「早速スキルを試そう!」
「言うと思ったよ......つっても、既に北エリア以外の敵は一撃だからな。ここで試すしかないのか......」
「なら、余り群れてないゴブリンを探そうぜ。アルミラージだと、このレベルでも結局は一撃だろうから、捨て身を試すにしても――」
「ヒャッハー! 新鮮なモンスターだぁ!」
「聞けよ!」
ユーミルがアルミラージに向かって突進していく。
良かった、一匹だ......一応、半分くらいは話を聞いていたらしい。
ただ、スキルを発動しても意味はないけどな!
ユーミルが捨て身を発動してアルミラージに斬りかかる。
防御を下げるだけの無駄な行為になっとる......縛りプレイかな?
「このっ!」
外れ。
当たらない。
アルミラージもレベル上昇と共に素早さが高くなっているようで、ユーミルは速度を完全に見誤っている。
昨日、経験値稼ぎの為に優先的且つ大量にアルミラージを狙って狩ったので、感覚が低レベルの方に合ってしまっているのだろう。
手間取っている内に複数のアルミラージが集まっていき――。
「うわ......」
ユーミルは多数のアルミラージの角攻撃を一斉に受けた。
全身のあちこちを串刺しにされ、一瞬で体力が消し飛ぶ。
まあ実際の痛覚的には、指であちこちを軽く突かれた程度に抑えられているんだけど。
それでも見た目の上では結構、ショッキングな絵面だ。
なんというか、回復も補助魔法も掛ける暇が全くなかったぞ......。
今回は敵に一撃もダメージを与えていないので、俺はアルミラージの群れが去るのを動かずにじっと待った。
......もういいかな?
「立ったまま死んでるし......お前は武蔵坊弁慶か」
聖水の瓶を開け、頭の上からふりかけていく。
段々と死に芸みたいになってきてんな......そもそも死ぬなって話だが。
「――はっ!」
「起きたか。無駄に死んだ気分はどうだ?」
「モフモフこわい......モフモフこわい......わーくん、つののはえたモフモフが......」
「幼児退行!? ってお前、そうやって今の失態を誤魔化す気だろう! さっさと聖水を無駄にした分を稼ぐんだよ、早くしろや!」
「ちっ、バレたか......」
懐かしい呼び名まで持ち出しやがって......。
しかし、もう聖水は一本しかないんだぞ。
どうするんだ、これから先。
「なぁ、ハインド。孤立したモンスターを素早く倒せれば、効率はいいか?」
悩む俺に対して、ユーミルが意外な提案をしてきた。
「うん? そうだな......素早くって事は、お前の捨て身を使って敵が集まる前に一体ずつ狩るってことか?」
に時間は掛かるが......まあ、悪くはないな。確かに命中すれば二倍だから、ゴブリンでも二発以内で確殺だろうし。お前も被弾を一発以内に収めれば、死なない訳だから」
「だったらやってみないか? 戻るのも面倒だし、私はここで粘ってみたい」
「うーむ......ユーミルにしてはまともな提案......」
「そうだろう! ......ん? 今、私は馬鹿にされなかったか?」
ユーミルの弁にも一理ある。
戻らずに済むならそれに越したことはない。
「じゃあこうしよう。一回でも死んで、聖水が尽きたらそこで撤退。それまではここで粘るってことで。どうだ?」
「おお! ならば私次第ということだな!」
「アルミラージなら俺でも一撃で倒せるからな。それを念頭に置いて戦ってくれ」
「うむ、心得た!」
その後のユーミルは、先程の不注意を帳消しにするような活躍を見せた。
ゴブリンに対して完璧なヒット&アウェイを繰り返し、直ぐにアルミラージの速度にも適応していく。
レベル13、14、15......気が付くと、レベル16を目前にして武器の耐久値がギリギリになるまで、どちらも死なずに敵を倒し続けることに成功した。
レベル15になってからは囲まれても対応出来るくらいのステータスになったので、普通に群れと戦って稼ぐことができた。
インベントリ内の取得したドロップアイテムを整理しつつ、ダメージの回復も終えて二人で一息つく。
「やり遂げやがった......すげえ」
「ふふん! 見たか!」
「お前のこういう時の集中力は、目を見張るものがあるよな」
実は、密かに俺が未祐に対して昔から尊敬している部分でもある。
底力というか、プレッシャーが掛かる大事な場面ほど力を発揮するというか。
その分、普段のミスだったり抜けている部分が余りにも多過ぎるしな......。
「しかし、武器の耐久値がもう限界だな。村に戻って武器屋のオヤジに修理してもらわないと」
「そうだな。それにしてもハインド、ここはどの辺だ? 敵を倒すのに夢中になって、随分と奥まで来てしまった気がするが」
「確かに。ここはさっさと引き返して――」
「......なあ、ユーミル。俺は非常に嫌な予感がするんだが」
「奇遇だなハインド、私もだ。楽しみだとはいったが、それは万全な状態の話で――」
音が近付いてくる。
明らかに大型生物のソレだと分かる地響き。
ゴブリンやアルミラージが発するモノでは決してない。
「出たぁぁぁ! オーガ!? レベル20!? 無理無理無理無理!」
「てっ、撤退! 撤退ぃぃぃ!」
三メートルはある巨大な『鬼』が、鉄の塊を振り下ろして襲い掛かってくる。
平原の柔らかな地は抉れ、盛大に土砂が撒き散らされ――
「あだだだだ!? ら、ライフが! 飛んできた土砂にもダメージ判定があんのか!?」
「ハインド! 私の方が足が速い、囮に!」
「あっ、馬鹿やめろ!」
「一太刀なら耐久も持つ! はず! チェストォ!」
ユーミルの『スラッシュ』がオーガの腕に食い込む。
敵の体力が僅かに削れるが、剣が抜けずにユーミルがそのまま宙づりになる。
「あ、あれ?」
「剣から手を放せっ!」
俺は急いでユーミルに『ガードアップ』の魔法を掛ける。
オーガが斬られた腕を振り回し、その反動で剣ごと放り出されたユーミルに向け――
「ガアッ!」
棍棒を振り抜いた。
当然、空中で避ける術がある訳もなく。
ユーミルが剣を持ったまま吹っ飛ぶ。
って、一撃で即死か!? 体力ゲージ0で地面を派手に転がっていく。
補助魔法が全く意味を為さなかった......って、そんな場合じゃない!
ユーミルが吹っ飛ばされた方向は、都合が良い事に逃げていた方向だ。
最後の聖水を投げつけ、立ち上がるのにもたついているユーミルを抱えて走る。
「痛い痛い! ハインド、持ち方が雑じゃないか!?」
「うるせー! 丁寧に抱えてる暇なんかあるか! ――ひぇっ! 怖ぁっ!」
真横の地面に棍棒が叩きつけられる。
俺達はそのまま逃げ続け......中央エリアに入ったところでようやくオーガから解放された。
――行動限界、北エリア全域かよ......広過ぎるだろ......。
平均的なプレイヤーの進み具合はまだドンデリーの森~ホーマ平原南部のようだ。
「殺意に満ち溢れた設定だったな......ハインド」
「ぜぇ、ぜぇ......あそこで一回は死んでおけ! という運営の悪意が透けて見えたな......初見殺しにも程がある」
「ま、私は運営の意図通りに一回死んだ訳だが!」
「威張んな! 剣を手放せば死ななかっただろ!? どうして――」
「お前が初めて作った武器を捨てられるか! 私は死んでも放さんぞ!」
「えっ......そんな理由だったのか? ......はぁ、全く。所詮はゲームのデータだっていうのにこいつは......」
「うん? 今、最後の方になんと呟いたのだ? ハインド」
「何でもねーよ。気にすんな」
「?」
義理堅い奴だな......そんな理由を聞かされたら、もう何も言えないじゃないか。
......それにしても、初日に劣らずドタバタした戦いだった。
アイテムも枯渇、武器の耐久値もないので、そのまま俺達は村へと戻ることにした。
そして、例によって『アルトロワの村』の広場。
時刻は十二時近く、そろそろ寝ないと明日に響くな。
ユーミルも名残惜しそうにしながらも、時間を気にして終わるかどうかを俺に聞いてくる。
「今日はここまでか? ハインド」
「そうだな。でも、忘れない内に武器の修理だけしてから――」
ビー、ビー、ビー! 使用者の体に異常が生じています!
5秒後にVRX3500を強制終了します。
5、4、......
何だ何だ!? 異常!?
「ゆ、ユーミル!? なんかVRギアから警告が!」
「は? ......まさかとは思うが亘、お前、部屋の鍵を――」
――接続を終了します。
そんなメッセージが流れた後、俺の意識はTBの世界から切り離された。
[Hurry up, let's try those skills!] 
[I thought you would say that...though, other than the monsters in this north area, we already beat them in a single hit. I guess we have no choice to try them here...] 
[In that case, let's go and find some goblins that are not in a big group. A [Al-miraj]  at this level would probably get one-shot after all, even if you wanted to try out [Act of desperation] ...] 
[Hyahah! A new monster!] 
[Listen to me!] 
Yumir rushed at the [Al-Miraj] .
I'm glad, it's only one...seems like she has at least heard about half of what I said.
It's just that, there's no meaning in activating the skill like that!
Yumir activated [Act of desperation]  and attacked the monster.
She's only lowering her own defense here...is she trying to self-impose a challenge upon herself?
[Take this!] 
Missed.
She's not hitting it.
Having a higher level, its speed had also increased accordingly, Yumir was unable to follow its movements.
Yesterday, in order to gain experience, we gave preference to hunting a big amount of them, she probably thought of them as low-level monsters.
While having difficulty dealing with it, lots of them had started to gather...
[Uwah...] 
Yumir was hit by a multitude of horn attacks simultaneously.
Having her whole body skewered here and there, her HP vanished instantly.
Well, when it comes to the sense of pain, it would only be at the level of being poked by a finger.
Even then, the sight in front of me was quite...shocking.
How should I say this, I didn't have time to cast any healing or supporting spells...
Since we hadn't dealt any damage to them this time, I just stood still until the group of [Al-Miraj]  left.
...Is it fine now?
[She even died while standing...is she Musashibo Benkei?] 
I opened another [Holy water]  and sprinkled it on top of her head.
She's gradually becoming better at dying...
[...Hah!] 
[Oh, you are back. How did it feel, dying pointlessly?] 
[The fluffy ones are scary...they are scary...Wa-kun, those fluffy things with horns...] 
[She turned into a child!? Hey you, you are trying to use that as an excuse to gloss over your failure, right!? Let's go earn enough to cover the expenses of you wasting that [Holy water] , hurry up!] 
[Tsk, he noticed...] 
Even going as far as to call me in that nostalgic way...
However, we only have 1 [Holy water]  remaining, you know?
What are we going to do now?
[Hey, Hind. If we defeated a monster that is isolated fast, it would be efficient, right?] 
Towards the troubled me, Yumir made an unexpected suggestion.
[Hmm? Let's see...by quickly killing an isolated monster, you mean to use [Act of desperation]  and defeat it before more gather, right?] 
[Since there are a few players here, it would take a while to find them...but well, it doesn't sound like a bad idea. It's true that as long as you manage to hit them they would take around double the damage, even if it was a goblin, it would probably die within 2 hits. As long as you don't get one-shot, you probably won't die after all] 
[In that case, want to give it a try? Going back would be a pain, I want to try staying here] 
[Hmm...it's quite the decent suggestion for someone like you...] 
[Right!? ...Hmm? Right now, didn't you just make fun of me?] 
There was some truth to what Yumir had said.
It's better if you don't have to go back.
[In that case, let's do this. Once we die once and use the remaining bottle, we'll go back. Until then, we'll remain here. What do you think?] 
[Oh! That means you are depending on me, right!?] 
[If it's a[Al-Miraj]  I should be able to defeat it in a single strike too. Keep that in mind when fighting] 
[Umu, understood!] 
After that, Yumir showed great effort as if to cancel her previous carelessness.
Against [Goblins]  she perfectly hit them and retreated repeatedly, she soon got accustomed to the [Al-Mirajs]  speed too.
Level 13,14,15...when I realized, we were close to level 16 and our weapons were on the verge of breaking, we were able to successively defeat our enemies without anyone dying.
After reaching level 15, our stats were high enough to deal with groups of enemies, so we fought them normally.
While sorting the item drops in our inventories, we took a breath after finishing healing the damage we had taken.
[We did it...this is amazing] 
[Fufun! See!?] 
[The way you are able to concentrate at times like this, does surprise me] 
The truth is, that is a part of Miyu I respected since we were small.
Should I call it a latent power? It was like a power that was displayed in a scene of high pressure. I won't say that directly to her though.
Because of that, the times she usually fails or is careless are too many to count though...
[However, the endurance of our weapons is at its limits. Let's return to the village and have the old man repair them] 
[You are right. Though, where is this place? I was too concentrated in defeating the enemies, I get the feeling we went in quite deep] 
[You are right. We should turn back her-] 
[...Hey, Yumir. I'm getting a really unpleasant feeling here] 
[Such a coincidence Hind, me too. I would love to say that I'm looking forward to it, but that would only be when we were in perfect condition-] 
The sound approached us.
The tremors made it obvious that it was a big creature.
It was not a sound that the previous monsters would make.
[It came out! Ogre!? Level 20!? It's impossible for us!] 
[R-retreat! Retreat!!!] 
The three meter [Ogre]  swung down a lump of iron to attack us.
The soft earth of the plains was gouged out and sediment started to vigorously scatter...
[Adadada! M-my HP! Does the flying sediment count as an attack!?] 
[Hind! I'm faster so I'll act as a decoy!] 
[Ah, you idiot, stop!] 
[It should have enough endurance for one more strike! Take this!] 
Yumir's [Slash]  cut into the ogre's arm.
A bit of the enemy's HP was shaved, but since she couldn't take the sword out, she was hanging in midair.
[E-eh?] 
[Let go of the sword!] 
I cast [Guard up]  on Yumir in a hurry.
The ogre swung the arm that was cut, along with the sword, Yumir was dropped...
[Gah!] 
It swung its club.
Naturally, she had no means to dodge in midair.
Yumir was blown away while still holding onto the sword.
Wait, she got one-shot!? With her HP gauge at 0, she started to roll on the ground flashily.
My support spell didn't help at all...wait, it's not the time to think about that!
The place Yumir was blown off to, was luckily a good direction to run away from the ogre.
I threw the last [Holy water]  and started to run while carrying Yumir, who was slowly standing up.
[It hurts! Hind, isn't your way of carrying me too sloppy!?] 
[Shut up! It's not the time to be carrying you gently! -Hye! That's scary!] 
It swung the club horizontally to the ground.
We kept running like that...once we reached the central area, the ogre finally let us go.
...So it's area of action is the whole north area...isn't that too wide...
Seems like the average players are still in the Dondery Forest and Homa plain areas.
[It was overflowing with killing intent, huh...Hind] 
[Hah, hah...go die over there one time! It showed that kind of evil intentions from the developers...it looked like one of those beginner killer monsters] 
[Well, I did die one time like the developers intended!] 
[Don't put on airs! If you had let go of the blade, you wouldn't have died! Why-] 
[How could I throw away the first weapon you have made! I won't let go even if I die!] 
[Eh...it was because of that? ...hah, geez. Even though it's just game data, this girl...] 
[Hmm? Right now, what did you murmur at the end? Hind] 
[Nothing. Don't mind it] 
[?] 
She sure has a strong sense of duty...if she says that was the reason, there's no way that I can say anything about the matter anymore.
...That being said, it was a very messy fight comparable to that of launch day.
We have run out of items, our weapon endurance is low too, so we decided to return to the village.
So, we returned to the plaza in [Altrowa Village] .
It was nearly 12pm if I don't sleep soon the day will change.
Yumir seems reluctant, but she asked me if it was about time or not.
[Is this all for today, Hind?] 
[It should be. However, before I forget, I should go and fix the weapo-] 
*beep beep beep* There's an abnormality occurring with the user's body!
The VRX3500 will force close in 5 seconds.
5,4,...
What!? Abnormality!?
[Y-Yumir!? There's a warning coming from the VR gear for some reason!] 
[Hah? ...Wataru, don't tell me that you forgot to lock your roo-] 
...The connection has been terminated.
After hearing that message, my consciousness was cut from the world of TB.
VRMMO no Shien Shokunin ～Top Player no Shikakenin～
ＶＲＭＭＯの支援職人　～トッププレイヤーの仕掛人～
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/vrmmo-no-shien-shokunin-%ef%bd%9etop-player-no-shikakenin%ef%bd%9e/
Action Adventure Comedy Fantasy Harem Slice of Life
Adventurers Beautiful Female Lead Blacksmith Brother Complex Calm Protagonist Childhood Friends Clan Building Cooking Crafting Curious Protagonist Dense Protagonist Elemental Magic Fantasy Creatures Game Ranking System Gamers Hard-Working Protagonist Healers Level System Love Interest Falls in Love First Love Rivals Male Protagonist Misunderstandings MMORPG Ninjas Possessive Characters Priests Siblings Siblings Not Related by Blood Sword And Magic Virtual Reality Younger Love Interests Younger Sisters
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n4014ds/
二階堂風都