Chapter 128: Dawn Breaks, Overcoming Regret... Wait, That's Not It

I did it. I messed up. Suppressing the welling regret with a sense of accomplishment, I somehow maintain my composure. Screaming in this situation would be too unsightly. I glance sideways at Rei-shi and Akitsu Akane, who are probably processing the exact same thing I just saw and received.

The Unique Scenario EX for Lycaon, "The Lamp of Courage Dispels the Night Darkness," has fallen into the hands of the trump card of Clan "Black Wolf"—which I can do nothing about—and a player who is a lump of uncertain elements. From here on, I don't know if I can get involved with Lycaon. Not only that, even the secrecy of "Epic of Vorpal Bunny"...

"Haa... Ridiculous."

"Heh?"

"Ah no, just some idle thoughts."

That's right, moping about it now won't help. I can't rewind an event that has progressed; thinking about how to recover from here is what a good gamer does. Note: Assuming no time travel via save data.

Scheming is Pencilgon's domain anyway, so it'll probably work out somehow... That guy enters Last Boss Mode when she gains power and eventually gets defeated, but now is not that time.

"Unique Scenario EX... This is needed to challenge the Unique Monster..."

"Yes. For Tombguard Wethermon, the scenario 'From the Living World, With Love' was the scenario to challenge Wethermon."

"I-I don't really understand, but is it okay for me to accept that Unique Scenario EX!?"

"It's fine, it's fine. It's more fun if you accept it. Besides, without your support, it was a battle we couldn't win."

Yes, as long as it's fun. Rather than agonizing over strategy and having things go exactly as planned, charging into the unknown darkness with a single torch suits me better.

And the special state "Lamp of Guidance" which is likely the key to the EX Scenario. If paralysis and poison are abnormal statuses, does this mean a state that is not abnormal but not normal? In times like this, it's best to silently check the description.

Special State "Lamp of Guidance"
A state harboring a small flame in one's body, showing the way to the Emperor of the Night within the dark black night.
If the Unique Monster "Lycaon the Night Raider" exists within a certain range, it indicates the direction.
Lycaon, who bundles the darkness, can paradoxically dispel light. The lamp granted by Lycaon is a part of Lycaon, a discarded light.

"In short, a radar."

Whether this "certain range" works over a wide area or a narrow range determines if it's trash or not, but at least it's clear this is the necessary passport to challenge Lycaon.

Unlike "From the Living World, With Love" where we knew where and what to do to some extent from the start, do we have to find Lycaon ourselves?

Glancing at the darkness, an invisible gaze, which I am convinced is there even without form, stares back through the dark. Bring it on. If you're shutting yourself in your home, I'll search to the ends of the earth, sky, and sea and drag you out.

Perhaps sensing the intent of challenge in my gaze, the invisible pressure disperses its presence as if laughing... No, wait a minute.

"Oi, don't try to wrap this up on your own! Wait a minute, doggy!!"

You're forgetting something even for an AI!? I fulfilled the Conditions written in the description, so don't forget it.

"This 'Curse' carved by You (Clone)! I defeated You (Clone), so I'll have you lift it properly!"

The accursed Lycaon's Curse. Now that I'm Level 99, the relationship between merits and demerits has tipped heavily toward demerits. The only ways to lift this are to have "Saint of Love Eristella" lift it, or have Lycaon herself lift it. And even though we defeated it as a party, the fact remains that we defeated it. "Fuhaha, I'll be waiting, challenger!"—I'd be troubled if it ended with such a cliché.

That bastard understands human speech. At least, even if she doesn't understand the meaning of words, she possesses enough Intelligence (AI) to understand the nuance. In that case, she should understand what I, shouting while hitting my legs and torso, am demanding.

"At least allow me to equip gear!"

Half-naked against Wethermon, half-naked against Golden Scorpion, half-naked against Area Boss, saying cool things while half-naked... I don't want defense power; I want minimum grooming as a human being. Even for restriction play, at least let me wear pants.

Humans are the only creatures with "Shame." If we lose shame, are we not the same as beasts?

It's a quote from a game I played before, but indeed, good words. Although it was a worthless one-shot gag of an action game flipping girls' skirts, and the crucial shame of the characters looked like they were wearing low-quality masks because the facial textures were trash despite the serious voice acting—ignoring points like curry minus the roux, the dialogue was interesting for a Trash Game, but these words fit me perfectly right now.

Offline is one thing, but receiving the gaze of other players online while half-naked is painful after all. I'll be entering Fifticia, which likely boasts a player population incomparable to before. Although I was prepared for exposure play or hood play when I started conquering this area with Rei-shi... if there's a possibility to wear clothes, I want to cling to it. Though instead of clinging to that Possibility (Lycaon), I smashed her jaw, hahaha!

A strange silence dominates the surroundings. Against the reckless barbarism of complaining to Lycaon, the Strongest Species, from the perspective of Emul and the NPCs... Against the action as a player complaining to an NPC from the perspective of Rei-shi and the others... Everyone waits with bated breath to see how Lycaon will respond.

Indeed, the presence that was fading and dispersing converged to a single point again, and a gaze was directed here. It felt slightly goofy, like stopping the action of hanging up the phone at the last second because you heard "Ah, one more thing to talk about!" but as expected of a Unique Monster, even a rotten one. Minimum dignity is secured.

"Now, let me wear clothes (lift the curse quickly, doggy)."

Lycaon staring at me remained silent for a while, but the moment I caught a glimpse of the wolf's figure in the darkness, a shock suddenly ran through my body, blowing me into the air... and my body was caught by pressure clearly thought to be a mouth. Being alive with candle-in-the-wind HP means it's not sudden loss time but an event expression, but it's too bad for the heart.

"Su, Sunraku-saaaan!?"

"Uwah, slimy! Crap, candy tasting session!"

"You seem somewhat composed desu wa!?"

Not composed, just unable to keep up with understanding the situation and directly voicing thoughts without processing. Or rather, executing an all-nighter without proper preparation might have sent my tension running in a weird direction... Gyaaa don't roll me on your tongue! My head is a bird, but tasting it won't taste like chicken! Ah, crap falling falling falling into Lycaon's stomach! I don't want to become her midnight snack after coming this far!!

"Obeh."

Nbeh, I was spat out onto the ground with a rough spit that seemed likely to come with a sound effect. Dammit... I understood the feelings of gum stuck to the ground... At least wrap it in paper and throw it in the trash bin... But the current action must be a motion to perform some kind of processing. And considering my request and what Lycaon did to me, I should be able to tell what kind of change happened to me by looking at the status screen.

Name: Sunraku
Level: 99 Extend
Job: Mercenary (Dual Wielder)
Money: 1,000 Mani
HP: 80
MP: 50
STM: 100
STR: 100
DEX: 100
AGI: 100
TEC: 80
VIT: 1601
LUC: 129

Skills:

• Flowing Flash Dance
• Single Thought, Rock Pierce
• Formula Drift Lv.1
• Moment Sight
• Airgetlam Lv.1
• Trial Traverse Lv.1
• Possessed by Yoshitsune
• Gravity Zero Lv.1
• Flit Float
• Pride of the Moon Wolf [Managarmr Pride]
• Vorpal Secret Art [Utsurou Mikagami]
• Burnout Lv.1
• Riot Accel Lv.1
• Bloodshedism
• Lethe Vanisher
• Dirty Sword Lv.1
• Blade-Breaking Demon Chaos
• Vorpal Sword Arts [Half-Moon Slash] Third Form
• Reckless War God Lv.1
• Sword Dance [Spinning Blade]
• Persistand
• Melostic Foot

Equipment:

• Left/Right: Brilliant Scorpion Gauntlets (Gilta Brille)
• Head: Non-Standard Special Armored Head Gear [Adebane] (VIT+1200)
• Torso: Lycaon's Scar
• Waist: Excavated Polished Belt [Ancient Soldier] (VIT+400)
• Legs: Lycaon's Scar
• Accessories: Inventory Key: Inventoria

Lycaon's Scar
Lycaon no longer recognizes the one who defeated the shadow of the Emperor of the Night as prey.
It is proof of an "Enemy" worthy of being finished by her own hands, a mark of the strong recognized by the Strongest Species.
There is no way to lift the curse carved into the soul other than defeating the true form of the Black Wolf.

• "Monsters of a level higher than the character with Lycaon's Scar will actively choose combat."
• "Monsters of a level lower than the character with Lycaon's Scar will actively choose to flee."
• "Characters with Lycaon's Scar nullify all 'Curses'."
• "Characters with Lycaon's Scar receive a correction in conversations with NPCs."
• "Characters with Lycaon's Scar cannot Convert (change religion)."
• "Items equipped on parts with Lycaon's Scar will be destroyed after a certain time."

Wait, that's not it.

Author's Afterword
In short, it changed from "Don't touch, it's my food" to "This guy is strong enough for me to recognize."
"Is that so~?" Strong monsters will actively come to kill.
And congratulations Sunraku! You can wear clothes with a time limit! Though if the time limit is exceeded, the clothes will be destroyed like a gag!

Lycaon's strange silence was actually loading time generating the content of the "Scar" on the spot.
The AI is judging the player's words and thinking. Uselessly High Technology!
This is an application of the system where NPCs understand and learn player behavior. For example, if a player asks an NPC "Choose clothes that suit me!", the NPC loads the player's combat tendencies and conduct from the server and decides the type of clothes based on the general trend.
In short, daily conduct, actions on the spot, and roleplay are seriously important elements.