chapter4 · 073-ep73

Episode 73: Achievements I Can Get Now

When I opened the achievement list, the familiar rank-by-rank display lined up in front of me.

I'd seen the conditions many times before, but today I had Achievement Inquiry, courtesy of Mizuki.

Might as well try it.

"This one'll do."

I picked a C-rank Achievement at random and used Achievement Inquiry.

【Completed】

"Oh."

It really showed up.

I tried another Achievement.

【Completed】

The next one said the same thing.

"Figures. A lot of them have been taken."

It had been several days since Haruto's stream.

By now, plenty of people must know that completing an Achievement got you a reward, and that a world first came with an extra special one.

B-rank was much the same. Not every Achievement, but a lot of them showed up as completed.

"What about A?"

I looked down the A-rank list.

After a little searching, I found one.

【A: Be simultaneously recognized as an attack target by 5 or more different types of monsters, then defeat all of them】

【Uncompleted】

"Five types at once, huh?"

It wasn't enough to find five types. They all had to target me at the same time.

I didn't know how many types were in this dungeon, and even if there were five, I'd have to get them all together.

"What a pain."

No wonder it was still available.

"But these are the ones that really get you fired up."

A little farther down, I found another uncompleted one.

【A: Defeat a monster using that monster's own attack】

【Uncompleted】

"Oh, couldn't I do this with Recoil?"

If I used Stagnation to stop the force and send it back, that sounded like it would meet the condition.

I was planning to use Observer Skills for my Personal Achievement anyway. I should remember this one.

There were still A-rank Achievements available.

Then what about S-rank?

With a little anticipation, I switched to the S-rank list, a rank I'd never completed before.

"Whoa. There are a lot."

Some were completed, but more were uncompleted than I'd expected.

Their difficulty was plainly on another level from C and B, though.

【S: Defeat every type of monster appearing during a single dungeon clear】

【Uncompleted】

"Every type? How many even are there?"

I didn't know what types of monsters appeared in the dungeon in the first place.

If I had to get them all on a single clear, I couldn't leave without finding every last one.

Just thinking about being unable to finish because I missed one type put me off trying it right now.

"What else..."

I searched a little more.

None of the remaining conditions looked easy. But one caught my eye for some reason.

【S: Defeat 1000 monsters during a single dungeon clear without using a combat Skill even once】

"...A thousand?"

I looked at the number again.

Not a hundred.

A thousand.

And without using a combat Skill.

【Uncompleted】

"Of course it's still available."

Obviously, if it said that, no one had done it yet.

Until now, I could find an Achievement's condition but couldn't know if someone had already claimed the world first.

If it was easy, I could give it a shot anyway.

Failing wouldn't cost much.

But this was different.

Spending days shut in a dungeon killing a thousand monsters only to find someone else had taken the world first long ago would hurt.

"Even I wouldn't do that."

It was hard enough already, without knowing whether I'd get a special reward.

Normally, I doubted many people would want to go that far.

But now I could find that out beforehand.

At least for the moment, no one had completed it.

All I had to do was beat everyone else to it.

"Achievement Inquiry's even crazier than I thought."

I'd known it was useful when I received it yesterday, but seeing it alongside these difficult Achievements made a world of difference.

The more time an Achievement took, the more it mattered to know the world first was still in reach.

"Mizuki gave me something incredible."

And it was S-rank.

I'd never completed one before.

The A-rank world first had given me a busted Skill called Shock Grant.

What would an S-rank world first give me?

There was no guarantee it'd be something I wanted, of course, but never having seen one made me even more curious.

I looked at the number—a thousand—once more.

"...I want it."

There was no question it'd be hard.

Even so, knowing I'd be the world first if I managed it made me want to try.

And now I had a dungeon I could enter whenever I liked, right from my room.

If I was going to spend days inside, I should check whether there were other Achievements I could chase at the same time.

I closed the regular list and opened the Job-Exclusive Achievements.

First, Enchanter.

"These have been taken, as expected."

Quite a few showed up as completed.

There had to be lots of Enchanters out there, and it had been days since Haruto's stream.

I kept scrolling, and found that Achievements for the Battle-Armored Enchanter had been added too.

"Seriously?"

Nobody told me Unique Jobs had their own Achievements.

Well, I guess if regular Jobs did, it made sense for battle armor to have them too.

Thinking that, I scrolled farther down.

"Huh?"

Almost all of them were uncompleted.

Actually, not one had been completed.

Well, it was called a Unique Job. Maybe I was the only Battle-Armored Enchanter?

Or maybe I'd simply been the first.

Either way, these Achievements were mine alone for the time being.

...Now that's getting me hyped.

And looking through them, they weren't all difficult either.

【D: Travel 100 meters backward while in Battle Armor Form】

【Uncompleted】

"I can do that."

All I had to do was walk a hundred meters.

Backward, granted.

Next.

【D: Remain crouched for 10 minutes while maintaining Battle Armor Form】

【Uncompleted】

"I can do this too."

I could even do it right now.

I scrolled down some more.

【D: Move continuously for 30 minutes without stopping while in Battle Armor Form】

【Uncompleted】

"...Hold on."

There were more than I'd thought.

A lot of conditions weren't so much difficult as things you wouldn't normally do just by fighting in battle armor.

I'd used it a few times since yesterday, but I certainly hadn't walked a hundred meters backward or spent ten minutes crouching.

"I could get quite a few of these, couldn't I?"

This was getting fun.

There were still several D-rank ones alone.

Include C-rank and there were even more.

I couldn't get them all at once, but if I kept the conditions in mind, I could probably pick up a few today.

As I continued through the list, I found some long-duration Achievements too.

【B: Maintain Battle Armor Form for 6 or more hours inside a dungeon】

【Uncompleted】

"I could get this one automatically while going for a thousand."

I was still in Battle Armor Form, with my Strength enchant fixed in place.

Maintaining it cost no MP.

Six hours was a long time, but if I meant to kill a thousand monsters, I'd probably spend at least that long here.

All I had to do was avoid canceling it partway through.

Next.

【B: While in Battle Armor Form, escape from a monster of a higher Level than your own for 3 hours without attacking at all】

【Uncompleted】

"Run for three hours?"

That one was a pain.

I didn't even know if there were any monsters above my level in this dungeon.

Probably couldn't go for it immediately.

Farther down the list, something in A-rank caught my attention.

【A: Defeat a monster while in Battle Armor Form with Strength, Agility, and Endurance fixed simultaneously】

【Uncompleted】

Ordinarily, you could only fix one Ability Grant in Battle Armor Form.

But I had Enchant Echo.

If I entered Battle Armor Form while all three different enchants were still lingering, I could fix them all together.

"That's practically made for me."

An Achievement you couldn't get without Enchant Echo? Whoever ran this system had a pretty nasty streak.

Easy D-rank conditions.

Others that progressed with time.

Even an A-rank I could get right now with a little ingenuity.

Apparently, because I was the only Battle-Armored Enchanter, a whole batch of untouched Achievements had appeared at once.

It felt like opening a treasure chest.

I had plenty to go for in the Job-Exclusive list alone.

And there was my Personal Achievement too.

【Personal Achievements】

【Defeat 10 monsters using an Observer Skill】

That one was just ten monsters.

I'd have plenty of chances to try on my way to a thousand.

I had barely used Stagnation or Recoil against monsters yet, either.

I could experiment with them while making progress.

"I should just camp out here."

At first I'd only seen the number—a thousand—but there was more to it than that.

I could make progress on my Personal Achievement while aiming for S-rank, and collect Battle-Armored Enchanter Achievements too.

Fighting that much would raise my level, and I could improve my proficiency with enchants and battle armor.

Better to prepare properly and make one long trip than keep going in and out.

The problem was, I didn't know how many days it'd take.

I wouldn't know how many monsters I could kill per day until I tried.

For a thousand, I shouldn't count on finishing in two or three days.

I'd need food and water.

If I planned to sleep, I'd need supplies for that too. And there was school.

Probably best to allow a week or so.

"...But first, my family."

Their first-year high school son was going to shut himself in a dungeon for a week or so.

Yeah.

They'd probably say no.

I closed the achievement list and looked toward the Gate back home.

There was also that five-hundred-thousand-yen government job to talk about.

I'd have to sort that out first.