「…… The boss of this area is known as “Dragon Usurper”……」
「…… Umm.」
「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.」
「Hmm, I see, I get it…… I don’t get it, really……」
「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.」
「Fumu, fumu, so basically it’s like and old school RPG, when you and your opponent throw attacks at one another interchangeably……」
「…… 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 player…… 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.」
「Yeah, it’s cool and all that, but say…… Aren’t we lost?」
「…… No, I don’t think so?」
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 it comes to this game, but I’m already a level ninety nine player. I have some experience and even if this area was larger 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.」
「Ah, no, it’s not that I mind. It’s just that, I’ve been wondering about that for a while now……」
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 becoming so depressed, I needed to come 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!」
There are many games that utilize Western-like landscapes, 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……!」
「WHY!?」
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 to commit 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?」
「He……? Ah, t, that’s right! The graphics in this game surely are realistic…… Hahaha…… Hahahahahahahaha…… Haaaaaah…..」
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?」
「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.」
「Ah, oh, is that so? Good to know.」
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……」
「Ara, won’t you look at that? If it isn’t Sanraku and “The Strongest One” Saiga-0.」
Suddenly being called by our names like that, together with Rei we turn towards the place from where the voice originated.
「…… Animalia, -san?」
「Ara, it is an honor to have such fine Top Players remember my name.」
If only she was alone. Behind Animalia, there were a dozen players all fully equipped and looking as though they were going to war. Not your typical Sunday picnic, I suppose.
「Sorry for prying, but…… What are you doing here, you guys?」
「…… Capturing a zone, as you can see?」
「Is that so……? You wouldn’t think that judging by how heavily equipped you guys are. Double Booking, perhaps?」
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?」
「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?」
Why is this woman so hostile towards me all of a sudden? Could it be something Rabbitz-related? 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?」
「…… I don’t seem to follow. What’s the full story? What the hell are you even talking about?」
「I’ll tell you…… If you promise that you and this here Saiga-0-san get the fuck out of here right this instant.」
I cast a quick glance 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.
「So if we do this, you’ll explain to us what is going on?」
「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.」
「Excuse me?」
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?」
「You can thank your great leader for that.」
「Alright, time out for a sec!」
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.」
「…… What was that just now?」
「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 access to Rabbitz, you must encounter “Night Prowler Luukan” and land one hundred successful critical hits on him. This will unlock the EX Quest that will grant us access. So we don’t need your help with that anymore.」
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 to land those one hundred critical hits, thus giving them access to Rabbitz via the EX Quest.
It is also said that when it comes to raid battles, SF-Zoo can be equal in power with Black Wolves, so thinking logically, they had a huge chance of success with this strategy.
Listening to Animalia’s explanation, I became genuinely intrigued, and the plan of bashing Pencilgton’s fucking face in was gradually being pushed to the side.
Then, after explaining it all, the raid party started to dash off into the distance, ever so confident in their strategy that they formulated 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 playing 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 relationship with me thanks to that plan. 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”, completely 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 displaying 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 played 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 platter, 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 playing 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 places……?」
「Fufufu…… So I see you’ve noticed that as well, huh?」
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 place in which Night Prowler Luukan appears most frequently.」
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 place of all the places to be, away from the area boss…… Don’t tell me you’ve managed to figure that one as well?」
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……」
「For me, it seems that you guys came here with the same goal as us: to defeat the Unique Monster.」
The cold night’s wind blows again. This is……
「…… The boss of this area is known as “Dragon Usurper”……」
「…… Umm.」
「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.」
「Hmm, I see, I get it…… I don’t get it, really……」
「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.」
「Fumu, fumu, so basically it’s like and old school RPG, when you and your opponent throw attacks at one another interchangeably……」
「…… 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 player…… 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.」
「Yeah, it’s cool and all that, but say…… Aren’t we lost?」
「…… No, I don’t think so?」
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 it comes to this game, but I’m already a level ninety nine player. I have some experience and even if this area was larger 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.」
「Ah, no, it’s not that I mind. It’s just that, I’ve been wondering about that for a while now……」
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 becoming so depressed, I needed to come 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!」
There are many games that utilize Western-like landscapes, 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……!」
「WHY!?」
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 to commit 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?」
「He……? Ah, t, that’s right! The graphics in this game surely are realistic…… Hahaha…… Hahahahahahahaha…… Haaaaaah…..」
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?」
「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.」
「Ah, oh, is that so? Good to know.」
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……」
「Ara, won’t you look at that? If it isn’t Sanraku and “The Strongest One” Saiga-0.」
Suddenly being called by our names like that, together with Rei we turn towards the place from where the voice originated.
「…… Animalia, -san?」
「Ara, it is an honor to have such fine Top Players remember my name.」
If only she was alone. Behind Animalia, there were a dozen players all fully equipped and looking as though they were going to war. Not your typical Sunday picnic, I suppose.
「Sorry for prying, but…… What are you doing here, you guys?」
「…… Capturing a zone, as you can see?」
「Is that so……? You wouldn’t think that judging by how heavily equipped you guys are. Double Booking, perhaps?」
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?」
「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?」
Why is this woman so hostile towards me all of a sudden? Could it be something Rabbitz-related? 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?」
「…… I don’t seem to follow. What’s the full story? What the hell are you even talking about?」
「I’ll tell you…… If you promise that you and this here Saiga-0-san get the fuck out of here right this instant.」
I cast a quick glance 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.
「So if we do this, you’ll explain to us what is going on?」
「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.」
「Excuse me?」
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?」
「You can thank your great leader for that.」
「Alright, time out for a sec!」
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.」
「…… What was that just now?」
「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 access to Rabbitz, you must encounter “Night Prowler Luukan” and land one hundred successful critical hits on him. This will unlock the EX Quest that will grant us access. So we don’t need your help with that anymore.」
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 to land those one hundred critical hits, thus giving them access to Rabbitz via the EX Quest.
It is also said that when it comes to raid battles, SF-Zoo can be equal in power with Black Wolves, so thinking logically, they had a huge chance of success with this strategy.
Listening to Animalia’s explanation, I became genuinely intrigued, and the plan of bashing Pencilgton’s fucking face in was gradually being pushed to the side.
Then, after explaining it all, the raid party started to dash off into the distance, ever so confident in their strategy that they formulated 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 playing 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 relationship with me thanks to that plan. 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”, completely 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 displaying 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 played 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 platter, 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 playing 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 places……?」
「Fufufu…… So I see you’ve noticed that as well, huh?」
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 place in which Night Prowler Luukan appears most frequently.」
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 place of all the places to be, away from the area boss…… Don’t tell me you’ve managed to figure that one as well?」
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……」
「For me, it seems that you guys came here with the same goal as us: to defeat the Unique Monster.」
The cold night’s wind blows again. This is……
