kscans

Chapter 462 - Day Three: Morning

The morning after I did a little solo run through the forest at night and made a few adjustments here and there.

We quickly finished the meeting scheduled for eight in the morning. Having made our final decision on the policy for the remaining two days, our group…

"Huh? No way, that's scary. First off, stop assuming wall-running is a normal thing, okay?"

"No, no, if you can do it, you can do it. It's important to convince yourself, 'This is a game, I'm the player character,' at least when you're doing actions."

…was enjoying some recreation in a laid-back manner.

"Acrobat-san. Got any tips for landing throws like, bam, bam, bam?"

"Instead of aiming and 'shooting' your throw, you'll have a higher hit rate if you throw with the feeling of 'punching them from a distance.' I'm serious. Her Highness the Princess said that 'confidence' and 'belief' genuinely have an effect in Arcadia, so thinking on the premise that you'll hit is important."

Just like that, we were all getting along.

"If it's not too much trouble, could I experience being carried around mid-air? I'll be as quiet as a sack of rice, I promise."

"You got it. Let's start the safe and exhilarating sky-walking experience tour. Thirty seconds per person, now line up—whoa, whoa, whoa, is that everyone? Is this a popular attraction or something?"

We were all getting along in a relaxed manner… not hunting or exploring like yesterday, but holing up at the base and enjoying some recreation together.

Although I've only been in this virtual world for a few months, as a player who has accumulated some rather unconventional skills, the 'Light Warrior Class' I opened was a huge success.

When I started it, I was hit with a landslide of retorts from all the participants asking, "What's so 'light' about you?" but the atmosphere was cheerful and friendly, even with the occasional scream.

However, it seems I might not have a talent for teaching others—at least not in this virtual world.

Not a single person could grasp any of it, from grand techniques to minor tricks, and say, "Ah, right, right, I see what you mean."

"This is less of a class and more of a circus…"

"You said the thing you weren't supposed to say, Nia-chan."

Just as I was about to treat the guys like sacks of rice in my Trance form, my partner came over to smack me, and then hit me with a more devastating retort than anyone else, leaving me crestfallen.

Why…? I think it's easier to understand than the [Sword Saint]'s 'Shukuchi' theory, though.

In any case, the conclusion was—we would do nothing else until the final day.

This was simply because we had unanimously concluded that the explosive increase in the night raid's difficulty was a 'side effect of our survival going too smoothly.'

Our group had quickly stabilized our 'clothing'… or rather, our 'food' and 'shelter,' which allowed us to proactively engage in 'other' activities like hunting and exploration without any worries.

The massive amount of [Stardust Relics] we had accumulated was likely the biggest factor—so much so that a typical player group probably wouldn't have amassed such a 'mountain' of them.

With everyone except the four people permanently stationed at the base spending most of their time hunting, and the fact that we wiped out all the attackers from the first day's fairly lively raid, the result was…

…the total number of relics we held had easily surpassed four digits, and the decoy storehouses were packed to the brim when last night's raid began.

Considering the [Stardust Beasts]'s habit of targeting these relic piles, it's natural to assume that the more [Stardust Relics] we accumulate, the higher the difficulty of the raid event becomes. Therefore—

Hunting is forbidden from this point on. The policy we established was extremely simple.

Additionally, thanks to the partners our members tamed, we've also figured out 'why' the [Stardust Beasts] have a habit of targeting the [Stardust Relics].

To put it simply, those starry beasts gobble up the stones left behind by their own kind.

Whether it's to satisfy their hunger… or if they even perceive it as eating is a mystery, but from a player's perspective, that action is nothing short of 'self-enhancement.'

—Yes, that addictive element someone mentioned. Tamed [Stardust Beasts] have a leveling system, and the feature is unlocked the moment you feed them a [Stardust Relic] for the first time.

You can open a simpler version of the player status screen and distribute the points accumulated from feeding them relics to make your [Stardust Beast] grow stronger.

That sounds super fun. It's the kind of feature that people who enjoy it will get really into, and I bet it'll cause a ton of players to change their entire playstyle.

Also, by feeding the relics to the tamed [Stardust Beasts] and 'digesting' them, there's a possibility we could intentionally lower the difficulty—but we've put that on hold for now.

The plan is to see the scale of the third night's raid and, if necessary, test out some difficulty adjustments. As for getting through today… well, I'm the one who guaranteed 'zero casualties,' so there's that.

If it's about three to four times the scale of last night, I'm confident we can win. Let's get fired up.

"—Aaaand, that's it. Anyone want to go for a second round?"

"I don't think there'll be any takers…"

After guiding a total of thirty-two people on a fun trip through the sky, I took a breath as I dropped their thirty-two corpses onto the ground, only to be hit by another retort from my partner.

Well, yeah, it's obvious just by looking. Although the people I took as rice sacks first are starting to recover, everyone else is still lying on the ground with pale faces.

"Hmm… Nia-chan, want to show them what a seasoned veteran can do?"

"Yes, and if you come any closer, I'm going to get mad."

Even though she's the one who has been clinging to me without a care for onlookers, apparently it's not okay for me to approach her. Not that I didn't know that when I countered.

She took a mysterious step back as if on guard while keeping me in her sights, then promptly turned on her heel and scurried away to the women's building.

Nono-san is probably in the middle of maintenance work in there right now. You should go help her out properly.

"Alright… well then, let's end our break and get back to work."

The recreation was just a bit of fun during a break from the wall construction we men were all working on. Even if we've banned hunting, which risks raising the event's difficulty, there are still mountains of other things we can and should do.

Therefore, even with one course of action restricted, there's no room for idleness or boredom.

—However.

"Alright, alright, stand up! C'mon, foreman, give us some sharp commands!"

"W-wait… just two more minutes…………"

I tried to rally the members who were all down after our little break-time fun, but it seems Mr. Oaks, the last one I had dropped, was still unable to move.

Nope, this was a mistake.

I should have made the foreman the first victim… I mean, tour guest.