Chapter 627: The Indignation of the God of Fate

Author's Preface

Due to various circumstances (wanting to write the next chapter quickly and not having 3,000 words worth of material), the third Interlude chapter, "The Tuning God's Stomachache," has been shelved.

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I won't kick it twice; I certainly don't think my knee has the toughness to make that possible.

"Geez, every single time, every single time, every single time, every single time, every single time... she just has to go and do whatever the hell she pleases..."

Even though I find it utterly infuriating, I can't help but curse fate as to why that woman was blessed with the skill to execute that level of "improvement" in such a short time without anyone noticing.

"...But it's also a fact that she has a point."

The Unique Monsters being defeated one after another in such a short time is definitely a problem, and the Leviathan being conquered in just a single day—even considering there was a bit of a blank period—is currently being spoken of with sheer astonishment among the management staff.

But the biggest problem isn't the Uniques or Bahamut... It's the Raid Monsters.

"I could somewhat understand the New Continent, but to think progression on the Old Continent would be this slow..."

The total number of engagements with the Raid Monsters is far lower than anticipated. Not the number of kills, the number of engagements.

Excluding the one-time trial encounter, the Devouring Great Crimson Clad hasn't been defeated even once, and the root cause of this is that the majority of players are still using the Penhedrant Great Forest zone as their primary base and haven't advanced into the desert and beyond.

"Dammit, don't just mess everything up yourselves and then get yourselves stuck in a rut, you idiot users...!!"

The reason is clear. The Siegwurm scenario—which was originally supposed to be fought after defeating each Color Dragon individually—turned into a massive war-scale event with all the Color Dragons gathering at once. Add to that the surfacing of the Leviathan, the triggering of the coup d'état event on the Kingdom side causing massive progression delays, and the accident of the Beastman event double-booking with the Kingdom's PvP event... Basically, the players have way too much to do right now.

At this point, even Ritsu and the rest of the management staff can't definitively say which Grand Quest should be presented to the players as their primary guideline.

That is exactly why Tsukuyo's unauthorized performance buffs to the Raid Monsters were, in a way, a godsend.

After all, if the "Limit Missions" embedded within the Raid Monsters as a sort of hidden parameter progress to their final phase, they possess a danger capable of outright terminating the game itself.

The ones currently in a particularly bad state are the Old Continent's "Green," and—if they aren't defeated by World Story Phase 6—the "Black" and "Red," along with the New Continent's "Black," "White," and "Green."

Fortunately, the defeat of the Old Continent's "Blue," which beginners might not have been able to defeat otherwise, is good news, all things considered... But since the players still haven't even properly engaged the other Raid Monsters, and since Tsukuyo has absolutely no intention of resolving the "Limit Missions" herself, the only remaining option is for the Raid Monsters to go out and find the players.

"The Great White Wall is especially dangerous... Ugh, just find it with sheer willpower, you users. If it crosses into the new year, that thing might turn from a city into a Fortress City..."

According to Tsukuyo, she had boldly boasted that even if a Limit Mission reached its final phase, "there is a final defense line"... but one of those defense lines was just recently laid to rest after finally achieving peace. Ritsu's anxiety only increases; it never decreases.

"Even if it's her world, it's my game."

That is the one thing she will absolutely not compromise on. Even if she is called an aphid renting space in a giant world... she has no intention of letting this world end as just another piece of content that barely leaves a mark on history.

"Shangri-La Frontier is a game that can be boasted to the entire world. It has to be a piece of content that continues to be loved eternally, otherwise..."

Otherwise, there would be no meaning in plunging into the same world as that detestable father who is likely still living out his days in prison right now. She has to overwrite the nightmare of her youth, completely ruined by her father's "screw-up," with an even greater "dream," or else Ritsu's demons will never truly be laid to rest.

Since she couldn't wring any decent concessions out of that god-wannabe Creative Administrator, all she can do is wrack her brain and balance the books as usual. This is exactly why she gathered such an excellent staff for Shangri-La Frontier—a game that Tsukuyo could easily operate entirely on her own if she felt like it.

"Are you all awake yet?! That idiot went back to sleep, so it's time for our fun book-balancing session!!"

"Amachi-san! Take a look at this absolute masterpiece! It's not too late, so within the Leviathan's Type-Men enhancement plan, if we just insert this expansion equipment data right here—"

"No, no, wait a minute, Aikawa-kun! I hate to say it, but the individual ownership rate for Type-Men is far too low! Right here is where we need to introduce this new outfit I designed, spiced with love, courage, and just a little bit of embarrassment..."

"Haaaaah!!? Save the jokes for when you're eating deep-fried butter, Mackenzie!! We need Red One-chan to act as our advertising tower to increase the ownership rate, you see!!"

"I totally understand the yearning for a one-off solo-warrior mech, but over here we're carrying the expectations of fifty million girls nationwide who dream of being magical girls, you know!!"

"Shut up!!!!"

Boing! Boing! Ritsu snapped and threw a solid punch right into the stomachs of the two slightly overweight men breathing heavily down her neck, but sadly, her striking power couldn't penetrate their armor of fat, and the blows ended up doing nothing more than slightly jiggling their belly meat.

"Did you check the animations?! The parameters better not bug out when they do weird movements! What about the textures!!? If there aren't any problems, email them to that idiot! With any luck, we'll get a reply by tonight!! Next! Yufuin, what about Orchestra?!"

"Yeah, this is impossible. It feels like the keyhole to connect to Orchestra is being tossed around like a high-speed game of catch between the other servers. I never thought I'd be forced to play such a physical game of tag through security in this great cyber age."

"If it's impossible, just keep it brief and say it's impossible! You've been up all night since yesterday, go take a break."

"Yessir... Goin' to sleep for a bit."

"Shijima! What's the status on the Kingdom?"

"The Golden Scale Merchant Guild is staying dead silent, so things are balanced for now. But if the resources hoarded by the merchant guild get passed over to the Thirdrema side, this is guaranteed to become a one-sided game."

"Silently pad the numbers for the Kingdom faction's material stockpiles. If we don't counter their quality with quantity, the PvP aspect won't hold up."

"Umm, Amachi-san?"

"What is it, Aizawa! A bug?!"

"Please change your clothes, too. Odors cling to clothes, you know."

Ritsu discreetly sniffed her clothes, and upon noticing that indescribable smell—obvious only because she had cleanly washed her body in the shower—she quietly let her shoulders drop.

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Author's Afterword

Kenny Mackenzie

The crazy magical girl transformation guy. He thinks it's totally safe as long as the back is exposed. He has been training his right straight to one-shot any insolent fools who try to wedge themselves between two close women or girls.

Aikawa Kou

The crazy robot guy. He thinks self-destruction isn't trendy these days, but firmly believes 120% output still works. He did something as reckless as slamming a thesis analyzing Type-Men onto Tsukuyo's desk, but instead of getting his head chopped off, his passion earned him a promotion.