Published at 25th of March 2019 11:06 pm

Volume 1: Chapter 3: Battle of Roka

1

"We looted a lot this round, we're making a killing out here!"

Naotsugu swung his skinning knife to shake off the blood before sheathing it. Shiroe nodded in agreement as he put down his staff to cancel the spells he had prepared.

(I'm feeling melancholic again after recollecting various things.)

Shiroe shrugged with a sigh. This was really a headache. There were so many things troubling him since arriving in this world that he forgot what he was brooding about sometimes.

(I hope this doesn't become my catch phrase.)

"What is it, my lord?"

Akatsuki had finished packing and was by Shiroe's side before he knew it. Shiroe was unable to calm his emotions in front of her shiny black eyes akin to obsidian that looked at him from a low angle.

"Let's go back." Shiroe said with a smile to change the topic.

Shiroe's group was in a place called 'Small Stone Herb Garden', a relatively small field zone about 1 square km in size.

It was already evening, the wind was starting to turn chilly, and the sound of birds chirping was all around them.

This zone was close to both Akiba and Shibuya, a place suitable for one-day training trips. The monster level was a bit high for a place so near the city.

"Let's hurry back, then."

"Roger."

After listening to Shiroe, the girl in black, Akatsuki, replied seriously without emotion as usual as she fastened her pack.

The defeated corpses of triffids and briar weasels laid all around them, and would disappear in a shower of light particles after some time.

Triffids were a type of mobile plant with a flower bud the size of rugby ball on top of it. The bud would peel back in 3 parts, revealing the sharp teeth inside, a horrifying creature.

A briar weasel, on the other hand, let vines grow on its body. It was faster than a cat and could attack with its vines, an agile monster.

The levels of the monsters were 48 and 52 respectively.

Their levels were quite high in the world of Elder Tales, but they were 40 levels below Shiroe's team, so they wouldn't gain any EXP from them.

After days of training, Shiroe's party suspected this world faithfully followed the settings of Elder Tales. They had not confirmed this yet, but they probably needed to defeat monsters at least 5 levels below them, or in other words enemies level 85 and above for them to gain EXP.

It would be a very tough fight if they took on level 85 monsters now. They might be able to handle one, but not if they were attacked by a group.

"You doing fine?"

"I took some potions, so I'm good. My defense is like an iron wall, iron festival!"

Naotsugu responded with a grin while knocking on his armor. His grey gauntlets made a clear, dull sound as they hit his breastplate.

According to Naotsugu, you felt less pain from enemy attacks than in real life. You didn't feel half dead even when your health bar was halved and only felt a bit sore and warm from the wounds all over your body.

Naotsugu described the worst pain as stubbing your toe on the corner of a cabinet.

(That would be painful enough to make me cry three times.)

Shiroe frowned at his description, but Naotsugu continued laughing heartily.

(Even if it is this way for now, there is no telling if it will remain like this.)

Shiroe remained on guard as he thought.

(The low-level enemies have weak attacks, so there is no rush to make snap judgments or ensuring a retreat path. But we will take more damage as the monster level increases… Even an excellent Guardian like Naotsugu won't be able to handle it as easily as he does now. We need to think of other possibilities…)

Among the 12 classes, the one with the highest HP and defense combination on the frontline was the Guardian. If there were attacks Naotsugu couldn't withstand, it would be impossible for any other class to do so.

(We will need a healer after all… But I don't want to increase the number of teammates if we take efficiency into consideration. I doubt our teamwork would be good if we invited anyone with such motives. We will just be sent back to town if we do get wiped out, but…)

The miracle of revival existed in this world.

Even if they died in battle, they would respawn in the cathedral, Shiroe's group knew this.

But they still refrained from pushing themselves too hard even with their revival guaranteed. Death was still an unacceptable taboo for them.

(Being able to come back to life after we die is really suspicious.)

"My lord… ?"

"Hey Shiro, hurry up!"

After acting together for several days, they had made greater progress in both personal relations and teamwork than Shiroe had expected. The members of this team had fitted really well to this new dynamic despite their history of working alone.

As they got used to life as a group, their individual characteristics were magnified too. In this team roster, Shiroe naturally became the guy who was responsible for worrying about things.

(I have been playing the part of tactician since my Tea Party days anyway.)

Shiroe got lost in his thoughts easily.

He had also noticed this bad habit, but it was not something you could change that easily even if you knew about it.

(It's okay to be the guy responsible for worrying, but I don't want to be the guy who spoils the mood,) Shiroe thought.

"Let's withdraw then… Do you need me to shine a light?"

Shiroe asked as he prepared his Magic Light spell.

"Lord Shiro, please wait."

"There is no need to address me as lord. We are comrades, can't you just call me Shiroe?"

"Then please address me as Akatsuki, too."

Akatsuki stared at Shiroe as she spoke after brushing aside Shiroe's request.

(How should I describe Akatsuki's gaze, hmmm…)

Akatsuki was a beautiful young lady no matter how you looked at her.

And because of that, Shiroe found it hard to withstand Akatsuki's gaze. He didn't hate it, but it made Shiroe uncomfortable.

Shiroe was a typical homely online gamer who was bad at socializing with others. He didn't have much experience dealing with girls.

(No matter what excuse I use, the bottom line is… I am shy and I don't know how to react… this is something that can't be helped, right? Yes, I understand, I really do…)

"My lord."

Akatsuki said as she took a step forward, akin to kicking a man while he was down. Akatsuki had to look up at him due to the height difference, which made Shiroe feel a little sorry.

"Ermm… what is it? What's so funny, Naotsugu?"

Naotsugu was looking at Shiroe and Akatsuki with a smile on his face. After snapping at Naotsugu, he asked Akatsuki to continue.

"I will be scouting ahead on our way back."

"Why?"

"Practice. Assassins have Dark Vision, Sneak, and Silent Move, I want to see how it feels using them in this world. This forest is the perfect place to practice."

Akatsuki looked at the dark areas of the forest as she fastened her sword with her black waist cloth, making her preparations as she informed them of her intention.

Moving alone.

Shiroe gave his permission after considering for a while.

This zone didn't seem to have monsters stronger than the 2 types they fought. Akatsuki should be able to take on any single monster or run away if there were too many enemies.

Akatsuki wanted to confirm her skills so she would be ready when she needed to use them. Shiroe understood her concerns, knowing the limits of your abilities was crucial to surviving in this world.

"Be careful. Let's meet by the south gate. We'll stay illuminated using Magic Light as we go, you can use that to find us."

"I understand. I can find you if we are in the same zone."

If you formed a party and were in the same zone, you could find your allies through the direction and distance displayed on your screen. It shouldn't take long for them to meet.

"See you later then, shrimp Akatsuki."

"Be quiet, stupid Naotsugu."

Akatsuki retorted and was gone the next instant as if she had merged with the forest.

"That shrimp is good."

"I couldn't even hear the leaves rustle."

Naotsugu whistled.

Shiroe shrugged and chanted the spell for Magic Light and the tip of his staff glowed like a lamp. In the dimly lit forest illuminated by the fading orange light of the evening sun, the magic light gave off a gentle and soothing light.

"Let's be on our way."

"OK tactician, let's march towards our goal of panties!"

Shiroe and Naotsugu headed for the east gate under the illumination of the light.

Step by step.

The trail was full of grass that looked like ribbons with dew and pebbles covered in moss. Shiroe and Naotsugu walked on this path advancing through the Imperial Forest.

(This is like walking in Yakushima Island or the Amazon Rainforest that I saw on web-TV… Even if the others say this is an alternate world, I still find it hard to believe.)

They could faintly hear the pleasant sounds of insects.

The duo waded through the undergrowth. They had to rely on Naotsugu's sword to bash a way through as they moved through the forest in the night.

"So Akatsuki's subclass is Tracker."

Naotsugu's words reminded Shiroe of the earlier conversation.

The Sneak and Silent Move skills that Akatsuki mentioned were Tracker skills. Tracker was one of the many subclasses in Elder Tales, letting you learn skills to track or avoid being tracked in turn.

A feature common to all subclasses in Elder Tales was the provision of skills that were not directly related to combat. Subclasses were also independent from the 12 main classes that were battle focused, so you could learn any subclass if you met the requirements.

There were two main types of subclasses.

One type was production subclasses like Chef, Tailor, Blacksmith, and Carpenters. Players with such subclasses could craft all sorts of items using the appropriate ingredients and facilities.

It was easy to learn a production subclass, you just needed to buy an instruction manual from NPCs, and you could start accumulating EXP. The EXP for a subclass was separate from battle EXP, so it was tedious to level it up. But it didn't require any special quest or items, anyone could grind it to high levels if you were determined enough, and you didn't need your comrades' help to do this.

Shiroe was a Scribe, which was also a production subclass. He could duplicate magic tomes, maps, and all sorts of documents using paper and ink.

Being Nobles, Merchants, and Rose Garden Princesses belonged to the other type, which was the role-playing subclasses. Unlike production subclasses, they couldn't craft items, but they could learn some special skills and rare techniques. They could also get rare equipment in some situations.

Tracker was a role-playing subclass, it had the ability to track other players or foes, erase their presence, and move in the dark.

Shiroe wasn't very familiar with the Tracker subclass. The 12 main classes that dictated combat were designed by the creators of Elder Tales, a large American corporation. The strength of each class would be balanced for each update and more subclasses would be added. The outsourced company in each country, such as Fuji Entertainment in Japan, may create a subclass unique to its server.

Shiroe remembered about 50 subclasses from memory, but with exclusive subclasses created in other servers, it was hard to guess their number.

Powerful subclasses were popular and famous, so Shiroe knew about them and had a rough idea of their features. But even a veteran player like Shiroe wouldn't know about some obscure subclasses.

Out of the countless subclasses, Trackers were sort of well-known.

It had useful abilities, but it wasn't something a player would need often so it was in the middle in terms of popularity. Players not as hardcore as Shiroe might not have heard of it, but it was more famous than Sailors or Janitors.

"She is really dedicated to her role-playing."

Naotsugu grinned to express his agreement.

(A Tracker Assassin, she is obsessed with ninjas. I can see why she would call herself one.)

Akatsuki's style of giving her all made Shiroe and Naotsugu smile. Role-playing always gave the impression of playing pretend, but Akatsuki's serious approach to it made the act feel real.

"What do you think of our shrimp girl, Shiro?"

"… Very active on the front lines with a high level of focus."

Shiroe replied to Naotsugu's vague question after a moment of consideration.

Naotsugu was asking Shiroe for his opinion on Akatsuki.

Shiroe had a good impression of Akatsuki, but he was acting indifferent because he felt embarrassed about praising her.

"Enough about me, what about you, Naotsugu? Has your burden increased?"

"The burden has decreased. Compared to just the two of us, we're clearing the monsters way faster. Some minions are dealt with before I can even turn to face them. She may be a shrimp, but she's a strong shrimp."

Naotsugu replied to Shiroe as he led the way.

Naotsugu was kind and cheerful, the type that was very sociable. He made crude jokes sometimes, but Shiroe felt he did this intentionally to ease the mood.

But Naotsugu wouldn't mince his words when talking about battles. He might be polite about it, but he would not lie.

From what Shiroe remembered about Naotsugu's criticisms of other players, he gave almost full marks to Akatsuki.

"But she mentioned her reach was shorter and her attacks had less weight after she adjusted her appearance, right?"

"I was never a shrimp, so I wouldn't know about her reach, but with her speed and agility, that shouldn't be important, correct? Why don't you try taking a knee in the face from her? It is really instantaneous, my eyes can't keep up even if I want to block it."

"I would rather not."

Naotsugu rubbed his nose as he recalled the pain and said:

"As to her attack dropping because of her weight, it should be true since she said so herself, huh? According to the settings, your attack is not affected by gender, and having more weight in your punches may not increase your attack power. But this is just what she felt, so there is no other way to tell. If her attack power really has decreased, then she will be fine with Shiroe's support spells backing her up."

Naotsugu said as he pried away a leaf with thorns.

(About that… He is right.)

Shiroe was an Enchanter, one of the 3 magic attack classes. Each of the warrior, weapon attack, healer, and magic attack categories had 3 classes each forming a total of 12 classes. The Enchanter was one of these twelve.

Among the magic attack classes, Enchanter was the best at support, setting up the battle stage and using crowd control. It had a variety of support spells.

Keen Edge was one such support spell that increased weapon attacks.

Every time an ally hit the enemy, Thorn Bind Hostage could deal additional damage with its curse vines.

Attacking the psyche of the enemy to numb its senses with Mind Shock.

Enchanter was a special class that contributed to victory by boosting its allies' power and controlling the flow of battle.

"Yeah… You're right," Shiroe replied shyly.

Enchanter was the least popular class in Elder Tales and had a bad reputation among players.

Shiroe had no obligation towards anyone and chose this class out of personal preference. No matter what others said, he was confident of the Enchanter's abilities and its deep potential. Shiroe also knew that an Enchanter could not work alone.

This class needed a party, and the effectiveness of an Enchanter widely depended on how good their teamwork was.

This had nothing to do with the stats of the player; how well you worked with others could not be measured numerically.

Because Shiroe understood this, he felt embarrassed when others told him 'That will be fine' or 'Things will work out if we do it together'.

For Enchanters…

If their existence in the team was acknowledged, it meant the player's character and personal relationships were working well.

"Shiro…"

"Yeah?"

"I think you're holding back too much sometimes."

"Hmm?"

Naotsugu said as he bashed through the vegetation. This change in topic was too big and Shiroe was unable to keep up.

"… For example panties?"

"How did this turn into a question?"

"The mysterious triangle region of cute girls is always questioning the world, you should understand that, you locked closet pervert!"

"How perverted am I in this setting of yours?"

Shiroe at this moment was unable to understand Naotsugu's concern, and could only chase after his back.

The Shiroe right now was just a normal Enchanter.

2

They moved to a neighboring zone after linking up with Akatsuki.

"Let's hurry, I miss our hotel."

Although he was tired from the battles, Naotsugu was in a cheerful mood as he chatted with his teammates.

This region was known as the Kanda Channel, a ruin based on the Marunouchi Metro in the real world. It was the nest of demihumans like goblins and beast men now.

The enemies in this region were only about level 30, no longer a threat to Shiroe and the others. With such a level gap, the monsters would hesitate to attack them.

With the sky totally dark, Shiroe, Naotsugu, and Akatsuki regretted spending too much time in the Imperial Forest.

Since monsters wouldn't attack them recklessly, they could just make camp in some ruins, caves, or under trees. But they were still traveling with their magic light shining, moving on the roads with abandoned cars and trucks scattered all around.

Akatsuki insisted that sleeping on a proper bed was more comfortable.

They had furs and fangs looted from monsters in their bag they needed to trade for cash anyway, so they needed to go back to the city.

Naotsugu, who was in the lead, would turn back every now and then to confirm his party mates' statuses.

(Both of them show no signs of fatigue, our level 90 bodies have considerable stamina after all.)

Naotsugu sighed in relief secretly after looking at their steadfast footsteps.

Unlike the two of them, Naotsugu was a typical warrior. Warriors had outstanding strength, stamina, and agility.

Even Naotsugu was surprised he could fight for hours wearing 40-50 kg armor.

Even if he exhausted his energy, he just needed to rest for a few minutes to slowly recover his strength. He was confident of lifting 300kg in terms of his explosive power, and his stamina seemed boundless.

But it was different for the others. Shiroe was a pure intellect class, Akatsuki was incredibly fast, but she was a lightly armored fighter. They might have claimed 'there is no problem with stamina, we are level 90 too' but Naotsugu felt he needed to accommodate them for this part.

But there was no need to worry for tonight.

With the bright moonlight and magic illumination, the relatively smooth asphalt road with some debris and a few potholes was easy to traverse.

"The goblins aren't attacking us."

"We are level 90, of course they aren't."

"I like the goblin with the skull on its head. Their arrogant demeanor is cute and weird."

(Akatsuki is talking nonsense with a straight face…)

Akatsuki should be referring to goblin shamans. They led their kinsmen minions with their ice and fire spells. They might look funny when they arrogantly gave commands, but they were definitely not cute.

"You like those type of monsters, shrimp?"

Naotsugu asked again to be certain. Akatsuki replied curtly:

"They are cute and die so easily."

They needed to be killed since they were enemies, but Naotsugu couldn't understand what was so cute about them.

"Most magic type monsters look arrogant, but their armor is as thin as paper, and their HP is extremely low. It would be fine if they stayed at the back, but goblin shamans will walk nonchalantly to the front lines and are easy to take down. I just need to use Hide Shadow to sneak up beside them, and I can slit their throat with my blade. The way their body collapses like a puppet with its strings cut is so addictive."

As she was not sure how to interpret Naotsugu's query, she shared her thoughts with the others casually.

(… Wah, if you put it like that, wouldn't Shiro be troubled?)

Shifting his gaze to the side, Naotsugu could see that Shiroe was shocked to hear that. It was natural for mages to have low defenses, so Shiroe didn't need to be so sad. Naotsugu also knew Akatsuki doesn't mean to hurt Shiroe.

But even so, Shiroe still looked depressed with Akatsuki acting so casually matter-of-fact.

Naotsugu wanted to sigh looking at the two of them.

(Shiro is smart, but he tends to overthink things and is too concerned with trivial matters… He is shouldering a large burden. Why is our tactician frightened to this extent?)

Naotsugu thought Shiroe was holding back too much.

If someone asked him what Shiroe was holding back about, Naotsugu wouldn't be able to answer. This was just how he felt.

Naotsugu felt the same way back when the two of them were in the Debauchery Tea Party. Shiroe wanted to do things by himself too much, which Naotsugu thought was Shiroe's good point.

But the duty of a Guardian was to protect his allies.

It left a bitter taste in his mouth if his teammates didn't rely on him, as if his duty had been stripped from him. Naotsugu thought Shiroe should at least rely on Naotsugu for things he was good at.

"Hold on, our mage is reliable during critical junctures, right?"

"Hmm? The armor of my lord is as thin as paper too… That's fine, I will protect him as his ninja."

She didn't notice his depression as she kicked Shiroe again while he was down. Naotsugu thought they were interacting like children… But Naotsugu was thinking the same about Shiroe too.

On the whole, it was a quiet night as they chatted on their way back.

They could see the elongated shadows of the goblins sneaking around in the moonlight. But when Naotsugu looked at them, they would scatter.

"This is a zone adjacent to Akiba with only low-level monsters lurking around. If there were high-level monsters, the beginners would be wiped out."

Shiroe said.

It had been more than 10 days since they were trapped in this world, and no new players had shown up since.

What was his body doing in the real world? Did all the players disappear? Or were they all in a coma? Naotsugu and the others had no way to tell.

(It may be hard to imagine, but our real selves may each still be living their lives as normal. That means we have no way of going back, an abandoned babies sales festival. If it is like some light novel setting where the world forgets we ever existed at all, it would be depressing too…)

Contrary to the way he acted, Naotsugu was thinking about this as a fan of fantasy novels. But at this point in time, they couldn't tell.

You might say 'It has just been 10 days' or 'It has already been 10 days', everyone had a different interpretation about this. But the three of them had been forced to grow accustomed to this world.

This was the addition of alternate world physics on top of Elder Tales setting. In this world twisted by these two factors, there were still some rules and accompanying logic.

Even if all the food was tasteless, even if strange effects existed, they still followed a set of laws. They often felt frustrated by these effects that defied common sense, but they had to try to understand this logic and live in this world.

They had to live in the world they were in, be it the game world or real world.

(Since we can't find a way back, this is the only world for us now. We can't do anything about it being the game or real world… It's not too bad after you get used to swinging swords and adventuring… Although I put on a brave face and told Marie-san 'This is far from the worst case scenario', I just wanted to say this more than anyone else.)

It was a good thing for Naotsugu to get used to this so quickly. He had nothing against the world he was from, but if someone asked if he would risk his life to go back, his answer would be 'I don't know'.

(I don't have a girlfriend who will show me panties, and I haven't seen my parents in 2 years… I have gotten used to work, but there was nothing very satisfying about it.)

From Ichigaya passing through Kudansheeta, they were just a couple of zones away from Akiba.

They were not going by the Archive Tower Forest today, opting to go via the slope of Ochanomizu. As they passed by the gentle slope of Roka Charity Hospital, Naotsugu was reminded of home. In the Japanese garden on the right side of the road stood a large tree with plenty of branches wearing its leaves like a jacket.

The moon could be glimpsed through the leaves. The shadows of the leaves jerked unnaturally, making Naotsugu and the others scatter away from the tree hastily.

(…!)

Naotsugu dashed at full speed into the darkness and bashed at the bushes with his shield.

A yell could be heard from the dark.

He could feel Shiroe's presence behind him more than a dozen meters away.

Even as Naotsugu focused on his forehead, he did not let down his guard and scanned his surroundings.

(There are 1, 2… 3? 4?)

Even though this was within expectations, he could still feel his throat drying up when facing it. This tension was totally different from when fighting monsters.

Suddenly, he heard the sounds of chains being dragged on the ground.

(Uu, too late!)

Naotsugu did not check his back as he attempted to jump, but snake-like chains had entangled his ankles. These were not real chains with a physical form, but a magical binding spell that seemed almost real when it bound their foes.

Naotsugu lost his balance in the air, his movements sealed by magic. At this moment, a silent and colorless magic wave came from behind.

Dispel Magic.

It should be Shiroe who was casting it.

The snake-like chain binding Naotsugu's ankles was disintegrated by Shiroe's Dispel.

(You're always so quick with support! Well, what do we do, tactician?)

The excitement of battle rose in his heart, Shiroe was right behind him giving his full support. Naotsugu's confidence lifted his spirits.

"Naotsugu, straight line formation. Our enemies are PKers, I have visual contact on 4. I'll determine their location… There!"

Shiroe shouted on the road covered by the shadows of the trees in the middle of the night.

A greenish white bolt shot out of his staff. Mind Bolt was the basic attack spell of Enchanters, it would strike at a single opponent, causing some damage.

It had less attack power compared to summoners and sorcerers of the same level. But as the basic attack of the Enchanters, Shiroe had many chances to use it.

Shiroe complained about his low attack power often, but Naotsugu thought this was no big deal. Instead of powerful spells that often missed, simple spells at the right time were much better.

"Enemy sighted!"

Shiroe's spell was performing as he expected.

The light of the spell only shone for a fraction of a second, but it was enough to see the PK-ers hidden in the darkness.

Naotsugu retreated as per Shiroe's instructions about half way between the darkness and Shiroe. He was right on the line dividing the 2-way road.

After confirming the enemies' position, Naotsugu could attack them.

But instead he intentionally retreated to his position in the formation.

In a line formation, the distance between the front and back was crucial. If they were too far apart, the rear would be open to attacks.

"They have guts, turning to PKing… They miss their mommies so much they have turned into animals? Thinking they can celebrate victory by ambushing us, don't make me laugh."

Naotsugu turned the passion in his heart into words.

The enemies were not monsters.

Naotsugu despised this act of players the most.

PK means 'player kill' or 'player killer', instead of fighting monsters, a player hunted other players.

Akiba was designated as a non-combat zone, which meant other zones might not have such a designation and battles were allowed.

In Elder Tales, players battling other players was an officially recognized way of playing.

But due to factors in Elder Tales such as the low success rate, high risk and cultural aversion of the Japanese… Japanese players were very law abiding and hated violence among players… PKing was not popular there.

The mini-map in Elder Tales showed all players, monsters, and NPC around them, the chance for PKing to work was very low.

High-level players would have an innate evasion rate without the need for players to input any command, lowering the probability of PKing working even further.

… Simply put, sneak attacks were not effective.

PKing was not banned in Elder Tales, but harassment, which meant harassing players and causing undue distress, was. Although PK itself was not harassment, targeting specific players or abusing them with words were actions that might be judged as harassment. The official might then deal out a warning or the ban hammer.

But harassment was very much dependent on personal opinion and prejudice. Even a proper PK might be viewed as harassment if the victim was a lady, resulting in the perpetrator being locked out of his account.

That's why PKing was a high risk action.

But things were different in this alternate world.

They couldn't view the mini map on their screen anymore, and even high-level players could be ambushed if they were not conscious of the incoming attack.

Unless the player was a real-life martial artist, no one could keep their guard up all the time.

Harassment reports could only be done after the officials reviewed the records. When Elder Tales was still a game, order was maintained through the Game Masters' 'Hand of God'. But such convenient saviors didn't exist in this world anymore.

… The chance of a sneak attack working increased, the risk of being reported was gone.

And PKing gave lots of benefits.

After defeating other players, they could be stripped of all their gold and some items. Although some items could not be dropped, half the salable items in your bag would be lost, spread around your corpse.

There were more cons than pros back then, but that had been reversed.

This was the reason why PKing was becoming a regular occurrence in Elder Tales.

3

(We made it past the sneak attack phase… Their advantages are numbers, terrain, and preparation. Our advantages are…)

Shiroe's staff shone as he went through the spells he could use. He didn't have to choose the spells using the game menu, his common spells had already been prepared on his hotkeys.

Before Shiroe raised his staff to cast any spells, several players showed themselves.

The dry debris of the asphalt road cracked loudly in the quiet night.

Four shadows emerged from the darkness.

One dressed like a fighter, two as bandits, one like a healer.

Their levels and numbers were high, their footsteps steady.

"Leave everything you are carrying, and we won't kill you."

The warrior said these cliché words in a disparaging tone.

Shiroe laughed bitterly when he heard this.

(If they are talking like that, they have read too much manga.)

They were already used to hunting monsters, but battling other players was a different thing. Unlike the monsters moving by animal instincts, this induced the fear of unpredictability. And humans were not dense enough to be ignorant of malicious intents of the enemies.

Monsters also had killing intent, but PKers had the malicious intent of profiting off others' efforts.

Shiroe's palms were sweating before he realized.

But the cliché line washed away the tension, and Shiroe was grateful for that.

"Guardian and a Mage, right? You want to put up a hopeless fight? We have 4 on our side, alright?"

The man dressed like a bandit, who seemed to be the leader, said. The two long sword on his waist hinted his class to be a Swashbuckler. Out of the 12 classes, only the Swashbuckler and Samurai could equip 2 weapons without the use of special items and with putting in minimal effort.

"What should we do, Naotsugu?"

"Kill them. Pick out the bones, chop them into mincemeat, and kill them again. These guys attack people people for fun, they can't complain if someone else kills them."

The reliable voice of Naotsugu revitalized the strength in Shiroe's legs.

(Breathing normal, sense of balance is intact… Emotions are calm, I can do this. This is something we expected… Just a matter of time before we faced this road.)

Shiroe mumbled to himself. He was already prepared to fight, but wanted to drag the conversation a bit longer if possible.

"Naotsugu hates PKing after all… Actually, I'm willing to give them the money."

The PK group sneered at Shiroe's words.

They took half a step forward, showing their ugly threatening attitude. Shiroe averted his eyes from the pressure, even though he expected this.

(That must be it… They are looking down on us, thinking we will fork over the cash if they apply a bit more pressure.)

Shiroe felt he had split into two. One of him had trembling legs from fear, the other was thinking calmly and clearly. He could also feel his pulse beating warmly by his ears, a sensation he had had several times during the Tea Party.

Shiroe was not good in handling Akatsuki, but he didn't hate her.

Shiroe hated fighting, but he was good at it.

"If they can beat us."

"Well said, Shiro."

The PK group was either surprised by their conversation or angered by their insolence. Their faces turned red as they drew their weapons while cursing.

The red 'battle mode' warning on the status screen had been flashing in the corner of his eyes since the sneak attack.

Shiroe took half a step back with his left foot and prayed his voice would be steady as he gave his command.

"Target the warrior on the left, draw the others' attention too!"

"I will handle the tank, go take out the Mage!"

The sound of Shiroe's command and the bandit leader's roar sounded out at the same time.

Naotsugu took a step forward and slammed his shield at the warrior. His opponent was wielding a katana, meaning he was a Samurai.

The bandit with long hair flanked Naotsugu on his leader's command, attempting to reach Shiroe with a leap. But this was one of the developments Shiroe anticipated.

Shiroe cast his spell in an instant.

Astral Bind.

Similar to the magic that had bound Naotsugu, it restricted the movements of the enemies.

When the defensibly weak mage adventured alone, this spell could restrict the movements of monsters. This was followed by range attack from a safe distance. A basic battle strategy.

The spells of mages might differ in details, but they had many common spells, including binding spells.

But binding spells had no other effects.

The long-haired bandit was left with no choice other than to turn and attack Naotsugu, who was right beside him. He attacked with his daggers that were almost the length of a short sword. Binding spells restricted the opponent's long range movement, but it didn't deprive them of all freedom. It was similar to leashing a dog with a chain to a pole, they could still move around within a short range. The binding spell would last only for a short while.

"Let's change, I leave this to you!"

"I'm on it!"

Under the sparks of the clashing weapons, the leader made a simple feint and attempted to break through Naotsugu's defense line.

Their strategy at the start should have let the leader engage Naotsugu, leaving the others to take down Shiroe. But seeing his subordinate bounded, he decided to change the strategy by going for Shiroe himself.

His judgment to adjust his plans on the fly was commendable. His flanking action making use of the feint was fast.

(… But that is not enough to match Naotsugu's experience.)

"Anchor Howl!"

Naotsugu lowered his center of mass and shouted fiercely.

This howl that shook the air was a skill of the Guardian.

The bandit leader that should have slipped past Naotsugu flinched his body as he turned to face Naotsugu with his swords raised on reflex.

He lost strength in his legs, and he was unable to look away from Naotsugu. Cold sweat broke out all over his body, the long-haired bandit and the Samurai were suffering the same sense of fear with their eyes wide open.

They would lose their lives if they didn't stare at Naotsugu. That was the horrifying feeling the 3 of them felt from Naotsugu.

Naotsugu was a Guardian who protected their comrades. They were known as tanks because they were the shield absorbing the opponent's attack.

But having high defense and HP was not enough to act as a tank. Monsters like goblins and orcs might possess similar intelligence to humans, the players might encounter dark elves or cultist as well, and this was the world of Elder Tales.

Opponents ignoring the tank and going for the healer and mage behind were common too.

Guardians were built around the policy of protecting their allies, so they didn't just have high HP and defense.

Anchor Howl was a skill Guardians cast with their fighting spirit. Foes who heard this howl would not be able to ignore Naotsugu. The moment they tried, they would be hit by a powerful counterattack. This skill granted Guardians additional attacks if their enemy's attention lapsed.

The skills to focus all the enemies' attention on themselves was one of the reasons why Guardians were known as the fortress among the warrior classes.

"Tch, Don't be scared! We are going 3 on 1, he will go down no matter how tough he is, take him first!"

The bandit leader encouraged his men despite the fear he was feeling.

The Swashbuckler was forced to switch tactics again, locking on to Naotsugu and searching for his weak points with his double swords dancing like a snake.

The rogue Samurai, double swords leader, and the long-haired bandit were determined to take out Naotsugu first.

It was not wrong to do that.

"Damn it! You are just tough like a turtle, nothing impressive!"

The enemy screamed hysterically as they attacked in a flurry.

"Your swords won't break through my armor!"

Naotsugu's bold and cheery statement made them double up on their attacks.

Shiroe checked Naotsugu's status as he listened to the sharp clash of metals.

This group had the skills to back up their words with good courage and teamwork. Naotsugu's HP dwindled under their relentless attacks.

Even Naotsugu wouldn't last another 30 seconds.

(That is, if they can keep up the attack for 30 seconds…!)

Shiroe grinned. He was not going to give them this amount of time.

Drawing a symbol with the tip of his staff took 1. 5 seconds. Shiroe created a buzzing lightning ball and shot it at the Samurai. This was a 'damage over time' spell called Electric Fuzz, persistently dealing low damage to an opponent for 10-20 seconds.

"Ha! You're an Enchanter? What's that spell? You can't even kill a dog with this!"

The Samurai just snorted in annoyance despite being hit. The tennis ball sized lightning sphere was loud and bright, but its damage was so low it didn't hurt.

Enchanters' spells on the whole lacked attack power, but damage over time magic could spread its power over a period of time. Its total damage exceeded Mind Bolt, but each wave of damage was insignificant.

The feeling of scratching an itch matched the low damage of the spell. It was just a harmless prank to the Samurai.

(It is weak, but…)

The taunts went to and fro, but Shiroe didn't react to the Samurai's sneer since he knew the features of his spells. He cast the same Electric Fuzz on the bandit leader and long-haired bandit next.

The dual wield based class had less HP than the Samurai from the warrior class. But this low damage magic was painless to them.

"Hahahaha! What were you trying to accomplish with that spell? Are you a greenhorn following this chum?"

The greenish white sparks shone like a shorted wire or some misshapen fireworks. The three PKers redoubled their effort on attacking Naotsugu.

(… Alright then, let's get rid of one.)

The anger, carelessness, and sneer of the enemy.

Absorbing these emotions like data and preparing in a deep breath, Shiroe took two steps forward ready to act. He wielded his staff as he chanted, using his magic with the hotkey.

He cast Thorn Bind Hostage after chanting for 2 seconds. Five shiny rings flew towards the Samurai and morphed into 5 vines entangling him.

"What is this? Ah!"

Naotsugu slashed at the Samurai, a lightning ball seemed to explode in the darkness. The Samurai screamed as he backed away on reflex from the impact.

Enemies who were affected by the spell would suffer about 1000 points of additional damage when attacked by the Enchanter's allies. Thorn Bind Hostage was a trap attack spell frequently used by Shiroe. Unlike single target or wide area attacks, it had a more complicated activation requirement. It also needed to be cast on the enemy beforehand.

The number of vines and the damage it dealt differed by level. Shiroe's Thorn Bind Hostage was Secret level, even a warrior class would lose half his HP if all five vines were triggered.

"Calm down, this is a damn trap spell. Dispel it, healer! Concentrate on healing our Samurai! We have double their numbers, there is no way we can lose!"

Unlike the damaged Samurai, the bandit leader was still in control. Healers played a critical role in the Elder Tales setting.

With a powerful healer using high-level spells, damage of several allies about the same level could be restored completely.

If the healing was consistent, Shiroe's Thorn Bind Hostage was nothing to worry about.

The bandit leader had a plan of taking on a Sorcerer, who had more powerful attacks than an Enchanter, so he remained confident in this battle.

Naotsugu slashed again.

Every swing activated the shockwave damage from the vines. Every time the Samurai tried to take up a stance, the sword strike and the vine explosion threw him off balance again.

"Ha, this is nothing, your flank is open!"

The long-haired bandit slashed at Naotsugu's right flank with his machete. Naotsugu who was immobile after his attack couldn't avoid this attack.

"This battle will be decided by the presence of healers! Don't underestimate us, chums! Hahahaha! Cry on your way to the cathedral!"

Naotsugu's attack was strengthened by Shiroe's magic, dealing damage above a normal warrior class. The Secret level spell was also one of the few Enchanter skills that could deal heavy damage. But that wouldn't be enough to outperform the healing spells of a healer about the same level. The laughter of the bandit leader came from this confidence.

"That is the correct analysis."

"If your healer is doing his job!"

Naotsugu lowered his body to halve his height in an instant and slashed at the Samurai's knee.

This blow was like a giant praying mantis striking, throwing the Samurai to the ground.

He did not fly off with the blow or spray blood all over the place. The Samurai was fighting fiercely one second and dropped motionless on the ground the next, cutting off the bandit leader's laughter.

"W… What's happening? What did you do!? Paralysis? Hey, healer! Stop fooling around, heal him!"

The bandit leader yelled as Naotsugu swung his sword and said:

"You annoying fellow, stop spouting ugly minion speeches on this beautiful night."

"You! What did you say?"

(This is faster than I imagined, what a reliable pro technique.)

Shiroe looked to the vast forest on the right of the courtyard.

Everyone was standing on the road full of bright greenish white light and couldn't see deep into the bushes of the courtyard.

As Shiroe knew his companion was inside that bush.

"Fuck it! Enough! Hey, Sorcerer! Summoner! Use everything you got to burn them into crisp!"

The bandit leader decided to show his hidden cards and throw in his reserve forces.

(So there were two other mages. They might be able to kill us if they join the fray. Even though the Samurai fell, it is still 5 on 2 so he's confident thinking we will lose.)

Shiroe deduced the thinking of the bandit leader. But even the reserve forces were within Shiroe's expectations.

(They used a binding spell on Naotsugu right from the start, but only a warrior, two bandits and a healer turned up. They already let the cat out of the bag at that point in time.)

Shiroe already knew the PK group was holding a Mage in reserve standing by in the dense forest.

(Mages have low HP and defense, but they left them alone in the forest without a bodyguard. Which means…)

"Hey, hurry up! Kill these bastards!"

The bandit leader shouted in a panic while pointing his sword at Naotsugu. But the tip of his sword was more than a meter away from Naotsugu.

Shiroe and Naotsugu's tactics and weird atmosphere had depleted the morale of the PKers.

"Seems like we won."

"You are right, my lord."

A small figure appeared from behind the broad leaved tree.

Akatsuki with her usual serious expression dragged two Mages with her and dumped them on the road. The beautiful young girl shorter than 150cm in height throwing the PKers like trash made the bandit leader lose his composure.

"What, what, what are you doing? Why didn't you report in? H-healer! Didn't I tell you to manage our HP! Did, did you betray us…"

"This is why I said you're annoying."

The bandit leader's speech annoyed Naotsugu too much, and he knocked the leader with his shield. The leader lost his balance from this sudden attack and fell on his butt.

"It's better to trust your teammates. Your healer has been sleeping since the start of the battle."

Shiroe's cruel announcement could be heard on the whole road.

This was the spell Astral Hypnos.

The binding spell that was one of the two invaluable weapons of an Enchanter alongside Keen Edge. A magic that forced any target to fall asleep, a stoppage spell. It only lasted a dozen or so seconds no matter how you extended it.

The target would wake up when attacked, so it was a prank magic in a sense, used to buy some time.

Battle was a way of stripping each other of the ability to fight. The goal was to kill off the other party. Just putting the opponent to sleep wouldn't win you the fight. It was a spell that wouldn't affect the fight directly.

That was why Enchanters were seen as a 2nd-rate class.

"Do not underestimate my lord's magic."

"!"

The road had returned to silence all of a sudden.

The lightning balls had stopped sparkling after its duration ran out. Both bandits were sitting on the ground while the healer was sleeping soundly. Shiroe's group looked down at them.

"You underestimated the sparkles of the lightning balls, ignoring it because of its low damage. But having bright lights near your eyes obscured your vision of the forest's dark areas. You wouldn't see the situation in the forest or realize your healer was sleeping. You only think about fighting, your teamwork is full of loopholes. It is easy to assassinate your reserves."

After Akatsuki finished, Naotsugu swung down his sword as if he was looking forward to it. The long-haired bandit who had lost his fighting spirit screamed like a high-pitched whistle and died.

"We, will revive even after dying, we haven't lost yet!"

The bandit leader was still acting tough, but he couldn't move with Akatsuki's blade on his throat.

Akatsuki asked Shiroe with her eyes.

She was asking for permission to proceed.

Shiroe gave a long sigh.

Tying him up, robbing him of everything, and then interrogating him was possible. But Shiroe's nature was not suitable for interrogation, so he couldn't really do that.

(We can also let him go, but… Even if we do that…)

He probably wouldn't be grateful for that.

And he wouldn't take this as a lesson and repent.

He would definitely see it as an insult and bear a grudge. Death was just a ritual in this world anyway. It made one doubt there was a crime and punishment system like the real world.

Shiroe understood this.

But Shiroe still felt that one must not act without any regards to the law.

(There's no other way.)

Shiroe nodded at Akatsuki. She stuck the blade into the bandit leader's throat without hesitation. Blood that looked red and dirty in the dark night sprayed from his throat.

Akatsuki deftly turned her body to avoid the spray as gold and items dropped around the leader the leader.

This ended the attack of the PKers.

4

"So the rumors that security has gone bad are true."

Naotsugu, who was picking up the loot, commented and Shiroe shrugged in response. They had looked at ease before with the wild bandits, but it had not been an easy victory.

There had been six enemies after all. The enemies level had been high, even though they were not level 90 yet. Naotsugu who used defensive skills had lost half his HP.

If Akatsuki hadn't taken out the reserve forces in the darkness… No, if Akatsuki hadn't hidden her presence immediately when they were attacked, understanding what Shiroe had meant when he said 'I see four of them' and taken out the ambush party, who knows how the battle would have turned out.

Shiroe, Naotsugu, and even Akatsuki still had an ace up their sleeves. But to turn the tide of battle required a cool head. If they used their ace in a state of panic, they would still lose no matter how good that ace was. By keeping calm and playing their cards at the right time, they could maximize its effectiveness to obtain victory.

There were two reasons why Shiroe's party won. The first was the overconfidence of the PKers due to their advantage in numbers. The second was the better team work of Shiroe's group.

"Any other PKers hiding around here?"

Akatsuki asked in a gloomy tone while looking towards the cluster of abandoned buildings.

"That should be all of them."

Shiroe answered.

The most important thing about PKing was the element of surprise, so they needed an appropriate place to set up. There was the possibility of their target escaping into the city if they went further ahead, so it was not suitable to PK there.

(We need to stay alert though, it is getting dangerous out here.)

Shiroe thought there was another reason why they won.

Because they knew about the news of the deteriorating security in the city.

Shiroe's group had also heard rumors of rampant PKers roaming around.

They hid around the field zone surrounding Akiba and ambushed the unsuspecting under the cover of darkness. The group that they defeated seemed to have been experienced in PK to the extent that they were overconfident.

Shiroe's team kept their guard up while moving because they had heard the news and were wary of any shadows lurking in the bushes.

"They are the 'Dread Pack'? What a cliché name."

That was the guild name of the PK team they defeated, it probably meant they were a group that terrorizes others.

"Can't be helped, it would be too much to ask of PKers to come up with classy names."

Naotsugu displayed the disgust in his heart without reservation and Akatsuki agreed with him.

(Well, I am furious about this too.)

Shiroe sighed.

Naotsugu hated PKers, and Shiroe disliked them too.

There were many reasons to dislike them, but the main reason was that Shiroe simply found them unsightly.

Wanting to profit off other people's hard work was already an unsightly idea. The gold and items you could get through PK would not get you to the top levels, so Shiroe thought they were extremely unsightly.

Taking others' treasure meant they did not step into the high level zone that contained these rewards. Not only do you miss out on exploring unknown places and mysteries, you wouldn't run into treasures you had never seen before as well. You wouldn't be able to stand at the peak of adventures if you relied on PKing.

So PKers would always be relegated to parasite status, feeding off other people's rewards.

That was what Shiroe thought.

(… To criticize the personality of players while trapped in an alternate world… Maybe this is something that cannot be helped. Everyone has been pushed to the edge mentally.)

Regrettably, the situation of being on edge was becoming part of their daily lives, that was how this world was.

"I have also heard such rumors."

"Other than that, 'Tidal Clan', 'Blue Impact' and 'Canossa' are all into PK."

Shiroe answered Akatsuki's comment.

"I can understand people being freaked out, but even so… Shouldn't there be other things for them to do?"

"Like what?"

"Like chatting about panties."

Akatsuki took a step back.

She turned her head and looked around her before taking another step back.

"Two steps… She took two steps back… ?"

Naotsugu was depressed while Shiroe patted his shoulders to cheer him up. Naotsugu tried to describe the wonders of panties, but Akatsuki silenced him by saying 'Shut up, pervert'.

The power relations of the party had gradually been set.

(Other. Things. They. Should. Do…)

There was nothing to do, which was the current problem.

You could get by with cheap food if you just wanted to live.

Even if it was tasteless soggy crackers, there was nothing to complain if it kept you alive. In countries in the South East Asia region, states at war and cities facing famine had children starving to death with their eyes praying for food.

But they wouldn't face such a food crisis anytime soon.

Food could be crafted using ingredients in Elder Tales, and the ingredients could in turn be gathered from the field zones. Defeated monsters might drop meat, and mushrooms and berries could be plucked from the forest. You could fish in the sea and even cultivate and harvest plants.

He didn't know about this world, but Elder Tales had four seasons. It seemed to be summer now and food was everywhere out in the field.

So even a beginner who was less than level 10 could get food from the relatively safe field zones.

The issue lay with the low percentage of players with the Chef subclass to craft the food. But quite a number of players had changed their subclass to Chef in the past 10 days.

Having nutritious meals was the basics of survival and was a reasonable strategy.

It was the same with clothes.

They could get fur by skinning beasts or make sheets of clothes using silk or hemp. If you were not picky about the stats of the equipment, production players could make one cloth in a few dozen seconds. Daily necessities like shoes could be produced by Tailors, Blacksmiths or Carpenters. Normal sized equipment could be created by these craftsmen, while small and fine products were made by Artisans.

As for accommodation, you could spend the night in any abandoned building if you weren't too concerned with safety or comfort.

A night in a cheap hotel cost 5 gold, but even a level 10 player could get that money by defeating a few goblins. You could also opt to rent a place at a nice hotel for months or purchase a space such as a guild hall as a group. You could buy a room by yourself too, there were many ways to secure a place to sleep.

In other words, just surviving in this alternate world didn't require you to risk your life or work long hours.

There were no dire situations if you just wanted to survive.

(But rather than living, this is more like 'not dying'.)

Shiroe thought this type of noncompetitive environment caused the players to lose their goal in life, meaning they had nothing to do.

This was a very free alternate world.

It might be too liberal.

Naotsugu would probably have said 'The objective of living? Things we should do? This should be decided and worked on by ourselves, right? Such as discussing or protecting girls. Just like what panties ladies wear should be decided by themselves. ' There was nothing wrong with this view, and Shiroe didn't want to object it.

But some might agree while others wouldn't.

If people didn't set a goal and work towards it, it was easy for them to be tempted onto the wrong path. There were such people everywhere, like the ones who boosted their ego by bullying others.

(It's the same with PK. There are many simple and safe ways to live in this world. If you just want to survive, there is no need to earn lots of cash or resort to PKing.)

Hence, PKing was not a means of staying alive. For instance in poor countries, people might be forced to become robbers to feed themselves. But PK was totally different from that.

For these people, PKing was something they felt they should do. A means to give them enjoyment apart from just staying alive. This made Shiroe feel that PK was even more unsightly.

"Wait a minute, wah!"

Naotsugu yelled.

"What is it?"

"These guys only have 62 gold combined, just how poor are they?"

"But the items they have are not too bad."

Naotsugu and Akatsuki had accounted for all the drop items and gold. The loot seemed pretty disappointing.

"PKing carries a high risk. Unless they're stupid, they will just bring the bare necessities. The rest of their stuff should be in the bank. What we see here are items they robbed from others."

The two of them sighed deeply at Shiroe's comment.

5

It was almost midnight when they reached Akiba.

The streets seemed to be full of killing intent.

The city center, consisting of the metro city square, major road junction, and a bridge, was filled with stalls as usual. The crowd was substantial there as well, but the darker outskirts of the city and the dim alleys of the ruins had suspicious players. They were wary of others and kept a distance from people when walking the streets.

(Security really is going bad…)

Shiroe's group had been heading to the field zone to hunt monsters these past few days.

It was crucial to share your information in the city ever since that terrible event. Issues regarding eating, sleeping, the basic mechanism and structure of this world, there were many things they needed to confirm.

After gathering this basic data, Shiroe's group had decided to find out about the field zones and how much battle had changed.

This was the policy the 3 of them had come up with, but it was taking a longer time than expected.

Using magic and skills was vastly different than mastering them. Shiroe and Naotsugu already had this idea, and Akatsuki was also gaining this viewpoint as time passed.

The bigger the difference between using and mastering, the more time it took to make up the difference through practice. Confirming the features of each skill, researching its uses, and experimenting with it. The amount of data in Elder Tales was enough to make beginners cry, but it was double… No, several times more in this alternate world.

Take Cross Slash, for instance.

This was a basic combo attack of Guardians, striking a foe twice in the shape of a cross. Guardians learned this early since it was a basic skill and they had many opportunities to use it. According to Naotsugu, there were five ways to activate this skill.

"Slashing from top right to bottom left, then strike up vertically is the basics. But you can also start with top left to bottom right, which suits left handers better. You can also do a horizontal slice followed by a vertical cut."

That's how it was.

This skill, or rather this basic battle movement, had already been saved inside their body. Based on the two fighting class players, Naotsugu and Akatsuki, if you had the will to fight and could see your enemies' movements, your body would act automatically.

But you needed lots of practice to tie down the delicate movements. There was no telling if practicing like real world martial artists would work, but the weapon wielding duo was the same as Shiroe. They had to go through the process of research, experimentation and adjustment.

For ranged attack spells, aiming with your staff would raise your accuracy than solely using hotkeys. This was also something Shiroe found out through experimenting.

Apart from finding trivial but crucial things when using skills, it would be hard to use it on the enemy without practicing teamwork as well.

The three of them had the roles of tank, hitter, and support command, but teamwork was more than just completing your assigned tasks.

Naotsugu needed to find ways to aggro the enemy, leaving his allies free to work. Akatsuki also needed to accumulate knowledge and experience, knowing which of Naotsugu's attacks would expose the opponent's weak point.

The burden on Shiroe was even heavier.

He needed to know what his comrades could and couldn't do to command effectively. He needed to know their habits and even breathing patterns to increase the completeness of their formation. He had countless things to investigate and remember, which would take time for him to master. This was the daily life of Shiroe's party.

Maryele and the Crescent Moon Alliance had also been a great help towards Shiroe's group.

Crescent Moon Alliance was set up with the objective of mutual support. They had few high level players, but they had more manpower as they were a guild, able to send people to farm in the field zone and collate intelligence from the streets at the same time.

The guild was divided into 3 shifts, taking turns to harvest resources in the field, buy materials, and get information on the streets, or craft items with production skills. Doing things in shifts seemed more efficient.

As they had agreed, Shiroe's team would be getting data on the level 60 and above zones in exchange for information Maryele's group canvassed on the streets. They would also trade high level items in exchange for food and equipment.

They were working hard in the area they were good at and sharing the results.

(Mary-nee mentioned some people are really stressed out… probably has something to do with the PKing.)

Shiroe sighed at this deduction because this was second hand information he got from Maryele. But since he had experienced PK himself, this should be a fact.

The interior of the metro provided shelter from the rain, making it an excellent place to set up shops. Shiroe's party passed through it and headed for the city square in front of the metro. There should have been an open air promenade in the real world here, but it was just a vast area overgrown with moss and grass in this alternate world.

Although the surrounding buildings were desolated, the first floor of every one of them was occupied by a shop. The majority of Akiba's commercial facilities were located here.

Like the marketplace NPC that helped the players to trade, the Blacksmith and Tailor teachers aided the production beginners. Other than teaching the basic skills, they would also provide free access to their furnace and sewing tables.

Most of the items in this world came from monsters or treasure chests in dungeons. They may also have been crafted by production players. To assist the low level players on their adventures, NPCs would also sell basic weapons and armors.

The commercial facilities around the city square also had such merchant NPCs.

The NPC population in this world was much larger than in the game. The players had been shocked at first, but got used to it over time.

They hadn't done a proper headcount, but there were about 6-10 times more than in the game.

The basic services in the city area followed that of the game and was available 24 hours. But the NPCs still needed to eat and rest, so the increase in population was probably because of the need to work on shifts.

They lived according to their own timetable and stayed in their residence above their shops. But they didn't buy player crafted goods or magic items, so it was hard to judge whether they were involved in this world's economy.

Unlike in the game, the actions of these NPCs were similar to that of humans. You might mistake them for players if you didn't check with your status screen.

"Want to buy something? Or eat something?"

Naotsugu asked Akatsuki in a feeble voice.

"Ah, what shall we do, my lord?"

Akatsuki asked Shiroe in an indifferent tone. They were not motivated by the prospect of eating and got gloomy during meal time.

"Yeah… Hold on first, let's make a trip over to see if Mary-nee is still awake."

Shiroe had decided. Even if the food tasted the same at Crescent Moon Alliance, eating at Maryele's place was still better. The atmosphere's impact on a meal couldn't be underestimated.

They had loot from hunting monsters and fighting the PKers, so they could sell it to Crescent Moon Alliance. It would then be crafted into items and flow back into the market, into the market, giving it back to the community.

Shiroe opened his menu and called Maryele via telepathy.

Maryele should still be awake at this hour, but her answering speed seemed too fast.

"Yo Shiro-bouyan, where are you?"

"Back in the city."

Maryele's greeting was the same as always, but it seemed a bit more anxious.

"Come over to my guild."

"Is it convenient? Not sleeping yet?"

"I was just thinking of contacting you. Anyway, just come over."

"Convenient for Naotsugu and Akatsuki to tag along?"

Shiroe had introduced Naotsugu and Akatsuki to Maryele when interacting with Crescent Moon Alliance. The trio visited the guild quite often and even joined some members to battle monsters, so they were all familiar faces there.

"Of course, that will be even better. I will wait for you guys."

The call ended. Shiroe had felt hectic signs in the background while conversing with Maryele. It seemed like Crescent Moon Alliance was still active this late at night.

"What is it, Shiro?"

Naotsugu, who sensed something different about Shiroe, asked casually. Naotsugu showed kindness in these small matters. Shiroe was secretly impressed as he turned to face the two and said:

"Let's make a trip to Crescent Moon Alliance, seems like something is up."

Part 6

There was an air of panic in the guild hall of Crescent Moon Alliance. The one leading the way was a young healer that gave the impression of a puppy. After ushering the trio into guild master Maryele's room, he turned and left in a hurry.

Maryele's room was even messier than their last visit, but she managed to squeeze out a place for her guests and prepare tea for them.

Henrietta was still hard at work tidying the office. It was close to midnight, but there was no sense of peace and quiet here.

The youths were carrying items, and the members were accounting for weapons. The atmosphere felt uneasy; it was as if they were packing for a journey.

"Sorry for the mess Shiroe-sama… Hold it. Wah, isn't this Akatsuki-chan!"

Henrietta dropped her broom upon seeing Akatsuki and rushed over to hug her. Henrietta had a thing for cute little girls, and Akatsuki was just her type. She always acted like this ever since they met.

Henrietta was of average height for females, so Akatsuki was shorter than her by half a head. Akatsuki looked like a black cat annoyed by her master's adoration when Henrietta hugged her.

"Welcome back, everyone. It's a bit messy here, hope you don't mind."

Maryele glanced at Naotsugu and Akatsuki before winking at Shiroe. Shiroe breathed a sigh of relief at her mischievous demeanor.

"What happened, Mary-nee?"

"An… anyway, don't rush me, sit, let me serve you water, water that looks like tea hehehehe…"

The 3 sat in response to Maryele's invitation.

Shiroe and Naotsugu sat on the couch while Akatsuki sat on a backless sofa, as Henrietta was still embracing her from behind.

"… Ah… Erm."

Everyone was seated, but Maryele still couldn't find the words to say. Shiroe waited quietly for quite a while before speaking out.

"Going for an expedition?"

"Yeah."

"To where?"

"Hmmm, should I say Ezzo? Anyway, we are going to Susukino."

Susukino was one of the 5 major cities in Elder Tales.

A zone under the management of the Japanese server.

Under the Half-Gaia project, the position and shape of the path between Akiba and Susukino were similar, but the distance was half, and the area was a quarter.

The virtual Japan in Elder Tales, known as Yamato, was divided into 5 states. Real-world Hokkaido was the Ezzo Empire, Shikoku was the Fourland Dukedom, Kyuushuu was the Ninetails Dominion, eastern Japan's main island was the League of Freedom Towns Eastal, and the western part was the Holy Empire Westelande.

There were tens of thousands of players living in Yamato that was equivalent to real world Japan. There were also numerous NPCs known as the People of the Land living in many cities, towns, and countless villages.

5 of these cities were in a league of their own.

Susukino, Shibuya, Akiba, Minami, and Nakasu.

As places that could be chosen as starter cities, the commercial facilities were excellent and the surrounding area was suitable for beginners, with lower level monsters. There were lots of simple quests, and there were cathedrals for players to respawn should they fall in battle. All these advantages made these cities a good base of operation.

The 5 cities were also connected by the intercity transport gate, so players could move around with ease.

That was before the disaster happened.

The players were gradually referring to this incident as the Apocalypse. Some called this the teleportation, summoning, or sliding into an alternate world. But as the actual situation remained unknown, Apocalypse was the term most frequently used.

Shiroe thought the term Apocalypse sounded better than alternate world teleportation. If you used the word teleport or summon, it was almost like giving up on the possibility of going back. Shiroe had this concern as well, that's probably why most people chose the term Apocalypse instead.

"Any news of the intercity transport gate getting repaired?"

"No one is repairing, we don't know if it's broken or not."

Maryele became more cheerful after starting the conversation and explained the situation to Shiroe's group.

"As I mentioned before, Crescent Moon Alliance is a small guild. We have gotten some new members recently, so our numbers are 24 with most of us here in this building. But we have a female member, Serara, currently in Susukino. She is a cute Druid, a level 19 beginner in Crescent Moon Alliance. Eh, this kind of personal data is not important. She is a bit shy and weak in character, but wants to experience running a business and plays Elder Tales to do that, a unique person."

Maryele gazed downwards as she spoke.

"Serara was in Susukino the day the Apocalypse happened. There was a group recruiting players around level 20 for a raid, so Serara decided to join them to train since others in the guild were busy… She was playing around with the raid party in Susukino when the Apocalypse happened. With the intercity transport gate down, Serara got stuck there."

Henrietta added after Maryele and sighed deeply.

"Going over to bring her back?"

Maryele and Henrietta nodded when Shiroe asked.

"I'm not sure, but has any player gone over to Susukino since the Apocalypse?"

Akatsuki asked on behalf of the group.

Shiroe was also thinking about this.

Without the intercity gate, there were only 2 other ways to travel.

Using the Fairy Rings scattered around the region to teleport to other places, or traveling on foot zone by zone.

Fairy Rings were a teleportation device located in the field zones, a magic circle formed by several boulders. You could teleport from one Fairy Ring to another, a teleportation network in the world of Elder Tales.

The connections between Fairy Rings were affected by the lunar cycle using a complicated formula. If you were familiar with it, you could complete your journey in a very short time. But using it at the wrong time would teleport you to unknown places.

"As far as I know, no one has attempted that. No one has the energy to spare as they go through each day and they don't have the heart to care about other cities, which is understandable. Using Fairy Rings without consulting online guides is suicidal. If you want to travel by horse or foot to Susukino, you need to prepare for a journey of 2 weeks with several obstacles along the way. It is not a trip you can make out of simple curiosity."

Maryele had analyzed the situation well.

Before the Apocalypse, players were free to roam around the Japanese server, some stronger players even made expeditions to Korea or China.

This was because of the intercity transport gate within the 5 major cities and the Fairy Rings together with online guides provided them with a convenient and instant transportation tool.

There was also no concept of camping outdoors when this was just a game. No matter how far you were going, you could just log out at a safe area or use 'Call of Home' to return to a city.

"Wait a minute, if you use 'Call of Home'… Ah, I forgot the crucial point."

"That's right, if a player enters a city with a cathedral, the checkpoint for 'Call of Home' will be updated accordingly. If Serara uses 'Call of Home', she will just warp to Susukino… She won't return here."

'Call of Home' was an instantaneous transport spell every player could use in Elder Tales, warping you to the last of the 5 major cities you had visited. The casting time was several minutes and could only be used once every 24 hours, not suitable for use during battles. For the game, it was normally used when the player decided to call it a day and returned to the city before logging out.

But the young girl would just return to Susukino after casting this spell, which was her current location. And the intercity transport gate was still not functioning.

You wouldn't know the destination of the Fairy Rings without checking the online guides, so it could also not be used.

"Why are you mounting a rescue now?"

Akatsuki had finally started on the main topic.

Shiroe expected this to be the core question.

"Because…"

"Ah, because, erm… We were planning to bring her back, it's scary to be alone in the northern border, correct?"

Henrietta wanted to speak, but something was holding her back, and her arms gripped Akatsuki stronger. Maryele who had interrupted her seemed to be carefully choosing her words when explaining.

"… Mary-nee."

"Don't look at people with your sharp eyes, Shiroe, you won't be popular with the ladies if you do that, alright?"

"Mary-nee."

Maryele seemed to be changing the topic, so Shiroe asked her again.

"Eh… yeah, the security in Susukino seems to be worse than here. Ah, forget it, it's not 'seems like' or 'appears to be'. The security in Susukino is definitely bad… Serara is being harassed by nasty guys."

In this girly room with the pastel pink decor, her words sounded foreboding.

The city was a non-combat zone.

Offensive weapons and magic were prohibited, confining or trapping another player character was also banned.

But not all crimes were against the law, and even such crimes could still be carried out. But there were some things that were nastier than PK for a low level girl.

Things that didn't exist in the programming of the game weren't restricted by the developers, but it might be possible to carry them out in this alternate world.

"…"

Akatsuki's intimidating silence came from her correctly grasping the meaning behind 'harass'.

"Ah, it's not that bad yet. But Susukino has less than 2000 players, so it's hard to hide in the city with such a low population, right? She is also guild member, so we need to rescue her, correct? It's embarrassing, but I want to discuss something with you, we have many kids in our guild, right? They are all good kids, but not too reliable yet. We need to send our best players out, or we won't make it to Ezzo. So while we are away, could you help me… look after the kids here?"

"You don't need to spend all your time here, we have a sorcerer Aizel, right? The tall boy with blue hair. He will lead the rest of the children. Marie, battle team leader Shouryuu and myself will do all we can for this expedition. It is a willful request, and we are anxious about this too… But Shiroe-sama, Naotsugu-sama… Akatsuki-chan, can you take care of this guild for a short while?"

Maryele and Henrietta lowered their heads pleading for their assistance.

Shiroe looked at the two ladies bowing before him.

He held his breath.

His mind became silent.

But it was still noisy.

He wanted to stop his blood from flowing if possible.

His mind turned furiously.

His focus called forth lightning from the darkness.

In the real world, Tokyo and Sapporo were 850km apart, which was 425km under the Half-Gaia project in this world. Maryele's party would be traveling by horse and foot, some of the roads were still serviceable. But most of the zones consisted of uneven plains and hills.

Under the best condition, they could move about 50km per day, but it would be a blessing if they managed half of that every day. No, considering the fact they would be facing monsters, getting 25km would be a challenge.

If they moved 20km per day, they would reach Susukino in 21 days. A round trip would take a month and a half. Maryele was too optimistic about this.

His body temperature dropped about 3 degrees.

The instincts that supported Shiroe came up with a view.

A view akin to a premonition.

Maryele's journey would fail.

They prepared as well as they could. They were a bit lacking in levels, but they were taking on this challenge with the elites of Crescent Moon Alliance. They would be forming a full party of 6 with an excellent healer coming along.

But Shiroe felt this was an issue beyond the dimension of levels.

Shiroe was an introvert, and people said he overthought things.

This usually meant delusional thoughts that went all over the place, regardless of boundaries. But Shiroe had a balance scale in his heart as a secret weapon. Shiroe would use this device to ruthlessly measure the strength of his allies.

Shiroe considered the suggestions he could give Maryele.

There were 12.

He analyzed each of them.

About half of them were useful.

They could shorten the time needed or improve their chances.

Using the eliminated ideas to think of new proposals, he came up with 4.

He went through the plausibility of carrying them out.

He struck off half and added in new elements to the remaining proposals and recalibrated them. The path of his thoughts was like a flash of light leading into the domains of subconsciousness. Shiroe could only feel his thoughts by following the path of light.

(But…)

Advice? Proposals?

Did they want such things? No, did he have the authority to push his ideas on them in the first place? He couldn't take on the responsibility, did he have the right to hold such expectations?

Calculation… Practicability… Authority… Expectation.

That's right, expectation.

What was he hoping for? What did he want to do?

As his thoughts evolved slowly into words of this extent, Shiroe's consciousness returned to his body. He raised his gaze as if directed by something and saw Naotsugu and Akatsuki nodding their heads in show of support.

"Say it, Shiro."

"Your turn to speak, my lord"

If he would think about it another 5 seconds, Shiroe wouldn't be able to move. He would be lost in his thoughts and responsibilities, falling into the trap thinking 'It is arrogant to involve myself in the affairs of another guild'.

But the Shiroe in this moment was like a sailboat pushed forth by the wind of his companions Naotsugu and Akatsuki. He said naturally:

"We will go."

"Hmmm?"

"The best option is for us to go."

"We can't possibly trouble you to do that, Shiro-bou!"

Shiroe decisively ignored Maryele's objection as he turned to face his comrades.

"Of course!" "Leave it to us and my lord."

The two comrades answered with perfect timing. Naotsugu and Akatsuki stood up as if the debate was over.

"We will go on this expedition, Marie-san and everyone else will stay here. Asking us to take care of the kids is impossible."

"A shinobi does not know the word 'failure'."

Maryele sat on the couch stunned with her mouth open looking at Shiroe. Shiroe was unable to look straight at her.

This was embarrassing. Shiroe regretted saying something so arrogant like 'The best option is for us to go'. There should have been a better way to put it, right? Maryele was definitely dumbstruck. Shiroe blushed deeply as he thought about it.

(She has the look that says 'What is this child saying?' What, what am I doing? I'm acting like an arrogant fool!)

He was left with only the embarrassment of acting cool. Shiroe who was seeing stars suppressed his emotions and said with conviction:

"We ride at dawn. Maryele, Henrietta, leave this to us."

Share