Chapter 137 - The Goddess and Sadaharu
"Come on, Goddess-sama. How long are you going to sulk?"
In a pure white space, Sadaharu spoke to the Goddess, who was hugging her knees in a crouch.
"…It's Sadaharu's fault."
"Excuse me?"
"It's because you didn't implement a second form for Flora that I lost to them! It's all your fault that I lost!!"
The Goddess had recently been defeated by the nine members of Shinonome Academy's S-rank class, led by Hayate.
"And besides, I thought only four of them were going to fight, but isn't summoning five more mid-battle cheating?! That was definitely a cheat!!"
"No, it wasn't. In the Grade 6 dungeon where Flora was, it's a valid mechanic for two parties of up to six people each to challenge the boss. The summon scroll Hayate-kun used was not a cheat item either."
"B-But…"
"Flora using Undine's ultimate attack is far more of a cheat, you know."
"About that! Was Undine's ultimate always that weak? I feel like the activation was pretty slow, too. They were dodging it so easily."
"Ah. So that's what happened."
Sadaharu scratched his head awkwardly.
"I could see they had come with some seriously crafted gear, so I added a special feature allowing her to use the ultimate attacks of bosses from other dungeon grades. But I rushed it, so it seems there was a configuration error after all."
"It was like, after using the ultimate, my body wouldn't move the way I wanted it to."
"That's the stun lock. It's a 'window of opportunity' intentionally programmed into dungeon bosses. Actually, when you possessed Undine, Goddess-sama, I reduced that stun lock time to one-tenth of the original. You weren't used to FWO, after all."
"Does that mean… when I used Undine's ultimate this time, that stun lock time wasn't shortened?"
"That would be correct. I had configured Flora's own ultimate attacks properly, though."
"Then it really is your fault, Sadaharu!"
"But being able to use the ultimates of two different bosses already puts her on par with the strongest bosses in FWO history. The fact that they beat her on their first try is something they should be praised for, I think."
"Even if you say that, I'm still frustrated!! I want to beat that four-sword style kid, Hayate-kun!"
the Goddess pleaded, tears welling in her eyes.
Seeing her like this, Sadaharu felt a slight doubt.
"You wanted to see what kind of adventures the people of this world would have in the dungeons you created. Isn't that what you said, Goddess-sama?"
"That's right. For us gods—higher beings—watching humans confront hardship is the ultimate entertainment."
"But for you to become that hardship… isn't that straying from your original purpose?"
"…Huh? Is it?"
Hayate's dungeon clearing speed, spurred on by his mission to rescue Rena, had been far too fast. And he had been far too strong.
Originally, the scenario was that the first person to arrive to rescue the trophy would be defeated by the Goddess-possessed Undine.
The mastermind who made dungeons appear in this world.
The end content waiting beyond the dungeon raids.
That was supposed to be the impression of the Goddess that would be imprinted upon people all over the world.
"Hayate-kun was just too strong, so all my plans went completely off the rails."
In Sadaharu's plan, Hayate hadn't even been a concern. At the time, he was sixteen, and Sadaharu had intended to implement a system where only adults could enter dungeons.
The root of all this was the Goddess's mistake in assuming the age of adulthood in this world was fifteen or older.
"Come to think of it, it looks like that kid is raiding dungeons all by himself now."
"Well, he was always a solo player, to begin with."
The Goddess's expression twisted.
Sadaharu had a bad feeling.
"Sadaharu-san, I have a request!"
"No."
"Such a quick refusal. But are you sure you want to decline? I was thinking of implementing that system you consulted me about before in this world."
"Th-That's—!!"
"In exchange, I'll use up all my power, so the next time will be the last. So please, Sadaharu. Just one last time. I want to beat Hayate-kun."
"…If that's the case. Very well, let's do it."
"Thank you!! Alright, now that that's settled, let's have a strategy meeting! He may be challenging a Grade 8 dungeon solo, but we're talking about that Hayate-kun. We can't underestimate his clear speed."
"Yes. Of course, I understand. I'll make sure it's ready in time."
And so, the Goddess and Sadaharu began to act, united under the goal of defeating Hayate.