Chapter 653: The Emperor Has Already Taken the Throne
There were fifteen of us when we entered this place.
Three were taken out by the Swimines, and one was skewered by the Dominate Grizzly, leaving eleven of us. Even factoring out those who voluntarily settled in a specific layer permanently, this is quite a severe attrition rate. Though, if this were a slasher horror movie, we'd probably still have plenty more dying to do. Well, if there's any problem right now, it would be...
"Tsuchinoko-san, let us see your skill loadout!"
"Is that something you can just show people?"
"How many types of weapons do you even use? That's way too diverse a weapon pool for a Mercenary-line job. Don't tell me you're running a no-skill build?"
"I am running a no-skill build, actually. My level shot up way too fast, so I don't really have many attack skills."
"No, more importantly, I want to know how many self-buffs you have! That was the 'curse' of a Unique Monster, right? When the Professor threw buffs at you, they got completely repelled."
"Any buff applied to my torso or legs gets repelled, but there's a loophole: buffs applied from 'inside' the body work just fine. Rather than looking at the performance of the buff, you're better off choosing based on 'what mechanism generates the buff.'"
"What are the stat requirements for that massive sword? Looking at your stats, Tsuchinoko-san, it clearly feels like you shouldn't be able to hold it."
"I'm temporarily raising my STR using an item that swaps stats. Also, it might have looked like I had mastered it, but in reality, I was just wildly swinging it around, so I barely landed any critical hits. It's originally meant to be used as a set with a specific piece of armor... Oh, and it's a weapon anyone can get if they work hard enough on the Old Continent."
"Seriously!?"
Did the number of questions double even though our numbers decreased? Incomprehensible. Still, thanks to the valiant efforts of the players who recovered from their sheer revulsion, the bamboo shoot hunt was a success. Riding the flow of the moment, The Professor somehow ended up carrying the gleaming black Crown Bamboo Shoot and is currently presenting it to "Ivory."
"Eh? Is it really okay to talk about that kind of stuff?"
"...From here on out, everything is dictated by RNG."
"Ah........."
"Do you guys know a monster called True Quiet? There's a Unique Scenario related to that guy."
"That shitty monster!?"
"I thought that was a monster you literally couldn't defeat."
"You just use healing potions like grenades on it. Healing magic probably works too."
"Haaah..."
True Quiet is a breeze once you get used to it... actually, no, it's not. Chipping away at its HP is easy, but its attack patterns are mostly bullshit. Well, it all comes down to experience. As long as you watch out for its shadow and the status ailments it inflicts, you'll be perfectly fine.
While I was casually deflecting the barrage of questions in that manner, Reiji-shi (a survivor of the five-man group that lacked a Library member and suffered three casualties—truly impressive) suddenly muttered something that even I couldn't ignore.
"Oh, come to think of it, Sunraku... san, have you defeated that yet?"
"That?"
"You know, the Exordinary at the Crystal Nest Cliff."
".........................say what?"
An Exordinary at the Crystal Nest Cliff? Well, I figured there'd be one, but has it really been confirmed already?
"Wait, I need the details on that."
"Eh? Ah, well, it's not like I know all the details either."
"I am fully prepared to provide the complete completion chart for the Memento Mori Unique Scenario."
"Seriously?"
"Dead serious."
"Ah, I know about that rumor too, let me in on this!"
Hmm, maybe it really is better to interact with other human beings once in a while instead of exclusively dealing with rabbits. Completely ignoring the furball that had casually returned to my head at some point and was presently swatting me while complaining "Change back to a head that's easier to ride!", I began gathering intel on this rumor.
According to them, because a certain someone regularly visits the Crystal Nest Cliff to farm materials, there has been an endless stream of players stepping foot in there hoping for a one-in-a-million lucky drop.
They asked: "Seriously, how the hell do you even clear that place, Tsuchinoko-san? The moment you step inside, it's an instant-death gimmick." Well, I don't know what to tell you; just fly. Even though, lately, there have been a few times where they managed to track me even when I wasn't touching the ground.
They continued: Apparently, one player tried climbing down from the cliff above to infiltrate midway down the Crystal Nest Cliff. Ah, yeah, that's already been patched out. If you try to use the cliff escape method without combining it with aggro-reset, they just drop crystals on your head from above and you die.
And finally: During that attempt, the player supposedly saw a "brilliantly glowing golden Crystal Scorpion swarm." ......Wait, isn't that just the Golden Scorpion? No, apparently it's something different.
They concluded: That golden scorpion was clearly commanding the other scorpions. It completely surrounded the player trying to take screenshots, blocked off every escape route, and then ordered its swarm to beat the absolute shit out of him...
"...A scorpion that commands the others, huh."
"Apparently, the system announcement pops up the moment you encounter it, so at the very least, its name is known."
——The Peerless Golden Scorpion "Imperial Gold Generation".
That's supposedly its name.
"Do you have any idea what it might be, Tsuchinoko-san?"
"Basically, there are three types of scorpions that spawn in the Crystal Nest Cliff. The regular variants, the unbalanced-diet variants, and the elder variants. Among these, the regular crystal variants and the unbalanced-diet golden variants are hostile towards each other. But you're saying this golden scorpion isn't an unbalanced-diet variant... Wait, Golden Age? If it exists as a sovereign entity, could it be in a position where food is offered to it as tribute? If that's the case, then the elders might also... Ugh, that sounds like a massive pain in the ass..."
"You sure know a lot about their ecology..."
"Eh? Ah—well, you know, the Crystal Scorpions and I are practically besties at this point."
"Isn't anyone who crafts weapons out of their besties pretty much a psychopath?"
Considering they also use "me" to hold their own ball-sports tournaments, I'd say we're even.
Anyway, as payment for the intel, I shared the information regarding the Unique Scenario involving True Quiet, General Dullahan, and the Football Princess while the group headed toward the next layer. The 【Library】 members were listening in with all their might, but whatever, it's fine. If I recall correctly—my memory is hazy enough that I only vaguely remember it from time to time—I'm pretty sure I had some sort of information-sharing contract with them anyway.
"Basically, you need three things to trigger the Unique Scenario. First, an upgraded... I think? version of the Beheading Sword of the Flame General, which is a rare drop from General Dullahan. Second, the Noblu Scythelent, which is a low-probability drop from True Quiet. And finally, an acquaintance who possesses the 'Master Blacksmith' job."
"Hold on, the prerequisites alone are a complete nightmare."
"Once you gather the scythe and the sword, the guy with the 'Master Blacksmith' job trips the flag, and the Unique Scenario generates. Once you accept it, you have to cause General Dullahan and True Quiet to encounter each other in the Canyon of Ancient Souls."
"...Seriously?"
"The easiest way is to eradicate all the monsters in the canyon to force True Quiet to spawn, and then just pray General Dullahan shows up."
"So it's just an RNG prayer game!!"
"Hold on, you're saying this super casually, but I feel like the prerequisites imply we have to keep killing those two until we get their rare drops."
"Ah, so you noticed... Now then, I wonder how many True Quiets I ended up killing..."
An insane RNG grind. Getting a duplicate R.I.P. drop during that was pretty painful, I gotta admit.
That being said, looking back on it, only the prerequisites for triggering the Unique Scenario are demonic; the actual scenario itself is fairly simple. You literally just have to catch the Football Princess and take back the head.
"So, when the two monsters meet, a deathmatch triggers, and before General Dullahan gets completely destroyed, the simultaneous spawn happens..."
"Sunraku-kun, Sunraku-kun. I feel bad interrupting such a deeply fascinating conversation, but... it looks like our next opponent is that."
That?
Oho, I see... A monster that looks like a female Grim Reaper, holding a sinister scythe, looking perfectly ready to spam some absolute bullshit special attacks... Wait, isn't that just True Quiet!!
『That is a Reaper of human intellect, manifested through the accumulation of death. My children... can you, by human hands, overcome that which was born from humanity?』
"Looks like you guys got lucky! If RNG is on your side, you can knock out one of the prerequisites right here."
Ready your healing potions! Everyone, we're going to heal that thing to death!!
Author's Afterword
We blitzed it down instantly.
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