CHAPTER 3: MY FIRST DUEL
CHAPTER 3: MY FIRST DUEL
Three days later...
I logged into UW and returned to my seat in the classroom, suppressing a yawn. Akira was already sitting in the seat next to mine.
“Good morning to you, sleepyhead.” I sensed some irritation within her sweet smile. The day before, I had promised that I’d log in at 6:00 AM for some pre-class grinding. Needless to say, I didn’t wake up in time. All I could offer was an earnest apology.
“Sorry... I overslept.”
“You promised! I guess I can’t be that mad at you, since I was a whole month late. But if you do it again, you’re gonna get it.”
“Yes, ma’am...” I wondered what punishment might await me. While I pondered the possibilities, Yano walked over to us, surprised.
“Whoa! What happened to you, Takashiro?!”
“Hmm? What do you mean?” Akira and I exchanged looks, confused.
“Your level! How’d you level up so much in just three days?!”
“Oh, that...”
I was level 14, Akira level 13. We had both leveled up a bit during the island expedition the past two days. Crown-marked bosses gave fixed EXP no matter what your level was, so they were a nice treat.
In this game, there were two ways of gaining EXP. First, the normal method was through calculating the difference between the enemy’s level and the highest level in one’s party. There’s a cap for each, but generally, the greater the difference in level, the more EXP you got. This was the category where typical level-grinding mobs fell. The cap was the same whether you partied up or not, so partying was better overall.
On the other hand, crown-marked boss monsters give fixed EXP. The EXP they give is a specific amount, chosen by the devs. When the monster dies, that EXP is divided among the party, meaning you’re better off defeating them with fewer people. That made our situation with Gilgea on the airship all the more lucrative. It’s not everyday you run into him, so his rare spawn status puts him in the fixed EXP bracket.
Each floor boss in the expedition has fixed EXP as well. Normally, they would take ten people to defeat, but since it was just me and Akira, we’d been gaining EXP like crazy.
“What’d you do?”
“Well, you see...” As I told her about my fast-leveling tactics, Yano’s eyes went wide with surprise.
“Oh, wow! There’s an airship ambush event?! I had no idea!”
“You really didn’t know? The guys from class B sure did.”
“Class B, huh? I heard they were a bunch of goons.”
“Really?”
“Yeah! They’re notorious for training others to death. It’s really a bad deal when we have competitive missions.”
“Huh. So they’re a bunch of griefers, then.”
Training is the unsavory practice of leading a “train“ of monsters onto other players, killing them in the process. Yano’s not wrong when she says it’s a bad deal. Directly PKing (that is, player-killing) people is limited to only certain areas. Trinisty Island, where the competitive mission takes place, is not one of those areas.
“I’m not saying it was your fault or anything, Takashiro, but try to avoid any other griefers like that.”
“Yeah, I will.”
“But hey, even if they did weaken it for you, it’s pretty awesome that you beat him at level 4!”
“That’s just because of my big damage spec.”
“Ohh? Do tell.” So I did. “That’s all it takes to dish out that much damage?! You’re not the Emperor of Underpowered for nothing!”
“Heh. Go on, sing my praises.” I decided to act a little cocky.
“But he only has about a 50% success rate. You just don’t hear about his failures because it’s another example of a bad class doing badly.” Akira swooped in to burst my bubble.
“It’s fun to give it a try, though, so I never get bored of doing it together every game.”
She smiled when she said that. I was glad she felt that way.
“Have you two always been gaming together?”
“Yeah, ever since our first year of middle school. And now we’re in our third year. Right, Ren?”
“Totally. Man, so much has happened.” But the most surprising happening of all was this Akira’s reveal as my Akira.
“If you’ve seen me in other games, you’ve probably seen Akira too. She usually plays burly beastmen.”
“Oh! I think I have! Wow, but the player herself is so cute!”
“It was a surprise to me too. I didn’t even know until we came to this school.”
“Ooh, does that mean you’ll be dating soon?”
“Hah! Yeah, right...” I’d only just learned that he was in fact a she. Not happening.
“Wh-Wh-What he said! We’re platonic gaming buddies! We’d never see each other as love interests, or stumble head-first into the love trap, or, or... I mean, our relationship is pure, so... that is to say...” Akira was blowing steam like a kettle at this point. She didn’t have to be that embarrassed. It was just a joke, anyway.
“I heard you got a rare weapon, Aoyagi! Can I get a peek?”
“Huh? Oh, of course.” It was rather surreal to see a schoolgirl in uniform reveal her sword. Again, she wouldn’t dare equip her sword dancer gear anywhere outside of the battlefield.
“Whoa! It’s so pretty!”
Our other classmates noticed, creating a bit of a stir in the room. Akira really showed off her luck. It was unbelievable for someone on their first day in battle to already have such a rare weapon. But I think I’d been pretty lucky in UW too. After all, my starting talent so perfectly matched up with my chosen class.
The bell rang, followed by Ms. Nakada’s entrance into the classroom.
“Hello and good morning, gamers! Hey, what the heck?! Is that Skyfall?! Good stuff, kid!”
“You knew about this weapon, Ms. Nakada?”
“Of course I do! Remember, I was in the inaugural class. That’s a really famous rare weapon!”
“How rare, exactly?”
“Hmm? Ah... sorry, I’m not at liberty to give out hints. But let’s just say it’s about one in a few thousand.”
“Whaaaaaat?!” The class erupted with cries of shock.
“The boss is already rare, and the drop is even rarer. Some even call it legendary. And the shockwaves it emits are pretty darn cool too! You’d better take good care of it, Aoyagi. Even chance item drops are part of fate.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I really shouldn’t be telling you this either, but... you can make that into an even higher level sword through crafting. That’s a rare case of ‘use it for life’ at work.” So much for not giving out hints. She probably just couldn’t contain her desire to tell us. A teacher from the inaugural class is bound to be a huge lover of games. Why wouldn’t she want to leak the deets?
“Okay! Time for roll call.”
From there, homeroom was as routine as ever. The usual, bland school day continued, the first hour of which was world history. I wasn’t great at the subject, but I was ready to try my hardest.
When the teacher came in and class began, the mood in the classroom took a complete 180. A hush came over the room, such that nobody even whispered. The lecturer’s voice alone resounded in the classroom. Everyone was deeply focused.
Why was that? Because our test scores were reflected as MEP in-game. We all wanted every last drop of MEP we could get so that we could grow stronger. But we also didn’t want to eat into our time in-game to study, since the game was so intricate and fun to play.
That left only one path forward: stay hyper-focused in class, so much so that you don’t even need to study to get a high grade. Keep in mind that the game forcefully ends at night. This was the most effective way to make use of our time in-game. Everyone came to this same conclusion—thus, the classroom was dead silent. The school was effectively fostering our efficiency-minded gamer mentality. No surprise that a gaming society would have bugs in it. I wouldn’t be surprised if people said student grades go up after they enter this school.
When the teacher asked if anyone had questions, hand after hand shot up. We were all diligent. Morning classes ended on a quiet, bland note, though they were serious nonetheless.
Then came lunch break. Naturally, it didn’t take place in-game. Everyone logged out at once to tend to their empty stomachs.
“Whew! Everyone here sure is serious about school.” Akira let out a deep sigh.
“MEP is a great carrot; we can’t help but chase after the stick.”
“And as long as we keep our grades up, our parents might be so kind as to let us stay enrolled.”
“We get to play a fun game, our parents get to see good grades. It’s a win-win situation.”
“I’ll say. All right, I’m off to eat. Later!”
“See ya.” I logged out as well, returning to my real bedroom. Lunch time.
◆◇◆
Afterward, afternoon classes came and went. Now that school was over, the real fun began.
Our expedition was up to the sixth floor boss. As usual, I partied up with Akira and warped over to the sixth floor warp point where we’d registered previously.
“What should we do today, Ren? Keep climbing?”
“You got it. I’m ready to reach for our limit.”
“Then we’re off to rent us a dragon!”
“Yep! Let’s go.”
Traveling on foot was slow, so dragon rentals existed all over the virtual world, lending out dragon mounts in place of horses. From there, we could go straight to the boss guarding the path to the next floor. Plus, when one rides a dragon mount, they won’t be noticed by active monsters.
Speaking of which, there are some monsters that won’t attack players even when they notice them. Monsters that attack on sight are hostile, while the others are passive.
There are several ways for a hostile enemy to notice players. The most straightforward: if a player crosses its line of sight, they’re noticed. Monsters can also react to the sound of footsteps, as well as noticing players in the yellow zone of 50% HP. Finally, there are plenty of monsters that respond to the use of arts and skills. There may be even more ways that I’m not aware of.
Dragon mounts are a fast, safe travel option, so they’re highly recommended to players looking to ascend—pun intended.
We headed to the rental shop when we were stopped by someone yelling out to us rudely.
“Hey, you two!”
“Hmm?”
It was the party from class B that we met on the airship. The fellow in question was the belligerent rogue leader of the party, Shinichi Kataoka.
“Do you want something?”
“Don’t give me any of that! I want this!” He pointed at Skyfall, the sword attached to Akira’s still-in-uniform hip.
“You ninja’d our loot!”
“Ninja’d what?”
“Don’t play dumb! You finished off Gilgea after we wiped, didn’t you?! Your Skyfall is proof of it!” Kataoka began to approach Akira, so I stepped in between them.
“We didn’t ninja anything. It was attacking us, so we defended ourselves. Besides, you wiped against it anyway. Don’t complain about it after the fact.”
“You wouldn’t have gotten that sword if we hadn’t weakened him!”
“Still, you died and you know it. But I get where you’re going with this. When you saw this in our possession, you wanted to extort it from us with threats.”
Isn’t he the least bit embarrassed of how childish he’s being? I wouldn’t dare do what he’s doing.
But Skyfall is incredibly rare, and it would be faster for them to steal it from us than to get another. After all, Ms. Nakada said it was one in a few thousand.
Do rare drops pit people against each other? Or is this guy just a thug, through and through? I remembered how Yano called class B a bunch of goons, but I wanted to believe he just lost his mind momentarily over something so rare. I wanted to believe that all gamers were good at heart, deep down.
“Shut up! You stole it from us after he weakened him, and that’s that!”
“So you’re suggesting that it rightfully belongs to you and to hand it over? That’s a little selfish, I’d say. We got the loot, and that’s that, yeah?”
“Then how about we settle it right now?”
“How?”
“A one-on-one duel, of course. That’s the fairest method.”
My level was clearly far lower, so no, it was not fair in the slightest. If he seriously thought it was fair, then he was a complete idiot. And if he was trying to bluff by pretending not to notice our level difference, he was a stupid fool. So which one was he, a complete idiot or a stupid fool?
I gave him the silent treatment.
“Hah! Scared, kid? You’re just a chicken! All talk!”
The latter, I’d guess, in which case it wouldn’t look all that odd if I played along with him.
“I’m no chicken, buddy! Put up or shut up!” There we go. My “fall for an obvious provocation“ performance went pretty well. He wasn’t actually pushing my buttons; it was just strategic posturing.
“Hey, Ren! Calm down for a sec! We can call a GM to mediate, so there’s no need to fight...” Sorry, Akira. I didn’t mean to make you actually worry about me.
I whispered to Akira, out of Kataoka’s earshot. “I’m a calm guy, remember? Readily accepting such a hopeless-looking duel would be suspicious. I just did this to catch him off guard. Now watch, this’ll be an easy win.”
“Oh, really? You little hustler! I’ll be watching you.” With her approval, I continued my impression of an angry man.
“When you put it that way, I can’t refuse! Watch me mess this guy up!”
“All right, it’s a duel then. If I win, you hand over Skyfall.”
“If I win, then, I want all of your money! If you want the duel, you gotta take the risk!” If I have to win either way, I might as well make this guy suffer a bit. I’ll overwhelm him with my instakill and get rid of him for good!
“Yeah, of course.”
“Can I take your word as consent to the aforementioned terms?!”
Suddenly, a familiar face stepped between us.
“Whoa! Ms. Nakada?!”
“Helloooo! We teachers take turns as GMs after school.”
“W-Wow, you sure are busy.”
“We get overtime pay. Plus, it’s just fun! I’m here to make sure the terms of the duel are properly carried out afterward. If you break the rules, I’ll use my GM powers to punish you!” Ms. Nakada was as cheerful as ever. I appreciated the presence of a GM to oversee the duel, though.
“All right. Thank you.”
“Let’s get to it, then!”
Kataoka and I stepped several paces away and turned to face each other. Since the setting was a city, rubbernecking NPCs stopped by to watch, further raising the tension of the duel. He equipped a Shortsword, while I equipped my Canesword, with the appearance of a simple staff.
“Ready, set... begin!” Ms. Nakada signaled the start of the duel.
“The king of the Bummers can’t win to an attacker like me! Stupid kid!” Kataoka insulted me, as confident as one would expect.
I began to cast Enfeebling Circle at my feet. As its name implies, it decreases the STR of enemies within. I learned it at level 11. I unleashed it at its maximum radius, reducing my MP to 0.
Then, I defended myself against Kataoka’s charge using my Canesword. I took 11 damage despite my attempt at guarding, but that was preferable to the full brunt of the attack.
Dealing damage to an enemy who’s guarding is known as guardbreaking. In short, his might was higher than my poise.
I continued to guard his second and third attacks. With each attack, I continued to take damage, but I shrugged it off. I wasn’t ready to unleash my ultimate yet.
My ultimate was a one-hit kill. If I used it, I’d win; if I didn’t, I’d lose. So I waited for the perfect opportunity to use it.
Would he attack a fourth time? I waited, eager to receive his attack. Why was I so eager to be hurt? Well, this game’s attack animations are dependent on the weapon being used. With its semi-automatic motion system, this game generates dynamic attack animations, even when you can’t make the motions yourself.
But it also means that one can predict an enemy’s next attack animation. The shortsword’s fourth attack starts with a jumping slash, leaving the user prone to a counterattack. I’d learned this beforehand.
“Are you just gonna let me guardbreak you to death?! C’mon, fight back!”
Kataoka let his fourth attack loose, attempting to provoke me all the while. There’s that jump slash. I guarded against that as well. Since I knew the animation, guarding was easy.
That left him hanging in the air during his attack animation. He probably figured a whack from a staff wouldn’t hurt too much, so he left himself open.
“As you wish, allow me to counter with my Dead End.”
Smaaaaaaash!
“Huh? Ngaaaaaah?!”
With a purple flash, I sent Kataoka hurdling through the air. Seeing him suddenly knocked away was almost surreal. His body was bound the moment he slammed into a nearby three-story wall. When he hit the ground, his body was still convulsing. With one strike, Kataoka’s HP went from full to 0, ending the duel.
Duel complete! Ren is the victor!
Ren’s duel record is 1W / 0L.
Thus declared the system log.
Once Duel mode ended, Kataoka’s HP returned to 1, preventing him from taking the on-death EXP penalty. In exchange, his duel record was changed, which would really annoy anyone who cared about that.
“Gh... How...?”
I began to explain my victory to Kataoka, who was still dazed and confused from his crushing loss.
“Let me just say: even the symbologist can fill an attacker role. It’s a one-shot wonder.” I was raising public opinion of the symbologist. Shining the spotlight on it. I, the Emperor of Underpowered, was overjoyed beyond belief to grant symbologist its moment. I seized the opportunity to show off.
“No way! What the heck?!”
“How did he do that much damage? That was over a thousand!” Kataoka’s party was as shocked as he was.
This is exactly where the one-shot wonder shines. If you hit once, without holding back, you’ve won.
“Takashiro has won! Good job! Even I’m a little surprised!”
“Thank you, ma’am.” I knew I was going to win, so I was still pretty calm, but I was quite satisfied having put Kataoka in his place.
“Who knew this trick would be discovered this early into the game? You’ve got promise! How lucky for me to have someone like you in my class!”
“Were you aware of this strategy?”
“Well, I am a GM. This is a pretty simple damage source, and I think it’s the highest damage output this class can achieve. But it’s still not great compared to others, and it’s difficult to set up.”
“It’s not in the guidebook, either.”
“Students wrote that, and it’s not like they know everything! But that also means there’s still plenty that nobody’s tried yet. When people have strategy guides, they tend to avoid the uncertain, so good job experimenting! Another big challenge for the Emperor of Underpowered.”
“You knew about that?”
“Us teachers are gamers too! But I didn’t know you were so young. You’re fun to watch, so keep it up! Kids these days are all focused on cookie-cutter builds, y’know? It’s kinda dull.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Okay! As promised, Kataoka, you gotta hand over all of your cash! Takashiro’s wallet is gonna be heavy today!”
With that announcement, I heard the sound of Mira being added to my inventory. Looks like 20,000 Mira. Not a ton. I guess this guy wasn’t carrying much money.
“I’ll take care of the rest, Takashiro, so you’re free to go.”
“All right, thank you.” From there, I decided we ought to continue on our expedition. “Let’s be off, Akira.”
We finally went on our way to the dragon mount lender.
Akira seemed to be in high spirits. “Thanks for fighting for me, Ren.”
“I had to! I couldn’t keep my mouth shut with an opportunity like that.”
“Heheh, you were Mr. Manly And Reliable back there.” She poked at me playfully. I could hardly look at her cute face without blushing.
“Wh-What are you talking about? I’m always reliable.”
“Hmm. Usually you’re more... interesting than reliable.”
“Hah. Really?”
“Yeah. An odd kind of interesting, in the sense that I never know what you’re going to do next.”
“Kinda like a rare wild animal?”
“Yeah! Just like that. I can’t get enough of seeing you work.”
“Well, as for me, I can’t get enough of seeing you in that sword dancer gear.”
“D-Don’t say that! I’d rather not be reminded...”
“It looks good on you. I’d say you should wear it day in and day out.”
“Absolutely not! I’ll never get used to that thing...”
We eventually made it to the dragon mount rental.
“Sorry, been a busy day. This is the only one left.”
Unfortunately, we couldn’t get two mounts. Was that really something that could happen here? The game must have been fiddling with the numbers. It was actually kind of neat.
“One will do, then. Two people should fit, right?”
“Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for your business!”
I sat in front and took the reins, while Akira sat in the back, and... Whoa, whoa, whoa! I’m being crushed! Crushed by Akira’s chest, that is. With the two of us riding, I was sandwiched between dragon and bosom. To make matters worse, I could feel her movement with each bob of the dragon. An endless cycle of squishing, shaking, squirming... How couldn’t I have been keenly aware of it? I couldn’t even concentrate! Why did this aspect of the game have to be so realistic?! But hey, good job, I say! Keep it up!
“Riding together is so much fun!” Akira was smiling innocently behind me.
Meanwhile, my vision was practically going hazy thanks to the euphoric sensation I felt against my back every moment of the ride.
In the end, we cleared both the sixth and seventh floors.
Three days later...
I logged into UW and returned to my seat in the classroom, suppressing a yawn. Akira was already sitting in the seat next to mine.
“Good morning to you, sleepyhead.” I sensed some irritation within her sweet smile. The day before, I had promised that I’d log in at 6:00 AM for some pre-class grinding. Needless to say, I didn’t wake up in time. All I could offer was an earnest apology.
“Sorry... I overslept.”
“You promised! I guess I can’t be that mad at you, since I was a whole month late. But if you do it again, you’re gonna get it.”
“Yes, ma’am...” I wondered what punishment might await me. While I pondered the possibilities, Yano walked over to us, surprised.
“Whoa! What happened to you, Takashiro?!”
“Hmm? What do you mean?” Akira and I exchanged looks, confused.
“Your level! How’d you level up so much in just three days?!”
“Oh, that...”
I was level 14, Akira level 13. We had both leveled up a bit during the island expedition the past two days. Crown-marked bosses gave fixed EXP no matter what your level was, so they were a nice treat.
In this game, there were two ways of gaining EXP. First, the normal method was through calculating the difference between the enemy’s level and the highest level in one’s party. There’s a cap for each, but generally, the greater the difference in level, the more EXP you got. This was the category where typical level-grinding mobs fell. The cap was the same whether you partied up or not, so partying was better overall.
On the other hand, crown-marked boss monsters give fixed EXP. The EXP they give is a specific amount, chosen by the devs. When the monster dies, that EXP is divided among the party, meaning you’re better off defeating them with fewer people. That made our situation with Gilgea on the airship all the more lucrative. It’s not everyday you run into him, so his rare spawn status puts him in the fixed EXP bracket.
Each floor boss in the expedition has fixed EXP as well. Normally, they would take ten people to defeat, but since it was just me and Akira, we’d been gaining EXP like crazy.
“What’d you do?”
“Well, you see...” As I told her about my fast-leveling tactics, Yano’s eyes went wide with surprise.
“Oh, wow! There’s an airship ambush event?! I had no idea!”
“You really didn’t know? The guys from class B sure did.”
“Class B, huh? I heard they were a bunch of goons.”
“Really?”
“Yeah! They’re notorious for training others to death. It’s really a bad deal when we have competitive missions.”
“Huh. So they’re a bunch of griefers, then.”
Training is the unsavory practice of leading a “train“ of monsters onto other players, killing them in the process. Yano’s not wrong when she says it’s a bad deal. Directly PKing (that is, player-killing) people is limited to only certain areas. Trinisty Island, where the competitive mission takes place, is not one of those areas.
“I’m not saying it was your fault or anything, Takashiro, but try to avoid any other griefers like that.”
“Yeah, I will.”
“But hey, even if they did weaken it for you, it’s pretty awesome that you beat him at level 4!”
“That’s just because of my big damage spec.”
“Ohh? Do tell.” So I did. “That’s all it takes to dish out that much damage?! You’re not the Emperor of Underpowered for nothing!”
“Heh. Go on, sing my praises.” I decided to act a little cocky.
“But he only has about a 50% success rate. You just don’t hear about his failures because it’s another example of a bad class doing badly.” Akira swooped in to burst my bubble.
“It’s fun to give it a try, though, so I never get bored of doing it together every game.”
She smiled when she said that. I was glad she felt that way.
“Have you two always been gaming together?”
“Yeah, ever since our first year of middle school. And now we’re in our third year. Right, Ren?”
“Totally. Man, so much has happened.” But the most surprising happening of all was this Akira’s reveal as my Akira.
“If you’ve seen me in other games, you’ve probably seen Akira too. She usually plays burly beastmen.”
“Oh! I think I have! Wow, but the player herself is so cute!”
“It was a surprise to me too. I didn’t even know until we came to this school.”
“Ooh, does that mean you’ll be dating soon?”
“Hah! Yeah, right...” I’d only just learned that he was in fact a she. Not happening.
“Wh-Wh-What he said! We’re platonic gaming buddies! We’d never see each other as love interests, or stumble head-first into the love trap, or, or... I mean, our relationship is pure, so... that is to say...” Akira was blowing steam like a kettle at this point. She didn’t have to be that embarrassed. It was just a joke, anyway.
“I heard you got a rare weapon, Aoyagi! Can I get a peek?”
“Huh? Oh, of course.” It was rather surreal to see a schoolgirl in uniform reveal her sword. Again, she wouldn’t dare equip her sword dancer gear anywhere outside of the battlefield.
“Whoa! It’s so pretty!”
Our other classmates noticed, creating a bit of a stir in the room. Akira really showed off her luck. It was unbelievable for someone on their first day in battle to already have such a rare weapon. But I think I’d been pretty lucky in UW too. After all, my starting talent so perfectly matched up with my chosen class.
The bell rang, followed by Ms. Nakada’s entrance into the classroom.
“Hello and good morning, gamers! Hey, what the heck?! Is that Skyfall?! Good stuff, kid!”
“You knew about this weapon, Ms. Nakada?”
“Of course I do! Remember, I was in the inaugural class. That’s a really famous rare weapon!”
“How rare, exactly?”
“Hmm? Ah... sorry, I’m not at liberty to give out hints. But let’s just say it’s about one in a few thousand.”
“Whaaaaaat?!” The class erupted with cries of shock.
“The boss is already rare, and the drop is even rarer. Some even call it legendary. And the shockwaves it emits are pretty darn cool too! You’d better take good care of it, Aoyagi. Even chance item drops are part of fate.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I really shouldn’t be telling you this either, but... you can make that into an even higher level sword through crafting. That’s a rare case of ‘use it for life’ at work.” So much for not giving out hints. She probably just couldn’t contain her desire to tell us. A teacher from the inaugural class is bound to be a huge lover of games. Why wouldn’t she want to leak the deets?
“Okay! Time for roll call.”
From there, homeroom was as routine as ever. The usual, bland school day continued, the first hour of which was world history. I wasn’t great at the subject, but I was ready to try my hardest.
When the teacher came in and class began, the mood in the classroom took a complete 180. A hush came over the room, such that nobody even whispered. The lecturer’s voice alone resounded in the classroom. Everyone was deeply focused.
Why was that? Because our test scores were reflected as MEP in-game. We all wanted every last drop of MEP we could get so that we could grow stronger. But we also didn’t want to eat into our time in-game to study, since the game was so intricate and fun to play.
That left only one path forward: stay hyper-focused in class, so much so that you don’t even need to study to get a high grade. Keep in mind that the game forcefully ends at night. This was the most effective way to make use of our time in-game. Everyone came to this same conclusion—thus, the classroom was dead silent. The school was effectively fostering our efficiency-minded gamer mentality. No surprise that a gaming society would have bugs in it. I wouldn’t be surprised if people said student grades go up after they enter this school.
When the teacher asked if anyone had questions, hand after hand shot up. We were all diligent. Morning classes ended on a quiet, bland note, though they were serious nonetheless.
Then came lunch break. Naturally, it didn’t take place in-game. Everyone logged out at once to tend to their empty stomachs.
“Whew! Everyone here sure is serious about school.” Akira let out a deep sigh.
“MEP is a great carrot; we can’t help but chase after the stick.”
“And as long as we keep our grades up, our parents might be so kind as to let us stay enrolled.”
“We get to play a fun game, our parents get to see good grades. It’s a win-win situation.”
“I’ll say. All right, I’m off to eat. Later!”
“See ya.” I logged out as well, returning to my real bedroom. Lunch time.
◆◇◆
Afterward, afternoon classes came and went. Now that school was over, the real fun began.
Our expedition was up to the sixth floor boss. As usual, I partied up with Akira and warped over to the sixth floor warp point where we’d registered previously.
“What should we do today, Ren? Keep climbing?”
“You got it. I’m ready to reach for our limit.”
“Then we’re off to rent us a dragon!”
“Yep! Let’s go.”
Traveling on foot was slow, so dragon rentals existed all over the virtual world, lending out dragon mounts in place of horses. From there, we could go straight to the boss guarding the path to the next floor. Plus, when one rides a dragon mount, they won’t be noticed by active monsters.
Speaking of which, there are some monsters that won’t attack players even when they notice them. Monsters that attack on sight are hostile, while the others are passive.
There are several ways for a hostile enemy to notice players. The most straightforward: if a player crosses its line of sight, they’re noticed. Monsters can also react to the sound of footsteps, as well as noticing players in the yellow zone of 50% HP. Finally, there are plenty of monsters that respond to the use of arts and skills. There may be even more ways that I’m not aware of.
Dragon mounts are a fast, safe travel option, so they’re highly recommended to players looking to ascend—pun intended.
We headed to the rental shop when we were stopped by someone yelling out to us rudely.
“Hey, you two!”
“Hmm?”
It was the party from class B that we met on the airship. The fellow in question was the belligerent rogue leader of the party, Shinichi Kataoka.
“Do you want something?”
“Don’t give me any of that! I want this!” He pointed at Skyfall, the sword attached to Akira’s still-in-uniform hip.
“You ninja’d our loot!”
“Ninja’d what?”
“Don’t play dumb! You finished off Gilgea after we wiped, didn’t you?! Your Skyfall is proof of it!” Kataoka began to approach Akira, so I stepped in between them.
“We didn’t ninja anything. It was attacking us, so we defended ourselves. Besides, you wiped against it anyway. Don’t complain about it after the fact.”
“You wouldn’t have gotten that sword if we hadn’t weakened him!”
“Still, you died and you know it. But I get where you’re going with this. When you saw this in our possession, you wanted to extort it from us with threats.”
Isn’t he the least bit embarrassed of how childish he’s being? I wouldn’t dare do what he’s doing.
But Skyfall is incredibly rare, and it would be faster for them to steal it from us than to get another. After all, Ms. Nakada said it was one in a few thousand.
Do rare drops pit people against each other? Or is this guy just a thug, through and through? I remembered how Yano called class B a bunch of goons, but I wanted to believe he just lost his mind momentarily over something so rare. I wanted to believe that all gamers were good at heart, deep down.
“Shut up! You stole it from us after he weakened him, and that’s that!”
“So you’re suggesting that it rightfully belongs to you and to hand it over? That’s a little selfish, I’d say. We got the loot, and that’s that, yeah?”
“Then how about we settle it right now?”
“How?”
“A one-on-one duel, of course. That’s the fairest method.”
My level was clearly far lower, so no, it was not fair in the slightest. If he seriously thought it was fair, then he was a complete idiot. And if he was trying to bluff by pretending not to notice our level difference, he was a stupid fool. So which one was he, a complete idiot or a stupid fool?
I gave him the silent treatment.
“Hah! Scared, kid? You’re just a chicken! All talk!”
The latter, I’d guess, in which case it wouldn’t look all that odd if I played along with him.
“I’m no chicken, buddy! Put up or shut up!” There we go. My “fall for an obvious provocation“ performance went pretty well. He wasn’t actually pushing my buttons; it was just strategic posturing.
“Hey, Ren! Calm down for a sec! We can call a GM to mediate, so there’s no need to fight...” Sorry, Akira. I didn’t mean to make you actually worry about me.
I whispered to Akira, out of Kataoka’s earshot. “I’m a calm guy, remember? Readily accepting such a hopeless-looking duel would be suspicious. I just did this to catch him off guard. Now watch, this’ll be an easy win.”
“Oh, really? You little hustler! I’ll be watching you.” With her approval, I continued my impression of an angry man.
“When you put it that way, I can’t refuse! Watch me mess this guy up!”
“All right, it’s a duel then. If I win, you hand over Skyfall.”
“If I win, then, I want all of your money! If you want the duel, you gotta take the risk!” If I have to win either way, I might as well make this guy suffer a bit. I’ll overwhelm him with my instakill and get rid of him for good!
“Yeah, of course.”
“Can I take your word as consent to the aforementioned terms?!”
Suddenly, a familiar face stepped between us.
“Whoa! Ms. Nakada?!”
“Helloooo! We teachers take turns as GMs after school.”
“W-Wow, you sure are busy.”
“We get overtime pay. Plus, it’s just fun! I’m here to make sure the terms of the duel are properly carried out afterward. If you break the rules, I’ll use my GM powers to punish you!” Ms. Nakada was as cheerful as ever. I appreciated the presence of a GM to oversee the duel, though.
“All right. Thank you.”
“Let’s get to it, then!”
Kataoka and I stepped several paces away and turned to face each other. Since the setting was a city, rubbernecking NPCs stopped by to watch, further raising the tension of the duel. He equipped a Shortsword, while I equipped my Canesword, with the appearance of a simple staff.
“Ready, set... begin!” Ms. Nakada signaled the start of the duel.
“The king of the Bummers can’t win to an attacker like me! Stupid kid!” Kataoka insulted me, as confident as one would expect.
I began to cast Enfeebling Circle at my feet. As its name implies, it decreases the STR of enemies within. I learned it at level 11. I unleashed it at its maximum radius, reducing my MP to 0.
Then, I defended myself against Kataoka’s charge using my Canesword. I took 11 damage despite my attempt at guarding, but that was preferable to the full brunt of the attack.
Dealing damage to an enemy who’s guarding is known as guardbreaking. In short, his might was higher than my poise.
I continued to guard his second and third attacks. With each attack, I continued to take damage, but I shrugged it off. I wasn’t ready to unleash my ultimate yet.
My ultimate was a one-hit kill. If I used it, I’d win; if I didn’t, I’d lose. So I waited for the perfect opportunity to use it.
Would he attack a fourth time? I waited, eager to receive his attack. Why was I so eager to be hurt? Well, this game’s attack animations are dependent on the weapon being used. With its semi-automatic motion system, this game generates dynamic attack animations, even when you can’t make the motions yourself.
But it also means that one can predict an enemy’s next attack animation. The shortsword’s fourth attack starts with a jumping slash, leaving the user prone to a counterattack. I’d learned this beforehand.
“Are you just gonna let me guardbreak you to death?! C’mon, fight back!”
Kataoka let his fourth attack loose, attempting to provoke me all the while. There’s that jump slash. I guarded against that as well. Since I knew the animation, guarding was easy.
That left him hanging in the air during his attack animation. He probably figured a whack from a staff wouldn’t hurt too much, so he left himself open.
“As you wish, allow me to counter with my Dead End.”
Smaaaaaaash!
“Huh? Ngaaaaaah?!”
With a purple flash, I sent Kataoka hurdling through the air. Seeing him suddenly knocked away was almost surreal. His body was bound the moment he slammed into a nearby three-story wall. When he hit the ground, his body was still convulsing. With one strike, Kataoka’s HP went from full to 0, ending the duel.
Duel complete! Ren is the victor!
Ren’s duel record is 1W / 0L.
Thus declared the system log.
Once Duel mode ended, Kataoka’s HP returned to 1, preventing him from taking the on-death EXP penalty. In exchange, his duel record was changed, which would really annoy anyone who cared about that.
“Gh... How...?”
I began to explain my victory to Kataoka, who was still dazed and confused from his crushing loss.
“Let me just say: even the symbologist can fill an attacker role. It’s a one-shot wonder.” I was raising public opinion of the symbologist. Shining the spotlight on it. I, the Emperor of Underpowered, was overjoyed beyond belief to grant symbologist its moment. I seized the opportunity to show off.
“No way! What the heck?!”
“How did he do that much damage? That was over a thousand!” Kataoka’s party was as shocked as he was.
This is exactly where the one-shot wonder shines. If you hit once, without holding back, you’ve won.
“Takashiro has won! Good job! Even I’m a little surprised!”
“Thank you, ma’am.” I knew I was going to win, so I was still pretty calm, but I was quite satisfied having put Kataoka in his place.
“Who knew this trick would be discovered this early into the game? You’ve got promise! How lucky for me to have someone like you in my class!”
“Were you aware of this strategy?”
“Well, I am a GM. This is a pretty simple damage source, and I think it’s the highest damage output this class can achieve. But it’s still not great compared to others, and it’s difficult to set up.”
“It’s not in the guidebook, either.”
“Students wrote that, and it’s not like they know everything! But that also means there’s still plenty that nobody’s tried yet. When people have strategy guides, they tend to avoid the uncertain, so good job experimenting! Another big challenge for the Emperor of Underpowered.”
“You knew about that?”
“Us teachers are gamers too! But I didn’t know you were so young. You’re fun to watch, so keep it up! Kids these days are all focused on cookie-cutter builds, y’know? It’s kinda dull.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Okay! As promised, Kataoka, you gotta hand over all of your cash! Takashiro’s wallet is gonna be heavy today!”
With that announcement, I heard the sound of Mira being added to my inventory. Looks like 20,000 Mira. Not a ton. I guess this guy wasn’t carrying much money.
“I’ll take care of the rest, Takashiro, so you’re free to go.”
“All right, thank you.” From there, I decided we ought to continue on our expedition. “Let’s be off, Akira.”
We finally went on our way to the dragon mount lender.
Akira seemed to be in high spirits. “Thanks for fighting for me, Ren.”
“I had to! I couldn’t keep my mouth shut with an opportunity like that.”
“Heheh, you were Mr. Manly And Reliable back there.” She poked at me playfully. I could hardly look at her cute face without blushing.
“Wh-What are you talking about? I’m always reliable.”
“Hmm. Usually you’re more... interesting than reliable.”
“Hah. Really?”
“Yeah. An odd kind of interesting, in the sense that I never know what you’re going to do next.”
“Kinda like a rare wild animal?”
“Yeah! Just like that. I can’t get enough of seeing you work.”
“Well, as for me, I can’t get enough of seeing you in that sword dancer gear.”
“D-Don’t say that! I’d rather not be reminded...”
“It looks good on you. I’d say you should wear it day in and day out.”
“Absolutely not! I’ll never get used to that thing...”
We eventually made it to the dragon mount rental.
“Sorry, been a busy day. This is the only one left.”
Unfortunately, we couldn’t get two mounts. Was that really something that could happen here? The game must have been fiddling with the numbers. It was actually kind of neat.
“One will do, then. Two people should fit, right?”
“Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for your business!”
I sat in front and took the reins, while Akira sat in the back, and... Whoa, whoa, whoa! I’m being crushed! Crushed by Akira’s chest, that is. With the two of us riding, I was sandwiched between dragon and bosom. To make matters worse, I could feel her movement with each bob of the dragon. An endless cycle of squishing, shaking, squirming... How couldn’t I have been keenly aware of it? I couldn’t even concentrate! Why did this aspect of the game have to be so realistic?! But hey, good job, I say! Keep it up!
“Riding together is so much fun!” Akira was smiling innocently behind me.
Meanwhile, my vision was practically going hazy thanks to the euphoric sensation I felt against my back every moment of the ride.
In the end, we cleared both the sixth and seventh floors.
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