全ての準備を終えた俺達は、満を持して『ホーマ平原』西部へと足を踏み入れた。
「おおう、でかい亀が沢山居るでござるな」
「逆にあれだけ居た他のプレイヤーは見えなくなったな。どうやら西エリアに入ったっぽい」
全長二メートル~三メートルの巨大亀が平原をのしのしと歩いている。
あちらから急に突進してくるような気配は感じられない。
ついボーっとしていると、その辺で拾った棒で亀を突いていたユーミルが顔に火を吹かれた。
「何してんだよ......」
「けほっ、けほっ......でもハインド。1ダメージだぞ、この炎」
「そりゃあ、始めたてのプレイヤーでもクリアできるような難易度になってるんだろう。基本は素材を集めて、装備を整える為のイベントだって言ったろ」
表示されている付近の『ビッグタートル』のレベルは全て10前後。
レベル30のメテオゴーレムに比べたら、もう相手にならないモンスターだろう。
「それで、エルダータートル......でしたっけ? 出現条件は把握しているんですか?」
「掲示板には、ここらに居るビッグタートルを一定数倒すと出現すると情報があったでござるよ。おおよそ、30体ほどが目安だそうな」
「じゃあ、パーティの状態を維持したまま適当にバラけて倒していこう。一人ずつでも、今更このレベルの敵に苦戦することもないだろ。それでもダメージが
「うむ。死ぬんじゃないぞ、ハインド」
ユーミルの心配も
しながら、杖による打撃で敵にダメージを与えていく。
甲羅は硬く、神官の貧相な物理攻撃力では殆どダメージを与えることが出来ない。
しかし、タートルの硬い甲羅を避けて頭に杖をぶつけると、ダメージが一気に跳ね上がる。
弱点は頭部か......予想通り。
自分に『アタックアップ』と『マジックアップ』の補助魔法を掛けて、杖による打撃と光属性の低級攻撃魔法『シャイニング』を交互に放つ。
この二つしか攻撃手段が無いんだ、悲しい事に。
杖の打撃が弱点に対してダメージ50程度、魔法が詠唱在りでダメージ200程度。
トビの短刀による速い一撃が一発200程度であり、ユーミルに至っては1000を超えてくるのだからその差は歴然である。
「――!!」
二種類の攻撃を五回ほど繰り返し、ようやく一体の『ビッグタートル』が四肢を投げだして倒れ込む。
つくづく支援特化はパーティ前提の能力だ。
ソロも視野に入れる場合は、光系攻撃魔法をどんどん覚えるバランス型か、前衛もこなせる攻撃型を選ぶのが正解なのだろう。
俺が一体を倒す間に、ユーミル達が各五体ほどタートルを倒していることからもそれが分かる。
――って良く見ると全員、戦い方が滅茶苦茶じゃねーか!
「ユーミル、ユーミル、こいつらの弱点頭だから! 一々甲羅を叩き割らなくても倒せる! トビ、TBでは尻尾を斬っても素材は増えない! リィズは何で毒状態にしてじっと眺めてるんだ、顔が怖いって! あー、もう!」
一度全員を集め直し、頭を狙って攻撃を集中する様にお願いした。
それから更に時間は進み、通算三体目となる『エルダータートル』戦もいよいよ大詰め。
その名の通り『ビッグタートル』の約三倍――十メートルはある巨体だが、今は既に満身創痍だ。
HPが減った時に出した、ひっくり返っての甲羅による高速スピンには非常に驚いた。
が、所詮はレベル15......俺達のレベルからすると、HPが高いだけの的と化している。
「ユーミル! そろそろ準備を!」
「うむ! 今、装備を変更する!」
ユーミルが『メテオグレートソード』を構えて歩き出す。
ダメージに関係しているのは俺が掛けたバフの『アタックアップ』、ユーミルのデメリット付き自己バフである『捨て身』、リィズのデバフである『ガードダウン』の三つだ。
これらは既に使用済みなので、後は頭を狙ってユーミルが大剣を振り下ろすのみ。
「トビ、影縫いを!」
「心得た!」
トビが『エルダータートル』に向けて『影縫い』のスキルを発動。
短時間だが、敵の動きを止めるスキルによって狙いをつけやすくなる。
「今だっ!」
「だああああああっ!」
ユーミルがレベル30で取得した『ヘビースラッシュ』を発動し、加速した大剣がタートルの頭部に叩きつけられた。
ここまでで一番高いダメージだ。
一度目、二度目は当たりが浅く、ダメージは3000程度までしか伸びなかった。
『エルダータートル』が崩れ落ち、ダメージを見た前衛二人が慌てて俺に駆け寄ってくる。
「ど、どうでござるか!?」
「どうなんだ、ハインド!」
「待て待て。今、ランキングを確認してる」
ランキングのレスポンスはかなり高いので、もうユーミルのダメージも反映されているだろう。
ゆっくり歩いてくるリィズを目の端で捉えつつ、メニューを表示してイベントのページをめくっていく。
イベントアタックランキング ※リアルタイム更新
1位:傭兵アルベルト(重戦士) 9745Pt
2位:ユーミル(騎士) 8893Pt
3位:(  ゚Д ゚)(重戦士) 8210Pt
4位:パンダ・ザ・グレート(重戦士) 8122Pt
5位:彼女がほしい(重戦士) 8098Pt
「2位だな」
「いや、ほんとだって。あー、やっぱり周りは重戦士だらけかぁ......」
「どういうことでござる? ハインド殿」
「もしかして、薄々こうなると予想していたんですか?」
「まあな......実は、重戦士には捨て身よりも攻撃力が乗る自己バフがあるんだよ。その名もバーサーカーエッジ。攻撃力3倍、防御力が0になる特化型スキルだ」
このランキングのダメージからいって、武器の攻撃力では勝っている。
しかし、それでもスキルの差を埋めるには至らなかったか......この人達も必要なバフ・デバフは揃えているだろうしな。
魔導士はどのゲームでも晩成型が多いし、弓術士と軽戦士は手数で稼ぐタイプ。
神官は論外だし、騎士は総じてバランス型だ。
他の職は『討伐数ランキング』だとか、範囲魔法が有利な『総ダメージランキング』、『クリティカル回数』に『回復値ランキング』なんてユニークなものもあるので、そっちで頑張れということなのだろう。
「ぐやじぃぃぃぃ! 何とかならんのかハインドぉぉぉ!」
地団駄を踏みまくるユーミルを見つつ、俺はどうするか考えた。
いや、実は詰めの一手はもう考えてある。
ただ、出来れば使いたくなかった手段というだけで......必要なのは、自分が割を食う覚悟だけだ。
めるトビと、呆れた様子で見ているだけのリィズを眺めてから、俺は嘆息と共に宣言した。
「......分かった。何とかしよう」
その言葉に、ユーミルが嬉しそうに目を輝かせる。
トビとリィズは驚いた様な顔で俺の方を見た。
「本当かハインド!」
「ちょちょちょ、ハインド殿! 本当に大丈夫なのでござるか!? 安請け合いしたのでは――」
「大丈夫だって。ほらほら、もう遅いし街に戻ってログアウトするぞー」
Having done all our preparations, we stepped inside the west side of the [Homa Plains] .
[Oh, there are quite a lot of giant turtles here]  (Tobi)
[On the other hand, we are now unable to see all the players that were here just a moment ago. Seems like we have entered the west side]  (Hind)
2-3 meters long turtles were walking around the plains.
It didn't seem like they would start rushing at us suddenly.
While I was in a daze, Yumir picked up a stick that was lying around nearby and poked the turtle. Then the turtle spat fire in her face.
[What are you even doing...?]  (Hind)
[Cough, cough...but Hind. This flame only deals 1 damage]  (Yumir)
[Well, that's probably done so players that just started playing are able to clear the event. Didn't I say that this was an event to gather materials and craft gear from them?]  (Hind)
The name that was displayed around us was [Big Turtle] , they were all below level 10.
Compared to the level 30 Meteo Golems, these could be considered small-fries.
[So, was it called...Elder Turtle? Do you know the conditions to make it appear?]  (Riizu)
[In the BBS, there was information saying that you need to beat a fixed number of Big Turtles around here to make it appear. Roughly...around 30 of them]  (Tobi)
[In that case, let's keep the party and split up to farm them. Even if we are alone, it shouldn't be hard at our current level. In the case that you accumulate a decent amount of damage, don't be reserved and call me. It would be a waste to spend healing items here]  (Hind)
[Umu. Don't die out there, Hind]  (Yumir)
It was kind of natural for Yumir to worry about me, after all, I was the weakest one among us when fighting solo.
While dodging its sluggish attacks, I dealt damage to it with my staff.
Its shell was hard, with a Shinto priest's low physical attack I wasn't able to deal much damage.
However, when I struck its head with my staff, the damage skyrocketed.
Its weak point is its head, huh? Just as I had expected.
I cast the buffs [Attack Up]  and [Magic Up]  on myself and alternated between hitting it with my staff and casting the low level light element magic [Shining] .
I don't have any other means to attack other than these two, it's quite sad.
A hit with my staff on its weak point only did around 50 damage and magic needed some cast time but did around 200 damage.
Each quick slash from Tobi's tantos was around 200 damage and Yumir was able to deal damage exceeding 1000 so the difference was quite clear.
[-!!] 
After alternating between both attacks 5 times, the [Big Turtle's]  legs finally gave in and it collapsed.
This is the strength of someone that completely specialized in providing support to a party.
If you wanted to go solo, you would probably choose the balanced type that learns a lot of light type attack magic or the attack type that can act as a vanguard.
I could see that because in the time I was able to defeat one, all of them were able to defeat around 5 of them.
...Wait, now that I'm taking a better look at them, isn't their way of fighting really messy!?
[Yumir, Yumir, their weakness is their heads! You can beat them without having to cut their shells in half! Tobi, in TB, you won't get more materials just because you cut their tails! Riizu, why are you poisoning them and just standing there!? Your face is so scary! Ah, jeez!]  (Hind)
I gathered them all for the time being and asked them to concentrate on aiming at their heads.
Some time passed, this was the third [Elder Turtle]  we were fighting, our last battle.
Just as its name suggested it was about 3 times the size of a [Big Turtle] ...it was huge, about 10 meters, but it was already full of wounds.
They appeared once its HP decreased, it lay down on its shell and surprised us by spinning at high speeds.
However, It was only level 15...for people at our level, it was just a monster with a bit more HP.
[Yumir! Start getting ready!]  (Hind)
[Umu! I'll change my gear now!]  (Yumir)
Yumir brandished the [Meteo Greatsword]  and started walking.
To help with the damage, I had cast the buff [Attack Up] , Yumir had cast her own buff with demerits [Act of desperation]  and Riizu's cast her debuff [Guard down] , these 3.
Since we were done doing that, all that was left was for Yumir to swing down that gigantic sword on top of the turtle's head.
[Tobi, shadow weaving!]  (Hind)
[Understood!]  (Tobi)
Tobi activated his [Shadow weaving]  skill on the [Elder Turtle] .
It's just for a bit of time, but since it stops the enemy's movement it'll make it easier for her to aim.
[Now!]  (Hind)
[Daaaaaaaaaaaa!]  (Yumir)
Yumir activated the skill [Heavy slash]  which she got when she reached level 30, the accelerating blade slashed the turtle's head.
It's the highest we have seen until now.
The first and second time it was shallow and only did around 3000 damage.
The[Elder Turtle]  crumbled, seeing the damage, both vanguards ran up to me while being flustered.
[How was it!?]  (Tobi)
[How was it, Hind!?]  (Yumir)
[Wait, wait. I'll check the rankings now]  (Hind)
The rankings were updated really quickly and it probably already had registered Yumir's damage.
Riizu slowly walked up to me and looked at my menu, I scrolled through the pages of the event menu.
Event's Attack ranking *Updated in real time
1st Place: Mercenary Albert (Heavy Warrior) 9745 Pts
2nd Place: Yumir(Knight) 8893Pts
3rd Place: ( D)(Heavy warrior) 8210Pts
4th Place: Panda*The*Great (Heavy warrior) 8122Pts
5th Place: I want a girlfriend (Heavy warrior) 8098Pts
[2nd place]  (Hind)
[No, it's true. Ah, as expected, it's full of heavy warriors...]  (Hind)
[What do you mean? Hind-dono]  (Tobi)
[By any chance, did you have an idea it would be like this?]  (Riizu)
[Well...truth be told, heavy warriors have a self-buff that increases their own attack more than act of desperation. Its name is Berserker Edge. A special skill that increases your own attack by 3 times but reduces your defense to 0]  (Hind)
From looking at these rankings, we are winning in terms of the strength of our weapon.
However, that wasn't able to make up for the difference in skills...we got all the buffs and debuffs we needed among us after all.
Mages tend to be late bloomers in all games, archers and light warriors rely on their number of hits.
Shinto priests are out of the question and knights are balanced.
The rest of the classes would work on unique rankings like...[Subjugation ranking] , [AoE damage ranking] , [Number of critical hits]  and [Healing value ranking] .
[So vexing!!! Can't you do something about it, Hind!?]  (Yumir)
While looking at Yumir who was stamping her feet on the ground in frustration, I thought about what to do.
Well, I do actually have an idea.
However, it was something I didn't want to use...what's needed is for me to prepare myself.
I declared to them while Tobi was trying to calm down Yumir and Riizu was looking at her in exasperation.
[...Got it, I'll do something about it]  (Hind)
When I said so, Yumir's eyes sparkled in delight.
Tobi and Riizu looked at me with surprised faces.
[Really!? Hind]  (Yumir)
[Wait wait wait, Hind-dono! Is it really OK!? Aren't you promising her without giving much considera-...]  (Tobi)
[It'll be fine. Come on, it's late, let's return to the village and log out...]  (Hind)
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