Chapter 386: Side 7: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Peaceful (Compared to Peacetime)

Author's Preface
Since we're already here, let's keep Bakumatsu going. At this point, let's write out this trash game to the very end!!

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Hyuuu... dorodorodoro...

"Oh, if it isn't Kyougoku-chan! Aren't you the Kyougoku-chan who confidently picked a fight with 'The Only Sword' and 'A Thousand Needles' only to get blown up right along with them!"

"Weeeei! Smelled a bit burnt, but it looked super cool, man!"

"Let's breakdance together! We're spiritual bodies so we spin like crazy!"

"Still, not being able to eat food is a bit inconvenient, isn't it."

"Huh, you didn't know? Even spiritual bodies can pick up the offerings in the Unmarked Graveyard area. It's a weird item called a Ghost Manju, but you can eat it normally."

"No, I think eating grave offerings is a bit... wait, we're the ones being offered to!"

"""Hahahaha... This manju is moldy!!"""

Loud. Way too loud.
Having grown tired of haunting as a vengeful spirit, Kyougoku had decided to mingle with a gathering of Wraiths on a whim, but the sheer volume of the noise made her frown involuntarily.
The players, having become entities known as Wraiths that could not be killed by anything other than an exorcism—meaning they could not be subjected to Divine Punishment—were taking a break from their usual daily lives formed purely of smiles and violence, harmoniously chatting and getting hyped up while watching the survivors run around.

"By the way, Kyougoku-chan, are you acquainted with 'Matsuribayashi'?"

"Matsuri... Ah, you mean Sunraku. I suppose you could call us acquaintances... I met him in another game, and that connection is why I was recommended this one."

"Recommending this game to someone... Is he a demon or something...?"

"Nah, it's probably because he saw her aptitude. Kyougoku-chan has a pretty high aptitude for Bakumatsu."

"That look in her eyes right at the moment she gets killed, like 'I'll absolutely get my revenge...!', is just so good. Sends shivers down my spine."

"Well, if she comes at me again, I'll just beat her to a pulp again anyway!"

"Usually, players with that kind of edge end up growing specifically to target rankers... like Mad Dog."

"He's a cut above the rest this time around. He used to just be an EXP tank for Raid Boss-san every single time, but this time he actually learned how to hide and let him pass by."

"That's like the progress of an ape learning how to use fire..."

"Hey now, isn't that a full-blown paradigm shift?"

The noisily chatting players were so cheerful it was hard to believe they were the same people who would normally smash each other's skulls in the moment they made eye contact.
Watching this scene, Kyougoku felt a sense of camaraderie unique to underpopulated games... but upon spotting several players who had brutally killed her earlier, she took that warm feeling sprouting in her chest and cranked up the temperature until it became a hellfire of hatred.

"Sup."

"Oh, 'The Only Sword'-san, sup."

"I predicted the gunpowder warehouse exploitation, but I definitely didn't predict that it had already been suppressed. Gunpowder really is humanity's greatest invention, huh."

"The cause of your defeat was a lack of dango supplies. In the first place, stop staking out the dango shop every single time, you bastard!"

"Well obviously I'm gonna secure 'A Thousand Needles' ammo dump."

When two rankers mingled into the group, the noise level increased even further. This was especially true if they were high-tier rankers who normally wouldn't drop out at this early stage.

"About that—we stayed quiet because we were lured in by the 'Golden Demon' auction, but a perimeter using barrels had actually been set up quite a while ago."

"Right!? The chain explosion reached tenement houses that were clearly completely unrelated; we definitely got lured in."

"By the way, is it true that Golden Demon is going up in an Ichito Pawnshop auction? I really want it because it looks so good."

An "Ichito Pawnshop" refers to a special form of selling in this game.
In Crossroads Killing Capriccio: Online, a "Pawnshop" serves as the equivalent of an item storage. It's a system where you deposit items and receive money, effectively using it as a pseudo-warehouse. However, there is an exception: the Ichito (One-Day-One-Hundred-Percent) selling system, where "If you fail to repay the full amount by the end of the day, the item is confiscated in exchange for the ownership of the money transferring to the player."

Items seized by an Ichito Pawnshop are then displayed as merchandise in the shop. There is a technique that exploits this to negotiate: "I'll let a rare weapon flow into an Ichito Pawnshop, so do what I say."
It meant that rare weapons currently stashed in a player's pawnshop—meaning weapons you couldn't loot even if you killed them—had a chance to enter the market. In terms of pure skill, the outcome is basically decided the moment a ranker enters the fray, so an auction that relies entirely on money power is highly convenient for unranked players.

Most importantly, since it's an auction hosted by the pawnshop, you can immediately pawn the item again the moment you win it. Meaning, there's no risk of paying the money only to get immediately killed and have it stolen.
You could blow up the pawnshop to forcibly release all deposited items... but doing so spawns incredibly strong NPCs, so there are various restrictions.

"Yeah, about that—sometime in the past, some attention-seeking idiot used 'Golden Demon' to challenge a ranker, so one of the four copies is already lost."

"The conclusion we reached was that it couldn't be helped since Raid Boss-san's switch flipped and he interrupted it, classifying it as a freak accident, right? Trying to 1v1 that is impossible."

"How many times do I have to say that ranking rewards are practically just art pieces..."

"Hey! We got an express delivery from the group tailing Raid Boss-san! He's made his move!!"

What!? The players instantly erupted into an uproar. In this game, it is exceedingly rare for the player known as "Raid Boss" to move with any actual purpose. He wanders the town completely on a whim, cheerfully greets someone, and the very next second, that person is dead.
For such a Raid Boss to move with a clear objective—several players had already begun floating through the air toward the Raid Boss's location.

"Is he aiming for Matsuribayashi after all?"

"I don't know about that. Isn't Raid Boss-san the type to save his favorite foods for last?"

"Doesn't the fact that Our Hero is always left half-dead for the very end every single time feel kind of romantic?"

"Yeah, it really makes my heart pound... from the sheer terror of it."

"Favorite foods and all that—you're basically just describing a predator-prey relationship, right?"

"B-Breaking news! 'Victim of Upsets' and 'That Guy (Pointing Upward)' got Divine Punishment'd! 'Grenade' has made his move!"

At the words of a floating player who, for some reason, was pointing up at the empty sky, the entire area burst into commotion.
Players with nicknames, regardless of their methods, are all highly skilled. While Kyougoku hadn't fully memorized the specific titles or playstyles of the rankers, she could still gather from the surrounding reactions that the situation had shifted massively.

"This event is insane. Since respawning is disabled, the situation is moving at lightning speed."

"Well, as long as Grenade was still alive, That Guy (Pointing Upward) was basically in checkmate anyway..."

"I'm telling you, fireworks firepower needs a nerf. I die from fall damage every single time, you know!?"

"The man himself is here!? More importantly, Raid Boss-san is moving!!"

"This whole commotion feels like an Udumbara flower just bloomed."

"A once-in-three-thousand-years class event is taking the 'rare case' thing way too far!"

They were even louder after death, and what's more, the fact that conversations displaying a very high level of Intelligence (Intellect) were occasionally flying around induced an indescribable sense of irritation.

Why? Why was that?

Kyougoku intuitively embraced a sudden urge in her chest: I really want to Divine Punishment these guys...

(But saying I PK'd them just because it pissed me off that they're more educated than me is a bit... ah.)

Right then, Kyougoku realized... no, she attained enlightenment.

"Ah, so that's... what this is."

Because you want an item, for EXP efficiency, for rehabilitation, or simply because they pissed you off... Not everyone is carrying some grand mission, but you simply cannot suppress the feelings welling up from the ocean of your heart.

That is exactly why players who understand the behavioral principles of the players in this game advance to the next stage.
Namely, the mental justification required to execute those urges. Even if it's five people beating down a single person, Bakumatsu players all uniformly use the exact same word so they can boast about it proudly.

"Divine Punishment...!!"

Those two words are a magic spell—a magic keyword for shifting responsibility that permits any and all actions under the pretext that they originate from the heavens.
It has absolutely no mechanical meaning in the game. It doesn't boost stats, nor does it apply any corrections to swinging blades or fired bullets.

But more than anything else, it completely wipes away any hesitation within the player controlling the avatar. Morals, goodwill, common sense, or whatever god or supernatural entity one chooses to define... all of it is lumped together into "The Heavens," which guarantees the validity of every single atrocity.
That is precisely why all Bakumatsu players love and chant those two words: "Divine Punishment."

"Hoh, you've gotten a good look in your eyes..."

"The gears have meshed together; this lass is gonna get strong..."

"Even if you restrict yourself to a single sword, it's better to establish at least a bare minimum understanding of other styles. Knowing yourself leads to knowing your enemy, after all."

"Eh, is this a pattern where the rankers have to say something cool?"

"Nah, I just played along because 'The Only Sword' and 'That Guy (Pointing Upward)' suddenly started a strong-character comedy routine."

For now, Kyougoku firmly resolved that she would definitely assassinate these guys someday. She wouldn't hesitate anymore, because...

The Heavens told her to.

While a monster perfectly adapted to the laws of Bakumatsu was sounding its first cry, the situation on the ground had shifted drastically.

To be specific, the Number One in the Overall Bakumatsu Rankings, "Raid Boss: Yura," and the completely unranked "Matsuribayashi: Sunraku" had finally faced off.

Author's Afterword
Divine Punishment is a magic word that allows you to feign innocence and claim "The Heavens told me to do it, so I'm not in the wrong," whether you're stabbing an ally in the back, blowing someone up, or trying to knock someone's head off right as they log in.

In other words, all Bakumatsu players are victims of destiny under the name of "The Heavens"...!! Let's cheerfully deliver some Divine Punishments today too!