Chapter 291: The First Town, the Optimal Hunter

There was a Unique Monster called Wethermon the Tombguard.

Instant-kill move after instant-kill move, a brief pause, then another instant-kill move. In the end, he spent thirty straight minutes pounding me with the kind of bullshit move that could only be called CPU brute force: a chain of instant-kill moves. He was unquestionably a shit monster, but nostalgia bias and all, somehow I still feel like he was a good monster in the end.

There was a pro gamer named Sylvia Goldberg.

Her playstyle was practically a straight upgrade from mine. Without exaggeration, that woman handled the character she used as though it were her own body; she was unquestionably what you'd call a human TAS.

There was a hidden boss: Ryuguin Fugaku's... trace AI.

That thing was just awful in all kinds of ways. A shitty game where I was made to fight an opponent on Sylvia Goldberg's level with stats effectively close to an unenhanced human body... Well, you can't really call training material shitty or anything like that, but it was still a brutal fight.

There was an SLF no-lifer named Psyger-100.

The sheer ability she'd built by continuing to hone herself in that one single game, Shangri-La Frontier, was nothing short of incredible. She completely understood what she could and couldn't do, and on top of that could adapt to any opponent—something she had in common with Sylvia Goldberg... But back then, it was precisely because I could keep myself constantly fired up that I was able to keep things mostly in my favor.

Then the only thing I have over this TAS bastard is that experience.

???: "........."

Sunraku: "D-Damn it!"

With a quick turn, the point reverses direction, and the strike aims squarely and unerringly for my neck.

I slam Duxram, Blade of Aspiration into the blade meant to kill me and knock it away, only for what comes next to make it look as though even that was bait: a strange weapon thrust at the center of my chest, like a tonfa turned into a cutting weapon. I escape by throwing every evasive skill I have into the dodge.

???: "........."

Sunraku: "Goddammit, my concentration's already getting shredded...!"

I keep Role Play: Ryuguin Fugaku running at full throttle. Even with Duxram, Blade of Aspiration—a blade you could call invincible so long as you land critical hits—half-wrecked, I'm still overwhelmingly at a disadvantage.

Even the players around us who'd been heckling were starting to give off an air of resignation. Fuck this. Like hell I'm getting killed for... for some reason this incomprehensible!

If I go on the defensive, I die. Parry while attacking. Damn it, I don't have enough caffeine in me—come on, adrenaline!

The enemy isn't extraordinarily fast, but those movements constantly trace the ideal optimum for the weapon. It's exactly the kind of demonic movement you'd call TAS, and flashes dance through the air as the enemy tries to finish me off.

With a flick, the point turns backward. Back in tonfa form, the enemy now has punching as an option, making the attacks even more varied.

But that means it's effectively fist range... Thank God. Looks like my path to survival hasn't been cut off yet.

???: "He recovered!"

???: "Whoa, amazing!"

All that racket's annoying. If you're going to be BGM, at least pay a little more attention to the melody. Right now, I feel like listening to something rock-ish... Ah, no. Bad idea. If I block out my hearing, I'll probably die.

Sunraku: "I mean...! Did I... do something wrong...?!"

Duxram, Blade of Aspiration gets knocked away and goes flying. I use the hand that's been forcibly freed to work a window while dealing with the flurry coming to reap me with only one hand.

The weapon-deployment speed I normally never even think about now feels maddeningly slow.

It hasn't been seven days yet, so I can't use Exceed Charge. Even so, I step forward while intercepting the tonfa-edge attacks with the still-excellent Dis Pater, Nether King’s Mirror Shield. Eat this—one-man phalanx!

???: ".........!"

A hood pulled low and a scarf hiding the mouth. I can't make out the enemy's expression, but even after I've held out this long, there's no sign of impatience or anything like it in those movements.

Literally an AI, huh. That makes it even harder to understand why I'm being singled out so intensely, but after holding out this long, going, "Welp, doesn't look like I can win, guess I'll lose," feels weirdly infuriating.

Is it because this is Firstia—the town where most players who start SLF will probably first set foot—and if I die now, I'll respawn in a different town?

Or because this is a beginners' town, and something about losing in front of a huge audience of newbies doesn't sit right with me?

Whatever kicked this off doesn't matter. At any rate, the impulse burning inside me right now is screaming one thing: "I don't want to lose."

Sunraku: "Uoooooh! I'm getting five seconds out of you, no matter what it takes!!"

It was never a Unique in the first place, and there's no reason to hide it anymore! In the brief opening created when I forcibly push back a battle in which I'd done nothing but get driven backward, using a brute-force move with myself prepared to die, I clench my gloved right hand tight and slam my fist into my chest.

Sunraku: "You picked the fight first, so even if I blow you away, don't you dare slap me with a kill penalty, damn it!"

???: "............!"

Wrapped in black lightning, my movements surpass even attacks optimized for maximum speed, and for the first time the enemy—the Bounty Hunter Lutia—trembles as though shaken.

Let me make this clear up front: I've never PKed anyone in SLF. And Bounty Hunters are NPCs who hunt players who've raised their Karma Value—in other words, PKers.

Strange, then. So why am I the one being targeted while the PK lying right over there is being ignored? That's what I want to know more than anyone.

• Bounty Hunter Lutia

One of several Bounty Hunters confirmed since the Dress-Up Tias-chan Squad began operating in earnest.

She equips an as-yet-unconfirmed weapon type, a tonfa blade, and is a close-range NPC who changes battle styles by reversing the direction of the blade tip. Because she's equipped with AI on par with Tias, she boasts extraordinary strength.

At first, she occupied what you'd call the "Not you—go home" slot, but because her name sounded strangely feminine, the upper ranks of the Dress-Up Squad carried out a life-risking investigation and discovered that she was female. For a time, the revelation caused enough chaos to nearly split the Dress-Up Squad in two.

Currently, as one section within the Dress-Up Squad, a "Somehow Get Lutia Undressed Squad" has been formed.