Chapter 748: Setting Sun Part 2
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Ougasei... or rather, Ayaori Mao, was simply acting purely on instinct.
Yes, she was acting purely to force the situation into a development that matched her tastes.
It wasn't some highly advanced, wicked scheme to manipulate everything in the palm of her hand, like a certain Special Advisor of Thirdrema or the leader of an anti-royalist resistance. She believed, completely without foundation, that if she acted out developments similar to or identical to her real-world "hobby" outside the game, things would naturally proceed according to her preferences. It was merely a childish, or perhaps pure, wishful observation.
Ayaori Mao loves Western movies. Strictly speaking, she especially loves action movies featuring macho men, explosions, heavy firearms, and ultimate bare-fisted brawls at the climax. And, as evidenced by her using the heavily muscled avatar named Ougasei in a Full-Dive VR game, she is a player who managed to reach the New Continent through a playstyle centered around imitating her idolized Hollywood star (or rather, the characters he plays) in-game.
For Ougasei, the situation of "squabbling with other powerhouses alongside a young girl, only to ultimately cooperate to fight a mighty enemy" was an absolute bullseye of a scenario for a lover of Hollywood action movies.
Being identical existences, or which clone number they were—she couldn't care less about those things. As long as they moved like in a movie, it would surely all work out somehow.
"In other words, right now is the preparation period before the climax!"
"SayinG incomPrehensible thinGs aGain..."
Looking at Ougasei behaving like that, what would the "Bad Guys" think?
Foolishness? Arrogance? Shallow thinking?
The answer is simple.
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"aMPHI, if puSh comes to sHove, sweEp them aWAY."
At the very least, she had absolutely zero intention of trusting them entirely. The Goldunine "Ojou" issued a simple, conditional slaughter command to her kin, the twin-headed giant serpent.
A temporary ceasefire alliance consisting of the other Goldunines, proposed by Sunraku with the goal of opposing that specific Goldunine. However, not only had Sunraku, who was supposed to stand as the leader of this alliance, barely logged in under the excuse of studying for tests, but Ougasei, who had started acting as a "mediator" in his stead, presented an overly sweet outlook—a half-emotional, half-guts-based logic topped with a mountain of optimism.
For "Ojou," who didn't even place complete trust in her own cooperator Shiyu, such an outlook was completely out of the question...
"Ojou-sama, I have secured an escape route. Even if it escalates into a battle, if I buy time, Amphi's mobility should allow us to escape entirely."
"HmPH..."
"Ah, I'm truly sorry, Ojou-sama. Just for now, a little..."
A rejection packed to the absolute limit with apologetic sentiment toward the high heel "Ojou" swiftly thrust out (purchased at the frontline base; this haughty snake had uncharacteristically taken a liking to them). To put it simply, even Shiyu, who harbored emotions exceeding reality toward a mere NPC, drew the final line at showing such behavior to Ougasei, who was at most a middle schooler or younger.
"wEll, that's finE. sO... tHat... nO, are thOse humans stIll nOt herE yeT?"
"I-It appears so... Th-That is, according to him, contact has been established, but..."
However, while continuing to direct his gaze at Ojou's high heel, Shiyu recalled what Ougasei had proudly boasted about earlier.
"Was there not one more group coming?"
"hoW long are you keepIng your head doWN?"
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───Too slow.
It had already been fifteen minutes since Sunraku's mail saying "Heading there on foot." While it was a somewhat tolerable amount of time in real life, when considered as time spent waiting inside a game, it was a rather unbearable stretch.
As one might expect, Ougasei's patience was reaching its limit... Not her patience with anger, but her patience with waiting.
"Nine-chan!"
"wHat is it."
"I'll go meet them!"
"hAh!?"
I see, thinking about it carefully, since we're meeting in the middle of a Sea of Trees like this, being a little late is perfectly natural. It was because of that other person's earnest request that this gathering was set dead-center in the Sea of Trees, but since she was the one taking the initiative, she had to act in a manner befitting that role.
To put it another way... Right now, she was the "Squad Leader" of the Goldunine Squad, or the "Class Representative" of the Goldunine Class.
"Doing nothing is just lacking common sense, right!!"
But she did not understand.
Even if she was well-versed in action movies, precisely because she only looked at the flashy visuals and the exploits of the lead actors, there was a certain "trope" she was completely ignorant of. It's fine for the main characters of action movies; when they do it, they act as a "One-Man Army."
───As Ougasei walked around the vicinity of the meeting point searching for Sunraku and the others, she noticed the grass rustling with a rustle.
"...aRa?"
"Oh, you're..."
Ougasei did not know.
She did not know that taking careless action entirely alone is generally referred to by the public as a "Death Flag."
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"The person who called us isn't even here?"
"shE went lookIng fOr yoU guYs."
"How can such a cliché miss-timing actually happen..."
Since I couldn't exactly show them Wimp rolled up in a bamboo mat, I undid the mat right before arriving and managed to make Wimp look somewhat passably dignified before joining up, but......... for some reason, Ougasei, who had been taking the initiative even more than the original planner (me), was nowhere to be seen. In response to my question, Ougasei's partnered Goldunine... Nine? was it... answered with half-open eyes while keeping her distance from me, explaining the reason for her absence.
I see, in that case, it's better not to move around carelessly. Even if she is technically a New Continent player, an elementary schooler is only fragile in real life. Katzo once mentioned that the existence of an elementary schooler given a "body" in the form of a game avatar is actually something you really shouldn't underestimate.
Usually, when you almost lose to someone lower-ranked, you tend to over-praise them to compensate, don't you, Katzo-kun.
"Well then... Yo, Shiyu-shi."
A silent bow; so you have no intention of talking? Very well, I'll pry that silence open!!
Hmm, ah-ah, hnnngh! Deep Slaughter said, "It's important to strongly visualize that it was originally that kind of voice," but since I'm not a pervert, I can't use some perverted technique to completely change my voice into someone else's... but I can do this.
"Kok-kok-kok-kok-kok..."
"...?"
The moment I turn my neck to point only my face toward Shiyu-shi, I swap the bird head I'm currently using for the Salmon Head from my Inventoria!!
"Kokeeeeh!!"
"Bufuh!!"
A realistic chicken call blasting out of a salmon head. The Sunraku-style one-shot gag needs no second strike... A single shot is everything.
"So? What was the name of the Ojou-san over there again?"
"............"
Kuh, as expected, I don't have any Anti-Goldunine one-shot gags prepared... I tested it a few times against Wimp, but whether there's a fundamental gap in their sense of humor or sensibilities, surreal gags generally don't work, and since they're ignorant of human culture, Rakugo-style storytelling jokes are useless too.
Now, what should I do...
"...You,"
"Hm?"
"You... what do you, um, plan to do by partnering with her?"
"Hah?"
I inadvertently tilt my head at Shiyu-shi suddenly opening his mouth to ask a question that was a bit too abstract. But Shiyu-shi's gaze was completely serious; it didn't seem like mere roleplay either...
"What do I plan to do, huh..."
It was at that moment.
"Ah, you properly arrived! Did we miss each other?"
"ougaseI, where diD you........."
Seeing the figure of Ougasei emerging from the grass with a smug look on her face, everyone present froze... No, wait, that's not it. Shiyu-shi hasn't noticed, the "Goldunines" have noticed.
I see, am I the only one who knows?
".........As for what I plan to do, Shiyu."
"Eh?"
The twin-headed serpent next to Shiyu and Ojou channels strength through its entire body and raises its heads. The overly long sleeves hiding the hands of Nine, Ougasei's partner, display abnormal movements, as if she has something concealed inside them.
And then, Wimp's figure suddenly vanishes... No, wait, the fangs and open maw I saw for just a split second indicate that Sammy-chan-san, in complete stealth mode, swallowed Wimp whole to conceal her.
"Partnering with Wimp was just a matter of circumstances. My original goal was always only one thing."
A smiling white girl emerges from behind Ougasei. Radiating an aura of absolute, irrepressible joy, she licks her lips as she surveys the snakes gathered here with an expression that says she finds this truly, truly delightful.
───The ground shook.
"Is this supposed to be a surprise? Bring it on, do you think I'd falter from a mere ambush?"
"...fuF, FUFUFUFuh."
That girl is "Goldunine."
Perhaps Ougasei made a fatal misunderstanding. Believing that the "enemy" Nine and Wimp must fight would surely have a much more terrifying appearance.
Believing that she was an "ally" with the same cute appearance as Nine or Wimp. I won't call Ougasei a war criminal; if I do, then I, who arbitrarily assumed they wouldn't launch an attack from their side regardless, would be just as much of a war criminal.
Ah, that's right. Wasn't it the same with Lycaon? What the hell was I misunderstanding?
Because Wethermon was like that.
Because Ctarrnid was like that.
Because Siegwurm was close to that.
Because Orchestra was like that.
Because I treated Vysache as an NPC.
That Unique Monsters are something you go out of your way to challenge—such a fatal misunderstanding.
She laughs. Amidst the earthquake-like tremors, the woman laughs against the backdrop of dirt and giant trees being thrust upwards by an upheaval directly from below.
"nOw, sHall we murder? everything, everything... tHat is At lEast mY onLy bIt of kindneSs."
Tearing through the earth, a Dragon Serpent so massive you have to look up at it appears; as its nictitating membranes slide open, the overwhelming killing intent dwelling within the serpent's eyes rains down.
Amidst a Sea of Trees that had begun a catastrophic collapse, the Unique Monster "Goldunine the Inexhaustible" smiled, and laughed.
The sun is setting.
Author's Afterword
There is no escaping resignation and despair
On the upcoming Friday, October 16, 2020, Volume 1 of the materialized comic adaptation "Shangri-La Frontier ~Kusoge Hunter, Kamige ni Idoman to su~" by Ryosuke Fuji-sensei will finally go on sale!
There will also be a "Special Edition Expansion Pass" released simultaneously featuring a newly written novel (which I had to cut down by about 5,000 characters because I misunderstood the character limit), so please be sure to pick it up!!
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