Chapter 519: An Orchestra For You, Part 1

Author's Preface
Is the Ninja's posture really that loose, man...?
If I don't beat up Xeno-Sagi to replenish my sense of omnipotence with an "I've become too strong...", I might end up turning into a Blue NEET early on here... (An update to prove that my spirit hasn't broken.)[*1]

I know it's a system-reproduced blackout, but it somehow still makes me anxious. Maybe the fast-travel system is just programmed to be like this... and once again, I've been thrown into a boss fight with zero preparation.

"I didn't hear anything about this being forced solo either...?"

...That said, it doesn't seem like Orchestra (details unknown) is going to attack me out of nowhere. It's oddly quiet, and quite dim.

"Symbol encounter?"

It's dim, but the lighting is exquisitely balanced so that I can still see the surrounding scenery, and since I wasn't forced straight into combat, I have the leeway to observe my surroundings.

From what I can see, my first impression is exactly what I expected: a "Theater". The pillars and floor are heavily decorated, but they aren't the main attraction; they are strictly a stage meant to highlight the main event that will follow.
However, perhaps because combat is the premise, it isn't a typical theater layout, but rather a Coliseum type... The square field, leveled almost unnaturally clean, would pose absolutely no hindrance to bringing out one's full power, whether humanoid or monster.

I understand its true identity less and less... Even Goldunine, who currently lacks anything resembling a proper narrative, at least gives you a rough outline of her setting, but I've made it all the way here and still know next to nothing about this one. And no matter how much time passes, nothing happens!!

"Is there some sort of trigger? The audience seats?"

There's nothing inside the Coliseum itself, which leaves the most suspicious spot as... hm? Is there something embedded in the wall?

"What the heck is this?"

For a second, I thought it was just a pattern on the wall or something, but looking closely in the dim light, its form completely clashes with the surrounding decor. It's a small chunk of metal, but rather than being a piece of something larger, it feels complete on its own... Right, if I had to describe it, it looks exactly like a small device physically jammed into the wall.
Or rather, I've been trying to avert my eyes, but I heavily recognize this shape; strictly speaking, I should say it's something I looked up after hearing stories about it from my dad.

Nowadays, we live in a world where you can do almost anything with a mobile device, but apparently, back in the day, there were devices used exclusively for music. In other words, well... if I had to put the current situation into words, yeah.

"Why is there a music player in the wall...?"

It's not just "out of place," it's completely mismatched. Anyone would think it's weird if they found a curry-flavored snack mixed into their actual curry. Is there any value in sinking a kiddie pool to the bottom of the ocean just to swim in it? No, just swim in the damn ocean, just eat the damn curry.
Even if this is a battlefield, there's absolutely no reason to use a music player in a theater this magnificent. After all, the opponent I'm about to fight is the Orchestra of the Reverberating Nether—an enemy that, judging by its name, is orchestral.

However, precisely because it's the only thing out of place here, my gamer instincts won't let me ignore it.

"I guess there really is a connection to Earth. The icons scream Earth standards..."

When I press the power button—a circle with a vertical line piercing it—a holographic window pops up from the music player.
There's only one selectable item. The name of the playlist is...

"Elise Jitterdoll... Jitterdoll?"

Wait, I think I just heard that name. But the one I heard earlier sounded like a man... Hmm?

"Well, no matter how many years pass, I doubt this kind of UI is going to change dramatically."

Nothing's going to happen unless I press a button. Opening the playlist named Elise Jitterdoll, I find only one song inside...

"Your Orchestra..."

Your Orchestra? Spot on, this is definitely the battle start flag, isn't it? Voluntarily playing a song titled 'Your Orchestra' in a dead-silent theater... I'm starting to get some horror game vibes from this, but... fine by me. I can't just kill time in a theater waiting for the curtain to rise forever.

"Play... Whoa!?"

Bam! Suddenly, my entire body is illuminated by spotlights from every direction. Oi, turn the cameras off! Don't zoom in on a half-naked guy, that's a broadcasting violation!!
But the song is already playing. Even if I wanted to hit the stop button, the music player itself vanished without a trace the moment I looked away. In other words, either I clear this or I die trying; it's one or the other to end this!!

"Bring it on! Beast?! Human?! I won't say no to getting mobbed, Musou games are my specialty!!"

Sure enough, what appeared was... a single woman. Not on the Coliseum field, but over in the audience seating... No, is that not the audience seating? It's dim and the design is so strictly uniform that I misunderstood, but are three of the four sides audience seats, and the remaining side the 'Stage'?

"...What is that?"

It's not a physical entity like a normal NPC. If anything, it's like Setsuna of Distant Days or the hologram 'Isana'—an intangible ghost. A bizarre woman, who clearly lacked any physical weight, had appeared on the 'Stage'.

I'll be honest. In a game where beautiful men and women are basically the default (sure, there are intentionally plain faces or ugly ones), I never expected a woman this plain to show up as the centerpiece content of a Unique Monster.
It's a terrifyingly generic NPC face, the kind of absolute textbook mob face you'd completely forget by the next morning. It's not ugly, but it's not beautiful either; I can only describe it as the face of someone playing the woodcutter's wife in the starting village.
The kind who would probably be the third person to die during a monster attack... That's what I was thinking, which would be incredibly rude if she wasn't an NPC, but the series of events that immediately followed completely blew those relaxed thoughts away without a trace.

First, following the appearance of the "woman"—likely this Elise—a humanoid figure holding something appeared... A faceless mannequin lacking eyes, a nose, a mouth, and hair.
At first, I thought it was holding a weapon, but... no, that's a violin.

Then, the newly arrived humanoid violinist began to play the instrument in its hands... and a beautiful soprano voice emerged from the opened mouth of the plain-faced woman, or rather, the "Diva" of this venue.
It wasn't a mechanical voice. A terrifyingly exquisite, beautifully reproduced singing voice quietly began to sing.

And then, as if pulled by the Diva's song and the violinist's melody, more humanoid figures appeared one after another. One humanoid held a massive double bass, another held cymbals. A chorus appeared, then a flute, a viola, a horn, a trumpet... Before I knew it, the melody that started with just a song and a violin had transformed into a full orchestra.

And finally, it appeared not on the 'Stage', but in the 'Coliseum'.

".........Huh?"

It's humanoid, I know it.
It's armed, I know that too.
It's wearing Japanese-style armor that looks completely alien in a medieval fantasy setting, I definitely know that.
Because it... its face is...!!

『【The Tale Spun by Sunraku】 First Movement... "The Tombguard Rests"』

"Wethermon...!!?"

It's an unstable, phantom-like, holographic figure, but even after only crossing swords with him once, there's no way I could ever forget that distinctive armor.
Wait a second, I'm getting an incredibly bad feeling about this.

A song for you, the tale spun by me (Sunraku), the First Movement, a bard, a heroic epic.

The answer calculated from those elements is...

"It's reproducing the opponents I've fought up until no──────"

"Tachikaze (Severing Wind)."

And with that, my thoughts were blown away.

Author's Afterword
Orchestra of the Reverberating Nether.
References the player's logs and reproduces the enemies that accumulated the highest Combat Experience Value. In short, "A boss rush excerpting the formidable foes from the narrative known as 'You'."

Oh my? What happens when a half-naked guy who has an absurdly high encounter rate with formidable foes challenges Orchestra???? The answer, after the commercial break.

Translator's Note

• [1]

  • Sekiro.

  • Xeno-Sagi: "Xeno Sagittarius", a boss from the mobile game Granblue Fantasy. Players frequently use this boss as a punching bag to test their weapon grids and damage output.

  • Blue NEET: 青ニート (Ao NEET) is the Japanese gaming community's nickname for the Crestfallen Warrior in Dark Souls.