Chapter 319: Great Rampage — Dramatic Before-and-After
Prophecy, precognition, future sight… call it what you want, but since ancient times, people have harbored a near-religious yearning toward observing the future. History's seen a rotten number of self-proclaimed prophets crop up, and honestly, if someone offered me the ability to see the future, I'd take it.
That said, though—most of those future-sight abilities are what you'd call active future sight. I mean, if future sight were a constant passive, your perception of information and actual time would be perpetually out of sync. Getting so distracted by a cliff five seconds ahead that you fall into a hole one second ahead is pure slapstick. In other words, what humans really want is future sight they can trigger at will, at the most convenient moment.
I went off on a long internal monologue there, but basically, what I'm trying to say is…
Saint-chan: "……………………Excuse me?"
The very same Saint-chan who'd been radiating such an overpowered-character aura had her cheek twitching. It seemed her future sight was, after all, an active type—and moreover, not the kind that sees through absolutely everything. Still, I doubt there are many who could see this and keep a straight face. Even Josette had her roleplay mask starting to slip.
What the player guiding Saint-chan around was pointing at with such confidence… was… man, what even is this. The phrase "beyond redemption" fits it best.
Guide: "This is the Skeletal Castle Keep: Skull Azuchi, built for Her Holiness the Saint by President Emilia…"
It was a castle. And clearly a fortress designed primarily to repel invaders. Living up to the name "Skull," its outer walls were plastered thick with bones, bones, bones… Whoever made this was absolutely not sober. And that space gaping unnaturally open in the main keep was unsettling as hell. What exactly are they planning to display there—are they going to crucify Saint-chan or something?
Saint-chan: "Th-This is………… well, it's, um, extremely… unique, isn't it…"
A single bead of sweat trickled down Saint-chan's cheek. I mean, yeah, can't blame her. The entire concept of habitable space is just way too different between the old continent and the New Land.
Rumor has it this frontline base was half-destroyed in a raid boss attack just recently—but instead of simple repairs, they've gone and remodeled it into demon-realm architecture. Skull Azuchi, the bone-white demon castle, isn't the only thing: the palisade surrounding the base is likewise made of bone, and at the bottom of the moat, there's a deathtrap of spears that look an awful lot like ribs. And that over there… a catapult? There's a chair attached where you'd set the stone—is that what I think it is? Is it?? I'll keep it a secret that I kinda wanted to try it out.
Sunraku: "It's like some avant-garde artist built a theme park out of bones with 'murderous intent' as the theme…"
Ryū × 4 Techi: "I know, right."
The one who murmured that was… Techi, was it? A player from the Saint's Divine Guard. A short, pint-sized girl avatar who leaned more toward the not-roleplaying side of things, so the knight's attire looked nothing but out of place on her—but her bearing itself was that of a player well accustomed to the game. A tactic to lure opponents into letting their guard down with her appearance… crafty.
Guide: "The frontline base suffered near-total devastation—one could call it annihilation—at the hands of that accursed black dragon, Noirlind… HOWEVER! Under the direction of our Master Builder, the frontline base has been REBORN!!"
Reborn? More like necromanced into some horrible monster from a corpse—that kind of evil rebirth…
What the hell, man. Aren't newly unlocked maps supposed to be brimming with dreams and hope? What's with this pitch-black cheerfulness, like "Alright, funeral's over, let's get some REVENGE!"
Sunraku: "So, realistically, how's the defense on this thing?"
Guide: "……… (grin)"
Oh, that's terrifying… why are you smiling like that…
Sunraku: "Emul, pop quiz."
Emul: "Hai na."
Sunraku: "If you take a forest that's been running with just over a thousand people and suddenly add several thousand new ones, what happens to the local ecosystem?"
Emul: "Hmm… it gets totally wrecked, wa!"
Sunraku: "Smart. Have a carrot."
Emul: "Yay."
Well, it's only natural, really. It's a pseudo-reenactment of a service launch, in a sense. The players who've been stuck waiting, only hearing and seeing secondhand info from the vanguard, finally arrive at the New Land—there's no way they're going to pick the option of "Well, let's get some sleep first." Besides, it's not like they've actually been rocking on a boat for seven real days; the only ones worn out from the trip are probably the NPCs.
Point is, basically:
The wave of new players that surged in all at once resulted in the monsters around the frontline base being wholesale slaughtered. And by fulfilling the condition of "all monsters within a designated area hunted to extinction in a short time," the stage was set for that bastard's descent.
???: "Huh, wha—"
A nameless player's head went flying with a shpann. Probably a wall-tank—their defense had to be leagues above a tissue-paper build like mine. But it was an instant kill. That thing's as absurdly unfair as ever.
???: "What the hell is this thing!?"
???: "Kokuto got one-shotted!?"
Stunned by the first-timer-kill attack, the party members—who, having made it this far, had a certain degree of skill—immediately launched attacks at the thing that had just murdered the tank called Kokuto. Too bad, though. That bastard nullifies every attack… I knew that, and it's still a bullshit resistance.
A player who seemed to be a thief-type was split vertically in two. A player who looked like a magic-user got hit by some kind of status ailment, and just as I put distance between us as a precaution, they scattered murky black damage effects from their entire body and died on the spot. And then a cleric player near them ate the same debuff, without even being directly attacked by the thing…
???: "Why isn't… status recovery working………… ah."
Squish. Dead.
Sunraku: "How should I put it… after watching Akitsu Akane run a live demo of every death pattern, I'm just not getting any particular reaction out of this."
Emul: "Honestly, the fox person who keeps charging in with a smile despite dying over and over is way scarier, wa."
Well, from an NPC's perspective, players are basically lunatics, aren't they… Still, even I think Akitsu Akane's something else, keeping that smile through that many deaths. But trial and error is the spice of any entertainment, games or otherwise.
Now then. Regarding that bastard—True Quiet—I've got good news and bad news. Let's start with the bad.
The bad news: I ran into the forest going, "Let's just see how far we can go!" "Sounds good, wa!" I wasn't actually participating in the slaughter, but to True Quiet, which is wiping out every player in the slaughtered zone, that's irrelevant. I'm on the kill list too.
The good news is simple: mostly thanks to going along with Akitsu Akane's self-sacrificial testing, both Emul and I have a wealth of info on True Quiet. Because she died in every conceivable way, I've got a complete grasp on the punishment monster's behavior patterns—and I've already worked out a strategy to beat it.
Sunraku: "Emul, you've got the potions ready?"
Emul: "Hai na! I'm gonna hurl 'em like crazy, wa!"
True Quiet-kun… I've been wanting to meet you… dying to meet you… shivering with anticipation for a while now, y'know…? I know you drop a stupidly cool scythe, y'know…? So, yeah.
Sunraku: "DROP YOUR GODDAMN ITEM, YOU BASTAAAAARD!!!"
Emul: "I'm not some soft little bunny who's gonna flinch at a mere incarnation of death at this point, wa—!!"
The incarnation of death, resentment, and despair wavered… that's how it looked to me. I see. You're a monster that punishes players who carry out slaughters. Sure. But, you know, the moment it was discovered you drop a stupidly cool scythe… the devs were already expecting you to get hunted!!