Chapter 133: Ressurecting Mental Zombies With Caffeine Part 2
Chapter 133: Ressurecting Mental Zombies With Caffeine Part 2
「…… Hm?」
I suddenly notice a pair of players right in front of me. While the vast majority of the players and all NPCs were going towards the big ship docking in the harbor, those two were going in the same direction I was going, towards the slaughter docks. One of them looked like a little archer with short bob hair, and another was a tall dark elf spellcaster, judging from his robes.
To be this burly and be a spellcaster…… Wasn’t something fundamentally wrong about that? At first glance the dark elf looked like a seasoned warrior, or a general who spent most of his life on the battlefield with sword in hand. When you see someone like that, wouldn’t you normally associate them with a warrior class, who puts points into physical attack and nothing else? I don’t know if that person is much into role-play, but if so, his role would be super hard to play right when he looked like that. Or maybe it was just a wolf in sheep’s clothing? No, more like a wolf with sheep’s graffiti sprayed all over its fur.
「Could it be?」
Aggressive-looking chibi character and burly mage…… Talk about contrasting looks. It looked as though they specifically created their avatars to look nothing alike, and make as much of a contrast as possible. Looking at their player tags…… Yup, bingo. The chibi archer was named “Rust” and the mage was named “Mold”.
In this kind of full dive game, the players’ mental and physical states are directly linked to their avatar’s performance.
And right now, if I didn’t drink something high in caffeine my mental state would be pretty close to that of a corporate zombie who was slowly beginning to shut itself down from the excessive amount of work he was subjected to. But even so I somehow managed to keep myself together, and that was when I got closer to the two particular people right in front of me.
Hm? It looks like Mold finally noticed me.
「Good morning……」
「Hyah!」
Oi.
「You look weird…… Is that a hobby of yours or something like that?」
「It’s mostly because of a certain Luukan…… I’ve managed to beat the sh*t out of him just a few hours ago, but it looks like I’d do better if I hadn’t done that……」
「Luukan, you mean Night Prowler Luukan? That Unique Monster……?」
It doesn’t really matter if it’s Unique or not. What matters is if you’re able to beat it or not. That’s the most important factor here. And while using your muscles first sometimes tends to work for the best, it is more than desirable to know what you’re doing beforehand, so that you can maximize your efficiency that way.
Regardless of the fact whether the caffeine was coming into the brain from the stomach, my thoughts start to click together. Now that I finally managed to escape from the zombies, I could survey my surroundings to some extent.
「But this thing looks as if it was once a city. A really compressed one at that」
「When they first established Fifthsia, they had to provide lodgings for all the workers. Somewhere where they could go to sleep and relax after work…… Or so I heard.」
「Once the development of the town was completed, these lodgings were abandoned as they were no longer needed. Now they are a hotbed for all kinds of rouges out there.」
Looking up, the remnants of the ship were so large that they were easily covering the rising morning sun. And looking closely, it must have been nearly as big as the ship that was currently waiting in the port. So even a place like that can still accommodate people even though it is just a simple wreckage?
And hearing that it’s a habitat for rouges right now…… That’s just sad. Like tidying up your room or apartment only to have it become messed up again the very next moment you finish your task.
But at the same time the fact that a city like Fifthsia has a place like that was actually kind of refreshing.
「…… I’m currently running for a new world record. Besides, running around half-naked is a truly refreshing feeling.」
「Excuse me?」
When I asked what it was exactly, I was told that it was: the time elapsed between entering the wreckage and meeting the first NPC. By the way, as we made our way forward, I was informed that apparently the current world record was about two and a half minutes. That being said, it’s been more than five minutes already since we entered here.
Some people out there like their fists to do the talking, others think that they can use their skills to solve their every problem, and for others killing people comes as easy and naturally as breathing or thinking what’s for dinner tonight. First I look at Rust who looks interested. Then at Mold who looked as though he didn’t know what to do. I was also sure that my own expression right now was something alongside the lines of “Oh sh*t”. All of the eyes that were looking at me right now seemed to be saying: “Is everything that is going on inside of this guy’s head alright?” I wonder if I could just beat the everlasting crap out of you right now for thinking like that?
Players can very well understand the attitude and motivations of the NPCs, but I don’t think anyone would be able to understand the amount of pain and trauma this fucking wolf put me through. It would be like trying to sell furniture to someone whose whole house was wiped out by a natural disaster. In a similar fashion, looking at the players and seeing their name tags should be more than enough to understand that whatever we do in game is just an element of roleplay, that no matter what we do, we are just humans deep down inside. In that sense, I am only but a humble high school student.
「Ah, after all even if your ability to look like a muffler is top notch, it is quite troublesome to keep you hidden like that, Emul. Now show yourself.」
「M, my Mimicry ability is so strong and perfect that you only get one like it once in every fifty years or so! Why are you giving up on it so soon!?」
「Last year’s weather was quite pleasant, so I hope that this year’s weather will be just like that from the last.」
「Muffler……」
「It talked!?」
I was going to reveal it either way, and once we got into the city it would become really bothersome to keep the secret. And while others were looking at Emul, a talking monster, with astonishment, I was already thinking about where to go, what to do and what needed to be done……
This marks the beginning of a week at the end of which I felt like I wanted to die.