Chapter 81: Wethermon's Legacy

Let's rewind the clock a few days, to two days after the battle with the Unique Monster "Wethermon the Tombguard."

After finishing the battle with Tombguard Wethermon and wrapping up the scenarios related to Rabituza, I logged out and immediately passed out, as if all the recoil from the event had hit me at once. When I woke up, a full day had passed. I went to sleep in the morning and woke up in the morning—a rare experience for me.

"Food... Water... Ughhh..."

Given my hobbies, I'm used to fasting-like conditions, but sleeping for a whole day naturally had my body sounding the emergency alarms loud and clear. Moving with the staggering gait of a horror game zombie (the kind that doesn't run, explode, or undergo mysterious evolutions), I reached the fridge and emergently resupplied with milk and sweet buns to shut off the emergency call from my flesh.

"I don't think I want to drink energy drinks for a while..."

I scavenged the fridge for a proper breakfast, bathed in the sun for about five minutes, and then logged into ShanFro. I know my lifestyle rhythm is terrible, but that just shows how hooked I am.

"Sunraku-san! Good morning, desu wa!"

"Nn—morning."

Now then, I logged out yesterday without checking much of anything, so it's time to investigate. First things first, I open my status screen... and involuntarily grin.

"Fufufu... I leveled up a ton."

Name: Sunraku
Level: 78 (200)
Job: Mercenary (Dual Wielder)
Money: 150 Mani
HP: 30
MP: 10
STM: 60
STR: 40
DEX: 50
AGI: 70
TEC: 55
VIT: 2
LUC: 74

Skills:

• Infinite Slash
• Drill Piercer -> Growing Pierce
• Infight Lv.MAX
• Skate Foot -> Drift Step
• Parrying Protect -> Momentary Sight
• Hand of Fortune Lv.6
• Great of Climb
• Climax Boost Lv.9
• Five-Boat Jump -> Six-Boat Jump
• Sharp Turn -> Selectable
• Assassin Pierce Lv.MAX
• Oppression Kick Lv.MAX
• Best Step -> Moon Jumper
• Fighting Spirit of the Starving Wolf (Hunger Wolf) -> Lone Wolf [Transient]
• Off-Road Lv.2
• Vorpal Blade Arts [Water Mirror Moon] -> Vorpal Blade Arts [Water Mirror Moon] Third Form
• Ignition Lv.1
• Overheat Lv.1
• Nitrogain Lv.1
• Duelism

Equipment:

• Right: Togetsu [Waxing]
• Left: Togetsu [Waning]
• Head: Gazing Bird Mask (VIT+1)
• Torso: Lycaon's Curse
• Waist: None
• Legs: Lycaon's Curse
• Accessories: Inventory Key: Inventoria

My level jumped up by 25. And the stat points I got are clearly more than just what comes from leveling up. Do I get bonus points aside from the level-up ones? Unique Monsters are too delicious... It makes me feel like I want to fight one again, but also like I never want to fight one again.

My skills have also leveled up and evolved so much it's chaotic. Going to the Skill Gardener later is a definite, but having so much to do just makes me smile.

"Before status stuff, first comes the spoils of war... Fufufu."

"Sunraku-san, you have such a wicked smile on your face, desu wa..."

"I'm just being honest with my desires, so it's a pure smile. Probably."

"That is less trustworthy than a Hydra claiming to be a vegetarian, desu wa."

"Am I as evil as that species' dietary habits?"

Pulling myself together, I check the items. First is the [Seiten Style Secret Arts].

Seiten Style Secret Arts
A memory medium recording the secrets of the Celestial Swordsmanship left by a master swordsman of the Divine Age. Divine Age equipment is required to decode it.
A single stroke that severs the heavens, pierces the earth, and clears the dark clouds.

"Seriously? Don't tell me players can actually learn Tensei (Sky Clear)?"

Seriously? No, seriously? It makes my chest hot thinking I could use those techniques I frantically struggled against. Although it's labeled as a "Secret Arts" book, the item itself is a translucent cube with lines of light running through it occasionally, giving off the scent of a super-civilization. As the description says, the skills inside are on hold until I find the equipment to read this.

"Next is the 'Tome of Truth [Tombguard Edition]'... Ah, I see. In short, it's the answer key from the admins."

Rather than something fitting the worldview, it seems to be a strategy guide describing the intended conquest methods and background story assumed by the operations team. Or rather, what am I supposed to do with a strategy guide after clearing it with desperate effort? Assuming Unique Monsters don't respawn, this is purely a bonus item.

"Well, I'll read it when I have time... Fufufu, now for the main event..."

Come on, come on. Let me see the details of this obviously important and rare item, the Inventory Key: Inventoria.

Inventory Key: Inventoria
A special bracelet-type accessory that serves as both a key and a door to a storage space, possessed only by a select few even in the Divine Age.
Consumes one accessory slot upon equipping, but cannot be looted even if the wearer is PKed.
Allows teleportation into the storage space by consuming Magic Power (MP).
Spatial Expansion Ritual Portable Access Device. In the Divine Age, this tool, which synchronized with biological information to become part of the wearer's body, was the smallest portable shelter and an inexhaustible warehouse with no capacity limit.

Capacity Limit: None
Storage Limit: Non-living objects up to 50m in height/width/depth.

Contents:

• Non-Standard Tactical Machine Beast [Vermilion Bird (Suzaku)] EMPTY
• Non-Standard Tactical Machine Beast [White Tiger (Byakko)] EMPTY
• Non-Standard Tactical Machine Beast [Azure Dragon (Seiryu)] EMPTY
• Non-Standard Tactical Machine Beast [Black Tortoise (Genbu)] EMPTY
• Non-Standard Special Reinforced Armor [Adebane] EMPTY
• Non-Standard Special Reinforced Armor [Banbu] EMPTY
• Non-Standard Special Reinforced Armor [Shoro] EMPTY
• Non-Standard Special Reinforced Armor [Fugaku] EMPTY
• Non-Standard Weapon: Tachi Type [Harbinger] EMPTY
• Non-Standard Weapon: Steel Wire Type [Keep Out] EMPTY
• Non-Standard Weapon: Piercing Fist Type [Battering Ram] EMPTY
• Non-Standard Weapon: Thrusting Lance Type [Phalanx] EMPTY
• Non-Standard Weapon: Roaring Hammer Type [Erebus] EMPTY
• Non-Standard Weapon: Twin Sword Type [Hieros Logos] EMPTY
• Non-Standard Weapon: Cannon Type [Regulus] EMPTY
• Non-Standard Weapon: Twin Gun Type [Castor Pollux] EMPTY
• Non-Standard Weapon: Long Rifle Type [Sagittarius] EMPTY
• Non-Standard Weapon: Convergence Mechanism Type [Comet Catapult] EMPTY
• Non-Standard Weapon: Diffusion Mechanism Type [Meteor Diffusion] EMPTY

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

"Su, Sunraku... san?"

"...Sleep, bit, more."

"H-Haa..."

Save & Logout. I silently rose from my bed, changed into a jersey, left the house, and............

"NNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAahhh!!!?!?"

I just ran and screamed for ten minutes straight until I finally regained the thinking capacity that had been blown away. An elderly person on a walk looked at me like I was a yokai, but I don't care right now. It's panic crushing shame; the feeling is like pulling the target RNG on the first try in a luck-based game.

No no no, no no no no, no no no no no no no.

Eh, what is this One-Man Army? Am I supposed to take on every player in ShanFro by myself? Even so, I feel like I could win easily. Wait, the list of sci-fi armaments listed there is so intense it makes me think the genre suddenly shifted to Space Opera, and my thoughts are about to blow away again. Or rather, this is subtly another "Cursed Equipment" type accessory, isn't it?

"A-A-Anyway, send an email..."

Right, email. At least it's unreasonable for me to suffer this heart-bursting agitation alone. I must drag those two down with me (share the joy).

"Check Inventory Key: Inventoria immediately... Send."

My heart is pounding not just because I ran for ten minutes. Walking slowly back home to calm my mind and body, I received replies from Pencilgon and OiKatzo just as I arrived.

Subject: Eh, isn't this bad? Are we playing the wrong game?
From: ModoruKatzo
To: Sunraku
Body: (No text in this email)

Subject: made a weird noise
From: Pencil Warrior
To: Sunraku
Body: lets meet at thirdrema at noon, at the usual snake apple

Writing the body in the subject line, sending without kanji conversion—I can tell their panic just from the text style. As expected, we have to share the joys and sorrows!

"I'm going to forget about Inventoria until noon..."

It's not good for my mental health. For now, let's allocate stats and organize skills... yeah.
Having the immense benefits of a Unique Monster shown so vividly, I took more mental damage than when I fought Wethermon, in a sense.

The NPC Cafe "Serpent's Apple," which has turned into "The Usual Place." Maybe because everyone's tension was weird, we unanimously ordered a birthday cake for some reason. While receiving looks from the NPC owner as if we were rare beasts, we sat around the birthday cake in a private room. Given the content of the discussion, I asked Emul to house-sit for a bit.

"Err... I assume you two saw it... but what should we do?"

"Even if you ask what to do... you know."

"Regarding that, I actually went to the storage space and investigated various things before coming here."

Staring at it is meaningless, so while dividing the birthday cake into three, Pencilgon began to speak about the verification results with a slightly twitching smile.

"Conclusion: For us right now, it has no value beyond being ornamental."

"The reason being? Here, this is Pencilgon's slice."

"Ehh, I want the one with more fruit~. simply put, there is no power source."

"Power source? OiKatzo, pass me a fork, a fork... Don't throw it!"

"You caught it casually anyway... So, it's just a decoration?"

While stuffing the crudely sweet birthday cake into our mouths, we urged Pencilgon to continue.

"Yeah. Especially for the tactical machine golems and powered suits, they seem to require an item called 'Non-Standard Ether Reactor,' but I have no clue how to obtain it..."

"I have that."

"Boffu!"

"Uwah, gross! Don't spew on my face!"

"Cough! Cough! It's a game, so nothing actually splattered! Wait, you have iiiit!?"

Pencilgon, spitting out cake and losing all her usual fearless attitude, closed in on OiKatzo. OiKatzo also opened his mouth to support his words with a perplexed look.

"See, maybe because I was fighting Kirin for most of that battle, I got a 'Non-Standard Ether Reactor (Damaged)' as a reward."

"Well done, Person Tied to a Horse."

"I have re-evaluated you, Person Rodeo-ing While Bound."

"Depending on the situation, I'll punch the face specifically, even if it's a model, okay?"

Twisted gender equality... Anyway, a damaged Divine Age tool, huh?

"I'll say this first: swallow what's in your mouth."

"Okay."

"I can't guarantee it, but there might be a way to repair damaged Divine Age items."

"Ngu, bue... Phew, isn't the wind blowing a little too favorably for us...?"

You almost puked just now, didn't you, Pencilgon... Well, whatever. The job "Divine Craftsman" that Vash has, and even the "Ancient Craftsman" before that, are supposed to be jobs that handle old Divine Age tools. If so, maybe he can fix OiKatzo's damaged Non-Standard Ether Reactor.

"So, I want you to entrust that item to me."

"...There is one condition."

"Condition?"

OiKatzo popped a strawberry-like fruit topping into his mouth and told me.

"Tell me the spawn condition for the Unique you're hiding. If you do, I'll entrust the item to you."

...I see.

"Katzo-kun, that is..."

"Haaah? I can't trigger Uniques on my own anyway~? So I have no choice but to piggyback on others~?"

"This person is being difficult in a messy way!?"

"For a pro gamer, that's some childish whining... Well, fine."

"Eh."

Don't look surprised when you're the one who asked... It's true I didn't want to reveal it much, but neither OiKatzo nor I are pure enough to hand over items derived from Unique Monsters to others lightly. In that case, I should show sincerity even among friends. As OiKatzo and Pencilgon swallowed and looked at me, I solemnly revealed the truth I had kept hidden until now.

"I can't say this is definitely it, but... In my case, I random-encountered the Unique Monster 'Lycaon the Night Raider' at level 20 or below, took no damage for five minutes, and landed about two hundred critical hits with a 'Vorpal' weapon, and this happened."

"Okay, dismissed!"

"Take it, you moron!"

"Ouch! Ngyaa!"

The cracked can-shaped item OiKatzo threw hit me directly in the face, causing my body to fall backward along with the chair. Clutching my smashed head and picking up the damaged reactor, I raised a voice of protest.

"Why are you getting mad at me!?"

"It feels like asking how to fly and getting the answer 'Train your pectoral muscles'! Drop dead, you acrobatic idiot!"

"Too unreasonable!"

Pencilgon, nodding in agreement, seemed to share OiKatzo's opinion. Damn, I can't accept this...

After completing the transfer process, I tossed the Non-Standard Ether Reactor (Damaged) that hit my face into the storage space of the Inventory Key: Inventoria, fixed my chair, and sat down.

"Ah, right, Sunraku-kun."

"What?"

"Can you return that thing you were holding for me?"

Ah, right. Since this is the first time we've met since the Wethermon fight, I haven't returned it yet.

"Here ya go."

I rummaged through my personal inventory and took out what I had been entrusted with by Pencilgon before returning from the Inverted Garden to the Secret Garden back then. Thud. The golden scales placed on the table glittered, reflecting the light of the lantern hanging in the private room.

Author's Afterword

To explain the protagonists' current situation very simply: "We received a massive amount of cutting-edge toys (without batteries) and only one broken battery."

Just to supplement, naturally, it won't go as far as "If you equip it, you get power equal to Wethermon...!"