Chapter 39: First One (Plural)
[Author's Note: This is a fairly important announcement, so I'm putting it here. After many people pointed it out in the comments and I thought it over, I agreed that “PvP in the middle of town is obviously strange.” I want to make major changes to Chapters 33–38, so I'll be stopping updates for a few days. I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.]
In a room within the Rabbit Palace, the residence of Vysache, king of the Vorpal Bunny country of Rabituza—a room granted to the human acknowledged by the king—a gate connecting spaces appears.
Sunraku: “Yes, successful escape! How do you like that, you hardcore bastards! Hahahahahaha!!”
Emul: “I-I’m exhausted, wa…”
Tumbling through as if we’d rolled right in, Emul and I appeared. Once the [Coordinate Transfer Gate] had completely vanished, I finally let out a sigh of relief. When Emul started saying things like “I don’t have enough MP, wa—!” I honestly thought… well, I’m used to doing parkour while being chased by something, but it’s not great for my mental health. Honestly, that was a seriously dangerous situation. Having a threat you know and a threat you don’t know coming at you at the same time is bad for the heart. Pencilgon gave off the vibe that, separate from targeting my Unique, she was scheming something else. I’ll be living the elegant exile life in Rabituza for a while. If at all possible, it’d be a huge help if some piece of news even bigger than a talking Vorpal Bunny made everyone forget about my existence.
Sunraku: “Ahh… PvP really isn’t so bad after all.”
Defeating monsters that could never exist in reality brings an unparalleled sense of accomplishment, but the thrill of outsmarting a player with a person behind them is also hard to give up.
Sunraku: “The time is… noon already.”
Maybe I should log out once and grab a meal. I fling myself onto the bed, lying down and performing a save.
Sunraku: “I’m gonna sleep a bit. When I wake up, Vash… Bro? Boss? Which sounds better? Ah, whatever… I’ll start training seriously.”
Confirming that Emul, sprawled on the floor, waves a hand lazily at me, I log out.
Rakuro: “Now then.”
Replenishing my nutrients with a jelly drink that serves as both hydration and an improvised meal, I open the mail that had, as expected, arrived.
Subject: You got me From: Pencil Warrior To: Sunraku Body: Well, well. Even if they were just Mooks A through D, you sure managed to escape from high-level players. From what I hear, that “Max Firepower” girl from Schwarz Vulf jumped in to help. You know her? Also, there’s something I want to talk about soon, so I’ll call Katzo-kun too and we’ll meet at the Round Table. I’ll set the date later.
The first one is, well, as expected, from Pencil Warrior, Pencilgon. There are a few things in there that catch my attention, but what’s this thing she wants to talk about?
Rakuro: “The fact that she’s deliberately trying to talk outside of Shangri-La Frontier is suspicious…”
More importantly, why is that guy involved too? Tilting my head in confusion, I check the other email. It was from the person in question, Modor Katzo.
Subject: Hey From: Modor Katzo To: Sunraku Body: I got an invitation from Pencil Warrior that positively reeks of scheming. What the hell did you do? It sounds interesting, so I’ll hear her out, but you’re obviously not gonna run, right?
So, some kind of plan devised by Pencilgon, involving the three of us: me, Modor Katzo, and Pencilgon. The suspiciousness level is maxed out—no, maximum—but my curiosity is about the same. With him, who got dragged into this by association, warning me not to run, I can’t really run away now.
Rakuro: “For now, I’ll just reply normally to Katzo…”
And to Pencilgon, I’ll make it read like something bordering on fan mail. Hehehe.
Sunraku: “Alright, good morning.”
Emul: “Good morning, wa!”
Waking up and logging in on the absurdly fluffy bed in Rabituza, I greet Emul casually as I get up. Although a separate problem—my Unique being found out—has surfaced, I did manage to achieve my original goal of updating my landmark for returning from Rabituza to the normal map, so I’ll call it good. With this, I can finally dedicate myself fully to the Unique Scenario. I walk behind the bouncing, hopping Emul, making my way through the corridors of the Rabbit Palace with a warm, fuzzy feeling.
Emul: “This is the arena we Vorpal Bunnies use for training—specifically, practical combat training… We call it the ‘Vorpal Colosseo,’ wa!”
Sunraku: “Hoh.”
I step into the surprisingly spacious arena and look around. It’s a circular colosseum, maybe 20 or 30 meters in diameter. There don’t seem to be any particular obstacles—a straightforward combat field.
Emul: “Dad— ahem! The Boss tells me that here, Sunraku-san is to fight a total of ten monsters, wa!”
Sunraku: “A gauntlet match, huh? Okay.”
Emul: “Shall we begin the challenge right away, wa?”
Sunraku: “Yeah.”
I knew this was a training-type Unique Scenario, but it’s a practical one where you fight monsters, is it? Well, whatever shows up, right now my motivation isn’t the only thing riding high; my tension gauge is up there too. I’m confident I can move better than usual. A grin spreads across my face as I reach for the Marsh Dagger—
Emul: “Ah, you’re not allowed to use anything but ‘Vorpal’ weapons, wa.”
Okay. My momentum was slightly blunted, but that’s not even a restriction. I’m just shifting from safety-first to slightly reckless… Well, I didn’t think from the start that I’d beat all ten in one go. Trial and error, memorizing the monsters’ attack patterns, and then, for sure…
???: “Grrrrrr…”
A beast with jet-black fur, bringing back unpleasant memories. A wolf… or rather, should I call them hounds? The wildness unique to wolves is faint; instead, their perfectly coordinated movements, evoking the discipline of a military unit, make it abundantly clear that this is not a single entity but a gathering of individuals—a pack.
Sunraku: “…This is the first one?”
Emul: “Hai na.”
Sunraku: “…First one…?”
Emul: “Hai na.”
Hmm…
Packhounds: “VAOOOOOOO!!” Packhounds: “Gruff! Gruff!” Packhounds: “GRRRRRR!!”
A rush of jet-black hounds… at a rough glance, more than ten of them. As my movements are sealed and my HP whittled down by hounds clearly specialized in group tactics, the only thought I had was:
Sunraku: “At least call it the first rou— agyaa!”
Unique Scenario “Invitation from Rabituza,” Practical Training Match One. A monster that always spawns in groups of five or more, attacking players while securing a numerical advantage: “Packhound” … Average level: 65.