Chapter 109: Winning Is All That Matters: Counter
Five wins, two draws, three losses. On paper, it's a fairly close contest. But if you just look at the results... well, you could call it a complete victory. And they seem to understand that, too. Watching them tremble as they hold back their surging emotions is truly a pleasant sight.
Sunraku: "Haaah... Feels like I'm guzzling the sweet nectar of victory straight from a two-liter bottle... wa."
Rust: "Grrrr..."
Mold: "Now, now..."
The concept of "fair and square" doesn't exist for Fiddler Crab. It runs. It hides. Surprise attacks, immobilization, one-hit kills... Against builds designed for head-on combat, it achieves extraordinarily high results. Put another way, if you keep your distance, it's just a crab. But in that case, I'll just play hide-and-seek and assassinate you... Ah, sensor-heavy builds are a no-go! They'll sniff me out!
Rust: "Getting caught means instant death... That's way too trash-gamey..."
Sunraku: "Hahaha. If it were a true trash game, you wouldn't be allowed to exist unless you're a long-range build, thanks to a fully-fixed AMR rapid-fire bug."
Rust: "Fully... what?"
Sunraku: "That's a world you're better off not knowing about..."
After all, there are as many trash games—games so riddled with bugs that they shut down, leaving behind only offline remnants to recall past atrocities—as there are... well, maybe not as many as the stars, but at least as many as the eggs a sunfish lays in one go. There was even a game where you rapid-fired an anti-materiel rifle that never lost its aim while fully locked in place in midair. A quick-draw showdown with anti-materiel rifles from ultra-long range—it was so novel and fun, honestly. Can't help but feel the weight of impermanence and karma. Was the debugger taking a nap or something?
Sunraku: "Ten matches ought to be enough."
Rust: "It's frustrating, but... I admit Crimson Wing Union lost. But I'll win next time. Tomorrow, even..."
Sunraku: "Ah... who knows. I might be back on my main game by tomorrow."
Rust: "A rematch... what did you say?"
Having pulled ahead of the absolute champion, Crimson Wing Union—and with a build, the "Fiddler Crab dual-legs," simple enough for any pilot with a decent level of skill to imitate without much trouble—the birth of a new archetype. Will others copy it? Will they steal the "Kings Gambit type" as a counter? Or will they build a counter to Kings Gambit? As the playerbase suddenly stirs to life, Rust freezes at the words I've spoken.
Rust: "So... you mean... you won't be coming back?"
Sunraku: "Who knows? I might drop in once in a while. But the main reason I picked this game back up was just a change of pace... So, at most, maybe once a month."
Rust: "That... is not good. Not good at all."
Sunraku: "Whoa!?"
Mold: "H-Hey, Rust!"
Grab. With a strength you'd never guess from her small avatar, Rust seizes my avatar by the chest and yanks me close. Mold hurriedly tries to pull her off me, but Rust ignores him and speaks.
Rust: "Sunraku. Just because you came back, NephHolo has become so lively. I'm sure... if you keep playing... NephHolo will become even more fun... So... you should keep playing NephHolo... Please. Keep playing."
She's improvising her persuasion, so it's halting and awkward. But her eyes are dead serious. And surprisingly, Mold—who's trying to stop her—is also looking at me with expectant eyes. That said, honestly, I don't have the motivation to keep playing this game regularly. I think it's a fun game. I actually do enjoy it. But there's a difference between "a fun game I want to play every day" and "a fun game that's best enjoyed once in a while."
Sunraku: "Still, though... originally, this was just to vent my frustration over finding a robot in SLF but not being able to pilot it..."
Rust: "...In SLF? A robot? Did you just say robot?"
Sunraku: "Huh?"
The hands gripping my chest tighten even more than before. Rust's eyes are gleaming—not with the light of "a player who loves Nephilim Hollow," but with something else entirely. This is... yeah, the light of a Shangri-La Frontier player. The instant I realize that, I curse my own carelessness.
Sunraku: "N-No, I want you to forget that—I mean, pretend you didn't hear it—"
Rust: "I played Shangri-La Frontier too. But... no matter how long I waited, there was never any clue about robots... So I quit..."
Sunraku: "Hahaha... that's... unfortunate..."
Rust: "So, I'm extremely interested in what you just said...!"
Well, this has turned into a mess. To be blunt, I have no obligation or debt to grant any of Rust's requests. However, if asked whether I can refuse without causing any ripples... without the silver tongue Pencilgon has—boosted by nitro and all—it's a heavy burden for me. Depending on the game, I'm perfectly capable of PK-ing, but I don't really want to do anything that'll create that kind of hostility in this game. Our interaction hasn't even lasted a full day, but the people in this game—judging not by personality but by nature—have a lot of good folks. It's not a trash game, and I can't say I have no desire to keep playing. But still, I want to focus on SLF, the game I'm most seriously into right now. As a result, I was racking my brains for a way to dodge the topic... until the very next moment, when Rust drops a nuclear-bomb-level statement that obliterates all my thoughts.
Rust: "If you'll keep playing NephHolo from now on... and if you'll tell me about the robot in SLF..."
To hear these words in a robot game—not even in SLF itself—is something even Pencilgon, who schemes at the level of predicting the future, could never imagine.
Rust: "...I could tell you about the Unique Monster 'Ctarnidd of the Abyss' and the Unique Scenario connected to it."
Seven jokers in SLF. One gone, six remaining. I'm holding one of those. And now, the existence of a third joker has suddenly materialized before my eyes.
Sunraku: "...So, how did it come to this?"
The next day. I am now in the field known as "Ground Zero." Standing in the ruins of the city where the very first Nephilim fell, I mutter that while sitting inside Fiddler Crab. No, I know the reason perfectly well. But I still can't stop myself from muttering.
Rust: "Tomorrow morning, fight me again. If I win, you keep playing NephHolo."
And on top of that, if I beat her, she'll disclose information about a Unique Monster. Hearing that, there's no way I can refuse. It was an unexpected surprise, beyond all expectations. I never imagined a Unique Monster's name would come up in a place like this. "Ctarnidd of the Abyss"—I'm sure that name was already known. It's a name that evokes some indescribable madness. But if it's a Unique Monster, whether you want to challenge it or just find it, nothing starts unless you raise the flag for a Bonus Unique Scenario. Honestly, from the standpoint of credibility, I can't completely shake the suspicion. But I don't see why she'd go out of her way to specify Ctarnidd of the Abyss. And since this was originally like searching for a contact lens in the dark, it's worth knowing.
Sunraku: "She said she'd come with a new machine. For now, let's confirm what kind of build it is..."
The next instant, impact slams into Fiddler Crab's right arm. The arm—ball joint, shoulder, and all—is gouged clean through and blown off. Instantly, I activate Optical Camouflage and Jamming Sensor. Scanning the area, I use rubble as a shield to retreat from that spot—
Sunraku: "Unooooh!?"
More bullets rain down. One strikes my left Jet Leg directly, causing my mobility to plummet. I switch to Float Legs and flee again. But no matter where I hide, no matter how I vanish, the bullets target me with pinpoint accuracy. And when a round—fired through the gaps between buildings—blows away half of my head unit, I'm absolutely certain.
Sunraku: "Th-That bastard... She threw everything into a hard counter against me without the slightest restraint!!"
A sensor-heavy, long-range sniper machine—a build nearly identical to Kings Gambit. Rust's new machine flickers into view for just an instant. Then a shot pierces my torso, and Fiddler Crab explodes... No, let me say it again: THAT BASTARD!!!
I felt like Rust had sneered at me somewhere, somehow.