Chapter 246: The Climax of the Wolf Strife: A Razor-Sharp Initiative

The alliance forged between the four clans: Wolfgang, Black Wolf, Library, and SF-Zoo.
In exchange for the three clans providing conveniences to Wolfgang, we would hand over information regarding Unique Monsters... Yet, that contract was completely violated by the reckless actions of triggering Lycaon's Unique Scenario EX without permission, and further down the line, defeating Ctarrnid of the Abyss without permission.

"Good grief, whose fault do you think this is..."

"Yours."

"Nuo!?"

Stop hitting my chest, my chest! Good grief... well, since I was involved in both of them, the primary persons of interest are, rather unwillingly, myself and one other: Rei-san.

"At the very least, we of Black Wolf have adhered to the contract. In that case, we have no choice but to ask the involved party themselves... Why did you proceed without permission?"

Players who can stand as the head of a clan possess a certain degree of "power," regardless of whether it's big or small.
It's not about player skill or the strength of their avatar; it's about things like charisma and leadership.

And in the game called Shangri-La Frontier, the gaze of Psyger-100—a player who leads a top-tier clan—was exactly like the tip of a sword thrust right at my throat.

".........Hmph."

Bring it on. I accept your challenge. For now, let's just get the head gear... Alright.

"Well, to explain the circumstances—'Wait a sec, Sunraku-kun.' Right when I was bracing myself, too."

"Uu~n, it flowed so naturally that I almost let it slide, but why did you equip a fish head at a time like this?"

Why, you ask...?

"You know how people tie a headband before a big showdown?"

"Fumu, fumu."

"That's exactly what this is."

"Yeah, I really don't get it."

It is said that a certain ancient tribe crafted various masks and swapped them out during festivals or battles.
In other words, by swapping out the mask—their face—and by extension, using the mask as a symbol to swap their personalities, they sought to unify their intentions.

I just made up that tall tale right now, though.

"If there's a Bonito (Katzo) here, then it's fine for there to be a Salmon (Shakke) too, right?"

Time for a smug face.

"You could call me Sa(lmo)nraku..."

"Fufu."

My Kill Score (number of people I made laugh) is nine, huh? Not bad at all.

"Well, to get back on topic. To be perfectly honest, both Lycaon and Ctarrnid were basically accidents. Unforeseen accidents. It's like the probability of buried treasure being hidden under your house coincidentally aligning with the probability of a meteorite dropping on your head."

"If that explanation actually convinced people, the world would be a much simpler place. But as long as we are in an alliance, reporting, communicating, and consulting are our obligations, are they not?"

"An organization won't function if the field workers can't adapt flexibly, right?"

Ah, crap. The monster hide is about to peel off. Alright, Plan B: start by explaining the facts.

"Regarding this, Rei-san over there... No, Psyger-0 can testify as well, but I made a promise to meet up with an acquaintance from another game inside this game. I had to traverse an entire area in a single night, so I asked for her help... Please turn a blind eye to the whole carrying/leeching aspect, alright?"

For now, I'll keep quiet about the fact that I had already grasped clues about Lycaon at that point in time.

"And right then, we coincidentally ran into the guys from SF-Zoo, and they unilaterally cut ties with us, saying they 'grasped Lycaon's spawn pattern' or whatever..."

Yoyo, I intentionally emphasized my crying act. That being said, regarding SF-Zoo, Pencilgon—who had snitched on them about this exact matter—was laughing incredibly happily, so well, that's probably what happened.

"Well, considering that clan isn't acting all high and mighty right now, I think you already know the results... Pitifully enough, Rei-san and I ended up getting targeted as Lycaon's next prey."

After that, well, a lot of things happened—Akitsu Akane interrupting, two rabbits joining the fray, the super-fan "Suzaku" doing its best—but to summarize...

"We spent the whole night beating it down. The end."

"There's no way that's possible!"

"Aaah?"

The one who raised their voice was one of the Black Wolf players who had been silently listening to my speech up until now.
From the looks of it, an all-rounder swordsman, perhaps?

"There's no way you could defeat Lycaon that easily! Confess what kind of cheat you used!"

Hoh. Out of all the things he could have said, he said "Cheat." This guy actually said Cheat.
Fufufu... I'm not angry. I'm definitely not angry.

"A cheat, a cheat, huh... That's a funny joke. You've got a talent for being an internet comedian."

"What did you...!"

"Well, calm down. I understand exactly how you feel."

In other words, it's like this, right?

"When you match up against a ridiculously skilled player in an FPS and they just farm kill scores off you all game, you want to call them a cheater out of pure sour grapes. In short, you're jealous, right? I understand completely!"

"Wha...!?"

"From the looks of it, you're a swordsman who can also use magic. Based on the shape of your equipment, you're a highly mobile middleweight with a certain degree of toughness. Your intended playstyle is way too scattered. You might be an all-rounder in PvP, but against an opponent on the level of a Raid Boss, they call that a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none, you know."

I didn't stop my mouth. I didn't give him a chance to retort. Calling someone a cheater because you have nothing else to say is a line far more malicious than calling them a Noob.

"Look at me. If Lycaon so much as lightly scratched me, I'd probably drop dead on the spot. I got hit with two curses before I even reached Level 50. Do you have any idea how much I had to hyper-specialize into evasion just to make it to where I am today?"

"There's no way you can beat Lycaon? Don't be an idiot. It's not like there's a time limit. If you keep hitting it until it dies, you win. Even a Newbie who just started the game knows that much."

"If you were going to press the issue, you should have discarded your personal feelings. Cheat? You think this game and its management would allow that? For a trash mob who can't even beat Lycaon's clone, you sure are talking pretty smack."

With a flowing motion, I swept his legs, stomped on the torso of the idiot who fell on his rear, and looked down at him with my salmon head.
I'm not angry, I'm just pissed off.

"If you want to lecture me, come back after you've solo-cleared a no-death evasion run against Lycaon, alright?"

I took my seat, let out a breath, and composed myself.

"Well, I definitely summarized things a bit too much, so I'll explain it a little more."

"I... see. I apologize for my member's rudeness."

"I'm generally used to most insults, but you should probably stop throwing around words like 'cheat' so lightly. You're mocking the game itself."

Now then... I wondered if that level of intimidation was sufficient, and when I shot a brief glance toward Pencilgon, the corners of her mouth were turned up.

Originally, "Black Wolf" was a clan where two distinct types of players were mixed together: the "Hardcore Gamers" and the "ShanFro-Only Hardcore Gamers."
Pencilgon had predicted from the very beginning that "There will absolutely be someone who throws a heckle," so by showing off my raging act, we mentally overwhelmed them.

I was genuinely a bit ticked off, but maintaining that imposing aura took quite a bit of effort. If I was seriously pissed, I would have just skipped the talking and beaten him up directly.

"Well, everyone has their secrets, but since we're in an alliance, I might as well tell you. On my own, I possess firepower that rivals Rei-san's Armageddon."

Naturally, it doesn't quite reach that level, I supplemented while pointing at Rei-san's sword, but almost everyone in the room looked at me with astonished eyes.

"Also, it seems you've misunderstood, but Rei-san and I didn't defeat it just by ourselves. Including the guy who crashed the fight midway through, there were five of us... Yep, technically five of us defeated it."

"In other words, there are three others who have triggered Lycaon's EX Scenario?"

"No, two of them are NPCs, so there's only one. It's one of the new recruits who joined Wolfgang."

Akitsu Akane... Thinking about it carefully, I wonder if her real-life LUC stat is maxed out.
And yet, the person herself gets genuinely happy about it, so she's hard to make fun of... I suppose that's exactly what makes her so strong.

"I don't know what kind of tactics you guys used, but at the very least, trying to overwhelm Lycaon with numbers will just get you sent flying like bowling pins... Ah, I guess you already experienced that."

Psyger-100's eyebrow twitched, but as expected of a clan leader, that was the only reaction she showed.

"As for Ctarrnid... well, that one was an accident too."

To be perfectly honest, it was the truth. There was absolutely no way I could have predicted a non-stop express train directly from the prerequisite Unique Scenario.
Because I'm just a beginner who's only been playing for about a month, after all!

"We were doing another Unique Scenario, and out of nowhere, it led straight into Ctarrnid's EX Scenario."

"In other words... you're saying that you dragging my foolish sister along and defeating Ctarrnid was entirely a coincidence?"

"It has a higher probability than a meteorite dropping on your head, right?"

I could hear rude whispers coming from our side, like "I think Sunraku-kun's natural knack for taunting is amazing" or "If this were a different era, this would definitely end in Seppuku," but I intentionally ignored them. I'll get my revenge later...!

"Now then, I think you fully understand that our disposable pawn is quite unmanageable by now... so shall we finally get to the main topic, Momo-chan?"

"Very well..."

After a brief pause, Psyger-100, who had been on the receiving end mentally up until now, opened her mouth.

"Based on the contents of the alliance, our clan 'Black Wolf' demands all information regarding Unique Monsters possessed by the clan 'Wolfgang'."

"No way☆."

This is exactly why Arthur Pencilgon is...

Author's Afterword
The protagonist is the type who, if provoked, will beat you to a pulp and then taunt you back.

Lately, the word "Cheat" is often treated to mean "something incredibly powerful that falls outside the common sense of that world," but if you're called a cheater in the true sense of the word, I think it's perfectly normal to get angry.
What I'm trying to say is that I don't really like that guy who appears in the legend of a certain VR series, but I do like his "Why!?" catchphrase.