星降りの丘。
そこは、夜になると満点の星空を眺めることが出来るロマンチックな場所。
余りにも星が美しく明瞭で、まるで降ってくるように見えることからその名が付いた――なんてことはなく。
実際に星が降ってくる、単にそんな危険地帯がそう呼ばれているだけの話だ。
「ユーミルぅぅぅぅ!」
運悪く小型の隕石がユーミルの真横に落下し、大量の土砂をたっぷりと顔面に浴びたユーミルの体力は一瞬で0になった。
急いで『リヴァイブ』を詠唱して復活させる。
「いやー、はっはっはっ。神官のハインド殿が居ると、こんな場所でも充分に戦えそうでござるなぁ」
「笑ってんじゃねえよトビ! ってか何だよその口調は!」
「ロールプレイという奴でござるよぉ。拙者、ゲーム内ではこの話し方で通す所存にて」
「直ぐにボロが出そうですけどね......何時までもつのやら」
ユーミルが起き上がったので、『ヒーリング』を使って体力を回復しておく。
戦う前からこんなんで大丈夫なのだろうか......? 不安だ。
「はぁ、はぁ......死ぬかと思った」
「「「いや、死んでたから」」」
「!?」
隕石の落下地点には赤いマーカーが表示されるので、気を付けていればそうそう直撃することはない。
が、ここでは常に隕石に気を付けながらモンスターと戦わなければならない。
隕石の威力に関しては直撃で即死、余波でも先程の様に大ダメージが入るらしいので気を抜くと非常に危険だ。
そこら中が穴だらけで、正に地獄絵図である。
「なぁ、トビ。前にここに来たって言ってたけど」
「然り。以前、拙者がここに来たのは偶然でござった......丁度この付近のフィールドのモンスターを狩り続け、気が付けば辺りは暗く......。夜になると隕石が降る危険な場所だと知らなかった拙者は、突如降ってきた隕石を膝に受け、あえなく......」
「死んだんだな。ちなみにデスペナルティってどんなもんだった? その言い方からして、その時はソロだったんだろ? ――と、危ねえな。下がって下がって」
再び隕石が降ってくる。
全員で当たらない位置に移動して、モンスターの出現を待つ。
ちなみに他のプレイヤーの姿は何処にも見えない。
情報が拡散しきっていないのが主な原因だろうが、安全策を取りたいプレイヤーにはどのみち不評だろうしな。
「デスペナルティは装備品の耐久値が現在値から半減、それと所持金も半減と、主に財布にダメージを与えるものになっているようでござったな。それに、数分間の能力値減少が加わる形にござる」
「おー、割と良心的な部類じゃないか。所持金は各町にある銀行に預けておけばいいしな」
「そうでござるな。他のゲームで見る経験値が減るタイプのものや、装備品がロストするものに比べれば......あ、PKは別でござるよ? あれは一定確率で装備が剝がされると聞いたことがある故に」
「まだPKに走ってるプレイヤー自体が少ないからなぁ。現段階ではそれほど心配する必要はないだろう。ただ、何にせよペナルティを受けない様に立ち回るのが大事ってことだな」
「うむ、頼んだぞハインド」
当たり前の様に頼ってくるユーミルに、俺は
結果的にそうなってしまうのは仕方ないが、最初から蘇生を当てにするのもどうなんだろう?
「お前はもうちょっと自分のプレイスタイルを工夫しようか? な?」
「断る!」
「即答するなよ! 一瞬でも考えるそぶりくらいは見せろ!」
俺の苦言が全くの徒労に終わった、その時――。
「来たぞ!」
落下地点で煙を上げていた岩塊が、次々と浮き上がる。
宝石を中心に再び隕石が集まって行き、それは徐々に人型へ。
地面を殴りつけて立ち上がったそいつらの名は......。
「メテオゴーレムだ!」
空から飛来したモンスターが、ゆっくりと地響きを立てて歩き出した。
既に戦闘開始から十五分が経過している。
メテオゴーレムはこちらから攻撃しない限り、一切の敵対行動をしてこない。
その特性を利用して俺達は最もサイズが小さく、更にはレベルが低いメテオゴーレムを相手にしているのだが......。
「ハインド! ハインド!」
「何だ!?」
「腕が
「我慢しろ! もうちょいだ!」
戦法は至って単純。
敵の大振りな攻撃、降ってくる隕石を
忙しいが、高レベルのゴーレムになるとビームなどを撃ってくるらしいので、それが無いだけずっとマシな相手だといえる。
コアとなっている宝石が露出したら、そこへ全火力を叩き込む。
一定時間で胸部が再生するので、そうしたらまた同じ過程の繰り返し。
最初はトビが『急所狙い』という即死技を連発していたのだが、メテオゴーレムには即死耐性があるらしく不発。
結果、こうして地道にコアのHPを削るという戦法に落ち着いた。
「アバーッ!」
隕石に気を取られた前衛二人が、メテオゴーレムの豪腕の餌食になった。
やっぱ高レベルでも紙防御だな、軽戦士は!
しかし、トビが居なかったらとっくに戦線が崩壊していたのは間違いない。
ここまでの死亡回数は、ユーミル5回に対してトビは今のが初めてである。
明らかにユーミルよりも多い回数、敵の攻撃を引き受けているので回避盾としての役割は充分に遂行できていると言っていいだろう。
俺はトビに聖水を、ユーミルに『リヴァイブ』を飛ばして状況を立て直した。
「同時に死なれるとWT的に苦しくなる! 気を付けてくれ!」
「くうっ、油断したでござるっ......!」
「隕石が鬱陶しい! トビと同じくらい隕石が鬱陶しいぞハインド!」
「ひでえ! ひでえよ未祐っち! どさくさに紛れて!」
「早速口調が崩れてますけど......。ハインドさん、残り約100ダメージでコアが露出します」
「よしっ、次で決めるぞ!」
『アタックアップ』の補助魔法を前衛二人に掛け直した直後、コアが露出する。
ユーミルが『捨て身』と『スラッシュ』を使用し、トビが二対の刀の連続攻撃でクリティカルを出しまくる。
更にリィズが魔法で追撃を掛けるが......あろうことか敵の体力バーが1ドットほど残して止まった。
まずい、胸部が再生する!
俺は後衛の位置から一気に前に躍り出ると、渾身の一撃をアイアンロッドで叩き込んだ。
どうにか露出したコアに突き立った一撃は、『10』というショボイダメージを表示したものの......確実に敵の残りHPを削り切った。
メテオゴーレムが体を維持できなくなり、バラバラと崩れていく。
ユーミルが地面にどっと座り込み、大きく息を吐いた。
同時にレベルアップの光が体を包む。
「だーっ、疲れた! アイツ、ちょっと硬すぎるのではないか!?」
「おいおい、こんな所で座るなよ。まだ隕石は降ってくるんだぞ」
「おお、そうだった。しかし、こんな調子でイベントに間に合うのか?」
「まあ、落ち着けよ。メニューを開いて今のレベルを見てみ?」
レベルアップの演出は一回きり。
ユーミルは勘違いしているようだが、レベルが2以上増えた場合もそれは同じらしいので......。
俺の予想では、今ので3か4くらいはレベルが上がっていると思うのだが。
「ハインド殿! 拙者のレベルも1上がっているでござるよ!」
「えっ、嘘!?」
すると、予想外の方向からレベルアップの報告が。
「上がる直前だったとかじゃ――」
「確かに必要経験値の三分の二は超えてござったが、普通の稼ぎではあと丸一日は掛かると踏んでいたでござるよ。これは中々に凄い」
「マジか、本当にすげえ効率だな......これだと直ぐに運営に修正されるんじゃ――いや、夜の時間限定だし、この隕石ラッシュだし、これはこういう調整なのか。ソロだと難しいし、回復役が居なければそれこそ聖水祭りになっちまうからな」
「ハインド! こっちはレベル25だぞ!」
「私は23です、ハインドさん」
「わぁお......」
一気に10近く上がっているじゃないか......セレーネさんの情報に感謝だ。
その後、レベルアップによるパーティ全体の火力の底上げが出来た俺達は三体のメテオゴーレムを倒す事に成功。
その日の最終的なレベルは俺とユーミルが26、リィズが25、トビが29ということになった。
砥石と聖水をいくつか使用したので、金策面では赤字ではあるが、かなりおいしい戦果だといえよう。
このペースなら、イベント最終日までにはレベルのカンストを目指せそうだ。
Seikori hill.
At night, you can see a perfect starry sky there, a romantic spot.
The stars were really pretty and its name came from the fact that it looked as if the stars would fall...just kidding.
Stars do really fall here and it's simply called that because it's a dangerous zone.
[Yumir!!!]  (Tobi)
Unluckily, a small meteorite had flattened Yumir onto the ground, with her face covered with sediment, Yumir's HP instantly reached 0 points.
I immediately started to chant [Revive]  to resurrect her.
[Hahaha. Having the shinto priest Hind-dono with us we can even fight plentifully in a place like this]  (Tobi)
[Don't laugh Tobi! And what's with that way of speaking!]  (Hind)
[It's what people call role-playing. I thought of speaking like this while inside the game] 
[You will probably break character soon enough...wonder how long you'll last]  (Riizu)
Since Yumir had stood up, I cast [Healing]  on her to restore her HP.
We are having such issues before even fighting, are we going to be...fine? I'm worried.
[Hah, hah....I thought I was going to die]  (Yumir)
[[[No, you did die] ] ] 
[!?]  (Yumir)
The spots where the meteorites will fall are marked with a red marker, so if you are careful you shouldn't take a direct hit.
However, if you have to pay attention to meteorites all the time, it'll be hard to fight the monsters.
When it comes to the meteorites, if you are hit directly, you'll die instantly.
The ground was full of holes, it was like a picture of Hell.
[Say Tobi. You did say that you came here before]  (Hind)
[It's just as you've said. The previous time I came was a complete coincidence...I was hunting monsters in a field close to here and before I noticed, the area turned gloomy...
[You died. By the way, how was the death penalty? From the way you were saying that, you were playing solo at the time right? Whoops, this is scary. Move back]  (Hind)
Once again, meteorites fell.
We all moved to a safe spot and waited for monsters to appear.
For the record, we couldn't see any other players in the area.
The main reason for it would be because the information hasn't been divulged yet and it would have a bad reputation among players that want to play safe.
[The death penalty is reducing the current endurance of your gear by half and you also lose half of your money, my wallet took quite the hit at the time.
[Oh, seems like they are distributed quite fairly. You can just deposit your money in the banks that are located in towns after all]  (Hind)
[You are right. Compared to other games that would make you lose experience or gear...ah, it's different if you get PK'd you know? I heard that you have a chance to be stripped of your gear]  (Tobi)
[There are still not that many PKs. We probably don't have to worry about that for now. However, it's important to not go around with a death penalty on you]  (Hind)
[Umu, I'm counting on you Hind]  (Yumir)
Being relied on that naturally by Yumir, I faintly knitted my eyebrows.
I know that it can't be helped that it'll end up like that, but I don't know what to think about them relying on me healing them from the start.
[You should start working on your own playstyle, got it?]  (Hind)
[I refuse!]  (Yumir)
[Don't reply immediately like that! At least act like you have been thinking about it for a moment!]  (Hind)
The moment my suggestion gave no results...
[It's coming!]  (Hind)
From the smoke that was raised in the spot where the meteorite fell, rocks started floating.
With the gems as a core, a meteorite was formed again and it slowly took humanoid form.
The name of the thing that hit the ground and was standing there was...
[It's a Meteo Golem!]  (Hind)
The monster that fell from the sky started walking while producing tremors.
It's been more than 15 minutes since we started fighting.
As long as we don't attack it, the Meteo Golem won't aggro onto us.
By making use of that information we fought the one that was the smallest and had the lowest level but...
[Hind! Hind!]  (Yumir)
[What!?]  (Hind)
[My arm has gone numb!]  (Yumir)
[Bear with it just for a little bit longer!]  (Hind)
Our strategy was really simple.
The enemy swings were quite wide, while avoiding the meteorites we hit the monster's chest whenever we could.
We were in a bit of a hurry, but it seems like the highest level golems are able to shoot a beam, I can say that I'd rather not fight one of them that has that move.
Once the gem that has become its core is exposed, we focus all our attacks on it.
After a fixed time the chest will regenerate, if that happens, you have to repeat the process again.
In the beginning, Tobi was using the instant death skill [Aim at the vitals]  in rapid succession, but it seems like the Meteo Golems have high resistance to instant death so it kept missing.
As a result, we settled for this strategy of shaving off the core's hp slowly.
[Abah!]  (Tobi)
Since they were paying too much attention to the meteorites, they fell victim to the golem's arm.
Just as I thought, the light warrior's defense is quite low even at a high level!
However, there's no denying that if Tobi wasn't here, our vanguard would have crumbled already.
Counting the number of times they have died until now...it's the 5th time for Yumir and this is the first time for Tobi.
Since it's pretty clear that Yumir has died a lot more, you could say that he's fulfilling his role of a shield that diverts attacks from us pretty well.
I used holy water on Tobi and cast [Revive]  on Yumir and they stood back up.
[If you die at the same time it'll be hard on my CDs! Try to be more careful!]  (Hind)
[Kuh, I was careless...!]  (Tobi)
[The meteorites are so annoying! They are as annoying as Tobi, Hind!]  (Yumir)
[So cruel! You are so cruel Miyucchi! Mixing me in there!]  (Tobi)
[Your way of speaking has already crumbled though...
[Alright, we are going to finish it the next time it appears!]  (Hind)
Immediately after I cast the support magic [Attack up]  on our vanguards, the core was exposed.
Yumir used [Act of desperation]  and [Slash] , while Tobi attacked in quick succession with both blades dealing critical hits.
Furthermore, Riizu followed up with her magic but...of all things, the enemy's HP bar stopped at 1 pixel.
This is bad, it's going to regenerate its chest!
I immediately leapt forward from my rearguard position and hit it with my iron rod with all my might.
The blow that I was somehow able to hit the core with showed that it only dealt [10]  damage but...it was able to shave off its remaining HP.
The Meteo Golem was unable to maintain its body and crumbled into pieces.
Yumir sat on the ground and started to take big breaths.
At the same time, her body was wrapped up with the level up light.
[Dah, so tired! Isn't it too hard!?]  (Yumir)
[Hey hey, don't sit down there! Meteorites are still falling, you know?]  (Hind)
[Oh, I forgot. However, are we going to make it in time for the event at this pace?]  (Yumir)
[Well, just calm down. How about you open your menu and look at your current level?]  (Hind)
The level up phenomenon only happened 1 time.
Yumir probably misunderstood, but she probably also leveled up more than 2 times...
Going by my predictions, she should have leveled up 3 or 4 times right now.
[Hind-dono! My current level has gone up by 1!]  (Tobi)
[Eh, really!?]  (Hind)
A report of a level up had come from an unexpected direction.
[Don't tell me that you were just about to level up...]  (Hind)
[If I remember correctly, I needed 2/3 of the level to level up, but usually that would take the whole day to earn. This is quite amazing]  (Tobi)
[Seriously? This is so efficient...this is probably going to be hotfixed by the developers soon enou-...no, since it's limited at night-time and there are all these meteorites falling, it's probably adjusted this way. It's hard for a solo player and if you don't have a healer it'd turn into a holy water festival after all]  (Hind)
[Hind! I'm level 25 now!]  (Yumir)
[I'm level 23, Hind-san]  (Riizu)
[Wow...]  (Hind)
Didn't we just go up close to 10 levels in one go...? I should feel grateful for Selene-san's information.
After that, having raised our stats because of the level up, we managed to beat 3 golems in total.
As for the results of that day. Me and Yumir were level 26, Riizu was level 25 and Tobi was level 29.
Since we had used quite a few holy waters and whetstones, we had ended up losing money, but I can say that the results were quite sweet.
At this rate, we should be able to hit the level cap by the last day of the event.
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