kscans

Chapter 332 - Achievement Unlocked and the Test Player

The battle with Shuten Doji entered its fourth day.

With only a week to fight, they were nearing the halfway point, but so far, they had only dealt about thirty percent damage.

There was a sense that they wouldn't be able to defeat him at this rate, but thanks to information from major clans like Bandit, there was a feeling of anticipation that something would happen today.

At the three shrines discovered on Onigashima, stone statues of a dog, a pheasant, and a monkey were enshrined. Based on Hayato's speculation that they would fight alongside them if offered millet dumplings or peaches, it was decided that this would be carried out at each shrine.

Over the Top was in charge of the northern shrine, Imperial at the eastern shrine, and Bandit and Hayato's group at the western shrine. The millet dumplings were five-star ones prepared by Hayato. He handed the millet dumplings and peaches to the clans that had arrived early in the morning, and they each took their positions.

There was no particular reason to do it simultaneously, but they went along with Keith's suggestion that "it would be more fun that way."

Hayato thought it would be bad if nothing happened, but he was quite relieved.

This was because Diite was smiling more brightly than usual. It was a spoiler of a spoiler, a dead giveaway from her expression that something was bound to happen.

The scheduled time arrived.

Jolth said, "Shouldn't you be the one to do this, Hayato?" so he offered the millet dumplings on the plate in front of the dog statue.

Just as he thought nothing was happening, a rumbling sound like an earthquake was heard, and cracks appeared on the dog statue. A dazzling light overflowed from the gaps in the cracks, becoming so bright he couldn't open his eyes.

When the light subsided, a dog with the same appearance as the statue was there. It then ate the millet dumplings on the plate.

The dog looked at Hayato and said, "Delicious, woof," then let out a long howl, "Awooo," and started running. The direction it headed was toward the foot of the mountain where Shuten Doji was.

Although it was somewhat expected, it happened so exactly as predicted that everyone present was dumbfounded.

"Ah! I forgot to tame it!"

Maris, who had come as Hayato's bodyguard, said this.

"I don't think you can tame that dog."

"I might be able to manage if I show it a five-star millet dumpling during the taming process! Please mass-produce them!"

"Eh...?"

While Hayato's group was having this conversation, Jolth spoke to them.

"It seems a similar situation occurred at the northern and eastern shrines. I got messages from both clans."

"That means there might be a change in the battle with Shuten Doji. Let's go check it out right away."

When Hayato said that, everyone nodded and they hurried over.

The three creatures, the dog, the pheasant, and the monkey, had joined the battle against Shuten Doji.

The dog used physical attacks, the monkey used magic attacks, and the pheasant used support magic. What was particularly noteworthy was the pheasant's support magic, which granted a special effect that dealt five times the damage to demons.

The players also received that support and were dealing more damage than usual. Shuten Doji's HP was already below half, and at this rate, it looked like the battle would be decided by noon today.

A short while after Hayato's group arrived, Esha approached him.

"It seems things turned out just as you expected. As expected of O-inu-sama."

"You're not giving me credit? Still, I'm relieved. And with this, Esha's Destroy will also do five times the damage, so we can probably win today."

"What if I hit O-inu-sama? I'll be sealing my Destroy skill."

"...Well, that's fine, I guess. Lunaria-san and the others are here."

Lunaria's Black Swan seemed to have already activated, as an effect that left a black trail in the path of her sword was visible. If her spirits were high, there was no need to worry about her social anxiety.

She was coordinating well with Benitsuru. Or rather, Benitsuru was maneuvering to make it easier for Lunaria to attack. She deflected Shuten Doji's attacks and focused on creating situations where Lunaria could easily attack. She herself was dealing almost no damage, but thanks to her, Lunaria was attacking with gusto.

Gil and his group, who had arrived yesterday, had also joined the battle and were performing their roles as tanks splendidly. They stood firm against the area-of-effect attacks with knockback, never letting the attacks reach the members around them.

It was a sight that made you want to rub your eyes in disbelief, a tank that could even stop area-of-effect attacks, but Hayato and the surrounding players were more impressed than puzzled, thinking that with the Demon Lord's Army, anything was possible.

And Xenobia's attacks also drew the eye.

When he saw her at the mansion yesterday, she was barefoot, but that was because it was indoors. Now she was equipped with silver greaves similar to her gauntlets, and she was unleashing acrobatic attacks with both her hands and feet.

While the members of Black Rose were protecting the surroundings to keep men away, Xenobia was also drawing attention for another reason. Her weapon skills weren't stopping.

Hayato had heard about it yesterday, but Xenobia could use her martial arts weapon skills continuously without a cool down time.

There were conditions and demerits, such as not being able to use the same weapon skill consecutively, having to land an attack within one second after use, a cool down time more than four times longer if the attack chain was broken, and a drop in attack power, but as long as those conditions were met, she could unleash skills endlessly.

It seemed she could also incorporate the instant-teleportation Shukuchi into her continuous attacks and evasions, and it was said that she might be unbeatable in a one-on-one PvP match. Though that came with the condition that her opponent wasn't male.

(So that's the infinite combo. A single hit seems light, but she's attacking continuously, so her damage per second must be considerable. Maid Chief-san, on the other hand, seems to be a heavy-hitter type... but right now, she's just looking blissful behind Gil-san.)

The Maid Chief and Rose were participating in the battle, but they weren't attacking. What they were doing was supporting Gil and his group. They were dedicated to healing with potions and the like.

Ney's group, Cecil, and the Genesis Dragon group including Ash were also doing their best, but compared to the Demon Lord's Army, they paled somewhat due to the difference in numbers. That said, their contribution was far higher than that of other major clans.

With that, Shuten Doji's HP was visibly dropping faster. Hayato was convinced that the battle would be decided before noon.

Apart from that, there was something else on his mind.

It had been a while since they arrived at the battlefield, but Jolth and Victor hadn't joined the fight and were staying with Hayato's group. For some reason, they were just warily watching their surroundings, seemingly uninterested in Shuten Doji.

"Aren't you two going to fight?"

"We'll sit this one out. You've taught us the method, so maybe we'll host our own Shuten Doji subjugation next."

Hayato had taught them how to break Shuten Doji's seal on the condition that they use Bandit as a cover, so he wouldn't stand out if nothing happened after offering the millet dumplings, or if it went well.

Since it required the Byakko screen and access to the library, it wouldn't happen right away, but Hayato thought Bandit could probably organize it without much delay.

"Besides, it seems like Shooting Star might try to mess with you, Hayato, during the chaos or commotion after Shuten Doji is defeated. We're prioritizing being on the lookout for that."

"Come to think of it, there hasn't been any contact. Alvie-san became friends with Noat and carried her off, futon and all, but that's about the only effect."

Even now, they seemed to be singing together on the battlefield, spreading support effects around them. Being carried away was a form of meddling, but it wasn't anything to be concerned about.

There had been talk of having Noat join "Kiss of Death," but she had refused because "they don't serve five-star donuts." Being glared at with a bit of resentment by Alvie was mentally taxing, but that was about it.

"I wonder what they're thinking. We're also monitoring the other major clans that might become enemies, but there's no movement so far. Though it seems like they do want to fight you guys."

"Winning against Bandit was good, but it's turned into a lot of trouble."

"You'll have to give up and accept that as the price of fame. If there were an event like a clan war where players could fight each other, it would probably solve everything at once."

He had heard from Diite that since player-versus-player combat was only available in clan wars, the management received a lot of requests.

According to Diite, they were considering it and were planning to hold an event like a clan war. They were also apparently considering increasing the number of members a clan could have.

"We've got new players, and we're thinking of things like large-scale clan battles for the next event, but there are a lot of difficult adjustments to make. We're collecting data for that, but it'll probably take a little more time."

That's what Diite had said.

They were collecting data to pass on to the self-expanding program, Infinity, but it wasn't complete yet. After it was complete, the program would be expanded further, and only then would the event be implemented. That was the flow.

The currently ongoing event, the Monster Sealing Encyclopedia, was also part of that data collection, so it would take time, but Hayato was also looking forward to a major update next.

As he was recalling this, Shuten Doji's HP was down to a sliver. It was a situation where, if they had known about the shrines, they could have defeated him in a single day, making him wonder what all the trouble had been for.

He could see Diite in the distance, but her morning smile was gone and she looked dejected. She was still providing healing support, but her spirits were clearly down.

(The helper characters must have been too strong...)

Since it was the first time for this event, Hayato guessed that Diite had made a balancing mistake. The Hero, Ivan, was acting as a sort of test player, but it seemed this raid boss battle had been a live run.

He thought that the performance of the helper characters might be weakened next time, and just then, Shuten Doji's HP bar disappeared.

At the same time, Shuten Doji fell to its knees. It roared at the heavens, then its head began to turn into particles of light, and finally, it vanished completely.

After a moment of silence, everyone raised a cry of victory. They praised each other's efforts and exchanged words of appreciation like, "Good work!"

Of course, it didn't end there. A large number of drop items immediately entered the participants' item bags.

When a large-scale battle like this ended, it was customary to boast about rare drops or lament garbage drops, and the festive atmosphere continued as people started announcing what items they had gotten.

Hayato's ears caught cheerful voices saying, "Got Hihiirokane!" "What's this ink and brush?!" and "An oni's loincloth is hard to equip!"

It was said that the rarity of the dropped items changed depending on one's contribution, so Hayato thought he probably wouldn't get anything great, and was about to check his own item bag.

But before he could, an announcement echoed.

"Shuten Doji has been successfully subjugated. As an achievement reward, Status Cap Break and Skill Cap Break have been unlocked. Please check the help page for details. I repeat..."

The players, who had been listening casually thinking it was the usual announcement, heard content that made them doubt their ears. They stopped reporting their drop items and pricked up their ears to listen carefully to the next announcement.

Once again, an announcement echoed across the quiet Onigashima.

"Shuten Doji has been successfully subjugated. As an achievement reward, Status Cap Break and Skill Cap Break have been unlocked. Please check the help page for details."

(No way, seriously?)

Just after Hayato thought that, a roar louder than the one when they defeated Shuten Doji went up. It was noisier than when Noat screamed, so Hayato covered his ears with both hands.

The drop items were also attractive, but they would pale in comparison to a new system being unlocked. It was on a level that you could say a major update had just been implemented out of the blue.

Esha had originally been able to break the skill cap, so the system must have existed before, but for it to become available as a reward for this battle was unexpected.

(Diite-chan is glancing over here. I guess she wanted to see my surprised face.)

Judging that to be the case, Hayato mouthed the words "I'm surprised" without speaking. Diite, who had been disappointed during the battle, seemed to have her smile back.

"What are you doing, acting like lovers?"

"What are you talking about?"

Hayato reacted to Esha's words, but he wondered if this was what lovers did, and that wasn't his intention at all.

"Well, whatever. Master, please uncap your cooking skill."

"Of course. I plan to uncap all my other production skills too."

"I haven't looked at the help page, but that might be difficult."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning you can't just uncap them for free. You'll probably have to sacrifice something, like with my negative skills. I think the demerits will be quite severe. In fact, if you can just uncap them normally, I'll protest."

Hayato thought, "That's true."

Esha had a negative animal taming skill, so she was attacked even by animals and monsters that weren't normally hostile. Her sewing skill made the durability of her cloth equipment decrease over time. As for cooking, she couldn't even make food, she created monsters.

The merit of uncapping a skill required taking on a proportional demerit. Considering that, he guessed that uncapping all his production skills would result in a considerable demerit.

(I don't need combat skills, and I wouldn't mind if it was a less-favored skill that went negative, but it depends on how big the demerit is.)

Thinking about that was part of the fun, so Hayato thought positively.

The area was still buzzing with excitement, so he decided to return to the campsite for a bit to think things over, but just then, a voice chat came in. The caller was Simon, so he immediately accepted it.

"Hey, Simon. Did the demons disappear on your end too..."

"Hayato! Bring everyone back to the mansion in Azuma!"

"Eh? What's wrong?"

"The mansion is under attack right now! We can't hold out on our own!"

"You mean there are still demons?"

"No! For some reason, people from the western country have surrounded the mansion!"

"Why would that... ? Could it be... but...?"

Shooting Star came to Hayato's mind. But there was no one at the mansion. Hayato couldn't understand why they would attack the mansion.

(No, wait a minute...? That's right, I asked him to be their guard! Don't tell me they're planning to abduct them instead of me!)

"Simon! I'm coming back right away, so hold on somehow!"

He said that, cut the voice chat with Simon, and then sent a voice chat to everyone else.

"Everyone! Let's go back to the mansion in Azuma! Sieg and the others are in danger!"

Hayato explained the situation to everyone, then they quickly broke camp and headed from Onigashima to Azuma.

They didn't have the luxury of waiting for a fisherman's boat, so they used their own airship. It would still take a considerable amount of time, so Hayato calmed his mind by repairing everyone's weapons and armor in the meantime.

He had decided it would be bad if he got too angry or panicked. When everyone heard the situation, they showed an anger that would be frightening even to an ally. If there wasn't a calm person, something that could be resolved smoothly might not be.

Maris, the owner of Siegfried and Max, was just panicking, and Surya was telling her to calm down, but the other members were different. All of them were radiating a deep, quiet anger.

Esha had been swinging her Beelzebub around and taking aim repeatedly, and Ren had taken out a straw doll and five-sun nails and was muttering to herself. Cecil and Noat were the same, and were now quiet.

Ash and the others knew the reality of the situation, so they were somewhat relieved, but they still couldn't forgive the act itself and said they wouldn't be satisfied until they beat them to a pulp.

Ney and the others also knew it was a game, but they thought it was an unforgivable act and were quite angry.

Lunaria had also gathered Black Rose, the Black Knights, and Xenobia and was talking to them about something, but her usual smile was gone, and her face was quite stern.

Benitsuru's usual smile was also completely gone. She was sitting in seiza on a prepared cushion and meditating.

The Maid Chief and Rose were acting normally, but that was scary in its own way. Like Surya, they were near Maris, encouraging her and telling her it would be alright, but they had even requested Hayato to maintain their weapons.

Seeing that, Jolth approached Hayato, who was trying to calm down as much as possible.

He had asked if they could ride with them. It was a hassle, but time was precious, so he immediately let them on. Victor was also with them, but he seemed to be on a voice chat with someone and was talking a short distance away.

"To think they'd come at us with a move like this. It's effective, in a way."

"Effective? Are you perhaps praising them? If so, would you mind jumping off the ship? You're in the way."

Hayato said this in a low voice. He was trying to calm down, but that's all it was. He was still angry.

Jolth hurriedly shook his head.

"No, no, no, that's not what I meant. I'm not praising them, I'm appalled. I didn't think they were this stupid. We'll cooperate with you guys completely, and I won't be satisfied until I complain to them directly either."

"Directly...? Do you perhaps know their leader, Jolth?"

"Well, I do know him."

"Can you voice chat him?"

"I can."

"Then, could you tell him that before we even talk about joining your clan's umbrella, he shouldn't think he can get away with something like this for free?"

"...Yeah, you're right. Even if it's a game, it's unthinkable to try and take pets hostage and then ask them to become allies. They must have chosen to fight and win rather than to prove their strength by having you join them. At this point, I think you should crush them with all your might."

"Even if this ends as just an attempt, I'm going to make sure they can never do something like this again, so tell them that too. I can't fight, but I also can't hold everyone back."

Jolth looked around. He saw the quietly furious NPCs and his face twitched.

"I'll tell them that too."

Jolth said that and headed toward where Victor was.

As if waiting for him to be alone, Diite came over this time.

"Hayato-kun, can I have a moment?"

"Are you going to say you can do something about this, Diite-chan?"

Diite had a very troubled look on her face. An apologetic look. She then bowed her head.

"I'm sorry. I'm in a state where I can't do anything right now."

"Ah, yeah. It's okay. I'm the one who caused this in the first place, so don't worry about it too much."

"I'm the one who made you do that, Hayato-kun. I'm truly sorry."

Diite's functions were limited because of the AI Killer that Hayato had used. She could still do things like fly, but she couldn't make complex settings that directly intervened with the existing system.

This incident too, if it were related to an event, she might have been able to do something, but she couldn't intervene in what players were doing.

She had explained that to him earlier. Was it some other matter, something she didn't want others to hear? Diite was being considerate of their surroundings.

After confirming it was fine, she put on a serious face and opened her mouth.

"There's something I want you to know, Hayato-kun. It's not that I was trying to hide it, but I never had the chance to say it."

"You've been glancing around for a while. Is it something you can't tell everyone?"

"It wouldn't be a problem for the members who know about the real world, but this matter is a little complex, or rather, problematic, so I want to tell you first, Hayato-kun."

"Alright. Then, what is it about?"

"It's about Sieg-kun."

"About Sieg?"

Hayato was a little taken aback. He had been prefaced with words like "not trying to hide it" and "problematic," so he had thought it was something about Shooting Star.

"This is a hypothetical, but if Sieg-kun were to be kidnapped, I need you to rescue him within the day."

"That's the plan, but why?"

He had work at the coffee shop in the afternoon, but if he were kidnapped, he planned to take the day off. It wasn't like he could do anything himself, but he thought he wouldn't be able to concentrate on work while worried.

This was a virtual reality. Even if Siegfried were kidnapped, it wouldn't affect the real world, but Maris was living here as if it were real. So for Maris, Siegfried was real. That was Hayato's way of thinking, and he couldn't just leave it be.

However, he didn't understand why Diite would directly ask him. Hayato prompted Diite to explain.

"If they were to kidnap Sieg-kun, I think they would use an item that was used for animal poaching and smuggling. And that is a little dangerous for Sieg-kun."

"I don't really get it, but if it's an item used for poaching and smuggling, does that mean it was used by the organization that Maris and the others destroyed?"

There was a time when Maris was too busy to come to the base. Hayato had heard that she had been doing various things to destroy an organization that was poaching and smuggling animals. The organization itself was destroyed, but he had also heard that a few people had escaped.

"That's right. And the item they used at that time was called the 'Cage of Discord,' which can steal other people's pets."

"I have a lot of things I want to say, but why does an item like that even exist?"

"I want you to think of it as something similar to the Stealing Skill. Since we've made the settings close to reality, so-called criminal acts are also possible in this virtual reality. That said, it's not like the Stealing Skill where you steal instantly. Depending on the level of trust with the pet, the period until the master-servant contract is broken can be extended up to a maximum of one week. Once it's broken, they can be transferred or sold."

"What. Then we have up to a week. Not that I plan to take that long."

Maris and Siegfried's trust level should be at its maximum. Then the period would be the maximum of one week. They wouldn't take that long, but having that leeway was a welcome thing.

That should have been the case, but Diite shook her head.

"Sieg-kun is different."

"Different? You mean his trust level is low?"

"That's not it. Sieg-kun trusts Maris-kun from the bottom of his heart. There's no doubt about that. But..."

After saying that, Diite trailed off. She was being evasive, or rather, she seemed to be hesitating.

"Diite-chan. You've been acting strange for a while. Is it something that's hard to say? I can handle whatever you tell me, so can you just get to the point? What's so dangerous about Sieg?"

Diite had been talking for a while, but she was continuing with a roundabout explanation. He didn't know if she really didn't want to say it, or if she didn't want him to know, but her way of speaking clearly showed she didn't want to say the conclusion.

It was human-like, you could say, but they didn't have time for such a conversation now. If Siegfried had been kidnapped and was in danger, he needed to know the reason right away.

At Hayato's gaze, Diite seemed to resign herself and nodded her head vertically.

"You're right, I have to say it properly. I wasn't sure how you'd react, so it was hard to say, but I've made up my mind."

Diite paused for a moment, then looked at Hayato again.

"First, there's a premise I want you to know. Simply put, Sieg-kun is real."

Hayato tilted his head. He didn't quite understand what Diite was saying.

"Real? You mean there are fake ones?"

"That's not it."

Diite said this, shaking her head. Then she stared at Hayato.

"What I mean is, a real calico cat from the spaceship Aphrodite is logged into this virtual reality. To tell you the truth, Sieg-kun is the very first and oldest test player to log into this world."

"......Eh?"

A rare cry of surprise escaped from Hayato, drawing the attention of everyone.