It was Akari, a solo player and a fellow holder of a unique title: the “Ruby Red Explorer.” She was eating a sandwich on a straw mat she had spread out in the snow-free safety zone.
“Are you here collecting materials?” she asked me.
“Oh, no actually. I’m on a mission.”
“You are? Maybe we’re on the same one. Are you going further up ahead?”
“Is your mission related to Hamakaze’s info?”
“Yes, it is!”
Surprise, surprise, Akari and I were headed to the exact same spot. You see, I had come to the Great Snow Forest in hopes of encountering another yokai in Zone Ten. Hamakaze had discovered the one here as well and had sold her findings to the Quick-Eared Cats. It took a pro like Hamakaze to discover a yokai in such a vast forest that was so challenging to traverse. She was the source of all yokai-related information.
“Did you do a lot of prep work?” Akari asked. “Like bringing potions and such.”
“Yup, I’m all set. I made them myself. Though I am worried about the battle. It’s over if we lose that.”
The fight was supposedly easier than when we faced against the Kappa, but there would still be fighting.
“I see...” Akari said. It looked like she was thinking deeply about what I said. “Um, Yuto, would you like to form a team?”
“Huh? With you? You heard what I said, right? We might not be any help in the fight.”
“Yes, and I’m just the opposite. I can manage the combat part, but I’m worried I won’t have enough items to heal myself.”
“Oh, I get it. So that’s why you want to team up.”
“Yes. What do you think?”
“That’d be great, honestly.”
The battle for this event was a little unique. The enemy hardly ever dealt direct attacks. Instead, it used various methods to inflict status ailments. In order to form a friendship with the yokai, you had to stock up on a large quantity of recovery items and hold out for a certain amount of time.
The nature of the battle made me feel like I had a higher chance of succeeding alone here than I had in the battle against the Kappa. With Akari added into the mix, though, that raised our chances of success exponentially.
“Thank you!” Akari said. “Don’t you worry, I’ll protect you and your monsters!”
“And I’ll do everything to support you. We’ll have each other’s backs.”
“Yeah!”
With a new, dependable teammate on our side, we continued on through the Great Snow Forest in high spirits. It became clear during the battles along the way that Akari was carrying the team. If we had been alone, this journey would have been much more of a struggle.
After some time, we reached our destination.
“Let’s see, it’s supposed to show up in the middle of a bamboo grove, so it should be around here,” I said.
“It should be at the base of one of the larger bamboo trees, right?”
“I think the info said it would be around some thicker bamboo trees growing close together...”
“Oh, is this it?”
“Nice catch. They are thicker, but not by much...”
I used my Yokai Detection skill and got a clear response. If I had been looking around here without knowing where to look, I would have completely missed it. Hamakaze had some really incredible powers of observation.
“Well, let’s go ahead and try digging around the roots here.”
“Squeak squeak!”
Drimo started clearing away the snow with the same efficiency he displayed when digging holes. As he removed the snow, the shrine we had been looking for appeared, right at the base of the bamboo tree. Once it was visible, a window popped up in front of me.
“Use the Demonic Ghost Hanging Scroll?”
I was reminded of the first time I met Akari. She had saved me from dying to some ghost monsters. Funny coincidence.
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
“No, it’s nothing. Is it okay if I use the scroll now?”
“Yes, please do.”
“All right! Let’s start this battle!”
I used the Demonic Ghost scroll. A light shone from the shrine, and our surroundings changed in an instant from a snowy bamboo grove to a bare-earthed clearing. A ring of densely packed bamboo trees encircled the clearing, barring us from any sort of escape. Just like when we had fought the Kappa, we had been sent to a boss arena.
And in the middle of the arena was the enemy we were here to fight.
“Oooooh...”
“Whoa, freaky!” I shouted.
“I-It’s so creepy!” Akari squeaked.
Akari and I both backed away from the creature. It looked absolutely horrifying. Similar to how the Kappa had resembled its artistic depiction, so too did this yokai look exactly like the spine-chilling Demonic Ghost on the scroll.
I wondered if its appearance was toned down a bit for people using a filter. This ghost was scary enough to make any child cry. Or even any adult. I was fine because I knew what to expect, but if this thing were to surprise-attack me out of nowhere, I might’ve collapsed from shock.
“I-It’s a ghost! A real ghost!” Akari cried.
“You said it.”
The Demonic Ghost boss looked just like the female ghosts depicted in traditional Japanese paintings. A pair of wide, startled-looking eyes peeked out from behind her long, unkempt hair, which was streaked with white. She was so skeletally thin that I couldn’t make out her age, and she had pale, wrinkled skin. Cracked, filthy nails grew from the ends of long, scraggly fingers.
With her white burial clothes and translucent appearance, I was half afraid she would really drag us away to the great beyond.
“Squeak squeak!”
“Ah, right! This is no time to be scared! We need to hurry and put some distance between us! Thanks, Drimo!”
“Squeak.”
I knew I could count on him! Drimo never lets me down!
“Everyone, I’m using the paralysis resistance potions now!”
“Aye!”
“Chirp chirp!”
The Demonic Ghost was a tricky boss who inflicted status ailments, the most terrifying of which was Paralysis. That wasn’t to say the other ailments weren’t scary too, but for my party specifically, nothing was scarier than being unable to move. To protect against that, I had prepared potions that boosted our paralysis resistance. I had also brought whatever I could to heal other types of status ailments too.
“You ready, Akari?”
“Yes! Leave the vanguard to me!”
“And leave the rearguard to me. I’ve got plenty of potions!”
“That’s great to hear!”
“Aaaaaaah!” the Demonic Ghost wailed. She had been watching and waiting, but now she was making her first move. Just as I had learned from the Quick-Eared Cats, the ghost started with a screeching wail that inflicted multiple status ailments, affecting everyone within the boss field.