Chapter 608: Giant Monster Half-Naked Head vs Yokai Stone-Licker
Author's Preface
The Galar region trip never ends (Egg breeding, Max Raid battles, Ditto hunting)
"...Sssooo... Um, you're Sunraku-san... right?"
"Eh? Well, yeah, it's displayed right above my head..."
"Ah, no, well... You're Tsuchinoko-san... Or rather, you're in the same clan as Dora-hime-chan."
"I suppose so."
"Ah... It's an honor to meet you, or rather... Ah, yeah, it really feels like I've actually encountered a Tsuchinoko."
"Hey, who're you calling an Unidentified Cryptid Lifeform?"
Don't go treating people like rare enemies, good grief... Ninniniku? Never heard of that name. Just as Akitsu Akane said, he's probably just a random player she teamed up with.
"Wow, Sunraku-san, is that a katana!?"
"Hm? Oh, yeah, I kinda wanted to master katanas for a bit."
"Um, err, if you don't mind, could I take a look at it...?"
The one who suddenly poked their head out toward me was member number two of the random pickup party Akitsu Akane had formed. I feel like I've seen a similar design to what's right in front of me before, just at roughly 1/4 the scale... Yeah, well, to be blunt, the equipment they're wearing looks very similar to Bilac's, so they're probably a blacksmith player just like Imron. Their player name is Chou-Goukon... once again, a name I don't recognize.
"Huh? I guess that's fine. Here you go."
"Hyehh... A jet-black blade that looks as though it's dripping wet... Is this a beautiful girl? This is a beautiful girl, isn't it..."
".........Excuse me?"
"Can I lick it........."
"Absolutely not!!"
Even if this is just data, that's legitimately terrifying! I feel like swinging a katana tainted with obsessive delusions might lead to mental corruption, so I probably need to take strict quarantine measures right now.
"At least one lick! I went out of my way to get the Gourmet Tongue title just so I could experience material compositions through taste!!"
"Your usage of that title is way too twisted! It's made of Amursidian Quartz, so just go lick the raw materials or something!"
"Eh, the raw gemstone of an idol... T-To forge a blade with this..."
A rock that cost literally 0 yen to acquire suddenly became worth a million Mani. Mere pocket change, really.
I don't know if I should say "That's ShanFro for you," or if I should point out that she doesn't actually need to show such dedication to fulfilling the needs of absolute perverts... but the rest of the group is currently staring at Chou-Goukon... -san, who just popped an Amursidian Quartz into her mouth and started licking it like an un-melting hard candy, while taking a very deliberate step back.
How should I put this... I feel like she's closer in nature to Josette or Animalia than Deep Slaughter... In other words,
"............"
"What is it?"
"Are you feeling some kind of sympathy towards her or something?"
"We're in the same category!? You're putting me in the same category as her!!?"
Piyo-piyo-piyo...
You are in the exact same category, you bikini-armor-proposing little-girl-avatar-using whale-spending Nekama bastard.
Akitsu Akane, even if you're forming a pickup party, you should probably be a bit more careful about who you invite... Is the last guy also some kind of joke character?
".........Is something the matter?"
"No, nothing. You've got something dripping."
"Hm, my apologies..."
Piyo-piyo-piyo-piyo...
Vigilance... His appearance is completely normal, but it seems I can't let my guard down around him either. Mentally adding this pale-faced man—who just casually swiped a finger across his mouth to scoop up the red liquid dripping from the corner of his lips and put it back into his mouth as if it were a waste to lose it—to my caution list, I pondered my next move.
At first, I thought about mixing our two parties together to challenge the boss, but I honestly have zero confidence in being able to coordinate a boss fight smoothly with this lineup...
"You're amazing, Akitsu Akane..."
Piyo-piyo-piyo-piyo-piyo...
"?? I don't really get it, but thank you very much!"
"I wasn't exactly complimenting yo—" Piyo-piyo-piyo "God damn it, shut up!!"
I thought it was just background environmental noise earlier, but it's not!? Are those chicks!? Sparrows!!? No, those are falcons!!!!
"What, letters? Do you keep them free-range or something?"
『No, those were brought in from the outside.』
"Brought in... huh?"
Wait, I'm feeling an intense sense of déjà vu right now. Sending out a massive flock of birds... Mail... Direction... And above all, utilizing falcons purely for efficiency while completely ignoring the astronomical costs. The answer derived from these keywords regarding the sender of the letters being carried by these five-plus falcons is: Psyger-0───!!
In the very next moment, having run here at a speed completely unimaginable for someone wearing armor that retains such an overwhelming sense of sheer weight despite its fleshy appearance, Rei-shi slammed on the brakes right in front of us, leaving a jagged, straight line of skid marks gouged deep into the grassy plains.
Excluding the terrifying person who was currently radiating sheer bliss while licking an un-melting gemstone candy, the remaining members of Akitsu Akane's pickup party were completely overwhelmed by the sudden appearance of this bizarre, imposing knight... Well, actually, Akitsu Akane herself wasn't phased at all, so I guess proportionally it's a 50/50 split.
"...I finally caught up."
"...As expected of Rei-shi."
They say speed is everything in war, but true elites can move both skillfully and fast. I recognized the effects scattering from her body. It probably isn't a speed-enhancing skill... but rather, she just sprinted all the way here using magic buffs?
"I was certain it would be impossible for you to join us while the sun was still up."
"Well, about that... I handled it logically, with a physical touch."
A physical approach applied logically... I'm not entirely sure what that means, but I guess it means her real-life circumstances have been resolved.
"Survival, this is our hardcore gamer helper, Psyger-0-san."
"Don't introduce him like he's some foreign import ringer... Hey, ain't I gonna be completely overshadowed here?"
"Even if the demand for a sturdy firepower-focused class and a high-DPS Tank overlaps, your combat styles are completely different. Just show off your individuality through your footwork."
"Like tap dancing?"
"More like a Bon Odori."
"The tempo's way too slow for that, hey!!"
Well, honestly, Ryuguin Fugaku's movements weren't actually that fast. While I can only mimic the absolute surface level of it, the perfectly reproduced Trace AI itself didn't have exceptionally fast footwork or positioning either. The only thing that was terrifyingly fast was the sheer sharpness of his descending bamboo sword. Seriously, what the hell does an unblockable attack with zero system modifiers that behaves almost exactly like real life even mean?
"Anyway, is a three-person party fine with you?"
"I don't mind, as long as he doesn't mind."
".........?"
Ah, come to think of it, these two theoretically have the relationship of "Former Ashura-Kai" and "The person who dealt the finishing blow to Ashura-Kai"... Well, whatever. While you can't just ignore feuds in a gaming life, the only thing required for a forced breakthrough is machine-like player performance capable of crushing any lingering sentimentality. Besides, what right does a PKer have to complain about getting PK'd anyway? You just gotta draw a clear line and move on.
"It seems you're the only one being sentimental here."
"Tch, you're still young, Sunraku... Men who are perceptive to these kinds of subtleties are the ones who get popular with the ladies."
"But you're a lolicon."
"Age means nothing in the face of love!!"
"Age means plenty in the face of the law."
"The law is always getting in my way...!!"
A law that protects people from individuals who frequently find themselves obstructed by it truly is wonderful. Hooray for the rule of law. Anyway, as for the rest...
"Akitsu Akane, let's play Rock-Paper-Scissors! Ready, Rock-Paper-Scissors!"
"Eh, hah, ah!!?"
Me: Rock. Akitsu Akane: Scissors.
Alright, I won. This just goes to show that if I force an AGI contest before her Luck modifiers can catch up, I actually have a chance at winning.
"Sorry, Akitsu Akane. Considering the boss drops and score distribution, I really don't want to form a party with more than four people, so we're gonna go on ahead."
"Eh, ah, so that's what the Rock-Paper-Scissors was for! Understood!"
The sweet wine of victory tastes awfully bitter right now... Did someone mix Aojiru into it or something?
Having quickly welcomed Rei-shi into our party, the three of us—me, Survival, and Rei-shi—followed "Isana's" guidance and advanced toward the boss area...
"Um, I know this is incredibly presumptuous of me, but I'd like to ask you one final thing..."
"Uwoah, you're awfully pushy, aren't you?"
A hand suddenly reached out and grabbed my shoulder right as I was about to leave. Turning around to see who it was, I found Chou-Goukon-shi—whose cheeks were still bulging weirdly as if she was still keeping it in her mouth.
"If I don't ask you here, who knows when I'll encounter you again... You're a Tsuchinoko, after all."
I'm not gonna say a single word. It's probably better to sever the root of this calamity right here and now rather than risk bumping into her somewhere down the line and getting cornered again. Treating a complete stranger as the root of a calamity is pretty bad on my part, but then again she's treating me like a reptile, so I guess we're even.
"Um... Could you share a strategy for the Crystal Nest Cliff? If you don't mind... like, some advice?"
"Eh...?"
I can't exactly just say "Guts"... Let's see, I always just charge in using my own personal style, so when asked for a universal, general strategy, nothing comes to mind immediately... Ah, that's right.
"The attack range of the Crystal Scorpions."
"Eh?"
"In reality, they'll step on their allies to gain height or start flinging crystals at you, so their effective range is about three times larger than you'd expect. But the most important thing is knowing exactly where they can reach, and where they can't... There's your advice."
If she wants to actually harvest Crystal Scorpion materials, she absolutely needs a method to cut aggro, but I'm under no obligation to explain things that far. She seems like the kind of crazy person who loves ore-type items so much she'd literally lick them, so just giving her the info she needs to safely mine should be more than enough to satisfy her.
"Ah, that's right. Akitsu Akane."
"Yes!"
"In about ten days or so, you should head back to Firstia... There's gonna be a massive festival."
"A festival... you say?"
"Oh yeah, it's gonna be a huge festival."
It will undoubtedly be something truly worthy of being called world-shattering... as a festival, that is.
Author's Afterword
The "always" Survival refers to has happened roughly three times.
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