Chapter Twenty Eight – The Second Waypoint ~ Bounce, Bounce, and More Bounce
Dungeon City City of Sakura- Dungeon #336 [Land of Eternal Darkness] 10th Floor
“That’s a pretty big Spirit Stone.”
“Well, it was a mid-level boss after all.”
Where Psycho Diced Steak, formerly known as Shinigami, faded into the ether, a deep purple spirit stone lay.
It was a good 500 millimeters in height, width, and depth – cumbersome to carry, but doable.
“But Kyoichiro, your defense skill… what was it called?”
“[4D Defense]!”
“Right, [4D Defense]! It’s so awesome, it’s invincible!”
“Actually, it’s far from that.”
As Haruka says, in terms of pure defense, this skill is undeniably invincible.
However, as I mentioned before, the Kyoichiro version of [4D Defense] has major nerfs in other areas.
Take the MP consumption, it’s obviously terrible.
The abundant spiritual energy that I barely managed to keep up with through constant leveling bonuses and daily training runs out in an instant when [4D Defense] is active.
The longer it’s active, the greater the burden on the 4D space. Releasing it will also wreak havoc on my body.
Also…
“You can’t move at all when it’s active.”
The biggest weakness of the Kyoichiro version [4D Defense] – I’m completely immobilized.
No attacking, dodging, or communicating with allies.
Although invincible, I become a useless object.
If enemies keep their distance and hit me with ranged attacks the moment it drops, it’s game over for sure.
“Oh …… I mean, it rocks! “
“You don’t have to force yourself to praise it.”
If only I had better ranged skills… but there’s nothing I can do about that.
When Kyoichiro uses his time stopping skills, only his own time stops – that is the man.
“Anyway, shall we go?”
“Yes!”
With the loot, we leave the coffin-filled room without its master.
Farewell, Asto-Wizard… nothing more to say, really.
Dungeon City of City of Sakura- Dungeon #336 [Land of Eternal Darkness] Second Layover
Beyond the portal, a flat plain stretched out.
A cloudless sunset sky, a mild climate, and a vast, flat earth.
“It’s so quiet.”
“We must be the first humans to make it this far.”
“A previously unreached primitive land, huh?”
“Well, it has non-human natives.”
Haruka makes a “wha-?!” face like she’s been hit by a pea shooter.
“Huh? We’re going to fight some native Something-san now? Wow, what a nice surprise!”
“It’s not going to go as you hope, so put your sword away for now.”
I give the battle-hungry Haruka a fruit-filled granola bar to appease her.
Honestly, this battle maniac.
“But really, you said there were natives, but there’s nothing here.”
“They’re just not visible now. They’ll be coming from over there soon.”
My prediction came true about five minutes later.
[Nice to meet you, Adventurer-san! I am Yaruda 336, in charge of managing this place!]
A purple, jelly-like creature about 40 centimeters long suddenly emerged from the ground.
With an appearance like a cross between a sea cucumber and a rabbit, twisted into an ultra laid-back mascot character. Wiggling the ear/sensory organ-like parts on its head, it cheerfully introduced itself.
[Welcome, Adventurer-san! I’m Yaruda 336, pleased to meet you!]
[I am Yaruda 336 desu~! Ask me anything, even trivial things!]
[I am Yaruda 336! I will do my best to assist Adventurer-san, yes indeed!]
More jelly creatures appear, going “poko poko” and announcing themselves as “Yaruda 336” with playful voices.
One, ten… at this rate, their jumping numbers will reach a hundred. I hurriedly told them to calm down.
“Uh, Yaruda-san, thanks for the big welcome, but could you keep it down…?”
[What are Adventurer-san’s names?]
“Oh, sorry, I’m Kyoichiro Shimizu.”
“I’m Haruka Aono.”
[Wow, you both have cute names!] The mascot-like jellies bounce excitedly in unison.
No good, this is going nowhere.
At their rate, dawn will be here before we know it.
To get out of this overly friendly situation, I take a certain object out of my pocket and hold it over my head.
“You want this, right?”
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The Yaruda 336’s stop jumping, their eyes drawn to what I’m holding in my hand. Their expectant eyes were filled with an indescribable sweetness.
It seems that some things are the same as in the game era.
“Huh? What happened to the jumping ones? And Kyoichiro, what are you doing?”
I grin at Haruka’s questioning look.
“Oh, just a little shopping. Yaruda 336’s, can you make two chairs out of it?”
I sit down and hand the coin-sized spirit stone fragment to the Yaruda in front of me.
After a brief silence, the mascot-likes cheer in unison [A Stone Sama!], vibrating rapidly.
[Hurray, we have a Stone-sama!]
[You give us work, give us work!]
[Ne ne, what kind of chairs? Let’s all think!]
Unbeknownst to us, the jumping star people are getting excited.
Their celebration is like a festival.
Only Haruka seems to be lost in the madness.
“Kyoichiro, please explain.”
“I got it.”
I clear my throat theatrically and carefully check what information about the game era I can tell Haruka now, before I explain about the “Yaruda series”.
“These Yaruda-sans manage the in-between points.
Their characteristics are [Infinite Breeding], [Total Information Sharing], and [Material Creation] – extremely versatile. Basically, they can do anything within the intermediate point.
They love Adventurer San and Spirit Stones. Their hobby is working. So, like before, if you give them stone fragments as payment, they’ll make beautiful items.”
“I feel like I heard some very suspicious phrases mixed in…”
“Just your imagination, just your imagination. The Yaruda-sans are sweet, kind, ideal managers. So we should treat them with respect.”
The dubious Heavenly Wolf stares at me.
No, no, I didn’t tell a single lie.
I just chose not to go into things like how they can be terrifying “existences” if mistreated, how their affection is carried between dungeons thanks to their shared experiences, how their origins are the same as Al’s… hm hm, in short, I didn’t lie about the seemingly ordinary, cute, mascot-like creatures and their hidden attitudes.
Not one bit.
“Think of them as invaluable business partners who support the life of the intermediate points.”
“Kyoichiro, aren’t you afraid of them?”
“I am not afraid. I hold them in awe.”
“That sounds like a stiff way of putting it… well, okay. The point is, you don’t look down on these cute, bouncy guys, right?”
She catches on fast, very helpful.
Apart from that, one thing bothered me.
“Aren’t you way too clueless?”
“Huh? Haruka-san is still a total newbie.”
I shook my head and dismissed her self-defense.
“I don’t blame you for not knowing things. It is normal for beginners to be ignorant.
What bothers me is that you were so obsessed that you went to fan meetings and yet you know so little.”
“It’s strange that I don’t know anything?”
“Yes.”
It’s understandable that you don’t know about interstations or shelters, or even the public information about the Yaruda series (although the orientation lectures are just reading the textbook and playing videos for a whole day, so it’s hard to retain).
But not recognizing “Blazing Iceblade”, one of the Five Great Clans, made me wonder “huh?
Any City of Sakurakid would know those super famous groups. I can’t really believe that a fan meeting attendee wouldn’t remember them.
“Because I’m a ‘newbie’.”
Haruka bluntly answers.
Wow! I have never seen someone proudly and openly admit to being a newbie.
“I got into it because of ‘that person’, so I only learned about his clan in detail.
But wanting to know about other clans is another story – honestly, I had no interest at all.
Haruka explains apologetically.
A deadly, psychotic, thrill-seeking new girl.
“I see. I get it. Sorry for the weird questions.”
“Eh? That’s it? No lecture like [With knowledge that shallow, from here on blahblahblah~]?”
“I already told you, I don’t blame you.
Everyone’s a beginner and a newbie at the beginning. Forgetting that and obsessively pursuing knowledge credibility is the worst kind of old-time fan.”
Even if someone has a lot of knowledge, it doesn’t mean they have a genuine love for content when they flaunt their knowledge just to satisfy their shallow self-esteem. On the contrary, someone who may lack some knowledge but enjoys and passionately engages in something seems to be a “better fan” in many cases.
In general, preferences vary, and the definition of those feelings is completely different for each individual, right? I think trying to categorize and rank them forcibly like a memorization test is incredibly pointless.
Also, always talking about “the spirit of improvement” or “the attitude as a professional” annoys me. W
hether it’s work or a hobby, don’t spout annoying lectures about determination to beginners. It’s ridiculous to judge someone’s motivation based on whether they’ve memorized the contents of a text or manual.
It’s because of these small-minded people that black companies in the world (continued).
“Huh… Kyoichiro, what are you talking about in the middle of this? “
“….I’m saying you’re fine the way you are.”
“Oh!” Haruka’s eyes light up.
“Kyoichiro, has a big heart!”
“Hahaha! Compliment me more!”
As our idle chatter warmed up, the bouncing star people came over.
[Haruka-san, Kyoichiro-san, the chairs for you to sit on are ready!]
Following the Yaruda 336’s lead, two beautifully crafted armchairs now stood there.
[Look, we did a great job!]
[We worked super hard! Praise us!]
[Sit down!]
Urged on by the pokopoko jumping star people, Haruka and I sat down in the chairs.
“Yeah, good job. Thanks for making these, bouncing guys.”
Haruka relaxes, her eyes lowered contentedly.
The countless Yaruda cheer at her words.
The night of the second intermediate point passed quietly like this, beyond the previously unreachable.
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