Chapter 392: Side 10: A Passing Encounter

Author's Preface
Since Saber Diarmuid's movements are incredibly close to Sunraku's ideal form, should we make Rakuro's face visualization Diarmuid?! (The delirious ravings of someone who died in the gacha, lacks Embers, and is completely out of QP).

Yeah, please forget I said that.

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"It's not that I... I mean, it's not like I want to be the one-and-only Number One or anything like that. But, y'know, if my entire 'Enjoy Production Class' playstyle has just been me messing around with incomplete options, that's just a bad joke, right? I've been completely in the dark about Legacy Weapons and Champion's Weapons (Grateful) for ages; there was absolutely nothing I could do. If you're throwing me a lifeline, even with conditions attached, I've got no choice but to take it. Ain't that right?"

"Another noisy one added to the bunch." That inner grumble leaked out from his interior to the exterior in the form of drooping shoulders.

"Um, about the details... I was told to discuss them... only after you actually cooperated..."

"I don't mind. I ain't naive enough to think everything can be settled with upfront payments. That being said, if you make me work for free, I'll use every single method at my disposal to throw your boss into the slammer."

"I feel like she'd just get bailed out through some weird connections..."

Even so, they couldn't just stand around chatting all day. Even with a party composition consisting of the Attack Holder, the owner of the Holy Hammer (and a Vorpal Bunny mage), Psyger-0 and her group were currently facing a desert stretching as far as the eye could see, the full extent of which remained completely unknown.

"A structure meant to disorient you, but a different kind from the Sea of Trees, huh... How many map items do you have?"

"I have two, but..."

"Yeah, that ain't nearly enough..."

Map items, when taken out of the inventory and held, activate and map out a 25-meter radius centered around the user.
But this game isn't like some mock labyrinth set up in a gymnasium. If you let your guard down, even the very first area, the 'Forest of Rampant Spirits,' carries the risk of getting lost and stranded.

Furthermore, even Tottori required over fifty maps just to finalize the route from Tearplaten to the frontline base. That alone perfectly illustrated just how completely unreliable a quantity of "two" was.

"What about Teleport Scrolls?"

"I have some. Do you need them?"

"Nah, the ones I got on me will do. The rest comes down to food and water... But since it's a desert, I wonder if we can hold out hope for an oasis."

"We should probably consider it... lucky if we find one."

While she obtained her current position through a calculated approach that ended in half-parasitic play, perhaps due to her innate intelligence, Psyger-0 was exchanging information with Imron without issue, looking every bit the part of a hardcore player.

"The real problem is the sand forming the field... Can we stand our ground on this?"

"I don't think swinging a sword will be an issue, but defending might be a little difficult."

"More than that, it's our mobility. If we screw up, our feet are gonna get caught in the sand and we'll trip."

Crunch. Sollerets made of an unknown metal stepped onto the sand, sinking slightly.
It didn't seem like they would continuously sink like a bottomless swamp or an antlion pit, but the realization that the area was likely composed of deep sand filled the two of them with an extremely bad premonition, drawing on both the precedent set by the Area Boss players fought second, and standard game mechanics.

"...Yeah, something is absolutely going to pop out from underneath us."

"Agreed............ It's coming."

"What?"

It wasn't her own intuition; it was a report from the radar clinging to her neck. And exactly as stated, the ground began to tremble.

Instinctively making eye contact, Psyger-0 and Imron instantly sprang apart as if repelled. The very next moment, a massive object thrusting upward from directly underneath the spot where the two (and one rabbit) had just been standing burst through the layer of sand.

"A snake!?"

"No! The slippery things that pop out of the sand are a classic... Worm!!"

Just how much propulsion went into that upward thrust? The worm, standing completely erect like a pillar, was so massive they had to look up at it, forcing even Psyger-0's amateur eyes to realize its total length easily exceeded ten meters.
What flashed through her mind was the Arctus Regalecus... the massive Oarfish living at the bottom of the sea. However, the giant worm before her eyes exuded a distinctly different kind of grotesque—an organic yet inorganic nature, completely devoid of anything resembling emotion.

"Hey now, is our adventure already ending here...?"

"No, I think with the three of us... we can defeat it."

"Huh? Three?"

Unlike Ruluiath, which allowed a certain degree of freedom, the geographical advantage in this sea of sand overwhelmingly favored the enemy. Players couldn't chase a giant worm diving into the sand, and conversely, the giant worm's attacks would inherently always carry the element of a surprise attack.

"Are you sure about this, Psyger-0-san?"

"Holding back is dangerous... Besides, if I'm dragging you into this... hiding things would be dishonorable."

From the cloak that Imron had been feeling was strangely mismatched with her armor this whole time, long white ears suddenly popped out.

"Honestly, you really push for the unreasonable, you know... But danger is an inherent part of training. Let me show you my power! Watch closely!"

"A Vorpal Bunny...!? Don't tell me you too?"

"Yes, well... And, they are also the ones who hold the key to the blacksmithing you don't know about... It's coming!!"

"Don't say things that distract me, sheesh!!"

Combat start.
Judging that both Diale and Imron had left the command to her, Psyger-0 issued brief, concise orders while drawing her iron whip.

"Observe it first! We need to determine its attack patterns while figuring out what attacks are effective!"

"Then I—my bad, I'll take the vanguard! Lightning Forge (Blitz Forge)!!"

The Holy Hammer was wreathed in lightning. Three ores pulled from his inventory were struck in rapid succession, and by the time they hit the ground, they had transformed into a Kukri sword, a throwing spear, and a hammer.
Then, evading the giant worm's charge—which utilized a full-body spiral motion to part the sand and force the massive amount of sand entering its open mouth out through excretory pores on its sides, scattering it like a shower—he rapidly hurled the makeshift weapons he had just created.

Thrown with a decent STR stat, the three weapons were nonetheless effortlessly deflected by the massive propulsion of the enormous mass.
However, Imron, who had been staring intently at the spectacle, picked up the hammer from the scattered weapons and, seemingly satisfied with something, shouted loudly.

"Slashing attacks are ineffective! Thrusting is iffy! Blunt attacks are effective!"

"Thank you...!"

"Psyger-0-san! It's hard to move with my legs!"

She answered with actions. Diale leaped onto the hand Psyger-0 silently extended and scrambled up to her head in the blink of an eye.
Confirming that Diale had already begun chanting a spell without needing to say a word, Psyger-0 tightened her grip on her weapon—the Vorpal Wind [Murakumo], which had True Awakened from the Vorpal Sledge by the hands of Divine Craftsman Vysache.

"Its charges are monotonous... No, it's better to assume it has at least simple tracking capabilities. For surprise attacks from beneath the sand, I need to account for the danger of the vibrations catching my feet..."

"Here it comes!!"

"Diale-san, hold on tight!"

"You don't need to tell me!!"

Vibrations shook the sea of sand, and immediately after, the worm violently erupted aiming right for where Psyger-0 stood, bursting through the ground with a motion like a drill forcefully twisting a square pillar.
Instantaneously, the light of skills enveloped Psyger-0's entire body. Multiple stacked stat buffs and the corrections of attack skills converged into a full-power swing that bit into the worm's flank with a deafening roar.

Because she hadn't unlocked the level cap, Psyger-0's level was 99. However, having reached Extend and rebuilt her character through numerous level-downs, her actual effective stats rivaled those of players who had broken the level cap.

Due to the traits of the "Iron Whip" weapon category, the slashing skill—now converted to blunt damage—bent the worm's body with its sheer impact.
Bugs don't have vocal cords, but even so, the cracks running across its carapace visually communicated its agony to the surroundings, and the massive body frantically dove back into the sand.

"However, this..."

The damage of a single hit, the monster's stamina, its traits... Considering everything, Psyger-0 gained the conviction that this would be a prolonged battle and made a bitter expression under her helmet.

It's true that a player accustomed to Full-Dive VR could easily fight a battle lasting several hours if they put their mind to it.
However, fighting a worm that outclassed them in various elements, with limited windows for attack, on a field with unstable footing no less, carried the risk of triggering the system-side safety limit due to brain exhaustion rather than purely mental fatigue.

Or perhaps, if it was a player whose daily gaming life was fundamentally inseparable from "grinding," they could intentionally economize their thoughts to extend the time before the safety limit triggered.
But the more disadvantages and problems there were in a fight, the faster the time limit chipped away.

"What do we do, Maximum Firepower? That thing is way tougher than its size suggests. Even if we try to run, the difference in movement speed in this desert is too huge."

"........."

She couldn't make the final call to issue a grand-scale order. If it were her sister, she might have made the decision without hesitation; if it were Pencilgon, she might have thrown her party members into a death trap without fearing the risks.
But Psyger-0, being neither of those two, couldn't firmly decide between fleeing or fighting.

Therefore, if there was one distinct difference between those two and Psyger-0, it was perhaps...

"Let Me Lend A Hand."

Just like meeting the person you love, and the people who support that love, it might simply lie in the encounters between people.

Author's Afterword
The true identity of the nice guy who suddenly appeared—possessing four arms and legs with absurd jumping power, while covering his face with a cloth considering his actual face is hard for other races to accept—is...!? He didn't undergo any cybernetic modifications, just so you know.

The Drill Worm-kun is a species that hasn't undergone Draculus-ification due to its habitat.
By the way, if you asked what real-life creature it's closest to, it's definitely Anisakis.