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We are currently advancing through the wetlands to the west of the city called Jeed, located on the southern side of the woods south of Talash. Anyway, the footing here is terrible~. The damp grassy areas are the better parts; there are muddy puddles, large ponds we have to detour around, and marshes that look like a struggle to get out of if you fall in. It is just incredibly harsh for people to walk through.
“Pierce, Curse Spear.”
[Activated {Curse Spear}, dealt 470 damage to the Giant Frog, and defeated it. Gained 1960 EXP.]
“Step aside!”
[Perseus activated {Hyper Slash}, dealt 1420 damage to the Giant Frog, and defeated it. Gained 1960 EXP.]
Well, that’s only if you’re a human walking. For Donta, this marshland doesn’t even seem to be an obstacle; he’s moving with ease through bogs that look painful to walk in. I straddle Donta and fire off Curse Spears, and Peru-chan activates a skill called {Hyper Slash} that enlarges her Demon Sword to sweep enemies away. With this, we can easily defeat the Giant Frogs that appear around here. The EXP is quite high too—about the same as the players we turned the tables on near Talash. Just by walking around and hunting enemies here, our levels are shooting up.
Thanks to our high-paced hunting, both Peru-chan and I reached Level 16 together. Donta’s leveling is a bit slower, sitting at Level 10. Aurelia, surprisingly, leveled up too much and is now stuck waiting for evolution, so she’s been staying quiet and barely moving since she isn’t a combat asset right now. I want to evolve Aurelia quickly, but naturally, Babylon-sama won’t cover the cost for a second evolution. I plan to buy the evolution materials with the money we get from selling loot once we reach Loray. Peru-chan offered to pay, but I want to do things myself as much as possible… other than the avatar.
“Our levels went up quite a bit. What do your stats look like, Peru-chan? Show me, show me~.”
“You must not disclose your status to others, you know? It is like exposing your weaknesses. However, for you, Rinne-san, I will make an exception and show you my everything~!! Come now, take a good, long look from the tips of my toes to the top of my head!!”
“I’ll take a good look at that another time. I’ll keep your stats a secret, I promise!”
“Eh, r-really…!? It is a promise, then…? Hehe…♡”
I was curious about the difference in stats between Peru-chan and me, so I’m super grateful she’s showing me. Let’s see, what kind of stats does a pure attacker have?
Her stats are so hiiiigh—!? Increasing stats by half your level is cheating, isn’t it? I feel a tremendous gap here!! This has to be a bug, right? It means they’ll just keep increasing forever, won’t they!? Eehhh…
“Strong. Too strong…”
“The passive skill does not activate unless I wear flashy equipment or avatars… That is the only problem!”
“What is going on with this…? It’s really making me realize I’m a rear-guard support class… Hey, hey, what is this Magic Shield Aegis? And what is PP~?”
I’m really curious about this Magic Shield Aegis and PP. I wonder what ‘Penetrate’ means? Ah, wait, could this PP be an abbreviation for…
“It stands for Princess Points! Currently, it seems to recover by 1 every 120 seconds! Oh my, Aegis? My, it seems to have been added before I knew it. I wonder what it is?”
“Recovering 1 every 2 minutes, huh…”
It really is Princess Points! I wonder if 1 recovery every 120 seconds is good? It’s hard to judge if that’s fast or slow…
“Aegis!!!”
[Perseus activated {Magic Shield Aegis}. Entered {Penetrate 1} state.]
“Oh my, something appeared. Is it a barrier? It displays ‘Penetrate 1’.”
“Penetrate… Invasion? Breakthrough? Maybe the barrier protects you from an attack just once?”
“I see? There does not seem to be a time limit, so perhaps I should just cast it whenever it runs out.”
“It consumes the PP that would just be sitting there anyway, so isn’t that good?”
“True, let us do that!”
Magic Shield Aegis, huh~. It has a grandiose name, but is it strong or weak? I wonder if just {Penetrate 1} can serve as a substitute for a shield for Peru-chan, who can’t hold one…
“Ah, Giant Frogs again!”
“There are two. Peru-chan, take the one on the right with Hyper Slash.”
“Very well!”
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[—You have reached Level 20! Congratulations!]
[Perseus has reached Level 20. Let’s celebrate.]
[Donta has reached Level 15.]
“Woof woof.”
“Woof. Woof woof.”
“Woof.”
“Woooof~~”
“Woof.”
“Woof.”
The customary “Grats” battle upon leveling up has somehow turned into a “Woof woof” battle before I knew it. I got bored of saying “Congratulations” so many times in such a short period, so it can’t be helped. It’s been exactly two hours since I started Meltis Online. It’s about 8:00 PM in the real world. Since levels are popping up at this pace, this must be a game where leveling is relatively easy.
“Hey, hey, isn’t Aegis way too convenient?”
“It certainly is! Complete immunity to damage from anything other than direct attack attributes, and status ailments do not work either; this is too strong! It even completely nullifies surprise long-range first strikes!”
“That’s strong… But the demerit of not being able to equip a shield is harsh, so I guess you need that kind of performance to balance it.”
“Quite so. Weapons are restricted to Demon Swords only, and not being able to equip a shield is painful… Furthermore, I cannot use the Executioner’s Axe +12 that I used in my previous job…”
We evaluated {Magic Shield Aegis} as ‘maybe subtle’ when she first activated it, but now its rating is skyrocketing through the roof. When activated, a thin reddish-black aura appears around her body, making Peru-chan completely invincible unless she takes a direct hit. The mud bomb long-range attacks spat out by Giant Frogs, and even the Curse Spear I shot at her as a test, were all nullified. By the way, regarding Donta’s foreleg slap, aka {Double Palm}: the first hit was nullified, but the second hit connected hard and sent her flying. It seems to be weak against continuous attacks, so we need to be careful there. As a skill to make up for not having a shield, it’s fair… Is it fair? I feel like it’s too strong… Ah, right, I wanted to ask about this.
“What are these plus numbers attached to equipment, like Executioner’s Axe +12 or Mage’s Staff +4?”
“That is the enhancement value. Armor can be safely enhanced up to +4, but from there on, if you fail, the equipment will be lost. For weapons, the safety range for enhancement differs depending on the rarity. The lowest safety range currently confirmed is for the [Legendary] class, which, like armor, only has a safety range up to +4. Basically, you go to a city and ask a blacksmith, or shove materials into the enhancement device installed in the Guild House and pray. It is content where money melts away like water!”
“Ehh… Then +12 is…”
“The Executioner’s Battleaxe is Unique Rarity, so the safety range is +5.”
“……You said that casually, but isn’t that an outrageous piece of equipment?”
“You can make it if you use a massive amount of Item Protection Tickets and Enhancement Rate Increase Tickets!”
“In other words, it’s expensive. And those tickets are… cash items?”
“Yes, they are items that come from the Enhancement Supply Gacha or the Dark Pot Gacha! If I sold it, it might fetch a tremendous price. But I am not thinking of selling it to anyone. After all, I would hate it if I lost to someone because of a weapon I sold them.”
“I see…”
Heavy spenders really do have amazing ways of thinking. If it were me, I’d absolutely sell expensive equipment I couldn’t use anymore.
“Woof? (It’s not squishy anymore?)”
“Oh my, it seems we are about to exit the wetlands.”
“Is the place further south from here Loray, where Peru-chan’s Guild House is?”
“That is correct! Once we arrive in Loray, I will invite you to the guild! Haaah~ finally we can settle down and relax~.”
“……Don’t tell me you came all the way to Loray because you were targeted so much by obsessive players that you couldn’t operate properly in other cities?”
“No waaaaay?? That’s nooooot true at all, you knooow??? Nooooot at all!!”
“I see…”
We’re finally about to arrive at Loray, where Peru-chan’s guild is. Still, being unable to relax because of harassment from obsessive players… what a hardship.
“Woof!! (Under my feet, it’s hard!)”
“Oh, the ground suddenly became hard.”
“From around here, it becomes a hard geological layer with exposed rock. Loray is a trade city, a city with a port. Though, for certain reasons, no ships are leaving right now. Oh yes, a player in my guild who is knowledgeable about geology said that long ago, this area used to be the sea, and these rock layers might have formed back then.”
“Isn’t the setting a little too detailed? The level of detail is amazing, really.”
“The NPCs act as if each one is alive; they remember people they are close to, and they are wary of suspicious people. They are just like us humans. Ah, right! From here, if it were daytime, we might be able to see Loray in the distance! If you change channels, the time zone shifts slightly. If we go to Channel 3, it is 4 hours earlier, so we can still see the daytime scenery!”
It really is an amazing game, Meltis Online. Even if someone told me I was actually transported to another world, it wouldn’t be strange at all—everything feels so alive. It’s so detailed…
“Hueee~… You can even move to a past time? What an outrageous game. The VR Dive System itself is already borderline over-technology, but an open-world online game that feels like another world actually exists here… No wonder it’s popular~…”
“You can really feel the evolution of technology~!! Being with you makes it much, much more fun than usual~!!”
“I’m having fun being with you too, Peru-chan. Then, since we can, let’s go to the world 4 hours ago.”
“Let us do that! Then, moving to Channel 3!”
It’s already past 8:00 PM and pitch black, with visibility limited to vague shapes thanks to game correction, so let’s move to Channel 3 where it’s around 4:00 PM and the sun is still up. Let’s see, channel moving was in the System tab of the User Interface… Found it. I just have to select Channel 3 here.
[Moving to Channel {3}. Please wait a moment…]
[{Donta} and {Aurelia} will be transported with you.]
“Woah, it’s bright…!? Uwa… Uwaaaaaaa……!!”
For a moment, I almost forgot this was a VR world. Amazing, truly amazing. So this is what fresh seaside air with absolutely no pollution feels like… I can hear the cry of seabirds in the pleasant sea breeze blowing from afar. The sunlight beating down is dazzling, illuminating the distant sea and making it sparkle. The clear blue ocean is so beautiful… After seeing this, I absolutely won’t want to go to the poorly managed oceans of the real world. Ah, the VR Dive System is the best… Honestly speaking, I think this would sell even as a game just for enjoying the beautiful scenery spreading out before my eyes. I genuinely think that.
“What do you think? The sea of Loray is beautiful, is it not?”
“Yeah… It’s incredibly beautiful. I’m going to live here. I’m moving my residency to Loray.”
“If you move from the real world to Loray, then I shall move here as well!”
“Yeah. That sounds good. You work too much in real life, Peru-chan.”
“I-I have reduced my workload, you know. Once the handover is completely finished, the world will turn even if I remain silent!”
“Good luck. I can only cheer you on, though.”
“Just having you cheer for me makes me… well, for a long time, I wanted to… with you, Rinne-san…”
“Pigi.”
[Took 31 damage from Stone Armor Slime.]
Hah? That hurt, you know? I was just about to have an important conversation with Peru-chan, you know? This… this thing, another Slime…! Really, Slimes are just…! Always getting in my way… Damn Slime… Damn Slime, damn Slime! Daaaamn Sliiiiime……!!
“…Drop dead, Slime!! Pierce, Curse Spear!!”
[Activated {Curse Spear}, dealt 1 damage to the Stone Armor Slime. Inflicted {Cursed} status.]
“H-Huh!? It’s not working at all!?”
“Ah~… This Slime is truly a nuisance… It is a troublesome foe that only takes 1 damage, taking 5 minutes to defeat.”
[Defeated Stone Armor Slime via curse slip damage. Gained 3900 EXP.]
“Hu… ? Huh…? Huhhhhh!?”
Evil has perished. Slimes are evil. There is no such thing as a good Slime in this world. Slimes must die. Even so, isn’t this thing’s EXP huge?
“Isn’t this thing’s EXP huge? I got nearly 4000 just now? Uh, Peru-chaaaan?”
“Th-Th-Th-This Slime, in such a short time!? You must be lying!? How did you defeat it in such a short time!?”
“Eh? It looks like it died from the curse slip damage.”
“Curse!? Slip damage!?”
“Yeah. Until now, I was killing things in one hit so it didn’t trigger, but Curse Spear inflicts a curse.”
Wait, was this monster supposed to be the unkillable type? Has no player tried curses until now?
“Does that mean the curse’s slip damage is just that high…? But this Slime should have nearly 500 HP. Does this mean the curse can whittle down an amount far higher than the damage you can normally deal!?”
“Eh~…? Then that’s kind of weird. Maybe its HP just happened to be low?”
“I want to investigate! Don-chan, can you find this Slime?”
“Woof? (What are you saying~?)”
“Donta, can you find the Slime we just defeated?”
“Woof! Woof! (Yeah! I remember it so I can find it!)”
This is the first time verifying the curse. Since the Slime camouflages with the rocks and is hard to find, and Donta says he can find them, let’s have Donta search. If we defeat a few to satisfy Peru-chan’s curiosity, we’ll know if the curse is effective or if that one just happened to be a fluke.
“Woof! (Found it!)”
“You find them fast, Donta~. It’s true, there it is. Okay, here goes? Pierce, Curse Spear.”
[Activated {Curse Spear}, dealt 1 damage to the Stone Armor Slime. Inflicted {Cursed} status.]
[Defeated Stone Armor Slime via curse slip damage. Gained 3900 EXP.]
“Ah, piece of cake.”
“Ehhhhhh…!?”
See, it dies instantly. Was this one’s HP low too? Well, it was near where the previous Slime was, so someone might have chipped it down earlier. Let’s kill a few more.
“Woof!! (By the big rock, there’s two!)”
“Good boy, good boy. By that big rock, right? Pierce, Curse Spear.”
[Activated {Curse Spear}, dealt 1 damage to the Stone Armor Slime. Inflicted {Cursed} status.]
“Pierce, Curse Spear.”
[Activated {Curse Spear}, dealt 1 damage to the Stone Armor Slime. Inflicted {Cursed} status.]
Now then, how about the Slimes we found this time? Are their HP just low too, or will the result be~??
[Defeated Stone Armor Slime via curse slip damage. Gained 3900 EXP.]
[Defeated Stone Armor Slime via curse slip damage. Gained 4000 EXP.]
[You have reached Level 21! Congratulations!]
[Perseus has reached Level 21. Let’s celebrate!]
[Donta has reached Level 16.]
[Aurelia is at the level cap. Please evolve!]
“Woof.”
“Woof, woof woof.”
“Woof.”
“Woooof…?”
“Woof.”
“Woof.”
“…… (Clack clack clack clack)”
I’m pretty much convinced at this point: isn’t this thing a bonus monster that gives huge EXP and is easy to hunt? And gradually, I’m starting to see them too. If you look closely, this rocky area is crawling with bonus Slimes. Without a doubt, this is a magnificent hunting ground, a leveling spot——I’ll kill them…! I’ll pluck them clean…!! I can squeeze every last drop out of the Slimes that have been getting in my way since the beginning……!!
“R-Rinne-san? Your face, well, i-it is scary, you know…?”
“Fufu, fufufufu…! Fufufufu, ahhahahahahaha…!! Once we reach Loray, let’s come back here!! I’m going to kill them all!!”
“Right! L-Let us do that!”
“Donta, run to the city visible over there. We’ll sell off the loot in Loray, evolve Aurelia, and come back here—!”
“W-Woof!! (G-Got it!!)”
“!!”
Just you wait, Stone Armor Slimes… Once Aurelia evolves, I’m going to massacre you all…!! This is a bonus areaaaaa…!!
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