Soon after logging in the following morning, we met up with Kokuten to exchange information. At Akari’s insistent request, we convened at my house.
“Eeek!”
“Mm-mm!”
“Tra-la-la!”
Akari had arrived a little early to play with my monsters. They were playing hide-and-seek a little while ago, but it looked like they had switched to playing tag now.
They raced past the veranda, where Sakura and I were relaxing. Akari was always a pretty smiley person, but right now she was acting like a little kid. It was as if hanging around my monsters had lowered her mental age. I could relate. Whenever I played around with my monsters, I always got into a weirdly hyper mode too.
Akari and my monster’s energetic game of tag ended up lasting for almost thirty more minutes, until Kokuten arrived.
“Akari, are you all right?” he asked her.
“I’m all right!” Akari answered with a thumbs-up, panting.
I saw Kokuten cringe a little, but he quickly recovered and got the ball rolling as if nothing had happened. He was mature enough to take things in stride.
“So, here is the list of people who replied,” he said.
“Let’s take a look.”
“Oh! Siegfried said yes!” Akari said excitedly.
“Amimin and Mattsun aren’t joining? Well, I guess that makes sense. They usually keep to themselves.”
“Murakage is joining, but Ayakage is busy...?”
It made sense that some people wouldn’t be able to join. This was a very last-minute invite.
As of now, there were nine confirmed members: Sawyer, Siegfried and his horse Silver, Murakage, Sakkyun, Ashihana, Fuka, Sukegawa, and KTK.
Inviting KTK had been all Kokuten’s idea. I had heard that she was mainly a solo player who hardly teamed up with anyone outside of her small circle of friends, but she had apparently agreed to join us. Kokuten was a miracle worker.
Since Amimin, Mattsun, and Ayakage had declined, there were currently eight spots open.
Incidentally, Kokuten had invited the crafters not only so they could provide support, but so they could help gather information about the boss from a different angle. I had wondered if maybe he had gone out of his way to invite my friends, but apparently that wasn’t the case.
None of us were under the impression that we could take down a raid boss in one try. No other raid boss that unlocked a new zone had been beaten that easily, after all. That was why Kokuten had assembled a group of players who could gather information during our first attempt at fighting the boss. He was hoping that the crafters might be able to bring their unique viewpoints into the fight and notice something that a fighter might not. As for what we’d do after we gathered information, that would depend on how strong the boss was.
Kokuten had explained his game plan to everyone, so there might be some players who would only participate for the first fight depending on how things went. Those with weaker fighting capabilities, like myself, would probably step out and be replaced with frontline attackers.
“How should we fill up the remaining spots?” I asked.
“I think we should invite Rikyu’s group.”
“Oh, you do?”
“Yes. Filma is a very skilled Lancer. Having her there will really help us out.”
I had brought up Rikyu, Filma, and Kurumi when Akari and I were first brainstorming ideas, but Kokuten had ended up not inviting them at first. Rikyu had a reckless streak and Filma couldn’t make full use of her talents on land. Also, although he didn’t mention it out loud, Rikyu didn’t exactly seem like Kokuten’s favorite person. He probably found it difficult to interact with her.
Rikyu perplexed even the unflappable Kokuten. She was a force to be reckoned with.
“Siegfried has also recommended someone,” Kokuten added.
“He did? Another knight?”
“Yes, that’s right. An individual that is highly regarded among knights. Siegfried attested to his skill.”
“Wow, really?! That’s awesome!”
If Siegfried, who was a top player in his own right, considered this person to be strong, then it must be true.
“He mentioned he has a bit of a difficult personality, but since he knows he’ll be an asset in the fight, he asked if he could bring him along.”
Siegfried, who saw the good in everyone, said he had a difficult personality? But if he still recommended him despite that, then he must not be a bad person.
“I have no problem with that. What do you think, Akari?”
“Same, I think it’s a great idea!”
“Okay then, two spots will go to the knight Siegfried recommended and his horse.”
That left three spots remaining.
“There is one other person I would suggest inviting. Do you mind?”
“If you recommend them, Kokuten, I don’t see an issue. Do I know them?”
“I’m not sure. She’s a Bard, but she’s known to be even more nimble than a Thief. Her name is Nyamun.”
“Nyamun-chan?!”
“Oh, so you do know her?”
Know her? I was practically an expert on her! It was Kokuten’s buddy Sekisho who dragged me to her music booth and told me all about her!
“Is she strong?”
“She is. I’m not sure how she allocated her stats, but she is famous for the way she swiftly evades enemy attacks while playing music without pause.”
“That’s incredible.”
With the help of LJO’s system assist, it was easier to play musical instruments in the game than in real life. But it was difficult to move your fingers accurately when performing strenuous movements, so running around at top speed would bump up the difficulty of playing an instrument up by a lot.
According to Kokuten, Nyamun was currently the only player who was capable of pulling that off. Fau could do that, but the effects of her Musical Performance was not as good as a player’s.
“Since she’s able to keep singing while using unbelievable maneuvers and stunts to evade enemy attacks, people have started referring to her by several names, like Pouncing Cat, Jumping Cat, Super Dimension Fortress Cat, and Cat Who Remembers Love.”
“What’s with those last two?!”
I guess I could understand how those nicknames came to be considering her ultra-fast maneuvers and musical talents... But if anything, her nicknames should reference not the original series in that specific franchise, but 7! Call her Totsugeki Cat Heart or something!
“Now that leaves two spots. I had Holland and Huey in mind, but what do you think?”
“Wow, Kokuten, those are some impressive connections!”
Kokuten could contact Holland, the current strongest player in the game, and his friend Huey.
“Can I take that to mean you wouldn’t mind them joining?”
“Huh? I mean, why would I say no?”
Kokuten looked relieved at my reply. I wasn’t sure why. Was there a rumor going around that I was on bad terms with Holland and Huey or something? But why? We had barely even talked.
“Holland is considered to be the best player right now. If he joins the fight to unlock the next zone, his reputation as the best will only be solidified. Are you okay with that?”
“Well, sure. Why would that bother me?”
“I-I should have never doubted you, Silver-Haired. You are as charitable as ever.”
I mean, it really had nothing to do with me. Maybe one of the top parties who were closer to catching up with him would feel a certain way about Holland pulling further ahead of them, but why would an ordinary player like me care about competition among top players?