Chapter 403: Like a Star Fallen from the Heavens

Thank you, Inventoria. I really do think you need to be nerfed.
While landing on my rear inside the storage space, I let out a sigh of relief, drained all the strength from my body, and relaxed.

That was a close call, that blue-green scorpion bastard... to think it would actually pull a stunt like firing two consecutive shots. Rapid-firing a ridiculously thick laser should be completely against the rules...! You're supposed to add a touch of romance to it by giving it a drawback, like needing a certain amount of time to exhaust the heat or something. Goddammit... but even putting that aside, that scorpion beam really is a massive bundle of romance...

"Now, what to do?"

I deliberately used my fifth step to force myself to ascend even higher into the sky to take evasive action, and used Inventoria up there... but, well, the moment I return to reality, I'll just instantly fall and die.
Well, I can manage somehow if I just wait for 【Bradyon】's cooldown... the problem is that guy. If this were a normal monster, it might lose interest and de-aggro. But that guy is... no, considering their sheer tenacity, there's no way they'd forgive an intruder even if it meant turning their own brethren into corpses.
In other words, in the worst-case scenario, I can't discard the possibility that it's standing by and ready to fire the scorpion beam immediately. Or rather, I'm glaringly suspicious that it's almost certainly doing exactly that.

However, I also have some doubts.
For example, there was only one new species of scorpion that tried to shoot me down. If these were Crystal Scorpions, it wouldn't be strange for a massive swarm of them to rush in, fall off the cliff, and create a mountain of materials below. And if they actually had the ability to fire beams, they'd undoubtedly form up a line of battle and volley-fire at me. They're that kind of mob.

If that's the case, shouldn't the ones I use as a reference here be the Golden Scorpion rather than the Crystal Scorpions?
If that beam scorpion is a unique or transient individual, then that's just a rare case, and I can just go take its materials and its life... no, wait. Basically, isn't it possible that the scorpions living in this crystal crown are rather individualistic?

The greatest danger of the Crystal Scorpions is their cohesive coordination, completely unhesitating to inflict self-harm, mutual destruction, or friendly fire.
If that's missing here... can I do this?

"If only I could disconnect the skills whenever I wanted as a player........."

Coming here really highlighted the drawbacks of 【Bradyon】... That thing is basically a heavily modified car one step away from a dragster; because the brakes have been completely ripped out, the concepts of 'decelerating' and 'making tight turns' have been tossed far away.

And the crystal crown, an environment likely similar to the Crystal Nest Cliff... is probably the absolute worst possible match for 【Bradyon】.
Or rather, frankly speaking, it would be better not to connect them at all... no, wait, Sunraku, that's demonic thinking. Millions of Mani went into this; it'd be way too depressing if I didn't stubbornly make use of it.

"...Win by restricting my own skills?"

It's not like that's... completely impossible, maybe.
To begin with, I have the 【Levin Trigger: Hazard】, an acceleration accessory in the absolute highest class, so I haven't actually taken that much of a handicap in terms of mobility.
If I had to point something out, losing the mid-air jumps and the stability on unstable footing hurts the most.

"Can I apply the Golden Scorpion's combat patterns? No, I wouldn't be able to handle that beam... At the very least, breaking through on my first try while restricting my own skills is asking a bit much."

In that case, my general policy has been decided... right?

"Establish a save point... huh."

Unlike the custom-made, instant save points from the Forest-folk, conventional tent items have a limited number of uses.
I have three on me, meaning I can respawn up to thirty times maximum... Well, the biggest problem is that I haven't resolved the very reasonable doubt of whether a safe zone even exists in this area.

That being said, the game isn't going to progress if I just sit here meditating. Unless I return from the Pause Screen (Storage Space) to Restart (Real Space) in the sky—an unknown number of meters above the ground—nothing will begin.

"Alright... time to steel my resolve!"

If you force your body to move a bit, your mind will follow suit. I form a smile beneath my mask, perform a mid-air somersault right on the spot, and...

What do you call diving without a bungee cord or a parachute?

"Iiiiyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeaaahhhhh...!!"

I'm pretty sure it's just leaping to your death... and I'm putting that into practice right now.
Feeling the shock behind me as the decoy generated by 【Hollow Sea Mirror】 is swallowed by the crimson flash, I don't look away from the ground rapidly approaching me via the acceleration of three steps.
The effect of Quantum Gaze traces a straight path like a tear. If I mess up the timing, I'm a stain on the ground; if I mess up the control of the foot I step with, I'm a stain on the ground.
The most important thing is the visualization. A vague assumption will fail with a high probability. A firm visualization where you can clearly say 'It will be like this' connects directly to a reliable motion. Especially in Full-Dive VR...!!

"Right here!!"

The amber strikes my left chest. With the point of impact as the source, pitch-black electricity surges through my entire body.
Overflow—its true essence is the multiplication of motion. If so... acting excessively is what will finally make it in time.

The violet-and-navy comet is clad in black lightning, and a vertically rotating somersault packed with every ounce of my strength spins my body two and a half times, correcting my upside-down posture... and I slam down the fourth step, ascending from bottom to top.

"Ogeh."

I let out a voice like a crushed frog, but the situation wasn't far off. The situation and speed are different from when I was in the Sea of Trees; the heavy pressure from above to below and the resistance from below to above are completely unbalanced. That's why I'm assaulted by a sensation like being crushed by a giant hand from above.

However, but however! You save your trump card for the very end! Just like a full-heal item!!
I challenge the falling motion—which had gravity added on top of the acceleration from steps one, two, and three—with a mere two steps. But those two steps aren't just normal stepping; they are two steps that challenge the absolute limits of humanity.

"Fugunuah!!"

My legs are numb as heeeell!!!!!
Even in a game with damage modifiers, the shock made it feel like the sensation in my legs vanished for an instant. Ahh, this is similar to that thing where you suddenly stand up after being forced to sit in a chair for a long time... To put it more bluntly, the numbness after sitting slouched forward on a Western-style toilet with your elbows resting on your thighs.

"Fu, gu... ku, kukuku..."

Crap, for some reason, I'm starting to laugh. Why the hell am I frozen stiff in an air-chair pose... But I can't just keep training my thighs forever. Even if I dodged the scorpion's threat, two massive bosses are currently in the middle of a grand war right here in this mortar-donut field.

"Tch... you're just a consumable...!"

While slapping my numb legs with my right hand to force the sensation back, I operate my window with my left hand to pull out 【Duxram】... but hesitate, and instead pull out the two distinct blades of Isana Togetsu.

"Fuuu... Drop your components, oraahh!!"

Swinging Konsho, I slam it into an approaching child spider. Pakin! Like breaking glass, crystal fragments spill out from the wound Konsho carved open, but... unfortunately, I don't have the time to pick them up.

Kh, I thought the scorpions wouldn't swarm, but you guys swarm instead!!
Child spiders multiplying with a creepy zowa-zowa sound. Perhaps because they occasionally get called over by their big mama, they charge toward the giant Fortress Spider in groups of several dozen, but even so, being surrounded by over a dozen monsters with self-destruct capabilities is quite thrilling.

Right now, Meiki is basically just a normal dagger, but I don't have the free time to use Scorched Bone and Crushing Flesh. What should I do? Forcibly breaking through is an option, but can I really cross the danger zone where the massive bosses are clashing, blowing each other away, and trampling everything?

"Just detonate already!"

I kick away a child spider whose abdomen had started expanding abnormally—appealing 'I am going to explode now' as clearly as possible—and break away from the blast radius while catching other child spiders in the suicide explosion.
However, whether they have some kind of friendly-fire prevention feature or an innate resistance to their own kin's explosions... it doesn't look like the child spiders tumbling around goron-goron took any damage at all.

"The fact that they're slightly cute pisses me off... Armilet Gargantula Component Crystal. I see? So that's your name, huh."

The huge one over there doesn't look like an "Armilet"... do the race names differ between parent and child? No, maybe it's not parent-child, but a difference in sex? Hey you, don't try to self-destruct in the back! Go stand in the hallway!
For now, I'll kick away the ones that look like they're about to self-destruct, and cut down the rest... I've established a general flow, but even so, their numbers aren't decreasing.

Does she just have too many kids? Just how many of them are there? It reminds me of Cosmo Buster... no, I should say that it's because it reminds me of that game that I can fight right now.

"Fine, I'll fight until you run out of ammo, oraa!!"

"Stop being stupid and come over here!!"

"Ha?"

A human voice? Looking back, a hole had gaping open in what was supposed to be a solid rock wall just moments ago, and a figure was poking their head out from it.

"Idiooot! Stupiiiid! Hur・ry・up!!"

"O-Oh!?"

But before that, there's something I must do.

Yeah, let me pick up the component crystals that dropped like crazy? Getting a 'No Result' is way too tough on me.

Author's Afterword
A mysterious, wimpy girl. Just who could she be... (The name was actually already revealed)