arc3 · 052-ch52

Episode 52: Two Miscalculations

Two parties were already caught up in the monster train that Urban had triggered. A monster train is a man-made disaster that attracts not just monsters but explorers too.

Parks and zoo looked like they had joined the monster train of their own accord, but explorers invited by the monster train would get caught up in it even if they retreated from there. It's just a difference between whether it was voluntary or not. Their participation was inevitable too.

As for the monster train, zoo's participation had kept it balanced. However, with additional monsters appearing as if in anticipation of zoo's participation, even with zoo being strong, they couldn't exactly call it an advantage.

zoo is excellent, but today was their first time exploring District 3. Their level was still around 25, and being more than 10 levels behind the appearing monsters was also why they couldn't get the upper hand completely.

Nekoyashika, a member of such zoo, was being attacked relentlessly by two Madness Serpent Mimics without a moment's rest.

"Come on, Nyako. You won't improve your swordsmanship if you just dodge."

"Shut up, you sadistic brute!! I'll definitely make you cry later!!"

Madness Serpent Mimics are monsters that attack over and over again without varying their rhythm, no matter how much you dodge. Since the next one comes immediately after dodging one, they couldn't transition to attacking.

"Hey, Rikuzen! You're relying on her too much! I'll lend a hand!!"

Ryonan, the leader of Parks, called out as he looked at Nekoyashika, who seemed like an accident could happen at any moment.

"Hm? Ah, go ahead. Please work with Wanko to reduce their numbers."

Inurakuse was single-handedly blocking the attacks of the Curtain Frogs and Madness Serpent Mimics that Parks and Urban were dealing with. Using her skill 'Taunt' to draw enemy hate, and the 'Rabbit Demon's Shield' dropped from Rabbit Demon Iron Skin, she continued to fend off attacks closing in from all directions.

Thanks to Inurakuse gathering hate, the other explorers could focus on attacking, and they were dealing damage like it was a lie that they had been struggling so much to land hits before.

"Got it! Just let me know anytime you need a hand!"

Saying that, Ryonan also hurried toward Inurakuse. If they could reduce the numbers, that much would reduce Inurakuse's burden.

(They were Parks, right? They have top-tier ability among third-years, but I thought they were middle-class as explorers... But wow, they can really do it.)

Kirin remembered all the parties at Hachioji Explorer High. As far as she could remember, Parks had nothing particularly outstanding, but when she actually saw them, they were solid, calm, and excellent explorers who didn't seem like high school students.

"Kotori, exterminate Pseudoviscous as soon as you find them. Otherwise, move as you like."

"Ki, Kirin-chan should fight soon too! Th, the squirrels here are all mine!"

Kotori attacked the Nut Bombarrel Chipmunks with tremendous momentum, eyes sparkling as if she'd come to a dream country.

Watching that scene, Kirin laughs.

Will there be future occasions where she fights two Madness Serpent Mimics while allies can't help her immediately?

Will there be future battles where she's surrounded by enemies, blocking attacks again and again, but allies' attacks are weak and enemy numbers don't decrease?

Will there be future opportunities to fight monsters while dodging endless monster attacks closing in from all sides?

(What a valuable experience. Well then, I should partake in those benefits too.)

Kirin slashes the legs of a Beginning Frog closing in with her spear, then stabs the spear into its fallen head, turning it into smoke as she starts moving.

The surroundings are overflowing with monsters. Defeating one Beginning Frog changes nothing about the situation. A Rock Earth Dragon and a Curtain Frog attack Kirin.

The Rock Earth Dragon is a bipedal earth dragon clad in rock armor, about 170 centimeters tall. Attacks from its claws have high lethality—if you take them with your bare body, you'll get easily sliced open.

On top of that, the sight of a Curtain Frog attacking as a set was a despairing scene for Urban, but also for Parks members.

But Kirin feels no fear. True, considering Kirin's current level, it's a higher-level monster, but in terms of stats, she's not inferior. Kirin isn't enough of a maiden to be afraid of such an opponent.

She fires a water bullet at the approaching Curtain Frog to check it. The water bullet, prioritizing size, hits the Curtain Frog's face, but it only serves as a blinding distraction—no damage. But buying even a few seconds was enough.

She skillfully parries the claws of the Rock Earth Dragon with her spear. With the Rock Earth Dragon's arms raised in a Banzai-like pose, she accurately stabs the spear into gaps in its rock armor. The Rock Earth Dragon, whose joints had been struck by that peerlessly precise thrust, swings its claws for a counterattack, but the brilliance of its movements until just before is gone.

The Curtain Frog, recovering from the water bullet's impact, closes in on Kirin. Moreover, a Sphere Moon Snake rolls in from behind, putting her in a pincer attack.

In response, Kirin flows like water to dodge the Curtain Frog's thrusting attacks. Without even turning around at the Sphere Moon Snake coming from behind, she stops its charge with the spear's butt, then as if dancing, swings the spearhead sideways and cuts off the lower jaw of the Sphere Moon Snake, which had opened its mouth wide to attack.

The Curtain Frog continues to unleash thrusting attacks, but each time it's dodged and receives a counterattack, accumulating new wounds. During this time, too, bullet-like seeds from the Sphere Moon Snakes and Nut Bombarrel Chipmunks come flying, and the Rock Earth Dragon tries to slash her, but she deflects them all and counters.

A spear, which is difficult to handle, should be weak in chaotic battles, but Kirin shows no hint of that. While Curtain Frogs and Rock Earth Dragons have high stamina and can't be defeated immediately, with zoo's participation, the balance tipped in the explorers' favor.

(It's probably better to accumulate experience in chaotic battles like this too. It's also good for raising stats, so let's give it a try next time.)

Even while surrounded by monsters, Kirin had room to pay attention to her surroundings. Nekoyashika was having a hard time with the Madness Serpent Mimics, but the other members seemed fine. Two Madness Serpent Mimics do look tough, but she should have her work hard for her own growth.

Thanks to Kotori reducing the numbers of long-distance-attacking Nut Bombarrel Chipmunks and Pseudoviscous, she could concentrate on enemies right before her eyes. Once that happened, more room appeared in the battle.

(With monster trains too, against Floor 1 District 3 monsters, this is about it. I know their level now, so this is probably enough. If Nyako's swordsmanship level goes up too, that'll be a bonus.)

Just as she thought that and was about to choose the next monster to have Nekoyashika fight, she felt a sudden chill.

"Wanko!!"

"I know!"

Before Kirin could give orders, Inurakuse was already moving. She forcefully knocked aside the monsters she was handling with a shield bash, then dashed toward the center of zoo's members.

Both Nekoyashika and Kotori felt intense pressure and immediately interrupted their battle, heading toward Inurakuse.

"[Taunt]!!"

Inurakuse activated her skill even though no attack was coming. There were Madness Serpent Mimics trying to chase Nekoyashika, but with those, there was no need to use taunt. But a tank's intuition made Inurakuse use the skill.

Immediately after, an impact strong enough to knock aside a shield that had even withstood Curtain Frog attacks struck Inurakuse. The reason she didn't let go of the shield was that she had thrown everything into defense.

"[Water Cutter]!!"

She fires water magic, a long-distance attack, to check on the monster that attacked Inurakuse, but it shimmered like a mirage, and before she knew it, it had retreated behind the Rock Earth Dragon in the rear.

"Kirin! That guy is...!"

"I know. That's... no, this must be what a monster train is all about."

Kirin maintains her usual detached, calm demeanor. But her face is tense, and cold sweat runs down her cheek.

Even the surrounding monsters seemed to cower at the new monster's appearance, and a silence ruled the area as if the earlier chaos had been a lie.

The monster responsible for that leisurely shows itself from behind the Rock Earth Dragon.

Water Blade Weasel: Level 48

One of the Area Bosses of Floor 1 District 3. An existence taught at Explorer High as something that should not be fought. Such a monster had joined the monster train.

◇

Suzuka runs through District 3, searching for Pseudoviscous. Because she wants to replenish the HP potion she used on the Jūryō Frog.

But Pseudoviscous are few in number and semi-transparent, making them hard to find. She's searching, but she's only defeated five today.

Until a little while ago, she hadn't even had HP potions, but once you set up a safety margin like potions, human nature is to feel uneasy without them.

Especially HP potions are items directly connected to life, so for Suzuka, who acts solo, they could become a lifeline.

"I'm already at the Water Blade Weasel's area."

She's detouring a little as she advances, but not aggressively searching for Pseudoviscous. If she spends time on that, she might lose the time to fight the Water Blade Weasel.

That would defeat the purpose of using her precious HP potion.

"There's one! Please!! Drop a potion!!"

A Pseudoviscous appeared at the edge of her vision, so she changed course to go hunt it. The Pseudoviscous doesn't notice Suzuka approaching.

She had returned all the equipment she wore during the battle with Jūryō Frog to normal, and wearing the 'Mimicry Mantle', Suzuka's presence blocking seems to be something the Pseudoviscous can't see through.

Suzuka doesn't slow her running speed, smashing the Pseudoviscous's core with her magic iron pipe as she passes by.

Though the core undulates with an acidic body, if she wraps her weapon in mana through mana manipulation, she can destroy the core without damaging the weapon.

"All right, the result is... Potioooooon! Status abnormality type!? That's the one I don't need!"

Her joy at discovering a potion drop was short-lived. The dropped potion was a potion that could recover status abnormalities.

Suzuka has status abnormality resistance from battling the Twin Poison Serpent, and thanks to the benefit of the 'Ring of Twin Poisons', her status abnormality resistance has risen to skill level 3. In other words, she won't become affected by status abnormalities that lower-grade potions can cure. It becomes a completely useless item.

"Damn it. Whatever. Don't care."

The area where the Water Blade Weasel lives is already close, so she gives up on Pseudoviscous and decides to move on. Once she passes Floor 1 District 3, treasure chests start appearing, and potions can come from there too, so she'll expect that instead.

"Huh? It's not here."

Suzuka, who ran straight to the Water Blade Weasel's area, found the place where the Water Blade Weasel usually is completely empty.

"Huh? This should be the right place..."

Suzuka, who has the Map skill, wouldn't make a mistake about the location. The Water Blade Weasel, which had hardly moved from this place despite moving a little, wasn't there.

She climbed a nearby hill wondering if it had gone far away and looked around, but she couldn't find the Water Blade Weasel.

"Eh, seriously? Don't tell me it got defeated?"

It's unclear at what timing Area Bosses respawn, but at least after one night they revive. The Twin Poison Serpent and Jūryō Frog she fought today, she had defeated yesterday, but by today they had revived.

And yet, the fact that the Water Blade Weasel isn't around means it must have been defeated.

The other possibility is that Suzuka had surpassed the strength standard for Area Bosses to appear, so it stopped showing up. But today her level hasn't gone up yet from battle, and it's the same as when she fought the Twin Poison Serpent and Jūryō Frog. Even in Suzuka's mind, she doesn't think she's become strong enough that Area Bosses won't appear.

So that means someone defeated it, but either way, she's lost the opportunity to fight the Water Blade Weasel today.

"No way... And I saved it for last..."

The Water Blade Weasel is a monster with both hands and a long tail turned into blades. It's also a monster with many attacks, with water magic attacks raining down from those three blades.

For Suzuka, who had obtained the new weapon 'Calm Short Sword', the Water Blade Weasel, with its many attacks, was the perfect monster for raising her swordsmanship skill.

That's why she intentionally went around the Area Bosses from the Twin Poison Serpent onward, planning to fight the Water Blade Weasel last. Suzuka is the type who eats the strawberry on a cake last.

"Why today of all days... And the Water Blade Weasel... well, if I had to fight, it would be the Water Blade Weasel, sigh."

Until yesterday, there wasn't even a shadow of other explorers near the Area Boss, so she hadn't imagined that other explorers would defeat the Area Boss. She had heard explorers don't fight Area Bosses, and she had thought of Area Bosses as her own privilege.

But looking back, Kirin from Explorer High had also said she would fight District 2's Area Boss. And Kirin should still be a first-year in high school. In other words, even at Explorer High, top achievers like Suzuka and Kirin aggressively explore dungeons and fight Area Bosses.

She hadn't thought of that.

And if she had to fight among District 3's Area Bosses, it would be the Water Blade Weasel, Suzuka thought too. The Water Blade Weasel attacks with high lethality using blades, so at first Suzuka also fought it with tension.

The Water Blade Weasel is a monster with high agility and attack, and attacks from both hands' sickles and tail blade would slice an ordinary explorer into pieces if they received them. But explorers who challenge the Water Blade Weasel, an Area Boss, aren't ordinary, and since its defense is low, if you land attacks, you can deal sufficient damage. Its attacks are terrifying, but it's an opponent you can properly defeat if you hit it.

On the other hand, with the Twin Poison Serpent, it's hard to even approach due to poison and paralysis fog, and its defense is high and stamina very high, so it's a monster that takes time to defeat. Tail swings and bite attacks have sufficient power, and if bitten, poison flows directly into you, so there's also danger of instant death.

The Jūryō Frog is also a considerably tough monster unless you use the special method of sumo to defeat it. No matter how much you attack, it won't even stagger, making you wonder if your attacks are even working. It's to the level where attacks don't go through at all, just like the Rabbit Demon Iron Skin.

And the attacks unleashed from that giant body are sharp and heavy. It basically only does sumo-like attacks, but just with open-handed slaps, it could probably defeat most explorers. If you get hit by the attack where it stomps its foot down like performing a shiko, you'd get crushed like a frog run over by a car, and if caught, you might have your legs broken—a terrifying monster.

Not just the Water Blade Weasel, but all Area Bosses are existences that can easily kill people, and without exception they have high attack power and are dangerous. But other than the Water Blade Weasel, they all have high stamina and defense to begin with, so depending on your stats, it's difficult to even deal decent damage.

Therefore, the Water Blade Weasel, which you respond to with speed instead of defense, is a monster you can deal damage to, so for Suzuka, it could be said to be the best monster to fight.

Moreover, around the Water Blade Weasel, there are always two Rock Earth Dragons and three Nut Bombarrel Chipmunks waiting. The Water Blade Weasel's fighting style is to use Rock Earth Dragons, which excel in defense, as shields and attack when there's an opening.

In Suzuka's mind, opponents who come in numbers are determined to be weak. With that background too, it's understandable that explorers challenged the Water Blade Weasel.

"...Sigh, a miscalculation on top of a miscalculation, a major miscalculation. I'm going home."

Even though she got a good item from the Jūryō Frog, the ending didn't feel right. She didn't have the energy to resume hunting Pseudoviscous, so Suzuka dropped her shoulders and headed home in sadness.