Chapter 32: Humans, Rabbits, and Bird-brains

Cooperation with Emul... no, let's be honest, it was eighty percent Emul's achievement. Even though I displayed the disgraceful behavior of a borderline leech player, we somehow managed to defeat the Area Boss, Mud Digger.

I learned two things. First, from here on out, "Solo Killers" and "Stat Check" monsters will likely appear regularly. Second, is the reconfirmation of the "Emul is too OP" issue. Thinking about it calmly, shaving the boss's HP down to its special attack threshold with just two spells is way too strong. Plus, the fact that I talked so big only to be completely babysat... that actually hurts my pride quite a bit.

I suppose I'll just have Emul do their best as a mascot, at least until I can catch up to their level.

"Anyway, to Thirdrema we go......... Guu."

My body feels incredibly heavy. Being at 1 HP means that if a battle starts now, I will undoubtedly die. I pulled a bundle of medicinal herbs from my inventory and worked on recovering my health by munching on them munch munch, but as expected, it doesn't result in an instant full recovery.

However, the fact that stamina recovers immediately just by eating suggests a terrifying absorption rate... No, if it were a stick-on type recovery item, I'd have to expose the foolish sight of me sticking grass on my ass, so I really can't complain.

"A-Are you okay, desu wa?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. It's collateral damage. Just collateral damage."

"It looks like a fatal wound to me..."

"Heh... Correct."

That said, this means we can finally enter Thirdrema, so the fact that I'm currently half-dead is a trivial issue. Well, as long as that wolf doesn't show up right this instant...

".................."

"What is the matter? You are looking around so nervously."

"No, I was just wondering if I triggered a flag..."

"?"

Surely it's not the kind of monster that appears that frequently. If I get sent back to Secondil after coming this far, I'm going to cry. I'll cry spectacularly.

"Seems it was a needless worry. Let's hurry up and update my spawn point in Thirdrema, then head to Rabituza."

"Wow...! So you are going to stay in Rabituza for real, desu wa!"

"Well, yeah."

Depending on the leveling efficiency, I might prioritize the area beyond Thirdrema, but that's hypothetical, so I'll keep it to myself. Walking with the staggering steps of a drunkard, I headed toward Thirdrema alongside Emul.

"Ah, please wait a moment, Sunraku-san."

"Hm?"

Thirdrema. True to the stories I'd heard, there was a line of people who appeared to be NPCs at the gate of this major city. It seems that if you line up and pass the gatekeeper's inspection, you can officially enter Thirdrema... but just before we arrived, Emul stopped me.

"If I go in like this, I'll get attacked, desu wa."

"Hm...? Ah, right. Taxonomically, you are a monster. But when we first met, you were just normally hanging out in town, weren't you?"

Ah, there was Teleport magic, I realized after saying it. But even if we are in a party, I doubt a monster would be allowed through just because they're with me. If it were players, maybe, but if a monster appears in front of an NPC, it wouldn't be strange for them to attack without questions asked. So, hide in something... That's a problem. Where am I supposed to hide anything on my half-naked (No Guard) body?

As I groaned in thought, Emul touched the bracelet on her arm and began chanting something mumblingly.

"This is the secret art of us Vorpal Bunnies! Sunraku-san, please keep this a secret... [Metamorphosis]!!"

Boffun! With a truly fancy... no, let me rephrase that honestly, with a truly stupid sound effect and smoke, Emul was enveloped. However, since we were outdoors, the wind blew the smoke away, and Emul's figure within was revealed...

"Hah?"

"Fwhew... I can never get used to how my body senses change no matter how many times I do it, desu wa..."

...Something is wrong. The game I am playing right now should be the full-dive VR game that Japan boasts to the world—a God Game that smashed all records held by countless MMORPGs, "Shangri-la Frontier," with the catchphrase "Open the World, Enjoy the World."

"Fufun~ Thanks to this magic, we can be active in Human-san's towns too, desu wa!"

"Ah—well, regarding the anthropomorphization of beasts, opinions and ideologies differ greatly depending on the degree, so I can't really say anything..."

"What does that mean, desu wa!?"

I definitely wasn't playing a Gal-game where you flirt with anthropomorphized beasts... The small rabbit was nowhere to be seen. In front of me stood a young girl puffing out her chest with the exact same attitude she had as a rabbit, wearing a grin like a child who had successfully pulled off a prank.

"With this, we can enter the town without being suspicious! That's the plan! Though, it's super tiring, so if I stay transformed for a long time, the magic will wear off..."

"I see. So once we infiltrate the town, you deactivate it in the shadows. So that's why a Vorpal Bunny was inside the town... But Emul, you are one fatal... yes, a truly Vorpal scatterbrain."

"Hohe?"

If Emul is going to puff out her chest, then I shall slap my own chest plate... that is to say, my pectorals exposed to the open air without any obstruction... Don! And tell her the truth.

"The moment you are with a half-naked bird-brain, the suspiciousness level is already capped out."

"Ah."

In fact, if she had stayed a rabbit, it would have just been "A pervert with a rabbit," and the damage would have been limited to just me. No, wait, if I brought a monster along, they simply wouldn't let me into town, so getting labeled as a weirdo is the only sure way in. Sorry, but Emul is going to have to draw the short straw here.

"You're about to be bestowed with the label of 'The woman who went crazy and brought along a half-naked bird-brain,' but, well... hang in there."

I offered those warm, pitying words to the human-form Emul, who was now crouching and holding her head.

And at that exact moment, in that muddy place where Sunraku and Emul had been, the Mud Digger respawned, and a battle with a single player began.

Author's Notes & Lore:

Secret Ring of the Vorpal Rabbit

A Vorpal Bunny-exclusive accessory that allows the use of the Unique Magic [Metamorphosis].

[Metamorphosis]

Instead of a standard cost, this grants a status of constant MP consumption to the user. If no other magic is used, MP will hit 0 in exactly 5 minutes. As the total amount of MP decreases, the magic unravels in stages.

In other words, around the 4-minute mark, the user enters a state of extremely high "Kemono" (Furry) degree.