Chapter 338 - Those Who Bear a Color
"Now that introductions are complete, let's get right down to business."
Saying, "I'm sure some of you are pressed for time," Helena, standing beside Alicia, spoke up as soon as the North's number one ranker had taken her seat.
Aside from Sora, she was the only one here without a rank... but as expected of a former ranker, she possessed an air that made it impossible to see her as a mere lady-in-waiting.
Her dignified demeanor made the nickname 'Queen' seem entirely fitting—and yet, she possessed a curious unobtrusiveness, as if she were a mere attendant.
"First—a confirmation for Haru-sama and Sora-sama."
Her sharp, intelligent eyes turned to me, and I naturally sat up straighter.
The sudden use of '-sama' was a bit ticklish, but her choice of words was so persuasive, so fitting for her image, that I accepted it in a second.
"I've heard that it hasn't been long since you both arrived in this virtual world. Before we begin our meeting on the `Colored` Monster extermination, I would like to get a sense of your current understanding of the matter."
Ah, I see... That's very thoughtful of you.
"I've done my homework on whatever information I could find online."
"I have as well, as much as possible..."
I was confident I'd crammed in every bit of knowledge a normal person could obtain through research. And if that was true for me, I had no doubt the studious Sora was fine as well.
After we both replied, Helena nodded once. "Understood."
"In that case, I will forgo a special explanation, but if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to interrupt. I imagine there is a fair amount of information about the `Colored` Monsters that is not publicly known in the real world."
"Oh... Roger that."
"Understood."
With words that piqued our curiosity, Helena concluded her consideration for the newcomers... and shifted her black eyes from us to the room at large.
"Well then—let us begin the meeting concerning the 'White Throne Extermination Battle'."
`Colored` Monsters—the largest-scale content in Arcadia, a raid battle boasting a level of difficulty that the word 'unconquerable' can't even begin to describe.
This raid is fundamentally different from those in other games, built with an extremely peculiar design.
First of all, this raid can only be cleared once per world. In other words, if someone defeats a `Colored` Monster, no other player can even attempt to challenge it again.
What? Is this some kind of super-terrible game design?—This kind of complaint, unheard of for an online game, is put on hold for two reasons.
First, `Colored` Monster raids have no individual rewards. No materials, no items, nothing you can obtain for yourself. Zero.
Well, there are rewards, but they relate to system expansions for Arcadia as a game, and they are things that all players will eventually be able to obtain.
In other words, it's the right to get a sneak peek at a new system.
For example, when the 'Red' monster—[Rieltahelia of the Red Circle]—was defeated, two new systems were implemented: the 'Clan System' and the 'Marriage System.' Of these, the marriage system was officially implemented for everyone six months after the extermination was announced.
Essentially, the heroes who defeated the 'Red' were granted early access to the new system.
Some might be envious, but considering the ridiculous difficulty of the raid and the achievement of implementing a new system, the vast majority of people would likely keep quiet and agree that it's a fair reward.
Second, the developers have explicitly stated that once all `Colored` Monsters have been defeated, a 'Reminiscence Battle' mode will be implemented, allowing players to re-challenge them or try for the first time.
And it's not just a straightforward challenge; true to its name, 'Reminiscence,' it's said that players will be able to ride along with the record of the original extermination party.
Simply put, you can experience an 'if' scenario where you join the heroes of the past—at least, when I learned about that, I thought without a moment's hesitation:
That sounds ridiculously fun.
You could charge in gallantly alongside the titans, or if you're not confident, you could hang back and play the role of a mob in the background... The possibilities are truly endless.
The replicated players won't be mere dolls, either; the developers have promised to use their insane technology to equip them with AI that makes them act 'like themselves.'
If players can experience pseudo-interactions with the top brass without any pressure, the demand will undoubtedly be huge—
As for any mischief one might imagine with empty look-alikes, in the world of Arcadia, where a mysterious public order maintenance mechanism is at work, worrying about such things is pointless.
To be blunt, things like sexual harassment.
Whether it's against a player or an NPC, apparently the harassment block system will predict you're about to do something and restrain you before you can actually do it.
Really, what kind of technology is this? A peaceful world without unnecessary trouble is certainly nice, but it's both a blessing and a little frightening.
In any case... for the reasons above, the fact that the 'right of extermination' for a `Colored` Monster raid is a one-time-only deal is, for now, accepted by the community.
In fact, among the player base, there might be more people who are wishing, 'Someone, anyone, please just beat them all already.'
The general player base hopes for future enjoyment, while the top tier strives for constant self-improvement in pursuit of the glory of the first kill... On the whole, a general consensus has been reached.
—Well, not that it matters, since they were left alone, treated as an impossible game anyway.
At least, that was the case for the two years since the 'Red Circle' was defeated.
"As you know, for `Colored` Monsters, current rankers of the corresponding faction are granted a 'special effectiveness.' Therefore, for this extermination battle against the White Throne—"
"Right. We'll fill as many of the 'slots' as we can from our side."
Despite saying she wouldn't give a special explanation, Helena's way of speaking was incredibly polite and easy to understand, showing her consideration for us.
Feeling grateful, I decided to listen quietly until I had a question.
The first topic on the agenda was the members for the extermination battle—specifically, who would fill the ten 'slots' for rankers.
If we could pour in the full strength of the three factions, excluding the West, things would be much easier... but it seems 'those things' are picky about their challengers.
Furthermore, the check is stricter than in the Four Pillar War, where 'former rankers' aren't counted. Here, both former and current rankers apparently fill up the 'slots'.
What an inflexible system—but perhaps as a mercy of sorts, this restriction is waived for the faction corresponding to each color, like 'White Throne = Istia'.
This means someone like Lotta can participate without taking up a slot. That's honestly a huge relief.
"That said... we'll only have six people, a little over half, I guess."
"Yup. We'll be staying behind."
Following Goldow, who was stroking his chin with a grim look, Mi-na, who was sticking to Sora with her partner, raised her hand and naturally offered to 'decline'.
Why?
"Eh?"
Sora, who was right beside her, let out a questioning sound before I could voice my own confusion. Taking it as a question, Ri-na, next to her, spoke up.
"Mi-na and I basically can't use our powers while moving. The 'Boundary'—the one that controls space and spams forced teleports—is a fatal counter to us."
"Even if we set up our canvas... our territory, we just get teleported away and have to start all over! It's like that the entire time. We're completely and utterly useless. We really can't do a thing."
"Wow..."
"No way..."
Forced teleportation, huh... So 'that thing' really uses it in combat.
"What about the 'White Throne's' abilities? You don't know yet?"
"Ah, my apologies. I don't have the details on that yet. I just went over the basics of `Colored` Monster extermination battles."
It wasn't that I'd been slacking; there was just too much vague information, and I didn't know what to believe.
When I answered Helena's question honestly, she shook her head and said, "That's not a problem," before pushing up her monocle with a fingertip.
"To be honest, we too only have a superficial understanding of the White Throne's abilities. When it comes to the details of the strategy, everyone, not just you, Haru-sama, is largely in the dark."
Her reply clicked with one of the pieces of knowledge I'd gathered in my ignorance. I see. If she says so, then it must be that—
"If even the veteran players say they're ignorant after three years have passed since its discovery... that means that ridiculous piece of information is actually true, right?"
Ignorant, meaning they haven't been able to gather information.
They haven't been able to gather information, which means they haven't been able to conduct countless attempts—trial and error—to obtain it.
"That is correct. The more you challenge them, the stronger they become."
Why, you ask? The reason is simple...
"`Colored` Monsters learn from us, the players, and carry over their memories to the next battle."
For this, I could do nothing but throw my hands up and call it a 'terrible game'—
Because it contained a massive, game-breaking bug-like feature unheard of in any game.