6-8 minutes

Data.180 Another Perspective: The Youngsters

“Damn it! That was too fast, young lady!”

Necoco’s claws shredded Koharu the odachi wielder.

While using skills and charge attacks, Koharu could also move swiftly, but Necoco was still fast, and had superior reflexes.

So in terms of stats and playing ability, it was a hopeless fight from the beginning.

(Satomi said that I have to be careful about the moment when his unsteady movements suddenly become sharp, but I have already fought against the likes of Charin, who was not only fast at all times, but had the inhuman ability to make decisions instantly..!)

And so for Necoco, Koharu’s movements might as well have been in slow motion.

After she had carved away enough HP, she aimed for the neck in order to deal the final blow..!

“Young lady, do you know why I have such a feminine name like Koharu?”

“..”

“Because it’s the name of my dead wife.”

“Raijin Zekku!”

The claws moved at a speed that was too fast to follow, and cut open Koharu’s neck.

There was no hesitation in Necoco’s movements..!

“Tsk. I thought girls were supposed to be weak to these kinds of touching stories?”

“It was too out of nowhere and not really the right time.”

“That’s true!”

“Besides, you could be lying.”

“Indeed! Indeed..”

But then Koharu disappeared without being able to explain the truth.

“I wouldn’t hold back either way. I’m not here to negotiate.”

◆　◆　◆

“To think that I would lose to two, and not even four.. I have clearly lost my edge..”

On the blue plateau, the samurai, Shishou, was already fading away.

Satomi didn’t even have to use Unison Trinity. He defeated Shishou with an ordinary combination with Gochu.

“Why..didn’t you use your real power..?”

“Obviously, it was because it’s better to save it for later. I’ve only activated Unison Trinity once. And so the merits and demerits are not completely revealed yet. So I won’t use it if I don’t need it to win.”

“So I..looked that weak to you..!?”

“You looked nervous upon seeing me and Gochu.”

“Tsk.. It cannot be helped! I cannot face two enemies at once..!”

Shishou’s character of a master samurai was already crumbling.

But he was also laughing a little.

“Oh, well. I don’t mind losing to a talented youngster.. You can carry on my dreams and teachings..!”

“You didn’t teach me anything..”

“Farewell, student!”

“I don’t recall being your student..”

Being remembered after death..

And so Satomi was practically forced to inherit the master’s will!

◆　◆　◆

“Koromaro-chan! Wait!”

“Bark!”

Anne and Garbow were on the yellow plateau as they faced Hero Yushia and the Destruction God Koromaro.. However, Koromaro was obeying Anne’s order and ‘waiting.’

“Wow! What a smart doggy. Now please continue to wait there.”

“Ruff!”

“Hahaha! Damn it, Koromaro..so you only listen to women!”

Yushia could do nothing but laugh.

After all, the strongest member who had led them to the second round was now neutralized..!

“You didn’t know about this?”

“Yes, that’s right! The normal monsters out on the field don’t have gender, and we rarely fight against players! And since we all scattered during the preliminaries, I don’t know how Koromaro was fighting! And all of the enemies in the first round were men! We had no way of knowing! Ahahaha!”

“Well..I feel bad for you then. However, I must show no mercy. I’m only a nun in appearance!”

Anne began to swing her spiked iron ball round and round.

Garbow also prepared to attack.

Yushia was just laughing.

He sounded like a Demon King now..!

“Fuhahahaha! If I had been lucky enough to draw a man, then Koromaro might have helped me win. But I suppose the goddess of fate has abandoned me!”

“What? You drew lots to decide your opponents?”

“We did! We weren’t choosing combinations that would give us an advantage! To be honest, I doubted we could win no matter what the combination, and so we left it to fate! This game has a feature that allows you to make decisions based on lots or coin tosses, so that you won’t fight when forced to make decisions as a party!”

“Huh. I didn’t know that.”

“I’m the type of person who carefully reads the manual! Well, perhaps you’re supposed to call it ‘Help’ now..”

“Saint Cross Star!”

“Kind Shield!”

The seven holy iron balls were blocked by a cream-colored aura!

“It’s 2 vs 1 now.. Are you not going to run away?”

“Aye, this is like a boss fight for the hero.. I cannot run away! Now, come! I will defeat you with my power!”

“Very well! Garbow, uh..Meteor Bow! Ah, this was Kyuji’s combination charge attack! What other ones look strong..”

“W-wait! How about we fight 1 vs 1 without Unisons..”

“Hmph! You do have a lot of demands!”

“I cannot deny it..”

As Anne had fought a lot on the Ghost Float, where players would ambush her and use dirty tactics, she had grown into a rather severe player when it came to fighting.

And then she had met the biggest enemy on the Ghost Float, VRHAR’s guild master, Nord. And she had to run away after being rescued by Kyuji.

After that, she adventured with Necoco and was finally chosen as a member of the Ghost Guild.

As Anne usually talked very calmly, it could be hard to read her emotions.

However, within her chest, a strong sense of camaraderie and the passionate soul of a gamer was starting to be born.

“I cannot lose!”

The battle between Anne and Yushia ended very quickly.

Indeed, she did not even require Garbow’s help.

“I’m sorry for having demands until the end! Thank you! It was fun! But..I do wish that I could have won like a cool hero..! I want to..become stronger!”

“You want power?”

“Yes! Yes!”

“Then I know a good place where you can train. It’s called the Ghost Float.. You should try to look for it!”

“I will! I shall train there so that I can beat you next time!”

While they had gained a lot of attention as a gathering of very old men, the G’z were seen mostly as a joke, and not actually strong.

However, they would continue to adventure and train, and would one day grow into players that could fight boldly and hold their own against the young. But that would not happen for quite some time.

‘Battle finished!!’

And so the 12th battle of the second round, the G’z vs Ghost Guild, ended 4 to 0, with the Ghost Guild victorious.