I tried to raise my hands in exultation, but the chains on the Gauntlets of the Deceased did not allow me to do so.
Man, these things are annoying!
“Gaaah, I can’t move with this on! Let’s just ride home already!”
“Sure! I’ll take plenty of screenshots of all the people spooked by the sudden Death Chariot appearance!”
“As you wish. Full speed ahead!”
I flung my body forward in an attempt to go fast.
“Graaaaarh!”
The creaky wheels and snarling dragons moved energetically, but they weren’t nearly as fast as they looked. In fact, they were slow as heck. My maximum speed was maybe that of a relaxed stroll. This might’ve been even slower than a power wheelchair.
I didn’t feel like a Death Chariot at all—at best I felt like a Death Carriage! A chariot was supposed to go super fast and blast away everyone in its path. Like a tank, but instead of shooting things, it just slammed into things.
“Ngh! It’s so slow.”
“That’s one word for it,” Akira said dryly.
“Well, all the parts do reduce movement speed, I guess.”
Maybe they didn’t want people going too fast? What a shame. If you could go as fast as the real Death Chariot, people might collect a whole bunch and run races with them.
I would’ve loved to take screenshots of people riding Death Chariots around like in Mareo Kar, but this was just too slow.
“I might as well walk at this point.”
I stood up and tried to walk normally, but no matter how I tried, I couldn’t move.
“Ugh! What in the world?!”
My fastest walk was like watching a video at 0.25x speed. This stuff was just too hard to move in!
“I get it. It still has the movement speed reduction!”
Compared to walking in this gear, Death Chariot mode was still much faster. Whoever piloted the Death Chariot was taking a huge hit to both stats and speed. Imagine how strong he would be if he went into battle with real gear on?
“Do you have to wheel yourself around, then?”
“Looks like it. Let’s go home... uh, slowly!”
With that, I started my engine again. We’d already used our five runs at Aswarth’s for the day, so it didn’t really matter if we took it slow. As we made our way down the central—and busiest—road of the island, my wheels groaned and squeaked relentlessly.
It attracted a lot of attention, pointing, and “What in the world?” from nearby players. No surprise there, as it really was an eye-catching design.
I’d be glad to sell it to anyone for a good price! We can always get more. I could teach people where to get it, but then I’d have to charge.
“Ahaha. You’re so popular, Ren.”
“Yeah. This’ll be great advertising for the guild shop. I like this.”
Akabane heaved a sigh behind us. “Haah. I don’t mind this sort of attention when I’m with my brother, at least.”
Poor girl’s been through a lot.
“Well, it is thanks to him that we found this. I’m at least grateful for that, if nothing else.”
I turned to Akabane and gave her a thumbs-up. Right now, though, I looked like a miniature Death Chariot. No doubt it was a bizarre sight to see the chariot making human gestures.
“Thank you. But would you mind not talking to me when you’re wearing that? I don’t want people thinking we’re friends.” Her voice was laced with disgust.
Just then, Yukino happened to pass by us.
“Hey, Akira! And is that... Ren?” She cringed. “What in the world are you wearing?!”
Was she about to go to Aswarth’s?
Akira gave her a big smile. “Yukino, hi!”
“Yo, Yukino, what’s up? You oughta know what I’m wearing.”
“Hmm. Is that from one of the bosses in Aswarth’s Undersea Ruins?”
“Correct! It’s from the Death Chariot. This makes you really feel like him.”
“I’ve never seen that gear before. Can you use it for PvP?”
That would be the first question asked by our resident PvP lover. I wasn’t even sure her thoughts went beyond that.
“Nope, it’s useless. It comes with so many crappy effects. Wanna see?”
“Huh? Yeah, why not.”
I opened up the item window and showed it to Yukino, who grimaced.
“What the heck? It’s just cosplay garbage! No, thanks!”
“It is rare, though. I think I’m the first person to have it all. Hey, speaking of, is Homura around today?”
“Nah, but she’ll be— Whoops, there she is now.”
“Uh, Yukino, what are you doing?! What’s that thing next to you?!”
“Heyo, Homura!”
There’s our item fetishist! Surely she’ll have some interest in this gear.
Having all the items in the game was her big dream, after all. Whether it was great or crappy, if she didn’t have it, she needed it. That was the item fetishist’s nature.
Maybe she’ll be willing to buy this info for a good price?
“Takashiro?! What are you wearing?! I’ve never seen that before! It kinda looks like that one boss in Aswarth’s.”
“You got it. Death Chariot’s the name. We got this gear from him, and I think we might still be the only ones.”
“Hmm, yes. This is the first I’ve heard of anyone getting it. Death Chariot is a boss from the lower floors, right? I wonder why it’s so rare if so many people have been through there.”
“Yep. I’d say supply’s low enough to drive the price up pretty high. Interested?”
“You’d sell it to me?!”
Homura leaned in excitedly. As the item-lovers’ guild leader, she was a sucker for new stuff. Yukino just looked at her in annoyance.
“Do you really want that? Just so you know, it’s complete garbage. Worse than wearing nothing.”
“Hmph. An item’s value isn’t in stats alone! You’re too narrow-minded.”
“Say what?! You oughta be ashamed. Good or bad, you just wanna get your grubby little hands on whatever items you can find.”
“I don’t want to hear that from you, meat-for-brains!”
“Silence, item freak!”
They then began their usual stare-off. The sisters were supposed to be on the same team this time, but it looked like their partnership would fall apart at any moment. As usual, their policies just didn’t mesh despite the fact that they were enjoying the same game.
“Well, based on my testing, this gear has a hidden effect.”