which resulted in me getting paired uppletely by random. And because of that one-sided selection, the rival that was chosen for me just happened to be one of the best yers in the United States of America¡­¡­ Talk about bad luck.

    ¡¸I¡¯ll make sure that the power my sidekick Kai lent me won¡¯t go to waste¡­¡­ I swear it on my Hero name¡­¡­ ¡°Mathias¡±, here Ie!¡¹

    ¡¸If you think you¡¯re in for an easy game, then sorry to disappoint you, but you¡¯re going to have a different thinging¡­¡­ I can swear it on my Viin name: ¡°Cursed Prison¡±!¡¹

    My opponent was one of the strongest yers in the entire world. His armor was top tier as were his weapons. It was obvious at a single nce that I didn¡¯t have a chance against him. But still, I wasn¡¯t going to go down without a fight, I wasn¡¯t going to make it easy for him.

    Thinking about it logically, what are the chances of me getting drafted against one of the strongest yers in the world? What are even the odds? I couldn¡¯t help it but to mutter those words to myself in a quiet voice.

    ¡¸---- How?¡¹

    Here, in this ce, ¡°Abyss Pce Lulias¡± the order of the world is ¡°reversed¡±. Inside of this submerged city, those who normally live underwater swim through the sky and those who live on the dry ground are forced underwater. Same principle applied to my fishmen partner here, but with this exception that if he tried hard enough, he could swim through the air as well. Currently we were going all around the city fighting four heavenly monsters that were enshrined in here, fighting off fishmen and marmeids at the same time.

    ¡¸Watch out, va! Over here, hurry!¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s crazy! We make one mistake here and we¡¯re done for!¡¹

    ¡¸Stupid! You don¡¯t want to be eaten, thene over here right this instant! On the double!¡¹

    One of the mermaids approach va at a very high speed, her human head splitting into eight equal parts and opening wide, the tentacles springing forth from the gaping hole right I the center of the split parts. You could dodge them or simply cut them off, but if there were too many of them than you wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything against so many. I don¡¯t know if va was able toprehend that, but still I turned towards him with my swords in hand, ready to save him.

    ¡¸Right¡­¡­ Now let¡¯s just overtake them!¡¹

    ¡¸Aaahhh!!!¡¹

    As soon as va does what I tell him to do, I sh my sword at the tentacles that were approaching him and cut them off. I would never be able to cut all of them in one blow, so I use the momentum of the first sh and make a nice turn, shing the remaining four tentacles with a second blow just like that. One could argue that even without its tentacles the mermaid would still choose to ram itself into us, but at this point it wasn¡¯t something that I was going to concern myself with.

    ¡¸Ooooooooohhhhhhhhh!!!¡¹

    va was not just running away either. He was shing other mermaids at the same time, swimming in a really erratic pattern, which he once exined to me that: you cannot hope to outrun a fish if you keep dashing in a straight line¡±. He was also using minimal movements for his maneuvers and attacks while he was at it.

    ¡¸---------!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    Scattered all over the ce with traces of ck blood oozing from them, the tentacles slowly drop down like falling flower petals. The mermaids scream loudly, falling down since they were no longer able to keep themselves afloat¡­¡­ only to revive just after that ande back right at us, looking at me and my partner with eyes filled with pure hatered.

    ¡¸After you defeat the boss, you also need to take care of the smaller monsters quickly!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m terribly sorry, my honorable ally, but as you can see I¡¯m a carnivore as well!¡¹

    ¡¸Now I want to eat some sea weed¡­¡­ Do you guys eat it, too?¡¹

    ¡¸Meat (I like), Food (eat)¡­¡­ No, now¡¯s not the time!¡¹

    I know that humans are only one of many species in this game, but looking at the face of our fishman ally trying different expression was so different from the human ones that it was almost surreal. It was just like trying to draw something on the surface of your hand, having been deprived of your senses of vision and hearing¡­¡­ But sure his face could look terrifying at times.

    ¡¸Sanraku, this is bad! More of them are starting to pour in!!¡¹

    ¡¸Shouldn¡¯t the boss arena remain isted until the boss battle is over¡­¡­!? This is bad, we need to pull out of here!!¡¹

    We then immiediatly leave this ce, not forgetting to collect all dropped items. Seeing the arena slowly bing filled with barnacle zombies and fish people, I could help it but to mutter those words to myself in a quiet voice.

    ¡¸----- How?¡¹

    ¡¸How did ite to this!!¡¹

 Chapter 133: Resurrecting Mental Zombies With Caffeine Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 133: Resurrecting Mental Zombies With Caffeine Part 1</h4>

    Could it be that the reason why I¡¯m feeling like I¡¯m about to die is because I¡¯ve been asleep for a whole three hours? But when ites to MMOs, sleep was hardly an excuse. If you have time and strength toin, then you have the time and strength to organize your equipment and do something productive inside of the game instead.

    I somehow managed to endure one intense battle after another today, but normally such a feat would not be possible. Not without at least taking a break in between sessions. That being said, it wasn¡¯t Luukan that managed to exhaust me so much. No, that was all on Usurper Dragon. Him and his stupid-ass ranged attacks.

    Additionally, I had to endure a long and rather annoying earful from Break when she saw just how I managed to break her masterpiece apart not so long after she just crafted it. That, and she was livid because of the sheer amount of repairs and strengthening I wanted her to perform. Then she yelled at me because I didn¡¯t have enough money on me. So I had to go and sell some stuff. Then the shopkeeper yelled at me for bargaining in on him so early in the morning. Then Emul screamed at Elk who wanted to scam us on more overpriced skills, then Break yelled at me again for the amount of damage my armor sustained¡­¡­ I get the feeling that Rabbitz was witness to the greatest shouting match in its history this very morning. But thanks to all that my items were as good as new, and I even managed to enhance some of them with materials I got from Luukan, which looked really shady in the beginning but then they turned out to be quite good.

    I also managed to confirm something. Three minutes. This is the amount of time after which the armor on my legs and torso turned into dust and shatter onto the wind. And the ss and rarity of armor were all of no importance here. They would break apart no matter what. Period. I was afraid something like that might happen, but now it was actually just sad.

    No matter the ss and the materials used for them, every single piece of armor would crumble to dust. Here I would like to voice my sincerest apologies to Break-sama and all producers of armor, for wasting your time and effort just so that I could destroy your precious creation only to confirm something as outrageous as this. I would also like to apologize in advance to everyone who might feel offended by seeing me walking around town half-naked. I¡¯m not doing this on purpose, so please don¡¯t report me to the authorities.

    Three minutes. Enough time to consider some armor as a short-term stat buff, but not nearly enough time to be able to utilize its abilities in longbat. And even if I wanted to just continuously change armor after it gets destroyed, it would just upy precious spots in my inventory and waste tremendous amounts of my money. So a short term buff was the only way for me to go with that.

    On the other hand, the ability to finally be able to use some equipment for legs and torso was a godsent. Now, as long as I have enough money, I can use some proper armor during my battles. Sadly I didn¡¯t have time now to experiment with this system some more, but once my itinerary loosens up a bit, I need to conduct some proper investigation.

    Either way, I¡¯ll definitely need to go back to those fortress ruins at some point in time.

    My skills remain the same. My armor haven¡¯t changed. The only real changes for me were always in the weapons department. But even so, I was always keeping my weapons in top condition, and the oldest ones were regrly being enhanced so that they wouldn¡¯t be irrelevant. That was the only thing I was using any materials I had on hand.

    But because of that I was poor right now¡­¡­ No, you might even want to call it super poor. I guess it was really an overkill to blow all my founds from conquering the way to Fifthsia like that all in one go. You need money to be able to do anything in this game. Without money, life could be quite hard.

    Ah, that¡¯s right. I remember. The pirates were talking about fishing not going as greatly as it used to. Apparently you can catch salmon in the Ancient Ruins, so it may fetch me a good price, and seeing as the new continent was about to be avable, maybe you could even catch some tuna there? Tuna is really good. However, you must eat it in moderation. I still remember how once Dad caught a Bluefin tuna and were were eating nothing but tuna dishes for three days straight, three times a day.

    I didn¡¯t think that I would get tired of fish at so young age, but ever since then when I see a tuna going onto the dinner table I can¡¯t stop remembering that fishy nightmare and my PTSD woudld trigger every time without fail.

    ¡¸Uwah.¡¹

    Oh no, because I¡¯m so tired, my thoughts were going somece weird. Why would I even think about tuna all of a sudden? But still, I could feel all that caffeine slowly beginning to work as it started to spread around my system. Caffeine is legal, so there¡¯s no such thing as caffeine overdose, right?

    Right now I was handling myself quite well, but I knew deep down inside that in just a while I would be nothing more but a caffeine-depraved zombie, drooling and mindless and all of that. I only hope that no one has a shotgun here, or else it might not be pretty for me. And for fuck¡¯s sake, does this light has to be so god damned bright?

    Seeing as my body was starting to stagger a little bit, a certain thought urred to me: will I even be able to fight in such a sorry state? God, I hope that no serious battle wasing my way for now.

    As I was going around town, I could feel the stares of yers and NPC alike, as well as muttered voices along the lines of: What is that? A zombie? Is this some kind of an event? Or maybe a monster got into town? I just hope that I won¡¯t cause a zombie apocalypse panic all of a sudden.

 Chapter 133: Ressurecting Mental Zombies With Caffeine Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 133: Ressurecting Mental Zombies With Caffeine Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Hm?¡¹

    I suddenly notice a pair of yers right in front of me. While the vast majority of the yers and all NPCs were going towards the big ship docking in the harbor, those two were going in the same direction I was going, towards the ughter docks. One of them looked like a little archer with short bob hair, and another was a tall dark elf spellcaster, judging from his robes.

    To be this burly and be a spellcaster¡­¡­ Wasn¡¯t something fundamentally wrong about that? At first nce the dark elf looked like a seasoned warrior, or a general who spent most of his life on the battlefield with sword in hand. When you see someone like that, wouldn¡¯t you normally associate them with a warrior ss, who puts points into physical attack and nothing else? I don¡¯t know if that person is much into role-y, but if so, his role would be super hard to y right when he looked like that. Or maybe it was just a wolf in sheep¡¯s clothing? No, more like a wolf with sheep¡¯s graffiti sprayed all over its fur.

    ¡¸Could it be?¡¹

    Aggressive-looking chibi character and burly mage¡­¡­ Talk about contrasting looks. It looked as though they specifically created their avatars to look nothing alike, and make as much of a contrast as possible. Looking at their yer tags¡­¡­ Yup, bingo. The chibi archer was named ¡°Rust¡± and the mage was named ¡°Mold¡±.

    In this kind of full dive game, the yers¡¯ mental and physical states are directly linked to their avatar¡¯s performance.

    And right now, if I didn¡¯t drink something high in caffeine my mental state would be pretty close to that of a corporate zombie who was slowly beginning to shut itself down from the excessive amount of work he was subjected to. But even so I somehow managed to keep myself together, and that was when I got closer to the two particr people right in front of me.

    Hm? It looks like Mold finally noticed me.

    ¡¸Good morning¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Hyah!¡¹

    Oi.

    ¡¸You look weird¡­¡­ Is that a hobby of yours or something like that?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s mostly because of a certain Luukan¡­¡­ I¡¯ve managed to beat the sh*t out of him just a few hours ago, but it looks like I¡¯d do better if I hadn¡¯t done that¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Luukan, you mean Night Prowler Luukan? That Unique Monster¡­¡­?¡¹

    It doesn¡¯t really matter if it¡¯s Unique or not. What matters is if you¡¯re able to beat it or not. That¡¯s the most important factor here. And while using your muscles first sometimes tends to work for the best, it is more than desirable to know what you¡¯re doing beforehand, so that you can maximize your efficiency that way.

    Regardless of the fact whether the caffeine wasing into the brain from the stomach, my thoughts start to click together. Now that I finally managed to escape from the zombies, I could survey my surroundings to some extent.

    ¡¸But this thing looks as if it was once a city. A reallypressed one at that¡¹

    ¡¸When they first established Fifthsia, they had to provide lodgings for all the workers. Somewhere where they could go to sleep and rx after work¡­¡­ Or so I heard.¡¹

    ¡¸Once the development of the town waspleted, these lodgings were abandoned as they were no longer needed. Now they are a hotbed for all kinds of rouges out there.¡¹

    Looking up, the remnants of the ship were sorge that they were easily covering the rising morning sun. And looking closely, it must have been nearly as big as the ship that was currently waiting in the port. So even a ce like that can still amodate people even though it is just a simple wreckage?

    And hearing that it¡¯s a habitat for rouges right now¡­¡­ That¡¯s just sad. Like tidying up your room or apartment only to have it be messed up again the very next moment you finish your task.

    But at the same time the fact that a city like Fifthsia has a ce like that was actually kind of refreshing.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I¡¯m currently running for a new world record. Besides, running around half-naked is a truly refreshing feeling.¡¹

    ¡¸Excuse me?¡¹

    When I asked what it was exactly, I was told that it was: the time psed between entering the wreckage and meeting the first NPC. By the way, as we made our way forward, I was informed that apparently the current world record was about two and a half minutes. That being said, it¡¯s been more than five minutes already since we entered here.

    Some people out there like their fists to do the talking, others think that they can use their skills to solve their every problem, and for others killing peoplees as easy and naturally as breathing or thinking what¡¯s for dinner tonight. First I look at Rust who looks interested. Then at Mold who looked as though he didn¡¯t know what to do. I was also sure that my own expression right now was something alongside the lines of ¡°Oh sh*t¡±. All of the eyes that were looking at me right now seemed to be saying: ¡°Is everything that is going on inside of this guy¡¯s head alright?¡± I wonder if I could just beat the evesting crap out of you right now for thinking like that?

    yers can very well understand the attitude and motivations of the NPCs, but I don¡¯t think anyone would be able to understand the amount of pain and trauma this fucking wolf put me through. It would be like trying to sell furniture to someone whose whole house was wiped out by a natural disaster. In a simr fashion, looking at the yers and seeing their name tags should be more than enough to understand that whatever we do in game is just an element of roley, that no matter what we do, we are just humans deep down inside. In that sense, I am only but a humble high school student.

    ¡¸Ah, after all even if your ability to look like a muffler is top notch, it is quite troublesome to keep you hidden like that, Emul. Now show yourself.¡¹

    ¡¸M, my Mimicry ability is so strong and perfect that you only get one like it once in every fifty years or so! Why are you giving up on it so soon!?¡¹

    ¡¸Last year¡¯s weather was quite pleasant, so I hope that this year¡¯s weather will be just like that from thest.¡¹

    ¡¸Muffler¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸It talked!?¡¹

    I was going to reveal it either way, and once we got into the city it would be really bothersome to keep the secret. And while others were looking at Emul, a talking monster, with astonishment, I was already thinking about where to go, what to do and what needed to be done¡­¡­

    This marks the beginning of a week at the end of which I felt like I wanted to die.

 Chapter 134: A Straight Flush With a Joker Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 134: A Straight Flush With a Joker Part 1</h4>

    When I first saw that email, I thought it was a spam of some sort. However, there was something familiar to the style it was written in and that convinced me it was the real deal.

    For the time being, I asked Katsu to rify this, and sent Pencilgton, the brains of our guild ¡°Wolfgang¡± a private message.

    However, if I were to simplify the conversation I had with Pencilgton, it would amount to something like this:

    Me: What do you think this guy¡¯s deal is?

    Pencil: It really depends on the context, but how much of the ¡°expenses¡± do you think he¡¯s able to cover?

    Me: Is that what you¡¯re worried about? I don¡¯t know about travelling expenses, but it looks like he¡¯s really desperate to scout us out.

    Pencil: Now I¡¯m d that I don¡¯t have anything urgent to get done.

    Umu, it seems that it is impossible tomunicate with a madman in a coherent manner. I then asked him if he was going to ask Katsu for the details as well, but Pencilgton seemed to be as carefree about this as ever.

    However, due to me grilling him for a while, I managed to extract the following intel out of him:

    GGC¡­¡­ Or Global Gaming Competition. Just like the name would imply, it was a conference that introduces a vast number of already existing games, games that are about to be published and the ones that are already in the making. One of the biggest events like that out there.

    In the past it used to be organized abroad, like in the United Kingdom or USA, but supposedly thanks to the financial power of various sponsors thest two years saw the Convention being organized in Japan. And of course, the existence of ShangriLa Frontier was partially the reason for that state of affairs.

    No matter the country of origin or the amount of money pumped into making them, games are just that: games. And when ites to ShanFro¡­¡­ Do I have to say anything?

    Until the release of ShanFro, the gamedev world was roughly divided into three parts: America when ites to quality, Asia when ites to plot and character development and Europe when ites to unconventional ideas.

    In this country, where about thirty percent of NPCs in games are antrophomorsized animals, and the rest is just handsome guys and sexy girls swinging big swords around and casting magic left and right, it took us our sweet time to understand that games in general can be categorized as good and bad.

    That is why ShanFro right now is considered as the best example of game development, not only in Japan or Asia, but around the world. In my honest opinion, ShanFro was ahead of its time by like¡­¡­ four of five generations?

    About half a year after the release of ShanFro, many differentpanies from all over the world started to announce their new titles. Titles that looked extremely alike ShanFro for some reason. Just like the meteor shower thates once in a blue moon and shines brilliantly in the sky¡­¡­ I was looking forward to some of those games, I won¡¯t say.

    To reiterate, ShanFro is currently doing better than any other game out there in the world, with almost half a million yers logging into the game on a daily basis. Whatever system mechanic that was introduced to ShanFro, you could be sure that other games would implement them shortly after. Going back to GGC, I was usually looking at transmissions from it since they would always announce new games there, but ording to Katsu the level of this conference was growing better and better with every passing year.

    GGC is a huge stage for professional gamers, since lots ofpanies tend to hire professional yers to show their new games on the newestputers and consoles alike. So why? Why was Katsu trying to recruit Pencilgton and I into helping him this year?

    ¡¸Apparently he is going to y against someone he doesn¡¯t want to lose to no matter what, and he needs our help to avoid losing by forfeit for not having the mandatory members in the team.¡¹

    While I was logging out and reading message after message, I couldn¡¯t help butugh under my nose. Maybe it¡¯s because of the energy drinks, but those things were making me want tough even more than usual.

    ¡¸Now that being said, what to do¡­¡­ The day after tomorrow, huh?¡¹

    Oh well, not that I have anything all that special to do, anyways. It¡¯s not like I need to log in every single day or anything like that. Katsu said that we can discuss the detailster inside ShanFro¡­¡­ Honestly, I had no real reason to refuse.

    Long story short, Katsu¡¯s goal is to fill in the missing spots in his team. Still, it was weird of him to think that he would be able to win with a ragtag group of yers gathered in a hurry.

    I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s okay to let non-professional gamers enter any tournament meant for pros like that, but I also can¡¯t imagine that Katsu wouldn¡¯t think about something as crucial as that. So I don¡¯t need to worry all that much about it.

    ¡¸The day after tomorrow¡­¡­ I will need to prepare various things, if that¡¯s how it¡¯s going to be¡­¡­ Well then, should I go now?¡¹

    All that I have nned for today is to try and clear one quest. It should be a whole lot easier than having to forcefully break through an entire dungeon and fighting a Unique Monster along the way. I could also continue to spam Katsu with emails, or even get on the train and go hunt for some more sh*tty games that I could indulge myself in. My options remain open.

    The GGC itself willst for about three days, but the exhibition match that Katsu mentioned shall bepleted in the span of one day, so it won¡¯t take as much of my time as I was afraid it would. It was also nice that Katsu would cover my travelling expenses, but there was also something else: sometimes just taking a short break from Shanfro wasn¡¯t that bad of an idea.

    ¡¸I might as well ept your invitation¡­¡­¡¹

    I send an email like that and then start thinking.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Now that I think about it, does that mean I¡¯ll be meeting Towa Amane and Uomi Kei for the first time in real life¡­¡­?¡¹

    Usually meeting a true celebrity would sound really exciting¡­¡­ but we¡¯re already talking quite a lot via email, so it seemed somewhat meh for me at first. But maybe I could use that opportunity to score an autograph for my sister?

 Chapter 134: A Straight Flush With a Joker Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 134: A Straight Flush With a Joker Part 2</h4>

    ¡­¡­ So it means that I¡¯ll have to venture a little bit far to get to the GGC convention center, but for now let¡¯s try and verify if that quest is really a Unique Quest g.

    ¡¸Say, Rust, I know that it¡¯s been a while since youst logged in here, but do you actually know if this quest wasn¡¯t taken by someone else already?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I think we¡¯re fine for now. Besides, not that many people are aware of that quest in the first ce.¡¹

    The quest in question, ¡°Punching the Apostle of the Abyss¡± was supposed to be given by the NPC named ¡°Self-Proimed Great Pirate Staude¡±. But it seems that they only know so much, for they didn¡¯t manage to push that quest any further.

    ¡¸The first time we came here Rust got in a fight with the NPCs¡­¡­ Um, and it only got weirder from there.¡¹

    ¡¸They were all so squishy¡­¡­ Hardly even worth drawing my bow¡­¡­ And they forgot to address me properly.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, that¡¯s right¡­¡­ Rust uses both ¡°Magic Bows¡± and ¡°Great Bows¡± respectively, hence her STR is quite high. So when ites to NPCs, just punching them normally is enough to send them flying.¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh¡­¡­¡¹

    I had no words to say to that, but the fact that Rust would start brawls just like that hardly came as a surprise to me. Apparently during their brawl they¡¯ve been stranded in some really far and remote location, and that¡¯s where they found the ¡°Self-Proimed Great Pirate¡±. Does that mean that in order to find him we need to beat the crap out of a certain number of NPCs? But remembering Pencilgton¡¯s words, assaulting the NPCs would still give you negative karma. Does that mean there was something else? Another possibility that was beyond myprehension at the current moment?

    First of all, killing the yers and killing the NPCs was considered equally as bad in this game. In a system like that, only a small minority would consider exploiting the NPCs instead of going out of town and fighting monsters, bosses and clearing the dungeons. It wasn¡¯t a hole in the system¡­¡­ more of a blind spot, really.

    ¡¸So, I guess the quest itself is¡­¡­ To hunt down this whole Ghost Ship, right? That¡¯s what this Pirate-Wannabe Sh*thead wants?¡¹

    ¡¸Sh*thead is a little bit¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, hey, if he¡¯s like that, then ¡°Sh*thead¡± is putting it lightly. At least I think so.¡¹

    Even though Mold may have thought it was going a little bit overboard, I must say that in my eyes it was really hard to be a ¡°Sh*thead¡± just like that. You¡¯d really need to earn your title through lots of hard work, and that would only serve to prove me right. Take ¡°Sh*t Chronicles Online¡±, for example. It¡¯s not everyday that some game manages to reach those levels of ¡°Sh*ttiness¡± without actually trying to do just that.

    There was even a character in ¡°Sh*t Chronicles Online¡± like that. A character of pure evil, who¡¯s every action and word were the epitome of sh*ttiness, of which even that character was not aware of. As a part of the story he was the beloved child of spirits, and as a viin he crossed paths with the Heroes on many asions, every time bing even sh*ttier than thest. Sending thugs after the party, poisoning wells, setting forests on fire, breeding monsters, stealing key items from the ces they were supposed to be enshrined in¡­¡­ He wasn¡¯t evil or a threat. Just a major nuisance and inconvenience.

    And even though you keep defeating them over and over again, they just keeping back for more ass-whooping. Why? Because of a bullsh*t reason like ¡°The Fairies love you more than me!¡± Not to mention that making someone like that a boss is aplete and utter joke, hardly ever worth mentioning in walkthroughs or creating them wiki pages.

    Just how someone like that was able toe back for more beating and grow in power is beyond me. Not to mention causing major inconveniences to the party, to the point where you had to beat him again in order to have some peace and quiet for a while. And how can other NPCs allow such a guy to run free and do whatever the hell he wants!?

    If Sh*t Chronicles Online were rated R-18, then surely a sh*tty viin like that would meet a rather gruesome end by the hand of all the people who were tired of all of his sh*t. But is that a good thing to do? Is it a correct way to handle a character like that? But no, in the game after you beat his ass onest time he realizes his mistakes and you¡¯re all back to being best friends? Just give me a fucking break¡­¡­

    ¡¸That¡¯s right, to be this ¡°sh*tty¡± you¡¯d really need to work hard to earn such a questionable title¡­¡­¡¹

    A few minutester.

    ¡¸Good to see you,ddie! I am the Great Pirate Strude! Be sure to remember that, cause I¡¯m the one who said it!¡¹

    It¡¯s a really strange feeling, but just from that one line I already knew that this quest is really going to be a major pain in the ass.

 Chapter 135: Items Should Be Treasured With Great Care Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 135: Items Should Be Treasured With Great Care Part 1</h4>

    Aside from the shorts that were probably there for the ease of movement, his whole attire looked just like that of a stereotypical pirate. His hair was short but messy, really in need of a cut. There was a ster on his cheek for some reason, and his whole expression was seeping self-confidence that only aplete moron would dare to project. His ego must have been really bloated at this point, for he was also looking at us from above like the true sh*thead he probably was.

    Amazing! No matter how hard I try, I can¡¯t possibly picture a more poster example of a true and utter sh*thead. It¡¯s really¡­¡­ I¡¯m starting to think that even Sh*t Chronicles Online couldn¡¯t possibly hold the candle to that guy¡­¡­

    ¡¸Arg, for a moment there I thought you would run away, but I see that you at least have SOME guts in you!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ And color me surprised, he even says the lines that are just reeking of sh*t.¡¹

    ¡¸What did you just say!?¡¹

    We all managed to keep our cool, but Rust¡­¡­ Oh, Rust just went straight for the sh*thead¡¯s provocation. But it¡¯s actually kind of amazing just how much resistance I¡¯ve managed to build for silly things like that.

    ¡¸I see you¡¯re still as ill-mannered as before!¡¹

    ¡¸Hahaha¡­¡­ Call it my art if you want¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, it¡¯s an art alright, but pissing people off!¡¹

    I don¡¯t know about others, but all of a sudden I started to grow hungry. Maybe it¡¯s the fault of all those meaty curses? Do you have some meat on you, guys? Even a dried up jerky would suffice for now. Just then Strude must have grown tired of shouting at Rust and Mold, for he looked straight at me as if he wanted to say something.

    ¡¸Why are you looking away?¡¹

    ¡¸Ugh¡­¡­¡¹

    Strude was doing everything he could to avoid having to look me in the eyes, but after a moment our gazes collided again. And he averted his eyes once more, even faster than before. Looking closely, it wasn¡¯t just him, but other NPCs that suddenly started to pop up were doing the same.

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­?¡¹

    Could it be that for some reason this pirate ouw couldn¡¯t stand looking directly at me? The sh*thead finally speaks up¡­¡­ but it sounded as if he was putting a piece of meat into a cage with a hungry lion inside of it, trying not to get eaten while he was at it.

    ¡¸Y, you there¡­¡­ Umm, let¡¯s hear your name,ddie!¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s Sanraku. And just so you know, I¡¯m currently helping those two with the quest you¡¯re supposedly giving here. My special skills include beating the sh*t out of Night Prowler Luukan.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡­¡­¡­¡­ I see! Yeah, umm, you surely look like a tough guy! If, if that¡¯s how you put it, I¡¯ll graciously allow you to work for me as well¡­¡­ Haha¡­¡­ ha¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Reward?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes! I¡¯ll pay you! I¡¯ll surely pay you!¡¹

    I mentioned Luukan here because I was getting tired of this little charade of his. And what do you know? It was super effective! Not only Strude was shaking like a little puppy right now, but all of the surrounding NPC¡¯s seemed to be terrified of me as well, even backing away considerably.

    ¡¸Also, I should probably mention that a show-off pirate and a group of his rag-tag colleagues are not intimidating for me. Like, at all.¡¹

    ¡¸Then do you have what it takes to face a certain death with courage and guts and¡­¡­ Fungyah!?¡¹

    The muffler around my neck wanted to say something, but as soon as I heard it I flicked it in ce where its head should be and coughed a few times to mask the noise. The muffler shook ever so slightly, but it was probably only the result of being flicked so suddenly like that.

    ¡¸I would like to talk about the details of the job right now. No need for introductions, since I¡¯ve heard everything from them already. ¡­¡­ But I want to hear all the details directly from you.¡¹

    ¡¸Is, is that so¡­¡­? You see, we would like you all to board on my ship and assist us in hunting down and bringing down the ¡°Ghost Ship¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸Ghost Ship?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, Ghost Ship¡­¡­ ¡°Crying Innsman¡±, it¡­ my papa¡­¡­ I mean, it killed my dear Father¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸DO YOU WISH TO ACCEPT THE UNIQUE QUEST ¡°PUNCHING THE APOSTLE OF THE ABYSS¡±?¡¹

    Oh, it¡¯s so cute that he calls his Father ¡°Papa¡±¡­¡­ But I guess that Strude¡¯s story, told with anger and sadness, matched what Rust and Mold told me thus far.

    Ghost Ship Crying Innsman¡­¡­ A cursed phantom ship that appears in the middle of the storm and drags the living creatures to the bottom of the ocean where the Abyss lies. Once brought there, they would be twisted monsters and abominations that would join the crew and hunt down the living aboard the ghost ship itself. They were the servants of the entity known as ¡°Lords of the Abyss¡±.

    Once Strude¡¯s father and his crew encountered the ghost ship, he alone remained on board and ordered his crew to make a run for it. He had no chance of getting out of it alive and the story was that Strude became a new captain in his ce, pledging to hunt down the ghost ship and avenge his father.

    ¡¸I see¡­¡­ Incidentally, what are the monsters aboard the Crying Innsman?¡¹

 Chapter 135: Items Should Be Treasured With Great Care Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 135: Items Should Be Treasured With Great Care Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸T, this is¡­¡­ They looked like abination of rotten fish and dposing corpse.¡¹

    ¡¸So, that would make them¡­¡­ Human-fish zombies?¡¹

    About one hour after the initial meeting I could see groups of pirates loading crates of provisions and weapons onto their ship, reading themselves for departure. Their ship was considerablyrge, but not nearly asrge as the ship that was going to the other continent.

    I left themunication with Strude to Rust and Mold, since the guy seemed to be genuinely scared of me.

    ¡¸Well I¡¯ll be damned, those markings are way more effective than I would have thought¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Well yes, that¡¯s to be expected! The aura of the Vorpal Soul you emit is so strong, Sanraku-san, that anyone who dares to approach you can¡¯t help it but to feel intimidated!¡¹

    ¡¸More like I was aiming at them with a sharp object or something along those lines¡­¡­¡¹

    It seems that the curse marks even started to affect people now, which may prove to be quite annoying in the future. On the other hand, seeing that sh*thead Strude starting to act like a scared kitty was simply priceless. I¡¯d totally do it again if I could.

    I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s the rule in this game, but seeing the pirates load up normal weapons onto the ship made me worried. After all, if it was indeed a Ghost Ship, normal weapons wouldn¡¯t be able to do much damage to it that way.

    ¡¸Could it be that this Ghost Ship is not the real enemy¡­¡­ but some kind of a sea monster, like Kraken?¡¹

    The ship itself also had a weapon installed on deck, however it wasn¡¯t it¡¯s normal ship cannons but rather a huge balistas. And seeing that there was no barrels of gunpowder, so I guess that it maybe relies on magic to some extent? But wouldn¡¯t they still be normal weapons? So does that mean only Legacy Weapons would be able to be of any use in here?

    ¡¸Does that mean it¡¯s going to be a sea battle?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m going to be the first one to make it on board!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Oh well, since I¡¯m always doing crazy stunts, at least I won¡¯t have to worry about getting a sudden attack of sea sickness.¡¹

    ¡¸???¡¹

    Fighting aboard a ship is not as straightforward as it may sound. It¡¯s like trying to fight a literal storm. You may think you¡¯re ready, but a storm will always be a storm. Unpredictable.

    Weapons sway left and right, your legs are getting all wobbly, and you can¡¯t properly aim with your guns because of all the shaking and turning right in the middle of the sea. Thatst part does not affect me all that much, but all the things before that are something it would be advisable to take countermeasures against.

    ¡¸Stable foothold¡­¡­ Management of recast time¡­¡­ Stopping the shaking¡­¡­ Watch out for the AI behavior, both the enemy¡¯s and that of friends¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san¡­¡­ Sometimes you say things that are harder to grasp the meaning of than incantations for magic spells.¡¹

    ¡¸I wouldn¡¯t call it like that, besides it¡¯s not thatplicated or hard¡­¡­ It¡¯s merely a simple logic put to practice¡­¡­ Hm?¡¹

    In ShangriLa Frontier, the ancient super-advanced civilization made intelligent robots, but the origin of the civilization of this game is rooted in medieval fantasy and magic, correct? That is why you can see so many strange sights that you wouldn¡¯t be able to normally see in reality.

    That is why things like moving cargo or building stuff still required a whole lot of manualbor to get done, which required a hefty amount of strong men.

    ¡¸And what¡¯s that¡­¡­ an octopus? Are we really going to have to deal with kraken?¡¹

    No, it was too small to be just that. Monsters that sink ships are much bigger in games, so it was most probably an oversized squid or something alongside those lines. And what are those barrels? They need three people to carry properly?

    If they wanted to use those barrels as containers, then we have a certain problem with that. ¡­¡­ But as I was thinking that, the machos that were carrying them came to a stop right next to us, setting the barrels down with a loud THUD! noise.

    ¡¸Kyah!¡¹

    ¡¸Waah!¡¹

    ¡¸Gueh!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, oh, oh! The specialty of the ¡°Red Whale Pirates¡±, barrel delivery, is nowpleted!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, you there, rich-lookingd! You¡¯re thepany of those two, right? You¡¯re certainly a piece of work!¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? Ha? Ahh¡­¡­ Hmm?¡¹

    The machos allughed and then went away without saying anything more. ¡­¡­ No, that¡¯s not what¡¯s important here right now. More importantly, the barrels they carried here.

    ¡¸W, what the hell did just¡­¡­ Eh, hibyu! Ekhem, cough! S-Sanraku, -san!?¡¹

    ¡¸Now I know just how aundry must feel¡­¡­ Huh, where are we? What is this ce!?¡¹

    ¡¸Wait¡­¡­ Akitsu, Akane¡­¡­ -dono¡­¡­ You¡¯re going to crush me!?¡¹

    A knight yer wearing a destroyed armor that looked like rusted or cracked ground.

    A ninja yer wearing a fox mask, one of the selected few besides me who had the privilege of entering the Bunny Court.

    Then, a white cloak screamed out loud, being crushed by the ninja who was wearing it.

    ¡¸Eh, why?¡¹

    Thepany that was together fighting Luukan just a couple of hours ago was once morepleted, and we all looked at one another in confusion, not understanding what was currently going on.

 Chapter 136: Opportunity, Pity and Stupidity Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 136: Opportunity, Pity and Stupidity Part 1</h4>

    Let¡¯s go back in time a few minutes.

    Since the start of this game, there were seven monsters that stood atop all other when ites to power, called Unique Monsters. And even though Akitsu Akane wasn¡¯t able to do much except for supporting in thatst battle, he was still a member of the group that managed to defeat Night Prowler Luukan.

    ¡¸Whoa¡­¡­ So that¡¯s the pioneer¡¯s boat! It¡¯s so big! It looks almost like an exotic cruise ship!]

    ¡¸When you put it that way that sounds about right¡­¡­]

    Unlike Sanraku who wanted to go back to Rabbitz right away and Saiga-0 who stayed in town because there was a Guild safehouse on the premise, Akitsu Akane decided to stay in Fifthsia purely because he had nothing better to do and wanted to do some sightseeing.

    Many NPCs kept on sending strange gazes towards them, but from the yers perspective that was hardly anything new. As far as they were concerned, there could have been just the stares of people wondering about their peculiar equipment.

    Only the strongest of the yers or the most skilled, like Sanraku or Akitsu Akane, could reach Fifthsia in such short amount of time, so it was only natural that only the strongest would appear here, and it was only natural to want to check out what there equipment was.

    ¡¸Whoa, that¡¯s amazing¡­¡­! Check out these fish skewers! Have a bite yourself! They are surprisingly light and delicious!]

    Even though it could have been considered as rude behavior, the sheer happiness and joy seeping from behind the mask seemed to have reached the stall owner and he looked satisfied with someone praising his product so much. Apparently Akitsu Akane was someone who always took things at face value and never doubted things he saw, enjoying the game in the purest sense of the word. Then camouged Sickle spoke in a hushed voice, as to not be heard by anyone around them.

    ¡¸You could at least pretend to try not to draw so much attention to yourself.]

    ¡¸You know, I¡¯ve never actually saw sea in real life, so seeing it like that in the game for the first time is really cool!]

    ¡¸In game? What does that even mean¡­¡­ Akitsu Akane-dono, there are times when I simply don¡¯t understand the things you are saying.]

    ¡¸Is that so? But Sanraku-san and Emul-chan talk like that rather frequently, don¡¯t you think?]

    ¡¸Emul was always a little bit specific, to say the least, and seeing how well he gets along with that guy, the two of them must be roughly the same.]

    Being Weissash¡¯s child, it was unusual for a Vorpal Bunny to get along with a human so well. Or maybe it was that when he was with Sanraku, Emul could finally act like himself? It was really hard to tell.

    Virtual reality¡­¡­ Even though it was just a game, ShangriLa Frontier was erasing the boundaries of what was known as game and as reality. The liveliness of the harbor, the salty scent of the sea, its glitter and the morning sun which was shining on it all¡­¡­ No matter what other may think, for Akitsu Akane all of those things were real, existing right here and right now.

    Just then, a fairly innocent window of text appeared right in front of Akitsu Akane.

    ¡¸WOUL YOU LIKE TO ACCEPT THE UNIQUE QUEST ¡°PUNCHING THE APOSTLE OF THE ABYSS?]

    ¡¸He? But why?]

    Unique Quest, he understood well the meaning of those words. Long story short, it was a very rare mission with many hardships to ovee and many great rewards to be imed¡­¡­ but why was it offered to him just like that? The only thing that Akitsu Akane knew was that quest like that were usually given to those who aplish great things.

    That definition was not wrong. Because Unique Quests were fundamentally different from normal quest, a fact that every NPC would even know. For example, showing your fighting spirit to the Night Prowler, or adoring yourself in the scales of the Emperor of the Sky, or to reach the very ends of this world¡­¡­ There were many different variations. That is why it was simply unheard of that one of those would be given to someone just for some simple sightseeing. So why would it appear before Akitsu Akane just now? Saiga-0 couldn¡¯t wrap her head around it no matter how hard she tried.

    But the answer was surprisingly simple. For in this game the term ¡°party¡± was rather loose and open to interpretation. If the leader was presented with the Unique Quest, the same window would appear in front of the other party members, no matter where they were or what they were doing¡­¡­ Of course, there was always the right to veto the quest, but as long as the main leader could ept it, so could his party members.

    And normally the party formed to defeat Luukan and capture the rest of the dungeon would have been disbanded after reaching Fifthsia, but apparently Sanraku was too busy with things he wanted to do, so he forgot to do just that. So even if the leader and the party members technically went their separate ways for now, they were still acting like a normal party, hence the pop up of this here new quest. All because of a little carelessness.

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­ I¡¯m not too sure about this one, but is sounds like fun, so what the hell! Let¡¯s take it!]

    Akitsu Akane gave it some thought and reached about the same conclusion, but he still chose to ept the quest either way.

    Basically, there are two kinds of people in the world. The people who instantly send spam mails into the trash can where they belong, and the ones who tend to genuinely respond to them. And when ites to Akitsu Akane, he surely was of thetter category. So he pressed ¡°YES¡± button without any hesitation and after he did just that, a literal swarm of some macho men appeared, throwing him and Sickle inside of a huge barrel and taking them away somewhere.

 Chapter 136: Opportunity, Pity and Stupidity Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 136: Opportunity, Pity and Stupidity Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Party¡­¡­ W, whatever should I do¡­¡­?]

    Saiga-0 was currently in a serious distress. Right in front of her was a window that stated that she was still a member of a party formed by her, Sanraku, Akitsu Akane and two Vorpal Bunnies. But there was a fast and easy solution to that problem: she just had to press ¡°YES¡± button when asked: ¡°DO YOU WANT TO LEAVE YOUR CURRENT PARTY?¡±

    However, even if her mind understood that, her heart was still violently objecting against it.

    It was difficult for her to cut herself from this connection they had right now, especially since it was the bond formted by such strong emotions. She knew that, she understood that perfectly well. One day she would have to do it. She would have to cancel her party with Sanraku and rejoin her guild, who were all eagerly awaiting her return.

    ¡¸Ugh, uuuhhh¡­¡­]

    Up until now she was free because of her sister¡¯s schedule, but now she was being pressed intoing back to the guild, both in game and in real life. With the construction of the Pioneer Ship at its finish, she would need to help other members of the guild in releasing their level cap as well. That is why she would need to beak the current party and board the ship herself.

    Also, their research indicated that there might be a fierce battle once aboard the ship and that items that you can buy on board are going to be really expensive. However, making this choice was truly difficult for Saiga-0, even harder than the one about facing Luukan in battle.

    ¡¸Mu, Mumumumumu¡­¡­!!!]

    Making strange movements with her fingers. Steeling her determination only to be cast into doubts again. Then waiting for a few seconds.

    To illustrate her inner dilemma, Saiga-0¡¯s index fingers were spinning in mid-air around one another like crazy, with a speed that would put any professional sprinter to shame. The difference here was that Saiga-0¡¯s fingers eventually slowed down and then came to a stop. She reached her decision.

    (I get it¡­¡­ I understand it, I really do¡­¡­ But, umm¡­¡­ Even though I know that cutting the ties with his won¡¯t be easy¡­¡­ I know that it¡¯s mostly me being sentimental here¡­¡­ Yes, if I knew that it would be this hard, then Tower Arcana would have been better representation of me¡­¡­)

    Contrary to her slowing down fingers, Saiga-0¡¯s thoughts only kept on elerating. For those who knew her it must have been a truly hrious sight, but for most of the NPCs, it looked like a knight in the rusted armor was making some weird gestures with her hands, presumably casting some sort of curse. That¡¯s why all NPCs decided to keep their distance.

    ¡¸Is something the matter, Rei?]

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Umm, yeah, I guess.]

    ¡¸You¡¯ve been acting really weird out there for a second. Let me guess: the stress of having to go to the new continent is getting to you? It must be really mentally taxing, knowing that you¡¯ll be one of the selected few to go there first.]

    ¡¸Ahh¡­¡­ Umm, yeah¡­¡­ Please give me a moment, I¡¯m going to separate from the party¡­¡­]

    Any further hesitation on her end will only serve to annoy her sister and her guild mates even further. And if they really are friends, Sanraku and her, they can form another party on some other asion. Her brain was screaming at her to push ¡°YES¡± button, while her love-struck brain was urging her to stop doing what she was about to do.

    ¡¸Naaaagh! Make up your mind already!]

    ¡¸What¡¯s this all of a sudden!?]

    Saiga-0 twisted her neck and shook her head with a mighty force, closed her eyes and pushed her finger forward. That¡¯s why she didn¡¯t know at what window she was aiming at, and what button she was going to press.

    ¡¸WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACCEPT THE UNIQUE QUEST ¡°PUNCHING THE APOSTLE OF THE ABYSS? ¡°YES¡± ¡°NO¡±]

    The window informing of the action of breaking from the party was pushed to the side by the new window with the newest system announcement¡­¡­ It means that the decision she was about to make was regarding the Unique Quest that her party¡¯s leader just epted.

    In other words, the finger of the ¡°Maximum Attack Power¡± yer, which was strong enough to break small objects if she wished so, went on a full collision course with the ¡°YES¡± option¡­¡­ in the Unique Quest window.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Ah, Are? What button did I just push?]

    ¡¸Found you, guys! Now, prepare to be loaded and delivered!]

    ¡¸Transport! Transport! Transport!]

    ¡¸Ehh, wait just a¡­¡­ What is¡­¡­ KYAAAHHH!?]

    ¡¸FUBYUUUGH!?]

    ¡¸SICKLE-SAAAAAAN!? Ah, well if it isn¡¯t Saiga-0-san! Long time no see!]

    And just like that, before any of them could realize what exactly was going on, they were put inside of the barrels and delivered to the ughter docks, much to the surprise of thir party leader.

    ¡¸Ahh¡­¡­ Umm¡­¡­]

    Akitsu Akane¡¯s exnation and Rei¡¯s spection. Plus my own assumptions and basically I already knew what exactly happened. I didn¡¯t disbanded the party once we arrived in the city, ad because as a leader I epted another unique quest, these two were able to undertake it as well.

    And to think that I would involve them not only in the battle against the Night Prowler Luukan but Kutanid of the Abyss as well¡­¡­ whatever shall I do with this situation?

    There was such an intense brainstorming session going on in my head right now that I couldn¡¯t exactly wrap my head around all this. Luckily for me, God came down and aided me in my plea, passing the sentence instead.

    ¡¸Oh, for fuck¡¯s sake, do whatever the hell you want!]

    ¡¸I don¡¯t really get what¡¯s going on, but I like the sound of that!]

    ¡¸Hahaha, you¡¯d better believe we will!]

    Just like that, two additional party members were added for this quest. Don¡¯t me me if youe to regret it!

 Chapter 137: Red Whales and Fish Monsters Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 137: Red Whales and Fish Monsters Part 1</h4>

    Yes, thinking logically about it, a Unique Quest like this whole ?Punching the Apostle of the Abyss¡± was not something that would easilye your way. Anyways, I do believe that Rust and Mold would be able to tell me more about it if I only asked.

    But as for them, they could have done as they pleased with me at any moment, because they were currently holding me by the balls¡­¡­ and by ?balls¡± I mean know about the information of mechas in this game.

    Therefore even if we were to somehow clear this quest and obtain a Unique Quest EX as a result, I cannot really take them for a piggyback ride through it. It was unexpected for them toe here in the first ce, but I honestly felt that it woulde and bite me in the ass sooner rather thanter.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ And that about covers it for this here Saiga-0 and Akitsu Akane, who just so happened to join me for this quest.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m having trouble with keeping up with all of the information¡­¡­¡¹

    Well, it probably is a little bit much, but that¡¯s only because I didn¡¯t have enough courage to tell them the truth. ¡°Go home, because you¡¯ve made a mistake and I don¡¯t want you to know about the Unique Scenario I¡¯m currently working on!¡± that would really make me sound like a huge ass-hat.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry that you were dragged into this, but if you have your own things to do, then by all means go and do them instead!¡± I¡¯ve tried that kind of logic with them, but it was foolish of me to think that there would be a yer who wouldn¡¯t want to participate in a Unique Quest¡­¡­ Could it be that I was overdoing it way too much now?

    And although many of the pirates were looking at Rust with the mixture of fear and respect, it was clearly Saiga-0 here who was the strongest yer amongst them.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ And, who is this guy?¡¹

    ¡¸Coming right up! My name is Akitsu Akane!¡¹

    ¡¸Think of him as a Manual Laborer A, aside from some characteristic parts there¡¯s nothing all that special going on about him.¡¹

    ¡¸Talk about a rude way of putting it!?¡¹

    But it was the truth. Amongst all of us yers here Akitsu Akane was the weakest one. Even though he might have leveled up considerably after defeating Luukan (Alter-Ego), his stats and level might be at around level eighty, so he was still weaker than all of us.

    Aside from Akitsu Akane, whose participation was really situational in here, both Emul and Sickle were a true Godsend with all of their high stats and builds made clearly for battle reasons. I mean, let¡¯s be real: it was Sickle who was the main attacker here, with Akitsu Akane serving as nothing more but his support.

    If he could use that me Breath more effectively than his role could have been different, but as far as we¡¯re concerned that¡¯s unlikely to happen in the near future. And from what I heard it eats a lot of resources, wasn¡¯t all that effective and took so long to actually work that I could easily dish out five normal attacks of my own in the same timeframe. So honestly, for me that skill was one huge scam.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Well, whatever, as long as it will allow us to gain ess to the Robots.¡¹

    ¡¸The more people in the party the better, so no objections on my end.¡¹

    With that taken out of the way, our party was formed once again, but this time even bigger than before.

    Even though after fighting Luukan I was better suited to be the leader of the party, we were all nothing but an entourage and Rust and Mold were the main actors this time around. But I can¡¯t help it but to feel as though Rei was somehow forced into this mess against her will. It shouldn¡¯t be that much of a problem since the parties can be disbanded and made anew as much as you like, but did something happen while I was away!?

    ¡¸Invitation to the party sent. In other words, Vorpal Bunnies are treated as equal party members by the system¡­¡­¡¹

    Normally dog-like creatures and cat-like creatures would be treated as pets, but that¡¯s not the case when ites to Vorpal Bunnies, which was a good bnce in my opinion.

    ¡¸Oi, just how long are you going to mutter amongst yerselves over there!? Get yer asses on board right this instant!¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯ve heard Captain Sh*thead. Let¡¯s go.¡¹

    Strude stood on top of the deck and kept on rushing us like a bunch of small children. And just like that we boarded the pirate ship ¡°Scarred Whale¡± with the same party that challenged Luukan, plus the addition of a burly mage and Archer with a really short fuse.

    ¡¸Waaah! That¡¯s so amazing! Just look at this boat go!¡¹

    The harbor near the ughter docks was much more run down and in worse shape than the main harbor where the Pioneer ship was located. Over there we could see many shipsing and going, disappearing behind the ships wreckage.

    Luxurious cruise ships andrge battleships¡­¡­ Compared to those, ¡°Whale¡± looked rather small and miserable. I don¡¯t know how these pirates want to make a name for themselves in a boat like that, but their g with a red whale and crossbones looked really cool. I¡¯ll give them that.

 Chapter 137: Red Whales and Fish Monsters Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 137: Red Whales and Fish Monsters Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸It¡¯s amazing, that the Mobs would be able to move an entire ship like that.¡¹

    ¡¸What are you talking about? What¡¯s so great about that?¡¹

    ¡¸Well you see, the ship this big wouldn¡¯t normally be able to move so fast on wind alone, and without a screw to propel it, the Mobs must be pushing it systematically to recreate thews of physics.

    In response to Rei¡¯s question, I give her my theory on the exnation of this aspect of the game. Because if you tried to make everything in game work like in the real world, that would cause some of the weaker PCs out there to overheat and melt down. So apromise like that would satisfy everyone, even those who like to nitpick at the details. As for the ships themselves¡­¡­ I¡¯m pretty sure that they are actually something else entirely, but with an appropriate texture pped right on top of it, so that the game¡¯s engine wouldn¡¯t explode from too much work.

    And it was actually amazing that even with thosepromises everywhere you look, the game was still as amazing as it was.

    ¡¸Well, what else can I say? This is a really good game.¡¹

    ¡¸I think so as well¡­¡­ It¡¯s a very, enjoyable game for me as well.¡¹ I do get the feeling that Rei was talking about something more than just the graphics aspect of the game, but it¡¯s actually right: graphics aren¡¯t the only thing that is good about games.

    When ites to games, many different things may impress many different people¡­¡­ In other words, games which can only impress people with one of their aspects are nothing more than glorified sh*tty games.

    ¡¸I guess fishing on a moving boat wouldn¡¯t yield you much results, but since it¡¯s a sailing ship, and not an engine-equipped one, does that mean you could catch some bigger and faster fish? Would they even take a bite¡­¡­?¡¹

    If that¡¯s so, then let¡¯s go fishing! I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll be able to catch anything with my current fishing rod, but I won¡¯t know unless I try, right?

    It¡¯s been about thirty minutes since I started fishing. To illustrate how well it was going¡­¡­ Emul fell asleep after ten minutes because nothing was happening. And instead of the usual nasal snoring, the muffler started to emit some strange and rather disturbing noises.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Is it just me, or are the clouds starting to act funny?¡¹

    When one person muttered those words, everyone, NPCs and yers alike, looked to the sky in order to see what was going on.

    The blue infinite sky and the warm rays of the sun were no longer to be found, disappearing from in front of our eyes by the second. It wasn¡¯t that the sun itself was gone, but rather that it was being hidden by the clouds that suddenly began to gather.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Say, Rei? Maybe I¡¯m just ignorant because I¡¯ve been ying this game for only a short while, but can weather conditions here change so drastically in a matter of minutes? Outside of some events, that is?¡¹

    ¡¸First time I ever heard about it! And I¡¯ve been ying for a while now!¡¹

    At first, the light only started to get darker. But then it started to get darker and darker more rapidly, and before long the ship was no longer able to see the sun because of the thick veil of dark clouds that gathered in the sky.

    And looking close enough, you could see that these clouds weren¡¯t natural. They didn¡¯t cover the world of ShanFro itself, but rather they were circting around the ship, with it at the clouds center.

    ¡¸Captain! Captain, look! It¡¯s the same as thest time!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m, I¡¯m not scared, not at all, I¡¯m Papa¡¯s son after all¡­¡­ You there! Ready your weapons!¡¹

    After being shocked for a single moment, Strude then pulled himself together and started to throw orders around. While the NPCs were running all over the deck to prepare themselves for what was toe, we yers readied our weapons and were on the lookout for any sign of danger.

    ¡¸When ites to the Ghost Ship, there are usually two general patterns that herald itsing.¡¹

    ¡¸A-and what are those patterns¡­¡­?¡¹

    Ask Emul, looking downright frightened and scared.

    ¡¸One of them is truly horror-like, when it simply emerges from the veil of thick fog that appears seemingly out of nowhere. And the second one¡­¡­ It springs up on you straight from down below!¡¹

    In a typical action game sense, there was somethinging right at us from below the sea surface!

    In the next moment, a pir of blinding white light came down from the ck clouds. Striking against the water surface, the light evaporates it and thus creating a huge pir of water and steam surging into the air.

    At the same time, there was a huge pir of water shooting towards the sky from sea level, due to the tremendous impacting from below the surface.

    ¡¸Ghost Ship¡­¡­ Something something Innsman, was it?¡¹

    ¡¸Crying Innsman! All hands, prepare for battle! Battle stations!¡¹

    You have to hand it to the guy, even though he was scared sh*tless he didn¡¯t abandon his role as the captain. And that¡¯smendable.

    And just like that, the ship full of scared pirates was going to sh with a Ghost Ship full of screaming fish-monsters ----

 Chapter 138: SAN Check In the Middle of the Storm Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 138: SAN Check In the Middle of the Storm Part 1</h4>

    The Crying Innsman was something that would hardly be called a ship by any modern standards.

    Its mast was snapped in half and its bottom was covered in huge gaping holes. Its bow looked like the open mouth of some strange sea creature that was bearing its teeth as its prey. And despite looking as though it was about to fall into pieces anytime now, it was approaching us at an astonishingly fast pace, cutting through the roaring waves as if they were nothing.

    ¡¸Habyah!?¡¹

    ¡¸Bugyouh!? I-It¡¯s way too slippery around here¡­¡­¡¹

    Akitsu Akane fell over and slid through the deck together with his cape, but no one paid that any mind orughed. But still, it wasn¡¯t even that slippery to begin with, so just how bad was your sense of bnce!?

    This level of shaking wouldn¡¯t be a problem if we were on a modern ship. Sailing through a storm like that is not something any normal human would be able to do, but at least technology gave us tools and devices that made it possible. However, no matter how realistic, this is a fantasy game, and our boat is not modern. So we were shaking so much and the deck was so slippery that keeping your bnce was pretty much impossible.

    ¡¸Are you okay!? Will you be able to fight in such a state!?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll, I¡¯ll manage somehow¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Well, at least to some extent, by the looks of it¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Rust, help meeeeee¡­¡­¡¹

    Two of us seemed to be OK, and the other two were not OK, no matter how hard they would try to hide it. As for the NPCs¡­¡­ All of them had their assigned roles, and they were desperately trying to hold onto anything near their posts that would allow them to stand their ground firmly. Even Strude was holding onto the mast with all of his might, a sight that made me feel sorry for the guy for some bizarre reason.

    ¡¸We can¡¯t fight it in those clouds! We must somehow lure it closer and then attack from close range!¡¹

    ¡¸Hey! I¡¯m the one giving orders around here!¡¹

    ¡¸Shut your whore mouth! Tell me that after you pull yourself together!¡¹

    ¡¸Ugugugu!¡¹

    A sense ofpassion? What¡¯s that? Some kind of a fish food?

    The pirates try to get near the ballistas and prepare it forbat. While some of them were doing just that, others were busy loading them and preparing them to engage the enemy. It was a difficult task to do in our current conditions, but they were somehow managing it.

    The distance left between us and the Crying Innsman was less than twenty meters. From this distance, we could already make out the dim silhouettes of the people on board the Ghost Ship. And just then, when there was a lightning strike that illuminated the whole area, we could see them clearly.

    ¡¸Just how many 1D rolls would we need to do now?¡¹

    ¡¸Ugh, I think I¡¯m going to be sick¡­¡­!¡¹

    They were simply too ugly and too dreadful to even call them human. They had human shapes alright, but their bodies werepletely covered in scales and barnacles that made it impossible to distinguish what was what.

    Their faces were mostly deformed and their bodies were covered in tusks and fangs in various ces. Their eyes were empty and without much focus, looking as though they were going to pop at any second now. Their mouths were broken or elongated, filled with rows of teeth that looked like small saws.

    Their ragged clothing barely covered their deformed bodies. They were the embodiment of the underwater horror, most probably corpses that drowned and fish started feasting on them, eventually bing one with them after they came back to life. It was a simple horror, but one that was quite effective against Pioneers like us.

    Let¡¯s see, when encountering Deep Sea Abominations or Eldritch Horrors like that, what kind of Sanity Check do you need to make? 1D3? Or was it 1D10? ¡­¡­ Just what am I thinking right now!?

    ¡¸Hyi, hyiiiiii¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh sh*t, did someone just failed their save throw¡­¡­?¡¹

    Unlike us yers who have some meta insight when ites to the enemies, some of the NPCs seemed to go crazy after seeing them right off the bat. God damn it, I sure hope that this game allows for Friendly Fire if they happen to turn against us.

    ¡¸PSYCHOANALYSIS!¡¹

    ¡¸Gubeh!?¡¹

    Since I couldn¡¯t really use any recovery magic, the only way to snap them out of it was via shock therapy treatment!

    ¡¸M, my cheek hurts like a bitch for some reason¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸If you im to be such a great pirate and captain, then get your fucking crew to behave like pirates and not a bunch of pussies!¡¹

 Chapter 138: SAN Check In the Middle of the Storm Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 138: SAN Check In the Middle of the Storm Part 2</h4>

    If I hadn¡¯t pped some sense into Strude, he would have fallen off the ship. So I grabbed him and gave him a few good ps.

    ¡¸This weapon was known as a Swamp Dagger when I started ying ,but now thanks to the materials it was reforged and enhanced ordingly! ¡­¡­ It¡¯s a first ss weapon as of now!¡¹

    There were famous swords out there. There were legendary swords out there. And there were even magic swords out there. Those were all quite unique weapons, the levels of which couldn¡¯t be simply reached just like that.

    However, I do believe that if you continue to care about your equipment, upgrading it and enhancing its power ordingly, it will grow into a fine weapon that won¡¯t lose to any other sacred or legendary weapon out there.

    One such sword was in my hands right now, with raindrops bouncing off its de and the de itself shining brightly in the illuminations the thunder was creating.

    There was only one thing that was characteristic of this one handed sword that was formerly known as the Swamp Dagger: Its Attack Power was pretty big. It was a little bit sad that its effect of restoring Durability upon striking a Critical Hit was gone, but oh well, what can you do?

    Alongside the path of enhancing it I had an option of keeping the Swamp Daggers as Daggers, but since I already had some better Daggers on me I decided that having at least one sword like that couldn¡¯t possibly be a bad idea. That is why I decided to go with it.

    ¡¸Is this thing going to crush right into us, rather than intercept us¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸Fire away¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    The approaching Crying Innsman was really going to collide straight into the ¡°Scarred Whale¡± at this rate. Realizing that, the pirates moved away from the bow of the ship as fast as possible, to avoid the impact of the collision.

    Aside from them, the vanguard that was Rei and I moved forward, while Rust stayed behind, intending to aim the ballista.

    ¡¸Take your aim¡­¡­ Now!¡¹

    When the two ships collided with one another, the tremors were so strong that we almost lost bnce and fell on the deck. Roaring waves certainly weren¡¯t making standing straight easier. In the next moment some of the fish men that were trying to board our ship were sted away by the ballista¡¯s iron arrow.

    ¡¸You rotten sardines! Who the fuck gave you permission to get onto our ship!?¡¹

    Shouting like a madman, I took this opportunity to jump straight onto the deck of the Ghost Ship, kicking away the fish men that were in my way.

    Actually, I expected something like this to happen since I saw the name of the quest itself: ¡°Punching the Apostle of the Abyss¡±. ¡­¡­ It is clear to me that we are eventually going to meet a Rare monster called ¡°Apostle of the Abyss¡± and we¡¯ll have to fight it. As to the fact if it will lead us to the Unique Monster, that¡¯s not the matter right now.

    When ites to Quest Bosses, they are not even near the level of Unique Monster in terms of strength, and if I had to put a rough estimate, I¡¯d say they are about as strong as the Area Bosses. And so far the only enemies we¡¯ve seen on the Ghost Ship¡¯s deck were those fish men monsters.

    I was initially torn if I should be bringing Emul along for the ride, but if he stays with me all the time it will be a whole lot easier for me to protect him from the group of enemies.

    ¡¸Emul! Aim for that guy in the distance!¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, sir!¡¹

    As for me, fighting with only one sword in hand was surely differentpared to fighting with a pair of daggers or dual swords. Right now I had to get the hang of things like running around and swinging that thing on the go.

    And even though the fish men were slow in both movements and attacks, their sheer numbers were a force to be reckoned with.

    shing away at the monsters that wereing my way and kicking some of them away for better movement space, I slowly made my way through the Ghost Ship¡¯s deck. Looking away, I make sure that Emul stays as close to me as possible.

    ¡¸These guys surely don¡¯t make this easy for us!¡¹

    ¡¸Hahaha, don¡¯t you worry about a thing, Emul! Compared to other things we¡¯ve been through, these guys are actually a walk in the park!¡¹

    BASHANG! With that loud sound, the iron arrow passes my head by mere millimeters. I understand what that maneuver was trying to aplish, but that distance was a little bit too close forfort.

    ¡¸Honestly, that was really dangerous.¡¹

    ¡¸I WANNA GO HOME!!! PLEASE LET ME GO HOOOOOOME!!!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll listen to your whining andining as much as you liketer! For now, we¡¯ve got a job to do! And since the payday draws closer, we¡¯ll need to work hard in order to earn those coins!¡¹

    ¡¸UWAAAAAAHHHHHH! MAGIC EDGE! MAGIC EDGE!! MAGIC EDGE!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    Three magical des started dancing around the deck of the Ghost Ship. As if reflecting the intense battle that was going on aboard the two ships, the clouds in the sky only got darker and thunder roared even fiercer than ever before.

 Chapter 139: Because They Were Amphibians to Begin With Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 139: Because They Were Amphibians to Begin With Part 1</h4>

    Realizing that stopping onboard the Crying Innsman would mean certain death, I kept on running while carving a way for myself with my sword. As expected, the fish people came to attack me with their weapons, adamant on removing a foreign object from their ship. Thankfully, their weapons were awfully rust and would break after hitting them two or three times.

    ¡¸Heh, if you want to overrun me with numbers alone, you¡¯ll need to do better than that!¡¹

    ¡¸No, no matter how you look at it, we¡¯re alreadypletely surrounded!?¡¹

    ¡¸It doesn¡¯t matter how many of them are there, if they are slow enough to fail to reach me in time!¡¹

    ¡¸Waah, if you put it that way that really makes sense. But still!¡¹

    In that regard, the Crystal Scorpions were much better, even after their behavior pattern was patched. Truth to be told, I was still kind of salty about that.

    I twist my body to avoid a saber that wasing my way, use my sword to reflect the spear that was aiming towards my throat.

    Before I can get surrounded again, I jump in the air andnd on the broken mast, jumping forward away from danger, my abilities enhanced by skills. Before I manage tond, ballista fires again and sts away the fish men that were trying to rush towards where I was going tond.

    ¡¸You¡¯re lucky that I¡¯m so agile and acrobatic! Otherwise that ballista of yours would be even more dangerous than those things!¡¹

    ¡¸Better focus! One error and you¡¯re a dead meat!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, yummy. Maybe that¡¯s not so bad after all?¡¹

    ¡¸Ballista is out of arrows, switching to bow and normal arrows support.¡¹

    ¡¸Are you going to go in here yourself!?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ When I¡¯m using a magic bow, the best distance possible for me is medium range. I¡¯m most effective that way.¡¹

    Speaking quietly like that, Rust draws her unstrung bow. The moment she holds it firmly in her hand, a bowstring and an arrow appear in her hands, clearly not material.

    ¡¸Does it use your MP as a source of its power?¡¹

    ¡¸Not only that, but it scales with magic to give some decent magic damage!¡¹

    Says Rust while standing top Ghost Ship¡¯s bow and firing her arrow. It pierced right through one of the fishmen that was trying to attack me, immobilizing it in a mere second.

    While other fishmen focused on Rust as a new source of threat, she continued to fire arrow after arrow while never allowing them to get close to her. Rather than responding to her enemies¡¯ attack on the go she was anticipating their movements, effectively drawing the aggro away from me.

    ¡¸Leave the role of the off-tank to me!¡¹

    I then switched to the Duhan de while Rust impaled three more fishmen with her arrows, and I took a swing at a whole bunch of them, drawing their attention away from Rust and leaving her some breathing room.

    ¡¸S, sorry about that, Rust!¡¹

    ¡¸Took you long enough! How¡¯s the situation?¡¹

    ¡¸Monsters keep on emerging from the sea, but the NPCs and Akitsu Akane are keeping them in check for now.¡¹

    They were half-fish, so of course they would be able to swim in the sea. However, it seems that the enemies over there were rtively easy to kill if younded a critical strike on them a few times, so Akitsu Akane and the NPC got the situation under control.

    Now I see, this quest really was meant to be done by arger party. Apparently some yers had to join in with the NPCs to protect the ship, some would mount the ballista like Rust and some would board the Ghost Ship like I just did.

    So that would mean that the conditions to clear the quest would be to destroy the ship, or to kill all of its crew, or¡­¡­

    ¡¸Lemme guess: you¡¯re supposed to be the captain here?¡¹

    It emerged from the ce that was supposed to be the captain¡¯s cabin, contrary to the other fish men who kept on emerging from below the deck. It was merely the shilhouette, but it was clearly different from the rest of its crew. It wasrger, thinner and its face was ced on a long neck that seemed too unproportioned for its body.

    It was simr to a snake or an eel, but it was so rotten that it was hard to tell which one of the two it resembled more. Also, the look in its eyes was dead and unfocused, just like that of a fish.

    Even without its long neck, it was alreadyrger than me, and it was holding onto a huge anchor that it was probably using as a weapon. That weapon alone was a clear indication that it was somethingpletely else from the rest of the small fries here.

    ¡¸Now then, I wonder just how should I cook you¡­¡­?¡¹

 Chapter 139: They Were Amphibians to Begin With Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 139: They Were Amphibians to Begin With Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Just, leave it to me, please.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, Rei, where have you been all this¡­ time¡­¡­?¡¹

    The Ghost Ship¡¯s deck shook and trembled. That¡¯s because there was an armored knight who just jumped from one ship onto the other with a tremendous impact. However, it wasn¡¯t the usual armored knight since that equipment was more than done for by now. It was a knight in oriental armor from head to toe, wearing a helmet that was resembling the Hannya demon mask. Contrary to the shining knight from before, now Rei looked like an incarnation of wrath.

    Instead of a sword, she was holding a huge red hammer in her hands¡­¡­ A sledgehammer, which was surprisingly fitting to her current design. And it looked even more evil than the sword she used to carry around with her.

    ¡¸My current stats may not be as great as they used to be, but I can still hold my own in battle. So please let me help however way I can.¡¹

    ¡¸Y, yeah¡­¡­ Alright, just leave the support role to me.¡¹

    For a moment out there I honestly thought that a new monster emerged from somewhere out there. But let¡¯s keep that information to myself.

    ¡¸GUAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! KAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!¡¹

    The eel-like monster howled loudly while bringing down its giant anchor on us. Together with Rei we manage to dodge the attack, each in its own direction, and then we start doing what we do best.

    ¡¸Emul, we shall take down some of the small fries to make some space for Rei, and then we¡¯ll focus on supporting her.¡¹

    ¡¸Y, your demands are starting to get really unreasonable, you know¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸Right, let¡¯s go wreck some fucking havoc, shall we!?¡¹

    Apparently the fish men were on their way to their captain¡¯s side, seeing that it was about to enterbat after making and appearance. And is it just me, or did their movements just became a whole lot faster? They surely weren¡¯t as much zombie-like like before. But it was more of an impatience-driven haste rather than anything else.

    ¡¸If it¡¯s like that, we can surely turn the tables on them no problem¡­¡­!¡¹

    As I keep shing and kicking at the fishmen all over the ce, their aggro turns towards me again. Hahaha, are you not used to this kind of distraction? You¡¯d do best to remember that and reflect on it next time you have the chance¡­¡­ If you will have that chance, that is! Sorry! Just a small joke on my end!

    I pierce the head of the fishmen that was trying to reach Rei, and then throw a long sh at the ones that were following right after it. A few more long and wide shester and the area was starting to thin out rather nicely.

    Next thing they tried was to attack me with arge group. But unfortunately for them, yers are always ready for an underhanded tactic like that toe their way.

    ¡¸Three, four, whatever the number,e right at me! See how it goes for you!¡¹

    I then changed my weapon to Emperor Bee Sword and shed at the fishmen some more. Soon enough the des started to glow, which was the effect of me upgrading them constantly. Every fourth or third (if you¡¯re lucky enough) there would be an extra effect that would activate.

    That effect was ¡°Pration¡±, one of the unique effects that would cause the attacked piece of armor to break apart. With that effect on, it was even easier for me to sh away at the fishmen and destroying their weapons.

    There was a loud scream¡­¡­ Then the fishman took hold of his shoulder which began to crumble away like a dried up mud, trying to bite me with its elongated face only to have it shed off my by de. I then added two more shes to make sure that the monster was dead before turning away from it corpse.

    I then move towards the fishmen that wereying on the deck in convulsions, striking their backs and making sure they would be no more, exploding in the geysers of red polygons.

    Having cleared out more than half of the deck of fishmen zombies, it was well about time for me to turn towards the Big Bad Captain itself and aid Rei in her fight.

    ¡¸Emul, attack this guy¡¯s neck!¡¹

    And some of the skills that I have used before were already off-cooldown¡­¡­ Wonderful! I had no idea that the Fool Arcana would be so useful after all!

    In the next moment, the des of magic cut through the eel¡¯s long neck. With that being done and before the fishmen could actually stand up again, I run up towards their captain and readied my weapon.

    ¡¸Don¡¯t be shy¡­¡­ Just take it!¡¹

    I activate one of my attack skills on the go, ready to unleash hell upon them.

    Three consecutive shes. Each faster and more powerful than the previous one, connecting into a deadly sequence.

    It would be tremendously advantageous for us in this current war-like situation¡­¡­

    But that was the moment where the Quest started to get interesting.

 Chapter 140: The Dice Have Already Been Thrown Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 140: The Dice Have Already Been Thrown Part 1</h4>

    Strange. Why do I get the feeling it going too well for us?

    ¡¸I guess splitting the party was a good idea, but still¡­¡­ It shouldn¡¯t go so well.¡¹

    This must surely be a trap. This was just too easy¡­¡­ Too easy for a quest that could be received in thest town of this continent, even if you take into ount that the possibility of encountering Unique Quests was already low to begin with.

    ¡¸The way I see it, there are three possible exnations.¡¹

    One: this quest¡¯s difficulty was stupidly easy, which wouldn¡¯t make much sense.

    Two: even the eel captain here was in fact a small fry here, and the true boss was yet to show itself.

    No, while it wouldn¡¯t be that umon of a situation, still¡­¡­

    And the third one¡­¡­

    ¡¸Y-You freaking monster¡­¡­ Now I shall avenge my Papa!¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, fuck me in the ass, I should have noticed that sooner!¡¹

    This quest is nothing more than a fucking Escort Mission!!!

    Escort missions are the type of missions that aremonly hated by basically every gamer out there¡­¡­ They have very specific victory and defeat conditions, but since they are easy to understand and tend to deepen the understanding of the game world they are amon go-to by the developers. You can find them in almost every RPG out there.

    The missions themselves usually revolve around escorting a specific NPC to a given point on the map while keeping them safe all the time, since usually they are more than powerless on their own.

    So the moment the designated NPC for this quest, the Self-Proimed Great Pirate Strude boarded the Flying Innsman, the situation changed drastically.

    ¡¸Oi, oi, at this rate this fucking retard is going to aggro every single monster on this ship¡­¡­!! You FUCKING SH*THEAD!!¡¹

    As expected, when Strude jumped aboard the Ghost Ship with nothing more than one poor-looking dagger in hand, all of the monsters suddenly turned towards him and rushed him in an instant.

    ¡¸Br-Bring it on!¡¹

    ¡¸Bring it on MY ASS!!!¡¹

    ¡¸U, uwah!!¡¹

    Someone forcefully pulled on Strude¡¯s body. It was Rust who was trying her best to drag him back to the Scarred Whale, but it looks like the fishmen were pretty adamant on making him stay on board the Ghost Ship as well. I rushed to his side as well, afraid that things might get ugly in here pretty fast.

    ¡¸What the fuck are you even doing here¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸I, I can fight as well!¡¹

    ¡¸A simple pebbleying at the side of the road would be more helpful than you right now!¡¹

    ¡¸Wha!?¡¹

    You¡¯re only in the way! Making so much noise and not being able to fend for yourself!

    However, even though we may dislike the idea, we need to make sure that this sh*thead will stay safe at all costs, so that we don¡¯t fail the quest by ident.

    It was good that we weren¡¯t alone here. While Emul and I were making our way towards Strude, Mold climbed the broken mast of the Ghost Ship and started to observe the battlefield and fed us much needed intel.

    ¡¸Rust, make your way to the right! Sanraku-san, I¡¯m sorry, but could you take of that group on your left?¡¹

    ¡¸Leave it to me! Rei!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll take care of this guy here! Keep him upied!¡¹

    It was a tough nut to crack. We needed to make sure that Rust would be able to get Strude out of here to safety, all the while keeping watch so as to not get overrun by monsters.

    ¡¸Emul, fight like you mean it! As if your whole life depended on it!¡¹

    ¡¸Ri-right!¡¹

    ¡¸See that point over there?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, I do. What about it?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m going to throw you right there.¡¹

    ¡¸Excuse meeeeeeeee¡­¡­!?¡¹

    I grab Emul from my back and take aim¡­¡­

    ¡¸Wait! Wait just a moment! Let¡¯s not do anything rash, okay!? Let¡¯s not!¡¹

    ¡¸Emul¡­¡­ You said that yourself, didn¡¯t you? That bunnies are pretty proud of their ability to jump, that can even rival the flight of birds.¡¹

    ¡¸It must have been Sickle! I never said anything like thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    Alright, fly away, my bunny!

    Emul flew through the air, making a splendid arc over the horde of fishmen. He was shaking in mid-air so much that I was afraid he might go off course and miss itsnding spot, but fortunately hended exactly where he was supposed to: on Mold¡¯s shoulder.

    The reason for Emul¡¯s relocation is that things might get a little hectic around here in just a moment, and I wanted him to be out of harm¡¯s way Also, I think he would be able to support Mold quite nicely with his abilities.

    ¡¸Alright¡­¡­ Now go!¡¹

    First of all, let¡¯s get all those fishmen off of Rust and Strude. I don¡¯t know in what way their aggro tends to work, but I¡¯ll think of something.

    So I activated Riot elerator, a skill that boosted my speed but lowered my Strength in return, and started running. Kicking and punching any fishmen that came my way, I was sessfully diverting their attention from Rust. It looked awfully cartoonish, but it was working like a charm, since now the fishmen¡¯s attention was thoroughly at me.

 Chapter 140: The Dice Have Already Been Thrown Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 140: The Dice Have Already Been Thrown Part 2</h4>

    Additionally, I activate ¡°Utsuro Mikigami¡±, leaving the collected aggro on the spot while moving forward myself. Call it being overly cautious, but even without the help of skills my basic AGI would be more than enough to easily overtake all of those fish zombies.

    ¡¸Rei, please take care of some of the small fries here!¡¹

    Rei nods shortly and then swiftly proceeds towards the ce where a dozen fish people already started to gather.

    The number of enemies wasn¡¯t really that much of a problem, but I just wanted to switch ces with her.

    ¡¸Rust, think you can put some distance between yourself and the enemies?¡¹

    ¡¸My Stamina is about to bepletely emptied, and once that happens I¡¯ll need some time to let it recharge.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­¡­ Stick close to Rei as she cleans the small fries and then get back into your position.¡¹

    ¡¸Understood¡­¡­ Mold, maybe you start to help out as well!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m going to start applying buffs in a moment!¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s good to have support like that¡­¡­!¡¹

    With that, maybe it will be possible to have some breathing room in here, even amidst a situation like that.

    It also seems that Rust will be able to get the stupid sh*thead out of here before he does something stupid by ident, even though he was still adamant on joining the fight himself.

    Looking at our situation alone, the death of Strude should spell the failure of the quest. Fortunately, I had a n. Long story short, we just need to watch out for the small fries to not increase their numbers too much while escorting the stupid idiot out of here and we should all be well set on the path towards victory.

    ¡¸Just go around the deck, then go back and do this over and over again¡­¡­ Same as before.¡¹

    This was even more of a war of attrition than ever before. What we need here is not the strength and stamina of bloodthirsty warriors, but rather patience and meticulousness of puzzle game gamers.

    ¡¸Well, in that case¡­¡­!¡¹

    I carefully select the items from my inventory and anticipate where the next group of monsters are going toe out from.

    I end my preparation just as Rust starts to slow down and both Emul and Mold cast their buffs on us. With everything being ready, I could once more face the eel-captain inbat. Also, Rei was busy with clearing out the mobs. So with each and every single one of us having our own thing to do, it was a solid n. And this was going to be thest push.

    ¡¸I¡¯m so sorry! I¡¯mte because I needed to catch Sickle-san as he was rolling around the deck!¡¹

    Now, Akitsu Akane was thest piece that needed to fall into ce. With that being done, we were all set to go. Also, for some reason I felt as though when Akitsu Akane and Sickle jumped on board the Crying Inssman, the time had stopped.

    (No¡­¡­ That¡¯s not it, it must have really stopped¡­¡­)

    The raindrops have stopped right before my eyes. It went for a second or two, acting like ag of some sorts within the game¡¯s code, but then it all ended and the world continued to spin around as if nothing had happened. Also, the water pouring down from the sky fell in one swoop like a waterfall.

    But thatg was more than enough to throw everyone off-bnce on the things that they were all doing. The same thing applied to waves and the ships.

    ¡¸Haah!?¡¹

    The water column fell down thanks to gravity, but there was something else inside it, something huge that started to spring upwards¡­¡­ And once it emergedpletely, we could see that it was in fact a huge octopus tentacle. Seeing that we all came to a halt, and we were not the only ones. The fishmen also came to a stop, watching the tentacle with a mixture of fear and adoration.

    ¡¸Eh, eeh!?¡¹

    ¡¸Wha, what is that!?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh this is bad, this is so, so bad, Sanraku-san!¡¹

    The next words that Emul spoke sounded so clear and loud that there was no way for everyone to not hear them. They also made us freeze up as if the time had stopped once more.

    ¡¸Kutanid! It¡¯s Kutanid!! We¡¯re doomed!¡¹

    ¡¸Haah!!!???¡¹

    Seven more water columns spring forth from under the sea¡¯s surface and eight jet-ck tentacles wrap themselves around the Crying Innsman. No matter how long I keep staring at them, my mind desperately tries to deny the current situation even though it was more than real.

    Stories like that are aplenty in games these days. Stories about no matter how well-prepared or high-level the party is, they get instantly wiped out the moment they enter battle. But I thought that ShanFro was free of such things.

    Does that mean that the condition to trigger the appearance of ¡°Kutanid of the Abyss¡± was actually for all of us to be present on board the Ghost Ship at the same time? What is that supposed to mean? Where are we going to fight it? Some sort of special area?

    ¡¸Could it be, that the moment we started this quest it shifted into EX without any one of us noticing!?¡¹

    The tentacles wrapped around the ghost ship and started to pull it down underwater, trying to sink it. No, this was not sinking, it was something else¡­¡­!

    ¡¸I can¡¯t believe that something like that is actually happening¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    It didn¡¯t seem that Kutanid would be nice enough to let us all go. Just like that, we were dragged underwater, into the deep and dark abyss, alongside the Crying Innsman with an unnatural strength that defied every singlew of gravity and buoyancy.

    ¡¸STARTED THE UNIQUE QUEST EX ¡°HUMANS, GAZE UPON THE ENDLESS ABYSS, THE REVERSED WORLD¡±.¡¹

    And then everything got turned upside down.

 Chapter 141: The End of Tranquility, Ancient City in the Depths Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 141: The End of Tranquility, Ancient City in the Depths Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Forcing the yers to faint? That¡¯s something new.¡¹

    When I log in again, I feel as though I¡¯ve been asleep for quite some time.

    As I woke up and started to get up, I realized that I wasying on the tattered deck of the Ghost Ship, all of my senses starting to get assaulted by a myriad of information¡­¡­ As expected, the others were nowhere to be found. But somehow I knew that they weren¡¯t dead.

    And seeing that there were also fishmen here with me, picking up their weapons in a hurry, and that there were many more of them than before¡­¡­ Like, MANY, many more.

    ¡¸What the hell is going on here¡­¡­?¡¹

    Half of the enemies around here were the fishmen I encountered before, but the other half looked more fish than humanoid. I pick up one of the swords the fishmen were using and try to add it to my inventory.

    ¡¸Deep Abyss Moray¡­¡­ Truly, a fish item through and through.¡¹

    Seriously, what the hell is going on here? Were the fishmen always like that? Or maybe they just transformed into fish just like that? No¡­¡­ Somehow, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case here.

    ¡¸We were just starting a Unique Quest EX without any right to veto before I lost consciousness¡­¡­¡¹

    Sh*t¡­¡­ As expected, there were too many assumptions here to be sure of anything. Surprise events like that aremon in games, and they more often than not prove to be extremely difficult to clear right off the bat.

    Looking up, I¡¯m surrounded by something quite different from the darkness of the night, and there is some kind of glitter everywhere. It looked like a cave of some sort¡­¡­ Then I finally start to understand my surroundings.

    ¡¸I can breathe here, so is this a cave of some sort¡­¡­ And above all else, this sight.¡¹

    Since we got dragged under the surface of the sea, was this supposed to be Antis of some sort?

    It appears that the Ghost Ship was caught up in the tentacles as well, and now ended up stranded at the edge of the underground city, presumably suffering irreparable damages or maybe just waiting quietly for the next time it could set sail.

    As for why am I the only one here¡­¡­ Yeah, there¡¯s no need to think about it all that hard for now.

    ¡¸This area¡­¡­ could it be that it is the same type as perhaps Thirdrema?¡¹

    What I mean by that is: a city built on a n of the circle, with a huge citadel built right in the middle of it and surrounded by a web of streets and alleyways. From what I could gather from here, the city was indeed in a somewhat circr shape, but it looked to be more medieval rather than the Era of the Gods.

    ¡¸I guess this must be the home of this Kutanid bastard¡­¡­ Fuck, fuck, what the fuck was I thinking, bringing Emul together with me on a dangerous voyage like that!?¡¹

    Since the NPCs cannot respawn upon death, I didn¡¯t want Emul to participate in a Unique Quest EX where the probability of death is extremely high. I thought that I could safely ditch him before the Unique Quest would shift into EX stage, but s, I was wrong.

    I know that it was not like that at all, but right now I was beginning to have some serious shbacks from all of the sh*tty games I managed to capture in the past.

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­¡¹

    Either way, since I already started the Unique Quest EX, it wasmon courtesy as a gamer to finish it through to the end, and as I was checking and organizing my equipment I realized that there were a few new items added there.

    ¡¸Special Item ¡°Abyss¡¯s Time¡±.¡¹

    When I see the words ¡°Special Item¡± what pops in my head immediately is the image of Luukan. Thinking about it now, level restriction in case of Wezaemon might have been a special condition as well.

    ¡¸These numbers¡­¡­ It looks like there¡¯s a limit of how long we can stay here. It looks like we have about seven days to get this quest over with.¡¹

    167:58:21¡­¡­ These numbers are progressively getting lower, so it really means that the amount of time we can spend here is fixed. But it¡¯s actually a good thing that we know we¡¯re on a time limit here.

    And judging by the fact that it is impossible to stay logged in for seven days straight, there must be some sort of safe zone around here somewhere. If that¡¯s the case, then we¡¯re all set. Also, if there really is a safe zone here, we¡¯ll dump both Emul and Sickle there and be double safe from that point forward.

    ¡¸With seven days¡¯ worth of time, we don¡¯t have to worry about clearing it right away¡­¡­ So, for now I can focus my efforts on finding Emul and Sickle, and then discovering a safe zone where I can dump them for the time being¡­¡­¡¹

 Chapter 141: The End of Tranquility, Ancient City in the Depths Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 141: The End of Tranquility, Ancient City in the Depths Part 2</h4>

    Welp, that about does it when ites to setting up priorities. With that being out of the way, I could finally start looking for a safe room or other safe haven like that. Once that¡¯s done, we can see what to do next.

    ¡¸Right, let¡¯s get this show on the road, shall we!¡¹

    I then jump off the Ghost Ship¡¯s deck, using skills to reduce the amount of possible fall damage. Also, apparently when we changed areas all my HP got restored, so now I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about dying all of a sudden, but I surely wasn¡¯t going to take my chances here.

    ¡¸Looks like there¡¯s no monsters here. For now.¡¹

    Landing on a strangely greenish ground of the underwater city, I carefully survey my surroundings. In the distance I could see the lights of the underwater city that reached even here, looking at my feet I could see the ground and nts that were different from your typical seaweed or mud.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ This doesn¡¯t really feel like a seabed at all.¡¹

    In this game what you see is what you get basically, so I guess that there is some sort of logical exnation for this whole area? It would be awfully sloppy of the developers to make this area like that ¡°just because¡±.

    Looking back and seeing the remains of the Ghost Ship justying there, it was somewhat sad to look at. Especially looking at how mortifying it was when it came out of the water for the first time. But staying here was a bad idea. I had other ces to be right now, an underwater city to explore and a safe room to find. The wreckage can stay here and rot away for all that I care.

    ¡¸Looks like the coast is clear, it feels almost too peaceful.¡¹

    Climbing my way over the piles of debris, I was wondering if there was any backstory for this city? Like, could it be that Kutanid attacked it in the past and now made it into hisir or something like that? Once I got on top of the rubble, I could see the city more clearly.

    The most characteristic thing of this entire ce was that everything from the buildings to roads was glowing pale blue. And that strange glow wasing from manymps scattered all over the ce, which illuminated the city instead of natural light. This eerie glow was making this ce a whole lot spookier than it should be.

    However, there was one thing that I needed to be worried about.

    ¡¸Is every single building here closed?¡¹

    Closed was not the most suitable word here since many of the buildings were ruined and copsed, but the fact remained that the windows and doors were all intact. And that they were closed. What¡¯s up with that?

    Could it be that there was some reason for why the residents were all cooped up inside their houses? Could it be rted to that strange smell that was suddenly appearing in the air? Was I going to find out what it belongs to in a minute or two?

    ¡¸Bingo, they will start toe out of the buildings for sure¡­¡­ Now then, just what kind of wee am I going to receive here?¡¹

    A rotten odor like that of a fish that was ced in a cooler box and then forgotten about for a week or two. Indescribable noises that were neither screams nor gurgles. It wasn¡¯t as intense as the stench of rotten food in real life, but it was more than enough for you to know that something wasing alright.

    ¡¸There they go, rotten bastards!¡¹

    Seeing them appear on the Ghost Ship I was wondering if we will see more of them, but what I saw now exceeded my wildest imagination. The citizens looked more fish than human right now, and there was some kind of strange liquid oozing out of their bodies that I surely did not want to touch if I could help it. Even though they looked really gross and nauseating, I assumed a battle stance and was ready to fight at any moment now.

    They were different from the ones we fought on the deck of the Ghost Ship, but still the fishmen carrying around strange equipment rushed towards me while screaming in a strange way, but it was something truly stupid, because the speed of their rush was nothing to be afraid of.

    The first group pours into the room. Then the second one and the third one as well¡­¡­ And then the fourth, the fifth, and the sixth¡­¡­ Oi, are you sh*tting me!?

    ¡¸Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!!!!!!¡¹

    I¡¯m all alone in here for the moment!

    Fighting so many monsters on my own would be a suicide. So adapting to the situation, I quickly turned around and started to run away like I meant it.

 Chapter 142: Sharks and Birds Against the Abyss Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 142: Sharks and Birds Against the Abyss Part 1</h4>

    Memories equal experience. Experience equals power.

    There is this game called ¡°Cosmo Buster¡±, an FPS that even in terms of Full-Dive MMOs is fairly old, even older than Sh*t Chronicles Online, and its main selling point was a phrase that went something like ¡°Feel the overwhelming despair with your whole body!¡±. And the feeling of overwhelming despair that I got from ying that game arose inside of me right now¡­¡­ Seeing hordes of fish enemies charging right at me from every direction possible.

    What was so infuriating about that game was the fact that apparently the developers did not understand the difference between ¡°controlling your avatar with a controller¡± and ¡°controlling your avatar with your own body movements¡±. It was a fairlymon misconception in the early days of VR games. Inside a Full-Dive game, instead of just tilting a stick in a certain direction, you must move your own body in order to perform a specific action. Therefore, adjusting the controls in a Full-Dive environment waspletely different from your typical games. In the beginning of VR era, it was precisely because of that reason that so many games managed to fall from greatness right into the cesspool known as the sh*tty games.

    ¡¸Fucking hell, I never would have thought that I would miss a mini-map function as much as I¡¯m missing it now¡­¡­!¡¹

    This current situation was pretty nostalgic to me in a sense, because it reminded me of one of the mission from Cosmo Buster¡¯s endgame phase. This mission was called ¡°The Allied Army¡¯s Withdrawal Battle¡±. Sexual misconduct, monsters, artillery flying through the air, brain-hungry lizardmen¡­¡­ will any of those elements be present in here as well? It was a true hell on earth, but right about now I was hoping that the experience I amassed during doing that mission over and over again woulde in handy.

    The conclusion that I arrived at during the ¡°Allied Army¡¯s Withdrawal Battle¡± was that fighting was not the optimal solution for victory¡­¡­ The reason for that being that the ¡°mission failed¡± condition was only the yer¡¯s death, and the points of evaluation were ¡°time¡± and ¡°kill score¡±. There was no condition that applied to how many of the allied soldiers could die during the mission. But even upon realizing that, it took me considerable amount of time and effort to actually achieve an S rank on that particr mission¡­¡­ What I want to say here is, this is more of a mission where you must disy just how long can you actually go on without suffering injuries yourself.

    ¡¸In Cosmo Buster you couldn¡¯t climb up walls because of bugs and all that, but in this game this is hardly the problem!¡¹

    Iunch Zero Gravity, Flip Float and Skywalker. Having gained maximum mobility possible from this, I started to run up the pile of rubble, then up the wall, kick it and jump in mid-air, only tond on the roof of the nearest house. In Cosmo Buster, if you wanted to escape from the enemies you had to do it vertically if horizontally it was impossible, but¡­¡­ Looks like this game wasn¡¯t going to let me have my way so easily.

    ¡¸Howe that monsters who aren¡¯t even humanoid can move so smoothly!?¡¹

    The monsters started to pile up like dust, eventually creating a mountain that other monsters started to use like a stepping stones. They repeat that process enough time to eventually create a mountain of rotten bodies that reached all the way towards the roof. Some percentage of the mob was depleted that way and even blocked to road to some extent, but the others were not chasing me relentlessly. Freedom of action could go both way in this game, and it was my fault for forgetting about that fact.

    ¡¸But this is actually more convenient for me!¡¹

    It seems that those who blindly chase after me are not nearly as flexible as the other ones. Seeing that they could only blindly follow the route I was making, it should be quite easy to lose them thanks to maneuvering in three dimensions.

    I go down the roof, jump over the next one, bounce from the pir ande backwards, and then proceed forward while pretending to be falling down. And the monsters kept on doing just what I was doing, emting my every single move. Soon, it seemed like their numbers started to dwindle even more. Each time I change my path or maneuver differenty, there are less and less of them. And the ones that fall behind or down were not moving anymore, unable to catch up.

    ¡¸Right, good work you guys and all that.¡¹

    Even if there was an infinite amount of mobs in this area, there was still plently of ways for me to outmaneuver and outsmart them. No matter how advanced, AI is just an AI that can only think in certain patterns.

    ¡¸Ha! You idiots! If you want to hunt me down so badly, then bring more people or use poison gas or something like that!¡¹

    ¡­¡­ But in all seriousness, please don¡¯t do that. I¡¯d be in real trouble if you did.

 Chapter 142: Sharks and Birds Against the Abyss Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 142: Sharks and Birds Against the Abyss Part 2</h4>

    ¡­¡­ For the time being it looked like I managed to shake the monsters off, so I used that opportunity to climb onto the roof of one of the taller buildings in the vicinity and have a look around my nearest surroundings.

    ¡¸There¡¯s a citadel in the center, and four towers at the perimeter of the outer walls. Yeah, this is basically screaming ¡°capture those locations if you want to fight the boss in the citadel¡±¡­¡­¡¹

    As for other yers or save rooms, so far I had no luck with finding any of that at all.

    I kick a fishmen who came reallyte after me off the rooftop and jump onto another roof with a double jump. Whatever fishmen tried to follow me met the same fate as their brethren not so long ago.

    ¡¸Stealth action¡­¡­ Oh well, for now let¡¯s just stick to the roofs and see how it¡­¡­ Hmm?¡¹

    Someone was running. They were clearly running away from the fishmen as well, but the way they were doing it was rather bizarre and scary. It looked like they were trying to tend to their wounds while simultaneously running away, so that means they were intelligent, right? But who could that be?

    ¡¸They are a little bit far away, but¡­¡­ Obviously they are not human, that¡¯s for sure.¡¹

    At first nce, it was a big creature. So that excludes people like Emul, Sickle, Stude, Rust and Akitsu Akane. Could it be Rei or Mold? No¡­¡­ Well, I mean¡­¡­ Neither one of them had a tail, right? Like, a fish tail? ¡­¡­ Does that mean it was some kind of a fishman as well? But were the fishmen intelligent enough to be running and tending to their wounds at the same time?

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Suspicious, really suspicious.¡¹

    I could almost smell the odor of gs and events that were afoot¡­¡­ and it was really fishy, no pun intended. Surveilling the area, if I went over there, I could probably intercept that creature.

    ¡¸Alright, let¡¯s give it a go.¡¹

    Using as little stamina as possible I jump off the rooftop and take the initiative to capture this strange creature. Using the rooftops as shortcuts, I follow its route, hoping to intercept it at some point. Having recast times reduced was a great help here, as it increased my mobility tremendously, opening up new possibilities. It was nice to be able to run parkour-style like that endlessly, but I also needed to make sure that I won¡¯t lose the sight of my target along the way.

    In this area any sound was already hard to hear, but somehow I could clearly hear the angry screams of fishmening closer and closer, and also¡­¡­

    ¡¸Haah¡­¡­ Haah¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Why hello there, half-fishman who seems to be rather intelligent. Mind if we converse by using our vocal cords for a moment?¡¹

    ¡¸Kuh, did youe here in some roundabout way¡­¡­!? And what is the Bird-n guardian doing here in the first ce?

    ¡¸Guardian?¡¹

    This¡­¡­ right in front of my eyes, there was a strange new kind of fish man that swam right next to me, holding onto its arm from where traces of red blood were slowly oozing out. Based on his physique and voice he must be male¡­¡­ Butpared to other fish people I¡¯ve encountered so far he looked different. He looked like a hybrid of a shark and squid mashed together with a human, and was wearing some sort of strange diver¡¯s suit. He looked really surreal, butpared to other monsters he didn¡¯t attack me right off the bat and instead spoke to me in some strange words the meaning of which were well beyond me. All the while, I was pretty much stunned.

    However, there was no doubt that the shark creature followed me all the way up here, so it should also probably mean that other fish monsters were not all that long behind him, which could basically mean that he led them here!?

    ¡¸Ahhh, sh*t! We can talkter! For now, drink this and run!¡¹

    ¡¸Eh, ahh, I don¡¯t know what you are talking about, but I¡¯m grateful either way!!¡¹

    When I came to this underwater city I was looking for a bunny. Or a sh*thead pirate. Or one of the other yers. So howe that the first sentient being I encountered here was a freaking shark-squid hybrid?

 Chapter 143: When the Worldâ€™s Out There to Get You Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 143: When the World¡¯s Out There to Get You Part 1</h4>

    We continued to run forward together, destroying any fishmen that would be unfortunate to stumble upon us from time to time.

    ¡¸What is a Bridman doing¡­¡­ Wait, you have no wings!?¡¹

    ¡¸Sorry to disappoint you, but this birdhead is just a mask! Underneath it I¡¯m just your in and ordinary human!¡¹

    ¡¸H, human, I see¡­¡­ My name is Alva, thank you for your help earlier.¡¹

    ¡¸And my name is Sanraku! Now climb onto that rubble and onto that roof, ASAP!¡¹

    ¡¸Y, yeah!¡¹

    We used the crumbled walls of one of the buildings to easily climb on top of it, staying vignt and being on the lookout for iing enemies.

    ¡¸Right, now we jump onto that other roof¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Guh, bah, mgah¡­¡­ Alva is¡­¡­¡¹

    Turning around, I could see the NPC Alva climbing the roof with great effort using both of his hands and feet.

    ¡¸What¡¯s taking you so long!?¡¹

    ¡¸Uwoah!?¡¹

    Grabbing the surprisingly slender arm of the NPC, I forcibly pull him up to where I was standing. Mere secondster fishmen crushed right to where Alva was standing a moment ago, starting to form another meat staircase.

    ¡¸Don¡¯t tell me you didn¡¯t know that climbing requires so much STR!¡¹

    ¡¸T, that may be true but¡­¡­ It is exactly as you say.¡¹

    ¡¸Whatever, you can try to make excusester, now let¡¯s haul ass out of here!¡¹

    I was a little bit worried that this guy wouldn¡¯t be able to jump over to the next roof, and so I looked back to see what was going on. Although his strength wasn¡¯t that great, at least he wasn¡¯t wearing a set of heavy armor like Rei did, so he would most probably make that jump. At least that¡¯s what I¡¯d like to believe.

    ¡¸Now then, where should we go to next¡­¡­ Oh, for fuck¡¯s sake. Here, take my hand.¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t know what you are, but are you sure that you¡¯re not a bird? No, but then you¡¯d have wings or feathers¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Dagh! What¡¯s where yound, god damn it! Want me to step on your tail!? Is tht what you want!?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m, I¡¯m sorry!¡¹

    I wish I brought some rope with me. Then I could have just give it to this guy and make his slightly less of a burden to carry around. Why didn¡¯t I bring it with me? It would certainly be of use during this EX Quest. Just as I was pondering that question, I heard that.

    ¡¸What¡¯s that? A song?¡¹

    ¡¸Not good, not good¡­¡­ It¡¯s a mermaid! A mermaid ising!¡¹

    A mermaid, as in the actual mermaid? Speaking about fish, I was honestly quite surprised that we didn¡¯t encountered any mermaids thus far. ¡­¡­ Could it be?

    ¡¸Say, Alva? You¡¯re a monster, and a mermaid is a monster¡­¡­ Doesn¡¯t that make you rtives? Like, form the technical standpoint?¡¹

    ¡¸What an utter foolishness! Don¡¯t lump me together with that wench that imitates the upper body of a human! I¡¯m a Mareman, a proud fish person!¡¹

    Although there was a lot of new informationing through my head, I at least managed to confirm that mermaid was indeed a monster in this game. Now I wonder if mermaids will be like Vorpal Bunnies or Cait Seith, willing to resolve the situation peacefully with just talking. Hm?

    Then something hits me. A mermaid? No, since we were in the underwater city, it wasn¡¯t all that strange that a mermaid would be here. I mean hey, I was being chased around by a bunch of fish people, so the setting was all correct. Even though they all looked as though their expiration date was long overdue. They even had gills and all that to let them breathe underwater. ¡­¡­ That¡¯s it.

    ¡¸What the hell is a mermaid doing onnd!?¡¹

    Looking up, there was indeed a figure of a mermaid, gracefully swimming through the air. And indeed, if I wasn¡¯t told that she was a monster posing as a human, I would have surely mistake her for a normal human girl, given how beautiful she was. Just then, she opened her mouth and --

    ¡¸La ---------!¡¹

    ¡¸Laa, aaaaaa ---------!¡¹

    ¡¸I was wondering what I would do if she started singing something really strange, but I guess we¡¯re going with the ssic siren¡¯s song, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸Guaaah, gaaahhh!?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? Wait, what? What¡¯s going on!?¡¹

    Suddenly Alva starts to thrash about, covering his ears and screaming in pain. His body was also covered in some sort of dark energy, which was most probably a debuff of some sort. That one action of hers was enough for me to deem them hostile entities and assume battle stance in one short moment.

    But for some strange reason, aside from swimming around and singing, the mermaid was not doing anything else. What should I do in that case?

    ¡¸I could probablypensate for the height with a scaffolding of some sort.¡¹

    Activating my skills I run up to the nearest three-story building and run up its walls without being held back by gravity or anything like that. Then I jump off the wall and jumping in mid-air I manage to almost fly towards the unsuspecting mermaid.

 Chapter 143: When the Worldâ€™s Out There to Get You Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 143: When the World¡¯s Out There to Get You Part 2</h4>

    One of my new skills was called ¡°Gravity Zero¡±. It basically works in such a way that gravity stops applying for actions such as climbing and jumping for ten seconds, depending on skill¡¯s level. Thanks to that I could be much more mobile and I could approach the mermaid without any issues. It also took me less time than without that skill being activated.

    Speaking of mermaids, she obviously seemed surprised that I could move freely, without being affected by her debuff song.

    ¡¸Hello there.¡¹

    ¡¸!?¡¹

    One jump. That was all it took for me to get from the roof where I was standing to reach the mermaid.

    ¡¸Let me tell you this: you can be a fat ugly bastard or a smoking hot chick, doesn¡¯t matter to me. I¡¯ll kill you all the same.¡¹

    ¡¸Kah¡­¡­ Hyuh¡­¡­!?¡¹

    Anyways, the way I saw it, this avatar was seventy percent beautiful girl and thirty percent automated junk. Which wasn¡¯t bad proportion, let me tell you.

    However, when ites to beautiful girls being monsters or bosses in games, there were as many games with a motif like that as there were stars in the sky. So killing women in games wasn¡¯t that umon of an urrence, as well as the fact that upon death they wouldpletely shift into their monstrous counterparts.

    A single sh of light in the vast emptiness of the air. My de shoots straight towards mermaid¡¯s throat and cut is without any resistance. This forced the mermaid to stop singling and hold onto her throat, from which the polygons of blood were sttering. Obviously, she was also unable to sing anymore. Hearing that one of their own stopped singing, I could see other mermaids in the distance look towards me.

    ¡¸Now then, next please!¡¹

    While the mermaid with the cut throat was iling about I grabbed her and used her as a parachute to make sure that I wouldn¡¯t fall to my death now. When I was at an altitude that I knew would not cause me death upon fall, I finally release her.

    If possible, I would like to get away from here for now, but seeing that the mermaids were still here, it would be impossible. Seeing one of their own die like that must have enraged them quite a bit. While I was thinking it would be ideal for them to get as close as possible, I hears some really disturbing sound right next to me.

    ¡¸What the¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Nuah¡­¡­!?¡¹

    The mermaid with a sharply bended neck falls right onto the roof where I was standing, limp and powerless. Blood was still oozing from her wound and she herself did not seem to understand what just happened.

    Just then, freed from the debuff¡¯s effect, Alva res at the mermaid with bloodshot eyes, baring rows of his sharp teeth, which were significantly different and much sharper from those of a human.

    ¡¸Come right at me you stupid fish! That is, if you wish to be crushed by this here Alva¡¯s great fangs!¡¹

    ¡¸Eeeh¡­¡­¡¹

    Not so long ago it was holding onto its ears and iling about¡­¡­ But now I see that he behaves like a proper shark alright¡­¡­ Kinda scary now that I think about it¡­¡­

    Seeing that, the rest of the mermaids red at us and started to swim away. No way, now the only means of fighting them would be the long distance ones!

    ¡¸The way you fight is unexpectedly wild.¡¹

    ¡¸This, this is just ying with the cards you got¡­¡­ so there¡¯s nothing I can really do about it? What about you? That sword you got there, it looks like a real piece of work. Clearly not from around there parts.¡¹

    ¡¸Look, this may seem dumb for you, but I just stared exploring this submarine city, so there¡¯s lots of things I don¡¯t know about, alright?¡¹

    ¡¸A submarine city? What are you talking about?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh?¡¹

    To my question, the giant shark cocks his head as if he did not understand the question.

    ¡¸This is ¡°Lulus¡±, the city of the Abyss. And inverted city located deep under the water¡¯s surface.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Ahh, please give me a moment to think.¡¹

    Things to check #1: something strange and white starts to fall from the darkness of the sky. I wonder what that is?

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t that the ceiling of a cave?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s the seabed¡­¡­ The thing that falls down is called marine snow.¡¹

    Now onto the #2: I jump around a few times, and after checking that the physics engine was working correctly, I ask the question.

    ¡¸Then why aren¡¯t we falling down?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s because of the power of the Abyss. Basically, the whole city is filled with the power of ¡°inversion¡±.¡¹

    Hearing that I take a deep breath, exhale, and then ask the question that was bugging me ever since I confirmed that I could breathe normally.

    ¡¸But I can breathe normally.¡¹

    ¡¸With the power of the seal being ¡°Reversal¡±, the ces devoid of air are now filled with it, and it is the power that can even overturn the concept of death itself.¡¹

    ¡¸I see, I see¡­¡­ I get it¡­¡­¡¹

    Kutanid of the Abyss¡­¡­ Will I even be able to do this?

 Chapter 144: Limit Match Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 144: Limit Match Part 1</h4>

    If I was to choose between bunnies and information, I¡¯d choose information a hundred times over. Best way to conquer an enemy or a quest is to have as much information as you possibly can on them in order to have an easier time for yourself, but sadly that option was out of the question this time around. One citadel, four towers, a circr underwater city, mermaids flying through the sky, fishmen zombies with a seemingly infinite amount of stamina, and an intelligent sharkman¡­¡­ That¡¯s the information I have for the moment, the key elements that will provide me with an answer.

    ¡¸And that is why. Do you have any idea where we can find such a thing?¡¹

    ¡¸Th-that¡¯s actually easy¡­¡­ Monsters around those parts rely more on sound rather than their vision when ites to enemy perception. So if we were to be separated by a wall of some sorts, they wouldn¡¯t be able to detect us, unless we make a lot of loud noises or something like that.¡¹

    ¡¸I see, so in other words¡­¡­¡¹

    Was that this whole inversion at work again? Rather than having a safe zone somewhere around the city, the buildings themselves were serving as safe zones? It was much like a game of hide-and-seek, where in theory every hiding ce was a good ce unless someone deliberately tries to look for you in that particr ce¡­¡­ Realizing that almost every single ce in this city could be turned into a safe zone would make my life significantly easier.

    ¡¸When I heard theming I decided to hide in one of the buildings, but they saw me when I tried to take a peek through one of the holes in the door¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸So it really is much like hide-and-seek¡­¡­¡¹

    If you get found, an angry mob of fishmen will chase you around (and their numbers will only increase in time), and if you make too much of a fuss climbing the roofs the mermaids will stop you and put debuffs on you. So in other words if you manage to do something about the mermaids, you¡¯re pretty much in the clear.

    ¡¸For now, let¡¯s find a good spot to hide. In the meantime, you can tell me all that you know about this ce, while I¡¯ll keep watch for any more of the fish people or those pesky little mermaids.¡¹

    Several minutester, after being chased around by the mad fish people we managed to find a half-copsed building that we could enter and take cover from our pursuers. It was a brief moment of rest for us. I could also organize the info I got from Alva, to get a better understanding of what this scenario was all about.

    First of all, apparently Alva¡¯s race waspletely different from the rotten fishmen and mermaids. When I asked him about it he almost bit my arm off, saying things like: ¡°I like to eat monkeys, and you look awfully tasty for a monkey¡±. I was sure that just a single bite like that would be the death of me, so I dropped that subject when I had the chance.

    Alva¡¯s tribe was a tribe of fish people called ¡°Maman¡±. The other fish people and mermaids seemed to be their allies at some point, but then Kutanid came and altered them somehow, twisting their minds in the process. It was supposed to be the fault of the inversion process as well, turning ¡°normal fish¡± into ¡°fish people¡±, and ¡°half-fish half-human¡± into ¡°half-human half-fish¡±. The change seemed pretty much non-existent to me, but apparently it was a pretty big deal for the tribes themselves.

    ¡¸If you can turn fish into monsters, you aquire an unstoppable killing force¡­¡­ But there are also other ways in which you can approach this subject.¡¹

    There was a way of getting rid of them, but it was killing them all until they stopped spawning. It sounded good, but it was impossible to do in practice. All because of the boundary around this city. Everything that got within its reach was undergoing the inversion process, which means that all fish that pass the barrier instantly be fish people, which made their number technically infinite. We would not gain anything from trying to fight them aside from worn-out equipment and broken bones. Also, apparently mermaids could drop pieces of their meat as a rare drop, but wouldn¡¯t that actually amount to cannibalism? I¡¯m sure that there was some logical exnation, but I didn¡¯t really want to think about it for now.

    Then there was the matter of that citadel and four towers. As expected from a quest like that, Kutanid was waiting in the Abyss at the very bottom of the citadel, and each tower housed a monster that was called a ¡°seal¡± that was guarding the citadel.

    ¡¸The Lord of the Abyss does not care for the tribes of this city at all. For him, we are all but pieces on the board that can be thrown aside when we no longer stay useful¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, something like that it¡¯s pretty much a given when ites to guys like that.¡¹

    You should be grateful that it was not a Battle Royal. Those kinds of modes could make party members turn on one another all because of the promise of great awards, making it even more stressful because you¡¯d always expect someone to stab you in the back. Good thing it wasn¡¯t like that.

    Also, each of the ¡°seals¡± are a mini-boss that possesses some kind of special abilities and block other abilities as well. As far as Alva knows, one of the ¡°seals¡±, Clionea, possesses the ability to seal away all magic. Clionea¡­¡­ Clione? Is that supposed to be a reference of some sort?

    And finally, the monster called Kutanid of the Abyss. An almost transcendent beingying in wait at the very bottom of the city, in the Abyss that cannot be reached via any normal means. And Kutanid¡¯s power is the ability to ¡°invert¡± anything he wishes to affect, and it was the power that could affect even the basic principles governing this world.

 Chapter 144: Limit Match Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 144: Limit Match Part 2</h4>

    Originally, this ce was a tropical ind above the sea level, but with the appearance of Kutanid the whole ind got dragged underwater and inverted to what we can see right now. That fact alone speaks volumes about the strength of this inversion ability.

    ¡¸Kutanid only invites those to his home that he deems worthy. So there is no other way to meet him rather than having to y his sick little games.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, is there anyone at all who managed to go meet him face-to-face and tell the tale?¡¹

    ¡¸There was actually someone like that. They say that he managed to get into the citadel, confront Kutanid and pierce his left eye. Then he escaped the city before its inhabitants could kill him.¡¹

    ¡¸Hee¡­¡­ You sure know some juicy details about that.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s because the man in question was my grandfather.¡¹

    ¡¸Some rtive you got there.¡¹

    Right, intel organization time!

    First of all, the overall purpose of this Unique Quest EX is to meet some extra conditions without which it will be impossible to actually face off against Kutanid. So us being dragged in here could actually be like getting cursed by Luukan¡­¡­ Meaning there surely is some sort of way to get this thing done.

    That way would be defeating the four ¡°seals¡± in forms of mini-bosses, which are sure to have some battle gimmicks added to them for increased difficulty. Otherwise I don¡¯t know the reason for locking them in fixed locations rather than letting them roam freely. Also, if there are even more gimmicks like having to face them all alone, I think I¡¯m gonna cry.

    Welp, at least I know what I need to do. For now, I¡¯ll just store all of my important items in INVENTORY and patch myself up. By the way, since I¡¯ve obtained the Arcana ¡°Fool¡± my need for medications went up slightly.

    ¡¸Uhahahahahahaha! I feel like the Pied Piper of Hamelin right now!¡¹

    I run like a lunatic through the bluish-lit city. Behind me, there was a cavalcade of at least a hundred fish people and asionally there would be mermaidsing to attack me from above.

    Even though they all looked like beautiful women, I had absolutely no problems with kicking them and asionally slicing them apart. They were monsters, after all, so it was quite alright for me to do so.

    In retrospect, this whole scene looked like something taken straight out of a horror game, with the mermaid¡¯s screams serving as the most eerie BGM you¡¯ve ever heard in your life.

    ¡¸Like, I know that I¡¯ve been collecting aggro on purpose here, but don¡¯t you think that¡¯s going a little bit overboard!?¡¹

    If their numbers increase even further, this won¡¯t be a horror anymore but it will rather turn into apleteedy. Even though they were doing their best to try to catch me, they were so slow that I just wanted tough at them for wasting their efforts.

    And so I kept on running, gathering even more attention to myself and looking for information and my lostpanions, asionally picking up items here and there.

    ¡¸Momentum! Power! Unreasonableness! If you¡¯ll want to catch me, you¡¯ll have to do better than that!¡¹

    Comparing it to the crystals scorpions suddenly ganging up on you out of nowhere, this was actually a walk in the park for me. Not to mention that the mermaids could do their worst to try to debuff me, because apparently their songs counted as curses, and thanks to Luukan¡¯s Curse Marks I was still immune to any curses they might throw at me.

    As a matter of fact, if the mermaids¡¯ curse afflicted only my ears, maybe it would amount to something, but since it was trying to afflict my whole body, the Curse Markings went into effect and protected me.

    Also, I know that it is just a mimicry, but there was something oddly satisfying or even disturbing about being able to hit them in the jaw and not feel any guilt about it. I mean, they wanted to look like that, so it can¡¯t be helped, right?

    But after a few short skirmishes it started to hit me: it was useless trying to fight them all. They would juste at me infinitely without stopping, only exhausting my stamina and wearing out my equipment.

    ¡¸Savepleted¡­¡­ Right, I¡¯ll go out to have a look around.¡¹

    ¡¸Where are you going?¡¹

    ¡¸Mypanions are still somewhere around this city. So I need to find them. They are as important to me as my weapons are, you see.¡¹

    When you secure a respawn point and eventually stop being afraid, there is only one thing you have left to do in this situation.

    ¡¸A special attack.¡¹

    ¡¸In this scenario¡­¡­ Does ¡°hiding¡± amount to default strategy or something?¡¹

    Having that in mind, what I was about to do might just be pointless aggro gathering, but¡­¡­ Right here, right now in this strange city, it was the best thing that I could actually do.

    ¡¸Close your eyes and listen closely. Listen to the sounds that the water is carrying from afar.¡¹

    There were only two possible oues of the action that I was supposed to do right now: either we get some sort of response and we¡¯ll know what to do, or we¡¯ll have to relocate because of the friends that will try to close in on our location.

    ¡¸Haaa¡­¡­ IS THERE ANYONE IN THERE!?¡¹

    ¡¸SSSSSSAAAAAANNNNNNRRRRRRAAAAAAKKKKKKUUUUUUSSSSSSAAAAAANNNNNN¡­¡­!!!!!!¡¹

    Bingo! It responded!

 Chapter 145: Because Weâ€™re all Underwater Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 145: Because We¡¯re all Underwater Part 1</h4>

    Dealing with the monster parade that followed me wasn¡¯t actually all that hard. And anyways, since they are all concentrated on me only, getting away from them was rather easy once you managed to cause them to lose sight of you.

    Now, since running around and making lots of noise allowed me to locate a yer or an NPC, there was nothing more left for me to do but to put up a decoy and rush towards the source of the voice I heard just now.

    However, the voice that I just heard belonged to Emul and it was a mixture of terror and relief in 7:3 proportion. When I heard that sound, every schedule and every strategy I conjured up in my mind went to hell.

    There was once a matter I asked Emul about.

    ¡¸What is this magic called ¡°Random Encounter¡± in here?¡¹

    I still clearly remember Emul¡¯s answer. It was a really powerful magic, a sort of a trump card that only monsters such as Vorpal Bunnies or Cait Sith could use.

    A trump card that could go into effect only if its user found himself into a grave danger from which there was no way of getting out of.

    Random Encounter

    Summons monsters around the caster that are of a higher level than caster himself. The monsters to be summoned are chosen upon skill¡¯s activation and their level is determined by the skill¡¯s level.

    I also remember the information I heard from Alva. About this whole ¡°inversion¡± that turned the whole ind underwater and caused the mermaids to swim in the air. The power that is unique to Kutanid.

    It was crazy and hard to believe, but seeing how this here ce was ¡°underwater with no water¡± and ¡°mermaids were swimming in the air¡± we had to take it for granted at face value. In other words we had to ept the fact that we were currently deep underwater.

    Not to mention that this ce was now at the very bottom of the sea. We didn¡¯t really test out the ¡°Random Encounter¡± range and effectiveness, so in our current predicament we couldn¡¯t even be sure if any monsters at all would arrive.

    Well, what I wanted to say is¡­¡­ We cannot be sure that Emul¡¯s magic will be of any use here at the bottom of the sea.

    ¡¸HHHEEELLLPPP MMMEEEHHH!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    It was still rather unlikely, but it would be awfully nice if we could summon something in here that was huge in size and about level one hundred or so¡­¡­ That¡¯s right! A celestial dragon, for example!

    ¡¸Why you, stop running around and summon something in here already!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m trying! I¡¯M TRYING! But!!! BUT!!!¡¹

    But instead of a Celestial Dragon, what we¡¯ve got here was¡­¡­ what the hell was even that thing? A dragon? An eight-car train with a dragon¡¯s face attached to it? There was no way a thing like that could be defeated solo, as it was probably one of the rarer monsters from around these parts that was summoned just now. Normally the little bunny would probably be able to control that thing easily, but right here right now it would be literally impossible.

    ¡¸Here, hand it over! Now grab onto me!¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, sir!¡¹

    The speed at which this thing was going was way higher than that of a human. For that reason I needed Emul as close to me as possible, so I urged him toe over and take his rightful ce on my back.

    ¡¸Now I¡¯m d I brought over this horde of monsters, now sic ¡®im, boys¡­¡­!¡¹

    With Emul safely on my back, I activate all of the necessary skills. Normally I would be able to move around freely just fine, but with extra luggage I needed to boost my STR to be sure I would be able to get away.

    ¡¸Barely made it¡­¡­ Now, time to actually umte some eleration¡­¡­¡¹

    When the dragon-thing starts chasing after us, traces of white smoke starts toe off from my feet, meaning that I managed to satisfy the conditions of a certain other skill.

    The name of this skill is Burnout. It is a skill that lets you run at ever increasing speed if you charge it for enough time. Just like you would do with a normal car.

    You can only have this skill at level one, but the amount of eleration you get from it is pretty sweet. Charging for about five seconds would give you about fifteen seconds of eleration. Just as the dragon-thing¡¯s jaw was about to snap me in half, the eleration kicked in and I started running like a bullet.

    ¡¸Hold on tight, Emul!¡¹

    ¡¸Pyiiihhh!!!¡¹

 Chapter 145: Because We Are All Underwater Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 145: Because We Are All Underwater Part 2</h4>

    I take that scream as a ¡°yes¡±. When ites to Burnout, its biggest advantage is its initial speed boost. Normally you¡¯d need time and effort to go from zero to one hundred, but Burnout was basically bypassing the whole process and switching from zero to one hundred in a matter of a second.

    ¡¸You too, sh*thead! I don¡¯t need your reply, just hold on tight!¡¹

    It looks like the stupid sh*thead had no strength left in him to respond to my words, but at least some semnce of strength must have remained in his body, for he grabbed tight onto me and it looked like he wasn¡¯t going to let go of me.

    Now, not having to worry about my hands being tied, I could equip weapons in them and use my skills, which would give me some nice room to maneuver in. Smiling in a nasty way, I sliced apart some fishmen and mermaids that were beginning to approach me and sent out a decoy to take some aggro off of me, elerating even further.

    ¡¸I¡¯m counting on you, dummy me!¡¹

    I take a sharp turn right next to the monster parade and jump onto the wall, ascending to the rooftop as fast as I possibly could.

    In the next moment the streets turned into one giant mess when that dragon-thing crushed right into monster parade like a bowling ball would into bowling pins.

    ¡¸Runawayrunawayrunaway!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    ¡¸I WANNA GO HOOOOOOOOOMEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    When I managed to return to our temporary base in the destroyed building, I could finally let out a sigh of relief.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Right, introduction time. This little bunny is Emul, and that stupid sh*thead over there is a stupid sh*thead.¡¹

    ¡¸I, I see¡­¡­ Or rather, I could hear you from all the way out there¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Close your eyes and plug your ears, and suddenly everything is alright with the world.¡¹

    ¡¸Eeehhh¡­¡­¡¹

    I quickly introduced Alva to Emul and ignored the confused look on Alva¡¯s face.

    ¡¸Now, Alva may look intimidating, but he¡¯s not like the other fish people over there, so no need to be afraid of him.¡¹

    ¡¸Even though he looks just like a fish¡­¡­¡¹

    Even so, Stude says that with fear in his voice. Hey, that¡¯s awfully racist of you, you know? Not every NPC out there is going to look human and be human, mind you.

    ¡¸In any case, he¡¯s going to join our group and be with us in this temporary base right here. As long as you stay here and don¡¯t try to head out, the fish people won¡¯t notice you. It¡¯s safe in here.¡¹

    Now then¡­¡­

    ¡¸I¡¯m heading out for a little bit again.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I have no words to describe just how barbaric you are, aren¡¯t you even the least bit afraid!?¡¹

    ¡¸Not really. Believe it or not, this situation is basically business as usual for me.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ why¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Hm?¡¹

    For the time being I told them everything they needed to know, and just as I was going to head out and do something about that Dragon-thing, I heard the voice of the stupid sh*thead that stopped me in my tracks.

    ¡¸Why aren¡¯t you afraid¡­¡­ You¡¯re in a terrifying ce that you don¡¯t even know¡­¡­ How can you be so calm and justugh it off¡­¡­!?¡¹

    Ooops, looks like my attitude and words must have struck a nerve there. Now then, whatever should I say here to make aeback?

    ¡¸It¡¯s just my Pioneer soul speaking. And this soul enjoys the unknown more than anything else. It¡¯s just that¡­¡­ Or only that.¡¹

    With those words, I turn around and leave. Not to brag or anything, but it took me a moment to weave those sentences and I was proud of the effect they had on them.

    That being said, I leave the base and venture into the city again. At the same time I was d that Katsu or Pencilgton weren¡¯t here. They wouldn¡¯t leave me alone for saying a line like that until the end of the world and one day more.

    ¡¸To make short work of all those fish people like that, this thing must be on a level of a Crystal Scorpion or maybe even Golden Crystal Scorpion¡­¡­ Or maybe it¡¯s just a regr monster with huge-ass stats¡­¡­¡¹

    Apparently Rare Monsters are not as strong as Unique Monsters, but are a cut above the normal ones. On the other hand, some of the normal monsters seem to be equal in power to the Rare ones. Take the Golden Crystal Scorpion for example, and its ability to heal with Moonlight. It was clear to me that this Dragon-thing was on more or less the same level, butpared to Kutanid of the Abyss waiting ahead, it was nothing more than a small fry for me to deal with.

    ¡¸But it¡¯s different this time around.¡¹

    It wasmon practice in various games. cing overpowered monsters in certain critical points on the map in order to prevent yers from going into certain areas too early.

    ¡¸Same with Crystal Scorpions. Except that you could work your way around them if you really wanted to. But you¡¯re going down as well!¡¹

    Those words were a deration of war on the Dragon-thing that was swimming through the air care-freely, destroying houses only by swimming right next to them and flexing its giant torso.

    ¡¸You think I¡¯m fooling around? I¡¯ll have you know that birds eat fish for breakfast!¡¹

    A certain thought urs to me while I watch the geysers of red polygons erupting all over the ce.

    ¡¸It packed way more heat than I would have anticipated.¡¹

    One of my bad habits is that while I¡¯m on the move, my tension also tends to rise. I thought that it would be easy pickings, but it turns out that it got quite the fighting spirit all the way to the end.

    Seeing cube-shaped polygons dissipate into nothingness ruined the immersion for me, since futuristic sights like that did not belong to a fantasy setting like this underwater city. But hey, as the polygons disappear for good, a certain realization hits me. I did it.

    ¡¸I¡¯ve really done it¡­¡­¡¹

    That was the only thought that came to my mind as the literal waterfall of dropped items started to rain down on me from above.

 Chapter 146: Roaring Beacon of Destruction Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 146: Roaring Beacon of Destruction Part 1</h4>

    I didn¡¯t think that I¡¯d manage to beat it on my own. Well, I wasn¡¯t going to chicken out of it either, but I honestly thought that for a tough monster this thing would know when to call it quits and back away eventually.

    But this guy¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know how it behaved under normal circumstances, but thanks to Kutanid¡¯s power, right now it was going through the air in the same manner as a normal animal would move around on the ground.

    In other words, even though it was underwater here, it basically didn¡¯t think anything of it.

    Not to mention that the way it was moving was downright creepy.

    Also, moving around the body that was this big underwater was creating a considerable amount of resistance, so even if it was normally quite fast, right now it was taking it a while to elerate properly. So we were kind of on equal grounds here. It was then that a certain thought urred to me.

    Huh, but isn¡¯t that too easy? And then.

    In that regard, this thing couldn¡¯t even hold a candle to monsters such as Wezaemon, Luukan or even the Golden Scorpion. It wasn¡¯t able to spam attack after attack like Wezaemon could, covering almost the entire arena with them. It wasn¡¯t able to project an invisible alter ego that would suddenlye down on you and kill you instantly. And it surely didn¡¯t possess the tenacity and regeneration of Golden the Scorpion, not to mention a thick armor that you¡¯d have to work really hard to put a dent in.

    When ites to dealing with huge monsters that are not all that mobile to begin with, the best course of action carried from generation to generation was simply ¡°wait for approach¡±. Because once it was close, it couldn¡¯t breathe fire on you and the only real threats were the body ms that were also really slow. Not to mention that its skin looked to be hard, but in reality it was surprisingly supple¡­¡­ It was too easy. Or maybe it was me who was working too hard. But still, I did my best.

    ¡¸Once you closed that gap this is too easy, even by my standards¡­¡­¡¹

    Normally there would be water resistance to my attacks, but since for me it felt only like a gas it was no problem. Also, since gravity was working correctly for me, I could run, turn, dodge and jump like I would normally be able to. On the other hand, this dragon-thing had a difficult time to move properly, and because every move cost it tremendous amounts of energy I was able to basically cut it into small pieces without really having to worry about the state of my weapons or even breaking any skills. Normal attacks were more than enough here. If it was a battle under any normal circumstances, it would surely be hard as hell. But right now? Not so much.

    ¡¸But since the difficulty bar was set so low, I can¡¯t really talk about any sense of aplishment whatsoever¡­¡­¡¹

    No, I keep saying that, but the battlested fairly long and each and every single one of those body ms could have very well been my doom if I didn¡¯t evade them properly in time. So at least some degree of challenge was present here, but since I was so used to huntingrge monsters in other games, I couldn¡¯t see that challenge all that well.

    ¡¸But still¡­¡­ To be able to take it down solo¡­¡­ Am I too strong or what¡­¡­? Nah, that can¡¯t be it¡­¡­ Or maybe that thing was simply too weak¡­¡­?¡¹

    No, that one was unlikely as well. That is because this dragon-thing was responding to my attacks in frantic actions of its own, really powerful ones but dyed. Also, none of my weapons were really able to stagger it, which was hardly any surprise looking at its sheer size. So maybe it was already weakened before it was summoned here? Or maybe¡­¡­ Don¡¯t tell me some of those fishmen are actually walking sacks of poison?

    ¡¸Oh sh*t¡­¡­ If there really are poison carriers among them, I¡¯ll need to be even more careful from now on¡­¡­¡¹

    If it really was poison, then how big of a danger must the fishmen that managed to inflict that status on this thing be!? Also, it would be good to establish if there are any other species of half-fish around here, like pufferfish or scorpionfish¡­¡­ Thank you so much, Dragon-thing! Thanks to your noble sacrifice, I¡¯ve be that much smarter!

    Now, as for the items that dropped from the corpse¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s because of its size or what, but there was even more stuff than in case of Golden Crystal Scorpion. It was a literal mountain-load!

    ¡¸Uhe¡­ Uhehehehehehehehehehe¡­¡­!!¡¹

 Chapter 146: Roaring Beacon of Destruction Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 146: Roaring Beacon of Destruction Part 2</h4>

    Right now I feel more like a gold digger rather than a yer. So much stuff, so much gold, so many materials¡­¡­ Just think of the things I could afford with so much gold and resources! Thinking about that caused me to smile in a nasty way and let out augh that would put a true viin to shame.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ What¡¯s that, talk about an evilughter.¡¹

    ¡¸Uwah, whoa there!?¡¹

    Hearing those words so suddenly I turned around and looked behind me, at the same time thinking ¡°Well, talk about an awkward situation!¡±. Right there was Rust, and the one apanying her was not Mold, but Sickle of all people.

    ¡¸Oh, well if it isn¡¯t Rust¡­¡­ Took you a while to get back to us.¡¹

    ¡¸With that much roaring and screaming going about the ce, who wouldn¡¯t want to check it out? But I must say, I¡¯m surprised that you took this thing down all on your own.¡¹

    Ahh, now that you mention it, I guess that¡¯s right. With a monster so characteristic and so big, there¡¯s no way that others wouldn¡¯t notice its presence, especially since it was rampaging so much. And if there was anyone in here who would figure out the cause of that monster¡¯s appearance, that would be Sickle alright. My guess is that even if he wasn¡¯t a Samurai, he would still rush to Emul¡¯s side to help him, since they were family and all that. That¡¯s actually really nice.

    ¡¸Sanraku-dono, is Emul safe?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, I stumbled across him when he was running away from that dragon-thing earlier. For now I took him to my temporary base, so he should be safe in there for now.¡¹

    ¡¸Is that so¡­¡­? That¡¯s a relief¡­¡­¡¹

    He knew that a monster of that size would note out if the situation wasn¡¯t really dire, but upon learning that Emul was unharmed Sickle rxed in a visible manner. I would even shed a tear or two for this disy of familial bonds, but¡­¡­ I had loot to collect, so that will have to wait.

    ¡¸That giant monster¡­¡­ Did you use the Mecha to defeat it?¡¹

    ¡¸Sadly, no. Due to some circumstances, I cannot use it for now.¡¹

    That is because the Aether Reactor needed to power up the armor was still recharging after our fight against Luukan. Once put into INVENTORY it would gradually charge up by collecting magic particles from its surroundings, but the process was painfully slow and for it to fully recharge, about a week would need to pass.

    Just like with the gauntlet, the technology in it had no upper limit so technically I could store enough energy in the reactor to allow me to use the armor for about an hour or two, but wasn¡¯t the charge time here basically a construction flow?

    ¡¸By the way, could you show it to us?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯d love to see it¡­¡­!¡¹

    That¡¯s why I decided to summon Suzaku, but since it was out of juice it wouldn¡¯t move. I could have summoned any other machine to show, but for now I decided not to do that, as to not reveal my cards too soon.

    ¡¸Indeed¡­¡­ Wonderful¡­¡­ Splendid, magnificent¡­¡­ The metal is so smooth and cool to the touch¡­¡­ ShanFro really is the best¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Well, Nephilim Hollow is good as well, but it has its number ofpromises¡­¡­¡¹

    If you were to pull out weeds in this game, not only the soil attached to them would be cool, but those weeds would also have roots. Forparison, every game released about a year before ShangriLa Frontier wascking such details, giving off a feeling of virtual reality rather than reality itself. In that aspect, a game with the level of detail like ShanFro was unheard of, unprecedented even¡­¡­ It was likeparing childish doodles with a piece produced by a professional painter. A whole new world and a gap that couldn¡¯t possibly be breached.

    ¡¸That Dragon-thing¡­¡­ Apparently its name was Arctus Regalex¡­¡­ What¡¯s up with putting a name so cool on a monster that was so weak?¡¹

    Thinking about it now, lots of names of different animal species are cool-sounding. But they are based in Latin, right? Or was it German? Either way, their names sound cool , and that makes them cool as well¡­¡­

    ¡¸Meat¡­¡­ I heard that it tastes delicious in ShanFro, but I haven¡¯t really tried it¡­¡­¡¹

    I wonder if there¡¯s a fish somewhere out there in the real world that looked simr to that monster? And if so, what would it taste like? I guess Dad or some of his friends would know. ¡­¡­ Maybe I¡¯ll be able to have a taste of it some time in the future, who knows?

    While I was wondering about that, I cast a nce at the city¡¯sndscape, now pretty much ravaged by the Dragon-thing¡¯s savage thrashing about. In the meantime, Rust and Sickle were busy gazing at Suzaku in pure adoration.

    ¡¸It was a good thing that this whole ce is underwater, you know? Otherwise, if that thing could fly out of my reach, it could have been that hellish raid all over again¡­¡­¡­¡­ Hm?¡¹

    My eyelids fall and raise, creating a blinking effect. In VR games, blinking is not an action that is necessary, and people perform it purely out of reflex. However, during that split second it takes you to blink, vision gets slightly interrupted.

    Just then --

    ¡¸Oi, oi, you cannot be serious¡­¡­¡¹

    In just a blink of an eye, I witnessed the scenery changing drastically, being restored to its original shape and all of the destruction caused thus far being reverted. It was almost like a miracle or magic. And I know who was responsible for that.

    Kutanid of the Abyss, whose power can even interfere with the game¡¯s system just like that¡­¡­ Can it really be beaten just like that?

 Chapter 147: And So the Wolf Departs on a Journey

    <h4>Chapter 147: And So the Wolf Departs on a Journey</h4>

    ¡¸Why is this Gxeus so adamant on only being a bystander¡­¡­ You are interfering pretty much already, so who cares about being a bystander!?¡¹

    I murmur that to myself while sitting in afy seat with an American manga¡­¡­ic book that Katsu lend me, while also looking at my mobile device that was currently connected to the simplified version of my VR headgear. Taking the helmet off, outside of the window I can see the panorama of a city at sunset, with tall skyscrapers being dyed in orange and red.

    Currently, I was on my way to the capital.

    Shortly after I defeated that Dragon-thing¡­¡­ Or whatever it was called, other yers started to gather at my location, drawn towards the ce where so much destruction and rampage could be observed. Of course, fish people were there as well. So after we eventually managed to lose them, we could have a talk, and as it turned out, some problems started to emerge to the surface, even though we were still at the bottom of the sea.

    First of all, others were on the same page as me when ites to the seven days time limit: there was no need for us to clear the whole Unique Quest EX in one sitting. If I knew beforehand that there would be a time limit to this, I would have adjusted my schedule to clear it all in one go, but since it was so sudden I had no choice but to y it by ear for now. Still, the difficulty of this quest is somewhat concerning, since you have whole seven days to clear it. Makes you wonder what will happen should we not make it and we run out of time.

    Tomorrow, or even the day after tomorrow¡­¡­ No, who knows what might happen on ater date, so for now I would like to wrap this Quest up as soon as possible. Preferably in three or four days. Akitsu Akane said that he won¡¯t be able to participate on third and fifth day because of the club activities. And as for Rust and Mold, they didn¡¯t get into details, but they wouldn¡¯t be able to help out on second, fourth and sixth day. But everyone would be free on the seventh day, so that was the most likely date when we would take Kutanid down.

    There was another problem. Whether Rei¡­¡­ Saiga-0 was to join us. First came Rust and Sickle, then it was Akitsu Akane and Mold. But Rei didn¡¯t show up, even after we waited for a long while. We would have waited longer, but the gathering fishmen and the urge to log out was so great for some of us that we decided to call it a day and retreat for now. I hope that Rei will manage on her own. Does she even realize where the safe zones are in this underwater city.

    However, thanks to the VR system characteristics and safety features, prolonged ytime would trigger a forced log out, so I don¡¯t have to worry all that much about her well-being. But more than Rei, I was worried about the NPCs and what would happen to them after Rei logs out. I don¡¯t know where exactly I will spawn on my next log in, but I sure hope that they will be alright at that time.

    Despite Rei not being present, we discussed our ns for the future conquest of this city and that was it. Each one of us went their separate way. As for me, I started to pack my traveling bag.

    ¡¸But still, the least they could do would be to send me an e-mail and let me know what¡¯s what¡­¡­ That¡¯s right, we usually use SNS¡­¡­¡¹

    A teenage world-ss model who was revered almost like a deity, and a professional gamer making quite the career already. Since both of them had work SNS ounts, any attempt to contact them through that means would cause unnecessaryplications. It would shatter their public images, and even though Katsu was of no concern of mine, Pencilgton was apletely different matter. Beautiful things should remain beautiful, no matter what.

    Therefore, using SNS waspletely out of the question. And people are looking at ME in a weird way when I ask them for their e-mail addresses. It only makes contact easier.

    ¡¸No matter what I¡¯ll try to do, this will only turn ugly¡­¡­¡¹

    I stop reading and open up an SNS app that¡¯s really popr nowadays with middle and high schoolers. I¡¯m a high schooler myself, but¡­¡­ Yeah, right. Some youth that is, burned and wasted away in hellhole named ¡°Sh*tty Games¡±.

    ¡¸Umm, I press here, then click here, and enter that¡­¡­ Alright.¡¹

    For the time being I create a new ount for myself and enter the room and enter the room called ¡°Lulias War Room¡±. It was a chatroom that Akitsu Akane created and where everyone except for Rei managed to enter sessfully. There was even some text out there already. Wow, I didn¡¯t know that fighting the fish people could yield you so much EXP. After the fight with the Crystal Scorpions I didn¡¯t do that much grinding myself, mostly because I was good to go for now.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ All passengers are implored to not forget their luggage upon exiting ------¡¹

    ¡¸Hm, does that mean I arrived at my destination?¡¹

    Even if it would take God knows how long on foot, you can reach certain ces in no time if you use public transportation. Civilization truly is a convenient thing to have around.

    I get off the train,unch the map application on my mobile device and start walking. The capital city at this hour was an epitome of modern Japan, with bright neon and LED lights illuminating the darkness and buildings alike. With the surroundings being this bright, even Luukan¡¯s alter ego wouldn¡¯t be able to hide anywhere in here. Thinking like that, I eventually arrive at my destination.

    ¡¸Hotel Grand Supreme¡­¡­ Talk about a luxurious hotel.¡¹

    The price of staying for one night in a hotel like that would easily buy you the most expensive VR equipment currently on the market. Or maybe it¡¯s simply that the app is broken and I was led to the wrong ce? Professional gamer¡­¡­ Can he really afford to invite people to such a luxurious ce like that? High schoolersing here must be a real rarity. And the atmosphere was far different from any Net cafes that I happened to visit in the past.

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­ He said that ¡°If you introduce yourself as Sanraku and tell them that you¡¯re with Uomi Kei, they will let you through¡±¡­¡­¡¹

    Somehow, a task like that seemed impossible to me, equally on challenging Night Prowler Luukan to battle while being level one yourself. In a game you could have just stormed the hotel in an armored car, or nt a bomb and st your way in, or create a distraction¡­¡­ But in real life it was something much, much harder. But it was something I absolutely needed to do¡­¡­ Alright, all units! CHAAAAARGE!!!

    ¡¸HOSPITALITY is amazing¡­¡­ What a top-notch thing¡­¡­ Maybe I can use it for role y purpose¡­¡­¡¹

    When I introduced myself at the reception desk I was brought to a room that no normal high school student would ever step his foot in. I didn¡¯t know if it could be called a suite or not, but seeing that I was equally as restless in this room, the difference meant pretty much nothing to me.

    ¡¸I feel like there will be someone aiming at me with a sniper rifle right now¡­¡­ But that¡¯s only my imagination, right?¡¹

    I contacted Katsu and he told me that he would be there shortly and that I should just sit in my room and wait. So I drop my baggage on the bed and take a look around the room. Two beds mean that this was a twin room, and it was spacious enough for me to walk around freely. But there was one thing that was uncharacteristic here¡­¡­ A single chair in the middle of the room, packed with so much electronics that it seemed unreal.

    ¡¸This is¡­¡­ The ¡°gaming chair¡±, a pinnacle of VR technology that is so expensive that people faint from hearing about the price alone.¡¹

    Alright, now I was getting genuinely scared. What the fuck was going through that head of yours, you pro gamer bastard? That was literally too much for a mere high school student. But it would also be a lie if I told you that I wasn¡¯t the least bit interested in that full dive chair. So maybe I could just lie there for a second and see how this thing works¡­¡­

    While I was about to touch the delicate systems of the chair-capsule, because that¡¯s how this thing looked to me, I heard a knock onto my door. The employees of the hotel would announce themselves through the inte. So could this be Katsu?

    ¡¸Hm? Could this be¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Heya, Sanraku-kun! You expected some Professional Gamer? But what¡¯s this!? It¡¯s super charismatic model Amane-sama in the flesh! Now, let me see that face of yours¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I¡­ Umm¡­¡­ This is¡­¡­¡¹

    Don¡¯t you have a gas mask in here or something like that? Or at least a bag or something that I could use to cover my face with? That would make me much calmer than I was right now.

    It looks like my first real challenge in here is going to be preventing Pencilgton -- or Her Highness Towa Amane from groping my face all night long.

 Chapter 148: Meteor Rain First Class Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 148: Meteor Rain First ss Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Fuh, kukuku¡­¡­ Ouch, my sides, my sides hurt so much¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Then maybe you shouldn¡¯t haveughed so much¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re existence is like one big practical joke for me¡­¡­ No way, I didn¡¯t think tha you¡¯d make meugh so hard even in real world¡­¡­ Fufu, kuh, kukuku¡­¡­¡¹

    The reason for why Amane Towa -- Arthur Pencilgton -- was currentlyughing so hard was because I was wearing a gas mask on my face, which came as a bonus to the very first limited edition of sh*tty game that I have ever bought. Eventually she managed to calm herself down, but I couldn¡¯t resist the feeling that she thought that my whole existence must have been a joke or something alongside those lines.

    That being said, I have as muchmon sense as everyone else in the world. I know that games are games and things you can do inside of them you absolutely cannot do in the real world. Like throwing people off the roofs, or running people with cars, or nt bombs, ormit mass genocide on poor and innocent NPCs. Hence when I got that one particr game I left the gas mask in the package and totally forgot that it ever existed in the first ce. That is, until today.

    ¡¸Well, I guess that you¡¯ll have to take that thing off eventually, if you be hungry and all that.¡¹

    ¡¸No, it¡¯s not that I bought it just for this asion. I just didn¡¯t wanted to put it on since it was at the very bottom of my bag.¡¹

    ¡¸Nobody in their right mind would ever put the gas mask into his freaking travel bag.¡¹

    ¡¸Not even a Hollywood movie star?¡¹

    When ites to Hollywood movies, every time there¡¯s a hotel involved, you can expect bombing or at least some sort of massive shootout.

    ¡¸Haha¡­¡­ Alright, now that I had a goodugh, let¡¯s change the subject to something else, shall we. For formality¡¯s sake, I¡¯m Pencil Warrior, pleased to meet you.¡¹

    ¡¸And I¡¯m Sanraku¡­¡­ Likewise, pleased to make your acquaintance.¡¹

    I guess it was true that true models and celebrities knew how to act and what to say in every possible scenario or situation. As we shook our hands a certain thought urred to me: this scene could easily go straight to the front pages of various magazines.

    Nevertheless, what¡¯s in the game stays in the game. Right now we are normal teens meeting one another for the first time, so I respond to her handshake with enthusiasm.

    ¡¸So? Where¡¯s the host of this whole gathering?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, I think he went to call one of his other teammates.¡¹

    Come to think of that, I think I read something like that in one of Katsu¡¯s additional emails. Certainly, GGC is going to host a four versus four match so it is only natural that besides Pencilgton, Katsu and I there would also be one more teammate on our end. Apparently that teammate was going to be someone from Katsu¡¯s team as well.

    ¡¸I¡¯m actually surprised that a charismatic model like yourself managed to make some time in her busy schedule.¡¹

    ¡¸Hey now, I know it might seem that way, but I¡¯m just posing and acting. It¡¯s not all that hard.¡¹

    ¡¸With an attitude like that, overconfidence is going to be your end somewhere down the line.¡¹

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t it more like someone that charismaticst boss would say?¡¹

    ¡¸So you ARE aware that you act like a Boss character¡­¡­¡¹

    While we were busy talking like that, I realized that a man and a woman entered the room almost unnoticed. The girl looked to be the same age as me, but seeing a stunning beautyughing at a guy in a gas mask, she looked really startled. Can¡¯t me her, really.

    ¡¸It certainly is interesting to bring a gas mask into a luxurious hotel just like that. You really never cease to amaze.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, shut up. This is a pretty rare item, I¡¯ll let you know. Not much of them on the market. Watch and be amazed.¡¹

    ¡¸Are we still talking about sh*tty games here¡­¡­ Anyways, thank you so much foring, Sanraku.¡¹

    The young man said that to me with a fearless smile on his lips, just like Pencilgton reaching out his hand towards me for a handshake. His name was Uomi Kei, and he was a professional gamer.

    ¡¸Now then, for now let me introduce you all to Megu. These two are my private gaming friends: Pencil Warrior and Sanraku. The first one¡¯s name is Towa Amane, and that other guy doesn¡¯t like his face to be seen, apparently.¡¹

    ¡¸Natsume Megumi, I see you name from time to time in magazines. Nice to meet you.¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku, I thought you might be crazy as an element of role y in game, but I see you are as crazy in real life, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸I lose much of my personal charm when I take it off.¡¹

    ¡¸And as Towa-san said, this girl here is Natsume Megumi, the only member of our Nitro Squad who was able to make it here for this event.¡¹

    Katsu officially introduced us to the girl who wore her hair in a high ponytail. Natsume Megumi¡­¡­ She¡¯s probably famous, but not that I would know. I don¡¯t usually read magazines focused on gaming and I don¡¯t really know any professional gamers.

    ¡¸Now, let me get straight to the point: we¡¯ll be facing off against American professional gamers¡¯ team: Star Rain. We¡¯ll face against them the day after tomorrow. That¡¯s why I called these guys to help and fill the gap.¡¹

 Chapter 148: Meteor Rain First Class Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 148: Meteor Rain First ss Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Say, Kei, there¡¯s something I wanted to ask you about¡­¡­ Are these two really strong?¡¹

    Says Natsume-san, butting in on Katsu¡¯s words. Well, one of us is a world-famous model, so it was only natural to doubt her prowess as a gamer when meeting her for the very first time.

    ¡¸I can guarantee you that their abilities are more than adequate, Megu. This model girl is very gifted when ites to games, and the gas mask fellow¡­¡­ Let¡¯s just say that he¡¯s so good that if he and I were to fight ten duels, he would win four of them easily.¡¹

    Yes, it¡¯s true that when ying new games some flukes and happy idents might happen in favor of newbies when they fight against professionals, but when ites to professional gamer like Katsu, thirty to forty percent win ration is still big of a number. It would be rude of me to think I would be able to get some more.

    However, it seems that those words were enough for Natsume-san to change her opinion of me drastically. She opened her eyes wide and stared at me with amazement, as if I was a small child that seeded in pulling a really borate mischief.

    ¡¸No way¡­¡­ Eh, four wins against Kei!? Impossible!¡¹

    ¡¸But it¡¯s the truth.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, that still makes me a sore loser if my opponents manages to grab those six or seven other victories.¡¹

    ¡¸So how about some sparring right here right now? What do you say?¡¹

    I stare at Katsu through the googles of the gas mask and Pencilgton watches both of us from the side. I mean, do you really have to flex so much on us with your superiority?

    ¡¸You don¡¯t seem to get it, so I¡¯ll clear it out for you¡­¡­ Do you have any idea just how many people in Japan alone can snatch four victories in a ten round match from Uomi Kei?¡¹

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t that because everyone else just suck at ying things by ear when things go south?¡¹

    ¡¸Maybe, but that wouldn¡¯t exin the fact that Katsu¡¯s overall win ratio oscites around eighty percent.¡¹

    ¡¸Hee¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s up with thatme reaction?¡¹

    I mean, maybe so, but¡­¡­ What did you wanted me to do? Just by looking at the guy you can tell he¡¯s actually amazing at what he does, so I don¡¯t think it¡¯s necessary to shower him with praise even more.

    ¡¸Want me to fall off my chair? Crawl on the ground in horror? Bow down in sheer admiration?¡¹

    ¡¸You know what? That¡¯s actually a nice thing to do, now that you mention it. Hurry up and do it, Sanraku!¡¹

    ¡¸With that kind of attitude towards people you¡¯re going to end up dead in the eyes of society sooner rather thanter. Hm?¡¹

    I knew it, this cheek is bad news. She¡¯s pure evil. Just like a whisky bonbon, that is just whisky camouged in a sweet chocte casing.

    ¡¸Right, before you go on a full-blown war with one another, let¡¯s get to the main subject, shall we? In any case, the team we are going to fight the day after tomorrow is ¡°Star Rain¡±¡­¡­ Simply put, they are one of the strongest teams in the United States right now.¡¹

    ¡¸Hey, does that mean we are going to make asses out of ourselves on an international level this time around?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, that sounds really terrible for us¡­¡­ Just remembering those eight times before when you guys tried to backstab me still makes me sad. Sanraku- what about you?¡¹

    ¡¸Me? No way! I would never backstab anyone¡­¡­ Aside from those six times that I tried really hard to do just that.¡¹

    For the time being we are all friends, but usually we would try to sell one another out without as much as blinking. Nevertheless, no matter what kind of opponent awaits me, I am never going to back away from the challenge.

    ¡¸I didn¡¯t call for you with having a lost cause in my mind. I called you precisely because I do believe that our four can take a shot at winning this thing.¡¹

    That being said, Katsu took out a really advanced tablet and showed us a picture in which four people could be seen.

    ¡¸Those are the guys we are going to y against the day after tomorrow. The first squad of ¡°Star Rain¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸Uwah, amazing, take a look at that, Sanraku-kun! This Macho guy looks as though he was taken straight out of some hardcore NTR eroge, don¡¯t you think!?¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t ask me things that are so problematic to answer! I¡¯m still a minor, you know!? ¡­¡­ But I must say, he¡¯s rather burly. Was he a martial artist in the past?¡¹

    ¡¸Nah, she¡¯s got a point. He can smash the whole apple with his one hand like it¡¯s no big deal.¡¹

    What a Macho!

    While trying to memorize every single face of the opposing team, I couldn¡¯t help it but to notice thest person in the picture in particr.

    ¡¸Ara, what a cute-looking girl¡­¡­ Who¡¯s she?¡¹

    ¡¸Blonde hair and blue eyes¡­¡­ Somehow, she gives me a foreigner vibe.¡¹

    ¡¸Her name is Silvia Goldberg¡­¡­¡¹

    The person smiling in that picture looked to be a little bit older than me¡­¡­ In other words the person who was regarded as the strongest yer in the United States was about Katsu¡¯s age. Then I heard him mutter to himself.

    ¡¸She¡¯s the best America has to offer¡­¡­ She¡¯s the strongest professional gamer in every sense of the word.¡¹

 Chapter 149: Reaching For the Stars Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 149: Reaching For the Stars Part 1</h4>

    Silvia Goldberg, female, twenty years old. If you ever ask who the strongest professional gamer in the United States is, you are bound to hear her name every single time. She appeared for the first time five years ago at the amateur section of the nationwide tournament.

    In that tournament, she managed to win all of her elimination matches and the main matches without losing a single round or shrivel of her HP, and she even managed to wlessly beat the professional gamers. That victory made her name world-famous, and from that day forward the nickname ¡°Silvi¡± was forever carved into the minds of the yer all around the world.

    After her debut, Silvia Goldberg was scouted by one of the best professional gaming teams out there in the United States, ¡°Zodiac Cluster¡±. Since then in less than a year she managed to raise to the top in that team and formed her own division ¡°Star Rain¡±, gathering the best yers of the best. Fast-forward five years in to the future, and she¡¯s still currently one of the very best yers in the world, setting record after record like it was nothing¡­¡­

    ¡¸Amazing, talk about the Last Boss character.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s even better than that. In her whole career she never lost a single round.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, I see, I get it.¡¹

    In other words it is someone like a Demon Lord who obliterates her enemies in an instant, not giving them time to recover and then eats their remains to be absolutely sure that the threat is now gone. In addition, that expression that I could see in the photo¡­¡­ It was the face of someone who was crazy strong and she knew it. A Demon Lord who from the first moment she appeared was way more popr than the Protagonist.

    ¡¸The other members are no pushovers as well, but if youpare Silvia Goldberg to a First ss, then those guys are Second or even Third ss at best. No¡­¡­ It would be something like a Second and a Half ss. Yeah.¡¹

    ¡¸And you said what our chances at winning against here are¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Since I am a professional gamer our chances are not entirely zero, but I¡¯ll be honest with you: things aren¡¯t looking too bright for us¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I agree, that would be the case if we were ying a game that was already released on the market. In fact, I¡¯ve fought against her a few times before and the best I managed to achieve was a draw. Everything else, she wiped the floor with me¡­¡­ But this time around things are going to be different.¡¹

    Katsu swipes the tablet¡¯s surface and the picture of the enemy team disappears, with another one taking its ce. It was the picture of some sort of game website, with lots of fancy fonts and designs.

    ¡¸¡°Gxia Heroes: Chaos¡±¡­¡­ It will be released worldwide this fall¡­¡­ Which means that it¡¯s not out yet.¡¹

    ¡¸And it is going to be the game that we will be ying the day after tomorrow during thest day of GGC. This is going to be its official presentation.¡¹

    ¡¸Seriously?¡¹

    Gxia¡­¡­? Haven¡¯t I heard that name somewhere before¡­¡­? Ah.

    ¡¸That¡¯s theic books you¡¯ve sent me to read on my way here.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, it¡¯s the work based on thetest crossover from the Gxia universe, where there is no clear distinction in between Heroes and Viins. And its developer is the UES - Utopia Entertainment Software, the studio responsible for the best ¡°post-ShanFro¡± games currently on the market.¡¹

    ShangriLa Frontier, I didn¡¯t expect to hear that name here of all ces. I could even feel my own expression under the gas mask stiffen at the mention of the game I¡¯ve been having so much of a st ying. It appears that this game was much more influential than I would have initially thought.

    ¡¸Gxia uses almost the same engine as ShanFro, albeit with some small differences. But still, it is the technology that is severely ahead of its time. UES is currently believed to be thepany responsible for the revival of the US school of game development, although some say it¡¯s mostly because of some lucky decisions¡­¡­ But that¡¯s of no importance right now. What¡¯s important is the fact that this game is going to bepletely different from its predecessor - Gxia Heroes: Burst.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, I see¡­¡­ I think I know what you¡¯re trying to say. Basically, what you mean by that is the fact that it is going to be a game that ispletely unknown to blondie and her crew, the Americans, but for us Japanese it is going to be something really simr to ShanFro¡­¡­ This means we have the advantage here since we are so used to it by now.¡¹

    ¡¸That is why, both our team will have the early ess to the ¡°Gxia Heroes: Chaos¡±¡­¡­ We will only have two days to get used to it, but since we have been ying ShanFro for so long, we have the natural advantage here. That is the only way in which we can hope to beat America¡¯s number one gamer.¡¹

    From Pencilgton¡¯s guess I can roughly guess Katsu¡¯s answer. Long story short, since the technology for this new game is based on ShanFro, just the fact that you y ShanFro can be turned into advantage. And since ShanFro is majorly an ¡°Japanese-only¡± product, there is no way that American can have that same kind of advantage.

    ¡¸So that¡¯s the reason why you chose us specifically.¡¹

    ¡¸Because we have gone through Wezaemon battle together, I am more than sure that your ability is on par to that of professional gamers.¡¹

    While saying that, Katsu¡­¡­ No, professional gamer Uomi Kei had a fearless smile on his lips.

    ¡¸Well then, let¡¯s start the strategy meeting on how to overthrow Silvia Goldberg and her Star Rain!¡¹

 Chapter 149: Reaching For the Stars Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 149: Reaching For the Stars Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸¡­¡­ And that about wraps it up when ites to Silvia¡¯s ystyle.¡¹

    ¡¸Right, so?¡¹

    ¡¸Doesn¡¯t that remind you of someone, my dear Sanraku?¡¹

    Hm? Me? Why is he pointing at me all of a sudden?

    As I tilt my head in visible confusion, Katsu exins once more, this time around in even simpler terms.

    ¡¸A high mobility attacker in case of who tension is directly connected to their overall in-game performance¡­¡­ Sanraku, that¡¯s basically you, through and through.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Hee.¡¹

    ¡¸And the character that is synonymous with that exact ystyle¡­¡­ The protagonist, Meetias, she¡¯s bound to choose him during the match the day after tomorrow.¡¹

    Saying that, Katsu opened up the official website of the game and went to the character introduction screen. There he showed us a bunch of shy-looking characters. The character in question was d in white, with armor tes protecting its key points, wearing a full-face mask with pentagram shaped googles, which made it look as though there was a star attached to its face.

    His name is Meetias, a simple sryman who one day was granted the power of the meteor by ¡°Gxius¡±, creator of the universe. With this power in hand, Meetias ventures forth to fight crime and conspiracy lurking behind the stage that threathenes the very fabric of the Universe as we know it! ¡­¡­ It was a typical setting for that kind of character. I¡¯ll have to admit that it managed to impress me at some points and even force something simr to a smile on my liips, but as far as those Americanic books go, it was truly a standard setting.

    ¡¸Now the real question is: what kind of role and position will this Silvia assume¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, if they really want to win, she¡¯ll be at the forefront from the get-go, but I believe that they will save her forst, to showcase some of the game¡¯s features.¡¹

    ¡¸Right, that makes sense. Incidentally, what¡¯s the other guys¡¯ ystyle?¡¹

    From Katsu¡¯s exnation, I gathered that the others were ying in a way that would support Silvia the most. And from he told us I understand that he wants to duke it out with Silvia one-on-one, so our role would basically boil down to keeping the other three yers in check and stopping them from interfering.

    ¡¸I¡¯m going to send you some more informationter today. For now, try to use the Full Dive equipment in your rooms. It has Gxia Heroes: Chaos preinstalled. I would like you all to try it out and then we can discuss your opinions during the next meeting.¡¹

    ¡¸Right¡­¡­ By the way, does this GHero have a dedicated server or something like that?¡¹

    ¡¸There is a server set up for this hotel specifically for the asion. The Star Rain members are using it as well, but I was told that the settings are thought out to be in such a way that we won¡¯t bump into one another before the match.¡¹

    I wonder if the opposing team is also staying at this exact hotel? And if so, is it like with the real athletes? Does that mean they are staying at the suite somewhere near the roof?

    ¡¸I see¡­¡­ So for now our four can y against one another.¡¹

    I murmured that loud enough so that everyone could hear me¡­¡­ Including this Natsume girl.

    I know what she thinks. She must be full of doubt whether or not some random kid and a world famous model are going to be of any use to this team. That matter is a given, so no need to get riled up about it. But even if we are to perform with one another only for a day, a proper teamwork is in order. Katsu and Pencilgton knows that.

    ¡¸When do you guys want to log in?¡¹

    ¡¸How about 10:00? That should be good enough, right?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I¡¯m going to be logged in even earlier than that.¡¹

    ¡¸I would y from early on even without you proposing hours like that.¡¹

    No, Katsu, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s anything but rudimentary at this point. Also, let¡¯s try to work on creating the friendly team environment, shall we?

 Chapter 150: Justice and Evil Running Around the City of Chaos Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 150: Justice and Evil Running Around the City of Chaos Part 1</h4>

    Because I kept on missing the timing to reveal my real face, apparently it was decided that I was going to stay like that for the whole duration of this event. Because of that I used the option of having my meal delivered to my room, and it was nothing short of delicious! Free food is great. Not only is it delicious, but it also won¡¯t hurt my wallet.

    With that unusual approach I make myselffortable in the VR device and dive right into the world of the game that is going to be the stage of our battle in the near future¡­¡­ Gxia Heroes: Burst. Once I log in, I go to the training mode and stop at the colorful character selection screen.

    ¡¸That being said, I know only so much about Gxia as thatic book was able to tell me, and I know only the characters from theic book¡­¡­¡¹

    For starters, I decided to use the character whose visuals appealed to me the most, but I ultimately nned on using every single one of them. But for now, I chose the samurai-like looking ¡°Ranzo¡±¡­¡­

    -- Just like that, about one hour has passed.

    ¡¸Hmm, I¡¯ve been using it for a while now, but¡­¡­¡¹

    Due to the characteristics of this game you could y not only as the Heroes, but also as side characters and Viins, so getting through all of them was a rather long and tiring process. But once I did start ying, it was true that the physics of this game were much like that of ShanFro.

    Before ShanFro, every Full Dive game suffered from the same downside: the feeling of uneasiness that was created by the difference in which your own body moved aspared to your virtual avatar. For example, when a tall and slim person wanted to use a short and burly character, like a Dwarf, there would be all kinds of incongruities and feelings of unrest caused by the sudden change of your physique. That is why the way to reduce that feeling of uneasiness as much as possible was the main challenge awaiting game developers, because it could be a game-breaking issue especially in the titles that required precision of movement, like any FPS out there.

    Of course, there are some games out there that are notpatible with the VR technology, and that would be quite problematic to adapt into the Full Dive environment. Such games required a whole different approach to game mechanics, because what in the past could be done by merely pressing a single button was now the case of a whole bunch of different actions apanied by the need of getting used to your new ¡°avatar¡¯s¡± move sets. As a result, you¡¯d often be left with the final product suffering from what I like to call a ¡°Crap¡± syndrome.

    Also, there was a matter of body proportions, where fat or obese people stated that they were experiencing problems with enjoying the system because of seizures or nausea. So it was also advocated that in order to harness the full potential of the Full-Dive system, a healthy body was as much of a requirement as a healthy mind.

    But ShanFro managed to solve all of the above issues without much of a problem. No matter your body proportion and physical condition, from the very beginning your avatar felt as though it was your own body. Needless to say, the way in which you were able to operate it was much easier than in other games.

    So it was apparent from the get-go that this game was taking after ShanFro. I tried to use a whole variety of characters, from small ones to giants, from slim to fat, but every time they operated in a smooth and natural way, without any issues or difficulties.

    ¡¸For now, let¡¯s narrow down the number of the characters I can use in the match to about five¡­¡­ But should I decide on the actual character today, or maybe wait until tomorrow?¡¹

    At this stage the game has around twenty characters that you can use, so I wanted to narrow down the number of potential candidates to around five, just to be on the safe side.

    First is this ¡°Ranzo¡± guy. His name is Arashizou Ranzo and he is a self-proimed Samurai (not the actual one). Just like my Sanraku from ShanFro, he favors dual wielding in battle and his special technique is the powerful Iai-jutsu strike, which also allows him to move instantaneously.

    Next candidate is called ¡°Cursed Prison¡±. It is a viin who is encased in a powerful armor, just like his name suggests, and he¡¯s the arch-nemesis of Meetias. His special ability allows him to infuse various elements of the environment into his armor, like tanks and cars, but because of that you need to develop some sort of strategy topensate for your poor mobility. This ability sounded really interesting and I could already tell that it was going to be a fun character to use.

    Third candidate is called Meetias. Like Katsu said, he is the main character of Sylvia Goldberg, but if our ystyles really are simr, then I should be able to use him quite easily as well. His strong point was his speed and mobility. He was able to cover huge distances in a matter of seconds, but the downside was that he had trouble with making sharp curves. But he was ideal for closing the distance to the enemy in the blink of an eye. As a downside, his defenses are paper-thin. Sounds familiar?

    Fourth candidate¡­¡­ ¡°Tinkle Pixie¡±. Its name could already be an indication, but it was a female character. It was a character that looked just like a fairy and it was just as cute¡­¡­ that being said, it was a character that specialized in close quartersbat. The vast majority of her movements consist of things such as ¡°gap-closers¡±, ¡°movement sealing¡± and ¡°distance control¡±.

    The fifth candidate was going to be ¡°PSY Cyborg Road¡±. A flying character thatbines the use of psychic powers with the abilities of the cyborg. In other words it is the character that relies solely on projectile weapons and dies instantly when approached by the enemy. However, its ability to kite its enemies and slowly murder them from afar was greatly appealing to me and I could already tell that it was going to be one of my favorite characters.

 Chapter 150: Justice and Evil Running Around in the City of Chaos Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 150: Justice and Evil Running Around in the City of Chaos Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Do I even have time to choose my favorite character for now? What time is it? ¡­¡­ 9:52!?¡¹

    I am supposed to join in with everyone at 10:00, but does that mean it¡¯s the time when the server will be open? Or maybe it¡¯s open even before that time? For the time being, I try to go online to see if it aplishes anything¡­¡­

    ¡¸MATCHED WITH NU2MEG, MOVIN ON TO THE CHARACTER CREATION SCREEN.¡¹

    ¡¸Naah!?¡¹

    The fact that I was able to get matched up almost instantly made me let out a rather peculiar sound. In this game, the character you used in battle thest time around was your temporary avatar, so what greeted me at the character selection screen was the grinning cyborg-man¡­¡­ No, that¡¯s not all that important right now.

    ¡¸That name¡­¡­ I see, I guess I¡¯ll have to prove my worth right here right now, then.¡¹

    It wasn¡¯t Katsu, and it definitely wasn¡¯t Pencilgton. Then it was so obvious who I was going up against, and it certainly wouldn¡¯t be an easy fight.

    (Natsume-san¡¯s ystyle¡­¡­ I wonder what it is? It should be different from that of Katsu or Pencilgton¡­¡­ They can be unpredictable as hell sometimes.)

    Now then, what to do? Meetias and Ranzo are rtively easy to use, but PSY Cyborg Road and Cursed Prison are good choices to learn your opponent. Tinkle Pixie is too risky for now, so I¡¯ll pass on her.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Alright.¡¹

    ¡°Chaos¡± is an unknown entity that even Gxius himself, the creator of everything, couldn¡¯t quite possibly expect. It is the existence that does not desire harmony, but it doesn¡¯t want ruin either. Only chaos. Chaos that you can find solely on the battlefield. That is why it has captured Heroes and Viins alike from all over the gxy and trapped them inside its own creation, ¡°Chaos City¡±. Will Heroes of different values be able to work together? Or maybe they will sumb to the Viins who put their own desires in front of everything else? Or maybe they shall work together towards some higher goal!? In this city of abnormality, the Chaosughs!

    This was the current setting and although it looked simr to other fighting games, the rules were significantly different.

    First of all, there are two distinct victory conditions. First is knocking your opponent out cold¡­¡­ In other words, ssic beating the living sh*t out of him. That¡¯s the usual victory conditions for fighting games, but here it wasn¡¯t just about hitting someone until they die.

    The other was acquiring the so-called ¡°Chaos Cube¡±. It is an object that appears somewhere inside the ¡°Chaos City¡± at random.

    Basically, the premise of every fighting game is to fight battles in colosseum-like arenas, but in this case this battlefield was ever changing, being procedurally generated with every single match. It was more like a genuine warzone.

    If it was indeed like that¡­¡­ It may be a good idea to screw the fighting entirely and pick a high-mobility character that will focus on acquiring the ¡°Chaos Cube¡± as soon as possible. But at the same time I doubt it will be as easy as that.

    Depending on the character you use, the yer had the ¡°Heroic Gauge¡± or ¡°Viin Gauge¡± from the start of the match. And if you fail to fill that gauge, you won¡¯t be able to acquire the ¡°Chaos Cube¡±. So, what can you do to fill that gauge up? Well, isn¡¯t that obvious?

    By the way, if both yers happen to choose characters from the same faction, Heroes or Viins may appear on the map as NPCs.

    ¡¸Now then¡­¡­ It looks like she chose the Viin characters.¡¹

    If a match is between Hero and Viin, the Viin will receive thirty seconds of extra time to prepare. While the Heroes have the potential to make aebackter on, the Viin could use their extra time in order to set traps or start to umte their own gauges.

    Although Viins seem to have an advantage from that point of view, the Heroes could employ various NPCs from all over the map to aid them in their struggle. Or they could increase their Heroic Gauge simply by locating the Viins or performing rescue operations for the civilians.

    Focusing on defeating your opponent or going for the Chaos Cube¡­¡­ Rather than a fighting game, it felt much more like a strategy game.

    ¡¸Umm, excuse me Missy, have you seen any Viins rampaging around these parts?¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, there was someone like that over there not so long ago! My husband might still be there as well¡­¡­!!¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­¡­ By the way, is there a candy store somewhere around these parts?¡¹

    ¡¸Who cares about stuff like that right now!? More importantly, head towards the location of the Nursing Home!¡¹

    Yeah, I knew it. The old woman got angry when I asked her such a crazy question. So this must be the essence of this game. Offline single yer match¡­¡­ It appears that even though we are testing the game we can¡¯t ess all of its functions for the time being, but we can contact the NPCs without a problem.

    Knowing that, I tried out a whole lot of different things. Like trying to keep children hostage with Viin characters. Rescuing people with Hero characters, and even ying in a way that was unbing of my specific faction. And here¡¯s what I learned from all that.

    At its very core, this game is nothing but a simtion game.

 Chapter 151: Character Games In a Nutshell Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 151: Character Games In a Nutshell Part 1</h4>

    In games like Gxia Heroes: Chaos thepetitive elements are, in a nutshell, extravagant andpletely unnecessary. In games like that the bread and butter is the unique sense of experience you get from ying Heroes and Viins.

    When ites to the Gxia series, it is not the original series but rather a series ofic books adapted into a game. A game where you could jump from building to building like a true Hero ormit heinous crimes like a true Viin would. It was that kind of experience this game was offering.

    And it is only now that doing things like that became possible, all thanks to the technology that became advanced enough to make that happen. Before that, the options given to Heroes and Viins alike were severely limited.

    ¡¸But if it wasn¡¯t for ShanFro, this world wouldn¡¯t be born in the first ce.¡¹

    ShangriLa Frontier, a true and utter Paradigm Shift when ites to the world of gaming¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know to what extent the developers of Gxia Heroes: Chaos were leaning on it, but it is an undeniable fact that they managed to create something which wasn¡¯t able to be realized ever before.

    In other words, the yers weren¡¯t only using the skin of their characters in order to y. They needed to be their characters, either Heroes or Viins. A true Role-y. That¡¯s the premise of this game. You cannot hope to survive in Chaos City by merely pretending. You must truly be one of its denizens.

    ¡¸Because a Heroic Gauge is needed to secure the cube, I need a way to efficiently fill it up¡­¡­ Now, how should I go on about that¡­¡­?¡¹

    Role ying. An act that lets you fully immerse yourself into the world of the game and actually be the character you are ying as.

    ¡¸In other words, for Gxia fans this game is truly a Godly game.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t like you or that I have something against you¡­¡­ But I must see it with my own eyes! How good you actually are!¡¹

    Suddenly, a dual wielding samurai looking like a hybrid of human and a nt confronts me on the main street. If I remember correctly, this character¡¯s name is¡­¡­ Yggdryer, I believe?

    He was once a Hero, but after being abducted by a mad scientist and being experimented upon, he was remodeled into the form that he is today, and became a Viin who can control nts in various ways. As for his gamey mechanics¡­¡­

    ¡¸A dull character specializing in setting up traps and counters, right?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll show you¡­¡­ that the forty percent win rate against Kei of yours is nothing but a fluke!¡¹

    In the next moment, a ¡°Trap Seed¡± that was nted in the wall of the nearby building goes off and there¡¯s a thick vine of ivying my way in order to immobilize me.

    ¡¸Sweet, sweet¡­¡­!!¡¹

    I happen to know the gist of the way in which this character tends to work. It is an attack that can be activated at will by the yer, but because of that it can only attack in a straight line. However, if you let it hit you, you¡¯ll be rooted for a moment or two and will be open for any kinds of attacks.

    There were currently two vinesing my way, one aiming at my ankle and one aiming at my neck. It was troublesome to some extent, but it was nothing that a good old shift of position wouldn¡¯t take care of.

    I bend my body and jump just like a rabbit in order to avoid the attacks that wereing my way. Afternding I dash using the momentum I managed to gain, getting out of the way of a thorny whip that suddenly sprung up from Natsume-san¡¯s body.

    Certainly, I understand the gist of every character in this game by now. However, that does not mean that I know every single trick or strategy that was to them and the ways in which you could utilize them to their full potential.

    But still, the information I have on me is more than good enough! With that alone, the knowledge about the type and distance of attacks, I can generally predict the way in which my opponent is going to attack me and how exactly he is going to do it!

    ¡¸No way, he managed to avoid it all¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, what was it again? Oh, that¡¯s right, that¡¯s right¡­¡­ I¡¯ll show you the secret of Arashiba Lamba!¡¹

    By the time I came here I had rescued seven people from the rubble around the city and saved two husbands from the ming buildings and car wreckages. I¡¯ve managed to umte my Heroic Gauge quite a lot and acquire some bonuses because of that.

    With that, I activate Ranzo¡¯s special skill: ¡°Storm Stream¡±. It is a skill that allows me to greatly reduce the distance between myself and my enemy seemingly in an instant. Right now it allowed me to move five meters in a split second.

    ¡¸Nowe and get it¡­¡­!!¡¹

    If my opponent was Pencilgton, she would have surely anticipated such a move from me and prepared some nasty trap in advance. If it was indeed like that, I would have been helplessly defeated without being able to actually do anything about it. But even so, I would have been able to somehow turn that around and emerge victorious for sure. But this time around my opponent was a professional gamer, so I needed to stay vignt at all times.

    Yggdryer¡¯s special attack is a deadly close-range technique that sadly I couldn¡¯t be bothered to remember the name of. I only know that it fires a thorny spear into the ground that then spreads around like a circle. Now, everything boils down to how Natsume-san decides to use that attack. From then on out, I can n my next actions ordingly.

    ¡¸It¡¯s not the power I need to watch out for, but rather the scope of it¡­¡­!¡¹

    The height of this attack is three meters at best, so the most logical conclusion would be to simply jump over it. Because no matter what, the only solution to escape it was to go up, everywhere else would spell a certain doom for me.

    ¡¸High Jump!¡¹

    ¡¸He nailed the timing perfectly¡­¡­!?¡¹

 Chapter 151: Character Games In a Nutshell Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 151: Character Games In a Nutshell Part 2</h4>

    Best thing about this technique is that there is no motion blur alongside its duration. Another one of Ranzo¡¯s techniques that required the gauge to be filled to some extent was ¡°Amatsukaze Tairanzan¡±, which lets him use a cross-sh-like attack, with each sh being approximately ten meters long. There was also one more thing: the feeling of defying thews of physics was simply great! All because it was a character based on Americanic books!

    You see, I¡¯m not stupid enough to just rush head-first into the opponent I just met and don¡¯t know anything about it. Yes¡­¡­ That¡¯s because there is always this feeling of ¡°Let¡¯s wait and see what he does for the time being¡± stuck inside my chest.

    Surely she didn¡¯t expect this attack of hers to be perfect, but judging from the startled way in which Natsume-san started to manipte the vines and roots around her to minimize the damage of my shes was proving just that. And the way she used her resources and changed their use on the spot was a mark of a true professional gamer.

    But in this situationpletely negating all the damage would be impossible, the only way to go about it was to ept at least part of it. That way she could give me a false sense of security while creating a counterattack of her own¡­¡­ But unfortunately the way she was going about it was worth only sixty five points at best.

    Since she is a counter-based character, she prepares herself for intercepting my iing attack. It wasn¡¯t that much of a problem in and of itself, but it would be such a waste to just let an attack opportunity like that pass me by. After all, the only way for me to beat her right now is to reduce her Hit Points to zero.

    After all, this battle is supposed to be proof that I¡¯m indeed someone who can hold a forty percent win-rate against Uomi Kei. So in other words, I must achieve a wless victory over her right now, otherwise she¡¯ll think it was nothing more than a fluke as well. Realizing that, the path towards victory starts to open one by one.

    If she dares to intercept me, I¡¯m not going to push my luck. And when I try to attack her, she just backs away to safety.

    For a while a certain stagnation is created, with none of us daring to attack the other one. It is like ying Rock-Paper-Scissors and getting a draw all the time. In my opinion Natsume-san was a little bit overly cautious, putting up her own safety in front of utilizing her character¡¯s abilities to their full potential.

    Somehow, from all of that I came to understand Natsume-san¡¯s battle style a little. That is, she is creating her own rhythm.

    There are yers like Rei or I who¡­¡­ don¡¯t do well when ites to battle rhythm at all. Regardless of who we are and what we do, we can aplish everything we set our minds to. If an opponent takes the initiative we might well lose, but we will always work on getting the upper hand and doing the same to our opponents.

    That being said, Katsu, Pencilgton and Natsume seem to be the kind of yers that create a certain rhythm to their actions. They anticipate their opponent¡¯s actions and work on turning it into a flow that works best for them. At first it seems really haphazard, putting the urge to win before the safety or getting the initiative.

    Both of those methods have their merits and demerits¡­¡­ But from that fact alone, at least the concept of defeating Natsume-san started to shape in my mind.

    If my guess is correct¡­¡­ She¡¯s the type that is not all that good at taking defeat with grace.

    ¡¸So, Megu, it looks like you fought with Sanraku¡­¡­ How did it go?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I lost. What the hell is wrong with this guy!? His movements got so messed up halfway through the fight that it was difficult to follow! What the hell is that all about!?¡¹

    Katsu¡­¡­ Kei asked his teammate about her experience with fighting Gasmask Sanraku, who was now back at testing various characters.

    From her reaction it looks like she fell victim to the same type of strategy that cornered him at that time, and realizing that he couldn¡¯t help but to smile in a bitter way.

    ¡¸Told you? He¡¯s the same type of yer as Silvia Goldberg. He tends to adapt and change his battlestyle every ten seconds, so you must always take that into ount and act ordingly on your own.¡¹

    ording to Kei¡¯s words, that Sanraku-guy is like a Swiss Army Knife, always hiding some kind of Ace up his sleeve. And by using all of those tools andbining them as needed, he could achieve results otherwise impossible to achieve for anyone else. It was a true double edged sword, for if you were able to see through all of his tricks, it was pretty much possible to respond ordingly and counter him.

    ¡¸I get it that he¡¯s strong, but his thought pattern makes him extremely unstable in my opinion. It¡¯s as though his mind is driven by some kind of ridiculous romantic ideas or something like that¡­¡­¡¹

    The ideas such like: let¡¯s y it by ear and not think of any strategy in advance, and see if it is going to be enough to defeat a professional gamer! Things like that tend to turn people off their game and Kei fell victim to that logic before just like Natsume did not so long ago.

    Following the path of romance instead of a foolproof strategy can more often than not lead you down the path of utter defeat, but at the same time it can produce some interesting results that are worth witnessing with your own eyes.

    ¡¸But it is precisely because of that that I think we might be able to beat Star Rain.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ So, does that mean this Towa Amane is as strong as well?¡¹

    ¡¸No, her case is somewhat different. When ites to her, she¡¯s just pure evil.¡¹

    If Sanraku was to bepared to a tuna that swims freely and is unpredictable because of that, Pencil Warrior is more of a spider that weaves its all around you only to trap you inside it before you even realize what¡¯s going on.

 Chapter 152: The Limits of Flashing In an Instant Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 152: The Limits of shing In an Instant Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸That¡¯s dirty! That¡¯s in dirty and unfair, for fuck¡¯s sake!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, I¡¯m so terribly sorry, I don¡¯t really talk in Loserish, so I don¡¯t really know what you are barking about over there!¡¹

    ¡¸Demon! Devil! Monster!¡¹

    At this point in time the number of civilians I managed to kill was probably going by hundreds if not thousands. Well, to spice things up a little bit I decided to throw cars around and y with them for a little bit, but¡­¡­

    ¡¸What the hell is this?¡¹

    ¡¸ying Jenga, as you can see.¡¹

    ¡¸Are you really a demon or what¡­¡­?¡¹

    Pencilgton smiles and thenughs as the building in the background gradually starts to copse, apanied with the frantic screams of the NPC, calling for help or the Hero toe and save them. The expression on her face was downright terrifying. How can someone take so much pleasure from doing something like this?

    ¡¸I already asked Megu about it, but what is your impression of this game?¡¹

    My impression of this game so far? Hmm, let¡¯s see¡­¡­

    ¡¸An Anti-Poption Simtor (with Battle elements)!¡¹

    ¡¸So it¡¯s like Tower Defense for Viins, is that it?¡¹

    ¡¸When you are given this much freedom it is only natural that you want to try out many different things¡­¡­ Or is that too twisted of an opinion for you?¡¹

    ¡¸I can understand Megu, but in case of you two it goes without saying that there is something fundamentally wrong with your heads.¡¹

    ¡¸I-Is that so¡­¡­ Well, whatever you say for now¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Say, whatever are we even supposed to do about them?¡¹

    ¡¸Maybe it¡¯s okay to smile while giving them the middle finger at the same time?¡¹

    What the hell is wrong with that answer!? It sounds like some poor choice out of a mediocre Dating Sim! What the hell, Katsu!? Trying to show off? I know he doesn¡¯t look like that, but still, what the hell!?

    ¡¸For now I wanted to keep silent, but I see that I must also take some serious preparations for the uing match¡­¡­ Say, Sanraku, would you like to y against me?¡¹

    ¡¸Huh? Sure, I don¡¯t mind.¡¹

    ¡¸However, there¡¯s a certain condition I would like to propose to you: I would like you to use ¡°Meetias¡± as your character.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ If you want to get ustomed to Silvia Goldberg¡¯s ystyle, wouldn¡¯t watching some videos of her matches be more than sufficient enough?¡¹

    ¡¸No, it wouldn¡¯t. That¡¯s because I¡¯m sure that she already evolved since thest match she yed.¡¹

    -- So please,e at me with everything you¡¯ve got.

    That was the request from Katsu.

    Looking down at the panorama of Chaos City from the top of the rooftops, the Hero Meetias couldn¡¯t shake off the feeling that this city was engulfed in fever.

    ¡¸Now then, how do I actually fight against Katsu in a way that does not involve bugs exploitation and guarantees me a win?¡¹

    Considering the fact that I had a first look at the game already and that my experience with ShanFro was slightly bigger than Katsu¡¯s, I should be in a favorable position here, but honestly if I were to estimate my chances of winning, I¡¯d still ce them in a 6:4 ratio. So it still puts me at disadvantage.

    ¡¸Oh well, it shouldn¡¯t really matter right now, so let¡¯s just try to do what I usually do.¡¹

    In a nutshell, ¡°Meetias¡± is a high-mobility character that can easily maneuver in every possible axis. He excels at wall jumps and mid-air dashes, but as a result he¡¯s not all that great when ites to sharp turns and curves. But considering how vast the maps here are, his mobility is the highest from amongst the entire character roster.

    His attack power was also on the lower end of the spectrum, but that only means that I needed topensate for that with hitting more attacks.

    ¡¸I wonder if Katsu really is going to use this ¡°Amdrava¡± character¡­¡­¡¹

    He is a close-range character who¡¯s one arm is made out ofva. He can use that arm to melt concrete below his feet and use it defensively and offensively, for example making a shield or reshaping concrete shrapnels into bullets. But bullets like that were slow in their trajectory and easy to avoid, unless they were fired from some impossible angle or when you least expected it. And you could be damn sure that Uomi Kei was going to do just that kind of thing.

    ¡¸Fortunately Meetias beats him when ites to mobility, so if I manage to take the initiative, I should be alright¡­¡­¡¹

    Even a drunken monkey would be able to tell that this was nothing more than a mock battle against Silvia Goldberg, since our ystyles were supposed to be simr. So it was only natural that Katsu wanted to get used to Meetias¡¯s ystyle and see how he could exploit his possible weaknesses.

    And as long as it was a Hero VS Hero match, I could ignore Katsupletely and focus on filling my Heroic Gauge, since there was nothing in the rules that stated that we must fight one another.

    ¡¸But that being said.¡¹

    As an individual, me against Katsu¡­¡­ No, if I think of it like that, like the undefeated record of his, it won¡¯t get me anywhere.

    I jump from building to building and search my surroundings, and after a while I manage to find a bright glow in a small park surrounded by skyscrapers, different from the electrical light of the surrounding city.

    ¡¸So the gong is already ringing, huh¡­¡­ Gotta snatch that first blood in my favor!¡¹

    I jump off the building and then jump in mid-air. Then due to Meetias¡¯s unique skill ¡°Star Road¡± I slide through the air for about five seconds. Normally I would love to use some of my Heroic Gauge here tounch a surprise attack from above, but unfortunately the gauge was not filled enough. So I could onlyfort myself with a maneuver that could only be described as ¡°Superhero Landing¡±. Gosh, I wonder if I could do the same thing in ShanFro.

    ¡¸You¡¯re so noisy that you couldn¡¯t make your arrival more obvious, you know!¡¹

    ¡¸I know¡­¡­ But what can you do!?¡¹

    That being said, Meetias is that kind of character that is surrounded by a myriad of particle effects all the time, even while standing still. He¡¯s surprisingly shy and incapable of stealth attacks, but that was not what I was currently aiming for. I wanted to try something out.

    Falling from a certain height in this game does not punish you with fall damage, but instead locks you into anding animation. However, if you try to do a plunging attack, it is way less restrictive than it would normally be.

    In response to my plunging attack, Amdrava raised its arm to defend itself. There was a loud sound of metal shing against metal and I lost some HP as a result of hitting boilingva. Good thing that an attack from the top of a skyscraper was so mighty, because even Amdrava¡¯s defenses weren¡¯t able topletely negate that attack, as a result of which it took some damage as well.

    Certainly, Amdrava¡¯s biggest ace in the hole was itsva armor. Although it was only coating its arms, it could even damage its opponent while blocking. Not to mention that any bare fisted attacks would apply additional damage because of its elemental affinity.

    ¡¸Good luck with being able tond a solid blow from that height¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸That much even someone like me is able to understand!¡¹

    Close-rangedbat against Amdrava is ill-advised for characters like Meetias. What I should focus on is to utilize my mobility and slip in a constant stream of weak but numerous damage.

    The best solution here is hit and run strategy¡­¡­ Dance like a butterfly and sting like a bee!

 Chapter 152: The Limits of Flashing In an Instant Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 152: The Limits of shing In an Instant Part 2</h4>

    So I do a quick backstep, put some distance between us and wait for an opportunity to attack. I also forgot to mention that Amdrava¡¯s appearance does not change depending on its ability to fire molten concrete or not. It was certainly ufortable to not be able to predict when it was going to attack, but¡­¡­ It should be alright as long as I keep my distance and stay vignt. Having that in mind, I close in to strike.

    I speed up my advance, and Amdrava responds by raising his right arm and pointing it just like he would a turret ready to fire. I raised my level of alertness for any iing shots, but since none wereing towards me, I decided to go even faster.

    After about five steps Meetias enters a state called ¡°Dash¡±, where his initial speed is increased even further. Right about now, no other character could hope to match him when ites to speed alone.

    The distance in between us was about five meters now. No bullets appeared thus far. A bluff? Or maybe he¡¯s going to try and attack me at close range?

    Three meters, it retracted its right arm¡­¡­ So a fake after all!? It moved its right arm low and coated it withva, so does he want to parry me?

    Two meters, now we are within each other¡¯s range. That being said, there¡¯s only a couple of attacks that you can perform at this distance, so our options are severely limited.

    One meter¡­¡­ We reach towards one another at the same time¡­¡­

    Even though Meetias was a in sryman, his footwork is pretty light and nimble thanks to the martial art of Siegundo he¡¯s been practicing. Therefore all of his techniques meant for close-quartersbat can be pretty deadly, and with the added speed bonus they can even have the potential to one-shot your enemies¡­¡­That¡¯s not it!

    ¡¸Kuh, ngh¡­¡­ Ouaah!?¡¹

    Right hand, fake, body m, evade, left hand, left hand, keep theming! Keep theming!

    Before I was able to piece together all the information that kept o shing in front of my eyes, Amdrava twisted its body, creating an opening small enough for Meetias to pass through it without doing any damage.

    In the next moment, Amdrava twisted its body further and shot at me with a mass of molten concrete that it fired from its left arm that was up until now concealed by its body! A shot of hotva came rushing towards me!

    I managed to twist my body just about enough to avoid the direct hit, but the heat from that attack was pretty much unbearable and it managed to burn my nose quite a bit!

    ¡¸How do you even react like that in the position you¡¯re in¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s called evasion! Spontaneous action that lets you avoid almost anything if you only put your mind to it!¡¹

    Even during such an unexpected situation, I still retain full control over my body¡¯s actions. And obviously, being able to evade an attack like that was far better than being hit by it directly.

    Honestly, I have no exact idea how I managed to dodge that. I only know that Amdrava fired itsva shot directly at the center of my chest, and I avoided it by twisting my body counter-clockwise, just like a speeding bullet.

    While trying to stop myself from moving needlessly, I turn around a few more times. During that time the sky and earth mixed with one another into one indistinguishable mass, until I eventually managed to get used to it and forced myself tond on the ground with a mighty stomp. Regaining my sense of bnce, I turn around to face my opponent once more.

    This time around I gather my energy and unleash a powerful roundhouse kick that makes a move like a hand of a clock, speeding towards Amdrava¡¯s knee. If I¡¯m lucky enough, maybe I¡¯ll even be able to shatter itpletely!

    ¡¸Don¡¯t underestimate me!¡¹

    ¡¸Shut the fuck up! And go die already!¡¹

    It was just your in and ordinary roundhouse kick, but thanks to the speed of my attack it gained power necessary to do some serious damage upon impact. Maybe not enough to shatter my opponent¡¯s kneepletely, but enough to ¡°bend¡± it in a direction that a knee should never really bend.

    There was one more thing to it: since my opponent was a biped, with one busted knee it would be extremely hard for it to be able to maintain its bnce, given its huge size. Or even use that leg to move around, for that matter.

    For this reason alone only one knee can be destroyed, but I didn¡¯t really expect any kind of counterattack right after a critical hit like that.

    But¡­¡­ even though it could only support its weight with one leg, since it was shaped like a Heavyweight boxer, Amdrava was able to stand. I don¡¯t think my Meetias would be able to do such a thing with such an injury. I guess that sense of bnce was another of this character¡¯s strong points.

    Now I needed to n my next move very carefully. Meetias¡¯sbo required to lift his opponent in the air¡­¡­ Which would be extremely hard to pull off in my current condition. I mean, it can still be done, but every consecutive attack could end up being interrupted or countered¡­¡­

    ¡¸Ah, sorry, sorry, let¡¯s stop the battle for now.¡¹

    ¡¸NaaaAAAHHH!?¡¹

    But right now I was like a car, I was unable to stop instantly. And once the animation of an attack started to y out, it couldn¡¯t be stopped by a simple ¡°End of Battle¡± deration like that. It was unreasonable. So even though Katsu wanted to stop, my attack was destined to continue until it found its target. I started the attack, and it needed to finish. Which means¡­¡­

    But still, what does it mean that he wanted to end? He doesn¡¯t want to fight with me anymore?

    ¡¸I¡¯m sorry, how should I put it¡­¡­? I wanted to get the feeling of fighting against Silvia like that and her Meetias¡­¡­ But I guess Amdrava can¡¯t win against her after all.¡¹

    ¡¸Ugoah!?¡¹

    ¡¸It was an unexpected ident, so can we justugh it off and forget about it?¡¹

    To that, I sent a sincere apology to Katsu. One in the form of a high kick straight to the chin that managed to send him flying.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ So?¡¹

    ¡¸I see? I had a feeling that it was going to be difficult.¡¹

    It is a character that has a shield made of barbed wire all over its arms. And since it uses boxing as its fighting style, it could inflict damage to its opponents while attacking or being on the defensive. Because of that, it was difficult for anyone else tond any solid hits of their own. I think it would be a great natural enemy of Meetias.

    The pro gamer gave me a smile and a simple exnation. Was that supposed to be an encouragement or what? Listen here, Katsu: if you¡¯re having difficulties with putting your thoughts into words, then why talk? We can always battle it out and solve it that way. Huh? What do you say to that?

    ¡¸Well, let¡¯s be honest here¡­¡­ Right now, Silvia Goldberg is a monster that is even faster than you are right now.¡¹

    ¡¸Really now?¡¹

    Could it be that she¡¯s so fast that she could beat our clear time of Gravekeeper Wezaemon, by any chance?

 Chapter 153: Taking a Real Detour Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 153: Taking a Real Detour Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Ahh! There it is! Meetias¡¯s legendarybo!¡¹

    What was that just now, Amdava¡¯s response was more than perfect! He defended himself against my mid-air kicks, and then he jumped back to put some distance in between us while also trying to grab me and prevent me from attacking¡­¡­ But Meetias was faster and managed to strike before Amdava fully assumed its guard stance.

    ¡¸No, just now¡­¡­ Did you manage to slip through my guard? Hahaha, is that humanly possible? But now that I know about it, you won¡¯t be able to do that anymore¡­¡­¡¹

    From thatment, you can estimate it was an action that reaction time alone was not able to produce. It was something that you had to perform on your own from the very beginning till the very end, while being unable to predict what the result would actually be.

    So it was no good. Even if Amdrava knew that the attack wasing his way, there was nothing he could do to counter-act it or to stop it from happening.

    ¡¸AMDRAVA IS JUMPING UP! AND MEETIAS¡¯S GAUGE IS AT MAX! IS IT COMING!? IS IT COMING¡­¡­ IT¡¯S HERE! MEETIAS¡¯S SUPER FINISHER! K~~~~O~~~~!!! EVEN ¡®KEI¡¯ CAN¡±T WIN! TOO STRONG! SHE¡¯S JUST TOO STRONG! SILVI IS THE ABSOLUTE CHAMPIOOOOOON!¡¹

    From there on out, Meetias managed tond a fullbo without fail with lots of flying kicks and maneuvers like that¡­¡­ and then it was over. Despite losing more than half of his HP, it was undeniably an overwhelming victory. ¡­¡­ While closing the site with the video entitled ¡°K VS Silvi¡± I realized that Katsu¡¯s words were pretty much true.

    ¡¸I can imitate the technique itself¡­¡­ But the pre-rendering of these moves is so extreme it¡¯s unreasonable¡­¡­¡¹

    In the video fromst year that I saw, Silvia managed to score the first round for herself and Katsu took the second round.

    In the third round, Katsu¡¯s Amdrava was quickly reduced to about fifty percent of his HP gauge while Silvia¡¯s Meetias was still sittingfortably at around seventy. But it was then when the turning point arrived.

    Up until now Katsu was on the defense and carefully observed his opponent¡¯s movements, but then Meetias started to move even faster and the initiative waspletely on Silvia¡¯s side.

    Suddenly she managed to deflect every single one of Katsu¡¯s attacks, andnded her own blows perfectly,ing out with minimal HP loses due to theva armor on his hands.

    To top it all off, her own attacks alwaysnded perfectly and mercilessly, making Katsu unable to predict them or to respond in any way. Or was it that RNG was really ying in her favor? Was such a thing even possible? Hahaha, stop bullsh*tting me.

    ¡¸Now that you mention it, he¡¯ll fight one-on-one with someone who defeated him eight times and against whom he managed to squeeze out a draw at best.¡¹

    Apparently he still believed in our victory, since that¡¯s the kind of person he is. He always needed to have thest word when ites to games. Thinking about it, when I bested him in ¡°Crap¡± he even went as far as buying the physical, buggy version of the game just so that he could beat me in my own game. ¡­¡­ But maybe it is that kind of fighting spirit that we need right now in order to emerge on top from this thing.

    Oh well, after all, our role in this battle is to establish the duel Katsu VS Silvia Goldberg and prevent anyone else from interrupting. In other words, the match would be decided in a Wild Card VS Wild Card battle. So, I should probably investigate those three macho guys from Star Rain as well, and prepare ordingly¡­¡­ Somehow, the word ¡°macho¡± was putting really funny images in my head for some reason.

    ¡¸Right, let¡¯s get some real work done overnight!¡¹

    After a really frustrating forty five minutes.

    ¡¸Ahh¡­¡­ What to do?¡¹

    At present I decided to take my gas mask off and go to the nearby convenience store that was open 24/7, the most reliable ally of those who like to pull all-nighters when ites to drinks andte night meals. Truly, if I ever tried to go into a ce like that with a gas mask still on, I would be in a lot of trouble with the police, and I highly doubt that even Katsu would be able to bail me out of something like that.

    Because of that sudden discovery of mine I got this idea to replenish my supply of energy drinks¡­¡­ Hence right now I went here and was upying the inside of the store. I know that the hotel maybe had their own supplies, but it just wasn¡¯t right for me for some reason.

    ¡¸Do they have any foreign energy drinks here? Oh well, worst case scenario I can always chug double the dose of our own, this should be enough to keep me going for a while¡­¡­ But then again, going to the toilet might be an issue¡­¡­¡¹

    It was always a huge drawback when ites to short term battles. They tend to be fast and intense, requiring tremendous amounts of supplies and nourishment from anyone who participates. And currently I didn¡¯t wanted to indulge in anything that would cause me needless hardships, like increase my urge to go to the toilet in the most crucial of moments.

    And it was especially true right now. There were many things that needed to be done before the match, like watching the previous Star Rain¡¯s matches to determine their yers¡¯ approximate y style, deduce what kind of character they are going to use this time around, and many more¡­¡­ But on the bright side, I was finding that new Full-Dive chair really easy and intuitive to use. Also, while tinkering with its settings I have found something that was nothing short of a gold mine!

    Yes, that¡¯s right. I¡¯m talking about the downloadable version of ShangriLa Frontier!

    In the first ce, ShanFro is a game that allows only one save file per user. That file and all of its data is being stored at the game¡¯s remote server, which can even be called the games alternate dimension, and in order to authenticate the right to use this data the user has to refer to the code of his console, physical information and type in a password. Only then will you be able to log in properly. But if, for example, your console got damaged in any way, there is a method to ess the game on a different device altogether.

 Chapter 153: Taking a Real Detour Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 153: Taking a Real Detour Part 2</h4>

    ¡­¡­ To make a long story short, if you manage to satisfy some conditions, you can y ShangriLa Frontier even on the system that you are not the owner of. What this means, is that I can log in and y ShanFro even though normally I wouldn¡¯t be able to do so in three whole days!

    This time around I was going to pass on the idea of logging in through that (probably tremendously expensive) machinery at the hotel and use my own slightly older model that I brought with me. My mobile device could link itself to my original terminal through the ry, and I could also do a password verification to ess it on a different device. Simply put, I could y wherever I wanted, if only I was going to be patient enough to wait a moment or two for the verification processes to finalize.

    Aside from my assigned activities, it¡¯s not as though I need to follow any kind of n or curfew, so I could technically do whatever I want. So I could y ShanFro and nobody would even bat an eye about that.

    ¡¸All of a sudden I was struck by this impulse to y ShanFro¡­¡­¡¹

    My schedule for tomorrow was rather packed with activities that were supposed to get me ustomed to the ystyles of other Star Rain members, but as for the rest of tonight¡­¡­ It shouldn¡¯t be a problem, right?

    While I was thinking of excuses that would convince even my own wavering heart, I suddenly heard an unusual voice right in the middle of the convenience store at midnight. It belonged to the other customer beside myself in here, who was apparently nagging the clerk at the register about something. The guy looked really tired, since he must have been right in the middle of his night shift.

    ¡¸COFFEE! BLACK! GIMME!¡¹

    As expected, her order was something truly shady, but since she was a costumer, he couldn¡¯t point that out loud. But if it was someone else that he knew, that person wouldn¡¯t hesitate even for a moment toe up with some toxic retort on the spot.

    Thinking like that, what I saw while going from the register was a clerk having a rather difficult time with a girl who was a blonde foreigner. She looked really suspicious, wearing a hat and a pair of sunsses indoors, and her whole demeanor screamed ¡°You don¡¯t want to have anything to do with me!¡±. That being said, she was wearing a que that suggested that she was staying at this hotel. What the hell?

    ¡¸Ahh, umm¡­¡­ Almost all of our coffees are ck, so¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸?? COFFEE, BLACKEST, DARK, DRIP?¡¹

    ¡¸You don¡¯t really have to force the ¡°ck¡± part into Japanese¡­¡­¡¹

    Oh sh*t, he ended up saying that out loud because he couldn¡¯t bear it any longer. Normally his female colleague would notice his predicament and rush to his aid, but seeing that she was busy serving someone else for the moment, it meant that he was going to have to deal with this annoying foreigner all on his own.

    ¡¸ARI¡­¡­ Thanks! AZASSU?¡¹

    ¡¸No, no, no, no problem. NO PROBLEM, YOU¡¯RE WELCOME?¡¹

    When you are Japanese, especially someone who¡¯s working retail or meets lots of people on a daily basis, there¡¯s this skill that you learn called ¡°Business Smile¡± that allows you to deal even with the most shady of people, even if you¡¯remunication skills are somewhatcking. It is a skill thates especially handy in situations when you have to deal with foreigners that try to use broken Japanese in conversations.

    ¡¸I, like something, big! Oh, but that, dark, watery¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸(Could it be that she doesn¡¯t know about the existence of word ¡®thin¡¯?) Let¡¯s see, something with caffeine¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸S, sorry for keeping you waiting¡­¡­ Umm, one ck coffee. As for the checkout¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸OK! I¡¯ve been waiting for this exact moment!¡¹

    It felt as if in this exact moment the costumer had been revived. There are times when silence is indeed golden, so the clerks only watched as she waved a strange glittering card and then waved her hand at them as she exited the store¡­¡­ Leaving the Japanese clerks with a somewhat difficult of a feeling to put into words.

    ¡¸Somehow, that foreigner was in really high spirits.¡¹

    ¡¸Ahaha¡­¡­ Ah, I¡¯ll be taking these.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, payment is in cash only.¡¹

    She felt as light as a feather, running under the starry night sky andughing while she was at it.

    Ahh, I know, I know all too well. I shouldn¡¯t be doing this. Even though it¡¯s the game of the same series, I shouldn¡¯t be taking such long detours just so that I could get used to its feeling. Even though its system waspletely different from all other traditional battle games out there.

    But this is this, and that is that. A game that managed to broke the hegemony of the USA in the game development world with not even a series but with one title¡­¡­ And from what I heard, everything about that game is simply pioneering as well!

    That is why I wanted to make that detour. To be able to check out the game that came out from the country that ¡°he¡± was from, the only person who is not yet on the level to be called my rival, but he¡¯s cutting it close enough.

    I¡¯ll be doing my best from tomorrow onwards, so tonight, just for tonight¡­¡­ With that excuse in her mind, Silvia Goldberg gets onto the elevator and presses the button that was supposed to take her to the hotel¡¯s top floor, to the VIP suite.

    ¡¸Oh my? That was the boy that just got to the hotel not so long ago, right? I wonder if he¡¯s part of the ¡°festival¡± the day after tomorrow?¡¹

    Just before the door of the elevator closed, the boy that just got out could be seen letting out a deep sigh. Mere secondster, his thoughts were swept away towards the ShangriLa Frontier, his second home that he was longing for.

    On that day, two people left the Chaos City in search for their ideals.

 Chapter 154: Half-Naked Man Drinks Thin Domestic Energy Drinks Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 154: Half-Naked Man Drinks Thin Domestic Energy Drinks Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Haah¡­¡­ I¡¯m here¡­¡­ Here I am¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Mu? Well, if it isn¡¯t Sanraku! If my biological clock is not wrong, it should be night time, right? Are you perhaps nocturnal?¡¹

    ¡¸Hey there, Alva. I¡¯m not nocturnal, but rather I¡¯m active when my motivation is burning bright! And there¡¯s no such thing as day and night when ites to motivation!¡¹

    ¡¸I, I see¡­¡­¡¹

    As for other people¡­¡­ They must be hiding somewhere else or not be logged in, for I couldn¡¯t see them anywhere. Emul was also sound asleep. As for this base, it was mainly Emul, Alva and I. Others were somewhere else simply because of logistics: there were not enough beds for us all in one house. But because of that I didn¡¯t know if they were logged in or not.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Well, no need to wake Emul up, I guess. Come on, Alva, we are going to do somete night exploring, just the two of us.¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, so you must be one of those! Those creatures that need to be constantly on the move, even in their sleep? Will you die if you stop even for a moment?¡¹

    ¡¸If I were a tuna or a shark, I could as well turn myself into fish soup at that point. Come on now, don¡¯t sweat the small detail and just y along for now.¡¹

    With just the two of us any major progress is pretty much impossible, so for now I might as well do a sightseeing tour and check a few things out. Also, for something like that I wasn¡¯t going to risk the lives of the NPCs.

    We get out through the roof and while staying on the high ground we start to explore the city. And although the city itself was illuminated just the same as it was the other time I was here, since it was upside down on the seabed, at least the looks and types of enemies should be different since the day shifted to the night.

    ¡¸Hnnnnh¡­¡­ I knew it, this scenery is just great!¡¹

    If during the daytime this ce could be summarized as ¡°sphemous city crawling with fishmen zombies¡±, than right about now I would describe it as ¡°paradise for fish¡±. Fish, fish, and fish, all gracefully swimming through the air. Literal swarms of them just swimming around, a sight that you couldn¡¯t simply witness in real life. And they were all normal and not rotten fish, which was probably from where all those fishmen wereing from during the day.

    Even though I¡¯m no fisherman myself, because of my dad¡¯s hobby I can distinguish quite a few of them from their shape and colors alone. Their designs may have been altered in some ways, but in a nutshell they were all made to resemble the fish that you could find in real life. And some of them were so big that they wouldn¡¯t be able to fit into cooling boxes, and some of them were so small that you¡¯d have trouble with witnessing them with naked eye.

    ¡¸Still, if they weren¡¯t around here, the daytime battles would be so much easier¡­¡­¡¹

    Here¡¯s the problem. Why is it that fish creates schools like that? It¡¯s simple, really: the more numbers you have, the easier it is for you to win.

    ¡¸I see how it is: zombie panic during the day and monster panic during the night.¡¹

    Then a huge shadow attacks the school of fish that was passing us by nearby. Its jaws were huge, it was as long as a train, and against it only a handful of fish managed to get away and avoid being swallowed up. It was the same type of dragon-like enemy that I defeated earlier, now swimming through the area with grace and aura of dominance.

    If it was only one or two of those, it would be nothing more but a matter of ¡°Oh, sweet! Rare monsters, more EXP for me!¡± kind of things. But it wasn¡¯t like that. There were many, MANY more of them, hence the monster panic.

    But to that, the sky was the answer. Because in here, not only alignments, but also physical conditions are being reversed. That is why the sea creatures can move on the ground and the things thate from the ground can suddenly reach the sky. That is why when one of the monsters spread its finsh and came rushing towards us, I was able to jump high in the air and avoid the attack by twisting my body, just like I did in that fight against Katsu earlier on.

    That being said, the assant was glowing so brightly right now that it shouldn¡¯t even be possible. It was a thing that should not be able to use such abilities underwater, but because of the city¡¯s peculiar ability it was able to produce clusters of blue mes around its body, distinguishable even in the bright blue glow of the city itself. It was also moving fast and was very nimble, which would make it even more dangerous than the dragon-thing from before. A new apex predator of this ce, perhaps?

    ¡¸Oi, oi¡­¡­ I thought that it should be safer around here during night time? Or maybe its just an irregrity that a monster like that suddenly appeared?¡¹

    The new monster had its fins as thin and sharp like finest des, Using them, it managed to get close to the dragon-thing that was nearby and struck right into it. Dragon-thing, Arctus Regalex, should have been huge and armored enough to withstand something like that, but instead it rose its huge body and let out a scream full of pain.

    Given what I just witnessed, it is safe to assume that this new monster is not only nimble, but also way more powerful than Regalex is. Even witnessing that from a distance, I could feel the power of that blow, and it wasn¡¯t pretty. While squirming in pain, the Arctus Regalex¡¯s body thrashes about, causing destruction like a small truck it was.

 Chapter 154: Half-Naked Man Drinks Domestic Energy Drinks Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 154: Half-Naked Man Drinks Domestic Energy Drinks Part 2</h4>

    The monster makes a brilliant U-turn and opens its jaws up again, as if guided by some kind of invisible string that was guiding it towards certain victory. Guided by its biological instincts, Regalex tries to escape its assant¡¯s jaws. But its mass and slowness was its doom, because it was not nearly fast enough to escape in time.

    The monster¡¯s fangs seeps into its body. In the next moment Regalex screams loudly as blue mes of blood burst from its wounds, right before a huge chunk of its flesh was being torn out right out of its body. It was a roar that shook the very foundation of the city. As to prevent its prey from escaping, the monster wrapped its long body around Regalex and tightened its grip, preventing Regalex from being able to do anything.

    The strength of this grip must have been like that of thousand men, and there was no way for Regalex to escape. Still, even though it was so strong, the monster was able to swim so fast and be pretty nimble about it as well. This was no longer a fight of two equals. It was the predator making its prey into its dinner.

    The assant¡¯s wings emit a strange light. It was a strange kind of light,pletely different from the warm glow of the surrounding city and the blue mes I saw not too long before. It was a glow that killed everything it touched, and not allowed even the smallest speck of dust to exist. Since time immemorial it was believed it was the tool by which the Gods executed their wrath and the fact that it was high-speed and high-damage made it into almost 100% sure insta-kill attack.

    In other words, it was what we people would call ¡°Thunder¡±.

    Its lens-wings begin to spark brightly. Depending on its scale, the storage capacity, and the amount of volts this monster would be able to generate, it may or may not be able for it to fend off any assant. On the other hand, something like that shouldn¡¯t be possible with its wings alone, it would have to be assisted by the game¡¯s system. As for the Arctus Regalex¡­¡­ it tried to break free of its assnt¡¯s grasp by thrashing about in a fierce matter, but it was to no avail. It misunderstood the situation. Nothing¡¯s changed when ites to this hunt, not a single thing from its very beginning till this moment.

    Then a predator enters this city, it bes the object of the hunt. And since Arctus Regalex was a predator out there for sure, and the apex one at that, this rule must have hit it especially hard. But rules are rules, and they are absolute.

    If the mes if this monster were blue in color, its lightning was for sure to be blue as well. Regalex must have felt what was about to happen, for it thrashed its body even harder in order to escape, but it didn¡¯t do it any good. The Reaper¡¯s scythe was going to fall down on its neck one way or another.

    The glowing wings peaked when ites to its light, making the natural crystal light of the city dim inparison. Then a widespread dome of electricity began to spread around, catching the fish and buildings in the st range, crushing them to dust and making the smaller fish explode on the spot. Poor fish. If I were to be caught in that as well, it would surely end up worse than some serious damage.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Thirty seconds, two seconds, five seconds, that¡¯s short.¡¹

    In turn, monsters should be something that yers should be able to distinct on moments notice. There are, of course, friendly monsters such as Emul, but usually they are hostile¡­¡­ The me-spitter and crystal wings over there is no exception.So instead of worrying about something that one-shotted the Dragon-thing, it is best to think of a way to ovee it instead.

    In general, this whole area was nothing more but a dungeon that yers could explore and ultimately capture. And even with all of those monsters around, this ce was no exception for that rule. So what I needed to do was to try to think of a way to conquer the unreasonable odds that were in front of me, not to sumb to them and lose hope.

    Things that I want to do. Things that I must do. And things that I should do. If you can¡¯t decide where to start, let me give you a quick solution. What you want to do, it would be ideal if there was no audience that was watching your every single action. It¡¯s way easier that way.

    ¡¸If I had anyints about this game, any at all, it would be about the animations of monsters preying on other monsters. I know it¡¯s because of the engine¡¯s limitations, but still¡­¡­¡¹

    And because of ShanFro¡¯s care to look especially realistic, that goofy animation of chewing was especially hrious to me. I scoff at it some more before I eventually dive down towards the ce where the monster is in order to collect some of the dropped items for myself. Now that I think about it, isn¡¯t the food chain in this underwater ecosystem all messed up? I mean, even if you take Kutanid out of the picture? It sure seemed to be that way to me.

    ¡¸This is going to feel exactly the same as trying to appeal to the mes, isn¡¯t it¡­¡­?¡¹

    I just needed to provoke it, that¡¯s all. I didn¡¯t really need to defeat it. There was something I needed to make sure of, and for that I required a ¡°mighty destructive force¡±.

    That¡¯s why I went to challenge the Underwater King that was looking down at me from the sky with no fear in my heart. Now it was time to make some serious provocations! Thanks in advance for any drop items!

 Chapter 155: 100 Meters Per Second Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 155: 100 Meters Per Second Part 1</h4>

    Kutanid of the Abyss possesses a unique ability that sets it apart from all the rest of Unique Monsters.

    It is something that is cut above even someone like Wezaemon who managed to carve out the time of the world itself to preserve something and prevent his own death, and even Luukan¡¯s ability to create his own alter egos from the surrounding darkness.

    Cutanid¡¯s ability could even bring back what was destroyed to the state of ¡°whole¡± again. It seems that juggling life and death was as easy for it as flipping the switch from ¡°on¡± to ¡°off¡± over and over again.

    It wasn¡¯t just strong. It wasn¡¯t downright broken. It was simply unreasonable. Every RPG out there needs to follow a certain rules in order to function properly: there has to be yer character, there have to be NPC, monsters, quest, time limits, and all other stuff like that¡­¡­ And what Kutanid does is basically taking all of those concepts and throwing them out the window.

    However, even though it was the enemy that is simply despair-inducing, it is still a part of ShangriLa Frontier¡¯s system. Which means, as a scenario, there has to be a way to defeat it or a loophole that can be exploited.

    It¡¯s not that I hate puzzle games, but I sure hope this quest wasn¡¯t going to be like: in order to do this you need to first do that, acquire that and learn that, which can only be done at this location at that particr time. Otherwise it would quickly devolve into a sh*tty game of the biggest kind.

    ¡¸Now, it¡¯s time to find out a thing or two.¡¹

    I was able to witness the ultimate predator of the day getting devoured by something much more fiercer than it during the nighttime. I was also able to see with my own eyes how much of a change underwent in the city as a result of this power.

    It is indeed amazing. But it is only a game. And every power, no matter how strong or potent, must have some limitations. Or conditions necessary to trigger them. Its like entering the house in any normal RPG, an action that changes the area and upon getting back on the overworld map the enemies are respawned or the destruction is fixed.

    If so, then question one: what are the condition for Kutanid to reset the area?

    And question two: howrge portion of the city can be destroyed at once?

    Lastly, question three: how strong are the ¡°Seals¡± guarding Kutanid?

    ¡¸I¡¯ll do my best to destroy it all¡­¡­ Just like those monsters did before me!¡¹

    So I jump off the roof, avoiding the thunder-monster that wasing straight at me. I was getting the feeling that it would want to crush me, so I started to move towards one of the four towers that I could see in the distance.

    I could hear some really unpleasant sounds behind my back, and when I jump off the roof in a hurry I could see and hear the blue lightning hitting the ce where I was standing just a moment ago, crumbling the building away and turning it into dust and rubble. I could even feel some of the debris hit my back.

    ¡¸Oi, wawawa¡­¡­ That was dangerous!¡¹

    Ind safely on the ground, now ridden with stone and debris, and after activating a wide range of my skills I make a run for it trying to put as much of a distance between myself and the monster that I possibly could. Then I jump onto the rooftops again and continue my run.

    Just then I could feel a tremendous st right behind me. Looking back, the monster deployed its fins and smashed them into the ground, most probably hoping to st me away together with rubble and stones.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ That¡¯s actually kind of amazing.¡¹

    It¡¯s not that I doubt the power of this monster, but I don¡¯t want to risk it by letting it hit me even by ident. Something tells me that it would only end one way: with me getting pretty much one-shotted.

    What came as even more of a surprise, was just how well I was managing to avoid this thing. All the while jumping from roof to roof, kinking off walls and avoiding the fallen rubble.

    It was always at ast possible moment, but I was doing it. Running like mad, jumping, evading, hanging onto the edges of rooftops and climbing. This seemed almost too good to be true.

    ¡¸Guess this machine is not called test model¡± for nothing, huh¡­¡­¡¹

    It looks likepared to its predecessor, the headgear, this new bed-like machine allows for some even greater performance and even tighter controls.

    In reality, unlike in games, such a dramatic increase in performance couldn¡¯t be achieved in mere days. You¡¯d need weeks and months of repeatedly doing the same manoeuver over and over again to actually master it.

    But right now my avatar was moving way smoother and issuing themands to it was way more intuitive. And is it only my imagination, or is the quality of textures gotten way better? Not everything, but some things were clearly bigger, sharper and more detailed.

 Chapter 155: 100 Meters Per Second Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 155: 100 Meters Per Second Part 2</h4>

    With this, maybe even someone like me will actually have a chance against the strongest professional gamer in the world the day after tomorrow¡­¡­ Ahh, what am I doing, thinking of something like that while ying this game? On the other hand, we should be on equal footing, so the chances should be more or less the same.

    ¡¸I wonder if Mold would have anything to say on that subject¡­¡­ probably he would have.¡¹

    It seems that this new machine would be able to boost the gaming experience quite a lot, but let¡¯s hold ourselves with opinions after I¡¯d gathered some solid evidence to prove it.

    And just because the controls are enhanced and the fact that I have the Arcana of ¡°Fool¡± strapped onto me, this doesn¡¯t mean that I¡¯ll be able to spam my skills left and right in order to beat anything and anyone thates my way. There¡¯s recast time, the maneuverability of my opponent, and a whole lot of other important factors¡­¡­ But enough fooling around, time to focus on the task at hand.

    During my earlier fight and the current escape, I was able to gather quite a lot of information.

    First of all, this beast that was currently chasing me would prove to be extremely hard to kill. And seeing that Regalex was defeated so easily as well, I¡¯d surely need some sort of debuffs or poison-like status effects in order to seed. That being said, doing this solo right now might be near impossible.

    The me that was covering the upper part of its body wasn¡¯t just for show, but also for attacking. And by attacking I didn¡¯t mean just reducing the HP of its opponents.

    Each weapon and armor piece has its durability. And no matter how durable, everything is bound to break apart if you continue to use or damage it long enough. And since the fire would apply direct damage constantly, attacking the monster¡¯s upper half was out of the question.

    Naturally, since I can¡¯t target the upper body this leaves the lower half to focus my attacks on, but as we could see from the way in which its fins tend to move, getting close and within attack range might actually be a whole lot more difficult.

    Then we have the number of hits I can dish out while remaining safe. I¡¯d say¡­¡­ two or three hits at best. If I had some actually powerful weapons like Rei does, maybe I could dish out less attacks for more damage, but my own attacks right now could very well be like trying to sprinkle water over a hot stone.

    The answer to that would be to increase the number of hits I would try tond, but in my current circumstances it would be better to try to avoid prolonged exchanges with that thing at all cost. This was probably going to be as hard as the Crystal Scorpions fight, but this time around it could be even harder, mainly because I couldn¡¯t just cheat my way out of damage in this fight, and the Crystal Scorpions weren¡¯t able to swim in the air like this thing does.

    ¡¸In that case what I should do is to try to apply as much environmental damage as possible¡­¡­¡¹

    There were many houses erected alongside the roads, but not every one of them was linked to another one like row houses. There were paths in between some of them wide enough for a single person to slip through, sometimes filled with rubble and sometimespletely clear.

    So it was more or less like a game of Whack-a-Mole. I was using those narrow passageways to get closer to my destination, while allowing all of my skills to go off cooldown in the meantime.

    All this time the monster was still chasing me, crashing into the building and asionally letting out roars of anger that one small insect was causing it so much trouble.

    ¡¸Ha! Thing is, you need about thirty seconds in advance to prepare the attack!¡¹

    It needed thirty seconds to fully charge up its electric attack, but the fact that it was able to act normally during the charge was enough of a threat in and of itself. On the bright side, the visual cue when the attack was ready to be unleashed was also a huge help.

    Also, the thunder sphere sure had a huge radius, but it wasn¡¯t expanding without stopping. It would eventually stop after reaching a certain radius, so it was possible to maintain a safe distance and avoid getting hit by it. You only needed a little bit of caution¡­¡­

    ¡¸¡­¡­ No, that¡¯s not it.¡¹

    The fire on its upper body was generating waves of heat that wouldn¡¯t be able to ur naturally, and the movements of the fins were creating strong currents. It was all circting around the monster¡¯s body.

    It was at this point in time that I decided to let the monster make the first move while I was focusing on escaping while also organizing my inventory in the right way. Good thing I chugged those energy drinks earlier, for I was able to put some considerable distance between the monster and myself.

    ¡¸Alright¡­¡­ Now all that¡¯s left is to aim properly, right? That¡¯s right, when climbing high ces, isn¡¯t it the best strategy to just go in a straight line without getting sidetracked?¡¹

    Right now, I was about to be sandwiched in between the tower where one of the ¡°Seals¡± is located and the huge monster that is chasing me.

    Honestly, I wanted to achieve better positioning, but sometimes you can¡¯t get what you want in life. You must learn to work with the hand that was given to you.

    Now it was time to y a little game. A game that would not depend on RNG, but rather on reflexes, intuition and sheer luck. All of the above were needed for what I was about to try to do. If I don¡¯t get lucky, I¡¯ll end up dead. If it goes like I want it to go¡­¡­ This is going to be interesting.

 Chapter 156: Beware of the Tyrant Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 156: Beware of the Tyrant Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Goodness gracious, and here I was about to go and look for my weapon, when such a nasty fish had to emerge out of nowhere! Why would you even think that you could fight Antic Reaperorca on your own!?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s not like I was looking for this monstrosity to begin with! It found me itself and then it wouldn¡¯t leave me alone!¡¹

    ¡¸And now it will be my job to rescue you like you¡¯ve rescued me!¡¹

    ¡¸And I respect that you can proim such a thing without any hesitation!¡¹

    Swiftly moving its tail, Alva grabbed a firmer hold of me and we flew through the underwater city. Normally I would surely enjoy a ride like that and admire the scenery, but there was no time for that now. Not when we had a bloodthirsty monster on our asses.

    ¡¸Is it going to be hard, getting away from that thing?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­I¡¯d say that yes, it is going to be difficult. Antic Reaperorca is a persistent predator, once it sets its sights onto a prey, it won¡¯t stop until it hunts it down and devours it whole.¡¹

    Well, if I was a spider who was about to devour a tasty fat fly and then suddenly another fly came about and rescued the fly that was supposed to be my dinner, I¡¯d be livid with anger as well. We might have gotten out of the frying pan, but we were still in the fire.

    It seems that this monster was just like the Crystal Scorpions. As long as it meant killing its prey, it was going to go to any lengths to make that happen, even if it meant breaking every single bone within its body.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Sanraku, I¡¯ll try to lure it towards the edge of the city. In the meantime, you get as far away from us as you can.¡¹

    ¡¸Why are you going in such a weird way, then? Go here, then like this, then like that, right here¡­¡­ Ahh, now I get it¡­¡­ Alright, time to change things up a bit! Do you want to kick this guy¡¯s ass?¡¹

    ¡¸Why, I could go even quicker if we were actually out in the open sea, but¡­¡­ Huh? What did you just say?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm? Change of ns. Instead of running away, we are going to kill the bloody monster and be done with it.¡¹

    Alva looked at me with astonishment, as if he saw a sardine trying to pick a fight with a shark.

    ¡¸Alva, dodge!¡¹

    ¡¸Uooohhh!?¡¹

    ¡¸And here I thought it might be exhausted after using that freaking discharge so much¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t change the subject! Sanraku, did you just suggest we kill the Antic Reaperorca!? Are you sane!?¡¹

    ¡¸It might sound crazy, but take a look at this!¡¹

    I urge Alva with my hand to look down below us. We both look towards the street that leads to the entrance to the tower that I used as an object of experiment. The street was currently riddled with craters and trenches created most probably as a result of the electric attacks andser beams of this monster.

    ¡¸Listen up, that Altantian¡­¡­ Gaaah, it¡¯s such a drag to call this thing like that! Look! The ce where that monster attacked! Every single building was turned into a pile of rubble, except for that one strangely-shaped house. Why do you think that is?¡¹

    ¡¸What on Earth¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s a simple science problem. How does a light beam behave when you ce a mirror in its path? Considering that Kutanid¡¯s ability is to ¡°reverse¡± the nature of everything it touches, wouldn¡¯t it be sound logic to assume that a light beam could work as a deadlyser right now? Reflecting right back at the source that cast it?¡¹

    If that damage was really a result of the monster¡¯s attack, the whole area would end up dested and the holes in the ground would be at least a few meters deep. With firepower like that it would be enough to evaporate every living being in the vicinity.

    Also, if it was indeed created by its attack, shouldn¡¯t the damage spread all over from where the monster was to the tower? It was strange that the damage was only reaching about halfway there.

    Additionally, the trenches are shallow closer to the tower and get deeper the further they go from it. Because of that, there is only one possible exnation.

    In other words, the damage was not neutralized by the tower itself, but rather it was reflected by a barrier around it. Reflected, or you might even call it physical inversion, since we are in a ce under the influence of that exact power.

    So theser that got fired by the monster got reflected by the barrier and as it bounced off of it and went towards the ground, tracing deep trenches just like that. It was a really far stretch, but it would certainly exin the damage caused to the nearby surroundings.

    ¡¸So that¡¯s it! You n to provoke Antic Reaperorca to fire thatser at you again and it can get reflected off the barrier and kill it as a result!¡¹

    ¡¸Yup, that¡¯s right. Perfect grade. Honestly, Emul would start panicking like crazy at this point.¡¹

    To that remark, Alva starts moving his mouth just like a fish taken straight out of the water.

    ¡¸Now listen up, it takes approximately twenty seconds for this monster to charge up and release thatser of his. It is the window of time in which we need to guide him right in front of the tower and force it to fire away straight at the tower itself, otherwise it won¡¯t do us any good.¡¹

 Chapter 156: Beware of the Tyrant Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 156: Beware of the Tyrant Part 2</h4>

    There was no way in hell that the tower itself was supposed to be a gimmick. But as long as I know that an object exists around the tower that possesses the ability to ¡°reflect¡±, I can exploit that in my own favor. Taking a short nce, there are three possible ways to do it. All because of the attribute of ¡°reflection¡± rather than ¡°absorption¡±.

    There was not even a need for debate over the subject, like you¡¯d do in terms of a quest goal or battlefield property. The enemy can shoot a huge-assser, the yers have the means of using it against the monster itself, and that¡¯s about it. With that, even the strongest of monsters can be brought down easily. Now I only need to psyche myself up for what¡¯s toe.

    ¡¸I don¡¯t know if it can be considered a ¡°knightly¡± tactic or not, but for now in order to seed in our quest we¡¯ll have to aid ourselves with whatever strategy will be necessary.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Right, I shall believe in your words. So tell me: what do you want me to do?¡¹

    ¡¸Go fishing.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Excuse me?¡¹

    This will be what¡¯s called a ¡°Lure Fishing¡±. It is a method of fishing that uses an artificial bait instead of a living one, so in order for fish to be fooled and swallow it some level of improvisation is needed to pretend that the artificial bait is actually a living one. So having that in mind, I want Alva to swim around as fast as he possibly can, aggroing the monster and keeping it away from me.

    ¡¸I have no idea how it¡¯s done, but you can swim through the air, right? I want you to try to bait it to use up as much of its mes as possible until itsser attack will be ready to fire. In the meantime, I will go towards the tower and adjust my position.¡¹

    ¡¸But won¡¯t that be difficult to pull off? I mean, what if Reaperorca decided to pursue you when we actually split up?¡¹

    ¡¸There¡¯s actually some secret to that, which for now will remain hidden.¡¹

    I¡¯m a man who learns from the past and my own mistakes, and who usually does not falter, even when faced with a hopeless situation. I told Alva that I had a secret up my sleeve, but the truth is, I¡¯ll need to test if it works or not before anything else. But there was no reason for me to tell that to the NPC. So for now I need to y the role of that ¡°reckless Pioneer that challenged Reaperorca with no hesitation¡±!

    ¡¸Okay, when I give you a signal, you haul ass like crazy¡­¡­ It would be ideal if you could keep it in ce somewhere reasonably far from where I¡¯ll be¡­¡­ And if my trump card works out like its suppose to, it should aim right at me.¡¹

    ¡¸All this talking, but won¡¯t the Reaperorca go away before long¡­¡­ Shouldn¡¯t we chase after it if we want to kill it?¡¹

    ¡¸Okay, then let me exin just what we are going to do¡­¡­¡¹

    Human mind tends to work in a different way from that of an AI, which can only act ording toputer logic and reason. Nevertheless, I can¡¯t possibly forget about the fact that this Reaperorca monster is part of ShangriLa Frontier¡¯s system, a game that is said to use military-grade AI when ites to its monster¡¯s behavior.

    It was trying to catch a nasty little fly that was leading it by the nose for so long, so its frustration must be reaching boiling levels at the current moment¡­¡­ It is a feeling that I can understand oh so well.

    It¡¯s the same level of frustration when you need to y some bad and annoying mini-game in a sh*tty game over and over again. I¡¯m not obliged to clear it, and there won¡¯t be any penalty for quitting half-way through, but it is something that puts my honor and pride on the line.

    There may be some people walking the ground that are the same as you¡­¡­ And maybe our powers are like Heaven and Earth apart, but when ites to frustration, it is something that is difficult to control no matter how good or powerful you are.

    ¡¸Now then¡­¡­ Let me show you the ultimate magic that I call ¡°Sanraku¡¯s Amazing Brain Cells Power¡±!! ¡­¡­ Now, Alva!!¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t me me if something goes wrong here!¡¹

    Alva releases me from his grasp and starts to run away from the approaching monster. Naturally, my body continues to float for a second or two, but then it starts to slowly fall down towards the ground. This move seemed to have grasped the attention of the monster.

    The monster opens its jaw wide enough to swallow me whole in one bite, and starts approaching me. Right now Alva was watching from a safe distance, while I was crouching so as to avoid getting identally crushed to death.

    ¡¸Well, I didn¡¯t think that the answer woulde so easily¡­¡­ But let¡¯s hear it!¡¹

    I ask that question while the monster approaches me at a very fast pace, drawing ever so close. Now, it was time to actually verify what I wanted to know.

    ¡¸Why can¡¯t you¡­¡­ just ¡°wait¡± for me!?¡¹

 Chapter 157: Running In the Shadows, Climbing and Making Noise Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 157: Running In the Shadows, Climbing and Making Noise Part 1</h4>

    Normally¡­¡­ Once you discover the best pattern of acting in order to beat a specific monster or enemy, there¡¯s no need to adjust that pattern further. You just have to act in such a way that ¡°A leads to B and B leads to C¡± and so on and so forth. However¡­¡­ I suspect that in this game a special kind of AI applies not only to Unique Monsters but also to normal ones as well. And the AI in this game can actually learn your action patterns and adjust itself to it ordingly.

    This gives birth to a particr question. I once tried to escape to another dimension on certain Crystal Cliffs just to be met with a swift response from the developers, who fixed the monster AI to respond ordingly to such attempts at cheating. Because of that, if it wasn¡¯t for Alva¡¯s intervention just there, I would have been turned into minced meat once more, this time by Antic Reaperorca.

    Having that in mind: at what principle are these monsters able to respond to my actions? Especially since my methods are not your typical and ordinary kind, and demanded developer¡¯s intervention. I think that managing to figure that one out is going to be the key to seed here, and it will be like pouring tabasco sauce on the developer¡¯s wounds.

    Taking my previous experiences with ¡°aerial extermination¡± of Crystal Scorpions into consideration, what I did just now to that monster could be summarized as ¡°I was chasing a delicious-looking fly and then it suddenly disappeared¡±. Normally what would follow would be that you¡¯d survey the surroundings in search of said fly, thinking that maybe you might have just missed it. Then, upon confirming that this disappearance wasn¡¯t normal, you¡¯de to a conclusion that you need to survey the area where it disappeared in closer detail. And then you¡¯d keep watch on that point, hoping that the fly would eventually reappear there.

    ¡¸So this means that as long as you confuse me with something else, the ambush animation won¡¯t trigger, right¡­¡­!?¡¹

    As it so happens, one of the skills in my possession allows me to do something like that no problem. Create a clone of myself that is identical to me in every aspect, just like the reflection of the moon on the surface of the water mirror. And even if its description was really fancy, the thing it did was to create a copy of myself that harnesses all aggro indefinitely for a short period of time. No monster would be able to tell the two images apart and would always be fooled one hundred percent.

    Now all that is left is to act, and then I shall see if my theory turns out to be true or not. Will it target the decoy, or will it target the one who cast the decoy? Anyways, it was a shame that I would be in it all alone, but if Alva got killed because of me and couldn¡¯t respawn, then that would make me feel really uneasy.

    ¡¸Naaagh! Gotta move! No matter what happens! If I don¡¯t move, nothing will go forward! ¡°Transition: INVENTORY Entrance¡±!¡¹

    I moved into INVENTORY again, this time using it as a temporary shelter rather than a warehouse. Then I started to count on the spot. I needed to count the amount of seconds that my decoy would stay active, plus add about ten or so seconds to it just to be on the safe side. After that, Alva will need to put in some effort as to not get himself killed while I¡¯m gone.

    If my theory was correct, once I disappeared the aggro of the monster should be shifted towards Alva. I just needed to wait and see how it was upon reappearing into the underwater city again.

    ¡¸Three¡­¡­ Two¡­¡­ One¡­¡­ Please, go target Alva¡­¡­ ¡°Transition: Real World¡±!!¡¹

    I could feel gravity starting to work on me again. Ready to face my imminent death I was thrown into the air¡­¡­ And then I saw something about a hundred meters away from me, swimming around frantically.

    ¡¸Oh yeah! Bingo! Suck on that devs! You can fix this sh*t however the hell you want, just fuck right off for the next seven days!¡¹

    I activate a skill and do a flip in the air to reduce the impact of my fall and the damage I would receive from the fall. The monster must have gone on quite the rampage while I was gone, for the damage to the surrounding area was quite severe.

    My parkour skills are rather weak and consist of the videos that I watched online asionally, when ites to virtual reality¡­¡­ I could recreate those moves to some extent as long as my avatar wouldn¡¯t bail on me.

    Actually, I¡¯m sure that my moves are not the exact copy of the moves I saw in the videos, but as long as the results were roughly the same I had noints.

    I step on the wall, kick myself towards the roof, roll in mid-air and run alongside the roof¡¯s edge. When I get close enough I need to signal Alva to retreat back to safety. After that it will just require me to get the monster¡¯s attention and aim it where I want it to go.

    As gravity tries to pull me down, I kick off the wall again, grab the edge of the roof and climb it. But instead of jumping straight ahead, I jump sideways, towards the cracked wall of another house and use it as a foothold, then I roll forward and jump off the roof towards another building with a cracked roof, one story shorter than the current house I¡¯m on.

 Chapter 157: Running In the Shadows, Climbing and Making Noise Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 157: Running In the Shadows, Climbing and Making Noise Part 2</h4>

    My acrobatic abilities are quite well-developed since in the early days of Full Dive gaming the golden rule was: ¡°The avatar moves in a way that the yer wants it to.¡± Nowadays, to make those actions easier to perform, various kinds of motion and system assists are being employed¡­¡­ Well, if it was not implemented, I assume that many games would devolve to sh*tty games because of their crappy controls.

    ¡¸For me, this is like a walk in the park! I could do this all day with my eyes closed, and even make a time attack out of it¡­¡­!]

    I mean¡­¡­ In the early days of my gaming career it took me three whole days to master the arts of full dive parkour. It was a pure hell of three days with much trial and even more error to it. But thanks to that, even the most devilish of footholds was no match for me. Therefore I can jump around, and even if my next scaffoldings would appear right under my feet out of nowhere or disappear in an instant, I would have my answer ready. Oh, the memories of that sh*tty game are so aggravating that they make me want to¡­¡­ Oupsie, let¡¯s forget about that, since it seems that I have arrived at my destination.

    ¡¸I know that there are a lot of irregrities here, but what is this¡­¡­? The material here seems different from other houses? It¡¯s so hard to climb.]

    Somehow, while looking at the structure right in front of me I get a feeling that this is more of a decorative object rather than an actual tower. I could also see inside the tower, since the entrance to it was not guarded by any kind of door or lock. Because of the inversion effect, there was a humanoid-like but also not humanoid-like creature that emerged out of the floor, like some sort of apparition.

    I see, so judging by the design of the dress of that person and her facial features, it was a member of the nobility, most probably a female.

    And apparently that jelly-like apparition noticed my presence, for it turned its head my way and looked straight at me, smiling softly.

    Gubah.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I see that outsiders are plenty this time around.]

    I can clearly see that her head is divided into sections, like an apple cut into eight pieces, and that there are small tendrils sticking out of her here and there. So apparently she was only mimicking having a normal human head. I wonder if the Reaperorca¡¯sser can st through here since I was inside right now, if things turn sour?

    ¡¸No, no, what was that about chasing two hares at once?]

    There has to be something seriously wrong with the head of a Hunter who tries to bite off more than he can chew. So for now the logical conclusion of being faced with two different quests would be to focus on one of them and bring it to conclusion.

    I take a look at the nobledy waiting for me, and then at the outside of the tower. Then at thedy again and again at the outside of the tower.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ And with that I¡¯ll take my leave¡­¡­ Here we go.]

    It was a surprisingly easy climb, so much that even someone without my skills should be able to do it no problem. Now, if you are someone like me with a wildbination of movement enhancing skills to boot, this bes even easier, almost like flying up the tower¡¯s wall.

    In game it looked pretty easy, but trust me: if you tried something like that in real life, not only wouldn¡¯t you seed, but you¡¯d also end up with lots of sore muscles and various degrees of injuries.

    ¡¸Adjust the height just right¡­¡­ Now, the time should be close for Alva to shine.]

    This whole operation began with Alva gathering the Reaperorca¡¯s aggro, and now that I seeded in getting closer to the tower, it was his time once more to lure the monster towards me.

    I give Alva a signal. Part three officially begins, and he starts to swim towards the tower at a very high speed. Then I observe that for as long as the Reaperorca has a target in close proximity, it will never use itsser, only resulting in physical attacks and electric discharge. Good to know for the future.

    That is why I think this enemy here is somewhat sh*tty. It¡¯s tough to fight it in close quarters, and once you get more than fifty meters away from it, it can fry you up with itsser. Unless you¡¯re good at hide-and-seek, then it is rtively easy to escape from battle and go into hiding.

    ¡¸So that means once it notices an enemy that is more than fifty meters away, it¡¯s going to st off thatser! Alva! Sprint towards me like your life depends on it!]

    However, if we wanted to make that operation a sess, we would only have one chance. Otherwise it would all go to sh*t pretty fast.

    It¡¯s strange, really. Even though it is so far away, I can see it¡¯s electric shocks clearly and hear its roar as if it was right next to me.

    Thirty seconds to charge. Two seconds to pick a target. About five seconds before the attack reaches its target. During that time I can move freely to correct my positioning, so realistically it¡¯s seven seconds to act¡­¡­ Not that much in reality, but in game it¡¯s more than enough.

    ¡¸Sanraku! I¡¯ll leave this guy to you!]

    ¡¸Sure thing!!]

    Near the top of the tower, the windowsills were my only foothold, since there was literally nothing else. I sh a smile to Alva who approaches me at a tremendous speed. Then I look the monster in the eye in the most intimidating manner I can think of.

    ¡¸Sorry for leaving you like that, but I¡¯ll take it from here!]

    Small fry number one, returns. Recognizing that fact, the Reaperorca¡¯s mes burn brighter and thunder begins to dance across its fins. Now then,e on! It¡¯s you and me! Let¡¯s dance!

 Chapter 158: The Real Meaning of a Reward Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 158: The Real Meaning of a Reward Part 1</h4>

    I got stuck. I was good with focusing aggro on myself, but my opponent was someone with huge amount of skill and good memory too boot.

    ¡¸If it was an event battle, it might have been a little easier¡­¡­ But what a shame, it¡¯s just a regr battle.¡¹

    If it was an event, there would be ways to steer the action on the right tracks. But here it¡¯s a do or die situation, with nopensation or assist at all¡­¡­ Which was making this ordeal significantly harder.

    In other words, I must be absolutely sure that the angle at which the monster shoots itsser at the tower is perfect, since there will be no system assist and even the slightest mistake can spell my doom.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s see, I guess I need to be slightly more up and¡­¡­ a little bit to the left? Yeah, that sounds about right.¡¹

    Everything now is based solely on my own intuition and unconfirmed visual information. And depending on the ¡°whale¡¯s¡± behavior I would need to constantly adjust my position in order for it to be just right.

    Also, it might be because of the limitations of the game¡¯s engine, or simply the architectural choice, but I couldn¡¯t help it but to notice that there were a lot of buildings with a simr shape being scattered throughout the city. But thanks to that I could easily get on the level of the whale and adjust my position.

    Basically, it was like trying to aim with a primitive weapon, like a bow. You could only assume the correct position and pray that everything goes as nned from there on out. Or in other terms, it was leaving your faith to the RNG not once, but two times in a row.

    ¡¸At least its speed is manageable¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know what I would do if it was faster¡­¡­¡¹

    It is said that nowadays there is nothing that VR technology cannot reproduce. So it was technically possible to create monsters and enemies that would be able to move and act faster than sound or maybe even light, but the problem is, how would yers could possibly hope to counter such opponents? That is why the monsters speed would usually be adjusted, at least to a level at which they wouldn¡¯t be impossible to beat. Which means that for me it is perfectly doable.

    ¡¸Come on¡­¡­ Come on¡­¡­ Come on¡­¡­!¡¹

    I force myself not to blink in order to not miss anything, even though in VR there is no technical need for blinking. I needed to see the exact moment the Reaperorca was about to fire itsser. Everything else depends on that action alone.

    If I were topare that to something, would it be more of samurai duel or maybe a quick draw match between two gunslingers? For the current moment we could only stare each other down, anticipating what the other one was going to do and react ordingly.

    It should fire in about ten seconds. But whether I act in eleven or nine seconds¡­¡­ Everything depends on me not making a small, but grievous mistake like that.

    I can see the mes of the Reaperorca burning brightly as it got closer. I can also see lightning gathering in its crystal wings and travelling through it body towards its forehead, amassing in the shape of a small orb.

    I¡¯vee this far, so right now I had no other choice but to entrust myself to Lady Luck and see where this was going to take me. Everything was set, everything was good, but the chances for me dying were still around eighty percent. So, before that happens¡­¡­!!

    ¡¸Transfer: INVENTORY Entrance!¡¹

    The beam of light approaches me at a fast pace. It was so hot and so fast that it was warping the space around itself and burning away the seawater, although just for a short moment.

    Just as the beam of light approaches me and grazes my skin, I manage to disappear from this world, albeit not without sweating buckets and having a feeling that I would be eradicated in a matter of seconds.

    ¡¸¡­¡­!!¡¹

    After a brief moment that felt like forever in my mind, I can still feel that I¡¯m in once piece. Theser that was approaching me fast was nowhere to be found, and instead I was lying on the cold metal floor, on my back after being thrown in here with huge momentum. I wait a moment and then release all the air that was pent up in my lungs as I held my breath in anticipation.

    ¡¸T, too soon for festivities¡­¡­ ¡°Transfer: INVENTORY Exit¡±! ¡­¡­ Whoa, what the fuck!? That was close!¡¹

    Thatser turned out to not be a type that dissipates after being fired, but it would linger for a few more seconds before eventually retracting back to the point of its origin.

    So if I screwed up just a little bit, I wouldn¡¯t be able to kill the Reaperorca and sentence Alva to death as a result.

    ¡¸Kukuku¡­¡­ Achievement unlocked! And what an achievement that is! It¡¯s just great, Alva!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh sh*t, you just disappeared and reappeared in a matter of seconds, and the next thing I know is that Reaperorca writhes in agony on the ground. I don¡¯t get it!¡¹

    ¡¸Fuahahahahaha! Look at it! Listen to it! Laugh at it! And know that all you see and hear is true!¡¹

    Instead of reappearing on the ground, I materialized on one of the walls. And since humans can¡¯t normally stick to walls, I fall to the ground, but because I was so excited I didn¡¯t really felt that much and I even forgot to scream like mad.

    Thankfully, Alva was there to catch me, otherwise I would have been dead for sure from the fall damage. But now I could witness and hear the result of mybor!

    ¡¸I see that the angle was slightly off, but other than that it was clean, direct hit!¡¹

    The fire burning atop of its body was no longer to be seen. Its crystal wings were now shattered. After being hit by its ownser, its innards spilled out like a water from the inside of a balloon, sttering red polygons everywhere.

    The roar it let out was astounding as well, being unlike anything I have ever heard before. It was gradually sinking lower and lower, and seemed to have totally forgotten about the fact that we were still here.

    ¡¸Magnificent! Now, to finish the fucker off!¡¹

    ¡¸Are you serious!?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, duh! We cannot afford to let that guy try anotherser stunt like that, or to try to bring us both down with that electrical discharge of his. And if we want to finish it off, now¡¯s our best chance while it is still in pain.¡¹

    ¡¸R, Right! Understood!¡¹

    Right now was our best chance. When it was so weak and confused that it could barely keep itself afloat. It was like a flickering me of the candle, about to be snuffed out at any moment.

 Chapter 158: The Real Meaning of a Reward Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 158: The Real Meaning of a Reward Part 2</h4>

    Now is the time for my revenge! As thanks for forcing me to run around this town like some ninja lunatic, I¡¯m going to inflict upon you a three times the amount of pain! Brace yourself!

    ¡¸Time to deliver a smackdown!¡¹

    I leap from the roof and sh at the monster with my swords, delivering a mighty blow to one of its fins. I then activate a couple of extra skills in order to boost my attack damage and fully utilize the fact that I was still in mid-air.

    Realizing that it was being attacked, the Reaperorca tried to twist its body to protect the parts that were cut open by my des, but then it finally managed to hit the ground, where there was no way for it to hide. But it¡¯s no use. shing at it at random is not as effective as I thought it might have been. Apparently there was very little skin and muscle under that coat of dying mes of its, and just hitting bare bones with my weapons would wear them down in no-time.

    But let us try to approach this problem from another angle. I change my weapons to my Gold and Silver Gauntlets, and circle the creature to get in front of it.

    ¡¸Hey, Sanraku! What should I do!? How should I attack it!?¡¹

    ¡¸Just hack away at it Caudal Fins!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Even though they are rock hard!?¡¹

    ¡¸The fuck do I care!¡¹

    With its fires almost gone, I could see its white skull peeking from beyond the mes from time to time. I don¡¯t know about the ecosystem around these parts, but if you have a skull like that, then there has to be something inside of it. So, there was only one thing left for me to do now.

    ¡¸Sorry, but I¡¯m going to rock your whole world now, if you catch my drift¡­¡­¡¹

    One concussion gifting right up! No need to thank me, just cough up those sweet Drop Items right up!

    Humans invented pot holders to be able to hold hot pots and kettles. Same thing with coal pokers in order to be able to keep fires going on for longer periods of time. In the spirit of those inventions, my gauntlets protect me from the lingering heat of the fire around the monster¡¯s body. Then I smack it good to the head.

    But even so, hitting something so hard with my bare hands was enough to wear down my HP and weapons durability bit by bit.

    However, in order to deals enough damage to this thing, I couldn¡¯t simply stop right now. So even though it wears me down methodically, I treat it as a necessary coteral damage in my quest towards beating this monster down. It would have gone much faster, but since I was receiving continuous damage, I wasn¡¯t able to activate any STR-boosting skills.

    It¡¯s not that I particrly hate this guy, but the way in which it was clinging to life was starting to slowly get on my nerves. Die, die, die¡­¡­ Why won¡¯t you just drop dead already¡­¡­!?

    ¡¸Why! The! Fuck! To improve my mood! I have to go to the end of the map! Who the helles up with such ridiculous ideaaaaaas!!!!¡¹

    God damn you, Sh*t Chronicles Online! Look what you¡¯re making me remember! In order to improve your stats go to the literal end of the world just to eat a freaking parfait! Some squid on rice with eggs would be just fine! Hell, the eggs can even have pieces of shells in them for all do I care!

    ¡¸What a malevolent aura¡­¡­ Is that something all bird people have inmon? Or maybe it is a result of some kind of trauma from the past? No, but Sanraku is not a bird person, but still¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸The more I remember the angrier I get!¡¹

    Every single time I recall something from this game, my heart lights with righteous anger. This feeling¡­¡­ This is¡­¡­ Yes, there¡¯s no doubt about it. It¡¯s pure, unadulterated rage and hatred!

    And with just that power of pure hatred I could feel myself bing stronger and stronger, delivering a savage blow after savage blow to the monster¡¯s head until it would finally drop dead.

    But soon enough I realized that once the enough amount of damage had been dealt to its head, it basically discarded it so attacking that ce would not be fatal any longer.

    During my relentless pummeling the Reaperorca tried to resist, but it didn¡¯t do her any good. Not when her head was basically turned into one huge percussion.

    ¡¸Not good¡­¡­ At this rate my STR is going to drop to zero in no time!¡¹

    In fear of reducing my STR and HP to zero, I try to put some more distance between the monster and myself. But even though anger was giving me strength, the numbers don¡¯t lie. Just as I deal a steady amount of damage, the mes do the same to me.

    Sure, he was about to die, but at this rate I would be dead before I could deal the finishing blow to it.

    But since it was weakened, it wasn¡¯t able to defend itself in any other way. It could onlyy on the ground and dy the inevitable. The mes spread all over the ground.

    ¡¸Once the apex predator, and now its going to die like that¡­¡­ Nature can be pretty cruel at times, don¡¯t you think?¡¹

    ¡¸Normally it shouldn¡¯t be possible for only two people to bring it down¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸If you¡¯ve gotints, go with them to yourndlord, I¡¯m not the one at fault here¡­¡­¡¹

    While we were doing our share of the killing, Alva suddenly turned towards me and said that, to which I responded in my usual manner.

    It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t get it, or that I don¡¯t feel for this guy, but if we were to sympathize with every single mob out there, vast majority of the games would not be appealing to yers and they wouldn¡¯t sell. If there is one thing that United Rounds had taught me, it is that kindness is not enough to save the world.

    ¡¸I don¡¯t think it makes that much sense since this is a game mob¡­¡­ But the least we can do is to put it out of its misery.¡¹

    I activated some skills to boost my attack power and then mmed my gauntlets like double sledgehammers right on top of the Reaperorca¡¯s body, killing it on the spot.

    Once the blows connected, the monster fell all too quickly.

    It goes without saying that because I¡¯ve stayed up sote tonight, the very next day I heavily overslept.

 Chapter 159: Anonymous (Idiot) A Team, and the Storm Clouds Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 159: Anonymous (Idiot) A Team, and the Storm Clouds Part 1</h4>

    Here are the spoils of my battle against Antic Reaperorca:

    ¡¤ Bone of the Netherworld Orca

    ¡¤ Feather of the Netherworld Orca

    ¡¤ Fin of the Netherworld Orca

    ¡¤ Heavy Crust of the Netherworld Orca

    ¡¤ Armor ting of the Netherworld Orca

    ¡¤ Loss ofrge quantities of Healing Items because the battle took so long

    ¡¤ The EXP that was so-so at best

    ¡¤ Status Ailment: Sleep Depravation

    ¡¤ Despair induced by the fact that when I looked at the clock it was 4 a.m

    ¡¤ Even greater despair upon realizing that I need to be up at max 10 a.m

    ¡¤ Anxiety of having to face against foreigners

    ¡¤ A whole bunch of other problems

    ¡¸For fuck¡¯s sake¡­¡­ Why i sit that sh*tty games always manage to find their way into every aspect of my life¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Hi there, Hizutome-san! You surely think highly of yourself, arrivingte like that!¡¹

    ¡¸How do you find the taste of this brunch? It¡¯s the brunch that you¡¯ve been waiting for! So, how it is??¡¹

    ¡¸Does the fact that I can¡¯t possibly retort to that makes me guilty, Your Honor¡­¡­?¡¹

    Later that day I learned that those two overslept as well, so why were they trying to bust my balls so much right about now?

    We decided to change ces, and right now we were sitting around the round table, using the models of the avatars from our previous games as our representations.

    ¡¸The venue for the first day of GGC is currently underway, but unfortunately instead of attending it we must stay here and think of possible countermeasures against the Star Rain.¡¹

    ¡¸Katsu, I know I asked you before, but¡­¡­ Those three machos beside Silvia, just how strong are they?¡¹

    ¡¸When ites to them, each and every one ced in the Top 20 when ites to the games they were previously ying.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh sh*t, so does that mean we need to prepare ourselves for the pounding of our lives during that match?¡¹

    ¡¸Can we stop talking about those foreigners for now!? This is getting old!¡¹

    Well, aside from my roaring teammates, right now I had an even bigger problem that was on my mind.

    (That¡¯s right¡­¡­ Sooner orter I¡¯ll need to tell those two about Kutanid, Rust and Mold.)

    In the first ce, the only reason I¡¯m in this Kutanid mess right now is because of that deal with those two in Nephilim Hollow. And since their intel really turned out to be connected to Kutanid, I¡¯ll have to show them the Mechas¡­¡­ and let them use it in order to uphold my end of the bargain.

    And I¡¯ll just have to think of a way to break it all to those two, preferably in such a way that they won¡¯t think that I wanted to screw them over.

    ¡¸Although that might be downright impossible¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t our Sanraku-kun awfully low on tension today?¡¹

    ¡¸Oi, oi, don¡¯t go and blurt such g-sounding things, Sanraku!¡¹

    The noise in the background was annoying, but for the moment I was unable to hear it at all. If I managed to convince those two to just fail the exhibition match so that we could focus on the Unique Quest EX, that would mean an additional two people to the party and the potential difficulty to drop significantly.

    But that also means that I won¡¯t know what will happen to the NPCs. I also think that Alva¡¯s story could be essential in a fight against Kutanid, but if that goes down the drain, will I have a n B on the ready?

    On the contrary, making this Unique Scenario EX a sess can be a huge bargaining chip here. Mainly, the fact that there are bound to be Unique Items as a reward.

    ¡¸So hostage and threatening¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Say, Kei, didn¡¯t you say that this guy was supposed to be loud and obnoxious!?¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku, don¡¯t be so negative! See? We have Pencilgton with us, and her skills are genuine and nothing to scoff at!¡¹

    ¡¸So she¡¯s the first in line for the pounding? Is that what you want to say? Hmm?¡¹

    Gah, noisy, so noisy, would you shut the fuck up already!?¡¹

    However, all things considered, that might be the only way. Defeating Kutanid and putting the Drop Items on the table might be enough to get Pencilgton involved. And as long as I have Pencilgton on board, Katsu should have no reason to refuse me either. So that means the thing I should do next¡­¡­

    ¡¸Use the overwhelming force that can trample all the absurdity before me¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, could it be that Sanraku-kun¡­¡­ Oi, are you even listening?¡¹

    ¡¸Haa? What was that, a dude who can¡¯t clear a Unique Scenario on his own?¡¹

    ¡¸PRO GAMER CHOP!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Gyeah!?¡¹

    ¡¸Now then, Mister Overly-Exceptional, could you share with usmoners your detailed impression of the members of Star Rain?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Bite me, that¡¯s my answer. And honestly, why don¡¯t we leave them to Pencilgton? I think that she¡¯d be more than enough to massacre them all.¡¹

    While holding my still hurting head I share with everyone else my genuine impression of all the members of Star Rain aside from their Ace.

    ¡¸Aren¡¯t they proficient at martial arts or something?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m not entirely sure, but I think at least one of them is a Professional Boxer as well. Of the Heavyweight variety.¡¹

    ¡¸Why boxing of all things¡­¡­? Oh well, not that it matters all that much. But since they are doing some martial arts, we can at least assume that their fighting style can be based on those martial arts.¡¹

    Normally, such knowledge would never be considered a weak point, since knowing the technicalities of a martial art or two can help tremendously when ites to fighting. Especially when sh*tty games are concerned. However, even though it can be a leverage, it asionally can be a weakness as well.

    That is why in this battle, the weak point that shouldn¡¯t normally be considered a weak point bes a weak point.

    ¡¸And putting it simply?¡¹

    ¡¸Boxing is a sport when you only use your hands while being on a ring.¡¹

    Natsume-san looked at Pencilgton, who was smiling in a perfectly evil manner, with an expression that was hard to put into words. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, I turned towards Pencilgton as well.

    ¡¸Say, Pencilgton, you always wear that nasty look on your face?¡¹

    ¡¸No, no, no, no way. I can control my emotions and hide my feelings perfectly fine. It¡¯s a necessity in this world if you want to get by without much problems.¡¹

 Chapter 159: Anonymous (Idiot) A Team, and the Storm Clouds Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 159: Anonymous (Idiot) A Team, and the Storm Clouds Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Ah, that reminds me. Both of you, under what names would you like to enter the tournament? If you don¡¯t have any particr request, I¡¯m just going to register you as Sanraku and Pencil Warrior.¡¹

    Ahh, that¡¯s right. You need a name if you¡¯re going to participate in a tournament. To be perfectly honest, I don¡¯t want to stand out too much, and I cannot hope to do that with a name ¡°Sanraku¡±.

    ¡¸Register me as ¡°Anonymous Alfa¡±, thank you very much.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, then I¡¯ll be ¡°Anonymous Omega¡±.¡¹

    Muu.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Well then, I guess Anonymous Type Zero has a nice ring to it as well.¡¹

    ¡¸Then¡­¡­ Please register me as Anonymous Ghost Number¡­¡­¡¹

    Muumuuuuh!!!

    Five minutester.

    ¡¸Haah¡­¡­ Alright then. So Sanraku is fine with being called ¡°Anonymous Prisoner from Beyond the Boundary¡± and Pencilgton with ¡°Mystic Lady¡±, right?¡¹

    ¡¸¡¸Finally.¡¹¡¹

    But honestly, if you start calling me by that name I¡¯m going to die from embarrassment.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ And what do you say for simple ¡°Mysterious Helper No. 1¡± and ¡°Mysterious Helper No. 2¡±?¡¹

    I wonder what people like Natsume-san think while seeing us being to our usual antics like that?

    ¡¸Okay, let¡¯s leave it to professional gamers. Their naming sense is a whole lot better than ours, I think.¡¹

    ¡¸Sure thing.¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku is going to be ¡°Gunball¡± and Pencil Warrior-san will be ¡°ck Curtain¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s the deal with a ball thingy!?¡¹

    ¡¸Why does this ¡°ck Curtain¡± sounds so dull and ominous!?¡¹

    ¡¸Shut up! It¡¯s your own fault that you can¡¯t decide! And if you¡¯re not going to get a move on with it, we¡¯ll going to be here way past noon!!¡¹

    Another thirty minutester.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Right, this concludes theing up with names. It was a long and ridiculous fight, but we did it.¡¹

    Yes, that¡¯s right. After all, Sanraku is my private name. As for my tournament name, I shall be known as¡­¡­

    I know I will never forgive you for this, Katsu.

    ¡¸Say, Silvia? Was there someone with a name like that on Kei¡¯s team?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm? Maybe they decided to add someone new just for the asion¡­¡­ What¡¯s this? ¡°No Face¡± and ¡°No name¡±?¡¹

    ¡¸Sh*t¡­¡­ ¡°You don¡¯t want to show your face¡± and ¡°You don¡¯t want to reveal your name¡± my ass!¡¹

    I was really angry because there was nothing I could say back about it. Also, it sounded a little bit cool, but still!

    While I do think it was our own fault for being indecisive, there¡¯s no real reason to stay hung up on the past.

    Just a little bit before noon Katsu was called to fill in some entry forms, Natsume-san had to pick up a phone call about some sort of unreasonable schedule adjustment, and Pencilgton went God knows where to do God knows what¡­¡­ And since I asked for a room delivery, I went back to pick it up.

    After that, since I had time to spare I decided to go to the hotel¡¯s restaurant. Of course, I had to go without my gas mask, because it would be hard to walk with this thing on in a public ce. If someone saw me like that¡­¡­ I would get in a whole lot of trouble, right?

    ¡¸I ate a normal breakfast just before the meeting, so now a light snack would be more than appropriate.¡¹

    Desserts, desserts¡­¡­ Well, shucks, none of them had any price tags. Does that mean that the amodation fee also includes meals? Are you kidding me?

    ¡¸Let¡¯s see, I¡¯m kind of curios about this rare cheesecake with midsummer fruit ssh¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Steak, 900 grams, for four people. One medium, two rare, one well-done, one rare to well-done, with lots of garlic on the side.¡¹

    What was that? Some kind of a spell that makes you feel like heartburn just by listening to it?

    When I came here the restaurant was empty, so it must mean the order was ced by someone who came after me. I turned around to see who that someone might be¡­¡­ and I immediately froze in ce.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Oi, are you sh*tting me?¡¹

    Machos, machos, machos everywhere you look.

    Just by having these guys around I felt as though terrorist might storm the building at any moment, or that a fight with some sort of secret society might ensue, or that they start to flex their muscles and lift weights. Fortunately, none of that happened.

    There was also someone else with them, someone who was not a macho. And maybe it was because she was the only woman among them, but her beauty seemed even more prominent because of that. She was talking to her friends in fluent English, so I wonder if she¡¯s some Hollywood star that came here to shoot a movie?

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Passive skill of Japanese people, blend in.¡¹

    Seeing as the members of Star Rain sat right next to the ce where I was sitting, I was doing my very best to just blend into thendscape and not attract any attention.

    Now I was praying that my Stealth skill as a real person was high enough to just get me through this meal without any major incident.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Ha?¡¹

    He couldn¡¯tprehend the words that were spoken to him. So naturally, Kei¡¯s only reaction was a simple ¡°Ha?¡± muttered like an idiot. Were they perhaps speaking in a foreignnguage or something like that? It certainly was not Japanese, because he would understand otherwise.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ You¡¯re kidding me, right?¡¹

    ¡¸I assure you it¡¯s not a joke, Uomi. This is a direct order from the Cyber Battalion¡­¡­ that is none other than our ¡°sponsor¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸Bullsh*t¡­¡­! What do you mean by that!?¡¹

    Katsu shouted while mming the tablet on the ground, ring with anger on the person right in front of him, his boss.

    However, seemingly unimpressed by this temper tantrum, the man repeated his words, this time so that Katsu could understand their meaning clearly.

    ¡¸Pro Gamer Uomi Kei, tomorrow at GGC we¡¯ll have you participate in the final round of ¡°Ruin War Hounds¡± as a member of ¡°Assault Company¡±. It¡¯s full-time, so backing away from it is not possible and won¡¯t be epted.¡¹

    Dark clouds started to gather.

 Chapter 160: Backward Encounter and Pandoraâ€™s Box Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 160: Backward Encounter and Pandora¡¯s Box Part 1</h4>

    Oh sh*t, oh sh*t, oh sh*t, this is so awkward! How the hell am I supposed to eat my dessert in peace like that!?

    ¡¸Really now, Silvia, you eat as much as usual. Aren¡¯t you worried that you might get fat?¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯d better watch your tongue out there, you yboy. Besides, I¡¯m still growing, so I need a whole lot of calories. Also, they are essential for my training.¡¹

    ¡¸You say training, but weren¡¯t you the one who overslept while we were training from the early morning? Besides, since we¡¯re in Japan, can¡¯t we do some sightseeing? It¡¯s such an opportunity!¡¹

    ¡¸Ha, that¡¯s riching from you! I bet you only want to go sightseeing so you can hit on girls and try to invite them for dinner.¡¹

    ¡¸Kah! Johnson, with that kind of pick up line you¡¯ll never score yourself a girl! If I were a girl and you¡¯d use it on me, I¡¯d flush it down the drain in no time!¡¹

    ¡¸Why, you little! Want to take this one outside!? Huh!? That¡¯s it! You¡¯re going down! Oh, you¡¯re going SO down! ¡¹

    ¡¸Would you guys shut up for a moment? I can¡¯t hear her at all.¡¹

    ¡¸Hey, Alex? That program is a recording, not a live show, you know? And besides¡­¡­ Didn¡¯t we heard that a bunch of times yesterday?¡¹

    ¡¸Lucas, listen now¡­¡­ Her voice is so gentle and nice. It¡¯s like an angel¡¯s wings wrapping themselves around me. And the amount of times we¡¯ve watched that¡­¡­ You got a problem with that?¡¹

    ¡¸I guess it¡¯s better than the other shows you like to watch¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸By the way, you said that your girlfriend ising here tomorrow?¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, I even said that I¡¯ll cover her expenses! But she said that it¡¯s fine and she¡¯ll pay herself! And she said she woulde here! All the way from Hokkaido! Somehow¡­¡­ Isn¡¯t that the most awesome thing ever!?¡¹

    ¡¸Silvia, please don¡¯t encourage Alex further!¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, now we won¡¯t hear the end of it, aren¡¯t we¡­¡­?¡¹

    Because they talk mostly in fast-paced English and use a lot of ng words I can¡¯t understand what they are talking about. But¡­¡­ form the overall atmosphere I can guess that it¡¯s something really stupid.

    Sometimes I could see the look in the eyes of one of those Macho + Alpha guys, and those were the eyes of an experienced yer. Most of the times he looked annoying, but the traces of seriousness as a gamer were there alright.

    That¡¯s right¡­¡­ They were Pro Gamers after all. And if that is so, then could you please get your own meals delivered to your rooms? Pretty please?

    ¡¸Dear Sir, are you ready to ce your order?¡¹

    ¡¸Neaah!? Ahh, oh, oh yeah¡­¡­ I¡¯ll take this thing here.¡¹

    ¡¸Right, and what about the toppings?¡¹

    ¡¸Toppings? Oh, I see¡­¡­ Then, give me a little bit of everything.¡¹

    I was so absorbed in trying to avoid getting dragged into that strange conversation behind my back that I even forgot about my own order for a moment. I just hope that I can be left alone long enough to thoroughly enjoy this dessert.

    For the time being, I¡­¡­ Should I try to make myself as invincible as possible in those circumstances? It¡¯s not like they know how I am, so there is no need for me to try to conceal my presence that much, but¡­¡­

    ¡¸---- No Face ----?¡¹

    ¡¸---- No Name ----?¡¹

    Every now and then I hear familiar-sounding words and I get really nervous as a result. Some of them were simple English terms, so even someone like me was able to understand them. Apparently it must have been something event rted, since the words ¡°No Face¡± and ¡°No Name¡± were being used quite often.

    (I can¡¯t understand English all that well, so even if they were having a strategy meeting I wouldn¡¯t know what they are talking about¡­¡­ But it¡¯s something games-rted for sure.)

    In today¡¯s era of gaming, being matched against foreigners is not all that unusual. And since the games does not take sides when ites tonguage the yers are speaking, they have no choice but to deal with it.

    This means that when ites to Pro Gamer stage,nguage barrier was not an obstacle anymore and it was the contest of pure skill. As long as you know where to go, what to do, and know certain exploits that you can abuse, you are all set to go.

    That being said, there was no greater delight then throwing insults at one another, knowing full well that you won¡¯t be able to understand one another.

    ¡¸Thank you for waiting. Here¡¯s your order: Erebus Parfait a ~Ride of the Valkyries~.¡¹

    ¡¸Huh, I thought that I ordered a cheesecake¡­¡­ UGH!¡¹

    Coming back to reality and looking towards the thing that was ced before me¡­¡­ I made a pain-filled sound as my expression turned sour and myplexion turned pale.

    Right in front of me, there was a mountain. An extremely cold, frozen iceberg. But it wasn¡¯t just an iceberg, no. It was spewing redva-like berry jam right from the middle of it, with lots of candy sticks being skewered on the sides, and a single gargantuan marshmallow being ced right on top of it.

    ¡¸The hell is this?¡¹

    ¡¸It is our signature ¡°Erebus Parfait¡±, which was created as a join effort of all the patisseries at our hotel. And since the moment it was created, you are the ny ninth person to ever order it with full toppings.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Incidentally, out of those ny nine people, how many seeded in eating this thing to the veryst spoonful?¡¹

    ¡¸Seven.¡¹

    So there are madmen like that¡­¡­ No, that¡¯s not important right now, why is this monster of a dessert even at my table!? I¡¯m sure I ordered a cheesecake! Speaking of which, this thing is the object that was right next to the cheesecake in question.

 Chapter 160: Backward Encounter and Pandoraâ€™s Box Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 160: Backward Encounter and Pandora¡¯s Box Part 2</h4>

    Upon seeing a frozen volcano suddenly appearing right in the middle of Tokyo, the eyes of the whole restaurant focused on me entirely. Same thing about the guys that were sitting in the back¡­¡­

    (Of fuck, I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on, but it is dangerous! Dangerous, I tell you¡­¡­!)

    Human beings actually eat things like that? Is that even possible? Because it certainly sounds impossible to me!

    The bowl itself was almost twice as big as my head. And just how much milk was wasted to concoct a thing like that!? So much whipped cream and soft cream, it¡¯s actually sickening! Just looking at this absolute monstrosity is making me feel dizzy!

    ¡¸I, I guess I might as well try this thing out¡­¡­ It¡¯s not that I¡¯m paying for this, and it¡¯s an experience alright¡­¡­¡¹

    I tried to grab the bowl and get it closer to myself. It didn¡¯t budge. What the heck!? Does this weight as much as a bowling ball or what!? I can already tell that veins were popping all over my face while struggling to get it closer.

    Right now I couldn¡¯t care less about our opponents¡¯ conversation at the back of the restaurant. My brain finished assessing the enemy right before me and came to the only possible conclusion: this enemy is a Raid Boss-ss, one that was going to put both Wezaemon and Luukan to shame!

    ¡¸Right, prepare for battle¡­¡­!¡¹

    The fight was fierce indeed and it took me a little bit more than an hour and a half to finish the damn thing. It took me so long that the ordered product arrived at my room and even the members of Star Rain finished their meal and got on their way.

    I must say, I¡¯ve brought this upon myself. It was my fault for not looking over the menu to see what was there and what to avoid. Contrary to the popr opinion, there is no such thing as second stomach for sweets. I¡¯ve learned that the hard way. As a result of that, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to eat anything more for a WHILE now.

    However, during my fierce battle there was one term in particr that came as a concern in my eyes.

    (Ruin War Hounds¡­¡­ If memory serves me correctly that¡¯s a really popr FPS, with six installments being published so far. Does that mean that they were going to announce the seventh one during this year¡¯s GGC?)

    Aw well, not that I would ever y a game like that. But for now, I think I must take a break¡­¡­ I feel like I¡¯m about to be sick.

    When I went back to my room I didn¡¯t even feel like doing and Full Dive for now. So I just lie on my bed, trying to make the feeling of sickness go away. After a while I could hear the sound of someone knocking onto the door to my room.

    I got up the bed and put my gas mask on. But wait. What if that¡¯s one of the hotel stuff? Should I take it off for now?

    ¡¸Sanraku-kun, are you there? The Charismatic Super Model came to talk to you, so you¡¯d better be there.¡¹

    Correction, there¡¯s no need for me to take the gas mask off.

    So with the aftereffects of the ¡°Erebus Parfait¡± still lingering over me, I opened the door to see the self-proimed Charismatic Super Model standing there with a piece of cardboard with a smiley face over her face.

    ¡¸Here, take this. It¡¯s a present from yours truly.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Alright, there¡¯s are no suspicious sounds. At least it seems safe.¡¹

    ¡¸Umm, are you really that kind of a person? Literally the first thing you do after receiving a gift is to check if it¡¯s not a bomb?¡¹

    Even if the gif box does not contain a bomb, it is entirely possible that some other kind of explosive was put there, so one can never be too cautious with that.

    ¡¸It¡¯s a joke, I¡¯m just messing with you. So, what¡¯s that?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm? You see, modeling is my work, so Ie across these things quite often. I thought I might do cosy one of these days.¡¹

    ¡¸I see.¡¹

    I know that I hide my face from the public, but hiding your whole body? What is this, apetition who can hide more?

    ¡¸That¡¯s why I ordered a cosy costume yesterday and went to pick it up just now. Delivery service sure is a wonderful thing nowadays.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡­¡­ see?¡¹

    ¡¸So, I thought that maybe you¡¯d like to join me in my efforts, Sanraku-kun.¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t think you¡¯ll manage to catch me in your own weird flow!¡¹

    Why is this girl thinking she can just get me to participate in her weird antics? Being around her was like ying around with fireworks¡­¡­ inside of a firework factory. It was WAY too dangerous.

    ¡¸But you don¡¯t want people to see your face as well, right, Sanraku-kun?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s just because I can¡¯t stand being around foreigners! Ahahaha, so how about that, you piece of crap!¡¹

    So in other words, the contents of this box are nothing else but cosy costumes. Not that there¡¯s anything wrong with that in and out of itself, but what worries me is Pencilgton taste and choice.

    ¡¸I¡¯ll probably regret asking, but what¡¯s in the box?¡¹

    ¡¸A costume just right for someone going by the name of No Face.¡¹

    If I were to take a picture of her face right about now and post in on SNS, I¡¯m sure I¡¯d get nothing but terrified reactions. But right about now, I would like to just smash a piece of pie on that beautiful face of hers.

    ¡¸By the way, what¡¯s that over there?¡¹

    ¡¸Fufufu, are you interested? You are, aren¡¯t you?¡¹

    I have nothing but anxiety in my heart right about now¡­¡­ Hm?

    ¡¸It¡¯s a call from Katsu.¡¹

    ¡¸Whatever it may be about?¡¹

    For the time being we decided to go to the ce where Katsu wanted us to meet him.

 Chapter 161: For Whom We do Our Best (For a Fee) Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 161: For Whom We do Our Best (For a Fee) Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸¡¸YOU CANNOT PARTICIPATE IN THE MATCH!?]]

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Yeah.]

    Natsume-san, Pancilgton and I all shudder hearing the news from Katsu, who looked strangely calm andposed despite this current development.

    ¡¸So the stories about organizers being able to do as they please¡­¡­ It is the truth¡­¡­!?]

    ¡¸Normally I wouldugh at someone from getting done in like that, but when it happens to Katsu that is a little bit insensitive, right?]

    ¡¸W, what¡¯s that supposed to mean, Kei!?]

    ¡¸Orders from the higher-ups¡­¡­ The sponsors want me to fill a vacancy that suddenly appeared fort the finals of RwH6 tournament¡­¡­]

    ¡¸Haa?]

    To summarize Katsu¡¯s story:

    During thest day of GGC, that is, the very same day as our exhibition match, the finals of RwH6¡­¡­ Ruins War Haunds is going to be held. Normally it would be of no interest to us, but apparently one of the participants got involved in a traffic ident and as a result was unable to participate.

    Now, for a Pro Gamer such an ident might as well spell the end of carrier if his injuries turn out to be serious. Fortunately that yer was told that there would be no after effects from this incident, but of course he would still be unable to participate. Therefore the need for a sub member to step on the stage.

    Originally, the substitute member shoulde from the reserves of ¡°Assault Company¡±, but this is where ¡°Cyber Battalion¡±, one of the sponsors, came in.

    ¡°Please add Uomi Kei as the substitute member¡±. Faced with that unreasonable but final request, Katsu had no real way of refusing and was forced to change the game.

    Normally, such a request would not be able to pass. However, since the times of the two event in which Katsu would be able to participate weren¡¯t exactly matching, the sponsors just took the game that would yield better results sale-wise and prioritized it over the other. Hence, an Overkill like that.

    ¡¸You canugh at me if you like. It¡¯s not like I have any right to get mad at you for that.]

    ¡¸I would haveughed if it was anyone else. But that¡¯s just harsh, man.]

    ¡¸But why do they want you to suddenly be an FPS yer just like that, Katsu-kun? Isn¡¯t that strange?]

    ¡¸Ahh¡­¡­ You see, in the past, when I was just starting out I used to y FPS games and even got a sponsorship from apany or two. Haha, guess my own prowesses to bite me in the ass at the most critical moment, huh¡­¡­?]

    I see, it was certainly impressive in its own way. Small wonder that a sponsor or two would remember him if his skills were actually that good.

    Katsuughs in a dry way while his facial expression shows just how tired he was, and Natsume-san looks as if she was going to fall into the depths of despair. This really does put us in a tight spot.

    ¡¸T, that being said, if you wrap the RwH 6 match fast enough, I might be able to¡­¡­]

    ¡¸I¡¯d like that as well, but our opponents are the German ¡°Sturn Und Explosive¡± team, and they are real monsters. I think that it won¡¯t end in a sh. Not in the least.]

    Those names from other games hardly even speak to me, but Natsume-san¡¯s expression managed topensate for that quite nicely. It looks like Katsu won¡¯t be able to participate no matter what, even though him being there was the whole reason for dragging us all the way out here.

    ¡¸I see how it is¡­¡­ By the way, suppose you do your very best and wipe the floor with them, how long would that take you?]

    ¡¸The rules state that it¡¯s the best of five. One game takes thirty minutes minimum, so with breaks it mightst even for three hours or longer.]

    ¡¸And incidentally, the Gxia Heroes: Chaos exhibition match starts at 10 a.m, while RwH 6 starts at 9 a.m.]

    No matter how well we work our asses off, one hour is a lot of time gaming-wise. Unlike FPS games, Gxia Heroes: Chaos¡¯s matches tend tost extremely short amount of time. Since it was an Exhibition match we would surely have many rounds to give the crowd a good idea of how¡¯s the game like, but I highly doubt that we would be able to stall for long enough to allow Katsu to rejoin us and snatch away the victory.

    In the first ce, thinking that the three of us would be able to stall for time against the best yers in the world would just be highly unreasonable.

    So that scenario was no longer¡­¡­

    ¡¸This means that if we force a draw for long enough it might work out, right?]

    ¡¸Let¡¯s just pretend that our general is just taking a bathroom break. So what should we do about our strategy? Same as before, or should we switch it?]

    ¡¸It can stay as it is, but if you could stall them from obtaining the cube or going in for the kill for at least a couple of rounds, that would be ideal.]

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Wait, you serious? You don¡¯t really mean that, right!?]

    Hearing that, we all actually opened our eyes wide in shock and disbelief. I wonder who was more shocked, Pencilgton or I? One thing¡¯s for sure, we were at aplete loss for words.

    ¡¸I know that putting you amatours in the spotlight might be a little bit much, but I promise that I¡¯ll make it up to you. So do your best, ok?]

    ¡¸I know that it would be terrible to forfeit the match because not having enough members, but you do realize that I hate being in the spotlight, right? So this is really going to demand much from me performance-wise.]

    ¡¸I know that this situation is less than ideal for us, but I wouldn¡¯t ask you to do this if I didn¡¯t have faith in your abilities¡­¡­]

    ¡¸I just hope that we won¡¯t be the ones wearing cosy, then?]

 Chapter 161: For Whom We do Our Best (For a Fee) Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 161: For Whom We do Our Best (For a Fee) Part 2</h4>

    Pencilgton says so and thenughs. That gesture might have looked marvelous if it was her real appearance, but right now she was herst avatar from Gxia Heroes, a female character wearing a trench coat and a huge TV disy instead of her head. It look weird, to say the least.

    Incidentally, her facial expression was a pixted human head, switching in between various emotions. But how does it know when to switch to what emotion? Some sort of sensors? Or maybe a program?

    When Natsume-san heard the word ¡°cosy¡± she cocked her head as if asking what was that about, and Pencilgton continued to speak, poison dripping out of her tongue almost all the time.

    ¡¸Good? You see, the purpose of the Exhibition Match is to show the public what¡¯s the game is like and what is its strong points. So it¡¯s not important to win or lose, but to be as much entertaining as it can possibly get for all the audience out there in the stands or over the Inte.]

    ¡¸That is why this thing is not really a battle, but more like an entertainment. It is something on apletely different level.]

    Natsume-san leans forward, as if being drawn in by Pencilgton¡¯s poisonous words. That was the end for her. She took the bait. And once Pencilgton gets her hand on someone, they are going to be her puppet for as long as she wants them to be.

    ¡¸So, how can we possibly fulfill both our own ambitions and the overall purpose of the Exhibition Match?]

    Well, this time around we¡¯re going to have our work cut out for us.

    ¡¸It won¡¯t actually be ying games for that time. It will be more like a high-end TV Drama all that time¡­¡­ If not something even bigger.]

    ------

    ----

    --

    ¡¸Now, then¡­¡­]

    There is a whole lot of work that needs to be done, and something tells me that none of the task before us would be easy.

    If the battle against Wezaemon was a fight that overwhelmed a single de called ¡°Sanraku¡±, this battle was going to over-exhaust multitude of des this time around.

    Even one person is enough to make the gears of fate start turning, and if you add someone like Pencilgton to the equation, it suddenly turns out that a party of three of ours might as well be able to defy the virtual gods, kick the fabric of reason to the curb and go beyond what¡¯s considered impossible.

    Honestly, it would be better for us to find a way to win. Sure, our opponents are American that are consider to be the best in the entire world, but it¡¯s not like we didn¡¯t beat the impossible odds before. Like the battle against Night Prowler, for example.

    However, surely in the eyes of others like Natsume-san the path we have chosen for ourselves is an unnecessarily thorny one. Surely in their eyes we are nothing more but a trio of idiots.

    ¡¸Hm?¡¹

    I know it is Katsu we¡¯re talking about here, but let¡¯s send him an e-mail.

    ¡¸Why is that? Well¡­¡­¡¹

    Why would they even do that?

    The answer was send back to him in form of two rather short emails.

    Subject: Re: Why?

    From: Sanraku

    To: Modorokatsu

    Body: Weren¡¯t you going to take this event seriously? That¡¯s the sole reason you wanted us in on the action? So you¡¯d better not think of backing away now.

    If everything goes well, you¡¯re treating us all to yakiniku.

    Subject: Re: Why?

    From: Pencil Warrior

    To: Modorokatsu

    Body: It¡¯s important for you to face off against Sylvia, right? That is also the reason why Onee-san decided to take a break from her busy schedule ande here in the first ce.

    And guess what, we are going to actually wear cosy!

    If all goes well, you¡¯re gonna treat us all to sushi.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Even though I already paid for all their amodations and fees, huh?¡¹

    All this time Kei felt a whole variety of emotions: fear, sadness, anxiety and loneliness. But somehow, the words of his friends trying to squeeze even more money out of him¡­¡­ he felt really grateful for that. He then threw his mobile terminal back on the bed.

    When ites to personal motivation, the RwH 6 tournament was pretty low on thedder, but if his friends were encouraging him to do his best, what other choice he had but to actually go there and do his best?

    ¡¸It¡¯s alright, I don¡¯t have a clue what a Cream Puff Cult exercise is, but it means that I have to wrap this thing up quickly and go back to work!¡¹

    Now knowing what he needed to do, Kei decided to boot up the device in his room and sink into the depths of Virtual Reality.

 Chapter 162: Female Knight Who Does Not Destroy Off-Season Pumpkins Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 162: Female Knight Who Does Not Destroy Off-Season Pumpkins Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Okay, guess I¡¯ll be going now.¡¹

    Katsu was about to depart around 7 a.m, so that he could go to prepare for the RwH 6 finals, since that starts before our own match. Something¡¯s off here¡­¡­ Katsu tried his best to suppress that feeling while throwing a single can of energy drink into the trash can.

    ¡¸Originally I¡¯d think that it would be impossible for me, but right now I guess I¡¯m a lot more flexible.¡¹

    ¡¸And by flexible you mean chugging down a single energy drink¡­¡­ Ooi, hey is this¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸A new product, yet to be released. Straight out of the United States, of course.¡¹

    OoiOoi, I¡¯ve heard the rumors about thatpany, but never tried their product in person¡­¡­ nice, Katsu. While I was looking at the can with interes, Pencilgton frowned her brows, as if not being able to follow our line of thinking.

    ¡¸What¡¯s the difference between this and the Japanese ones?¡¹

    ¡¸Japanese ones only put in caffeine as the ingredient¡­¡­ But when ites to this one, it packs a real punch with a cocktail of many different ingredients.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ They¡¯re legal, right? Those ingredients?¡¹

    ¡¸A lot of clients are worried about that, but so far there were no issues with thew.¡¹

    ¡¸About a week ago they released one of their newest products, ¡°Riot Blood Tonight¡±¡­¡­ But this really means you¡¯re taking this seriously, Katsu.¡¹

    A monster-like energy drink that managed to sink fear into the hearts of many yers worldwide, having a list of ingredients that made people question if selling or even drinking such a thing could be considered legal or not. It is even more infamous because it managed to dethrone the current two leaders on the market when ites to overall ratings. Currently, there was no better boost that a Pro Gamer could ever ask for.

    ¡¸I also prepared some for you guys, just to be on the safe side.¡¹

    ¡¸Do you think it¡¯s actually safe to drink such a thing? Won¡¯t it cause drowsiness or skin numbness or any other side effect like that?¡¹

    ¡¸I, I¡¯ll give it a shot¡­¡­ sometimeter¡­¡­¡¹

    Let¡¯s try drinking itter, as right now I feel it would be aplete waste. I fiddle with the mask on my face and open it, forcing the drink into the holster. Seeing me do that, myrades looked at me with really long faces¡­¡­ But then Katsu just let out a sigh, shook our hands and went towards the taxi while shaking his head in disbelief.

    ¡¸Good grief, if you want to say something, juste on and say it.¡¹

    ¡¸What he said.¡¹

    ¡¸I think that he didn¡¯t need to say anything, because his eyes said it all. Sometimes words are just not necessary.¡¹

    ¡¸Natsume-chan, some things in life must be said out loud, otherwise it¡¯s a no-go.¡¹

    No matter how you say it, as long as you do it, it¡¯s alright! It¡¯s the thought that counts. That¡¯s how we support one another! If you don¡¯t do that, you might as well quit, because there is no way that teamwork can flourish without propermunication.

    The three of us watch the taxi with Katsu inside drive away, as we keep silent. Pencilgton and I thought that Natsume-san might say something, but she only opened her mouth like a fish out of the water, with no words leaving her throat.

    ¡¸What do you say we go and see to the costumes? One can never be too sure about preparations.¡¹

    ¡¸I said! I¡¯m not going to! Wear it!¡¹

    Oh, that¡¯s just adorable. She thinks she has a say in this matter¡­¡­

    ¡¸Hey, Pencilgton-san? Here¡¯s a question for you.¡¹

    ¡¸Alright, bring it on! I¡¯ll show you just how big of a brain I have there!¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t think that it works the way you think it does¡­¡­ Anyway, that¡¯s not the problem right now, here ites. What do you think our group is at the current moment?¡¹

    ¡¸A Cosy doing circle that takes pride in what we do.¡¹

    ¡¸Ahahaha, at least say something I canment on, you little!¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, could you give that gun from over there?¡¹

    ¡¸Come on,e on, you¡¯re the one who ordered that, isn¡¯t that right? Don¡¯t you know it goesyer byyer? Oh, yeah, yeah, that¡¯s it! Keep that low angle! Now, could you move a little bit to the right?¡¹

    We headed out roughly about half an hour after Katsu departed for his own event. We wanted to walk around for some time and see what the venue had to offer, but after a few people with cameras spotted us and asked if they could take a few photos, we were currently posing in our cosy and brandishing out essory weapons in lots of strange ways. ¡­¡­ Is this what my life hase to? I mean, we should have seen that oneing, and as I turned towards the female knight standing right next to me I wanted to basically murder her with my gaze. It¡¯s a shame that her helmet prevented her from realizing what I was doing.

    (Really now¡­¡­ Just what kind of character is that? And from what game?)

    I know I¡¯ve seen those costumes somewhere before, but I just couldn¡¯t remember the title of that game. At least I knew that her cosy was fantasy rted, and my own was more of a Sci-Fi field¡­¡­ from some FPS, maybe? Yeah, but which one¡­¡­?

    ¡¸¡­¡­ So? How long is this photo shoot going tost?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm? Oh, sorry about that. You see, as a professional I tend to get kind of lost when ites to photo shoots like that. Sorry, guys! There¡¯s somewhere we need to go, so can you wrap this up in a minute or two!?¡¹

    It¡¯s at a times like that that get to be both astonished and in awe of people like her. Is that the true power of a professional model? It might be somethingpletely natural for her, but when ites to me, I don¡¯t want to do such a thing ever again. Even though my face waspletely hidden and even though it was certainly a once in a lifetime experience.

    ¡¸Nfufu, what do you think, Sanraku-kun? I know that we are going to y one of the best teams in the world in front of an audience like that, but how does thatpare to having your pictures taken by a crowd of so many people? Think it will not affect your performance?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Are you trying to better your own image after roping me into this gig, you filthy schemer¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh my, oh my? Even though everything I do, I do in good faith?¡¹

    Good faith does not guarantee good results, mind you. Especially if someone as malicious as you says she does something in good faith. It only makes you look even more suspicious. After all¡­¡­

    ¡¸You scheme on a daily basis.¡¹

    ¡¸When you put it in a straightforward way like that, I cannot even openly deny it.¡¹

    Incidentally, as soon as we got in here, Natsume-san went towards the ce where our Exhibition Match was to take ce. It wasn¡¯t all that nice of her, but I understand: it¡¯s the most effective way of dealing with guys like us.

    ¡¸So how about it, Pumpkin-kun? Shall we be on our way as well?¡¹

    ¡¸Say, I thought that it¡¯s too early for pumpkins to be in season?¡¹

    ¡¸For a cosyer, there¡¯s no such thing as season. That¡¯s what it¡¯s all about. Even in the middle of winter there¡¯s nothing that can stop you from posing in a swimsuit.¡¹

    ¡¸No sh*t.¡¹

    I tried to scratch my full-face helmet a couple of times¡­¡­ My cosy consisted of a strange military attire apanied by a full-face helmet resembling a pumpkin, making me look kind of like Jack-O-Lantern. Luckily, it was a helmet made out of synthetic materials, so it wasn¡¯t making my skin itchy or anything else like that. Dressed like that, I was about to set my foot in the world of incandescentpetitive gaming.

 Chapter 162: Female Knight Who Does Not Destroy Off-Season Pumpkins Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 162: Female Knight Who Does Not Destroy Off-Season Pumpkins Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Hey, Pencilgton-san? Here¡¯s a question for you.¡¹

    ¡¸Alright, bring it on! I¡¯ll show you just how big of a brain I have there!¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t think that it works the way you think it does¡­¡­ Anyway, that¡¯s not the problem right now, here ites. What do you think our group is at the current moment?¡¹

    ¡¸A Cosy doing circle that takes pride in what we do.¡¹

    ¡¸Ahahaha, at least say something I canment on, you little!¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, could you give that gun from over there?¡¹

    ¡¸Come on,e on, you¡¯re the one who ordered that, isn¡¯t that right? Don¡¯t you know it goesyer byyer? Oh, yeah, yeah, that¡¯s it! Keep that low angle! Now, could you move a little bit to the right?¡¹

    We headed out roughly about half an hour after Katsu departed for his own event. We wanted to walk around for some time and see what the venue had to offer, but after a few people with cameras spotted us and asked if they could take a few photos, we were currently posing in our cosy and brandishing out essory weapons in lots of strange ways. ¡­¡­ Is this what my life hase to? I mean, we should have seen that oneing, and as I turned towards the female knight standing right next to me I wanted to basically murder her with my gaze. It¡¯s a shame that her helmet prevented her from realizing what I was doing.

    (Really now¡­¡­ Just what kind of character is that? And from what game?)

    I know I¡¯ve seen those costumes somewhere before, but I just couldn¡¯t remember the title of that game. At least I knew that her cosy was fantasy rted, and my own was more of a Sci-Fi field¡­¡­ from some FPS, maybe? Yeah, but which one¡­¡­?

    ¡¸¡­¡­ So? How long is this photo shoot going tost?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm? Oh, sorry about that. You see, as a professional I tend to get kind of lost when ites to photo shoots like that. Sorry, guys! There¡¯s somewhere we need to go, so can you wrap this up in a minute or two!?¡¹

    It¡¯s at a times like that that get to be both astonished and in awe of people like her. Is that the true power of a professional model? It might be somethingpletely natural for her, but when ites to me, I don¡¯t want to do such a thing ever again. Even though my face waspletely hidden and even though it was certainly a once in a lifetime experience.

    ¡¸Nfufu, what do you think, Sanraku-kun? I know that we are going to y one of the best teams in the world in front of an audience like that, but how does thatpare to having your pictures taken by a crowd of so many people? Think it will not affect your performance?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Are you trying to better your own image after roping me into this gig, you filthy schemer¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh my, oh my? Even though everything I do, I do in good faith?¡¹

    Good faith does not guarantee good results, mind you. Especially if someone as malicious as you says she does something in good faith. It only makes you look even more suspicious. After all¡­¡­

    ¡¸You scheme on a daily basis.¡¹

    ¡¸When you put it in a straightforward way like that, I cannot even openly deny it.¡¹

    Incidentally, as soon as we got in here, Natsume-san went towards the ce where our Exhibition Match was to take ce. It wasn¡¯t all that nice of her, but I understand: it¡¯s the most effective way of dealing with guys like us.

    ¡¸So how about it, Pumpkin-kun? Shall we be on our way as well?¡¹

    ¡¸Say, I thought that it¡¯s too early for pumpkins to be in season?¡¹

    ¡¸For a cosyer, there¡¯s no such thing as season. That¡¯s what it¡¯s all about. Even in the middle of winter there¡¯s nothing that can stop you from posing in a swimsuit.¡¹

    ¡¸No sh*t.¡¹

    I tried to scratch my full-face helmet a couple of times¡­¡­ My cosy consisted of a strange military attire apanied by a full-face helmet resembling a pumpkin, making me look kind of like Jack-O-Lantern. Luckily, it was a helmet made out of synthetic materials, so it wasn¡¯t making my skin itchy or anything else like that. Dressed like that, I was about to set my foot in the world of incandescentpetitive gaming.

 Chapter 163: The Tower of Cyber Brain VS The Judgement of Genesis Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 163: The Tower of Cyber Brain VS The Judgement of Genesis Part 1</h4>

    Requiem For Armies.

    It was one of the first games to be ever released in VR using the Full Dive technology, but even now it is considered a masterpiece when ites to FPS genre. It even featured something that was called ¡°Off-line Story Mode¡±, a short campaign when you assume the role of a nameless soldier and are partnered with Jack, a faceless mercenary who travels all around the world and engages in various conflicts in order to prevent the outbreak of a nuclear war.

    When ites to Jack, he was always wearing a helmet and a mask imitating the Jack-O-Lantern, and his real face was unknown to anyone. Even though his role was support only, he would always say that his face was ¡°way too gruesome to reveal it to anyone¡±.

    Apparently this is the source of the cosy that I was forced to wear right now.

    [Since it covers your facepletely, isn¡¯t it just perfect for you?] [But don¡¯t you think it¡¯s way too early for Halloween?]

    You say that, but¡­¡­ Isn¡¯t this thing too borate to be a mere cosy tool? It even has a voice changer function and a part of it can be opened to expose the face that was under the helmet. I feel that it was something meant for somethingpletely different than the purpose I assumed for it.

    [When ites to me, I¡¯m ying the part of a female knight who still protects the castle of her lord, even though said lord is no more. That¡¯s a fairly well-known character that is popr throughout the audience.] [Ah, right, right.] [How should I put it¡­¡­? You sure are bold, guys.]

    Although they were giving us some weird looks, the staff members guided us to the ce where our other teammate from Nitro Squad, Natsume-san, was already waiting. She was pacing about the ce, clearly nervous from the iing Exhibition Match.

    Certainly, if one was not nervous about having to y against the US team that is one of the strongest in the entire world, one would need to have something wrong with their head.

    [You know how it is. The more people watch us, the better your performance, right?] [¡­¡­ Why plural?] [As for me? Well, we¡¯re going into Full Dive either way, right? So does it even matter? It¡¯s not like we¡¯re going to see the crowd.]

    Since the audience cannot be transported into the game, I think that there is no point in feeling any kind of tension because of their presence. That being said, the reason why I hide my face is purely role-y rted, with no sense of shame or awkwardness towardsrge crowds.

    [If it bothers you so much, why don¡¯t you try this? Try writing ¡°God¡± kanji on the palm of your hand over and over again, it should rx you in a matter of seconds.] [¡­¡­ Wouldn¡¯t you normally write ¡°human¡± instead of ¡°god¡±?] [Fufu, I like that idea. But when my turnes, I¡¯ll be sure to write ¡°God¡±.]

    Let me guess: you write ¡°God¡± just so you can eat that word in hopes of bing stronger? However, will that really be enough to help us win this thing?

    [Alright then, time to review our strategy onest time. And Natsume-san? Could you please stop shaking like a god damn Chihuahua? You¡¯re not helping anyone in here, and heck, you¡¯re not even helping yourself.] [Chihua¡­¡­!?]

    I guess that beingpared to a small dog dealt a huge blow to Natsume-san¡¯s self-esteem, but let¡¯s omit her reaction.

    Meanwhile, Pencilgton operated her rental tablet and opened a browser at the GGC¡¯s official website and then puts the tablet on the table so that we could all see it.

    [The game¡¯s system is a win-through system, meaning that if you manage to win your match, you get to fight the next person on the enemy team until you get defeated yourself. So for us to achieve our goal¡­¡­ is to prolong the matches until time runs out instead of winning or losing.]

    It was certainly a system that would allow us to y for time for an hour or two¡­¡­ Having a three people team, that is. And it must be enough until Katsu manages to get back and save our asses from a totalpromitation.

    [There¡¯s no way that Sylvia wille as first or second pick¡­¡­ If they want her to y against Katsu, just like he wanted, they will surely save her forst.]

    Yes, the main focus of this operation was not the issue of us being able to win against the macho yers, because we can work around that with ease. The problem would be the ce from which Silvia Goldberg would start.

    Even bigger problem would be if she was on any other position than thest.

    ¡¸If ites to that, we¡¯ll have to y it by ear and adjust ordingly. But even if Natsume-chan or I go down¡­¡­ I¡¯m sure that our Sanraku-kun will be able to pull something close to a miracle out of his sleeve!¡¹

    That¡¯s right. If the first in line, Natume-san, manages to win one match and then lose one, then Pencilgton will have to take on the next in line from Star Rain. But if Pencilgton does the same thing, we might end up with not enough time to stall¡­¡­

    And worst case scenario, I will be forced to go against Silvia Goldberg myself.

    Honestly, it would be ideal if those two could stall for about an hour and a half, or even two hours. Then, Katsu would surely be able to make it in time. However, no one here was foolish enough to think that things would go so smoothly for us.

    That¡¯s because our opponents are Pro Gamers who know their craft well. On the other hand, Katsu was probably the only one on our team who would be on part with them when ites to skill.

    ¡¸They say that nothing gets the God tough harder than making a n¡­¡­ Even so, we¡¯ve gotta do what we¡¯ve gotta do! Let¡¯s put on one heck of show instead of this idiot who can¡¯t be here for now!¡¹

 Chapter 163: The Tower of Cyber Brain VS The Judgement of Genesis Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 163: The Tower of Cyber Brain VS The Judgement of Genesis Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Yeah!¡¹

    ¡¸Of course!¡¹

    Then there was knocking on the door, and someone from staff appeared. The time hase to make a show!

    ¡¸---- That about covers it when ites to introduction to ourtest work, ¡°Gxia Heroes: Chaos¡±, but let¡¯s be honest here¡­¡­ You guys want to see how it looks like in action, right?¡¹

    I don¡¯t know the name of the guy who was currently speaking on top of the stage, but apparently he was the director in charge of creating Gxia Heroes: Chaos.

    ording to the briefing we had beforehand, members of Star Rain and ourselves were going to step on the stage right after that.

    ¡¸Say, Sanraku¡­¡­ -kun?¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s up, Natsume-san?¡¹

    ¡¸I think I¡¯ll start writing ¡°God¡± on the palm of my hand after all.¡¹

    ¡¸Really now?¡¹

    Just then the lights shine directly at us and Star Rain, and we can see a crowd that was at least a few times bigger than any school assembly we have witnessed so far in our lives.

    And somehow, the pressure that all those stares were making on us was almost unbearable.

    ¡¸Before we begin, a piece of advice: mercenary Jack is someone who always smiles in the face of adversity, even if others can¡¯t really see it.¡¹

    ¡¸Thanks for making my roleying somewhat clearer¡­¡­ Oho.¡¹

    I don¡¯t really know who that character is or what it did in the game¡¯s story. I¡¯m just happy that the costume itselfes with a mask, so that my anxiety can be quelled at least to some degree.

    So I do my best to straighten my back and take a step forward. Yes, that¡¯s right, just like that. After all, not so long ago I faced a huge underwater predator that was shootingsers at me. If I managed to best that, then what is there to be afraid of?

    ¡¸Well then, when ites to Gxia Heroes: Chaos Presentation Party¡­¡­ We will kick this off with an Exhibition Match between members of Star Rain and Nitro Squad! As for Moderator and livementary, I¡¯m going to be your man, Sasahara Eight, pleasure to be here!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Sasahara Eight?¡¹

    ¡¸Games ying Idol that¡¯s all at rage for the current moment. Apparently at some point she even tried her luck at ShanFro, but¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸But what?¡¹

    ¡¸You see, there is that Saint at ShanFro, right? And that she¡¯s really popr with yers? She¡¯s like that, but with real people.¡¹

    I don¡¯t really know the details about the people like that, but I could tell that this Sasahara was once heck of an amazing person. But to be a real world idol and be inferior to an NPC¡­¡­ that¡¯s gotta hurt, no matter what.

    Her outfit looked really idolish, with an overall cybeic vibe to it. She was holding a microphone in one hand, and her words alone were enough to make the crowd be enthusiastic and cheerful.

    ¡¸Oh my, oh my? Do my eyes deceive me, or is there someone missing from the Nitro Squad?¡¹

    ¡¸Um, it¡¯s about Kei¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸He¡¯s currently waging a war with his stomach on the toilet!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m sure that he¡¯ll emerge victorious from that battle before long, so no need to concern yourself with him.¡¹

    ¡¸Ha, haa¡­¡­ Well then, let¡¯s review the rules! Even though it may seem like your typical ordinary fighting game, Gxia Heroes: Chaos possess rules that makes it quite different from its predecessor! This time around the map is full of lively NPCs! And there is a special cube that awaits the yers!¡¹

    There is a bunch of difficult technical jargon being thrown around, but the gist of it is that there are now NPCs as well as obtaining the cube as a means of victory. I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s going to be more special win conditions in the future, but if there were, they would have announced them here. On the other hand, more rules can create unnecessary confusion down the road.

    ¡¸Also, as an additionalmentator, we have here Asama Ayato-san, a member of the Pro Gaming team ¡°Colt Bison¡±!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m not really an expert when ites to fighting games, but I¡¯ll do my best¡­¡­ Please treat me kindly.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, you might think something like ¡°Is this guy really good for that sort of thing?¡± but his skill atmenting are second to none! That¡¯s why he¡¯s invited to all sorts of gaming events to providementary!¡¹

    ¡¸Fumu.¡¹

    I don¡¯t really care all that much if this guy is a Pro Gamer or not, but who knows? It might be a good idea to make a mental note of him if his skills really as good as Miss Idol there makes them to be.

    ¡¸Everyone, but that¡¯s not all that Gxia Heroes: Chaos brings to the table! After the match is over, I will exin the functions of Babel, a new type of service that Utopia Computer Entertainment will bring to you this Fall!¡¹

    Babel?

    ¡¸As you may already know, Babel is a ¡°real time tranting¡± system that is scheduled to premiere at the end of September and bepatible with Full Dive systems released by the UCE.¡¹

    ¡¸The very same Babel has been pre-installed in the system that both teams will be using during the Exhibition Match, since we are aware of the potentialnguage barrier in between members of Japanese Nitro Squad and American Star Rain. But now, they canmunicate with one another without actually having to worry about that¡­¡­!!¡¹

    ¡¸I see, speaking of the main premise, it is¡­¡­ Was thenguage barrier a problem for you ever before? And this match is something you¡¯ve been waiting in anticipation for¡­¡­ right?¡¹

    ¡¸SO DA YO, WATASHI, SUGOI DESHOU, HOMETE, HOMETE!¡¹

    ¡¸You see, that¡¯s what we actually call anguage barrier¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Come on, a single ¡°Oui¡± or ¡°Come on!¡± would be enough for others to understand just fine¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Your Grandma is so funky, oi¡­¡­¡¹

    I was starting to have serious doubts whether or not our carefully constructed strategy would actually be okay, seeing how Natsume-san was sweating nervously and looking as though she was about to copse at any moment now. Finally, the first match was about to begin: Natsume Megumi VS Lucas Garcia!

 Chapter 164: Fake Imitation, Trust Only Your Inner Evil Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 164: Fake Imitation, Trust Only Your Inner Evil Part 1</h4>

    Lucas Garcia. Going by the alias of ¡°Skel¡±, in a nutshell he is the brain of Star Rain.

    In other words, he¡¯s just like Katsu. The more information he manages to get, the stronger he can be and adapt to almost every situation. That being said,pared to other members of Star Rain he¡¯s rtively weak. No, that¡¯s not it. He¡¯s like level ny seven, which may be weaker than ny nine, but is still strong nheless.

    He is said to be a demon of analysis, one that is not afraid to lose a battle or two in order to win the war, and that he would even approach paparazzi out of his own volition rather than let them lurk in wait for him.

    ¡¸How should I put this without sounding offensive? You know, a Bad End in a crappy Dating Sim seems to suit you just fine.¡¹

    ¡¸Rather, he¡¯s the kind of a guy to die first during a zombie outbreak in movies.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, I get you. I totally get you.¡¹

    Looking up at the oversized disy screen¡­¡­ Natsume-san and Skel were in the middle of selecting their characters. The main point of Gxia Heroes: Chaos is that different characters from different works can battle one another, but this time around it would be a little bit different.

    ¡¸It seems that yer Lucas chose ¡°Dr. Sandalphone¡± as his character!¡¹

    ¡¸In the previous games it was his go-to character, so even though his ystyle has changed drastically in this game, it is a smart decision to pick a character you tend to know about the most.¡¹

    ¡¸Right, so when we win this thing, just what kind of sushi should we get? Hmm? I can¡¯t really decide.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ We don¡¯t know if we have this thing in the bag yet.¡¹

    Dr. Sandalphone is called a hero, but he really looks just like an old man wearing sandals and a tatteredb coat, holding a smartphone in his hand. If I remember correctly, he uses that smartphone to amplify various supernatural phenomena so he can take on the creations of the evil mad scientist?

    That being said, both Pencilgton and I were off to a bad start in a little betting game of ours: guess which characters our opponents are going to use.

    Please, you other machos and blodie! Don¡¯t fail me on this! I want to eat as much yakiniku as possible, not some shady-looking sushi¡­¡­!

    ¡¸Ooohhh! It looks like the character of yer Natsume¡¯s choosing is Yggdryer! It¡¯s going to be a showdown between a Hero and Viin from the same series!¡¹

    ¡¸Certainly, in the previous games Yggdryer¡¯s advantage over Dr. Sandalphone was 6:4, right? I¡¯m curious to see if he can keep that advantage even in this installment.¡¹

    I can also see that this idol girl is a real deal. Although I¡¯m pretty sure that this character selection is a work of sheer coincidence, she used her silver tongue to make that into a fated duel instead of ident.

    This the battle policy that we decided to adapt alongside cosy: roley. We got hold of Star Rain¡¯s battle records and based on that we assumed their favorite characters, and then we want to choose that particr characters¡¯ arch-nemesis in order to create more entertaining, dramatic battles.

    We also assume that it might be a good strategy for this Exhibition Match: to make the battles overly dramatic and exciting, at the same time stalling for time without anyone actually realizing that.

    ¡¸Hey, Sanra¡­¡­ Oh, I guess right about now I should call you No Face-kun, right? Have you given that Energy Drink a go yet?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s only a personal preference of mine, but I like to believe that it is best to consume energy drinks roughly thirty minutes before actually ying.¡¹

    ¡¸And have you ever heard of cebo Effect before?¡¹

    ¡¸You mean that effect when the F1 car goes so fast that the actual sound of it drags behind a little bit?¡¹

    ¡¸Umm, no, that¡¯s an entirely different thing. Doppler Effect, I do believe it was called?¡¹

    Your point being what, exactly? Anyways, for now it is important that we watch how Natsume-san is going to do during her battle.

    Natsume-san is ridiculous¡­¡­ But, she¡¯s a different kind of ridiculous whenpared to Katsu. Like, she¡¯s the exact opposite of him. And this also means that she should have an advantage against Lucas, even if only ever so slightly. It should be said here that this advantage does not amount to being strong or weak, but rather being able to adapt and ovee any adversity that mighte your way.

    Incidentally, Pencilgton¡¯s evaluation of Natsume-san was much worse. It was something like: even though you try to act like a carnivore, you are still a herbivore at heart. So she didn¡¯t even treat her like a human being.

    I know that¡¯s not how aplete amateur should talk about a Pro Gamer, but sometimes amateurs could be as good as Pros and their opinion could be equally as valuable.

    However, those evaluation are of Natsume-san alone. But if youbine it with military and strategy knowledge of master schemer Pencilgton, even foreigners like Star Rain should be afraid of the herbivore.

    ¡¸Now listen up, Natsume-chan. Just don¡¯t forget the basics of roleying that I imparted on you and you should be fine¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, the basic rule of roley, the rule to be ever vignt and observe your opponents and your surroundings carefully¡­¡­¡¹

    It¡¯s not rocket science, Natsume-san. Just ovee your shyness and you should be all set to go. I hope.

 Chapter 164: Fake Imitation, Trust Only Your Inner Evil Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 164: Fake Imitation, Trust Only Your Inner Evil Part 2</h4>

    They say that path to victory is a thorny one, with lots of adversities being thrown in your face all at once.

    Frankly speaking, that sentence perfectly describes Natsume-san¡¯s current situation. By the way, it should be added that this thorny path of hers was also bathed in gasoline. That was then set on fire.

    (Why do I have to go against the regr members of Star Rain of all people¡­¡­)

    In order to be able to make it for this event, Megumi had to cancel on the long-awaited family trip to Guam. She even neglected the jetg to call her parents first thing she arrived in Tokyo to apologize time after time, but they were still saying it was alright.

    Her role was, frankly speaking¡­¡­ ungrateful. The only reason for her being here is so that they could all establish a duel between Kei and Silvia Goldberg. That is why initially she was unwilling to ept his call for help.

    But what won her over was the one sentence he said: want to challenge the best team in the entire world alongside the Charismatic Supermodel and a Certain Gasmask fellow?

    She had noints about standing side by side with two amateurs. Even she could tell that they were more than capable for this, each in their own unique way.

    Even though she also got an impression that those guys could have as well gone against one another instead of their opponents, burning the whole building to the ground in the process whileughing maniacally. That¡¯s the thing with crazy: for the sake of your own sanity, the only thing you can do is to ept it.

    That is, only the calm andposed part of Megumi was thinking like that.

    However, there was a certain ¡°uncool¡± part of Megumi that understood that kind of attitude. Maybe it was because of the character she had chosen. Maybe because it was of something else. But right now, Megumi understood that there may be some kind of ¡°destiny¡± at work here. And when ites to that¡­¡­

    ¡¸I won¡¯t lose to something like destiny¡­¡­!¡¹

    Yggdryer is the type of character that excels at countering, his ystyle including installments of traps of various kinds. Technically he is the perfect counter for someone like Dr. Sandalphone, who excels at battle in close proximity.

    That¡¯s what she would have thought just a few days ago¡­¡­ But right about now her whole attitude of mind has changed.

    ¡¸Aaagh, geez! I¡¯ll just have to do it!¡¹

    Yggdryer is someone who charges in first and asks questionster. If so, the most natural thing to do is to go with the flow and do not think in advance of what to do. The stage would be¡­¡­ A hospital with lots of nts overgrowing it, clearly a result of the experiments of a mad scientist.

    ¡¸Damn, as expected of someone going by the name No Name. Leave it to you to go directly for ¡°Taking as many hostages as possible and stalling for time¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t that the most logical thing to do when ites to a hospital? Taking advantage of the weak and ill, consequences be damned?¡¹

    In Gxia Heroes: Chaos, the first thing that should be abandoned should be morals. Following on that logic, even amongst the entire roster of characters, Yggdryer is someone who has way more than a few screws loose in his head. That fact makes him easy to pick up for beginners. That fact also makes him more suitable for advanced yers.

    When ites to Viins, there is no such thing as a generic one. Each of them has their own unique reason for turning towards evil. Sad reason, firm believes that brought you to evil, violent maniacs following their instincts and desires¡­¡­ Just like Heroes have their moral codes, Viins also have their unique set of rules and moral codes.

    In such circumstances, Yggdryer¡¯s action pattern is extremely simple. That is, do whatever makes you happy, without thinking about morals and be as self-centered as possible. Also stop at nothing.

    ¡¸This game is really well-designed¡­¡­ Even though the Viins seem to have the advantage early on, Heroes can always make aeback as the time goes on.¡¹

    ¡¸But that¡¯s actually the worst possible scenario for someone like us, who want to prolong the games as much as humanly possible.¡¹

    ¡¸And that is exactly why we can do it, my little Pumpkin-kun. That¡¯s what all of our preparations were for, right?¡¹

    ¡¸I kind of sympathize with Natsume-san that she needs to put an act like that. Name and image-wise.¡¹

    ¡¸I, on the other hand, admire her. Even though it must be tough for her, Natsume-chan is still standing tall there.¡¹

    For me and Pencilgton that is not a problem, since no matter what kind of tomfoolery we decide to perform on a global broadcast, the only ones who get bashed for it are going to be No Face and No Name. But Natsume-san puts her real face and real name on disy here. Even though it will be all roley, she deserves all the pity and admiration she can get.

    ¡¸I know he¡¯s working hard out there as well, so maybe toilet was a bit much¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯m sure that he is used to getting grilled all the time.¡¹

    ¡¸Even about his apparent stomach problems?¡¹

    ¡¸¡¸Hahahaha¡­¡­ Haa¡­¡­¡¹¡¹

    I only learned about itter, but apparently it was quite the eerie sight, watching a Pumpkin Mercenary and an Exiled Female Knightughing and giggling cheerfully as they both watched the violence that unfolded on the screen.

    Yup. It¡¯s so nice to be able to go incognito and doesn¡¯t have to worry about things like that.

 Chapter 165: Shining Metamorphosis, Laughing Foreigner, and Tipping Point Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 165: Shining Metamorphosis, Laughing Foreigner, and Tipping Point Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸C,e on! Please be a shield for my sake!¡¹

    ¡¸Oi, oi, isn¡¯t using civilians like that goingpletely overboard¡­¡­!?¡¹

    On the disy screen, Yggdryer wraps his tentacles around a few children and elderly and ces them right in front of him, using them as meat-shields.

    Apparently Babel does not support external disy, because Lucas¡¯s words are disyed at the bottom of the screen in form of Japanese subtitles. It¡¯s better than nothing, I guess.

    ¡¸I can still feel some bashfulness, sixty points.¡¹

    ¡¸Taking infants and elderly hostage feels so good, seventy five points.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, umm¡­¡­?¡¹

    While Natsume-san was trying to stall for time in the most efficient way possible, both Pencilgton and I gave our own evaluation of her actions so far. While we were giving our own frighteningmentary like that, someone approached us¡­¡­ Sasahara Eight-san?

    ¡¸Mind if I ask you something?¡¹

    ¡¸Hm? Ahh¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Sure thing, don¡¯t be shy! I¡¯ll try to answer to the best of my (beautiful) ability!¡¹

    Right about now, I didn¡¯t feel like answering any questions at all. Fortunately, Pencilgton almost right away snatched the microphone that was originally directed at me. Her voice was surprisingly cheerful.

    That being said, it might have been the cause of the voice changer built in the helmets. But in Pencilgton¡¯s case it would actually be hard to guess.

    ¡¸Umm, you see¡­¡­ Is yer Natsume always so ferocious when ites to games?¡¹

    ¡¸Fufufu, well you see, about that¡­¡­ We are sure that this is the correct way of ying Gxia Heroes: Chaos! In other words¡­¡­ It¡¯s all part of the tactic!¡¹

    ¡¸What do you mean by that?¡¹

    ¡¸You see, there¡¯s a certain gauge in this game¡­¡­ And I don¡¯t mean like your typical fighting games super or special attack gauge. Those only umte if you damage your opponent or get damaged ----¡¹

    While Pencilgton started talking with such an intensity that thementator couldn¡¯t get a word in, I decided to tweak for a little bit with my helmet so I could focus on observing the fight properly.

    And to do that, some things were absolutely necessary for me to do.

    Thanks to the extremely unusual construction of this helmet, the only way to make the visor slide away was to press a certain button around the neck part. That being said, the parts that slide away are only around the mouth, nose and eyes.

    Maybe it¡¯s the recreation of some of the function of the helmet from the game it was from, but for me the impression could be only one: ¡°Neat! You can eat something with the helmet still on!¡±

    KASHAN! KASHAN! KASHA! PIP! PIP! PIP!

    ¡¸Nfuah!?¡¹

    I wanted to open the mouth piece of the helmet, but instead I ended up pressing the power button that was in the very close proximity to the button I wanted to press. So anyone who was watching could witness the sight most bizarre: a guy in a pumpkin helmet that was glowing like a Christmas tree.

    There was also a certain someone who was doing everything in his/her power to notugh at this sight, but eventually lost and startedughing so much that their sides began to hurt. Just who¡­¡­

    ¡¸Fuh, kuh, fufufufufu¡­¡­¡¹

    Was it you?

    I was slightly distracted by the appearance of Silvia Goldbergughing her ass off, when suddenly¡­¡­It¡¯s time to bring the big guns to the table.

    GOSOSO. (Taking out the energy drink that was stashed in the holster)

    PSH! (Cracking the can open)

    CHIYU! (Sticking the straw inside of the can)

    PICA! (Shine)

    ¡¸Puhyu!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Buha!?¡¹

    This time around I was sure that the ck macho wasughing his ass off. Sadly, I wasn¡¯t too sure about that, because the white macho covered him by leaning towards someone who was sitting in the audience just behind him. So now Sylvia Goldberg was not alone, but there was someone else joining her¡­¡­ Umm, wasn¡¯t his name ¡°Johnson¡± or something like that?

    I wonder if this some sort of their own tactics? Like, psychological warfare? I wanted tough at them on my own, but then I noticed the camera approaching me¡­¡­ better say something about this sucker here.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ This is some seriously good stuff.¡¹

    With no better idea in my mind at the current moment, I stroke a gutsy pose and shifted the bottle so that thebel of the energy drink could be visible on camera.

    ¡¸Dude, what the hell are you even doing?¡¹

    ¡¸Contributing to sales? I would like this thing to be avable in Japan as soon as possible.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, I get it now, I get you¡­¡­ Oh, look! The situation is changing!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, you¡¯re right.¡¹

    Looking up at the screen, I could see that Yggdryer was robbed of his hostages and was now forced into defense by Dr. Sandalphone, who reluctantly started acting and switched into offense.

    ¡¸Think that¡¯s going to be it for this round?¡¹

    ¡¸Hell if I know. He was forced to use some of his gauge just to free the hostages. Shouldn¡¯t Natsume-chan start doing the same if she wants to regain the advantage?¡¹

    It was certainly a difficult situation. If you use your gauge in the first round, then you¡¯re going to end up at a disadvantage in the next round. However, if it means winning a round, it¡¯s all worth the trouble.

 Chapter 165: Shining Metamorphosis, Laughing Foreigner, and Tipping Point Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 165: Shining Metamorphosis, Laughing Foreigner, and Tipping Point Part 2</h4>

    I would use the gauge to win the round, and I¡¯m sure that Pencilgton would opt to save as much of it as possible. And judging that Natsume-san has a simr ystyle to Katsu¡­¡­

    ¡¸She decided to use it?¡¹

    ¡¸Even if she loses the second round, she¡¯ll always have a chance of snatching the victory in the third round.¡¹

    Suddenly the ground cracks and crashes all around the two fighters, and what emerges from it are tentacles that wrap themselves around the NPCs and Dr. Sandalphone, effectively reducing his physical strength. If someone were to receive a nicebo while being in a state like that¡­¡­ a certain knockout. So the first round ended in Natsume-san¡¯s victory. There was going to be a short break before proceeding to round two.

    ¡¸Talk about cutting it close, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah¡­¡­ If it was to me, I would have gave up on this round and let him have it in the rounds toe.¡¹

    Even though she took hostages to stall for time, Lucas managed to adapt his ystyle quickly and respond ordingly. Even if taking hostages may be effective course of a action, it can all be for nothing once your opponent learns how to deal with that.

    And the biggest problem lies in Natsume-san¡¯s nature. Because she¡¯s shy, she tends to be somewhat indecisive at times. I know that they are all NPCs, but truly, no human being would be able to use others as meat-shields with unwavering conviction and unfazed psyche. I don¡¯t me her for that, but it¡¯s also something that your opponent won¡¯t miss the next time they fight.

    ¡¸Ooohhh! All of a sudden yer Natsume, after taking hostages again, was attacked from behind out of the blue!¡¹

    ¡¸Not good¡­¡­ She used half of her gaugest round, so if she ends up using more of it unexpectedly, it¡¯s going to take a while for it to recover.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s also bad that that they happened to spawn so close to one another. Give us a break, RNG!¡¹

    Since she was attacked from the back, Natsume-san let go of the hostages, since they wouldn¡¯t be of any use to her right now. She was doing her best to fight back, but it was right about time to make a decision that sets the amateurs away from professionals. What to do in such a situation, if all odds are against you?

    ¡¸Ah, she¡¯s running away.¡¹

    ¡¸It might be called a ritual of sorts, or maybe a sign of taking this seriously¡­¡­ But she¡¯s trying to earn some time toe up with a strategy for a counterattack.¡¹

    Sasahara Eight went to do a short interview with the members of Star Rain. So now we could discuss the current development without having to worry that a microphone would pick any sounds. We watched as Yggdryer made his escape, ting seeds - his special action - all over the back alleys.

    We can hear booing all over the audience in reaction to that miserable disy¡­¡­ But that doesn¡¯t matter right now. If that strategy allows you to win in the end, all that booing is nothing more but the barking of a sore loser.

    ¡¸It seems as though she abandoned hope for victory in this round and wants to regain as much of her gauge as possible.¡¹

    ¡¸Wow, it¡¯s raining police cars all over the ce.¡¹

    Viin gauge increases with every action that is bing of a true Viin. When fighting against Heroes, threatening the civilian also counted as an action that increased the gauge.

    Destroying the city also counted as the act of viiny, and Yggdryer continued to do just that until finally Dr. Sandalphon caught up with his and starting to damage him once more.

    ¡¸I knew it, it seems that each character has its own unique conditions for increasing their gauge.¡¹

    The conclusion we arrived at after investigating Star Rain was that they were mostly proficient with Hero characters, so we naturally started to train ourselves in Viin characters.

    For example, in Ydddryer¡¯s case, inflicting harm directly onto civilians would yield better results than damaging the buildings and causing environmental damage. Furthermore, using people as meat-shields would earn you even more gauge. What¡¯s more, if you torture people and let them to die, you¡¯d earn even more gauge than before¡­¡­ Was there anyone who would enjoy that particr ystyle? Sure there was. She was sitting right next to me.

    ¡¸Allowing your enemy to perform acts of evil as they see fit¡­¡­ Only aplete idiot would allow something like that and not try to stop it.¡¹

    ¡¸While faithful reproduction is indeed a good idea, isn¡¯t it too early to rx just yet?¡¹

    If it was indeed the case of a fighter-type viin, there would be no problem. You could have just taken the action straight to the Hero and finish this once and for all. But in case of Yggdryer, a character that favors sneakiness, such solution may not be avable. It brings its own set of problems to the table.

    ¡¸Now then, it¡¯s time for the final round. Just how far is yer Natsume willing to go in order to win this!?¡¹

    ¡¸It looks fun to me.¡¹

    ¡¸I just love it when someone does things exactly how I tell them to.¡¹

    ¡¸What are you? A pacifier or what¡­¡­?¡¹

 Chapter 166: Villian Hides In the Shadows, Whispering Calmly Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 166: Villian Hides In the Shadows, Whispering Calmly Part 1</h4>

    Fighting with all of her might, Natsume-san managed to earn us a total twenty four minutes and 4 seconds.

    ¡¸I¡¯m so sorry and ashamed¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸No, no, honestly in round three you did even better than expected. You even managed to get all of your gauge back, so it was an amazingeback.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, yeah, and who would have thought that a Chaos Cube would appear in a ce like that? So it¡¯s not your fault.¡¹

    As for the overall result, Natsume-san lost. She was clever and managed to pull surprise after surprise, but unfortunately Lucas was way too responsive with his actions. In the end, Yggdryer was smashed to bits by Dr. Sandalphon, mere meters away from freshly materialized Chaos Cube.

    ¡¸Nah, if its anyone¡¯s fault, it would be that monster out there who managed to anticipate all of Natsume-chan¡¯s actions.¡¹

    Although for most of the third round Lucas was falling behind Natsume-san, he suddenly started ying more seriously and caught up to her in a matter of seconds. But there was still something in Natsume-san¡¯s recollection that bothered me.

    ¡¸Natsume-chan, you said that there was a news helicopter going after you, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Ah¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Even though they were fighting one another so fiercely, I¡¯ve managed to observe that there was always a news helicopter hanging in the background, putting its distance.¡¹

    ¡¸I, see¡­¡­¡¹

    To be honest, I don¡¯t me Natsume-san for not noticing this right away. Compared to other fighting games, Gxia Heroes: Chaos has a whole lot of things going on at the same time. Way too many information to process.

    NPCs can make the Viin escape that much harder. They can see, hear and report a whole lot of things you¡¯d never really expect them to. So while you fight, you need to watch out for them as well.

    And because the setting of this game is quite modern, the NPCs can share information in between themselves surprisingly fast. By talking to one NPC, you can learn that someone else spotted a Viin on the opposite end of the city. So if you don¡¯t take precautions against NPCs, you¡¯re pretty much screwed.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Even though I¡¯m a Pro Gamer, I couldn¡¯t secure us a win. I know this may sound bad, but¡­¡­ Please, I leave everything to you guys¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Nfufu, there¡¯s no need to be so stiff and uptight! Just leave everything to Onee-san here! I¡¯ll settle this with a bang!¡¹

    ¡¸She¡¯s right. Just leave everything to us. I¡¯d be more furious with you if you actually tried to act all high and might even though you¡¯ve lost.¡¹

    The only one who¡¯s responsible for this situation is that jerk, Katsu. So I hope he¡¯s ready to bear the consequences once he finally decides to show up. Otherwise Natsume-san might never stop feeling bad about it.

    ¡¸Now, then¡­¡­ Let this here ¡°No Name¡± show the whole world just how Viins should act and y.¡¹

    ¡¸Just¡­¡­ Don¡¯t do anything TOO crazy.¡¹

    Since Lucas won the first match, this means that he stays in Full Dive. Now it would be Pencilgton¡¯s¡­¡­ No Name¡¯s job to take him down.

    The fact that Silvia Goldberg will go third threw a wrench in our overall strategy, plus the fact that Natsume-san lost the first match¡­¡­ So even if Pencilgton wins the next two matches and manages to stall Silvia Goldberg as long as she can, we¡¯d still be cutting it really close.

    It was certainly a difficult task to pull off. Now the question is: is Pencilgton up for the task like that?

    Still, the world does not know about Pencilgton¡¯s true nature¡­¡­ If they did, no one would voluntarily want to be closed in a ¡°boxing ring¡± of a game together with her. Especially if she would act like her old self.

    ¡¸Is Amane-san¡­¡­ I mean, No Name-san going to¡­¡­ be okay?¡¹

    ¡¸No problem. Certainly, since this is a new fighting game, she may not be all that good at it. Maybe she¡¯s even mediocre or even worse¡­¡­ Heck, I think that she wouldn¡¯t be able to score but a single win against you, Natsume-san.¡¹

    ¡¸So why then¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸However, if you give her a certain degree of freedom within the game¡­¡­¡¹

    She¡¯s that type of gamer that will make your life a living hell and wish you¡¯ve never logged in in the first ce.

    ¡¸Now then, for the second match yer Lucas continues as his Dr. Sandalphon, but just what kind of character is the mysterious masked yer No Name going to choose¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s Clock Fire. It¡¯s the kind of character that is simr to Yggdryer in its ystyle, but ording to the materials provided by the developer unlike a short distance counter type, Clock Fire prefers mobility and long rangebat.¡¹

    Dr. Sandalphones from theic books ¡°Dr. Sandalphon¡±, while Clock Firees from an entirely different series. Beause of that, maybe Pencilgton can earn some additional time if she decides to roley this.

    When ites to Pencilgton, the best way for her to y games like that is to choose those characters that would allow her to fully utilize her purely chaotic evil nature to her favor, so by that standard Clock Fire should click with her perfectly. Almost too perfectly, I¡¯m afraid.

    No, I¡¯m sure of it. The two of them are practically one and the same.

    ¡¸Now then, now then¡­¡­ Let¡¯s show those guys some of our world-famous Japanese hospitality, shall we¡­¡­?¡¹

    It was a strange looking woman wearing a blue trench coat and top hat. Also, her left eye was missing, reced by mechanical prosthetic with red retina. That is the Viin ¡°Clock Fire¡±,ing from Gxia Heroes¡¯ universe, from the ¡°Hydro Hand¡± series, to be exact.

    ¡¸Hmm, for now¡­¡­ Right, right, you there, young missy, what happened to your mom?¡¹

    For now, Clock Fire shuts her left eyelid close to hide her artificial eye and talks to an NPC, a little girl eating ice cream with a smile on her face while sitting on a bench.

    ¡¸Are you a friend of Mama¡¯s? She¡¯s over there, talking to her other friend.¡¹

    ¡¸I see, I see, what pretty mom you have there. Those ice cream look yummy. What vor are they?¡¹

    ¡¸Chestnut vored!¡¹

    ¡¸What a refined taste for a stupid brat¡­¡­ Ekhem. I mean, look here! I have a gift just for you, since you¡¯re so lovely little thing!¡¹

    While smiling in a way that betrayed no malicious intent at all, the Viin in a trench coat ced a cute and fluffy teddy bear right on the little girl¡¯sp.

    However, this was not just an ordinary teddy bear. It did not contain a belt or glue of any kind, but still it got stuck to girl¡¯s body. Even though she tried to pull on it really hard, the toy wouldn¡¯t budge in the slightest.

    ¡¸Mister Teddy Bear?¡¹

    ¡¸It seems that Mister Teddy Bear took a real liking to you. Please take a good care of him, missy.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­? Okay.¡¹

    ¡¸In that case, I¡¯m going to chat for a bit with your mom, so you just sit here and enjoy your ice cream.¡¹

    Then, with footsteps as light as if she was dancing, Clock Fire went towards the girl¡¯s mother and tapped her lightly on the shoulder.

    ¡¸You¡¯re that little missy¡¯s mama, correct?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? Yes, that¡¯s right¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m sorry if it¡¯s so sudden, but¡­¡­ Do you see that teddy bear that¡¯s sitting on your little girl¡¯sp? See, it¡¯s the same as this one¡­¡­¡¹

    Just like some sort of magic trick, Clock Fire produced a teddy bear out of nowhere and just threw it down on the street right under the NPC woman¡¯s legs.

    The teddy bear bounced from the ground a few times while making a soft noise, only tond at the very center of the road, where it was almost immediately smashed t by the tires of the truck that just happened to be passing by¡­¡­ And then it exploded.

    ¡¸To put it simply, would you be willing to do some work for me, my dear Mama?¡¹

    The burning remains of the truck turn over in the air, debris and mes raining down all over the people in its close vicinity. Others get hit by shrapnels of asphalt that scattered from the impact of the explosion. In the blink of an eye, ordinary peace and tranquility transformed into a vision of Hell, filled with human cries and screams. In the midst of all that, Clock Fire¡­¡­ No Name was acting as if it was nothing special and just continued in a nonchnt tone.

    ¡¸Don¡¯t worry, it won¡¯t be anything too difficult. Even someone like you can do it. Your reward shall be your child¡¯s safety¡­¡­ But it¡¯s not like you can refuse, can¡¯t you?¡¹

 Chapter 166: Villian Hides In the Shadows, Whispering Calmly Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 166: Villian Hides In the Shadows, Whispering Calmly Part 2</h4>

    The Hero was yet to arrive on the scene.

    Dumbfounded, stupefied, astonished. The way in which Clock Fire managed to threaten the NPC was so natural that for a few moments out there even that particr NPC had no idea what just happened.

    I know perfectly well how that NPC must have felt right now. Because I have experienced that myself in the past, although not on such scale. It was the first time ever that I¡¯ve met Pencilgton.

    ¡¸A psycho-bomber who derives pleasure from tearing down the peace with his own bombs¡­¡­ The synergy between those two and the game¡¯s setting is way too high if you¡¯d ask me.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, umm, this is¡­¡­ Just how will¡­ yer Lucas¡­ actually¡­ deal with¡­ this thing¡­ Haa¡­¡­¡¹

    Just as Pencilgton started to threaten other NPCs into cooperation, Sasahara Eight and herpanion were so taken aback by her actions that they weren¡¯t actually able to provide any livementary at all.

    ¡¸Fuck me if this is what girls all around the world aspire to be¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Now I start to understand why they say that the world is such a cruel ce¡­¡­¡¹

    Clock Fire¡¯s special ability is to set up clock time bombs in form of cute dolls or stuffed animals. It can set up to twenty bombs at one time, and they can be set on a timer, remotely detonated or triggered by external shock trauma. The damage they do is no big deal when ites to other yer characters, but that¡¯s not what they aim at. They are mostly aimed at taking down NPCs inrge quantities.

    ¡¸This game should have age restrictions for sure.¡¹

    There was this one girl and now fourteen taxi drivers, so that means there are five bombs left.

    ¡¸Ohh, what¡¯s this!? The mother all of a sudden clung to Dr. Sandalphon and¡­¡­ exploded!? WAAAAAH!? Now it was the Taxi!? And another one!? They keep on exploding one after another!?¡¹

    ¡¸That is certainly one creative way of using the NPCs in your favour¡­¡­ And won¡¯t you look at that? More than half of her Viin gauge is already filled.¡¹

    When she threatened the mother of that girl, Pencilgton ced a chameleon bomb onto her as well. Then it was only them matter of ¡°Your family is important to you, right? You don¡¯t want them to die, right? So go now, run and find a certain person.¡± Then it was allpleted when all of the taxi drivers she threatened converged onto Dr. Sandalphon¡¯s location, and once they crashed into one another the bombs were set and exploded at the same time.

    While Dr. Sandalphon tried to escape the st radius of neen explosions, the NPCs were screaming and Pencilgton just casually got into a taxi and ordered the driver to drive away from the scene.

    ¡¸Because the bombs tend to explode in the order in which they were set up, that little girl is going to die no matter what.¡¹

    ¡¸Is that woman a demon or the devil himself¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Hahaha, if only a cross or holy water were enough to deal with her¡­¡­¡¹

    Gxia Heroes: Chaos is not your ordinary fighting game. Why is one round more than enough to establish dominance? Why we have the whole city as our arena instead of smaller maps? Why there are so many NPCs¡­¡­ Soon, the special crash course led by Pencilgton-sensei was about to begin.

 Chapter 167: Dancing and Dancing In the Foreign Theatre Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 167: Dancing and Dancing In the Foreign Theatre Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸In this game, NPCs y much bigger role than in any other and can be way more annoying¡­¡­¡¹

    Does that mean we¡¯re one step closer to technological advancement bing a looming threat over humanity?

    The sound of fancy toys being scattered around, ear-shattering sts of explosions, and Pencilgton¡¯s viinousughter all merge into one cluster of sounds. Faced with a maniac like that, both the civilians and the police force could only rely on a Hero toe and save them now.

    Help me, Hero! Mister Doctor, save us! If it¡¯s you, I¡¯m sure you can save us all¡­¡­ Lines like that could be heard all over the city¡­¡­

    But the NPCs were no longer NPCs here. Not anymore. Now they were nothing more but a flesh tsunami that was holding the Hero back. As for Viins, there was no need to concern yourself with them: you could kill them, mutte them, step all over them, all without the slightest bit of consequence. Heroes can¡¯t do that. Or rather, acting like that would not be considered Heroic in the slightest.

    Therefore, it wasn¡¯t before long that the Hero¡¯s willingness to help caused him to lose sight of the Viin.

    All that was left were the desperate cries for help and agonizing roars filled with pain.

    ¡¸Kyaah!¡¹

    Sasahara Eight¡¯s scream echoes loudly through the microphone. On the screen, bomb-rigged NPCs were blowing up one by one, with Dr. Sandalphon being caught in between them.

    ¡¸Uwaah¡­¡­ This is no longer a fighting game¡­¡­ Is this supposed to be some kind of simtion?¡¹

    Those words would only serve to fuel Pencilgton¡¯s efforts if she was able to hear them. The way she wasughing right now certainly would give demons and monsters a serious run for their money.

    A whole lot of people in the audience were screaming as well, but so far there was noints. And while Dr. Sandalphon was doing everything he could to save as many people from their doom, Pencilgton was watching his efforts closely¡­¡­ From the deck of the helicopter she managed to sneak in and threatened the pilot with a bomb. Right now she could watch almost the entire map while no one would be able to spot her.

    ¡¸Ever since yesterday I was watching this helicopter closely and managed to pin down its exact trajectory¡­¡­¡¹

    Just as Yggdryer¡¯s meat-shield strategy in the previous match, this match was also proving that using the NPCs and steering them in a right way was a potent strategy that should not be underestimated. Of course, some strategies would be far more intricate than the others, and some of Viins¡¯ actions would make Heroes¡¯ efforts look like mere ying around.

    Also, as long as the Viin does not perform any hostile act in the open, his name and face remain hidden from the NPCs, so they could be practically invincible. And knowing that can give you all the advantage you need. But I wonder if it¡¯s really okay to release a game like that worldwide? Wouldn¡¯t that raise some concerns regarding the nature of some of the strategies people woulde up with?

    ¡¸Hoo boy, it looks like her ¡°Last Boss Mode¡± switch has been flipped already.¡¹

    Clock Fireughs on board the helicopter, making a face that would only be considered a parody of a smile. She then waved at the pilot to take the helicopter closer to the ground and jumped out of it. A few secondster the helicopter exploded, and while the twisted metal carcass came crushing towards the ground a rain of fire and metal came down on the surrounding streets and buildings.

    After escaping the NPCS suicide bombings, Dr. Sandalphone then saw Clock Fire waving at him from the top of the building. In just a short span of time, Clock Fire managed to turn the whole city into a warzone, where every single step could be potentially dangerous and could spell you end.

    ¡¸yer Lucas enters the building! yer No Name also goes to meet him¡­¡­ But no! Ahh! She goes into the elevator! Just get off it and walk normally!¡¹

    ¡¸Umm, objectively speaking, yer Lucas could have taken the elevator to the top. The fact that he¡¯s climbing up the stairs is even more ridiculous¡­¡­¡¹

    Even though I felt sorry for ¡°Skel¡± since Pencilgton was simply toying around with him, I was impressed of Pencilgton. She was slowly using all the time limit while making it look so natural, that no one would even suspect a thing.

    Once Dr. Sandalphon managed to get to the roof, his only reward was the sight of Clock Fire annoyingly waving her hand at him from the ground. In this situation, no one would really be expected to make a proper decision based on sound judgement. Even if you try to stay calm, you must be seething inside.

    Thinking of the shortest route down possible¡­¡­¡­¡­ There is one such path, and he wasn¡¯t going to miss it. Especially since there were ways to make the descent even faster.

    ¡¸Remaining time is nine minutes and forty three seconds¡­¡­ More than enough to have some fun, I¡¯d say.¡¹

    This game does not have fall damage. So in order to catch up with fleeing Clock Fire, Dr. Sandalphon jumped off the roof and went straight down towards her. It was then that he was met with ¡°Come On!¡± a Viin gauge technique that allows to ce two camouged bombs in any point in space. By the way, those bombs were melon shaped for some reason.

    The rest was a simple arithmetic problem. If you subtract thirty from both one hundred and twenty, which figure will reach zero first?

    ¡¸Wha?¡¹

    ¡¸No, what? Even if you say that¡­¡­¡¹

    When you involve NPCs in your game that can act with a certain degree of freedom, such disgusting¡­¡­ I mean, brilliant tactics be possible. It is cheap, it is nasty, but it is also quite effective.

    It¡¯s not the problem of being strong, or predictable, or how easy to deal with something is. It¡¯s the problem of doubting yourself. And doubting what the enemy will do next gives birth to an entirely different problem.

    Someone like Lucas should have been able to predict that during a freefall animation his movements would be greatly limited. And knowing that his enemy was using remotely controlled traps, he should have anticipated a trap. The signs were all there.

    However, he wasn¡¯t thinking straight. Not with so many NPCs blowing up all around him, being unable to utilize his Hero powers and overall annoyance with his enemy. All of the above factors created this particr situation. And just when he realized his mistake, he was already having a proverbial knife on his throat.

    ¡¸Somehow, ¡°Satan¡± is the only word thates to mind to describe this.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ As strange as it sounds.¡¹

    It is only natural that the path to the boss shall open only after braving many hardships first. That rule is as old as oldest RPG games, and it is equally as ruthless.

    ¡¸Now, it looks like the show is finally about to start.¡¹

    ¡¸She wasn¡¯t taking his seriously up until now!?¡¹

    ¡¸It wasn¡¯t even the real thing up until now!?¡¹

    Geh, just when did Sasahara Eight-san managed to get here with her stupid microphone!? Now what do I do? I was originally nning to say ¡°because she¡¯ll make things even more dramatic to stall for even more time.¡± But I cannot announce that to the entire world. And what¡¯s this? Where do you think you¡¯re sticking that camera, huh!? Get that thing away from my face! Ahh, for fuck¡¯s sake!

    ¡¸Ehh, umm¡­¡­ Well, as you can see, she mainly prioritizes making a good show over ying efficiently¡­¡­ Hmm, Ekhem, what I¡¯m trying to say, once you set the stage, it is difficult to just get off of it just like that, don¡¯t you think?¡¹

    S, stop it! Don¡¯t look at me like that, Natsume-san! And what¡¯s with that look!? Is this the famous ¡°Ah, so this guy has trouble with speaking in front of arge crowd of people~.¡±!? That¡¯s right! I have a problem! Do YOU have a problem with that!?

    No, calm down, me. Roley, remember? Roley. Right now you¡¯re cool and cynical pumpkin-head mercenary, and the fact that maybe tens of thousands of people are looking at you right now shouldn¡¯t really disturb that role.

    ¡¸Or rather, it¡¯s not that Viins really want to engage Heroes in direct battles, yes. It may sound bad and cowardly, but once you stop to think about it, it really is not all that bad. ¡­¡­ It¡¯s just their very nature, so to speak?¡¹

    ¡¸What do you mean by that?¡¹

    No, off to send Natsume-san a telepathic call for help! Help me! Help! ME!!! ¡­¡­ And of course she ignored me! God fucking damn it!

 Chapter 167: Dancing and Dancing In the Foreign Theatre Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 167: Dancing and Dancing In the Foreign Theatre Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Viins umte their gauge by causing chaos and destruction around town, but the longer the game goes the harder it is for them to do just that. At the same time, Heroes must deal with the damage caused by the Viins first, and they can umte gauges to use when the time of showdown finallyes around. So each side has their advantages and disadvantages.¡¹

    You could even make an analogy that the city is a nk page, Viin is the Pencil and Hero is an eraser. In the early stage of the game Viin can write on the page and modify it as they see fit, and Heroter on needs to try and erase as much of their doodles as possible. Personally I think that this is a rather nice dynamic to have.

    But the more you scribble on the page, the less space for you to write anything more onto it. And the more effective the eraser will be. TLDR; Viins have advantage in the early game, Heroes have advantage in thete game.

    At first nce Viins are on a privileged position in here, but in reality this settinges with its own set of unique problems for the Viins.

    For a Hero, Viin is ¡°an ultimate form of evil¡±. Something that must be defeated at all cost. Fighting Viins is Heroes¡¯ reason for existence.

    However, for a Viin a Hero is just ¡°a nuisance, or an obstacle in their path to achieve their goals and desires¡±. Although there are Viins out there that have some sort of connection to Heroes or ongoing conflicts with them, most of the times they treat Heroes like a detour. For a Viin, number one priority is the fulfillment of their ns.

    And this game even did a splendid job at emting Americanws ofic books as faithfully as possible. So no matter what, the direct showdown in between a Hero and a Viin would almost every single time end poorly for Viin.

    Heroes can raise their gauges by fighting Viins and helping NPCs in need, but if the Viin engages the Hero inbat, he gains nothing out of confrontation like that.

    So the only way in which Viins can offset that disadvantage is through earning as much gauge as possible before the Hero arrives on the stage. If they fail to do that, the gap between them and the Heroes will only grow bigger and bigger.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ In other words, the best kind of Viin here is the kind of Viin who can conceal their presence as much as possible and not be found out by the Hero. Kinda like the rabbit and the tortoise in that story. At least I think so.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­¡­ in other words, Viin is a tortoise, and Hero is a rabbit. He needs to gain as much of a distance as possible, and if the rabbit does not keep up the mad dash, the tortoise may eventually overtake him.¡¹

    ¡¸That kind of thing¡­¡­ desu.¡¹

    Sasahara then leaves me alone, and when the camera goes away, I can finally let a huge sigh of relief. Katsu and Pencilgton are much better suited for speeches like that¡­¡­ even when going in with no preparation, they would be able to emerge victorious. Me? I¡¯m too afraid of making a stupid mistake, so there would be nothing constructive out of it.

    She may not look like it, but Pencilgton has a true silver tongue to her. She¡¯ll wrap you around her finger if you leave an opening and let her do as she pleases.

    It seems that at this rate everything will y out just the way that Pencilgton assumed it would y out. Which was hardly any surprise for anyone who knew how this woman tends to operate.

    ¡¸Now, the second round is about to start! AHH! yer Lucas! Is this¡­¡­!?¡¹

    So, everything is going exactly as nned, huh?

    On the screen there was a figure of Dr. Sandalphon. Right now he waspletely ignoring the cries and calls for help, dashing through the crowds of NPCs in search of Clock Fire.

 Chapter 168: Layers Upon Layers Upon Layers

    <h4>Chapter 168: Layers Upon Layers Upon Layers</h4>

    ¡¸That¡¯s a Pro Gamer for you, they will always find a way.¡¹

    For Clock Fire¡¯s ¡°dolls¡± to explode, there is a certain rule that must be followed. The bomb must be within Clock Fire¡¯s field of view, his left artificial eye to be more exact. When she was hiding on board of the helicopter during the first round it wasn¡¯t all that apparent, but now at the start of the second round, a certain weak point of hers would start to be visible.

    In a nutshell, if you don¡¯t move away from your bomb, you might identally set if off just by looking at it. Because of that, Clock Fire¡¯s strategy is really simple: set the bomb and then haul ass somewhere else so you could detonate the bomb in the moment that is most suitable for you.

    ¡¸Hahaha! Finally found you, Miss Female Knight!¡¹

    ¡¸Ara, hate to break it to you, but I really don¡¯t fancy stubborn guys.¡¹

    ¡¸Wild men are way more popr with thedies!¡¹

    When you can¡¯t get away from your opponent, there¡¯s no point in setting up moving explosives. If so, what you need to do is to focus on recovering as many ¡°charges¡± as you can, and this here Pencilgton would never dare to miss a chance like that.

    ¡¸I¡¯m sorry¡­¡­ I¡¯m so terribly sorry!¡¹

    Behind Dr. Sandalphon one of the escaping NPCs suddenly exploded. It was the signal for this round¡¯s showdown to move into its decisive phase.

    (Wait a second, that¡¯s way too damn fast¡­¡­!)

    ¡¸Instead of dragging this out like the previous round, how about settling this right here, right now!?¡¹

    ¡¸Fine with me!¡¹

    With eight bombs being installed already, all that was left to go was twelve.

    And since she couldn¡¯t allow herself to set them off by ident, she needed to put some distance just so that her opponent wouldn¡¯t overwhelm her at short distance.

    Dr. Sandalphon is a close quarter kind of fighter, one that uses his psychic powers to greatly enhance his physical attributes. His signature techniques is called ¡°Psycho Fist¡±, where he uses his abilities to enhance the destructive power and reach of his fists. He can strike twice with an enhancement like that, but each strike is more powerful than thest one.

    To counter that, Pencilgton uses the power of Clock Fire¡¯s left eye to create artificial dog bomb and ces it in between herself and Lucas, making it difficult for him toe closer.

    The dog bomb takes the impact of the Psycho Fists shockwave, then sinks into itself and explodes.

    ¡¸Upuuh¡­¡­ Feels like an electric massager was pressed to my stomach¡­¡­¡¹

    Detonation, detonation, detonation. Every time an NPCes into Pencilgton¡¯s field of vision, they immediately blow up in spheres of mes.

    ¡¸More victims! Lucky me!¡¹

    Number of bombs installed: thirteen. Bombs left: Seven.

    Using the bomb NPCs as shields, Pencilgton manages to avoid Psycho Fists time after time and puts more distance in between them, staying safe.

    (Not good¡­¡­ The NPCs are starting to spread around too thinly¡­¡­ Need to gather them all up in one ce¡­¡­)

    ¡¸Hey, hey! Since we¡¯re on a date, don¡¯t think about other guys! Think and look only at me!¡¹

    ¡¸Before you start throwingme pick-up lines like that, how about getting yourself a proper license, huh, Doctor!?¡¹

    Explosion. They get blown away and fall to the ground. They get up.

    The point where she could make her escape was still far away, and if the NPCs keep on getting away she won¡¯t have enough bombs to protect herself.

    (Even though I originally intended to lose this round, I at least wanted to do so with style¡­¡­)

    When ites to round transitions, even though the fields change the NPCs stay mostly the same. It means that the bomb NPCs from this round would be carried over to the next round.

    (Seven people, huh¡­¡­ My HP is roughly at sixty percent, so if I wanted to get there I would really have to go about it in a roundabout way¡­¡­)

    For a moment out there it seemed that she would detonate someone by ident, but she managed to avert her gaze and her detonation order was safe. However, no there were no NPCs in her field of vision that she could turn into bombs, so she had to dash into the alleyways in between buildings if she didn¡¯t wanted to get driven into a corner.

    (If it was against Sanraku-kun or Katsu-kun I might have been able to do this by catching them off guard or to do something unpredictable, but against a Pro Gamer such things will not do me any good¡­¡­)

    When negotiating, a smile is your most powerful weapon. A good smile used at the right time can make all the difference. That way you can receive as much information as you want without giving any in return. That was Pencilgton¡¯s most fearful weapon: to feed her opponents false information and watch them go mad and crazy with doubt and second thoughts.

    And it¡¯s not that the same tricks and tactics will always work on every single opponent. Every human is different and some dose of adaptation is needed in order to best them. But it is that challenge that makes oveing various enemies so rewarding.

    ¡¸I don¡¯t have to worry about my back, since this path is dead straight¡­¡­ So what should I do in a situation like that?¡¹

    ¡¸Just go straight ahead without looking back.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s more than enough for me!¡¹

    She just needed to find the right information and act on those information. With that thought alone, Pencilgton jumped forward while staying wary of Dr. Sandalphon¡¯s close ranged attacks all the time.

    Not even Lucas anticipated such a brazen move. That¡¯s why everyone, including the audience, froze in their seats watching Pencilgton getting closer and closer to him, only to slip by past him at thest possible moment.

    ¡¸Ahahahaha! IDIOT~~~!!! It¡¯s at least three light years too early for you to think abouting with a girl into a dark alley! IDIOT~~!! IDIOT~~!!¡¹

    ¡¸Talk about a number out of this world!¡¹

    Apparently the only strategy that Towa Amane, age twenty four, could think of right now was to regress mentally back to the level of grade schooler.

    Looking at this scene in particr, you wouldn¡¯t be able to tell that this here was the event at the convention that was broadcasted all over the world. But Pencilgton wasn¡¯t behaving like that because she abandoned all hope of winning this thing. Quite the opposite. She was like a spider meticulously leading its prey deeper and deeper onto her web, where she could snatch that sweet victory for herself.

    (Two more minutes¡­¡­ Ahh, I wanted to earn at least five, that would be nice¡­¡­)

    ¡¸Waaaiiittt! Come back hhheeerrreee!!!¡¹

    ¡¸So what¡¯s it going to be? Hide and seek or ying tag! Make up your mind already!¡¹

    ¡¸I won¡¯t let you do as you please!¡¹

    (Figured as much¡­¡­ Oh, two more bomb, all set.)

    How to earn more bombs, while not letting any of them explode by ident and stall for more time?

    For the time being, Clock Fire continued her mad dash towards rigging more NPCs with explosives and prepare for the grand finale.

    ¡¸Bufu, kukuku, I¡¯m honestly torn between wanting to praise her or giving her the middle finger right about now¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸But even so, acting like a braindead child at an event of this scale of all ces¡­¡­ I think I¡¯m starting to have a headache.¡¹

    ¡¸Now, I know that her methods are not something that someone like you would do, Natsume-san, but isn¡¯t it fine as long as she achieves the desired result?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Incidentally, does she always behave like that?¡¹

    ¡¸No, no, that¡¯s only a performance.¡¹

    Natsume-san keeps on staring at me, and under the helmet I smile just a little bit to my own words.

    Adding the time Pencilgton managed to score thus far to Natsume-san¡¯s thirty minutes, we are sitting around forty five minutes. With the third round still waiting for us, she¡¯ll probably manage to break the goal of one hour. Then, if she can manage to do the same for next match and we manage to stall Silvia Goldberg long enough, we might actually be able to pull this off. As long as Katsu won¡¯t fuck anything up on his end.

    However, if anything in this world would always go ording to ns, we wouldn¡¯t be stuck in a situation like that in the first ce. And personally, I don¡¯t think that Pencilgton will be able to take down two yers in a row and then hold on long enough with the third. She must know that herself as well.

    ¡¸So does that mean I¡¯ll have to earn us about forty minutes myself¡­¡­?¡¹

    It is all within our expectations, but in the end Pro Gamers and their responsiveness is a ss entirely of their own.

    Originally, the n was for Pencilgton to avoid enemies as much as possible. Sure, she managed to get ahead by some margin, bu that doesn¡¯t mean that she could just outright abandon that strategy in favor of anything else.

    It¡¯s a good thing that she¡¯s having fun with the game, but Clock Fire¡¯s bomb instation leaves her pretty vounarable and her overall stats are pretty low. She won¡¯t be able to keep that up for long, and sooner rather thanter her opponent is going to catch up to her.

    ¡¸After all¡­¡­ Only No Name¡¯s hard work can save the day, so for us there is only one real thing we can do in this situation.¡¹

    ¡¸Pray and hope for the best?¡¹

    ¡¸Just have a goodugh seeing all of her efforts.¡¹

    I ignore Natsume-san who looks at me in such a way that I might start turning red any moment now.

    Now then, Pencilgton! At least give us, the ones with a lot of time to spare some sort of entertainment! Fuahahahahahahaha!!!

    Ah, Mister Operator! Don¡¯t point that camera towards me! It¡¯s giving me anxiety attack!

 Chapter 169: Adding Fuel to the Fire Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 169: Adding Fuel to the Fire Part 1</h4>

    As a matter of fact, when ites to mano-a-mano duels that most of fighting games offer, Pencilgton is a rather weak gamer.

    It is only because of her scheming, plotting, backstabbing and use of others to do her bidding that she managed to earn the title of ¡°Giant Killer¡± for herself in ShangriLa Frontier. Still, for her natural ystyle, aside from the raw difference in skill there are two major natural enemies.

    One such enemy is that type of gamer like Sanraku, who tends to brute force his way through any obstacles theye across. Gamers like that tend to act more like monsters rather than actual yers, and it is that unpredictable aspect that makes the use of anti-human strategies impossible.

    It¡¯s that type of gamers who would go all out against you at poker once the cards in their hands are just right, and if you choose to go any other way than confronting them, you¡¯re going to lose. They are especially dangerous in a dynamically changing environment.

    The other natural enemy are gamers like Katsu¡­¡­ people like Uomi Kei who tend to overanalyze things in order to see patterns of behaviors and strategies that they can exploit or turn against their opponents. On the other hand, that type of gamers tend to expose their hand rather quickly once the cat is out of the bag, so countering them bes somewhat easier since you can see all the cards they have left on their hand. In other words, a type of person who would bet on a losing hand as long as there would be the chance of turning the whole match around.

    Dealing with people like that requires to conceal your hand as much as possible, betting on a precise, one hit kill that decides the match in an instant.

    As for this match right here, the only way for Clock Fire Pencilgton right now is tomit a dragged out, overly dramatic suicide.

    ¡¸Took you long enough to get here. Do you have some sort of a problem with stairs, oh dear doctor?¡¹

    ¡¸Funny that you mention it¡­¡­ Because the elevator was freshly blown up! Otherwise I would have used it instead! But now I¡¯ve got you cornered atst.¡¹

    ¡¸You think you¡¯ve got me cornered? Non, non, non! We¡¯re here because I wanted us to be here!¡¹

    The current ratio of their HP was roughly seven to one. The demon lord of bombing was already at the death¡¯s door, but with enough information gathered for the final showdown and enough bombs nted, she was sure that the overall victory would be hers.

    ¡¸Now then, herees the grand finale of the three parts overture conducted by Clock Fire-chan. Hope you¡¯ll enjoy it!¡¹

    Clock Fire then does something like a short dance number, while singing that cringy line. She then turns toward the edge of the roof and looks somewhere to the side, as if she was trying to look beyond the invisible fourth wall.

    ¡¸In order for us to proceed to the grand climax part, I¡¯ll be taking my leave now. We shall meet again in a minute or so¡­¡­ So see you then?¡¹

    ¡¸Enough with the games! This ends now!¡¹

    ¡¸Sorry~~, but no way~~!! Your fists are not meant to defeat me here!¡¹

    ¡¸Is she for real¡­¡­!?¡¹

    Clock Fire then ces a small cat stuffed toy on the ground and tramples all over it with her boot with one swift motion. Right after that, the cat¡¯s face started to swell and bloat and eventually in exploded. The st was so strong that Dr. Sandalphon was knocked back and Clock Fire was enveloped in a cloud of fire and evaporated. And that was the conclusion of this round.

    ¡¸Suicide¡­¡­ This does not feel like a win in the slightest¡­¡­¡¹

    The defeated character disappears in a myriad of polygons after a few seconds. As the remains of the bomb set off by Clock Fire falls off the roof, Lucas doesn¡¯t even try to hide a bitter look on his face.

    He should have felt ted that he managed to im that round for himself, but oddly enough the usual feeling of ecstasy was nowhere to be found this time around.

    And that is because, everything he did was in line of someone else¡¯s scenario.

    (No¡­¡­ Even if that is the case, the tricks ends here! I won¡¯t let myself to be fooled by some cheap tricks again!)

    It was certainly surprising to turn NPCs into walking bombs, but now he knows that Clock Fire must be in the vicinity to set the bombs off, so it is possible to take countermeasures against that. So he needs to focus on hunting her down, without thinking about anything else. Clock Fire is not suited to directbat, so when ites to that, she should fall without any issues¡­¡­ That was the conclusion drawn by Lucas.

    And it would be a correct conclusion, if Pencilgton was your typical gamer.

    The break wouldst thirty seconds. The climax was going to be loud and shy one.

    ¡¸Now, hear ye, hear ye! Come closer and feast your eyes! This is the beginning of the special parade created by Clock Fire-chan¡­¡­¡¹

    The first and second rounds were nothing more but a preparation for the grand climax that will be the third round. And even though Chaos City changes its shape with each round, there are some things that appear exactly the same on a regr basis.

    For example, the grid of the roads and the cements of skyscrapers is almost the same every time, with little variations. The whole city is actually build on the n of the mostmon modern town. Not to mention that the insides of the buildings look pretty much the same.

    ¡¸Now, it¡¯s time to capitalize on all those savings and preparations and make them squeal, nfufu¡­¡­ Of, this is going to be so shy!¡¹

    No more hiding in the shadows. Pencilgton was waiting for her opponent while standing on the roof of an abandoned taxi right in the middle of the street.

    ¡¸Hey, hey, what¡¯s with the sudden style change?¡¹

    ¡¸I said so previously, don¡¯t you remember? This is going to be the grand finale! So let¡¯s go all out without holding anything back!¡¹

    If you¡¯re having fun yourself, there¡¯s nothing wrong with letting your surroundings have some fun as well. This was the perfect stage for Pencilgton, who rather preferred to do things like that out in the open than keep them concealed. To achieve victory and make as much damage and chaos as possible! There no ¡°losing¡± in a situation like that!

    ¡¸Hi there, everyone! Say, have you ever thought about it before? Have you ever wanted to do something like that, but didn¡¯t, thinking it was impossible?¡¹

    Dr. Sandalphon¡¯s powerful blowse from his psychic powers. So before doing anything, he needs to apply that power to his fists.

    ¡¸Then lucky you! I have wonderful news! Here, in this game, you can do it all! If you want to y the role of the Viin and destroy anything, go ahead! There¡¯s nothing stopping you from doing just that!¡¹

    During the first round, while disrupting Lucas¡¯s actions with bomb NPCs and getting to understand the map, Clock Fire destroyed some of the building¡¯s pirs in advance.

    In the second round she rigged more NPCs with bombs. Those NPCs were now fleeing towards the stadium somewhere in the city, where the shelter was located.

    All that was left for the Viin in the third round was to detonate all the bombs she set in the first round. So right now, the red-eyed viin started to look from one building to another, and¡­¡­ let the magic happen.

    ¡¸Now, who wants to y some DOMINO!?¡¹

    There was a chain of loud explosions, and soon enough the mighty skyscrapers start to sway and tilt. With their foundation weakened and broken, the ss and concrete colossuses copse on one another like some kind of concrete avnche.

    ¡¸Hey¡­¡­ Oh, you¡¯ve got to be sh*tting me¡­¡­!?¡¹

    Lucas stopped in his tracks and looked around, unable toprehend what was going on. All around him, the buildings were copsing one by one, just like the pieces of domino, until thendscape becamepletely t.

    ¡¸Unbelievable¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Nfufu, it seems that you didn¡¯t notice yet¡­¡­ My victory was certain right from the start. Nothing you could to change that.¡¹

    ¡¸Aren¡¯t you just talking out of your ass?¡¹

    ¡¸Non, non, non, that is just a fact.¡¹

    It¡¯s the effort of joined investigation performed by four people, although one of them was not here at the current moment. The ¡°ces¡± and ¡°specifications¡±, those were Pencilgton¡¯s tools of trade rather than brute force and fighting technique. And the rest is proper maniption and deceit.

    ¡¸Now, let¡¯s get this unfair show on the road!¡¹

 Chapter 169: Adding Fuel to the Fire Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 169: Adding Fuel to the Fire Part 2</h4>

    Up until now Pencilgton was only hiding and answering the Lucas¡¯s attacks only if she was directly threatened. But now he must have been so confused since even though he was a Pro Gamer, she threw caution to the wind and went on the offensive.

    If I was the one to face an opponent like that, I would be confused as hell for sure. Especially since with all the chaos going around there was no time to properly analyze the behavior of the mad Viin.

    ¡¸Why don¡¯t we put on a nice show!? WAKE UP!!¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯d use your gauge here!?¡¹

    In theic book ¡°Hydro Hands¡±, Clock Fire used a huge bomb to blow up the fire station where the protagonist used to work.

    Arge, clown-shape bomb goes high into the air where it blows up, scattering smaller clown-shape bombs all over the ce and causing them to detonate on the spot, creating even more chaos and destruction.

    From the scale of that attack it must be something simr to Clock Fire¡¯s ultimate move here in Gxia Heroes: Chaos. There is no way for Lucas to be able to escape from an attack like that.

    She must have earned enough gauge for that from all that building copsing earlier, since most of the NPCs have gone somewhere for this round. But since you can earn your Viin gauge from destroying the buildings alone, NPCs are not as essential as you might think.

    ¡¸But I regret to inform you that I already know the move set of every character in this game!¡¹

    It¡¯s just like we thought. Just as we made sure to make some precautions against Star Rain, they did the same thing. They also investigated the moves of every character to be able to counter them if need be. Clock Fire¡¯s ¡°Wake Up Clown¡± rains bombs over arge area, but it has one blind spot where you can avoid it.

    ¡¸Overhead is the safe spot!¡¹

    Since the smaller bombs are jam-packed inside of the clown¡¯s belly, due to the nature of this attack there are hardly any bombs being thrown over the clown¡¯s head.

    Attacks like that are the ultimate weapons when you give up on finding Chaos Cube and just want to be done with your enemy. They span over arge area and deal some serious damage. You can¡¯t avoid thempletely, but the least you can do is to try and minimalize the damage.

    Dr. Sandalphone has only a few seconds to react before the clown bomb explodes and it will be all over. So he decided to use the gauge technique that greatly enhances his physical abilities, jumping power included.

    ¡¸HA! You shouldn¡¯t rush towards the climax!¡¹

    His action was met with a nasty smile.

    ¡¸Ahh, too impatient to settle it.¡¹

    While looking at the smiling Pencilgton on the screen, I cannot help it but to sympathize with Lucas. Sure, his judgement was not wrong. It was the right thing to do in order to reduce the iing damage.

    But why would she destroy the buildings like Dominos? Why not go for Jenga instead? Not realizing the answer to that was the reason for his downfall.

    ¡¸So that was your n from the very beginning¡­¡­ No, really, are you fucking sh*tting me!?¡¹

    Therge screen mainly focuses on Pencilgton¡¯s battle against Lucas. However, how many people realized that right on the edge of the screen the falling buildings managed to reach the huge stadium and copsed right in the middle of it, splitting it in half like a watermelon.

    But even if you weren¡¯t able to spot that, there was a solution right here in front of your eyes. Namely: Pencilgton¡¯s Viin gauge.

    ¡¸Is that a freaking bug or what!? The gauge of yer No Name¡­¡­ IS not dropping at all!?¡¹

    ¡¸No, it is decreasing, but since the destruction and chaos all around is so tremendous, it just get replenished so fast that it looks like not decreasing¡­¡­¡¹

    Are you watching properly, world? Are you watching properly, developers? It¡¯s not a bug, but rather a small glitch, but you¡¯d better fix it ASAP.

    ¡¸I named it ¡°Gauge Burst¡±.¡¹

    The despair of NPCs is something from whichughing clowns can benefit greatly.

 Chapter 170: Gaijin Theatre Heats Up Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 170: Gaijin Theatre Heats Up Part 1</h4>

    Pencilgton happened to discover that one weird trickst night during her testing session.

    ¡¸Oh, so if a Viin happens to be the cause of a natural cataclysm like that, their gauge will keep on increasing and increasing.¡¹

    The root of this discovery was the event when Pencilgton¡¯s gauge started to increase suddenly after the tank she happened to immobilize some time before exploded and caused a chain explosion resulting in huge damages to the entire surroundings. At that time, her expression was terrifying. No, it was more than that. It was as if the devil himself wasughing his ass off.

    If there happens to be a disaster that you weren¡¯t the cause of, but it happened as a result of your previous actions, your gauge would still increase. That caused Pencilgton toe up with a strategy she dubbed ¡°Cataclysm Jenga¡±. But still, she was sure that she could go beyond that.

    However, it wasn¡¯t something you might call your ace in the hole. The buildings, their cement, the number of NPCs, street grid, it was all dependent on RNG, so if you happen to draw the short end of the stick, you¡¯re pretty much fucked. After all, RNG is a fickle mistress¡­¡­ Or wait a minute, maybe that¡¯s not so bad? Maybe RNG protects us from being totally screwed? Is RNG the MVP here? I think it¡¯s the pure chaos at work here.

    ¡¸As building continue to copse, there are explosions raging all around the shelter area¡­¡­ Enormous amount of viinous deeds continue to fuel your gauge as a result,sting for what seems to be an eternity. Maybe it is only possible Thanks to some unique interaction with Clock Fire¡¯s ¡°Clown Wake Up¡±, but¡­¡­¡¹

    Crushed to death. Killed by flying rubble. Burned to a crisp. Trampled. Various kinds of despair were currently fueling Clock Fire¡¯s gauge.

    In other words, if it was any other character with their special technique, such an exploit would not probably be possible. However, Clock Fire¡¯s skillset is pretty much unique even amongst the menagerie that is Gxia Heroes. This means that as long as you have charges, you can spam one bomb after another right away.

    Setups are the special type of attacks, even amongst the ultimate moves. And to prove that, it should suffice to say that everyone in the audience, including Natsume-san and I, were watching with stupefied expressions how ¡°Skel¡± was literally getting massacred inside of a cage of explosions.

    ¡¸That¡¯s what happens when you let that Pencilgton bastard have some fun¡­¡­¡¹

    It was far toote for him to do anything about his current situation. Pencilgton was right where she wanted to be, and Clock Fire was not going to let her prey escape.

    ¡¸Total time: twenty one minutes and thirty three seconds¡­¡­¡¹

    Out there, in the cage of explosions, the HP bar of the Dr. Sandalphon reached zero and he himself fell onto the ground. And seeing that this match got resolved even faster than the first one, I was about to hold my head in despair over that fact.

    ¡¸Ahahahaha! Oh, that was so much fun!¡¹

    ¡¸Hey, that was clearly a bug! What¡¯s that supposed to mean!?¡¹

    One person managed to exploit the mechanic in its favor, and the other person that got screwed over by that. The contrast was so great that it was impossible to not see.

    ¡¸Noo, you see¡­¡­ The elements were all there at that moment, so I just had to see if this was going to work¡­¡­ And wasn¡¯t that amazing!?¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re the only person in here who would deem that as ¡°amazing¡±, you big idiot!¡¹

    ¡¸No, really, I bet it was the real deal! I want to see the video of that match! Think they will let me see it if I ask them nicely?¡¹

    I know it was within the game, but having augh over a mass genocide you¡¯ve justmitted? I think that Natsume-san¡¯s current expression was summing it up nicely: she looked as though she was about to faint from mixture of shock and disgust.

    ¡¸Come on now, Lucas. It wasn¡¯t a bug, man.¡¹

    ¡¸Haah!? No matter how you look at it, her gauge was just downright broken!¡¹

    ¡¸The reason why her gauge was so filled all the time was because of the copsing buildings. They kept oning down on one another until they eventually crushed the stadium where the shelter for the NPCs was located.¡¹

    ¡¸Is that even possible¡­¡­¡¹

    Realizing that there was no helping any of it, Lucas sat down in his chair as he seemed to have calmed down a little bit. Welp, if you¡¯d ask anyone from outside of the gaming field about it and show them a clip where building dominoeses crushing down onto a stadium full of people, pretty much anyone would call this a bug.

    ¡¸So? Got anything to say in your defense? What was the point of making ns and borate strategy if you decided on your own: ¡°fuck that, let¡¯s get this over with in a jiffy just because I want to have fun¡±?¡¹

    ¡¸Hey, don¡¯t be like that. We¡¯ll manage somehow.¡¹

    ¡¸The sheer audacity of that statement, my God¡­¡­¡¹

    It was easier said than done. It¡¯s like trying to plow the field not with an ox, but an old donkey instead.

    However, just as Sasahara-san came to interview Pencilgton, I started to think about how could we possibly get that time that we want. It was a good thing that Pencilgton was getting all the attention, since no one would disturb me. By the way, when ites to her, her abilities to focus the attention onto herself was probably even greater then her abilities as a gamer.

    But isn¡¯t the world an unfair ce? Long live modern gaming, savor of the modern time entertainment!

    ¡¸Natsume-san, who¡¯s going to be our next opponent?¡¹

    ¡¸Alex Taylor¡­¡­ He goes by the nickname of ¡°As¡±. And he¡¯s probably¡­¡­ No, he is the most powerful yer in Star Rain aside from Silvia Goldberg.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Umm.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Code name ¡°Long distance rtionship¡±.¡¹

    Ah! That guy, huh? Yeah, I remember now, so please stop looking at me like I just scored zero points on a super easy test.

    ¡¸Hm, but if I remember correctly, he is¡­¡­¡¹

    He should be someone who Pencilgton happened to deem ¡°too easy¡±.

    ¡¸Ahahahaha! My fellow Viin ,where would you like me to hit you!? Even though we are destined lovers, we cannot avoid violence in between us!¡¹

    ¡¸Nu, guoooooohhh!?¡¹

    ¡¸Hey, is that all you¡¯ve got? Pretty pathetic of you, don¡¯t you think? Are you okay with showing the world suchme side of yours? Come on,e on!¡¹

    ¡¸Nnnnnnuuuuuuooooooaaaaaahhhhhh!?¡¹

    Even though I wasn¡¯t the one saying those cringy ass lines, I could feel my face bing bright red in embarrassment just listening to them. It was even more embarrassing since there were all those people around.

    ¡¸Somehow, it¡¯s like watching a really close chess match¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m d that I participated anonymously¡­¡­ Say, I think you can take that helmet off for now, you know¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Do you even realize the sheer size of heresy you¡¯ve just spoken?¡¹

    It¡¯spletely outrageous that Pencilgton does not have any sense of personal space or privacy like that. No, but that¡­¡­ Oh yeah, it was only adding to my ever expanding heap of anxiety.

    ¡¸No, no matter how you look at it, there¡¯s no way that a lover would just outright attack their other significant half like that, isn¡¯t it?¡¹

    Not that I would really know, but I get the feeling that both Pencilgton¡¯s current behavior and that of Alex were the extreme opposites, ones that shouldn¡¯t really speak for the vast majority. Now I was starting to feel guilty for ever thinking like that.

    ¡¸It¡¯s like watching a dog wagging its tail like crazy¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸The problem is whether or not this old dog is actually capable of learning new tricks¡­¡­¡¹

    Yes, there is only so much that role-y can give you in terms of advantage. The rest would be just the sheer contest of skill.

    But no matter what, Pencilgton was still Pencilgton: someone who took delight in spreading chaos and manipting her opponents through carefully nned actions and words that were supposed to annoy or enrage her opponents so that they would lose their ability to reason and clear-headedness.

    ording to the information that we have, the character that Alex is most proficient with should be Mr. Normie, a Hero. But seeing that they changed it to a Viin, it means that they must have realized that ying as a Hero against Pencilgton was a bad idea.

 Chapter 170: Gaijin Theatre Heats Up Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 170: Gaijin Theatre Heats Up Part 2</h4>

    They must have thought that by choosing a Viin as well they would be able to rampage all they wanted without having to suffer any losses because of that, which was not a bad line of thinking in and out of itself. Not to mention that this would take away from us our most impactful weapon that was the roley.

    As to Alex¡¯s decision, it seems that Pencilgton already had an answer waiting for him.

    ¡¸Do you think he¡¯s going to bully the NPCs into oblivion as well?¡¹

    Usually, you wouldn¡¯t expect people to be all that gung-ho aboutmitting mass genocide on innocent civilians¡­¡­ Not that many games offer you such path, but still.

    ¡¸Waa, the moment you try to go to the rescue the whole building was blown up¡­¡­Ahh, the gauge umtes¡­¡­¡¹

    Just how many Clown Bombs does that make today? And apparently it could move on its own a little bit after being set up¡­¡­ Then what is broadcasted is the scene where Clock Fire kicks the bomb right into the building and as it explodes the whole ce is reduced to nothing but rubble.

    ¡¸I see, so that¡¯s how it is¡­¡­ So it also depends on how you decide to treat it¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I get a feeling that this is going to greatly affect the Pro Gamins scene¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I me Bakatsu for this. He¡¯s the one who dragged us into this mess, after all.¡¹

    Oh, Katsu, you poor bastard. Some cheap ass sushi or wagyu beef simply won¡¯t cut it anymore. We¡¯re talking about full-blown imperial feast right here.

    ¡¸I¡¯m really gonna blow some steam away fighting that octopus-like bastard, I know it¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Wait a minute¡­¡­ What was that all about? I know we¡¯re odd, but at least we¡¯re not on the level of those foreigners out there! Talk about weird and unpredictable!¡¹

    What I meant by octopus-bastard was that Kutanid guy that I was supposed to battle in the nearby future. I know that calling him and his cohorts octopus-like is really cheap, but I can¡¯t help it but to think that this analogy describes them best. Or maybe fish-people would be better, in the end?

    By the way, this whole scene reminded me of a situation where I ended up being strapped to a cannon after I ACCIDENTALY tried to blow up the base where Katsu and Pencilgton might have gone minutes earlier¡­¡­ But it¡¯s a rather long story and I would like to save it for some other time. But it got the same vibes, for sure.

    After all, there are some things in life that are better left to be unspoken or forgotten. Yeah, that¡¯s for sure. But I digress. Apparently on the screen something was starting to happen.

    ¡¸It¡¯s just, how should I say it¡­¡­? I¡¯m starting to understand why Kei thinks that you¡¯re so strong¡­¡­¡¹

    Natsume-san says so to herself while watching Pencilgton taking a mother and her child hostage once more.

    Oho, what this? Well, if it isn¡¯t the same mother-daughter pair that Pencilgton exploded in the previous match? Terribly sorry that you guys get to be mixed up with Pencilgton again!

 Chapter 171: Evil Must Be Purged! Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 171: Evil Must Be Purged! Part 1</h4>

    Do you know about Karma? The idea that good deeds shall be rewarded and evil deeds shall be met with punishment. It¡¯s a simple yet effective concept, one that prevents people all around the world from acting on their basic instincts and using reason as their guide in life.

    Of course there are some organizations such as Mafia or the Army where that concept do not apply, but in Gxia Heroes: Chaos, this concept is nicely represented by the shes between Heroes and Viins.

    Depending on the yers choices there may be shes between two Heroes or two Viins, but in the end God is always watching us from way above, ready to smite you down with divine retribution for any misconduct you may be doing. Best to be mindful of that.

    That¡¯s the gist of it¡­¡­ Although when ites to punishment, its severity can wary as well.

    ¡¸Justice Meteor runs her through! There is nothing that yer No Name can do about it!¡¹

    ¡¸Once you get caught in a fullbo like that, it is hard to get out of it or to retaliate properly.¡¹

    The livementary was really focusing against Pencilgton right about now, but I could understand why it would be like that. It would be extremely hard to focus onmenting on all that violence that Pencilgton would usuallymit.

    Judging by the mixed reaction to that show earlier, I wonder if I should do the same thing once my turnes around¡­¡­ Or rather, if I do that, it shall be forever recorded as video data¡­¡­ There are instances where you really wish the civilization wouldn¡¯t get so far entertainment-wise.

    Well, let¡¯s say that from a personal point of view, let¡¯s say that when the game is over and Alex is beaten by Pencilgton, he would look as if he was about ready to drop dead because of the embarrassment. And it would be so much worse than normally, because not only they were doing some real shenanigans out there, but now the whole world was able to see it.

    ¡¸Well, be that as it may, it¡¯s going to be a wonderful thing.¡¹

    Fullbo this, fullbo that, no matter where you look, it¡¯s nothing but a fullbo. It was slightly annoying, but that¡¯s reality for you.

    Explosive flowers were blooming all over the city, but it was all too little toote right about now.

    The walls, the roads, the cars, the pirs¡­¡­ There were so many elements on the map right about now that were being hit by blue meteors that they were having trouble catching up.

    And even for Pencilgton, it was not an easy task to avoid projectiles like that as if they were nothing.

    So instead, she was doing something else. She could predict the trajectory of the meteors from the point where they entered the orbit, and instead of avoiding the main meteors, she was dodging the explosions they were creating.

    If I knew the ces where the explosives were about to ur and tried it a couple of times myself, I might have been able to do the same trick myself, but overall this is something that is really difficult to pull off, and something only a person like Pencilgton would be able to pull off. It¡¯s not even the realm of RNG anymore, it¡¯s really a difference in skill. In some FPS that we happened to y together, Pencilgton would be able to kill about twenty five NPCs with one explosive, without having to fire a single bullet.

    However, if there was someone that would be able to break through Pencilgton¡¯s of explosives¡­¡­ that person would be Silvia Goldberg and her Meetias, who managed to reach Clock Fire and smash her with abo so wless that it was simply unrealistic.

    ¡¸Splendid job.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, it certainly looks amazing, doingbos like that and all, but shouldn¡¯t she start doing something already? Look, at this rate she¡¯s about to lose!¡¹

    ¡¸Hm? Ahh, no, that¡¯s not it, not it at all. Suddenly turning things around is her forte, believe it or not.¡¹

    Pencilgton, or rather Pencil Warrior, is that type of gamer that secretly takes a whole bunch of preventive measures. But that¡¯s not what¡¯s the most amazing about her.

    The small lizard doll in a frilled dress starts to explode. However, the st was never able to reach its target, since it was kicked aside right before it was about to detonate.

    ¡¸I know this is supposed to be a catfight, but isn¡¯t that overdoing it way too much¡­¡­?¡¹

    Even if this is a battle between felines, it¡¯s hard to believe that it is equal in the slightest. It was like watching Munchkin Pencilgton going against the Lion Silvia. So there was no way for Pencilgton to pull this one off.

    The difference in their skills were far too great. Not to mention their mobility, which was also making it impossible for Pencilgton to stall for any time.

    (I mean sure, Meetias is a character based on speed an maneuverability, but this is just obnoxious.)

    Additionally, Silvia knew perfectly what she was doing, and was ying in such a way that you could never guess what she would do next.

    She tried to detonate thest bomb she had prepared in hopes of blowing up the building and gaining some of the Viin gauge, but thanks to the Hero¡¯s efforts there were no NPCs left in this area already, so the amount she managed to gain was not as much as she wanted to gain.

    (No, really, there¡¯s no way for me to win this. This is like fightning Sanraku when he¡¯s serious, or maybe even crazier¡­¡­)

    This is the number one in the United States, Silvia Goldberg. In Pencilgton¡¯s mind, the way in Silvia was moving and attacking was simr to ultra-fast attacks and actions performed by the Gravekeeper Wezaemon. However, since Silvia would not hurt herself or leave any openings or create a pattern to exploit, there was no way for her to counter her.

    So she spotted the long and thing metal pipe amongst the rubble and took it in her hands, preparing for herst stand.

    (So in the end I have no choice but to entrust matters to him, huh¡­¡­?)

    That is why, there were still three tasks Pencilgton needed to do.

    Just like Natsume-san did, prolong her defeat and gain as much time as possible.

    Cause as much carnage and destruction as a sort of vent for all of her pent-up frustration.

    And finally, scout as much about Silvia Goldberg as possible, which would be used to estimate her true power and potential.

    (If I can achieve all of those things, then¡­¡­!!)

    ¡¸SPECIAL SUSHI ------!!! GUAAAH!!!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Why is she mentioning sushi all of a sudden?¡¹

    Just before she was about to be hit by Meetias¡¯s ultimate ability ¡°Meteor Strike¡±, clock fire was engulfed in enormous st of her own explosion.

    Strangely enough she seemed happy with that result. Which was even stranger, since she thought she would be frustrated beyond belief. Maybe it¡¯s because she¡¯s not a Pro Gamer, so instead of winning or losing, she was more concerned with the notion of the audience having fun watching her actions? But even if that was it, No Name¡¯sst actions really seemed to be iprehensible.

    However, why would she choose ¡°Sushi¡± to be herst words, her death cry? Probably she herself wasn¡¯t able to understand that all that well.

    One of them wants to eat sushi. One of them wants to go eat yakiniku. One of them wants to eat pasta. And since they wouldn¡¯t be the ones to pay for it, they were ready to do about anything that would let them achieve their respective goals.

    Even though Clock Fire dies in a spectacr explosion, since it was only a game Pencilgton emerges from the Full Dive state and rises up, looking tired as hell.

    ¡¸Hoo boy, she¡¯s strong. Ridiculously strong. Like a genuine monster.¡¹

    ¡¸Give us an example, so that we may understand better.¡¹

    ¡¸Think of her as of Wezaemon but with AGI cranked up to neen.¡¹

    ¡¸Is that a monster from some other game?¡¹

    I know it wouldn¡¯t be easy, but for her to be this bad? This doesn¡¯t bode too well for us.

    ¡¸Sounds really bad. Anything more to say?¡¹

    ¡¸Honestly, that¡­¡­ that was pretty insane, what she was doing with her gauge.¡¹

    ¡¸I see. Hmm, then I¡¯ll try to gain us as much time as possible, so you can rx now.¡¹

    Just as Sasahara was starting to head over towards us with her sted microphone and cameras following her, Pencilgton straightened herself up and once again she was emitting an aura of confidence and dignity only a world ss supermodel could muster. Just how much training you need to undergo to be able to be like that on demand?

    However, even though she lost I can say it for certain, Pencilgton¡¯s skills have gone up quite considerablypared tost year.

 Chapter 171: Evil Must Be Purged! Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 171: Evil Must Be Purged! Part 2</h4>

    As for Silvia Goldberg, it was the samebination of mid-air jumps, mid-air dashes, wall jumps, wall dashes¡­¡­ But this time around she could spam them one after another without any kind of break in between her actions.

    Taking Meetias¡¯s move set into consideration, the way in which he was able to swiftly move from ce to ce and avoid the installed bombs, he was the worst opponent possible for Clock Fire, whose mobility was pretty much abysmal.

    ¡¸The way she moves, the way in which she control her own center of gravity, the way in which she calctes the best route possible even mid action¡­¡­¡¹

    Seeing what I will have to go up against, it feels me with a premonition that it is going to be extremely hard.

    Natsume-san managed to earn us about thirty minutes, and Pencilgton earned us about twenty five minutes for both of her won matches. Then she was eradicated, but let¡¯s not talk about it for now.

    Overall, counting the time in between games, we were about go past the two hours mark. And I must say, Pencilgton is pretty amazing, since it was her that managed to earn most of that time for us.

    But he¡¯s not here. He¡¯s nowhere to be seen. That stupid Bakatsu is nowhere to be seen.

    All this nning and efforts are to earn Katsu enough time to wrap the RwH 6 finals us ande here, so he can have his dream duel. But it will all be for nothing if he fails to show here in the end.

    So right about now¡­¡­ It would be all on me to earn as much time as possible against that monstrous opponent.

    Once I take the Full Dive, I won¡¯t be able to know if Katsu arrived on the stage or not.

    This means that since I have no way of knowing if he¡¯ll be here or not, I must assume the worst case scenario and do my best to stall for the maximum amount of time possible. And I cannot fail those who tried their very best before me.

    And when ites to Pencilgton, she¡¯s a true devil here, a genuine Demon Lord. Not only she managed to earn a huge amount of time in game, she even got a huge chunk of it post game, getting Sasahara-san wrapped in an overly long and borate tale about who-knows-what.

    But is Katsu going to be able to pull it off? I mean, no offense, but even if someone like Pencilgton was not able to do it, will he be¡­¡­ No, no, no, can¡¯t think like that! Not now!

    ¡¸For that reason, I¡¯m here right now.¡¹

    My role here is that of a reserve, thest defense line, battering ram stopper, secret bullet¡­¡­ My sole purpose right now is to not getpletely bodied too fast against the monster of a yer that is Silvia Goldberg. I would like to have some handicap in this much, bu there was nothing I can do about it right now.

    But the fact that the best yer in the United States decided toe in third ce, this put a dent in our original strategy and demanded some serious adjustments.

    In the first ce, this whole stalling for time operation is nothing but a side effect of our main goal, which is making the match ¡°Uomi Kei VS Silvia Goldberg¡± a reality. For that, we need Katsu here, no matter what.

    So with our antagonist now entering the stage, my goal is to simply ¡°ultimately lose, but only after buying as much time as possible¡±.

    But being honest here, I¡¯m still going to beat the living crap out of that jerk Katsu once this whole ordeal is over. I realize that I must absolutely pull though here, but I can¡¯t help but to think that it is impossible task, even for me.

    But there are also good news. Mainly, that Silvia Goldberg is much stronger than we may have anticipated.

    And since the nature of our goal, I absolutely must win one round. This means that I cannot allow myself to half-ass things and give it my absolute best right from the get go.

    Better brace yourself, Silvia Goldberg! Otherwise I might just crush you in two rounds!

    And since my overall goal is to y for time, I have no other choice but to give it my absolute best all the time, since my opponent is no pushover.

    ¡¸I¡¯ll turn you into a bloody pulp¡­¡­!¡¹

 Chapter 172: Arrogant Challenger: Ignition

    <h4>Chapter 172: Arrogant Challenger: Ignition</h4>

    ¡¸Now then, wouldn¡¯t you say that Nitro Squad is in a big pinch since Silvia Goldberg decided to show up in this Exhibition Match?¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s see, the yer No Face still needs to make his debut, so at the current moment his skill at gaming and power are still unknown, so it remains to be seen if he¡¯s going to be a challenge for Silvia Goldberg¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸It sounds as difficult as being a soldier in the middle of the warzone who¡¯s been shot in the stomach and there are no medics in the vicinity!¡¹

    Just like that, my battle against Silvia Goldberg was about to begin, while a certain someone was still not present, with everyone else thinking that he¡¯s still waging a brutal war in the toilet.

    ¡¸It certainly does¡­¡­ Let¡¯s see if yer No Face shows us the true extent of his abilities, just like a wild rabbit when it¡¯s being hunted by a predator.¡¹

    ¡¸Without any further ado, let¡¯s switch to character selection. yer Silvia picks Meetias, of course!¡¹

    ¡¸We¡¯ve already seen Meetias in the previous game, but his mobility is something that shouldn¡¯t be underestimated. And although it is difficult to carry out, this mobilitybined with yer Silvia¡¯s skills and natural tenacity is what earned her the title of United State¡¯s number one!¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, when ites to Silvia Goldbergbined with her Meetias, the only term thates to mind is: numer one.¡¹

    That¡¯s right, I am yet to discover a method to bring down the undefeated Silvia Goldberg.

    To that end, I even read through various Inte forums dedicated to beating her, with some of them possessing information only Pro Gamers would happen to know.

    And the answer that kept on appearing most of the time was ¡°Counter¡±.

    It¡¯s impossible to y against Meetias normally. And since the map is so spacious, it is also impossible to catch him if he decided to run away, since there are little to no environmental obstacles. So what is left to you? Countering him as he¡¯s about to attack.

    And I say counter, but in case of Silvia¡¯s Meetias it is more like trying to smack a meteor going at you at full speed and with no intention of changing its course.

    Back to what I was saying, it is also said that Amdrava is the best possible counter pick for Meetias.

    Mainly because it¡¯s the character that two people used - the two that got really close to bringing Silvia Goldberg down.

    It¡¯s all about being able to force your opponent toe close to you while maintaining high alert and keeping your defenses up at all times. Also, being able to slip some DoT damage here and there was never a bad thing.

    That would allow you to negate the fact that Amdrava was unable to keep up with Meetias, that Meetias would have toe to you. That is Silvia Goldberg¡¯s greatest disadvantage.

    And the character I chose has almost seventy percent disadvantage against Meetias. Because he has not got what Amdavara has. Yes, it is Meetias¡¯s arch¡ªnemesis, picked by me for obvious role-ying reasons. That character is¡­¡­

    ¡¸Now then, who No Face is going to pick¡­¡­? NO WAY! Are you kidding me!? Cursed Prison!?¡¹

    Gloves striking the ground, insults being thrown left and right, dragging the finger across the neck in an obvious gesture¡­¡­ This is going to be a battle of West versus East, of modern versus ancient, of weak versus strong where both sides desire victory. The ultimate underdog versus the ultimate champion.

    ¡¸Cursed Prison! It¡¯s Cursed Prison! Cursed Prison, the arch-nemesis of Meetias!¡¹

    Cursed Prison was pretty much useless in the hands of those who got a chance at beating Silvia Goldberg.

    However, those two challengers were crushed mercilessly without any chances at striking back. It is even said that using Cursed Prison against Silvia¡¯s Meetias is a kind of taboo, and if you happen to choose it still¡­¡­

    It means that you mean some serious fucking business.

    Shouldn¡¯t you avoid Cursed Prison if you wanted to earn as much time as possible? Maybe. But that was Pencilgton¡¯s opinion, not my own.

    To be perfectly honest, I¡¯d much rather beat Silvia Goldberg with this here Cursed Prison than by using some gimmicky character or mirrored Meetias.

    After all, stalling for time is much harder than just ying to win. There is a whole lot more to take into consideration, and the additional RNG factors certainly won¡¯t make your job any easier.

    And speeding up the hands of the clock was obviously not an option here. Real life unfortunately does not work that way. So I must do this the old fashioned way and tough it out as long as possible.

    However, the fact that you stall for time does not mean that you cannot try your best to win. I mean, I am going to lose in the end, but earning time does not stand in opposition of taking one round for myself.

    Samurai, fairies, cyborgs¡­¡­ There are characters that I find easy to handle and those that are not so much, but in the end the one that suited me best turned out to be the one that had thirty percent win ratio against Meetias in thest game. Bizarre, huh?

    On the surface Cursed Prison looks to be overwhelmingly disadvantageous towards Meetias, but oddly enough nothing was done across all the other games to change those numbers. Isn¡¯t that strange? What¡¯s more, in every single game Cursed Prison¡¯s win rate against Meetias was sitting at the exact thirty percent, nothing more and nothing less.

    ¡¸Those thirty percent hold the key to victory¡­¡­!!¡¹

    I see, so Pencilgton¡¯s evaluation of Wezaemon with AGI cranked up to neen was not all that off the mark after all. It is unlikely that any normal human would be able to have such reaction time if it wasn¡¯t for the help of some third party source, but that was actually what was going on here.

    Gatling gun, the starting equipment of Cursed Prison, roars loudly as it starts to spew bullets out, aiming towards Meetias who began to move and tried to close the distance in between us with someplex #D maneouvers, just like during thest battle with Pencilgton. However¡­¡­

    ¡¸She¡¯s the weakest one of us Four Heavenly Kings--!!¡¹

    Speaking of games in which your mobility depends on wheels, racing games naturallye to mind first. However, if those wheels are strapped to a person rather than the object, racing car is no longer appropriate. Tank is the word you¡¯re looking for.

    And when ites to humans moving on wheels, I think that the biggest advantage to be had there is the fact that you can rotate your body freely without actually needing to move your legs.

    By turning the wheels on my legs in the opposite directions, something like super turns are possible. And currently I was using those super turns to try and swat down a nasty meteor, but so far I was only hitting the void.

    Ahh, I get it, I get it already. That way you can avoid all you want, but you won¡¯t be able to hit. That is why¡­¡­

    ¡¸Fall down, green light!¡¹

    ¡¸Wah!?¡¹

    Just as I attack her, the only possible way to dodge that is through a mid-air jump. And the exact moment when she needs to do that mid-air jump is my window of opportunity for attack. But that¡¯s not over!

    I knew that those star-shaped googles would be poor at reflecting light, but apparently the effect was even bigger than I initially expected.

    ¡¸Look at you, you¡¯re not half bad!¡¹

    ¡¸Gee, thanks!¡¹

    It¡¯s an honor to beplimented by a Pro Gamer of this caliber, but I couldn¡¯t help it but to think that she was simply mocking me. Not to mention that I was slowly running out of options here. And with Katsu still not being here, she knew it perfectly well that my back was against the wall.

    ¡¸But what else can I do here except to give it my all and focus on the task at hand!?¡¹

    ¡¸I like guys that are determined, but sometimes too much is even worse than not having any!¡¹

    ¡¸Now that¡¯s something I can bet my chips on!¡¹

    I didn¡¯t think that Round One would be this difficult.

    And I couldn¡¯t be sure about that since my field of view was blocked currently, but I thought that for a moment out there I could see a mile shing on her face.

    ¡­¡­ He¡¯s still not here.

 Chapter 173: Raging Revenger: Burnout

    <h4>Chapter 173: Raging Revenger: Burnout</h4>

    When you try to beat a game, collecting and organizing information is the first and the most crucial task that you need to do. So let¡¯s take a moment to summarize the differences between a Pro Gamer Silvia Goldberg and me, the casual gamer.

    First of all, the basic ystyle¡­¡­ Apparently she¡¯s just the same type as me, someone who gets to y better the more tension work on her, and who¡¯s attacks rely on mostly on intuition. It¡¯s a direct opposite of Katsu or Pencilgton who like to n their every single move, but as a result would get destroyed once the situation goes out of the bounds of their own predictions.

    It¡¯s hard to believe, but looking at the Gatling shots just now it was the truth. She was able to avoid all of them simply on predictions like the angle of the muzzle, approximate speed of the bullets, sound of the shots, impact time and overall position. Maybe that¡¯s because her skills as a gamer are high, but her knowledge about the game must be deep as well.

    Unless there is some sort of innovation being brought to the table, the technology in games does not change all that often. And when we talk about the games of the same series done by the samepany, there may be some changes in graphics or new mechanics, but the core gamey staysrgely the same.

    If a sh*tty game yer such as myself achieved the knowledge about the ins and outs of a certain title because of my hard work, then Silvia is like a cutting-edgeputer AI. Good, that¡¯s actually good. Because there are things that machines can do, but also things that they cannot ever hope to achieve.

    And above all else, Ipletely happen to understand the way in which Cursed Prison is supposed to perform¡­¡­!

    ¡¸It¡¯s a gamble I must take every time, but that also means that you yourself don¡¯t have a whole lot of room to maneuver!¡¹

    ¡¸You certainly like to talk much¡­¡­¡¹

    I had some confidence in my theory. Especially after watching her battle against Pencilgton. So in theory it was all a matter of picking a good strategy out of the few options avable to me at any given moment. If I can limit her movement options, I might be able to pull this off.

    Think of it like a fire engine. If you don¡¯t connect a hose to it or some fire hydrant, there¡¯s no way for it to use its full potential and fulfill its purpose. Sure, you can use some of its other features, but what¡¯s the point in doing that if you can¡¯t do what you wanted to do in the first ce? ¡­¡­ Besides, a speeding fire engine was much easier to avoid.

    Without that winning even a single round might have proven to be extremely difficult¡­¡­ No, that might actually be good for stalling for time, but I don¡¯t think my heart would be able to withstand the tension. To begin with, Pencilgton managed to earn us a minimal amount of time, so it was now entirely on me to stall for long enough to make Katsu VS Silvia Goldberg a reality. Ahh, just thinking about it makes my motivation drop significantly¡­¡­

    ¡¸Haa, I thought that picking Cursed Prison would actuallye as a surprise, but oh well¡­¡­ I¡¯m stalling for time anyway, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Muu.¡¹

    She nailed it.

    ¡¸I thought it was strange that Kei didn¡¯t show himself after so much time. I don¡¯t know what he¡¯s doing at the moment, but you try to earn time for him toe here, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Muu, muu.¡¹

    I dodge quickly just in time to avoid the kick that pulverized a huge portion of the wall right where I was standing a moment ago.

    ¡¸I mean, the only reason you¡¯ve picked the Cursed Prison is because you want to stall for time, riiight?¡¹

    ¡¸Mumumumumumu.¡¹

    ¡¸Fuh¡­¡­ Oh well, let¡¯s have a good match, I guess?¡¹

    While I was shriveling in disbelief, Meetias used that opportunity to jump. She then do a somersault that swiftly transitions into a dive kick. I couldn¡¯t really see her facial expression, but oddly enough I knew what it was.

    Yes, it¡¯s an expression that I¡¯m very familiar with. It¡¯s the face I would make when the carefully nned strategy would finallye to fruition and I would get some result.

    Certainly, there¡¯s no better feeling than that of having your opponent on the ropes. Especially if that opponent is someone who¡¯s not really trying and only wants to earn some time. On the other hand, even if I tried to exin it to her, it would probably do me no good. So her action was totally understandable.

    I see, I see, I see¡­¡­ It was a feeling as if some sort of switch got flipped inside of my head. Then whates after that is the feeling as if a moltenva started coursing through my veins instead of caffeine. Who would have thought it would be so graphic?

    Going out on a business trip like that. Pulling all-nighters to y games. Study this particr game here. Eating an oversized parfait that almost made me feel sick. Being forced to y against a human version of Wezaemon, but even more overpowered than he was. Being exposed for the whole world to see. And now my perfectly thought out strategy was seen through just like that¡­¡­ What word would be more suiting here? Disgusted? Disappointed?

    I see, I see, I see, I SEE, I SEE¡­¡­ HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

    Round Two. Fight!

    ¡¸I¡¯ll wreck your face in!¡¹

    Stalling for time? Waiting for Katsu to arrive? Reception? Who the fuck cares! I certainly don¡¯t give a flying fuck about neither of those things anymore! Just throw it all away from my mind and don¡¯t think about anything unnecessary!

    Yeah, yeah, you¡¯re right Silvia Goldberg, your every guess was spot on, but¡­¡­ Why didn¡¯t you tell everyone else that you¡¯ve caught on!? Oh, I know just why! What is Goldberg!? What is the best in the US!? I¡¯m going to take that gold medal of yours for myself!

    What¡¯s this? It¡¯s as if the scales have finally fell from my eyes. It¡¯s that refreshing feeling as if I was sleeping for a dozen of hours only to awaken fully refreshed and well-rested while basking in the rays of the morning sun. Still, there was one desire that was burning brightly inside of me right about now. To crush that Hero that was before me and show her that her ce is right under the sole of my boot.

    ¡¸That¡¯s right, you¡­¡­ You don¡¯t want to win as a result of a freaking set-up¡­¡­!¡¹

    Role-ying-wise, the previous round was aplete disaster. I was so preupied with responding to Silvia Goldberg¡¯s actions that I didn¡¯t have time to actually role-y as Cursed Prison. But right now my heart was full of anger. Angry at the Hero Meetias, full of resentment, holding a grudge¡­¡­ Ahh, right, so that¡¯s what this is. It¡¯s just like being thrashed by thest boss even though you¡¯ve done a whole lot of power leveling. Or besting normal boss in battle only to be obliterated by him on the cutscene. Such things were the epitome of crap. And I absolutely reject such repulsive piles of sh*t.

    ¡¸Great, just great, isn¡¯t that ideal!? Ahh, I thought as much!¡¹

    I found it. It¡¯s minimal, barely even visible, but the widow of opportunity for countering is certainly here. Now I only need to provoke her into doing exactly what I want her to do.

    ¡¸Why hello there, mister white bicycle. Would you mind if I borrowed you for a moment or two? It would really make my day brighter. Not that you have any right to refuse, you know.¡¹

    Now let¡¯s hear you howl.

    Equipment troubles. One-on-One duels. Interviews after the match. It¡¯s been a while since hest did that, hence his dyed return. He even dashed out of the hall where the match was taking ce right after it ended, skipping the award giving ceremony and having to shout to his agent ¡°I¡¯ll leave the rest to you!¡±

    He then squeezed his way to the hall where the Exhibition Match was taking ce, squeezing his way through backstage and passing the members of the servicing crew that were all looking at him in a funny way and asking things like ¡°Is your ass okay?¡± Paying that no mind, Kei finally took thest seat on the Nitro Squad side of the stage.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­???¡¹

    He didn¡¯t expect that his arrival would be cheered or anything, but he at least hoped that Sasahara would notice andment on that, or at least someone from the audience¡­¡­ But it was then that he noticed that the eyes of everyone present were directed somewhere else.

    ¡¸I¡¯m impressed that the executives themselves graced us with their presence.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I¡¯m really sorry about that, how¡¯s San¡­¡­ How¡¯s No Face doing? It¡¯s his turn, right?¡¹

    ¡¸If you¡¯vee a little bit earlier it might have ended peacefully, but¡­¡­¡¹

    For some reason Pencilgtonughed in a dry manner, which forced Kei to turn his head towards the disy where No Face could be seen.

    The reason for thatugh was there on the disy alright. What was shown there was the match between No Face and Silvia Goldberg, most probably. Then there was the sound of a truly maniacalughter. And the sound of tires rubbing against asphalt road so furiously that you wouldn¡¯t think it possible.

    It was aughter of someone who finally gone past the point of no return and thest screws that were keeping his mind intact came apart. Worse yet, thatughter was dangerously close to theughter of Kei¡¯s gaming fried that he held in high regard¡­¡­

    ¡¸No, you see¡­¡­ There are so many things that went wrong that I don¡¯t know where to start¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, I thought that might be the case, but could you please summarize?¡¹

    ¡¸All sorts of different things.¡¹

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t that a little bit too brief?¡¹

    The undefeated champion smiles at the passionate challenger.

 Chapter 174: Outraging Invader: Full Throttle Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 174: Outraging Invader: Full Throttle Part 1</h4>

    Honestly speaking, Silvia Goldberg was bored. And disappointed at that.

    She quickly realized from the life feed that the opposite team was simply stalling for time, and that Uomi Kei was nowhere to be found by the time she went into Full-Dive. What¡¯s more, the actions of this No Face yer just confirmed her suspicions.

    (Maybe there was some sort of ident or urgent business because of which he was unable to participate¡­¡­)

    But even though they had so little time to adapt to the game, it was certainly admirable that they were able to gain so much time against Pro Gamers, especially that girl Natsume Megumi. Still, the only reason she took this job offer was because she wanted to face Uomi Kei in battle, hence her dissatisfaction. But the biggest dissatisfaction Silvia felt right nowy in that yer fighting her right about now.

    Silvia Goldberg was the strongest yer there could ever be. And it¡¯s not just an estimate or a theoretical data. It¡¯s the undeniable truth after she fought a whole bunch of strong opponents from all around the world and managed to emerge victorious from every single battle. That being said, even though she was always victorious, there was a number of yers who managed to almost give her a run for her money, including Uomi Kei.

    None of those people would dare to challenge her with Cursed Prison. Cursed Prison is the arch-nemesis of Meetias, as well as his greatest rival. Therefore, Silvia would never allow herself to be beaten by that character, not since her skills at handling Meetias were cut above all else. By choosing that character against Meetias, it was like dering a total war against her.

    Sadly enough, when ites to Cursed Prison¡¯s performance in Gxia Heroes: Chaos, it could only be described as disadvantageous against Meetias. Adding Silvia to the mix, there was no way in hell that any Cursed Prison would be able to beat Meetias. There could be exception to that rule, but so far Silvia was yet to see a Cursed Prison that would be able to impress her.

    (Surely that John Doe-san won¡¯t be any different¡­¡­)

    And even if by some miracle that John Doe-san happens to be a threat, it certainly won¡¯t be any real one. He won¡¯t be a bigger threat to her than Uomi Kei. He is the one she should be concerned about the most.

    She had really high expectations for that next match when she would sh with Kei again and she fully realized that. She was also secretly hoping for him to choose a Viin so that she could go all out against him. But just then the running and screaming NPCs brought her back to reality as her current opponent appeared right in front of her.

    ¡¸Ara, done changing your clothes?¡¹

    ¡¸Sorry for keeping you wait.¡¹

    It seems that he decided to incorporate about five police motorcycles into him, wearing their parts around different regions of his body just like a suit of armor. Right about now Cursed Prison looked like a knight in shining armor, except he had ck tires sticking literally from everywhere around him. And he wasing. Seeing that, Silvia let out a sigh.

    Since the previous Gxia Heroes games were the type of fighting games where you fight on small closed arenas, it was often impossible to fully realize the potential or appeal of certain characters. Like Clock Fire who spreads bombs and Cursed Prison that incorporates the elements of his surroundings into himself. However, this particr installment was able to remove that constraint and made it possible to enjoy the characters just like they were inic books.

    ¡¸Well then, shall we get started?¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, before that, there¡¯s one thing I would like to say.¡¹

    ¡¸???¡¹

    ¡¸What was I going to say¡­¡­ Oh, yeah, yeah, that¡¯s right.¡¹

    At that moment Cursed Prison was so heavily armored that not even a single part of his skin was visible. But the fearless smile was not wavering on Meetias¡¯s lips.

    ¡¸I¡¯ll. Kick. Your. Ass.¡¹

    The meaning behind those words was more like: I¡¯ll kill you so hard you¡¯ll die to death.

    ¡¸Excellent!¡¹

    Saying that, she kicked the ground and started running. She run up the wall, made a jump in mid-air,nded with a flip and elerated after a backstep. She then wanted to kick the empty space beneath her¡­¡­

    ¡¸Eh?¡¹

    Something grabbed her foot.

    I managed to grab her leg. It was basically one huge gamble on my part that relied hugely on intuition, but apparently the Gods of RNG decided to be on my side for a change.

    ¡¸Wee, WELCOME!!!¡¹

    If Meetias is a fighter type that specializes in speed, then Cursed Prison is a fighter type that specializes in Power. Normally he should also be really tough and difficult to injure, but because the game needed to be bnced that attribute of his was lost, changed to a form of a handicap: he¡¯s really powerful, but as a result he¡¯s also difficult to properly handle.

    But that also means that it¡¯s power is rtively close to theic book original. Also, to offset myck of mobility I incorporated five motorcycles into my body, and used the super fast rotation to be able to keep up with Meetias and eventually be able to take a hold of his ankle like that.

    Then I continue to move at a super-fast speed like that, as the mufflers located at my back starts to roar like wild beasts and emit clouds of dark smoke. Right here, right in this moment the RNG gods are still on my side, thanks to which I am able to overwhelm the Number One yer in the United States.

    Paradoxically, Cursed Prison is the most immobile and the most mobile character in the entire game. Even though some parts are omitted, the added weight of five bikes makes his body so heavy that he is no longer able to use his legs properly. He can move with really slow and heavy steps, but fighting in such state is out of the question.

    However, having five bike engines strapped onto you allows you to move extremely fast for a short amount of time, although ites with little precision and no control whatsoever. For example, if you focus all of your energy on turning the tires that are strapped to your legs¡­¡­

    ¡¸Now, it¡¯s time for you to be a starrrrrrrrrr!!!¡¹

    You can swing your enemy around just like a ragdoll, a maneuver that wouldn¡¯t otherwise be possible. Then, when I let go of him having umted enough rotation, Meetias¡¯s body shoots towards a building and pierces right through it, just like a meteor would. And it wouldn¡¯te without a bacsh, since this time around, he was thrown against his will.

    ¡¸Fufufu, kukukukukuku¡­¡­¡¹

    Good, good, that¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about. I¡¯m like a batter that manages to hit a home run after home run. A ser yer that scores hat trick after hat trick. A horse that gets so far ahead that none other contestants are able to get close to me. And being able to thrash a Pro Gamer around like that surely felt good. Oh wait, I should use that opportunity to make myself look even more evil.

    ¡¸FUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Whoa there!¡¹

    ¡¸Geh!¡¹

    I was just about to enter the building where I threw Meetias in, but then he jumped at me from the still falling dust. On a side note, I was currently running at full speed with my arms spread wide and facing down due to the sheer weight of them. It surely looked as though I was trying to give Meetias a hug. Realizing that, Meetias tried to avoid my grasp atst possible moment, but by doing that he fell right into my trap. It was only a matter of adjusting my arm slightly.

    ¡¸Too bad! That was never going to be a hug! Muahahahahahahahaha!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Fuguah!?¡¹

    Maintaining my speed, I rammed straight into Meetias, letting him eat a magnificently performedriat. And the impact of my attack was so strong that my tires got twisted and I spun in ce, simr to ice skating move.

    As for Meetias, the force applied to his neck was so strong that it forced his body to do a backflip in the air. I use that opportunity to get close to him and ce a motorcycle tire that was strapped onto my arm right next to his face. I think I don¡¯t have to tell you what would happen if you did that to a human being. And if you don¡¯t, then don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m going to demonstrate it to you.

    ¡¸WAHAHAHAHAHA! Rejoice, boy! You¡¯re going to experience a wonderful kabe-don!¡¹

 Chapter 174: Outraging Invader: Full Throttle Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 174: Outraging Invader: Full Throttle Part 2</h4>

    Trantor: Kurehashi Aiko

    I threw Meetias against the wall and mmed my arm into that wall. Meetias¡¯s face was currently suspended in between the wall and the tire on my arm. It was a truly loud sandwich, but I didn¡¯t care. Whatever it takes to take her HP down to zero.

    Meetias¡¯s HP bar was growing short rapidly. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to reduce it to zero that way, but you can be damn sure that I¡¯ll try to shave it as much as possible.

    ¡¸Get the hell¡­¡­ away from me!¡¹

    Meetias delivers a kick to my stomach, forcibly disconnecting the tire from his face. He then started to jump around all over the ce to gain some sort of distance from me. Oh, how sweet, is she suddenly afraid of me? Sadly, it was no longer human versus human battle anymore. Right about now I was a human-sized monster!

    ¡¸Shoulder-Wheel Drive!¡¹

    ¡¸Uwah, that¡¯s sickening!¡¹

    How rude, and I was just trying to¡­¡­ Yes, I just did a bridge with one half of my body in order to make an bridge so that my arm and leg would form something akin to an improvised motorcycle. With that I could easily evade an iing attack, but I realize that it might have put me in a position that made me look like an absolute pervert in the eyes of some people.

    From that position I could now do something simr to a drift and use the created centrifugal force in order to get back up. The only downside of that technique was that I would stay immobile for a couple of frames after getting myself back up, which would normally leave me open for attack.

    I then dropped on all fours and fired up all my engines at once, letting out a beast-like roar. Then I rammed myself right into Meetias, who didn¡¯t have enough strength in him to change the direction of my charge or deflect me. This was a perfect opportunity for abo that any Cursed Prisoner main should memorize and use properly.

    ¡¸That¡¯s for Round One! That¡¯s for acting so full of yourself! And this¡­¡­! This is for my precious yakiniku!!!¡¹

    I do a slight kick to elerate the tires, then dig some ground with them to intimidate my opponent. I then start turning around like a wild tornado, delivering a powerful blow to Meetias¡¯s jaw with my tire turned sledgehammer thanks to rotation and centrifugal force. Finally I finish it with a powerful tackle that sends him flying into a wall. All of Cursed Prison¡¯sbos are powerful and have a real kick to them.

    Just as mybo ends, Meetias gets blown across the street with a look on his face that seemed to be asking: ¡°Why the hell is this guy talking about yakiniku!?¡± It seems that I might have overdone it a little bit with the engines there, because they were so hot right now that the airing from them was distorting my view and my whole body was feeling their heat.

    ¡¸Come on, America¡¯s Number One! I¡¯m going to pulverize you!¡¹

    All of the engines on my body roared furiously as if responding to my feelings, and the mufflers spew out ck smoke mixed with mes. It blew all over me and clouded my vision a little, so I didn¡¯t know what was Meetias¡¯s expression, but I¡¯m pretty sure that he wasughing.

    Now, I think that the time is going to be about right¡­¡­

 Chapter 175: High-Speed Roaring Flames: Torque Burst Part1

    <h4>Chapter 175: High-Speed Roaring mes: Torque Burst Part1</h4>

    When ites to fighting games, my experience roughly applies to three sh*tty games.

    The first is without a doubt ¡°Berserker Passion Online¡± aka ¡°Crap¡±. A game where the use of bugs and glitches was so frequent that losing your physical shape and bing a convoluted mess almost caused me to lose my sense of pride as a human being. But thanks to that I was ready to face whatever atrocities would await me down the road eventually, so there¡¯s that I guess.

    The second game was called Animal Fights Online¡­¡­ Commonly known as ¡°GoriLion Online¡±. The basic premise of that game was that the yer assumes the role of a wild animal and fights other wild animals. Even though the concept surely was original, poor optimalization and controls made it almost unyable, not to mention other problems resulting from Full-Dive system changing a human being into animals of various shapes and sizes. Thest straw was the fact that even though the game offered a wide variety of characters to y as, about ny percent of yerbase was ying as lion, because he was so OP that it was unreal.

    The patches did not help. The nerfs only made it stronger for some convoluted reason. Until the emergence of a Gori, who¡¯s low kick spamming turned out to be the answer the yers were al looking for. Why would a Gori be new king of animals I don¡¯t know and I don¡¯t care. But that¡¯s how it all went.

    Back then I wasughing my ass off at the prospect of fighting as animals. After all, it was something that would never profit me in any other game, right? Well, turns out that right about now that experience was quite useful in my current predicament.

    Then there was the third game. The game that was so ahead of it¡¯s time that the moment peoplee to understand its genius will most probably be the moment we shall ally into the earth and die¡­¡­ Or not. It was more like a game that only the absolute intellectual elites could ever hope toprehend. The name of this game was ¡°Capricio Online¡±, but everyone came to call it ¡°Bakumatsu¡±. It was a fairly simple open-world game in which you could punch or sh virtually everything, be it an NPC or another yer as youpete to obtain the highest score possible.

    It was a game where you were thrown into the deep water right of the bat, into the open world styled after the Bakumatsu period Japan, with only a single sword and a whole lot of senior yers who were more than eager to beat the living sh*t out of you. And after you somehow got away from that ¡°baptism¡± rite, you¡¯d end up being haunted by the NPCs that were relentlessly chasing you down until you didn¡¯t drop dead or managed to stand your ground.

    Then when you finally manage to catch a break, you¡¯d stumble upon other new yers like yourself, and you¡¯d decide to band together in order to vent your umted frustration. And what better way to vent your frustration than to overthrow some localndlord, rob and murder a government official who just happened to be passing by, raze a whole vige to the ground and turn the women into ves? All of the above activities would give you tremendous amounts of EXP, so before you know it you were sitting on a mountain of EXP, items and skills, which would allow you to grow strong. And then you¡¯d go to the new yers spawn point yourself with your friends and practice the ¡°baptism¡± yourself. It was a never-ending circle of life. It was a game like that.

    Even though the game was set in thete Edo period, there was quite a bit of things that you could learn from it. Of especially great value was the technique of using the gaps in time. The thing is, there is a certaing for every NPC when ites to executing one action and then transitioning to the next one. So the yers could force a certain actions from the NPCs and create time gaps that they could use in order to get free hits in. It is a technique that I would then use to capture many a sh*tty games.

    It¡¯s just like the rest period in music. Just when the tension is at its highest point it suddenly stops, and in that brief moment you could made your move and strike. Sometimes it would be enough to kill your opponent, but more often than not it would just result in a critical hit. There were other games with simr systems like that, but I can say that without fail ¡°Bakumatsu¡± managed to train my interpersonal skills, making me good at estimating when you needed to defend yourself and when you needed to make a swift offense.

    This ¡°Beat Shifting¡± ability is something I think it¡¯s crucial in fighting games. Faints, dys, and all of those other skills that only the end of Edo period could teach you, I¡¯m sure it was going toe in handy someday. Silvia Goldberg may be the same type of gamer as me, but¡­¡­ Her rhythm is different from mine, because instead of carefully looking for an opening, she tends to overwhelm her opponents with it, like a st wave. That¡¯s the difference in between us.

    It¡¯s only a guess on my end, but I bet that Katsu and those other yers must have realized that fact and were adamant of studying that explosive rhythm of Silvia Goldberg. It certainly wasn¡¯t a bad idea or a wrong approach, but seeing that Silvia Goldberg¡¯s title of ¡°undefeated¡± was yet to be taken from her, I¡¯d say it was not a correct one either.

    Silvia Goldberg¡¯s strength lies in the fact that her rhythm is constantly shifting and changing. Think of it like Heroes awakening to new powers or a car changing gears. This means that you have to analyze her all over again ande up with a countermeasure. Most yers are unable to keep up with a rhythm like that and fall behind quickly, which results in their imminent failure. So how do you fight a monster like that? Here the basics of fighting gameses into y. You need to narrow down your choices of actions and press the attack relentlessly.

    It¡¯s the best thing you can do against her, since countering seems not all that effective to begin with. But I can see why people thought like that, since counters allow you to prepare for the iing attack and respond to it ordingly. It¡¯s like putting a bird that used to live in the wilds inside of a cage. So if you want to beat a speeding meteor, you need to strike it first instead of allowing it to hit you.

    ¡¸Kuh¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Now do your best, my semi-circr canal kick!¡¹

    I lift one of my feet, making use of the ultra-fast turn and start spinning like an ice-skater again, turning my leg into a deadly weapon once more. It¡¯s something I picked up from GoriLion Online, a technique that was the bane of Lion¡¯s existence, but it could also be applied to other games, since it was so hard to deal with in general. Right about now I was like a fan with exposed wing, ready to slice everything that was in my path.

    ¡¸S, so annoying¡­¡­ Who the hell are you, anyway¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸I thought it was obvious: I¡¯m a mercenary. In order to get food and money I¡¯ll take just about any kind of job!¡¹

    The spinning leg connects with Meetias¡¯s face and he starts to be thrashed around the ce by strikes he couldn¡¯t see or do anything bout. I also suffer some damage because of the nature of this attack, but it should be obvious who is getting the shorter end of the stick in here. I just shake my head and try to brush the sense of shortening HP bar aside.

    ¡¸I¡¯ll get this Round! After I turn you into a Hero paste, that is!¡¹

    me bursts from the mufflers on my back and the lights on the front of my body all light up. Cursed Prison rushed towards Meetias, who was now cornered near a wall. There was no time for him to adjust his position or to escape. He could only hope to intercept it or to roll to the side.

    ¡¸Sure thing, I¡¯ll give you this round as a gift.¡¹

    And Silvia Goldberg chose to intercept it.

    ¡¸But it is a Hero who always wins in the end. Best to remember that, Cursed Prison, my arch-nemesis.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s how it goes inic books. But it is a game here.¡¹

    sh. Even if we both receive damage, the bigger and more armored character is going to receive it in much less quantity than a Hero like Meetias. So if Cursed Prison¡¯s HP bar gets almostpletely depleted, Meetias¡¯s HP bar would his zero for sure.

 Chapter 175: High-Speed Roaring Flames: Torque Burst Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 175: High-Speed Roaring mes: Torque Burst Part 2</h4>

    But that carnivore-like smile of hers that I saw in thest moment was enough to fire my aggression and spirit ofpetitiveness once more. Next round, I¡¯ll massacre you even more, so you¡¯d better be ready for it!

    ¡¸That wraps it up for this round! And what a round it was! yer No Face managed to score a surprising return on yer Goldberg in a truly magnificent fashion! It¡¯s like he was apletely different person from his round one self!¡¹

    ¡¸Truly, what a terrific match that was¡­¡­ Incorporating the motorcycles into himself to make up for hisck of mobility, brilliant! Still, it seems that you need outstanding control to be able to handle movements like that.¡¹

    ¡¸This will surely be a story that will be talk about for a long time toe¡­¡­ Oh, won¡¯t you look at that? Uomi Kei finally showed up.¡¹

    ¡¸Hahaha, what a cold greeting¡­¡­ Hello there, everyone.¡¹

    The camera centered on Katsu who sat next to Pencilgton, and he waved her hand at it, looking slightly troubled.

    The reception for his words was a warm and enthusiastic one. If Pencilgton or Sanraku ever tried to deliver a line like that to someone, it would seem like a cloud of poison escaping from their mouths.

    ¡¸yer No Face called himself a mercenary, but what exactly was that supposed to mean?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, same goes for our John Doe here. Well then, my friend. Would you be willing to let us know a thing or two about your John Doe over there?¡¹

    ¡¸And what if your John Doe is actually a woman?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, is that right? Sorry about that. So that would make her Jane Doe, right?¡¹

    That Pencilgton, spitting poison once again as she pleased! And her tone was that of a mother gently scolding her own children, of all things!

    For some reason Natsume looked really worried as she gazed at Pencilgton¡¯s face and eventually shifted her gaze to Katsu. Maybe she was trying to imagine what Sanraku would say to that? He would most probably make a gesture of striking the palm of his hand with his fist. Or clenching them really hard.

    ¡¸But still, the two of them showed us a reall wonderful match¡­¡­ Is No Face also a Pro Gamer or something?¡¹

    ¡¸I think it¡¯s best to leave it a secret. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s more mysterious that way?¡¹

    If Sanraku could hear that, he would surely scream something like: ¡°What¡¯s with that cringy line!?¡± or ¡°Stop embarrassing me!¡±. Fortunately enough, Sanraku was about to start the third round, so he wasn¡¯t able to hear it.

    ¡¸Do you think it¡¯s possible for him to actually do the impossible, the thing that no one has ever achieved before him¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸No, no, no, no, no, if he could win, it would mean I could win as well. Believe it or not, but my win-rate against him is actually seventy percent¡­¡­¡¹

    But right about now he was certain that he would lose and pretty badly at that. But Pencilgton was kind enough to keep those words to herself and not to let them out.

    But does Sanraku still remembers the original purpose of all this? That it was all for Katsu¡¯s sake, so he could have his grand moment?

    Thus marks the beginning of Round 3.

 Chapter 176: Crossfire of Tiger and Dragon: Dead Heat Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 176: Crossfire of Tiger and Dragon: Dead Heat Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸I¡¯m gonna crush youuuuuu!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Too slow, too slow! I won¡¯t fall for the same trick any¡­¡­ Whoa, that was dangerous!¡¹

    Tch, does that mean that she can move even faster? If it was Katsu, an attack like that would have surely got him. Sh*t, I knew it fromst rounds, but her reaction speed is simply insane. I¡¯ll have to make so adjustments of my own in my head.

    Not good, Cursed Prison enhanced with motor power certainly has speed, but itcks when ites to maneuverability. So far I¡¯ve managed to get by simply by using ultra-fast turns and drifting, but if this keeps up, I¡¯m going to lose this round for sure. If I want to win this thing, there are basically two ways to go about it: one is Cursed Prison¡¯s ultimate technique that will be ready to use as soon as my gauge hits maximum. It will require so fast thinking and acting, but I can gain some advantage because of that.

    And about the other one¡­¡­ Yeah, yeah, it should be right about time to do it. But have I done enough sabotage work?

    ¡¸Good, good, you¡¯re really good, Cursed Prison! Not too strong, but also not weak, fighting you is really exciting¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Gee, thanks for kind words!¡¹

    ¡¸But that won¡¯t do! It simply will not do! You are Cursed Prison! So act like it! Be more arrogant and full of yourself!¡¹

    Is that how it is in the originalic books? I only know very little about Cursed Prison to begin with, but¡­¡­ Left!

    Meetias moves a naturally as a wind, sliding on the ground and transitioning into a mid-air jumpbined with a flip. Shifting from left to right constantly, his arms were raised in a defensive posture. In the next moment he tries to kick my left side, but I managed to maintain my bnce.

    ¡¸I¡¯m already used to those movements, now switching to offense!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, how kind of you to announce your next move!¡¹

    What should I do? Should I go with super attack? Or maybe¡­¡­ it¡¯s here.

    ¡¸It¡¯s here, it¡¯s here, it¡¯s here, IT¡¯S HEEERRREEE!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Wah!¡¹

    My policy changed suddenly, it¡¯s time to do some damage! Now hurry up and make some space!!

    While guarding myself from the onught of the dance-like moves of Meetias, I wait for the right moment to strike. And it just so happens that Meetias was about to perform a huge roundhouse kick, which was perfect for me.

    Ahh, thinking about it, the fundamental difference in strength of those characters is almost like a mountain when ites to fighting games. This guy¡­¡­ it is something that is quite impossible to achieve. And maybe that¡¯s the reason. His techniques packed so much destructive power because he didn¡¯t have a normal brain but rather an AI.

    ¡¸Guess I¡¯ll be imitating him for a while¡­¡­¡¹

    A heavy kick is being delivered to the side of my head. Since Cursed Prison is heavily armored like that, it won¡¯t be knocked off bnce from an attack like that, but the sheer damage was nothing to scoff at either. As I reach out my hand towards Meetias¡¯s neck, another burst of meses out of my mufflers.

    I¡¯ll be borrowing that for a moment, Wezaemon!

    ¡¸Maelstrom!!¡¹

    Approach, lift, and then throw with your whole body¡¯s weight added to the mix. Originally, Wezaemon used his tremendous power to brute force attacks like that and ended up hurting humself in the process, but right about now I should be able to emte his strategies without having to suffer a handicap like that.

    Maelstrom¡¯s biggest feature was the tremendous speed of being grabbed, lifted, and then being smashed against the ground like a bag of potatoes. Before you could realize what was going on, you were on your way to meet the ground and you¡¯d be dead as a result. It was shocking to see it for the first time after taking his sword away and feeling safe for a short moment, but now I realize the sheer potential that technique held.

    Approching your target, you can shorten the amount of frames that are needed for gripping and lifting, and moving the tires can shorten and strengthen the power of the throwing motion. So by the time Meetias realizes that he was grabbed, he should be well on his way of being smashed against the ground.

    Then, when Meetias¡¯s body smashed against the ground I let go of his neck and continued to turn, eventually turning my back to him. Then I Started to move with the loud screeching of my tires. That is, I was quickly running away from that spot. I think I heard a voice shouting behind my back to get back here and not to run away, but just wait there patiently for what¡¯s toe.

    The color started to change.

    Good! Very good! Amazing!

    Before she could notice she was being grabbed, she was already being smacked against the ground. It was a gimmick for sure, but it was a clever one and the fact that you could do it instantly was also pretty amazing.

    So far, she¡¯d fought against many Cursed Prisons. Amelia was strong butcked the tenacity to finish things. Alex was always moderately good, and that fact never changed for better or for worse. They were all skilled and took the role y rather seriously. However, she was always feeling as if it was her that was fighting, not Meetias. In that regard, all of her past opponents were mediocre at best.

    However, amongst many different Cursed Prisons she¡¯d fought so far, this one was¡­¡­ usibly¡­¡­ exceptional. It was not a mere matter of being strong or weak. Right about now Silvia really felt that it was Meetias who was fighting Cursed Prison for real.

    Silvia Goldberg is the strongest. Her strength as Meetias is so unparalled that even the creators of the originalic books wouldment on her that she¡¯s basically the real Meetias at this point. But she always had but oneint.

    A Hero cannot exist on its own. The Hero can only shine its brightest when there is a Viin that would push him past his limits. So if she was the real Meetias, then where was the real Cursed Prison?

    She loved Meetias more than any other character out there and ever since achieving mastery with him, he was on the lookout for her arch-nemesis. You could say it was a form of love, but not your typical form of love. It was love for a strong rival that could push you way past your limits. A love that could prove your very existance.

    ¡¸I¡¯ve finally found you, Cursed Prison.¡¹

    When she finally recovered from being smacked against the ground, the Cursed Prison was no longer in sight. For a moment out there she thought that maybe he went to secure the Chaos Cube¡­¡­ but that couldn¡¯t be it. Something inside of her was telling her that. So did hey in wait for ambush? No, that was not that, either.

    Something in her gut was telling her that this Cursed Prison wouldn¡¯t simply abandon the fight, especially if he was on his way to win it. Then why would he leave like that? He said that something hase. So does that mean he was waiting for something?

    Maybe it was his Ultimate Technique¡­¡­ No, that¡¯s not right. No one says a line like that if it¡¯s so simple. A passionate reaction like that onlyes from something that truly burns a me inside of your heart.

    (What were you waiting for? Is it something that only urs in Round Three? I remember hearing that every round is supposed to add something to the battlefield¡­¡­ No, that¡¯s not it at all.)

    It¡¯s not about the rounds. It¡¯s about the psed time. How much time have passed since the start of Round One? And Round Two? Chaos City is a ce where the situation change in real time and depending on the ongoing events. So what was the Cursed Prison waiting for? No, what was he counting for¡­¡­?

    ¡¸No way.¡¹

    Unlike the rest of the vehicles, it takes time to prepare. But when he would aquire it, he would have easier time fighting and it would be extremely useful fot immobile Cursed Prison. The thing thates from the sky!

    ¡¸NO WAY!¡¹

    There was a loud sound, as if something was being destroyed. It didn¡¯te from the left or right. It didn¡¯te from the front or from the back. Once she looked up, she saw ----

    ¡¸I¡¯ve been waiting for you, my Main Weapoooon!!!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Haha, AHAHAHAHAHA!!! The best! You are simply the best, CURSED PRISON!!!¡¹

 Chapter 176: Crossfire of Tiger and Dragon: Dead Heat Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 176: Crossfire of Tiger and Dragon: Dead Heat Part 2</h4>

    There was the image of Cursed Prison who, after climbing the top of the building so that the News Helicopter could see him, jumped in the air and dunked straight onto the helicopter, forcing it to lower its altitude.

    Having been dragged down by so much power, the helicopter lost its bnce and gradually started to fall down towards the ground.

    The moment the helicopter hit the ground, there was a huge explosion that covered a considerable amount of ground in mes, as well as devouring Cursed Prison.

    Cursed Prison¡¯s unique ability is to capture the inorganic matter and then incorporate it within himself. If so, the wall of mes could very well be just a curtain to cover its next move.

    ¡¸Sorry, but the colors have changed.¡¹

    If the appearance that incorporated the motorcycles into itself was that of a knight in a white armor, the one standing before her right now was of a typical Japanese samurai.

    It was holding the helicopter propellers in both of its arms, swinging them around like swords, and the helicopter¡¯s ting was serving as its armor.

    ¡¸It¡¯s good to be more mobile, but more than that¡­¡­ This form is really calming me down.¡¹

    ¡¸Going all out¡­¡­? Non, non, that¡¯s wrong, Cursed Prison.¡¹

    No matter her opponents, Silvia Goldberg was always giving it her very best. However, she was getting a feeling that her best would simply not be enough right here, right now in this battle.

    ¡¸It¡¯s time¡­¡­ For me to go beyond my limits.¡¹

    After all, Justice always prevails. And the Hero of Justice always shines its brightest when shing against an evil Viin.

    If you find yourself to be underperforming when ites to weapons, the first order of things is to find something that will allow you to even the gap between yourself and your opponent.

    The special object ¡°News Helicopter¡± appears on the map after a certain amount of time passes and a certain amount of damage is being dealt to the map. In the beginning I was wondering why would the helicopter behave in such a way and through the trial and error of incorporating it into Cursed Prison¡¯s armor I came to a conclusion that it was basically a special object.

    ¡¸Aside from its tremendous horse power, the helicopter even has four weapons which are way better than your standard guns.¡¹

    I don¡¯t know how exactly does it work, but apparently Cursed Prison can strengthen the overall power and durability of the things it incorporates within itself. However, the overall damage of the bullets is not ridiculously overpowered, I¡¯d say it is on a level of a shotgun st. And the damage done by the propeller-swords is also enhanced thanks to Cursed Prison¡¯s ability, which makes it possible to cut through almost anything.

    ¡¸Good thing I¡¯m mostly using Dual Wielding these days, so I¡¯m rather used to it at this point.¡¹

    If I waspletely greedy, I would love this fighting style to be AGI-based instead of STR-based. It would allow me to use this avatar in the same way as my avatar in ShanFro. But, greedy is bad, and greedy people tend to die horribly.

    ¡¸With this I can cut you into thin slices.¡¹

    ¡¸Excellent!¡¹

    The helicopter engine starts to growl on my back, giving my whole body much needed power. I swung my left hand sword down, but Meetias managed to easily avoid it.

    However, since I have some more mobility right now, I can do some cool tricks on my own, so let¡¯s give it a try, shall we?

    ¡¸Let me borrow from you once more¡­¡­ TACHIKAZE!¡¹

    With that, I let go of my swords and reach towards the spare propellers handing on my waist, quickly assuming the ¡°Iai¡± stance.

    Surprisingly, it seems that Meetias was seriously thinking of avoiding even that blow. That Silvia has guts, I¡¯ll give her that.

    ¡¸But¡­¡­ YOU¡¯RE WIDE OPEN!¡¹

    ¡¸Guuuh¡­¡­ It¡¯s not over yet!¡¹

    I hold my left fist close to my waist and make a move as if I was drawing out a sword, aiming at Meetias who was already into evasive motion. But the cut was apparently too shallow.

    I return my hands into the Iai stance at once and close the gap between us. Even though she would probably try to evade all of my swings, I swing powerfully time after time, without giving her time to rest.

    I¡¯d surely take some coteral damage as a result, but if that meant being able to reach Meetias with one of my blows, I¡¯d say it is well worth it. So I keep my guard up, wait for an opportunity to strike and attack with all of my might. Even though Meetias is taller than your average man,pared to a giant that is Cursed Prison he is rtively small. While I chase Meetias I pick up the swords I have discarded not so long ago, andbined them into one huge sword.

    ¡¸At this rate, I¡­¡­ Even a Meteor such as yourself will be unable to stop me!!!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll stop only once I draw myst breath, soe and get it!!¡¹

    I swing my sword from the right, add a frame or two of dy and then swing from the left. Meetias managed to avoid both swing, flexing his body with minimal of movements and doing a motion as if he was going to perform a handstand. In the next moment he sprung like a spring, aiming a kick right at my jaw.

    ¡¸Guh, oooh¡­¡­!¡¹

    There was no sense of pain, but for a split second my vision turned to ck, as if I cked out for a moment out there. Then I felt as though all strength was leaving my body. Was I stunned just now?

    ¡¸I¡¯ve got you now!¡¹

    ¡¸You wish!¡¹

    Bing a sandbag right about now would be really bad, since I can take a wholebo while being stunned like that. Is there anything I can do¡­¡­!?

    I can feel a slight shock around my abdomen, and then I can feel the effect of stun is going away and my vision was restored to me. Just in time to see Meetias positioning himself to do a fullbo. If I let him connect with me, it will be all over.

    ¡¸No way, you broke free from it!?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s the Flowing Iai-Fist Jutsu.¡¹

    I hold the left sword in front of me like a shield, defending myself against an elbow strike. A secondter and I¡¯d be dead. Currently my HP bar was sitting around fifty percent, while Meetias¡¯s was at sixty percent. It may be a close call¡­¡­ But from here on out I shall turn this round around.

 Chapter 177: Breaking the Limits: Dead Weight Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 177: Breaking the Limits: Dead Weight Part 1</h4>

    Swords start to spin all over the ce, cutting deep trenches in the asphalt and sending sparks flying. However, Meetias was already out of the harm¡¯s way.

    I then felt an unnatural weight on the tip of one of my swords and when I looked up to see what was that about, I saw Meetias standing at the swords tip, about ready to send a kick flying my way.

    ¡¸Nuoooh!?¡¹

    ¡¸Tsk!¡¹

    I do my best to avoid the steel heel that was descending fast onto me. Once the heels barely manages to scrape the tip of my chest te, I start acting in order to counterattack.

    I position myself in the center of the main street, intercept Meetias¡¯s iing attacks and start to run away in order to put some distance in between us.

    My gauge was almostpletely filled up, only a little bit more and I could unleash my ultimate move. But just where should I use it? After all, Cursed Prison¡¯s Ultimate Move is slightly different from that of other characters.

    If you use it carelessly it won¡¯t bring you the win you want, so you need to carefully choose the right ce¡­¡­ Oh, RNG can just go blow itself! Sh*t, did she managed to avoid it?

    ¡¸Wait, can we talk about¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Hurry, hurry! We only have so much time we can spend with one another, so let¡¯s use it to the fullest!¡¹

    Sh*t, I take a deep breath to calm myself down¡­¡­ Let¡¯s do this. I have no other choice.

    There is a slight difference in between our HP bars, but as long as it won¡¯t go past thirty percent I should be alright. Still, I needed to keep my guard up at all times. One wrong move and it could be all over for me.

    Also, I¡¯m perfectly aware of that fact, but once I decide to do this, this match will more or less be brought down to the level of bashing special attacks against one another. Doing something like that against Silvia Goldberg is a huge gamble on my part.

    ¡¸Your Ultimate Move¡­¡­ It should be about ready to use, right? Thene on! Come right at me with it!¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯ve taken the words right out of my mouth!¡¹

    Meetias¡¯s Ultimate Move, Meteor Strike is the homing ability. Basically it¡¯s a technique that can follow you around and once it targets you, you have very little options to defend against it.

    The only way to avoid an attack like that is to move faster than the attack ising right at you, at the speed which would allow you to outrun the homing. You could also try to¡­¡­ Ah, in this setting there¡¯s no point in thinking about that option.

    (Are you going to activate it first? Or maybe you¡¯re going to wait? Both options have their merits and demerits, and the HP bars can make all the difference right about now¡­¡­)

    Depending on the situation, my course of action would change drastically, just like my HP bar and gauge bar¡­¡­ But I still needed to be cautious of that thirty percent.

    ¡¸An opening!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, sh*t!¡¹

    I got distracted. And once I realized what was going on, it was already toote. A strong impact started to course through my chest and my body got immobilized.

    ¡¸It was fun while itsted, Cursed Prison. I had so much fun¡­¡­ But the Hero alwayses out on top!¡¹

    Meetias jumps in the air, then blue particles start to gather around his legs and shine brightly.

    Was I just stunned again? No! Not yet¡­¡­ I just need a little bit more time! Just a little bit more so that my gauge fills and I can use my own Ultimate Move in order to get out of this mess! As long as I do this before the kick connects!

    When ites to Ultimate Attacks, if they detonate near you it can easily chip about forty percent of your HP bar away. If it¡¯s a clean hit, that number can go as high as fifty or even sixty percent. That being said, Meteor Strike is not an attack that only hits its target. It causes area of effect damage on arge radius around it.

    Sopletely avoiding that attack is out of the question because of the ssh damage, but I should at least be able to survive it if I avoid a direct hit.

    ¡¸Don¡¯t¡­¡­ UNDERESTIMATE MEEEEEE!!!¡¹

    With that, I deploy my own Ultimate Move and¡­¡­

    ¡¸Mama, where are you¡­¡­?¡¹

    By concentrating my five senses to their very limit, I quickly scout out the entire area and formte a n, before eventually my mind arrives at a solution.

    Voice, child, woman, familiarity, kurikinton, background, st range, radius, more kurikinton, Pencilgton, even more kurikinton, weapon, kurininton, Meetias¡¯s positioning¡­¡­

    It feels as though my body moves on its own. No, that¡¯s not right. It moves exactly how I want it to move. Why, how, what¡¯s behind me, all of that information bes obsolete in my brain as only three words emerge to the surface and take over: DON¡±T RUN AWAY.

    Meetias¡¯s ¡°Meteor Strike¡± is a technique that pours energy into the target it hits and uses that energy to implode the target from within, creating a huge st radius in the process. In other words, the key to this technique is ¡°contact¡±.

    The st is inevitable, andpletely avoiding it is something that is quite literally impossible to do. You could technically try to use shields, or get to cover, or stack things that would create a barrier, but¡­¡­ Meaningless.

    My thoughtse to me only after my body is already set in motion. It¡¯s time to act now, the time to rationalize my actions willeter.

    With both swords in my hands I make an ¡°X¡±-like sh, then I grab the spare swords at my waist and do the X-sh again.

    Four walls, headache, feeling drowsy, another kickes right in, fluffy, guard up, need to pee, starting,

    Match the timing.

    ¡¸Here.¡¹

    While assuming the guard posture simr to the American tackle, I lean towards the flying des that slowly started to fall down towards the ground. In the very next moment, a shock wave prates through those four swords.

    It was a direct hit from the side, but thanks to that the thing that was directly hit was not Cursed Prison but the propeller des.

    Behind the swords that suddenly turned into shields, the shields that were being ripped apart and eroded from the inside, there was a shocked expression of the Hero. I only saw it for a moment before he elerated even further, but he seemed shocked that his attack didn¡¯t go through.

    I can¡¯t be too sure, but behind the mask with star-shaped googles, there was probably a smile and eyes-wide open, looking as though they were on the verge of tears.

    Then there was an explosion.

    ¡¸Talk about packing quite a punch¡­¡­¡¹

    Despite avoiding the direct hit by the Meteor Strike, the force of the st was so powerful that even a heavy giant like Cursed Prison was unable to withstand the st wave and was swept off its feet. Of course, I immediately started to get back up on my feet.

    As expected, the full-body helicopter armor did little in terms of defense as it wasrgely just for show. However, thanks to that Cursed Prison was still standing, although with only fumes of its HP bar being left right now. So I¡¯d say it¡¯s pretty urate that I could fall down at any minute now, due to the slightest of damage.

    ¡¸Meteor Strike is a super deadly Ultimate Move that injects the power of the Meetias Star into the target and destroys it from the inside¡­¡­ I could easily protect myself with the propeller, but why to do something like this? I can¡¯t figure it out.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­ Why epting it head-on without trying to escape¡­¡­¡­?¡¹

    Well, it¡¯s not really that much of a mystery. I just wanted to make it up to the girl that we caused so much suffering to earlier that day.

    Because of that I blocked the attack and suffered the shockwave, and hence my current situation. But I don¡¯t want to be treated like Pencilgton. I would like to leave a good impression, if I can help it.

    ¡¸Hey, the little girl with chestnut ice cream. It¡¯s not safe here, so you should go away. Besides, your mom is probably looking for you, worried sick.¡¹

    ¡¸Y, yeah¡­¡­¡¹

    Right behind me, there is a scared little NPC girl that Cursed Prison protected from the st. I know it was foolish. I know that it¡¯s not the same girl. I know that the Chaos City that Clock Fire decimated and this one arepletely different things.

    However, no matter a Hero or a Viin, you should never get innocent people get caught up with your own affairs.

    Think of it like a bad guy who took pity on the little puppy he happened toe across in a cardboard box on a rainy day. It¡¯s a clich¨¦ since time immemorial, but who gives a sh*t? Now, worship this here Cursed Prison, you savor¡­¡­!

 Chapter 177: Breaking the Limits: Dead Weight Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 177: Breaking the Limits: Dead Weight Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸You¡¯re a good girl, so run to your mother and don¡¯t look back.¡¹

    ¡¸T, thank you, Mister¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Mister¡­¡­? Oh well, let¡¯s go with that, I guess.¡¹

    It¡¯s not all that cool and manly, but you can¡¯t really help it. I watched as the mother approached the girl and the two started to run away from here. ¡­¡­ They look different from the ones in the previous matches alright. Once I was sure they were far away, I turned towards Meetias again.

    ¡¸What¡¯s wrong, Hero? Isn¡¯t it your job to help all those who are in need?¡¹

    ¡¸Ahaha, of that¡¯s rich¡­¡­ I don¡¯t think that Cursed Prison is the kind of guy who would help others just like that.¡¹

    ¡¸This isn¡¯t aic book. It¡¯s a game.¡¹

    How long ago was it that I said those words? It may have been not even an hour ago, but it felt as though it was way longer than that. I wonder what would Cursed Prison say in a situation like that?

    ¡¸Universe sure is a crazy ce¡­¡­ Still, it¡¯s not like I have anyints. I just do what pleases me.¡¹

    The difference in our strengths was staggeringly disadvantageous to me, the helicopter armor was pretty much useless at this point and I lost my propeller swords. However, it was me who was in a far better position right now.

    ¡¸You¡¯ve used up your Ultimate Move, Hero.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Come on now, if I wanted to defeat the ¡°Cursed Prison¡±, there was no way for me not to use it, and you know it!¡¹

    ¡¸My turn now.¡¹

    Cursed Prison¡¯s Ultimate Move is different from that of other characters. It does not inflict damage per se, and it is closely rted to the lore of the character.

    Cursed Prison is a Viin that first appeared in theic book series ¡°Meetias¡±, and he is rted to Gxius, the series¡¯ Deus Ex Machina that ties everything together.

    He is an irregrity born out of Gxius, a sort of part of him that grew its own consciousness and developed his own set of goals and ambitions. His ultimate ambition is to gain more power.

    However, due to his ambitions being too dangerous for even the fabric of existence itself, Gxius imprisoned him in a cursed suit of armor that could not be removed by any normal means and inhibited his powers greatly. Hence the name ¡°Cursed Prison¡±, a prisoner of the cursed armor.

    So in order to be able to reach the being that was created in Gxius¡¯s image and that was granted a share of its power -- Meetias -- I had no other choice but to get rid of that cursed suit of armor.

    ¡¸PRISON BREAK!!!¡¹

    Cursed Prison was supposed to be Meetias in the first ce. Prison Break is the ability that lets him use his original power in a limited way, driven by the sole ambition of obtaining the Chaos Cube and absorbing its power for himself.

    The helicopter armores off all at once and the ck armor beneath it starts to show a lot of crack and fissures forming across its whole surface. Originally it was the power meant to be unleashed thanks to Gxius¡¯s influence, but since it was a game I was willing to pay that small detail no mind at all.

    Bright light overflows from the inside of my armor, swallowing everything that was in its path. It was crimson in color, a pr opposite of Meetias¡¯s cool blue glow.

    Then the armor, as if no longer able to handle the radiating brilliance,es off all at once revealing a crimson man that was lurking underneath it.

    Cursed Prison is a type of character whose Ultimate Move is really specific. It¡¯s the Ultimate Move that collect all inorganic substances from the vicinity and incorporates them in Cursed Prison¡¯s body on a cellr level, increasing his overall parameters and performance.

    ¡¸That¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve been this excited about a match like that, Prison Break¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­!!¡¹

    The boon of Prison Break willst approximately thirty seconds. Compared to the time of one round, it¡¯s really short. Too short. However, during those thirty seconds¡­¡­ My Power, Speed, Mobility, they are all equal to Meetias!

    ¡¸It¡¯s the grand climax now, so put your back to it!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m going to win this¡­¡­ Because I¡¯m the HERO!¡¹

    A blue meteor collides with a scarlet star.

 Chapter 178: Furious Tiger of Forbidden Star: Overheat

    <h4>Chapter 178: Furious Tiger of Forbidden Star: Overheat</h4>

    My body was so light right now. After wearing a heavy full-body armor throughout three rounds, the difference in weight right now was so astonishing that it was actually scary.

    ¡¸So fast¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s this, the Undefeated Queen suddenly is afraid of being struck down from her high throne?¡¹

    ¡¸Still Undefeated!¡¹

    She beat me in the first round, and even though I managed to win in the second round it was still annoying as hell. So right now, in this third round, the stakes are at their highest!

    Meetias backs away for about two meters, and Prison Break makes a huge step that manages to overtake him,nding one meter behind his back. I used that advantage to do a kick right in the middle of Meetias¡¯s back.

    Although Meetias managed to guard against that, the difference in power was as clear as day. He didn¡¯t get blown away but swayed heavily on his legs.

    ¡¸I¡¯m surprised¡­¡­ It¡¯s like your whole battle style has changed!¡¹

    ¡¸Unfortunately such battle style leaves a kind of bad aftertaste in my mouth!¡¹

    It was a best solution here. Even if it means to go from a magician to gori¡­¡­ Even if it means I¡¯ll have to be half-naked once more, I¡¯ll definitely emerge victorious here!

    Meetias used the mid-air jump in order to reposition himself, but in my current form I could overtake him in this as well, because I could do a double mid-air jump. So I catch up to him, overtake him and strike another kick to his back.

    ¡¸What¡¯s wrong, what¡¯s wrong!? Scared of me so you want to wait through the time limit!?¡¹

    ¡¸Fufufu¡­¡­ It only starts here!¡¹

    Seriously, how is she so fast¡­¡­!? Right, let¡¯s burn through the remaining caffeine reserves! Just like a nitro boost!

    He can¡¯t use Ultimate Move or any special techniques, so I should be able to send him on the ropes if I keep on attacking continuously. So I focus like I never have before, and I continue to assault Meetias without leaving him much ce to move or evade.

    Ten seconds passed already, and with the remaining twenty still on the clock, Meetias started to move.

    ¡¸Shall we wrap this thing up?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, let¡¯s do just that!¡¹

    There are no people around, only some abandoned cars and signs that were suggesting that there was a human activity not too long before here. I see, so this is what the stage of a final battle looks like.

    Good thing that right about now Prison Break was equal to Meetias in terms of performance and mobility. Thanks to that we could go all out and finish this based on pure skill.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    Meetias runs up the car and jumps off the crooked sign, gaining speed. I could only try to avoid it and adjust my positioning once Meetiasnds after the fail attempt at kicking me. I then did a swipe kick to throw Meetias off bnce and force him tond on his back on the ground.

    ¡¸I¡¯m not finished yet!¡¹

    Meetias managed to reposition himself fromying on his back to a push-up like position thanks to twisting his body in a way that no normal human being would be able to do. Then he threw a kick towards my face, as if he was trying to kick a ser ball with all of his might.

    If that manages to reach me, I¡¯ll certainly die. So I can only try to avoid it by twisting my neck and whole body. I managed to avoid the direct hit, but part of Meetias¡¯s sole still managed to graze me, which led to losing some of the HP. But at the same time Meetias was not invincible during that time. I managed to grab him by the ankle and swing him around, just like you¡¯d do with an Olympic hammer or a bat.

    I was able to swing faster than Meetias was able to respond to it¡­¡­ But I chose to not m him into the ground on the spot. However, Meetias probably managed what I was aiming for, and used a brief moment when I was swinging a little less violently to twist his body again and regain a position in which he would be able to protect himself.

    ¡¸Ten seconds left!¡¹

    Everything will be decided here and now!

    I can already feel that the reserves of caffeine in my body starts to deplete rapidly, and my fast thinking starts to get duller and duller as a result. But once I let go of his ankle, my body is already on the move. I closed the distance and unleashed a flurry of fist attacks at Meetias, who rose his guard and tried to endure the series of attacks like that. ¡­¡­ Don¡¯t underestimate the Iai-Fist style!

    ¡¸The gap of twelve frames is pretty big space to work with!¡¹

    The world and characters are all constructs of data, but its human beings that control them. So there is no way to always be able to arrive at optimal solutions, to not get influenced by the outside factors and avoid failure from time to time. And that moment of hesitation in acting is the essence of Iai-Fist style, that capitalizes on the humanity of the people controlling the characters. The ultimate weapon that takes even the non-human aspects of the game and brings them down to human factors that can be exploited!

    The moment her guard wavers as a result of being hit so many times, the moment where a slight gap in her defenses forms, that is where my right arm shoots through the air and glows brightly.

    ¡¸Right there!¡¹

    ¡¸Gahyuh!?¡¹

    It was not a fist, it was not a kick. It¡¯s a spear-like attack made out of all five fingers put together. I managed to pierce my ¡°spear¡± right through the throat of the google-eyed Hero, and the fact that a brutal attack like that was a critical hit made his whole body stiff just for a moment. Good thing that instincts of living beings still applied in here.

    ¡¸EEEEEEAAAAAATTTTTT TTTTTTHHHHHHIIIIIISSSSSS!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    I reach out with my right arm and force my whole body to twist and rotate. I use only my left leg as the point of support for my body and as I continue to spin I raise my left leg in a kick position, ready to release that kick which contained the energy umted from my whole body.

    Confident about my victory, I focus everything I have into that onest attack. At the same time everything else disappears from my mind: Katsu, the Exhibition Match, the strategy¡­¡­ it was all gone.

    But still, right here and right now¡­¡­ It¡¯s just like that. Even though my HP was left at less than ten percent as a result of the onught of attacks just now, I was still willing to give it my all despite the fact that I was at the death¡¯s door¡­¡­ Because right in front of me, Silvia Goldberg was still a Pro Gamer.

    ¡¸DON¡¯T UNDERESTIMATE MMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    Meetias forcibly breaks the chain that was binding his body, and uses its remains to swing and gain momentum. He lets out a mighty roar and gets ready to kick. Normal kick would not be powerful enough. Spinning kick would take way too long. That is why the veryst attack of Meetias would be a high kick which would have enough pration to do some major damage.

    Three seconds, two seconds, one second¡­¡­ Zero.

    ¡¸Uguoh!¡¹

    ¡¸Guhuah!?¡¹

    The impact of Meetias¡¯s kick connecting with my chest shakes my body to its very core, making me feel as though my heart was about to burst and my ribs were about to shatter. At the same time, I am pretty much sure that my blow managed to prate his armor and damage his internal organs. We keep silent while the system takes its sweet time to calcte the damage that has been done. ¡­¡­ Those few seconds felt like few ours, and then the results were finally in.

    ¡¸Guh¡­¡­¡¹

    The sensation of my body bing limp and devoid of strength, as well as my vision cking out was the sign that my HP have reached zero.

    (Is she really some sort of a monster that managed to make aeback even from something like that¡­¡­?)

    So, does that mean that amateurs can never hope to beat Pro Gamers, even if they are going all out?

    Thest thing I have seen before my vision faded to ck¡­¡­

    ¡¸Ah¡­¡­¡¹

    It was the figure of a body that fell to the ground,pletely motionless.

    DOUBLE K.O!!!

    ¡­¡­ And now what?

 Chapter 179: Install Lost Time Fantasista

    <h4>Chapter 179: Install Lost Time Fantasista</h4>

    ¡¸YOU¡¯LL BE LOGGED OUT.¡¹

    Ara, so it will forcefully log me out? I was secretly hoping that I would be allowed to participate in the fourth round as well. After having my senses isted from the outside world for so long, the breathe of cold air on my skin felt really refreshing. Opening my eyes I could see the inside of the Full-Dive device over my head, and then a really loud cheer reached out my ears.

    ¡¸So freaking loud¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Nice work out there, moron.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, shut up. Mister Restroom War.¡¹

    ¡¸You might want to hold your tongue for now, otherwise the whole world will hear it.¡¹

    That would be bad. Certainly, I¡¯m an anonymous person in here, wearing a pumpkin helmet no less, but I wouldn¡¯t want for any unfortunate nickname to be stuck to me by aplete ident¡­

    ¡¸Anyways, a forced log out? Does that mean in case of a draw it is counted as a loss on both ends?¡¹

    ¡¸No, it¡¯s nothing like that. It¡¯s just that you two idiots fought so hard that there is a need for a technical break.¡¹

    ¡¸So what? Does that mean I¡¯ll do Round 4 or what¡­¡­?¡¹

    I mean, I was running on fumes right about now anyway. Right about now I felt so exhausted that I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll be able to perform in any sort of way during round four. Maybe I should just pass the baton to Katsu? ¡­¡­ Speaking of the devil, he walked towards me and handed me a can.

    ¡¸Here, they were out of store, but Assault Company had a few of them avable and ready for the taking.¡¹

    ¡¸Really? Thanks, that will really save my life.¡¹

    I open the can and chug on its contents. Ooh ¡­¡­ The caffeine starts to flow through my veins once more, replenishing the caffeine that was used up to that point. I feel like I¡¯m alive once more! But still, drinking this much energy drinks in such a short amount of time was probably not the healthiest for my health.

    ¡¸Wish they had stuff like this here in Japan¡­¡­ But will this really be enough to refuel me?¡¹

    ¡¸I see that for you energy drinks really are like gasoline¡­¡­ Haha, to think that you¡¯d be this bothersome¡­¡­ Ekhem, that¡¯s why I like you so much. Additionally,¡¹

    ¡¸Additionally?¡¹

    ¡¸If you could beat Silvia, then that means I have a chance at doing that myself, since statistically speaking I¡¯m better than you.¡¹

    ¡¸Talk about a theory taken straight out of your ass¡­¡­¡¹

    Haven¡¯t this guy ever heard of adaptation? Or the concept of Rock-Paper-Scissors? That¡¯s some real confidence that can be his grave.

    ¡¸Hmm, I can¡¯t really see your face in that helmet, but I do get a feeling that you¡¯re making fun of me.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m making fun of you? Don¡¯t be silly. I¡¯m just genuinely worried about you, my friend.¡¹

    About your intelligence, to me more exact.

    So in the end, that¡¯s how it went. Sanraku¡­¡­ and Silvia¡­¡­ They couldn¡¯t beat one another. For Katsu¡­¡­ That was the only thing that mattered for Uomi Kei.

    Certainly, the previous match was a burning disaster from the Pro Gamer perspective. But that¡¯s what happens when you sh the same type of fighters against one another, it was like watching two meteors colliding with each other. And unsurprisingly, the fight between Silvia Goldberg and a certain Pumpkin Head was already starting to blow up all over the Inte.

    But sheer strength is not enough to beat Silvia. No matter the result of theirst sand-off, Sanraku¡¯s high tension proved to be the key that managed him to reach Silvia¡¯s throat. However, judging by the fact just how exhausted he looked after logging out, it might be possible for Sanraku to beat Silvia again if they were to sh on some other day. But if they were to do it right now, he would certainly end up losing. After all, Silvia Goldberg bes more dangerous over time, when she manages to learn more and more about her opponent.

    (That being said, Sanraku¡­¡­ You did great. You¡¯ve earned your rest.)

    Silvia Goldberg¡¯s greatest weapon is neither her tension-rted battle style nor the reflexes that earned her the title of ¡°True Meetias¡±. It was her toughness, a monster-like resilience and stamina that kept her performance at the very peak all the time, and that wouldn¡¯t deteriorate no matter how much time would have passed. That¡¯s what made her undefeated up to this day.

    That, and the fact that she once defeated fifty opponents in a row without losing a single shred of her HP bar. Feats like that were making you something else than a normal yer, rather elevating you to the ranks of the Last Boss that you¡¯d normally don¡¯t want to mess with.

    (Honestly, I didn¡¯t think they would manage to stall this thing long enough to reach the extra round.)

    For a moment out there Katsu was worried that Sanraku might have actually forgotten about their original goal, but it all actually went so nicely that he couldn¡¯t possibly ask for a better result.

    (That being said, I want to see for myself how that match affected our tension monsters. The results are bound to be pretty interesting.)

    That is why he was so considerate of Sanraku and gave him the extra energy drink. In other words, he wanted for him to ¡°give it his best shot¡±.

    And if Silvia ends up beating Sanraku, then it will be all on Katsu to bring her undefeated reign to an end.

    ¡¸Satisfied with the results? Natsume-chan, Sanraku-kun and I really worked our asses off for this, you know?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Well, I think that there¡¯s a lot of truth to Silvia¡¯s words in that regard.¡¹

    The world is always full of twists and turns, trials and tribtions. And at the end of the twisted and winding path, what awaits you there is¡­¡­

    ¡¸Heroes alwayse out on top, right?¡¹

    Right about now there are three reasons that makes me angry.

    First of all, we were going to have sushi in the end, because my predictions about the characters used by Star Rain lost twice with Pencilgton¡¯s. Obviously Silvia Goldberg was excluded, since we knew she would choose Meetias.

    Second reason, that energy drink that Katsu gave me. Turned out that the name was the same, but that one was manufactured here in Japan, so it didn¡¯t have the same kick to it like the American one. Hence, I don¡¯t know if I would be able to go all out.

    And third reason, the way that Katsu was looking at me and that Extra Round was as if he already managed to assume that I would lose.

    I see, while I was trying to fight the fatigue and headaches with unhealthy amounts of caffeine, it seems that Silvia Goldberg was more of a resilient type rather than strength type. That¡¯s actually infuriating. We were fighting against one another to the death not so long ago, so how can she do an interview right now while looking so happy, without showing the slightest trace of being tired!?

    When ites to person-versus-person battles, they tend to differ from person-versus-monster ones. And even though I have fought many hard battles against monsters, like Golden Crystal Scorpion, Gravekeeper Wezaemon or Reaperorca, my spirit would never run out because of the nature of those fights. Here it was an entirely different story.

    As far as I can say, the undefeated Hero does not look to be exhausted in the slightest, even though she fought such an exhausting battle. So this must mean that her performance will not diminish over time.

    It goes without saying, but when ites to exhaustion, it puts both amateurs and Pro Gamers in the same spot when ites to winning a battle.

    However, Katsu, right about now I¡¯m really angry at you, you know? Maybe I won¡¯t be able to disy the level of performance that Silvia approved ofst game, but that anger was surely propelling me towards thinking: ¡°I won¡¯t lose this, no matter what!¡±

    I am determined to win this thing, although not for all the right reasons. It¡¯s hard to exin, but it¡¯s something like a Viin that is trying his best to pose as not a Viin.

    ¡¸When ites to Extra Round, the gauges will umte twice as fast, and there will also be NPCs on the map that would not appear under normal conditions¡­¡­¡¹

    So they want us to settle this quickly, huh? As I walk around and watch different NPCs holding different firearms in their hands, I can¡¯t stop myself from thinking that it¡¯s going to be a one hell of a bloodbath in a matter of seconds.

    ¡¸It¡¯s shopping time.¡¹

    That tank looks really solid. I wonder if it¡¯s a fighter-type? Or maybe transport-type?

 Chapter 180: Struggling Evil Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 180: Struggling Evil Part 1</h4>

    Cursed Prison: Extra Custom. In order to make this work I needed to go on somepromises, for example discarding the five motorbikes in favor of jet engine and some heavy armor and armaments. A bit unorthodox, but you know what they say about desperate times.

    ¡¸Well, I don¡¯t like the lesser mobility, but we¡¯ll have to make do for now.¡¹

    Although I called it Extra Custom, inparison to my Meteor friend I looked rather poor and miserable, like a block of solid concrete.

    And for the time being, I also took care of procuring some rocketunchers and missiles that I ced at random over my body. That should allow me to be at least somewhat flexible when ites to problem solving.

    ¡¸Well then¡­¡­ I¡¯d say that our physical ratio is about 2:5¡­¡­¡¹

    Looking at the numbers alone they were not all that different from the third round, but at the same time the damage potential did not increased. So the possibility of me turning this thing around was really small.

    ¡¸For the time being I tried to remain hidden¡­¡­ But I guess it was only a matter of time before I would be found out¡­¡­¡¹

    My gauge was already umted, so hers must be roughly about the same by now. Now, the question was which one of us would dare to use it Ultimate Move first? I would like to avoid that as much as possible, since I would be losing strength rapidly when that happens.

    ¡¸Will you try to move and obtain the Cube¡­¡­? No, no, right about now that¡¯s not an option. That would be terribly anticlimactic.¡¹

    ¡¸Nice idea, I don¡¯t dislike that Fighting Spirit of yours!¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s called Vorpal Soul¡­¡­ not that it matters in here.¡¹

    Presently, I was sitting on a chair inside of the cafeteria located on the tenth floor of one of the office buildings, enjoying my coffee break. Then,pletely out of nowhere I was handed a stic cup with a freshly brewed coffee inside.

    ¡¸Yah!¡¹

    ¡¸Osha, ORA!¡¹

    ¡¸Do you realize just how dangerous it is to spill hot coffee onto someone, woman!?¡¹

    ¡¸But still, your reaction time is pretty good!¡¹

    God fucking damn it, what is this, some cheap horror flick!? And how did she manage to find me so fast!? Is she an Esper or what!?

    A slight digression here, but there are usually two types of people in the world. During a zombie apocalypse, when a zombie lounges in to attack you, some people will remain still and stiff, and others will move out of the way on reflex.

    On a side note, I¡¯m the type that would kick the zombie away while grabbing my trusty shotgun. Call it a force of habit from all the games that I have yed thus far, but I was pretty confident with my survival instincts and fighting reflexes. No unexpected surprise like that would be able to catch me off my guard.

    ¡¸No, allow me to educate you properly!¡¹

    ¡¸Sorry, but ever since I was a child I was told that I was a slow learner!¡¹

    In addition to that, repeated deaths and rebirths allowed me to develop a certain proficiency in skills that most yers would find unable to perform under any normal circumstances. If I train those abilities, perhaps one day I¡¯ll be able to dodge bullets fired at me at point nk range.

    As expected, I wasn¡¯t able to climb to that high level yet, at best I can try to predict the hit point of the missile from its general trajectory.

    The coffee is sshed, and the jet-ck liquid shoots through the air from the L-sized cup while retaining most of its shape¡­¡­

    ¡¸Reactive Prison Break!!¡¹

    It¡¯s not a new kind of Ultimate Move. It¡¯s just that in order to minimize the damage I can take, I need to treat even the most simple and weak pellets flying towards me like missiles being shot from rocketunchers.

    There¡¯s also a twist to my current armor. It reacts to external trauma and explodes on impact. That is why even though Meetias took a step back after trying to spill coffee on me, shrapnels of the part of my armor fly near him in a sudden surprise attack.

    ¡¸Ooouuupsie! I think that my hand just slipped and¡­¡­ Iiiiiiihhhhhh!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh sh*t, I¡¯m sorry. You see. My armor just happened to slip as well. The thing is, it does so without me even deciding anything!¡¹

    I reached my hand beyond the flying coffee, trying to grab Meetias by the face. I was used to reaching across deep chasms, moltenva pits or poisonous swamps, but crossing the field of hot coffee was a first for me.

    Because it is a fighting game, and a first one such as that, I must not be fooled by a photorealistic graphics! There was no way that hot coffee would be able to kill me. Or else: that chance was so slim that it was bordering on downright impossible.

    ¡¸Since you¡¯re going to y this game on a regr basis, let me give you a certain piece of advice, Ms. Champion.¡¹

    ¡¸J, Japanese Sleeper Hold!?¡¹

    I wonder if that¡¯s some kind of pro-wrestling move? Oh well, it doesn¡¯t really matter.

    ¡¸I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s ording to specification¡­ or if it¡¯s just a bug¡­¡­ I don¡¯t have a clue, but I¡¯m gonna exploit the living fuck out of it!¡¹

    With my left arm still on Hero¡¯s neck, I put my right arm on the Hero¡¯s thigh.

    ¡¸There is no such thing as fall damage in this game, so it would probably be okay to jump from the stratosphere without a parachute¡­¡­¡¹

    But I have my doubts about that. Certainly, fall damage may be equal to zero, but would the same be true to throwing damage?

    If it was from natural causes, then fine, let it be zero. But if the origin of the throw was other yer? That was something worth investigating.

    That is why I¡¯ve ran a trial run to see if my theory was correct or not, at the expense of couple dozens of innocent NPCs plus Katsu¡¯s-controlled characters. Based on that, I¡¯ve managed to devise a new secret technique.

    The window ss exploded and Prison Break together with Meetias jumped out of the building from the height of the tenth floor.

    ¡¸Normally, the fall damage would always amount to zero! However, while I was always okay doing most crazy of stunts out there, the NPCs that I took along for the ride¡­¡­ They weren¡¯t as fine as I was! They¡¯ve received damage, and quite a lot of it!¡¹

    Conclusion: even if the calction for the yer in case of fall damage is equal to zero, it is not for others in your grasp.

    ¡¸For example, something like that! From this altitude¡­¡­ A Pro-Wrestling move¡­¡­ without holding back¡­¡­!!¡¹

    ¡¸Eh, wait, it cannot be!!¡¹

    She tried to break free, but it was no use at this point. Prison Break¡¯s stats right about now were on par with hers, and I wasn¡¯t going to let her escape so easily!

    ¡¸SUPER EXTRA ULTIMATE MOVE!!¡¹

    I take two steps back to adjust my position and gain some additional height. Now, let¡¯s see if it¡¯s going to be like an eye drop from a second floor or even greater!

    The physics aspect is working for sure. A simple fall won¡¯t cause damage at all, but it will certainly umte energy. A whole lot of it. And that¡¯s something that cannot be brushed aside so casually.

    Now, I¡¯ll show you tons of damage at the expense of no gauge being used!

    ¡¸IMPACT CONVERSION!!¡¹

    As the merciless clutches of gravity entangle both of us, Meetias starts to fall down, as such is the fate of all those without wings of their own. Little did he know that he was on his way down straight to hell.

    Our bodies intertwined together, we were approaching the earth at an rmingly fast pace. There was no way that after jumping off the building from such height we would end up without any kind of damage to ourselves. The earth is not so merciful as to allow something like that to happen.

    sh.

    The ground shatters, and the asphalt gets covered in a web of deep cracks that form from the ce where feet mmed into the ground. Also, there was an overwhelming feeling of numbness going through Meetias¡¯s body right about now, making him unable to move or act in any way.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    Falling limiting my body and ascending limiting Meetias¡¯s movements. Out of the two of us, it was Meetias who managed to recover first.

 Chapter 180: Struggling Evil Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 180: Struggling Evil Part 2</h4>

    My remaining HP was about ten percent, not nearly enough to survive the obliteration that the falling meteor would bring with itself.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ This technique, if you¡¯d like to try cutting it in half, that would be like, using a building forparison, trying to destroy it from the twelfth floor upwards.¡¹

    I never thought I would actually do that at the veryst possible moment, and against someone like Silvia Goldberg, to add. Hiding on the twelfth floor¡­¡­ That means I have two floors left to go¡­¡­!

    ¡¸What did you left behind?¡¹

    Byparison, right now I should feel as though I had my head ced on the decapitation table. Or as if I was standing at the edge of a steep cliff with my hands tied around my back.

    I see, then what I should be saying here is¡­¡­

    ¡¸Uhhhmm¡­¡­ Ahh, that¡¯s right¡­¡­ Umm, if you keep being so forceful¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­???¡¹

    Hey, hey, haven¡¯t you noticed that you¡¯ve been really forceful yourself for the past couple of minutes? Oh, guess it cannot be helped right now, so let¡¯s just roll with it.

    ¡¸After five seconds have passed, it¡¯s now thirty seconds.¡¹

    ¡¸!!!¡¹

    The Hero rolls his eyes. When I looked up to the sky, there was a giant metal piece shooting towards the earth, spilling ss and sparks all around.

    ¡¸It¡¯s just Death! And if you don¡¯t know where it is, I¡¯ll tell you¡­¡­ It¡¯s right here!¡¹

    Armor encases me yet again¡­¡­ The evil star that once devastated the world was trapped in a cursed prison once more, but this time around I was more like a rigid demon closed in a melting armor.

    I surveil my surroundings and then destroy the transport car that looks just like your typical ice cream truck.

    If the shock conversion was my hidden bullet, then the equipment that I left in here at the very start shall be myst attempt at evil struggle!

    ¡¸This is my ?initial position¡±!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Why you little!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Aah, there is only one more thing left for me to say.¡¹

    Gatling gun, shotgun and modified truck engine.

    Leaping, somersaults and jump kicks.

    ck warrior wearing metal scraps for armor and a meteor glowing bright blue in the sky.

    As the ck bullet shoot towards the heavens, the meteores crushing down, and a bright glow starts to shine from within me.

    ¡¸I want yakiniku more than I want sushi ----!!!!¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking: WHY!?¡¹

    There was a big explosion.

    Well, and there you have it, you¡¯d have your precious Katsu VS Silvia match, so everyone should be happy, right? But what about the results?

 Chapter 181: Throwing Your Baton Like an Anchor Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 181: Throwing Your Baton Like an Anchor Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Really now, nothing can ever beat good sushi!¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s a tribute for all of your hard work, although I wouldn¡¯t be mad if you chose to go to yakiniku instead.¡¹

    ¡¸Both are equally as good if you ask me¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸And that¡¯s the problem with you, Katsu-kun! You have to make a clean distinction when ites to things like that!¡¹

    ¡¸So in other words you¡¯re that kind of man that can¡¯t appreciate the uniquiness properly. What a shame.¡¹

    ¡¸Why can¡¯t you guys never agree onto something, even for a moment? And while we¡¯re at it, I know that I said it¡¯s my treat, but don¡¯t you think you¡¯re going a little bit overboard¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸You sure you want to say that? Come on now, show our dear Pumpkin-kun and myself here some appreciation. And let¡¯s hear a word or two from him, while we¡¯re being at it!¡¹

    Ehhh¡­¡­? You¡¯d really do something like that and catfish people to praise you¡­¡­? It was really weird to see someone who would y like aplete demon act in such a middle-school manner.

    Umm, umm¡­¡­ Crap, I¡¯m really no good when ites to public speeches like that. That¡¯s why I really hate public events!

    ¡¸Ahh, umm¡­¡­ By drinking Blood Riot, you can achieve the level of y that¡¯s on par with Pro Gamers. You should give it a shot from time to time.¡¹

    ¡¸Dude, are you some kind of sponsored influencer or something¡­¡­?¡¹

    S-Shut your trap! I¡¯m not quite like you guys, being able to throw cheesy lines around like it¡¯s the most natural thing in the entire world!

    Fuck me, now my head starts to hurt. My caffeine fuel is exhausted, but I don¡¯t want to risk overdosing on energy drinks too much. Looks like it¡¯s going to be impossible for me to y some ShanFro today after all that.

    ¡¸Mister Pumpkin Head!¡¹

    ¡¸Uwoah!?¡¹

    Then I felt someone grabbing my hands from the side and forcefully turning me around. Raising my eyes, I could see none other than Silvia Goldberg with her eyes sparkling brightly. She didn¡¯t seem exhausted at all.

    ¡¸Good game! Good game!¡¹

    ¡¸Eh, ah, likewise¡­¡­¡¹

    The force and intensity with which she was shaking my hands showed just how excited she really was. But who would have thought¡­¡­ It seems they understand Japanese, at least to some extent.

    But sadly, mynguage capacities were fairly limited in real life¡­¡­ Hey,e on, give me some real-time Babel here so I could at least understand them! Or at least tell them to speak Japanese, can you do that for me?

    ¡¸Fufufu, what a shame, huh, Silvia Goldberg.¡¹

    ¡¸???¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m nothing more but an assist here, you see our Kat¡­¡­ I mean, our boss wanted to defeat you inbat.¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? I didn¡¯t say anything like that.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes you did, Katsu-kun. Yes you did. ¡°I want to defeat Silvia with my own two hands, so please make that possible by buying as much time as possible.¡¹

    ¡¸No, no, no, I most certainly didn¡¯t say it like that!¡¹

    ¡¸T-That¡¯s right! Kei will be the one who will end your undefeated streak! ¡­¡­ Isn¡¯t that right?¡¹

    ¡¸MEGU!?!?¡¹

    Dude, you can¡¯t even admit to your own faults even after we went so far and still manage to lose?

    After a short pause, it seems that the meaning of our words finally managed to reach Silvia Goldberg. Her facial expression, beautiful enough to be on the cover of some modeling magazine, was distorted by a ferocious smile.

    ¡¸Don¡¯t you worry, we¡¯ll take responsibility and settle this some another time.¡¹

    ¡¸Maybe once you¡¯ll make it big as a Pro Gamer. Although it won¡¯t be an easy path to travel.¡¹

    ¡¸D-Do your best!¡¹

    ¡¸But don¡¯t think we¡¯ll make that climb any easier for you¡­¡­ Oh well.¡¹

    Even though we¡¯ve been joking around like that, it is true that no real gamer ever ys with an intention to lose in the end.

    We¡¯ve all did our very best. Myself, Natsume-san and Pencilgton. We¡¯ve also experimented quite a lot and tried a ton of different things.

    ¡¸Well, having said that¡­¡­ We¡¯ve gone so far already, so don¡¯t you dare to fuck this up.¡¹

    Show us a match that will be as good as Pencilgton¡¯s, a match that will turn the whole city inside out and that will prove that you are better than Meetias once and for all.

    ¡¸If I¡¯ll win¡­¡­ I get to decide what kind of food we are going to eat.¡¹

    ¡¸Of course it will be yakiniku.¡¹

    ¡¸It will be sushi.¡¹

    ¡¸I want to eat pasta.¡¹

    So maybe an Italian yakiniku? What do you say to that¡­¡­?

    ¡¸It¡¯s the first time you¡¯ve spoken so clearly, Silvia.¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯ve been always using that suspiciousbination of both English and Japanese¡­¡­ Silvia.¡¹

    If the match is a Hero VS a Viin, Viin will always receive a thirty seconds of extra time before the match actually begins. However, in Hero VS Hero scenario or Viin VS Viin, they will always start at the same time.

    Right now, two Heroes are facing off against one another in Chaos City. Right now, all the damage from the previous games was gone, so there was no trace of evil nts, exploding stuffed animals, leveled buildings or meteor crates. The map waspletely reset.

    ¡¸It¡¯s actually surprising to see you discard Amdrava.¡¹

    ¡¸I wanted to use him initially, but I decided not to in the end. Sometimes the only thing that you need is a change of pace and perspective.¡¹

    In one corner, the Meteor-Hero, undefeated right until that point. In another corner, a different Hero wearing a silver jacket and pointing his finger at Meetias.

    ¡¸Today I shall finally end your reign with this Hero here¡­¡­ Silver Jumper!¡¹

    Even though they were surrounded by the cityscape that was about to turn into a warzone, Silvia could tell that the heart of her opponent was full of passion and burning fighting spirit, about ready to go all out.

    Until that point, he lost to her time and time again. But even in spite of that, his spirit didn¡¯t shatter and he was still bringing himself up after each fall, adamant on catching up to her and defeating her. Silvia really liked men who were so persistent in trying to get what they wanted.

    ¡¸Well, well, well¡­¡­ I¡¯m really looking forward to this. Oh, yeah, but before we get to that¡­¡­ Why cat ears? Is this your hobby or something like that?¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, this? Those guys forced me to do this. Please don¡¯t worry about that. It¡¯s better to not delve over their crazy for too long.¡¹

    ¡¸Is that so? Alright then. Well then, it¡¯s finally time¡­¡­ If I end up winning today, will you tell me the real identities of your Viin colleagues?¡¹

    ¡¸Ahahaha, fine by me, but I¡¯m warning you: they really lose a lot when you actually meet them in person.¡¹

    It might have looked like a simple exchange of pleasantries between two rivals. But that statement couldn¡¯t have possibly been furthest from the truth. Because in reality it was nothing short of a deration of war.

    Silver Jumper. It¡¯s a side character that appeared on the pages of theic book ¡°Gold Edge¡± and is currently the oldest character under the Gxiabel.

    Although it was a character that underwent many changes, reboots and adjustments across the years, his core concept was always staying the same.

    ¡¸Easy to y, but difficult to master!¡¹

    ¡¸Now then¡­¡­ Show me how you¡¯re going to beat me!¡¹

    It seems that the blue Meteor Hero was not tired after all that fighting in the slightest. However, Kei had a different opinion on the matter. He was sure that the fights against Clock Fire and Cursed Prison managed to put quite a dent in the reigning champion.

    Continously optimizing her own performance whilst not falling victim to fatigue. In other words, her actions were directly connected to her current approach to her opponent.

    ¡¸Hitting your opponent square in the face is not the only way in which you can wing matches in this game¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    After running many tests, Katsu, Pencilgton, Sanraku and Natsume all concluded that the characters they could use during this exhibition match could be roughly split into three categories.

    First category: ¡°Fighter Types¡± such as Meetias and Cursed Prison.

    It¡¯s the most basic type, where the characters shine in close quartersbat and can pull off really impressive moves.

    Next is the ¡°Fixer¡± type, a type that refers to characters that are weak in directbat and must rely on tools in order to seed. Clock Fire is just a character like that.

    Those characters tend to control the events from the shadows, thinking up ns and intricate strategies that would allow them to not engage inbat themselves.

    Andst but not least, the Seeker Type. Silver Jumper is the excellent representation of that ystyle.

    He¡¯s not nearly as powerful to have faith in close quartersbat, but at the same licks the wit and cunning necessary to set traps and scheme various evil ns. But if it¡¯s like that, then at what characters like him excel at?

 Chapter 181: Throwing Your Baton Like an Anchor Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 181: Throwing Your Baton Like an Anchor Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸The times have changed, and you can no longer depend on sheer power alone¡­¡­ Here I go, Meetias!¡¹

    Meetias then started to dash through the air in all directions. He wasn¡¯tpletely gone, though, so his iing attacks could be avoided.

    Looking up on the screen, I could see Silver Jumper leaping high into the air, bouncing off the air and the walls of the buildings, only to disappear behind the corner of one of the roofs.

    Silver Jumper¡¯s ability is really simple. He doesn¡¯t channel the energy of the stars, he doesn¡¯t detonate bombs with his evil eye. He just jumps really high¡­¡­ And that¡¯s about all there is to it.

    However, just because it was simple, it doesn¡¯t mean it should be underestimated. His jumping abilities are the best in the entire game, allowing him to do four consecutive air-dashes. It¡¯s a number that even exceeds that of Cursed Prison during its Ultimate Move stage.

    In other words, by sacrificing the immense fighting power of characters such as Cursed Prison and agility of Meetias, he is able to move through the air so swiftly that it can be evenpared to flying in some instances.

    And theck of fighting power is certainly not a disadvantage for Silver Jumper.

    In this game, victory can be obtained in two distinct ways.

    One is the ¡°usual¡± way, meaning hitting your opponents until it dies to death. And the other is¡­¡­

    ¡¸Securing the Chaos Cube!¡¹

    A keystone that is the core and supporting pir of this city, hidden somewhere around. Securing the Chaos Cube is much like treasure hunting, and it¡¯s the second way of obtaining victory.

    However, avoiding the fightingpletely is a no-go as well. In order to get the Cube, you need your gauge. And in order to fill his gauge, the Hero must¡­¡­

    ¡¸Aim for taking down NPC Viins¡­¡­!¡¹

    Thinking about it now, Natsume Megumi must have been aiming towards victory via securing the Chaos Cube. But, since No Face and No Name were such battle maniacs, obtaining Chaos Cube never even came across their battle obsessed minds.

    No, it¡¯s not like we didn¡¯t realized that. It¡¯s just¡­¡­ We felt like winning through that wouldn¡¯t really count as winning¡­¡­

    ¡¸Well, think of it like a small gift from yours truly who couldn¡¯t beat Silvia-chan directly.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, that, what was that again¡­¡­ If feels really simr to Abyss Destruction¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Do you mean Misdirection?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh yeah, that¡¯s the one! You¡¯re so smart, Natsume-san!¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯smon sense, my Pumpkin Friend. But I know. It¡¯s hard to utilizemon sense when you have a pumpkin instead of a brain.¡¹

    ¡¸Shut the fuck up, Zombie Female Knight. Go pick up the flowers in the toilet or something.¡¹

    ¡¸Could you stop insulting one another all the time? This is getting really old.¡¹

    (The initial actions were dyed. Is Kei aiming for securing the Chaos Cube? If so, he¡¯ll need gauge for that, so that means he¡¯ll have to beat NPC Viins.)

    ¡¸When ites to being sneaky and trying to utilize that in battle, you need to use seventy percent of lies, ten percent of truth and¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Kuuh!¡¹

    By the way, the remaining twenty percent was half-truths.

    The moment Silvia¡¯s thoughts changed from ¡°battle¡± mode to ¡°chase¡± mode, her movements underwent a change as well. She went after Silver Jumper and tried to tackle right into him when she had the chance. Then the two roll onto the ground.

    ¡¸And my gut tells me that if you want to achieve an advantage in PVP matches, you need to be able to take your enemy by surprise at all times!¡¹

    At the moment when Meetias stood up and gazed down at the Silver Jumper, a huge portion of the nearby building¡¯s wall came down and crushed right in between them.

    ¡¸This is no longer a well-kept and maintained colosseum. Now then, what will you do as the Hero, Silvia?¡¹

 Chapter 182: Road to Fruition Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 182: Road to Fruition Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Actually, doing just that¡­¡­ This might be more difficult to aplish than we might think.¡¹

    ¡¸Natsume-san is right. When ites to two Heroes fighting one another, this will basically be apetition of who gets the NPC Viins first.¡¹

    What Katsu presented to Silvia Goldberg right now was a choice. And that choice just happened to incorporate one of the biggest gimmicks of the entire game.

    First matter of choices is: ¡°is Katsu going to aim for securing the Chaos Cube or try to defeat Meetias?¡±

    At first nce it looks as though he is aiming for the cube, but it might just be a trap. An borate ruse that aims to lower Silvia¡¯s guard and make her susceptible for a surprise strike that she wouldn¡¯t normally anticipate.

    And the next dilemma is more or less like that: what should Katsu do in order to emerge victorious from this hunt for the NPC Viins? And the most terrifying thing here is that this dilemma is connected to the two choices mentioned above.

    If Katsu was indeed aiming to a Chaos Cube win, he would have to defeat the NPC Viins¡­¡­ That means Silvia would need to stop him from doing that, so that he would not be able to earn gauge.

    If so, then what should she do in order to prevent Katsu from doing that?

    But if Katsu¡¯s aim was defeating Meetias all along, she should focus on offense and don¡¯t think too hard about it.

    In other words, nothing was set in stone yet, so both sides would need to y it safe if they didn¡¯t wanted to regret it.

    But should Meetias also umte his gauge in order to prevent Katsu from doing whatever the hell he wanted?

    All in all, Silvia Goldberg was in for quite a dilemma here. It wasn¡¯t something she could decide carelessly, on a whim. Otherwise she would end up regretting it.

    Meetias is excelling at momentary eleration, but when ites to a long-term chases and runs, Silver Jumper is a much better character here, since he can change his altitude freely and fly across the sky to some extent. In some cases that mobility of his would even serve to dodge the enemy¡¯s Ultimate Moves with a high probability of sess.

    ¡¸Your strategies are as mean and evil as ever, Comrade No Name.¡¹

    ¡¸No, no, I don¡¯t want to hear that from someone who had a say in the initial drafting of this strategy, dear Sargent No Face.¡¹

    It¡¯s a really cheap, but also quite effective battle strategy: instead of trying toe up with some fancy way of action, you just overwhelm your opponent with way too many ways of acting.

    It¡¯s that kind of strategy that can even seed against advanced AIs, but it¡¯s only effective when your surroundings and situation change rapidly. If the gamey is stagnant, it¡¯s not going to be of any use.

    Silvia Goldberg still thinks that she can hunt Katsu down or beat him up, but she¡¯s not even aware that there is already a potent poison circting in her system, eating her away from the inside. Soon enough she shall be a victim to her own thoughts.

    But then she also remembers that there was someone like that who used a tactic simr to that way back in the first round of the match.

    Hahaha, of course it would be a trap.

    It may be rude to Natsume Megumi, but as far as Silvia Goldberg was concerned, she was not a genuine gamer.

    That is also why Silvia Goldberg had troubles with recalling Natsume Megumi¡¯s exact battle style: because she was so forgettable to her. It was nearly as difficult as trying to recall exactly what you had for dinner a week ago.

    From the get go, Pencilgton and I focused on making it look as though Katsu wasn¡¯t going to aim for getting the Chaos Cube, just so that Silvia Goldberg wouldn¡¯t try to think of ways of preventing him from doing just that.

    Yes, Misdirection. Misdirection was the way to go here. As per Pencilgton¡¯s words: since the members of Star Rain are all proficient in some form of martial arts, irregr behaviors and pattern changes are their greatest enemies. I don¡¯t really get it, but whatever you say.

    ¡¸And that is why the time is just about right.¡¹

    ¡¸Silvia-chan, sorry in advance if your brain ends up overheating from too much thinking¡­¡­¡¹

    Human brain allows evenplete idiots to solveplex problems if given enough time to ponder the matter through. And Silvia¡¯s brain was quite exceptional at handling problems.

    Now then, Katsu. From here on out you¡¯re in the endgame.

    When her HP bar dropped to about fifty percent, Silvia Goldberg abandoned thinking.

    Is the goal of Silver Jumper to simply get the Chaos Cube? Or maybe to beat her in a fight?

    Should she deal with the NPC Viins that were approaching her or should she just leave them alone?

    Should she stop Silver Jumper from getting the gauge or should she prioritize collecting her own?

    (I don¡¯t know what to do, but for now I must focus on beating Kei.)

    Ahh, that¡¯s right. That¡¯s the conclusion Silvia Goldberg¡¯s mind was rushing towards. She was being so overwhelmed by the iing information that she just happened to omit one very simple fact.

    Silver Jumper is Uomi Kei. And Uomi Kei is that kind of gamer that excels at reading his opponents and devising strategies ording to what he managed to learn about his opponent.

    There is no right answer amongst the ones presented to her by Kei. This was not a race where thepetitors werepeting on equal terms. It was more like a set-up where one racer got a head-start as a result of a rock-paper-scissors match¡­¡­ and that rock-paper-scissors was set-up as well. Every time Silvia would decide to do something, Kei would counter it ordingly and they would be back to the square one.

    She started thinking about the previous Viins she fought. The vivid images of Yggdryer, Clock Fire and Cursed Prison started to pop in front of her eyes, clouding her judgement and upying her thoughts. The Viins weren¡¯t just stalling from time. They were doing something more. They were attacking the whole of Star Rain from the very beginning. And they did that in a way that no one would even anticipate, in a way that no one could really counter.

    Their thoughts.

    That attack managed to dull Silvia Goldberg¡¯s fangs and make her oblivious to what was going on. That she was no longer ying a normal fighting game. That she was dragged into something that was fairly umon in the world of gaming.

    A game where one person was struggling against many opponents at once!

    ¡¸Sorry to break it to you¡­¡­ But this round is mine!¡¹

    Meetias attacks Silver Jumper in a straight line. However, inside of her mind she was still considering this match to be her versus Kei, she didn¡¯t even considered that he could have the support of someone else.

    It stems from the fact that as a Pro Gamer Silvia Goldberg was proficient mainly in fighting games. Because of that, unlike Kei, she didn¡¯t experience many different types of games and his current actions seemed to be nothing but iprehensible to her.

    In a different genre of games, that strategy is called ¡®Monster yer Kill¡±. It¡¯s a technique that pushes all monster aggro towards your opponent and as a result you don¡¯t have to kill your opponent yourself, since monsters will eventually do that for you. And the fact that you know about it or not is totally unrted here.

    ¡¸Uguh¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸A bit slow on the uptake, huh, Meetias!?¡¹

    Meetias¡¯s body was hit with a tackle that was so ultra-heavy unlike any other attack Silvia happened to take today. It was so powerful and so unexpected that she didn¡¯t even have time to react to it and was blown away as a result.

    ¡¸Pretty ironic, don¡¯t you think?¡¹

    Kei must be thinking the exact same thing. And others as well, even though they can no longer actively participate.

    ¡¸This is Global Game Competition. And since everyone is watching us right now¡­¡­ Let me illuminate you to what this game is all about.¡¹

    In this game world everyone can be either a Hero or a Viin. But that also means,

    People can understand the hardships that one type experiences because of the other¡¯s actions.

    ¡¸Hooray! Kei took one round!¡¹

    ¡¸About time. It was fun to watch both of them struggle, but it¡¯s nice to finally have a result.¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t know exactly what they were saying because of the system voice, but from the way their lips were moving I think it was something like ¡°Ooooooohhhhhhh!!!¡±¡¹

    ¡¸Dude, is there anything in this world that you can¡¯t do?¡¹

    ¡¸A thing or two for sure.¡¹

 Chapter 182: Road to Fruition Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 182: Road to Fruition Part 2</h4>

    It¡¯s far too early to celebrate. Katsu managed to win one round, but this only means that from here on out this is going to be hell-incarnate.

    The strategy we¡¯vee up with for Katsu to be able to remain victorious is nothing more but a trick. A sort of a warp gate that takes you from the main road and throws you right in the middle of the dark and barren off-road. It is escaping all themon sense associated with ying the conventional fighting games.

    It¡¯s supposed to be ridiculous by default¡­¡­ Or at least that¡¯s what we want others to think.

    Essentially, what Katsu tries to do here is to subdue a rampaging horse or a tornado with his bare hands. And it¡¯s not nearly as easy as it looks.

    After all¡­¡­ managing mob aggro is harder that you¡¯d think. It all depends on how well he¡¯ll manage to push it all onto Silvia Goldberg.

    And she probably must have understood that, because she must have had roughly the same idea. I wonder what kind ofbo would they make if they were ever to pair up as a team?

    And screaming¡­¡­ Ah, now I get it. It must be that famous ¡°break switch¡± technique.

    I mean, during matches like that the tension basically goes through the roof, so it¡¯s no surprise that even America¡¯s number one would like to went all of those pent-up emotions from time to time like that.

    And the result was that Meetias managed to quiet down rip Silver Jumper a new one in under four minutes.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Hahaha, won¡¯t you look at that, Pumpkin-kun. It was so bad that it actually hurt to look at it.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, can¡¯t argue with that one¡­¡­¡¹

    Could it be that my darkest scenario regarding Silvia was actuallying true? That thing¡­¡­ what was it, exactly?

    Meetias basically holds a handicap in that he can only use his mobility in linear moves. So if Meetias wanted to do a sharp turn, it is necessary for him to stop for a moment, turn in the right direction and then continue to move.

    The usual way in which Silvia¡¯s Meetias achieves his unpredictable moves is high-speed movements due to kicking off the ground, mid-air kicks and using buildings and obstacles as footholds. Think of a way in which a rubber ball thrown at high speed and force acts in a small closed space.

    ¡¸She probably uses a lot of side-stepping and bending to make better results¡­¡­¡¹

    Because of that, even though it shouldn¡¯t be possible, Meetias was able to move in a lot smoother way than he normally should.

    No matter what happens¡­¡­ I¡¯m sure that right about now Silvia Goldberg¡¯s emotions were at their peak, and it was showing through her actions. Right about now she must have been at even greater edge then she was during her battle with Clock Fire or even Cursed Prison.

    ¡¸An unexpected boost¡­¡­ But that¡¯s also an opportunity.¡¹

    I can say that with all certainty, because I was experiencing that myself on a number of asions. That sudden battle boost¡­¡­ She was basically running on fumes right about now.

    For example, it¡¯s like running a marathon, and then breaking into a mad sprint while ignoring your running strategy and overall pacing, just so that you can give it your absolute best and aim for the record¡­¡­ After that, you drop on the spot, out of gas.

    Silvia Goldberg¡¯s toughness is nothing to scoff at. It¡¯s monstrous. But even the most terrifying monsters have their limits, no matter what they may be. Her spirit may still want to fight, but her body will give up way before that.

    That¡¯s right. Now is our biggest chance. The bird that usually flies higher than the rest and for way longer is finally about to be out of breath.

    ¡¸It¡¯s alright, Katsu¡­¡­¡¹

    This is it. The pure contest of skill. Right now it all depends on that, no more cheap tricks or relying on RNG.

    ¡¸Plus, we have caffeine on our side.¡¹

    Come on now, Natsume-san. Don¡¯t look at me like that. It makes me look stupid.

    ¡¸Maybe if you weren¡¯t stewing your brain with energy drinks so much, you wouldn¡¯t throw such cringy lines around, my dear Pumpkin-kun.¡¹

    ¡¸Is that what it looks like to you?¡¹

    He could feel sweat going down his cheeks. No, he was sure it was just an illusion.

    There was no technology that would be able to recreate that, so it was probably a sign that his real body must have been sweating intensively.

    (What it that, she can still perform this well even though she¡¯s been through so many battles today? No, no¡­¡­ such high-level performance is not something that can be maintained endlessly.)

    It¡¯s like flipping a switch over and over again. At the surface level it might not have any drawbacks, but deep down it might eventually cause some serious damage.

    Yes, sometimes it was even clearly visible when Sanraku was losing his boost. He would often be angry and irritated after that, but that technique of his was clearly allowing him to use more of the power of his brain than he would normally be able to. That much was clear to everyone, even when looking from the sidelines.

    But at least his life wouldn¡¯t shorten or anything like that because of that.

    (At least after going all out like that Sanraku feels like sh*t¡­¡­ So it¡¯s not without its drawbacks¡­¡­)

    A one in thousand chance. Silvia Goldberg, who up until now was unbeatable, was finally within his reach.

    But it wasn¡¯t a mere coincidence. It was the result of an intricate strategy that he came up with together with his friends. It was thanks to theirbined efforts that he could be right here right in this moment.

    And if so, then there were basically two things he could do right about now.

    Beat Silvia Goldberg and pray that his wallet would be able to emerge alive from the imperial feast that would ensue upon his victory.

    ¡¸Now then, let¡¯s win this thing!¡¹

    Even though Kei wasn¡¯t one hundred percent sure he would be able to win¡­¡­ He also didn¡¯t feel like losing either!

 Chapter 183: The Results of Training Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 183: The Results of Training Part 1</h4>

    Third round. Round of fate.

    Both of their gauges filled to the max level, they assumed their positions. Their current location was pretty much remote, so there wouldn¡¯t be any NPC Viins here for a while, and there was nowhere to hide or to escape to.

    ¡¸I must say that just a little while ago I was somewhat disappointed, sorry about that.¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m pretty much used to people behaving like that anyways.¡¹

    Both of them could fire off their Ultimate Move anytime now. Meetias¡¯s ¡°Meteor Strike¡± was extraordinary deadly, covering both destructive power and vast area of effect. Clock Fire experienced that first-hand, and did my Cursed Prison, so I know what I¡¯m talking about.

    However, even something as OP as Meteor Strike had its weaknesses, and part of Silvia Goldberg¡¯s strength was effectively covering that weakness.

    (That special effect jump kick¡­¡­ Its effect are far more dangerous than any other Ultimate Move in this game.)

    Strictly speaking, it¡¯s a strategy of taking a few steps back just before unleashing the Ultimate Move and assuming a very specific backwards stance. By doing that, you can increase the range and the duration of the technique, making a simple kick a deadly weapon that shouldn¡¯t be underestimated.

    Not to mention that thanks to Silvia¡¯s abilities and familiarity with the character the distance and obstacles are hardly a problem for her, and they can even work to her advantage.

    She was also not shackled down by any kind of role y. If Cursed Prison save its Ultimate Move ¡°Prison Break¡± at that time instead of activating it to help an NPC, the results of that previous match could have been different.

    (Well, even if he was aware of that, I think that he would still choose to act in a way he did.)

    Gaming is always a matter of choice between fun and winning. And only people who are unhappy would prioritize winning over having fun.

    (Over there? I could get there if I used my gauge right now, but then I¡¯d have to somehow deal with her Ultimate Move first¡­¡­)

    As for the third round, the location of the Chaos Cube is still unknown, but Katsu already had a rough idea.

    In this game there are some subtle patterns and signs that seem to signal the whereabouts of the Chaos Cube. Because let¡¯s face it: if you had to search basically every single nook and cranny in order to find that damned thing, this would pretty much devolve into a sh*tty game in no-time.

    For that reason, the Chaos Cube would usually appear in one of three pre-set location, with some exceptions to that rule.

    First one would the center of an open and t area with a great view, such as parks or a stadium. It would float in the air above somendmarks such as a fountain, for example. As a side note, one of such locations could be the stadium that Pencilgton blown up today. We verified thatst night.

    The second ce are the roofs of the buildings. This however, is only the case if a heliport spawns in the city during the first round. Also, the shape of the building with the heliport in it is pretty distinct, so you can easily spot it if you search around.

    And the third option¡­¡­ the only ce in the entire Chaos City that retains its shape no matter how much the surrounding area changes. The Chaos Tower. The observation deck at the top of the tower is thest ce where the Chaos Cube can appear.

    They kept on staring each other down. Did Silvia also managed to figure out the Cube¡¯s location?

    With more and more time passing, the tension was slowly raising as well. None of them wanted to move first, because not always it would spell advantage, but if someone decided to move first, you could fall behind in a matter of seconds.

    The n of bringing some of the Viin NPCs with them here would not work, either. Katsu wanted to believe that Silvia also thought like that, not wanting to be locked in many-versus-one scenario.

    ¡¸Could it be another of my bad habits?¡¹

    Silvia and Sanraku are ¡°move before thinking¡± type of yers, while both Pencilgton and Katsu are ¡°think before you move¡± types. What¡¯s more, Katsu and Pencilgton can always adapt to any situation, depending on the changing circumstances.

    If in trouble, slow down and think. Blindly rushing in was almost always sure to get you severely injured or even killed.

    (Secure the Cube. Don¡¯t think about anything else.)

    Think about what you need to do. You¡¯re up against a strong opponent, so focus on them entirely.

    He has lost many times andmitted to countless research. This monster right in front of him was growing stronger each time they met, but the underlying foundation and battle style always remained the same.

    ¡¸¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    Silver Jumper decided to take the lead. In fact, he started to run straight at Meetias, without trying to dodge or evade. Meetias smiles seeing that and elerates as well, getting closer to Silver Jumper faster than he could close the distance himself.

    ¡¸Now then, try to catch up!¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯ll have to overtake me first¡­¡­!¡¹

    In reality, there was no reason for Uomi Kei to get stronger. He just needed to understand the process of bing stronger.

    Silvia¡¯s dominant foot should be her right one, so she shouldn¡¯t be able to counterattack. Of course, there was nothing that would stop her from kicking with her left foot, but if she had a choice she¡¯d always go with her right one for attacking. Katsu had no idea if he would be able to mimic some other games¡¯ techniques as wlessly as Sanraku was doing that, but for that one asion he practiced a whole lot.

    ¡¸Thank you, ¡°Aikodo VR ss¡±¡­¡­!¡¹

    If you decide to try a different approach and change tactics, your efforts will never be in vain. Right about now, his body trained to counter Silvia Goldberg¡¯s actions was far deadlier weapon than the actual sharp des or bullets.

    The root of Silvia Goldberg¡¯s battle styles is based in martial arts that entuates footwork. It is quite advantageouspared to other sports or battle styles, but in virtual reality, where physical attributes have little to no use, that merit was almost non-existent.

    ¡¸As usual, you¡¯re so nice, Kei! You ept everything I throw your way!¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t put it like that! People might get the wrong idea!¡¹

    ¡¸Okay. So to put it another way: Kei is a good ¡°catcher¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸Kuh¡­¡­!! A psychological attack¡­¡­!!¡¹

    Right now he wasn¡¯t at the level where he could urately predict the flow of the entirebat, but he had a good grasp on what Silvia¡¯s next move would be and what he should do in order to counter it.

    However, just because he could predict it, it doesn¡¯t mean he can perfectly counter them. He had to make sure to stay on his guard and look for those slight traces of a pathway, that would eventually lead him towards victory.

    ¡¸¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    Sanraku calls this ¡°the moment when you can see the other side while bncing on a tightrope¡±, and Pencilgton calls it ¡°the moment you set off the fireworks.¡±

    For Kei, it meant that one of many keys he was holding in his hands have finally managed to find its respective keyhole. He gave a silent prayer to one of the RNG gods, even though he knew that his friends would scoff at him for doing that.

    Gxia Heroes: Chaos held many chaotic elements, some of which have proven to be very powerful weapons against Silvia.

    The situation right now¡­¡­ it was something totally unreasonable, something that would never happen in your normal fighting game. That situation was the door that would eventually lead to Kei¡¯s victory.

    Viin ¡°Cursed Prison¡± sacrificed himself to protect a small child. That action was controversial, but well-received by the public. It¡¯s the so-called paradox of picking up a stray kitten on a rainy day.

    But there are those who don¡¯t like scenes like that, and who wouldn¡¯t like to see the same exact scene happening twice.

    To put in in a simpler terms: there are NPCs worth attacking and there are NPCs worth protecting. And when ites to previous matches, they were all about brave Heroes putting an end to their Nemesis¡¯ evil deeps.

    Perhaps running away from a hungry beast could only get him so far. And it just so happened that a small miracle managed to ur right close to them at that time. By sheer coincidence, a familiar-looking woman NPC was about to be attacked by a bunch of NPC Viinspletely out of the blue.

    Looking closely, the NPC in trouble really turned out to be that one mother-NPC, who just happened to be nicknamed ¡°Chestnut-chan¡± by Pencilgton not so long ago. That was when the miracle would finally be able to ur.

 Chapter 183: The Results of Training Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 183: The Results of Training Part 2</h4>

    This, right here, there would be no other ce or a chance like that. The only thing that Silver Jumper had to do now, was to make a good use of the keys to victory he¡¯s been collecting up until now.

    ¡¸Ah¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re wide open¡­¡­!¡¹

    And so he acted. By using one of the simplest and most effective techniques that could assault the two pirs supporting the weight of the human body: leg hook.

    Severe exhaustion caused by her previous fights. Non-stop abstract thinking and changing ns on the go. Tension caused by sudden events springing up one after another. Void of thoughts that would not normally be there. All of those elements created a smallest of gaps in the defenses of normally undefeated and unsinkable giant that was Silvia Goldberg.

    Silver Jumper¡¯s Ultimate Move is called ¡°Silver Foot¡±. It is a simple Ultimate Move, one that strengthens the power of your legs for about ten seconds. It may not be all that shy or dramatic, but it is effective, since the power of your kicks can be tremendously increased. However, the true value of this Move lies not in the enhancement of the jumping power, but something else¡­¡­ You can run faster thanks to that.

    ¡¸Sorry about that, but this time around ¡°I¡¯m¡± taking the ce in the spotlight!¡¹

    ¡¸Whaaaaaa!?¡¹

    The moment before Meetias could finally pull himself together and get back up on his feet¡­¡­ A silver trail runs across the city. The more heroic you are, the more dramatic your actions be. The more despair drives you, the more hope starts to fill your heart.

    In other words, the conclusion of gauge gathering done by that Hero could only be one¡­¡­

    (All the NPC Viins were wiped out¡­¡­!!)

    But before she could say that out loud, Kei, unlike some anonymous Heroes in theic books, decided to capitalize on his action in the fullest.

    ¡¸Ah, you are safe, Mademoiselle. I¡¯m actually relieved to know that.¡¹

    ¡¸Wh-Who are you¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸The Silver Hero: Silver Jumper, at your service.¡¹

    He managed to save the half-dead woman from the evil clutches of the NPC Viins before they managed to massacre her. Now he was carrying her in her arms, casually introducing himself just like that. At the same time his Heroic gauge skyrocketed, boosted by the highest heroic actions possible.

    It looked as though he wanted to get as far away from the rest of the Viins as well¡­¡­ But in reality Silver Jumper only used the NPC woman as a cover up, getting closer and closer to Chaos Tower while pretending to carry her to safety.

    ¡¸Now, I guess that the only thing left for me to do is to climb on top of this thing¡­¡­¡¹

    Everything was in its right ce. Behind, he could hear the footsteps of the blue meteor giving chase and the NPC Viins converging onto his location, but it all did not matter anymore.

    Also, it looked like Silvia Goldberg needed to take care of the Viins first if she wanted to catch up. She was unable to simply avoid them and go straight towards Kei. What a scary thing a monster train can be. Still, the only thing that could be seen at Silver Jumper¡¯s face was a smile.

    ¡¸Imagine that, huh?¡¹

    A Hero, a Hero, and NPC Viins. The stage of their final battle would be this here gigantic tower.

    And in the end, the only one left standing would be¡­¡­

 Chapter 184: Gathering In the Unexplored Gold Mines Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 184: Gathering In the Unexplored Gold Mines Part 1</h4>

    Right about now, I¡¯m too scared to even open my SNS app.

    The second day of GGC ended with a literal storm of apuse, how long has it been since then? Some people ended up going back homepletely unsatisfied, while others went back to hotels in order to regenerate and get ready for the third day of GGC that was in front of them.

    As for us, our team was invited to the after-party alongside other people who participated in the second day of GGC. I don¡¯t know just how long we have been there, but the next thing I knew was that I was back at my hotel room with some amount of time to spare before actually turning myself in for the day.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ So tired.¡¹

    When was thest time I was feeling this tired? Ahh, yeah¡­¡­ It was during that one time I went as far as to go to Kyushiu in order to obtain some rare sh*tty games.

    I know that it was because of our fight against Silvia Goldberg, but we have been in the center of the spotlights way more than I would have liked. Even Pencilgton seemed to be overwhelmed by our sudden poprity spike at some point. I thought things like that were normal to her.

    ¡¸Will I ever be able to sleep like that¡­¡­?¡¹

    No, that won¡¯t happen, most probably. The multiple cans of Blood Riot that I chugged now wore offpletely, leaving me so tired and so sleepy that I felt that I wouldn¡¯t be able to fall asleep even if I wanted to.

    I take off the helmet that protected my precious privacy and fall on top of the bed.

    Party, party¡­¡­ I remember that one of the Pro Gamers was talking some nonsense about renting the party floor of this hotel in order to have ANOTER after-party. I know that sometimes Katsu smelled like a filthy rich-boy, but this sh*t was actually on a whole new level of acting like bourgeoisie.

    ¡¸Oho, not to mention that this bed is suddenly a whole lot harder than it was yesterday¡­¡­¡¹

    It would also be kind of hard to actually say goodbye to this guy right there. So I walk towards the VR device and ce my hand on it affectionately.

    It¡¯s not that I got attached to this guy or anything¡­¡­ But I must admit that ying ShanFro on it was ratherfortable. If it was not so overly over-priced then who knows? Maybe I could even invest in one of those things myself in the future?

    Also, once I get back home I need to get back into the swing of things and set myself back from this game. Maybe ShanFro would be a good candidate for that? I could also buy another game on my way back, that¡¯s always an option.

    ¡¸But is there any good game out there right about now¡­¡­?¡¹

    I have heard that there are a whole lot of hidden gems out there on the market right about now, the games that may look uninteresting but turn out to be really enjoyable once you get into the swing of things. That being said, for each such hidden gem there is also a potentialndmine, a game that looks interesting but once you start ying it turns out to be nothing all that special.

    When ites to me, my experience with sh*tty games somewhat dulled my senses. I cannot detect andmine unless I step all over it. But then it is already toote.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Might have to do some research.¡¹

    Oh, it¡¯s just the absolute crap¡­¡­ Damn, that¡¯s just stupid. Why can you make a cake out of a monster? Who would eat that?

    When ites to yers all over the world, there are a whole lot of things that they can spot that no one else would even bother to look up. Sometimes it is really helpful, and sometimes it¡¯s ridiculous¡­¡­

    ¡¸It¡¯s about time the Westernpanies started to reim their spot as one of the best game makers, but as far as I know their definition of sh*tty games can be quite different from ours¡­¡­¡¹

    I mean, when you look up the meaning of ¡°sh*tty¡± in Western culture¡­¡­ It¡¯s really amazing just what kind of results you can stumble upon. Not to mention that you can buy some really questionable games for a full price, and people would still notin about the value of their money they just happened to waste. But if that¡¯s the case, why did you buy a full-price game without doing your research first?

    And then there are games that make you question if it was really the 21st century technology that allowed to create it. In some cases it looks just like magic at work, and it often times show in the fantastic reviews.

    Then again, reviews are not equal to one another. Depending on what review you read, it can either make the game or break the game for you. There are some reviewers that totally despise sh*tty games and would burn them in a second, and there are some sh*tty games connoisseurs who are even more devoted to their hobby than I am. How crazy is that?

    ¡¸That¡¯s right, it might be a good idea to see how the attack on the Kutanid city has progressed thus far¡­¡­ But wait.¡¹

    Ah.

    ¡¸Heya, Sanraku-kun! Your ever so reliable and absolutely stunning Onee-san came to pick you up! ¡­¡­ But dude, you look like sh*t. What did you do? Did caffeine cut your life too much? You look as if you¡¯re about to copse at any moment now.¡¹

    ¡¸I just realized something¡­¡­ People canugh and cry at the Abyss, but in the end the Abyss will alwaysugh at you that much harder.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, my head is flled with nothing but caffeine for the moment¡­¡­¡¹

    Remember, kids: caffeine should always be used responsibly and in proper dosage. And no, caffeine will not shorten your lifespan or make your brain less wrinkled, but it can surely fuck you up in a lots of different ways.

    ¡¸How the heck do you even eat this thing?¡¹

    ¡¸Honestly, heck if I know.¡¹

    ¡¸How about you, Katsu?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll go first, so you guys can just follow. That way you¡¯ll at least avoidpromising yourselves, right?¡¹

    ¡¸In any case, sorry to make you do that, but we¡¯re not really sorry¡­¡­ Kuku, kukukuku.¡¹

    Silvia Goldberg¡¯s brilliant unbeaten streak has finallye to an end.

    The moment when Silver Jumper reached the top of the Chaos Tower and touched the Chaos Cube that was located there, the sudden news started to circte all over the world in an instant.

    The name of the person who ended the champion¡¯s reign was Uomi Kei. Incidentally, it was Uomi Kei who also managed to lose two rounds straight to thest of the macho man, getting beaten in less than ten minutes.

    At that moment, I simply could not stopughing. Was it because Katsu was so happy that he managed to beat Silvia Goldberg? As for that Macho Man¡­¡­ I¡¯m sure that right after his victory, he went straight to his girlfriend to brag about that to her.

    ¡¸You should have seen your face the moment you logged out.¡¹

    ¡¸You looked just like one of those Haniwa figures.¡¹

    ¡¸Nbugh!¡¹

    As soon as he came back to us, Pencilgton walked towards him and mmed his back with her hand whileughing uncontrobly. Oi, stop that, it looked rather painful.

    But, oh well, as long as everyone is happy with the results, it¡¯s all that matters, right?

    ¡¸Now then, whatever shall we do with that fact?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, for now I think that a big smile and ¡°Congrats on your first victory¡± should be more than enough, wouldn¡¯t you say?¡¹

    ¡¸Are you trying to recreate your Johnson game but this time around in real life?¡¹

    Although our ystyle was not the most representative out there, as for Pencilgton and I¡­¡­ It¡¯s a good thing that we are hiding our identities. God only knows when some crazy manager might jump the gun and try to scout as or something as equally crazy as that.

 Chapter 184: Gathering In the Unexplored Gold Mines Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 184: Gathering In the Unexplored Gold Mines Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Now that you calmly think about it, we were the only cosying party at that event.¡¹

    ¡¸Because you see, I¡¯m that kind of a woman who tends to be ahead of her times.¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t you mean: a woman who leaps head-first into something first before thinking about the consequences?¡¹

    Following that logic, why don¡¯t you star cosying an old granny everyday now? Then you¡¯d be even more ahead of your times. Or maybe Santa us? Then you¡¯d always be ready for Christmas, no matter the circumstances.

    There was a bodyguard standing in front of the entrance to the party hall, wearing sunsses and a full suit. Suddenly upon seeing that I felt a strong urge to just turn around and go home.

    Aaah,e on, if I were to catch some shinkansen right about now, I could get back home and even have some time to spare on some optional activities! And what about a dress code? There has to be one, right? What if we vite it? Wouldn¡¯t that be so embarrassing that you would like to die?

    Apparently we were the only guests who werete, since I could already feel that a vast part of the rather lively venue started to look right at us the moment we entered the room.

    Wow, I don¡¯t know just how many Pro Gamers are in here at the current moment, but those are some intense res I can feel on me right now! If I were a Pro Gamer just like them, would those stares be less fierce? Or maybe even more brutal?

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Why do I feel like a squirrel that was hibernating up until now and was woken up only to find out it was woken up in the middle of winter?¡¹

    ¡¸Not a badparison, even if somewhat dull¡­¡­ Ah, that¡¯s right. How about ¡°I don¡¯t feel like losing to anyone right now!¡± ¡­¡­ Except I just lost? Kukuku.¡¹

    ¡¸Hello there, my Boss! Congrats on your big victory! If it was me, I would have lost immediately.¡¹

    ¡¸You guys sure know how to sell a good fight!¡¹

    Those words were really friendly and could even be considered as kind, if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that the faces that were spouting those words looked anything but kind.

    I once yed a baseball-themed video game where you could eliminate all the opposing team thanks to smashing their heads in with fast balls. This situation right now bore the same vibe as that game.

    ¡¸What about yakiniku?¡¹

    ¡¸What about sushi?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s all there, so you can eat to your hearts¡¯ content. But it just that¡­¡­¡¹

    Just what?

    Katsu then slides to the side quickly. What the hell, man? If you wanted to show us something, then why don¡¯t you just¡­¡­

    ¡¸It seems that a whole lot of people want to talk to you.¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t want it!¡¹

    ¡¸You can talk so much that your throats runpletely dry, suckers.¡¹

    ¡¸In that case, Gaijin Guard!¡¹

    ¡¸¡¸Gaijin sh Counter!¡¹

    The two of us instantly tried to reverse this whole situation and get the hell out of here. God damn it, why aren¡¯t physical attributes equal in real life!? Gah¡­¡­!?

    - Are you a Pro Gamer?

    - If I was, why would I hide my face?

    - It was amazing!

    - Ah, thanks.

    - Why didn¡¯t you already participate in officialpetitions?

    - Personal circumstances.

    - What¡¯s your rtionship with Uomi Kei?

    - Gaming friends.

    - How can I be like you?

    - Feel an unreasonable fear of being exposed.

    - Is it true that you win-lose ratio against Uomi Kei is 3:7?

    - I¡¯m often angry because of that but sometimes even I win.

    - Why do you hide your face?

    - Personal circumstances.

    - Do you like Jack?

    - Jack? Ah, this guy from the helmet? I don¡¯t hate him, at the very least.

    - Do you y FPS games?

    - I¡¯m not limited by any genre.

    - What is your age?

    - If I wanted to disclose that, I wouldn¡¯t change my voice, now would I?

    - Here, have a drink.

    - Ah, no, I¡¯m still underaged¡­¡­ Gah, Katsu! You stupid sh*thead!

    - I¡¯m from Gatling Drums and I would like to ask No Face-sama some questions¡­¡­

    - Eh, ah, yes? Haa¡­¡­ Eh!? A full-on interview!?

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Sho tired.¡¹

    I don¡¯t know just how can Pencilgton can stand situations like this. Her brain must be wired in apletely different way than that of a normal human.

    ¡¸Meat¡­¡­ Meat¡­¡­¡¹

    It¡¯s not that I¡¯m all that hungry right about now. It¡¯s more like I want to heal my mental state thanks to the sole act of eating.

    It was then when I was slowly walking towards that part of the buffet that was serving all kinds of meat that I saw Natsume-san looking rather uptight.

    Following her line of sight, I could see what was going on¡­¡­ apparently Katsu was locked into a conversation with none other than Silvia Goldberg.

    I see, they cannot speak to anyone else in here thanks to the fact that none of them could speak Japanese fluently enough.

    ¡¸What do you think of that, Agent No Name?¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s hear your opinion first, Agent No Face.¡¹

    ¡¸I want to smash Katsu¡¯s face in.¡¹

    ¡¸Understandable.¡¹

    I don¡¯t know why, but every time I see that bastard having a good time, something deep inside of my soul seems to be screaming. Now, is there a spare fork in here that I can use?

    ¡¸Guess it cannot be helped. This lovely Onee-san here is going to help you out just this once.¡¹

    ¡¸Do you have some sort of a n?¡¹

    ¡¸Ahahaha¡­¡­ Do you happen to know what a ¡°Scapegoat¡± is?¡¹

    ¡¸Some poor sap that ends up taking all the me for something they did not do¡­¡­ Ahh, don¡¯t touch my helmet! Don¡¯t you dare sacrificing my privacy!¡¹

    ¡¸But I must say, you really were amazing, No Face-kun! To fight so fiercely against a Pro Gamer even though you are nothing but an amateur yourself¡­¡­ Wouldn¡¯t you agree!?¡¹

    Those words, apanied by the act of taking my mask off managed to grab the attention of at least several people in the room¡­¡­ And since vast majority of them were Pro Gamer, the shine in their eyes was really unnerving for some reason. Some of those people even looked like managers.

    Then something truly terrifying happened: they reached out into their pockets only to produce that one ursed thing that everyone was afraid of -- business cards! Ah, I see, so right now I¡¯m the raid boss and they are a swarm of bloodthirsty yers about ready to rip me apart. Oh sh*t, oh fuck! What about my escape route!?

    ¡¸You bitch--!¡¹

    ¡¸Ahaha! Good luck out there!¡¹

    That bitch is insane! I swear to God, she must have at least a dozen of screws loose inside of that stupid head of hers!

    Waaah! Wait, wait, wait, wait just a fucking minute! Silvia Goldberg and her macho squad!? What are you, some sort of monster tamers¡­¡­!? Waah, the muscles! Muscles as far as I can see!!

    ¡¸Well then, in order to not let the noble sacrifice of Cupid A go to waste, should this here Cupid B put an extra effort into her job?¡¹

    ¡¸What are these guys even doing over there¡­¡­?¡¹

    There were many things and words that needed to be done and said, but thanks to Kei¡¯s victory over Silvia Goldberg and the fact that the Exhibition Match was major sess, it goes without saying that Nitro Squad¡¯s renown in the gaming world would surge as a result.

    Hopefully, it would be enough to reject another unreasonable offering from the sponsors if such a thing was ever to happen again. And it would surely happen.

    ¡¸K-Kei.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, Megu. What¡¯s up?¡¹

    Kei asked while watching various managers and Pro Gamers swarming over a certain lonely boy who was apparently left by hisrade for them to feast on him.

    ¡¸Um, first of all, congrattions on your victory over Silvia Goldberg.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, it¡¯s a shame that I lost thatst match and the whole Squad lost because of me¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Even if we lost the game, it¡¯s still incredible that you managed to achieve a thing like that, don¡¯t you think?¡¹

    ¡¸You may be right¡­¡­ But it was thanks to team effort, if nothing else. One day, I would like to be able to win only thanks to my own power.¡¹

    Even though he said that, a win like that was nothing all that umon in gaming world. It was one of the best strategies to wear down and exhaust your opponent in team battles as much as possible so that you could deal the decisive blow when the moment was just right for it.

    But this is this, and that is that. Without the help of his ever so reliable friends, Uomi Kei wouldn¡¯t have been able to achieve victory like that. So next time around, he was hoping he would be able to achieve something like that all on his own.

    ¡¸Speaking of that, there¡¯s something that I¡¯m curious about.¡¹

    ¡¸And what could that be?¡¹

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­ No Face and No Name are not Pro Gamers, but simply amateurs¡­¡­ You said that yourself, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, they may sometimes speak really bizarre things and act in unreasonable ways, but they are only amateurs. Nothing more and nothing less.¡¹

    ¡¸And since they are in High School, don¡¯t you want to do the thing¡­¡­ You know, scout them out?¡¹

    Hearing that, a strange gesture appeared on Uomi Kei¡¯s face¡­¡­ Turning away from the people in question, Kei gave Megumi the answer that Sanraku gave him some time ago when he actually tried to scout him out.

    ¡¸He promised his parents that he would go to University and graduate it.¡¹

    ording to Sanraku¡¯s words, all of his family are hobbyists of some kind. They are all rather understanding and supporting when ites to their individual hobbies, but there was a condition under which Sanraku could enjoy his passion the way he was able to do so until now.

    ¡¸So education is the reason why he turned you down?¡¹

    ¡¸That may have been part of the reason, but I don¡¯t think it was the main point.¡¹

    In this day and age, Professional Gaming was as good of a profession as anything else, plus it was the one with a rtively high ie. You could get money from tournaments, beta testing of new games, paid for doing reviews etc.

    It might be a stretch to say this, but if you manage to score as big as Star Rain¡­¡­ the amount of money you could earn could easily equal to what sessful athletes can earn.

    There is no one who, if given the opportunity ticket like that, would turn away from it and said that they are not interested.

    However, when Kei was looking at the figure of Sanraku who was currently being hugged and surrounded my American macho men, there was a sense of envy in him.

    He envied that attitude of his, that everything is doable if you give it enough tries and that if you only give it your very best, you are bound to seed eventually. He truly believed in those words. And that¡¯s how it all should be.

    Mysterious anonymous yers, their defeat of Silvia Goldberg and what that event has brought.

    Soon enough, all of the above would turn out to be the instruments of a great change.

 Chapter 185: Touring the Abyss City with a Bunny Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 185: Touring the Abyss City with a Bunny Part 1</h4>

    After our fateful Exhibition Match during the second day of the GGC, two days have passed and it was now my fourth day of struggling inside of the underwater city.

    For the sake of focusing on the task at hand I have sealed away everything that was not Exhibition Match-rted, but since that matter was now well done and over with, I could once more focus on developing some sort of strategy to conquering Kutanid of the Abyss.

    To that end, I said goodbye to Mister No Face and embraced Sanraku once again, but before getting back to Luilias, there was something else that I needed to find out first.

    ¡¸I wonder if the aftereffects are going to show themselves in this way¡­¡­¡¹

    The name of the application that I was currently using was ¡°VR Athletic Tutorial¡±. It is one of the programs that I have downloaded into my VR device ever since I first got it, and it was sitting there all this time.

    This application has no magic or bullets flying around and trying to hit you. You can also forget about realistically looking NPCs. However, one of the mini-games here offered the feeling of ¡°Virtual Weightlessness¡±, which was a really useful feature, at least for me.

    The mini-game allows you to freely move in a 3D environment that simtes the underwaterbyrinth. Thebyrinth is ridden with glowing spheres that you can touch along the way, and the number of the total spheres touched will be your final score upon reaching the exit. The best score that you can achieve in this game is about sixty five.

    As for my current results¡­¡­ I¡¯m sitting at the measly forty one.

    Maybe it was the fault of changing the devices to a worse one after GGC, but I me my score on that, rather than rusty virtual body coordination.

    It¡¯s not limited to VR systems exclusively, but there are rare cases in this world where small things can serve arger purpose andrge things may be small and insignificant.

    Although this new type of VR chair wasughed at and ridiculed for a simple ¡°massage chair¡± it is without doubt that its specifications were at least several time higher than that of its predecessor, the head gear type of VR system. It was a feature that could only be achieved thanks to increasing its weight and size.

    But even though the benefits of the chair were without a doubt grand, there is also the second side of this coin. After using the chair and now switching back to the head gear, the difference in specs was really starting to show, to the point where it was feeling downright ufortable.

    And if I was going to fight against Unique Monsters in the future that are at least on par with Wezaemon or Luukan, that difference in specs might be a serious problem that might even hinder my progress.

    I¡¯ve been doing this training exercises since yesterday and thanks to that I have managed to actually regain some of my battle sense and intuition. Still, I do believe that the best course of action here would be to just y the game and practice in the actualbat.

    ¡¸For now, let¡¯s see if others managed to make some sort of progress while I was gone¡­¡­¡¹

    While I was busy being the Pumpkin-head assistant during the GGC, the others seemed to have formed small parties and they were taking their turns exploring the underwater city and gathering information.

    Since the majority of enemies around here were fish, there was no problem with food running low and us dying from starvation. We just needed to grab a bow or some sort of distance attack and there: a meal ready to be eaten. The different kind of monsters during the day and night might be annoying here, but that¡¯s not a problem. And even if we were to gather some spare fish meat, since this is underwater it shouldn¡¯t spoil too quickly.

    ¡¸Now, each boss in each tower seems to be immune to specific kind of attack¡­¡­¡¹

    Thanks to Akitsu Akane and Rust¡¯s scouting raids we have managed to actually confirm that two of the four tower bosses are immune to magic-based attacks and physical-based attacks respectively.

    As for the other two tower bosses, their immunities are yet to be discovered by our party.

    ¡¸The magic-resistant boss won¡¯t be much of a problem here, but when ites to the physical attacks-resistant boss¡­¡­ Do we even have a magic caster strong enough in our field trip group to challenge that?¡¹

    There is Mold who is some kind of a demon, so that might work out. Akitsu Akane has some abilities like that, but his level leaves much to be desired. There is also Rei, but she¡¯s out of the equation since none of us managed to actually contact with her.

    Rust is a long distance ranger, and she should have some skills that would allow her arrows to be magical, but the problem with her is that she said that she wouldn¡¯t be able to log in on the first and fourth day.

    Being able to negate physical attacks would also mean that weapon buffs would be no good. Same with enchantments. As for skills, that is yet to be actually confirmed. Apparently there is no other way but to annihte it using overwhelming raw magical firepower.

    Of course, taking that into consideration, I am not going to fight that specific monster. It¡¯s a shame, but I¡¯m more of a close quarters physical kind of a guy rather than big brain magic caster. Plus, I have no magic attacks to speak of.

    ¡¸Now then¡­¡­ Shall we log in and get this party started?¡¹

    Who knows? Maybe I¡¯ll even stumble on Rei-san again and we will join forces once more.

    I close my eyes and the next thing I know is that I have woken up. Thinking about it now, it really is strange of an experience. I wonder what am I right now? Awake? Or maybe actually asleep? ¡­¡­ Oh well, let¡¯s try not to think about it too hard right now. Fact is, I¡¯m currently awake whileying on the hard bed inside one of the houses in the underwater city Luls. That¡¯s all that matters.

    ¡¸Rather than being awake or not, it seems that my brain is working at full throttle¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ah! Sanraku-san! You finally got up!¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, Emul. Hi there. I know that we¡¯ve seen each other not so long ago, but for me it feels as though a lot of time passed.¡¹

    ¡¸You sleep way too much you know that, Sanraku-san!¡¹

 Chapter 185: Touring the Abyss City with a Bunny Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 185: Touring the Abyss City with a Bunny Part 2</h4>

    Emul was first jumping all over my legs, but he was gradually moving his way up and up, until he reached my head. Normally I would think nothing of it, but now it made a really strange though cross my mind.

    So in order to try to alleviate that I started doing squats, push-ups, somersaults, sideway jumps and all other manner of small exercises to try to pinpoint what was that feeling. And even though moving around certainly made me feel better, it didn¡¯t help much for my mental state.

    What was that strange feeling? I felt as though it was something important, but now I couldn¡¯t quite wrap my head around it.

    ¡¸Could you please stop moving around like that so sudden, Sanraku-san? You¡¯re freaking me out.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm? Oh, sorry about that. By the way, where¡¯s Alva? You know, the giant fish dude? I can¡¯t see him around here.¡¹

    ¡¸The fish person got tired of waiting and went out on his own saying something about ¡°Having to find his lost sword!¡± or something like that.¡¹

    His beloved sword, huh¡­¡­? Come to think of it, he DID say something about searching for a sword of some kind when I first met him in the city. I don¡¯t know if it is something that is rted to the Unique Quest EX, but maybe it would be a good idea to help him look for that sword. Who knows? Maybe I¡¯ll even get something out of it for myself.

    Anyways, from what I have seen Alva¡¯sbat prowess is quite high, so there is no need for me to go after him just yet. He¡¯s a big fish and he can probably handle all the enemies around the town and can hold his ground on his own. Now, what about that stupid brat?

    ¡¸Alright, you little sh*t¡­¡­ Where are you? Come on out, I won¡¯t bite¡­¡­ that hard.¡¹

    ¡¸If you are looking for the captain-guy, he¡¯s right there.¡¹

    ¡¸The bed that I was sleeping in?¡¹

    ¡¸Beneath the bed, to be more exact.¡¹

    Hee¡­¡­ really now? But after I bend over and looked under the bed, I could actually see a pair of frightened eyes cowering on the ground. He looked really miserable, just like a frightened puppy-dog. Eeh¡­¡­

    ¡¸He¡¯s been going on at it like that for quite a while now, wimping and trembling. Show some Vorpal Soul, why don¡¯t you!¡¹

    ¡¸No, you know, I think I kind of get how he feels. This whoel situation was rather shocking and sudden¡­¡­¡¹

    Was he acting too frightened? No, I don¡¯t think so. I do believe that his response to this situation is really appropriate. I would be even more surprised if he was acting all high and mighty despite the fact that he was thrown into an underwater city that was crawling with fish-zombies.

    Thinking like that, it was actually quite odd that Alva decided to go out on his own like that. It would be a whole different thing if he was actually a yer. I mean, if it means triggering an event g or obtaining a strong weapon, we would jump right in the middle of a ck hole without a moment of hesitation.

    ¡¸Yeah, right¡­¡­ Well then, Emul. What do you say we go out there and try to search for Alva¡¯s sword as well?¡¹

    ¡¸Honestly, I thought you might suggest something like that, Sanraku-san. Well, it¡¯s still getter than ¡°Let¡¯s go take down those four towers! Buahahahahahaha!!!¡±¡¹

    Somehow, that remark really managed to tick me off. So in order to let loose some steam, I decided to pinch Emul¡¯s cheeks and try to see just how far they would be able to stretch. See? That¡¯s what you get for acting all cheeky!

    ¡¸Let go! Pleash, let go of me! I beg of you!¡¹

    ¡¸That wasn¡¯t very Vorpal Soul what you just said, you know? So maybe try to act a little bit more like a true Vorpal Soul carrier would, otherwise I¡¯ll do something even worse to you.¡¹

    I said that, even though just a few days ago I resulted to overdosing on caffeine so I could bring out my absolute best. But I mean, we managed to achieve our goal in the end, so that justifies it, right?

    ¡¸Alright, listen, you sh*thead! We¡¯re going out for a bit, so make sure to lock the door and stay where you are!¡¹

    ¡¸R-Right!¡¹

    Even though Rust was the strongest yer in the game called Nephilim Hollow, she was still trying to have as much fun with the game as she possibly could. I was also getting a feeling that Mold was exactly the same type as her.

    What I mean to say, is that their main goal in ying games it to experience them and have ¡°fun¡±.

    There are roughly two types of gamers out there: the ones that care for the game¡¯s story and the ones that only care for the graphics to be as high as possible.

    Former type does not care even if the game system is utter crap. They only care for the scenario, characters and the world-building. They tend to be active outside of the game as well and even clear it multiple times just to experience the story again¡­¡­ That kind of yers.

    Thetter type only cares about the technicalities of the game. Stats, rarity of equipment, the amount of frames the game runs on, the resolution etc. For them, as long as their numbers are high enough, the story and characters didn¡¯t even needed to be there to begin with¡­¡­ That kind of yers.

    Now, there is nothing wrong with being either type of gamers. There is no one correct way to y games, after all. Both types can buy whatever games they feel like buying and they can enjoy themselves while ying them. But if you were to ask me which type would stick with a game for longer, I¡¯d say it is thetter type.

    How does items work with different parameters? Is a certain action going to be as powerful when performed under a certain set of circumstances? yers like that tend to like to experiment a lot and do trial and error more often, which results in enhancing their experience tremendously.

    And it seems that Rust and Mold were doing some sort of field research during their spare time when I was gone. Namely: the behavior of mobs on the map.

    ¡¸Basically, if you get discovered by the fish-people, you¡¯ve got about ten seconds to get rid of them, otherwise they will call for reinforcements. But if you kill about half of the encountered fish-people, they won¡¯t be able to call for backup.¡¹

    What¡¯s more, even though the probability of that is quite low, fish-people can drop items that normal fish would give you. But here it was open for debate: supposedly you can¡¯t obtain items if you kill fish-people outright, but if you destroy certain individual parts of their bodies, the items shall drop.

    ¡¸You can nullify the effects of the mermaids song by physically plugging your ears beforehand.¡¹

    Listening to the mermaids song debuffs you, but if you plug your ears shut you can negate that effectpletely. When ites to me¡­¡­ Nah, I think that Akitsu Akane needs to learn that tip by heart.

    ¡¸Large sea creatures emerge during the night, but during daytime only fish-people and mermaids roam the streets¡­¡­ I see, I see.¡¹

    Zombie apocalypse, but no boss monsters will appear. The only reason that giant fish appeared before was because of Emul¡¯s magic, so it won¡¯t normally show up during daytime.

    ¡¸Slimy, so slimy¡­¡­ Don¡¯t you think so too, Emul?¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t think it¡¯s something to make fun of, especially if it rtes to Kutanid¡­¡­¡¹

    Anyways, we shall worry about Big Bad Guy on the seventh day of our stay here. But for now, those other boss monsters could be a pain in the ass to deal with, especially because they require you to do things you¡¯re normally not all that ustomed of doing.

    ¡¸Now then¡­¡­ Where should we look first?¡¹

    ¡¸No way! There¡¯s no way!¡¹

    ¡¸Back in my country we call it road divination. You ce a stick like this, you let it fall to the ground and then you go towards the direction it indicated.¡¹

    And since we have no branches here, I guess that one of my swords should fit in and do the trick rather nicely.

    ¡¸It fell towards our base of operations.¡¹

    ¡¸Does that mean we¡¯re going back to sleep?¡¹

    Nah, the direction of the fall is mostly RNG, anyways. And when ites to me, I never give in to RNG! Even if I had to search the whole city stone by stone¡­¡­

    ¡¸Emul. Did you hear that?¡¹

    ¡¸Loud and clear! The voices of fish people!¡¹

    ¡¸Can you understand what is it saying?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, I cannot be too sure, but it¡¯s something along the lines of ¡°I¡¯ve found iiittt!¡±¡¹

    It came from over there¡­¡­ Might be worth our while to check it out. But is it going to be our friend? Or maybe¡­¡­ something else entirely?

    Oh well, some zombie mowing is just right for getting back into the swing of things.

 Chapter 186: Seafood All-You-Can-Eat-Buffet!! Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 186: Seafood All-You-Can-Eat-Buffet!! Part 1</h4>

    I don¡¯t think I ever mentioned that before, but Emul¡¯s ears are not just for show. He managed to guide us towards Alva better than your typical sonar would. On few asions we were almost spotted by the mermaids, but aside from that we managed to quickly find Alva and rejoin him.

    ¡¸Right, so we managed to find Alva, but now what¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Ooh, well if it isn¡¯t Sanraku. Finally decided to wake up? Then get to work and help me out here!¡¹

    Oh, yeah, that¡¯s right. Lending a hand. On it. See? I¡¯m doing it. I¡¯m like super lending you a hand right about now.

    But when ites to the monster that Alva was currently locked inbat with, I couldn¡¯t quite put my finger around it. What was it, exactly? Its size was a litter bigger than two meters, but its shape was all over the ce.

    ¡¸Hey, the fuck is this?¡¹

    ¡¸Probably a Chimera. You¡¯ve never seen one before?¡¹

    ¡¸Chimera?¡¹

    Usually when games talk about chimeras, they picture a monster that is abination of a lion, a snake and a goat. When ites to Japan, we have our own kind of Chimera that is called Nue, and I even heard of countries with mythologies that ssify Cockatrices and other monsters like that as Chimeras. But themon consensus is that Chimera is a ¡°monster that incorporates parts of various living organisms¡±.

    Also, in other games Chimeras are depicted as being of considerable size. So is that thing really a Chimera?

    ¡¸You little sh*t, I¡¯ll get you for mistreating my precious sword like that¡­¡­!¡¹

    The Chimera was holding something in its right hand. That something was a sword, and it looked just like the sword of a marlin.

    As for its left arm¡­¡­ It waspletely covered by some huge rock. No, scratch that. It was an oyster. An oyster that was acting just like a shield would.

    Instead of its right and left leg there were tentacles. But what kind of creature they belonged to? A squid? No, the suction cups made it look more like an octopus.

    But that was not all. There were also crustaceans¡¯ legs right next to the tentacles, the ones that you would often see on crabs or lobsters.

    All of the above parts were connected to the main body of the monster, which was an irregr sphere of a gel-like substance. And instead of its head there was a huge chunk of coral. If I had to describe it in one sentence, it would probably be something like¡­¡­

    ¡¸A freaking Seafood All-You-Can-Eat-Buffet¡­¡­¡¹

    Now, I would like to see that thing cooked in butter and served on a te! Or maybe slowly grill the whole thing and then garnish it with spices! But wait, aren¡¯t crabs and lobsters better off boiled rather than baked or grilled? Oh well, no matter the method of cooking, I¡¯d bet it would taste delicious either way!

    The inside of the gel sphere is filled with something that looks like thin strings or cords reaching from its center towards the limbs. It may be hard to believe but is that¡­¡­ is that a jellyfish the likes of which you can find aplenty swimming in the ocean.

    Could it be that thanks to the influence of Kutanid¡¯s power a normal jellyfish was given some human characteristic and ended up bing that monster as a result? On closer look, it even looks like a very primitive mecha¡­¡­

    ¡¸Let¡¯s see¡­¡­ Here we have a jellyfish with crab legs, lobster legs, tentacles, oyster shells, cr reef and marlin¡¯s sword. Seriously¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸A Chimera is such an organism that adapts to any environment by devouring its prey and utilizing its special characteristics in order to adapt to new situations.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, I see. Now I get it.¡¹

    So in other words, when ites to Chimeras the yesterday¡¯s dinner basically bes today¡¯s body. Not that I want to pry into this matter too deeply, but how the hell are they even doing that? Is it some kind of magic? A skill? Gic mutation? Or maybe a racial ability that only Chimeras ten to possess?

    No, now¡¯s not the time for that. Need to focus. We came here looking for Alva and his sword. And it just so happened that his beloved sword was absorbed by this Chimera right here.

    ¡¸Hm? And what¡¯s that? Oh my God, what is that thing that hangs in between its thighs? D-Don¡¯t tell me that¡¯s actually¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Is that its dick!?¡¹

    ¡¸You moron! Stop with the crudenguage! That¡¯s unbing!¡¹

    ¡¸How dare you turn my beloved sword into something so shameful! You bastard!¡¹

    Looking at the Excalibur dangling from the monster¡¯s crotch I cannot shake off the feeling that if Pencilgton was here right now she would have died ofughter¡­¡­ Because surprising no one, this sort of situations are exactly her kind of humor.

    ¡¸Now this makes things a whole lot more difficult¡­¡­ Since it clings to that nasty ce, I think thebat difficulty will raise tremendously.¡¹

    It¡¯s also about the fact that we¡¯ll have to actually pull the sword out of Chimera¡¯s body. Now imagine that: pulling on the monster¡¯s dick to actually pull and item out of it. Gross, right? If it was growing out of its ass it would be somewhat easier to do, but it would still be gross as hell. Suddenly, I am not so sure if I want to be here anymore.

    ¡¸Just so we arepletely clear on the matter: are you sure you still want to do this? You don¡¯t want to back away?¡¹

    ¡¸Of course I am not going to back away! Ahh, I won¡¯t forgive! I won¡¯t forgive that monster for treating my precious sword like that! No, I won¡¯t! This bastard needs to die for this!¡¹

    Alright, that about does it for formation of the Seafood Mix Subjugation Squad. That being said, it would require us to hold an actual strategy meeting beforehand, but since our strategy here is going to be really simple, we cane and start doing it right away.

    ¡¸Alright! Everyone! CHAAAAAAAAARRRGGGEEEEEE----!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    ¡¸¡¸Yes, sir!!¡¹¡¹

 Chapter 186: Seafood All-You-Can-Eat-Buffet!! Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 186: Seafood All-You-Can-Eat-Buffet!! Part 2</h4>

    This thing is still just a fish-man in the end. It may pose some threat to us, but it should not be all that durable to begin with. We must stay vignt for the tentacle attacks and that marlin sword, but aside from that it should not have anything all that lethal.

    ¡¸Just stay there and let me kill you!¡¹

    I yell while jumping high in the sky, brandishing my sword and bringing it down in a straight line right onto the oyster shield of the Chimera. My sword ended up bouncing off the oyster¡¯s surface, leaving my hands with a severe feeling of numbness caused by the shock. At the same time the marlin sword shot straight towards my stomach.

    ¡¸Guh¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san!?¡¹

    Damn, that took me by surprise. I thought my movements would be fast enough to slip my attack just past that shield. It appears that even though I managed to achieve level ny nine, I still needed to keep my guard up. That, and I can¡¯t forget the fact that I am essentially half-naked all the time.

    Besides, this game relies more on the way you hit things rather than on sheer numerical values. So I need to constantly make my hits connect while disregarding any small scratches on my side.

    ¡¸Emul, aim for the main body of this thing.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, sir! ¡°Magic Edge¡±!¡¹

    The de of pure magical energy shoots towards the Seafood Chimera and strikes its body, causing the Chimera to scream loudly. It was a really weird scream, but it was more than enough to cause my body to shiver and tremble. Just what kind of vocal strings this thing must have!? Assuming it has any!

    ¡¸I knew it, its main body is that of a jellyfish¡­¡­ We need to carefully aim our blows and strike with full power if we want to take this thing down!¡¹

    ¡¸Roger that!¡¹

    ¡¸Alva, please act as a decoy again!¡¹

    ¡¸You can count on it!¡¹

    Even though it was originally a jellyfish, now it was turned to something resembling a humanoid. It may not have had intelligence, but it must have gained at least some semnce of it to be able to effectively defend itself with a shield and attack with a sword.

    Furthermore, the tentacles that connected to its joints may be a problem that we need to watch out for. That, and the fact if it is an Eastern or Western jellyfish. Depending on that, another problem may arise: I have heard that one of those species may or may not be poisonous.

    Now, if it was just a normal poison, then so be it. But it would be even more troublesome if it was a paralyzing poison. Being unable to move is not something I want to happen to me right about now. If something like that afflicted me while my armor is paper-thin, I could eat up a wholebo and die as a result.

    ¡¸Guoooh¡­¡­ Kutanid that bastard! No respect for lives of those he reshapes with its power whatsoever!¡¹

    This monster is no sword-master by any means. It seems that on top of being given a new shape and abilities, the transformation also enhanced its reflexes and gave it instincts it would not otherwise possess. At the same time, we can¡¯t forget that the tentacles are still there.

    That being said, it should act in patterns that yers should be able to exploit in some way. But this thing actually managed to cover that by acquiring the powers that would allow it to respond to any kind of threat. Looks like a different approach would be needed here.

    ¡¸It¡¯s neck¡­¡­ It¡¯s nothing more than a decoration, right? Fuck, I would have aimed for that if that was not the case. I would have aimed at it torso, but¡­¡­ Damn, that sword and shield are annoying as fuck.¡¹

    I activate the skills, make a run for it and regroup. But even while doing just that, I could feel that this thing was still onto us, so I had to do something about it first.

    ¡¸Emul, turn around! And hold on tight!¡¹

    I manage to dodge the iing sword stab and throw my own as a response, but it only fell right on top of the oyster shield when the monster guarded against my counter.

    I then rotate while still being on the move, making a sliding motion in order to try and get right behind the Seafood monster¡¯s back, where the shield would no longer be able to protect it. However, there was another problem when I got there.

    ¡¸Ugeh, gorss!¡¹

    They are wriggling! The tentacles are wriggling like crazy! It¡¯s gross! And slimy! And rotten! Oh God, it¡¯s making it even worse!

    ¡¸I¡¯ll need to wash myself properlyter on¡­¡­ Ugh, but it cannot be helped right about now!¡¹

    Time to start the show. I throw three shes at random it the monster¡¯s direction, each powered up thanks to my skills.

    The Seafood monster turned towards me and began its approach, but then it was shed by Alva¡¯s attack and turned towards him in response. We kept that passing of aggro for a moment or two, during which most of my skills managed to stop being in effect. But right now it doesn¡¯t matter. What counts is the sheer number of attacks.

    Each time we make a hit to the monster¡¯s main body, the fluid from inside of its core sshes about. We must keep at it, be patient and soon we¡¯ll have the fucker right where we want to have him.

    ¡¸This guy is even tougher that I expected¡­¡­¡¹

    However, since it was only a simple mob, its AI algorithm was not all that advanced, otherwise it wouldn¡¯t simply allow its attention to be divided like that. It would also realize that the biggest threat here was not Alva, but actually Emul who¡¯s been charging his attack for a moment now.

    ¡¸No matter how tasty you may look like, there¡¯s no way anyone would ever want to eat you¡­¡­ Emul, do it!¡¹

    The monster raises its body and twists it around bringing it down in a motion as if it wanted to crush both of us at the same time. It would surely be a devastating attack as a result of which there would be nothing left of us to pick up, but it¡¯s all for nothing if it can¡¯t actually hit us.

    After all, there must be at least some system assist when ites to monsters aiming their weapons at yers. Knowing that, I could use that knowledge to evade at thest possible second and with rtive ease, causing the monsters sword to get stuck in the ground, unable to be removed.

    So I step on in with full force and the intent to pull it out, at the same time looking Seafood in the eyes. It looked as though it was unable toprehend what was going on.

    No hard feelings, Seafood. It¡¯s just a business.

    ¡¸¡°Magic Edge¡±!!¡¹

    Before Emul cast that spell, he used another spell on this one in order to greatly enhance its power. As a result, the de of even bigger magic fell down on the Seafood monster, hitting it right in the center of its jellyfish main body.

    The magic power manage to prate the gel structure and evaporates the contents that were filling it. In response all of the monster¡¯s appendices started to frantically il around, before they eventually stiffened all at once and went limp, never to move again.

    In the end, the Seafood Monster was reduced to nothing more but a t carcass that no one would bother with. I don¡¯t even have to mention that it looked totally unappetizing, right?

    ¡¸Was that perhaps your special skill?¡¹

    ¡¸Ooohhh! Ooohhh! You are safe! You are safe and in one piece, I see!¡¹

    I only noticed that now, but the sword seemed to be buried in Chimera¡¯s crotch only up to the grip part. So in other words, does that mean that if we did not found it in time, it would have beenpletely devoured, and its abilities would be the part of Chimera¡¯s body?

    ¡¸I won¡¯t ever let you go again! I won¡¯t make the same mistake ever again¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t that going too far for just one weapon¡­¡­?¡¹

    Even though I said that, aren¡¯t I basically the same? I mean, in my battles I tend to use some weapons much more than the others.

    As for the sword itself, it was single-edged and looked really worn-out¡­¡­ It was also very big and seemed more like a lump of steel rather than an actual weapon.

    When Alva finally finished inspecting his weapon, he then thrusted it towards me as if he wanted me to take a good look at it. Was I supposed to be impressed or what?

    ¡¸Aah, that¡¯s right, now would be a good time for proper introductions. Sanraku, this is my trusty partner ¡°Daikaikyu¡±¡­¡­ there¡¯s a spirit called Nereis Existance inside of it.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Hello there.¡¹

    ¡¸Uweh!?¡¹

    All of a sudden, something came out of the swoooord!?

 Chapter 187: Give Me a Private Room in a Net Cafe Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 187: Give Me a Private Room in a Net Cafe Part 1</h4>

    Spirits. When ites to those guys, they are a whole lot moremon in video games than Chimeras. At least in theory. Neither humans nor monsters, their race is one of the ¡®Higher¡¯ tier, oftentimes being on par with Phantasmals such as Dragons, or creatures of the divine realms such as Angels and Demons.

    As to the Spirits themselves, there is a whole lot of them¡­¡­ For example, we have Spirits and Greater Spirits representing the elements of Fire, Water, Earth, Wind and Water. Then we also have Spirits from the mythology or folklore, such as Djin, Arabic Spirit from inside of the magicmp and Excalibur, an English Sword of Promised Victory which originally belonged to the Spirit known as the Lady of the Lake. Although I¡¯m not all too sure about the credibility of thatst one.

    One must also take into ount the fact that depending on the game, the exact details and descriptions may vary, as many creators change the actual fact in order to suit their setting better. Sometimes it even reaches the level where the nature of the creature in question is purely cosmetic, making you ask yourself the ever-important question: ¡®What was the point, then?¡¯

    On the other hand, staying as close to the original as possible is no good either, as it sometimes can give birth to quite the contradictions¡­¡­ Take Ifrit, the Fire Spirit for example. In some setting it is presented in form of a ming lizard, because in Europe smanders were pretty much equal to Ifrit. But we are not in Europe here, so thank you very much for that.

    Oh well, at least that is how the story goes in other games. Now, how does thatpare to the Spirits presented in ShanFro? Well, let¡¯s imagine a natural catastrophe or cataclysm. Now give it free will and the ability to go basically whenever it pleases. It is that kind of existence.

    But rather than spreading death and destruction indiscriminately, it also possesses a unique ¡®ego¡¯ and a set of parameters that is its very own. That is the definition of a Spirit on the world of ShangriLa Frontier.

    It is because of that that theparison to the natural disaster or a cataclysm is surprisingly urate, because Spirits are not living beings per se. It is an umtion of condensed magical power, but that also means that once all that magic is used up, the spirit also ceases to exist. Just like tornado, that disperses into normal winds the moment all of its raging fury disperses¡­¡­ In other words, Spirits are creatures that live with the constant reminder in form of a ticking clock.

    What¡¯s more, the ego of a spirit is not a fully grown one, like that of adult humans or animals. If you had topare it to anything, it would be an ego of a small child, capable of acting on its own, but barely capable of distinguishing itself from the rest of the surrounding world. That is why most of the Spirits will usually disappear without a trace, not even trying to fight their fate. Apparently when they use up all of their power, they disappear simply because they are unable to decide whatever they should do after that fact.

    Nheless, it was not entirely wrong to think that the more famous and grand the name of the Spirit in ShanFro, the greater its power and the scale of the catastrophe they could cause.

    And it goes without saying, but since they possess at least some semnce of ego and personality, Spirits can sometimes be a real pain in the ass to deal with, but sometimes they can be even more insignificant than insects such as cicadas or fireflies. Not to mention their abilities to absorb magic from their surroundings and that the way they could wield them were more potent and dangerous than that of any human.

    But in the end, Spirits are just that for the yers: Spirits. Unless they are an enemy mob or boss characters, or are involved with NPCs or in certain questlines, yers could go on about their daily business without really caring about them all that much to begin with. But if they appear during a Unique Scenario like this one? That¡¯s a whole different story.

    ¡¸So? What¡¯s the deal with this Igezizdentsu here?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s Existence, thank you very little. A very powerful Spirit, indeed¡­¡­ But that¡¯s only a given. Did you know that all Spirits that fail to be strong will fade into oblivion as a result?¡¹

    ¡¸Which means?¡¹

    ¡¸It means what I just exined. Ae you perhaps deaf?¡¹

    This is bad. I knew I should have read the strategy guides and forums in greater detail beforeing here.

    ¡¸Even the Dwarves are aware of such basic knowledge. Or should I call itmon sense? And if you do not possess any power on your own, then there is no need for anyone else to provide you food or shelter.¡¹

    ¡¸And what happened to any sort of aid or help from those at power? Also, what does Existence even mean?¡¹

    ¡¸Umm, usually it¡¯s the term given to beings that are alive! Sanraku, are you doing that on purpose? Or are you just a little bit slow on the uptake?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, it doesn¡¯t really matter. Let¡¯s just continue.¡¹

    For a moment out there Alva looked as though he just witnessed the most unsightly of insects, but he did not try to argue. It was simply because having me around was beneficial to him, as we all could see from our previous fights together. That was more than enough to tolerate all of my deficits ofmon sense and knowledge. But Alva proved to be a capable fighter before, especially during the Reaperorca battle.

    ¡¸She happened to be that kind of Spirit as well. She had an ego of her own, but she was unable to harness magic for herself from her surroundings, as a result of which she was on the brink of disappearingpletely.¡¹

    Their story was really noisy and all over the ce, but from what I could understand it is that this sword contained a Spirit that was at one point in time about to disappear because of its own inability to adapt and survive.

    But after that, the Spirit decided to show me her ¡®human¡¯ form. Everything about here was bluish in color: her eyes, her skin, her hair¡­¡­ She was even wearing a robe that looked just like the surface of the water, bluish in color, but not transparent or see-through. Normally it would be a really stimting clothes, but the outline of her body d in that water-dress seemed to blur at some point so you were unable to pick up any details¡­¡­ No, it was not that. It was more like her whole appearance was made out of water, rather than being of flesh and blood. That would certainly exin why she would liquefy from time to time.

    ¡¸Ahh, that is where Ie in. I couldn¡¯t leave her like that to her own fate, so I managed to bring her to a dwarven cksmith who enchanted her into my own weapon¡­¡­ Of course, it was done with her consent and with her best interest in mind. Or at least it was something like that?¡¹

 Chapter 187: Give Me a Private Room in a Net Cafe Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 187: Give Me a Private Room in a Net Cafe Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸You there, were you not looking for us for a long time?¡¹

    ¡¸Is there any reason why I would want to do such a thing?¡¹

    I guess if this was a different kind of game, you could have applied the trope of ¡®Boy Meets Girl¡¯ in here, but this game was not of that particr kind.

    ¡¸So, to make a long story short: the sword contains a spirit, and the user feeds the magic energy to the sword¡­¡­ No, I guess it would be more urate to say that the sword itself collects magic energy to some extent. Or maybe it is because of dwelling inside of the sword that Spirit learned to absorb magic properly.¡¹

    Fufun, it seems that I have managed to hit the nail right to the head. The weapon with a Spirit sealed inside of it is like a royal banquet for any yer out there. It is such good of a treat. Completely different from your typical tea and rice.

    And now I was somehow getting hungry¡­¡­ Once I log out for the day, let¡¯s make some Ochazuke, there should be the ingredientsying around for that.

    ¡¸But it was not such an easy task. You see, even if the Spirit is about to disappear, you cannot forge the contract without actual consent from the Spirit itself. So you cannot really force it to be contained within a weapon.¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, yeah, that really sound amazing. I wonder if you were to jam-pack a whole lot of Spirits into a weapon, would it turn into a weapon of mass destruction?¡¹

    ¡¸What did you just say!?¡¹

    And guess what? I have recently cleared a game that had a motif just like that? And its name was Fairy Chronicles Online¡­¡­ Ugh, the shbacks. My poor head.

    ¡¸I was joking, it was a joke, man! Besides, are not the Dwarves the ones who would usually go and do such despicable things?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, duh! Obviously! They may be an assholes sometimes, but they are good guys most of the time. But they can still be assholes.¡¹

    I can imagine, especially if they are drunk or have an attitude like normal Dwarves in your standard fantasy setting. Plus, being miners and living mostly underground can definitely add to that factor as well.

    ¡¸When I came here initially, I was overrun by enemies and I let her go by ident¡­¡­ I¡¯m so d I was able to find you again¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸For a moment out there I was really scared, I thought this creature was really going to eat me¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, so that thing really was trying to devour you.¡¹

    Tentacles, female Spirit, being attacked and almost devoured¡­¡­ Hoo boy, I¡¯m d that ShanFro is not rated R18, I really am. You should be as well, Alva. And we were actually pretty lucky there. If that Chimera managed to absorb the Sword, it would have most probably gain a Spirit attribute for itself. I mean, I could still technically cut it with my Duhan Sword, that is if genuine Spirits were susceptible to that.

    ¡¸You have my gratitude, Bird Person. Is there anything I can do to ever repay you?¡¹

    ¡¸If you are feeling grateful to me, then please keep doing your best as Alva¡¯s weapon. Otherwise a certain octopus might rip him a new one.¡¸

    It is without a doubt that Kutanid, a Unique Monster who is most probably on the level of a literal god, will have no problem demolishing normal humans. However, taking into ount that Alva is what he is, plus that he has sharp fangs and his weapon besides him right now, he should at least be a force to be reckoned with. Or at the very least that is something I would like to believe.

    Counting all of our man power, this party was now eight persons big, NPC included. Of course, stupid sh*thead is not counted here. But having eight people on board to fight a Unique Monster surely beats up doing so with party of three, all with lowered levels to boot.

    ¡¸Of course. I will give it my all. Nereis is going to protect both Alva and Bird Person. And¡­¡­ that creature that looks like ck and white sea urchin.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m a Vopal Bunny! You¡¯d better remember that!¡¹

    Cut her some ck, Emul. She probably has no idea what a Vorpal Bunny is, mostly because there are no sea-dwelling Vorpal Bunnies. Not that I care all that much.

    ¡¸Now, calm down little sea urch¡­¡­ Ouch, that hurts! Don¡¯t poke my head so relentlessly! That hurts!¡¹

    ¡¸Puoooh!!!¡¹

    Normally I wouldugh it off and me it on theck of knowledge aboutnd creatures, but it was actually kind of funny tha Emul tended to have such a short fuse in some cases.

    ¡¸Fubyah---!?¡¹

    Oh, what is that? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re going to lose to Nereis, a freaking Spirit-possessed sword? That would just be shameful, my dear Emul. You¡¯re my adorable mascot, so act like it and show us what you¡¯ve got once in a while!

    ¡¸Oh well, what the hell¡­¡­ Might as well do that now than wait forter. Alva, we are going to hunt us some boss!¡¹

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t that way too sudden!?¡¹

    I cannot do any more leveling at the current moment. I also cannot go any try to farm for items, hoping that something good is going to drop. So going to fight against the bosses was the only real thing that was left for me to do here.

    But that thing I saw can probably absorb magic damage. But hopefully even the Spirit possessed sword can dish out some physical damage, so it should not be that much of a problem.

    (¡­¡­ Well, it¡¯s not that I am not seriously thinking about tackling any of the bosses here right now, at least not when the other yers are not around. At the very least some recon would be nice.)

    You see, there are four bosses to be fought here, so you know what that means, right?

    ¡¸Ah, you go back and guard the base, Emul.¡¹

    ¡¸Pueeeh!?¡¹

    After all, in theing battle Magic-User¡¯s only use would be that of a meat shield. And we absolutely cannot have that, right?

 Chapter 188: Days of Connect, Connecting and Being Connected Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 188: Days of Connect, Connecting and Being Connected Part 1</h4>

    Turned out that ochazuke was not enough for me, so I have decided to make some other simple dish to go along with that.

    I added oil on the frying pan, heated it up and then added leftover rice and broth to it. Then I scavenged the contents of the refrigerator for things I could throw in to the mix, and once I have found them I threw them in on the pan with all the rest. I finished the ¡®dish¡¯ with a pinch of both salt and pepper.

    ¡¸I shall name this dish¡­¡­ What the hell, this is your typical fried rice in there, ain¡¯t it?¡¹

    Or you could even call it a half-assed chicken rice, but without ketchup and all that other fancy stuff¡­¡­ OK, starting from today, thou shalt be called ¡®Chicken Rice¡¯! Now, maybe I should add some egg into you for some added vor?

    ¡¸Alright, for now I have tried to defeat one of the Bosses in the city¡¯s towers, and as for the result of that¡­¡­¡¹

    I quickly finish my meal and then log in on the SNS chat group, to report that the Magic Absorbing boss has been sessfully defeated.

    The name of the Magic absorbing boss was Clione. And while Clione was a truly formidable enemy because of his Magic-Absorbing ability, it had a one fatal w that proven to be the end of it: it wasughingly weak against physical attacks. Also, for some reason all of its attacks were magic based, and they were all in shape of cones or other things that made them quite easy to dodge if you knew what wasing.

    But on the other hand, something about the Clione¡¯s setting seemed to be really fishy to me. And I do not mean the smell here. This boss seemed way too FRESH for me.

    Basically, all of the monsters in here are rotten or dposed to some degree. No matter if it¡¯s the fish zombie, mermaids or the gigantic fish predators. Or even if they were not rotten, there was this fleshy odoring from them.

    However, I could feel none of the above mentioned things from Clione. It is really difficult to put into words properly, that sense of inconsistency¡­¡­ Umm, yeah. It¡¯s like there was some kind of mistake in the writing, perhaps?

    Let¡¯s illustrate it as follows: the boss uses a magic attack that looks like a row of throwing knives. So you¡¯d expect the projectiles to act like knives in terms of physics, right? Well, wrong. The attack may look like knives, but in reality it works just like a freaking shotgun shells, with their spread and damage and all that. So, like, there is a real sense of being disconnected from what you see versus what you actually get.

    Come to think of it now, a whole lot more enemies in here had that sense of inconsistency to them. For examples, the mermaids may look like mermaids, but you get the feeling that it was actually something else that was just forced to act like a mermaid¡­¡­ So yeah.

    ¡¸The bottom of the bot which contained boiling water that started to overflow, closed gates that you can only pass by but in one direction, a friendly NPCs that wants to ally with you but because of a bug you can see that they are really an enemy, so the whole plot twist of the quest goes out the window big time¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸What on Earth are you even talking about?¡¹

    ¡¸I am trying to verbalize the conceptying behind the mechanics governing this whole underwater city, and when I put my thoughts into words my brain cells tend to work with way more efficiency.

    ¡¸Oh, oooh¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san, you sometimes act as if you were sick. I¡¯m really worried about you, you know?¡¹

    ¡¸An illness?¡¹

    How rude. It¡¯s not an illness. It¡¯s called brainstorming. Have you ever heard about that before? You should really try it sometimes.

    However, there is one huge problem here: with my current build I will be unable to defeat the boss that nullifies physical attacks. If I wanted to try my luck at bringing that thing down, I would need the help of Magic user such as Mold or Akitsu Akane¡­¡­ and then there is the problem of two other bosses that would remain.

    ¡¸Magic does damage, but physical attacks get nullified. But sometimes it can be the other way around, or it might even work interchangeably¡­¡­¡¹

    However, I have no way of knowing what is it exactly, but I feel as though Clione is the key to the mystery in here.

    It might be safe to assume that the remaining two bosses can be like Clione here, nullifying Magic damage, or theplete opposite, which means nullifying physical damage. That line of thinking is not wrong, as the two bosses that remain are sure to have some sort of restrictions that are there to ramp up the difficulty of their respective battles.

    But, one must remember that in here, in this underwater city, everything is revered by nature. Oil is water, water is oil, North Pole would be the South Pole and vice versa¡­¡­ That¡¯s right, it is alwaysing in pairs.

    When ites to inversion, it is a process that cannot actually be done unless the thing it works on does not have the second side. You need to have both ¡®front¡¯ and ¡®back¡¯, or else upon inversion nothing would happen.

    So, following that logic, it appears as though our initial thought of this ce and its rulers was fundamentally wrong from the very beginning. We thought that what we are dealing here are one Unique Monster and four boss monster that guards the towers, while in reality¡­¡­

    ¡¸Two bodies that are actually being split into two¡­¡­ Or so it would seem.¡¹

    Kutanid is a given here, since it is the main source of this ce¡¯s gimmick to begin with. So that would leave the remaining two monsters, right? What is their gimmick? What makes for their strengths? And what makes their weaknesses? Could it be Critical Hits? Or maybe a limited window of opportunity to dish out damage?

    ¡¸Nah, that cannot be it. Rust said that no matter the type of bow and arrows, neither physical nor magic ones did any damage. But at the same time, the hits seemed to have connect. ording to Mold, it seemed as though the yers¡¯ attacks seemed to be effective every time they were at the disadvantage and vice versa. And ording to Akitsu Akane, his kunais seemed to have sometimes hit and sometimes they would get nullified¡­¡­¡¹

    While I was processing all those information, a mermaid approached us and started singing. I reflexively hit it with a high kick that manage to dislocate its jaw, but poor Emul was still hit with the song and fell from his rightful ce on my shoulders. At that time my thinking processes elerate even further.

    Amongst all of the testimonies I managed to gather, the one from Mold seems to be the most important one. While the ones from Rust and Akitsu Akane are more or less the same, Mold one is distinct and unique.

    ¡¸Being able to damage the boss only when you have the advantage and being able to damage the boss only when you are at a disadvantage¡­¡­¡¹

 Chapter 188: Days of Connect, Connecting and Being Connected Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 188: Days of Connect, Connecting and Being Connected Part 2</h4>

    At first nce it sounds really silly: being able to hit something and deal damage only when you are at an advantage or disadvantage. To begin with, those terms sound really vague.

    I easily dodge theughable attempt of the meremaid at attacking me. She was trying to give me a hug with furious expression, but I dodged her to the side and shed her across the nape with my Duhan sword. Pigyuh!? I thought I have heard a death scream of some sort, but right about now my brain was working on full throttle, so I pretty much stopped paying attention to such insignificant details.

    ¡¸Akitsu Akane¡¯s kunai knife was always giving more or less the same results when facing both bosses. In case of Rust, the effectiveness of her arrows was depending on the fact is she was currently at the advantage or disadvantage. Now, is there some kind of fundamental difference when ites to both kunai knives and bows?¡¹

    The unquestionable advantage of the bow is that you can snipe various targets from great distances, without the risk of getting involved with the enemies yourself. What are the disadvantages of the bow, then? It¡¯s quite simple: just eliminate the distance factor and the bow user is as good as screwed.

    What are the unique characteristics of Akitsu Akane¡¯s kunai knives? Kunai knife is a disposable item that can be used in two ways: it can be thrown from the distance at the target, or it can be used as a ded weapon, although it is far weaker than your usual knives and daggers.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Distance?¡¹

    My thoughts pass through the dark tunnel, only to be illuminated by the light of the answer that was waiting at the end of said tunnel. Even though my theory is not proven by anything, I am fairly sure that I have managed to hit a jackpot.

    The moment when the bowman loses advantage and starts to be at the disadvantage. The moment attacks switch category from long distance to close distance. And in Kunai knife¡¯s case, it can be attributed to the fact that it can be switched in between throw weapon and close-ranged weapon.

    ¡¸I¡¯ve got it! I¡¯ve got the answer¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s not the answer to some stupid questions we should be looking forward to right now! It should be the freaking safe zone!¡¹

    ¡¸Hm?¡¹

    Ahh, oh yeah, right. I totally forgot about it. I was so passionate about thinking this matter through that I have forgotten that I was actually right in the middle of a warzone. Oh well¡­¡­ guess it¡¯s high time to go back to reality.

    ¡¸Alva! Above! Watch out!¡¹

    ¡¸S-Say something like that sooner! Don¡¯t ask for the impossible!¡¹

    ¡¸Do you want to your beloved sword to be a ¡®Great Weiner¡¯ again!? Or do you want it to be the best weapon ever made!?¡¹

    ¡¸Nuuuuuuoooooohhhhhh!!! This level of adversity is nothing!!!¡¹

    Thinking routine like that was easy to handle, but it was also the exact reason why it was making me worried. I mean, if I can do it, it means that people like Pencilgton can do it as well, and letting people like her do things like that is never a good thing¡­¡­

    Sanraku: ¡®IMPORTANT¡¯ Strategy Meeting

    Sanraku: You see, it might be a little bit long to fully copy and paste in here, but I think I figured something out about the remaining bosses we must face. The deal is, they can probably possess invounarability depending on the distance the yer maintains from them. So that would be ¡®Long Distance Nullification¡¯ and ¡®Close Distance Nullification¡¯.

    Sanraku: So normally I would propose to use the close quarters tactics for one boss and long range for another, but this time something tells me it won¡¯t be that easy to pull off.

    Mold: Rust is currently incapacitated, so I shall ry everything to her.

    Sanraku: What the hell happened?

    Mold: There was an announcement at the GGC that they are currently working on the sequel to Nephilim¡¯s Hollow. Didn¡¯t you know?

    Sanraku: Seriously? Well, now that the sequel has been announced, I guess the first game will start to get more and more depopted, huh?

    Akitsu Akane: It¡¯s break time!

    Sanraku: Anyways, what I want to n in advance is the time at which we should take down the bosses.

    Sanraku: Also, it should go without saying, but defeating the smaller bosses is our pass to Kutanid. Also, let¡¯s hope that it will cast some sort of demerit on the guy.

    Sanraku: Oh, thank you for all of your hard work.

    Sanraku: We must also be ready for the eventuality that once we beat all of the four smaller bosses, we will get instantly locked into a battle with Kutanid instead of being able to prepare ourselves. Best to be ready for that.

    Akitsu Akane: Yes! Just a little bit more and I¡¯ll be able to give it my all!

    Mold: So you want to be done with all the small bosses by the sixth day?

    Sanraku: That is what I want to do. I¡¯m done with my matters on my end, so I can go all the way until the end now. It¡¯s just a matter of recruiting more members.

    Mold: By tomorrow I should be able to bring Rust back to sanity, so we should be able to participate no problem.

    Akitsu Akane: If it¡¯s on the sixth day, then it is okay for me!

    Akitsu Akane: I¡¯m sorry for having called you here so suddenly!

    Rust: World Level Excellent! Until next year I cannot allow myself to die!

    Mold: At this rate, if this keeps on¡­¡­

    Sanraku: It¡¯s not that I cannot understand how you feel.

    Sanraku: Hopefully Rei will be able to join us before the seventh day mark.

    Mold: I don¡¯t ever see her around here. Does she even logged in once since we arrived in here?

    Sanraku: She is probably busy with stuff in real life, but hopefully she will be able to join us on the fun before this quest is over.

    Sanraku: Fortunately enough we have an oversizedndmark that should be just about right. Thendmark named Kutanid.

    Sanraku: As for our shedules¡­¡­

    Now, then.

    ¡¸Right, time to earn some dough for myself.

    Since boss fights are to be fought as a group, I must wait for the day during which other will be avable. Until then, I can stroll around the underwater city at my leisure, earning money and items without reservation since boss actions or Unique Scenario EX¡¯s actions are not shackling me down.

    Good thing that in case I ever run out of space to hold my items in, the INVENTORY can act as unlimited storage space.

 Chapter 189: Running From Four to Five Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 189: Running From Four to Five Part 1</h4>

    For today I have nned an exciting seafood tour! When ites to the enemies you encounter during the day, they may not look fresh in the least, but surprisingly enough they drop fresh ingredients when you kill them! So its not really a zombie hunt right about now, but rather a seafood hunt!

    ¡¸Oh, won¡¯t you look at that! It¡¯s the rare enemy, the Seafood Emperor! Hahaha, but this time around I see that you have managed to absorb nothing more but fish!¡¹

    I have heard that female anglerfish tend to devour their partners, but does that mean the female anglerfish can devour males of other races? It was really scary to think about it. I know that Chimeras are technically mutants, but is it really okay for them to inherit such characteristics? ¡­¡­ And is that really a Rare Enemy? I get the feeling that its encounter rate is way bigger than other Rare Enemies out there.

    Butpared to other games this is really amazing. Take United Rounds for example. Some Rare Enemies in that game were so rare that you would have a better luck at finding Tsuchinoko is your local forest rather than encountering Rare Enemies¡­¡­ And the ratio? One Rare Enemy every few hundred normal encounters, give or take.

    But when you actually managed to encounter one, it turns out that it was so difficult to defeat that it actually felt like you were fighting an indestructible object. However, even those things were kible with just the right strategy, and actually killing one was so satisfying that you would not believe.

    Anyways, I had no time to spare right now, not even the small amount to check the items descriptions. I was just shing, and shing, and shing away at the fish that came under my de¡­¡­ Sometimes it was even scaring me just how ruthless in terms of item farming efficiency I could be.

    ¡¸You¡¯re in the way, Twintails! Get lost!¡¹

    ¡¸The upper half of it may look human, but you still managed to kick it away so effortlessly and without giving it much thought! You are truly a ruthless person, Sanraku-san!¡¹

    ¡¸In my eyes they all look like oversized sandbags right about now! Eat this sucker!¡¹

    More often than not people tend toin that once they achieve certain goals in any given MMO out there, there is not that much things for them to do or goals to aplish. But right now, I had a goal that I was going to aplish: to line up my pockets with as much cash and items as I possibly could!

    ¡¸Fuhaha, fuahahaha, fuhahahahahahahahaha!!!¡¹

    Long straight ck hair! Blonde twin tails! Short silver bob haircut! They are all effectively cash and items and materials in my eyes right about now!

    ¡¸Please don¡¯t get me wrong but¡­¡­ Sometimes, I cannot help it but wonder if you are not¡­ How to put this lightly? A little bit touched to the head?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s alright. They may not taste all that good, but fighting them sure is a memorable experience.¡¹

    Hahaha. Is it not just straight upughable when the NPC tries to preach something to the yer that the yer already knows?

    You would think that I would get enough, but no! The seafood tour around the underwater city never ends! During the daytime, I was hacking and shing and slicing at the rotten zombie-fish people, but not at night! Night is a different matter altogether! This time I am rampaging against fresh fish, the opponents that are not the least bit rotten anywhere! And that fact alone is causing me to want to go on an even bigger rampage some more!

    ¡¸J-Just take a look at this thing! The way it looks, almost like the Seafood Emperor¡­¡­ You think it¡¯s its mother or something!?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s an ¡®Enving Carrier Angler! Do you really wish to challenge that thing!?¡¹

    Mumbling such things in an embarrassed voice, with Emul still sitting on top of my head I look up to see the monster towering over us in the air above.

    Arctus Regalex was a train of a monster.

    The Reaperorca was like abination. It was a monster with defenses of a tank and firepower of a battle-experienced battleship.

    So now, to what exactly we couldpare this here Enving Carrier Angler? Hahaha, if you were able to see it with your own eyes you would get it right away.

    ¡¸Hey there, Seafood Emperor¡¯s mom! Just so you know, your child was freaking delicious!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh sh*t, this guy might really have a screw or two loose in that head of his¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Say, Emul? This thing is crazy big, but that should also mean that it is going to drop a whole lot of items and materials, wouldn¡¯t you say?¡¹

    ¡¸You really have something seriously wrong going on with your head! There¡¯s no doubt about it!!¡¹

    There was a one huge monster out there and a swarm of smaller monsters surrounding it on all sides. They weren¡¯t all that big, but their shape was long and thin, with wide and long fins that made them resemble small airnes, the likes of which aircraft carriers would carry on their decks. Oh, and they had teeth. Lots and lots of sharp teeth.

    Oh yeah, that¡¯s right, that¡¯s it. If you weren¡¯t calling this thing an ¡®aircraft carrier¡¯ then how else would you call it? I¡¯m genuinely curious.

    ¡¸Hey Alva. In your honest opinion, how strong do you think that thing is?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ So strong that the only thing that can easily defeat it in openbat is Deep See Emperor, a creature leaving inside of the ¡®Underwater Forest¡¯.

    I see, now that he said it I would most definitely like to see that Underwater Forest with my own eyes someday¡­¡­ But oh well. If that means we would have a rather hard or downright impossible time with it¡­¡­ this means I want to try. Besides, it¡¯s not that we have anything better to do at the current moment. And just think about the drop items!

    ¡¸Take a look at that. The things that areing from over there. If this huge monster is an aircraft carrier, does that mean the smaller ones are torpedoes? Or maybe destroyers? Suicide boats? How about giving it a shot?¡¹

    On your marks! Take aim! And¡­¡­ FIRE!!!

    ¡¸Good¡­¡­ Uooaah, good mornin¡¯¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I was wondering about that, but could it be that Sanraku is not that much of a morning person? He was pretty much acting the same way when we have met for the first time in Fiftsia.¡¹

    ¡¸Nah, it¡¯s not that. It¡¯s just that¡­¡­ The fucking aircraft carrier took way more time to sink than you would have initially expected.¡¹

    ¡¸Are we talking about this game right here? Or maybe some other game that you are ying on the side?¡¹

    Of course it¡¯s a story from ShanFro. What else were you expecting? Unfortunately both Alva and Emul were overtaken by fatigue, so for now they are resting in the safehouse, while I¡¯m getting ready for the iing boss battle.

 Chapter 189: Running From Four to Five Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 189: Running From Four to Five Part 2</h4>

    You could say that I could have taken some caffeine in order to give myself some boost, but since we have no way of knowing how it will go on the seventh day, I need to save some of it for the big day.

    ¡¸So? How did returning to sanity went? You managed to seed?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, I did the best I could, but unfortunately¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ahaha, Ufufu¡­¡­¡¹

    Ahh, I see. The results was all smiles.

    Rust was sitting in the corner of the room, looking and behaving unusually quiet for herself. There was also that big, idiot-like smile stered to her face at all times. It was the kind of smile that would even put a baby¡¯s one to shame, and kids are known for smiling genuinely at everything and everyone, since they are not aware of the harsh reality of the real world.

    ¡¸No, really now, it was much worse yesterday, please believe me¡­¡­ She was spouting some nonsense all the time about going on a muscle-strengthening journey to make absolutely sure that she would not die before the sequel to Nephilim Hollowes out.¡¹

    Look, I can definitely understand the feeling, but I can¡¯t really say that I have ever experienced it for myself. So I cannot really rte to her all that much. I don¡¯t really look forward to any game releases, mainly because I keep my enthusiasm in check until the reviews are finally in.

    And that she wanted to be strong? Good luck with that, you¡¯ll need a whole lot of mental fortitude not to go crazy from waiting until the game gets delivered to you after its premiere.

    ¡¸You think she¡¯ll be of any use to us in such state?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s okay. She was practicing all this time in VR for a day like that toe around. Both here in ShanFro and some previous games that she yed¡­¡­ So no need to worry about her.¡¹

    I guess that all-smiles Rust gets a pass for now, but the one that I am really concerned about is in fact Mold.

    When I asked him that he only replied with a somewhat ambiguous smile¡­¡­ Well, in the long run it does not matter all that much. We are all yers here, and since dying is of no real consequence, we can die during the boss fights without reservations.

    ¡¸The ce we shall be heading towards will be the Luls¡¯s South Tower¡­¡­ The one housing the boss that nullifies all ranged-attacks.¡¹

    However, it¡¯s not like I was sure about that property of the boss. After all, it was Rust who happened to witness it with her own eyes. We could technically sacrifice one run just to see if it was indeed like that, but first and foremost goal was still getting rid of the boss. That goal remains unchanged.

    ¡¸We¡¯re dealing with a ¡®Barnacle¡¯ and ¡®Fishmen Couple¡¯ here. And since we do not have a valid strategy fleshed out, it¡¯s going to be hard determining the damage, as well as the aggro. This is going to be once heck of a fight here.¡¹

    It¡¯s not that we cannot create an effective tank for the uing boss fights. It¡¯s about the resource consumption. So many items are needed for tanking effectively that you cannot really allow yourself to waste them on mid-tier bosses.

    We do have the possiblest resort strategy of tanking: someone would just run around and collect aggro, while Emul strapped to their head would keep shooting his magic. But as far as I am concerned, I would like to avoid having to turn to that strategy if we could help it.

    ¡¸Besides, I would like to avoid having to get Emul involved in those fights as much as possible.¡¹

    It¡¯s simply way too dangerous.

    ¡¸Alright, let¡¯s go beat ourselves some boss, shall we? Come on now, Rust, I need you toe back to me, get your sh*t together. We have work to do.¡¹

    ¡¸The air is so delicious!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    Is it really going to be okay?

    Let us review what we know before the operation begins.

    The provisional name ¡®Snail¡¯ has the potential ability to nullify all ranged attacks, no matter if they are normal attack or skill.

    In order to seed in this battle close ranged attacks are a necessity, that is why Yours Truly, Sanraku, is going to be in charge of the attacking as well as aggro management.

    Waiting at the distance is going to be Rust, who will also look out for an opportunity to get up close and personal with the snail, so that she can dish out some bow damage from close range.

    In this setting Mold will work as a support for Rust. And since it would be quite troublesome if the boss started to focus him during the fight, Mold should stay away and avoid anybat actions himself, instead focusing solely on casting buffs and debuffs.

    ¡¸We shall call this operation¡­¡­ ¡®Shell digging¡¯.¡¹

    ¡¸Even though we are not really sure if it¡¯s a snail or not¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Mold, those are mere details. You don¡¯t have to worry about them too much, because that is not how we roll in here, okay?¡¹

    Anyways, Team Nephilim Hollow, ready to roll out! Each one of us grabs a hold of our weapons and we invade the inside of one of the remaining towers.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I see, so it¡¯s actually a ¡®Snail¡¯. Who would have thought?¡¹

    No, no, no. Sure thing, Clione also seemed humanoid to me until it did not show its true colors. Apparently all of the bosses in here are pretending to be humanoid in shape.

    Hey, I mean, I once fought a giant robot dressed up as a Japanese samurai. But this here was quite the opposite. This monster looked pretty much like the Western knight. Although it was covered in barnacles and seashells, what stood out the most here was the fact that it had a giant snail in ce where its head should normally be.

    I was also trying to imagine how this thing would look like without its shell, but no matter how I was trying to wrap my head around it¡­¡­

    ¡¸Ammonite¡­¡­ At least that¡¯s how I see it.¡¹

    ¡¸Rust was betting on nautilus, or maybe a snail. Ammonite was also there, but she did not wanted to say it for certain without a decisive proof. ¡¹

    ¡¸There are many strange things that could be pointed out here, but¡­¡­ Oh well, like interpersonal skills are going to be of any use against humanoid monsters.¡¹

    As for the weapon the boss was wielding, it looked pretty much like a rapier, but it was spiral in shape and covered in a whole bunch of shell-like thorns¡­¡­ Also, there was a cuss in its other hand, clearly made for being used by humans. Upon seeing us the boss assumed the battle position.

    Two sword user, huh? This is going to be fun, Ammonite Knight. There is certainly something romantic in dual wielding two different types of weapons. However, no matter a normal opponent, yer or a boss monster, I won¡¯t let anyone to outss me when ites to dual wielding.

    ¡¸Just like we have discussed before, I¡¯ll be in charge of taking this guy down.¡¹

    ¡¸Are you alright? It might not be an Evasion Tank, but still its defensive power¡­¡­¡¹

    I know that it was a point of concern, but still I replied with a smile on my face:

    ¡¸Compared to the Wezaemon, who was almost impossible to ovee, those things are nothing.¡¹

    Now then, let us start the hunt.

 Chapter 190: Collapsing Apex Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 190: Copsing Apex Part 1</h4>

    Here¡¯s a piece of historical trivia: rapiers were mostly used by European nobility for the purposes of dueling. Rapiers rarely were used on the actual battlefields, and even when used, they turned out to be downright useless.

    However, this ce right here is the game world. This world tries to resemble the real world as much as possible, while also having things that set apart and distinguish the two from one another. So even if real world rapiers were pretty much useless, this rapier here surely must be more than enough to send the yers into respawn with ease.

    Since rapiers are mostly long and thin, it is a given that their main way of attacking is through piercing strikes and thrusts. That makes it even more troublesome, since with thrusts and piercing attacks one must take them on from the front, where they are only a single, small point.

    When attacks are forming a ¡®line¡¯ such as strikes or shes, that makes them easier to block since you have way more space of the weapon that you can block with rtive ease. Of course, there is the matter of stats and attributes in games, but in general a vertical attack can be blocked by a horizontal move and a horizontal attack can be blocked by a vertical move.

    However, piercing attacks and thrusts have way smaller ¡®area¡¯ of attack, which makes them increasingly more difficult to block. It¡¯s not impossible, but really hard to pull off.

    ¡¸But surely you are more than well aware of that fact, huh!? Snail Knight-kun!?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    I feel like during the past month I have been fighting with nothing more but enemies that are familiar with the rules of TAS. Hell, recently I even happened toe across a human enemy that was more like a TAS monster. I know it may sound weird or disrespectful, but I would not be surprised if she turned out to have a battery pack hidden on her back.

    But thanks to that I have managed to understand the way in which enemies like that tend to work. Without that, it would be increasingly more difficult to pull this off.

    That is why right now I take two steps to the side and swing my sword in the direction that I havee from, striking the rapier thrust that wasing my way. Having parried that, I throw a thrusting attack of my own, aiming towards the elbow of the Snail Knight, which was nowpletely exposed due to it still being locked in the attack animation.

    It¡¯s a really good thing to have a game that think about small details like that, but in the end nothing can beat action games where you can recreate any kind of your favorite actions till the veryst detail.

    I activate the skill ¡®Utsuromi Kagami¡¯, and then I quickly switch my weapons to arge Zweihander, and while dodging the sh from the cuss I strike the Snail Knight right around the neck, or at least that area where it was difficult to differentiate if it was still the main body or if it was already the head.

    Not only the enemies can have the privilege of using piercing attacks. The yers can utilize attacks and tactics like that as well. And you can be sure that if I can use something, I am going to utilize it to its full potential. And the enemies shall suffer because of that.

    ¡¸Shoot.¡¹

    ¡¸Roger that.¡¹

    Status abnormality: there was still something off in Rut¡¯s voice even though she managed to recover from her ¡®no-sanity¡¯ mode, and then she rushed forward, jumped in the air and quickly retreated uponnding back on the ground. In the next moment, the arrow that she fired mmed into the body of the Snail Knight with a loud and dull noise.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I¡¯m afraid that those guys here are not like small fries from the early stages of the game. There is no use in hoping to finish them with a single blow.¡¹

    ¡¸I have tried it a few times before, and the shots fired at the veryst minute were counted as sessful. You just have to be extremely careful about the distance and you should be okay¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Not that I have a degree in Physics or anything, but that attack just now seemed to be effective!?¡¹

    Looking closely, the Rust¡¯s arrow surely must have done something. However, on my end it looked like the only thing the arrow managed to do was to cause the Snail Knight to sway on his feet due to the force of impact only. Damage-wise I am afraid that it did not managed to do all that much.

    ¡¸That was so-so if I do say so myself.¡¹

    ¡¸Rust, see how mes work with your next attack!¡¹

    ¡¸I get it, I get it.¡¹

    Rust backs away to the safe position, while at the same time Mold started chanting his buffs, keeping the eye out on the entire battlefield. Meanwhile, I stood up right in front of the Snail Knight, my Scorpion Gauntlets ready to be used.

    ¡¸Hey, how about a little game, Knighty-kun? Let¡¯s y some Rock-Paper-Scissors. But in order to make it a little bit easier for you, I shall put some handicap onto myself. I am only allowed to y Rock. How about that?¡¹

    However, do not think not even for a second that me being forced to use ¡®Rock¡¯ only is going to be disadvantageous to me. Rather, this will allow me to use my gauntlets in the most efficient way to parry the iing attacks.

    True, I will end up having less reach than before. But, using my gauntlets, or rather my bare fists, I have way more freedom in terms of maneuverability. This gives me some room to be creative with parrying both the rapier and the cuss.

    And while the Snail Knight is being preupied with me, ever so often an arrow would fly in his general direction, infused with some randomly selected power or element,nding in Knight¡¯s side every time without fail.

    Just like that, Rust managed to fire about ten arrows or so. Each was infused by Mold with different attributes, in order for us to determine what would be the most efficient one in this particr battle.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­, ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I won¡¯t tell, you surely look tough, Knighty-kun. But just to let you know, if you want to hope to bring me down, you¡¯d need to repeatedly spam an Insta-Death Skills in my general direction for about thirty seconds, each with zero seconds recast time. In the least.¡¹

    But even if this boss had the same stats as Wezaemon had, I highly doubt that it would be able to do the same level of shenanigans Wezaemon was able to pull off. I guess that this particr shtick was his and his alone.

    But if there is one thing in particr that we must watch out for, it is the battle style of this boss.

    (I have no idea if it is intentional or not, but¡­¡­ Doesn¡¯t that boss possess a whole lot of unnecessary movements or something like that?)

 Chapter 190: Collapsing Apex Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 190: Copsing Apex Part 2</h4>

    It all seemed kind of strange to me from the very first moment. Why would the Snail Knight, an embodiment of Western knight use the cuss as its weapon of choice in the first ce?

    There is also another fact to it. The rapier attacks were really dangerous and intimidating, but the cuss, on the other hand, was so weak and slow that even after taking hits for quite a while it would be unable to deal any damage to us, much less to kill us all.

    Also, cuss is usually a weapon that is associated with pirates in lots of other games and other media. In fact, I just cannot imagine any other group in video games ever using something like that as their basic weapon of choice.

    And just like with Clione, I watch as the Snail Knight disappears the moment its HP bar hit zero. And surely, just like with Clione, its death animation was different from the usual one, in a way that instead of blowing up in a geyser of pixels, the Snail Knight just dispersed into a bunch of bubbles.

    ¡¸Pirates?¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s up?¡¹

    ¡¸No, it¡¯s just¡­¡­ A one big ¡®What if¡¯¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s see what is the Boss Drop here¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Neither Mold nor I use short range weapons. Therefore.¡¹

    ¡¸No, I really think that Rust and Mold should hold on to that.¡¹

    I can see that the two of them have literal question marks floating above their heads, but it will all be clear soon. As soon as they witness the item in the inventory window. And see that it looked awfully alike the ones the pirates of the Red Whale¡¯s crew were using. Then the meaning behind that cuss should be as clear as the day.

    Considering the difort I was feeling up until now, I dare to say that this cuss is the drop item that is unaffected by any external factor and that it would always drop from this boss no matter what.

    I see, so this one was taken in here by force. I see, I understand. Now that I think about it, it makes a whole lot of sense.

    ¡¸It was probably hidden behind the impact of the Unique Scenario EX starting, but this is probably what this is all about.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s wrong, Rust?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ ¡®Red Whale Cuss¡¯, does this mean¡­¡­?¡¹

    I recall the first day of us getting stranded in this underwater city. More specifically, the moment we were being dragged underwater alongside the ghost ship by those huge tentacles.

    And before my consciousness faded to ck, I remember seeing a system message indicating the start of the Unique Scenario. That¡¯s right, no one has ever said that the quest we have picked up at the port was over.

    ¡¸It is happening simultaneously at the same time¡­¡­¡¹

    This means more or less that the Unique Scenario ¡®Punching the Apostle of the Abyss¡¯ was far from being over.

    In other words, that¡¯s just how it is.

    ¡¸As for right about now, we are currently running two separate quest simultaneously.¡¹

    One of them is the quest which challenges you to fight the Kutanid of the Abyss, the ruler of the underwater city of Luls. The Unique Scenario EX: ¡®Stare Into the Abyss and the World Turns Upside Down¡¯.

    The other one is the Unique Scenario: ¡®Punching the Apostle of the Abyss¡¯. In this quest you follow the storyline of a young captain of a pirate ship, whose father was kidnapped and killed by a ghost ship that took them by surprise at the open see one day.

    ¡¸I am beginning to think that the ¡®Punching the Apostle of the Abyss¡¯ might be the quest which has multiple endings.¡¹

    The normal ending would require you to kill all of the ghost ship¡¯s crew, and as a result you would arrive here, in the underwater city Luls. So as a matter of fact one ending leads to the quest branching off into a whole different quest. Thinking about it like that, it is only logical why the Snail Knight would fight with a human cuss.

    ¡¸In that case, should it not only be natural for the guy who epted the quest in the first ce to proceed?¡¹

    I was always thinking that when ites to talking to NPCs and such, ShanFro was borrowing a whole lot from a whole bunch of Galge¡¯s and such games. But I would certainly wish if the one associated with this quest was someone other than some sh*thead brat.

    In case of this particr Unique Scenario EX, that would mean that even though anyone from the group would be fine, I must be the one to go and talk to the NPC that gave us the quest, since I was also the one who happened to initiate the quest.

    ¡¸Here, I shall guide you and show the way to all lostmbs in need of guiding hand.¡¹

    ¡¸What a pain in the¡­¡­ Mold.¡¹

    ¡¸Ahaha¡­¡­ I¡¯m going to apany you as well.¡¹

    Now then, we have managed to defeat two remaining bosses, but still¡­¡­ I can¡¯t say that there is any sort of a change in this ce at all.

    Even so, it would really be a problem is something really happened right away after bringing the four bosses down. That is why we wanted to defeat the fourth boss on the sixth day.

    I hope that she will manage to join us by that time¡­¡­ What on Earth is going on on your end, Rei?

    * * *

    It was a fight between sisterspletely devoid of love.

    What started it was theck of ¡®spinach¡¯.

    The older sister who was always ahead of the younger one.

    The urge to resist the domineering elder sister¡¯s privileges.

    It was that kind of a fight where the younger sister would wish for the older one to be kicked by the horse and die as a result, but sadly there would be no horses around.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Rei!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m not your essory or a dog you can take for a walk on a leash, Sister!¡¹

    It was a fight between sisters devoid of love¡­¡­

    But somewhere, at a certain ce¡­¡­ it would spell the fatal copse of a jet-ck wolf.

 Chapter 191: Salmon Headâ€™s Advice Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 191: Salmon Head¡¯s Advice Part 1</h4>

    Originally we were going to go and defeat the ¡®Barnacle¡¯ as we were, but the sudden item we managed to obtain worked almost like an event g and as a result we were forced to change our ns. As such, we found another vacant house that were going to use as our safe house for the nearest future, and where we would like to relocate Emul, Alva and Straude.

    ¡¸Mold¡­¡­ You idiot¡­¡­ You stupid idiot¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s why I said I was sorry¡­¡­!

    ¡¸Uwah, talk about amazing in the wrong sense of the word. We have three Seafood Emperors here. I wonder if they fused together we would get something alongside the lines of Ultimate Seafood Emperor? Ultimate Seafood Buffet?

    ¡¸Seafood Emperor? What is that?¡¹

    This whole situation started in a rather pstick kind of a way. While we were on our way back to the base, Mold happened to slip and fall to the ground, gathering the attention of the surrounding fish people. It may have been just a case of a really bad RNG on our hand, but the number of fish people was so big that that noise they were making gathered the attention of other fish people in the vicinity¡­¡­ At this rate it would be just a matter of time before they would discover our base and the NPC inside of it. To make matters even worse, there were three Rare Monsters thrown into the mix, making this aplete Monster Parade unlike I have ever seen before.

    ¡¸Not to I want to be a pessimist, but I don¡¯t want to draw such a huge crowd near our base if I can help it¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m so, so sorry¡­¡­ Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch! That hurts!¡¹

    ¡¸Idiot, idiot, idiot! STUPID, STUPID IDIOT!¡¹

    Thinking about it, the ce we are in the vicinity of is the ce that is also my respawn point. So even if I happened to die here, there would no real consequences to it, right?

    ¡¸Alright, I¡¯m going to divert their attention a little bit.¡¹

    ¡¸Huh?¡¹

    ¡¸I will try to lure them away from you, die as a result ande back to life in a respawn point. In the meantime, you go on ahead.¡¹

    ¡¸I see. Alright, I understand.¡¹

    ¡¸No, really, I mean, I¡¯m sorry for causing you so much trouble. I know we have enough of those on our tes already¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t worry, don¡¯t worry. As long as you understand, that¡¯s fine with me.¡¹

    Looking objectively at our current situation, it is only natural that one of use yers will need to sacrifice him or herself so that the others can flee to safety. I mean, it¡¯s not that death is permanent in this game, so it should onlye as natural.

    ¡¸It¡¯s also a real bother to wear your weapons out for something as stupid as this, so I might as well fight with my bare hands. Oi, you stupid rotten sardines! Come here! This way! I¡¯m here!¡¹

    It appears that the Great Underwater City Luls Marathon Run was far from being over for me.

    However, my glorious and simple n of making a few rounds around the underwater city¡¯s outer rim has gone to hell in an instant. An instant during which I saw something really slippery emerging from behind the corner of one of the houses.

    ¡¸Y, you are¡­¡­!?¡¹

    That appearance. That face.

    There was a really ufortable impulse swirling through my chest at that single moment. Before I was able to notice, I ready my weapons and charge in, closing the distance in between us in a blink of an eye.

    This guy in front of me and a whole school of rotten fish behind my back. I have put myself in between a rock and a hard ce, but right about now I could not allow myself to leave this ce.

    There is something I must absolutely do. I must defeat that guy right here, right now, no matter the consequences or the sacrifice.

    This does not look too god. Rust and Mold, I wonder if it is not toote to go back to where they went¡­¡­ No! I must stop thinking like that! If I think like that, it¡¯s as though I have already given up without even putting up a decent fight!

    ¡¸Uuuooohhhhhh!!!¡¹

    Sometimes in life, a manes across a fight that he simply cannot allow himself to back away from!

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Too slow!¡¹

    ¡¸Did you happen to get in some sort of trouble on your way¡­¡­ Ah, you havee back¡­¡­!?¡¹

    It took me a while to die because of the way the fish people decided to deal with me. Basically I was turned in to a food supply for the fish people, and they took their sweet time devouring me. And since I was never before eaten alive, it was a new experience to be had for sure. Not that I want to repeat that anytime soon.

    ¡¸What in the evesting fuck hap¡­¡­ Uoooh!?¡¹

    ¡¸S, Sanraku-san¡­¡­¡¹

    Oi, OI! Alva, lower that sword! Don¡¯t point that fucking thing at me! And you, Emul! Stay! STAY, I SAID!

    Isn¡¯t that just a terrible thing to do? Look at the person¡¯s face and react in a way like that? I know that it looks just like it looks, but what do you want me to say to it? I¡¯m as confused as you are, if not even more.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    I get up from the bed I wasying on after I finally managed to respawn and stand up with my own two legs firmly.

    When I did that, the people around me took a huge step back in reaction. Once I have seen that, that was all the confirmation I needed, but¡­¡­ I still ended up taking a deep breath, just to be absolutely sure.

    ¡­¡­ Gosh, it stinks so bad. Just like a fish would.

    ¡¸I am Tuna Underbelly Fairy.¡¹

    ¡¸Bufuah!!¡¹

    ¡¸Nkuhfuh!¡¹

    I guess it should only be considered as natural, seeing that I was wearing salmon on my head.

    ~ PLEASE STAND BY UNTIL THE APPARENT CONFUSION SUBSIDES ~

    ¡¸Salmon¡­¡­ It¡¯s a freaking salmon¡­¡­ So what¡¯s with the tuna reference¡­¡­? Nfuuh, nfufufufufuh¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    ¡¸What do we do, Rust? It seems that now Mold broke down as well.¡¹

    ¡¸Mold in general has a pretty low threshold when ites toughing. Once he hears a joke, he can remember it andugh because of it for the next three to four days.¡¹

    No matter how you may look at it,ughter boiling point is too damn low for this guy. I mean, he acts like he¡¯s on helium right now or something else like that. I know that my appearance is the reason for that, but¡­¡­ You know¡­¡­

    ¡¸The hell, is this?¡¹

    ¡¸This thing here? ¡®Richman King Salmon Head Shiramen¡¯. It¡¯s your typical item, but you can also equip it¡­¡­ Well, think of it as an equipment piece.¡¹

    ¡¸And what exactly is the effect of this item?¡¹

    ¡¸It smells fishy.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­!!! ¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    Mold fell onto the floor and started acting as if his sides were about to fall off fromughing too much. I have decided to ignore him for now and I turned towards others in order to confront with them.

    ¡¸Come here, Emul. We¡¯ll try to put it on your head next.¡¹

    ¡¸A, absolutely not! It looks like a fish! It smells like a fish! And see!? There¡¯s even a fragment of fish spineing out of it! And have you seen its eyes! Dead like¡­¡­ like that of a dead fish! It¡¯s too scary! I¡¯m not wearing that!¡¹

    ¡¸The real kicker is that you can see perfectly while wearing this on your head.¡¹

 Chapter 191: Salmon Headâ€™s Advice Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 191: Salmon Head¡¯s Advice Part 2</h4>

    How does the Salmon head allow you to see, exactly? Does it reflect light in some kind of way? No, I forget that this is a game, questioning every single detail won¡¯t bring me any good. So best not to think about it too much. But oh my God, it stinks so bad.

    ¡¸I wonder if at this rate I wouldpletely turn into one of them¡­¡­ I do get a feeling that a scenario like that would not be too far-fetched.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m sorry for asking this, but see if you can bend your arms or legs in directions in which they should not ever be bent. Preferably way beyond the capacity of human joints.¡¹

    Even though the subconscious need to not inflict self-harm onto myself was still there, I could indeed bend my arms and legs in directions where it should normally be impossible to do so. But only to some extent. But this is actually very convenient. I can definitely incorporate this newfound ability of mine into my battle style.

    ¡¸And how about that Straude kid?¡¹

    ¡¸I haven¡¯t shown this to him yet, but you can be damn sure that I will do that.¡¹

    But as luck would have it, stupid sh*thead should still be cowering in fear under the bed. Hee¡­¡­ Hoo¡­¡­ Fueeh¡­¡­ Fuhihihi¡­¡­

    ¡¸UUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    ¡¸GYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!?!?!?!?!?¡¹

    ¡¸I SHALL DRAG YOU INTO THE DEPTHS OF THE REALM OF THE DEAD, UUUOOOHHH~!!!!!!¡¹

    ¡¸NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! I DON¡¯T WANNA! I DON¡¯T WANNA! HHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    It was all an imitation, but a rather convincing one. All thanks to the know-how from various survival-horror games I have yed that featured zombies. Because of that I was able to act like a real zombie in a quite convincing way if I do say so myself.

    As a confirmation, Straude started to scream while falling into a real frenzy. Then he got up, started to run around like an idiot and hit his head quite hard as a result. It also appears that he has lost consciousness as a result.

    ¡¸Oh sh*t¡­¡­ No, no, no, see, you¡¯re not dead. You¡¯re not bursting into polygons, see?¡¹

    ¡¸I feel like my heart is about to burst out of my chest!¡¹

    It¡¯s okay, humans were created to be mentally strong creatures. Unless a chain of misfortune continues to strike on us, we can recover from almost any sort of trauma¡­¡­

    His Father was kidnapped by the fish people, is currently missing and is most probably dead.

    Got lost in this monster-ridden city due to his own careless behavior.

    He probably wandered right into the school of fish zombies and got turned into fish food or even worse.

    ¡¸Fuuuh, talk about a triplebo, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸Yo, is he dying or what¡­¡­?¡¹

    No, wait just a second, Rust-san. He¡¯s not dead, he¡¯s not dead. At least I think. He can still do his best, right? Right?

    Since I was receiving so much negativity under my address from literally everyone present, for now I have decided to put the salmon head away back to my inventory. I was also forced to put my original bird-head mask on.

    And seeing by how much hatred I have managed to get on me, I was starting to wonder if maybe it was some kind of a hidden ability of this item. There must be some exnation, but right now I had no way of actually investigating that matter.

    However, it seems that the salmon head has way better defensive stats whenpared to my usual bird-head mask. If you wish to tell me that I¡¯ll be able to tank even a dragon breath to the face with this thing I will kill you with myughter.

    ¡¸Mold, go back to normal, why don¡¯t you?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s okay, I¡¯m okay¡­¡­ Fufu.¡¹

    ¡¸Who would have thought that we could be so considerate.¡¹

    For now I was sitting in the corner of the room on my own, because the group thought that Straude might have an actual heart attack upon waking up and seeing a giant talking salmon right in front of his face.

    I was sitting right there, feeling really sad, swinging my head from left to right like a metronome, with Emul still sitting right on top of it. Meanwhile Rust and Mold raise Straude and show him the cuss.

    ¡¸Get up¡­¡­ I said get up you stupid sh*thead!¡¹

    ¡¸Ugh, ughngh¡­¡­ A fish speaking human tongue¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Fugyuh!?¡¹

    A good old straight chop through the middle of the face should do the trick nicely here.

    Just as I thought about that, Straude started to regain consciousness, looking as though he had no idea where he was at the current moment.

    ¡¸Ugh, nghngh¡­¡­ Where am I¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Who gave you permission to go to sleep? Just be useful for a change and have a look at this.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­? It¡¯s just your simple cuss¡­¡­ Wait a minute! This is¡­¡­!¡¹

    I knew it, so it was an event g after all. With his eyes wide open and lips quivering, Straude looks at the cuss as if he wanted to burn a hole through it. Or, to be more specific, he was staring at the emblem of the red whale that was carved into the cuss¡¯s handle.

    ¡¸Th, this! This! This is! Where, where did you¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸My god, so noisy.¡¹

    I think to myself that if he does not shut up there would be a serious need of silencing him myself, but even so I present to him the possible clues about his father.

    ¡¸I have found it in this city¡­¡­ Umm, it was a possession of a very strong monster.¡¹

    ¡¸Then¡­¡­ Then¡­¡­ Does that mean that Papa is¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸And here you go, mumbling to yourself again¡­¡­¡¹

    I understand how you must feel. But just so you know, not everyone is just like you, and some of us like to take the risks, unless the possible penalties or death is not way to probable.

    Well now, what should I do? Since I do realize that none of those guys are really good with roleying and stuff.

    No, really, I get it, I really understand it, you know?

    Sometimes there is no need for role y. Sometimes there are just certain characters or races that can say what needs to be said all natural and without much effort. But more often than not you need to be the one who says the exact words that the NPC needs to hear.

    We are both yers who tend to look at the plot of the game from a bird-eye¡¯s perspective. That¡¯s just who we are. And that is why it should be my own time to shine in a time like this.

    ¡¸Oh well, I guess it cannot really be helped. Just leave it to me.¡¹

    I have no idea how this whole even is going to turn out in the end, but I guess it is better than just sit on your ass while holding the cuss to your chest and weep all day.

    ¡¸Boy, are you really okay with that?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh?¡¹

    I can see from the way that he was holding this thing that this NPC was ustomed to handling a weapon like that.

 Chapter 192: Lighting the Damp Matches, Wolves Hunts in Packs Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 192: Lighting the Damp Matches, Wolves Hunts in Packs Part 1</h4>

    Even before the era of Shanfro, the AI of the NPCs was constantly evolving and growing for a while now. Although it must be said that before Shanfro it was not all that perfect and urate. Especially since Shanfro¡¯s NPCs can answerplex questions about monsters, events, ces and things such as weather. Hell, they can even tell you the story of their lives and mention what they were eating for dinner yesterday.

    But still, if only you remember to formte your questions in a right way and use some key words recognized by the system, you can have an quasi-normal conversation with any NPC and expect them to answer your questions in a detailed way. There are some games that cannot even do something half as impressive as that, but we are slowly getting there. We just need to give the industry a little bit more time to adapt.

    ¡¸You, the sword that the Snail Knight carried with him¡­¡­ Do you understand why it was carrying that item with it in the first ce?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh¡­¡­?¡¹

    And as the technology advances ever so further, the AI evolves as well, being able to express various emotions and acquires superior intelligence.

    Because AI is constantly evolving, the NPCs are bing more and more autonomous, and in some games they can even create their ownmunities and elect their own rulers¡­¡­ But that is still something that is fairly umon and can be considered a muddy field to talk about.

    ¡¸Do you really understand why that is? I want to hear you say it.¡¹

    ¡¸I, I get it¡­¡­ I understand! It means that Papa died after being dragged in here!!¡¹

    NPCs are curious creatures that act like real people, but at the same time are not real people. They are creatures that simplify theplexity of the human nature, which is thenpressed and expressed as a set of parameters. And their knowledge cannot exceed beyond that what is written in the script that was assigned to them.

    A viin NPC can only be a viin because it is the only way of life he had ever known. And NPCs cannot tell you about their ancestors or distant rtives if they do not have information like that programmed into their code.

    One could even say that NPCs are like ¡®simple keyholes¡¯. It is easy to unlock their contents with the right tools in your hands, it is only important to know just with which exact tools you need to work. And that knowledgees from the individual characteristics of each NPC.

    ¡¸No, I can clearly see that you do not understand a thing.¡¹

    ¡¸Eh¡­¡­? Then what the fuck is it!?¡¹

    ¡¸Now listen here, you piss stain.¡¹

    ¡¸Who the fuck do you call a piss stain!?¡¹

    Alright, you may not be one but just because the in-game engine does not allow it. But if you could piss your pants, you¡¯d surely do that, be honest here.

    Oh well, that does not even matter right about now. What matters is that this kid is just a ¡®sacredly cat¡¯ and nothing more. So what I need to do right about now is to find a way to ¡®inspire¡¯ him. And the right tools for the job here would be¡­¡­ ¡®Father¡¯ and ¡®Subordinates that are left¡¯.

    ¡¸Listen up, kid. There are four monsters in this underwater city that are unlike the rest of the rotten fish zombies that roams its streets. The one we got that sword from is one of such monsters, and they essentially just stay hauled up in the four towers around the city.¡¹

    ¡¸So!? How the hell that does connect to¡­¡­!?¡¹

    If Pencilgton was right here with me, she would surely call it a ¡®White lie¡¯. It is basically lying to someone¡¯s face, but you try to mask it behind kindness and consideration.

    So instead of telling him the whole truth in one go, I shall feed him so small lies first, only to start delivering the truth gradually, over time. Think about it as a really convoluted game of Othello. How about it? Pretty clever, huh?

    ¡¸Your dad might have fallen into an ambush and died as a result. But here is when you enter the stage in his ce.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Do you realize what does this mean? Or maybe I should ask you something different: what is your purpose for being here?¡¹

    Good, good, the roley element ising along quite nicely. I already have some experience with pulling some wool over the NPC¡¯s eyes, and even Weissash, a potential Unique Monster has fallen into my clutches thanks to techniques when a single bad lie could spell your doom.

    ¡¸Even though he was taken here, your father never stopped fighting. However, he might not have been strong enough and that spelled his doom¡­¡­ Ahh, don¡¯t give me that look. After all, the story of your father is still going on.¡¹

    Use the resulting emotions as a stick. Beat him with that stick, and once he decides to take proper actions, give him some carrot for his efforts. Don¡¯t bother with respecting the dead and the cuss having a sentimental value. It is all weapons that can be used for you to reach your goal.

    ¡¸What is it that I can do? You yourself should know that best. I think that your father knew that as well. He knew that he was not cut out for the task, but he still chose to challenge the Snail Knight. Why he chose to do that¡­¡­ You understand, right?¡¹

    ¡¸This, is¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You can do it¡­¡­ No, you are probably the ONLY one who can do it. He believed that his subordinates would eventually find their way here, to the bottom of the sea and finish the job that he had started. That is why he was able to stand his ground until the very end. That kind of resolve takes courage and needs to be respected.

    ¡¸Resolve¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Sure thing, in your veins flows the same blood as your father¡¯s. However, a child is so much more than just his or her parents. So what you should be doing right about now? Cowering in fear under the bed? No, you should find the determination within yourself to go on and press forward.¡¹

    ¡¸Press, forward¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡¸It must be scary to walk through the dark with nothing to hold on to, right? But you see, that¡¯s why we are called Pioneers. We lounge into the darkness with nothing but torches in our hands head-first, so that those who follow us can walk down the bright and illuminated path. And right now, we can help you in the exact same way.¡¹

    I then direct all of my attention towards Rust and Mold, hoping that my aura and the general tone of the discussion will be able to reach them and that they will figure out what I have meant by that. Apparently they got the message and were all about to confirm my words themselves, although there were so ad-lib differences here and there.

    ¡¸T-That¡¯s right! And there are others besides us in here that you can rely on! ¡¹

 Chapter 192: Lighting the Damp Matches, Wolves Hunts in Packs Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 192: Lighting the Damp Matches, Wolves Hunts in Packs Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Either way, if we want to get out of this ce, we have no other choice but to fight our way out. So I guess having one more sh*thead to carry on our backs won¡¯t make that much of a difference.¡¹

    ¡¸Stop calling me that already¡­¡­¡¹

    So what, you would like me to call you something else? Like Moist Match Bastard? That sounds someonebustible. No, better not do that for now. I didn¡¯t work my ass off picking best possible options to get this sh*thead motivated just so he could bail out on us now.

    ¡¸We n on taking the master of this ce on in about two days from now. So you have about forty eight hours to find your resolve.¡¹

    After saying that, I have left the base with Emul sitting on top of my head¡­¡­ by climbing through the hole in the roof.

    You couldn¡¯t possibly ask for a better finishing touch than this!

    ¡¸¡­¡­ So? What are we going to do now?¡¹

    ¡¸I would like to take down the remaining bosses just as nned, but I would also like to wait for others to join us in our efforts.¡¹

    Sometimes the bosses might drop items that are not really suited for your particr build, so it is important to have others with you so that you can trade off. It¡¯s more efficient that way. However, without doing that I might just end up with a lot of free time on my hands¡­¡­

    ¡¸Ah, so how about collecting some materials?¡¹

    ¡¸You know, it might be a good idea to gather about one gross of certain items while we are at it¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸One gross? How much is that?¡¹

    ¡¸One dozen times one dozen.¡¹

    ¡¸So one hundred and forty four items total¡­¡­ We might actually run out of inventory slots for this.¡¹

    ¡¸It seems we have a whole lot of work cut out for us.¡¹

    ¡¸What a chore, what a chore.¡¹

    Guess we can always utilize the Inventory. If its only purpose is to house powerful weapons and armor, it might as well be put to a good use as a temporary hold.

    At times like this, unlimited storage hold reallyes in handy, since you don¡¯t have to consider items weight and all that. It can also serve as the emergency escape room, where you can reorganize and patch yourself up if need be. However, its only downside is the fact that you must possess a minimum amount of MP in order to get in and get out.

    ¡¸Oh, that¡¯s right. Rust, what¡¯s that over there?¡¹

    ¡¸Over there¡­¡­ Ahh, yeah, I would like to drop by there at least once.¡¹

    With both looks and hand gestures I urge Rust to continue talking. It seems that I have stumbled upon some really interesting information.

    ¡¸This is, you know¡­¡­ How should I put it? It¡¯s simply amazing. Oh!¡¹

    ¡¸If I had to put my finger on it, I would say it¡¯s a painting? At least that¡¯s the impression I¡¯m getting.¡¹

    Right now we were at the outskirts of the underwater city, a ce that should have normally be a sandy shore, but right about now it was nothing more but a shipyard full of destroyed ships.

    Rust and Mold managed to find this ce during their area survey before, but ended up leaving without inspecting it because they were attacked by a huge swarm of fish people¡­¡­ Somehow, this ce was littered with silver and gold chests full of money and materials, and a truly blinding shine was weing anyone who wished to enter that ce.

    ¡¸This ce looks like it could you a hefty amount of money.¡¹

    ¡¸While we are here, we might as well try to recover as much of the treasure as we possibly can.¡¹

    ¡¸Are you really okay with that? Keeping mepany, I mean?¡¹

    ¡¸I mean, with our inventories being pretty much limited, there¡¯s no way we will be able to collect all of that anyways.¡¹

    Well, they may be right about that¡­¡­ At least that is true for normal yers¡­¡­ But since I have my INVENTORY with me, such limitations are of no real concern to me.

    That is why we were running through the shipwrecks, collecting anything that could be collected or converted in to cash, and before long we managed to collect a hefty sum of money, one that would surely allow us to buy ourselves a small fortress if we only wanted to buy one.

    It¡¯s not that we really needed so much money, but it¡¯s just¡­¡­ You know¡­¡­ It¡¯s just bad manners if you see garbage littering the floor and you don¡¯t pick it right up, right? Umu, umu. Oh¡­¡­ While we¡¯re at it.

    ¡¸By the way, I forgot to ask about that before, but are the two of you free for the moment?¡¹

    ¡¸Free?¡¹

    ¡¸Do you happen to belong to any particr Guild about now?¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, free in that sense.¡¹

    That¡¯s right, there were a whole lot of stories like that around the time when the game was beingunched. But thinking about that time would invoke a whole lot of memories being remembered one after another like a chain, so for now I chose to keep that box closed. Ugh, it¡¯s like drinking a whole mug filled with freshly squeezed out lemon juice¡­¡­ Or some really nasty vegetable mix juice and chug it down¡­¡­

    ¡¸You see, since there is also the case of the Mecha in this game, it would really help me out if you could join in our Guild.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ No thank you, that sounds way too normie for me.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah! But it is far from being normie! You see, you can belong to the Guild, but it does not limit you in any sort of way! There is even no need to go to the Guild house¡­¡­ Not that we have any to begin with.¡¹

    Besides, I still needed to pay them for that tip about Kutanid of the Abyss, and if they were the members of the same Guild, that would surely prevent them from leaking the information outside of the Guild.

    ¡¸As I have exined before, our Guild ¡®Wolfgang¡¯ has only three members right now, each with the ess to the Mechas¡­¡­ and we are willing to share with the members of the same Guild.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Go on. I¡¯m willing to listen. ¡­¡­ For now.¡¹

    It¡¯s thest push here! Now, the final blow: summoning the Tactical Warbeasts!

    ¡¸It¡¯s a lot tougher to handle these guys than you might expect.¡¹

    BAKI! BAKI! GUSHA! GUSHA! KLANG!

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    Umm, yeah now that I think about it¡­¡­ Wouldn¡¯t putting four giant mechas inside of a ship that looks run-down and moldy as hell be a bad idea? What if they happen to break the ceiling or destroy the floor and the whole ship copses on us?

    ¡¸Oh sh*t --!?¡¹

    ¡¸M-Mechas are¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸If you keep making such sounds, the half of the city¡¯s fish people are going to get on our asses!¡¹

    ¡¸What the hell!? I can hear something drawing closer to us! And there¡¯s a whole lot of it!¡¹

    ¡¸Forget about the Mechas for now! We can always go back to retrieve themter! Now grab the treasure and let¡¯s haul ass from here!¡¹

    Leaving something for others? Shut the fuck up! That¡¯s something only a total loser would say!

    It¡¯s money we talk about here! Cold, hard cash! And you know what costs money? Repairing and strengthening your god damn equipment!

    Especially my special weapons. Seriously, you wouldn¡¯t believe just how expensive this sh*t can get¡­¡­

    ¡¸Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen! Please allow me to wee you to¡­¡­! ¡­¡­ I mean, I know that we are all pretty tired, but what¡¯s wrong, everyone!?¡¹

    ¡¸Now this feels more like Great Luls Marathon if you were to ask me¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m not all that good at long distance running, but as long as it is something below two and a half thousand meters, I should be all good!¡¹

    ¡¸Stupid Sanraku! You are such a big idiot that you cannot possibly be an even bigger idiot!¡¹

    No, really, I am most terribly ashamed¡­¡­ Ah, that¡¯s right, before I forget.

    ¡¸Akitsu Akane, are you currently in any Guild, by any chance? If not, maybe you would like to join my Guild?¡¹

    ¡¸Wow! This is the first time ever that I was invited to join a Guild! With pleasure!¡¹

    Talk about a wise and prompt decision.

 Chapter 193: Realease From Impatience, Running With Impatience Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 193: Realease From Impatience, Running With Impatience Part 1</h4>

    Here¡¯s how our party looks for the moment: we got me, Rust, Mold, Emul, Alva, Akitsu Akane, Sickle, and Nereis. It is a pretty goodposition, judging by the fact that Rei is not here with us and Straude cannot actually be of any use in battle.

    Our avangarde consists of seven people, two people in the vanguard, out of which we have two heavy hitters and two squishy mages.

    When ites to the purely physical fighters of our party, we have me, Alva and Sickle who wields a magically extending stick¡­¡­ a bamboo, perhaps? No matter, but it may be possible for him to be able to carry out some magic attacks with this thing.

    Although our long distance attackers can handle both physical and magical attacks, theirpatibility leaves much to be desired. Rust can use both types of attacks no problem thanks to her bow and arrows, but in case of Akitsu Akane we can talk about mainly magic attacks with physicals as an added bonus.

    ¡¸That is why we need to do as much as possible until the moment Rust and Mold needs to log out to switch to NephHolo. This gives us the time limit to the morning of the sixth day. So if we want to beat another boss, that would mean¡­¡­ Yeah, let¡¯s go destroy the ¡®Barnacle¡¯.¡¹

    It is the boss that can nullify short range attacks, which means that our physical attacks vanguard is pretty much garbage in this fight. However, if we want things to proceed smoothly for us, it is imperative that we deal with this threat right now, so that we may deal with the remaining bosses in due time, preferably when we won¡¯t be at too much of a disadvantage. The ¡®Barnacle¡¯ is the perfect choice here.

    Either way, in this next battle both Alva and I are going to be trash, so that¡¯s not really something we should be concerning ourselves with for now. I mean, worst case scenario I can carry Emul on my head and turn him into a mobile turret and apparently Alva can materialize Nereis and have her fight as well, so that¡¯s that.

    ¡¸And what about Saiga-0-san?¡¹

    ¡¸We need to give it our best in her stead.¡¹

    No matter how hard your level is or how powerful you think you are, there are just some things in life that you just can¡¯t help. So if Rei is noting, it must mean that she¡¯s dealing with exactly that kind of situation.

    But still, all this time we have not even heard a word from her, which must mean that she did not log in at alltely. I know that we have summer vacation at full swing, but it is August, so I highly doubt it that some kind of unforeseen or sudden business came up for her. Then again, it would be a whole different story if she already had ns but forgot to notify us.

    ¡¸It¡¯s really a shame that the time advances in this game for you even if you are not logged in, but I guess it is something we cannot really do anything about¡­¡­¡¹

    Well, in the first ce, I think the fact that you need to devote yourself so much to the Unique Scenario EX is one of the few rare ws that this game has. I wonder if it continues to go on in that direction, will it still be popr seeing how games and gamers tend to be nowadays? Not that I would know all that much about popr games, since all my life I have been doing nothing but sh*tty games all time.

    But I can tell you this: it¡¯s not all that umon for games nowadays to be a product of ¡®Copy/Paste¡¯ scenario, making their worlds and plots and lore look pretty much the same. Those are some real sh*tty games. There are exceptions from that rule, however.

    Ah, but I guess that managing your schedule is not that much of a problem for people, especially in the ear of social media and all that stuff. Now that VR has pretty much settled in the field of gaming its momentum can no longer be stopped, but at the same time it won¡¯t also elerate like it used to do it its first days. Still, there are some developers out there who would wish to do just that.

    I am that kind of a yer who tends to stick to one particr game until I finish it all, but I know that there are people out there who can organize their time so well that they can basically y a few different games in one day, and not having that fact impede on their social life.

    Usually, yers like that tend to be pretty good and devoted to their games. That is, until the rm that they have set starts ringing, signalizing that it is high time to switch to the different game. Then they can disappear in just a moment, usually in the middle of the quest orbat. Not to mention that you tend to not see them around from around 5 or 6 am or sometime like that.

    ¡¸Whoa there, looks like we are here already.¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san, were you perhaps lost in your own thoughts this whole time?¡¹

    ¡¸Hm? Oh, you know, it happens to me from time to time. I was just thinking if it would be at all possible to program your own biological clock in a specific way.¡¹

    While Emul seemed to be mumbling something in retort to that, it seems that we have arrived at the tower where the ¡®Barnacle¡¯ was located. Apparently alongside the way we were attacked by swarms of sharks and frogs which grew hair all over their bodies, but the fact that I was thinking to myself all this time and hardly ever recognized them as a threat was speaking volumes about them in the first ce. I mean, the yers as well as NPCs of this group were no pushovers, so there was no way that enemies like that would be of any real threat to us.

    ¡¸That¡¯s¡­¡­ Honestly, I am not sure if the monster designer gave it his all with this one, or if hardly ever put any work into it.¡¹

    It was humanoid in shape¡­¡­ or maybe it was barely humanoid in shape at all. It¡¯s neck was way too close to its left shoulder, and its right arm was bloated and erged to an absurd degree, amongst other things.

    However, what is really noteworthy here is not its overall shape, but the surface of its body. Do you know how barnacles look like? You know, the ones that you can often see on the bottoms of the ships or at the breakwaters? So yeah, the whole surface of this boss¡¯s body was overgrown with barnacles, but those ones were really huge. Wayrger than you would expect.

    ¡¸Ughee¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸How the hell is this thing able to disable short range attacks when it is like that? You think those barnacles form a shield or something like that?¡¹

    ¡¸Maybe, or maybe not. Maybe the moment you try to hit it with a de the barnacles increase in amount¡­¡­ But is that really all that important right now!?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯d say yes, but still¡­¡­¡¹

 Chapter 193: Realease From Impatience, Running With Impatience Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 193: Realease From Impatience, Running With Impatience Part 2</h4>

    Although the scene was quite shocking in its own right, the barnacles growing over the boss were somewhatcking the glossiness that the seafood would usually have.

    Honestly speaking, as someone whose father was a real nutjob when ites to the idea of fishing, those barnacles were hardly ssifying as ¡®seafood¡¯ for me. If anything, they were much closer to being a mere ¡®bait¡¯ in my book.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Wait, is it even possible to eat barnacles in the first ce?¡¹

    No, I don¡¯t think it is? Or you¡¯d have to take at least some part of them and cook it in a really convoluted way¡­¡­Hm?

    Looking around, I could see all of my party members looking at me as if I just said something iprehensible. Or downright stupid. I could honestly even feel that the ¡®Barnacle¡¯ was looking at me dubiously as well.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Sanraku-san, not to be rude, but you are probably the only person in this world who would genuinely think about trying to eat a barnacle.¡¹

    ¡¸I was thinking about that, but Sanraku. Are you perhaps the type who will eat anything, as long as it looks even slightly edible?¡¹

    ¡¸No, you see¡­¡­ No matter how you look at this thing, it does not look like a real barnacle! So it must be something else! ¡­¡­ Yeah, something else for sure!¡¹

    But you can be damn sure that if an edible item drops from this boss, I¡¯ll be the first one who will try to eat it. I can promise you that!

    ¡¸Okay, without any further ado, let¡¯s do this thing! Alva, let¡¯s go!¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah!¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s start this battle with a bang! Hit it with the best shot you¡¯ve got!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Yeah!?¡¹

    Don¡¯t look so confused. If it really can nullify close-ranged attacks, we need to see if there is a limit to that nullification, and if we can still focus its aggro with short range attacks. It makes perfect sense.

    ¡¸Come on now, let¡¯s go! Let¡¯s go! Don¡¯t just stand there or you¡¯ll be left behind!¡¹

    ¡¸Gah, fine then! You want brute force!? Brute force it is!¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s the first time I see Alva being so agitated! You must have really gotten to him!¡¹

    ¡¸That he did! That he did! Nereis, if you¡¯d please!¡¹

    ¡¸Of course¡­¡­ ¡®Deep Sea Fissure¡¯.¡¹

    In the next moment, the de of Alva¡¯s thick sword stared to shine with a deep blue glow. And when the de soared towards the body of the Barnacle faster than it could have possibly responded, a dull sound could be heard unlike anything we have all heard before.

    It was not the sound of metal hitting against metal. It was not the sound of metal slicing flesh apart. It was more like the sound of metal object hitting against something extraordinary hard.

    Of course, the sound indicated that a huge amount of damage was being dealt, but Alva¡¯s attack did manage to reach the Barnacle¡¯s body.

    ¡¸So it works like the protection mechanism in close proximity¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Uuueeeh, it looks like this thing is not messing around¡­¡­¡¹

    Alva¡¯s de was on its way to slice the Barnacle¡¯s face in half, but before it manage to make contact, something exploded in between the two objects, like a bomb. But it was not an actual bomb. It¡¯s just that the barnacles proliferated at an astonishingly fast rate before Alva¡¯s de.

    What an borate technique! So it works like a micro shield being deployed at the exact location where the foreign objects are supposed to make contact with the Boss itself.

    However, it seems that Alva¡¯s skill was notpletely in vain. At least it looks like you can sessfully aggro the boss with your normal attacks, judging by the fact that the Boss was on the move towards Alva, wanting to crush him with its bloated arm.

    ¡¸Okay, it looks like getting through that is going to be quite literally impossible! n B it is! Alva, fall back for now!¡¹

    That was n A, during which we needed to estimate the distance at which the Barnacle nullifies physical attacks. And since it should be somewhat rted to the Snail Knight, whose effective range of attacks was from five to eight meters, it could be estimated that the effective attack range for this here Barnacle would be from eight meters onward.

    ¡¸Okay. Emul, Akitsu Akane, your time to shine!¡¹

    ¡¸Leave it to me! I shall do my best until my bones turn to dust!¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t you fucking dare to get into a situation where you¡¯ll end up being crushed to dust!¡¹

    No, stop worrying, me. This is not me vs Silvia Goldberg anymore. Akitsu Akane and Emul know how to handle themselves, so they surely would not think of tanking attacks that would surely one-shot them. And speaking of one-shots, that arm is huge! Like holy sh*t! That would surely turn you into dust with only one attack!

    ¡¸Okay now, Sickle, Alva! From now on we must do our best to grind this sucker into dust!¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah!¡¹

    ¡¸Are you sure you couldn¡¯t have said it with a little bit more grace to it?¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s swat it down like a filthy fat fly it is!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sorry for saying anything!¡¹

 ShangriLa Fronteir 194: Meaning of Climax Part 1

    <h4>ShangriLa Fronteir Chapter 194: Meaning of Climax Part 1</h4>

    Evasion Tank. It is a job that the yer can assume in order to be the shield that protects their party from the opponent¡¯s damage. However, they employ their protection not by the art of soaking up damage, but rather focusing on evading it altogether.

    When ites to merits of a job like that, you only need a set of working legs in order to make this work. But when ites to demerits, once you get hit at least once, it could be all over to you.

    ¡¸Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!¡¹

    When I was starting out in this game, the Ninja ss seemed to be really appealing on paper, since it naturally possessed many traits that the Evasion Tank would love to have in its kit. However, seeing that ShanFro¡¯s system was really specific in some aspects, ying as a Ninja from the beginning would have been tremendously difficult and challenging. But now that I have acquired quite a lot of useful and wholesome skills, the Ninja ss seemed to be less and less appealing to me by the day. Because on my own I came to possess some skills that were simply ideal for that kind of Tank.

    ¡¸What¡¯s wrong!? What¡¯s wrong!? You¡¯re not really all that fresh, huh!? Hey! Hey!¡¹

    Let¡¯s talk about something different for a moment. The idea of ¡®fishing¡¯ for enemies, or should I say ¡®baiting¡¯? It was quite the borate system in this game¡­¡­ Or maybe not? Was the ¡®borate¡¯ an appropriate word to use in here?

    But at the same time, there is also a job called ¡®Fisherman¡¯ in this game. And apparently the trademark of this ss is that it is being able of fishing for various kinds of fish right from the get-go, with as little as a basic fishing rod or even without it.

    Salmon, sea serpents, lobsters, leviathans¡­¡­ You name it, Fishermen can catch it. And switching fishing rods and baits to better, rarer versions only boosts the probability of catching more rare and expensive fish.

    And if I can remember correctly, barnacles can be used as a bait for fishing¡­¡­ So does that mean that this here ¡®Barnacle¡¯ could serve as bait as well?

    ¡¸Uwah, won¡¯t you look at that? Water shoots like jet pack propent from it¡¯s back!¡¹

    ¡¸Hyaaaaaahhhhh!? It¡¯sing this waaaaaay!?¡¹

    ¡¸Sure looks that way to me, watch out, everyone!¡¹

    So apparently it can also absorb the barnacles it generates and convert their energy into kic energy that enables it to swiftly move across the battlefield. It would also be wise to assume that it can change such energy in order to attack. It surely is a handy ability and one that you¡¯d need to be wary about, but it has one distinct weakness. One that can be rather fatal.

    Even if you were to suddenly cut the kic energy to zero, this does not mean that the object propelled by that energy is going to stop right away. That is why even if you are riding a car and you suddenly see a pedestrian right in front of you, even if you floor the breaks you will still travel some distance before youe to a stop¡­¡­ Which is more often than not enough to send the pedestrian flying.

    ¡®Barnacle¡¯ was on a collision course with Alva, Sickle and I. It was only a matter of time before it mmed its body into us with full power. Which it did almost right away.

    Apparently MP Recovery items and effect are unaffected by such things as monsters mming into you, because Akitsu Akane used one of those at thest possible moment and shot a beam of energy from his mouth in order to make the impact less powerful than it could have been. It was a really surreal sight¡­¡­ Are we even ying the same game here?

    Ah, I bumped right into Sickle, it seems.

    ¡¸Hooooooooouuuuuuhhhhhh!?!?¡¹

    ¡¸ONIIIIII-CHAAAAAANNNNNN!!!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m soooo sooooory!!¡¹

    I shall name this¡­¡­ Apology Breath? Apology Gun? Sometimes it is really hard to decide on a proper name.

    ¡¸I was afraid that it would be a whole lot harder than that, but with a party like that this boss turned out to be nothing more but a total pushover.¡¹

    ¡¸But you still have to hand it to it, it was quite fearless. It was really horrible¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ahaha¡­¡­ But the second half of the fight was really interesting in my opinion¡­¡­¡¹

    In the end, it turned out that Snail Knight must have dropped that cuss as some sort of event g. But Barnacle only ended up dropping normal items and materials. There was nothing all that special to it.

    And since our party was quite big to begin with, after splitting it all up the amount of items that a single person would receive was not all that impressive¡­¡­ No, impossible, but what if, hmm.

    ¡¸What¡¯s the matter?¡¹

    ¡¸No, nothing. You see, I was just thinking.¡¹

    Oh well, there is nothing I can do about it right now, so I might as well save it forter? By the way, Emul watch out as to not hit your head.

    With that, we have managed to take down three of the four bosses. That would leave only one more boss left to be in. I wonder why those bosses nullify the things that they nullify and what will actually happen once we manage to defeat all of them? Honestly, I would like to go and defeat thest boss as soon as possible, preferably right now, but I know that I must be patient. Emul, watch it so that you don¡¯t hit your head by ident.

    Be that as it may, there is always the possibility that once the final boss is defeated, we¡¯ll be locked into Kutanid battle without any means of actually preparing ourselves beforehand. Emul, I swear to God, if you bump yourself in that stupid head of yours¡­¡­!

    ¡¸What is it? Emul?¡¹

    ¡¸Above us ------!!!¡¹

    Above? As I lifted my head upwards, I could see something in between the bits of underwater snow that was falling down. Arctus Regalex, opening its huge jaw wide, wasing down right at Emul and I, apparently intent of eating us in one big swoop. Good thing that judging by its shadow, only Emul and I were within its reach. For now, at least.

    ¡¸Oh sh*t, dodge ------!!!¡¹

    ¡¸PIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    Hollywood Jump, Hollywood Jump, god damn it! Judging from the perspective of the third party observer or the world itself, what I managed to do right now was a perfectly executed Hollywood Jump, one that could surely me the nomination for the Academy Award, or maybe even the award itself.

    The very next second there was a loud sound in the exact ce where Emul and I were standing just a moment before, and the Arctus Regalex crashed into the ground with a loud roar, forced to epted the full humiliation of being outwitted like that. If I were to name that action, it would certainly be something alongside the lines of Licking the Earth¡­¡­ Hm? What was that? That¡¯s not how the pecking order around these neck of the woods should go? No, I mean what are you even doing, mister? Licking the earth with your face like that? Are you mad?

 ShangriLa Fronteir 194: Meaning of Climax Part 2

    <h4>ShangriLa Fronteir Chapter 194: Meaning of Climax Part 2</h4>

    No, something¡¯s not right here. Why did it hit the ground so hard?

    But anyways, we know that this thing is not friendly. That being said, I take out my weapons and prepare myself to rush into action, when¡­¡­

    GOOONNN!!!

    ¡¸Heee¡¹

    Good thing that this game regtes the gore factor. That way, no matter how you brutalize the enemy or your fellow yers, there will be hardly any blood to be seen, you won¡¯t be able to see any cross sections of flesh and bones and there will be no innards spilling all over the ground.

    However, I was sure of this one thing: right about now the head of Arctus Regalex was being crushed t by a tremendous shock from above, caused by the weapon that looked strangely like an oversized sledgehammer. Of course, the one holding such a monster of a weapon was none other than our good old Saiga-0, wearing a demon-like armor and apanied by the effect resembling steam erupting from it, even from the helmet.

    I gazed at Saiga-0 looking like that¡­¡­

    ¡¸Finally found you¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Kyu¡­¡­¡¹

    Hey, wasn¡¯t that the same kind of reaction that Emul did once he learned I wanted to go and face off against Gravekeeper Wezaemon? The one that was so over the top that it was actually quite entertaining? Why would he react like that right now?

    To be perfectly honest I was more surprised than scared here, especially since I would not pin in on Rei to do something so gory and over the top for an entrance. But more than anything, I was feeling relief right now. Something alongside the lines of ¡°Ah, she¡¯s finally here¡±.

    ¡¸H-Hello there, Rei¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    W-Why the silent treatment all of a sudden? The way Rei was behaving right now and the way in which she manhandled the Arctus Regalex just now made her look like some overly edgy boss character from a B-rate movie or game. And now it was even more ridiculous, because Arctus Regalex finally died, exploding into a geyser of polygons.

    The sight of Rei standing in the rain of red polygons that once made Arctus Regalex was so overwhelming and shocking that for a good moment out there none of knew how we were supposed to react to that. Just then Rei put the hammer back into her inventory, took a step back, and¡­¡­

    ¡¸I am truly¡­¡­ SO TERRIBLY SORRY!¡¹

    She bowed down so deeply that she almost hit the ground with her forehead.

    Oh, oh yeah. I guess I should say something here, right?

    ¡¸Oh, so I see I was right. You had some urgent business to take care of in real life.¡¹

    ¡¸I am so terribly sorry about that¡­¡­ I was unable to contact any of you for thest five days¡­¡­¡¹

    So it must mean that whatever it was that Rei was taking care of in real life, it must have been some serious business. Especially since it was making her unable to log in even for a moment and to read on the situation, even in the evenings or at night.

    On the other hand, once Rei rose her head and calmed herself down, I was able to ask her if she would like to participate together with us in the final battle on the seventh day here.

    ¡¸Yes, that would be great! Please let me do it! There¡¯s no problem with that!¡¹

    ¡¸I, I see.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, that¡¯s right. Obstacles¡­ all of them¡­¡­¡­¡­ I mean, I have taken care of everything that needed being taken care of.¡¹

    Oh, I see, that¡¯s cool. But although Rei¡¯s voice was the same as usual, a gentle female voice, for some reason her words just now made a chill run down my spine. I wonder what¡¯s up with that?

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Sanraku, I have a suggestion. May I?¡¹

    ¡¸Hm?¡¹

    ¡¸It seems that all of the yers have assembled here right now.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, that¡¯s right.¡¹

    ¡¸If so, why not challenge the fourth boss right here right now? There¡¯s nothing that would prevent us from doing so anymore.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Seriously?¡¹

    No, but that might actually be a really good idea. Because we do not know how long it¡¯s going to take us to defeat Kutanid, if we go to battle it toote, we might get forcefully evacuated from this underwater city if we run out of time.

    And it that is the case, then the proposition of going to fight the fourth boss a well as Kutanid right here right now is actually the best possible course of action.

    While I think about that, I take a look at the faces of all people gathered around me in this moment. After that, making a decision was only a matter of a few seconds.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ It¡¯s true that I want to have a go at Kutanid at best possible conditions for us. But at the same time I don¡¯t want us to go fight it as we are, without proper preparations. So here¡¯s what we are going to do: we go and we fight the fourth boss. If it takes us straight to Kutanid after its defeat -- then fuck it, that¡¯s what we are going to do. But if nothing happens, we are going to fight Kutanid during the seventh day, as early as possible. Any objections?¡¹

    There were no objections at all. And with the addition of Rei, our battle party was now officiallypleted. That being said, we went towards the fourth and the final tower where thest boss - ¡®Married Couple¡¯ - would await us¡­¡­

    How would you define a cripple?

    Nowadays it can very well be a term used to define a person who sacrifices every moment possible from the interactions with the real world on something else. In this sense: gaming.

    What is even a cripple?

    A cripple is someone who, willingly or not, has reached the maximum limits allowed by the system.

    What is even a cripple?

    As far as our strategy for this boss was concerned, I have decided to leave it all to that one person so that the others could see that she was the real deal. That should be more than enough to beat it.

    If so, then what is it that the cripples possess that makes them such a threat? Of course: it¡¯s brute power.

    ¡¸Physical attacks¡­¡­ Are hardly doing any damage here.¡¹

    There are three way in which you can activate magic in ShanFro.

    First in chanting the incantation and then releasing the spell that you have memorized within you. The number of spells that you can memorize is dependent on your skill levels. However, there are not all that many people in this game that can castplex or powerful spells one after another that way¡­¡­ And apparently the most mainstream way of spellcasting is to use spell books during battle, like the one that Mold has on him.

    Next we have casting the spell with omission of the chant, which is probably the most popr way of spellcasting in this game. Although the speed of spellcasting increases tremendously, the power of the spells will decrease ordingly. The one to use that method are hybrid of mages and warriors, who focus on the offense but do not possess stats that would allow them to utilize spells potential to their full extent.

    And finally, we have a proxy activation via a magic scroll. Although spells like that are weaker than normal ones, they can be cast by almost anyone, even a monkey, as long as they have enough MP to activate the spell. Generally speaking scrolls are best effective when using non-offensive spells, such as teleportation and the like.

    ¡¸¡®O the fierce me, grand roar of heat that dwells in the beast¡¯s throat. Thou art the great tusks of the beast that looms in the darkness. Violet eyes that stalks their prey, sends shivers down the spines and sinks the fangs of fear into the tender flesh. O the fierce me, be the grand beast and rage on! BEAST DOOM FLAIR!!!¡¹

    And there is also that. A technique that is ordingly called ¡®Complete Memorization¡¯. I don¡¯t know how some people manage to do that, but I know I would not be able to chant an incantation like that properly without biting my tongue at least once or mixing some of the words. Especially since some of them were repeating themselves quite often. And all that in the middle of the battlefield, with dangerous enemies being on our asses.

    The Oni Armor ces her hand over one of the faces of the ¡®Married Couple¡¯, and in the next moment a raging firestorm erupts from her hand. That firestorm takes shape of a huge fiery beast that will keep on raging about for as long as Rei¡¯s MP bar would allow it. It raises its mouth and lets out a grand roar, one that could surely heat up the atmosphere itself.

    In the next moment, the fiery beast sinks its fangs into the boss¡¯s upper half, almost splitting it in half. I see, so that kind of attack technically does not count as physical attack, so it gets the job done. With the extreme heat burning its body and evaporating it, the boss monster lets out a tremendous scream that reverberates throughout the arena.

    ¡¸It¡¯s really convenient that they are of one set¡­¡­ Emul, aim for the throat!¡¹

    ¡¸¡®MAGIC EDGE!!¡¯¡¹

    Emul¡¯s attack hit the ¡®husband¡¯ right where it should have, and as a result it stopped moving altogether. Then Emul fired another shot, this time aimed at the ¡®Wife¡¯s¡¯ throat. He transitioned to the next target so smoothly, as if he did not wanted to miss this opportunity.

    The icing on the cake was the magical arrow fired off by Rust, which managed to finish the job alongside Rei¡¯s fiery beast. All of thatbined, it was a force that was simply too much for the boss monster to handle.

    ¡¸Beware of the cripples.¡¹

    In the world of the MMORPGs, where everyone can proim that they are the protagonist of the story, there is only one thing that can be called absolute: power. And if there was one thing that could be called absolute power, it was the skill ¡®Maximum Firepower¡¯.

    And as to its efficiency¡­¡­ suffice to say that with the addition of only one person to our party, we managed to clear thatst boss WAY faster than the other three.

    And just like that, all of the four bosses - the Sea Kings - were defeated¡­¡­

 Chapter 195: Reaching the Heavens Part 1 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 195: Reaching the Heavens Part 1 Part 1</h4>

    Let me tell you this right now, to not keep you all in the dark: nothing of particr notice end up happening.

    Apparently there is no such thing in this game as automatic boss rush or anything remotely simr to that. That is why for the time being our team ended up disbanding, promising to meet up on thest, promised day¡­¡­ Until then we would all do our own preparations. Of course, those would be fairly limited as well, since because of Kutanid we were basically unable to get out of the underwater city as long as the clock was ticking away. Damn that stupid octopus.

    It also seems that the ce of the final battle would the blue pce right in the middle of the city. We all agreed that for the sake of caution none of us would dare to enter it before thest day. Surely I would like to test it, but since we had no information whatsoever, we decided it would be best for us all to enter that ce at once. And that was that: one castle siege on the seventh day, made by the teamposing of both yers and NPCs. Our goal: to make the giant octopus into seafood.

    ¡¸Ufuuh¡­¡­ ¡®Let¡¯s do our best on the seventh day, you all!¡¯ I know that I said that, but what exactly am I supposed to do until then? It¡¯s not like I can really progress with the game or anything.¡¹

    If I was already an adult, this would be considered to be a smoke break. But I¡¯m not, so that analogy does not really fit in here. But on the other hand, one of the biggest advantages of the VR games is that no matter how much alcohol you pour into yourself or how many cigarettes you smoke, they would literally have no effect on your body in real life. /by the way, cigarettes are avable in this game, but surprisingly enough they are considered to be healing items, one that restores your HP bit by bit as long as you keep smoking it. So if push came to shove, everyone in this game would turn into chain smokers.

    Well, it¡¯s all good that both alcohol and cigarettes can heal you in this game, but thates with a problem of its own: people¡¯s avatars in this game can wary in age from old people to little children. And we all know that the images of children drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes are really bad PR.

    ¡¸Hey, as long as no one is going to get sent to jail for drinking or smoking or gambling inside of the game¡­¡­¡¹

    My point of view on this is as follows: the smokeing from my mouth feels weird. The cigarettes in my fingers feels weirdly thin. By fingers holding onto it feel strangely numb. Not that I would know how would smoking feel in real life.

    In a sense, I think that sh*tty games sometimes better nail that feeling than godly games. For example: a survival game called ¡®Survival Gunman¡¯. It was a sh*tty game where you were stranded on a deserted ind with other people who were out there to get you. But even so, you¡¯d always have a gun on you, with precisely one bullet loaded into it. Not for anyone else, but for yourself.

    And for some reason, even though the online environment of the game was already closed, one could still ess it online. It was a sh*tty game, but it was also quite expensive and because of that it was hard for me to actually get rid of it¡­¡­ By the way, I managed to get my hands on it when I was in the second year of Junior High School.

    ¡¸How should I put it? It¡¯s been a whole since I havest breathed in that air.¡¹

    Right about now all of my memories of sh*tty games are being dominated by Sh*t Chronicles Online, but I was not going to let that fact stop me from jumping to other games without hesitation. Especially this one, since it was kind of life changing for me back then.

    Welp, that does not really matter all that much right now. The only thing that matters is that I havee here in anticipation of our battle against Kutanid. Just like I did with ¡®Crap¡¯ before confronting Gravekeeper Wezaemon.

    The main feature of this game is that humans are stranded on the deserted ind, a ce where they are at the very bottom of the food chain. You start with almost nothing, and you must scavenge and search for tools that would ensure your survival. Here, even insects can be of dual nature: some of them can restore your HP, but some of them can be poisonous. And if the whole flock attacks you at once, then you can be sure that you¡¯re going to end up dead on the spot. You are never the hunter here. You are always the one being hunted.

    But that being said, even if you have topete against other humans, they are not the ones you should be worried about. The ones that are the real danger here¡­¡­ Oho, it looks like it hase a little bit earlier than expected.

    ¡¸Hmm, Mutton, is it¡­¡­? It is fairly strong, but I¡¯d say that it is more than a fair opponent for a warm-up.¡¹

    This thing was huge. It had long fangs sticking out of its mouth, a muscr tail that was sweeping the ground, and a body that was all muscle with very little skin to it. It was causing trees to break and sway to the sides, and no ordinary weapon could hope to damage it in the least¡­¡­ A pig. Or in other words: Demonic Pig Mutton.

    By the way, there is no magic in this game. The only thing that can sound slightly magical or demonic are the names of the monsters you encounter here.

    I wonder what exactly is this monster? A pig? Or maybe a boar? Oh well, since this is only a sh*tty game, it shouldn¡¯t matter all that much.

    ¡¸It¡¯s only for a little bit, buddy, but keep mepany, why don¡¯t you?¡¹

    A handgun with a suppressor attached to the barrel. It¡¯s not nearly as powerful as let¡¯s say magnum, but this little guy has saved my life when I was in a pinch more times than I could possibly count.

    ¡¸Now then, let¡¯s see what you¡¯ve got! But you can me only yourself when I cut you to pieces and burn you over a bonfire until you turn into a well-done meat!¡¹

    In this game, basically anything can happen. A single enemy. A small number of enemies. Mild number of enemies. A horde of enemies. And that is exactly what I want from here. This situation, this constant scenario of ¡®Monster VS Human¡¯ is what is going to prepare me for the uing battle with Kutanid. Or at least I hope it will. At the very least, I should get some know-how.

    ¡¸Now be a good beastie and drop dead!¡¹

    Let us have some delicious cutlets for lunch!

    ¡¸Ouch, ouch, ouch¡­¡­ I wonder if that new version will do something about muscle stiffness? Not that I would be able to afford it.¡¹

    As I got up from my bed I started to move my right shoulder around, trying to make the blood circte through it again. After I done that, I went down to the first floor.

    After I managed to deal with the pig, I went on to fight oversized owls and tigers in the ind¡¯s forest. The size of each monster was gigantic, and with each consecutive fight I could feel that my instinct of the predator was slowly starting to get back to me.

    Yes, it was alling back. Soon, I won¡¯t perceive those monsters as monsters any longer, they shall be nothing more but moving target practice. Ahh, this takes me back to the good old days when I was active in ¡®SuvaGun¡¯.

    ¡¸Pork cutlets deliver¡­¡­ Oh, there it is.¡¹

    Moderna day Japan where you can order anything and have it delivered to your house with just one click of a button from your phone is simply the best. I ce my order¡­¡­

    DING DONG!

    ¡¸It took them one second to actually deliver it!?¡¹

    If so, that would be setting a new world record for food delivery time attack¡­¡­ As if something like that would even exist, what the hell is going on here?

    Dad has gone off-shore fishing with a fishing buddy that he met recently. And Mom went to the World¡¯s Insect Exhibition to witness some kind of a rare species of beetle there.

    As for Rumi¡­¡­ Rumi was currently going through some setbacks with one of her modeling jobs, and asking her about it would be like sprinkling gasoline all over a raging fire. So whatever it was, she needed to deal with it on her own.

 Chapter 195: Reaching the Heavens Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 195: Reaching the Heavens Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Yes?¡¹

    ¡¸Hello, I have a package to deliver.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, please wait just a moment.¡¹

    A package? Did Rumi ordered some clothes again? Or maybe Dad ordered a new set of fishing rods? Please don¡¯t tell me that Mom ordered a new set of insects specimens¡­¡­? Are we going to redo this whole ¡®World¡¯s Moth Selection¡¯ horror we have been through this early spring? The horrifying possibility was always there, but it did not make that much sense to me.

    ¡¸Ah, you can leave it there. It¡¯s no problem.¡¹

    ¡¸No, no, no, we¡¯ll have to carry it inside. It¡¯s quite big, after all.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Quite big?¡¹

    Looking behind the courier standing at the door, I could hear two more men talking to one another. One of them said ¡®Alright, lift it up!¡¯, followed by the noises of some huge package being taken off arge truck.

    The hell is this? A package that is sorge that two grown-up men need to carry it? What was in that package, anyways? Did mother buy a whole terrarium of some crap?

    I remember howst Christmas Mom tried to recreate a South American ecosystem around the house, but was blocked by the neighbors who were scared that some of her ¡®pets¡¯ might actually break loose all over the block. She was supposed to abandon that projectpletely, but what if she was working on it in secret all this time? No, Mom would never be so stupid to do something like that. Probably. ¡­¡­ That¡¯s right.

    ¡¸Umm, excuse me but¡­¡­ What is this package, anyway?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, yeas, it should be right here¡­¡­ ¡®To Hizutome Rakuro-sama.¡¯ ¡®UCE. Chair-Type Full Dive VR System Pro¡¯. That¡¯s what is says here. And I must say, it¡¯s the first time I see something like that being delivered to a private user, not some shop orpany¡­¡­ Umm, hello? Hello?¡¹

    ---- DUE TO A CRITICAL ERROR ¡®SANRAKU.EXE¡¯ HAS SHUT ITSELF DOWN.

    ---- RESTARTING ¡®SANRAKU.EXE¡¯.

    ---- ONE NEW UPDATE WAS DETECTED BY THE SYSTEM. ¡®SANRAKU.EXE¡¯ WILL RESTART UPON THE COMPLETITION OF THE UPDATE.

    ---- THE FUCK IS THIS?

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­ I don¡¯t want to be rude, but who actually sent this?¡¹

    ¡¸Hm? Oh, umm, one second, please¡­¡­ Cyber Battalion. Is the VR chair some sort of a prize for being a part of a professional gaming team?¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, I see. I see how it is. Now, please excuse me for a moment.¡¹

    ¡¸Umm, where would you like us to carry the package?¡¹

    ¡¸Please take it to my room, I mean onto the second floor. ¡­¡­ Sorry for the trouble. Yes, that¡¯s right.¡¹

    Right, as for me¡­¡­ I HAVE A SEVERAL QUESTIONS!

    Subject: Yo, what the fuck?

    From: Sanraku

    To: Modorokatsu

    Body: What the frick is that supposed to mean? What gives, dude?

    Subject: RE: Yo, what the fuck?

    From: Modorokatsu

    To: Sanraku

    Body: Nice attempt at Kansai dialect. Made meugh a bit. But it seems that the package has arrived.

    Subject: RE: RE: Yo, what the fuck?

    From: Sanraku

    To: Modorokatsu

    Body: Right, but what the hell is that supposed to me? And I¡¯m warning you, if they ask me to pay for this sh*t, I¡¯m going to sue your ass. Huh?

    Subject: RE: RE: RE:Yo, what the fuck?

    From: Modorokatsu

    To: Sanraku

    Body: For now, please try to calm down. Let¡¯s say that we have sent if for business purposes? Consider it a gift from our sponsors. A token of gratitude for a ¡®No Face¡¯ for participation in GGC. And it¡¯spletely free!

    Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: Yo, what the fuck?

    From: Sanraku

    To: Modorokatsu

    Body: You do realize that there is nothing scarier than a free gift, right? They are traps in waiting most of the time, aimed at making the life of the Main Character miserable. You can¡¯t even trust people¡¯s good intentions anymore these days!

    Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: Yo, what the fuck?

    From: Modorokatsu

    To: Sanraku

    Body: Please stop overthinking things to such an extent. No need to be on the lookout for traps everywhere at every moment. Why not stop for a minute and take a deep breath? How about this: consider this an investment on our part. Who knows? Maybe you¡¯ll get an official e-mail sometimeter?

    Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: Yo, what the fuck?

    From: Sanraku

    To: Modorokatsu

    Body: Anyways, how the hell do you even know where I live? I don¡¯t remember ever sharing my address with you.

    Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: Yo, what the fuck?

    From: Modorokatsu

    To: Sanraku

    Body: Ah, if you are wondering about that, it¡¯s simple really. All I had to do was to ask Pencil Warrior in my spare time.

    Subject: You BITCH ------!!!

    From: Sanraku

    To: Pencil Warrior

    Body: I¡¯LL SUE YOUR FUCKING ASS ----!!!

    Subject: RE: You BITCH ------!!!

    From: Pencil Warrior

    To: Sanraku

    Body: Why, it¡¯s good to hear from you, too. Besides, why are you so angry? Shouldn¡¯t you actually be happy about it? And rest assured, I have made sure that your private information were kept strictly confidential. Probably.

    Subject: You Guys, I just Can¡¯t Even¡­¡­

    From: Sanraku

    To: Pencil Warrior, Modorokatsu

    Body: Think about my feelings for once! What do you want me to do if all of a sudden a package like that arrives at my doorstep!?

    Subject: RE: You Guys, I Just Can¡¯t Even¡­¡­

    From: Pencil Warrior

    To: Sanraku

    Body: Anyways, today¡¯s supper seems to be especially delicious.

    Subject: RE: You Guys, I Just Can¡¯t Even¡­¡­

    From: Modorokatsu

    To: Sanraku

    Body: Smile, my dear Sanraku. You are never fully dressed without a smile, you know?

    ¡¸Those stupid bastards¡­¡­!¡¹

    Isn¡¯t that your private information are legally protected!? Have they all went and forgotten all about that?

    Oh well¡­¡­ I would be lying if I said that the contents of this package was not making me feel happy, at the very least. At the very least, it made that three days and three nights trip to GGC all worth my while. Umm¡­¡­

    ¡¸Would you like to open it here, right now?¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, no, that¡¯s alright. I¡¯ll arrange it myselfter.¡¹

    ¡¸Right, now I just need you to authenticate it with your finger print, if you please¡­¡­¡¹

    In this day and age, fingerprint recognition can be used instead of ID when you order things online. So I pressed my thumb against the small device that was presented to me, and after a second or two of the data being loaded, the identification process was finallyplete.

    ¡¸Right, thatpletes it. Thank you very much.¡¹

    ¡¸Thanks a lot.¡¹

    Now, then¡­¡­ I see the courier off, lock the front door, take off my shoes and return to my room on the second floor. But now what? Receiving this thing is pretty much equivalent to being scouted by the same team that Katsu belongs to. And although he said to treat is as a gift¡­¡­ And I know that I have promised my family that I would go to University, but with this¡­¡­ This calls for a family meeting¡­¡­ No, more like family interrogation? More like family torture, I daresay.

    Though my thoughts were going into a pretty dark direction, my body was filling with excitement. With shaking hands I open up the cardboard box and take out the VR system that was inside.

    ¡¸Oh wow.¡¹

    I let out my voice from my throat. But that¡¯s weird. My voice sounded strange. As if it belonged to me, but at the same time it belonged to someone else entirely.

    ¡¸I feel like my hands won¡¯t stop shaking¡­¡­¡¹

    What emerged out of the box was the newest type of Chair Full Dive VR system. Machine parts of the device were covered with reinforced stic exterior, and there was a folder attached to it, with illustrations presenting both Cursed Prison and Prison Break inside of it. There was also one more file: an illustration of a mercenary wearing a metal pumpkin-like helmet with a logo with words ¡®No Face¡¯ written on it. Looking closely, the back rest also had a logo of Cyber Battalion engraved on it.

    Subject: Post Script

    From: Modorokatsu

    To: Sanraku

    Body: Those illustrations attached are the handiwork of the artist that designed the characters for the game. They are one of a kind, attached to only one specific VR system in the entire world.

    ¡¸It surely makes me happy, but¡­¡­ It makes me happy, but¡­¡­! Why does thatst line sounded more like a threat than anything else!?¡¹

    The moment I have found those illustration, it was like I just signed a pact with the Devil himself. I don¡¯t know how else I could be able to put it.

    ---- Ahh, but still.

    This thing will surelye in handy once the time to fight against Kutanid arrives.

 Chapter 196: Reaching the Heaven Part 2 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 196: Reaching the Heaven Part 2 Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Ah, even though the sequel has only been announced, and I can already feel that so many feelings are already overflowing.¡¹

    Originally it was a game that depopted quite fast because the demand to be able to clear the content on the frontlines was way too damn high, but you know how it is, right? When you announce a sequel to something, people really want to try the first title to see what all themotion is about. At least that¡¯s my take on it.

    The main entrance, usually full of evil res and intense aura due to intensepetitiveness even amongst friends, right about now was bursting with new yers and the overall atmosphere was much tamer. I get it, I totally get it. It is good to want to test your own limits against other yers, but being obsessive about it all the time is bad for your health. Sometimes a change of pace is what you really need.

    Receiving this business gift (not really a gift, more like a bribe) was really sudden, but since I got it the only thing I can do right now is to utilize it to its full potential. And since I thought that a machine of such high quality would be wasted on a mere sh*tty game, my choice for the first game to be run on the ¡®chair¡¯ was Nephilim Hollow.

    I could have chosen any other game, but there was not really all that much to the fact that Nephilim Hollow was my choice. Well, maybe a little bit. It¡¯s because I want to test something with Rust and Mold, but we shall see how it goes.

    ¡¸So, here goes my n.¡¹

    Because I have shifted from Survival Gunner to Nephilim Hollow, I should be able to have best possible conditions and achieve best possible results. No, I was sure I will be able to do just that.

    After briefly looking through the entrance, I realized that Rust and Mold were not here. Then I saw it on one of the monitors. Rust and Mold were fighting someone named Super Tama. Both ¡®Phoenix¡¯ and an unfamiliar craft were locked in a fiercebat, with the skills of the pilots being roughly on the same level. At this rate, I do not think that ¡®Phoenix¡¯ would lose. Or maybe I shall be in for an unexpected surprise?

    ¡¸Now then¡­¡­ I will show you the fruits of the remodeling I was doing bit by bit all this time.¡¹

    Also, let¡¯s see just how much my performance is going to improve thanks to that new hardware I just got.

    I don¡¯t think that there is a bird with so many colors and that can achieve so much speed. A brand new Nephilim with wide palette of colors and wings added for an extra effect. Each of its disjointed parts had a different color, as if you just took different buckets of paint and sttered them all over the machine.

    Naming it in the same way would not sit right with me. It was too distinct from Kingfisher to simply inherit its name. And because of that, a different approach is needed. Let¡¯s name it in a way that is somewhat rted to Kingfisher, but at the same time different.

    ¡¸Well then¡­¡­ Let your wings flutter, Collossus Lc!¡¹

    This is going to be my revenge for that one time with Kingfisher.

    Just as I predicted, Rust ended up shutting down Super Tama¡¯s craft and right after that I have issued a challenge to her. And just like I expected, the eptance came almost right after that, probably because Rust took the bait seeing that the name of my craft was different from thest time.

    The only downside of official matches is that you cannot chat with the other yer. It is a feature that is only avable in custom matches between friends. However, judging from the way that ¡®Phoenix¡¯ rushed towards me the first thing after the signal to fight was given, I¡¯d say that Rust was more than motivated enough to do this thing.

    ¡¸Good, no escaping or hiding this time around!¡¹

    Shoulder des, arms, shoulders, legs and hips. Except for a pair of handheld portable des dubbed ¡®Totsuka¡¯, every single part of this frame is equipped with propulsion boosters, and if youbine it with the basic boosters that gives you fourteen propulsion boosters in total. That¡¯s a lot of propulsion power.

    This frame haspletely abandoned any form of long-distancebat in favor of maneuverability, all so that it could make sharp turns, close the distance between itself and the opponent and then devastate it with two portable des in its hands. Someone might think that this is a disadvantage, but there is no such thing as aplete disadvantage in this game. I¡¯d say that this frame is even stronger unit than Kingfisher was.

    ¡¸And check this out! This is what I can use right now!¡¹

    I ignite fourth, fifth, eleventh and fourteenth booster. Do a quick triple axel in the air¡­¡­ and as a result my frame avoids ¡®Phonenix¡¯s¡¯ charge and manages tond safely behind its back. ¡®Phoenix¡¯ was quick on the uptake and started to move in order to attack me, but it was too slow.

    However, I have already ignited third, seventh, eight and thirteenth booster. Keeping the momentum created by the Triple Axel, I start to spin around while swinging my des, which results in me managing to cut off the ¡®Phonenix¡¯s¡¯ arm.

    Fuhahahaha! Did you see that, Rust!? Did you see that, Mold!? You may have won against my Kingfisher and Fiddler¡¯s Club, but make no mistake! I have the power now! And because this new chair, I¡¯m practically invincible! You¡¯ll never beat me!

    If the Scarlet Wings and asymmetrically-ced boosters allow you to perform irregr maneuvers, then this should be something like super-ultra¡­¡­ With this much flexibility and booster power I should be able to go even further beyond with no problem! Fufufufu, now that is the level of agility that I can put behind! However, need to remember to keep the maneuvers real, because no amount of processing power and tech specs could make impossible possible!

    With the headgear console, the processing power was always too slow and the input would often end up not keeping up with what was actually going on at the screen. So while you were rolling around in mid-air, you always had like thirty percent chance of actually crushing into the side of the building. But with the additional processing power that I have acquired¡­¡­ I¡¯d say that this number went down way below twenty percent! At least!

    ¡¸Normally it would be hard to move in an environment like that, but¡­¡­ Nephilims can even break dance in the air if need be!¡¹

    Now let¡¯s try this full 3D maneuverability that I have heard so much about! Just like those annoying mosquitoes or dragonflies, I fold my wings and¡­¡­

    ¡¸Ah, mistake with controls¡­¡­ Gbeh!¡¹

    I was thinking¡­¡­ Concrete that makes up walls of the buildings are such tsunderes. Because no matter what you do and how much affection you shower them with, they always cause you harm, treat you poorly and never reciprocate your feelings.

    ¡¸Uhh¡­¡­ I feel like driniking a sake of victory right now¡­¡­ Straight out of the barrel, baby!!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­!!! ¡­¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    Even though Rust was constantly trying to hit or punch me, however I was not going to give her the satisfaction of doing that. No, no, no, can you feel it? That anger and frustration? How does it feel? Better savor that feeling while you can. However, this marks the vengeance for Kingfisher¡¯s shaming as officiallyplete!

    ¡¸Ugh¡­¡­ I was so close, I could feel it! And that fact makes it so god damn frustrating!!! What even is this thing, this Collosal Lc, anyway!? ¡­¡­¡­ I need a fucking drink right noooooow~~~~~~.¡¹

    Wait, wait, wait! Stop! Could you just stop it for a moment!? That¡¯s dangerous! And moreover, what else can I possibly say here? The more speed and momentum I umte, the more the probability of delivering devastatingly powerful attacks!

    ¡¸One more! I want one more duel!¡¹

    ¡¸No way¡­¡­ Do you have any idea how taxing moves like that on you? I can¡¯t do a couple of battles in a row!¡¹

 Chapter 196: Reaching the Heaven Part 2 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 196: Reaching the Heaven Part 2 Part 2</h4>

    Above all else, that crazy maneuvering it¡¯s the source of the damage of this frame. It is really taxing for the ¡®body¡¯, but this is the optimal build. And believe me, I have tried many different, even moreplicated builds andbinations of acrobatics and eleration, but the moreplex you go the morepromises you have to make.

    ¡¸But still, who would have thought that you could pull off such crazy moves in this game¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Actually, I have changed my current VR system for a newer one, so that might be the reason why.¡¹

    ¡¸Could it be, a business-purpose one?¡¹

    When I nod my head, Mold opens his eyes wide in surprise. Mold then wrapped his hands around his sides and crouched on the ground, looking as though his stomach suddenly started to hurt. At the same time his expression was something alongside the lines of ¡®It¡¯s unfair that technical specifications give you advantage!¡¯. You sure you want to act like that, Mold? I am fairly sure that soon enough you shall reach this game¡¯s allowed pain threshold.

    ¡¸Yeah, I set this thing up for a test drive, but as you can see, this horsie tends to be too rowdy at times. And I cannot have that. ¡­¡­ Since I¡¯m a bird and all that.¡¹

    ¡¸Pufuh¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku, could you please stop turning Mold into a useless person with yourme jokes? It¡¯s really inconvenient.¡¹

    ¡¸And how is that my fault?¡¹

    ¡¸It would be bad if he remembered one of your jokes while navigating and made a mistake as a result.¡¹

    Saying that Rust sulks her shoulders down, apparently giving up on the idea of having a rematch, at least for today. All around us I could hear people talking in excited voices, discussing new strategies and possibilities. Something in my gut tells me that boosters and thrusters are going to be bought en-masse around here in the nearby future, with people being inspired by the battle they have witnessed on the screen¡­¡­ But all of that was making me feel kind of enthusiastic as well.

    ¡¸Honestly, I am still not entirely sure if this moment right is not a dream.¡¹

    ¡¸It may very well be.¡¹

    ¡¸I might have been lucky to be able to catch a blue bird here.¡¹

    ¡¸And what is that supposed to mean?¡¹

    ¡¸You see, I really love this game. I think that if I were about to die, this game would probably be thest thing that would ever cross my mind. And for this game, the appearance of Kingfisher seemed like some sort of a turning point to me¡­¡­ At least I think so.¡¹

    ¡¸Okay, but I repeat: what is that supposed to mean?¡¹

    A coincidence is nothing more than that, a coincidence. The fact that a ck cat crosses your path does not necessarily mean that you¡¯re going to be struck with misfortune every single time. Oh yeah, while we¡¯re being at it, I should probably ask Rust about it.

    ¡¸Hey, Rust. Since the sequel to Nephilim Hollow has been announced, does that mean you are going to stop ying ShanFro?¡¹

    It would be great if Rust wanted to focus all of her efforts on one single game, and if that game is going to be Nephilim Hollow and not ShanFro, I have no right to convince her otherwise. However, my contract with Rust and Mold still stands. To show them Mechas in ShanFro. I would absolutely hate it if the two of them left Shanfro without achieving that goal.

    ¡¸I¡¯m still on the fece when ites to ShanFro, but¡­¡­ I¡¯m definitely going to stick with NephHoll. What is this ck Doll thinking, using ShanFro system for such a depopted game? Idiots,plete and utter idiots, and I¡¯m going to follow them for the rest of my life¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Eh, seriously?¡¹

    ShanFro system is a system derived from the game that implemented it first, which is ShangriLa Frontier¡­¡­ In other words, a system that allows to create a virtual reality that is crazy simr to reality. ording to Rust, this Balck Doll person, who is the head of the Nephilim Hollow project as well as the person responsible for the marketing of the product, announced that they will be incorporating ShanFro system into the sequel, since there is no better game than Nephilim Hollow to utilize the system to its full potential. And using an already existing system instead of making a whole new one would also cut the costs and development time tremendously.

    I see how it is. One does not need to have an open world game when using a system like that. You can only create one city like in Gxia Heroes: Chaos, or even a single region instead of a whole new world. After that it is mostly a matter of managing your resources in a creative way. And if you manage to do it all just right, you can even create a high speed mechabat game that could potentially turn the whole industry upside down.

    With that thought in mind, I do really think that Rust is lucky. After all, despite the low yerbase her favorite game is receiving a sequel. This only goes to show that the developers and publishers see the potential this game still has. Often it is that no matter how popr the game, if the higher-ups won¡¯t make a decision there will be no sequels, and eventually the game will depopte and fade into oblivion.

    Personally, I do not mind that. Part of the reason is that some of my favorite games are those games that are already a thing of the past, but other reason is that getting a sequel does not guarantee that the game is going to be improved on. Moreover, the history of gaming industry knows a ton of cases where the further down the sequel hole a series went, the worse games it was starting to get. We¡¯ve seen it way too many times.

    That is why a sequel should be something more than just some upgraded mechanics and a number ¡®2¡¯ pped in the title. Being able to witness the birth of a sequel thanks to the ShanFro technology is a true privilege, especially for someone who had seen just how poorly that can end in the past. It also fills my heart with some truly mysterious feelings. And seeing how Rust and Mold were excited for that sequel, it makes me feel ever so slightly envious. For them, and for the new yers that are going to discover this game.

    ¡¸So, how about you, Sanraku¡­¡­ Are you going to buy it once ites out?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Would you like me not to buy it?¡¹

    ¡¸Buy it, don¡¯t buy it, it¡¯s entirely up to you. I cannot force you to do anything.¡¹

    It was at this moment that I realized something. Right now I was ying Nephilim Hollow as well. But what do I want to do with it?

    I think about that while looking at other yers gathered here. Do I really have to thanks Sh*t Chronicles Online for being right here, right now? It all started with me ying it and getting so irritated that it made me want to leave the sh*tty games behind forever. Then I started ying ShanFro, restarted ying Nephilim Hollow, hid my face and went on to fight foreign professional gamers¡­¡­ Suddenly all of my actions and my life were no longer feeling as if they belonged to me.

    ¡¸For the time being, I want to focus entirely on our battle against Kutanid. I can focus on the unrealesed sequel to some other gamester. We start our battle tomorrow, so try to get a good night¡¯s rest and don¡¯t y too much, okay?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Of course. Besides, I need to get used to ShanFro¡¯s system even more in preparation for Nephilim Hollow 2. I¡¯m not going to let some stupid Kutanid beat me, and I will definitely ride those mechas.¡¹

    I could clearly see the mes of determination burning up in Rust¡¯s eyes. I knew it at that moment that I could count on her.

    ¡¸A bird¡­¡­ That is also a horse¡­¡­A horse? What¡¯s a horse¡­¡­ Puh, kukukukuku¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Stopughing all by yourself! It¡¯s creepy enough as it is!¡¹

    ¡¸I think that this time around it may be even more severe¡­¡­¡¹

 Chapter 197: Reaching the Heavens Part 3 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 197: Reaching the Heavens Part 3 Part 1</h4>

    There is an old saying in this world: ¡®Time and tide wait for no man¡¯.

    It means more or less that you should always use Light Magic and Dark Magic as soon as you can, because they are crazy powerful and keeping them away is not going to help you in any sort of way. And if you run out of them, just use Fire Magic instead, since it is as good if not even more destructive. Things may wary when you apply magic to attacks, because then using Fire Magic inbination with let¡¯s say arrows is a sign of being pure evil, but hey you won¡¯t hear meining. Not in the least. Not when you could easily be a walking murder machine thanks to such tactics.

    Now, some tactics are way more OP than the others. Some of them might eventually get patched. Some of them might get you banned. Some of them might cause themunity to copse. But does that even matter? What should matter the most is the fact that you are having fun.

    All jokes aside, my oh my! Won¡¯t you just look at the time! We have entered the underwater city in the morning, so I assumed that the countdown would also reach zero in the morning. And it just so happens that the seventh day have just started.

    The time for our battle would span from the evening of the seventh day and end in the morning on the eighth day. That¡¯s when the countdown should end. In other words, I expect our battle tost all night long. That way we could all be sure that nothing urgentes up, as well as ensure that Rei, Rust and Mold would be able to participate without any interruptions. It was truly the best time ever for some hardcore quest conquest.

    The more important matter is the ck cardboard box that is right in front of me.

    ¡¸It¡¯s finally here¡­¡­? No, wait, why the hell is it here in the first ce¡­¡­?¡¹

    On that day at the GGC I have met a mysterious person in ck hoodie at the food court, a person who imed himself to be an employee of the Gatling Drumpany, the manufacturer of Riot Blood. Although I am sure it was nothing more but a polite business opportunity, I ended up with an ¡®assortment of Riot Blood¡¯ being sent to me as a thank you for promoting the Riot Blood during the GGC.

    But here¡¯s the thing: I do not remember actually sending them my address. But my guess is that Katsu must have leaked some of the info again. Hooray for privacy, right? That, and the fact that it arrived via mail in a pitch-ck box made me feel some truly nasty ult winds, ones that should have been extinct in this day and age of reason and science. Even though it is the middle of summer, I shudder as a huge chill runs up my spine.

    ¡¸Unlimited, Undead, Backdraft, Quantum, Tonight¡­¡­ Hm?¡¹

    Orange can? But if memory serves me correctly, Blood Riot does not have any imprints on their cans and they onlye in five variants¡­¡­ Is this a prototype product, or something?

    ¡¸Riot Blood Revolving Lantern¡­¡­?¡¹

    Revolve¡­¡­ Rotate¡­¡­ Lantern¡­¡­ Light¡­¡­ Running light! Even though it could have been a misprint, no one would ever willingly name their product like that! No matter how you look at that, that¡¯s way too sinister of a name!

    Moreover, if you look at the design on the can, the person holding the logo of Riot Blood is a person holding a metal pumpkin-head helmet in its right hand and a burningntern in its left hand. No. No, no, no, no¡­¡­ It has not even been a week since the end of GGC. Why would they even¡­¡­ No, no, no, calm down, me! I¡¯m sure that this is just a coincidence. What¡¯s the probability of something like that actually being true? Less than one percent, that what it is!

    ¡¸It¡¯s a free sample, right? ¡­¡­ What¡¯s this? What do we have here?¡¹

    ¡°Riot Blood Revolving Lantern is a trial product still in the test phase developed by ourpany to meet the demands of clients who need maximum amount of concentration in short amount of time. Although its effects are rtively short,sting for only thirty minutes to one hour, we can guarantee that a boost of energy is going to be so big that not even a sleeping pill will be able to offset its effects. ¡­¡­ Think this is a joke?¡±

    Calm down, my left arm! It is far too early for you to unconsciously try to reach out for my phone and dial a number for Police.

    Even though the name of this thing is shady as hell and the caffeine amount is huge enough to knock you off your feet, there is just no way that an officially registeredpany would produce something hazardous to health, right? So calm down, hand off that dial! Don¡¯t you dare to press that ¡®connect¡¯ button!

    ¡¸What about the ingredients¡­¡­? Oh wow, isn¡¯t the amount of that simply a health hazard? And why are there so few of them? Isn¡¯t it illegal now to conceal some of the ingredients for a stuff like that?¡¹

    You may be wondering why am I so wary of a mere energy drink? That is because Riot Blood must be consumed with utmost care, unless you want to suffer some terrible consequences. It is said that if you mix energy drinks with alcohol you get drunk faster, but when ites to Riot Blood, the most hardened veterans of alcohol-drinking were downright knocked out cold after mixing their favorite liquors with Riot Blood.

    A free samples from a renowned manufacturer¡­¡­ and consisting of products that are not officially listed on their website to boot. This must mean that I am probably the first general consumer ever to receive such a thing. I must drink it with utmost care.

    ¡¸Oh well, for now I might as well give it a try and we¡¯re going to worry about other thingster, when we actually have time to worry about them.¡¹

    I am sure that my performance is going to go up significantly for those couple of hours, but the real problem for the future is going to be limited shipping if it turns out to be good.

    A few hourster I get my act together and leave the problems of reality in the real world.

    Now it was time for us to log in to ShanFro and go to the pce in the center of the underwater city, where the rest of the Kutanid Extermination Squad should have converged by now. I have also decided to drink that energy drink beforehand, so it should start to kick in into my system soon enough¡­¡­ Now, I do not know if it was the fault of the Riot Blood Revolving Lantern¡¯s or not, but for some strange reason the edges of my field of view felt somewhat blurry and as if some strange symbols were appearing there from time to time.

 Chapter 197: Reaching the Heavens Part 3 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 197: Reaching the Heavens Part 3 Part 2</h4>

    ¡­¡­ Curiosity, no. More like super anxiety. And even though many people would surely get scared and seal the Riot Blood away for good and never again have a taste of it, I wasn¡¯t going to let something as simple as fear to take over me. No matter how dangerous of a substance, as long as it can give me the advantage I desire I shall pour it into my system no problem. But what is courage when you are the only one doing something? It would feel a whole lot better if others beside me were also drinking it, so we could all experience this (or suffer) together.

    ¡¸I mean, if we want to challenge someone who can y around and reverse even the concepts of life and death, shouldn¡¯t we be prepared to put our lives on the line as well? ¡­¡­ Yeah, not really. Must y it safe.¡¹

    In other words, in the end I chickened out and did not dare to try Revolving Lantern for this specific fight. Instead I have chosen another product that was sent to me, called ¡®Riot Blood Undead¡¯, mainly because of its design and the catchy catchphrase: ¡®Will make even the dead raise up again!¡¯

    ¡¸Ugh, but it tastes like a freaking toothpaste.¡¹

    Now, I feel like the mint-vor lovers from all over the world would p me mercilessly across the face for saying something like that. But if you are someone like me, who is on pretty neutral ground when ites to mint-vor, the only thing you can do here is to suck it up and deal with it. Besides, it¡¯s not so bad. The taste could have always been something much worse, so tooth-paste is not actually all that bad.

    ¡¸Alright! Caffeine intake officiallyplete!¡¹

    What a shame, Kutanid my boy. Even if you somehow manage to kill me, the caffeine flowing in my veins shall animate my body forward so that it can still kick your ass.

    ¡¸Now then, Rei is the only one who still needs to get here.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, I am so terribly sorry¡­¡­ It looks like I have made you wait for me once again.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, no, no, no. It¡¯s okay, really. We¡¯ve all gathered in here just now, so it¡¯s really fine.¡¹

    Akitsu Akane and Mold logged in a little bit earlier than the others so that they could gather some items from the fishmen around town. I also came in earlier and hunted some of the wrecks at the graveyard for items and gold, but it was all more of a time-killing thing rather than being earlier for the meet-up.

    Rust also came on time, but it was then that we learned that it was only because Mold logged out and checked on her. If it was not for that, she would have certainly overslept.

    All NPCs were already present and what do you know? Straude is also here. What¡¯s more, there was no longer any sight of fear in his eyes. Instead, he was holding onto his father¡¯s cuss and his eyes were filled with determination. Apparently he must have had a change of heart while I was away.

    ¡¸Now then, since we are all here, it is time for us to venture into the castle and get this thing rolling¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku, I have a suggestion.¡¹

    ¡¸What is it, Rust?¡¹

    ¡¸Since we are doing this thing, don¡¯t you think that it would be nice to have a squad name? A strategy name would also add to the experience.¡¹

    Personally I do not care all that much, but if others think that this is a good idea, then I am not going toin. None of the above things are connected to stats boosts in any way, but a boost in morale is not something that should be underestimated. Not to mention that a thing like that creates a sense of bond and belonging, making you feel as if you¡¯re truly a part of the group and something bigger.

    Might as well spare a minute or two to get this done. After all, it¡¯s not like Kutanid is going to go anywhere. For that exact reason, the expedition into the castle was momentarily postponed in favor of picking up the names for ourselves.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ We should name ourselves ¡®Team Let¡¯s Survive!¡¯ and the name of our strategy should be Operation Sunrise. Yeah, that sounds good.¡¹

    ¡¸Rust, my dear, team name does not have much meaning if you try and make it into a sentence. How about ¡®Team Octopus Hunter¡¯? And the strategy is Kutanid¡¯s Demise¡­¡­ too simple?¡¹

    ¡¸Me! Me! Let me try! Team name should be ¡®Luls Expedition¡¯, and our strategy should be Solving the Mystery of Luls!¡¹

    ¡¸Uh, umm¡­¡­ Team name, umm¡­¡­ Hmm¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I really can¡¯t think of anything good on the spot, so I¡¯ll think I¡¯ll pass¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san, Sanraku-san, of course the team¡¯s name going to be ¡®Vorpal Assault¡¯. Am I right or am I right?¡¹

    ¡¸It does not stick well with anything in here, so forget about it.¡¹

    Screaming and crying are not going to help you here! But¡­¡­ Fufufu, I see that the time hase to astonish everyone with my masterful naming sense and prowess.

    ¡¸Team name is going to be ¡®Mortals¡¯, and our strategy will be called ¡®Stargazing¡¯.¡¹

    In this inverted city Kutanid is almost like a god trapped underwater. And we ground walking mortals want to trach it no matter what. We are named ¡®Mortals¡¯ because our perspective differs from the omniscient and powerful gods. And Stargazing because we fight to return to the surface and see the normal sky¡­¡­ It¡¯s a win-win, no matter how you look at it.

    ¡¸I think that the team¡¯s name is good, but the name of the strategy sucks.¡¹

    ¡¸Besides, stargazing? And is that thing that falls here truly a marine snow? I somewhat doubt that.¡¹

    ¡¸Akitsu Akane¡­¡­ Listen man, you can¡¯t take everything literally. What is meant by ¡®Stargazing¡¯ is the fact that we want to get out of here in order to gaze at the proper sky up above¡­¡­¡¹

    Finally, both name of the team and the n of action had been decided based on the vote. In democratic way.

    ¡¸Alright then, without any further ado, team ¡°Mortals¡± shall roll out! Operation ¡°Bring Down Kutanid of the Abyss¡± shall nowmence!¡¹

    People, fish people, Spirits, Vorpal Bunnies. Our group was all over the ce when ites to races, but the strong cheer that everyone let out in response to my words has shown that we were truly united and hell bent on emerging victorious.

 Chapter 198: Reaching the Heavens Part 4 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 198: Reaching the Heavens Part 4 Part 1</h4>

    Here¡¯s something to consider: what is actually required of the yers that are ying this game?

    Yo go around the maps. You sh and kill everything thates up to you and wants to kill you. You gain EXP points. Yay! Great! You level up as a result¡­¡­ It may seem really simple, almost like your typical Hack¡¯N¡¯sh games, but there is something more here¡­¡­ It¡¯s mystery. No, not quite mystery. There is a better word for it: it would be ¡®unknown¡¯.

    Let us take a certain situation as an example here: we have a suspension bridge. This suspension bridge is not in the greatest condition, as the ropes tying it all together are worn out and snapped in various ces, and the nks making the foothold are broken and moldy, with some of the nks hanging ominously on the ropes or downright missing. Now, even without thinking too hard about it, it does not take a genius to figure out that if you happen to sprint through the bridge you¡¯ll end up dead in no time, falling to the valley below you. If you want to safely arrive on the other side you need to inspect the ropes to see if they are going to hold the construction together and see if the nks won¡¯t just break under your weight or that you won¡¯t slip off from them.

    This here is a ¡®consideration¡¯ that needs to be applied. You need to approach situations like this like you would approach the jigsaw puzzle. Sure, you can guess what the picture is even with some of the pieces still missing, but you won¡¯t get the full picture that way and some crucial information could be omitted.

    In that case, what is the main theme of this Unique Scenario EX: ¡®Gazing at the Abyss, and the World Turns Around?¡¯

    ¡¸Don¡¯t you think something is bound to happen once we enter the castle?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ It would be wise, to assume that.¡¹

    The interior of the castle looked like your typical castle from various other games out there. The only exception here was the fact that it was all blue¡­¡­ and calling it ¡®typical¡¯ was maybe not all that urate, but it surely looked just like you would expect a castle to look like on the inside. Immiedietaly after entering we were all wary for traps or guardsing our way, but a few minutes have passed and the enemies were yet to be seen. Also, no rm has been risen so far.

    ¡¸Could it be that there is another dungeon inside of this ce? And this is merely the entrance?¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san! We have found a staircase! It goes both down and up!¡¹

    Oh wow, just what you would expect from a shinobi assigned to do some reconnaissance up ahead. But for now, instead of doing anything hasty, it would be best for us all to consider our options and deciding on a course of action before going anywhere further. However, the core dilemma remains here: bottom or the top of the stairs? Where is Kutanid of the Abyss lying in wait for us?

    When ites tomon sense, it would be natural to think that it is literally impossible to jam-pack a huge octopus-like monster on top of a European-looking castle. It would only seem logical to think that the only ce of hiding suitable for a monster like that would be underground. Then again, we have to remember that Kutanid is not a normal and simple monster, like any other. Its not even normal as far as Unique Monsters are concerned. It¡¯s more like a cheat monster. So it may be entirely possible that it is waiting for us right at the top of the castle thanks to some sort of a cheat-like ability.

    ¡¸For the time being, let¡¯s check all the rooms on this floor before proceeding upwards or downwards.¡¹

    ¡¸Want us to, split up?¡¹

    It was always wise to listen to Rust¡¯s words, and after some deliberation we have arrived at the following conclusion: it is highly unlikely that some drastic change is going to ur as long as we all remain on this floor, so as long as no one uses the stairs to go either up or down we should split up to cover more ground here. That way we should investigate the ground floor of the castle in no time. I have a strange feeling that upon entering this castle the type of the game that we y here has drastically changed. It feels as though every single action right about now will be like rolling a dice. But oh well, this is Unique Scenario EX we are talking about here. Unique Scenario Ex¡¯s dungeon, Unique Scenario EX¡¯s rules.

    ¡¸It is important that we search every nook and cranny in here. There may be some clues as the Kutanid itself hidden somewhere in here.¡¹

    ¡¸Look at that! The candles are all blue in here as well!¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, it seems as though this is nothing more but a vor for this entire location.¡¹

    I mean, if there was really something of importance in here, that would be something that would stand out, right? Like an item or something else like that. However, from experience I can tell that in RPGs the cement of items and key items can be random at best, as the most important or powerful items or equipment would often be hidden away in ces that you would never even think to look for them. I guess even though we are in the VR era of gaming, some things never change, huh? That is why I believe that ShanFro would not possibly take a shortcut like that and ce the all-important items at the mere entrance to the dungeon. That would be too easy.

    ¡¸Now then¡­¡­ It seems that our dear octopus wants us to go on a search for it. The question is: up or down? Where should we look first?¡¹

    Of course, being a team it was cast to a vote. And just like that, the majority of the team decided that we should first go down to the basement, and eventually work our way up floor by floor. We then moved towards the staircase that Akitsu Akane had discovered¡­¡­

    Yup, and here we go with a SAN check right from the get go. When we opened the door leading to a spacious chamber, there was a huge octopus-like creature waiting for us there, looking about ready to do battle.

    ¡¸Eh, wait just a moment! Say what!? A battle right from the get-go!?¡¹

    No, no, no! If you are going to set up such a grand stage and ce such grand door in here, then the least you can do is to allow us to properly enjoy it, take it all in! And it might be just my imagination, but is that an evil aura pouring from the chambers that are further ahead? Would you be so kind as to give us a save point here? This is totally like all those messages in the old RPGs, the ones telling you that you should save your game right about now, because you will not be able to do thatter.

 Chapter 198: Reaching the Heavens Part 4 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 198: Reaching the Heavens Part 4 Part 2</h4>

    This monster¡­¡­ It was an octopus as well, so it felt like meeting Kutanid all over again. It had a bald head¡­¡­ or more like a head-torso, surrounded by eight muscr and agile tentacles. It does not look twisted or menacing at all, it¡¯s just¡­¡­ It¡¯s just a normal octopus, albeit muchrger.

    The difference between the two is that Kutanid was jet-ck all over, while this thing only has ck tentacle. Also, four of the eight tentacles of this monster are being chained to the ground with thick chains. What¡¯s up with that?

    A machine warrior stylized after a samurai, a ck wolf that only attacks people in the dead of night, a golden dragon king (although that¡¯s just a spection)¡­¡­ Inparison to all of the above, this thing looked rather¡­¡­ normal. It was just an oversized octopus. Compared to that, even Weissash, a potential Unique Monster is moreplex than this. I feel that this thing is trying to act intimidating, but it was not doing all that great of a job at it.

    But no matter how hard I try, I cannot really feel even the slightest Kutanid vibe from this thing. Even Reaperorca from the city held much more boss potential than this thing. Is it because four of its tentacles were now shackled to the ground, pretty much unusable? At this rate it looks like we would be able to defeat this thing immediately¡­¡­ So why?

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Hey, Emul? What¡¯s your take on this guy?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯d say that¡¯s our opportunity to strike!¡¹

    Right, I see, I get it. But that¡¯s a terrible idea.

    ¡¸Everyone, listen up! For now we¡¯re retreating. We need to revise our strategy for now.¡¹

    Hearing me say that, Akitsu Akane, Emul, Sickle, Alva, Nereis and Straude looked at me as though I just said something crazy. With that one exception, all of them were NPCs, imagine that. They may not be convinced, but I was sure that Rust and Mold felt it too¡­¡­ That something in here was really not right.

    With the NPCs somewhat dragging behind, we slowly exited therge chamber through the same door we entered. I was Making sure that nothing would jump at us at anyst moment, and I was looking at the strange, Kutanid-resembling creature. It was dead in the center of a huge open space that looked like a baseball stadium, a creation that surely could not be natural. I was sure that an ability of some sort was used to create that space here.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ For now I would say that this get a ¡®passing grade¡¯.¡¹

    It might look as though we were running away, but I would like to call it more of a tactical retreat for now. And just before we left the chamber and the doors closed behind us, I thought that I saw something truly unnerving.

    I could see it in its eyes with a horizontally shaped pupil. If that thing had a mouth, its corners would most probably be arching upwards right about now¡­¡­ Yes, that¡¯s right. This thing was looking down on us andughing.

    ¡¸I¡¯ll be honest with you all: if we go in and challenge Kutanid right now, I don¡¯t think we would have a one hundred percent chance ofwinning.¡¹

    ¡¸But why!? If we all go together, surely we can¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Shut the fuck up, stupid sh*thead.¡¹

    BONK! With a pretty nice sound effect Straude kneels down while holding his head with his hands, and Rusts takes over the conversation.

    ¡¸Our opponent here is a Unique Monster, meaning a monster that is bound by the shackles of the story rted to it¡­¡­ And although it is bigger than us by a huge margin, I think we might have a chance at beating it¡­¡­ If it was not for that strange feeling.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah! Now that you mention it, there was surely something strange about it!¡¹

    Akitsu Akane, if nothing else I expected at least you to notice it as well¡­¡­ It is quite enviable to be able to immerse yourself with your character so much, but immersion is not what we currently need here. Or maybe not, it might actually be good, since we have someone who thinks a little bit outside of the box here.

    In the first ce, we humans are a very fragile creatures. If you get down to it, even insects are far better than us, since all that it takes to take us down is some damage or poison for that example. Talk about fragile. But at the same time we have something that other creatures do not possess: the ability to learn and boundaries ofmon sense. And it is thanks to that ability to learn that humans can discern something as ¡®within¡¯ or ¡®outside¡¯ of the boundaries ofmon knowledge, and be wary of anything like that if need be.

    But for all that we know, Kutanid has a way of surpassing even that. He can reverse anything, even reality itself. It is an ability that us mere humans cannot possibly hope to fight head-on just like that.

    So why would you all even think that we has a chance against an opponent like that? Especially since we have a Vorpal Bunny here, a creature that is crazy strong, but should cower in fear of any creature that tops it when ites to strength. Thinking about it calmly, the answer was more than clear here.

    Apparently it was the power that the first form of Kutanid possessed. If I were to call it in any kind of way, it would be ¡®Inversion of the Sense of Threat¡¯. It sounds stupid, but it was too urate to actually be just in my head. I was sure of it.

    ¡¸But you do know that it is technically possible to influence the yers in that way, don¡¯t you?¡¹

    ¡¸Mold, do you happen to know about the people who were arguing against the implementation of the VR technology when it was first being introduced? Do you know what their arguments were?¡¹

    Nowadays it is true that a Full Dive VR system has been widely epted by the general public, but it is also true that not everyone was on the wagon with the idea. There are those who tend to oppose the idea of VR invading their daily lives. There are also those, calling themselves ¡®Realists¡¯ who downright detest not only VR but all the forms of reality enhancing technology, arguing that it twists the perception of reality and tries to sell it as being better than the reality itself.

    And while some of their arguments make a decent amount of sense, the vast majority of them makes you want to go like: ¡®Well, maybe before you start yelling about the dangers of virtual reality, you should first go the psychiatric ward at your local hospital and get treated for differentiating between reality and fiction?¡¯ That being said, I do realize that not all realists are stupid. At least notpletely.

    Some of them also argue that it is harmful for the human mind to constantly distracting itself from reality and its problems with the problems and passions of the virtual reality. And I can certainly see that.

    ¡¸Speaking oof which, some people argue that a VR technology is nothing more but a glorified ¡®Electric chair, but in different shape. Sending electric shocks through the brain and stimting it in various ways outside of dreaming state is certainly not the healthies thing that you can do.¡¯¡¹

    ¡¸More details, if you please?¡¹

    ¡¸If you know your enemy well, and you know yourself just as well, even if you end up fighting a thousand battles you will always be okay. And if you can¡¯t find it in yourself to listen to what others have to say, then that means words are pretty much meaningless, am I right?¡¹

    Welp, not that I care all that much about that. But what I do care about is the system of ¡®electric signals flowing through the brain¡¯. I do believe that a certain guy once summarized it in a really nice way.

    ¡¸What you see, what you feel¡­¡­ It does not necessarily has to be true. Those may very well be malfunctions of the electric waves that are being sent to our brains. You can even think of it as that kind of state that you experience when you are dreaming or¡­¡­ Or you know what? Forget about eighty percent of what I just said right now. It¡¯s too scary of a concept to think about it that way.¡¹

    Now that Rust and Mold seemed to be in this at least half-way, I cannot help it but to try and approach the VR technology from a more of a philosophical side.

    ¡¸What I wanted to say here was that, it is technically not all that hard to ¡®misunderstand¡¯ the yer. And the yer to ¡®misunderstand¡¯ things as well.¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku, in this particr case I think that our overall situation is pretty much irrelevant. What we must do right now is to simply charge at Kutanid, we don¡¯t have any other choice. But the fact that we do not know his true form yet is not making it easier for us¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸A very concise conclusion, I must say. Thank you, Rust. I mean, this stupid sh*thead here¡­¡­ I mean, isn¡¯t it weird that a guy who¡¯s been hiding under a fucking bed for almost a weak is all ¡®I can do this! I can win!¡¯ all of a sudden like that!?¡¹

    Well now I¡¯m just full of regrets about all sorts of things¡­¡­ If I knew that such a crappy gimmick existed here in the first ce, I would have set the goal of attacking the castle on the very first day!

    Consideration¡­¡­ Yes, in order for the yers to clear any Unique Scenario EX, what is needed is a considerable amount of consideration.

    We have less than ten hours to find Kutanid, recognize what it can do, conjure a strategy and finally defeat it.

 Chapter 199: Reaching the Heavens Part 5 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 199: Reaching the Heavens Part 5 Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸With this type of bosses, it is not all that umon that there are some key items that serve the purpose of revealing its true appearances.¡¹

    What we were doing right about now was holding a special emergency meeting. Our Kutanid Extermination Squad was analyzing what we just learned and we were pondering our heads as to how to approach this problem. When Mold said the above words, I nodded my head in agreement.

    ¡¸Yeah, I have yed through a lot of games and in vast majority of them a thing like that was often present. Although it does not necessarily has to be an item. It can be a weapon, or some sort of specific magic, or literally anything.¡¹

    ¡¸So, does that mean we need to find that item? Roger that! On it!¡¹

    ¡¸Akitsu Akane, STAY!¡¹

    Over time we would surely figure out how to deal with this situation. However, I could very well understand Akitsu Akane¡¯s eagerness to act. Since his base profession was that of a Thief, he could explore the majority of this dungeon with fairly low probability of getting detected. He has the biggest chances of discovering the key item in question.

    Therefore, in order to utilize his talents to maximum, we need to send him to the ce where it would be the most probable to find the item in question.

    ¡¸Even though we have no proof to back that up, there is a high chance that we cannot defeat Kutanid as it is now. That is why we are holding this emergency strategy meeting right now. We must review what we know and agree on what to do next.

    Let us start with the basic information. What do we know about Unique Monster ¡®Kutanid of the Abyss¡¯.

    ¡¸Well, one thing that we know for sure, without any trick to it¡­¡­ It¡¯s an octopus. A huge octopus that made its nest here in the underwater city of Luls.¡¹

    ¡¸And most probably¡­¡­ Its special ability is the power to be able to reverse the nature of seemingly everything around it.¡¹

    It even manages to hold the principles of life and death in the palm of its hands¡­¡­ I mean tentacles. Itpletely depends on its mood, but it can rebuilt the destroyed city seemingly on a whim, as well as cook all of the living fish around the town into rotten sushi. And that is without mentioning its ability to turn people into fish zombies. Let us not forget about that.

    Just like Rei mentioned, its ability is ¡®Inversion¡¯. It is a powerful ability that managed to even sink an entire ind and city to the very bottom of the ocean.

    Since it is a Unique Monster, it would only be natural for it to possess some sort of magical abilities, but at the same time it is quite impossible for its physical abilities to be low. I mean, with body this big, it could easily steamroll us all into pancakes just by walking all over us.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ At the very least, with our current information we do not know anything about Kutanid¡¯s possible weaknesses, or any means of inflicting huge damage to it.¡¹

    ¡¸I would not say that, Rust. We do know SOMETHING. Did you look at its tentacles? Four of them were being chained to the ground. I think that by defeating the bosses of the four towers we managed to at least weaken Kutanid¡¯s battle potential, or maybe even seal away some of its abilities¡­¡­ Or at least it would be nice if it was something like that.¡¹

    Surprisingly enough it was Akitsu Akane who pointed that fact out to Rust, who still seemed to not get it. I mean, it should have been obvious from the start that those bosses would serve that kind of purpose, right?

    ¡¸It almost feels like Kutanid-san wanted to tie itself down. Like it was waiting for it to happen.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, that¡¯s exactly right.¡¹

    Four towers each located at the edge of the underwater city. Four boss monsters waiting inside of the towers. Their powers: magic nullification, physical attacks nullification, long distance attacks nullification, short distance nullification. Each boss monster held a different nasty ability that could severely impair the ystyle of the yers. Up until now we had no idea what would happen if we were to defeat them. But now at least that mystery seemed to have been resolved.

    Of that I can be sure: I have seen with my own eyes that four out of eight of that creature¡¯s tentacles has been chained down, their powers most probably sealed away. But the question still remained: why? I feel like we¡¯re missing something really important in here.

    And that¡¯s right. It can certainly be said that as for right now, all of the underwater city of Luls stays under Kutanid¡¯s direct control. Now then, this gives raise to another question: why would the boss monster of this whole ce set up a gimmick that would lower its own power and impair its battle potential?

    ¡¸It seems that normal logic cannot be quite applied to Kutanid. It¡¯s almost as if it was the irrational incarnate.¡¹

    ¡¸The good news here is that even though our dear Kutanid has a trap set up in ce, there should be something in this dungeon that serves as a key to that trap. Talk about a design w.¡¹

    Or was that supposed to be some sort of pity system? A way for the strong to let the weak at least have a sliver of a chance at fighting back? If that¡¯s the case, we definitely cannot lower our guard around this ce. We need to be cautious if we want to emerge victorious from this battle.

    It seems that our logic was partially wed here as well. Apparently destroying the four bosses of the towers around town was not a trigger for being able to fight Kutanid, but rather a gimmick used to weaken it battle potential. Apart from that, everything else seemed to be just like we managed to deduce it.

    ¡¸It¡¯s both good and bad thing that this game likes to keep things clean and proper. Even in challenging quests like that, we have to figure our ¡®why¡¯ and ¡®how¡¯ ourselves. No one is going to guide us by the hand.¡¹

    For now, we have way too few information about Kutanid, so we need to change our approach quite a bit here.

    We also have to consider the fact that was we saw there might not be Kutanid¡¯s real body¡­¡­ Or maybe that its real body was the underwater city Luls itself.

    ¡¸Underwater city Luls can be roughly divided into four sectors: shipwreck graveyard, towers, main city and the castle.¡¹

    Luls is ¡®inverted¡¯ city, which means that there was a time when everything around here was normal. I¡¯d say that both the castle and the town were made before the inversion took ce, and the towers and the shipwreck graveyard were added after the inversion took ce¡­¡­ At least that¡¯s what I think.

 Chapter 199: Reaching the Heavens Part 5 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 199: Reaching the Heavens Part 5 Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸I looked around the shipwrecks earlier, but I did not manage to find anything quest rted in there. And believe me, I was really thorough with my investigation.¡¹

    Sure, there was a whole lot of treasure and valuables in there, but none of them look appealing enough to be considered quest-rted.

    ¡¸What about the towers? Were there any clues there?¡¹

    ¡¸Nope. ¡­¡­ They were just like ice cream cones: empty on the inside. ¡­¡­ Mold, that was a serious metaphor, so noughing, if you please.¡¹

    ¡¸Ice cream cones¡­¡­ Fufufu¡­¡­ No, no, no! I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sorry!¡¹

    ¡¸If we start thinking about it like that, that would mean we would have to search the whole castle and town inch by inch!¡¹

    Let¡¯s not go back to the city. We would be searching all day for clues, and we have no guarantee whatsoever that we would be able to find anything at all.

    ¡¸So in the end, our only option is to search throughout this castle until we find something¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, we have to check every nook and cranny out, so might as well stay on the lookout for anything suspicious.¡¹

    What came after that was a few seconds of a very awkward silence.

    I don¡¯t know about anyone else, but for me that much was kind of an obvious ever since we first arrived here in this ce.

    ¡¸Now, let¡¯s take one more look around and start exploring! Be careful not to enter the basement, and let¡¯s search every single nook and cranny of this ce!¡¹

    ¡¸I know that I said that, but¡­¡­¡¹

    This whole castle is crazy big. It is so big that you can easily get lost in here. It that sense, it is more of abyrinth than a dungeon.

    What¡¯s more, since the general color scheme of this ce is blue, aside from the asional furniture all of the rooms in here look more or less the same. With that being said, the room we were currently in had a giant firece with blue mes burning inside of it. I turn towards Rei while looking around.

    ¡¸Hey, Rei? Found anything?¡¹

    ¡¸Not really¡­¡­ If not counting a decorative sword, I have nothing on my end.¡¹

    Rei shows me the decorative sword that was hanging on the wall. The sword looked truly decorative, and in real fight of swords and magics it would truly not be of much use. Plus, since Rei¡¯s current armor set was more Japanese-oriented, it did not really go too well with a Western-looking sword.

    ¡¸When we talk about clues for quests in castles, throne roomes to mind as the ce that should have some¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Does that me we rush to the throne room!?¡¹

    ¡¸Stay! STAY, god damn it! Kutanid is not going anywhere! We don¡¯t have to be in THAT much of a hurry!¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, sir!¡¹

    If you want to say something like that, you might as well start to call me Colonel Sanraku. That, or Brigadier General. Those titles sound really cool. Marshal? Not so much, it soundsme in my opinion.

    ¡¸I think that if we are on the lookout for something, it might as well be a diary. At least that would be the case in every other game that I have yed thus far.¡¹

    At the current moment, our team ¡®Mortals¡¯ divided into two separate teams that are on the lookout for any clues. It was only natural for Rust and Mold to be together in one team, so ¡®Team A¡¯ consisted of me, Rei, Akitsu Akane and Emul. It was more convenient that way.

    Sickle, Alva, Nereis and Straude were all part of the other team, if that was not obvious at that point in time.

    We were yet to find any clues in here, but my brain has been working full throttle all this time.

    What is the rtionship between Kutanid and Luls? I feel like this is the key to the mystery of this ce, a key that shall open the door to Kutanid¡¯s gimmick and bring us victory.

    In the first ce, this whole city may have been a normal ind with a city in the middle of it. Not underwater, but on the surface. And it was probably just that: a city, not a city-state. To be something like that, it should have been wayrger than it is now.

    And something must have happened to this city, there is no doubt about it. The destedndscape is more than enough of a proof.

    Siege, copse¡­¡­ There are many things such as that, and even gues and pandemics thate to mind, but none of that matters for the moment. Something happened here, then came Kutanid and did something else.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ As far as I can see it, if the city was attacked by a huge monster, shouldn¡¯t the damages be far greater?¡¹

    A devastated andpletely abandoned city. But if it was truly the working of Kutanid¡¯s invasion¡­¡­ Wouldn¡¯t the damages be way more severe?

    But even if he did end up leveling the whole city to the ground, shouldn¡¯t it be a piece of cake for Kutanid to bring it all back to normal and make it feel like brand new? So why would Kutanid choose to leave the city in this half-dested state¡­¡­? If it¡¯s a hobby, then surely it is a pretty twisted one.

    ¡¸There were certainly signs of life around this town when we were looking around earlier. But what could that possibly mean¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸They all perished, slowly¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, that is exactly it, Rei.¡¹

    Ara, is my role being snatched away from me right now? Oh well, doesn¡¯t matter all that much. I mean, it is always way more fun if more people manage to figure something out rather than arriving at the conclusion alone.

    Has the arrival of Kutanid caused a mass panic throughout the city? It certainly feel like the current residents of this city are not exactly the ones who were living here before.

    ¡¸More like this city getting destroyed in an instant by a huge cataclysm, doesn¡¯t it feel to you that it was more like a gradual disaster?¡¹

    ¡¸I can¡¯t help but to worry now. Alright, let us look into other room.¡¹

    ¡¸I understand! Just leave it to me to unlock it!¡¹

    At times like this, it was really convenient to have a Thief in our party. If it wasn¡¯t for Akitsu Akane here, we would have to open the lock the old fashioned, master key way (which means forcing the lock open with lots of violence).

    It was at that time that I have be aware of a particr detail on Akitsu Akane¡¯s fox mask. While he was already on his way to the next room, I realized that he had markings that looked like patterns carved directly on his skin¡­¡­ It was onlyter that I would learn that those were curse marks put on him by Siegwurm the Skylord.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ That.¡¹

    They say that the Devil will never use violence in order to obtain what he wants. But if indeed so, then what is the exchange that underwent between Kutanid and Luls?

    ¡¸It¡¯s a contract.¡¹

    Could it be that just like people making offering to the gods, the people of this town were making some sort of offerings to Kutanid?

    The answer to that question surely would await us somewhere around this castle.

 Chapter 200: Reaching the Heavens Part 6 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 200: Reaching the Heavens Part 6 Part 1</h4>

    A contract. A two sided transfer of merits to both parties involved. For paying the agreed price, you can obtain something that you were previouslycking.

    People of the underwater city Luls made a contract with Kutanid. So they had to give something to it. And what could they possibly obtain in return? That¡¯s the question.

    ¡¸If we want to get some answers for ourselves, our best bet is to look for them ourselves. No other choice but to explore the castle.¡¹

    ¡¸This, this is¡­¡­¡¹

    I guess this is it, we can only do that, since we currently have no other option.

    ¡¸A written report. Someone¡¯s diary or notes. Notes and report logs from an experiment. We look for anything that may resemble things like that.¡¹

    A medium like that is a nice tone setter. It helps to keep the suspense building up, and it adds vor to any horror-like setting. Nothing better than finding disturbing, blood-soaked notes. No matter the contents of said notes.

    In this kind of setting the usual suspect would be a monster breaking out of a secret undergroundboratory, or a military virus getting released outside by ident or on purpose. But no matter what happened here, we must get to know what it was if we want to have a chance at this fight.

    And what do you know? As luck would have it, our Team A managed to discover something. It was a diary alright, but we have found it not in the throne room as you would expect, but in the chamber that looked somewhat like an office or a study. At the same time Rust and her Team B ventured into the top floor of the castle.

    ¡¸Now then¡­¡­ Let¡¯s give this thing a read, shall we?¡¹

    ¡°I wonder? How long it¡¯s been since the arrival of the ¡®Blue¡¯ that brought with it the end of the ocean? At first it was only the cities in the West. Then the cities in the South had been all but swallowed up by it. Those who tried to fled from it on the ships ended up resting at the bottom of the ocean. Eventually, even this ind was devoured by ¡®Blue¡¯ and ended up erodingpletely.¡±

    ¡°And it was such a horrifying sight that it was more than enough to cast not only themon people into despair, but the entirety of the royal family as well.¡±

    What the hell is this!? Stop throwing new settings at us already! ¡®Blue? The hell is this whole ¡®Blue¡¯ thing all about!?

    ¡­¡­ No, no, no. Calm down, me. At least there are two crucial things that we have learned at this point. This ce was indeed an ind, and something managed to invade it, although it was not Kutanid.

    ¡°The streets are nowpletely overrun with ¡®Blue¡¯, and everyone and everything it touches bes the part of the ¡®Blue¡¯ as well.¡±

    ¡°Fortunately or unfortunately, we managed to evacuate most of the ministers and innocent civilians inside of the castle walls, giving all of them a temporal safe heaven. Not closing the castle gate on anyone in need of help is the least we can do in this time of despair.¡±

    ¡¸For now, I get the impression that the one who wrote that diary must have been a really good person¡­¡­ Let¡¯s see whates after that.¡¹

    ¡°I am terrified of this stalemate that¡¯s been going for so long now, but I cannot voice my worries and concerns to anyone, especially not the ministers.¡±

    ¡°With our regr attempts at driving the ¡®Blue¡¯ out of the city, we are constantly losing small number of soldiers. It is a loss, but at the very least with less soldiers we are able to provide amodation for more citizens. At this point in time, the castle walls were able to take in all of the remaining people from around the city.¡±

    ¡°Originally the number of citizens was way bigger than what we are down to now, but there is nothing that we can do to fend the ¡®Blue¡¯ off, and it is that exact powerlessness that I cannot absolutely forgive myself for. As it also turned out, no one from the immediate surroundings of the His Majesty knows how to address this current threat that is looming over us.¡±

    At first I thought that this ¡®Blue¡¯ thing might be some kind of foreign invader, but the more I read the more that seems not to be the case here.

    The person who wrote this¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know who it was, maybe some regr citizen or maybe one of the smartest people around here, but there were using the word ¡®Blue¡¯ in a singr form here rather than plural.

    Thinking about it for a moment, does that mean the ¡®Blue¡¯ is one huge singr entity? Or maybe it¡¯s just a concept of something? ¡­¡­ Could this really refer to Kutanid?

    ¡°It¡¯s really frustrating that we cannot do anything but to wait in here while the ¡®Blue¡¯ constantly besieges us. The fact that some of the ministers who fled the city by ships took most of our food supplies with them is not helping us, either.¡±

    ¡°Seeing as our current food and water reserves are not nearly enough to sustain hundreds of people every single day, I cannot help it but to think that our fate is to slowly wither away and die here.¡±

    ¡¸This pattern will always lead to infighting and the survivingmunity basically tearing each other apart from the inside as time goes on.¡¹

    ¡¸That being said, there is no evidence that supports the assumption that there was any fighting inside of the castle¡¯s walls.¡¹

    To sum up: once the invasion started, people have fled to the castle for safety, but there was no fighting amongst themselves. Rather, the most likely cause of their deaths was the fact that they died of starvation and dehydration, since a bunch of retarded ministers fled the city by ships, taking food and water with them for the ride. At least that¡¯s my understanding.

    ¡°A terrible storm happened today. The kind of storm that would normally take everything in its path and return it to the sea whence it came from. ¡°

    ¡°However, it is impossible to simply wash away the ¡®Blue¡¯, not now since it has taken roots so deep into the foundations of our city¡­¡­ At the very least, that¡¯s what I thought.¡±

    Hm? What¡¯s with that flow? It¡¯s as if¡­¡­

 Chapter 200: Reaching the Heavens Part 6 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 200: Reaching the Heavens Part 6 Part 2</h4>

    ¡°It appeared together with the stormy weather, swallowing up the ¡®Blue¡¯ that first emerged from the sea. I don¡¯t know how to describe that creature well, the one who managed to get rid of the scourge that would swallow up buildings, people, livestock and the space itself. The creature that got rid of ¡®Blue¡¯¡­¡­ The best way I can describe it would be the eight-headed dragon.¡±

    ¡¸Maybe this whole eight-headed dragon actually represents Kutanid, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸But Kutanid is actually an octopus, right?¡¹

    ¡¸If an octopus wiggles its tentacles hard enough, it just might seem like a dragon for those who are distressed or scared.¡¹

    ¡¸I see! It all makes sense now!¡¹

    No, no it does not. I mean, technically octopi does not have ¡®heads¡¯ per se, but you could still call it a head if you really wanted to.

    But as far as the diary¡¯s text was concerned, was Kutanid perhaps something like the savior of this city? It surely gave that kind of vibe.

    ¡°For us who were in dire need of salvation, it felt like the divine intervention of Gods themselves. Even if it would be even greater scourge than the ¡®Blue¡¯.¡±

    ¡°We were so overjoyed that ¡®Blue¡¯ was no more that we have failed to realize that the power of our savior was much worse and way more sinister inparison.¡±

    ¡°Finally, the ¡®Blue¡¯ was silenced, God has won. With the city no longer in danger, and people safe to leave, we ordered for the gates to be opened up after the longest of time.¡±

    ¡°Then we have knelt before our new God. Not because we were ordered to, but because we wanted to.¡±

    ¡¸S-Sequel! Give me the sequel! I¡¯m curious what in it, too!¡¹

    ¡¸Not that it interests me in the slightest, it¡¯s just for the information gathering¡­¡­ But I see that our dear Rei can¡¯t wait to see what will happen next. Just look how eager she looks to turn the page.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, ahahaha¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡°The God answered our prayers in his divine grace. And then the God spoke. My name is Kutanid, the one who resides over the Abyss. While not God himself, I wield divine powers.¡±

    ¡°In return for saving us, God wanted us to give up ournd in return.

    ¡¸I swear to God, if that¡¯s all there is to it, I¡¯m gonna startughing.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, that would certainly be a little¡­¡­¡¹

    The line here was really thin. I mean, I get it. Kutanid is really powerful. But that it exactly why he did not have to do things in such a roundabout way. Instead of toying with people and making them suffer, he could have spared them the pain and fear and offer help and demandpensation immediately.

    ¡°The God wants thisnd¡­¡­ This here Luls, but not its inhabitants. And in the wake of our infant-like ignorance, we the people asked God: will you drive us out of ournd?¡±

    ¡°However, God did not be angry with us, and answered: ¡®Blue¡¯ has permeated thisnd to its very core, so it is no longer suitable for humans to live in it. He said that ¡®Crazy Blue Horde¡¯ will eventually appear again here. Therefore this very ind needs to be returned to the bottom of the sea, whence it came from. If its destruction that you want, then I will let you continue to live your lives as you used to.¡±

    ¡­¡­ I wonder if Kutanid is the good guy in this story? And that whole ¡®Blue¡¯ thing was really starting to rub me off in the really wrong way.

    ¡°It is highly unlikely that anyone is ever going to read this diary, but nevertheless I am going to leave it here in this castle. It is the proof that there once existed the country of Luls, and that I was once its ruler.¡±

    ¡°The time we depart is near. We shall board the remaining ships and leave thisnd forever. As our thanks to God for salvation, this castle is going to be his cradle. The throne is embedded with new monument, an oath that passes the rite to rule thend. That was myst duty as a ruler.¡±

    This is it. That¡¯s probably the event g that we were looking for. A keystone ced on the throne by the ruler of this city¡­¡­ It probably has something to do with the fact that this whole ce got inverted.

    No matter how much you think about it you would never think that the whole city has something to do with the boss gimmick. Or rather, the item that would otherwise only be the symbol of the right to rule thisnd. That symbol should serve as the key to unraveling Kutanid¡¯s true form.

    ¡¸The question now is this: what do we do about that symbol?¡¹

    ¡¸Do we just break it like that?¡¹

    ¡¸No, let¡¯s not do that for now. For all that we know, there might be some other way to deal with it.¡¹

    The rest of the diary¡­¡­ Fuck, it ends there? I know, I know, it would be TOO good to have the whole story written here, but can¡¯t you just give us a little bit more?

    ¡¸At the very least we know where to go for now. Let us join with the Rust¡¯s group near the throne room and see what they managed to find.¡¹

    ¡¸Nothing here. How about over there? Any luck?¡¹

    ¡¸For the time being? No luck here as well.¡¹

    Before we actually knew it, we have spent so much time searching for clues to defeat Kutanid that the hour was already around 3:00 a.m. We were all prepard for grueling battle and possible exploration, but it was an undeniable fact that we were all fatigued.

    ¡¸Maybe we should all take a break really soon, but for now, let us exchange information. Team A managed to find some sort of a diary in the room that looked like office or a study. It mentioned that this city used to be an ind and mentions some sort of jewel in the throne room¡­¡­ And that¡¯s about it.¡¹

    ¡¸Team B actually encountered a monster at the top of the castle, and it dropped this when we killed it.¡¹

    While saying that, Rust pointed towards a piece of headgear that was resting on top of her head. It was a small, but intricately made crown. It also had some really conspicuous-looking empty spaces right in the middle of it, almost suggesting that there was something missing in there.

    ¡¸I don¡¯t¡­¡­ Actually think that it is irrelevant, but for now let¡¯s take a short break. I saw that some of the rooms in here had beds in it, so let¡¯s take that opportunity to log out and take an hour for a break.¡¹

    We still had time to search the throne room before actually starting our decisive battle against Kutanid.

 Chapter 201: Reaching for the Heavens Part 7 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 201: Reaching for the Heavens Part 7 Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Well then.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Oho, if it isn¡¯t Rei.¡¹

    I only wanted to log out in order to take another sip of Riot Blood and eat some snack real quick. I was always a part of the vanguard, so I was used to things like that. But surprisingly enough, once I logged back in I saw that Rei was already here as well.

    ¡¸Good morning. Or should I say I¡¯m back? Talk about a quick break, Rei.¡¹

    ¡¸L-Likewise¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Well, I just needed to eat something and recharge my batteries a little bit¡­¡­¡¹

    And then there was silence. That really awkward and nasty one. No, no, no, wait, wait! Think! Think about a topic that you can talk about! There has to be something! I mean, we¡¯ve been doing basically the same quest for almost a week now¡­¡­ Ah, I forgot. Rei was absent for most of that time.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Oh! That¡¯s it! I know!¡¹

    ¡¸Yes!? What is it!? What did you think of!?¡¹

    ¡¸I forgot their names already, but¡­¡­ That sword and armor you have been using all this time. Are you not going to use them anymore?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? Ah, umm, that¡¯s right! You see, the thing is, I wanted to change my image a little bit¡­¡­ Ah, but you are probably wondering if I am going to wear it for the final battle against Kutanid, right? Please, don¡¯t worry, I am going to wear it properly when the timees!¡¹

    ¡¸I, I see. So that¡¯s how it is.¡¹

    While we are on the subject, soon my Scorpion Gauntlets should be done charging as well. Thinking about it that way, the timing for us to be undertaking that quest and its climactic battle could not have been better in more ways than one.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    Well, that just sucks¡­¡­ Even though I tried my best to keep the conversation flowing, but still we have arrived at yet another awkward silence. With such low conversation skills, I should probably worry about my future love life. That, and I can already hear all those dating sims that I have yed in the pastugh at me.

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You know¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm?¡¹

    While I was going through the process of forcing my brain cells to work full throttle while thinking of a good conversation topic for us to partake in, it was Rei who actually spoke up to me first. That works for me as well, I am not going toin. So let us continue with the conversation from this point forward.

    ¡¸Umm, you see, the thing is¡­¡­ There is one thing I would like to ask you. If you don¡¯t mind me asking, that is.¡¹

    ¡¸As long as it is going to be something that I will be capable of answering.¡¹

    Rei then shakes slightly in her armor, and makes a weird sound. While wearing that particr suit of armor it made her seem like it was nothing more but the growling of a very angry and hungry beast. What, what was that reaction just now? Is this going to be one of those topics that¡¯s going to be really ufortable to answer? Or that I¡¯m going to regret ever agreeing to answer it in the first ce?

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­ It¡¯s about that Guild of yours¡­¡­ about the ¡®Travelling Wolfgang¡¯¡­¡­¡¹

    My brain, which is operating at a really high speed for the moment, makes a connection between Rei¡¯s current state and the words she just spoke just now. Based on all that information, there are few possible reasons why she wanted to ask me about that. Those possibilities are:

    AREN¡¯T YOU GETTING OVERLY CONFIDENT AND LUCKY RECENTLY? LOOKS LIKE I NEED TO CRUSH YOU.

    WHAT KIND OF INFORMATION ARE YOU HIDING? SPILL THE BEANS OR I¡¯LL CRUSH YOU WHERE YOU STAND.

    IT WILL BE QUITE A HASSLE IF YOU BECOME TOO OVERPOWERED LATER ON, SO I MIGHT AS WELL CRUSH YOU RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW, SO TO PREVENT THAT FROM HAPPENING.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Nnh, fuuuuuuhhhh¡­¡­¡¹

    When ites to pure yer skill, Rei should not be nearly as powerful as Silvia Goldberg, but she would easily make up for that with pure destructive power.

    However, this here is not a fighting game, and what makes the yer overpowered in here is not all skill dependent, but it is more thanks to the yer¡¯s stats. And in terms of stats, it is safe to assume that Rei more than surpasses Silvia Goldberg by a huge margin. Rei does not need to know how to jump or bounce around, how to chainbos and aim and shoot properly. In other words, what Rei may becking yer skill-wise, she can easily make up for that with sheer statsing from her weapons and armor, not to mention her destructive power lurking within her skills. And even if this does not guarantee her a perfect score, it more than enough gives her a passing grade. I bet that if she wanted to get rid of all of us right now, she would have absolutely no trouble with doing that, and she would not even break a sweat while being at it. That being said, even running away from her should be out of the question here¡­¡­

    ¡¸Um, ummm¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸If possible, can you use non-lethal force, I¡¯m begging you¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸???¡¹

    Hmm, what¡¯s this? I was sure that she was going to beat the living crap out of me and squeeze every single bit of information out of me that she could, but I guess that was not the case here? I mean, were her previous actions not just a form of intimidation, growling like that and shaking her armor, so simr to wild predator disying its full physical prowess to the poor prey it was stalking?

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­ You see¡­¡­ I was wonder if¡­¡­ right about now your guild¡­¡­ is maybe looking for new members to add to your ranks¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸New members?¡¹

    What the hell, it was all about recruiting new members? Please, don¡¯t scare me like that! I mean sure, having new members would be nice and all that, but there is just now way that our little guild could possibly be able topete with the top dogs of ShangriLa Frontier. Nope, not a chance.

 Chapter 201: Reaching for the Heavens Part 7 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 201: Reaching for the Heavens Part 7 Part 2</h4>

    I mean sure, I can brag about how I managed to clear a whole Unique Scenario EX in ShanFro with only three people, but I cannot say that the teamposition of that time was anything ordinary and normal. Quite the opposite, it was nothing else but deranged.

    There is only so much that our guild can do on our own, and it is only thanks to careful nning and strategizing. But that is only when quality is taken into consideration. If we were to participate in battles that involve sheer numbers of people, we would not be able to hold our ground not even for a moment.

    So what is the right answer here? Should I really be okay to say that every yer character in this party has already joined our guild, but Rei was the only exception?

    No, but still, is there really a reason to keep that knowledge away from her? Umu¡­¡­ Sh*t, no matter how many times I think about it, I always seem to arrive at the exact same conclusion. I wish Pencilgton was here, this sort of situation is something right up her alley!

    ¡¸Well, since we are freshly formed guild, I guess that there are still some ces that are open. I mean, it¡¯s not like people are dying to join our ranks or anything like that¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Is, is that so¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Umm, but why would want to know about something like that in the first ce?¡¹

    Oh, it¡¯s here! It¡¯s finally here! Now I have gone and done it!

    One of the greatest taboos of video gaming. Asking your enemy or rival for an answer to a mystery that you were supposed to figure out entirely on your own. In general it is something which can result in annoyance, reversing the bonds you¡¯ve managed to forge with that person and in some cases even death resulting the other party feeling tremendously offended.

    However, this is the interpersonal matter here! I can always lie my way out of this by just saying that I was curious why would she even ask about it in the first ce! It is perfectly normal question! Nothing weird about it! Even someone like me can easily do it! And I don¡¯t want to be rude here or anything, but Rei surely looks like someone who would be easily convinced by an exnation like that. Even more since hermunication skills seems to be somewhatcking.

    ¡¸Eh, why, you ask? Umm¡­¡­ Why¡­¡­ Umm, you see, that¡¯s because¡­¡­ This is, I mean, actually¡­¡­¡¹

    Actually?

    Rei¡¯s avatar is currently dressed in a full set of armor resembling that of an Oni. I cannot actually see her expression thanks to the mask in shape of the angry demon¡¯s face, and I cannot understand the motives behind her silence right now.

    This time around, the silence was as long as twenty three seconds. Twenty three seconds of an awkward silence. It was only after those twenty three seconds that Rei finally spoke up.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ No, thinking about it, it may be better to wait with that conversation until we manage to return to the surface.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡­¡­ I see.¡¹

    NUUUUUUOOOOOOHHHHHH!! NOW YOU¡¯VE GOT ME ALL WORRIED!!!

    Why would you phrase that sentence like that, Rei!? Now I¡¯m worried about that conversation even more! See, I¡¯m worried! I¡¯m worried quite a lot!

    Sh*t, I should have expected something like thating from the dreaded Saiga-0! I did not expect to be in need of this so early on, but¡­¡­ This is the battlefield known as ShangriLa Frontier! I cannot allow myself to hold back any longer! Time for gulping down some energy drinks!

    ¡¸I just remembered that I need to take care of some urgent business! I¡¯ll be going really quick! Good night!¡¹

    ¡¸Ehh, hee!? T-Take care!?¡¹

    LOG OUT!!!

    ¡¸Sh*t¡­¡­ Is she some sort of pervert who takes pleasure in frustrating others!?¡¹

    Or maybe I¡¯m reading too much into this. Maybe Rei simply wanted to talk about that matter once we are all over this quest, so that we could talk with nothing standing in our way as distraction. Energy drink, where is my energy drink¡­¡­ Oh, there it is.

    Even when the whole in-game world is falling apart and you act like a total scumbag, it is always possible to just shrug your shoulders at all of your problems and sum it all up as a simple ¡°Why should I care?¡± It¡¯s only because in-game events have no real impact on us that we can afford to roley like that.

    However, when ites to ShanFro¡­¡­ No, when ites to all games when you y as the sort of your own alter ego, what happens in game cannot be simply shrugged off or taken lightly. It is not someone else¡¯s problem, but entirely your own. While thinking that I open the can and chug down on its contents¡­¡­ Wait a second, what is this taste? It does not taste like anything like I have ever drunk before. What is this energy drink, even? I gulped it all down without really taking a look, but¡­¡­

    RIOT BLOOD REVOLVING LANTERN

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Ah.¡¹

    I could feel that right about now the expression on my face must have been as goofy as the one drawn on the pumpkin head on the energy drink¡¯s can. I just stand there for a single moment, and a drop of bright liquid drips from the corner of my mouth in a single thread.

    I drank it¡­¡­ I wanted to make all the necessary preparations, see how far I can push myself without it help, but it was already toote. The caffeine was already starting to course through my body. ¡­¡­ Oh wow! This thing has way more kick to it than anything else that I have ever tried before! Amazing! But! Surely it is not something that can be considered good for your health! Ahahaha!

    LOG IN!!!

    ¡¸Ah, wee back¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Alright, break time¡¯s over, kids! Let¡¯s go to the throne room, the throne room! It¡¯s raid time, time for a raid! Even though I have no idea what¡¯s that supposed to mean! Ahahahaha!¡¹

    ¡¸Eh, wait a moment, I thought that we had five more minutes!? What happened to you, Hizu¡­¡­ I mean, Sanraku-san!?¡¹

    No matter how long it takes for the effects to finally kick in, you can be damn sure that once the do kick in, they will do so with full throttle! So let¡¯s fucking go! Let¡¯s do this thing! No need to worry about consequences!

    The sky looks so pretty! And look! Up is down! Up above I can see the ground! Ahahaha!

    You see, here¡¯s a good example. Let¡¯s say that human body has a switch on it. Right about now I feel like I was flipping that switch on and off over and over again, which finally resulted in short circuit. But if I were like that at that time, sure I would have won against Silvia Goldberg no problem!

    But somehow I get the feeling that the way in which this thing works is a little bit different from all the others. Think of it like an industrial pipe that sends away waste. If normally it would be a constant, steady flow, than right about now what I was feeling was an elerated pressurized stream.

    No, could it all be because I happened to take Riot Blood Rotating Lantern right after sipping on Undead? Well, there were no warning signs that would prevent you from mixing two energy drinks in one day, and surely I would not die as a result, right? Right?

    And since the effect is supposed to be really short on this one, we really need to solve this mystery quickly and go beat the crap out of Kutanid before the effects start to wear off.

    Anyway, there¡¯s a lesson in this for me! Even when it will be officially released, Revolving Lantern is not something that should be injested carelessly! You need to consider both time and ce for this thing!

 Chapter 202: Reaching the Heavens Part 8 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 202: Reaching the Heavens Part 8 Part 1</h4>

    This feelspletely different from what I would usually feel after gulping down energy drinks. It feels as though all of my senses have be sharpened¡­¡­ Or maybe not that. It feels as though my thoughts have be a lot smoother. Yes, right about now I¡¯m feeling as smart as that certain child detective who always arrives at the right conclusion, no matter how much of an ass-pull they may seem to the reader. No matter what kind of mystery stands before me, I am going toy it all bare right here right now!

    ¡¸Alright, you¡¯re getting your ass destroyed!¡¹

    ¡¸Shouldn¡¯t we think about it some more before we do anything rash!?¡¹

    It was behind the throne. It was there that our team ¡®Mortals¡¯ managed to find the ¡®stone¡¯ that the diary of the city¡¯s former ruler was talking about. As for the ruler itself, it was hard to actually figure out if it was a King or the Queen.

    I can say with all certainty that my expectation had been betrayed. I was honestly expecting to find some sort of a secret chamber here in the throne room, and what would be inside of that chamber would be a huge chunk human resembling meat, with the look of perpetual agony written all over its deformed face and only being able to whisper ¡°Kill me¡­¡­ Kill me¡­¡­¡± over and over again. Instead, we have found this thing¡­¡­ just sort ofying there as if it was the most natural thing to do in this situation.

    ¡¸A humanoid¡­¡­ crystal?¡¹

    ¡¸It looks like it could be worth quite a hefty sum of money.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Akitsu Akane, read the mood for once, why don¡¯t you?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, yeah! That¡¯s right! I am so terribly sorry, Rust-san!¡¹

    ¡¸No, but like, seriously. Can you imagine just how much cash we could receive for a gemstone this big!? It certainly wouldn¡¯t hurt to try!¡¹

    OUCH! Don¡¯t just kick my ankles like that all of a sudden, Rust, you bitch! What are you, some kind of a demon or what!?

    Sh*t¡­¡­ Oh well, doesn¡¯t really matter. What matters here is the fact that this thing is indeed a gemstone, but it has humanoid shape. I don¡¯t know if this is the actual ¡®stone¡¯ that the diary was talking about, but it surely looked as though it would fit the description quite nicely. Or at least let¡¯s hope it¡¯s like that¡­¡­

    ¡¸Sanraku-san! There is some sort of inscription at the back of the throne! But unfortunately I am unable to read it!¡¹

    ¡¸Alright, time to find the solution for this mystery! I by solving it I mean smashing it to pieces!¡¹

    ¡¸Has something happened to Sanraku-san!? His thinking patters became so straightforward all of a sudden that it¡¯s actually disturbing!¡¹

    No, you know that I¡¯m right, right? I mean, without a doubt destruction is the simplest and quickest solution to all of your problems. When facing a locked door, it is always the quickest solution to smash it to pieces rather than back away in order to find a key that would unlock it, wherever that key might be. Oh, and there is always an option to just smash through the wall that is right next to the door. A little bit more effort, but it¡¯s quick and efficient all the same. There were even games that were giving you so much freedom to do as you please that you could even reach thest boss inside of the final dungeon that way: smash through the walls and no gimmick would be able to stop you.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I don¡¯t get what¡¯s going on either, but if Sanraku keeps on acting up like that, I will be a huge problem for us. We must keep an eye on him at all times.¡¹

    ¡¸Aha, Ahahahaha¡­¡­ But I must say, that is one very well-made crystal, if I do say so myself¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    This is something that only I, no, only Emul and I know for now. A humanoid figure that looks as if made out of crystal, or strictly speaking -- ghost-looking. ¡­¡­ How could I ever forget such a sight?

    As a matter of fact, I have no idea who that crystal was modeled after, but even though the figure was made out of crystal, it was so intricate that it was possible to recognize the style and pattern on the figure¡¯s robes.

    (Surely, Setsuna of the Distant Past had the same style of clothing¡­¡­)

    Just who the hell is this person? I know that it could be virtually anyone, but just who is the woman that was the model for this crystal figure? Sh*t, there is too little information on this subject. Even with my thinking potential fully unlocked for the moment, I cannot seem to arrive at the answer. So I guess that smashing it might be the only solution after all¡­¡­

    ¡¸But surely you must all admit that the image in the crystal is quite gorgeous.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I mean yeah, sure it is. Just look at those eyes. They look like made out of ruby.¡¹

    ¡¸But isn¡¯t that part here intriguing? It looks like a ne of some sort, but the center piece looks different. As if there was a diamond stuck in there that did not belong there in the first ce. And the way in which it is cut certainly looks different from all the rest¡­¡­ Hm?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    For a moment out there Rust and I just stand there, looking at one another inplete silence. We were just making sure that our minds were being on the same track about this whole situation. Once we confirm that it is indeed like that, we each give a small nod with our heads and start acting without much hesitation.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ SOI!¡¹

    ¡¸SEI¡­¡­!¡¹

    Rust¡¯s two fingers instantly sink into the ruby eyes of the figure, and my fingers aim towards the ne hanging around the figure¡¯s neck. Both of us just grab the gemstones that were shining brightly in their respective sockets. While everyone present were too shocked by our sudden disy of violence to react in any way, we managed to aplish what we set out to do. That is grabbing the gemstones and pulling them out of the figure.

    ¡¸Wait, wait, wait, wait just a moment, Rust!? What the hell!?¡¹

    ¡¸Emm, umm¡­¡­ Sanraku¡­¡­ -san?¡¹

    ¡¸Transferring the right to rule. What is it that makes a king? I mean in a symbolic sense, not political one?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ And it should be obvious, right? This is a game, so it is only natural that the key to unlock some locked doors would not be hidden away in the same ce.¡¹

 Chapter 202: Reaching the Heavens Part 8 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 202: Reaching the Heavens Part 8 Part 2</h4>

    When you think about the ruler¡¯s job, the first thing thates to mind after assuming the role for the first time is get yourself familiar with every single bit of information about this castle, the key to Kutanid¡¯s seal, the throne room and all other stuff like that. And perhaps it is just a in-game arrangement, but those gemstones are neither too big nor too small, making you feel as though they would be missing pieces of something else.

    ¡¸The diary mentions that the transfer of the right to rule this ce is connected to the new ruler, the statute and the throne. So if we assume that it is correct to reverse all that, as everything else around here¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ah¡­¡­ When damaged, the stone shall restore to royal power! The right to rule!¡¹

    That¡¯s right, Rei. You even said so yourself not so long ago. That this crown seems way too shabby and that it looks as though you could insert some gemstones into it. No, this thing is practically begging you to do so. The royal gemstones that were once part of the crown are now going to be returned to where they rightfully belong. Awfully clever of them, not gonna lie.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ What the, it¡¯s not going in!?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Sanraku, you seem to be holding it upside down. Gently now¡­¡­ Muh¡­¡­ Nhh¡­¡­ Nh¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Oi, Rust! If you keep forcing it in like that, this poor thing is going to break apart! Are you sure that this thing is really supposed to go in there like that!?¡¹

    Eh? Then, what about that ce? Nah, this doesn¡¯t fit in, either¡­¡­ Huh!? What the hell!?

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I knew it, destroying this thing is just going to be so much easier.¡¹

    ¡¸Told you? I told you that¡¯s what we should have done from the start.¡¹

    ¡¸No, no, no, no, no, no¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Me! Let me do it! I¡¯m quite adept at solving various kinds of puzzles, you know!?¡¹

    Akitsu Akane says so, and Rust and I hand both crown and the jewels to him, even though we were obviously really skeptical about all this. Will he really be able to do it? Even with ourbined wisdoms (and my energy drink-boosted intellect to boot) we were unable to figure this one out¡­¡­ Hmm, flipping the jewels upside down and rotating them slightly. Ah! Won¡¯t you look at that! Now it fits like a glove! ¡­¡­ Imagine that.

    ¡¸I knew it, the thing was just rotated wrong to begin with. I wonder if it was also Kutanid¡¯s fault that the crown and gemstones were misaligned like that?¡¹

    ¡¸Laugh all you want, Akitsu Akane. This here is the prime example of psticedy. We could not figure this out, and you just got your hands on it and look! All done!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I feel like I should be proud of myself, but at the same time I feel that I should also feel embarrassed. This feeling is killing me¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Ehhh!? How!? Just when and how did this happen!?¡¹

    What is wrong with us, to be unable to solve so simple of a puzzle on our own!? If something like that was enough to defeat us, then at this rate we will crumble to dust on the spot when ites to Kutanid battleter on. At any rate, the crow was restored to its former form, but does that mean some sort of a change is going to ur?

    Looking closely at it, the crown probably used to be golden, but now it was all rusted and overgrown with mold. But waiting a few more seconds, something started to change. The rust started to crumble away, and mold peeled off, and the crown gradually regained its gold luster and shine of the precious gemstones that were implemented in it. Right about now it was truly a symbol of kingship.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I thought that something is supposed to start happening, but I guess nothing for now, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸So that would mean, we must go back to that ce where Kutanid is¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸No, before we do that, let us explore this ce a little bit more.¡¹

    On one hand I want to start the battle while the effect of Revolving Lantern is still active. But on the other hand, I want to collect as much information as possible. So I go around the throne and inspect in closely.

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­? Could this be¡­¡­?¡¹

    There was something written there in a very intricate style, almost as if it was cursive¡­¡­

    It was at that time that we could feel the whole city shaking to its very foundations. Of course, the epicenter of the tremors must being directly from below us, and since because we were all at the epicenter of the shaking, it was so powerful that we all fell down to the ground.

    ¡¸Judging by the fact that it took this event a while to load, this cannot be anything good!¡¹

    ¡¸Does that mean we are going straight into the battle against Kutanid!?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know, but the possibility of that is really high¡­¡­!¡¹

    While the tremors intensified, we got up on our knees and got our weapons out, keeping them at the ready all the time. However, soon we found out that it was not Kutanid¡¯s fault that the tremors happened, but the space or even reality itself.

    When I first saw it, I thought it was a bug or something simr to it. After all, the tremors and the growing noises were affecting everything around us, but not the yers or NPCs themselves. But just before I was able to put my increasing worries into words¡­¡­

    ¡¸Ha?¡¹

    ¡¸He?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh?¡¹

    ¡¸Wah?¡¹

    ¡¸Wait¡­¡­¡¹

    RUMBLE. And just like that, up became down and down became up.

    The floor, which used to be right under our feet, right about now was way up in the air, out of our reach. But in exchange, the ceiling got a whole lot closer, making for a good foothold. But the most important thing here is that our bodies follow the basic rules of grativty, meaning we are all going up¡­¡­ I mean down¡­¡­

    ¡¸Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, won¡¯t it be bad if we all fall to our deaths right here right now!?¡¹

    ¡¸This is bad! This is really bad! At this rate we are all going to die! Oh my God!!!¡¹

    No, wait, wait just a moment¡­¡­! Just wait! Wait and hope! Sure, if it was a sh*tty game, that would surely be the case that we all fall to our deaths and that¡¯s that! But! But this is a godly game! It is godly, so surely¡­¡­! Surely everything will be just fine, right? RIGHT!? I mean,

    ¡¸If we¡¯re really going to fall to our deaths hear, I¡¯m never ever going to do any serious work for the rest of my liiiiiiiiife¡­¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    Mortals. The name might not imply this, but there is an absolute hostility hidden behind it. It bears the hatred of humans who cannot stomach the thought of living under the same stars as the creatures that resemble gods. We are like oil and water, and we shall never get along. However, right about now the concepts of both Heaven and Earth had been turned upside down, at least in this here underwater city.

    That is why, our goal here may have happened to be inverted as well. We may no longer aim towards fighting a giant octopus at the bottom of the sea, but rather show to gods that we are strong enough to be able to take the future into our own hands. Which was already one heck of a task, that now has be even more convoluted.

    ¡¸YOU ENCOUNTER THE UNIQUE MONSTER ¡®KUTANID OF THE ABYSS¡±.¡¹

    The Abyss has risen from its depths, forcing us once again to try and reach towards the Heavens.

 Chapter 203: Reaching the Heavens Part 9 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 203: Reaching the Heavens Part 9 Part 1</h4>

    First there is the feeling of freefalling, then followed by the impact of hitting the ¡°ground¡±. You couldn¡¯t say that it was the real damage that has been done to use, but surprisingly enough it was still enough to cause poor Emul to faint.

    ¡¸UBEH!?¡¹

    ¡¸FUGYUH!?¡¹

    In other words, it felt just like when you do some push-ups, but after going at it for a while you feel that your arms start to slowly give up under the notion of ¡°pain¡±, which eventually causes you to copse and fall down. Aside from the fact that there was no damage here at all.

    ¡¸Ugh¡­¡­ The others seem to be fine¡­¡­ Uh, but my face hurts¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Emul¡­¡­ For the love of fuck, I¡¯ll listen to all of your whining andiningter. For now, grab your weapon.¡¹

    I see, so this time we still were not transported directly to the boss¡¯s chamber. Even so, talk about a dick move, switching the whole dungeon upside down like that¡­¡­ But does that mean that something changed here as a result?

    ¡¸T-The castle!¡¹

    The castle of Luls, which we were exploring for a good while now¡­¡­ No, you can¡¯t really say that it was rearranged. Maybe all it did was to return to its former state.

    It was as if the whole castle was turned into cubes and those cubes were right now being rearranged in front of our very eyes, although on fast-forward. One castle was fast being reced by apletely different one¡­¡­ a supernatural phenomenon that could have never urred in reality. And there was something else to it as well.

    ¡¸Look. Up there! The sky!¡¹

    When I rose my head, I could see it clearly. A true night sky, with the moon and the myriad of stars all over it. Not the canopy of sea water with marine snow falling down on us all the time.

    It was in this rearranging castle that Emul and I have witnessed a true night sky for the first time in seven days.

    ¡¸Won¡¯t it fall down right on top of our heads!?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ This looks like an elevator¡¯s shaft, so we should be fine¡­¡­ at least I think so.¡¹

    ¡¸I wanted you to at least reassure us that it will be okay, even if there is no basis to say so or proof to back that im up! Rust!¡¹

    We were so caught up in the sight of the moon way above our heads that we basically forgot that all around us were moving blocks of the castle that was in the middle of rearranging itself. Some of them were circling around us, and some of them were violently falling down, apparently finding its respective ces.

    Right about now it could be said that we were standing in the eye of the cyclone, with parts of the castle flying all around us like an angry tornado. It was not the most heart-calming situation to be in right now.

    There were pirs erecting all over the ce in equal intervals, storm of bricks started to form a flight of stairs, there were candlesticks everywhere serving as the source of light, and in the distance you could see the materials starting to form some sort of a huge and circr arena.

    ¡¸Umm, take a look at that building over there! It looks like that hugendmark in the middle of Rome!¡¹

    ¡¸Hugendmark in Rome¡­¡­ Italy¡­¡­ Do you mean Coliseum¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes! Exactly! That¡¯s the thing!¡¹

    It¡¯s amazing, isn¡¯t it? Even though it was something so vague, I was still able to get it and answer ordingly, even though I never witnessed the real thing with my own eyes. That being said, the bowl shaped arena surely resembled Coliseum in a frightening detail. ¡­¡­ Well, maybe except for the fact that its size was muchrger, making it almost twice the size of the regr baseball dome.

    ¡¸Is everyone alright!?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah!¡¹

    ¡¸No worries here!¡¹

    ¡¸We are okay here as well!¡¹

    ¡¸I-Im in one piece! As much of a surprise as that is!¡¹

    Alright, it looks like all of the NPCs are fine. Good to know. As for the other yers, they respawn after death, so even though it may sound cruel and heartless, I could not really care about them for the current moment. Not when they would be able toe back to us after a slight dy.

    By the way, if the organizer of this grand Coliseum went to such lengths to create a building quite like that, does that mean that they want to make this an event or something? If so, I sure hope that they will have masks here in this joint. Then we could have some good old masked wrestling match. A match to the death, that is. Wouldn¡¯t that be quite fitting in here?

    ¡¸Show me!¡¹

    ¡¸Muh.¡¹

    ¡¸Piii!?¡¹

    Ahh, it seems to me that the NPCs had some sort of problem. Emul kept on shaking on my head like mad, which in turn was causing my head to shake wildly and it was making me feel as though the whole world was starting to spin around. He was also holding his ears down as if he was trying to block the sound that wasing inside of them. What was going on? I had no clue what could caused him to act like that, but I had to quickly get some information.

 Chapter 203: Reaching the Heavens Part 9 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 203: Reaching the Heavens Part 9 Part 2</h4>

    First of all, that voice sounded as if it wasing from the inside of my head¡­¡­ And it sounded as if someone was scratching a whole lot of mud-covered, rusty nails against a very worn-out ckboard. Needless to say, it was not the kind of voice that you would found to be pleasant. And judging by the reactions of other yers and NPCs, they heard it as well. That¡¯s the only logical conclusion I can think of.

    ¡¸YOUR INHERITED WILL!!¡¹

    ¡¸Dagh!! If you want to speak like that, at the very least inhale some helium first! That way your voice will be slightly more bearable!¡¹

    Compared to this, Gravekeeper Wezaemon¡¯s voice was nice and pleasant! Oh sh*t, I thought that only NPC would be affected by it voice, that whole ¡®Fear¡¯ status or whatnot, but at this rate it will also affect the yers! Like, it won¡¯t cause fear in us but it will be quite the distraction! But anyways, where is this damned octopus!? I do my best to fight this overwhelming sensation and try to look around.

    ¡¸Sanraku-san¡­¡­ Up above!¡¹

    It was not on the left, and it was not on the right. Down was out of the question, so the only logical conclusion was up.

    ¡¸What the fuck is this!?¡¹

    It is not all that unusual for the first form of thest boss to have some sort of unnerving or unusual appearance. At first they may look weird and weak, but with time they will grow more monster-like and intimidating.

    That is why I thought that the giant octopus was supposed to be Kutanid¡¯s first form. But if that was the case, than what is that? Second form? Or maybe something even stranger and different¡­¡­?

    ¡¸Tsk, does that mean as long as we don¡¯t do something about it, NPCs are going to be basically useless?¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku, what do we do!?¡¹

    ¡¸For now we must leave the NPCs alone, make them sandbags, as cruel as that may sound.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll support you as always!¡¹

    ¡¸Thanks a lot, Mold.¡¹

    Even Alva and Sickle seemed to bepletely stunned and out of it. This guy was obviously interfearing with the NPCs in some convoluted way, it is unthinkable that they would be rendered useless for the rest of the battle like that.

    ¡¸Ah, ah, aahhh¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Now, wait just a minute Emul, and don¡¯t get to close to that thing over there¡­¡­ Alright, does any one of you have some tool that will make it possible for us to fly over there and get rid of that thing?¡¹

    I cannot really put my finger on what exactly this thing is¡­¡­ And I was sure that others had no idea as well. So for now we could only point at it and call it ¡®that¡¯ for all that it was worth it. This ¡®that¡¯ looked like a giant¡­¡­ something with tentacles and eyes that were growing out of a huge magic circle that was drawn on the sky. Inside of the magic circle, there was a symbol of eight-armed star.

    ¡¸I don¡¯t really think that even a great bow would be able to send an arrow that high in the air.¡¹

    ¡¸And I can bet that magic won¡¯t be able to reach it for that same reason, or maybe even because of those distance gimmicks.¡¹

    It could be exactly as Rei was saying, but I somehow doubted that. Because of that, I turned towards the only person who would have a realistic chance of reaching that thing with their attacks.

    ¡¸The one with the longest attack range in this entire party¡­¡­ that would be Akitsu Akane with his ¡®Dragon Breath¡± technique. If this breath is really simr to that of Siegwurm¡¯s, then it is surely bound to be able to reach that thing¡­¡­ At least I hope so.¡¹

    ¡¸So it¡¯s finally my time to shine!?¡¹

    ¡¸Akitsu Akane, STAY!¡¹

    See? Even Rust was starting to treat Akitsu Akane like a dog. But I can¡¯t me her for that, we can¡¯t have the guy run around like a chicken with its head chopped off when he can be our trump card in this uing battle. We need to carefully examine our options before we do anything rash.

    ¡¸We don¡¯t know if even if you were to attack it that your attack would hit. We need to verify that first, see if we won¡¯t just be wasting precious ammo.¡¹

    ¡¸But what about that iing attack!?¡¹

    ¡¸SPREAD OUT!!¡¹

    Once every yer here heard my voice, they all understood what needed to be done. We all leaped from where we were standing, dispersing in every possible direction.

    The very next moment, a giant swarm of octopus tentacles rained down on us from the heavens, stabbing the ground in ces we all were just a moment ago.

    ¡¸Oi, oi¡­¡­ Does this mean this thing has more bizarre tricks up its sleeves than we thought it would!?¡¹

    A monstrous octopus smacked right in the middle of a magic circle? And the eight-armed star patters? There was a tentacle emerging from each arm, but apparently each of eight tentacles were able to further divide itself into smaller tentacles, which were then fired at us like projectiles.

    Now, let¡¯s assume that each tentacle can divide itself to a maximum of ten¡­¡­ That would give us eighty tentacles that were currently raining down on us.

    ¡¸Whatever should we do¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸We shall proceed further with an unshakable resolve. Right now, no height is impossible for us to reach.¡¹

    ¡¸Shut up! So noisy!¡¹

    No, wait, it¡¯s too early for us to go into offensive. Battles like that usually are not your in and simple contests of power, and even if, it would be in favor of the boss monster. But during times like these, boss would usually leave some hints, hidden in dialogue options or attack patterns. Could the former piece of dialogue be a hint as well?

    ¡¸Tsk, I was kinda expecting that, but this thing has some fine homing to it¡­¡­!¡¹

    It¡¯s not nearly as bad as some of the attacks of Loser¡¯s Woods, a monster I have fought at Rabbitz in the past, and not nearly as fast as some of Gravekeeper Wezaemon¡¯s special attacks. However, the damage and the area of effect of the projectile tentacles was not to be underestimated, especially since there was so many of them.

    ¡¸What¡¯s the condition for it to switch phases¡­¡­? It¡¯s too far away for us to reach it with its attacks, and I can¡¯t seem to find any gimmick objects here.¡¹

    No, it¡¯s not like that.

    When ites to the real time battle as well as turn basedbat, it is not always the brute force that is the way of doing things. Sometimes you have to think outside of the box¡­¡­ Sometimes the not-so-obvious things and attacks turn out to be the most effective ones.

    ¡¸Eei!¡¹

    It was at this moment that Akitsu Akane twisted his torso and shed with one of his short swords at one of the tentacles that were still stuck in the ground. The tentacle got shed in half and after that a small trace of magical energy went out of it as it withered away, retracting back into the magic circle. That action did not slipped my attention. ¡­¡­ With that, I have conjured us a hypothesis that was worth checking out. It¡¯s better than nothing.

    ¡¸Tentacles! Attack the tentacles once they get stuck in the ground!¡¹

    That is all that we can do right about now! Now, to deal with that annoying magic circle!

 Chapter 204: Reaching the Heavens Part 10 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 204: Reaching the Heavens Part 10 Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸One, two, three¡­¡­ Yeah, just a little bit more and I¡¯ll have the timing just right!¡¹

    This should work. No, it will work! One, because the attackse at regr intervals with no mix added to them. And two, because at least for now the boss does not have any moves and attacks that may result in yer getting killed instantly. In that regard it is easier than Gravekeeper Wezaemon or Nightprowler Luukan.

    ¡¸Once the twelfth tentacle hits the ground, they will go back after five seconds! If you manage to avoid them at thest possible second, you can attack them for five seconds straight without having to worry about distance or getting hit¡­¡­!¡¹

    While I¡¯m running all over the ce, jet ck octopus tentacles rain down on me from above, missing me only by centimeters. It¡¯s good thing that my reflexes are so sharp, otherwise it would all end really badly. By the way¡­¡­ for some reason I can¡¯t feel any fish odoring from those projectile tentacles.

    ¡¸No, this is¡­¡­!¡¹

    No, move your body first, thinkter! The twelve tentacles shoot in a straight line each time, with very little free space in between each projectile, but just enough to be able to avoid them. There is no need for Scorpion Gauntlets right now, Yuzuki¡¯s ¡°Upper Fang¡± and ¡°Lower Fang¡± are going to be more than enough to sh away at them. A few secondster the tentacles turn into magic power fumes and retreat back into the arm of the star that they were ejected from.

    Looking towards the magic circle, five out of eight arms of the star and its tentacles were done for. The remaining three are just a matter of time at this point. Although now the strategy seems to be pretty simple and straightforward, if you fail to notice those details about the tentacles and the magic circle, you might as well run around without end, without being able to do anything. But here¡¯s the thing: now that you know what to do, it seems WAY too easy to fight it¡­¡­ Yeah, of course. There must be even more forms than that.

    ¡¸This is, the end!¡¹

    Mold summons up a magical arrow and shoots it at thest tentacle that was left on the field. As a result of all the tentacle projectiles being destroyed, thest ck tentacle retracted back into the magic circle¡­¡­ But what now? The eight-armed star will disappear? Or maybe destroying ny eight smaller tentacles will force Kutanid¡¯s main body to emerge?

    ¡¸THERE IS NO HEIGHT THAT CANNOT BE REACHED. AND EVEN IF AN OBSTICLE LIKE THAT ARISES, HUMANS SHALL CONQUER IT EVENTUALLY¡­¡­¡¹

    It was another part of the boss¡¯s dialogue lines, but its meaning could easily be understood this time around. It was more or less a matter of ¡°Whatever will you do after you have reached your goal here¡­¡­?¡±. In most cases in games that would be fixed to a particr quest. And usually in other games it would be possible to re-challenge the boss over and over again, presumably with increased difficulty or in forms of time attacks. There is lots of ways in which you can make this fun.

    ¡¸IN ORDER TO CHANGE THE WORLD, IT IS REQUIRED TO FIND AN UNWAVERING CONVICTION IN ONE¡¯S HEART AND NEVER STOP BELIEVING IN IT.¡¹

    Alongside those words, the eight-arm star started to shift positions. The patterns around the circle started to change and the surface of the circle itself looked as though it was boiling up. The eight-armed star disappeared, reced by some convoluted origami figure. The eyes and the tentacles hiding away inside of the circle burst forward into the void, and something follows closely after them, reshaping and transforming. That something started to take more shape with every passing second, it contours smoothing up and increasing in size and form.

    Ahh, I knew it. I knew it from the very first moment that I saw the tentacles retracting into the circle that something was wrong in here. Now it all makes sense. Some part of me right now felt like a kindergartener trying to think about quantum physics for trying toe up with solutions how to attack the magic circle.

    No, that would be utterly impossible of a thing to do. But now I can think about it for real. What do we know, what to do¡­¡­ and how to defeat our enemy.

    ¡¸That magic circle was not remotely controlled by Kutanid or anything like that. It was the magic circle that was hiding Kutanid itself.¡¹

    ¡¸Huh? So what, does that mean this thing is its final form?¡¹

    ¡¸Maybe not final, but next one for sure.¡¹

    ¡¸Here ites! Right in front of us!¡¹

    What falls out from the magic circle is the three dimensional version of the ck octopus known as ¡°Kutanid of the Abyss¡±. Maybe it was because it fell right out of the magic circle, but during its descent and hitting the ground, even though its body was quite gigantic, there were no tremors or even the sense of this thing having any weight at all.

    At the same time, Rei brandishes her sledgehammer and rushes forward. As expected, Rei was really thinking up ahead. She must have anticipated that there will be more forms to Kutanid, for she was yet to done her usual white knight armor. But even so, at the very least some sort of caution was required here, since this our first time fighting a monster like that. We would need to confirm its move set first.

    ¡¸What should we do!?¡¹

    ¡¸For now we need to see what this thing can do! We bait some of it moves, and if we see an opening for attack, we attack with all that we can! Akitsu Akane, try to focus on close range attacks! Save your ninja tools forter, in case this octopus has more phases up its sleeve!¡¹

    ¡¸Yes!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Roger that!¡¹

    ¡¸Rust, I¡¯m going to cast some buffs on you, then on the others as well¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, time for me to pull out all the stops¡­¡­¡¹

    1 COMBO!

    ¡¸Me, too!¡¹

    2 COMBO!

    ¡¸Umm, I¡¯m grateful, but¡­¡­ maybe your own buffs would be more than enough here. It would be meaningless if they were not stacking, so¡­¡­¡¹

    3 COMBO!

    ¡¸Ah, yes¡­¡­¡¹

    Eventually, after Mold finished buffing Rust up he went to buff up everyone else as well, and just like that we were able to move forward with the offensive.

    ¡¸Rei, this thing surely has tentacle attacks in its repertoire, but are you sure that it is okay for us to just facetank it?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, it should be okay as long as it¡¯s me taking the attack. I have a tank ss skill called ¡°Collision Counter¡± for things like that¡­¡­ I am sure to take some damage, but¡­¡­ I¡¯ll just have to endure it.¡¹

    Judging by its name, it must be an attack that that works as counter once you receive a hit from the enemy. That sounds really nice, right up my alley. Maybe I should take some interest in Tank as a ss? But oh well, since I heard that ss reset in this game is a real mess to deal with, guess my curiosity will be just that: curiosity.

 Chapter 204:; Reaching the Heavens Part 10 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 204:; Reaching the Heavens Part 10 Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Now then, just how are we going to do this thing, Kutanid?¡¹

    No matter what the boss may throw at us next, this time around I can respond to it properly with my full power of the Level Ny Nine Extended¡­¡­ Hm? No hold on just a second. What¡¯s up with Kutanid¡¯s tentacles? The tips of the tentacles¡­¡­ each of them was now glowing with a different color. And what¡¯s with this texture, looking like a fragile ss? Oh well, it would surely be nice if they just broke as easily like ss when you smash something against it¡­¡­ Owoah, talk about bright.

    My whole field of view was dyed blue right about now. The light was so bright and intense that it even overwhelmed the naturally blue color of Luls, and as it so happens that light wasing right from the tip of one of Kutanid¡¯s tentacles. Another piece of information that might help us during this battle.

    But if that light does not do damage to the yers and NPC, then what is it that it is supposed to be doing? Maybe it¡¯s something simr to that what Lukaan was using? Anyways, for now it is wise to assume that it is a gimmick of some sort, and I would not be surprised at all if it wasing along with so overpowered and terrifying debuff.

    ¡¸Sanraku-san, are you alright!?¡¹

    Whoa, what was that voice just now? It was a woman¡¯s voice, but it was not Rust or Rei, that¡¯s for sure. As for the NPCs¡­¡­ No there is just no way. None of them sounds like that. Could it be a hallucination of some sorts? Because if it indeed was like that, then talk about an annoying things the programmers decided to implement.

    Alright, let¡¯s just ask everyone present if they feel odd or strange, or if anything¡¯s changed.

    ¡¸Alright, everyone listen up! I want to make sure that we are all okay and that nothing strange has happened¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡­¡­ Seriously, what is this? I hear a woman¡¯s voice, but it is not somebody else¡¯s voice? Certainly, those words are in ordance with what my thoughtse up with and what my mouth has spoken¡­¡­ No. No way. Wait a minute. There is just no fucking way.

    Kutanid¡¯s power is that of inversion, or rather ¡®reversal¡¯. Which means that it can change A into B and B into A respectively. No, I do believe that in this case it is much more urate to say that rather than changing A into B, this power managed to change X into Y and Y into X.

    ¡¸Uwah, humongous.¡¹

    They looked as though they would spill out of my hand if I tried to cup them with my hands. It¡¯s not that I have never yed female characters before, but E cup¡­¡­ No, perhaps this is an F cup? Now I must say that this is rather surprising. I mean, it may affect mybat potential if my center of gravity is going to be affected by those two huge lumps just hanging from my chest.

    ¡¸Are you serious¡­¡­!? Gender reversal¡­¡­!?¡¹

    It should not be that much of a problem if your gender gets reversed. There is no change to your stats and you are always wearing an underwear or at least a tank-top when you are half-naked. So no matter what, we won¡¯t have a situation where something is happily bouncing around for everyone else to see. That would be so embarrassing, so I¡¯m d that this is not the case. ¡­¡­ Oh well, it doesn¡¯t really matter right now. Now, let¡¯s get this party started, shall we?

    ¡¸I think that would not be able to eat it even if I were to bake or hard boil it!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? Eh!? Hyaaaaaahhh¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    From the perspective of my current viewpoint I can estimate that my current height is roughly one hundred and fifty centimeters. As for my current weight¡­¡­Yeah, it will be quite a lot, since those two things feel heavy as heck. No status changes, and I can still use my special weapons without any problems. In other words the changes are only in voice and height departments. Does that mean it¡¯s all but cosmetic? Was this supposed to be some kind of joke, or maybe there was some hidden meaning behind it? I know that ying God is fun and all, but damn you, Kutanid! You¡¯re taking this way too far!

    While moving forward I took a moment to test my current agility and ability to jump, and I even managed to overtake Rei while I was being at it. Clearly this sudden change managed to hit her pretty hard, for she was literally unable to move and was standing in ce. It¡¯s almost scary to think that it took me no effort at all to get used to this new body of mine.

    I knew it. While trying to attack Kutanid¡¯s body directly, I did nothing to it. I could only feel as though my des were shing through massive lumps of fat. I try to attack Kutanid a few more times to see if that fact is going to change¡­¡­ But the only thing I was getting from it was that I felt that I was doing no damage at all.

    ¡¸Rei! The way I see it this armor is not really fitting your current avatar, but can you move like normal!?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh, hyah, umm, emm¡­¡­ Oh, wait! It¡¯s alright! I can move like I normally do¡­¡­!¡¹

    Apparently the shock must have been so great for her that Rei was holding onto her hammer in a really strange way, as if she was treating it like the only anchor keeping her in reality. I don¡¯t want y a role of psychiatrist here, but apparently upon hearing my voice Rei managed to snap out of it ande back to reality bit by bit. But it also must have been a huge shock to see herpanions in such state¡­¡­ Oh well.

    It was rather annoying and sad to see Rei like that. It seems that the height parameters during inversion were chosen at random, as a result of which we had Rei with the height of a regr high schooler, but this does not change the fact that her armor was still retaining its original shape and size. It looked¡­¡­ grotesque, to say the least.

    ¡¸Is she going to be able to attack as normal in such state? Ah, to hell with it! Please excuse me for a moment!¡¹

    ¡¸Hyaaahhh!?¡¹

    Alright, for a moment out there I wasn¡¯t so sure if the equipment¡¯s size will allow me to do it, but putting that few extra points into strength did not go to waste, I see. I pick Rei up and start to carry her around while also avoiding the iing tentacle attacks. At this rate it would be far too dangerous to let her run around normally, since her armor was likely to fall off at any second now. While being at it, those tentacles sure make some weird smashing sounds despite having a huge mass themselves.

    ¡¸There are no specific patters to those tentacles smashes, but I am sure that there must at least be a small window of opportunity to avoid them. Otherwise I don¡¯t know what the developers were thinking. Just hold on tight for now!¡¹

    ¡¸P-P-P-Princess¡­¡­ C-C-C-Carry¡­¡­¡¹

    For now, let us prioritize rejoining the others.

    ¡¸Guys, are you okay!?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeeesh!!!¡¹

    Upon hearing that I saw two obstacles appearing right before Rei and I. One of them was a burly mass of muscle that looked about to burst. No, you call that ¡®chunky¡¯, I think? And judging by the tone of the voice, that person was panicking from the gender change even more than Rei was. The other one was someone looking like a distinguished old man with a long and fluffy bear, apanied by the face that looked like that of a fox, with strange markings all over it.

    ¡¸No, you are Akitsu Akane.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes! It is I, Akitsu Akane!¡¹

    Yeah, Akitsu Akane is always going to be Akitsu Akane alright.

    I was going to make ament that Akitsu Akane was acting like an old man for whatever reason, but it was then that my whole field of vision was filled with a bright green sh.

    And then the world¡­¡­ got overturned once more¡­¡­

 Chapter 205: Reaching the Heavens Part 11 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 205: Reaching the Heavens Part 11 Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Uwoah!?¡¹

    The night sky turns white all of a sudden.

    The coliseum changes its color to red in an instant.

    The figure of Kutanid now looks strangely white as well.

    Looking at my own hands, they were now strangely pale as well, looking as though they did not belong to human being.

    ¡¸Wh, what, is, is this¡­¡­ What¡¯s the meaning of this¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Please calm down, Rei. It looks to me like the colors everywhere around us got inverted with that sh of light¡­¡­ At least I think so.¡¹

    ¡¸Inversion of colors¡­¡­ T-That it, that¡¯s right, you¡¯re absolutely right¡­¡­¡¹

    The impact of this ability may be tremendously distracting at first, since the color palette that you are used to suddenly is no longer there, but when you get down to it, it is that one particr thing that gets changed: colors. There is also a possibility that it is just a bug in the system, but in that case so sort of contact with the admins would be required. But the one responsible for that is most probably that green-tipped tentacle just now.

    ¡¸Wah, wa, wah! The hell is that supposed to mean!?¡¹

    ¡¸Calm down, calm down, I¡¯m telling you¡­¡­ Ahh, geez! Why won¡¯t you listen to what everyone is telling you!?¡¹

    Perhaps it is because my avatar got change into a female one, but my throat starts to hurt after yelling loud like that just now. This is not good. We cannot allow ourselves to panic. That¡¯s exactly what Kutanid wants us to do. The only way for us to ever hope to defeat it is to overwhelm it with so much force that it will blow away all traces of panic and fear.

    ¡¸Akitsu Akane, it¡¯s dangerous to panic like that in the middle of the battlefield, so try to calm down, god damn it! On the other hand, Rust and Mold! Don¡¯t be so stiff! y with your equipment and adjust it if you must, and you will be just fine! There¡¯s no need to feel upset about it! Those are just colors!¡¹

    Ahh, guess I have no other choice but to take the matters into my own hands! Like a true bearer of the Vorpal Soul! And since I have no idea what those guys will be trying to pull off in this state, I must bring them all back to reality right here and right now. So I jump towards Akitsu Akane and smack his right across the head. Then I just switch towards Rust and Mold, and I flick both of their foreheads with the amount of force that may have very well been overly excessive. After that was done, I took Rei¡¯s hand and we rushed towards the edge of the arena, where all of the NPCs were safely relocated.

    ¡¸Ah, awawa! Sanraku-san! Sanraku-san!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh my fucking God, this is such a drag! Why did everyone had to go crazy all at once here!?¡¹

    Why do I have to act like a fucking kindergarten teacher while there is a huge-ass monster casually rampaging all over the ce? But calm down, me, calm down. Remember, this is not a single yer game, this is an MMO. It takes team effort do clear this fight, I am not alone in here. But as the only one with my head on my shoulders right about now, all the decision-making is on me.

    ¡¸Listen to me, all of you. You must all try to calm down, alright? Calm down. I know that you must be afraid, but I need you all to try to calm down and take it easy. Take a deep breath¡­¡­ Inhale and then exhale. Now close your eyes and think this to yourself: ¡®The sky is white, my skin is pale.¡¯ Alright? Think you can all do that for me? If you understood me, you can say yes. You can say no. You can shake your head. Or you can do whatever you want. Or even better. Say: ¡®Yes, Ma¡¯am¡¯!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I think that you¡¯re the one who should calm down first, Sanraku.¡¹

    ¡¸On the other hand, do you have any other idea how to calm them all down? If someone thinks that they can do a better job than me right now, then please, by all means, step right up! Let¡¯s see how it goes!¡¹

    Alright, that seemed to have done the trick. Everyone, including the NPCs, seems to be calm enough to be able to listen to my exnation without throwing that much of a fit. There was also Straude to take care of, but here all it took for the stupid sh*thead to calm down was a good old karate chop to the head. But maybe it was too hard, because for a moment out there his eyes seemed to have rolled inside of his skull.

    ¡¸I don¡¯t know the exact details, but I think I¡¯m starting to get what the hell is going on here.¡¹

    When ites to bugs, it¡¯s not that simple of a matter. Sometimes the bugs are bad, but sometimes they can be really helpful to the yers, even possessing the power to defeat thest boss easily. But more often than not you just get a bug that one shots you out of nowhere, even though there were no enemies nearby. Incidentally, bugs like that tend to ur because of a very simple, and also very stupid reason. You see, sometimes the developers get to change some things around the maps at the veryst possible moment, and during adjustments like that they tend to ¡°forget¡± to remove mobs that were in the ces that were being changed. This results in a strange state where the ¡°invisible¡± mob from the previous map oveys with the new textures and can attack the yers without them even realizing what is going on. You hear about things like that being discovered in games all the time.

    Normally it¡¯s all good if things like that keep on happening in the areas you are yet to discover, but it can be pretty annoying when you identally raise an event g or need some items and materials that can only be obtained from those bug-ridden locations. The fear and anxiety the trips to such ces can induce is something else entirely.

    ¡¸Okay, so here¡¯s the thing: for now the only thing I know for sure is that something tends to happen each time of Kutanid¡¯s tentacles glows.¡¹

    ¡¸Blue light reverses the gender, and the green light reverses the color palette of everything within your field of view.¡¹

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­ You¡¯re Rust, right?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ My eyes are finally starting to get used to all this.¡¹

    Apparently Rust and Mold got turned into characters taken straight out of the pages of a shoujo manga. Rust was a handsome guy who was rubbing the pace in between his brows for some reason and Mold got turned into a well-proportioned girl who was mumbling to herself all this time.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Are we going to wait and see what Kutanid does next?¡¹

 Chapter 205: Reaching the Heavens Part 11 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 205: Reaching the Heavens Part 11 Part 2</h4>

    I must say, that Rust and Mold¡¯s current appearances were quite a spectacle to behold. Even though I knew that it was not right and that their clothes did not belonged to their respective genders. As for Akitsu Akane¡­¡­ No, it was out of the question. That was just a gag character, nothing more.

    ¡¸I don¡¯t think the game is being considerate here, some tutorial would be nice for this.¡¹

    ¡¸Ugh¡­¡­ It¡¯s really hard to move like that¡­¡­¡¹

    Now, I¡¯m not going tough at anyone or point fingers at anyone specific, and I¡¯m especially going to keep silent about the fact that Mold looked like a protagonist of a shoujo manga right now.

    I mean, is it not because you know that their genders does not really match their clothes that they tend to look even better? No, no, no! I must not think like that! If I keep thinking about it, something strange is going to awaken deep inside of me! I must calm down! Only calmness can save us right now! I don¡¯t find the concept of genderbending appealing in the slightest! I¡¯m NOT!

    ¡¸SANRAKU-SAAAAAAN!? WHAT IS THIS!? WHAT IN THE EVERLASTING FUCK IS GOING ON HERE!?¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t want to hear that from you. Next!¡¹

    ¡¸I have never heard of Kutanid possessing this kind of ability!!¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah? No sh*t, I did not think of that either. Next.¡¹

    ¡¸Kuh¡­¡­ Such humiliation!¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, yeah, it must be unbearable. Next!¡¹

    ¡¸I do not feel that anything has changed.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s because you¡¯re genderless! Next!¡¹

    Sh*t, normally I would have a field dayughing at all those guys right now, but at this rate none of them are going to be of any use to us in the uing battle.

    And while we were at it, another tip of Kutanid¡¯s tentacles started to glow with bright light. This time around the light was orange in color. No wait, was it really orange!? Our perception of colors is being inverted right now, so what kind of color was that just now!?

    ¡¸No, it¡¯s not orange¡­¡­ It¡¯s blue¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸I see, so the effect must go back to their original state once the same light shines again¡­¡­!¡¹

    The old man with a foxy face, a dou consisting of shoujo manga protagonist and a shounen manga protagonist, it seems that everyone were able to go back to their respective genders. After I confirm that, I turn towards Kutanid.

    ¡¸For the time being, let¡¯s wait for ¡®Green¡¯ to turn up again so that we can see normally. Once the colors return to normal, we go towards that tentacle and beat the living crap out of it.¡¹

    There is also one more detail about those tentacles. Each one of them was holding onto a cup at all times, even during the times when they were mming into the ground. It is also because of those tentacles that there was a slightg between the mming into the ground and the tentacle going back up. Most probably those cups were the source of the tentacles¡¯ powers. Now, the question remains: if we destroy the cup while its power is still active, will it go back to normal, or will the power stay in effect? But even if so, I¡¯ll keep on fighting with my boobs swaying around and my color palette inverted!

    ¡¸I¡¯m curious what the other tentacles are capable of doing, but right now we must take care of those annoying ones, since I¡¯m starting to get it. The chalice gets within reach every time the tentacle rests on the ground after the m. So first we trigger the tentacle m, and then we attack the chalice!¡¹

    That being said, if just the brute firepower is enough to destroy the chalice, Rei is our go-to option. But is the sledgehammer really enough here¡­¡­? No, what am I saying? In terms of sheer destructive power, hammers are much better for destroying objects like chalices and stuff like that. I mean, it pretty logical to assume that, since even people of the past must have known that. It would be weird otherwise.

    ¡¸Rei, let¡¯s destroy the Gender reversal chalice first! Otherwise the NPCs are going to freak out every time their gender bes swapped!¡¹

    ¡¸Confirmed.¡¹

    In this setting the thing that upsets me the most is the fact that Sickle, who could be the main damage dealer alongside Rei and I was sitting right there, totally useless. Also, that color reversal was not that much of a problem for us, but who know how it was affecting the NPCs? It certainly must have been difficult for them to act normally.

    While dodging the tentacle ms Rei and I reached all the way to Kutanid. Due to the inverted colors it looked to be pure white right now. But more importantly, the colors of the tentacles were also inverted, so it was really hard right now for us to determine which tentacle was responsible for which power.

    ¡¸Which foot¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­ Maybe it¡¯s the opposite of the blue one, so that would mean that this chalice is¡­¡­ gender reversal! So that would mean that that one is¡­¡­ Color reversal!¡¹

    ¡¸First of all, Gender reversal¡­¡­!¡¹

    Even if you think that you do no damage to it, we must remain careful at all times. Even if we have to chip its HP little by little that¡¯s what we are going to do, but we must be cautious at all times. Just then one of Kutanid¡¯s tentacles ms into the ground right before Rei and I, and we ready our weapons to attack. Let¡¯s just hope that¡¯s the Gender inversion power.

    It¡¯s hard to say what is the power of the cup just by looks alone. Just as I was wondering about that, Kutanid¡¯s eyes turned towards me. The tentaclese all up and ready to attack, bing a serious threat to Rei and I. However, even if our field of view has the coloring inverted, it is not nearly enough to stop us.

    ¡¸Here ites¡­¡­!¡¹

    The tentaclees smashing into the ground, only to hit an empty space, as everyone present already managed to dodge into safety. But as a result the golden chalicees so close to the ground that it was well within the reach of melee fighters. That was the moment we¡¯ve been all waiting for. We jump towards the chalice and begin to unload everything we had at it: arrows, swords, magic¡­¡­ Wait, what is the exact HP pool of this sted thing, anyway?

    ¡¸No luck! This is extremely hard!¡¹

    ¡¸Is it even possible to destroy it!?¡¹

    ¡¸It looks like it¡¯s cracked! Which means it can be destroyed!¡¹

    Shouted Alva, but the tentacles mming the ground all around him did not let him say anything more. In that short moment the chalice went upwards, where the short distance fighters would be unable to reach it.

    ¡¸For the time being, we must bait its attack patterns and attack the tentacles in the meantime! It¡¯s the only way!¡¹

    Ah, the light shines again. Is it the gender reversal again!? Not that I¡¯m bragging or anything, but even with some underwear equipped on me, they sway and bounce around so much that it fucking hurts!

    ¡¸Uoooooohhh! Not this sh*t again! So annoying!¡¹

 Chapter 206: Reaching the Heavens Part 12 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 206: Reaching the Heavens Part 12 Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Haah¡­¡­ Geez, what a drag this is!¡¹

    I screamed that line at the top of my lungs with a voice so high-pitched that I just could not believe it. At that same time, the blue chalice went out of our reach once more.

    Although our fields of vision were being yed with at least several times now, we finally managed to seed in destroying the Green chalice. We managed to do it while our color-vision was normal, and we were enthusiastic about going towards the next tentacle, but¡­¡­ We managed to discover a few things. Some of them good, some of them bad.

    ¡¸The next light emission ising soon¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Please be blue, please be blue, please, oh God almighty, let it be blue¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Indigo¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Fuck you, Random Numbers!¡¹

    First of all, the mechanic of the color changing that we were slowly starting to understand after witnessing the color changes many times now. The changes will ur every thirty seconds, if the colors are different their effects stack, and when the same color shines twice the previously active effect will go back to its original state.

    ¡¸I wonder what got inverted this time around¡­¡­ Bugeh!?¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san!?¡¹

    ¡¸Okay, alright¡­¡­ I think I cracked the code here¡­¡­ My Agility was just reced with my Vitality.¡¹

    Although I managed to avoid being hit directly, I was still caught in the st of the tentacle smash and was blown away in a rather spectacr matter. But normally thanks to a really high Luck stat I could always count on the skill¡¯s effect that would allow me to survive the fatal blow and leave me with one HP. But thanks to my stats being reced, I lost only about ten percent of my HP bar. Apparently this power is meant to render highly mobile character such as myselfpletely useless in battle. That is the power of ¡®Indigo¡¯.

    That¡¯s right, the effect of the ¡®Indigo¡¯ light. That¡¯s the second fact. If the previous effects reversed the gender of the yers and reversed the colors which they were perceiving, this color was directly affecting the yers¡¯ status. But it was even more of a drag than the other two, because apparently the two statistics that are getting switched are being selected at random.

    ¡¸Kuh¡­¡­¡¹

    An ability like that is the natural enemy of yers who have very specialized stats distribution. For example, what would have happened if you subtract the points in Strength or Vitality from a Tank character? Or what would have happened if you were to strip the light warrior from his/her Agility or Dexterity? What would be the result of removing the precious MP points from a character that only deals in magic attacks? That kind of ability is a true evil incarnate, something that cannot be worked around and it cannot be easily countered, if countered at all.

    ¡¸Rei! Time to do a role switch¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Affirmative!¡¹

    Since Rei¡¯s stats should be rtively distributed in an even manner, she should have suffered the least amount of damage by this sudden change. That being said, her firepower and tankiness should diminish slightly, but she should have gained some mobility in return. Me, on the other hand? Right now I was pretty much immobile, but I should have a pretty good damage resistance thanks to my current tank-like Vitality.

    Once I suggested the role change, Rei falls slightly behind me to prepare herself, while I go forward without stopping or adjusting my equipment in the status screen. Right now I am not the same person I used to be, so you might even call me Sanraku Ver. 2! Right now the situation was not all that great for me, but I had to make sure that for this limited amount of time I am going to do my very best. And what I mean by that is¡­¡­

    ¡¸You fool! Who said that little old me cannot tank damage!?¡¹

    The only way in which yers can obtain equipment without crafting its pieces themselves is through buying it in various stores with money they managed to umte. But for me the things are a little bit different. You see, I asked Break, a Vorpal Rabbit smith to create a set of armor for me. A set of armor that could be used by tanks, just in case. It is called ¡°Guardian¡¯s Armor¡± and it¡¯s a full set that Break managed to create thanks to herbined roles of ¡°Master¡± and ¡°Grandmaster¡± at cksmithing.

    The full set of armor also some with the added effect: equipping aplete set will cause you to take reduced physical and magic damage, as long as you¡¯re not using any other skills and magic. Normally a setting like that would be quite problematic, since there are hardly any yers out there that fight without the use of skills and magic. Normally that effect would have beenpletely useless to me. But not right now. Right now it was actually perfect.

    ¡¸Muh, guuh¡­¡­!¡¹

    The potions that I have bought in advance are long gone as well. Right about now the only way for me to recover my HP from Kutanid¡¯s tentacle attacks was to eat the HP recovering fishponents that I managed to farm a whole lot of during my sightseeing of the underwater city. I was getting thrashed all over the ce and it was looking quite serious, but the damage itself was fortunately not all that great.

    ¡¸Oh sh*t¡­¡­ Why the fuck did they had to reproduce the feeling of bones breaking in this game as well¡­¡­!?¡¹

 Chapter 206: Reaching the Heavens Part 12 Part 2

    <h4>ShangriLa Frontier Chapter 206: Reaching the Heavens Part 12 Part 2</h4>

    Good thing that this game did not reproduce the effect of having one¡¯s throat crushed. No¡­¡­ I think it¡¯s not impossible to recreate that in this game, it must be because the developers chose to omit something like that. Now, for getting back my HP¡­¡­ I knew it, potions are way better and faster at HP recovery. It would be better if I could at least cook the fish before eating it, that way it would be much easier to swallow. But raw ones are fine as well, especially in this current circumstances!

    If Rust saw me eating with my bird mask still on, I¡¯m sure that she would make a sassyment about birds swallowing their food in one piece without chewing, but I¡¯m a human being as well! Not a bird! Speaking of which, ever since I have started ying this game lots of people have confused me with a bird for some reason¡­¡­ What¡¯s up with that? Even Alva was thinking at first that I¡¯m a birdman or some other creature like that. This really will give me an identity crisis somewhere down the line, I can already feel it.

    ¡¸Whoa there, hello!¡¹

    I make a sudden jump, putting all of my Strength and my whole body into it. Then twisted my whole body like a madman once I realized that indigo light flooded my vision once more. I hurriedly took off my armor and started to run away from Kutanid, once I realized that my HP was getting dangerously close to the levels of zero. Like that, I was once more a half-naked female character. But right now I had little to no time to worry about my appearances, since survival was the only thing I could think of at the current moment.

    ¡¸That was dangerous, too dangerous¡­¡­ Muguh!¡¹

    ¡¸Umm, maybe you should try to wear a little bit more clothes¡­¡­ Or maybe stop eating raw fish like that, that¡¯s quite an image to get stuck in your head¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Mold, please do not be fooled by my appearances. I am still a man through and through, and I think that for the sake of the efficiency it is okay to throw themon sense out the window from time to time.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s not just themon sense you are throwing out the window right there, that¡¯s actual decency as a human being¡­¡­¡¹

    I know that there are some animals out there that eat their pray all at once, some birds even swallow them whole with the heads and whole skeletons without a goddamn care in the world. But I¡¯m a human. Not a bird, but a busty human right about now. So I don¡¯t know why would everyone would get upset at me trying to eat like normal humans does.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Sanraku, please don¡¯t teach Mold any unnecessary thing. If you really want to do something, then please go do it somewhere where other people can¡¯t see you.¡¹

    ¡¸Once my status goes back to normal, I¡¯m heading back to the front line! So it¡¯s just a waste of time for me to go somewhere else just so that I would not bother anyone in here! See that chalice over there? The ¡®purple¡¯ one? This one is of the highest priority, so be sure to aim for that!¡¹

    It should also go without saying, but at the start of this battle phase four out of the eight chalices got destroyed on the spot, most probably corresponding to the four tentacles that got sealed away thanks to our previous efforts. By extension, it would most probably mean that the powers that the four tentacles represented should no longer be active. Which is good, because it means that we would not have to worry about Kutanid screwing around with distance or attack types. But other effects are the ones we should be on the lookout for. And yup, the next light that glows is colored purple.

    ¡¸Wait, we talk here like that and the chalice¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m sorry, I wasn¡¯t fast enough! I wasn¡¯t able to destroy it!¡¹

    ¡¸Holy fuck, is that something healing rted¡­¡­!? Oi, what are you all waiting for, how many potions do you have on you!?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I still have some of them left.¡¹

    ¡¸Me, too¡­¡­!¡¹

    And the third thing that we managed to discover, which turned out to be the worst news out of the entire bunch¡­¡­ the power of the color Purple. It is ¡®Damage Reversal¡¯. And that¡¯s not all. There was a slight twist to it. What that power does, is that it turns normal damage into healing, and healing into damage. Meaning that every single normal attack we direct towards the chalices would now start to regenerate it. But wait, there¡¯s more!

    Kutanid raises one of its tentacles. Then the tentacle fall onto one of the other tentacles, the one that was holding the most probable target for us to attack, the blue chalice. It was not going to attack us. At the moment of impact there was a loud crashing sound, but instead of bing damaged some more, the chalice was starting to repair itself.

    That¡¯s right. That bastard Kutanid knows all too well how that power of his works, and how he can utilize it to its full potential by healing itself! What a cheeky octopus this is! And the worse thing is that we cannot counter it in any way¡­¡­ Damn you, Kutanid!

    However, it¡¯s not all so bad. The damage heals it, but the opposite effect also applies. That is why we have been throwing bottles of potions at it right now. What was intended to heal all wounds was now acting like a highly potent acid, and it was damaging the chalice that was already regenerating.

    ¡¸Good thing I have a whole lot of fish to rece those potions if need be¡­¡­¡¹

    This fight was already annoying as it is, but the fact that this monster can also heal itself is even more annoying! Good thing we know how it works, but we also cannot rest assured that it is a full-proof method. We can save some of our potions to use them as throwing weapons if need be, but we must not hoard all of them!

    Either way, with Rei being back to the front to cover for me, I now have some time to think things through. I don¡¯t want to change our current formation, since if I stay behind I cannot fully utilize my potential in dealing damage to the chalices. But thanks to Emul¡¯s voice we would know when the next light emission would ur. Now the only thing that was left was to pray for a good RNG to ur.

    ¡¸Thirty seconds have passed!¡¹

    The timer¡­¡­ I can hear Emul¡¯s voice sounding through the air just now.

    ¡¸It¡¯s indigo color again!¡¹

    ¡¸Alright! That¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about! Now let¡¯s just break this sucker to pieces!¡¹

    After Rei regained her original tankiness and I have regained my original agility and speed, the two of us brandished our weapons and we started attacking the indigo chalice like there was no tomorrow. I¡¯m getting really tired of this! This swaying, that is! My chest was really starting to hurt!

 Chapter 207: Reaching the Heavens Part 13 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 207: Reaching the Heavens Part 13 Part 1</h4>

    At that exact moment, my body just started moving on its own.

    ¡¸I¡¯m not letting you get away!!¡¹

    I still have about five seconds left until the next light emission, until the chalice changes. You think you canpletely heal the damages we managed to do to you!? As if I would let you do something like that!!

    Even if your name and settings are kinda cool, I am still going to get you! I then reach out to my personal Sanraku Armory and take out a big and sturdy sword out of it, the one with the longest reach. By the way, at the top of my armament list is my trusty Yuzuki, followed by the Scorpion Gauntlets.

    The chalices are sturdy, but that means that they can take as much punishment as you are able to dish out onto them. I am no Hero by any means, but even I was able to admire the dull shine of the de that was reaching out towards the chalice. Although it was my wishful thinking and nothing more, it seems that the chalice has reached its limit from all the abuse we were subjecting it to, especially from the potion bombs we have been throwing at it.

    Once the point of the sword reaches its target, the chalice begins to shine with ominous light. However, it was not the kind of light that would herald the fact that damage switches ces with healing once more. It was the light of the chalice being destroyed, since its core was no longer able to sustain itself in this world.

    ¡¸EVEN IF THE WORLD ITSELF CHANGES, THE FOUNDATION WILL STILL STAND STRONG. BUT IF THE CHANGE OCCURS, WILL HUMAN WILL STILL BE ABLE TO REACH OUT TO THE SEA OF STARS¡­¡­?¡¹

    Yet another piece of dialogue from Kutanid. I have no idea what it means, but that¡¯s not the problem right now. For now let us just memorize those lines and focus on the task at hand. We can always analyze themter. We can also assume that there will be more of them toe.

    We continued to destroy the chalices, and eventually Kutanid lost all eight of them, alongside of the colors that they were representing. However, even though we were trying it quite a number of times, both Rei and I were unable to inflict any kind of damage onto the main body of Kutanid. Well, that was to be expected of magic life form¡­¡­ No, it was probably a huge mass of magical energy given shape. That¡¯s a more likely exnation. Personally, I don¡¯t think that this phase of battle would allow us to do any kind of real damage, unless Kutanid itself would allow for it.

    Once the eight chalices were done for, the tentacles started to roll inwards towards the main body. How should I say it¡­¡­? It was awfully octopus behavior out of that monster. One that I would not normally expect from a Unique Monster like that. But why do I get a feeling that I have seen such a thing somewhere before? Ah, oh yeah! It¡¯s like you are ying around with 3D models in graphic programs! It looked almost exactly the same!

    As Kutanid continues to ignore any knownws of both mass and physics, its tentacles continue to fold inwards, focusing on the single point in space. Even though they should be getting thinner and longer, they were only bing smaller and thicker, until they werepletely incorporated into Kutanid¡¯s body.

    ¡¸You know what? Wouldn¡¯t it be a total joke if whates next was a in, normal octopus?¡¹

    ¡¸You know what would be even funnier? If that normal octopus was able to kill us all simply by rolling over. That would be the joke of a century.¡¹

    Ah, I see that you get it, Rust. You must be one of ¡°our¡± people then. During trials like that one, it is important to stay positive andugh in face of danger. That way you won¡¯t get frightened nearly as easily and you will not fall into despair.

    Honestly¡­¡­ Right now Kutanid looked rather pitiful. Like an octopus that ended up having all of its tentacles ripped out of its body. It was a really grotesque kind of a circle, with the octopi eyes pped right in the middle of it. But even those eyes were slowly starting to sink in the middle of its torso. Finally Kutanid formed something that was resembling an apple-shaped cocoon, made out of a jet-ck mass that looked unlike anything I have seen in my life. Just then that mass started to distort in a strange way, as if something was trying to break free from the shell that was once known as Kutanid of the Abyss.

    ¡¸FAR, FAR, I HAVE COME SO FAR. I KNOW NOT OF HER HOMETOWN. MY HOMETOWN WAS THE VAST SEA OF STARS. AND HER SMILE WAS MY ONLY COMPANION.¡¹

    ¡¸Woah, somehow I get a feeling that this sentence came actually out of nowhere!¡¹

    ¡¸Does that mean we are finally going to fight its final form?¡¹

    ¡¸No, Rei. I would not be so sure about that. Let¡¯s wait and see for now. I feel that this thing was a pupa, so maybe there will be one more form before we are going to go against its final iteration.¡¹

    Suddenly, the movements of the ck mass stops all at once. Next thing is, before we even know it, the cocoon violently contracts. It was then starting to shrink its size, growing gradually smaller and smaller.

    ¡¸I WALK IN THIS WORLD, BUT I AM NOT OF THIS WORLD. I LACK THE FLESH. I LACK THE BONES. I LACK THE BLOOD THAT WOULD COURSE THROUGH MY VEINS.¡¹

    ¡¸You hear that, boneless! Boneless, it says! Welp, octopi are limp to begin with, so small wonder about that.¡¹

    ¡¸Bafugh! Bafuahahaha!¡¹

    ¡¸MOLD! GET A FUCKING GRIP!¡¹

    I was surprised that Akitsu Akane did notugh at that joke. And well, Mold was to be expected, since hisughing threshold is way lower than that of any ordinary person out there.

    Well, I myself was not in the mood for joking, not as long as Kutanid was alive and kicking out there. Maybe I¡¯ll allow myself to have a goodugh once we make sure that this thing is truly dead and gone.

    ¡¸I-It¡¯s okay. We are going to do this thing seriously. So Rust, Sanraku-san, please stop looking at me as though you want to set me on fire with your minds, okay!?¡¹

    Gamers are a truly mysterious people. Depending on the circumstances at hand, we can adapt to any situation and change our attitude at will. And it¡¯s okay Mold, it¡¯s okay now. No one¡¯s going to set you on fire, so rx, man! Please don¡¯t look at us like amb that¡¯s realized that it is going right into the ughterhouse! Good boy, good boy.

    ¡¸IF SO, I WILL MAKE ALL DELUSIONS A REALITY. I WILL TURN ILLUSIONS INTO SOLID MATTER. THEN I SHALL EMERGE OUT OF THE FANTASIES. THAT IS WHY, THAT IS EXACTLY WHY I SHALL SHED THE VIRTUAL SKIN AND DONE BOTH FLESH AND BLOOD.¡¹

 Chapter 207: Reaching the Heavens Part 13 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 207: Reaching the Heavens Part 13 Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸What¡¯s that? You want to eat some yakiniku? Is that it?¡¹

    ¡¸Akitsu Akane, now you get a grip!¡¹

    For some bizarre reason I was also feeling like I wanted tough. But the moment I have seen the change undergoing in Kutanid, I knew that it was not the reason for why I wasughing¡­¡­ It was because all the people around me were running around with panic in their eyes, acting like headless chickens. I screamed at everyone while readying my weapon and taking a battle stance:

    ¡¸Everyone! Ready your weapons and brace yourselves! Eyes at the back of your head!¡¹

    If you were topare that event that was happening right before our very eyes to something, seeing how Kutanid¡¯s flesh was being sucked suck into itself and then expanding like that, there was only one thing that wasing to mind. A terror from deep space, an urance that that swallows up stars ands and even devours light¡­¡­ a ck hole. After the shrinking andpressing was finally done, what was left was the Kutanid ck hole with dozens of magic circles starting to appear all over it.

    And while I am no magic users and by no means I am familiar with how magic and magic circles in particr are supposed to work, the way in which they were currently glowing and their symbols were strangely familiar to me. To be more exact, it looked very simr to that one particr magic ability that small and vaunerable creatures like Vorpal Bunnies or Cait Seith possessed¡­¡­

    ¡¸STRUGGLE IS THE ESSENCE OF LIFE, LIFE IS LIKE THE CONSTANT GOING AGAINST THE CURRENT.¡¹

    It looks like Kutanid managed to get his very own version of skill ¡°Random Encounter¡±. But with this, I don¡¯t think that there was anything ¡°Random¡± to it and it has nothing to do with ¡°ennounter¡± of any sorts. Oh, and instead of one, there were like thirty magic circles that were activating right about now.

    How can I even describe this? In a nutshell, this is hell. Literally every monster possible from the underwater city was now present in here.

    ¡¸This feels like a mixture of horror game with a hunting game and zombie apocalypse game!¡¹

    ¡¸We¡¯re gonna die! We¡¯re gonna die! We¡¯re gonna die! We are all going to die!¡¹

    ¡¸Stop your bitching, you¡¯re a Vorpal Bunny for fuck¡¯s sake! Now let¡¯s focus on that iing monster train!¡¹

    As I said that, the hoard of the rotten fish-people and giant fish started to run in our direction, causing us to start to run away for our lives.

    There is something in the gaming terminology as ¡°Monster House¡±. It is a kind of trap that ismon in dungeon exploration and it describes a situation when a mass of monsters flood the chamber and you cannot exit the chamber unless you clear the entire mass of monsters first. There are many types of Monster houses, with the two most popr types being a swarm of lower level monsters and a few powerful monsters whose levels even exceed the number that the yers may have. It seems that Kutanid is taking advantage of both of those types.

    For convenience¡¯s sake let¡¯s call that ability ¡°True Random Encounter¡± for now. It was an ability that employed magic in order to fill in the Coliseum with a huge numbers of monsters. Thus our current predicament where we would face off against the literal zombie fish horde. Just like in some cheap horror movie.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ What the hell is that?¡¹

    ¡¸Looks like a ¡°Summon Friends¡±mand to me!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Alright! Mold, you take care of support!¡¹

    ¡¸On it!¡¹

    I¡¯m truly d that there is at least one fellow gamer here who can understand my train of thoughts. Then I look at Akitsu Akane, who looked helluva confused. ¡°Kutanid has friends?¡± that¡¯s what his current expression was like to me. You gotta admire the fact that he can be seriously oblivious like that on a daily basis.

    ¡¸Rei! I¡¯ll try to focus the aggro of this big thing onto myself! You take care of all of the small fries!¡¹

    Thinking about a meaning behind Kutanid¡¯s actions, calling your friends for help to battle is something only a wounded monster would do. It¡¯s not that umon for boss monsters to be able to do that as well, but not in such quantities and only to devour them indiscreetly.

    If so, those monsters are not simple mobs, but the ¡°blood¡±, ¡°bones¡± and ¡°flesh¡± that Kutanid was talking about. So apparently Kutanid¡¯s dialogue pieces were part of the bigger game lore, as well as hints towards the next gimmick of the form that wasing.

    Good thing that Kutanid¡¯s lines were written in a modernnguage, albeit needlessly esotheric and convoluted. If we analyze it for some time, we are going to find the answer eventually. It said it had no blood so it wanted blood. And with delusions turning into facts, fantasies begin to gather and turn real through the means of virtual reality.

    What is important here is not the overall meaning, but the specific words that are appearing. ¡°Delusion¡±, ¡°fantasy¡±, ¡°virtual¡±, ¡°imagination¡±¡­¡­ If we think about it in terms of the battle so far, it might be possible to assume that this octopus would have five forms in total. So the current form should be the ¡°virtual¡± one.

    ¡¸Emul, I will try to get the iing monsters to go after me. Then you attack them. If possible, try to get rid of as many as you possibly can while you¡¯re at it.¡¹

    ¡¸R-Right.¡¹

    Ask for flesh and blood, and flesh and blood you shall receive, apparently. Not to mention that the final form was most probably on its way here. Maybe now would be the time to star fitting in all the pieces of the puzzle. Kutanid has given us enough hints as it is.

    ¡¸PROCEED WITH AN UNWEAVERING HEART, AND THERE WILL BE NO HEIGHTS THAT YOU CANNOT REACH.¡¹

    Fight without giving up. Without giving it everything you have got you won¡¯t be able to beat Kutanid. That is the only way to take down things that stay high in the sky, way out of reach. Or maybe getting rid of the tentacles would do the trick? In getting it down to the ground, I mean?

    ¡¸BELIEVE IN YOURSELF, AND YOUR RESOLVE SHALL NOT SHAKE EVEN IN THE FACE OF MOST POWERFUL OF ADVERSITIES.¡¹

    Eight chalices, eight lights and eight powers associated with them. No matter what kind of power it was, none of it was affecting Kutanid itself. And no matter what we were doing or what was happening, Kutanid kept on fighting until off of its chalices were finally broken.

    But if so, what does the previous words of Kutanid even mean? Struggle is the essence of life, life is a constant going against the current?

    If you want struggle then we are struggling against a current alright. Against a current of monsters, that is! Although our current actions would not exactly fit the definition of going against the current, but much rather trying to run away from the current.

    Thinking about it calmly, it bes apparent that Kutanid did not transform into a literal ck hole. It was something that was more resembling an opened mouth. Could it be that it decided to ask for a food delivery at thest possible moment?

    ¡¸Then we all know what it is that we must do.¡¹

    Reduce the amount of smaller monsters that go into that thing¡¯s mouth, in order to prevent it from bing full. Apparently this form is all about us being able to reduce the power and HP potential of the form thates after that.

 Chapter 208: Reaching the Heavens Part 14 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 208: Reaching the Heavens Part 14 Part 1</h4>

    In short, this is nothing but a mini game.

    The second form, the ¡°Fantasy¡± form, you must destroy all of the tentacle projectiles in order to shoot Kutanid out of the sky, where it was safely outside of the yers reach.

    The third form, the ¡°Imaginary¡± form, is a mini game where you need to destroy eight tentacles holding eight chalices, which were colored differently and were activating various special effects every thirty seconds.

    If so, then what exactly is the deal with this mini game, with the fourth form - the ¡°Virtual¡± form? It was actually pretty simple: do not let him stuff its mouth full of the food he was so desperately trying to obtain. Who knows? Maybe it is something that will be rted to the final, and hopefully thest, form? Maybe its strength is going to increase based on the number of monsters devoured? But still, the strategy is simple here.

    ¡¸I don¡¯t think we can efficiently beat the huge ones time after time! I¡¯ll aggro them towards me, while you take care of the small fries as much as possible!¡¹

    The very first Arctus Regalex that appeared was immediately swallowed up by the ck hole alongside a bunch of mermaids. As a matter of fact, almost every single monster that was initially summoned by Kutanid was sucked into the ck hole, and right about now we needed to deal with a new batch of summoned monsters. That is why I was trying my best to aggro the big ones and trying to pull them away from the ck hole.

    The ¡°aircraft carrier¡± monsters are especially dangerous here, since when it is sucked into the ck hole and dies, all of the smaller monsters that were inside of it would also end up dead as well. That being said, the items were dropping out of those monsters as normal right now, or maybe even more than usual. I know that we have more important things to do right now, but leaving all of those delicious drop items to waste like that was just not sitting right with me. I think every gamer out there would think so as well.

    It might be a little bit of a stretch to say this, but right about now the space in the sky was like one huge treasure chest, its contents just waiting to be piged. Maybe it will be a good idea to prioritize the ¡°carriers¡± and try to take down at least a couple of them while we are being at it? But at the same time, we cannot ignore other small fries, for if we just let them roam free, they will just end up as food for Kutanid.

    I leave long distance fighting to Emul and focus on destroying the small fries in order to gather the attention of the big ones. And while I¡¯m making the big guys focus on me and give chase, others shall see to it that the small mermaids are going to get taken care of.

    And even though I am only interested in the big guys, I cannot help but to notice that they were dying extremely fast? Could it be that their HP bars were adjusted for this fight so that you would not have to waste so much time with them? It must be something alongside those lines, since even I, whose Strength was not all that high to begin with, was able to defeat them in just a few shes. But if that was indeed the case, then it only goes to show that the strategy that I havee up with was a correct one.

    ¡¸Kuh¡­¡­ We must get rid of as many as we can¡­¡­!¡¹

    There it is again. There is a hole opening up in the middle of the Coliseum space that starts to suck everything around it inside of itself. I don¡¯t know what is the principle behind that action, or is it a ¡°suction¡± in the first ce. The fact is that the yers and NPCs are not being sucked into it at all. The only ones that are getting affected by the ck hole are the monsters summoned up by Kutanid.

    I threw one of the smaller monster towards the sucking hole and watched what would happen. Interestingly enough, the monster dissipated into red polygons before it was sucked inside of the void in space. While we¡¯re being at it, how many times the magic circles appeared now? Ten, or maybe even more?

    ¡¸How many more times is it going to repeat that action? It¡¯s been like five minutes already¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I would worry about the weapon durability first! At this rate we might get in real trouble if a few more waves like that hit us!¡¹

    ¡¸Mold is a Magician, so we don¡¯t have to worry about him. And my bow¡¯s durability only goes down whenever I fire my arrows¡­¡­¡¹

    That¡¯s right. I may have a weapon in my arsenal that won¡¯t be causing its durability to be a problem, but unfortunately others do not have such luxury. We have no idea to know when this phase will actually end, and with us having to actually cut down the small fries all the time, it¡¯s no wonder that our equipment would start to deteriorate at a really fast rate because of that. And the fact that the amount of small fries was like that of some musou games was certainly not helping here.

    Rust words just now sounded very serious. It¡¯s true that bows have durability as well, and it even lower than that of swords or other weapons. And it also appears that both her normal bow and magic bow were approaching their limits fast. Apparently she has some other normal and magic bow left just in case, but before it woulde to her resulting to those, she would surely run out of both arrows and MP.

    ¡¸Think you¡¯ll be able to keep going?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Worst case scenario, I will even use my bare fists to contribute.¡¹

    ¡¸Everyone, watch out! The twelfth wave is iing!¡¹

    As expected, Rei was counting the waves properly this entire time. This was to be the twelfth summoning in this phase, and the magic circle that was being erected right now was farrger than the ones we¡¯ve seen before. Maybe it was an indicator that the battle was nearing to a close, but somehow I was having a really bad feeling about all this.

    After all, if there was ever a monster that would be able to be summoned from inside of the underwater city by a summoning circle of this size, that would surely be¡­¡­

    ¡¸Ahh ,oh sh*t, this isn¡¯t good¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Pii!!!¡¹

    Ah, I see, it would be Emul¡¯s first time witnessing this thing with his own eyes. Alva-kun, please tell everyone present what that thing is, I don¡¯t really feel like doing it right now.

    ¡¸Antic Reaperorca¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸That thing is really bad news¡­¡­ it¡¯s better to just think about running away for now.¡¹

    The very next moment the ce that we were just standing in gotpletely razed to the ground by a huge electric discharge.

 Chapter 208: Reaching the Heavens Part 14 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 208: Reaching the Heavens Part 14 Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Ahh¡­¡­ Hey, everyone? Are you still alive by any chance?¡¹

    ¡¸That sounded awfully like something that a teacher at school would say. You know, that famous line: Who is absent, raise your hand in the air!¡¹

    Akitsu Akane, was thatment just now really necessary¡­¡­? Or you know what? Doesn¡¯t matter. It doesn¡¯t really matter, it¡¯s not important right now.

    The Antic Reamerorca, otherwise known as the Sea Emperor, did not receive such a name just for show. Thatser attack and electric discharge were both so powerful that the whole of Coliseum was reduced to rubble, and I would not be surprised if the whole structure right now was on the verge of copsing. Obviously, if we were hit by those attacks, it would have been the end for us all.

    Whether they all could hear me or not, we were not in the clear just yet. We still had to run away and avoid the iing attacks¡­¡­ Until the Reaperorca was sucked into Kutanid ck hole, that is. Thatst discharge must have been its parting gift for us all.

    ¡¸Alright, whoever is not dead, speak up¡­¡­ How about you, Emul? You dead there, buddy?¡¹

    ¡¸I feel like I¡¯m dead¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Nah, you look fine to me.¡¹

    I feel like I¡¯m about to kick the bucket myself, but as long as I have HP left I will be fine. But I also noticed that my eyelids felt really heavy right now for some reason, and my movements were really sluggish, as if they were in slow motion. I could also feel a slight pulsating sensation in my head.

    ¡¸Looks like my caffeine supply is running out¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Caffe¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Never mind that. No need to worry about it.¡¹

    It said on the can of Riot Blood Revolving Lantern that it was meant for ¡°short-term decisive battles¡± only. And since it took me way too long to get here and figure out what the gimmicks were all about, its effects were already starting to wear off. I know that I won¡¯t fall asleep in the middle of the fight, but I sure hope that this chronic dullness in my legs won¡¯t affect my battle performance.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Mold and I are safe!¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, somehow.¡¹

    ¡¸Nereis and I are in one piece as well!¡¹

    ¡¸Alva, are you alright?¡¹

    I think that Rei is going to be fine as well, but what about the stupid sh*thead? I hope that he didn¡¯t drop dead on the spot and died on us.

    I was looking for Straude all over the ce, and when I was about sixty percent ready to give up and lose hope, I saw it. Some of the stone rubble started to be pushed to the sides, and Rei emerged from under it, holding Straude under one arm. She must have jumped towards him, knowing that he¡¯s the key NPC here and protect him¡­¡­ So we are still in the clear, it seems. And since Akitsu Akane and Sickle were right beside us, it was easy to confirm that they were alive and kicking for now. Anyways, it seems that somehow the whole gang managed to avoid being killed.

    ¡¸Now I want some fricking soy sauce¡­¡­ Alright, everyone, listen up! I know it may sound cruel, but if we are not dead and we can stand up, that¡¯s what we must do. No dilly-dallying.¡¹

    And imagine that, the colors are now all back to normal, too. Emul, who slipped from my head on my nape, climbed back on top of my head, and I could feel his shaking all over my head. But it was a warm and fluffy feeling.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Listen up, you stupid sh*thead. From now on you¡¯re just a dead weight. So haul ass the fuck away from here as fast as possible, got it?¡¹

    ¡¸I, I¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸As unfortunate as that may sound, no one here can sail a boat except for you. In the meantime while we are fighting here, find us a boat, no matter how small, and secure an escape route from here once this is all over.¡¹

    Both Rust and I engage in some small role-y, all so that Straude would leave this ce and go somewhere else, where he would not die because of some stupid reason. It¡¯s only amon sense for gamers to get rid of any nuisance that might act in an unpredictable way and focus aggro on themselves for whatever reason. I don¡¯t know how well he received those words, but for now we all run from the corner of the Coliseum while the stupid sh*thead was just sitting there with tears welling up in his eyes.

    ¡¸Now then, Rei¡­¡­ How about you do the same thing you did before?¡¹

    ¡¸Umm, yes¡­¡­ The same procedure needs to be done here, but¡­¡­ It can be done no problem.¡¹

    ¡¸Right, let¡¯s all keep doing our best and try not to get ourselves killed. Keep your cool and everything should be fine¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Affirmative.¡¹

    The void in which the monsters were being sucked into changes into a jet-ck hole right in front of our eyes. It¡¯s depth¡­¡­ Unfortunately, there is no way for us to confirm how deep it is. However, just then, from the edge of that hole¡­¡­ there was a hand that was suddenly emerging.

    ¡¸Kutanid of the Abyss¡­¡­¡¹

    The figure that emerged from the deep pool seemed to be the literal incarnation of that very name.

    Broadly speaking, it looked almost like a human being would. But its whole body was covered in red and ck magical signs and patterns, which seemed to resemble its muscles, veins and skin. Its body was also gigantic in size, and there was still a fishy odor to it, probably because it was not all that long since it managed to create this shell for itself using the flesh of sea monsters. But there was also one more scent lingering on its body: that of blood and death.

    Also, there was a giant octopus sitting on the ce where human head and torso should be, which was giving it the striking resemnce to the creature known as ¡°Cthulhu¡±, an enemy design that was fairlymon in video games nowadays. But that was clearly not Cthulhu. And one more thing.

    ¡¸HUMANS, THE FIRST OF MANY MIRACLES THAT WAS SPREAD AROUND AND GREW UP. HUMANS, CREATE THE MIRACLE AND MOVE FORWARD, ILLUMINATING THE DARKNESS WITH YOUR LIGHT.¡¹

    ¡¸WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? WHAT WILL YOU BE ABLE TO DO? SHOW US, SHOW US, SHOW US, SHOW US.¡¹

    ¡¸SEEDS SAWN FROM THE HEAVENS, HAVE THEY FINALLY GROWN ROOTS?¡¹

    ¡¸I AM THE ONE WHO REACHES THE HEAVENS. I AM THE ONE WHO SEES THE WORLD FROM THE DEPTHS. I AM The ONE WHO KNOWS THE WARM AFTERGLOW OF THE GREAT TRAJECTORY.¡¹

    ¡¸SHOW ME, THE VALUE OF LIFE. SHOW ME IF HER WISH WAS FINALLY GRANTED?¡¹

    We all hear a voice echo throughout the arena, a voice that clearly did not belong to any living creature. This voice should have belonged to Kutanid, but it sounded as if multiple people were talking all at once.

    Generally speaking, what should have emerged from Kutanid¡¯s back should have been a pair of ck, demon-like wings. But in Kutanid¡¯s case, the thing that was erected from its back was a huge circle, like an angelic halo. And on that circle, eight jewels were shining brightly, like fruits hanging down from a tree.

    ¡¸Shut your mouth! I don¡¯t know anything about the lore here, so just shut the fuck up and give me the World Truth Tome already! Preferably without resisting too much! You Octopus bastard¡­¡­ Alright, everyone! This is likely going to be the final battle, so show me some fighting spirit here!¡¹

    ¡¸STRUGGLE IS THE ESSENCE OF LIFE. AND IF THAT¡¯S SO¡­¡­ THEN SHOW ME HOW YOU STRUGGLE!!! PROVE YOURSELVES!!!¡¹

    The final form of Kutanid, the one in shape of a giant octopus. Our team of brave warriors, ¡°Mortals¡±. The curtain has finally risen on the final battle!

 Chapter 209: Reaching the Heavens Part 15 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 209: Reaching the Heavens Part 15 Part 1</h4>

    Rust fires a mighty blow from her bow. The arrow that she managed to shoot at the cost of breaking one of her bows cuts through the air in a straight line,nding right in the middle of Kutanid¡¯s chest.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ No way! That arrow was supposed to pierce its heart for sure!¡¹

    ¡¸Sorry to say this, but I do not think that you will be able to pierce the muscles of such a giant mountain of flesh with a simple bow and arrow.¡¹

    Surely those muscles are not just for show. They must act like a sort of flesh armor, being impossible to prate by any normal means. If there is something that would be able to pierce through it, it would surely have to be a trump card in form of the ultimate offensive power attack. Fortunately both Rei and I have means to use such attacks, but for the time being let us stick to the basics here.

    ¡¸Aim for its face, it is what I would like to say¡­¡­ But first of all, aim for its legs! Once its down on the ground, then we all focus on the face! And for now we must figure out just what kind of attacks this thing is able to pull off!¡¹

    With an appearance that resembled abination of gori, octopus and a bodhisattva, this form of Kutanid is probably the only one that possesses a physical body. In other words, this form was probably going to be all about good old fist fighting, with no strange gimmicks, reversal effects or tentacle smashes. It even said so itself: ¡°Show me how you struggle!¡± This surely must be a challenge.

    ¡¸Alright, I¡¯m going to crush that stupid jaw of yours into million pieces!¡¹

    It is not yet the time to use my trump card, but in order to see how Kutanid behaves in a one-on-one fistfight, I needed some preparation. So I just activated Infight and closed the distance that was between us. In the meantime, I also equipped my Scorpion Gauntlets. Come on, Kutanid, you asshole! Let us punch the living crap out of one another!

    VVVVVVVVVVVVOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

    ¡¸Oguoh¡­¡­ Nice, very nice! What a sonorous warcry!¡¹

    I can see a mighty straight punching my way, a punch that would normally be too fast to perceive or react to in any form of way. But if thosest few battles taught me something, it is that everything is possible. In order to avoid that blow, I use one of my newest skills, Moment Site. Once I do that, it is as though the whole world slows down significantly. I did not really need to use that to avoid this, but I needed that for something else while I was at it.

    As Rei mentioned before, she has a Tank skill that allows her to counter any physical attack right after that attack hits her¡­¡­ I would like to imitate that somehow. I know that technically I have reached the limit by achieving Level Ny Nine Extended, but I also know that limits exists in games to be surpassed. So it would not be all that utterly pointless for me, Sanraku, to try to learn the basic movements for a skill like that, even if I have stopped growing for the time being.

    I stop the skill¡¯s effect and regain my speed when the world around me goes back to normal. Normally that would cause some problems to my movements and coordination, but I did some secret training and now I was already used to that effect of sudden eleration.

    I twist my body, making a side step and shifting from Kutanid¡¯s blow, activating my own Crystal Pir at the same time. I then use my other gauntlet topletely knock Kutanid¡¯s arm to the side, and them make a punch of my own. Upon impact I could feel a shockwave going throughout my entire body, apanied by the feeling as though my arm was about to fall off. However, it was a clean and direct hit on my part and I could definitely feel it.

    ¡¸You seem to have all basic hand to handbat moves covered¡­¡­ What other tricks are you hiding up your sleeve?¡¹

    Anyways, what¡¯s the deal with that halo-like object and the jewels hanging from it? It is supposed to do something magical? Better be wary of that, or maybe even take measures to destroy the sted things.

    Perhaps my intention was written all over my face, because Kutanid roared loudly as it returned its fist back to a neutral position while shaking its body tremendously. In response to that, the ring that grew on its back¡­¡­ Oh, wow. I only noticed that right now, but that ring was actually made out of bones, probablying from some sort of arge monster¡¯s rib cage. If so, then the only monsterrge enough to fit the description would be¡­¡­ No, there is literally no point thinking about dead monsters.

    The jewels attached to the ring shone brightly, and after a few seconds they started to float, separating from the ring. Then they move over the heads of everyone present here and stop all of a sudden.

    ¡¸What the hell is this, that¡¯s dangerous¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸No wait, something¡¯s not right here! It was too slow and there¡¯s too much room to act around it! I don¡¯t think that it would introduce an insta-death gimmick thiste in the fight!¡¹

    ¡¸How can you know that!? It would be nice, but¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸---- ANALYSIS.¡¹

    Analysis? What is that? The pronunciation was a little bit off there, but¡­¡­ No, for starters, why would Kutanid even have a move with such a strange name to it¡­¡­?

    The circle of light expands from the jewel and descends towards me, scanning my entire body as if it was trying to read some sort of data from my avatar. I could see that each and every other yer was subjected to the same process.

    Akitsu Akane and Sickle tried to do the most logical thing in response to that action and tried to bail out from the light circle, but I think that it is no use doing that. In my opinion once the light has shone on you, you cannot escape its effect, whatever it may be.

    ¡¸Now then¡­¡­ whates next¡­¡­?¡¹

    I have no idea just what kind of Analysis those jewels were conducting on us, but once they were all but done they all turned blue and returned to Kutanid. The jewels lodged themselves back onto Kutanid¡¯s halo and after once more bright shine they went back to their original colors.

    Could it be that the number of the jewels corresponds to the number of people in the yers¡¯ party? Or could it be that eight was its original limit? It is a boss monster, a Unique Monster at that, so the former was very much possible, but thetter was something that could not be denied either. Since it could have been something that only this octopus would have.

    ¡¸---- REFLEXUS!¡¹

 Chapter 209: Reaching the Heavens Part 15 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 209: Reaching the Heavens Part 15 Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Oi, wait just a moment here, isn¡¯t that just cowardly!?¡¹

    The blue jewel then lights up. There are other jewels with blue light out there, but the ultramarine one was the one that was shining right above my head. However, the light it was shining with was not nearly enough to be able to fill my entire field of vision, unlike the chalice light. Still, there was some major difference there.

    With the passage of time, the light was not spreading more, but instead it was shrinking and concentrating on a single point on the field¡­¡­ that point is Kutanid¡¯s back, and when its giant body absorbs all the light, a change seemed to have urred within it.

    ¡¸Is that perhaps¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku, out of everyone present here, you are the only one who is proficient with dual wielding short des, right¡­¡­?¡¹

    Blue light starts to overflow from both of Kutanid¡¯s hands. Then it shapes into a pair of short swords, which were equivalent of human long sword. But it seems that Kutanid was able to manipte them just like the short swords without much of a problem. Also, the stance that Kutanid assumed right now seemed to be very familiar to me for some reason.

    It was the same stance that I would always assume to battle. The stance that I created based on all the historical drama and Hollywood blockbusters that I have watched, and of course all the video games that I have yed over the years. ¡°My¡± stance.

    ¡¸In other words, does that mean¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸The thing that this light was analyzing¡­¡­ was our own ystyles¡­¡­?¡¹

    It was almost at the same moment that Akitsu Akane shouted the answer out loud (which was most probably the right answer by the looks of it) that Kutanid swung its swords and attacked him.

    ¡¸Sanraku-san!¡¹

    ¡¸Uwoooh, kuh¡­¡­ Ooohhh!¡¹

    The right swordes crushing down, and the left one is being thrusted forward towards the ce where I was standing just a moment ago. This form of Kutanid is five meters tall, or maybe four meters tall at best. It is much smaller than the previous ones, but because it has a humanoid shape, thews of physics that are governing its actions are much closer to that of normal human beings.

    I manage to avoid that attack just barely, by twisting my body and striking the side of the iing sword and blowing it to the side. Then, when Kutanid¡¯s arm wasing back into a neutral position, I was going to step back to put some distance between us and avoid any further attacks.

    ¡¸Sanraku!¡¹

    ¡¸Switch¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Thanks, I¡¯m counting on you¡­¡­¡¹

    When I was starting to feel exhausted by avoiding, Alva and Rei both stepped in to take my ce and allowing me to catch my breath. Looking around, Mold was in the middle of buffing up Rust, and both Akitsu Akane and Sickle were running through the field of the debris around the arena, trying to get behind Kutanid¡¯s back.

    Just then, a light blue jewel shined on Kutanid¡¯s back. The twin swords in its hands vanished into thin air as if they were never there in the first ce. What appeared in their stead was a single, single-edged sword that looked gigantic, even though Kutanid¡¯s body was so massive to begin with.

    ¡¸T-this time it¡¯s me!?¡¹

    ¡¸Surviving a hit from something like that would be impossible¡­¡­!¡¹

    The two of them crouch in a hurry, and a second after they do that, the huge odachi swings right through the ce where Alva and Rei¡¯s necks were. Kutanid then wanted to sh at them again, but its attack was interrupted by the blue magic arrow that managed to hit it in its head, thus causing the attack to miss its mark.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Did it missed!?¡¹

    ¡¸No¡­¡­ It¡¯s because the object of its aggro has changed.¡¹

    What the hell is this odachi? Could it be that Kutanid abandoned its pride as a gimmick-oriented boss and was now only going to use attacks that would result in an insta kill? The marks that the de has left in the ground were only the testament of the de¡¯s destructive power. There is no doubt about: one blow from a de like that would probably be more than enough to get you killed on the spot.

    ¡¸DAH!¡¹

    However, it seems that we have someone on our team that does not know how certain skills or abilities can cause the boss¡¯s aggro to shift on the spot. That someone is Akitsu Akane, who who right now tried to deliver a mighty flying kick right to Kutanid¡¯s knee. But is that action could really hope to deal some damage to a Unique Monster in the first ce?

    ¡¸Vueeh.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    WOOOSH! A red arrow pierces the air as it flies towards Akitsu Akane, but since he manages to avoid it, it missed its mark and flew over our head and right next to Rust¡¯s face. It only stopped when it hit the spectators seats at the other edge of the arena, and when it did it managed to cause a miniature explosion that sent forth a shockwave.

    ¡¸Ah, in other words this boss imitates the favorite equipment and y style of everyone gathered in here¡­¡­¡¹

    If it is indeed so, then this whole situation is really, really bad.

    I mean, if it¡¯s all true, then right about now Kutanid has eight distinct ystlyes at its disposal, some of which allows him to make some really acrobatic and crazy moves, even though they are suited for humans, not meaty giants. Those yers would be Akitsu Akane and I. Now, if you were to m Rei¡¯s moves set, the one of a heavy armored knight onto a mountain of meat and muscles like that¡­¡­

    The red light shines brightly. It forms the shape of a huge sword. Judging from that, it can be said that Kutanid¡¯s power of Analysis copies not the most recent equipment and skill set of the yer characters, but the ones that we have been all carrying around for the longest time, the things that we are the mostfortable with.

    ¡¸Tsk¡­¡­ Everyone, avoid it! We must wait it out until it bes a type that is easier to kill!¡¹

    ¡¸And when will that be, specifically!?¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t know, but preferably someone who is so trashy with physical skills and physical attributes! Someone like Mold and his na?ve and stupid ystyle!¡¹

    ¡¸I know, that¡¯s right! But that¡¯s also so horrible!¡¹

    Now it¡¯s just a matter of surviving the monster of both STR and VIT that Kutanid has be!

 Chapter 210: Reaching the Heavens Part 16 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 210: Reaching the Heavens Part 16 Part 1</h4>

    When ites to my, Sanraku¡¯s, skill build, I prioritize mobility, agility and simple hit and run battle tactics.

    Whether it is dodging arrows, evading spears and javelins, jumping off cliffs and running into dead ends, there is no obstacle that I cannot ovee.

    If there is no road to follow, I shall run alongside the wall. If there are no walls, I shall run or jump through the sky. I am confident in my abilities and thanks to that, with the rightbination of skills activated all at once I am sure I would even be able to run on the ceiling without much of a problem.

    An oversized mass of a weapon is being swung down, being thrusted into the ground. The features of the current form of Kutanid¡­¡­ I must understand how it works during the duration of this fight no matter what. Certainly, copying the profiles and ystyles of the party members with the help of magic jewels is annoying and very powerful and dangerous, but so far no party member died as a result of it.

    We can employ certain characters into the vanguard, such as Rei, Akitsu Akane or myself to deal with the iing Kutanid attacks, but above all else we must figure out what exactly its weakness is during this phase.

    ¡¸Its movements are too monotonous¡­¡­!¡¹

    A de this big relies on its mass for attacking, not sharpness. It means more or less that the damage it inflicts counts as crushing, not shing. No matter what, a de of that type will never be able to cut through flesh, no matter how hard it tries to do so.

    I activate three skills: Demonic Possession, Gravity Zero and Trial Traverse. Then I jump on top of the great sword and start running up on it, using it like a makeshift tightrope.

    Halfway through the sword I activate the ¡°Utsurou Mikogami¡± skill, leaving my shadow version halfway through the sword to gather aggro, while my real body continues its ascend.

    Being able to copy the ystyle of your opponent. That surely is one heck of a powerful and annoying ability to have. However, here there is no real application to that imitation. And even if Kutanid can imitate how to move and how to attack in certain ways, it does not do it with its own thoughts behind it. It is all like amand based game. Every move is pre-set, and there is a patter to be exploited to everything it does.

    In theory, it is not impossible to learn the patters of every eight of Kutanid¡¯s current ¡°modes¡±, but it would be extremely difficult of a thing to do. Long story short, rather than trying to memorize it all, it would be best to just get used to it.

    ¡¸This is the third time already, get a hint already, Kutanid!¡¹

    I then activated the skill Flip Float and the world momentarily turned upside down for me. Using the foothold in mid-air I jumped over Kutanid¡¯s head and readied myself to make another jump, this time around going from the mid-air towards the ground. The speed and the now properly working gravity would only add up to my attack power in a moment, which was going to be performed by the two Scorpion Gauntlets that were on the ready. Their skills about ready to be used.

    Two skills of the Scorpion Gauntlets: Lete Vanisher and Agar Tram. I throw the Lucky Hand into the mix as well, which uses the Luck stat for a chance of additional damage if the attack manages to connect to the enemy¡¯s head. And as luck would have it, I managed to hit Kutanid right in between the eyes with a crystal pir.

    Vu, Vuuuuuuooooooooo¡­¡­!!!

    Kutanid makes a loud roar that was actually hard to distinguish. Then it bends its body while dropping on its knees and holding onto its face. Inded on Kutanid¡¯s back and slid down towards the ground. Then I passed Rei and nodded at her, right after that dodging to the side. A moment after that, a pir of pure-white light struck Kutanid right in the middle of the back.

    ¡¸Catastrophe¡­¡­!¡¹

    Rei¡¯s¡­¡­ No, strictly speaking, that ¡°Maximum Firepower¡± is not something that belongs to Rei exclusively, but it is something that is the result of thebined powers of her current equipment: ¡°Two-Faced Armor¡± and ¡°Sword of Gods and Demons - Antimony¡±. The twobined create the bane of Unique Monsters, an attack that is easily an equivalent of ten normal powerful abilities¡­¡­ ¡°Armageddon¡±.

    I have notified all the party members to temporarly step back and go to the rear guard thanks to Emul, who got down from my head and was currently working as a messenger. Right now he was with the rest of the party, but it is not impossible that I will need his messenger abilities some moreter on.

    Being struck by both my attack and Rei¡¯s Maximum Firepower, there was no way for Kutanid to emerge out of that as if nothing have happened, and it fell to the ground after stumbling for a short moment. To be perfectly honest the scene of dwarf-sized humans managing to fell down a giant looked really grotesque in my eyes, but that¡¯s just how things are in video games: if you want to achieve the best result possible, it is sometimes necessary to sacrifice the looks in favor of efficiency.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I have run out of arrows.¡¹

    ¡¸What did you just say!?¡¹

    ¡¸Rust said that she has run out of arrows!¡¹

    The logical conclusion here would be that Rust shall now switch into her magic bow for the offensive, but that way it won¡¯t be long before she is going to run out of MP to use.

    ¡¸I¡¯m sorry! My ninja tools are about to all run out as well!¡¹

    ¡¸My magic power is also approaching its limits!¡¹

    ¡¸M-My MP is running low in a second as well¡­¡­¡¹

 Chapter 210: Reaching the Heavens Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 210: Reaching the Heavens Part 2</h4>

    But we can worry about the advantages and disadvantagester. Right now we needed to address a certain bad news that was affecting us. This Kutanid right now is tough¡­¡­ It¡¯s easy to knock it off bnce and bring it to the ground, but it¡¯s toughness¡­¡­ it was something else alright. Its body was currently way sturdier than that of any monster I have encountered before.

    Ever since the battle started we have run out of our potions and we were substituting them with fish for HP recovery, but our weapons are the entirely different matter. Both our weapons and armor¡¯s durability was going down as the battle raged on, so no we were literally being pushed back into a corner.

    Even someone like me, with a variety of weapons at my disposal, was approaching my limit weapon-wise. Now I would like to have a weapon that can dish out frequent critical hits while not losing its durability. That would be nice. But I highly doubt a sword like that exists, when even my most sturdy weapons are meting away right before my very eyes. In this game, once your weapon or armor piece reaches zero durability, it is lost forever. Of course, there are some exceptions to that rule, but that seem to be extremely rare, so let¡¯s not count on a miracle here.

    Next, I don¡¯t really think that it will be possible to defeat Kutanid unless Rei and I both bust our trump cards here, which is a point of concern in and out of itself¡­¡­

    ¡¸Sanraku-san, we must, go¡­¡­!¡¹

    Sh*t, now that I think about it, why is it that people always try to push the heavy lifting onto my shoulders? I just want to be in the vanguard, that¡¯s true, but I was never trying to get myself into position ofmandeering others around.

    What I¡¯m worried about here is the phenomenon of certain bosses, which is being able to stop the damage being done to them thanks to its high physical defense. It¡¯s notmon and most urs with some event bosses, but once it urs it is really a pain in the ass to deal with. To give an example, you can inflict about ten thousand damage to a boss that has only thousand HP left, and you will end up inflicting only about fifty HP worth of damage. That kind of pain in the ass.

    If something like that was to be applied to Kutanid, then we would really be in a whole lot of trouble. However, chipping its health bit by bit is also an option, as it will get us there eventually¡­¡­ Yeah, so let¡¯s get to it!

    ¡¸Alright, I get it¡­¡­ Let¡¯s y some tag, shall we? Rei and I will run away from you, and you¡¯ll try to catch up to us!¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san, me too! I also would like to participate!¡¹

    ¡¸No, Akitsu Akane, you¡¯ll have a different role this time. Just sit there and watch. It may just so happen that you¡¯ll have to save our asses.¡¹

    ¡¸Right!¡¹

    ¡¸Now, prepare yourself, Kutanid¡­¡­ ¡°EXCEED CHARGE!!!¡±¡¹

    It was a mistake on your end to emerge to the surface and bring us here, Kutanid. Please tell me, what¡¯s that shining above our heads all the time? It¡¯s MOONLIGHT, isn¡¯t it!? And guess what my Scorpion Gauntlets absorb for power?

    The amount of moonlight the gauntlets absorbed should be more than enough to inflict devastating damage. And since it¡¯s the final form, there is no meaning in holding back, right?

    The Glittering Gauntlet transforms, revealing the golden core that was shining brightly, ready to unleash waves of destructive energy. Seeing that, Kutanid threw another punch my way, apparently turning into aplete muscle brain when faced with danger.

    ¡¸I will be taking that side of yours! ¡°REJECT¡±!!!¡¹

    I was the one to move first, but it was Kutanid that would have me within its reach first. However, just before a punch with its left arm manages to reach me, I twist my body around my left foot, using the momentum of the turn to position myself right where I wanted to be, before I m my right foot to the ground ande to a halt.

    Avoid another straight punch that Kutanid was trying to throw my way, and side step so that its left nk would be perfectly within my reach, with no interruptions between us.

    Power output: one hundred twenty percent. With so much power about to release all at once, I must brace myself for my inevitable self-destruction. But even if that would not be enough, I am sure that Rei would be able to finish this thing off with her own attack.

    Compared to the rest of its body, Kutanid¡¯s nks are fairly lightly protected. So the moment I strike Kutanid¡¯s side after evading yet another attack I could feel the tip of the crystal pir going into its body, apanied by the feeling of eroding flesh and a stench that almost threw me into convulsions.

    ¡¸If you have more tricks hidden up your sleeve¡­¡­ Then hurry it up and spit it out!¡¹

    Rupture.

    A crystal pir emerges from the gauntlet and scoops out a huge chunk of flesh from Kutanid¡¯s side. This results in a shockwave, one strong enough to bounce my body backwards like a rubber ball. Additionally, I could see cracks forming on the gauntlets¡¯ surface, as well as mass of ck smoke oozing out of them. If this was not a sign of clear malfunction, then I don¡¯t want to know how such a sign is supposed to look like.

    ¡¸It would be super convenient if that attack blew it uppletely¡­¡­ Alva! I need a little help here!¡¹

    ¡¸I am truly amazed that you can scream such pathetic lines with such confidence¡­¡­!¡¹

    Because of thatst attack, my current HP sits at the magnificent number of one. So that means that if I hit the ground now, it will be all over for me. My only salvation is that Alva manages to catch me in mid-air and prevent me from receiving fall damage.

    Fortunately enough, Alva was able to swim in mid-air just as good as he was able to swim underwater here, so he managed to catch me before I hit the ground and died as a result. However, my current HP is one, so I cannot stay here and do nothing.

    ¡¸What about Kutanid!?¡¹

    I do not care about my own HP right now. What of Rei¡¯s attack!? I attacked Kutanid, but what about his reaction? This is what I saw when my vision finally stopped being so blurry and I could see normally.

    VVVVVVVVVOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

    ¡¸---- This is the beginning of the End, as well as the end of the Beginning¡­¡­ ¡°ARMAGEDDON¡±!!!¡¹

    Huge jet-ck tentacles emerging from Kutanid¡¯s back and sides¡­¡­ It was the same kind of jet-ck destruction that destroyed our ship seven days ago and dragged us all under the sea. And right about now, that mass of ck tentacles was colliding with Rei¡¯s pure white attack in the ultimate sh.

 Chapter 211: Reaching the Heavens Part 17 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 211: Reaching the Heavens Part 17 Part 1</h4>

    A ck and white spiral collides with Kutanid¡¯s body. This should be able to do the trick here. After all, this attack is the thing that managed to ughter the Alter Ego of Nightprowler Luukan¡­¡­ However, it seem that it would not be so easy as we all thought it would be.

    Eight towers¡­¡­ No, those were eight tentacles. Each tentacle was thick and at least several meters long, and they all wrapped around the Armageddon fired by Rei.

    Of course, Armageddon is a skill effect, so there is no way that you would be able to grab it or block it by any means. However, that was exactly what was happening here at the current moment. Eight tentacles wrapped themselves around the beam of Armageddon and tightened all around it, squeezing it.

    ¡¸No way¡­¡­ That¡¯s impossible¡­¡­!¡¹

    Even though the Armageddon was supposed to be the strongest offensive skill this game had to offer, right about now its effect was crushed by Kutanid¡¯s tentacles as if it was basically nothing. But how did it managed to do that? Did it dispersed the damage somehow? Or maybe it was that the tentacles had separate HP bars and they took the majority of the damage onto themselves?

    Kutanid managed to crush Armageddon, but it did not do that without paying a heavy price for such feature. As a result of Armageddon¡¯s attack, Kutanid¡¯s eight tentacles were nowpletely loose and motionless, falling down onto the ground and crushing the Coliseum seats underneath their mass. Also, Kutanid itself seemed to be exhausted.

    But this is the only thing that matters here: Armageddon was unable to defeat Kutanid. It got squashed away and Kutanid was still alive and kicking right in front of us.

    ¡¸Let me down, Alva! Go retrieve Rei instead!¡¹

    ¡¸But why me!?¡¹

    ¡¸You are probably the only one who can manage to pull away that heavy armored knight purely by force alone!¡¹

    This is bad, this is bad, this is seriously really bad! Certainly, the cooldown to be able to use skills again goes into effect regardless of the fact if the attack was sessful or not, and the fact that it was actually rendering our main attacker pretty much useless was troublesome. Even more: super troublesome!

    ¡¸Everyone, retreat! Put as much distance in between us and this thing as possible!¡¹

    Not to mention that I was still in the sh*ttiest position of us all here. I needed to patch myself up quickly, but with everything that¡¯s been going on here I was unable to do so. As a result, I started to retreat with an astonishing one HP left on me.

    Looking back, Alva was swimming fast towards me, dragging behind Rei who was now holding a greyish sword and the armor that looked as though it was dragged through the earth and mud.

    ¡¸Time for the emergency strategy meeting!¡¹

    For now, we had no other option but to retreat from the Coliseum before Kutanid would regain itsposure and went after us with all it had.

    ¡¸I am so sorry¡­¡­ The tentacles appeared so suddenly out of nowhere, and my aim was off because of that¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸No need to torment yourself over it. Let the bygones be bygones. For now, we must focus on what to do from here on out.¡¹

    This is not Rei¡¯s fault in any way, and everyone knew that. There was no way that we were going to me her. At that moment she was the only one at the frontline, and she gave it everything she had. And honestly, if so many tentacles appeared seemingly out of thin air right in front of you, everyone would be scared. Even I. If anything, we should all praise Rei for not getting scared and backing away.

    ¡¸Alright, for starters, let¡¯s all assess how worn out both our weapons and armor are.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ The magic bow is approaching its limit. I estimate that I can fire twenty more shots out of it at best.¡¹

    ¡¸If I limit myself to Rust alone, I can cast my buffs several more times.¡¹

    Mold and Rust are approaching their limits¡­¡­ It¡¯s possible that they did not prepare for this all too well because they were returning to the game and were a little bit rusty.

    ¡¸What about you, Akitsu Akane?¡¹

    ¡¸Umm, let¡¯s see¡­¡­ I can only use my Hidden de Jutsu from now on¡­¡­ I am truly sorry for being so useless!¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s not that anyone here is angry with you or is ming you for anything. For now, tell us more about your equipment situation, so we might know what¡¯s going on.¡¹

    ¡¸Right! I have used up all of my recovery items and the only real projectile I have left on me is my Dragon¡¯s Breath.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­¡­ You see, Akitsu Akane, I won¡¯t lie to you. Both Rei and I have used up our trump cards. To makes matters worse, Rei¡¯s equipment got demolished as a result of her using her trump card, and I have burned out of my healing items in order to patch myself up.¡¹

    ¡¸D-Doesn¡¯t that mean that we are all in quite a pinch right now¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, quite a pinch indeed. I still have some firepower left up my sleeve, but right here right now¡­¡­ Akitsu Akane, you may be the one who possesses the highest battle potential out of all of us.¡¹

    ¡¸W-Who, me!? Really!?¡¹

    ¡¸Easy there, and calm yourself down. Alright, now take a couple of deep breaths¡­¡­ Okay, have you calmed down? You must have, right? Right, so right now I want you to think, think long and hard. About your trump card. You must have one, right? And it should be quite powerful right about now, since you must have leveled up quite a bit after that battle with Luukan, right? Your trump card.¡¹

    ¡¸I-I think that you try to put way too much responsibility on my poor little shoulders here!¡¹

    That¡¯s right, the amount of responsibility resting on your shoulders will be quite heavy. Maybe even so heavy that it might end up breaking you to pieces.

    As far as NPCs are concerned, it¡¯s just what you would expect. The only exception here was Alva, because it turned out that his sword was some sort of a special weapon, one that you could use MP on in order to recover its lost durability.

    Right about now, all of the yers (me included) were looking at Nereis with a really sloppy eyes. It would certainly be nice to possess a weapon like that.

    And finally, there was Rei who was so down in the dumps that it was actually hard to look at her. I have never before seen her being so depressed.

    ¡¸So¡­¡­ how are you feeling?¡¹

    ¡­¡­ It might sound harshing from me, but right now in her current state, Rei was nothing more but a dead weight to us.

    Not to mention that she had suffered a penalty for failing to meet Armageddon¡¯s conditions. With her equipment in shambles like that, Rei¡¯s stats plummeted down all across the board, and the worse part was that right now she was unable to change her equipment into something else.

 Chapter 211: Reaching the Heavens Part 17 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 211: Reaching the Heavens Part 17 Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Honestly speaking¡­¡­ If things continue like that, I am almost one hundred percent sure that we are going to crush ourselves against a wall.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes¡­¡­ I realize that.¡¹

    Because she was nothing more but a liability right about now, Rei understood that clearly. That is why she was being silent all this time and squeezed out a reply out of herself only now.

    ¡¸But¡­¡­ I can still fight¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Right, I understand.¡¹

    She said so, and there was not a trace of deception of over-exaggeration in her voice. Maybe that is why I was able to believe those words. She is one of the most powerful ShanFro yers out there. If she says that she can still fight, I have no reason to doubt her.

    At that time, the load roars of rubble copsing grew even louder than before. It was apanying us ever since the beginning of this strategy meeting, and it was finally drawing closer. So it means that it was time for us to finish.

    ¡¸Alright, we are entering thest spurt of our battle against Kutanid. And whether we win or we lose¡­¡­ It will be what is going to be. No hard feelings.¡¹

    What if the NPCs do not respond? It¡¯s a possibility.

    What if we get wiped out and we won¡¯t be able to challenge to boss again? A possibility like that is also there.

    But more importantly, they all had the right to be angry. We all had the right to be angry right now.

    ¡¸Dragging us to the bottom of the ocean all of a sudden and forcing us to sit here for seven days straight. I say that he made our lives miserable enough and its high time for it to pay for that. I¡¯m going to win this battle, even if it means I¡¯ll have to punch it and bite it¡­¡­!¡¹

    We all let out a roar of unity that was almost as loud as the sounds of destruction all around us, if not even louder.

    Turning around, we could all see Kutanid approaching us, mming its tentacles into the ground at random.

    Since right now Kutanid was moving on its tentacles instead of its legs, it looked as if its main body was floating through the air. The halo behind its back and the tentacles growing out it were nowrger than the first time we have seen them, most probably because of that action of stopping Armageddon by force. It was also reminding me of something¡­¡­

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Leonardo Da Vinci¡¯s¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Ah! That picture of that one guyying down on the ground and looking like a huge letter, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Fubufu! Fuh, nfufufufufubuh¡­¡­ It hurts! Rust, if you keep hitting me with elbow like that, you¡¯re going to break my ribs eventually!¡¹

    Hmm, I wonder if everything¡¯s okay with me? ¡­¡­ Right now, I felt literally nothing. No anger, nothing. Maybe I have finally managed to reach Nirvana?

    It would be ideal if we could reduce the amount of unforeseen circumstances to zero, but the sad truth is that unforeseen circumstances will never amount to zero.

    Even if we take extreme precautions ande up with the most safe and borate strategy out there, there is always a possibility that all of a sudden a meteorite mighte crushing down, and we would be the only ones receiving damage from an attack like that. Let¡¯s just hope that a nasty surprise like that won¡¯t meet us here.

    However, those are the events that are subjected to ¡°ifs¡± and ¡°buts¡±, something that you cannot really ount for when creating a battle n or a strategy. To begin with, there is no such a thing as a game with zero amount of unforeseen circumstances. And even if there was a game like that, you would have to take the possible risk of bugs and glitches into ount.

    However¡­¡­ Yes, there is one big ¡°but¡± here. Here in this world of ShanFro, were the developers tried to be as urate with reality as possible, unforeseen circumstances were suddenly elevated in rank, and were now a realistic threat that you had to take into consideration when you were making ns.

    ¡¸This means¡­¡­ Large-scale buffs¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡°REGULUS GLORIA¡±, a skill that greatly raises all stats across the board.

    ¡°OVER WAKE¡±, a skill that gives buffs to your stats that are proportionate to the number and quality of bad stats and status effects.

    ¡°EXERGATION BRAVE¡±, a skill that gives you tremendous boost to stats while you fight against enemies that arerger in size from you.

    ¡°FAIR REWARDS¡± a skill that raises your stats such as Magic or Strength proportionally to the decrease of statsu such as HP, MP or Stamina.

    Also, there are lots of money bills flying in the air right before my eyes. No, that¡¯s not it. Those are not bills, this is merely an illusion. What I¡¯m seeing right now is a tremendous amount of magic scrolls being used up.

    I see, what you need to use ¡°Armageddon¡± is the skill itself, as well as the sufficient amount of MP to use it. However, the parchments scrolls were not containing any spells, instead they were feeding Rei MP directly¡­¡­ You can do something like that?

    ¡¸I got them¡­¡­ just in case¡­¡­ as ast resort. I won¡¯tst¡­¡­ for very long, but¡­¡­ I can still fight¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸It looks expensive, but the price must be astronomical¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸About eight digits in total¡­¡­¡¹

    So we talk about at least ten million mani. That¡¯s really a lot of money. If so, then those scrolls frying through the air could have been bills.

    Coated in a huge amount of magical energy, the rust-colored heavy armored knight stands up once more.

    Due to aftereffects of using ¡°Armageddon¡±, Rei cannot take off her armor or let go of her sword. However, it seems that she also had an alternative, for Rei did not hide the sledgehammer back into her inventory, only left it on the Coliseum¡¯s ground.

    Apparently, since Rei was still holding onto the sword, the sledgehammer was treated like a mere object rather than regr weapon. Which means it can still be used in a fight, but only as a regr weapon, and all of its skills and special effects could not be used.

    However, since the sword was also a broken b of metal for the time being with lowered stats and durability,paring the two the sledgehammer would actually be way more effective and useful of a weapon in here.

    ¡¸Now then¡­¡­¡¹

    Rei was on the front lines. Alva and Sickle were right beside her as part of the avant-garde. Mold and Akitsu Akane were staying at the back in order to avoid focusing aggro on themselves.

    Rust was moving around with Emul on her head. Her role right now was not to attack from the distance, but rather to observe how the situation would turn out.

    So, what am I doing at the current moment? I¡¯m messing with the inventory screen far away from Kutanid¡¯s slimy grasp.

    The heart of this operation is Akitsu Akane, who at this point should have quite a bit of knowledge when ites to fighting strong enemies, since he helped us out during the battle with Nightprowler Luukan. And to make sure that Akitsu Akane¡¯s trump card hits its mark, I needed to make sure that Kutanides to a full stop with fear.

    It¡¯s not just your usual fear. It was that kind of fear that would make your whole body go numb and unable to move for a whole ten seconds.

    And with the rest of the team being exhausted and unable to act, I am the only one who can do it.

    ¡¸Three minutes¡­¡­ Knocking out Kutanid in that time limit is a huge responsibility¡­¡­It might be hard on you as well, but right now I really need your help here.¡¹

    Let fulfill those ambitions that we were unable to fulfill on that day.

    ¡¸No need to be stingy with energy, so we might as well go wild here¡­¡­ ¡°SEIRYU!!!¡±¡¹

 Chapter 212: Reaching the Heavens Part 18 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 212: Reaching the Heavens Part 18 Part 1</h4>

    The Tactical War Machine Dragon ¡°Seiryu¡± is a mecha corresponding to the series that was avable to me: ¡°Divine Beasts¡±. It is a Non¡ªStandard Specialized Reinforced Armor, to be exact.

    As the danger in form of Kutanid was creeping its way towards me closer and closer, I went out of my hiding and ordered the azure dragon to follow suit.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s do this, Seiryu! We are going tobine!¡¹

    ¡¸Affirmative!¡¹

    Umu, I never would have guessed that a hyper realistic game such as this would ever allow me to shout out such romantic words as bine¡±.

    At the same time as Seiryu managed to bark out that response, a number of lines of text started to appear right in front of my eyes on the helm¡¯s disy.

    Since the helm¡¯s visor would not allow me to see the back of my head, it was really hard for me to actually recognize what was currently going on the battlefield. However, the pressure was my indicator here. It was here alright, but it was not too light and not too heavy, so it would not crush me under its weight. I guess that Seiryu was doing its job alright.

    It feels strange, as though something was pressing against my back. There was also the feeling of Seiryu wrapping itself over my head and arms, creating something of the additional coating or armor around my arms. That armor was reaching as far as my shoulder des.

    ¡¸INDIVIDUAL PARTS READY TO CONNECT! UNION SEQUENCE OF THIS CRAFT IS READY TO INITIATE AT ANY TIME!¡¹

    ¡¸The exnation that I have read was pretty vague about it, but I¡¯m pretty sure that I know what to do¡­¡­ Time to do some work!¡¹

    As part of its settings, Seiryu is supposed to be able to manipte both the attracting and repulsing forces. This means that if you can attach its particles to the air and use the repulsive force at just the right spot¡­¡­ you should theoretically be able to walk on walls or even the ceiling. That¡¯s just how much freedom this game was offering you. And if you keep this ability switched on constantly, it would be like thebination of both ¡°Zero Gravity¡± and ¡°Flip Float¡±, allowing you to walk in the air.

    The VR reads my thoughts, which are then analyzed by the ShanFro server, and finally Seiryu ends up disying a desired route for me via the helm¡¯s visor.

    The moment you make a step onto the road that should not exist in the first ce, the information is reflected in the helmet and your field of view expands drastically. It also feels as though the air was being pushed up under my feet.

    ¡¸WATCH YOUR STEP!¡¹

    ¡¸Oooooohhhhhh!?¡¹

    It feel pretty much like a conveyor belt going at an extremely high speed. Or like skiing down the mountain¡¯s slope, only being able to ride in a straight line. Or driving a sports car at full throttle and having little to no control of the vehicle itself.

    Going so fast and twisting and turning was causing my body to rock back and forth, so it was really hard for me to maintain my bnce properly. I basically had to lean forward and look straight ahead all the time.

    ¡¸Hey, why the fuck the road end with something that looks like a jumping tform¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸YOU ALWAYS NEED TO SPECIFY THE EXACT PATH YOU WISH TO TAKE! COORDINATION IS KEY!¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s why you should never allow for others to drive for you¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    Flyaway!

    My body approaches the end of the road and flies off the ramp while wearing the armor made out of Seiryu. Apparently Kutanid also noticed a blue object flying through the sky towards it, for it extended its long tentacles towards me in an attempt at swatting me down like a fly.

    ¡¸Oh, thanks a lot, you idiot! I¡¯ll make my own road out of it!¡¹

    It seems that you must always imagine the road in your mind for it to be there and you being able to travel on it. However, Kutanid¡¯s tentacles are not imaginary. They are a solid substance that will always be there, whether you focus on them or not.

    ¡¸This will be a direct shortcut for me to get right in your face, you asshole!¡¹

    I manage tond on the mass of meat that felt like a whole bunch of rubber stuck together, and I elerate further. Certainly, such levels of eleration should not even be possible normally. However, right now I was using the power of repulsion to bounce off the air right under my feet. Think of me like a living pinball for now, ready to bounce off anything and anyone at a moment¡¯s notice.

    Thanks to my fusion with the blue dragon machine right now I am able to glide alongside Kutanid¡¯s tentacles. By the way, this is only a hypothesis, but those tentacles look as though they were made by fusing together the blood and flesh of the monsters that Kutanid managed to assimte into itself. My current goal is to reach the base of those tentacles, to find myself right near Kutanid¡¯s side, who took the Vitruvian Man pose once more.

    While gliding down the tentacles I operate my inventory real quick, while the tentacles try to do their best to shake me off. It was not going all that well for them, since I was using the power of attraction to keep myself glued to their surface. I had to hurry and be sure that I execute everything here perfectly, since I was on a strict time limit and the clock was ticking non stop.

    This is the legacy left by Gravekeeper Wezaemon, the Tactical War Machines. Powerful armors that can act independently if need be. But if we have armor, it goes without saying that weapons must be following suit.

    ¡¸Non Standard Armaments¡­¡­ Let us break away from the Sword and Magic setting for a while!¡¹

    Then I select the twin guns ¡°Castor Pollux¡± and transfer it from the INVENTORY into my own equipment.

    When they appear right in front of me from the INVENTORY space, they do not look all that special. Honestly, they looked like two rectangr block of ck metal, not like some weapons of mass destruction. I was expecting at least something simr to heavy machine guns.

    However, when both of my hands touch the rectangr blocks as instructed by the Seiryu on my helm¡¯s disy, the block immediately started to change and deform.

    A single line appears on top of the blocks¡¯ surface and begins to trace all over it, causing the blocks to start to unfold just like an origami figure. Once it finishes unfolding, I was left with two huge barrels that attached themselves to my arms, followed by a series of power cables that plugged themselves into my arms and back. Right after that, the streams of energy started to flow through the cables.

    ¡¸Hoo, hey, that¡¯s so cool¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸CONNECTION COMPLETE! NUMBER OF CHARGED SHOTS LOADED: TWENTY!¡¹

    ¡¸Twenty shots in one gun, or both? ¡­¡­ Aw well, to hell with it! Let¡¯s assume twenty shots in total for now!¡¹

 Chapter 213: Reaching the Heavens Part 19 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 213: Reaching the Heavens Part 19 Part 1</h4>

    When ites to facts, for Rust bow is just your ordinary fantasy weapon. Personally, I have no real experience with sniping and any form of archery, but I am more than sure that she chose the bow as her main weapon only because it was a long range weapon.

    However, the way she was able to swiftly move throughout the battlefield and shoot at the same time was reflecting countless hours she must have spent doing that in Nephilim Hollow. Also, she was handling the bow like a natural born archer, which was pretty amazing in and out of itself, judging by the fact that she went back to ShanFro only recently, so she did not have all that much time to practice. ¡­¡­ I would not be able to do nearly half as good as Rust was doing right now.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Mold.¡¹

    ¡¸That is all from me. I¡¯m sorry, Rust, but I won¡¯t be able to cast any more buffs. I have run out of MP.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Tsk, alright, fine, I get it.¡¹

    Now, if you look in the distance, you will be able to see a truly marvelous and fabulous Non Standard War Machine conducting a truly marvelous and spectacr bombardment.

    Mechas in ShangriLa Frontier¡­¡­ Rust was not able to use them herself as of now, but she was definitely going to see to it that she would be able to experience them fully before long.

    And if that was the case, then I believe that she would do everything in her power to be of as much use as possible during this battle. All so that she could score some extra points with the owner of not one, not two, but four mechas. That person was of course me.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Fuu¡­¡­¡¹

    Rust told me that at the current moment her magic bow, ¡°Lar Willow¡±, was approaching the limits of its durability. However, at the current moment it must be durable enough to withstand eight more shots.

    Probably the greatest merit of magic bows is that they can shoot out magic attacks as though they were skills¡­¡­ That is its general merit, but for Rust the ultimate merit wasying somewhere else. It was the fact that you did not needed actual arrows to shoot your projectiles, since the arrows were being made out of magic. This was burdening your body less.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ It¡¯s hard for me to aim like that.¡¹

    In other words, magic attacksing from magic bows in this game are very simr to beam attacks in the Sci-Fi games. What¡¯s more, Rust can further amplify that feeling of shooting ¡°beams¡± by using her own archer skills and Mold¡¯s support skills. Whatever works for her.

    Her target was simple: eight jewels that are located behind the Kutanid of the Abyss¡¯s back.

    Rust fires her first shot, additionally corrected by her own passive skill ¡°Heavenly Arrow¡±. An arrow of pure light shoots out of Rust¡¯s bow and travels towards Kutanid¡¯s back, hitting dead in the center of one of the jewels located at the base of one of the eight tentacles.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Next.¡¹

    Rust fires a second shot, enhanced with the skill ¡°Stream Arrow¡±, which results in increased pration of the arrows that you shoot. The arrow flies towards its mark and hits it just like the first, and just like the first jewel, this one also ends up shattering to glittering pieces.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Next, next, next.¡¹

    Next go the skills: ¡°Crane¡¯s Shooting¡±, ¡°Prancing Horse¡¯s Shot¡± and ¡°Double Arrow¡±¡­¡­ It should also be mentioned that a magic bow did not required that much strength from the shooter. It was easier to handle than the regr bow, mostly because the string that you were pulling in order to shoot the magic arrows was magic as well, not a physical one. Therefore the magical arrows could be all fired in a rapid session, hitting Kutanid merely seconds after it fell onto the ground.

    And Rust¡¯s eyes were clearly not deceiving her. Every time one of the jewels was being crushed to pieces, the tentacle that was corresponding to that jewel was drying up and rotting away, ultimately getting destroyed.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Just two more¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸Rust!¡¹

    But it was right here that Kutanid¡¯s behavior became rather unexpected.

    As for the remaining two jewels and their respective tentacles, they started to move around violently and bent in a weird ways, lodging themselves into the ground. There was no way for us yers to know that at that time, but the tentacles are special objects that under certain conditions can act and move in a way that would normally be impossible for any human or animal limbs.

    The tentacles that struck the ground seemed super heavy for us, but for Kutanid they were lighter than a feather. Which means that when the tentacles acted like springs and ejected Kutanid in the air, it was only the mass of its main body that it had to be concerned with. But their strength was still there, and it was more than enough to give Kutanid some truly amazing hang time.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ It¡­ jumped¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸Rust, get out of there! Now!¡¹

    The moment Rust took notice of that was the moment that Kutanid¡¯s body was starting to fall back towards the ground.

    It was not a juggle or being thrown into the air by the enemy. It was a voluntary maneuver that was supposed to secure you an advantage over your enemies, being above them and being able to assess the situation better. This giant would eventually fall down towards the ground, but for the time being the power scales werepletely reversed here.

    The remaining tentacles take aim and start to swing towards us¡­¡­

    ¡¸I won¡¯t¡­¡­ let you¡­¡­!¡¹

    The rusty knight enters the stage, pushing Rust back and causing her to roll alongside the ground. When Rust regained herposure and stood up, what she saw was the image of Saiga-0 blocking the attack of the tentacles all by herself.

    ¡¸Kuh, aaah¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    There was no way that Saiga-0 would be able to withstand that kind of attack. Not when her equipment was weakened, and she could not cast any magic or use any skills herself. Of course, she tried to attack the tentacles with her now rusty sword and the sledgehammer that he picked up alongside the way. She put every ounce of her strength into that attack. But it was all to no use. The attack hardly did anything to the tentacles, and it did not shift their position even by a centimeter. The next moment Saiga-0¡¯s body was mmed by the tentacles and bounced off the ground like a rubber toy.

    ¡¸¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m¡­ okay¡­¡­ I can still¡­ fight¡­¡­!¡¹

    No, stop concerning yourself with it. Try to convince yourself that this is a waste of time. Try to be like Rust, who went on the offensive, knowing that it was what she needed to do.

    The tentacles raise once more to attack, but Rust also raises her bow high in the air, as to not miss an opportunity to attack.

    That¡¯s right. I still have role I must fulfill. I still have my responsibility. I must make sure that Kutanid is going to be stunned for long enough.

 Chapter 213: Reaching the Heavens Part 19 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 213: Reaching the Heavens Part 19 Part 2</h4>

    There was ten seconds left. The amount of energy that I had left was very small as well. Equipping any more artillery might be very dangerous, and I might run of ammo to use those weapons, anyway.

    But, there is still something I had to do. No, it was something that only I could do.

    ¡¸Seiryu, fly at full speed! Towards the sky¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸AFFIRMATIVE!!¡¹

    Right about now, Kutanid has the advantage over us when ites to terrain. So what can we do right now? The only thing you CAN do to regain the upper hand it to simply overwrite that advantage of his. And make no mistake, you stupid Kutanid. The sky belongs to me and Seiryu alone!

    The invisible road only I could see was stretching right in front of my eyes in a straight line and it was going vertically towards the sky. I fly up like a water current during a water fountain show, or like salmon going up the stream. Eventually overtaking Kutanid, the lone blue dragon raises with the dark night sky in as its background.

    ¡¸Release!¡¹

    Four¡­¡­ Three¡­¡­ Two¡­¡­ One¡­¡­ I¡¯m gonna make it in time!

    This is dangerous. Only one second left before the appointed time of three minute is over¡­¡­ Not being able to wear this thing again and do maneuvers like that sucks, but if that is going to let me beat Kutanid with it, I¡¯d say it¡¯s all but worth it.

    I throw all the parts of the control unit aside from the helmet back into my inventory, and then I give Seiryu onest order, capitalizing on the fact that it is still operational.

    ¡¸Ram me into that fucker¡­¡­!¡¹

    I equip both Yuzuki¡¯s andbine them into a single sword that I hold in my left arm. Then I extend my right arm towards Seiryu. The blue dragon grabbed my arm and started to swing me around with all the remaining fumes of its energy before it eventually threw me like a hammer during the Olympic Games¡­¡­ and I was sent flying straight down as a result.

    While falling at an extremely high speed, way higher than the Seiryu that was plummeting towards the ground devoid of power, I thrust my de forward and activate a skill. Which was really hard to do, considering my current conditions. My whole body is being enveloped in a pale, bright light that trails behind me like a tail of a meteorite, and thanks to the blessings ofws of physics it was a moment at which Crescent Vorpal was able to surpass Kutanid, even if only for a brief moment.

    It was at this moment that Kutanid, who was still trying to smash Rust with its tentacles, finally noticed what was going on and turned towards me. It tried to move out of the way at thest possible moment¡­¡­ but it was already toote and the blownded.

    ¡¸Say your prayers, Kutanid¡­¡­!!¡¹

    My sword, now gaining additional speed, pration and power, was tearing through the air with such might that it was causing loud bursts and tearing noises.

    The power the de has gained was enough to crush thest jewel on Kutanid¡¯s back to pieces and send it flying towards the ground. However, the price for doing that was indeed high.

    ¡¸Guah¡­¡­!¡¹

    I fell to the ground from about ten meters away, since that was the point where Kutanid was in the air. I was like a ball thrown by a pitching machine, but instead of going horizontally I was going vertically. Of course, once I crush into something, the impact will strike at me with all of its might.

    What¡¯s more, right about now I have put my everything into attack, forsaking other skills andnding abilities for the sake of power. When I hit the ground, thews of physics will make sure that thending will be a painful one.

    My whole body goes numb and I feel weak. This must mean that my HP has dropped to the threshold of one once again. I managed to survive that, but since Inded on Kutanid¡¯s back, I am going to fall from it and hit the ground again.

    I am already out of MP. Seiryu won¡¯t save me, because it has run out of fuel. Even if someone was to rush towards me,, they would not make it in time. And even so, I would still sustain damage.

    (Does that mean that I¡¯m going to die this time for sure¡­¡­?)

    However, even though I feel numb and weak, I can still move my body. And with thosest ounces of strength left in me, there was only one thing I wanted to say to my friends down below.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Finish it!!¡¹

    Thest arrow is shot. With no way to defend against it, thest sparkling jewel on Kutanid¡¯s back is being destroyed, leaving Kutanid with no more tentacles to fight us with. It was left on its own.

    Rei runs. She picks up her sledgehammer from the ground, bounces off the ground and then off Kutanid¡¯s body, and then ms the sledgehammer right in between Kutanid¡¯s neck and corbone.

    The impact causes Kutanid to raise its face in pain, making itpletely exposed and vulnerable.

    This is it. A checkmate. Right now, Akitsu Akane jumps into the air and prepares to fire the Dragon Breath technique.

    This is it. Everyone did their very best just to get us to this very moment. Akitsu Akane takes a deep breath, and a wave of dragon fire starts to burn and swell inside of his mouth.

    All of a sudden, the exposed face of Akitsu Akane turns towards me and there was a sight of hesitation on it. I was wondering why it would be like then, and then it urred to me.

    I see, now I get it. As I am right now, I would also be hit with the Dragon¡¯s Breath¡­¡­ It was such a trivial matter that it never even crossed my mind. I was going to die as well, here at the very end.

    If so, then there was only one thing left for me to do. While falling to the ground, I show a thumbs¡ªup towards Akitsu Akane, and tell him just that.

    ¡¸Get this thing over with!¡¹

    There was no reply. However, there was no hesitation in Akitsu Akane¡¯s movements anymore.

    ¡¸Now then, Kutanid, I presume that this is going to be a first time ever for you to experience something quite like this. So go ahead and savor this experience¡­¡­¡¹

    The ground ising ever so closer. Still, my eyes would not close. Thest thing I saw was the sh of something that looked like a dragon and a faint glow of something that resembled tears being shed by someone. It fills my whole field of vision¡­¡­

    And then I was swallowed up into the light alongside Kutanid, and died.

 Chapter 214: Reaching the Heavens Part 20 Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 214: Reaching the Heavens Part 20 Part 1</h4>

    Once upon a time, I was created as ¡°myself¡±.

    Now, I have never before been dissatisfied with being ¡°myself¡±.

    Because if I was, I would never hope to stand proudly in front of ¡°them¡±.

    It is not the mission of this ¡°name¡±. It is not the reason of this ¡°body¡±.

    I think it¡¯s because I am right here and right now, in this very moment.

    That is why, that is exactly why I will praise them right here, right in this moment.

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­

    ¡­¡­ Huh? I¡¯m still alive?

    Eh, could it be that I have managed to survive simply out of my insanely high Luck stat? Could it be that Lady Luck finally decided to answer my prayers? Could it be that RNJesus finally graced me with his blessings? Even though I was constantly talking sh*t about them?

    ¡¸I¡¯m so d¡­¡­ I made it in time¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Rei?¡¹

    Why is Rei so relieved that she managed to made it in time? I did not have to hear the exnation from her, since I could roughly guess the answer judging from the aftereffects and particles that were still shrouding my body.

    ¡¸Could it be¡­¡­ a Reviving item?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, I had a few ever since that time¡­¡­ Umm, when there was the previous case of PKK¡­¡­ I still had some reviving item left¡­¡­¡¹

    Previous case of PKK, huh? ¡­¡­ Oh, yeah, that¡¯s right. She means that time when Pencilgton asked her to off her inbat right after the Wezaemon battle.

    So in other words, no matter the RNG, I still died all the same. You know what, Lady Luck and RNJesus? Fuck you guys. Fuck you from the bottom of my heart. In my eyes, you are nothing but a scam and demons. And no, I am not saying that because I am salty right now. I am really not. Not in the slightest.

    Or could it have something to do with the ¡°Fool¡± Arcana that I possess? Could it be that the ¡°Fool¡± influenced the RNG somehow? If so, was I really saved by RNG just know¡­¡­? Hehehehe, you know what, Lady Luck and RNJesus? I was kidding when I called you a scam and demons just now. So we are still cool, right?

    ¡¸Well then¡­¡­ What about Kutanid?¡¹

    Technically, I did not need to have asked that question. Because I could clearly feel it. The atmosphere of dread that I was feeling ever since we havee here and witnessed it for the first time, it was no longer here. That could only mean one thing.

    ¡¸Does that mean¡­¡­ We have won¡­¡­?¡¹

    At the end of my line of sight I could see Kutanid¡¯s body. Now that all of its tentacles were gone, it was unable to support the weight of its massive body and it copsed to the ground like a marite that had its strings cut.

    Then, a magic circle appearedpletely out of nowhere, and it started to go upwards slowly, as if it was trying to escape from Kutanid¡¯s body¡­¡­ No, it must have been Kutanid¡¯s real body escaping its flesh and blood suit.

    ¡¸THE BRILLIANCE OF LIFE¡­¡­ I HAVE SEEN IT HERE WITH CERTAINTY¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸So does it mean¡­¡­ that this is truly the end¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸It may be¡­¡­ At least, that is what I would like to believe.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I¡¯m so sleepy¡­¡­ God, I want to hit the sack do freaking bad right about now¡­¡­¡¹

    Please Rust, do not fall asleep just yet. It would be crazy if you were lying on the ground while the event would start ying at the same time. I am sleepy as well so trust me: I know how you feel. And please, just bear with us for a little while longer.

    This magic circle does not have eyes or a mouth, unlike that time when it was floating up in the sky. Right now it was just a bunch of intricate symbols and patterns slowly turning like gears in a mechanism. I don¡¯t know if it was true or not, but I had a feeling¡­¡­ a feeling that the real Kutanid was gazing at us from behind that intricate patterns and symbols.

    That presumed line of sight first looks at us yers. Then it looks at the NPCs. And then finally it looks somewhere in the distance. ¡­¡­ After a moment of brief silence, we hear words inside of our heads once more.

    ¡¸I HAVE WITNESSED TWO MIRACLES IN A ROW. BEIN ABLE TO COEXIST TOGETHER WITHOUT CONFLICT¡­¡­ I AM OVERJOYED TO SEE THAT¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ohh.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­? Is there, something wrong?¡¹

    ¡¸No, it¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s just that¡­¡­¡¹

    Does that line mean that we have managed to activate some sort of a g with it? Or maybe it means that a condition for some sort of a special award has been unlocked, just like that time during the Wezaemon battle? It certainly had that kind of vibe to it.

    And if so, then what could the conditions for a special reward be this time around? Defeat Kutanid while the quest-rted NPCs are in your party? If it was indeed like that, I can see why Alva was ced here in this city.

    No, there was also the case of Straude being brought here with us from the surface and surviving the fight. ¡­¡­ Could that be the case? It seems more likely to me, anyways.

    ¡¸FAR AWAY, FAR AWAY¡­¡­ I HAVE COME FROM SO FAR AWAY. BUT THE SEA OF STARS IS ALREADY SO FAR AWAY. HOWEVER¡­¡­ THIS SEA THAT I HAVE LOOKED UPON FOR SO LONG IS NOW MY NEW HOME.¡¹

    ¡¸TRAVELLERS WHO HAVE CONQUERED THE SEA OF STARS¡­¡­ EVEN THOUGH IT MAY LEAD THROUGH DESTRUCTION, YOUR JOURNEY STILL CONTINUES¡­¡­ HUMANS, YOU DID YOU ANCESTORS PROUD.¡¹

    A being that came here from across the sea of stars¡­¡­ Well, that kind of setting is typical for any SF title out there. I mean, apparently the beings that the people of this world regard as Gods were originally aliens that came here on board of a giant space ship.

    I wonder if that means that somewhere alongside the line we will go on a journey with a star ship, but for now let us all enjoy the afterglow and satisfaction of clearing the Unique Scenario. I then remembered that I would probably have to share the World Truth Book with that magical girl-wannabe from that one particr Guild, but I will try to think of a way not to do that. Or at the very least to prolong not doing that as much as possible.

 Chapter 214: Reaching the Heavens Part 20 Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 214: Reaching the Heavens Part 20 Part 2</h4>

    On the other hand, sometimes the best method of making something stand out is to simply make it not stand out so much. That is why moderation is the key to sess more often than not. Especially when video games are concerned.

    I don¡¯t know if the rest of the world caught on on the fact, but us Japanese people, we really cannot pass by the poor puppy left in a cardboard box during the rain. That¡¯s our national trait.

    ¡¸HUMANS, YOU HAVE CLEARLY DISPLAYED THINE STRENGTH TO ME. AS A REWARD, I SHALL AID YOU IN YOUR JOURNEY.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh yeah! Rewards time!¡¹

    The magic circle that emerged from Kutanid started to morph and change shape, splitting from one into eight more, from which eight lights shone brightly right in front every single one of us.

    Each light shone with different color, representing the colors of the chalices that we managed to destroy some time ago. By that fact alone, I was already having ideas about the nature of the rewards we were going to receive.

    ¡¸MY EIGHT BRILLIANCES, I SHALL BESTOW UPON THEE A FRAGMENT OF MY POWERS.¡¹

    ¡¸Huh? Only one power out of eight?¡¹

    Somehow, I get a feeling that we are going to get scammed here. But no, it couldn¡¯t be, right?

    Surprisingly, I was really worried about those eight lights that kept on rotating in between us yers and NPCs for a while. However, once the lights came to a stop the proper item description windows popped out, so it seems that I won¡¯t have to leave that choice up to chance.

    But I could be sure that if I happened to get something for my Tatical War Beasts, it would not be something that was too OP. The developers surely would not want the yers to have a mount that would rival Wezaemon¡¯s Kirin in power.

    Short range, long range, physical skill, magic skill, gender, visibility, damage power, various statistics. If we truly were to get an item that would invers any of those at will, the value of such an item would truly be unimaginable.

    With an item that would allow me to swap my stats, even someone like me could be a magnificent tank: I would only need to switch my Luck with Vitality. And if I were to increase my MP, I could even try to be a magician of sorts.

    And even if I was to not receive such an item, there is always a chance that I would be able to get one of the range items. That would always allow me to save my ass at thest possible second if I were to use the short range negation, or to really mess up the enemies¡¯ ranks with long range negation. But let¡¯s just not get ahead of ourselves too much there.

    However, I am also sure that everyone thought that at some point: ¡®There can only be one¡¯.

    But Japanese people are prim and proper in public, without fail. Even of they do not voice their concerns out loud, they must surely think about them inside of their minds. After all, there are eight lights, but maybe just one of them contains the equivalent of a grand prize.

    That is why someone had to step up their game and say something here.

    ¡¸Hey, there, Mister Octopus! Can¡¯t you make it three gifts instead of one!?¡¹

    ¡¸Uwooh, hey!¡¹

    I mean, I should have expected Akitsu Akane to speak up, but honestly, I never would have thought that Akitsu Akane would speak up.

    Or not. More than anything I would like to ask where did he found so much courage to speak up in a situation like that, but before I could do that he already spoke up to Kutanid directly.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸It doesn¡¯t have to be three! At least make that two!¡¹

    ¡¸Akitsu Akane, you¡­¡­ Since when did you grow such balls?¡¹

    We were at each other¡¯s throats not so long ago, I understand that. But it is exactly because we were able to ovee such tremendous of a challenge that we can bargain with this guy. However, since that thing was not a living being, only an AI, it was bound to act only with certain patters, so it should not be suspicious.

    Seriously man, what the hell is your deal here? Is this that famous kind of bravado? The same that allowed you to face against Seigwurm?

    All of a sudden, there is a long and awkward silence dominating the room. The yers must have felt that it was simply atrocious of me to make such a request. And the NPC must have thought that it was simply atrocious of me to talk like that to a being that was equivalent to a God in their understanding.

    However, Kutanid continued to spin as the magic circle inplete silence, watching us. No way, there¡¯s just no way. There is no way in hell that you get to haggle with a Unique Monster, since it should be resistant to something like that. And that¡¯s beside the point that this request was unreasonable to begin with.

    ¡¸VERY WELL. TWO IT SHALL BE.¡¹

    Was that a critical sess at negotiation? Or was it simply a lie?

    ¡¸Alright, awesome! Thank you, Mister Octopus! You are the best!¡¹

    ¡¸You have got to be fucking SH*TTING me!?¡¹

    See that? This is something that no skill will be able to give you. This is a one of a kindbination of both luck and natural talent!

    This one of those things that only certain gamers possess, something that makes other gamers go red with jealousy and shout: How the fuck di you manage to do this!?

    That type of gamer that manages to find hidden OP items by breaking a specific wall, doing a specific ¡°action¡±, wearing a specific equipment or simply because of being at the specific ce at the specific time.

    I did not think that I would be able to witness such a moment with my own eyes, but Akitsu Akane, man¡­¡­ Talk about scary!

    ¡¸No, I didn¡¯t think it would agree on doing this so easily, and to such an extent¡­¡­ What can I say here¡­¡­? Yeah¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Oh yes! Sanraku-san tried that technique once with Luka¡­¡­ Luukan, was it? I remember that clearly! He tried talking to Luukan!¡¹

    Yes, I did try that once in the past. Although the result was quite different in my case, to say the least.

    I can see that the people turn their gazes towards me, but I guess seeing the wolf¡¯s marking all over my torso and legs was quite enough of an answer for everyone present at how did it turn out.

    It was my fault that I startedining, but I guess I should be happy that I got off the hook with that I got. Because he could have made it a lot more troublesome for me if he wanted to. Talk about unforgiving bastard¡­¡­

    I must thank Luukan someday, but for the time being I turn towards the light that was right in front of me.

    If we can take two items, then please don¡¯t mind if I do. I will take this, and¡­¡­ Oh, and this.

    I did not really think that negotiations like that would work, but there was a part of me that was actually kind of sad that the quest was now over¡­¡­ Wait a minute.

    ¡¸Did something, happen?¡¹

    Suddenly, I notice.

    ¡¸Hey¡­¡­ There should have been an announcement just now¡­¡­ One about defeating the Unique Monster¡­¡­ Did anyone of you heard that?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Announcement?¡¹

    Rust, Mold and Akitsu Akane all looked as though there were question marks flying above their heads. However, Rei seemed to remain calm, since she was all familiar with the announcement system of ShanFro already. The two of us understand what it all means.

    I put all of my remaining strength into my weak body, and then I surveil the whole area, my body being wary all the time. I wonder if other also felt as though something in here was seriously wrong all of a sudden.

    It was at that moment.

    SWOOSH! And in the next moment,

    ¡°Blue¡± starts to wriggle around.

 Chapter 215: Breakwater Protection, Fate Is not on Our Side Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 215: Breakwater Protection, Fate Is not on Our Side Part 1</h4>

    No one had to say anything, we all knew it was ¡°Blue¡±.

    The very first and mysterious cmity that first invaded this city and brought it on the very verge of ruin, way before Luls was brought underwater.

    Honestly, I thought it was nothing more than a vor text, some nice addition to the lore that would make Kutanid¡¯s backstory a little bit more menacing. And I thought it would stay that way for sure.

    ¡¸Emul, get on my head!¡¹

    ¡¸R-Right!¡¹

    Our feet¡­¡­ It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s not all that active for now, for now it should be okay to touch it¡­¡­

    ¡¸T-This is¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Mold¡¯s thinking is going in the right direction! Best not to touch that, or else we might be really sorry!¡¹

    This is no longer a story event that cannot be beaten. This is a field gimmick, one of the more famous ones. The famous ¡°You defeated the Boss, now get the hell out of here!¡±

    ¡¸Ghost of the Abominable Source.¡¹

    ¡¸---- Say what now?¡¹

    I get a feeling that this is onest ace up Kutanid¡¯s sleeve, or something like his dying breath.

    However, I had no time to really think about it all too deeply, since Kutanid spoke once again to us all.

    ¡¸HUMANS, THIS PLACE SHALL SINK INTO THE DEPTHS OF THE ABYSS ONCE MORE¡­¡­ THE CRISIS IS AT HAND, BUT DO NOT EVER FORGET ABOUT YOUR DREAM.¡¹

    There was no actual finger-pointing in that moment of any sort, but for some reason we all reacted the same way. We all looked towards the same direction.

    ¡¸GO FORTH, YOUR JOURNEY CONTINUES¡­¡­ HUMANS, DENIZENS OF THIS WORLD, YOU MUST FIND BAHAMUT¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You, this is¡­¡­¡¹

    Bahamut, why does this name keeps on popping up again and again? To begin with, what is that thing, anyway? A dragon? Or maybe something else? I think it would be too easy to think of it as a dragon.

    ¡¸IT BELONGS WITH THOSE WHO PREVIOUSLY INHERITED THE WILL, AND THEY ARE THOSE WHO ARE CURRENTLY FIGHTING AGAINST THE INCOMING CRISIS¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Sh*t, I do not really get it, but if it is something you want us to do, then that is what we are going to do! Now then! The quest is not over until we all manage to safely return home! Everyone! Let¡¯s get out of here!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Uuuuuueeeeeehhhhhh¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Rust, please! Let¡¯s give it our all just a little bit more! Okay? Think you can do that for me?¡¹

    ¡¸Alright! I get it! I will do it! I¡¯m running, see? I¡¯m running!¡¹

    ¡¸Akitsu Akane, howe you can be in such a good spirits after all we have been through today¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸Are we really going to run again!? Are we not all dangerously close to approaching our limits!?¡¹

    ¡¸ALVA, YOU CAN DO IT! I BELIEVE IN YOU!¡¹

    You can cry all you want about it, but at least keep those legs moving and run! And if you fail the quest just because you were tozy, do not go andin about that to me!

    We keep running until we emerge back into the city. All around us, the ¡°Blue¡± was rampaging around like waves during a storm in the open sea. However, even though the whole cityscape was basically copsing, the road we had to follow out of the city was strangely being kept in one piece.

    ¡¸--------¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Eh? Ah, umm, yes¡­¡­¡¹

    Even though I could see that Rei was talking to Kutanid at the current moment, I was too busy with recovering Seiryu and the de that was still stuck in the ground right where I fell down. So unfortunaltely, since I had more pressing matters to attend to, I was unable to hear what exactly the two of them were talking about.

    ¡¸Abueh¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸Piiiiiiii¡­¡­!?¡¹

    Gubeh!? What the hell is this!? It looks like a literal wall of slime or some other substance like that! Is this ¡°Blue¡± as well? And why is it blocking out path like that!? It was so terrifying that it was small wonder that Emul let out a scream like that.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Is this supposed to be an event of some sorts!?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, right! The kind of ¡°You touch it, and you die!¡±¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I do not feel like trying out if that theory is equal to being a reality right now.¡¹

    Although Luls was blue all over as well, right about now the city felt nothing like it used to be before. Right now it was more of an entranceway to Hell itself, one entranceway across which ¡°Blue¡± was rampaging without showing any signs of stopping.

    ¡¸By the way, just how long is this going to follow after us!?¡¹

    ¡¸Bohooo!?¡¹

    Leading the way, Akitsu Akane jumps over the ¡°Blue¡± that was crawling all over the ground before us, and Sickle was going its best to cling to his head while making some rather peculiar noises.

    By following the lead of our Lead Runner, we all manage to jump over the ¡°Blue¡± in the same fashion, knowing full well that touching that stuff would only end up in a disaster.

    ¡¸We must run there, towards the edge of the city¡­¡­ We must get into the sea!¡¹

    ¡¸So you want us to swim all the way towards safety from the bottom of the ocean!? Just so you know triathlons are not really my forte¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸When the timees, everyone holds onto Alva! That¡¯s how we¡¯re going to escape!¡¹

    ¡¸No way¡­¡­! There is just¡­¡­! That¡¯s impossible¡­¡­! Owaaahhooohhh!?¡¹

    ¡¸Tsk, talk about nasty tactic, aiming for our only way of here¡­¡­!¡¹

    I click my tongue in annoyance and manipte my inventory quickly. Then I select the Guardian¡¯s armor and throw it towards Alva and Nereis, who were both about to be swallowed up by the ¡°Blue¡±.

    If what we have read on the ¡°Blue¡± in that diary is correct, ¡°Blue¡± should be a type of parasite, one that clings to inorganic matter and eats or erodes organic matter. And no matter the action or type here, both of those actions could only be ssified as ¡°extremely bothersome¡±.

    ¡¸It, it seems that you have saved me again, my friend¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸You can thank me for thatter! For now, we run!¡¹

    Fuck me, that sh*t was really expensive, you know¡­¡­!? But, armor is something that can be made again or reced, and the same cannot really be said about the NPCs. So it was bad, yeah, but it was a necessary sacrifice!

    After the situation repeated itself a few more times, at the expense of the Guardian¡¯s chestte, helmet, leggings and waist ting, we finally managed to reach the coast line, gaining some distance from the ¡°Blue¡± and much needed time to rest shortly.

    ¡¸GOAL!¡¹

    ¡¸But what are we supposed to do from here on out!?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ The fuck I should know.¡¹

    ¡¸We dive into the sea, or what?¡¹

    What should we do? We must do something! After all, the value of our lives is not equal in the slightest! We yers can afford to get swept by the sea currents and die as a result, but the same cannot be said for Alva, Sickle and Emul! It would be like sentencing them to drown!

    As I watched the iing ¡°Blue¡± tsunami that was getting closer, in my desperation I was seriously going to consider entrusting both Sickle and Emul to Alva and ordering them to get the hell out of here.

    ¡¸HEY! YOU GUYS!¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm?¡¹

    Apparently there is still hope left in this world. And right now its taste was so sweet that I could not possibly believe it. And ites together with a child-like voice of someone who seemed to have matured just a little bit throughout this seven days¡¯ expedition.

    ¡¸Well won¡¯t you look at that! It¡¯s that sh*thead Straude!¡¹

    Once I turned around, I could see a brand new pirate ship floating its way towards us. What¡¯s strange, it was the same kind of ship that was grabbed by the jet-ck tentacles seven days ago and got destroyed, but right now it looked like a brand new thing. And behind its steering wheel there was Straude, waving the cuss he was holding in his hand towards us.

    ¡¸No, but how can it possibly flow in the air like that! It doesn¡¯t make sense! What is going on here?¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t understand that, either! It doesn¡¯t matter, just hurry it up and get on!¡¹

 Chapter 215: Breakwater Protection, Fate Is not on Our Side Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 215: Breakwater Protection, Fate Is not on Our Side Part 2</h4>

    Yeah, let¡¯s do just that for now. A ropedder was sent down from the top of the ship¡¯s deck, and after I put Emul on top of Akitsu Akane¡¯s head I urged them to climb to the deck as fast as they could.

    ¡¸Come on, Alva! Hurry it up! It should be a piece of cake to you, so step on it!¡¹

    ¡¸What the hell do you think you¡¯re doing!?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m waaaaaaaaaaay stronger than I look, so I¡¯ll make sure that you all get on without trouble.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ My friend, just don¡¯t go dying on us now!¡¹

    ¡¸Idiot. Even if I die, I am still going to get back home in one piece¡­¡­¡¹

    I send a quick wink towards Rei and then I turn around to face the wave of ¡°Blue¡± that was approaching us fast.

    ¡¸I¡¯m really confident in my battle skills, so pay no mind to me and just get on with it!¡¹

    If ¡°Blue¡± was just a field effect or a gimmick, what I was about to do was basically pretty much useless. ¡­¡­ But I think that this whole ¡°Blue¡± is an actual monster. And it actually matters not if it¡¯s a single monster or an amalgamation of monsters. What is important here is whether or not it has the concept of aggro implemented to it.

    That¡¯s why I need to conduct a quick experiment to confirm it.

    First method; try to throw an item at it.

    Second method: activate ¡°Utsuro Mikagami¡± secret technique and see what happens.

    If this thing has the concept of aggro implemented into it¡­¡­

    ¡¸It got caught!¡¹

    The swarm of iing ¡°Blue¡± overruns my clone in no time, confirming to me that this thing indeed does has the concept of aggro implemented into it. However, it was only a few secondster that I havee to understand that this knowledge would amount to nothing here.

    After all, it turns out that ¡°Blue¡± was so massive that it managed to overrun not only my clone, but the whole beach in a matter of seconds, and with little to no effort. I feel like the saying quantity over quality was not even doing this thing justice here. I mean, just look how fast it spreads! If you leave this thing alone to its own devices, the world itself might find itself in danger! Come to think of it, if this thing would overrun the whole, since this is an MMO, how would the devs address this issue? reset? Or maybe a post-apocalyptic continuation?

    ¡¸This is going to be really not good in a moment here¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku!¡¹

    ¡¸Alright! My turn to evacuate! So long, ¡°Blue¡± you sucker!¡¹

    As long as there is no way to physically inflict damage onto this thing, I¡¯m afraid that there is nothing I can do here to fight against it. It would be a whole different matter if our battle potential was higher, but with Alva and Rei being worn out after Kutanid battle, I¡¯d say the wise move here is to withdrawn as fast as possible.

    ¡¸Yeah, that¡¯s what I thought¡­¡­ Try to catch me now! It¡¯s ten million years too early for you to do that!¡¹

    The wave of blue color washes near my legs, trying to grab a hold of me. At the same time, by caffeine-depraved brain started to scream, demanding a well-earned rest. While the waves of ¡°Blue¡± attack me as if they were trying to devour me, I trample it all and run away.

    I was wondering how I was able to muster so much energy to fight back and run like that, since I was sure that my stamina was at itsst legs right now. Apparently, when you are desperate you are capable of achieving things you would not be able to do normally.

    ¡¸Uuuuuuoooooohhhhhh!!! If I won¡¯t make it, what will happen to me? Will I die alone in here?¡¹

    Come to think of it, once I die here, my respawn point should be still in Luls, right? I don¡¯t want that! I¡¯d hate to live in here, but I¡¯m totally okay with the idea toe visit this ce from time to time to farm.

    Three meters left, I felt as though something moved under the water¡¯s surface. Two meters left, I felt that the water that would normally cling to my feet to some extent clearly grabbed a hold of me. One meter left,e on! I can still make it¡­¡­

    But then it was as if someoneughed at all of my efforts.

    The next moment, the sea right behind me explodes with a high pir of water. No, it was not quite the explosion. It was as if something has hit the water¡¯s surface with tremendous amount of energy?

    Turning around, I could see a gigantic transparent tentacles crushing the waves of ¡°Blue¡± with nothing but sheer force of its mass. No, it was not a tentacle! That was¡­¡­!

    ¡¸Why are you even alive, Bal Cone¡­¡­!?¡¹

    It was an upside down Bal Cone that was being thrown around at full force by the one who was wielding it.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ ooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    I jump in the air! What follows was¡­¡­ the legendary Superhero Landing! The one that was supposed to be so terrible on your knees!

    ¡¸Sanraku! Are you alright!?¡¹

    ¡¸You¡­¡­ Do I¡­¡­ Look like I¡¯m¡­¡­ Okay to you¡­¡­!? Oh fuck, my poor fingers¡­¡­ My poor knees!¡¹

    SHAKE! While the whole ship shakes around, I turn towards the ce where the tremors wereing from. And even though I did not lose all that much HP by thatnding of mine, right about know I felt weak in the knees and could feel my whole body be paralyzed¡­¡­ It was one of the Seal Bosses¡­¡­

    Its head opens up and closes in an unnatural manner, the one that was surely not human in the slightest. Clione looks up to me warmly and turns back towards the ¡°Blue¡±.

    Then it raises its hand in the air and in the next moment the waves of ¡°Blue¡± that were attacking it gets pushed back by waves of mysterious energy, further and further back into the city.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Is this supposed to be some sort of an epic event scene?¡¹

    Movie guns and movie knives usually kill in one hit, so best not to provoke them needlessly¡­¡­¡¹

    A movie weapon. Like the name suggests, it¡¯s a weapon that can kill someone in one hit during a particr scene, even though it could have been established that a certain character could only be killed by being melted inside of a pool ofva.

    However, taking Kutanid¡¯s power into consideration, it¡¯s not all that weird that dead Bosses were brought back to life.

    Once it pushed the ¡°Blue¡± back into the city, Clione retreats back into the city as well¡­¡­ No, it went back to its respective tower, one of the four that were at the city¡¯s edges. Then it just stands at its top, waiting and watching.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ The other bosses are there as well.¡¹

    You can¡¯t really make all the details from here, but just as Rust said, there were figures standing at the top of every single tower.

    Seal Bosses¡­¡­ I wonder what was it? Was it Kutanid that sealed part of itself just for fun, or was it that the bosses were sealing away the ¡°Blue¡±, deep inside of the Abyss under the city?

    It should be all in the World Truth Book, but let¡¯s forget about it for now.

    ¡¸Hey, guys? I didn¡¯t wanted to bring that up, but now¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ What is it, Mold?¡¹

    ¡¸This ship¡­¡­ Don¡¯t you think it is about to capsize any minute now?¡¹

    The ship was suddenly grabbed by Kutanid¡¯s giant tentacles. Then, as if to disy their full power, the tentacles tilt the ship diagonally and start to push it towards the surface.

    ¡¸Everyone, grab a hold of something here! Quick!¡¹

    As I say that, a strong inertia starts to affect us, as the ship that was supposed to sail horizontally started to move vertically at a high speed.

    As we were moving up more and more, we could see the view of Luls, once a beautiful underwater city, now a dested rubble and mixture of both grey and blue. All thank to the ¡°Blue¡± rampaging around its streets. But there were also the four towers, shining brightly and emanating waves of energy that was keeping the ¡°Blue¡± contained within the city¡¯s walls.

    The four towers and the light shining at their tops. Once an ind, now turned into the underwater city at the bottom of the ocean¡­¡­ Luls was once again dragged into the Abyss, taking the ¡°Blue¡± with it. The reign of the city¡¯s Lord continues uninterrupted.

    ¡¸KUTANID OF THE ABYSS VENTURES INTO THE HEAVENS ONCE MORE.¡¹

    ¡¸THE GREAT BLUE CALAMITY HAS BEEN SEALED ONCE MORE.¡¹

    ¡¸CLEARED THE UNIQUE SCENARIO EX: PEOPLE GAZE INTO THE ABYSS, THE WORLD KEEPS TURNING AROUND.¡¹

    ¡¸THE LITTLE PIRATE LOOKS TOWARDS THE FUTURE WITHOUT FEAR.¡¹

    ¡¸CLEARED THE UNIQUE SCENARIO: PUNCHING THE APOSTLE OF THE ABYSS.¡¹

    ¡¸OBTAINED THE TITLE: SURVIVOR OF THE ABYSS.¡¹

    ¡¸OBTAINED THE TITLE: TRUTH SEEKER.¡¹

    ¡¸OBTAINED THE TITLE: FLYING INSMAN¡¯S CREW MEMBER.¡¹

    ¡¸OBTAINED THE TITLE: PROOF OF SUCCESSION.¡¹

    ¡¸OBTAINED THE TITLE: THE DIFFERENT ROAD, THE SAME HEART.¡¹

    ¡¸OBTAINED THE TITLE: HEART-CHANGING OUTLAW.¡¹

    ¡¸OBTAINED THE TITLE: BILLION GETTER.¡¹

    ¡¸OBTAINED THE ITEM: ¡°BLUE HOLY GRAIL¡±¡¹

    ¡¸OBTAINED THE ITEM: ¡°INDIGO HOLY GRAIL¡±¡¹

    ¡¸OBTAINED THE ACCESSORY: ¡°ABYSS WARNING BELL¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸YOU HAVE OBTAIN A KEY ITEM: ¡°WORLD TRUTH TOME - ABYSS -¡°¡¹

    ¡¸WORLD QUEST ¡°SHANGRILA FRONTIER HAS PROGRESSED.¡¹

 Chapter 216: A Road May Be Different, But the Heart Stays the Same Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 216: A Road May Be Different, But the Heart Stays the Same Part 1</h4>

    Nothing in this world canst forever. Even a home run ball is eventually going to lose its momentum and fall back towards the ground. Same principle applies to the rapidly ascending ship.

    ¡¸WE ARE FALLING!!! WE ARE FAAAAAALLLIIINNNGGG!!! OH MY GOD, WE ARE GOING TO DIE HERE FOR SURE!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Hey, we are being held in ce! So at the very least we are not going to die on our way down! Silver lining!¡¹

    ¡¸That is exactly the problem, Sanraku-san! Now please hold me so that I won¡¯t fall away!!!¡¹

    Right about now I was doing my best to grab a hold onto one of the ropes that were hanging from the ship¡¯s mast. And well, what did you expect, Emul? It was only to be expected that once the tentacles let go of the ship thews of physics will start to act on it once more. So if we were ascending at such high speed, it is only natural that we are going to be descending equally fast and eventually hit the surface of the sea. Nothing we can do about it.

    ¡¸Look, the sea is getting closer¡­¡­ And right about now! Stick to thending!¡¹

    The ship crashnds into the sea, raising a huge ssh of water in the air. It is a good thing that the ship was really sold, so instead of going back to the bottom of the ocean it was pushed towards the surface and it was floating again, just like the ship was supposed to do.

    ¡¸Yo, ho.¡¹

    After the ship finally stopped shaking I looked around and saw that everyone was here with me, although looking a little bit shaken and exhausted. But oh well, it¡¯s the fact that we were all alive that counts.

    ¡¸Really now¡­¡­ For now, thank you guys for lending me a hand with clearing that Unique Scenario EX.¡¹

    Thosest in-game seven days were pretty much chaotic and made me feel like I wanted to drop dead on the spot on more than one asion, but I would lie if I did not consider thosest seven in-game days to be helluva fun as well.

    ¡¸This is also quite the aplishment. No one has ever cleared that boss before us. We are the first ones ever to do that.¡¹

    Well, that is not exactly true. Truth to be told, this quest must have been cleared at least once in the past, by the beta testers during the testing phase of the game¡¯s development. But if we start thinking about games in that category, then no game in history has ever been cleared for the first time by the actual consumers. So let¡¯s not venture down that rabbit hole.

    ¡¸Where do you think this ship is heading?¡¹

    ¡¸Judging by the direction, I would say it goes towards Fiftsia! We can finally go home!¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s not get ahead of ourselves! Or else we might get lost on the sea! And we don¡¯t want that!¡¹

    While listening to that random banter, a sudden realization hit me: it was the end. The quest was over. And then I felt that I could finally rx for a moment for the first time in a long while.

    ¡¸Soooooooooooo¡­¡­ tired¡­¡­¡¹

    During this past week I have been running around like mad in more sense than one¡­¡­ So tomorrow I am going to sleep a whole lot. Until I finally feel that I have regained my lost sanity and health.

    I could technically take a short nap while we are on our way back to Fiftsia, but I might as well go through our loot and see what we got.

    First thing first, the two chalices out of the eight¡­¡­ Blue Holy Grail and the Indigo Holy Grail.

    Form what I remember, blue one was gender reversal and the indigo one was the stats reversal.

    To be perfectly honest, at first I was at quite a loss over the selected chalices, but then I havee to a realization that they were highly versatile and surely they wille in handy.

    If the blue Grail changes only appearances without interfering with the physique then this is really not all that great, but if it could change for example the height of the target even by a few centimeters, then that is a whole different matter.

    Although the stats are the same even if the gender is reversed, there are some minor details that may prove to be really advantageous to me. If we talk about the difference in size or weight, it may be useful both attack and defense-wise.

    Welp, and this is about sixty percent of the reason why this item seems interesting to me.

    Rather, I think that the Indigo Holy Grail is WAY more interesting and powerful. This thing is nuts! And what is so nuts about it, you may ask? It¡¯s performance, that is what!

    Magic nullification, physical attack nullification, and distance nullification are all but defensive abilities. If I was a tank they would be of more use to me, but in my current state I am not really able to benefit from them all that much.

    Same with color reversals. It may be useful on some enemies, but it is nothing that some shy AoE magic is not going to take care of.

    The damage reversal was a tempting option, but the more intense the battles would get, the more ugly the situations that would call for its use would be. And if that¡¯s the case, I might just corner myself or throw myself into a dead end by sheer ident.

    However, the Indigo Grail is a whole different manner. I mean, the ability to switch stats around as you please is downright broken. Taking me as an example, I can easily be a tank just by switching my Luck stat with my Vitality stat. Hell, I can even switch it with Magic Power and make myself into a potent wizard.

    And since it is reversal, and not a redistribution, I can switch my stats all day long while basically maintaining my Agility build without any drawbacks.

    ¡¸That reminds me, what kind of Grails did you guys chose?¡¹

    I was really curios about that, so I asked the other yers.

    Rei: Blue and Purple

    Rust: Green and Red

    Mold: Yellow and Purple

    Akitsu Akane: Blue and Purple

    Alva: Red and Yellow

    I was surprised that Rei, who is a heavy armored fighter, chose a Blue Grail as well. However, if you like the game so much that you be a heavy armored fighter, you might as well like to experiment in one way or another, to see what else the game has to offer.

    But still, why not Indigo and Purplebination, I wonder? Well¡­¡­ when ites to Indigo Grail, it cannot really show you its full potential unless you can switch your job to something else to some extent.

    Could it be that Rei chose the Purple Grail so that she could try to achieve even greater firepower than that she already possesses? I mean, unlike someone like me who basically dies in one hit is something powerful ps me, Rei has the means of surviving a blow or two no problem. If that¡¯s so, then the Purple Grail¡¯s damage reversal is a great addition to the job of a Tank, since you can basically regain all of your lost health just by standing around and soaking all of the damage that is being thrown at you.

    As expected, the old saying that the best way to improve your party-fighting abilities is to strengthen your solo abilities rings oh so true here.

    I¡¯m kinda worried about other people here, but I guess that they know what they are doing and that they have chosen the Grails that fit their respective ystyles best.

    Rather, this here item is the real problem.

 Chapter 216: A Road May Be Different, But the Heart Stays the Same Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 216: A Road May Be Different, But the Heart Stays the Same Part 2</h4>

    - ABYSS WARNING BELL -

    It is a warning bell, sent from the deepest depths of the Abyss. A sea-colored bell that senses and warns the user about the impending crisis.

    It reacts to {REVELAED AFTER CLEARING THE 4TH STAGE OF THE WORLD QUEST}, warning the user about the iing catastrophe.

    The ancestors have failed, now it is your turn.

    Wow, won¡¯t you look at that, only ominous things are written in here. No matter how you think about it, you cannot get rid of a feeling that some sort of a global-scale crisis is going to ur somewhere alongside the storyline.

    Defeating Wezaemon and having Kutanid acknowledge us, we have sessfully managed to push forward the World Quest. Two times, even. Clearing two Unique Scenarios EX, the World Quest should currently be in its third stage.

    And while it is true that defeating two Unique Monsters raised more questions than gave us answers, it is also an undeniable fact that the world itself has moved on onto the next stage as well.

    For example, let¡¯s say that harvesting apples from an orchard is a grand goal of all yers on the server. The Unique Quests here would be connected to the orchard¡¯s owner and his family, while the World Quest would be the equivalent of the changes that urs in the harvested apples. It might not be the best analogy out there, but the main thing here would be the ¡°passing of seasons¡±.

    And from the description on this item, apparently something is about to happen once the third Unique Monster is going to be defeated. Something is going to happen once the World Quest reaches its fourth stage. And that something requires the assistance of an rm.

    While there are yers out there that might enjoy a slow life of faming and crop cultivating like that, I am that kind of yer that likes to get into the thick of the action, seeking out powerful monsters and oveing various challenges. However, as with everything in here, information is the most powerful weapon, and we should keep the most important things to ourselves and not let everyone else know about it. Especially that wannabe Magical Girl.

    However, I have a certain feeling brewing inside of me.

    It¡¯s hard for me to think that a mere warning bell is a reward for defeating a Unique Monster like that. At first nce, this bell really looks to be just an rm bell and that would make it pretty much useless, but¡­¡­ What if that is also a reversal here? Like, rather than warning the yer about something that is about toe, it is going to signal that the yer is getting closer to something that they are actively searching for? Something that would appear in the fourth stage of the World Quest? What if a possibility like that really existed? That this rm bell is in fact a radar of sorts?

    ¡¸It reeks of a treasure hunting to me¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸But you can only smell the sea breeze here, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Yup, that¡¯s right. And Akitsu Akane, calm down for Christ¡¯s sake!¡¹

    Just like that, the ship continued to sail leisurely towards Fiftsia with Straude at the steering wheel.

    Now then, I wonder whatever I should do once I get back¡­¡­ Oh, yeah, about that. I should really go and apologize to Vash for taking both Emul and Sickle with me to Luls¡­¡­ The old man might be really livid with anger at me, so worst case scenario I¡¯ll just get down on the ground and beg for forgivness.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ nraku, Sanraku!¡¹

    ¡¸Hmnh? What is it, Alva?¡¹

    ¡¸Nothing, it¡¯s just that I think I will go home now.¡¹

    That¡¯s right, we are currently heading towards Fiftsia¡­¡­ Thinking about it logically, Alva is someone who is not human, a member of an entirely different race. Fiftsia is not a base town for him and it is not his home either.

    ¡¸Ahh, yeah, yup, yup, that¡¯s right, I see¡­¡­ Oh well, thanks for all of your help, Alva. I really appreciate it.¡¹

    ¡¸Think nothing of it, my friend. Without your help, both Nereis and I would have been a part of Kutanid¡¯s city at this point in time.¡¹

    In fact, Alva¡¯s help was the key to victory on more than once asion throughout the past week in the underwater city. Whether it was during the mob battle, or the fight against Kutanid, his strength as the sort-of magic physical warrior was nothing to scoff at. It was a worthy addition.

    ¡¸Say now¡­¡­ If you ever happen to meet a dwarf named ¡°Gandak¡±, tell him that Alva sent you. He¡¯s a really skilled cksmith, I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be able to help you out.¡¹

    ¡¸Is, is this supposed to be a touching farewell scene, or what?¡¹

    ¡¸I guess you can say that. After all, I¡¯m a hybrid who must live underwater in order to survive. It would be difficult for me to meet yound-dwellers in your natural habitat.¡¹

    To that, I shake my finger in a negating gesture and make a face that was supposed to be saying ¡°Non, non, non¡±.

    ¡¸We are the Pioneers of the Unknown, always on the lookout for the edge of the world to discover. If there is something unknown underwater, you can be sure that we¡¯ll get there and discover it. After all, there¡¯s nothing that spirit and guts cannot aplish!¡¹

    The existence of the fish-people NPCs and the Unique Monster dwelling at the bottom of the sea. No matter how you think about it, there surely must be more in the deep see for us to explore. So there is no solid proof for that, but the possibility of us reuniting in the future is not impossible.

    Alva¡¯s words became round as saucers when he hear me, but then he smiled broadly and reached out his hand towards me.

    I reached out my own hand to shake it, but then Alva hugged me tightly and mmed his hand against my back a couple of times. You know, this is a way in which Hollywood movie stars say farewell to one another, so to think that I would be able to experience something like that¡­¡­ I must say I¡¯m impressed.

    ¡¸Fare thee well, my trustyrades! It was fun fighting alongside you! I hope that we will meet again!¡¹

    ¡¸EVERYONE, PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES!¡¹

    Nereis manifested the upper part of her body and waved her hand at all of us alongside Alva. Then the two of them approached the edge of the ship. Alva turned his head towards Straude.

    ¡¸Little pirate, I hope that you shall grow up to be a powerful and respected warlord one day.¡¹

    ¡¸Y¡­¡­ Yeah! Of course I will! After all, I¡¯m a son of a great pirate!¡¹

    I had no idea that NPCs could interact with one another like that, but after saying all that Alva smiled one more time and then finally jumped off the ship¡¯s edge and dove into the water.

    What can I say¡­¡­ It was so random, but in that one moment he just upped his coolness points casually and then just left.

    ¡¸Now then¡­¡­ I¡¯m okay with our party splitting up here. What are you guys going to do after this¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Sleep¡­¡­ I¡¯m going to go to sleep.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right¡­¡­ All in all, it was a pretty exhausting voyage, I won¡¯t say¡­¡­¡¹

    Well, no need to do anything serious right after I return to Fiftsia. After all, it was the battle that managed to exhaust both our resources and our mental fortitude as well. If I¡¯m going to do something, surely it will be tomorrow, or maybe even the day after tomorrow.

    ¡¸Alright, then, tomorrow¡­¡­ Nah, make that the day after tomorrow. We are going to go to meet with Vash, since we have a whole lot of things we need to discuss¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸U-Umm¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Hm?¡¹

    Rei suddenly speaks up and interrupts the conversation. Just what could it be all about? I thought that while turning towards her, getting a feeling that it would probably be something even more troublesome than the Unique Scenario EX.

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­ To be honest¡­ I have a request¡­¡­¡¹

    Even though Sanraku and thepany were trotting down the sunny path, back in Fiftsia there was already a storm brewing among the yers.

 Chapter 217: Epilogue on the Surface: War Sniffing Beast Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 217: Epilogue on the Surface: War Sniffing Beast Part 1</h4>

    There was the sudden sound of bells ringing.

    ¡¸WE HAVE AN OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FOR ALL THOSE WHO PLAY SHANGRILA FRONTIER.¡¹

    An announcement from the game¡¯s administrators, and the one that was new and unheard of for the vast majority of the yers.

    I mean, yeah. I do believe that everyone who is listening to that announcement right about now is going to be shocked beyond all belief. Not that I me them, since the announcements from the game¡¯s admins is always something one needs to be wary of.

    ¡¸AS FOR THE CURRENT MOMENT, THE GAME¡¯S ADMINISTRATION HAVE CONFIRMED THE DEFEAT OF THE UNIQUE MONSTER ¡°KUTANID OF THE ABYSS¡±. THE NAMES OF THE FIVE PLAYERS THAT MANAGED THIS ACCOMPLISHMENT ARE AS FOLLOWS: ¡®RUST¡¯, ¡®MOLD¡¯, ¡®AKITSU AKANE¡¯, ¡®SANRAKU¡¯, ¡®SAIGA-0¡¯. ADDITIONALLY, WITH THE DEFEAT OF THE UNIQUE MONSTER THE WORLD QUEST ¡®SHANGRILA FRONTIER¡¯ HAS BEEN ADVANCED AS WELL.¡¹

    On that day, Unique Monster Kutanid of the Abyss¡­¡­ It was one of the three widely known Unique Monsters. It was sitting alongside Nightprowler Luukan and Siegwurm of the Heavens as the Unique Monster that was possible to appear as a result of a random encounter. It was widely assumed that it was somewhere at the bottom of the ocean between the old and the new continent, but because people had no idea how to get there, it was impossible to subjugate it. Until today.

    What¡¯s more, there was one name in particr amongst Kutanid¡¯s subjugators that was not appearing in the announcement for the first time. A name that almost everyone knew about ever since thest announcement.

    ¡¸Again with that guy, that ¡®Sanraku¡¯ bastard¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸But there was also the name of the Maximum Firepower out there, right?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s impossible for the same yer to be able to defeat two separate Unique Monsters. Not in that short amount of time, no less¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Actually, maybe he¡¯s just a team manager or something like that? It¡¯s a possibility, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Rumors seems to be all over the ce nowadays, so it might be true, but I would not count on it. It¡¯s best to take them in with a grain of salt¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I know that. Besides, the famous pledge of ShangriLa Frontier, huh? y and let others y¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Or maybe the guy was paid by the others to aid them? There¡¯s also a possibility like that.¡¹

    Apparently the fact that the first Unique Monster ¡°Gravekeeper Wezaemon¡± was beaten by the team of only three people was still fresh in the memory of the people around these parts. And now one of that ursed three managed to take down yet another Unique Monster.

    No matter what, the cirction of information is something that once made into motion cannot be stopped. And since rumors travel from one mouth to another, it¡¯s just like that one famous children¡¯s game: the original message tends to be distorted or blown out of proportion faster than you would expect it to do so.

    ¡¸I have heard that he¡¯s always running half naked and there¡¯s a bunny girl apanying him¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Well, I heard that this guy has a skill that lets him fly in the sky as much as he pleases.¡¹

    ¡¸Seriously? I heard that he managed to PK the every single member of ¡®SF-Zoo¡¯ in one fell swoop in a single moment.¡¹

    Eventually, when the rumors got blown so out of proportion that it basically reached the level of ¡°There¡¯s this half-human half-monster guy who goes around with a bunny girl ve wrapped in chains and cor and PKs anyone who heys his eyes upon¡±, people will start to realize that the rumors are actually not true. However, it is true that as a result of said rumors circting around the game¡¯s server, the name ¡°Sanraku¡± has be something that basically everyone was aware of.

    There is an idiom out there that goes as follows: boiling with rage.

    It means: to express or feel an emotion, anger for that matter, very intensely. It may be a little bit of a stretch to say this, but this usually describes the state of feeling so much anger that you would be willing to do almost anything to anyone just to give that anger an opportunity to dissipate. The act of ¡°willing to do something¡± is the key here.

    And right about now a certain member of the ¡°ck Wolf¡± guild was boiling with rage so much that you could easily cook a full course meal around it. Or at the very least, make some delicious hard boiled eggs.

    ¡¸Um, umm¡­¡­ Grandmaster?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ What?¡¹

    ¡¸N-Nothing! It¡¯s nothing!¡¹

    On the outside, that person looked to be as calm as ever. However, it was what was on the inside that counted. And on the inside that person was like a steel te that was heated up to the point where it was pure-white with the heat. It was not the kind of heat that would burn anything that was surrounding it, but it was that kind of heat that would be able to clearly cut something in half it you¡¯d let it to do so. That kind of heat that was pushing the steel to its very limit.

    That person who was boiling with rage was none other than ¡°ck Wolves¡± Grandmaster¡­¡­ Saiga-100. On the surface she looked as calm as ever, but the rage could be seen in her eyes. And anyone who dare to look in those eyes would instantly back away in sheer terror.

    Seeing that it may be better not to approach the boss right now, the other members of the Guild backed away as well, and started to consult one another in hushed whispers.

    ¡¸Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, NOPE! Not even my real boss at work can be that scary as the Boss is right now!¡¹

    ¡¸Please, dude! You¡¯re probably the only one in here who canmunicate with the boss right about now!¡¹

    ¡¸Why won¡¯t you do it, then, huh!? You¡¯re the wall-tank for fuck¡¯s sake! Start acting like one!¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, you see, I may be good at tanking physical attacks, but I cannot do sh*t against mental attacks¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Hey, stop looking at magic caster like they are the perfect meat shields right about now! Geez! I hate this! I¡¯m scared! I wanna go home!¡¹

    There are some rumors circting amongst the members of the ck Wolf guild, and some of them are believed to be very real.

    ording to one of them¡­¡­ Saiga¡ª0 and Saiga-100, who just so happened to be real sisters in real life, recently had a huge quarrel.

    Saiga-100 is the founder of the guild ¡°ck Wolves¡± as well as the element that binds all of its members together. And Saiga-0 joined ShangriLa Frontier and ¡°ck Wolves¡± on behalf of Saiga-100¡¯s invitation, and now holds the title of the Maximum Firepower. All this time the rtionship between the two sisters was perfect, you could even call it exemry.

    From the standpoint of the third party, the rtionship between the Boss that can be a little bit pushy at times but not unreasonable and the Saiga-0 who contributes the great deal to the guild¡¯s power and position, is just like the rtionship of true sisters.

    However, for the past couple of days Saiga-100 was acting strange. She was constantly on edge and would snap ant anyone for no particr reason, and whenever Saiga-0 was mentioned during the conversation, she would almost right away flight off the handle.

    There is no rtionship out there that can be perfect forever, and it is not all that umon for even the closest of sisters to quarrel with one another asionally¡­¡­ So for the time being the other members of ¡°ck Wolves¡± decided to just let the situation unfold and resolve naturally over the course of time. However, there were rumors circting around the guild at the probable cause of this sisterly quarrel. It is said that the matter that split the sisters apart was the yer ¡°Sanraku¡±, the same one who assisted the walking cmity Arthur Pencilgton in subjugation of the Unique Monster ¡°Gravekeeper Wezaemon¡±. The same Sanraku that happened to have taken part in subjugation of another Unique Monster, ¡°Kutanid of the Abyss¡±.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Say, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s kinda bad that this quarrel is taking them so long to resolve?¡¹

    ¡¸You can say that again¡­¡­ Hope it¡¯s not anything serious, but that¡¯s exactly what it look like to me¡­¡­¡¹

    Since ¡°ck Wolves¡± stand at the top of the guilds in ShangriLa Frontier, all of its members are seasoned veterans. There are no amateurs here. Sure, there were people like Saiga-0, for who ShanFro was their very first MMO ever, but the vast majority of people here are yers who have seen some action in other MMOs as well. Which also means that they know how badly the worsening rtionships can affect the entire guild or themunity as a whole.

 Chapter 217: Epilogue on the Surface: War Sniffing Beast Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 217: Epilogue on the Surface: War Sniffing Beast Part 2</h4>

    ns, guilds¡­¡­ Those are all group activities, not solo ones. No matter how good the yers are individually, it will alle to nothing if they cannot work together. Especially since in this game unique events and quest can appearpletely out of the blue and without warning.

    However, when ites to Unique Monsters, monsters that are only seven of which in the entire game, there is anotheryer to that. It should be guilds that take them down and earn glory and respect as a result. To think that individual yers were able to snatch that glory for themselves¡­¡­ it was a sign of disrespect.

    Not to mention that some of the ¡°ck Wolves¡± members felt personally offended by the fact that two of the Unique Monsters were already dispatched without them participating in it. They are one of the most powerful guilds, god damn it¡­¡­ so for them it was a matter of pride, if nothing else.

    ¡°Snake¡¯s Apple¡±, Fiftsia Branch.

    Inside of this establishment that only those who have already forsaken their own taste buds would dare to enter, Arthur Pencilgton was smiling at the announcement that was just made. Behind the counter, there was a familiar face of the barkeep, same to every shop of this franchise in every major city.

    I tried to make the story as brief as possible, without giving out too much details. ¡°I didn¡¯t think the two quests would be connected, and before I knew it I was forced to clear them in one go. And without the help of this Maximum Firepower here it wouldn¡¯t be possible. Oh, and I have also pushed forward the quest connected to Luukan.¡± I¡¯m sure that Pencilgton knew that there was more to the story than just that, but the fact remains unchanged: I have managed to clear one more Unique Scenario EX.

    ¡¸No, I must say this: things surely must have been rough.¡¹

    This is amonce urrence in any world or game that has a ranking system implemented into it. People that tend to stand out too much will always have it rough.

    If it was Pencilgton of Saiga-0, things would not be so big or blown out of proportion. It would be nothing all that weird or surprising that the yers with a number of achievement on their names managed to add yet another great achievement to their track record.

    But Sanraku does not have such track record. If I was doing it alongside Pencilgton and Katsu, I could at least shift the credit onto them and be done with it. But I was unable to do that and now people surely are going to be onto me.

    ¡¸To me it looks like you¡¯ll have much harder of a time ying the game properly from now on, unless you do something about it.¡¹

    ¡¸Ahaha, and why do I get the feeling that you are partially to me for my current predicament, my dear friend?¡¹

    ¡¸True, true,tely there has been a whole lot of people around me who are making my life a whole lot more difficult¡­¡­ wouldn¡¯t you say?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh my, I would very much like toment on that, but I¡¯m afraid that I¡¯ll have to refrain from doing that. Otherwise I could say something truly rude here.¡¹

    However, aside from Pencilgton, there was one more yer here sitting with us at the same table.

    She was a female yer wearing a light armor with a stylish sleevless haoriput on top of it. She would respond to Pencilgton¡¯s thorny remarks with a feminine voice with a slight tinge of masculinity in it, while sipping the contents of her cup.

    Apparently, this woman with a long hair tied into ponytail came here to see Pencilgton as well, and the cause of her visit was not pleasant or fun.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ So? What is it that you want from me, Kyogoku-chan? Did you perhaps wanted to convince me to inherit the Ashura-kai after that lolicon bailed out on us?¡¹

    ¡¸I always knew him as a good person, but¡­¡­ No, no, I would never think that he would abandon us like that.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, isn¡¯t that actually great for you? I mean, for such a battle maniac such as yourself, this is a perfect opportunity.¡¹

    Pencilgton knows perfectly well why that woman came to visit her. This woman was originally a part of the Ashura-kai¡­¡­ and a member of the guild¡¯s inner faction that more than anything seek out the thrill of battle in this game.

    But said group was no more when the Ashura-kai was annihted, and instead ofmiting honorary PKK its leader escaped to the new continent alongside the small group of his trusty followers.

    ¡¸If you don¡¯t mind me asking, how did you manage toe back here all the way from the new continent? It should have been quite a treacherous voyage.¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, you see, I had to cash in a small favor for that¡­¡­ ¡°Coordinated Transfer Gate¡±. I had a friend of mine who is also a magician sent me here. I have a favor to ask.¡¹

    ¡°Transfer Gate¡±¡­¡­ I¡¯ve heard rumors about that spell. It is said to be even higher in the spell hierarchy than ¡°Teleport¡±, and allows to establish a connecting point between two location that the caster or the one using the gate had previously visited. In a nutshell, it would be nothing more but a fast travel system.

    The yer magic casters could use it, that¡¯s a given. But apparently nowadays even some of the NPCs were learning how to use it. But more importantly¡­¡­ what would that favor be?

    (What the hell could all of this be about¡­¡­?)

    ¡¸Now then, I know that you are a busy woman, Pencilgton, so please allow me to be honest with you and cut straight to the chase.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, yes,e right at me, hold nothing back!¡¹

    ¡¸Fufu¡­¡­ You guys, sooner orter you are bound to jump at each other¡¯s throats with guild ¡°ck Wolves¡±, right? If that¡¯s the case, then¡­¡­ I want you to add me to your guild, your ¡°Wolfgang¡±.¡¹

    That was to be expected. Apparently this girl is totally oblivious to the concept of ¡°Give and Take¡±, and is going to be satisfied for as long as she is allowed to fight strong yers. What a genuine swordswoman she is. Apparently she would propose an invasion on the ¡°ck Wolves¡± on numerous asions in the past and would get rejected every single time. So when she heard about a new uing guild here, our ¡°Wolfgang¡±, she returned here and tried her luck one more time.

    All so that she could test her skills in battle against the strongest guild in the whole of ShangriLa Frontier. And as long as she could do that, apparently the consequences of her actions were of no concern to her.

    ¡¸And if I said that you¡¯ve had to get on your knees and kiss my feet for me to agree?¡¹

    ¡¸Hey, if that¡¯s what gets your boat floating, I¡¯m not going to kink-shame or anything.¡¹

    If it was only me and Katsu here, then Pencilgton surely would have exploded withughter right this instant.

    ¡¸Right, so does that mean you want Onee-san to dye her name red once more?¡¹

    ¡¸Ahaha, just so you know, if it¡¯s a one-on-one on the spot, I¡¯m not going to lose.¡¹

    She was arrogant for sure, but her personality was not all that bad, to be sure. And that is exactly why this whole situation was truly troublesome.

    Their party may have been a bunch of strays and rejects, but it is without a doubt that they were pioneering the harsh environment of the newly opened continent all on their own. And the confirmation of her skills surely lied in that magical number that was right next to her PN: Level 104.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I¡¯d say that there would be no draw if we fight, but I¡¯ll leave it to your imagination for now.¡¹

    ¡¸Whatever you say.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, it¡¯s not really something I can decide on my own. After all, we have a democracy here, all three of us. We need to consult the matter first.¡¹

    It would surely be nice to have someone on our hands that could equal in strength to Saiga-0, but then a certain thought urred to me. She may be strong, sure, but she is more like a Joker card, or a ticking time bomb, ready to explode. She could defect from us or backstab us at any moment without hesitation. ¡­¡­Then another thought urs to me.

    (Thinking about it carefully, she and Pencilgton have so much inmon that it is actually frightening.)

    I let out a deep sigh¡­¡­ That is exactly why hanging around Pencilgton will never amount to any good.

    Then I see a pair of beast¡¯s ears swaying right in front of me, a small detail about the haori-wearing woman that managed to slip my attention before¡­¡­ I get a feeling that she¡¯s one of those people who will actually listen to what others have to say, but it would not change the way in which she does things in her own way.

    ¡¸Oh, and one more thing.¡¹

    ¡¸There¡¯s more?¡¹

    ¡¸My name is not Kyogoku.¡¹

    The girl shakes her fox ears around, as if trying to underline the importance of that fact.

    ¡¸My PN is: Kyo Ultimate.¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s a mouthful to say, so I reject it. Also, this helped me to reach a conclusion.¡¹

    Needless to say, the offer for her to join us was rejected.

 Chapter 218: Epilogue of the Deep, or what is called a God Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 218: Epilogue of the Deep, or what is called a God Part 1</h4>

    It was a very quiet room. It was a really spacious room with concrete walls and no windows, so there was not really any sunlighting into it. The only source of light was the soft LED lighting from the desk¡­¡­ And on that desk there was a sole desktop styleputer, one that looked ancientpared to today¡¯s standards.

    It did not have a touchscreen, but the keyboard was really thin and the monitor was disying the images in a really good quality. It was that kind of a PC that wasmon around the beginning of the twenty first century, and during its time it surely must have been something that was ahead of its time for the general public.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    And inside of that concrete room, there was a woman who was sitting behind the desk.

    She was wearing old and worn-out jersey top and pants, both of different colors and in different sizes. Her hair was also a real mess, greasy and so long that their tips were brushing against the ground even when she was standing up.

    She was sitting in front of that old fashionedputer, looking at the image on the screen that was of surprisingly low quality. And even though she looked like the happiest person on Earth mere moments ago, right now that expression of happiness was no longer there. What was on her face right now was a nasty smile, the likes of which embodies the malicious intent unlike anything the world had seen before.

    ¡¸Haa¡­¡­ I wonder if I should maybe change this thing into a death game after all¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Tsukuri, please give me a break. You do that and it¡¯s my head that¡¯s going to fly, not yours.¡¹

    ¡¸It was a joke, I was obviously joking, Tsukuyogi. Our¡­¡­ No, I¡­ it would be bad to be remembered for something so utterly viinous.¡¹

    Said the woman to the man that had just entered the room. Even though she said it was a joke, when she was muttering those words she looked rmingly serious.

    Even though the man told her to stop calling him that, she was still doing it¡­¡­ While letting out a deep sigh, the suit-wearing man called Tsukuyogi leaned against the wall and after a momentary silence he turned towards the woman and spoke up.

    ¡¸Keep making distasteful jokes like that Amachi will be after your ass sooner rather thanter.¡¹

    ¡¸I know, right? I mean, it would be totally weird if he were not.¡¹

    Tsukuri, Tsukuyogi, Amachi¡­¡­ Those three people were the ¡°founding fathers¡± of the game called ShangriLa Frontier, and the amount of money they managed to earn from developing that game was more than enough for each of them to build a house of their own and pay their bills for the rest of their lives. However, there were times when Tsukuygi was missing the good old days when the three of them used to y around with the code and drink a sea of booze in their University¡¯s dormitory room.

    It was just then, at that time. The door was left open, but even though the room and the walls on the corridor were built to be soundproof, you could hear the loud echo of tremendous footsteps that were drawing closer and closer with each second. It was enough of a proof that someone was approaching this ce at an rmingly fast rate and soon after that another woman entered the room with such intensity that would make you think that she would swiftly break the door open if they happened to be closed.

    It was a woman with a t bangs, from who you could not feel even an ounce of sex appeal. She was wearing ab coat on top of sloppy clothes and her hair was messy and unruly, as if it was the effect of her cutting it herself. She seemed to be that kind of person that would only go and take a shower once they were able to smell that their hair were smelling really bad. That woman yelled at Tsukuri with such vigor that even the small wrinkles around her face seemed to be angry and agitated.

    ¡¸Tsukuri! You were ying around with the database again, you asshole!¡¹

    ¡¸Shut up, you¡¯re too loud, god damn it. Besides, were you not the one who was messing with MY world in the first ce?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, maybe if you were not sticking your hands where they did not belong, two Unique Monsters would not be defeated in a row in such short amount of time!¡¹

    KACHIN! At that moment Tsukuyogi could hear the sound of a switch being violently flipped. It was not the first such switch that got flipped since today¡¯s morning. And it probably would not be thest one today.

    ¡¸Don¡¯t you even dare to give me that kind of sh*t! You are the one who put shackles and limiters on my cute Wezaemon and Kutanid! So don¡¯t you even dare to startining to me that they got defeated, since you made them to be this way!¡¹

    ¡¸Can you me me!? Possessing a total number of fifteen forms! Using instant teleportation! Time maniption tounch attacks from both past and future AT ONCE! And you have the audacity to wonder why we could not allow for bullsh*t powers like that to be implemented into the final product!?¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, my poor baby, my poor, pitiable Kutanid¡­¡­ Look what they have done to you, how they have massacred you¡­¡­ Forcing you to fight only in four forms¡­¡­ And you could even rival Wezaemon if only you could wield your full potential freely!¡¹

    ¡¸Full potential, MY ASS! If you make a boss to be this broken strong, do you know what this it? It¡¯s not being strong! It¡¯s being SH*T!¡¹

    ¡¸Sh*t!? Did you just call my babies sh*t!? I¡¯m outraged! I¡¯m outraged beyond words! My! World! Is! Sh*t! To! You!? Care to repeat that!?¡¹

    Hearing that exchange, Tsukuyogi let out another deep sigh and took out a stomach medicine out of his suit¡¯s pocket. It was his reality now that he was not parting with the sted thing.

    The genius who created the ¡°world¡± of ShangriLa Frontier: Tsukuri Tsukuyo.

    The genius who made it possible to adapt the world of ShangriLa Frontier into a game: Amachi Ritsu.

    The above two were just like water and oil¡­¡­ Did not mix all that well with one another¡­¡­ So it was always the task of this genius to be a sort of mediatory between the two: Tsukuyogi Sakai.

    Usually cat fights are all good and well, but not in this particr case. When ites to this particr catfight, they were the ones that could casually lead to the copse of the great system known as the ShangriLa Frontier. And what¡¯s worse, they were happening here on a daily basis.

    That is exactly why sometimes it was even hard for Tsukuyogi to be able to mediate between the two. Sometimes even his stomach medicine was of no real help. Hell, even the delicious bento his beloved wife was making for him was not enough to power him up for the task.

    ¡¸If it was not for my hard work and effort, you would not be as god in my world! This whole world would be nothing more but a data blob! So don¡¯t interfere in my creation!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh yeah!? If it was not for me always tempering your bad ideas, that whole ¡°world¡± of yours would have already copsed on itself long time ago!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Ladies, please calm down for now. You can keep on arguing as much as you like for all that I care, but first take a moment to catch your breath.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmph! HMPH!¡¹

    ¡¸GURURURURURURURU!!!¡¹

    You can also listen on

 Chapter 218: Epilogue of the Deep, or what is called a God Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 218: Epilogue of the Deep, or what is called a God Part 2</h4>

    Although the two women looked about ready to jump at each other¡¯s throats any moment now and start tearing each other to pieces, the truth is that both their muscles and motor capabilities were very poor at best. If they were allowed to continue like that, this whole argument would soon devolve into something that was even more pathetic than a fight between two hamsters. So it was best to let them rest while they still had the chance for that.

    ¡¸Okay, first of all: Amachi. The data has not been tampered with, so the two Unique Monsters were defeated fair and square, without cheating being involved¡­¡­ On that much I can assure you.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I think it¡¯s too early to be so certain about that.¡¹

    ¡¸The fact that the timing of defeating those two Unique Monsters is so close to one another is nothing but a sheer coincidence. Various yers were trying to beat Wezaemon for quite some time now, and Kutanid¡¯s quest was also known to at least a number of yers.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Well, I guess so.¡¹

    ¡¸Now, your turn, Tsukuri. And I want you to take it seriously. You say that you haven¡¯t tampered with the Unique Monsters¡¯ data¡­¡­ Can you swear to us that you didn¡¯t do that? On your grandfather¡¯s grave?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s a really cowardly way to corner someone, you know, Tsukuyogi? But sure, whatever¡­¡­ I swear on my grandfather¡¯s grave that I didn¡¯t do anything.¡¹

    Both Tsukuyogi and his wife had been really busy for thest couple of day, so it was true that their marital rtionship got a little bit cold recently. However, Tsukuyogi¡¯s beloved wife had prepared him octopus-shaped sausages as a part of his bento. This meant that right about now he was pretty much invincible when dealing with these two.

    And since the two women knew exactly what was going on with him, a merit of having worked with the same group of people for a prolonged amount of time, they also knew that trying to resist him right about now would be pretty much a wasted effort. So for now, the two decided to sheathe their anger and call it a truce. At least for now.

    ¡¸In all seriousness now, shouldn¡¯t we be more concerned about the fact that there is the same yer Name appearing in the list of the subjugators of the two Unique Monsters?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ve already did a background check on that. Thankfully it¡¯s none of the ¡°rtives¡±. It is just a regr yer¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸What gives? You did something like that without feeling the need to inform us beforehand?¡¹

    ¡¸But here¡¯s where things start to get weird: it¡¯s only been a month since that particr yer started ying the game.¡¹

    For a moment out there, there was aplete silence.

    Amachi looked as if she swallowed something utterly bitter, Tsukuyogi looked as though he heard something iprehensible and Tsukuri¡¯s eyes widened in shock.

    ¡¸There¡¯s more where that came from: that yer also managed to start the questlines for Unique Monsters Luukan and Weissash.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Could it be one of the Alfa Testers?¡¹

    ¡¸No, that¡¯s not possible. I¡¯ve double checked with the databases of both Alfa and Beta testers, but nothing came up from it. Moreover, since that yer managed to achieve two separate conditions for Luukan¡¯s Curse Marks only around level eighteen, I suspected that he might use some cheats or third-party tools, but here it was also nothing.¡¹

    ¡¸Could it be that a true monster have descended onto my world?¡¹

    ¡¸I think we must make a statement on this. Achieving two separate conditions for the Curse Marks could be just a fluke, or a stroke of luck¡­¡­ It could have been thanks to that yer¡¯s ¡°skill¡±¡­¡­ But it might have been thanks to none of the above as well¡­¡­¡¹

    The other two understood what Amachi was saying all too well. Since there was a yer who was clearing one important quest after another in ShangriLa Frontier, it was now open to debate whether or not they should interfere with that yer.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ No, we shall do nothing about that.¡¹

    ¡¸And may I ask you why?¡¹

    Perhaps he was tired from standing up, because Tsukuyogi reached out towards the office chair and sat down on it. He knew that he had two women that were basically Gods when ites to ShangriLa Frontier right in front of him, but even for them such statement was the peak of arrogance.

    ¡¸Gods should love everyone equally, but only observe. They should not interfere with their creation.¡¹

    ¡¸Was that perhaps a quote from Nietzsche?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, so perhaps you have a better solution? Please submit it on paper, then. Limitations: one page, and thenguage should be simple, so that even a mental gori would be able to get it.¡¹

    However, Amachi shook her head and let out a deep sigh.

    It is true that before that yer arrived on the server, the world of ShangriLa Frontier was in a state of stagnation.

    That stagnation was partially the result of the anticipation for the new content in form of a new continent, but it was also thanks to a whole lot of meaningless efforts they had to put into bncing the game. The reason for that being that the number of avable sses and jobs have increased considerably.

    ¡¸Do you want to discard one more precious memory and put it in the trash? Well, you¡¯re the World Creative Administrator, so if that¡¯s what you want, I won¡¯t say no to you.¡¹

    Now then, Amachi tapped her cheek with her finger as to allow her mind to switch gears, and voiced out a different kind of concern.

    ¡¸Well, there is actually something else I wanted to discuss. Two matters, to be honest. And I wanted to talk about it ever since yesterday.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­ What would that be?¡¹

    ¡¸¡®Boss Gaki¡¯ and ¡®Freeloader¡¯.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, yeah, just pass me the requirements and I¡¯ll see that it is done.¡¹

    What happened to the terrible atmosphere that was filling the room up to that point? Tsukuyogi felt that his stomach was starting to hurt once he realized that they are like a group of kindergarteners on the loose: one moment they fight each other, only to get united and venture to do pranks and tricks the very next moment.

    ¡¸When ites to the former, we should release some new preview.¡¹

    ¡¸Really now, you¡¯re just like children that cannot hold anything back¡­¡­ I¡¯ve already implemented the necessary data into the ¡°Orchestra¡±, so be sure to give it a lookter. Ohh, but regarding that thing from before¡­¡­ maybe a little punishment should be in order here?¡¹

    ¡¸It would be so nice to just be able to kick ¡®Boss Gaki¡¯s¡¯ ass¡­¡­ Thetter is just a request for maintenance. It reads literary: ¡®I didn¡¯t do anything and it somehow broke¡¯.¡¹

    ¡¸Fufu¡­¡­ No matter how you look at it, it¡¯s such an old-fashioned excuse¡­¡­ Fufufu, it¡¯s kinda embarrassing, like a parent who can¡¯t leave their children on their own for even a minute.¡¹

    It was even more ridiculous since nothing in this life would happen entirely on its own. And both of those matters were so simple and down to earth thatpared to the previous conversation it was something that would cause one to want to rip their own hair from their head. However, if Tsukuri were to handle everything on her own, it is possible that she would sooner rather thanter die because of overwork.

    And just because of that, Tsukuyogi was always the one who was taking the vast majority of the mundane work onto himself. It was simultaneously satisfying to see the work done and the project of ¡®Boss Gaki¡¯ advancing smoothly, but at the same time having to deal with those two women constant bickering was drastically increasing the amount of the stomach medicine he was forced to consume. And that¡¯s a fact.

    And because of the ordering mistake about a month or so ago, his stomach was now in such a bad condition that he had to take even greater dosages of the medicine. Seriously, if it wasn¡¯t for his beloved wife¡¯s cooking he would have probably dropped dead long ago.

    ¡¸Look, if you have nothing more to say, then please stop interrupting my blissful time and get out¡­¡­ Like, right now.¡¹

    ¡¸Even without you saying that, there is a whole lot of work that needs to be done before adding the fourth stage of the World Quest into the game.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ But you are also a member of society, so please remember to work in moderation.¡¹

    ¡¸Now¡­ then. That example yer¡­¡­ Was it a ¡°Leviathan¡± fromst month? Oh, there it is, there it is.¡¹

    ying with her personal mobile terminal, a device that was not yet introduced to the general public, Tsukuri was searching for the information on a certain yer she had in mind.

    Looking at the log records of that certain yer, Tsukiri started to smile even without realizing that. Right about now she looked like a God who was looking down onto his own creation, as well as a mother that would gaze upon the struggles of her dear child.

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­ ¡°Tsukuyomaru¡± is out of the question, but ¡°Kyojuro¡± should do the trick quite nicely here¡­¡­ Well, I wonder if I¡¯ll be able to observe something good.¡¹

    The hand of God changes the file ssification without much of a problem. There was a list of several yer Names¡­¡­ and at the very bottom, thetest position read ¡°SANRAKU¡±.

    It is not a God¡¯s job to love every single person individually. It is to observe them. Otherwise ----

    You can also listen on

 Chapter 219: Interlude: Those Who Wish for the Golden Falls Conquer the Heavens Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 219: Interlude: Those Who Wish for the Golden Falls Conquer the Heavens Part 1</h4>

    This story takes ce shortly after Kutanid was defeated.

    The middle of the gloomy jungle. That particr group consisted of veteran warriors, seekers and survivors.

    Even though they grew strong as a result of fighting against the world filled with monsters and magic, nothing could have possibly prepared them for what they encountered here.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Look, I know that things may not look all that bright now, but there¡¯s no real reason for us to panic, okay?¡¹

    The name of that person was ¡°ck Shine¡±. He was a young man, wearing a knight¡¯s armor and carrying arge longsword hanging at his waist, his armor adorned with a beautiful decorative cloth. In the party he was acting as a damage dealer, but if need be he could also switch roles to being a tank. And no matter what role he was currently acting, he was not going to anypromises.

    ¡¸We have no idea what kind of monsters are going to spawn in this jungle after three o¡¯clock in the morning. I know that you all must be nervous, but until we actually manage to confirm that, we must stay vignt, okay?¡¹

    The man advising the other party members to stay vignt was called ¡°Vignce¡±. He was wearing a full-on ck ninja attire and there were two short Japanese swords hanging on his back. Unlike ck Shine, who was always trying to cheer everyone up and maintaining the bnce, he was calm and quiet. Also, up until now he was mostly known for ying solo. Buttely he¡¯s been apanying various stray parties that were exploring the new continent, mostly in hopes of encountering and testing his strength against new monsters around these parts.

    It was actually a good thing that this party was well-leveled and possessing good abilities and equipment. Thanks to that there was no worry of Vignce being someone who would seek out profits and gains at the cost of those weaker than him. And because of the specifics of his ss, even though he used to y solo all the time his ability to detect nearby monsters was invaluable even to bigger and more experienced parties.

    ¡¸You¡¯re absolutely right¡­¡­ Still, good thing that Cerberus Tyrano is not out for now. That thing was insane¡­¡­¡¹

    The name of the woman whose voice matched her appearance, which was a rare urrence in this game, was EmiRia. Although there was nothing particrly noticeable about her at first nce, she was a Cleric with a side job of ¡°Carpenter¡±, and amongst the palyers of the New World Group she was regarded as someone who contributed to the party by taking care of the base and strengthening theirrades in battle.

    While at base she liked to walk around with a huge hammer equipped, and although she was a Cleric, in the field she was using a huge mace to inflict damage. That is why other party members suspected that she might have a liking to violence and hitting stuff, even though the girl herself seemed to be totally oblivious to that fact.

    Some time ago their base had been attacked by a three-headed Tyranosaurus Rex-like monster. They managed to repel it somehow, but that monster, the name of which they did not known since they did not manage to kill it, left the whole group with a strong case of PTSD. It was so severe that they were all sleeping with one eye opened at night, and would shudder at the very sight of shadow that resembled the infernal beast.

    ¡¸Still, some people im that a ¡°Tame¡± skill is effective against it. So does that mean that you could technically make it into a mount and ride it if you¡¯d manage to break it in?¡¹

    The name of thest member of this stray party was ¡°Reiji¡±. Although he kept mostly to himself and was not very talkative, as a Magic Swordsman he was a worthy addition to the party. His bnced use of a magic sword and powerful spells saved the party¡¯s hides on more than one asion up until this point in time.

    In addition to being a Magic Swordsman, Reiji also possessed the sub ss of a Rider. So aside from powerful spells and melee capabilities, he could also tame wild beasts and use them as mounts. However, he was yet to aquire his very first mount because as he himself have said: I shall only take the most adorable creature in this game as my trusty stead. Needless to say, he was yet to find such creature.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ For the time being, there are no monsters in the vicinity. But still, some of them might be able to use stealth that surpasses my detection skill, so please forgive me if one such monster manages to ambush us.¡¹

    ¡¸Roger that, for now let¡¯s just review what we know and what our goal is. The quest giver this time around is the transport ship ¡°Scale-Feathered Night Owl¡±, the one that delivers the Pioneers to the new continent. ¡­¡­ The quest itself involved the hunting and subjugation of ¡°Drakarus Dinoul¡±. We all have experience with fighting that particr monster, am I right?¡¹

    Drakarus Dinoul. Strictly speaking, it was a rather peculiar monster. It wasbining the elements of both Dinosaur and an Owl, with an added ¡°Drakarus¡± to its name for some reason.

    ¡¸We are talking about that dino-owl hybrid, right¡­¡­? I got incapacitated during a party battle against it, but ultimately we have won that battle.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I managed to defeat it on my own on a few asions, since not until that long ago I was a solo yer for the most part.¡¹

    ¡¸I have fought it as well, but it was not a clear win, because we got ambushed by another monster and the two of them basically ripped each other to shreds.¡¹

    Amongst all monsters that appear on this new continent, almost every single one that looked like a Dinosaur had the words ¡°Dino¡± or ¡°Drakarus¡± in its name. Was it because the monster belonged to the same species? Or maybe there was something else to it? To each yer it was their own theory.

    To some yers, things like that are the objects of passionate debates that couldst for hours or days without end. For other yers, those who are less interested or simply do not care, those were just mere words that indicated a group of a very troublesome enemies they would have to deal with.

    ¡¸Since Drakarus Dinoul is very adept at sneak attacks, can I ask you to be on a supporting role rather than the main attacking group, Vignce-san?¡¹

    ¡¸Roger that, do you want me to limit myself to only using tools to support? Or would you like something else?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, yeah, since you are a Ninja you can use various tools¡­¡­ Alright. Then do as you wish, but please try not to use ¡°The Great Tantrum¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸I would never think of using that recklessly, not in this environment. Even on the mostly open and seemingly empty spaces, you never know if using that won¡¯t cause monsters to swarm all over you.¡¹

    Despite the fact that its feathers were all reced with hard scales, Drakurus Dinoul was able to fly and move about inplete silence, attacking with its wings and air currents, sharing much simrities with an owl.

    Drakurus Dinoul was able to perform sneak attacks like a true assassin, and thanks to its full body ¡°scale¡± armor it possessed an impregnable defenses akin to that of a heavy armored knight. All that factors made it so that fighting it was usually taking a long time, much longer than any yer would desire. Therefore, yers with high Agility and detection skills were desirable during fighting that monster.

    ¡¸Since my Vitality and defenses are the highest in this group, leave the aggro focus to me. Hear that, EmiRia? Don¡¯t hesitate to hit me as hard as you can.¡¹

    ¡¸Sure thing! EmiRia will show you what a Carpenter-trined mace is capable of doing!¡¹

    Thanks to the specifics of the Carpenter side job, the more EmiRia was swinging her mace, the more proficiency points she was receiving to that weapon, so that statement was not entirely wrong.

    ¡¸That being said, Reiji, please limit yourself to magic that does not use any sort of shy effects.¡¹

    ¡¸Okay.¡¹

    ¡¸Just to be on the save side, we should save all of our big and powerful moves and skills forter. Apparently there is a high probability of getting invaded by other monsters at night, so in case of that happening, we unleash everything we have at them at the right time and aim to finish it in one swift blow.¡¹

 Chapter 219: Interlude: Those Who Wish for the Golden Falls Conquer the Heavens Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 219: Interlude: Those Who Wish for the Golden Falls Conquer the Heavens Part 2</h4>

    Since ck Shine belonged to the guild ¡°10 P.M. Army¡±, a guild that consisted mostly of working adults who could log in only after 10 p.m. every day, he already had some experience as a partymander. Therefore everyone agreed with his instructions and the party started to trek through the thick jungle where even the path zed my monsters were pretty much non-existent.

    ¡¸Ah, wait a moment! I would like to pick up an item!¡¹

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­ Ahh, Wild Jurassic Herb. It¡¯s a material used to synthesize the ¡°Great Recovery Potion¡±, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Ahaha¡­¡­ You see, base defense consume way more items and resources than one might think. Sounds kindame, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸In the first ce, with no real shops being avable here for the time being, it is really important to procure the material on the field. Critical even.¡¹

    ¡¸And even in towns or viges, if you don¡¯t know a friendly Herbalist or Alchemist, you might get scammed on the prizes of ingredients and products. Would be nice if there was a fine for scammers, like maybe, five thousand mani per person that got scammed? Man, that would be swell.¡¹

    Maybe it was a good thing that it was so dark already and only Vignce who specialized in detection and stealth could see properly, because upon hearing that his eyes grew as wide as saucers and Reiji even mumbled a silent ¡°Really, now!?¡± under his nose. Apparently the existence of scammers was not somon of a knowledge.

    The four went on through the jungle. Thanks to Vignce¡¯s guidance they were able to avoid therge and troublesome monsters, and quickly dispose of the smaller ones that would them the even so precious materials. Even if you did not needed some of the materials from smaller monsters, it was a good idea to collect them still, since lots of NPCs would but those materials off of you for a reasonably high price.

    ¡¸Reiji-san, Raider sub-ss is a derivative of a Ranger, right? So does that mean you can see some things that we are unable to see? Something that could help us track the monster down?¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, yes, that is correct. Since Raider is a sub-ss of a Ranger, I can use a skill called ¡°Trace Chase¡± that might be of use here.¡¹

    ¡¸Ohh, lucky us! Then please, by all means! If memory serves me correctly, one of the Drakarus Dinoul¡¯s characteristics was that its passing leaves broken branches on the tall trees¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You sure know a whole lot about that monster, ck Shine¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Not really. You see, my work requires me to be able to recognize a whole bunch of different patterns on the spot, that is why I¡¯m able to project that onto the game. But the motivation here is much higher than in the real world.¡¹

    The skill ¡°Trace Chase¡± that can be acquired by Ranger ss and its sub-sses is a skill that allows the active tracking of a certain monster or person via using a specific object as a catalyst. And although it is not a skill that is as urate as Vignce¡¯s detection, its range can span to even a few hundred meters¡¯ radius, allowing the tracker to pinpoint a rough location of the monster they were looking for.

    ¡¸It seems to be pretty close, even though we were unable to spot it just yet. I¡¯m sure that Dinoul can search for enemies as well, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Apparently so. You can get a jump at it if you have a Sniper with you, so you can attack it before it manages to spot you, but basically it is a mini-game with it: whoever manages to spot the other side first gets the advantage.¡¹

    ¡¸Sniper¡­¡­ you can do such a thing here?¡¹

    ¡¸My Guild¡­¡­ There was one Crusader there that was capable of doing such a thing, and honestly it was a little scary. He was really good in yer versus yer kind of fights, but he also possessed the skills and knowledge that would make him really shine in here. After all, in this continent it feels like apletely different game, the one with the element of hunting and survival mixed into it¡­¡­¡¹

    Although ck Shine said that he was good at pattern recognition, there was often times where he would confuse the patterns that appeared in this game. And although it was surely a w on his part, it was also a fact that he was a part of the group that was exploring the new continent as one of the first in the entire server. It is thanks to that fact that his Guild, themonly known ¡°Afternoon Crusaders¡± is even ahead of the guild ¡°ck Wolves¡±. However, once the main forces of ¡°ck Wolves¡± were to arrive in here, that status quo was surely about to change.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Everyone, I got a reaction close-by.¡¹

    ¡¸So it means more or less that we have been spotted¡­¡­ Let¡¯s give it a warm wee!¡¹

    ¡¸Alright¡­¡­ Just leave it to your trusty EmiRia to beat it to death in a few strikes!¡¹

    Being here in the new continent means pioneering in the world of ShangriLa Frontier. Not every yer out there had level ny nine, but since it was the minimum requirement if one wanted to get to Fifthsia, it pretty much guaranteed that everyone who woulde here would theoretically possess the skills and abilities necessary to handle whatever this new world would throw their way.

    Without saying anything, the party spreads about and assumesbat ready positions. ck Shine would expect no less from the yers he handpicked himself.

    Silence. Despite being of considerable size and being covered in scales, the monster was capable of flying inplete silence. They could only draw their weapons and wait for it to strike, being ready to receive it.

    Attacker¡­¡­ Perhaps Drakarus Dinoul understood that its prey was already aware that it was approaching, and so it changed the scaly feathers across its whole body to something else in response. Its green¡ªcolored feathers moved and changed positions, indicating that the monster itself has switched from the ¡°hunt¡± mode into ¡°fight¡± mode.

    Its beak clearly hide rows of sharp teeth inside of it, and assuming that it was really a beak in the first ce, it was capable to movements that no beak would ever do. Then it appeared on the night sky, as to assert its dominance over its pray¡­¡­ As the name suggested, it was a hybrid of both dinosaur and a dragon. Just its sight alone was enough to assure you that the inhabitants of this new continent are not going to be pushovers.

    ¡¸Are you really a bird, huh!? If that thing ain¡¯t a jaw, then I don¡¯t know what is¡­¡­ Alright!¡¹

    The scales of the monsters around these parts were not as hard as one might think, but instead each and every single one of them was like a razor de. Useful both in attack and defense, just brushing against them was enough to rip open your skin and cause some bleeding damage.

    If so, the best way to deal with monsters like that was as follows: either use force so strong to crush the vast majority of the scales in one blow, or use piercing attacks that prate the flesh in between the scales.

    ¡¸Fuuuooohhh!!!¡¹

    The straight sword was swung down towards the ws of Drakarus Dinoul, striking its ws and the part of its right wing in the process. And because both of them were on the move at the time, the amount of force created by their collision was way higher than what would the Strength of ck Shine normally be.

    ¡¸GUGYAAAAH!?¡¹

    Drakarus Dinoul lets out a scream of pain that was fir from any cry a bird would be capable of and slides to the ground.

    ¡¸¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    ck shine raised his hand and gave the signal to his party members. Next, EmiRia who was hiding in the shadows jumped high in the air, brandishing her mace and about ready to bring it down in one fell swoop towards her enemy.

    ¡¸Heave¡­¡­ HO!¡¹

 Chapter 219: Interlude: Those Who Wish for the Golden Falls Conquer the Heavens Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 219: Interlude: Those Who Wish for the Golden Falls Conquer the Heavens Part 3</h4>

    ¡°Skull Shaker¡±, a skill dealing crushing damage. Additionally, when striking the opponent to the head, it was possible to deal an additional effect in form of a concussion, and when the monster got stunned and stopped moving, both Reiji and ck Shine moved in on the offensive.

    Two swordsmen. In both cases their weapons are straight swords. However, this is where the simrities end. Because the properties of those weapons were fundamentally different. Both of them use the same skill, which was ¡°Beheading¡±. A simple, yet very effective skill against enemies with a certain degree of ¡°hardness¡± to them. The skills strike against Drakarus Dinoul head, making it screech in both pain and fury even more than before.

    ¡¸SHUT YOUR PATHETIC MOUTH! YOU IRRITATE BE BEYOND BELIEF YOU¡­¡­ YOU HUMAN INSECTS!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Obuguooh¡­¡­!?¡¹

    In the next moment, a huge cannonball shot out from outside of the field of view of the three people who were currently locked inbat with Drakarus Dinoul, crushing against its body. The shell exploded on impact, but probably because of its low durability it was unable to gravely injure the monster¡­¡­ No, it was not the shell at all.

    ¡¸Vignce¡­¡­ -san!?¡¹

    There was a ¡°hole¡± in Vignce body. Even though he was taking part in the group¡¯s attack while still being wary of their surroundings, his whole body was no being red from the effect of blood polygons raining all over him. A momentter Vignce¡¯s body exploded right where it stood.

    ¡¸HMPH¡­¡­ A RATHER UNINTERESTING EXPLOSION PATTERN, IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF.¡¹

    ¡¸What¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸What the, enemy attack!?¡¹

    ¡¸HMM, A MEMBER OF THE ¡°GREEN¡± CLAN, HUH? AND WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS, JUST CRAWLING ON THE GROUND LIKE ANTS?¡¹

    ¡¸From where¡­¡­!?¡¹

    There was a loud crunch, followed by a loud thud. Then, Drakarus Dinoul¡¯s body went limp and copsed on the spot just like that. That action alone let ck Shine and hisrades understand from where the attack came from, as it was done by a huge hand that swept in from the above, crushing not only the monster but also the drop items that fell from it.

    ¡¸cjk Shine-san! Above!¡¹

    ¡¸Wha¡­¡­!? In the sky¡­¡­!?¡¹

    The night¡¯s sky was covered in shadow. Deep, jet-ck shadow without even a single star, that could never be mistook for the ckness of the sky. That shadow¡­¡­ was wings of a creature so huge that it was actually covering the sky that ck Shine and hisrades were looking up towards.

    ¡¸THE TIME HAS COME, SO REJOICE, HUMAN INSECTS! I SHALL GRANT YOU THE ULTIMATE HONOR¡­¡­ OF BECOMING MY KINSMEN¡¯S NUTRIENTS!¡¹

    ¡¸Is that¡­¡­ a monster¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸This is, a dragon ----¡¹

    Describing this thing simply as a monster, a dragon, or a walking cmity would simply be an understatement. However, there was no way to call it anything else, seeing that it managed to crush a monster like Drakarus Dinoul without exceeding any effort. It was that kind of strength that would easily raze entire camps and settlement to the ground in a matter of seconds.

    ¡¸ck Shine-san!¡¹

    ¡¸Reiji-kun, sorry about that, but I¡¯m afraid that our schedule has been changed at thest possible moment.¡¹

    Reiji immediately understood what ck Shine meant by that. The look in his eyes was more than enough of a proof. Rather than aiming for the impossible idea of trying to run away or fight this abomination, ck Shine wanted to collect as much information on it as humanly possible. It was his sense of a High Level yer speaking right now. Especially since that thing would most probably decimate them all without even blinking.

    There was also a thought crossing Reiji¡¯s mind right now: don¡¯t try to look so cool while saying things like that. It¡¯s unpleasant.

    ¡¸Gah!?¡¹

    ck Shine was blown away, but he was not annihted with one hit. The reason for that is because as a result of many battles and encounters since his starting days at ShanFro he managed to build a tremendous defense and vitality, backed up by sturdy armor and a skill ¡°I don¡¯t fear death!¡±

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    It was just too cruel¡­¡­ No, to call this cruel would not even begin to cover it. The body of ck Shine was destroyed by the second blow that came right after the first one, not even giving him a chance to stand up or to defend himself.

    The dragon that was even darker than the darkest night crushed ck Shine to the ground with its sharp ws. ws that were sharper than spears and possessed more crushing power than any hammer or battering ram. Then the dragon moved its ws around, as if it was trying to grind ck Shine to dust. A whole lot of emotions wereing to mind upon seeing this scene, but the biggest of them all was the feeling that this could not possibly be real.

    Yes, it was just as if a human was trampling an ant right under their feet, because surely that is how that dragon must have thought about humans¡­¡­ If it even thought about them, that is. The ruthless light in its eyes were saying somethingpletely different: they did not even recognize humans as living beings.

    ¡¸Talking Dragon¡­¡­ What is this? Maybe a Unique Monster¡­¡­? No way, hahaha¡­¡­¡¹

    They knew that they cannot win. They knew they cannot escape. ck Shine was unable to act or speak up, and he instantly became nothing more but a red stain on the ground.

    The only thing Reiji was able to do, was to utter those words. And as soon as he did, the Dragon¡¯s gaze turned towards him.

    Fortunately or unfortunately, or maybe it was somethingmon for talking dragons? ¡­¡­ Who knows. When two warriors meet in battle, it is amon courtesy to respect your opponent and introduce yourself, even if your opponent is a human¡­¡­ At least that is what the golden king always used to say. It¡¯s a shame that the ck dragon never really cared to listen to those wise words.

    For Reiji, that answer turned out to be fatally wrong. But it was the right answer for the rest of the yers out there.

    ¡¸Are you¡­¡­ The fake Siegwurm¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸DON¡¯T YOU DARE TO SAY THAT NAME!!!!!!¡¹

    Reiji had no idea what just happened, but all of a sudden his world started to spin and the ground and the ck sky switched ces, with the sea of trees right in the middle of it. But he could still hear them. ¡­¡­ The hatred-fueled words of a ck dragon, who for some reason decided to correct the mistake of a human insect.

    ¡¸MY NAME IS NOIRLIND!!! I AM THE ONE AND THE ONLY, TRUE KING OF ALL DRAGONS¡­¡­¡­¡­!!!!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    The encounter that happened to ck Shine, Vignce, EmiRia and Reiji gave birth to the gossip about the jet-ck dragon amongst the yerbase. They had no way of understanding it. However, they were all soon about to be swept right in the middle of the war of the dragons as the third part of the World Quest was about to begin.

    The world advanced forward.

    The Gravekeeper went to sleep, allowing the ¡°New Gods¡± to move.

    The Abyss sank, and the ¡°Jet-ck Mixed with Gold¡± started to move.

    The world keeps on moving forward, and with it -- the vast life that trembles all over its surface.

    Thus began the third stage of the World Quest: ¡°The Great War of Falling Gold¡±.

 Chapter 220: Interlude World Truth Book â€˜Abyssâ€™ Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 220: Interlude World Truth Book ¡®Abyss¡¯ Part 2</h4>

    Trantor: Kurehashi Aiko

    ¡®Imagination¡¯

    The third form of Kutanid, resembling a giant squid created as a result ofbining various magic circles.

    Each and every one of the eight tentacles of Kutanid possesses a special ability, and the corresponding inversion abilities are applied to the yers and NPCs alike.

    Red: short-distance nullification. This power renders any attack applied to Kutanid within the range of ten meters ineffective.

    Orange: long-distance nullification. This power renders any attack applied to Kutanid from the range greater than ten meters ineffective.

    Yellow: physical dame nullification. This power renders all physical attacks and skills ineffective against Kutanid.

    Chartreuse: magic damage nullification. This power render all magic attacks and skills ineffective against Kutanid.

    Green: color inversion effect. This power causes all the colors in the field of view of the yers and NPCs to be inverted.

    Blue: gender inversion effect. This power causes the gender of all yers and NPCs to be inverted. The body type and age are generated based on the y logs of the yers (and NPCs).

    Indigo: statistics inversion effect. This power causes two randomly selected statistics of both yers and NPCs to switch values.

    Purple: damage inversion effect. All damage caused to Kutanid and its tentacles are being inversed into healing, and healing is inversed into causing damage.

    Each tentacle possesses an item called ¡®Holy Grail of Eight Colors¡¯. Destroying one of the grails causes Kutanid to shift to the next corresponding color and power associated with it. This shifting will continue until the end of battle.

    During the third phase, Kutanid has no set attack patterns and its debuffssts through the whole duration of battle.

    ¡®Virtual State¡¯

    Kutanid¡¯s fourth form, a huge jet-ck sphere resembling a ck hole that sucks in all surrounding matter and yers.

    It possesses a special magic ability ¡®Random Encounter¡¯ for five minutes indiscrimately and inexhaustibly, absorbing all summoned monsters every thirty seconds. Depending on the number of monsters swallowed up during this phase, the total HP pool of Kutanid¡¯s fifth form may change greatly.

    This form does not target yers or NPCs specifically.

    ¡®Imagination¡¯

    Lord of the Abyss, the final form of the octopus monster given humanoid body, made of flesh and blood.

    Apart from new physique, this form of Kutanid possesses a two-level behavioral pattern. The first stage consists of Kutanid using two special abilities called ¡®Analysis¡¯ and ¡®Reflexus¡¯ to randomly scan the y log and motion log of the yer or NPC and imitate it.

    The first stage of this form of Kutanides equipped with five ¡®Damage Armors¡¯. Doing a certain amount of damage to each part of the armor causes it toe off. Once all pieces of the armor are broke, the battle shifts to the second stage.

    During the second phase, Kutanid will grow eight Giant Tentacles from his back, based on the Abyss Jewels.

    The goal of the second stage is to destroy the Abyss Jewels on Kutanid¡¯s back, after the destruction of which the corresponding tentacle is going to disappear, dealing a massive damage to Kutanid¡¯s health bar.

    A certain amount damage can be easily dealt by one yer alone, so it can be said that instead of fighting Kutanid itself in this form, the battle is actually to destroy all eight of the Abyss Jewels instead.

    Story Setting for Kutanid of the Abyss

    As a creatureing from the ¡®Abyss¡¯, Kutanid¡¯s values are quite different from that of humanity. For example, Kutanid does not perceive humans as individuals, but rather as a collective called ¡®Humanity¡¯.

    Because of its origins, Kutanid holds a sense of respect deep inside of itself towards the human race. For some reason it thinks Humanity as the objects of the ¡®Back Up¡¯ n and resigned itself to observing them and watching them grow.

    Therefore, it can be said that this whole Unique Scenario EX is nothing more but a magnificent ¡®Board Game¡¯ prepared by Kutanid, with it as the game overseer, designed to see if the participants can ovee various challenges it throws at them, and rewards the yers ordingly when they manage to seed.

    Some of you may have noticed that Kutanid is nothing more but a game keeper from your typical TRPG. Birth, growth, despair, destruction¡­¡­ No matter what you throw at them, Humanity never stops moving forward and always ovees every challenge you send their way. It is the reason for Kutanid¡¯s life, to see if Humanity still has what it takes to move forward.

    The true nature of Kutanid is that of an octopus that was selected to be a subject of a certain experiment. The objective of that experiment was to ¡®Grant one individual the power to mold the reality as one saw fit and observe the results¡¯. It was one other n alongside ¡®n B¡¯ that was formted at the end of the Era of Gods.

    The first phase of the experiment was obtaining the ¡®spell¡¯ itself, the second one was to sessfully implement that ¡®spell¡¯ onto an individual that wouldmand it. The result was the power that would allow one to rewrite the fabric of reality as one saw fit, thus creating the power of ¡®Inversion¡¯. Under certain conditions, Kutanid would wield that power freely andmand it as it saw fit.

    However, as a side effect Kutanid has lost everything. His body, his consciousness that was exchanged with an autonomous magic expression, ability to think, its memories¡­¡­ That is the Kutanid of the Abyss.

    In other words, Kutanid of the Abyss is a ¡®Living Magic¡¯. A magical ¡®concept¡¯ that was engraved onto the World itself. Just as the concept of matter being transformed by fire is called ¡®burning¡¯, the concept of an apple being thrown in the air anding back down is called ¡®pulling force¡¯, the concept of Kutanid itself is called ¡®Kutanid of the Abyss¡¯.

    Another key item that is indespensible when talking about Kutanid is the ¡®Reverse Keystone¡¯ that is being held at the top of the Luls Castle¡­¡­ and its keeper, the Queen of Luls. In fact, the Queen was the only human that Kutanid ever perceived as an individual.

    It is a model for ¡®Alice Frontier¡¯ who has the full authority over ¡®n B¡¯. The focus of ¡®n B¡¯ is to deliver Humanity to a future that differs from the one predicted in ¡®n A¡¯. More details will be described in the World Truth Book ¡®Undying Chapter¡¯.

    ---- Below, Some Information Will Be Filled In After Clearing the Fourth and Fifth Part of the World Quest ----

    As described in the Queen¡¯s diary in Luls Castle, the reason for why Kutanid is based in the Abyss at the very bottom of Luls is to seal away the ¡®Crazy Ultramarine Horde.¡¯

    To begin with, the true meaning of the ¡®Crazy Ultramarine Horde¡¯ is that it is ¡®-----¡® of ¡®-----¡®, that is, the awakening of the ¡®Source¡¯ originating from even before the Era of the Gods.

    People of the Era of Gods once tried to resist ¡®-----¡® but ultimately failed to eradicate that threat, and now Kutanid is the kind of a warning bell for Humanity of this era.

    -- Now, this ¡®Source¡¯ slowly starts to awaken. Mankind, now it¡¯s the time to make a stand unlike you never made before.

 Chapter 221: Longing For the Smile I Saw On That Day

    <h4>Chapter 221: Longing For the Smile I Saw On That Day</h4>

    (Rain¡­¡­ I wonder if it is going to rain all the way to tomorrow¡­¡­?)

    I think so to myself while watching the raging rain outside of my window.

    The weather forecast predicted that a typhoon was on its way here, and the apanying storms were supposed to be so severe that they couldst for an entire day or two, which would result in a forced school holidays.

    What arrogance¡­¡­ I would like to say, but I am well aware that I am in no fashion perfect or anything like that. But this is this, and that is that. Even though I was an honor student, the sheer amount of homework assigned by every single teacher from every single subject was more than enough to make me let out a deep sigh.

    And judging by this heavy rain and strong winds outside, it could be guessed that this area right now was right in the middle of the worst part of the typhoon.

    I am still good, even with this kind of severe weather. I have already contacted my parents, so if I wait here for long enough, a pick-up car is going toe for me in a bit. I know I should not feel good about myself because of something my family possessed, but I just could not stop to feel pity towards all the people how were unaware of this weather condition and forgot their umbres today, which would result in them going back home drenched in rain.

    (Mncholy¡­¡­ I wonder why they did not let us go home without any homework needed to be done in the first ce? Ahh, and I have my practice for today as well¡­¡­ I wonder if I would be able to skip them just for today?)

    I think that, but I am more than sure that a request like that simply won¡¯t do here.

    Being a woman is not an excuse to be powerless. ording to those words, which were also a family motto, not only her, but her two older sisters were frequenting extra courses on martial arts and various form of self-defense. And she was sure that neglecting the training would not be allowed, even on a rainy day.

    (I knew it¡­¡­ Nothing but mncholy¡­¡­)

    Apparently, even someone blessed with both money and well-situated family was able to partake in the feeling of mncholy and share it with their peers.

    With bitter thoughts feeling my head I headed towards the shoe rack at the school¡¯s entrance. Even though it was a rare custom in this day and age, this school still practiced it. Once I was close to the entrance¡­¡­ It was then that I noticed that.

    ¡¸Hmm, will it be okay? The water should not get inside, right? My wallet and mobile terminal are safe inside of my bag, and my clothes¡­¡­ Oh well, let¡¯s just hope that Iwamaki-san is going to forgive me afterughing at me for a while, yeah.¡¹

    Right at the school¡¯s entrance, a lone boy student was standing. He was standing right outside of the entrance, where he was not inside of the building, but he was still sheltered from the rain because of the small roof.

    Looking by the uniform that boy was wearing, they were the members of the same year, and she had a feeling that maybe they were even ssmates.

    (Hi¡­¡­ No, Yo¡­¡­? Tsutome? Really? Was there someone in our ss going by the name Tsutome?)

    She surely remembered that there was a rather specific kanji in that person¡¯s name, and that it was surname ever rarer than ¡°Sato¡± or ¡°Suzuki¡±. ¡­¡­ Was it perhaps ¡°Hizutome¡±? She could not be sure.

    The boy¡¯s school bag was put into a transparent stic bag, so that it would not get damaged by the water. The boy was also stretching in ce and looked rather displeased while gazing upon the pouring rain. And since he did not have neither a cape nor umbre on him, it was more than apparent that this presumed Hizutome-san waspletely unprepared for today¡¯s harsh weather conditions.

    (It seems that he¡¯s in quite a bind with all of this rain pouring down¡­¡­)

    It was also more than apparent that his idea for getting through the wall of water was simply to dash straight home right in the middle of the downpour. Without an umbre, or a cape, or whatever could possibly shield him. She had no idea where his home could possibly be, by she was sure that by the time he gets there, he would bepletely drenched.

    And even if he manages to return home quickly, getting thoroughly drenched like that could end up in nothing good for his health. She thought that the boy right about now must have been drowning in despair, but¡­¡­

    ¡¸Alright! Time for me to go!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Eh?¡¹

    But he was smiling.

    He jumped straight into the rain and took on the assault of the wall of water that waited for him. His bag must have been burdening his arms, since it was filled with textbooks and printed home assignments, and there was that stic bag as well. But he was still smiling nheless. And he was making a mad dash.

    In the midst of this heavy rain, the screams of a certain ¡°Hizutome-san¡± were gradually starting to get farther and farther away. Going back to this moment many times over, there was always this one question that wasing to her mind:

    ¡¸Why? Why was he¡­¡­ smiling so happily¡­¡­ like that¡­¡­?¡¹

    That was their first actual encounter, although she heavily doubted that he was aware that she was even there at that time.

    Ever since then, she has witnessed that boy¡¯s radiant smile many more times. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter¡­¡­ He was always smiling, even on that day when he had a nasty ident during the P.E lesson and had to be taken to the Nurse¡¯s Office as a result.

    ¡¸Alright! It¡¯s finally here¡­¡­ Since I got that mail, I need to hurry up and get there to receive the thing! Let¡¯s pull another all-nighter¡­¡­!!¡¹

    He always go home with a huge smile on his face. At some point I started to wonder just ¡°what¡± was making him smile so radiantly like that? Or to put it in another words, ¡°why¡± was he able to smile like that no matter what?

    That is why on one day she decided to follow him. After doing some research she got to know where he was living and what was his usual route back home after school. Now it was only the question where exactly he was taking his detour. Interestingly enough, at the time she had no idea that what she was doing could easily be considered ¡°stalking¡± in modernw terms.

    It was then that she was brought in front of a small, probably privately owned game shop.

    ¡¸Rock Roll¡­¡­ But shouldn¡¯t it be ¡°Rock ¡®n Roll¡±¡­¡­? Hyah!?¡¹

    ¡¸Fufufufufufu¡­¡­ Finally! It is finally here! Survival Gunman¡­¡­!!¡¹

    The manual front door opens up suddenly, and the one to emerge from inside of the store was none other than the boy she was following. She also managed to remember the boy¡¯s name: Hizutome Rakuro. She hid behind the building¡¯s corner so that he would not be able to see her.

    ¡¸Hm? Was That a cat¡­¡­? Oh well, doesn¡¯t really matter. What matters is that I managed to get my hands on this piece of work! Now to hurry back home and try it out!¡¹

    (Ahh, there it is. That smile again.)

    At school he was certainly not a sloppy student. He takes his studies seriously, has good grades and has a good amount of close friends.

    However, the way he smiles at school is never quite as radiant as the way he was smiling just now.

    It was the sight of Rakuro running away with a smile on his face that gave her one final push to open the door to that shop and enter it herself.

    At that time she didn¡¯t even think that the owner of the store would so easily point out the true nature of the feeling she was harboring inside of her. She also didn¡¯t think that the shop¡¯s owner would be her ally just like that.

    ¡¸Summer vacation¡­¡­ Is it really, over¡­¡­?¡¹

    From the day of that downpour, time flew by extremely fast. And today, she was aware of that fact more than ever before.

    She had a feeling that it only managed to start¡­¡­ And before she even knew it was already over. And just as she woke up, Saiga Rei knew that the time hase for her to make a move. ording to her friend Iwamaki Mana, now was the time to raise that particr g, most suitable after the summer vacation were over.

    ¡¸Young Lady, the car is ready and waiting.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ No, I¡¯m sorry. Just for today, I would like to go to school on foot, on my own. Call it a change of pace to celebrate the end of the summer vacation.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­¡­ I understand, if that is what you wish, Young Lady.¡¹

    After I eat breakfast I put on my uniform, give my hair a onest enthusiastic check in front of the mirror and get ready to head out.

    ¡¸Well then, I am going to head out.¡¹

    ¡¸Please do take care, Young Lady.¡¹

    Although she was usually drove by car, she had the road memorized to the veryst detail. But for today she decided to go to school via apletely different path.

    Perhaps for today¡­¡­ She just had a feeling like that.

 Chapter 222: Real Strong Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 222: Real Strong Part 2</h4>

    Eh, the hell, the fuck is this! I¡¯m starting to feel scared here! Of course I could just turn around and have a look who was following me, but if it turned out that it was just some random stranger, than this would be helluva awkward.

    That would be simply unbearable. ¡°Why is this guy looking at me?¡± ¡°Why is this guy following me?¡± To be subjected to such awkwardness right on the very first day of school would be simply too much to bear for the little old me.

    Whatever should I do here? Should I just run away in hopes of shaking the bastard off? No, I cannot do that. If I suddenly break into a mad dash here, it would be simultaneous with admitting to my stalker that I am aware of the fact that I¡¯m being stalked. And who knows what might happen then?

    It¡¯s like the only way for me to win this is to start running away, but actually starting to run away would mean admitting defeat¡­¡­ God damn it, it¡¯s only the beginning of September, it¡¯s way too early for me to be dragged into mind games like that! And the fact that this game called life is something you cannot log out of was not helping in the slightest!

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Ah, umm!!¡¹

    ¡¸!!??¡¹

    It spoke! No, wait a second! It was more like it tried to talk to me! What the hell!? What is it!? What is it that you¡¯re after!?

    Why would you try to make contact in this kind of situation!? Was it the fact that there was something on my back? Then in that case it was my duty as a true gentleman to act ordingly, thank that someone andugh at my own carelessness.

    ¡¸Yes!? What seemeth to beest the problem!?¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, umm¡­¡­ You¡¯re Hizutome-kun, right?¡¹

    Turning around, instead of a hired hitman that my brain was imagining, I have seen a young girl about my age, wearing the uniform of the same high school as I was wearing.

    ¡¸Ah, umm, Saiga¡­ -san?¡¹

    ¡¸Y-Yes, that¡¯s right. H-Hizutome-kun, umm, ahh¡­¡­ Summer vacation! It¡¯s been a while!¡¹

    ¡¸Summer¡­¡­ Ah, oh, yeah, now that you mention it.¡¹

    Ahh, now I see. That must have been the reason why I was not sure who it was that was walking behind me.

    Unlike that one day during the Summer when she was wearing that thin one piece dress, Saiga-san right now was wearing the summer version of our high school¡¯s girls¡¯ uniform. She was also smiling happily with her face slightly flushed red, most probably because of the Summer heat that was still to be felt in the atmosphere. Yes, that has to be it.

    Umu, I know that it was probably rude to think that way about someone, but right about now when I look at Saiga-san I get a feeling that she would make for a fine heroine in a number of different dating sims. That¡¯s how cute and stylish she was.

    ¡¸Huh? Do you perhaps live somewhere close-by, Saiga-san?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? Umm, ahh¡­¡­ I wanted to change my routine for a bit and I went to school different way, and, umm¡­¡­ That¡¯s when I noticed you, Hizutome-kun¡­¡­ Yes! It waspletely by ident!¡¹

    ¡¸I-I see¡­¡­¡¹

    Well, it would certainly exin a whole lot of things. For example: the fact that we happened to bump into one another in front of that convenience store around my neighborhood. So that must mean she lives somewhere in that area as well, huh?

    However, the fact about the whereabouts of Saiga-san¡¯s house means very little to me. Almost as nothing as a game that I have little to no interest in.

    Now then, the real question right now is: whatever should I do from here? Should I call it quits here and be on my way? Or should I make some attempt at small talk, even though I know that it might end up rather poorly?

    ¡¸But I must say, summer vacation ended in a sh and what do you know? It¡¯s back to school already.¡¹

    ¡¸T-That¡¯s true¡­¡­ It¡¯s really is back to school already, that¡¯s why¡­¡­¡¹

    Well, it would certainly be nice to have more holidays avable to you, but such a thing is not good in its own right. Because of that life would lose some of its sharpness. At least that¡¯s my take on it.

    Reality and games are both pretty nice as long as you indulge in them in moderation. Well, there are ways in this world for one to live by doing nothing besides what one likes, but¡­¡­ the only people like that thate to my mind are those foregners and Natsume-san. Strange, why would I think about Silvia Goldberg here?

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    Kuh, talk about awkward. Come on now, Saiga-san. Throw me some ball here, give me something to work with! Don¡¯t force finding the conversation topic all onto me!

    If I had more experience in socializing with other people, maybe I would be able toe up with conversation topics like machine gun or even a rail gun. However, my sphere of interest tend to lie elsewhere, so when ites to socializing my caliber is only something simr to an old revolver. Rather poor and ineffective at best. But I must try toe up with something¡­¡­!

    ¡¸Ah¡­¡­ Ahhhh, oh, yeah! That¡¯s right! Speaking of which, do you y ShanFro, Saiga-san?¡¹

    ¡¸Fueah.¡¹

    ¡¸Fueah?¡¹

    ¡¸No, no, it¡¯s nothing! Please! It¡¯s nothing! Umm, yes. Yes, that¡¯s correct! I¡¯m ying ShanFro from time to time!¡¹

    Speaking of which, thest time we met I¡¯m sure we were having the same kind of conversation, but we were abruptly interrupted for some reason. But I¡¯m sure it was certainly about ShanFro.

    And Saiga-san shook so suddenly, probably because the topic was changed so suddenly towards a video game. Also, the way her hair was gently swaying in the wind was really cute and appealing.

    ¡¸What kind of character do you y as, Saiga-san? A Healer?¡¹

    ¡¸N-No, umm¡­¡­ A Warrior one¡­¡­¡¹

    That¡¯s surprising¡­¡­ Although I¡¯ve heard rumors that Saiga-san trains in kendo and martial arts, so that sort of experience is surely toe in handy when ying warrior sses in games. And seeing how Wezaemon was in battle, that sounds about right.

    ¡¸I see¡­¡­ Do you y much?¡¹

    ¡¸Emm, well, umm¡­¡­ Yes. I also¡­¡­ belong to a guild¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Oooh? Were you perhaps invited by a family member?¡¹

    ¡¸Umm, yes, that¡¯s right¡­¡­¡¹

    ying with your rtives poses a threat of the fact that you y a certain game being leaked to the world, but if you enjoy the game, you can achieve a level of teamwork that random people could only dream of.

    Pencilgton, Katsu and myself. We know one another from different games, but I can say that we are rather close. Maybe not as close as family members, but our teamwork is nothing to scoff at either.

    That being said, sometimes it turns out that you thought that ying with family members might be a good idea, but it ends up being quite a disaster instead. However, there is no way of knowing that beforehand, so what counts here is the intention.

    But this is going well so far. The conversation is going smoothly for the time being, without any awkward silences and topic shifts.

    ¡¸Apparently a new continent has been opened recently. Do you think you¡¯d be able to challenge it, Saiga-san?¡¹

    ¡¸I-I wonder¡­¡­ There are many strong yers out there¡­¡­ So I¡¯m not so sure¡­¡­¡¹

    Certainly, more and more ships are starting to cruise over to the new continent, but when ites to the center of the yerbase, I¡¯d say that it is mostly focused around Thirdrema still. And the amount of people refraining from going to the new continent should still berger than those who are willing to go there right away.

    I also heard that yers like Rei and her ¡°ck Wolves¡± are yet to venture to the new continent, seemingly out of consideration for other yers.

    ¡¸I mean yeah, not everything on the current continent has been discovered yet, so staying there does not mean that it will be boring by any means.¡¹

    After all, there are still Unique Monsters that are waiting for the yers to take them on.

    ¡¸Yes, I guess that, you¡¯re right. Fufufu¡­¡­¡¹

    Now this is a good sign. If someone like me is able to make someone like Saiga-sanugh happily, I¡¯d say it¡¯s a job well done.

    And then it happens. A small cicada flies in between us, about to draw itsst breath and turn into a shell, even though it may have not been able to leave any offspring behind.

    It plunges down towards the ground in a splendid parab. However, there was one small detail here. Saiga-san was in its way.

    If this was a game, maybe she would have been able to do something about it. However this is real life, and your body does not possess the capacity to respond as fast as your thoughts.

    I knew it was there because I could see it in my line of sight. However, Saiga-san was not so lucky. And before I could move my body or react in any sort of a way, that cicada managed tond on Saiga-san¡¯s forehead.

    ¡¸Hyah.¡¹

    FLICK!

    ¡¸Obuah!?¡¹

    ¡¸He? Ah, aaahhh!?¡¹

    I tried to brush the cicada off Saiga-san¡¯s forehead, but before I could react appropriety the cicada jumped from there and instead settled on my body.

    To be more precise, itnded on my cheek.

    I did not expect that, not in the least. I don¡¯t know how Saiga-san managed to keep her cool like that, but upon realizing what just happened I lost my bnce and fell onto the ground, this event turning into yet one morendmine that was covering this already treacherous minefield called road to school.

    SHII, SHII, SHII, SHII, SHII, SHII, SHII, SHII, SHII, SHII!!

    ¡¸Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!!! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!!??¡¹

    Agh, the leg! The leg was twisted in a strange direction, one that a leg should never bend towards too much!! And that¡¯s not all! The wings! Please just spare the wings! It¡¯s pretty much done without them around!

    ¡¸I-I¡¯m so terribly sorry! I-I¡¯m going to help you right¡­¡­ Kyah!?¡¹

    For poor Hizutome Rakuro-san, the very first memory right after the summer vacation was over was to be manhandled in a really nasty fashion, just like a cicada. It was a pretty much traumatizing experience.

    One thing¡¯s for sure: Saiga Rei-san is incredibly strong.

 Chapter 223: Wolfpack Transfer Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 223: Wolfpack Transfer Part 1</h4>

    Firtunately nothing serious happened to me, and after Saiga-san was done apologizing to me over and over again we were able to resume our walk to school. After we finally got to the ssroom, I sat down and thought about the cicada incident, thinking that it managed to form a sort of a strange connection between Saiga-san and myself.

    Unlike yours truly, who have spent the entire of summer vacation indoors, I can see that people all over the ce managed to get some nice tan. And while it was easy to diminish my time during this summer as ¡°wasted¡±, at leastpared to the way in which others used it¡­¡­ Oh well, it may not have been all that healthy for me, but this summer was full of precious memories. And it was WAY healthier than sh*tty games pilgrimage that I would normally do during the summer vacation.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ nFro is¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ nid got¡­¡­¡¹

    (I knew it, no matter how you look at it, the poprity of Shanfro is simply amazing¡­¡­)

    And hearing that a whole lot of people were talking about it, apparently there were more ShanFro yers here than I would have thought. Who knows? Maybe I wasn¡¯t the only one who had his ¡°ShanFro debut¡± during this summer vacation?

    It¡¯s a good thing that so many people were talking about it, bute on, guys! The homeroom is about to start! You can talk about that stuff all you want sometimeter during the day, you know?

    As for me, I kill the remaining time by browsing the Inte on my mobile device.

    Out of sheer curiosity, I looked over message boards and SNS chatrooms dedicated to ShanFro, and unsurprisingly it was all swarmed with conversations pertaining to Unique Monsters.

    The main conversation topic right now was the defeat of Kutanid of the Abyss, imagine that. Totally surprising, except for not really. There was also another topic, and it was about¡­¡­ Oh yeah, right. Some sort of big deal that was too much of a drag for me to actually remember it.

    I mean, why would I? Since it was something so obvious but also somethingpletely outside of the range of my interests: just what Guild is the strongest one when ites to ShanFro?

    Considering the fact that the number of messenger falcons, it was safe to assume that about the eighty percent of all the messages I have received wereing from various Guilds. Wheteher it was for better or for worse¡­¡­ No, let¡¯s just be thankful that it was only such a number, and not a higher one.

    It was also a good thing that the messages were not delivered all at once. If a huge flock of birds was converging at one location, many people would go there simply to see what was going on there. However, when the Crying Innsman managed to dock back at Fiftsia port, the only ones waiting for us there were the Straude-rted NPC and only a couple of random yers. And¡­¡­

    ¡¸Well, well, well, Sanraku-kun. There is a whole lot of things I would like to ask of you, but for the time being let me say this: thank you for all of your hard work. You¡¯ve been working quite hard, right?¡¹

    Of course, the very first person to greet me here was none other than our Guild Master, Arthur Pencilgton. Apparently she was here in Fiftsia for some private business, but once she heard the GM announcement and saw the birdsing and going from the port, she decided to follow their trail and see what was going on.

    ¡¸Look, I am really tired. I was fighting a giant fucking octopus all night long and then hauling ass some more, so could you give me a break? I know that you want to talk, but let us save that forter, okay?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, oh well, fair enough. Katsu was probably going to cross examine you himself once he logs in, but that way we can both learn what happened at the same time. Is it not what the Wolfgang is all about? That kind ofradery?¡¹

    For a moment out there I really wanted toe up with a witty retort, but I ultimately gave up on the idea. Instead, there was something else I needed to do. There were new members that I needed to introduce.

    ¡¸Oh yeah, that¡¯s right. Rust, Mold, Akitsu Akane. This is the leader of our Guild.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh my, oh my, I know that you are probably all very tired from clearing the Unique Secenario EX, so let me keep this as brief as possible. My name is Arthur Pencilgton, and it is exactly as that idiot over there said.

    Aaaand there she goes. Already trying to brainwash other people into thinking that she¡¯s a decent human being. It was really regrettable about her, but what can you do? Maybe Akitsu Akane would be somewhat resistant to her mind grabbing powers because of his natural disposition¡­¡­ But it would be better for them to spent as little time together with Pencilgton as possible.

    ¡¸I have heard the rumors, but you really are still half-naked¡­¡­ How did you manage to handle the damage?¡¹

    ¡¸Excuse me?¡¹

    ¡¸I knew it, you are aiming towards the evasion stat, right? After all, I don¡¯t think that every Unique Monster would possess such sweets attacks like Wezaemon did¡­¡­ Did that Unique Monster had some special attacks like that? Did you have to utilize the Reviving items in order to win?¡¹

    ¡¸No, wait just a moment. Before anything else¡­¡­ Just who the fuck are you¡­¡­?¡¹

 Chapter 223: Wolfpack Transfer Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 223: Wolfpack Transfer Part 2</h4>

    Equipment that was giving off a samurai-like vibe, and there was also something really familiar in a way that person was talking to us¡­¡­ Yeah, the name color was not right as well. So I look at that yer with a rather confused look on my face.

    No good, there really is no way for me to actually remember a particr yer just because of their stats and equipment can change without much trouble. However, there was one more thing that made me open my eyes in surprise. An element that made me remember who exactly that yer was. And element that normal human characters should not have.

    ¡¸You finally noticed, huh? Fufu, talk about a little bit ridiculous conversation, huh?¡¹

    Conversation? What in the actual hell is this person even about? I don¡¯t get it. I don¡¯t get it in the slightest. However, conversation? I feel like I have seen that word somewhere, or at the very least the kanji thatpose that word. But when? And where?

    ¡¸Truth to be told my aptitude for magic has diminished greatly, however the increase in physical stats is just so good that it makes it all worth the trouble. If I knew about that before, I would have be a Beastman much sooner.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­ So, is that the reason why you cannot change you ss simply by going into the avatar customization?¡¹

    ¡¸That kind of thing does not really suit her, but if you were to tell her this you¡¯d be cut on the spot¡­¡­ At least that¡¯s the feeling I¡¯m getting.¡¹

    Looking at a pair of fluffy Japanese-styled animal ears and the way they move, I can certainly agree that I¡¯m getting the same kind of impression. Also, when the girl was ncing at Pencilgton she was writhing in ce like a vampire kicked out right into the sunlight.

    I¡¯d say that she must be an acquaintance of Pencilgton, or at least someone like that. Normally I would ask her to introduce herself, but since apparently this was not our first meeting, it would be extremely rude. Also, regarding the name, it was disyed right above her head. However, I was having a hard time believing what my eyes were seeing.

    ¡¸Kyogoku?¡¹

    ¡¸Haven¡¯t I already told you this before? It¡¯s not ¡°Kyogoku¡±! It¡¯s Kyo Ultimate! Be sure to remember that!¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s too long. How about a shorter one? Kyo Timate? So, Kyo Timate-san, are you here today just to be rubbernecker or what?¡¹

    ¡¸K-Kyo Timate!?¡¹

    While wearing a ratherplicated expression on her face, the gaze of the animal-eared swordswoman turn somewhere else. It was as if something else have caught her attention. She looked towards a corner from where a terrifying aura could be felt.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    It surely must have been about the name ¡°Saiga¡±. Since it is not hard to put together that ¡°Saiga-0¡± and ¡°Saiga-100¡± must be rted to one another in some way. For now, the two just continue to re at one another in silence.

    It could tell right away: there would be no peace between the two. Rather, the only thing that we could hop would be felt between those two women, would be hostility. Ice-cold one at that.

    ¡¸Uwah, why do I get the feeling that I want to have absolutely nothing to do with this?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s a nice and refreshing thing to saying from you, but are you sure you¡¯re allowed to say that? Even though you¡¯re the main reason for this situation to ur?¡¹

    ¡¸Excuse me?¡¹

    Why would my name be brought up in this context all of a sudden?

    ¡¸Well, I mean, you are the reason why the top most powerful Guilds missed their chance of glory after defeating a Unique Monster. And it happened not once, but twice at that! And when the same name pops up during the subjugation announcement for both Unique Monsters¡­¡­ Do you really think that people wouldn¡¯t get mad? Or that they would not be able to add the facts together?¡¹

    ¡¸Eeehhh¡­¡­¡¹

    However, listening to Kyogoku¡¯s words, I am able to understand a thing or two. Mainly the fact that she¡¯s a walking stereotype. The one where a new character is being introduced in the middle of the story and is inherently distrustful and antagonistic towards the main character. It¡¯s a reallymon trope, so it¡¯s not her fault, there is nothing she could have done about it.

    We all know what I¡¯m talking about here. I¡¯m talking about a character that appears at the very end of the boss battle with the previous enemy. The same enemy that was giving the protagonists so much trouble. That new character defeats the boss with ease and has the audacity to ask: someone as weak as that was giving you trouble?¡± A cheeky line like that.

    And since you do not know anything about that new character at all, the only way for you to make an opinion about them is through the first impressions.

    In other words, what Kyogoku means by that is that the guild ¡°ck Wolves¡± and all the others think about me as someone who just happened to happily waltz onto the stage in the middle of their grand moment and steal the kill and all the benefits thate with it for myself just like that. A total jerk that hogs all Unique Monsters for himself.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ No, but I mean, why Saiga-100 of all people? It¡¯s not like we have ever met personally or nothing like that.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­ These two are supposed to be sisters in real life, right? So maybe it has something to do with real life as well?¡¹

    No,e on now! We¡¯ve never even met in real life! So I see no reason for why Saiga-100 would want toe here to me of all people and ces.

    Rust, Mold and Akitsu Akane seemed to be genuinely worried about the two Saigas right about now, but Pencilgton of all people seemed to be pretty much chill about it. Or maybe she was just pretending to be chill.

    Whatever it was, Pencilgton just casually walked towards the two Saigas and broke in between them , separating them apart.

    ¡¸Alright, alright now, kids. I don¡¯t know what your deal is, but if it is a family dispute you want, then do it somewhere else. Preferably as far away from here as possible. Like, your Guild¡¯s base.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Towa¡­¡­ You bitch, is this also your doing?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s Arthur Pencilgton here, my dear ¡°Saiga Momo¡±-chan. You¡¯d do best to remember that, otherwise I¡¯ll have to teach you a thing or two about code.¡¹

    The way the two of them addressed one another sounded really dangerous, most probably because the two women must have known each other in real life. But it was good that Pencilgton stood up here, since maybe she¡¯ll be able to take some heat off of my back.

    ¡¸No, this time around it was all Sanraku-kun¡¯s doing. I only learned about this from the GM announcement, like everyone else.¡¹

    ¡¸Oi, are you trying to help me? Or get me killed? Please make up your fucking mind!¡¹

    Saiga-100¡¯s gaze turned towards me one more. Oh great, looks like I won¡¯t really be able to get myself out of this one, so how should I take of that business here?

    Hey, Pencilgton, whatever should I do to get out of this? There is no way that she¡¯s going to leave on her own, and running away is out of the question. In that case, just how much info I can disclose here?

    Does that mean¡­¡­ I¡¯ll have to share some of the information contained within the World¡¯s Truth Book? No, that wouldn¡¯t be good¡­¡­ The information contained within those files are worth more than the info that I managed to defeat a Unique Monster.

    I may not be as clever as Pencilgton, but even I understand that the World¡¯s Truth Book are the most precious information they are there.

    ¡¸Ah¡­¡­ For starter, please allow me to apologize for borrowing Rei-san for seven days straight. I really could not have done it without her help.¡¹

    Time to use the trump card of the Japanese people: sincere apology!

    ¡¸It¡¯s good that you understand, even if the ttery will get you nowhere. But let me ask you one thing straight¡­¡­ Is it true that you¡¯ve managed to unlock a Unique Quest rted to ¡°Nightprowler Luukan¡±?¡¹

    With the corner of my eyes I could see Rei bowing her head down frantically. So it was Rei that spilled the beans, huh? ¡­¡­ Oh well , the moment I undertook that quest with someone else than my closest friends, I kind of made my piece with the fact that it would be a secret that I would be unable to keep to myself.

    ¡¸It was a really stupid boss. Took us whole night to beat it.¡¹

    ¡¸Whole night? We were unable to hold out for even a few minutes.¡¹

    Well, this is bad.

    Self-deprecation is something one is able to do in two distinct cases: either you are able to do something with ease, or you are unable to do it at all.

    If I don¡¯t y this right, I might invoke the wrath of this person. Something to calm her down¡­¡­ Something to calm her down¡­¡­

    ¡¸SF-Zoo managed to figure out the exact way that makes Luukan spawn for sure.¡¹

    ¡¸Hoo, well that is certainly an interesting news.¡¹

    Throw her a bone, but she does not know that this bone is actually nothing but a decoy.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Well, you see, I do not mind giving you the exact information on how to beat it¡­¡­ But I¡¯d have to get the permission of my boss, the Guild Master of ¡°Wolfgang¡±! That gal over there!¡¹

    And I hit the killer pass with a baseball bat! Now, how are you going to handle this set of dynamite, huh?

    However, soon it all went to sh*t. My brilliant pass of responsibility, Pencilgton¡¯s cunning tactics, and Kyogoku¡¯s smile. It was all wiped out by one sentence uttered by a single yer.

    ¡¸Before that, there is actually something that I would like to talk to you about, Ane-sa¡­¡­ I mean, Guild Master.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Alright, let¡¯s hear it then.¡¹

    ¡¸I would like to leave the guild ¡°ck Wolves¡±¡­¡­ and be a member of your guild, the ¡°Travelling Wolves¡±.

    For some bizarre reason, Pencilgton started to violently hit me after she heard those words. I wonder why?

 Chapter 224: Encounter Penalty Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 224: Encounter Penalty Part 1</h4>

    Saiga-0 wanted to leave the guild ¡°ck Wolves¡± and transfer into guild ¡°Wolfgang¡±. If that is not the news worth of first page coverage, then I do not know what is worthy of such title.

    And what is so shocking about that fact is that ¡°Wolfgang¡± is the guild that houses the yer that took part in subjugation of not one, but two Unique Monsters and managed to emerge victorious from both of those battles.

    If that information was to be leaked to the general public, to say that it would cause quite a stir would be a massive understatement. Combine that with the previous big news and you would get a sort of a news double helix, one that would spread throughout themunity like wildfire and cause all of the yers to basically lose all of their sh*t.

    And let me just ask you this: WHY? Why did you decided to do something like that? Why leave your guild and all of yourrades and friends there? Why transfer to our guild? And why would you want to do such a thing right as your guild was about to finally go to the new continent and make a name for themselves over there as well?

    Is there any sort of connection between matters such as ¡°Defeating the Unique Monster Kutanid of the Abyss¡± and ¡°Wiping out the members of the Guild ¡°Wolfgang¡±?¡± I had to know! So I tried to look it up on forums or message boards, but¡­¡­

    Saint-chan is so cute¡­¡­ Saint-chan is so cute¡­¡­ Saint-chan is so overly cute that it should be illegal to be this cute¡­¡­ Oi, if you want to spam the forums with useless garbage like that, why won¡¯t you create a special thread just for that, huh?

    ¡¸Something smells fishy here¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know what exactly, but it definitely stinks¡­¡­]

    In input the word ¡°SANRAKU¡± into the search bar and tap the search button¡­¡­ Oh wow. That¡¯s unexpected. The number of topics exceeds a three digit number. And while some of them were rather normal and civil, others were making it into the territory of truly bizarre topics such as: ¡°The Conference for Countermeasures Against Rare Bird Monster Sanraku and How to Capture It¡±, or ¡°Is Sanraku Even a Human Being in the First ce?¡±.

    Now I am really d that a ce like Rabbitz existed in the first ce. At this rate it might be the only ce where I will be able to enjoy some peace and quiet. Otherwise I would probably have to deal with a number of angry mob waiting just outside of the inn every time I would log into the game.

    ¡¸Alright, onto the next topic: is there anyone in here that made their ShanFro debut during the summer vacation or not?]

    This was simply out of curiosity. I wanted to know if there is the exact number of people that made their ShanFro debut over the period of Summer Vacation.

    The schoold day was rather brief on the first day of the new semester. It was pretty much homeroom, a brief ss period that consisted of turning in your summer homework, and then basically school was out. So after doing just that I left the school building and started to head back home.

    When ites to location, my house is situated in a really weird ce, right on the edge of the district in which this school is located¡­¡­ And because there are not that many high school students living in that area aside from me, it is basically right in front of the school gate that I say goodbye to all of my friends, and we all start to head back home in our respective directions.

    I originally wanted to go straight back home so that I could make a Full Dive into ShanFro right away, but I ultimately decided not to do that. At least not for now. Before I head back, let¡¯s make a small detour and stop by Rock Roll, shall we?

    ¡¸Who knows? Maybe there will be some really nice bargains that I could enjoy as a distraction from ShanFro¡­¡­?]

    My name is Hizutome Rakuro. I am a Sh*tty games hunter and the scavenger that is always on the lookout for more sh*tty games to try in my spare time! Also, while I am being at it, I help to lessen the stock of Rock Roll¡¯s shop, taking off their hands any sh*tty game that is not selling well for any reason.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­]

    And so, that is exactly why. This bring me here to the shop that I frequent almost religiously.

    ¡¸Do you happen to have any good sh*tty games on you right now? If so, hook me up.]

    ¡¸You again, huh¡­¡­? Did you not say thest time that you were here that you would try to spend your youth in a more meaningful way?]

    ¡¸Non, non, non. Certainly, I did say something like that, but I do not want to be reminded about that by someone who closed his business for a whole month just so that he could waste his precious time away on making a marathon with otome games¡­¡­ By the way, did you manage toplete every single one that you wanted toplete?]

    ¡¸I sure did. Alongside the secret routes and hidden endings. If you want to , I can send you my impressions via e-mailter.]

 Chapter 224: Encounter Penalty Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 224: Encounter Penalty Part 2</h4>

    Trantor: Kurehashi Aiko

    Talk about a yer truly dedicated to his hobby¡­¡­ However, I think that Iwamaki-san pushing himself a little bit too hard, trying to y as many games in as very limited amount of time as possible. I would never be able to do such a thing with such dedication, but apparently he is fine with it. I, on the other hand, will stay to my kind of past-timing.

    ¡¸So? Have you give ShanFro a go? Or perhaps you have given it a go, and you bounced from it so hard that you want to y some more sh*tty games just so that you can cleanse yourself?¡¹

    ¡¸Nah, I am having a st with it so far. I even have been ying with a group of friends as ofte. Imagine that.¡¹

    ¡¸Hoo, hoo¡­¡­ Oh, yeah, that reminds me. Here. It is not really a sh*tty game of any kind, but I heard that it is pretty good.¡¸

    Saying that, Iwamaki-san presented a certain package to me,

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Sh*tty game?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, it certainly looks the part, but it is not really a sh*tty game. At least that¡¯s what I heard. This game even has a certain secret boss¡­¡­ A boss that is said to be unbeatable so far by anyone.¡¹

    ¡¸Secret boss¡­¡­¡¹

    I highly doubt that it is really like that, but who knows? There are many kinds of games out there that make the world. And I won¡¯t say, the words ¡°secret boss¡± have a certain appeal to them that tends to draw people in¡­¡­

    That being said¡­¡­ No, could it be¡­¡­? But this is¡­¡­ VR learning materials¡­¡­ What the hell is this all about?

    ¡¸Oh well, it doesn¡¯t really matter all that much. How much is it?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s four thousand two hundred ten yen.¡¹

    ¡¸Hm, what gives? That¡¯s pretty cheap.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s the price tag you get on a game that is more or less a VR instruction manual.¡¹

    I have only baught ShanFro this summer, and aside from that the only real expenses I have suffered were the travelling expenses for the purpose of GGC. Because of that there was still a hefty amount of money that that resting in my pocket, ready to be spent.

    That is why I take my wallet out of my pocket and handle Iwamaki-san a single bill with a certain old man printed on it, without regret and not even a single feeling of sadness in my heart that we would be parting ways for now.

    ¡¸Right, thank you for your patronage. So, tell? About ShanFro. Are you enjoying is so far?¡¹

    ¡¸Sure thing. But, you see, the thing is, there are times when I¡¯m ying it that I simply happen to miss some of those good old sh*tty games.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­ Right, I think that it is about time.¡¹

    ¡¸Hm?¡¹

    About time? Was Iwamaki-san waiting for something? Or someone?

    Or maybe it was something that he personally wanted to do? If so, as a costumer I am nothing more than a bother right about now. Should I just leave and give him some space?

    While I was thinking that, the door to Rock Roll opened with a silent sound and someone has entered the store.

    ¡¸Umm, Iwamaki-san, what is the meaning of this? You told me toe right away, did something happen¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, yeah, thank you foring.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    Well hello there, Saiga-san. I would like to say that it¡¯s been a while, if it was not for the fact that we have seen one another quite recently.

    The one who opened the door to the store and entered it was none other than Saiga-san. Lately, I get the feeling that our encounter rate is really high for some strange reason.

    Seeing me inside of the store Saiga-san froze in ce. Her eyes got round like saucers with surprise, and after a brief moment of silence she moved her gaze towards Iwamaki-san, as if waiting for an exnation.

    ¡¸OH, HELLO THERE, FANCY MEETING YOU HERE. WELL NOW, DON¡¯T JUST STAND THERE, COME ON IN.¡¹

    ¡¸You sounded like a character from a game where the developers were cutting costs by hiring rookie voice actors, so your voice lines sound cheap and as if you¡¯ve got a stick up your ass, you know?¡¹

    ¡¸CVpromises like that should be unforgivable.¡¹

    I could feel that those exact words were genuinelying from Iwamaki-san¡¯s heart. After all, he is someone who has dedicated his life to Otome games, that branch of games that rely on good voice acting.

    ¡¸Ah, umm, Iwamaki-san, umm, ahh¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Oh my, oh my? Could it be that the two of you actually know each other already?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Hmm? Oh, yeah. We go to the same school, and we in the same year. Although up until now we¡¯ve only known our names and faces. And that¡¯s about it.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Holy sh*t, dude. This really is just like a chapter two of every Otome game out there.¡¹

    Chapter Two? Just what the heck is this guy talking about?

    And why is Saiga-san turning her gaze away when she heard that remark, as though she was unable to bear it?

    ¡¸You see, Hizutome-kun, the truth is, I have been talking with this girl about you for quite some time now.¡¹

    ¡¸About me?¡¹

    ¡¸Eehh, aah, umm, that¡¯s not¡­¡­ umm¡­¡­¡¹

    For some reason, Iwamaki-san lets out a deep sigh.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Come on now, you may not realize that fact, but you have yed lots of different games, right, Hizutome-kun? And since Saiga-chan here only started her adventures with video games, we talked about you quite a lot since you¡¯re experience with video games is rather impressive, right?¡¹

    ¡¸T-That¡¯s right! That is exactly right! Umm, it¡¯s just as you say!¡¹

    ¡¸So, does that mean that you were the one who happened to rmend ShanFro to Saiga-san?¡¹

    ¡¸Yup, it was all me. I heard that it was a hot topic among the young people and that it is really a nice and easy gateway to the world of Full Dive VR games.¡¹

    I see, so that is the reason why Saiga-san got so excited once the topic of ShanFro was mentioned. Your first games are very precious memories and we all want to treasure our first experiences as much as possible.

    ¡¸But I must say, what a strange coincidence¡­¡­ right? Today marks the first day of school for both of you since the end of summer vacation and the first thing you decide to do is to visit my store? I¡¯m beyond overjoyed.¡¹

    What the hell is this? I feel like the atmosphere here is really fishy for some reason, but¡­¡­ Oh well, it doesn¡¯t really matter.

    ¡¸Well you see, about that. I wanted to go straight back home and y some games, but then I thought I might as welle here and see if you have anything on sale that I might enjoy.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, I see¡­¡­¡¹

    I must admit, this guy can say the most bizarre of things from time to time. Well, today I had a nice long chat with Saiga-san, so right about now I want to go back home and y that new game I was rmended.

    ¡¸Right, so that will be it from me. See you around.¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Hm? Is there something wrong?¡¹

    ¡¸Umm, ehh, s-see you tomorrow!¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? Ahh, yeah. See you tomorrow!¡¹

    What are we, an elementary school students? Oh well, it is actually kind of nice that there are still people out there who are proper and polite like that, always remembering to greet other people properly.

    But I wonder if acting like that is not getting you more and more isted from your peers in a long run?

    Now then, what to do: y some ShanFro or maybe try out this new game right here?

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Now then, let us hold a meeting in order to reflect upon our actions.¡¹

    ¡¸Umm, maybe if we had a little bit more of a freedom to decide first? That would be nice¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸And how about we are not going to do that? Knowing you, it would take you at least three years to think, and even then it is not certain that you would be able to reach any kind of sensible conclusion.¡¹

    ¡¸Ugh¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸First of all, before you even think about speaking up your mind, work on being able to speak up your mind without stuttering like that so much¡­¡­¡¹

    I wanted to make up for the time lost after my post-Kutanid exhaustion, and so just like that I decided to log into ShanFro and get back into the swing of things.

    ¡¸Alright, so for the time being¡­¡­¡¹

    There is something that I absolutely must do, and even if I did not wanted to do that there was just no way for me to weasel my way out¡­¡­ The question is: is he going to be angry? Or is he going to be merciful?

    Ny percent¡­¡­ No, about seventy percent of a fault for this situation was the fault of Kutanid. However, it is without a doubt my fault that I have taken both Emul and Sickle with me to Luls and got them into a dangerous situation that very well could have ended up in the deaths of both of them. For that, I must to show Weissash, their father, that I am truly sorry and that I want to repent for my sins.

    ¡¸W-what¡¯s wrong, Sanraku-san? Why such a long face? Are you sad?¡¹

    ¡¸Think a pinky finger is going to be enough? ¡­¡­ Nah, that¡¯s a punishment for small crimes and misconduct¡­¡­ So, I guess I will really have to split my stomach open¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸What the hell are you talking about, Sanraku-san!?¡¹

    ¡¸Say, Emul? If I will really be forced tomit seppuku, I¡¯m counting on your assistance with that.¡¹

    ¡¸And I keep saying, what are you even talking about, Sanraku-san!?¡¹

    Turns out, I was forgiven with rtive ease.

 Chapter 225: Opening Up Old Wounds And Curses Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 225: Opening Up Old Wounds And Curses Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Hmmm, nhmmm, kahaahhh¡­¡­~~~¡¹

    First of all, together with Emul we went to pay Break a visit, to get her into the speed of things. I expected many different reactions out of her, but for some reason the only thing she did was to let out a really long and really weird sigh. As if, the whole air went out from her body all at once. Weird way to react to an announcement: ¡°Hey, so¡­¡­ We have basically managed to beat Kutanid!¡±.

    ¡¸Listen now, you¡­¡­ I knew that you are reckless, I really knew that. But this? This is something else entirely¡­¡­ Khaaaaaa¡­¡­~~~¡¹

    ¡¸You don¡¯t say, huh? Hey, Emul? Why don¡¯t you try to talk to her? Maybe you¡¯ll have better luck.¡¹

    ¡¸Sure thing, just leave it to me, Sanraku-san. It may seem that this whole ordeal was business as usual with Sanraku-san, but this whole excursion to Luls was one big ident on our part.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ So? What do you want? I assume that you did note here only to boast. If you have managed to defeat it, that means that you have stuff to repair, right? Just how badly it was damaged? We talk bad, or really bad here?¡¹

    ¡¸We have been basically trapped in there for whole seven days without actually being able to leave to restock on items or to repair our equipment. As for me, except for but one weapon, everything else is in tatters. Quite literally.¡¹

    The only thing that did not fell apart after this whole Unique Scenario EX was the Duhan de. And I won¡¯t say, it goes really well with me, but it is not a go-to kind of weapon if the one hundred percent sure critical hits are what you are aiming for. That being said, it may not be a reliable weapon for critical hits, but it does its job well. Even after all those hard battles, the de was still there and was yet to fail me. Not to mention that it was able to deal with even bigger enemies without problems.

    That being said, the Duhan de was almostpletely devoid of its durability, well at the breaking point. Aside from that, probably the biggest damages were done to the Scorpion Gauntlets, which were destroyed and damaged pretty badly during the Kutanid fight. But at least they have served their purpose. I opened the weapons window and presented it to Break, so she could assess the scale of the damages herself. Her facial expression was pretty sour the whole time, but upon seeing the status of the Scorpion Gauntlets, she frowned in a way that I have never seen before.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Okay, so, I get it. I totally get it. When you get into a fight with someone as might and fierce as Kutanid, you can pretty much expect the following battle to be to the death. You can pretty much expect the damages done to the weapons to be severe. But to THIS extent?¡¹

    ¡¸I mean, rather than me, should you not me the system? Or the design? ¡­¡­ I may be wrong here, but I think that it was the designer¡¯s thought to have these things break apart after every serious use.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh yeah? And who was it that put those poor things through so much stress and pressure that they were all put way past their breaking points, huh?¡¹

    No, no, no, listen here. If you are a man, you will want to do it, you will want to try and push things way past their limits to see how they would respond to that. However, it would probably be a good move here to keep silent about that fact¡­¡­ as well as the one about forcing the gauntlets to act while outputting one hundred twenty percent of their usual capacity. Even though doing so was very romantic, and vast part of the poption would want to witness such romance at least once in their lives.

    Putting things way past their limits is nothing but a gamble. And while gambling is generally considered to be bad, without it around the world would be really boring of a ce.

    ¡¸There is also one more thing I would like to ask of you. I want you to make me some new weapons. I have both money and materials for that. No, scratch that¡­¡­ I have lots of money and LOTS of materials.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­? Sure, I do not mind making you some new weapons. However, how much money exactly are we talking about here?¡¹

    ¡¸Believe it or not, but this here Sanraku-san has almost single handedly robbed Luls¡¯s shipwreck graveyard from all off its treasures and money.¡¹

    ¡¸And the amount of money I got from that? You would not even believe this! You would be able to afford to build a small castle from all of that, and then you would still have a plenty money left.¡¹

    But I get it: the talk can be cheap. It is better to aid your words with actual action, to show that you are absolutely serious.

    So I do just that. I open my inventory and start taking out the materials. Then I take out the materials. And then I take out the materials. And then I take out even more materials. And then I take out even more materials. I take out so much materials that I could see Break¡¯s facial expression turn into that of ¡°Wait, wai, wait! You cannot be serious!¡± in a matter of seconds.

 Chapter 225: Opening Up Old Wounds And Curses Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 225: Opening Up Old Wounds And Curses Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Please don¡¯t act so surprised! You wanted proof, so here you go! A proof!¡¹

    ¡¸And there is plenty more from where this came from! Do not think that this is the end!¡¹

    ¡¸What the hell is wrong with you two!? Just how much did you fought there!?¡¹

    When ites to humanity¡­¡­ No, I guess that every living creature out there possesses a certain ¡°Anxiety limit¡±. To illustrate this on an example, it would be like that: I have that and that material, and I want to make this and this out of it. Is this good? Do I need more of it? It is mostlymon to hack n¡¯ sh type of games or games that rely heavily on the crafting system, but you can be sure that as long as people will want that sweet armor and sword, there will always be a ughter somewhere out there for the sake of those precious materials. And for us yers such thing is nothing new, it is only natural.

    To give another example: if a certain enemy was dropping a certain ingredient after it death, one that was highly valued and would you a hefty price in town, people would hunt that monster over and over again, until that ingredient would be so abundant in town that it would stop being so hot of anmodity and it price would surely drop as a result. So you can be sure that if there are some materials and items that can only be obtained inside of an area that is avable to you for only seven days and no longer, I would farm the living crap out of everything that lives in that particr area¡­¡­ and that is basically the life of a gamer in a nutshell. Really big nutshell.

    ¡¸Every time you are in a hurry, revers the procedure for obtaining the maximum efficiency. So, let me ask you once more: do you want a crazy strong weapon? Then please don¡¯t answer, I already know that you want it. And to that there is only one thing I can say: bring it on!¡¹

    ¡¸Bring it on¡­¡­ you say? Sure thing.¡¹

    Let me think about what kind of weapon and equipment I would really need in the nearby future. For the time being a decent helmet and waist armor would be nice¡­¡­ and it surely would not hurt to get a new double swords, just to be on the safe side. Not bad at all, but I would really like to try some other weapons as well. However, looking by the skills and stats that I have, there is no point in me getting myself a spear or a hammer¡­¡­ Oh, yes. That¡¯s right.

    ¡¸I want you to make me a head and waist armor out of those materials¡­¡­ Also: gauntlet type weapon, twin swords type weapon and¡­¡­ a shield.¡¹

    ¡¸A shield? Seriously?¡¹

    Well, it¡¯s not that I cannot understand from where Break¡¯s astonishment ising from ,since she was the one who made most of my weapons for me. Basically, the main characteristic of the avatar Sanraku is the ¡°Absolute Avoidance¡±, because my stats do not allow me to withstand even a single hit from a powerful enemies such as Wezaemon, Lukan or Kutanid. And even if Kutanid¡¯s blow did not one-shot me, everything else had that potential. And even though technically I have obtained an item that allows me to switch stats around and gain additional Vitality for a short while, it is only a momentary solution, not making the main problem go away.

    Not to mention that this game possesses two distinct ¡°systems¡±: skills and magic, On their own they are nothing all that hot, butbined with a right job they can make you even more powerful or simply cover those areas that you arecking. Plus they make a great addition to yer¡¯s innate skill at the game and various pieces of equipment.

    To illustrate, please remember how it was for the members of SF-Zoo during their fight with Luukan. They havepletely sacrificed their mobility in favor of the rear guard wearing heavy armors and turning into Tanks, only in hope for being able to withstand Luukan¡¯s attacks and stopping it even for a moment. On the other hand, it is technically a good idea to be a jack-of-all-trades, but thises with an added demerit: you will never be able to excel at something if you want to be equally good at everything.

    So just like that, isn¡¯t it a hugepromise on my part to want to use a shield, a tool specializing in defense rather than avoidance? And since I specialize in mobility and avoidance, won¡¯t it hinder me even further simply because you need to have your shield risen for it to actually be of any use?

    If so, then shut the hell up, you moron. If I said that I want to use a shield, then you can be damn sure that I am going to use a shield, and no one is going to stop me.

    Besides, it¡¯s not that I want a tower shield or anything. The only reason why I want a shield in the first ce is because I¡¯m the avoidance type who wastely forced to fight a whole lot of strong and big opponents, each having the potential to one-shot me if they ever felt like it. And shield would make parrying slightly easier, which is good for me. Not to mention that for as long as I can hold the shield in one hand and still be able to wield a spear or a one-handed sword in the other hand, it is all within Sanraku¡¯s character and preferred ystyle.

    Not that I¡¯m interested in the most impregnable defense in the world! Like two tower shields, one in each arm and put together in front of me! I may have tried something like that in the past in some other games, but generally shields are fun tools to use. And it is pretty versatile, since it all depends on how you use it. You can even make it into a Frisbee or a pseudo-gauntlet if only you change the way you hold it¡­¡­

    ¡¸Whoa there, whoa there, I only needed to look into your eyes to know what is on your mind.¡¹

    ¡¸Eh, even though I did not really said anything?¡¹

    ¡¸Like I said, your eyes says it all: ¡°Less yapping, more working! You¡¯re a Grand Master now, so show me a work worthy of the title, and make it as soon as possible!¡±¡¹

    No, I mean, see? I only thought that since you¡¯re an NPC with her own workshop, you wouldn¡¯t want to mess around too much. That¡¯s all, no ulterior motives.

    ¡¸Hmm, a helmet and a waist armor¡­¡­ Gauntlet, a one-handed sword or a shield? So we shall do this, then this, and then this, also this and that¡­¡­ And that should be more than enough.¡¹

    Break immediately started to rummage through the piles of materials, but then she suddenly came to a stop once she stumbled upon a certain material in particr.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Hahaha, ¡°I would like a shield¡±, he says. Was that perhaps intentional, or a pure ident, hmm?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Found anything good?¡¹

    ¡¸With such a wonderful material I¡¯ll be able to make you a nice shield no problem!¡¹

    Sea Emperor¡¯s Mirror Bone¡­¡­ It was t disc-shaped object that Antic Reaperorca was using when firing its beam attack. If there was ever an option of turning such a material into a weapon or armor, it certainly would be a shield, without a shred of doubt.

    ¡¸I can feel that this is going to be something good, like those Golden Scorpion materials¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸No wonder, if myrades were not there for me, this thing would have devoured me for sure.¡¹

    ¡¸Could it be that fish person what¡¯s-his-name?¡¹

    ¡¸Alva.¡¹

    For the underwater area that Luls was, Alva was crazy strong there, being able to swim freely through the air like that. And even though I know that our habitats does not exactly match, I would surely like to see him some more one day. But if I want to do that and be able to do things peacefully and at my own leisure, there is one thing that still stands in my way. One problem that needs to be resolved.

    ¡¸Can I really move forward without having defeated Luukan¡­¡­?¡¹

    The fact that I have received those curse marks is one thing, but the fact that their effects have be worse as a result of our previous battle is an entirely different matter whatsoever. It sure has its benefits, but the demerits are more painful that you might initially think.

    ---- Not being able to talk to certain NPCs, for example. Then again, there might be yers out there like that Kyogoku who thinks that it is easy to get rid of this effect by applying some face paint onto yourself.

    Apparently in this game you can change your avatar¡¯s race to something else than human. That would exin why Kyogoku had those beastmen animal ears. And apparently some of the physical properties of your avatar can change as a result. But the curse marks is something that stays no matter the race.

    In other words, I cannot hope to break the curse by simply changing the race. I need to defeat Luukan. It is brutal. It is unfair. It is frustrating. But it is something I must do, and I can do nothing but grit my teeth and deal with it.

    ¡¸Right, so¡­¡­ How long do you think it will take you to repair it?¡¹

    ¡¸Tomorrow night. It should be ready about that time. You can count on it.¡¹

    ¡¸Really? Oh wow, thanks.¡¹

    ¡¸However.¡¹

    Hmm? However? However what?

    Break cracks her knuckles and then ps the gauntlet a few times¡­¡­ And since the gauntlet lost its power, even the sound it made at that moment was not all that impressive in the slightest.

    ¡¸But this guy here¡­¡­ Oh, this guy is going to be a major pain in the ass to repair. It will probably take a whole week, or even longer at that.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh well, I guess there¡¯s nothing you can really do about it. And frankly, I¡¯m just happy that it can be fixed at all.¡¹

    Now then, I know that right now I¡¯m basically free, but what exactly should I do now?

 Chapter 226: From the 6th Grade to 1st Grade

    <h4>Chapter 226: From the 6th Grade to 1st Grade</h4>

    There is a mannequin right in front of me.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    It is a mannequin that,pared to ShangriLa Frontier¡¯s standards, is not all that impressive and possesses only the bare minimum of AI. It can only move in a simple patterns and fight in a simple patterns, while holding a simple bamboo sword in its hand.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Yah!¡¹

    I easily avoid its simple attack and step on its foot while we were passing one another. Then it was only a matter of a simple sh across the head.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Oh well, I¡¯d say that was about D as far as the ranking goes.¡¹

    There is a mannequin right in front of me.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    It is a mannequin that,pared to ShangriLa Frontier¡¯s standards, is not all that impressive and possesses only the bare minimum of AI. It can only move in a simple patterns and fight in a simple patterns, while holding a simple bamboo sword above its head.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Yah!¡¹

    I easily avoid its simple attack and step on its foot while we were passing one another. Then it stumbled and fell to the ground, and then it was only a matter of a simple stab to the head.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Oh well, I¡¯d say that was about E as far as the ranking goes.¡¹

    There is a mannequin right in front of me.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    It is a mannequin that,pared to ShangriLa Frontier¡¯s standards, is not all that impressive and possesses only the bare minimum of AI. It can only move in a simple patterns and fight in a simple patterns, while holding a simple bamboo sword in a low stance.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Fuh!¡¹

    This one starts attacking earlierpared to the previous ones. It shoots forward but a simple hook to the leg is all that it takes to make it stumble and fall to the ground. Then it was only a matter of a simple stab to the head.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ F rank, no doubt about it¡­¡­¡¹

    There is a mannequin right in front of me.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    It is a mannequin that,pared to ShangriLa Frontier¡¯s standards, is not all that impressive and possesses only the bare minimum of AI. It can only move in a simple patterns and fight in a simple patterns, while holding a simple bamboo sword right in front of it.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Yah!¡¹

    I easily avoid its simple attack and step on its foot while we were passing one another. The mannequin stumbles and falls to the ground, in the process letting go of its sword and letting it fall to the ground as well. This makes it totally defenseless, so I just stab it in the head and put it out of its misery.

    ¡¸Geez, stop doing the same thing over and over again! G rank, and don¡¯t you dare to argue otherwise!¡¹

    There is a mannequin right in front of me.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    It is a mannequin that,pared to ShangriLa Frontier¡¯s standards, is not all that impressive and possesses only the bare minimum of AI. It can only move in a simple patterns and fight in a simple patterns, while holding a simple bamboo sword above its head.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Oh.¡¹

    I m right into it, kick it to the stomach area with my knee, and once it bends in half I simply finish it off.

    ¡¸The footwork is still bad. Needs more adjusting. Rank E.¡¹

    There is a mannequin right in front of me.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    It is a mannequin that,pared to ShangriLa Frontier¡¯s standards, is not all that impressive, but possesses the AI that is slightly better than minimum. It can only move in a simple patterns and fight in a simple patterns, while holding a simple bamboo sword above its head.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Oh.¡¹

    I m right into it, kick it to the stomach area with my knee, and once it bends in half I simply finish it off.

    ¡¸The footwork is still bad. Needs more adjusting. Rank E.¡¹

    There is a¡­¡­ strong swordsman right in front of me.

    ¡¸I knew it, this is going to be the limit¡­¡­ But!¡¹

    We pass one another, and while we do so I aim towards the mannequins¡¯ nape.

    It was better, but its rank was still an E.

 Chapter 227: Making 6th Grade Into 1st Grade Some More

    <h4>Chapter 227: Making 6th Grade Into 1st Grade Some More</h4>

    There is a mannequin right in front of me.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    It is a mannequin that,pared to ShangriLa Frontier¡¯s standards, is not all that impressive and possesses only the bare minimum of AI. It can only move in a simple patterns and fight in a simple patterns, while holding a simple bamboo sword in its hand.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Fuh¡¹

    I easily avoid its attack and pass it, at the same time gently striking the hand that was holding the bamboo sword.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ S Grade.¡¹

    There is a mannequin right in front of me.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    It is a mannequin that,pared to ShangriLa Frontier¡¯s standards, is not all that impressive and possesses only the bare minimum of AI. It can only move in a simple patterns and fight in a simple patterns, while holding a simple bamboo sword right above its head.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Fuh¡¹

    I easily avoid its attack as it rushes forward, passing it and delivering a fancy blow right into its back.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ S Grade.¡¹

    There is a mannequin right in front of me.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    It is a mannequin that,pared to ShangriLa Frontier¡¯s standards, is not all that impressive and possesses only the bare minimum of AI. It can only move in a simple patterns and fight in a simple patterns, while holding a simple bamboo sword in a downward stance.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Fuh!

    This one goes in earlier than the one before it, but I easily manage to avoid it and pierce it torso with a well-aimed thrust.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ S Grade.¡¹

    There is a mannequin right in front of me.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    It is a mannequin that,pared to ShangriLa Frontier¡¯s standards, is not all that impressive and possesses only the bare minimum of AI. It can only move in a simple patterns and fight in a simple patterns, while holding a simple bamboo sword in its hand.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    It was a blow that surpassed all of its predecessors. It was way faster than the one who rushed in and way more precise than the one that came after it.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    There is a mannequin right in front of me.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    It is a mannequin that,pared to ShangriLa Frontier¡¯s standards, is not all that impressive and possesses only the bare minimum of AI. It can only move in a simple patterns and fight in a simple patterns, while holding a simple bamboo sword above its head.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Fuh¡¹

    It approaches like the one that rushed into me. But it was not enough. In a single moment, a sh that was too fast for it to react to, I sh the mannequin across the forehead and its body sinks to the floor.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    There is a mannequin right in front of me.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    It is a mannequin that,pared to ShangriLa Frontier¡¯s standards, is not all that impressive and possesses only the bare minimum of AI. It can only move in a simple patterns and fight in a simple patterns, while holding a simple bamboo sword above its head.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    Do not let it affect your judgement. Impatience can blunt even the most refined of des. While I¡¯m feeling down that it did not go down with a single blow, there will be no need for the third.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ S, grade.¡¹

    There is a mannequin right in front of me.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    It is a mannequin that,pared to ShangriLa Frontier¡¯s standards, is not all that impressive and possesses only the bare minimum of AI. It can only move in a simple patterns and fight in a simple patterns. But it was not something to be afraid of. It was not my enemy.

    The grade here was B.

 Chapter 228: Bad Wolf, Cut Rabbit and Pervert Cat Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 228: Bad Wolf, Cut Rabbit and Pervert Cat Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Kuuuh¡­¡­ Fuh.¡¹

    I let out a long and huge yawn on my way to school. Even though the summer vacation was over and it was already September, you could still feel the summer lingering in the air, the clouds and the blue sky.

    The reason for my yawning was simple: yesterday I went to sleep wayter than I initially intended to. And it was all Rust¡¯s fault, for sending me a message in the dead of the night saying: ¡°You haven¡¯t logged into Nephilim Hollow as ofte. Why is that?¡±

    I never intended to log into Nephilim Hollow that night, but somehow I let myself to be dragged into Rust¡¯s pace, and we participated in three duels in a row, two of which I managed to win and one I managed to lose.

    ¡¸What subject do we have nned for the first period today again¡­¡­? Was it Japanese? I will have to make sure that I won¡¯t fall asleep in the middle of the ss¡­¡­¡¹

    If it was the History ss it would not be so bad. But the Japanese ss is something else. Especially since our Japanese teacher, Horikawa-sensei, tends to mutter under his nose and speak in such a monotonous tone that it can instantly put you to sleep. I need to keep mu guard up. Plus, you never know when he might throw a pop quiz your way and what questions he might ask you there.

    ¡¸G-Good morning!¡¹

    ¡¸Uoooah!?¡¹

    What is it!? What the hell is happening!?

    ¡¸F-Fancy meeting you, here?¡¹

    ¡¸Aaah, it¡¯s just you, Saiga-san? Morning.¡¹

    That scared the living sh*t out of me¡­¡­ Being called from behind all of a sudden like that made my shoulders tremble in shock and I even jumped up a little bit.

    Looking right behind me, I could see Saiga-san standing there casually, with her face slightly tinged red. She must have noticed me and wanted to be polite and say her greetings.

    ¡¸I-If it wouldn¡¯t be too much trouble¡­¡­ Would you like to talk with me, until we¡­¡­ get to school¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? I mean, yeah, sure, why not¡­¡­¡¹

    Even though the proposal was as casual as they could get, for some reason I felt like right now I was struck with something akin to a rare or even hidden event. Or maybe it was more like a challenge g?

    But whatever could we possibly talk about¡­¡­? We could technically talk about ShanFro over and over again, but wouldn¡¯t that get stale pretty fast? Okay then, what are the casual topics that normal students can talk about?

    ¡¸That reminds me. Saiga-san, are you more of a literary type? Or maybe a science type?¡¹

    ¡¸Umm, I¡¯d say I¡¯m more of a literary department. That¡¯s what I have chosen¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Really now? Same here. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t like math, but I¡¯m not all that good with it either.¡¹

    It¡¯s not that I can¡¯t get good results in it, but they are average at best. And when ites to getting good scores, liberal arts are far easier to get a good score in them, so I don¡¯t see why I shouldn¡¯t aim at just that.

    ¡¸T-That¡¯s right! That¡¯s exactly right! Me too, umm¡­¡­ It¡¯s not that I am bad at math, but I¡¯d much rather do liberal arts¡­¡­¡¹

    Ooohhh, that¡¯s it! That¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about! We are making small talk here! Small talk like real high school students should do! Talking about studying, that is exactly what students should do!

    ¡¸Say, Rakuro?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm?¡¹

    I have to admit,ing to school together with Saiga-san was really refreshing of an experience. Making small talk, acting like a student how it at the apex of his youth and enjoys it to the fullest. However, there was one thing that I do not really ounted for. It would be only natural for other people to start talking about it when Saiga Rei came to school together with Hizutome Rakuro of all people.

    ¡¸Is that true that you went to school together with Saiga-san?¡¹

    ¡¸Hm? I don¡¯t think it is exactly right to say that we went together. We just happened to bump into each other and we went together the rest of the way while talking.¡¹

    There are basically two kinds of friends in this world: positive and negative. And right now one of those friends that are a little bit closer to the positive side rushes towards me with a sparkle in his eyes that reminds me of a housewife that wants to hear thetest gossips from other housewives.

    And since my social skills are not all that great to begin with, I was unable to pick up that when I said those words at least the third of the ss¡¯s attention turned towards me. But like I said, I was totally unaware of that fact, for better or for worse.

    ¡¸Dude, about that¡­¡­ You talk as if it was somethingpletely natural, but it would be easier for any of us to ace the test from a foreignnguage than just happen to ¡°bump¡± into Saiga Rei on our way to school. We are talking about THAT Saiga Rei. The one who is always driven to and back from school by car. And you just happened to walk to school together with her?¡¹

    ¡¸I dunno man, for me it would still be easier to try to read an article in a foreignnguage than actually be able to understand the woman¡¯s heart.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Dude, you¡¯d better never dare to say a line like that in front of a girl.¡¹

    I cannot be so sure about that, but I think that right about now my face must have had the expression that went something alongside the lines of: ¡°Huh? Why is that?¡±.

    After that I was pestered to spill the beans about that whole ¡°Going to school together with Saiga Rei¡± stuff, but it was actually more annoying than anything else, mainly because aside from that going to school together the only event we had inmon was that one time when we have met in front of a convenience store purely by ident.

    Then I told him that if he seems so interested in this subject, he can go to Saiga-san and ask her all about it himself. However, that remark seemed to have fallen on deaf ears, mostly because of the fact that finally the germs from his pierced ears (he did that in secretst year) were finally starting to impair his ability to hear. He also said the following:

    ¡¸I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s pretty much impossible. Saiga-san is like a beautiful flower, unrivaled in its beauty but also inessible to us normal flowers. Only poisonous weeds may hope of getting into contact with her purely by ident, simply because they do not know their ce.¡¹

    ¡¸And who the hell do you call a ¡®poisonous weed¡¯, huh? Let¡¯s hear it!¡¹

    ¡¸Ahhhgh! Stop it! Stop it! Stop pulling on my ears like that! You¡¯ll reopen my piercing holes!!!¡¹

    It¡¯s not even about calling me a weed. It¡¯s alright, really. But make no mistake: if you want to call me a weed, at least call me something that is fleeting and unable to be caught, like a dandelion. That¡¯s the kind of man I aspire to be.

    BACK AT THE ¡®WOLFGANG¡¯S¡¯ GUILD HANGOUT SPOT

    King Pencilgton: Hiya! Members of the ¡®Wolfgang¡¯ Guild! Thank you all foring today! This is your friendly Fairy Godmother speaking, Pencilgton!

    Sanraku: Say can¡¯t you speak normally? Not everyone in here can understand your weird codes and patters. What are you, a delusional Eight-grader or what?

    Kyogoku: So, when do we attack?

    Katsu: Why don¡¯t we first discuss about new additions, like that that marital artist that was added to the Guild without us knowing?

    Sanraku: More importantly, you really are yet to reach Fiftsia? What are you even doing , man?

    Katsu: Because of my job I was forced to take quite a detour and long way around. Also, because of work I feel spent, I feel like I¡¯m about to drop dead.

    King Pencilgton: Rust-chan does not seem to be all that interested in ShangriLa Frontier in the first ce. And Aki-chan feels so bright that corrupting him feel almost impossible of a feature to me.

    King Pencilgton: For the time being, this fine fellow here is Kyogoku-chan, an acquaintance of mine that goes back to the times of Ashura-kai. She¡¯s an anachronist swordswoman who thinks that one sword is all that she will ever need.

    Kyogoku: That¡¯s a terrible way to introduce someone, but I can¡¯t really deny any of it.

    Sanraku: Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll get used to it.

    King Pencilgton: Well, for the time being I tried to go to various information brokers to get some intel on ¡°ck Wolves¡± and their inner affairs, but regrettably I was unable to learn much by doing so. They are really good at keeping themselves to themselves.

    King Pencilgton: And with Saiga-0 not logging in herself for now, the point of everyone¡¯s swords and spears is being directed towards us.

    Kyogoku: It¡¯s really thrilling if you think about it.

 Chapter 228: Bad Wolf, Cut Rabbit and Pervert Cat Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 228: Bad Wolf, Cut Rabbit and Pervert Cat Part 2</h4>

    King Pencilgton: That¡¯s why I was trying to tell you that it would be best for us toy low for now, so that we can wait for the situation to actually improve. But then again ,what are we supposed to do, specifically?

    Katsu: You think that ¡°ck Wolves¡± are actually going to demand something from us?

    King Pencilgton: As long as Saiga-0 does not show up and rify anything, they might want to press us for the information regarding Kutanid of the Abyss and Luukan. Worst case scenario, they might even want to know about Wezaemon as well.

    Sanraku: I honestly can¡¯t see a solution here that won¡¯t make the whole thing turn really ugly.

    King Pencilgton: Usually ¡°ck Wolves¡± are full of good guys, but I guess even good guys have things and moments that make them forget their manners and their polite ways.

    King Pencilgton: Also, as a Guild Master Saiga-100 was always the one that would be willing to seek thepromise, but this time we are not so lucky as to count on that. This time around even she is after our asses.

    King Pencilgton: For the time being I am all in for a peaceful solution. We can even get a third party involved, like the Library, to act as the mediators in the negotiations. But if they want war, then war they shall get, I say. I¡¯m not afraid to get my hands dirty.

    Kyogoku: Good, I was hoping it would eventuallye to that.

    King Pencilgton: But there is someone here whose opinion on the subject will be critical.

    Sanraku: That would be me.

    Sanraku: And I don¡¯t want to disclose any information about Kutanid to the general public.

    Katsu: And the reason for that is?

    Sanraku: Gimmick bosses are no fun if you know what to expect.

    Katsu: Hm? So does that mean¡­¡­?

    Sanraku: Besides, information is power, and those information are really powerful right about now.

    Sanraku: And some of them are really mind-blowing.

    Sanraku: Get a hold of this: you can fight Kutanid of the Abyss multiple times.

    Yes, this is something that is way more valuable than simply information regarding Luukan or Kutanid.

    The information that you can basically re-challenge every single Unique Monster in the gamees off as way more valuable than how to find said Unique Monsters or how to defeat them. It is an attempt at equality in MMO, but we all know that it is not possible from practical reasons.

    I cannot spell enough just how much it means for us that we and monopolize Kutanid for the time being. And if the information about re-challenging would to be leaked to some people how cannot keep their mouths shut, we might as well lose that monopoly.

    And if there was a guild that would monopolize Kutanid for themselves, that would surely be ¡°ck Wolves¡±.

    If what Pencilgton says is true, it seems that for the current moment ¡°ck Wolves¡± re out of control, running around like a pack of rabid dogs. And the fact that they have been outdone not once, not twice, but three times already makes them even more dangerous.

    And without the information, the process of discovering Kutanid¡¯s quest andpleting it grows increasingly more difficult and irritating. It is not impossible to do, but it is certainly irritating and difficult.

    That is exactly why I told Rust and thepany to not disclose the information about the World Truth Book to anyone, under any circumstances.

    ¡¸Now, how to cause them to make a mistake based on that¡­¡­ Well, we have a Demon King on our side, so I¡¯ll just leave that to you.¡¹

    We can feed them wrong information to harm them or to create a nice decoy or distraction. You just need to have someone with the brains to make such a lie seem like a believable story.

    ¡¸Well then, it¡¯s time for me to just be myself and do as I please¡­¡­!¡¹

    There is also a possible hint towards new Unique Scenario EX thanks to the appearance of Akitsu Akane, but for now it is something that only I am aware of.

    Now, better make sure to do a good job, otherwise the boss might get angry with you!

    ¡¸Break, is my order ready yet?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmph!¡¹

    ¡¸Hey there, oh fair Maiden! This is bad for my spine! This is bad for my spine, you know!¡¹

    Whoa, what a cartoonish way to be reunited!

    I wonder if I witnessed something I should not have seen? Once we entered Break¡¯s workshop we witnessed Aramis, the boots-wearing Caith Seith justying t on the floor, with Break stepping all over her and swinging her hammer down on her back.

    ¡¸Oooh! Do my eyes deceive me? Or is this a bird-person that is not really a bird-person, Sanraku! This here Aramis has brought to you the promised item!¡¹

    ¡¸Promised¡­¡­? Ohh, you mean the essory, right?¡¹

    Come to think of it, I indeed ordered her to make me an essory some time ago. Ipletely forgot about that. I mean, with so much stuff going on, it was hard for me to keep tabs on basically every little thing.

    ¡¸Hey, Break? I don¡¯t know what the cat did, but could you cut her some ck? At least for now?¡¹

    After a moment of brief silence Break reluctantly stepped down from Aramis¡¯s back, but she seemed to be in an extremely foul mood for some reason. Also, Aramis herself had a regrettable expression, as if she was sad that she would no longer be stepped on. But together with Emul we decided to pay that no mind, if we did, we would probably arrive at some really twisted and convoluted conclusions.

    After getting up and getting rid of all the soot that was covering her fur, Aramis handed me a beautifully decorated box.

    ¡¸I hereby present to you, the friend of the Vorpal Bunnies and the one who does not cower from challenging even the Nightprowler Luukan itself: ¡°Lapiste¡¯s Star Mantle¡± and ¡°Levin Trigger Hazard¡±, both created by Darnata, Catzeria¡¯s finest artisan.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, umm¡­¡­ Ah, yeah, the capital city of Cait Seith kingdom¡­¡­ Yes, thank you very much. If you will ever have some problems, pleasee to me for help. I¡¯ll see what I can do, within the limit of my abilities. After all, I¡¯m a friend of the Vorpal Bunnies.¡¹

    It was a kind of an unexpected roley here, but does that mean I managed to secure an event g with Aramis?

    It certainly wouldn¡¯t hurt to have a connection to Catzeria, and I must not forget to thank them properly, since it is only a sign of good manners. And yes, those dating sims I have yed in the past prepared me to do all kinds of weird stuff just to trigger event gs.

    Especially that both Emul and Alva turned out to be valuable assets to my team and a trustpanions.

    Now then, I know that I wanted to go to the essory shop here in Rabbitz, but before we do that, let us first check what those essories in particr can do.

    LAPISTELLA¡¯S STAR MANTLE

    A pure white cloak created by the technique of ¡°jewel weaving¡±, giving off the impression of the starry sky.

    The inner part of the cloak is ck, in contrast to the white exterior, and its gem stones can store tremendous amounts of magical power inside of them.

    Using magic spells in advance on the gem stones, it is possible to store one spell per gem and then unleash its effects at the wearer¡¯s discretion. At that time, it is not needed to spend MP for activating the spell, since it is all stored inside of the gem stone.

    The amount of maximum spell that can be stored in the cloak depends on the quality of the ¡°Lapiste Star Crystal¡± used as a catalyst for cloak¡¯s creation, but in case of the finest quality material it can store to maximum of three hundred spells.

    The brilliance of the night sky is not bound to anyone, and it is everyone¡¯s right to be able to equally witness its beauty.

    LEVIN TRIGGER HAZARD

    A pair of gloves with amber ornaments decorating the right glove. By pressing the right thumb¡¯s gem against your chest, a special effect sealed in amber can ur. In addition, a special status is bestowed upon the yer: ¡°Levin Hazard¡± for a certain period of time.

    The ¡°Sealed Amber¡± is ssified ording to the level of risk contained within the gem stone, as well as the attributes of the amber itself. There sses are divided into five categories: ¡°Crude¡±, ¡°Dense¡±, ¡°Pure¡±, ¡°Hazardous¡± and ¡°Extreme¡±. Amongst those five, ¡°Hazardous¡± is more powerful that ¡°Extreme¡±, but upon use the caster also suffers a form of bacsh.

    The effects sealed within the amber cannot be activated by ident, and must be a conscious decision of the user.

    Special status: Levin Hazard. The caster wears a cloak of jet-ck thunder all around his/her body. That cloak decreases the damage taken for a period of time and deals damage to whatever touches the thunder. It can also paralyze whoever touches the thunder on contact.

    Special status: ¡°Hazard¡±. Upon activation grant the user the ¡°Overflow¡± effect. During that state the yer¡¯s motion sensitivity is tremendously increased, and all forms of movement are corrected slightly. In addition, aspensation every ten seconds the yer¡¯s current HP is being decreased by fifty percent.

    ¡­¡­ Oh my, that¡¯s just broken.

 Chapter 230: Uncontrollable Motion Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 230: Uncontroble Motion Part 1</h4>

    NAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! AAAAAAHHHHHH!!! NUUUOOOHHH!!! OOOOOOHHHHHH!!!!!! OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

    Please, allow me to exin the meaning of the above sounds.

    You see, that was the sound of experimenting. Experimenting for what, exactly? Experimenting for finding the optimal solutions. The bestbinations. To see what works best with one another.

    Also, a side note here: even though I¡¯ve been to the essory shop, it is impossible for me to take the INVENTORY off of the first essory slot. Which means that ultimately I only have five essory slots for me to do as I see fit with them!

    There was a whole lot of things that I wanted to try in order to try to remove the INVENTORY even for a moment, but it is not worth of mentioning here. For now, it should suffice to say that I did the following in the meantime:

    I went to the essory shop and opened the essory slots that were avable to me.

    I went to the Colosseum and verified just how Trigger Hazard works.

    I also remember going to the Break¡¯s workshop for some consultation.

    Now, please do bare in mind that the above actions may or may not have been done in that specific order¡­¡­ Which reminds me¡­¡­ Oooohhhhhh¡­¡­

    There is a whole lot of things that I would like to say about Lapiste¡¯s Star Mantle. But first and foremost, let me say this: I can store about three hundred spells worth of MP in this thing. Three hundred! With an essory like that, even a brain-dead monkey could be an arch-wizard and be virtually unstoppable.

    Of course, the amount of magic this mantle can contain is like a bucket. If you are running low on water inside of it, you can always replenish its contents with new water, however! Being able to fire off three hundred spells seemingly out of nowhere is really broken of an ability. It is said that the power and the casting speed for offensive spells in this game depends on the maximum amount of the caster¡¯s MP, but the mantle is not only limited to the offensive spells. You can pour other types of spells in it as well.

    What¡¯s more, there is no rule that dictates how exactly or in which order you are to use your spells, so it allows you for a certain dosage of creativity. I think that this will leave a whole lot of space to experiment ande up with broken spellbinations.

    For example, when ites to short-termed decisive battles, an overwhelming barrage of spells with no recast time proves to be especially effective.

    There is also the issue of MP converting to spell¡¯s power, but it affects only that: spell power. No need for me to worry about the spell¡¯s MP cost, since you do not need to pay any. There is also the issue of the overall DPS and if it is higher than your standard weapon attacks, but it is something that I can worry about sometimeter.

    ¡¸I must still verify this in greater detail, but I do wonder if the magic DPS is really amazing or something like that¡­¡­¡¹

    In the first ce, does the merits and demerits of chanting and non-chanting the spell even apply here? No, no, no, that¡¯s not the issue here. The biggest merit this mantle has is that you can pre-record the spell into its gems and store it there for as long as you wish.

    For example, the spells that were written on those magic scrolls that Rei was using during the decisive battle against Kutanid. The magic spells that were recorded on those scrolls¡­¡­ she said that they were quite expensive. And when ites to scrolls, expensive equals more firepower and better effects, right?

    You no longer need to buy expensive magic scrolls over and over again like an idiot. You only need to buy it once and then record it onto the mantle¡¯s gemstones. Yeas, that¡¯s right, broken and overpowered does not even begin to cover it¡­¡­ Just thinking about it makes me want toe up with different ways in which I can abuse that system.

    But here is where problems started to arise.

    ¡¸S-Sanraku-san¡­¡­ Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure that it is okay for me to use it here?¡¹

    ¡¸Did I not tell you before that this is all for the verification¡¯s sake? If you don¡¯t use it here, we cannot verify anything! That being said, it might be slightly dangerous, so it would be best for you if you took a step back or two for now, Emul.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, roger that.¡¹

    This here is Bunny Colosseum, the same Colosseum in which I was fighting against hordes of hounds, birds, mummies and all other kinds of monsters all that time ago. I heard that Akitsu Akane was going to try this ce out very soon, but for now I havee here in order to give another essory a go: ¡°Levin Trigger Hazard¡±.

    As far as I understand how this essory works, it reinforces your defenses while alsoing with its own demerits. The biggest problem here is the ¡°Overflow¡± state, without a doubt. There is also five categories of ¡°sealed ambers¡± with various degree of danger to them, and a ¡°Hazard¡± status, the one that increases your mobility and correct your movements but ites at price of your HP. So using this essory might be beneficial, but it can also be quite dangerous to the user.

    ¡¸There are too many unknown factors to this item. For the time being, let¡¯s try to use it and see what it actually does. That way we can understand the fastest¡­¡­¡¹

    Just to be on the safe side, for the duration of this test I have removed all other parts of the equipment, to avoid damaging them in any way. Now, the only thing that I was wearing was the ¡°Levin Trigger Hazard¡±. When everything was ready, I hit the amber that was on my right thumb against my chest, in order to satisfy the activation conditions and to see what would happen.

    BZZT! The moment the amber collided with my chest I could hear a faint sound, and in the next moment my whole body was covered in threads of ck, slightly numbing static electricity. Then, that electricity started to intensify, turning into threads of jet-ck thunder. And it was indeed covering my whole body, but¡­¡­ It was also kind of strange. I could feel that the thunder was not originating from the ambers of the gloves, but it was rathering from the inside of my own body. The ancient ck thunder¡­¡­ It was as if my avatar had be its source, the thing that was keeping it on going.

    ¡¸This is¡­¡­!¡¹

    I could feel the power flowing through my body. And that power was making me want to dash around like crazy, shouting out loud and go on a rampage unlike this ce had never seen before.

    Unable to stand it any longer, I took off and started to run. I ran and I ran, all the time going forward and without actually looking where I was going. And that¡¯s when I collided with something.

    Namely -- the wall.

 Chapter 230: Uncontrollable Motion Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 230: Uncontroble Motion Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Nbueh!?¡¹

    ¡¸S-SANRAKU¡ªSAAAAAAAAAN!?!?!?!?¡¹

    Yup, I¡¯m fucking dead.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Huh!?¡¹

    When I wake up after my respawn, I find myself not in the simple bed that could be found in the Colosseum, but rather in the fancy one in a room that was given to me within the Bunny Court.

    Wait, what just happened!? Why the fuck did I die!?

    ¡¸SANRAKU-SAN!? ARE YOU ALRIGHT!?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m sorry for worrying you, Emul. Now please exin to me how did it happened that I died?¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san, don¡¯t you remember? You started to run around like mad until you have crashed into a wall at full speed.¡¹

    I crashed¡­¡­ into a wall? Now, don¡¯t be stupid, that¡¯s impossible. There was a good twenty meters distance between me and the wall. Also, to drop dead simply by crushing into a wall is a little bit¡­¡­ No, wait a moment.

    ¡¸No way, so that¡¯s what it was all about¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Alright Emul, this might sound weird, but for now I might be dying quite a lot. But do not worry.¡¹

    ¡¸Fuaaahhh!?¡¹

    There is no death penalty for now. Good, before that hits me, there are a number of things that I would like to try out. So I rushed towards the Colosseum and mmed my amber thumb into my chest again.

    ¡¸Motion correction. Increased sensitivity¡­¡­¡¹

    For example, let¡¯s take a simple action of raising your arm and touching your chin with your hand. What if you were to increase the speed at which your arm moves to maximum and change the power with which your hand touches your chin to the level where you could basically dislocate your jaw?

    Human beings cannot exist whilst utilizing one hundred percent of their potential power. There are limits to our strength and senses that our bodies subject us to. For some reason, we are creatures that were designed to be unable to exist properly having the grip strength to crush a ripe apple with our bare hands and smashing roof tiles with single steps.

    In other words.

    ¡¸Bugeh.¡¹

    I tried to do a backflip. But instead of a backflip, I ended up performing a double one, with way more excessive force and power, not to mention a movement that I was unable to control. As a result I fell down to the ground face first and died.

    The way in which my neck was bent right now was a direction in which a human neck should never bend under any circumstances.

    ¡¸This is really dangerous.¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san, I really think there might be something seriously wrong with your head. Usually people falling to their deaths and breaking their necks like that is even more than simply ¡°really dangerous¡±!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, it is certainly way better than some other kinds of deaths that you can suffer here, like being crushed to death by giant w.¡¹

    Dying by being crushed t like a piece of origami is shocking to say the least, even if it is rtively painless. I don¡¯t even want to know just how shocking it would be if it was actually painful. Good thing that your consciousness was fading to ck before any pain could be registered.

    However, those experiments has given me a vague idea what the state of ¡°Overflow¡± is, and that it is connected with the excess amount of kic energy. Basically, all movements be really rough and overly powerful. What¡¯s more, thanks to the movement correction it causes you to do two backflips instead of one, and if you try to run a little bit it will cause you to crush into a wall. So the movements get over-exaggerated.

    It¡¯s like a machine whose output was calibrated in a wrong way. It¡¯s like a robot that was supposed to just walk around, but it puts too much power into every step, raises its legs too high and falls as a result.

    What¡¯s more, even the slightest injury in this state is enough to cause you to die.

    ¡¸But I wonder if it is going to work here? ¡°Arcana¡±¡­¡­!¡¹

    The ¡°Fool¡± Arcana. Its effect is that it halves the time that is necessary to recast a skill, but in return it impedes your healing and makes you take double damage. Which is already bad in and out of itself¡­¡­

    Then we have the extra effect of the ¡°Overflow¡± state, losing fifty percent of your current HP every ten seconds. If we double on that number, that would mean that every ten seconds I would get a minus one hundred percent of my current HP as damage.

    But the fact that I¡¯m still standing means that even though it decreases my HP by one hundred percent, it does not act like a ¡°Poison¡± status and kills me on the spot. In other word, even though I get a minus one hundred percent HP every ten seconds, I can withstand it with having one HP left.

    However, having one HP left is basically being half-dead. Now, let¡¯s add to that my paper thin defenses because of the curse marks, and the fact that the ¡°Overflow¡± makes it difficult to control your movements¡­¡­ This creates a situation where basically everything can kill you. You die if you hit a wall. You die if you stumble and fall to the ground. You will die if you fail to stick thending when you jump. And of course, you die when you get hit.

    I mean, there are so many things that can go wrong here and cause you to die¡­¡­ No, but wait, maybe Luck could take some of those risks away? It is true that with Luck above fifty you get a percent chance of surviving otherwise fatal injuries caused by self-harm, but can it be activated time after time? Hmm¡­¡­

    ¡¸This seriously reeks of retrogaming. I mean, a character dying in one shot? What the hell¡­¡­¡¹

    Moreover, with the movement speed increased tremendously, it is not even the in-game enemies that you need to worry about, but the environment. This is way more lethal now.

    In the era before the Full Dive system was invented, you could y side-scrolling rouge-like games at double or even triple the usual speed, but in this day and age it would cause a seriousg between the game world and you consciousness that was in Full Dive. Therefore, there is aw that prevents things like that from being implemented in games. However, apparently there is a research into that field going on recently, the one that would allow you to elerate the ¡°consciousness¡± as well. Personally, I think this is like trying to make a drag car to make sharp turns. You cannot really do that, but no one can prevent you from dreaming about it, right?

    ¡¸In short, in this state one bes ten. So if we were to put it in the terms that are easier to understand, it means that every action bes amplified at least by a few fold?¡¹

    ¡¸And here we go again with talking to yourself, Sanraku-san¡­¡­¡¹

    My dear Emul, my mind tends to work the best once I encounter a problem like that. It makes me want to find a proper solution, or rather, a way to utilize it to my advantage? Even bugs that seem useless can be turned into powerful weapons. Even items that were bought for one hundred yet can be sold for one hundred and fifty yen. The examples are many ande from many different branches. It¡¯s just a matter of researching them an utilizing them properly.

    ¡¸Okay, for today¡­¡­ Or you know what, make it tomorrow! Tomorrow we shall train ourselves in the art of basic movement while being in ¡°Overflow¡± state!¡¹

    ¡¸But before that!¡¹

    Mhm?

    ¡¸There is something that I have forgotten to tell you, Sanraku-san!¡¹

    ¡¸Something you have forgotten to tell me?¡¹

    ¡¸I havepletely forgotten to tell you that we were supposed to go to Break one-chan¡¯s ce!¡¹

    ¡¸Ah.¡¹

    I havepletely forgotten about it as well. That there is a number of chores that I was supposed to do.

 Chapter 231: Unintentional Price of Greatness Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 231: Unintentional Price of Greatness Part 1</h4>

    WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

    Upon entering Break¡¯s workshop, we saw the ck bunny working with the hammer at the anvil, the sounds filling the workshop being much more professional than those at Efuree¡¯s workshop.

    ¡¸Oh, it¡¯s you guys. So you havee.¡¹

    ¡¸You bet that we havee. So? How about it? Are my orders done and ounted for?¡¹

    ¡¸That they are, it is only a shame that I could not make a full set of armor out of those materials. But first things first. Here, the shieldes first¡­¡­ It turned out to be a splendid Legacy Weapon¡­¡­ It¡¯s name is ¡°Dis Pater¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸Ooh, ooohhh¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    It was a shield that looked much like buckler from other fantasy games. It was shaped like a disk, and it was ck in color, with a bluish tinge to it. But the air that was surrounding it was quite unlike any shield I havee across before. I wonder what is even the category of this thing? Is it a small shield? Or maybe a great shield?

    ¡¸Even though its been dead for a long time, you could still superb vitality emanating from that bone. The thing that you have brought me here were without a doubt of the highest quality, you can believe it. That being said, I am sorry for turning it into such an unsightly thing without asking for permission first.¡¹

    Oh wow, this thing¡¯s amazing! If you squeeze the trigger that was implemented into the shield¡¯s handle, its outer edges would open and expand, effectively increasing the shield¡¯s surface! It was now most certainly a great shield!

    Ohh, this is fun! This is super fun! For a moment or two, I got so absorbed in ying with the handle¡¯s trigger, switching the shield¡¯s gimmick on and off without a rest, that I was only brought back to reality when Break smashed her hammer into my shin. Ouch! What the hell, you cksmith bunny! I do not wear any armor there, you know! Doing something like that to me is dangerous!

    ¡¸Yo, this is seriously amazing! As you could have expected from a Grandmaster cksmith! You¡¯re the best, Break!¡¹

    ¡¸Nfufu, you have not seen anything yet! It¡¯s too early to praise me! Wait until you see this! Next item!¡¹

    ¡¸Uwoooh! Amazing!!!¡¹

    Next item was the one handed sword, just like I requested. But when I took it from the anvil and tried to swing it around a couple of times, I could feel that there was a considerable weight in that sword.

    It was a single edged sword with its de dyed in the color of the deep sea, made out of steel that was reinforced with fish monster bone. The de was also made in such a way that it was reminiscent of the fangs of some huge sea predator. I know that it was quite different, but I was getting lots of vibes simr to a Duhan de from this piece of work.

    ¡¸This here is the Sea Sword: Blue Predator! And I must say, making that one was a real challenge, since I am not all that well-versed when ites to refining materials that originate from underwater creatures and monsters. I had tobine some other refined techniques in order to make this work.¡¹

    ¡¸It certainly has a nice weight to it. But I wonder if there will be no problem with operating this thing alongside the shield at the same time?¡¹

    ¡¸But wait! There is more from where that came from!¡¹

    ¡¸Uwoooaaahhh!!! Amazing Amazing!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san and Break Onee-chan¡­¡­ You guys surely are having fun with this, right? It¡¯s slightly entertaining , but at the same time slightly concerning.¡¹

    It¡¯s just enthusiasm, you know? Enthusiasm! Someone who is not into this sort of thing would never possibly hope to understand! And when one enthusiast meets another enthusiast, this is where the magic starts to happen! Not to mention that the fun from witnessing new weapons get even more intense that way¡­¡­!

    And the best thing about this thing is that it never gets old! So if I can get excited by seeing my new toys, why won¡¯t you just let me enjoy myself a little bit more?

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Say, Break?¡¹

    ¡¸What is it now?¡¹

    ¡¸I may be wrong about this, so please correct me if it is indeed like that, but this appearance¡­¡­ were you perhaps aiming for it from the start?¡¹

    Thest but not least in the parade of the finished products were the helmet and waist armor that were made out of the remaining materials from Arctus Regalex, otherwise known as the Giant Oarfish. Break said that those things were the ones she was the most proud of.

    These two parts were apparently belonging to something called the ¡°Rakedaimon Set¡±, and were made to imitate the image of Arctus Regalex as closely as possible. And if you look through the history of the real world, you would find out that this helmet looks almost exactly like a certain helmet of a certain army from the particr time period in the past. Also, the waist armor felt like it was not really an armor, but rather metal tes attached to pieces of fabric. I then take a long and good look at myself ande to a certain surprising conclusion.

    Hal-naked warrior. A particr helmet. Mantle on my back. A round shield in my hand. No matter how I try to look at it, I look exactly like a Spartan warrior from ancient Greece.

    ¡¸Say, Emul, which of the two do you like more? A half-naked wrestler? Or maybe a half-naked Spartan warrior?¡¹

    ¡¸Sparta? What is that? I have no idea, but in my opinion anything that is not a straight up half-naked is already a step in a right direction.¡¹

    ¡¸Thought as much¡­¡­ Ah well, we shall see how it goes.¡¹

 Chapter 231: Unintentional Price of Greatness Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 231: Unintentional Price of Greatness Part 2</h4>

    The actual performance is really good. Initially I was reluctant towards a set of equipment like that, but in the end I was not disappointed. It was everything I would have hoped for.

    Anyways, it will be good to hold those things in my inventory for now. Who knows? Maybe they will turn out to actually save my life when I¡¯ll happen to find myself in a pinch one of these days?

    ¡¸Come on, Emul! We are going to do some hunting for a little while!¡¹

    ¡¸Roger that! But where are we going to go, exactly?¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t want to waste any more time doing basically nothing, so we might as well utilize our time in some productive way!¡¹

    Like trying to push forward another Unique Scenario EX that is avable to me: ¡°The Epic of the Vorpal Bunnies¡±.

    Receive the quest, get the coordinates, set a waypoint¡­¡­ Now what was the objective here? Weissashe mentioned three delta devices that are located in the ¡°ruins of the old castle that bears the signs of innocence¡±.

    If I remember correctly it is that ce we have seen on the way towards Fiftsia, right? The one that is full of bad memories, such as updating my curse of Luukan and fighting that retarded dragon. Although truth to be told we were in a hurry on that day and we only managed to skim through the ins area without delving deeper anywhere else.

    As long as we have ¡°old castle¡¯s ruins¡± to deal with, there is only one such ce thates to mind. ording to Rei, it was a fortress that was built in the Age of the Gods and it is the ce where a mysterious ¡°Line Knight¡± set his domain¡­¡­ that is the ce where I should be looking next.

    ¡¸Alright, let¡¯s test these bad boys right away. Break, we might be back sometimester for repairs, along with impressions on those weapons.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, why do I get the feeling that you are going to tear them to pieces this time as well? But when that timees¡­¡­¡¹

    Break silently lifts her hammer up, as if to indicate that I would get a serious beating if I break her weapons apart one more time. Seeing her that way, together with Emul we rush out of her workshop in a hurry, as if the devil itself was on our asses.

    ¡¸That was not a joke. She was actually being serious there.¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san, from now on it would be in your best interest to actually take a better care of your weapons and equipment.¡¹

    ¡¸No objections here¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Now then, whatever should we do from here on out?¡¹

    Right about now, together with Emul we were hiding in the back alley, waiting for a group of people to pass us by.

    ¡¸Where the hell did they go!?¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, I lost sight of them!¡¹

    ¡¸That bunny! The way it was dressed was so cute!¡¹

    ¡¸I knew he was in Fiftsia! It was a good thing to actually camp here!¡¹

    I havepletely forgotten about the fact that everyone was on the lookout for the name Sanraku as ofte. Furthermore, Fiftsia was currently overcrowded with people who managed to advance through the game by a hefty degree.

    It¡¯s midnight! There won¡¯t be that many yers here! Haha, what fool I was to think that! That is why we are currently being chased around.

    ¡¸Now then, whatever shall we do about this¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Awawawawa¡­¡­¡¹

    I don¡¯t mind being an object of rumors, but I don¡¯t like it when people try to interfere with my gaming experience like that.

    And I would surely hate if there were peopleing right after me everywhere I go, especially if that ce would be the ruins of the old castle.

    ¡°If we keep on following this guy around, he¡¯ll lead us towards the Unique Scenarios and Unique Loot!¡± I imagine that¡¯s the line of reasoning for those people. They are like hyenas, wanting to get all the juicy bits without actually putting any effort into it themselves.

    Party y is good and all, but right about now I really am in the mood for some solo y. I know that Emul is with me, but that¡¯s fine and all. ying together with NPCs is apletely unique experience as opposed to ying together with other yers.

    ¡¸Do I really want to use that here? No, but¡­¡­¡¹

    The reason for why I chose the Blue Holy Grail was also in anticipation for situations like that, however, it was alsoing with its own set of rather bothersome disadvantages.

    The Blue Holy Grail¡¯s power is Gender Reversal. And the disadvantages here are that your normal gender cannot be restored until a certain conditions are met. Those conditions being ¡°death¡± and ¡°respawn¡±.

    At first it does not seem so bad. But it also means that unless I go battle someone or something and die to that someone or something, I would be forced to fight as a female version of myself. And that is not something that I would like for the moment.

    And as long as my respawn ce is here in Rabbitz, I cannot go anywhere else without exceeding at least some sort of effort. There was also an option of switching my body to the female version, but I am more ustomed to fighting as a male for obvious reasons. Plus, since that item is connected to Unique Scenario EX, it might attract some special monsters my way, and attention is the only thing that I would really like to avoid right about now.

    No, wait, let¡¯s stop for a moment and think about it. There are currently three ways in which I can approach this situation.

    First one is a forced breakthrough. And bearing in mind that there might be some yersing here in the nearby future, I do not really want to turn towards that option. But since I have not done anything wrong in the first ce, there should be no need for me to have to run away, right?

    The second option here is what I call a Medjed Dash, and what is actually a recreation of that one stunt that I happened to perform all the way back at Thirdrema. However, at that time I wanted to cause as muchmotion as possible in order for me to break through, but now I would want something quite the opposite. If I could help it, I would want to keep it as confidential as humanly possible.

    The third option was to exit this ce as covertly as possible, since not all the yers are logged in during the night and could stay that way. There will be points throughout the night when the number of logged in yers will be considerably lower than usual, and you could use that time to even y solo to some extent. But to leave the city covertly like that¡­¡­ this will take a lot of time to aplish.

    ¡¸And that this why I shall take the fourth option.¡¹

    I don¡¯t really want to think about it, but if all other yers in ShangriLa Frontier assume that ¡°Sanraku is currently in Fiftsia¡±, then getting out of the city unnoticed would truly be a nigh impossible of a task.

    Then I guess it is a high time to change the scenery for a bit.

    ¡¸Emul, open a teleport gate to Elevental!¡¹

    ¡¸Sure thing! Good to see you again in such high spirits, Sanraku-san!¡¹

    ¡¸For now you can call me General Sanraku!¡¹

    Wouldn¡¯t that make me a half-naked general? Or a shameful general? Haha, listen up, Luukan. Sometimes in the future I¡¯m going to get you for this.

 Chapter 232: After the Dreams of the Strong Ones Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 232: After the Dreams of the Strong Ones Part 1</h4>

    Upon exiting the teleportation portal, we have arrived in Elevental. For a moment out there I felt the strong urge to go and pay the crystal scorpion field a visit, but almost right after that I have reflected on that action. This ce was like a minefield. A mine field where the danger level was way higher than in the underwater city. I absolutely cannot allow myself to go there together with Emul. So, maybe some other time.

    ¡¸Besides, it may be a better idea to go back there once I¡¯m way stronger, so that it won¡¯t be as much of a chore as it was.¡¹

    Besides, our destination lies in theplete opposite direction from the crystal scorpion cliff. So going there now would just be a huge waste of time and effort.

    The area where we are headed consists of two independent sectors: an open field and the ruins of the castle. And unlike the ins where mainly biological monsters were present, you could expect that the castle would throw at you a whole different set of different monsters. ¡­¡­ And those castle monsters probably won¡¯t be pushovers.

    Anyways, I did some quick research beforehand, and apparently the minimum level for monsters in that area is level eighty. Also, the wiki says that without proper defenses and countermeasures, your rear guard might get decimated in a matter of minutes. The loot in here was also supposed to be good, but there were supposed to be traps guarding it from the yers, et cetera et cetera¡­¡­ Nothing out of the ordinary. Business as usual, you might even want to say.

    ¡¸That only leave the Contour Knight, or Line Knight as Rei named it.¡¹

    ¡¸Hoeh¡­¡­ The name makes it feel like a skeleton or something like that, what do you think, Sanraku-san?¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t know. We are yet to investigate this area, so I would like to avoid passing judgement on anything without any kind of proof or information.¡¹

    If there is a saving grace here, it is this: the probability of meeting other yers in here should be rtively low.

    After all, even the vor text for that location says it all: a high level area meant only for those who wish to test themselves and push their skills and abilities to the absolute limit.

    ¡¸Also, the amount of EXP points in here is not all that great, items drop rates sucks absolute ass and the items themselves are not something to write home about either¡­¡­¡¹

    That being said, not everything regarding this ce was fully discover. Some people were still investigating various things, so it might turn out that there are rare materials and valuable items in here, but the thing is that they are yet to be discovered by the yers¡­¡­ But still, this is just a game.

    The main reason why people y games in the first ce is to have fun. So what is the probability that someone is going to venture into such dangerous ce with seemingly nothing interesting going on about it around midnight on a weekday? Not many, that¡¯s for sure.

    ¡¸But still, I do not think that there is nothing to be found in this ce.¡¹

    After all, the only reason that we are here in the first ce is because the requirements of the Unique Scenario EX guided us here.

    That being said, we casually pass through the castle¡¯s main gate. It was destroyed and crumbling away, as if some sort of external force crushed into it and blown the majority of it away. Now that¡¯s a tone setter, it give off that vibe you get from catastrophic movies. Or a historical drama, at the very least.

    ¡¸Wawa, w-why is it so dark in here. I can¡¯t see a thing¡­¡­ Hyueh!?¡¹

    ¡¸Consider yourself lucky, Emul. See? Is it not much brighter in here thanks to that?¡¹

    ¡¸You did not make it brighter! It got brighterpletely on its own, Sanraku-san!?¡¹

    Welp, that¡¯s about right.

    Judging by the way the lights started to light up as soon as we entered this ce, even though it must have been a while since this ce was erected, the technology from the Age of the Gods was still fully intact and operational.

    ¡¸When ites to the setting, I guess it was kind of a novel idea to use the remnants of the technology from the Age of the Gods to create the ruins, but after all we have been through it feels rather bleak to me¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You can say that again. But what was this ce even used for? For war, maybe? There was supposed to be war in this world long, long ago.¡¹

    As long as humans exist, there will be wars and conflicts. And as long as there are conflicts, soldiers need ces where they can be stationed. Not that I would be well-versed in the history of this world. If you want to know more about it, Emul, you would have better luck asking the Magical Girl wannabe from Library for a detailed story. She is bound to know SOMETHING at the very least.

    Of course, I really like to listen to stories like that, so when the timees for a story to be told, I will be sure to give it a listen as well.

    ¡¸So in other words, the civilization that was here before us was way more advanced than we are right now, but somehow they still endedpletely wiped out, huh? Talk about a clich¨¦.¡¹

    While venturing through the ruins that give off a rather Sci-Fi vibe, I happen across items and trash that looked more recent, like old armor parts and trash. So apparently after the Era of the Gods people were using that ce as well. I could feel Emul shaking slightly while sitting on my head.

    Also, as a side note: the Spartan-like helmet may have been good, but it was rather ufortable for me to be wearing it all the time while adventuring, so ultimately I have decided to put it back in my inventory and put on my trusty bird mask instead.

    I initially wanted to put on that Salmon Head that I managed to salvage from Luls, but the smell was so strong from it that Emul instantly started toin¡­¡­ Come to think of it, that little fe whines andins a lot these day, huh?

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Sanraku-san, I somehow got a feeling that there is something strange in here with us.¡¹

    ¡¸I suppose so. Although I was hoping more for a fixed encounter rather than a wondering type.¡¹

    The ¡°Fixed Encounter¡± type of monster is a monster that you can encounter only in a specifically designated areas for that monster. ¡°Wondering Type¡± is that kind of monster that is given a freedom to roam throughout the entire area, which gives it more of an element of surprise.

    The former is going to leave you be when you manage to put some distance from it or run past a certain threshold. Thetter will keep on chasing after you, not letting you get away no matter what.

 Chapter 232: After the Dreams of the Strong Ones Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 232: After the Dreams of the Strong Ones Part 2</h4>

    A rotten wooden box, a skeleton, a rusty old sword. While going through the sections of the ruins that had more recent junk littering the ce all over, probably belonging after the Era of the Gods, together with Emul I step through the mechanical door that opened automatically.

    And what we witness after going through the door is a spacious room, way bigger than the corridor we were walking through just now. Contrary to Emul, I know what a ¡°cyberpunk¡± is, and that room was just like that. In the past it must have been a hub that would lead to many different areas. Or maybe it was and ¡°entranceway¡± of sorts.

    And standing right in the middle of that space was a majestic kind of being¡­¡­ Seeing it right now I kind of understood what Rei meant by ¡°Knight of the Lines¡±. However, I do believe that a ¡°Contour Knight¡± would have been a much more urate name here.

    ¡¸I see¡­¡­ There are only lines to this thing. No contents, no insides, just the contours of the monster. Interesting.¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku-san! I don¡¯t feel any other presences here! It must be all alone!¡¹

    Oh, so it was going to be one on one battle, huh? What is this, the spirit of chivalry speaking? Or was it perhaps something else entirely?

    To describe the knight would be just as Rei described it earlier. There are only contours, with noting inside of them. Only the colors of the background that was directly behind it.

    And because it was a 3D model, being able to only see its contours was giving it a truly bizarre of an appearance. It was kind of reminding me of children¡¯s connect the dots pictures, or jungle gyms that were recently less and less seen across the ygrounds.

    But no, that¡¯s not quite it. I am sure that this is not just a powerless skeleton that is going to fall to pieces if you just hit it slightly.

    And what is it that makes that noise? Is that its weapon? That big sword thing made out of lines and dots it was holding in its hand.

    ¡¸Emul, if this thing wants a one on one duel, then I see no harms in epting that. Leave everything to me and just focus on self-defense for now.¡¹

    ¡¸Roger that! I thought that you would say that, Sanraku-san!¡¹

    Was that apliment? Should I take pride in the fact that mypanion trusts me so much?

    However, being cheered on from the safety of the corner of the room was not that bad of a thing once in a while.

    ¡¸It¡¯s a one on one duel. No tricks, no dirty tactics. I¡¯m going to beat you fair and square. Soe on!¡¹

    The weapons of my choice this time around are not the double swords, but rather the shield and the single handed sword ¡°Blue Predator¡±.

    When was thest time that I was using the basic knight equipment like sword and shield? Was it perhaps Sh*t Chronicles Online? Sometimes before the final boss, maybe?

    ¡¸I do not need any extra assistance here. I¡¯ll show you that raw skill makes all the difference here!¡¹

    What is the difference between anti-monster and anti-yer? If you were to ask me, I would say that it is the ¡°gap of quality¡±.

    Monsters¡­¡­ In other words mobs that are supposed to be defeated for the yers to grow stronger. And in order for it to stay that way, there has to be a certain ¡°quality gap¡± in their stats and performance that must be prevailed no matter what.

    But the PVP battle is something that is fundamentally different. Even though in game is itpletely safe, the process is basically the same every time: two yers try to kill one another in order to obtain victory by all means nessary.

    Because the yers in games can never die, we can perform the most daredevil actions imaginable and we can challenge the most powerful monsters, demons and even gods without fear or doubt.

    It may be a little bit of a thought shortcut here, but a ¡°gap¡± between two yers is just that: a gap. It is not a limitation imposed by the system, but the pauses and all of the small actions and peculiarities that make individual and individual.

    So what am I trying to say here? Basically, the contour knight is thattter category, as there is almost no clear gap for me to exploit in its actions.

    ¡¸Right in the middle¡­¡­ Whoa, it¡¯s tough¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    The moment I saw the knight¡¯s de starting to move, I activated a skill. Then a sense on inconsistency envelops me for a mere moment, as if the world around me suddenly came to a stop.

    I don¡¯t really want to think just what kind of system governs an effect like that, but for the time being I have gained enough time to just casually move my shield to the side, in order to parry the sword and move it out of my way, so that it would no longer be a threat to me.

    The only thing that elerates here are my own thoughts. My physical body moves at the exact speed as the Contour Knight, but it is more than enough for me to parry the sword¡¯s thrust using my shield and avoid the damage that this attack would otherwise cause.

    ¡¸!!!¡¹

    I think that being able to use such skill at will would be really nice.

    The time goes back to normal from being slowed down, and I managed to dodge therge sword that wasing my way, causing it topletely miss its mark.

    This skill is so good. It allows you to even the chances and even brings some of the PVP battle tactics into the monster battles. This of course makes the monster battles significantly easier to handle, which can be especially helpful for yers who excel at PVP and are not all that great at gimmick enemy battles.

    ¡¸Is this really going to work!?¡¹

    Attacking the lines that make up the knight¡¯s shape are basically useless. The only good thing about this situation is that attacking said lines does not deplete the weapon¡¯s durability, so even if I swing with all of my might it does not make any difference.

    However, some of the hits have proven to be effective. It seems that if you attack the ces in between the lines, or the knight¡¯s ¡°insides¡±, it will be counted as normal damage.

    They may be ¡°contour¡± indeed, but it does not change the fact that there are contents within those contours. It is not flesh and bones and blood, but it is more like an air in the knight-shaped, air-filled balloon.

    It will not explode if you poke it with a de, but if you pierce it deep enough it is going to be more than enough to get the job done.

    It is merely a theory, but as long as I continue to deplete the Contour Knight¡¯s magic power and health, it should fall down eventually! Perhaps! Allegidely!

    ¡¸As long as physical attacks are effective, I don¡¯t feel like losing!¡¹

    When ites to Blue Predator, aside from its normal stats it possesses an extra effect: additional extra damage against the monster with the ¡°Underwater¡± trait. It is a trait that is difficult to satisfy outside of Luls, but its basic stats are high enough for the sword to be able to hold on entirely on its own.

    The de is not nearly as sharp as the Duhan de andck the raw power that some of my other weapons possess, but since it is made out of beasts¡¯ ws and fangs, it is perfect for slicing and ripping bodies apart. This seems to be working particrly well against the Contour Knight.

    ¡¸Fuuh¡­¡­ This time around let me put some proper armor on and see how it actually goes. Let¡¯s do this thing properly.¡¹

    I can clearly feel the power and impact of piercing the knight¡¯s abdomen with my sword. A few secondster, when I pulled out the Blue Predator out of its body, the knight stiffened and froze in a frightened motion, only to fall apart like a house of cards in the very next moment.

    There are hardly any drop items in this ce. And although I cannot be all that certain about since my level is ny nine extended, I think that the Number of experience points from the monsters here is not all that great either.

    Plus, the way in which the enemies AI was acting is annoying as hell¡­¡­ Now I see. I would never like toe here ever again of my own volition unless there would be a quest that specifically points me towards here.

    ¡¸Now then, Emul. Let us move forward.¡¹

 Chapter 233: Destination RTA, Aiming For the Worldâ€™s Record! Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 233: Destination RTA, Aiming For the World¡¯s Record! Part 1</h4>

    Just like in case of of Vorpal Bunnies, in this game even though some monsters may share the same name or category, their individual characteristics may bepletely different.

    I parry the huge iron ball with spikes on a chain thates to crush my head from the side, roll away hiding behind my shield all the time and look up where the blow came from. Amazing! I managed to deflect a blow of this huge iron spike ball and there was not even a single scratch on the shield¡¯s surface! I continued to admire the quality of my new items while simultaneously piercing the Contour Knight¡¯s throat with my Blue Predator sword.

    For a second out there I keep on watching the copsing knight to be absolutely sure that it was dead. Once the knight is no more, I go to join with Emul, who was ying a splendid role of a decoy all this time, grabbing the attention of the other Contour Knight, but this time this one was wielding a spear.

    ¡¸Magic¡­¡­ Regrettably, it looks like it will do us no good in here.¡¹

    ¡¸I have never even heard of monsters tha make themselves stronger simply by absorbing magic power into themselves!¡¹

    I am starting to understand why so many people did not wanted toe to this ce. It turns out that the Contour Knights could also absorb magic into themselves, rendering magic casting characterspletely useless.

    Perhaps a physical attack but enhanced with magic could be effective here. However a purely magical attack, like ¡°Magic Edge¡± for example, would really be of no use here, maybe even acting as a provisional heal for the monster instead of damage source. And nothing sucks more than healing the enemy when you actually wanted to damage it.

    ¡¸Now then, Emul¡­¡­ Top or bottom? Which do you think is more suspicious in your eyes?¡¹

    ¡¸I would say that it¡¯s the bottom!¡¹

    ¡¸And Ipletely agree with you.¡¹

    In your typical fantasy setting, when exploring a fortress or ruins like that it would usually be the top of the structure that houses a boss, an objective or a secret of some sort. However, those ruins in particr have two settings instead of one, so it needs to be taken into ount.

    This means that maybe it is necessary for us to view this ce not under the assumption that it is a fantasy setting, but rather a Sci-Fi setting. Which would make matters a whole lot different in many ways.

    And seeing that there were some really gigantic weapons and remains scattered all over the ins and outside of the ruins themselves, it can be assumed that during the Era of the Gods or even after that humans were forced to fight some sort of enemy that we could not evenprehend. Like that strange ¡°Omega¡± thing we saw a while ago.

    If that was really the case, than it would be logical to think that putting important things on top of the structures where they would be easily essed would not be the wisest of moves out there.

    ¡¸Anyways, as I was saying, probably there should be a way down somewhere around here¡­¡­¡¹

    There are the stairs that lead to the upper levels of the ruins, but there are no stairs that would lead down¡­¡­ Or wait a moment. Could it be? Maybe if we are to go full Sci-Fi here, there would be no stairs, but rather a teleportation device? Could a possibility like that really exist?

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­ If I were someone living in the Sci-Fi like setting of the Era of the Gods, how would I go about doing things¡­¡­?¡¹

    When you start to think about it, people like Gravekeeper Wezaemon and Setsuna of the Distant Past were pretty much like gods in this setting. That being said, they were using both magic and advanced technology, allowing them to do things that we current era humans could only ever dream of. So in my eyes it is entirely usible to use teleportation or warp system, since it is basically abination of technology and magic put into practice.

    ¡¸I am starting to think that the Age of the Gods was not only about technology. They smell awfully like magic as well.¡¹

    If that was the case, than it is really simple. If a civilization with a Middle Ages setting like the current one can use teleportation gates to travel vast distances, then there is no reason why the Era of the Gods civilization would be unable to do so, but even better and on a much grander scale. After all, they were supposed to be way more advanced than the people of the current era.

    ¡¸Then I guess that there should be a teleportation device in here somewhere, right? But no, of course it would not be ced in in sight. That would be far too easy. There must be some sort of gimmick to it, just like Luls¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Mumumu¡­¡­ No matter how hard I keep on looking, I cannot seem to find the way down!¡¹

    Said Emul when he got back. Ever since we managed to defeat the Contour Knights, he has been running around all over the ce, on the lookout for a possible way down from here.

    But just like he said, even though he was looking for a way out, it seems that he was unable to find one.

    ¡¸Figured as much¡­¡­ Maybe we should go up one level for now¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, I would be careful out there if I were you, Sanraku-san! There is like a big hole on the other side of that wall, so you¡¯d better be careful to not fall in there by ident.¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯ve hit the jackpot, Emul!¡¹

    ¡¸Fueah!?¡¹

    So there is a way to go down! I knew it! I knew that there was bound to be one!

    Ahh, I see. So it was supposed to be an elevator, huh? It would be hard to understand its concept if you have never seen one, and since it was so well integrated into a wall, and because it was damaged quite badly you would be unable to operate it normally.

    And the hole was so small that even Emul would have trouble passing through without having to squeeze his way through. No matter how you think about it, it may not have been built with the intention of people using it.

    ¡¸Maybe it¡¯s just how things were back then? You know, a standard?¡¹

    ¡¸What do you mean?¡¹

    ¡¸Maybe at the very bottom of the castle there was an eleva¡­¡­ A device that was meant for bringing people up and down between each floor.¡¹

    Besides, the lights were functioning normally all over this floor. So if the lights were alright, it would be really weird if the elevator was the only thing that was put out ofmission for reasons whatever.

    Now, the question is: how exactly does it work? Does it only go up from the very bottom? Or is there some sort of a gimmick that is required to activate it? Either way, we will discover that with further exploration, or else¡­¡­

 Chapter 233: Destination RTA, Aiming For the Worldâ€™s Record! Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 233: Destination RTA, Aiming For the World¡¯s Record! Part 2</h4>

    Now, did you really think I would have jumped into a seemingly bottomless hole head first like it was nothing?

    You utter fools! I am way too smart for a rookie mistake like that! Now behold! The superior ability nurtured by years of experience!

    I take out one of my swords and ce it right above the hole in the ground. I then simply let go of it and let if fall down. It was falling down for quite a while, but finally I have heard a pleasant sound of metal hitting the stone floor. It was faint, almost non-existent, but it was surely there.

    I see, it certainly is deep. If we would try to go down normally, there would be nothing more but a minced meat left out of us¡­¡­ If we were to descend normally, that is.

    ¡¸Alright, Emul my friend! We are going down!¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? Going down? But how, exactly?¡¹

    ¡¸We are going to get down directly from here.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Sanraku-san, aren¡¯t you forgetting about something? This is a hole. Not a road. We cannot just go down the hole like that.¡¹

    The way Emul was talking to me was like a parent trying to exin it to a child that it cannot do something that it wanted to do really badly. However, the more he was talking, the wider the smile on my face was bing.

    My oh my, Emul my dear friend, have you already forgotten? I am Sanraku, a man who can run through the sky. So even if the path leads vertically and there is no road for us to follow, that is hardly a problem.

    ¡¸B-But, you see! It should be obvious, right! I know that you are amazing, Sanraku-san. We all know that. But even you cannot possibly hope to dive into a hole like that and expect it to end without any harm on your end, right!?¡¹

    ¡¸You are absolutely right. Normally it would be impossible for me to fit through a shaft this small and so deep¡­¡­¡¹

    The doors may very well be an indestructible object or anything else like that. If it was your normal doors from a normal town or a vige, it would be possible to break them down somehow, but here it would surely not work. Because this is an advanced dungeon with a motive taken straight out from a Sci-Fi.

    ¡¸Say, Emul my friend? Have you already forgotten about a teensy-tiny little detail? That your Sanraku can now use magic as well?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­??? ¡­¡­!!! ¡­¡­¡­¡­!!!???¡¹

    Just what is this guy talking about!? No, wait! Could it be¡­¡­ No, it couldn¡¯t!? No, no, no, no, no!!! That¡¯s impossible!!! Impossible!!!

    Emul still sits on top of my head, but I can easily imagine that this is what he must be thinking. Also, his facial expression must be truly priceless right about now. Or not. He was frantically clinging to my neck, while the Star Mantle started to flutter furiously.

    ¡¸Listen now, Emul, and listen well.¡¹

    ¡¸W¡­¡­ What is¡­¡­ is it now!?¡¹

    ¡¸There is no specification that cannot be abused!¡¹

    ¡¸W-Wai¡­¡­ Please wait just a¡­¡­ Pyiii!!!!¡¹

    I activate the magic stored within the cloak. Now, if salmons are capable of ascending waterfalls with ease, then I shall descend with even bigger ease!

    This magic is, in a sense, the kind of magic that requires a whole lot of micro management. Ites from a magic scroll that I bought at Rabbitz shop under Emul¡¯s rmendation.

    After all, this is the magic that saved my life once in the past, the magic that allows to open up a teleportation gate and open the ¡°eject¡± point at the specified coordinates within five meter radius from the caster¡¯s location.

    The short range teleportation magic that Emul used once in the past in order to help me take down Mud Digger. Its name is¡­¡­

    ¡¸Apport!¡¹

    The coordinates of the destination gate strongly depend on the field of vision, but as long as the hole or a gap is big enough for your gaze to pass through it in the other side, you can set it right there!

    At that time, Emul activated it for me and right now he is holding onto me as if his life depended on it.

    It idles for a moment, but right after that the coordinates of the yer and the NPC ovep, making the process that much shorter. The darkness is indeed deep, and if we don¡¯t synchronize that perfectly neither I nor Emul will be able to escape from being turned into a paste.

    ¡¸Falling¡­¡­ Hyiii¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸Everything¡¯s fine, Emul! Believe in me! Who believes in you¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸B-Believe in meeeeee¡­¡­!?¡¹

    Both Emul and I are being dragged down. With every passing second we gain more and more speed, which would eventually be converted into force of impact uponnding, resulting in our gruesome deaths.

    ¡¸Haahahahahaha!!! Hooray for Skills!!!¡¹

    Activate Flip Float and regain my posture! It¡¯s time to traverse downwards! Yosh*tsune¡¯s Possession! Meliotic Foot! Gravity Zero¡­¡­ All start!

    By jumping through the air, I slowly descend down the shaft from wall to wall.

    Climbing correction. Movement correction. Sprinting correction. Gravity correction. If you can run on the ceiling, then running down and up the walls is as easy, if not even easier.

    ¡¸Don¡¯t underestimate someone who was once flying at high speed through Universe filled with asteroid belts and cosmic debris in zero gravity!!!¡¹

    ¡¸We¡¯re gonna die, we¡¯re gonna die, we¡¯re gonna die, we¡¯re gonaaaaaa¡­¡­¡­¡­ WHATTHEHELLISEVENUNIVERSEANYWAY!?!?!?!?!?!?!?¡¹

    With Zero Gravity in effect, every surface that my foot touches is treated like the ground. So in other words, what I was trying to do here was to traverse down the shaft by letting ourselves fall bit by bit, while sticking to walls constantly in order to reduce the falling animations.

    ¡¸The Universe¡­¡­ That is what lies at the end of the sky that reflect the past to us!¡¹

    ¡¸PYYYYYYAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!?????????¡¹

    Sh*t, the effects of Gravity Zero are soon to end¡­¡­ I have done every single thing that I could to make this work, but the bottom was still very far away.

    At this rate, I¡¯ll¡­¡­ No wait, that¡¯s it! I can do it!

    ¡¸Emul, that might tickle you a little bit.¡¹

    ¡¸HHHHHHYYYYYYIIIIIIHHHHHH!!!???¡¹

    The probability of this thing actually ending up in a failure is quite high here, higher than anything else¡­¡­ But I have no other choice but to do it. No, I must do it!

    No worries. I can do this! I only need to imagine! As long as I have a concrete image in my head, I can do virtually anything!

    I clench my right fist tightly and m the amber on my right thumb into my chest. Causing the threads of ck electricity to emerge and starting to crawl all over my body.

    ¡¸Byah!?¡¹

    ¡¸Now, I would like you to bear with me for a moment and be patient¡­¡­!¡¹

    It was that kind of behavior that exceeds all recognition. The first time I ever tried it it did not work, the eleration was too sudden. But even if I was to take that factor out of the picture, my reaction was too slow, so it would have been a failure either way.

    That is why.

    ¡¸I simply need to go even faster¡­¡­!¡¹

    My consciousness elerates.

    About one hundred meters until I reach the bottom of the ruins.

    Six seconds left until the gravity manages to finish me off.

    ck thunder starts to shine in the dark.

    Five seconds is more than enough here.

    In that exact moment, I managed to caught my body.

 Chapter 234: The Story of Unsightly, Biting Dog Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 234: The Story of Unsightly, Biting Dog Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Emul? ¡­¡­ Oi, Emul? Are you alive, buddy?¡¹

    ¡¸S-S-S-S-S-Somehow¡­¡­ B-B-B-Butt I cannot¡­¡­ S-S-S-S-Stop shaking¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Noo, I¡¯m really sorry for that, you know? But the exnation is at fault here as well, since it was not all that urate. ¡°Debuffs will be given to whoever attacks you¡±. I thought it might be good for you to touch it since you were not attacking. Nowe here, open your mouth. I¡¯ll give you a potion so that we can clear that abnormal status of yours¡­¡­ There we go.¡¹

    ¡¸Abububububuh¡­¡­ Geho!!! Geho! Geho! Geho!¡¹

    Oh, terribly sorry about that as well. My hand slipped therepletely by ident.

    ¡¸What would you do if we ended up getting buried deep within the bowels of the earth, huh!?¡¹

    ¡¸No, really, I am sorry for that. I was expecting something like that to happen, but it was even more exciting than I would have thought. Still, I would lie if I told you that at least a part of me was not scared there for a moment.¡¹

    ¡¸A part of¡­¡­ Agggh, that¡¯s it! I¡¯m done! I¡¯m done! I¡¯m done! GEEEEEEZZZZZ!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Ouch, ouch, ouch, it hurts when you keep hitting my head like that, so could you please stop it? What matters here is that we are both alive and that we are safe and sound, right? So cut me some ck.

    ¡¸No, that is beside the point! That was a total improvisation! There was nothing even remotely close to a n behind that! I was prepared for another thing like that! But I was not prepared for something like THAT to happen!!! Ga, ga, ga, ga, ga, gah!!!¡¹

    Alright! Alright, already! Now please stop shaking my head so much!

    With the limited eleration we somehow managed to reach to the very bottom of the elevator shaft. However, due to the speed and the force it was really hard for me to handle the inertia properly.

    Since I knew that it would be risky operation, I had a few contingency ns up my sleeve in case of emergency, but while we were going down so fast I really thought for a moment out there that this is it. I thought that we would be goners for sure.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ So? How was it, Emul? How did it feel to descend from the top to the very bottom so fast?¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t want to experience something like that ever again! Not in a million years! No matter what riches and what treasures you would offer me for that!¡¹

    Yeah, so¡­¡­ I only started to notice, but for a Vorpal Bunny you sure cry and scream quite a lot, huh?

    But oh well, it¡¯s not that I was not expecting something like that.

    ¡¸Emul, we are finally here. The lowest level.¡¹

    ¡¸Huuuuh¡­¡­¡¹

    It also seems that this ce chose to wee us rather than get in our way. At least for now.

    The lights around the floor light up once more. Seriously, how exactly do they even work? But what is important is that the whole ce was now illuminated by those lights.

    ¡¸What the hell, is this¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh! It¡¯s a hole! Another hole!? NOOOOO!!! I don¡¯t want to fall anymore!!! I¡¯m sick and tired of it!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Calm down! Emul, calm down! Calm the fuck down!!!¡¹

    Believe me, I don¡¯t want to go through such an experience like that ever again either! But still, this scene, what does it even mean¡­¡­?

    I have no idea just how exactly below we have fallen, but it should not have been more than one hundred meters.

    I thought that since we were so deep underground, the ce that we would end up in would be amand room of sorts. However, upon arriving so deep underground, what we found out was another hole leading further underground. Just what was the technology that allowed for creating something like that so deep?

    There was digging equipment scattered all over the hole and¡­¡­ No, it was not all. Aside from that, there was a whole bunch of other tools and equipment that the purpose of which was unknown to us.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Fumu, I feel like we may have skipped some processes alongside the way of getting here.¡¹

    ¡¸S-Sanraku-san! Take a look at that!¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­?¡¹

    Looking in the direction where Emul was pointing while simultaneously hitting my head with his paw, there was an equipment peace of unknown purpose.

    No, it was giving off a vibe simr to aputer, but surely it could not¡­¡­

    ¡¸Not that! The thing that is stuck to it!¡¹

    Stuck? ording to Emul¡¯s words, it seems that there would be something stuck into that machinery¡­¡­ Oh, and there really was something stuck in there.

    For me it looked just as if the two pieces of equipment were connected to one another by original design, but for someone who was unaware of that, it surely must have looked as if the one thing was stuck to the other. And there were three pieces of it. Or rather, they looked like something that could very well bebined with one another.

    ¡¸Delta devices!¡¹

    ¡¸Hooray! We found them!¡¹

    So in the end, the items that we were looking for were hidden in the deepest parts of the ruins. The road here was twisted and really obscure, far from being able to call normal, but for now I would let that slide¡­¡­ It was way better than having to fight your way out here through a sea of overpowered enemies.

    But let us not get ahead of ourselves. After all, it is really foolish to just charge in blindly and take the items that just so happened to beying there. First, we need to carefully investigate our surroundings¡­¡­ If we carelessly touch the items, we might activate a trap or begin a surprise boss battle¡­¡­ Ugh, my poor head.

    ¡¸Wait just a moment, Emul. Let¡¯s take a look around first, then we will take the items.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­? Okay then.¡¹

    Let¡¯s see¡­¡­ First, let¡¯s take a look at¡­¡­ this thing.

    I carefully lean over the giant hole I nth ground, trying to see if I will be able to see what was at the very bottom of it. At the same time, I was making sure not to fall in by ident.

    ¡¸Alright, and how about that¡­¡­?¡¹

    Next, I tried kicking in some of the equipment that wasying around, to see if this aplishes something. But even after waiting for a few seconds, I was unable to hear any sound that would have indicated that the junk reached the very bottom¡­¡­ If you were to fall in there, it would spell your death for sure.

    For the time being, let¡¯s leave the hole alone. Because even if I wanted to, there was no way for me to investigate it, not without the help of a drone or something like that.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ A drone, huh?¡¹

    Sci-Fi stands for Science Fiction. In some instance it may also stand for Science Fantasy, but the general premise is always more or less the same: it describes a reality that lies way beyond the current humanity¡¯s present.

    In other words, even if it¡¯s an interster travels or giant robots fighting one another in the midst of deep space, themon point of origin always lies in the modern technology.

    ¡¸ShangriLa Frontier relies heavily on exploration, so even without specific skills¡­¡­ Is that it?¡¹

    Even if that technology belonged to the alien race, it couldn¡¯t have been entirely alien. Take the Tactical War Beasts for example: Suzaku, Byakko, Genbu and Seiryuu. All of them were based on the mythical beasts from the real world. So if we think about it in those categories¡­¡­

    In other words, the foundamental values are kid of like our own in real life, so if you look for the power source and power button, they should be around here somewhere¡­¡­ Oho, bingo!

    ¡¸Is the power even turned on? Huh? AR Holograph¡­¡­?¡¹

    AR, Augmented Reality¡­¡­ Unlike VR technology, which uploads the digital information directly into the brain, it is a technology that projects digital images onto the real world via holograms.

    Nowadays it is used mostly to promote bigpanies and for live performances of famous artists, but I never would have thought that it would be possible to incorporate a technology like that for the sake of personal entertainment.

    Now, the real questiones into y: which is better? A real amusement park recreated in VR with every detail? Or maybe a cybeic theme park made possible thanks to the advanced AR technology?

    But for now I let my thoughtse back to reality from those extra daydreams.

    It seems that the separate video files could be selected by clicking on them on the holographic screen. Upon doing just that, an unfamiliar start up process started to take ce.

    ¡¸Oh wow! You can actually move that, Sanraku-san?¡¹

    ¡¸Okay, Emul. If you don¡¯t touch anything, you cannot break anything. But on the contrary, if we don¡¯t do something, we cannot make any progress.¡¹

    The touch panel keyboard had a really futuristic look to it. But theyout of the keys is exactly the same like that in the real world.

    Is that supposed to be the ¡°Enter¡± key? It should be, considering the keyboard¡¯syout. No, let¡¯s see here¡­¡­ Oh? Two of the three files seem to be corrupted? Or maybe it was just one?

    ¡¸From the ends of the Earth to another dimension, I have yed many Sci-Fi games before. So let¡¯s see, whatever it is that we can do here¡­¡­?¡¹

    I don¡¯t really know how to repair Sci-Fi equipment, so let¡¯s just see thest video that is avable.

 Chapter 234: The Story of Unsightly, Biting Dog Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 234: The Story of Unsightly, Biting Dog Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸I did it! I did it, baby! I finally managed to reach the Root!¡¹

    Oh, wow. That face projected nothing but bad personality. Body that was way too fat and seemed physically weak. That person seemed to scream weak and unlucky if I ever saw a weak and unlucky person.

    How should I put it? This guy was also giving off that ¡°Mad Scientist¡± kind of vibe.

    I have no idea what exactly happened in the previous two video files, but whatever that mad scientist seemed to have been doing must have resulted in a sess.

    ¡¸I estimate that around this time the soldiers above are still getting consumed, but¡­¡­ Fuh, kukukukuku¡­¡­ Oh well, they do deserve some praise in the end. After all, their sacrifice is the cornerstone of my work here¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Sanraku-san. I really hate that person for some reason.¡¹

    ¡¸Now, now, let¡¯s just keep watching and hold our judgement for now.¡¹

    One should not judge a person by their looks and things they say alone, but I guess that in case of that person about eighty percent of his first impression is already set in stone. Well, the remaining twenty percent will remain to be seen after he describes what he was doing here.

    Think about Sh*t Chronicles Online. It looked good, but everything else about it was crap. So we shall see what this guy has to offer in terms of actions and work.

    ¡¸The fuck is inheritance!? The fuck about the next generation!? I admit that Amatsuki and Setsuna¡¯s theories make sense, but¡­¡­ Only those guys! Only those guys, you hear me!?¡¹

    Oh my oh my, what do we have here? Could it be that¡­¡­ No, for now let¡¯s just keep watching.

    ¡¸What nonsense, they said! Utter foolishness, they said! It¡¯s illogical for us to only live in the moment! Alice Frontier! Julius Shangri-La! They are the ones who are foolish and crazy!¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right¡­¡­ That¡¯s exactly right, I shall be the savior of mankind! No one else, but me¡­¡­!¡¹

    Wait, wait, wait, wait just a minute! You¡¯re drooling, man! It spills everywhere! I cannot smell it and it is not real, but it really bothers me! So stop doing that!

    Umm, wait¡­¡­ There is a whole bunch of questions that I have from hearing all this up to this part, but¡­¡­ No, it¡¯s a recorded video, so I can always re-watch itter.

    ¡¸We havee here from the sky, the sky is our domain¡­¡­ There are no Gods in the heavens. If so, the Gods would be here, down below¡­¡­!¡¹

    Oh, for some reason I really liked that expression just now.

    He said that there are no Gods in the skies because that is where they havee from. He seems to be mad to at least some extent, but was that not an important information? Or maybe that person is important as well?

    ¡¸I originally wanted to experiment more with the area to the West, but¡­¡­ Ah, no matter, as long as the connection is there, it is all good. I am not a pessimist like the rest of them¡­¡­ This, at the root of the disaster, I¡­¡­ with my own hands¡­¡­!¡¹

    There was a lot of static here. (At least I think it was static)

    The image here got disrupted and vanished for a moment, but the sound feed was good and continuing. That¡¯s when you could hear a loud screaming from somewhere within the holographic image. Then there was a loud sound of something metallic being torn apart. Then there was a loud roar, unlike anything that a human body could produce¡­¡­ Oh (Could it be?)

    ¡¸N-No! NOOOO! I¡­¡­! I DON¡¯T¡­¡­! No, not like this, I¡­¡­ God damn it¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    ¡¸W-What is it!? What¡¯s happening in there!?¡¹

    ¡¸What, you ask¡­¡­? I have a rough idea, but you are certainly not going to like it.¡¹

    Now, I wonder what will happen to our salivating doggie here? Did he reach a dead end? Or maybe¡­¡­?

    ¡¸Sh*t! Fuck! Fuck, fuck, FUUUUCK!!!! You were supposed to be dead, so howe you are so strong!? The records¡­¡­ Ah, that¡¯s right! The records! Whoever is watching this, listen well! Listen closely, below! It alles from down below! Looking up towards the sky is a waste of time! The Universe is not even that wonderful of a ce as everyone seem to think it is!¡¹

    ¡¸M-My arm¡­¡­! This, this fucking monster¡­¡­ D-Don¡¯t think you¡¯ll be able to drag me in¡­¡­! Sh*t, it¡¯s digging into my arm more and more! I need more time!¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t want to die¡­¡­ Fuck, uguh¡­¡­! Listen well, the things that lurk¡­ below! Jizz is¡­¡­ No, it¡¯s better to use Behemot and Leviathan, alright¡­¡­ Alright¡­¡­ Gah, UGAAAAHHH!?¡¹

    The only thing that echoes in the video for a while is the rattling sound of flesh colliding with metal. There was also an explosion somewhere in the distance, and as that sound echoed as well, the visuals got restored.

    ¡¸PYEEEHHH!?¡¹

    Small wonder why Emul started to scream like mad. Everyone would want to scream seeing someone else right before them starting to get bitten and eaten by ¡°something¡± in the background.

    It was something with a whole lot of wriggling and swaying tentacles growing out of its body, and it was progressively eating away at the left half of the man¡¯s body. The tentacles were moving in a sickening, warm-like motions to boot.

    You can see it in that man¡¯s eyes: it was not something that would bring you pleasure. There were tears in his eyes and his nose was running with snot, the picture of the ultimate pain.

    But still, the eyes the man I assumed to be a biting dog were not of someone who was dead. There was still fire shining in those eyes. Fire and despair.

    ¡¸Since it hase to this, the use of either Julius or Alice may be required! Listen well, what you are trying to do is like trying to mask the smell of manure with a deodorant! It¡¯s not the ultimate solution! It¡¯s only a temporary one! I put the necessary program into Delta, but you must use it!¡¹

    ¡¸It hurts, it hurts, IT HURTS¡­¡­ FUCK! Useless piece of fucking junk! A fucking tug of war is not enough for you!? Not yet, NOT YET¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Aah, god damn it¡­¡­ A thing like that, there¡¯s no way that it can be allowed to leave this ce¡­¡­! Fuck, why the fuck is this happening¡­¡­!? But still, I¡­¡­ I¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Activation code is: ¡°Nakima Sukue Sude¡±. I¡¯m approaching my limit, but I must not let that thing get to close, or else¡­¡­ Hyi!?¡¹

    ¡¸MUGUOH!? OOOH, GOHGEHGIH!!! GUH, OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!?!?!?¡¹

    After that bite, what followed was the typical ending of your R-18 tentacles games¡­¡­ The poor scientist was simply dragged inside of the huge hole, never to emerge from it again.

    For a while you could only hear loud slurping noisesing from the hole, but then there was silence. Then the visuals came to a stop as well¡­¡­ the video was over.

    ¡¸How should I say it¡­¡­?¡¹

    Overall evaluation here would be nothing short of a ¡°Great Self-Destruction¡±, but even so, the scientist in the video made his point on what exactly they managed to aplish here.

    ¡¸Is it not rather dangerous?¡¹

    And is it not that kind of information that you would normally obtain exclusively in thest dungeon?

 Chapter 235: Revelations at the Bottom of the Earth Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 235: Revtions at the Bottom of the Earth Part 1</h4>

    This is bad. No, even worse. This is REALLY bad.

    It is not even about the content of the video file. No, the content of the video file was obviously quite bad, but why do I only notice that right about now? I turn my head to the side and look a little bit further ahead, towards a certain object that managed to escape my attention earlier when we came down here¡­¡­ The Abyss rm Bell. In that video, the bell must have rang and rmed the scientist that something wasing for him. And that something really dide for the guy, most probably appearing from inside of that hole and dragging the guy inside of it, but not before munching on him and turning him into a bloody pulp.

    B-But wait¡­¡­ No, no, no, that cannot be. Surely I am not trapped in here, right? I havee here only guided by the quest marker that I have received from Weissash, so since it is all part of a quest there should be a way for me to somehow activate the dormant elevator and reach the surface level of the ruins, right? ¡­¡­ Wait a second. Could it be that restarting the power and getting the elevator back to being fully operational is also part of the quest? Is it just itster part? I sure hope it is like that.

    ¡¸No, no, no, no, no¡­¡­ I know that you should always keep an open mind about things and expect the unexpected, but no matter how you look at it, this is just a little bit too much.

    There are times in video games when miraculous things can happen all on their own, and they would not even be ssified as bugs. For example, like being able to defeat an opponent whose level is bigger than your own by the whopping number of one hundred. Or being able to wall run for more than three hundred meters without the assist of any skills, while the appropriate skills would only allow you to do that for no longer than a few seconds. There are bugs out there, and there are miracles like that out there, but¡­¡­ Safety through specifications! There should always be a possibility of being safe from all sorts of danger as long as you are within the limits of the established specifications!

    ¡¸Well, I mean, you know, what was it again¡­¡­? Say now, Emul? What is your opinion on that guy now that we have the full picture? Was he bad, or was he good? Please give me your evaluation.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, umm, about that¡­¡­ After all, I think that I still do not like that person. That being said, there was something in hisst words and actions that made me feel the tiniest embers of Vorpal Soul burning inside of him¡­¡­¡¹

    Really now? Maybe Emul felt that way, but for me there was absolutely nothing in the scientist¡¯s actions and words that would exhibit any shred of Vorpal Soul. However, it may only be for me, since I have yed many sh*tty games before and I have seen a patter like that more times than I could possibly count. It was so called ¡°Karma End¡±, when usually bad things tend to happen to bad sub characters. However, it would be really rude and inappropriate of me to be pretentious like that here, so I decided to keep my mouth shut for now.

    And let¡¯s face it: if it was not for this here scientist¡¯s efforts, I would never be able to get my hands on those Delta devices. So as reluctant as I am, you need to give people credit where credit is due.

    ¡¸For the time being, it seems that this ce is way more dangerous than we would have thought originally. We should withdraw from here as soon as possible.¡¹

    There was something unnerving about this ce. Or to be more precise, what was unnerving was the presence of this Abyss rm Bell on the wall. I recall the description of this particr item from my inventory. An item warning about the ¡°enemies¡± what shall appear upon finishing the third part of the World Quest and transitioning into fourth part¡­¡­ A transition triggered by the defeat of yet another Unique Monster¡­¡­ There was really something unnerving about this whole ce and situation.

    Judging from that fact alone I think that we are not in any immediate danger¡­¡­ at least not for now and the near future. However, it is good to know that something like this exist in such a ce. After all, upon defeating another Unique Monster, something is probably going to emerge from inside of here, and swarm the ces in the close vicinity of this area, which sees a whole lot of traffic from beginners and mid-tier yers.

    ¡¸Emul, no matter what, I want you to be ready to make a run towards the elevator¡¯s shaft at any moment, you understand?¡¹

    ¡¸Y-Yes! As you wish, Sanraku-san¡­¡­¡¹

    Please do not let anything bad happen¡­¡­ Please do not let anything bad happen¡­¡­ Ahh, god damn it, Amu Namida Butsu!!!

    Saying a quick prayer in my mind, I quickly yank out one of the Delta devices from the socket that it was inserted into. At the same time, I also equipped my new shield Dis Patel on my left arm and was keeping it at the ready at all times. I was also surveilling our surroundings for even the slightest sign of danger or movement, especiallying from the direction of that huge hole.

    I let about ten seconds past inplete silence. Only when I have confirmed that nothing strange or bad was starting to happen, I allowed myself to rx and stop being on full alert. Then, I carefully recovered the rest of the Delta devices from their respective sockets.

 Chapter 235: Revelations at the Bottom of the Earth Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 235: Revtions at the Bottom of the Earth Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸If we think about it calmly, that scientist guy was trying to pass the devices to someone else, so it would be quite sick of a joke if taking them out would actually initiate some sort of a self destruct sequence¡­¡­ Really sick joke indeed¡­¡­¡¹

    Just to be on the safe side, I approach the hole once more and throw one more piece of junk of unknown purpose into it, to see if that would cause any reaction at all. ¡­¡­ No reaction even after a long moment of silence? Okay, good. I could stop being on high alert all the time for now.

    It seems that there is no danger for the moment, so we are in the clear. I have put away the three devices into my inventory for the sake of safekeeping. We could start heading back now, but let us stick around just for a little bit longer.

    ¡¸I know I might have said it already, but Pencilgton really is one hell of a master tactician¡­¡­¡¹

    Long story short, some time ago she basically forced me to buy a certain item. The item in question wad called ¡°Recording Eyeball¡±, and the only exnation that I got for it was that ¡°if you bring it with you everywhere, it will generate you all sorts of useful information. No need to thank me.¡±

    ording to the game¡¯s lore, the eyeball is the crystallization of the God of Fate¡¯s tears. Anyways, it is so-called ¡°Recording Item¡±. At the beginning of the game¡¯s service it was sold as a consumable item, but apparently the yers did not like the idea of such item having limited amounts of uses and it was changed to be an item that could be use as much as you wanted.

    I use the eyeball to record thest video that the mad scientist have recorded before his gruesome death. That being said, if you were to use that item to record various things, yu could make a whole lot of money that way. I can easily imagine other yers wanting to pay astronomical amounts of money just so that they couldy their hands on a recording like that.

    As expected, even when Pencilgton was not around, she would always find a way to mess with the other one way or another.

    ¡¸It might be a good idea to record a separate version of the video, but this time without all that Guro stuff, like an all ages version¡­¡­ Emul, could you please shut up for a moment? Much appreciated.¡¹

    ¡¸Roger that.¡¹

    There were some Emul noises mixed in with the video¡¯s audio, but when I gave it a quick nce it turned out to be of a really solid quality. It was not a documentary movie level quite yet, but we were slowly getting there.

    But now I am really curious about the other two files, the ones that got corrupted. Was there any way to restore them? Or were they merely a vor to the third one?

    If it was thetter, than I guess it¡¯s all fine. But if it was the former, than I had a few option on how to approach this problem.

    Namely: do I repair the corrupted files here on the spot? Or maybe I should bring it somewhere where it would be possible to repair them by a specialist?

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Hm?¡¹

    I think that just now I was about toe up with some ideas, but¡­¡­ Hm? Hmmm?

    Oh well, if I want to bring those files out of here, I would need some item on which I could store all that data, anyways. So first of all I would need to find an item like that, and then I would need to find a ce where they would be able to repair it.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ HMM!?!?¡¹

    I could feel something welling up down my throat. It was not a ball of puke, but it was a sudden idea.

    Alright, alright. Time to organize my thoughts. For a moment now, all that I was thinking about was the information stored within this here supeputer. Its corrupted data, to be more specific.

    If it is just a vor option, it all fine and good. But if its something that can be recovered, I would need an item that would allow me to store the non-physical data like that.

    Could it be¡­¡­ Is it possible to find such an item somewhere else? Somewhere else in here, or maybe in some other Era of the Gods¡¯ ruins that were scattered all over the game¡¯s world? Then you would either be able to store the data form here and take it out, or you would be able to repair it here? Take it out and¡­¡­ means to do so¡­¡­?

    ¡¸Taking the data out¡­¡­ and taking it back with you¡­¡­ Carry it¡­¡­ UWOH!!!¡¹

    Revtion. It just now urred to me. A true revtion.

    Not about anything new, mind you. It was only a revtion about something that I have long forgotten.

    ¡¸DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    ¡¸PYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!¡¹

    Wait, wait, wait, wait, WAIT JUST A FUCKING MOMENT! Can I really do it? Is it going to work out?

    ¡¸Slots¡­¡­ Where the hell are the slots¡­¡­!? Fuck my life, do you really need to stick every little thing into slots in the far future!? Like what the hell!? No, j-just calm down, Sanraku, calm down and think. Look for the shape this thing could fit into!¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s wrong, Sanraku-san!? You are making a face unlike anything I have ever seen before.¡¹

    ¡¸You are god damn right it is a face you have never seen before! Ohhh, fuck me! I havepletely forgotten all about it just until now! It must have been because the impact of the INVENTORY and everything else that was happening at the time!¡¹

    Not the INVENTORY itself¡­¡­ but because of the impact it made on me I have almostpletely forgotten about that other particr item and just threw it into the depth of my inventory where it was gathering dust until this moment¡­¡­ A translucent cube with a single ray of light tracing alongside its surface.

    It is just a storage medium, but the information that are stored within it should be¡­¡­ It seem to contains the knowledge of the skill that allows you to ¡°imitate the appearance¡±, a skill that you would not be able to obtain otherwise, no matter how hard you would try.

    Esoteric Writings¡­¡­ When Pencilgton, Katsu and I managed to defeat the Unique Monster ¡°Gravekeeper Wezaemon¡±, each one of us happened to receive different items as the battle drop. And it just so happens that I have received this little thing. It was a small cube. And judging by the look of it, it was a storage device for the data of some sort.

    ¡¸Tactical War Beasts could not do it properly. Their mobile terminals could not handle such vast amounts of data. So how about this thing here¡­¡­?¡¹

    I have no idea what that scientist was trying to do here earlier, but at least I had a clue: he was fiddling with the consoles over here, as if preparing tounch something.

    Is it not something that allows you to read files and browse the other ones at the same time¡­¡­? Kuh, but if so, then where is the slot that you could insert something into it!? The menus here are really pretty, but navigating this thing is aplete nightmare!

    ¡¸Is that it? Or maybe it¡¯s this thing here? Or maybe that over there? Surely it¡¯s this thing!¡¹

    I was searching around the consolepletely blind, trying to find the right ce. It took me a moment, but finally I ced the cube inside of the recess from which the holographic image was projected earlier, and it turned out that I hit the jackpot with that decision. And as luck would have it, the cube almost immediately started to show its real worth, proving itself to be something more than a simple essory or a paper button.

    ¡¸Oooooohhhhhh¡­¡­!!¡¹

    The light¡­¡­ It is overflowing ---------!

 Chapter 236: Not a Scarecrow, But One Minute and One Second to Make History Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 236: Not a Scarecrow, But One Minute and One Second to Make History Part 1</h4>

    Three trunks and seven branches. There is such a thing in this world, even though there is no word that could actually describe it properly.

    However, even though there is no word that can actually describe it, it does not mean that such a thing has no right to exist in the first ce.

    It is something that we all notice but we do not really acknowledge, since deep down inside we all treat it as somethingpletely obvious and natural.

    The concept of both life and death is nothing but a small pebble in the mainstream called reality. And ¡°aging¡± is something that gives both life and death direction, it is something irreversible and unchanging, equaling everyone in its wake.

    As long as an unspecified number of yers keep on ying at the same time, there is no way that time could actuallye to a halt for any one of said people. It is something so obvious and so natural¡­¡­ But it is exactly because it is so obvious and so natural that I happened to overlook it.

    This world is most certainly a work of fiction. The inhabitants of this cybeic creation are nothing more but clusters of data, not the real people by any means. However, even if they were real, for the three trunks and its seven branches it would not amount to anything at all, they would still not acknowledge their existence and rights as humans. Time would still continue to march forward, always the same and unchanging, without even considering the possibility of going against the mainstream flow.

    And that is exactly why,

    The seven strongest species standing at the absolute top of the world¡­¡­ Those whose roots reach all the way towards the Gods themselves. No matter how those who try to get close to them do, the world still marches on in its usual rhythm.

    Heavenly Sanctuary.

    An area simr in looks to a huge teau in the center of the map, with many high slopes leading towards it, each slope filled to the brim with monsters. The higher you go the more powerful and ferocious the monsters will be. However, once you reach the top of the slopes, there will be no monsters there waiting for you.

    Even though this ce is so dangerous and not meant for everyone, almost every single yer in the game knows about its existence¡­¡­ And it is all because this teau is the home to a very particr monster.

    ¡¸Siegwurm! If I manage to defeat you, even I can¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸I am terribly sorry, as you can see, I am not quite ready yet to receive more costumers for the time being.¡¹

    Could it be something that was only natural and was to be expected? Or maybe it was a result of everyone having grown impatient since the reveal that a single person already managed to take down two of the seven Unique Monsters? With each passing day, more and more yers were trying to challenge Siegwurm in hopes of defeating it, even though their levels and equipment were obviously not quite cut out to the task. Needless to say, this only resulted in Siegwurm mowing down masses of yers with only single blows every single time.

    None of them was even slightly as entertaining as that certain masked Ninja¡­¡­ While looking truly apologetic at the masses of yers that were being blown away by his True Breath, an attack that was even more devastating than Dragon Breath, the Golden King Siegwurm looks into the distance while letting out a long and deep sigh.

    ¡¸I see that he is still as honest and sincere of a person as always¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸It takes a true bravery toe stand before me with one¡¯s weaponsid bare and being prepared to do battle to the death¡­¡­ It is only amon courtesy to answer to such bravery by battling them with all of my might.¡¹

    ¡¸I guess that you may be right¡­¡­ Say, are there any more creatures like you out there?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, let¡¯s see¡­¡­ I might be fundamentally different from the rest of my kin, since I am not consumed by rage and hostility at all times.¡¹

    Even though the opponent right now was a fledgling Ninja who¡¯s level was lower than that of Siegwurm by more than one hundred, Siegwurm still greeted him politely and like a true warrior would do. Weakling or not, a warrior is still a warrior.

    After all, it was the only thing that Siegwurm could do in order tobat the loneliness that was eating away at his heart. He was thergest and the strongest creature in this world, with no one else being able to match his might and to whom even the elements and nature itself was yielding. If there was ever someone who would be a match for him, that would only be someone of the same origin as him.

    ¡¸But I must say, it is really surprising, my friend. To see youe here to see me.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, I guess you are right about that as well¡­¡­ Are you aware of that, by any chance? Soon enough, the time wille¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Yes, indeed it will.¡¹

    Yes, the world keeps on moving forward, no matter what. And for some inexplicable reason, two of the seven branches have already been cut. Just who is going to be the third branch to get itself cut?

    ¡¸Dragon Disaster¡­¡­ That ¡°mycelium¡± is soon going to be after you all. And it¡¯s going to be the second time in history that humans sh against it. You don¡¯t really have to answer me this, but I would be really happy if you did¡­¡­ Whatever should we do?¡¹

    ¡¸Kukuku¡­¡­ So you would like to know.¡¹

    The golden dragon kingughs. Ever since the day his form as Siegwurm was born, he was asking himself that question every day, contemting the reason for his existence.

    And every single time, the conclusion that he managed to arrive at was always one and the same: to be a trial meant to be ovee by the human race. Without hatred, without respect, without affection¡­¡­ The fundamental of the Dragon king was that of expectation and trust. So if the humans manage to ovee him, even the Dragon Disaster would not pose a threat to them. They would still be able to face it with their heads held high.

    Be strong, humans. Be strong and ovee me.

 Chapter 236: Not a Scarecrow, But One Minute and One Second to Make History Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 236: Not a Scarecrow, But One Minute and One Second to Make History Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸My significance is unwavering. And my believes have not changed ever since that day. I am a mountain. I am a wall. I am a gate¡­¡­ Humans, if you desire to move on towards the future, your way leads past me. And you have no other choice but to ovee me on your journey.¡¹

    ¡¸I see, so that¡¯s how it is¡­¡­ Then, I am afraid that together with myrades we shall point our des towards your throat one of these days.¡¹

    ¡¸A human who managed to best the Gravekeeper inbat, and who managed to ovee the horrors hidden within the depths of the Abyss¡­¡­ to see someone like that join forces with a human to whom I have given my Reverse Scale¡­¡­ Interesting. Truly, truly interesting!¡¹

    The Dragon Kingughs from the bottom of his heart, looking as though he was having so much fun. And his friend¡­¡­ his formerly gray but now white fluffy ears gently sway in the light breeze.

    ¡¸Very well, then. If you wish to go beyond me, you will have to trample over me and end my reign. And opposing you is my duty as a Dragon King. Let us teach those Dragon Disaster bastards what a true dragon really is!¡¹

    It was at this exact moment that the Third Stage of the World Quest officially changed its name. It was no longer the ¡°The Great War of the Falling Gold¡±.

    From now on it was going to be the war between the dragons of the present times and their king, who has ruled them for ages now, with humans all over the world getting caught in the crossfire¡­¡­ ¡°Dragon Disaster War¡±.

    ¡¸School is¡­¡­ so dull¡­¡­ No, let¡¯s try to be positive here. Maybe that feeling of dullness is what makes me want to go to school in the first ce? If I think like that and convince myself that it is true, then maybe it won¡¯t be so bad¡­¡­

    No, let¡¯s stop that. Or otherwise something downright masochistic is going to awaken deep inside of me.

    Today cicadas are noisy as well. It is not all that surprising to hear them around since it is still September. We should all actually pay tribute to them, since they are animals who keep giving it their absolute all from the moment they are born until the moment they die.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Presence!¡¹

    I turn myself around, only to find that no one was there. Hmm¡­¡­ There is this really nasty feeling inside of me that when I am going to turn back towards where I was going, something bad is going to happen. And sure enough, when I turn around I was greeted with a sudden ¡°Good morning!¡±

    ¡¸UWOOOOAAHHH!?¡¹

    In front!? How!? How did Saiga¡ªsan managed to appear from the direction that I was looking towards a mere seconds ago!? Could it be this is some sort of a secret event!? One that would trigger without actually being shown on the mini map!?

    ¡¸G-Good morning, Saiga-san¡­¡­¡¹

    There is a new kind of theory that starts to bloom inside of me: Saiga-san Fixed Encounter Theory. But I keep silent about it and just casually return the greeting.

    It is somewhat strange just how high my encounter rate with Saiga-san has been as ofte, but considering that we have amon destination that is in the same direction, there is nothing strange about it. So today we walk together to school once more.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Umm, umm.¡¹

    ¡¸Hm?¡¹

    ¡¸You see¡­¡­ Hizutome-kun, can I ask you for advice¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Advice?¡¹

    Advice from me? But why me of all people? If it is about broken or malfunctioning VR system I can offer some limited advice, sure. But would it not been better to just go to the professional repair point? Or contact the manufacturer directly? Things like that are better not to be left toplete amateurs.

    No, if it was something like that, she would not want to talk to me about it. She would go to the manufacturer directly. For sure.

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­ It would be, about games¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Could it be something about ShanFro again?¡¹

    ¡¸That is right, but that is also not quite right¡­¡­¡¹

    Hmm, the way she put it was really weird, but it should generally be something ShanFro rted, right?

    ¡¸You see, actually¡­¡­¡¹

    I will try to summarize here what Saiga-san confined in me.

    Right about now, Saiga-san is imposing a certain quota onto herself when ites to ShanFro. And for that reason, she is trying to do certain tasks to be as efficient as possible. But truth to be told, doing the same tasks over and over again tend to get repetitive over time.

    That is why she wanted to ask me how to address that problem, because she heard from Iwamaki-san that I y a lot of different games and that I should be able to know how tobat a problem like that.

    So she wanted me to tell her just how could she make even such mundane and repetitive tasks more enjoyable for herself.

    A side note here. All this time I was getting a feeling like she was repeating some lines that she had memorized prior to this ¡°event¡±, but it did not matter for me all that much.

    ¡¸Daily tasks¡­¡­ Daily tasks, huh¡­¡­?¡¹

    As a matter of fact, when ites to VR games¡­¡­ It is really tough to manage daily tasks properly, especially since the dawn of Full Dive system.

    After all, you need to focus on ying and doing only that, with no option of doing something else in real life at the same time. At least if it was a normal ¡°old school game¡±, you could browse the Inte or listen to music at the same time, or do basically whatever you would want.

    But with games such as ShanFro, you cannot really do such a thing anymore. So then ites to Full Dive games, there are really two types of patterns that allow you to stay hooked on the game and to maintain your motivation.

    Fist: increase the number of things to do. Second: do those things with arger group of people.

    In case of the first option, you could impose some self rules, like time attack, or to think about those mundane tasks as something you need to do as effectively as possible. By doing that, you get highly motivated, and there is always the option of setting your very own new personal records. ¡­¡­ I know from experience that it can be really motivating.

    Thetter case allows you to reduce the burden that is ced on you thanks to the help you receive from others. It is really effective strategy, but ites with one tremendous downside: you need to time your schedules to do this, which is not that easy of a thing to do in the first ce.

    ¡¸That¡¯s right¡­¡­ Hm?¡¹

    What¡¯s this? An email from Pencilgton? Does that mean she is not using SNS? Let¡¯s see what we have got here¡­¡­

    Subject: EMERGENCY

    From: Pencil Warrior

    To: Sanraku: Modorokatsu

    Body: I¡¯m sorry, but Kyogoku went and done fucked up.

    We might be in a teensy-weensy little bit of trouble.

    I wonder if I can just pretend that I did not see that? Nah, I just can¡¯t do that¡­¡­ It seems that this weekend is going to be really hectic and chaotic.

 Chapter 237: Information Power Attack!!!!!!!!! Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 237: Information Power Attack!!!!!!!!! Part 1</h4>

    There is a monster called Ascension Horn in this game.

    When ites to its characteristics, it is abination of a deer and a Unicorn. It also possesses two horns growing out of the back of its head and one growing out of its forehead.

    Using those horns it can deflect any projectile that is being shot its way. If you try to blingly rush at it with all of your might, you will simply end up getting charged at yourself and blown away as a result. What¡¯s more, it possesses a really troublesome ability to emit lightning from its horns and use them as a sort of shockwave all around itself¡­¡­ But that¡¯s not the worst part. The worst part is that its horns are extremely valuable materials, so it is haunted almost constantly.

    The reason for that being, the horns of Ascension Horn being part of the strongest HP regenerating potions in the game, and with the opening of the new continent all of the yers were stocking up on those in preparation for their own departure in due time. And since so many people wanted to buy those potions, their price was skyrocketing by the day. Of course, so was the price of the horns alone.

    However, since its encounter rate is not all that high to begin with and the exact spawn conditions are yet to be fully rified, it managed to earn for itself a title of the monster that: ¡°if you are so lucky to encounter it, you should never let it escape¡±.

    That is the way in which the vast ¡°majority¡± of the yers perceive that particr monster.

    Normally a situation like that would never take ce in this game. That is because the Guild ¡°SF-Zoo¡± would always get as much information about the given monster and make it all public for everyone to know. However, ever since that particr incident with a giant wolf the Guild Master of SF-Zoo would not log in to the game, not even once. This situation put a wrench in the well-working cogs of the machinery that was SF-Zoo. As a result, they did not gather as much information as they used to, stepping from the stage and letting another guild, ¡°Library¡± to gather and organize information on monster and all such things. That was alsoing with a major downside: ¡°Library¡± was really selective when ites to its costumers, and the price of their information was not cheap in the slightest. This lead to a situation where only a select few yers knew what was going on with Ascension Horn and thus managed to monopolize its hunting grounds and its drop items almostpletely¡­¡­

    ¡¸And with that, that would be the twentieth one¡­¡­¡¹

    There is a beast right in front of me with horns on its head, so pale and radiant in contrast to the darkness of the night. It was a monster, but right about now it let a sorrowful death cry as its body copsed on the ground and exploded into a geyser of red polygons, leaving only its horns behind.

    Even though the drop items from the monster called Ascension Horn are called exactly in the same way: Ascension Horns, there are two types of those items: the ones growing from the back of its head and the one that grows out of it forehead. In the inventory screen they are both called ¡°Holy Horns of the Ascension Horn¡±, with added ¡°back¡± and ¡°front¡± to them.

    This distinction is there mainly because the back horns are used in production and refinement of weapons and armor, while the front horn is the highly valuable material used in production of HP potions. Rear horns also sell for a hefty amount of money, but it is something that is not even remotely close to the prizes of front horns. Additionally, no matter how cautious you are during the battle as to not damage the horns too much, their drop rate ispletely random, so luck ys a huge factor in obtaining these.

    ¡¸As for the quota¡­¡­ At the least, the number of front horns should easily oscite around four hundred, maybe a little bit more¡­¡­¡¹

    The yer who was holding so much front horns of the Ascension Horn in its inventory¡­¡­ Saiga-0 lets out a long sigh as she waits for the enemy to respawn.

    As for the conditions for the Ascension Horn to appear, it was something that ck Wolves discovered together in a joint effort with another Guild. Basically, for the Ascension Horn to appear one needed to wait for anything between ten to twenty minutes in front of the caves in the area ¡°Mythical Forest¡± at night. And when ites to this ¡°Ascension Horn horns farming¡± it was the activity that the yer with really high level would do out of theck of better things to do. It was also an action that in general was shunned pretty badly by the game¡¯s generalmunity.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    The goal that Saiga-100 imposed on Saiga-0, it was something that was obviously impossible to achieve if one would to try and do it all on their own. However, once she would be able to achieve that, she would finally be able to sever her ties to the ¡°ck Wolves¡± for good.

    That is why she was able to put up with this task, even if it meant having to stand still all alone inside of the dark forest without even the slightest BGM ying in the background. She was even able to withstand fighting Ascension Horn all on her own, even though her opponents were all the size of small cars.

    That is exactly why¡­¡­

    ¡¸Form a party and work as a team¡­¡­¡¹

    She wanted to give this task just a little bit more courage.

    * * *

    It was mainly because the humors of Kyo-Timate that we were kind of forced to meet at the Snake Apple¡¯s Branch ce here in Elevental. Normally we would meet in Fiftsia, but right now that ce was¡­¡­ You know¡­¡­

    ¡¸¡­¡­ So? What¡¯s this all about?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, you know. Apparently the news that I have joined the guild ¡°Wolfgang¡± have also reached myrades over there on the other continent.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, not that it was not your intention to let that information out into the world to begin with¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸So imagine this: I was just minding my own business, hunting as usual¡­¡­ Huh? Hunting for what? Well duh, monsters! Obviously. But then I just so happened toe across some yer from the ¡°ck Wolves¡± and I might¡­¡­ and I might have idently PK¡¯d the poor bastard.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, sure. ¡°identally¡±. You sure that was not all part of your n to begin with?¡¹

    ¡¸That situation got me really nervous, you know? So then the guyes back to avenge his death and what do you know? I managed to identally PK him again. Then he came back with a bunch of reinforcements and I happened to PK them all on ident as well¡­¡­ and as a result I might have acquired a whole lot of their high-tier equipment.¡¹

    ¡¸Of course, the equipment stealing also happenedpletely on ident, right?¡¹

    ¡¸What a horrifyingly bizarre and unnerving story this is¡­¡­¡¹

    All ethics aside, I would never have thought that Kyogoku would turn out to be such a mad dog when ites to PK. Honestly, and here I thought that Pencilgton was a total nut-job. The world really is full of surprises, is it not?

    Thinking calmly about it, the more PK the yermit, the more severe the punishment bes, right? So at this rate, you would think that there would be no one insane enough to keep on doing that willingly. Does that mean that Kyogoku was that much of freaking lunatic¡­¡­?

    ¡¸So, what about that one person who is yet to arrive here?¡¹

    ¡¸Said something about ¡°powdering his nose and then joining us¡±.¡¹

    Powdering his nose? The hell?

    ¡¸But what else can I say? About forty percent of this whole mess is actively your fault.¡¹

    Ohh, won¡¯t you look at that. While we were talking about that, a certain shadow entered the bar. That shadow was Katsu, who was looking extremely tired for some reason.

    ¡¸Forty percent? Forty percent of what?¡¹

    Snake¡¯s Apple is that kind of bar and restaurant that only rouges and bandits would frequent, usually quite muscr, burly and nasty-looking. On the other hand, Katsu¡¯s avatar was that kind that looked like a delicate and cute woman¡­¡­ That kind of avatar joined us at the table and sat down, apparently being done with powdering her nose.

    By the way, I have a small wound on my shin¡­¡­ It was a wound done with a knife, made by one of the NPCs from before. I must say that the AI in this game is really smart, being able to actively harass and attack people who they do not like. But I understand, not everyone has to like half-naked bird-people.

    Pencilgton started to talk to the bartender in a friendly manner. Kyo-Timate started to look at her own shoes, clearly showing that she did not wanted to be involved in any of this. Thanks guys, the usual pattern is in y, huh?

    ¡¸Silvia is going to make her debut in ShanFro soon¡­¡­¡¹

 Chapter 237: Information Power Attack!!!!!!!!! Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 237: Information Power Attack!!!!!!!!! Part 2</h4>

    ¡°¡±¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    Both Pencilgton and I cast a short nce at one another. It was not even a month ago when we were pitted against the bestpetitive gamer in the United States as a Female Knight and Pumpkin Mercenary, an experience so tiresome and so traumatic that we both could easily agree that we did not want to get involved with that woman ever again.

    Personally, I do not even want to think what would happen if the word got out that both the infamous ¡°No Name¡± and ¡°No Face¡± could be found here within this game.

    ¡¸Fortunately, she is not yet all that ustomed to the JRGs, so for no she is stuck in Secandil.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh my oh my. Could it be this is the reason why you were so busy outside of the game, Katsu-kun? Could it be that you and Silvia are secretly dating?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ You know what, Pencilgton? Sometimes it is really hard for me to guess if you are joking or being serious. So? Who is this zing Red Name-san over there? And what has she done?¡¹

    ¡¸To make a long story short, she done fucked up and got into a fight with the guild ¡°ck Wolves¡± purely out of spite.¡¹

    ¡¸Seriously? You must be really courageous, or really stupid.¡¹

    ¡¸Hehehe¡­¡­ You¡¯re making me blush.¡¹

    Ohh fuck, Ipletely forgot about the fact that guys from Ashura-Kai are mostly a bunch of fucking savages. So this means that in case of Kyogoku, she represents the ¡°Dark Side¡± of this game. A side that not everyone might approve of.

    ¡°Dark Side¡±, huh¡­¡­?

    ¡¸So? Is that really the only reason why you bothered to call us all here in ShanFro? Is there nothing more to it than that?¡¹

    ¡¸No, you see, to say that Kyogoku-chan here done fucked up might be a little bit of an understatement¡­¡­ After all, ¡°ck Wolves¡± took that little misunderstanding a little bit too serious and are basically on a warpath with us. Guns zing and all that.¡¹

    Warpath¡­¡­ Personally, I don¡¯t think that a thing like that is enough of a reason to want to wipe someone else out.

    ¡¸I was forced to activate my whole informationwork and ask around quite a few information brokers, but apparently the current goal of the ¡°ck Wolves¡± is to get the ¡°Wolfgang¡± to spill the beans about any unique information they may hold. It is also done under the pretext of distributing all of that knowledge to the whole yer base. Or at least that is the story they are selling to the other Guilds. That being said, looks like the time for pleasantries is over, huh?¡¹

    ¡¸Once tryhards, always tryhards, right?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right. Also, Saiga-0¡¯s decision to leave ¡°ck Wolves¡± and join ¡°Wolfgang¡± was just the worst timing possible, only adding fuel to the fire¡­¡­ All of that is making the ¡°ck Wolves¡± all the more hostile towards us.¡¹

    In the meantime I asked the shop clerk for a bowl of roasted beans. What I received looked like a blended mess of both beans and almonds, and while I was munching away on that I started to think. Well, it was without a doubt that ¡°ck Wolves¡± decided to take a rather drastic approach.

    If it was any other of the top guilds¡­¡­ If both SF-Zoo or Library would want to pick a fight with us, that would be a whole different story. But ¡°ck Wolves¡± are something we might not be able to handle, at least not without heavy losses.

    However, the one behind the foundation of the guild ¡°Wolfgang¡± is none other than Arthur Pencilgton of the former Ashura Kai. That fact alone is more than enough to feel animosity towards Pencilgton new clique, plus its members took part in taking down two of the seven Unique Monsters. Plus we managed to set gs in Luukan¡¯s Unique Scenario EX. But is that all? Is that really the only reasons for one guild to hate the other group so much¡­¡­? Unless¡­¡­

    ¡¸But what about if the vast part of their hatred towards us is because of me?¡¹

    ¡¸No sh*t! Look, guys! Sanraku managed to reach the truthpletely on his own! Let¡¯s give him a warm round of apuse!¡¹

    ¡¸Sanraku, I see that you have finally started to grow as a man¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You wanna go? You wanna go? Come on then! Line up! I¡¯ll wreck all of you and then even some more, so if you wanna take this one outside we can go no problem!¡¹

    While I was doing some shadow boxing and others were trying to not fall to my silly provocation, I started to think just what kind of bullsh*t the future could bring us.

    At least we can all agree that yielding to the ¡°ck Wolves¡± demands is out of the question. Forget about this whole situation reeking of bad taste and personal grudges, but disclosing all that we know to the general public has no merits for our guild at all.

    If we disclose all that we know to everyone now, there will be no merits for us at all, we will only be at a loss. Plus, agree to such terms once and they will most certainly try to wring you out of information in the future as well.

    First thing first, I will be the one who shall take the majority of the bacsh here, because I am the one who possesses the most information. That would most certainly spell the disaster for me, since both Rabbitz rted quest as well as Cait Seith jewelers would also be leaked. Worst case scenario, the allied guilds might keep tabs on me at all times, making me unable to do anything in the game at all. And even worse¡­¡­ ¡°Wolfgang¡± might get absorbed into ¡°ck Wolves¡±?

    It¡¯s not that I hate the idea of party y, but I hate the idea of being tied down with a ¡°quota¡± to meet for the sake of the Guild. I am sure that Pencilgton and Katsu both feel the same way, but there is nothing better in times like these to get together and make one unified statement. That¡¯s why the three of us gather together now.

    ¡¸So? Whatever the hell we should do now?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, I never wanted to take things this far, but I guess if we are going to fight against ¡°ck Wolves¡±, I don¡¯t want to lose to them. So getting our numbers even would be a good idea.¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t tell me that all that you can think about now is recruiting new people?¡¹

    ¡¸No, no, no, that would be impossible right about now. What I mean by that is that we should look for allies that would help us even the odds just a little bit.¡¹

    I see, it would certainly be a good thing to be able to secure us some allies just so that we could keep ck Wolves in check for now. Now, getting ourselves some allies might require disclosing some information, but that way we can choose what to disclose carefully rather than be forced to spill it all out unconditionally.

    And since ¡°Wolfgang¡± is still a new guild with only about five members in its ranks, getting ourselves all the help we can get would be great.

    ¡¸Ahh¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorry, but you guys just keep on talking in bullet points, but do you think you could be more borate? I would like to actually understand what is going on here.¡¹

    ¡¸Some assfuck got hostile towards the ¡°ck Wolves¡±, not she wants to shift the me for that onto us, and so we need to secure ourselves and alliance with some other guild if we want to keep the ¡°ck Wolves¡± in check.¡¹

    Currently, the guild ¡°Wolfgang¡± has three main problems we must address.

    First of all, we must not let the conditions for the alliance with other Guild to be simply: ¡°Full disclosure of any information about the Unique Monsters¡±.

    Second, we must take in to ount that right about now because of this whole Kutanid situation and Saiga-0 transfer, lots of people look down on us and treat us like trash.

    Third, if we don¡¯t do something about Kyo-Timate being all ¡°PK-Trigger Happy¡±, we might as well cut our own stomachs open right here right now.

    If we manage to handle those three problems right, we might be able to secure an even footing against ¡°ck Wolves¡±. It might also help us to alleviate some of the bad PR we were getting recently.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I guess I do not have a say in this matter, but it is something that just cannot be helped, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Shouldn¡¯t you be saying something like: ¡°I¡¯m really sorry for going all PK Trigger Happy here, I¡¯, going to reflect on my actions from now on, my dear Kyogoku-chan¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸The PVP that you talk about is not that of action games, but rather of the simtion games¡­¡­¡¹

    Well, no matter. Our reason for fighting right now is really simple: we want to protect our interest and position, just so that we might continue to y the game and enjoy it.

    And that is why.

    ¡¸Now then, for you to actually try to get in touch with me¡­¡­ Do you have some business with me? Or maybe it is something that rtes to the whole ¡°Library¡±?¡¹

    Both Pencilgton and I knew that dealing with the Wannabe Magical Girl was going to be a major drag. Mainly because she knew what would the purpose of our visit be, since she understands our current situation, as well as that of ck Wolves. But still, we needed to confront with ¡°Professor¡± no matter what, even if our position seemed to be at a loss.

    ¡¸Well, I don¡¯t really know how I should put this¡­¡­¡¹

    So I just press a few buttons and y the recording.

    ¡¸Hoooray! I finally did it! I finally managed to get to the root!¡¹

    ¡¸We are going to throw you a bone here, but in return we demand your full cooperation.¡¹

    In order to preemptive the blow that wasing our way, we decided to counteract with a full information disclosure on our own terms.

 Chapter 238: Information Cross Counter Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 238: Information Cross Counter Part 1</h4>

    The request on our end was simple and clear. We just wanted Library¡¯s help and backup in case there would be an all out war in between us and ¡°ck Wolves¡±. Just that, nothing more.

    The ce were the meeting was supposed to be held was a conference room on the second floor of a rather prestigious inn, a ce that could even serve as a respawn point. This ce was proposed by the ¡°Professor¡± on ount of the fact that no one would expect people like us toe to a ce like that. A perfect ce for a secret meeting.

    ¡¸We havee from amongst the stars, the sea of stars is our domain. If you are looking for the Gods, they are not to be found amongst the stars. The Gods are to be found¡­¡­¡¹

    This is where I decided to pause the video. That was the really effective way of luring people into cooperation with you. You show them a video like that, you cut it in the ce where it was supposed to be the most interesting, and you leave the viewer with a sense of cliffhanger. The feeling of ¡°Eh!? That¡¯s it!? I want more! I want to know what happens next!¡± is what going to do the trick here¡­¡­ They will want to want more, and we shall give it to them. On certain conditions, of course.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I see, it seems that you guys¡­¡­ No, scratch that. It seems that YOU possess way more information than we would have initially expected.¡¹

    Ahh, I knew it. No matter how you try to hide it or how you try to exin it, this here Magical Girl Wannabe is essentially the same as Pencilgton. Maybe not worse, but cutting it really close.

    It is that kind of tactician that would try to get his opponents to reveal as much information as they know while revealing little more than nothing on his own. A kind of swindler that would cheat its way towards victory after having sessfully convinced his opponents to y fair and square.

    ¡¸I understand your point and what you want us to do. However, do you realize something here? Do you even realize just how convenient it would be for us to ry all those information to ¡°ck Wolves¡±? Besides, you are not the only ones who might have those information. Sooner orter there will be others as well¡­¡­ What then?¡¹

    From this point onwards, it was supposed to be mostly Pencilgton and I two man show. Surely, the Library is always on the lookout for new information all on their own, but most of the time they rely on the intel provided by the top tier yers. In other words¡­¡­ the info we possess is too valuable for them to simply let it pass them by.

    But what the ¡°Professor¡± wanted tomunicate here was that it would work for them better to just receive all of the information after the ¡°ck Wolves¡± force us to make them public. That way they would get what they wanted, without having to agree on any conditions that we have presented to them. They are also right in that one regard: someone will eventually obtain the same information as we have. However, the question remains: who long will it take for someone else to find it out? And can Library really allow itself to wait for God knows how long?

    Before the meeting, Pencilgton said something like that to me:

    ¡¸Obtaining the new information is everything those guys care about, so we need to be really skillful when ites to bargaining. Anyways, once we clearly state our business with them, they will try to turn the situation around on us. When that happens, just leave it to me.¡¹

    It is important to realize the power of the cards you hold in your hands from the first round and just y them right after that. At the current moment, I probably know more about the World Quest than any other yer on the server, and I am in possession of certain key words that no one else is aware of. This is our biggest trump card right about now. This is our leverage in negotiations with Library. This is why when you throw them a bait, they will eat it whole and lick their lips afterwards. After all, words and information are power.

    ¡¸n A and n B¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Muh.¡¹

    ¡¸Bahamut, Leviathan, Behemot, Jizz¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Delta Device. Catzeria. Jeweler. Gods¡­¡­¡¹

    It really pains me to disclose those information to other Guilds so casually like that, but¡­¡­ I guess it is something that is unavoidable at this point. It cannot be helped.

    ¡¸Unique Scenario EX ¡°Epic of the Vorpal Bunnies¡±¡­¡­ I don¡¯t want to do anything unreasonable or stupid, but worst case scenario my motivation might drop significantly and I might be forced to put that quest on hold for the time being¡­¡­¡¹

    Such a threat was always a possibility here. We were choosing our words carefully here, so if this strategy yields us no results, retiring from the game entirely just to keep my secrets hidden might be the only valid strategy. But I would not want to do something as rough and cruel as that.

    I might start ying the game in secret from everyone else. I have my safe haven that is Rabbitz, so I might wait out there for a time when the next opportunity to push the Unique Scenario EX presents itself, but how long would I have to wait for such an opportunity? But honestly speaking, I do not like that idea one bit. It does not sit right with me.

    But even if I was forced to do something like that, even if it stands in direct opposition of being a part of a Guild, when you get down to it, it is not all that different from the way in which elementary school boys keep on waiting in anticipation every week for the next issue of JUMP, so that they can get to know next part of their favorite story. It takes patience, but it can be really painful.

 Chapter 238: Information Cross Counter Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 238: Information Cross Counter Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Kukuku¡­¡­ Are those perhaps the words of wisdom conjured by the lovelydy? She sure knows how to give those who like to think quite a deal of trouble¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Really now? From the moment we were discussing that matter, my Guild master was talking about Library with the intention of eventually cooperating with you guys¡­¡­¡¹

    What is important here is just how much information we can disclose to them. After a long and heated debate we have decided in a democratic way that we would sacrifice one of our jokers in order to make sure that our intentions at cooperation would be understood without any incidents.

    ¡¸If you are willing to cooperate with us¡­¡­ The guild ¡°Wolfgang¡± is willing to disclose more information that are at our disposal. Consider this a sign of our goodwill towards the Library and its people.¡¹

    ¡¸Hoo¡­¡­ Well then, we would like you to give us the World Truth Book that you have obtained after defeating Kutanid of the Abyss, as well as¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You can re-challenge Kutanid of the Abyss.¡¹

    In that moment the eyes of the Wannabe Magical Girl, until now calm and emotionless, opened wide in astonishment and surprise.

    She might want to argue with me that this is just a theory and that I have no proof to back it up, but in that case I already have an answer at the ready: if you don¡¯t trust my words, why don¡¯t you go there, defeat Kutanid and see it for yourself?

    But if she chooses to believe in my words, she will obtain a genuine piece of information that will be exclusive to Library, outside of the reach of Guilds such as SF-Zoo or even ¡°ck Wolves¡±. It would be what is professionally called an ¡°Empty Frame¡±.

    ¡¸There is no way for me to prove it right off the bat¡­¡­ But consider this: if you choose to believe me, the guild ¡°Wolfgang¡± is going to help the members of Library in an efforts at re-matching Kutanid of the Abyss. ¡­¡­ What do you say to that?¡¹

    ¡¸This is not the kind of decision that I can make on my own here. Can I consult the rest of the members before making a decision?¡¹

    Even though she was saying something like that, I could already see it in her eyes: this was too good for them to simply pass it up. They were going to agree to our terms.

    ¡¸In the first ce, you can¡¯t really expect all that much out of the guild ¡°ck Wolves¡±. What could they possibly offer you? To help you clear the main story? On the other hand, please look at the track record of ¡°Wolfgang¡± with Unique Monsters. That should be more than enough of an incentive to cooperate with us.¡¹

    We can talk about it and discuss all we want, but it is really a simple choice once it is brought down to the main points. It should also help that the guild ¡°Wolfgang¡± offers to help out Library if needed. Up until now I was perfectly enacting Pencilgton¡¯s n, and it was proving to work wonders. At this rate, the merits of our cooperation heavily outweigh the demerits.

    ¡¸What is it that you are supposed to do at such times? Shake hands?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, hmm¡­¡­ Actually, there are some more things I would like to discuss first.¡¹

    ¡¸Muh?¡¹

    Now it was my turn to get some job done. I was hoping that the other side would simply ept out proposal and that would be it. But this was a somewhat unexpected turn of events.

    ¡¸You do realize that the yers are currently traveling towards the new continent, right¡­¡­? As a matter of fact, Library also sends its envoys there in order to collect information.¡¹

    ¡¸Haa.¡¹

    ¡¸And it just so happens that we have recently received a rather interesting report. Now, if you promise to help us with that matter¡­¡­ The Library is going to have no real reason to turn down your guild¡¯s request.¡¹

    Sh*t, does that mean that now instead of targeting ¡°Wolfgang¡± you are going to target me specifically?

    ¡¸We are not interested in the least in the fact who discovers a particr information. And besides, you are talking about a ¡°track record¡± but only you know how it is, right? There is no one else that can prove it.¡¹

    It was at this exact moment that the roles of buyer and seller were reversed.

    No, wait just a moment. I was acting as if I was a really skilled negotiator, but in reality I don¡¯t really think that I¡¯ll be able to hold my own ground against this Magical Girl Wannabe. Sure, I can do some tongue shenanigans, but in order to emerge victorious here I fear that my Intelligence stat is not nearly high enough.

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­ Don¡¯t you think that you¡¯re expectations are a little bit too high here¡­¡­?¡¹

    Oh sh*t, not good. I could feel goosebumps starting to crawl all over my skin, creating the nastiest feeling imaginable.

    ¡¸From your own words, I believe it is safe for us to assume that you have obtained the information on every single one of the Unique Monsters. Coincidentally, we have those at our disposal as well.¡¹

    And there it is! They are misinterpreting my words, and misinterpreting them in a really spectacr manner! Fuck this, I wanna go home. I want to stop all this thinking processes and just go hunt some monsters already!

    ¡¸The information about that ¡°Epic of the Vorpal Bunnies¡± of yours¡­¡­ We do not care in the slightest about the benefits and items thate from joining forces or Unique Scenarios themselves. Sanraku-san, what we only care about is information¡­¡­ You do understand that, right?¡¹

    ¡¸I see, it¡¯s as if, it¡¯s as if¡­¡­ It¡¯s as if signing a pact with the devil. So you want to trade information regarding the Unique Monsters¡­¡­?¡¹

    Oh sh*t, this is really bad! My lips were moving on their own,pletely out of reflex. From here on out, I really need to watch out what exactly I am going to say!

    ¡¸We are not quite yet in the stage where we can talk about anything ¡°certain¡±, however we know this for sure: for your information we can give you the information about a ¡°Raging Snake God¡±.¡¹

    ¡¸Raging¡­¡­ Evil God?¡¹

    ¡¸No, not the ¡°Evil¡± God. Raging Snake God.¡¹

    Snake, huh¡­¡­? The only oneing close to that description that I could think of would be Orchestra, but does that mean that Library discovered the names of all seven of the Unique Monsters?

    ¡¸Now then, as you said earlier, it might actually be better to set a trial period¡­¡­ What do you think? Seeing is believing as they say. However, I would feel really grateful if you would agree to be our ¡°eyes¡±.¡¹

    It seems that for those guys, it was never about negotiating with the guild ¡°Wolfgang¡±. They wanted to negotiate with me exclusively, without having to go through Pencilgton. No matter how you look at it, that¡¯s just crazy. This really puts a pressure on me, but I cannot say that a situation like that would not have its share of merits.

    ¡¸For the time being, could you hold on¡­¡­ I shall take all of that to heart and we will think of our answer.¡¹

    ¡¸We shall await your reply, then. We do hope that it will be a right one.¡¹

    A half-naked bird-head and a Magical Girl Wannabe bothugh sincerely, as if trying to reassure one another.

    Of course, I had to make haste and go back. After all, I am our Guild¡¯s gunball.

 Chapter 239: Painful Stagnation Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 239: Painful Stagnation Part 1</h4>

    ¡¸Hmm¡­¡­ Nfufufu, well I can¡¯t say I did not expect the sly foxes to try and negotiate with Sanraku-kun alone at some point. But I would never expect them to go out with in the open like that.¡¹

    ¡¸So? What are we going to do about that?¡¹

    ¡¸If you were to ask me for opinion, if it means getting the oh-so-great Library on our side, I would say that some expenses are well justified for that end.¡¹

    Even though I did nothing all that remarkable during the negotiations, there was a wide smile on Pencilgton¡¯s face that would just not go away for some reason. I mean, if she says it¡¯s fine, then that¡¯s it, but if you were to ask me, is it not dangerous to just give away precious information just like that? This mighte to bite us in the asster on.

    But I must say, it was really clever out of her to just leave Katsu and Kyo-Timate out of it for a moment. I guess that her infamous tactical genius is not just for show¡­¡­

    ¡¸I wanted to stay out of it and just stay put to see how it goes, but I must say that the results turned out even better than I would have anticipated. Nfufufu¡­¡­ I was hoping to rope in the guys from 10 P.M Army as well, but I guess this is good in its own right¡­¡­ After all, beggars can¡¯t really be choosers.¡¹

    ¡¸Oi, keep talking like that and I shall go back to Solo y without even looking behind.¡¹

    ¡¸Ara, you can do however you please. So by any means, go right ahead. However, please do note back after a day or two with tears in your eyes, alright?¡¹

    This whole event was starting to shape up to be like a genuine war in between Guilds, so it was not really all that unreasonable to try and rope in others to help us. We need all the help we can get.

    Maybe it would not be such a bad idea to try and enlist the help of both Rust and Mold, or maybe even Akitsu Akane. However, on the other hand I would not want to drag all of my game friends into such a messy interpersonal conflict. I would like to avoid doing just that for the time being.

    Truth to be told, I already tried to test the waters and see if they would be interested in participating in this, and incidentally all of them said that they would rather not. Not that this surprises me at all.

    That is why the three of us will be all on our own with this mess.

    Until that time rolls around it is probably best to just leave Pencilgton to her own devices¡­¡­ As for me, I am going to just y the game however I want to, without worrying about anything.

    And even though this is highly unlikely turn of event, if worstes to worst, I might even quit ying ShanFro for a while.

    Now, even though I said all that.

    ¡¸Eh? Big Bro Vash¡­¡­ Is not here?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right! Father is currently out, seeing one of his lifelong friends!¡¹

    When I have returned to Rabbitz via a disposable magic scroll, I wanted to go straight to Weissash in order to give him the Delta Devices. This could have given me a lead to the new Unique Monster, but¡­¡­ apparently my timing was bad and we happened to pass each other by.

    ¡¸Ah, I see¡­¡­¡¹

    Things like that do happen in games from time to time. Still, even though it is not something that can be med on anyone in particr, it is really inconvenient. Now I would have to sit around and wait until I would be able to push the quest forward.

    And since ShanFro is linked to the real world time so much, it is highly unlikely that Weissash is going to reappear here simply by me exiting and reentering the pce. In that case¡­¡­ Right! I know what to do!

    ¡¸Time for me to go to sleep!¡¹

    ¡¸In that case, pleas have a good night¡¯s sleep!¡¹

    Good night¡¯s rest!? It¡¯s not even dark outside yet!

    I do not feel like ying ShanFro when I have nothing else to do in there for the time being. So in order to have a change of pace, I decided to give a go to that one game that I have purchased recently.

    ¡¸¡°Ryuuguin Fugaku¡¯s Coborative Work! VR Kendo ssroom Course!¡± I must say, those are some strong sounding words for something that is essentially a teaching software.¡¹

    From the look of it, the production of this game was supervised by a strong-looking old man who was also a

    And you might have guessed that already, but¡­¡­ The secret boss that Iwamaki-san was talking about was apparently Ryuuguin Fugaku himself. How cool is that?

    It seems that the guy has long since passed away now, but apparently during his lifetime he was cooperating with UCE in order to develop a really borate Trace AI, one that would be able to preserve his Samurai Spirit and allow it to be passed on to the next generations in this digital day and age.

    There is a technology nowdays that is called Trace AI.

    At one point in time, there were scientists and realists who were all crazy about the technology of cloning and the ethics associated with that particr branch of science. Here the many theories are all needlesslyplicated, but to summarize them into terms that could be well understood, the Trace AI is the kind of AI that would in theory be able to recreate the mind of a certain person and their thought processes as closely and urately as possible.

    The way in which it works is fairly simple: you just wear a specific VR set and carry on with your usual routine in the cyberspace. The AI records and analyzes both your thought patterns and behavior, creating the virtual image of the person wearing the set and making it as close to the original as possible.

    So it is just asking yourself the question: how would that person behave in a situation this or that and pushing it to the limit. Of course, there is no way that an AI like that would ever acquire an ego of its own, and since it is nothing more but a program, it has no human rights.

    And the result of this technology for the advanced AI creation was ¡°Fugaku¡±, the secret boss of this game.

    ¡¸You get lessons from Fugaku during the course of the game, but in order to unlock his high end boss version there are some conditions that you must satisfy¡­¡­¡¹

    If you y the game normally and as it was intended to by the developers, you would fight in one on one duel against Fugaku as a final exam of sorts. However, as your rank goes higher and higher, different letters start to appear on the kendo scroll hanging on the dojo¡¯s wall. If you collect all the letters and ce them in the right order on the game¡¯s main menu screen, the secret boss battle shall be unlocked.

 Chapter 239: Painful Stagnation Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 239: Painful Stagnation Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸All Rank S, but boy am I d that there is nothing more.¡¹

    I was about halfway through the game, and so far the requirements were not overly strict or anything like that.

    Even though some of the missions and tasks are pretty hard, as long as you remember the tutorial and its teachings it can all be aplished sooner rather thanter. The path of the sword does not yield even to increasing difficulty levels!

    I hit the ¡°AI Teacher Dummy¡± with a flying kick to the stomach, and as it wobbles in ce I also add a full swing to it. The stage is cleared, now it¡¯s time for evaluation. The strict voice shouts two words: Rank E! This means my performance was pretty much garbage.

    Also, not that I amining, but the fact that you could switch your kendo uniform here on and off as you desired was kind of evil. I mean, what were the developers thinking when they added a function like that?

    ¡¸I knew it¡­¡­ When ites to martial arts, the highest level of difficulty makes the AI opponents really hard to deal with¡­¡­¡¹

    I was ying the game normally and at my own pace, but around the fourth dan and higher I started to struggle quite a bit.

    Soon enough, rather than skill, passing the next stages of battles against AI opponents became more of a trial and error thing.

    At first it was a piece of cake, but as the ranks started to go up the movements of the training dummies started to get more smooth and refined, and right about now they were able to perform reallyplex moves an maneuvers as if they were doing only that for God knows how many years without stopping¡­¡­ And since there is a strict ban in this software when ites to shoulder tackles from American football, pro-wrestling moves and everything that resembles street fighting, I was barely even managing to attain the lowest grade possible, which was G.

    ¡¸It would be great to have an action game with skills and stats¡­¡­¡¹

    I would really like to y around with my stats in this particr title. Specifically, I would like to increase the Agility of my avatar by one and a half.

    With something like that clearing those stages would be a breeze.

    ¡¸So does that mean it is time for the normal boss¡­¡­?¡¹

    Knockout!

    It was simply overwhelming. So far I managed to win one time, two times there was a draw and I have lost about forty three times.

    The deciding factor seemed to have been a variation of German Supplex, but¡­¡­ God, I¡¯m so tired¡­¡­ So, so tired¡­¡­

    ¡¸I¡¯m out of breath¡­¡­ In ShanFro this amount of exercise would not even make me break a sweat, but here¡­¡­ Now then.¡¹

    Do I want to return to ShanFro? Or do I want to tackle that secret boss? For the time being I return to the title screen and¡­¡­

    ¡¸Umm, let¡¯s see here¡­¡­ ¡°Young buds, from West to East, grow and take nutrients from the dead leaves, bloom intorge flowers¡±?¡¹

    Was that supposed to be a poem? Or maybe a song? Or maybe¡­¡­ You know what? I¡¯m not going to bother with that. Ancient poetry and writing is something that is way too sophisticated for an average modern high school student such as myself.

    ¡¸Umm¡­¡­ So what this means¡­¡­ Season changes, dead leaves dance in the air?¡¹

    There is a change in the main menu of the VR kendo dojo. The door at the back of the dojo start to open, released by the secret password, and now I can enter the hidden dojo where the secret boss would await me.

    ¡°DUAL WIELD HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE MODE SELECTION.¡±

    ¡°ONLINE BATTLE MODE HAS BEEN ADDED TO MODE SELECTION.¡±

    ¡°HIDDEN DIFFICULTY, BRAVE FENCER HAS BEEN ADDED TO MODE SELECTION.¡±

    See, it¡¯s here. It is only a little bit weird that you need to beat the boss to unlock the first two options. Those would usuallye as standard in game options.

    I choose the new difficulty setting without hesitation, and also choose the dual wield option while being at it. A pair of bamboo swords appear in front of me, hanging in the air.

    ¡¸Dual Wield, huh¡­¡­?¡¹

    I was unable to even touch the person that was known as Ryuuguin Fugaku.

    I also learned that there is a huge gap in between our abilities to dual wield. Apparently the dual wielding art of the past was something totally out of this world¡­¡­

    ¡¸OGUEH!?¡¹

    For the first time ever in my life, I was also able to find out that you can get a brain concussion within five seconds.

    It was not the unreasonable speed, just like that of the Gravekeeper Wezaemon. It was just your normal human speed. And before I could do anything or react in any way, I was already getting pummeled.

    ¡­¡­ This battle was sure to be a struggle. A grueling one at that.

    ¡¸Awaken!¡¹

    ¡¸Good morning, Sanraku-san!¡¹

    It¡¯s already dark outside!

    ¡¸Father should be back now!¡¹

    ¡¸Alright! Let¡¯s go, Emul!¡¹

    Right now, I was extremely frustrated that I was unable to make any sort of progress when ites to battle against Ryuuguin Fugaku, so I decided to log in into ShanFro to see if now I will be able to push the Unique Scenario EX a little bit further.

    As we walk through the corridors of the Bunny Court, I try to summarize the information I have so far and organize it all inside of my head.

    So far, the information gained during the conquering of the previous dungeons did not prove to be of much use. Wezaemon¡¯s was a simple quest with a boss that simply pulverizes its enemies in a quick and neat fashion. Kutanid¡¯s was a mere dungeon conquest with a whole lots of gimmicks to it. This Unique Scenario EX, however, had way too many steps for my taste.

    It seemed to me that the progress of this quest was tied to doing other Unique Scenario EXs, and I was guessing that beside the one I was doing right now, there would be a whole bunch of other mini quests that I would be required to aplish.

    Will I be required to fight against Vash at the end of the line? Or is there going to be some other victory conditions that I¡¯m unable to see for now? ¡­¡­ Thinking about it now, is defeating the Unique Monster the only way of clearing the Unique Scenario EXs?

    Up until now I was doing just that, defeating them without thinking of a peaceful solution¡­¡­ Well, Wezaemon was probably an exception to that rule, but even though you defeat the Unique Monsters, they are not really disappearing from this world¡­¡­ Which is giving you an opportunity for a rematch.

    Thinking about it carefully, this is all a Unique ¡°Scenario¡±. The purpose of such quest should be tied to clearing the storyline connected to a given monster, so that would not necessarily entail having to defeat the Unique Monster in question.

    Such possibilities are low, but not entirely impossible. What if in reality it was Setsuna of the Distant Past that was the real Unique Monster and Wezaemon was a mere boss? Would killing Setsuna instead of Wezaemon cause the quest to copse? To end in failure?

    If we are to assume something like that, then was Kutanid really a shy octopus that was ying around in his backyard, just wanting friends with whom he could y with?

    ¡¸In the first ce, just what is making the Unique Monster unique¡­¡­? The story that is tied to it? Its connection to the gods? Or maybe something else connected to the world of the game itself?¡¹

    ¡¸S-Sanraku-san!? Again off to your own world!? Look, we are already here!¡¹

    GUEH!? Don¡¯t pull on my cloak all of a sudden like that!

    ¡¸R-Right then. How about we report our achievements so far?¡¹

    Well now, I wonder what exactly is going to happen from this point onwards¡­¡­

    Also, its seems that Akitsu Akane managed to arrive at Rabbitz and was on his way to the Colosseum in order to do the quest ¡°Invitation from the Bunny Country¡±. After we are done here, let us go there and see how he is doing.

 Chapter 240: The Price of Strength, But Eyes Filled with Fiery Fury Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 240: The Price of Strength, But Eyes Filled with Fiery Fury Part 1</h4>

    No matter how one tends to look at it, both the Unique Scenario ¡°Invitation to the Bunny Country¡± and Unique Scenario EX ¡°The Epic of the Vorpal Bunnies¡± are very challenging quests that may prove extremely difficult for new yers.

    The content of those quests is all about fighting hordes of monsters whose level is way higher than that of the yer character, but fortunately what youck in pure numbers you can make up for with both skill and agility¡­¡­ Looking at it now, I was even able to fight and defeat the most broken of all enemies, the Loser Woods, who was supposed to be invulnerable to physical attacks with physical attacks, just because I was able to grab its staff from its hands.

    That is all there really is to it.

    For example, due to a set of miraculous coincidences like: ¡°continuing to obtain items that give very good effects and modify your stats like crazy¡± and ¡°fighting really strong enemies such as boss monsters and two Unique Monsters¡± you could obtain the power necessary to get through all of those challenges with ease. If there really was a yer like that, you could say that their Luck stat would truly be out of this world.

    What do you think would happen if something like that was to take ce? The result would be just like what you can see here.

    ¡¸Uwoah¡­¡­¡¹

    It is not really something that I should boast about here, but as a sh*tty game hunter I have conquered many brokenly difficult games and defeated many bosses whose difficulty level was high as sh*t. I don¡¯t know why, but apparently broken difficulties and over the top battles seem to go hand in hand when ites to sh*tty games, and it is a major factor why some of those games keep on losing yers that actively y them. Still, even if it is a raid boss ced in a single yer game, or a challenge quest with rules that were clearly not all that well thought out before green lighting the quest, I have managed to conquer them all, although not without my fair share of both struggles and frustrations. Hell, I even managed to conquer a boss fight that initially took me almost one hundred weeks of trying to figure out! One hundred weeks! Can you imagine just how broken that fight felt to me at the time? That being said, not that I was doing only that boss fight for one hundred weeks straight, but you get the point¡­¡­ It was a truly fierce battle that would nowadays require me to consume a fair share of Riot Bloods beforehand.

    However, even someone as experienced in fighting sh*t bosses and broken difficulty levels as I was, was forced to watch in awe at what was happening right before my very eyes.

    ¡¸Eh, what was that thing about now¡­¡­ Was that a bug? In my ShanFro?¡¹

    ¡¸Ahhh¡­¡­ Grabbed by the neck and shed like that¡­¡­ Looks painful¡­¡­ Piuuu¡­¡­¡¹

    About ten meters away from us, Akitsu Akane was doing whatever he could against his opponent, which was huge ck shadow. That shadow could only be described as the ¡°Grim Reaper Lookalike¡± and it was literally ughtering poor Akitsu Akane.

    Just then, a scythe appeared in the hands of the Grim Reaper, one that looked as if it was made out of dried up blood and crystalized darkness and malice. The ck shadow made one swift motion with that scythe, a motion that it must have familiarized itself with after making it countless of times in the past¡­¡­

    There was a bright sh, and in the next moment Akitsu Akane¡¯s head fell from his shoulders and hit the ground with a loud THUD!, slowly rolling away. That was¡­¡­ Almost like that one hit kill that Luukan was able to perform.

    Dear Game Masters¡­¡­ maybe you should not make things look so graphic? This could definitely traumatize some people.

    ¡¸Sickle? That¡­¡­ What the fuck is that¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸That,d, is ¡°True Quiet¡±¡­¡­ The highest of the spirits known in thesends, and something that only Father was able to defeat inbat in the past.¡¹

    ¡°True Quiet¡± huh¡­¡­? So that cheat-looking throw technique was not really a cheat, but rather its insta-kill move? Something like that? Ahh! I wanna redo the ¡°Invitation to the Bunny Country!¡± so bad! I want to test my own skills in fight against that thing!

    No, wait just a moment, calm down, me¡­¡­! I already have super hard secret boss to beat for the current moment! Ryuuguin Fugoku! For now I have no idea just how am I going to defeat it with the capabilities of my avatar being so severely limited, but I¡¯ll think of something sooner orter. Yeah, definitely.

    But still, it is very interesting indeed, so it won¡¯t hurt to ask Weissash about the details sometimeter.

    ¡¸Ohh! Well, if it isn¡¯t Sanraku!¡¹

    ¡¸Good evening, Big Brother! We have seeded in finding the requested items!¡¹

    Usually I y very casually and without worrying about anything, but it is also quite nice to roley someone else in conversations from time to time.

    More often than not I havee to realize that this kind of ¡°small roley¡± was surprisingly sessful in many story quests and NPC interactions, but I get a feeling that a slightly rouge approach would be good against Weissash, because he is giving off that particr vibe himself.

    ¡¸Oho, oho¡­¡­ I did not think that you would find those materials so quickly, I was thinking that you would need more time before you would be able to do it.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh you know¡­¡­ My body is really light, and it only took some flexibility and wall running¡­¡­ Your usual things while exploring around.¡¹

    I could feel that Emul was looking at me with a mortified expression, but it is not that I have told a lie here or anything like that. Sure, it was kinda hard to obtain those materials and one wrong move would spell doom to the both of us, but overall it was not all that bad¡­¡­ I think?

    ¡¸Fumu¡­¡­ Sanraku, Yuzuki, and¡­¡­ ¡°the materials from the monsters that you admit that are strong¡±. You will need all of that.¡¹

    Ooh, here ites, here ites! No matter how much I would nag Break about it, she would never want to create a weapon for me in a way that Weissash did it, saying something that it required outstanding skill and that it would result in breaking the materials if handed poorly.

    I have no idea what am I going to fight in the end, but perhaps the key to that quest is the weapon strengthened with the materials obtained while doing the other Unique Scenario EXs.

 Chapter 240: The Price of Strength, But Eyes Filled with Fiery Fury Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 240: The Price of Strength, But Eyes Filled with Fiery Fury Part 2</h4>

    However, when I was making Yuzuki I did not really care all that much if it would be necessary for some other quests down the line. But what struck me as odd was the selection of materials that were needed in order to create it. But if the designation was ¡°materials from beings that the user thinks that are strong¡±, this means that only the materials from the most powerful of monsters out there would really do the trick.

    The strong enemy that you have struggled against in solo subjugation. Super strong enemy killed together in a party battle. The former are better when ites to the ¡°strength¡± factor since you were fighting it alone, but thetter tend to give better quality materials due to their increased difficulty. What kind of judgement applies in this case¡­¡­ Honestly, I would rather not invite other people to do ¡°Epic of the Vorpal Bunnies¡± together with me, because if that was to happen a whole lot of people would try to selfishly farm for weapons and forget about team effort. And I don¡¯t want that.

    However, the monsters that I have struggled against the most were Luukan and Kutanid of the Abyss, and they did not drop any items or materials. So that would leave the other strong monsters in the areas that were associated with Unique Monsters or of high level requirement. And most of those materials were taken when creating Scorpion Gauntlets, Mirror Shield and Dis Patel. But since the materials from monsters are not all that specific to begin with, it may be possible to create a new weapon or strengthen the already existing ones with what materials I have left. If it is indeed like that, then lucky me.

    ¡¸The materials used in creation of the Scorpion Gauntlets and the materials from Antis Reaperorca¡­¡­ Except for Kutanid and Luukan, those were the times where I was prepared to die if it meant taking those monsters down.¡¹

    Without the field gimmicks, those were the kind of enemies that I would normally never even hope to defeat on my own. Especially that Reaperorca, how were you supposed to defeat that thing without reflecting itsser back at it? Or without a weapon of mass destruction, or evaporating the whole sea all at once?

    For a moment out there, Weissash was looking at the ws of the Golden Scorpion and the Crystalized Feather Fins of the Antic Reaperorca. Then, after a moment of silence he grinned widely and took those items from me, alongside Yuzuki as well.

    ¡¸Hoo, this is going to be really interesting here¡­¡­ Break is going to have quite augh with that¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡­¡­ Hmm, yeah. But that¡¯s it? Umm, okay, maybe I should wait with giving him the Delta devices after hepletes the weapon modifications for me. Yeah, let¡¯s do just that.

    Right, that should be a good moment to ask.

    ¡¸Incidentally, Big Bro¡­¡­ Sickle, what was this thing¡¯s name again?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s True Quiet.¡¹

    ¡¸Right, that. You see, I would happen to be interested in fighting that thing¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, funny that you say that. Akitsu Akane said the exact same thing. Personally, I don¡¯t think there is any meaning in defeating this monster if you are not going to do it in a one on one battle, but if you really want to help him, I am not going to stop you.¡¹

    No¡­¡­ What I meant was that I wanted to fight it on my own¡­¡­ Oh well, whatever. Anyways, the drop item from this monster should be its scythe, right? And since it¡¯s a quest rted monster, defeating it should not make it impossible for others to challenge it. So it¡¯s all okay in my book.

    It¡¯s not like I want to help Akitsu Akane no matter what. But I do believe that if I go and say that out loud, it might actually affect my likeliness gauge with Sickle, so I don¡¯t want ot risk getting a bad karma here.

    ¡¸Right, thank you so much.¡¹

    Well, we are notplete strangers, so if I can help you, that is what I am going to do.

    ¡¸Alright! I am going to win next time for sure!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, won¡¯t you look at that? He got insta killed again.¡¹

    ¡¸Akitsu Akaneeee!!!¡¹

    I think that Akitsu Akane¡¯s strong point is that unrelenting mentality of his. He doesn¡¯t give even in a situation like that. I should learn a thing or two from him.

    I went out for a moment to the waiting room of the Colosseum and when I went back to the arena, Akitsu Akane had his head chopped off ten times already and was currently on his way for scoring the beheading number eleven. Witnessing him getting executed time after time like that was starting to get really depressing.

    ¡¸Ah! Sanraku-san! Hello there!¡¹

    ¡¸Ah¡­¡­ Yeah, hello. And for the time being, STAY.¡¹

    ¡¸Roger!¡¹

    Yeah, just like that. Let¡¯s sit down. Yeah, that¡¯s right, it was high time for a strategy meeting. For the time being the only thing you can really do is to die repeatedly in order to get yourself familiar with the boss¡¯s attack patterns and learn to respond to them. It was all about muscle memory, really. However, I was more than sure that this monster was just like Kutanid of the Abyss: it was all about a gimmick.

    And unless we unravel the mystery of this gimmick, the Death Penalty will only keep on piling up.

    ¡¸From the perspective of the audience, I can say for sure that this boss has a gimmick to it. If you get caught in its grab animation, it is already over for you.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right! I tried to move away and jump, but in the end I was still unable to avoid it¡­¡­¡¹

    Well, the current point of view is not so bad. Actually, that whole gimmick is a whole lot easier to understand once you view it from the third party perspective.

    ¡¸Hmm, that would be kind of a spoiler if I say anything here. Are you fine with that?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, please! Honestly speaking, I was starting to feel like I was getting stuck, so any help you could give me will be well appreciated!¡¹

    ¡¸Nhh, once you get grabbed, it forces that teleport. The trigger here would be ¡°shadow¡±.¡¹

    Yes, the moment the Reaper¡¯s hand reaches out towards the yer, its shadow lengthened considerably. But it was a pretty fast action, so it might have been difficult to spot.

    Some sort of verification would be nice here so that we could be sure about that, but I do believe that as long as the shadow of the yer touches the shadow of the Reaper, the yer will be automatically locked into a grab animation.

    ¡¸This is probably not a homing attack, so you might want to try to avoid by doing a back step or jumping sideways when it starts its grab animation.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­¡­ I understand! I am going to give it a go right away!¡¹

    While looking at Akitsu Akane who run off without even stopping or looking behind, I cast a short nce towards both Sickle and Emul.

    This piece of vital information can be easily obtained if you just sit in the audience seat and keep on watching. Still, if I were unable to grasp that all on my own, would any of the Vorpal Bunnies offer to give me this information as hint or clue?

    Thinking about it calmly, this is just too iprehensible. Unique Monsters serve the purpose of testing the yer¡¯s skill and innate abilities, and their drop materials can help the yers to be stronger¡­¡­ Does that mean that Weissash is not going to be an enemy during this Unique Scenario EX?

    ¡¸Ugh¡­¡­¡¹

    Oya, it looks like Akitsu Akane has respawned.

    ¡¸Before I could notice anything or do anything, I was cut from behind!¡¹

    ¡¸Have some more confidence in yourself man¡­¡­ Ah, right. How many times have you fought that monster?¡¹

    ¡¸That was the first one!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I shall lend you a hand here, so let¡¯s both give it our best, alright?¡¹

    Does that mean that there are still nine monsters left out there? Presumably even more powerful than that one just now? Is that really something you would like to put the low level yers through?

 Chapter 241: Gold Moon, So Blue Yet So Cold Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 241: Gold Moon, So Blue Yet So Cold Part 1</h4>

    I was able toe to a certain realization just now: a situation where I am basically unable to fight on my own is extremely frustrating. But it is thanks to that realization that I was able to conclude that the time I have spent so far ying on my own was well worth it and that it was not at all a wasted effort¡­¡­ At least I don¡¯t think it was.

    ¡¸I did it¡­¡­ I DID IT! Did you see that, Sanraku-san!? Did you see that, Sickle-san! I did it!!!¡¹

    An instant death grab attack that is forced upon the yer and unable to be broken in any way once the yer¡¯s shadow touches the shadow of the Grim Reaper monster.

    In essence, this is a type of attack that looks like a teleportation behind one¡¯s back, but in reality it is nothing more but a separation of the shadow from the main body, and then the two basically switch ces.

    Once you get caught in that animation, it is all over for you. You are unable to break free, you get debuffed into oblivion and you be so weak that as a result a single strike is more than enough to send you to your grave on the spot.

    But to be perfectly honest, that was all there was to that monster. Aside from that one special attack, the Reaper did not possess anything that coulde even remotely close to being called a real threat to the yer.

    Don¡¯t get me wrong, it was still a formidable opponent, stronger than any normal monster I havee across up until now. But the thing is, once you understood how it tends to work and took all the necessary precautions to protect yourself from being locked into that instant death animation¡­¡­ beating the True Quiet into a bloody pulp was bing so painfully easy that you could even call it boring.

    ¡¸I don¡¯t know about that, but is it not a correct answer to increase a minus one hundred Strength into zero rather than cutting one hundred Strength to zero?¡¹

    I knew it, the old rule of thumb goes in to full effect in this game more than in any other. Instead of looking at a certain enemy through the scope of sheer numerical values alone, it is far better and more effective to just figure out its weakness based on the overall story settings and world views.

    Doing something like that to a monster is something that you rarely see in any normal games, but on the other hand it is a practice that is surprisinglymon when ites to sh*tty games. That, plus the monsters like that were also gifted with a certain ¡°motive¡± or an ¡°element¡± that only bes clear the moment they die ¡­¡­ I think that what constitutes a ¡°monster¡± is the element that gave birth to it in the first ce. An amalgamation of negativity and things such as ¡°death¡± or ¡°pain¡± in excessive quantities, or maybe even abstract concepts such as ¡°disease¡± or ¡°violence¡± in general. But that is just my personal opinion.

    In that case, let¡¯s assume that the game consists of three majorponents: ¡°HP Zero¡±, ¡°Damage¡±, and ¡°Debuff¡±. To make a long story short, once a certain statistic hits zero, instead of disappearing it goes into the negative value. And even after it goes to the negative, if we keep on piling up negative values on top of negative values, the numbers are only going to skyrocket. Of course, only in the negative direction.

    Then let us take a look at the exact same idea, only this time around it is reversed. After a certain parameter goes into the negative value, you add a positive value in order for it to go back to zero. Then you add negative value once more and then a positive one and so on and so forth. The principle here can be said to be exactly the same as what I was doing during the battle against Kutanid of the Abyss. Sure, it was the Inversion system and all that, but the way in which it was sometimes calcting damage and other things like that was exactly the same.

    If the damage is not doing anything, try healing instead. If you get debuffed, try to buff in order to offset the effect. If you somehow manage to end up dead, just revive and get over it.

    So what was the strategy to beat the Reaper? It was surprisingly simple. Together with Akitsu Akane we havee to a conclusion that the best thing for us to do in order to battle that particr enemy would be to go to the Rabbitz items store, buy as much healing items as possible and return to the Colosseum, basically healing the Reaper to its death.

    ¡¸It is the same feeling as sshing bottles of Holy Water over the Undead type of enemies, but here I do get a feeling that we waste way more potions than we would on a simple Undead.¡¹

    Here it is a simple of a concept. We use healing items, the items of the attribute of light in order to purge its counterpart, which is the attribute of darkness. Or to be more exact, in case of the True Quiet, it feels as though we were returning a debt that managed to amass over the years into a one hell of a hefty sum. And no matter if I was the one who was doing that, or if I was simply watching from the audience¡¯s seats, there was just something about throwing away luxurious recovery items that just¡­¡­ Did not feel right? Was feeling like a waste? Yeah, it was probably something like that.

    ¡¸I feel like this is giving a whole new meaning to the proverb ¡°Money is power¡±!¡¹

    ¡¸I feel like this is kind of right, but I also feel like this is kind of wrong here¡­¡­ Oh well!¡¹

    ¡¸Uwoah! Won¡¯t you look at that! Somehow, a scythe has dropped as a loot from the monster¡¯s corpse!¡¹

    ¡¸Hm, hmm¡­¡­ Wow, are we not lucky or what!?¡¹

    HAAAAAH!? Great, that¡¯s actually great! SOOOOOOO GREAT, I TELL YOU! The scythe that belongs to none other than the Grim Reaper itself, just how cool is that!? I want it so, sooooo bad right now!

    However, since I am a cool and level-headed member of society, I manage to keep my excitement in check. I may be super happy, but does not mean I need to let that happiness overflow and show.

 Chapter 241: Gold Moon, So Blue Yet So Cold Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 241: Gold Moon, So Blue Yet So Cold Part 2</h4>

    ¡¸Sanraku-san, even though you are clenching your fists so hard, you look awfully happy for some reason.¡¹

    That reason being: I am still young! So that means that I can enjoy my youth some more! I can indulge myself in youthful fantasies how much I want!!!!!!!!!

    When I saw this ghost type warrior that seemed to be really strong, I felt overjoyed that I would be able to challenge it. It was also thrilling to see that it possessed attacks that would require you to figure out its gimmick, so not only challenge your physical skills, but mental ones as well. It was only slightly disappointing to see that Akitsu Akane got to that enemy first, but there is always something you can learn from watching others struggle.

    Although there is no real sense of pain to it, getting repeatedly stabbed or skewered like that is not all good and fine for one¡¯s mental health. It is one of the best things in games, that death does note with all the pain and dark emotions surrounding it. And while there are people who might enjoy those kind of feelings, they should not impose that onto others, who might feelpletely otherwise.

    Games¡­¡­ Ever since they have first appeared in the world, it can be said that the history of the online battles was that of meeting new people, taunting one another and absorbing animosity from other people.

    There are even cases of adding fuel to the fire by sending friend requests to the salty yers after everything is said and done. Worst case scenario, an all out me war might erupt and escte to an unprecedented scale. However, as the time goes forth, so does the technology and the culture of yers ying the games. There are less cases of salty yers fighting one another, and gamese with at least some levels of precautions against that kind of behavior.

    Even if you miss a new release, there is nothing bad about it, since there are always more games toe out sooner orter. There are so many games on the market out there that the older games tend to get depopted quickly in favor of newer releases. There are even the type of gamers nowadays that devote their free time to only one kind of games out there, even though there are so many genres to choose from. But that is also something that is perfectly eptable.

    There is also a certain unwritten rule nowadays: don¡¯t treat the new users and yers in a way that you would not want to be treated.

    When ites to people like Pencilgton, Katsu and myself, we tend to bash one another on a daily basis, but it is only because we know one another for a while now. We would never do such a thing to a new yer. That would be rude and stood in opposition to what games are meant to be.

    ¡¸Basically, I do not rmend dying too many times with Full Dive system, so for now we should focus on acquiring as many information as we can while trying not to die all too often.¡¹

    ¡¸I get it! I understand!¡¹

    I said that I get it, but I wonder if I really DO get it¡­¡­ If it was for me, I sure would have go with something alongside the lines of ¡°For now, let us try something else¡­¡­¡±

    Oh well, I guess to each yer their own unique y style. Other people may want to give you advice sometime on how you should approach things, but one should never force their own style on others.

    Although the amount of mental damage I have suffered was truly tremendous, I felt that it was about time for us to be on our way¡­¡­ So I made a quick toilet break and logged back in. And while we were going towards the cksmith¡¯s workshop, we havee across someone we did not expect to see in a ce such as this.

    Good, that way I can expect the finished product to be of a really good quality.

    While we were on our way towards the workshop where Weissash should have been working, we saw a white bunny that was smoking a pipe outside, apparently waiting for us to show up.

    ¡¸Ohh, it¡¯s Break Onee-chan.¡¹

    ¡¸Hey there, Pops is calling for you guys.¡¹

    ¡¸Ooh, could it be that the weapons are already finished?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, they are¡­¡­ and they are wonderful. They are so wonderful that I actually cannot find the right words to describe them, as well as the awesomeness of Pops¡¯ craft¡­¡­ I¡¯m so jealous¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, you are here, huh¡­¡­ Great, I think that the results are really nice.¡¹

    ¡¸Hooooo¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    This weapon went a long way to get here to this point. It was once a simple Vorpal Knife, but then after some refining and strengthening with materials from Emperor Beetle it has be Half Moons ¡°Lower Fang¡± and ¡°Upper Fang¡±, thatbined were the mighty ¡°Yuzuki¡±. And right now, this very same Yuzuki gained a new appearance thanks to the materials from the Golden Crystal Scorpion and Antic Reaperorca.

    ¡¸I present to you, the ¡°Whale Rabbit Moon¡±¡­¡­ This one¡¯s name is ¡°Kinsho¡±. And the name of this one here is ¡°Meiki¡±.

    SO COOOL!!!!!!!!!

    It was probably because both weapons used simr ¡°crystal¡± catalysts for their strengthening but from different monsters, but even though they looked kind of different, they had simr ¡°crystal¡± outline to them. Their ornamentation was also really simr and their names sounded cool as hell as well. But the size was also different. While ¡°Kinsho¡± was looking like a normal sword and was urately as long, ¡°Meiki¡± looked more like a dagger rather than anything else.

    Judging from their names, the golden one uses the materials from the Golden Crystal Scorpion, and the dark blue de uses the materials extracted from Antic Reaperorca. For the time being, they both get a one hundred points when ites to appearance alone. But how about their skills and abilities? Let¡¯s find out!

    Whale Rabbit Moon ¡°Kinsho¡±.

    Anit de Sword

    The name of this swordes from the golden glow of the moonlight that was encapsted in the crystal used to craft this de. Thanks to the magic of the Vorpal Bunnies, it can still emanate the true chill of the moonlight while also exhibiting the chill of the Netherworld itself.

    When fighting an opponent whose level exceeds that of the yer character, uponnding a sessful critical hit and additional effect of ¡°crystallization¡± will be ced upon the enemy.

    When consuming the yer¡¯s HP gauge or receiving the radiance of the moonlight, the weapon can rapidly restore its lost durability.

    By hitting a certain amount of critical attacks, an additional attack mode will be avable based on the umted ¡°Pration¡± gauge.

    Requires following attributes to be wielded properly: ¡°Strength 100¡±, ¡°Dexterity 80¡±, ¡°Skill 80¡±, ¡°Vorpal Soul 200¡±.

    Whale Rabbit Moon ¡°Meiki¡±.

    An Anti de Sword.

    The name of this sword is derived from the spiritual power of the soul of the crystal used to craft those twin des. Thanks to the power of the Vorpal Bunnies, it manages to glow with the radiance of the moon while retaining the golden aura as well.

    When fighting an enemy whose level exceeds that of the yer character, uponnding a sessful critical blow it will be possible to gain additional effects.

    Based on the HP or MP of the yer that the weapon consumes, it will be possible to change its shape.

    By hitting a certain amount of critical attacks, an additional attack mode will be avable based on the umted ¡°Pration¡± gauge.

    Requires following attributes to be wielded properly: ¡°Strength 100¡±, ¡°Dexterity 80¡±, ¡°Skill 80¡±, ¡°Vorpal Soul 200¡±.

    At longst. You can clearly see Vorpal Soul emanating from this thing. No more hiding and no more suppressing. Just out in the open. Would not think it was an actual stat, though¡­¡­

 Chapter 242: If You Are a Man, You Will Do Everything In Your Power and Die at the End Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 242: If You Are a Man, You Will Do Everything In Your Power and Die at the End Part 1</h4>

    For the time being, I tried to equip my new dual swords to see if I was meeting all the necessary requirements. And since I was able to equip the dual swords and brandish them in my hands without any major issue, this must mean that every single requirement was sessfully met. That of course include the level of my Vorpal Soul being at two hundred or above.

    That is fine and all, but it brings me a certain problem. As far as I am concerned, the amount of Vorpal Soul needed for those weapons is quite high, at least when youpare it to the other stats that are required of the yer. And unlike HP, MP, or even Stamina, Vorpal Soul seems to be a hidden stat, meaning I cannot measure its current level, and I cannot be sure if it won¡¯t increase or decrease in certain situations. And if I am unable to confirm its value at any given point in time, there mighte a time where I will need it for something, but I will end up unable to use it and will be screwed as a result.

    [¡­¡­ Oh well, it is not that I did not have at least a vague idea how to raise that particr stat, so no problems there.]

    To be more specific, I guess that I have managed to satisfy the Vorpal Soul level requirement at the time of climbing through the crystal hills. I mean, it was there that I have fought a fight that allowed me to basically achieve the current level cap in one fell swoop.

    For the time being, the effects of those weapons are as follows: ¡°Kinsho¡± gives a debuff to the opponents uponnding a sessful critical hit, and ¡°Meiki¡± gives a small buff to itself uponnding a sessful critical hit¡­¡­ but a buff to itself? That¡¯s a little bit¡­¡­

    [No, that¡¯s not good.]

    No, it is really not good. Because I like to have control of every tool in my hands.

    [Oooohh, ooohhhuuufffhhh¡­¡­]

    In the first ce, as far as the weapons performance go, I already have one weapon that is excellent both in stats and its performance. Namely, the Duhan de. So do I really need another weapon that would be simr to it performance-wise? But that being said¡­¡­ Whale Rabbit Moon has that advantage that technically it would be really hard to bring its durability down. But does that apply only to the single weapon, or does it count for the other one as well? It¡¯s an important issue for me, since as a dual wielder I am going to use both of them at the same time.

    No, but wait just a moment. Since it is an Anti de Sword, it should meant that more or less its effects should trigger every time I sh with something that wields weapons of its own¡­¡­

    [So at the very least this does not make it totally useless, it is not totally useless, it is not totally useless, no, no, no¡­¡­]

    Those swords are so cool, that is why they are not totally useless¡­¡­ While I was doing my very best to convince myself of that fact, Weissash threw something my way while giving me a bitter look. It was as if he was able what was exactly happening deep inside of my heart. As for the item itself, it was small and it looked just about small enough to fit in the palm of my hand¡­¡­

    [And this is supposed to be¡­¡­?]

    It was an object whose shape was reminiscent of a gun. But instead of a regr bullet shooting gun, this thing looked more like a re gun you would see in movies and other games. In other words, even though it looked kind of cool, I could feel little to no killing potential from this thing.

    [Right, this little fe here is¡­¡­ I just call it Busy Beacon. BC for short. It may not be of any use for you right away, but from what I understand it will be of great help¡­¡­ After all, it is a kind of a whistle. A whistle that will let you summon Bahamut.]

    [Bah!?]

    What!? Wait, what was that just now!? The sheer destructive power of those words was just too great! I feel I could make the Magical Girl Wannabe drop dead on the spot if she heard that!

    Anyways, that one word, that one information seemed to work as thest missing piece of the puzzle. And having obtained that, I was able to slowly connect the dots of other information I managed to obtain thus far. And with each new dot connected to the rest, they were starting to form a clear picture, a picture that was the answer that I was looking for all this time.

    We have the footage found in the ruins of the old castle¡¯s basement. We have the words of the Setsuna of the Distant past herself. And right now we have Weissashe¡¯s words and the ¡°whistle¡± he has given me. I think that all of the above are more than enough of a proof that ¡°Bahamut¡± is more like a machine or something born out of science rather than a mere monster. Now¡­¡­ How does that connect to both Leviathan and Behemot? Could it be that it is irrelevant? I was not quite aware of the fact since those are the names of monsters and creatures that appear rather frequently in fantasy settings, but could it be¡­¡­ that those names are the names of the Gods here in ShangriLa Frontier¡¯s setting? No, but then¡­¡­ Kuh! I would very much like to throw myself into the storm of considering various options here, but for the time being the information regarding this Busy Beacon gun are way too important for me to pass them up!

 Chapter 243: Replay Abilitiy That Is as Interesting as It Is Maddening Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 243: Rey Abilitiy That Is as Interesting as It Is Maddening Part 1</h4>

    Here in Rabbitz there is a certain Unique Scenario that the yers can undertake. The name of this Unique Scenario is ¡°Touring Around the Bunnies Country¡±. And the aim of that questline is apparently to stop the ¡°Bunny Eating Snakes¡± that try to invade Rabbitz on the regr basis.

    But in the first ce, why would a monster that has ¡°Bunny Eating¡± in its name would even appear in a ce like this, and even be a part of the quest line? After all, the only ones who can enter Rabbitz through normal means are the presumably high level yers that managed to disy their Vorpal Souls throughbat with strong monsters. As it turns out, the answer to that question lies with one of the seven Unique Monsters.

    ¡¸By the way, how should I properly address you? Do you want me to use honorifics? Or maybe some specific title?¡¹

    ¡¸When ites to me, I do not really care about the way in which others address me. If you so desire, you can address me in the same way that you address Break or other bunnies.¡¹

    Ahh, no, that¡¯s a little¡­¡­ Oh well, it doesn¡¯t really matter. I brush that matter aside for a moment, focusing more on my conversation with Edward, the de facto ruler of this whole country, as matters would have it. We were still in his office at the top of the Bunny Court, sitting in the luxurious guest chairs inside of his office.

    ¡¸The situation looks as follows: currently, Goldunine¡¯s forces are digging tunnels under the ground in hope of bypassing Rabbitz defense lines that way. It is also through those tunnels that they send their scouting parties and raiding forces.¡¹

    ¡¸I can imagine that. I also heard that this whole Goldunine can spawn her soldiers from her own body¡­¡­ That was she has virtually an endless supply of soldiers. A number that lets her be a constant threat, but a number that is not nearly enough to make one final, decisive push.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes, unfortunately that is correct¡­¡­ There was once a time in the past that arge scale battle happened inside of the tunnels¡¯ depths. It was long and it was brutal, and our forces barely managed to push the invading snakes back behind the tunnels¡¯ halfway point¡­¡­ And that is as far as we were able to push them back. Trying to achieve anything more would have been a pure suicide.¡¹

    ¡°Goldunine the Inexhaustable¡±¡­¡­ One of the Seven Unique Monsters of the ShangriLa Frontier, taking on the form of a ¡°snake¡±. And just that name alone is more than enough to feel like suddenly there was an aura of ominous premonition hanging in the air.

    At least that is the feeling I get. But there is something more. Rumors and leaks regarding the actual threats that the defenders of the tunnels have to sh against on a daily basis¡­¡­ the leading units. Vorpal Bunnies whisper about snakes that arerger and more dangerous than regr snakes, and those greater snakes seem to be the ones leading the rest into battle. And they are the deadliest of threats that await you underground.

    ¡¸Just to make sure, have you not heard anything about it from Father? The warriors that are assigned to the tunnel defense are considered to be as good as dead. That¡¯s how low their chances of actually surviving the defense are.¡¹

    ¡¸So, Goldunine¡¯s pieces are being scattered all over the tunnels and are basically like poison¡­¡­ Great. At least I know what it is that we have to do. That¡¯s a start.¡¹

    ording to Weissashe¡¯s words, even though the man himself have never actually shed inbat with Goldunine¡¯s main body, it seems that the affinity of that monster is that of ¡°poison¡±. So that would exin the spread of her forces. Also, it seems that she can bestow upon the yer a negative status, a ¡°Curse of Poison¡±.

    It is that exact thing, this ¡°Curse of Poison¡± that makes the Vorpal Bunny warriors marked as ¡°dead¡± upon going down to the tunnels. Even if they do manage to survive the actual battles, what kills them off are the poisonous fumes that permeate the area. And since the only way to lift the curse ced upon you by the Unique Monster is to actually defeat the Unique Monster in question, the Vorpal Bunnies have no hope of surviving.

    So, unless we take care of the ¡°Divider¡± monsters that lead all the rest and serve as the poison pods, the poison fumes will keep on circting inside of the tunnels, and eventually all of the Vorpal Bunny defenders will end up dead. Either as a result of directbat with the snake army, or eroded by the poison way behind their defense lines. Anyways, it seems that the situation in the tunnels is going to be our main concern here.

    Also the main concern here would be the poison. The ¡°Divider¡± monsters generate it and it can contaminate any biological organism that ites into contact with. I do believe there is no need for me to say this, but if any of the contaminated defenders happened to go back to Rabbitz, the only thing that would result in would be an unprecedented disaster.

 Chapter 244: The Wolf Battle Begins, Glass is the First to Get Broken Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 244: The Wolf Battle Begins, ss is the First to Get Broken Part 1</h4>

    There is an old saying that goes more or less like this: slow and steady wins the race. It is a saying that teaches you not to rush things and just go slowly, because sometimes a more cautious approach is the one that shall bring the best results possible. It is also formted in such a way that even aplete dummy or a numbskull would be able to grasp its meaning with ease. Sometimes I get a feeling that a true sage came up with sayings like that one.

    But wait just a moment¡­¡­ If you are a wise man, then you know that rushing things is bad and that taking it slow is a desirable approach. So does that mean¡­¡­ The one who came up with this saying was not a wise man, but a total numbskull!?

    I am by no means a numbskull. Sure, I might act a little bit reckless or crazy from time to time, but at least I am not stupid enough to pick a fight with the member of the opposing guild just because I feel like it. Not that would not consider such behavior really cool. Also, if I can help it I would rather stay away from anything that even remotely resembles PK¡­¡­ Doesn¡¯t that make me a really smart of a person?

    Anyways, I know for sure that I am not stupid. Therefore, I am too smart to rush things, and I understand the virtue of taking it slow and steady. In my mind and in my eyes, that is the perfect example of a logical behavior.

    And just like that,

    ¡¸Need to dash! Full throttle! No stopping!!!¡¹

    I was runningte, as luck would have it. I would never actually hope to be there on time if I took the streets, so I was running alongside the rooftops, where there would be no traffic to get in my way. Also, since getting through the door would be too much of a hassle right now, I decided to run straight towards the window and I jumped forward, breaking the ss andnding straight on the upper floor of the ce where the meeting was supposed to be held. And the actual meeting ce? It was the ce designated by the ¡°ck Wolves¡±, one of their bases in Fifthsia. Call it an irony, but right about now it was nothing short of a wolves den form me.

    ¡¸Fuuh¡­¡­ Haa, haa¡­¡­ S-Safe!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­??? ¡­¡­¡­!?!?!?¡¹

    ¡¸Hi there, Pencilgton! What are you making that weird face for?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Sanraku, are you perhaps a pervert? Or let me correct myself. A slut, perhaps?¡¹

    Oh, you mean my current appearance? Noo, you see, there¡¯s a reason for that. It just so happens that my female version gets a slightly better Agility stat, so I order to get here in time I used the Holy Grail¡¯s power to aid me.

    And about my current appearance: I was experimenting with a few things while I was staying in Rabbitz, and because of that I felt like it would be necessary for me to take all of my armor and clothes off, which left me only in my underwear. But I would never expect that I would have to run over here in my female form! Now my chest hurts like sh*t from all that swaying!

    Let¡¯s go back in time for just a little bit, shall we?

    ¡¸You know what? At the times like these I am really envious of you. I mean, you always make such a face as though you were privileged of trying out new types of sweets before anyone else gets the chance to do so.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh well, I mean, I do not think that we are going to start throwing punches left and right right off the bat. At least I hope so.¡¹

    ¡¸Do you really think it is okay to take me along? I mean, I am a red name and all that other crap.¡¹

    ¡¸We have much to discuss during this meeting, and I am afraid that you are an important part of every single one of them. So yes, you are going with us.¡¹

    The base of the guild ¡°ck Wolves¡± located at Fiftsia. Suppoosedly, it was built by the members of ¡°ck Wolves¡± after one of theirrge scale hunting raids for the ease of essing the more bountiful harvest and hunting grounds around these parts of the map. For us, the members of the guild ¡°Wolfgang¡±,ing here was like jumping head first into the stomach of a ravenous beast.

    Of course, since Kyo-Timate got in into this mess in the first ce, it was a given that she had toe along. Nothing other than that was out of the question. Pencilgton was licking her lips while her eyes were full of anticipation, and Katsu was checking his equipment over and over again. Really now, do you honestly think that some sort of a fight is going to ur because of Kyo-Timate? But still, even I found myself to be gently stroking the handle of my own sword.

    However, this time around the delegation that would go to meet the guild ¡°ck Wolves¡± consisted of four people. Three of the four were the us, the original trio that gave birth to ¡°Wolfgang¡± and the fourth was Kyogoku, the one who was the cause of this whole meeting in the first ce.

    ¡¸But they surely are taking their sweet time.¡¹

 Chapter 245: Wolf War Outpost / Inevitable Truth Punch Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 245: Wolf War Outpost / Inevitable Truth Punch Part 1</h4>

    Trantor: Kurehashi Aiko

    Is this what they called sleeping on the bed of needles?

    The only thing I did there was breaking a window, but for some reason everyone was ring at me like I did something truly bad right now.

    There was also no need for me to do that, but I still decided to sway my chest in a might manner, ascertaining my dominance with pride. That was more than enough to get those awkward res off my back for now. Fufufu, justice prevails once more!

    ¡¸Instead of swaying and shaking those boobs of your all over the ce, how about getting dressed properly, huh? Sanraku-chan?¡¹

    ¡¸You just love to focus all of the attention on yourself, don¡¯t you?¡¹

    Gloom¡­¡­ with that remarking from Katsu, the attention of everyone present in here could finally be brought back to the topic at hand. With that, the discussion between two wolf packs could finally begin.

    ¡¸Now then, I do not think that any introductions are necessary here¡­¡­ Originally that would be the moment when we would clearly state the purpose of this meeting, but before that, I do believe that there is a more pressing matter that we need to attend to, isn¡¯t that right?¡¹

    In that exact moment, the most eyes turned towards Kyo-Timate. All those res were rather terrifying in and out of itself, but the most scary were the ones of the people who, even though were the members of the ¡°ck Wolves¡±, were wearing a rather cheap and weak equipment.

    All of a sudden, the atmosphere in the room was so tense that you could easily cut it with a knife.

    ¡¸Hmm, hmm, so we are starting with that, huh¡­¡­? Oh well, doesn¡¯t really matter to me all that much. Well then, to just get the matter over with, why don¡¯t you all¡­¡­ Alright, alright, I¡¯m joking. Why don¡¯t we settle at about fifty percent and call it day?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Please consider the fact that arge group of ck Wolves¡¯s elites are involved in this. Make it twenty percent and you have yourself a deal.¡¹

    ¡¸Noo, you see, it is precisely because of the nature of the situation we are dealing here with that I cannot possibly go below forty percent.¡¹

    Just from listening to that short exchange, one thing became clear to us all; right about now all the people present were divided into two groups. One group understood what was going on. Other? Not so much.

    The former group, the one who understands what is currently going on, is aware of just how fiercely Saiga-100 was fighting here, trying to get as much of a discount as humanly possible. Her argument? If Pencilgton does not go down with the price, our guild might face a full blown retaliation from the side of ck Wolves. Fortunately for us, and unfortunately for ck Wolves, the vast majority of the yers who were concerned with that issue were falling into that second category.

    ¡¸W-What the hell are those two even talking about¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸You don¡¯t know? Our leaders are currently negotiating at what level of interest the members who got PKd will be able to buy their equipment back.¡¹

    So, in other words, the currently going conversation can be probably summarized to something alongside the lines of:

    ¡¸If you want us to return your items to you, you will have to pay us the market price plus forty percent interest.¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s funny. Continue to be cheeky little bastard like that and my whole guild will rip you a new one.¡¹

    Probably something like that. Maybe. More or less.

    And it seems that after a moment of being frozen stiff, the biggest victim here finally was able to understand the gravity of the situation we were all currently in. That, and that judging by the nasty smile on Pencilgton¡¯s lips the perpetrators here were having the upper hand for the current moment.

    This guys must not have much experience in PK in the first ce, otherwise he would have known why the situation was turning out the way it was for now. But apparently he did not understand why would he need to pay for the equipment that belonged to him in the first ce. It must have been because of that that he yelled out loud:

    ¡¸Why¡­¡­ Why the hell would I need to pay you anything for getting MY equipment back!? That¡¯s messed up! Just give it back right this instant!¡¹

    ¡¸Why, you ask¡­¡­ Well, you see, it¡¯s really simple of a matter. Umm, let¡¯s see here, your¡­¡­ oh, yes, Ascension de, was it? It is mine right now, so please tell me, why would I ever want to give away my prized possession? And for free?¡¹

    ¡¸But it was mine in the first ce!¡¹

    Ahh, ahh, he really does not get it. To that disy, Saiga-100 just held her head in her hands while the smile on Pencilgton¡¯s lips has grown even nastier than before.

    And it seems that Kyo-Timate, who was apparently well-versed in the ways of this game, took it upon herself to teach the small child about the ways in which this world tended to work¡­¡­ In other words, what is the reason that the victim had to pay money to the criminal so that they could get their stuff back? The exnation is really simple here.

    ¡¸Now listen well, boy. PK is not an activity that is considered to be illegal in this game. It essentially is one of the y styles that the game allows you to pick and follow. So I just did what the game allowed me to do, and your equipment is the reward that was bestowed upon me for being good at what I do. So it was not a bad thing, see? Do you get it now?¡¹

    Yes, that¡¯s right. That is amon misconception even among the veteran yers. yer Killing is not something that is not allowed. It is just one of the many ways in which this game was supposed to be yed.

    For example, let¡¯s say that Pencilgton skillfully deceives someone into willingly giving her their equipment. In that case, everything was done willingly, so there is no use for crying and despairing that you were deceived or swindled. But there is always the thought that it was wrong. And without that willingness it would be a crime. After all, a fraud is a fraud, no matter if the object of the fraud was a cluster of data or real money.

    However, PK and everything that results from it is not a crime. It is simply another way for people to have fun within the game.

    If PK is a sess, the PKer will get their hands on all of your equipment. However, if the PK goes south and PKer is defeated, same fate awaits them. And they are aware of the risks at all times.

    In my case the situation is tad a little bit different. I have my INVENTORY, so my most prized possessions could always be safe there if an emergencyes. So right now the whole thing is about settling this PK incident in a way that would leave both sides more or less satisfied.

    But even so, dragging your whole guilds into a PK incident is a little bit much, no matter how you try to look at it.

 Chapter 245: Wolf War Outpost / Inevitable Truth Punch Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 245: Wolf War Outpost / Inevitable Truth Punch Part 2</h4>

    Trantor: Kurehashi Aiko

    No matter to who the equipment belonged before the PK took ce, after the fact the owner of every single piece was none other than Kyogoku. And truth to be told, there was no rule that state that she has to agree to give the equipment back to its original owners. So technically, it was an act of mercy that Kyogoku was ¡°willing¡± to make towards the ck Wolves. Like a generous god. At least¡­¡­ that¡¯s how it should normally be.

    However, if people were willing to give up the things they have stolen and give them back to their respective owners just because they demanded it, the world would be much better ce than it is now.

    ¡¸Uwah, amazing. Somehow, every single word that was said makes me feel like I want to punch someone straight to the face.¡¹

    ¡¸Kyo-Timate¡­¡­ She looks like a really talented person¡­¡­ But she is without a doubt the weakest amongst the Four Heavenly Kings¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Hey, if you don¡¯t mind, I prefer to be called the Demon King, not Heavenly King.¡¹

    ¡¸Then I guess since I am one of the Heavenly Kings myself, that would make me the one of the formation that got converted into the light side.¡¹

    ¡¸You can often see a character archetype like that nowadays, but I do not think that double crossing is a good way of handling such characters. No, impostors, on the other hand¡­¡­ Totally different story. They are still the enemy, but it makes you feel a little bit more sympathetic towards them.¡¹

    ¡¸I get it, but that sounds really awkward and not to mention that it is all over the god damn ce.¡¹

    ¡¸Did you know? There are games in the stories of which we have one of the weakest character turn on the party and be super badass and op, even killing his/her formerrades. Then even their voice and abilities change all of a sudden. Is it not totally annoying?¡¹

    ¡¸No matter how you try to put it, that sounds just like a sh*tty game. And a sh*tty game of a worst kind, at that.¡¹

    No, that kind of character really is like taken straight out of a sh*tty game, but I cannot get myself rid of the feeling that it would be someone that you would wish that they would try their best just a little bit harder¡­¡­ at least if it was a character that you would travel alongside of for a considerable amount of time. It¡¯s a trope as old as time in video games.

    When ites to the story, one would always wonder if it is okay for the traitor to be happy and would it be okay to root for them. But then theye and do something utterly stupid and despicable, something that makes you want to forget about all that and just bash their face in.

    ¡¸Saiga-san!? Why do we even have to do what these assholes tell us!?¡¹

    Oho, what¡¯s this now? Crying to your mama Saiga-100? If you are turning towards that kind of option, this means that you havee to terms that Kyo-Timate is right and that you cannot argue with her.

    But have you already forgotten about something? Saiga-100 was intending to buy those items back from the very beginning. Therefore, if she was ready to pay the price, then no matter how much you try to cry about it, there is no way that you are getting them back for free.

    The least you could do here was to buy those items back without anyints. You should really be grateful that we did not went to sell those items to other guilds right away. ¡­¡­ But that actually got me a little bit curious, so I might as well ask Kyo-Timate about it.

    ¡¸Incidentally, how much equipment di you manage to snatch during that PK action of yours?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm, I¡¯m not sure about the actual amount, but when I took them all to the NPC appraiser, they told me they would me around fourteen million mani total.¡¹

    So, if you were to add the twenty percent to that as interest, that would give us about seventeen million mani.

    ¡¸Oh, and sorry in advance for that, but I should probably mention that we want to get the whole sum in one payment. No installments or anything like that.¡¹

    ¡¸What are you, a demon?¡¹

    The only way of getting a nice sum of money in this game is either to defeat a tremendously strong monsters on your own, or to collect them bit by bit.

    Well there is also an exception to this rule, a secret method of amassing a literal mountain load of money that amounts to twenty million mani, but¡­¡­ There is no way that someone for now would be able to get it all at once.

    ¡¸Oh well, since none of those items look to be Unique Weapon at first nce, tell you what: why don¡¯t we give them back to you for free, so that we might start from scratch?¡¹

    With that being said, it was more or less like tossing the gauntlet to your opponent.

    Normally, when humans are getting abused they react with anger. But there is one more way to get them more riled up and more fuming than anything else: that is to take pity on them. It hurts one¡¯s pride more than anything else, even if one might deny that and think it is not like that in the least.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­!!!¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, of course if it is revenge that you want we are fine with it, but maybe we could discuss that after this thing here is done, okay?¡¹

    I could notin if someone suddenly decided to issue a challenge like that towards me, but judging from the look on Pencilgton¡¯s face, she must have already anticipated such turn of events. Just how much ahead were her ns going, I wonder?

    Anyways, I am sure that she must have gotten the testimony from someone of the ck Wolves about Kyogoku¡¯s actions beforehand. The question was now: what was she intending to do about it? Mark Kyogoku as guilty? Or maybe try to turn the situation around?

    ¡¸Now, now, Kyogoku-chan. The facts speak for themselves that you are clearly in the wrong here. So how about giving away what you have stolen?¡¹

    ¡¸Fufufu¡­¡­ If the Guild Master says so, I am not going toin. After all, I am not a devil or a demon. I can back off just a little bit.¡¹

    Should we really give the items away for free and pretend to be the good guys who wanted to make up for our mistakes? Or should we still im that there is some legitimacy to our im of those items? ¡­¡­ No, it is best not to think about it at all. My humanity is going to get contaminated that way.

    ¡¸You can pay us in installments, I guess.¡¹

    ¡¸So that what it¡¯s going to be about!?¡¹

    I almost happened to scream that out loud. But is that really how you want to make up? Not reducing the price, but rather allowing them to pay it fully in installments!?

    But I could not bring that up here, and the reason for that was because it was Kyo-Timate¡¯s fault to being with, so she needed to handle it. Basically, ck Wolves had two choices in front of them: to ept the crappy price we put on their items and pay it fully, or to back away and receive nothing. And it could be felt that that ck Wolves were really ufortable with the fact that a small guild like ours managed to push them into a corner like that. However, right about now the wind was blowing in our direction, so we had to utilize that opportunity fully.

    If you want to be a good model, PKer, or professional gamer, you need to have your skin really thick. Otherwise there would be no way for you to survive in a brutal and vas world like ours.

    So it could be said that out of the three main points of this meeting that Pencilgton predicted, one was a sure win for us.

    But one false move here would spell a disaster for us, because with enough information given to them, ck Wolves would have devoured Kyo-Timate and leave nothing left. That is the reason why they were so frustrated right now, because the roles of the victim and the criminal right now were reversed in our favor, and there was nothing they could possibly do about it.

    Now, here is where the real battle starts.

    ¡¸W-With that business being taken care of¡­¡­ Let us move towards the next point of this meeting.¡¹

    To that, Pencilgtonughs quietly knowing that it was her win, and Saiga-100 squints her eyes in apparent frustration, realizing that there was nothing she could have done to turn this matter around.

    Now, onto the next point in the agenda¡­¡­ But before that.

    ¡¸Ahh¡­¡­ Hello there.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Umm¡­¡­ Sorry for¡­¡­ beingte¡­¡­¡¹

    Upon entering the room in a really awkward fashion, I said my greetings to the newly arrived Rei.

 Chapter 246: Wolf Conflict / Skillful initiative Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 246: Wolf Conflict / Skillful initiative Part 1</h4>

    Trantor: Kurehashi Aiko

    An alliance was formed between the members of the four guilds: ¡°Wolfgang¡±, ¡°ck Wolves¡±, ¡°SF-Zoo¡±, and ¡°Library¡±.

    Instead of having the other three guilds extract the information from us by force, we would vow to pass any information that we know about the Unique Monsters willingly to others¡­¡­ As well as the promise that no side would take action to push the quest of Nightprowler Luukan or any other Unique Monster without the approval of others. So my action of pushing Luukan¡¯s quest further as well as defeating Kutanid of the Abyss stood in direct vition of the rules of the contract.

    ¡¸Good grief, just whose fault do you think it is¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, yours, obviously.¡¹

    ¡¸Nuoooh!?¡¹

    Don¡¯t you suddenly hit on my chest like that! Goodness gracious¡­¡­ Oh well, as long as the matters will keep on circting about Luukan and Kutanid, my testimony here will be that of the greatest importance. And also that of Rei, by an extension, since she was there with me on both asions.

    ¡¸At the very least, we the ¡°ck Wolves¡± have been respecting the rules that were put in the contract. That is why we have nothing but one question to the other party¡­¡­ Why? Why did you proceeded forward without permission or informing anyone about it?¡¹

    No matter what your size or gender is, there is always a certain amount of ¡°power¡± that emanates from the person who was elected to be the Guild Master by all of the other members.

    And it was not about the skills of the yer itself, or the strength of its avatar. It was all about the charisma and leadership abilities.

    And in this game, in ShangriLa Frontier, Saiga-100 was the leader of the most powerful guild in the entire game. So it was not an exaggeration to say that if she would look at you in a nasty way, it could possibly mean your doom.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­ Huh.¡¹

    Alright, re at me as much as you want, challenge epted. For the time being, let us take this here head piece off¡­¡­ There we go.

    ¡¸Oh well, before we get to exining stuff, let me do something real quick, just so we can avoid the ¡°Wait a minute, Sanraku-kun, what the hell do you think you¡¯re doing?¡± questionster.¡¹

    ¡¸Umm, look, I do realize that the thing have been running rather smoothly here, so do you mind exining why did you have to put that strange fish thing on your head?¡¹

    Why, you ask¡­¡­?

    ¡¸Before the important match, you always pump yourself up by tying a headband on your head, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, yeah.¡¹

    ¡¸So that¡¯s why. This is exactly that kind of action.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, look, sorry about that, but I have no idea what are you getting at.¡¹

    It is said that the ancient tribes would make masks for themselves and would wear different ones for different asions. Like a mask especially for battle and a mask especially for the time of festivities.

    Alongside that, you could say that the intentions, or rather the personality of the ones wearing the masks, would change ording to the symbols and expressions that the masks were depicting.

    At least that is the narrative that I have created to back up my current actions, and I intend to stick with it.

    ¡¸If you can have bonito, who said that salmon waspletely out of the question?¡¹

    Here, with that my face is all set.

    ¡¸If that¡¯s what you say, Sal¡­¡­ I mean, Sanraku¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Fufu¡­¡­¡¹

    If I had to put a score at that snicker I did right now, I would give it a solid nine out of ten points.

    ¡¸Right, so getting back to the topic at hand. While it is true that I have managed to push the Unique Scenario for both Luukan and Kutanid of the Abyss, it was nothing more but a pure ident. And we talk here about that kind of ident and low probability like finding a buried treasure right under your basement or meteorite falling down on top of your head while on your way to school.¡¹

    ¡¸If that sort of excuses would make sense, the world would be a much better ce than it is now, don¡¯t you think? Besides, I thought that between allies things like reporting, counseling and contact are a mandatory thing. Am I wrong in thinking that?¡¹

    ¡¸But if themunication is not swift and without issues, the organization as a whole cannot function properly, right? Or rather, doesn¡¯t that mean that the organization was bad in the first ce?¡¹

    Ah, no good, no good, that way the conversation will go in the direction that¡¯s rather dangerous for me. Alright, time for n B! Let¡¯s exin all the facts for the time being.

    ¡¸If you would like to ask someone here to confirm my testimony, Rei¡­¡­ I mean, Saiga-0-san can do that. But truth to be told, it all happened as an ident while I was on my way to meet with some friends I have made in another game. I asked Saiga-0-san for help in getting there, since it was a dangerous area and I had to get at the designated ce overnight¡­¡­ Could you stop giving me looks as though I am some sort of parasite?¡¹

    The least I can do for now is to hide the fact that I had some clues regarding Luukan at that point in time.

    ¡¸On my way to the meeting, I happened across the members of SF-Zoo, who unterally ndered me with usation that I have cracked the code regarding the Luukan¡¯s appearance. And they absolutely refused to listen to any form of reason¡­¡­¡¹

    Yes, yes, yes, I know that I¡¯m trying to shift the me here on someone else. However, judging by Pencilgton¡¯s reaction that thing the SF-Zoo did was something that was typical of them, so there was probably nothing wrong with me using them here.

    ¡¸Well, I guess that you can all imagine what was the result of their leash-putting attempt, seeing how their Big Shot is not here for the current moment¡­¡­ Sorry, I digress. Anyways, after it dealt with SF-Zoo, Luukan targeted Saiga-0-san and myself.¡¹

    What followed was a huge mass of random things happening: the sudden help from Akitsu Akane, two Bunnies doing their very best, War Machine ¡°Suzaku¡± acting like a giant me fan, but to make a long story short¡­¡­

    ¡¸It took as the whole night, but we eventually managed to take it down, that¡¯s it.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh , like hell it is!¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm?¡¹

    The one to raise his voice so suddenly like that was one of the ck Wolves yers, the one who up until now was silently listening to my story.

    He looked to be a rather skilled swordsman, and apparently he was far from believing in the story I was telling everyone in here.

    ¡¸There is just no way that Nightprowler Luukan could be defeated so easily, and not with mere party consisting of two people! You cheated! You must have cheated! Now, spit it out! What kind of cheat did you used!?¡¹

 Translator: Kurehashi Aiko

    <h4></h4>

    ShangriLa Frontier chapter 246: Wolf Conflict / Skillfull initiative Part 2

    Hoo, cheating? I am honestly quite speechless right about now. Cheating¡­¡­ That guy just now used me of cheating, am I right?

    Fufufu¡­¡­ No, I am not angry. Rather, I am amused, as strange as that may sound.

    ¡¸Cheating, cheating, you said¡­¡­? Now that¡¯s a pureedy gold, ck Wolves! I didn¡¯t know that you have some professionaledians on board!¡¹

    ¡¸What did you just say¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸Now, now, let¡¯s just calm down, everybody, alright? Well, it¡¯s not that I cannot understand where you¡¯reing from¡­¡­¡¹

    So, what the fuck was that all about?

    ¡¸Say that you are ying and FPS game, and your opponent manages to kill you over and over again. You call him/her a cheater in your frustration. But is it not just jealousy? Just ask yourself that, you know it to be true.¡¹

    ¡¸Wha¡­¡­!?¡¹

    ¡¸You look like a swordfighter who can also cast magic. From the size and shape of your armor I can also tell that you must be tough. You might think that you have it all, you might even be good at PVP, but as soon as your opponent has more Dexterity than you, that¡¯s the end for you.¡¹

    I will not stop talking, I will not let him talk back. He called me a cheater because of his own ipetence andck of abilities, which is the worst thing a gamer can do to their fellow gamer. It is something not even noobs would do, if they are in their right mind.

    ¡¸Look at me¡­¡­ Look at me! Even the lightest of scratches from Luukan spells certain death for me. Before I was even able to reach level fifty I was cursed in two ces, so I cannot equip anything on those body parts and my defense sucks ass! Do you have any idea how much time and resources I had to sacrifice in order to make my Avoidance high enough so that it would let me survive!? Do you have any idea!?¡¹

    ¡¸There is no way I could have beaten Luukan? Fucking retard, there is no time limit for that battle, so as long as you hit it long and hard enough until it dies, you can win! Even a total noob who just happened to start the game would be able to understand such a simple concept!¡¹

    ¡¸So what, giving it your all and going past your own limits in order to defeat a strong opponent is now considered cheating? So why would the game system allow something like this t o happen in the first ce? For someone who could not even find Luukan or put a single scratch on him, you talk an awful amount of sh*t, mister small fry!¡¹

    I am just going with the flow here. I am talking out of my heart. And if it looks like I¡¯m trampling all over some idiot while looking down on him with my salmon head? So be it, like I care.

    Right about I am not angry. What fills me inside is pure and unadulterated disgust.

    ¡¸If you want to talk sh*t about me, by all means, go right ahead! But before you do that, please show us how beautifully you can dance in an avoidance battle against Luukan to the death, all the while being solo! Then we can talk!¡¹

    Having said all that, let out a deep sigh and sit down, regaining myposure.

    ¡¸Now then, after that little skit, can we go forward to the actual exining? Or is there someone else in here who has some wise words of wisdom to say to me?¡¹

    ¡¸I see, and no¡­¡­ I am most terribly sorry. One of our members was extremely rude just now.¡¹

    ¡¸I am used to retards throwing stupid sh*t at me and taunting me. And I don¡¯t give a single fuck. But don¡¯t you ever dare to call me a cheater again. You are making a retard out of yourself, and you are dissing the game itself while being at it.¡¹

    Now then¡­¡­ When I turn to the side I can see that Pencilgton¡¯s mouth was let wide agape, as if she was shocked and surprised after witnessing that little outburst of mine just now.

    Originally, ¡°ck Wolves¡± were a mixture of two types of yers: ¡°Hardcore gamers in general¡± and ¡°Hardcore ShanFro gamers¡±.

    Pencilgton predicted that amongst such a crowd there would be at least one person who would be offended by my achievements and would y the cheater card sooner rather thanter. When that happened, I was supposed to overwhelm such bastard mentally by snapping at him as hard as I could.

    Normally, it would be really hard for me to intimidate someone sessfully like that. However, that particr guy really ticked me off, and I spoke honestly and from the bottom of my heart. And looking at Pencilgton, it gave a rather sessful results.

    ¡¸Now, now, every single one of us have a secret or two that we would like to keep for ourselves. But it is the role of the alliance to work with one another despite having those secrets. But I am going to tell you this much: I possess the firepower that can easily match Saiga-0¡¯s ¡°Armageddon¡±.¡¹

    While I said that I pointed towards Rei¡¯s sword, so that everyone would know what I was talking about here. And even though it might have been a slight exaggeration, everyone present were looking at me with surprise in their eyes.

    ¡¸I also do believe that there might be a slight misunderstanding here. Saiga-0 and I were not the only ones who managed to defeat Luukan. There was five¡­¡­ five people in total that managed to bring that beast down.¡¹

    ¡¸So, does that mean that three more people managed to generate the Unique Scenario EX tied to Luukan?¡¹

    ¡¸No, two of those three were NPCs. So that makes one. And it just so happens that this person is one of the newest recruits to our guild ¡°Wolfgang.¡±¡¹

    Thinking about it right now, Akitsu Akane really was a factor that turned the tide of the battle in our favor that time.

    The fact that he always does what he is told and rarely objects to anything makes him something of an enigma, but¡­¡­ I think that is one of his strong points, amongst few other things.

    ¡¸I have no idea what you must have went through, but one thing I know for sure:; if you¡¯d try to go against Luukan with brute force alone, you would be blown away like a bunch of bowling pins. Ah¡­¡­ or maybe that is exactly what happened to you?¡¹

    I could see that the eyebrows of Saiga-100 twitched a little bit in surprise, but that was the only reaction she showed at that time. She is a Guild Master of one of the strongest guilds in the game, so she could not openly show shock or surprise in any other way.

    ¡¸As for Kutanid of the Abyss¡­¡­ Well, that one was also an ident.¡¹

    It really was nothing but an ident. I mean, how could I have possibly known that once you start the Unique Scenario EX rted to Kutanid, you would be unable to leave the map associated with it until you either finish the quest or run out of time?

    And let us not forget the fact that technically I am still beginner yer, who has only been ying this game a little bit longer than a month!

    ¡¸I was actually in the middle of doing apletely unrted quest, when all of a sudden I was dragged into the Unique Scenario EX that pits you against Kutanid.¡¹

    ¡¸So in other words¡­¡­ It is also a coincidence that Saiga-0 was there with you when you have defeated Kutanid of the Abyss?¡¹

    ¡¸Such a thing is way more likely to have happened than a meteorite falling on top of your head, wouldn¡¯t you agree?¡¹

    I could hear the hushed whispers of some people around the room, like: ¡°Man, that Sanraku has some balls!¡± or ¡°If I would say something like that I would have been done for instantly!¡± It may seem rude of me, but it is my kind of opportunity! An opportunity for retaliation!

    ¡¸Well then, I think that you get the idea now, my dear Momo-chan? Our little gunball here is pretty much impossible to control in any way¡­¡­ Aren¡¯t you satisfied with that?¡¹

    ¡¸Alright, if want it that way, so be it¡­¡­¡¹

    After a moment of brief silence, Saiga-100 opens her mouth, as if she has reached some sort of conclusion.

    ¡¸As per the alliance¡¯s agreement, we the guild ¡°ck Wolves¡± demand that the guild ¡°Wolfgang¡± reveal all of the information about the Unique Monsters that they posses!¡¹

    ¡¸No way, fool. ¡î¡¹

    And that was when Arthur Pencilgton came right back into the flow of the conversation¡­¡­

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