Shangri-La Frontier – Thợ săn game rác chinh phục game thần - Chương 3: Cùng đội trời chung: Phần 3

Time flies like an arrow, as the old saying goes.

In a certain game, that phrase was used as a joke to describe a fierce internal feud between the Light/Dark magic faction and the Fire magic faction—a metaphor for "Light and Dark spells cast faster, so why is anyone even using Fire magic lol" followed by "Alright, time to kill you!" While Light and Dark magic were indeed powerful when used like flying arrows, Fire magic showed devastating performance when laid as traps, so it was hard to say which was truly superior... though in the end, a group of Earth mages ended up burying everyone together to settle it all, only to be chased around relentlessly for a while after.

Back then, I had maintained a strict stance of non-interference, but if a "Forbidden Spell User" had appeared, even I might have stepped in... That guy was far too dangerous. Even after receiving countless divine punishments (BANs), he'd just take them with a straight face and constantly cause disasters around him—whoops, none of that matters now, does it?

Anyway, jokes aside, "time flies like an arrow" basically just means time passes ridiculously fast. Since entering R'lyeas and starting the EX Scenario happened in the morning, the time limit would also be the morning of the seventh day. And today was that very seventh day.

Our timeframe to launch the assault was from the evening of the seventh day to the morning of the eighth day, when the time limit reached zero... meaning we intended to clear it all through the night. As for why we chose such hours, there was always the chance of sudden plans popping up out of nowhere—like Mr. Rei, who couldn't log in properly for five days due to personal business that shouldn't have taken much time at all. So, we decided to do it at night, a time when urgent business couldn't (or shouldn't) possibly arise.

More importantly, the real problem right now was the cardboard box right in front of me.

"It arrived... Wait, why did it arrive...?"

The mysterious black-hooded person I met at the party venue that day, who claimed to be an employee of Gatling Drum... the manufacturer of Riot Blood. Despite their appearance, they had seemed like a perfectly polite business professional. They had sent me this "Riot Blood Assortment Pack" as a token of thanks for helping promote Riot Blood at the GGC tournament.

I didn't remember giving them my address, and timing-wise, it was impossible for Katzo to have leaked it. Yet, the fact that it had properly arrived by mail sent an occult chill down my spine—something you'd think had been nearly wiped out in modern society—making me shiver despite it being summer.

"Original, Undead, Backdraft, Quantum, Tonight... Huh?"

An orange can? I was pretty sure the Riot Blood series only had five varieties, including the Original... Is this a prototype or something?

"Riot Blood: Revolve Lantern...?"

Revolve, as in turning... Lantern... Light............... A revolving lantern! That's the light you see right before you die! That is definitely not a name you should ever give an energy drink, it's way too ominous!!

And when I looked closely, the classic Riot Blood logo character holding a battering ram was now a pumpkin-head holding the battering ram in its right arm and a lantern in its left... No way, it hasn't even been a week since GGC, so how... No, no, no, it's just a coincidence. If there's a 1% chance, the random number generator will hit it eventually, yeah.

"So it's a sample... What does it say?"

'Riot Blood: Revolve Lantern is a test product developed for customers who require a large amount of concentration in a short period. Although the duration of effect is extremely short, approximately thirty minutes to one hour, we guarantee enough caffeine to resist sleeping pills for at least thirty minutes after consuming Revolve Lantern... Just kidding.'

Calm down, my left arm. It's too early to unconsciously try to dial the police.

Even if drinking an energy drink dumps a quick dose of caffeine into you and its name literally means the light before death, that company somehow stays legal, right? So calm down—ah crap, I've already typed the "11" in "110"!

"The ingredient list... At least there aren't any illegal quantities or substances listed, I guess..."

You might think: why be so cautious over a mere energy drink? But when it comes to Riot Blood, you end up in deep trouble if you aren't careful. They say mixing energy drinks with alcohol makes you drunk fast, but with Riot Blood, there were even rumors that a single mix knocked out a battle-hardened heavy drinker in one shot.

A sample from a maker like that... a product whose name isn't even listed on the official site. I was probably the very first general user to get my hands on it. I had to consume it with extreme care.

"Well, no point drinking it now, I'll put it off till later."

Do your best, me from a few hours in the future. Sending annoying things into the future is the best way to go.

I hate you, me from a few hours ago. You sent trouble straight to me from the past.

It was about time to log into Shangri-La Frontier, gather with the members, and march into the central castle of R'lyeas where Kutanid sat. When else would I chug an energy drink if not now? But as I pondered which Riot Blood I should use... Riot Blood: Revolve Lantern kept radiating a bizarre aura from the corner of my eye.

......I was curious. So ridiculously curious. I was a devout Riot Blood user, after all. I had even tested the glowing hazard (Quantum) at a fairly early stage—something even fellow comrades whose souls were enslaved by Riot Blood as much as or more than mine had hesitated to try. But that was courage born from having other challengers beside me. Did I really have the courage to try this lantern of death radiating an aura all by myself in this isolation?

"......Well, if it can reverse even life and death, I should rely on a similar power too... right, yeah."

To put it bluntly, with the Kutanid battle right in front of me, I couldn't find the courage to try Revolve Lantern. Instead, I picked Riot Blood: Undead, an energy drink with a surprisingly refreshing taste and the catchphrase "Even corpses will rise!" Why did it painstakingly emphasize "Do not bring into contact with actual corpses," I wondered?

"Hmm, tastes like toothpaste."

If I said this to mint lovers across the globe, they'd probably slap me with a clenched fist. Word had it that extreme mint fanatics, when unable to get mint-flavored food, would survive by consuming mint toothpaste instead. Why complain when called toothpaste, yet willingly eat toothpaste themselves? Is this some new kind of tsundere?

"Alright! Caffeine intake complete!!"

Too bad for you, Kutanid! Even if you turn me into a corpse right now, the caffeine coursing through my veins will force my body to move!

"Now then, the only one missing is Mr. Rei... Ah, there he is."

"Ah, I'm so sorry... It seems I've kept you waiting again."

"No, no, we all just gathered ourselves, so it's totally fine."

Akitsuakane and Mold seemed to have arrived early to gather materials from the fishmen, and I had been scavenging inside the shipwreck while recovering the mechanical beast that fell to the bottom, but that was just individual time-killing, not arriving early for a meetup.

Rust was making a face as if she had arrived right on time, but we all knew that if Mold hadn't logged out once to wake her up, she would've almost been late.

All the NPCs were already gathered here. Surprisingly, Stude was present as well. In the eyes of the brat holding his father Cutlass, there was no tremor of fear, but a firm light of resolve. Maybe some event happened while I was away?

"Now then, with everyone gathered, we shall head toward the main stronghold of this city, but..."

"Sanrak, a proposal."

"Yes, Rust?"

"At times like this, having a team name and an operation name to raise unity... is good..."

It was so unbelievably pointless, but it was a great idea. Neither team names nor operation names affected stats in the slightest, but they gave a bonus to motivation. It was a fact that we were in the same group, but giving it a name heightened our sense of unity—that was an absolute truth. A simple "Victory to this party" sounded way less cool than "Victory to Team Whatever," and it made you far more conscious of being a member of the group.

Kutanid wasn't going to run away just because we goofed off for a minute or two anyway. And so, an impromptu brainstorming session for team and operation names began.

"...The team name is 'Ikiyoyo' (High Spirits), and the operation name is 'Operation Sunrise'... Feels good."

"Rust, that's a team name whose meaning won't come across unless you write it down... Let's see, the team name is 'Octopus Hunters' and the operation name is 'Operation Defeat Kutanid'... Is that too simple?"

"Yes, yes! How about the team name 'R'lyeas Exploration Team' and the operation name 'Uncovering the Mysteries of R'lyeas!'!!"

"U-Um... the team name is, well... ummm......... I'm sorry, I can't really think of anything, so I'll pass..."

"Sanrak-san, Sanrak-san, how about 'Vorpal Assault' for the team name?"

"Sounds like we'd get wiped out, so no."

Pouting won't change my mind, no means no. Hehehe, then allow me to show you the combat power of my eighth-grade-syndrome spirit!

"How about the team name 'Fugutaiten' (Sworn Enemies), and the operation name 'Stargazing'?"

In this inverted city, Kutanid treated the seabed as the heavens, whereas we treated the sky on the surface as the heavens. It was precisely because the sky we looked at was different that I chose the team name 'Fugutaiten' (Unable to live under the same sky). And the operation name 'Stargazing' meant going to see the correct sky... Yep, this is a winning combo.

"I think the team name is good, but the operation name is uncool."

"Stargazing? Isn't that marine snow, by any chance?"

"Akitsuakane, no, it's not that! This has a hidden meaning about fighting to see the rightful sky..."

In the end, the team name and operation name were decided by majority vote.

"......Then once again, Team 'Fugutaiten', Operation 'Defeat Kutanid'—begin!"

Humans, fishmen, spirits, and Vorpal Bunnies. It was quite a mixed-bag crew, but their powerful response proved that everyone was truly united as one.