Chapter 289 Part 1
《Your friends have sent you (2) messages.》
I get a message notification as soon as I log in.
The first one is from Lambda, and the second one is from Irina.
『I managed to get my revenge without incident. However, I haven’t been able to do away with the usual suspicions. Thank you for all your help.』
This message had an attached image.
It looks like Lambda has brought someone down using a sleeper hold.
Rather than squeezing his carotid artery, he was applying pressure on his Adam’s apple.
And the victim’s head is bent in a strange direction.
Oh, if you were to make a living like this in real life, you wouldn’t be considered to be a human being.
Well done.
『I think that Semi-solobard can be marked by the Avengers after me, but please be careful out there.』
The message ends there.
Well, as far as I’m concerned, I can only say that I’ll take any PKs on if they come to attack me.
Though they’re probably being targeted by a PKK, so I gotta make sure not to get in the way of their work, you know?
Anyway, I wonder what kind of character Lambda will make next?
Well, I hope he can enjoy the game comfortably this time around.
So, what about Irina’s message?
I never got to open it.
Because she’s right in front of me!
Adele is also there, but she’s not the only one.
Saki, Margrid, Reina, Mio, Rick, and Hannes are here as well.
What’s the matter?
「Good morning.」
「Ah, good morning. What’s going on?」
「I was hoping you’d log in a little earlier.」
「A few more Majin hunting units have already departed. It’s been quite a success.」
「Ohh…」
So you’re saying that I’ve definitely logged in unusually late?
The time is 7:10 AM.
It’s not like I’m too late to log in.
Come to think of it, the surroundings of the area portal were a bit noisy yesterday, but now it’s relatively quiet.
I mean, the only place where it’s still noisy is around me!
「So, the Majin hunting group is now using Instant Portals to set traps.」
「Basically, it’s a union of four parties.」
I devote myself to listening to them while eating.
What about the players’ response to the Majin invasion?
It was early.
That’s how I feel.
Though there doesn’t seem to be a solid organization, the Production Job Players’ Guild seems to have spontaneously built a strong logistical support system.
Summoners have formed unions with others who have similar log in times, and seem to be receiving high praise for their success.
It seems that several other teams have been put together.
Cavalry units, which are great for their mobility, appear to have been formed even without any Summoners in their ranks.
A party of Treasure Hunters are investigating the movements of the Demon group.
Production players keep providing logistical support as their top priority, maintaining supply lines active on a 24-hour basis.
This begs the questions…
Who is in charge of coordinating all of this? And how are they doing it?
I heard that there are already several thousand players participating, and at this rate, we might end up going over ten thousand by the end of the event.
「Well, this is basically everyone’s own responsibility, you know?」
That’s Hannes’ answer.
It seems that, at the very least, players will move naturally after being given a few opportunities by the support provided by the Production players.
That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t come without its own problems, though.
It seems that the coordination here is being done only at the bare minimum.
It doesn’t look like anyone can go against that scary girl…
Yeah.
I’ll purposefully avoid asking who it is.
I don’t even wanna ask!
“So, there’s some information that’s not so good.”
According to Margrid’s explanation, it appears that the Demon’s vanguard has invaded the W5 map.
It’s one of the Slave Beast – Turtlesnakes.
And what about the Demons following it?
As previously reported, they have Lesser Gryphons and Majins, but it seems that they have three types of ground forces.
The species of one of them has already been determined through 【Identify】.
But the species of the other two are still unknown.
That certainly does not feel great.
The one that has been identified is a large Demon.
Obsidian Beast.
As the name suggests, it looks like a beast made of obsidian, and it’s believed to be a superior species of the Rock Beast.
Is that so…?
I remember Rock Beasts being very resilient.
When it comes to a superior species, it seems that these Obsidian Beast will be even tougher to beat.
「What’s your policy on what to do with such large Demons, essentially speaking?」
I ask this as I finish my meal.
Though no one here seems to have a clear answer to it.
「We will continue to reduce the number of Demons until there are none left. The question is where are we going to start the big battle, though.」
「They’re certainly large, but I don’t think they would have set up a challenge that we wouldn’t be able to clear.」
「Know your enemy. And then go from there.」
There is no tension in Hannes or Margrid’s tones of voice.
At the end of the day, this is a game.
You can simply take on these challenges without a worry in the world.
「Then what is my role?」
「We’ll just let you run loose out there. You’ll be able to earn a lot of experience points this way as well, won’t you?」
Run loose, huh?
Well, if I can do whatever I want, I might do just that.
But shouldn’t I be cooperating with other players?
「Well, letting you run loose is half true. The other half is just business.」
「We’ll be diligently taking on requests.」
Is Rick just too crazy?
That’s what I think.
That being said…
Let’s split the spoils of battle earned when I was in a union with Adele and Irina.
The main prizes here are Rubies and Sapphires.
After that, White Elephant Tusks, some Rivalry Stones, a few – but heavy – pieces of Twin-horned Lizard Meat, Red Crystals, and Gold Ore.
I’m giving all of the meat to Adele and Irina.
We split one of the Rubies and the two Sapphires among ourselves, though I’m also keeping the remaining Ruby.
The rest is split into equal parts.
Well, I’ll be leaving these jewels to Margrid so that she can do something with them.
As expected, I’m not sure whether that’ll be done before the event ends.
I’m a bit more concerned about the other items.
Gold Ore is nice.
I can process it myself, almost refine it, even.
As for the White Elephant Tusks and Rivalry Stones…
I have quite a few of these tusks, but what should I do with them?
At first glance, they look like they could be made into a spear or something.
Mio notices the White Elephant Tusk.
Well, making spears with them is definitely possible, right?
How about javelins?
Let’s do that.
I sell most of my White Elephant Tusks, keeping only five on my inventory.
I don’t think they’ll cover the cost of the jewelry processing work, but it is what it is.
It seems that she’s okay with me paying her later.
It seems that business is going well in this area.
Let’s leave that thought there.
「Adele, Irina, what are you going to do to day?」
「Well, our login times aren’t matching after all, Keith…」
「I’m halfway through my day, so I can keep going!」
「Then, shall we go together?」
That’s right.
There is no doubt that some degree of recklessness is effective.
Just look at the results from yesterday.
I mean, these two cover most of the things that I tend to have trouble with.
As long as we can reinforce each other, there will be no objections to us working together.
Oops.
I almost forgot…
I summon Kiyohime.
The next moment…
The surroundings have gone completely silent?
「You have to tell us about something like this in advance, you know? Otherwise it’s going to cause too much of a fuss.」
「Why?」
「Us too?」
「Well, I feel sorry you guys had to get involved with Keith.」
Why?
I stand alongside Rick and Hannes.
Saki’s voice is thrown at our backs.
Apparently, from the girls’ point of view, this was unacceptable.
But the Lamia we fought in the underground of the relay portal in the S5 map looked just like Kiyohime, didn’t it?
That’s the one thing I can’t understand.
「Is this too tight?」
「Looks like it.」
「Getting close to those feels quite dangerous. Wouldn’t it be better to wrap a cloth around them?」
「I want this one!」
「What you want is a specific couple of parts, and they’re not even real, you know?」
「You really shouldn’t be wanting things that don’t even exist!」
「Ahh, c’mon, a normal necklace will just get caught inside that valley.」
Who on earth said what just now?
This conversation is only stimulating my delusion.
This isn’t good.
I can’t control my eyes, they just turn all by themselves even if it’s only to get a sidelong glimpse here and there.
But…
They just won’t miss such a small change.
「Alright, please wait a little longer.」
Wow!
It really is tiny!
I mean, us men are no good with this kind of stuff.
Though I’m pretty sure I’m not paying enough attention.
NEXT CHAPTER
RELEASE RATE
Summoner is Going
Speed up schedule by 10 hours
Current schedule: Every 80 Hours
Thanks for the treat.