Chapter 400: A Wild Pervert Appeared Again!

Author's Preface
It's amazing that a novel that hasn't even been published as a physical book and has no illustrations can get fan-made derivative videos (stunned).

No, really, I'm truly grateful or something... I watched it properly, the chain of Divine Punishment never ends...!

The fact that food items you can buy in Rabituza are almost entirely carrots or carrot-flavored is something I just can't get behind.
I let out a sigh while crunching on a Harvest Carrot—an item sold only to Preferred Customers that fully restores hunger.

The acquisition of the title "Gourmet Tongue" is really something to think about; if it also unlocks the flavor of gross-out monster items, it feels like it's actually more advantageous for combat to not have it at all.
Maybe a true hardcore player is someone who can still chew and swallow even then... but do I want to immerse myself in a game to the point of throwing away my sense of taste? For me, it depends on the time and place.

"Now then... the trees are getting sparse, and the brightness is picking up. I can see it, the new area...!"

To head toward the center of the New Continent, if you're starting from the frontline base, you need to pass through two areas.
One is obviously the Sea of Trees area; that place is the gateway to the New Continent, and according to what I've heard from Rei-shi and Akitsu Akane, it connects to various other areas.
And that's not all; from the encounter with Tottori, the reports from Rust and Mold, and Kyou-timate's suggestive remarks, I can tell there are multiple races within the Sea of Trees.

In short, the Sea of Trees is a massive tutorial for experts—no, that's wrong... it's a grand tutorial designed with the Siegwurm Unique Scenario EX, and by extension, the subsequent World Quest, in mind.
The Saint had said it too, that different races should unite... in other words, United, United Stat—whoops, careful now, my thoughts are being contaminated by the President.
I don't want the regions of my brain that are already being stained by other trash games to become any more marbled than they already are.

"The desert, huh. A desert..."

It's sandy, but it's flat. Sure, there are some elevation changes... but as far as I can see, there are almost no obstacles that would block walking.
In other words, it's a wide-open space perfectly suited for using 【Bradyon】. However, the footing is even worse than the leaf-mulch of the Sea of Trees. If I fail a landing, I'll end up dyeing the sand red.
Kh, if only the effect application wasn't limited to just the single leg I step with... no, wait.

"If I take that vertical drop from earlier and, like... shift it diagonally... can I pull it off?"

Hmm, even then, I feel like I'd just slip and go flying. This desert area is more troublesome than I anticipated... wait.

"Mumu?"

A human presence! Just kidding.
It's the effect of the 【True Gaze Bird Mask】; when an enemy mob or an NPC enters a certain range of my vision, I get a sensation like my focus is locking in.
In other words, paradoxically, if I feel like my gaze is being forced into a fixed position, it means there's something right in front of me.

In this desert boasting terrifying levels of reproduction and reality, I use all my strength to kick up sand and bury my body in a hole to camouflage myself. It's the kind of hiding spot that would definitely earn me a complaint if Emul were here.

"Now then?"

Someone's approaching. The number is... three?

"Based on appearances, are they Knight, Thief, and Mage archetypes...? How inconvenient."

To think there were already players other than Rei-shi's group advancing into the desert region. Well, it's only natural when you think about it, and it's not like it's inherently a problem... but my name stands out a bit too much in a bad way.
If it's just 'please give me an autograph' or 'let me take a screenshot,' that's one thing, but if I'm cornered to leak info on Uniques or even asked to let them join my party... in the worst-case scenario, I'll have to have them board the Express to Hell (Monster Train).
Man, I hate this... there's no way the management here, who implemented something as bizarre as Bounty Hunters, didn't account for MPK.

Well, while I'm worrying about what to do, it seems the trio has encountered a monster.

"Waaa! This is bad!"

Bad, so it must be a dangerous monster.

"A snake!? An eel!? Is that thing even a monster you can defeat!?"

Hmm, it's a desert region. I doubt it's an eel, but it wouldn't be strange for a snake-type monster to appear. Cobra types are usually set as strong characters, so they're troublesome, aren't they?
Oh, is that it over there?

"Run! If you don't hurry, you'll be eaten!"

It's not a snake, it's a Worm, and it's coming right this way!!

With my face poking out of the sand, I look behind the three players running away toward me, and there I see the form of a giant worm-type monster thrashing and closing in on the ground while kicking up a roar and a sandstorm. I can clearly understand that if things stay as they are, I'm on a collision course to be caught up in this too.
Shit! It's being lured here by the effect of the Scars, isn't it?! Even though they're the ones who brought it here, they've got some nerve trying to push it onto me and start a train; if we're falling to hell, we're falling together, you bastards!

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiittttttttttttt!!!!!"

"Heh?"

"Eh?"

"Ha?"

A half-naked bird-head leaping out from the sand rushes toward the three fleeing players while brandishing dual blades.
Alright, all three of you are now included in the aggro! Welcome to the Express to Hell!

"Kyaaaaaa!?"

"Hey, you! Point your weapons over there!!"

"A-Aren't you the one from back then... the guy named Sunraku!"

"Waa, his appearance is almost exactly the same but he's had a version up..."

Huh? These guys know me... no, wait. One knight man and two women, a Thief and a Mage? I've seen a harem guy like that somewhere... ah, I remembered.

"You guys are that trio from back then! If I recall... Souma, Kaho, and Rina!"

"Stop saying them like they're our real names! It's Sohma!"

"Kahho!"

"It's Reena!"

These guys are the trio that mistook me for a monster back in the Forest of Mythology! Whoa, for us to reunite in a place like this, for real... no, wait, now isn't the time for that.

"We're getting nowhere, let's repel that thing!"

"Hah!? There's no way we can kill something like that..."

【Bradyon】 activate! A wide-open space, a giant enemy... it's an ideal environment.

"Otherwise, we're just going to be eaten by it. I'll take the aggro, so dodge to the left and right and attack! I'm counting on you for the DPS!"

"D-P-S?"

"DAMAGE PERCENTAGE SECOOOOOOND!!!"

I shout the formal name while leaping.
The power of acceleration that has reached the critical point of humanity is synonymous with the propulsion of the physical body. Bon! The sand beneath my feet kicks up as if exploding, and my body soars through the air while clad in a violet-and-navy effect.

"Now then..."

【Quantum Gaze】 activate. Having grasped through the waves of effects that the sand being spewed from the segments of its body also has a damage hitbox, I swap the 【Duxram】 in my left hand for a recovery potion and drench my face with the contents as if I were washing it.

"As long as it's enough to endure the DoT, that's plenty...!"

Two steps.
With exploding air beneath my feet, I shift from a vertical leap against the ground into a horizontal, parallel acceleration to crash into the charging giant worm.

"I'll take the First Blood...!"

If I were to compare it, it's like two cars driving at high speeds from opposite directions passing each other.
I slash at the worm's skin with the Aspiring Blades of the Hero left in my right hand. The trajectory was excellent, and thanks to the Luck correction, I landed a critical hit, but...

"It's hard!"

Three steps.
I step off the surface of the worm, performing a backflip via an extremely high and fast leap that follows through on that speed, while making a rough prediction based on the sensation from Duxram.

"Slashing is out of the question. Piercing... maybe there's a chance at the joints? If that's the case, then magic, or else..."

Blunt force, maybe? Though, I have my doubts as to whether this bug, which looks like it moves purely with a mouth and an esophagus, even has organs that would take damage from blunt force...

"EQUIPMENT CHANGE!!"

【Regalecus Cestus】. Crimson bands wrap around both hands, transforming a human's fists into weapons meant to crush enemies.
Furthermore, I activate 【Samildánach】. A fist strike skill where gold particles are mixed into silver light slams into the worm's body.

The next instant—Bogon! With a terrifying sound, the giant body of the worm was physically dented, if only slightly.

"Oooooooh!?"

If I recall, 【Samildánach】 performs damage calculation by including a random stat value in addition to the conventional Luck reference... Don't tell me, in the random selection, Luck was chosen again?

Shit, the firepower is good, but is it RNG...? I can't rely on it. If I pull VIT, I won't even deal half of my maximum firepower.
But can we do this? Assuming they actually have the strength to reach the New Continent, I can count them as combat assets, right?

Author's Afterword
The trio we haven't seen in a while. A little trick of making the text sound similar to how it was back then.