Sky World Vol 2 Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Penglai Emperor’s Resurrection
Part 1

Night had fallen for the ninth time since Kasumi was cursed.

If her curse did not get dispelled by four o’clock the following afternoon, she would die for the third time.

After their final meeting of the day, Kasumi and Jun slipped away from their noisy gathering and walked around the empty town square. Past dusk, magic lamps illuminated the square. Even the areas usually littered with stalls during daytime had returned to a dull silence.

“We must end this curse. So, please don’t do anything rash.”

Tomorrow at noon, Jun, along with eighty fellow fighters, would confront the Illusionary Brigade.

They had done everything they could. According to intelligence reports, the Illusionary Brigade was not at its strongest due to the supply embargo. The odds were in Jun’s favor.

However, his plan could not have been said to be bulletproof.

Jun never wanted to get Kasumi involved in fights.

If she had, by some coincidence, been dragged into a battle… He couldn’t have her dying from such an accident. After getting a Phoenix Blood, he would teleport her over. That would have been best.

Kasumi objected stubbornly. Everybody had been fighting for her sake. She couldn’t just sit tight, locked away for her own safety. She insisted on it.

Kasumi Yukasaki was the type who wouldn’t listen to anything once they had made up their mind. In the end, Jun gave in.

“Trust me. Please wait on the far end of the battlefield. If you do that, I will be able to fight knowing that you are safe.” Kasumi stopped walking and turned towards Jun. Her red qipao, a traditional Chinese dress, creased, revealing her slender thighs. She hastily pulled her dress back. “He-hey, how embarra.s.sing… did Eri-chan do that?”

Eri had picked up the qipao somewhere. Finding it not very useful for herself, she forced the distraught Kasumi to wear it against her will, “This’ll give you some s.e.x appeal!”

“Don’t lose yourself over this!”

“Ah, no. That won’t happen… I think.” Jun responded hesitantly, averting eye contact. His nervousness was written clearly on his face.

Actually, she knew that Eri was in the right. She had only been trying to cheer Kasumi up.

“Is that… so?” Blus.h.i.+ng, Jun gulped down a breath and looked at Kasumi. His throat felt dry from the anxiety. “Am I… bothering you?”

“There is no way that you could be bothering me. Uh, no need to be so shy. It’s really nice to be able to rely on your friends.”

“But… I’m doing nothing but relying on you, Jun-san. You always help me. This time, you’ve even taken on such big debts, all for my sake…”

“Please stop thinking of me as a saint. I’m far from it. I’m just doing as I wish. Starting now, I’m going to blatantly say awful things about you.”

“Y-yes!” Startled, Kasumi stood up straight.

“I’m excited.”

“…huh?” Kasumi tilted her head not knowing what he had in store.

Jun grinned widely.

“And this is your life we’re talking about here. I’d gladly rush to help work on difficult quests. The harder the quest, the more interesting it is. It’s well worth the challenge. The tougher the objective, the more worked up I get. I, Junichiro Mikimori, am just that kind of pers
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on. Getting so dumbfounded over quests and throwing myself face-first into them… I’m hopeless. So, you should not feel like you owe anything to me at all. People think about using fools like me for their own benefit.”

Kasumi smiled.

Jun hadn’t seen Kasumi smile from the bottom of her heart like that in a long time.

“You’re really having fun here in this world, right?”

“Yep. It’s a blast! This world is the best! I can’t help but get excited!”

“… I think that’s fine. That’s just what I’d expect from Jun-san. But…” The next instant, Jun grabbed and hugged Kasumi. “H-h-h-he-hey!”

She felt her large b.r.e.a.s.t.s get squashed by Jun’s chest. Her heartbeat grew fainter, almost as if her heart had become tired. Her cheeks flushed. Her head felt like it was boiling. All the words she had been about to utter flew away…

“If that’s how it is, then even if I thank you, everything’s going the way you want… yeah?” Her mischievous voice echoed in Jun’s ear. “I’ll put my faith in you and do as you say.”

 

Chapter 4: The Penglai Emperor’s Resurrection
Part 1.5

The following morning, at their seven o’ clock ally time, eighty-two adventurers had already shown up at the gates of Payang.

They were to engage in final negotiations with the Illusionary Brigade at their Phoenix camp.

Worst case scenario, discussions would descend into armed conflict.

War. Though the Illusionary Brigade had the upper hand with respect to numbers and gear, Jun’s group had them beat by far on morale and sportsmans.h.i.+p.

“Let’s head out!”

Cheers filled the air as Jun called out those words. His troops moved out.

 

Nine in the morning. Daikoku, a commanding officer of the Illusionary Brigade, stood straight at the top of a small hill near the Phoenix camp, his arms folded as he watched his eighty men climb up the mountain road.

“I’m coming.” Next to him, Size, his aide, pushed his gla.s.ses up. “We’re all worn out. By the end of the last battle, twelve people had almost died their second deaths. As you instructed, I had them take shelter somewhere safe. Among the rest of us, twenty have yet to receive weapons or armor. As for close-up fighters, everybody but you and me is partic.i.p.ating in the Phoenix fights. Presently, we are even running low on hi-potions and mana stones.”

Mana stones were high-ranked consumables. They could heal mental points, though not even that much. They usually served as last resorts for real line fighters during raids, but reserves were running lower and lower by the minute, given their current deplorable situation.

“That’s true, but we can still fight. Honestly speaking, two days from now, we wouldn’t be able to hold up, but if they come today, they won’t be able to take over the Phoenix camp. If we fight today, we can still win.” Daikoku chuckled self-depreciatingly. “Though we’re an uber guild, even a randomly thrown-together motley crew could stand a fighting chance against us as it stands.”

“I understand. Working together well, they can drive us into a corner. That boy Jun is a skilled leader. He must have a.s.sembled many capable men under him.”

“Maybe we should try to recruit him. With Phoenix Blood to win him over… how’s that?”

“We’ve made too many jabs at their pride.”

“Our guild is a big group of ruffians, after all.”

“It was our superiors who decided that. And officers like me would deem making him a leader acceptable.”

Daikoku smiled, remembering his own superior’s face.

He was a very respectful guy. However, one could only rarely see him around. He kept himself busy all the time, with little room for flexibility… Daikoku thought of comparing himself to his own leader.

His leader’s lack of free time was not the same as his own. Daikoku shook his head. Daikoku had been entrusted with the job of looking after the new hooligans. He could use his own discretion in training them. Daikoku could even teach them things other than battle strategies. Maybe even some good manners…

Those were all hypotheticals. Daikoku himself wasn’t the kind of person to praise people easily. Far from it.

“We know what we’re basically going up against. Let’s get back in formation.”

“I’ll deal with the details of our battle strategy. I just have one favor to ask of you. Send me out in front.”

“How is that okay?”

“As the strongest able-bodied one here, I should lead the front lines.”

“I’m worried that they’ll concentrate their attacks on you.”

“I’ll work at breaking down their formation until I die.”

“I see.” Daikoku gave up and let Size have his way, nodding his head. “Well, I’m sorry, but I’ll give commands from a safe place.”

“Of course. If you’re commanding us from the back, I can have some piece of mind while I get attacked.” Daikoku smiled. “Well, I like fighting. I chose to be a bandit warrior for the hand-to-hand battles. Aside from being able to help protect those brats, this role just suits me well.”He made a firm fist with his hand.”I want to fight!”

He didn’t exaggerate. He spoke his true feelings.

This was it. Daikoku had found the adversary he had always longed for.

 

Jun watched members of the Illusionary Brigade line up in rows beyond the fences surrounding their camp; his opponents were determined.

In Sky World, spells and archery generally only had an effective range of fifty meters. However, Jun stopped his troops and kept them fairly close to him.
Gesturing with one hand towards the impatient front-line fighters, Jun uttered, “Awaken,” changed into his adventurer armor, and took a solitary step ahead.

“It’s our turn to raid the Phoenix. Next time it sp.a.w.ns, we’ll take control,” he shouted loudly. Those who had shown up all had a history with the Illusionary Brigade’s soldiers. Jun shrugged lightly, and looked behind him. “I shall fight back! Everybody, this is…”

“Jun, hold on a sec.”

Yukaria, pointed ahead, somehow appearing to part their enemies’ lines. A male clad in black armor emerged. “That’s their boss?”

“Daikoku. So it is you. I’ve been waiting for you to come to me begging.”

“I threw your linkstone away a long time ago.”

“That’s too bad. Thanks to you, I was stuck doing such a menial task.”

“Shut your piehole. How dare you make fun of us like this. What guild are you working for? What did they pay you? Gold, silver?”

“I’m unaffiliated. I’m only going to such lengths to help my friend. I’m not taking part in a conflict between guilds. Though, you guys aren’t the only ones in Sky World. Everybody here in this game has the right to enjoy themselves.”

“After the Birthday, could you really still call this a game?” Daikoku readied his scythe. Behind him, his fighters followed.

“I’m having fun in this world. I’m having fun. I’m a gamer by nature.”Jun drew his sword. “So, we are fighting so that everybody can have a good time in this world. Go, Plan C! Let’s sweep ‘em!”

He lifted his great-sword into the air. Plan C’s success was contingent on their enemies being eagar to battle. The strongest fighters were set up in rigid groups of four in the front.

“a.s.sault!”

Just as he swung his sword to the ground, Jun charged forward.

Spells flew back and forth on both sides. His opponent’s buff and debuff icons started to disappear. The same began to occur to his own men. Jun scowled at the guy in black armor.

That guy’s weapons and armor sparkle as if they were new. I’m no match for him.

Jun knew he would have to battle against him. He questioned himself, but… then he thought that it would actually be convenient for him. Jun and the others had to fight the next Phoenix. In order to minimize losses, it made sense to capture the opposing side’s leader.

Jun, understanding this, grinned at Daikoku.

“So you were able to defeat Sakamoto! However, your weapon’s special ability is close-ranged, so it won’t mean anything against me! You won’t be able to use your secret technique here!”

“Whatever. I didn’t even have the time to use it against your well-prepared bandit warrior friend!”

The spells from both sides kept canceling each other out.

Jun and Daikoku. There was very little distance in between them…

“Go!”

Daikoku raised his scythe. Mirroring him, Jun prepared his sword…

Battle cries filled the air as they crossed swords.

With just one hit, his hands went numb with pain. Up until now, he hadn’t seen such a strong scythe. The difference in quality of their equipments was obvious. The most likely outcome would be…

Swinging his blade diagonally across Daikoku’s body, Jun attacked on his opponent’s left side. However, Daikoku took a small step to build some distance and attacked back fiercely.

“Tch…”

Jun reacted quickly and rolled, only narrowly avoiding decapitation. The tip of the scythe grazed his armored shoulder. Jun’s health bar depleted by 5% with just that hit.

“Hey, that wasn’t very funny.”

Jun got up. Daikoku relaxed his scythe, and moved away from Jun.

“Hey magic swordsman, don’t die so fast!”

“Don’t worry, I’m certain I won’t. My body can to handle this.”

He kicked the ground. Their weapons collided violently yet again.

Even though they were surrounded by an all-out close-ranged melee, there was still a considerable amount of s.p.a.ce between Jun and Daikoku.

Everybody knew not to interfere in a duel between two people.

I knew it, this guy’s just like me, from his swordsmans.h.i.+p and his agility. He’s even fighting with the next step in mind!

Originally, quick thinking à la Jun wasn’t necessary for raids.

What was necessary in group battles was being able to watch one’s surroundings and react quickly. Superficial motions were not only pointless but even harmful.

When Sakuya explained this to him, she chuckled, looking down on him.

“Jun, you don’t know anything. Your thoughts lack depth. You’re getting too complacent. Don’t you think that your brain will start to dissolve?” She thoroughly made fun of him.”You ought to seriously think about the nature of our own power. It’s violence. Pure violence, imbued with recklessness. This isn’t just a comfortable virtual game world. Our power is the pureest kind that exists when even violence clashes with violence,” she instructed. “It’s more important than paying attention. Raid guilds are essentially nasty organizations not very different from gangs or militias. They are formed to rule over others with brute force. Those who join such groups are always captivated by physical power. In order to control them, more brute force is necessary… If you end up fighting against their leaders, be cautious of this. They are always studying the system. Their greed is constantly fed by the prospect of even more power.”

“Have you fought with the Illusionary Brigade’s leaders before?” Jun asked.

“… Feigning innocence, huh? You have a bad personality.”

“Have you ever fought with Daikoku?”

“I still can’t reveal that kind of information. But, okay. New raid guild recruits are often annoyingly bubbly about their guilds. If you don’t use violence, they won’t even be able to perform raids.”

Everything was as she said. While Jun fought Daikoku, he came to understand him.

Daikoku was strong.

His skill was undeniable, and his equipment surpa.s.sed Jun’s by leagues. He exceeded Jun even in attack and defense levels. Magic swordsmen and bandit warriors also happened to be each other’s natural counters. Moreover, Daikoku had yet to use a single of his abilities.

However…

“Should you really be acting so carefree?” Jun grinned, still trading hits back and forth.

“Your underlings are quite disappointing. They’re quite the mish-mash of adventurers.”

On the battleground, Jun’s group had the upper hand numerically. Though it appeared that Daikoku’s aide was giving orders from behind in his place, their movements were awfully sloppy.

Though the guild was visibly burdened, up until now, the new recruits had been exclusively fighting battles that they knew they could win, as if they had been playing on low difficulty. They had never experienced real adversity. In addition, their weapons and armor were damaged, so their equipment superiority faded to nothing. Morale was suffering.

As for Jun, he had a.s.signed a few trusted adventurers to the front-most line. They were skilled fighters that did not have to rely on their equipment. In order to live up to Jun’s expectations, they tore deep holes through the Illusionary Brigade’s front lines and dished out large quant.i.ties of damage to the defenseless rear fighters.

“Did you only teach them to be full of themselves? What an inconceivably incompetent commander you are.”

“In order to boost dependence on the guild, we cut them off from the outside world.”

Daikoku, unperturbed by Jun’s provocations, calmly swung his sharp scythe downwards. Jun once again narrowly evaded the strike and tried to attack him back with his own great-sword.

However, it was no use. Since his posture hadn’t been perfect, Jun was only able to shave off a sliver of Daikoku’s health as his blade only skimmed his armor.

— He’s strong!

Though Jun kept on attacking and making full use of proper footwork and his body weight, Daikoku avoided each of them with his own defensive martial arts techniques.

d.a.m.n, I’m beaten.

Of course attack magic and debuffs like Quick Stun would have little effect on bandit warriors. The advantages of being a magic swordsman were all but meaningless here.

He didn’t even have time to use his secret techniques. Besides, weapon swapping to spam secret techniques would only surprise each opponent once. As Daikoku himself said, once Jun ends up showing him something, it’ll never work again.

If that’s so, then my next move will be… that, right?

Jun waited for the right timing, and then made some distance between them.

Even though Daikoku quickly worked to close up the gap…

“Option E3! I’m counting on you!” As they had planned earlier, when they noticed, some of his team’s light warriors quickly forced their way through.

“Get out of the way! Whirlwind!

The violent gales of wind brought upon by Daikoku’s scythe swept up the light warriors all at once.

This short period of time was exactly what Jun wanted.

“— Change, long-sword mode!”

His large great-sword changed into a long narrow sword that could be used with just one hand.

By nature, magic swordsmen could wield s.h.i.+elds, but they rarely used one-handed weapons. One-handed weapons needlessly reduced attack ability, while magic swordsmen’s strong suit was supposed to be in offense.

“What are you thinking of doing?”

Daikoku frowned, moved closer to Jun, and vigorously swung his scythe downwards. When Jun’s long-sword made contact with Daikoku’s scythe, it bounced off. Even though the scythe had an overwhelming amount of destructive power, this was still a game. When it came to parrying, no matter what the difference between the weapons, the weapon used to deflect an attack could never be broken.

“What were you thinking by changing from your great-sword to a one-handed sword and losing attack power?”

Using his free hand, Jun removed a small golf-ball-sized black orb from his pouch.

“I wanted to do this!” He threw the orb onto the ground. It exploded from the impact. Out came intense grey smoke.

Suddenly, Daikoku’s field of vision become covered in smoke.

“Hey… what are you doing? Where did you get such an item? …”

“They’re fireworks that a summoner sp.a.w.ned, but I purposefully moistened it so that only the smoke would come out. It’s like a makes.h.i.+ft smoke ball.”

Jun chopped at Daikoku’s back. Daikoku had lost sight of Jun. He resisted a bit, but Jun managed to slice off more than thirty percent of Daikoku’s HP by continuing his basic combo attacks.

“You’re making this up on the spot!”

Using his intuition to figure out his opponent’s location, Jun steadily attacked Daikoku, who was swinging his scythe mindlessly. The length of his HP bar decreased rapidly.

I knew it. He’s not used to this kind of unconventional fighting.

Jun had wanted to ask Sakuya whether the leaders in raid guilds polished their own fighting skills.

As far as Jun was concerned, he couldn’t ask unimportant questions like the degree to which they brazenly disciplined subordinates that stepped out of line or how competent they were. After all, he could only joke around with close friends.

“Daikoku, why did you join a raid guild?”

“Why are you asking me such a question?!”

“Is doing these kinds of things fun?”

Daikoku remained silent.

“There are dungeon traps that suddenly plunge the area into darkness. A darkness that only magic light can pierce through. When that happens your hearing and intuition need to be reliable.”

The fog cleared. Daikoku’s wrath was written on his face. His teammates began casting spells, healing Daikoku’s HP…

Bullets. .h.i.t Daikoku’s white magicians, who stiffened, one by one. They had been forcibly put to sleep.

“Let’s not breach etiquette now, shall we? I won’t forgive those who meddle in duels.” Yukaria and the other controllers stun-locked them, continuously shooting spells and bullets.

“ARGHHH. YOU…!!!”

Daikoku grasped his scythe tightly and brandished it, forcing it ahead. This was his Power Attack. However…

His legs trembled.

“Ugh…” Thinking that the ground was just especially tough, before he knew it, tree roots had appeared at his feet. “This can’t be… have these been here for a while?”

“Invisibility works on objects too. But they only work for 10 seconds. I’m sure even you have some invisibility potions somewhere.”

Floods of people ran in towards the incapacitated Daikoku. Jun did not go easy, pus.h.i.+ng them away with a single blow each. Daikoku was panicking, having been bested by a battery of unexpected attacks. Jun skillfully made fun of him, continuing to flake off parts of his HP bar.

“Raids. They’re fun. Everybody getting together, joining forces to defeat an ubermonster. And collecting good equipment too. There are even books about it.” Jun knew that feeling well. He, of course, had once run guilds that were the best in their servers. Besides, he understood the feeling of being engrossed in it. “But you know, MMOs aren’t just that. I get really excited about drifting about in the world and exploring new places with my friends. It’s not just about how to defeat a new challenge, or how many people you need to a.s.semble to do so.”

There were many different kinds of people enjoying themselves in many different ways.

Because of that, MMOs were wonderful. Jun subscribed to that belief.

And then, even as Sky World ended up like this, as far as he was concerned, this world was…

“I just want to adventure.”

For however simple it was, that simplicity was all Jun wanted.

He came to this world to go search for his friend, Kai. Nevertheless, he ended up adventuring on the way. And after finding Kai, there would certainly be even more adventures waiting for him. Jun was optimistic like that.

It was the same with quests. He wanted to learn more. He enjoyed it. He wanted to hear all the stories the quests had to tell. After all, it was adventure. The future. What could possibly lie beyond this hill?

“I won’t stop. I won’t let Kasumi-san stop. It’s been decided. We’re continuing forward. And because of that, if you guys are in our way…”

Jun slashed Daikoku diagonally from his shoulder.

His HP bar emptied…

“I will surmount any wall that lies in my way.” The Illusionary Brigade’s commanding officer fell right then and there. “Officer Daikoku, I’ve vanquished you!”

Jun lifted his sword and let out a war cry.

His comrades cheered. High-spirited, they redoubled their attack on the Illusionary Brigade lines. Members of the Illusionary Brigade started to rout, each scrambling for his or her own safety, when at last, they all fled, knowing the battle had been lost.

“Follow them! The remaining ones can’t be allowed to bother us during our fight with the Phoenix!” ordered Isao, acting on behalf of Jun on the front-most line.

The battle was nearing its end.

 

Kasumi gazed at the fight from a small distance.

She couldn’t get involved, since she was approaching her third death. She was very aware of that.

However, she felt distraught. The thought of her comrades fighting to the death on her behalf without her even joining in the intense battle frustrated her.

In the end, I guess I’m the one being protected, huh… she wondered.

When escaping Altaria Island, even then, she could only rely on Jun and Eri. Kasumi just did as they said. Even though they praised her often, she hadn’t really done anything substantial.

Thiswas the same. This strange quest, all of ithappened because of Kasumi’s slip-up. At first, it seemed as if they stood no chance of winning against the Illusionary Brigade. However, Jun and the others fought hard, exhausting every method possible, for Kasumi’s sake.

Their efforts were now showing. Their motley crew, inferior in raw stats, was overwhelming the raid guild.

“Something… something I can do…”

Her body felt hot. Her heart ached. She clenched her fist.

Kasumi entered the edge of the battlefield, staggering near the fence.

She entered the Illusionary Brigade’s base through a section of the fence that had been destroyed by a magic spell. There was a structure, a bind stone, made out of limestone that was reminiscent of Grecian temple ruins nearby. Around the bind stone stood more than twenty men who, startled by Kasumi, had cast their eyes downward in shame. They fell in battle, had just revived, and now had been afflicted by revival weakness debuff.

However, Kasumi had no interest in looking at them.

Glancing up, there was an extravagant stone temple. A depiction of a Phoenix was engraved on the gatestones.

The Phoenix Temple. From what scouts could gather, the Phoenix would resp.a.w.n in three hours.

— No.

“Is someone there?” Kasumi looked around restlessly for the source of that voice. Come to think of it, why was she there? And yet she had been supposed to stay far from the battlegrounds. When did she get to such a dangerous place?

“In the temple?” Kasumi asked, as she listened carefully for the feeble voice.

The voice told her to enter the temple. Quickly.

“Yes, once the battle comes to a close, I’ll go pay a visit… Who are you?”

‘…I… am…’ She felt the voice intensify as she movedcloser and closer to the temple. She took a few steps forward. ‘…I… am… Peng…”

“Um, I’m really sorry, but can you please repeat yourself?”

“Hey, Kasumi! What are you doing?!” Jun shouted. Turning around, he rushed over with a completely different expression on his face. “It’s dangerous to come to somewhere like this! And I even said for you to stay there patiently… gos.h.!.+”

“Sorry… But a voice…”

“A voice? … I don’t hear anything.”

“Is that so? I…”

“Wait, hold on. Kasumi-san, show me your tablet.”

“What’s wrong? Okay, here.” s.n.a.t.c.hing the tablet from Kasumi’s hand, he concentrated on the screen. His face grew stern. “d.a.m.n it! It’s like that, huh.”

“It seems like it’s… something bad?”

“Kasumi-san, get away from this place as soon as possible! This is… I was wrong. The trigger for this quest is…”

‘This way.’ The voice called out again to Kasumi, who had slanted her head in confusion.

“Yes.”

Kasumi obediently turned to the direction from which the voice had come. Facing the temple, she stepped forward.

At that moment, a strong wind swept through. She instinctively covered her face with her arm.

“Wh-what is this…” Jun said, panicking.

When she lowered her arms, a white-bearded old man stood in front of her, almost obstructing her view. He was dressed in a luxurious red and black traditional attire. Perhaps it was the image of… a Chinese emperor from antiquity.

Jun squinted. Kasumi followed suit. The old man’s name appeared above him.

The Penglai Emperor.

“This man is…”

Kasumi swallowed her breath. The old man nodded once and started to slowly walk towards the Phoenix temple.

“This is bad, the quest event has begun! Isao-san, Eri… d.a.m.n it, n.o.body’s picking up their linkstone! Those guys are engrossed in battle!”

“Uh, uhh, what the heck is this?”

Instead of responding, Jun handed Kasumi her tablet back. He pointed at the active window on the screen. The word “NPC” appeared immediately.

The event log showed everything that the Penglai Emperor had whispered.

“This… is what I’ve been hearing.”

“‘The Resurrection of the Penglai Emperor’ is not just an item retrieval quest. Quests that trigger NPC movement… I hadn’t known that they existed in Sky World! Since NPCs are also living beings, I didn’t think they could be affected by quests… but they are. Since the Penglai Emperor NPC exists inthe game system, that possibility is here. I didn’t think of that. The event trigger is the questholder getting close to the temple. And after that condition is satisfied, everything else happens on its own.”

“What should I do…?”

“From here on, if you make a mistake, you might die. No need to listen to me anymore. Your life is in your own hands…” Kasumi slowly shook her head and stared at Jun.

“Just for now. I’m ready. Jun-san, your instructions?”

“… Got it. Follow the Penglai Emperor. Go.” Kasumi gently grabbed Jun’s hand. The fierce battle had scarred the face of the mountain. However, Jun’s reliable grip rea.s.sured her.

“No matter where you are, I’ll stay with you as your companion.”

There was no fear in Jun’s smile, and that dispelled any remaining uneasiness that Kasumi might have felt.

 

Jun pulled on Kasumi’s hand, and they followed the Penglai Emperor into the temple.

Candlesticks lined the walls in the pa.s.sageway beyond the entrance, their flames swaying.

Far ahead, the Penglai Emperor’s red garments seemed to flicker in the darkness.

Alice said that this quest existed back when Sky World was still an MMO. The event should have too.

This had been on his mind the whole time. The penalty for failure being death made this quest clearly unique.

Back in the MMO age, the punishment for death was a stat debuff for a certain amount of time. Since this debuff would stack, even having died twice would make the quest very high risk. Having to collect a Phoenix Blood, a raid item, made it all the worse. And the time limit for the quest was only ten days.

Maybe I’m still missing something.

He thought about it a bit. In general, there wasn’t much variation between quests in MMOs. Since many players were interacting with the same world at the same time, quests that could bother others were scarce.

For instance, during a quest, what would happen if a shopkeeper for a very popular store disappeared?

It would be a great shock.

Maybe it cause such a problem if it were a store, since there were others elsewhere. However, what if important NPCs like the monks in Dragon Quest [1] were to disappear?

With this in consideration, designers limited quests’ potential effects on the world. Large-scale events that could influence the game world itself would have to be harshly vetted.

However… was this one of those carefully chosen special events?

Coercion. That word floated through Jun’s mind.

It was a harsh — no, an exceedingly harsh penalty. Players would, naturally, work to avoid penalties. So basically, the designers of this quest coerced people into completing it.

The developers wanted to make the quest move forward any way they could. It seemed that they put in the imminent death penalty to force the quest-starter to go to this temple. And if that wasn’t enough motivation, another death loomed ahead.

Jun didn’t know much about quests that could have consequences on the server itself. In the early days of the 3D MMORPG, there were pre-loaded events that involved unsealing horrid dragons. After releasing these cursed dragons, part of the server and the world itself would change completely. Events and items would also be scattered throughout the new world. Along the same vein, this quest event could do the same to those who possessed good items pre-upheaval, maybe. At once, the server might be split into two warring factions, those who supported the great boulevers.e.m.e.nt, and those who did not… But that’s beside the point.

Will this quest rewrite the world?

What would happen to Lao Thai, the island where Jun and the others stayed currently on? And to the rest of Sky World itself?

If it happens…

“He stopped.” Kasumi’s voice pulled Jun back from his profound thoughts.

The Penglai Emperor had stopped moving in the center of the large hall. An enormous altar stood in front of the old man. On the altar was a candlestick that burned bright, reminiscent of a magical cauldron.

The Penglai Emperor lifted his hands into the air.

Immediately afterwards, h.e.l.lfire spilled out of the candlestick and scorched the ceiling.

‘The time has come! Phoenix, come to me!’

His loud voice echoed in through the temple.

The pillar of flame grew wide. Jun realized that it was simply the Phoenix spreading its wings.

The flames of the immense wings flickered. From the h.e.l.lfire emerged a crimson beak, purple eyes, and a bird head. Then, finally, the phoenix’s large body appeared, bathed in flames, on top of the altar.

“The… Phoenix.” Jun groaned. The undying bird. The raid monster that was not supposed to reappear for another three hours.

The Penglai Emperor’s words had summoned the Phoenix.

“… It’s a triggered sp.a.w.n, huh?”

Were they to engage it in battle? At that moment, many things went through Jun’s head. They would not stand a chance. Everybody had been exhausted from the battle with the Illusionary Brigade, and everybody was scattered across the battlefield. It would take a ton of time just to rea.s.semble everybody. Retreating there…

“Wait a moment, please.” Kasumi stepped in front of Jun. “Please don’t fight the Phoenix. Battling it is not necessary.”

“Kasumi…san”

Jun looked at Kasumi, then fixed his eyes onto the Penglai Emperor.

The Penglai Emperor drew a thin sword from his back and approached the burning physical incarnation of fire. He ignored the great damage he would receive from simply being nearby, he brandished his sword…

Strike.

The colossal Phoenix fell face up.

“He … defeated it?”

With just a single strike, he brought down the mighty Phoenix. Though, it was probably a special attack that was meant to take it down in one shot. As players found watching NPCs slowly hitting each other hardly making much progress at all, tedious, Jun liked to think that the developers took that into consideration with this event.

Speaking of which, this guy… he can’t be…

The old man entered the flames to pick up some blood, and smiled.

Walking towards the fallen Phoenix, he stuck out his arm.

Isn’t there plenty of data about this special character being configured…?

“The power of invincibility, become mine! Now is the time to take back what is rightfully mine, the world!”

Just as the Penglai Emperor touched the Phoenix’s dead body, it disappeared. A red stone appeared in the Penglai Emperor’s hand. The strange red stone pulsated like a heart.

The Penglai Emperor opened his mouth, and prepared to swallow the stone.

“Hand that over!”

A boy who had hidden himself in the room rushed over to the emperor.

He swung his large axe down at him. The Penglai Emperor was sliced into two.

“What!?”

Flabbergasted, Jun and Kasumi watched the blood trickle down the Penglai Emperor’s body as he slowly collapsed.

He was the event’s special character. Potential event disruptions were not accounted for, so his HP had been at the lowest value possible. He was effectively a wooden doll.

Back when Sky World was still an MMO, there were restrictions on what player characters could do, and so the Penglai Emperor couldn’t have been hurt.

For this reason, he didn’t need anything. So, the lowest HP and stats possible were fine.

“You…”

The boy who forced himself in the event took the red stone.

He was not an NPC, but an adventurer. And he was one that Jun happened to know.

“Zakka, why in the world are you here…”

“Huh, the battle got dangerous, so I came here seeking shelter. Then your event began. You were only thinking good thoughts and not paying attention to anything else. I wanted to break this s.h.i.+tty event.” The Illusionary Brigade’s low-leveled bandit warrior grinned and laughed. “What? … a Phoenix heart? Sounds like an interesting item… What should I do? Should I use it? Well of course, your opinion doesn’t matter. Naturally, I’d use it…”

“Stop it, that thing is…!”

“Shut up! I picked it up, so it’s mine!”

“You’re wrong. Judging from the quest description, that is…”

“Don’t tell me what to do!” Shouting pridefully, Zakka grasped the stone firmly in his hand.

He selected YES on the option window…

“Aaaaaggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

A mind-numbing shout filled the room…

Immediately after, the temple ceiling collapsed.

 

Jun awoke in a dark room.

“Ouch… where am I?”

He got up and surveyed his surroundings. A weak light shone high up above. Though it couldn’t even penetrate all the way to his feet, he surmised it to be sunlight.

“… Are we below ground?”

The room seemed to be a stone tomb. Pa.s.sageways stretched out in all four directions.

After what had happened a while ago, Kasumi and Jun’s fall ended up underneath the temple.

Jun felt around for his magic augite, took it out from his bag, and rubbed it. The stone lit up dimly and illuminated his surroundings. Not too far away, Kasumi lay collapsed.

Her HP bar had reached zero.

“Kasumi-san?!”

Jun touched Kasumi’s face and shuddered from its icy texture.

Hope fleeted. Shaking, Jun called out to Kasumi over and over again. His throat dried up. He felt dizzy in the head. After letting out a low groan, he bit down hard on his lips.

“What… is this? How could it come to this?”

This wasn’t just a game.

He knew that, yet he enjoyed himself. That’s what he told her yesterday. He would treat the situation as just a game.

Even so, Kasumi entrusted, with full faith, her own life into Jun’s hands. Yet…

“I’ve messed up big time…”

Jun’s words echoed the tomb.

 

Yukaria and Eri arrived at the Phoenix Temple which was near the battlefield.

They had heard reports of a Jun and Kasumi sighting around there.

The battle was basically over. It had been a victory by landslide. They left the rest to the others.

On a different note, a.s.suming that Kasumi had been staggering along, the great question of how she ended up here remained.

“Gee, maybe they went on a date?”

“But Jun isn’t that resourceful… something seems a bit fishy here.”

“Hmm, like, I’m a bit worried – Hah! Worried? What am I going on about, saying weird things like that?” Scratching her head, Eri approached the temple. “They’re around here somewhere. I bet the two of them are flirting. Oh you riajuu, go explode! [1]” Just as she closed her mouth, the roof of the temple suddenly exploded.

“Huh?” Smoke and a thunderous roar filled the air. Chunks of stone crashed down. “Huh? Huh? Huuh? What, what the heck is going on? I-is this my fault?”

“Can you stop saying stupid things? Let’s get out of here.”

Yukaria dragged Eri out of and away from the temple.

Immediately afterwards, a figure rushed out of the smoke.

“I-is that a human?”

Though she was very good at perceiving motion due to her experience in FPS games, Yukaria could not tell whether the figure was a person.

Could it be a player? B-but… She shook her head. The figure… had red wings. That…

All of a sudden, the newly-appeared figure charged at some adventurers that had gathered nearby after hearing the explosion. With violent force it scattered several of them. Screams came from everywhere.

“Wait, what’s going on?!”

“It’s a baddie!”

Yukaria pulled on her guns’ triggers. Though the bullets. .h.i.t their target, they hardly scathed the figure. Their red-winged enemy made a U-turn towards them, plunging itself into the ground. It shrilled loudly.

“No matter how fast it is, if I can get the timing right, I’ll be able to defend against its attacks.”

Yukaria parried, deflecting her opponent’s huge axe with the handles of her guns.

The attack was stopped. The figure was…

“A human… bird?” Nearby, Eri muttered.

The out-of-this-world existence could have been nothing but a human bird. It had the body of a man and wings that burned like fire. As for its face, it had a nose that protruded out like that of a goblin, and hair burning bright red. Its unwelcoming eyes glowed an ominous bright purple.

“Is that an adventurer?” A two handed axe. A breastplate. Just from its equipment, Yukaria was able to surmise that the figure had been nothing but that “bandit warrior”. She squinted. The character name that appeared above the human bird was… “Zakka, huh… Hold up. Is this his way of getting revenge on Jun?!”

“Well, he’s got a face only a mother could love. So that’s what terrorized Ryuka. Eek!”

Out popped two flame-covered appendages at the human bird’s sides.

“He-hey! That’s cheating!” Yukaria rolled, trying to create some distance between herself and her enemy, who was now brandis.h.i.+ng his flaming arms. He didn’t chase far, instead he flapped his wings extravagantly and rose into the air. “What the heck is this…”

Everybody else in the area looked up in amazement as the human bird began transforming. First, his legs swelled in size, followed by his flame-soaked wings, arms, and legs.

Flames gushed out of his skin and stuck to his body just like a reptile’s scales.

“So… that’s… a dragon?” Disarrayed, Eri shouted. Just like she had said, the human bird that had once been Zakka now transformed into sinister flame dragon over ten meters tall. It fit the picture of a “western dragon” [2] perfectly.

“Hey, this isn’t one bit Chinese,” complained Eri. The Dragon roared, baring its teeth. s.h.i.+vering from the ripples in the air, she cowered.

The earth trembled. Eri and Yukaria staggered, taking a few steps away.

“…Wha-what, i-is tha-that!?”

Several parts of the ground rose up in mounds at their feet.

Dried up arms emerged from the earth. All the more confused, the two moved even further away. Crawling out of the dirt, entire bodies became exposed to the sunlight.

They were reanimated bodies with blue skin, wearing tattered dojo robes and having large charms suspended from their foreheads.

“Ji-jiangs.h.i.+…? [3]”

In total, there were four of them. … Actually, more would come out from the ground, one by one crawling out anew. It wasn’t clear how many there were left…

“This is bad…” Eri muttered. Right at that moment, the Jiangs.h.i.+ started to hop. “A, aahh!”

“Get down! I’m coming… Burst mode!” Yukaria let out her special ability, and fire spouted from her handguns. Before her eyes, the Jiangs.h.i.+ appeared to rush at her in a single row. She shot white spider threads at them. Caught in the sticky spiderwebs, they suddenly stopped moving.

“Wo-woow! Those icky white things are really sticky!”

She had used snare bullets. Usually, undead creatures would not be affected by anything other than that and bind bullets. Though the paralysis only lasted up to ten seconds, it was plenty for them to take cover.

“… It’s just like you to be so indecent.”

“Eri, let’s hurry up and get away from them.”

“Hey, don’t s.h.i.+ft back into serious mode on me that fast. When’d you become so high strung?”

Ten adventurers under Isao’s command took their place and fought the Jiangs.h.i.+. “Are you two okay!?”

Jun rushed over, running out of the fume-ridden temple.

“Hey, Jun, what in the world happened?!”

“It’s that guy.” Jun responded, glaring at the dragon that was once Zakka. “He killed the Penglai Emperor while a quest event was running, and stole his item.”

“Huh? So that’s the story. … But how did he turn into a dragon?”

“The item was imbued with the Phoenix’s consciousness. Those Jiangs.h.i.+ were originally sacrifices made to keep the Phoenix sealed within the temple.”

“Why didn’t I know this?!” Eri screamed at the top of her lungs.

“I read about the Jiangs.h.i.+ in books about the temple I found while in town. Then I suppose the quest came along. Okay, the Penglai Emperor imprisoned the Phoenix in search of eternal life. Throughout the ages, anybody who selfishly sought out immortality was doomed by their own greed. We watched the Penglai Emperor fight for the Phoenix’s symbol. He was about to eat it. If he succeeded, the end product would have been…”

“Becoming immortal. But, he would turn into a Phoenix, right? Aren’t I’m quick to pick things up?” Yukaria continued. Before they knew it, a man in white clothes was standing next to them. “Are y-you… Daikoku?”

Eri turned around, fl.u.s.tered.

The white clothes meant that he had died earlier, and had just revived. Even though it would be tough to move with the revival weakness debuff active, the Illusionary Brigade’s commanding officer stood straight and glared at the dragon.

Confused with the state of things, one of his guild members rushed over to his side. He was a slender man with gla.s.ses. He was Daikoku’s aide, who had taken command of the battle earlier.

“Chief, what is going on?”

Daikoku didn’t respond. He turned to Jun.

“It seems one of my underlings interrupted your system event. That was an act of hara.s.sment. We apologize.”

“It’s not your fault. Besides, it’s definitely a bug.”

“How can you be so sure of that?”

“Somehow, I just am.”

That was a lie. Yukaria sensed it. At that moment, Jun was lying. But why? More importantly…

“Hey, wait, where’s Kasumi? Weren’t you two together?” Eri asked. After some hesitation, Jun looked towards the ruins of the temple.

“She’s lying down over there. She hit her head a bit when the temple collapsed. It’s a safe place. As long as she’s there, there’ll be no problem.”

Saying that seemed to be painful for him…

Yukaria had a hunch that something bad had happened.

“Jun, uhh…”

“Let’s deal with the situation we have in front of us.” Jun fixed his eyes on Yukaria. Hiding the determination in his eyes, he gulped.

“So, how do you suppose we do that?”

“We kill it.” Jun took out his sword. “We’re taking back the event item. Those who exploit bugs in online games are to be banned.”

A few hours earlier, Jun turned to see Kasumi’s unmoving body.All while a silver-haired girl stood smack in the middle of the tomb.

 

“Alice.” Jun glared at her. Even though he knew that he was just experiencing an outburst of rage, he couldn’t help but vent his anger. “It was you guys! This is all because of some sloppy management on your end…!” he screamed, restlessly watching the girl’s facial expressions.

Alice looked up at Jun – emotionless, as always – but…

This girl’s really in a rush, huh?

This time, he could sense that she lacked her usual composure, though only just a little bit.

“A few bugs have popped up here and there.” Of course, Alice spoke in monotone.

“That’s enough beating around the bush. Is Kasumi coming back to life?”

“Kasumi Yukasaki is not dead. I just temporarily froze her avatar.”

Jun’s anger, searing hot like magma, suddenly cooled down.

He thought about what she said, and then understood… Jun finally took a deep sigh of relief.

“… Is that so? Alice, you saved us. I’m sorry for yelling at you.”

“Not quite. I can only freeze her for thirty minutes… You have 21 minutes and 51 seconds left.”

“So what do I do?”

“Kasumi Yukasaki was nearing her third death as a punishment for failing the quest. Currently, the Phoenix is behaving strangely. If you can restore it to normal, Kasumi Yukasaki’s quest will be once again possible to complete, and the quest penalty will be nullified.”

“So how do I go about ‘restoring it to normal’?”

“At this moment, the Phoenix is being influenced by the player avatar known as Zakka. You must sever the connection between the Phoenix and Zakka.”

“At any rate, I need to kill it?”

“The Phoenix was meant to run away to freedom after taking over the Penglai Emperor’s body. In that state, the Phoenix is not meant to be killed by a player character. The Phoenix, in controlling Zakka, overwrote his avatar.”

“Can the Phoenix… escape while controlling Zakka’s body?”

Alice shook her head slowly, “Having combined minds with Zakka, the Phoenix has been switched to KOS mode.”

Being in KOS (kill on sight) mode meant that it would indiscriminately attack all players.

“Isn’t that horrible?” Jun realized that this had emerged from Zakka’s inability to keep his cool in front of others. “This is, in fact, an invincible monster out to kill everybody it sees. It’ll go around murdering people all around the island… no, maybe even throughout all of Sky World.”

“I would like for it to be promptly stopped.”

“Of course.”

At that moment, Jun finally understood why Alice intervened.

She did not try to save Kasumi as just an act of goodwill. At this rate, all of Sky World itself was in danger.

“Have you prepared anything as support?”

Instead of responding, Alice touched Jun’s greatsword. Its large blade instantly glowed brightly.

The light faded away. Jun took out his tablet, and opened up the equipment screen. His sword’s stats had not changed, except for an attribute that had been added.

“Holy Avenger? I haven’t heard of that attribute before.”

“It’s the strongest existing attribute with many powers. When its user or the item with it is. .h.i.t, no debuffs can be afflicted. It nullifies the use of Death Call on its user. It nullifies all spells cast on its user, rendering all weak magic useless. It nullifies all special attacks used against its user. When the weapon deals damage, its target’s regeneration abilities will be interrupted, rendering all special defensive abilities useless. It nullifies all of its targets’ buffs, as well. And in addition to all of that, it increases your damage drastically.”

“… What kind of cheat is that?”

“Originally, it was just for the GM’s weapons. Now, he has granted special permission for its use in destroying the Phoenix-Zakka hybrid.”

“You mentioned this person before… So exactly who is he…?”

Alice looked up at Jun, not saying a word.

“I get it. Now’s not the time for that. I have something to do… right?”

Jun sighed and shook his head.

“That way leads outside.”

After she gestured towards the singular exit, Alice disappeared instantaneously, just as she appeared.

 

Jun fixed his eyes on Sakuya, who had now become a silent corpse.

The fact that most of her stuff was bound surprised him. About now, she would most likely be reviving on a different island with most of her stuff intact.

“… So she’s used to dying… She really ought to leave a better present for her killer.”

There was only one item that he managed to get from her dead body. It was a communication stone.

“What a bad prize.”

Communication stones usually existed in pairs. That meant that she had purposely left it there for him…

“So, I can communicate with her whenever now?”

She probably held the corresponding stone herself. Jun smiled bitterly and put it away.

He turned back. Either way, he didn’t want to keep on looking at a dead body.

She was already gone.

Jun left and kept going farther and farther. He looked up at the sky. Before he knew it, the fog cleared and the blue sky opened above him.

He muttered, “Wait up! I’ll catch up with you soon. When that happens, let’s fight one more time.”

He laughed fearlessly.

Then, he picked up the item from the Veil Guardian.

He put on his wing boots and flew up into the sky.

He flew, in one breath, back to his trusty companions.

That day, an airs.h.i.+p left Altaria Island.