Chapter 241: The Golden Moon, Blue and Cold

Author's Preface
The Yokai Planet... I really love the theory that it was actually an SCP and the Foundation erased it from the public stage with the cover story "Service Terminated."

I was able to discover the fact that I get incredibly irritated by situations where I cannot fight myself, so I want to believe the time I spent up until now wasn't a waste... at least.

"W... We did it! We did it, Sunraku-san! Were you watching too, Ceecrue-san!?"

An instant-death grab attack that unconditionally teleports you if you touch its shadow.
A teleport attack where it instantly moves to wherever its detached shadow is located.
If you suffer the status effect, your HP gets violently whittled down on top of a living hell of debuffs.
Or rather, its body completely nullifies attacks in the first place. Even the Apology Cannon seemed to deal 0 damage.

It was an utterly bullshit monster, but when we executed a strategy I thought of on a whim... the True Quiet was eradicated with terrifying ease.

"So the correct answer wasn't to whittle its 100 HP down to 0, but to increase its -100 HP back to 0..."

As expected of this game, deducing a weakness from the lore-based settings rather than judging by simple parameters is the fundamental style.
It was a monster with broken balancing you rarely see even in trash games, but on the flip side, it was also a trash-tier monster you rarely see even in trash games. According to what I heard, that monster is an entity born from the intermingling of negative attributes released at the moment life ends... such as "Death" and the "Pain" leading up to it, as well as the "Disease" and "Violence" that caused it.

If that's the case, in game terms, the things composing it would be "0 HP," "Damage," and "Debuffs." In short, it's in a state where it swung past zero and went into the negatives. Continuously adding negatives to a negative will only make the number balloon further into the negative direction.
Then the idea is to think in reverse: just add a positive to the negative and return it to nothingness (Zero). The underlying principle is the same as what we did during the Ctarrnid battle. That was an inversion of the system, but this is an application of damage calculation in accordance with the system.

If damage doesn't work, heal it. If debuffs don't work, buff it. If it's already dead, just revive it.
The conclusion Akitsu Akane and I arrived at was a rather indescribable strategy: buy out all the recovery items from the item shop in Rabituza and throw them at it.

"It's basically the same feeling as splashing holy water on an undead, but how should I say this... it feels like we wasted items even more than we would against an undead."

Like, using light-attribute items against an entity of darkness feels like a purification via opposing attributes or something like that, but in the case of the True Quiet, it somehow felt more like paying off a debt. If even I—watching from the audience seats—felt that way, I can't even imagine the emotional state of Akitsu Akane, who was physically throwing away high-tier items... Well, she's normally happy about it, yep.

"So this is what they call Money is Power!"

"I feel like that's subtly incorrect, but... well, whatever."

"Wa! A scythe dropped!"

"H-Hoon... You're pretty lucky."

Haaaaah!? I'm so jealous! I'm soooooooo jealoooous!!! A Grim Reaper's Scythe is the absolute embodiment of coolness, isn't it!! I super want itttttt!!
But a first-rate adult is someone who can keep those feelings locked inside their heart without throwing a tantrum here.....................

"Sunraku-san, your clenched fists are trembling quite a bit desu wa."

I'm still right in the middle of my youth, damn it aaaaaaaaaaaall!!

When I saw the ghost-like warrior holding a bullshit-strong-looking spear appear as the second opponent, my heart broke a little just looking at Akitsu Akane getting skewered by the continuously multiplying spear tsukumogami every five seconds while I stood in a position where I could only watch. So I decided to end my participation in the Akitsu Akane Challenge right then and there.
Even though there's no real-life pain, getting your head lopped off and being skewered over and over again can't possibly be healthy for your mental hygiene... I can sense an aptitude for the Dark Side in fragments of her mentality, but forcibly dragging an existence from the Light Side over to the Dark Side is forbidden. It's an unspoken rule among game addicts.

Games... The history of games since the system of competing through the anonymous connection called "Online" appeared in this world is basically a history of insults and taunts violently abusing that anonymity.
Putting taunts in the message field of a friend request is just the tip of the iceberg. In terrible cases, there are instances of thorough, persistent harassment using guild members. But as technology advances, so does game development. A myriad of games are released in proportion to the passage of time.
If you lose the newcomers, the only future waiting for you is one where your game is swallowed by the wave of new releases and fades into a dead population... Therefore, the "addict gamers" who pour their heart and soul into a single game share an unwritten rule, regardless of the game's category.

That is: "Do not interact with the Light Side (New Users) using Dark Side (Addict User) methods."
To be completely honest, Katzo, Pencilgon, and I mercilessly taunt each other because we're in the same inner circle, but if you pulled that crap on a total stranger, it would instantly turn into a fistfight. Since it often involves denying the other person's character and all.

"Generally speaking, I really can't recommend learning through death in Full-Dive VR, so it's best to try and gather as much information as possible in a single run."

"Understood!"

I wonder if she really understands... If it were me, I'd definitely just charge in going, "Alright, a ten-pull for now!" or something...
Well, whatever. At the end of the day, a playstyle belongs to the player. Others can offer advice, but they shouldn't force it.

Although I was battered by unexpected mental damage, I felt it was about time, so I took a quick bathroom break and logged in. As I walked through the Rabbit Palace toward the blacksmith workshop, I bumped into Bilac, who was wearing an incredibly fulfilled expression.

"Ah, Bilac-oneechan desu wa."

"Ou. Father's callin' fer ya."

"Oh, has it been finished, by any chance?"

"Aa... It's truly magnificent. I resent the fact that I can only express Father's greatness with the words 'It's freakin' awesome'...! "

Nice. If Bilac is this mesmerized by it, I can hold high expectations for the finished product.
When I approached the workshop where Vash was likely waiting with a light step, the white rabbit puffing on his kiseru pipe shifted his gaze toward me.

"So ya came... Came out reeeal nice."

"Hoooh...!"

The Vorpal Choppers, once forged using the carapace of the Quad Beetle, had evolved into Togetsu [Waxing] and [Waning]... and combined into the [Twin Moon]. And now, having incorporated the materials of the Golden Scorpion and the Atlanticus Repnorca, Togetsu has acquired a new form.

"Isana Togetsu... This here is [Konsho], and that there is [Meiki]."

S O C O O L ! !

Perhaps because both monsters used as materials shared the commonality of being crystals, the pair of blades with incredibly cool names had different shapes but shared the commonality of having crystalline blades. In contrast to [Konsho], which was large enough to rival a one-handed sword, [Meiki] was only about the size of a knife, which was a bit concerning...
Judging by the names, the golden crystal likely used the Golden Scorpion's material, while the deep navy crystal used the Atlanticus Repnorca's material. For now, its appearance is a perfect 100 points. Time to check its specs.

Isana Togetsu [Konsho]
Twin Blade Sword
The name of its counterpart is Meiki. A sword possessing a blade that harbors golden moonlight within its crystal. Imbued with the magic of the Vorpal Bunnies, it releases the true radiance of the moon when it intersects with the frigid air of the Netherworld.

• When engaging in combat with an opponent higher level than the user, successful critical attacks will apply a Crystallization Effect to the target.

• Consumes the user's HP or bathes in moonlight to rapidly recover the weapon's durability.

• Landing a certain number of critical attacks accumulates the Combination Gauge.

• Required Stats: STR 80, DEX 100, TEC 80, Vorpal Soul 200

Isana Togetsu [Meiki]
Twin Blade Sword
The name of its counterpart is Konsho. A sword possessing a blade that harbors the gloomy aura of the Netherworld within its crystal. Imbued with the magic of the Vorpal Bunnies, it releases the true radiance of the moon when it intersects with a golden radiance.

• When engaging in combat with an opponent higher level than the user, successful critical attacks will grant a Nether-Aura Effect to the user.

• Consumes the user's MP or HP to alter the weapon's shape.

• Landing a certain number of critical attacks accumulates the Combination Gauge.

• Required Stats: STR 100, DEX 80, TEC 80, Vorpal Soul 200

They finally stopped hiding the Vorpal Soul, huh...

Author's Afterword
When combined, they become the "Blue Radiance Moon."

The Vorpal weapons are essentially passports for this Unique Scenario EX. Ultimately, the weapon that receives True Awakening by Vash's hands will be the key to the scenario.