Chapter 52 – A Wild Last Boss Made A Review

Chapter 52 – A Wild Last Boss Made A Review

Raw link: http://ncode.syosetu.com/n2211cx/53/ (2016/02/08)

Translator: twomorefreethoughts / TpstT (2019/01/31)

Editor 1: Hand of Vecna / Vecna (2019/01/10)

Editor 2: Keii (2020/10/29)

Translation link: https://twomorefreethoughts.wordpress.com/awlba-c052/

__

Update 1: I’ve recently applied for WordAds and was approved for it a few hours after the last chapter, I hope you guys will let me be little selfish and allow me to shamelessly request that you guys consider putting my site on your whitelist if you use adblockers >.<

For those who are curious… in the past 3 days I’ve earnt…. A whopping 21 cents… ^^;;; lol. (Day 1 = 0 cents; day 2 = 15 cents; day 3 = 6 cents…. So… yeah ahahaha)

Update 2: This chapter is slightly shorter than usual, and the first half of the chapter can be considered a semi-recap chapter. Most of the information in this chapter is a summary of what has already happened and what the author has already stated. There is some “new” information in this chapter, however, if you have been inferring and reading between the lines in the past chapters, it could also be considered to have been stated by the author. The author is just making things clearer by writing them down literally so that anyone that has not figured it out will be made aware of them. 

__

__

 

It seems sudden, but I decided to try and review what I had been doing up until now and reorganise my objectives from here on.

I believed that it was important to review the information that I had like this every once in a while.

If I did not do so, then what we were doing might not align with our aims. It was also very possible that, by the time we noticed such a thing, we were already completely off-track.

Firstly, my original goal had been to look around and explore this world. Nevertheless, with the situation being what it was, there was no longer any room for me to say things like that. Furthermore, as I was already on a journey anyway, it could be said that this goal was already being fulfilled either way.

 

Next, to retrieve the Twelve Heavenly Stars and meet with the Seven Heroes.

Up until this point, I had retrieved Aries, Libra, and Aigokeros, while Parthenos… decided to stay in the forest and was replaced by Virgo, totalling up to 4 of them.

Dina had originally said that she was aware of the locations of six of them, so if we used the information that she had, it was only possible to find two more of them. Furthermore, she had also stated that “two out of those six are allied with the Demon King”.

There was no doubt that “those two” was referring to Aigokeros and the Scorpion. In other words, we had already ascertained information for five out of those six stars.

Which meant that there was only one star left who could be found based on her information.

However, thanks to the information given by Parthenos, we now knew the location of the Twins, the Water Bearer and the Bull.

Out of the ones remaining to be found, I was also informed that the Lion was stuck in a war with Benetnash.

To summarise, four stars were in my hands and the locations of five other stars had already been determined.

 

Retrieval completed: Ram, Scales, Goat, Maiden.

Known locations: Twins, Water Bearer, Bull, Scorpion, Lion.

Unknown locations: Archer, Fish, Crab.

 

If I were to write it in a way that was easy to understand, it would be something like this.

What was to come in the future was a little concerning.

As for reuniting with the Seven Heroes, I have met up with Megrez and Merak. The only one left was Benetnash.

Notwithstanding, this Benetnash seemed pretty troublesome.

Apparently, she was still at the peak of her power, and she had not participated in the battle against the Demon King.

Furthermore, it seemed that she was completely hostile to me, thus she was a very dangerous existence.

Having said that, it was not as if something like this was completely unpredictable.

To begin with, the Seven Heroes had previously defeated me in the past, and as such, there was already some form of hostility in our relationship.

If anything, them acting friendly with me would actually be considered strange.

The two that I had previously met had been acting so friendly towards me that I had let my guard down. But in a way, Benetnash’s reaction was what would actually be considered to be the normal and correct response.

At the very least, it was far better than seeing the people who had defeated me regret doing so.

It was easy to understand why… however, it was also a bad thing. She was probably my most troublesome and scariest opponent to date.

If she was still at the pinnacle of her power, then that meant that she was level 1000. Furthermore, the Seven Heroes at level 1000 were not the same as other level 1000 players that one might see elsewhere.

They were no-lifers who had perfected themselves to the pinnacle of their specialisation by consuming the meat (doping) of the countless monsters they had slaughtered.[1]

Back in the game, Benetnash had had the second highest total stats right after mine.[2] Additionally, when one combined that with her latent Vampire racial bonus, she was an especially terrifying opponent.

If the time we faced off was during the morning or the afternoon, I would be slightly stronger than her. However, if it was during nighttime, she would most likely win.

Also, considering the fact that she was aiming for my head… It was unlikely that she was a player on the inside.

Although this was a provisional assessment, this review has established that all of the Seven Heroes are denizens of this world.

In other words, Dina and I were the only people who had come from “the other side”.

 

And then there was the Lion, the strongest of the Twelve Heavenly Stars, who was currently at war with Benetnash.

The worst part was that both of them were openly hostile towards me.

Which was to say, if I accidentally or casually got too close to them, I would have to face both the Vampire Princess and the Lion at the same time.

Even for me, that was too much. It was not something to joke about.

 

… I think… I’ve decided not to go near Benetnash for a while.

 

Next up was the Hero.

Previously, I had determined that there was a real and foreseeable possibility that the Hero was going to be killed, so I had returned all the way to Laevateinn.

But in reality, I was in for a surprise, as the Demon King’s aim was actually me. Furthermore, in his eyes, the Hero’s existence was not even significant.

This meant that even if I left the Hero alone for a while, it was likely that there would be no problems.

There was still a possibility that the Seven Luminaries would aim for him, but… there was a tiger over level 100 that was accompanying the Hero, as well as two other decently strong people.

Furthermore, there were a few rangers blending in with the shadows, thus they should be able to somehow manage things unless the Seven Luminaries plotted against them.

Well, perhaps it was not a bad idea for me to make a golem that would protect the Hero in case of the one-in-a-million chance that something happened.

 

And lastly, my real goal.

To find out the goals and intentions of the original “Ruphas” and to cause problems for the Goddess, who had selfishly gotten me involved in her “scenario” on a whim.

Whilst I was doing that, I would bring the Goddess out into the open and ask her what her intentions were.

I did not know what the Goddess had been thinking when she put me in Ruphas’s body.

I also didn’t know what she wanted me to do.

But… no, that was why I wanted to know. I had to know.

If I could not find that out, then I would not be able to move forward. I would just be continuing to stomp in place.

I had had enough with wandering about without any footholds, without being able to fully put my feet down, without knowing where the sinkholes or the goal was.

That was why I was going to stop and return to my starting position.

And this was how I would retaliate against the Goddess.

 

Right now, I was thankful and appreciative of how much my consciousness had assimilated into Ruphas’s.

If I was still “myself”, I doubt that I would have even gotten around to thinking about things in this kind of way.

If I had remained as my ever hopeful, dumb and whimsical “self”, even at this moment, I would not have questioned anything and still would have been saying stupid things like “Yay, I’m in the world of the game that I love!”, and be enjoying this world like an idiot.

Even though I had been somehow suddenly thrown into the world of an MMO, I would be baffled yet also greatly overjoyed.

Although that kind of reaction may have looked like I was being realistic, it was actually just a sign of escape. I wouldn’t even be looking for a way to return to my original world.

The only job I would have would be to think about myself. And my only aim would be to satisfy myself at the expense of someone else I came across.

I would complain that troublesome things were indeed troublesome, yet I would be happy to head straight towards those troublesome things whilst calling them troublesome, and wishing that those troublesome things would continue to occur. I would be gleefully waiting for a stage where I myself would be able to act and look cool.

I wanted to be praised, I wanted to be recognised, I wanted to be revered, I wanted to be worshipped, I wanted to be raised up on a pedestal, I wanted to be respected and I wanted to be drunk in the feeling of knowing that I was a cool existence in this dreamlike world.

Ahhhh, how nonsensical. I had been able to live in the peaceful country of Japan and not have to worry about what I would wear or eat, and I was even able to peacefully play games without a shred of worry. Yet even though I had been able to live in a world that the people of Midgard would truly consider to be dreamlike, I took it for granted and said, “I would rather live in the world inside the game than be stuck living in this boring place,” and was unable to appreciate what I already had. I was unable to see what was right in front of me.

Someone strange and deranged like that – was exactly who I was.

Aaahhh, I’ll admit it. For the Goddess, I was someone who was easy to handle and make use of.

If you put it that way, then I might have been the perfect and easiest choice to blanket out the individual known as “Ruphas”.

Well, of course that was the case.

I was someone who had lived in the peaceful country of Japan without a shred of worry as I lived my life whilst being immersed in the game. On the other hand, Ruphas had spent her days in the world of Midgard fighting day in and day out.

It was a given that there would be a difference in willpower and strength between the two of us. It was something so self-explanatory that one did not even have to think that hard to reach such a conclusion.

Nevertheless, the lid was already being taken off. I could sense it myself.

I knew that such a situation could not last for long.

… This was… I should hurry up and meet with the Goddess so that I could get myself returned to my original world. If I failed to do that, then next time, it was going to be me who would be sealed into the pot by the lid known as Ruphas.

Even for me… it was something that I wanted to avoid.

 

Anyways, I’m done reviewing.

Now that I think about it, I’m suuuuuuuuuch a useless person.

I had only now finally recognised that I was in a dangerous and precarious situation due to how far the assimilation with Ruphas had progressed.

Notwithstanding, it was so ironic and comical that I could not help but laugh about how something ridiculous like this had to happen before I could finally open my eyes and see what was in front of me.

Or more like, I could tell how much my smile was warping my face at that moment.

 

“… Ruphas-sama?”

 

Aries, who was sitting next to me, asked with a slightly tactful tone.

Stop with the upturned eyes already. Even though I knew that Aries was male, it still had quite a powerful effect.

Whilst thinking that, I turned to look towards him.

 

“What is it?”

“No, umm. Were you thinking about something?”

“What makes you think that?”

“Umm… Your face is…”

“My face?”

“Yes. … You know… I’ve been thinking that, recently, Ruphas-sama has been very calm, serene and easy-going compared to the past, or at least gave off that kind of feeling, but the expression Ruphas-sama just showed somehow reminded me of the old Ruphas-sama.”

“… Is that so?”

 

Hmm, it seemed that even my face was finally showing signs of “Ruphas” now.

This really might be getting quite bad.

Right now, my consciousness still remained, but at this rate, it really might disappear at any moment.

I did not know how much time I had left, but there was no doubt that that duration had decreased by visiting Vanaheim.

And unfortunately, as I continued to regain Ruphas’s memories and recall her intentions, my consciousness would continue to fade.

Nevertheless, if I did not try to do so, I wouldn’t be able to grasp even a trace of the person who had gotten me involved in this.

If I continued to do nothing because I feared my consciousness disappearing, I would only be playing along with the Goddess’s scheme, and I was sure that was the reason why I was here in the first place.

What the hell was this shitty game? The closer I got to clearing the game, the closer I was to game over.

Although it was possible to extend the time I had left, by doing so, I would only be dancing on the palm of the schemer’s hand.

It truly was just some shitty game.

In any event, for now, I was going to devote myself to retrieving the remaining Twelve Heavenly Stars, like the Scorpion.

… So in summary, what I was going to do from now on was not that different from what I had already been doing until this point.

 

“Aigokeros, do you know what country Scorpius is aiming for next?”

“Yes. Scorpius stated that the next country to fall will be Blutgang.”

 

Blutgang… The country founded by Mizar, huh?

As that country did not have the protection of an active member of the Seven Heroes, compared to countries such as Svalinn or Gjallarhorn, it should be easier to topple.

Furthermore, it was the world’s leading industrial country and home to many tradesmen, so it was a very important location.

Considering the destruction of the country of Hrotti, it seemed that Scorpius intended on toppling the weaker locations first.

 

“Dina. Who is the final member of the Twelve Heavenly Stars that you know the location of?”

“Karkinos-sama of the Crab.”[3]

 

Karkinos, huh. If I recalled correctly, out of the Twelve Heavenly Stars, he was the one who excelled the most in defence.

He had needlessly high endurance and an extremely hard shell. He could protect and shield his allies by using a skill called Covering, which allowed him to become an impeccable wall.[4]

On the other hand, he only possessed a single offensive skill which could only function as a counter, thus making him a very inefficient and lopsided character.

Nevertheless, his only offensive skill, Acubens, was a fairly strong skill that would deal half of all damage taken back to the enemy.[5]

For example, if Acubens was activated after taking damage from Brachium, a value of 50 000 would be added to the final damage that would be dealt to the enemy.

If you considered the fact that the skill would become stronger as the enemy became stronger, it was indeed a very fearsome skill.

However, his affinity with the Scorpion was the worst. As the system did not take into account damage suffered from being inflicted by an enemy’s poison when using a counter, his HP would be one-sidedly shaved down.

Furthermore, as the damage inflicted by poison was also not affected by the defensive stats, his HP would be shaved down even faster than it normally would have been.

For better or worse, he was very easy to counter.

 

“Where is he located?”

“He is at Blutgang.”

“The destination matches up. I suppose that’s rather convenient.”

“It might also be an inconvenience, you know.”

 

Karkinos and Scorpius were at the same location. No, actually, Scorpius was still just intending to go to that location. In any event, whilst Scorpius was not yet there, it was determined that the both of them would be in the same location.

And for me, it was a good opportunity for me to retrieve two of the stars at the same time and save time on travelling.

However, it was too optimistic to think that nothing would happen when two of the stars met up with each other.

Even up until now, the only star who had not created any problems was Parthenos. As for Aries and Aigokeros, they had gone around doing whatever they wanted to without any regard for the trouble they might have caused, and even worse, when the two of them met, they started fighting with each other on their own.

In other words, even if they were both members of the Twelve Heavenly Stars, it was reasonable to assume that they might start killing each other instead of saying, “Long time no see! Have you been doing well?”

No, this time around, even if they hit it off with each other, it would be very bad. As one could expect, if the Scorpion and the Crab teamed up, Blutgang would be annihilated in less than a day.

A combination of the perfect defensive capabilities of the Crab, who would not let a single enemy pass, and the protected Scorpion, who could mindlessly spread poison to their heart’s content… Even imagining that alone would make one realise how horrible of a combination they would be.

 

With something like that in mind, I needed to reach Blutgang in a hurry.

 

__

 

(Author note)

 

Benet: “Good, Mafahl left Vanaheim. Isn’t it about time that she starts coming this way? I should prepare to face her. That’s right, I should think of and prepare a speech for when I meet her. But I don’t want to look like I was waiting for her, so maybe I should act like I’m uninterested…..” Fidget fidget

Aide: “It looks like they decided to head towards Blutgang.”

Let’s not go near Betnetnash for a while – b y – Ruphas

Benet: “（´・ω・`）”

 

(Author note end)

 

__

 

[1] In gaming (though it’s sometime used elsewhere), people who play all day long and “dedicate their life to the game” (either because they don’t have a job, no social life, no school, or they’re just having a vacation and can play all day long) are said to have “no life”. It’s not really a derogatory term, but it definitely doesn’t have a positive meaning to it. The term “NEET” might be more well-known to non-gamers who read other novels/manga or watch anime. But technically… “NEET” and the gaming term “no-life” are not the same. “No-lifers” (sorry for the lack of translation skill) can be used neutrally in some circumstances, but words like “otaku” or “NEET” in Japanese are quite bad insults (English readers might proudly call themselves one of the two, but… they actually have quite bad connotations in Japan, with regard to both their social life and their career). The author specifically didn”t use the term “NEET” (keep in mind that “NEET” is a Japanese term) and instead used the term (廃人), which is used to mean invalid or crippled.

[2] Stats are the numbers for INT, STR, LUK, MIND, etc that you see listed. They are sometimes called attributes.

[3] Crab = Cancer. Karkinos (カルキノス) is the Greek name for Cancer. “https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac#Twelve_signs”.

[4] Covering =カバーリング

[5] Acubens = (アクベンス) | aka Alpha Cancri, a star system in the constellation of Cancer. “https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Cancri”.

__

[Previous Chapter]

[Table of Content]

[Next Chapter]