章節 34: 34, Swimsuit Plate Armor and GPS Shenanigans
I turned around at the sound of a voice and saw the Leader clad in a light blue plate armor.
"Is that a swimsuit?"
"Yeah, I put a lot of effort into adding a swimsuit attribute to this plate armor."
"You really like plate armor, huh?"
The Leader's usual gear is also plate armor.
"Of course! Since it's a full-dive game, I want to wear gear I can't in real life."
"I get that… By the way, how did you find me?"
"I attached a GPS to the workshop key."
"...… GPS? What's that again? Well, it's fine since I'm not hiding my location."
…What is GPS again? Oh no, I completely blanked on that.
"…I'm just kidding, I heard from Lily where to find you."
"Lily knows where we are?"
"Ah, well… High Friends can see locations from their friend list."
Hearing the Leader, I checked Lily's status on the friend list and saw she was in the summer event field, along with a certain randomly generated number… Wait, isn't that the same random number?
Just as I was thinking this, I suddenly felt someone cling to me from behind!
"Hey, big brother!"
"Wha!? Hya!?"
It was Lily who had hugged me, and both Phoebe and I let out surprised yelps at the sudden jolt.
Once I was freed from her embrace and could see her, I realized Lily was wearing a red triangular bikini.
"Hey! Lily! What are you doing?!"
"I thought it might surprise you."
"Really, is Lily actually calm and composed in real life?"
The leader's words have been harder to deny lately... At least that was the impression from acquaintances.
"So, what's the deal with both of you showing up? You didn't just happen to synchronize your random numbers, did you?"
"That's right! I'm inviting you to team up and earn some points together."
A system message popped up: 'You've been invited to Lydia's party. Do you accept?'
With no reason to decline an invitation from friends or family, I pressed 'yes,' and Lily's and the leader's HP bars appeared beneath mine.
'There is a level difference between party members Lydia and Lily. As a result, both Lydia and Lily will face a negative status adjustment, but you will receive a positive boost to event point earnings.'
"But are you sure it's fine to invite someone with a level difference? Even with the boost to event points, doesn't the status drop seem harsh?"
"We've got that covered. For instance, my full-body swimsuit armor has outstanding defense... and I can cast plenty of supportive spells. Plus, Lily is great at dodging, so I intend to showcase my inflated strength as a senior."
I intended to assess the leader's armor with my appraisal skill, but all I got was that it was a fraudulent armor... Since it's a swimsuit-style armor, maybe that's why it's classified as such?
"So, what kind of event quest are you planning to tackle?"
"Do you prefer the sea or the mountains?"
The leader pointed in two different directions: one towards the ocean and the other towards a snow-covered mountain, which clearly suggested it was a snowy peak.
So, it's a choice between diving into the ocean or climbing a mountain?
The ocean is perilous since the fishmen are more powerful, and without getting used to the deep waters, we would be at a severe disadvantage. The snowy mountain is obviously cold—Phoebe has cold-resistant gear, which means if you lack that resistance, it could be hell.
"So it's a choice between the ocean depths and the snowy mountain? Why pick such harsh locations?"
"Because the harsher the environment, the better the points you earn. Plus, it seems there are mermaids in the ocean and snow women in the mountains."
"I'd rather avoid both of those…" Personally, I don't envision snow women as potential allies. What about mermaids—are they different from sirens?
"Well, if I had to choose… I'd go with the ocean depths. I really don't want to attempt a mountain climb in a swimsuit; that seems suicidal. But if it's possible, I would appreciate it if the difficulty could be lowered a notch… We just fought underwater, and it was an extremely challenging battle…"
"I'd like to lower the difficulty for you, but since it's only the second day, our information network hasn't fully gathered quest details yet. Currently, we only have simple extermination quests or high-difficulty ones."
"Ah, what about the Great Pirate's Treasure? We haven't done that yet!"
Rhea suddenly recalled an event quest that she had previously suggested. At the time, I had hesitated because we were still gauging Rhea's abilities and wanted to avoid quests with overwhelming numbers of enemies. But now, with three of us, I felt confident we could handle it—even if their stats were down, the other two exuded confidence. We should be fine.
"Wait, Lena and Lily haven't done that yet? Should we tackle it first?"
"Did you do it, Leader?"
"No, I haven't. I just know a friend of mine suffered from seasickness and ended up throwing up while battling pirates. If you get seasickness easily, good luck..."
"W-wish me luck?"
Though I had never been on a boat, I felt a twinge of anxiety about the possibility of seasickness. Nevertheless, we approached the NPC captain who could assign us the Great Pirate's Treasure event quest.
The captain, who owned a medium-sized ship, excitedly explained that he had obtained a treasure map marked by pirates and requested that we join him on an adventure. Personally, I dreaded the idea of sailing in waters inhabited by fishmen, envisioning our ship sinking. However, according to the Leader's intel, the game design ensured that fishmen wouldn't appear in this quest.
The Leader told us that the first fifteen minutes would be purely about enjoying the sea voyage, followed by a naval battle. We just needed to brace ourselves for the challenge ahead.
What kind of pirates will show up...?
I boarded a ship piloted by an NPC, thinking I might relax and enjoy the sea when Lily called out to me from inside the ship.
"Phoebe, come here for a sec!"
"Got it, I'll be right there, Lena."
"Have fun! If any pirates show up, make sure Lily protects you!"
Lily took Phoebe away, probably for some girl talk.
"Hey, Lena, can I ask you a quick question?"
"Leader? What do you want to know? I'll answer anything I can."
Suddenly, the leader directed a question my way.
"First, I want to know your stance on NPCs."
"My stance on NPCs?"
I tilted my head in confusion, and the leader explained.
"This world uses cutting-edge technology unlike other full-dive VR games, to the point where some people can't tell it apart from reality."
"Really? This is my first full-dive VR game, so I don't have anything to compare it to."
"Well, Fantasy Freedom is more impressive than other VR games. NPCs react to almost anything outside of the game system... And with a high probability of encountering villainous pirate NPCs, I wanted to ask: what would you do if one of them begged for their life?"
"Are you begging for your life, you villain? It reminds me of Wendy from yesterday's battle. I let her go because she granted Phoebe power, but pirates...
"Hmm, I might overlook certain things if they're beneficial to me, but generally, I wouldn't. You never know when someone might take advantage of your trust..."
"I see... So, can I ask about Phoebe? There are various NPCs of different races, but she's the only fairy I've encountered. She might have a significant impact on this entire Fantasy Freedom, and I'd like to know more."
"Is that so? But doesn't that sound a bit exaggerated? Did you perhaps ask Lily to bring Phoebe along just to hear about her?"
Phoebe doesn't really seem like an important figure to me. After all, without my help, she would have been eaten by a spider. I can't believe someone like her could impact the whole game. Besides, it feels suspicious that you're coming to ask about her while you're apart from her.
"Well, I handle Lily's wild ideas all the time, so cut me some slack. It's not an exaggeration, though. The main quests in this game are crafted by advanced AI. Because of that, sometimes the actions of a single player can impact all players."
"When you head to a new town, you'll likely need to conquer a dungeon, right? That dungeon was established six months ago as a result of a player's number quest."
"That's scary."
So, the Jiten Mountains and the Wind Valley were created through a number quest... It reminds me of the time I obtained a massive Earth Crystal, which was a key material for Archie. I remember how other players' quests had caused seismic activity. The system screen only labeled it as a quest, but could that have been a number quest too?
"Hmm, I can't say much about Phoebe... I'm not very familiar with the world of Fantasy Freedom, and I don't know if I have the information you're seeking... Plus, talking about Phoebe in her absence doesn't sit right with me."
At that, the leader frowned and said, "I see, I'm sorry for prying. I won't do anything to harm Phoebe, so you can rest easy there. I just wanted to gather information; that's my goal."
He bowed his head slightly. I don't think he has any bad intentions toward Phoebe, which is reassuring. But if his goal is to gain information, does that mean his number quest involves gathering intel? Then why would he approach it in such a roundabout way?
"While it's good to be curious, please just ask Phoebe directly... If you're not going to harm her, there's no reason to interfere."
"I understand... If you run into any problems, just let me know. I'm confident in my ability to gather information."
Suddenly, a loud voice echoed across the ship.
"Pirates!!"
The ship rocked violently, and I nearly lost my balance, but the leader caught me just in time.
"Thanks for the save."
"No problem... Let's regroup with Lily and Phoebe!"
As we prepared for battle, we moved from below deck to the main deck.
Once outside, I saw Lily sitting in front of a cannon, busy with something, while Phoebe stood behind her.
"Big brother! If you don't have any long-range attacks, grab the cannonballs over there and load them into the cannon next to you! Phoebe, get into your brother's pocket!"
"Got it!"
"Uh, okay!"
Following Lily's orders, Phoebe hopped back into my pocket. I lifted the cannonball as instructed.
"Whoa! So heavy?!"
"Power up! Speed up!"
The weight pressed down on me, and it felt like I might punch a hole in the floor if I let go. With Phoebe's support magic, I managed to carry it quickly and load it into the cannon. Then, the firing button and a lever for adjusting the cannon's aim appeared, along with a system assist to show where it would fire.
"That's the enemy, right...?"
"Big brother, until the pirate ship gets closer, we need to fire the cannon and fix the ship if it gets damaged!"
"I understand... wait! We can't fix the ship!?"
As I spoke, I spotted the massive pirate ship in the distance. It seemed too far away for arrows or magic to reach, especially since I had neither. Instead, I focused on aiming the cannon.
"Fire!"
The cannonball soared through the air, tracing a perfect arc towards the pirate ship, only to be blocked by a shimmering barrier that sprang up around it.
"Wait, can we really win this fight?"
"The barrier can only absorb so much damage, so fire away!"
Lily responded to my concerns, furiously firing her own cannonballs. The pirate ship retaliated, but our ship's barrier absorbed the incoming fire. I realized our ship was equipped with a barrier as standard; our strategy would have to be to break it down first before we could hit the pirates with our cannon.
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