Mob
Kousei No Ore Demo Boukensha Ni Nareba Riajuu Ni Naremasuka: Chapter #84
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Episode 84: Towards That Person, Maybe I......
『………………』
We
were enveloped in a very awkward atmosphere.
I
should be happy for sure, but I can't be honestly happy, it felt strange.
There
was a feeling of 'it shouldn't be like this' that was inevitably in the
air......
I
thought that when we got the Succubus card, we would get it with a sense of
accomplishment and fulfillment.
Then
we'd have a party to celebrate our victory in the race, while we all witnessed
Mea's rank up.
I
had such a scenario in my head, and in fact, it was like that when Eliza was
ranked up to vampire.
Everybody
knew that Mea was envious of that, and therefore, we all worked together to
make her little wish come true.
And
yet, it never occurred to me that a succubus card would drop so easily......
And
I never expected it to have a [Zero existence] skill.
I'm
glad we obtained what we were looking for. I'm very happy, but it made me
wonder...... what was the point of all the effort we've put in this week?
To
use an analogy, it was like going on an adventure to find the Pirate King's
great treasure, only to stumble upon a not-so-strong foe who had been entrusted
with the treasure by the Pirate King and was carrying it in their
possession......
Nothing
was exciting about this development.
The
battle itself was not exciting whatsoever either.
Succubus
was a monster that specialized in charms and illusions against men.
On
the other hand, my party consisted of only girl monsters.
Although
succubus is not completely helpless against women because of their
general-purpose magic and status abnormalities, there is no way for her alone
to win when her inborn skill set is shattered against a superior force.
In
the first place, it should be asked what a single C-rank can do against these
party members, even if it is the dungeon boss.
Succubus
itself may be a very popular card, but it was not the strongest of the C-rank
cards. At best, it would be below the average.
To
put it bluntly, I didn't have a hard time at all.
I
watched the Succubus disappear with a sad look on her face. I was about to
collect the magic stone and the disappointment box when I found a card that had
fallen to the ground.
Oh!! A C-rank card dropped, even
though I hadn't used my good luck savings!
I
happily picked it up, but to my surprise, it had the [Zero existence] skill.
In
the moment when the motive for my and my party's participation in the race was
fulfilled just as we were in the middle of the race, my head was filled with:
I'm sure this moment is being filmed and aired live on
the internet....... I've announced on Twitter that I'm entering this race to get
a succubus with [Zero existence] skill, I wonder what my followers and others
are thinking.......
I
was subtly escaping reality like that.
"H, how come it's so easy...... why, it's always,
always Mea..."
Mea
put her hands on the ground and drooped her head.
As
soon as I got the succubus card and summoned Mea, she collapsed like this.
"With Renge, there was a dramatic awakening event,
with Eliza, we worked hard to win the tournament, and with Yuki, there was some
mysterious development. ......Why is it that only when it comes to Mea, the
development is always so unspectacular......?"
We
could well imagine what she was feeling... We all looked at Mea with sympathy.
She
had always been very excited during the preparation for this race.
Mea's
ranking up to an empusa had been rather uneventful, and she hadn't had any
memorable events like the other cards, so she was very excited about this race
as if it were her event.
Unexpectedly,
she achieved her goal right there on the road. Moreover, she had not had much
of a role in the race so far.
It
was understandable that she was in a complex mood.
By
the way, Suzuka's little quip, "What about me...?" was ignored by
everyone.
"Now, now, isn't this good? You can definitely raise
your rank properly with this."
"Y-Yes, that's true! There was no guarantee that we
would win the race."
Even
Renge felt sorry for her and spoke up. Yuki followed suit. Eliza nodded
silently, and Suzuka looked away, sulking at being ignored.
Mea
finally looked up at her friends' support.
"That's, right. I can finally rank up now. It's an
excessive distress, isn't it..."
"Right, right! I think you're the only one that can
rise from an E-rank imp to a succubus. That means you're extremely
blessed!"
"N, now that you put it that way, you may be
right......"
Mea
looked less sullen.
Certainly,
few masters would go out of their way to rank up an Imp to Succubus.
I
took out a card to push her further.
"Ah, right. Mea, I actually prepared something for
you."
"For Mea?"
"Yeah."
I
nodded and handed her the 'Three Angels Amulet1'.
"It is the key item for Succubus' [Spiritual
recurrence]. If your rank-up target is Lilim, you'll be able to transform right
away with this!"
As
I said this with a big grin on my face, I heard a small "Ah ......" behind
me from Renge.
As
I tilted my head in confusion, Mea opened her eyes wide in shock.
"M, my awakening event is also skipped.....!"
She
put her hands on the ground again.
A
few minutes later.
After
a tortuous process, Mea safely ranked up to a succubus.
"Fu fu〜n,
how is the new me?"
Mea,
now a succubus, posed as if to emphasize her body. Her ample bosom shifted
softly.
The
rank-up had made Mea mature from the appearance of a sixth-grader or first-year
middle schooler to that of a high school student in an instant.
Her
childish face had now turned more mature while retaining youthful features, and
her slender, lithe body now had attractive, feminine contours.
The
brass leg that characterized her as an empusa was gone and the tail of a donkey
was transformed into a black tail with a heart-shaped tip.
On
her back were small bat wings that were too weak to fly, and curling horns like
those of a goat sprouted from the side of her head.
The
figure was exactly what people envisioned a succubus to look like.
"...Gulp."
I
swallowed hard at the sight of Mea, who had grown into a figure more to my
liking than I had expected.
Seeing
me like that, she smiled with satisfaction.
"What do you think? I'm
sure you're envious of how Mea has matured, aren't you〜?"
"Ah? Why should I be
jealous?"
Even
as she said that, Renge seemed slightly annoyed.
"Even though you are actually jealous of me〜"
Mea
poked her cheek in a good mood.
...You may look more grown-up but, you're still a child
on the inside, I thought with a wry smile.
Renge
said in a disgusted tone as she swiped away Mea's finger,
"Oh, for heaven's sake, just go back to your
original form."
"Yes, yes."
Mea
shrugged her shoulders and returned her physical age to when she was an empusa.
...Can
she change her appearance at will? However, her facial features and complexion
were clearly more beautiful than when she was empusa.
Watching
her frolicking with Renge like that, I took a look at her evolved stats,
thinking that this was fitting considering the card's contents.
[Race] Succubus (Mea)
[Combat Power] 690 (140 UP!)
[Inborn Skills]
・Witch's
Dream: Casts a powerful sleep curse on the target, enters their dream, and
absorbs their vital energy. If the target is a male, the first cast will
penetrate all resistances.
・Butterfly
Dream: The target is shown an illusion so elaborate that it is
indistinguishable from reality. The elaborateness of the illusion is so great
that it causes brain damage through illusion. If the target is a man, she can
transform herself into his ideal form and cast a powerful spell of enchantment
on him.
・Succubus
Skin: Gives pleasure to the person she touches and at the same time, absorbs
their vitality. This skill includes pheromone and courtesan skills.
（Courtesan:
Contains the skills necessary to be a courtesan, including lewdness, sexual
skills, music performance, dancing, and etiquette.)
[Acquired Skills]
・Little
devil’s heart.
・A
single-minded heart.
・Friendship
linkage
・Elementary
wizard → Intermediate level wizard (CHANGE!)
・Medium-level
status ailment magic → High-level status ailment magic (CHANGE!)
・Curse
a man, and they will be cursed with two pits
・Knowledge
of Survival
・Zero
existence → Spiritual recurrence (CHANGE!)
・Pierce
of Resistance (NEW!): Pierce the target's resistance to some extent, increasing
the power of attacks and the chance of inflicting abnormal status.
・Chant
shortening (NEW!)
Succubus
was a male-specific abnormal status type card.
If
the target is a man, they have the advantage of being able to render the target
incapacitated with a single action, ignoring the difference in combat power to
some extent, thanks to their sleeping and charm skills which ignore resistance.
On
the other hand, if the target is a woman, they are only a slightly more
powerful abnormal status type card.
Still,
compared to when she was an empusa, which was almost powerless unless she put
her opponent to sleep, it was true that she became far more useful.
There
was also considerable growth in her acquired skills. Not only have the already
existing skills evolved, but new skills have been gained.
One
of the most notable was the [Pierce of Resistance] skill.
As
a card increases in rank, the abnormal status resistance, which is not listed
in the skill, increases progressively. Even if a card does not have the
[Abnormal Status Resistance] skill, the abnormal status or status ailment of a lower-ranked
card will often be repelled due to the difference in ranks.
This
[Pierce of Resistance] skill is a passive skill that can pierce through an
opponent's resistance to some extent.
It
is a skill highly coveted for abnormal status-type cards, but it is a rare
skill that rarely appears in the market.
With
this, Mea became a card that can fight as an abnormal status-type card even
against higher-ranked cards.
I
am curious about the stats after her recurrence, but it would be a shame to try
it here, so I'll just have to look forward to it later.
『So,
what do we do now? Should we retire now?』
After
a break, Renge inquired to me.
It's true that I got my hands on the succubus which was
the original goal, but...
『No,
we're going to go all the way and try to win the race. ...We're participating
here on the recommendation of the program after all.』
If
I stop now because I got what I came for, I'm sure I won't be getting any more
jobs from them in the future.
When
we entered the Ocean Dungeon, it was around 08:00 PM. It had already been
nearly ten hours since the race began.
"Ugh..."
As
soon as I stepped into the safe zone on the first floor of this other dungeon,
I was struck by a feeling of dizziness and light-headedness.
I've
traversed the dungeon in a very intense way, and the fatigue caused by the
Link, which cannot be wiped off by resting, was making the back of my brain
numb and heavy.
It took about 10 hours to get here, right? Well, I can
make it.
Judging
so, I deactivated the carding of Working 24 and downed it in one gulp.
Made
by adjusting the ingredients of a potion from the dungeon, this wake-up potion
has the effect of removing the drowsiness of the user and keeping them in top
form for 24 hours. Up to two bottles can be used consecutively, so you can push
yourself to the limit for up to 48 hours.
In
return, the user will feel three times as tired and sleepy as usual after
use..... But, as long as we can reach the finish line within 48 hours, there
will be no problem.
As
soon as the Working 24 went down my throat and into my stomach, my field of
vision suddenly widened, and my brain became crystal clear.
Oh
wow, it works great. I'm feeling so energized that I'm a little scared.
......
Now I'm starting to get a little scared of the side effects.
While
regretting taking Working 24, I looked around as I summoned my cards.
In
the safe zone on the first floor, a few players were sitting down, drooping
helplessly.
Probably
those who had dropped out of the race early.
The
fact that they stayed here meant that they had not lost any stars, but their
cards had sustained damage.
I
clicked my tongue at how few there were.
As expected, I am really a little bit too early.......
The
reason why I chose the dungeon with fewer people at the beginning was so that I
could buy information from the players who dropped out of the dungeon that had
more people after I had broken through the other one.
However,
as a result of my unexpectedly smooth progress, I came to this dungeon before
many people had dropped out of it.
This
means that I can't expect much information about the checkpoints.
It
was unlikely that those who had dropped out so early in the game would have any
information on the deeper floors.
While
I was feeling secretly disappointed, one of them noticed me and came over to
me.
"A, are you possibly, someone who has been through
the Underground Dungeon?"
"Uh... um, yes."
"W, wow... I can't believe you've conquered the
dungeon so quickly....... H, hey, you......, uh, you can buy my stars if you
want."
"..................."
"O, one million...... no, 800,000 will be fine! I'm
sure you can make it to the finish line, right? I
have five in total. H, how's that sound?"
『Just
so you know, it seems like he's not lying.』
Through
Link, Suzuka told me this about the man who seemed to be in distress.
800,000
per star...... isn't a bad deal, but the question is how much information this
guy has about the checkpoints.
At
worst, he may not have even reached a checkpoint in the first place.
Just
as I was about to open my mouth to ask him, my Card Gear suddenly vibrated and
informed me of an incoming message.
This is... a mission from the management!
The
contents were...
【Mission!:
With Kitagawa Utamaro having conquered the Underground Dungeon, the Hunters in
the Ocean Dungeon are about to be awakened from their deep slumber! The
unleashed Hunters will crawl up from the lowest floor and attack the players! To
stop them, all players must either offer a total of one hundred stars within
one hour, or defeat or make Kitagawa Utamaro choose 'flee'! All
players must unite and stop the release of the Hunters!】
"What !?"
Wha, what the hell is this mission they issue......!
This is a complete crushing of the first place, isn't
it?!
They're willing to go this far?!
...What to do? In the worst-case scenario, if I stay
here for an hour, there's nothing the other guys can do.
As
I was pondering this, gates appeared here and there on the first floor, and
several players emerged from them.
...They
came all the way here by transference. So extravagant. But still, that was
fast. Either they happened to be in the vicinity of a safe zone, or they had
people standing by.......
"Is player Kitagawa here? I
want to negotiate with you about the mission!"
One
of the players who appeared, a robust man with a slightly hooked nose, raised
his voice.
The
one who answered him was the man who had just tried to sell me his stars,
"I- I know him!"
"Where is he?!"
"B- before that, buy my stars. Then I'll tell you.
I'll give you five stars for a million each."
The
man who appeared via teleportation gave the man negotiating that way a cold
glance, and then came to me, the one he had been talking with until just
before.....
"Player Kitagawa, right?"
"No, you've got the wrong guy....."
"We don't have time. I think we both agree that we
don't have time for a boring exchange, no?"
......Tch.
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
Well,
it's normal and understandable. The groups that had taken all the necessary
measures in advance would not fail to check out the potential winners.
"Yes, but what do you want?"
"You saw the mission, didn't you? For
everyone's sake, surrender or flee."
I
couldn't help but snort.
That
opening statement was too aggressive, no matter how much you listen. But if
anything, this kind of battle royal-type race is supposed to be about trying to
pull everyone's legs as much as possible.
The
hook-nosed man raised his eyebrows in displeasure for a moment, but then said,
"I think you and I would be equally troubled if
pro-adventurers got unleashed as Hunters, wouldn't we?"
It
would certainly be a problem, I nodded.
But
.......
"The degree of being troubled would be totally
different, wouldn't it? You're
near the bottom, and I'm on the first floor. I can narrow the distance while
you guys are dealing with the Hunters."
It
was they who were under threat from the Hunters, not me.
In a
way, I could see this mission as a bonus.
"You're going to make an enemy of our group and all
the adventurers along the way? It'll
be hard to even reach the finish line."
As
the hook-nosed man said this, a group of players who seemed to be his buddies
surrounded me: six, seven, eight ...... nine in total. That's quite a lot.
............. I guess they are threatening me that if I
take even one step out of the no-fight zone, they will set up a continuous
round after round of battles until the race is over. Like saying, we will
destroy you, even if the worst happens and we fall together.
Well,
I don't think they can really do that..... I snorted with a relaxed expression
on my face and said,
"Hm, well, I'm not a big fan of the Hunters being
released. But as expected, it can't be for free. I'll take all the information
your group has on all the routes, checkpoints, and hints for all the
floors."
"...You're being greedy. Do you know who has the
advantage?"
"Of course."
I
answered immediately. I'm the one with the advantage in this negotiation.
"I can just relax here for an hour, you know? I'm
not gaining anything from it, but I'm not losing anything either."
After
all, they can't force me out of the safe zone, and while all this is going on,
the other players are moving on.
The
man with the hook nose looked distressed for a few seconds, but then he nodded
grudgingly,
"All right. We will give you the information."
"Oh, he just lied."
The
man's eyes widened in shock at Suzuka's words, which were spoken without a
pause.
The
man's eyes widened in shock at Suzuka's words, which were spoken without a
pause.
I
sighed while thinking, 'Right off the bat, huh.......?'
"Ah~ ......I'll say it first because it's a waste of
time. As you can see, this card has the skill to detect lies.
It's easy to tell when you lie to me, and since it's a
pain in the ass, once you've lied to me three times, we're done talking here.
Just be a grown man and give a hundred stars to the management."
The
man with the hook nose let out a sigh of resignation and nodded, "...I
understand."
"However, I can only give you information up to the
20th floor. No more. If this doesn't work, there's no deal."
"......No lie."
I
thought about Suzuka's words for a few seconds and then nodded.
After
that, we finished the exchange of information, and after witnessing my
surrender with one star as a bet, they returned to the front line via
transference.
As
they did so, I caught a glimpse of a flute. It seemed that they, too, had a
Flute of Hamelin.
Well, the Pied Piper of Hamelin had been defeated many
times before, and some people had surely been recognized by the creepy clown.
I
told myself that, but I couldn't deny that seeing it made my heart pound.
What is ---- this feeling......? Could it be......
towards him, I…? (BONK)
Jokes
aside.
It
was true that I had a distasteful feeling when I saw the Hamelin Flute they
had.
It
was not a cheap feeling of exclusivity over a useful magical item being owned
by others as well, but more like the one I feel when I see the distortion of
causality that I perceive when I use the Perfect Link.
...The
dropped items that Irregular Encounters left behind aren't just useful items,
they're like markers they put on their prey.
Whoever
possesses them will inevitably have a rematch with them sooner or later.
Perhaps their time to fight that creepy clown is near.
Now,
as a result of the deal, I had to stay on this floor for an hour. But it was
not stipulated in the rules that I had to be quiet for an hour. So I decided to
use the time I had to negotiate with the group of dropouts.
As
a result, I succeeded in exchanging a total of 31 stars for D-rank cards that I
didn't need.
I
got stars worth a million yen each for the D-rank cards that would not bring
much money even if I sold them, and they got the D-rank cards for practically
free, although they were unpopular cards in the midst of losing their strength.
A
win-win deal, you might say.
While
I was doing this, the leading players from the Underground Dungeon appeared and
overtook me, but I didn't pay any attention to them.
I
had an overwhelming advantage because I had information on the checkpoints
along the way. I was confident that I could definitely overtake them on the
way.
After
the one-hour time constraint was up, I collected the stars from the people I
had negotiated with and began my attack on the Ocean Dungeon.
In
the Ocean Dungeon, since it is not possible to ride the Koshta Bawar, which
cannot cross water, the main means of transportation will be by the Flying
Carpet.
The
area of the Flying Carpet (roughly the size of a tatami mat2) was not large
enough to accommodate all the cards, so I had with me Eliza, who was essential
for exploring the dungeon, Yuki, who was in charge of detection and prevention,
and Renge and Mea, who could fly in the air.
This
time, we didn't have to stop at any hint points, so we kept pushing forward
along the shortest route.
Although
I knew that there was no lie due to [Deceit Detection], I followed the hints
for the first checkpoint just to make sure that the information was correct.
And since there was no trick in particular, I ran straight for the shortest
route from there.
To
my pleasant surprise, none of the other players made any moves throughout the
journey.
It
appeared that their ideas had changed as the leading players from the
Underground Dungeon began to show up.
In
other words, they gave up on trying to finish in the top positions in the race
and changed their direction to finishing the race and collecting stars from the
opponents they could beat.
They
must have begun to conserve their strength in preparation for the battle for
the stars at the end of the race.
The
only thing to be on the lookout for were the people the Ocean Dungeon crew had
hired to provide a slowdown, but they seemed to be waiting for us deep in the
dungeon, and so far we had not seen any sign of them.
As
a result, we from the Underground Dungeon side had been able to proceed through
the Ocean Dungeon with little or no interference.
---
But such smooth progress lasted only until I reached the 21st floor.
About
three hours passed. I reached the safe zone on the 21st floor, and waiting for
me there were the hook-nosed man's buddies.
"Hey, you arrived earlier than expected huh, Player
Kitagawa."
"... What do you want?"
"Sorry, but the road is closed from here. If you
want to pass, you have to defeat us all."
"Tsk."
They're blatantly stalling me, huh?
I
had expected it when they only sold me information up to the 20th floor, but I didn't
expect them to be so blatant about it.......
What should I do...? It's impossible to escape. Still,
eight consecutive battles are tough...
"Are you doing this to everyone who passes
here?"
"No way! Only
a few of the candidates are likely to win. You're at the top of the list, by
the way. If you and any of the other candidates try to pass at the same time,
you're the one who should be stopped."
"Oh, I see......"
I'm so happy to hear that they think so highly of me, it
brings tears to my eyes.
"Just out of curiosity......, is there any room for
negotiation?"
"No. The others I can let through depending on the
stars, but you are the only one who can't. You can rest here until our leader
has completed the dungeon."
"I see....."
I have no choice. That's the only way, huh.
As
I prepared myself, the men flinched.
Apparently,
they didn't think I would seriously choose to fight.
"O, oioi, are you serious?"
As
one of them said this in a panicked tone, my Card Gear suddenly shook.
...... another message from the management? Did that
hook-nosed man defeat the Boss?
If that's the case, maybe there's room for negotiation
with these guys... With that thought in mind, I tried looking at the Card Gear.
"""What!?"""
The
hook-nosed buddies were aghast, and I couldn't believe it myself. Hey,
seriously,.......
"Oi! Leader! Where
are you right now? Are you safe? Oi!"
"Shit! It's
no good! My
comms aren't working!"
The
men frantically called over to their leader (probably the man with the hook
nose) with their Card Gear, but there was no reply.
If
the Card Gear that would connect everywhere in the dungeon is unable to
establish communication, then that would be what happened.
My condolences... I thought as I looked down at the Card
Gear.
There
was a message on it,
【Urgent
Notice. We have confirmed the occurrence of an Irregular Encounter on the
lowest floor of the Ocean Dungeon. We are currently having professionals take
it down, so players are requested to stay where they are.】
[Tips] Broadcasting of MonColo
Generally,
MonColo matches are first broadcast live in real-time on the Internet, then
edited in an entertaining style and aired as a TV program.
The
main purpose of the online live broadcast is for gambling, and spectators can
buy tickets (like horse tickets in the MonColo version) at any time while
watching the odds change in real-time from before the game until just before
the end of the game. The odds before the match have the lowest deduction rate
(good odds), and as the match progresses it becomes easier to predict, so the
deduction rate increases (bad odds).
The MonColo
broadcasts that Maro and other students usually refer to are the TV broadcasts.
***
Notes:
1 The description: Once a day, you can summon three C-rank monsters: Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof. Also, if given to a newborn baby, it will protect them from illness.↩
2 It is about 0.9 metres (3') by 1.8 metres (6'), but it also depends on the region. ↩
Previous chapter | Novel
page | Next chapter
Please help us out and get Advanced
Chapters on our Patreon!
Or you can keep our spirit up by buying us Coffee (人ゝω・）
