I'll Lick Anything, Even Your Feet

I'd lick anything—your feet, whatever—just please don't—

"You were stalking me?"

"...Yes."

After clearing out the red skeleton soldiers the Three-Headed Specter had summoned, I first sent Anna a private message. She appeared a moment later, fidgeting nervously.

"I was watching Sora's stream... and when I heard you were going to fight the Three-Headed Specter, I wanted to watch it in person. So I used an invisibility potion."

"And the aggro bounced over to you."

"...Looks like it."

The Three-Headed Specter had the trait of preemptively attacking every living creature. And by "living creature," it didn't just mean players. In Minecraft, there were plenty of animals wandering around—sheep, cows, pigs, and other wild beasts that could be tamed.

"Do you remember which way it flew ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠off?"

"It's a little fuzzy, but... I think it went that way."

"That's the complete opposite direction from the 6th generation base. Do you know why Sora and Chell died?"

"Hmm... not really."

She didn't seem to know the details. While it was unfortunate that Sora and Chell had died, the truth was that Minecraft was a game that assumed a certain amount of death from the start. Dying didn't mean losing that much. Even if something was permanently lost, every item could be recovered with enough time and effort. So the real problem wasn't their deaths—it was the Three-Headed Specter, which ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was scattering death everywhere it went.

"...This direction doesn't look good."

At some point Anna had taken on the role of guide and now muttered under her breath.

"What do you mean, not good?"

"If we keep going this way... um, there's a city. The one the seniors built..."

"I see."

Like I'd said, the Three-Headed Specter attacked every living thing on sight. And in any place where civilization had taken root, it was normal to raise livestock like sheep and cows. Automated iron factories were built by capturing village NPCs, so there were inevitably living creatures there too.

This is bad.

There was no other way to put it. Following Anna's lead, we entered the city the seniors had created.

"This is terrible..."

Anna gasped beside me. The city was being destroyed in real time. All the livestock had been killed and turned into chunks of meat, and the fences that had kept them contained were smashed to pieces, leaving animals scattered everywhere. The Three-Headed Specter was launching flames at the freed livestock, and the fireballs that hit the ground were tearing up the earth and smashing buildings apart.

"It looks impossible to lure the Three-Headed Specter outside the city now."

If the situation had been even slightly better, we could have drawn it out and hunted it safely. But with all the livestock running loose, the aggro would keep bouncing around nonstop. There was no stopping the city's destruction.

"What do we do, Teach— I mean, Lora-chan?"

"Don't call me that in such a sneaky, annoying way. In this case, there's only one option."

We'd kill it as quickly as possible right here. The city was already wrecked beyond repair, but if we took down the Three-Headed Specter quickly, we could at least reduce the damage a little. I wanted a short, decisive battle, but our current state made that a bit difficult.

"Anna, how far have you progressed in Minecraft content?"

"Content...? I've tried pretty much everything at least once..."

"So you've been to the End, right?"

"Of course I have."

"Then go get me the items I'm about to tell you."

I gave Anna her instructions. A short while later, she returned with three items.

"Hey, I told you to wait for me..."

Chell, who had been glancing at the gallery relay posts, heard Sora's voice. She must have finally caught up. Chell didn't bother turning her head that way. Sora, not expecting much of a reaction, simply stood beside her.

"Whoa..."

Sora was the first to let out a gasp of amazement. What lay before them was a ruined city. Buildings and the ground had been torn apart and half-collapsed, with debris scattered everywhere. But what stood out even more was the monster with three skeletal heads flying through the sky—and the black-haired girl flying alongside it. A pair of unfamiliar wings sprouted from her back. In one hand she held a sword glowing with a violet hue, and in the other, a firework.

"That's Lora, right?"

"Yes."

"What are those wings? And the sword looks different from the one I gave her?"

"......"

Chell didn't bother answering. The viewers would explain it anyway, so there was no ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠need for someone as socially awkward as her to try. Sora hadn't really expected an explanation from her either.

The wings were one of Minecraft's endgame items. The reason people defeated the final boss, the Ender Dragon, was to unlock the End dimension. And the reason people went to the End was to obtain those very wings. The violet sword was also an endgame weapon. It could only be completed by coating a diamond sword with "hellstone," which could only be found in the Nether.

The seniors must have given them to her.

There was no way Lora could have obtained those items in such a short time. It was only natural to assume she'd received them from her seniors. Even so, it didn't diminish Lora's impressive performance in the slightest.

Wham!

Thud!

Lora, who had been running across the ground, jumped. At the perfect moment she used a firework. Her body shot upward at tremendous speed, and she swung her sword at the Three-Headed Specter floating high above. The blade must have had the Holy Damage enchantment. The boss's HP dropped in massive chunks.

The Three-Headed Specter was being utterly dominated, making its title of hidden boss seem laughable. Its greatest strength was its range—or more precisely, its altitude. It would fly to heights normal players couldn't reach and rain down long-range projectile attacks. That was its specialty.

But Lora was closing that distance using unconventional methods. Normally people would trap it underground to limit its altitude, but Lora flew straight up as if that was completely unnecessary. The firework set had a propulsion effect, so by the time the explosion sounded, Lora's sword had already sliced through the Three-Headed Specter.

Even if the boss tried to gain altitude to escape Lora, it was pointless. The propulsion speed of the fireworks was overwhelmingly faster.

She's good.

Even Chell, whose own gaming skills were only average, couldn't help but be impressed. Lora flew up several more times, and the Three-Headed Specter took the sword's edge again and again. Eventually its body cracked open with a loud splitting sound—

Shhh...

It began crumbling into sand. At some point its HP had reached zero. As if to prove it, a star fell where the Three-Headed Specter had been. It was a crafting material used to make beacons.

Another day of eye candy. Today's going to be even healthier than usual.

That was what Chell thought as she watched Lora's magnificent performance.

The incident was finally resolved.