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Rin had made up her mind to defeat the Ghost Bear.
Fortunately, she had overcome her two major hurdles: her fear of the Ghost Bear and her conflicted relationship with the fox people.
Above all else, she prioritized her master's orders—a testament to Rin's affection for Karami maxing out.
Karami felt a sense of achievement and satisfaction whenever slaves prioritized his wishes above all else.
The decision to hunt the Ghost Bear had been made. The only question remaining was whether Rin could defeat it. She had to face this battle alone, with no one to assist her.
However, Rin's master was both a transmigrator and a TOS addict who had played the game so much that the line between reality and the game had blurred.
He had memorized the strategy for the Ghost Bear, which wasn't just an ordinary mob but a boss monster.
"To begin, I'll outline the basic precautions. The first is the mist. It's the Ghost Bear's breath."
Karami squatted down, using a twig to draw a bear on the ground.
"When the Ghost Bear becomes enraged, it begins to snort and exhale mist. The mist in White Cloud Valley has lost all its potency over time, but be wary of directly breathing in the mist the Ghost Bear has just exhaled."
"What happens if I breathe it in?"
"It will become difficult to use your spiritual power."
In the game, when the Ghost Bear unleashed its breath attack, the slaves' MP would rapidly deplete. Forced to restore their MP, their skill timing would be delayed by a turn.
In a turn-based game, losing an entire skill round could be devastating. That's why users would equip MP recovery items or bring manaless slaves with alternative abilities. Or characters with absurdly high normal attack damage.
Luckily, while this was an unavoidable attack pattern in the game, now it was possible to defend against it depending on Rin's actions.
"The second threat is its roar. As you attack, it will roar. If you hear it, you'll be overcome with dizzyness."
An area-of-effect stun.
You need to cover your ears at the right time.
Karami proceeded to explain the Ghost Bear's patterns and strategies in as much detail as possible. However, some modifications were necessary to fit the current situation.
TOS battles were typically five-on-one, and for story battles, one main slave was mandatory, with the other four being optional choices.
But even those four characters received nerfs that greatly reduced their stats. In essence, it was designed so that victory was impossible without properly developing the story slave.
So usually, players would bring only support characters and make a lineup where the story slave carried the team. But now, there was only Rin. She had to shoulder everything alone.
This was why he was worried about Rin's contribution being diminished if they hunted with other people.
The silver lining was that slaves who had formed a soul contract were more powerful than in the game, so Karami judged that Rin alone would suffice for this hunt because of that.
Mulling over the strategies Karami had taught her, Rin stood at the entrance and exit of the fox den.
The eerie mist seeping from beyond the valley, the unsettling cries of yokai.
It was a familiar scene. Rin had played the role of yokai bait countless times so that the fox people could safely gather herbs and hunt for food.
Day after day. Rin had stood in this very spot thousands, tens of thousands of times.
She had been terrified every single time.
She had never once wanted to venture out. But she had no choice, for if she didn't do at least this much, she would be abandoned by them.
It's different now.
Rin glanced back. The foxes were still frowning, urging her to leave as quickly as possible, just as before.
Because of them, Rin had always been chased out, forced to leave, and unable to linger even for a moment. But this time, she barely registered their presence.
"I'll be waiting, so do your best and come back safely."
Among the familiar foxes she had always seen, there was now a new person smiling at her. Someone waiting not for her to leave, but for her to return.
A pink warmth blossomed deep in her chest and spread throughout her body, and Rin, unable to resist the sudden, overwhelming impulse, threw herself into Karami's arms.
Clinging to him tightly, she buried her face in his chest and inhaled deeply, as if trying to etch his scent into her very being. Her tails, as if with a mind of their own, rubbed against him, leaving traces of her own scent on every inch of his body.
Then, raising her head slightly, Rin bewitchingly smiled.
"Don't touch any other foxes and wait quietly. I'll come back before the scent fades and mark you again."
"Wha?"
I'll be back before the alcohol gets cold—Rin version.
Karami could only let out a dumbfounded reaction to her bold declaration.
Satisfied with his response, Rin's lips curled into a smirk. For the first time, as she stepped out of the fox den, her footsteps carried a lightness they had never known before.
***
Crunch. Crunch.
Rin navigated through the densely foggy mountain, unable to see even an inch ahead.
The mist enveloped the forest as if it were alive. The damp leaves drowned out the sound of her footsteps. Branches reached out like the hands of the dead, only to shriek and burn away at the touch of her fox fire.
Unlike before, when she had fled without a moment to breathe through this yokai den full of unpredictable threats, Rin's steps now exuded composure.
This was the Rin who had unleashed five of the gumiho's tails. She was no longer an existence that mere low-level yokai, trapped in the forest, could hope to challenge.
With the mist as a veil, they could only hide and howl warnings like hyenas.
Rin paid them no mind. She had no time to concern herself with such lowly creatures.
Boom.
A vibration shook the mountain. The Ghost Bear's mere footsteps sent tremors throughout the entire range.
Thanks to this, finding the Ghost Bear wasn't difficult.
"…"
Rin stopped walking. She tilted her head back as far as it would go, gazing upward.
Instead of the sky, her view was filled with a single bear. Its size was so enormous that calling it a bear felt like a cognitive dissonance.
To think she had to defeat that. In the past, she wouldn't have even dared to try, but now was different. Her head was filled only with thoughts of quickly finishing the job and returning to her master.
Hugging Master.
Smelling him a lot.
If she took too long, those dirty females might wag their tails at her master. After all, her master emitted a lewd scent that bewitched female beastkins.
Though the Ghost Bear remained oblivious to her presence, presenting a perfect opportunity to strike, Rin held her ground. She didn't act rashly.
The strategy Karami had emphasized over and over:
For the first attack, even if it takes a long time, hit the Ghost Bear's weak point with your strongest move. The Ghost Bear always attacks second.
It was still a strategy she couldn't fully comprehend.
The weak point Karami had identified was the scar on its chest. Approaching that close, even the massive Ghost Bear would surely detect her presence.
To launch a powerful attack, she'd need time, but the Ghost Bear wasn't a gentleman who would wait patiently.
Shouldn't I maintain distance and bombard it with ranged attacks? Rin pondered, but…
No.
She shouldn't dare doubt her master's words.
She should just follow his instructions like an obedient doll.
Thud!
Rin lightly kicked off the ground, nimbly using the terrain to climb to the top of a tree.
Boom…!
The Ghost Bear passed by Rin's side. Only after climbing so high that the ground was obscured by mist did she reach eye level with the behemoth.
Rin observed the Ghost Bear's movements. She summoned her fox orb and ignited fox fires. Like sleeping stars awakening, fox fires began to appear one by one, emitting light.
One, two, three, four… a total of seven fox fires.
Not only had the number she could control simultaneously increased, but the size of each fox fire had also grown several times larger than before.
But it didn't stop there. The seven fox fires circled around Rin and began to merge into one.
The blue fox fire that had merged into one grew as large as the moon, becoming so enormous that it created the illusion of two moons floating in the sky.
Even so, the Ghost Bear didn't react. It didn't even glance at the fireball burning right before its nose.
The Ghost Bear's absolute and unchanging second turn.
In turn-based games, each side takes turns attacking.
Naturally, since going first is advantageous, game companies make various efforts to balance this. They might give more resources to the second player, provide additional draws, and so on.
But in some shittily balanced games, going second is so disadvantageous that you might lose without even getting to attack once, making the first turn extremely important.
The Ghost Bear in TOS had a bullshit attack pattern of draining the opponent's MP, so it unconditionally gave the first turn to the player.
In other words.
You can shave off half its HP from the start if you apply all your buffs and debuffs before unleashing your ultimate attack!
Karami, too scared to go out but too restless to wait comfortably, poked his head out of the fox den to look at the sky.
Though still obscured by mist, the mist rippled with a faint blue light.
"Go! She who strikes first wins!"
As if responding to a voice she couldn't possibly hear, Rin controlled her fox fire. She didn't forget Karami's instruction to always call out the skill name when using a technique.
"Heavenly Azure Flame."
The massive fox fire moved slowly and then caused a tremendous explosion on the Ghost Bear's chest.
BOOOOM!
The fox fire exploded with a violent sound. The mist was swept away by the expanding shockwave. And for a moment, the sky cleared.
GROOOOOOOOAR.
The Ghost Bear let out a scream that shook the air as it tilted backward. Its massive shadow covered the ground, devastating the area.
Hisssss─
A massive amount of breath gushed from the fallen Ghost Bear's mouth. As the exhalation settled, it once again shrouded the briefly cleared White Cloud Valley in mist.
Then came a roar that numbed the eardrums. The yokai and mountain beasts hit by the roar couldn't withstand it and collapsed.
But Rin, who had been informed beforehand, was different. A pink barrier unfolded from her fox orb, blocking the sound. It only trembled, having no effect on Rin.
As expected…!
Karami's information was spot-on. Everything was proceeding according to plan, almost too smoothly to believe.
Rin shuddered for a moment at Karami's foresight, comparable to the Heavenly Eye. If she just followed her master's words, defeating the Ghost Bear would be easier than eating potatoes without water.
Soon, she ignited another fox fire.
Guardian Deity of White Cloud Valley?
Is that what you're supposed to be? Hah.
If you're the Guardian Deity, then I'm the Fox Goddess.