Chapter 777: December 14th: Before the Decisive Battle
Author's Preface
Because it's chapter 777, I tried to pack everything in, which is why it ended up this long.
It's practically three chapters' worth!!
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"Renga-san...... For someone of your caliber, you got a bit too obsessed with Aggro, didn't you."
"Guh........."
"The moment you passed the turn knowing I had 【Evading Extinction】 in hand, you fundamentally lacked lethal, you know. A beatdown that falls short of lethal is practically just giving me card draw. Now then, 【Signs of Re-Prosperity】, I reveal the top four cards of my deck and cheat out the ones that share a race with the Origin placed on top of my graveyard."
"No, I still have a chance to win. Miss, miss, miss........."
"Aaaand, first card 【Gluttonous Giant Serpent】, second card 【Unbalanced Diet Giant Serpent】, third card 【Enormous Serpent of Gluttony】, fourth card 【Great Sovereign Serpent of Ember-Eating】. Since the one in the graveyard is the 【Corpse-Eating Giant Serpent】...... yep, cheating them all out. Do you have any spells? Nah, this is rolling way too high!!"
"I submiiiiit."
"Denieeeeed."
『Unfortunately, without the mutual consent of both parties, a surrender cannot be accepted.』
"Fall into Extinction! Mid-Range Extreme Environment......!!"
"High Roller-shi's...... hatred for Tier 1 decks is...... just too.........!! Gwaaaaah!?"
......
............
..................
This is the "Hidden Side" of the Leviathan's Third Shell Layer. Among the content unlocked only for those who have fully conquered the Leviathan, this is the exclusive salon for Phylogenetic Geoglyph players, where only those who have mastered the game to its utmost limits are permitted to enter.........
Even now, the number of people who have reached this salon can be counted on one hand. But because of that, they are the elite; because of that, they are the select few. The veteran PhyloGeo players gathered here are those who have broken through the 100-man PhyloGeo "Tower" located in the Third Shell Layer 【Playboard】.
The trends born here shape the meta. This very place was becoming the cutting-edge fountainhead of the content known as PhyloGeo.................. up until this very moment today.
"As expected, 【Endangered Species Control】 has a decent shot against 【Mid-Range Extreme Environment】."
"No, a shot that only exists when Extreme Environment makes an Aggro move isn't really a shot, is it? At least 【Mono-Color Dragon Rush】 is better on that level."
Sitting on the luxurious sofas of the salon, two men passionately debated the absolute bleeding edge of PhyloGeo. The name of one was "Renga," the man regarded as the leading authority in PhyloGeo......... and the very first PhyloGeonist to achieve total conquest of the "Tower" among the playerbase. The 【Mid-Range Extreme Environment】 deck he developed was considered the strongest deck in existence, capable of presenting a perfect answer to the six distinct decks currently residing in Tiers 1 through 3......
But then, was "Gokkan" the definitive conclusion in the game of PhyloGeo?......... The answer was no.
The card pool in PhyloGeo is actively synchronized with the types of native organisms that PhyloGeonists actually encounter. In other words, for every unseen monster out there, there is the potential for unseen cards to be born.
If that's the case, then.
".........By the way, Renga-san, have you heard the rumor?"
The other man. "High Roller," a man wearing a smartly tailored suit with an explicit dress code that made him look like anything but a Pioneer forging paths through the unknown, brought up a topic, to which Renga quietly replied.
"If you're talking about that............ Yeah, I'm already aware of it. I mean, I'm the one who spread it."
"Ah, so that's how...... And? What do you think?"
"There's nothing to think about. The fact that Lycaon cards exist, and both Ctarrnid and Siegwurm cards have been confirmed............ means it's going to come out. The card for Goldunine the Inexhaustible......!!"
Goldunine the Inexhaustible. One of the Seven Supreme Species whose true identity had been shrouded in mystery, aside from being connected to "snakes." Information that a decisive battle with this Goldunine was about to take place was steadily spreading across the frontline bases.
The recent invasion by massive snake-type monsters was still fresh in everyone's memories. Though they had overcome the repeated assaults and, perhaps thanks to the fire-support from the reinforced Skull Azuchi, managed to keep the damage to a negligible minimum compared to when Noirlind attacked......... the Crafter Alliance was already advancing the fortification of the frontline base as an interception stronghold in parallel with the construction of the Maritime Guild.
But to the PhyloGeo players, such matters were nothing more than trivialities. No matter how coldly "Isana" glared at them, clicked her tongue, or nagged them............. they were striving to reach the absolute pinnacle of one specific field in this cyber world. To them, the myriad of monsters and demons appearing in this world were nothing more than "a trash event we have no choice but to go watch in order to expand the card pool."
"Goldunine. Its performance will almost certainly be enough to act as the ace for a snake-monster deck, and if it functions perfectly even as a single copy like the other Unique Monsters............"
""The meta will shift.""
The so-called "Mono-Snake" deck, constructed from snake-type monster cards like the "Gluttonous Giant Serpent"—the area boss of the Rampant Forest—was famous for its Solitaire capabilities compared to other single-race decks...... Basically, the synergy between the cards allowed for an endless cycle of continuous field development.
That was proof that the existence of "snakes" in this world possessed a stronger connection than other monsters, or perhaps it was a hint that one might uncover a fragment of the truth of life that even 【Library】 hadn't reached......... but to card gamers, especially those who placed heavy importance on competitive play, their only impression was along the lines of, "The mechanics are complete within its own theme so it has momentum, but it lacks expandability."
"'Isana-san''s glare is starting to get pretty intense. Shall we start acting like proper Pioneers and put in some serious work for a bit?"
"According to the rumors I've heard, Goldunine is apparently going to be an absolutely massive battle of pure numbers."
"Guess we better gather some people then......"
What he pulled out was a wooden board used for writing on the BBS. The destination for his post was......
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【Casual Chat】 PhyloGeo General BBS Part.9 【The Meta is Gokkan】
287: Hiramasa
I got dragged into the PhyloGeo swamp by a friend! Right now I'm using an Aggro Symbiotic Chain! Can I clear the tower with this?
288: Momo-Monja
Impossible. Aggro is guaranteed to get completely walled at 85.
289: The Rusover
Wait, weren't there reports of Aggro breaking through floor 85?
290: Dogou
What kind of deck are you guys recommending to a beginner?
291: Sleepy
No, leaving aside Mid-Range Symbiosis or Symbiotic Control, if they're just going for an Aggro beatdown, there's only one thing they have to focus on doing, so isn't it perfect for beginners?
292: Momo-Monja
When you put it like that, sure.
Well, it's the fate of Aggro to die to 【Breeding Disorder】 type spells anyway.
And floor 85 is an insanely hardcore stall permission deck, so yeah.
293: The Rusover
Which is the mainstream for Symbiotic Aggro right now? The bug variant? Or the dragon variant?
294: Rika Frascon
It increases the kill turns, but definitely the dinosaur variant that guarantees overkill damage slammed in on turn 4.
The bug variant starts swinging early, but in the current meta, the opponent will have enough time to set up their board before you can whittle them down with the Quad.
295: Hiramasa
Mine is Deep Sea Symbiosis.
296: Dogou
Say what?????
297: Sleepy
There it is. The classic PhyloGeo phenomenon: "A guy who excels as a Pioneer suddenly crashes the meta with a totally unknown card pool."
288: Momo-Monja
Wait, isn't Deep Sea that one deck? That absurdly strong deck revolving around a killer whale named Atlantis or something that Renga was using for a while?
It was strong but too unstable, so it ended up just being a meme dream deck.
289: Lavender Veranda
Ah, the one where he was lamenting, "This is fundamentally missing key parts."
He bought the cards from someone, but people were saying that the seller probably hadn't encountered all the monsters needed to complete the Deep Sea combo.
290: Dogou
The killer whale gave insane firepower based on board cost, the anglerfish? gave graveyard sourcing, and the theory was there must be one more to actively mill the graveyard, right?
291: Tap-Pudding
(And the card "Deep Sea Three Kings" has already been discovered, sooo......)
292: The Rusover
Right here, we have an illustration of a giant hermit crab brawling against a killer whale and an anglerfish.
293: Rika Frascon
It's absolutely that guy.
294: Knight Isolated Island Dragon
Well, whether it's the killer whale or the anglerfish, they're chunks of pure violence on their own anyway.
Or rather, the only people who can pull those from packs on their own are the ones who challenged Ctarrnid, so he can probably build a 【Ritual Ctarrnid】 deck.
298: Renga
Ritual Ctarrnid is a great deck. Like how both players lock each other down with permissions so a single match absolutely turns into a grueling quagmire.
299: Momo-Monja
I seriously never want to run into that in PvP.
300: High Roller
The current era belongs to Endangered Species Control!
301: Hiramasa
Unknown deck names are flying around everywhere......
302: Dogou
Beginners only need to remember the meaning of Aggro and Mid-Range. It's basically the timing for when you die or when you kill the opponent.
303: Sleepy
And then there's Extreme Environment.
304: Lavender Veranda
A mid-range control deck that can play aggro (since mostly mutated monsters will set up permissions).
It's straight trash, don't you think????
305: Scorpia
Cue the Scorpion Beatdown.
306: Renga
The absolute strongest overkill damage has arrived, provided it isn't disrupted......
307: High Roller
A deck more fleeting than Endangered Species Control, which gets entirely wiped out the moment Environmental Collapse drops, is a bit......
308: Momo-Monja
Hold up, the salon crowd is here. Did a new meta deck drop or something?
309: Rika Frascon
Because Extreme Environment is basically sitting at the meta's conclusion.
310: Renga
Everyone, I believe the time has come for us to explore a new card pool.
311: Hiramasa
Are the salon crowd the people who cleared the tower?
312: The Rusover
No, they're the ones who fully conquered Leviathan and went to the Third Shell Layer VIP Room on the hidden side.
They're amazing people who actually do proper pioneer work while playing PhyloGeo.
313: High Roller
And despite doing proper pioneer work, Isana's attitude towards us is insanely harsh......
314: Momo-Monja
Well yeah, because you aren't in Leviathan to pioneer, you're pioneering so you can play in Leviathan......
315: Tap-Pudding
The means and the ends have completely swapped.
316: Renga
It's the fate of a PhyloGeonist, so just give up and accept it.
More importantly, have you heard the rumor about Goldunine the Inexhaustible? If that gets turned into a card, won't Mono-Snake Rush become absolutely broken?
317: Dogou
A very natural progression of thought.
318: Lavender Veranda
Can filling in a river to alter its flow truly be called natural?
319: High Roller
Actually, some of the details about Goldunine have already leaked from my sources.
・Spawns massive amounts of trash mobs (that aren't actually trash).
・Transforms poison into weapons and wields them like a Sword Saint.
・Is accompanied by four massive snakes.
Now, let's translate this using our PhyloGeo brains.
320: Knight Isolated Island Dragon
・High-spec token generation.
・Forced battle with additional effects?
・Cheats out four snake monsters from the deck.
The rules of PhyloGeo are going to break.
321: Hiramasa
Does Mono-Snake even run large monsters?
322: The Rusover
It does. To be precise, any mono-race deck can summon a large monster if given 3 turns, and Mono-Snake has top-class Solitaire speed even among them. Depending on its performance, there's a high chance a Unique Monster card could hit the field on turn 3.
323: Renga
Given how absurdly strong the previous Unique Monster cards are on their own, expectations are naturally skyrocketing.
324: Sleepy
The dream meme build known as 【Wethermon Control】.
325: Momo-Monja
I love its ridiculous specs where the moment Wethermon hits the field, over half of your own deck ceases to function.
326: Hiramasa
Doesn't it also impose an upper limit on the specs of the opponent's cards?
327: Rika Frascon
And on top of that, it attacks 3 times a turn and has destruction immunity. If you don't deal with it using spells, you basically can't win.
328: Scorpia
We have no choice but to burn it away with Siegwurm!
329: Dogou
Stop requiring Unique Monsters as a countermeasure for Unique Monsters! You can only run one in a deck, and right now there aren't even any search cards for them!
330: High Roller
But wait just a minute. Goldunine's connection to snake-type monsters has been clearly established. Meaning......?
331: Hiramasa
It can be searched?
332: Renga
What if Mono-Snake Rush, which can only run one copy in a deck...... or to put it another way, what if it could search for a card so broken that having more than one would destroy the game balance?
333: Momo-Monja
BRB, gonna go upgrade my gear.
334: Sleepy
You're gonna need a Healer's power, right?
335: Tap-Pudding
Leave the tanking to me.
336: Rika Frascon
I was just thinking it was about time to improve my relationship with "Isana-chan" anyway, you know?
337: The Rusover
We will end the era of Gokkan. Yes, we are the true revolutionary army......
338: Hiramasa
I just want to play card games, so why am I being dragged back into pioneering......
339: Dogou
Let's show them the true power of card gamers.
──────
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Watching the BBS suddenly regain its passion for pioneering with an indescribable expression on his face, Renga muttered a single word.
"......It's a bit rich coming from the guy who sparked it, but...... so gullible."
"Tell me about it."
Both Renga and High Roller understood. PhyloGeo wasn't just a card game...... It was a god-tier TCG that could be played in parallel with the god-tier game known as "Shangri-La Frontier."
And even though they placed heavy importance on the card game...... they certainly wouldn't hesitate to play ShanFro the way it was originally intended.
A certain player had entrusted news regarding Goldunine to the information diffusion sources they knew. The "outcasts" who had shown no interest in the massive Kingdom Turmoil event were now beginning to move, sensing the presence of a new "turmoil"───
◇◇
Nineshill. Nine hills positioned as if encircling a single basin...... Built upon that foundation, the city featured the "Nine Great Guilds"—the guilds governing the professions that held particularly strong influence within the Einwurf Kingdom—arranged to encircle the central royal castle.
The Fighter Guild, the Swordsman Guild, the Knight Guild, the Magician Guild, the Cleric Guild, the Blacksmith Guild, the Mercenary Guild, the Thief Guild, and......... the Carpenter Guild.
National defense, pioneering, religion, forging, dispatching troops, reconnaissance, and construction. During the dawn of the Kingdom, among the retainers who assisted the first generation of Einwurf, the Carpenter Guild staked its prestige on building the largest inn in the Kingdom: "Glory of the Lion." And now, they were gathered on the top floor, in the "Chamber of the Lion's Apex."
"I know it's a bit weird to say, but you guys really managed to level up and improve your gear in such a short amount of time."
The players gathered here shared a common trait.
They had all sided with the New King Alex in this upcoming battle...... and their goal was to broadcast their actions here to a place outside of this world.
"No, seriously, thank you all again for accepting the invitation this time. Let's do our best out there."
"""Let's do our best."""
The one leading the conversation was a player with the name "Payabusa" hovering over his head. A swordsman...... No, a Sword Saint.
The condition to change jobs to a Sword Saint required a certain number of prize-winning placements in swordsmanship tournaments. Considering the number of tournaments held from the moment he declared his participation in the Kingdom Turmoil up until now...... just how efficiently had he piled up those placements?
Truthfully, a few of those placements were in a gray zone that couldn't be called entirely clean—such as utilizing what were effectively private tournaments populated entirely by his own viewers—but even subtracting those, it was an undeniable fact that he possessed the sheer foundational strength required to reach Sword Saint.
"So, the reason we gathered today is to coordinate our plans for tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah. I'd appreciate it if Apple Pie-san could pass this on to the others as well."
"Ah, sure, I was planning on doing that anyway...... Is it alright if I record this, just in case?"
"Just make absolutely sure it doesn't leak out by mistake, alright〜?"
"Hahaha, I'll be sure to sternly warn the others too."
Responding to Payabusa's playful tone with a smile, "Apple Pie @ GGMC"—who had come here as the representative of the streamer group "GUN! GUN! Mercenary Corps"—activated his recording item.
This gathering was for the final confirmation of the grand event envisioned by the Streamer Alliance, now rebranded as the "Streamer Frontline". There were several reasons why they had intentionally sided with the New King.
The first was simply the balance of military power. Even they understood which side held the "justice" generally accepted by society. It was self-evident that if the New King's faction won as things were, it would spark friction with the New Continent. However, they intentionally sided with the New King specifically to balance the scales of power.
If the conflict was settled in the early stages of the event, there would be very little profit for them as streamers. Therefore, if they—who brought their viewers and fans along with them simply by declaring their faction—made a move, the military power would equalize to some extent......... or perhaps, it would skew exactly as they planned.
The second reason......... was to increase the number of players participating in this event. As mentioned before, justice in this battle lay with the Former King's faction. At the very least, according to the values of modern Japan—and by extension, Earth—the New King's faction, which was considering armed intervention on the New Continent, would be categorized as the "evil" side. Although the Streamer Frontline had publicly stated, "ShanFro is a god-tier game, so we might even be able to persuade the New King," there was naturally a segment of their fanbase who emotionally couldn't bring themselves to join the New King's side. Because of that, the Streamer Frontline had simultaneously declared, "We more than welcome you turning against us! We'll face you with everything we've got!"
What would this cause?...... An increase in viewership ratings. Streamers broadcasted their gameplay in real-time, but at the same time, they left those live streams up as videos. Ads could be attached to videos, meaning ad revenue would be generated. Put simply, the reason was money, but that didn't mean it was their primary goal. It was merely one of the reasons.
And the third reason. That came from their prior investigation into the players who had sided with the Former King's faction. As far as was known, the vast majority of players who had expanded their sphere of activity to the New Continent had clearly sided with the Former King.
To name some of the famous ones among them: "Black Sword," which had shown even further rapid progress since splitting the clan...... the Sword Saint Hero Psyger-100. The star of the muscleheads, Massive Dynamite. The leader of the largest lore-investigating player clan 【Library】, The Professor...... There were many other players sided with the Former King whose names at least one in ten people would recognize. And above all......... the Streamer Frontline believed it was highly likely that the most famous player in the game Shangri-La Frontier, for better or worse, had sided with the Former King's faction.
His name was "Sunraku." The man—or woman—currently standing at the absolute forefront of this world, conquering ShanFro's flagship content, the Unique Monsters, with surging momentum (Even if it was a female avatar, one would think their true identity would be clear from their voice, but for some reason, rumors were spreading for both genders).
Famous players, to a greater or lesser extent, looked good on screen. And if you appeared on the same screen as someone with such screen presence, even a random mob would gain a bit of prestige. And what if it was on your own stream? That would lead to more views, and above all...... it would generate massive hype.
"Well, there's no point in us all clumping together, so shall we review our placements for the day of the event?"
"As we've been saying from the start, we'll be assaulting Thirdrema. Well, it looks like the citizens ended up evacuating, but...... the general consensus is that going full military in a fantasy world doesn't sound half bad."
Though they all inwardly recoiled a bit at his words—which heavily implied that having citizens around would have been fantastic—no one reprimanded him. Even if they held no ill will, even if they were fighting for the same faction, they were ultimately different people running different channels. Even if a stream got banned or a video got deleted, they might feel sympathy, but there was nothing they could do about it anyway.
"Ah...... And next, Kaisoku-san is......"
"As discussed beforehand, I'll be advancing from Thirteend towards Thirdrema while engaging in PvP."
"Ah, me too."
"Karintou-san is also aiming for Thirdrema...... and then, my buddy Garunose is an attacker, and I'm playing skirmisher, so...... Man, what is this magnificent full-attack formation?"
That said, it wasn't a bad plan. To begin with, the New King's faction had "him." Given how demonically strong he was, whatever AI they had installed in him meant the danger of the New King's life being threatened was incredibly low.
And besides, going on the offensive looked much better on stream than playing defense and acting as a fixed camera.
"Well, to be blunt, we aren't planning on completely dominating the entire faction or anything. If we win, we'll figure it out then. For now, should we practice our villainous death cries just in case we lose?"
"......Stop saying such depressing things before it even starts."
The one who rebuked Payabusa for bringing up post-defeat procedures before the war had even begun was Garunose, who had left the talking to Payabusa and barely spoken until now.
"We gathered here for the sake of generating hype in the first place. You can move however you want, or even do impromptu collabs...... But if we're going to do this, you obviously want to win, right?"
"Well, yeah."
"If the New King's faction wins...... well, it'll lead to a rather undesirable situation, but that in itself will serve as the intro for the next long arc. It'll give our viewers a reason to accept playing ShanFro sustainably moving forward......"
A brief silence fell.
"Ah, sorry, sorry! When Garunose's tongue starts spinning, he's the type to start spinning a potter's wheel too...... Anyway! Let's do our best on the day of the event!" [*1]
......
............
As everyone else logged out or left to gather materials and pick up their commissioned gear in preparation for the final battle, only Payabusa and Garunose remained.
That didn't mean the two of them were hiding something from the others. It was just idle chatter, albeit slightly on the private side. But just as they were running out of things to talk about, Payabusa finally dropped the question.
"......So, about that thing...... Are you seriously gonna do it?"
"Yeah...... I'm doing it."
"Man, I said this before, but...... Isn't it a bad idea? It's gonna cause a total flame war, you know."
"I'll just cut the stream and put on a mask or something."
"No, just hiding your identity isn't the point........."
"Payabusa."
"Yes, Payabusa here."
"The roots of this issue run incredibly deep. Incredibly deep......"
No matter how anyone tried to persuade him, he had no intention of changing his mind—Garunose's expression brimmed with that kind of "resolve." Seeing this, his partner Payabusa made a sour face at these "roots" that hadn't even been revealed to him, but offered one final remark.
"I'm not helping with the apology video, you know."
"When that time comes, I'll do a triple-axel backflip dogeza or whatever it takes."
"Sorry, correction: I will gladly be your cameraman."
◇◇◇
If the "Streamer Frontline" aimed to create a "massive wave" by dropping themselves as a massive stone into the great surface of the water known as the game.
"Now then, tomorrow is finally the big day, my dear members of the RPA!"
They were a "bomb." Carefully adjusting their power, range, and timing, they would exert maximum effort to trigger the maximum explosion.
That was the goal of the "RPA"...... the Red Pencil Agency, spearheaded by Arthur Pencilgon.
They were continuously gathering real-time intelligence on the declarations made by the Streamer Alliance, now rebranded as the Streamer Frontline. And thanks to reports from spies planted in various locations, they knew the Streamer Frontline side hadn't formulated any significant strategies.
"The enemy has no plan! Therefore, there are no enemies for us who do have a plan!!"
"""Comrade! Comrade Pencilgon!!"""
"Do you want a country—!"
"""Oooh!"""
"We are the beloved subordinates of Thirdrema, so that's a no-go! Do you want prime real estate instead—!!"
"""""Oooooooooh!!"""""
There were those who wanted to hype things up, and those who wanted to get hyped. As such, their voltage continued to rise endlessly, even on the eve of the decisive battle.
"The enemy is the 'Streamer Frontline'! Have you ever watched the PayaGaru Channel? Have you ever continuously watched Karintou's all-nighter streams for hours on end? Have you ever challenged Kaisaki-san's viewer-participation 100-man kumite? Have any of you matched against GGMC? But we will kill them! We will end them! If they say they don't want to lick the dirt, we'll cram it into their mouths along with ketchup and mayonnaise—!!"
"Comrade! Is wasabi okay!?"
"I'll allow Bhut Jolokia!"
"Phew! The compromise is an instant-kill, Comrade!!"
"Blood! I wanna see streamer blood—!!"
"Win out there and demand a blood-donation stream!"
Everyone was spewing out completely unhinged statements. No matter how you misheard it, these were not the words of the good guys...... but that was perfectly fine.
The RPA...... or rather, those who were once known as the Pencil Dynasty, had no desire to become shining heroes. The desire to indulge in lakes of wine and forests of meat impossible in real life, the desire to look down on the masses from a high-class position of status and honor, the desire to stand above others in an MMO rather than just silently clearing content in a solo game...... The Pencil Warrior affirmed all of those "impulses that one doesn't intend to show publicly, and finds no pain in hiding, but simply cannot throw away."
The time spent on games would never exceed the total span of one's life. Therefore, there was no need to be as cautious as one would be when navigating life itself.
Live having fun, and die having fun. If you could even add flair to the moment of your death, there was absolutely no reason to hesitate to do so in a game where you could live and die over and over again.
"We don't need any more meetings! You've all got the plan drilled into your heads, right? Theeeen! Just throw in some ad-libbing in moderation and let's go overthrow a kingdom! As long as we're waving Thirdrema's flag, we'll still be heroes even if we strike down a hundred men! Yay for just causes!!"
""""Ooooooooooooooooooooooh!!!!""""
The Streamer Frontline and the Red Pencil Agency shared the exact same roots. All to push their "egos" through exactly as they pleased for the sake of having fun...... As the proxies for the Twin Kings, the moment of their clash was just around the corner.
......
............
"......So, regarding 【Wolfgang】's movements on the day of the event, yeah?"
"Wait, are we really doing this while maintaining the vibe of an evil organization's rally right before they get entirely wiped out? Could you please stop trying to drag us into your evil organization too?"
"Silence, Katzo-kun. I am the Special Advisor of Thirdrema, you hear? Meaning, I am Justice."
"Then justice is officially dead."
"Excuse me! What are we doing on the day of the event?"
"Right, Akitsu Akane-chan. There's about two people whose current whereabouts are completely unknown, but I have a favor to ask of the good kids who actually showed up〜."
◆
"Nyan nyan."
"Huh?"
"Well, it's a Kingdom of Cats, right? So I figured we ought to wear them, right........."
I have absolutely zero idea who the target demographic is for those cat ear accessories you just handed me, but I'm not using them.
Just as we were about to arrive at Catzeria, Deep Slaughter suddenly put on cat ears and started acting cutesy, demanding a cat-ear call-and-response. I completely ignored her...... but things are starting to look grim.
"Come on, don't be so stiff, Sunraku."
"Whoa, these actually have a subtle auditory enhancement effect...... even though they're fake ears?"
"Hahaha, I never have the time to wear cat ears in real life, so this feels pretty fresh."
For some inexplicable reason, the other three—who should all be well past that age—are completely on board with the cat ears. It's a little hard for me to call out Overwerke right now, so I'd really appreciate it if they could give me a break.
"............"
"......Come on, nyan nyan?"
Wait, is this a situation where I absolutely have to do it? I really, really don't want to...... No, it's not the act of putting on cat ears, but showing it to Deep Slaughter, who is smirking immensely right now, feels less like embarrassment and more like...... anxiety? I feel like it'll be used for something weird. Hey, don't you dare try to record this!!
"Fine, I'll do it then!!"
Equipping Reverberating Nether True Canon: Migratory Bird, and putting on the cat ears......
"I'll do an impression of a black-tailed gull."
"Black-tailed gulls don't have blazing faces."
"And I'm pretty sure they usually have two eyes as a matter of common sense."
"That head gear is from Orchestra, right? How many all-nighters did you pull?"
"Myaaaaaaghkkkkkkkkhhh!!!!"
"It looks like vomit trying to mimic a cat."
"It sounds like the cry of a crow that went insane after despairing at everything in this world."
"My junior at work who ruined his health and quit the company made a sound exactly like that."
Hey you bastards, stop coming up with insults a normal person would never hear in their entire lifetime. I'm not even going to point out Overwerke anymore! It was just a cute black-tailed gull impression!!
"Looking good, Sunraku-kuuuun! Now let's see you do the panther pose!!"
"Do you have silvervine shoved in your brain?"
Just a little further until Catzeria.
Translator's Notes
- [1] Spinning a potter's wheel: Japanese internet slang describing the hand gestures tech/creative industry people frequently use when speaking passionately about their work.
Comments
long ass chapter
but srsly the chapter update are soo slow now in the official site what happened to him. is it just due to the work being occupied due to the anime and manga? or health issues?
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