Chapter 562: Actions Speak as Loudly as Faces
Unfortunately, nothing about the veteran maker's party game piqued my interest. Well, I'm saying this from the perspective of a trash gamer; it's not a negative campaign, rather, they should be proud.
Next is... ah, NephHolo 2. Heh, they're putting out quite a bit of information...
『Have you ever played NephHolo, Natsume-chan?』
『Hmm, even in my private life I don't really play much outside of fighting games... It's not about liking or disliking it, I just simply never felt the urge to reach for it?』
『I haven't actually played it either. But I have a few friends who do, and they push it on me super hard.』
I'm not pushing it, which means it must be Rust. She's normally fine, but it's a real problem how she randomly transforms into a NephHolo-Shilling Yokai Woman without warning. By the way, with me, she transforms into a NephHolo-Extortion Yokai Woman—well, I'm buying it anyway, but still.
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【Wolfgang】
Rust: NephHolo 2 is!!!!! GOOD!!!!
Sunraku: Uwa, the NephHolo-Shilling Yokai Woman appeared.
Mold: Sorry about our Rust...
Pencil Knight King: Honestly, I kinda wanna buy it now, so the direct marketing definitely succeeded.
Akitsu Akane: It depends on my allowance!!
Rust: I'll literally pay for it.
Kyogoku: Rust-san, stay.
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『Now then, for the latest footage... before that?』
『Here's a shocking revelation! Actually, we don't have two hosts today, we have three! Let's call them in from the relay location! Eito-chaaaan!!』
Eight... ah, Sasa... Sasa, Sasa... hara? Sasahara Eito-san! Fufufu, my interest in idols only barely extends to remembering faces and names, but even I can remember a last name if I've interacted with them twice. Granted, both times were as 'No Face', so if we met right now she'd have no idea who I am...
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【Hey you with the funny face】
Pencil Knight King: By the way, Eito-chan is my junior at university, two years below me.
Sunraku: Two whole years of living hell...!?
【Wolfgang】
Pencil Knight King: Well said, you Weirdo with Twenty Faces. I'll pamper you later until you cry.
Sunraku: Do you have no human heart?
Pencil Knight King: I'm a massive lump of compassion and affection, though〜?
Sunraku: A massive lump of heartlessness and landmines?
Pencil Knight King: I'll let you lick my shoes.
Rust: ...? Are you guys in the same place?
Psyger-0: Hoachaaa!!?!?!
Mold: !?
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"I-I'm baaaack..."
"Rei-san, what was that hoachaa... wait, I mean..."
"............"
"Ah, right..."
『...Amane-san?』
『.........Ah, no, IT'S NOTHING〜!!』
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Pencil Knight King: The number of suspicious people is multiplying!?
Sunraku: No, I'm legitimately freaked out right now too, what the hell is that mask?
Pencil Knight King: Ah, I'm pretty sure that's a mask of the main character from Idol ☆ Crown, an anime for little girls. I guess there was a game booth for it?
Sunraku: Why buy a mask...
Pencil Knight King: Ah, Sunraku-kun, are you from a lineage connected to vampires by any chance? Mirrors are actually a wonderful item that can reflect your current appearance, you know...
Sunraku: The sun, running water, and garlic aren't my weaknesses, so I'm an ultimate lifeform.
Pencil Knight King: You'll die if you get stabbed in the heart with a stake though.
Sunraku: Literally anyone would die from that.
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『Today... surprise! We've realized a dream tag-team between the latest AR tech and the newest VR game! Everyone, please look up!!』
Looking up following Sasahara-shi's holographic instructions, I saw something like a thin sheet covering the entire venue. A ceiling? No, that's... a floor.
『This right here is an actual gameplay feed currently being broadcast from the booth hosting the advance play of Nephilim Hollow 2! The events happening in the VR space are projected via AR, and conversely, this very venue is being formed inside the VR space based on real-world footage... A true mutual reproduction!!』
The blending of a computer-generated world and reality... so this is MR. I get it now, basically, they're going to hold an ultra-high-impact robot battle in the sky right above reality.
"I see, this is..."
Clever. The simple fact that this is possible will send shockwaves across various gaming communities. And it goes without saying that the advantage this brings to the game being used as a showcase is massive.
Rust sure is having a lucky streak; NephHolo was already a good game outside of its controls. If they're making a sequel, unless they handed the design over to actual monkeys, it's a guaranteed God Game.
Likely chosen via lottery or something, eight people in total were piloting Nephilims to fight above this Mega-Float Site drawing so much attention. A squad battle... no, wait, a battle royale!? Seriously, that's amazing! You did it NephHolo, this is a total technological revolution!!
"Oh, overlapping colors."
"Overlapping, colors?"
"Hm? Ah, see that red paint job, there are about three of them, right? I meant that."
"Ah... You're right."
If you've dived into NephHolo's PvP even somewhat seriously and don't recognize that color scheme, you'd be a total fraud. Those crimson feathers are the glorious red bestowed upon a single person.
Well, setting-wise it supposedly takes place further in the future after the first game's world (according to Rust), and because it was so depopulated, they were able to implement a custom color meant exclusively for Rust (according to Rust).
So it wouldn't be strange for that color scheme to be available for all players in 2... or so she says (according to Rust).
Her tension spikes and she starts talking incredibly fast whenever NephHolo is brought up... but I don't hate that kind of passion.
Still, seeing the dedicated colors of the absolute champion being used in a demo play does bring a certain sense of melancholy... Well, our clan's crab was the one who dragged her off the throne anyway.
『Now then, please enjoy this ultra-high-impact Nephilim Battle Royale! Ready... GO!!』
It happened the very instant Sasahara-shi gave the signal to start the match.
One of the crimson-painted Nephilims instantly triggered its maximum output boost right off the bat, blasting out into the dead center of the battlefield.
Catching the other seven participating Nephilims within its firing range... it fired the massive sniper rifle fully integrated into its left arm. The live ammunition warhead slammed into another crimson unit who failed to react to such a barbaric, point-blank sniper shot right at the start. As the Nephilim whose head was pulverized in a single shot fell powerlessly, four other Nephilims swarmed the crimson unit that had just claimed first blood. The remaining two were probably aiming to pick up the scraps from long range.
"Whoa, what is that maneuver."
"Ancient martial arts?"
Using Aikido-like parries to crash the approaching Nephilims into each other, the crimson unit was suddenly targeted by long-range sniper fire. However, it caught the shot with the sniper rifle on its left arm, then shoved the half-destroyed muzzle right into the other crimson unit whose movements had stopped from the crash... and fired.
Its left arm exploded from the inside, and the blast—barely maintaining its directional focus—gouged out the torso of the poor crimson unit. It wasn't given any leeway for the opening it exposed; it was immediately skewered by the other surrounding Nephilims, resulting in heavy damage and elimination... Seven units remaining.
"Oh, it actually survived."
"Even without a head...!"
In NephHolo, due to the synchronization between Nephilim and player, having your head destroyed literally caused your vision to completely black out. In the previous game, you had to move entirely by relying on the radar... Did they relax those mechanics this time around? Or was the very first guy who got his head blown off just an experienced NephHolo player? Moving without a shred of hesitation, the headless crimson unit leaped into the fray, pouncing on the enemy who blew its head off as payback.
"No, that's probably..."
The worst possible move.
Now lighter due to the loss of its left arm, the one-armed crimson unit circled around behind the headless unit with movements completely unbecoming of Nephilim Hollow, which was supposedly a mecha game despite the mannequin-like base models.
Equipped to its undamaged right hand was a beam chainsaw roaring with a harsh mechanical screech...!!
The one-armed crimson unit spun its entire chassis, severing all four of the headless unit's limbs before kicking away its now limbless torso.
The torso flew directly toward a heavyweight unit aiming its sniper rifle from a distance. In reality, it would probably just vanish from the heavy damage elimination penalty midway, but the heavyweight reflexively shot at the headless wreckage anyway.
The one-armed crimson unit did not miss that fleeting opening. Approaching one of the Nephilims that had barely managed to escape the chaotic melee, it wrenched the other unit's arm backward and lightly tapped its arm... its rifle with its fingers. Wait, no way,
"You gotta be kidding me, hey..."
"Eh, it hit...!?"
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Pencil Knight King: Is that for real? Did it just visually adjust someone else's aim?
Sunraku: I can tell who it is just from the movements.
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───The pinnacle of crimson is a glory bestowed upon only two people.
Author's Afterword
I wonder who it could be......... (And doing all this without Mold's assist, no less.)
Judging by the comments, everyone seems pretty concerned about the fish-bastard who forced Potato-chan to draw the short straw.
He's currently doing a live stream. The title is...
"I won't run away, I'll answer everything! Kei Uomi's Serious Q&A!!"
his eyes are completely dead.
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