Ch.37 Helper, Players Vs Area Boss. Part 2 《Takemaru・Mimia》

Takemaru's POV

After deciding on our roles, I check the state of my shield. It had been beaten up from the lizards in the previous battle, so the surface of the shield is distorted and bumpy.

"It's made of iron though."

However, I think it's still usable, so I run the hand holding the sword over the shield's surface and ready my stance.

"I'll draw the enemy away, so you three can recover while I do so! Let's go, you two!"

I call the three players, Midori, and Vester-san and ran at the same time, aiming to be right in front of the enemy.

If I don't attract them, those players won't be able to leave. They are still being targeted.

"<Muscle Up>, <Endurance Up>!"

This is the basic skills of the initial job Explorer. What's more, these can be learned even if the player is working in another job. For this reason, many players usually switch to their primary job right away, as there is no benefit to sticking to or continuing to maintain their initial job.

It seems that Midori went to the Thieves Guild, Formalin-san went to the Apothecary Guild, and the rest of my friends are doing the same.

I don't know anyone around me who has strong preferences for their main and sub job.

Why don't I change it knowing that much? Because it's beneficial for me.

Explorers receive a slight bonus to all weapons. I can use any weapon to win. Because of this playstyle, this initial job was a perfect fit for me as I can use a variety of weapons.

Though, after saying all that, Explorer is set as my sub, and my main is set to the primary job of Low-Class Mercenary. This job can be considered a superior version of Explorer.

This also gives me the same modifier as Explorer's. In other words, I get double the bonus modifier for all weapons. How wonderful. Oh, did you make fun of me just now? You're laughing.

That hysterical woman has come back to peer into people's hearts again.

【A~ah, so strange. Ppu, what are you talking about by yourself again?】

Double correction is powerful. But it's my privacy! Don't peek at my privacy, you hysterical woman!

【Who did you call hysterical?! Say it again, I dare you!】

At times like this, if we keep going back and forth like this, things will only get even more heated.

So I ignored her. She's still screaming but I'll ignore her. There's a battle coming up so I'll ignore her.

"<Mercenary Attack>, <Mercenary Defence>!"

While running, I cast a total of 4 skills, all of which increased my attack and defense power.

Huh? The name is lame? Well, it can't be helped. That's the skill name after all.

【Sorry for being so lame! It's not my job anyway so i don't care. If you don't like it, just activate it without chanting.】

If I don't say it out loud, I won't get motivated. I'm the type of person who would need that.

Or rather, why is this hysterical woman trying to have a conversation casually at a time like this? Oh, she's making a fuss again. Let's just ignore her.

With all this preparation and discussion underway, I head towards the enemy and arrived safely, between the turtle and the players.

The turtle's gaze turns towards the sudden intruder.

Without taking my eyes off the turtle, I call out to the exhausted-looking players behind me.

"I'll take over from here! Go and recover quickly!"

"Yes!" "Ple- haa haa- please!" "... Fuu... please!"

"Just look ahead, turtle!"

I raise my voice to prevent attacks on the players who are leaving the battle to recover.

Listening to the sound of footsteps getting farther away, I kept my eyes peeled to see what the turtle would do.

"Whoa, what's that? Is it Midori?"

Suddenly, the turtle exploded, sending up black smoke. It was a tense situation and the explosion was shocking.

In response to the attack, the turtle turned its gaze towards Midori. It must have been that girl who was attacking after all.

"But I won't let you attack her! <Attention>!"

Come on, Turtle, I said, grinning and raising my shield.

♢♢♢♢♢

Mimia's POV

"Yes!"

"Ple- haa haa- please!" "... Fuu... please!"

Onii, Kaito, and I all just ran. Even though we were out of breath, we kept moving and somehow managed to escape the battle.

When we reach a place where the giant turtle's attacks will not reach, our legs give out and we sit down. The grass gets inside my skirt and it pricks me, but it looks like I won't be able to move for a while.

"Haa haa... haa haa"

Onii was lying sprawled out in the grass, his chest moving up and down, and it looked like he wouldn't be able to move for a while either.

With his hair still sticking to his face from sweat, he moved his heavy head and looked at Kaito. He was on one knee, catching his breath. At first glance, he looked like he could return to the battle immediately, but his legs were shaking and fatigue was clearly building up. It looked like it would take some time for him to even stand.

I too would like to straighten or brush away the messy hair that was blocking my view, but I am too tired to even think about it. I don't even want to move my hands, which are hanging loosely in the grass.

But we can't stay like this forever.

After taking a short rest, I moved my hands, which felt heavier than usual, and rummaged through my magic sack. I took out HP recovery potion from it.

Even though it's the cheapest and most common item, it still heals well. It's perfect for beginners like us. I'm glad I bought some at Marathos.

The lid of the test tube-shaped bottle, the cork, is removed and the drink is poured into my mouth.

"Gurgle...cough cough...cough...haaaah..."

The liquid got into a strange place and I choked. I thought it was a shame that some of the contents spilled out. I wonder how much I lost recovery because of that.

Even if I think about it, the spilled liquid wouldn't come back, so I gave up and drank the rest. I didn't want to lose my dignity by licking it up after it had spilled on the ground.

After confirming through appraisal that my HP has been properly restored, I force myself to stand up despite my tired and sluggish body.

HP recovery potions do not recover fatigue. If I had known this would happen, I should have bought a fatigue recovery potion. It was a little expensive, but I regret not buying one.

However, I shook my head from side to side, thinking that it can't be helped, and quickly changed my mind, readying my short cane.

The guys have recovered their HP and are already standing up. Their breathing seems to have steadied.

"Okay, we've recovered let's get back quickly."

"Yeah. Are you okay, Mia?"

"Onii, you're not supposed to say my real name in games, you know? You should get used to saying my nickname now. All I did was adding one syllable."

"Oh, sorry. I'm still not used to saying that."

The word Mimia was displayed above my head. It was a normal name, nothing fancy or anything.

When I started the game, nothing in particular came to mind, so I decided on this one simply because it was easy to remember.

I started playing this game quite recently. Onii and I have another older brother, and he gave us each an expensive VR headgear as a gift, which is what prompted us to start playing this game.

My step brother, who was a working man from my mother's second marriage, was a bit eccentric but very kind. He was eager to become friends with us.

My step brother, who seems to have great luck, won a VR headgear in a department store lottery, but he already had one and didn't need it. So he thought he'd give it to us and we could play the same games together and become friends.

After he told us all that, he gave us the VR headgear. I remember thinking it was so cute that it made me chuckle.

The game my step brother gave us was the R-15 "Mystery of Life 3." It's part of a series, but he said we could enjoy it even if we hadn't played the previous game.

Although it is rated R-15, me and Onii aren't old enough yet to play it. However, it's just a recommendation, and it's not explicitly or publicly stated that we can't play it. It simply says that it's recommended to start playing around that age. So we started playing this interesting looking game.

I usually play with Onii and my step brother, but I have school and my step brother has work, so we only have about two hours to play together after finishing our school and work.

Our parents probably wouldn't say anything if we stayed up all night, but my step brother always advised me to go to bed, so I stuck to that rule and didn't stay up all night, as I didn't want to betray him in any way.

On days when we can't play together, we're playing with our childhood friend Kaito, who also plays the same game. We has fun doing so, but today was an unlucky day.

As I was leveling up in the first area as usual, Kaito started to suggest that it was about time we headed towards the forest.

Onii and I had both been thinking about taking on the challenge, so we nodded in agreement. We thought that if our step brother, who is level 25 with the name Formalin, was here, we would be able to fight with even more confidence. However, it seems he has an appointment with a friend today, so he can't attend. What a shame.

As we were heading towards the forest, I suddenly saw someone running towards us, shouting loudly.

The player was accompanied by some kind of large monster behind him. It was a large turtle that was raising a fair amount of dust.

At first, I thought the player was some kind of Tamer-type job and that was just running with them, but when I heard what they were shouting, I realized that wasn't the case.

The player basically told us, "Stay where you are and be it's target."

Frowning at his selfish remark, we desperately ran away, not wanting to get caught up in his fate. However, that player was faster than us, and the turtle was just as fast, so they quickly caught up.

The player made a point of clicking his tongue as he passed us, and then, perhaps thinking that I was the weakest of the three, he tripped me over the leg and ran away. (TL : What a horrible person)

I fell, but it was on the grass, so even though it hurt a little, it wasn't so bad that I couldn't move. Realizing that I had been knocked down, both Onii and Kaito stopped and turned around.

That was the moment our fate was sealed. The turtles shifted their attack from the player to us and attacked us.

Our levels are still in the single digits. When we appraise our opponent, it's a double digit, 20. No matter how you look at it, it's a reckless fight. But the turtle is faster than us, so we can't escape.

With no other choice, we readied our weapon and entered into combat. However, the level difference was large, and it was only natural that we, who were inferior in terms of status, would be pushed back.

Our HP is low, but there is no time to recover.

"Damn it! It's too hard!"

Kaito attacked several times, but those are always deflected by the turtle's shell. Whenever he tried to attack, the turtle moved its body to match his attack's trajectory, guiding the attack into the shell. This prevented his attacks from going through.

When all three of us attacked at the same time, it closed itself in its shell, and even as we tried our best, we only manage to inflict a little less than 10% of the damage. We've been fighting for a long time and are exhausted. Then the turtle stretches its neck and tried ti bite us.

"Onii! It's attacking! Dodge!"

"Ah... Gaaah..."

Despite calling out to him, he was bitten, swung around, and thrown to the ground.

Just as I was thinking this, I heard a voice from behind me.

"Hey! You 3 over there! Can we help out?"

The slightly drawn-out voice made my heart, which had been on the verge of giving up, recover a little. "Someone's helping us?"

"Haa haa... Wh, what is that?... A spirit...? Haa haa..."

Kaito seemed to glance in that direction for a moment, and said that there's a spirit there.

Terrified of not knowing when it might attack, I don't take my eyes off the turtle for even a moment. No, I can't take my eyes off it. I'm running out of MP, so I have no choice but to dodge its attacks and survive. I grip my short cane in anxiety.

I can't turn around and talk, so I keep my eyes on the turtle and begs for help.

"I... I don't know who you are, but please!"

"Please!"

Onii followed suit and spoke up.

Fortunately, we only get attacked 3 times before our savior arrived. We barely managed to survive and was able to rest our body in the grass.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

〘Mercenary Guild〙

People gather here to receive requests from the residents, regardless of the type, such as gathering, extermination, or guarding.

In the mercenary business, you are responsible for everything yourself. If you incur someone's wrath, the guild won't help you like they do in other guilds.

The guild with the most meritocratic, rough-and-tumble members.

Conditions for joining: Defeat a randomly selected low-level monster and bring its parts as proof.

〘Occupation: Low-Class Mercenary〙

A primary job that can be obtained by joining a mercenary guild.

Any weapon can be used normally.

The increase in attack power of the weapon used and the weapon proficiency that increases when defeating monsters are decent.

Conditions for employment:

1. Defeat a randomly selected low-level monster and bring its body parts as proof.

2. Join the mercenary guild.

〘Skill: Mercenary Attack〙

A mercenary-only occupational skill.

When used, all your attacks will receive a positive modifier for 60 seconds, increasing your attack power.

Cooldown: 30 seconds

〘Skill: Mercenary Defense〙

A mercenary-only occupational skill.

When used, it reduces damage taken from opponents by 10% for 60 seconds.

Cooldown: 30 seconds

〘Skill: 《Muscle Up》〙

A skill that anyone can use once they learn it.

When used, all your attacks will receive a positive modifier for 30 seconds, slightly increasing your attack power.

Cooldown: 20 seconds

〘Skill: 《Endurance Up》〙

A skill that anyone can use once they learn it.

When used, it reduces damage taken from opponents by 5% for 30 seconds.

Cooldown: 20 seconds

〘Skill: Attention〙

A skill that anyone can use once they learn it.

When used, it forces the opponent to pay attention to you for 180 seconds. However, be careful as the force gradually wears off every 10 seconds.

When used, a red aura effect will envelop the body.

From the perspective of the target, it will look like there is some kind of strong person surrounded by an aura.

Cooldown: 60 seconds

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

Previous | ToC | Next