kscans

Chapter 900 - Ready to

And so, our Team B, comprised of relatively calm, cool, and collected members, was spared the fate of a 'third party.'

Setting aside the Saintess, who was a free spirit in her own unique way, I was, frankly, the most 'restless character' of the group—a rare situation indeed.

In my daily life surrounded by rankers, all of whom have strong, distinctive personalities, this was a truly precious experience... Not that I'm trying to act like a normal, sensible person all of a sudden. It's just that my tendency to get hyped up during combat is a rather weak personality trait in this heavenly realm of players.

Besides, anyone who mainly plays the game for combat is more or less the same. The game's system, which boosts performance based on excitement and tension, also plays a part, but—

In any case, after our discussion wrapped up, everyone behaved like model students.

There was no talk of, How about we clear a floor to celebrate? like a bunch of reckless college students. We all agreed to rest up and prepare for our start tomorrow.

—And so, tomorrow. Or rather, today.

I woke up, and then I woke up again.

After a smooth dismissal and an immediate bedtime, I got a perfectly healthy eight hours of sleep. I was woken up by my alarm, had breakfast, finished my various preparations, and then drifted off into a guilt-free second slumber.

Wake up in reality, sleep, and then wake up again in the virtual world. It's a strange cycle, but the mysterious function of the dream ark that is my gaming console keeps my real body in good shape, so it's not a problem.

And so...

"Hup!"

My condition was flawless. After spinning a few more times than average, I stuck the landing in my room. The routine check registered a solid 'excellent'—and then,

"Alright, let's go."

Knock, knock. A knock on the door, right on time.

It occurs to me now that I'm always the one being visited in my room. I reached for the doorknob to say 'good morning' to my partner waiting on the other side.

◇◆◇◆◇

"—Alright, let's do our best starting today! Raaah!"

"...Haru, did you actually get enough sleep?"

On the fiftieth floor of the Key Tree Maze, in the great hall where the boss had been defeated.

We all gathered at the appointed time. Since our team wasn't particularly rowdy, I tried to start us off with a relaxed cheer, only to be met with an immediate jab.

When it's just the two of us, she's still mostly gentle and soft, but when others are around and we have a serious objective, Sora is always Sora-san.

""We look forward to working with you.""

"Fufu... This is so exciting."

And so, while my partner gave me a suspicious look, the reactions from the others were calm and positive. That included Gen-san, who, after much deliberation with his arms crossed, probably missed his chance to say anything and settled for a nod.

I'll set aside the Saintess, who declared she was 'so excited' while looking only at me.

Anyway, all joking aside for now—

"Is everyone done with all the post-boss stuff? All good?"

I checked on the most important matter at hand.

After defeating the fiftieth-floor boss, [Primvare, the Earth-Eroding Mermaid], we were to halt our progress at the final area, which serves as a save point.

This was the plan we had all agreed on beforehand, which is why we were able to meet up without any issues.

Naturally, the portal to either 'proceed' or 'return' was still active, so if we all jumped into the former, our raid would begin... but as a helpful feature to prevent accidents, the game throws an error and stops the transfer if someone in the party hasn't finished their business, like unlocking skills.

Hence, the quick check.

""We're good.""

"Yes, I've finished."

"...Yeah, I'm good too."

And the replies were all affirmative. Okay, excellent—and of course, I wouldn't be so foolish as to ask for confirmation only to say, 'I'm not ready yet.'

In other words,

──────────────────

◇Status / Restarted◇

Title: Acrobat

Name: Haru | Lv: 51

STR: 60

AGI: 100

DEX:

VIT: 0 (+50)

MID: 300 (+150)

LUC: 50

◇Skill◇

・Naraka Gandharva

《Mistlurade》

《Volcanate》

《Lumina Raygust》

《Exchange Implode》

《Greed's Basket》

・Water Magic Aptitude

《Aqua》

《Flood》

《Current Haken》

《Maelstrom》

《Laevateinn》

《Water Enchant》

・Active

《Reflect Explode》

《Flash Traveler》

《Shadow Leaf》

《Eyes Oculus》

《Altera-Notis》New!

・Passive

《White Dragon's Blessing》

《Assign's Fate》

《Rega-Lielta》

《Attentive Limit》

《Gigant Figure》

《Goma Soten》

《Talaria Record》

《Floating Star》⇒《Starrest Main》Up!

《Trickster of Zenith》

《Fatal Closer》

《Kensei Futo》

《Dias Lunaria》

《Master of Magic》

《Reject Sentence》

《Shadow Clearer》

《Water Spirit's Blessing》

《Four-Sided Blessing》

◇Arts◇

【Kesshiki Ittoryu】

《Flying Water》

《Striking Iron》

《Heavenly Snow》

《Withered Flame》

《Heavy Light》

《Seven Stars》

《Blade Thunder》

Secret Technique: 《Bound Wind》

【Shifu Ittoryu】

《Gale》

《Droplet》

──────────────────

By clearing the fiftieth floor, I had finally recovered all my skills. My avatar, aside from its level and stats, had its functions restored.

With the new skill and the evolved one I acquired right after the event yesterday, I could say I was in perfect condition, if I ignored the fact that my overall power was still lacking compared to my full potential.

My new skills are fairly straightforward, and my physical stats, which were ridiculously weak, have been adjusted to a point where I can at least handle close combat, despite still being heavily skewed toward MID.

At the very least, I should be able to move well enough to not embarrass myself in front of my companions.

—Everyone is ready. All that's left is to take the first step.

Whether it was Helena-san's, Iris's, or Goldow's intention, I was chosen as the leader, so I have to act the part.

And so,

"Alright, let's stick to the formation we discussed. Sora will be the main frontline, I'll be a skirmisher providing support, and the three of you will be providing support from the very back—"

I exchanged a look with my partner and received her acknowledgment.

I turned my gaze to the Northern 'Trio' and received three nods.

And finally.

"Gen-san, you'll be guarding Sayaka-san and the others—I'm counting on you for the rearguard."

"Leave it to me."

I received a reliable response from the martial artist in his karate gi.

It wasn't so much my call as the party leader, but rather the roles we had all decided on last night, so there were no objections.

"Okay. Well then, let's get fired up!"

All six of us stepped into the 'proceed' portal together.

Now then, with hearts full of courage, let's begin our thunderous assault on the Key Tree.