ShangriLa Frontier ~ Shitty Games Hunter Challenges Godly Game ~

「Umm, you see…… I happened to encounter one of those monsters in the past, when my Elder Sister was collecting intel regarding Nightprowler Luukan…… But I was only aware of the materials that you can obtain from it, not much else.」

「IN THE DISTANT FUTURE, WHEN HUMANITY ACHIEVES THE LEVEL OF ADVANCEMENT THAT ALLOWS IT TO CONQUER EVEN THE SKIES…… NO, WITH PEOPLE LIKE YOU AROUND, MY CHILDREN, I HONESTLY THINK THAT THIS TIME IS NOT SO DISTANT IN THE FUTURE AFTER ALL.」

* * * * * *

「Umm, umm…… Oh man, this is way harder than I thought it would be……」

「Say, “Ivory”? Can I teach this girl something while we are being at it? Just this once?」

「YES, OF COURSE. I CERTAINLY DON’T MIND IN THE SLIGHTEST.」

「Hey, Akitsu Akane? The answer that you are so desperately looking for is “Slegvin Carrier Angler”.」

「You knew the answer all along!? How!? How is that even possible!?」

「How, you ask? Well, I have fought against that thing. Back when we were in Lulilas. That’s how.」

「Ahh, so that’s why? Yeah, now it makes perfect sense. Alright then! Miss “Ivory”! The answer to your question is “Slegvin Carrier Angler”!!」

「CONGRATULATIONS, AKITSU AKANE. THAT IS INDEED A CORRECT ANSWER. THIS PARTICULAR MONSTER IS ONE OF THE THREE SPECIES THAT COMPETE WITH OTHERS OVER THE SOVERINITY OF THE DEEP SEA AND THE COMPLETE RULE OVER ITS SPECIFIC ECOSYSTEM. BUT EVEN SO, ITS GENETIC POOL AND INFORMATION IS WAY TOO HETEROGENEOUS FOR ANY NORMAL ORGANISM TO BE ABLE TO SURVIVE UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES.」

「Ahh, I do get a feeling that getting into such technical details is something that the Professor and his group would greatly appreciate. I can also imagine that once you start talking about it you won’t be able to stop anytime soon, so I would like if we were to not waste three hours of our time on something like that? Pretty please?」

* * * * * *

「Five kinds? Five kinds, really? Umm, ahh, this is…… I am certain that I know all that, it’s just that…… Uuh……」

「Emul, you’d do best to hurry it up. You have about ten seconds left to give your final answer here.」

「Hoooaaahhh!? Why!? Why is that!? No one told me that there would be a time limit imposed on us for this test!!!」

「TEN…… NINE…… EIGHT……」

「HOOOOOOAAAAAAHHHHHH!? Ahh, umm, uhh!!! Umm, VORPAL BUNNY! GOBLIN! COBOLD! CAIT SEITH! Umm, umm, umm…… Oh, come on now! I am more than sure that I know the answer……!!!」

「Sigma, please lend this guy a hand, why don’t you?」

「Understood! The answer is: Drakulus Dinotoriasix.」

「Drakulus Dinotriasix! It’s Drakulus Dinotriasix!!!!!!!!!」

「CONGRATULATIONS, EMUL. THIS IS INDEED A CORRECT ANSWER. IT SEEMS THAT YOU ARE TRULY AN ORGANISM POSSESSING HIGHER INTELLIGENCE AFTER ALL. IMAGINE THAT.」

「Hmm, so there are Goblins somewhere out there in the New Continent…… Good to know. I never would have thought that those pesky little buggers would ever make it in here.」

「They might be a little bit on the stupid side, but they are working hard and they are trying to live their lives in an honest and gratifying way.」

「Well, if someone like you is calling someone else stupid, than it must mean that they are indeed quite moronic, wouldn’t you say, Emul?」

「Sanraku-san, sometimes some things are better off when you leave them unspoken. Have you ever considered such a possibility?」

* * *

Alright then, now that we have taken care of this business right here, we can finally proceed forward with our descent. When it comes to the trials that the Behemoth imposes onto the players, they are way harder than the ones that we have encountered inside of the Leviathan, and not to mention that there would be twice as many of them. And as for Sigma, so far she’s been behaving herself and not causing problems, but with each new layer her expression was becoming more and more clouded.

There is also a matter of earning trust and likability. You know what they say, right? That it takes basically three days and three nights for a person to basically start warming up to you and liking you? It has not been one day yet. Well, how can we possibly press forward towards the eighth layer when she has this mentality on her at the current moment? Not to mention that I do not wish for this thing to needlessly drag on and get this over with as soon as possible. So I would also like for her to realize that fact and start acting with the speed clear mentality. That would be a huge help here.

But still…… Yeah. The Conquest Dolls might not be human, but that does not mean that they do not have their own share of troubles. It is something that does not matter if you are organic or inorganic. But what about basic human rights then? I mean, Conquest Dolls are basically really advanced AIs, but each and every single one of them possesses a personality.

But I don’t even need to deliberate on that matter all that much, because I already know the answer to that question…… For example, yes, that’s right. It doesn’t matter if I was to simply go as Akitsu Akane right next to me, or maybe try to sell some precious gemstones to Joset who would want to give them to the Saint-chan as a gift.

「But that’s not really the case here right now……」

「What? What are you saying to yourself?」

「Hmm? Ah, you see, I’m just starting to think what I should do for the Heroine to start liking me more.」

「PUGURUH!?」

「What? Was it THAT weird?」

「NO! IT! WAS! NOTHING! JUST! FELT! A! NEED! TO! SNEEZE!」

Hmm, I see…… Well, it’s good to see that no matter what, Rei-san always stays the same and never changes.

But no matter how much I might worry here, it doesn’t change the fact that it is something that basically cannot be helped. So for the time being let’s just focus on the task at hand and go towards the eighth layer. Since I already knew the answer without the need to look through the materials, we managed to clear this floor way ahead of other players. So that also means that we are going to arrive at the eighth layer before anyone else will be able to do that……! Good luck, Reiji-san! I’ll be waiting for you up above and……

Hmm? Wait a minute. The eighth layer was supposed to be even lower, right? So it would be down below where we would wait, right? But I guess that thanks to the actual shape of the Behemoth, the altitude does not really change all that much, no matter how low we might try to get……

Yeah, let’s just…… Let’s just try to not think too hard about that for now, shall we?