Beatrix... you’re basically a Gold Brick, you know... You get that, right...? If you don’t pull your weight in a dark sword party, you know what that means, right...?

When’s that skin getting rerun...?

Chapter 404: Your Name Is Plural

Mirror of Fading is useful at times like this. Not just as a decoy—it also lets me watch the bad-end version of what happens if I lose from a third-person view.

A huge swarm of baby spiders piled onto the decoy like a bunch of grapes. From a safe distance, I watched every last one explode and scatter. Before the Armlet Gargantulas still pouring out could notice me, I followed the mysterious figure’s lead—a girl giving off wimp vibes I had not felt in a while—and dove into the cave that had suddenly appeared.

Heh heh heh, one hundred and twenty Component Crystals: Armlet Gargantula... much obliged. The more I cut them down, the more they produce. I’m making a killing.

???: "Idiot! Idiot! I told you to hurry over here! But you just keep picking up rocks!"

Sunraku: "I’m the one who decides what a rock is worth."

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, right? When you have an infinite inventory, of course you pick up every last thing.

Still, their armor was tough enough that even a direct hit from one of their own kind’s explosions only made them roll over. If I had kept that up, the Whalelore Moonblade would have broken eventually.

???: "H-hmph! Anyway, you should thank me for saving you...!"

Despite her tone, the mystery girl had no room to spare. With frantic, practiced movements, she stacked up the rocks she had moved aside and sealed the entrance.

When I hear “wimp,” I think of elves. But I could not find any shared trait between them and this mystery NPC. So was the wimp thing just part of her personality? Was she a different race...?

No, more importantly...

???: "Ugh, I keep getting better and better at stacking rocks... W-well, whatever! Follow me!!"

Is she really even a humanoid race?

The girl pulled herself together and headed deeper into the oddly misshapen passage. I gave a vague response, grabbed one of the rocks she had stacked without really thinking about it...

It would not move.

So they were not just rocks on the outside with nothing inside. STR... no, I would not say anything yet.

It was a little too neatly cleared to call a cave, but a little too sloppily made to call a tunnel.

If I had to put it one way, it was like someone had sanded down the inside of a natural cave... It felt like human hands had only worked on it halfway.

Sunraku: "But at least it’s safe."

Beam hell above, full-scale war below. I had thought there was no safe zone anywhere except the outer edge... I see. The answer was right under my nose.

I drank a potion and recovered some health. For now, I wanted to believe I was not about to die instantly.

That aside, this was almost certainly a Unique Scenario, right? Lately, I had been busy gathering materials and all that, so it felt like it had been a while since I pulled a Unique. I should rub it in Katzo’s face. Big time.

Still, I could not rule out the possibility that this cave itself was a hidden area, with a fixed NPC waiting deeper inside. And even if this was a Unique Scenario, that did not automatically mean the NPC was on my side.

Either way, I needed progress. Unless I raised a flag and moved the event forward, I would not even know what kind of quest—or Unique—this was.

On the outside, I acted like reaching safety had left me weak with relief. Inside, I sharpened my focus so I could react whenever an ambush came.

The cave seemed to run deeper than I had expected. It was dim... meaning I just kept walking straight down an unlit path.

Sunraku: "Hey. Thanks for saving me... Pretty weird place for a home, though. Have you lived here long?"

???: "...Well, I’ve spent some pretty intense time here."

Living next door to a battlefield must be noisy...

It was not like the tunnel ran long enough to cut through a continent. Before I knew it, with the mystery girl leading the way, I had reached a wide-open space.

Nice. Just enough room to fight. But I could not use Bradion here—I would become a stain on the wall. So I would have to leave mobility to Overflow...

Whoa, hold it. Better advance the event.

Sunraku: "...So? Did you go out of your way to save me out of kindness?"

???: "...O-of course you’re going to repay the favor of my saving you! So that we can get out of here!"

We?

No, not now. More importantly, she was coming closer.

An escape scenario? Not bad, I guess... Hmm. Better watch her for now.

???: "I saved you! That means you save me too! Right?"

Sunraku: "Yeah."

It was dim. Way too dim. Like early morning, when the sun had barely risen.

That was why I could only vaguely make out the girl’s shape. Her clothes were weird, like a stacking-block toy with every tier a different color.

Hmm? It felt like I had seen this before...

Damn it, it was right on the tip of my tongue.

???: "...But I don’t plan to trust my back to someone I don’t know."

Sunraku: "Oh? You can’t trust me?"

???: "You don’t look trustworthy."

Sunraku: "Fuck! Stop being so damn right!!"

Still, the mystery girl walked right up to me and clasped my right hand between both of hers.

What was this, a handshake? Though it was a weird way to hold someone’s hand...

???: "So..."

Ah. I got it now.

She was holding my hand like a hot dog or a rice ball.

Then? She opened her mouth wide...

Huh. Two strangely developed canines, nothing like a wolf’s or lion’s.

No...

Fangs.

???: "So I can make you someone I can trust!!"

At that moment, every piece of the weirdness clicked together.

The answer was obvious.

And after thinking it over... I deliberately let her bite me.

Sunraku: "..."

???: "..."

My health dropped slightly.

Slowly, crack by crack, fissures crawled across my body from the back of my bitten right hand. Still biting me, the mystery girl’s mouth curled up. Now that she was close enough to touch, I could see her eyes clearly.

Reptilian snake eyes...!!

???: "F-fufufu... Now you’ll do what I say...!"

Sunraku: "Sorry, but I’ve got Resist."

PASHIIN!

An effect burst over my right arm.

The “curse (poison)” that had been spreading through my arm while cracking it had somehow had all the territory it had taken overwritten by a scar-like pattern stretching out from my torso. Then it was driven out.

Lycagon’s Contusion was a higher-tier curse. The mark itself was on my torso, but its range ran from below my neck to above my waist. In this game, arms counted as torso equipment. It was probably because of how knuckle-type weapons worked...

But that was a minor detail.

Sunraku: "I still haven’t introduced myself. I’m Sunraku... and I know your name."

Long time no see... No, maybe that would be different for your kind?

I raised my two Duxrams, Blades of Aspiration, and called out her name.

Sunraku: "Nice to meet you, Goldhuneenay. I’ve had plenty of dealings with your sisters."

Goldhuneenay: "Sammy-chan!!"

Killing intent.

A ripple appeared where there should have been nothing. The True Eye Bird Mask caught something, and its effect activated.

Trusting the system’s reaction, I backstepped. Right after that, something with enormous mass slammed into the spot where I had been standing.

Sunraku: "A reptile connection, huh...? Camouflaging yourself like a chameleon."

With a distinctive shurororo... sound, a giant snake emerged from empty space, glaring at me and flicking out its forked tongue.

I see. A monster with camouflage in a dim battlefield... troublesome. And of all things, it was a Unique Monster...? I hadn’t even triggered an EX Scenario yet. Was this a forced-loss event?

No, I could not be certain without the Tome of Truth, but Goldhuneenay the Inexhaustible was probably that Goldhuneenay. Then this was the black tsuchinoko from that defense battle... Reptica, or something like that?

Did I have a chance?

Goldhuneenay: "H-how can my power be getting repelled...!"

Sunraku: "You sure do like doing things the hard way..."

Could this be a trap event that inflicts a curse? But even then, it made no sense. Why set a trap in a place this remote—more like a death zone?

Sure, if they set a huge trap somewhere like Tiaplaten, players might swarm it. But waiting in a place where people could die before they even got there would not bring in much.

Sunraku: "But you’re ready for this, right? Just so you know... I’m a death-crazed freak who won’t choose the Retreat command even against some gigantic Naga."

Fine.

I would drag out as much information about this Unique Monster as I could, and if I got lucky, kill it too, you bastard.

But could I do it?

Handicapping myself by not using skills against a Unique Monster was probably pushing it too far. Lure it outside? Don’t be stupid. Even a huge free-for-all had limits.

With a shurushuru... sound, the giant snake coiled around the mystery girl—no, Goldhuneenay—as if it were protecting her.

But the one being protected was probably more dangerous.

In that case, I should view the snake as an option part.

Enemies with option parts bigger than their main bodies were not that rare. A snake’s advantages. A snake’s disadvantages... If I could see through those, I should be able to maneuver even in this area, which was not exactly spacious.

Goldhuneenay: "T..."

Sunraku: "...T?"

What? Goldhuneenay was trying to say something.

A magic chant? The giant snake’s huge body was a simple physical barrier. Could I stop her?

But the words Goldhuneenay spoke were something even I never could have expected.

Goldhuneenay: "C-can we... call it a truce...?"

Sunraku: "Huh."

For one moment, that unbelievably wimpy declaration almost made me go limp.

Then—

???: "───Old-Generation Relic-Anomaly detected. Conquista Doll [Elma=317 (Saina)], sleep mode released. This unit will execute the reboot process... Abnormality confirmed. Requesting immediate rescue. Hurry up, help me."

Something shot from one end of the cave to the other at insane speed and crashed into the wall...

And an ass in tight shorts was sticking out of the wall, both legs missing from halfway down the thighs, spouting that bullshit.

Uh...?

I forgot to mention this, but Wimpy Nene-chan has twin tails.

Twin tails.