“World news! Spearo, Magicko, and Wacko’s party was first to defeat the Jumbo Merman! The race to clear the Beach Cavern dungeon has concluded!”
“World news! Zansword, Airin, Aid, and Jolt’s party was first to defeat the Wolf King! The race to clear the Den of Wolves dungeon has concluded!”
“World news! Reinhard von Edelfelt, fighting solo, was first to defeat the Macho Gorilla! The race to clear the Muscle Forest dungeon has concluded!”
“Ooh. Now that we’re on day three, the world news just keeps on coming! And it sounds like that Reinhard guy’s soloing dungeons too! I can’t let him outdo me!”
While the announcements were coming in, I was deep inside a dungeon known as the Bug Eater God’s Forest firing Puffster arrows like crazy. It was swarming with man-eating caterpillars, massive wasps, and insectivorous beasts, and a bunch of them—at least thirty-four total—had me surrounded. But I wasn’t beaten.
“Back to me! Summon Return! And... Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam!”
“Gweeeeee?!”
I unleashed a volley of eleven blackened arrows, recalled them to my grasp, then unleashed them once again. I could keep this up until I’d completely eradicated the bugs around me. It was a great way to train. Shooting three or four arrows at once was starting to feel totally natural.
With just 1 HP, multiple weak enemies posed more of a threat than a single strong enemy—despite my luck, I couldn’t count on Last Stand triggering every single time, after all. But I could compensate for that disadvantage with an increased rate of attack!
“Gwee gweeee!” A giant bug was attempting a surprise attack from above!
“Huh?!”
Puffster pierced clean through the monster he’d been targeting, U-turned, and came rushing back to me. Before the bug could land on my head, Puffster nailed it to a nearby tree trunk with a level of intensity that screamed, “Keep them filthy feelers off the boss, chump!”
And that’s why Puffster leads the attack squad!
And yet, the bug still lived. “Gwepee!”
“Ugh... This thing’s only half dead. Looks like my damage boost skills really don’t trigger unless the attack comes directly from me.”
I’d experienced this same issue before. Puffster could target enemies by his own free will, just not as quickly as when fired from the bow—it was a living weapon skill known as Navigation. The problem was, if he chose his own target or decided to hit a second monster after I’d fired him at another, none of my damage-boosting skills got applied, presumably because it didn’t count as my attack.
No matter how much Puffster leveled up, his own attacks would always lack firepower because he was possessing the most basic arrow—the Beginner’s Arrow. I was faced with a new source of weakness.
“Well, anyhow, I’d better finish it off. Eat this!” I threw down my bow, then kicked the giant caterpillar pinned to the tree. All my damage boost skills triggered at once, including Twisted since I’d just thrown away the bow.
The bug gave out one last “Gwepeee!” of despair.
Bwah ha ha! Justice prevails!
✦ ✦ ✦
Defeated 38 murderous caterpillars!
Yuri and all summoned monsters gained experience!
Puffster reached level 24!
Something’s happening to Puffster!
“Oh! Something’s happening?! What’s that mean?!” What a tease! This message knows how to make me curious!
Puffster had started out with a higher level than me, and now that I was level 22, he was still a little ahead. Soon he’d hit level 25, which would be an ideal point for some sort of transformation.
“No way! Puffster’s gonna evolve?!”
“Currss!” Puffster was vibrating like he was filled with joy, as if he were about to say, “I... I dunno, boss! But I got this feelin’...like I’m gonna be a bigger man than I ever was!” Puffs 2 through 11 surrounded him and began vibrating too, as if to congratulate him.
It was such a beautiful scene, but this emotional moment between my hazy arrows amid the dense trees was soon interrupted by a scream coming from the forest’s depths.
“Nooooooooo! Somebody heeeelp!”
It was a girl’s voice. I rushed toward it as fast I could.
✦ ✦ ✦
⬧⬨⬧
“Arghhh! I’m gonna die!!!”
As I hurried onto the scene, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. A small girl with cat ears, wearing a traditional Japanese outfit complete with a short skirt, was bound by countless vines that had ensnared all four of her limbs. She was crying and screaming as she tried to cut herself free with the tanto dagger in her hand, but her wrists were bound too tightly to afford any chance of escape.
“Uggrraaaggh!” The creature holding the girl in the air was a plant monster that looked like a cross between a dragon and a flower. Phlegm dripped from its gaping maw as it brought the girl closer. It was about to eat her!
“Whaa?! No, please! Don’t eat me!”
Uh-oh. She’s in big trouble!
I quickly nocked four arrows and shot them at the vines squeezing her limbs. Each one hit its mark, tearing through the vines and freeing her.
I rushed and caught her just before she hit the ground. “I’ve got you. Are you all right?”
“Yes. Thank you!”
Nngh... I can barely hold her for a few seconds with zero strength...
I put the bewildered girl down on the ground before gazing up at the plantlike dragon, causing a monster description to appear at the edge of my vision.
✦ ✦ ✦
Rare creature: Dragonplant.
A plant monster that once consumed a dead dragon to absorb its powers.
Seemingly enraged at me for interrupting its dinner, the dragonplant roared and fired out numerous vines. “Uggrraaagh!”
“Ahh!” the girl in the Japanese clothes shrieked. “We’re not safe here! We should run!”
“Stand back and watch. Let’s go, gang!”
“Currrrssss!” The Puffster family shot out at high speed, sending each approaching vine crashing to the ground.
To finish, I unleashed Puffster himself, sending him deep into the dragon’s head!
✦ ✦ ✦
Skill active: Giant Killer! Damage up!
Skill active: Fatal Strike! Damage up!
Skill active: Absolute Zero! Damage doubled!
Critical hit! Massive damage dealt to a weak point!
Skill active: Merciless Death God! Critical damage boosted!
“Uggrrraaaaahhh?!” The dragonplant howled as my multitude of damage boosts triggered all at once.
The girl who’d been trembling behind me just a minute ago was yelling excitedly as she watched the whole thing. “Huuuuuuuuuuuuuh?! Everyone knows arrows always miss! How are you hitting every single vine?! And how’d you hit the dragonplant for massive damage with just one shot?! You gotta tell me what bow you’re using! Wait...is that a Beginner’s Bow?! What are you using that for?!”
“Yeah. ’Cause it’s the only one I can use with zero strength.”
“‘Zero strength’?!” The catgirl in traditional dress was practically screaming at me.
I gathered my Puffster force together in preparation to deal the final blow to the dragonplant. “Get ready, guys! Power Burst, Speed Burst, Hyper Power Burst, Hyper Speed Burst!” Just to make sure, I used my newly enhanced MP pool to buff them with a heap of arts.
The arrows were glowing black and cracking with energy as I drew my bow.
“You’re going down!” I unleashed every arrow at once.
“Uggrraaagghh?!”
The fully buffed Puffster squad was so powerful they blew the dragonplant’s head clean off, leaving its massive body to collapse to the ground. The mighty crash was still echoing through the forest when a message appeared in front of me.