Chapter 527: An Orchestra For You, Part 9
Author's Preface
I've been ridiculously busy in real life and couldn't update, I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry I pulled Apollousa, Storm Dragon's Return, and Aruru from a single box... I'm so sorry I pulled Savactis and Secret Rare A Stra Zeele...
(Though they weren't 20th Secret Rares, so insert a face biting its lower lip here).
Also, one of the reasons the update was delayed is because I was writing about three ShanFro-related things in parallel, and I've only barely managed to finish the main story part.
"You won desu wa?"
"I l-o-s-t"
"...Is he that strong desu wa?"
"Yep, I was forced to fight the Devouring Great Crimson Clad, Ctarrnid, and Siegwurm back-to-back."
"That sounds like a nightmare, to put it mildly desu wa!?"
"Well, I won those ones, though?"
"Hoah!?"
As expected, the real problem is the guy who shows up at the end. If I'm not careful, he might honestly be better at piloting Me than I am.
But still, baiting a shield guard into a surprise 【Instant Teleport】 attack... I have to admit, that was beautifully executed for an enemy. A two-stage setup perfectly grasping the exact moment the stun-lock from the Radiant Spear Hypothesis melted away... I was able to react to the attack itself, but in that moment, the vectors for attack and defense were completely set in stone.
But this makes it clear: if I keep challenging him like this, the chances of me grasping victory are infinitely close to zero.
"A training phase, huh........."
"A-Again with the Centipedes desu wa!? And the Spiders desu wa!? Ab-so-lutely noooooot desu wa!!!"
"No no, don't run away Emul... Where's your Vorpal Soul? Well, I'll put the Centipedes and Spiders off for later."
It's true that even though I've reached the triple digits, my level hasn't hit the cap. Well, push comes to shove I might try messing around with level-down mechanics... but that has nothing to do with the current situation.
Sure, raising my level would increase my stats, but that just means the stats of the strictly-superior "Me" will increase as well. I can't optimistically assume his stats will remain fixed.
In that case, what I need to increase isn't my base specs, but my options. No matter how powerful of a rocket launcher you have, if you're in a close-quarters brawl, you're going to use a handgun. I mean, some gun-nut out there was using muskets to do some weird martial arts... even looking back on it now I have no idea what that was about, how the hell did he catch a monster's charge without breaking the gun... In other words, exactly: I need a technique capable of snatching a victory from a strictly superior opponent, and a new wind to make that a reality.
"I'm starting to lose track of whether I'm evaluating myself or strategizing against an enemy, but... to put it mildly, 'Me' is a Perfect Warrior capable of handling long, mid, and close-range combat, specialized in both single-hit nukes and rapid-fire combos, perfectly equipped to counter magic, and even possesses a trump card to transform into a monster."
"Are you praising yourself desu wa?"
"I'm just analyzing the enemy. His skills are heavily skewed toward mobility, so average movements won't even let you catch up to him... and with an acceleration force that even acquired 【Maximum Speed】, he truly has no equal..."
"Conclusion: Bragging."
No, I'm telling you I'm just analyzing the enemy. Aside from having higher base specs, he's a perfect copy of me, so I have no choice but to say things that sound like I'm praising myself.
That said, everything I just listed is going to be thrown right back at me, so this isn't the time to be looking smug. He's an incredibly troublesome AI, one that knows my hand inside and out and uses the exact same cards to meta-game me. But at the same time, he is by no means invincible.
"If he can meta-game me, the reverse should be possible too."
In fact, Remember Death Without Parting is one of the few advantages I have against him. Presumably, if it's a weapon that requires certain specific conditions to unlock its potential, I can exploit the flaws in his perfect copy. But the bastard completely bypassed chant-activation systems and was just casting magic in total silence... That's cheating, that's just cheating, "Me".
"Leviathan... No, I don't want to give him any more ranged weapons, worst-case scenario I shouldn't even bring firearms with me... Hmm, hmmmmmm........."
.........No good, I can't think of anything.
"I'm going to sleep! Is there a bed around here?"
"One exists. Right this way."
What am I going to do.
◆
As long as you belong to a civilized society, there are many times you simply have to obey its rules. Ultimately, students have to go to school.
Because she apparently had some business to attend to, I didn't walk to school with Saiga-san today. Having arrived at school slightly earlier than usual and with time to kill, I pull out my mobile device and open the ShanFro wiki.
"It's as absurdly heavy as always... Image display off, and there we go."
Now the speed is finally at a readable level. Let's see... the Old Continent is turning into quite the interesting mess. I'll pass on anything related to the Genesis Kin; now that their existence is public knowledge, it's going to turn into an MVP scramble no matter what I do. From what I've heard, apparently a bunch of level 90+ players tried to monopolize the Thirdrema Raid Event initially, but... well, given the nature of the "Blue", they all got instantly wiped out.
The other "Blue" was quite something, so I wondered what this one would be like, but I never expected it to literally shave down your max HP gauge... The fact that it applies standard DoT poison on top of that is just malicious. Wait, is it true that players over level 100 die in a single second?
"No, I shouldn't be looking at this..."
Ah, here it is, the weapon types page. There are a ridiculous amount... Let's see, out of the ones I'm not currently using... maybe a bow? No, wait, is there any reason to prioritize it over a gun? If we assume he's going to use a gun, the disadvantages stand out way too much... Hmmm... It has to be melee, or mid-range that can also transition into melee... Musket martial arts... no, rejecting that... Hmmm, hmmmm.........
"What are you glaring at that text for?"
"Life planning."
"What, deciding on your university path?"
"Don't be an idiot, I'm talking about a game."
"Wait, wasn't I the one bringing up a normal topic...?"
I already have my real-life path figured out. It's the "Salaryman Chart to Climbing High Enough in the Corporate Ladder to Afford Dabbling in One or Two Trash Games in Your Free Time" that I built after consulting with Takeda-shi...! First off, I'm supposed to study psychology. Why psychology?
"If anyone needs to talk about their future, it's you."
"Why me? I'm just gonna go to a normal university."
"Eh...? Didn't you say that day by the riverbank, 'I'm going to travel the country as a rootless wanderer, carving the name of the Missionary of Love, Germ Piercing, into the national language textbooks'...!!"
"I did not!! I never said that!!"
I figured. I never heard such an idiotic story either. But if everyone *except* you says they "heard" it, it's basically the same as you having said it...!! This is what we call reputational damage. The idiots reacting to my words start bombarding Germ-P... correction, Akatsuki Heart-san, with memories (delusions) of that day one after another.
"What are you saying now! You know, I... I saw hope in your eyes that day...!?"
"I'm rooting for you, Missionary of Love!!"
"Let me know when you make it into the textbook, I wanna doodle on it."
"What a grand dream... I have to tell everyone else!!"
"It's a complete lie from 1 to 10! Seriously, stop spreading it!!"
"But weren't you praised by a celebrity the other day?"
"Well......... yeah."
So this is what Takeda-shi meant when he told me to study psychology... Just mixing in a tiny bit of truth causes lies to spiral completely out of control. I see.
While looking warmly at Professor Akatsuki Heart, whose path in life is rapidly shifting toward "dedicating the rest of his life to screaming about love"......... No, wait, I don't have time to be doing this.
"My train of thought got derailed... Ghk, I'll never forgive you, Akatsuki Heart...!"
"Even for a ricochet, isn't that way too full of malice, you bastard!!"
A stray bullet (sniper shot)—no, whatever.
Leaving the poet trying to intimidate me with some mysterious martial arts stance alone............ martial arts?
"That's it."
"Huh?"
"A brilliant idea! Nice hint, Poet! Be sure to invite me when you hold your autograph session!!"
"Can you stop gripping a knife full of malice while thanking me?"
Sorry, it's an essential skill for dealing with fiends.
Author's Afterword
The Missionary of Love "Akatsuki Heart" and the real-life Cursed Prison "No Face," just who could they really be... (Classmates).
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