Chapter 377: Side 1: Tiger Hunt Pankration

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Around the time a certain birdhead was taking his great first step as president in another world—

Diale: "...Hey, hear me out, Psyger-0-san. I heard through the grapevine that Emul fought another incredible enemy. Can you believe it? A monster from the Divine Era. My little sister stood her ground against something like that without taking a single step back. Isn't she amazing? Not that long ago, even startling Emul from behind would send her into a panic... At this rate, I really think my dignity as her big sister is going to suffer. I think I ought to fight some powerful enemies myself and build up my experience. What do you think?"

(Th-this is long...)

Psyger-0: "Y-yes... I suppose...?"

As the youngest child herself, Psyger-0 could not understand how an older sister felt, but she also could not bring herself to dismiss the wish of a sister who cared so deeply for her younger sibling.

That was why she had accepted the Unique Scenario Diale's Secret Training, but an unexpected development had made clearing it difficult.

The scenario's clear condition was: Diale's total experience, including stored experience, must exceed Emul's. In other words...

The gap would not close.

It was not quite Achilles and the tortoise, but if Emul continued gaining experience while Diale was earning hers, closing the gap would naturally take time.

Worse, as Sunraku's partner, Emul accompanied him into battles against all kinds of enemies, so she gained large amounts of experience at once.

(Still, on the way home today he did say, "I might not log into SLF for a while"... And not by email or social media. I heard it directly from him. In person. While we were walking home side by side...)

Psyger-0: "Ehehe..."

Diale: "Hm? Why did you suddenly start smiling?"

Psyger-0: "I-it's nothing, you know? Yes, nothing..."

If what Sunraku—Rakuro—had told her directly was accurate, then he would not log into SLF for at least five days, perhaps as long as two weeks. Or, even if he did log in, he would not seriously progress through the game.

That meant Emul's growth would also stop temporarily. There could be no better opportunity to satisfy the Unique Scenario's completion condition.

Psyger-0: "Um, this time..."

Psyger-0 took a map out of her inventory and checked their route again against their current position.

It was a map from the clan N.M.M. — Naked・Mapping・Market. With Tottori the Shimahne's return—and his rise to sudden prominence in SLF—the map reproduced sixty percent of the great-forest map data he had accumulated.

It did not show maintained roads or anything of the sort. It merely marked things that could serve as landmarks within the enormous forest.

But one of those landmarks had been enough to make the map sell out completely.

Psyger-0: "Um, Diale-san. Today, besides your training—your leveling—I also want to head for this elf village... Tiaplaten, so I can raise my own level cap..."

Diale: "Yeah, got it. Leave the enemies along the way to me."

Psyger-0: "I'm counting on you."

She meant it. Diale was a magic-class fighter willing to stand on the front line. With Diale's small size and Psyger-0's large avatar, the pair might have less mobility than a certain birdhead gun platform, but they functioned as a much more stable tank.

And unlike Emul, who did have offensive options but placed more emphasis on covering Sunraku's weak point—defense—Diale was heavily offense-oriented.

Psyger-0 already combined firepower with durability. Adding a mobile gun platform on top of that had dramatically increased her overall damage efficiency.

Diale: "Still, I feel bad for Exis. I've borrowed Psyger-0-san for so long... Good grief. If you ever end up training that one, I'll lend you a hand then too."

Psyger-0: "R-right... Diale-san."

Diale: "Yeah. I noticed... It's close."

Footsteps struck the ground. They were so huge and heavy that even Psyger-0's footsteps—already larger than those of the average human—seemed as small as flowers and grass swaying in the wind.

They were not human footsteps. And if so, there was no reason to expect whatever appeared to be friendly.

Unidentified beast: "Grrrrrrrr..."

Psyger-0: "A-a tiger...?"

Psyger-0: "Diale-san, I'll take the front."

Diale: "O-oh! You've got nerves of steel as always!"

For Psyger-0, every beast-type monster inevitably ended up being compared with Lycagon. As a result, beasts in particular could hardly intimidate her anymore.

Psyger-0: "Its element... It doesn't seem to have one."

Then was it simply a beast that relied on brute strength? No. Psyger-0 shook her head. That conclusion was premature.

Possessing a straightforward element—an elemental affinity in Western terms, or something corresponding to the Five Phases in Eastern terms—was not mandatory in this game.

Lycagon's shadow-related power was not defined as an element. But that certainly did not mean Lycagon relied on brute strength alone.

What attacks did an unfamiliar monster possess, and what properties did those attacks have? In this game, that kind of observational ability was the bare minimum expected of top players worthy of being called hardcore players.

And Psyger-0, who had fought countless monsters alongside the top-class hardcore player Psyger-100, had developed that eye as well.

As an aside, a certain birdhead currently swinging a tomahawk around as president had broadened that sort of observation even further.

From a game-design perspective, he dealt with things by drawing on knowledge accumulated across countless games: What does this kind of enemy use? How does this attack pattern branch?

His familiarity with abrupt behavioral changes caused by bugs was another part of why he could move the way he did.

Psyger-0: "—! Diale-san, get away from in front of its mouth!!"

Diale: "A roar...!!"

The tiger inhaled deeply, its chest swelling enough to look as though it were forcing its ribs apart. There was an obvious danger here, something far beyond a simple roar. If someone with eyes capable of observing the true world had been present, they would have seen a tidal wave of effects spreading outward from the tiger's mouth.

Tiger: "GRROOOOAAAHHH!!!"

A roar. The "sound" of the explosive blast shook the atmosphere and heated everything in a straight line ahead of it.

In simple terms, it was a microwave oven fired from the mouth. Its effect was vicious.

Diale: "Th-the tree burst!?"

Psyger-0: "It's making the water vibrate like a microwave...? Then it should be extremely effective against the human body... No, that's not it. That's exactly why I should move forward."

Diale: "Huh!?"

Psyger-0: "It's all right. I have a way to win. Diale-san, prepare your firepower while I keep its attention on me."

Diale: "Guh... nnngh, fine! But after talking that big, don't you dare explode right in front of me!"

Diale could not see the smile Psyger-0 gave her. The Twinface Armor was full-body armor that left no skin exposed at all.

Because of that, against attacks that acted directly on the human body, the armor's very shape offered protection regardless of its actual equipment abilities.

Psyger-0: "...A microwave that heats the inside doesn't heat the outside."

In other words, a physical barrier could block it. Psyger-0 readied the jet-black greatsword that was nearly as tall as she was—the Divine-Demonic Sword Antinomy—and stood directly in front of the tiger.

Psyger-0: "Tiger hunting."

There were no fouls in the laws of beasts. The loser was the one who exposed their back—or their death. As long as both sides faced each other head-on, the struggle was not over.

And so the tiger, a wandering monster given the name Roa Tigant, followed the laws of nature and accepted a contest of strength with the human before it.

Psyger-0: "Gh...!!"

The Guard-type Skill Protect Charge was technically a shield Skill, but once learned it could also be activated with something like the flat of a greatsword serving as a shield. The charge—a moving shield, in a sense—collided head-on with Roa Tigant's massive body.

They locked evenly. No—Psyger-0 was being pushed back slightly. Even so, she dug in and endured at the very edge of her limit.

Psyger-0: "...!!"

To change the subject for a moment, felines possess extremely flexible bodies and can move with remarkable lightness. Their skin is therefore built to stretch. What that means here is that once a cat reaches roughly the size of a compact car, there is enough skin to grab.

Psyger-0: "...Highest Strength!!"

With a fierce battle cry, Psyger-0's physical strength surged for an instant. Roa Tigant's body, which had been bearing down over her from above, was knocked back. Refusing to miss the opening, Psyger-0 reached out and seized the tiger by the throat.

Psyger-0: "Saiga-style... Self-Defense!!"

She planted her feet, set her hips, built a firm base, and threw an opponent larger than herself.

Unlike the improvised, imitation technique Tidal Rush (Ōshike)—which instantly formed the throwing motion and hurled the opponent as quickly as possible—this martial art emphasized reliable control.

From a short distance away, still preparing her magic, Diale watched the armored knight execute a one-arm shoulder throw on a tiger and muttered to herself.

Diale: "Is she a monster or something?"

She is a seventeen-year-old maiden in the bloom of youth.

At this rate, she looks like she'll start pulling out Mawashi Uke and Sangan sooner or later.