Chapter 25

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 25

Chapter Title: Leaving Azelchen (3)

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The swamp was still unpleasantly humid.

Spotting the Merman King, Cheisi gripped the dagger hilt that had become familiar to her.

Before diving into battle, there was something she needed to do.

Cheisi caught the Merman King's attention from afar.

The Merman King snorted and hurled a fish at her.

'Perfect...'

That was exactly what Cheisi had been aiming for.

She caught the fish the Merman King threw.

She couldn't bring herself to bite into it with her mouth.

This was the identity of the last blank entry in the guidebook.

Rotten Fish.

That explained why the black silhouette in the guidebook had such a grotesque, fish-like shape.

Its ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠frame for eyes and nose had rotted away, leaving the eyes and fins flowing out in wild disarray.

During her previous encounter with the Merman King, Cheisi had dodged the attacks of rotten fish thrown amid the foul stench.

That's why it hadn't been registered until now—she'd just added it.

With the guidebook complete, Cheisi's attack power rose.

Now there was nothing left to worry about. She charged straight into battle.

Thus began the first fight.

Cheisi alternated between evasion and attacks before deciding to pull back for now.

The Merman King's health dropped to 50%, then 30%, triggering unfamiliar patterns each time.

Patterns that would be easy to dodge if known in advance. But since they were new, she'd defended instead, eating up a lot of her health—she needed a resupply.

Cheisi returned to Azelchen, restored her worn-down stamina, bought potions, and finished her preparations.

"...Can this thing even be killed?"

"No damage is going through at all?"

Returning to the swamp, she found a few players battling the Merman King.

They were struggling hard.

No, it wasn't even struggling—they'd barely scratched the Merman King's health, while theirs was nearly depleted.

It was like throwing eggs at a rock.

The players seemed ready to give up and retreat from the Merman King.

"Um, if you're done hunting, could I give it a try?"

Cheisi approached and spoke to them.

Their eyes turned to her.

A player with a shield. One with a greatsword. One with a bow.

"Go ahead. But you won't deal any damage."

The shield player spoke for the trio.

Under their gazes, Cheisi drew her dagger.

"Don't worry. I can take it down."

The players watched with mouths agape as the cat battled the Merman King.

"...Weren't we progressing pretty fast?"

"How is the damage that high?"

The damage was on another level from theirs.

Fast and light.

And even when it seemed like an attack might land, she dodged every single one flawlessly.

Occasionally opting to block instead of evade, and when she did, the damage was even higher—enough to make the reason clear.

"Should I ask to party up?"

"But we probably wouldn't be useful to her."

As the impressed players murmured, one approached holding a hammer.

"What? I died, waited an hour to log back in, and you're still challenging it?"

The hammer player glanced at his other party members and exclaimed in surprise.

"Huh?!"

Gazes converged instantly.

"Who is she, some celebrity?"

"That's her. The streamer from Moby Dick."

"Streamer?"

"She even hit trending videos. You don't know?"

The player who recognized Cheisi pulled out a shocked face and hopped online.

"She's streaming right now!"

Logging into Abyss and pulling up the live stream screen drew the others' eyes.

"Whoa, 10,000 viewers?"

"...She's really popular."

Then the players realized something.

"...But watching like this, she's kinda cute."

"I wanna touch her tail and ears."

"Kinda my type..."

The now more interested players turned back to the battle right in front of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them.

But no matter how much they tried to admire her looks, something else kept stealing their attention.

'She's fighting too well... I can't even see her face!'

Everyone dreams of rampaging solo in a VR game. But in Ariant World, where most attacks can't be dodged and HP management is tough, pulling off such a rampage with normal human limits was nearly impossible.

Cheisi embodied that dream in the players' eyes.

'She's so good it's pissing me off.'

The entire party's thoughts aligned.

"Grrrrrr..."

The Merman King finally collapsed.

Cheisi glanced at her viewer count.

10,000.

'...That's insane.'

She'd expected a lot, but this exceeded it.

Foreign languages popped up occasionally in chat, so overseas viewers were watching too.

'Lots of viewers aren't bad. Just gotta stay calm.'

Cheisi approached the Merman King dissolving into light particles and picked up the loot.

This was the item Cheisi had fought so hard to obtain.

"Now all that's left is heading to the new area."

-Let's go
-Been waiting
-Ordered chicken.

Chatting with viewers, Cheisi reached the swamp's end, facing the hazy mist-shrouded path.

She took the Merman King's Necklace from her inventory, hung it around her neck, and stepped into the fog.

Unlike before without it, her health didn't drain now.

"It's dry and eerie in here."

As she walked through the mist, Cheisi felt a strange sensation at her nape.

The necklace around her neck was melting.

-???
-Necklace melting?
-What's up with that

As viewers said, the necklace crumbled to powder from the ends, scattering into the mist.

Cheisi felt an ominous hunch.

"This isn't a time limit, is it?"

-Looks like it
-Gotta kill Merman King again if it runs out?

"......"

It seemed like a time limit. Cheisi started sprinting through the mist.

The fog thickened ahead, turning everything white until she could see nothing.

She checked the map. By the terrain, it looked like a straight path ahead.

She had to go somewhere. Betting it was right to follow the path, she placed a map pin at the end.

A glowing line appeared in the fog, guiding her direction.

Cheisi followed the map pin forward.

-Just fog everywhere
-What's this place lol fr

As the visibility-zero situation dragged on, viewers spammed frustrated chats.

Meanwhile, the necklace kept melting.

When it was barely recognizable, Cheisi reached the map pin's end.

Rails appeared.

Faintly visible under the mist, rails stretched out with an empty mine cart on them.

No other paths. Cheisi climbed into the cart.

It jolted immediately, rolling along the rails.

Navigating the fog, it plunged into a dark tunnel, plummeting deeper.

After a wildly shaking ride, the cart halted at the rail's end.

"Dizzy... ugh..."

Cheisi crawled out of the cart trembling. The shaking had left her vision spinning.

Her nape was clean now. The necklace had served its purpose.

The fog had cleared the moment she entered the tunnel via cart, so it must have died before then.

A new title.

Cheisi confirmed the message's words and looked ahead.

"Megranapit..."

There stood a massive city of rock.

A tale from some unrelated day, not tied to the main story.

Staring at the scene before her, Nell broke into a cold sweat.

"What in the world is going on...?"

Nell's shop was a small eatery that didn't serve alcohol, so boatmen found it boring and rarely came—only priests were regulars.

She'd handled all the customers alone just fine until now.

But what was this endless crowd?

Nell sweated as she eyed the adventurers packing her shop and those waiting outside for seats.

"...Skewer orders alone are already at 70."

Orders kept pouring in nonstop.

Shiny Marshmallow Fish were rare ingredients that ran out fast, and even after warning she'd switch recipes...

"This one's Attack Power +10 too, right?"

"10's pretty good?"

The adventurers chatted like that while ordering more.

Nell couldn't keep up alone.

"One skewer here please!"

"Y-Yes! Coming right up!"

Dashing around without rest, Nell thought to herself.

'No idea what's happening, but it won't be like this every day. Might not get another chance—let's hustle today!'

Nell didn't know.

That her shop was already plastered across Ariant World Story, Moby Dick, and every community.

That it had even made news as a VR restaurant awarded a Michelin star.

That customers would keep flooding in endlessly, not just today.

'Just hustle today. Let's go!'

Nell had no idea.