Chapter 120
When I explored the ant nest, I found that not a single ant remained. Every ant that had reached adulthood must have gone out to battle.
However, the ant eggs, larvae, and pupae were still there. When I quickly exterminated them, something interesting happened.
"'Lesser Calamity Ant Nest' has changed to 'Monster Nest Remains.'"
To my surprise, the location's name changed when we wiped out every ant nesting inside. Presumably, exterminating every monster using the nest was the key.
Even more interestingly, the moment the location's name changed, it became a base where we could respawn. Apparently, the entire room where the eggs had been had the same effect as a bed, meaning we could safely log out here.
"Whew, that was pretty hard. Anyone who wants to log out for now can go ahead. The monster horde should reach the fortress at around nine in the evening in real time, according to my estimate. So let's meet up by eight-thirty. How does that sound? Let me know if you can't make it."
It might be easy to forget since we're busy with various other things, but our objective in this event is 'stirring up the public event.' As the first step, we would attack the fortress farthest to the west at the same time as the monster horde.
The members of 'Persona' hold the key to a successful attack. Let's look forward to seeing how well they do.
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After that, I logged out and went for a walk to buy food and everyday necessities, hoping to make up for my recent lack of exercise. Once I returned home without incident, I opened the social media app for clan members. Even if we couldn't contact one another in-game, there were countless ways to communicate outside the game.
"Oh? Iris has made a post."
Just as I was about to report our current situation, I found an unfamiliar post from Iris. It read as follows.
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Iris: I'm in a party with people I met in the Aquaria Archipelago! They're nice people, so I invited them to the clan!
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Oh ho! So she was recruiting people just like I was. If the three of us all thought someone was worth inviting, there shouldn't be any problem. I might as well post my own report while I'm at it.
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Izam: Here's my report. I encountered eight monster players at the event. They seem decent enough, so I'm inviting them to the clan. It's still unclear whether all of them will accept.
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That should do it. I'll see how everyone reacts the next time I open the app. There shouldn't be any problem with new members joining. Not one of them is strange.
Ping♪
Oh, there's a new post on the app. This must be Jigorou.
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Jigorou: I'm in a place crawling with strong folks! It feels kind of Japanese-style.
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A Japanese-style place? I wonder what kind of place it is. I'll ask him.
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Izam: Japanese-style? What do you mean specifically?
Jigorou: Yeah. There are two huge islands in the Aquaria Archipelago, Twin Dragon Island and Heavenly Spirit Island. Iris and the others landed on Twin Dragon Island, while we landed on Heavenly Spirit Island. And the residents of Heavenly Spirit Island are all monsters—or rather, practically nothing but yokai.
Iris: Twin Dragon Island is home to the Huaguo Kingdom, a country with a distinctly Chinese atmosphere. Even the residents' names sound Chinese.
Izam: Is that so? The first continent, Luxresia Continent, had a European feel, but I suppose the customs change from place to place. How interesting.
Jigorou: Yeah. By the way, the old man and I just met the big boss of this place at the top of Heavenly Spirit Island. Its Race is apparently Great Tengu!
Iris: Huh!? It seems some important person wants to meet us! I'm going to step away!
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It seems everyone has been going on all sorts of adventures in their own way. I'll look forward to hearing their stories.
"Then I'll go make a heroic tale of my own, so I won't lose to the others. Though it might end up being a funny story instead."
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It was past seven-thirty. When I logged in, Shiitake was hard at work on 【Alchemy】 in the nest.
"Yo, Boss~"
"Boss... Well, whatever. Where is everyone else?"
"Shifune and Wool aren't here yet, but everyone else is gathered. They said they're going to do some light leveling nearby."
I see. There was still time, so they were training to raise the odds of a successful attack, even if only slightly. I was happy to see that everyone's motivation was higher than I had expected.
"How's 【Alchemy】 going?"
"You bet! Evolution is amazing, isn't it? I can turn not only my own poison but even my poison needles into items now."
"I really am a pervert, though," Shiitake continued. She had long been able to turn the white warts growing on her cap into poisonous items, but after becoming a Poison Walk Needle Mushroom, she could also turn the poisonous needles that grew on her into items.
The poisonous needles, which resembled tatami-stitching needles, could be shaped into arrowheads with 【Alchemy】, and were also a perfect size for darts. Even though we had time before the attack, she couldn't turn an unlimited number of them into items. Naturally, a long cooldown was required. So she couldn't mass-produce them, but they might prove useful as her secret weapon.
"Hmm... Then I think I'll work on some crafting for the first time in a while."
I had barely touched anything related to 【Alchemy】 lately. In fact, I felt I had been neglecting item production itself. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to return to my roots and make a variety of things.
"Oh my, oh my~ What are you going to make, Boss~?"
"Hehehehe! Why, I'm going to make an Undead, of course!"
Create, one of the spells of 【Necromancy】, was something I hadn't used even once since creating the Undead I had given to the Grave Keeper. There were various reasons for that. Certainly, custom-made monsters were strong. Since they grew and evolved with training, the longer they were used, the stronger they became. In fact, according to the forums, players who encountered the Grave Keeper had been driven off by the Undead he and I had created, so their strength was guaranteed.
But that was precisely why they were difficult to manage. The first drawback was having to prepare materials for their creation. Unless I gathered a decent quantity and quality of materials, I could only make feeble monsters. I had considered simply mass-producing them, but if they were disposable, 【Summoning】 would be sufficient.
The second drawback was that they took up party slots. They had the potential to become extremely strong if raised properly, but since they were treated the same as familiars, they occupied party slots. The fact that they grew stronger with training was probably the reason.
Solo play aside, for someone like me, who had companions, it was nothing but a disadvantage. In that regard, 【Summoning】, which didn't take up slots, could be said to be superior. I had given the ones I made before to the Grave Keeper, but if I hadn't, things would have become terribly complicated.
The third drawback was the effort required to raise them. Frankly, raising a minion that was utterly useless in a fight from scratch was a pain. It would be different if it had Cal's charm, but I have no hobby of doting on skeletons or rotting flesh. Besides, I would probably grow attached to them as I raised them, and if one were destroyed after all that painstaking work, I'd be crushed. If losing one meant all that effort would be for nothing, the more I raised them, the harder it would become to deploy them casually. I am an excessively frugal person, after all.
And the fourth, greatest drawback was that I couldn't create Undead without 【Light Attribute Vulnerability】. It was troublesome that they could only act during the day in places like this forest, where the trees were so densely packed that the game judged sunlight unable to reach them. Having my minions dictate my schedule would be completely missing the point!
Those were the reasons I had avoided it, but this was a good opportunity. Why not make an elaborate monster for the first time in a while? As usual, I would use bones as the base. I had gathered more than enough from beast-type monsters and Trolls. Those should do.
"Just combining things wouldn't be very interesting, would it? What should I use... Oh, that's it!"
I took out the exoskeletons of the many Lesser Calamity Ants I had. I had no idea how to use this item unless someone capable of processing it was around, and I had more of it than I knew what to do with. I might as well put it to use.
"While I'm at it, I may as well use the insect materials, too."
A mobile Skeleton with traits from various insects. Surely it would shock many people.
"What's that? Sounds like it could be fun!"
As I laid out the materials on the ground and worked out the design of the Undead I was going to create, Shiitake approached me.
"Are you done with your work?"
"Yeah. I got curious about what you were going to do, Boss~"
"Actually..."
I told Shiitake about the Undead I was trying to make. She rubbed her chin with her short hands—or rather, the place where a chin would be if she were human—and spoke.
"Interesting... Very interesting. Could I have a hand in it?"
"I don't mind. In fact, I'd be delighted to have your help."
Her cooperation was a great help. Having another person's perspective could lead to unexpected ideas. Brainstorming was one example of that. So we began working while discussing various ideas.
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"Oh... It's finished!"
"Mmm, I'm scared of how talented we are~"
Shiitake and I spent a full three hours of in-game time creating the strongest Undead we could make from the materials on hand. It felt presumptuous to say so myself, but I believed we had made a masterpiece—an extraordinarily powerful monster for its level range.
"What should we name it?"
"Hmm... Its Race is Undead, but it looks completely like an insect monster... Wait a minute. Wasn't there a yokai that looked something like that...?"
Shiitake twisted her cap from side to side for a while, murmuring, "Hmm, hmm," before clapping her hands and saying, "I remember!"
"Ushi-Oni! That's right! It's an Ushi-Oni!"
"Ah, now that you mention it, you're right. Then from today on, your name is Ushi-Oni."
"Clack, clack, clack..."
The Undead named Ushi-Oni answered by gently clicking its teeth. Somehow, it looked happy. I had put this much effort into creating you. You wouldn't be disposable—I would raise you into a monster that could serve me and the clan.
"All right, let's take Ushi-Oni outside. Everyone is sure to be surprised."
"Of course they will—huh? Oh, it's Shifune-chan and Wool-kun. Hey!"
Just as Shiitake and I were about to leave the nest ruins in high spirits, we found Shifune standing rigidly and Wool gently poking her head with his snout as they watched us. What was that about? If they had logged in, they could at least have said hello.
"Y-yeah. Good evening."
"Evening. So, what's that?"
"Hm? You mean Ushi-Oni? This is a joint creation by Shiitake and me! What do you think? It looks strong, doesn't it?"
"How is it? How is it?"
We puffed out our chests and proudly showed off our creation, but their reaction was less than enthusiastic.
"How is it...? Right?"
"To put it bluntly, it looks way too evil."
"So what?"
"Isn't that a good thing?"
Shifune hedged while Wool stated his opinion clearly. But Shiitake and I couldn't understand why they were both recoiling. If its evil appearance frightened our enemies, shouldn't that be considered a benefit?
Besides, though I didn't say it aloud, there was no doubt that the one whose appearance most closely resembled Ushi-Oni was Shifune, the Big Killer Spider. And yet she wouldn't acknowledge it? I couldn't accept that.
"No, I'm sure everyone will be surprised. Isn't it completely like a creature from a horror movie?"
"That's what makes it good!"
"Surely, some people might attack it on reflex, though~?"
"No, no, that should be fine. Let's head out of the nest, too."
We began moving out to launch the attack as a group of four and one creature. When we left the nest, we met up with everyone returning from their leveling. This was where the full-scale operation began!
Incidentally, everyone who saw Ushi-Oni immediately drew their weapons. Apparently, they had mistaken us for people about to be attacked from behind by a monster. Even after we cleared up the misunderstanding, everyone still kept their distance for some reason. I fail to understand it.