Chapter 106: The One Who Beckons a New Tide

"Daaaaah, I losttttttt!!"

Respawning at the entrance, I shout impulsively, not minding the focused gazes of the surrounding players.

Ah dammit, at the very, very end, I prioritized attack agaaaaain. Given that the opponent can respond to ultra-high-speed maneuvering, and Kingfisher's mobility plummeted due to the damaged right wing and left leg, I had no chance of winning, but looking back, I was lured into it.

If at least the legs were intact, I might have forced another draw, but the difference in playtime is hard to overcome.

"The turn-around assault went well, but I didn't think she'd dodge it..."

I didn't expect her to pull a move in mid-air like throwing a superball with full force indoors. I'm not one to talk, but is her equilibrium okay after moving like that?

"As expected, without close-combat equipment, getting closed in means death..."

As time passes, research progresses. It must be different from when I used to play, back when it was full of machines so slow it was stupid.

Kingfisher was originally a machine built specifically to counter story bosses, so even if it's a change of pace, I intend to play for a while, and changing the build is necessary...

Thinking about such things, my sleeve gets tugged gui. Right, this Sunraku is wearing clothes normally; half-naked life was so long I got numb to various things.

"That kettle head and name... No mistake, Kingfisher...!"

"Eh? Ah... Rust? Ah, Rust, good game, GG?"

"GG... no, wait."

Turning around, an avatar of a girl wearing a visor selectable in character creation was staring intently at me, eyes shining brilliantly behind the visor.

By the way, "Kettle Head" refers to the accessory "Nephilim Fusion Support Unit Old Model," head equipment for the Augmented Human-type character "Gadgetman" in Nephilim Hollow. Lore-wise, it's a tool used in the early stages of experiments to fuse with Nephilim... carrying various heavy settings, but the nickname comes from its appearance looking exactly like a kettle.

Since equipping it significantly obstructs the normal avatar's field of vision, it's not very popular, but I equipped it on a whim and retired just like that, so it stayed on.

"Why did you come back...!?"

"Eh, why, you ask..."

Being asked for a proper reason every time I play a game is a bit... While thinking that, a rather tall young man waiting behind Rust like an attendant speaks to me with a voice younger than his appearance.

"I'm sorry. Rust is like this, but she's happy that you returned to this game."

"Eh, ah, is that so..."

Looking closely, although Rust is pulling my sleeve as if pressing me, I don't sense hostility. How should I put it? Like a dog that found a bone... So the player here, Mold, is the owner?

"Quickly... Rematch...!"

"No, really, I'm sorry... She seems a little too excited."

"Mold, shut up...!"

"Ouch!?"

Mold screaming from being kicked in the shin, and Rust raising a low voice while kicking his shin. While the eyes tend to go to the comedy routine, in short, it's a request for a rematch directly from the Rank 1 player.

Then my answer goes without saying.

"No, impossible right now."

The moment I released those words, I hallucinated Rust bursting into flames. Rust, whose atmosphere became even thornier in an instant, narrowed her eyes and asked quietly.

"Why?"

"Well, if I'm gonna play, I want to build a new Nephilim."

When starting the game, I loaded a considerable amount of updates, so unlike Benpi with its extreme laissez-faire policy, new elements must have been introduced regularly.

Although I'll return to ShanFro in about two days, playing only Kingfisher feels dull if I'm going to play anyway.

When I said that, Rust's atmosphere softened, and Mold apologized saying "No, really, I'm sorry."

Personally, I don't dislike hardcore players who dedicate their lives to games like this. There are some problematic types who get too involved and force their rules on others, but at least they're preferable to those who take a cynical stance and don't play seriously.

"...In that case, tomorrow. Let's have a rematch tomorrow morning."

"Hmm, okay."

I float a fearless smile on my face hidden by the mask and accept Rust's match reservation.

However, after this, I was spoken to by various other players, so building a new machine happened a little later.

To build a new Nephilim in Nephilim Hollow, three processes must be cleared.

First, capturing a wild Nephilim............

Repeat, capturing a wild Nephilim.

In the worldview of this game, Nephilim refers to giant ball-jointed dolls that fall from the sky.

Most Nephilim falling from the sky have their eyes wide open, and "Open-Eyed Individuals" attack players as so-called enemies.

Players accept missions from the affiliated organization "Nephilim Company" and subjugate Nephilim. At that time, occasionally, "Closed-Eyed Individuals" with closed eyes are discovered.

These Closed-Eyed Individuals are used as the base bodies for the Nephilim players control. Aside from the first one provided in the tutorial and those obtained during the scenario, if you want to make a third or fourth machine, you must discover a Closed-Eyed Individual and buy it from the Company.

"Hmm, oh, this is a type that didn't exist when I was playing."

Next is obtaining Costumes (Parts) to dress the captured Nephilim.

The base body of a Nephilim is literally a ball-jointed mannequin. Therefore, armor and weapons must be "dressed" onto it like decorating a doll.

These are obtained from the Company, the black market, or items listed by players. While there are pros and cons to each source, if I'm going to make one, I want to find interesting parts.

"A wheel that runs on the ground automatically and explodes. Is this Panjandrum...?"

Finally, by dressing the obtained parts onto the Nephilim and giving it a name, the fusion with the player is established, and a Nephilim that moves at will is completed.

"Name, name huh... Well, this time the color didn't accidentally turn out like a Kingfisher, so I'll name it straight from its appearance."

Let's see, if I translate that into English... no, German is hard to discard too... Alright.

"Your name is............"

Rank 2 player, Super Tama-o, was confused.

This morning, he heard that "Kingfisher," who left his name as a player who destroyed the meta of Nephilim Hollow in the past, had returned.

Super Tama-o has fought "Kingfisher." After all, in the ranking battles where the strongest player "Rust" conducted her second defense—the only time Kingfisher was active—the very first person to fight "Kingfisher"... in other words, the very first person to fall prey to Kingfisher was none other than Super Tama-o.

The Jade Bird that exterminated the "Heavy Armor Quattro Cannon," which dominated the meta at the time except for Rust's "Crimson Twinewing," from the environment. Its flapping ceased abruptly after the ranking battles ended with a draw against the Crimson Twinewing.

Back then, Super Tama-o, who had just started Nephilim Hollow and challenged the ranking battles with the template equipment of Heavy Armor Quattro Cannon as is, was trampled helplessly and defeated, but now is different.

Super Tama-o continued research in the environment that changed drastically after Heavy Armor Quattro Cannon was exterminated. With his beloved machine "Bound Dog" equipped with Refraction (Flexible) Lasers whose trajectory can be bent once by player operation, he climbed to Rank 2 as the man with the highest possibility of defeating the absolute champion Rust before he knew it.

"What was... that just now..."

Was it a prank of fate that he encountered It in a casual match he dived into by chance?

Player Name "Sunraku." Undoubtedly the name of the one who controls Kingfisher. And the appearance of that Nephilim, which was not Kingfisher, means that just like that time, Super Tama-o gained the honor of fighting that machine first.

And just like that time, respawning at the entrance after being completely shut out, he mutters that name in a daze.

"Fiddler Crab...?"

Super Tama-o was a strong enemy... The "Bound Dog," which launches Rear Surprise Attacks (Back Assaults) from the front by bending lasers like reflecting light with a mirror, was extremely troublesome, but as a test opponent for this guy... "Fiddler Crab" (Bouchou), he was the best opponent possible.

I cannot deny that just like Kingfisher, the "first-sight killer" aspect was a factor in victory, but this Fiddler Crab is built with PvP as the main focus.

"One draw, one loss. Ending with a losing record isn't my hobby."

Including venting frustration from ShanFro, let's go defeat the Phoenix.

Author's Afterword
Nephilim
Giants fallen from the sky, looking like ball-jointed mannequins.
There are open-eyed individuals and closed-eyed individuals; the former exist as enemies, the latter as base bodies for Nephilim.
At the end of the story, it is revealed that "An extra-universal civilization scattered them as weapons in every universe to counter an approaching threat, but the Nephilim contaminated by that threat went berserk." The campaign scenario ends by defeating the final boss, the "Grigori," the primordial Nephilim that fell to the world first.
They possess the characteristic of "adapting" to weapons of any civilization; as long as the Nephilim wears it, the Nephilim can master anything.