LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 23: Defense Specialized and Exploration Resume
Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu Chapter 23
Defense Specialization and the Second Event
Risa and Kaede were in the second layer town.
Today was the day of the second event, so they were in high spirits, having done all they could to prepare.
At this point, an announcement from the devs came in.
「This event is an exploratory one! The centerpiece of this event is the 300 silver medals scattered throughout the field to which you will be transferred! Collect ten of these for a gold medal, and after the event you can exchange the gold medals for skills and equipment!」
That’s what the announcement said, and the status screen opened by itself, displaying gold and silver medals.
Among them, Kaede recognized the gold medal.
The gold medal was the one Kaede had gotten as the commemorative item from the last event.
「The top ten finishers in the last event already have one gold medal! You can defeat them and take it, or you can explore without paying them any mind!」
Images of several luxurious rings, bracelets, and other accessories, as well as great swords, bows, and other weapons, were displayed one after another, all lying somewhere in the field they were going to go to.
Of course, there were great shields too.
「If you die, you’ll only drop medals! Don’t worry, no equipment will be dropped! The only time you drop medals is when you are defeated by another player. Please explore without worry! When you die, you will respawn at your initial transfer point!」
For the time being, it was a relief.
If your equipment couldn’t be taken away from you, you could probably take it easy to some extent.
You could put your all into exploring.
「The length in the game is one week, and the length out of the game is only two hours because of time acceleration! There are several monster-free spots in the field, so by all means, make use of them!」
In other words, you could spend a week staying in the game, but in real life only two hours would pass.
「It feels kind of strange, doesn’t it?」
「I’ve heard that once you log out, you can’t rejoin the event, so you can’t log out if you want to finish it. Also… all party members will be transferred to the same place.」
Risa and Kaede listened to the explanation and watched it play on the status screens, and after discussing it, decided not to log out.
「I hope we get enough medals for both of us.」
「Yeah, let’s do our best!」
The bodies of the two turned into light and disappeared from the second layer town.
「Hmm… are we there?」
「Looks like we are.」
They felt solid ground under their feet.
The two were in the middle of an open grassland.
They could see islands floating in the sky, unaffected by gravity, and also a mountainous region in the distance. They also saw dragons flying gracefully in the vast, clear sky.
The field prepared by the devs this time was rich in nature, heaven on earth for monsters.
It was a magical world straight out of a fantasy from everyone’s dreams.
「Ohh! Beautiful!」
「Wonderful… it’s so beautiful it sends shivers down my spine.」
The two walked through the grassland chatting for about twenty minutes, but they didn’t run into any other players. Considering the fact that Kaede had met anopponent right away last time, this time the stage was probably much bigger.
「I wonder if we’ll find medals or something…」
「You know what? I say we take it slow. I mean, there’s still time.」
The two of them were talking about such things, when they saw a goblin running through the short grass to their right. It seemed to be targeting the two of them, and even though they tried to swerve left, it was still chasing after them.
「If it’s a goblin we’re dealing with… maybe Snow White will do.」
Kaede swapped out her great shield. She couldn’t afford to waste 【Eating Inedibles】.
「Is it alright if I use this equipment for the time being? I’ll switch to Replica of the Dark Night if I have to.」
「O-okay! I’m counting on you. Let me take it down this time, alright?」
Risa swiftly approached the goblin and swung out her daggers. The goblin tried to use the club in his hand to block it, but the crude weapon was not enough to block Risa’s daggers.
The club was slashed off and a red streak cut deep into the goblin’s body.
The first attacker just turned into light and disappeared.
「Ah! You’re so fast!」
「Hmhmhmm, thanks! Do you think this is a weak monster area? …there might not be any medals here.」
「Hmm… maybe. I think the medals would be hidden somewhere more obscure.」
Risa seemed to agree with Kaede, so they decided to look around for caves, forests, and other types of terrain that might have a lot of monsters.
And an hour of walking later…
「Right, grassland! Left, grassland! Behind, grassland! Ahead, grassland!」
Risa shouted in desperation. Everywhere she looked, there was nothing but grassland. The grassland stretched all the way to the horizon.
「It’s too bi-ig… I’ve been seeing only goblins since a while ago… Here is another one…」
As Kaede said, a goblin was walking along, dragging a rabbit that was probably its prey. The goblin probably didn’t notice Kaede and Risa, and was cackling happily in a grating voice.
TL note: the actual words used are “楓達”, which map to something like “Kaede’s group”/”Kaede and the others”, but that doesn’t flow very well most of the time, so what it is actually going to translate to will change depending on context
As Kaede and Risa looked on, the goblin 【walked】 under the ground just like that.
「「…eh?」」
The two of them stood there dumbfounded, but then came to their senses and rushed towards the place where the goblin had disappeared.
「N-nothing?」
「No… there’s definitely something! There has to be!」
Risa had a flash of inspiration and shot a 【Wind Cutter】 into the area.
It cut through the distorted space and returned the scene to normal.
There was a staircase leading underground beneath their feet.
「A skill like 【Mirage】… is what the entrance was hidden by. Maybe there are other entrances like that. This grassland is huge, you know…」
「Should we go in?」
「Of course! If this cave was hidden so carefully… then surely there’s a medal or two in it!」
「All right! Then, let’s go!」
The two entered the cave.
「Heigh… ho!」
Risa’s dagger cut through the goblin’s face.
It was not like the monsters inside were particularly strong either, so they were easily defeated by Risa’s attacks.
The path was wide enough for the two to walk side by side, so she didn’t have any trouble swinging her weapon around.
「Another fork in the road…」
Kaede muttered.
As Kaede said, this cave had very many forks. It was like an ant nest, with many paths stretching out, many dead ends and small rooms.
「Which way should we go… Maple, what do you think?」
「…right it is! The path on the right is leading down, and if there is a boss in here, I think it must be deep down!」
「Okay, let’s take the right then.」
The two made their way down the road. And then they entered a slightly larger room.
At that point.
A roar rang out and the ground rumbled.
The two had an inkling. This was the roar of the boss.
Along with that, the two heard the sounds of footsteps and metallic clanging approaching. And an unpleasant cry.
「Maybe the boss has given some orders, the goblins are gathering!」
「What should we do?」
Risa replied to Kaede’s question while readying her weapon.
「There are only two paths that are connected to this room, I’ll leave one of them to you!」
「O-okay! I got it!」
Kaede had yet to switch the great shield.
She was thinking of saving it for the boss.
Kaede drew out New Moon.
This was the start of the battle.
「【Hydra】」
From the start, she attacked with full force. This was because Kaede’s attacking ability would diminish as she increased the number of attacks. If possible, she would prefer to get rid of them in one shot.
The poison dragon, shot at the goblins surging into the room, was stopped by a glowing barrier before the goblins’ eyes.
At the far end of the passage.
There were three goblins with their hats pulled over their eyes at the far end of the crowd of goblins, holding their wands at the ready.
It was probably the magic of those three.
However, it seemed to be their last resort, as all three of them were breathing heavily with their shoulders bobbing up and down.
Kaede’s attack was just that powerful.
Moreover, that wasn’t the only damage the poison dragon caused.
Even if it was blocked, the poison itself, which was scattered around the area, would not disappear.
The goblins that came into contact with that poison would fall down in agony, becoming light and disappearing into a mist.
Even so.
Before their fallen comrades disappeared, the goblins used their bodies as stepping stones to cross the sea of poison.
They couldn’t go against the boss’s orders.
They were just going towards the enemy in front of them.
「【Shield Attack】!」
Kaede’s attack did almost no direct damage, but its knockback effect sent the goblin into the sea of poison.
As Kaede simply repeated that, the number of goblins decreased. Those three goblins, which would normally be supporting them with magic, were already out of gas.
「【Shield Attack】! And that’s it!」
Just when the last goblin was sunk. Risa also seemed to have just finished the battle and headed towards Kaede.
Then, she noticed the magician goblins and launched a magic attack.
「【Fire Ball】! And also, 【Wind Cutter】!」
The magician goblins were defeated easily as they didn’t seem to have any defenses.
「Good job, Sally!」
「Good job, Maple. Well, you did it in a flashy way, huh?」
Risa looked at the sea of poison with a mixture of surprise and astonishment.
「Ehehe… it doesn’t matter, let’s go! I bet the boss is in here!」
Kaede changed the subject with an embarrassed smile.
「Sure, let’s go! …hop!」
Risa jumped over the sea of poison that the goblins suffered in. Kaede, of course, walked across. Her poison resistance was perfect.
「If I were to touch it, I’d be out in one hit.」
You didn’t take damage from your allies’ magic, but it was a different story with the effects it caused.
In other words, if you grabbed a branch that had been burned by an ally’s Fire Ball, you would take damage.
「I’ll be careful with that.」
「Please be.」
The two headed deeper and deeper into the cave.
The final battle was right around the corner.