Chapter 99

(￣(エ)￣)＜Merry Christmas Eve

□＜Sauda Mountain Path・???＞ 【Warrior】Figaro

One day, in the forest, I met a bear.

‘Well, I’ve been wandering this area for about a week in this time, and my food supplies were completely empty, bear. I’m grateful for the food, bear.’

The bear, or rather Shuu, devoured the food I provided while explaining his situation.

“A week?”

‘Yeah. I was led into this area by an Egg Woman and couldn’t get out, bear.’

An Egg Woman?

“Is it because the area is too large?”

‘It’s as big as a mountain, so it’s wide, but that’s not it, bear. No matter which direction I went—north, south, east, or west—I hit an invisible wall that I couldn’t pass, bear. It’s like the edge of the screen in old games, bear.’

“I’ve never played a game before, so I don’t understand.”

‘Oh, you live in an old-fashioned house, bear.’

It’s just that I couldn’t do it for physical reasons.

As a former noble, I do live in an old-fashioned house, though.

‘Phew, thank you for the meal, bear.’

In the end, Shuu devoured almost all the food I had.

“Wow… were you that hungry?”

‘Sure, I can eat in the real world, but when I log in here, the [Hunger] status effect is really intense, bear.’

[Hunger], huh. I’ve never experienced that status effect.

“Since it’s a mountain, wasn’t there any food?”

‘…This much, bear.’

Shuu said this as he took out a terribly smelly fruit from his item box.

“What’s that?”

‘It’s called [Galler’s Fruit], bear. It’s edible, but honestly, it’s too smelly to eat, bear. When I tried to break it open, it smelled even worse, bear. It’s dozens of times worse than ginkgo nuts, bear.’

I don’t know what ginkgo nuts are, but I can see why you wouldn’t want to eat this.

Shuu put the [Galler’s Fruit] away, saying, “I hope the smell doesn’t affect the contents of my item box.”

…If you’re worried about that, you shouldn’t have kept it in the first place.

‘But this area, the save points have been rewritten, and it’s all confusing, bear.’

“Yeah, me too.”

It seems this wasn’t due to the [Accident Circle] but rather the map itself.

I had already explained that I was teleported here from Regendaria by the [Accident Circle].

“How can we escape?”

‘We need to find a hidden passage somewhere or remove the cause of the invisible walls, bear. It’s common in RPGs, bear.’

“Is that so?”

Unlike me, who is unfamiliar with such things, Shuu seems to know a lot about them.

‘By the way, I’ve almost tried everything to find a hidden passage over the past week, bear. I ran all over the place, dove into rivers, and even dug holes, thinking “invisible walls shouldn’t be underground,” bear.’

“Even then, you couldn’t get out?”

‘YES’

…It seems to be a more troublesome place than I expected.

“If I hadn’t heard that… I would have wandered around for a week, trying different things. Thanks for helping me.”

‘No, no, it’s a small thanks for the food, bear. As the Coherent says, “two are better than one,” and we should help each other when in trouble, bear.’

“……”

Despite his obviously whimsical appearance and tone, he quotes the Bible.

It’s hard to figure out what kind of person he is.

‘Well, there are still some places I haven’t seen, bear. This area, for example.’

Shuu pointed to a spot on his map, which was right in the center of the map.

“You haven’t seen the center?”

‘More accurately, I couldn’t see it, bear.’

Couldn’t see it?

‘A hundred words are not worth one sight, bear (though I can’t see it). Let’s go check it out, bear.’

“Ah, sure.”

Saying this, Shuu stood up and started leading the way.

◇

After about thirty minutes of walking, we arrived at the center of the map.

“…I see, it’s indeed invisible.”

‘Right?’

The place was covered by an opaque black hemisphere.

I couldn’t see inside the hemisphere, and when I touched it, it didn’t yield at all. It felt very hard.

‘By the way, the diameter of the hemisphere is about 300 meters, bear.’

“You measured it…?”

‘I tried attacking it with my weapons, but it just bounced off without any damage, bear.’

“You attacked it…?”

‘Flirting, singing, and even licking didn’t get any reaction, bear.’

“……”

Shuu had tried “various” things on the black hemisphere over the past week.

‘Well, let’s go to the other side, bear.’

“Huh? Sure.”

When we walked around to the other side, we saw…

“…What is that?”

There was an unknown object placed there.

I’ve never seen it before, but it looked like the upper half of a tank… scrap?

‘My [Embryo], bear.’

“Huh? That’s Shuu’s?”

‘Yeah. It’s a fixed artillery type, bear. It can also turn into a gatling gun, bear.’

…There’s an [Embryo] that looks so obviously like a weapon.

[Embryos] can be hearts or weapons, and they are incredibly diverse.

‘I placed it here as a surveillance camera near the barrier, bear. But nothing happened around it, bear.’

“…A surveillance camera.”

It’s a dangerous surveillance camera.

Monitoring and shooting… or rather, blowing up, could be directly linked.

‘…I thought the wolf came from here, but maybe it was the other side, bear.’

“?”

‘Well, I’ve tried various approaches to this barrier, but it’s like hitting a rock, bear. Why don’t you try something, Figaro, bear?’

“Ah, sure. …Figaro?”

I feel like I’m being called something I’m not used to.

…Since I’m alone, I’m rarely called by Figaro’s name.

But anyway, this barrier is indeed intriguing.

“…Let’s try it.”

I switched to the most powerful weapon I had, the [Blaze Axe].

It’s a large two-handed axe that heats up when I channel MP into it.

I bought it cheaply as a used item at the spirit city’s bazaar.

It cost most of my money at the time.

I want to improve my equipment more, thanks to my [Embryo] which enhances my gear.

I equipped the [Blaze Axe] and channeled MP into it.

As a [Warrior], my MP is limited, so I can only heat it for a short time, but it’s enough for a test.

My [Embryo]’s passive skill, [Selection of Martial Arts], is already active, enhancing all my equipment and becoming more efficient as I reduce the number of equipped items.

It’s tricky to use, but now is the time.

“[Instant Equip]”

I used the skill to switch my armor, storing all of it in my item box.

My only equipment now is the [Blaze Axe] in my hand, and its power is concentrated.

I struck the black hemisphere with all my might, repeating the attack several times.

But…

“…It doesn’t even scratch.”

It seems that even with my current maximum attack power, it’s completely ineffective.

I thought it would be tough since Shuu, who is at a similar level, couldn’t do it.

Shuu is looking at me with a puzzled expression, tilting his head and placing his hand on his chin.

“What’s wrong, Shuu?”

‘…Why did you take off your clothes?’

“Oh. It’s because of my [Embryo]’s unique skill. Reducing the number of equipped items enhances the others.’

‘Is that so…’

“Yeah, but…”

‘…It’s not a hobby, right?’

“What do you mean?”

‘…Nothing, bear.’

Shuu pressed his temple, and his usual whimsical demeanor seemed a bit subdued.

I wonder what he’s thinking about.

‘But it seems we can’t do anything to this black hemisphere, bear.’

“Yeah. Maybe there’s a tool or a mechanism somewhere to remove it.”

‘Hmm, but from what I’ve searched for a week…’

As we were pondering this,

“If you two would be so kind, could you listen to our request, mog…?”

Suddenly, such a voice was heard.

‘Who’s there, bear!’

I thought it might be Shuu because of the strange suffix, but it doesn’t seem to be him.

“Please wait a moment! I’ll come out, mog!”

As I searched for the source of the voice, I saw a person (or something) emerging from the ground.

No, not emerging. A staircase appeared in the ground, and the person (or something) was climbing it.

The person (or something) soon emerged from the ground.

The smooth-looking clothes were a bit dirty from the soil, but they didn’t seem to mind.

“Excuse me, mog! I am Drillmore Rue, the leader of the mole people’s village in this mountain, mog!”

The person (or something), who I assume is male, bowed.

I say “assume” because I can’t tell the gender from my perspective.

…After all, it’s a mole.

I don’t have the skill to determine the gender of a mole’s face.

I’m used to seeing people with animal faces in Regendaria.

“What are the mole people?”

“We live underground in this area, mog. Not just here, but in various places in the kingdom and Regendaria, mog.”

…Underground people?

“What do you need from us, Mr. Drillmore?”

“Well, you see, mog. Actually, we have a request, and that’s why we called you…’

‘Hold on a moment.’

Shuu stopped Drillmore from starting.

“What is it, mog?”

‘The mole people live underground here, right? And you’ve been here for more than a week, right?’

“Yes, that’s right, mog…”

‘Then why are you only calling us now, bear!! I’ve been wandering around for a week, bear!!’

“Eek!?”

Now that he mentions it, it does seem odd.

If they called us when they heard the sound of my attack, they must have been watching us.

But Shuu must have done similar things during the week.

So why did they only call us now?

“…Well… that…”

Drillmore seemed hesitant and kept glancing at Shuu.

Then he said,

“I was hesitant to call that person, mog…”

This made Shuu’s eyes widen again.

‘Why, bear!’

Shuu shouted, demanding an explanation, and Drillmore’s response was:

“Eek! You suddenly started shooting at the barrier, flirting, singing, licking, and even kissing it, mog! I was scared too, mog!”

‘I’m speechless, bear!’

Shuu fell to his knees.

…You even kissed the barrier?

…Yeah, Drillmore’s decision not to call you was appropriate.

Your actions were completely those of a weirdo.

Even I found them strange,

“You were also swinging an axe around in your underwear, so I really struggled with whether to call you, mog.”

Wait, am I also counted as a weirdo?

Why?

◇

After about ten minutes of this unsatisfactory conversation, Shuu and I were led to the mole people’s village.

As Drillmore explained, the village was underground.

Not in a cave, but in a spacious underground space with several ordinary houses.

Drillmore said it’s usually pitch black, but now the lights are on for our visit.

The lights use magic and don’t consume oxygen, and they also use magic items to produce oxygen.

Thanks to this, there are no issues with our vision or health, even underground.

“So, you can’t use fuel underground?”

“No, we can’t, mog. But we make a living by mining, mog.”

“What do you mean?”

According to Drillmore, the mole people are skilled in earth attribute magic, specifically moving earth.

They use this magic to create living spaces underground and mine oil and minerals, which they sell to nearby towns, like Gideon.

“We bought these lights and magic items with the money, mog.”

“I see.”

“Well, we don’t usually use the lights…’

“?”

I looked around and noticed that the mole people were all wearing sunglasses.

…It seems they are adapted to their living environment.

“Please follow me, mog.”

We were led to what seemed to be a village meeting hall.

The door was a bit small, so Shuu, in his costume, had some trouble getting through, but we managed to enter the building.

Inside was a large space with a ceiling much higher than Shuu or I.

In the center of the room was a round table, presumably for meetings.

Shuu and I were invited to sit in the chairs around the table.

“Here’s some tea, mog.”

The tea was regular green tea and tasted good.

I wondered about the water, but apparently, the village has a natural filtration system for clean groundwater.

‘So, let’s get to the point, bear. Since you called us, despite us clearly being weirdos, there must be something you need from us, bear?’

Hey, Shuu.

I don’t want to be included in the “weirdos.”

“You called us because of our abilities, mog.”

“Abilities?”

“I saw you defeat the black wolf by the river, mog. You both have considerable strength, mog.”

Considerable strength?

We’re still at the first level of our basic classes.

‘Figaro and I are still below level 50, bear. We’re [Masters], though.’

“Oh! [Masters]! That…!”

That?

“I’ve heard rumors that [Masters] started appearing a month ago, but to have two [Masters] here for our urgent situation… it must be the will of the heavens, mog.”

‘……’

Shuu seemed to be thinking about something in response to Drillmore’s words.

I felt the same way.

I whispered to Shuu,

“A month ago, that’s when [Infinite Dendrogram] started, right? But what does it mean that they started appearing?”

‘Maybe there were beta testers before the official start, or…’

“Or?”

‘…No, I don’t know, bear.’

Shuu shook his head, as if trying to avoid giving a definitive answer.

It’s fine, though.

‘So, what do you need from us, bear?’

“We need you to defeat the [UBM], mog!”

Unique Boss Monster?

What is that?

‘I’ve defeated boss monsters in [Sauda Mountain Path] before, like bears.’

“Cannibals, mog?”

‘…I’m human.’

Sorry, Shuu. I also thought, “Cannibals, huh?”

‘What’s wrong with this [UBM], bear?’

“…It’s a long story, but…”

Drillmore then began to explain what was happening in the mole people’s village.

To be continued

The next update is at 21:00.

(￣(エ)￣)＜…Today is Christmas Eve

(￣(エ)￣)＜Even though it’s a past story, it’s still a terrible story to suddenly take off your clothes and swing an axe in the mountains, bear……

(=ↀωↀ=)＜It’s a terrible story (for everyone involved)