Chapter 31: People Fly, Rabbits Leap

Sunraku: "Guoh……… Owaaaaaaaa!?"

Humans lack wings, and thus humans use various means to fly. And if you ask about the difference between "fly" and "jump," it comes down to whether or not you have the power to keep yourself suspended in the air under your own strength... Right now, I’m in a state of being sent flying that doesn’t even qualify as jumping.

(My HP is... Whoa, it’s barely gone!)

I was sure I’d died the moment I got launched, but it seems the real purpose of this attack is death by fall damage... a death by falling.

(That is way too sadistic...!!)

This attack is more malicious than getting chewed up by those fangs! Whoever designed this boss absolutely has a rotten personality, I can say that for certain. More importantly, what do I do now? I’ve been launched so high that I actually have time to think, but the point where I next make contact with the ground will be my grave.

(Think... What do I do!? I really don’t want to die from falling! No, but this isn’t a problem I can solve with player skill or magic...)

Magic. There is one other creature here who can use it. Just before my body finally reaches the limit of its rebellion against gravity and starts to fall, I look down. Far below, I can make out white, brown, and the vivid colors of clothing... Emul is safe. It seems that bastard boss isn’t the type to follow up with a combo after launching me. Ah, damn it, shut out the unnecessary thoughts. The shortest, fastest, optimal action... What to do? The moment I take damage, I’ll burst into polygons. I haven’t tested it, but falling from the height of four or five stories with no countermeasures—there’s no need to even think about it. This is an impossible game... No, if I’m going to reflect and regret, I’ll do it after respawning. For now, just struggle! Desperately racking my brain while trying not to think about the unnecessarily realistic sensation of falling. What I need to deal with is fall damage. Avoid getting slammed into the ground? Reduce the damage even if I do get slammed? Damn it, both are impossible.

Borrow Emul's power? I don't know how versatile Coordinate Transfer is; if it requires advance preparation, I’m doomed, and at worst I’ll end up falling right on top of Emul. What about having her blast my falling body from the side with Magic Edge? ...Normally, I’d just burst from the magic damage plus the fall damage. Rejected!

(Ah, I guess this is checkmate.)

This really is hopeless. Next time I try, I’ll have to come up with either a fall countermeasure or a countermeasure for the attack. Within this fall that’s less than ten seconds long, I’ve reached the conclusion that no method of dealing with it exists. The least I can do is steel myself for the impact of the fall...

Sunraku: "............Aaaah."

I’ve just never been able to get used to death by falling in games, ever since way back. In full-dive, if your vision just blacks out while you keep falling, that’s still merciful. There was also the kind where a sensation of electric current runs through your whole body, all senses disappear at once... and then respawn. Come to think of it, that game got banned. It’s sleeping on a shelf at my place.

Sunraku: "......Aaaaaaah......!"

Anyway, I get the feeling that attack won’t hit me if I’m out of the mud swamp. As I thought, even though I called myself an efficiency nut, I’m the one at fault for butting in half-heartedly. Next time, without restraint or mercy, I’ll just cheese it from long range with Emul’s magic.

Emul: "Behold my Vorpal Spirit!!"

Sunraku: "Nnwo!?"

Emul: "Magic Scroll [Apport]!!"

The scenery switches. A floating sensation different from the seconds-long fall, and a fluffy warmth around my waist. The next instant, the position of the clouds flowing above me shifts. Not teleport? Emul leaped onto me as I was falling? More importantly, where exactly...? The next instant, a shock runs through my whole body. But it’s different from the fall damage I’d anticipated—or rather, considering it’s a swamp, it’s strangely rough...

Mud Digger: "GISHYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?"

Mud spray devastates the swamp like a wave. This isn’t a player falling from above to below... My collision, transformed from a high-altitude fall utilizing its energy into an attack—a charge against a monster with full readiness for the recoil—switches the damage judgment’s content from "falling" to "recoil." At this moment I had no way of knowing, but there exists a skill called "Meteor Fall" that operates on the exact same principle, activating in a state just like the one I was in. And physics calculations that are processed as a skill also apply to phenomena resembling it. Or rather, aside from special skills, most skills have as their new-acquisition trigger performing a movement close to that skill along with reaching a certain level (see instruction manual).

And this is just my personal opinion, but Mud Digger—who had nailed me with an instant-death attack and was leisurely swimming around afterward—had its landing point set by Emul, and thus couldn’t even evade properly as my "make-believe Meteor Fall" hit home. Both our HPs were shaved away, polygons scattering spectacularly. An attack reversal, a damage type switch, a lucky activation judgment... Everything mixed together in a complex mess, dissolved, sorted out, and then a conclusion was reached.

Sunraku: "...Hey, Emul."

Emul: "Uhyah... I thought I was going to die, wa... What is it, wa?"

Sunraku: "You’re the absolute best, wa."

Emul: "D-Don’t copy my speech pattern, wa!?"

Just like when I fought that black wolf, I’m left at death’s door with 1 HP... but the ones who survived were us.

I owe Emul so much I can't even sleep with my feet pointing toward her, wa. [Author's Note:] Magic Scroll [Apport] designates coordinates within five meters of the caster at the instant it is activated, then instantly moves the caster from the activation point to those designated coordinates.