kscans

Chapter 454 - As the Night Wears On

As I leisurely dealt with the sporadic—or rather, wave-based—assaults of the [Stardust Beasts], I noticed a few things.

First, at least in this assault event, they probably weren't aiming for us.

Well, the relatively aggressive wolves would actively attack any player who got close, but the others, the monkeys and boars, would charge towards a certain point unless their path was blocked, which gave me a sense of their objective.

The log house that Nia and the others had built was in the path of the creatures that were ignoring us... and more accurately, their target was likely the central shared building.

The malicious habit of aiming for the non-combatants on the roof came to mind, but the reason to reject this hypothesis was scattered all around me.

Second, the newly dropped [Stardust Relics] from them were acting strangely.

They were glowing. Like, really glowing. If we left them alone for too long, the ground would become littered with stones and could cause accidents, and the charging boars that knocked down trees would crush them, so we were each throwing or kicking them inside the defensive line to secure them... and now, the inside of our circle was sparkling.

The [Stardust Relics], which piled up each time we defeated the attacking [Stardust Beasts], had now formed a small mountain and were serving as a light source far brighter than the bonfires.

And as they became a 'mountain,' I noticed one more thing.

Or rather, it could be called a detailed answer to the first point—the [Stardust Beasts] were not aiming for the building itself, but for the large number of [Stardust Relics] gathered in its storage space. The basis for this deduction was that the creatures' movements changed once the newly dropped relics exceeded a certain amount.

In other words, they had now started charging towards the 'mementos' of their fallen comrades. The reason was unclear... but that seemed to be the case.

Triggered by time, the [Stardust Relics], once gathered in sufficient quantity, would attract the [Stardust Beasts]—that was likely the seed of this 'assault event.'

Oh, and one last thing.

This wasn't so much a point I noticed as it was something I learned personally—

"D'ahh...! So... ti... ring...!!"

"An hour is too long...!"

"Gah! cough, cough... Ugh!"

"Exhausted... so tired..."

"Is this going to happen tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that...?"

"Death..."

And so on.

The stamina of a typical Arcadia player, it seemed, was something like this. The assault had been of a decent intensity, but an hour of continuous combat had apparently taken its toll... enough to make them collapse on the ground, unable to move.

I can't deny that it felt like the scale of the attacking horde grew as their target—and our spoils of war—piled up. It wasn't on the level of that 'red' horde, but the end was quite a lively festival.

That they managed to fight to the end without the defensive line being breached was a testament not so much to their skill as to their sheer willpower. The two ladies were watching, after all. I understand how you feel, gentlemen.

—And now, the time is just past 11:00 PM virtual time.

The [Stardust Relics], which had been shining like stars, were gradually losing their light. It was as if it was heralding the end of the festival...

Or rather, it was likely a signal that it was over.

For a while after we'd weathered the final wave, the rustling of the forest had completely ceased, and there was no sign of it returning. Which meant, with this—

"The first day's event schedule is... probably over? Alright, good work, everyone!"

"""Good work..."""

Thinking in game terms, it was natural to see this as a mission clear.

My stamina, forged through numerous battlefields and training with exceptional players, didn't waver in the slightest after a battle of this duration. I took the lead in calling the end of the battle on behalf of those who were down, and a reply came from the valiant warriors who were now no more than a pile of corpses, unable to move a muscle.

Come on, wake up, gentlemen. Go sleep in your beds.

Though we didn't have such fine things yet, so everyone would be sleeping on the floor.

◇◆◇◆◇

"—Ngh, mmmhhaaaa...!"

"That's a hearty yawn. Really, you should go to bed first."

"I'll sleep here..."

"No you won't. I'm sleeping here."

And so, things went back to how they were.

Perhaps because it was the first day, the assault event ended cleanly. After everyone had gone back to sleep, I was back on watch as originally planned, though I had no intention of a long shift. I planned to go to bed myself when the date changed.

This was a meta-analysis on my part, but considering that everyone was given the sleepiness debuff at the same time, and that the assault ended precisely between 10:00 PM and 11:00 PM virtual time, I suspected that a night watch was unnecessary.

Arcadia sometimes shows its viciously difficult side, but that's usually reserved for high-difficulty content.

In other aspects, this game is thoroughly stress-free. While there are some restrictions, they are all within a reasonable range.

If that's the case, then this sleepiness debuff could also be taken as a message from the system to 'go to sleep.' —Even if this prediction turned out to be wrong, if the actual assault was of that level, we could respond even after being woken up.

If their habits were as I suspected, they would target this shared building first, not the dormitories. If a boar's charge shook the place, I'd wake up in an instant up here on the roof.

—So, it would be a problem if the indigo-haired girl currently occupying my lap fell asleep here.

While it would create the perfect excuse to carry a sleeping lady to her bed, I was hesitant to boldly enter the women's dormitory where Nonomi-chan-san was resting. On the other hand, I couldn't just let things slide and sleep with her in my arms either. That would be too much.

Even now, I was pretty much at my limit.

It had been just over two hours since the debuff had set in. Partly due to the light exercise, my eyelids were steadily growing heavier, and a fog was beginning to cloud my consciousness.

And... surely, probably, it's because of that filter.

"Come on, Nia-chan. Go be a good girl and sleep next to Nonomi-chan-san."

"Nnngh..."

"Don't 'nngh' me. Have some ladylike modesty, Liliania Blueberry."

"Don't use my full name..."

"Then you stop rubbing your face on my lap. The friction is really hot."

Using her drowsiness as a shield, she was being unabashedly affectionate, and it was so adorable that I was at a complete loss—

My throat was perpetually dry, you see.

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This has all been a tutorial.

I recently shared some character designs and other info that will be in the book releasing on June 20th on X (formerly Twitter). You can also see the face of the self-proclaimed maid who has been quietly gaining fans, so if you're interested, please check out the author's X account.