Chapter 171
"Why does it have to be modern? We can't even distinguish between different time periods in the Forest Sea Labyrinth!"
This stumped Yuki. Yes, who sets the time? Who says it has to be on Earth? But this contradicts what he found out before.
Without giving it much thought, he simply asked out of curiosity, "So, did you find the final treasure?"
"Of course we found it."
The sound came from the doorway. Hayasaka Ai, Mai Sakurajima, and Kaguya Shinomiya had all arrived. There wasn't much excitement about seeing them again; frankly, it had only been two days since they last met.
"Don't bother looking, there are only five of us players in this building," Mai Sakurajima explained, having already Reconnaissance the area.
"Huh? Did we book the whole place?" Yuki said, then slapped his forehead. "I forgot, the dungeon you just went through was done in a team."
There are many players in the Battle on the Raging Seas, and each team is assigned to a warship, which is indeed different from the dungeons that Yuki experienced.
"So I feel perfectly comfortable calling you 'senpai' now, at least in terms of knowledge, I've surpassed you." Mai Sakurajima raised her chin with a hint of pride and said softly, "Weren't you very curious about what the treasure was? In the end, Hayasaka- san got it."
Hayasaka?
Yuki quickly turned her head and immediately noticed that Hayasaka Ai. To put it another way, she had become transparent, and you could see the door behind her.
"Transcendental Grade skills? Wait, what does this have to do with treasure?"
"To be precise, it's a bloodline skill. The biggest gain from this trip was the clue discovered by Hiyori- kun." Hayasaka Ai was very reserved, but in reality, her confidence and joy were almost overflowing.
Yuki turned around abruptly and saw the girl's somewhat playful smile.
"Oh dear, the most exciting part of the story is always kept in suspense. Actually, I discovered some secrets and made some adjustments." Hiyori blinked, finally completing the story.
The challenge of Battle on the Raging Seas is to defeat your own kind and find the treasure.
After discovering that the warship crew members were all ghosts, Hiyori, combining several clues, decisively divided the mission objective into two parts, which coincided with the lazy Jack's decision.
There was nothing to fight; finding the treasure was the key. So while other player teams were fighting to the death, they secretly sneaked into the eye of the storm, found the treasure, and then immediately left the instance.
"So Captain Jack and his crew were freed, and we accepted the 'curse.' In the end, we all agreed that Hayasaka would bear the curse, at the cost of only receiving an A-rank mission rating, since we had only completed half of the objective."
The crew are ghosts who want to escape the curse of immortality, and that curse is borne by the player—is this what they call Bloodline Skills?
Yuki felt the story sounded familiar, but had to admit that the strategy was cleverly executed and Taiyi from his own style.
If it were me, I'd probably fight a bloodbath and risk everything to take everything. No, her reasons for taking shortcuts go beyond that.
"If I'm not mistaken, this instance shouldn't have a time limit."
"Hmm." Hiyori nodded slightly, almost imperceptibly.
Just as I expected, this is the biggest challenge.
Yuki exhaled a breath of stale air, realizing that Shiina Hiyori's role was immeasurable; she had truly grasped the core of the problem and managed to snatch back the lost time.
Such a simple yet massive instance would take a week to complete, yet they managed to finish it in just two days. The reason is obvious.
"There's really no need to be in such a rush..."
"No, this is my wish." Hiyori lowered her head gently, then looked at the others.
"It's everyone's wish."
Chapter Two: Calamity of Blood (First Update)
Yuki has never been one for sentimentality, so there's no need for him to say anything emotional. He inquired about the details of the dungeon and then focused his attention on their player profiles.
It's strange that Hayasaka Ai and Mai Sakurajima, who have already cleared the fourth instance, haven't unlocked any new privileges. Yuki probably thinks it's related to him.
As the team leader, I'll probably be the one to drive the team's progress.
Focusing on the gains, there wasn't an explosive improvement, but through speedruns, battles with the treasure guardians, and the final A-rank mission evaluation, everyone had made significant gains. Their combat system was now complete, and Yuuki no longer needed to worry about Yuki.
On average, each person has 1 specialization point and 2 to 3 enhancement points, among which the senior and Hayasaka Ai achieved a qualitative change.
Mai Sakurajima saved up two specialization points, but she didn't use them. She planned to continue saving them until she had four and upgraded her trait to level 4. However, she invested all four enhancement points into her Transcendental Grade skills.
[The Light-Covering Prayer Rite (Master)]
[Designate three players and reduce their item and skill cooldowns by 40%, or designate one player and reduce their cooldowns by 100%, with skill cooldowns lasting ten minutes.]
Just like Curly, once Transcendental Grade skills reach the master level, they undergo a qualitative change, making him qualified to be the core of the team.
"It's definitely a support skill, and it's most compatible with burst-damage players like Hayasaka." Yuki took a light breath; it wasn't bad for him either.
If the energy consumed by the soul bullets is ignored, his Hunter's Blunderbuss can fire four shots in a row in an instant, doubling its destructive power.
Then there's Hayasaka Ai. Her bloodline skill is a qualitative change, and it's also quite interesting.
[Ghost Shooter (Beginner)]
[Entering Spirit Form for 2 minutes greatly increases physical resistance, weakens energy resistance, and unlocks Terrain Adaptation]
This skill has very obvious advantages and disadvantages. It can be very advantageous against tanky builds, but it will be unlucky against mages. However, it is more suitable for Hayasaka Ai.
She's a mid-range shooter who doesn't need to get close, and unlocking terrain adaptation further increases her mobility.
"Not bad, you've finally gotten rid of the risk of being squishy. You were at a disadvantage when fighting against players like Kaguya before."
"A high attack but low defense is definitely not a good thing." Hayasaka Ai nodded seriously, full of confidence. "But I have high mobility, so I can dodge."
"Haven't you considered increasing the range?"
"No need, that's Kaguya- sama's area of expertise. As an archer, she shoots farther than I do."
That sounds a bit strange.
Yuki glanced at the black-haired girl who was constantly slapping the skull on the wall. It didn't matter how far the arrow went; if he had a powerful enough bow, he could shoot arrows more than ten kilometers away. The key was accuracy.
With her ability to True Shot, Sure Hit, she is a natural-born sniper.
Kaguya was well aware of her strengths, so she decisively used her specialization points to upgrade her trait to LV2, and then invested all two enhancement points into the Alienated Grade longbow.
[True Shot, Sure Hit LV2]
[When focused, shooting accuracy is greatly improved, with no shots missing. Limit effect: six arrows. Cooldown: forty minutes.]
[Deep-Sea Longbow (Chaos Grade) - Forged Twice]
[Arrows are fired at increased speed and upon hitting a target, they create Tidal Vortex effect that tears and slows the target.]
[Side effect: Users will feel the surge of the tide when aiming]
[Description: A longbow originating from the deep sea, you seem to be standing on the deck shooting arrows]
On its own, this is an incredibly useless item; even the most powerful bow is wasted if it misses. But when combined with its special properties, it becomes extremely useful.
She's a smart person; she decisively went all in on those two. Oh, and she also has an Ice Enchantment ability, so maybe there are other ways to play her.
After reviewing everyone's panels (details attached), Yuki refocused his energy, calculated that it was about time, and began to pray:
Please, make sure it's not the kind of copy the Bystander Is Blind too close to the situation to see the bigger picture.
Dividing them by identity isn't unsolvable, but it's always troublesome to handle. Mai Sakurajima and the others didn't say anything, standing in different parts of the lounge waiting, not as nervous as Yuki.
Based on their recent experience, since no unfamiliar players have arrived yet, it must be a team mission.
[Start Game]
[Story missions, Calamity of Blood, players must find and destroy the ultimate secret, or become the champion]
[Hint 1: This is the world of deathmatch. Players will participate in deathmatch as individual teams, and the strongest will be the champion.]
[2: No new players were added to this instance.]
[3: The Cult is the organizer of the Deathmatch and will guide players to participate in it.]
[4: The deathmatch is sacred, uninterrupted, and inescapable.]
[5: Players who lose three times will be eliminated, while teams of players in a deathmatch will earn respect. This reward increases as the player's status improves.]
[6: Battle and bloodshed are honor, but also poison]
They've arrived.
The murmurs flooded his mind, Yuki quickly focused his attention, listening and analyzing as he went, his expression growing increasingly strange.
It's very simple, or rather, it lacks the ambiguity and hidden danger of the past. The prompts are straightforward, clearly telling the player where they are, what they should do, and what they shouldn't do.
But this only makes people nervous; the absence of anything eerie is the strangest thing of all.
At this moment, everyone had heard the instructions. Mai Sakurajima opened her eyes and blinked, somewhat confused.
"He... seems to be feeling better?"
"Yes, there is some. In the past, we had to find hints like 2 ourselves." Kaguya chimed in, stroking her thin lips. "If we're really talking about a problem, it's hint 6. This should be related to the main quest. Everyone, please share your thoughts."
When you first hear the prompt, before you've analyzed it word by word, it's all based on your first impression.
"The biggest mystery is the main quest; He only revealed the ultimate secret, without even giving us a direction."
"This is somewhat similar to 'Battle on the Raging Seas,' both have two main storylines, but they should be related."
"A champion? That should be related to a deathmatch. Are we going to play the role of gladiators?"
"Gladiator? What an ancient term. Judging from the room, we don't seem to have traveled back to ancient times."
A cacophony of voices arose; everyone's intelligence was above average, and their discussions were quite insightful. However, Yuki remained silent, and gradually, the discussion subsided.
Others aren't unwilling to think, but they feel that professional tasks should be left to professionals.
"This dungeon should be very difficult, with not many shortcuts, so hint 2 clearly states that there are no new players. Also, judging from hint 1, we are not the only player team." Yuki carefully, which drew nods of agreement from everyone.
Most newcomers rely on coasting along, such as in 'Battle on the Raging Seas' and 'Forest Sea Labyrinth'.
If you behave yourself and follow orders, plus the protection of things like 'penalty for the death of a fellow soldier on the same ship', you can get by safely as long as your luck isn't too bad.
A small number of newcomers possess remarkable observational and intellectual abilities, allowing them to earn more rewards. However, they often resort to finding loopholes in the clues, a practice commonly known as "taking shortcuts."
"According to hints 4 and 5, this story mission should be a head-on clash type. Newcomers' combat strength can't exceed the 'Limit' level; they'd just be waiting to die if they came in." Hiyori chimed in, a professional at taking shortcuts, and helplessly spread her hands.
"The decryption element accounts for a very small percentage. If it's a head-on battle, even the smartest person won't be of much use. Of course, finding the ultimate secret is still useful."
Hiyori breathed a sigh of relief. Teaming up with Yuki made up for her biggest weakness. If she had been alone, she would have been crushed in the deathmatch arena before she even started researching the secret.
"So let's go it together. I'll handle the deathmatch, Hiyori, will handle the decryption. Did you notice that Cult?"
"Yes, the Cult should be an important clue; otherwise, there would be no need to give a special hint. As the plot unfolds, the Cult will naturally appear."
"The Deathmatch, the Secret, the Champion, and the Cult —there should be a logical connection between these four."
"Hmm... The Cult guides players to participate in deathmatches, which produce a champion, and the champion may gain access to a secret, which in turn involves the Cult —a perfect logical loop."
The two talked back and forth, leaving Mai Sakurajima and the others to watch from the sidelines. They had to admit that the sparks that flew when two professionals discussed things together were truly dazzling.
With quick thinking and meticulous logic, he proposed several hypotheses right from the start of the game, gradually clarifying the direction of the strategy.
This is much faster than if Hiyori, and it always makes me feel stupid, but thankfully, given their intelligence, they can still understand it in the end.
Players must participate in the deathmatch and uncover the secrets behind it; this is dictated by the nature of the story missions, requiring players to engage with the narrative.
After a few minutes of discussion, the door clicked open again, and everyone looked over warily to see a man enter.
He wore a maroon suit, his strong muscles taut over the fabric, and a golden skull pinned to his left chest. His square face was covered in scars.
A fierce aura emanated from the man, instinctively preparing everyone for battle.
"I am Abate, the guide of the Cult. Who among you is the leader of your team?"
The voice was deep and fierce, as if it would chop down anyone who answered, leaving Mai Sakurajima completely confused. What kind of 'guide' was this?
"I..." Yuki stepped forward decisively. He had just discussed it with Hiyori, and Hint 1 should be like having an identity from the start in Yadu Town.
Abate looked over, his gray-brown eyes gleaming with anticipation, before finally regaining his composure after a long while. "Name, I want to enter it into the system."
"Kevin." Yuki offered his disguise without hesitation, causing Kaguya Shinomiya to secretly roll her eyes.
This man lies without batting an eye; how many aliases does he have? He glanced at Hayasaka Ai beside him; the latter shook her head slightly, seemingly unaware of the origin of that pseudonym.
"Confirm participation in the deathmatch?"
Are there any rules for deathmatch?
Abate, looking like he was finding it troublesome, patiently explained.
Every day there will be a deathmatch. There are no points, no rules. Step into the arena, defeat your opponent, and become the champion when no one dares to stand in front of you.
The player is already a deathmatch fighter; all that's needed is to register them in the system, and someone will challenge them.
"What if he picks one of us?" Yuki was most worried about Hiyori; she wasn't much of a fighter.