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ShangriLa Frontier Chapter 607: Chasing Cooking Impact! Part 1

~ An excerpt from a conversation between a certain player and an a certain NPC ~

「Hey there, shopkeeper! Is there a speed-enhancing Disposable Magic Medium Magic Scroll in your wares?」

「Ohh, well if it isn’t a Pioneer! I’m sorry, but I just happen to be all sold out of them at the current moment.」

「Sold out? But I thought that those things were supposed to be brand new, added only recently?」

「Well, yes, they are brand new, but wouldn’t you know it? The whole supply of those was bought almost right away. Paid up front, as well! And the one who was buying them seemed to be in quite a hurry…… And the one who bought them all up was some impressive-looking knight.」

「A knight? It’s actually kind of amazing…… Ahh, was that knight half-naked? With only the helmet on his head?」

「Honestly, if there was ever a pervert like that walking around unrestrained that would be pretty scary. No, it was not someone like that. That knight wore a very crude and “raw” armor, looking as if it was fashioned after some sort of a monster.」

「Woah, it’s not the first time I’m hearing an expression “flesh trapped in armor”, but still…… Or maybe it’s just some sort of a weird bug? It’s not impossible.」

* * *

For the time being, it should be well understood that the combination of my mobility skills and that propeller-like accessory to be good for short-term skirmishes and travelling over vast distances in short amount of time. I mean, it might be good for the long term battles as well, but I wouldn’t really count on that, to be perfectly honest. So maybe the horseies are going to be the better solution in here for the time being.

After collecting the drop items I caught up with Survival, and because the state of Overflow managed to diminish my HP quite a bit, so despite us wanting to move forward it was necessary for us to take a short break so that I could patch myself up. The safe zone in the corner of the grassy meadow seemed like the perfect place to do just that.

「See this? If you put your raw meat into that box over there and wait for a short while, it will bring you a perfectly cooked steak. The future is now, huh? Or is this the sign that some fucked up dystopia is enclosing onto us?」

「IF YOU END UP ENJOYING ONLY THE GOOD RESULTS, THEN WE CAN TALK ABOUT UTOPIA FOR SURE.」

I think that if we consider the lines that should never be crossed under any circumstances and try to make a ranking of them all, then the line between a Utopia and Dystopia should be placed in the top three…. But is there really such a thing as a Utopia in this world? Dystopias? Sure, people end up creating them all the time without even knowing about it. But I am also sure that there are some people out there who believe that Utopias can be created in the same way…… What a joke. Of course, shortly after meeting Takeda-san I was hunting for shitty games with such motives, but the examples could be multiplied here and multiplied without even reaching a satisfying conclusion.

I don’t know what it’s like in this particular game, but both the RPGs in the first half and the SLGs in the second half were always exceptionally good. By the way, the creators of those indie games made new RPGs and SLGs as separate works and proceeded to the route that every successful creator follows sooner or later, creating products that were striking the same type of clients, with the same type of themes to them…… It’s always a cause for celebration when a shitty games company switches to making good games, but at the same time it feels kind of lonely, wouldn’t you agree?

「I CAN PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE TASTE OF THE MEAT IS GOING TO BE NOTHING SHORT OF SUPERB!」

「Hmm, I think that it’s actually normal. Or maybe even kind of bland? Do you have mustard in this joint?」

「Oi, Survival. Don’t tell me you’re one of those freaks that put mustard onto your steak?」

「No, it’s normal, man. Perfectly normal. So, what do you put on your steak, smartass?」

「Rice.」

「Then you are a bigger freak than I am! Rice! Rice!? That’s against every rule and regulation regarding the consumption of steak!」

If you can put meat on top of rice, then you can put rice on top of the meat as well. The ability to think outside of the box is nothing short of a mark of great people. Think of Columbus, for example.

「Say, Brave Fish? What is the boss monster of this floor, exactly?」

「SPELIOL HOMAGE FROST BODY, IF MY MEMORY SERVES ME CORRECTLY.」

「The finest imitation or Superior Homage, Marbled Body “Frost Body”……」

Shit, it seems that contrary to its funny-sounding name and description, this boss is going to be really problematic to beat. Not only it possesses an array of freezing attacks, but its AI is also pretty clever as it can utilize a wide range of buffs and debuffs, depending on the situation. And above all else…… it seems to be huge.

「The only saving grace here is the fact that it possesses normal flesh that we can attack instead of armor or thick hide, but how do we proceed about defeating it?」

「Maybe since it has “Marble” in its name, its body is quite delicate or easy to shatter? Say, do you have any super-high firepower skills? Or maybe ones that allow for you to self-destruct?」

「Sure, I have some of those, but what about them? What good are they going to do? And who would self-destruct?」

「No, I’m not talking about firepower here.」

「Then self-destruct it is? But are you willing to take one for the team here to find out if your theory is true?」

No, I get it. Self-destruct pack some serious punch, but why the hell are we even considering this as an option here in the first place!?

But that being said, I is also true that skills that possess high firepower also tend to have strings attached to them and posses drawbacks that make them almost the same as self-destruct……

「Oh well, as long as we continue to hit it, it is bound to die at some point, isn’t it?」

「I mean, yeah, that’s right. That’s how it should be, right? So it should be really easy.」

「Compared to some of the strongest enemies that we have faced in this game up to date, or maybe even other bosses from other shitty games, this one should be a walk in the park, right? Maybe you won’t even need that spear of yours to take it down.」

「No, I would still want to have it on me, just in case…… But compared to that time when I respawned right in the middle of a mini-warzone between various monsters, this thing should be easy……」