ShangriLa Frontier ~ Shitty Games Hunter Challenges Godly Game ~

「Ubeh! Ouch, ouch, ouch……!!!」

Because I teleported while being in motion, when I arrived at my destination I hit my back rather hard. So while I was waiting for my MP to recover, I massage my back in order to try to make the pain go away.

「I knew it, even a simple escape like that has to feel like a close call, huh?」

Still, it was far safer to wait in here for the Crystal Scorpions to just kill themselves than to stay out there and watch them die.

「I just have to stay here until the Scorpions get thinned out a little bit…… Right, that should be quite enough…… “Transfer: Exit Gate!”」

The world around me changes once more and I come back to jumping in mid-air. If I look down, I can see the red polygons sparkle just like stars down below, in the depths of the dark valley.

For a moment out there a certain thought occurred to me: what would have happened to me if I were to fall down there just like the Crystal Scorpions? Would I shatter into polygons in mid-air? Or would that happen once my body crashed against the rocks at the very bottom? Anyways, I chase that thought away in a hurry.

「Now then, let’s defy the laws of physics some more……!」

I use the Skywalker skill, and then Seven-Fold Jump, Ricochet Step, Off-Road…… All of the skills that would help me jump even higher and even faster right about now.

My feet gently step on the void that surrounds me. The feeling of stepping in the air was totally different from jumping off of the beaten ground or any other conventional foothold, so it was making me feel anxious just a little bit, but bit by bit I was getting used to it.

「Now that I think about it, if Skywalker lets me traverse the sky, shouldn’t Moon Jump technically let me reach the moon itself……?」

The art of jumping. The predecessor of Skywalker, Moon Jump. Thinking about what was more appropriate for my current situation, I began to approach the Crystal Cliffs again. And the moment my feet touched the rocky wall, the full power of Ricochet Step could be demonstrated.

It was an evasive skill and the number of its consecutive uses was as big as the skill level. When used in a narrow space, it could technically be used without stopping, turning you into a kind of human cannonball. However, since the name of the skill had “Step” in it, it was applied to only that action – a step. This skill was more or less useless if you failed to find a proper foothold. Right now, I would be able to bounce off the wall seven times.

「Practice makes perfect…… Woah, that was too close for comfort!」

Nonetheless, one needed to be careful with one’s steps, because sometimes the system was not doing a good job with properly registering them. Right now was a perfect example of that. Even though my foot touched the wall and I should have bounced off of it, I slipped instead and if I didn’t thrust one of my daggers into the rock wall, I would be on my way down to join the Scorpion bunch.

The dagger went right into the rock like a butter knife into butter. I knew it was a crime to use a weapon like that, but at least I was sure that it would support my weight without fail. But the situation wouldn’t stay like that for long.

If I were to fall to my death right now and join the Crystal Scorpions it would be the biggest irony ever, but I get the feeling that it would be well worth it. I wish that Emul could see me right now.

「…… Huh? That’s strange.」

It was then that something occurred to me. Something that was obscured up until now because of the afterglow of my great victory.

「I didn’t level up?」

Could this be that falling to their death counts as monster suicide instead of player kill? No, it couldn’t be something like that, if that was the case than poison death would also count as suicide. But even though the battle seemingly ended, I was yet to receive my precious EXP points.

Although I managed to achieve my goal of getting rid of the Scorpions so that I could mine peacefully, the cause of my current predicament was not giving me a rest.

「There are two possible explanations of this situation.」

One was that entering the “INVENTORY” was counted as fleeing from battle and no EXP was appointed. Honestly speaking the possibility of that being the case was quite big, and if it was indeed like that, then I must take that into account on my next go.

And as for another possibility……

「Hmm, a kind of camouflage…… Image change?」

The battle may not be over yet. ShangriLa Frontier is a game which utilizes the following system. If you fight one hundred enemies, even if you defeat ninety nine enemies and have but one more to defeat, unless you defeat that hundredth one, you wouldn’t receive but a single point of EXP.

There are no more enemies in the nearest vicinity, I’m only surrounded by genuine crystals right now.

「I wonder if it’s a rare enemy again…… Why do I get the feeling that it will be a highly blood-hungry one?」

It may be something like “mutating monster”, a rare enemy that evolved from the normal Crystal Scorpion. It may not be like its other brethren, and that may be the cause why I happened to overlook it amongst the transparent crowd.

It looked like an inverted Crystal Scorpion. It was larger, instead of scissor-like arms it had something similar to hammers, its stinger was way bigger and sharper, presumably able to pierce through any kind of armor or shield its opponents might wear. It also had a pair of crystal horns growing out of its head, which was making it look similar to a demon. Needless to say, it must have been much more dangerous than any normal scorpion.

If there was a saving grace in here, then it is that it’s alone. There were no more reinforcements coming, and presumably there would be no more. A kind of a lone wolf, I see.

「What a coincidence, it just so happens that I am a lone wolf myself as well……!」

At that moment, I was no longer thinking about running away. At the very least, it would be a waste to be given an opportunity to fight the rare monster and not take it. I don’t know how that guy will react, but I could always fall back into “INVENTORY” if things go south.