Chapter 486
There is no such thing as a good thing waiting for you in this world; everything comes from the pursuit of subjective initiative. Just like at this moment, the senior student neither turned her back nor admitted it, but Yuki didn't believe that a bath could last until dinner time.
Yuki, Mai Sakurajima, Hayasaka Ai, Kaguya, Hiyori, Mona, Frieren sat around the table, enjoying themselves immensely. No one discussed heavy plans, and even when the content involved dungeons, it was mostly about amusing anecdotes.
For example, Shiina Hiyori's "Fallen Angel" plan was far-sighted and perfectly aligned with the Great Game set by Yuki.
These war machines won't be bored anymore; they'll produce countless lazy, good-for-nothing nerds. After all, once the weapons are sheathed, they need something to do. I reckon if the two races ever meet again, they'll settle things on video game consoles.
It's depressing, but those extinct races can't even find the chance to be depressing.
Everyone has added points. At this stage, Yuki no longer needs guidance; he can just glance at the panel.
Due to the limited participation, apart from Hayasaka Ai and the senior, the income of others is not very high. For example, Mona doesn't get many points for watching the giant whale grin in the main story evaluation.
Fortunately, this "few" is relative. In such an extremely difficult mission, anyone who survives to the end will receive an S-rank rating.
Hayasaka Ai received the 'Heart of the Storm' but will not use it for the time being. This thing costs 24 specialization points to upgrade Chaos Item by one level. She is obviously planning to save up the points so that after advancing to Epic, she can directly upgrade Death Knell from Chaos Grade level (level 6) to Abyss Grade level (level 7).
As a fellow "item-focused" player, she is the complete opposite of Mona. While the latter constantly expands her treasure chests to increase their quantity, she concentrates on one specific area. The downside of this approach is a lack of versatility, and to compensate for the side effects, she must drastically increase her luck. The advantage, however, is simple:
It directly blasted apart the God of War's immortal body, clearly pushing the attack power to its Limit.
Mai Sakurajima borrowed some points from Hiyori and used 'Asura Blood Pool' to upgrade her bloodline skill to LV3. She then invested all her specialization points into Constitution, finally crossing the threshold of Monster IV.
[Bloodfiend Asura: Converts soul energy into life energy, providing group healing.]
[Soul-Eating Siren: Obtain soul energy by killing creatures]
With these two skills stacked with her level 7 constitution, she not only becomes more proficient in the support role, but she is also no longer fragile. Furthermore, she won't die so easily when facing the God of War's indiscriminate attacks.
Both Hiyori and Kaguya have their Constitution increased by 1 level, and then all their skills are upgraded to Master level, with Kaguya being a slightly special case.
She used the Bloodline Object 'Eight-Armed Demon' and also upgraded her bloodline skill to LV2. This Bloodline Object was carefully selected by Yuki from the 'Night Parade of One Hundred Demons'.
[Eight-Armed Demon: Summons eight ethereal hands, pure energy beings, capable of using Chaos Item.]
This bloodline skill isn't actually that strong, because it's difficult for players to divide their attention into eight parts, and the part that can be done by Hiyori doesn't have any offensive capabilities.
"The evaluation of Monster III is misleading. Find a way to Limit the use of this bloodline skill. If all eight bows are fired at the same time, combined with 'True Shot, Sure Hit,' very few people can stop it." Yuki the nail on the head. The Eight-Armed Demon is useless to other players, but it is perfect for Kaguya Shinomiya.
Her characteristics are comparable to causality, and she cannot be suppressed by the 'Witch God's Soul Crystal'. One bow is enough to be accurate, let alone eight. Of course, the problem is to obtain enough Chaos Item.
"Better to have fewer but better ones. Don't just Piercer. Make good use of the 'Ice Enchantment' and combine control, Piercer, and sniping all at once."
Kaguya raised her head and fantasized for a while. She knew that turning herself into an eight-armed spider wouldn't look good, but firing eight bows at once would be a different story.
This dungeon run was quite an eye-opener for her. True Shot, Sure Hit was incredibly accurate, epic-level monsters were difficult to break through their defenses, and her firing rate wasn't fast. Since one arrow wasn't enough, what about two or three arrows hitting the same spot?
Each bow should ideally have different abilities and be specialized in its own way. As for the original Eight-Armed Demon wielding swords, spears, shields, and axes, she hadn't considered it. Anyway, she couldn't control them, and getting close would be certain death.
"Kaguya, we're giving you all the spoils. Let's go to the Borderlands tomorrow. Finding suitable Chaos Item isn't difficult." Mai Sakurajima handed Kaguya a large pile of items, spoils stolen from the dungeon.
"Thank you, senior." Kaguya naturally accepted it all without hesitation.
Is Kaguya Shinomiya the true example of a "tool-based" player, only she always chooses the same type of weapon?
Yuki glanced at it but didn't say anything. Item-based players are actually the easiest to cultivate, as their rating points accumulate very quickly. Of course, the Reincarnation Game also has rules; it will only include items that are truly useful to the player in the rating, and it's impossible to have hundreds of items boosting the score.
"Hiyori has improved her physique to level 7, taken the Spirit-Devouring Banner, and mutated the Void Puppet. She's Monster III Yoruichi, but her rating is the opposite—she has almost no combat power."
Yuki then looked at the girl who was quietly reading. A skilled warrior doesn't need to make a great contribution; in terms of merit, she actually deserves the most credit, and she also follows a pure support playstyle.
The Alienated Grade item, the Voidspace Puppet, allows for long-distance spatial travel. Combined with the Sacrificial Chain, it can save lives in critical moments. The Soul Split and Bloodline skills are all built around the puppet. However, the 'Spirit-Devouring Banner' that Yuki stole from the Judge gives her another option.
This level 5 item is summoned to form a 'Vortex Cloud Soul-Eating Formation', which is a 'Cultivation Stream' item. Its characteristic is that it can negate energy attacks, absorb and deflect them, and maintain the array requires 'Spirit Stones', otherwise the energy will be returned to the user.
While written as a cultivation novel, it's read as a pay-to-win novel. Shiina Hiyori doesn't have that many spirit stones to consume, but she can choose to 'spend her life' on it.
Noticing Yuki's gaze, the girl looked up, smiled, and continued reading. She was clearly quite satisfied with the complicated gadget, and Yuki didn't need to worry about how to use it.
Hiyori and intelligent, making him perfectly suited for this kind of multi-functional but also highly contagious tool. He might even be able to set up the formation better than Zhang Lin.
Yuki wasn't worried. As for the remaining two, Mona and Frieren, he didn't need to remind them either; their skill trees were already complete, and he only needed to fill in the gaps.
In the 'Great Game', their greatest gains were the Doomsday Forging and the Elven War Spear. The former can repair items on the spot, which is a perfect fit for Mona, while the latter is an instant-cast spear, which works perfectly with the spatial enchantment of 'Void Devourer'.
"A strong and well-equipped force indeed." Yuki picked up his hot tea. The team already had three Monster IV and three Monster III, each with their own characteristics. Excluding him, they could easily handle a couple of epic-level players.
"Besides, I've already reached the Epic level, and my advancement to Epic is just around the corner," Mona said proudly, never expecting that she would become the sixth Heroic Spirit King so soon.
"I'm not far off either. More importantly, I've figured out how to achieve epic-level achievements." Hayasaka Ai was tense. She didn't want to fall behind a newcomer. "Once I advance to epic level, I'll upgrade Death Knell to Abyss Grade level. A typical epic-level player can be severely injured with a single shot."
"Hmph, I possess the Manas Consciousness; you won't be able to hit me so easily."
"Heh, it's the same Epic Metamorphosis. Even if you can dodge, does that mean I can't fire a second shot?"
"But I'm faster than you."
"I'm not far behind, it's hard to say who's faster."
"Alright, alright, why are you all acting like you're shamelessly bragging about your dad being a pilot?" Yuki interrupted the argument. Competition within the team is a good thing, and besides, apart from him, no one else's Epic Metamorphosis can be considered universally applicable.
How to achieve a qualitative leap is something everyone knows. Hayasaka, without a doubt, used 'Death Knell' to transcend the epic realm. At that time, the qualitative leap will definitely be in 'attack' and 'burst'.
"Time is running out. We need to advance to Epic rank as soon as possible. We're not playing a single-player game; we can't wait until everyone reaches Epic IV before the final battle."
Yuki's words made everyone serious. Hiyori put down her book. They weren't stupid. By intercepting the Grand Inquisitor, they had already seized the initiative. The Judge wouldn't sit idly by and wait to be killed.
That's only one aspect; more importantly, Yuki obtained the 'Divine Torch' and found a way to sever the link with the Reincarnation Game.
If a dungeon can do it, Outpost can do it too; the closer you get to your goal, the more dangerous it becomes.
"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Let's proceed step by step according to the plan. We'll improve our strength as needed and advance to epic ranks as needed." Yuki smiled, holding his teacup. Talking about these things at the dinner table should have been much more relaxed.
"Improve our strength, find friends, stir up trouble, and buy as much time as possible. If everyone can reach the peak of Epic IV before starting the war, the win rate can reach 90%."
They level up incredibly fast. If it's all high-difficulty dungeons like 'Race Game', they could probably level up even the weakest Hiyori after about 20 dungeons.
Epic IV was the pinnacle; the path ahead had been cut off by 'Taiyi'.
"Unfortunately, this is the ideal situation. Dungeons like 'Death Canyon' and 'Race Game' are rare and hard to come by, and the Reincarnation Game can't wait for us to fully develop." Hiyori immediately shook her head, having never encountered an ideal situation since becoming a player.
Each instance is unique, and players are not afraid to take risks, but in most cases there are no risks to take, and the process of an instance cannot be extended indefinitely.
"I never expected this to happen. Aren't we all in the same boat?"
Everyone laughed. Just like their skill sets, they were all designed to help Yuki when he was at a disadvantage, with the risks shared by the entire team.
Hayasaka Ai may be a glass cannon, but with Mai Sakurajima by her side, Hiyori behind her, and Kaguya plotting, the situation is completely different.
"Leave it to us. There's so much to do, even if you had three heads and six arms you couldn't handle it all." Mai Sakurajima poked Yuki's cheek with her index finger. "You go find a trustworthy friend, and let that Black Blade and the Divine Torch figure out how to escape the Reincarnation Game. We've been working so hard for so long, and we're finally seeing a glimmer of hope."
Clearly defining the path and proving its feasibility is the greatest achievement of the 'Race Game,' finally freeing us from wandering around aimlessly like headless flies.
"And what about you seniors?"
"Just follow your lead and play support well. We'll do whatever you tell us to do." Mai Sakurajima's question seemed like she knew the answer already, but it represented the will of the entire team.
How should we follow up on the Aether Particles situation? How should we mobilize Valhalla? How should we deal with the Anthropomorphic Front and the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons? And what about potential allies like the Machine Intelligence and the Mechanical Believers that we need to engage with?
As the senior student said, there is still a lot to do, and just thinking about it makes my scalp tingle. Fortunately, this is not just his wish.
Yuki raised his teacup and looked around.
Let's work together.
Things were done one by one, and the mystery was peeled back layer by layer.
Yuki was good at planning, and he set two core goals for himself.
First, regardless of the circumstances, we must bridge the gap in strength. We must remember Dio Brando is the weakest Grand Inquisitor, and he certainly cannot compete with the remaining 11 in terms of growth.
This requires quantity to offset quality. Fortunately, due to the unique selection system, the Judge have very few factions they can utilize, and most of them are like 'Aether Particles' with aligned interests.
Some players crave greater power, while others yearn to break boundaries and reach higher peaks. The same applies to Yuki; many players also long to leave the Reincarnation Game and gain freedom.
According to his observation, the latter is slightly more common. After all, at the epic level, everyone is more afraid of dying than the last, and no one wants to become someone else's stepping stone.
Secondly, by using the concepts of Total Annihilation and Divine Torch as a link, we can find a way to escape the game. Only by accomplishing this can we draw more people into our ranks.
"Resonance sounds simple, but it's extremely difficult to achieve."
Yuki and his senior, who had secretly sneaked into the room, spent the whole night studying the matter, but still had no clue. In the Thorny Rose, he couldn't take out the Divine Torch, nor did he dare to. Who knew what level of activation was considered valid?
We need to change the Outpost for the experiment, and incidentally divide the Judge's power as well. Which one should we choose?
Thorny Rose, in a café, Yuki studies the documents, a pleasant smile playing on his lips.
The enemy is busy and probably doesn't have time to leisurely drink coffee. After completing the dungeon, he has picked up the main storyline again and is studying the events of the past month through information from Valhalla.
Part of the Judge' resources were spent on investigations and interviews. Ever since 'Taiyi' gained some recognition, all sorts of adventurers and reckless con artists have sprung up everywhere. The key point is that 'Taiyi' truly left behind a legacy.
These people had to be investigated, and those who refused to cooperate had to be tried.
The other group is focusing on key figures, such as War Orphans, Espers, and Aether Particles, especially Aether Particles. They are personally involved, and Yuki's mission has become a complete mess during this time.
This war involved at least 20 factions, some were simply mercenaries, some were loyal allies, some were simply enemies of the Judge, and some were simply grieving for each other.
Crushing resistance shouldn't have been difficult, but the Judge weren't there to eliminate the players; they needed to find someone. However, they couldn't find the Hidden Sage even after digging three feet into the ground, and then Yuki delivered a great gift.
Dio Brando's fall caused a strong backlash, and judging players became their routine task; the Reincarnation Game never claimed to focus solely on 'Taiyi'.
The hunter becoming the prey—this had a terrible impact. Several Grand Inquisitors immediately withdrew from the Aether Particles; without a doubt, they were going back to their meeting.
This is an open strategy, and there aren't many ways to deal with it, except to set traps and ambush. But Yuki is hiding in the shadows, who knows who he'll target? Considering Dio Brando's strength, each trap would probably require at least two teams of Grand Inquisitors to lead.
"Dividing your forces? Trying to fish me out of my waters? Not so easy!" Yuki sneered. The Matryoshka Doll Project had evolved, and as he had expected, the Judge's resources were not unlimited either.
If you're on guard everywhere, you'll be vulnerable everywhere. Our investigation into the 'Great Game' should be nearly complete. Should we delve deeper into the 'Machine Intelligence' and 'Game Players'? Do you have enough manpower?
Yuki didn't intend to confront them head-on, at least not now; he had to peel back the layers like an onion.
Under the cover of these appearances, Shiki Ryougi is quietly gathering allies, Judge will find that the more clues he finds, the stronger the enemy becomes.
"This is only the second level; I'll be there after that."
I took a leisurely sip of coffee. Don't panic when you encounter a strong opponent. Just like playing Go, start by placing some random pieces. As the game progresses, they will eventually connect and form a dragon. At least in the Reincarnation Game, you won't lose just because Yuki didn't place the pieces properly.
Yes, we need to keep an eye on the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, as well as the other epic-level wanted criminals. We could lend a hand, even if they don't repay the favor, it will at least draw attention.
Through Ikaros, Yuki learned that these wanted criminals all had powerful backers; otherwise, they wouldn't have survived until now. For example, the Judge were currently having a very unpleasant falling out with the 'Machine Intelligence'.
Splash!
The sound of a chair being dragged made Yuki look up, and he saw Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looking exhausted. He was still wearing his loose school uniform and didn't look like a master at all.
Oh, it's Monster III now.
Yuki recently unlocked some new privileges, allowing him to monitor the ratings of players in his faction. He snapped his fingers to order a coffee from the waiter, then continued reading the documents. These documents were written on special paper, appearing as gibberish to everyone except for the pre-selected reader.
Ayanokoji didn't peek. He thanked the waiter and sat quietly, staring at Yuki without saying a word, finding the situation increasingly strange.
When the two first met, the man was still very weak and cautious in his interactions with her, afraid of being betrayed. In such a short time, their statuses have become worlds apart.
He didn't suspect that Yuki was the mastermind, but he was definitely a core member of a powerful organization. This organization was incredibly strong, and the anticipated exploitation never materialized. After handing over the Outpost to the 'Arbitration Council,' they disappeared without a trace.
"What's wrong? It's only been a little over a month, is it necessary to be so melancholy?" Yuki didn't even look up, picked up his coffee and took a sip. He was looking at information about the 'Ice Queen'.
Countless factions, countless beautiful scenes—the temple of Thorny Rose was too small for him to pay much attention to.
"There's nothing I can do. I've got an irresponsible boss, and I have to come here personally to report." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka shrugged and picked up his coffee. "By the way, the Artist group has finished their pursuit."
"Thank you for your hard work." Yuki nodded, though he had almost forgotten about the existence of that group of perverts.
But how to put it... the fact that the Artist participated in the pursuit by 'Day' is a minor but significant loophole. Hmm, 'Day' seems to have happened in ancient times.
The intense and exciting life always blurs the passage of time. Looking back, former mortal enemies seem like ants, ants that can be crushed with a single finger.
He waved his hand lightly, and the documents vanished instantly. He rested his chin on his hands and calmly looked at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. There was no hostility in his gaze, but the invisible pressure made the boy unable to breathe, and his brain started working at full speed.
Monster IV? Epic?
There is no answer, just as an ant cannot measure the height of a mountain unless the mountain collapses and crushes you to pieces.
He lowered his head, a gesture of both obedience and gratitude. Just as Yuki had said, the trouble that plagued 'Thorny Rose' would be resolved, and indeed it was.
The anomalies of this faction were overshadowed by more mysteries. The Judge hadn't paid attention to them for a long time, and when they occasionally encountered them in dungeons, they would only conduct routine questioning. There were plenty of more powerful and suspicious factions out there, so why waste time on them?
"Suddenly, life feels pleasant?" Yuki asked.
"No, other factions only run a dungeon once every four months on average, while we only get a week of rest at most. How can that be considered pleasant?" Ayanokoji said with a wry smile, then fell into thought.
"Fortunately, we're used to this high frequency, and besides, short rest periods also have their advantages."
"What are the benefits?"
Ayanokoji raised her head, stared into Yuki's eyes, and mustered her courage to say, "Let us be more pure, so that we cannot have too much interaction with the Reincarnation Game."