Chapter 110: What to Do, What to Aim For, What to Rely On

"Haa..."

Ultimately, the Fiddler Crab, meta-gamed and slaughtered, was magnificently turned into a crab hotpot, and Rust, who slaughtered me with a King's Gambit copycat machine, was wearing a wonderful smile.

"Looking forward to working with you."

"No, well... I'm sorry."

"Ah, fine, fine... I let my guard down on this one."

Well, if you can play rock-paper-scissors second and have the motivation to win, of course you'd meta-game. Vowing in my heart to absolutely create a build that counters King's Gambit, I turn to Rust again.

"I was skillfully persuaded, but... this is the main point, right? Indeed, I, or rather me and two others, possess SF-like equipment owned by the three of us. If you can persuade those two, you might... be able to use it."

In other words, persuading only me is meaningless. If Rust wishes to ride a Powered Suit, and by extension a Tactical Machine Beast, she must persuade the strangely strict OiKatzo and the Last Boss, Pencilgon.

In that respect, bringing Souvenir Information (Unique Monster) instead of words isn't a wrong judgment.

For now, this can silence OiKatzo, who hasn't triggered a Unique on his own. The possibility of him finding a Unique while I wasn't logged in... if he found one, he'd probably be more annoying, so he probably hasn't found one.

The problem is Pencilgon. Persuading a guy whose self-proclaimed "70% Poker Win Rate" carries a sense of reality is no ordinary task. Often, before you know it, you've made a promise advantageous to the other side.

Therefore, while the Unique Monster information is potent, if you ask me...

"It lacks a decisive blow."

"Decisive blow?"

Yes. Few know this, but scenarios leading to Unique Monsters have "EX" attached. And perhaps another piece of information currently known only to me is the reason I believed the vague information "might lead to a Unique Monster."

"Just to be sure, can I hear the content of the scenario leading to 'Ctarrnid of the Abyss'?"

"...Mold."

"Yes, yes... Let's see, the Unique Scenario 'Pierce the Apostle of the Abyss' is a Unique Scenario you can accept in Fifticia. The content is chasing a ghost ship at the request of the NPC 'Self-Proclaimed Great Pirate Stude'."

"Ah, no need for honorifics."

"Ah... then I'll do that. We only accepted this scenario in Fifticia, but at that time, we heard information about that ghost ship... the Crying Innsman. According to that self-proclaimed Great Pirate, the ghost ship offers captured humans to the 'Lord of the Abyss'."

Lord of the Abyss... I see. Indeed, that itself seems highly likely to connect to the main EX scenario, even if it's a different Unique Scenario.

But this isn't enough. If "might be" cannot serve as negotiation material, we must confirm the speculation.

"Still lacks a decisive blow..."

"So what is that decisive blow?"

"Scenarios directly involved with Unique Monsters have 'EX' attached to the end. So if you want to use it as negotiation material, you need the decisive blow that it 'Connects' to a Unique Scenario EX, not 'Might Connect'."

In other words.

"Unless you clear 'Pierce the Apostle of the Abyss' and trigger the Unique Scenario EX, it cannot be negotiation material."

"Ah, Sunraku-san desu wa!"

Logging into Shangri-La Frontier, which feels strangely nostalgic, I heard surprising information while putting Emul, who jumped at me byo!, on my head.

"A human other than me... in Rabituza?"

"Yes sir! Ceecrue-oniichan brought them saying 'Truly a splendid (Appare) human-gozaru!' desu wa!"

"I see... I see..."

Coming here means a player other than me has raised the flag for "Invitation from the Rabbit Country."

That means a player has appeared who has a high possibility of reaching the Unique Scenario EX "Epic of Vorpal Bunny"... no, almost certainly will reach it.

"Bad... This is very bad..."

A trump card exerts an effect isolated from other cards precisely because only you possess it. If that player spreads information about "Invitation from the Rabbit Country" on the net, my advantage could dissipate.

As a mere player in ShanFro, I cannot impose a gag order on a player, especially a complete stranger I've never met, unlike clan members or friends.

Dammit, to think someone fulfilled those damn high-difficulty flag conditions appeared... What to do? If I don't devise a plan like Pencilgon, it'll become a troublesome situation where the trump card is disclosed to all ShanFro players.

Just holding the unexploded bomb called SF-Zoo is bad enough; if it's discovered that there's a Unique Scenario EX in Rabituza, even Black Wolf and Library might come barging in. Consult Pencilgon? No, before that, I have the promise with Rust & Mold. No, but dealing with the other Rabituza entrant is top priority over that...

"Daaaah! My head is getting tangled!?"

"Pyaaaa!?"

Because I shook my head violently gwan-gwan, Emul on my head screams, but I can't worry about that right now.

"Emul, do you know the name of that other play... no, Pioneer?"

"Umm... If I recall, Ceecrue-oniichan said 'Akitsu Akane-dono' desu wa."

Akitsu Akane-dono... Akitsu Akane-dono? Is "Dono" an honorific, making it "Akitsu Akane"? At least it's not a name I've heard while playing until now. Identifying a single person out of ShanFro's player base, which boasts thousands, maybe tens of thousands of times more players than Benpi, is synonymous with finding an ant's contact lens in a desert... Damn, panic is preventing my brain from working properly.

"Sorry, going to sleep one more time."

"Fue!?"

"I'll wake up soon!"

"You call that sleeping desu wa!?"

"It's a nap, a nap!"

Logged out, immediately searched "Invitation from the Rabbit Country" and "Unique Scenario EX" on the internet. After investigating for about five minutes, I confirmed that the information has apparently not been revealed on the net yet.

Logged in immediately. Running down the corridor carrying the flustered Emul on my head.

"Emul, where is that Akitsu Akane... or that Ceecrue guy? I want to meet them."

"Akitsu Akane-san is in a room sleeping until Fa... the Boss comes back desu wa. Ceecrue-oniichan wanders off so I don't know desu wa..."

Kuh, can't meet right now. They say time is money, but I feel like impatience is burning my body with every passing second. To think I'd be this agitated by a development beyond my control... No, calm down... calm down...

"That's right, this is RNG... Whether I can pull the RNG of 'Player Akitsu Akane not spreading information'... Aaaaaah dammit, feels like super low RNG!"

"What is RNG desu wa!?"

"The rules of the world!"

Shouting that, I slap my cheeks with both hands relatively full force to calm my mind. Although the reality of "sensation" is superior compared to other games, excessive pain is regulated game-wide, so a numbness different from pain strokes my cheeks.

Hard to say I've calmed down, but I have room to think. Fretting over things I can't help right now won't help; do what I can.

Piled up things to do, things better done, things unnecessary to do... Lining up, aligning, and organizing thought fragments more tangled than a yarn ball after a cat played with it, I build a broader play chart.

"Emul, for now, I have things I must do, so I must run solo."

"H-Haa..."

"Therefore, Emul, I give you an important mission."

"I-Important... Leave it to me desu wa!"

Parting with Emul after conveying the Order, I run to Bilac while desperately organizing what to do.

"Bilac! Is the item ready!?"

"O-Oh... Warya... Kukuku, it's done... My supreme masterpiece... Its name is! 'Gil—"

"This is it! Good work, I'm taking it!"

"Wait!? Warya, let's talk a bit mor..."

"I'll send words of gratitude for about an hour along with the user review later! See ya!"

I heard an angry echo of "You bastaaaaard... tard... tard...!" behind me, but ignore, ignore.

"From here on, it's RTA (Real Time Attack).........!!"

For that, there is one thing to do. I asked Emul to tell me about a certain place, and headed there at full speed...

Author's Afterword
Writing the plot around here, I was personally grinning thinking "Protagonist has too much to do (lol)."

Vorpal Soul
A mysterious concept upheld by the Vorpal Bunnies.
Actually exists as a hidden parameter. Upon achieving specific conditions and achieving "Vorpal Soul above a certain value," the Unique Scenario "Invitation from the Rabbit Country" occurs.
For example, it could be "Boldly challenging the Emperor of the Night and continuing to land Vorpal attacks until the moment of death," or for example, "Boldly challenging the Ruler of the Heavens and landing a Vorpal blow on his Dragon King weakness".........

Actually, "Akitsu Akane" has already appeared in the story.