Hello everyone. It’s the last day of the work week again, so here’s another part of chapter 1. I recently haven’t been progressing as fast as I could due to binging on MMOs again, but there’s still quite some time before I get to the long chapter parts anyway so there might be hope of a weekly release still.
I’ve also been pondering on how to actually address translation on some of the words, but since I’m working alone, there might be inconsistencies here and there. If you do happen to see them, please let me know. There’s also the issue of going with stuff like Sensei, ikemen, fujoshi, and then suddenly translating riajuu to normies. I’m aware of those, but I’m just going with gut feel here for now. I do this because sometimes translating the text just feels a bit too localized, at least in my opinion. If you have opinions regarding this matter as well, feel free to let me know.
I’ve also tried lessening TL notes for the game references when it doesn’t really matter to the understanding of the scene, but if you would like me to keep those around, do let me know.
That’s most of my concerns for now, so please enjoy the chapter part below.
Translation: Yamaking
Though, even if we were ready to start earlier, we can’t really spend too much time on club activities on the first day of the new term.
The continuation of the talk earlier would be after we get back from school. And so, we were on our way home.
“Intentionally making us go to school with such a short schedule is very bad cost-performance isn’t it?”
“Stop basing whether or not you’re going to school on a cost-performance.”
Walking home together with Ako like this has become somewhat of a daily thing.
There are other students around us as well, but I don’t really pay much attention to their stares. My mind is more preoccupied thinking whether or not to take Ako’s hand into mine when our hands sometimes bump into each other while walking.
“But Rusian, you taught me that completing quests that have the greatest reward with the least amount of effort is one of the basics, didn’t you?”
“I feel like it’s been a really long time since I told you that, but anyway, the game and reality are different.”
“If I can find out how efficient I need to be with my attendance then I can also calculate how many times I can skip too right?”
“I told you to stop that!”
“Stoooop, thaaaat.”
As I rubbed my hand over Ako’s head, she let out a purr in delight. What are you, a cat?
In any case, summer vacation has ended and we’re back to our everyday routine. And frankly, nothing has really changed. Ako’s likeability has already been maxed out from the start so it makes sense that that’s the case.
“But as you can see, I’m clearly lacking the stats I need to work hard. I messed up with my build so I’m waiting for a stat reset event to come by.”
“And when you do get that stat reset, you’ll be hard pressed finding out that you didn’t really have enough stat points for the build you wanted.”
“It feels like that’s going to happen so no more please!”
Ako whimpered as she cried.
“I wonder if it’s because I spent too much on my affection stat for Rusian that I’m lacking points?”
“If that’s the case then I must’ve dumped mine in luck.”
Though I think I’ll end up using all my points with just that.
“I may not be confident in my stats right now, but I think I’m still going to improve from here on out so please purchase me right now. It’s like the paying for early access thing that’s been really popular recently. You can get your hands on the Alpha version of me very cheap this way.”
“Ah I know about those. It’s those things just suddenly stop updating before they even get to Beta.”
Recently, there’s been a lot of games that are like that so it’s very troubling.
“Sadly, my updates are going to stop at the first year version as well. It can’t be helped.”
“Do your best to keep updating until you get to the official release!”
I’m really looking forward to it you know.
That reminds me.
“Speaking of school, what is your class going to do for the festival Ako? An exhibit of some sort?”
“It seemed to be something like that but…”
Going by the tradition in Maegasaki High, first years generally do an exhibit. For the second years that have more time on their hands, they do a play. And as for the third years who are busy with entrance exams, they just set up a refreshment stand on the day of the festival itself.
For us first years, we were forced to do an exhibit with ‘Our town, Maegasaki’ as the theme.
“Looking up different local specialty located around Maegasaki High is the concept that the class decided on. So, we’re supposed to look for places with delicious food around the school.”
“Oh, that’s nice. You can go around town eating stuff as part of the preparation for the cultural festival.”
“But doing that alone is no fun at all—”
“Why are you even assuming you’ll be alone?”
Though I don’t really want to imagine Ako walking around town to eat with other guys from her class.
“Well I guess that’s enough about that for now. Our problem right now is with our club.”
The most important unresolved issue is that.
I didn’t expect that we would be made to do PVP in LA.
“I guess we have to participate in the guild war after all right… No, I really don’t want that.”
“You don’t like PVP after all, do you Ako?”
“I can’t win them after all—”
Ako said that with a ‘Teehee~’.
“It’s not like you’re already set to lose. They say a healer is unexpectedly pretty strong in PVP after all.”
In the game, there’s sometimes a local rule that if a healer can survive your attacks for X minutes, then they win.
Given those conditions, a healer’s chances at winning is pretty high.
“Even if I do win, I’m not going to be happy about anyway. More than that, I really hate when I do lose. I feel like the person on the other side of the screen is just really being smug about it that it just irritates me.”
“Ah, I get you. I totally get you.”
Having an opponent act all smug after beating you in PVP really is infuriating.
There are some people who spam the sit button on top of corpses as a means of teabagging others after all.
“…I figure I might as well ask, but are FPS games different for you then?”
“I can win that one without dying after all.”
“Camping snipers really suck.”
Why is this girl only good at sniping?
“But since we’re going to do it anyway, I want to avoid being dead weight. I’d like to go practice so could you help me with it Rusian?”
“Well I don’t mind that but you don’t have to be so serious about this you know?”
“…? Normally you would tell me to go practice. Why isn’t that the case this time?”
“Because when I do tell you to practice, you just ignore it and then gradually end up becoming worse than before.”
Her suddenly not being able to do what she was able to yesterday is bad.
I can only hope on her picking up something every time I try to teach her. It’s like hoping for a rare drop when you’re trying to farm something.
“Since we’re pretty much fighting a losing battle this time, I don’t want you working so hard that it becomes a painful memory for you.”
“I’m used to losing battles so I’m fine.”
I’m not hoping for you to get used to that though.
“Since Rusian is saying that, I think we probably can’t win but… but, don’t you think Master would be able to do something about it?”
“I think it’s a good thing that you can really trust her like that but this time, Master alone wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.”
I’m sorry to say but, I think Master is probably underestimating what it is to PVP.
Regardless of what it is, it’s not something you should take lightly. PVP, that is.
Later that night, members of the guild Alley Cats gathered together, though not at the usual tavern.
We were in a round field made completely out of marble. It was the Arena map.
Ako: Uhm, the cursor has been making it look like I could hit Rusian since earlier…
Rusian: We’re in the arena after all. This is where players can fight against each other.
It’s a map designated for PVP that has been implemented ever since the game’s early stages.
Though, nothing really happens here even if you win. It’s simply an area where you can test out your skills.
It seems like it was the place used by players who like PVP before the Castle Siege patch got implemented.
Apricot: Although we’re aiming to occupy a fort, we’re still amateurs in PVP. To remedy that, I believe that we should first practice combat with fellow guild members in order to get a feel for things.
Schwein: So you’re saying it’s fine for my bad self to beat all your asses huh? lol
You’re all raring to go, aren’t you Schew?
Even though here I am still lacking gear that I don’t think I would be able to do this properly. Come on.
Apricot: Then let’s practice first. Let’s see, show me how you fight against one another, Rusian and Ako.
Ako: Me and Rusian?!
Rusian: Eeh?
That’s a bit— no, I really can’t be on board with that.
Schwein: How about you show us a bit of your strong side eh, Mr. Husband? lol
Rusian: Even if you casually say that…
Since I can’t help it, I distanced myself a little from Ako and went on to face her.
Do I really have to hit Ako from here on out? With this sword?
Compared to knocking monsters around or just throwing out a skill as a joke, the pressure from a real fight is just insane.
Apricot: On your mark… Begin!
Ako: …
Rusian: …
We just silently stared each other down.
Ako: …
Rusian: …
Rather than staring each other down, this feels more like we’re just looking at one another.
We’re just waiting there while standing completely still.
Schwein: There’s no need to add useless tension by spamming ‘…’, just fight already!
Rusian: I can’t help it even if you tell me that Schwein.
Ako: I’m just overflowing with love for Rusian that I can’t fight.
Of course you’d hate this. I could really do without the senseless arguments between married couples.
If, by chance, this causes a wedge to form between me and Ako in the distant future, are you prepared to take responsibility for that?
Apricot: That sentiment is reasonable however, you need to get used to it and get back to practicing.
Rusian: Nn—, Then here goes…
It can’t be helped. I moved closer towards Ako and then I firmly held up my shield and took a defensive stance.
I activated the Armor Knight’s reflect skill, ‘Reflect Damage’. With that, my shield began to shine brightly. It’s a handy skill that reflects any damage received back to the attacker as a portion of it based on the skill’s level while it is in effect. If you’re aiming to use this, there’s also the strategy of lowering DEF instead and getting more HP to make it even more useful.
Schwein: Hey, fight properly.
Rusian: You got it wrong. I can’t take down Ako with just one combo so I was planning to use Reflect Damage to whittle down her health and then finish her afterwards.
Schwein: Cool story bro.
Say what you want.
Ako: Then, err… uhm… Ei!
Ako approached me with small steps and then, with a cry, she swung her staff down.
With a ‘Twinkle ☆’ and a light sound effect, both me and Ako’s HP bar went down.
Rusian: Oh, I took a bit of damage. Are you okay Ako?
Ako: Yup. That one barely hurt me.
Rusian: You better heal up before it gets worse.
Ako: Okaaay.
Schwein: I told you to fight properly damn iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!
Segawa’s mad!
Rusian: I mean, even if you tell us that…
Ako: Right?
As Ako, who couldn’t tell games and reality apart, would put it, ‘This is pretty much the same as making as fight in the real world!’. This is why I couldn’t really put my back into it even if you ask me to.
In the first place, this is generally what’s going to happen if you make people who don’t want to PVP fight each other.
Though there’s also cases of people getting hooked to it instead.
Schwein: Let’s just leave these two stupid lovebirds alone and practice with us here. Let’s duel Master!
Apricot: Ho? Are you challenging me? Very well then, Schew. I’ll be your partner.
Schwein, who took up a stance in her greatsword, faced Master, who in turn raised her staff up.
You should’ve just done that to begin with.
Apricot: I’ll do a countdown. We’ll start when it hits zero.
Schwein: My bad self is always raring to go!
I moved away from there along with Ako and then we watched over them from here.
Unlike us, these two we’re really pumped up about this as they stared each other down.
Apricot: Well then— Three—
Apricot: Two—
Apricot: One
Tension is rising in the air. It reached all the way to the border and is now engulfing the entire Arena.
And in that moment.
Ako: That reminds me, what would you like to eat for tomorrow Rusian?
Apricot: Ze… ro…
Schwein: …
Rusian: Something filling would be nice.
Ako: That’s a pretty vague request. Do you mean something with meat in it?
Rusian: Yeah. Meat. Let me eat meat!
TL note: Reference to a line by Ichiro Suzuki, a well-known baseball player.
As we were having our couple’s talk, when I took a look behind us, the two combat ready characters were not moving.
Ah, don’t tell me, were we interrupting them?
Ako: …Huh? Master? Schew-chan?
Rusian: Don’t mind us and just carry on.
Schwein: As if we could do thaaaaaaaat! Don’t you mess with me!
This is bad! She’s aiming her weapon this way!
Schew changed her target from Master to me and readied her sword. Her character is in a firm forward-bent posture.
That’s a move that I’ve always seen from the sides. It’s a simple gap closer that I was used to seeing.
I tried visualizing from memory the range and speed of that skill.
I didn’t even have the chance to think of anything as Schew slid along the floor, aiming towards me.
My hand automatically reacted and activated a skill.
I used the counter type skill, ‘Shield Counter’, and faced Schew’s assault head on.
Schwein: No way?!
Due to my magnificent input of the counter, Schwein’s sword was deflected upward. And like clockwork, I follow it up with a Shield Bash.
Since Schew got hit right in the head with my shield, chicks could be seen chirping above her head.
Ah, I got a stun in. As soon as that came to mind, my hands naturally moved so as to finish the combo.
Ako: There!
Ah, ty.
Ako matched my timing and fired off a buff skill.
Since she got Extra Damage, which doubles the damage of the next hit, in my combo, factoring in the bonus damage while the enemy is stunned, makes the damage multiplier rise up to 3X. With that in effect, I used Overed Shield and depleted 70% of Schew’s HP bar and sent her flying far off into the distance.
TL note: Overed Shield here is a reference to Armored Core V’s Ultimate Weapons (named Overed Weapons in Japan) which basically had the ability to one shot other cores or just burn through their AP. In lore, this is a weapon that goes outside of the game’s specifications which is built around combining and balancing parts and instead just latching it on to your AC. So in context, this is actually an appropriate term for an offensive skill for a tank type class.
Apricot: Well done you two. You sent her HP bar into the red with just one combo.
Schwein: The heck was that?! Aren’t you two a bit too strong for someone who’s not really into this kind of thing?!
Rusian: Sorry, force of habit.
Ako: Rusian always tells me to cast ED after he gets a stun in.
Schwein: You really didn’t have to be diligent about that!
Sorry. I’m really sorry.
Schew, with a sullen expression on her face, drank a potion as she walked back towards us, stamping her feet.
Well, I mean, when you see an enemy comes attacking, you just have this habit of wanting to defeat it right? It’s not like we did that with any ill intentions.
Rusian: Stun-type skills are strong, but their cooldowns are also quite long. So when I manage to get one of those in, I can’t help but be obsessed with the thought of following it up with a combo.
Schwein: Then get rid of that obsession right this instant!
No, no. This is important you see.
A stun is really strong even in PVP. It multiplies your damage, makes the enemy unable to move, and most of all, they wouldn’t be able to use any healing items.
Schwein: In the first place, typing that out in chat with that timing is really ****** you know?! Just do that kind of stuff in PMs you *****!
The filter is censoring your words so calm down, calm down.
Apricot: That aside, let’s have a do over. Let’s go Schwein!
Schwein: Yeah go ahead! Come at me bro!
Schwein looked pretty desperate as she took up a stance with her sword again. The battle of the two begins anew.
Apricot: Feast your eyes on my Ancient Magic! Howl my Burst Ring! Rain down from the heavens, Meteor!
Master made the first move.
She started the cast for Meteor, which is a spell that drops a meteorite on a targeted area.
She didn’t target Schwein, but rather, she set herself as the center of the spell’s target area.
Ako: That’s Master’s finishing move!
Rusian: She’s starting off with the big guns!
A shining hexagonal magic circle appeared with Master in its center.
Meteor is a skill that would greatly damage all enemies inside this magic circle.
Whenever Master gets swarmed by monsters, she would hold them off with her defenses strengthened by the power of swiping, and with that same power, she would cast this spell to kill off everything in one hit. I’ve seen that scene play out countless times already.
As long as she’s facing a monster, she cannot be defeated! This is truly what you would call a finishing move!
Schwein: Did you think my bad self would walk into such an obvious AoE? lol
Apricot: It can’t be, you weren’t in range of the skill?! Monsters don’t have that kind of strategy!
Schwein: So you think my bad self in on the same level as the AI of mobs huh? You bastard!
Figures. That magic circle is being blatantly shown right there so no one would walk in that.
Since large hitting spells take a long time to cast, you can easily avoid them.
Apricot: But we’re still fighting at my range! If just I use single target skills then this should be easy!
Master interrupted her cast as soon as she said that, and then fired off an Ice Bolt, which has the effect of slowing down enemies.
A huge ice shard came hurling towards Schew.
If she gets hit with that, she’ll be inflicted with the powerful Slow debuff, a trait of Ice Elemental skills.
It’s going to be a serious blow to a melee class like Schwein.
That’s assuming she gets hit by the way.
Ako: Ah, she evaded it.
Rusian: Well that’s expected if she’s going to fire it directly like that…
Schwein moved forward with her Flash Blink, a short range teleport skill, to evade the Ice Bolt and close the gap between them.
She closed in on Master in an instant.
Apricot: Wai…
Schwein didn’t even bother replying to that chat and swung around her sword instead.
Gan! Gan! Gagagagagan! Only the miserable sound effects of the combo could be heard.
Ding ding ding! With the ring of the bell, Master fell face first into the ground.
Apricot: It can’t be… How can I…
Schwein: You see that? That’s the power of my bad self!
Rusian: Of course it would turn out like this…
You could tell the outcome from a glance.
Ako: A, anyway, I’ll go revive you okay!
The revived Master then cried out in exasperation.
Apricot: Why? I’m superior in both firepower and defensive capabilities, yet I still died without any resistance! The game was just screwing around that time right? In my books that doesn’t count at all!
Rusian: No, no, this outcome is just normal. I mean, see…
Apricot: Wait!
Master suddenly extended her hand to stop my chat and then turned her staff towards me.
Apricot: Even if I can’t win against Schwein, then maybe if it’s Rusian! Let’s duel!
Rusian: …Sure, I guess.
Unlike that time with Ako, I wouldn’t have much options to retaliate while I’m getting hit but that doesn’t mean I won’t fight back.
If she really wants to do this, then I’m all up for that.
Apricot: Let’s begin! Come at me!
Rusian: Then… there.
I chose from my list of skills the one that was the weakest, yet has the most range, and has virtually no cooldown, the ‘Shield Boomerang’.
I toss my shield, it hits the enemy, and then it comes flying back to me. It’s a skill that clearly ignores the laws of physics.
Master flinched when I hit her with the shield and that caused her to take a bit of damage.
Apricot: Hmph, this level of damage won’t be able to…
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. I kept throwing my shield nonstop. Just throw it, and throw it, and throw it.
Apricot: Wai… This is strange. I can’t move!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Apricot: I can’t even cast or use any skills… At this rate…!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Apricot: This can’t beeeeeeeeee!
Even pros can die if they get swarmed by trash players.
Ding ding ding! The bell rang again and Master fell face first into the ground.
Apricot: This is strange… Why can’t I win…
Rusian: There’s no way that an Armor Knight with gold alloy armor is going to lose to a cloth user right?
Though that’s not really the issue here.
Apricot: Gunununu… Then, Ako!
Ako: Yes?
Apricot: Fight me!
Ako: Eeeeeeh?!
This girl is even targeting the one who gallantly revived and healed her!
Ako: No way! That’s impossible! At least let me fight with Rusian!
Rusian: Aren’t you actually quite into this?
Ako: I’m not!
No, no, you are. You probably are.
Apricot: Then let’s begin Ako! Will you be able to withstand my Meteor?
Ako: I’ll die for sureeeeeeeee!
Calm down. The cast time for this skill is pretty long after all.
Rusian: For now, just fire off an SS.
Ako: Eh? Y, yes! Skill Sealing!
You don’t really have to call out the name of your move you know.
Anyway, the skill Ako just fired off began to lightly envelop Master and the ‘…’ Silence marker appeared on top of her head.
It’s a handy debuff skill that disables skill usage of the targeted opponent.
Rusian: Oh, it worked! Now you just have to go and hit her.
Ako: Yes!
Apricot: ! !!?
Master, who even got her chat disabled, panicked. While on the other side, the unbelievably calm Ako buffed herself up and headed for Master.
Rusian: Do it!
Ako: Eeei!
Twinkle ☆. Twinkle ☆. While these mysterious effects kept coming out, Ako continued beating on Master. She hit her and then hit her some again.
The Pink Star Twinkle Rod hunted down Master.
The battle has ended.
At the end of it all, Master, who was supposedly the strongest in the guild Alley Cats, suffered a miserable losing streak.
Apricot: I did not expect this to happen… I just can’t accept this kind of reality. This is worse than when they released the then BiS Guillotine Sword as a top prize in the gacha and then the next week it was nerfed to oblivion.
Rusian: Oh, is that the one where the weapon from gacha had bugged abilities on release and was corrected the week after?
That kind of incident was unacceptable in its own right.
Everyone who rolled that gacha was in complete shock.
Apricot: Why did I lose? Would you please explain what happened Rusian?!
Rusian: Alright, alright.
Though I think you have an idea of it already.
Rusian: Err, to start with, it couldn’t be helped that you lost to Schew. Melee DPS are the ace of PVP after all, so if a caster job tries to fight them 1v1 then they generally lose.
Schwein: Fuhahaha! lol
Schew was acting all smug while flashing a double peace.
Aah, this guy is so freaking full of it.
Rusian: As for me, well, I’m a tank after all, so 1v1 PVP is kind of my specialty.
It’s not like I had to rely on Shield Boomerang to win. I could just use Reflect Damage and finish you off with a Bash stun combo once you’re low enough.
Of course, that would only work if it hits… But Master wouldn’t dodge that.
Rusian: And for Ako, well, with her stat build, she’s unexpectedly pretty suited for PVP as well.
Ako: That was not my intention at all.
Rusian: Even if you didn’t intend it, that’s how it turned out. You spent your points evenly on all stats without exception right?
Since her LUK is high, the success rate when casting a debuff is higher. Her HP is pretty high too.
She also has those useless points in AGI and DEX so her attack speed is pretty high. The same goes for her accuracy.
And since she has points in STR, her hits pack a bit of a punch.
Though her gear is weak and her level isn’t that high so you can’t really call her strong, but she looks like a pretty balanced character.
Rusian: To sum it all up, the matchups were just bad. Casters shouldn’t even be attempting to 1v1 PVP.
Apricot: B, but! I even researched about this!
Master doesn’t seem to be convinced.
Apricot: I’ve seen a lot of videos where an LW like me decimates their enemy single-handedly! If you just compare our gear then I’m sure I’m not falling behind!
Rusian: Sure, Master’s gear might be strong in PVE but…
PVP and PVE are completely different.
It’s not an issue of just having enough DPS.
Rusian: Err, to start, if you want to PVP, get some Silence resist gear, and then enchant that with Freeze resist as well. To make up for your deficiency in stats, max out the Cast Interrupt Resist skill. And if possible, get some gear that makes your cast uninterruptible. Also, this is pretty much going to be impossible unless you can reallocate stats from your INT to spend at least 30% of the points you used on it on VIT.
Apricot: Can you even farm with that kind of build?
Rusian: You pretty much can’t but, that’s what it means to be specialized for PVP. Characters built for PVP are mostly useless in farming after all.
It’s not unusual for characters who were made to specifically farm specific maps to be the best at that spot. However, if you drag them to other places, they just end up being useless.
In the same manner, specialized characters for PVP are not really much useful when it comes to farming.
That’s why even though Schew and Master are strong, since their build is all focused on DPS, they’ll probably get instagibbed when they try to go to the Castle Siege.
I don’t have much gear yet either and my DPS is quite low so I’ll probably be not much of use. And I think Ako’s role there would only be to die.
Since we’re all specced for farming mobs, in PVP we would just be a ragtag bunch of creeps.
Apricot: ……Wait, Rusian. Are you saying that…
Master nervously asked.
Apricot: We’re just a collection of cannon fodder for those people we’re going to be fighting against?
Rusian: Yeah.
Schwein: …Isn’t this impossible?
Schew muttered that.
That’s why I told you this was impossible.
Ako: I don’t want to participate in the relay…
Rusian: I don’t like that either…
Hello everyone. It’s the last day of the work week again, so here’s another part of chapter 1. I recently haven’t been progressing as fast as I could due to binging on MMOs again, but there’s still quite some time before I get to the long chapter parts anyway so there might be hope of a weekly release still.
I’ve also been pondering on how to actually address translation on some of the words, but since I’m working alone, there might be inconsistencies here and there. If you do happen to see them, please let me know. There’s also the issue of going with stuff like Sensei, ikemen, fujoshi, and then suddenly translating riajuu to normies. I’m aware of those, but I’m just going with gut feel here for now. I do this because sometimes translating the text just feels a bit too localized, at least in my opinion. If you have opinions regarding this matter as well, feel free to let me know.
I’ve also tried lessening TL notes for the game references when it doesn’t really matter to the understanding of the scene, but if you would like me to keep those around, do let me know.
That’s most of my concerns for now, so please enjoy the chapter part below.
Translation: Yamaking
Though, even if we were ready to start earlier, we can’t really spend too much time on club activities on the first day of the new term.
The continuation of the talk earlier would be after we get back from school. And so, we were on our way home.
“Intentionally making us go to school with such a short schedule is very bad cost-performance isn’t it?”
“Stop basing whether or not you’re going to school on a cost-performance.”
Walking home together with Ako like this has become somewhat of a daily thing.
There are other students around us as well, but I don’t really pay much attention to their stares. My mind is more preoccupied thinking whether or not to take Ako’s hand into mine when our hands sometimes bump into each other while walking.
“But Rusian, you taught me that completing quests that have the greatest reward with the least amount of effort is one of the basics, didn’t you?”
“I feel like it’s been a really long time since I told you that, but anyway, the game and reality are different.”
“If I can find out how efficient I need to be with my attendance then I can also calculate how many times I can skip too right?”
“I told you to stop that!”
“Stoooop, thaaaat.”
As I rubbed my hand over Ako’s head, she let out a purr in delight. What are you, a cat?
In any case, summer vacation has ended and we’re back to our everyday routine. And frankly, nothing has really changed. Ako’s likeability has already been maxed out from the start so it makes sense that that’s the case.
“But as you can see, I’m clearly lacking the stats I need to work hard. I messed up with my build so I’m waiting for a stat reset event to come by.”
“And when you do get that stat reset, you’ll be hard pressed finding out that you didn’t really have enough stat points for the build you wanted.”
“It feels like that’s going to happen so no more please!”
Ako whimpered as she cried.
“I wonder if it’s because I spent too much on my affection stat for Rusian that I’m lacking points?”
“If that’s the case then I must’ve dumped mine in luck.”
Though I think I’ll end up using all my points with just that.
“I may not be confident in my stats right now, but I think I’m still going to improve from here on out so please purchase me right now. It’s like the paying for early access thing that’s been really popular recently. You can get your hands on the Alpha version of me very cheap this way.”
“Ah I know about those. It’s those things just suddenly stop updating before they even get to Beta.”
Recently, there’s been a lot of games that are like that so it’s very troubling.
“Sadly, my updates are going to stop at the first year version as well. It can’t be helped.”
“Do your best to keep updating until you get to the official release!”
I’m really looking forward to it you know.
That reminds me.
“Speaking of school, what is your class going to do for the festival Ako? An exhibit of some sort?”
“It seemed to be something like that but…”
Going by the tradition in Maegasaki High, first years generally do an exhibit. For the second years that have more time on their hands, they do a play. And as for the third years who are busy with entrance exams, they just set up a refreshment stand on the day of the festival itself.
For us first years, we were forced to do an exhibit with ‘Our town, Maegasaki’ as the theme.
“Looking up different local specialty located around Maegasaki High is the concept that the class decided on. So, we’re supposed to look for places with delicious food around the school.”
“Oh, that’s nice. You can go around town eating stuff as part of the preparation for the cultural festival.”
“But doing that alone is no fun at all—”
“Why are you even assuming you’ll be alone?”
Though I don’t really want to imagine Ako walking around town to eat with other guys from her class.
“Well I guess that’s enough about that for now. Our problem right now is with our club.”
The most important unresolved issue is that.
I didn’t expect that we would be made to do PVP in LA.
“I guess we have to participate in the guild war after all right… No, I really don’t want that.”
“You don’t like PVP after all, do you Ako?”
“I can’t win them after all—”
Ako said that with a ‘Teehee~’.
“It’s not like you’re already set to lose. They say a healer is unexpectedly pretty strong in PVP after all.”
In the game, there’s sometimes a local rule that if a healer can survive your attacks for X minutes, then they win.
Given those conditions, a healer’s chances at winning is pretty high.
“Even if I do win, I’m not going to be happy about anyway. More than that, I really hate when I do lose. I feel like the person on the other side of the screen is just really being smug about it that it just irritates me.”
“Ah, I get you. I totally get you.”
Having an opponent act all smug after beating you in PVP really is infuriating.
There are some people who spam the sit button on top of corpses as a means of teabagging others after all.
“…I figure I might as well ask, but are FPS games different for you then?”
“I can win that one without dying after all.”
“Camping snipers really suck.”
Why is this girl only good at sniping?
“But since we’re going to do it anyway, I want to avoid being dead weight. I’d like to go practice so could you help me with it Rusian?”
“Well I don’t mind that but you don’t have to be so serious about this you know?”
“…? Normally you would tell me to go practice. Why isn’t that the case this time?”
“Because when I do tell you to practice, you just ignore it and then gradually end up becoming worse than before.”
Her suddenly not being able to do what she was able to yesterday is bad.
I can only hope on her picking up something every time I try to teach her. It’s like hoping for a rare drop when you’re trying to farm something.
“Since we’re pretty much fighting a losing battle this time, I don’t want you working so hard that it becomes a painful memory for you.”
“I’m used to losing battles so I’m fine.”
I’m not hoping for you to get used to that though.
“Since Rusian is saying that, I think we probably can’t win but… but, don’t you think Master would be able to do something about it?”
“I think it’s a good thing that you can really trust her like that but this time, Master alone wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.”
I’m sorry to say but, I think Master is probably underestimating what it is to PVP.
Regardless of what it is, it’s not something you should take lightly. PVP, that is.
Later that night, members of the guild Alley Cats gathered together, though not at the usual tavern.
We were in a round field made completely out of marble. It was the Arena map.
Ako: Uhm, the cursor has been making it look like I could hit Rusian since earlier…
Rusian: We’re in the arena after all. This is where players can fight against each other.
It’s a map designated for PVP that has been implemented ever since the game’s early stages.
Though, nothing really happens here even if you win. It’s simply an area where you can test out your skills.
It seems like it was the place used by players who like PVP before the Castle Siege patch got implemented.
Apricot: Although we’re aiming to occupy a fort, we’re still amateurs in PVP. To remedy that, I believe that we should first practice combat with fellow guild members in order to get a feel for things.
Schwein: So you’re saying it’s fine for my bad self to beat all your asses huh? lol
You’re all raring to go, aren’t you Schew?
Even though here I am still lacking gear that I don’t think I would be able to do this properly. Come on.
Apricot: Then let’s practice first. Let’s see, show me how you fight against one another, Rusian and Ako.
Ako: Me and Rusian?!
Rusian: Eeh?
That’s a bit— no, I really can’t be on board with that.
Schwein: How about you show us a bit of your strong side eh, Mr. Husband? lol
Rusian: Even if you casually say that…
Since I can’t help it, I distanced myself a little from Ako and went on to face her.
Do I really have to hit Ako from here on out? With this sword?
Compared to knocking monsters around or just throwing out a skill as a joke, the pressure from a real fight is just insane.
Apricot: On your mark… Begin!
Ako: …
Rusian: …
We just silently stared each other down.
Ako: …
Rusian: …
Rather than staring each other down, this feels more like we’re just looking at one another.
We’re just waiting there while standing completely still.
Schwein: There’s no need to add useless tension by spamming ‘…’, just fight already!
Rusian: I can’t help it even if you tell me that Schwein.
Ako: I’m just overflowing with love for Rusian that I can’t fight.
Of course you’d hate this. I could really do without the senseless arguments between married couples.
If, by chance, this causes a wedge to form between me and Ako in the distant future, are you prepared to take responsibility for that?
Apricot: That sentiment is reasonable however, you need to get used to it and get back to practicing.
Rusian: Nn—, Then here goes…
It can’t be helped. I moved closer towards Ako and then I firmly held up my shield and took a defensive stance.
I activated the Armor Knight’s reflect skill, ‘Reflect Damage’. With that, my shield began to shine brightly. It’s a handy skill that reflects any damage received back to the attacker as a portion of it based on the skill’s level while it is in effect. If you’re aiming to use this, there’s also the strategy of lowering DEF instead and getting more HP to make it even more useful.
Schwein: Hey, fight properly.
Rusian: You got it wrong. I can’t take down Ako with just one combo so I was planning to use Reflect Damage to whittle down her health and then finish her afterwards.
Schwein: Cool story bro.
Say what you want.
Ako: Then, err… uhm… Ei!
Ako approached me with small steps and then, with a cry, she swung her staff down.
With a ‘Twinkle ☆’ and a light sound effect, both me and Ako’s HP bar went down.
Rusian: Oh, I took a bit of damage. Are you okay Ako?
Ako: Yup. That one barely hurt me.
Rusian: You better heal up before it gets worse.
Ako: Okaaay.
Schwein: I told you to fight properly damn iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!
Segawa’s mad!
Rusian: I mean, even if you tell us that…
Ako: Right?
As Ako, who couldn’t tell games and reality apart, would put it, ‘This is pretty much the same as making as fight in the real world!’. This is why I couldn’t really put my back into it even if you ask me to.
In the first place, this is generally what’s going to happen if you make people who don’t want to PVP fight each other.
Though there’s also cases of people getting hooked to it instead.
Schwein: Let’s just leave these two stupid lovebirds alone and practice with us here. Let’s duel Master!
Apricot: Ho? Are you challenging me? Very well then, Schew. I’ll be your partner.
Schwein, who took up a stance in her greatsword, faced Master, who in turn raised her staff up.
You should’ve just done that to begin with.
Apricot: I’ll do a countdown. We’ll start when it hits zero.
Schwein: My bad self is always raring to go!
I moved away from there along with Ako and then we watched over them from here.
Unlike us, these two we’re really pumped up about this as they stared each other down.
Apricot: Well then— Three—
Apricot: Two—
Apricot: One
Tension is rising in the air. It reached all the way to the border and is now engulfing the entire Arena.
And in that moment.
Ako: That reminds me, what would you like to eat for tomorrow Rusian?
Apricot: Ze… ro…
Schwein: …
Rusian: Something filling would be nice.
Ako: That’s a pretty vague request. Do you mean something with meat in it?
Rusian: Yeah. Meat. Let me eat meat!
TL note: Reference to a line by Ichiro Suzuki, a well-known baseball player.
As we were having our couple’s talk, when I took a look behind us, the two combat ready characters were not moving.
Ah, don’t tell me, were we interrupting them?
Ako: …Huh? Master? Schew-chan?
Rusian: Don’t mind us and just carry on.
Schwein: As if we could do thaaaaaaaat! Don’t you mess with me!
This is bad! She’s aiming her weapon this way!
Schew changed her target from Master to me and readied her sword. Her character is in a firm forward-bent posture.
That’s a move that I’ve always seen from the sides. It’s a simple gap closer that I was used to seeing.
I tried visualizing from memory the range and speed of that skill.
I didn’t even have the chance to think of anything as Schew slid along the floor, aiming towards me.
My hand automatically reacted and activated a skill.
I used the counter type skill, ‘Shield Counter’, and faced Schew’s assault head on.
Schwein: No way?!
Due to my magnificent input of the counter, Schwein’s sword was deflected upward. And like clockwork, I follow it up with a Shield Bash.
Since Schew got hit right in the head with my shield, chicks could be seen chirping above her head.
Ah, I got a stun in. As soon as that came to mind, my hands naturally moved so as to finish the combo.
Ako: There!
Ah, ty.
Ako matched my timing and fired off a buff skill.
Since she got Extra Damage, which doubles the damage of the next hit, in my combo, factoring in the bonus damage while the enemy is stunned, makes the damage multiplier rise up to 3X. With that in effect, I used Overed Shield and depleted 70% of Schew’s HP bar and sent her flying far off into the distance.
TL note: Overed Shield here is a reference to Armored Core V’s Ultimate Weapons (named Overed Weapons in Japan) which basically had the ability to one shot other cores or just burn through their AP. In lore, this is a weapon that goes outside of the game’s specifications which is built around combining and balancing parts and instead just latching it on to your AC. So in context, this is actually an appropriate term for an offensive skill for a tank type class.
Apricot: Well done you two. You sent her HP bar into the red with just one combo.
Schwein: The heck was that?! Aren’t you two a bit too strong for someone who’s not really into this kind of thing?!
Rusian: Sorry, force of habit.
Ako: Rusian always tells me to cast ED after he gets a stun in.
Schwein: You really didn’t have to be diligent about that!
Sorry. I’m really sorry.
Schew, with a sullen expression on her face, drank a potion as she walked back towards us, stamping her feet.
Well, I mean, when you see an enemy comes attacking, you just have this habit of wanting to defeat it right? It’s not like we did that with any ill intentions.
Rusian: Stun-type skills are strong, but their cooldowns are also quite long. So when I manage to get one of those in, I can’t help but be obsessed with the thought of following it up with a combo.
Schwein: Then get rid of that obsession right this instant!
No, no. This is important you see.
A stun is really strong even in PVP. It multiplies your damage, makes the enemy unable to move, and most of all, they wouldn’t be able to use any healing items.
Schwein: In the first place, typing that out in chat with that timing is really ****** you know?! Just do that kind of stuff in PMs you *****!
The filter is censoring your words so calm down, calm down.
Apricot: That aside, let’s have a do over. Let’s go Schwein!
Schwein: Yeah go ahead! Come at me bro!
Schwein looked pretty desperate as she took up a stance with her sword again. The battle of the two begins anew.
Apricot: Feast your eyes on my Ancient Magic! Howl my Burst Ring! Rain down from the heavens, Meteor!
Master made the first move.
She started the cast for Meteor, which is a spell that drops a meteorite on a targeted area.
She didn’t target Schwein, but rather, she set herself as the center of the spell’s target area.
Ako: That’s Master’s finishing move!
Rusian: She’s starting off with the big guns!
A shining hexagonal magic circle appeared with Master in its center.
Meteor is a skill that would greatly damage all enemies inside this magic circle.
Whenever Master gets swarmed by monsters, she would hold them off with her defenses strengthened by the power of swiping, and with that same power, she would cast this spell to kill off everything in one hit. I’ve seen that scene play out countless times already.
As long as she’s facing a monster, she cannot be defeated! This is truly what you would call a finishing move!
Schwein: Did you think my bad self would walk into such an obvious AoE? lol
Apricot: It can’t be, you weren’t in range of the skill?! Monsters don’t have that kind of strategy!
Schwein: So you think my bad self in on the same level as the AI of mobs huh? You bastard!
Figures. That magic circle is being blatantly shown right there so no one would walk in that.
Since large hitting spells take a long time to cast, you can easily avoid them.
Apricot: But we’re still fighting at my range! If just I use single target skills then this should be easy!
Master interrupted her cast as soon as she said that, and then fired off an Ice Bolt, which has the effect of slowing down enemies.
A huge ice shard came hurling towards Schew.
If she gets hit with that, she’ll be inflicted with the powerful Slow debuff, a trait of Ice Elemental skills.
It’s going to be a serious blow to a melee class like Schwein.
That’s assuming she gets hit by the way.
Ako: Ah, she evaded it.
Rusian: Well that’s expected if she’s going to fire it directly like that…
Schwein moved forward with her Flash Blink, a short range teleport skill, to evade the Ice Bolt and close the gap between them.
She closed in on Master in an instant.
Apricot: Wai…
Schwein didn’t even bother replying to that chat and swung around her sword instead.
Gan! Gan! Gagagagagan! Only the miserable sound effects of the combo could be heard.
Ding ding ding! With the ring of the bell, Master fell face first into the ground.
Apricot: It can’t be… How can I…
Schwein: You see that? That’s the power of my bad self!
Rusian: Of course it would turn out like this…
You could tell the outcome from a glance.
Ako: A, anyway, I’ll go revive you okay!
The revived Master then cried out in exasperation.
Apricot: Why? I’m superior in both firepower and defensive capabilities, yet I still died without any resistance! The game was just screwing around that time right? In my books that doesn’t count at all!
Rusian: No, no, this outcome is just normal. I mean, see…
Apricot: Wait!
Master suddenly extended her hand to stop my chat and then turned her staff towards me.
Apricot: Even if I can’t win against Schwein, then maybe if it’s Rusian! Let’s duel!
Rusian: …Sure, I guess.
Unlike that time with Ako, I wouldn’t have much options to retaliate while I’m getting hit but that doesn’t mean I won’t fight back.
If she really wants to do this, then I’m all up for that.
Apricot: Let’s begin! Come at me!
Rusian: Then… there.
I chose from my list of skills the one that was the weakest, yet has the most range, and has virtually no cooldown, the ‘Shield Boomerang’.
I toss my shield, it hits the enemy, and then it comes flying back to me. It’s a skill that clearly ignores the laws of physics.
Master flinched when I hit her with the shield and that caused her to take a bit of damage.
Apricot: Hmph, this level of damage won’t be able to…
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. I kept throwing my shield nonstop. Just throw it, and throw it, and throw it.
Apricot: Wai… This is strange. I can’t move!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Apricot: I can’t even cast or use any skills… At this rate…!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Apricot: This can’t beeeeeeeeee!
Even pros can die if they get swarmed by trash players.
Ding ding ding! The bell rang again and Master fell face first into the ground.
Apricot: This is strange… Why can’t I win…
Rusian: There’s no way that an Armor Knight with gold alloy armor is going to lose to a cloth user right?
Though that’s not really the issue here.
Apricot: Gunununu… Then, Ako!
Ako: Yes?
Apricot: Fight me!
Ako: Eeeeeeh?!
This girl is even targeting the one who gallantly revived and healed her!
Ako: No way! That’s impossible! At least let me fight with Rusian!
Rusian: Aren’t you actually quite into this?
Ako: I’m not!
No, no, you are. You probably are.
Apricot: Then let’s begin Ako! Will you be able to withstand my Meteor?
Ako: I’ll die for sureeeeeeeee!
Calm down. The cast time for this skill is pretty long after all.
Rusian: For now, just fire off an SS.
Ako: Eh? Y, yes! Skill Sealing!
You don’t really have to call out the name of your move you know.
Anyway, the skill Ako just fired off began to lightly envelop Master and the ‘…’ Silence marker appeared on top of her head.
It’s a handy debuff skill that disables skill usage of the targeted opponent.
Rusian: Oh, it worked! Now you just have to go and hit her.
Ako: Yes!
Apricot: ! !!?
Master, who even got her chat disabled, panicked. While on the other side, the unbelievably calm Ako buffed herself up and headed for Master.
Rusian: Do it!
Ako: Eeei!
Twinkle ☆. Twinkle ☆. While these mysterious effects kept coming out, Ako continued beating on Master. She hit her and then hit her some again.
The Pink Star Twinkle Rod hunted down Master.
The battle has ended.
At the end of it all, Master, who was supposedly the strongest in the guild Alley Cats, suffered a miserable losing streak.
Apricot: I did not expect this to happen… I just can’t accept this kind of reality. This is worse than when they released the then BiS Guillotine Sword as a top prize in the gacha and then the next week it was nerfed to oblivion.
Rusian: Oh, is that the one where the weapon from gacha had bugged abilities on release and was corrected the week after?
That kind of incident was unacceptable in its own right.
Everyone who rolled that gacha was in complete shock.
Apricot: Why did I lose? Would you please explain what happened Rusian?!
Rusian: Alright, alright.
Though I think you have an idea of it already.
Rusian: Err, to start with, it couldn’t be helped that you lost to Schew. Melee DPS are the ace of PVP after all, so if a caster job tries to fight them 1v1 then they generally lose.
Schwein: Fuhahaha! lol
Schew was acting all smug while flashing a double peace.
Aah, this guy is so freaking full of it.
Rusian: As for me, well, I’m a tank after all, so 1v1 PVP is kind of my specialty.
It’s not like I had to rely on Shield Boomerang to win. I could just use Reflect Damage and finish you off with a Bash stun combo once you’re low enough.
Of course, that would only work if it hits… But Master wouldn’t dodge that.
Rusian: And for Ako, well, with her stat build, she’s unexpectedly pretty suited for PVP as well.
Ako: That was not my intention at all.
Rusian: Even if you didn’t intend it, that’s how it turned out. You spent your points evenly on all stats without exception right?
Since her LUK is high, the success rate when casting a debuff is higher. Her HP is pretty high too.
She also has those useless points in AGI and DEX so her attack speed is pretty high. The same goes for her accuracy.
And since she has points in STR, her hits pack a bit of a punch.
Though her gear is weak and her level isn’t that high so you can’t really call her strong, but she looks like a pretty balanced character.
Rusian: To sum it all up, the matchups were just bad. Casters shouldn’t even be attempting to 1v1 PVP.
Apricot: B, but! I even researched about this!
Master doesn’t seem to be convinced.
Apricot: I’ve seen a lot of videos where an LW like me decimates their enemy single-handedly! If you just compare our gear then I’m sure I’m not falling behind!
Rusian: Sure, Master’s gear might be strong in PVE but…
PVP and PVE are completely different.
It’s not an issue of just having enough DPS.
Rusian: Err, to start, if you want to PVP, get some Silence resist gear, and then enchant that with Freeze resist as well. To make up for your deficiency in stats, max out the Cast Interrupt Resist skill. And if possible, get some gear that makes your cast uninterruptible. Also, this is pretty much going to be impossible unless you can reallocate stats from your INT to spend at least 30% of the points you used on it on VIT.
Apricot: Can you even farm with that kind of build?
Rusian: You pretty much can’t but, that’s what it means to be specialized for PVP. Characters built for PVP are mostly useless in farming after all.
It’s not unusual for characters who were made to specifically farm specific maps to be the best at that spot. However, if you drag them to other places, they just end up being useless.
In the same manner, specialized characters for PVP are not really much useful when it comes to farming.
That’s why even though Schew and Master are strong, since their build is all focused on DPS, they’ll probably get instagibbed when they try to go to the Castle Siege.
I don’t have much gear yet either and my DPS is quite low so I’ll probably be not much of use. And I think Ako’s role there would only be to die.
Since we’re all specced for farming mobs, in PVP we would just be a ragtag bunch of creeps.
Apricot: ……Wait, Rusian. Are you saying that…
Master nervously asked.
Apricot: We’re just a collection of cannon fodder for those people we’re going to be fighting against?
Rusian: Yeah.
Schwein: …Isn’t this impossible?
Schew muttered that.
That’s why I told you this was impossible.
Ako: I don’t want to participate in the relay…
Rusian: I don’t like that either…
