Redefining the META at VRMMO Academy: Volume 6 E-Book

Hayaken

• Herausgeber: J-Novel Club
• Kategorie: Abenteuer, Thriller, Horror
• Serie: Redefining the META at VRMMO Academy
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 245

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Ren creates a party to take on the limited-time only summer events in game, but the girls erupt into chaos over his picks! On top of that, Ren decides to pick up a solo quest at Kokoru’s. Can he clear his log...and win love in the process?

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Chapter 1: Chariot Hunting

Chapter 2: Girl Talk

Chapter 3: Me, the Benchwarmer!

Chapter 4: Home Makeover—a Den of Monsters! Part 1

Chapter 5: Home Makeover—a Den of Monsters! Part 2

Chapter 6: The Cannon’s Counterattack

Chapter 7: Akira and Shizuku

Chapter 8: Our New Titles

Epilogue: Class Changes!

Afterword

Color Illustrations

About J-Novel Club

Copyright

Landmarks

Color Images

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Chariot Hunting

And the next day...

Summer vacation was nearly halfway over, and I was itching to game all day! As I was a pretty good kid, my parents’ philosophy was to allow me to dive into whatever I loved.

After eating breakfast and getting ready for the day, I logged into Unlimited World.

My spawn point was the classy cottage in the new world of Summertide, which was serving as our guild’s home base. More specifically, I appeared in the middle of the deck and was treated to a lovely view of the ocean.

When I arrived, Akira was standing right in front of me.

“Yo, Akira.”

“Oh! Good morning, Ren!”

Her adorable smile was the same as ever, but her ensemble gave her a totally different impression. She was wearing a swimsuit!

This might’ve been the first time I’d seen her in one. The sword dancer gear showed off a lot of skin, but the bikini look was even more incredible.

What a lovely sight. I was still feeling a little sleepy, but this woke me right up. Big boobs, slender hips, snow-white skin, plump softness...

“Ooh, thanks for the early-morning fanservice! Yep, today’s gonna be a good day. I really appreciate you doing this just for me!”

“I-It’s not just for you! I was just swimming, so... eh, whatever. I’m glad you like it. Teehee.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” interjected Akabane, poking her head out of the water. “I happen to recall you worrying so much about which he would like best that you hardly took more than a dip in the sea.”

Oh, so Akabane’s already here. I didn’t even notice.

“Nozomi, stop telling people my business!”

“Yes, yes. If you need me, I’ll be swimming until we leave. I might as well enjoy it.”

Today, we were planning to continue our delve into Aswarth’s Undersea Ruins. We had some beef to settle with Mr. Death Chariot. If all went well, he could be the key to dealing with the Hadean Rose that had obliterated us last time.

After Emily left yesterday, we’d tried to take one more trip into the dungeon. Despite Akira’s summoning of Akabane making us a full party, there had been a Monster House the moment we entered. We’d been mobbed by slimes and killed almost instantly.

But today, we were starting fresh.

“I’ll do that too! Come swim with me, Ren!”

“Sure! I’ll go change!”

The three of us swam around and rode on the jet ski until everyone else arrived, at which point we departed for Aswarth’s. Today’s party consisted of Akira, Maeda, Yano, Akabane, Shizuku, and me. We were basically the same party as yesterday, except Akabane had taken Emily’s place.

In terms of classes, our lineup was sword dancer, scholar, sky pirate, another sword dancer, martial artist, and symbologist. I loved having that double sword dancer composition.

As Emily was an armor knight, she had the wide-range taunt skill Provoke, which was great for big hordes of weak monsters. Her Crimson Calamity could also kill all the enemies she brought to her in one swoop. She was a valuable tank in both normal battles and in boss chambers. I didn’t care much for good classes, but it did feel safer to have one around.

How would our double sword dancer comp fare? We were just planning to mess around with Mr. Death Chariot today, so I didn’t need to think too much about efficiency.

While I was mulling these things over, we arrived at the entrance to Aswarth’s Undersea Ruins.

“Huh. Not many people today,” I noted.

“Yeah, really. There were way more yesterday,” Akira said.

“What’s it mean?” Yano asked. “Do these people, like... actually go out IRL?”

I shook my head. “Nah, no way. Anyone who came here for the Rainbow Guard is a real, dyed-in-the-wool gamer. I doubt they’d slack off like that. Most likely, they’re all grinding and planning to take down that Hadean Rose. Collecting items, grabbing talents, stuff like that. It’s just a temporary stop while they’re busy with all that.”

“I getcha. Slacking off of video games, though... That’s a funny thought.”

“Yes, it is rather silly,” Maeda agreed. “Even so, I suppose it makes sense.”

“Your zeal and your keeping tabs on the competition reminds me of a sports team on their way to an important match,” Shizuku commented.

“Well, professional gaming is just becoming accepted as a real occupation,” Akabane replied. “That’s what Emily and her friends are doing, no? Our corporation has been considering forming its own team.”

I let out a chuckle. “Heheheh. Just imagine how good it’ll feel to beat pro gamers to the bottom of the dungeon. Aww yeah, I’m getting fired up! Let’s win this!”

But first, we needed to see the chariot of death himself.

We plunged into the dungeon. Our destination this time was B10F, so to get there, we would warp to B6F and clear the next four floors.

I’d like to say things went well along the way, but that wasn’t quite true. Without Emily, our small-fry culling went much slower. In cases where the gate condition was to kill all enemies on the floor, she was the perfect one for the job. She could set them up by pulling them in, then knock them down with her wide-range ult.

I’ve gotta come up with a way to speed things up.

That said, not every gate required that much effort. We cleared each one somewhat slower than before as we approached our destination. Just then, we heard a familiar ping!

Gate Condition cleared!

Head for the gate to the next floor!

Akira cheered. “Woo! Next up is the long-awaited B10F!”

“Heck yeah. Let’s go!”

Leading the pack, she and I ran for the warp gate.

Along the way, Yano asked me, “So why are we going to this guy, anyway? Does he have something we need?”

“Of course! Remember how he gave us this armor called Blood-Dead Robe a while back? I wanna see if he’ll give us more stuff!”

“How do we get it?”

“I’ve got a theory, so that’s what we’re here to test.”

“Eww, he said ‘test’! Every time he uses that magic word, he can make us do whatever weird stuff he wants!”

“Thanks for the compliment!”

“That wasn’t a compliment!”

Still bickering, we entered the warp gate. The scenery before us was replaced with a giant, empty arena-like battlefield. Like before, there was palpable loneliness emanating from the empty stands.

Ping!

Gate Condition: Defeat the boss monster!

Ping!

It has been 28 minutes since you entered. In 120 seconds, you will be booted from the dungeon.

Two system messages in a row? Oh, crap! We’re almost out of time!

Fortunately, our sword dancer duo had way more firepower in boss battles. We would take him down in seconds!

“We’re out of time, so I’m going to kill him in three ults! Back me up, girls!”

Akira nodded. “Okay! I’ll cover for you, Ren!”

“My AP is topped up and at your disposal,” reported Nozomi.

“I gotcha, bro!” Yano flashed a thumbs-up.

“I will support you from afar with offensive magic,” said Maeda.

Shizuku turned toward me. “Do you object to me attacking as I please?”

“Not at all. Punch his lights out!”

Maeda and Shizuku were free to do what they wanted at times like this. They wouldn’t accidentally take aggro, so they could just hit as hard as possible without worry.

Groaning, the gate on the opposite side of the arena lifted. Soon after, I heard metallic grinding noises coming our way.

Skree-ee! Skree-ee!

The creature’s upper body was covered with a black robe, and it wore a mask that looked just like a famous screaming face. Its lower body was composed of wheels with metal spikes, plus a pair of dragon heads. The beast’s arms were bound with spiky chains, and it wielded a massive scythe.

This being looked like the incarnation of weird death metal, but in truth, he was a really nice guy with a heart of gold who would literally give a naked man the clothes off his back. That was the true nature of our Mr. Death Chariot.

He appeared from behind the gate and sluggishly approached.

Seeing him for the first time, Akira squealed in excitement. “Whoa, that’s the Death Chariot?! He’s scary! I love this design so much!”

She then pulled out her camera and pointed it at him. No matter what, she always wanted to screenshot new things. That was our pic-snapping addict for you.

Akabane was very much the opposite. “What bizarre taste he has. I’m suddenly feeling ill.”

Hey, it’s a matter of taste. Anyway, I’d better get into striking range.

“He who strikes first wins! Final Strike! Enervating Circle!”

And as a reminder, here were the effects!

Final Strike

Cooldown: 0/300 seconds

<Effect> Greatly increases damage of next attack, but breaks weapon afterward.

Enervating Circle (MP: 5~∞)

Cooldown: 0/10 seconds

<Effect> Places a magic circle that decreases AGI by 25% for all enemies inside.

Symbologist only

In exchange for breaking my weapon, it would greatly boost my next attack’s damage. By creating a large circle, I also used up almost all of my MP.

“Eat my ultimate move! Vermilion Wiiing!”

“Graaaaargh!”

A phoenix’s flames enveloped me as I charged at the Death Chariot and sliced right through it. This ultimate was made up of Turnover, Explosive Tackle, and Quickdraw, thanks to the Skill Chain talent.

Turnover

Cooldown: 0/300 seconds

<Effect> Swaps current HP and MP.

Symbologist only

Explosive Tackle (AP: 75; HP: 10% of max)

Martial Artist Art (Strikes)

<Effect> A high-speed tackle that envelops the user in flames. Hits an area in front of the user.

Quickdraw (AP: 0)

Hidden Weapon Art

<Effect> Lightning-fast strike that takes enemies by surprise. Hits once.

Only usable once per battle. Grows stronger as HP decreases.

Ignores defense. Cannot be evaded.

When all of these were used at once, they made up Vermilion Wing.

As Turnover swapped my current HP and MP stats, using Enervating Circle ahead of time put my HP right into the red zone. Turnover was a symbologist-only skill, so bringing down one’s HP so low at will was something that only this class could do. Explosive Tackle’s high-speed, flaming charge came at a cost of 10% more HP, putting me in the single digits. I was a gust of wind away from certain death.

All of this culminated in Quickdraw, an art that increased my damage more as my HP went down. Thanks to my HP being this low, it was at maximum power. By activating Final Strike just before my ultimate, I ramped up my damage even further. This all resulted in such insane damage that it was truly worthy of being called the drama cannon!

That was how Vermilion Wing worked.

My other drama cannon ultimate worked pretty similarly, using Turnover to reduce my HP to near death at will and throwing in Quickdraw to maximize my damage. Activating Final Strike along with it made for the same basic setup in either situation.

In any case, firing off an ultimate put me close to dying. There were plenty of negatives. If I took aggro, I’d die almost immediately. Quickdraw and other hidden weapon arts were only usable once per battle, so to avoid that, I’d have to craft a new weapon mid-battle. Each ultimate used up a ton of money.

However, my one-shot damage was far and away the best. With this min-maxed drama cannon, my goal was to improve symbologist’s reputation from “worst of the worst.” That was my life’s work as the Emperor of the Underpowered!

Ren activated Vermilion Wing.

Dealt 5,904 damage to Death Chariot!

A log displayed the damage dealt by my ultimate.

Just as spicy as ever! It’s about time to finish this reaper off!

Having taken such a huge amount of damage from the outset, the Death Chariot turned to me and began charging in to attack. After my ultimate, I was inches from death. One hit would kill me. However, I trusted everyone else enough to hold him back, so I opened my item window to begin crafting my next Canesword.

“You’re up, girls!”

Crafting wasn’t normally possible in battle, but my Efficiency talent bypassed that limitation.

“Gotcha. Guilty Steal!”

Yuuna activated Guilty Steal.

Yuuna stole all of Ren’s aggro!

With that, Yano took away all of the aggro I’d built up. The Death Chariot spun around in place and rolled at her.

“Sword Samba!”

Akira and Akabane simultaneously used Sword Samba.

Akira activated Sword Samba.

Ren’s cooldowns have been fully reset!

Nozomi activated Sword Samba.

Yuuna’s cooldowns have been fully reset!

“Allow me to heal you too!”

Kotomi activated Ex-Heal.

Ren recovered 345 HP.

Maeda had come in with perfect timing as usual. I was truly grateful for these girls, especially the potent combination of two sword dancers. Last time we fought the Death Chariot, Ryuutarou had been our sword dancer; now we had the cute Akira and the beautiful Akabane in our arsenal instead. Simply incredible.

With that, my second Canesword was complete. As preparation for my ultimate, I cast circle magic and activated Final Strike.

“Off we go again! Vermilion Wing!”

“Graaaaarh!”

Ren activated Vermilion Wing.

Dealt 5,904 damage to Death Chariot!

Taking that as their signal, the girls moved again.

Yuuna activated Guilty Steal.

Yuuna stole all of Ren’s aggro!

Akira activated Sword Samba.

Ren’s cooldowns have been fully reset!

Nozomi activated Sword Samba.

Yuuna’s cooldowns have been fully reset!

Kotomi activated Ex-Heal.

Ren recovered 345 HP.

Everyone was in perfect sync! With one more shot of my ultimate, the Death Chariot would be down.

I crafted a third Canesword and performed pre-ult preparations. Next would be my ultimate, but this time, we needed a special twist. As for what that was, well, I was going to have to channel my inner Ryuutarou.

Indeed, I needed to strip!

“Equipment Set D!”

I activated the ability of my accessory, the Equip Ring.

Equip Ring

Type: Accessory

Level: 10

Effect: Allows the user to change equipment quickly through verbal commands.

[Same effect as the talent Quick Change]

There were a lot of accessories out there with talent effects, essentially freeing up a talent slot by using an accessory slot instead. This gear change made it so that my equipment was as follows:

Main Weapon: Canesword (OEX)

Subweapon: None

Ranged Weapon: Blowgun (OEX)

Ammunition: Sleep Darts

Head: None

Body: Damascus Robes

Arms: None

Legs: None

Feet: None

Accessory 1: Equip Ring

Accessory 2: Rush Ring

My head, arms, legs, and feet were all bare!

We had received the Blood-Dead Robe from this Death Chariot last time we came, but we hadn’t heard of anyone receiving other kinds of gear. I’d asked a handful of people, including the item-loving Homura and our info-brokering Kataoka, but no one knew anything about it.

The question, then, was what had made our party different from the others. The answer? Well, Ryuutarou, of course. This boss had used a skill called Dark Possession to force the Blood-Dead Robe into one of his equipment slots.

And what made Ryuutarou special? The fact that he was naked, obviously.

My expectation was that, when the Death Chariot was defeated, it activated Dark Possession if anyone was naked at the time. Who would fight a boss naked, after all? The Death Chariot didn’t use any skills that forcefully removed equipment either.

To sum all this up, Ryuutarou was the only idiot who would be nude upon the defeat of Death Chariot. We had been lucky enough to witness this hidden mechanic on our first run! No wonder nobody else knew about the Blood-Dead Robe.

First off, I wanted to test my hypothesis to see if it was correct. After that, as I had mentioned to Yano, I wanted to know if he would drop other equipment.

With my change of clothes, only my upper body was covered by Damascus Robes. If everything but my upper body was bare, maybe he would give me a different piece of armor.

When it came to the Blood-Dead Robe’s stats, they were... problematic.

Blood-Dead Robe

Type: Armor

Level: 50

DEF: 77

Wearable by all classes.

Effect: All stats -100, movement speed down.

As defensive equipment, it was beyond useless. However, according to my testing, wearing the Blood-Dead Robe made my Elemental Circle spell much more likely to dredge up dark-type magic.

If there were other pieces of equipment, they ought to come with dark-boosting capabilities as well. And if that was true, then how could I not want them?!

“Here I come, Death Chariot! It’s the final Vermilion Wiiing!” I called out, before releasing the killing ultimate!

Covered in phoenix flames, my charging slash whizzed through the Death Chariot, rending him in twain!

“Graaaaarh!”

Ren activated Vermilion Wing.

Dealt 5,904 damage to Death Chariot!

Ren has defeated Death Chariot.

Woo! Killed him with three consecutive ultimates!

Apart from the three Caneswords I’d lost thanks to Final Strike, we had made it through without any losses. It was a trade-off of money and big damage, after all. The real world was a tough place!

“Graaarh... Raaaaargh!”

The chariot writhed and screamed, falling to the ground. As I watched him crumple, I did my best to cheer him on from afar.

“You can’t go yet! Don’t give up! I need the thing, man! The thing! Please, please, pleeeease!”

Death Chariot prepared to activate Dark Possession.

“YEEEEEEAH!”

As my joyful shout echoed through the arena, the Death Chariot’s body turned into a small, black light. It flew my way and gently enveloped my body. Then, the black light filled my eyes.

Once it faded, something was obscuring my field of vision.

Did he give me a mask? I feel like that’s the most likely explanation.

Akira pointed at me and burst out laughing. “Ahahaha! Ren, you should see your face! It looks good on you!”

“If you wanted armor that wasn’t upper-body armor, I suppose he did give you what you wanted,” Akabane murmured.

Maeda was also trying to stifle a giggle. “But... Pfft, it does look silly!”

“Lookin’ good, Takashiro!” Yano said.

Shizuku was much more blunt. “It’s frankly ugly as sin, but it’s good that you got what you wanted.”

“Wait, Ren, don’t take it off yet! I gotta snap a pic!”

While Akira took screenshots galore, it was clear that the reason my vision was obstructed was because he’d put a mask on me. The mask was long and white, straight out of a well-known horror flick.

Yell Mask

Type: Helmet

Level: 50

DEF: 27

Wearable by all classes.

Effect: All stats -100, movement speed down.

Yell Mask, huh? It’s just as bad as the Blood-Dead Robe!

It murdered your stats, and it slowed you down. Both in battle and mobility, it was hard to see any value in this. All in all, it looked like nothing more than a piece of garbage.

Still, I imagined it would have the same dark-boosting hidden effect as the Blood-Dead Robe. That would require some testing later.

Either way, my hypothesis was correct, and we’d gotten a new piece of equipment! As long as I managed my equipment when I dealt the finishing blow to the Death Chariot, we could get all the other gear. What remained were the arms, legs, and feet!

Gotta collect ’em all!

“On to the next one, girls! We have three more to go.”

I believed that the Blood-Dead Robe increased dark circle probability to about twenty percent. With five of them, it stood to reason that we would reach one hundred percent dark circles! My dream was coming true at last!

A few hours later, I emerged from Aswarth’s Undersea Ruins wearing the following:

Head: Yell Mask

Body: Blood-Dead Robe

Arms: Gauntlets of the Deceased

Legs: Pants of the Raging Wheels

Feet: Fool Dragons’ Boots

By the way, here’s a quick wrap-up:

Gauntlets of the Deceased

Type: Gloves

Level: 50

DEF: 22

Wearable by all classes.

Effect: All stats -100, movement speed down.

Pants of the Raging Wheels

Type: Bottoms

Level: 50

DEF: 32

Wearable by all classes.

Effect: All stats -100, movement speed down.

Fool Dragons’ Boots

Type: Shoes

Level: 50

DEF: 22

Wearable by all classes.

Effect: All stats -100, movement speed down.

Yep, they were all terrible. Nevertheless, I was thrilled to be in the Death Chariot gear. Why, I looked to be the Death Chariot himself! It was as if he’d decided he wanted to be human and shrunk down to size. The only real difference was that I walked on legs instead of wheels.

Now that I had all of his gear, I could see how he worked—specifically, what was going on under the robe!

From top to bottom, we started with the Yell Mask. As explained before, it was a silly mask based on a movie.

Next, the Blood-Dead Robe. It was pretty creepy with its bloodstains and ghastly visual effects, but apart from that, a normal robe.

After that, the Gauntlets of the Deceased. Left and right were bound together with chains; aside from the fact that I couldn’t move, though, they were pretty normal.

The Pants of the Raging Wheels had a ridiculous design, with wheels all over the sides of the legs. When I stood up, the lowest wheels dragged against the ground.

Finally, the Fool Dragons’ Boots. They had a lopsided design where the fronts were really long. The top of the front of either boot had plesiosaur-like dragons attached to them.

“So does this make me the Death Chariot now?”

I tried sitting seiza style, on my knees. Just as I did, the wheels lined up like a tank, and the dragons attached to my boots seemed to leap out. He must have sat like this under his robe.

Just as my knees touched the ground, the wheels started to turn with a hideous creak, and the dragon heads came poking out!

“Kshaaaah!”

“Whoa, sick! This gear actually moves!”

This amazing set let me move just like the real thing!

It felt kind of like riding a Legway. When I leaned one way, the wheels would move and turn in that direction. There were no handlebars, and I wasn’t sure how to stop.

“Wow, that’s cool!” Akira marveled. “Does it just do what you want? It kinda looks fun!”

“Yeah, it does it all on its own! I could get into this!”

I spun the wheels while I circled the girls, surveying the area. The sensation was kind of like sitting seiza-style on a dolly while someone pushed me around. Sitting like this was going to get tiring, but it was really fun how it moved automatically.

“I wanna try! Let me borrow them after,” Akira said.

“Sure! We can all take turns!”

“Does that mean we’re done with Aswarth’s runs for the day? If so, we should try to ride this all the way back to the cottage!”

“Maybe so. Heck, some people might want it for cosplay. This could be a nice advertisement for our guild shop!”

Now I could astonish those mere pedestrians! Nobody else in the game would have full Death Chariot gear like me. Without an idiot in your party who would go to a boss battle naked, you’d never know how to get this stuff.

Thanks, Ryuutarou! But never come back to my party again!

“Ooh, yeah. If it sells for a lot, we could mass-produce them and make a fortune!” Akira’s eyes glimmered with greed.

If we could fundraise with this, then taking a few extra sets back home would be nice. Fundraising was always important.

“I think I’ll pass. The thing looks grody as heck. Akki, you can leave me out.”

“Erm, I have to agree.”

“I’ll also have to refuse. I will follow you... from a distance. It’s embarrassing to be seen with that ensemble.”

Yano, Maeda, and Akabane did not seem as impressed.

Shizuku, on the other hand, was down with it. “Hmm. Perhaps I will wear it. It could make for an amusing memory.”

Akira, Shizuku, and I decided to take turns with it as we marched our way back to the cottage.

“Well, then it’s settled. First, though, I need to test the most important thing!” I proclaimed.

“Oh, yeah, your circle thing? Having five pieces of equipment should make it guaranteed, right?” Akira asked.

“Exactly. It won’t take long at all, so gimme just a sec to try it out.”

“Go right ahead! We’ll watch.”

“Awesome! Elemental Cir— Hey, what the heck? Elemental Circle! Aaargh, it interrupted me! It’s really hard to stop!”

To cast magic, I needed to be stationary. But as this outfit moved on its own, it was tough to stay still. I would try to cast magic, get interrupted, try again, and get interrupted again. What was I, an NPC with busted AI?

“Whatcha doing, Ren? Is this testing too?” Akira looked at me blankly.

Dang it! If you’re always doing weird stuff, people don’t notice when you’re actually making mistakes! This is one of those times!

“Nah. I just can’t stay in one place, so it interrupts my magic.”

“Oh, you were actually having trouble. Okay, I’ll help you stay still!”

Akira circled behind me and grabbed my shoulders, but the wheels kept moving, driving me forward.

“Hm? Still rolling? Okay, I’ll put my back into it. Hah!”

Akira squeezed me tight, holding me in place. Finally, the wheels stopped.

Aah, boobs on my back! This is lovely.

The sensation made me just want to freeze up for a while. I’ve said this a few times, but this game was realistic in some weird places. It was enough to make me want to say, “Yeah, girl, keep going.”

“Uh, Ren? You can go ahead and cast your magic. You’re not having weird thoughts, are you?”

Shizuku cleared her throat. “Ahem! Virtual or not, remember that you are on school grounds. I understand it’s summer vacation, but students must still follow the moral code. If you have nothing important to do, then keep a wholesome distance.”

She was a lot more teacherly than Ms. Nakada. The latter would’ve just ignored that outright. Her tone of voice was strangely authoritative too. Were all big shots like this? Shizuku just made you want to give up and obey, lest you face the consequences.

“Oh, sorry. We’ll hurry! Elemental Circle, Elemental Circle, Elemental Circle, Elemental Circle, Elemental Circle!”

Watching the colors of my circles, Draco reported, “Chichirp! Black, black, black, black, black!”

YESSSSS!

“Awesome! Just as I expected! I have the one hundred percent dark circles I’ve been dreaming of!”

I tried to raise my hands in exultation, but the chains on the Gauntlets of the Deceased did not allow me to do so.

Man, these things are annoying!

“Gaaah, I can’t move with this on! Let’s just ride home already!”

“Sure! I’ll take plenty of screenshots of all the people spooked by the sudden Death Chariot appearance!”

“As you wish. Full speed ahead!”

I flung my body forward in an attempt to go fast.

“Graaaaarh!”

The creaky wheels and snarling dragons moved energetically, but they weren’t nearly as fast as they looked. In fact, they were slow as heck. My maximum speed was maybe that of a relaxed stroll. This might’ve been even slower than a power wheelchair.

I didn’t feel like a Death Chariot at all—at best I felt like a Death Carriage! A chariot was supposed to go super fast and blast away everyone in its path. Like a tank, but instead of shooting things, it just slammed into things.

“Ngh! It’s so slow.”

“That’s one word for it,” Akira said dryly.

“Well, all the parts do reduce movement speed, I guess.”

Maybe they didn’t want people going too fast? What a shame. If you could go as fast as the real Death Chariot, people might collect a whole bunch and run races with them.

I would’ve loved to take screenshots of people riding Death Chariots around like in Mareo Kar, but this was just too slow.

“I might as well walk at this point.”

I stood up and tried to walk normally, but no matter how I tried, I couldn’t move.

“Ugh! What in the world?!”

My fastest walk was like watching a video at 0.25x speed. This stuff was just too hard to move in!

“I get it. It still has the movement speed reduction!”

Compared to walking in this gear, Death Chariot mode was still much faster. Whoever piloted the Death Chariot was taking a huge hit to both stats and speed. Imagine how strong he would be if he went into battle with real gear on?

“Do you have to wheel yourself around, then?”

“Looks like it. Let’s go home... uh, slowly!”

With that, I started my engine again. We’d already used our five runs at Aswarth’s for the day, so it didn’t really matter if we took it slow. As we made our way down the central—and busiest—road of the island, my wheels groaned and squeaked relentlessly.

It attracted a lot of attention, pointing, and “What in the world?” from nearby players. No surprise there, as it really was an eye-catching design.

I’d be glad to sell it to anyone for a good price! We can always get more. I could teach people where to get it, but then I’d have to charge.

“Ahaha. You’re so popular, Ren.”

“Yeah. This’ll be great advertising for the guild shop. I like this.”

Akabane heaved a sigh behind us. “Haah. I don’t mind this sort of attention when I’m with my brother, at least.”

Poor girl’s been through a lot.

“Well, it is thanks to him that we found this. I’m at least grateful for that, if nothing else.”