Chapter 564: One-Man Rouge On Stage
Author's Preface
Realizing recently that digging up old Jump magazines during spring cleaning, watching Vtubers as background music, and killing time on Netflix are all exactly the same thing.
The encirclement by two skilled veterans, dragging the two unaccustomed ones into a 4-v-1 setup... I see, even for Rust, this wasn't an easy formation to break. Unlike Bakumatsu, where you can sweep with pure one-man power, NephHolo is the type of game where the violence of numbers directly translates to the final gap in combat strength.
In other words, if things kept going like this, a future where Rust goes down was entirely within the realm of possibility. Conversely, it meant the gunner and the lightweight were just that skilled. Above all else, their party management was absurdly good; they weren't PvP-ers. Battles where minimizing ally attrition directly links to clearing the content are fundamentally a trait seen in Raid Battles, where groups take down enemies with much higher stats. Which meant these guys were a rarity in NephHolo: players who excelled at fighting NPC enemies.
Even though they're players, the system controlling them is still bound to the game's mechanics, meaning adhering to the game's providence is a given. Treating a player-sized enemy like a boss and incorporating anti-boss movements against them isn't impossible, but... even factoring that in, their high base skill level was clear even from my (physically) lower vantage point.
...But, I wasn't going to blame him or her. Because this is just a game, and furthermore, even if they won, it's not like they'd get anything tangible out of it.
Sure, if they were absolutely committed to the objective of defeating Rust, following those two was the optimal solution. But not every single person would be satisfied with that. There's no rule dictating that settling for being a mere cog in a Raid team is absolute justice. That's why I don't blame him or her for their actions... but I did feel enough regret to reflexively groan, "Ahhh."
『Ahhh! The encirclement broke!』
『That was some bad timing just now. If that one-armed Nephilim was heavily damaged, they might have been able to land the finishing blow, but...』
While enduring the encirclement by the two veterans, one of the Nephilims—likely an inexperienced player who was being treated as a literal obstacle—suddenly launched a straight-line attack at the crimson unit.
Were they dissatisfied with being relegated to a mere pawn in the strategy, or did they genuinely believe they could take her down? Only the player knows, but result-wise, it opened up an escape route for the one-armed crimson unit, who had been forced to focus entirely on evasion. Or perhaps...
"......Did she bait them in?"
"Eh?"
"No, looking closely, the one who just charged in moved to an exquisite position that would make anyone instinctively want to engage in close-quarters combat..."
Moreover, because she had her stance open to the left and right to deal with the gunner and the lightweight, from the perspective of the middleweight who charged in, it looked like her back was exposed... but in reality, factoring in her booster loadout and Rust's own turning (not rotating, turning) speed born from her player skills, it wasn't an opening at all. Just a visual illusion.
Did she aim for that? Or did she just connect a coincidence into an escape route? In NephHolo, Rust is the kind of player where either is equally possible. Well, the terrifying part is that if Mold were with her, she'd definitely pull it off intentionally... but the fact that she's a threat all on her own, serving as both the eyes in the back of her head and the tactical brains, makes her way too troublesome.
"See that positioning, Rei-san?"
"Hyah, yes!"
"That guy who just charged in basically cut off the lightweight's line of fire, rapidly closing the distance to the gun-specialized unit."
"I schee!"
"And the gunner got greedy trying to intercept since they can somewhat fight at close range too, and... ah, she circled around and slashed their boosters. Now they're just a slow-moving turret. Assuming she doesn't get careless, she'll only take negligible damage from them now."
"Th-That's right!"
Her reading comprehension is seriously impressive as always. Even though it's PvP, this is a mecha game, yet she grasps it this quickly. I guess when your real-life specs are high, even as a gamer, you can apply those skills anywhere...
"Ah yeah, this is a wrap."
The other newbie was essentially acting as a passive AFK prop, taking completely unassertive actions. The boar who charged in got its neck snapped when it was kicked away, so its sensory systems are probably mostly dead. The moment the mobility of the gunner—who formed the core of the encirclement—was crushed, it effectively turned into a 1v1 duel between the lightweight and the one-armed crimson.
In terms of overall mobility, the lightweight might be faster. In Nephilim Hollow, unless parts are completely destroyed, their performance recovers to some extent over time (though not fully healed). So, fleeing until the gunner recovered—despite the inevitable performance drop—wasn't an option. After all, they were the only two lifelines of this tactic. If the lightweight ran, Rust would easily finish off the gunner without any interference. In other words, the lightweight had no choice but to challenge her to a fight to survive while protecting the gunner.
It has speed, but in terms of sharp turns, it couldn't match the crimson unit. Its armament advantage consisted of missile pods with weak homing and a laser rifle prioritizing fire rate over firepower. Opposing it, the one-armed crimson had nothing but a beam chainsaw... but that was merely the weapon she had prepared herself.
That crimson unit had a left arm that was a fully integrated sniper rifle, but its right arm was the type where the chainsaw blade extended from the back of the wrist, meaning its Hand for grasping objects was completely free. And if NephHolo 2 was using the ShanFro system, then "that" was absolutely possible.
"She mugged the prop-kun for his launcher and... uwa, brutal, a deflection shot. Does she have no human heart...?"
She feigned going for the finishing blow on the gunner to restrict its movements, huh? The lightweight only achieved that speed by shaving off its armor. Naturally, if it got hit, it would take damage far exceeding the attacker's base stats. And of all things, it got hit by a launcher—a Firepower-is-Justice weapon in the anachronistic live-ammunition category of the NephHolo world, capable of staggering even an ultra-durable heavyweight if it lands.
"Heavily damaged... no, half-destroyed? Whether it was luck or not, it would've been more merciful to just shoot it down cleanly."
"..............."
Considering the situation, if this were a normal enemy battle, their allies might have covered them while they healed, but you can't bring recovery items into NephHolo PvP. Well, game set.
"Umm,"
"Hm? What's wrong?"
"By any chance... the person piloting that crimson Nephilim, are they an acquaintance of yours, Rakuro-kun?"
Ah.........
"(￣ヘ￣)"
"Ah, umm, if you don't want to tell me, then, sorry for the rude question..."
"That's, probably, Rust."
".........Eh. R-Really?"
"At the very least, if you're talking about someone who can move like that using those tactics, Rust is the only person who comes to mind."
No, Rust-san, gesturing "come at me" to the last remaining unit is basically half-bullying... I mean, since it's Battle Royale rules, there can only be one winner, but there's no way a guy who chose to play as a prop is going to challenge an opponent who practically slaughtered all seven other players single-handedly.
In the end, the Battle Royale concluded with the AFK Prop getting bisected cleanly in one strike. The audience was going wild, but the play-by-play commentators couldn't just overtly favor Rust's single unit, so they looked like they were having an incredibly hard time casting the match.........
『N-Now then! Let's go ahead and interview the players who just participated in the match!!』
"Ah."
"Ah."
◇
Pencil Knight King: Ah
Sunraku: Ahhhhh.........
◇
Should I just close my eyes for this?
Author's Afterword
Real-life face reveal race! In a shocking turn of events, Rust takes the lead!!!
Trivia: The current state of "Oh, I see" real-life identity reveals among the Wolfgang members.
- Sunraku
Pencil, Katzo, and Heroine-chan know his real name. Only Heroine-chan knows his face. However, Pencil can basically get his real-life info whenever she wants. I mean, his address is already leaked, missus (in two senses of the word).
- Pencil
Sunraku, Katzo, and Heroine-chan know she's Towa Amane. However, Kyogoku also vaguely suspects it because "her everyday behavior is way too natural".
- Katzo
Only Sunraku and Pencil know his real identity. Being a crossplayer helps, but his biggest shield is that people just don't connect "Pro Gamer Kei Uomi" with "The guy who can't trigger Unique Scenarios on his own."
- Heroine-chan
Sunraku, Kyogoku, and Pencil know her real identity. Kyogoku is a distant relative, Pencil is her sister's friend, and Sunraku is her crush who has deep real-life ties with her.
- Akitsu Akane
People who know her real identity: Absolutely zero! Conversely, she is an isolated zone who doesn't know anyone else's real identity either. Since she doesn't have any IRL friends who play VR with her, she treasures her in-game friendships. ...As expected of the Light Attribute! Well, she frequently uses Dragon Form and exposes her bare face (even with blue skin and black eyes), so in terms of a face reveal, it's pretty close...
- Rust
Up until this chapter, only Mold knew her real identity. In the next chapter, her face will be revealed to Sunraku, Heroine-chan, and Pencil. And in the future timeline, Katzo will also see her face when watching the recording. A massive, unexpected IRL face reveal... well, since she doesn't actively advertise it, and her ShanFro avatar is literally just a player-2 color palette swap of her real face, taking zero damage from it is her strong suit.
- Mold
You're going down with her.
- Kyogoku
Only Heroine-chan knows her real identity. However, the fact that she is "someone connected to the Ryuguin Style" is known by everyone in Wolfgang. Or rather, it's known by the Bakumatsu players too. She smugly explains it and then instantly gets Divine Punished, so she truly is Ultimate-chan and a wilted spinach.
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