Chapter 58: Chapter 53: Momentary Thoughts Part 1 Part 2

「Ah, welcome, welcome, Sanraku-kun! As early as always! Katsu-kun should be here any moment now.」

「Hoo, so it’s just me for now?」

When I finally arrived at Count Phalanx’s mansion, the guard NPCs weren’t even trying to stop me. Just what kind of bribery would you have to use to achieve such a result……? Oh well, it doesn’t really matter.

I was greeted by the avatar of Pencil Warrior – or Pencilgton for that matter – who was smiling brightly. I followed him as he went through the mansion as if he owned the god damned place and eventually we arrived at a place that looked like a study.

「Hey, Sanraku. It seems you have it really rough over there, huh?」

「And who’s fault do you think that is? And besides, I’m having a great time, thank you very little.」

「I’m truly sorry for that. I really am. Seriously.」

Aah, now I get it. Pencilgton must have raided the mansion and took it for himself. Not that I was going to point him out because of that.

MMO is, much like the real life, all about time management. You can’t rewind time, undo your decisions and choices, need to plan ahead what to do and where to go.

「So? Shall we move on to the main topic? I do realize that you, as much as I, have better things to do than sitting here and waste your time over nothing.」

「That’s right, I don’t neither the time nor the patience to play your little games. So if there’s something that you want to say to me, out with it now.」

Pencilgton smiled like he usually would and gestured for me to sit down on the sofa while he procured some tea and sweets from the cabinet, as if it was the most natural thing to do in such a situation. He seemed totally at home here.

「Would you attempt to kill the Unique Monster “Gravekeeper Wezaemon” together with me? Just a group of three?」

「Fuah!?」

「Gebleh!?」

Honestly speaking , I expected something utterly crazy from him, like a line like “Let’s create a Guild just for the three of us!” but what I actually heard was more than enough for me to spill out my tea. Fortunately, the hot drink and sweets disappeared without a trace right after leaving my mouth.

If it was a real life, than the whole floor would be covered by sticky stains right about now.

「Wait, wait, wait, wait just a god damned second! Unique Monster!?」

「That’s right. There are only a handful of bosses that pose a real challenge in ShanFro, and “Gravekeeper Wezaemon” is one of such bosses.」

「Fuh…… Okay, right, calm down, me. For now, there are basically three things I would like you to tell me.」

「Right, Sanraku-kun. I’ll try to answer your questions as diligently as possible.」

His reaction was within the spectrum of my expectations, as Pencilgton never stopped smiling, not even for a moment.

「For now, the simple ones…… Why? And when?」

「Isn’t that too simple? Doesn’t really matter, let’s answer them. First question, why? Well, it’s a little difficult to explain, but the short version is this: it’s not possible to beat him on your own. Trust me, I tried. It made a minced meat out of me before I could even react to it. That is why I need you two.」

「…… So he receives some buffs or debuffs depending on the number of players that face him?」

Katsu confirms out loud what I was thinking to myself. It was basically a mechanic that was a given in any kind of MMO, one that could add a challenge or make things easier.

But a Unique Monster…… This means it would be on the same level as the Night Prowler Luukan. Its stats must be out of this world by default, so it was hard to imagine what it would be when the modifier for more players would kick in.

「I know it sounds bad, but I’m willing to disclose more information on that subject should you accept to help me. Next question: when? About that…… We will only have one shot at this: the day after the big summer update that is going to hit the server in two weeks’ time. I’ll need to have your answer by then.

Two weeks…… It could have been more, but it wasn’t that bad of a time limit to make the necessary preparations. Katsu seemed to have understood that as well, so there was no questions here. But then it was about our third question.

「Do we have a chance of winning against this thing? My level is about thirty, you know?」

「As for me, I’m level twenty five.」

「Uwah, so weak! I never would have thought that you guys could be so weak!」

I would like this to be a joke on our side, but with our levels being so low, we could never hope to defeat Luukan, not to mention something that is apparently even more powerful.

In this game, numbers were everything. And if they were far better than ours, there would be nothing we could do about them. But still, what was his reason behind wanting to scout both Katsu and myself?

Surely, I was proud of the fact that he deemed us up to the task, but no matter how you look at it, our numbers were simply too low. …… That being said, shouldn’t someone like Saiga-0 be a far better choice when it comes to monster hunting?

「No, fortunately enough levels and equipment is not what is required to slay that boss…… it’s the pure player skill. And when it comes to you two, Pro Gamer Katsu and Sh*tty Game Hunter Sanraku, I could think of no better people for this job.

「Lining Pro Gamers and Sh*tty Gamers together. Now I’ve seen everything.」

「Pro Gamers are really susceptible to failure, so I think that Sh*tty Gamers are the good guys in this comparison.」

There was some truth in Katsu’s words, but comparing us two types to one another was like trying to compare garbage to a finest five-course meal. There was no way in hell that Sh*tty Gamers could be better than Pro Gamers, not by a long shot.

「Now, now…… So, how about it? If you want any additional information, feel free to ask.」

「This story is a little too good to be true, so there must be some kind of hook attached to it, but…… What do you think, Sanraku?」

「Huh, me? I don’t mind doing this. Sounds interesting enough.」

「That was a fast decision.」

Sure, this story reeks of a set-up from a mile or even more, but if I was going to benefit from it by gaining levels or rare items, I say it is well worth the trouble. You should jump on an opportunity should the opportunity present itself.

Still, the battle would be tough for sure. Toughest that I have ever encountered. Our opponent was going to be a Unique Monster, after all. But technically there was nothing in this deal for me to lose, I was only going to gain.

As to the hook that was attached to it…… For now let’s just roll with it and see what happens. It is going to be that much more interesting to deal with it when its nature will become apparent.

「Haah…… By the way, suppose that we DO manage to beat that Gravekeeper guy. How can we know that you won’t try to steal all the glory for this for yourself?」

「If I do that, you can grab the nearest blunt object and beat me to death with it until you’re satisfied.」

「I wonder if we will be able to do that every time we see you around.」

「You guys…… Fine, you have my word.」

While he said that his face was an emotionless mask, it was impossible to read anything on it. That was one of the things that I hated so much about him. He was full of dirty little secrets.

「Honestly, I knew that you guys would end up accepting my proposal. To be expected of the two that managed to conquer my castle that was guarded by eighty elite guild members.」

Pencilgton smiles as though he remembers a scene from the distant past, to which both Katsu and I smile bitterly. The Great Demon King sure looked funny right now……n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

「And?」

This was going to be the main topic.

「Are you still hiding something from us? You’d better spill it out right now, or else it will come to bite you in the ass later.」

To my words, Pencilgton smiled even brighter than before.