Chapter 805: December 15th: When in Trouble, Pray to the Gods

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The annihilation of the first wave of the vanguard members challenging the "Smoldering Great Crimson Wings." That information......... did not send shockwaves through Thirdrema.

"Ah, figured as much?"

"Did you know, Katzo-kun?"

"Well, yeah. But I'm sure the other players besides me who have challenged the Smoldering Great Crimson Wings before probably expected this outcome too."

Although the Raid Monster "Smoldering Great Crimson Wings" is classified as a Raid, it is a Raid Monster that could be fought before the conditions for a raid battle were established, a rarity even on the New Continent. (To be precise, one should say it was.)

A certain player leaked information to his acquaintances: "I don't know the conditions, but the Raid Monster at the bottom of the Dead Crater Lake will raise the enhancement tier of Champion's Weapons with its powerful flames." For players who had obtained Champion's Weapons but were stuck with unknown details—such as possessing conditions like "expose it to a great fire" yet seeing no change even when bathing it in a dragon's breath—this information was nothing short of gospel.

With the progression of the World Story, the water in the crater lake was blown away. Although descending down into it took some effort, the need for diving was eliminated, greatly lowering the difficulty of reaching the Smoldering Great Crimson Wings — and that, too, was no small factor.

However, what awaited the players who triumphantly challenged the Smoldering Great Crimson Wings was a monster that fired lasers that pierced through flesh along with their equipment, casually scattered area-of-effect attacks, and showed no signs of pain or itch no matter how much water was dumped on it.

Even so, if they can challenge it, they will. Analyzing the behavior even if they can't win—that is simply a gamer's nature.

"I've fought the Great Crimson Wings a few times while it was in its inactive state, so its combat patterns were pretty much figured out. The uncertain factor was how much it would change when it entered a full-fledged combat state......... But aside from that instant-death beam, it seems almost nothing has changed. I got a message from someone mixed in with the first wave."

The one who heard the information from the First DiscovererSunraku and spread it was none other than OiKatzo.

Naturally, in terms of the number of times he had challenged the Smoldering Great Crimson Wings, he was among the top players. The frontline information shared among the challengers had clarified a certain percentage of the Raid Monster "Smoldering Great Crimson Wings'" full picture.

"That butterfly, to give you the conclusion, is an installation skill—the type you can destroy."

"Huh?"

"Was talking at this level still too early for Pencilgon...?"

"Say lines like that after you're old enough to drink alcohol, kid. Continue?"

"Basically, how should I put it... It's like a living damage hitbox? Or rather, it feels like HP has been assigned to a mass of attack hitboxes that deal damage upon touch, kinda like a fireball ghost."

Whatever its true essence, as a monster, the Smoldering Great Crimson Wings is a "massive lump of heat." In that case, utilizing heat-resistant enhanced equipment, items, accessories, magic, and even skills to the absolute limit to test how much they can endure is something only players—who can die and revive countless times—can do.

What they discovered as a result was:

"That butterfly, it doesn't really have a physical body... If you just do a karate chop, your hand pierces right into its main body."

Although, the hand that pierced it melted in an instant, and the player who attacked it subsequently burst apart from the inside out.

Through such gruesome events, OiKatzo had formulated a certain degree of hypothesis regarding the true nature of the Raid Monster "Smoldering Great Crimson Wings."

"I'm guessing it's probably not the kind of monster you just normally beat up and deal with."

".........How is that okay for a Raid Monster?"

"Can you say the same thing in front of the Unique Monsters?"

At OiKatzo's pointing that out, Pencilgon clamped her mouth shut with an "Ugh." Even just from what they knew:

A mechanical corpse that requires players to survive an endurance battle while forcibly restricted to level 50 and deal with a rush of instant-death moves head-on; a colossal octopus that requires overcoming status alterations distinct from any existing abnormal states; a golden dragon whose overwhelming specs must be crushed head-on while surviving a massive chaotic brawl involving multiple multiplayer-recommended monsters... The Unique Monsters were all entirely composed of entities with gimmicks that made you want to ask, "Is that what 'Unique' means?"

However,

"Even if Unique Monsters are gimmick-based, wouldn't a Raid Monster being a complete gimmick boss be unheard of?"

"Hmm, it's just a 'probably,' but I don't think it's in a state where it can be challenged yet, that thing."

In short, it only becomes a proper battle after fulfilling some sort of condition. That was the conclusion OiKatzo had reached.

"If we just attack it as it is, it's like throwing ourselves into a bonfire. So, I think the real fight starts after we do something to weaken it..."

Overcoming a challenge through disciplined action so that a large group of people doesn't deviate from a prescribed sequence is sometimes mockingly called "Jump Rope," but that in itself is not wrong as a game mechanic. When facing an enemy that is absolutely impossible to defeat alone, dancing off facing the direction of the day after tomorrow by oneself serves no purpose. Therefore, it is not strange at all for there to be "conditions that must be fulfilled before swinging a weapon" when fighting a multiplayer-recommended boss.

And this game is Shangri-La Frontier. It's a game where you solve the mystery of a music player just to defeat a copy of yourself. Narrowing one's vision by only looking at the enemy in front of them is the first step toward drifting away from clearing the game.

"By the way, do you have any brilliant ideas?"

"Praying to the gods, maybe."

Pencilgon, Did you know... OiKatzo grinned, floating a provocative smile as he voiced a strategy that could be the sure-kill method for conquering the Raid Monster "Smoldering Great Crimson Wings."

"You can't start a bonfire on a rainy day."

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Author's Afterword

Praying for the rainYearning [*1]

Love is blind, they always say

A passionate gaze

By the way, in terms of height:

Pencilgon >> OiKatzo >> Sunra-ko

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Translator's Notes

• [1]: The kanji for "praying for rain" (雨乞) is standardly read as "amagoi," but the author uses furigana to force the reading "amekoite." This phonetically mimics "ame, koite" (rain, yearning/longing). Also there's a Senryu (haiku but with emotions and stuff instead of nature) there so I padded a bit.