"Time for the event!"
"Heh-heh. You nervous, Maple?"
"Nope! I'm all good."
As the two girls talked, they drew plenty of looks from the crowd. Players decked out
in all kinds of gear were gathering in the square, waiting for the start signal.
Maple's real name was Kaede Honjou. Her best friend, Risa Shiromine, had suggested
they play NewWorld Online together, but Kaede didn't know much about games. As a
result, she'd created an extreme build heavily focused on defense, and a series of
happy accidents had earned her some powerful skills. She was now so tanky, it had
made her rather famous.
And today was the game's second big event. This time, Risa—aka Sally—was joining in.
Sally and Maple were in the second stratum's town.
They'd done everything they could to get ready for the event and were raring for action.
All that was left was to wait breathlessly, urging the clock forward.
Then Maple spotted a familiar face in the crowd.
"Oh! Be right back, Sally!" she said before stepping away. "Chrome! How's it been?"
"Mm? Oh, Maple! Long time no see."
When Maple had been trying to make a better great shield, Chrome had introduced
her to a crafter named Iz. Like Maple, he was a great shielder, and a powerful one—
he'd come in ninth in the previous event.
"This event's gonna be so much fun!"
"You bet. I'm sure you'll do real well, Maple."
A few more words, and Maple headed over to Sally's side.
"Hey, Sally, I'm back. Is it time yet?"
"Should be. Place's getting packed."
The crowd had grown exponentially larger, and the noise level was rising accordingly.
And just as it seemed there was no more room left, the admin's voice rang out.
"Today's event is all about exploration! Your objective is to collect the three hundred
silver medals scattered across the map. Every set of ten earns you a gold medal! At the
end of the event, you can exchange gold medals for skills or equipment."
Everyone's status menus opened automatically, displaying examples of silver and gold
medals.
Maple had seen the gold medals before.
She'd earned one in the first event but had assumed it was just a keepsake medal.
"The top ten players of the first event already have one gold medal! Defeat them, and
their medals are yours! Or simply explore to your heart's content!"
Now the status screens showed a number of fancy rings and bracelets, as well as
swords, bows, and other weapons. These, too, were apparently scattered across the
event map.
There were definitely some great shields in the mix.
All players were also sent a message detailing the medal compensation rule. Players
who'd earned a gold medal in the first event had targets painted on their backs, but if
their medals were stolen and they failed to recover them before the event ended,
they'd be rewarded five silver medals to make up for it.
"If you die, medals are the only thing you'll lose! Don't worry—your gear will be totally
safe! And even then, medals will only drop if you're defeated by another player. So get
on out there and explore! Should you die, you'll respawn at your starting location."
That was certainly a relief.
If there was no chance of losing gear, that made it easier to take greater risks.
Anyone could explore anywhere and any way they wanted.
"This event will last a week in-game. But time will be sped up, so it'll only take two
external hours! There are several areas on the map where no monsters appear, so
make good use of them."
They'd get to spend a week exploring and sleeping inside the game, but only a fraction
of that time would pass in the real world.
"It's a bit weird when you stop to think about it."
"Log out at all and you can't rejoin the event. If you wanna see it through, you've gotta
stay logged in! And… yup, if you're all in the same party, you'll get sent to the same
place."
As they listened to the explanation, Sally and Maple went over the details on their status
screens. Naturally, neither of them planned to log out until the event was complete.
"Hopefully, we can find enough medals for both of us!"
"Yup! Let's go for it!"
Their bodies turned to light, vanishing from the second stratum square.
"Hmm… guess this is it?"
"Looks like."
They could feel the ground beneath their feet.
The pair found themselves standing in the center of a grassy field.
Floating islands dotted the air up above, seemingly unfettered by gravity's influence.
In the distance, mountain peaks loomed. Dragons elegantly soared through the clear
skies.
The map prepared for this event was one filled with natural splendor—perfect for
monsters.
An idyllic landscape, the kind of fantasy world everyone dreams about.
"Wow! It's beautiful!"
"Whoa…! This is breathtaking."
The two girls set out across the field. They walked a good twenty minutes without
even catching sight of any other players. Last time, Maple hadn't needed to wait very
long before her first encounter, so this map was clearly much bigger.
"I wonder how we're going to find some medals…"
"Good question. It's not like we're in a rush, though. We've got plenty of time."
Their discussion was interrupted by a pack of goblins prowling the low grass on their
right. The girls veered left, but the goblins followed—clearly targeting them.
"If it's just goblins, I'd better use White Snow."
Maple swapped out her great shield. She only had so many uses of Devour a day, and
it didn't make sense to waste them.
She had the Devour skill equipped on her usual shield, Night's Facsimile. Anything that
touched it would take damage and be converted into MP. This had made Maple so
absurdly powerful that the last patch had added a use limit to the skill—specifically to
nerf Maple.
"I guess I should stick to this for now? I can always swap to Night's Facsimile if I need
it."
"Sounds good! You do you. For now, I'll make quick work of these guys."
Sally darted toward the goblins with her daggers at the ready. Moving like the wind,
she dodged their attacks while landing her own swift and accurate blows. Sally had
gone for the opposite of Maple's build and left her Vitality at zero, sacrificing all
defense for an Agility-focused build. Her style was completely based on dodge and
counter—if enemies never hit her, she never took damage. A goblin tried to block her
strikes with its club, but such meager weaponry was no match for her daggers.
The club fell from the goblin's hands as a red line ran across its body.
A moment later, it vanished in a shower of light.
"Oh! You're so fast!"
"Heh-heh-heh, thanks. Seems like this area only has weak monsters. Doubt we'll find
a medal here."
"Hmm, you may be right. I bet they're hidden in less obvious places."
Sally nodded in reply, and they started checking for nearby caves or forests—anywhere
that seemed like it could be home to a ton of monsters.
They'd walked on for about an hour.
"Grass on the right! Grass on the left! Grass behind us! Grass before us!"
Sally was getting frustrated. The prairie seemed to go on forever. That was the only
thing they could see all the way up to the horizon.
"It's too big… We haven't even fought anything but goblins… Ugh, there's another one."
Maple pointed. A goblin was dragging a rabbit across the field—it must have been out
hunting. Judging by how it was cackling happily to itself, the monster hadn't noticed
the girls yet. Goblin voices really grated on the ears.
But as they watched, it walked straight forward—and sank into the ground.
""... Huh?""
This left them momentarily stunned, but they soon recovered and moved to investigate.
"There's nothing here?"
"No, there's gotta be! Somewhere!"
Sally had an idea, and she cast Wind Cutter.
This sliced through the visual distortion, restoring the original landscape.
Her attack revealed a set of stairs descending into the earth at their feet.
"Looks like they used something like my Mirage skill to disguise the entrance to their
lair… Seems like this may not be the only one, either… It is a pretty big prairie."
"Should we go in?"
"Of course! Anything this well hidden's gotta have a medal or two inside!"
"Cool! Let's go!"
They plunged into the cavern below.
"Ho… kay!"
They found a goblin immediately inside, and Sally stabbed it right in the face.
The monsters here weren't particularly strong, so Sally made swift work of everything
else they encountered.
The paths were wide enough for the two of them to walk side by side, and they could
swing their weapons unhindered.
"Another fork," Maple muttered.
She was grumbling for a reason. This cave had a lot of branching paths. They ran all
over the place, like an ant farm, and most of them led to dead ends.
"Hmm, which way…? You wanna pick this time, Maple?"
"…Right, I guess? It slopes down. If there's a boss here, we'll probably find it
somewhere deeper."
"Works for me. Right it is."
They headed farther down the path and soon found themselves in a larger room.
And then…
A howl echoed through the cave. The floor shook.
Both girls realized instantly that the noise came from a boss.
Footsteps. Metal clanking. Fearsome growls. And the sounds were coming closer.
"The boss might've called for reinforcements, because I can already see some goblins
coming!"
"What do we do?"
Sally raised her daggers.
"Only two ways into this room! That one's yours!"
"Okay! I got it covered!"
Maple didn't switch shields.
She figured she should save Devour for the boss.
Instead, she drew New Moon.
And so the battle began.
"Hydra!"
Purple light poured out of Maple's short sword, followed by a torrent of poison
(shaped like a three-headed dragon) that raced toward the approaching pack of
goblins. This poison was so powerful, the only way to avoid damage was with a Poison
Nullification–level skill.
Maple was going all out from the get-go. Her maximum MP was very low, and a lot of
her skills and magic had use limits to boot. This meant the more times she attacked,
the less options she'd have to deal damage later. So whenever she could, she tried to
kill monsters in a single blow.
But as Maple's Hydra rushed toward the goblin wave, it was blocked by a glittering
wall.
Behind the goblin horde were three goblins wielding staffs and hats pulled low over
their eyes.
The magic wall must've been their doing. If they could cast that spell every time, Sally
was worried it might pose a serious problem—but fortunately, that was a needless
concern.
Summoning that wall clearly took a lot out of them—all three goblin mages were
breathing heavily.
Or maybe Maple's attack was simply that strong.
And the Hydra did more than just rush at foes.
The wall may have blocked the impact, but the resulting poison remained.
When the goblins stepped in it, they howled in pain and vanished in a puff of light.
But before their compatriots died, other goblins used their bodies as stepping stones,
crossing the sea of poison safely.
It would take more than a few deaths to slow their advance—perhaps they were
unable to disobey an order from the boss.
"Shield Attack!"
Maple's skill did very little damage, but it had a strong knockback effect, which she
took full advantage of to push the goblins into the poison.
Repeating this action was all Maple had to do to chip away at the goblin horde. She'd
been worried the three mages might start casting support spells, but it seemed they
were already out of gas.
"Shield Attack! And that's the last one!"
As Maple's battle wound down, Sally came to check on her, having already wrapped
up her own fight.
She spotted the three mages at the back of the passage and quickly started casting.
"Fire Ball! And Wind Cutter!"
The goblin mages seemed to have little in the way of defense, and the spells easily
finished them off.
"Nice work, Sally!"
"You too, Maple. Those were some impressive moves."
Sally raised an eyebrow at the lake of poison.
"Ha-ha-ha, yeah…" Maple grinned bashfully, then quickly changed the subject. "Let's
keep going. The boss room must be this way!"
"Yeah, good idea. Hup!"
Sally jumped forward, easily clearing the poison pond. Maple simply walked through
it. Her Poison Resist was flawless.
"I'd be dead if a single drop of that touched me!"
It was impossible for a party member's spell to damage you directly, but residual
effects were a different story.
If a Fire Ball lit up a tree and a teammate grabbed the burning branches, they'd
definitely be hurt.
"Careful."
"Always."
They headed down the passage… where the real fight awaited.
"That sure looks like a boss room!"
There was a door in front of them—the only one in the underground passage. It was a
good five yards tall, made of wood, and decorated in a way that gave it the distinct vibe
that a boss fight lay on the other side.
Maple and Sally pushed it open and stepped inside.
The space beyond was dimly lit.
The ceiling was twice as tall as the door, and the width of the room was much the same.
But the farther in they went, the more it opened up. At the very back was a massive
throne.
And seated atop was a very ugly goblin.
It was hard to judge the creature's height when it was sitting down, but it was at least
as tall as the door—three times the size of your average goblin.
When it saw the girls enter, it bellowed.
The noise was so loud, both of them winced.
"Let's beat this thing quickly! Before it blows out our ears!"
"Completely agree!" Sally nodded.
Maple switched her shield to Night's Facsimile, and they were ready to go.
There were a good twenty yards between them and the goblin.
Sally tried to close that distance at speed.
But the goblin didn't let her.
It picked up a giant saber lying beside the throne and stepped forward, swinging it
savagely.
A gust of wind shot toward Sally, followed by the blade itself.
"Cover Move! Cover!"
Maple wasn't sure if Sally could successfully dodge or not. The saber's blade was twice
as long as she was tall, but Maple stood before it undaunted, her great shield raised.
The blade struck—and vanished. Devour had converted it to MP. The awesome
destructive force of their foe's main weapon was instantly eliminated in a shower of
light.
"Nice! My turn…"
Sally never stopped running. But what Maple did next surprised both her and the boss.
"Cover Move!"
Despite Sally's speed, Maple instantly caught up with her. The goblin didn't even get a
chance to attack.
Sally kept going. She had not expected Maple to move like that, but she couldn't stop
now.
"Cover Move!"
Once again, Maple activated her skill, using brute force to reach Sally's position. This
brought both of them right in front of the goblin.
The boss's muscles rippled, and with a crash, it swung its fists down at them.
But the attack missed Sally entirely.
With her evasive skills, no attack that telegraphed would ever hit home. She turned
her dodge into a leap, taking aim at the monster's belly.
Just as Sally's daggers were about to hit…
"Cover Move!"
This was so removed from what that skill had been designed to do that Sally couldn't
help but laugh.
But now Maple was inches from the goblin boss—meaning her great shield could
reach it.
Sally landed her blow and leaped back.
Maple put her back into it, swinging her shield.
"Well? Strong enough for you?"
The entire length of her shield slammed into the goblin's belly. Damage effects sprayed
everywhere, and a full 30 percent of its HP drained away.
This seemed to infuriate the goblin, and it punched Maple, knocking her to the ground.
"Mwa-ha-ha! Double damage? Double zero is still zero!"
The usual downside to Cover Move was that the user would take twice as much
damage after activating the skill. Maple's raw defense stats were so off the charts that
they simply negated that. But this was not the case for her armor—there was a snap,
and a web of cracks ran across the surface.
"Eep?!"
Maple let out a squeak, and her shattered armor glowed… before instantly returning
to normal.
"Oh! Right! Destructive Growth!"
When her equipment broke, it got stronger and more durable.
"You good for another run?" Sally called.
"One hundred percent!"
Maple scrambled to her feet, watching Sally start her approach.
Just as the goblin's fist seemed about to hit her…
"Cover Move! Cover!"
Maple appeared between the fist and Sally, great shield held high.
The shield instantly swallowed up a chunk of the goblin's arm. Red sparks sprayed
everywhere. The boss had swung as hard as it could, trying to land a hit on a fastmoving target—and couldn't stop the punch in time.
Once again, its HP gauge took a huge hit.
It was at 40 percent health now.
Maple drew New Moon.
"I've gotta get a few blows in, too!" Sally yelled. "Superspeed!"
Her body blurred. She was now running even faster.
She raced around the goblin to strike from the rear.
"Double Slash! Wind Cutter! Power Attack! Double Slash!"
Superspeed's effect made her attacks faster, too. But this flurry of blows carved off
only 10 percent of the boss's health bar—which just proved how ridiculous Maple's
shield really was.
Still, this was enough to make the goblin shift its attention toward Sally.
As it turned, it raised an arm. The red damage effects coming off this arm were replaced
with a yellow glow—a charged punch.
The attack it unleashed didn't hit Sally—but it left a dent where it hit the floor.
"Solid power buffs… but still too slow!"
Sally backed away, and the goblin gave chase, eyes bloodshot.
"You sure you wanna come after me? I bet she's way more terrifying."
"Hydra!"
Maple's voice summoned a three-headed dragon.
The goblin had been so busy chasing Sally that it had ignored the greater threat and
left its back exposed to the Hydra's wrath.
The attack alone did massive damage—and it left the boss poisoned.
The fact that it remained standing at all was likely sheer doggedness.
But this did not last long. A moment later, its massive bulk exploded in a shower of
light.
"Nice!"
"Very. So what's up with your mystery moves?"
"You mean Cover Move? It's the best! Turns out I was right. I can move and attack with
it!"
"You're literally the only person who can use it like that and survive, much less attack
with it…"
If any other great shielder even tried, they'd be downed in no time due to the doubled
incoming damage.
Cover Move had been designed to allow players to momentarily expand the area they
were defending. It was never intended to give someone the ability to warp around the
room like Maple was.
And only Maple had an attack like Devour. A skill like that was the only way Cover Move
could function offensively at all. Anything less would make the tactic not worthwhile.
And frankly, if the goal was to unleash that kind of DPS, why would anyone logically
main a great shield?
"You're so fast, Sally! Especially at the end!"
"Yeah, that skill gives me a fifty percent AGI boost, so… But I gotta wait half an hour
before I can use it again. Which is fine with me!"
Sally pulled up her status menu and showed Maple the skill description.
Superspeed
50% AGI boost. Lasts one minute. Thirty-minute cooldown.
Simple but powerful. And perfect for Sally's build.
"I've only got seven more uses left on Devour… I tried not to overuse it in a single fight,
but…"
"You're not exactly fuel efficient. Let's make sure you pick a solid skill at the end of this
event!"
"Yeah, good plan."
They headed for the goblin's throne.
There was a large, unadorned chest there.
"Do the honors?"
"Sure! Here goes!"
Sally flung it open.
Inside was a saber. Just like the goblin had used.
And two silver medals.
"Ooh! Medals!"
"And two of them! Double the reward!"
Both girls completely ignored the saber. Neither one of them could equip it, so naturally,
it did not command their attention.
"If there are two medals in every dungeon… are there one hundred and fifty dungeons?"
"The number of medals likely changes depending on the difficulty level. I bet there are
way stronger bosses out there! And some medals might just be hidden, with no boss
fights involved at all."
"Ahhh. Yeah, that makes sense."
Sally turned her attention to the saber, thinking they may as well check the description.
Goblin King Saber
[STR +75] [Fragile]
"Whoa… what a meathead weapon."
"Whatcha mean?"
"No durability, so you can't use it for long… but STR +75."
"But we can't equip it, right?"
"Nope."
"No luck with the equipment, huh?"
"It's fine—let's go find another dungeon. There's a magic circle behind the throne.
That should take us outside."
"We should be able to clear another one today, right? I think my skills will last that long!"
They stepped into the magic circle.
Maple was limited to only ten uses of Devour a day, but conversely, that meant they
wanted to explore long enough to use all ten if possible.
Any leftover uses couldn't be carried to the next day, so it was more efficient to tackle
as many dungeons as they could.
When the light faded, they were back on the prairie.
"I almost forgot… Okay, first things first; we've gotta get out of all this grass."
"Wh-which way should we go?"
"Forward! Probably the shortest path. It can't possibly be grass all the way to those
mountains, right?"
"I sure hope not!"
They turned their eyes to the peaks ahead and set out.