Chapter 39

"Nana, your goal from now on is to focus on leveling up seriously."

The next day. When I woke up, Rin-chan told me about the plan for the future.

Yesterday, we ended up not being able to do anything even after logging in, so the stream was suddenly put on hold. Toka-chan said she would be busy with school and went back to her hometown for a while. However, considering the commuting time, it seems she can spend more time playing the game from her hometown, so it might be easier to meet up with her than to force her to come here.

Saku-chan is already in the fourth town, and we’ve agreed to play together if I can catch up. Despite her busy schedule with school and part-time work, her dedication to the game hasn’t changed at all.

"Do you remember the details of the quest Nana received?"

After receiving Rin-chan’s confirmation, I started to recall the details. The encounter with Shuten-douji at that mysterious shrine led to the extra quest, "The Shrine at the End: The Ghostly Realm of the Oni."

"I think it was something like, 'After raising the proficiency of 'Douji' to 30 or more, head to the starting land... or something like that.'"

"Well, you should recheck the details later. The important thing is the starting land and the shrine at the end. Can you think of anything associated with these keywords?"

"The starting town and the end forest, right?"

Rin-chan’s question was something I had already figured out. To the south of the starting town, beyond the plain where I fought Aria, there is a large-scale dungeon called "The End Forest." The detection skill I have was recommended by Rin-chan specifically to tackle the End Forest. While I don’t know if there’s a shrine there, it’s impossible not to think of it given the keywords "starting" and "end."

"Right. To be honest, I don’t know much about the shrine at the end. That dungeon is ridiculously large, and apart from the powerful monsters around the starting town, I never really understood its purpose. But thanks to the extra quest you received, it’s starting to make more sense."

"A dungeon related to 'Douji'?"

"That’s part of it, but... I think that shrine has significant meaning not just for the Oni race but for other races as well. Not all races, but it seems to serve as a kind of gateway."

It seems she’s quite confident, even though she doesn’t have solid proof. A gateway. Indeed, from the content of the quest I received, the shrine itself is treated like a gateway.

The "Higanbana Hairpin" I was given is, according to Shuten-douji, the key to connecting the real world and the ghostly realm. I don’t know what the ghostly realm is exactly, but in the context of a game, using a specific key item to move to another world is not unusual. In fact, in RPGs, the final boss is often in such a place.

"There’s a place called 'Fairyland' in a different dimension from this world. There’s an NPC who talks about it."

I tilted my head at Rin-chan’s sudden change of topic, but I quickly understood what she was getting at.

"It’s an old woman in Grifis. I knew it was some kind of information, but I couldn’t get any further details."

"I see. If this Fairyland is the same as the ghostly realm of the Oni...?"

"Right, I think the shrine at the end will be the key to getting there."

While it’s not clear if the shrine itself is the key to the extra quest, it will at least provide a guideline. However, my current level isn’t high enough to go there yet.

The battle with Apocalypsis ended in defeat, but I did get some experience points because I managed to chip one of his horns. My current level is actually 30, and I haven’t allocated my stat points since defeating Aria. I need to think about how to distribute my stats for future quests.

Also, I need to prepare a new weapon. I used the "Kugelshreiber" to hit Apocalypisis, and the club was destroyed by the magic. I only had it for two hours...

I need to tell Haruru...

"That’s the background. The important thing is that the quest Nana received isn’t a solo quest. Do you understand what I’m saying?"

"Are you saying we should go together?"

"Exactly. You might have forgotten, but there are other HEROES players besides Nana and me. We’ll tackle this quest as a party. Let’s use Nana’s quest as a fireworks display and promote it loudly!"

"Ooh!"

☆

So, the plan is set, but when she says to focus on serious leveling, I’m not sure what to do. When I said this, Rin-chan showed me the world map of WLO on her terminal.

"The fourth town, Feias, is located by going north and north from the starting town. So, Nana should be able to reach there without much trouble."

The map shows a huge forest at the southernmost point, which is the End Forest. Looking at the map, the straight-line distance from the starting town to the third town, Trillia, is much shorter than the vast End Forest, which is an enormous dungeon. The route from the starting town to the fourth town is almost a straight line. There are mountains between the starting town and Duaris, and a forest between Duaris and Trillia, but it seems possible to go around them from the east or west.

"Technically, you can travel between towns without following the main route, but it takes a lot of time, so I don’t recommend it."

"True. I want the bonus points from dungeon bosses, so it’s better to go straight."

"Right. There’s nothing special between Trillia and Feias, but the dungeon bosses are quite strong. They’re not as strong as named bosses, though."

I see, to get from the third town to the fourth town, I have to fight a strong boss. Reflecting on it, most of the boss-level monsters I’ve fought seem to be in a league of their own. Even though I didn’t defeat them, having fought monsters like Apocalypsis makes me feel like I can handle most things.

"The problem is after Feias. From there, you can’t go straight. The areas around the town are not divided into east, west, north, and south. Between Feias and Grifis, there are two large-scale dungeons."

According to Rin-chan, the two large-scale dungeons each have a different route to Grifis. The ground route is called "World Tree Cave," which involves progressing through a massive tree. The underground route is called "Flame Ancient Ruins," an underground dungeon.

"Which route you take is up to Nana. The difficulty level isn’t much different, and I think Nana can clear them solo."

"Which one did you take, Rin-chan?"

"I took the World Tree Cave. Magic is harder to handle in narrow ruins."

"I see."

In that case, I think the World Tree Cave might be easier for me to progress through. However, I’m also fascinated by exploring ruins.

"Large-scale dungeons take a considerable amount of time to clear. Once you clear them, a warp point opens, so moving around isn’t a problem."

"There didn’t seem to be any warp points to Feias. I remember Koneko-maru running all the way."

"Feias is treated like a tutorial, probably. Despite that, the extra quest for the Oni race is around the starting town... but when you get there, you’ll see how large the dungeon really is. You can’t do it without using a warp."

Rin-chan’s slightly grim expression suggests that the dungeon is really long. I really want to explore the ancient ruins. There must be traps and other exciting elements.

"First, let’s aim for Trillia. I’m not worried, but Nana seems to get involved in strange situations easily."

"Y-Yeah, I agree. I think so too."

The battle with Aria, the encounter with Rau, the attack by Apocalypisis, the meeting with Shuten-douji, and the extra quest. So many events in just four days. It all started with defeating Aria, but thinking about it, what caused the attack by Apocalypisis?

While it’s not worth thinking too seriously about in-game events, I don’t understand why a boss-level monster would attack the initial field like the marshes of Rores. It could be a wandering named monster, but that’s just a guess.

"Since we couldn’t stream yesterday, I miss the listeners a bit."

"Once you get used to it, it feels like you’re always playing together. Getting used to streaming is a good thing."

At first, I was hesitant, but now I enjoy the perfect balance of distance. Rin-chan smiled happily at my words.