Log Horizon Book 1 chapter 3

Chapter 3: Battle of Roka


1

"We looted a lot this round, making a killing out here!"

Naotsugu swing his skinning knife to shake off the blood before sheathing it. Shiroe nods in agreement as he put down his staff to cancel the spells he have prepared.

(I am feeling melancholic again after recollecting various things.)

Shiroe shrug with a sigh. This is really a headache. There are so many things troubling him since arriving in this world that he forget what he is brooding about sometimes.

(I hope this doesn't become my catch phrase.)

"What is it my lord?"

Akatsuki has finish packing and is by Shiroe side before he knew it. Shiroe is unable to calm his emotions in front of Her shiny black eyes akin to obsidian that looks at him from a low angle.

"Let's go back." Shiroe says with a smile to change the topic.

Shiroe's group is in a place called 'pebbles herb garden', a relatively small field zone about 1 km2 in size.

It is already evening, the wind is starting to turn chilly and the sounds of bird chirping is all around them.

This zone is close to both Akiba and Shibuya, a place suitable for one day training trips. The monster level is a bit high for a place so near the city.

"Let's hurry back then."

"Roger."

After listening to Shiroe, the girl in black, Akatsuki replies seriously without emotion as usual as she fasten her pack.

The defeated corpses of truffles and brier weasels lies around them, and will disappear in a shower of light particles after some time.

Truffles are a type of mobile plant with a flower bud the size of rugby ball on top of it. The bud will peel back in 3 parts, revealing the sharp teeth inside, a horrifying creature.

Brier weasels on the other hand let vines grow on its body. It is faster than a cat and can attack with its vine, an agile monster.

The levels of the monster are 48 and 52 respectively.

Their levels are quite high in the world of Elder Tales, but they are 40 levels below Shiroe team, so they will not gain any EXP from them.

After days of training, Shiroe party faithfully follows the settings of Elder Tales. They have not confirm this yet, but they probably need to defeat monsters at least 5 levels below them, or enemies level 85 and above in this case to gain EXP.

It will be a very tough fight if they take on level 85 monsters now. They might be able to handle one, but not if they attack in a group.

"You doing fine?"

"I took some potions so I'm good. My defence is like an iron wall, iron festival!"

Naotsugu respond with a grin while knocking on his armour. His grey gauntlets makes a clear dull sound as it hits his breastplate.

According to Naotsugu, you feel less pain from enemy attacks than real life. You don't feel half dead even when your health bar is halved and only feel a bit sore and warm from the wounds all over your body.

Naotsugu describes the worse pain as stubbing your toe on the corner of a cabinet.

(That should be painful enough to make me cry 3 times.)

Shiroe frowns at his description but Naotsugu continues laughing heartily.

(Even if it is this way for now, there is no telling if it will remain like this.)

Shiroe remain on guard as he thinks.

(The low level enemies have weak attacks, so there is no rush to make snap judgement or ensuring an retreat path. But we will take more damage as the monster level increases... Even an excellent guardian like Naotsugu won't be able to handle it easily like now. We need to think of other possibilities...)

Among the 12 classes, the one with the highest HP and defence combination on the frontline is the guardian. If there are attacks Naotsugu cannot withstand, it will be impossible for any other class to do so.

(We will need a healer after all... But I don't want to increase the number of teammates if we take efficiency into consideration. I doubt our teamwork would be good if we invite anyone with such motives. We will just be sent by to town if we do get wiped out, but,,,)

The miracle of revival exist in this world.

Even if they die in battle, they will respawn in the cathedral, Shiroe's group knows this.

But they still refrain from pushing themselves too hard even with their revival guaranteed. But death is still an unacceptable taboo for them.

(Being able to come back to life after we die is really suspicious.)

"My lord...?"

"Hey Shiroe, hurry up!"

After acting together for several days, they have made greater progress in both personal relations and teamwork than Shiroe expected. The members of this team fits really well to this lifestyle despite their history of working alone.

As they get use to life as a group, their individual characteristics is magnified too. In this team roster, Shiroe naturally becomes the guy who is responsible for worrying about things.

(I have been playing the part of tactician since my tea party days anyway.)

Shiroe gets lost in his thoughts easily.

He also notice this bad habit, but it is not something you can change easily. It is okay to be the guy responsible for worrying, but I don't want to be the guy who spoils the mood. Shiroe thinks about this.

"Let's withdraw then... Need me to shine a light?"

Shiroe ask as he prepares his magic light spell

"Lord Shiroe, please wait."

"There is no need to address me as lord. We are comrades, can't you just call me Shiroe?"

"Then please address me as Akatsuki too."

Akatsuki stares at Shiroe as she speaks after brushing aside Shiroe's request.

(How should I describe Akatsuki's gaze, hmmm...)

Akatsuki is a beautiful young lady no matter how you look at her.

And because of that, Shiroe finds it hard to withstand Akatsuki's gaze. He doesn't hate it, but it makes Shiroe uncomfortable.

Shiroe is a typical homely online gamer who is bad at socialising withy others. He doesn't have much experience dealing with girls.

(No matter what excuse I use, the bottom line is... I am shy and don't know how to react... this is something that can't be helped right? Yes, I understand, I really do...)

"My lord."

Akatsuki says as she takes a step forward, akin to kicking a man while he is down. Akatsuki has to look up at him due to their height difference, which makes Shiroe feels a little sorry about that.

"Ermm... what is it? What's so funny Naotsugu?"

Naotsugu is looking at the Shiroe and Akatsuki with a smile on his face. After snapping at Naotsugu, he ask Akatsuki to continue.

"I will be scouting ahead on our way back."

"Why?"

"Practice. Assassins has dark vision, sneak and silent move, I want to see how it feels using them in this world. This forest is the perfect place to practice."

Akatsuki looks at the dark areas of the forest as she fasten her sword with her black waist cloth, making her preparation as she informs them of her intention.

Moving alone...

Shiroe gives his permission after considering for a while.

This zone doesn't seem to have monsters stronger than the 2 types they fought, Akatsuki should be able to take on any single monsters or run away if there are too many enemies.

Akatsuki wants to confirm her skills so she will be ready when she needs to use them. Shiroe understand her concerns, knowing the limits of your ability is crucial in surviving in this world.

"Be careful. Let's meet by the south gate. We'll stay illuminated using magic light as we go, you can use that to find us."

"I understand. I can find you if we are in the same zone."

If you form a party and is in the same zone, you can find your allies through the direction and distance displayed on your screen. It shouldn't take long for them to meet.

"See you later then shrimp Akatsuki."

"Be quiet stupid Naotsugu."

Akatsuki retorts and she is gone the next instance as if she has merged with the forest.


"That shrimp is good."

"I couldn't even hear the leaves rustle."

Naotsugu whistles.

Shiroe shrugs and chants the spell for magic light and the tip of his staff glows like a lamp. In the dimly lit forest basked in the fading orange light of the evening sun, the magic light gives off a gentle and soothing light.

"Let's be on our way."

"Okay tactician, let's march towards our goal of panties!"

Shiroe and Naotsugu heads for the east gate under the illumination of the light.

Step by step.

The trial is full of grass that looks like ribbons with dew and pebbles covered in moss. Shiroe and Naotsugu walks on this path advancing through this Regency forest.

(This is like walking in Yakushima island or the Amazon forest that I saw on web-TV... Even if the others say this is an alternate world, I still find that hard to believe.)

They can hear the pleasant sounds of insects faintly.

The duo wades through the undergrowth. They have to rely on Naotsugu's sword to bash a way through as they move through the forest in the night.

"So Akatsuki's subclass is tracker."

Naotsugu's words remind Shiroe of an earlier conversation.

Sneak and silent move Akatsuki mentioned are tracker skills. Tracker is one of the many subclass in Elder Tales, letting you learn skills to track or avoid being tracked.

The feature common to all subclass in Elder Tales is the provision of skills that is not directly related to combat. It is also independent from the 12 main class that are battle focused, so you can learn any subclass if you meet the requirements.

There are 2 main types of subclass.

One type is production subclass like chef, tailor, blacksmith and carpenters. Players with such subvlass can craft all sorts of items using the appropriate ingredients and facilities.

It is easy to learn production subclass, you just need to buy instruction manuals from NPCs and you can start accumulating EXP. The EXP for subclass is separate from the battle EXP so it is tedious to level it up. But it doesn't require any special quest or items, anyone can grind it to high levels if you are determined enough, and you don't need your comrades' help to do this.

Shiroe is a scribe, which is also a production subclass. He can duplicate magic tomes, maps and all sorts of documents using paper and ink.

Nobles, merchants and rose garden princess belongs to the other type, which is role playing subclass.

Unlike production subclass, they can't craft items, but they can learn some special skills and rare techniques. They can also get rare equipment in some situations.

Trackers is a role playing subclass, it has the ability to track other players or foes, erase your presence and move in the dark.

Shiroe is not familiar with the tracker subclass. The 12 main class that dictates combat was designed by the creators of Elder Tales, a large American corporation. The strength of each class will be balanced for each update and more subclass will be added. The outsourced company in each country, such as Fuji entertainment in Japan, may create a subclass unique to its server.

Shiroe remembers about 50 subclass from memory, but with exclusive subclass created in other servers, it is hard to guess its numbers.

Powerful subclass are popular and famous, so Shiroe knows about them and has a rough idea of their features. But even a veteran player like Shiroe won't know about some obscure subclass.

Out of the countless subclass, trackers are sort of well known.

It has useful abilities, but it is not something you will need a lot, so it is in the middle in terms of popularity. Players not as hardcore as Shiroe might not have heard them, but it should be more famous than sailors or janitors.

"She is really dedicated to her role playing."

Naotsugu grins to express his agreement.

(A tracker assassin, she is too obsess with ninjas. I can see why she call herself one.)

Akatsuki style of giving her all makes Shiroe and Naotsugu smile. Role playing always gives the impression of playing pretend, but Akatsuki serious approach to this makes it feel real.

"What do you think of our shrimp girl Shiroe?"

"... Very active on the front lines with high level of focus."

Shiroe replies Naotsugu vague question after a moment of consideration.

Naotsugu is asking Shiroe for his opinion on Akatsuki.

Shiroe has a good impression of Akatsuki, but he is acting indifferent because of he feels embarrassed about praising her.

"Enough about me, what about you Naotsugu? Has your burden increased?"

"The burden has decreased. Compared to just the 2 of us, we are clearing the monsters way faster. Some minions are dealt with before I can even turn to face them. She may be a shrimp, but she is a strong shrimp.

Naotsugu replies Shiroe as he leads the way.

Naotsugu is kind and cheerful, a type that is very sociable. He makes crude jokes sometimes, but Shiroe feels he does this intentionally to ease the mood.

But Naotsugu won't mince his words when talking about battles. He might be polite about it, but he will not lie.

From what Shiroe remembers about Naotsugu's criticism, he gives almost full marks to Akatsuki.

"But she mentioned her reach is shorter and her attacks has less weight after she adjust her appearance right?"

I was never a shrimp so I won't know about her reach, but with her speed and agility, that shouldn't be important correct? Why don't you try taking a knee in the face from her. It is really instantaneous, my eyes can't keep up even if I want to block it."

"I would rather not."

Naotsugu rubs his nose as he recalls the pain and says:

"As her attack dropping because of her weight, it should be true since she says so herself huh? According to the settings, your attack is not affected by gender, and having more weight in your punches may not increase your attack power. But this is just what she felt, so there is no other way to tell. If her attack power really decrease, then she will be fine with Shiroe's support spells backing her up."

Naotsugu says as he ply away a leaf with thorns.

(About that... He is right.)

Shiroe is an enchanter, one of the 3 Mage class. Each of the warrior, weapon-based, healer and Mage category has 3 classes each forming a total of 12 class. The enchanter is one of these twelve.

Among the Mage classes, enchanter is the best at support, setting up the battle stage and crowd control. It has a variety of support spells.

'Keen edge' that increases weapon attacks.

Every time an ally hits the enemy, 'thorn bind hostage' can deal additional damage with its curse vines.

Attacking the psyche of the enemy to numb its senses with 'mind shock'.

Enchanter is a special class that contributes to victory by boasting its allies power and controlling the flow of battle.

"Yeah... You are right."

Shiroe replies shyly.

Enchanter is the least popular class in Elder Tales and has a bad reputation among players.

Shiroe has no obligation towards anyone and chose this class out of personal preference. No matter what others says, he is confident of the enchanter's abilities and it's deep potential. Shiroe also knows an enchanter cannot work along.

This class needs a party, and effectiveness of an enchanter widely depends on how good their teamwork is.

This has nothing to do with the stats of the player, how well you work with others cannot be measured numerically.

Because Shiroe understand this, he feels embarrassed when others tell him 'that will be fine' or 'things will work out if we do it together'.

For enchanters...

If their existence in the team is acknowledge, it means the player's character and personal relationship is working well.

"Shiroe..."

"Yeah?"

"I think you are holding back too much sometimes."

"Hmm?"

Naotsugu says as he bash through the vegetation. This change in topic is too big and Shiroe is unable to catch up.

"... For example panties?"

"How did this turn into a question?"

"The mysterious triangle region of cute girls are always questioning the world, you should understand that you locked closet pervert!"

"How perverted am I in this setting of yours?"

Shiroe at this moment is unable to understands Naotsugu's concern, and can only chase after his back.

The Shiroe right now is just a normal enchanter.



2

They moved to a neighboring zone after linking up with Akatsuki.

"Let's hurry, I miss our hotel."

Although he is tired from the battles, Naotsugu is in a cheerful mood as he chat with his teammates.


This region is known as Kanda channel, a ruin based on Marunouchi metro in the real world. It is the nest of demihumans like goblins and beast men now.

The enemies in this region is only about level 30, no longer a threat for Shiroe and the others. With such a level gap, the monsters will hesitate on attacking them.

With the sky totally dark, Shiroe, Naotsugu and Akatsuki regrets spending too much time in the imperial forest.

Since monsters won't attack them recklessly, they can just make camp in some ruins, caves or under trees. But they are still traveling with their magic light shining, moving on the roads with abandoned cars and trucks scattered all around.

Akatsuki insist that sleeping on a proper bed is more comfortable.

They have furs and fangs looted from monsters in their bag they need to trade for cash anyway, so they need to go back to the city.

Naotsugu who is in the lead will turn back every now and then to confirm his party mate's status.

(Both of them show no signs of fatigue, our level 90 body has strong stamina after all.

Naotsugu sigh in relief secretly after looking at their steadfast footsteps.

Unlike the 2 of them, Naotsugu is a typical warrior. Warriors have outstanding strength, stamina and agility.

Even Naotsugu is surprised he can fight for hours wearing 40-50 kg armor.

Even if he exhaust his energy, he just need to rest for a few minutes to recover his strength slowly. He is confident of lifting 300kg in terms of his explosive power, his stamina seems boundless.

But it is different for the others. Shiroe is a pure intellect class, Akatsuki is incredibly fast, but she is a lightly armoured fighter. They might claim 'there is no problem with stamina, we are level 90 too' but Naotsugu feels he needs to accommodate them for this part.

But there is no need to worry for tonight.

With the bright moonlight and magic illumination, the relatively smooth asphalt road with a few debris and potholes is easy to traverse.

"The goblins are not attacking us."

"We are level 90, of course they are not."

"I like the goblin with the skull on his head. Their arrogant demeanor is cute and weird."

(Akatsuki is talking nonsense with a straight face...)

Akatsuki should be referring to goblin shaman. They lead their kinsmen minions with their ice and fire spells. They may look funny when they arrogantly gives command, but they are definitely not cute.

"You like this type of monsters, shrimp?"

Naotsugu ask again to be certain. Akatsuki replies curtly:

"They are cute and die so easily."

They need be killed since they are enemies, but Naotsugu can't understand what's so cute about them.

"Most magic type monsters looks arrogant, but their armour is as thin as paper and their HP is extremely low. It will be fine if they stay at the back, but goblin shaman will walk nonchalantly to the front lines and is easy to take down. Just need to use 'hide shadow' to sneak besides them and I can slit their throat with my blade. The way their body collapses like a puppet with its strings is so addicting."

As she is not sure how to interpret Naotsugu's query, she shares her thoughts with the others casually.

(... Wah, if you put it like this, wouldn't Shiroe be troubled?)

Shifting his gaze to the side, Naotsugu can see that Shiroe is shocked to hear that. It is natural for mage to have low defences so Shiroe don't need to be so sad. Naotsugu also know Akatsuki doesn't mean to hurt Shiroe.

But even so, Shiroe still looks depressed while Akatsuki is acting as usual.

Naotsugu wants to sigh looking at the 2 of them.

(Shiroe is smart, but he tends to over think things and is too concerned with trivial matters... He is shouldering a lot of work. Why is our tactician frightened to this extend?

Naotsugu thinks Shiroe is holding back too much.

If someone ask him what is Shiroe holding back about, Naotsugu won't be able to answer, this is just how he feels.

Naotsugu felt the same way back when the 2 of them was in the debauchee tea party. Shiroe wants to do things himself too much, which Naotsugu thinks is Shiroe's good point.

But the duty of a guardian is to protect his allies.

It leaves a bitter taste in his mouth if his teammates doesn't rely on him, as if his duty has been stripped from him. Naotsugu thinks Shiroe should at least rely on Naotsugu  for things he is good at.

"Hold on, our mage is reliable during critical junctures right?"

"Hmm? The armour of my lord is thin as paper too... That's fine, I will protect him as his ninja."

She didn't notice is depressed as she kick Shiroe again while he is down. Naotsugu think they are interacting like children... But Naotsugu is thinking the same about Shiroe too.

On the whole, this is a quiet night as they chat on their way back.

They can see the elongated shadows of the goblins sneaking around in the moonlight. But when Naotsugu looks at them, they will scatter away.

"This is a zone adjacent to Akiba with only low level monsters lurking around. If there are high level monsters, the beginners will be wiped out."

Shiroe says.

It has been more than 10 days since they were trapped in this world, and no new players have shown up since.

What is his body doing in the real world? Did all the players disappeared? Or are they all in a coma? Naotsugu and the others have no way to tell.

(It may be hard to imagine but our real selves may still be living their lives as normal. Each, that means we have no way of going back, abandoned babies sales festival. If it is like some light novel setting where the world forget we ever existed at all, it will be depressing too...)

Contrary to the way he acts, Naotsugu is thinking about this as a fan of fantasy novels. But at this point in time, they couldn't tell.

It might be 'it is just 10 days' or 'it has already been 10 days', everyone has different interpretation about this. But the 3 of them have been forced grow accustomed to this world.

This is the additional of alternate world physics on top of Elder Tales setting. In this world twisted by these 2 factors, there is still some rules and accompanying logic.

Even if all the food are tasteless, even if strange effects exist, they still follow a set of laws. They often feel frustrated by these effects that defy common sense, but they have to try understanding these logic and live in this world.

They have to live in the world they are in, be it the game world or real world.

(Since we can't find the way back, this is the only world for us now. We can't do anything about it being the game or real world... It is not too bad after you get use to swinging swords and adventuring... Although I put on a brave face and told Marielle 'this is far from the worst case scenario', but I just wanted to say this more than anyone else.)

It is a good thing for Naotsugu to get used to this so quickly. He has nothing against the world he was from, but if someone ask if he will risk his life to go back, his answer will be 'I don't know'.

(I don't have a girlfriend who will show me panties and I haven't seen my parents in 2 years... I have gotten used to work, but it is nothing too satisfying about it.)

From Nukere passing through Kudanshita, they are just a couple of doors away from Akiba.

They are not going by archive tower forest today, opting to go via the slope of Ochanomizu. As they pass by the gentle slope of Roka charity hospital, Naotsugu is reminded of home. In the Japanese garden on the right side of the road, a large tree with plenty of branches wearing its leaves like a jacket.

The moon can be glimpse through the leaves. The shadows of the leaves jerked unnaturally, making Naotsugu and the others scatter away from the tree hastily.


(...!)

Naotsugu dash at full speed and bash at the bushes with his shield into the darkness.

A yell can be heard from the dark.

He can feel Shiroe's presence behind me more than a dozen meters away.

Even as Naotsugu focus at his forehead, he did not let down his guard and scan his surroundings.

(There are 1, 2... 3? 4?)

Even though this is within expectations, he still feel his throat drying up when facing it. This tension is totally different then fighting monsters.

Suddenly, he heard the sounds of chains being dragged on the ground.

(Uu, too late!)

Naotsugu did not check his back as he attempts to jump, but snake like chains has entangled his ankles. This is not real chains with physical form, but a magical binding spells that seems almost real that bound their foes.

Naotsugu loses his balance in the air, his movements sealed by magic. At this moment, a silent and colourless magic wave came from behind.

Dispel magic.

It should be Shiroe who is casting is.

The snake like chain binding Naotsugu's ankles is disintegrated by Shiroe's dispel.

(You're always so quick with support! Well, what do we do Tactician?)

The excitement of battle rises in his heart, Shiroe is right behind him giving his full support. Naotsugu's confidence lift his spirits.

"Naotsugu, straight line formation. Our Enemies are PK, I have visual contact on 4. I'll determine their location... There!"

Shiroe shouts on the road covered by the shadows of the trees in the middle of the night.

A greenish white shot out of his staff. Mind bolt is the basic attack spell of the enchanters, it will strike at a single opponent causing some damage.

It has less attack power compared to summoners and sorcerers of the same level. But as the basic attack of the enchanters, Shiroe has many chance to use it.

Shiroe complains about his low attack power often, but Naotsugu thinks this is no big deal. Instead of powerful spells that misses, simple spells at the right time is much better.

"Enemy sighted!"

Shiroe's spell is performing as he expected.

The light of the spell only shine for a fraction of a second, but it is enough to see the foes hidden in the darkness.

Naotsugu retreat as per Shiroe instruction about half way between the darkness and Shiroe. He is right on the line dividing the 2 way road.

After confirming the enemies position, Naotsugu can attack them.

But he intentionally retreat to his position in the formation.

In a line formation, the distance between the front and back is crucial. If they are too far apart, the rear will be open to attacks.

"They have guts, turning to PK... They miss their mommies so much they turned into animals? Thinking they can celebrate victory by ambushing us, don't make me laugh."

Naotsugu turns the passion in his heart into words.

The enemies are not monsters.

Naotsugu despise this act of theirs the most.

PK means 'player kill' or 'player killer', instead of fighting monsters, a player hunts another player.

Akiba is designated as a non combat zone, which means other zones might not have such designation and battles are allowed.

In Elder Tales, players battling other players are an officially recognised way of playing.

But due to factors in Elder Tales such as the low success rate, high risk and cultural aversion of Japanese... Japanese are very law abiding and hate violence among players... PK is not popular here.

With mini map in Elder Tales shows all players, monsters and NPC around them, the chance for PK to work is very low.

High level players would have an innate evasion rate without the need for players to input any command, lowering the probability of PK working even further.

... Simply put, sneak attacks are not effective.

PK is not banned in Elder Tales, but grieving, which means harassing players causing undue distress, is. Although PK itself is not grieving, but targeting specific players or abusing them with words are actions that might be judged as grieving. The official might then deal out warning or ban hammers.

But grieving is very much dependent in personal opinion and prejudice. Even proper PK might be viewed as harassment if the victim is a lady, resulting in the perpetrator being locked out of his account.

That's why PK is a high risk action.

But things are different in this alternate world.

They can't view the mini map on their screen anymore, and even high level players can be ambushed if they are not conscious of the incoming attack.

Unless the player is a real life martial artist, no one can keep their guard up all the time.

Grieving reports can only be done after the officials review the records. When Elder Tales was still a game, order was maintained through the game masters 'hand of god'. But such convenient saviours doesn't exist in this world anymore.

... The chance of sneak attack working increases, the risk of being reported is gone.

And PK gives lots of benefits.

After defeating other players, they can strip them of all their gold and some items. Although some items cannot be dropped, half your saleable items in your bag will be lost, spread around your corpse.

There were more cons than pros back then, back that has been reversed.

This is the reason why PK is becoming a regular occurrence in Elder Tales.


3

(We made it pass the sneak attack phase... Their advantage are numbers, terrain and preparation. Our advantage are...)

Shiroe's staff shines as he go through the spells he can use. He doesn't have to choose the spells using the game menu, his common spells have already been prepared on his hotkeys.

Before Shiroe raise his staff to cast any spells, several players showed themselves.

The dry debris of the asphalt road cracks loudly in the quiet night.


4 shadows emerged from the darkness.

One dressed like a fighter, 2 as bandits, one like a healer.

Their levels and numbers are high, their footsteps steady.

"Leave everything you are carrying and we won't kill you."

The warrior says these cliche words in a disparaging tone.

Shiroe laugh bitterly when he hear this.

(If they is talking like that, they have read too much manga.)

They are already used to hunting monsters, but battling other players is a different thing. Unlike the monsters moving by animal instincts, this induce the fear of unpredictability. And humans are not dense enough to be ignorant of malicious intents of the enemies.

Monsters also have killing intent, but PK has the malicious intent of profiting off the effort of others.

Shiroe's palms are sweating before he realized.

But the cliche line washes away the tension, and Shiroe is grateful for it.

"Guardian and a Mage right? You want to put up a hopeless fight? We have 4 on our side alright?"

The man dressed like a bandit who seems to be the leader says. The 2 long sword on his waist hints his class to be a swashbuckler. Out of the 12 classes, only the swashbuckler and samurai can equip 2 weapons without the use of special items and putting in minimal effort.

"What should we do Naotsugu?"

"Kill them. Pick out the bones, chop them into mince meat and kill them again. These guys attack people for fun, they can't complain if someone else kills them."

The reliable voice of Naotsugu revitalize the strength in Shiroe's legs.

(Breathing normal, sense of balance is intact... Emotions are calm, I can do this. This is something we expected... Just a matter of time before we face this road.)

Shiroe mumbles to himself. He is already prepared to fight, but wants to drag the conversation a bit longer if possible.

"Naotsugu hates PK after all... Actually, I'm willing to give them the money."

The PK group sneers at Shiroe's words.

They took half a step forward, showing their ugly threatening attitude. Shiroe averts his eyes from the pressure even though he expected this.

(That must be it... They are looking down at us, thinking we will fork over the cash if they apply a bit more pressure.)

Shiroe feels he has split into 2, one of him is has trembling legs from fear, the other is thinking calmly and clearly. He can also his pulse beating warmly by his ears, a sensation he had several times during the tea party.

Shiroe is not good in handling Akatsuki, but he doesn't hate her.

Shiroe hates fighting, but he is good at it.

"If they can beat us."

"Well said Shiroe."

The PK group is either surprised by their conversation or angered by their insolence. Their faces turns red as they draw their weapons while cursing.

The red 'battle mode' warning on the status screen has been flashing in the corner of his eyes since the sneak attack.

Shiroe took half a step back with his left foot and prays his voice will be steady as he give his command.

"Target the warrior on the left, draw the others attention too!"

"I will handle the tank, go take out the Mage!"

The sound of Shiroe command and the bandit leader's roar sound out at the same time.

Naotsugu takes a step forward and slam his shield at the warrior. His opponent is wielding a katana, meaning he is a samurai.

The bandit with long hair flanks Naotsugu on his leader's command, attempting to reach Shiroe with a leap. But this is one of the developments Shiroe anticipated.

Shiroe cast his spell in an instant.

Astral bind.

Similar to the magic that bound Naotsugu, it restricts the movements of the enemies.

When the defensibly weak mage adventures alone, this spell can restrict the movements of monsters. This is followed by range attack from a safe distance, a basic battle strategy.

The spells of mages might differ in details, but they have many common spells, including binding spells.

But binding spells have no other effects.

The long hair bandit is left with no choice other to turns and attack Naotsugu who is right besides him. He attacks with his daggers that is almost the length of a short sword. Binding spells restricts the opponent's long range movement, but it doesn't deprive them of all freedom. It is similar to leasing a dog with a chain to a pole, they can still move around within this short range. The binding spell last only for a short while.

"Let's change, I leave this to you!"

"I'm on it!"

Under the sparks of the clashing weapons, the leader makes a simple feint and attempts to break through Naotsugu's defense line.

Their strategy at the start should be for the leader to engage Naotsugu, leaving the others to take down Shiroe. But seeing his subordinate bounded, he decides to change the strategy by going for Shiroe himself.

His judgement to adjust his plans on the fly is commendable. His flanking action making use of the feint is fast.

(...But that is not enough to match Naotsugu's experience.)

"Anchor howl!"

Naotsugu lowers his center of gravity and shouts fiercely.

This howl that shakes the air is a skill of the guardian.

The bandit leader that should have slipped pass Naotsugu flinches his body as he turns to face Naotsugu with his swords raised on relex.

He loses strength in his legs and he is unable to look away from Naotsugu. Cold sweat breaks out all over his body, the long hair bandit and samurai is suffering the same sense of fear with their eyes wide open.

They will lose their lives if they don't stare at Naotsugu. That's the horrifying feeling the 3 of them felt from Naotsugu.

Naotsugu is a guardian who protects their comrades. They are known as tank because they are the shield absorbing the opponent's attack.

But having high defense and HP is not enough to act as a tank. Monsters like goblins and Orcs might possess similar intelligence to humans, the players might encounter dark elves or cultist as well, this is the world of Elder Tales.

The opponents ignoring the tank and going for the healer and mage behind is common too.

Guardians are built around the policy of protecting their allies, so they don't just have high HP and defense.

Anchor howl is a skill guardian cast with his fighting spirit, foes who hear this howl will not be able to ignore Naotsugu. The moment they try, they will be hit by a powerful counterattack. This is a skill grants guardians additional attacks if their enemy's attention lapses.

The skills to focus all the enemies attention on themselves is one of the reason why guardians are known as fortress among the warrior class.

"Tch! Don't be scared! We are going 3 on 1, he will go down no matter how tough he is, take him first!"

The bandit leader encourage his men despite the fear he is feeling.

The swashbuckler is forced to switch tactics again, locking on to Naotsugu and searching for his weak points with his double sword dancing like a snake.

The rogue Samurai, double sword leader and the long hair bandit are determined to take out Naotsugu first.

It is not wrong to do that.

"Damn it! You are just tough like a turtle, nothing impressive!"

The enemy screams hysterically as they attack in a flurry.

"Your swords won't break through my armor!"

Naotsugu's bold and cheery statement makes them double up on their attacks.

Shiroe checks Naotsugu's status as he listen to the sharp clash of metals.

This group has the skills to back up their words with good courage and teamwork. Naotsugu's HP dwindles under their relentless attacks.

Even Naotsugu won't last another 30 seconds.

(That is, if they can keep up the attack for 30 seconds...!)

Shiroe grins, he is not going to give them this amount of time.

Drawing a symbol with the tip of his staff takes 1.5 seconds. Shiroe creates a buzzing lightning ball and shoots it at the samurai. This is a damage over time spell 'electric fuzz', persistently causing low damage to an opponent over 10-20 seconds.

"Ha! You are an enchanter? What's that spell? You can't even kill a dog with this!"

The samurai just snort in annoyance despite being hit. The tennis ball size lightning sphere is loud and bright, but it's damage is so low it doesn't hurt.

Enchanter's spell on the whole lacks attack power, but damage over time magic can spread its power over a period of time. It's total damage exceeds mind bolt, but each wave of damage is insignificant.

The feeling of scratching an itch matches the low damage of the spell, just a harmless prank to the samurai.

(It is weak, but...)

The taunts goes to and fro, Shiroe didn't react to the samurai's sneer since he knows the features of his spells. He cast the same 'electric fuzz' on the bandit leader and long hair bandit next.

The 2 weapon based class have less HP than the samurai from warrior class. But this low damage magi is painless to them.

"Hahahaha! What were you trying to accomplish with that spell? Are you a greenhorn following this chum?"

The greenish white sparks shines like a shorted wire or some misshapen fireworks. The 3 PKs redouble their effort on attacking Naotsugu.

(... Alright them, let's get rid of one.)

The anger, carelessness and sneer of the enemy.

Absorbing these emotions like data and preparing in a deep breathe, Shiroe takes 2 step forward ready to act. He wields his staff as he chants, using his magic with the hotkey.

He cast 'thorn bind hostage' after chanting for 2 seconds. 5 shiny rings fly towards the samurai and morph into 5 vines entangling him.

"What is this? Ah!"

Naotsugu slash at the samurai, a lightning ball seems to explode in the darkness. The samurai screams as he back away on reflex from the impact.

Thorn bind hostage is a trap attack spells frequently used by Shiroe. Unlike single target or wide area attacks, it has a more complicated activation requirement. It also need to be cast on the enemy before hand.

Enemies who are affected by the spell will suffer about 1000 points of additional damage when attacked by the enchanter's allies.

The numbers of vines and the damage it cause differs by level. Shiroe's thorn bind hostage is secret skill level, even a warrior class will lose half his HP if all 5 vines are triggered.

"Calm down, this is a damn trap spell, dispel it healer! Concentrate on healing our samurai! We have double their numbers, there is no way we can lose!"

Unlike the shocked samurai, the bandit leader is still in control. Healers plays a critical role in the Elder Tales setting.

With a powerful healer using high level spells, damage of several allies about the same level can be restored completely.

If the healing is consistent, Shiroe's thorn bind hostage is nothing to worry about.

The bandit leader has a plan of taking on sorcerer who has more powerful attacks than an enchanter, so he remains confident in this battle.

Naotsugu slashes again.

Every swing activates the shockwave damage from the vines. Every time the samurai tries to take up a stance, the sword strike and the vine explosion throw him off balance again.

"Ha, this is nothing, your flank is open!"

The long hair bandit slashes at Naotsugu's right flank with his machete. Naotsugu who is immobile after his attack can't avoid this attack.

"This battle will be decided on the presence of healers! Don't underestimate us chums! Hahahaha! Cry on your way to the cathedral!"

Naotsugu's attack is strengthened by Shiroe's magic, dealing damage above a normal warrior class. The secret skill level spell is also one of the few enchanters skill that can cause heavy damage. But that won't be enough to out perform the healing spells of a healer about the same level. The laughter of the bandit leader came from this confidence.

"That is the correct analysis."

"If your healer is doing his job!"

Naotsugu lower his body to half his height in an instance and slash at the Samurai's knee.

This blow is like a giant praying mantis striking, throwing the samurai to the ground.

He did not fly off with the blow or spray blood all over the place. The samurai is fighting fiercely one second and drop motionless on the floor the next second, cutting off the bandit leader's laughter.

"W... What is happening, what did you do! Paralysis? Hey healer! Stop fooling around heal him!"

The bandit leader yells as Naotsugu swing his sword and says:

"You annoying fellow, stop sprouting ugly minion speeches in this beautiful night."

"You! What did you say?"

(That is faster than I imagined, what a reliable pro technique.)

Shiroe looks to the vast forest on the right of the courtyard.

Everyone is standing on the road full of bright greenish white light and can't see deep into the bushes of the courtyard.

It Shiroe knows his companion is inside that bush.

"Fuck it! Enough! Hey sorcerer! Summoner! Use everything you got to burn them into crisp!"

The bandit leader decides to show his hidden cards and throw in his reserve forces.

(So there are 2 other mages. They might be able to kill us if they join the fray. Even though the samurai fell, it is still 5 on 2 so he is confident think they will lose.)

Shiroe deduce the thinking of the bandit leader.

But even the reserve forces are within Shiroe's expectation.

(They used a binding spell on Naotsugu right from the start, but only a warrior, 2 bandits and a healer turn up. They have already let the cat out of the bag at that point in time.)

Shiroe already knows they are holding a Mage in reserve standing by in the dense forest.

(Mages has low HP and defence but they left them alone in the forest without a bodyguard. Which means...)

"Hey hurry up! Kill these bastards!"

The bandit leader shouts in a panic while pointing his sword at Naotsugu. But the tip of his sword is more than a meter away from Naotsugu.

Shiroe and Naotsugu's tactics and weird at atmosphere has depleted the morale of the PKs.

"Seems like we won."

"You are right my lord."

A small figure appears from behind the broad leaved tree.

Akatsuki with her usual serious expression drags 2 Mage with her and dumps them on the road. The beautiful young girl less than 150cm in height throwing the PKs like trash made the bandit leader lose his composure.

"What, what, what are you doing? Why didn't you report in? Hea, healer! Didn't I tell you to manage our HP! Did , did you betray us..."

"That's why I said you are annoying."

The bandit leader's speech annoys Naotsugu too much and he knocks the leader with his shield. The leader lose his balance from this sudden attack and fell on his butt.

"It is better to trust your teammates. Your healer has been sleeping since the start of the battle."

Shiroe's cruel announcement can be heard on the whole road.

This is the spell 'astral Hypnos'.

The binding spell that is one of the two invaluable weapons of an enchanter alongside 'keen edge'. A magic that force any target to fall asleep, a stoppage spell. It only last a dozen or so second no matter how you extend it.

The target will wake up when attacked, so it is a prank magic in a sense, used to buy some time.

Battle is a way of stripping each other of the ability to fight. The goal is to kill off the other party. Just putting the opponent to sleep won't win you the fight, it is a spell that won't affect the fight directly.

That is why enchanters are seen as a 2nd rated class.

"Do not underestimate my lord's magic"

"!"

The road has returned to silence all of a sudden.

The lightning balls have stop sparkling after it's duration ran out. Both bandits are sitting on the ground while the healer is sleeping soundly. Shiroe's group looks down at them.

"You underestimate the sparkles of the lightning balls, ignoring it because of its low damage. But having bright lights near your eyes obscures your vision of the forest's dark areas. You won't see the situation in the forest or realize your healer is sleeper. You only think about fighting, your team work is full of loopholes. It is easy to assassinate your reserves."

After Akatsuki finished, Naotsugu swing down his sword as if he is looking forward to it. The long hair bandit who lost his fighting spirit screams like a high pitch whistle and dies.

"We, will revive even after dying, we haven't lost yet!"

The bandit leader is still acting tough, but he can't move with Akatsuki's blade on his throat.

Akatsuki ask Shiroe with her eyes.

She is asking for permission to proceed.

Shiroe gives a long sigh.

Tying him up, robbing him of everything and then interrogate him is possible. But Shiroe's nature is not suitable for interrogation, so he can't really do that.

(We can also let him go, but... Even if we do that...)

He probably won't be grateful for that.

And he won't take this as a lesson and repent.

He will definitely see it as an insult and bear a grudge. Death is just a ritual in this world anyway. It makes one doubt there is a crime and punishment system like the real world.

Shiroe understands this.

But Shiroe still feels that one must not act without any regards to the law.

(There's no other way.)

Shiroe nods at Akatsuki. She stick the blade into the bandit leader's throat without hesitation. Blood that looks red and dirty in the dark night sprays from his throat.

Akatsuki turns her body to avoid the spray deftly as gold and items drops around the leader.

This ends the attack of the PKs.

4

"So the rumors that security has gone bad is true."

Naotsugu who is picking up the lots comment and Shiroe shrugs in response. They look at ease before the wild bandits, but it was not an easy victory.

There were 6 enemies after all. Their level is high even though they are not level 90 yet. Naotsugu who uses defensive skills also lost half his HP.

If Akatsuki didn't take out the reserve forces in the darkness... No, if Akatsuki didn't hide her presence immediately when they were attacked, understand what Shiroe meant when he says 'I see 4 of them' and take out the ambush party, who knows how the battle will turn out.

Shiroe, Naotsugu and even Akatsuki still has an ace up there sleeve. But to turn the tide of battle requires a cool head. If they use their ace in a state of panic, they will still lose no matter how good that ace is. By keeping calm and playing their cards at the right time, they can maximize its effectiveness to obtain victory.

There are 2 reasons why Shiroe's party won. The first is the overconfidence of the PK due to their advantage in numbers. The 2nd is the better team work of Shiroe's group.

"Any other PK hiding around here?"

Akatsuki ask in a gloomy tone while looking towards the cluster of abandoned buildings.

"That should be all of them."

Shiroe answers.

The most important thing about PK is the element of surprise so they need an appropriate place to set up. There is the possibility of their target escaping into the city if they go further ahead, so it is not suitable to PK there.

(We need to stay alert, it is getting dangerous out here.)

Shiroe thinks there is another reason they won.

Because they know about the news of the deteriorating security in the city.

Shiroe's group also heard rumors of rampant PK roaming around.

They hide around the field zone surrounding Akiba and ambush unsuspecting adventurers under the cover of darkness. The group they defeated seems experienced in PK to the extent of being overconfident.

Shiroe's team kept their guard up while moving because they heard these news and is wary of any shadows lurking in the bushes.

"They are 'Dread pack'? What a cliche name."

That is the guild name of the PK team they defeated, it probably meant they are a group that terrorize others.

"Can't be helped, it will be too much to ask PK to come up with classy names."

Naotsugu displays the disgust in his heart without reservation and Akatsuki agrees with him.

(Well, I am furious about this too.)

Shiroe sighs.

Naotsugu hates PK, Shiroes dislikes them too.

There are many reasons to dislike them, but the main reason is Shiroe simply find them unsightly.

Wanting to profit off others hard work is already an unsightly idea. The gold and items you can get through PK will not get you to the top levels, Shiroe think they are extremely unsightly.

'Taking other's treasure' means they did not step into the high level zone that contain these rewards. Not only do you miss out on exploring unknown places and mysteries, you won't run into treasures you have never seen before as well. You won't be able to stand at the peak of adventures if you rely on PK.

So PK will always be relegated to parasite status that feeds off other people's rewards.

That is what Shiroe thinks.

(...To criticize the personality of players while trapped in an alternate world... Maybe this is something that cannot be helped. Everyone has been pushed to the edge mentally.)

Regrettably, the situation of being on edge is becoming part of out daily lives, that is how this world is.

"I also heard such rumors."

"Other then that, 'Tidal clan', 'Blue impact' and 'Canossa' are all into PK."

Shiroe answers Akatsuki's comment.

"I can understand people being freaked out, but even so... Shouldn't there be other things for them to do?"

"Like what?"

"Like chatting about panties."

Akatsuki takes a step back.

She turns her head and look around her before taking another step back.

"Two steps... She took 2 steps back...?"

Naotsugu is depressed while Shiroe pay his shoulders to cheer him up. Naotsugu tries to describe the wonders of panties, but Akatsuki silence him by saying 'shut up pervert'.

The power relations of the party has gradually been set.

(Other things they should do...)

There is nothing to do, that is the current problem.

You can get by with cheap food if you just want to live.

Even if it is tasteless soggy crackers, there is nothing to complain if it keeps you alive. Countries in south east Asia region, states at war, cities facing famine, there are children starving to death there with their eyes praying for food.

But things wouldn't face such food crisis anytime soon in the future.

Food can be crafted using ingredients in Elder Tales, and the ingredients can in turn be gathered from the field zone. Defeated monsters might drop meat, mushrooms and berries can be pluck from the forest, you can fish in the sea and even cultivate and harvest plants.

He don't know about this world, but Elder Tales do have 4 seasons. It seems to be summer now and food is everywhere out in the field.

So even a beginner less than level 10 can get food from the relatively safe field zones.

But issue lies with the low percentage of players with the chef subclass to craft the food. But quite a number of players changed their subclass to chef in the past 10 days.

Having nutritious meals is the basics of survival and is a reasonable strategy.

It is the same with clothes.

They can get fur by skinning beasts or make sheets of clothes using silk or hemp. If you are not picky about the stats of the equipment, production players can make one cloth in dozens of seconds. Daily necessities like shoes can be produced by tailors, blacksmiths or carpenters. Normal sized equipment can be created by these craftsmen, while small and fine products is made by artisans.

As for accommodation, you can spend the night in any abandoned buildings if you are not too concerned with safety or comfort.

A night in a cheap hotel cost 5 gold, but even a level 10 player can get that money by defeating a few goblins. You can also opt to rent a place at a nice hotel for months or purchase a space such as a guild hall as a group. You can buy a room by yourself too, there are many ways to secure a place to sleep.

In other words, just surviving in this alternate world doesn't require you to risk your life or work long hours.

There are no dire situations if you just want to survive.

(But rather then living, this is more like 'not dying'.)

Shiroe thinks this type of noncompetitive environment cause the players to lose their goal in life, meaning they have nothing to do.

This is a very free alternate world.

It might be too liberal.

Naotsugu would probably say 'The objective of living? Things we should do? This should be decided and worked on by ourselves right? Such as discussing or protecting girls. Just like what panties ladies wear should be decided by themselves.' There is nothing wrong with this view and Shiroe don't want to object it.

But some might agree while others don't.

If people don't set a goal and work towards it, it is easy for them to be tempted into the wrong path. There are such people everywhere, like the ones that boast their ego by bullying others.

(It's the same with PK. There are many simple and safe way to live in this world. If you just want to survive, there is no need to earn lots of cash or resort ot PK.)

Hence, PK is not a means of staying alive. For instance in poor countries, people might be forced to become robbers to feed themselves. But PK is totally different from that.

But for these people, PK is something they feel they should do. A means to gives them enjoyment apart from just staying alive. This makes Shiroe feels PK is even more unsightly.

"Wait a minute, wah!"

Naotsugu yells.

"What is it?"

"These guys only have 62 gold combined, just how poor are they?"

"But the items they have are not too bad."

Naotsugu and Akatsuki have accounted for all the drop items and gold. The loot seems pretty disappointing.

"PK carries a high risk, unless they are stupid, they will just bring the bare necessities. The rest of their stuff should be in the bank, what we see here are items they rob from others."

The 2 of them sigh deeply at Shiroe's comment.



5

It is almost midnight when they reach Akiba.

The streets seem to be full of killing intent.

The city center, such as the metro city square, major road junction and bridge Akiba is filled with stalls as usual. The crowd is substantial there as well, but the darker outskirts of the city and the dim alleys of the ruins have suspicious players. They are wary of others and keep a distance from people when walking the streets.

(Security really is going bad...)

Shiroe's group has been heading to the field zone to hunt monsters these few days.

It is crucial to share your information in the city ever since that terrible event. Issues regarding eating, sleeping the basic mechanism and structures of this world, there are many things they need to confirm.

After gathering these basic data, Shiroe's group decides to find out about the field zones and how much battles have changed.

This is the policy the 3 of them came up with, but it is taking a longer time than expected.

Using magic and skills is vastly different from mastering them. Shiroe and Naotsugu already have this idea, Akatsuki also gain this view point as time passes.

The bigger the difference between using and mastering, the more time it takes to make up the difference through practice. Confirm the features of each skill, research it's uses and experiment with it. The amount of data in Elder Tales is enough to make beginners cry, but it is double... No, several times more in this alternate world.

Take 'cross slash' for instance.

This is a basic combo attacks of guardians, striking a foe twice in the shape of a cross. Guardians learn this early since it is a basic skill and has many opportunity to use it. According to Naotsugu, there are 5 ways to activate this skill.

"Slashing from top right to bottom left, then strike up vertically is the basics. But you can also start with top left to bottom right, which suits left handlers better. You can also do a horizontal slice followed by a vertical cut."

That's how it is.

This skill, or rather this basic battle movement, has already been saved inside their body. Based on the 2 fighting class player, Naotsugu and Akatsuki, if you have the will to fight and can see your enemies movement, your body will act automatically.

But you need lots of practice to tie down the delicate movements. There is no telling if practicing like real world martial artist will work but the weapon wielding duo are the same as Shiroe. They have to go through the process of research, experiment, research and adjustment.

For range attack spells, aiming with your staff will raise your accuracy then solely using hotkeys. This is also something Shiroe found out through experimenting.

Apart from finding trivial but crucial things when using skills, it will be hard to use it on the enemy without practicing teamwork as well.

The three of them has roles of tank, hitter and support command, but teamwork is more then just completing your assigned tasks.

Naotsugu needs to find ways to aggro the enemy leaving his allies free to work. Akatsuki also needs to accumulate knowledge and experience, knowing which of Naotsugu's attack will expose the opponent's weak point.

The burden on Shiroe is even heavier.

He needs to know what his comrades can and cannot do to command effectively. He need to know their habits and even breathing to increase the completeness of their formation. He has countless things to investigate and remember, which will take time for him to master. This is the daily life of Shiroe's party.


Marielle and the Crescent moon alliance has also been a great help towards Shiroe's group.

Crescent moon alliance is set up with the objective of mutual support. They have few high level players, but they have more manpower as they are a guild, able to send people to farm in the field zone and collating intelligence from the streets at the same time.

The guild is divided into 3 shifts, taking turns to harvest resources in the field, buying materials and getting information on the streets or crafting items with production skills. Doing things in shifts seems more efficient.

As they have agreed, Shiroe's team will be getting data on the level 60 and above zones in exchange for information Marielle's group canvass on the streets. They will also trade high level items in exchange for food and equipment.

They are working hard in the area they are good at and sharing the results.

(Marielle mentioned some people are really stressed out... probably has something to do with PK.)

Shiroe sigh at this deduction because this is 2nd hand information he got from Marielle. But since he experienced PK himself, this should be a fact.

The interior of the metro provides shelter from the rain, making it an excellent place to set up shop. Shiroe's party pass through it and heads for the city square in front of the metro. There should be an open air promenade in the real world here, but it is just a vast area overgrown with moss and grass in this alternate world.

Although the surrounding buildings are desolated, the first floor of everyone of them is a shop. The majority of Akiba's commercial facilities are located here.

Like the market place NPC that helps the players to trade, the blacksmith and tailor teachers that aids the production beginners. Other then teaching the basic skills, they will also provide free access to their furnace and sewing tables.

Most of the items in this world comes from monsters or treasure chest in dungeons, it might also be crafted by production players. To assist the low level players for their adventures, NPC will also sell basic weapons and armors.

The commercial facilities around the city square also have such merchant NPC.

The NPC population in this world is much larger than the game. The players was shocked at first, but got used to it over time.

They didn't do a proper headcount, but it is about 6-10 times more than the game.

The basic services in the city area follows that of the game and is available 24 hours. But the NPC still needs to eat and rest, so the increase in population is probably because of the need to work on shift.

They live according to their own timetable and stay in their residence above their shops. But they don't buy player crafted goods or magic items, so it is hard to judge whether they are involved in this world's economy.

Unlike the game, the actions of these NPC are similar to humans. You might mistake them for players if you didn't check with your status screen.

"Want to buy something? Or eat something?"

Naotsugu ask Akatsuki in a feeble voice.

"Ah, what shall we do my lord?"

Akatsuki ask Shiroe in an indifferent tone. They are not motivated by the prospect of eating and gets gloomy during meal time.

"Yeah... Hold on first, let's make a trip over if Marielle is still awake."

Shiroe decided. Even if the food taste the same in Crescent moon alliance, eating at Marielle's place is still better. The atmosphere when eating cannot be underestimated.

They have loots from hunting monsters and fighting the PKs, so they can sell it to Crescent moon alliance. It will then be crafted into items and flow back into the market, giving back to the community.

Shiroe opens his menu and telepathy Marielle.

Marielle should still be awake at this time, but her answering speed seems too fast.

"Yo Shiroe, where are you?"

"Back in the city."

Marielle's greeting is the same as always, but it seems a bit more anxious.

"Come over to my guild."

"Is it convenient? Not sleeping yet?"

"I was just thinking of contacting you, anyway just come over."

"Convenient for Naotsugu and Akatsuki to tag along?"

Shiroe introduced Naotsugu and Akatsuki to Marielle when interacting with Crescent moon alliance. The trio visit the guild quite often and even join some members to battle monsters, so they are all familiar faces there.

"Of course, that will be even better. I will wait for you guys."

The call ended. Shiroe felt hectic signs in the background while conversing with Marielle. Seems like Crescent moon alliance is still active this late at night.

"What is it Shiroe?"

Naotsugu who sense something different about Shiroe asks casually. Naotsugu shows kindness in these small matters. Shiroe is secretly impressed as he turns to face the 2 and says:

"Let's make a trip to Crescent moon alliance, seems something is up.



6

There is an air of panic in the guild hall of crescent moon alliance. The one leading the way is a young healer that gives the impression of a puppy. After ushering the trio into guild master Marielle's room, he turns and leave in a hurry.

Marielle's room is even messier then their last visit. But she manage to squeeze out a place for her guest and prepares tea for them.

Henrietta is still hard at work tidying the office. It is close to midnight, but there is no sense of peace and quiet here.

The youth carrying items, members accounting for weapons. The atmosphere feels uneasy as if they are packing for a journey.

"Sorry for the mess Mr Shiroe... Hold it. Wah, isn't this Akatsuki!"

Henrietta drops her broom upon seeing Akatsuki and rush over to hug her. Henrietta has a thing for cute little girls, and Akatsuki is just her type. She always act like this ever since they met.

Henrietta is average height for females so Akatsuki is shorter than her by half a head. Akatsuki looks like a black cat annoyed by her master's adoration when Henrietta hug her.

"Welcome back everyone. It's a bit messy here, hope you don't mind."

Marielle glance at Naotsugu and Akatsuki before winking at Shiroe. Shiroe breaths a sigh of relief looking at her mischievous demeanour.

"What happened Marielle?"

"An... anyway, don't rush me, sit, let me serve you water, water that looks like tea hehehehe..."

They sat in response to Marielle's invitation.

Shiroe and Naotsugu sit on the couch while Akatsuki sit on a sofa without backing as Henrietta is still embracing her from behind.

"...Ah... Erm."

Everyone is seated but Marielle still can't find the words to say. Shiroe waited quietly for quite a while before speaking out.

"Going for an expedition?"

"Yeah."

"To where?"

"Hmmm, should I say Ezzo... Anyway, we are going to Susukino."

Susukino is one of the 5 major city in Elder Tales.

A zone under the management of the Japanese server.

Under the half Gaia project, the position and shape is similar, but the distance is half and the area is a quarter.

The virtual Japan in Elder Tales, known as Yamato is divided into 5 states. Real world Hokkaido is Ezzo empire, Shikoku is Fourland dukedom, Kyushu is Ninetails dominion, eastern Japan main island is League of freedom cities Eastal and the western part is holy empire westlande.

There are tens of thousands of players living in Yamato that is equivalent to real world Japan. There are also numerous NPC known as the people of the land living in many cities, towns and countless villages.

5 of these cities are in a league of their own.

Susukino, Shibuya, Akiba, Minami and Nakasu.

As places that can be chosen as starter city, the commercial facilities are excellent and the surrounding area is suitable for beginners with lower levels monsters. There are lots of simple quest and there are cathedral for players to respawn should they fall in battle. All these advantage makes these cities a good base of operation.

The 5 cities are also connected by the intercity transport gate so players can move around with ease.

That was before the disaster happened.


The players are gradually referring to this incident as the Apocalypse. Some call this the teleportation, summoning or sliding into alternate worlds. But with the actual situation remains unknown, so Apocalypse is the term most frequently used.

Shiroe thinks the term Apocalypse sounds better than alternate world teleportation. If you use the word teleport or summon, it is almost like giving up the possibility of going back. Shiroe has this concern as well, that's probably why most people chose the term Apocalpyse instead.


"Any news of the intercity transport gate getting repaired?"

""No one is repairing, we don't know if it is broken or not."

Marielle's become more cheerful after starting the conversation and explains the situation to Shiroe's group.

"As I mentioned before, Crescent moon alliance is a small guild. We have some new members recently, so our numbers are 24 with most of us here in this building. But we have a female member Serara currently in Susukino. She is a cute druid, a level 19 beginner in Crescent moon alliance. Eh, this kind of personal data is not important. She is a bit shy and weak in character, but wants to experience running a business and plays Elder Tales to do that, a unique person."

Marielle gaze downwards as she speaks.

"Serara was in Susukino the day the Apocalypse happened. There was a group recruiting players around level 30 for a raid, so Serara decides to join them to train since others in the guild was busy... She was playing around with the raid party in Susukino when the Apocalypse happened. With the intercity transport gate down, Serara was stucked there."

Henrietta added after Marielle and sigh deeply.

"Going over to bring her back?"

Marielle and Henrietta nods when Shiroe ask.

"I am not sure, but has any player went over to Susukino since the Apocalypse?"

Akatsuki ask on behalf of the group.

Shiroe was also thinking about this.

Without the intercity gate, there are only 2 other ways to travel.

Using the fairy rings scattered around the region to teleport to other places, or travel physically zone by zone.

Fairy rings are a teleportation device located in the field zones, a magic circle formed by several boulders.

You can teleport from one fairy ring to another, a teleportation network in the world of Elder Tales.

The connections between fairy rings are affected by the lunar cycle using a complicated formula. If you are familiar with it, you can complete your journey in a very short time. But using it at the wrong time will teleport you to unknown places.

"As far as I know, no one had attempted that. Everyone has no energy to spare as they go through each day and don't have the heart to care about other cities, which is understandable. Using fairy rings without consulting online guides is sucidal. If you want to travel by horse or foot to Susukino, you need to prepare for a journey of 2 weeks with several obstacles along the way. It is not a trip you can make out of simple curiosity."

Marielle analyzed the situation well.

Before the Apocalypse, players are free to roam around the Japanese server, some stronger players even make expedition to Korea or China.

This is because of the intercity transport gate within the 5 major cities and the fairy rings together with online guides providing them with a convenient instant transportation tool.

There is also no concept of camping outdoors when this was jsut a game. no matter how far you are going, you can just log out at a safe area or use 'call of home' to return to a city.

"Wait a minute, if you use 'call of home'... Ah, I forgot the crucial point."

"That's right, if a player enters a city with a cathedral, the checkpoint for 'call of home' will be updated accordingly. If Serara uses 'call of home', she will just warp to Susukino... She won't return here."

'Call of home' is a instantaneous transport spell every player can use in Elder Tales, warping you to the last  of the 5 major city you visited. The casting time is several minutes and can only be used once every 24 hours, not suitable for use during battles. For the game, it is normally used when the player decides to call it a day and returning to the city before logging out.

But the young girl will just return to Susukino after casting this spell, which is her current location. And the intercity transport gate is still not functioning.

You won't know the destination change of the fairy rings without checking the online guides, so it also can't be used.


"Why are you mounting a rescue now?"

Marielle has finally started on the main topic.

Shiroe expects this to be the core question.

"Because..."

"Ah, because, erm... We were planning to bring her back, it is scary to be alone in the northern border correct?"

Henrietta wants to speak but something is holding her back, her arms grips stronger onto Akatsuki. Marielle who interupted her seems to be carefully choosing her words when explaining.

"... Marielle."

"Don't look at people with your sharp eyes Shiroe, you will not be popular with the ladies this way alright?"

"Marielle."

Marielle seems to be changing the topic, so Shiroe ask her again.


"Eh... yeah, the security in Susukino seems to be worse than here. Ah, forget it, it's not 'seems like' or appears to be'. The security in Susukino is definitely bad... Serara is being harassed by nasty guys."

In this girly room with many pink decor, her words sound foreboding.

The city is a non combat zone.

Offensive weapons and magic are prohibited, confining or trapping another player character is also banned.

But not all crimes are against the law, and even such crimes can still be carried out. But there are some things that are more nasty than PK for a low level girl.

Things that don't exist in the programming of the game are not restricted by the developers, but it might be possible to carry it out in this alternate world.

"..."

Akatsuki's intimidating silence came from her correctly grasping the meaning behind harass.

"Ah, it's not that bad yet. But Susukino has less than 2000 players, so it is hard to hide in the city with such a low population right? She is also guild member, so we need to rescue her correct? It is embarrassing, but I want to discuss something with you, we have many kids in our guild right? They are all good kids, but not too reliable yet. We need to sent our best players out or we won't make it to Ezzo. So while we are away, can you help me... Look after the kids here?"

"You don't need to spend all your time here, we have a sorcerer Aizel right? The tall boy with blue hair. He will lead the rest of the children. Marielle, battle team leader Shoryu and myself will do all we can for this expedition. It is a wilful request and we are anxious about this too... But Mr Shiroe, mr Naotsugu... Akatsuki chan, can you take care of this guild for a short while?"

Marielle and Henrietta lowers their head pleading for their assistance.


Shiroe looks at the 2 ladies bowing before him.

He stopped breathing.

His mind becomes silent.

But it is still noisy.

He wants to stop his blood from flowing if possible.

His mind turns furiously.

His focus calls forth lightning from the darkness.

N the real world, Tokyo and Sapporo is 850km apart, which is 425km under the half Gaia project in this world. Marielle's party will be traveling by horse and foot, some of the roads are still serviceable. But most of the zones consist of uneven plains and hills.

Under the best condition, they can move about 50km per day, but it will be a blessing if they manage half of that every day. No, considering the fact they will be facing monsters, getting 25km will be a challenge.

If they move 20km per day, they will reach in 21 days. A round trip will take a month and a half, Marielle is too optimistic about this.

His body temperature dropped about 3 degrees.

The instincts that supports Shiroe come up with a view.

A view akin to a premonition.

Marielle's journey will fail.

They prepare as well as they can. They are a bit lacking in levels, but they are taking on this challenge with the elites of Crescent moon alliance. They will be forming a full party of 6 with an excellent healer coming along.

But Shiroe feels this is an issue beyond the dimension of levels.

Shiroe is an introvert and people says he overthink things.

This usually means delusion thoughts that goes all over the place without boundaries. But Shiroe has a balance scale in his heart as a secret weapon. Shiroe will use this device to ruthlessly measure the strength of his allies.

Shiroe considers the suggestion he can give Marielle.

There are 12.

He analyze each of them.

About half of them are useful.

They can shorten the time needed or improve their chances.

Using the eliminated ideas to think of new proposals, he comes up with 4.

He go through the plausibility of carrying them out.

He strike off half and add in new elements to the remaining proposals and recalibrate them. The path his thinking is taking is like a flash of light leading into the domains of subconscious ness. Shiroe can only feel his thoughts by following the light path.

(But...)

Suggestion? Proposals?

Do they want such things? No, does he have the authority to make push his ideas on them in the first place? He cannot take on the responsibility, do he have the right to hold such expectations?

Calculate... Practicability... Authority... Expectation.

That's right, expectation.

What is he hoping for? What do he want to do?

As his thoughts evolves slowly into words of this extent, Shiroe's consciousness returns to his body. He raise his gaze as if directed by something and sees Naotsugu and Akatsuki nodding their heads in show of support.

"Say it Shiroe."

"Your turn to speak my lord"


If he think about it another 5 seconds, Shiroe wouldn't be able to move. He will be lose in his thoughts and responsibility, falling into the trap thinking 'it is arrogant to involve himself in the affairs of another guild'.

But the Shiroe in this moment is like a sailboat pushed forth by the wind of his companions Naotsugu and Akatsuki. He says naturally:

"We will go."

"Hmmm?"

"The best option is for us to go."

"We can't possibly trouble you to do that Shiroe!"

Shiroe decisively ignores Marielle's objection as he turns to face his comrades.

"Of course!" "Leave it to us and my lord."

 The 2 comrades answered in this perfect timing. Naotsugu and Akatsuki stands up as if the debate is over.

"We will go for this expedition, Marielle and everyone else will stay here. Asking us to take care of the kids is impossible."

"A ninja does not know the word 'failure'."

Marielle sits on the couch stunned with her mouth open looking at Shiroe. Shiroe is unable to look straight at her.

This is embarrassing. Shiroe regrets saying something so arrogant like 'the best option is for us to go'. There should be a better way to put it right? Marielle is definitely dumbstruck. Shiroe blushes deeply as he think about this.

(She has the look that shows 'what is this child saying?'. What, what am I doing? I'm acting like an arrogant fool!)

He is left with only the embarrassment of acting cool. Shiroe who is seeing stars suppress his emotions and says with conviction:

"We ride at dawn. Marielle, Henrietta, leave this to us."



Chapter 3 end