Prologue — A Turbulent New Beginning After a Crappy Update!

It was day eight of the game’s official launch. The servers had gone down for maintenance the day before, and life in the real world had been tough.

The culture festival had been going on at school, and a few of the girls in my class (plus some boys for some reason) had taken me to another class’s costume try-on exhibit to take a look at the outfits. Somehow, they’d forced me to try on a girl’s dress. Everyone in the room got excited over the results, and the dress’s creator, an older girl from the arts and crafts club, declared, “Oh, how fabulous! What a wonderful model I’ve found!” Then she started panting and tried to put makeup on me. It was awful.

When it’d all become too much, I ran away, only to get knocked to the ground after colliding with our hulking gym teacher. “Are you all right, miss?” he’d asked me, not seeming to realize I was a boy from his class. “If you’d like, we could enjoy the culture festival together. We could even call it a date!” If I hadn’t been running before, at this point I was hightailing it out of there.

Now, after that whole day full of unlucky experiences, I was finally back in the game. But it turned out there was yet more misfortune awaiting me.

“Y-You can’t be serious!”

A message window opened in front of me the moment I arrived in the plaza with an announcement so shocking that I wanted to scream.

As part of the recent update, adjustments have been made to the combat system for the sake of balance. The key points to be aware of are as follows:

1. In response to the extreme behavior of a number of players, we have reduced the attributes of monsters tamed through the summoner class system to eighty percent of their original values.

2. In response to the extreme behavior of a number of players, the cooldown time for summoning giant monsters has been increased from 10 minutes to 1 hour.

In addition, the power of the Gigantic Dragonplant’s laser beam attack has been reduced. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes and thank you for your understanding in this matter.

3. In response to the extreme behavior of a number of players, players are now limited to one tamed boss monster per type.

In addition, only a single tamed boss monster can be summoned at a time. (Boss monsters that are possessing an item do not count toward this limit.)

Furthermore, the flight time and altitude of the Vanishing Firebird have been reduced from 15 minutes and 20 meters to 5 minutes and 10 meters, respectively. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes and thank you for your understanding in this matter.

4. In response to the extreme behavior of a number of players, the cooldown time for the Boundless Calamity Summon art has been increased from 10 minutes to 1 hour. In addition, a limit of 100 summoned monsters will now be imposed. We sincerely appreciate your understanding in this matter.

- Summoner Developer

“These devs are trash! Every single one of these is aimed at me!” They’re not fooling anyone with that “a number of players” crap! Why’d they have to do me like this?!

After I’d taken a moment to calm down and do some self reflection, I could kind of see how I might have overdone it ever so slightly during the PvP event. But still, nerfing me this hard was cruel. If they hadn’t made any changes at all, every other player would have started copying me, but they really didn’t have to go this far. But there was still more to the announcement.

5. The Navigation skill used by possessing monsters has been weakened.

Although this may inconvenience some players, the change was necessary to substantially diminish the homing abilities of arrows possessed by living weapons. Prior to the update, arrows were able to follow erratic paths that made them impossible to dodge.

In addition, the Shade Clone skill used by shadow weapons has been weakened. The number of created clones has been reduced from 9 to 3. It is hardly appropriate for an art to produce volleys of over 100 arrows without incurring an MP cost. If the summoner class were to retain the art in its old form, it would be incredibly unfair to bow wielders who have chosen the intended archer class. Even the archer arts can only split an arrow into ten copies at the very most.

It’s unclear what the Summoner Developer’s intentions were with this. We appreciate your understanding in this matter.

- Archer Developer

6. Damage multipliers are now limited to 10×, regardless of how many damage-boosting skills are active at a time.

Given that skills are learned through in-game actions, players are anticipated to continue accumulating more skills. “Won’t this lead to unchecked inflation in player damage output as the game goes on?” That’s the doubt many have expressed, and quite frankly, they’re right to be concerned. It’s especially worrying when certain individuals have demonstrated the ability to activate all of their damage-boosting skills with near certainty.

Furthermore, a cooldown of 5 seconds has been imposed on the Last Stand skill and all of its derivatives. We can’t have players just increasing their luck attribute such that the skill can activate thirty times in rapid succession.

It’s unclear what the Attribute Developer was thinking when they implemented the luck system. We thank you for your understanding in this matter.

- Skill Developer

7. No significant modifications have been made to the attribute system. Adjustments to features maintained by other developers obviate the need to prevent players from focusing on a single attribute.

As the Attribute Developer, I was subject to heavy criticism following the recent event, as was the Summoner Developer. However, the issues encountered were not caused by a single team member’s failings, but rather, the development team as a whole failing to coordinate its efforts effectively. Additionally, if blame were to be placed on an individual, everything was the Summoner Developer’s fault, not mine.

I’m the victim here.

- Attribute Developer

“The devs are all throwing shade at each other?! I knew they were trash, but I didn’t think they were this bad!” And if anyone’s a victim here, it’s me!

Just looking at the change log was getting me mad. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen a game studio scatter a few jokes throughout official announcements to make interactions with players feel less formal, but it would take more than this for me to see any humor in a crappy update that ruined my entire build! This cheeky crap’s just more salt in the wound!

There were also some other announcements, namely that “in-game currency can now be purchased with real-world money, or conversely, converted to real-world money” and “to support the addition of new story quests, new towns have been established in various locations.” I only gave those a quick glance before closing the message window. New features weren’t worth much to me now that I couldn’t fight.

I heaved a deep sigh. “Haaah... So, to sum it up, my monsters got weakened, I can’t create hordes of boss monsters, my bow lost its perfect accuracy and rate of fire, my damage output got capped, and Relentless only works once every five seconds?” Man, this is brutal.

I could handle having weaker monsters. In the battle royale, I’d learned a skill called Demon Lord Kin that gave them all a permanent 1.3× buff, more or less canceling out the update. As for boss rushes, I’d just have to give up on creating those. Then there was my bow...

“Come on out, Puffster.”

“Currrsss...” My foggy black arrow appeared with his flight capabilities severely weakened.

Yeah...there’s no way he’s making any sharp turns in this state.

Puffster made a sad little noise, as if to say, “The devs done a number on me, sis. I’m a goner!”

I hugged him tightly at my chest. There, there.

I’d never be able to rain countless arrows down on opponents again, but there was still hope for my accuracy since I’d learned a skill called Demonic Archery during the battle royale that gave all projectiles a homing effect. To test it, I took out an item called a Dragonplant Seed and threw it at a distant pigeon that was pecking at the ground. The outcome...

“Coo!”

“Ah, it missed...”

The seed had flown toward the bird, but that was the extent of it. When the bird suddenly took flight, the seed simply hit the ground instead of following its target.

“So that’s how that goes... It’s a slight homing effect that can’t compensate for large movements.”

It looked useful for stationary targets, but not for anything fast-moving...though I’d only tried it with a seed. The homing would be better when combined with what remained of Puffster’s Navigation ability, though still far from perfect accuracy.

I heaved yet another heavy sigh as I retrieved the Dragonplant Seed. “Haah... And I can’t use Relentless repeatedly either. Can’t do much about that one...” Maybe I shouldn’t play with 1 HP anymore.

But the Against All Odds skill wouldn’t be doubling my luck if my HP was any higher. Besides, my zero defense stat guaranteed I’d die instantly regardless.

Maybe it’s time to quit the pure luck build and start investing in other stats? I asked myself while opening up a status window. I still hadn’t spent the huge collection of attribute points I’d earned from leveling up in the battle royale, after all.

“No! Now’s the time to stick to my guns, dammit!” I poured every single one of those points into my luck stat!

It didn’t make sense to reconsider my approach now. It was far too late to aim for balanced stats. The only reasonable option was to see my pure luck build through to the end—anything less would be tantamount to surrendering to the devs. They probably thought they’d turned the summoner, bow, pure luck build combo into trash, but as long as I had anything to do with it, that wasn’t happening! “I’m gonna keep taking the weakest options and making them good. And every time the devs put an event together, I’ll be there making their heads spin!”

I knew they might hit me with more laser-focused nerfs, but even then, I’d never surrender. In fact, there was a good chance they wouldn’t dare weaken the winning build after two events in a row. Players would leave en masse if Blade Skill Online became “the game where the reward for victory is getting nerfed.”

That’s right... If I keep on winning through sheer fighting spirit and determination, they’ll crack long before I do.

I felt sure I could keep powering on and making a name for myself until the devs gave up. I could even sell off all the items I collected to make a ton of money with the in-game currency conversion feature.

A man doesn’t quit when he’s down. I’m gonna reach new heights where even the devs can’t touch me. I’m not stopping until I’ve made myself this game’s last boss!

“Watch out, trash devs! As this game’s strongest player, I’m always gonna rise to the top! And I’m gonna have a blast playing while I’m at it!”

With my goal firmly established, it was time to take action.

Didn’t they say something about trading event points for limited items and skills?

I brought up the relevant page in the menus. A warning message told me, “You may not buy more than one of each item type. Additionally, you may only equip three limited skills at a time.” The restrictions were probably there to stop anyone who hadn’t joined the event from falling too far behind.

“All right. I’ve got points for days, so may as well try some stuff out,” I told myself while heading for the town’s training ground for some combat practice.

⬧⬨⬧

“Haah... Haah... It’s coming together. It’s actually coming together... If I fight like this, I can get my revenge on the devs!”

I broke into a smile. In front of me lay over a hundred destroyed training dummies in one big heap. I was in the center of a training ground, a place where I could call out as many practice mobs as I wanted, which was just what I needed.

I’d been offered a choice between the regular training ground or a private training area when I’d arrived. The former was better suited for practicing the basics while following examples set by other players. I’d chosen the latter option, intended for players who wanted to keep their tactics secret.

I’d heard that the game had over fifty thousand new players, and I wondered whether it was worth dropping by the public area to give them some advice. Maybe I’ll show bow wielders how to throw a punch, I thought, but then I decided that for the moment, I had to focus on my own problems.

“Looks like I have to stick with a style where I’m following up attacks with attacks with attacks. I might’ve lost the damage output I need to get quick kills, but that doesn’t mean I can pivot to defensive play.”

As a man, I had to focus on my offense. If I could obliterate my opponent before they had a chance to attack, then I’d never have to worry about getting hit, making offense the perfect defense. I’d been looking at a few damage-boosting skills for that reason, though none seemed particularly useful—especially not now that damage multipliers were capped at ten.

I pondered my options for almost an hour before turning to the online guide for advice. It was the same site that had tricked me once before, but it had too much useful info to ignore.

All over the comment sections, I saw people saying things like, “The update turned the summoner, bow, and pure luck combo from overpowered cheese back to total trash! Mission accomplished!”

With gritted teeth, I opened up a page titled “The Best Limited Skills, Ranked” and scrolled through all the highly ranked skills that players considered most versatile. Eventually I found myself going through bottom-tier skills with only a few niche uses. That’s when something caught my eye. I found the broken skill I needed!

Summoner-exclusive skill: Weapon Barricade

Event point cost: 150 (extremely high)

Instantly summon a weapon close to you while at or below ten percent HP. The weapon will return to your item box after 3 seconds have elapsed.

This was the limited skill I finally purchased.

With almost 30,000 event points to my name, it was hard to put myself in an ordinary player’s shoes, but I doubted many wanted to spend 150 event points on a skill they could rarely ever use. Every single point represented a hard-earned player kill, after all.

“A shield made of weapons, for summoners only? This looks barely worth using...unless you get creative with it.”

To test it out, I tried using it the way the devs had probably intended. A summoning circle appeared at my feet, my Beginner’s Bow popped out, and then it disappeared again. With the right timing, it could probably block an enemy attack.

A player with a collection of broad greatswords might find it useful, but not so much for someone who’d picked “bow” during character creation like me. My weapon was too light and flimsy to offer much defense.

That had me thinking it was a garbage skill at first, but then something occurred to me: Hang on, what happens if you try to use a weapon you didn’t pick during character creation?

And so, I bought a greatsword and tried holding it. Interestingly, it popped right out of my hand. Even if I tried to grip it tight, it made no difference. The weapon always shot off in some random direction to make sure I could never use it.

With this behavior confirmed, I tried using Weapon Barricade again, but this time it was a sword that rose up from the ground. Instead of floating in front of me like a shield, this weapon shot upward like a rocket. So then I wondered, what if, instead of summoning the sword from the ground, I made it appear from behind me with the blade pointing forward? The result was an interesting one: The sword shot out like a bullet from a gun. Unfortunately, it was the game’s systems that had control of the weapon, and it crashed to the ground without getting near the training dummy in front of me.

Well, that was a given, I told myself. But I hadn’t lost hope. I’ll just have to fire a Puffster barrage at enemies while they’re distracted by the swords I’m launching.

So the next thing I tried was summoning a sword while holding my bow. The effect was better than anything I could have imagined. Somehow, it triggered Demonic Archery—the skill that was only supposed to apply a homing effect to thrown items and projectiles had taken control of the sword. Instead of firing out at random, my blade plunged right into the training dummy.

I’d found a glitch without even trying. As long as I had a bow in my hand, anything flying away from me would be recognized as a projectile attack by the game. It was like the game was treating it as an attack, rather than a weapon I was randomly repelling. And thanks to my high luck stat, the hit was accompanied by a bunch of damage boosts.

That’s when I had an idea. I can have some fun with this!

After a lot of trial and error, I finally found it: a way to recover my damage output and rate of fire.

“Get out here, combat-practice Goblin Kings!”

“Goh buh, goh gobuuh!” Ten Goblin Kings appeared in front of me. Although none of them were the real thing, their stats were the same. They all raised their clubs high and rushed at me.

Now that I couldn’t rely on Relentless triggering more than once, two hits would prove fatal. “No sweat. Skill activate! Weapon Barricade!”

Countless summoning circles appeared behind me like a mandala, and from each emerged an enchanted sword, an enchanted spear, or a similar weapon. Each blade was coated with blackened flames or poisonous miasma capable of inflicting some status.

“Targets acquired... All fire!”

My numerous weapons shot out, each penetrating the body of a Goblin King and inflicting them with burns, toxicity, and other agonizing ailments in the process.

Skill active: Demonic Archery! A long-range attack tracked a target!

Skill active: Genocide Killer! Damage doubled!

Skill active: Fatal Strike! Damage doubled!

Critical hit! Triple damage dealt to a weak point!

Skill active: Merciless Death God! Critical damage boosted a further thirty percent!

Deathly Flame Sword Icarus effect active: Burn status inflicted on Goblin King!

Deathly Poison Sword Laguna effect active: Toxic status inflicted on Goblin King!

Deathly Ice Sword Uranus effect active: Frozen status inflicted on Goblin King!

Deathly Lust Sword Venus effect active: Fascination status inflicted on Goblin King!

Deathly Lightning Sword Mikazuchi effect active: Paralyze status inflicted on—

“Goh gobuuuuh?!” the swarm of Goblin Kings cried as they fell victim to my barrage.

My pure luck build hadn’t lost its shine. My devastating damage boosts were now accompanied by status ailments inflicted by the array of weapons. Each Goblin King vanished in tears as the ailments depleted their life totals.

“Ha ha ha! Now it’s perfect!”

This was my new means to make use of my powers. My old trick of enhancing my arrows’ attack power with Puffster and the gang wouldn’t be enough with this amount of projectiles because of the summoned monster limit, and that would normally mean my damage would be too low...but not if all the weapons are enchanted in the first place.

“It’s the game’s own system itself making the weapons fly off, so any extra weight shouldn’t slow them down. In that case, I just need to make sure my weapons are stupidly heavy or cause some high-grade status ailment.”

I used my event points to buy a ton of high-level weapons to use as new “arrows.” I also had a ton of items stocked up thanks to my pure luck build, so I sold those off and used the money to buy more high-grade weapons from stores in town. When I was finished, I was ready to overwhelm my enemies with superior mass. It was the new summoner, bow, and pure luck build play style.

“All right!” I yelled in satisfaction at my hard-earned power. “Ha ha! I can carry up to fifty items. That might not be able to crush enemies with infinite mass, but it’ll let me deal with whatever comes my way! My problems aren’t all solved just yet...but I’m ready to keep moving forward!”

I opened a menu window in front of me and read the announcement from the devs: “A new PvP event will commence one week from now: All-Out Guild War! Guild homes belonging to numerous guilds will be summoned to a special arena where they’ll fight to destroy one another!”

First the management had thrown tens of thousands of players into a battle royale, and now this. They certainly were bold with the events. It all felt a bit random, but as much as I hated to admit it, I liked their style.

“Hmm... If I’m gonna compete, I’ll need a guild home. A ‘Guild Home Founding Rights’ item was my prize for winning a battle royale, wasn’t it?”

The guild system rules informed me that I’d need some land before I could found anything. Players could acquire land either as a quest reward or by purchasing it. From there, a Guild Home Founding Rights, which was even more expensive to buy than land itself, could be used to establish a guild home on one’s land. Once all that was taken care of, the guild home’s owner gained access to several guild-exclusive systems.

I closed the menu window and made a bold decision. “The land can be as big as I want, right? In that case, I’m gonna take over an entire town!”

I knew I was being silly, but a man has to think big! My grandfather had always told me so.

You wouldn’t think it given his love for yakuza movies, but my grandfather was a kindhearted man always ready to help people in need through a moneylending business. A bit of advice he’d once given me was “Never believe it when someone says you’re asking too much. Even if they tell you you’re asking the impossible, it’s always worth giving ’em a good squeeze to see what comes out of ’em.” I think it was his way of saying that everyone, no matter who they are, has some fighting spirit inside them.

That’s right. Work hard enough at an impossible goal, and you’ll start making the impossible possible, and that’s when you realize there’s no such thing as impossible! People have unlimited potential! It’s all about fighting spirit and determination! Once you’ve got those, the rest comes naturally!

“As the hero standing up to the evil devs, I’ll need a huge home that I’ll be proud to show off! At the very least, I’ve got to have my own castle!” Then I’d be ready to make a splash at the upcoming guild event. My plan was to get myself another ton of event points, trade them all for limited items, get rich selling them, then make the devs suffer by trading in my in-game funds for real-life cash! I’ll give it my best shot!

“I guess it’s time I hit the hay. It got late fast while I was looking for a new fighting style.”

My attacks are so much more varied now. And I can’t wait to try it all with a bunch of different weapons!

My spirits soared as I logged out to prepare myself for the following day.

Chapter 14 — A Saga of Rebellion Against the Devs Begins! Things Get Wild After the Update!

With the game on its ninth day, I was running east and moving fast. I’d recovered my ability to fight the day before, so now I just had to get myself some land for my guild home, and I’d be ready for the All-Out Guild War event. To that end, I was running full speed through a wood of mixed trees, heading for the holy town of Helheim in the far east.

I was halfway through the forest when I sensed something flying at me from the side. I reacted immediately, throwing my fist at whatever it was.

Skill active: God-Killing Fist! Your hand is invincible from the wrist to the fingertips while throwing a punch! All forms of damage, knockback, and status effects are negated!

Skill active: Demon Lord Shock Wave! Knockback dealt to all enemies increases considerably!

As my skills combo knocked the object flying, I identified it as a thrown greatsword. Clearly, I was under attack.

“It’s a little rude to attack me by surprise like that. Come on and show yourself.”

Multiple players emerged from the surrounding undergrowth in response. I counted at least twenty of them, and judging from the nice gear they were wearing, they were all high-level.

One stepped out from the crowd and approached me, grinning. She was a red-haired girl wearing a crimson battle dress like some kind of sword princess. “Oh my. Now I see why you used to be a top player! That would have killed you if your keen instincts hadn’t saved you!”

“No, your ambush was just half-assed.”

“Ngh?!” The red-haired girl scowled as she rematerialized her greatsword in her hands. “I’m surprised you’d dare speak to me like that. I know you can’t fight since the update!” She pointed her blade at me and, with a crazed smile, announced, “I’m Shiru, known to many as the leader of a player killing group!”

“Yeah? I’ve never heard of you.”

“You’re really irritating, you know that?”

This Shiru girl sure likes to talk. So she’s the leader of a player killing group, is she? Ever since the battle royale, I’d developed quite a taste for player killing myself.

“Killing players isn’t like clearing dungeons,” Shiru explained. “No one announces your name to the whole world. It is what it is, I suppose. But my days of going unnoticed are about to come to an end! The update added a video streaming feature, and that’s just what I needed! Let the livestream begin!” Shiru snapped her fingers, and a massive eyeball with wings appeared beside her. The eye was looking right at me, and there was a blinking light inside its pupil.

Oh, I get it. It’s a camera. A really gross camera.

“Heh heh heh,” Shiru laughed. “I was always asking myself, why should you get all the fame? That’s why I’ve started ‘Player Kills Channel’ on a video streaming site to put things right. I’m going to slaughter every careless moron I come across while broadcasting it all to the world and making myself famous!”

“And you figured a battle royale winner would make a nice target...?” I asked while materializing my bow. “Not a bad idea. Whoever’s ready to die, come at me!”

But the players around us all held back with bated breath. “What are you all afraid of?!” Shiru demanded. “They stripped her of all the power she had at the event! Just think of the fame we’ll get for being the first ones to beat her to a pulp!”

She’d given them all the encouragement they’d needed. The other player killers all roared as they rushed toward me from all sides. “Urrraaaaaaaah!”

With Relentless nerfed, my power to withstand them was gone. They probably thought they’d kill me easily with two attacks in quick succession. But that was wishful thinking!

“Skill activate! Weapon Barricade!” Summoning circles appeared all around me, launching swords and spears at all the player killers that had me surrounded. Shiru was quick enough to block, but many of them got hit and were left writhing in agony as my status ailments took hold.

“Arrrrgh?! M-My body’s burning?!”

“Ugh, ack?! Is this...the toxic status?!”

Unfortunately for them, I had a pure luck build. When a weapon’s description said it had a chance to induce a status effect, I could take it as a guarantee. Even the slightest graze could prove fatal.

I walked toward the cowering players and shot blackened arrows at them one after another. Once there was an arrow embedded in each target, I gave the order: “Clone yourselves where you are.” The result...

“Ugh, ugggaaaaah?!”

“It’s ripping me apart!”

While still inside the players, my Puffster minions split into multiple copies in a radial pattern, tearing open their bodies and making them vanish. Extreme wounds like these inflicted the “heavily damaged” status, resulting in an automatic death even if their HP wasn’t depleted. This was the game’s way of dealing with a player whose body had been split into pieces—something that didn’t happen under ordinary circumstances.

“Impressive, right? This is what I came up with after a little trial and error. My Demon Lord Shock Wave skill can send a shock wave right through someone’s body. When I realized I could control the direction of arrow splitting, I combined the two effects, and this is what I got. So who’s next to be torn apart from the inside?”

“E-Eeeeeeeeek?!” The survivors leaped up with the color draining from their faces, threw their weapons down, and tried to flee.

“What’s going on?! Did she get even stronger?!”

“You promised it wouldn’t be like this, leader!”

“I’m not going through that! I don’t care how much VR limits my sense of pain!”

“She really is the Demon Lord!”

Naturally, I had no intention of letting them get away. I fired an arrow into each defenseless back and made them all explode.

I couldn’t get enough of flashy attacks like this. It’s true what they say: adversity builds character! So if you’re gonna blame someone, blame the devs—they’re the ones who put my feet to the fire! Ha ha ha ha!

“Whew... Well, Shiru, now that your guys are all dead, we can go one-on-one. Good luck!”

“Eek?! Wh-What kind of monster are you?! Didn’t they weaken you?!”

“You know they did. But what sort of man would just throw his hands up and accept it? If someone told you, ‘We’ve decided you’re going to be a weakling from now on,’ would you say, ‘All right, sure’? Of course not! All it did was light a new fire inside me! No matter how weak they make me, I’ll never stop! I’m unstoppable! Unstoppable!”

“Erk?! Y-You twisted freak!” Shiru was in tears, but she still rushed at me.

She’s got some real spirit!

When she swung her greatsword, I knocked it away with the back of my fist then threw a punch straight forward, only to stop just before her face. We were both standing stock-still as Demon Lord Shock Wave sent a blast of black air rippling through Shiru’s red hair.

“Looks like I’ve won. But we can keep fighting if you disagree.”

“Ngh?!” Shiru was a quivering wreck as she muttered, “I-I... I give up!”

There was only one reason she was still alive: She’d told me she was livestreaming. As the winner of the fight, I’d earned the right to take over her channel.

I grabbed the eyeball camera floating beside her and stared straight into it. “Get a good look, devs. Same goes for any player who thinks I’ve lost my power. I’m as strong as I ever was since the update! No matter what you do to me, I’ll make a comeback every time. I’ll always be gunning for the top spot. So if you’re thinking about picking a fight with me, take a minute to remember who you’re dealing with!” To finish, I knocked the eyeball farther back with a flick to its pupil.

With the help of a hijacked channel, I’d just made my declaration of war to the devs and anyone else who considered me their rival!

[Game Patched] General Discussion 371 [How’s It Look?]

1. Impatient Adventurer

This thread is for general discussion.

Speak your mind freely, so long as you’re not breaking the forum rules. However, if you want to recruit party members, rant, hate on the game, or start drama, please make your own thread.

A new thread will be created automatically when this one reaches the reply limit.

Previous thread: http://**********

107. Impatient Adventurer

Just looking at the patch notes again and it really is horrible...

I mean, video streaming, new towns, and tons of new quests are nice, but they killed the summoner/bow/pure luck combo dead.

108. Impatient Adventurer

>> 107

You mean the Demon Lord combo? I doubt they wanted to take chances after watching it wipe out 99% of 30,000 players in a battle royale.

How bad were all the other summoners hit, I wonder.

109. Impatient Adventurer

>> 108

Summoner here. The reduction to monster stats was painful, but I can compensate with buffs like Power Burst.

Doubling every monster’s stats for a few seconds was always powerful, so I’m not too upset to see monsters nerfed. It just means MP management’s a lot trickier now.

130. Impatient Adventurer

>> 109

Ooh, a fellow summoner. Likewise, I’m not having a hard time with it.

Yuri’s probably the only player ever to tame a boss, so limiting the boss monster summon time doesn’t affect the rest of us lol.

Have to say though, it’s unfair how they came down hard on the winning play style.

151. Impatient Adventurer

>> 130

They had to do something.

Almost 50,000 new players signed up after watching Yuri in the event, and that number’s getting bigger by the day. If they were all trying to tame living weapons, it would only be a matter of time before some of them pulled it off and we got a bunch of overpowered Yuri clones.

Even if they’re cheap imitations, do you really want to see her mass-produced?

As much as I feel bad for Yuri, she just has to deal with it.

173. Impatient Adventurer

Everyone needs to check out Player Kills Channel right now!

There’s a PKer called Shiru taking on Yuri with a whole gang behind her, and it’s all getting livestreamed!

This is nuts! Totally nuts! Whoa!!!!

176. Impatient Adventurer

>> 173

Huh? What? Demon Lord Yuri’s about to get a beatdown? I don’t wanna see that... Not when she’s so hot. And not when it’ll ruin my image of her as a powerful warrior.

179. Impatient Adventurer

>> 176

You couldn’t be more wrong! Hooooooooly! People are exploding?!

180. Impatient Adventurer

>> 173

Let’s see...

Wtfffffffffffff?!

240. Impatient Adventurer

Wow... Lmao this can’t be real... Yuri’s still dominating!

294. Impatient Adventurer

You can rewind the stream to see how it started!

Yeah this is bananas lol. How’s she firing swords and spears?

She says she’s using the Weapon Barricade skill, but that’s right down at the bottom of the skill ranking. It’s supposed to be a summoner-only skill for shielding yourself with weapons. How’s she using it like that?!

And the way people explode when her arrows hit lmao. She’s on a total rampage lol. Her fighting style got even stronger!!!

310. Impatient Adventurer

Whoooooooa, she’s declaring war against the devs and everyone else!

Also, lol, poor Shiru’s crying because her channel got hijacked.

315. Impatient Adventurer

>> 310

She’s still unrivaled! This is getting me hyped!!!

All right, I’m starting the strongest guild and we’re gonna take Yuri down!!!

350. Impatient Adventurer

>> 315

Sign me up!

I can get 10,000 in-game gold for every 1,000 yen I spend... I’m gonna show these kids the power of adults!

388. Impatient Adventurer

>> 350

Oh god, is it pay to win now? Lol

You know, when you convert it back to real money, 1,000,000 gold only comes out at 1,000 yen. The devs are stingy.

And speaking of money, look at all those rare weapons Yuri’s throwing around. How rich will she be if she sells them all?

400. Impatient Adventurer

>> 388

Given how many event-exclusive weapons there are, I’d estimate she’d have about 10M gold lol.

412. Impatient Adventurer

>> 400

Lucky! So you can get a decent payout after doing well in an event?

You can turn video views into money these days too!

Okay, the update got me down a little, but if Yuri can hold on to the top spot, then there’s hope for me too!

I’m about to take the world by storm!

413. Impatient Adventurer

I’ve been thinking about the developers. Supposedly, they’re a team of graduates fresh out of some big engineering college that saw the potential of modern VR technology and took it to new heights.

If they’re all geniuses, all the trash talk in the update announcement has to be a joke, right? It wouldn’t be the first time I’d seen a game mix some jokes into their official announcements.

415. Impatient Adventurer

>> 413

Lol is that a serious question? Obviously they’re kidding. How stupid would they have to be to vent in the announcements lol.

They always act like they’re arguing, but we know they’re friends outside of work because they all went to the same college together. That’s the joke.

Anyhow, it’s time to grind levels until I’m ready to take down Yuri!

“How do we deal with this?”

“We have to fix it somehow...”

In a dimly lit meeting room, a number of people were frowning at a three-dimensional display floating in the room’s center. They’d been watching the video of Yuri and Shiru’s battle, which had taken place a few hours earlier, and studying graphs that showed player count and player-derived revenue, both of which had increased dramatically right after the livestream concluded.

“It’s the same player that got everyone talking about us after the event...but we can’t let her have this much power.”

“We already did everything we could to weaken her. You’re telling me she’s back to full power in a single day?! It’s like we beat the last boss only for it to come back with a second phase! What a joke!”

“I don’t like her at all. She’s tricking the game into making Weapon Barricade work like an offensive skill. It’s like she’s hell-bent on finding ways to power up!”

“I’ve analyzed it and found that it’s a system bug. Or at the very least, it’s unintended behavior for this particular skill. If the player activates Weapon Barricade while holding a bow, any repelled weapons get recognized as projectile attacks. Weapons summoned with Weapon Barricade are supposed to damage any player that strikes them, but that effect combines with the repelling mechanism, turning it into a projectile attack.”

“Ah... So the software logic says that any attack performed with a weapon other than a bow by a player who’s holding a bow must be a projectile attack from an arrow. Players aren’t supposed to use any weapon type besides the one they chose during character creation, but the bow creates an exception because bow wielders are allowed to equip arrows, which also count as a weapon type. It’s an odd sort of logic, but I see how it happens. I have to hand it to Yuri for finding the exploit. She’s not just cute and strong—she’s smart too. There’s really no one quite like her.”

“Don’t tell us you’re a fan now?! Don’t forget you’re in charge of skill development. How are you going to fix this?!”

“I’m sorry! Wh-What if we rush out an update that takes away the attack aspect of Weapon Barricade? That’ll weaken it. It’ll solve everything. And we can nerf shadow weapons again while we’re at it so that Shade Clone doesn’t blow people up!”

“Are you a complete moron?! We already singled Yuri out with the previous update despite all the new players hoping to be just like her! Did you forget how mad they were?! We might have gotten away with it if we’d fixed it before this video went up, but the community’s going to tear us apart if we do it now! If we keep nerfing the same player, the backlash is going to get so big that everyone quits the game! Did you consider any of that, idiot?!”

“The only idiot here is you! You’re the one responsible for the attribute system! You seem to think you can just sit back and let everyone else fix this mess! We shouldn’t have to put up with a useless developer draining our money with a salary they’ve done nothing to earn!”

“How dare you!”

The (trash) developers were at each other’s throats. Back during their college days, they’d always been trying to put each other down as they fought to be top of the class, and they still hadn’t learned to cooperate.

To make matters worse, they’d all won scholarships for elite students and hadn’t had to work part-time jobs throughout college, leaving them with virtually no workplace experience. Players had laughed off their snide remarks in the update announcement as jokes, but the developers had meant every word.

“You wanna take this outside?!”

“I’m not scared of you!”

When it came to technological development, they were all highly skilled, but their self-control was severely lacking. The meeting went from a discussion to all-out mudslinging, and before long, they were all so worn down mentally that they lost the will to do anything...which was why they settled on maintaining the status quo.

Yuri was getting their game a lot of attention, after all. It was decided that it was best to let her keep doing her thing for the sake of publicity.

“Well, whatever future problems she might cause, I’m sure our future selves can deal with them. Right now, it’s quitting time!”

“Ooh... Good point. Let’s just say the Weapon Barricade thing was a secret ability! Then players can’t get mad about it not working according to the specs. Woo-hoo, now I can go home!”

“I love this advanced AI we made to fix bugs on the fly. Now no one has to work late anymore! It only handles simple issues, but as long as there aren’t any major incidents, that’s enough to keep the game running smoothly!”

And so, the meeting room was filled with cheers of, “Hooray! Work’s over!” and the (trash) development team left. None of them had any experience dealing with problems after they’d been left to fester, so none of them felt the sense of urgency to keep things fixed that they should’ve had. Each and every one of them went home for the day completely unprepared for the massive incident Yuri was about to cause.

Chapter 15 — Sisters in Crime, Yuri and Shiru, Enter the Scene!

“Oh jeez! Oh jeez! Did you really have to use my channel to declare war?! It was supposed to be my way of making a name for myself. Do you know how much work I’ve put into building a following?!”

“Hey, I made your channel famous. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“That’s not the point!”

Almost an hour after the destruction of the PKer group, I’d reached the eastern limits of the map with Shiru, the group’s leader. A huge fortified town known as Helheim was visible ahead of us thanks to the light of the moon. It had gotten real late while we were walking there.

“So, Shiru, why are you following me?”

“Ngh... Grrr! I was trying to give you a piece of my mind, but before I knew it, it was too late to turn back! Where even are we? All the monsters are level 40! I’ll die trying to make it back alone!”

“Of course they are. We’re at the edge of the world. But relax—I’m here to protect you.”

“Oh, lucky me, my knight in shining armor! Except it’s your fault I’m here in the first place!” Shirukins tore at her red hair.

You’re gonna go bald doing that, girl!

“Haaah... Okay, Demon Lord, what do you want with this town?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m gonna take control of it, then turn the whole thing into my guild home. According to the world map, it’s the biggest town in the game. There’s a nice castle in the middle of it too.”

“Huh?! Whaaat?! What are you talking about? There’s no way any of that’s possible.”

“You don’t know that. The guild setup guide said you just need founding rights and then you can turn any land you own into your base. It didn’t say anything about size limits.”

“No, no, no, no. That wouldn’t make sense... Are you sure?” Shiru brought up a menu window and stared at the guild founding guide. Once she’d confirmed there really wasn’t anything about size limits, her shoulders slumped. “You’re right, it doesn’t mention limits. The developers never think anything through... But that’s some big ambition, deciding to take over an entire town just because no one set any limits. I still doubt you can.”

“Nothing’s impossible once you set your mind to it!”

“You sound way too happy-go-lucky for someone who looks so dead inside! Your eyes look so dark-side-coded I bet your eye bags have their own tragic backstories!”

I didn’t turn to the dark side. Quite the opposite. I’m the hero upholding justice! Always smart, and always cool about it. That’s Yuri—never underestimate me!

“So, Demon Lord, how do you plan to take over the town? Let me guess. You’re going to kill whichever NPC is in charge?”

“Don’t be stupid. I’d just be driven out like a criminal. Don’t worry, I’ll think of something once we get there.”

“You’re telling me you’ve come this far without a plan?!” Shirukins looked up at the sky and sighed. She’d had an evil look on her face when we first met, but now she just looked exhausted. I suppose there was no avoiding it—as an evildoer known for PKing, she was doubtlessly feeling weighed down beneath my heroic aura. I could only hope she’d be reformed once I’d set a good example for her to follow.

So, with Shiru in tow, I entered the holy town of Helheim.

⬧⬨⬧

The buildings of Helheim were all painted entirely white, and the town was dotted with what appeared to be churches. We occasionally passed by men dressed in white cassocks as we walked the streets. This was, without a doubt, a religious center.

In case you’re wondering, the gods I worshipped were fighting spirit and determination.

“Hey, Demon Lord, I got some info about the town from that stall. I bought us some snacks while I was at it.”

“Oh, thanks. By the way, I’m the hero, not the demon lord.”

“You haven’t got a single heroic trait about you!”

Shiru gave me one of the frankfurters she’d bought, and we ate them while strolling around the town.

“So, according to the NPC at the stall, the clergy hold all the authority around here. It’s basically what you’d expect from a place calling itself a holy town.”

“Oho?”

Shiru explained that adherents of Ymir, the kingdom’s official religion, considered this town sacred. Ymir essentially taught that evil couldn’t be tolerated and that all the evil monsters spread across the world by the last boss, the Demon Lord, had to be slaughtered without mercy to bring about world peace.

It was the kind of fighting spirit I liked to see in a religion. As for the countless monsters under my command, I felt pretty confident the religion would be okay with them since my heroic aura had cleansed them of evil already.

“All right, let’s try talking to one of these church guys,” I suggested. “Maybe there’ll be a quest or something. ‘There exists a monster that not even the forces of Ymir can defeat. Will you slay it for us?’ That kind of thing. Maybe I’ll get the town as a reward.”

“Oh come on, they’re not going to hand you the whole town that easily... Though there absolutely has to be a quest they can give us, and I wouldn’t say no to the money or whatever they’re offering. Let’s try talking to any important-looking NPCs we can find. They’ll be the ones offering up the juiciest rewards.”

“Agreed. In that case... Oh, how about that guy over there? He looks like a big shot.”

A short distance away was a priest striding down the center of the road with several young friars following behind him. He looked super important—even the ordinary NPCs were bowing their heads as he passed by. When I stared hard at him, the text “High-ranking NPC, Pope Gregorian” appeared.

Gregorian? That sounds like something you’d call a heaven-piercing mecha. But anyhow... “That’s him!” I cried. “He’s the pope! He’s gotta be head of this town!”

“Wow. That pure luck build must be paying off if you found him already! Well, let’s go talk to him.”

We both sprinted straight toward the old guy. My future’s looking up!

“Excuse us, can we have a nice quest please?!” we both said.

Gregorian eyed us with suspicion. “Hmph. My Pope’s Inner Eye skill sees right through you! You with the red hair, you’re a murderer! The soldiers call your type a PKer!”

“Ack?! H-How’d you know?!”

“And you with the silver hair... You’re... What in the world is this?! I sense the presence of a monster coming from your boots!”

Uh... Uh-oh! He’s right. I’ve got the Armor Knight possessing my boots. But it’ll be fine!

“No need to worry. Mor’s a good guy. Nothing like those evil monsters that Ymir’s teachings talk about.”

“Silence! Silence! Monsters are a scourge! Every last one must be eliminated without exception!”

Wh-What?! But why?!

“Surround them! Apprehend them! Execute them at once!”

“Your Holiness!” In answer to the pope’s call, soldiers appeared from every direction, totally encircling us before we could figure out what was going on.

A message appeared in front of both of us.

You have broken the laws of Helheim with the following crimes:

• Entering the town after killing 20 or more players outside of events.

• Bringing monsters into the town.

Now that these crimes are known to the NPCs, you will be taken to Helheim’s underground prison complex.

Just five minutes after arriving in the town, we were already bound for death row.

You gotta be kidding! All right, that does it! This town’s getting trashed!

⬧⬨⬧

“Criminal scum! Into the prison with you!”

Shiru and I were taken to a massive prison beneath the ground where no sunlight could reach us. Once there, we were forced into a cell that already held several prisoners.

“You’ll be executed in a short while,” the NPC jailer told us. “Tremble in fear while you wait!” he said before walking away.

Another message appeared in front of us.

You have both been sent to a prison area. All effects from classes, skills, and arts are ineffective here. In addition, monsters cannot be summoned and weapons and items cannot be retrieved from item boxes. Any physical boosts applied through attributes are also ineffective.

Your execution is due to take place in 10 minutes. After being executed for breaking the law, you will lose one level.

There are two ways to get out of the prison.

1. Allow yourself to be executed and you will be revived at the Temple of Revival in Starting Town.

2. Call the jailer and pay him a fine. You will be transported to the entrance to the town. Note that the fine varies with each town. Here, Pope Gregorian has set the required fine to the current maximum of 30,000,000 gold.

“Haah,” Shiru sighed. “We’re finished. There’s no way out.” She put her hands on her head and messed up her own hair as she scowled at the message. “As a PKer, I’d like to bring destruction to everyone in this town, but that’s not an option if all my skills and stats are suppressed. It looks like we’ve got no choice but to give in and accept our execution. I’m sure even you can’t afford the—”

“Actually, I can afford it. I’ve got almost exactly thirty million gold on me.”

“Huh?! Oh, I suppose I should’ve expected that much from a pure luck build. I’m sure you collect countless rare drops whenever you’re rampaging through the game. Well, good for you... Go on, then! Leave me and run!” Shiru sounded sulky and a little betrayed.

I grabbed both of her cheeks and pulled them.

“Ngah?! Whaa are you doooing?!”

“Me, run? As if. They can’t do this to me. You might be a player killer, but I’ve done nothing to deserve a death sentence!”

“Did you just say I deserve to die?!” Shiru started ranting about how she never would have come to this town if it hadn’t been for me. At least she’d stopped moping.

“Listen, Shirukins.”

“Who’s Shirukins?!”

“You, Shirukins. But listen, I’ve had it with how this town operates.” I was talking through gritted teeth.

Who does that pope think he is? He thinks monsters commit sin merely by existing? He’s not getting away with acting like that! That’s blasphemy against my closest companions! I’m not letting this go until I’ve punched that guy in the nose!

“Are you really gonna stand for this, Shirukins? I might not share your evil nature, but I know that feeling of wanting to lord over others through violence. Is a girl like you really going to go quietly to her execution?”

“N-Not a chance!” Shirukins scowled. “Lady Shiru causes mayhem as she pleases! It’s a good feeling, and it’s the whole reason I’m playing this game! If I knew a way to break out, I’d have tried it already!”

The thought of losing always brought out her aggressive side. She was probably imagining how she’d break out of the cell and start slaughtering soldiers if only there were a weapon in her hand. It was the kind of brutality I had to appreciate.

Let’s see... I think I’ve found a loophole in the system. All we need now is the spirit and determination to put it to use. That crooked pope’s about to face judgment at the hands of a summoner.

“Now that you’re fired up, let’s do this, Shiru. It’s time to kill Pope Gregorian.”

“Huh?! What are you talking about?! There’s no way out. And even if there were, NPCs can’t lose HP in a town. I know I joked about killing whoever’s in charge back when you first mentioned your plan to take over, but...”

“Yeah, I learned that from a fight with a bald guy the day I started the game. But the system only stops us from dealing damage.”

“Oh?” I’d piqued Shirukins’ interest.

Just as I was about to call the jailer, we heard another voice. It was the prisoners here in the cell with us.

“Would you keep it down? Aren’t you worried about being executed?”

“How long do we have to stay here...? When I decided to become a summoner, I never thought I’d end up like this.”

“Damn that pope! If only I could get out and see my monsters again...”

There was a group of them trembling in the corner of the cell. When I looked closely, the text “NPC summoner” appeared above each of their heads.

“What’s up with these guys?” I asked. “They’re NPCs with classes?”

“Yes. When the guild system was added, there was a note about how combatant NPCs can have classes now. It said NPCs can be assigned to defend your guild home, and you can also give items to strong NPCs to increase their kinship, or pay money to mercenary NPCs to make them work for you.”

Makes sense. Hiring NPCs is a common game mechanic. “But what use is a class for a prisoner? We can’t hire them while we’re stuck in the prison, and I doubt anyone would want to hire a criminal anyway.”

Shiru hesitated for a moment. “If I had to guess...I’d say the developers planned for these NPCs to die in here.”

“What...?”

“Think about it. Wouldn’t it look odd if we were thrown into some scary underground prison but then the only other person here was the jailer? You can’t create the right atmosphere without a few other people here cowering in fear. That’s why they’re here. The developers probably put the summoner class on them to show that the people of this town want all monsters erased, and now these NPCs will be here their whole lives. Probably until the game ends.”

I get it... They’re just props.

They’d been given enough intelligence to complain about Shiru being too loud, yet they were damned to spend their whole lives in a prison, existing only for the sake of atmosphere. I didn’t like that at all.

I approached the summoners then flicked each of their foreheads.

“Ouch!”

“Ugh?!”

“What the?!”

You acted violently toward NPCs. Their level of kinship toward you fell from 0 to -10.

Shut up, system message. If anything, I oughta have done more than a forehead flick to knock the courage back into these men who’ve lost their spines.

“Wh-What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Pull yourselves together, summoners. I don’t care if it’s just a backstory, you’re summoners, aren’t you? Then you must love monsters, and the pope’s behavior and this entire town must have you livid. In that case, we’re on the same team! And I’m about to make the town my own!”

“Huh?!”

I turned away from the stupefied men and called for the jailer. “Hey, I surrender! I’ll pay the fine, so come let me out!”

The jailer trudged over to the cell door. “Bah. That’s no fun. I was looking forward to seeing an execution.”

Just as the door opened, a message appeared.

You just lost 30,000,000 gold.

Would you like to warp to the town’s entrance?

I completely ignored the message and punched the jailer full force in the face!

“Guhbwah?!” He fell and landed on his butt.

I followed up with a kick to the face that sent him crashing into the cell door on the opposite side of the corridor.

“See,” I told Shiru. “I can’t deal damage, but knockback still applies. Now we can break out.”

“This is never going to work! Demon Lord, you can’t just attack the jailer NPC like that and—”

Before she could finish, a voice echoed through the prison. “What’s going on down there?!”

The town’s lawmen certainly weren’t lazy. Just like when the pope had called for our arrest, dozens of soldiers appeared from the prison entrance above and hurried toward us. But I wasn’t about to fall into the same trap twice. As a hero of justice, I can’t surrender to these evildoers!

“You’re up, Shiru. Just keep swinging your greatsword until you’ve cleared the path out.”

“Huh?! Didn’t you read the message?! It said we can’t take anything out of our item boxes while we’re in the prison!”

“Yeah... But what if I pull a sword from somewhere else?”

“But where would you— Oh... Ahhhhhhhh!” She’d finally realized.

While Shiru was still screaming, I opened up the event point trading page and tapped on the greatsword. Obviously, I chose the option for it to materialize immediately rather than sending it to my item box.

The moment I pressed the button, the greatsword appeared in midair with an explosive burst of light.

You spent 200 points!

You obtained a top-ranked limited item: Purgatory Sword Gullveig!

“You see? It’s another one of the system’s loopholes!”

“Hah... Ah ha ha ha ha ha!” Shiru gripped her stomach as she burst out laughing. “You’re really something, Demon Lord! You’ll use any trick you can find to get your way! The developers must think you’re a real demon!”

As I transferred ownership of the sword to her, she grinned, giving me a glimpse of her fangs. I had to love her brutal nature.

“You know what to do with it, Shiru! Consider it a gift!”

“I owe you one, Demon Lord! Now I’m really fired up. I’m ready to tear this place apart!” Shiru gripped the red sword tight and charged ahead. “Aha ha! I’m going to kill every last one of you! Arrrrrrrrrrgh!”

“Whoooa?! What’s gotten into this woman?!”

The clustered guards were no match for Shiru. With each swing of her sword, swathes of them were blown away like trash in the wind.

This was another loophole. According to the system message, it wasn’t just players who couldn’t get physical boosts from their stats—that is, NPCs were physically weak in the jail too, just like everyone else. And since our stats were just nullified and not actually set to zero, we could still equip items like this ultrarare sword that required 300 strength. The huge gulf between the stats of their weapons allowed Shiru to prevail against superior numbers.

And there was more...

“Grrraaarrrgh?! Hot! Hot! Hot!”

Many of the guards Shiru cut down were left crying out in agony as their bodies burned because of a status ailment inflicted by the greatsword. Although arts, class perks, and skills didn’t work inside the prison, no one said anything about weapon effects.

It wasn’t hard to guess why weapon effects had been overlooked. The devs had assumed they’d be irrelevant as long as players couldn’t take their weapons from their item boxes.

“Oh, I just noticed another loophole in the system,” I called out. “NPCs are like monsters—there’s no limit on how much pain they feel when you attack them! This is way harder on them than us... Hey, we can use that to make the pope suffer!”

“How can this be?” the jailer NPC lamented, sounding absolutely broken as I took his keys from him. “This shouldn’t be happening! No one ever told me how to handle anything like this!”

As I unlocked the doors one after another, confused NPCs emerged from the cells.

“W-We can leave? B-But this doesn’t feel right somehow!”

“You’d rather spend your whole life in here? Fine. Go back to cowering in a corner and let the trash dev gods bind you with their rules. Or if you’ve gotten tired of that... Summoners, follow my lead! We’re all going to claim this town as our own!”

“Huh?!” The NPCs who had been living their lives as props climbed to their feet one after another. More and more of them emerged from the cells until there was an army at my back big enough to fill the corridors of the prison.

“I want...freedom!”

“My familiars mean everything to me! I want to see them again! I’m not sure why I can’t ever remember being with them, but I’m sure my love for them is real!”

“I can’t stand being locked up in here another day!”

These were the cries of the NPCs—cries full of determination from men who’d been treated like furniture and condemned to rot down here forever.

The situation rapidly unfolding within the prison triggered a bright red system message.

Unexpected disturbance detected in Helheim Underground Prison. Responsible player identified as Yuri. The current situation is leading to undesirable behavior in the AI of multiple NPCs.

Alerting the development team... Alerting... Alerting... No response received. Resorting to fallback measure. Seeking judgment from Bug Correction AI Pendragon...

Judgment:

No problems found. No evidence of unauthorized modifications to game systems detected. Behavior of all systems is in accordance with specifications.

I apologize for the inconvenience. Dear Yuri, please continue to enjoy the game without concern.

“Wow, this thing’s pretty reasonable! All right. In that case, let’s turn this into a real uprising!” I led the horde of NPCs through the prison as we headed for the town outside!

Chapter 16 — Let’s Kill the Pope!!!!!!

“Okay, boys, let’s go. This is war!”

“Ooooooooooooh!” Over a hundred summoners roared at my call to action, followed by the howls of their corresponding monsters.

Now that we’d broken out of Helheim’s dungeon, the rest would be easy. The guards were coming at us with increasing numbers, but it was no use. My summoners and their familiars remained unstoppable!

“Lend me your power! Darkness wyvern!”

“Caaaaaaaaaw!”

“Finally, we fight as one, my silver tiger.”

“Grrrraah!”

Every monster called forth by the summoner NPCs was a powerful monster of level 40 or above, just like the ones we’d seen outside of the town. With hundreds of them on our side, the town’s forces didn’t pose the slightest threat.

In no time at all, the guards were screaming over the wyvern ripping them apart and the charging tiger running them down. Not wanting to be outdone, I took out my bow and started firing Puffster arrows, throwing the guards into further disarray.

Warning for players Yuri and Shiru: You have attacked NPC guards dispatched to arrest you. As continuing this action will make your crime more severe, it is recommended that you cease resisting and allow yourselves to be arrested.

For every death sentence you are given, you will lose one level upon execution.

You are both currently subject to 5,000 death penalties. Upon execution, your level will be reduced by 5,000.

“Ah ha ha ha ha! See that, Demon Lord?! Five thousand death sentences! A little time spent with you, and now I’ve been branded as a notorious criminal!”

“That’s ridiculous! I’ve never seen anything so unfair! I’m delivering justice here! Justice!”

“Ha ha, you and your jokes!” Shirukins laughed as she swung her greatsword (even though I wasn’t joking).

The guards cut down by the weapon I’d given her—Purgatory Sword Gullveig—were a pitiful sight. Because the blade applied the aflame status with high probability, they’d all fallen to the ground screaming as flames engulfed their entire body.

Although no one could lose HP in a town, our status effects were working, and the NPCs had no limits on their sense of pain. As a hero driven by justice, my sense of pity got the better of me, and I decided I couldn’t witness it any longer.

These summoner NPCs have virtually no life experience. Someone needs to show them an act of mercy so they’ll know what justice looks like!

With that thought in mind, I summoned Genocide Firebird #2, a kamikaze drone chimera that dive-bombed the guards from above. The resulting inferno turned Helheim’s streets into hell on earth.

“Take note, summoners. Futile attempts at resistance should be ended with a single stroke. All we’re trying to do is eliminate Pope Gregorian. To that end, we shouldn’t hesitate to eliminate the guards with full force and swiftly lay them to rest! Through violence, we bring salvation!”

“Oooh!”

NPCs can be influenced by players they interact with.

The personality types of the summoner NPCs changed from “normal” to “evil.”

What the heck?! That makes no sense! Why’d they turn evil after I tried to set an example?! Their faces are even starting to look sinister! They were all trembling cowards when I found them in that dungeon! This can’t be right!

“Gah ha ha! We follow the Demon Lord!”

“As summoners— No, as men, we can’t let them push us around anymore! Let’s beat the crap out of the pope and make this town our own!”

“Let’s go, silver tiger... No, your name’s Tiggster now! Art activate! Power Burst!”

A mysterious change was coming over the NPCs. At the same time, their kinship, which had started at rock bottom, rapidly climbed to 30, then 40, 50, 60, and beyond.

“Hey, Shiru, these NPCs are turning into thugs! They’ve even started copying you and calling me Demon Lord! What have you done?!”

“They might have gotten the name from me, but that’s not my personality. I’d say they’re acting just like you.”

“Huh? Are you serious?!”

My influence did this to them?! Oh, but now she mentions it, maybe I was wrong to call them thugs... They’re acting like men! And they’re coming up with cool names too! I decided that the “evil” classification had to be some kind of bug and made a mental note to report it later.

I spotted a guard cowering in a corner and stopped to ask him directions.

Well, I’m definitely no thug, so I’d better handle this in the most gentlemanly way possible.

“Don’t be afraid, Mr. Guard. I don’t like killing people, it’s just that us summoners have to fight for peace. Now, can you tell me where I’ll find Pope Gregorian?”

“Wh-What?! N-Never! I’m not telling His Holiness’s location to scum like you!”

“Huh?! Did you just call me scum? I’m gonna kick your ass for that!”

“Eeeek?! H-He’s in the castle in the center of town! His Holiness always returns there after his routine inspections!”

My gentlemanly approach had gotten us the information effortlessly. Ooh, so that’s what the castle’s for. I should’ve guessed it was his home. You’d think a clergyman ought to live in a church—this pope has to be totally corrupt.

I pointed at the massive, moonlit castle and called to my allies. “Listen up, everyone! We’re gonna storm that castle! Then we’ll drag that Gregorian guy out of there and rule this town ourselves!”

“Ooooh!” came the roar from the summoners and monsters.

We remained unstoppable as we headed for the castle. Guards tried surrounding us, but they were weak and easily overcome. The townspeople, meanwhile, could only watch and tremble (in awe at how awesome we were probably) as we advanced ever closer to our target.

Update: Yuri, you have now received 10,000 death sentences.

New hidden achievement: Receive 10,000 or more death sentences!

Skill acquired: Master of Evil!

Master of Evil: NPCs are more susceptible to turning evil after interacting with you. Evil NPCs will follow you with fanatic devotion, while righteous NPCs are fear-stricken by your very presence.

How does that make any sense?! Grrrrr... I’m leading the oppressed in the fight for peace here! Why’s this stupid game calling me the master of evil?!

Okay, forget it! This whole game has to be built on moral depravity if someone who believes in eradicating monsters can be the pope! I’m done listening to system messages! The only justice I answer to is my own!

“Demon Lord, you talked about eliminating the pope, but how?” Shiru asked. “You know we can’t reduce his HP here in town, right?”

“That’s easy. We’ll kidnap him with our monsters, drag him out of the town, then kill him there.”

“Wow... If ideas like that come so easily to you, maybe you really are a demon lord.” Shirukins was really impressed for some reason. “I’ve got a lot to learn about being evil.”

Even by the time we reached the castle’s entrance, I was still feeling peeved by what she’d said.

⬧⬨⬧

I kicked open the huge front doors and entered the castle. “Anybody home?!”

There were no soldiers in here that I could see—just Pope Gregorian sitting proudly on a chair at the end of a strip of red carpet.

His eyes narrowed in irritation the moment he saw me. “Ugh... To think my first visitor would be this notorious fiend.”

A bead of sweat ran down Pope Gregorian’s face due to the effect Master of Evil had on him. Apparently, the system considered him a righteous NPC. It was a strange designation for someone who said “Monsters are all embodiments of evil, whether or not they’re familiars.” The devs obviously had their moral values all wrong.

I gave orders to Shiru behind me. “Do you think you could take the others outside to encircle the castle? He’s alone, so I can deal with him by myself. Ganging up on someone doesn’t feel right.”

“Uhh... You’re making me feel guilty...but fine. I trust you, Demon Lord.” Shiru’s red hair rippled as she turned to leave. I nodded to the summoners to assure them their trust in me was well placed, and then they followed after Shiru.

Now we’ll settle this like men, just him and me. I walked straight toward Gregorian. “Let’s fight, Pope. If I win, this town becomes a holy site for summoners.”

“Hmph. Don’t be ridiculous. We are under Ymir’s protection. No one can lose life force in this town unless executed.”

“Ymir’s protection...? Oh, you mean the system the devs set up? Then I’ll just drag you out of the town and kick your ass there. Your god’s protection’s kind of crappy, isn’t it?”

Gregorian’s expression suddenly changed. His face turned red and he stood up from his throne. “You’d insult God?! How dare you?! Have you no shame?! Fine, you shall have the fight you’re asking for! I will use every ounce of the power my almighty God can provide to crush you right here!”

As Gregorian bellowed, red light filled the room. Then there was a rumbling sound as the doors closed, sealing off my only escape route. Next came several message windows floating in the air before me and making alarm noises.

Player Yuri has infiltrated an important location without permission and intends to harm event-critical NPC Gregorian.

This has triggered the crisis prevention system set in place by the development staff.

Special environmental properties have been applied to make the building indestructible and inescapable. The system preventing HP reduction has been disabled.

Gregorian’s attributes have all been increased to 999,999,999, and Gregorian has been given an invulnerability status that nullifies all damage from players and monsters.

Ten death sentences have been placed on the player. Falling to 0 HP will result in a loss of 10 levels. In the case of player Yuri, the total level reduction will be 10,326. This area will remain sealed until the player dies. Death is the only means of exiting this space. Please accept your fate and allow yourself to be killed.

“Bwah ha ha ha ha ha ha! Now you see God’s power!”

Gregorian’s form changed as he received absolute protection from his god. His muscles swelled like they were growing hot and expanding, and then his pure white cassock burst open. The body that emerged reminded me of a red-hot, muscular oni. Before I knew it, he’d grown to several times his original height and was looking down at me like a monster far more fearsome than anything I’d encountered so far.

I reacted with hollow laughter. “Ha ha... The devs went all out with you. So this is their crazy way of making it so players can’t force you out of the town? How am I gonna get around this one...?”

“Ha! There’s nothing you can do, woman! Nothing besides accepting the divine punishment I bring as blood spills from your beautiful mouth!” The moment he finished his sentence, Gregorian rushed forward at supersonic speed and threw his fist at me!

With all my stats besides luck at zero, I had no chance of withstanding a hit from someone with all stats over nine hundred million.

“Gahah?!” I took his advice and flew backward with blood pouring from my mouth!

Skill active: Relentless. Survived with 1 HP after taking fatal damage!

New achievement: Withstand 10,000 damage or more from a single hit!

Skill acquired: Body of a Warrior!

Body of a Warrior: Damage taken from impacts due to being knocked back is halved!

New achievement: Take 5,000,000 damage or more in total!

Your Body of a Warrior skill evolved into Body of a Demon!

Body of a Demon: Fall damage and damage taken from impacts due to being knocked back are halved!

New achievement: Take 500,000,000 damage or more in total!

Your Body of a Demon skill evolved into Body of a Demon Lord!

Body of a Demon Lord: You take zero damage from falls and impacts due to being knocked back!

I hit the wall with a thunderous crash but took no damage from the heavy impact.

This must be what they call a lucky break! The ridiculously high damage output the devs had given Gregorian was enough to evolve my new skill from its basic form to Body of a Demon Lord with a single hit, saving my life. Most players would have to play the game for months to take the five hundred million damage required.

“Though if I hadn’t learned that skill, I could’ve still used my trump card.”

I had no time to celebrate the unexpected upgrade. The moment I saw Gregorian make the slightest movement, I threw my fist out in front of me. An instant later, his absurdly oversized fist slammed into mine.

“What?!” he cried.

“Skills activate! God-Killing Fist! Demon Lord Shock Wave!”

No matter how powerful the opponent, these skills would always work. The hulking Gregorian was knocked back and slid several meters away with one hand against the floor to steady himself.

“Ngh... Why won’t you give up?! You cannot wound me while my god protects me, and you cannot possibly leave these confines! Do you not see you’ve met your end?!”

“Yeah right! Just about every problem has a solution. The key is to never give up... I’m just trying to figure out how to kill you. I already know how I’m getting out of here.”

“What?! You lie!”

“No, I’m serious. When criminals pay a fine, they get a blessing from god: an option to teleport to the town’s entrance. Thing is, I beat up the jailer instead of using it.”

“Hah! If you declined, then it’s irrelevant! Now you face death!”

Gregorian came at me once more, but I was already done playing with him. Okay, I know exactly how I’m gonna kill you.

“Wrong again, Gregorian. I didn’t decline it, I simply didn’t choose.”

“Wh-What?! Then you can—”

“Turns out the counter to divine protection is a divine blessing! Anyway, I’m outta here!”

Just before he could hit me, I answered yes to the “Would you like to warp?” dialogue that had been floating in the corner of my vision the whole time. As my body exploded into white particles of light, the shocked expression on Gregorian’s face was the last thing I saw before I appeared at the entrance to the town.

Now that everything had gone exactly to plan, I held my stomach and roared with laughter. “Ah ha ha ha ha! Wow, I’m glad I kept that window open. Looks like I found another loophole in the system. Now...it’s time I paid you back for that punch you landed on me, Gregorian. You’re finished.”

I channeled my fighting spirit into the massive summoning circle that appeared at my feet. A multitude of vines poured out, quickly followed by a one-hundred-meter tall dragonplant.

“All right, let’s do this, Giganster! Burn that man of God to a crisp!”

My biggest, strongest familiar, the Gigantic Dragonplant, responded with a roar. “Grrgaaaaaaaaah!”

The people of Helheim began to scream as they watched seven massive flowers bloom on Giganster’s back absorb moonlight and take aim at the castle.

“Eat this, Pope! Genocide Seventh Laser!”

Then came the shining light of destruction. An explosive burst of energy hit the section of the castle designated as a special area by the system, making the walls glow red with searing heat. At least some of the light must have made it inside, ensuring no one within would remain unscathed. However...

“Gwah ha ha ha ha!” I heard the pope’s voice echoing inside the castle. “You fool! As long as I’m under God’s protection, it’s not just players that cannot harm me! The same applies to monsters! And even if that were not the case, that beam would be like little more than warm sunlight to me while my defense is fortified to the absolute limit!”

His mouth must have grown as much as his body if I can hear him from here. Well, it’s a good thing—now the whole town can hear his dying screams.

Next came the reaction I’d been waiting for. Gregorian’s laughter gradually died down, and in its place came his screaming. “Ah. Hot! Hot! Hot! Wh-What is this?! What’s happening?! Am I not invincible under my god’s protection?!”

“Allow me to explain. Any place hit by Giganster’s laser attack gets turned into this thing called ‘Scorched Earth.’ That’s right, it’s environmental damage! Since you’re immune to damage from monsters and players, this is how I have to kill you!”

“That can’t be right!” Gregorian shrieked.

This was the only way to kill this behemoth with stats inflated to over nine hundred million. It doesn’t matter that his defense is maxed out because Scorched Earth deals a fixed amount of damage—one percent HP per second, if I remember right? So no matter how much HP he has, he’ll die within a hundred seconds.

That was an awfully long time, to be fair. As a man of mercy, I decided I’d reduce it however I could, even if only by just a few seconds.

As Giganster reached his time limit and disappeared, I jumped down and summoned another boss monster midair. “Chirpster, come forth!”

“Pikwaaaaawk!” The burning hot Vanishing Firebird had appeared. After almost getting punched to death by Baldy, Chirpster had developed a habit of sticking close to me and chirping like a chick, but he seemed to be over it now.

Chirpster spread his burning wings wide and flew to the top of the castle with me on his back. From above, I could see Shiru and the others standing around the castle waving to me.

“Get back, everyone! We’re about to roast the pope! Chirpster! Begin the air strike!”

Chirpster responded to my order by firing countless firebombs from his wings. The castle’s conflagration began to burn all the hotter, until the whole thing turned a reddish black like molten rock.

Fire damage exceeded 300%! The Scorched Earth damage zone intensified into a Hellish Earth damage zone!

Five percent of maximum HP will be dealt as damage every second!

“Arrrrrghhh?!” Gregorian’s screams were growing louder.

Ours was a battle of one man’s justice against another’s. To pull any punches now would just be rude! With that in mind, I activated my Weapon Barricade skill and drove flaming swords into the castle to apply the aflame status. The castle began to shine white-hot like the sun.

Fire damage exceeded 500%! The Hellish Earth damage zone massively intensified into a Purifying Fire damage zone!

Twenty percent of maximum HP will be dealt as damage every second!

“Arrrrgh?! Hot! Hot! Hot! I beg you! Let me out!”

“Sorry, Gregorian, no can do. You said it yourself—that castle remains sealed until I die. If you’re looking for someone to blame, it should be your dev god!”

“That cannot be! M-My God...! You must let me out of here! Let me out, damn you!” Gregorian’s final words were cries of rage aimed at his god.

Next came a huge pop, like an egg exploding in a microwave, followed by a message floating above Helheim’s massive castle.

An unforeseen situation has arisen in the holy town of Helheim! Pope Gregorian, an NPC critical for a future event, has died!

The cause has been identified as environmental damage. The player responsible has been identified as Yuri!

Alerting the development team... Alerting... Alerting... No response received. Resorting to fallback measure. Seeking judgment from Bug Correction AI Pendragon...

Judgment:

No problems found. No evidence of unauthorized modifications to game systems detected. Behavior of all systems is in accordance with specifications.

As the victor in a battle against the town’s ruling NPC, Yuri has been granted rights to all land in Helheim.

I apologize for the inconvenience. Dear Yuri, please continue to enjoy the game without concern.

“Awwwwww yeah! We did it! Summoners, from this day forth, this town is ours!”

My allies raised a cheer of joy. “Ooooooooooh! All hail the demon lord! All hail Demon Lord Yuri!”

The victory drove my approval score with the summoners up to 100, then 200, then 300, and it was still rising! With their help, I’d succeeded in making the entire town my own.

The guild war six days from now is gonna be awesome!

[Let’s Prepare] General Discussion Thread 380 [For Guild War!]

1. Impatient Adventurer

This thread is for general discussion.

Speak your mind freely, so long as you’re not breaking the forum rules. However, if you want to recruit party members, rant, hate on the game, or start drama, please make your own thread.

A new thread will be created automatically when this one reaches the reply limit.

Previous thread: http://**********

107. Impatient Adventurer

So, how many of you have made a guild?

I tried to make one with a friend, but land’s too expensive, and the Guild Home Founding Rights item is straight up out of my price range!

108. Impatient Adventurer

>> 107

Yeah... About 30,000,000 gold, right?

Must be nice for those who won a battle royale in the last event. They all got the rights for free!

109. Impatient Adventurer

>> 108

Yep, that’s why most people are joining guilds started by event winners.

I suggest you join one of those so you can get stronger and make some cash from the event. Then you can quit later and make a guild of your own.

130. Impatient Adventurer

>> 109

Baldy, Zansword, Spearo, Wacko, and, of course, Yuri were the winners, weren’t they?

Looks like everyone besides Yuri made their guild already.

151. Impatient Adventurer

>> 130

Baldy: The short-lived brawler with strength beyond compare.

Zansword: The high-speed fighter.

Spearo: The strong all-rounder.

Wacko: The adaptable, unpredictable one who uses surprise attacks.

Yuri: The long range specialist (who loves to get up close and punch people).

Interesting how everyone’s using a different approach to combat. It means we can each pick the guild that suits our own play style best.

Now I’m really looking forward to seeing what kind of guild Yuri makes.

173. Impatient Adventurer

Hey everyone! Remember Shiru? She put a new video up on Player Kills Channel!

This time...she’s breaking out of a prison and Yuri’s there with her lmao.

176. Impatient Adventurer

>> 173

Rofl. I was just watching that and I can hardly believe it. They found a hole in the game’s system and plowed straight through it lol.

They took hundreds of NPCs out of the prison with them, and now it’s like they’re playing a whole different game!

179. Impatient Adventurer

>> 176

Whaaaaaat?! They’re holding back all the guards with super strong monsters from all those summoners!

Okay, now it’s really a full-scale invasion by the Demon Lord lol. Is Yuri serious with this? Lmao

180. Impatient Adventurer

>> 173

The way they were talking, it sounds like she wants to take over the town and turn it into her guild’s base.

I don’t remember any mention of limits on the size of your land...but surely you can’t own a whole town lol.

240. Impatient Adventurer

>> 173

Ooh, there’s a pope, who’s like the town’s boss, and he lives in a castle. Yuri went in there and then the doors sealed shut.

Okay, now the whole castle burst into flames lol. Yuri was locked inside at the time, but somehow she appeared outside, and now she’s bombing it from the air lol.

What even is this...

294. Impatient Adventurer

>> 173

Wtf? The pope died screaming lol.

No, this can’t be happening. Are you serious?!

Did Demon Lord Yuri just claim the whole town as her own???? Lol no way!

310. Impatient Adventurer

Omg... If we want to beat Yuri at the next event, it’s not enough to kill her is it? We have to destroy her guild home...

Lmao we’re gonna have to destroy a whole town!!!!!!

Most guilds got, like, one building for their base. It’ll be like Yuri has thousands of times more HP! How are we supposed to win?!

315. Impatient Adventurer

>> 310

And she’s got hundreds of monsters and summoners loyal to her already. I’d say she’s got her defenses sorted.

But this has to be against the rules. While everyone else is selling everything they’ve got to buy land, one player goes nuts and claims a whole town...?

Far as I can tell, the devs haven’t approved it yet, so it’s just an AI decision for now.

350. Impatient Adventurer

>> 315

The devs made the AI, so it’s the same decision the devs would have made.

At least I’d assume so. How stupid and incompetent would they have to be to leave it in charge otherwise?

388. Impatient Adventurer

>> 350

You’re probably right. Honestly, I thought the devs sucked after seeing them hit Yuri with that giga-nerf, but it looks like she figured out how to keep fighting and made a comeback.

I should have known they were just fixing the broken parts while making sure Yuri could still keep playing.

400. Impatient Adventurer

>> 388

Yeah, the devs looked like total trash when they put out that unfair update with no apologies.

Maybe what they would’ve liked to say was “There’s nothing to apologize for! We’ve made sure she can still fight as long as she uses a bunch of skills!”

412. Impatient Adventurer

>> 400

If you think about it, letting a player own a whole town isn’t sloppy game design, it’s incredible player freedom!

Aw yeah! I’m gonna take over a town of my own! Once you’ve claimed all the land rights, you can make all the stores share their profits with you! Yuri must be raking it in!

I’ll bet she’s asking the devs to pay out massive sums in real money trades right now. Will they be able to afford it?

413. Impatient Adventurer

>> 412

Lol, if they couldn’t afford it they wouldn’t risk giving one player a whole town, idiot.

And even if you want to argue that it’s an AI decision, it’s an AI the devs made, so it officially counts as a dev decision all the same.

If they start saying, “I know we lured in a ton of players by saying you could trade for real money, but we can’t actually afford to pay up (´；ω；`)” that would literally be criminal.

415. Impatient Adventurer

>> 413

They’d be finished lol.

But these are geniuses from a big college. They’re not going to do anything that stupid!

All right, I’m going to go find some tricks for gaining tons of land, just like Yuri did!

“You’ve gotta be kidding meeeeeee!”

“Arrrrrrrgh! We’re finished!”

“The pope’s supposed to be in a ton of upcoming events and story quests! He can’t be dead! How’d this happen?! And how is that player named Yuri in control of the entire town?!”

The office was filled with the caterwauls of the developers that morning. They’d all arrived at work just barely on time, only to immediately realize that the game was a total mess.

Pope Gregorian, an NPC they’d made invincible, had inexplicably died, and now the whole town of Helheim was owned by Yuri.

When they played back everything that had happened in-game as a video, they saw Yuri repeatedly exploiting loopholes in their design. They also found that Pendragon, the bug-fixing AI that they’d left in charge overnight, had given the whole incident its blessing. As the AI had seen it, despite the horrible mess Yuri was making, she wasn’t cheating or exploiting bugs, she was just making the best use of the options available to her.

“L-Let’s do an emergency rollback! We can restore the game data from last night’s backup!”

“Don’t be stupid! Players will roast us alive if we rollback over anything less than data corruption! It doesn’t matter whether it was us or the AI calling the shots, if we wipe out a player’s profits once they’re acknowledged, we’ll have the Consumer Affairs Agency on our asses!”

“Oh crap! One of Yuri’s friends, Shiru, uploaded a video of the whole thing last night! Now we can’t even secretly retake control of the town!”

The developers were in despair. Up to now, their reaction to any problem had been to shout things like “This is your fault!” and “It’s all his fault!” and attempt to shift blame. This time, however, they didn’t have time for that. Instead, they took their seats and began rapidly patching up all the loopholes that Yuri had kindly discovered.

“Ngh... We’ve been struggling to keep our heads above water this whole time. We figured once we had the technology, we’d find a way to make money out of it. We started our game company with just a hundred thousand yen in capital. We can’t let it go offline while player counts and item prices are skyrocketing! We can only afford thirty minutes of downtime for maintenance at most!”

“All right! I’ll make it so players teleport out of prisons instantly! And I’ll fix it so they can’t spend event points while they’re in there!”

“I’ll fix the protection on key NPCs to include environmental damage! And I’ll edit all the events that feature Pope Gregorian’s name... Oh... I’ll never get that done in just thirty minutes!”

“I’ll help, so stop whining!”

The developers faced their computers and got to work. This was the one time they couldn’t afford to argue or slack off.

When it came to dealing with people, they were all stupid and incompetent, but each team member was otherwise exceptionally intelligent. They’d raised one hundred thousand yen to start a business with motivations like “job seeking’s a pain in the butt” and “I can’t stand sucking up to a boss.” Then, despite their world-building being a little haphazard in places, they’d proved their worth by creating a VRMMO with incredible graphics and perfect sensory experiences.

Now that Yuri had them in a corner, their brains were all running full throttle as they raced to fix the problems with the game. But then they were hit with a new problem.

“Arrrrgh?! It’s the same player again! Yuri just asked to convert ten billion gold into ten million yen through the real money trading system!”

“Gaaaaaah?! Th-That beautiful witch! She must have claimed all the money in the town she took over!”

“Ahhhhhh... Just when we had players doing trades and making us rich...”

“Oh crap! Damn you, Demon Lord Yuri! We’re making that money back, even if we have to use you to do it!”

The developers sobbed with resentment and desperation, tears and mucus streaming down their faces. Just when they’d realized how much hard work it can be to run a business, Yuri had caught them by surprise with a huge demand for money!

Chapter 17 — The Birth of King Yuri the Idol Queen!

“Wah ha ha ha! The money’s rolling in, and the food’s great!”

“Oh ho ho ho ho. My channel’s subscriber count is through the roof! You wouldn’t believe how much ad revenue I’m getting!”

A day after taking over Helheim, I was enjoying a meal with Shiru at a restaurant in the town. We were celebrating our spoils of war over pork cutlets.

I’d converted Pope Gregorian’s huge stash of gold into real money, while Shiru had gained notoriety from the prison break video she’d secretly recorded. Apparently, once her subscriber count reached a certain level, she could start getting money for every video view. It made me want to try uploading videos myself.

“But Demon Lord, couldn’t you have squeezed a little more out of the developers with all those gaping holes you found in their system?” Shiru asked with a grain of rice stuck to her cheek.

“I would’ve, but I heard that the dev team started out with barely any money, so I’m going easy on them for now. Besides, if I deplete the money supply here in Helheim too much, it’ll cause headaches for us later.”

“Oh, you’re right. Not many players can even make it to us since this area’s the toughest in the game right now. You’re wise to wait until there are visitors bringing in fresh cash,” Shiru agreed.

The restaurant we were in was one of many that I’d been given ownership of after taking over the town. In my menu window, there was a “Stores you own” option where I could access the game’s business management features. It was the same system Françoise used to run her own clothing store, and in my case, I had control over hundreds of stores. Along with seeing revenues and expenditures, I could review various settings that controlled each store’s operations. For example, store A was configured to use its profits to purchase materials and ingredients from store B, store B was set to use its profits to purchase materials and ingredients from store C, and so on. I could see how money circulated with so much detail it was unsettling.

I figured that all these businesses would keep running smoothly without any need for me to stick my nose in if I left the game to continue managing them itself via the NPCs. There was no way the game would force players to micromanage all the businesses they owned in-game, especially since people couldn’t just stay logged in all day.

“I’m sure I can trust the businesses to the AI systems and NPCs,” I said. “I’d rather focus on the PvP event that’s coming up.”

“Ah, yes. The moment everyone learns about the Demon Lord’s huge guild headquarters, the message board is bound to be full of people saying, ‘All the guilds need to unite so we can concentrate on taking Yuri out first!’ And that’s without even considering the name you made for yourself at the previous PvP event.”

“Yeah. Speaking of which, did you not fight any battle royales? I only got to join the first one, but I don’t remember seeing you.”

“I was there, you brute!” Shiru said angrily with tears forming in her eyes. “I got roasted by your Gigantic Dragonplant’s laser beam!”

Ooh, so that’s when she died. “Oh... Um... Don’t feel bad!”

“Grrr... Now you’re making me angry! Hmph! I’m going to fight so hard at the next event that you’ll have nothing to do! Now excuse me while I go level up!” Shirukins leaped out of the store with her red greatsword in her hand.

Good to know she’s keen. I’d better get ready for battle too. To start, I opened the menu and tapped on the newly added “Guild Management” option to check my guild’s status.

Guild name: Yuri’s Justice Team

Affiliated player count: 2

Guildmaster: Yuri

Sub-guildmaster: Shiru

Land area: 510,000 square meters

Number of NPC combatants deployed: 645

Number of tamed monsters deployed: 825

Of all the items listed, the one that made me grin was “Number of tamed monsters deployed.”

Inside a guild headquarters—including headquarters that spanned entire towns—special systems could be put in place that performed tasks like dealing damage to intruders. We could also deploy up to 9,999 monsters as defenders. What’s more, if allied NPCs or monsters died within the headquarters, they’d be revived a day later. Summoners usually had it rough, but here, they gained the advantage.

At that moment, I had 825 monsters roaming the streets of Helheim when the NPCs’ familiars were included in the count. It was already more than what would fit inside an ordinary guild home limited to a single building.

“All right, I know what I have to do. I’ll fight nonstop to collect tons of monsters! And I wanna have another fistfight with Baldy at some point, so I’d better do something about Relentless being so weak!”

I also had to renew my gear, recruit guild members, and get Shiru to teach me how to stream. Having so much to do was exciting! I was practically trembling as I handed over some money to an NPC and sprinted out of the store.

⬧⬨⬧

I went back to Starting Town, where I hoped to find Françoise and get my gear updated before I got into any more big fights. Getting here had been easy because Helheim sold Warp Tokens that enabled players to fast travel to any town they’d already visited, so I’d used one to jump straight here.

As I walked through the town, I waved at a few players who were staring at me.

“Oh, it’s Demon Lord Yuri!”

“I-Is it really her?!”

“Wow, she’s so pretty! Just like in the photo book the developers are selling!”

Ha ha ha. This face of mine sure is popular! I didn’t think too much of it, but then it kept happening.

“I bought your photo collection!”

“Five hundred yen in real money was a great deal for something so high-quality!”

“The one where her dress is all burned up by the dragonplant’s laser is so hot!”

What are they all talking about? I wondered as I drew near my destination.

Outside Françoise’s store, I spotted her talking to a tiny girl. It looked like they were arguing. Their matching blonde hair made them look like sisters, but Françoise’s dress was white, while Tiny’s was all black.

Tiny struck an odd pose and said, “Heh heh heh heh! Tremble, Françoise, my eternal nemesis, for I, too, have decided to start playing Blade Skill Online! You’d better start making great items as fast as you can, or I’m going to run you out of business!”

“Your eternal nemesis, am I...? Please remind me, Grim, who was generous enough to continually lend you money during the beta test?”

“Uh?!”

“And then when you came crying, saying, ‘None of my items are selling!’ who gave you advice on better crafting techniques and raised money for your materials? And who was it who covered the down payment on your store? You’ve barely paid me anything back...”

“Um... I... Uh... I-I’m going to pay it back eventually... Grrrr! You’d better look out for me, Françoise! I’ll get better at crafting than you one of these days! Waaaaah!” Utterly defeated and reduced to tears, tiny Grim ran away.

Françoise watched her leave, then once she was gone, her face relaxed.

“Hey, Françoise, was that your little sister or something?”

“Oh, it’s you, Yuri. You saw that? Yes, you guessed correctly. She’s been trying to pick a fight with me ever since the days of the beta. She keeps telling me, ‘I’ll surpass you someday, whatever it takes.’”

Ooh, she’s got some real spirit.

According to Baldy, Françoise was famous for being one of the best player crafters in the game. Crafting was overly realistic and fiddly, but Françoise made it look easy, churning out plenty of stylish, high performance gear that had earned her countless fans. It was how she’d come to own this splendid three-story store.

Grim must really have some guts if she can declare herself a rival of someone as skilled as her sister!

Françoise gave me a strange smile and then took out a weird-looking magazine. “Oh ho ho ho ho. I’ve seen it, Yuri! Demon Lord Idol Queen Yuri ♡ Sneaking a Peek on the Battlefield! An official release from the game’s developers full of pictures of you looking gorgeous in that dress I made! You have no idea how excited I was!”

“Uh, wait, what?!”

When did I do a photo shoot?! I didn’t agree to that! And how can I be a demon lord and an idol queen at the same time?! Make your minds up!

“G-Give me a look at that!”

I took the suspicious item from Françoise’s hands and started flicking through. There were pictures of me fighting hordes of zombies in the underground tomb, getting crushed by Giganster’s tentacles in the forest, and bumping fists with the pope in his hulking form. Then there was a really stupid section titled “What If This Demon Lord Idol Were Your Girlfriend? ♡” with a picture of me eating hamburgers with Baldy, except it was taken from his point of view. Another showed me eating a frankfurter with Shiru, but this time it was taken from her point of view.

The hell is this?! There’s no way the devs can put me in a book like this without my permission!

“Françoise, I didn’t even know this existed until now. I didn’t agree to be in any photo collections, goddammit!”

“You didn’t?! Oh... I’m afraid there’s a clause in the license agreement. ‘Copyrights over all graphical data, including both built-in environments and player avatars, belong to the development staff. Furthermore, imagery of players in-game may be used for promotional videos and the like. We appreciate your understanding.’”

“What?!”

I brought up a menu window to check the agreement myself, and sure enough, that clause was in there.

Ugh... I must’ve skipped over this thing without reading it back when I started the game... Though even if I had read it, I wouldn’t have cared at the time. How was I supposed to know they’d put me in a photo book?!

“Gah... Grrrrr! I can’t believe the devs are making shady goods out of me!”

“Ah ha ha... But isn’t it nice to have grown even more popular? Here, let me read you some of the reviews. ‘I thought she was just a battle freak, but my opinion changed completely when I saw her enjoying a meal with that cute look on her face!’ says one. ‘I hadn’t forgiven her for killing me in the battle royale massacre, but when I got a good look at her pretty face and sexy body...my trauma turned into one of my favorite memories!’ says another.”

“I’m not cute, and I’m not doing anything sexy!” Who are the morons leaving these reviews?!

I wanted to throw the book to the floor in rage, but I couldn’t because Françoise had paid for it (Why are you giving them your money?!), so groaning was my only means of venting my frustration and embarrassment.

Damn you, devs. I’ll turn your next event into a total mess, just you wait!

Chapter 18 — This Is an Idol Invasion, Grim!

“Grrrrr... That dev team ought to be registered as an organized crime group! Don’t you think a photo book of me stretches the definition of ‘promotional purposes and the like’ just a little?! First they nerf me with a game update, and now this! They’ve clearly got it in for me!”

“Aha ha ha... You may be right about the book, but I suspect the update was necessary. Even if it hadn’t been you who killed thirty thousand players all at once, I can’t imagine the developers would have turned a blind eye.”

Not long after learning of the trash devs’ counterattack, I was walking through the streets of Starting Town with Françoise. I’d realized that I hadn’t actually spoken with her all that much, and since I owed her for helping me when I was starting out, I figured I ought to chat with her like this at least once.

“Well, I’ve got bad news for the devs. I’m holding on to the top spot no matter how hard they try to push me down. As long as I’ve still got fighting spirit, determination, and a few good ideas, there’s almost nothing I can’t do. It’s how I took over a town.”

“Umm...” Françoise looked at me in disbelief. “From what I’ve heard, your ‘good ideas’ have all been positively outrageous!” With a bemused smile, she added, “Where do you get all that motivation and all that imagination?”

“Hmm? I’m just refusing to let them beat me, that’s all.”

“You don’t get to be the top player just because you hate losing. I honestly never dreamed you’d grow this quickly. I must confess, when we first met, I thought it was a silly idea for a beginner to aim for the top while using the three weakest options.”

“You did?”

I guess it’s true that a lot of people just talk big. But a real man like me wouldn’t give in just ’cause I’m stuck with weak choices! I’m gonna keep on fighting the diabolical devs while gradually draining them of their cash. Let’s hope their finances are better than their game design, or I’ll be leaving them bankrupt!

My current aim was to win the All-Out Guild War, which would require some new gear from Françoise. But I wanted more from her than just that—I wanted her on my team.

“Truth is, the reason I’m here walking around town with you is that I thought I might invite you to my guild.”

“Oh... I’m sorry, Yuri. If you were to invite me, I’d have to decline. It’s just... Well, I’m sure you can guess my reasons.”

“Yeah. You want to go on helping beginners learn the ropes, just like you did for me, right?” It was easy to put two and two together as I looked around—the broad, stone streets of Starting Town were thronged with countless newbies wearing beginner gear. You could really tell that tens of thousands of new players had signed up recently.

With so many new users in a VR game where everything from the graphics to sensory experiences were realistic, it was surprising that processing times and overall responsiveness hadn’t been affected. I had to hand it to the devs—the fact that their game was still running smoothly was a testament to their talent (when it came to technical stuff, at least).

“Well, I haven’t even been playing for two weeks, so you could say I’m still a beginner too,” I pointed out. “But I suppose I’ve already got money and weapons. There are people who need your help a lot more than I do.”

“Oh ho ho. Yes indeed, and I always appreciate you making discussions like this easy. Now, whether she’ll be an adequate alternative I don’t know, but there’s someone I’d like you to meet... This is the place.”

Françoise was pointing to a tiny little hut. It was so shabby it wouldn’t even suit Wolfster, formerly the Wolf King, as his doghouse. The sign at the entrance said “The Atelier of Queen Grim, Creator of All Things.”

Oh, it’s the tiny blonde girl’s store. If this was the best premises she could afford after carrying her money over from the beta test, business clearly wasn’t going great. She didn’t even have a door—there was just a short curtain hanging over the entrance like it was an izakaya restaurant.

“You’ve got guests,” Françoise said, stepping inside as casually as if it were her own home.

“Hmm hmm,” Grim called out, acknowledging her visitor. “A customer! You’re today’s first— Françoise?! D-Don’t tell me you’ve come to collect your debts?!”

“Not at all, so you can stop trembling. I know someone who’s looking for guild members, and I thought your skills would be just perfect. I’ve brought them along so I can introduce you to each other.”

“Oh, you’ve brought them to me? Heh heh. I must warn you, as a genius crafter, I’ve always been proudly independent. I won’t serve under just anyone. In fact, if the invitation came from anyone other than the peerless beauty, Demon Lord Yuri, I’d have to dec—”

“It is me, though,” I said as I entered the store behind Françoise.

“Uwuh, wh-what?!” Grim leaped up with an odd cry.

Françoise chuckled at her reaction. “Oh ho ho ho ho! Now’s your chance to impress the Demon Lord with a plethora of your finest creations, Grim! I’d only be getting in the way, so I’ll leave you both to it!” Françoise tossed her blonde hair behind her shoulder and elegantly left the store. “Bye-bye,” she said with a wave as she walked off.

I looked back at Grim and saw her shuddering violently. “So yeah, I’m looking for a good crafter for the All-Out Guild War. Maybe you could show me what you can do...”

“Um, I, uh! Um?!” Her face turned red as she hid her small body behind a pillar.

Not sure what to do from this point, but I’m pretty sure she’s not trying to get me to leave, at least?

“C-Can I take a screenshot?!” she at last managed to stammer while still trembling. “You’re even prettier than in the photo book!”

She bought that stupid book too? It was clear we weren’t going to get anywhere unless she relaxed a little, so I walked over and leaned closer to reassure her. “Listen, Grim. Take a deep breath and then say what you’ve got to say. I can wait as long as it takes.”

“E-Errrrrrrk!”

Well, that’s odd.

My attempt to calm her down had had the opposite effect. Grim’s tears started flowing, and her trembling grew even more violent. Now she was positively cowering.

Is this girl going to be okay...?

⬧⬨⬧

“Whew. Sorry about that, Demon Lord! I was in such awe by your presence that I think I lost my mind!”

“Yeah, you did. I’ve never heard anything like that ‘errrrrrk’ noise you made.”

“C-Can we forget about that?!”

Grim’s face was still red with embarrassment, but after I’d given her a good few minutes, she’d calmed down enough to talk to me. Now maybe she’ll show me those fine items of hers and I can judge her skills.

When I urged the tiny girl in her tiny hut to show me her work, she said, “E-Everyone laughed at my items during the beta days. A few people like Françoise believe in me, but most pull faces when they see what I’ve made. My work won’t ever be popular...”

Grim hung her head in frustration...but then she looked me in the eye and declared, “I know you’ll see the value in my items, Demon Lord! Just like you knew you could be a top player with a pure luck build!”

Grim opened up a menu window to show me a list of items.

Headwear: Accursed Princess Veil (created by Grim)

Requirements: Can only be worn by players with ten percent or less HP and MP remaining.

Defense: +500

Weapon: Accursed Princess Spear (created by Grim)

Requirements: 100 or greater strength.

Attack power: 300 / Sharpness: 300

Wearer defense and agility: -300

Accessory: Accursed Princess Ring (created by Grim)

Limits HP to 1 while worn, but has a very low chance of reducing a skill cooldown time to zero.

“Wh-What the...?!”

All of Grim’s items either required the wearer to be at low MP and HP, or they massively lowered a particular stat. It was no wonder they weren’t popular. I saw now why they weren’t selling—they had positive and negative effects so extreme that no player would feel safe wearing them.

When Grim saw how shocked I was, her eyes welled up with tears, and she said, “T-To get a big power boost, you have to give something up! It’s a beautiful thing! It’s the belief that guides me when I create my gear! Well, Demon Lord? Do you like my style?!” Grim asked with pleading eyes, like she was demanding an answer.

If all she can make are crazy items like these, then there’s only one answer I can give! “I love it! Your items and the belief behind them too! I’d love to have you in my guild, Grim! Your power’s just what I’m looking for!”

“O-Okay!”

We shook on it right there, and with that, my guild had a new member—Grim, the crafter.

Pleased with the new talent I’d found, I opened a menu window to send a contract. “Hmm, I have to give you more than just money... Oh, I know. I’ll give you the biggest manor in the town of Helheim. You can use it as your shop.”

“Uh... Huh?! A manor?!”

“And I’ll let you use all the items I’ve found plus whatever we’ve got stored in the town. Make us some good stuff with them! I’m counting on you, Grim!”

“Whaaaaa?!” Grimmikins started trembling again. For someone who talked big, she was actually really timid.

“Ha ha ha,” I laughed while patting her on the shoulder.

Chapter 19 — I Should Never Have Nurtured This Talent of Yours, Grim!

“Time to see how my gear turned out...”

A day after teaming up with Grim, I logged in and headed straight for the manor I’d given her.

The estate I’d offered up was the biggest one in Helheim, situated right in the center of its spacious town limits. Grim’s jaw had dropped when she saw it—she’d been completely dumbfounded by the scale of the place. A little later, I’d also scrapped a few existing equipment stores and transferred all their NPC staff and materials over to Grim. This had brought her back to trembling, and she’d said, “You’re giving all these high-level crafters and rare materials to me...?! But what if I don’t live up to your expectations now?!” She’d looked positively terrified.

“Grim, you home?” I called as I arrived at the manor. I opened the big door and headed straight for the floor where her work area was located.

At the moment, I was wearing the simple black dress that I’d started the game with. After learning it was possible to upgrade items, I’d given Grim my entire “Death God Dress” outfit. She’d reacted by trembling again and saying, “Huh?! You want me to modify something made by Françoise? She’s the game’s best crafter! Demon Lord, what if I break them and you get weaker...? Waaaaaah!” She’d been so unsure of herself she’d started crying.

She has the conviction and hunger for success, but she still lacks confidence in herself as a crafter. “I’m counting on you, Grim. You’re the only one I can count on!” I’d reassured her. Her little body had seemed to fill with confidence when I’d said it, and she’d stayed full of determination from then on. I was glad I’d gotten her fired up, though all I’d done was tell her the truth.

While I was recalling these events, I entered her work area. Grim was standing there with her arms folded, waiting for me with a satisfied look on her face.

“Heh heh heh. You’re finally here, Demon Lord! Your equipment came out beautifully!”

“I’m looking forward to seeing it, Grim. Did you go all out with the luck boosts, just like I asked?”

“Yep. I put some big negatives on all the other stats to get it as high as possible. It was a lot of fun making something that would scare off most players!” A smile appeared on Grimmikins’s youthful face.

She must really love making messed up items.

After buying the Accursed Princess Ring from her store the day before, I’d restored much of the power Relentless had lost when the devs’ nerfed it. The game update had given Relentless a five-second cooldown, but I could eliminate that restriction with the effect of the ring: Limits HP to 1 while worn, but has a very low chance of reducing a skill cooldown time to zero.

Relentless still wasn’t as powerful as before, though. I had a very low chance of the ring activating on top of the low chance of Relentless itself activating, giving me two conditions to clear at once. It couldn’t protect me from continuous damage anymore.

I’d given this dilemma some thought and come to an obvious solution: “If the odds are only half as good, I’ll just have to get my luck twice as high! Let’s see it, Grim.”

“Of course! I’m proud of every piece!” Grim puffed out her little chest.

Seeing her happy made me smile as I checked the things that had just appeared in my item box.

Okay, this gear was giving me plus 30 luck before, let’s see what it does now...

Head: Accursed Death God Princess Hair Tie (created by Françoise and modified by Grim)

Effects: Halves the wearer’s strength, magic, defense, and agility. MP +100, Luck +300.

Body: Accursed Death God Princess Dress (created by Françoise and modified by Grim)

Effects: Halves the wearers’ strength, magic, defense, and agility. MP +100, Luck +300.

Feet: Accursed Death God Princess Boots (created by Françoise and modified by Grim)

Effects: Halves the wearers’ strength, magic, defense, and agility. MP +100, Luck +300.

“Whoooa! They seriously went from 30 to 300?! And I get over three times the MP boost! This is awesome!”

“Eh heh heh heh heh! Now you see my true power! Aren’t I amazing?!”

I held her hand tight and told her my honest feelings. “Yeah you are! I knew you were a genius, Grim! I’m so glad I met you!”

Grim stiffened up and her face turned red. “Whaaa?!”

I could see I was embarrassing her, but I was serious, and I still had more to say. “Thank you! You did so well! You’re good at this! You’re special! I can’t tell you how happy I am that I was lucky enough to meet you!”

“D-Demon Lord, please... I’m... I’m not used to this sort of praise!” Grim hid behind a pillar, trembling. I didn’t get why she couldn’t just accept the compliments since they were all true...

Now that I’d gotten expressing my gratitude out of the way, it was time to try on the gear. My old outfit had been an idol-inspired gothic-style dress, but I was done wearing women’s clothes. I’d asked Grim to modify my gear to have a “nice-looking design for men.”

I tapped on the icon for each item of clothing, wondering how I was going to look, and then light consumed my body. The result...

“Huh?! Grim, what have you done?! I’m showing even more skin than before!”

“B-But Demon Lord, you said you wanted a design that’s nice for men to look at. I really put my heart into it...”

Ugh... She misunderstood me?!

Thanks to our communication blunder, my death god dress had evolved from an idol outfit into a fetish outfit. The exposed shoulders had bothered me already, but now I was showing off a substantial amount of side boob too. Also, the skirt’s material was really thin. It was a good thing it was still made of multiple layers because each individual layer was almost totally transparent!

There had been some extra material added in the form of some thin purple cloth resembling a goddess’s raiment that went from one of my upper arms to the other via my waist, but even that did nothing to tone down the outfit. If anything, draping a bit of translucent fabric over my exposed skin just made it more fetishistic.

Ngh... What is this? Did she make it tighter in the chest area to show off my figure a little more?! It’s like I’m wearing my clothes a size too small to make them look sexy! Where’d Grim learn tricks like this?!

“Grim...who taught you how to make a gothic idol fetish dress?”

“Huh? I just followed my own instincts...”

Wh-What?! This is where your instincts led you?! She’s a genius! How can a girl this tiny be so good at making sexy outfits?! I shivered with realization at the terrifying talent I’d unearthed.

“D-Do I have bad taste?! I could tweak it a little more! Though the stat effects might drop...”

“No, you’re exceptionally talented. You can hold your head up high.”

“R-Really? I’m so glad!” Grim sighed with relief and gave me an innocent smile (she could still manage that despite being a fetish outfit genius).

I couldn’t complain now, or I wouldn’t just be losing the stat boosts, I’d be erasing that smile of hers! Fortunately, I had a solution. They say there’s strength in numbers—when Shiru gets back, I’ll have Grim turn her outfit into something sexy too!

“The Death God Princess stat boosts are awesome, and I can’t complain about the design since it’s my fault I didn’t explain things clearly. Thank you, Grim.” I patted her on the head while opening my status menu.

I had about 2,500 luck before the battle royale. Let’s see how it looks right now...

Name: Yuri

Level: 46

Class: High Summoner

Weapon: Bow

Attributes: Strength: 0 / Defense: 0 / Magic: 0 / Agility: 0 / Luck 550 × 3 × 2 + 54 + 900 = 4,254

Skills: Luck Boost, Relentless, Fatal Strike, Up Close and Personal, Genocide Killer, Merciless Death God, Absolute Zero, Hello? Forgetting Something?, Against All Odds (doubles all attributes while HP is 1), God-Killing Fist, Demonic Archery, Demon Lord Shock Wave, Demon Lord Kin, Body of a Demon Lord, Master of Evil, Weapon Barricade (limited skill #1), Twisted

Equipment:

Head: Accursed Death God Princess Hair Tie (created by Françoise and modified by Grim)

Effects: Halves the wearer’s strength, magic, defense, and agility. MP +100, Luck +300

Body: Accursed Death God Princess Dress (created by Françoise and modified by Grim)

Effects: Halves the wearer’s strength, magic, defense, and agility. MP +100, Luck +300

Feet: Accursed Death God Princess Boots (created by Françoise and modified by Grim)

Effects: Halves the wearer’s strength, magic, defense, and agility. MP +100, Luck +300. Possessed by Mor

Equipped Weapon: Beginner’s Bow (Requirements: None. Attack power: 1)

Accessories: Accursed Princess Ring (limits HP to 1 while worn, but has a very low chance of reducing a skill cooldown time to zero), Dark God’s Covenant Necklace (triples luck when HP is 1), Poison Resistance Ring (has a low chance to nullify poison).

“Ooooooh! My luck finally broke four thousand!”

Part of it was from leveling up, but the equipment boosts were really pulling their weight. It was a godsend since leveling up got real slow beyond level 40.

“They’re supposed to reduce every stat besides luck by half, but those stats were already zero for me. They’ve got no drawbacks!”

“Heh heh heh. I’m just glad it’s enough to please the great Demon Lord. I love designing equipment with huge debuffs, so this was a lot of fun!”

Grim and I were both smiling broadly at each other. If she could help me push my pure luck build to its limits, I knew we were going to get along just great. I could see a long future of us working together.

“Oh, by the way, Grim. Could you modify some gear for my buddy Shiru and then make some gear for our NPCs?”

“Uhh?! Weren’t there over six hundred of them? I’ll never make it in time for the event...”

“No need to overdo it. Just do what you can and then the rest of the NPCs can get some of the high-spec gear sold here in town.” I turned to the crafter NPCs. “Make sure you all help Grim however you can.”

The crafters all shuddered when I spoke to them. “Eek?! Y-Yes, Demon Lord!”

Ugh...my Master of Evil skill gets them scared so easily. It’s nice to have them jumping when I say jump, but that reaction kinda hurts my feelings. All I did was stage a coup d’état and forcefully install myself as their new leader, so what are they even afraid of? It has to be that stupid skill’s doing! Grrr!

“Please, everyone, you don’t need to act so afraid of me,” I told them. “In fact, I’m offering rewards to those who serve me well. Every time a piece of equipment you’ve made cuts down an enemy, I’ll give you more land and more money! Let your greed motivate you to put your skills to full use!”

“Y-Yes, Demon Lord!”

The crafter NPCs’ personalities became slightly more evil.

What?! Why?! All I said was that they should work hard because I’ll be rewarding good results. Why’d they turn more evil?! Is this a bug?!

“Heh heh heh. I’ll bet there isn’t an evildoer who can handle their underlings better than you, Demon Lord!”

I’m not an evildoer! I’ve been acting out the role of hero this whole time! Is everyone out of their minds? As I was gritting my teeth in frustration and feeling misunderstood, I heard the sounds of a fight coming from the entrance to the manor.

“S-Stop right there! I won’t let a barbarian like you get anywhere near the Demon Lord!”

“Huh?! You really think you can get between me and Yuri?!” a rough voice yelled.

An instant later, a summoner NPC crashed into the room, having smashed through multiple walls. Then the intruder strode through the holes he’d made and revealed himself. He was a large man with a smooth, shiny head. “Ooh!” he said. “I finally found you! It’s been a while, Yuri!”

“Baldy!” I should’ve guessed he was the one causing a commotion like that!

We smiled, happy to see one another again, then we high-fived each other.

As for Grim, the moment she saw Baldy, she yelped and ran into a corner. “What’s the divine oni capable of fighting the Demon Lord barehanded doing here?! Is it a surprise attack?!”

Chill out, Grimmikins. Baldy’s a nice guy!

“Ooh, Yuri, your outfit’s gotten a whole lot cuter and sexier since the last time I saw it! You gotta let me touch that side boob! Ooh, my finger sinks right into it! I can’t get enough of the softness!”

“Stop that, it tickles. And you just triggered a ‘Report player?’ pop-up. Make sure you don’t try that stuff with anyone else,” I warned my breast-fondling pal. If it hadn’t been Baldy, I’d have been genuinely mad, but with him, it didn’t bother me so much.

For his part, he laughed and told me, “I wouldn’t try that with anyone besides you.”

“So what brings you here?” I asked. “Unless it’s something serious, you could’ve just messaged me.”

“Nah, that wouldn’t have worked,” Baldy said with an awkward smile. Then he suddenly clenched his massive fist so tight that his blood vessels bulged, and he aimed a punch right at my chest. It happened so fast that an explosive shock wave of air caused a boom that resounded through the room...

...but I barely felt it. His fist came to an instant stop upon making contact with the soft flesh of my chest, before the pressure could reach my sternum. It went to show the incredible degree of control he had over his movements.

Baldy let his fist, still hot from friction, rest against my chest, then grinned menacingly to show me his fangs. “I’m here to declare war, Yuri. To make sure I crush you completely and utterly at the next event, I’ve formed an alliance with sixty-four different guilds. That’s pretty much every other guild in the game. Zansword might have made himself our supreme commander, but I’m the one who put the alliance together. I knew there was no way to kill you without help, so I’m taking you down with superior numbers.”

To some, it might have sounded like foul play, but not to me. This guy... He went running to every corner of the world gathering up support, and all for me? He realized I’m too powerful to defeat by himself, so now he’s using every resource at his disposal to make sure he kills me! I felt happiness welling up in my chest. “Sure thing, Baldy!”

His fist, still pressed against me like a hard, blunt weapon, made my heartbeat quicken. I wanted to feel that fist tear through me—yet at the same time, I longed to kill him first.

I stood on tiptoe to meet his eye level and moved my face close to his. “I love the sound of that, Baldy! You really are the best. I’ll slaughter everyone who gets in my way until it’s me and you. I promise!”

“That’s the spirit, Yuri! Don’t you forget, everyone else is just an appetizer. Whatever happens, it’ll be me who beats you down at the very end!”

We stared into each other’s eyes, the two of us close enough to inhale each other’s breath, each of us burning with a passionate desire to ravage the other.

“A-Are you guys dating?!” Grim suddenly asked. For some reason, she was blushing.

“Huh?! What?!” we both shot back.

Where’d she get that idea?

Her question was so out of the blue that neither Baldy nor I knew how to react.

[Get Ready] General Discussion Thread 410 [For a Guild War!]

1. Impatient Adventurer

This thread is for general discussion.

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107. Impatient Adventurer

I was surprised to get an invitation from Baldy saying “Help me defeat Yuri’s Justice Team.”

I don’t know how he found me. I’ve only just made my guild and we’ve got barely any members.

108. Impatient Adventurer

>> 107

He had a lot of friends even back in the beta days. He just has to ask around to find these things out.

109. Impatient Adventurer

>> 108

The girls all hate him for being a creep, but I guess that just makes it easier for guys like us to get along with him lol.

That said, when I remember that he knows Françoise, and even worse, that he and Yuri can’t keep their hands off each other, it gets me so mad!

Drop dead, normie!

130. Impatient Adventurer

>> 109

Seconded. How’s a bald guy get the attention of pretty girls like those two? Dude can go kick rocks.

Speaking of Demon Lord Yuri, did anyone join her guild? It looks like Shiru probably joined, but I don’t know about anyone else.

151. Impatient Adventurer

>> 130

As a summoner, I’d like to join, but I doubt I’d make it to Helheim in the far east... The monsters around there would kill me in no time.

I wish I’d said something that time I saw her in Starting Town.

173. Impatient Adventurer

>> 151

Helheim’s right on the edge of the game’s current map.

If you somehow make it there alive and get accepted in, try not to cry when you realize you’re weaker than the guild’s NPCs lol.

176. Impatient Adventurer

>> 173

I can just picture it lmao. NPCs in high-level towns are gonna be strong right from the start lol.

When the guildmaster gains experience, don’t any NPCs allied with the guild through money or kinship get stronger at the same time?

I heard the guildmaster’s personality influences them too...

179. Impatient Adventurer

>> 176

I wouldn’t wanna meet an army influenced by Yuri lmaoooo

Still, if she’s ever recruiting guild members, then I wouldn’t mind joining. Doesn’t seem to be the case rn tho...

Maybe I’ll join another guild and fight her instead. I’ve gotta get her back after she blew me out in event 1 after all lol. If the bald dude thinks he can do it, it might be fun.

180. Impatient Adventurer

>> 179

I wanna try fighting Demon Lord Yuri too! Sign me up!

I wouldn’t want to take her on alone, but maybe I’ll land a hit on her with enough support!

240. Impatient Adventurer

Ooh. Here we are, answering the call of the hero Reinhard and joining forces to overthrow Demon Lord Yuri!

It sounds like the build up to an actual boss battle lol.

294. Impatient Adventurer

>> 240

Calling him “the hero Reinhard” makes him sound like a real hero, rather than the bald meathead that he actually is lol.

All right, if we all band together, we can pay her back for what she did to us in the battle royale!

Let’s all gang up on Yuri, and we’ll get Shiru while we’re at it! Yeaaah!

296. Impatient Adventurer

>> 294

Lol don’t say it like that. You make it sound criminal.

Chapter 20 — Fight to Be the Strongest!

After getting such an ardent declaration of war from my rival, Baldy, it was hard for a man like me to sit still. With the next battle event just four days away, I was going to do everything I could to prepare.

Firstly, I wasn’t going to let just anyone join the guild. Having turned a whole town into our base, we had top-class resources and properties. For example, one weird painting from the pope’s castle sold for tens of millions of gold just by itself. I knew there’d be people trying to join for the sake of robbing us.

I couldn’t stand the idea of accepting a few new members at random only for them to run off with all our money and items before the event started. Chasing them down and killing them would be a waste of precious time.

Instead, the plan was to make full use of my financial resources by hiring the finest mercenary NPCs from every town. They came at a high price, but their levels would be high and their combat skills exceptional.

I’d left the task to Shiru, who’d told me, “A lot of the mercenary NPCs have evil personality types, so it’s easy to make them fall in line with the Master of Evil effect.” When we’d been on that rampage together, she’d also received the ten thousand death sentences needed to get that skill. I was just glad someone was finding the skill useful.

That was about it for the recruitment process. That said, I was still willing to let other players join us if I met any I could trust.

As for our crafter, I wouldn’t be asking Grim to fight for us, so I was having her concentrate on making equipment for Shiru and the NPCs. They say a forest is the best place to hide a tree, so I’d asked her to make all the women’s outfits sexy in hopes that mine wouldn’t stand out.

“Heh heh heh, I knew you’d understand, Demon Lord!” she’d cackled. “Even in times of old, evil women would gather dressed entirely in scandalous black garments!”

I know I can count on your talent for making skimpy gear, Grim! But my guild is definitely not some evil people coterie, all right?!

Lastly, there was my task...

“Bodily explosion arrow drone! Skill active: Weapon Barricade! Blam! Boundless Calamity Summon! Blam blam blam blam! Die!”

“Guhgraahhh?!”

In a dark cavern, I was shooting volleys of arrows, launching countless swords and spears with my skills, summoning familiars by the hundred using my special art, and mowing down enemy monsters. Naturally, my excessive luck ensured that almost every monster became a new familiar.

“Whew... I must’ve defeated hundreds already.” When I grew exhausted, I sat on a nearby rock to rest.

Taming monsters in droves was my task as a summoner. We could have up to 9,999 monsters within the confines of the guild’s grounds, so I was trying to hit that limit while also leveling up.

To power up all of my familiars in the process, I’d used some event points to learn another limited skill.

Summoner-only skill, Demonic Leadership: When you gain experience, it is awarded to all familiars, including those that didn’t participate in the battle.

Ever since learning about the skill a few days earlier, I’d been wondering whether I should buy it. I could only learn three limited skills, and this one wouldn’t directly help me in combat. But now that I was building up a guild, nothing could be more useful. The skill meant that every single familiar I gained would gradually grow stronger.

To top it off, as the guild master, the experience I earned could help the guild’s NPCs level up too. It really was four birds with one stone. Now I just had to put in the work to maximize the benefits.

“All right, getting to close to level 50. I should just about get there before the event.”

Leveling had gotten a lot harder since I’d hit level 40, so I had to fight monsters in greater numbers. That was why I’d headed into the depths of a high-level dungeon known as Cavern of the Old One’s Cultists. It was there that I heard a deep-voiced man behind me. “Our paths have at last crossed, Demon Lord Yuri. What say we do battle?”

An instant later, I leaped sideways, sensing an unsettling presence coming toward me. With a single slash, a blade carved a rift in the ground where I’d just been standing.

“Oh? Few could have dodged that sword strike. I must commend you.”

“You sound awfully high and mighty for someone using cheap surprise attacks. Who are you?” I turned to see a man dressed like a samurai sword master gazing at me intently.

“My name is Zansword, and I have earned the title of this world’s strongest player.”

“Huh?!” This guy thinks he’s stronger than me?! That made me tighten my grip on my bow. “Zansword... Yeah, you made a name for yourself in the battle royale event, didn’t you?”

According to Baldy, this was the guy leading the alliance of sixty-four guilds. Since I hadn’t seen him at all during the first battle royale, I could only assume he’d been too busy to join that one.

“You can’t just declare yourself stronger than everyone else,” I told him. “Though I do admire your spirit. All right, let’s fight.” I materialized a murky black arrow in my hand and nocked it in my bow.

Zansword took it as a signal to charge forward. “Prepare yourself!” he yelled, rushing at me with the air rippling through his kimono. I quickly countered with Weapon Barricade, summoning a total of sixteen enchanted swords and spears around me that all fired at Zansword!

“Arts activate: Draw Slash, Slicing Crescent Moon, Annihilation Air Sweep!” he cried.

It turned out he had good reason to believe he was the strongest player. With each flick of the blade in his hand, my projectile weapons were knocked aside in a series of metallic clangs...and it didn’t even slow him down. Zansword kept coming until he was right in front of me, unleashing a ceaseless barrage of attacks all powered by his arts.

“I will punish you for what you did to me, whether you remember it or not. You humiliated me that day, but now I reclaim my honor!”

What’s he talking about?! Before I could ask, his sword slashed across my chest with godly speed. The blade moved so fast that the blood didn’t spurt from the wound until his attack was well over.

“Guh?!”

Skill active: Relentless! Survived with 1 HP after taking fatal damage!

Blood dripped from my mouth, but my skill allowed me to survive the strike.

Zansword was ready for that. A smile appeared on his overly dignified face as he followed up with another attack!

“Ha, Relentless cannot save you! We both know the update rendered your skill incapable of triggering a second time within five seconds! This marks the end for you! Special art: Slashwave Cleaver!”

A light-based shock wave leaped from his blade the moment he cried the name of his attack. It was far more than a sword technique—it was a laser attack that cut through me and slammed me hard against a wall!

And thus our bout is decided, Zansword undoubtedly thought as he returned his sword to its sheath with a shiiing and turned his back on my motionless body.

“Before you disappear, I shall explain why you had to die... I was among the many to meet their demise from your familiar’s devastating laser attack during the first battle royale. Never had I felt such humiliation. I have ranked above all since the days of beta, yet somehow...you killed me the same way you killed every other scrub in the damned arena!”

Oh, he broke character. His speech had lost its archaic tone and his voice had trembled with rage before he could finish his monologue. I must have really ticked him off.

“I must confess, you have seldom been far from my mind since that day, Yuri, and I was thus compelled to learn a means of defeating you. I have rewatched footage of you countless times, I have scoured through message board threads and blog posts taking note of whatever rumors might prove useful to your downfall... I have even resorted to purchasing your photo book hoping you might have given an interview! But alas...” Zansword’s shoulders slumped.

You bought that thing too?! I had nothing to do with the stupid book!

As he walked away, he gave me a few final words. “But now I have restored my honor. It is with peace in my heart that I await the All-Out Guild War. Farewell, Demon Lord. When next we meet, I expect you will be the one consumed by rage as you attempt to strike me down. Ha ha ha ha...”

And that’s when I shot a murky black arrow at his defenseless back!

“Whaaat?!” He must have heard the bowstring, because he was quick enough to spin around and knock the arrow aside with his blade.

Nice reactions, but it’s too late. I’ve gotten the distance I needed. You should have realized I was still alive.

Samurai man gazed at me wide-eyed now that I’d climbed to my feet. “How are you not dead?! All my sources concurred that you were nerfed! Oh, but that bewitching new attire of yours... Could it be offering you some unprecedented protection?!”

“Let’s not talk about the attire... If you’ve been reading up on me, you should’ve seen this coming. When the trash devs made me weaker, I didn’t give up and cry over it because that’s not the kind of guy I am!”

Finally, I had a chance to attack for real. I activated Weapon Barricade again, calling out twenty-one magic swords and spears I had stored in my item box. Then, with several arrows held between my fingers, I fired everything at Zansword!

“Hnnngh?! I will not allow you to best me! Arts activate! Unrelenting Fang Flurry, Slicing Crescent Moon, Whirlwind Strike!” Zansword rushed at me once more, knocking aside all my projectiles with his arts.

With some motion assist from the game, he unleashed another torrent of powerful sword slashes. But doubts were gradually forming on his face this time. And I knew exactly why.

“Doesn’t matter whether it’s a spell or a sword technique—every time you use an art, it costs MP, doesn’t it? You can’t keep this up much longer.”

I, on the other hand, was using Weapon Barricade, which was a skill. Each cast cost nothing as long as the “HP is at ten percent or lower” condition was fulfilled. With my HP permanently limited to 1, I could cast it infinitely. And it wasn’t even the only zero-MP attack at my disposal.

“Forbidden Summoning! Chimeratic Lightning Wolf, come forth!”

“Awoooooooo!” My call was answered by a wolf cloaked in lightning that emerged from a blackened summoning circle.

This was a forbidden summoning—a skill unique to high summoners. I could fuse two items together to make a chimera, then summon it irrespective of my twelve familiars limit.

The lightning wolf took off, closing the distance to Zansword in an instant.

“Ngh... Could it be? The very same creature that paralyzed Baldy?!”

“Sure is. You’ll go numb the second you touch my little pet! Let’s see you dodge this one, Zansword!”

The narrow cavern gave him no way to get out of the massive wolf’s path.

The second he stops moving, I’ve won. But just as victory was at my fingertips, something unexpected happened.

“Gah! Arts activate! Fire Enchant!”

What?! How’s he using magic arts?!

Searing flames erupted from Zansword’s blade, and then a single swing was enough to cleave the lightning wolf in two. The magic flames had shielded him from the paralysis effect, but his face was twisted in frustration.

“To think my secondary class would be revealed before the day of the event...”

“Secondary class?”

“Were you not aware? Upon reaching level 50, players may choose a second class. I chose to become an enchanter—a magic wielder capable of imbuing weapons with various effects.”

Okay, so that’s why he can use magic despite being a samurai. I guess that makes him a spellsword... Wait, this guy got to level 50 while obsessively researching me? How can he spend so much time on gaming...? Oh...

“O-Okay, I get it... Yeah...”

“Why are you giving me a look of pity?! No, stop! Knock it off! You can’t just imagine me IRL without asking!” Zansword readied his sword, the air shimmering in the heat of his flaming blade. “Gah... I did not foresee such failure. If only I had allowed myself to be defeated...” He spoke through gritted teeth, heavily embarrassed by his mistake.

But I wasn’t laughing at him. “Yeah, your plan may be in shambles, but as a man, you’ve acted flawlessly.” I smirked at him. “No need to be embarrassed, Zansword. I’ve let slip that I can revive twice with Relentless too. I could’ve pretended to be dead and let you have your victory, but that would’ve made me a coward, wouldn’t it? Your hunger for the win’s just as strong as mine, and in that respect, we’re both ‘the strongest.’ Now stop moping over it.”

“Y-Yuri...you...”

“Let’s get back to it. Now that we know each other’s secrets, there’s no need to hold back!” Puffster and countless weapon summoning circles appeared around me as I gripped my bow tight.

The despair vanished from Zansword’s face. Just like me, he smiled a little as he held his sword ready. “Hmph... Then so be it! It is nigh time we settled this!”

“Yeah, a little warm up before the All-Out Guild War! A no-holds-barred fight to the death between the two opposing commanders!”

We were both still smiling as we took action. It was a meeting of two radically different fighting styles. While I preferred long-range attacks, Zansword was highly specialized in fighting up close. I launched swords, spears, and axes in his direction, while he charged forward with just his burning sword.

“Ooooooooooohhh!” Zansword roared as he deflected my attacks. Even with his MP depleted and no arts to rely on, he remained undaunted. Though my torrent of weapons were making countless cuts to his body, he surged forward with unabated ferocity, right until his sword was within inches of my face...

“Guh... So close...!” His arms drooped and his body collapsed like a puppet cut from its strings. The countless lacerations he’d endured had finally depleted his HP.

I caught him as he fell and commended him on a good fight. “That was fun, Zansword. Four days from now, let’s battle it out again at the event to see who can truly call themselves the strongest.”

“Indeed... I shall not suffer defeat a second time, Demon Lord Yuri!” Zansword’s body exploded into fine particles and vanished.

With this victory, I finally hit level 50.

Chapter 21 — The ACTUAL Weakest Class: Craftmaker!

After defeating Zansword, I made my way back to Helheim. Along the way I’d run into Shiru, who was on her way back from hiring mercenaries, and now the two of us were walking through the town together.

“Wow. That was enough to propel you to level 50? I’m still around level 30 even though I’ve been fighting with the ultra rare greatsword you gave me!”

“Yeah, but I can’t get complacent. There have to be a few more players like Zansword who are higher-level than I am.”

“Yeah... All games have players like that. Unemp— Uh, I mean, people with time on their hands.” Shirukins looked uncomfortable.

There was really nothing we could do about Zansword having more time, but we had the advantage when it came to financial resources, so we’d just have to put them to good use.

Shiru and I said our goodbyes when we reached the training ground.

“See you, Demon Lord. I thought I’d go talk to the crafter you picked up, Grim. I want her to touch up my gear too. And then I might give the mercenary NPCs we’ve hired a tour of the town. Looks like they got spooked by all the monsters around here and headed straight for the residential district.”

“Ha ha. It’s just that kind of town. I’ll let you take full charge of the mercenaries. Make sure they’re playing nice with everyone else by the time the event starts.”

“You got it.”

Shiru waved me goodbye as she disappeared into a group of murderous caterpillars, man-eating tigers, and other monsters that were on patrol.

As she was walking away, a summoner NPC (with his hair in a mohawk for some reason) greeted her with “Welcome back, Sis Shirukins!” It was a sign that our sub-guildmaster was fitting in well here in town, and I was glad to see it.

Now that I was alone, I headed into the training ground to decide on a secondary class.

⬧⬨⬧

“Currrrs!” “Currcurrs!” “Currrss!” Puffster, Puff 2, Puff 3, Puff 4, Puff 5, Puff 6, Puff 7, Puff 8, Puff 9, Puff 10, and Puff 11 were chasing one another around the sprawling training ground. I watched them with a smile as I sat down and opened up a menu window. A long list of classes appeared when I tapped the “Learn a Secondary Class” button.

“Now, which to pick...” Maybe I’ll follow Zansword’s example and go with enchanter... Adding a little magic to my weapons would be a simple yet effective way to do more damage.

The next option I considered was archer. If I chose the intended class for bow wielders as my secondary, I’d be able to use various bow-related arts. Then maybe I’d be able to split my arrows into multiple copies in flight while my Puffs used their cloning skills at the same time. I’d be back to having as many arrows as I’d had before the trash devs nerfed me. Raining destruction down on foes from above looked like a possibility once more.

These both feel kinda lackluster...

And so, I went back to the good old BSO Game Guide website. The same site that had tricked me once before was too useful to ignore.

I used an in-game menu to connect to the external internet, then looked through a page titled “The Most Powerful Classes Ranked.”

“Hmm... So the basic classes like fighter and lancer are ranked highest, and Baldy’s grappler class is down near the bottom since it’s so hard to use.”

In the comments section, a few people were whining about it: “I chose this after seeing that crazy fight against the Demon Lord, but I don’t get it all. All the stat boosts wipe out your HP, so you just die anyway.”

Figures you’d see people like this. The class is for advanced players like Baldy who know how to fight smart.

As for the archer class, it was also down near the bottom because it did little to fix the problem of arrows rarely hitting their targets. In my case, I’d already solved the problem by gaining possession-type monsters as allies using summoner skills. I imagined that with enough fighting spirit and determination, players using the archer class would probably figure out their own solution before long, though.

“Oh, looks like summoner got bumped up the list after all my shenanigans. It’s still in the bottom half of the list, but at least it’s not treated as the weakest class anymore. Which makes me wonder, what is at the bottom...?”

I scrolled down to the very end of the list and found “craftmaker” in the last spot, along with an explanatory note next to it: “The class chosen by crafters. Enables creation of various items. Since it’s not a combat class, it doesn’t really belong in a class power ranking.”

There were also some comments.

“No combat arts whatsoever with this one. It’s obvious you shouldn’t compare it to the others.”

“Calling this weak is an understatement. Crafters can’t fight at all. It’s sad how users of the class get treated.”

“If you see a crafter out collecting items, remember to be kind and offer them some support. If they get attacked by a monster, they’ll die without your help.”

And so on and so forth. A lot of the comments were so sympathetic they crossed a line into sounding downright patronizing.

“Ah, this must be what Françoise and Grim chose. So there was always a class weaker than summoner?”

But just as the note said, it made no sense to expect an item maker’s class to be powerful. The summoner class had been widely regarded as the weakest class because singling out craftmaker would have felt like bullying the players making everyone’s items.

“Hmm... If I were playing solo, I might benefit from being able to fight and craft items, but now I’ve got Grim on my side. No point choosing this as my secondary.”

Still, as a guildmaster, I figured it might be useful to know what my fellow guild member was capable of. With that thought in mind, I opened up the “Craftmaker Basics” page.

The moment I saw the page, I couldn’t help but shout, “Y-You can’t be serious! This is gonna fit perfectly with the abilities I’ve already got!”

The unexpected discovery had me astounded. Here’s what the page said:

Craftmaker

Players who chose this class gain the following class abilities:

Production: Players can create, strengthen, and combine items and equipment. Upon doing so, the player gains experience based on the quality of the item or piece of equipment.

Carrying: The maximum number of items the player can carry increases from 50 to 200.

Shipping: A class skill added with the recent update. Only available to craftmakers assigned to a guild.

When the player’s item box is full, any new items that are picked up will automatically be transferred to the guild’s storehouse.

The Carrying ability is absolutely amazing!

Ever since I’d started using Weapon Barricade, I’d been wishing I could just launch every weapon I owned at once. I didn’t have to worry about running out of ammunition since weapons summoned with Weapon Barricade returned to my item box after three seconds, but with a carry limit of fifty items, I only had space to carry twenty weapons at the very most—I always needed a few MP recovery items, some space to store any materials I happened to pick up, and oh, each of my arrows took up a space in my item box as well. Chalk up another reason for people to consider the bow the weakest weapon.

But now, with the Carrying ability increasing my capacity and the Shipping ability transferring any excess materials back to the guild, my worries would be over! And that’s why I chose the true weakest class as my secondary—the class so weak players hesitated to compare it to the others, craftmaker!

I stood up and grabbed my bow. “All right! Let’s try it out right away!” I’d just gained some serious firepower through an accidental discovery and couldn’t wait to see what I could do!

With my heart full of expectation, I chose the “Summon a boss you’ve previously defeated” option that was available in training grounds.

“Combat-practice Gigantic Dragonplant, come forth!”

“Grrgaaaaaah!”

My call was answered by a massive monster that stretched up a hundred meters from the ground—the Gigantic Dragonplant. It was a fake that wouldn’t give me any experience, but it looked and behaved just like the real thing. Even at level 50, this boss should’ve given me a tough fight.

Should have.

“Guild system activate! One hundred weapons from my item box, to me!”

This was a special feature added in the previous update. Guild members could freely transfer items from the guild storehouse to their item box and vice versa while within the guild’s confines. The added space in my item box was suddenly filled with a mountain of extra swords and spears.

“Grrgaaaaaah!” The Gigantic Dragonplant made its move, sending dozens of tentacles at me in an attempt to crush me to death. However...

“Skill activate! Weapon Barricade, full blast!”

It would take more than a few dozen tentacles to stop me now. Countless summoning circles appeared behind me. Twenty of them became forty, forty became sixty, then eighty, and finally 130 in all, each shining with a magical light.

Lit by the glowing circles behind me, I declared to the Gigantic Dragonplant, “Sorry, combat-practice Giganster, but you’ll have to die for the sake of the experiment!” Then I unleashed the storm. A huge array of weapons—swords, spears, axes, scythes, hammers—all flew at the towering vegetation monster before me.

“Grrgaaaaaah?!” Combat-practice Giganster howled in the face of my overwhelming barrage.

The creature tried to shield itself with its tentacles, but it was futile. My pure luck build meant that every weapon I launched inflicted a status effect. Burned by fire swords, frozen by ice spears, and afflicted with countless other status effects from my weapons, the dragonplant lost all of its HP in no time.

I pumped my fist at the clear payoff. “All right! ‘Not worth considering,’ huh? Yeah, I dunno, craftmaker’s looking pretty powerful to me!”

I’d completely overwhelmed a huge, powerful boss in a matter of seconds, and I never could have done it with a different class.

I’ve found another underrated class! Now I can’t wait to show off the power of crafters at the event!

Every other crafter: “Huh? I’ve never seen anyone use that skill like that!”

⬧⬨⬧

Now that I was done testing my secondary class, I decided to drop by Grim’s manor and see how Shiru’s gear had turned out.

“Wh-What is this?!” Shiru was already making a fuss in the building’s luxurious living room.

How’s she look...? Ooh, that’s gotta be embarrassing!

The outfit covering her slim body still looked like the sword princess outfit she’d been wearing before, except it had a whole lot less fabric now. Put simply, she’d gone from looking like a sword princess you might find in a light novel to a sword princess from an adult-rated game!

At the same time, something about the design felt sinister. I could just imagine her being imprisoned then stripped bare by a cruel dark elf who tells her, “Either you’ll wear this or you’ll go naked.”

Grim really was a fetish outfit genius for being able to put ideas like that in my head. She wasn’t even old enough to know anything about dirty games, yet she was full of twisted ideas! I really had discovered some incredible talent when I met her.

“Ooh, it’s you, Demon Lord,” Master Grim said. “I was just giving this woman her new gear! Now I’m ready to go adjust all the NPC gear too!”

I gave Grim a thumbs-up before she went running off. Nice work! You’re truly the master of sexy gear!

Naturally, I had to give some compliments to the model too. “Hey, Shiru, your new dress suits you.”

Shiru scowled at me as her face flushed a vivid red. “D-Did you put her up to this?! What’s the big idea of making me wear this thing?!”

Wow... The more I talk to her, the more she acts exactly like an 18+ game sword princess. The effect of that outfit is really something.

“Sorry, Shiru, but after Grim turned my dress into this, I knew you had to suffer the same fate.”

“You already looked like a heroine gone to the dark side, but now you’re talking like one too!” Shiru sighed. “Haah... I suppose I’ll stick with it for the sake of the stat boosts. And...it’s embarrassing, but...it is kind of cute and sexy...!” Shiru looked over her own outfit only for her cheeks to once again go beet red.

I knew she’d like it—just like I knew she’d been looking at my photo book (especially the page showing me bound by the dragonplant’s tentacles) and crying “Uwaaah!” to herself like it was turning her on. That had been a surprising discovery I’d made while testing the guildmaster ability to see what other guild members were up to.

I gave my accomplice a warm smile. “Shiru... No matter how dirty-minded you might be, I’m fine with it!”

“Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-What are you talking about?! Wh-Wh-What makes you think I’ve got a dirty mind, stupid?!” Flustered and talking fast, Shirukins declared, “I’m g-going to go level up!” then ran off.

Chapter 22 — Showdown! Cthulhu Replica!

After teasing Shirukins a little over her unseemly interests, I headed for the high-level dungeon where I’d fought Zansword—the Cavern of the Old One’s Cultists.

I’d actually found the door to the boss room after our fight, but hadn’t stepped inside. There was a message written on it:

We created this biological weapon in the form of the Great Old One so that the world may learn to fear Him. Our replica became an invincible, all-consuming parasite of the terrain.

When it proved too ferocious for us to control, the Cult of the Great Old One soon collapsed. The last of our power was spent sealing our creation within this chamber.

Perhaps this terrible weapon is an abomination that should have been destroyed, but we could not bring ourselves to do so, for this creature represents the culmination of our sect’s technical achievements. Passage beyond this door is therefore only permitted to those with the power to both bend the creature to their will and produce our technology from its body.

To summarize, a bunch of idiots nearly wiped themselves out after losing control of their own weapon, and now they were giving me a lecture and talking about whether I was “permitted” to enter like they had any right to tell me what to do. The message bugged me so much I unleashed a flurry of attacks on the door. But sadly, it didn’t open.

It seemed there was some sort of literal seal that I had to break by figuring out some riddle or other. Rather than waste time trying to solve it right before an event, I decided to leave. But then the secondary class I’d just chosen came to my mind.

What if “those with the power to both bend the abomination to their will and produce our technology from its body” meant summoners with sufficient taming ability and craftmakers with sufficient item-making ability respectively?

“Games often put in restrictions like that,” I muttered to myself as I gazed at the door. “‘To go any farther, you must have members with the following classes in your party,’ that sort of thing.”

If I was right, only parties with both a summoner and a craftmaker could open the door. I had both classes myself, but if it had to be two different party members, then I’d have to accept defeat and give up.

“Well, let’s give it a try.”

The moment I touched the huge door, there was a ringing sound.

Condition met: Presence of a summoner and a craftmaker confirmed.

The seal has been broken on the door to the giant boss monster that possesses terrain, the Forbidden Dark Dragon Cthulhu Replica.

So said the message.

As the door opened, a maddening, oppressive scent enveloped my body. It smelled just like rotten fruit.

I can tell from the air alone... This has to be an ultra-strong boss. But that’s what’ll make it an exciting fight!

“All right! Let’s do this!” I took my bow in my hand and leaped through the door.

⬧⬨⬧

The sprawling space beyond the door was a circular chamber full of glowing blue particles that floated in the air and kept the underground space well lit. I didn’t have time to be mesmerized by the dreamlike space for long, though.

“Griihaaaaaah!” A hellish screech came from beneath the earth and echoed through the cavern, and then the forbidden dark dragon began to emerge. The ground oozed and reformed like molasses to welcome its arrival, bubbling up and swelling into a large mass that eventually took the form of a massive octopus-like head. The head bulged until it split apart, revealing a cluster of cloudy yellow eyeballs glaring right at me. Then, from beneath the countless pupils, nine tentacles squirmed toward me, each one tipped with the head of a dragon, but with maws of sharp, uneven teeth. Their reptilian gazes too followed my every move closely.

This was, unquestionably, the Forbidden Dark Dragon, Cthulhu. It was a gruesome, overawing sight to behold...and the creature still had yet more horrors in store.

I smiled nervously at the scene unfolding before me. “Ha ha... Now I see what they meant by possessing the terrain.”

The walls, ceiling, and even the floor beneath me had sprouted thousands of eyeballs, and each one was trained on me. It felt like it was telling me, “You cannot run. I will devour you.”

I squelched an eyeball beneath my boot as I sized up my opponent. “Ha! It’ll take more than that to scare me, Cthulhu Replica! You’re going down!”

This is so cool! A monster that possesses the environment! I love it! If I could make the creature possess my town, we’d have a defender like no other. I just knew this monster was going to have a huge part to play in the upcoming event. I’ll crush anyone who dares challenge me, scoop up all the event points, and bathe in developer tears! I assured myself.

Then I heard an alert tone and then a message appeared.

This terrain-possessing boss monster is an exceptionally powerful opponent.

Players may win the boss battle by reducing its HP to 0, or alternatively, by surviving its onslaught for 20 minutes.

In the latter case, the monster will return to its slumber undefeated, but players will still receive items and experience.

I got what the message was telling me—the devs had added in a second win condition to make things easier. But I wasn’t gonna need it. Running around for twenty minutes to eke out a win just wasn’t my style. I was gonna crush it utterly with a whole host of flashy attacks. What sort of man would I be if I did anything less?

Countless summoning circles appeared behind me as I glared at Cthulhu Replica. “Let’s go, Cthulhu! Get ready to bow before me!”

“Griihiiihaaah!” With a snarl from the creature, our fight began.

The massive body in front of me wasn’t the only threat I faced—the walls and ceiling were shifting, forming fangs that closed in on me from all directions. My opponent was trying to overpower me through sheer mass.

But I had plenty of mass of my own! “Skill activate! Weapon Barricade, full blast!”

Over a hundred rare swords and enchanted spears unleashed from my inventory in a storm of projectiles, shattering the approaching fangs and protecting me from harm.

There was no point in holding back now! A massive summoning circle appeared behind me as I hollered the name of the creature about to emerge. “It’s a battle of the titans! Gigantic Dragonplant, come forth!”

“Grrgaaaaaah!” My call was answered by a creature so massive it looked down even on Cthulhu. It was my own trusty dragon. Nine huge flowers blossomed on the dragonplant’s back, charging with searing hot light. Cthulhu responded with a howl as its nine tentacles’ mouths opened wide and began charging with dark magic.

What followed was a collision of white-hot heat rays against pulsating evil energy. The two forces met with a great rumbling that shook the entire cavern like an earthquake.

“Grrgaaaaaah!”

“Griihaaaaaah!”

The two dragons both roared as their beams struggled against one another within the cavern. As giant boss monsters, they were more or less evenly matched. Which meant...

“Let’s go, Giganster! Support art activate! Hyper magic boost!”

“Grrgaaaaaah!” With the support of a summoner, the Gigantic Dragonplant’s magic stat suddenly tripled! The heat ray intensified until the white light broke through Cthulhu’s dark energy beam and enveloped its octopus-like body!

“Griihiiihiiiih?!” The Cthulhu Replica sizzled loudly as its flesh roasted. With its entire body glowing red-hot, it looked just like a boiled octopus.

“Can’t defend against that one, can you? Everything Giganster’s laser touches turns into Scorched Earth. As a monster that happens to be possessing that earth, your whole body must be seething right now.”

The effect was exactly what I’d predicted. An ordinary monster would have retreated out of the Scorched Earth zone, but this guy didn’t have that option. Its body was the arena itself—that was the weakness that came with possessing the terrain.

Now to pile on the pressure! I thanked Giganster as he hit the summoning time limit and faded, then I headed for the suffering boss monster.

“Griihiiigruuuh?!”

Wary of my approach, the thing thrashed its nine necks at me like whips while simultaneously sprouting fangs from the ground where I stood in an attempt to destroy me. But it would take more than that.

“Let’s go, Mor! Monster skill activate! Flash!”

“Hrrrr!” The Armor Knight boss monster residing in my boots complied with my command, and with an eruption of dark mana, my running speed increased severalfold! I outpaced the fangs springing up from beneath my feet and slipped between the creature’s thrashing necks with ease.

Cthulhu gazed at me perplexed as I drew ever closer. “Guh... Griihguuh?!”

“That’s your second weak point, Cthulhu. Your attacks lack focus.”

With the entire arena as its body, it had incredible range. Its fangs could sprout from anywhere, while its long, thick necks could continuously mow players down. Even a large party could be wiped out in an instant. However, all that came at the cost of power and precision.

First off, the fangs sprouting from the walls and floor could be dodged by anyone fast enough. It took a little time for a surface to reshape itself and thrust at the player, which was a disadvantage of shape-shifting attacks.

“Shape-shifting might sound nice, but you can’t attack any quicker than you can change form. And as for the heads, you can’t swing them at me once I get up close.”

If its necks swung at me like whips, then they had the same weakness as whips. That is, the heads at the end of the necks held all the speed and power, and the attacks would grow weaker as I approached the bases of the necks. It was an easy countermeasure.

“All that’s left is to guess your moves and dodge them! I’ll die in one hit, but I’m used to that!”

I ducked and dodged wild attacks one after another as I closed in on Cthulhu’s face. That’s when I threw my bow aside and materialized eleven arrows shrouded in dark haze in both hands.

“Look alive, Puffster squad! Support art activate! Hyper Power Burst!”

“Currsss!” The haze shrouding the bundle of arrows grew to explosive intensity!

I slashed with all the arrows I was holding, carving a cross into Cthulhu’s eyes while the arrowheads were at peak cutting power!

Skill active: Genocide Killer! Damage doubled!

Skill active: Fatal Strike! Damage doubled!

Skill active: Absolute Zero! Damage doubled!

Critical hit! Triple damage dealt to a weak point!

Skill active: Merciless Death God! Critical damage boosted by a further thirty percent!

“Grrriih Griiigiiiih?!”

This was my pure luck build’s time to shine. Even the damage-boosting skills with a low activation rate were forced to trigger all at once, dealing intense pain to the Cthulhu Replica.

It was a pity that the latest update had made my damage multiplier cap out at ten, but that still applied to all eleven arrows. Multiplying the multiplier by the number of arrows gave the damage inflicted on Cthulhu an effective multiplier of 110.

“Time to end you!” I raised my arrows to carve another wound into the boss...but then Cthulhu Replica’s entire body transformed.

“Guh griih grraaah!”

“Ngh?!”

Its entire body burst open! Far too close to dodge, I was knocked off my feet by the shock wave. The explosion might not have been particularly intense, but I only had 1 HP. I’d have been down to zero in an instant, except...

Skill active: Relentless! Survived with 1 HP!

“Whoa! That was close! I didn’t expect you to burst apart like that!” As I skidded across the ground, I was relieved to know I’d held out.

I glared in the Cthulhu Replica’s direction once again, but the creature had disappeared.

Did it self-destruct? I wondered. But then...

“Griihaaaaah!” The cavern above me shook with an enraged roar coming from above.

I looked up, and to my disbelief, I saw the thing’s body had sprouted from the ceiling like a grotesque chandelier.

The boss looked a little smaller now, but it was still bigger than a human by a factor of a few dozen. Its nine mouths were all transforming, turning into hundreds of tongues that dripped with saliva. Then they all rushed at me!

“So, this is the true power of becoming one with the terrain! It can reassemble itself wherever it wants, and it can keep coming up with new attacks!”

Its reasoning was clear: So you can dodge nine heads? But what if you’re tangled up in hundreds of tongues? It was a simple but effective solution.

But I’m not getting ensnared that easily! I triggered Weapon Barricade to launch a barrage of precious swords and enchanted spears that severed the tongues.

Naturally, I couldn’t forget to keep moving. If I came to a stop, I’d be skewered by the fangs constantly sprouting from the ground. That was the trickiest aspect of the fight.

I had methods of coping, but I wasn’t sure how other summoners and craftmakers would endure all this. Players with both classes needed to be in the party to take on the boss, but they’d die instantly unless they had some means of defending themselves. Knowing the devs, they probably threw this whole scenario together without thinking that far ahead!

“I need a plan... Running and deflecting attacks is enough to survive for twenty minutes and get a win, but I want a kill...”

Defeating this boss was going to be tough. Even if I could break through its shape-shifting tentacles to deal some damage, I’d have to leap away again before its body exploded. And much like the tongues that made it harder for me to get near, it could keep transforming itself to compensate for every weakness I found.

I spent five seconds giving it some careful thought, then I made up my mind. All right, I’ve got a good plan. Now to kill this thing quick!

I stopped trying to dodge, took a run up, and then leaped straight at Cthulhu.

Cthulhu was caught off guard, but only for a moment before its eyeballs narrowed like it was grinning. It must have thought I’d gotten desperate.

“Griiih Griiihiiih!” The swarm of hundreds of tongues came right for me. The fleshy protuberances drenched with spittle all wrapped themselves around my body, bringing my movement to an instant halt.

“Ngggh?!”

“Grih hiih hiih hiih!” Cthulhu snarled in joy as it forced the air from my lungs.

Now the rest was easy. With its prey completely ensnared in its tongues, it was ready to feed. The Cthulhu Replica’s octopus-like head opened wide, revealing a hellish interior lined with hundreds of millions of haphazard teeth.

The creature had already transformed itself to counter my Relentless skill. I’d anticipated no less, but it was a horrifying sight all the same.

There was no chance of me surviving being chewed on in that mouth. Relentless only triggered with a low probability—with attacks from hundreds of millions of teeth all happening at once, I couldn’t hope to negate every single one.

I remained silent as the forbidden dragon roared to celebrate its victory. “Griihaaah!” The battle was about to reach its conclusion.

Cthulhu thrust me deep into its mouth, along with its tongues that bound me, denying me any chance of escape...but as the teeth closed in on me from every direction, I finally made my move.

“If you’re hungry, then I’ve got a real meal for you! Special art activate! Boundless Calamity Summon!”

The inside of Cthulhu’s body shone bright with the light of a hundred summoning circles! Then came the monsters. Genocide beetles with thorns coating their bulky exoskeletons, lava giants with incandescent bodies over ten meters tall, deadly venom slimes that oozed with acid and toxic fluid, and various other high-level monsters that I’d captured over the past few days emerged inside Cthulhu Replica’s body all at once.

“Griiiih hiiiiiiih?!” The forbidden dragon was screeching. I couldn’t see much from inside its mouth, but I could guess that its entire body had swollen up like a balloon.

As for me, I was fine. To avoid being crushed, I’d asked a trusty ally to shield me. “Thanks, MechaGobster.”

“Gobuuh! Protect...master!” Chimeratic Machine Goblin—a steel giant created from a fusion between Goblin King meat and ancient machinery—held me in his arms.

How d’you like that, Cthulhu? There’s no transformation that can save you from the pain of a swarm of monsters spawning deep within your core. And you might think you can just explode and run off again, but that’s not happening.

“Monsters! Unleash your fury!”

“Grrrgraaaah!” My hundred monsters roared in response, then did their worst within Cthulhu’s body. Many of their attacks simply collided with their allies, but it was Cthulhu who took the brunt of it. It was like a barrage of cannonballs colliding inside its stomach. Its delicate mucosal linings were torn apart as its interior echoed with the howls of monsters dancing in spilled blood and torn flesh. This was how I was preventing it from escaping—if it could burst apart and escape whenever it was in trouble, I just had to deplete its HP before it got the chance.

Savor this taste, Cthulhu Replica! I could have hit you with arrows hundreds of times, and it would’ve had nothing on this!

Countless attacks from the most ferocious of high-level monsters were being delivered to Cthulhu’s vulnerable interior. “Griiih hiiiiih?!” Its screech echoed through the cavern. With its flesh torn apart so badly, it was no longer capable of bursting apart to reform elsewhere. Before long, the remains of its body split into tiny pieces with a loud pop!

Congratulations! You successfully soloed a high-level dungeon boss: Forbidden Dragon Cthulhu Replica!

Yuri and all summoned monsters gained copious experience!

The terrain-possessing boss monster Forbidden Dragon Cthulhu Replica became your ally!

* You can summon up to one terrain-possessing monster at a time within land that you own. The monster will not count toward the maximum number of summoned monsters. Its level will be equivalent to that of the summoner.

“Awwww yeah! My guild just got a protective deity!” I pumped my fist as I crashed to the ground.

Cthulhu had been overwhelmingly powerful. If someone tried to invade our guild, it wouldn’t matter who they were, they’d never survive an onslaught from 9,999 monsters plus this thing. Our defenses are gonna be ironclad!

Now I’d feel confident heading out to focus entirely on destroying the enemy guilds. My heart was racing with excitement as I imagined the approaching guild war.

[Get Ready] General Discussion Thread 450 [For Guild War!]

1. Impatient Adventurer

This thread is for general discussion.

Speak your mind freely, so long as you’re not breaking the forum rules. If you want to recruit party members, rant, hate on the game, or start drama, please start a dedicated thread.

A new thread will be created automatically when this one reaches the reply limit.

Previous thread: http://**********

107. Impatient Adventurer

I finally hit level 40!

Looks like everyone in my guild wants to get to 40 before the event too.

108. Impatient Adventurer

>> 107

Good to know you’re putting in the time! I think we’ve got a good chance to take down Yuri. The alliance against her has more than 50,000 members already! Let’s all level up then kick her ass!

109. Impatient Adventurer

>> 108

Leveling is going good here too!

Just gotta whip my craftmaker minions into making me some good gear.

130. Impatient Adventurer

>> 109

Speaking of craftmakers, has anyone thought about how to share out the event points?

There was something on BSO’s homepage saying that when one guild destroys another, 1,000 event points go to the winning side. Then the guild members have to decide how they’re going to share the points between themselves.

151. Impatient Adventurer

>> 130

Ugh... Seriously? I thought it was going to be like the battle royale, where kills are the only way to get points.

So, the craftmakers aren’t going to be fighting but they’ll want a share of the points... How’s that supposed to work?

Would a 70/30 split between combatants and craftmakers be unfair...?

173. Impatient Adventurer

>> 151

They’ll rage if you do that lol.

Then again...I wouldn’t say this if the board wasn’t anonymous...but 70/30 is probably fair lmao.

Sure, they help us out by making gear, but it’s not like craftmakers do anything useful in the actual event.

175. Impatient Adventurer

>> 173

Craftmaker here. Comments like this make my blood boil.

I demand your guild name right now!

176. Impatient Adventurer

>> 175

Chill. There’s no point freaking out over every hot take on the board. And anyway, craftmakers just make items, so why cry over a few event points you can’t use anyway? It makes sense to give more points to players who can actually fight because they need those points to buy limited weapons and skills.

179. Impatient Adventurer

>> 176

Exactly! I just wanna get myself some good weapons so I’ll be as strong as Demon Lord Yuri!

180. Impatient Adventurer

>> 179

I feel you!

There’s this samurai in my guild who’s an absolute no-lifer logged in 24/7 (I won’t name and shame). He got to level 50 already and said he chose a secondary class.

Given how many kills the Demon Lord got at the last event, she has to be level 50 by now too! And she knows we’ll be targeting her! I’ll bet she picked a powerful class as her secondary. Lol I can’t wait to see it!

294. Impatient Adventurer

“World News! Yuri, fighting solo, was the first to defeat the Forbidden Dragon Cthulhu Replica high-level dungeon boss!”

Ooh! We got some world news! The Demon Lord’s on her usual rampage lol.

And judging by the name, that boss is something fierce lmao.

296. Impatient Adventurer

>> 294

And that’s why we call her the Demon Lord! Further proof that she’s a worthy opponent!

All right! I’m gonna race to level 50 and get a good secondary class!

The denizens of the message board would never have guessed that their Demon Lord had actually chosen the weakest of all classes: craftmaker!

Chapter 23 — Yuri the Crafter (of Corpses)!

With the event just three days away, it looked like I was going to reach 9,999 summoned monsters just in time, all thanks to the countless hours I’d spent hunting. Add to that the Forbidden Dragon Cthulhu Replica I’d tamed the day prior, and the town’s defenses were going to be flawless.

Picking craftmaker for my secondary class had been a huge help. The extra item box capacity meant that I could fire more missiles with Weapon Barricade and hunt monsters with incredible speed. But I still wasn’t satisfied. “Hmmm... I can’t do much damage per hit. That’s fine when I’m against a few monsters since I can just rain hundreds of swords down on them, but it’s not going to cut it against tens of thousands of players at the event...”

I was pondering over this dilemma while enjoying a pork cutlet at a restaurant in Helheim. My fellow patrons, the local summoner NPCs, were all shirtless in leather jackets, had their hair up in mohawks, and were noisily scarfing down their food. If I didn’t know better, I’d have sworn I was dining with survivors of an apocalypse. Their personalities turning evil had even affected the way they looked.

In any case, I had no time to worry about how my NPCs were turning out. The priority was getting more power out of my Weapon Barricade projectiles.

The problem was that the game always thought I was throwing weapons around with zero strength. Even with my damage-boosting skills, the projectiles still lacked power. I’d been compensating by launching ultrarare heavy objects and weapons with status effects, but I felt like I’d need something more when fighting against an army with superior weapon mass. And unlike monsters, players could wear accessories to protect against status ailments.

“The town’s defenses might be perfect, but that’s not going to help me rampage during the event. If I have to destroy enemy guilds to win, then I’ll have to go on the offensive.”

I tried asking the restaurant owner, who was nervously watching me and the summoner NPCs. “Hey, chef, what do you think?”

He turned out to be no use. “Huh?! Me-Me?! I-I’m just a chef. I wouldn’t know anything about that!”

“Guess so.”

Man, all I did was terrorize his town a little then take over. I wish he’d quit cowering already. Still, I guess a chef wasn’t the right person to ask. He spends all his time making things in the kitchen, so fighting isn’t... Wait, making things?!

“Oh! That’s it! I forgot that I’m a crafter now! I can make my weapons stronger with my own hands!”

A simple yet logical solution had presented itself to me! If the priciest and most exclusive weapons weren’t good enough, I’d just have to make them even stronger myself!

“I’d better start tinkering with my weapons right away! Thanks, chef!”

“Huh?! But didn’t you only just become a craftmaker, Demon Lord Yuri?! I’d urge you to be cautious. I’ve heard weapons can explode if an amateur crafter slips up.”

“D-D-D-Did you just say they explode?!” Why’d nobody tell me until now?! That sounds awesome! Since I was launching my weapons rather than wielding them, explosions would be just perfect. They’ll be like actual missiles! That’ll be so cool!

I thanked the chef—or should I say, the wise man. “Thanks, wise man. You’ve shown me the way forward! I’ll just make missiles and blow everyone up!”

“W-Wise man?! And how’d you get to that crazy idea based on what I just said?!”

“Did you hear that, summoners? Thanks to the wise man here, we’re gonna make the bodies pile up!”

“Wooo! That was some wicked advice!”

“This chef’s a real piece a work!”

“He’s a heartless warmonger if I ever saw one!”

“Haaaah?!” The chef responded to the cheering mohawks with a cry of emotion (happiness, presumably).

I waved them all goodbye then headed straight for Grim’s workshop. She’d be busy getting equipment ready for the NPCs, but hoped I might find an empty corner in where I could set to work on my own weapons.

All right. Let’s give crafting a shot!

⬧⬨⬧

Half an hour or so later, I’d decided that the craftmaker’s workshop in Starting Town was the place to be.

“...and now I’m here to craft some weapons. The name’s Yuri, by the way. Nice to meet you all.”

“Whaaaaaaaat?!” the other crafters cried in chorus.

This was a huge space where we could freely borrow tools, making it popular with fledgling crafters lacking a workshop of their own.

A sign outside read, “This is a space for everyone to share. Experienced crafters are welcome to drop by and give beginners some advice.” Far from giving me advice, however, everyone was keeping their distance and whispering to one another.

“Wh-Wh-Wh-What would bring her, of all people, to this establishment?!”

“I have to assume she’s come to ridicule us... Though she sounds sincere...”

“Behold her beautiful form! She’s surely the real thing!”

“B-But that outfit! How scandalous!”

And so on.

These guys sure do talk loud. They’re talking about me like I’m not here. Maybe they’re just too flustered to keep their voices down? And how come they’re all constantly adjusting their glasses? And these guys kinda talk like Zansword even though they’re not samurai. Did he start a trend or something?

Eventually, one of the craftmakers worked up the courage to talk to me.

“I-I beg your pardon, but are you perhaps the very same Yuri who was victorious in the battle royale?! The legendary combatant banished from the contest for being too destructive?!”

“That’s me. I chose craftmaker as my secondary class and thought I’d learn the basics here.”

“Whaaaat?! B-But why would you choose craftmaker over the options better suited to combat?! And if I’m not mistaken, you have a town of your own! You should have no need of this workshop!”

“It’s kinda a long story...”

A short while ago, I’d been in a corner of the workshop in Helheim, planning to give equipment making a shot with some advice from the crafter NPCs. Grim had been there with dozens of crafter NPCs working alongside her as she churned out gear with tears running down her face.

When I’d asked what was going on, she explained, “Nnngh... I heard the points are going to be shared between guild members at the next event, and everyone’s saying the craftmakers should get less than everyone else! Can you believe that?! I’m going to make sure they all die to my best gear!”

She’d been busy barking orders at her assistant NPCs while rushing from one workbench to another to work on multiple weapons and pieces of armor at once. It looked like she really did intend to finish making equipment for over seven hundred combatant NPCs. Sweat, feverish heat, and a vengeful aura were all emanating profusely from her small body.

Seeing her in that state, I’d been reluctant to interrupt. For a crafter like Grim, her workshop was the battlefield. And so, I’d decided that, as a beginner, I’d better head elsewhere to learn by watching others at work.

Although I wanted to fail and make a weapon that exploded, those failures had to be spectacular, which still required a good grasp of the basics. Besides, I had a few ideas other than explosions that I wanted to try out. Since the Starting Town workshop’s courtyard even had a training dummy, it was a perfect place for testing the power of my weapons.

“Anyhow, I don’t want to bother anyone,” I told the crafters. “Go ahead and do your work like I’m not even here... But maybe I could ask you a question or two when I don’t understand something? It’s, um...my first time...and um...” I added bashfully.

One sage craftmaker responded with unexpected enthusiasm. “Ooh?! B-But of course! I’d be honored! Allow me to ensure your first time is as gentle as possible!”

The other crafters watching us also chimed in.

“No, let me teach her!”

“You’ll love my technique, I promise you!”

“I’ll take the lead and make it all easy for you!”

There was clear passion on all of their faces.

Hey, these craftmakers are all nice guys! I gave them all a smile and told them I was grateful for the help.

⬧⬨⬧

In front of me was a Beginner’s Sword the sage crafter had given me to practice on.

“Huh heh heh. This is the proper way to hold a hammer!”

“Oh, I see.” I gripped the hammer as suggested.

All right. Now that I’ve tried it a few times, I think I’ve finally gotten the hang of it!

Thanks to all the advice the crafters had given me (from real close up), I’d gained a good overall understanding of the smithing system. Put simply, it was a rhythm game.

First, I had to heat the sword and place it on a workstand, then red, green, and yellow pinpoints of light would briefly appear on different sections of the blade. If I struck a light just as it appeared, the weapon’s stats would change depending on the color I hit. Basically, red increased attack power, green increased durability, and yellow increased status affliction rate.

With each smithing attempt, targets would light up on the weapon about fifteen times, but the timing for each hit was ridiculously strict.

Striking a light within 0.1 seconds of it appearing resulted in a perfect hit, whereas taking a full second resulted in a complete miss, which either had no effect or could actually reduce the weapon’s stats. Meanwhile, a hit made between 0.7 and 1 second was a minor failure, which slightly increased the weapon’s stats while imparting a mysterious self-destruct effect.

“It’s a fatal mistake when that happens,” the sage craftmaker warned me with genuine concern. “It only applies to close-range weapons like swords and spears, but there’s nothing worse than a weapon with the self-destruct status. If you suspect you’re about to go over the 0.7 second mark, it’s better to get a complete miss by not striking at all. There’ll be a small chance of it exploding when it hits something, dealing massive damage to the enemy and the wielder at the same time. Explosions can deal three times the weapon’s damage...but the blast radius is several meters, so there’s no easy way to get clear of it. You could try throwing the weapon instead, but any player with enough strength for that would do more damage through ordinary swings.”

“Wow... So, do weapons disappear after exploding?”

The sage craftmaker adjusted his glasses then explained at length. “Not quite. Their durability is reduced to 1, and visually, the weapon is reduced to just its hilt. Then it’s the craftmaker’s time to shine! The Weapon Repair art allows a crafter to restore the durability of any weapon held in their item box! This might seem overly simplistic, but since players can’t hunt without weapons, it’s the game’s unique mechanism to ensure their availability. Repairing armor on the field is much trickier in comparison—you’d have to take a whole workshop with you.” He’d been too nervous to talk to me at first, but once he got talking about his work, the words kept flowing faster and faster.

It just shows how much he likes making things, I suppose.

The other craftmakers were quick to add their thoughts.

“No one realizes how hard armor smiths have it.”

“No, it’s the weapon crafters who carry the most responsibility.”

“You’re forgetting how delicate accessory crafting can be!”

I smiled, bemused at the craftmakers’ enthusiasm. That’s enough practice. I know what I’m doing now. Time to make a total failure!

I stood in front of a furnace, triggering a pop-up alert that read, “Would you like to modify a weapon?”

Once I’d tapped to confirm and selected a weapon from my item box, the process began. My body moved automatically, taking out the weapon and thrusting it into the furnace. Players weren’t supposed to handle any weapons outside of the type they’d chosen during character creation, but because that would make it impossible for crafters to do their jobs, the game had this work-around.

After the blade had been in the fire for a few seconds, my body moved by itself again, removing it and placing it on a workstand. The other crafters went wide-eyed as they looked at the orange glow of the sword. “What?! I-Is that a Massacre Sword Dainsleif?!”

“That’s ultraexpensive gear with top-class damage! Y-Yuri, I’m not sure you should tinker with that! It would be a huge loss if you failed! And you can only modify the same weapon so many times!”

With all the fuss the crafters were making, I couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. Sorry, guys. I was dead set on making failed weapons this whole time. “Everyone, what I’m about to do might come as a shock, but could you all stay back and watch?”

“O-Okay...” Their mouths hung open in surprise at the sight of me with my hammer held high, but they agreed.

Ten seconds after placing the sword on the stand, the work finally began. When I saw the lights appear on the sword, I brought the hammer down just before a full second could pass!

A feedback window showed me the result: “Minor miss: 0.8 seconds! The weapon’s power increased slightly, but it gained the Self-Destruct debuff!”

All right! That’s just what I wanted!

The other crafters all groaned when they saw me apparently fail the very first hit.

“Ahhhhhhhh?! Yuri, your timing was way off!”

Rather than continue to disappoint, I decided I’d start raising the damage stat normally from that point on. But then I had a better idea. What if I keep adding Self-Destruct to it? Things tend to happen in this game when you do something a bunch of times... Doing something over and over was often rewarded with a new skill, and applying effects over and over tended to bring about new results. When Pope Gregorian was burning, for example, applying more fire element attacks to the already searing hot ground had intensified the damage zone.

It’s worth a try... Once I’d had that thought, aiming for perfect hits was out of the question. Every single hit had to be a minor miss!

“Wait for it... Now!”

“Arrrrgh?! Yuri, what are you doing?!”

A few accidental 0.6 second successes aside, I failed over and over. After fifteen attempts and ten minor failures, the weapon’s updated stats appeared before me.

Weapon Modification Complete.

Massacre Sword Dainsleif Double Twin Mk II 2nd (named by Yuri): +40 attack power. Gained special effect: Major Explosion!

Major Explosion: Activates with high probability when the blade makes impact. The weapon will produce an explosion that deals ten times the weapon’s standard damage and will be reduced to 1 durability.

“Th-This is perfect... It’s perfect!” The effect was more than I could have hoped for. And if it had a high chance of triggering, then it was bound to happen every time thanks to my pure luck build.

Dainsleif’s sinister design was now enhanced by mana pouring from it like a dark-red miasma. It looked like it might destroy anything that so much as touched it.

This is awesome! I love it! As the hero of light, I must wield the weapons of darkness to achieve ultimate power! Now let’s get this thing back in my item box.

I might have been pleased with what I’d just made, but the mood had soured among the other crafters. They clearly felt bad for me.

“Um... Yuri, perhaps it wasn’t a good idea for a beginner to start off with an ultrarare weapon...”

“D-Don’t worry about the self-destruct effect! I’m sure you can still sell a weapon like Dainsleif for a good price...maybe...!”

“Even the most talented players sometimes... Uh, forget I said anything!”

Understandably, they all thought I’d completely failed.

Hmmm... I really should keep my exploding weapons a secret, but I owe these guys for helping me out... Everyone had been so kind and ever so willing to share their extensive knowledge. They’d shown me that there was more to the game than fighting in battles, and now it was my turn to teach them something—namely, that despite everyone treating craftmakers as pathetic weaklings, they could be far more powerful than anyone realized.

“You guys need to see this. When people call something weak or worthless, they often just don’t know how to use it. You’ve got to tell yourself, ‘I’m gonna make myself stronger than everyone with this,’ and then with some fighting spirit, hard work, and a little ingenuity, you’ll figure something out.”

I faced the courtyard training dummy visible through a window and then activated Weapon Barricade. Dainsleif emerged from a summoning circle that appeared behind me, a sanguine aura emanating from its tip as it locked on to the dummy.

“Fire!”

The massacre sword shot out, leaving a black afterimage as it plunged into the target. Then came the boooom! as the weapon and dummy were engulfed by an explosion.

“Whoooooa?!” The crafters all cried.

The impact shook the air around us, and then a blast wave hit the workshop, sending many of the tools flying. But through it all, no one blinked. As men so dedicated to the art of creation that they even spent their in-game time as crafters, they were wide-eyed at the power of my invention.

“Well? Powerful, right? The explosion does ten times the ordinary damage of the weapon, then my damage-boosting skills multiply that by another ten. In other words, it does a whopping hundredfold damage. Combine the parts in the right way, and this is what ‘huge failures’ are capable of.”

The crafters all gulped, their eyes fixed on the burning courtyard behind me. The scale of the explosion was so great that flames had consumed the entire area, which was twice the size of a tennis court. It was like a real missile had just struck.

The devs might have put a limit of ten on damage multipliers, but the damage caused by the explosion was simply “ten times the weapon’s standard damage.” In other words, a tenfold multiplier wasn’t being applied to the damage dealt, it was just the base damage value for the explosion itself. Multiplying that by ten gave the result we’d just seen. I’d created an incredible weapon.

I turned to leave while sweeping back a few strands of silver hair that had been blown out of place by the blast wave. “Now that you’ve all helped me learn the basics of crafting, I think it’s time I moved elsewhere. What you do next is up to you. You can let the combatant classes belittle you your whole lives, or you can forge a new path through fighting spirit and determination. The choice is yours.”

On the way out, I put down a few top-quality materials to thank them for all they’d taught me.

As I was walking away, I could hear their roars of enthusiasm fill the air. It sounded like they’d made their decision.

“W-Wow... What a sight that was! It was absolutely nuts! Why don’t we all attempt to make incredible weapons like that ourselves?!”

“Ooh...! With the right combinations and a little ingenuity, we can be just like Yuri! Then we’ll really show those combatant classes! Oh, I know! What if we make exploding armor?!”

As I left in search of a workshop of my own, it was pleasing to hear the hope and the bloodlust in the crafters’ voices behind me.

Chapter 24 — A Fan Event Begins! Yuri, the Demon Lord Idol, Ready to Trade Punches!

With two days still remaining until the start of the All-Out Guild War, I was standing outside the training ground in Starting Town. In this same place I’d often used to practice my skills, players could fight each other without having to leave town.

I tilted my head to stretch my neck, producing a loud crack as I entered the building.

“Whew, yesterday was tough. Modifying over a hundred weapons was no picnic.”

Applying the major explosion effect to every item had been a bigger headache than I’d expected. Inevitably, I’d started missing the hit timing a few times once my concentration had started to wane. Even now, a day later, I was still feeling the effects of mental fatigue. But it had all been worth it.

“Now that I’ve got a hundred exploding weapons, I’m ready to wreak havoc at the event the day after tomorrow.”

I’d also leveled up through doing tons of crafting, so it was a big success all around. Apparently, more experience was awarded the more expensive the weapon being worked on was and the rarer the materials used were.

I generally carried about 130 swords and spears with me, so thirty of them still lacked the explosion effect. I’d decided not to put major explosion on those.

“I’d better keep a few weapons I can launch from close range, just in case. Exploding weapons do a ton of damage, but I wouldn’t wanna get caught in the blast.”

I could take out no-name scrubs with ease, but I had to be ready for some powerful melee fighters like Zansword and Baldy getting up close. Ideally, I’d eliminate everyone with a thorough carpet bombing, but I knew those two would do whatever it took to get to me.

I did still have the option of triggering a close-range explosion and then praying that Relentless would help me survive it, but that was a last resort.

But, before I tried anything like that, I wanted a little more practice fighting other players at close range. I still wasn’t sure exactly how much I could handle without resorting to explosions, but I was ready to find out.

And so...

“It’s nice to see so many of you gathered here!”

I was in a circular colosseum, surrounded by hundreds of players looking at me and cheering. They were all wearing simple equipment without embellishments, but they certainly weren’t lacking the will to fight. I’d rented the place so we could hold our own little event, which I’d titled “Beginners Only! Take On Yuri the Hero in a Tournament!”

The rules were simple. A player could defeat me by landing one hit on me. Conversely, I had to land ten hits on an opponent to defeat them. Oh, and I wasn’t planning on using any weapons or my Weapon Barricade—it was going to be a test of whether I could fight barehanded. And, of course, anyone who defeated me would get a generous reward of 10,000,000 gold!

“Oooooooh! It’s Yuri! The Demon Lord in the flesh! I started playing the game after seeing her in a battle royale video! Naturally, I followed her example and made a pure build!”

“So you’ve finally shown yourself, Demon Lord. I’ve also made a pure build in order to defeat you!”

“Demon Lord! If I win, make me one of your Four Heavenly Kings!”

The beginners were shouting enthusiastically. I was glad they were having fun, but I couldn’t help but notice that no one was calling me “hero.” Grrr! I’ll have to forgive them since it’s really the trash devs’ fault.

These players appeared to have free time on their hands even though the All-Out Guild War was right around the corner. Given that some points were going to be awarded directly to guilds in the next event, it stood to reason most guilds probably didn’t want to pad out their numbers only to have to share their spoils with two- or three-days-old beginner accounts. They probably didn’t want to recruit new members only to tell them they couldn’t have any points either. I figured that, as a result, most players probably weren’t part of a guild at all.

Heh heh. In that case, I’ll let them have some fun and get some good training out of it!

So, after calling out to a few players I’d seen walking around looking like beginners, I’d quickly amassed a large gathering, some of whom knew me and some of whom didn’t. Before I knew it, the number of participants had climbed to nearly a thousand.

I readied my fists and spoke up to the impatient players. “All right. It doesn’t matter who’s first, just come at me! Feel free to work together with your friends! Fight however you feel like!”

“Ooooooooh!” The crowd of beginners roared in response.

And so, I enjoyed a heated battle on the eve of the All-Out Guild War.

[How Are We Handling] Crafter’s General Thread 59 [The Guild War?]

1. Impatient Adventurer

This is a general discussion thread for crafters.

Let’s use this thread to share any new information or techniques we’ve discovered. Rants are, of course, allowed.

A new thread will be created automatically when this thread reaches the reply limit.

Previous thread: http://**********

107. Impatient Adventurer

My guild’s going to split event points 80/20 between combatants and crafters. I saw this coming, but it kinda sucks...

108. Impatient Adventurer

>> 107

Damn, that’s rough. Though my place isn’t much better. It’s 70/30 here.

I don’t get what it is about close-quarters combat that makes players so full of themselves.

I chose craftmaker because I like making things, but if I’d known how much crap I’d have to put up with, I would’ve chosen a combatant class.

109. Impatient Adventurer

>> 108

We don’t get any combat arts as craftmakers... We could join the others on the field, but then we’d only be valued for our Weapon Repair art like we’re human whetstones.

That means standing around like an idiot waiting for someone to give you a weapon that needs modifying or that got low on durability. Meanwhile everyone around you’s pulling off cool moves in battle. I think I’ll pass...

Oh and since we get extra item box space with the Carrying ability, you can also expect to carry all the healing potions like you’re a walking vending machine.

130. Impatient Adventurer

>> 109

Lol that’s the nail on the head right there. Walking whetstones and vending machines.

The only way to get combat abilities is to upgrade your class to battle crafter. You get to use six different weapons too. Don’t bother though.

It sounds fun to be able to use weapon arts without having to choose swordsman or lancer as a class, but not so fun when you realize the MP cost is five times higher than normal...

That’s why classes specializing in those arts will always have the advantage and it’s generally agreed you’re better off improving your crafting by upgrading to craftmaster instead. Increasing the perfect hit window from 0.1 to 0.3 seconds while working on swords is a huge deal.

151. Impatient Adventurer

>> 130

Truth... Battle crafter just ends up being inferior to every other class. It’s only cool on paper.

Anyway, who cares? I’m just going to take a nap while the event’s going on. I won’t get many points, but at least I won’t have to fight for them.

173. \ BIG ANNOUNCEMENT /

Craftmakers of the message board! Gather in the crafting workshop of Starting Town!

175. Impatient Adventurer

>> 173

Uh, what?!

176. Impatient Adventurer

>> 175

I can only tell you more in the workshop because I don’t want the information to leak!

But anyway... Gentleman! Haven’t you all had enough?!

They told us that crafters can’t fight, and everyone assumed it was true. We’ve been forced to watch bitterly as others have all the glory. But does it have to be that way?!

I don’t think so! With a little fighting spirit and determination, we can take the center stage!

179. Impatient Adventurer

>> 176

What are you talking about?! Are you a troll or something?!

180. \ BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! JUST COME TO THE WORKSHOP ALREADY! /

>> 179

I’m no troll!

I’m a disciple of the Demon Lord!

[I Wanna Get In] Beginner’s Discussion Thread 132 [on the Guild Battle!]

1. Impatient Adventurer

This thread is a place for beginners to chat.

Let’s share tips and support each other as we get used to the game. More experienced players are, of course, welcome to give advice. Let’s all help each other.

A new thread will be created automatically when this thread reaches the reply limit.

Previous thread: http://**********

173. Impatient Adventurer

Awwww yeah!

I landed a hit on the Demon Lord!

I’m gonna get some super powerful gear with the 10M gold I won!

175. Impatient Adventurer

>> 173

The Demon Lord?! Ten million?! What are you talking about?!

176. Impatient Adventurer

>> 175

You must have heard of Demon Lord Yuri!

She’s hosting a mini-event in Starting Town’s training ground for us beginners!

If you can land one hit on her, you get a 10M gold prize! Isn’t that crazy?!

Despite being genuinely gorgeous, she knows how to fistfight and she’s up for a brawl. It doesn’t get better than this!

Everyone needs to hurry here!

179. Impatient Adventurer

>> 176

Ooooh! No way am I missing that!

I’ve got nothing else to do since I only started the game two days ago and no guilds want me.

Maybe I won’t be able to attend tomorrow’s event, but at least I’ll get to have some fun with the Demon Lord!

If I can win 10M gold, I’ll be ready for battle in no time!

180. Impatient Experienced Player

>> 176

Yes, that certainly sounds like Yuri!

As one sworn to support beginners however I can, I feel I mustn’t let her outdo me!

Consider this my announcement! Please gather at Françoise’s Fabulous Workshop in Starting Town after you’re done playing with Yuri!

294. Impatient Adventurer

>> 180

Huh?! Is that really you, Françoise?!

I’m forever grateful to you for enhancing my gear at such a low cost, but what do you want from us?

296. Impatient Experienced Player

>> 294

Oh ho ho. Look forward to finding out when you arrive at my store!

But I shall give you a hint... Wouldn’t it be dull to merely sit out and watch the event?

As the first tailor to serve the Demon Lord, I’d also like to do what I can to ensure everyone has a good time!

Chapter 25 — Forces Collide! Korin vs Shiru vs Dark Yuri!

It was only one more day until the All-Out Guild War event. I touched down in Starting Town, where I found everyone was in a hurry to get somewhere. It was like they were all impatient to raise their combat potential however they could.

“All right, I’ve got to get to work too. I guess I’ll start by checking my stats.” Status window open!

Name: Yuri

Level: 51

Class: High Summoner

Weapon: Bow

Attributes: Strength: 0 / Defense: 0 / Magic: 0 / Agility: 0 / Luck: 600 × 3 × 2 + 60 + 900 = 4,560

Skills: Luck Boost, Relentless, Fatal Strike, Up Close and Personal, Genocide Killer, Merciless Death God, Absolute Zero, Hello? Forgetting Something?, Against All Odds (doubles all attributes while HP is 1), God-Killing Fist, Demonic Archery, Demon Lord Shock Wave, Demon Lord Kin, Body of a Demon Lord, Master of Evil, Weapon Barricade (limited skill #1), Demonic Leadership (limited skill #2), Twisted

Class Abilities: Taming, Chimera Creation, Summoning, Forbidden Summoning, Giant Monster Summoning, Production, Carrying, Forwarding

Equipment:

Head: Accursed Death God Princess Hair Tie (created by Françoise and modified by Grim)

Effects: Halves the wearer’s strength, magic, defense, and agility. MP +100, Luck +300.

Body: Accursed Death God Princess Dress (created by Françoise and modified by Grim)

Effects: Halves the wearers’ strength, magic, defense, and agility. MP +100, Luck +300.

Feet: Accursed Death God Princess Boots (created by Françoise and modified by Grim)

Effects: Halves the wearers’ strength, magic, defense, and agility. MP +100, Luck +300. Possessed by Mor.

Weapon: Beginner’s Bow

Requirements: None. Attack power: 1

Accessories: Accursed Princess Ring (limits HP to 1 while worn, but has a very low chance of reducing a skill cooldown time to zero), Dark God’s Covenant Necklace (triples luck when HP is 1), Poison Resistance Ring (has a low chance to nullify poison)

“Yep, it’s a beautiful pure luck build, just like always. I’ve been pouring everything into that one stat this whole time.”

I couldn’t help but smile. Any other player around my level would only have their main stat up to about 800 if they were taking care to scale their attack, agility, and defense at the same time. Meanwhile, my luck was 4,500—it was literally in a different order of magnitude.

“Ha ha. Looks like blindly throwing everything, even the equipment boosts, into one out of five stats got it five times higher than what anyone else has. All right, I think I’ve done all I can. I even got to level 50 and chose a secondary class.”

I’d also hunted monsters until I’d amassed 9,999 of them, and I’d gained a secret attack in the form of exploding weapons. Everything was looking perfect.

“It’s not so easy to level up these days. I could spend today rushing around, but I don’t think I’d get much out of it. Heading to bed early and getting well rested for tomorrow might be the best plan.”

A good night’s rest would be especially important when I was facing off against tens of thousands of players the next day. After doing nothing but working on my preparations this whole time, I was due for a break. It would all be for nothing if my exhaustion caught up with me during the event.

“But is that really the best option...?”

As I was thinking over it, I heard a familiar voice among the crowd. “Wh-What are you doing in a place like this?!”

I looked over and saw the little ninja catgirl in a Japanese outfit whom I’d once fried at an event—Korin. But it wasn’t me she’d spoken to. She was pointing her finger at someone else and giving them an earful.

“She’s having an argument? Who with...? Oh, that’s Shiru.”

Korin was face-to-face with none other than the submaster of my guild.

From where I was standing, they looked like two middle-school kids chatting, but I could feel the tension in the air between them. Did those two have a run-in I didn’t know about?

Shiru finally pointed with her thumb to a poster on the wall, then led Korin off somewhere.

“What’s going on with them? They sure don’t look like friends...”

I walked over to where they’d been and took a look at the poster for myself. Let’s see... “What’s this? ‘Open from today! Now you can enjoy our much-loved mini-battle royale events at any time!’ No way!”

I couldn’t believe it. At first, I thought it sounded like a rerun of the battle royale event we’d had a week ago. But when I read the details on the poster, it sounded more like the devs had re-created the event as a sort of mini-game.

Here and there, players in town were talking to NPCs who were accepting sign-ups from anyone who wanted to compete. Once they had a hundred names, everyone who’d registered would be teleported to a special arena.

There were no event points on offer, but unlike a fight here in town, players could be defeated to gain experience, and there were decent items on offer for the winner. Since this was going on twenty-four seven each day, the scale was far smaller than last week’s event.

There was also a new rule: Summoning giant monsters and boss monsters wasn’t allowed. I couldn’t help but think they’d added that one specifically for me. That aside, I liked the sound of it.

For once I had some praise for the devs. “I see... Now there’s an outlet for anyone eager to kill players. It’s a good mini-game idea.”

Hunting monsters was fun, but fighting against players was intense in a whole different way. It was nice to know that any time I felt like it, I could sign up and fight to the death with all kinds of players with a clean conscience.

Well, now that I’ve learned about a fun mini-game... “I’ve got to try it! I can get some practice hunting players to get ready for tomorrow’s event!”

Obviously, I couldn’t use my exploding weapons if I wanted to keep them secret, but it would still be a good way to train. I still didn’t have a whole lot of experience fighting other players. And besides...

“Heh heh heh... Wouldn’t it be funny if I killed Shiru and Korin again?”

Given how I’d totally crushed them both before, I was sure they’d come at me hungry for vengeance. And so, I eagerly went and signed myself up.

⬧⬨⬧

“Heh heh heh heh! I’m almost there!”

With just one day to go until the event, the catgirl in traditional Japanese clothing, Korin, was in Starting Town with a mischievous smile on her face. She was walking through the crowd with her status window open, and the text before her read, “Level: 49.”

“That’s a whole fifteen levels above the average player!” Korin said to herself as bags formed beneath her eyes. “Just a little more experience, and I’ll get to level 50. With a little luck, I should have my secondary class just in time for the event!”

So far, very few people had reached level 50 in Blade Skill Online. The only players above Korin were a handful of no-lifers like Zansword and a few weirdos who’d found ridiculous tricks for gaining experience like Yuri.

After her defeat a week ago, Korin had been toiling through sleepless nights. She didn’t have the game sense to come up with crazy tactics the way the Demon Lord did, so for her to keep up with the top players, she had to spend all of her time in the most efficient hunting areas. She’d been working so hard at it that she’d fallen asleep during school and been chewed out by her straitlaced class rep.

“Ugh, I never know how to deal with people like her. She’s good at sports, she’s got good grades... She’s nothing like me!” Korin shook her head to erase any thoughts of people she’d rather forget. I’m gaming right now. I have to keep real-life stuff out of my mind.

She went back to being focused on the game, still vaguely aware that she was neglecting everything else in her life. It was just that her defeat at the previous event had been so humiliating that she had to do something about it.

“Haah... I can’t believe a beta tester like me got wrecked by a newbie like Yuri. And even after they kicked her out, I didn’t do any better. I can’t let that be the end of it!”

Korin clenched her fists. Her eyes were burning with passion and ambition. I want to stand out too. I want to be a top player and get the same kind of attention that Yuri, Zansword, and Baldy get. If I’m honest, I want people bowing at my feet! That was the dream that drove her.

“I’ve had enough of being boring in my real life. When I’m in the game, I want to be one-of-a-kind and unbeatable!”

As Korin was muttering these things to herself, she was thinking about what to do for the day. She wished she could earn more experience and get some practice fighting other players at the same time. “Hmm... Challenging random strangers to a fight just doesn’t feel right...”

She was so absorbed in her thoughts as she walked that she accidentally bumped into another player standing at the roadside. The exhaustion from pulling all-nighters was taking its toll. “Oh! I’m sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going!”

“Hmph. Be more careful. Oh, I know you...”

“Huh? Ahhhhh?!” Korin made a noise very close to a scream. She began to tremble in fear the moment she saw the player’s face.

The person she’d bumped into was none other than the PKer who’d tried to kill her a week ago—Shiru. Korin still remembered the malice and murderous intent she’d felt from her.

“Wh-What are you doing in a place like this?!” Korin couldn’t help but shout.

Shiru simply said “Hmm?” and studied Korin’s face. “Do you have a problem with me walking through town?”

“N-No, I just...!”

“Then get out of my face. By the way, I’ve quit player killing, so you needn’t look so terrified.”

“Huh?!” Korin cried in surprise.

How could someone who gets so much pleasure out of hurting people quit player killing? She didn’t believe what Shiru was telling her.

“Is that...a joke? I didn’t think it was possible for someone weird enough to get a kick out of chasing players around to go back to being normal just like that... I mean, it has to be a personality thing...”

“Excuse me?! Y-You’ve got some nerve speaking to me like that!”

“Huh?! No, I, uh?!” Korin clamped her hands over her mouth, but it was too late. She’d been so shocked she’d let her true thoughts slip out. “I’m r-r-r-r-really sorry!”

Now she was in trouble. Shiru was bound to be mad. Korin’s cat ears and tail were standing on end, and she was getting ready to run away. But before she could...

“Haah... Okay, fine. I’ll accept that I’ve been rather mean.” To Korin’s surprise, Shiru wasn’t screaming in rage. Instead, she was bashfully scratching her cheek and sounding genuinely remorseful.

Korin couldn’t help but put her hand to Shiru’s forehead. “This can’t be right. Someone as weird as you shouldn’t be saying sensible things like that! Have you got a fever?! Or maybe you’re not the real Shiru!”

“You’re the rudest girl I’ve ever known!” This time, Shiru really was angry.

“Whaaa?!” Korin yelped as she leaped back.

“Gah... I’ve met people like you in real life—idiots who upset everyone because they don’t think before opening their mouth. You don’t understand how much pressure I’m under from my parents and everyone else to be a good little girl.”

“Huh? You’re a good girl in real life?”

“Pretty much. I’m a class representative, believe it or not. But who cares about real life! You’re coming with me so I can kill you!”

“Whaa?!” Didn’t she just say that she quit PKing?! Korin had lost count of how many times she’d screamed.

Shiru shook her head and pointed with her thumb to a poster on a wall.

“Wh-What’s that? Uh... Oh, they’re hosting a mini battle royale?!”

“Right. You don’t think I can spend all my time on small-brained cats like you right before the big event, do you? So enter this with me. I need to practice fighting against other players anyway, so let’s try to kill each other in the official place for it.”

“I get it...” That might be a good idea, Korin thought. She’d been wondering whether she could get experience by fighting other players. If she could defeat enough, she’d get considerable experience points. This whole idea was perfect. And above all else...

“Sounds good to me. Let’s do it. I’m done trembling at the sight of you. I’m going to crush you and put my trauma behind me.”

“Huh? Weren’t you quaking just a moment ago? Well, anyway, let’s go. I’m going to beat you to a pulp!”

“Right back at you!”

As the pair walked through the crowd, they looked like two small, innocent girls, but people could sense their desire to fight and kill well enough to clear a path for them.

Little did they know, a strange individual was following after them, eager to know where they were going...

“What’s this? ‘Open from today! Now you can enjoy our much-loved mini-battle royale events at any time!’ No way!”

They had no idea that a fearsome demon lord was about to follow them onto the same battlefield.

Chapter 26 — Women Don’t Give Up, Korin!

“More prey spotted!”

Korin was running through lush, dense forest with her tanto dagger in hand. Her class was stealth blade—a derivative of the fighter class focused on speed. It suited her small body well, as targets rarely noticed her approach.

“Art activate! Whirlwind Strike!”

“Ngh! Gaaaah?!” The player’s head was lopped from their body.

Korin had scored a perfect critical hit with a surprise strike from behind, wiping out her opponent’s HP in an instant. The moment it happened, a huge message window appeared above the combat area.

A player was defeated: Hiragi!

Players remaining: 69!

“Whew... That’s five players killed.” Korin checked no one else was around, then she rested for a moment to catch her breath.

A few seconds after registering with an NPC, she’d been transported into this forest. The hundredth player must have entered the battle royale at roughly the same time via another of the numerous NPCs taking registrations in town. The exact places they were sent to were seemingly random, so despite Shiru registering with the same NPC, her fight hadn’t begun anywhere near Korin.

“Evil women like her don’t die easily. I just know she’s alive,” Korin smiled to herself. “Though it would be funny if she got herself killed before I got a chance to fight her.”

About a week ago, Shiru had sent her fleeing, but today, she felt more confident.

“Heh heh. Defeating three players was enough to get me to level 50! Now I can get my secondary class!”

She opened up a status window and saw the words “Choose your secondary class” written clearly. But the sight only made her groan.

“Uhh... What am I going to go with? I can’t change my mind once I’ve picked, so I should do my upgrade somewhere safe where I can give it proper thought.”

This was a battlefield. She’d feel awfully silly if she got hit with a surprise attack while fiddling with her build here. But even so, Korin felt that the power of a secondary class might be just what she needed to get one over on Shiru.

After mulling it over for a while, she made up her mind. “There’s no one around...and I’ve already narrowed it down to a few choices! I may as well pick something right now!” Temptation had gotten the better of her.

She tapped the button to select a secondary class and began scrolling through the list of options that appeared.

“Hmmm. Maybe I should play it safe and go with enchanter to get some elemental effects on my weapons? Though I could choose grappler for some extra strength and a few arts I can use barehanded... Oh, but I could really use those fascination arts that come with the jester class! I’d be like a real ninja if I could conjure up illusions!”

Korin’s eyes were sparkling and a goofy smile had formed on her face as she imagined how strong she was about to become. Despite being in the middle of a battle, she just couldn’t help herself. For her, the most fun part of any game was making decisions about her build that would determine her play style from that point on. It was a tense moment because she couldn’t afford to choose the wrong class, but at the same time, she was so eager that her heart was racing.

“Hmm. This looks good too. Oh, and this!”

She was still lost in her own world and scrolling through options with one finger when a shadow loomed over her.

“There you are, you sassy brat!” Shiru had crept up on her while she’d been distracted, and now she was attacking!

“Huh? Ahhhhhhhh?!”

Korin quickly rolled clear. Thanks to her focus on the agility stat, she was just barely able to avoid Shiru’s sword swing. But in the process, her finger had accidentally tapped something in the status window. The result...

Congratulations, Korin! You have chosen mage as your secondary class!

Your class can no longer be modified!

“Ah... Arrrgggh?!” Korin screamed the moment she saw the system message that appeared in front of her!

Shiru was a little freaked out by Korin’s erratic behavior. “Wh-What’s wrong with you? One moment you’re sitting there grinning to yourself, now you’re acting like the world’s ending.”

“W-Well how do you expect me to react?! I was trying to choose my secondary class! And now I’ve gone and picked mage!”

Korin was already crying. She knew it was her own fault for trying to adjust her build in the middle of a battlefield, but after a blunder this bad, she couldn’t keep it together.

The mage class had a major problem: It was completely useless for anyone who hadn’t put any points into their magic stat.

“Oh, I see what you’ve done,” Shiru said as she grasped the situation. “Mage is a basic class that only gives you offensive magic arts, and the damage you deal depends on your magic stat, doesn’t it?”

“Exactly! A mage can’t apply elemental effects like the enchanter class! You have to put some points into magic before you can do anything useful! But a build like mine obviously has zero magic!”

Her elation from a moment ago had turned into utter despair. Her primary class, stealth blade, was a derivative of the fighter class. Since the only means of dealing damage it gave her was swinging her tanto around, Korin hadn’t bothered to invest in her magic stat even once. She was the creator of a new meme build: the mage with zero magic.

“Waaaaaaah! It’s all over!” Korin sat on the ground crying, her sobs echoing through the dense, dark forest around her.

But Shiru was having none of it. “Get over it already!” she yelled before kicking Korin as hard as she could.

“Ahhh?!” Korin screamed as she flew several meters through the air and slammed into a thick tree trunk that knocked the wind out of her. “Guhuh?!”

Shiru approached while scratching at her head. “You should know better than to sit there whining in front of an enemy!” There wasn’t a hint of sympathy in her eyes. Instead, there was intense rage and a lust for blood.

“Eek?!” Korin instinctively cast a spell to drive Shiru back. “W-Wind Shot!” With her palm extended toward her approaching opponent, she fired a bullet of air.

The spell scored a direct hit on Shiru...accomplishing nothing except for messing up her hair a little.

“Ah. No way!”

It looked like Shiru hadn’t lost a single point of HP. The only effect the spell had had was making Korin feel the weight of her mistake all the more keenly.

Shiru threw her disheveled hair over her shoulder as she finally reached Korin. “This is so pathetic that I’m not even enjoying myself...”

Her red greatsword sparkled with bewitching light. Not only did greatswords deal some of the highest damage of any weapon in the game, Shiru’s was a top-tier weapon only obtainable from the previous event. For Korin, with her focus on agility, a single hit would almost certainly prove fatal...but even knowing as much, there was little Korin could do to defend herself. She remained sitting on the ground with tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Ha... Ha ha... If you’re going to kill me, then please get it over with!”

Korin had lost the will to fight. Her mistake was so severe she’d have to delete her character. Mentally, she was utterly broken.

Shiru was about to bring her sword down while Korin was defenseless, but then she hesitated. “Let me ask you one question before I kill you. What would’ve happened to our Demon Lord if she’d given up after getting her character creation wrong?”

“Huh?!” The Demon Lord?

The instant Korin heard those words, her drooping ears sprang back up as the memories came back to her. The Demon Lord was the player who’d chosen abysmal stats, a garbage class, and a useless weapon.

“Oh... You joined her guild right after she hijacked your channel, didn’t you?” Korin asked.

“I’d rather forget about having my channel hijacked!” Shiru yelled while stomping her foot. “Sometimes when I’m walking through town, people point at me and say, ‘Look, it’s Shiru! The girl who got her channel stolen!’ It makes me so mad!”

The Demon Lord had turned the tables on Shiru and her gang of player killers, taken over Shiru’s channel, then declared war against the game’s devs. The whole incident was legendary online. When Shiru groaned with embarrassment at the memory, it was an unexpected reaction that dulled Korin’s fear a little.

“Ah ha ha...” Korin laughed. “Now I remember. She fell for some lies online and made a totally useless character, but then she made herself a top player by brute force all the same.”

“Exactly. You wouldn’t believe how imaginative my boss can be. Just recently, she was telling me how she let herself be eaten by a giant monster so she could kill it from inside its stomach... Now that I know there are people like her who’ll never let anyone tell them what they can’t do, the whole PKer thing just feels old and cliché.”

Korin smiled knowingly. The fun of player killing was in the feeling of breaking a taboo. It was in the thrill of stepping off the intended path to act as one pleased. So, when Shiru learned that another player had found a better way to rebel violently against the developers’ intentions, her own attempts to make weaker players cry had felt like pointless bullying by comparison—Yuri was the true evildoer, someone who’d gone as far as to squeeze money out of the game’s creators, while Shiru’s antics had only amounted to petty thuggery.

“Watching her is always so thrilling that I decided I may as well follow her. What about you, whiny brat?” Shiru asked with a sneer. “Are you going to quietly give up when you know that there’s a Demon Lord who’s proven you can become the strongest even with the worst combinations?”

For a moment, Korin was lost for words. I’m not like her. I don’t have her imagination or her drive. Weak responses like those were all that came to her. But then, something else welled up inside her. If that’s my answer, then I really will be hopeless. The Demon Lord... Yuri wouldn’t say that. She’d probably say something like...“No way am I ever giving up!”

“Heh... Heh heh... Honestly, I wish I could be like Yuri...”

I wish I could just do whatever I please, just like she does. For someone as plain and ordinary as Korin, it was a long-held dream. She could never do it in real life. Ignoring the rules wouldn’t suit her personality. But in the game... If I’m going to get away with it anywhere, it’s here in this world! All right, I’ve decided!

“I’m never giving up!” Korin yelled as she leaped to her feet, giving Shiru a headbutt to the jaw from below.

Shiru was stunned for a moment. “Ngh?! Y-You little!” She swung her greatsword, but it was too late.

Korin quickly jumped up and landed on a tree branch. “Thank you. You’ve helped me get my fighting spirit back!”

“Huh?! I-I wasn’t trying to encourage you or anything! Don’t get the wrong idea!”

Korin smiled at her enraged rival. She knew Shiru wouldn’t deliberately cheer someone up, but her recovery was thanks to Shiru all the same. As for her gratitude, it of course could only be expressed with a blade.

Korin wiped away her tears then pointed the tip of her tanto at Shiru. “You’d better prepare yourself, Shiru!”

“Come at me, Korin!”

It was the start of an intense battle between the two girls.

“Haaaaaaaaaah!” Korin dove at Shiru from the branch, using her heightened agility to shoot out like a bullet...but it wasn’t working on Shiru. Korin might have been almost 10 levels higher, but Shiru had far more experience fighting against other players thanks to her time as a PKer. She saw the incoming attack and swung her greatsword to deflect it!

“You’ll have to do better than that!”

“Gah! I’m not done!”

Her attack might have been blocked effortlessly, but Korin wouldn’t be deterred. She twisted her body midair, landed on her feet, then sprung into another attack.

This one too was easily deflected, but Korin kept trying, again and again. “Yah! Haah!”

Sparks flew as steel met steel. Korin flew at Shiru from every angle, only to find herself thrown back each time.

But even when she was knocked to the ground, Korin’s eyes continued to burn with fighting spirit. “I’m...not...done!”

As the pair collided over and over, Korin’s thoughts were racing. It’s like she’s barely even fighting. Shiru must be far and away more skilled than I am! At the back of her mind was a term she hated: Natural ability.

Things would be different if they were just pressing buttons on controllers, but in a VR game, it was crucial that players knew how to move their body. It could result in a hardcore gamer who felt useless in real life starting up BSO only to have that same feeling carry over into the game.

Korin felt she was one of those useless people. Whether in the game or in real life, there was always a gulf between her and competent people like her class rep.

Maybe it’s time I gave up...? But can I really surrender? I made a big deal about fighting her right before I made that stupid mistake. Am I going to top it all off with a failed attempt at a comeback...? Forget that! I might be useless, but I’m not letting myself get humiliated that badly!

“I won’t be the sort of woman who gives up easily! I’m going to defeat you no matter what!” Korin cried as she tried charging at Shiru a dozen more times.

By this point, she’d attacked Shiru from every possible angle, with Shiru successfully blocking every single time. It was easy to see why she was one of the Demon Lord’s underlings. Someone with Yuri’s high standards wouldn’t just accept any weakling into his guild.

That was exactly why Korin decided to chance it all on a last-ditch attempt from head-on. With an underhand grip on her tanto, she charged straight at her nemesis. “Haaaaah!”

“Ugh. If your plan was to irritate me, it’s working. Now die already!”

For a second, Shiru’s greatsword glimmered with an ominous red glow. It was a sign that she was activating a slash art. That greatsword was powerful enough already, so there was no way Korin could withstand it while an art enhanced its attack power. There was even a chance she’d be sliced clean in two along with her tanto because of her meager defense.

But Korin didn’t even slow down. In fact, she did the opposite. With her body low to reduce air resistance, she rushed closer to get within attack range.

“Wh-What are you trying to do?!”

“You’re about to find out!”

The two were finally within two meters of each other. Shiru swung her greatsword with all her might and with perfect timing, like a batter about to knock a ball out of the park. “Die already! Art activate! Giga Slash!”

But just as the tip of her greatsword was about to hit Korin’s cheek...

“Now’s my chance! Art activate! Wind Shot!” Her spell unleashed a blast of wind from her palm, but her hand was aimed away from her opponent! It caused her to accelerate rapidly, allowing her to slip past the swing of the greatsword!

“How did you—?!” Shiru cried in shock. She’d never imagined Korin might use her spell like a rocket thruster.

All the energy of a slash was carried in the end of the blade. Once Korin got too close, Shiru was powerless against her.

An instant later, Korin’s eyes passed by Shiru’s, just inches away.

“It’s over for you! Art activate! Whirlwind Strike!” Korin’s weapon moved at the speed of sound, cutting deep into Shiru’s throat.

Chapter 27 — Women Don’t Give Up, Shiru and Korin!

A fierce battle between two girls had just played out in the forest, and the winner, it seemed, was Korin.

Her magic would have been worthless if she’d used it as intended, but the realization that it worked as a booster had helped her score an impressive victory. Or so she thought...

“That was close. I honestly thought I was dead just then.”

“Ah! Wha wha wha wha?!” Korin screamed.

As cool as it had sounded when Korin had said, “It’s over for you!” Shiru had actually survived. And that wasn’t all; the tanto in Korin’s hand had shattered. If anything, it was amazing it had held out through so many collisions with her opponent’s greatsword.

“Arrrrrrgh! Just when I thought I’d won!” Korin collapsed in tears once more. She’d been so busy thinking of ways to make use of her magic that she’d totally forgotten about her weapon’s durability. As usual, she cursed herself for being so useless.

But to Korin’s surprise, Shiru extended a hand to her.

“Huh?”

“Hmph... It might have ended with you looking stupid, but for a second there, you had the better of me. Using offensive magic to aid your movement is the sort of idea the Demon Lord would come up with.”

Shiru covered her slashed throat with her other hand. The wound Korin had left there was far from shallow. She’d survived because Korin’s weapon had broken on impact, but if the blade had had just a little more durability, Shiru would’ve been beaten.

“Come on, Korin. Get up. Aren’t you going to pull out your backup weapon and try again?”

Korin accepted Shiru’s hand and got to her feet. “All right! This time I’m going to beat you for real, Shiru!” The fear she’d felt toward her was completely gone now. All she cared about was getting back to the fight to the death with her rival. “Heh heh. I wonder if this is the same feeling Yuri gets when he’s with Baldy,” Korin mused.

“No, the feelings those two have for each other definitely carry a shade of romance. I suspect they’re dating IRL.”

The two girls were chatting casually as they readied themselves to resume fighting. Then, just as they were about to cross weapons once more...

“Art activate! Fireball!”

“Art activate! Slashwave Cleaver!”

“Art activate! Burst Shot!”

Magic, air blades, and countless arrows came flying at the pair!

“Ngh?!”

Both girls reacted in an instant, putting their backs together and using their tanto and greatsword to fend off the attacks. But it was too much to handle after being caught off guard. Several of the attacks grazed their bodies.

“Wh-What’s going on?!”

“Don’t act so surprised, Korin. Remember, we’re in the middle of a battle royale.”

They looked about them and saw ten or so figures emerge from the undergrowth around them. The figures were all slowly approaching with weapons in their hands.

“Heh heh. You girls must be real tough if you survived that!”

“Yeah, we’d better band together to take them down.”

“Don’t hold it against us, ladies!”

The players continued to edge closer.

As shady as the situation felt, teaming up to take out stronger opponents was a staple of battle royale. Korin and Shiru both understood it, but that didn’t stop them from each clicking their tongues in annoyance.

“Couldn’t you leave us to it?! We were just getting to the good part!”

“Exactly! How rude of you to interrupt when two girls are busy killing each other!”

The initial reaction from the players was little more than, “Oh, really?” They didn’t back off. Then someone said, “How about letting us get in on the action?” as they made sure the girls were completely surrounded.

Now that all escape routes were closed off, the players all rushed forward at once!

“Gah! Let’s do this, Korin!”

“All right, Shiru!”

They nodded to each other with their weapons at the ready. Without saying it out loud, they were promising to survive long enough for a final showdown with each other.

But just as the girls readied themselves to fight the approaching group...

“Keep your noses...out of other people’s fights!” a voice roared as countless weapons rained down on the attacking players. “Oraaaa!”

“Arrrrgggh?! Now what’s happening?!”

Next came an array of status effects—each of the falling swords and spears had been enchanted. The players cried out as their bodies were torn apart, burst into flames, electrified, filled with poison, or frozen solid. Then the screams fell silent as they all vanished.

“Eek?! What’s going on?!”

“Urgh, don’t tell me it’s her?!”

Korin and Shiru were saved, but their faces were twisted in disgust. They looked to the source of the flying weapons and confirmed their fears.

“Hey, you two! I was watching from over there and saw you having a real good fight!” The player giving them a friendly wave was none other than the game’s fearsome Demon Lord, Yuri.

“Oh no, not her!” Shiru and Korin both cried as they backed away.

It wasn’t that they hated Yuri, it was just the natural reaction to running into her here. There was no one more frightening to have as an opponent.

“What’s wrong with you two?! I just saved you and you’re reacting like you’ve run into a monster!”

“That’s because we have run into a monster, Yuri!” Korin cried. “Seeing you in town is one thing, but you’re the last person I want to see in a battle royale!”

Though they were glad that Yuri had stopped the other players from interrupting their fight, it wasn’t entirely good news. If Demon Lord Yuri was here, it could only mean she’d signed up to fight to the death with everyone else.

“Relax,” Yuri said with a smile. “I’m an enemy, obviously, but I’m not gonna play dirty like those guys. In fact, I’m gonna make sure nobody can bother you again!”

Yuri clicked her fingers, causing a dark summoning circle to appear above her head. The forest was suddenly bathed in ominous light, then the air turned foul, thick with miasma!

“Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-Wha?!” Korin and Shiru cried as they held each other.

The bewitching Demon Lord ignored their terror and laughed aloud. “Now, my monsters! Rid us of anyone who might get in their way! Arts activate! Boundless Calamity Summon!”

Then came the beginning of the end. A hundred ultra-high-level monsters poured from the summoning circles to flood the forest as the air filled with the sound of dying screams. The terror and confusion of other players could be heard throughout the arena, as could the sounds of monsters mauling and devouring captured prey.

“Ha ha ha ha ha!” the Demon Lord cackled. “Run wild, my monsters! Get your fill of player flesh now and fight with full stomachs in tomorrow’s big event!”

“Grrgaaaaah!”

She’d transformed the arena into hell on earth.

While the Demon Lord and her familiars were reveling in the carnage, Korin and Shiru were looking at the sky, stupefied. A system message was floating above them.

A player was defeated: Loco! A player was defeated: Mulukhiyah! A player was defeated: Tetra! A player was defeated: Naikana! A player was defeated: Minefield! A player was defeated: Hanamuke! A player was defeated: Akito! A player was defeated: Jolan! A player was defeated: Gosaku! A player was defeated: Waon! A player was defeated: Mii! A player was defeated: Nyooro! A player was defeated: Dolphin! A player was defeated: Kei! A player was defeated: Ahiru! A player was defeated: Tofu! A player was defeated: Ruri! A player was defeated: Arctic Fox! A player was defeated: Bonkotsu! A player was defeated: Yuna! A player was defeated: Atsushi! A player was defeated: Tsukimi! A player was defeated: Kanenari! A player was defeated: Imaimai! A player was defeated: Howasuno! A player was defeated: Ho! A player was defeated: Rinne! A player was defeated: Natsuki! A player was defeated: Tuna! A player was defeated: Yatogi! A player was defeated: Cross! A player was defeated: Haruyama! A player was defeated: Asanagi! A player was defeated: Kuen! A player was defeated: Toka! A player was defeated: Haruse! A player was defeated: Gorilla! A player was defeated: Kira! A player was defeated: Seiho! A player was defeated: Hairen! A player was defeated: Scarlet! A player was defeated: Copy Cat! A player was defeated: Konotaro! A player was defeated: Kadath! A player was defeated: Hadan! A player was defeated: Otako! A player was defeated: Aki Ramen! A player was defeated: Youta! A player was defeated: Asaku! A player was defeated: Sawachi! A player was defeated: Izumi! A player was defeated: Aloha Zachoo!

52 players were defeated in total!

Remaining players: 3

“Whaaaaaaaaat?!” The girls both recoiled at the hovering text.

Everyone in the forest had been massacred in under a minute, with the two girls and the Demon Lord in front of them as the only survivors. Despite being a member of the same guild, even Shiru was thinking, She really is a monster.

“That feels much better,” the Demon Lord said with a terrifying grin. “Now go on and have your fight! Whoever wins gets to fight with me!”

Both girls would have paid good money to avoid fighting an opponent known for throwing massive amounts of monsters and weapons at her opponents. Only a handful of battle maniacs—people like Baldy—would enjoy fighting against someone like her.

Korin and Shiru both shared that opinion, but regardless...

“I’m really scared...but I have to face her someday. I got wrecked by her at the previous event.”

“Oh, that makes two of us, Korin. I met a terrible end at her hands.”

Coincidentally, they’d both been slaughtered like weaklings at the same time in the previous battle royale. Although they both looked up to Yuri, they’d both wanted to pay her back ever since.

“Hey, Shiru, how about we team up?”

“Yes, let’s work together this time!”

The two girls smiled as they readied their weapons and pointed them at Yuri.

The Demon Lord was unfazed. There was a look of surprise on her face, but it only lasted a brief moment. “Then come at me,” she said quietly before breaking into a huge grin. “Aww yeah! Now things are heating up! Nothing beats seeing two rivals team up against a common foe! Let’s do this! Me against the both of you!”

The sight before them was truly demonic. A cluster of arrows oozing with black haze appeared around Yuri, then the tips of enchanted swords and spears slowly emerged from countless summoning circles. She wasn’t just a monster, she was a boss monster. Both girls agreed that Yuri’s menacing aura combined with her enviable looks left such a strong impression that she was basically the face of Blade Skill Online.

“Haah... I don’t believe it. This game was a lot more chill in the beta days. Thanks to her, things have gotten crazy lately.”

“My Demon Lord has a lot to answer for, doesn’t she, Korin? I say we beat her senseless and become the face of the game ourselves.”

Korin and Shiru smiled at each other even though they were both in a cold sweat. Their chances of victory might have been slim, but defeat wasn’t even on their minds. With enough fighting spirit and determination, any problem could be overcome—a lesson they’d learned from the monster standing before them.

“Now, are you gonna come at me or what?!”

“You bet we are!” the two girls cried as they rushed at the Demon Lord, much to her delight.

As countless enchanted weapons flew at the two girls, they felt no fear. They were just pleased to experience a thrill that could only be felt in VR as they took aim at Yuri.

So it was that the two girls, together with the Demon Lord, enjoyed the eve of the event to the fullest.