Translator: Kurehashi Aiko
Editor: ryunakama
Chapter 189: Running From Four to Five Part 1
For today I have planned an exciting seafood tour! When it comes to the enemies you encounter during the day, they may not look fresh in the least, but surprisingly enough they drop fresh ingredients when you kill them! So its not really a zombie hunt right about now, but rather a seafood hunt!
「Oh, won’t you look at that! It’s the rare enemy, the Seafood Emperor! Hahaha, but this time around I see that you have managed to absorb nothing more but fish!」
I have heard that female anglerfish tend to devour their partners, but does that mean the female anglerfish can devour males of other races? It was really scary to think about it. I know that Chimeras are technically mutants, but is it really okay for them to inherit such characteristics? …… And is that really a Rare Enemy? I get the feeling that its encounter rate is way bigger than other Rare Enemies out there.
But compared to other games this is really amazing. Take United Rounds for example. Some Rare Enemies in that game were so rare that you would have a better luck at finding Tsuchinoko is your local forest rather than encountering Rare Enemies…… And the ratio? One Rare Enemy every few hundred normal encounters, give or take.
But when you actually managed to encounter one, it turns out that it was so difficult to defeat that it actually felt like you were fighting an indestructible object. However, even those things were killable with just the right strategy, and actually killing one was so satisfying that you would not believe.
Anyways, I had no time to spare right now, not even the small amount to check the items descriptions. I was just slashing, and slashing, and slashing away at the fish that came under my blade…… Sometimes it was even scaring me just how ruthless in terms of item farming efficiency I could be.
「You’re in the way, Twintails! Get lost!」
「The upper half of it may look human, but you still managed to kick it away so effortlessly and without giving it much thought! You are truly a ruthless person, Sanraku-san!」
「In my eyes they all look like oversized sandbags right about now! Eat this sucker!」
More often than not people tend to complain that once they achieve certain goals in any given MMO out there, there is not that much things for them to do or goals to accomplish. But right now, I had a goal that I was going to accomplish: to line up my pockets with as much cash and items as I possibly could!
「Fuhaha, fuahahaha, fuhahahahahahahahaha!!!」
Long straight black hair! Blonde twin tails! Short silver bob haircut! They are all effectively cash and items and materials in my eyes right about now!
「Please don’t get me wrong but…… Sometimes, I cannot help it but wonder if you are not… How to put this lightly? A little bit touched to the head?」
「It’s alright. They may not taste all that good, but fighting them sure is a memorable experience.」
Hahaha. Is it not just straight up laughable when the NPC tries to preach something to the player that the player already knows?
You would think that I would get enough, but no! The seafood tour around the underwater city never ends! During the daytime, I was hacking and slashing and slicing at the rotten zombie-fish people, but not at night! Night is a different matter altogether! This time I am rampaging against fresh fish, the opponents that are not the least bit rotten anywhere! And that fact alone is causing me to want to go on an even bigger rampage some more!
「J-Just take a look at this thing! The way it looks, almost like the Seafood Emperor…… You think it’s its mother or something!?」
「It’s an ‘Enslaving Carrier Angler! Do you really wish to challenge that thing!?」
Mumbling such things in an embarrassed voice, with Emul still sitting on top of my head I look up to see the monster towering over us in the air above.
Arctus Regalex was a train of a monster.
The Reaperorca was like a combination. It was a monster with defenses of a tank and firepower of a battle-experienced battleship.
So now, to what exactly we could compare this here Enslaving Carrier Angler? Hahaha, if you were able to see it with your own eyes you would get it right away.
「Hey there, Seafood Emperor’s mom! Just so you know, your child was freaking delicious!」
「Oh shit, this guy might really have a screw or two loose in that head of his……」
「Say, Emul? This thing is crazy big, but that should also mean that it is going to drop a whole lot of items and materials, wouldn’t you say?」
「You really have something seriously wrong going on with your head! There’s no doubt about it!!」
There was a one huge monster out there and a swarm of smaller monsters surrounding it on all sides. They weren’t all that big, but their shape was long and thin, with wide and long fins that made them resemble small airplanes, the likes of which aircraft carriers would carry on their decks. Oh, and they had teeth. Lots and lots of sharp teeth.
Oh yeah, that’s right, that’s it. If you weren’t calling this thing an ‘aircraft carrier’ then how else would you call it? I’m genuinely curious.
「Hey Alva. In your honest opinion, how strong do you think that thing is?」
「…… So strong that the only thing that can easily defeat it in open combat is Deep See Emperor, a creature leaving inside of the ‘Underwater Forest’.
I see, now that he said it I would most definitely like to see that Underwater Forest with my own eyes someday…… But oh well. If that means we would have a rather hard or downright impossible time with it…… this means I want to try. Besides, it’s not that we have anything better to do at the current moment. And just think about the drop items!
「Take a look at that. The things that are coming from over there. If this huge monster is an aircraft carrier, does that mean the smaller ones are torpedoes? Or maybe destroyers? Suicide boats? How about giving it a shot?」
On your marks! Take aim! And…… FIRE!!!
「Good…… Uooaah, good mornin’……」
「I was wondering about that, but could it be that Sanraku is not that much of a morning person? He was pretty much acting the same way when we have met for the first time in Fiftsia.」
「Nah, it’s not that. It’s just that…… The fucking aircraft carrier took way more time to sink than you would have initially expected.」
「Are we talking about this game right here? Or maybe some other game that you are playing on the side?」
Of course it’s a story from ShanFro. What else were you expecting? Unfortunately both Alva and Emul were overtaken by fatigue, so for now they are resting in the safehouse, while I’m getting ready for the incoming boss battle.
Translator: Kurehashi Aiko
Editor: ryunakama
Chapter 189: Running From Four to Five Part 2
You could say that I could have taken some caffeine in order to give myself some boost, but since we have no way of knowing how it will go on the seventh day, I need to save some of it for the big day.
「So? How did returning to sanity went? You managed to succeed?」
「Well, I did the best I could, but unfortunately……」
「Ahaha, Ufufu……」
Ahh, I see. The results was all smiles.
Rust was sitting in the corner of the room, looking and behaving unusually quiet for herself. There was also that big, idiot-like smile plastered to her face at all times. It was the kind of smile that would even put a baby’s one to shame, and kids are known for smiling genuinely at everything and everyone, since they are not aware of the harsh reality of the real world.
「No, really now, it was much worse yesterday, please believe me…… She was spouting some nonsense all the time about going on a muscle-strengthening journey to make absolutely sure that she would not die before the sequel to Nephilim Hollow comes out.」
Look, I can definitely understand the feeling, but I can’t really say that I have ever experienced it for myself. So I cannot really relate to her all that much. I don’t really look forward to any game releases, mainly because I keep my enthusiasm in check until the reviews are finally in.
And that she wanted to become strong? Good luck with that, you’ll need a whole lot of mental fortitude not to go crazy from waiting until the game gets delivered to you after its premiere.
「You think she’ll be of any use to us in such state?」
「It’s okay. She was practicing all this time in VR for a day like that to come around. Both here in ShanFro and some previous games that she played…… So no need to worry about her.」
I guess that all-smiles Rust gets a pass for now, but the one that I am really concerned about is in fact Mold.
When I asked him that he only replied with a somewhat ambiguous smile…… Well, in the long run it does not matter all that much. We are all players here, and since dying is of no real consequence, we can die during the boss fights without reservations.
「The place we shall be heading towards will be the Lulilas’s South Tower…… The one housing the boss that nullifies all ranged-attacks.」
However, it’s not like I was sure about that property of the boss. After all, it was Rust who happened to witness it with her own eyes. We could technically sacrifice one run just to see if it was indeed like that, but first and foremost goal was still getting rid of the boss. That goal remains unchanged.
「We’re dealing with a ‘Barnacle’ and ‘Fishmen Couple’ here. And since we do not have a valid strategy fleshed out, it’s going to be hard determining the damage, as well as the aggro. This is going to be once heck of a fight here.」
It’s not that we cannot create an effective tank for the upcoming boss fights. It’s about the resource consumption. So many items are needed for tanking effectively that you cannot really allow yourself to waste them on mid-tier bosses.
We do have the possible last resort strategy of tanking: someone would just run around and collect aggro, while Emul strapped to their head would keep shooting his magic. But as far as I am concerned, I would like to avoid having to turn to that strategy if we could help it.
「Besides, I would like to avoid having to get Emul involved in those fights as much as possible.」
It’s simply way too dangerous.
「Alright, let’s go beat ourselves some boss, shall we? Come on now, Rust, I need you to come back to me, get your shit together. We have work to do.」
「The air is so delicious!」
「………」
Is it really going to be okay?
Let us review what we know before the operation begins.
The provisional name ‘Snail’ has the potential ability to nullify all ranged attacks, no matter if they are normal attack or skill.
In order to succeed in this battle close ranged attacks are a necessity, that is why Yours Truly, Sanraku, is going to be in charge of the attacking as well as aggro management.
Waiting at the distance is going to be Rust, who will also look out for an opportunity to get up close and personal with the snail, so that she can dish out some bow damage from close range.
In this setting Mold will work as a support for Rust. And since it would be quite troublesome if the boss started to focus him during the fight, Mold should stay away and avoid any combat actions himself, instead focusing solely on casting buffs and debuffs.
「We shall call this operation…… ‘Shell digging’.」
「Even though we are not really sure if it’s a snail or not……」
「Mold, those are mere details. You don’t have to worry about them too much, because that is not how we roll in here, okay?」
Anyways, Team Nephilim Hollow, ready to roll out! Each one of us grabs a hold of our weapons and we invade the inside of one of the remaining towers.
「………」
「I see, so it’s actually a ‘Snail’. Who would have thought?」
No, no, no. Sure thing, Clione also seemed humanoid to me until it did not show its true colors. Apparently all of the bosses in here are pretending to be humanoid in shape.
Hey, I mean, I once fought a giant robot dressed up as a Japanese samurai. But this here was quite the opposite. This monster looked pretty much like the Western knight. Although it was covered in barnacles and seashells, what stood out the most here was the fact that it had a giant snail in place where its head should normally be.
I was also trying to imagine how this thing would look like without its shell, but no matter how I was trying to wrap my head around it……
「Ammonite…… At least that’s how I see it.」
「Rust was betting on nautilus, or maybe a snail. Ammonite was also there, but she did not wanted to say it for certain without a decisive proof. 」
「There are many strange things that could be pointed out here, but…… Oh well, like interpersonal skills are going to be of any use against humanoid monsters.」
As for the weapon the boss was wielding, it looked pretty much like a rapier, but it was spiral in shape and covered in a whole bunch of shell-like thorns…… Also, there was a cutlass in its other hand, clearly made for being used by humans. Upon seeing us the boss assumed the battle position.
Two sword user, huh? This is going to be fun, Ammonite Knight. There is certainly something romantic in dual wielding two different types of weapons. However, no matter a normal opponent, player or a boss monster, I won’t let anyone to outclass me when it comes to dual wielding.
「Just like we have discussed before, I’ll be in charge of taking this guy down.」
「Are you alright? It might not be an Evasion Tank, but still its defensive power……」
I know that it was a point of concern, but still I replied with a smile on my face:
「Compared to the Wezaemon, who was almost impossible to overcome, those things are nothing.」
Now then, let us start the hunt.
Translator: Kurehashi Aiko
Editor: ryunakama
Chapter 189: Running From Four to Five Part 1
For today I have planned an exciting seafood tour! When it comes to the enemies you encounter during the day, they may not look fresh in the least, but surprisingly enough they drop fresh ingredients when you kill them! So its not really a zombie hunt right about now, but rather a seafood hunt!
「Oh, won’t you look at that! It’s the rare enemy, the Seafood Emperor! Hahaha, but this time around I see that you have managed to absorb nothing more but fish!」
I have heard that female anglerfish tend to devour their partners, but does that mean the female anglerfish can devour males of other races? It was really scary to think about it. I know that Chimeras are technically mutants, but is it really okay for them to inherit such characteristics? …… And is that really a Rare Enemy? I get the feeling that its encounter rate is way bigger than other Rare Enemies out there.
But compared to other games this is really amazing. Take United Rounds for example. Some Rare Enemies in that game were so rare that you would have a better luck at finding Tsuchinoko is your local forest rather than encountering Rare Enemies…… And the ratio? One Rare Enemy every few hundred normal encounters, give or take.
But when you actually managed to encounter one, it turns out that it was so difficult to defeat that it actually felt like you were fighting an indestructible object. However, even those things were killable with just the right strategy, and actually killing one was so satisfying that you would not believe.
Anyways, I had no time to spare right now, not even the small amount to check the items descriptions. I was just slashing, and slashing, and slashing away at the fish that came under my blade…… Sometimes it was even scaring me just how ruthless in terms of item farming efficiency I could be.
「You’re in the way, Twintails! Get lost!」
「The upper half of it may look human, but you still managed to kick it away so effortlessly and without giving it much thought! You are truly a ruthless person, Sanraku-san!」
「In my eyes they all look like oversized sandbags right about now! Eat this sucker!」
More often than not people tend to complain that once they achieve certain goals in any given MMO out there, there is not that much things for them to do or goals to accomplish. But right now, I had a goal that I was going to accomplish: to line up my pockets with as much cash and items as I possibly could!
「Fuhaha, fuahahaha, fuhahahahahahahahaha!!!」
Long straight black hair! Blonde twin tails! Short silver bob haircut! They are all effectively cash and items and materials in my eyes right about now!
「Please don’t get me wrong but…… Sometimes, I cannot help it but wonder if you are not… How to put this lightly? A little bit touched to the head?」
「It’s alright. They may not taste all that good, but fighting them sure is a memorable experience.」
Hahaha. Is it not just straight up laughable when the NPC tries to preach something to the player that the player already knows?
You would think that I would get enough, but no! The seafood tour around the underwater city never ends! During the daytime, I was hacking and slashing and slicing at the rotten zombie-fish people, but not at night! Night is a different matter altogether! This time I am rampaging against fresh fish, the opponents that are not the least bit rotten anywhere! And that fact alone is causing me to want to go on an even bigger rampage some more!
「J-Just take a look at this thing! The way it looks, almost like the Seafood Emperor…… You think it’s its mother or something!?」
「It’s an ‘Enslaving Carrier Angler! Do you really wish to challenge that thing!?」
Mumbling such things in an embarrassed voice, with Emul still sitting on top of my head I look up to see the monster towering over us in the air above.
Arctus Regalex was a train of a monster.
The Reaperorca was like a combination. It was a monster with defenses of a tank and firepower of a battle-experienced battleship.
So now, to what exactly we could compare this here Enslaving Carrier Angler? Hahaha, if you were able to see it with your own eyes you would get it right away.
「Hey there, Seafood Emperor’s mom! Just so you know, your child was freaking delicious!」
「Oh shit, this guy might really have a screw or two loose in that head of his……」
「Say, Emul? This thing is crazy big, but that should also mean that it is going to drop a whole lot of items and materials, wouldn’t you say?」
「You really have something seriously wrong going on with your head! There’s no doubt about it!!」
There was a one huge monster out there and a swarm of smaller monsters surrounding it on all sides. They weren’t all that big, but their shape was long and thin, with wide and long fins that made them resemble small airplanes, the likes of which aircraft carriers would carry on their decks. Oh, and they had teeth. Lots and lots of sharp teeth.
Oh yeah, that’s right, that’s it. If you weren’t calling this thing an ‘aircraft carrier’ then how else would you call it? I’m genuinely curious.
「Hey Alva. In your honest opinion, how strong do you think that thing is?」
「…… So strong that the only thing that can easily defeat it in open combat is Deep See Emperor, a creature leaving inside of the ‘Underwater Forest’.
I see, now that he said it I would most definitely like to see that Underwater Forest with my own eyes someday…… But oh well. If that means we would have a rather hard or downright impossible time with it…… this means I want to try. Besides, it’s not that we have anything better to do at the current moment. And just think about the drop items!
「Take a look at that. The things that are coming from over there. If this huge monster is an aircraft carrier, does that mean the smaller ones are torpedoes? Or maybe destroyers? Suicide boats? How about giving it a shot?」
On your marks! Take aim! And…… FIRE!!!
「Good…… Uooaah, good mornin’……」
「I was wondering about that, but could it be that Sanraku is not that much of a morning person? He was pretty much acting the same way when we have met for the first time in Fiftsia.」
「Nah, it’s not that. It’s just that…… The fucking aircraft carrier took way more time to sink than you would have initially expected.」
「Are we talking about this game right here? Or maybe some other game that you are playing on the side?」
Of course it’s a story from ShanFro. What else were you expecting? Unfortunately both Alva and Emul were overtaken by fatigue, so for now they are resting in the safehouse, while I’m getting ready for the incoming boss battle.
Translator: Kurehashi Aiko
Editor: ryunakama
Chapter 189: Running From Four to Five Part 2
You could say that I could have taken some caffeine in order to give myself some boost, but since we have no way of knowing how it will go on the seventh day, I need to save some of it for the big day.
「So? How did returning to sanity went? You managed to succeed?」
「Well, I did the best I could, but unfortunately……」
「Ahaha, Ufufu……」
Ahh, I see. The results was all smiles.
Rust was sitting in the corner of the room, looking and behaving unusually quiet for herself. There was also that big, idiot-like smile plastered to her face at all times. It was the kind of smile that would even put a baby’s one to shame, and kids are known for smiling genuinely at everything and everyone, since they are not aware of the harsh reality of the real world.
「No, really now, it was much worse yesterday, please believe me…… She was spouting some nonsense all the time about going on a muscle-strengthening journey to make absolutely sure that she would not die before the sequel to Nephilim Hollow comes out.」
Look, I can definitely understand the feeling, but I can’t really say that I have ever experienced it for myself. So I cannot really relate to her all that much. I don’t really look forward to any game releases, mainly because I keep my enthusiasm in check until the reviews are finally in.
And that she wanted to become strong? Good luck with that, you’ll need a whole lot of mental fortitude not to go crazy from waiting until the game gets delivered to you after its premiere.
「You think she’ll be of any use to us in such state?」
「It’s okay. She was practicing all this time in VR for a day like that to come around. Both here in ShanFro and some previous games that she played…… So no need to worry about her.」
I guess that all-smiles Rust gets a pass for now, but the one that I am really concerned about is in fact Mold.
When I asked him that he only replied with a somewhat ambiguous smile…… Well, in the long run it does not matter all that much. We are all players here, and since dying is of no real consequence, we can die during the boss fights without reservations.
「The place we shall be heading towards will be the Lulilas’s South Tower…… The one housing the boss that nullifies all ranged-attacks.」
However, it’s not like I was sure about that property of the boss. After all, it was Rust who happened to witness it with her own eyes. We could technically sacrifice one run just to see if it was indeed like that, but first and foremost goal was still getting rid of the boss. That goal remains unchanged.
「We’re dealing with a ‘Barnacle’ and ‘Fishmen Couple’ here. And since we do not have a valid strategy fleshed out, it’s going to be hard determining the damage, as well as the aggro. This is going to be once heck of a fight here.」
It’s not that we cannot create an effective tank for the upcoming boss fights. It’s about the resource consumption. So many items are needed for tanking effectively that you cannot really allow yourself to waste them on mid-tier bosses.
We do have the possible last resort strategy of tanking: someone would just run around and collect aggro, while Emul strapped to their head would keep shooting his magic. But as far as I am concerned, I would like to avoid having to turn to that strategy if we could help it.
「Besides, I would like to avoid having to get Emul involved in those fights as much as possible.」
It’s simply way too dangerous.
「Alright, let’s go beat ourselves some boss, shall we? Come on now, Rust, I need you to come back to me, get your shit together. We have work to do.」
「The air is so delicious!」
「………」
Is it really going to be okay?
Let us review what we know before the operation begins.
The provisional name ‘Snail’ has the potential ability to nullify all ranged attacks, no matter if they are normal attack or skill.
In order to succeed in this battle close ranged attacks are a necessity, that is why Yours Truly, Sanraku, is going to be in charge of the attacking as well as aggro management.
Waiting at the distance is going to be Rust, who will also look out for an opportunity to get up close and personal with the snail, so that she can dish out some bow damage from close range.
In this setting Mold will work as a support for Rust. And since it would be quite troublesome if the boss started to focus him during the fight, Mold should stay away and avoid any combat actions himself, instead focusing solely on casting buffs and debuffs.
「We shall call this operation…… ‘Shell digging’.」
「Even though we are not really sure if it’s a snail or not……」
「Mold, those are mere details. You don’t have to worry about them too much, because that is not how we roll in here, okay?」
Anyways, Team Nephilim Hollow, ready to roll out! Each one of us grabs a hold of our weapons and we invade the inside of one of the remaining towers.
「………」
「I see, so it’s actually a ‘Snail’. Who would have thought?」
No, no, no. Sure thing, Clione also seemed humanoid to me until it did not show its true colors. Apparently all of the bosses in here are pretending to be humanoid in shape.
Hey, I mean, I once fought a giant robot dressed up as a Japanese samurai. But this here was quite the opposite. This monster looked pretty much like the Western knight. Although it was covered in barnacles and seashells, what stood out the most here was the fact that it had a giant snail in place where its head should normally be.
I was also trying to imagine how this thing would look like without its shell, but no matter how I was trying to wrap my head around it……
「Ammonite…… At least that’s how I see it.」
「Rust was betting on nautilus, or maybe a snail. Ammonite was also there, but she did not wanted to say it for certain without a decisive proof. 」
「There are many strange things that could be pointed out here, but…… Oh well, like interpersonal skills are going to be of any use against humanoid monsters.」
As for the weapon the boss was wielding, it looked pretty much like a rapier, but it was spiral in shape and covered in a whole bunch of shell-like thorns…… Also, there was a cutlass in its other hand, clearly made for being used by humans. Upon seeing us the boss assumed the battle position.
Two sword user, huh? This is going to be fun, Ammonite Knight. There is certainly something romantic in dual wielding two different types of weapons. However, no matter a normal opponent, player or a boss monster, I won’t let anyone to outclass me when it comes to dual wielding.
「Just like we have discussed before, I’ll be in charge of taking this guy down.」
「Are you alright? It might not be an Evasion Tank, but still its defensive power……」
I know that it was a point of concern, but still I replied with a smile on my face:
「Compared to the Wezaemon, who was almost impossible to overcome, those things are nothing.」
Now then, let us start the hunt.
