Is Hayashimizu-senpai actually the student from our school most invested in the game? Kaname wondered to herself, though she didn’t type it into the chat.
“Well, one way or another... You can trust that I will offer support for good-faith reasons,” offered Hayashimizu. “It’s not a bad deal for you, is it?”
Shinji thought a while, silently. “All right,” he said at last. “But I’m bringing Chidori-san and the others too. I want to upgrade their equipment to the best available. And we’ll need lots of potions.”
“Yes, I’ll prepare it all.”
While Hayashimizu and Shinji were having their serious discussion, out in front of the pharmacy...
“Hey, O-Ren-san,” said Kyoko, “I think the two frozen guys are hurting our business.”
“Yes, their expressions are so fearsome and their postures so unnatural...”
“Let’s throw them out.”
“Agreed.”
Kyoko and Ren worked hurriedly to move the paralyzed Issei and Sousuke (our protagonist, if you’ll recall) to the garbage dumping area behind the pharmacy.
●
The Yoko raiding party that gathered in the Twilight Forest turned out to number not 138, but close to 200. In a real war, you’d have a hundred times that many throwing themselves at each other, but obviously the server couldn’t handle that. In fact, even a force this large was unusual for the game.
Standing before the horde of veteran players—Knights and volunteers fortified in all kinds of equipment—the Captain of the Guard, Sir Goto, spoke first. “Good evening, everyone! ^^”
“Good evening! ^o^ノ” the hot-blooded army responded with a roar.
Sir Goto nodded in satisfaction and began to deliver his briefing to the assembled heroes with gusto. “I’m the Captain of the Holy Knights—or rather, their coordinator, Goto. According to our scouting party’s report, there are no ambushes set up in the forest. Our force ended up being larger than theirs lol, so they probably want to avoid losses by hunkering down in their fortress... Although if you don’t have anything more urgent to do, I do hope you’ll guard the siege weapons. Once we make it to the enemy fortress, we’ll attack the way Atsunov-san outlined. Oh, and Atsunov-san paid for the various expenditures for the battle. So, Atsunov-san, if you’d say a few words as well, lol.”
Thunderous applause rang out.
Hayashimizu stepped forward. “Hello, there. I’m the sponsor of this expedition. Carrying everything from healing herbs to potions—friend to adventurers, Masumoto Hiyoshi. Open 24/7—Masumoto Hiyoshi. The all-purpose pharmacy, Masumoto Hiyoshi. Please stop by. Our newly-opened sixth branch in Pinckney is having a grand opening sale right now. Make sure you stop by on the way back from the battle.”
“Yeah!” The men thrust up their fists in response to a speech so stirring it would linger in the kingdom’s history.
“All right, thanks, all! Now let’s give Yoko-san a good ass-beating! lol” Sir Goto proclaimed.
“Yeeeah lol!”
Sir Goto held up his shining sacred sword, the Mithril Sword—the ultimate weapon feared by dark-attribute monsters—and proclaimed, “All forces, move ouuuuuut! lol”
Drums began to pound as the soldiers split up into the dark forest, their nervousness plain to see.
“Chaaaaarge lol!”
“Off to die > <ノ”
“wahhh lolol OK rofl”
“I’mmm fulll of powerrr!”
“tomahawk+3 on sale 300k chat only plz.”
Their brave and valiant voices echoed all around—and so the strongest army in the kingdom’s history launched their campaign!
“They don’t seem very nervous to me! What the hell?”
“It feels more like a school trip than a battle.”
“Like they’re here to pick mushrooms...”
Kaname, Sousuke, and Issei all complained as they came along with the army.
“Well, that’s just kind of how it goes,” Shinji said without apology. “Anyway, have you all checked your equipment? It’s way better than anything you’ve had so far, so don’t forget to equip it.”
The responses came.
“Sure.”
“Indeed.”
“Done.”
Kaname and the others were far more powerful now than they’d been when they’d first fought Mizuki. During the preparation period, they’d done lots of leveling with Kazama, and he’d taught them everything they needed to know about their skills as well. Obviously, levels were important in Dragon Online, but the system was designed so that player skill made a huge difference to one’s success. It was important for a player to understand not just how battle and skills worked, but how to hone their reflexes, their kinetic vision, and their ability to make snap judgments on the fly.
Being athletes in their spare time, Kaname, Sousuke, and Issei all had natural talent in that regard, even though they weren’t particularly accustomed to video games. They were able to understand, execute, and combine the game’s actions much better than your average player. This was why Shinji was so willing to spend time with them, even if their levels were on the low side.
Hayashimizu’s suggestions had also been a huge help. Thanks to the stat-boosting potions and top-class armor he’d given Kaname, she’d grown strong enough to fight enemies of a far higher level than her own.
Issei, similarly, had equipped the rare item “SPT Knuckle Shot,” powerful enough to crush a tough Mithril Golem in one strike.
Sousuke had been given countless scrolls to increase his skill level. That had let him unlock the archery skill usually only accessible to high-level rangers: “God Bowgun Quiver Shot.” They’d also given him the ultimate longbow, “Hellfire RF”... yet Sousuke was instead using a sturdy crossbow a tier lower in power.
“How come?” Kaname and Shinji had asked him at the time.
In response, Sousuke had opened up his equipment window and showed them. “Look at the weapon’s name.” The weapon’s name read ARBALEST—a kind of large crossbow from medieval Europe. “This one’s a good omen,” he told them.
“I feel you. Ha ha ha.” Only Kaname understood the reason, and laughed merrily.