Chapter 860: Interlude: A Useful Lesson for the World's Fastest

Author's Preface

Please allow me to squeeze in just a short interlude.

"Sensei! Please, I beg of you to teach the secret art to a slowpoke like me───!!"

"........."

Loli Sensei did not possess the hobby of staring at a half-naked bird-head for long periods of time. Therefore, when begging Sensei for teachings, it had become customary to use the Chalice beforehand to change my gender.

Since I was also test-driving Elysion Haute-Couture's masterpiece, "Eternity," from an outside perspective, it looked like a woman in a maid outfit was bowing her head to a little girl wearing a cat-eared hooded pajama (which some idiots probably used a PKK to dress her in).

"........."

Loli Sensei... the fastest NPC, or rather, the strongest Bounty Hunter, Tias. Having snatched the sweets I ordered using her signature ultimate AccelerationDeceleration, "Transcendent SpeedTachyon," Loli Sensei stared at me while munching on a tart.

"The secret art?"

"I, the humble Sunraku, pride myself on being the fastest among the Pioneers. I can also say with confidence that just the other day, I caught a glimpse of what lies even beyond the critical limit..."

"And what about it?"

That strike I executed at critical speed during the Orchestra battle, swinging through lightning, a storm, and something even more dangerous than that storm. At the very least, I am fully aware that I definitively broke my own personal best.

That being said. The LoliTias Sensei right in front of me is the greatest proof that it is not the fastest in the truest sense of the word.

───Transcendent SpeedTachyon.

Even so, it's not like I'm pissed off just because there's an NPC faster than me or anything like that. That sort of thing is entirely up to the whims of the devs anyway.

What's important is whether the current level cap is truly the absolute limit one can reach in this game called "Shangri-La Frontier," and... whether the fastest speed a player can achieve is truly at that critical point.

This game operates on a strangesevere system where simply raising your level and allocating stat points is highly inefficient. Actions lead to the next stage of strength, or simply "knowing" something directly connects to power. It's as if every single movement triggers a flag...

"But I can't catch up to Sensei! Following you with my eyes is the absolute best I can do...!!"

Perhaps thanks to spamming thought-acceleration skills over and over again, I can barely perceive Loli Sensei's movements at normal speed even in a world where Tachyon is applied. But my own movements are operating at 0.75x speed at best; Zeno's paradox operates on the premise of a turn-based system and action limits, and a tortoise can never beat a rabbit that doesn't sleep... though Loli Sensei might just be Achilles.

"Sensei, what on earth should I do...!!"

".........Iwatashi am not particularlybetsu goodtokui at teachingoshi."

"That being said," Loli Sensei tossed the last crumb of the tart into her mouth, lightly hopped off the chair, and stood in front of me. Since she didn't seem to like looking up at me, I gently dropped to my knees.

"That being said, Iwatashi am Sunraku's instructorshidōyaku, so."

You're blowing such a strong senpai breeze a storm warning is going to be issued, Loli Sensei, I swallowed those words with my tenacious rationality. This was a lesson from the fastest little girl in the world; listen respectfully, listen respectfully.

"Sunraku is able to followo mewatashi with his eyesme."

"That's right."

"If you can understandrikai it... the rest is a problemmondai of the body."

"Meaning?"

"……The detailsshōsai are insufficientta. Sunraku cannot imagine the Sunraku who can do it."

This is turning into a philosophy class rather than P.E.

It felt like it was turning into a flow where she might suddenly start saying 'I think, therefore I am,' but if the world's fastest Loli Sensei says so, then white is black and water mixes with oil.

"How do you want to become fasthaya, what do you want to become, what do you want to do... Imaginesōzō the yourselfjibun that can do those things."

"I see... I see?"

"There is no birdtori that doesn't knowshi howkata to flyto... You can never catch upo to a speedhaya you cannot imaginesōzō, no matter how much you runhashi."

"............I see,"

I don't get it at all. I understand that she's telling me I lack imagination, but.........

"Good, as long as you understand."

"Thanks, LoliTias Sensei."

In reality, I understood absolutely nothing, but if I said that out loud, it felt like my affection rating with her would violently plummet, so I decided to roll with having understood it.

……

…………

………………

"So anyway, I tried asking her to predict the next end-game content, but thinking about it again now, I'm starting to feel like I was given the runaround in terms of game mechanics, you know? What do you think, Survival?"

"Did you just casually flex on me about having a one-on-one secret lesson with Tias-tan? Hah!?"

If anything, I'm not flexing right now; I'm collecting a fee.

While flaunting the photoscreenshot of LoliTias Sensei in a cat-eared hooded pajama and accepting the money from Survival, I tossed the question at him, but Survival had a vein popping on his forehead......... though his hands were preparing the cash without hesitation.

"How do I put this, if I start criticizing that part of you, I'll end up cursing you out for a whole day and night, so let's put that aside for now... Seriously, what do you think? Level 150 just feels kind of half-baked, doesn't it?"

"......Well, I get what you're trying to say. But for now, that's the end-game content, so there's nothing you can do about it. Just wait for an update."

"Well, when you say it like that, that's the end of it, but..."

Despite spouting nothing but extreme arguments and twisted logic whenever he opens his mouth, he only spouts sound logic at times like this.

"That being said, Tias-tan probably wasn't saying anything all that complicated either. Skill branching involves actual experience, so there are probably skills that unlock under certain conditions."

"Well, you're right about that~..."

Since "Sunraku" dumps the vast majority of his resources into mobility, his strength lies in being able to constantly maintain a state of acceleration through one thing or another. And naturally, that means possessing a decent number of "speed boosting," "mid-air jumping," and "wall standing" type skills, but... among those, there is one skill that, for some reason, continues to be continuously enhanced by wolf-related words.

"Hmm............ Hey, Survival."

"What is it?"

What I pulled out of my bosom was a treasured screenshot meant to combat the Dress-Up Squad: "Loli Sensei, who thought it would be sweet but found it quite sour, trying her absolute best not to show it on her face but failing to hide it completely."......... I asked him while hiding the majority of it with my hand, giving Survival just a tiny peek.

"How much can you earn in half a day?"

"I'll even bring you a King's head."

"Don't need it. Humans have terrible cash conversion efficiency, right?"

"No doubt about that."

With the assistance of whoever was sealed away inside that crazy katana, I was able to become the fastest wind in the world.

But after all the chaotic fuss, the black lightning was lost......... in a word, I'm not in peak condition.

Then what should I do? I have no choice but to somehow make do with what I have right now.

"If I lost my external lightning, I have no choice but to provide my own, huh?"

Now then......... Just you wait, Elke, it's time for the High Connection gacha.

Author's Afterword

・Treasured Screenshot Series

There are several others, but these are screenshots that have been sealed away out of fear that if they were circulated (primarily among the Dress-Up Squad), social order would drop below zero.