The Event This Time

There was quite a lot to take in. Boiled down, four players would become a team and have to accomplish some objective together.

A team, though?

Yujun frowned. He already disliked this event. Raising hell on his own, he could do with confidence. Being forced to tag along with other people was another matter entirely.

I'll have to see how it plays out.

"If we get the chance, I'll see you later. Don't die."

Yujun said it to Manuela.

"Yeah. Even setting me aside, you don't seem like the type who'd die, so that's a real relief."

"That's a compliment, right?"

"Obviously."

A faint dizziness washed over him, and the warp was over in an instant.

Towering stone walls. A sealed space that let in no light. The backdrop was a labyrinth he was thoroughly sick of seeing.

Yujun swept a glance around him and frowned. Besides himself, there were three players. Not one of them was human. All of them belonged to other races. That, in itself, was not the problem.

The problem was something else.

There's a Demon God Worshipper mixed in.

One of them. After clashing with their kind a few times, he had learned to recognize the feeling that only a Demon God Worshipper gave off. Sure enough, an aura thicker even than dark demonic energy seeped faintly from the one in question.

"Um, shall we start with introductions? Looks like we've ended up on the same team."

The Keyos player was the first to speak. The Keyos were hybrids of ogre and elf, a race not especially numerous upon the Continent. Famous for taking only the strengths of both, they were known as a people composed entirely of the strong. Large in frame, they were nonetheless extremely agile, and as a rule they possessed considerable talent for magic as well.

"Let's."

The party, roughly speaking, came down to this: Erger, a male Keyos; Roteren, a female demon; Leonhard, a male elf; and finally Yujun himself. Perhaps because they were players who had survived the first event, none of them looked particularly outclassed.

Yujun was just about to give his name.

"Teamed with a demon, of all things..."

"Got a problem?"

At the elf Leonhard's words, the demon Roteren shot him a glare.

"I have no wish to fight at present. Difficult as it may be for a demon, might you put that temper of yours to sleep for a moment?"

"That's my line. Hearing it from an elf, that race of hypocrites, is nothing but laughable."

"...Hypocrites?"

They had barely met, and already they looked ready to fight. No—the bad blood between them had probably run deep long before this. It was already giving ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠him a headache.

"Now, now. This isn't the time. The event's already started. Opportunities like this don't come around often, do they? When else are we going to earn rewards in a large-scale event like this? I won't tell the two of you to become friends, but pointing weapons at your own teammates isn't quite right."

Erger stepped in to mediate. Elves and the Keyos did not get along particularly well either, but Leonhard judged the situation with his reason intact.

"I had no intention of wasting a situation like this on some foolish contest of pride."

"Tsk."

"And what's your name?"

Erger turned the question on Yujun.

Yujun was about to answer.

"By any chance... are you Shin Yujun?"

Leonhard said it with open surprise.

"You know me?"

"How could I not. Among the elves, your name is rather famous. Of late, there seems to be scarcely anyone who does not know of you."

"Ah."

"W-wait a moment. Shin Yujun?"

Erger's eyes went wide as well, as if the name had stunned him.

"Yes. That's right."

"The Shin Yujun who took first? Nine and a half million, this time? Wow, it's an honor to meet you."

"A pleasure."

"This is insane. First place across every region, isn't that right? And someone like that is on our team..."

The demon Roteren did not let it show, but she looked thoroughly shaken as well.

If she's a Demon God Worshipper, she'll try to kill me.

Yujun studied her from the corner of his eye. If anyone here meant to strike him from behind, Roteren was the most likely candidate.

His teammates remained sunk in shock for a while. Leonhard's and Erger's expressions were bright. A human who might well be the strongest player among forty thousand had ended up on their team. Placing among the hundred teams that would survive this cooperative event—hope was suddenly in sight.

Roteren's expression, by contrast, was complicated. As a member of the Demon God Worshippers, she naturally knew who Yujun was, and she knew that she was supposed to kill him. But even if she got lucky and put a knife in his back here, that would not mean Shin Yujun actually died. Cooperate with him, on the other hand, and her chances of surviving the second event rose sharply. And so she was torn.

If I'm going to stop Shin Yujun from growing any stronger, I have to kill him this time, no matter what.

In exchange, she would lose her own chance to grow.

For now, I'll watch how things go and decide.

Roteren's gaze deepened. And Yujun saw straight through every thought behind it.

I'll kill her later.

Or he could half-kill her and leave her unable to move. There were plenty of methods. Killing her on the spot was the inferior plan, since he had no idea yet what the objective would be.

I'm curious how the System will react.

That was when it happened.

There were well over a hundred objectives, and the difficulty levels ran all the way to ten.

"Looks like I'm the one who has to choose. What sort of objective should we take? Any opinions?"

A brief silence followed his words. His teammates wore troubled expressions. Setting an appropriate objective was not easy. Something easy would probably mean a poor reward, and something too difficult looked impossible to achieve.

Yujun opened his mouth.

"Mind if I just pick as I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠please?"

"Uh, which one were you thinking?"

"This one."

Yujun pointed a finger at the very end of the hologram.

"A level 10 objective? You're serious?"

"Yes."

"...There's no description besides the Ruler of the Labyrinth. Even objectives of level 5 and above are already overwhelming. Do you really think a level 10 difficulty is possible?"

"We'll know once we try."

Yujun said it with a face full ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of confidence. The other players knew full well that this was not baseless confidence. Say what one would, he was the undisputed strongest in this event. Even so, they could not help feeling uneasy. Level 10 was the highest level among the objectives that could be set.

"I'm doing it. Objecting won't change anything."

No one objected. Opposing him was not likely to end well.

Without hesitation, Yujun selected the level 10 objective: defeat the Ruler of the Labyrinth.

"He actually did it."

Erger muttered, his expression complicated.

"Why? You're not unhappy about it, are you?"

"No, no, no. The water's already spilled. Let's just do our best together."

"...But it doesn't say where the Ruler of the Labyrinth is?"

Leonhard said.

"Doesn't seem like it."

"We are quite at a loss, then."

"This place is a labyrinth, isn't it? I think we'd do well to learn the paths first."

KWA-BOOM! BOOM!

Just then, an explosion sounded from somewhere relatively close. A battle had already broken out.

"I think we just need to do what we have to do."

Everyone nodded at Yujun's words.

"Do you suppose the wall might break?"

Leonhard said.

"I don't think it will, but there's no harm in trying."

Erger poured mana into his gauntlets and swung them hard into the wall.

KWA-AAAAANG!

"Kh—!"

He clutched his fist and sank down. The wall kicked up nothing but dust. Not a single scratch.

"...Are you all right?"

"I'll manage. These walls don't seem like something force can break."

"So forging a path by boring through or smashing the walls is impossible."

"Yes."

"Everyone, wait a moment."

Yujun opened his inventory. An item that might serve in a situation like this flashed through his mind.

Its name was the Guide Golem Summoning Stone. Truth be told, he would rather not have used it. He had only one left, and that was part of the reason—but the higher his total stats, the higher the golem's level would be measured. In other words, it was most efficient to use the thing when he was as strong as he could possibly be.

Hoard it too long and it might turn into garbage... I'll just use it now.

Right now, Yujun's total stats were high enough to punch through the heavens. They could not even be compared to the No-Pay Casual Gamer character. Honestly, he could not begin to imagine what kind of golem would emerge if he used the summoning stone with his stats as they stood.

It may be called a guide, but a golem's destructive power isn't something you can ignore.

A thrill ran through him. Yujun set his hand on the summoning stone.

A faint vibration. An unknowable energy pouring from the stone seeped into his body, reading the power latent within him. The scan finished in an instant.

Fwoosh!

A deep gray energy billowed up from the summoning stone in thick clouds.

"What is that?"

"It doesn't seem dangerous, but..."

Yujun watched in silence. It was the same spectacle as when he had summoned a golem in the game. The gray energy began to take shape—but the size was nowhere near as large as he had expected.

What?

Normally, the higher a golem's level, the larger its frame. Yet now that it had finished taking form, the thing was barely the size of a goblin. He could not make sense of it.

My total stats right now should be several times higher than the No-Pay Casual Gamer character's.

Could level be what mattered? Yujun shook his head. His own level had already passed 450. He could not say the gap with the level 500 No-Pay Casual Gamer was all that large.

Then was it caliber? Was his caliber simply too low? At level 500, one's caliber rose, and the efficiency of one's stats rose with it. Was this the result of that difference?

Every kind of thought was crowding his mind when the golem was summoned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in its complete form.

Matte. A golem formed of black ore whose nature he could not identify. It looked immensely solid, and yet its build was far too slight.

Then a red light flashed from where its eyes should have been.

"P-pleased... to meet you!"

The words came from the golem's mouth.

Yujun's eyes went wide.

A golem that talks?