Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 497
Defense Specialization and the Third Floor Area
Maple and Sally made an appointment to log in to [New World Online] and meet at a certain town in the 10th Floor. The town, full of machinery, strongly resembled that of the Third Floor.
Giant gears; mysterious machines roaring everywhere; a mechanical means of transportation available for all players, which could soar freely in the sky…
“How nostalgic!”
“After all, it’s been so long since we last went to the Third Floor. A lot has happened, too.”
“Right?”
They had so many happy memories that the two of them started to feel nostalgic about the Third Floor. Maple never thought that she’d have so many memories from just playing a game.
“Let’s go check out the machine first!”
“That’s right. It’ll also be useful for exploration.”
Ensuring mobility was their top priority.
Thus, the two decided to head to a nearby shop to fulfill their main objective of coming to that area.
Since it was a shop frequented by players who went to the Third Floor Area, there were many similar shops in the town, so they didn’t have trouble finding an empty shop to check out the machine.
The two of them chose the one that was located at a remote area so they could take their sweet time browsing around. They didn’t waste any second to check the lineup of machines.
“A vehicle type that can carry multiple people, a type that can be carried on your back… Ah! There it is!”
At the end of Maple’s line of sight was a boot-type flying machine. According to not only Sally but also other players, it was the most popular type, as it allowed both hands to be free and had excellent mobility, to boot.
“Can Maple use this as well?”
“Hmm, I tried it after Mai and Yui taught me about it when I was on the Third Floor…”
At that time, they were out of luck and had to rely on [Machine God] and Syrup’s flight ability to explore the Third Floor.
Despite its popularity, it took time to master since it was difficult to operate.
“Why don’t you try again? I’ll give you a hand.”
“…Okay! I’ll try it!”
“That’s great!”
The two immediately purchased it. Then, along with the purchase, a window showing a quest popped up in front of the two.
“…A quest?”
“[Flying Machine Improvement Plan]… It’s another numbered quest.”
Judging from the reward, it seemed to be a quest to literally improve the flying machine, such as flight time, altitude, and other attachments that could add attributes to weapons.
“It seems that we need to complete this quest to upgrade it to full spec… I don’t see any issue with the current flight time, but…”
After checking the performance of the current flying machines, when it came to sudden changes in direction and three-dimensional movements like Sally did during battle, there seemed to be no problem even if it wasn’t upgraded. Nevertheless, longer flight times and buffs while flying were both advantageous and appealing.
“This is a great opportunity! Let’s do this!”
“That’s what I thought you’d say. Moreover, it’s the most typical element of the Third Floor Area, so this may lead to an item for the Demon King.”
“Most likely!”
According to Mai and the others who came here to explore beforehand, it was still unclear where and how the quest was connected.
Due to the branching questline, and the fact that many players were still exploring other areas, the two imagined that it’d take time for all players combined to figure that out.
As for [Maple Tree], excluding the areas that Mai and others had explored, if the two proceeded with the quest, they should be able to efficiently search for [Demon King’s Magic Power]. Regardless, their first objective was to upgrade the flying machine. The two decided to take one step at the time and immediately left the town.
Afterwards, Maple and Sally headed straight to the foot of a towering mountain. The cave halfway up the mountain was their destination. They passed through the forest overgrown with trees, climbed the mountain, and found the cave containing rare ore.
“We should start with increasing output!”
“Let’s complete it quickly.”
Increasing flight speed would be beneficial for both Maple and Sally.
The two agreed and decided to start with the quest.
They walked into the forest. Even though it was called a forest, it was still the Third Floor Area. Along the way, they came across gears that were half-buried in the ground. However, they didn’t seem to have been illegally dumped, since they continued to rotate.
There were also dimly-lit lights hanging between the trees, making it look even more different from the forest-like natural environment of the area.
Given that was the case, of course the monsters that appeared would be different.
“Maple, don’t let your guard down.”
“Uh-huh!”
As soon as Sally sensed the presence of the enemy, three mechanical humanoid monsters emerged. When the enemy spotted the two girls, two of them zapped through the gaps in the trees, their arms deforming into guns.
The remaining one activated the booster attached to its legs, accelerating at once, readying its sword as it quickly closed the distance.
“Maple, I leave long-ranged ones to you!”
“[Dedicated Affection] [Barrel Deployment]!”
Maple responded to Sally by using her skills. She nullified the blue energy bullets fired by the enemy with her impregnable defense, before counterattacking with as many cannonballs as she could.
“[Commence Attack]!”
A multitude of lasers streamed through the forest. No matter how agile the enemy was, maneuvering in the forest was no easy feat. As such, there was no way they could avoid attacks that had no gaps in-between them.
The reddish-black lasers emitted by Maple hit the enemy’s body squarely and exploded. As the enemy staggered, it fired another round of energy bullets at Maple. However, the difference in their number of attacks and defenses rendered it useless.
While Maple was dealing against two opponents, Sally, who could move freely, clashed against the sword-wielding enemy.
“How fast…”
As expected, since they were at the 10th Floor, the agile-type enemies were able to keep up with Sally’s speed.
The only reason why Maple was able to dominate the enemy was because she had an insane defense power. On the other hand, someone with normal stats would have problem dealing against the same enemy—
—or at least, that was how it was supposed to be.
With a clank, the enemy’s sword was repelled, and Sally’s dagger dug into his neck.
Even if their stats were the same, Sally’s skill was on another level. Against monster—no, even against other players, there was an absolute distance between them. A distance that couldn’t be narrowed down. A difference that made Sally come out on top.
Every time they slashed at each other, in other words, every time she closed the distance, the enemy’s wound increased by one.
Slowly but surely, Sally’s enemy was heading towards death.
“As if I’ll lose to an enemy of this level.”
Thinking that she shouldn’t waste her time with a small fry, Sally dodged the attack, and sent the enemy’s head flying.
“Whew…”
When Sally turned around, she saw that Maple was also receiving bullets from two monsters with her own body, and was just about to blow them up to smithereens.
“It seems that you are doing fine.”
“Yeah! No problem!”
“Okay. Then let’s continue like this. When another wave of monsters appears, we’ll use the same strategy!”
“Leave the ranged ones to me!”
As expected, a few small fries were no match for the two.
After mowing down everything that blocked their path, the two of them steadily made their way towards the middle of the mountain.
The two of them safely made it halfway up the mountain and stood side-by-side in front of a cave with a wide opening on the mountainside.
“Is this the place?”
“It seems to be the case.”
They double-checked the quest’s destination on the map, and when they confirmed that it was indeed the cave, they went in, being wary of an ambush.
Despite being a cave, it was also the place where one could obtain materials related to the machines in the Third Floor Area. Some works were done on the place, with lights placed on the walls at equal intervals. The ground had been leveled to a certain extent, while the footing was stable.
In other words, it was positioned as a mining site for rare materials in a town that lived with machinery.
“There’s no trap so far.”
The two were careful, but they’d yet stepped on a trap. The monsters were also the same as those that appeared in the forest. Thus, the two reached the bottom without any hitch.
There, glowing blue ores spiked from all over the walls, floor, and ceiling.
No doubt, that was what the two were looking for in their current quest.
“Let’s finish this quickly!”
It was that kind of quest that everyone went through. The ore could also be collected without special skills or items. When Sally touched it with her bare hand, there was a snapping sound as the blue ore broke from the base, and fell into her hand.
“Let’s collect the amount we need.”
“I agree!”
After this, the main issue was to upgrade the machine. In order to finish the quest quickly, the two of them collected the ore and quickly left the cave.
After clearing the quest, the two immediately finished enhancing the flying machine.
The boot-type flying machine was attached with the blue ore that they’d just collected. The machine started to emit light as the energy got charged.
That improvement increased flight speed and also led to a substantial increase in flight distance.
Deciding to proceed with other enhancements, the two went to a place where there were no people around to practice flying.
“Maybe around here is fine.”
“There are no monsters either!”
There were no obstacles and no monsters to get in their way. Here, no matter where Maple fell, she’d only tumble to the ground.
“Have you used it before?”
“Yes. Mai and Yui taught me. However, I decided to just fly with [Machine God] and stopped practicing.”
Maple was a unique player who had multiple means of flight from quite early on.
At the same time, her combat style, which was basically standing up and attacking the enemy, didn’t require a high degree of mobility. So, it made sense that the flying machine had less appeal to her compared to other players.
However, compared to those days, the enemies had grown stronger. The field also expanded, featuring many gimmicks. Now that there were more demands on her, Maple also had to be able to accelerate quickly and move three-dimensionally in battle. If so, the mobility of the flying machine should shine even in Maple.
“I’ll try flying around first, so watch and learn.”
After saying that, Sally floated into the air in front of Maple.
“Basically, just move as it is, and feel how it’s like to glide. Once you get used to it, you can do things like this.”
Sally nimbly flew in the air, performing backflip and repeatedly accelerating and stopping suddenly.
She even casted [Water Manipulation] and [Use Threads]. Furthermore, by combining the scaffold generated by [Icicle] and [One Step Towards the Underworld], the air became Sally’s domain.
“So, the final goal is something like this.”
“I wonder if I will be able to do it?”
Aside from movements involving Skills, the core of the game was mechanical flight.
If Maple could learn what Sally did, the disadvantage of having a low [AGI] in the 10th Floor would disappear almost entirely.
“I’ll teach you how to do it.”
“…Yeah! I’ll do my best!”
Sally took Maple’s hand, and the two of them activated the machine and flew into the air.
“Let’s try flying slowly first. Ah, make sure to activate [Loving Sacrifice], okay?”
If they both fell to the ground while holding hands, unlike Maple, who had a body made of steel, Sally would fall apart.
“I’ll help steady you, so let’s start by gliding quickly to the left. Apply pressure slowly.”
“Got it.”
With Sally’s help, Maple didn’t fall, and slowly slid through the air while holding hands.
“Good, good! Keep it up!”
“Thank you for your guidance!”
“No problem!”
The two of them held hands and flew through the sky as if they were gliding and dancing. Since they originally chose a place where there were no players or monsters, they could practice to their heart’s content. By the time Sally’s lessons were over, Maple was able to fly decently.
