Chapter 216: Different Paths, Same Heart

There is no such thing as perpetual motion. Even a baseball blasted away by a home run must eventually fall, and the exact same goes for ships.

"We're faaaalling desu waaaaa! We're absolutely going to die desu waaaaa!!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm holding onto you, so you at least won't get blown away and die!!"

"Sunraku-san, who's holding onto me, is exactly the problem desu waaaaa!!"

I am currently hanging upside down with my legs hooked over a rope strung up on the mast. Well, it's certainly true that the moment my hooked legs slip, I'll be forcefully thrown from the free-falling ship and slammed directly into the surface of the ocean, but where there's a will, there's a way.

"Here comes the landing... Now!"

With a spectacular splash, the sailing ship bit deep, deep into the surface of the sea. Although the ship was physically forced into a near-dive, surface tension and buoyancy miraculously hefted the hull back up, preventing a complete submersion like a bath bucket being forcibly shoved underwater.

"Yo, ho."

Inserting Flit Float right at the end to land, it seems the others—who had been shaken up inside the hurled ship—also managed to survive.

"Man... anyway, everyone, good work clearing the Unique Scenario EX."

It was an ordeal that basically picked a fight with our real lives as players, practically demanding we throw away seven whole days, but it was a fruitful seven days in more ways than one.

"This is a massive achievement. We played this game faster than anyone else, and cleared it. We are the absolute first."

Well, in reality, there's probably someone who cleared it first during pre-release test plays or something, but if you start counting that, then every game out there has already been cleared by someone else.

"Where is this ship heading?"

"Based on this direction, we're probably heading toward Fifticia. We can go home!"

"Make sure you don't get carried away and get us lost again."

Listening to Stude's navigational reports and truly realizing that it was all over, I finally let all the tension bleed out of my body.

"I'm sooooooo... tired..."

This past week, I've just been constantly sprinting forward in more ways than one... Tomorrow, for starters, I'm going to sleep. I'm going to sleep until I rot.

It would be fine to just lie around like this until we return to Fifticia, but since I have the chance, I might as well rummage through the loot.
First up, the two Chalices I chose from the eight... the Blue Chalice and the Indigo Chalice.
Their effects are Gender Inversion for the Blue, and Status Inversion for the Indigo.
Honestly, I hesitated quite a bit, but I judged that Blue and Indigo offered a high degree of versatility in various situations.

If my gender had simply changed while retaining the same physical build as my male self, I probably wouldn't have picked it. But if it changes my physical proportions by twenty to thirty centimeters, then that's a genuinely viable weapon.
Although there are slight stat discrepancies based on gender, even if your gender is inverted, your stats remain exactly the same. Altering your size for a surprise attack could be effectively utilized in both PvP and PvE.
Well, about sixty percent of my reasoning was just 'it sounds fun to use,' though.

Actually, the real prize is the Indigo Chalice. This thing is insane. And what's most insane about it is that its current performance is completely one-of-a-kind.
Nullifying magic, physical, or ranged attacks essentially boils down to defense. If you're a Tank, the fundamental principle might differ, but achieving the exact same end result wouldn't be all that difficult.
Inverting vision is, in extreme terms, nothing more than a blind/dazzle effect, which isn't impossible to replicate with flashy enough magic.
Damage inversion strongly appealed to me, but if a fight devolves into a sluggish grind where I'm forced to rely on that, the odds of losing are probably overwhelming anyway.

But Indigo is different. The ability to swap raw stats themselves is fundamentally broken. Taking myself as an example, just by swapping my LUC and VIT, I can instantly become a Tank, or even dramatically spike my MP to pseudo-roleplay as a Mage.
The truly broken part isn't that it resets your stats, but that it inverts them. That means I can switch to an entirely different playstyle while perfectly maintaining my original stat build.

"Come to think of it, what Chalices did you guys pick?"

Suddenly curious, I asked the rest of the group...

Rei-shi: Blue, Purple
Rust: Green, Red
Mold: Yellow, Purple
Akitsu Akane: Blue, Purple
Araba: Red, Yellow

It was surprising that a hardcore top-tier player like Rei-shi chose Blue, but if she loves the game enough to become a top-tier player, it makes sense that she wouldn't compromise on character customization either.
But why did she pick Purple instead of Indigo... I see. The true value of Indigo's stat inversion can only be realized by someone capable of fulfilling other roles to a certain extent.
Did Rei-shi deliberately choose Purple to completely master her role as heavily armored firepower? Unlike me, where taking a hit leads directly to death, Rei-shi steps onto the frontlines on the premise that she will take hits. In that case, Purple's damage inversion—which heals HP simply by standing there and getting beaten on—synergizes perfectly with Rei-shi's aspect as a Tank.
As expected of a hardcore player. Elevating her solo capabilities while simultaneously prioritizing party combat.

I am somewhat curious about the others, but there's no reason to butt into other people's playstyles.
If anything, this is the real issue.

• Alarm Bell of the Abyss
  An alarm bell sent from the deep abyss. A sea-colored bell that senses and warns of approaching crises.
  It reacts to [Revealed in the Fourth Stage of the World Quest] to warn its owner of danger.
  The people of the past failed. You are next.

Amazing, right? It's written entirely with ominous, bad-news terminology. No matter how you slice it, this is screaming 'mysterious lifeform invasion during the mid-game' or something exactly like that.
World Quests. By defeating Wethermon and satisfying Ctarrnid, we cleared two Unique Scenarios, which caused the so-called World Quest to progress twice. That means the World Quest is currently in its third stage.
When Wethermon was defeated, a massive wave of questions must have hit the devs, because they officially answered that a World Quest is a state where the world itself progresses to the next step.

For example, let's say "Harvesting apples growing on a tree" is the Grand Quest for the entire player base. The Unique Scenario would be "The youthful spectacle of the farmers leading up to the apple harvest," and the World Quest would be "The changes occurring in the harvested apples." I don't even know what I'm talking about anymore. Basically, it's like the changing of the seasons.
And judging by the description of this item, the moment the third Unique Monster is defeated... the moment the World Quest enters its fourth stage, something is going to happen. And it's something dangerous enough to require an alarm.
This is a death sentence for players enjoying a slow-life playstyle. Fortunately, I'm the type of player who'd rather hallucinate rainbows in the blood splatter of monsters than use a watering can on crops to make rainbows, so I'm not overly troubled by it. But this, without a doubt, is information too massive for a small group to monopolize. It's time for some pseudo-magical-girl-level schematics.

However, I have a certain premonition.
It's hard to believe that a simple alarm is the true reward for defeating a Unique Monster. In reality, this bell has no effects beyond sounding an alarm, making it seem like a rather worthless item at first glance... But let's flip the perspective. What if the 'something' that appears in the fourth stage is an existence that players would actively want to hunt down? In that case, the alarm instantly transforms into a Radar.

"I smell an item grind..."

"All I smell is the sea breeze, though?"

"Yep, yep, stay right there, Akitsu Akane."

Steered by Stude—who is a kid but still a pirate, or more accurately, a sailor—the sailing ship is heading straight for Fifticia.
Now then, what should I do when we get back... No, well, first I need to take Emul and Ceecrue with me to apologize to Vysache for going to Ruluiath... This could easily turn into a Yakuza-style atonement, but I'll just have to scheme and scramble to somehow settle for just losing a pinky.

"...nraku, Sunraku!"

"Nn, what is it, Araba?"

"Well, I was thinking it's about time I returned to my homeland."

That's why we're heading to Fifticia... Wait, thinking about it, Araba is fundamentally a different race, and I suddenly realized Fifticia isn't actually his base or his hometown.

"Ah, right, now that you mention it... Well anyway, Araba, thanks to you, we were saved a bunch of times. You have my gratitude."

"What are you saying, my friend? If you hadn't been there, Nereid and I would have long since been reduced to Ctarrnid's familiars in that city."

In reality, there were many situations where Araba saved us. During the Atlanticus Repnorca fight, without his mobility, we would have been killer whale bait, and even in the Ctarrnid fight, his combat strength as a specific type of STR-heavy Magic Knight was undeniably reliable.

"If... you guys ever happen to meet a Dwarven named 'Gundack,' you should drop my name. He's a highly skilled blacksmith, so I'm sure he'll lend you his strength."

"Hah, why are you making a face like this is a final parting in this life?"

"Well, it stands to reason. I am a Merman, an existence that fundamentally lives in the sea. It will likely be difficult for me to cross paths with you, who live upon the earth."

Tsk tsk tsk, I wagged my finger and declared with a grin.

"If there's the unknown to explore, we're the kind of pioneers who'll sprint to the very ends of the world. We'll manage the bottom of the sea through sheer guts and willpower."

The existence of NPCs known as the Merman race. Unique monsters encountered solely on the ocean floor. No matter how you think about it, there has to be some method to advance into the deep sea. I don't have solid proof, but at the very least, reuniting is absolutely not impossible.
Araba's eyes widened at my words, but a soft smile soon surfaced, and he extended a hand toward me.
Returning the grip for a firm handshake, Araba pulled me into a hug and slapped my back heavily. I know this one. It's the farewell greeting they always do in Hollywood movies. To think the day would actually come when I'd do this... I'm honestly a little moved.

"My friend, and the reassuring comrades who fought by my side! I eagerly await the day we meet again!"

"Ev'rybody, stay well."

Dexterously manifesting only her upper half from the Odachi to wave, Nereid and Araba stood on the edge of the ship, casting a final glance toward Stude.

"Little pirate, I pray that you will grow strong!"

"O... Ou! Of course I will! I'm the son of a great pirate, after all!"

I don't know if some kind of NPC-to-NPC event triggered, but Araba flashed one final, suspiciously sharp-toothed grin before diving headfirst into the sea.
How should I put it... He really cranked his handsome stat to the absolute max right at the very end before leaving...

"Now then... For the time being, let's say we disband locally once we arrive... What are you guys doing after this?"

"...Sleep. For now, sleep."

"Yeah... I'm honestly a bit tired..."

Well, I suppose jumping straight back into action immediately after returning is a no-go. It was a fierce battle that heavily drained both our in-game resources and our real-life physical stamina as players. Even if we do something, it'll have to be tomorrow, or the day after.

"In that case, tomorrow... no, the day after tomorrow, I'll introduce you to our clan's boss. I've already passed along the gist of the situation..."

"U-Umm!"

"Nn?"

Rei-shi interrupted my words, speaking up. Turning around to wonder what was going on, I ended up shouldering a problem far more troublesome than holding onto a Unique Scenario.

"About that... I have an earnest request... to make."

Sunraku and the others sailed along a radiant, clear-weather route, but back in Fifticia... no, among the player base at large, a massive storm was raging.

Author's Afterword
It's going to continue for just a little bit longer. (There's way more information to disclose than I thought.) (I also need to write the transition to the next arc.) (An amateur who can't compress his writing.) (Creating a gap with the sheer volume of lore.)

Honestly, for the route branching, it would have been pretty funny if the protagonist's party was randomly teleported to the New Continent. But thinking about it carefully, I realized that as long as Emul is there, they can just casually return to Rabituza, so I branched it into a safe escape route instead.
That damn Anywhere Door Rabbit...