Chapter 132: A Meteor in the Metropolis, a Grotesque in the Deep Sea

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When I woke up, the place was like a great sea of metal trees. The dense skyscrapers filling the sky reflected the sunlight with majestic brilliance while simultaneously casting shadows where light could not reach.

The place I am currently in is one of those dark areas created by the skyscrapers, a dead-end alienated within a map of uniform grid patterns, leading nowhere.

"Heave... ho."

I step down from a Transport Vehicle, which looks like a truck whose rear acts as a food stall with a design too psychedelic even to an amateur's eyes. Taking just a single step makes the truck sway unreliably, and sparks scatter on the asphalt.

With a grinding gyari-gyari sound, this slow and heavy body stands in "Chaos City." The armor covering this heavy body, designed with motifs of restraints on various parts, has its excessive power sealed by the cosmic god-like entity "Galaxeus." The only way to be freed from this armor is to destroy it using the power of Galaxeus itself or one who has received its grace.

That is precisely why this body must always be where the meteor shines, destined to confront the meteor.

"Victory condition is securing the Chaos Cube, or..."

Defeating the opponent Hero.

Considering whether it's easier to defeat the single opponent coming this way or to search for a box smaller than a basketball in this vast city, I realize I intend to win in this situation and smile.

"Even though the opponent is someone with a winning record against Katzo, aiming for the win is just a gamer's nature... Alright, let's do this!!"

According to the rules, there are thirty seconds until the opponent appears in this world. A Hero is always one step behind the Villain who takes the initiative in plotting evil.

I think for a moment, trying to remember what "this body" says at times like this.

"Right right, I remember... Now, it's time for the Tyrant!"

Saying that to no one in particular, I slammed a full-force punch into the transport vehicle disguised as a truck.

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When I woke up, the place was like a blasphemous great tsunami. The remnants of a super-ancient era filling the deep sea released an evil quickening upon receiving the power of the abyss, while simultaneously those who resist ran.

Raising a strange cry, I kick down a barnacle-covered zombie swinging a rusted saber while looking around.

"Daaaah dammit! Isn't the encounter rate broken!?"

"What is this encounter you speak of, Sunraku! We must break through here to reach the 'Sealing General'!"

"I know! Oi, we're climbing to the roof from there!"

"W-Wait! I cannot hop around lightly like you!"

"JUST, DO IT, WITH GUTS."

My partner twitched the corner of his mouth at my words, but perhaps understanding that this is no time to care about appearances amidst the rush of grotesque creatures bearing no resemblance to himself, he pulled himself up to the roof by grabbing a crack in the half-destroyed building while panting. Having run up a step ahead, I grabbed my partner's hand and pulled his body up with all my might.

A few frames later, several tridents pierced the place where my partner had been hanging. Realizing he would have become an ugly skewer if I hadn't pulled him up, my partner's face turns pale.

"Oh, my friend... Saved by your life once again... I swear on the pride of the Merman (Merman) tribe, I will surely...!"

"Then return the favor right now. Sorry to be materialistic but... run."

"Uwoh!? They are climbing using their kin as stepping stones!!"

"That's why I'm telling you to run!!"

If numbers are accompanied by mass, brute force can manage most things. Kicking down the vanguard of the grotesques that climbed up the extremely primitive meat ladder devoid of intelligence, formed by stepping on those ahead and being stepped on by those behind, my partner and I start running.

"Damn, wasn't it supposed to be that enemies lower level than me would run away..."

"They are the kin of the Lord of the Abyss. No matter how terrifying the opponent, if the Lord orders them to do it, they will bite even a divine beast. They have made such a contract."

"Forcing a thought routine like a respawning zombie, what a demon... or rather, octopus."

Landing a roundhouse kick on the face of a Mermaid swimming through the air with a bewitching smile and approaching us, I run straight toward the destination, ignoring the mermaid blown away with her cute face distorted.

"You are, how should I put it... ruthless."

"I can just feed mercy to the pseudo-fishmen behind us. I don't have time to show mercy to human-faced fish!"

Unlike the race of my partner running next to me, who looks like an anthropomorphized shark, mermaids are completely monsters. The upper body appearing as a beautiful maiden is a so-called mimicry; the main body is the fish part of the lower body, and the human part is a lure just like an anglerfish's lantern.

Convinced that the staff who designed this monster are quite nasty, I deliver a lariat to a mermaid about to start singing.

"That's it! The Sealing General is inside there!"

"Alllriiight... Time for a raid!!"

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With an explosion, the show window lined with dressed-up mannequins blows away. The shock of destruction dresses up in glass and plastic, scattering upgraded lethality all around.

"Alright ORAA! Flee in panic, ordinary citizens!! Don't forget to call the police and fire department!"

The unnecessarily detailed NPCs scream and flee in panic with twitching faces away from the ground zero, and from me, the source of the explosion.

Some Mobs are holding cell phones to their ears, and given game logic, it takes about thirty seconds for armored vehicles and fire trucks to arrive promptly.

The transport vehicle disguising this body as a truck was clearly equipped with weapons meant for purposes other than transport. This body's ability is "absorbing destroyed objects and turning them into armor." In the state of wearing the transport vehicle, which is the so-called starting equipment, this body holds a gatling gun in the right hand and a shotgun in the left. Tires to compensate for the slow mobility are attached to the legs, and the truck engine stuck to the back roars and spews black smoke.

The roaring tires drive the giant body at tremendous speed, and a knee strike crashing into the hood of a light car rolls the metal lump passenger car like a soccer ball. The light car crashes into the entrance of a building sitting at the end of a straight path shifted from the street grid, and explodes.

"Heh, coming before me with That... seems it's not a Sandbagging (Namepu) for performance purposes."

"So you've appeared, Number One in America (Zenichi)...!"

Turning around, there is a single shadow standing with arms crossed against a backdrop of flames. An overall white suit with gold armor on various parts, and a mask equipped with characteristic pentagram-shaped goggles. Even as a silhouette from here due to the flickering firelight, the person seeming to emit radiance from their entire body was directing an impolite gaze as if appraising me.

Well, it's understandable. After all, the mysterious duo registered at the last minute, right before the deadline, weren't even pro gamers. And one of them chose the rival character of the character used by the Number One player in America... quite the provocative act.

"I'll test the power of the helper Kei brought... I, the Hero, 'Meteos', will!"

"I accept your challenge, but don't think it'll be a straightforward match... against 'Me', the Villain 'Cursed Prison'!"

The opponent is literally the strongest "Meteos" user in America. Against an impromptu "Cursed Prison" user who didn't even cram but started using it yesterday—just stuck together with cellophane tape—how far can I hold on? But I am standing here out of duty and debt. Regardless of the outcome, I will fulfill my job.

With a shitty matchup ratio of 7:3 in favor of Meteos, I have to charge at the strongest player in America. I unintentionally speak the words that bubbled up.

"──────Why"

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In this "Abyssal Capital Ruluiath," the laws of the world are "Inverted." Those who live in water swim in the sky in this submarine city, and those who live on land act as if on land in this submerged city. My amphibious partner seems to be adjusting to "this side" for now, but it seems he can swim in the air if he wants to. That being the case, the same logic applies to the four monsters sitting in the four corners of this city, and my partner and I were waging a fierce battle against a "Monster" (Heavenly Maiden) swimming in the air.

"Araba! Drive it this way!"

"Don't ask the impossible! One wrong step and I'll be eaten headfirst by that thing!?"

"If you don't want to be eaten, bring it here you idiot!"

The head with a beautiful woman's face splits into eight equal parts from the crown, and the eight tentacles disguised as a human head, which clearly gained mass, attack Araba swimming in the air at breakneck speed. My partner deals with the tentacles sometimes by dodging, sometimes by cutting them off with the katana in his hand, but he can't handle the fierce attack of eight simultaneously. Understanding he'll be caught at this rate, Araba changes direction and charges toward me, and I ready my dual blades to prepare for interception.

"Alriiight......... Pass me!"

"Ah!"

The moment Araba, swimming at breakneck speed, passes right beside me, the glowing dual blades flash, showering the tentacles with a barrage of slashes. Hitting them one by one won't catch up; while buying "Distance" with a backstep, I cleave two with one strike, gain momentum by twisting my waist and cut off four with two strikes, and spin my body like a top without killing that momentum to sever six with three strikes. One was already cut off, leaving one. I can't connect to another strike due to the somewhat reckless maneuver... but there is no worry about that.

"Oooooh!!"

Araba, who crossed paths with me, wasn't just running away. True to his bold claim, "A straight line is one thing, but in maneuvering, I won't lose to average fishmen," the blade of the Sharkman who kept accelerating with minimal movements cut off the arm of the Sea Angel (Clione) type "Sealing General" along with the remaining tentacle.

"─────────!!!"

Scattering blue-tinged black blood, the arm with a pteropod like an elegant dress falls to the ground. The Heavenly Maiden, raising a shrill scream, loses her power to float in the sky and falls to the ground following her arm... The head, revived with terrifying regenerative power, looks up to see a half-naked bird head readying dual blades, and a fully naked shark head readying a katana.

"After you, we still have to defeat the remaining three and the Big Boss Octopus, so please die quickly and swiftly."

"Sorry, kin of the Lord. As you can see, I am a carnivore."

"You were eating seaweed earlier... Or rather, you're going to eat this?"

"I (prefer to) eat meat... No, I won't eat it!?"

That face is merely a mimicry, and compared to the faces of me, who is racially just a human in the game, and my partner, who is clearly a half-fishman but supposedly "human," what they possess fundamentally is completely different. In extreme terms, it's just like a doodle of a face drawn on a palm, and It possesses neither sight nor hearing... but that face was definitely convulsing in terror.

"Sunraku, this is bad! They are pouring in!!"

"So this isn't a boss area anymore since the boss fight is over...!? Sorry, pull me up!"

Don't forget to collect the drop items, and evacuate from this place immediately. Looking down at the sight of the reasonably spacious battlefield being filled with barnacle zombies and humanoid fish in the blink of an eye, I unintentionally mutter.

"──────HOW"

"HOW DID IT COME TO THIS!!"

Author's Afterword
I took measures against data corruption; please hold on, my stockpile...!